Press Release

May 1, 2024 Bong Go proposes policy to regulate self-referrals in medical profession to avoid conflicts of interest and uphold integrity of medical prescriptions To safeguard the integrity of the medical profession in the country, Senator Christopher "Bong" Go has proposed implementing a Philippine version of the U.S. Stark Law, or the physicians' self-referral law, aiming to prohibit physicians from financially benefiting from patient referrals to specific healthcare services. This proposal was made following the alleged unethical practices in the pharmaceutical industry, mainly the suspected multi-level marketing (MLM) scheme by the company Bell-Kenz Pharma. "Isa rin po sa gusto nating gawin ngayon ay kung pwede po tayo magkaroon ng batas, just like ito pong U.S. Stark Law, the physicians' self-referral law," said Go who presided the public hearing conducted by the Senate Committee on Health and Demography on Tuesday, April 30. This regulation prevents physicians from directing patients to receive specific health services from entities where the physician or their immediate family member has a financial interest, except under certain permitted circumstances. "Dito sa Pilipinas, wala tayong batas directly and explicitly prohibiting physicians na mag-refer po ng mga pasyente sa mga health... Importante rito paano tayo makabuo ng batas. 'Yan po ang pag-uusapan natin dito," he added. This initiative stems from concerns over the commercialization of healthcare, where it is reported that some doctors receive commissions, luxury goods, and even vehicles for promoting, referring and prescribing specific pharmaceutical products. Go said that reports suggest that some pharmaceutical companies allegedly offer doctors incentives, including commissions, luxury watches, plane tickets, and even expensive cars, to promote their medications and services. This has raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest in the medical community. Go also cited existing regulations that aim to uphold ethical standards in healthcare, such as Republic Act No. 6675, or the Generics Act, which mandates prescriptions in generic names, and RA 9502, or the Universally Accessible and Affordable Quality Medicines Act, empowering the Department of Health (DOH) Secretary to curb unethical drug promotions. Further, he referenced RA 11223, or the Universal Health Care Law, underscoring the obligation of drug manufacturers to disclose financial relationships with healthcare providers. "Section 35 of RA 11223 also provides that all manufacturers of drugs, medical devices, and medical supplies registered by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) shall collect and track all financial relationships with health care professionals and health care providers and report these to the Department of Health," he explained. Recent Senate hearings have illuminated potentially exploitative marketing strategies by Bell-Kenz Pharma. The company has engaged certain doctors...who might also hold shares in the firm...to actively push patients toward purchasing their prescription drugs. Furthermore, accusations have surfaced that doctors meeting specific "sales quotas" are rewarded with financial incentives, gifts, or even trips abroad. These allegations have prompted formal resolutions by Senators JV Ejercito and Raffy Tulfo and privilege speeches by Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Tulfo, calling for a thorough investigation into these practices. This has also prompted the DOH to reiterate the need for high ethical standards in healthcare through Department Circular No. 2024-0141. While the accusations have led to doubts about some doctors, especially those seen driving luxury cars, Go said that it is essential to recognize that many doctors are financially capable of buying their vehicles and are generally trusted with public health. "Most of our doctors, mayayaman po 'yan, may kakayahan po silang bumili ng sariling sasakyan. They are trustworthy at mapagkatiwalaan natin sila, kaya po pinagkatiwala natin sa kanila ang ating kalusugan," said Go. Go emphasized that the healthcare industry prioritizes profit over patient welfare, significantly harming the underprivileged. "Ang problema dito parang naging negosyo na ang paggamot, hindi na interes ng pang-kalusugan. Pinagkakakitaan na, sa huli, ang talo iyong mga pasyente, lalo na ang mga mahihirap," Go stated. The senator then called on concerned agencies such the DOH; regulatory bodies such as the Professional Regulatory Board, Securities and Exchange Commission, Philippine Competition Commission, among others; as well as medical associations to ensure that the medical profession focuses on their primary goal: the patients' health and well-being. "Kaya sabi ko po, dapat kung mag-prescribe ang ating mga doctors, unahin dapat kung ano yung ikakagaling at ikakabuti ng pasyente, unahin po ang ikakagamot sa pasyente, hindi po ikakagamot o ikakayaman ng pharmaceutical companies," he urged. Highlighting the fundamental duty of medical practitioners, Go reminded them of their commitment to the well-being of their patients, which should always come first. "Kaya nga kayo naging doctor para gamutin ang pasyente, kung ano ang makakabuti sa kanila. Interes ng tao, interes ng bayan. Kailangan po nating masiguro na hindi malalagay sa alanganin ang buhay ng mga kababayan natin, lalung-lalo na po yung mga pasyente," Go concluded. During the hearing, Mr. Malasakit Go also tackled other pressing health issues, including the implementation and funding challenges of the Health Emergency Allowance, the functionality of Malasakit Centers, and the deployment of resources to health facilities such as Super Health Centers and Regional Specialty Centers.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire speaks during a press conference at Houston Fire Station 102 after severe flooding in the region, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Kingwood. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Family members survey the damage after a tree fell on the home of Monica Ramirez during a severe storm on Thursday, May 2, 2024 in Spring. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer An SUV is stranded in a ditch in a stretch of street flooding during a severe storm on Thursday, May 2, 2024 in Spring. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer State Represntative Charlies Cunningham, left, listens as Houston Mayor John Whitmire speaks during a press conference at Houston Fire Station 102 after severe flooding in the region, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Kingwood. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Houston Mayor John Whitmire leaves a press conference at Houston Fire Station 102 following severe flooding in the region, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Kingwood. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Houston Mayor John Whitmire, center, looks at a map of the San Jacinto River with San Jacinto River Authority board member Mark Micheletti, right, alongside State Representative Charlies Cunningham, left, after a press conference at Houston Fire Station 102 following severe flooding in the region, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Kingwood. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Workers with Phoenix Driven Tree Services pour water out of the bucket as they work to remove a tree that fell on the home of Monica Ramirez during a severe storm on Thursday, May 2, 2024 in Spring. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Monica Pease surveys the damage to her home after four trees fell on it during a severe storm on Thursday, May 2, 2024 in Spring. I was working in the office, Pease said. There was just this loud banging and crashing. My husband said you need to get out of the office. The ceiling is going to collapse and then it collapsed. The ceiling came down. On my head. It was like a tornado. I was shaking. It happened so fast. I was so scared. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Monica Pease surveys the damage in the office space in her home, where she was working when four trees fell on it, collapsing the ceiling, during a severe storm on Thursday, May 2, 2024 in Spring. I was working in the office, Pease said. There was just this loud banging and crashing. My husband said you need to get out of the office. The ceiling is going to collapse and then it collapsed. The ceiling came down. On my head. It was like a tornado. I was shaking. It happened so fast. I was so scared. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Monica Pease talks to a home remediation worker after four trees fell on it during a severe storm on Thursday, May 2, 2024 in Spring. I was working in the office, Pease said. There was just this loud banging and crashing. My husband said you need to get out of the office. The ceiling is going to collapse and then it collapsed. The ceiling came down. On my head. It was like a tornado. I was shaking. It happened so fast. I was so scared. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer A stalled car is seen in flood water near North Park Drive after severe flooding, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Kingwood. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Amanda Kovar and her daughter, Zoe, walk through their neighborhood in North Woodland Hills to survey the area after severe flooding, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Kingwood. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer A car drives through a flooded street during a thunderstorm, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Kingwood. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Workers with Phoenix Driven Tree Services survey damage as they work to remove a tree that fell on the home of Monica Ramirez during a severe storm on Thursday, May 2, 2024 in Spring. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Zoe Kovar walks through her neighborhood in North Woodland Hills to survey the area after severe flooding, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Kingwood. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Summer Belson, left, and her brother, Steve Brown survey damage from a fallen tree in Belsons back yard during a severe storm on Thursday, May 2, 2024 in Spring. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Nathan Duekero tries to unclog a storm drain during a severe storm on Thursday, May 2, 2024 in Spring. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Residents survey high water in the street after a storm blew through their neighborhood on Thursday, May 2, 2024 in Spring. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer A trampoline is blown over a fence in the after aftermath of a severe storm on Thursday, May 2, 2024 in Spring. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer A basketball hoop is damaged by a fallen tree during a severe storm on Thursday, May 2, 2024 in Spring. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Drivers disregard a Conroe Police road block and travel down a flooded road off FM 105 Thursday, May 2, 2024 near Sapp Rd. in Conroe. Kirk Sides/Staff photographer A fallen tree is shown fallen on a house during a severe storm on Thursday, May 2, 2024 in Spring. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer A pair of cars are stalled out in some street flooding during a severe storm on Thursday, May 2, 2024 in Spring. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Traffic goes around a stalled car on Kingwood Drive after severe flooding, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Kingwood. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer The San Jacinto river flows out of its banks under FM 105 near Sapp Rd. Thursday, May 2, 2024 in Conroe. Kirk Sides/Staff photographer A Houston firetruck makes it way through flood water in North Woodland Hills after severe flooding, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Kingwood. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer The San Jacinto river flows out of its banks under FM 105 near Sapp Rd. Thursday, May 2, 2024 in Conroe. Kirk Sides/Staff photographer Monica Pease surveys the damage to her home after four trees fell on it during a severe storm on Thursday, May 2, 2024 in Spring. I was working in the office, Pease said. There was just this loud banging and crashing. My husband said you need to get out of the office. The ceiling is going to collapse and then it collapsed. The ceiling came down. On my head. It was like a tornado. I was shaking. It happened so fast. I was so scared. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer

As storms continue to hit the Houston area Friday, the Chronicle is offering ongoing live updates. Follow along at Friday's live blog here. To support our journalism, please consider subscribing to the Chronicle for unlimited digital access.

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo on Thursday called a mandatory evacuation of areas along the east fork of the San Jacinto River and pleaded for people in the area to leave their homes before flooding worsens tonight.

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Montgomery County Emergency Management officials were also predicting "catastrophic" flooding as the San Jacinto River Authority expects water releases from Lake Conroe to match levels seen during Hurricane Harvey as multiple rounds of thunderstorms moved through the area.

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We need you out of that area, Hidalgo said.

Hidalgo announced the recommended neighborhoods close to the San Jacinto River that may need to evacuate:

Idle Glen/Idle Wilde Subdivision

Northwood Country Estates

River Terrace

Cypress Point

Commons Point

Commons of Lake Houston

South of FM 1485

Kingwood near the San Jacinto River

Forest Cove, North Shore, Bellawood and River Crest

Kingspoint and Atascocita Shores

Rio Villa

Chronicle meteorologist Justin Ballard reports that 8 to 10 inches of rain had fallen from midnight to Thursday afternoon in parts of Trinity, Walker, Grimes, San Jacinto, and Polk counties. The West Fork of the San Jacinto River near Humble was closing in on major flood stage at 52.06 feet, and 52.3 feet would constitute a major flood. The forecast crest time at that location is Saturday afternoon at 61.1 feet.

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Lake Conroe's level had risen to 205.3 feet on Thursday afternoon.

Hidalgo said flood waters are expected to rise to levels high enough to flood even raised home and could touch power lines.

Please evacuate as soon as possible, Hidalgo said Certainly before nighttime if at all possible.

Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough announced a voluntary evacuation order after many experienced flooding within the county and neighboring counties Thursday.

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Residents who are living in the River Plantation, Mosswood, Woodloch and Idle Wilde/Idle Glen areas are encouraged to evacuate.

Shelters are available for families and pets at these locations:

The Woodlands

Cleveland

Montgomery

Octavia Johnson

About 12,000 customers are without power after the weather conditions and flooding affected parts of southeast Texas, according to Entergy Texas.

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The electric power distribution company said early Thursday about 37,600 outages were initially reported and have decreased since the storm passed.

Entergy Texas customers should expect full restoration of power by 11:59 p.m. Thursday.

Octavia Johnson

Harris County Meteorologist, county director of the Flood Control District flood operations and forecasting Jeff Lindner posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, about the flooding on the East fork of the San Jacinto River, stressing the mandatory evacuation for the residents along the river.

He wrote that water levels "will reach the rooftops of homes on the ground and into the first floors of elevated structures."

Lindner also emphasized preparing for the impact of the San Jacinto River during the weekend.

Octavia Johnson

Singer-songwriter Hozier has announced postponing the Thursday show at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands for Sept. 25 after local authorities asked him to cancel due to the flooding conditions in Harris, Montgomery and other counties.

In an Instagram video, the musician made it clear that the fans' safety was "paramount" to him.

Octavia Johnson

For all of the Houston area pet lovers, when dealing with flooding in the local areas, here are some tips the Harris County Public Health and Harris County Pets provided for owners looking to protect their animals:

Always include your pets in the family evacuation plan and never leave them behind.

Prepare a pet emergency kit with at least a three-day supply of food, water, medications, veterinarian records and I.D. tags.

If the owners are experiencing immediate flooding, move the pets to higher ground and arrange a safe place for them to stay.

If a pet has been exposed to floodwaters, rinse the pet off with clean water to remove contaminants and potential irritants.

When the floodwater leaves the owner's residence, check the home and yard for possible hazards before letting the pet roam around.

Octavia Johnson

High water flows into Vernons Kuntry Katfish off FM 105 Thursday, May 2, 2024 in Conroe. Kirk Sides/Staff photographer



The popular Lake Conroe-area family-owned Vernons Kuntry Katfish has flooded and will be closed until the owners complete a damage assessment, according to a Facebook post.

We are heartbroken to be facing floodwaters once again at Kuntry Katfish. We want to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone for your calls, texts and especially those who have come by to help us salvage what we could, a statement on the Kuntry Katfish Facebook page read. The path to reopening is uncertain at this moment, but one thing is clear; we have an amazing community. Your continued support means everything to us, and we are grateful for it both now and in the future.

Celebrated for its fried catfish, the restaurant at 5901 West Davis Street, also known as Texas 105, was flooded with four feet of water during Hurricane Harvey in 2017.

High water flows into Vernons Kuntry Katfish off FM 105 Thursday, May 2, 2024 in Conroe. Kirk Sides/Staff photographer

The restaurant owned by the Bowers family opened in 1984 on Texas 105 after family patriarch Vernon Bowers thought people who had an unlucky day on Lake Conroe would appreciate fried fish.

He died in 2001, and his widow and daughter continue to run the restaurant.

Sondra Hernandez

Some Houston-area schools have announced closing on Friday after reports of heavy rainfall affecting the San Jacinto River, Lake Houston, Lake Conroe and more.

Here are the school districts that announced closures:

Montgomery Independent School District

Willis Independent School District

Livingston Independent School District

Cleveland Independent School District

Magnolia Independent School District

Conroe Independent School District

Splendora Independent School District

New Caney Independent School District

Dayton Independent School District

Huffman Independent School District

Humble Independent School District

Goodrich Independent School District

Huntsville Independent School District

New Waverly Independent School District

Shepherd Independent School District

Lone Star College also announced on social media that some campuses would be closed Friday. The closed campuses include Atascocita, Conroe, Creekside, East Aldine, HSB-Tomball, Kingwood, Montgomery, Process Technology, System Office-Woodlands, Tomball and UC-Woodlands. All other campuses will be open.

Octavia Johnson

With Montgomery County officials predicting catastrophic flooding as the San Jacinto River Authority expects water from Lake Conroe to match levels seen during Hurricane Harvey in 2017, County Judge Mark Keough issued a disaster declaration.

Residents dealt with everything from stalled cars, flooded roads, downed trees, power outages and home evacuations.





Summer Belson, left, and her brother, Steve Brown survey damage from a fallen tree in Belsons back yard during a severe storm on Thursday, May 2, 2024 in Spring. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer

Check out these images from the Houston Chronicle photo staff as Montgomery County braced for 'catastrophic' conditions.

Mayor John Whitmire said the city is continuing to monitor the situation with flooding in Kingwood and he has been in touch with Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough, the Trinity River Authority and the state emergency center.

Whitmire and Houston city officials believe Friday might be worse for flooding in the city than Thursday because of water releases from Lake Conroe, which might reach levels last seen during Hurricane Harvey.

The San Jacinto River Authority released 66,104 cubic feet of water per second from Lake Conroe on Thursday, according to the agency's website. During Hurricane Harvey, the release peaked at 130,000 cubic feet per second.

Whitmire said the city will have high-water vehicles and first responders ready, but there have been no calls for evacuations from Houston.

Whitmire underscored his working relationship with Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, whom he visited over the phone and shared notes with.

Abby Church

Hidalgo urged people to call 9-1-1 if they need help evacuating.

Hildalgo urged other people near the river, but not along the east fork, to leave or prepare to be stuck in their homes for two to three days.

Flooding is expected to affect the Kingwood area of Harris County Thursday night into Friday, Hidalgo said.

The emergency shelters are located at Philippians New Faith Baptist Church, 7858 Angus St, Houston, Greenhouse International Church, 200 West Greens Road, Houston, Leon Grayson Community Center, 1328 Corpus Christi St, Houston and Calvary Baptist Church, 816 North Fair Avenue, Cleveland, Houston.

Eventually, storms will push offshore by this evening, leaving behind dry conditions for most areas.

While a scattered downpour or two can't be ruled out overnight, the Houston area will as a whole get a chance to dry out some.

Friday brings additional heavy rain chances, with most guidance bringing the final round in during the afternoon.

Additional rainfall, especially in hard-hit counties north of Houston, will exacerbate flood concerns.

Between Thursday and Friday, additional rainfall between 2 and 4 inches are expected. The flood watch that includes much of Southeast Texas and Houston is in effect through Friday.

Chronicle meteorologist Justin Ballard

Cars navigated a flooded feeder road near I-45 and Airline Drive on Thursday, May 2, 2024 in Houston . Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer

All Conroe ISD schools will be closed on Friday due to the anticipated conditions following the release of water from Lake Conroe.

According to the district, although all school-sponsored after-school activities are canceled, UIL baseball and softball games may still be played. The Conroe High School Prom on Friday and the Caney Creek High School Prom on Saturday will still occur as scheduled.

Officials have temporarily closed Lake Houston, because of current weather conditions.

Houston Councilman Fred Flickinger asked boaters to refrain from doing any activities on or near the lake until further notice

Some Houston area schools have announced closing on Friday after reports of heavy rainfall affecting the San Jacinto River, Lake Houston, Lake Conroe and more.

Here are the school districts who announced closures:

Montgomery Independent School District

Willis Independent School District

Livingston Independent School District

Cleveland Independent School District

Magnolia Independent School District

Conroe Independent School District

Splendora Independent School District

New Caney Independent School District

Dayton Independent School District

A social media user posted this video of flooding in the Porter area on Thursday afternoon.

Officials at Kingwood High School confirmed reports of sewage backup in the "athletics area of the building" via Facebook. The district took to social media Thursday afternoon after pictures of a flooded hallway surfaced online.

The backup, officials said, was a result of the "excessive amount of rainfall" that took place Thursday morning into the afternoon. Administration allowed students with a vehicle who felt comfortable to drive in the inclement weather to leave school early. However, students without a vehicle or waiting on the bus had the option to remain on campus.

The district announced it planned to cancel all after school activities, too.

The Huntsville State Park posted an alert on the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department website about it's closure Thursday due to "heavy rainfall." It is unclear if the roads or trails have been affected.

The state park plans to have updates soon.

Monica Pease surveys the damage to her home after four trees fell on it during a severe storm on Thursday, May 2, 2024 in Spring Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Monica Pease surveys the damage to her home after four trees fell on it during a severe storm on Thursday, May 2, 2024 in Spring Brett Coomer/Staff photographer

I was working in the office, said Monica Pease, of Spring, who had four trees fall on her house during the storms.

There was just this loud banging and crashing. My husband said you need to get out of the office. The ceiling is going to collapse and then it collapsed. The ceiling came down. On my head. It was like a tornado. I was shaking. It happened so fast. I was so scared.

- Brett Coomer, staff photographer

Anyone forced to evacuate their residence due to the San Jacinto River flooding can seek shelter at the Leon Grayson/Baldree Community Center. For those who need a ride to the shelter, officials suggest calling 911 rather than driving through flood waters.

The center will provide cots, blankets, food and water for evacuees. Additionally, pets are welcomed as long as they're in a crate. The center is located at 13828 Corpus Christi Street.

The Woodlands Express is assisting with deploying additional midday bus runs for patrons who plan to commute home earlier, the Woodlands Township posted on Facebook. The buses will travel through the normal routes. However, if needed, extra buses will be sent downtown to pick up additional patrons.

Rainfall totals in Kingwood stood around 5 inches around 10 a.m. Thursday, according to councilman Fred Flickinger. Multiple residents took to social media to report high water levels in the subdivision causing first responders to put up barricades and assist stranded drivers.

According to the Harris County Flood Control District water is out of the banks in multiple locations throughout the county including Lake Houston at FM 1960 and San Jacinto River at US 59. Officials say other areas have water near the top of its banks.

The San Jacinto river flows out of its banks under FM 105 near Sapp Rd. Thursday, May 2, 2024 in Conroe. Kirk Sides/Staff photographer

An 18-wheeler hydroplaned into pillars on the Metro HOV lanes at 11500 Eastex Fwy near E. Mount Houston Road Thursday afternoon during the rain, according to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez.

A Hazmat crew has responded to the crash for clean up of the diesel spill from the truck, Gonzalez said on Facebook.

No injuries were reported.

Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough has issued a disaster declaration for Montgomery County.

Keough said he is working with the city of Conroe and confirmed the Hyatt Regency Hotel and Conference Center is offering a disaster rate of $120 to Montgomery County residents who need shelter.

The county is working to open shelters to accommodate residents and pets. Those locations, Keough said, will be announced when they come online.

"There is going to be major flooding this afternoon, especially River Plantation, they're going to get hit hard," Keough said. "They are going to get hit hard. East County is going to take it on the chin as well."

Keough said people in those areas should evacuate.

"This is serious, and people need to take it seriously," Keough said. "Evacuate, we can't make it mandatory, but you know it is coming."

Garbage bins float in high water after a storm blew through their neighborhood on Thursday, May 2, 2024 in Spring. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer

During a live update Thursday, Conroe ISD Superintendent Curtis Null said the district is not having an early release Thursday but that buses may be delayed.

It is fine if you choose to pick your children up early, Null said. Your children will not be held accountable for any tardies or absence today. We want you to do what is best for your family.

He said the district will not send buses into flooded areas and will take alternate routes.

Conroe ISD has not decided on closing campuses Friday, Null said. If the district closes, there will be some make-up time, he said.

We have already been off one day and had a late arrival, Null said so far for this school year.

The make up time, about 40 minutes, would likely be added to the last day of school, he said.

A school bus moves around a stalled out car in a flooded street during a severe storm on Thursday, May 2, 2024 in Spring. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer

Centerpoint reported more than 80,000 people without power in the Houston region on Thursday afternoon, including Humble, Katy and Missouri City. Entergy in Montgomery County reported around 6,000 outages.

Willow Creek near Tomball is expected to reach flood stage Thursday, the National Weather Service said.

The creek is considered at bankfull stage when its surface elevation reaches 126.4 feet above mean sea level. But at 9:45 a.m. Thursday, the creek was staging at 123.2 feet. Forecasters expect the stream to continue rising throughout the day into flood stage, which is at 129.4 feet.

Willow Creek's highest crest in recent history was during flooding on Oct. 31, 2015, when the stream crested at 127 feet.

A severe thunderstorm warning is in effect for Houston and Greater Harris County until 11:45 a.m. Thursday. Wind gusts as this line comes through could reach up to 60 mph.

With Southeast Texas facing the prospect of more stormy weather over already saturated ground, the National Weather Service is keeping most of the counties in the region under a flood watch until Friday.

A flood warning was issued Thursday for Harris County, southern Liberty County and south-central Montgomery County until noon as thunderstorms produced heavy rainfall amid ongoing water rescues in Kingwood, the National Weather Service said.

The weather service said that at 10:47 a.m. Doppler radar and rain gauges indicated that between 3 and 6 inches of rain had fallen in the warning area. The warning was issued because flash flooding is ongoing, forecasters said. An additional 2 to 4 inches of rain are expected in the area.

Some of the communities that are experiencing flash flooding include Humble, Tomball, Liberty, Dayton, Kingwood, Spring, Aldine, Greater Greenspoint, The Woodlands, Oak Ridge North, Shenandoah, Ames, Daisetta, Hardin, Kenefick, Devers, Lake Houston, Atascocita, Bush Intercontinental Airport and Hurricane Harbor Splashtown.

These low water crossings also may be flooded:

Zion Road at Boggs Gully

Hardy Toll Road and Rankin Road

FM 2978 at Willow Creek

Gosling Road at Willow Creek

Valka Road at Theiss Gully

Lawrence Street at Cancer Center

Walden Way at Willow Creek

Beaumont Street at Abbott Creek Tributary

Texas Street at Big Bayou Branch

Clennie Needham Road at Bens Branch Tributary One

Beltway 8 at JFK

Beltway 8 at Hardy Toll Road

Interstate 45 at 1960

Interstate 45 at Beltway 8 North

Interstate 45 at Greens

U.S. 59 at Beltway 8 North

U.S. 59 at Will Clayton Parkway

Layl Drive at Abbott Creek

High water is being reported by Harris County Precinct 4 in the 3400 block of Deer Valley, Cypresswood Drive and Birnamwood Blvd, Smith Elementary School, Lake Paloma and Rangler Pass in Creekside, Spring Mill and Cypresswood Drive and Enchanted River Drive and Enchanted Oaks Drive.

High water is being reported by Harris County Precinct 4 in the 3400 block of Deer Valley, Cypresswood Drive and Birnamwood Blvd, Smith Elementary School, Lake Paloma and Rangler Pass in Creekside, Spring Mill and Cypresswood Drive and Enchanted River Drive and Enchanted Oaks Drive.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez also posted on Facebook about flooding in northwest Harris County on 19999 Bauer Road from U.S.-290 to Bauer and FM-2920 and west Harris County on 3599 North Fry Road between Misty Cove and Morton.

Lake Conroe was closed to boating Thursday and the river authority was releasing 66,104 cubic feet of water per second, the agency's website said.

The river authority can release up to 150,000 cubic feet of water per second. During Hurricane Harvey, the water release peaked at 130,000 cubic feet per second.

Lake Conroe was at 204.89 feet on Thursday. The normal pool for Lake Conroe is 201 feet.

Jason Millsaps, executive director of the Montgomery County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said 17 inches of rain has fallen in Walker County.

"It's flash flooding up there and all that water is coming straight to Conroe," Millsaps said.

Some neighborhood streets in the Spring area were seeing the most flooding in several years on Thursday.

Millsaps said residents who live along the San Jacinto River East Fork need to take action immediately.

Entergy was reporting about 8,400 people without power in Montgomery County.

CenterPoint showed about 50,000 people without power along Interstate 45 at the Montgomery and Harris County line.

Keough urged residents to take caution and avoid driving through high water on roadways.

"Strong wind and hail are possible with this storm," Keough said in a Facebook post. "Flash flooding may also be a factor with this storm. Drive with caution and remember to turn around dont drown."

Keough said "significant" flooding was happening north of Texas 105.

"If you live south of Lake Conroe along the West Fork San Jacinto River you need to be taking immediate action to get valuables to higher ground and take precautions to get to safety," Keough said. "We do not yet know the extent of downstream flooding at this time but if you have flooded in the past and live along the West Fork take action now."

Officials with Conroe ISD said schools are open but due to the storm late arrivals will be excused.

Willis ISD and the Sam Houston State University campuses in Huntsville and The Woodlands are closed.

Montgomery County has also closed the following roads: Calvary Road, East of Squirrel Tree Road, FM 1375 at Osbourne Road, Bailey Grove Road at Little Lake Creek and FM 1097 East at Big Horn Trail.

The Montgomery County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said the river authority will increase water releases from Lake Conroe throughout the day.

The Texas Division of Emergency Management upped its readiness level Wednesday at the Texas State Emergency Operations Center to Level II at the request of Gov. Greg Abbott as the state prepares for more potential floods over the next few days.

On Tuesday, Abbott issued a disaster declaration for 29 Texas counties impacted by severe storms and flooding that began last week and continues to affect homes, businesses, and the agricultural industry throughout the state. The counties in the Governors declaration include: Baylor, Chambers, Dickens, Ellis, Freestone, Galveston, Grimes, Harris, Haskell, Hill, Hood, Hunt, Kaufman, Knox, Leon, Liberty, Limestone, Madison, McLennan, Montgomery, Navarro, Polk, San Jacinto, Somervell, Tarrant, Trinity, Tyler, Walker, and Wichita counties.

These counties are all currently in a flood watch: Austin, Brazos, Burleson, Colorado, Grimes, Harris, Houston, Madison, Montgomery, Northern Liberty, Polk, San Jacinto, Southern, Liberty, Trinity, Walker, Waller and Washington.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over JD (S) MP Prajwal Revanna from Hassan Lok Sabha Constituency, who is facing a SIT probe over allegations of sexual abuse. He alleged that PM Modi let him go to Germany despite being in power at the Centre. "They needed an alliance, wanted power and so can go to any extent. They have machinery, intelligence, customs and everything, but still, PM Modi let this mass rapist go to Germany. This is his guarantee," he said during a public meeting in Shivamogga, Karnataka. Calling Prajwal Revanna a "mass rapist", Rahul Gandhi alleged that PM insulted every woman in the country by campaigning for the JDS MP. "Prajwal Revanna is a mass rapist. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was seeking votes for him from the stage in Karnataka, thus supporting that mass rapist. The prime minister should apologise to every woman in the nation for insulting them. This news (allegations of sexual abuse) has spread worldwide that the PM has sought votes for a mass rapist," alleged Rahul Gandhi at a polly rally. Taking to his social media platform X, Rahul Gandhi alleged, "What Revanna did is not a sex scandal but a 'mass rape'! From the stage in Karnataka, the Prime Minister was supporting that mass rapist and asking for votes for him. Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and every BJP leader should apologize to every woman of the country with folded hands and bowed head for this sin. We will let the mass rapist escape from India - this is Modi's guarantee!" https://x.com/RahulGandhi/status/1785966374986399755 Meanwhile, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara hinted at the possibility of an arrest of the JD(S) legislator if he fails to appear for questioning. "Look out notice has been issued. It has been informed that he (Prajwal Revanna) has to appear before the SIT. They (HD Revanna and Prajwal Revanna) have to appear as notice is given. If they don't appear, they will be arrested," Parmeshwara told the media on Thursday. The BJP and JDS have formed an alliance in Karnataka for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Revanna was booked in an alleged sexual harassment case on April 28 following complaints by his former housekeeper. The case has been registered under sections 354A, 354D, 506, and 509 of the IPC on charges of sexual harassment, intimidation and outraging the dignity of a woman. As per the complaint, the victim has claimed that Prajwal Revanna and his father HD Revanna had sexually assaulted her. Revanna is the grandson of party supremo and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has written to PM Modi, requesting him to direct the Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Home Affairs to cancel the diplomatic passport issued to Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna and ensure his return to face the law. The JD(S) earlier this week suspended Revanna from the party till the investigation is completed following an uproar over the matter. (ANI)
The Central government on Thursday told the Supreme Court that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is an independent body and is not under the control of the Union of India and opposed West Bengal's suit against the Centre over the CBI probes in the State. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Centre, raised preliminary objections on a lawsuit filed by the West Bengal government on the CBI going ahead with its probe in several post-violence cases without the prerequisite nod from the State as per law. Mehta told a bench of Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta the West Bengal government's original suit was not maintainable and sought its dismissal. The West Bengal government had filed an original suit in the apex court against the Centre under Article 131 of the Constitution, alleging that the CBI has been filing FIRs and proceeding with its investigation, despite the State having withdrawn the general consent to the federal agency to investigate cases within its territorial jurisdiction. Article 131 empowers a State to move the Supreme Court directly in case of a dispute with the Centre or any other State. The Solicitor General said the CBI is an independent body and not one coming under the Central government, therefore, the Central government cannot be sued in the matter. Mehta pointed out that the CBI cannot be made the subject of an original suit under Article 131 of the Constitution. Mehta said the cases referred to in the Wear Bengal's suit have not been filed by the Union of India. "CBI is not under Centre and cannot be subject to an original suit. The Union of India has not registered any case. CBI has registered it," the Solicitor General told the bench. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing West Bengal, said that the CBI cannot probe cases concerning West Bengal without the State government's general consent. He contended that the CBI cannot be viewed as an independent "statutory" authority. "It (CBI) is an arm of the government. Even the police is the investigative arm of the State government. They are regulated by statute but are not a statutory authority in itself," Sibal argued. The hearing in the case will continue on May 8. On November 16, 2018, the West Bengal government withdrew the "general consent" accorded to the CBI to conduct probe and raids in the State. The West Bengal government in its suit while referring to provisions of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act 1946 said that the CBI has been proceeding with the investigation and filing FIRs without getting consent from the State government as mandated under the statute. The State government had sought a stay of investigation in FIR by CBI in cases of post-poll violence in West Bengal in pursuance of the Calcutta High Court order. It said that as the general consent given to the central agency by the Trinamool Congress government (TMC) has been withdrawn, the FIRs lodged cannot be proceeded with. Earlier, the Centre had told the top court that it has nothing to do with the post-poll violence cases registered by the CBI in West Bengal and the lawsuit filed by the State government in which the Union of India is made a party is not maintainable. The Centre had stated that CBI being an autonomous body set up under the special Act of Parliament is the agency that is registering and investigating cases and the Centre had no role in it.In its affidavit, the Centre had stated that West Bengal's power to withhold consent to the CBI is not absolute and the probe agency is entitled to carry out investigations that are being carried out against Central government employees or have a pan-India impact. (ANI)
It was alleged that Ram Prakash Pandey, DGM of ECL in the Mugma area in Dhanbad demanded a bribe of Rs 75,000 from a 50 per cent handicapped "general mazdoor" to change his duty in the mine.

According to the officials, later the labourer approached the CBI with a complaint against Pandey.

The CBI filed a case against Pandey on May 1.

As per the allegations levelled against Pandey, he demanded a hefty bribe of Rs. 75,000 from a complainant to facilitate a change in duty assignment, from underground to surface work.

According to the complaint, the individual in question, employed as a General Mazdoor at Hariajam Colliery, CBH Group of Mines, under Mugma Area, ECL since 2006, met with a severe accident in 2011, rendering them 50 per cent handicapped.

"Despite possessing a medical certificate issued by the Civil Surgeon, Dhanbad, in 2012, confirming their condition, the accused allegedly refused to accommodate their request for a change in duties," the CBI said.

In an attempt to seek justice, the complainant turned to local authorities, including the Member of Parliament representing the area.

Subsequently, the accused Deputy General Manager issued an authorization letter on March 16 assigning the complainant to surface work at the weighbridge, Central Pool Siding.

"However, the accused purportedly demanded a bribe in exchange for this adjustment," it said.

The CBI set up a trap and apprehended the Deputy General Manager while in the act of accepting Rs 20,000 as a partial payment of the bribe.

"Further investigation led to the discovery of incriminating documents during searches conducted at the accused's premises. As the investigation unfolds, the CBI assures the public of its commitment to uphold the principles of transparency and integrity in the face of corruption," the CBI said in a statement. (ANI)
The shooting transpired at an office situated in North Nazimabad Block L, Karachi, where a young man, identified as Burhan, allegedly shot a girl named Fiza before turning the gun on himself.

Police investigations revealed that Burhan had barricaded himself in a room on the ground floor. Upon the office owner's attempt to open the gate, Burhan unleashed gunfire, resulting in Fiza's tragic demise, according to ARY News.

Subsequently, Burhan ended his own life with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The company's manager, Shoaib, informed authorities that he had briefly stepped out for a half-hour break before returning to witness the harrowing incident unfold.

The owner attested that there had been no prior conflicts or grievances within the office premises.

Shoaib had been working remotely for the company for approximately six months before recently transitioning to the office environment. The deceased girl hailed from Anda Morr, while the perpetrator resided in Korangi.

In a separate distressing incident on March 27, a female doctor reportedly took her own life following a verbal altercation with her mother in Lahore's Mughalpura area.

The deceased, identified as 33-year-old Bushra Suhail, engaged in a heated exchange with her mother before retreating to her room, according to her sister, Rabia.

Rabia made the grim discovery of her sister's lifeless body hanging from a ceiling fan later that evening.

Bushra, a medical professional who had recently returned from Dubai, was scheduled to depart for the city once again after Eidul Fitr, as per Rabia's account, ARY News reported. (ANI)
The Sui Southern Gas Company's (SSGC) recovery team, in collaboration with Control Gas Theft Operations (CGTO), conducted a raid on a tea hotel situated in the Pathan Colony area of Karachi, leading to the arrest of the owner of Chai Gulab Hotel.

"The hotel owner was found to be operating the establishment by siphoning gas directly from the service line," asserted the recovery team, as reported by ARY News.

Identified as Shamsul Haque, the hotel owner was taken into custody by SSGC police, with a case registered against him. During the raid, the confiscation of the pipe and other paraphernalia utilised in the gas theft was carried out by the raiding team.

A spokesperson for Sui Southern Gas Company indicated that the accused would be subject to fines commensurate with the volume of stolen gas. Emphasising SSGC's commitment to combat gas theft, the spokesperson affirmed that further measures would be implemented to safeguard the nation's resources and the company's interests.

Last month, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi issued directives for a comprehensive crackdown on electricity and gas theft nationwide.

Chairing a meeting in Islamabad, he delegated this special task to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and established dedicated teams to tackle electricity and gas theft. Additionally, he instructed for legal actions against individuals involved in power and gas theft.

During the session, FIA officials presented a comprehensive report regarding a boat accident in Greece. It was also highlighted that the government's stringent measures against "Hundi" and "Hawala" have bolstered the stability of the national currency.

Mohsin Naqvi further underscored the necessity to pursue legal actions against those engaged in human trafficking and directed for stringent measures against individuals involved in the "Hundi" and "Hawala" businesses, ARY News reported. (ANI)
Tel Aviv [Israel], May 2 (ANI/TPS): Turkey announced it is joining South Africa's genocide lawsuit against Israel in the International Court of Justice on Wednesday. "Our legal experts have been studying how to participate in the legal case against Israel at the ICJ," said Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan as he announced the move. Fidan said an application will soon be filed with the ICJ. During the mid-January hearings, South Africa argued to the judges in the Hague that Israel's military campaign was intended to cause "the destruction of the population" of the Gaza Strip. Israeli representatives, led by former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak, rejected the claims, arguing that Israel has a right to defend itself, respects international law, and that Palestinian casualties were the result of Hamas embedding its tunnels and military infrastructure in civilian areas. Israel, which is not a member of the ICJ, also argued that the court has no jurisdiction and asked the court to reject the case outright. In a provisional ruling issued on January 26, the ICJ ordered Israel by a vote of 15-2 to "take all measures" to prevent "genocide" in Gaza, but did not order the implementation of a ceasefire. Legal experts said it could take years for a final ruling on whether Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians. However, a ruling on the genocide claim, while legally binding, would be difficult to enforce. Meanwhile, Israeli leaders are bracing for the possibility that the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, may soon issue warrants for the arrest of senior Israeli officials for war crimes, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Chief of the Israel Defense Forces Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi. It is also speculated that Khan will ask for warrants to be issued against Hamas leaders. Although both the ICC and ICJ are based in the Hague, they are separate courts. Foreign Minister Israel Katz instructed Israel's embassies to "immediately prepare for the outbreak of a severe anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli anti-Semitic wave in the world." Due to what the Foreign Ministry said is the "seriousness of the threat," Katz also instructed Israeli representatives to impress on local Jewish communities the need to boost security for their institutions. Israel is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, which founded the ICC. Further straining Jerusalem-Ankara ties, Turkey gave permission for a provocative flotilla to depart from Istanbul to break Israel's naval blockade of Gaza. The convoy of three ships was spearheaded by an Islamist aid organization with ties to Hamas. However, the flotilla suffered a setback on Friday when Guinea-Bissau withdrew its flag from two of the convoy's three ships. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition blamed Israeli pressure and vowed that the ships would eventually sail. At least 1,200 people were killed and 240 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas's attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Around 30 of the remaining 133 hostages are believed dead. (ANI/TPS)
Union Health Secretary Apurva Chandra and Deputy Ambassador of Norway Martine Aamdal Bottheim signed the documents for the 4th phase of Norway India Partnership Initiative (NIPI) extending cooperation in various health schemes. Under the initiative which commenced in 2006 various Indian states including Odisha, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and the UT of Jammu and Kashmir have received support to augment facilities in terms of maternal and child health care. A health initiative between Government of India and Government of Norway, the Norway India Partnership Initiative (NIPI) Phase 3 builds on experiences from NIPI 1 & 2 and focuses on areas of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health. Aligned with the development goals of Government of India as outlined in its National Health Policy (NHP) 2017 for achievement of Sustainable Development Goals, NIPI-3 is providing catalytic, strategic, technical support to NHM for scaling up of demonstrated best practices in aspirational districts, Strengthening Innovation Development Capacities in the public health system; and Documentation and Dissemination of NHM and NIPI interventions in five NIPI supported States and UT. The cooperation will continue to innovate, improve and scale up quality continuum of care interventions at community and facility levels, and contribute effectively towards actualizing the Indian Government's National Health Policy (NHPs) Goals. The Norway India Partnership Initiative (NIPI) was established in 2006, based on an agreement between the Governments of Norway and India to make sustainable efforts to reduce Maternal, Newborn and Child Mortality in India. NIPI's aim is to provide strategic, catalytic and innovative support to India's National Health Mission (NHM) by testing scalable interventions in four high focus states of Bihar, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan and UT of Jammu and Kashmir. The first two phases of NIPI (2006-17) were highly successful and both the Governments of India and Norway agreed on the effective and positive outcomes of NIPI and the need to continue this partnership further. This led to signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Phase 3 between the Governments. Phase 3 builds on the experience of Phase 1 & Phase 2. It will be scaled up to the aspirational districts and also establish an innovation hub. The best practices in maternal and newborn child health carried out under the National Health Mission and NIPI will be shared for global dissemination and learning. (ANI)
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has expressed displeasure over the conduct of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa during the Supreme Court proceedings on the issue of meddling by intelligence agencies in judicial affairs, Pakistan-based Dawn reported. PTI central information secretary Raoof Hasan said that the entire judiciary was on one side while the CJP was on the other. While addressing a press conference, Raoof Hasan reiterated demand of the party led by the incarcerated former Prime Minister of the country that a full court hear the matter on a daily basis. However, the CJP should disassociate himself from the bench. Raoof Hasan said meddling in the judicial affairs was a very serious issue but a "spectacle was staged in the apex court" the other day. He said six judges of the high court wrote a letter to the CJP to raise the meddling issue at the Supreme Judicial Council. However, he referred it to the executive and Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif was asked to form a commission to investigate it. PTI central information secretary said that Shehbaz Sharif and operatives of intelligence agencies were among those implicated in the matter. He stressed that giving responsibility to an implicated person to form the commission and appoint its head to look into the matter was in itself "a crime". Hasan believed the practice could not be stopped if punitive actions were not taken against those meddling in judicial affairs. He said the CJP has said that there was no meddling in the judiciary. However, even the common man knew of this, Dawn reported. He said that the letter written by judges and the high court's responses were nothing less than an "indictment" and the chief justice should have proceeded with the matter according to the constitution. He accused the Chief Justice of Pakistan of adopting a different approach as all judges were on the same page but "he was fighting against the entire judiciary." Hasan further said judges should take tangible and practical measures to erect a firewall against meddling in judicial affairs. However, nobody could judge as to which side the incumbent CJP was standing on despite the Peshawar and Lahore high courts' suggestions on the matter. Raoof Hasan also slammed the Punjab government for using force against the protesting farmers who were being forced to sell wheat at a price less than the production cost, according to Dawn report. He recalled that the PTI-led government had taken several initiatives to make Pakistan a welfare state. However, a 'conspiracy' was made to topple his government, Dawn reported. Speaking at the same press conference, PTI core committee member Advocate Abuzar Salman Niazi said that no one would compromise on judicial independence if the judicial process was sabotaged and it would directly affect an individual's right to access justice. Niazi said judicial overview kept a check on the executive to ensure it does not breach the constitution. He criticised several petitions filed by the PTI, including those related to May 9 had not been fixed for hearing till date, Dawn reported. Apart from this, he said there were reports about a move to fix CJP's tenure for which a constitutional amendment was needed. Abuzar Salman Niazi further said that PTI's petition regarding reserved seats was being delayed so that the ruling coalition that had the majority in parliament to amend the constitution. He said keeping in view the situation, how the PTI could expect justice from the CJP. (ANI)
India is "watchful" of the presence of a Chinese vessel in the Maldives and taking "appropriate measures" to safeguard its national and economic security, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thursday. "As these developments are concerned especially in our neighbourhood and beyond. All these developments which have an impact on our national security, on our economic security, we are watchful of them and we take whatever appropriate measures that are taken to safeguard it," MEA official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a press briefing. "These are developments on which we keep our close eye and take measures that are appropriate on our side," he added. Earlier, Chinese marine research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 3 returned to Maldivian waters, marking its second visit to the archipelago nation within two months. The vessel was observed docked at the Thilafushi industrial island's harbour, although the specific reason for its return remains undisclosed by the government. However, it's worth noting that the government had previously confirmed permission for the ship to dock during its initial visit. It is pertinent to note that after the first visit of Chinese vessel to Maldives in February, Defence Minister Ghassan Maumoon told the Maldivian Parliament that the Chinese vessel would not conduct any research despite sailing inside and near Maldivian waters. "There was no permission given to conduct any research in the Maldives territory. After docking in Male' and buying food, they did a crew change. People who came on an airplane went onboard the boat and those on the boat left via the airplane. That was the permission that was given," Ghassan said on March 25. The Chinese vessel docked in Maldives after Pro-China Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu's ruling People's National Congress (PNC) won a supermajority in the Maldives Parliament. His party won 60 seats in the parliamentary elections. It is pertinent to know that ties between India and the Maldives become strained since Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu assumed office. Despite this, India has always retained its soft diplomatic stand for the Maldives and continued its bilateral relations with the archepological nation. India has increased its development assistance to the Maldives despite strained ties between the two countries. The new Maldivian president, Mohamed Muizzu, had demanded that Indian troops leave his country, leading to tensions. However, India has continued its development projects in the Maldives, spending nearly Rs 771 crore, almost twice the budgeted amount, on various initiatives. (ANI)
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has issued a white paper on alleged rigging in the February 8 general elections, and demanded the formation of the judicial commission to probe the "snatching of the 180 seats," reported Geo News. PTI chairman Barrister Gohar said at a press conference on Thursday, "We won 180 seats in the (February 8) elections. Our seats were given to other parties through Form 47." The PTI chief emphasised that they had filed a petition in the apex court against the alleged rigging. "But the plea has not been fixed for hearing as yet," Gohar lamented. "We are issuing a 300-page white paper to bring it to the notice of the people as to how their mandate was stolen," Barrister Gohar said, reported Geo News. Notably, the PTI-backed independent candidates won the most National Assembly seats in recent general elections followed by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). However later, the PML-N with the support of the other parties, including the PPP formed a coalition government in the centre and later became the single largest party in the lower house of the parliament following the allocation of the reserved seats. Following this, the PTI lost the right to the reserved seats as its members contested elections as independent candidates, reported Geo News. Underscoring the Election Commission of Pakistan's (ECP) decision to declare the party's intra-party polls as invalid, the PTI chief said that his party was forced to contest the general elections without its iconic 'bat' electoral symbol. "Our victory was turned into defeat by (manipulating) election results in the Form 47," he added. Moreover, Gohar stressed that the white paper is based on the reports of international organisations, foreign media and newspapers. He further called for carrying out the electoral reforms to eliminate rigging in the polls once and for all. Meanwhile, PTI Secretary General Omar Ayub said that the ECP was granted billions of rupees to hold free and fair elections in the country. "We demand the chief election commissioner to step down," he emphasised, accusing the polls organising body of failing to hold transparent elections in the country. (ANI)
Hana Ikramuddin is a Hearst Fellow in Connecticut. She spent the first part of her fellowship at the Houston Chronicle.

Raised in the Twin Cities, Hana majored in journalism and political science at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.

She has held internships with the Star Tribune, APM Reports and Sahan Journal. In her free time, she loves to cook, make chai and take care of her houseplants.
Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani on Thursday met with the British High Commissioner to India, Lindy Cameron, and discussed a wide range of topics including cybersecurity and the future of nuclear energy. After meeting with the British envoy, Adani also wished her the best in a pivotal role to continue to enhance India-UK relations. Gautam Adani also shared details of his meeting on X saying, "An honour to meet and hear from Her Excellency @Lindy_Cameron, the British High Commissioner to India. Fascinating to learn about a wide set of topics ranging from her tenure across the world, including Iraq and Afghanistan, to cybersecurity, the future of nuclear and so much more. We wish her the best in her pivotal role to continue to enhance India-UK relations." According to the UK government's official website data released on April 19, total trade in goods and services (exports plus imports) between the UK and India was 38.1 billion Euros in the four quarters to the end of Q3 2023, an increase of 8.7 per cent or 3.0 billion Euros in current prices from the four quarters to the end of Q3 2022. Of this 38.1 billion euros, total UK exports to India amounted to 14.9 billion euros in the four quarters to the end of Q3 2023 (a decrease of 4.1 per cent or 640 million euros in current prices, compared to the four quarters to the end of Q3 2022). Total UK imports from India amounted to 23.2 billion euros in the four quarters to the end of Q3 2023 (an increase of 18.8 per cent or 3.7 billion euros in current prices, compared to the four quarters to the end of Q3 2022). India was the UK's 12th largest trading partner in the four quarters to the end of Q3 2023 accounting for 2.1 per cent of total UK trade, as per the UK government's official data. In 2021, the outward stock of foreign direct investment (FDI) from the UK in India was 19.1 billion euros accounting for 1.1 per cent of the total UK outward FDI stock. In 2021, the inward stock of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the UK from India was 9.3 billion euros accounting for 0.5 per cent of the total UK inward FDI stock. (ANI)
The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday clarified that JD (S) MP Prajwal Revanna from Hassan Lok Sabha Constituency, who is facing a SIT probe over allegations of sexual abuse neither did seek nor was granted political clearance for his trip to travel abroad. In a media briefing, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal mentioned that the Ministry did not issue any visa note for the MP to visit any other country, adding that he travelled on a diplomatic passport. "No political clearance was either sought from or issued by MEA in respect of the travel of the said MP to Germany. Obviously, no visa note was issued either. No visa is required for diplomatic passport holders to travel to Germany. The Ministry has also not issued any visa note for any other country for the said MP...Yes, he travelled on a diplomatic passport," said the MEA spokesperson. A political row has erupted over the case pertaining to Prajwal Revanna and his "having left the country" and claims of some opposition parties that he had gone to Germany. Revanna was booked in an alleged sexual harassment case on April 28 following complaints by his former housekeeper. The case has been registered under sections 354A, 354D, 506, and 509 of the IPC on charges of sexual harassment, intimidation and outraging the dignity of a woman. As per the complaint, the victim has claimed that Prajwal Revanna and his father HD Revanna had sexually assaulted her. Revanna is the grandson of party supremo and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda. Regarding the potential revocation of an individual's passport, Randhir Jaiswal directed attention to the sections of the Passport Act 1967. "As regards the possible revocation of the passport of any individual, I would refer you to the relevant provisions of the Passport Act 1967. We are not in receipt of any directions from any court in this regard, "said MEA spokesperson Congress and AIMIM are among the political parties who have claimed that Revanna has gone to Germany. Prajwal Revanna is the MP from Hassan and is re-contesting from the seat as an NDA candidate. Meanwhile, Hassan MP and Former Prime Minister HD Dewe Gowda's grandson Prajwal Revanna has been suspended from the Janata Dal (Secular) over his alleged involvement in the 'obscene videos' case. A decision in this regard was taken at the party's core committee meeting on Tuesday. The committee recommended the suspension of Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna, who is facing an SIT probe in connection with an alleged obscene video case. A day after Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna sought time to appear before the special investigation team (SIT) in connection with the alleged 'obscene video' case, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara hinted at the possibility of an arrest of the JD(S) legislator if he fails to appear for questioning. The Karnataka Home Minister while speaking to the media on Thursday said that a look-out notice has been issued in the case. Notably, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has written to Prime Minister Modi, requesting him to direct the Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Home Affairs to cancel the diplomatic passport issued to Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna and ensure his return to face the law (ANI)
US President Joe Biden on Thursday said the "Xenophobic" nature of India, China, Japan and Russia for their economic troubles and argued that America's economy is growing because it welcomes immigrants to its soil. The President made the statement while campaigning for his re-election at Washington fundraising event and argued that Japan, along with Russia and China, would perform better economically if the countries embraced immigration more. "You know, one of the reasons why our economy is growing is because of you and many others. Why? Because we welcome immigrants. We look to -- the reason -- look, think about it. Why is China stalling so badly economically? Why is Japan having trouble? Why is Russia? Why is India? Because they're xenophobic. They don't want immigrants," Biden said. "Immigrants is what makes us strong. Not a joke. That's not hyperbole. Because we have an influx of workers who want to be here and just contribute," he added. Immigration is a polarizing issue in US politics, and will almost certainly play a major role in the November presidential election. Illegal border crossings have contributed to an average 2 million influx per year since 2021, the highest level ever. Polls show broad public disapproval of how President Biden has handled the surge, and former president Donald Trump, who also faced criticism for his immigration policies, is running for office on promises to crack down and deport millions of people. Trump's opposition to senators' recently failed USD 118 billion bipartisan border bill, tying border reforms to Ukraine aid, influenced many Republican legislators to reject it. It also dealt a potentially fatal blow to the possibility of new laws and tools that could reduce illegal crossings and ease strains on cities with overwhelmed shelters, The Washington Post reported. Illegal border crossings soared in the months after Biden took office and immediately rolled back many Trump-era restrictions. Biden warned that he'd still enforce immigration laws, and he temporarily kept in place a Trump pandemic policy known as Title 42 that allowed authorities to quickly expel border crossers. The number of people taken into custody by the US Border Patrol has reached the highest levels in the agency's 100-year history under Biden, averaging 2 million per year. The Washington Post reported that during the president's first days in office, his administration announced it would not use the Title 42 policy to turn back unaccompanied minors who arrive without a parent or guardian. Their numbers began to shoot up almost immediately, and images of migrant children and teens packed shoulder-to-shoulder in detention facilities produced the administration's first border emergency. Soon after, Biden assigned Vice President Harris to lead a new effort to address the "root causes" of Central American emigration. Migrants from Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Senegal and Mauritania -- along with other nations in Africa, Europe and Asia -- are crossing from Mexico in numbers US authorities have never seen. For example, 14,965 migrants from China arrived across the southern border between October and December, Border Patrol data shows, up from 29 over that same period in 2020. The Border Patrol encountered 9,518 migrants from India during that same three-month span, compared to 56 during that period in 2020. (ANI)
The delegation comprises diplomatic representatives from Israel, Nepal, Uganda, Sri Lanka, Mauritius and Vietnam.

The visit of foreign diplomats is part of the "Know BJP" initiative launched by National President JP Nadda on the 43rd foundation day of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

On Wednesday, JP Nadda, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw chaired a meeting at the party headquarters with the representatives of 18 political parties from 10 countries.

EAM Jaishankar also shared details of the meeting with representatives of several political parties and said that he is confident that their visit to India will contribute to a better understanding of India's robust democratic processes.

The participating political parties included Australia's Liberal Party, Vietnam's Communist Party of Vietnam, Bangladesh's Awami League, Israel's Likud Party, Uganda- National Resistance Movement, Tanzania's Chama Cha Mapinduzi and Russia's United Russia Party.

Additionally, two Sri Lankan parties, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna and United National Party are also participating in the BJP initiative.

Representatives of Mauritius's Militant Socialist Movement, Mauritius Labour Party, Mauritian Militant Movement, Parti Mauricien Social Democrate, Nepal's Nepali Congress, Janamat Party, Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and Rashtriya Swatantra Party have also arrived in India to experience the ongoing BJP's election campaign for Lok Sabha Election 2024.

Earlier, a seven-member delegation of diplomats from various missions in India visited Rajasthan's Jodhpur in the same program from April 22-24 to experience and get first-hand insight into the election campaign of BJP.

The delegation comprised diplomatic representatives from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Russian Federation and Suriname.

Previously, similar delegations have successfully experienced BJP's campaigns during state elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat in late 2022, as well as in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in November 2023. (ANI)
Hours after President Joe Biden termed India, Japan and other nations, "xenophobic," the White House clarified the President's intentions, emphasising his "respect" for allies and partners. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre asserted that the President's comments were part of a broader message emphasising the strength derived from America's immigrant heritage. "Our allies and partners know very well how much this President respects them...He was making a broad comment speaking about this (US) country, speaking about how important it is to be a country of immigrants and how it makes our country stronger." The Press Secretary stressed that Biden's focus remains on bolstering diplomatic relationships with nations such as India and Japan, evident in his actions over the past three years. "Obviously, we have a strong relationship with, India with Japan, and the President if you just look at the last three years has certainly focused on those diplomatic relationships," she added. "The broader case that he was trying to make," Jean Pierre continued, "which most leaders and allies across the globe understand that when it comes to who we are as a nation, we are a nation of immigrants." Emphasising the significance of America's immigrant identity, she reiterated Biden's belief that diversity strengthens the nation. "That is in our DNA. You have heard the President say it, it makes us better, and we are stronger for it and that is a very important point to know," Jean Pierre said The comments were made at a Washington, DC, fundraiser that marked the start of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, which celebrates diversity in the United States. "One of the reasons why our economy is growing is because of you and many others. Why? Because we welcome immigrants," Biden said, according to a pool report and a transcript sent out by the White House. "Why is China stalling so badly economically? Why is Japan having trouble? Why is Russia? Why is India? Because they're xenophobic. They don't want immigrants," he continued. "Immigrants are what makes us strong. Not a joke. That's not hyperbole, because we have an influx of workers who want to be here and just contribute," he added. White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby, also defended the President's comments, telling reporters that allies and partners like India and Japan understood that Biden "completely and utterly values the idea of alliances and partnerships." Immigration is a polarising issue in US politics, and will almost certainly play a major role in the November presidential election. Illegal border crossings have contributed to an average 2 million influx per year since 2021, the highest level ever. Polls show broad public disapproval of how President Biden has handled the surge, and former president Donald Trump, who also faced criticism for his immigration policies, is running for office on promises to crack down and deport millions of people. (ANI)
The leader of an armed resistance against the Talibans rule in Afghanistan has warned the US and Europe about rising threats of attacks by terror outfits regrouping in the vacuum created by the pullout of American troops from the region.

Ahmad Massoud, the exiled leader of the National Resistance Front (NRF) of Afghanistan, claimed an attack on US or European soil is very much possible now. It is not about a matter of if, its a matter of when.

Mr Massoud, who is the son of the former anti-Soviet mujahideen commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, cited the deadly rivalry between Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State and smaller factions mushrooming in Afghanistan to support his claim. The NRF opposed the Taliban takeover and clashes have occurred since August 2021 between the two sides in the resistance movements stronghold of Panjshir, north of the capital Kabul.

Mr Massoud told the Daily Mail the region around Afghanistan was witnessing the same furious rivalry that was seen before the 11 September 2001 attacks when terrorist Osama Bin Ladens Al-Qaeda operatives crashed hijacked planes into the World Trade Centre, attacking its north and south tower.

The terrorist attacks on the US  recorded as one of the worst ever in history  killed 2,977 people and prompted American and Nato forces to take control of Afghanistan.

In recent times, after the withdrawal of US and Nato in August 2021, Afghanistan has seen growing ties between the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, Ali Maisam Nazary, the head of foreign relations for the NRF, said.

The Taliban has allowed Al-Qaeda to build training camps in Afghanistans Panjshir, according to the UNs latest report on the security affairs in the war-ravaged country, he said.

The attacks in Russia, Iran, and Brussels and the neutralised attack in Germany are examples of how fast they are moving to threaten global security, the NRF official said, adding that the FBI director also warned Congress that a terrorist attack was imminent in the US.

Mr Nazary pointed to the massive influx of foreign terrorist fighters into Afghanistan after August 2021. More than 20 regional and global terror networks are operating inside Afghanistan with protective cover and assistance from the Taliban, he said.

The terror threats from these groups were not limited to Afghanistan but also endanger nations abroad, he said.

The Talibans pursuit to build three-four jihadi madrasas in each of Afghanistans 400 districts will radicalise and indoctrinate more than a million youth within the next five years if they survive, he said. A report in the Diplomat earlier this year said the Taliban were actively establishing religious seminaries across Afghanistan after banning girls and women from schools and colleges.

The return of the Taliban has started the fourth phase of terrorism and jihadism around the globe by emboldening the narrative and giving all terror groups a strategy and optimism that they can defeat or at least bring their enemies to the negotiating table, he told The Independent.

The fourth wave of terrorism, according to political scientist David Rapoport, is about the era in post Cold war witnessing calls for a holy war of radical Muslims against those deemed unfaithful. It was triggered by the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and the Islamic revolution in Iran.

Before the 9/11 attacks, Afghanistan saw the presence of several Mujahideen fighters of smaller guerrilla groups but led predominantly by the Taliban, the Al-Qaeda, helmed by Laden, who offered the motive and teachings of jihadism (holy war), and the Islamist group Haqqani network which facilitated the foreign assistance. The network of these fighters successfully pushed the Soviet forces out of Afghanistan in 1989 and led to the Talibans rule, backed by Laden and his deputy Ayman Al-Zawahiri who helped orchestrate the 9/11 attacks.

The US in 2012 designated the Pakistan-based Haqqani network as a terrorist organisation.

Mr Massoud also said the political turbulence in Ukraine and the Middle East was helping the Taliban by keeping the West distracted.

In an interview with The Independent last year, Mr Massoud said Afghanistan is no longer a priority for president Joe Bidens administration.

I want to ask if the Biden administration is OK with a military group storming the government and taking power from a democratic administration, he had asked. If they were not OK with the Capitol riots, why are they OK with the Taliban?

According to testimony by Nathan Sales, the former US ambassador-at-large and coordinator for counterterrorism in April last year, Al-Qaeda is reconstituting itself in legacy haven Afghanistan.

While Taliban-controlled Afghanistan is a permissive environment for terrorists in general, two groups are of particular concern: Al-Qaeda and ISIS-K. The Taliban and Al-Qaeda have been allies for more than a quarter century, and Al-Qaeda is now reconstituting itself in its historic safe haven, he told the US House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence.

The continued partnership between the Taliban and Al-Qaeda is perhaps best seen in the fact that, after the US withdrawal, Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri resurfaced in Afghanistan, living in a safe house associated with the Haqqani Network, a Taliban faction that maintains close ties to Al-Qaeda and is itself a US-designated Foreign Terrorist Organisation, the nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council said.

He said the safe house used by Zawahiri was located in the Shirpur district in the heart of Kabul, a prosperous neighbourhood that is controlled by the Haqqanis and is just down the street from the former US embassy.

The key takeaway is that the Taliban felt emboldened to welcome Al-Qaedas leader back to Kabul, and Al-Qaedas leader felt it was safe enough there to accept the offer, he told the committee.
Known as Victorious Youth, the 5ft-tall artwork has been attributed to Lysippos, Alexander the Great's personal sculptor - Mario Tama/Getty Images

The Getty Trust in the US must return to Italy one of the most prized pieces in its collection, an ancient Greek bronze of a young man, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled.

In a unanimous decision, the court in Strasbourg ruled that the J Paul Getty Trust had acted with negligence or bad faith when it bought the statue in 1977 for $4 million.

The life-size bronze, known as Victorious Youth, was dredged up by fishermens nets off the coast of central Italy in 1964.

It is a star attraction at the Getty Villa Museum in Malibu in California, where it has been on display ever since it was purchased.

The ECHR said Italy has every right to demand the return of the artwork, which dates from 300BC to 100BC.

Italy had issued a confiscation order for the statue, which the Getty Trust appealed against.

The court held that owing, in particular, to the Getty Trusts negligence or bad faith in purchasing the statue despite being aware of the claims of the Italian state and their efforts to recover it, the confiscation order had been proportionate to the aim of ensuring the return of an object that was part of Italys cultural heritage, the judgment said.

Nicknamed the Getty Bronze, the 5ft-tall statue depicts a young athlete raising his right hand to an olive wreath around his head.

It has been attributed to Lysippos, Alexander the Greats personal sculptor.

The sculpture is a key attraction at the Getty Villa Museum in Malibu in California - Mario Tama/Getty Images

The bronze is believed to have sunk with the ship that was carrying it to Italy after the Romans conquered Greece.

After being found in the nets of Italian fishermen trawling in international waters in 1964, it was allegedly buried in a cabbage patch and hidden in a priests bathtub before it was taken out of Italy.

It was put up for auction in Munich by a Liechtenstein-based company. It was bought by the Getty Trust, shipped to the US in 1977 and arrived at the Getty Villa in Malibu in 1978.

The Getty Trust has always maintained that it bought the artwork in good faith.

Successive Italian governments say it was exported from the country illegally and have for years been trying to recover it.

Unequivocal ruling

Gennaro Sangiuliano, the culture minister, welcomed the ECHR decision, saying: The court in Strasbourg has recognised Italys rights with an unequivocal ruling.

The judges were very clear as to the ownership of the statue, which was found in waters close to the coast of the Marche region and then exported overseas. We will continue with renewed determination our efforts to have the statue returned to Italy soon.

In 2010 an Italian court in Pesaro in the central region of the Marche ordered it seized and returned, ruling that it had been dredged up by an Italian-flagged fishing boat.

That decision was upheld by Italys High Court in 2018, but the Getty Trust lodged appeals on points of law.

The trust argues that Italy has no right to claim the bronze because it is Greek, not Italian. They also say that it was found in international waters and that it was not part of Italys cultural heritage.

In 2019 Italys Supreme Court also ruled that the statue should be returned, noting that it should be considered part of Italian cultural heritage because there had been a continuum between Greek civilisation, which had expanded onto Italian territory, and the subsequent Roman cultural experience.

The ruling by the ECHR on Thursday was a chamber judgment. The two sides now have three months to request that the case be heard by the courts Grand Chamber for a final ruling.

In response to the courts ruling, the Getty Trust reiterated its argument that the classical statue was neither the work of an Italian sculptor nor discovered in Italian waters.

We believe that Gettys nearly 50 year public possession of an artwork that was neither created by an Italian artist nor found within Italian territory is appropriate, ethical and consistent with American and international law, the institution said in a statement sent to The Telegraph.

The Getty is carefully considering the possibility of requesting a review before the Grand Chamber of the ECHR. If necessary, the Getty will continue to defend its possession of the statue in all relevant courts.

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A surge of student-led rallies and encampments in protest of Israel's war in Gaza has been met with increasingly violent crackdowns. Nearly 300 people were arrested on Tuesday evening at Columbia University and the City College of New York, and police in riot gear were summoned to the UCLA campus after pro-Israel counter-protesters attempted to storm a pro-Palestine encampment.

Police have broken up protest encampments and made arrests at numerous other schools across the country within the last several days, including Tulane University, the University of North Carolina, Virginia Commonwealth University, the University of Wisconsin, the University of Utah and elsewhere. These law enforcement actions have come with bellicose calls from leading political voices and punishment meted out by university administrators, who often claim that student protests have been poisoned by rampant antisemitism.

"Antisemitism will not be tolerated in Texas, period," tweeted Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican. At the request of University of Texas officials, Abbott recently sent state troopers onto the school's flagship campus in Austin to drive protesters from the main quad. "Students joining in hate-filled, antisemitic protests at any public college or university in Texas should be expelled," the governor added.

Allegations of antisemitic speech and conduct range from individual reports of hateful behavior  such as overt or implicit support for the Hamas surprise attack last October, in which roughly 1,200 Israelis were killed  to the more ambiguous assumption that some or all criticism of Israel and Zionism, or the Israeli military offensive that has killed 35,000 Palestinians so far, is inherently antisemitic.

"Anti-Zionism is antisemitism," said Jonathan Greenblatt, leader of the Anti-Defamation League. "The anti-Zionist is committed to denying rights to Jews that they afford to everyone else  the argument that Jews don't deserve the rights that everyone else should have.

That is a controversial assertion, one clearly not shared by all Jewish people in America or around the world. Among the "anti-Zionists" that Greenblatt and others have described are Jewish students who celebrated Passover among the tents on Columbia University's South Lawn and Jewish activists who were arrested while participating in a sit-in at New York's Grand Central Terminal. Many in the pro-Palestine protest movement say they reject antisemitism, and that exaggerated claims of antisemitic speech or behavior have been weaponized to crush peaceful protests and suppress legitimate criticism of Israel, its war in Gaza, and policies that some human rights watchdogs have characterized as apartheid.

Such claims of antisemitism amount to an "easy and convenient way to not confront the reality that there's a war where tens of thousands of civilians have been killed," said Rabbi Shaul Magid, a professor in Jewish studies at Dartmouth College. "The war has really brought to the surface a terminological morass which makes it almost impossible to distinguish between legitimate criticism of a war and illegitimate expression of hatred towards Jews."

The term "anti-Zionism," Magid said, has historically been used by Jewish people as part of a long-running internal debate within the Jewish community regarding Zionism, a nationalist movement with 19th-century roots that ultimately led to the creation of Israel as a Jewish nation-state following the Holocaust and World War II. Many Jewish critics of Israeli policy view the Zionist philosophy as underpinning Israel's treatment of Palestinians. Today's dueling activist movements have obviously spread far beyond exclusively Jewish spaces. Magid said that in that context, opposition to Zionism has frequently been characterized as a "universal expression of antisemitism." He noted that there have long been anti-Zionists within the Jewish community, who believed that the mass settlement of Israel by Jewish migrants and the resulting displacement of indigenous Palestinians was a mistake, and that Judaism should be understood as a global "church" of believers, rather than a separate and unassimilable race.

For many pro-Palestine Jewish activists, uncoupling Jewish identity from Jewish or Israeli nationalism is central to their worldview. They argue that their words and actions are not merely not antisemitic, but a positive expression of Jewish values as they understand them. Focusing on universal principles drawn from the collective Jewish experience, they view the current struggle of the Palestinians as closely akin to the generations of suffering borne by their ancestors.

"Many of us in the Jewish movement for ceasefire are descendants of people who have survived genocide, pogroms and ethnic cleansing," said Stefanie Fox, executive director of Jewish Voice for Peace. "In our ancestors memories, we refuse to be silent and allow our government to fund a genocide against the people of Gaza."

Pro-Israel and Zionist groups and individuals, on the other hand, largely reject the notion that Jewish identity can be separated from Israel, which has now existed as a modern nation-state for 75 years. Doing that, they say, is to deny a safe haven for Jews after centuries of persecution, and also to deny or downplay the historical and spiritual connection between modern Jewish communities and the land of Israel. That worldview lies behind the claim that anti-Zionism and antisemitism are functionally the same thing.

"The belief that the Jews, alone among the people of the world, do not have a right to self-determination, or that the Jewish peoples religious and historical connection to Israel is invalid, is inherently bigoted," says the American Jewish Committee. "When Jews are verbally or physically harassed or Jewish institutions and houses of worship are vandalized in response to actions of the State of Israel, it is antisemitism."

Reports of antisemitic incidents and antisemitic hate speech have fueled calls to crack down on the pro-Palestine protests. Though some such incidents appear to have been taken out of context, caused by provocateurs or revealed as outright fabrications, others have not been disputed, fueling a debate about whether expressions of anti-Jewish hatred have become normalized within the pro-Palestine protest movement. "It's unfortunate that antisemitic actors are using this as an opportunity to attach themselves to a larger movement and make a particular kind of case for themselves," said Magid.

Jim Sleeper, a veteran journalist and author who has covered campus free-speech issues for years, witnessed the Vietnam War and civil rights protests of the 1960s and the Iraq war protests of the 2000s. The current wave of activism, he observes, is not so different from its antecedents. "There were always people who were really egregious, over-the-top and counterproductive," he said. "So far, I have not really sensed that the anti-Israel protesters are doing anything that bad, other than a few individuals. What's almost inevitable is that there are some opportunistic people who jump on the bandwagon because it's exciting for them."

When it comes to broader criticism of Israel or support for Palestine, there is little agreement as to where the line between legitimate grievance and antisemitism is drawn. Pro-Palestine protesters have generally called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the suspension of U.S. military aid to Israel and, especially at campus protests, for universities to divest from companies that are linked to Israel and, they claim, "profit from Israeli apartheid, genocide and occupation in Palestine." Opponents warn that such a course of action would delegitimize Israel and weaken it militarily. Many protesters would say that's exactly the point.

A pro-Israel activist, citing the protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel, told Salon that while criticizing Israeli government policies is not de facto antisemitism, that's not what the current pro-Palestine protests are doing. "They are protesting against the very existence of Israel, and at times the Jewish people globally," said Mikael Rochman, vice president of Students Supporting Israel at Columbia University. "They only use Palestinian suffering when they can weaponize it to attack the legitimacy of Israel and the Jewish people."

"I do not believe there is anything wrong with supporting Palestinians, as I do myself," Rochman continued, "but with the way in which they do it, which only supports continued conflict and leads to antisemitic acts."

One flashpoint that has raised repeated accusations of antisemitism is the frequent use of the phrase, "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free," in chants and on protest signs. Critics view that phrase as a call for the elimination of Israel and the genocidal extermination of Israeli Jews; defenders say it's a call for ending apartheid against Palestinians and replacing the current Israeli regime with a democratic "one-state" solution. Perhaps ironically, Netanyahu's Likud party, which leads the current government coalition in Israel, uses a strikingly similar phrase in its Founding Statement, which declares Jewish sovereignty over the entire territory from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean.

Broader denunciations of the state of Israel are misinterpreted, some protesters say, and fail to distinguish between Israel as it currently exists and its future possibilities. "At this moment, the call is for ceasefire and more. ... [T]he question of whether Israel can survive as a Jewish-supremacist ethnostate is more complicated," wrote Jen Brody and Jim Recht, two members of Harvard Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine, in a letter. "We reject the zero-sum notion that one peoples freedom requires the unfreedom of other people. Our liberation as Jews is inextricably bound up with the liberation of Palestinians." (Recht is Jewish, while Brody has Jewish ancestry.)

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Jewish pro-Palestine activists have acknowledged that some Jewish people may feel offended or uncomfortable in having their deeply-held beliefs called into question. That's not the same as being threatened or persecuted, they say, especially since pro-Palestine Jewish activists are themselves called heretical or self-hating. "It is exhausting and heartbreaking to have politicians, the mainstream media and even our own families question our identities and our commitment to Judaism," said Fox, who pointed out that many politicians like Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, a right-wing Republican who is not Jewish, posture as opponents of antisemitism while promoting versions of the racist "great replacement" theory.

"When politicians and the media erase anti-Zionist Jews and suggest that all Jews support the Israeli militarys genocide," Fox continued, "this makes Jewish people less safe by suggesting we all support the destruction of Palestinians."

For many anti-Zionist Jews, their community's global safety cannot be bound to an Israeli state whose behavior has drawn worldwide condemnation. They would rather find solidarity not only across Jewish communities around the world, but also, in the words of a member of Rabbis for Ceasefire, with non-Jewish people also "made in b'tzelem elohim, in God's image."
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The News

Democrats arrived to work in Washington facing yet another no-win news cycle around Israel, as a fresh round of police raids on campus protests continued to split their party.

The reactions ranged from fiery denunciations of police tactics as an authoritarian overreaction to equally sharp denunciations of the protests themselves as cover for antisemitism and terrorism.

The protesters at Columbia demonstrated that there are two factions of the protesters  theres the pro-Hamas, and then theres the really pro-Hamas, Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman told Semafor. He was, he said, glad that they chose to have the police come in and take charge.

In the House, Rep. Jamaal Bowman delivered an impassioned speech backing the protests at Columbia University, in which he accused police of inflicting brutality on student demonstrators who were cleared from their encampment and campus buildings Tuesday night.

And for what? he asked. Simply exercising their first amendment rights to peacefully assemble as they protest the collective punishment of civilians in Gaza.

At a press conference hours later, Minority Leader defended the polices approach. As far as I can tell, the efforts by the NYPD were thorough, professional and they exercised a degree of calm in a very tense situation, he said. That should be commended.

According to one senior Democratic aide, the partys House leaders did not offer any messaging guidance to members regarding the demonstrations. Democrats dont want to bring attention to the protests, they said.

Rep. Becca Balint, a Vermont progressive, said the party was feeling the pressure with the election growing closer.

Im an anxious little Jewish woman, Im an anxious little dyke from Vermont, of course Im worried, she said. How can I not be worried? Frickin Trump is a freaking maniac and hes like neck and neck. Of course Im worried. Im anxious all the time.

But addressing it meant a balancing act. She said Biden needed to speak directly to these young people who are devastated by the incredible suffering thats going on right now and be a champion for free speech while also condemning antisemitism that right now is off the charts.

Sen. Jon Tester, up for re-election in red state Montana, emphasized that the specific tactics of the protests  including breaking into Columbias Hamilton Hall  crossed the bounds of protected speech.

I am all about First amendment rights, free speech, the ability to protest, he told Semafor. But if those protesters are committing crimes, violence, breaking windows, they need to be dealt with in a way thats commensurate with their actions.

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These questions of balancing protection for speech with fears of intimidation on campus played out on the House floor, where Democrats debated whether to sign onto a bill directing the Department of Education to investigate alleged instances of antisemitism on campus using the definition created by International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, which encompasses some criticisms of Israel common among activists.

The bill ultimately passed 320-to-91, with 70 Democrats opposing it. The bill won backing from Jeffries and other party leaders. But some criticized the legislation as a bad faith messaging exercise by Republicans. It doesnt do anything to combat antisemitism, Rep. Jerry Nadler, one of the most senior Jewish Democrats in Congress, told Politico. Its pure demagoguery.

Some Republicans also shared objections to the wording as overly broad. Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene warned on X that a provision prohibiting symbols tying Israel to accusations that Jews killed Jesus could convict Christians of antisemitism for believing the Gospel that says Jesus was handed over to Herod to be crucified by the Jews.

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Our View

The root of the Democrats problems ultimately is not a specific protest group or tactic or bill. Rather, its a deep, substantive divide among their elected officials, voters, donors, and interest groups over Israel and Gaza. One recurring sentiment among Democrats on Wednesday was that the surest route to progress on unrest at home was progress on ending the war abroad, one way or another.

Several noted that the Biden administration has been trying to push Hamas and the Israeli government towards a deal that would free hostages and implement a temporary ceasefire with the hopes of a more durable deal later on.

It just demonstrates the critical need for us to continue to work to find a hostage release and ceasefire, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine told Semafor.

In the meantime, Kaine suggested Biden and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona point to campuses where this is being handled well, where theres robust debate and dialogue about this very tough issue without disruption as models for others to follow.

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Governor and municipal leaders both want more money from short-term house rentals. Who gets it?

Newport Mayor Xay Khamsyvoravong, left, and Gov. Dan McKee, are both shown at a breakfast event at Innovate Newport on Feb. 14, 2023. (Janine L. Weisman/Rhode Island Current)

For years, municipal leaders, hoteliers and even some short-term rental owners have been begging for equal taxation.

Their calls to stop letting house rentals listed through Airbnb, VRBO and other hosting platforms skirt the 5% state hotel tax have gone unanswered at the Rhode Island State House.

Until now.

Gov. Dan McKee in an April 22 memo and corresponding press release announced a fiscal 2025 budget amendment that would extend the state hotel tax to whole-home short-term rentals, bringing the taxation rate on-par with hotels, long-term vacation homes and short-term room rentals.

This closes a longstanding loophole whereby partial home short-term rentals are currently taxed at a significantly higher rate (13%) than whole home short-term rentals (8%) without any policy justification for the distinction, McKees office said in a statement at the time the announcement was made.

But, theres a catch. McKee wants to give the tax revenue to the Rhode Island Department of Housing for homelessness relief programs, rather than using the existing distribution of state hotel tax funds, which are split among regional tourism districts, Rhode Island Commerce Corporation, and cities and towns.

Not the answer that Newport Mayor Xaykham Khamsyvoravong hoped for.

I appreciate the governor and his teams efforts to ensure there are more resources for homelessness in this state, Khamsyvoravong said in a recent interview. But with a tax like this, we have an existing model. Maintaining that is important. Thats how we keep some sliver of funding guaranteed to come back to those communities.

The City by the Sea has been ground zero for a surge in short-term rentals, with more than 600 listed on the statewide registry as of early May, though Khamsyvoravong suspects there are even more operating under the radar.

The explosion of short-term rentals has boosted tourism, but also brought problems with safety, infrastructure, and availability of permanent, affordable housing. In 2021, a guest in a Newport Airbnb was fatally stabbed.

Newport adopted its own set of aggressive regulations and fines separate from and prior to the state-maintained registry enacted in 2021. But the problem and the cost to tackle it remains, making the estimated $5 million in annual tax revenue McKees proposal would generate statewide important, Khamsyvoravong said.

We need those resources to continue addressing the challenges, he said. That tax is directly related to the economic activity having a physical impact in their community.

Total before taxes for a six-night stay in this Newport home in August is $5,592. (Screenshot/Airbnb)

How lodging tax revenue is split now

Cities and towns that host hotels and vacation homes receive roughly a quarter of revenue generated by the state hotel tax, to be used at municipal leaders discretion, according to state law. The rest of the tax revenue is divided among regional tourism districts, Rhode Island Commerce and the Greater Providence-Warwick Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Legislation introduced by Rep. Scott Slater, a Providence Democrat, would maintain that existing split, simply removing the exemption that lets whole home short-term rentals skirt the state hotel tax. Meanwhile, Rep. Lauren Carson, a Newport Democrat and chair of a legislative panel studying short-term rentals, has proposed returning all of that revenue generated by a hotel tax on short-term rental houses to the appropriate municipality. The money would be used exclusively for municipal infrastructure improvements, river and coastal resiliency and housing, according to Carsons bill, introduced on April 18.

The two bills are among a dozen pieces of legislation under consideration by state lawmakers that seek to impose stricter regulations or additional taxes and fees on short-term rentals.

All this while the 15-member panel  not-so-succinctly titled the Special Legislative Commission To Review And Provide Recommendations For Policies That Deal With Numerous Economic And Social Short-term Rentals Issues  continues its work untangling the web of interests and issues at play. An interim report issued by the commission on April 30 outlines some of its preliminary findings, but also calls for more time and information.

The 2023 legislation that created the panel provides for an April 15, 2024 expiration. Carson has introduced separate legislation allowing the commission to extend its review, with a final report of recommendations due in September 2025, and expiration in December 2025.

We definitely need more time, she said. We have identified several policy areas that need to be addressed, but we need to collect more information and develop recommendations for improvements.

Including data. A focus of the panels work to date has been looking through the state registry list, and comparing its numbers to those in municipalities, some of which have their own, independent registries. What theyve found so far: The numbers dont match each other, or the listings on actual hosting platforms like Airbnb.

Inconsistent data across registries

Even Newport, which has the longest-running and most robust local database, is probably leaving out a good chunk of the rentals required to register.

Our ability to enforce is a bit like a game of whack-a-mole right now, Khamsyvoravong said. There are so many inconsistencies in registration practices. Its bad for the people playing by the rules, because others arent.

On this point, short-term rental owners agree.

Greer Gagnier, Rhode Island Short-Term Rental Association executive director, is one of 15 members of a legislative panel charged with studying short-term rentals. She is shown at a commission meeting on Dec. 6, 2023, at the State House. (Michael Salerno/Rhode Island Current)

Greer Gagnier, executive director for the Rhode Island Short Term Rental Association, and a member of the study commission, backed a separate tranche of bills, including one by Carson, which aim to beef up data collection and compliance with the state registry.

But on the question of higher taxes, or separate community impact fees, as floated by Sen. Dawn Euer, a Jamestown Democrat, Gagnier said it was too soon.

Its really premature to pass any legislation around short-term rentals while this study commission is still going on, Gagnier said.

We need those resources to continue addressing the challenges. That tax is directly related to the economic activity having a physical impact in their community.

 Newport Mayor Xaykham Khamsyvoravong on citys need for a share of state hotel tax revenue on short-term rentals

Leon Amarant, a Middletown resident who owns a short-term rental in town, warned against overtaxation in a recent State House hearing.

If you add all these taxes up, I am going to be 100% honest with you, I am just going to sell my properties, Amarant said, speaking to lawmakers on the Senate Committee on Housing and Municipal Government on April 13.

Taxation proponents frame the short-term rental industry as a business that should be treated like any other commercial entity. Yet Amarant countered that most of Rhode Islands short-term rental owners are local residents like himself seeking to make a little extra money. His Middletown property is only available as a short-term rental on Airbnb for two months in the summer; the rest of the time, its occupied by one family who returns from September to June each year because one of the parents works on the Americas Cup fleet in Newport, Amarant said.

If I list this on Airbnb for two months and then get 12 months of taxes, that doesnt make sense, Amarant said.

However, Amarant was open to paying the state hotel tax because it levels the playing field with the rest of the hospitality industry.

Khamsyvoravong also framed the hotel tax as a common sense solution that he hoped would gain traction despite the attempt to continue the study commissions work.

But the contradiction remains between how McKee wants to use that revenue, and what local and state lawmakers proposed. Carson acknowledged that McKees budget amendment might hurt her bills chance of passage.

Ernie Almonte, executive director of the Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns, also stressed the importance of municipal revenue-sharing for taxes on short-term rentals.

If this amendment is to pass as written, we pledge to collaborate closely with the RI Department of Housing and ensure that our members have a voice at the table regarding the equitable disbursement of any additional tax revenue, Almonte said in an email on Thursday. By fostering this dialogue, municipalities will gain greater flexibility to innovate, improve, and potentially save tax dollars while addressing the issues the Department of Housing aims to tackle. We support efforts to create a dedicated funding source for housing stability and homelessness but urge for municipal involvement to best serve community needs.

Olivia DaRocha, a spokesperson for McKees office, responded by email Thursday afternoon.

We know that short-term rentals have had a significant impact on housing affordability in Rhode Island, DaRocha said. As such, the Governor believes this new revenue source should be allocated towards housing stability and homelessness services to help support those Rhode Islanders that have been most impacted by increased housing costs.

The post Governor and municipal leaders both want more money from short-term house rentals. Who gets it? appeared first on Rhode Island Current.
Basil Colston, center, holds up signs to motorists as area residents protest the city of Houstons plan to remove Live Oak trees along Montrose Boulevard as part of the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zones to improve traffic and infrastructure, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer

Houston isnt Paris. And really, we wouldnt want it to be. Weve got our own wondrous thing going on here in this city built on a swamp where people from all walks of life converge over business, art, fusion cuisines and our own individual quests for opportunity.

Still, our gritty city deserves a few scenes of grandeur. A few stretches that pull people in and inspire them to stay, to ramble, to be a part of a community that exists outside our air-conditioned cars. A truly Houston place that makes the most of gems near our citys center such the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Buffalo Bayou Park and our award-winning restaurants.

Thats the vision for a plan to rebuild part of Montrose Boulevard with better drainage, a 10-foot sidewalk, a bridge over Allen Parkway that would connect to popular bayou trails and a landscape design that would add 137 new live oak and cypress trees. The Montrose Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone, or TIRZ, has ponied up $15 million to partially fund this redesign for a roughly half-mile stretch closest to Buffalo Bayou with the idea of extending it later to I-69.

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The grand plan calls forth a Houston version of old Paris with its broad boulevards flanked by ample sidewalks lined with cafes. So its important to recall that those wouldnt have come about without upheaval. No single person is arguably more responsible for the distinctive look of Paris than Baron Georges-Eugene Haussmann who, under Napoleon III, leveled whole portions of the city to make way for the Paris we take for granted 150 years later.

The Montrose project doesnt call for destruction on that scale. It does, in its first phase alone, call for more than 50 trees to be chopped and torn from the ground, including mature live oaks. If extended to I-69, far more trees would fall.

The Montrose TIRZs down payment, however, has touched off a passionate debate that recently won Mayor John Whitmires ear.

Were listening to the residents, he told us last week after putting a pause on the project so his team could review it.

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We listened to the critics as well and met with several members of Save the Montrose Live Oaks. They have legitimate questions that deserve answers. They question the effectiveness of the added drainage infrastructure, its long-term funding outlook and the plans widened sidewalks, especially on the east side, something Whitmire echoed when we talked with him.

Im not sure they need to be ten-foot sidewalks if theyre going to destroy the trees, he said.

The mayor is, in effect, echoing the long-ago (and present-day) critics of the hubris of Haussmann, who is as loathed by as many as love the Paris sidewalks. His public works project went well beyond boulevards, upon the urging of Napoleon III who wanted to bring light, clean air and water to the city, often demolishing dense, medieval neighborhoods and adding modern sewers and aqueducts. Some saw the changes as autocratic. Those wide streetscapes, for example, were said to help the military quell uprisings with even more efficiency.

ANOTHER VIEWPOINT: Save those 60 Montrose live oaks

As a new mayor, Whitmire certainly has reason to pause projects and look at them from all sides. When we did, we came to the conclusion that the Montrose redesign has the potential make our children and grandchildren proud even if it inconveniences us today.

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We talked with experts, including Barry Ward with the non-profit Trees for Houston, who said that this plan will replace constrained trees that are unlikely to grow to their full potential with new trees that, in their roomy digs, will blossom across the sidewalks and streets akin to the picture-worthy oak branches of South Blvd. And architect and TIRZ president Joe Webb told us that even a six-foot sidewalk would still mean the removal of the trees while also eliminating the potential for a shared walk and bike space that would connect the neighborhood to the trails of Buffalo Bayou with a new shared use bridge over Allen Parkway. He said the TIRZ has committed to hiring an arborist to oversee every bit of construction affecting the existing trees in the median and the new 100-gallon plantings.

The drainage plan is frustratingly unsettled, dependent as it is, in part, on the Harris County Flood Control District agreeing to allow increased conveyance of stormwater into the bayou. But regardless, it will make a difference for the frequent flood events that render the right lanes either unusable or an unwanted water park feature for innocent passersby on the sidewalk. We share some of the critics concerns that the project is only partially funded and will likely take years to secure all it needs. But we also recognize that this is how most city projects work. We dont have an emperor clearing the way for massive public works projects the way Haussmann did.

Critics have also pushed for a master plan showing the impact on the streets and trees for the entire length of Montrose, something Webb demurred on, citing the need to do comprehensive studies of every element that would be affected. The TIRZ needs to do a better job communicating the full vision. We also have mixed feelings on the shadowy role that TIRZs play generally in the city. Were certainly sympathetic to Whitmires antagonism toward them and his call to build sidewalks in neighborhoods that dont have them.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Montrose TIRZ plan to rebuild Montrose Blvd is a $14.7M vanity project

Still, weve got to work with the system we have. And currently, thats a spotty system of TIRZ-driven development. Whatever our misgivings, this project is a worthwhile effort to improve an already quirky, vibrant part of our city that deserves a fighting chance to be grand.

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We endorsed Mayor Whitmire in part because he does listen to the regular folks he meets around town  and hes always about town, making notes about what he sees and hears. We hit the streets with him recently as he showed us a treacherous crosswalk near his home and talked to other concerned pedestrians with their strollers and bikes trying to dodge cars to get to Memorial Park.

The Houston Chronicle Editorial Board believes a mayor as committed to public safety as John Whitmire should take an all-of-the-above approach that includes traffic enforcement and street redesigns that slow drivers down. Watch as a member of the editorial board joined Whitmire in his own neighborhood to see families struggling to cross Westcott Street as they head to Memorial Park. Houston Chronicle

But the fact is, Houstonians are not of the same mind on this issue. Whitmire should listen to all perspectives but also have some respect for the work thats already been done on projects underway. While there is some room for compromise, these compromises shouldnt undo the fundamental promise of the project. Pausing in-progress work on Shepherd and Durham and jeopardizing millions of funding for the sake of preserving car lanes at the expense, again, of generously broad sidewalks does not reflect forward-thinking policy that took Houston so long to achieve.

We dont want an emperor but we do want a city as great as its people. We believe Whitmire does, too. We urge him to prioritize that vision as he makes his mark as mayor.

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If signed into law, SB 359 would make New Hampshire one of 12 states that have banned marriage under 18 with no exceptions. (Getty Images)

The New Hampshire House passed a bill Thursday raising the legal age of marriage to 18, sending the legislation to Gov. Chris Sununus desk after years of advocacy.

Senate Bill 359, which passed 192-174, states that no person below the age of 18 years shall be capable of contracting a valid marriage, and all marriages contracted by such persons shall be null and void. Under present law, that age is 16.

The bill would also repeal statutes that currently provide legal avenues for minors to marry. Currently, RSA 457:6 allows parents and guardians for those between 16 and 18 to petition a family court to grant permission for the marriage. That petition must include an indication of whether the Division for Children, Youth and Families has ever been involved with the child, and it allows the court to conduct an interview with each minor getting married without their parents present. SB 359 would eliminate the process entirely.

If signed into law, SB 359 would make New Hampshire one of 12 states that have banned marriage under 18 with no exceptions, a list that includes Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, according to UNICEF.

Maine currently allows 16- and 17-year-olds to marry with written consent from their parents, legal guardians, or custodians. But any marriage of minors in Maine would be invalid in New Hampshire if SB 359 becomes law.

The bill comes after years of pressure by Rep. Cassandra Levesque, a Barrington Democrat. In 2018, Levesque, then 19 and not yet a state representative, advocated for the Legislature to raise the marriage age to 18 from 14; House and Senate Republicans agreed to pass a bill to raise it to 16 instead. Later that year, Levesque won her first election to the House and has continued to press for the age to be raised to 18.

Levesque argued raising the age would help reduce exploitative situations.

The committee found that this bill is important to be in law because we know that age of majority does not amount to maturity, and that there is a greater risk of human trafficking and domestic violence without these protections, she said in remarks in the House Calendar introducing SB 359.

Republican lawmakers have opposed raising the marriage age in recent years. On Thursday, Rep. Margaret Drye, a Plainfield Republican, argued there were some circumstances in which marriage was a beneficial option for those under 18.

Drye recounted two times when a friend or a family member had obtained judicial approval for a marriage below the age of 16 because of an unexpected pregnancy.

They elected to get married because that offered to the young woman things that she didnt have before: stability, provision, protection, and a chance for a young family to be a family before a baby arrived, she said. The goal was still the same: marriage and raising a family together. They just got there in a little different timeline.

Rep. Jess Edwards argued that taking away the possibility of marriage could lead more 16- and 17-year-olds to abortion.

 If we continually restrict the freedom of marriage as a legitimate social option, when we do this to people who are a ripe, fertile age and may have a pregnancy and a baby involved, are we not in fact making abortion a much more desirable alternative, when marriage might be the right solution for some freedom-loving couples? he said.

And Rep. Tony Lekas of Hudson cited his marriage to Rep. Alicia Lekas, also of Hudson, which he said began when he was 16. And we didnt need any outside input from anyone, he said. Weve been married almost 53 years.

Rep. Josh Yokela, a Fremont Republican, introduced two amendments that would have made an exception to the 18-year-old marriage requirement if the minors had been emancipated by a court.

But House Democrats countered that children should not be married at 16 or 17 under any circumstances. And they disagreed that emancipation should be a qualification.

The fact of the matter is that emancipated minors cannot vote; they cannot purchase or consume tobacco or alcohol; they cannot purchase firearms, said Rep. Peter Petrigno. Why then would we allow for an age exception to marriage and nothing else?

Petrigno argued that emancipated children are some of the most vulnerable children, and could be taken advantage of by adults if allowed to marry.

Marriage is an emotional lifetime commitment based on love, not a solution to an unintended pregnancy, he said. We should not be putting children in a position to be taken advantage of by unsavory adults.

Both of Yokelas amendments were voted down. The bill will head to Sununus desk in the coming weeks.

The post House passes bill to raise minimum marriage age to 18, sending it to governor appeared first on New Hampshire Bulletin.
The Houthis struck an MSC merchant ship hundreds of miles east of the Horn of Africa on Friday in the first indicator that the Yemen-based militant group is widening the scope of its ongoing offensive on shipping beyond the Red Sea and neighboring Gulf of Aden.

Damage to the Portugal-flagged MSC Orion was minimal, according to the Joint Maritime Information Center, with the crew discovering debris from a drone on board.

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The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) confirmed Monday that the drone attack occurred between 300 and 400 nautical miles (345 to 460 miles) off the coast of Somalia.

Sourcing Journal reached out to Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), which has yet to publicly comment on the attack.

The vessel and crew are reported safe and the vessel is proceeding to its next port of call.

For now this does not appear to have changed the carriers operations, said Lars Jensen, CEO of container shipping consultancy Vespucci Maritime, in a LinkedIn post. Should more such attacks happen on container vessels this might result in vessels heading to/from the Persian Gulf and the transshipment hubs in Oman might take a more easterly detour. This will add some sailing time and, likely, prompt new surcharges.

The Iran-affiliated group also targeted the Cyclades bulk carrier, as well as two U.S. destroyers in the Red Sea, Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said in a televised address early on Tuesday.

In March, the Houthis announced their intent to extend their attacks to Israel-linked ships in the Indian Ocean sailing toward Africas Cape of Good Hope. The Orion has been associated with London-based Zodiac Maritime, which is owned by Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer. The Joint Maritime Information Centers report determined the MSC ship was likely targeted due to the perceived Israeli affiliation.

The vessel is the sister ship of the MSC Aries, seized by Irans Revolutionary Guard on April 13 in the Strait of Hormuz, and was operating the same service between Europe and ports in Sri Lanka and India.

Irans foreign minister said the 24 crew members remaining on board the ship will be released, but did not give a timeline for the release date.

The seizure of the Aries had the wider shipping industry up in arms, with 16 maritime shipping organizations calling for the seafarers release, and asking United Nations members to do more to ensure the safe transit of ships throughout the affected areas.

Given the nature of the dual MSC incidents and dozens of others, leaders in the global logistics landscape seem to suggest that the Red Sea detours are likely to extend well into the second half of 2024, and potentially into 2025.

Hapag-Lloyd CEO Rolf Habben Jansen said in an analyst call organized by the company Monday that he expects the crisis to simmer out before the end of 2024.

Habben Jansen also indicated that the companys ships are taking seven to 10 days longer to go around the Cape of Good Hope than they would have if they traversed the Suez Canal.

The safety of our people is more important than seven days transit time, Jansen said.

On the same call, Thorsten Meincke, who heads air and ocean freight at DB Schenker, said the German freight forwarding giant expects the Red Sea turmoil to likely last through the rest of the year.

It takes us at least into summer because that would already require getting it solved as we speak right now and that is probably very unlikely, Meincke said. So our planning goes that we need to continue with this throughout 2024.

Alan Murphy, founder of maritime trade advisory service Sea-Intelligence, said multiple factors must take place for Red Sea shipping volumes to normalize.

Even if the conflict was resolved magically tomorrow, we wouldnt see Suez transits tomorrow, Murphy said, indicating that there must be assurances that the Red Sea is safe over the longer term. If that occurs, the schedule adjustments would still take several months given the distances involved.

If we ever have a long-term safe resolution to the Red Sea crisis, its going to take six to 12 months before we actually have stable networks running through the Suez again, Murphy said.

Habben Jansen was much more optimistic regarding a potential return to normalcy to the Red Sea scenario if safety was assured.

I think that will go a little bit fasterin reality you should be able to do that in one round trip, which is probably 14 to 17 weeks, Habben Jansen said.
Justices FAFSA state of emergency already helping students qualify for financial aid

Thousands of West Virginia students have already been found eligible for in-state financial aid after Gov. Jim Justice issued a state of emergency Tuesday allowing students to apply for state school aid without filling out the FAFSA. (Getty Images)

Since Gov. Jim Justice on Tuesday declared a state of emergency over the federal student aid form fiasco, state higher education officials have identified thousands of students who will be able to receive in-state financial help.

A botched federal rollout of a new FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) has put applications in limbo.

We have been left with no choice, the Republican governor said as he announced a state of emergency.

Justices move suspended a requirement that college-bound high school seniors fill out the form in order to receive state financial aid, including the Promise Scholarship and the Higher Education Grant Program.

Kathryn Brown

By Wednesday, the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission had identified 4,700 students who will be eligible for the two awards without needing their FAFSA as the forms could be held up on the federal level.

Those students we already know we can go ahead and award, said Jessica Tice, senior director of communications for the HEPC.

West Virginia, which has a high child poverty rate, gives in-state financial help at a higher rate than most states. There is more than $100 million available to students through in-state financial aid, according to the HEPC.

Kathryn Brown and her husband filled out federal financial aid forms for her two daughters  one already attending an in-state school and the other a high school senior  at the start of the year.

It has been a debacle, said Brown, who lives in Charleston.

Her family still hasnt received financial aid award letters from the federal student aid office. She spent the last few months calling the Justices office and other politicians in hopes of getting answers; elected officials were very responsive, she noted.

Issues with the FAFSA have resulted in a 40% reduction in West Virginia high school FAFSA completion rates.

Brown said her FAFSA holdup came down to an error with the online signature box. It took months to figure out the problem, she said.

Meanwhile, Browns youngest daughter, a high-achieving student, has faced months of uncertainty about her financial help ahead of attending West Virginia University.

This is not those students fault, Brown said. As a parent you feel guilty that youre holding up your child.

Brian Weingart, senior director of financial aid at the HEPC, said some FAFSA forms submitted in January still havent been processed.

People get caught in the loop with the FAFSA, where its not processing then theyve called the help lines, he explained.

This is not those students fault.

 Kathryn Brown, a mother who lives in Charleston

Because of the tumultuous rollout, many colleges around the country delayed their deposit deadlines.

Justice is the first governor in the country to declare a state of emergency over the FAFSA fiasco.

WVU Communication Director April Kaull said the governors action will help our students receive aid to further their education in West Virginia. She added that her office is determining further information for students and families about the change.

We want students to keep in mind that the Sept. 1 Promise Scholarship deadline is still in place to complete the Promise application, and eligibility requirements vary by program, she said.

Higher education officials along with Kaull encouraged students to fill out their FAFSA despite the ongoing issues.

The HEPC has held more than 200 workshops in high schools and communities to help people with the new FAFSA form.

Were a smaller state and were able to help students more, Weingart said.

As Brown awaits official news  and money  from the federal FAFSA office, her youngest daughter recently learned that she will receive the Promise Scholarship.

My heart goes out to those who are waiting for financial packages to make a decision, she said.

If you need help filling out the FAFSA, call the state hotline at 1-877-987-7664 or visit https://www.collegeforwv.com

The post Justices FAFSA state of emergency already helping students qualify for financial aid appeared first on West Virginia Watch.
Body of 5th missing worker found more than a month after Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say

Video above: Maryland governor asks for federal help to rebuild Key Bridge

BALTIMORE (AP)  Authorities said they have recovered the body of a fifth person who was missing after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge more than a month ago.

The Key Bridge Response Unified Command announced that the victim found Wednesday was identified as Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez, 49, of Glen Burnie, Maryland.

Six members of a roadwork crew plunged to their deaths on March 26 when a container ship lost power and crashed into one of the bridges supporting columns. Five bodies have now been recovered, but one worker, Jose Mynor Lopez, has not been found. They were all Latino immigrants who came to the United States from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.

Workers remove wreckage of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Roberto Marquez, an artist from Dallas, speaks during an interview with the Associated Press at a memorial site to honor the construction workers who lost their lives in the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Thursday, April 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Workers remove wreckage of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Flowers are seen at a memorial site to honor the construction workers who lost their lives in the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Thursday, April 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Salvage teams found one of the missing construction vehicles Wednesday and notified the Maryland State Police, officials said. State police investigators and Maryland Transportation Authority Police officers and the FBI responded to the scene and recovered the body inside a red truck. The state police underwater recovery team and crime scene unit also assisted.

We remain dedicated to the ongoing recovery operations while knowing behind each person lost in this tragedy lies a loving family, Maryland State Police Superintendent Roland Butler said in a statement. Along with our local, state and federal partners, we ask that everyone extend their deepest sympathies and support to the families during this difficult time.

The Dali container ship has been stationary amid the wreckage since the collapse, but crews plan to refloat and remove the ship, allowing more maritime traffic to resume through Baltimores port. Officials expect to have it removed by May 10, according to a Port of Baltimore news release.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
CONCORD  By the end of 2027, New Hampshire's iconic 603 area code may reach its limit.

There are only so many seven-number combinations that can be put after the number 603, the states phone area code. In 2023, the North American Numbering Plan Administrator warned it hit the maximum as soon as 2027. That could mean New Hampshire will have to add a second area code in the near future.

To delay it, state lawmakers have introduced the aptly titled Senate Bill 603, which directs the New Hampshire Department of Energy and the Public Utilities Commission to do all it legally can to adopt telephone conservation measures and maximize the number of available numbers.

New Hampshire's iconic 603 area code may exceed capacity soon.

We lost the Old Man of the Mountain nearly 21 years ago. Our first-in-the-nation primary is under attack, even Daniel Webster went to Massachusetts to run for Senate. But we still have three numbers that are unique to the Granite State: 603, said Grant Bosse, the deputy chief of staff for the New Hampshire Senate, at a public hearing in front of the House Science, Technology, and Energy Committee in April. He introduced the bill on behalf of the prime sponsor, Senate President Jeb Bradley, R-Wolfeboro.

603 is more than an area code. It's an identity. We have songs and bumper stickers, and political slogans, and craft beers and T-shirts, said Bosse. 603 is New Hampshire, and New Hampshire is 603.

Transgender people a big focus of GOP: Why are there so many bills about gender identity in New Hampshire?

How could New Hampshire extend life of 603?

Some ways to preserve the code are reclaiming numbers that are no longer in use and requiring providers to return assigned blocks of numbers not being used. The bill comes with a one-time cost of $100,000 to $300,000 to hire a consultant to identify the measures New Hampshire could take.

Bradley introduced the bill in part at the request of New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, who issued an executive order last year that established the Dont Overload the Code initiative. To extend the life of the code, it directed the Department of Energy and the Bureau of Economic Affairs to reclaim unused telephone numbers.

The state is following the example of Maine, which also acted to preserve its code when told 207 would hit its limit by 2025. By limiting robocalls and changing forecasting and block requesting practices, the state was able to extend the life of the code until 2032, according to reporting by WMTW.

New Hampshire and Maine are two of just 11 states left with a single area code. However, according to Maines Public Utilities Commission, the whole country may run out of area codes by 2051.

Therefore, the efforts in New Hampshire wont prevent the need for a second area code someday, but it would move the date down the line, said Bosse. The New Hampshire Department of Energy testified it's optimistic it can extend the 603, perhaps even until the federal government determines how to number across the country when they run out.

But that inevitability is part of the reason Rep. Thomas Cormen, D-Lebanon, wrote the bill should be voted inexpedient to legislate in the committees minority report.

Whether or not we attempt to extend the life of the 603 area code, we will run out of phone numbers in the 603 area code sometime in the next few years, wrote Cormen. The bottom line is that this bill spends money just to kick the can down the road.

The bill passed the Senate in March by a voice vote. The House Science, Technology and Energy Committee narrowly recommended it to pass by a vote of 10-9, and it was scheduled to go to the House for a full vote Thursday.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Can New Hampshire lawmakers save the 603 as state's lone area code?
WASHINGTON  Donald Trumps claim to total immunity is a bridge too far for Senate Republicans, even some who are normally willing to say or do anything to show their support for the former president who tried to overthrow democracy.

Trumps attorney last week argued before the Supreme Court that the presumptive 2024 GOP nominee cant be held criminally liable for anything he did as president without being first impeached and convicted by Congress. This absolute immunity, the lawyer said, applied to outrageous hypotheticals posed by the justices, including a president ordering a military coup, selling nuclear secrets or directing the assassination of a political rival.

On Wednesday, GOP senators squirmed and scoffed when asked if they agree with Trump that a president is immune from being prosecuted for anything, including ordering the murder of a political opponent.

Obviously, presidents cant assassinate political rivals, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said flatly.

The court is likely to reject or sidestep Trumps bid for total immunity, and send the case back to a lower court for more deliberation over what counts as an official presidential act. Trumps team has argued that many of his actions aimed at overturning the 2020 election were part of his official duties  including when he directed the submission of fraudulent slates of alternate electors in the election, despite President Joe Bidens victory.

Well, I mean, theres got to be some immunity for official acts. The question is, what are those, said Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.). I dont know the answer to that.

Hawley, a lawyer himself, wouldnt say whether he would have made the same argument about total immunity that Trumps lawyers did before the Supreme Court.

Ill do my fellow lawyers the courtesy of not second-guessing them, he said.

Is there any scenario, though, in which a president should be granted immunity for assassinating a political rival?

I have a hard time seeing that, Hawley finally said.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), one of a handful of Republican senators who voted to convict Trump for inciting an insurrection, said he definitely did not agree. He mimicked a gun with his hand and pointed it at a HuffPost reporters head.

I mean, could I, as president, shoot you in the head? Cassidy said. Of course not.

Even some of Donald Trump's Republican allies in the Senate scoffed at his claim that presidents can't be held criminally liable for anything they do while in office, including ordering the assassination of a political rival. Pool via Getty Images

Some GOP senators, perhaps eager to stay in Trumps good graces, dodged the question and instead tried to compare Trumps actions in office to Bidens.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), one of Trumps top allies on Capitol Hill, suggested that Biden could benefit from Trumps arguments for immunity from prosecution because he might, somehow, face legal trouble over his administrations policies granting student loan relief.

I mean, presidents already have immunity, because if you dont, theyre gonna go back  were gonna have a lot of people go to jail, Tuberville said. Yeah, especially this one going against the Supreme Court, you know, forgiving student loans.

The Supreme Court struck down Bidens student loan forgiveness program last year, but unlike Trump, Biden hasnt been charged by the Justice Department and isnt facing jail time over it.

Asked again if he agrees with Trumps argument that presidents can get prosecutorial immunity if they order the assassination of a political opponent, Tuberville demurred.

I aint gonna get in on that, he said. I mean, thats crazy.

"I ain't gonna get in on that," said Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.). Tom Williams via Getty Images

Some Democrats warned that the Supreme Court will further risk damaging its legitimacy if it rules in Trumps favor, or if it sends the case back to an appeals court for more deliberation. If it does the latter, that would mean Trump wouldnt go to trial for trying to overturn the results of a presidential election, despite no evidence of the widespread voter fraud he claimed.

This is an ongoing indication of how radical conservatives on the court have lost their way, said Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.). I mean, you ask any random person on the street, Should any person be above the law, including the president? The answer is no.

Thats been part of our Constitution. It has been part of the norms of our society. And the Supreme Court is questioning that, he added. Its pretty shocking.

Strangely, only one Republican senator seemed to convey the same level of disbelief that this question is even being discussed.

No. No. No immunity. No! said Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa). Its just that simple.

I mean, you ask any random person on the street, 'Should any person be above the law, including the president?' The answer is no.Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.)

The closest anyone came to agreeing with Trumps lawyers was when Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) broadly defended the concept of presidential immunity without an act of Congress. In a Wednesday interview on CNN, Vance, who has been floated as a potential running mate for Trump, declined to say where any limit should be.

Youre basically saying that if the president orders a military coup, you believe the only remediation for that is impeachment? CNN host Kaitlan Collins asked.

Youre dealing with hypotheticals here that are completely outside the bounds of this situation, Vance replied. Donald Trump did not order a coup, despite the fact that a lot of media people say he did on January the 6th.

Trumps total immunity argument also carries an inherent contradiction. By arguing that a president cant be criminally liable for anything they do without first being impeached and convicted by Congress, that would bar the Senate from convicting them because they wouldnt be subject to the law in the first place.

As Justice Sonia Sotomayor put it to Trumps lawyers: If hes not covered by the criminal law, he cant be impeached for violating it at all.

None of this seemed to matter to Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), who said he hasnt been following Trumps case but dismissed the question about a president having total immunity because it was HuffPost asking the question.

If a president assassinated his political rivals in America, he would be impeached, Sullivan grumbled, climbing into a Senate subway car.

But would a president even be convicted in the Senate in this scenario, given that Republicans have already twice refused to convict Trump on serious charges? The first charges were for obstruction of justice and abuse of power, the second instance was for inciting an insurrection.

Oh, there you go, HuffPost, Sullivan said, visibly annoyed, as the subway car pulled him away.

The Alaska Republican refused to convict Trump on either of the two impeachmentcharges against him in his first Senate trial, and again in his second Senate trial.

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Some of the weapons and ammunition recently discovered stolen from two Colombian military bases might have ended up in the hands of armed gangs in Haiti, according to Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who warned that arms smugglers have created alliances with corrupt members of his countrys military.

While describing the theft of the weaponry as a grave issue, Petro also warned that part of the military supplies could have ended up in the hands of Colombian guerrillas and other local armed groups. Besides ammunition, the missing supplies include explosives, hand grenades and anti-tank missiles.

The weapons were destined for third parties such as armed irregular groups in Colombia... and probably for groups involved in foreign conflicts, the closest being Haiti, Petro said on Tuesday from the presidential palace in Bogota.

More than a million rounds of ammunition have been lost, he said, as well as explosives, grenades and weapons such as missiles from the military bases at Tolemaida, 75 miles southwest of Bogota, and La Guajira, near the northern border with Venezuela. There have been networks made up of people from the military and civilian forces dedicated to a massive arms trade for a long time, the president added.

The missing equipment was detected amid reports that foreign smugglers have been supplying weapons to Haitian gangs, feeding the growing spiral of armed violence gripping the country. Amid a two-month-long insurgency by armed groups in Haiti, gangs have seem to have an endless supply of ammunition, raising questions about their origin.

Experts following the trafficking of arms into the country also note the presence of newer heavy-caliber weapons popping up in the hands of gangs, raising suspicions about whether they could be coming from nations other than the United States, the leading source of illegal guns and ammunition to Haiti.

Petro did not say if his government has specific evidence suggesting that part of the stolen equipment was sent to Haiti, but pointed out that the Guajira base is only seven hours away by fast boat from the Caribbean nation.

The discovery was the result of inspections of military bases in the center and northern sectors of the country between February and April, which found that ammuition and weapons were missing, said Petro, who did not disclose the caliber of the armaments. The audits also showed that thousands of grenades and anti-tank charges were also missing, as well as 550 rockets and two missiles.

In Haiti armed groups have attacked hospitals, police stations and the premises of the countrys newspaper, Le Nouvelliste, as they continue to tighten their hold over the capital, Port-au-Prince. Even the downtown premises of the National Press, home of the governments official newspaper, Le Moniteur, hasnt been spared.

Earlier this week, the Office of the U.S Secretary of State for the Integration of People with Disabilities said that disabled individuals living at the St. Vincent Home in downtown Port-au-Prince were victims of an attack by armed groups. The home is now among several facilities and government structures in the downtown area of the capital that have been targeted by gangs that have vandalized or looted training schools and the National Library.

Petro, wearing a military cap while meeting with journalists at the presidential palace on Tuesday, described the theft of Colombias weaponry as a scandalous act of corruption involving officials in charge of protecting the state.

The missing weapons were detected amid his governments efforts to fight corruption. One of the main goals is to separate members of the public force from any criminal association, he said.
US hits China with sweeping sanctions over support for Russias war in Ukraine

The US has sanctioned nearly 300 companies and individuals from China, Russia, and several other countries for allegedly supporting Russias defence industry and helping it evade American sanctions over the war in Ukraine.

The US Department of the Treasury said on Wednesday that it had imposed sanctions on nearly 200 entities and the State Department on more than 80 to degrade Russias ability to sustain its war machine in Ukraine.

The sanctioned entities, located in Azerbaijan, Belgium, China, Russia, Turkey, the UAE and Slovakia, have allegedly enabled Russia to "acquire desperately needed technology and equipment from abroad.

The sanctions came after treasury secretary Janet Yellen and secretary of state Antony Blinken made trips to China to sound alarm over what they described as Beijings commercial support for Russias defence industry that has helped Moscow sustain its war in Ukraine.

Among the Chinese companies implicated are Finder Technology, headquartered in Hong Kong, which is alleged to have exported 293 consignments of drone components and electronics to Russia, the Treasury Department announced.

Juhang Aviation Technology Shenzhen Co is accused of supplying Russia with drone propellers, signal jammers, sensors and engines. Zhongcheng Heavy Equipment Defense Technology Group Co Ltd is accused of providing equipment to the paramilitary Wagner Group.

"Treasury has consistently warned that companies will face significant consequences for providing material support for Russias war and the US is imposing them today on almost 300 targets," Ms Yellen said.

For the first time, the Department of Treasury sanctioned importers of cotton cellulose and nitrocellulose which serve as the main precursors that Russia needs to produce gunpowder, rocket propellants and other explosives.

Ms Yellen claimed that the new sanctions combined with Americas additional funding for Ukraine will provide Kyiv with a critical leg-up on the battlefield.

Ukrainian workers install anti-tank dragon teeth as they construct new defensive positions in Kharkiv region (AP)

Ms Yellen had warned during her visit to Beijing on 8 April that corporations or individuals facilitating transactions for dual-use goods to Russias defence industrial base will expose them to the risk of US sanctions.

The Department of State imposed sanctions on four Chinese companies that it accused of supporting Russias defence industry, including by shipping critical components to Russian entities sanctioned by the US, as well as companies in Turkey, Kyrgyzstan and Malaysia that it accused of shipping high priority items to Moscow.

A Ukrainian soldier instals a national flag on a grassed area at the Independence square in Kyiv (AP)

It also expanded sanctions to target Russias ability to ship liquefied natural gas, or LNG, one of the countrys top exports. It designated a vessel operator based in Singapore and another in Hong Kong for working with Russias Arctic LNG 2 project.

The department also targeted subsidiaries of Russias state nuclear power company, Rosatom, as well as 12 entities within the Sibanthracite group of companies, one of Russias largest producers of metallurgical coal.

Popular budget airline Pobeda, a subsidiary of Russian airline Aeroflot, was also sanctioned.

Sanctions imposed last month by the US on Arctic LNG 2 reportedly compelled Novatek, Russias leading LNG producer, to halt production at the project due to a lack of tankers available to transport the fuel.

The State Department also sanctioned three persons allegedly linked to the death in prison of the Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny.

The Russian foreign ministry hasnt commented on the development yet.

Russian ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov told Tass news agency that Russia and the Russians cannot be intimidated by such decisions.

The new American sanctions against Russia only serve to further doubts about Washingtons ability to play a constructive role in the worlds affairs, Mr Antonov added.

Local officials do not realize that these illegitimate tricks only scare other states away. In fact, they fertilize doubts about the constructiveness of Americas current role in the world, he said.

The Chinese embassy in Washington said Beijing oversees the export of dual-use materials in accordance with laws and regulations, adding that normal trade and economic interactions between China and Russia are in line with World Trade Organization rules and market principles.

The Chinese side firmly opposes the USAs illegal unilateral sanctions, Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the embassy, said.
One of the top Republican candidates for Virginias 7th Congressional District has pledged his fealty to the House Freedom Caucus if elected to office in November.

Cameron Hamilton made his pledge to join the U.S. House Republicans' far-right wing during a podcast interview and on X, formerly Twitter, in March.

Ive pledged to join the House Freedom Caucus in Congress because I believe in standing up for the best interests of the American people, even when it means pushing back on members of our own party, Hamilton wrote on his campaign website.

The House Freedom Caucus, currently chaired by Virginia Rep. Bob Good, has gained a reputation in the 118th Congress as an ultraconservative obstacle for passing bills. Its members have attempted to halt legislation as Republicans maintain power in the U.S. House of Representatives with an increasingly slim majority.

Hamilton has received endorsements from several sitting Freedom Caucus members, including Good, and the caucuses former chairman Rep. Scott Perry, R  Pennsylvania.

Virginia's 7th Congressional District is currently represented by Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a moderate Democrat who announced she would not seek re-election to Congress in late 2023. Instead she plans to run for governor of the commonwealth in 2025. After her announcement more than a dozen Democratic and Republican candidates entered the race.

Cameron Hamilton

Caucus members causing chaos

Members of the group of 37 ultraconservative Republicans have rankled their party and have at times thrown the 118th Congress into chaos and have stonewalled federal funding bills to the brink of government shut down.

The House Freedom Caucus as a body did not introduce the motion to vacate Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his leadership role, but four of the eight Republican House members who voted with Democrats to oust the former Speaker are members of the caucus. Those four members include the current caucus chair, Rep. Bob Good, along with Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Rep. Eli Crane of Arizona, and Rep. Matt Rosendale of Montana.

McCarthy vacated his role as House Speaker on October 3 and Speaker Mike Johnson was not elected to the position until October 25, effectively halting any federal legislative action for the greater part of a month.

In March, the House Freedom Caucus encouraged their fellow Republicans to vote against the $1.2 trillion federal funding bill needed to avert a sustained government shutdown.

Is there anything that some Republicans wont do to keep this government open? Why are we in a rush to keep this government open that is so harming the American people by thevery policies which they are suffering under? Caucus chair Good said in a statement in March.

Is this an effective method of legislating?

When asked via email if he views the caucus method of legislating as effective, Hamilton did not answer the question directly and instead issued the following statement:

The progressive agenda of the Biden administration is destroying our country, while Republicans fail to meaningfully defeat that agenda or provide substantive solutions. My message resonates across Virginias 7th because voters want leadership that will prioritize the security of our southern border and advocate for sound fiscal policy to combat the cost-of-living crisis Biden has created. Thats the kind of representative Im pledging to be.

Though it appears the caucus influence may be waning, Hamilton has not backed down from his pledge to join the group if he wins the party primary in June and the election in November.

A former Navy Seal, Hamilton has raised the second largest sum in donations among Republican candidates for Virginias 7th Congressional District race, according to the FEC.

This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Va. Republican candidate for Congress pledges to join Freedom Caucus
Mick Jagger, center, with bandmates Ronnie Wood, left, and Keith Richards, of The Rolling Stones perform during the opening night of the Stones "Hackney Diamonds" tour at NRG Stadium on Sunday, April 28, 2024 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer

Life lessons

Regarding The Rolling Stones kick off Hackney Diamonds Tour with exhilarating Houston show at NRG Stadium, (April 29): True to their name, the Rolling Stones have gathered no moss, as evidenced by their energetic concert Sunday, April 28, at NRG Stadium. As I watched them play, sing and strut their stuff, I thought to myself, I want to be like that when I am 80! We can glean two (or more) lessons from this enduring rock band.

First, do what you love, unabashedly, and second, music has the power to unite us in a shared experience. As a salute to their greatness it seems, the large, multigenerational audience behaved themselves, waiting patiently in long lines to buy merchandise and entering and leaving the concert civilly. May we cherish the lessons of the Rolling Stones and gather no moss as we travel toward old age and the end of our lives on Earth.

Barbara Lynn, Houston

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Student demonstrations

Regarding Police, protesters clash again at UT Austin as pro-Palestinian demonstrations return, (April 29): While I certainly do not support police officers pepper spraying women, or men, in the face because they are loud and shouting things the police do not necessarily agree with, I wish the female protesters, especially, would get their priorities straight.

Hold up signs that say Free Palestinian women, Free Muslim women, Stop raping Jewish women and girls. Lets call for divesting from corporations that harm women, instead of divesting from corporations that are tied to Israel. Oops, that would probably be all of them!

Darlene Prescott, Pasadena, University of Texas graduate 76

The protests are not about threatening Jewish students on campus. Theyre about the deaths of over 34,000 Palestinians and peoples opportunity to work and live under Palestine rule in a two-state solution. Who is going to rebuild a city of over 2 million that has been blown to bits with no remaining infrastructure? Gaza looks like Berlin, Germany, in July 1945.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has gone too far in trying to wipe out more than 2 million people over the actions of a few. Its a shame that the three largest religions in the world, all from that area, believe in the same God but constantly kill each other.

James Brown, Houston

Across Americas college campuses students are protesting against the war between Israel and Hamas and urging support for Palestine. While some of these protests are peaceful, some are not and they disrupt the ability of Jewish students to attend class. Students have paid to attend class, and it is the responsibility of the university to provide a safe environment for all students to attend class in person. Administrators of those universities who will not provide for on-campus classes should be fired, and the National Guard should be called in to escort and provide the necessary security to safeguard those students.

Why have we become so weak that we allow a bunch of radical students and outside agitators to take over and occupy our colleges and universities? This is America, the greatest country in the world, and we should not allow the chaos and disruption caused by these protesters. Hamas is a terrorist organization, and any protester who claims they are pro-Hamas should be arrested and jailed or deported.

Robert T. Haas, Missouri City

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Please help me understand. Right-wing protesters can riot to overthrow a democratic election (we have all seen the evidence) and be labeled patriots and hostages, yet left-wing protesters are arrested and suspended from universities. Does freedom of speech only apply to conservatives?

Eric Jorgeson, Houston

State of our nation

I spent last week closely monitoring protests on college campuses, the New York hush money case against Donald Trump, the arguments made before the Supreme Court about presidential immunity, the comments of Republican leaders and voters, and the newest presidential preference polls  polls which fortunately arent always accurate this early in the race. I watched with distaste most of the Sunday morning news shows. This compels me to worry that even if the verdicts of legal cases against Trump are rendered prior to November (which seems unlikely), those outcomes wont significantly impact the 2024 presidential election.

Sadly, I am amazed that so many potential voters dont care about whether Trump has committed crimes or engaged in despicable behavior. Moreover, despite Joe Bidens long and documented record of accomplishments, too many are willing to vote for someone who admits he will use the office of the presidency as a tool for revenge and who will undermine democracy, along with the rule of law.

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As a Jew, I am deeply disturbed by the not-so-coincidental rise of antisemitism. Frankly, I remain perplexed by the possibility that the majority of Americans are poised to vote against the only candidate who is a decent human being and who cares more about his country and its citizens than himself. Never in my 72 years have I experienced such trepidation about the state of our nation.

Richard Cherwitz, professor emeritus, University of Texas at Austin
Jeff Gudman and Elizabeth Steiner are competing for the Democratic nomination for treasurer. (Campaign photos)

The central campaign issue in Oregons Democratic primary contest for state treasurer turns out to be the nature of the job itself.

Maybe that shouldnt be rare. Probably few voters consider the actual work a president, senator or school board member does when casting their ballots, though we should. In the case of the current Democratic treasurer primary in Oregon, quite a few voters likely will.

Thats partly because of the contrasting backgrounds of the two candidates on the ballot: state Sen. Elizabeth Steiner, a 13-year legislator from Portland, and Jeff Gudman, whose filing describes him as a financial analyst, controller, treasurer, investor. You can make an argument that both have parts of the background needed for the job.

The winner will face Republican Brian Boquist, a state senator who cannot serve another term because he participated in a six-week Republican Senate walkout. Hes running unopposed for his partys nomination.

Treasurer may be the most technical of Oregons statewide elected posts, with core tasks that involve investment and bookkeeping. The treasurer oversees $100 billion in state investment, including in the Public Employee Retirement System, PERS. The job also includes smaller responsibilities, including serving on the state Land Board, managing unclaimed property and some estates. But the essence is in managing that bankroll and investing it. The more the investment yields, the less needed from taxpayers.

That technical side to the job is candidate Gudmans calling card. He was a city councilor for Lake Oswego for eight years. But his emphasis on qualification concerns his education and professional background, a finance and management MBA from the Wharton School of Business, and work as a financial analyst for Hyster Company, which makes forklifts and lift trucks, and treasurer for divisions of Northwest Natural Gas. He has also helped run several nonprofits and been an investor for about 30 years.

He has a highly detailed platform relating to how the state invests money, calling for finding ways to invest to help local economic development and shift the entities where the state places money. The link between Gudmans background and the treasurers work is clear.

At the same time, the treasurers office is not just money management: It also is political, and legally it is a partisan office. It is second in line of succession to the governor, after the secretary of state, a reasonable factor for voters to bear in mind. And questions of political philosophy do come into play even in finances. Gudman, for example, has said he would scale back the states policy of disinvesting in fossil fuel businesses, a shift from the current practice.

Politics is a problem for Gudman. His run for treasurer this year is his third. He lost twice to Democrat Tobias Read, whos retiring as treasurer, while running as a Republican. He has said that he left the Republican Party, or that it left him, because of philosophical differences. His political background still may make a difference with Democratic primary voters, and it might matter as well in dealings with other Democratic elected officials.

The other candidate and apparent frontrunner, Elizabeth Steiner, doesnt have that problem. She is well-established within the states Democratic Party, and her endorsement list offers an ample demonstration, with backing from many of the leading Democratic state officials, all the Democrats in the congressional delegation and Read, plus many of the usual Democratic support groups.

She is not a finance professional: By occupation, Steiner is a physician. She does have experience as a legislative budget writer and co-chairs the legislative audits committee, but her statements on state money management and investment have been thinner  aside from a general view on smart investing  than Gudmans.

The counter would be that the treasurers office is extensively, and some would argue expensively as well, staffed, with officers who are professionals in finance and investment. The treasurers job is more in the area of policy direction and relations with outside organizations, including the Legislature.

In its editorial endorsing Gudman, The Oregonian/OregonLive argued, We disagree on the importance of political experience for this position. In fact, deep political alliances can be problematic for a treasurer who has a legally binding responsibility to make decisions in the best financial interest of the beneficiaries whose funds are under management.

Neither perspective should be absolute. Read is actually a mix of the two roles. He has an MBA from the University of Washington and worked as an assistant to the federal Department of the Treasury from 1999 to 2001, though his main private sector experience was mid-level corporate. He also served in the Oregon Legislature for years, developing close political relationships on the way. Hes now a candidate for secretary of state.

Voters in this primary will be faced with an unusually straight-ahead choice: What set of qualifications is most important? That direct consideration of personal backgrounds makes this possibly the most unusual election on the ballot in Oregon this season.

The post Voters will decide between money manager or a political state executive for treasurer appeared first on Oregon Capital Chronicle.
In Nevada, utility regulators are not even required to collect and report data on how many customers are being disconnected. (Photo: Ronda Churchill/Nevada Current)

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN), which regulates utility companies like NV Energy and Southwest Gas, must consider the daily challenges of Nevadans when making decisions that will directly impact our lives. The PUCN serves as the regulatory body to ensure utility companies operate while serving the public interest of customers and shareholders.

Last year, I went to the consumer meetings of the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN). At every event, black, brown, and white Nevadans spoke out and stood together against proposed rate hikes by NV Energy because were unable to make ends meet with the current cost of living. Despite having everyone stand united to say No to this proposal, PUCN approved the increases and plans to implement them this month

Now, Southwest Gas is going down the same route and asking for increased service costs. Under the Southwest Gas plan, the average monthly bill for a single-family household in Southern Nevada will skyrocket from $60 in 2023 to $101 in 2024. This is an alarming increase of nearly 70%.

At 34 years old, Ive been battling liver cancer and non-Hodgkins lymphoma for most of my life. The recent spike in utility rates has added unnecessary stress. Im cutting down on meals because I cant afford groceries after paying my monthly utility bills and rent. On top of that, I have high medical bills. My problems mirror what many other Nevadans are also experiencing.

I went to the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN) meetings to make my voice heard. Testifying before decision-makers, I explained the harsh realities of choosing between high utility bills and critical medical expenses. My testimony was a rallying cry for justice, resonating with attendees and rallying support for our cause. However, PUCNs decision to approve the rate hike for NV Energy (and making customers pay for increased NV Energys employee bonuses) was profoundly disappointing, reminding me of the uphill battle ahead. Nevertheless, I refuse to be deterred and demand transparency, accountability, and fairness in our states utility regulation. I ask every Nevadan to fight for a more equitable plan.

NV Energy and Southwest Gas need to transparently share information on how their actions, particularly shutoffs, affect Nevadans. With each new rate increase proposed by NV Energy and Southwest Gas and approved by the PUCN, it becomes more difficult to pay utility bills, forcing us into impossible situations, like choosing between power and groceries. An increasing number of Nevadans are at risk of having their power disconnected, yet there is no publicly available information detailing how many are affected. This underscores the urgent need for legislation to address these issues and to end the corporations lack of transparency regarding such a basic necessity.

Nationwide, utility disconnections are rising at an alarming rate, and in Nevada, utility agencies are not even required to collect and report data on how many customers are being disconnected. This puts Nevada behind other states, which require reporting on shutoffs. In fact, some states are going even further to put policies in place to prevent shutoffs in the first place. The Illinois Commerce Commission implemented a new metric for consumer advocates to keep customers connected to essential utility services. In Indiana, a bill is currently moving through the legislature that would prohibit the termination of utility service altogether. These affordability and consumer protection measures can only be put in place when there is data to back them up.

Nevada desperately needs consumer protection. Nevadans are already complaining to PUCN about NV Energy and the injustice of their higher rates. These complaints reveal separate customers who are expected to pay thousands of dollars and risk shutoffs. Customers have had their services cut off even when they rely on crucial medical equipment. These complaints are the best data to understand the states disconnections.

If you are reading this and facing tough financial decisions because of high energy bills, show up for the next PUCN meeting, register your complaint, and make your voice heard. I can only imagine what it would mean if we did not. We must stand stronger than ever to show these agencies and our representatives that we are the reason that they are in those positions. We demand transparency and accountability for these unfair measures that place profit over the well-being of our families. The battle is not over. We must stand up and fight back to protect our families survival.

The post Wanted: Transparency at the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada appeared first on Nevada Current.
Incidents at two Lynchburg city schools on Thursday resulted in three arrests and the cancellation of classes for the day.

The first incident happened at E.C. Glass High School, where police were called to investigate a trespassing incident at the school that was captured on security cameras, according to a Lynchburg Police Department news release.

Officers responded to the school just before 7 a.m. for a report of two trespassers and began searching the grounds, the release said. Police located two teenagers, ages 17 and 18, who are current students at the high school.

The boys were arrested and charged with trespassing on school property and entering the property of another for purpose of damaging, the release said.

The Lynchburg City School system dismissed students and staff just after 8 a.m. out of caution, the release said.

The Virginia State Police and the Liberty University Police Department brought K-9 units trained in explosives detection to make sure the school was safe, the release said.

Lynchburg Police then responded to Linkhorne Middle School for a report of a bomb threat at 9:18 a.m., the news release said. The city school system dismissed students for the day at 9:46 a.m. out of caution. Linkhorne Elementary School was briefly evacuated, but returned to normal activity.

The investigation resulted in the arrest of a 14-year-old on one count of threatening to bomb a building, the release said.

The Virginia State Police and the Liberty University Police Department K-9 units also assisted in making sure the middle school was safe, the release said.

Anyone with information about these incidents is asked to contact Detective R. Williams at (434) 455-6160 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 798-5900. Enter a tip online at http://p3tips.com or use the P3 app on a mobile device.
May 03 (News On Japan) - Detectives Reina and the rookie Sato find themselves investigating a taxi driver named Kodogawa due to an unexpected turn of events. What was supposed to be a simple conduct investigation leads them to a "high school girl's disappearance"...

During a talent audition hosted by the agency Mystery Kiss, Reina and Kanon make it to the final selection. Successfully sneaking into the dressing room, Reina probes a girl claiming to be Yuki Miya, but her questions are subtly dodged. Sensing Reina's movements, Yamamoto alerts Yano. Consequently, Reina finds herself chased by Yano's men. Although she manages to escape the audition venue, she ends up cornered in a deserted building. Meanwhile, Yano is meeting with the boss, Kuroda, who suspects that Yano might be the mastermind behind the Miya kidnapping. Despite Yano's light-hearted demeanor, Kuroda's suspicions linger.

Source:  
NAGANO, May 03 (News On Japan) - Nagano Prefecture's Shiga Kogen is bustling with spring skiers, with significant snow remaining at the Yokoteyama-Shibutoge Ski Resort in Yamanouchi Town.

The opening of the "Shiga-Kusatsu Highland Route" has made it more accessible from the Kanto region, attracting many visitors both from within and outside the prefecture.

According to the ski resort staff, the snow depth is typical for this time of year, with some areas still having about 80 centimeters of snow. The ski resort plans to continue operations until mid-this month.

Source: TBS
Avoca Main Street is encouraging diners and shoppers to visit downtown businesses with the second annual Meet & Mingle on Main Street event on Saturday.

The district-wide promotion will feature shopping, eating and drinking specials up and down the Main Street, with special pop-up shops, new business previews and two ribbon-cutting ceremonies, according to a news release.

Dining offerings include restaurants, bars, coffee shops and a preview of Raddberrys Bakery.

Personal service specials include tattoos, piercings, permanent makeup, massage, hair styling, personal stylist and color analysis.

Shoping specials at 10 downtown retail establishments will accommodate a variety of wants and needs, and a Free Comic Book Day pop-up will be offered by Second Impressions Comics featuring merchants, auction and gaming.

The Avoca Public Library will offer a create-your-own comic activities. Family Connections Inc. will provide health services.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for 11 a.m. at Or Best Offer Store at 131 N. Elm St. OBOS offers gently used items, antiques and collectibles with a constantly rotating inventory of treasures.

A second ribbon-cutting ceremony at 11:30 a.m. will welcome House of Colour to 154 S. Elm St. Megan Hansen is a personal stylist, curating confidence by finding an individuals best colors and personal style in southwest Iowa.
In the Friday, Nov. 18, 1887, first edition issue of the Daily News, the contents one will find are quite a bit different from what you'd see in a modern paper. Advertisements were of the times, with such services as blacksmithing and livery stables still relevant during the era.
Protesters are taken into custody as law enforcement dismantle an encampment by pro-Palestinian students at the University of Texas at Dallas' Chess Plaza on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Richardson, Texas. (Juan Figueroa/The Dallas Morning News via AP) Juan Figueroa/AP

I must admit, Ive never participated in a protest. Partly because I feared jeopardizing my and my familys immigration status in the U.S. by marching on the streets and risking arrest. And partly because, while theres no shortage of social injustices that rile me up, frankly, I can struggle to identify with protesters. Their signs and demands often necessitate pithy, binary stances that go against my search for nuance.

Yet I cant help but feel awe as I watch people my age put everything on the line  their safety, freedom, reputation, academic status and career  to keep peoples eyes on the rubble in Gaza and the estimated 34,000 Palestinians whose lives were cut short.

I would like to think, when I consider horrors such as the Holocaust or the Vietnam War, that Id be on the right side of history  that I would have been the first to speak up, to stand up, to do something. But I wonder, excuses aside, would I have even had the guts to participate?

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We can argue about the form of protest, the intentions of demonstrators and whether their demands are feasible. But its the condescension Ive seen aimed at the demonstrators that baffles and frustrates me.

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN PROFESSOR: Protests dont interfere with education. Protests are education.

At Columbia University, where a police raid of the students encampment sparked the widespread demonstrations across more than 40 campuses, House Speaker Mike Johnson offered unsolicited advice. My message to the students inside the encampment is: Go back to class, Johnson said over a chorus of boos. Stop wasting your parents money.

I dont need to tell you that student demonstrators have always elicited patronizing comments. You may have lived it yourself. The story of powerful people berating kids for their perceived naivete, for not directing their rage in a more decorous manner, is an old one. The issue, the elders seem to say, isnt a war with a mounting death toll that addles the mind. The issue is a group of rowdy, drum-beating students who werent considerate enough to make an appointment. To quietly, patiently wait their turn.

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Thats the message John McWhorter, an associate professor of linguistics at Columbia, sent in his recent tone-deaf New York Times op-ed. The professor complains that encampment noise ruined a planned class presentation on composer John Cages 433  an invitation to listen to the world in silence for that amount of time.

I had to tell the students we could not listen to that piece that afternoon because the surrounding noise would have been not birds or people walking by in the hallway but infuriated chanting from protesters outside the building, McWhorter wrote. He argued the noise would inflict cruelty on his Israeli and Jewish American students.

McWhorter is known for his takedown of the excesses of wokeness, which he claims infantilize the groups theyre meant to protect, so it seems strange that he would bend over backwards to shelter this particular group of students from the outrage of another. But his perspective is a reminder that silence itself is a subjective, privileged thing. As Palestinian poet Marwan Makhoul wrote, In order for me to write poetry that isnt political, I must listen to the birds / and in order to hear the birds / the warplanes must be silent.

You may look at these student protesters and think, just wait until you face the real world. But the real world is exactly what some of these demonstrators cant escape.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Abbott cares about free speech  when he agrees with whats said

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Sarah Sakha, a Princeton peer who earned her masters in humanitarian studies and tech policy from Columbia, dedicates the time she has outside of work to organizing pro-Palestine protests. An Irani-American, she knows what its like to attend classes in which American policies in the Middle East are debated dispassionately, treated as complex thesis topics and not real decisions that can affect whether someone back home lives or dies. Having visited Palestine and actually talked to people there, she said, makes the atrocities in Gaza even more haunting.

Once you go and see for yourself, you cant unsee it, she said.

Institutions of higher learning should at the very least engage with, if not laud, the students brave enough to take lessons out of the classroom and agitate for real-world change. Instead, their response has been to suspend and sic outside police on students.

To whom do we extend free speech and assembly rights? To whom are we listening and providing a platform? Sarah asked.

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Even if students dont achieve the divestment they dream of, theyve gotten the whole world to pay attention. Many Gazans have even taken the time to express their gratitude towards American students, writing messages of hope and thanks across their tents in Rafah.
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Moroccan-American longstanding friendship, strategic alliance, and shared history have been honored by the U.S. National Trust for Historic Preservation which listed the American Legation in Tangiers among this years eleven most endangered American historic sites.

Speaking during a ceremony held Wednesday in Washington, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Richard Verma praised the National Trust for Historic Preservations selection of the American Legation in Tangier, saying the building remains a symbol of the friendship between America and Morocco over 200 years later.

Moroccan ambassador to the United States Youssef Amrani voiced Moroccos commitment to preserving this emblematic building which demonstrates the special and deep historic ties existing between the two countries.

We have the longest unbroken Treaty of friendship and our alliance is gaining momentum thanks to King Mohammed VI leadership and constant commitment to a strategic partnership, said the ambassador, noting that the American Legation in Tangier represents the values of openness, coexistence, and dialogue shared by the two countries.

The Legation served for 140 years as a U.S. diplomatic post and is now home to the private, non-profit Tangier American Legation Institute for Moroccan Studies, housing a museum, research library, and cultural center.

On this occasion, Ms. Andrea Cochrane Tracey, Director of the Fund to Conserve United States Diplomatic Treasures Abroad announced the aim to establish a $10 million preservation endowment to maintain the buildings structural integrity and to provide it with maintenance and operating funding.
Chairman of the presidency of Bosnia & Herzegovina Denis Becirovic has addressed a written message to King Mohammed VI.

The message was handed over to Moroccos Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita by Nerkez Arifhodzic, special envoy of Denis Becirovic, at a meeting held in Rabat Wednesday.

In a statement to the press following the meeting, Arifhodzic praised the wise and constructive policy of King Mohammed VI, highlighted the progress made by Morocco in several sectors, and expressed his countrys willingness to give a new impetus to the very fraternal relations with Morocco in all areas, particularly economic and diplomatic.

At a time when support was needed for Bosnia-Herzegovina, His Majesty King Mohammed VI, the late King Hassan II, and the Moroccan people expressed their support for Bosnia-Herzegovina, the special envoy pointed out.

Arifhodzic indicated further that his meeting with Bourita provided an opportunity to discuss several current issues on the international and regional levels.
A group of UK former officials, MPS and security pundits urged their country to back Moroccos autonomy plan, describing it as conducive to regional security and serving UKs interests.

Among the speakers at a conference held as part of an event showcasing Moroccos investment opportunities, Liam Fox reiterated his call on the UK government to support Moroccos autonomy plan, following the example of allies such as the US, Israel, France, Spain and the Netherlands.

Not pushing forward with Moroccos initiative does not make sense, said Fox, conservative MP and former trade minister.

He said the UK should back its ally in the region Morocco, which, he said, offers enormous cooperation potential.

Sir Simon Mayall, a retired British Army officer and a Middle East Adviser at the Ministry of Defense, highlighted the need for backing stable countries like Morocco facing enormous geopolitical challenges in a troubled region.

The UK should support reliable partners like Morocco, he said, noting that supporting the autonomy plan would end the ordeal of the population held against their will in the Polisario-run Tindouf camps in Algeria.

In a ground breaking Op-ed on the UKs most prestigious security think tank RUSI, Mayall had described the autonomy initiative as anchored in a commitment to a promising political and economic future for the population, with respect for the rule of law, democratic procedures and sustained development, and will be implemented on the basis of an open consultation in accordance with the UN Charter and the principle of self-determination.

Echoing him Daniel Kawczinsky, conservative MP, highlighted Moroccos Atlantic initiatives while stressing the headway made in Morocco in terms of human rights protection as well as Moroccos tolerant religious model.

Besides calling for UKs support for Morocco, the participants underlined the huge untapped business opportunities offered in the Sahara provinces.
A senior US official has warned of an impending large-scale massacre in Sudans North Darfur region, echoing an earlier deep concern expressed by the UN Security Council over an imminent attack on the city of al-Fashir by a paramilitary group.

The more than 2 million people in al-Fashir are on the precipice of a large-scale massacre. This is not conjecture. This is the grim reality facing millions of people, the US ambassador to the United Nations said earlier this week following a UN Security Council meeting on Sudan.

It follows a warning by the UN Security Council (SC) issued last Saturday over an imminent offensive by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and their allied militias against what is the last major city in the vast, western Darfur region not under control of the RSF. The UN SC met behind closed doors to discuss the situation and was briefed by UN political and humanitarian officials.

UN Security Council has repeatedly expressed its concern over ethnically-driven killings against non-Arab groups in Sudans North Darfur after the RSF and its allies swept through four other Darfur state capitals last year. The Arab-dominated paramilitary RSF is made up of elements of the Janjaweed fighters who are blamed for carrying out a genocide in Darfur in the early 2000s.

A crisis of epic proportions is brewing, and to avoid further death, destruction and suffering, five things need to happen, immediately, Thomas-Greenfield said. First, the RSF must end its siege and buildup of military forces in al-Fashir and swear off any attack on the city. All parties to the conflict must take urgent steps to de-escalate. The city functions as the main humanitarian hub in west Darfur, home to around a quarter of Sudans 48 million people.
The most unlikely libertarian hero ever. Photo: Daniel Steinle/Bloomberg via Getty Images

From one angle, the announcement that Donald Trump will address the national convention of the Libertarian Party later this month was unsurprising. Hes in a close race for president where he needs every right-leaning voter he can get. And the Libertarian Party, whose share of the presidential vote dropped from 3 percent in 2016 to one percent in 2020, could use the attention.

But still, how much common ground can there exist between libertarian opponents of government power at home and abroad and a former president who oozes authoritarianism from his pores? Were talking about a man who once famously said that Article II of the U.S. Constitution gave him as president the right to do whatever I want, and who is openly and regularly threatening to use every agency of federal power to smite his many enemies if hes returned to the White House. After observing his initial performance in office, the Libertarian Party put out a statement in 2018 that said, Whatever libertarian impulses Trump the candidate seemed to have, his actual performance as president stands in stark contrast. Donald Trump is the opposite of a Libertarian. That sounds about right.

Yet there has always been a strain of American libertarianism that is so anti-liberal that it evinces sympathy for right-wing authoritarianism as a sort of enemy-of-our-enemy maneuver. Consider Senator Rand Paul, often regarded as the leader of libertarian-leaning Republicans, who has become a Trump toady of the highest order. Even within the supposedly purist Libertarian Party, however, there has recently arisen a dominant MAGA-adjacent faction that doesnt find the 45th president so offensive after all. Fed by anti-vaxx and anti-lockdown passions during the COVID-19 pandemic, the so-called Mises Caucus (named after Austrian free-market economist Ludwig von Mises) has taken over the Libertarian Party nationally and in many states, as Reason reported in 2022:

A four-year battle for control of the Libertarian Party (L.P.) ended Saturday in Reno with a victory for the Mises Caucus at the partys national convention 

The caucuss official platform is plumb-line libertarian, but its foes say that too many Mises Caucus members and fans downplay libertarian positions that might offend the right, are intentionally obnoxious and bullying, and are often racist 

The caucus, whose whipping of its team proved very effective at the convention  wants to eliminate from the L.P.s platform a statement that we condemn bigotry as irrational and repugnant. (This first entered the platform in 1974, though it has not remained there consistently.) The caucus also wants to completely eliminate any mention of abortion, replacing a current plank that is effectively pro-choice, though it says in essence that Libertarians can differ in opinion based on when they think a protectable life begins.

As a matter of heritage, the Mises Caucus venerates Ron Pauls brand of unapologetic and often provocative libertarian insurgency, and deplores the pragmatism that led the Libertarian Party to nominate a ticket of former Republicans Gary Johnson and William Weld (its most electorally successful presidential effort, as it happens) in 2016. Culturally speaking, the Mises Caucus seems to be trying to align the venerable and often stodgy Libertarian Party with a younger crowd of unruly rebels against respectability, including Joe Rogan fans and very online edgelording bully-boys. Whether this posture will enable libertarians to compete with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the I hate everybody vote is debatable. But it definitely means a greater openness to Trump-style transgressions generally. The current Libertarian Party chairman, Angela McArdle, has harshly attacked the Justice Departments pursuit of criminal charges against Trump as depraved and unscrupulous. The Libertarian Party is also inclined to embrace his opposition to multilateral defense agreements and his hostility to Ukraine. Indeed, one of the signatures of Mises Caucus leaders is apparent sympathy for Vladimir Putin reminiscent of his buddy the former president.

All these unsettling developments in libertarian-land are likely to get fresh attention when Trump addresses the party convention in Washington. Maybe his speechwriters will even encourage him to give a shout-out to Ludwig von Mises.
Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

The Antisemitism Awareness Act passed by the House earlier this week would create a standard definition of antisemitism to guide federal policy-making in combatting hate speech. It was controversial mostly because it was so clearly aimed at pro-Palestinian protesters who arent necessarily guilty of antisemitism, and because it was transparently designed to divide Democrats, many of whom backed an alternative bill with similar purposes.

But two well-known MAGA Republicans, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz, opposed the bill on grounds that it would condemn Christian teachings about Jews:

Antisemitism is wrong, but I will not be voting for the Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2023 (H.R. 6090) today that could convict Christians of antisemitism for believing the Gospel that says Jesus was handed over to Herod to be crucified by the Jews.



Read the bill text and pic.twitter.com/Y0eeOiVfnw  Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (@RepMTG) May 1, 2024

This evening, I will vote AGAINST the ridiculous hate speech bill called the Antisemitism Awareness Act.



Antisemitism is wrong, but this legislation is written without regard for the Constitution, common sense, or even the common understanding of the meaning of words. The pic.twitter.com/HYg2LJDLAI  Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) May 1, 2024

Both Greene and Gaetz object to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances definition of antisemitism, which is incorporated by the bill, because it labels claims of Jews killing Jesus as classic antisemitism. They differ in that Greene misreads the New Testament Gospels as asserting that Jews (rather than the actual perpetrators, the Romans, who had a monopoly on capital punishment at that time and place) actually crucified Christ. Gaetz quotes three non-Gospel passages attributing significant responsibility for the crucifixion to Jews without any specificity. Neither of these lawmakers seem to be aware that they are not only perpetuating the deadliest smear of Jews in human history, the source of constant pogroms and acts of discrimination, but also identifying their fellow Christians with antisemitic beliefs they largely dont share and have in recent years been struggling to repudiate.

The doctrine of collective Jewish responsibility for the crucifixion (which is what the IHRA definition is clearly talking about) was indeed a tenet of the Roman Catholic Church for many centuries, which is why it was a giant step forward for Christian-Jewish relations when it was very clearly repudiated by the Second Vatican Council and Pope Paul VI in 1965. Subsequent popes have been about as clear as possible on this subject, notably the very conservative John Paul II and Benedict XVI; the latter very specifically denied there was any basis in scripture for the argument that the Jewish people were responsible for the death of Jesus Christ.

Protestants like MTG and Gaetz have traditionally been less inclined to blame Jews for the crucifixion. Even the famously antisemitic Martin Luther based his lethal views not on collective responsibility for the crucifixion but on his determination to impose Christianity on the Jews of his own time. Most Protestants now accept the twin propositions that the crucifixion was the will of God and that to the extent human beings were responsible, their sinful natures made guilt universal.

So Greene and Gaetz would be well advised to condemn the classic antisemitism of belief in Jewish responsibility for Christs death instead of insisting its an essential doctrine of Christianity.
Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images

The thankless work and long hours of a presidential bid tends to require campaign staffers who truly believe in the vision of a politician. For Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose recent career has focused on an anti-vaccine agenda, that means that some of his campaign staffers believe some weird stuff.

In a report on the campaign, the Wall Street Journal explains the RFK teams unusual approach to politics. In February, top adviser Charles Eisenstein took a few weeks to go to Costa Rica for a trip in which he said he would be reconnecting with spirit. His comms director, a fellow anti-vaccine proponent named Del Bigtree, spoke at a rally a block from the Capitol on January 6. Every Sunday, staff are invited to a virtual prayer session with a reverend who is against vaccine requirements for children. A number of staffers are worried about electromagnetic radiation from microwaves, which makes some events, like volunteer potlucks, tricky. To assuage the campaigns anxieties, attendees were asked to bring crockpots.

As RFK hovers at a sizable 10 percent in polling averages which include him,

his crack team has managed to get him on the ballot in California, Utah, and Michigan  where his presence could make him a deciding factor in the crucial swing state. Despite this pressure, it appears that hes remaining calm about his pivotal role in the election:

During the campaigns virtual Christmas party, held over Zoom, Kennedy said that he was high before someone interrupted to clarify that the candidate had just left the dentist and was still feeling the effects of anesthesia, according to former aides who were on the call.

Aside from the true believers, campaigns also usually attract experts trying to make a boatload on consulting fees. Former staffer Kiera Hall told the Journal that RFKs campaign is also full of grifters and opportunists. Of particular note is one digital strategist who graduated high school in 2021. The campaign is paying them $8,000 a month. After leaving the campaign, Hall wondered: If someones going to do that to their campaign, how do I know they wont do that in their administration?

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Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer; Photos: Getty, TikTok

The premise of TikTok has always been deceptively simple. What if you boiled the internet down to just the viral stuff  the weird, fun, outrageous, and compulsively watchable  then made it as easy as possible for everyone to find it? At the heart of it was the prized source code, especially its predictive algorithm, which was good enough to attract 170 million users and convince the average one to spend 100 minutes a day on the app. Given those numbers, the notion that TikTok could influence society was widely accepted as a given. Since ByteDance, its parent company, is based in China, and Beijing has not been shy about exercising its influence over industry, the FBI director calls it a national-security threat. While there are reports about Chinas covert control of U.S. operations, and troubling reports that the app has been used to spy on journalists, any hard evidence of mass foreign influence has  to put it charitably  remained out of the public eye. Still, Congress passed a bill banning the app so long as its owned by a Chinese company, and Biden signed it into law on April 25.

TikTok itself now is at risk of following the path of a viral clip: After exploding in popularity, it will fade into not much more than a collective memory  at least, within U.S. borders. For American users, it is now a real possibility they will lose their most direct line into the trends, jokes, and dances that have become one of the cultural centers of the internet.

But it will not happen immediately. The bill gives parent company ByteDance about nine months to sell off TikTok, and the company is expected to fight the law in federal court, which could delay the ban by more than a year, even if it fails. The government will likely have to argue that ByteDances arguments centering around freedom of speech, as well as unconstitutionally singling them out, are outweighed by national-security concerns, whatever those may be. The outcome is far from certain. But there are four broad scenarios that could play out during the next few years. Experts believe that the ultimate fate of the app in the U.S. is still too early to call, but some scenarios are a bit more likely than others. Heres what could happen.

Most Likely Scenario: TikTok loses in court and China refuses to sell

Result: You lose access to the app

The law Biden signed on April 24 wasnt the first attempt in the U.S. to ban TikTok. Last year, Montana banned the app within the states borders only for a federal judge to block the new law. Washington lawmakers appear to have learned from Montanas mistakes and used a different strategy  not outlawing TikToks content, but rather forcing a sale of the American business by ByteDance. The federal law is a much more polished and savvy version of the Montana law, which was ham-fisted and rushed, said Evelyn Douek, a professor at Stanford Law School. Its also true that in matters of national security and foreign relations, courts may give the federal government more deference. TikTok has about six months to challenge the bill in federal court. Still, analysts believe that the law will likely survive a challenge. Theres a better than even chance that the government wins this case on national-security grounds, Paul Gallant, an analyst at investment bank TD Cowen, told me.

China is already telegraphing that it wont sell, and investors, analysts, and lawyers that I spoke with believe that this is the most likely scenario. For one, sovereignty concerns cut both ways, according to one Washington lobbyist familiar with the bill. China is itself saying that the core of this app is a national-security issue for them, the lobbyist said. The Chinese government is also unlikely to care much about the concerns of the foreign investors who stand to lose their entire stake in the company. Larry Albukerk, who runs the private shares market EB Exchange, said that shares of ByteDance are already being offered at a 20 to 30 percent discount.

In that case, the app would disappear from app stores on U.S. phones. Those who have TikTok on their phones already would find the program useless. The billions of videos that have already been uploaded would still be on TikToks U.S. servers, which are maintained by Oracles cloud services. Its unclear what would happen with all that data, but if the Chinese government decides not to sell off anything, it is entirely possible that would all get deleted.

Chinas insistence that it wont sell may be a negotiating tactic, but it also lays the groundwork for its biggest competitors to start hoovering up its users. Of course, they have already been pushing into TikToks territory for some time now, with both apps introducing their own copycat products  Reels and YouTube Shorts, respectively  since 2020. The new uncertainty around TikToks future could convince big U.S. tech companies to offer more incentives for people to post short video on their platforms, in a bid to win over TikTok fans.

The impact of an actual, enforced ban would arguably be largest for those who make their living on the app  including influencers. Many TikTok influencers do not have equally strong presences on other social-media apps. TikTok has been the hardest platform to strategically move people off of, said Jacob Wallach, founder and CEO of Social4TheWin, which advises brands on social-media strategy. If companies dont already have large followings on Instagram and YouTube, theyre likely to start spending large sums to make up for that. Its easier to build up a following on TikTok, which means that each follower is a little bit less valuable, said Danielle Wiley, CEO of Sway Group, an influencer marketing agency. Weve had some clients whove gone all in on TikTok in the last couple of years and really ignored Instagram. Theyre going to have an uphill battle building back up that following on Instagram, and its going to take a lot longer.

A slightly less likely scenario: TikTok loses in court, and China caves and sells  maybe to Walmart

Result: TikTok remains on your phone, but it is more focused on shopping

Its worth being skeptical of Chinas insistence that it wont ever sell, especially since the ban is hardly a week old. The country may be loathe to use TikTok as a geopolitical bargaining chip, rather than just treat it as another business. Under Xi Jinping, the Chinese Communist Party has restrained any business, executive, or government official whose influence could be seen to rival the governments power. In this case, the ruling party may decide that TikTok, for all its success, isnt worth a global tug-of-war.

There are good reasons for China to sell, if the courts force it to. For one, pulling the app entirely may worsen geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China, causing the worlds two largest economies to pull away from each other, which could cause unprecedented chaos in the global market (and inflict a lot of pain on China). But the other reason is purely business-related. ByteDance is worth more than $200 billion, and TikTok makes up roughly half that valuation. If China is willing simply to take the money, someone will want to buy it.

The dry run for this was back In 2020, when Donald Trump tried to ban TikTok. At the time, Oracle and Walmart were going to take over the companys U.S. operations, only for the deal to fall apart during the early days of the Biden administration. Even when the deal soured, though, the relationship between ByteDance and Walmart reportedly did not, with executives from both companies quietly meeting last year.

If Walmart is interested, theyre likely to be a leading bidder, because they would face the least regulatory risk, Gallant said. In other words, Bidens Federal Trade Committee likely wouldnt block Walmart from blocking the deal on antitrust grounds, which may be more likely if a tech or social-media company were to take it over. Walmart also makes some business sense. TikTok has been rapidly trying to reinvent itself as a storefront, even if it has done so by offering vast subsidies to get people to buy worthless junk.

But in this scenario  even if Walmart passes  TikTok will likely transform into something completely different. Other possible investors include former Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin  who is now investing money on behalf of U.S. and Saudi investors  and Kevin OLeary, the Shark Tank investor who was once a paid investor for Sam Bankman-Frieds FTX exchange. The upshot of this is that, if TikTok changes hands, it will be expected to make profits  something it reportedly does not do. That probably means more advertising and more shopping. Walmart (or whoever) could amp up the shopping videos, turning the app into a kind of short-form QVC with some dancing videos threaded through it.

The wild-card scenario: TikTok loses and Trump, in his second term, suspends the ban

Result: You get to continue using TikTok, but with the possibility of a future ban still looming

There is a sense that Washington doesnt really know what to do with TikTok. Given lawmakers multiple attempts to ban, then un-ban, the app, is it really that hard to imagine the political class warming up to TikTok again?

The reality is that, if their sentiment changes, there is an out for Biden, or any future president. The bill Biden signed into law on Wednesday requires ByteDance to make a qualified divestiture of TikTok, or face a fine of $5,000 a day per user  roughly $740 billion a day. But what qualifies as a divestiture? According to the law, it largely comes down to the discretion of the president.

One scenario being kicked around Washington, according to a seasoned lobbyist familiar with the tech industry, is that the wording of the law would give Trump enough wiggle room to unilaterally decide to let it operate, barring a few minor share sales. Its up to the president to decide that TikTok is no longer being controlled by a foreign adversary, but there are few other clear details about what that actually looks like. According to ByteDances own data  which hasnt been independently verified  about 60 percent of TikTok is already owned by investors.

What clears the bar? the lobbyist wondered. What qualifies as, quote, divestiture? I dont know that that term is really well-defined in financial and technical terms. In normal business disputes about company control, these matters would be decided by a court. (Elon Musk, who owns about 20 percent of Tesla, was recently found to control his car company, for instance.) In this case, Congress has given the president the power to decide that very question. This could come in handy for Trump donor and major ByteDance investor Jeff Yass, who has apparently persuaded Trump that banning TikTok  a position he tried to ram through in 2019  is not such a good idea.

A lot has to happen for this scenario to play out, starting with Trump winning the 2024 election, and then deciding to backtrack on his 2020 attempt to ban the app in the first place. If all that happens though, and users would never lose access to the app. But, in this scenario, the law would never be rescinded, meaning that a future president would still retain the power to force a sale.

The long-shot scenario: TikTok prevails in court and nothing changes

Result: You can keep your TikTok app

When the federal government litigates its problems with corporate America, it typically wins. But its not a given. Even when it comes to apparent national-security concerns, the Feds dont always win  for example, the FBI tried this approach against Apple in 2016 over the companys use of encryption in texting; it didnt work.

While it isnt likely, there is a very reality possibility that ByteDance could win after challenging the law. While courts tend to defer to intelligence and law-enforcement agencies when it comes to national-security concerns, its not clear what the actual risks to U.S. citizens actually are, and those supposed threats could wither under judicial scrutiny. The law could also fail to pass scrutiny in other ways. Its on untested First Amendment grounds, given that the government doesnt have the right to censor foreign propaganda. The wording of the law may also have gone too far: It specifically names the app in the text, and bills designed to punish a single company, called bills of attainder, are unconstitutional. When I reached out to the companys spokespeople, they remarked on this specifically. The law Congress passed and the president signed was designed to have a predetermined outcome: a ban on TikTok. Some of the bills biggest cheerleaders in Congress have said so repeatedly, and publicly.

Should this part of the law get struck down, ByteDance would have no reason to sell TikTok. Congress would be forced to rewrite the law, if it still wanted to force a sale of the company. But by that point  years from now, likely  legislators would need to find other compelling reasons to keep Americans from accessing the app. What happened to TikTok was a unicorn in Washington, Gallant said. I cant say enough how rare it is for Congress to move that quickly on major economic regulation.
Under the Bridge Dares to Look at a Different Side of White Girlhood https://t.co/1rNe1Eca7J  IndieWire (@IndieWire) May 1, 2024

Showrunner Quinn Shephard explains the beauty and grief of adapting Hulus Under the Bridge with the books late author, Rebecca Godfrey. https://t.co/4GNHbLQh2h  Vulture (@vulture) May 1, 2024

The Kids on Under the Bridge Are So Damn Good https://t.co/UvIN1xJpuj  IndieWire (@IndieWire) April 24, 2024

 In wanting to create a fleshed out show, and to pay respects to victim Reena Virk, Under the Bridge show runners Quinn Shephard and Samir Mehta used Godfreys book as a jumping off point. In order to expand the show and feel like they were telling as much of Virks story as they could, It was important for Mehta to contextualize Virks place in her community and school as a first-generation Western teenage girl. Her father was an Indian immigrant and her mother an Indo-Canadian Jeovoahs Witness  they were already minorities within another minority group."It was important for Mehta to get the audience in the house with Reena, to see why the situation escalates to her living at Seven Oaks group home for a while."  Episode 4, which aired May 1, looks at the girls coming over for dinner at the Virk house while simultaneously telling the Virk family story. Suman, Reenas mother, (Archie Panjabi) and her family just wanted to belong and the only people who didnt show them racist vitriol were the Jehovahs Witnesses who came to their door. The show sought to show the jealousy that ruled the push and pull between Reena and Jo: "Reena wants to be Jo literally in many ways, but she also can never be because shes an Indian girl. And so its like, well, if I cant be you, close to you is a way to approximate that craving." The same dynamic is shown in a lesser way with the fictionalized Rebecca and Cam. Being young, pretty, and white allows Rebecca to both fit in with the teens and not be taken seriously (thus getting information that the police couldnt because perhaps she was seen as someone who wouldnt do anything with it). Theres a tension between Rebecca and Cam because despite Cams authority as a police officer, there are things that are easily accessible to Rebecca that Cam cant do, like go have some cigarettes and gossip with the Seven Oaks girls. Shepherd says of Godfrey's book: "And I think that it was very important that there was somebody else, who was a massive perspective in the show, who really did not feel seduced by the allure of the accused teens in the way that Rebecca was.." The show runners also wanted Cam in some essence to be able to explore issues that they explore through Reena generational trauma, the erotic aspects of the draw of white womanhood. Cam struggles with wanting to solve Reenas murder and going behind her father and brother in order to do so. You can also see her repulsion of Rebeccas fascination with the teenagers at the center of Reenas murder, especially Jo who Rebecca seemingly sees herself in. Shepherd wanted to adapt Under the Bridge because of the insidiousness of white girlhood: ". Because I do think, especially in the late 90s, there was this immense pressure to achieve this white, thin, beautiful ideal. And I think that thats really tragic. I think its a tragic story. And I also think that it was an important one to be able to explore on television." Under the Bridge creator Quinn Shepherd first met author Rebecca Godfrey (played by Riley Keough in the series) in 2020 to start preparing for the series. At the time, she didn't know Godfrey had terminal cancer. Hulu wanted an adult perspective in the series and that was why Rebecca was inserted., from her romance with childhood friend and cop Cam, a character invented in the series and played by Lily Gladstone, to Rebeccas decision to feed intel from her teen sources to law enforcement. Rebecca's characterization came from Godfrey's own investigative materials (which was spread out in nine file boxes), photos, and personal journals. Godfrey was open to the show taking her life and traumas and dramatizing it. Godfrey was perfectly fine with being made into a somewhat unlikable character. "She taught a course on anti-heroines, so when I was like, Hey, sometimes shes gonna be more of an anti-hero, she was like, I love that." Godfrey related to the teens and she was processing that as they outlined the show and she neared the end of her life: "In the first conversation we had about how directly the show was linked to her loss of her brother,. She felt that so much of his way of moving through the world would be shaped forever by guilt. I think her quest to make people understand how someone can do a bad thing came from a place of feeling like she had been capable of bad things when she was a kid." Though Godfrey's notes and her archival of newspaper articles at the time, As Godfrey entered hospice, it was a race against time. She read the scripts in hospice and called Shepard, then had her daughter read the scripts to her. Godfrey died on October 3, 2022, at the age of 54, little more than a week after Hulu announced it green-lit Under the Bridge to series. Shepherd got the call from Godfrey's husband as the team were building sets for the series. The actors had to be taught how to act "bad" since they were all close with their parents, didn't curse a lot and were professionals. Creator Quinn Shepherd had to teach the kids how to believably smoke.: "I think its very, very important that we recognize that victims dont need to earn sympathy from us. The real Reena Virk was very human, she had flaws, she made mistakes, like all people do; it was so essential to all of us that we make her feel like a real girl having real problems, who acts out, who curses, who makes mistakes, who smokes, who does all of the things that teenagers do, and that we realize that those are not justifications for not caring about what happened to her. Talk about the show if you want!
Darryl George, an 18-year-old high school junior, and his mother, Darresha George, stand outside a courthouse in Anahuac, Texas, on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024. A judge ordered Wednesday that a trial be held next month to determine whether George can continue being punished by his district for refusing to change a hairstyle he and his family say is protected by a new state law. (AP Photo/Juan A. Lozano) Juan A. Lozano/Associated Press Darryl George, an 18-year-old junior, along with his lawyer, Allie Booker, left, and Texas state Rep. Ron Reynolds, center, speak with reporters on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, before a court hearing in Anahuac, Texas, over whether his Houston-area school district can continue to punish him for refusing to change his hairstyle. A judge ordered Wednesday that a trial be held next month to determine whether George can continue being punished by his district for refusing to change a hairstyle he and his family say is protected by a new state law. (AP Photo/Juan A. Lozano) Juan A. Lozano/Associated Press Dr. Candice Matthews, left, listens as state representative Ron Reynolds, right, with Darryl George, center, makes comments before a hearing regarding George?s punishment for violating school dress code policy because of his hair style, Feb. 22, 2024 at the Chambers County Courthouse. Kirk Sides/Staff photographer

A group of U.S. representatives plan to reintroduce a measure to prevent race-based discrimination against people wearing their natural hair, citing a Houston-area Black student who was suspended from school for wearing his hair in locs.

U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., led a group of elected leaders Wednesday sponsoring the federal CROWN Act, which stands for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural hair.

Several members of the Congressional Black Caucus met with Darryl George, the student suspended from the Barbers Hill Independent School District, Watson Coleman said. For months, Darryl George has been denied a high school education, because he wears his hair in locs. Hes worn his hair that way for years without an issue, but his family moved to a predominantly white school district and they decided that his locs were out of step with the dress code.

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Barbers Hill ISD prohibits male students from having hair below the eyebrows or below the ear lobes and they cannot have hair below the top of a T-shirt collar or be gathered or worn in a style that would allow the hair to extend below the top of a T-shirt collar, below the eyebrows or below the ear lobes when let down.

A Texas judge ruled in favor of Barbers Hill ISDs dress code in February, saying its policy did not violate the CROWN Act passed by the Texas Legislature.

Superintendent Greg Poole has defended the dress code, saying the CROWN Act does not give students unlimited self-expression.

The school has imposed multiple disciplinary actions on George, including suspensions, for refusing to change his hairstyle and other infractions. He wears his hair pinned in a barrel roll.

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Among the legislators who joined the news conference was U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas. The CROWN Act is long overdue for most children, whoever they are (and) whatever their background, she said.

To date, 23 states have adopted the CROWN Act to prevent race-based hair discrimination in not only schools, but also workplaces. The CROWN Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives in 2019 and 2022. However, the U.S. Senate has not approved the measure.

President Joe Bidens administration said in 2022 that he strongly supports the measure.

The President believes that no person should be denied the ability to obtain a job, succeed in school or the workplace, secure housing, or otherwise exercise their rights based on a hair texture or hair style, the White House said in a statement. Over the course of our Nations history, society has used hair texture and hairstyle  along with race, national origin and skin color to discriminate against individuals.

Jackson Lee encouraged Biden to implement the bill through an executive order, though it is unclear he has the ability to do so.

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We want to have freedom now, she said. We want equality now and we want all those reparations bills and everything else now.

In February, members of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus said they planned to revisit the legislation during the next session in 2025.

We know in many ways anti-Blackness is pervasive and while race the way we typically discuss it is a social construct, racism is very real, said Adjoa B. Asamoah, a chief advocate for the act. And it requires a thoughtful and intentional approach to dismantle the rules and practices that reinforce it and in this case, to mitigate physical, psychological and economic harm caused by race-based hair discrimination.

BIPARTISAN SUPPORT IN TEXAS: Texas Legislative Black Caucus plans to revisit CROWN Act following Barbers Hill ISD ruling

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Watson Coleman said the bill received bipartisan support in previous sessions and she hopes to get it to Bidens desk this time.
Having adversely intervened in virtually every other M&A deal in the past 3 years, the Biden FTC will reportedly allow Exxon's $60 billion purchase of Pioneer to go through after the companies agreed to minor concessions, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter. The announcement of the deal will likely come any moment, and the resulting deal will make Exxon - a company which Biden once said makes money money than god - far and away the biggest oil and natural gas producer in the Permian Basin, North Americas largest US oil field, and also the biggest energy company in the US.

Pioneer shares that had been down more than 2% on the day reversed those losses and were trading up as much as 0.9% on the news. Hess Corp, the target of a takeover bid by Chevron, also climbed 0.9% although the probability of that deal passing is far lower especially in light of the ongoing arbitration with Exxon over Guyana. Chevron, Occidental and Chesapeake are among companies with large pending takeovers that are undergoing in-depth reviews before the FTC.

The Pioneer deal will combine two fast-growing Permian operations, lifting Exxons production in the basin to the equivalent of about 2 million barrels a day by 2027, up from about 600,000 last year.

More than 50 lawmakers - obviously mostly communists, pardon, democrats - urged the FTC in March to increase scrutiny on concerns a $230 billion wave of consolidation in would increase energy prices for consumers, squeeze suppliers and suppress wages. In short: enforce more Soviet-style central planning and crush conventional capitalism. As a result, investors had feared the agency, which has become more a ruthless enforcer of authoritarian anti-capitalism under Democrat admin puppet Lina Khan, would stand in the way of several large deals, especially in an election year when the Biden administration is seeking to prove its climate credentials and contain gasoline prices at all cost.

In response to the ruling communists, oil executives have claimed the deals will benefit shareholders, consumers and the environment. Exxon CEO Darren Woods said the Pioneer deal would lower its cost of production, making US barrels more competitive in the global market, and provide a strong platform for growth, which would ultimately benefit consumers. Exxon also pledged to reduce climate-warming emissions from Pioneer operations to net zero by 2035, accelerating the prior target by 15 years.

The Biden administration has constantly been at odds with the oil industry, but easing through what many executives see as necessary consolidation is likely to improve relations. With domestic crude prices up roughly 14% this year and tensions rising the Middle East, the administration is vulnerable to Republican attacks on measures that hurt the oil industry and raise fuel prices.

By Zerohedge.com

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A wide range of organisations and communities are battling against oil majors and winning, as governments worldwide start putting the environment first. In the last few years, the number of lawsuits against oil and gas companies has risen significantly, as more judges rule in favour of indigenous communities and grassroots organisations when it comes to stopping the development of fossil fuel projects and protecting the environment. This trend is likely to continue, with governments and consumers putting increasing pressure on companies to improve their ESG practices and support a green transition.

In the U.S., there are currently at least thirty-two lawsuits targeting fossil fuel companies over climate damage. The companies accused of these damages include the oil majors Exxon Mobil, BP, Chevron, Sunoco, Suncor, Shell, ConocoPhillips, Koch Industries, and the American Petroleum Institute. Environmental organisations and their lawyers are finding more grounds for lawsuits, as they claim that many oil and gas companies have violated consumer protection, public nuisance, failure to warn, fraud and racketeering laws. Some lawsuits are demanding that oil companies pay damages, while others hope to impose penalties or encourage greater education on climate threats while discouraging future greenwashing.

Most of the lawsuits claim that the companies in question have known about the impact of the continued drilling for oil and gas on climate change for several decades and have failed to act, instead choosing to spread misinformation and continue polluting operations. While several oil companies have pushed for the cases to be taken to federal court, where they believe they may be better protected, the U.S. Supreme Court has often ruled that cases alleging violations of state laws should be carried out in state court with a jury.

When it comes to indigenous communities, who are often overlooked, particularly when it comes to the exploitation of natural resources, there have been several wins against oil and gas companies in recent years. In India, Adivasi communities held protests that led officials to cancel the auction of land for coal mines in the biodiverse forests of Chhattisgarh State. In South Africa, planned development by Shell Global was halted after the Mpondo people fought against new oil and gas exploration off the Wild Coast. Meanwhile, in Australia, First Nations communities succeeded in blocking the construction of a new coal mine in Queensland.

These successes led the leaders of grass-roots environmental movements in six countries, including these groups, to win the Goldman Environmental Prize. Michael Sutton, the executive director of the Goldman Environmental Foundation, stated, One of the things weve seen in recent years is that environmental law, protection of natural resources, has become intertwined with human rights law and the law of Indigenous people.

Following several lawsuit wins against fossil fuel companies, scientists and environmental groups are becoming more ambitious in their legal aims. Researchers are now suggesting that oil and gas companies could be tried for homicide for climate-related deaths under a new legal theory. Public Citizen suggests that as fossil fuel companies fought to delay climate action, even when they knew about global warming, a case can be made that they committed reckless or negligent homicide. The advocacy non-profit Public Citizen first proposed the theory last year, and it has since gained traction. Aaron Regunberg, the senior policy counsel with Public Citizens climate programme, stated, Weve been really excited to see the curiosity, interest and support these ideas have garnered from members of the legal community, including from both former and current federal, state and local prosecutors.

The organisation is now promoting the theory at some of the top law schools in the U.S., including Yale, the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, University of Chicago and New York University. The proposal is also due to be published in the Harvard Law Review, supported by extensive evidence showing that the fossil fuel industry has long hidden information about the dangers of fossil fuel use from the public. Along with the charges being carried out in the existing lawsuits, fossil fuel companies could also face criminal charges under this new theory. David Arkush, who co-authored the paper on the proposal, explained, Criminal law is how we say what is right and wrong in our society. He added, I think its important that some of the most damaging conduct in human history be squarely recognised and pursued as criminal.

A spate of lawsuit wins against fossil fuel companies in recent years has encouraged more environmental lawyers, organisations, and communities to carry out legal action against oil majors. Some of the lawsuits call for reparations for damages while others seek to prevent further harm to the environment. These successes have been supported by the significant shift in approach to the energy sector by governments around the globe, as an increasing number of countries introduce ambitious climate targets in line with strategies for a green transition.

By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com

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The United Arab Emirates state-owned oil company, Adnoc, has updated its maximum crude oil production capacity figureand without much fanfare.

ADNOC has quietly updated the figure on its website but did not make an official announcement. The new capacity is 4.85 million barrels per day (bpd)up from the 4.65 million bpd that it published in 2023. Its published natural gas production capacity is 11.5 bcf per day.

ADNOC has plans to increase its oil production capacity to 5 million bpd by 2027a target the state-owned oil company set years ago.

The production capacity hike comes as the UAEs oil production fell in March, according to OPECs secondary sources as the group struggles to bring production down to agreed-upon levels in hopes of balancing the global oil markets.

The UAEOPECs third-largest producerhas clashed with the OPEC group in the past as it is anxiously waiting to boost its oil production and tap its increased capacity. Last summer, the UAE said it would not join in OPECs voluntary production cuts and has argued for years that it should be allowed to pump more as it lifts its production capacity. And last June, OPEC+ caved and revised the UAEs quota up to 3.219 million bpd for 2024.

OPECs current production cutsa precautionary measureare set to run through the end of June, although a June 1 OPEC+ meeting will determine whether OPEC should extend the cuts further or whether they should begin the gradual process of unwinding them.

But OPECs Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais warned those who were predicting the beginning of the end of oil should be careful lest those dangerous predictions foster energy policies that stoke energy chaos.

OPEC has insisted forecasts that predict the EV revolution and green transition as a whole are not grounded in realityand that counting on this fictitious oil demand drop-off could lead to policies that would eventually cause the oil supply and demand balance to swing to a deficit, leading to higher oil prices.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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Russias energy behemoth Gazprom announced with great fanfare in early 2024 that it had overtaken Turkmenistan as Chinas largest supplier of natural gas in terms of volume. But when it comes to export earnings, Ashgabat still tops Moscow.

The Turkmen portal, Oil & Gas, reports that during the first quarter of this year, Ashgabat generated $2.4 billion in income from gas exports to China. That figure was confirmed by Daryo, Uzbekistans most popular news website. The Daryo report noted that Russia earned $2 billion from its gas sales to Beijing during the same period.

The reason for the volume-earnings differential is that China is hoovering up Russian gas at bargain basement prices. The Kremlins need for cash to keep the country afloat while maintaining its war effort in Ukraine has deprived Russia of most of its negotiating leverage in its dealings with Beijing.

Russias edge in export volume may last only as long as the steep pricing discounts continue. An independent outlet, The Chronicle of Turkmenistan, reported that the capacity of Russias Power of Siberia gas pipeline to China is projected to be 38 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2025. Meanwhile, the collective capacity of three pipelines connecting Turkmenistan and China totals 55 bcm.

Turkmen state-affiliated media outlets have cast some shade on the Kremlins exports: in reports about Ashgabats gas earnings from China they have omitted mention of Russia. For example, in addition to Turkmenistan, a report published by Turkmenportal names only Australia ($3.6 billion), Qatar ($3.1 billion) and Malaysia ($1.15 billion) as key suppliers, mainly with liquefied natural gas.

Meanwhile, the head of Turkmengaz, Maksat Babayev, has announced plans to develop what he described as the world's largest gas field at Galkynysh. The first stage of development already stably ensures the export of 30 bcm of gas per year to China, the second stage will bring another 25 bcm of gas per year online. A third phase of development can supply the long-planned Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline project with a projected capacity of capacity of 33 bcm, according to Turkmenportal.

By Eurasianet.org

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The former chief executive of Pioneer Natural Resources, Scott Sheffield, is facing allegations of collusion by the Federal Trade Commission, for an attempt to co-ordinate production cuts to lift oil prices, the Wall Street Journal has reported, citing unnamed sources.

These say that Sheffield contacted other shale oil producers as well as companies from OPEC to try and coordinate a production policy that would have raised oil prices, thus benefiting Pioneer. The WSJ report mentioned hundreds of messages to representatives of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries about market dynamics, including pricing and production levels.

The allegations could be made official by the end of the week, the sources said. In the meantime, Sheffield has been banned from joining the board of Exxon after it completes the acquisition of Pioneer as a condition for the Federal Trade Commission to approve the $60-billion deal.

The news of Exxons plan to acquire Pioneer Natural Resources broke last October, with the company offering an all-stock tie-up worth some $58 billion. At the time, Exxon said that the proposed transaction transforms ExxonMobils upstream portfolio, more than doubling the companys Permian footprint and creating an industry-leading, high-quality, high-return undeveloped U.S. unconventional inventory position.

The Federal Trade Commission, however, has kept a close eye on that deal along with a few others as the oil sector consolidated, after nearly 50 Democratic Senators and Representatives urged the agency to investigate the recent mergers in Americas oil and gas sector amid concerns that they would harm competition and hurt consumers.

Some legal professionals dismissed the scrutiny, saying that the oil industry has already argued successfully that a local merger, even between such large players as Exxon and Pioneer or Chevron and Hess Corp., would not represent a cause for antitrust concern because of the global nature and size of the oil market.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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The Taliban, who govern Afghanistan, are working with Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to create a regional energy trade hub that would facilitate oil sales from Russia to South Asia, Taliban acting commerce minister Nooruddin Azizi told Reuters this week.

Representatives of Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan have recently discussed in Kabul the idea of creating an energy and logistics hub in the Herat province in western Afghanistan. The three countries plan to invest in the hub, which is expected to be a hub for oil from Russia to the oil-dependent countries in South Asia, including Pakistan, Azizi told Reuters.

Based on our discussions, a logistics center is going to be established in Herat province, which can connect the north to South Asia, he said.

After the trilateral meetings in Afghanistan last week, technical teams from Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan will draft an agreement within two months laying out the official plans for the new energy hub, Azizi told Reuters.

The logistics hub is planned initially to have a capacity of 1 million tons of oil, the Taliban minister said but did not specify when such hub could start operations.

Kazakhstan, for its part, is eyeing the development of roads and a railway through Afghanistan to have connections with the Gulf and South Asia, the Kazakh trade ministry told Reuters in a statement.

Currently, Kazakhstans crude oil exports are dependent on logistics in Russia and Russian ports on the Black Sea.

The Taliban will not have issues selling Russian oilthey have struck fuel deals with Iran and Russia in recent years.

In the autumn of 2022, Minister Azizi said that under a deal with Russia, Afghanistan would get 1 million tons of gasoline, 1 million tons of diesel fuel, 500,000 tons of liquefied petroleum gas, and 2 million tons of wheat per year.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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Warren Buffett is notoriously critical of digital currencies as speculative and lacking real value. Yet he passed up a chance to comment a few years ago when asked about cryptocurrencys growth into a trillion-dollar industry.

But to Charlie Munger, sitting to Buffetts left during the 2021 Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, the question was like waving red in front of a bull.

The Berkshire vice chairman blasted cryptocurrency as invented out of thin air and noted its usefulness to kidnappers and extortionists.

I think I should say modestly that the whole damn development is disgusting and contrary to the interests of civilization, said Munger, eliciting a chuckle from Buffett.

It was typical Munger: Feisty. Colorful. Acerbic. And not giving a damn what anybody else thinks.

Its also a reminder of how much Buffetts longtime business partner, sidekick and sounding board  who died in November at age 99  will be missed when Berkshires shareholders gather again in Omaha this week.

Thats going to be hard, said Susie Buffett, Warrens daughter and a Berkshire board member.

Not only did Munger and Buffett work together for decades, they also were close friends. At the time Munger died, Susie said, her 93-year-old father had been looking forward to celebrating Mungers 100th birthday Jan. 1.

Now when Buffett takes the stage at CHI Health Center for Saturday's shareholder Q&A  the centerpiece of the annual meeting  there will be no Munger by his side, munching on Sees peanut brittle. Its the second time Munger missed a Berkshire annual meeting in the decades since the gatherings became major events.

That chemistry between Warren and Charlie has always been the cornerstone  whats made the Berkshire Hathaway meeting so engaging, said Becky Quick, the CNBC business journalist and anchor who has posed shareholder questions in the sessions.

But Buffett wont go on alone.

He will be joined on stage by Greg Abel and Ajit Jain, Berkshire's vice chairmen for operations. The two, particularly CEO-in-waiting Abel, have had an increasingly visible roles in recent annual meetings.

And Munger certainly wont be forgotten. The meeting offers the chance to celebrate his life and critical role in building Berkshire.

Susie Buffett said the annual movie that traditionally opens the Saturday gathering will be dedicated to Munger.

Still, theres no question the curmudgeonly, one-of-a-kind Munger will be missed.

Its just going to be different, said Paul Lountzis, the principal in a New York investment firm and a regular at annual meetings for more than three decades. Charlie was a very special man. His wisdom was always welcome, and his delivery was great. Its a big loss.

'Bromance for the ages'

It seems Munger and Buffett were destined to get together.

Munger grew up in Omaha in a house not even a block from Buffetts current home near 55th and Farnam. Mungers first job was at the Dundee grocery store owned by Buffetts grandfather.

After graduating from Central High, Munger got a law degree from Harvard and went to work as an attorney in California.

But after being introduced to Buffett through mutual acquaintances in 1959, Munger became interested in investing. He soon formed an investment firm modeled on the Omaha partnership Buffett formed years earlier.

That first meeting in Omaha also sparked, in Susie Buffetts words, a bromance for the ages. Fast friends, Buffett and Munger maintained the bond despite making their homes halfway across the country from each other.

My vision in my head is my dad lying on the floor talking to Charlie, and they would just laugh, Susie said of growing up in the 1960s. They connected in a way that was just magical for the two of them.

The two not only shared a love of investing, both possessed brilliant minds and senses of humor.

We think so much alike that its spooky, Buffett said of Munger in a 1977 World-Herald interview.

The next year, the two joined forces. Mungers firm merged into Berkshire with Munger ultimately settling into the role of vice chairman under CEO and chairman Buffett.

Dynamic duo builds empire

Among historys famous duos  Rodgers and Hammerstein, Abbott and Costello, Simon and Garfunkel, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers  few enjoyed the decades of longevity of Buffett and Munger. And few could claim more success.

Buffett and Munger not only built Berkshire into one of the worlds largest conglomerates, they created a widely respected company culture that emphasized business ethics and a long-term orientation.

Buffett long credited Munger with expanding his investment horizons beyond bargain shopping  teaching him it was better to purchase wonderful businesses at fair prices than fair businesses at wonderful prices. That became a guiding principle of Berkshire acquisitions.

Over more than four decades, Munger helped Buffett add numerous brands to Berkshire's portfolio, among them Fruit of the Loom, Dairy Queen, BNSF railroad, Duracell and Geico. And together, they posted one of the biggest and longest runs of investment success the business world has seen.

Berkshire's fast-rising stock price turned Buffett into one of the world's richest men and "The Oracle of Omaha." People began flocking to the city for annual meetings to hear his homespun advice on investing, business and life.

Over time, Munger developed his own following, too.

After answering a shareholder question, Buffett would then throw it to Munger. While the two did not often disagree, Mungers answers tended to be more succinct, colorful and biting.

For example, when asked about family estate planning during last years meeting, Buffett gave a lengthy response in which he talked about the importance of involving children in the process, saying he would not sign a will until his children thoroughly reviewed it.

When asked for his two cents, said Munger: At Berkshire, we have a simple (approach to) estate planning: Just hold the goddamn stock."

The 2015 meeting produced this exchange between the two as they talked about the success of Berkshire's outside stock holdings:

Warren, if (other) people werent so often wrong, we wouldnt be so rich, Munger said.

"He's finally explained it to me," Buffett replied amid the laughter.

Shareholders came to delight in Munger's droll response when he thought Buffett adequately handled the question: I have nothing to add.

Lountzis had been coming to the meetings for years when he brought his son Zachary, then 11, to his first in 1998.

Dad, I know Mr. Buffett is your hero, Zachary said afterward, but my favorite is Mr. Munger.

Mungers best quips and wisdom were ultimately compiled into the book Poor Charlies Almanack  an homage to Benjamin Franklin, who Munger greatly admired.

Quick said the give-and-take between Buffett and Munger not only offered insight into the inner workings of Berkshire and the two great thinkers, it showcased their brotherly relationship and friendship. They were authentically the same people behind the scenes as they were on stage, she said.

After the pandemic prevented Munger from attending the 2020 meeting that was held sans shareholders, Buffett moved the online-only meeting in 2021 to California so Munger could take part.

Even at 99 in last years meeting, Munger sat in a wheelchair and helped Buffett field more than five hours of questions.

"I am personally skeptical of some of the hype that's gone into artificial intelligence, Munger said in a memorable quip that day. I think old-fashioned intelligence works pretty well."

A final conversation

The invitations had already gone out for Mungers 100th birthday celebration.

With the approach of that milestone and the release of the latest edition of Poor Charlies Almanack, Quick sat down with Munger in November for an interview. She said he showed tremendous energy, talking for 2 hours.

Asked the reasons he and Buffett had so much success, Munger said: We got a little less crazy than most people, and a little less stupid than most people. And that really helped us.

Just days later, Munger became ill at his Santa Barbara home and was hospitalized.

A family member said at Munger's memorial service that a nurse in the hospital asked how he was doing. Im dying," he said. "How are you?

Before he died, Munger spoke by phone with Buffett from his hospital bed.

It was a huge surprise to everyone, Susie Buffett said of Mungers Nov. 28 death.

At first, she said, it was hard for her dad to even talk about it.

But one day about a week later, he sat down and penned a tribute to Munger that opened the annual letter to shareholders in February.

Buffett told the story of how in 1965 he was lamenting his decision to purchase Berkshire, at the time a failing New England textile company. Thats when Munger advised him to use Berkshire as an investment vehicle and focus on finding wonderful businesses to add to it.

In reality, Charlie was the architect of the present Berkshire, and I acted as the general contractor to carry out the day-by-day construction of his vision, Buffett wrote.

Susie Buffett said her father has taken solace in the public accolades Munger received in the wake of his death, feeling Munger at last has been getting his due.

In March, Susie Buffett delivered a eulogy at Mungers memorial service in California, including reading her fathers tribute from the annual report.

The fact that Buffett didnt deliver a eulogy himself seems to speak to how emotional Mungers death has been for him, even months later.

Buffett rarely does media interviews and has declined any leading up to this year's meeting. Buffetts words Saturday will be his first publicly in the five months since Mungers death.

Big 3 will take the stage

Even without Munger, the show will go on with tens of thousands of Berkies expected to fill CHI Health Center this weekend.

Quick, who will again be posing shareholder-submitted questions, said she thinks with Buffett, Abel and Jain on the stage, it should make for an engaging, insightful meeting.

The three are the key architects of whats happening day-to-day at Berkshire. Abel and Jain aren't new to the stage, either.

Beginning in 2020, at the request of shareholders, Buffett made them a bigger part of annual meetings.

It was hard to imagine at first without Charlie, but I do think theyve got a plan to keep things interesting, Quick said.

Brian Gongol, a Buffett fan from West Des Moines who has been coming to Berkshire meetings for more than a decade, expects Buffett will have no problem carrying the day, never short of incredibly useful and intelligent things to offer shareholders.

But theres no question, the absence of Munger will be felt.

Gongol recalled how cool it was that at age 99 last year, Munger still had new things to say. And he said its not likely Buffett, Abel or Jain will, for example, take a humorous shot at whats taught in business schools  a past target of the devil-may-care Munger.

Of course, Gongol said he and other shareholders will also miss hearing Munger's signature lines.

Its bittersweet to think that forevermore at Berkshire, Charlie Munger will have nothing to add.

Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of April 2024
A Nebraska man who disappeared while on parole for a 1986 murder was arrested Sunday near Waterloo, Iowa.

Peter Wade Suffredini, 63, was arrested by the Black Hawk County Sheriffs Office in Iowa at about 9:45 p.m. Sunday, according to an arrest log. Before being paroled last year, Suffredini was serving a sentence of 30 years to life for murder.

Its unclear how long Suffredini was on the run before he was arrested. According to the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services, he was paroled in August 2023.

Suffredini pleaded no contest to charges of second-degree murder, robbery and use of a firearm to commit a felony in connection with the 1986 slaying of 24-year-old construction worker Samuel Coker. Cokers body was found at a rest stop near Sutherland, Nebraska, in April 1986. He had been robbed and shot five times.

The Black Hawk County Sheriffs Office did not respond to multiple requests seeking additional information about Suffredinis arrest. Black Hawk County is located about 270 miles northeast of Omaha.
Installed solar panels are visible in the foreground, while the downtown Houston skyline is visible from the roof of the apartment complex in Montrose, Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. Kirk Sides/Staff photographer

Houston has received $2 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to advance its sustainable energy goals, which Mayor John Whitmire has yet to define for his new administration.

The department announced Wednesday that it has selected the city of Houston as one of 27 local governments to receive energy grants totaling $27 million. Port Arthur and Temple are the only other two Texas cities on the list. The two smaller towns secured more moderate amounts of $118,760 and $140,420, respectively.

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The $2 million was allocated to Houston to support four key green energy initiatives: installing solar panels and battery storage at a municipal facility, upgrading municipal buildings to lower energy consumption, creating a loan fund for sustainability projects and revising energy codes to enhance efficiency in future developments.

Energy efficient upgrades are a surefire way to bring down costs and shore up resiliency for communities across the nation, Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said in a Wednesday statement. President Bidens Investing in America agenda is equipping local governments with funds to transform clean energy plans into real actions.

The goal of the award is to help Houston advance its existing Climate Action Plan, according to the announcement. The plan, unveiled by former Mayor Sylvester Turner in 2020, consists of a series of long-range goals to curb greenhouse gas emissions and combat the adverse effects of climate change.

The new mayor has not yet articulated his stance on Houstons existing climate action targets or his administration's environmental goals. Whitmire vowed to prioritize environmental justice during his mayoral campaign last year. He promised to leverage his decadeslong experience in Austin to work with state environmental regulators on issues such as illegal dumping while being cautious not to alienate the energy industry.

FIFTH WARD RELOCATION: Whitmire raises alarm over new real estate development on Fifth Ward creosote site

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In March, the mayor announced the creation of a new City Council committee  the Resilience Committee  to delve into Houston's environmental policies. Its first meeting is scheduled for next Tuesday, when officials are expected to offer an update on the citys Climate Action Plan and Resilience Plan.
An official of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Innocent Osemi, on Monday night allegedly killed his colleague, identified as Senior Inspector Mamman Wuyah.

He injured another person. The incident allegedly occurred at the Lagos Deepshore, Offshore Logistics (LADOL) in Apapa area of Lagos. What happened?The Nation learnt that a bullet had discharged accidentally from the gun of Osemi, said to be from Kogi command, but on beat assignment at LADOL, killing the senior inspector and leaving another injured.

Although it was initially alleged that both officers had a disagreement over money, sources at the NSCDC dismissed the allegation.

According to them, LADOL usually took care of officials posted to secure their facilities, hence, it was very unlikely the issue was about money.

What we heard was that it was accidental discharge. It had nothing to do with money. Officers who are posted to LADOL are deployed from commands. In this case, the officer who died was from Kaduna command, while the other one was from Kogi.
The Youth Employment Agency (YEA) has signed another Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ghana Education Service (GES) to recruit 10,000 qualified persons to serve the Secondary, Junior High and primary schools across the country.



These 10,000 personnel who will be recruited under the MoU will serve as kitchen assistants, security guards and teaching assistants to augment and fill the gaps within the GES.



Giving an address on behalf of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of YEA, Deputy CEO in charge of operations, Alhaji Bashiru Ibrahim said the current agreement is the third MoU that the agency is signing with the GES.



He mentioned that the YEA in 2015 and 2018 signed MoUs with the GES, having good working relations as far as those agreements are concerned.



According to him, this agreement will enable the YEA recruit 4000 kitchen assistants, 4000 security guards and 4000 teaching assistants to beef up staffing situation in schools across the country.



This MoU is for the YEA to assist the GES to run educational services effectively; and in doing so, they need requisite staff, hence the YEA is coming on board to assist the GES in some respective areas by recruiting teaching assistants, kitchen assistants and security guards for schools, he said.



Alhaji Bashiru Ibrahim also noted that persons who will be recruited as teaching assistants in the Senior, Junior and Primary schools must have a minimum qualification of Diploma certificate.



This set of personnel, according to him, shall receive monthly allowance of GHC 1,000.



He averred that the YEA has recognized the qualifications within the GES and decided to follow it to recruit the teaching assistants under the program.



For both the security guards and kitchen staff, they will receive GHC 500 as monthly allowance.



He explained that the YEA is supporting the GES with part of its entitlements under the GETFund and called on prospective applicants to apply for any of the vacancies.



Stephen Kweku Owusu, Deputy Director General (Management Service), also expressed gratitude to the YEA for assisting the Service.



According to him, the 10,000 personnel, when recruited, will boost teaching and learning in our schools.

Source: Youth Employment Agency









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Dr. Sam Ankrah, an independent presidential candidate and leader of Alternative Force for Action (AFA), has extended his heartfelt greetings to Ghanaian workers, acknowledging their dedication to the nation's growth.



In a Workers' Day address on May 1, 2024, Dr. Ankrah seized the opportunity to outline his commitment to improving labour conditions in Ghana.



On this momentous occasion of International Workers' Day, I extend my warmest felicitations to all Ghanaian workers across the country. Today, we honour your tireless efforts, unwavering dedication, and significant contributions to our nation's progress and development," he said in a statement sighted by GhanaWeb.



As we celebrate this day, I want to emphasise the urgent need for fair labour practices, improved working conditions, and a commitment to protecting the rights and dignity of all workers. As the leader of Alternative Force for Action (AFA) and a presidential candidate in the upcoming 2024 elections, I pledge to prioritise the welfare and well-being of workers if elected as the President of Ghana, the statement read in part.



He promised to implement a living minimum wage, ban the carrying of heavy loads on heads, provide tricycles for Kayayo workers, and introduce compulsory pension schemes.



He proposed the abolishment of the compulsory retirement age and launching apprenticeship programmes to boost skills and employability.



The presidential candidate hopeful emphasised the importance of investing in human capital and fostering a sense of patriotism and unity among workers.



Let us work together to build a more equitable, just, and prosperous Ghana for all, the statement concluded.



Read the full statement below



PRESS STATEMENT



May Day Message from Dr. Sam Ankrah, Independent Presidential Candidate and Leader of Alternative Force for Action (AFA)



Accra, Ghana - May 1, 2024



On this momentous occasion of International Workers' Day, I extend my warmest felicitations to all Ghanaian workers across the country. Today, we honor your tireless efforts, unwavering dedication, and significant contributions to our nation's progress and development.



As we celebrate this day, I want to emphasize the urgent need for fair labor practices, improved working conditions, and a commitment to protecting the rights and dignity of all workers. As the leader of Alternative Force for Action (AFA) and a presidential candidate in the upcoming 2024 elections, I pledge to prioritize the welfare and well-being of workers if elected as the President of Ghana.



Our vision for the Ghanaian labor market includes:



1. Implementing a living minimum wage to ensure decent earnings and a dignified life for all workers. 2. Promoting health and safety by banning the carrying of heavy loads on human heads and promoting safer work practices. 3. Providing tricycles for Kayayo workers to alleviate their burden and improve their working conditions. 4. Implementing compulsory pension schemes for all workers to ensure a secure future. 5. Abolishing compulsory retirement age, allowing workers to choose when to retire with dignity. 6. Introducing apprenticeship programs to develop skills, enhance employability, and foster innovation. 7. Investing in human capital development through training, capacity building, and education. 8. Fostering patriotism, ethical standards, and national unity among workers, promoting a more prosperous Ghana for all.



Let us work together to build a more equitable, just, and prosperous Ghana for all. Thank you, and once again, happy May Day to all Ghanaian workers!



Issued by: Dr. Sam Ankrah 2024 Independent Presidential Candidate





Source: Ghanaweb.com









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The man who claims to be King Charles III's secret son has shared some images in a fresh bid to prove his heritage once and for all.



British-born Simon Charles Dorante-Day now lives in Australia and thinks he is the illegitimate son of Charles and Queen Camilla.



Mr Dorante-Day previously claimed his adoptive mother, who used to work for Queen Elizabeth II, told him he was Charles and Camilla's son on her deathbed. He was adopted when he was about eight-months-old in 1966 in Portsmouth - Charles would have been 17 and Camilla 18 at the time.



Read Full Story .... dailystar.co.uk >>> :

















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The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), under the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC), has commenced a new initiative called Feast Ghana.



This event aims to promote and showcase the rich culinary diversity of the nation.



Speaking with the Media, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for the Ghana Tourism Authority, Akwasi Agyemang stated that "Feast Ghana" represents a unique opportunity to showcase the vibrant culinary richness of our nation and celebrate the unity and diversity that food embodies in our culture.



He said that the event aligns with GTAs See Ghana, Eat Ghana, Wear Ghana and Feel Ghana campaign, which aims to promote the countrys tourism and cultural offerings.



He again stated that the event will help showcase various local dishes in every regions of Ghana.



Dr. Akwasi Agyemang spoke with the Media during the grand celebration of Feast Ghana held on May Day at the Accra International Conference Center, in collaboration with the Public Service Worker's Union of Trade Union Congress (TUC).



Dr. Akwasi Agyemang therefore pleaded with all restaurants, hotels to help promote Ghana's Local dishes.



The Deputy General Secretary of the Public Service Worker's Union (PSWU) of TUC, John Nii Donu Sampah also advised Ghanaians to eat and promote and patronage our Local foods.











Source: Clinton Akwasi Amoako









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Kwesi Pratt has jabbed President Nana Addo over his campaign message at Ejisu in favor of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate, Kwabena Boateng.



Kwabena Boateng contested and won the Ejisu by-election against the three-term former Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency and former Deputy Minister of Roads and Highways, Kwabena Owusu Aduomi, who competed as independent candidate.



But prior to the contest and while addressing the construction of roads in response to Kwabena Owusu Aduomi's comments, President Nana Akufo-Addo emphasized his authority in the distribution of development across the country, particularly in the roads sector.



The President stressed no road could be constructed in Ghana without his approval, hence stamping his incontrovertible role in the construction of roads across the nation.



"I don't say this to boast but there is no road that can be constructed in Ghana without my permission. From today till the 7th of January, the government in power is an NPP government led by Akufo-Addo.



"If you need someone to catch the attention of an NPP president, we need an NPP MP", he said.



But the Editor-in-Chief of the Insight newspaper has rebuked the President for such words, exclaiming "what does that mean?"



He found the President's utterances to be unfortunate saying "it means all the places where roads haven't been constructed is because he has refused to give his permission to do it. What a statement! Aside that, he says today that he is NPP President, so if you want your constituency to develop, you should vote for an NPP person because it is an NPP person who can go to an NPP President to discuss development matters".



Arguing out the President's comments, Kwesi Pratt charged the Ejisu constituents to vote wisely stating "think carefully before you vote. This is not NPP/NDC election but rather the destiny of Ghana that has been place in your hands".



He made these submissions on Peace FM's morning show "Kokrokoo".





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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(Photo : Unsplash/Yender Gonzalez )

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy broke federal labor law by commenting to media outlets on the company's unionization efforts, a judge from the National Labor Relations Board ruled on Wednesday.

Amazon CEO's Anti-Union Behavior

NLRB Administrative Law Judge Brian Gee referred to interviews that Jassy conducted in 2022 with CNBC's Squawk Box, Bloomberg Television, and at The New York Times's DealBook conference, which coincided with an increase in union campaigns within Amazon's warehouse and delivery operations.

In April 2022, Jassy told CNBC that if employees voted in favor of a union, they might feel less empowered at work, leading to slower and more bureaucratic processes. Likewise, during the Bloomberg interview, Jassy stated that employees could not directly approach their managers to implement changes if they noticed areas for customers or their team's improvement. During the DealBook conference, Jassy asserted that the workplace is not bureaucratic or slow without a union.

READ ALSO: Starbucks Anti-Union Tactics Not True, Calling It Pure Propaganda Amidst Employee Relations Controversy

NLRB Taking Action on Union-Busting Tactics

NLRB Judge Gee stated that the comments implied a threat to employees, suggesting that if they chose a union, they would lose empowerment and encounter difficulties in achieving tasks promptly.

The NLRB lodged a complaint against Amazon and Jassy in October 2022. In his ruling on Wednesday, Gee mentioned that while Jassy's comments regarding the potential change in the worker's relationship with their employer due to unionization were lawful, remarks implying that employees would be "less empowered" and "better off" without a union otherwise violated the labor law and extended beyond merely discussing the employee-employer relationship.

NLRB Ordering Cease and Desist

According to spokesperson Mary Kate Paradis, Amazon does not agree with the NLRB's decision and intends to file an appeal expressing that the ruling reflects poorly on the state of free speech rights and that they remain optimistic about maintaining a constructive discussion where all perspectives are valued.

The judge suggests that Amazon should be directed to cease and desist from making similar comments in the future. The company should be mandated to post and circulate a notice regarding the order to all employees nationwide.

Series of Anti-Union Campaigns Within Amazon

The U.S. labor board prosecutors accused Amazon.com Inc. of repeatedly breaking federal labor law by changing policies without agreement and firing union supporters at its only unionized warehouse. They also claimed CEO Andy Jassy's illegal anti-union remarks.

The agency claims that Amazon altered its policy regarding off-duty workers' access to the premises and its procedures for announcing and granting paid leave for COVID-19 cases at the Staten Island facility without consulting the union. It further alleges that the company fired two employees due to their association with the Amazon Labor Union. The complaint recommends that, among other actions, Amazon should be required to revoke its off-duty access policy for at least three years.

Under federal labor law, companies have the right to express opposition to unionization but are prohibited from threatening or retaliating against workers for organizing. Moreover, companies must negotiate over working conditions if employees vote to unionize.

RELATED ARTICLE: Amazon Removes Self-Checkout Systems, Trims Hundreds of Jobs in AWS, Retail Tech in Strategic Realignment

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Leadership of the Zongo Community in the Western Region has acknowledged Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia's benevolence towards humanity and his quest for inclusive development.



The Vice President and flagbearer of the NPP, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia had a fruitful engagement with Imams and Zongo Chiefs on Wednesday, May 1, as part of his campaign tour of the Western Region.



At the meeting, the Imams and Zongo Chiefs, commended him for his good works to help people and his development initiatives.



Dr. Bawumia has personally and privately supported many individuals and groups.



Earlier this week, news emerged that he assisted a patient in urgent need for surgery abroad.



The Chiefs and Imams honoured Dr. Bawumia with a citation, reading "the Regional Chief Imam, the Regional Zongo Chiefs and the entire Muslim Umma in the Western Region duly recognise and appreciate your benevolence towards humanity and development.



Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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The Electoral Commission has advised the general public to disregard a video circulating on social media that suggests a man stuffing ballot papers into a box following the Ejisu by-election.



The communique from the commission signed by the Deputy Chairman, Operations, Mr. Samuel Tettey, on 2nd May, 2024, noted that the said video has nothing to do with the operations of Ghanas Electoral commission let alone the Ejisu by-election.



Highlighting some key indicators to prove that the said video is meant to propagate falsehood, the Electoral Commission said, "the vest the Ghana Electoral Commission uses for its operations is blue. The official in the video is wearing a green vest. The second person seen in the video is wearing an orange vest. As stated, the Electoral Commission of Ghana uses a blue vest for its Operation Staff."



Secondly, "the Electoral Commission of Ghanas Polling Stations are cited in open spaces but the Polling Station in the video is in an enclosed area."



The Electoral Commission further stated that, "each polling station at the Ejisu constituency had at least Six Police Officers in addition to the Agents of the various candidates. This electoral architecture is contrary to the one circulating on social media, according to the Electoral Commission.



Samuel Tettey stated, "All the ballot boxes of the Electoral Commission of Ghana are labelled according to the name and code of the each polling station. The labels are boldly pasted on the ballot box. The ballot box in the video is not labelled.



The Commission, by their release noted that each polling station in the Ejisu constituency had only one ballot box. In the video circulating on social media, there were two ballot boxes at the said polling stations.



The Commission has therefore urged the general public to disregard the video.



According to the Electoral Commission, the video is simply aimed at tarnishing the image and credibility of Ghanas Electoral Commission.



"The events in the video did not occur in Ghana. It has nothing to do with the Electoral Commission of Ghana.



"In this era of misinformation and disinformation, we entreat the public to cross-check information with the commission so as to ascertain then truth," the Commission stressed.







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Source: Kobina Darlington/peacefmonline.com









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Deputy Communications Director for the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Jennifer Queen has questioned the credibility of the allegations that money was shared to voters during the just ended Ejisu by-elections organized by the Electoral Commission.



During the Ejisu by-election conducted by the Electoral Commission on April 30, 2024, there were speculations that some monies were being shared to voters by some persons believed to be members of the ruling NPP government in order for voters to cast their votes for their party member, Lawyer Kwabena Boateng.



Addressing the allegations on Okay FMs 'Ade Akye Abia' programme on May 2, Jennifer Queen debunked the said allegations stating that, there is no such an activity as criminal as this would take place in the presence of the Ghana Police Service who have been flying their drones all day to monitor proceedings.



"I have been to the villages encouraging people to come out to cast their votes as part of their civic responsibilities. This is a common practice that all political parties can associate with. During elections, we go to the homes of people to compel them to come out to vote. Where was the money being shared that I didnt see to go for mine?" she said.



"Drones were flying all over so where was the money shared that the drone could not capture? These allegations are mere propaganda propagated by the NDC to discredit the integrity of the elections."



There were videos circulating on social media suggesting that some voters were given envelopes with its content allegedly being weed and an undisclosed amount of money.



However, Jennifer Queen stated categorically that, the NPP will not engage in activities that the constitution abhors.



She revealed that although the opposition did not present any candidate to contest in the by-election, yet they were seen in Ejisu vigorously campaigning.



"They did not present any candidate so why were they on the grounds campaigning. What was their interest there? I saw NDC members going round soliciting votes for the Independent candidate, Kwabena Owusu Aduomi around 3pm. So what is Mustafa Gbandi talking about? The NDC was in full support of the Independent candidate," she stated.



The Ejisu by-election was conducted smoothly with the NPP candidate, Lawyer Kwabena Boateng emerging as the replacement for the late John Kumah.





Watch Video Blow





Source: Kobina Darlington/peacefmonline.com









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A University of Tehran professor has made a chilling prediction about the ongoing protests on U.S. college campuses, saying the Iranian regime wants to see it continue as the protesters will be their supporters if there is ever a conflict between the two countries.



Professor Foad Izadi, who, according to the University of Southern California Center on Public Diplomacy, earned his masters degree from the University of Houston, was seen in a video published to social media and translated by MEMRI.org, being interviewed about the protests in the U.S.



"Sooner or later, this kind of support for the Zionist regime by the American regime will diminish. It might not stop completely, but its diminishing is important," he said in the MEMRI video. "This is why the demonstrations [on U.S. campuses] are important."



Izadi spoke as a member of the Islamic Republic, and oftentimes said, "we," referring to him and the republic.



"We are watching the demonstrations and like what we see, but it should not end with this," Izadi said. "If not for the Islamic Republic, the case of the Palestinian idea would have been closed years ago. The idea of resistance belongs to Iran, but on the operational level, when it comes to recruiting connections and building networks, the [Iranian] state has not been involved in a sufficient level.



"These (American students) are our people," he continued. "If tensions between America and Iran rise tomorrow or the day after, these are the people who will have to take to the streets to support Iran."



Izadi said there are Hezbollah-style groups in the U.S. that are much larger than those in Lebanon. "America is the Great Satan and our main enemy, but we have hope in these areas," he said.





pic.twitter.com/eCSOzYHAgp

Tehran University Professor, Foad Izadi, claims the pro-Palestinian students on US campuses are traitors to America and will be used by Iran to undermine the sovereignty of the US, just like Iran did in Lebanon with Hezbollah. He insists that these  Liza Rosen (@LizaRosen0000) May 1, 2024





















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Since Celtic mythology was originally an oral tradition before Christian monks arrived to transcribe them, the exact details of Celtic gods and goddesses are continuously debated by modern historian and anthropologists.

Similar to Greek and Roman deities, the main Celtic gods and goddesses were members of a divine family. Father and mother goddesses in this Celtic pantheon oversaw aspects of nature and battled evil forces seeking to destroy humankind, while lesser Celtic deities played minor roles in legends.

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1. Brigid

" " Brigid. Nicole Antonio/DALL-E

The Celtic goddess Brigid is the daughter of Dagda and a powerful healer in Irish mythology. Many historians believe that when Christianity swept through Western Europe, the goddess Brigid evolved into St. Brigid, the patron saint of Ireland.

2. Cernunnos

" " Cernunnos. Nicole Antonio/DALL-E

Cernunnos, depicted as the ram-headed serpent god or horned god, is arguably one of the most universal figures in the ancient Celtic world. Although this Celtic god's iconography with horned serpents and antlers was likely the inspiration for Christian depictions of Satan, he was good-natured.

Cernunnos is a primal deity who influenced plants, animals and fertility in most Celtic mythology belief systems.

3. Danu

" " Danu. Nicole Antonio/DALL-E

The Irish goddess Danu is believed to have been a simple water goddess or an alternative incarnation of the primary mother goddess of the Tuatha De Danann. Some historians even propose that the goddess Danu is the oldest of all the Celtic gods and goddesses, representing earth's primal spirit.

4. Dian Cecht

" " Dian Cecht. Nicole Antonio/DALL-E

Like other Irish gods, Dian Cecht's role in ancient Irish mythology is still shrouded in mystery. However, based off translations of his name and his appearance in oral histories, he is believed to be a powerful healing god who brought injured warriors to the Wells of Slainte.

These healing springs were believed to produce miraculous recoveries and the term "Slainte" still means health today. Modern usage is typically reserved for the famous Irish drinking toast.

5. Epona

" " Epona. Nicole Antonio/DALL-E

This Celtic horse goddess appears in several legends among German tribes and small communities along the Danube river. The stem "epo" is actually the Celtic word for horse. Although other Celtic goddesses share connections to horses, Epona is the most clearly defined equestrian deity.

6. Eriu

" " Eriu. Nicole Antonio/DALL-E

Eriu is the Irish goddess that would eventually become the namesake of the country we know today. In Irish mythology, she plays the role of divine feminine, along with her sisters Bamba and Fodla. These Celtic goddesses are sometimes described as a triple goddess, or three separate entities.

7. Lugh

" " Lugh. Nicole Antonio/DALL-E

The Celtic god Lugh, or Lugh Lamfada (long-arm), was a skilled warrior poet who mastered several arts and crafts of ancient society. The god Lugh was also associated with the sun and it's revealing light, making him a good god for upholding law and justice among other gods and mortals alike.

8. Rhiannon

" " Rhiannon. Nicole Antonio/DALL-E

Rhiannon is the Celtic deity of horses for the ancient Welsh. She is believed to have been another iteration of the Celtic goddess Epona from Irish mythology, or she was a distinct entity developed apart from Irish gods and goddesses.
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:

Lithological and geochemical results from Leonard Lake. Core analyses from Leonard Lake are plotted on the same depth scale (left): a Composite line scan imagery; b lithological descriptions based on visual analysis where clay layers are blue, fine laminations are black, homogenous areas are yellow, and sand layers are red and; c percentage data for clay (blue), total sand (gray), silt (orange), and non-carbonate inorganics (yellow); and (d) Si/Al values (black). Credit: Communications Earth & Environment (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s43247-024-01357-z

A team of paleoclimatologists with the U.S. Geological Survey, NASA Ames Research Park, has found that atmospheric rivers in the past have dumped far more rain on California than those that have occurred over the past two years.

In their paper published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, the group describes their study of sediment core samples collected from the bottom of Leonard Lake, in northern California.

Over the past two winters, parts of California have seen much more rain than is normal for the region. The reason for it has been the creation of what have come to be called atmospheric rivers over parts of the Pacific Ocean, which dump wave after wave of rain as they move over land.

Prior research has suggested that atmospheric rivers used to be more common in the region, and may have resulted in more rain than has been seen in modern times. Such studies have suggested that if certain conditions develop, more atmospheric rivers could form in the future, and that they could be bigger, leading to more rainfall than has been seen thus far.

For this new study, the researchers focused on the history of atmospheric rivers dumping rain on California. They traveled to Leonard Lake in northern California to collect core sediment samples. The lake was chosen due to its relatively stable history going back thousands of years and its geographical features.

The team collected core soil samples by pushing soil samplers down to the lake bottom from a boat. Their samples reflected layers deposited over approximately 3,200 years. Rain events over the years have resulted in the creation of sediment layers, allowing the team to see how much rain had fallen during certain periods of California history.

In studying the core samples, the research team found evidence of the largest atmospheric river events, which both exceeded those from recent years, occurring two and three millennia ago and dumping massive amounts of rainfall in the region.

The findings by the team are relevant because prior studies have suggested global warming is leading to the likelihood of more atmospheric rivers forming over the Pacificthe sediment samples, the researchers note could be offering a glimpse of what could be in California's future.

More information: Clarke A. Knight et al, Atmospheric river activity during the late Holocene exceeds modern range of variability in California, Communications Earth & Environment (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s43247-024-01357-z Journal information: Communications Earth & Environment

 2024 Science X Network
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Chicago. Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Annette Prince peered between glossy downtown buildings: "There's a bird in that grate."

Sure enough, sitting very still in the rain was a tiny white-throated sparrow, so drenched you could barely make out its canary-yellow face markings. The bird was too dazed to movean easy target for the hungry seagulls that were patrolling the area.

Prince looked up at the nearest skyscraper, with its rows of dark windows.

"He probably hit the glass up there and fell down," she said.

A long-awaited policy update from the city of Chicago is supposed to help prevent such injuries and deaths, which occur by the thousands each year when migrating birds crash into local buildings.

But Chicago bird safety advocates say they are disappointed that the city's policy update, now in draft form, does not make bird safety measures mandatory.

Instead, anti-collision measures, which can include installing glass with tiny markings, are included in a menu of sustainable design options from which developers working on affected projects can pick and choose.

"We feel it's not adequate," said Prince, chair of Bird Friendly Chicago, a coalition of local birding and conservation groups that's been working for bird-safe building measures since 2016.

"(These measures) are not just bonusesthey're essential to protecting valuable bird lives and a healthy environment, that these birds are foundational to. They're good for people. They're good for birds," she said.

Chicago Department of Planning and Development Deputy Commissioner Peter Strazzabosco pointed out that the proposed policy update, available for public comment until May 15, gives additional weight to bird-safe building options.

Under the update, one category of bird safety measures would be awarded 30 points, compared with just 10 points under the current policy.

Those points count toward the 100 points that certain new buildings and renovations must earnby choosing from a list of sustainability optionsif the project developers want the city's permission to build.

"(The new policy) has incentivized the bird-friendly design section by tripling the point total (in one category), and by including, for the first time, an implementation section that helps developers figure out how to use bird-friendly measures in their projects," Strazzabosco said.

The draft sustainable development policy update would typically apply to about 50 to 75 new or renovated buildings a year, many of them larger projects that are getting some form of assistance from the city, he said.

The proposed update, the first since 2017, comes less than a year after at least 960 birds died in a single day after crashing into McCormick Place Lakeside Center, a glassy, low-lying convention building on the lakefront.

Birds were crashing into windows even as monitors collected the casualties, according to David Willard, a retired bird division collections manager at the Field Museum.

"It was just discouraging as can be," Willard told the Tribune. "You're looking at a rose-breasted grosbeak that, if it hadn't hit a Chicago window, would have made it to the Andes of Peru."

McCormick Place Lakeside sought expert advice immediately, and has set a goal of installing about $1.2 million worth of bird-safe film on all its windows in time for the fall migration season, according to Larita Clark, chief executive officer at the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, which owns the building.

But Chicago, which is located in the Mississippi Flywaya major bird migration routeremains a perilous place for millions of birds that fly through each year, some from as far away as South America and northern Canada.

Prince, the director of Chicago Bird Collision Monitors, said the all-volunteer organization recovers 7,000 to 10,000 dead and injured birds a yearand that's just a small fraction of the city's casualties.

During a walk through the Loop, she pulled out her phone to show an array of birds, including an injured meadowlark and a deceased northern flicker with a spotted belly and bright yellow feathers on the undersides of its wings.

The losses come at a time of growing concern about North American birds, which are in the midst of a "staggering" population decline, according to a widely quoted 2019 study in the journal Science.

The study found a net loss of 2.9 billion birds since 1970, a 29% population decline.

A wide range of threats were cited in the study, including habitat loss, agricultural practices, coastal disturbances, climate change and deaths due to human activity, a category that includes collisions with buildings.

Through the years, Chicago has made some major efforts on behalf of the tiny visitors, including a seasonal late-night lights-out program.

Prince's group patrols a high-risk section of downtown Chicago during spring and fall migration, rescuing birds as well as providing casualty counts.

The white-throated sparrow that Prince spotted on a grate was easy to catch: She came up behind him with a net, then gently placed him in a brown paper bag for transfer to the Willowbrook Wildlife Center.

He didn't seem harmed, just dazed, Prince said, and he was very likely to recover and be released back into the wild.

Despite such success stories, bird advocates say that the transparent and reflective surfaces of Chicago buildings, as well as certain gratings and landscape and lighting practices, continue to create peril.

Advocates began pushing the city for bird-safe building design measures in 2016, with early efforts focusing on an ordinance.

In 2020, advocates turned their focus to a planned update of the city's sustainable development policy.

Prince said she and her allies were clear, from the beginning of their discussions with the planning department, that they were calling for bird safety requirements, not options.

"It's an understanding they had from us, and they continued to indicate that was the direction they were taking," said Prince.

She said the word "required" was used in the department's presentations and slides until the end of 2023, and then there was "a reversal at the 11th hour."

"We feel that we wasted four years, and in those four years, hundreds of buildings have gone up that in their lifetime are going to kill thousands of birds," she said.

Strazzabosco said that he wasn't going to dispute what bird advocates "may have heard or what they thought they heard."

"I'm kind of uncomfortable talking about this he said, she said stuff because neither of us was in the room, but I can tell you that mandatory menu items were suggested, but anything presented was in the discussion phase; it wasn't final," he said.

Strazzabosco said that policy documents such as the sustainable development policy update don't have the authority to create mandates; that typically requires an ordinance with a City Council vote behind it.

At the nonprofit American Bird Conservancy, which tests and rates bird-safe building options, glass collisions program director Bryan Lenz said that point-based policies such as the Chicago sustainable development policy update are more effective than purely voluntary measures but less effective than requirements.

Faced with a menu of sustainable building methods and materials, developers tend to pick ones that are more familiar to them, such as water-conserving low-flow toilets, he said.

"I don't think (Chicago's proposed policy) would have the impact anybody was hoping for in terms of reducing collisions," he said.

Since 2017, about 30 projects have chosen bird safety from Chicago's menu of sustainable building strategies, Strazzabosco said. That's approximately 10% of the projects that had to choose from the menu.

Other menu options include energy efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions reduction, landscape and green infrastructure, public health and community benefits, stormwater management, sustainable transportation, waste diversion and water use reduction.

The policy update was released as a draft April 15. A final policy will be posted online July 1, and the policy will be fully implemented in January, according to the planning department.

The owners of McCormick Place Lakeside are finalizing a contract to apply bird-friendly patterns to all the building's windows, according to Clark.

The glass will be marked with tiny dotsapplied via a removable filmthat will warn birds they are approaching a hard surface. Workers are also closing blinds at the building, unless customers request otherwise.

Prince said that regardless of what happens with the proposed policy update, bird advocates plan to pursue an ordinance with bird-safe building requirements.

New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Skokie and Evanston already have local laws with such requirements.

"We think that's a direction that's going to put the strongest protections in place," Prince said.

2024 Chicago Tribune. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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Artists impression of the lander. Credit: wikipedia, CC BY-SA

China is attempting to recover the first ever soil and rock samples from the lunar far side. The surface mission, Chang'e 6, named after the Chinese moon goddess Chang'e, is a successor to the successful sample return mission, Chang'e 5, and a part of the Chinese lunar exploration program.

The mission is set for launch using a long March 5 rocket at the Wenchang satellite launch center in Hainan province on May 3. The spacecraft due to land on the moon is projected to weigh 3,200kg carrying scientific equipment from France, Italy and the European Space Agency.

Chang'e 5 was the first lunar sample-return mission since the Soviet Union's Luna 24 in 1976. Chang'e 5 was hugely successful, returning 2kg of material from the near side. This material led to important scientific discoveries, such as the youngest lunar material ever discovered. Previously we only had much older samples returned from the Apollo missions and sampled meteorites. The younger material retrieved by Chang'e 5 helped scientists confirm the predicted ages of impact craters on the moon.

The spacecraft will reach the moon in approximately 53 days and aims to collect around 2kg of material from 2m below the surface. Chang'e 6 will attempt to land in the southern hemisphere, specifically, the southern portion of the Apollo crater, which resides within the South Pole-Aikin impact basin.

This impact basin, created by a large meteorite crashing into the moon, is thought to be the largest (2,400km), deepest (6.28.2km) and oldest (4.3 billion years old) on the moon.

Large meteorite collisions with the surface of the moon can potentially strip away the crustoutermost layer of the surface and eject fragments of deeper-forming materials. This means that studying the basin could help us learn more about what resides in the depths of the moon.

These deeper-forming materials, known as mantle-like material or dunite, are dominated by a mineral called olivine. Mantle-like materials in the solar system, let alone the lunar meteorite record or returned samples, are extremely rare.

Potential discoveries

One of the first mantle fragments of the moon has been recently discovered in a meteorite, named Northwest Africa 11421. This small fragment (0.7cm in length) is thought to have formed at a depth of roughly 88km below the surface of the moon (give or take 22km).

However, contamination of meteorites from Earth's atmosphere can result in anomalous results, especially in the hydrogen contents of the sample.

While Apollo 17 also brought back an olivine-rich sample, it is not yet clear whether or not this material is derived from the mantle. In any case, these samples may be similar to those brought back from the Chang'e 6 mission.

Scientists haven't been able to determined the mineral abundances and chemistry of the moon's mantle. Lunar mantle material will provide a window into fundamental planetary processes such as unraveling the timing and mechanisms of the moon's geological evolution.

Chang'e 6 is one of the most exciting missions of 2024, and scientists dearly hope for a successful launch this week. Many of us, including myself, are extremely excited to see the preliminary results.

And the journey for Chinese lunar exploration doesn't end there. In 2026, Chang'e 7 is similarly heading to the south polar region of the moon. However, Chang'e 7 will carry 21 scientific payloads, including a relay satellite, an orbiter, a lander, a rover, and a small flying probe, with the aim of landing the first lunar rover.

This mission will also carry "mini-hopping probes" to investigate the permanently shadowed regions of the moon where ice made of water may residea potentially crucial resource for future crewed missions to the moon.

These missions solidify China's hopes of sending humans back to the moon by 2030. It is a truly fascinating time in planetary science and exploration.

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Graphical abstract. Credit: Science of The Total Environment (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172176

Climate change is transforming dust stormsa natural phenomenon in the Middle Eastinto a more frequent and widespread threat to health and economies throughout the region, a new study shows.

Dust levels have increased in many parts of the Middle East chiefly due to global warming, but other human activities also share credit, says Zahra Kalantari, associate professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. She cites such factors as oil extraction, military conflicts and lack of cross-border coordination of water management.

Published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, the study maps the spread of aerosolized dust, and pinpoints where and when trends in precipitation and evaporation have changed course for the worse.

Analyzing multiple sets of data over the last 40 years, the researchers found an increase in dust levels in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Yemen, parts of Iran and Egypt and countries around the Persian Gulf, while it has declined in northern Iran and southwest Turkey.

The area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in northern Iraq and along the Syria-Iraq border was reported to have the highest concentration of dust sources in the region, reflecting a sharp increase over the last 20 years.

Zahra Klantari says water management, war and deforestation are some of the factors behind the reduction of soil moisture and vegetation coverage which normally help reduce dust levels. Credit: David Callahan CC-BY- 4.0

The researchers documented a notable decrease in precipitation in northern Iraq, Syria, southwestern Iran, and southern Turkey. The natural effects of the area's arid and hot climate have also been intensified by factors such as deforestation, dam building, over-irrigation and extraction of water and military conflict. Kalantari says one serious result is the reduction of soil moisture and vegetation coverage, which normally help reduce dust levels.

The environmental consequences include soil erosion, biodiversity loss and desertification, she says. Economic losses may result from damaged infrastructure, disrupted agriculture and reduced tourism.

Social disruption also can be expected, she says, and vulnerable populations will suffer disproportionately.

Kalantari says regional cooperation is vital to address complex factors and implement effective dust control measures. Comprehensive strategies are imperative to mitigate adverse effects on health, ecology, and socio-economic development.

The researchers call for "a comprehensive strategy focusing on environmental management and policy reforms." Prescriptive measures include reforestation, soil conservation, water conservation, regional cooperation, sustainable urban planning, advanced monitoring systems, public awareness campaigns and climate adaptation measures.

"These efforts, combined with research and cross-border collaboration, are essential for a sustainable environment that is resilient to dust storms in the Middle East," Kalantari says.

More information: Hossein Mousavi et al, Dust and climate interactions in the Middle East: Spatio-temporal analysis of aerosol optical depth and climatic variables, Science of The Total Environment (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172176 Journal information: Science of the Total Environment
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Ph.D. student Nowrin Shaika and professor Halis Simsek, both in agricultural and biological engineering, demonstrate using electrocoagulation to harvest microalgae Chlorella vulgaris from wastewater cleaned with algae. Credit: Purdue Agricultural Communications/Tom Campbell

Aquaculture production operations that help feed the world's growing population also generate polluted wastewater that harms the environment. Four studies published by Purdue University scientists since last May document the feasibility of previously unproven methods for successfully treating the wastewater.

"Those wastewaters are not good for the environment because they discharge a large amount of nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus," said Jen-Yi Huang, associate professor of food science.

"These nutrients cause harmful conditions such as oxygen depletion and algae blooms when they are discharged into the aquatic environment. We want to use microalgae as a wastewater treatment approach. We grow algae in the aquaculture wastewater," said Huang, who led a study focusing on microbial use of nutrients as a biological wastewater treatment method.

Huang's study was published in the May 2024 issue of Bioresource Technology. Halis Simsek, assistant professor of agricultural and biological engineering, led the other three studies. One will be published June 1 in Environmental Research, and the others were published in the Aug. 15, 2023 and March 15, 2024 issues of Environmental Pollution. A dozen scientists at Purdue and institutions in Egypt, India and Turkey contributed to the research.

In Bioresource Technology, Huang and his co-authors presented the results of their life cycle assessment (LCA) on microalgae-based treatments of wastewater from a recirculating aquaculture system for shrimp. The LCA analyzed the environmental impact of the shrimp production process from feed production to wastewater treatment for a commercial farm in Fowler, Indiana.

"The result of this paper provides the proof of concept on an experimental scale," Huang said.

The USDA projects seek to develop zero-waste aquaculture (growing aquatic organisms under controlled conditions) and aquaponics (combining aquaculture with plant cultivation in nutrient-enriched water) systems. "We want to fully recover the nutrients from the wastewater using microalgae," Huang said.

The goal is to ensure that zero-waste food production is both technically feasible and environmentally sustainable. The latter requires a production system that avoids generating a large environmental footprint.

"There is a trade-off because operating the microalgae wastewater treatment still requires some energy input," Huang said. "The LCA evaluated the tradeoff between the nutrient recovery and additional energy input for the algal wastewater treatment."

Huang's team found that the microalgae wastewater treatment process is environmentally feasible. Further, the team found that even with the energy requirements factored in, the microalgae treatment works better than the conventional activated-sludge wastewater treatment method.

"Using the microalgae as the wastewater treatment method can indeed improve the environmental performance of aquaculture production," Huang said.

All three studies by Simsek's team were conducted at Purdue's Aquaculture Research Laboratory. In two of those studies, the scientists analyzed treating separate tilapia and shrimp wastewater streams with the same four strains of algae and two strains of bacteria.

"Wastewater always has bacteria," Simsek said. "We are using natural bacteria that already exist in the wastewater to remove contaminants."

The research team measured nitrate, nitrite, ammonium and other parameters in the wastewater during the experiments. These included chemical oxygen demand, a measure of environmentally harmful effluent discharge.

"All these parameters can be removed in the wastewaters using algae and bacteria together," Simsek said. The types of algae and bacteria selected for the study are the most commonly occurring natural strains. "Every wastewater is different," he noted, meaning that different industrial sectors produce different wastewater and, therefore, may need different treatment methods.

The March 15, 2024, Environmental Pollution study results demonstrated the potential for applying microalgae and native bacteria together for treating larger-scale tilapia wastewater.

In the 2023 study, Simsek and his co-authors evaluated electrocoagulation (EC) and electrooxidation (EO) treatments of shrimp wastewater, both separately and together. EC and EO, widely used methods for treating agricultural and other types of wastewaters, remove pollutants via electricity to drive chemical reactions.

The researchers also applied a modeling approach often used to determine optimal factors that affect the electrochemical method.

"The results of the study show EC and EO processes are potentially beneficial for the treatment of aquaculture wastewater," Simsek and his co-authors wrote. They suggested larger-scale testing of EC and EO for the treatment to reduce toxic environmental effects.

"The developed treatment system combined with other treatment methods could be useful to treat various types of wastewaters throughout the world, which can help support the development of the zero-waste policy," they wrote.
(Photo : Unsplash/Kai Wenzel )

Just before its impressive first-quarter earnings report on April 25, Google laid off over 200 employees from its Core teams, which will involve transferring certain roles to India and Mexico, as reported by CNBC.

Google Slashing Its Core Division

The Core division, tasked with constructing the technical foundation of Google's main products and safeguarding users' online security, underwent a restructuring that impacted several key technical units, including information technology, the Python developer team, technical infrastructure, security foundation, app platforms, core developers, and various engineering positions. Records show that at least 50 engineering positions in Sunnyvale, California, were cut, while internal documents indicate that numerous roles from Core teams will be moved to Mexico and India.

Asim Husain, Google's Vice President of Developer Ecosystem, emailed his team about the layoffs, labeling them the biggest planned reduction for his team this year due to the company's commitment to sustaining its global presence while expanding in high-growth areas and working more closely with partners and developer communities.

A Google spokesperson verified the cuts and mentioned that affected workers will have the opportunity to apply for other available positions within the company. Additionally, Google has provided outplacement services and required severance offerings.

Alphabet Trimming Workforce Due to Market Challenges

Alphabet, Google's parent company, has been trimming its workforce since early last year due to challenges in the online advertising market. Despite recent improvements in digital advertising, Alphabet has persisted with downsizing, resulting in layoffs across various departments this year.

READ ALSO: Google Layoffs Continue, Raising Workers' Fears of Being Replaced by AI Technology They Are Creating

In mid-April, the company's finance department underwent restructuring, as announced by Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat, involving layoffs and position relocations to Bangalore and Mexico City. Prabhakar Raghavan, Google's search head, expressed intentions to establish teams closer to users in important markets such as India and Brazil, where labor costs are comparatively lower.

Despite the layoffs, Google reported its quickest growth rate since early 2022, enhanced profit margins in the first quarter, and revealed its inaugural dividend and a $70 billion buyback.

Google Embracing Its New Operating Reality

Husain assured developers that the changes align with broader company objectives, primarily impacting teams essential to Google's developer tools, which reflects the company's increased integration of artificial intelligence into its products. The upcoming Google I/O developer conference is expected to introduce new developer products and tools.

Pankaj Rohatgi, Google's Security Engineering Vice President, disclosed role eliminations as the company extended its work to additional locations. The layoffs also affect the governance and protected data group, which is significant amidst rising regulatory scrutiny, including the European Union's Digital Markets Act.

Evan Kotsovinos, Google's Vice President of Governance and Protected Data, underscored the team's imperative to address regulatory challenges faster. Raghavan acknowledged intensified competition, a demanding regulatory landscape, and slower organic growth as Google's evolving operating reality.

RELATED ARTICLE: Google Search Boss Keeping Pace in Generative AI, Urges Employees with "Faster-Twitch, Shorter Wavelength" Execution

 2017 Jobs & Hire All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

In less than eight years, white sharks in South Africa have all but disappeared from their historical hotspots in False Bay and Gansbaai, on the Western Cape coast. These areas were once known as the "white shark capital of the world" and were home to a flourishing ecotourism industry. One possible explanation for this change would be a declining white shark population.

We are part of an international research team with expertise in shark ecology, genetics, fisheries and conservation, researching sharks for more than 20 years. This has included tagging sharks and monitoring their activities in the area.

We have published numerous papers on the species. These have included research into conservation plans for sharks in South Africa, white shark cage diving, and the importance of coastal reef habitats for white sharks.

Our most recent tracking data on white sharks tells a worrying story: 18 of 21 white sharks tagged since 2019 with internal 10-year transmitters in Mossel Bay by the Oceans Research Institute have disappeared. This represents the loss of nearly 90% of the tracked white sharks in less than four years. They have not been detected moving to the Eastern Cape or elsewhere: they vanished.

Furthermore, nowadays, white sharks larger than 4 meters in length, the big breeders, are rarely sighted. Combined with the known low genetic diversity of this population, it is an indication that the white shark population is likely not stable in South Africa.

Based on this, we urge the South African government to take a precautionary approach to white shark conservation. Otherwise, South Africa could go down in history not only as the first country to protect white sharks, but also the first country to knowingly lose its white sharks.

What's known

As far back as 2011, between 500 and 1,000 individual white sharks were estimated to be left in South Africa. Today, we barely see any larger white sharks. This in itself is a sign of a population not doing well, because the fewer adult sharks there are, the greater the decline will be.

Although white sharks have been a protected species since 1991, large numbers are legally killed every year by shark nets and drumlines (anchored hooks with large baits) operated by the KwaZulu Natal Sharks Board. This is based on an outdated 70-year-old idea that sharks should be culled to reduce the chances of encounters with humans.

Between 1978 and 2018, drumlines and shark nets captured 1,317 white sharks, of which 1,108 died. So, on average, 28 white sharks were killed every single year for the last 40 years.

We have estimated that even if tens of white sharks were killed per year, this would drive the white shark population into decline.

White sharks have also been affected by the demersal shark longline fishery. Boats use fishing lines fitted with thousands of hooks that can be kilometers long. The fishery is permitted to target and kill endangered and critically endangered small sharks. But as the smaller sharks get caught on the lines, so do larger predators chasing them, including white sharks.

This fishery is conservatively estimated to have killed an average of 40 white sharks a year, mainly from 2008 to 2019. Photographer Oliver Godfrey observed three white sharks being caught and killed by this fishery while he was on one of their boats. He confirmed dead white sharks were discarded at sea and not reported to authorities. Three white sharks killed in 10 weeks by one vessel equates to 40 white sharks killed by an average of 4 vessels operating for only 3 weeks per month, 10 months of a year (all conservative figures).

Nevertheless, South Africa's Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment has no official records of any of those because it relies only on the records supplied by the same fishery. The lack of records should raise concerns within the department as it knows that during a test run of this fishery, its scientists set three longlines, caught two white sharks and killed one.

What's in dispute

A recent study claimed that the population of white sharks in South Africa was stable. The study suggested that the sharks had simply relocated eastward, fleeing from a pair of shark-eating orcas. According to the authors of the study, the stability of the white shark population was "encouraging" and "reassuring."

But our review of that study found that their results could not demonstrate a stable white shark population, nor that the sharks had relocated. Our analysis found several discrepancies between the results and conclusions.

The main discrepancies included the fact that the declines of white sharks in the Western Cape began before the appearance of the shark-eating orcas in 2015 as reported. And at present there is no evidence of any location with the same large numbers of white shark comparable to the numbers found 1015 years ago in the Western Cape. If the sharks had only relocated, their numbers should be found elsewhere.

There have been only eight confirmed white shark deaths by orcas since 2017 but possibly a few more unrecorded. Nevertheless, the permitted nets, drumline and longline fishery have together probably been responsible for at least eight times more white shark deaths, every single year.

Next steps

South Africa is still permitting unsustainable shark fishing operations in its waters. This ought to stop.

We also advocate for a discussion on new approaches to bather safety that don't kill sharks, as also advocated in Australia. Tethered drones, shark spotters, and "smart drumlines" that send alerts to quick response teams when sharks are caught are among available technologies to protect swimmers and surfers without culling sharks.

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Dozens of villagers died when a dam burst near Mai Mahiu in the Rift Valley.

The number of people who have lost their lives in devastating floods in Kenya since March has risen to 188, with dozens still missing, the interior ministry said on Thursday.

Torrential rains in Kenya and other countries in East Africa have caused deadly havoc, with floods and landslides forcing people from their homes, destroying roads, bridges and other infrastructure.

"As a result, the country has regrettably recorded 188 fatalities due to severe weather conditions," the ministry said in a statement.

It added that 125 people had been reported injured and 90 people were currently missing, while 165,000 have been displaced.

On Wednesday, nearly 100 tourists were among people marooned after a river overflowed in Kenya's famed Maasai Mara wildlife reserve following a heavy downpour.

The ministry said rescuers had successfully evacuated 90 people by ground and air in the Masai Mara, where lodges and safari camps were flooded after the River Talek overflowed.

Risk of waterborne diseases

The area is currently inaccessible with bridges washed away, Narok West sub-county administrator Stephen Nakola told AFP, adding that about 50 camps in the reserve have been affected, putting more than 500 locals temporarily out of work.

There are no fatalities but communities living around the area have been forced to move away.

"Accessing the Mara is now a nightmare and the people stuck there are really worried, they don't have an exit route," Nakola said,adding that waterborne diseases were likely to emerge.

"I am worried that the situation could get worse because the rains are still on."

In the deadliest single incident in Kenya, dozens of villagers were killed when a dam burst on Monday near Mai Mahiu in the Rift Valley, about 60 kilometers (40 miles) north of the capital, Nairobi.

The interior ministry said 52 bodies had been recovered and 51 people were still missing after the dam disaster.

The Nairobi slum of Mathare suffered heavy flooding.

'Marginalized communities at risk'

Kenyan President William Ruto on Tuesday announced he was deploying the military to evacuate everyone living in flood-prone areas.

Opposition politicians and lobby groups have accused Ruto's government of being unprepared and slow to respond to the crisis despite weather warnings, demanding that it declare the floods a national disaster.

"Kenya's government has a human rights obligation to prevent foreseeable harm from climate change and extreme weather events and to protect people when a disaster strikes," Human Rights Watch said Thursday.

The HRW statement said events such as flooding are "particularly threatening for marginalized and at-risk populations, including older people, people with disabilities, people in poverty, and rural populations".

The United States and Britain have issued travel warnings for Kenya, urging their nationals to be cautious amid the extreme weather.

The downpours have also left a trail of destruction across other East African countries, including neighboring Tanzania, where at least 155 people have been killed in flooding and landslides.

The heavy seasonal rains have been amplified by the El Nino weather patterna naturally occurring climate phenomenon typically associated with increased heat worldwide, leading to drought in some parts of the world and heavy rains elsewhere.

The disaster in Kenya and other nations has sparked an outpouring of condolences and pledges of solidarity with the affected families from all over the world.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is "deeply distressed" to hear of the loss of lives from heavy flooding in Burundi, Kenya, Somalia and Tanzania and other parts of East Africa, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

"The (UN) secretary-general is extremely concerned about the impacts of El Nino-triggered extreme weather, which risk further devastating communities and undermining their livelihoods."

 2024 AFP
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Dozens of villagers died when a dam burst near Mai Mahiu in the Rift Valley.

Kenya and Tanzania were bracing Thursday for a cyclone on the heels of torrential rains that have devastated East Africa, killing more than 350 people and forcing tens of thousands from their homes.

In addition to claiming 188 lives in Kenya since March, the floods have displaced 165,000 people, with 90 reported missing, the interior ministry said, as the government warned citizens to remain on alert.

"Crucially, the coastal region is likely to experience Cyclone Hidaya, which will result in heavy rainfall, large waves and strong winds that could affect marine activities in the Indian Ocean," the office of Kenyan President William Ruto said.

Neighboring Tanzania, where at least 155 people have been killed in flooding and landslides, is also expected to feel the force of Hidaya.

"The presence of Hidaya Cyclone... is expected to dominate and affect the weather patterns in the country including heavy rain and strong winds in some Regions near Indian Ocean," Tanzania Red Cross Society said on X, formerly Twitter.

Kenya's capital Nairobi is among the areas expected to suffer heavy rains over the next three days, the Kenya Meteorological Department said on X, warning of strong winds and large ocean waves along the country's coastline.

The forecaster urged residents to be vigilant for flash floods and lightning strikes, adding that strong winds could "blow off roofs, uproot trees" and cause other damage.

The heavier than usual rains have also claimed at least 29 lives in Burundi, with 175 people injured, and tens of thousands displaced since September last year, the United Nations said.

Map of Kenya locating the town of Mai Mahiu, near where a makeshift dam burst its banks as torrential rains and floods battered the country, killing dozens.

Stranded tourists

Earlier this week Ruto announced he was deploying Kenya's military to evacuate everyone living in flood-prone areas.

In a bulletin released Thursday evening, the interior ministry ordered anyone living close to major rivers or near 178 "filled up or near filled up dams or water reservoirs" to vacate the area within 24 hours, warning that they would otherwise face "mandatory evacuation for their safety."

The devastation has also affected Kenya's tourism sectora key economic driverwith some 100 tourists marooned in the famed Maasai Mara wildlife reserve on Wednesday after a river overflowed, flooding lodges and safari camps.

Rescuers later managed to evacuate 90 people by ground and air, the interior ministry said.

The area is currently inaccessible with bridges washed away, Narok West sub-county administrator Stephen Nakola told AFP, adding that about 50 camps in the reserve have been affected, putting more than 500 locals temporarily out of work.

There are no fatalities but communities living around the area have been forced to move away.

"Accessing the Mara is now a nightmare and the people stuck there are really worried, they don't have an exit route," Nakola said, adding that waterborne diseases were likely to emerge.

The Nairobi slum of Mathare suffered heavy flooding.

"I am worried that the situation could get worse because the rains are still on."

In the deadliest single incident in Kenya, dozens of villagers were killed when a dam burst on Monday near Mai Mahiu in the Rift Valley, about 60 kilometers (40 miles) north of Nairobi.

The interior ministry said 52 bodies had been recovered and 51 people were still missing after the dam disaster.

Travel warnings

Opposition politicians and lobby groups have accused Ruto's government of being unprepared and slow to respond to the crisis despite weather warnings.

"Kenya's government has a human rights obligation to prevent foreseeable harm from climate change and extreme weather events and to protect people when a disaster strikes," Human Rights Watch said Thursday.

The United States and Britain have issued travel warnings for Kenya, urging their nationals to be cautious amid the extreme weather.

The devastation has sparked an outpouring of condolences and pledges of solidarity from all over the world, including from Pope Francis and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

The rains have been amplified by the El Nino weather patterna naturally occurring climate phenomenon typically associated with increased heat worldwide, leading to drought in some parts of the world and heavy downpours elsewhere.

 2024 AFP
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Cindella Manabat (C) helps her daughter Ella Araza (L) with homework, at their house in Manila.

Fourth-grader Ella Araza sat on a tiny plastic box in her Manila slum home, trying to finish her homework before the afternoon sun sent temperatures soaring to unbearable levels.

The Philippines shut down more than 47,000 schools nationwide from Monday, as the temperature in Manila crossed a record high, clocking 38.8 degrees Celsius (101.4 degrees Fahrenheit) at the weekend.

Over 7,000 were still closed on Thursday, including 10-year-old Ella's elementary school in the capital.

Many schools in the tropical country have no air conditioning and students must sweat it out in poorly ventilated classrooms but conditions at Baseco, Manila's infamous docklands slum, are even more desperate.

"The heat makes her lazy. Sometimes she fails to do her online homework," Ella's mother Cindella Manabat, 29, told AFP from the slum community that houses 65,000 residents inside half a square kilometer (124 acres).

In their tiny one-room dwelling, Ella squints at her mother's cell phone to decipher the day's lesson, which her teacher posts online.

The apartment, which has no running water, must be kept dark because Ella's younger brother, Prince, suffers from cerebral palsy and could be hit by an epileptic seizure.

Several doors down, sixth-grader Jalian Mangampo and her younger brother Sherwin lie on their shared single bed and try to finish their schoolwork on mobile phones.

More days of extreme heat

The online lessons do not come cheapthe siblings have to drop five pesos (nine US cents) into a neighbor's WiFi vending machine to gain three hours of internet access.

Their widowed mother, shopkeeper Richel Mangampo, 43, took on a high-interest loan to buy them an 8,500-peso ($148) mobile phone. A stranger earlier gifted the siblings another phone.

"The heat is terrible because the ceiling is so low," the mother said, pointing to the corrugated iron roofing that she has partly covered with a scrap of plywood to keep the heat at bay.

"We have to step outside from time to time just to be able to breathe."

But she does not allow her children to stay out too long because the blazing sun is not the only danger in Baseco.

"Out of nowhere youths armed with broken bottles would be going at each other after getting high sniffing glue," she said.

The state weather service has warned the extreme heat will persist for the next two weeks at least, meaning the students could be mostly stuck at home before the school year ends on May 31.

'Prickly heat rash'

Mangampo said she has her children bathe twice daily, once in the morning and a second before bedtime.

"It's so hot they have difficulty falling asleep," Mangampo said.

Manabat said Ella often complains because the family has just one electric fan that must be shared at night.

The mother and her three kids, including a year-old baby, sleep on the bed while her boyfriend, a house decorator, sleeps in his boxers on the floor. The front door stays open for ventilation.

"She (daughter) gets prickly heat rash at times," Manabat said, adding the irritation distracts Ella from her schoolwork.

But Mangampo, whose children also get rashes, avoids taking them to the doctor as it is too expensive.

"We bathe at sea on Sundays instead. The boils disappear in no time," she said, referring to nearby Manila Bay, declared by the government a "no swimming zone" years earlier due to extreme pollution.

 2024 AFP
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Male chicks of the domestic chicken play more than females. Credit: Rebecca Oscarsson

Play is widespread, but far from ubiquitous, across the animal kingdom. Especially common in mammals, play is also known to occur in taxa as diverse as birds, fish, octopuses, and even insects. But what is its function, given that natural selection never selects fun for its own sake? One prominent hypothesis is that play is beneficial to individuals because it allows them to practice skills needed later in life.

Now, a study in Frontiers in Ethology has shown that male baby chickens play far more than females. This result is of interest given that domestic chickens are directly descended from a speciesred jungle fowlwith a pronounced difference between the sexes in morphology, coloration, and behavior.

"Here we show for the first time that there are clear sex differences in the age-related development of play in chickens," said first author Rebecca Oscarsson, a Ph.D. student at Linkoping University in Sweden.

"This difference is mainly because males engage more in social and object play."

Red junglefowl were domesticated by humans between 7,000 and 8,000 years ago in mainland Southeast Asia. Multiple hybridization events took place since then, so that modern domestic chickens also carry genes from green, Sri Lankan, and gray junglefowl. In each of these species, males are more colorful, aggressive, and vigilant than females, and provide food for their mates.

Playpens

The researchers incubated white leghorn eggs from a farm, and determined the sex of each newborn chick from the length of its wings. They kept the chicks in cages with a sawdust floor, a heat-roof, and food and water throughout the experimental period. They then transferred the chicks to larger arenas or "playpens" twice per week.

Male chicks of the domestic chicken play more than females. Credit: Rebecca Oscarsson

The scientists observed the chicks for 30 minutes in these playpens and scored the occurrence within 15-second intervals of play by each chick. The chicks were observed on 15 different days, when they were between six and 53 days old.

The researchers distinguished 12 distinct play behaviors. Examples of locomotor play were frolicking and wing flapping. Object play included chasing an object or pecking at it or exchanging it with another chick. Social play included sparring, jumping, and sparring stand-offs.

Ten minutes into the observations, the observer introduced a fake rubber worm into the playpen. This served to stimulate another type of object play: worm-running, where a chick carried the worm in its beak and ran around with it. Worm-running may be the play equivalent of "tidbitting," a series of courtship behaviors while manipulating food items, which is done exclusively by adult males and directed at females.

Males play more

Object play was more frequently seen than social play, while locomotor play was least common. Both females and males showed every type of playful behavior. However, the frequency of play differed between them: male chicks played more overall than females. This was due to males engaging more often in object and social play, while there was no difference between the sexes in the frequency of locomotor play.

The frequency of play also depended on age since hatching: for males, this peaked around 43 days for males, and around 36 days in females, before gradually declining at later ages.

The researcher concluded that these sex differences in chicks in the frequency of play can be explained by the high degree of sexual dimorphism of adult junglefowl. This means that male chicks would benefit more from practicing various skills related to physical ability and social tactics.

Male chicks of the domestic chicken play more than females. Credit: Rebecca Oscarsson

Male chicks of the domestic chicken play more than females. Credit: Rebecca Oscarsson

Practice for later in life

"We still don't know the adaptive function of play for any species," said author Dr. Per Jensen, a professor at Linkoping University and Oscarsson's academic supervisor.

"However, the present study indicates that a possible function is to prepare animals for specific challenges they may encounter later in life. In a species like the chicken, where only males compete for territories, it makes sense that they engage in more social play as young."

"Many questions remain unanswered with respect to the adaptive functions of play, for example its effects on later cognitive abilities. We now plan to look into the neurobiological and genetic mechanisms of play. For example, it's possible that the early development of the cerebellum is linked to play behavior," said Jensen.

More information: Rebecca Oscarsson et al, Male chicks play more than femalessex differences in chicken play ontogeny, Frontiers in Ethology (2024). DOI: 10.3389/fetho.2024.1392378. www.frontiersin.org/articles/1  ho.2024.1392378/full

Provided by Frontiers
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Input subsidy receipt is negatively associated with smallholders' adoption of environmentally friendly and sustainable pest management practices. Credit: CABI

A CABI-led study has revealed that participation in the Zambia Farmer Input Subsidy Program (FISP)particularly the flexible e-voucher systemencourages synthetic pesticide use at the expense of sustainable practices.

The research found that farmers consider synthetic pesticides and biopesticides as substitutes against the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) pest and are more likely to adopt sustainable pest management when they have tenure security and access to financial resources.

Dr. Justice Tambo, Senior Socio-Economist at CABI's Swiss center in Delemont, and Professor Saweda Liverpool-Tasie, of Michigan State University, published the outcome of their study in the Journal of Agricultural Economics.

Less likely to adopt preventative cultural measures

The scientists sought to assess the effects of FISPs on smallholder farmer adoption of sustainable pest management practices, using data from 1,048 smallholder maize plots across the major maize-producing zones of Zambia.

They found that households that participated in FISPs are about 106 percentage points less likely to regularly monitor their farms for early detection pest infestation and are 125 percentage points less likely to adopt preventative cultural measures, such as intercropping and rotation with non-host plants, field sanitation and trap cropping.

Moreover, while FISP participation is significantly associated with a 67 percentage points higher probability of a household controlling fall armyworm using synthetic pesticides, it is not significantly related to the adoption of biopesticides, which are considered a safer and low-risk alternative to synthetic pesticides.

Dr. Tambo said, "We find consistent evidence that input subsidy receipt is negatively associated with smallholders' adoption of environmentally friendly and sustainable pest management practices.

"Given the human and environmental health consequences associated with synthetic pesticide use, it would be important to leverage input subsidy schemes to promote the adoption of safer and more sustainable alternatives to synthetic pesticides."

Contentious policy tool

ISPs remain a popular but contentious policy tool to promote agricultural intensification, food security and poverty alleviation across Africa. Although previous studies have explored the impact of ISPs on various smallholder outcomes, none have analyzed the impact of recent ISPs on pest management.

Dr. Liverpool-Tassie said, "This is particularly important given the increasing pest challenges due to climate change and the recent surge in pesticide use in low-income countries and its associated negative consequences for human and environmental health.

"Beyond input subsidies, policies that improve tenure security and financial access for smallholders can promote the adoption of sustainable pest management practices."

Dr. Tambo and Dr. Liverpool-Tassie point out that, in the wake of outbreaks of devastating pests, such as fall armyworm, many developing-country governments have gravitated to the provision of synthetic pesticides to farmers through subsidy schemes.

Promotion of sustainable integrated pest management

They highlight that, given the potential dangers of synthetic pesticides and the limited use of protective equipment by smallholder farmers when handling pesticides, several studies have argued that subsidies for pesticides should be geared towards the promotion of sustainable integrated pest management (IPM).

IPM involves the use of a combination of pest management techniques, including biological, cultural, mechanical and pest monitoring practices, as well as pesticides, which should be considered as a last resort.

Dr. Tambo said, "The significant effects of FISPs on increased use of synthetic pesticides is driven by the flexible e-voucher program where beneficiary farmers can redeem vouchers for a wide range of subsidized farm inputs, including synthetic pesticides, from registered agro-dealers.

"We also found heterogeneous effects of the subsidy programs on the adoption of non-chemical IPM practices. Results also showed that households with access to secure land tenure, credit and off-farm income earning activities, as well as those in low rainfall environments, where fall armyworm infestation tend to be greater, are more likely to invest in IPM practices."

Improving input subsidy programs

The scientists conclude by emphasizing the need to leverage input subsidy programs (ISP) to promote safer and more sustainable alternatives to synthetic pesticides. For example, the FISP beneficiaries who choose to redeem their vouchers for pesticides could be required to opt for biopesticides rather than synthetic pesticides.

"Alternatively, higher subsidy amounts could be offered to those using biopesticides to encourage adoption. A good example that might be worth emulating is China's 'Green Pest Control' policy that provides subsidies on lower-risk crop protection products, including biopesticides (Wei et al, 2019)" Dr. Liverpool-Tassie said.

"Another potential strategy is to ensure that the array of items redeemable through the FISP include PPE items and non-chemical pest management inputs, such as biocontrol agents, pheromone traps and pest tolerant varieties."

More information: Justice A. Tambo et al, Are farm input subsidies a disincentive for integrated pest management adoption? Evidence from Zambia, Journal of Agricultural Economics (2024). DOI: 10.1111/1477-9552.12582

Provided by CABI
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A new study shows collaborations between scientists and K-12 teachers is incredibly beneficial to students, but little research has been done on how to implement these collaborations effectively. Credit: Florida Museum photo by Jeff Gage

The results of an in-depth review of published research on scientists conducting K-12 science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) outreach suggest that increased collaboration with K-12 educators could improve such projects.

The study is published in the International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education.

The study authors identified the need for more rigorous peer-reviewed research on scientist-teacher outreach projects and existing barriers to scientist and teacher participation. Pulling all this information together, they outline the best ways to integrate teachers into successful outreach projects.

"Although there is work being done in K-12 STEM outreach, there needs to be more of a focus on all aspects of that outreach, as opposed to, 'We went in; we did this activity; here's what we found,'" said lead author Brian Abramowitz, the K-12 education and outreach coordinator at the Florida Museum of Natural History's Thompson Earth Systems Institute.

Instead, the researchers recommend that publications clearly outline the planning of outreach events between the science expert and teacher, which will allow other outreach facilitators to replicate the process. This could include things like details on how scientists found and connected with the teachers and how they planned their visits with teachers.

"The more we can share how we do this kind of work, the more I think it will increase the number of people who feel comfortable engaging in K-12 outreach, because they have a better idea of what works and what doesn't," said co-author Megan Ennes, assistant curator of museum education at the Florida Museum and director of the Thompson Earth Systems Institute.

There are innumerable barriers to both scientists and teachers attempting to plan and implement these programs. But the biggest hindrance, Abramowitz said, is time.

"Similar to scientists who have so much on their plate, teachers also are overwhelmed largely with tasks that they're asked to do, and they might not feel like they have time to participate in a scientist-teacher partnership."

Brian Abramowitz (center) leads the Thompson Earth Systems Institute's Scientist in Every Florida School program and intends to use the information gleaned in the study to continue building strong collaborations between scientists and K-12 teachers. Credit: Florida Museum photo by Jeff Gage

But the benefits outweigh the challenges. According to the study, teachers and scientists able to successfully surmount the various obstacles in their path mutually benefited, and their students also benefited in various ways.

For teachers, that included increased content knowledge, science skills and practices, self-efficacy, interest in the science content of their curriculum and their motivation to teach science content.

Scientists improved their teaching strategies and communication skills. They also added significantly to their knowledge of the content being taught, new technologies that help aid or improve teaching performance, and an increased awareness of alternative career opportunities.

The authors also recommend involving teachers in the planning process as early as possible, which helps ensure that the science content is accessible and presented appropriately.

"Although scientists typically have an idea of how they would like to work with teachers, be open and flexible to potentially other options. Teachers know very well what activities will be successful in their classrooms," said Abramowitz.

Abramowitz also coordinates the Thompson Earth Systems Institute's Scientist in Every Florida School program. This statewide initiative creates partnerships between scientists and K-12 teachers in public and Title I Florida schools by connecting students with scientist role models and providing professional development for teachers. Abramowitz will put the information and guidelines developed in this study to good use by incorporating them in future outreach programs.

Brittany Kester and Pavlo Antonenko of the University of Florida are also authors of the paper.

More information: Brian Abramowitz et al, Scientist-School STEM Partnerships Through Outreach in the USA: A Systematic Review, International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education (2024). DOI: 10.1007/s10763-024-10445-7
(Photo : Unsplash/Oliver Sjostrom)

Richard Branson rejects being solely defined by his wealth, finding it quite insulting when introduced as "the billionaire Richard Branson" instead of the co-founder of Virgin Group.

He believes no one should see their net worth as the ultimate measure of success, and it is very sad when money becomes a person's sole focus. While being a billionaire is often seen as a sign of success in America, Branson believes that reputation is what you create.

Your Reputation is What You Create

Branson's reputation is frequently associated with Virgin Group, a conglomerate and holding company with interests spanning various sectors, including airlines, telecommunications, and spaceflight. According to Forbes, the company significantly contributes to his estimated net worth of $2.5 billion. However, Branson rejects the idea that he established it solely for monetary gain.

Branson emphasizes that your reputation is defined by whether the team you work with is proud of what they have accomplished together. While paying bills and meeting financial obligations are crucial, entrepreneurs worldwide are positively impacting others' lives, which is ultimately what truly matters and what makes them successful.

READ ALSO: Personality Over Intelligence: The #1 Thing A Self-Made Millionaire Wished He Knew in His 20s

Whenever Branson launches a new venture, such as Virgin Atlantic in 1984 and Virgin Mobile in 1999, he poses two questions to himself:

Can this venture be superior to what others are offering? Will it have a meaningful impact on the world?

Financial success has often accompanied Branson's ventures, yet he firmly believes that money has never been his primary driving factor.

Branson has noted that his initial successful business endeavor, a youth culture magazine named Student, was primarily intended to challenge conventional publications, which he found stale, addressing cultural topics such as popular music and advocating against the Vietnam War. He wanted the magazine to thrive and cover its expenses, including printer and paper costs, with advertising revenue. However, financial gain was not his primary motivation for running the magazine.

Pursue Opportunities That Bring Greater Happiness

Branson advises individuals to pursue opportunities that they find engaging and thrilling. This leads to greater happiness and is more likely to result in success than solely focusing on financial gain. According to Brandon, we only have one life, and it would be unfortunate if we spent a significant portion of it solely for the sake of earning paychecks.

Certainly, success is never guaranteed. Even if you pursue your passions, experts suggest, you will still require factors like talent and perseverance to succeed. Branson is not the only billionaire who advocates that personal fulfillment does not necessarily derive solely from accumulating vast wealth.

Serial entrepreneur and investor Mark Cuban shared a similar sentiment during an episode of LinkedIn's "The Path" podcast last year, saying that success is not necessarily determined by how much money one has. Still, it is about setting goals and waking up feeling proud of what you have achieved each morning.

Cuban, raised in a blue-collar family near Pittsburgh, has consistently maintained that his career trajectory was driven more by a desire to control his own time rather than by financial goals. During a speech at SXSW in March, Cuban stated that time is an asset one can never reclaim or genuinely possess. Hence, his motivation was always to call the shots and spend time according to his preferences.

RELATED ARTICLE: Starting a High-Paying Gig Doesn't Need A Burning Passion, But Something You Simply Enjoy Doing

 2017 Jobs & Hire All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
ATLANTIC CITY  There will be a ballot question in November asking city residents whether a 2024 ordinance to expand the cannabis green zone to Albany Avenue should be repealed.

The green zone is where recreational marijuana businesses may be located.

The petitions were submitted timely and reviewed by the City Clerk for sufficiency and found to have met the required number of signatures, said an April 30 letter from City Clerk Paula Geletei to five people who collected signatures.

Geletei said there were 5,338 votes cast in the last general election for Assembly members, and state law requires that petitions be signed by at least 15% of that number of registered voters to get on the ballot.

The number required was 801, Geletei said, and it was met.

In March, City Council, at the urging of Mayor Marty Small Sr., passed an ordinance to expand the cannabis zone to Albany Avenue on the edge of the Chelsea Heights residential neighborhood.

The zone expansion would run from west of the Albany Avenue bridge to the u-turn at Atlantic City High School.

Two local men, Christopher Aponte, 42, and Miguel Lugo, 37, are seeking to open a micro cannabis store in a former bar on Albany Avenue, and have said they will be good neighbors.

Atlantic City Council votes to pull lots near church, nuns from cannabis zone Atlantic City Council Wednesday night introduced an ordinance to establish buffer zones around schools and religious buildings where cannabis businesses will not be allowed even if within the city's "green zone."

Both said their families have been affected by harsh penalties for marijuana offenses, and have vowed to close early, prevent people from using cannabis outside the shop and support local community building efforts.

But Councilman Jesse Kurtz, who represents the 6th Ward, including some of nearby Chelsea Heights, has said the neighborhood doesnt want it and was promised they wouldnt be forced to accept it.

Mayor Marty Smalls push for weed shops in every neighborhood is out of control, Kurtz said in a news release at the time. We need to respect the wishes of Chelsea Heights residents who oppose having weed shops in their neighborhood and not abuse political power to force them to have it.

Kurtz has said 1,086 signatures were collected on the petition.

Residents also attended an April meeting of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, asking that body to reject the expansion of the cannabis/weed zone into Chelsea Heights on Albany Avenue. CRDA approval is required before changes to the cannabis/weed zone can take effect.

New Jersey voters said yes to marijuana legalization in 2020, with the first taxed, legal sales taking place about two years ago.

In 2022, the city created a green zone encompassing most of the tourist areas of the city where cannabis businesses would be allowed, but excluding the Boardwalk.

In April, council introduced an ordinance to establish buffer zones around schools and religious buildings where cannabis businesses will not be allowed even if within the green zone.

Neighbors plea to CRDA: Stop weed expansion A group of Atlantic City residents asked the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority to just say no to expanding the citys weed-friendly green zone.

Kurtz suggested an amendment, which passed, that also bans cannabis businesses from Atlantic Avenue lots between Georgia and Mississippi avenues around St. Michaels Church.

They are closest to (the church) and the Sisters of Renewal, Kurtz said. The sisters objected. They were not engaged in the initial conversation. They were horrified (cannabis would be nearby) where they do rehab classes.

The Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal Convent is on Mississippi Avenue, near proposed cannabis sites.
Press Release

May 2, 2024 Jinggoy asks Senate to honor award-winning prosthetic artist Cecille Baun SENATOR Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada has filed a resolution honoring the contributions of award-winning prosthetic artist Cecille Baun to the country's cinema industry. Baun is considered an industry pillar and creative genius who raised the bar for movie production and artistry. "Her prodigious handiwork, innovative techniques, and boundless imagination were crucial elements in realizing the vision of filmmakers and telling the stories of the Filipino people across generations. Her passing is a tragic loss to the local industry as she leaves a gaping void in the field of prosthetics and special makeup for the silver screen," Estrada said. In his Senate Resolution No. 1005 expressing the Senate's profound sympathy and sincere condolences to Baun's family, Estrada said creative workers behind the camera are the unsung heroes who pour their heart and soul into their film projects and rarely get the spotlight that they truly deserve. Dubbed the Philippine cinema's "Queen of Prosthetics," Baun was a pioneer in her field and built a professional career spanning more than 40 years which started in the 1970s. Initially engaged in the makeup retailing business after the untimely death of her husband, Baun eventually found herself being the makeup artist of film actors and later made her way to become the most sought-after prosthetic artist who gave life to unforgettable scenes in countless movies and television. "Her name became synonymous with prosthetics and special makeup, and she was best known for creating memorable characters and fictional creatures in fantasy and horror genre films. Baun's expertise as a visual effects artist was also tapped by several international productions shot in the Philippines, such as 'Platoon' in 1986, 'Hamburger Hill' in 1987, and 'Return to the River Kwai' in 1989," he said. Baun's talent has been recognized by numerous award-giving bodies including the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), and she was also a recipient of the Quezon City Cinema (QCinema) Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014. Baun passed away on March 11, 2024, at the age of 89.
(Photo : Unsplash/Lesli Whitecotton)

Jeff Bezos, the executive chairman of Amazon, owns Blue Origin and is a billionaire investor, but he does not allow his many responsibilities to disrupt his chill morning routine.

Bezos's Chill Morning Routine

At 60 years old, Jeff Bezos starts his day by dragging his feet and scrolling through his smartphone like many others, as he recently shared on the Lex Fridman Podcast, who had just described Bezos as "one of the most productive humans in the world."

Before going to the gym for cardio and weightlifting, Bezos reads the newspaper and converses with his fiance. While going to the gym is not difficult for him most days, there are occasions when it feels challenging, but he makes the effort regardless.

The Mind Wandering Routine

Bezos' morning routine aligns with his philosophy of embracing wandering or doing things aimlessly. This approach extends to his time at the office, where he encourages mind-wandering sessions to brainstorm and explore new ideas without letting time constraints stifle creativity.

In a podcast with computer scientist Lex Fridman, first released in December 2023, Bezos said he lets his mind "wander" instead of keeping a "strict schedule" for the day. This makes his messy brainstorming longer than planned, as he finds it enjoyable to engage in discussions with a group of intelligent individuals, exchanging ideas, addressing objections, and devising solutions collaboratively.

What is Mind-Wandering?

Mind wandering is a typical cognitive process involving our attention moving from the present environment to internal thoughts, memories, or plans, said Dr. Neerja Agarwal, a psychologist and co-founder of Emoneeds, a Gurugram-based psychiatric clinic.

At 60 years old, Bezos serves as a testament to the effectiveness of this creative thinking technique, which aids many individuals in generating new ideas, experiencing "aha!" moments, gaining multiple perspectives, and finding solutions to challenging problems.

READ ALSO: Establishing Limits: Six Proven Hacks to Put Balance Between Work and Personal Life

The Benefits of A Relaxed Morning Routine

Bezos is not the only billionaire with a relaxed morning routine. Mark Cuban, who wakes up between 6:30 and 7:00 a.m. each morning, spends about an hour checking his emails before getting out of bed. He then eats breakfast, exercises, and checks his emails again, which he described as "rinse and repeat" when shared on comedian Trevor Noah's "What Now?" podcast in January.

Slow morning routines may appear lazy at first glance. Still, according to Geir Berthelsen, founder of the World Institute of Slowness, they can lead to heightened energy, creativity, and focus, as he told the Wall Street Journal in 2019. Berthelsen recommended spending at least 20 minutes every morning doing nothing, such as remaining awake in bed after your alarm goes off or engaging in activities that promote stillness, such as meditation or breathwork.

Berthelsen emphasized the importance of business leaders taking time to forget time, as it helps them be more creative when they arrive at work. He also highlighted that filling one's morning with too many tasks or interruptions is the most significant loss of productivity.

RELATED ARTICLE: Optimizing Productivity: How "Beating The Clock" Only Leads to Unproductivity

 2017 Jobs & Hire All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Davenport advocates for Latino and immigrant communities and faith leaders gathered at St. Anthony's Catholic Church Wednesday to oppose a recent Iowa law that makes illegal immigration a state crime.

Under Senate File 2340, Iowa law enforcement would be allowed to arrest and judges would be able to order the removal of an immigrant who reentered the U.S. illegally. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the bill April 10. The law is currently on hold, as a similar law in Texas was stayed by a judge.

In addition to Davenport, Latino community advocacy groups held vigils in Iowa City, Waterloo and Des Moines to protest the bill Wednesday.

Opponents of the bill are concerned the law will lead to racial profiling, mistaken arrests, and dehumanizes immigrants, documented and undocumented.

"Legislative measures such as the recent Iowa bill SF 2340 which is ... disproportionately punitive in nature and does not provide for any viable solutions for residents without legal status," Father Rudy Juarez said. "The deputizing of state and local officials to prosecute individuals for state immigration crimes comes without funding, one and two, lack of training of public officials runs the risk of racial profiling and legal challenges."

Juarez called on elected officials to enact meaningful immigration reform that "identifies and prevents entry of terrorists and dangerous criminals but which protects human rights and the dignity of all persons involved."

Iowa Republicans argued the state needed to act to respond to record numbers of illegal border crossings under President Joe Biden, whom they accuse of failing to secure the border.

"We're a country of laws and these are illegal immigrants that have illegally entered our country and if they've been denied or they've been deported and they're back in and we've made it a state crime," Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said at a news conference Wednesday.

Reynolds called on Congress to pass laws to streamline and expedite the legal immigration process.

"I have a responsibility to protect the health and safety of the citizens of this state and I'm going to do whatever I can to implement that, especially because I have a president that could care less about really doing his constitutional duty to protect our sovereignty," Reynolds said.

Under the bill, someone arrested for illegal reentry by Iowa law enforcement could be charged with a Class D or Class C felony, which carry prison sentences up to five or 10 years, respectively.

During court proceedings, a judge could issue an order to a person charged to require them to return to their country of origin.

Law enforcement would not be able to arrest a person for violating the new law while at a school, a place of religious worship, health care facility or a facility that provides forensic medical exams for survivors of sexual assault.

The bill also creates civil immunity for city and state employees and contractors who may be sued for implementing the law.

Daniel Salazar, the state director of the League of Latin American Citizens, told the Davenport audience of about 100 the vigil's purpose was threefold: to send a clear message to elected officials that Latino and immigrant communities and allies were paying attention, to affirm commitment to collaboration with law enforcement and legislators to enact just immigration law and to call on legislators to repeal SF 2340, push for immigration reform and treat immigrants with dignity and respect.

The event, held on the lawn of the Davenport Catholic church Juarez said was established to serve immigrants in 1837, featured faith and Latino community leader speeches interspersed with choir songs and prayers.

"First of all, Iowa has no business passing legislation that is and has always been under the purview of our federal government," Pastor Rich Hendricks said. "In fact, we all know that this law is part of a larger pattern that seeks to demonize and dehumanize undocumented Iowans."

Hendricks said he believed the law put children of migrants at great risk for separation and gives a green light for law enforcement to harass individual Iowans.

Under the law, a person who is convicted of illegal reentry cannot be considered for a deferred judgement or a deferred sentence.

Hendricks criticized that provision, as well as that it would cost Iowa law enforcement's time and resources to transport people to their country of origin.

Laney Gonzalez, a St. Ambrose University student, told the audience "human dignity will prevail."

"We are not afraid. No tenemos miedo," Gonzalez said. "We will not allow legalized racial profiling through this unfunded mandate. Instead, we will continue to demand what we have been asking for for decades: comprehensive immigration reform."

Davenport police chief: 'no direction' on enforcing new law

Mike Guster, the president of Davenport Metrocom NAACP, read a statement sent by Davenport Police Chief Jeff Bladel to LULAC about the bill.

Bladel wrote April 29 that because of litigation in another state "there has been no guidance or direction from our state" on enforcing the new law "and we do not anticipate decisions being made any time soon."

"I want to reassure you that despite the uncertainty surrounding the bill, our commitment to ensuring public safety and security for all residents, regardless of immigration status, remains unwavering," Bladel wrote. "Immigration status has never been a determining factor in how law enforcement resources are allocated or utilized within our department. We maintain a steadfast position on this matter and continue to uphold policies that promote fairness and impartiality in our law enforcement practices."
Western Illinois University and WQPT PBS will host the Ready to Learn Multilingual Education Conference later this month with the Early Childhood Coalition of the Quad-Cities and other partners.

Running from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 18, at the WIU-QC campus, 3300 River Drive in Moline, the conference invites educators, caregivers and community members to explore various topics within the theory and practice of multilingual education, covering early childhood to adult learners.

Alina Celeste and "Mi Amigo" Hamlet, multilingual musicians and educational content creators, will give a keynote presentation titled "Learn, Sing, Create: An Interactive Exploration of the Role of the Arts and Creativity in Learning Languages."

The conference will also feature a variety of breakout sessions and outreach opportunities for community organizations. Additionally, the band "Being Bilingual Rocks!" will offer a free family concert at WIU-QC from 6-7 p.m. that evening.

Professional development credits are available from Illinois Gateways and the Illinois State Board of Education for applicable conference sessions.

Registration costs $25 per-person, and lunch will be available for purchase at the conference.

For more information or to register, visit online at: www.wqpt.org/rtl/.

Student volunteers needed

WQPT PBS, WIU's public media station, is also seeking area students to become PBS Ambassadors.

Open to high school seniors and current college students, this volunteer position will run from June to August 2024.

Described as a "highly trained extension of the WQPT volunteer force," WQPT PBS Ambassadors will work on various programs and station activities, such as the annual Imagination Station event and Summer of Adventure tour.

For more information or to apply, call (309)-764-2400 or visit online at wqpt.org/ambassadors/.

The application deadline is Friday, May 10.

Past ambassadors hail from several regional colleges and universities, including Augustana College, Black Hawk College, Illinois State University, Scott Community College, St. Ambrose University, the University of Iowa and Monmouth College.

As a former PBS Ambassador, I understand how important it is to have high school and college students supporting the work of our educational outreach programs. Students have the opportunity to gain communication and leadership skills while having a positive impact on our community," said Melissa Gravert, director of educational outreach at WQPT PBS. "We offer flexibility in scheduling this volunteer experience and welcome students interested in education, community development, marketing and production."
Norlin Mommsen is a Republican who resides in DeWitt and represents House District 70. He is a farmer and is serving his fifth term in the Iowa House. Mommsen is up for re-election in November, challenged by Democrat Kay Pence.

Last year, Mommsen worked to get foreign animal disease funding in the agriculture budget. Read his thoughts on this year's session below.

Key votes

Area education agency overhaul: Yes.

Income tax cut: Yes.

Illegal immigration enforcement: Yes.

Allowing school staff to carry guns: Yes.

Post-partum Medicaid extension: Yes.

Bills sponsored/worked on

Senate File 2421: Agriculture and natural resources budget (passed)

Successes of the session

"Some of the successes are some of the things I got in the ag and natural resources budget. We got some additional funding in there for park accessibility. So hopefully as they upgrade parks, they also make them more accessible for all Iowans. And then we put some money toward a water quantity survey through the (Iowa Geological Survey) in the University of Iowa. We always talk about water quality, I think water quantity is going to become a big issue, too. And I think that's something very proactive that we got started."

Disappointments from the session

"I'm most disappointed that we couldn't get something on hands-free through. I think that's an important safety issue, can't seem to get that over the finish line. I know if you have a CDL, if you're driving a semi, you have to be hands-free, but I think it's just as important for our private vehicles, too. That's always been a concern of mine."
Welcome to JournalismPakistan.com, where we uncover the truth behind the headlines! In today's video, we're diving into 10 Secrets About the Media That Will Shock You! From clickbait tactics to media bias, we're pulling back the curtain on some of the industry's most surprising practices. Stay tuned to discover how the media really operates-trust us, you won't look at the news the same way again!
Pro-Palestine protest organizers gathered on the lawn outside the James Branch Cabell Library at Virginia Commonwealth University on Thursday afternoon and called for university President Michael Raos resignation or removal on the heels of Mondays violent showdown between police and demonstrators.

The clashes, which came after protesters set up an encampment on the lawn outside the library, resulted in 13 arrests and numerous reported injuries to both police and protesters.

Sereen Haddad, 19, told a crowd of dozens on Thursday that VCU police had brutalized the students, battering them with shields and deploying chemical agents despite what she called the peaceful nature of their demonstration.

Without any warning ... VCU chose to send buses of police with riot gear on, carrying guns and chemicals, a visibly bruised Haddad said. At one point, I feared that I would not make it out of there alive.

Haddad, who was limping and wearing a sling, said she had been hospitalized Monday night with sprains to both her knee and shoulder after narrowly evading arrest multiple times. She said she was still dealing with symptoms of head trauma three days later.

She said university officials are twist(ing) the narrative to blame the protesters for the violence. Before the arrival of law enforcement, Haddad said the protesters were dancing, creating art and setting up tents and did not pose a threat to anyone.

(VCU) utilized false claims of violent assembly to set the precedent for heavy police escalation, Haddad said. As the liberated zone moved into an encampment, administrat(ors) no longer sought out students to provide information about code of conduct violations.

Instead, she said, they decided to call upon a militarized police force against college students.

In response, the crowd chanted shame!

13 demonstrators arrested

Selma Ait-Bella, a junior at VCU, said she had been a student ambassador for Raos office, but would be withdrawing from the position.

I can no longer align myself with an administration that is complicit to genocide, and willing to brutalize students like myself who oppose apartheid and demand divestment, Ait-Bella said.

Ait-Bella condemned Rao for posting a picture on Instagram that shows him shaking her hand after a meeting during which she said she did not feel listened to.

You do not get to do this and send police forces to brutalize me and my comrades, she said. Shame on you, Michael Rao!

Several of the 13 demonstrators arrested Monday night are scheduled to appear in court Friday morning to be arraigned, according to court records. Haddad encouraged members of the crowd to attend the hearings to show support and solidarity.

The protesters demands remain the same, Haddad said. She called on the university to disclose any investments in Israel or companies that support Israel, to divest from those companies and to issue a statement pledging to protect pro-Palestine speech on campus.

Asked if she thought the movements momentum would fade when the spring semester ends and students head home for summer break, Haddad said she anticipated no change.

I do not expect anything to slow down, Haddad said. Everybody that is part of this movement is strong-willed and consistent, because (they) understand the urgency of this movement.

Police working to balance free expression and public safety

VCU police spokesperson Corey Byers Standlick said the departments mission to protect free speech while maintaining a safe environment does not change over the summer months. Richmond police spokesperson James Mercante responded similarly.

There are many examples of groups expressing their First Amendment rights throughout the years, not just during traditional school sessions, Mercante said. (Richmond police) has a long history of working to balance free expression and public safety.

Mercante pointed out that seven of the 13 people arrested Monday night  over half  were not VCU students: a fact that could indicate the protests will continue even after graduation.

Making assumptions about a connection between demonstrations and the student population might not be instructive, he said, adding that the department encourages the public to continue to exercise their rights to free expression in a safe and lawful manner.

Multiple students told The Times-Dispatch that VCU employees this week have been distributing flyers on campus that include the schools policies on planning and hosting campus events. The flyers, obtained by The Times-Dispatch, state that students are required to seek permission before organizing an event with 50 or more people in attendance.

In a previous statement, VCU officials said advance notice was necessary for events with 150 or more people. The flyer indicates that the policy was revised on Tuesday, but it was not immediately clear who revised it or why.

Asked about students calls for Rao to resign, VCU spokesperson Michael Porter did not respond. Regarding comments from students that police disregarded the safety of demonstrators, Porter referred back to a statement the school issued Tuesday.

In those remarks, the university said its staff and police had asked demonstrators throughout the day to comply with school policy. After the tents went up, officers gave four mass warnings to individuals who chose not to leave the encampment, the statement said.

Individuals who chose not to leave threw objects and used chemical spray on officers, VCU said Tuesday. Officers used pepper spray to disperse the crowd. VCU police report that officers did not use other chemical agents, such as tear gas.

Porter did not respond to questions about who at the university approved the policy changes regarding the size of a mass event, what process the rule changes went through or whether the university altered any other policies this week.

VCU is committed to upholding and protecting free speech  we support avenues for peaceful expressions, and there have been peaceful rallies for months, Porter said. VCU policy does not allow encampments and individuals were told that repeatedly throughout the day on Monday.

The change was made with safety in mind.

Letter from 17 VCU faculty

In an open letter to Rao, 17 VCU faculty members urged Rao and VCU administrators to publicly support (the) right to peacefully protest and engage in free speech.

These are OUR students, integral members of OUR community, they wrote in the letter. We insist that you not call the police or campus security to intervene in peaceful demonstrations, restrict access to campus spaces, or curtail free speech.

The professors also urged Rao to refrain from disciplining students who participate in peaceful demonstrations.

Demonstrators on Wednesday night marched from Abner Clay Park in Jackson Ward to the VCU police station. Some of the protesters held signs calling for a cease-fire in Gaza. No arrests were reported in connection with the event.

Protesters planned to meet again Thursday night outside VCUs McGlothin Medical Education Center at North 12th and East Marshall streets for a training, during which medics will teach attendees how to respond to tear gas and pepper spray as well as other possible scenarios, according to coordinators for Students for Justice in Palestine and American Muslims for Palestine.

Gallery: Police confront protesters at VCU; arrests made
With some money in hand, Henrico County is still searching for funds to finish its major traffic improvement project in the Short Pump area.

The estimated $305 million project includes a new diverging diamond interchange at Interstate 64 and North Gayton Road. A partial cloverleaf is also planned for I-64 at West Broad Street.

The total build package also includes an added 2-lane on ramp and auxiliary lane from I-64 to Nuckols Road, plus auxiliary lanes on Route 288 near its intersection with West Broad, plus other smaller road improvements.

County officials expect the updates to reduce commute times on the interstate by about 19 minutes.

Terrell Hughes, Henrico director of Public Works, said the area services traffic for a lot of commuters headed from Goochland into Henrico and Richmond. A lot of trips also come from Chesterfield residents headed towards Innsbrook and the Short Pump area.

With the future growth of the county, conditions are only going to get worse, Hughes said. Were already over capacity.

Multiple fatal crashes reported in area

Hughes said that the area has some of the highest crash concentrations in the state and is in need of the overhaul.

Between 2017 and 2022, the area saw seven fatal crashes between 2017 and 2022, with over 1,800 total crashes and nearly 500 crashes causing an injury. In 2023, there were 3 more fatal crashes.

The Short Pump area improvements were approved by the Federal Highway Administration last year, giving Henrico the go-ahead for design and land acquisition.

Henrico is now on the mission to secure all of the needed $305 million to finish the project.

The Central Virginia Transportation Authority has awarded $64.9 million in regional funds. The Virginia Department of Transportation has also awarded $26 million in SMART SCALE funds for design and construction. SMART SCALE prioritizes funds for transportation projects through a scoring system.

Henrico is now on the trail for federal and state money to help with the gap in funding.

The Board of Supervisors approved the use of $60 million in local funds that are expected to help spur applications for funds from the feds.

By indicating your intent on this project with local dollars, said County Manager John Vithoulkas, you are basically pushing this project forward in the eyes of those that are going to be providing the revenue.

Hughes: Well get feedback and try again

Henrico applied for a federal grant last year through the U.S. Department of Transportation requesting a further $60 million. That program, called the NPDG program, pits major projects from across the country against one another for funding, which Hughes said is extremely competitive.

The countys bid was unsuccessful, scoring a 2 out of 3 points, in part due to an unclear picture of the overall funding structure.

We feel if we dont get it, well get feedback and try again, Hughes said. There are a couple of cracks at the apple before I think were worried.

The issue could end up in a local referendum should Henrico structure the local funding through bonds.

The state is currently conducting an environmental study over the area, which includes opportunities for public input.

When announced, Henrico expected the design, environmental study and land acquisition to take between two and three years to complete.

These are the highways in Virginia with the most fatalities in 2022 These are the highways in Virginia with the most fatalities.
The single drug possession charge lodged against a Charlottesville woman after a military-style raid shut down Charlton Avenue one morning in late February has been dropped.

The case against 55-year-old Shena Marie Bowers was nolle prossed, meaning the prosecution is unwilling to proceed, Thursday, but the damage lives on.

I went to the Burger King, and some guy acted like he knew me from seeing me on TV, said Bowers. They put my picture and my full name out there.

The issues went beyond recognition.

I lost my housing voucher, she said. Ive got to try to reboot my life again.

The crux of the problem, she said in a tearful post-hearing interview, is that she was innocent.

I had nothing on me, Bowers told The Daily Progress. If I had anything to hide, why would I open the door?

Her arrest warrant claimed to have found a baggie that tested positive for cocaine, but Bowers said that any drugs found in that Rose Hill apartment did not belong to her. She said she had been there, staying with a friend for just four days, when on the morning of Feb. 27 a phalanx of officers with a canine and a military-grade vehicle showed up with a search warrant.

A big drug bust, was how a local television anchor introduced the CBS19 story, alleging that Bowers had been charged with drug distribution. 29News repeated the same allegation. The arrest warrant, however, only charged Bowers for possession.

When they make these reports, they need to be more accurate, Bowers said. Its just wrong.

The misinformation appears to have stemmed from a Virginia State Police statement. But even on the day the charge was dropped, two months after the raid, both local television stations still had the incorrect charging information about Bowers on their websites.

You cant just throw lies out there, said Bowers.

Corinne Geller, the spokeswoman for the Virginia State Police, has offered no apology, nor has she issued a revised statement.

The raid was conducted by a multijurisdictional group called the 3A Regional Drug and Gang Task Force that brings together the resources of the state police, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and local agencies.

Bowers had been evicted from a previous apartment, which was why, she said, she was staying with the friend on Charlton. She blames an ex-partner for the commotion that got her kicked out of her prior apartment.

Suffering from severe and advancing arthritis, her stride into Charlottesville General District Court Thursday was labored.

I can barely walk some days, she said.

In dropping the charge, Assistant Commonwealths Attorney Nina-Alice Antony told Judge Andrew Sneathern that Bowers was fully in compliance with her bail provisions and that it made sense to drop the charge in keeping with her offices goal of stabilizing the community.

But for Bowers, the trouble stemming from the criminal charge may be pushing her out of that same community. Shes already moved in with her brother in Lynchburg.

Bowers recalls when she moved to Charlottesville several years ago from Portsmouth she would savor a bicycle ride to an elevated vantage point in the Belmont neighborhood. She found a resemblance to the fictional town of Bedrock from a popular 1960s animated television series.

It was so pretty. It reminded me of the Flintstones, she said. Now I dont want to be here.

Airports using biometric facial recognition in Virginia Airports using biometric facial recognition in Virginia Facial recognition program continues its expansion The future of facial recognition
Two Playa del Carmen women wanted for 250 million in real estate fraud captured heading for the U.S.

Tijuana, Baja California  Two Playa del Carmen women with outstanding arrest warrants for 250 million in real estate fraud have been captured in Tijuana. The pair were arrested by plainclothes officers inside the Tijuana International Airport Tuesday night as they tried to board a plane for the U.S.

The State Attorney General (FGE) of Quintana Roo said their arrests took place in collaboration with the Attorney General of the Republic (FGR) of Mexico. Rebeca N and Cecilia Maria N were escorted out of the airport by at least six officers dressed as travelers on outstanding warrants for administrative fraud.

According to the FGE (Fiscalia General del Estado), both women were arrested for their alleged participation in events that could constitute the crime of fraudulent administration for an amount greater than 250 million pesos.

The two Playa del Carmen women were arrested by plainclothes officers Tuesday night. Photo: FGE April 30, 2024.

Rebeca N and Cecilia Maria N were captured in the city of Tijuana, Baja California when they tried to cross into the United States. Interpol Mexicos red card flagged the women as they went through immigration at Tijuana.

The pair were ushered by the undercover officers to a waiting unmarked white SUV outside the airport.

An unmarked SUV was waiting for them outside the airport. Photo: April 30, 2024.

In an FGE statement the agency said those now detained formed a commercial company Desarrollo de la Riviera Maya, SA de CV (DeRiMaya) with the Secretariat of Sustainable Urban Territorial Development in 2017.

The Playa del Carmen real estate company was seized by the State in January of this year. Photo: January 19, 2024.

The reason for this alliance was the execution of contracts for the sale of land and real estate in the municipality of Solidaridad.

The complaint against the Derimaya company was that during a meeting held on November 24, 2021 between the parties, various fiscal administrative anomalies were detected which were not resolved despite the multiple requests made by the Ministry of Sustainable Urban Territorial Development.

Both women, center, were transferred to police headquarters after trying to cross the U.S. border.

Photo: FGE April 30, 2024.

The FGE said that after the release of the arrest warrant, the State Attorney Generals Office, in close coordination with the Attorney Generals Office of the Republic, located those investigated when they tried to evade justice by trying to cross the border to reach the U.S.
By Pyo Kyung-min

K-pop sensation NewJeans has joined forces with renowned Japanese pop artist Takashi Murakami for the band's upcoming debut single in Japan, slated for June 21 release.

On Wednesday, the teaser for the music video of "Right Now," a track featured in the group's Japanese debut single "Supernatural," was unveiled on HYBE Labels' official YouTube channel.

The teaser includes an appearance by the five characters representing each member of NewJeans, originally conceived in collaboration with the popular American animation, "Powerpuff Girls." During their journey, the five cartoon figures encounter Murakami's iconic rainbow-colored flower character and undergo a transformation into new characters designed by the artist himself.

Amidst ongoing tensions with HYBE, Ador CEO and NewJeans director Min Hee-jin also shared the teaser video and behind-the-scenes insights into the collaboration process with Murakami on her Instagram account.

Murakami, renowned as one of Japan's most beloved contemporary pop artists, boasts a track record of collaborating with various fashion brands and global pop stars such as Billie Eilish, incorporating his imaginative artworks and signature flower character.

Notably, Murakami has publicly expressed his admiration for NewJeans in past media appearances.

During an encounter with Korean audiences at last year's "Takashi Murakami: MurakamiZombie" exhibition held at the Busan Museum of Art, he openly emphasized, "I am a huge fan of NewJeans. I would be grateful to meet them."

NewJeans is gearing up to release its latest album, "How Sweet," on May 24. The music video for the album's pre-release track, "Bubble Gum," garnered acclaim after its Saturday release, amassing over 19.8 million views on YouTube as of Thursday noon.

The group is also preparing to debut its single in Japan, titled "Supernatural," in June. This release will feature four tracks, including "Right Now." Following the release, NewJeans plans to host a large fan meeting at Japan's Tokyo Dome on June 26 and 27.
WESTLAKE  A new volunteer program is now monitoring Smith Mountain Lake in an effort to better understand algae growth around the shoreline as well as more quickly identify any harmful algal blooms.

Planning for the Smith Mountain Lake Associations new Dock Watch program started in late 2023 following a summer during which harmful algal blooms led to swim advisories that kept people out of the water and away from several of the lakes businesses. With such a significant impact to the community, the Smith Mountain Lake Association took a renewed effort into monitoring algae growth at the lake.

The lake community has also supported the effort, donating more than $12,000 in a recent fundraising campaign. Much of that funding went into the new program and a new lab set up inside the SMLA office in Westlake.

Keri Green, chair of SMLAs Lake Quality Council who oversees the Dock Watch program, was putting the finishing touches on the new lab late last month. It is filled with testing equipment, charts of testing sites and two high-powered microscopes that will be used to analyze water samples taken from multiple sites around Smith Mountain Lake.

An overwhelming number of volunteers have come forward to participate since the Dock Watch program was announced, Green said. Out of those, 30 people were chosen.

We had a lot of interest, Green said. Especially around the Blackwater.

The Blackwater River arm of the lake experienced a swim advisory for much of the summer last year due to harmful algal blooms found at several locations. That harmful algae, usually blue-green in color, is made up of cyanobacteria that sometimes produces microcystin, a toxin that can cause skin rash and gastrointestinal illnesses, such as upset stomach, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

Volunteers take samples from 20 locations spread out around the lake looking for that harmful algae. Many of the samples are taken from the docks of volunteers homes. Green said the locations were chosen to get a better picture of all areas of the lake.

Of the 20 locations, water samples are collected at 10 each week on a rotating basis. Green said samples will be collected throughout the year to get a fuller picture of algae growth. The sampling can help identify what leads to the harmful algal blooms that became a problem last summer.

While the program will help in keeping a closer eye on possible harmful algae growth, Green said the main purpose is to monitor. They will not take over the role of the Virginia Department of Health or the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality that will still make the final decision on any swim advisories if harmful algal blooms are found.

We are like an extra set of eyes, but we cant make any decisions based on what we see, Green said.

Volunteers received training in the past few weeks to prepare for analyzing the water samples. The samples will be placed under a microscope where the volunteers will methodically search for any signs of harmful algae.

That information is then recorded for the SMLA and also sent to the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Sciences Phytoplankton Monitoring Network. The program engages citizen scientists in a community-based network of volunteers to watch for the blooms.

Green admits that learning to identify the multiple varieties of harmful algae, or cyanobacteria, will take some time. Volunteers may not catch everything in their first few weeks of sampling.

It is going to take us a while before we get any meaningful information, Green said.

Mary Colligan of Wirtz is one of the volunteers who will be studying samples starting this week. She decided to join after seeing the impact the harmful algal blooms had on the community last summer.

Im very excited to be part of it, Colligan said of the program. I think it is critically important for the health of the lake.

Mike Reingruber, a Hardy resident, also agreed to be a Dock Watch volunteer. While he said learning to use the microscopes and identifying algae is intimidating, he agreed that it is important to get a better understanding of algae growth around the lake.

Everyone in my community is interested in what we find, Reingruber said.

Once enough data is collected over a long enough time period, Green said the program will be able to find trends in any algae growth. The SMLA can then look deeper into causes.

Then we can start to ask why, Green said.
Roanoke police have arrested a Roanoke County teen in connection with a gunfire incident that killed a city teen last week.

Jaevian M. Allen, 18, is charged with one count of robbery related to the shooting, which occurred April 24 in the 3800 block of Stratford Park Drive, according to a news release Wednesday.

Police said in a previous release that officers responded to reports of shots fired in the area and found two males with gunshot wounds. The two individuals were transported to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital for treatment.

Police identified the injured males in Wednesdays news release as Allen and 19-year-old Javonte D. Smith, who has since died.

A preliminary investigation indicates that the shooting stemmed from the illegal purchase of a firearm, according to Wednesdays release.

Allen and Smith met with two juvenile males to sell a firearm, according to the release, but then attempted to rob the two teenagers.

One of the teens produced a firearm and shot toward Allen and Smith, striking them, police said. The two juveniles then fled in a vehicle but were later located at a residence in Roanoke County.

Police obtained an arrest warrant for Allen early April 25, according to the release. He was taken into custody Monday without incident at a Roanoke County address.

Wednesdays news release did not identify the other two juvenile males involved in the shooting or indicate whether the teens were facing charges related to Allens injuries and Smiths death.

This remains an ongoing investigation and no additional details are available at this time, the release concluded.

The April 24 shooting was the second confirmed gunfire incident to result in a fatality in Roanoke since Jan. 1, according to previous police reports. In the same time frame in 2023, police reported six gun-related homicides.
Geodes are geological formations characterized by their spherical shapes and hollow interiors, often lined with colorful crystals. Derived from the Greek word geoides, which means "earthlike," these unique structures catch the eye of scientists and gem enthusiasts alike.

The term geode describes a specific kind of formation found in volcanic and sedimentary rocks. These spherical rocks begin as bubbles in volcanic lava  or as animal burrows, tree roots or nodules in sedimentary rocks which later fill with mineral-rich groundwater.

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Over millions of years, this water deposits layers of minerals on the inside walls of the cavity. Slowly, these minerals crystallize, forming a dense lining of quartz or other silicates that can include a variety of crystals like amethyst, calcite or celestite.

When a geode splits open, either naturally or by human intervention, it reveals an internal cavity lined with vibrant, pointed crystals. The size, color and pattern of these crystals vary depending on the minerals present in the water that filled the cavity, making each geode a unique and natural work of art.

Collectors and geologists cherish geodes not only for their beauty but also for their ability to provide insights into the geological processes that shape our Earth.
By Bereket Alemayehu

As spring's K-Royal Culture Festival 2024 kicked off, I was lucky enough to participate in A Time Travel to the Joseon Dynasty, the Gyeonghoeru Pavilion's special tour program at Gyeongbok Palace, Koreas last dynastys main royal palace in central Seoul.

This particular tour was a special program for foreign visitors with an English-speaking guide, offering exclusive tickets for to foreign nationals.

Spring's K-Royal Culture Festival is being held in five palaces in Seoul, including Gyeongbok Palace, Changdeok Palace, Changgyeong Palace, Deoksu Palace and Gyeonghui Palace, which are cultural heritage sites representing Korea and contain the history of the Joseon and Korean Empires, as well as Jongmyo Shrine and Sajikdan Altar.

As I stepped through the gates of Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul, Wednesday morning, I expected that I was about to embark on a journey back in time, imagining the bygone eras, immersed in the vibrant, fascinating and well-preserved cultural heritage of Korea, being part of this special Gyeonghoeru Pavilion tour, where history came alive in the most captivating manner imaginable. Besides springs morning sun shining brightly with refreshing air coming down from the mountains, I felt a sense of renewal and vitality.

With the help of experts on traditional clothing, we were able to dress in Confucian scholar attire. I then joined fellow foreign visitors for a one-of-a-kind experience that promised to unravel the mysteries of this iconic and largest elevated pavilion in Korea. From the moment that we were warmly greeted by the event organizers, their hospitality extended to us with gifts of well-crafted souvenirs, evidence that we were in for an exciting tour.

As visitors gathered beneath the graceful columns of Gyeonghoeru Pavilion, led by a knowledgeable guide, our exploration of the pavilion was nothing short of fascinating, setting the stage for an unforgettable journey through time. Every aspect of the tour was thoughtfully curated to provide a glimpse into the past, a passionate explanation by our tour guide, Kim Sung-young, in a well-planned narrative, brought to life the history and significance of this architectural marvel. Each detail, from the intricate design of the pavilion to its role as a symbol of royal power, was illuminated with clarity and passion.

The magnificent open two-story pavilion was built during the Gyeongbok Palace's construction, on the northwest side of the pond, in Geunjeongjeon Hall. It was small but expanded in 1412 during the 12th year of King Taejongs reign and was mainly used for royal banquets and for receiving foreign officials. During the Japanese Invasion in 1592, it was burnt down and reconstructed 270 years later in 1867 during the fourth year of King Gojong.

The pavilion has seven rooms in the front and five rooms on the side, its architecture manifests the oriental philosophy of the universe. It is said that its three stone bridges symbolize heaven, earth and man, and the 12 bays represent the months of the year. The outermost 24 columns symbolize the 24 solar terms that mark particular astronomical or natural events of each year.

After a short historical explanation of the building, we sat on the floor to enjoy listening to Korean traditional instruments, the music we enjoyed was performed during the Joseon Dynasty in the palace. As the air resonated with the melodious strains of traditional music, meditative quietness took us to the past, in a grateful manner to those Koreans who preserved these legacies for centuries. I was glad for the opportunity to have been part of such a unique and enriching experience. Walking away, I carried with me not just memories, but a deeper appreciation for the beauty and significance of Korea's cultural heritage.

American tourist Aaron Nehamkin, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, embarked on his trip to Korea alongside his mother and her cousin, driven by a shared curiosity to explore the wonders of Korean history.

"We got here a few days ago, just to visit," Nehamkin told The Korea Times with intense excitement. The palace is beautiful, a lot of history."

He expressed gratitude for his mother's cousin. "My mom's cousin is very well-versed in the history here. So, she's been giving me a lot of context about the meaning of the palaces and all the royalty that occurred here. I think, honestly, the music has been wonderful, Im not a musician, but I play instruments. And seeing and hearing the instruments and the performances is fascinating. Seoul is very clean compared to a lot of American cities. And everyone's very polite here. And the food is amazing and fairly cheap. And I hope I continue to have these experiences in Busan and Jeju as well, he added.

For Cathy Pepper, an Australian tourist, this particular experience was a special event as she was celebrating her birthday with her family.

My family lives all over the world and we met here in Seoul. Because no one had been to Korea before. And we love it, Korea has a beautiful culture, people and palaces. The children did research about which places to go to and which activities to do. We didn't expect this pavilion to be so expansive, so enormous, as well as the entire palace. The structure is wonderful because we're into buildings and architecture. It was a surprise for me because of my birthday, Pepper said.

This unique festival has been organized for 10 years by the Cultural Heritage Administration and supervised by the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation and offers a variety of programs for both Koreans and foreign nationals to experience. In spring and autumn, cultural and artistic programs such as performances, exhibitions, experiences and ritual reenactments are part of fostering tourism, which reflects the history of the palace and the marvelous characteristics of each palace hall and place. This spring festival runs until Sunday.

Bereket Alemayehu is an Ethiopian photo artist, social activist and writer based in Seoul. He's also co-founder of Hanokers, a refugee-led social initiative, and freelance contributor for Pressenza Press Agency.
SIOUX CITY -- A Colorado woman who was involved in a high-speed chase that ended with a crash in Le Mars has been sentenced to federal prison on a drug charge.

Amy Cruz, 37, of Denver, pleaded guilty in October in U.S. District Court in Sioux City to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. She was sentenced Wednesday to eight years in prison. There is no parole in the federal system.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office and Sioux City police reports, Cruz and her co-defendant, Esequiel Gomez, were traveling to Minnesota to deliver drugs when they stole a pickup truck from Sioux City Ford, 3601 Singing Hills Blvd., on April 27, 2022, and fled in the vehicle and another truck that had been stolen in another state. After they were located, they led authorities on a chase that exceeded speeds of 100 mph on U.S. Highway 75. The two abandoned one of the trucks, and the pursuit continued to Le Mars, where it ended when they crashed into an unoccupied car. Both were hospitalized.

During the pursuit, the two had tossed items from the vehicles. Authorities recovered discarded totes and others that remained in the stolen trucks. The totes contained a total of 150 pounds of marijuana stolen from a Colorado dispensary, 1 pound of meth, three guns and other items that had been reported stolen.

Gomez pleaded guilty to gun and drug charges in February and awaits sentencing.
SIOUX CITY -- Trespassers are suspected of having set a fire that damaged the deserted Argonaut apartment building at the corner of Nebraska and 11th streets Wednesday evening.

Sioux City Fire Rescue Deputy Fire Marshal Joe Rodriguez told The Journal that crews were called to the red-tagged building at around 7:36 p.m. Wednesday.

"Once our crews got there, they encountered heavy amounts of smoke coming from the building," Rodriguez said. "There was a working fire on the north side of the building, kind of towards the basement area."

A search found no one inside the building, Rodriguez said. The building suffered "severe" smoke and fire damage, he added.

The fire is believed to have been caused by trespassers, though it was unclear if the fire was accidental in nature.

"Obviously, there's no electricity, there's no gas to the building, so -- a fire doesn't just start by itself," Rodriguez said, adding that the fire was "caused by somebody."

An investigation into the fire and possible culprits is ongoing. Anyone with information on the fire is encouraged to notify the Sioux City Police Department.

The century-old Argonaut has been vacant for more than a year; last March, the City of Sioux City declared the building unfit for occupancy due to a heating boiler that had been out of order for several months, and its residents had to leave.

Sioux City Code Enforcement Manager Darrel Bullock said a demolition order was placed on the building April 18. The order requires the owner of the property to demolish it; if they fail to do so, the city would take charge of the demolition and assess the cost against the property.

No date has been set for the demolition, which Bullock noted is a "long, long process." Much is wrong with the building, he said.

"There's a tremendous amount of repairs that need to be made there -- I'm not even sure if it is possible at this point," Bullock said. "It's been so destroyed."
SIOUX CITY  An open records-related lawsuit former Sioux City public schools Superintendent Paul Gausman brought against the district and board members has been dismissed.

In the suit, filed in April 2023, Gausman claimed the district continued to deny an open record request he made in December 2022. Gausman was seeking minutes, notes and recordings of closed school board meetings that occurred on Jan. 24, 2022, March 28, 2022, and Nov. 30, 2022.

The second lawsuit was related to his January 2023 lawsuit in which he claimed board members Dan Greenwell, Jan George, Taylor Goodvin and Bob Michaelson violated the state's open meetings law by closing two sessions.

Woodbury County District Judge Jeffrey Neary dismissed the open records suit with prejudice, stating there was no violation of open records law. Gausman will be required to pay a $160 court fee.

"The Defendants properly and legally denied the Plaintiffs request for the minutes and recordings of the closed meetings identified (January 24, 2022, March 28, 2022, and November 30, 2022) and cooperated with the Plaintiff in submitting the matter to the Court for action and consideration," Neary said in his ruling.

Greenwell said he was pleased the judge dismissed "this frivolous open records lawsuit."

"It had no merit from the beginning and was filed as a theater event," Greenwell said in a statement.

Gausman said the result was "not unexpected."

"Reflecting on the successful outcome of the first phase of the court proceedings, the result of the summary judgment to dismiss this matter was not unexpected. Both actions were filed with the aim of achieving the results that have now been realized," he said in a statement.

On Dec. 16, 2022, Gausman filed an open records request seeking all records for meetings held on Jan. 24, 2022, Jan. 25, 2022, March 28, 2022, and Nov. 30, 2022. Gausman stated the requested information was public record and he had a right to the documents and recordings.

Greenwell, on behalf of the board, denied the request on Jan. 5, stating minutes and recordings of closed sessions were exempt from disclosure. Gausman and his attorney Stan Munger continued to request the information, stating due to the believed open meeting law violations, the requested meetings were in fact open meetings.

The request was again denied on April 3.

Gausman claimed the district had unreasonably delayed providing the information or providing a timeline on when the information would be given or denied.

The petition asked the requested documents to be provided and asked the court to order the district and school board members to refrain from improperly withholding and delaying records and provide records requests without unreasonable delay for one year on penalty of civil contempt. Gausman also asked for damages, attorney fees and costs.

In November 2023, Neary ordered the minutes and recordings of the Jan. 24, 2022, and the Nov. 30, 2022, to be turned over to Gausman for the trial. There was a protective order issued to prevent the information from being shared publicly but was removed during the trial.

Neary denied Gausman's request to make the recordings and minutes public records.

"I wanted acknowledgment that the Sioux City Board held an improper meeting, which has been proven. I wanted to receive access to the transcripts of what occurred during the improper closed session, and I achieved that outcome during the first phase of the proceedings. I wanted the court to find that there was an action that was 'not in good faith' by at least one member of the board regarding that improper meeting, and I achieved that result," Gausman said in a statement.

Gausman, who left the Sioux City district to become the superintendent of the Lincoln Nebraska Public Schools on July 1, 2022, filed a lawsuit in January 2023 against board members Greenwell, George, Goodvin and Michaelson, claiming they held closed sessions on Jan. 24, 2022 and Nov. 30, 2022, that cited the wrong section of state code in order to avoid notifying him of their discussion and their plans to file a complaint against him with the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners.

Neary earlier ruled the January 2022 session violated open meetings law because it went beyond the board's state purpose of evaluating Gausman's professional competency.

Neary found George, Goodvin and Michaelson acted in good faith in their roles in holding the January 2022 meeting. In an earlier ruling, the judge found the board properly closed a Nov. 30, 2022, meeting cited by Gausman.

Neary found Greenwell "did not act in good faith" and would have to pay Gausman's attorney fees, as well as the court costs and a $500 court fee.
DES MOINES  The free speech rights of protesters on college campuses will be honored in Iowa, but hate speech and destruction will not be allowed, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said Wednesday.

Reynolds said if protests in Iowa cross those lines, We will be ready. Were not going to let it go.

During a news conference Wednesday at the Iowa Capitol, Reynolds addressed a question about protests that are taking place on college campuses across the nation and how she and state law enforcement officials might react to similar protests in Iowa.

As a war between Israel and the terrorist organization Hamas continues, U.S. college students have been protesting in support of Palestine and in opposition to Israels military strategy. In some cases, protesters have occupied buildings and spaces on campuses, and restricted students ability to move through those spaces.

Reynolds said Wednesday that protesters have First Amendment rights, but also indicated the state will be prepared to respond if protesters break laws  including one passed after some civil rights protests in 2020 in the wake of the George Floyd murder turned destructive. She decried the actions of protesters at other colleges, including Columbia University in New York.

Of course we want to protect the First Amendment rights to protest. But theyre going to do it peacefully, Reynolds said Wednesday. Were not going to allow hate speech. Were not going to allow destruction. Were not going to allow what we see happening in some of the universities across this country.

So were going to just get in front of it. Were going to be respectful, and as long as (protesters) abide by the laws and do it peacefully, then great, Reynolds said. But if it crosses that line, we will be ready. Were not going to let it go.

Three-day University of Iowa protest planned

A few hundred pro-Palestine protesters demonstrated in University Heights this past weekend while U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson was in Iowa to fundraise for Iowa Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks. And a pro-Palestine protest is scheduled to take place at the Pentacrest on the University of Iowa campus from 12-7 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, according to a flyer for the event.

Hayley Bruce, the University of Iowas campus safety chief of staff, said in an emailed response to The Gazette that the university is aware of the protests taking place across the country and has protocols in place. Bruce said the primary goal of law enforcement during demonstrations is to protect free speech while ensuring the safety of both demonstrators and the community.

Bruce said campus safety personnel welcome an opportunity to work with protest organizers to support a safe environment and share information about campus demonstration guidelines.

Community members are permitted to exercise their First Amendment rights in outdoor areas of campus if it complies with reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions, and as long as the conduct is lawful, and does not impede access to a facility or use of walkways, interfere with vehicle traffic, or disrupt the functioning of the institution, Bruce wrote.

Bruce said encampments  which have cropped up as part of protests on some campuses  are not permitted under University of Iowa policies.

The flyer for the protest, distributed by Iowa City Students for Justice in Palestine, reads, Stand in solidarity with student encampments and show the University of Iowa we wont back down!

A social media post promoting the protest notes that it is not an encampment. Our intended goal is to reiterate our demands for divestment to the University, the post reads.

More Iowa Republicans weigh in

Iowa Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley said pro-Palestine protesters who have set up encampments and occupied buildings on college and university campuses around the country are acting like children.

Grassley, speaking to Iowa reporters Wednesday, also criticized university presidents for being too slow to enforce deadlines they set for demonstrators to leave their encampments or face consequences.

Now, we all know that under our Constitution free speech is encouraged. And hateful speech, even though it may be constitutional, should be discouraged, Grassley said. But, you shouldnt be able to attack people, threaten people, things of that nature.

Asked how University of Iowa officials should respond to protests this weekend, Grassley said any students that want to demonstrate peacefully ought to be allowed to, but it seems to me they shouldnt be allowed to encamp.

He also took issue with students demanding schools divest from investments that support weapons manufacturing and Israel amid the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war, in which more than 34,000 people have been killed in Gaza.

And can you imagine that these students that are there, they think theyre in a position to tell a university how they can invest their funds? Grassley told reporters. After all, those funds are helping provide their education.  What right being a student do you have to tell the university how to invest? If you want to do that, you ought to be on the board of trustees.

State Rep. Carter Nordman, a Republican from Panora, posted on social media that University of Iowa officials have assured him university policies and the law will be fully enforced and done so without hesitation.

I am confident this will be the case, Nordman posted on X, formerly called Twitter. In Iowa, if you break the law or violate university policy, you should be expelled, banned, and/or prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. These unlawful pro-Hamas acts occurring around the country are unacceptable and should be met with immediate consequences.

Gaza war protests ignite on US college campuses
North Korea has held a meeting of chiefs of branch public security stations earlier this week, state media reported Thursday, in an apparent move to tighten the country's grip on social discipline.

North Korea held the fifth national conference of heads of branch public security stations in Pyongyang from Tuesday to Wednesday, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

It marked the first time that the North has convened such a meeting since November 2012.

North Korea's branch public security stations are the lowest-tier organization under the Ministry of Public Security and similar to South Korea's police substations.

The North's organizations are tasked with maintaining public safety and protecting people's lives, but they actually carry out surveillance on anti-regime activities.

At the conference, Public Security Minister Ri Thae-sop called for the enhanced role of such organizations as the "main bases" for social security.

He underscored the need to "stage uncompromising struggle against all illegal activities that could hamper economic development and an improvement of people's life," according to the KCNA.

North Korea is stepping up its campaign to tighten social discipline to block the inflow of outside information amid deepening economic difficulties.

The country adopted laws aimed at strengthening internal control in recent years, including the law enacted in 2020 to "reject the reactionary ideology and culture" and the act adopted in 2023 to protect the Pyongyang dialect and culture.

In particular, the anti-reactionary ideology law calls for sentencing up to 10 years of hard labor for people who bring and distribute outside culture and information. Punishment is known to be tougher in cases of those watching and spreading South Korean dramas, movies and music.

Seoul's unification ministry said the North apparently held the meeting of public security officials to elicit their loyalty toward leader Kim Jong-un and tighten social control.

"This indicates that lots of deviant behaviors and unlawful activities have occurred (in North Korea)," a ministry official told reporters on condition of anonymity. (Yonhap)
Im one of those people: I have cried at the childrens show Bluey. It happened, despite my best efforts, during Sleepytime, the known tear-jerker episode from Season 2; at Aunt Brandys implied infertility in Season 3s Onesies; and at the end of Season 3s The Sign, before the bait and switch, when Bandits decision to reverse course on their house sale made life hard for every parent in a Bluey home who will ever plan a difficult move. (As someone who recently underwent an out-of-state relocation, Im just grateful this episode aired after that.) But the most surprising bout of weeping came during Season 1s Bike. And I know why: Its not just the plot. Its the music too.

In Bike, three young pups struggle to complete difficult tasks at the playground. Blueys sister Bingo is too short to drink from the water fountain. Cousin Muffin cant get her backpack on. And their friend Bentley cant reach the monkey bars. Predictably, all three eventually succeed. And when they do, Beethovens Ode to Joy crescendos exuberantly in the background.

Maybe it goes too far to compare Beethovens legendary struggle with deafness with the mundane problems the kids face in this episode. Ode to Joy stands as one of Western cultures greatest artifacts, and Beethovens disability plays a large part in the pieces looming presence. He was profoundly deaf by the time he composed his Ninth Symphonyso deaf, in fact, that he reportedly had to be prodded to turn and accept his ovation following its premiere. Maybe Muffin wriggling into her backpack isnt a comparable win to the triumphant composition of one of the most famous pieces of all time, but for a sentimental parent watching their kids milestones, it is no less moving.

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Throughout its three seasons, Blueys music has underscored the mature emotional aspects of the show. Bluey has been called everything from a kids show for grownups to the best show about parenting, and the placement of classical music is largely for us adults too. While Bingo dreamily travels the cosmos in Sleepytime, Holsts Jupiter, from The Planets, swells just as Bingo, facing the sun but truly addressing her mother, decides its time to embrace her independence. The moment is aimed at adults ready to recognize the fleetingness of time with our young children, and the bittersweet broadness of the Holst tune accentuates our loss.

But the classical music in Bluey is there not just to make us cry. Consider Season 1s Magic Claw, a notably moral-free episode featuring Dad playacting as a temperamental claw machine. (The episode includes the iconic lines Magic Claw has no children. His days are free and easy.) As Magic Claw frustrates his kids repeatedly, a synthesized and remixed version of the broadly recognizable Pachelbel tune from Canon in D plays frantically. Although its beloved by the public, classical musicians notoriously hate this piece, due to its status as the most overdone wedding processional as well as its intense boringness for those who play bass instruments. Yet the arrangement in Magic Claw seems to wink at this, acknowledging that the piece must be performed but that we can take it at top speed to minimize the pain.

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Related From Slate Adults Have Declared a Kids Show Special One of the Best TV Episodes Ever. I Think I Know Why. Read More

Yes, Bluey is positively dripping with classical music. The very first scene of the first episode shows Bandit miming playing a wild Rondo Alla Turca on Blueys stomach. It makes a certain kind of sense because Bluey is aspirational at its heart. Dad Bandit is an idealized portrait of a modern gentle parent, with ample time and energy for pretend play. Even the Australian Broadcasting Company, Blueys original commissioner, admits, We cant all be Bandit Heeler. Cultural romanticization is at work too; little sister Bingo creeping around, making household objects heavy with a feather wand, as every family member plays along, wouldnt be quite right without Griegs In the Hall of the Mountain King.

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The shows creator, Joe Brumm, insisted in a 2022 interview that the classical music in Bluey is not an attempt to indoctrinate our children into recognizing the superiority of the Western classical oeuvre. But I must point out that, even as the classical music world I work in is rightly invested in diversifying the classical canon, Bluey sticks to standards from the white male composers people tend to recognize. And there is ample evidence that parents do want to expose kids to erudite musical culture. We have been told (wrongly) that the simple act of hearing Mozart will make our kids smarter, and that music lessons will increase their intelligence as well. A quick Amazon search brings up a myriad of classical musicthemed baby products, from books to recordings to battery-operated earworm machines. So much of modern parenting feels like inputting information and experiences into our kids in hopes of creating a perfectly formed adult. Part of that is exposing them to the right kinds of cultureif theyre going to choose Taylor Swift, you should get some classical music into them too. Bluey takes this small bite off our vast parental plate. As I often tell my college students, the composers intentions matter only if the audience recognizes them. Sorry, Brumm: Even if you didnt mean to make Bluey into Music History 101, youve done it anyway.

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We recognize the connection between childhood and classical music partly because educational kids shows have always flirted with the music, demonstrating the pervasiveness of the Classical music makes kids smarter trope. The same parents hearing Carmen in Granny Mobile may experience flashbacks to the trippy Habanera-singing orange of Sesame Street. At 3, my own child danced in a simulated en pointe to the Wiggles Meet the Orchestra. Approaching the musical saturation of Bluey is the math-focused Peg + Cat, on PBS, in which a writers blockstricken Beethoven appears regularly; Bachs Jesu, Joy of Mans Desiring introduces the number nine; and the Queen of the Night and the King of the Day debate symmetry over tunes from Mozarts operas. Yet Bluey doesnt feel like an educational show, exactly. Sure, it imparts lessons about taking care of the little ones and the importance of keeping promises, but its mostly about the joys of family life with young children. This makes the music even more impactful; instead of learning about it, were experiencing its power.

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With the final episode of Season 3, Surprise, featuring a grown Bluey returning to her childhood home, the rumor mill has begun to churn with gossip that Bluey is truly over, or at least on hiatus long enough for our kids to age out of the show. What is the music of a million millennial parents crying? Maybe Barbers Adagio for Strings or Rachmaninoffs Vocalise, neither of which has yet made it onto the show (will they ever?). Ill always remember my kids response to Sleepytime: She refused to watch it again. The thought of leaving me filled her with existential dread. Will she forever associate Jupiter with that feeling? I know I probably will, despite decades of encountering Holsts work unassociated with Bingo and her journey away from Mom. Im still grateful that my child is hearing this music that has meant so much to my own life. It might not have made this generation of parents smarter, but as we clutch tissues and hug our kids, we can tell ourselves it did.
This piece is from the book First Love: Essays on Friendship by Lilly Dancyger. Copyright  2024 by the author and reprinted with permission of The Dial Press, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.

When I was deciding whether to attend the trial of the man who raped and murdered my cousin Sabina, I felt like I should go so that the jury would see me there. I knew how easy it would be for her to become an abstraction to them: the victim, the deceased, the body. To usto me and my aunt and my mother and the rest of our family and her friendsshe was still Sabina, still a real girl who we would never see or hug or dance with again. If we were all there, sitting on the bench behind the prosecutor, I thought, maybe the jury would be able to see that there was a real person missing. And maybe they would want to punish the man who had taken her from us.

I also thought I should go to the trial because I might want to write about it someday. I had already learned, at 23, that the page is the safest place for me to try to make sense of things that feel senseless. Telling myself I would write about what happened to Sabina someday meant I didnt have to fully face the horror of it just yet. I could put it on a shelf, where it would wait until I was ready to arrange it into something from which I could extract some kind of meaning. And whenever that day came, I figured, the trial would be an important part of the story I would tell.

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But despite these two compelling reasons that I felt I should get on a bus to Philadelphia and sit in that bright, formal room to hear the worst of human cruelty discussed in a discordantly procedural and orderly way, my body refused. Two years after her murder, my whole self was still clamped shut, bracing against the truth of what had happened to Sabinato my first and favorite childhood playmate. The idea of sitting through detailed explanations of her final momentsseeing photos of her body in the dirt, hearing detectives and medical examiners describe the brutality enacted on herwas too much. I couldnt even look at the mug shot of her killer or read a single news article about what he had done, let alone be in the same room as him; hear his voice, see his body move through a room or shift in a seat, so very alive, while she was not. And so I didnt go. If I wanted to write about Sabinas murder someday, I would have to do without the firsthand courtroom scenes.

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In the meantime, I kept working on the book I had started the year before Sabina was killed, a book about my father. I approached that story like a journalistthe job I was in graduate school to prepare for while the trial was happeninginterviewing people who knew my father, trying to push beyond the limits of my own memories to put together something that felt more like a capital-T True story. Thinking like a reporter while writing about my fathers heroin addiction, his art, his complicated and ill-fated relationship with my mother, and his death when I was 12 years old had provided something of a buffer between me and the ugliest parts of the story I was digging out of the earth like bones. I imagined that when I was ready to write about SabinasomedayI might approach the story of what happened to her in a similar way: I would read transcripts of the trial I hadnt been able to bring myself to attend; I would interview the friends Sabina had been with in the hours before she was killed, drinking champagne on a Philadelphia rooftop. I would re-create that final evening until it felt almost like I had been there, standing next to her while she laughed for the very last time. Someday, when I was ready, I would finally look directly at the truth of the way that night ended. And somehow, though I wasnt quite sure how yet, this would help me grieve.

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When David Kushners memoir Alligator Candy came out in 2016six years after Sabinas murder, four years after the trial I didnt attendit sounded like a potential model for the story I still wasnt ready to write. In Alligator Candy, Kushner, a reporter, revisits the disappearance and murder of his brother Jon when the two were kids in 1970s Florida, attempting to make sense of his lifes defining tragedy using the tools of his trade. I thought it might help me start thinking about how to approach Sabinas story, while I waited for the emotional fortitude to shore itself up in me.

I got 94 pages into a scene where Kushner goes to the library to read the news reports about his brothers death for the first timewhen I started to feel seasick, like the room was heaving up and down around me. This scene described something I still had not been able to do: allow the vague looming darkness to settle into the familiar shape of a news story. I squeezed my eyes shut and closed the book, noting matter-of-factly that I wasnt ready to even read murder stories yet, let alone write one.

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I continued to buy what I thought of as murder memoirs when they came out, which they did with increasing frequency over the next few yearsa trend later identified as true-crime memoir, which felt at the time like a pointed reminder of what I couldnt yet face. I bought Carolyn Murnicks The Hot One, Sarah Perrys After the Eclipse, Rose Andersens The Heart and Other Monsters, and Natasha Tretheweys Memorial Drive when they came out between 2017 and 2020, and placed them on my bookshelf next to Alligator Candy, unopened. I added older titles to my growing collection, too: Maggie Nelsons The Red Parts, Melanie Thernstroms The Dead Girl, and Justin St. Germains Son of a Gun. I didnt read those either.

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I couldnt handle them yet, but I knew that eventually I would need to see how other writers had managed to write a crime story about something so personal and painful when, as far as I could tell from my previous associations with the genremostly the shows like Forensic Files and Cold Case that my mother devoured when I was a childa good crime story required a certain degree of callousness, an ability to view cruelty with curiosity, even eagerness.

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Portraying a real person on the page is always a subtle violencereducing their multidimensional humanity, the unknowability of their inherent contradictions and mutable nature, into something flat and digestible. Even the best-rendered character on the page is only a fraction as complex as a real person. Doing this to a person who has been murdered whose very literal humanity has already been stolen from themfeels like a larger injustice than doing it to someone whos still living and can flout your depiction with their continued humanness. Murder already threatens to eclipse a personit is so shocking that those of us who mourn someone who was murdered have to work to make sure the terror of their death doesnt take up more space in our memories than the living person they once were. Writing about a murder inevitably solidifies the murder as the defining detail of a victims life.

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So, I wondered, could I write about Sabina without reducing her to another dead girl in a story about male violence? Could I draw readers eyes away from the brutality and toward Sabina singing and dancing down the street on a fall day with yellow and orange leaves wet and slick under her feet? Toward the scoliosis that made it look like she was always cocking her hip, about to say something sassyand the fact that she usually was?

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Sabina came to visit me in New York when she was 20 and I was 21, and I brought her to one of my favorite dive bars. She scanned the chalkboard of bottle beers, the rows of liquor, and the taps, before asking, Do you have any champagne?

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The bartender let out a little laugh of surprise, and said they might have some somewhere. I smiled at her and shook my headwho orders champagne at a dive bar? It felt so perfectly herundeniably and unapologetically sparklier than everyone else. Making a special occasion out of a regular afternoon.

She gave me a shy smile, explaining, Its the only thing I really like to drink.

Of course it is! I responded, laughing and throwing my arm around her. Only the best for Bina.

By then the bartender had fished an unopened, frosty bottle from way in the back of the fridge, laughing, I think this is from New Years.

Fuck it, I said, Ill take one too.

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He poured us two wineglasses of champagne, setting mine next to my whiskey soda, and we clinked our glasses and said a cheers to each other and to the day.

Could I make moments like that as vivid in a story about her as the violence they all lead back to?

When Truman Capote first pitched a story about the 1959 murders of four members of the Clutter familyHerb and Bonnie, and their teenage children Nancy and Kenyonto his editor at the New Yorker, he described a story about the impact the crime had on the small town of Holcomb, Kansas. It was going to be about the victims, he said. Despite this stated aim, the resulting book, In Cold Blood, devotes more than twice as many pages to the depiction of the murderer, Perry Smith (and, to a lesser extent, his partner, Dick Hickock), as it does to anyone else. The Clutters are relatively thin characters, each reduced to an archetype: the hardworking father, the nervous mother, the popular daughter, the rambunctious son. The all-American family, a stock cast that could easily be swapped out for another. Meanwhile, Perry is given emotional depth, complexity, development.

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Capote was not the first person to write about crimenot even the first person to write about it in an immersive, narrative style. But, as true-crime expert Justin St. Germain puts it in his book Truman Capotes In Cold Blood, Capote spiked a vein, and out came a stream of imitators, a whole bloody genre, one of the most popular forms of American nonfiction: true crime. And the genre he spawned has replicated his projects central contradiction over and over again: No matter how sincere the intention to center the victim, the killer is a black hole, pulling focus to himself. Murderers are enthralling in their aberration, and made even more alluring and terrifying by the glimpses of recognizable humanity that confirm they could be almost anyone. If we as a society are captivated by murder stories (which we undeniably are), its no surprise that our fascination tends to focus on the most active and defining participantthe one who actually does the deed.

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Many true-crime books (and shows, and podcasts) are also devoted to the second most active character in a story of murder: the investigator. True crime as we know it today is the land of sleuths, both professional and amateurfrom the older shows my mom used to watch on A&E to their modern heirs like Making a Murder and The Jinx, from books like Ill Be Gone in the Dark and We Keep the Dead Close to podcasts like Serial and In the Dark. Fans of the genre, having internalized the methods and perspectives of professional investigators, have begun taking on the role themselves, sometimes solving crimes that have stumped law enforcement (or that law enforcement couldnt be bothered to investigate with the vigor that police-valorizing true crime has advertised).

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Related From Slate The 25 Best True-Crime Stories of All Time Read More

In sleuth-focused true crime, the detective or prosecutor becomes a stand-in for the reader or viewer as we try to understand how such a thing could have happened. They, more than the murderer, are our best chance at ever getting an answer to the maddening question of why, because theyre asking it, too. Their doggedness and cleverness and ultimate defeat of the killer are also the security blanket of true crimeassuring us that we are safe, that the monster will always meet his match in the end.

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If In Cold Blood spawned the true-crime genre as a whole, then Helter Skelter, the 1974 account of the Manson murders written by the prosecutor who handled the case, Vincent Bugliosi (with Curt Gentry), set it on the investigation-focused path its largely stayed on since. Helter Skelter opens on the morning of Aug. 9, 1969, when the bodies of Sharon Tate, Abigail Folger, Voytek Frykowski, Jay Sebring, and Steven Parent are discovered in the house on Cielo Drive that Tate shared with her husband, Roman Polanskithe audience enters the story at the moment it becomes an investigation. From there, the book follows a detailed timeline of police arriving at the scene; when each new clue was discovered, missed, misinterpreted, and finally put into context; and how the mystery was eventually solved and the killers brought to justice. Even the brief attempts to humanize the victims early in the narrative are couched in the perspective of the investigation, overshadowed by the crime. Brief passages about Tate, Folger, Frykowski, Sebring, and Parentabout them as living people with families and interests and plans for the futureare folded into the details of their autopsy reports, each one ending with the manner of death, presented in clinical terms. Theres a self-awareness to this technique, an acknowledgment that once weve encountered them first as bloody corpses, its impossible ever to see these people as fully alive; as anything other than murder victims.

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The victim, by comparison to the fascinating murderer and dynamic investigator, tends to be the least interesting character in a murder story. She is passive; the main action of the story is something done to her, not something she does. And after her death, which is when the majority of the action in true-crime stories takes place, she is offstageonly the looming specter of a snuffed-out smilewhile the active characters play out the rest of the story. She is less a character, more an implicit threat: She could be you, or your daughter, or your cousin.

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It is important to note, too, that the victim is representative not of just any woman, but almost always specifically a pretty young white woman. A Nancy Clutter or a Sharon Tate. The idea of the young white woman as a symbol of innocence and goodness under constant threat from vague and ever-present danger has been part of Americas social fabric since frontier times and warnings of Indian scalpers. White womens innocence has been an excuse for boundless brutality against Black men since slavery. It remains the easiest commodity to whip white audiences into a protective frenzy over. It is the bread and butter of true crime.

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Sabina was mixed-race (white and Filipino), with brown skin, but she still got the Dead White Girl treatment from the Philadelphia media. Cynically, or realistically, I assume the public was so interested in her story at least in part because she had her white Irish American mothers last name; because it was her mother (my aunt) shown crying on the evening news. But also because the specific circumstance of her murdera random attack by a stranger on a city street after darkis one of Americas favorite fears. Most female murder victims are killed by men they know. But a stranger killing is easier to imagine as imminentlends itself better to dramatic music and goosebumps that might be the chill of the evening air or might be danger itself. In short: Its more titillating.

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St. Germain posits that the shift in In Cold Bloods focus happened because while Capote never met the Clutters, having arrived in Holcomb after their deaths, he interviewed Smith at length over the course of several years. And over the course of those interviews, Capote became fascinated with Smith, came to identify with him, maybe even fell in love with him. In one form or another, I think, the same thing happens to almost everyone who sets out to write true crime. These stories are always written after the fact, when the victim is already gone, making it impossible for a writer to portray her as anything other than a memory, a stand-in for the reader or the readers daughter, a symbol of goodness. The killer or the investigator, however, is still therestill active in the story. Still a mystery to unravel, a source to interview. Its no wonder then that the murder victim is rarely successfully centered in true-crime stories: Ultimately, no matter how fervently authors or producers proclaim otherwise, the story isnt really about her at all. Not, at least, when told from the perspective of someone who never knew her as anything other than a murder victim.

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As I considered the inevitability of this trap, I became convinced that the murder memoirs on my shelves held the promise of the only exceptionthese were murder stories told by people who knew the victims as people first. Maybe, I thought, only someone who knew the victim could ever write a true-crime story that didnt get sucked into the black hole of the killer, or fall back on the easy framework of the investigation. Maybe, when I was ready, these books would show me how to pull off the impossible: a murder story that doesnt further abuse the victim by reducing them to the violence of their death.

In a 2017 essay in Slate, culture columnist Laura Miller identified true-crime memoir as a trend and highlighted a pitfall thats adjacent to, but slightly different from, the old problem with true crime in general: Rather than sidelining the murder victim in favor of a murderer or an investigator, Miller argues that true-crime memoirists center themselves too much. I bristled when I first read this accusation four years after it was publishedstill doing cautious background research for a story I wasnt quite ready to write. It sounded to me like another version of the tired complaint that memoirists are self-absorbed navel gazers. At the same time, though, I felt a flash of a new apprehension: Would writing about my grief over her death make Sabinas murder all about me?

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Related From Slate How Did Seedy, Trashy True Crime Get So Literary? Read More

I have seen the way people cling to tragedies that are not really theirs: remembering a friendship as much closer than it was with a person who has died, soaking up sympathy like a thirsty houseplant. The cousin relationship is not as clear-cut as sisters or even best friends, and ever since Sabinas death Ive struggled to articulate that we werent the kind of cousins who barely knew each other and happened to end up in the same place during holidays; that I loved her deep in the pit of my being, and so her death cut that deep too. That I felt as strongly for her when she was alive as I do now that shes gone. So how to write about her death without the appearance of tragedy-seeking? How to write about my grief for her without claiming it as primary, without overshadowing the grief of her mother, my aunt? I talked to my Aunt Rachel about this concern and she waved it off, assuring me that my own grief is mine to express. But still.

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Millers essay complicated the ethical hierarchy Id created in my mindnow I was confronted with the possibility that a memoir about murder could be just as exploitative as any other true-crime story. And I realized that my hierarchies and suspicions and all of the plans and fears about what kind of story I might or might not write would remain theoretical as long as the murder memoirs Id been collecting for years sat unread on my shelf. That I could ask these questions in the hypothetical forever, but would never figure out whether it was possible to tell a non-exploitative murder story until I took the leap and started reading and writing.

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Eleven years after Sabina was killed, five years after my first attempt to read a murder memoir, I read Rose Andersens The Heart and Other Monsters, about the death of her younger sister Sarah, which appears at first to be an accidental overdose but turns out to bemaybemurder. Millers qualms about true-crime memoir struck a nerve for me, undeniably. But I swung back toward defiance while reading The Heart and Other Monsters. Yes, Andersen centers herself in the story, I thought; and why shouldnt she? The book is about what it was like to live with, and lose, her vibrant, troubled baby sister. It feels right that she be the one to write a record of her sisterher life and her death. And Sarah Andersen is so much more multidimensional on the page than any murder victim in a traditional true-crime story. It is a story about her, not the man Rose suspects of killing her, not the cops that caught her case.

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The book was hard to read. There were moments that called up unwanted mental images of Sabinas bruised body, and of her smiling face; poignant and painful articulations of the way that every happy memory of a person who was murdered becomes tainted, the shadow of the way they died at the edge of every image. I cried a few times, but I didnt get that seasick feeling and have to stop this time. So I picked up the next murder memoir on my shelf, and then the next, and then the next.

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In Memorial Drive, Natasha Tretheweys memoir about her mother, who was shot by her abusive ex-husband, Trethewey tells the reader right at the start that it took her almost 30 years to return to the house where her mother was killed. It took her that long to be able to face what happened. I felt a little bit of relief, then. Eleven years had felt like a long time to still barely be able to read stories about murder, let alone try to write the story of Sabinas. It was 10 years after my fathers death that I started writing about him; that felt like the inevitable amount of time. Like a deadline. But maybe it would take longer this time, and maybe that was okay.

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The question of who killed Sarah Perrys mother looms large in her memoir, After the Eclipse, and isnt answered until nearly 250 pages in. As I read, identifying with Perry as she tried to make sense of this unfathomable and traumatic loss, Im a little ashamed to admit, I also became invested in the mystery. I didnt want to be a voyeur, to be like everyone else, collecting clues and making my own guesses as to who mightve done it. But also, Sarah Perry is a skilled writer who wove a compelling narrative. I understood, logically, that she knew what she was doing by not revealing the killers identity until the point in the story when she learned it herself, 12 years after her mothers death. She wanted the reader to feel the infuriating empty space, the endless possibilities of danger. She wanted the reader to want to know. But even as I moved through the story in exactly the way I believe the author wanted me to, I also felt complicit. Maybe she wanted that, too.

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While reading Maggie Nelsons The Red Parts, about her aunts murder and the trial, 36 years later, of the killer, I recognized glimmers of the type of scenes I might have written if I had forced myself to sit through the trial of Sabinas killer. Nelson describes the little methods she develops to be able to look at the autopsy photos: Each time an image appears I look at it quickly, opening and closing my eyes like a shutter. Then I look a little longer, in increments, until my eyes can stay open. And the way her mother hunches over in her seat, her chest hollowed out, her whole body becoming more and more of a husk.

As I read these memoirs and half a dozen more, I was awed by the authors ability to charge ahead into such dark and terrible woods. As I suspected they would be, they were able to avoid the classic true-crime trap of sidelining the victims in favor of the more active characters because, unlike Capote and Bugliosi and every other writer or producer who has told a crime story centered on either the killer or the cops, they didnt enter the story after the victim was offstage. They were able to bring their loved ones to life on the page through their own memories, and to keep the focus on them, because their investment in the story was genuinely tied to the person theyd lost, not the intrigue or shock value of the crime.

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But they also included the details that audiences have come to expect from crime stories. They read police and autopsy reports, painstakingly recreating and describing their loved ones terrified last moments; putting into words all of the unspeakable imaginings anyone close to a murder victim lives with, about what they must have thought, and felt, at the end. They walked into police stations and held in their hands articles of clothing stained with the blood of people they loved. They transformed the killers who had marred their lives forever into characters, with backstories and traumas of their own. In my awe, it was very clear to me that I was still not ready to do any of these things.

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I still didnt feel physically capable of looking closely enough at the details of Sabinas murder to tell this kind of story about itat least to tell it effectively, with the kind of brazenness of these writers, who dont let their readers slip into the comforting lull of the traditional true-crime sleuth story. They prevent their loved ones from becoming passive dead girls in entertaining stories about killers and cops by keeping the horror, the too-real reality, brimming on the surface. They force themselves to look, and in turn they dont let their readers look away. I didnt have the fortitude to tell a story like that. And, I finally realized, I didnt want to.

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I started to wonder whether there was a different kind of story I could tell instead.

If Id written the kind of book I initially thought I would write someday, I would have set out at some point to learn about Sabinas killer. I would go digging into his childhood, looking for what put such violence into him. I would wonder if a grain of hurt had settled deep in his heart, collecting layer upon layer of anger like a hideous pearl until it became too big to contain. I would pose the question of whether he hated women specifically, or was just a coward who liked his odds against a 20-year-old girl better than against another man when the rage in him demanded a target.

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But I dont want to know these things. I dont care about his childhood or what was going through his mind that June night when he first spotted Sabina and started following her, or during what came next. I dont ever need to know so much as what his voice sounds like. Dont need to let him become human for me; a character more defined than a fairy-tale wolf, a personification of evil. Nothing that could have happened in his life would make what he did make any sense, and the idea of searching for a reason feels too close to inviting sympathy for himin myself or in a reader.

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It is possible to write a true-crime memoir without offering undue grace to the killer. In fact, most of the ones I read stand firm in their refusal to do so. The Heart and Other Monsters is divided into five parts, and the man who may have killed Andersens sister is not given a name until part IV, referred to until then only as the Man. He is part of Sarah Andersens story, not the other way around. And Perry writes about her decision not to interview her mothers killer for After the Eclipse: To be in conversation with someone, you must cooperate with them, however briefly, and I have no wish to cooperate with him. (I felt such immense relief reading that lineI had been bracing for such an interview since she brought up the possibility earlier in the story, and wanting desperately for her to spare herself.) But even these authors demonstrations of how to keep the murderer out of the center of a murder story felt like more attention than I was willing to give. I dont even want to know enough about Sabinas killer to hate him with more precision than I already do. All I need to know about him is that he will be in prison until he dies.

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Its been 13 years now since Sabinas death, and I still cant bring myself to wade all the way into the horror of what happened to her. Whats changed, though, is that Ive stopped waiting to be able to, stopped anticipating that someday I will have to. I feel instead a self-protective impulse, a stubborn unwillingness to shine a bright light on the most horrible parts of this story.

In all of these murder memoirs I read, there was a sense that the writer felt it was their duty to look directly at the ugly truth. Several state this outright; in others its present as an undercurrent, in the way the writers keep pushing forward despite nightmares, nausea, and visceral urges to flee. I felt this sense of duty when I was investigating my fathers life, reading his journals and letters, sitting through tearful conversations with my mother and stilted ones with people who had betrayed and been betrayed by my father during the course of his heroin addiction. I had to keep going because I had convinced myself that if I looked at every detail, including the most painful ones, they would arrange themselves into a constellation of him. Maybe thats part of why Im not driven to handle this story in the same wayIve already written an investigative memoir, wringing every detail I could out of letters, journals, and interviews, trying to conjure my father back to life. Ive already reached the end of that road and found myself still alone, my father still dead. So I cant convince myself it would work if I tried again.

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I have spent years conjuring her body, Andersen writes of her sister, have envisioned myself next to her as she died again and again. I understand this impulse. I have three dried seedpods from a tree in the lot where Sabina died, and sometimes I look at them and hope that in the last moments of her life, she was looking up at this tree, not at the face of a monster. That as she was fading into unconsciousness, she could no longer feel the pain in her body, or the fearthat maybe she felt even just a second of peace. I have looked at these seedpods and tried to transport myself into this final moment through them, to crouch in the dirt beside her and smooth her hair out of her face, wipe the tears from her cheeks, and whisper in her ear, Its OK, youre OK, Im so sorry. I love you. But for whatever reason, the seedpods are enough for me to do this. I dont need the autopsy report, the trial transcripts, the sound of a killers voice.

I spent years preparing myself to write a crime story, waiting for the desire to know more about Sabinas murder to bubble up in me. I expected it, but it hasnt arrived. When I finally sat down to write about Sabina, the story that came out was not about murder at all. It was a love story.
Joe Howley is a professor at Columbia University. He teaches classics. And when the NYPD stomped onto campus earlier this week, to kick protesters out of a building theyd occupied, they stomped right in to his office. Howley has always known that this place he worksHamilton Hallhas a history. Students occupied it in 1968 to protest the Vietnam War and then again in 1985, to protest apartheid in South Africa.

Howley says he did not know this years occupation of Hamilton Hall was coming. But he and a few other faculty members who were advising the students, they knew how heated things were getting. On Monday, the university escalated with the students. They issued really punitive disciplinary threats to try to get them off the lawn. They were really aggressive about it, he said. Then we started seeing students, including students who were nowhere near the campbut have Palestinian last namesget suspension notices. So, clearly the university is just going cowboy with the discipline here.

He said it was amazing to him that the university left Hamilton Hall unsecured overnight. Its like no one running the university has read a book about the history of protest movements on campuses or this campus in particular, which is really wild because its very obvious that our students have, he said.

Howley says he actually tried to prevent the police from having to go in at all. I spent most of the day working with a group of faculty members, who we thought could have the trust of the students, faculty members who were former protesters in the 80s and 90s here themselves, and offering to the university leadership to say, Look, if you can let us back onto campus, we can reach out to these students and try to build a bridge and open a dialogue. And we were just rebuffed and ignored by university leadership.

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Thats when everything went down. First, tons of cops showed up. Then they backed a little ramp up to Howleys office buildingand started hauling folks out.

Every single thing about this is completely maddening, and none of it had to happen, he said.

On Thursdays episode of What Next, we got a look inside a professors year alongside the protestersand how its changed him. A portion of our conversation, which has been edited and condensed for clarity, has been transcribed below.

Mary Harris: How did you hear the students were going to be setting up an encampment?

Joe Howley: I didnt! I woke up and my phone was full of pictures of this encampment. And that was the day that university leadership was in front of Congress.

What did you think?

I thought I probably could have seen this coming.

Did it feel necessary at that point?

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Theres a real way in which I dont trust my instincts about what is necessary for student activists to do, because I am overly protective of them. Kind of like with kids, right? And I, as a faculty member, am an institutionalist, inevitably, to some degree. So, stuff that interferes with the operation of the institution Im inevitably going to have reservations about. And I really do believe that the students have different instincts about things like political and moral urgency. And as a professor, I have a responsibility to respect the difference in those instincts.

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How did things inside the encampment change as the protests at Columbia got more media and political attention? Initially, the encampment was there for a couple of days. The cops came. They broke it down. It sprung up almost immediately again.

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Yeah. The first encampment, which went up while our university leadership was in D.C., was up for about 36 hours. University leaders called in the cops before theyd even gotten back from D.C. And that was a small, very organized, very focused encampment. While the cops were still pouring out their coffee on the one lawn, another group of students set up a second encampment, and it was immediately clear that it was much bigger. It was more diverse. Students had really been energized by the first one and by the police repression. That police repression turned up the temperature in all sorts of really unhelpful ways. We had all these solidarity protests outside the gates. They became a media spectacle. And I could see the encampment get more organized, more disciplined.

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Related From Slate Why So Many Universities Are Calling the Police on Student Protesters Now Read More

At the same time as this is happening, there are negotiations between the protesters and university, right?

Im going to choose my words carefully here. It has not been my experience that when the university negotiates with student activists that they do so with excessive good faith. They by and large treat the students with contempt and only take them seriously when theyre forced to. What happened in recent days is that the university made a so-called final offer. The students balked at it because it was not a great offer. The university then made a real final offer that was worse, somehow expecting the students to take that. And then the university pulled the plug on negotiations.

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Its never been clear to me how genuinely interested the university was in negotiation. When the university says, either in private or in public, that certain things are not possible, are they talking about not possible according to the laws of physics, or are they talking about not possible according to the political will of the trustees? Because those are two very different things.

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Can we talk about the occupation of Hamilton Hall? Earlier this week, overnight, students barricaded themselves inside. It was definitely an escalation. Did you think about it as an appropriate form of protest?

I have been very clear all through this that I dont think its very useful for me to pass judgment on student protesters tactics. When the students say and do things that I dont like personally, or that I feel uncomfortable with, or that I think are counterproductive, I will reach out to students I have good relationships with and say, I wish you wouldnt do this chant or whatever, but I really value my ability to maintain relationships of trust with both university leaders and with the students. And one way I maintain those relationships is by not trying to make anyone do anything. I share my opinion as a peer, and I listen.

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I thought that the occupation was incredibly dangerous. I thought it endangered all the students there, endangered everyone on campus because police action was the obvious response, and then endangered the faculty observers who had no idea what was about to happen and were stuck on campus, essentially. And also, I thought, Gosh, I shouldnt have left those french fries in my office trash can because I dont know when Ill get back in there to clear it out.

The university said it had no choice but to call the police once the students took over a building. It sounds like you think it was an inevitable choice, but do you think they had no choice? Like, what if the president of Columbia came to the encampment and said, All right, lets talk. Would that work?

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We had members of Congress come to the encampment and talk to students, but we never saw the president of the university come down there and talk to them in the weeks before the building occupation. I can only dream of what would have happened if anyone from the university side had really engaged in good faith. The university said they had no choice. Look, I understand the institutional logic there. I understand its a fire hazard. I understand that they had a reasonably credible fear that there were off-campus folks maybe involved. I also think that people with a lot of power love to say they dont have any choice right before they do something really harmful. And I thank God every day Im not running the university, but I would have liked to think that what we saw Tuesday night was not an option. I would have liked to think that every possible option would be exhausted before we would resort to something like that.
With attention zeroed in on turmoil at college campuses across the United States, its been easy to miss the unfolding crisis on campuses in Israel, where the stakes have often been grave.

At these schools, some students have already found themselves in jeopardy, with proceedings that allege they support terrorism for posting protest messages to their social media accounts. So far, some 160 students, almost exclusively Palestinian, have been targeted for social media posts, while violent rhetoric toward Palestinians has been largely ignored. More recently, Palestinian legal scholar Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian was detained by Israeli police, apparently because of comments made on a podcast. She was quickly released, and more than 100 faculty members from Hebrew University, where she teaches, published an open letter backing her. Hebrew University had initially suspended her in March before reinstating her, and said in response to the arrest, We strongly object to many of the things that Prof. Shalhoub-Kevorkian said. Nonetheless, as a democratic country, there is no place to arrest a person for such remarks, however infuriating they may be.

Most of these cases, including Prof. Shalhoub-Kevorkians, have been taken up by Adalah, a Palestinian civil rights organization based in Israel. Hassan Jabareen, the founder and general director of Adalah, likened it to an NAACP for Palestinian citizens of Israel, providing legal representation and support in the face of the unusually high conviction rates for Palestinians in Israeli courts. Now, after the Oct. 7 attack on Israel and subsequent Israeli assault on Gaza, the organization is facing an unprecedented wave of legal fights. I met Jabareen while he was on a recent visit to New York, where he had traveled to highlight these new and complicated challenges in the wake of the war. We talked about his work on the emerging case against Shalhoub-Kevorkian, Israels campus tribunals, and the new normal in wartime Israel. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

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Aymann Ismail: Whats happening with Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian? What is the case against her, and why have so many people reacted so strongly to it?

Hassan Jabareen: This is the first time that the police arrested an academic or a professor and investigated them for their academic writing. The police spent most of her interrogation asking about her previously published academic articles. I am sure the police didnt even fully understand her answers, because her work is intended for high-level academics. The police arent prepared for that.

This happened because she criticized Israel. She signed a petition that was signed by hundreds of other academics that warned that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Because she criticized the Israeli army, her employer, Hebrew University, asked her to resign. And then the police came to arrest her and brought her to the police station. The implication here is that every academic can find themselves in the same situation if they are critical, even if theyve written academic work thats published in prestigious journals. By doing this, they are not only sending a message to Palestinian academics, but any critical academic in Israel, whether you are Israeli Jewish or Israeli Palestinian. Both of them can find themselves in police custody if their speech deeply criticizes Israeli conscience.

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How have things changed for Palestinian citizens of Israel since the beginning of this war?

The situation went from bad to worse, as evidenced by our rate of criminal cases going higher and higher. Before Oct. 7, Israeli universities never investigated students for something that had nothing to do with their campus or staff. Now, for the first time, Israeli universities are extending beyond the jurisdiction of the university to punish students for posting on their social media. There are even cases in which the students posted about Gaza during their vacation, when they werent attending classes. The universities argue that those students support terrorism.

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The universities punished 160 students. Most of the cases are of students expressing solidarity with their people, the Palestinians of Gaza. Many of them criticize Israel for war crimes and genocide. The interpretation put forth by the universities is that those students are supporting the enemy at a time of war. And since the war is against terror, they are standing with the enemy and against Israel, and therefore what they posted falls under the framework of supporting terrorism, which damages the reputation of the university and insults Jewish students who are fighting Hamas on the front lines. Among the 160 cases, Adalah represents 100 students. Since our establishment in 1996, there have been about seven wars. Weve never had higher numbers of students in cases than this.

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We also have about 250 cases of Palestinian citizens, including Palestinians of East Jerusalem, who were indicted for supporting terror after Oct. 7 only for what they posted on social media. And some of them were indicted only because they posted a verse from the Quran to their Facebook or Instagram. And that was interpreted as supporting terror.

What kinds of charges are they facing? What penalties could they be facing for these social media posts?

We have cases of people who were investigated by the universities, and people who were indicted by the police as criminals. The punishment for university students varies from suspending the students to expelling them, or to sentence them to community service. And for police criminal indictments, the punishment can be between three and five years in prison.

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Has there been a chilling effect? Can Palestinian citizens of Israel express their discontent in other ways?

This war also marks the first time Israeli police have put a total ban on the right of Palestinians to organize protests. Just on Palestinian citizens. We are the only group in the world that is not allowed to protest against the war. You need a license if protesters number more than 50 and wont stand in one place. If there are 49 protesters who want to stand against a wall, for the first time, that is prohibited for Palestinians. Before the war, there were limitations on the Palestinians right to protest, but it wasnt totally banned. Now, the Israeli police are legally prohibiting the legal thing.

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There is a deep chilling effect. People have all but stopped posting to their social media entirely. Even Palestinian professors, who teach history or politics in Israeli universities, call me to ask whether their syllabus is going to be criminalized or not. This is why I say people feel they live under armed occupation inside of Israel. The civilians are armed. And everyone is afraid.

What role do you see Adalah playing in all of this?

We went to the court to dispute this. For the first time in 25 years, the Israeli Supreme Court dismissed petitions for the right of protest. Usually, the court will confirm the right to protest but add conditions as a way of reaching a compromise. This time, the court took the side of the police and ruled against any protesting for Palestinians. The court reasoned that the police do not have enough manpower to deal with demonstrations, and thus prohibited it only for the Palestinians.

What about before the war? Were things this bad?

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Before the war, there were severe limitations on freedom of speech, but there wasnt a total ban. The situation has become much more difficult since the start of the war. Many of the judges, when I argue, they themselves say that I should know that the law after Oct. 7 is not the same law as it was before, even though the law itself hasnt changed. The implementation of the law is what changed. The interpretation has changed.

What impact has Adalah had so far?

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We have a major impact in the student cases. Weve succeeded in 40 percent of the cases, which is a high level of success. I can say its due to many different factors. One is the lawyers took it seriously and brought expert opinions to offer various interpretations for the text in Arabic that was shared online. Second, we recruited many professors and administrators at universities abroad to send letters to Israeli universities to say their policy is a racist policy against the Palestinians. And third, we even addressed some of the donors of the universities. We told them they support a university that oppresses the rights of minorities, and oppress freedom of expression. And the power of the donors has a strong effect. And all of those factors helped us to succeed. And still, 60 percent of the cases failed. And 95 percent of those cases were not justified. I can admit maybe 5 percent were different. But the 95 percent had no basis. It is not right to indict someone just for posting a verse of the Quran.

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Israels Palestinian citizen minority is often invoked in America as a counterargument against international allegations of apartheid from organizations like Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch. What do you make of those arguments?

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Immediately after Oct. 7, the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, made a speech in which he said Israel is facing four fronts with the enemy: the Gaza front, the West Bank front, the north with Hezbollah and Iran, and the internals, which are Palestinian citizens. So, he puts us within the framework of the enemy. And when you are lumped in with the enemy, indeed, it is a strong incitement. Many people were fired from their workplaces, including doctors. If you express any sympathy with the poverty of the people of Gaza during the war, if you express sympathy with the suffering of the people of Gaza during the war, you might find yourself out of work.

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This war has put fear into the lives of Palestinian citizens. For the first time, Israeli police are encouraging the Jewish community to be armed. Not soldiers, but civilians, to defend themselves from Palestinian citizens. The government is creating potential for a civil war. This is why living under the Israeli regime during a war, a time when its easy to incite, Palestinian citizens live in fear of racism and incitement. This is the situation. An official survey of Palestinian students in Israel found more than 50 percent of them say they dont feel safe to study in Israeli universities. Those universities have started to allow students to come with guns on campus. With arms to class. Palestinian students in this environment are being indicted for freedom of expression. And with the arming of Israeli society, they feel that their university is inciting against them.

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Do you see things ever going back to the way things were before the war? Or is this the new normal for Israel?

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It is very difficult to predict. All we know now is that the interpretation of the law and the flexibility is so high to the degree that it is now easy to frame any political text that is sympathetic to Palestinian suffering as supporting terror. This flexibility is the problem. In the past, you cannot charge someone of supporting terror unless they mentioned directly the name of the organization. For example, Hamas under Israeli law is defined as a terrorist organization. You cannot charge me with supporting Hamas unless you show that I expressed directly and clearly my support for Hamas as an organization. Now, the prosecutor doesnt need to show that. Its enough that I support the people of Gaza, my people, or express sympathy with their suffering. During the war itself, theyve brought new interpretation that this support is akin to support of terror against Israel, because you are supporting the enemy during wartime. And our war is with Hamas. And thus, if you support the people of Gaza, you support Hamas, and therefore you support a terror organization.
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.

This one says: Oh, Von ShitzInPantz. Keep whining, crying and violating the gag order you petulant defendant!  Donald Trump defense attorney Todd Blanche, referring to a social media post by former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, a witness in the ongoing hush money trial

The former president is almost three weeks deep into his first criminal trial and, as ever, hes staying true to his brand. He has been publicly posting about witnesses, violating a gag order that led to a $9,000 fine. And Thursday, a judge considered even more potential violations, revealing that Trumps legal team is fighting an uphill battle here.

New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, overseeing the ongoing hush money trial brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, gagged Trump back in March, prohibiting him from publicly commenting on witnesses, jurors, court staff, or families of prosecutors and the judge himself in a way that could reasonably lead to threats. However, Trump seems to have a penchant for violating gag ordersduring his civil fraud trial, he earned $15,000 in fines. In the hush money case, hes still been openly posting about Michael Cohen, an ex-attorney of his and a crucial witness for the prosecution.

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In fact, Trumps penchant for bashing anyone who turns against him is so strong that last week, right before entering court for a separate hearing that also investigated a set of gag-order violations, he gave an interview to a local news station in which he went off on Cohen.

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Michael Cohen is a convicted liar, and hes got no credibility whatsoever, Trump ranted.

Cohen watched the interview and took to X to offer his reaction. Oh  Von ShitzInPantz. Keep whining, crying and violating the gag order you petulant defendant!

Now Todd Blanche, Trumps lead attorney, is tasked with defending Trumps impulsive behavior. He has tried arguing to Merchan that his clients comments fall under First Amendment free speech and also that he must say something! He must defend himself against Von ShitzInPantz! And, yes, Blanche did directly quote Cohens colorful vocabulary in court.

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Blanche added that Cohen has consistently been provoking Trump online, taking to TikTok to trash-talk the former president, giving interviews to the media, and posting on X. Its all been too much for Trump to handle, and comments Trump has made about Cohen since the gag order was issued have merely been responses to repeated and persisted attacks on him, said Blanche.

Merchan did appear to credit Blanches defense as it comes to Cohens provoking Trump and not needing protection under the gag order, but its unclear how the judge will rule. After returning from lunch Thursday afternoon, Trump attorney Susan Necheles asked the court for clarification and preclearance for Trump to repost media pundits criticizing specific witnesses. Im not going to argue this with you, Ms. Necheles, the judge told the attorney, saying there was no ambiguity in his gag order. The best advice you can give your client is When in doubt, steer clear.  Well see if he follows it.
About 20 years ago, at the beginning of my prison stint, I was double-bunked with a fella who was in for shaking a baby to death. When youre locked in a cell with a guy, theres an initial bonding phase. You do pushups together. You talk about your past lives. My story ended with what led me to prison. I was a drug dealer. Shot and killed a man in Brooklyn. My bunkie wasnt criminalhe was a square. He never mentioned his crime. So, I asked. He hadnt shaken his girlfriends baby to death, he told me, and the science behind shaken baby syndrome, the theory that violent shaking causes fatal brain injuries, was unreliable.

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I didnt believe him. I just figured he couldnt admit to killing a kid. As you can imagine, baby killers dont do well in prison. I figured experts wouldnt testify to things they were uncertain about. I think most people, including jurors, figure that. I began to question this in 2022, when I started working with Yale Law Schools Prison Letters Project, an initiative that responds to letters we receive from prisoners telling us about injustices. I noticed that many of these letter writers claimed that they had been wrongfully convicted under the SBS theory.

I was facing allegations of child abuse and first-degree murder of my 5-month-old son, Tom Imschweiler wrote to PLP from a North Carolina prison. He explained that his case was like others sent to prison based on the hypothesis of shaken baby syndrome. What sets me apart is the support of professionals in the field and the unwavering dedication my family and friends have for me.

In July 2018, Tom, a 31-year-old landscaper, and his 29-year-old girlfriend, Laura Michael, who worked in finance, took their 5-month-old son Franklin on a trip from their home in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. A week earlier, Franklin had been sick, running a 104-degree fever, but his doctor signed off on the trip. Lauras mother, sister, and brother-in law drove down too. They all rented a beach house.

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In the middle of the night, Franklin started whimpering. Tom woke up and carried his son to the living room. He propped Franklin between two pillows on the couch, he says, while he went to the kitchen to warm a bottle of formula. Minutes later, I returned and found him facedown in the pillow, Tom later wrote.

Tom yelled for help, and the whole family woke up, frantic. Tom and his brother-in-law, a medic, did CPR. Laura called for an ambulance. Franklin was rushed to the hospital, where he died days later. Doctors discovered a triad of internal symptomssubdural and retinal hemorrhage and brain swellingthat some doctors say can be explained only by shaken baby syndrome, a diagnosis that criminally implicates the childs last caregiver as an abuser. Soon after Franklins death, Tom was arrested and charged with murder for killing his baby. He is now in prison after taking a plea deal that significantly reduced the possible sentence, though he has not admitted guilt and maintains his innocence.

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Toms story is not unusual. For nearly two decades, shaken baby syndrome has divided the medical community. Some doctors believe that the triad of symptoms used for the diagnosis cannot be explained by a fall or an accident. Others say that there can be alternate explanationsincluding accidental suffocation, underlying illnesses, viral infections, or bleeding disorders.

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The result is a split screen of legal rulings in cases like Toms. Back in 2008, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals became the first to overturn an SBS conviction, writing that there was fierce disagreement among doctors and a shift in mainstream medical opinion about the certainty of the diagnosis. Last year, a New Jersey appeals court barred the admission of evidence about shaken baby syndrome, calling it junk science. Yet elsewhere, hundreds of parents and caregivers continue to be prosecuted based on the same medical theory. A review of more than 1,400 appellate rulings between 2008 and 2018 found that only 3 percent of SBS convictions were overturned, a far lower rate than in other types of cases.

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The reality is that in parts of the country, evidence of the telltale triad of symptoms wont warrant an arrestbut in other parts, it can literally amount to a death sentence.

This is the case for 56-year-old Robert Roberson. He is on death row in Texas for an SBS conviction. In 2002 he carried his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, limp and blue, into an East Texas hospital. She died the next day. After doctors diagnosed shaken baby syndrome, Roberson was arrested. The detective who questioned him, Brian Wharton, noted his lack of emotionRoberson didnt seem defensive, angry, or sad. In 2003 a jury convicted Roberson and sentenced him to death.

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The jury didnt know that Roberson would later receive a diagnosis for autism, which could explain his low affect. The jurors also did not learn that Nikki had suffered from chronic illness since birth. Days before she died, she had bouts of breathing apnea from undiagnosed pneumonia. She was also taking an opioid, for an unspecified respiratory illness, a treatment that can cause breathing problems. In 2018, when Robersons attorney, Gretchen Sween, told Wharton about Robersons autism and the other information about Nikkis health, it was clear to her the detective had long been troubled by the case. Wharton agreed to testify about his initial misgivings and about how Robersons autism could have influenced his opinion about Roberson during the investigation.

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But neither the evidence about Nikkis health nor Whartons testimony made a difference. In spite of these developments, the Texas courts have denied Roberson relief, and last year the Supreme Court refused to hear the case. Roberson could receive an execution date any day now.

Doctors who defend the science behind SBS convictions point out that abusive head trauma, a term that includes shaken baby syndrome, is the third leading cause of head injury in children. They say health care providers conduct extensive evaluations before reaching a diagnosis. Robert Sege, a professor at Tufts University School of Medicine who has served on the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect, acknowledges that wrongful convictions occur. But he says hes not sure how that fact has any relevance to the issue of abusive head trauma.

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As a doctor and experienced child abuse pediatrician, I know that abusive head trauma exists, Sege said. I have cared for injured children, some of whom died. I have met with their parents, who were deep in misery as the realization of what they had done seeped in.

In some cases, prosecutors rely in part on medical evidence, separate from the SBS diagnosis, which they say points to a history of child abuse. In Franklins case, there was no known history of abuse, but doctors found that he had fractured ribs and a rectal tear. Tom and Laura had nonviolent explanations for those injuries. Franklin had been in a car accident months before his death, they said, which could have caused the fractures, and his temperature was taken anally while he had the high fever, soon before he died, which could account for the rectal tearing.

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But the district attorney, Andrew Womble, had what he considered to be an admission of guilt. After his arrest in 2018, Tom wrote a letter to Laura from jail, which prosecutors intercepted and read. Maybe the devil took my hand, he wrote. Maybe I did hurt my son.

Tom now says he wrote the letter in a state of absolute despair, believing that I somehow was responsible because that is all I was told from the moment I went into custody. His defense attorney sent Franklins medical file to Mary Gilliland, a forensic pathologist and expert in abusive head trauma who has worked with North Carolina prosecutors for decades. Reviewing the case without payment, Gilliland concluded that Franklins death had been an accidental suffocation. His parents explanations for Franklins other injuries made sense to her too. The age of the broken rib is just right for that time frame, she said in a video presentation of her findings that prosecutors reviewed with the charges against Tom pending. This is an older injury, and its unrelated.

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Womble did not drop the charges against Tom, but he offered an unusual plea deal for the alleged murder of a child: a five-year prison sentence for voluntary manslaughter.

In November 2021, Laura married Tom, who was out on bail, in a Pennsylvania courthouse. She was six months pregnant with their second child. Ten days later, they went to North Carolina, and Tom took whats called an Alford plea, which allowed him to plead guilty to Franklins manslaughter while maintaining his innocence.

Related From Slate One Simple Criminal Justice Reform Could Solve the Prosecutor Shortage Crisis Read More

In a letter from prison, Tom said he took the plea so my daughter will have her daddy before shes old enough to have lifelong memories. In the meantime, Laura is raising their child alone. She has posted an online petition asking North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper to commute Toms sentence.

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Tom lives in a dorm in Sanford Correctional Center, a low-security prison in rural North Carolina. He works off-grounds in a warehouse for $16.84 a week. Laura makes the 10-hour trip from Pennsylvania to North Carolina only a few times a year. She brings their new baby, who, Laura told me, beams when she sees her father in the visiting area. I thought about my old bunkie, the square with the SBS case, and I wondered about the pecking order part of prison, if other prisoners ostracized and judged Tom like I did my bunkie. I wondered if my bunkie really was innocent. I wondered if the knock-around guys who lived in his dorm called him a baby killer behind his back.

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In the beginning, there were some guys who said things, Laura told me, but Tom has found a sense of security with others. They work, lift weights, talk about freedom. But I imagine he hasnt shared everything with Laura. He has internalized plenty. Its all we can do in here. What struck me about Tom and Laura was how the loss of their son, for which they were the most affected, was shadowed by this idea of justice. I asked Laura about that.

I would want justice if my son was abused, Laura told me. Her dog barked; her 2-year-old cried for her attention. But he wasnt. This was an injustice.
A green tiled stove is one of many attractions in the Slavec manor house.

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Slavec, a village in eastern Slovakia, recently won an award in the prestigious Fenix  Cultural Monument of the Year contest thanks to people's votes.

Its rococo mansion, which belonged to the Andrassy family back in the day, was declared a national cultural monument in 1975. The old house, which almost vanished, was saved by the Sine Metu civic association. It owns the repaired house, the Korzar website reports.

In the contest, the mansion narrowly defeated the Komarno fortress in southern Slovakia by 163 votes. Up to 20,422 people voted for the house.

Replica of mediaeval furnace

The manor house was renovated between 2021 and 2023. Gabor Naszaly, a member of Sine Metu, said that the home had been in a destitute state.

"There were bare walls, nothing more. Twenty years ago, the roof of the building was repaired. In the end we had to remove it. The walls had to be fixed up, too."

A green tiled stove can be found in the representative room. Naszaly described that it is a replica of the oven, the remains of which were discovered during excavations in the nearby Pauline monastery.

A helping hand in the heart of Europe offers a travel guide of Slovakia. (Source: Spectacular Slovakia)

"It was a 15th century stove from a Banska Bystrica tile workshop. It collapsed and disintegrated into a thousand pieces. A sculptor managed to create a replica based on these pieces, and the tile craftsmen from Hungary built a functional stove according the replica. It took years, but it worked."

Vault from monastery

Moreover, research uncovered unique findings.

One is the discovery of a Renaissance wall painting from the beginning of the 17th century, a mill and the remains of an old toilet.

At the same time, it was possible to restore the coat of arms and the circular inscription on the ceiling mirror of the salon. In one of the rooms, an older vault from the times of the Pauline monastery with a mirror has also been preserved.

Today, there is a permanent exhibition in the manor house, consisting of findings from the archaeological survey of the monastery ruins. It also hosts a display that presents the history of the local ironworks. Ironworks were built in Slavec in the second half of the 18th century.

The Gemer region, where Slavec is located, is known for metallurgical production.

The Andrassy family bought the manor house in 1869 and used it until 1945.

The monument is part of the educational trail in the Gombasek area, which is part of Slavec. At ten stops, visitors will learn more about local nature, culture, history and traditions in three languages.

Besides the house, there in Slavec visitors can find the ruins of the Pauline monastery, Gombasecka Cave, and an observation tower resembling a bell tower.

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Spectacular Slovakia travel guides
A kids' activity kit being sold by a Chinese e-commerce giant has been found to contain lead about 158 times higher than permitted levels, the Seoul city government said Thursday.

The city announced the findings after conducting safety tests on nine children's products currently available for sale on AliExpress and Temu.

Since last month, the city has been releasing such information on a weekly basis amid growing safety concerns involving products from Chinese online retail giants that have rapidly become main players in South Korea's online shopping market.

Of the products examined, two clay set models from AliExpress were found to contain two potentially toxic substances, chloromethylisothiazolinone and methylisothiazolinone, that are domestically prohibited from use in children's clay.

The substances are biocides used in personal care products and can cause irritation to the skin, respiratory system and eyes if users are exposed to a certain level.

One of the two clay sets, in particular, had boron levels about 39 times the locally permitted degree, the city said.

Among the nine products tested, a children's activity kit was also found to have lead levels 158 times above the permitted levels in Korea.

Additionally, a metal car toy model was determined to be unfit for children's use due to sharp edges, while a popular 12-color pencil set from AliExpress was found to contain barium levels as much as 2.3 times higher than permitted in 10 of the 12 pencils. (Yonhap)
The "Diablo Tour" event was to take place in northern Slovakia.

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Namestovo, a town in northern Slovakia, was to host a techno tour on the last day of April.

Redroom Label, the organiser, had to cancel Tuesdays event scheduled at the local club Imperia-M at the last minute. The club succumbed to the pressure of the local parish and believers, who considered the event to be a public celebration of the devil.

"With our events, we are only trying to bring techno culture to young people. It was never our intention to offend any ethnic, national or religious group," Redroom Label explained on social networks.
The first bus will leave for Pula later this month.

FlixBus will operate bus connections to the Croatian coast during the summer. (Source: FlixBus)

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In mid-May, a first green bus will start its first summer journey and take holidaymakers from Zilina, northern Slovakia, to the Croatian city of Pula.

FlixBus will initially operate this bus service five times a week, from Thursday to Monday. From June 17 to September 8, the connection will be in operation daily.

Other bus stops in Slovakia will include Trencin, Trnava and Bratislava. It will also stop in Vienna, Graz, Maribor, Zagreb, and Rijeka. The bus trip from the north of Slovakia to Croatia's Istrian region will take a whole day.

The price of a Zilina-Pula ticket starts from 24.95, from Bratislava from 22.95.

Night bus to Dubrovnik

The direct connection between Bratislava and Dubrovnik will be in operation four times a week from May 29. Between June 21 and September 8 it will run daily, the company states in a press release. However, this will be a night bus connection.

The bus will also makes stops in the following Croatian cities: Omis, Baska Voda, Makarska, Podgora, Drvenik and Ploce.

The price of a ticket from Bratislava to all Croatian destinations on this line starts from 39.95.

Travelling to Croatia has been simplified after Croatia joined the Schengen Area, a European area with no internal borders, and the eurozone last year.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240502/2014-odessa-massacre-well-orchestrated-cia-likely-involved---us-activist-1118221818.html

2014 Odessa Massacre Well Orchestrated, CIA Likely Involved - US Activist

2014 Odessa Massacre Well Orchestrated, CIA Likely Involved - US Activist

Sputnik International

The 2014 massacre in Odessa conducted by Ukrainian nationalists was well orchestrated and the CIA possibly played a role, US antiwar activist and Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space Coordinator Bruce Gagnon told Sputnik.

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On May 2, 2014, Ukrainian nationalists locked pro-federalism protesters in Odessa's Trade Unions House and set the building on fire. Almost 50 people died and 250 others were injured in the attack by the Ukrainian radicals, according to the United Nations. The CIA as well as other US agencies were likely involved in the planning and execution of the massacre, he said. Gagnon pointed out that the perpetrators were well-equipped to carry out the massacre and Ukrainian law enforcement did practically nothing to prevent it. The police at the scene did nothing while the assault was underway and arrested those who had been inside the building but not those who attacked them, Gagnon said. Fire trucks were blocked from arriving at the scene for quite some time and could not extinguish the fire in the very beginning, Gagnon added. The activist noted that he visited Odessa on May 2, 2016, and saw with his own eyes the neo-Nazi Azov* battalion holding weapons and roping off the Trade Unions House from people who carried flowers to pay tribute to the victims of the attack. The clashes in Odessa became one of the deadliest events during the so-called Maidan and anti-Maidan demonstrations in Ukraine that started in late 2013. Moscow has repeatedly criticized the steps Kiev took to allegedly investigate the massacre and has urged the international community and human rights groups to conduct a probe.*Banned as a terrorist organization in Russia

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240502/2014-odessa-tragedy-photo-evidence-1118227477.html

2014 Odessa Tragedy: Photo Evidence

2014 Odessa Tragedy: Photo Evidence

Sputnik International

May 2 marks a decade since the 2014 massacre that became a shocking pivotal moment in the war the Kiev regime waged against its own citizens.

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Exactly ten years ago, on May 2, 2014, Ukrainian neo-Nazi extremists set fire to the Odessa Trade Unions Building, burning 48 people alive in the locked-down building. The terrible act, which took place on the banks of the Maidan coup d'etat, clearly demonstrated what the new Kiev regime was truly capable of.Anti-Maidan activists opposed the newly adopted radical anti-Russian policies of Ukraine's central government and advocated for closer historical ties with the Russian Federation and legal protection for the widely-spoken Russian language across the region.The wave of unimaginable brutality towards anyone who disagreed with the Kiev antics and policies that followed set the tone for a whole decade of violence that shook the entire country.Take a look at Sputnik's gallery to catch a glimpse of the inconceivable tragedy that shocked the world.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240502/death-toll-in-2014-odessa-massacre-exceeds-reported-numbers---ex-odessa-city-council-member-1118220439.html

Death Toll in 2014 Odessa Massacre Exceeds Reported Numbers - Ex-Odessa City Council Member

Death Toll in 2014 Odessa Massacre Exceeds Reported Numbers - Ex-Odessa City Council Member

Sputnik International

The May 2, 2014 massacre, when hundreds of pro-Russian protesters were trapped inside a burning building, left at least 51 people dead, and not 48 as it has been widely reported, former member of the Odessa City Council Vasily Polishchuk told Sputnik.

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On May 2, 2014, Ukrainian nationalists locked protesters against the February 2014 events in Kiev, referred to as Maidan, in Odessa Trade Unions House after clashes and set the building on fire. Polishchuk witnessed the events and later investigated them. In November 2013, a series of protests, dubbed Euromaidan or simply Maidan, broke out in Ukraine due to the authorities' decision to halt policy aimed at integration with the European Union. The unrest quickly took on a sharply anti-presidential and anti-government character. During clashes between Ukraine's security forces and demonstrators, more than 100 people died. The protests eventually turned into a coup and resulted in the ousting of then-President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014. It also resulted in the estrangement of Ukraine's eastern Donbass region and the subsequent offensive against it by new authorities in Kiev. The clashes in Odessa became one of the deadliest events during the Maidan and anti-Maidan demonstrations in Ukraine. Moscow has on many occasions criticized Kiev's negligence in the investigation of the deadly tragedy and urged the international community and human rights groups to probe the causes of the massacre.Turning Blind Eye on AtrocityThe Ukrainian authorities provided the Odessa police with an alibi ahead of the May 2, 2014 massacre, when hundreds of pro-Russian protesters were trapped inside a burning building, former member of the Odesa City Council Vasily Polishchuk told Sputnik.On May 2, 2014, Ukrainian nationalists locked anti-Maidan protesters, who opposed Euromaidan and Ukraine's rapprochement with the European Union, in the Odessa Trade Unions House and set the building on fire. Almost 50 people died, and many others were injured in clashes with the radicals, the United Nations estimated. Polishchuk witnessed the events and later investigated them.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240429/ukraine-continues-assault-on-human-rights-as-western-media-turns-blind-eye--1118175268.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240502/in-us-media-we-dont-trust-over-80-of-americans-have-lost-faith-in-corporate-press-1118230846.html

In US Media We (Don't) Trust: Over 80% of Americans Have Lost Faith in Corporate Press

In US Media We (Don't) Trust: Over 80% of Americans Have Lost Faith in Corporate Press

Sputnik International

Over four of every five American respondents say they are worried US news outlets will report inaccurate information or disinformation while covering the 2024 presidential election, according to a recent survey.

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US citizens have displayed a decline in trust in their national media outlets, as per a recent poll by the American Press Institute and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.Over half of respondents (53 percent), said they are "very concerned" that the US press will mislead them during the election, while 30 percent admitted they are "somewhat concerned." Only 16 percent noted they are "not very or not at all concerned."Nearly half (47 percent) fear that US media will jump to conclusions and present uncorroborated and unverified information, while 34 percent are somewhat concerned, bringing the total number of those worried to a whopping 81 percent.Even if the US media reports factual information, it could still demonstrate a biased approach, according to 77 percent of American respondents (with 44 percent highly concerned about the prospect and 33 percent somewhat concerned).Similarly, US journalists using artificial intelligence (AI) to create stories makes 72 percent of Americans disquiet.Other numbers show that the majority of US citizens feel worried that US media may focus on divisions and controversies and pay too much attention to the election at the expense of topics and issues that affect common people and their families.According to the Federalist, a US conservative online publication, the study echoes the findings of a Gallup survey published last autumn. The Gallup found that 39 percent of Americans said they have zero confidence in mass media - an all-time high since 1972 when the pollster started surveying the issue  while 29 percent acknowledged they had "not very much trust" in the mainstream press.The conservative news outlet argued that corporate press has been shooting itself in the foot for some time by publishing dishonest stories. The trend significantly intensified during Donald Trump's tenure when the seemingly reputable media outlets circulated the Trump-Russia collusion hoax, peddled the now debunked "dirty dossier" by ex-British intelligence agent Christopher Steele, and completely snubbed Hunter Biden's "laptop from hell" story, to name but a few instances of questionable coverage.The situation has hardly improved since, with the US press misleading the American public about the Ukraine conflict; silencing the fact that the Kiev regime has bombed Donbass civilians for a decade; completely ignoring the death of American journalist Gonzalo Lira while in Ukrainian custody; and most recently reviving the already busted Havana syndrome story. As such, it's hardly surprising that more and more Americans tend to search for information from alternative and independent platforms.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240401/why-is-western-press-trying-to-revive-havana-syndrome-fake-1117686292.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240502/japans-proposed-export-curbs-will-cause-big-impact-undermine-global-supply-chain---official-1118229423.html

Japan's Proposed Export Curbs Will Cause Big Impact, Undermine Global Supply Chain - Official

Japan's Proposed Export Curbs Will Cause Big Impact, Undermine Global Supply Chain - Official

Sputnik International

Japan's proposed export curbs on corresponding technologies and products will significantly affect the normal trade between Chinese and Japanese companies, undermining the stability of the global supply chain, a spokesperson of China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said on Monday.

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The move by the Japanese side will "harm others without benefiting itself," the spokesperson said. The remarks were made in response to the Japanese government's proposed export controls on four technologies related to semiconductors or quantum computing, Reuters reported on Monday.Japan proposed last week to require companies to notify the government before exporting advanced materials and equipment that could be used for military applications, Reuters reported, citing Nikkei. Semiconductors are a highly globalized industry that, after decades of development, has formed an interdependent industrial structure. This structure is the result of market forces and the choices of enterprises, the spokesperson said.Recently, some countries have frequently broadened the concept of national security and abused export control measures, artificially dividing the global semiconductor market - this seriously deviates from the principles of free trade and multilateral trade rules, severely impacting the stability of global industrial and supply chains, the spokesperson noted.For some time now, certain countries have frequently sought to broaden the concept of national security, abusing export control measures to artificially divide the global semiconductor market. Such moves seriously deviated from the principles of free trade and multilateral trade rules, and severely affected the stability of global industrial and supply chains, the MOFCOM spokesperson said.There are intensified attempts by the Japanese government seeking "decoupling" or "de-risking" from China, citing so-called supply chains risks. Semiconductor sector has been a focus of such politically driven attempts.The moves by the Japanese government on export controls is clearly a case of mutual coordination with the US in the semiconductor chip field, aimed at implementing Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's Economic Security Promotion Act, Xiang Haoyu, a research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times on Monday.The main purpose of such moves is to maintain their competitive advantage in cutting-edge technology and strategic industries and to cooperate with the US to curb China's industrial rise and technological progress, the expert said.Japan's moves on tightening export controls in semiconductor-related sector has been evident. On May 23, 2023, the Japanese government announced the inclusion of 23 items in the export control list. China's MOFCOM said at that time that the move was an abuse of export control measures and a serious departure from free trade and international economic and trade rules. Despite this, Japan's exports, focusing on high-end areas such as semiconductor materials and equipment, have not been completely cut off to China; instead, they have increased driven by market demand.In 2023, China imported $10.3 billion of semiconductor manufacturing equipment from Japan, a year-on-year increase of 9 percent, ranking first with a 30-percent share in total imports, according to media reports.Meanwhile, US pressure remains a significant factor for Japan. Xiang said that Japan is more representing the interests of the US on this issue, making Japan somewhat like a "puppet" of the US.Japan is not "innocent" either. The Kishida government, driven by political motivation, sees China's industrial upgrade as "a potential threat to its economic interests," and actively "decouples and de-risks" from China, even though it may harm its own interests, Xiang said.This article was originally published by Global Times.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240428/chinas-upper-hand-over-us-in-many-fields-feeds-into-mutual-tensions---scholar-1118162025.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240427/why-united-states-wants-to-curb-chinas-economic-advance-1118149557.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240427/facade-of-diplomacy-masks-us-efforts-to-smear-isolate-suppress-china-1118135160.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240417/scholzs-visit-to-china-beijing-will-be-laughing-at-germanys-self-destructive-policies-1117963694.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240502/kremlin-calls-for-2014-odessa-massacre-perpetrators-to-be-punished-1118224728.html

Kremlin Calls for 2014 Odessa Massacre Perpetrators to Be Punished

Kremlin Calls for 2014 Odessa Massacre Perpetrators to Be Punished

Sputnik International

People responsible for the May 2, 2014 tragedy in Odessa, when hundreds were deliberately trapped inside a burning Trade Unions House, should be punished as such crimes have no statute of limitations, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.

2024-05-02T10:32+0000

2024-05-02T10:32+0000

2024-05-02T10:32+0000

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odessa massacre

maidan activists

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On May 2, 2014, Ukrainian nationalists locked protesters opposed to Ukraine's integration with the European Union in Odessa Trade Unions House and set the building on fire. Almost 50 people died and some 250 were injured in clashes with the radicals, according to the United Nations. The fact that no one has been held responsible for that crime is a "shameful" and "unacceptable" part of Ukrainian history, Peskov added. In November 2013, a series of protests, dubbed Euromaidan or simply Maidan, broke out in Ukraine due to the authorities' decision to halt policy aimed at integration with the European Union. The unrest quickly took on a sharply anti-presidential and anti-government character. During clashes between Ukraine's security forces and demonstrators, more than 100 people died. The protests eventually turned into a coup and resulted in the ousting of then-President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014. It also resulted in the estrangement of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region and the subsequent offensive against it by new authorities in Kiev. The clashes in Odessa became one of the deadliest events during the Maidan and anti-Maidan demonstrations in Ukraine. Moscow has on many occasions criticized Kiev's negligence in the investigation of the deadly tragedy and urged the international community and human rights groups to probe the causes of the massacre.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240502/odessa-massacre-ten-years-on-how-radicals-drowned-city-in-blood-to-subdue-ukraine-1118193803.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240502/scott-ritter-student-protests-among-most-important-things-to-happen-in-us-in-decades-1118216879.html

Scott Ritter: Student Protests Among Most Important Things to Happen in US in Decades

Scott Ritter: Student Protests Among Most Important Things to Happen in US in Decades

Sputnik International

The pro-Palestinian protests breaking out across college campuses across the US are among the most important things to happen in decades, former UN Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter told Radio Sputnik on Tuesday.

2024-05-02T03:04+0000

2024-05-02T03:04+0000

2024-05-02T12:16+0000

analysis

benjamin netanyahu

scott ritter

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new york police department (nypd)

texas

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new york city

protest

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The growing student protest movement against the continued bombardment of Gazans by the Israeli government is among one of the most important things to happen in the US in many, many decades, former UN inspector and military expert Scott Ritter told Sputniks The Critical Hour on Tuesday.If you were an American like myself, who is not inclined to go out and protest and hold signs and disrupt things, man, we have to wake up, he explained. I have to wake up. We have to join these students one way or another and join their cause in letting the government know that we will not stand silent in the face of police oppression of the right of American citizens to speak out, to assemble, to hold their government account."Tuesday night, what appeared to be hundreds of officers with the New York Police Department entered Columbia University in riot gear and military-grade vehicles, arresting approximately 300 people, according to New York City Mayor Eric Adams. That raid came after similar raids across the country, including in Texas, where 79 people, including some faculty members who joined students, were arrested.Meanwhile, a 65-year-old professor, Steve Tamari, was hospitalized after an officer at Washington University in St. Louis slammed him to the ground, breaking multiple ribs and his hand, according to a statement he put out from the hospital. More than 100 people were arrested in that protest.Colleges being a place for the free exchange of ideals is a critical part of our society, Ritter argued, adding that he believes the crackdown is designed to end this.Over the weekend, presidential candidate Jill Stein was arrested at a protest. Stein says she was told she was being charged with assaulting an officer, but clarified in a later interview with journalist Glenn Greenwald that was not on her paperwork.Part of the purpose of colleges is "to create an incubator for the development of good citizenship, not compliant zombies," Ritter explained, arguing that the US needs, "citizens who think, who empower themselves with knowledge and information and express that individually and collectively.At University of California, Los Angeles, a group of pro-Israeli protesters reportedly fired pepper spray and fireworks at student protesters during clashes. Witnesses claim that while the police were standing by, they did not intervene for hours.Ritter noted the US government is doing just about everything possible wrong, underscoring that the US needs these students to come out and theyve picked an issue, Gaza, which is the manifestation of the totality of all we do wrong as a government.When you go to university, we need you to become radical. We need you to think. We need you to exercise your brain and your spirit and your conscience. And [the government is] trying to suppress them because apparently we dont want good citizens anymore, the analyst concluded.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240502/strange-coincidence-another-boeing-whistleblower-dies-after-sudden-illness-1118221422.html

Strange Coincidence? Another Boeing Whistleblower Dies After Sudden Illness

Strange Coincidence? Another Boeing Whistleblower Dies After Sudden Illness

Sputnik International

Boeing admitted last year that that it was riddled with production issues and delays but assured that the in-service fleet can "continue operating safely."

2024-05-02T07:44+0000

2024-05-02T07:44+0000

2024-05-02T07:44+0000

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Joshua Dean, a former Spirit AeroSystems employee who accused the Boeing supplier of ignoring defects in the production of the 737 MAX, has died after a short fight with a sudden, fast-spreading infection, family members and his lawyer have confirmed.According to Deans mother, her son was "fighting for his life" after contracting pneumonia and suffering a stroke following a methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection.After Spirit fired Dean in April 2023, he filed a complaint with the Department of Labor claiming that his termination was in retaliation for raising concerns related to aviation safety.The 45-year-old died less than two months after Boeing whistleblower John Barnett, 62, was found dead from what South Carolina authorities described as an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.In one of the latest incidents, around 50 people were injured when a Boeing 787 Dreamliner operated by the Chile-based LATAM Airlines experienced a "technical problem" en route from Australia's Sydney to New Zealand's Auckland in March.In January, the Federal Aviation Administration temporarily grounded all Boeing 737 Max 9 planes in the US after a door panel blew out on an Alaska Airlines flight. Similarly, in that same month, an oxygen leak was discovered on board a Boeing 737 that was scheduled to transport US Secretary of State Antony Blinken from the Davos World Economic Forum.In October 2018, 189 people were killed when a new Boeing 737 MAX 8 crashed off the coast of Indonesia. Six months later, 157 people lost their lives when another 737 MAX 8 crashed just minutes after takeoff from Ethiopia. Both fatal disasters were linked to poorly designed cockpit software. The 737 MAX line was subsequently grounded for 20 months across the globe, and cost Boeing more than $20 billion in legal settlements.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240229/many-chances-for-human-error-embarrassing-boeing-report-reveals-lack-of-safety-and-mistrust--1117045147.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240227/federal-probe-finds-inadequate-and-confusing-safety-protocols-at-boeing-1117017885.html

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former spirit aerosystems employee, another boeing whistleblower dies, mrsa infection, boeing dogged by production-related problems
Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong on Thursday urged doctors to join a special committee to seek a compromise over a protracted standoff against the medical reform, while the new head of the doctors' group pledged to pressure the government to abandon the reform.

The mass walkout by trainee doctors, who have left their worksites since Feb. 20 in protest of the government's plan to boost the number of medical students, has shown little signs of a breakthrough, although the labor action has crippled public health services at major hospitals.

"The government has prepared grounds for social discussions through the launch of a special medical reform committee. But separately, the government can discuss one-to-one dialogue with the medical community," Cho told a government response meeting.

Last week, the government formally launched the presidential committee to seek a breakthrough over the standoff, but doctors boycotted it.

"We hope that doctors' organizations will not refuse talks but instead participate in the committee and engage in dialogue with a forward-looking attitude," Cho added.

Meanwhile, the new chief of the Korean Medical Association (KMA), a major lobby group of community doctors, made it clear that he would press the government to reconsider the hike in the number of medical students.

Lim Hyun-taek, the KMA's new head, who started his three-year term Wednesday, said: "The government wants us to fall into conflict and discord. I will focus efforts on promoting and protecting the rights of the members, based on the strong power of unity."

The remark appears to address the looming discord within the medical community, with Park Dan, representing the Korea Intern Resident Association, recently saying that no agreements were reached with the KMA regarding the establishment of a single representative body for the medical community.

"The KMA plans to establish scientific evidence demonstrating that the government's policy is flawed and deplorable," Lim said.

"We aim to correct various unreasonable policies, such as the increase in medical school quotas by 2,000, to guide these policies toward an appropriate direction," Lim added.

About 12,000 trainee doctors have left their worksites since late February in protest of the plan to boost the number of medical students, causing delays in medical treatments, with some emergency rooms partially limiting their treatment of critically ill patients.

Some medical professors, who are senior doctors at university hospitals, also began taking a day off this week, suspending outpatient clinics and surgeries in support of the walkout by trainee doctors. (Yonhap)
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240502/the-medias-slow-descent-into-admitting-ukraines-failures-1118219527.html

The Media's Slow Descent Into Admitting Ukraine's Failures

The Media's Slow Descent Into Admitting Ukraine's Failures

Sputnik International

Since the fall of Avdeyevka in February and accelerating rapidly in the past two weeks, Russian advances to the West and Southwest of the city have left Ukrainian forces scrambling to find a defensive line they can hold, forcing even the US media to admit that Russia had made huge advances.

2024-05-02T05:20+0000

2024-05-02T05:20+0000

2024-05-02T05:20+0000

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What US media called bleak news brought on by an artillery drought is also being ignored by the authorities in Kiev, a veteran pro-Ukrainian military blogger called Deepstate said, per US media.The Ukrainian military spokesperson has the opportunity to check the real situation, but he [still] provides untrue information and this undermines our credibility, one of the group founders reportedly said.DeepState shared his experience from on Telegram in a post describing the dire situation for Ukrainian troops in and around the village of Solovyovo, but nearby there is another location that requires attention: Muscovites calmly moving around the village, keeping it under control. The (Ukrainian) Defense Forces inflict fire damage on them, and one can repeat at least a billion times that two-thirds of the village is under the control of the Ukrainian military, but the picture of reality is completely different.Since Avdeyevka fell, Russian forces have captured Berdychi, Lastochkino, Severnoye, Orlovka, and Tonenkoye to the East and Northeast of the city, as well as Opytnoe, Vodyanoye, Nevelskoye, and Pervomayskoye to the Southeast. More recently, Russian forces broke through to the north, capturing Novokalinovo, Solovyovo, and Ocheretino, where a strategic bloom has started to develop.While the media has focused on the area east of Avdeyevka, the victories for Russia were not limited there, with Novomikhailovka, long a Ukrainian stronghold, finally falling last week and last week, Russians entered Krasnogorovka, cutting it into two parts.Also last week, in the Zaporozhye area, Russia retook Rabotino, the small village that, though it was initially meant to be only the first stepping stone, was the peak of Ukraines failed counteroffensive last summer.In response, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for a significant acceleration of [Western] supplies to the front, though even US media admits Ukraine is struggling to fill its ranks with men to fire those weapons.The most immediate problem in every unit is lack of people, a Ukrainian company commander told US media recently.Former Ukrainian Commander Valerii Zaluzhny suggested that the country would need up to half a million new soldiers for Ukraine to conquer its goals. That led to a rift with Zelensky, which led to Zaluzhnys firing. Zelensky nevertheless passed a new mobilization law, which lowered the conscription age in Ukraine.Since at least last summer, videos of Ukrainian conscription officers dragging men off the street and into vans have commonly appeared online, as have videos of Ukrainian men attempting to flee to Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Moldova.Last week, Ukraine announced that it would not allow men aged 18-60 to renew their passports while abroad, forcing military-aged men to return to Ukraine and presumably be conscripted if they need to update their passports.While Germany said they would not force Ukrainian men back into a conflict zone, Polish deputy foreign minister Andrzej Szejna expressed support for the plan, telling Polish television that they definitely wont protect draft dodgers.Western media has been slow to admit Ukraines failures on the battlefield. First, they insisted Ukraine was winning even when it was clear to any objective observer they werent.Before Ukraines failed counteroffensive kicked off last summer, it was heavily hyped, with commercials and promises of reaching the Sea of Azov and splitting Russian forces in the process.By August, they had resorted to rationalizing the counteroffensives failures into victories.How the Ukraine Counteroffensive Can Still Succeed, a headline from US media read that month, arguing that The situation in Ukraine still favors [Kiev] despite the limited progress made in the counteroffensive so far.Ukraines counteroffensive is making real progress on the Crimean front, a blog post from the pro-war think tank The Atlantic Council proclaimed in September, apparently forgetting that Crimea is not on the front.By December, the West had downgraded their overly optimistic predictions, saying that the war was in a stalemate but again argued that things werent as bad as they seemed.Stalemate Is Not Checkmate in Ukraine an article from the Foreign Policy Research Institute read. It argued that stalemates are part of warfare that could be broken through more soldiers being sent to the meat grinder and air superiority.Now, with US media and even openly pro-Ukrainian sources like Deepstate admitting that Russian gains are coming faster than any time for either side since 2022, it appears even the downgraded optimism of a stalemate was still too optimistic.Today, they argue that Ukraine is losing, but will be able to stop the Russian advance once the recently passed military aid from the US hits the front lines. Their predictions were wrong before, but when it comes to the war machine, they just need the reader to believe until the very end.Ukraine's $61 bln lifeline is not enough another recent headline read, already preparing the public for the next aid package that will surely turn the tide, this time.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240501/ukraines-total-military-casualties-in-dpr-reaches-up-to-920-in-past-day---mod-1118211826.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240501/imminent-liberation-of-rabotino-will-nullify-only-propaganda-victory-of-zelenskys-counteroffensive-1118215382.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240501/russia-shatters-natos-illusory-might-with-display-of-trophy-armor-at-moscows-victory-park-1118213724.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240502/trump-hush-money-trial-gets-new-twist-netanyahu-warns-of-rafah-invasion-1118216726.html

Trump Hush Money Trial Gets New Twist, Netanyahu Warns of Rafah Invasion

Trump Hush Money Trial Gets New Twist, Netanyahu Warns of Rafah Invasion

Sputnik International

On this episode of Fault Lines, hosts Jamarl Thomas and Melik Abdul discussed a number of topics from around the world, including the latest from the Donald Trump hush money trial.

2024-05-02T04:15+0000

2024-05-02T04:15+0000

2024-05-02T10:45+0000

fault lines

us

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Trump Hush Money Trial Gets New Twist, Netanyahu Warns of Rafah Invasion Sputnik International On this episode of Fault Lines, hosts Jamarl Thomas and Melik Abdul discussed a number of topics from around the world, including the latest from the Donald Trump hush money trial.

In the first hour, international relations and security analyst Mark Sleboda spoke to the Fault Lines team about the latest Russian military advances in the Donbass region, amid a crack in the Kiev regime's defenses.Fault Lines kicked off the second hour with an in-depth discussion on the Donald Trump hush money trial. The team was joined by lawyer and political commentator Steve Gill, who broke down the gag order and fines imposed against the former president.In the final hour, Fault Lines spoke to Rachel Blevins, journalist and host of The Backstory on Radio Sputnik about the Hamas-Israel ceasefire talks in Cairo, along with the student protests across the US.The views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the position of Sputnik.We'd love to get your feedback at radio@sputniknews.comCatch us in the US at 105.5FM, 104.7FM, 102.9FM, 1390AM, 1140AM

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fault lines, russia advance in ukraine, hamas-israel ceasefire talks, us student protests, trump hush money
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240502/turkish-ministry-of-trade-confirms-trade-relations-with-israel-fully-suspended-1118231962.html

Turkish Ministry of Trade Confirms Trade Relations With Israel Fully Suspended

Turkish Ministry of Trade Confirms Trade Relations With Israel Fully Suspended

Sputnik International

Turkiye has fully suspended trading with Israel, and the decision will be in force until uninterrupted delivery of aid to the Gaza Strip is ensured, the Ministry of Trade confirmed.

2024-05-02T21:11+0000

2024-05-02T21:11+0000

2024-05-02T21:11+0000

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Earlier in the day, media reported that Turkiye halted all imports and exports to and from Israel as of Thursday. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz then accused Turkiye of breaking trade agreements and said that Israel would seek alternatives by focusing on imports from other countries. The ministry recalled that Turkiye has already restricted export of 54 different items of goods, including aviation fuel and motor oil, to Israel, but the "aggression" in the Gaza Strip is still ongoing.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240421/iraq-turkey-to-sign-over-20-agreements-during-erdogans-visit-to-baghdad--govt-1118046958.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240502/ukraines-total-military-casualties-in-donetsk-region-reaches-up-to-750-in-past-day---mod-1118227754.html

Ukraine's Total Military Casualties in Donetsk Region Reaches Up to 750 in Past Day - MoD

Ukraine's Total Military Casualties in Donetsk Region Reaches Up to 750 in Past Day - MoD

Sputnik International

The Ukrainian armed forces have suffered up to 750 military casualties in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) in the past 24 hours as a result of operations by Russian armed forces, the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) said on Thursday.

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Russia's Battlegroup Tsentr has repelled 10 Ukrainian counterattacks in several DPR settlements over the past day, the ministry said, adding that the Russian forces have taken full control over the DPR village of Berdychi. As a result of clashes with Battlegroup Yug in the DPR, Kiev has lost up to 270 soldiers. Battlegroup Vostok has also improved its positions in the DPR and repelled a Ukrainian counterattacknear the village of Staromayorskoye, while Kiev has lost up to 100 soldiers, the statement read. Battlegroup Zapad has thwarted five counterattacks by Ukrainian troops in the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) and the Kharkov region, where Ukraine has lost over 150 soldiers, the MoD added.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20240502/us-senator-calls-for-palestinian-protesters-to-be-added-to-terrorist-no-fly-lists-1118220031.html

US Senator Calls for Palestinian Protesters to Be Added to Terrorist, No-Fly Lists

US Senator Calls for Palestinian Protesters to Be Added to Terrorist, No-Fly Lists

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On Monday, US Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) called for pro-Palestinian protesters to be put on a terrorist watch list and the TSA's No Fly list.

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On Tuesday, US Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) condemned comments from Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) calling for students engaged in pro-Palestinian protests to be added to a terrorist watch list and be banned from flying in the United States.Omar said Blackburns suggestion was insanely dangerous and would label Americans protesting against a foreign country accused of carrying out a genocide with our tax dollars as terrorists.Protests have been breaking out at college campuses across the country. Over the weekend, police aggressively acted to remove encampments at several colleges, leading to numerous arrests. Since October 7, more than 1,000 students, educators and other supporters have been arrested at college protests.At least 34,500 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its campaign on Gaza, a number that is almost certainly a low estimate because an unknown but undoubtedly vast number of bodies remain under the rubble of destroyed buildings and homes. Israels actions have been described as a genocide by multiple human rights organizations and heads of state, including South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who brought a genocide case against Israel to the International Court of Justice.Blackburn is not alone in her desire to see pro-Palestinian protesters targeted by federal officials. Multiple Republicans and Democrats have urged US President Joe Biden to take action against them. Also on Tuesday, Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) sent a letter to US Attorney General Merrick Garland, asking what his office is doing to investigate and prosecute the leaders of groups like US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, Students for Justice in Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace, or Within Our Lifetime?Scott claims that the groups are conspiring to violate the civil rights of a religious minority.That at least one of the groups that Scott demanded an investigation into is part of that religious minority did not seem to pierce the consciousness of the junior senator. In a post on X later in the day, he labeled the encampment at George Washington University anti-Israel, anti-Semitic, anti-Jewish.The application of the term antisemitism to peaceful protesters is Orwellian, Kavanaugh argued. It's what Orwell said about politics in the English language, you're turning words into their opposites and you're using and you're making it difficult to say things correctly, and therefore to think about things correctly, Kavanaugh explained. They're cheapening it entirely and they're trying to say it's hateful antisemitism, these protesters are hateful, represent hateful antisemitism when [a great number of them] are Jews and Jewish organizations are in the leadership of this.Ultimately, the reason for the intense crackdown on pro-Palestinian protests in America stems from the deep-rooted belief, particularly among the older generations, that Zionism is inseparable from Judaism.And that's what the young kids don't have so much. They didn't know anything about it and now they know about it. This is ridiculous. This is colonialism. And weve been taught to reject colonialism and we reject this, Kavanaugh said.

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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

It didn't take long for Harshraj Ghai to respond to the impact of California's new $20 an hour minimum wage for his 3,700 fast-food employees.

Ghai and his family operate 180 Burger Kings, Taco Bells and Popeyes chicken restaurants across the state, and one of the first things they did after the law took effect April 1 was to start capping workers' hours to avoid overtime pay. Also, they're closing some outlets a little earlier, and opening others a bit later to avoid paying workers for less profitable periods.

But the biggest thing Ghai and his family are doing does not directly involve workers at all: They've speeded up and expanded their use of technology, especially AI.

Right now, they've moved up by several years their plans to install self-service kiosks at all of their locations, including 25 out of state.

But what has Ghai most hopeful about offsetting the higher labor costs is to have AI handle customers' orders made at the drive-through. He's testing the machine-learning system this month at a few locations and hopes to roll it out company-wide by this time next year.

Drive-throughs of course are quintessentially California, with its car culture and fast lifestyle. And now, with AI coming on to the scene in a big way, the state is emerging as ground zero for what many analysts see as the next big thing in the world of fast food and drinks.

Not that AI-led drive-through is quite ready for prime time. As it is today, the system can have trouble with people's accents and ambient noise, making it hard to recognize speech and translate it into text.

Pilot programs run by McDonald's and others thus far often have backed up the AI technology with an employee, like the Wizard of Oz man behind the curtain. The unseen worker from as far away as the Philippines monitors and sometimes intervenes to complete an order if AI falters.

Even so, Ghai thinks that once the kinks are worked out, it'll be a godsend for fast-food operators like him.

"It has the potential of being the most impactful," says Ghai, 39, whose Indian immigrant father, Sunny, started the family business in 1998 by buying a failing Burger King in San Jose, where he was an assistant manager.

What pushed the envelope for businesses like the Ghais' was California's sudden 25% hike in the minimum wage for the fast-food industry's half-million or so workers in the state.

To deal with the extraordinary increase in labor costswhich average about one-third of a fast-food store's salesmany of the affected business owners immediately jacked up menu prices.

Ghai said he's raised prices overall this year by just 2%. But that's not been the norm. By the middle of last month, at many franchises across the statefrom Jack in the Box to Chipotle to Starbucksconsumers on average were paying a mid- to high-single-digit percentage more than just a month or two earlier, according to a survey by BTIG, the investment banking and research firm.

Relatively few appear to have resorted to layoffs, in part because many were already staffed at bare-bones levels. So to hold the line on further price increases, a growing number of fast-food operators are now racing to install as much automation as they can afford.

Perhaps the most visible and soon to be widely adopted are all kinds of kiosks for ordering food. The self-service machines have been around for more than a decade, but franchise owners such as Michaela Mendelsohn resisted the move for many years.

"We just didn't want to force our customers to use technology. We thought the personal contact was important," said Mendelsohn, who has six El Pollo Loco restaurants in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

But when the industry's basic pay rose to $20 an hour, she said, that amounted to $180,000 in additional labor costs a year per store. Within a month of the wage hike, Mendelsohn bought two standing kiosks for each of her six restaurants. That set her back $25,000 per store, for two screens, installation, software and other related costs. One of the two machines accepts cash, which she said was needed for her blue-collar customers.

Mendelsohn figures that the kiosks might save five hours of labor a day. By that estimate, the machines would pay for themselves within a year and shave about 20% of the increased cost from the latest minimum wage increase. "We're chipping away at it," she said.

Self-service kiosks are ubiquitous in Western Europe, but they're in fewer than 20% of fast-food establishments in the U.S., says Perse Faily, chief executive at Los Angeles-based Tillster, one of earliest providers of kiosks and other digital platforms for restaurants.

The COVID-19 pandemic pushed the trend in the U.S., she said, and now in California, "We're seeing this complete sea change in thinking, 'How do I address my labor costs?'"

Kiosks may be appealing in that they can not only save on labor, but also drive higher sales. Unlike people, the programmed machines are always trying to "upsell," never forgetting to ask customers whether they want a drink with their meal or something else to go along with their entree.

Faily, Tillster's CEO since late 2007, wouldn't disclose the company's sales increase, but said its new customers include Burger King and Popeyes, and that employment at the firm is up 75 from a year ago, to 340 currently. "The minimum wage increase has completely changed the landscape," she said.

Other computer-guided upgrades are also aimed at cutting labor costs, from automatic avocado peelers and dishwashers to robotic arms that flip burgers and turn over fryer baskets.

But return on investments, while helpful for the bottom line, don't do enough to offset burgeoning payroll expenses. So relatively few fast-food operators, for now, are making major investments in robotics and similar mechanical devices.

AI, on the other hand, looks like it could be a game-changer.

The pandemic boosted drive-through traffic at fast-food places to about 80% of sales from two-thirds pre-COVID, said Peter Selah, a restaurant industry analyst at BTIG. And AI order-taking opens the possibility of speeding up the drive-through process, increasing sales and reducing significant labor overhead.

But analysts say it's likely to be at least a year or two, maybe longer, before AI-led drive-through reaches a consistent and high enough level of accuracy where companies are comfortable with it. Tests have often left frustrated customers demanding to talk to a live person rather than a bot, according to various accounts.

Major fast-food brands were reluctant to discuss their AI drive-through efforts. Nationally, McDonald's has been out in front, using an IBM-developed system. A spokesperson would only say that McDonald's "continues to gather learnings from the roughly 100 pilot restaurants testing automated order taking technology in the U.S. We expect to share more later this year."

In California, CKE Restaurants, the owner and franchisor of Carl's Jr. and Hardee's, appears to be ahead of the pack on the technology, but like other chains, including Taco Bell, Burger King and El Pollo Loco, CKE declined to comment.

Analysts, however, say none of the AI platforms have reached more than 85% success in which human intervention isn't needed.

"The hardest part is when you have people with accents, from different states and from immigrants. It's challenging," said Danilo Gargiulo, senior analyst covering restaurants for Bernstein, an investment and research firm.

Still, Gargiulo sees the day when AI will speed up the drive-through line, boosting sales and consumer satisfaction. "Right now the drive-through time is slowed by repeated orders," he said. With accurate AI speech recognition and faster, clearer communication to the kitchen staff, he said, you can cut as much as 90 seconds off what typically takes 5 minutes for a customer to complete a drive-through purchase.

That's what Ghai is betting on.

He says his initial investment for the AI drive-through technology, purchased from San Carlos-based Presto, is about $10,000 per store. Ghai estimates that if he can get it to perform at 90%, a store employee might have to step in to take over an order just three times every hour, freeing up the worker to do other tasks.

The AI system is getting better as it gathers more data, he said, and it'll soon be able to communicate in Spanish. Add in mobile apps and loyalty programs, and AI has the potential to give fast-food customers a faster and more personalized service. And of course there's the labor saving part: Ghai thinks the AI drive-through could reduce 10 to 15 hours of wages a day, and double that where he has two human order takers.

"Our goal isn't to get rid of people. We're in the people business at the end of the day," he said. At the same time, Ghai added, over the long haul, "we'll have fewer people."

2024 Los Angeles Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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In this photo provided by Malaysia Prime Minister Office, Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, right, shakes hands with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at the prime minister's office in Putrajaya, Malaysia, Thursday, May 2, 2024. Credit: Albarra Azfar/Prime Minister's Office of Malaysia via AP

Microsoft is investing $2.2 billion over the next four years in Malaysia's new cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure as well as partnering with the government to establish a national AI center, its CEO Satya Nadella said Thursday.

It marks Microsoft's single largest investment in Malaysia, as the tech giant seeks to bolster support for AI development in the region and worldwide.

"We are committed to supporting Malaysia's AI transformation and ensure it benefits all Malaysians," he said. "Our investments in digital infrastructure and skilling will help Malaysian businesses, communities and developers apply the latest technology to drive inclusive economic growth and innovation across the country."

Nadella on Tuesday also announced a $1.7 billion investment in cloud and AI services in Indonesia during his visit there as part of his Southeast Asia tour. On Wednesday, he said Microsoft will build its first regional data center in Thailand.

In April, the tech giant similarly unveiled a $2.9 billion investment in Japan and $1.5 billion in G42, an AI firm in Abu Dhabi.

Microsoft also pledged to provide AI training for 2.5 million people in Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam by 2025.

Nadella earlier met Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who said the investment will be the key support pillar for the government's goal to enhance AI capacity in Malaysia.

In this photo provided by Malaysia Prime Minister Office, Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, right, meets with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at the prime minister's office in Putrajaya, Malaysia, Thursday, May 2, 2024. Credit: Albarra Azfar/Prime Minister's Office of Malaysia via AP

The new investment will include AI training for another 300,000 people, the establishment of a national AI center of excellence, enhancing the nation's cybersecurity capabilities and supporting the growth of Malaysia's developer community, Anwar said on Facebook.

Microsoft runs one of the world's largest cloud computing operations and has taken a leap into artificial intelligence through its partnership with OpenAI, developers of ChatGPT.

Since then, Microsoft has integrated an AI assistant into its Microsoft Edge browser, named Copilot, helping lift its profits by 20% in the first quarter.

Microsoft sees Southeast Asia, with its population of over 600 million people, as a growing market and potential location for more AI product development. A study held by global consulting firm Kearney said AI could contribute nearly $1 trillion to Southeast Asia's GDP by 2030. Indonesia is expected to capture $366 billion of the total and Malaysia $115 billion.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella speaks during a conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Thursday, May 2, 2024. Microsoft will invest $2.2 billion over the next four years in Malaysia's new cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure as well as partnering with the government to establish a national AI center, Nadella said Thursday. Credit: AP Photo/Vincent Thian

Microsoft said in a statement that the investment in Malaysia will build on its 2021 program to support inclusive economic growth. It said the proposed national AI center will drive AI adoption across key industries and public sector, while ensuring AI governance and regulatory compliance.

"Together with Microsoft, we look forward to creating more opportunities for our (small and medium-sized enterprises) and better paying jobs for our people as we ride the AI revolution to fast-track Malaysia's digitally empowered growth journey," Trade Minister Zafrul Aziz said in the statement.

 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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Ukrainian sentenced to 13 years in US prison for role in REvil ransomware attacks.

A Ukrainian man was sentenced to more than 13 years in prison in Texas on Wednesday for his role in ransomware attacks by the notorious Russia-based REvil hacking group, the US Justice Department said.

Yaroslav Vasinskyi, 24, who was extradited to the United States from Poland in 2022, pleaded guilty that same year to charges of conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering and damaging protected computers.

Vasinskyi, also known as Rabotnik, was sentenced to 13 years and seven months in prison and ordered to pay $16 million in restitution for his involvement in more than 2,500 ransomware attacks.

"Vasinskyi and his co-conspirators hacked into thousands of computers around the world and encrypted them with ransomware," principal deputy assistant attorney general Nicole Argentieri said in a statement.

"Then they demanded over $700 million in ransom payments and threatened to publicly disclose victims' data if they refused to pay," Argentieri said.

Among the companies targeted by REvilan amalgam of ransomware and evilwas Kaseya, which provides IT services to some 40,000 businesses globally.

The Kaseya attack shut down a major Swedish supermarket chain and ricocheted around the world, impacting businesses in at least 17 countries, from pharmacies to gas stations to kindergartens.

Vasinskyi was arrested in Poland as part of a global operation against ransomware attacks by REvil, also known as Sodinokibi, and the ransomware group GandCrab.

In January 2022, Russia said it had dismantled REvil at the request of the United States.

 2024 AFP
The health ministry said Thursday it will spend 94.8 billion won ($68.8 million) in the first half of the year to help normalize operations and support management reforms at 41 public hospitals across the nation.

Under the support program, the government seeks to facilitate sustainable development of public hospitals by assessing their innovation plans, which focus on improving medical services and organizational efficiency, according to the ministry.

Hospitals that demonstrate promising outcomes in these areas receive financial support as part of the project.

The project encompasses 35 regional medical centers and six Red Cross hospitals, constituting a total of 41 regional-hub public hospitals.

The ministry will distribute a total of 87.6 billion won to regional medical centers and 7.2 billion won to Red Cross hospitals within the first half.

It will provide an additional 28.2 billion won in the second half to hospitals that receive the highest marks in the implementation and performance of their reform plans. (Yonhap)
Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul has met with students studying Korean language at the University of Melbourne during his visit to Australia, his office said Thursday.

Following bilateral talks with his Australian counterpart, Penny Wong, in Melbourne as part of a "two plus two" meeting of foreign and defense ministers Wednesday (local time), Cho met with students participating in a Korean teacher training program.

During the meeting, Cho discussed the beauty of Korean literature by reciting a poem written by his late father, Cho Ji-hoon, called "To My Illness," both in Korean and English, the foreign ministry said in a press release.

The senior Cho is one of the most influential figures in Korea's modern poetry community. He is also renowned for his extensive research on Korean cultural history.

The minister encouraged students wishing to become Korean language teachers for their hard work, citing the difficulty of the language.

Wong also expressed hope for more cultural and human exchanges between the countries, saying the university is set to launch a Korean department in July.

Australia is the only country with which Korea holds regular talks of foreign and defense chiefs besides the United States. The next two plus two talks will take place in Korea in 2026. (Yonhap)
By Jung Min-ho

The Korean Embassy in Manila expressed concern on Wednesday over Chinas attack on two Philippine Coast Guard vessels earlier this week with water cannons near Scarborough Shoal, a disputed chain of reefs and rocks in the South China Sea.

The Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the Philippines is concerned about the recent dangerous maneuvers and use of water cannons against Philippine vessels around the Scarborough Shoal, the embassy said in a statement. We reiterate the importance of upholding peace, stability, safety and rules-based maritime order in the South China Sea, a critical sea lane of communications for all countries that are using it.

This statement comes a day after Chinas coast guard fired high-pressure water cannons at the Philippine Coast Guard patrol vessels in the area. As a result, one of the ships suffered damage to the railing and canopy, according to Commodore Jay Tarriela, spokesperson of the Philippine Coast Guard.

In a separate statement, the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea, a governmental body under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., described the Chinese behavior as illegal and irresponsible, accusing Chinas government of obstructing the lawful exercise of its rights and entitlements in its own exclusive economic zone.

Located 200 kilometers off the Philippines and inside its exclusive economic zone, the shoal had been controlled by the government until 2012, when Beijing seized it after a tense naval standoff between the two countries.
Press Release

May 2, 2024 Bong Go reminds DOH of its mandate to cater to the needs of poor and indigent patients as he monitors proper implementation of Malasakit Centers Law Senator Christopher "Bong" Go, Senate Committee on Health Chairman, vows to hold the Department of Health (DOH) accountable if harm comes to even a single patient who is refused medical attention especially from government hospitals. On Tuesday, April 30, the senator sternly warned the DOH during the recent Senate health committee hearing he presided that was part of a series of inquiries looking into the current state of the public health system. "You should stand by your memo na walang matatanggihan na pasyente rito. Dahil 'pag merong namatay na pasyente rito dahil sa kahirapan, malaki po ang pananagutan niyo po sa ating mga kababayan. Magsasalita talaga ako rito araw-araw kung meron pong namatay na pasyente dahil natanggihan at dahil po sa kahirapan na wala silang matakbuhan at tinanggihan po ng inyong opisina," said Go. In the hearing, Go shared the dire situation of a patient in Ozamiz City, Misamis Occidental, who was at risk of having his oxygen supply cut off due to financial constraints. "Kausap ko 'yung doktor, papatanggal na lang daw niya 'yung oxygen dahil wala na lang siyang pambayad sa private hospital. Paano kaya natin matulungan ito through the MAIP program? Isipin niyo dahil sa oxygen... papatanggal na lang niya, malalagutan siya ng hininga dahil sa kahirapan," Go shared. Medical Assistance for Indigent Patients (MAIP) is the DOH program that provides financial assistance for medical care to indigent and financially incapacitated patients. Malasakit Centers provide patients convenient access to avail of this program. No less than DOH Secretary Ted Herbosa attended the hearing where Go pressed on the integrity of the DOH's promise in fulfilling its mandate to properly implement the Malasakit Centers Law which Go principally authored and sponsored in 2019. "You were under oath several times during (previous) hearings. Sabi niyo, tutulungan niyo ang mahihirap. Sabi mo, susuportahan mo ang Malasakit Centers at ipagpapatuloy mo dahil nakakatulong ito sa mga mahihirap, Go reminded Herbosa. There are now 163 Malasakit Centers established nationwide, which have assisted more than ten million Filipinos, as reported by the DOH. Malasakit Centers serve as one-stop shops that consolidate the medical assistance programs of various government agencies, including DOH, PhilHealth, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), and Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). "You issued a memorandum that all patients must be accorded the services they need in Malasakit Centers. Secretary Herbosa, you were under oath nung sinabi mo na suportado mo ang Malasakit Centers," recalled Go, referring to the DOH Department Memorandum 2023-0235 issued by Herbosa, which mandates that all patients at Malasakit Centers receive the necessary services. "I will stand by my commitment at ang 2024 allotment ng gobyerno para sa Medical Assistance for Indigent and Financially Compromised Patients ay PhP58 billion po," Sec. Herbosa responded. The DOH top official even affirmed how "effective" Malasakit Centers are, saying, "Umiiyak nga ang mga pasyente, nakakatanggap ng tulong galing sa ating office. So maganda ang nagagawa ng Malasakit (Centers) Act," as elaborated by Herbosa. Other resource persons at the hearing, including DSWD Project Development Officer Artemio Bautista and Malasakit Center Program Office Director Luz Jordana Jose, discussed the centers' operational realities and success stories. Jose discussed the current staffing problems encountered by DOH in operating the centers, "Right now, nasa 69% pa lang din kami. Unfortunately, we received several resignation letters from appointed Job Orders." Meanwhile, Bautista reported that there are still vacancies, especially in the four newly launched centers and one at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City. In response to the staffing issues, Go called for immediate action to fill these vacancies, emphasizing the urgency of ensuring that no Filipino is denied access to medical assistance due to understaffing. Previously, Go also called on these agencies to help address unemployment in the country by offering available vacancies to those seeking job opportunities. The Senate Health Committee also asked DOH to submit a comprehensive plan for the year detailing the projected expansion of Malasakit Centers across qualified public hospitals nationwide. Exercising his oversight functions, Senator Go emphasized the need for monthly staffing and operational progress updates to ensure every Filipino in need is able to avail of medical aid from government. The discussion also delved into utilizing the substantial 2024 budget of PhP58 billion allocated to the DOH's medical assistance program for indigents. DOH Undersecretary Emmie Liza Perez-Chong reported that only 34% of the funds had been utilized so far. Go then stressed that the program must be made more readily available for indigent patients seeking government assistance, emphasizing that it is the right of every Filipino to be provided the necessary medical attention they need from this program intended for them. Usec. Chong cited efforts of expanding partnerships with private hospitals to ensure that the medical assistance program could support services there, reflecting on the existing 481 private hospitals with Memoranda of Agreement with the DOH. Senator Go requested detailed reports on the utilization of the funds, emphasizing that no patient should be turned away from seeking medical assistance from the government given the availability of public resources intended to assist them in their medical needs in accordance with existing laws.
By Kim Hyun-bin

In a bid to foster cross-cultural exchanges and bolster economic ties, the Embassy of France in Seoul is gearing up to host the second edition of the ICC Immersion Korea program in 2024. This initiative follows the success of the inaugural event held in February 2023.

A fresh cohort of 15 innovative French companies from the ICC sectors (cultural and creative industries) has been meticulously selected for the program.

These companies epitomize sectors with high potential both in Korea and France, ranging from cultural engineering to visual and digital arts, augmented reality (XR), audiovisual, webtoon, music and video games.

According to the embassy, the ICC Immersion program is designed to provide comprehensive support to the participating companies, aiding them in refining their strategies while facilitating immersion into the vibrant Korean ecosystem. This immersive experience not only promotes networking but also opens up lucrative business opportunities in the dynamic and innovative Korean market.

The program unfolds in two phases. Initially, a series of online webinars acquaint the selected companies with the ICC market in Korea.

The second stage of the program will be hosted in Seoul at Platform-L, where the French Cultural & Creative Industries Expo will unfold from July 3 to 5. During these three days, attendees will engage in B2B meetings, networking sessions, and have the opportunity to explore the booths of the 15 French companies.

Last years inaugural edition attracted over 700 visitors and featured participation from 51 international panelists while conducting 125 B2B meetings which resulted in the development of 16 projects within six months post-event.

Managed jointly by the Institut Francais and Business France Paris, ICC Immersion is part of the "Creating International Immersion Programs" initiative under France 2030, supported by the French State.
By Kim Hyun-bin

The Embassy of Ukraine in Seoul premiered the film "Dovbush" at a cinema in Seoul on April 29, showcasing the country's iconic hero Oleksa Dovbush as he confronts oppressive landlords and foreign intruders. Ukrainian Ambassador Dmytro Ponomarenko draws parallels between the movie and contemporary Ukrainian heroes in conflict against Russia's military.

The ambassador said the premier screening of "Dovbush" serves as a reminder of Ukraine's resilience and determination amid the ongoing conflict, symbolizing the nation's unwavering commitment to freedom and justice.

The film, set in the early 18th century, narrates the tale of the Hutsul community in the Carpathian Mountains on the backs of main character Oleksa Dovbush, who was a prominent figure in Ukrainian folklore, known for his resistance against oppression and injustice. He led a group of fighters defending local villagers from tyrannical landowners and foreign invaders.

Ponomarenko drew parallels between the film's depiction of courage and the ongoing conflict with Russia, emphasizing the enduring spirit of the Ukrainian people.

"Just as the folk hero Oleksa Dovbush and his fellow Hutsuls refused to submit to injustice, Ukrainians have demonstrated remarkable courage and determination," he said. "They stand firm in their resolve to preserve their identity and independence."

The ambassador underscored the film's broader message of the continuous struggle for freedom and justice, highlighting the power of unity in the face of adversity. "Through 'Dovbush,' we honor the courage of those who stood up against tyranny, inspiring us to uphold these ideals today," he said.

Expressing gratitude to countries providing support during Ukraine's time of need, Ponomarenko singled out Korea for its solidarity and warm support. He thanked them and other nations for their defense, financial and humanitarian assistance.

"We hope the film will shed light on our history and the challenges we face," he said.

In Ukraine, the premiere of the movie Dovbush was initially slated for May 2022 but was postponed due to the Russian invasion in February 2022. It was subsequently first screened on Aug. 24, 2023 on the occasion of Ukraines Independence Day.
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Diverse music, accomplished musicians highlight the 2024-25 season of the Grand Island Concert Association.

From a new arrangement of Rhapsody in Blue presented by a 13-piece orchestra to a guitar master on a 49-string guitar to a pianist who portrayed Jerry Lee Lewis in the touring production of The Million Dollar Quartet, the GICA board is delighted with the lineup.

The 2024-25 lineup, all at Grand Island Senior High Auditorium, includes:

Street Corner Symphony, 3 p.m. Sept. 15: This Nashville-based male a cappella ensemble was a runner-up on NBCs Sing Off in 2010. They move seamlessly between most styles of music. Their repertoire covers a wide range, from gospel to rock and pop, appealing to the young and old alike.

Rhapsody and The Blues, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 16: Rhapsody in Blue in the first new arrangement of Gershwins iconic work since the original dance band version of 1924 and the ensuing orchestral arrangement of 1942. The 13-piece orchestra also will perform music from Duke Ellington, Oscar Peterson, Nat King Cole and more. This performance celebrates 100 years of one of the most iconic piano works ever written.

Sheng Cai, 3 p.m. Nov. 17: This Canadian master embraces the keyboard tradition epitomizing the greatness of the romantic virtuoso. His performances have touched audiences and won the praise of critics on four continents. Sheng Cai has been honored with numerous prizes and awards and continues to push the boundaries in interpreting both the established and rarities of the piano literature.

The String Showdown, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 7, 2025: A dueling string act led by Greg Byers and Mike Lauer. From the groovy tunes of the 60s to todays chart-toppers, their versatile repertoire guarantees an unforgettable experience for every audience.

Paolo Schianchi, 7:30 p.m. April 3, 2025: This out-of-the-ordinary musician and performer is the master of all existing variations of the guitar, including the 49-string guitar he personally designed. A native of Parma, Italy, his performance will include selections from classical to rock.

Jared Freiburg & The Vagabonds, 7:30 p.m. May 15, 2025: This show is a time capsule of the golden era of American music featuring rock & roll, blues, country and jazz hits from the 1950s. Piano maestro Jared Freiburg and his Vagabonds serve up memorable tunes by artists from Elvis to Frank Sinatra. Jared portrayed Jerry Lee Lewis in the touring production of Million Dollar Quartet.

Season memberships are $70 through Saturday, May 4, and $75 after that date. Students are admitted free to all performances. Details are available at giconcerts.org or at facebook.com/grandislandconcertassociation. More information also is available from Vincent Boudreau, 308- 583-2961.

A video of the performers is available through this link bit.ly/3WdcUhX.

The Grand Island Concert Association was organized in 1931 and contracts most performers through Allied Concert Services Inc., of Plymouth, Minn.
By Kwak Yeon-soo

A group of independence fighters descendants criticized the defense ministry, Thursday, for the Korea Military Academy's attempt to relocate the bust of independence fighter Hong Beom-do due to his past record of collaborating with Soviet communist forces.

Calling the relocation plan a traitorous act, the group known as Heritage of Korean Independence said the government should destroy the bust rather than move it to another location.

The Korea Military Academys plan to relocate the bust of General Hong Beom-do goes against President Yoon Suk Yeols governing philosophy, the association said in a statement.

The group called for Defense Minister Shin Won-siks resignation, saying, The Ministry of Defense was heavily involved in its plan to remove and relocate busts of independence fighters. It damaged the reputation of independence activists.

In August last year, the government announced it was considering relocating Hong's bust from outside of the military academy leading to fierce debate over its legitimacy, with the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and advocates for independence fighters strongly protesting the move.

Born in 1868, Hong is a renowned independence fighter who was the commander-in-chief of the Korean Independence Army. He led some 1,300 freedom fighters to victory against Japanese troops at the Battle of Bongodong in 1920.

He moved to the Soviet Union the following year to seek refuge from Japanese forces. He was forced to relocate to Kazakhstan in 1937 under then-Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin's policy of forced relocation, along with many other ethnic Koreans.

The dispute is a recurring theme in Korean politics where conservatives and liberals tend to hold different views on Korea's history following its independence from Japan's 1910-1945 colonial occupation.

The defense ministry was seeking to relocate busts of four other independence fighters, including General Kim Jwa-jin  which are currently situated alongside Hong's. However, the relocation plan may change as it faces strong opposition from the DPK, which achieved a decisive victory in the April 10 general elections by winning 175 seats out of 300.

In response to the strong backlash, an ROK Army official said, No specific decision has been made yet, and we are currently reviewing the plan."
Seven Grand Island Senior High students were celebrated on Wednesday for their current and future success in the Academy of Technical Sciences and its apprenticeship program.

This academy at Senior High currently offers specialized pathways in architecture and design, automotive technology, construction, manufacturing and welding.

All pathways offer dual credit courses for juniors and seniors through Central Community College, the Grand Island Public Schools website describes. Students in this academy have the opportunity to earn many industry certifications... The Academy of Technical Sciences also boasts many partnerships with community businesses to provide students with work-based learning opportunities through the US Department of Labor Registered Apprenticeships, internships and job shadowing opportunities.

On hand to congratulate the program apprenticeship signees was Nebraskas Lt. Gov. Joe Kelly.

Everywhere you go, you meet these great Nebraskans in their own communities, Kelly said of his opportunities to travel the state to places like Grand Island. And they talk about, as an example that applies here, they talk about liking to get a certain industry in their town.

This is often an issue because of lack of available housing, he added. Even if the private funding for the housing was there, the trades necessary to build said homes might not be available.

There is a shortage of trade-skill training and availability in Nebraska that we hear about every day, when we go out there and talk to the great citizens of Nebraska, Kelly said. The same can be said of welders, the same can be said of so many of the things that you all are signing up for today. So its great to be here because it is such a big part of... the need to keep Nebraskans here.

The best way to do that?

(Its) to keep individuals who are graduating from high school engaged in their communities, engaged with their families, but make it a good living, Kelly added. And having something past high school, thats another emphasis point. It we continue to churn out individuals from high school, students, without any additional training, the jobs that theyre going to land in may work for awhile, but theyre not going to work for too ... long.

What an encouraging deal to be here in Grand Island, he said. To be here for this great day when you sign on. Its a great thing for you, individually, and your families, but it is a great thing for Nebraska.

Academy of Technical Sciences Principal D.W. Holley echoed these sentiments, but followed them with an immense amount of thanks toward the community of Grand Island and the business partners in the community that make the apprenticeship program possible.

The really amazing thing is, were all in it together to instruct students, Holley said toward the audience, filled with students, parents and business representatives. Were all teaching students, even though these kids, and they are kids, are hired as employees theyre still learning. And the people sitting next to them right now, you guys from Chief and Overhead Door and AGI and Holiday Express  you all are teachers. Theyre learning how to be young adults. Theyre learning how to be skilled tradesmen. (And) theyre also learning how to navigate life.

The apprenticeship program started at Senior High in 2017, but quickly grew past the one individual in an apprenticeship through the program.

In 2019, three more programs are added and seven new business partners to that, Holley said. Wednesdays program celebrated seven students in total, with five different occupations represented. The school has 18 business partners and 23 total students active in current apprenticeships and internships.

Of note, that makes Grand Island Senior High one of 11 total schools in the state of Nebraska with this program  six high schools, three community colleges and two universities.

Out of a total of 101 students in apprenticeships across the state, 19 are in high school and 17 of those are products of the Career Pathways Institute through Senior High.

Were very proud of the fact that we have a large number of students representing the state of Nebraska, just right here in Grand Island, Holley concluded.

One by one, each of the seven students signing letters of intent for their respective internships were welcomed to the draped table at the front of the group. They were celebrated with applause.

One of these students was Islander junior Theodore Merchant, who signed on with AGI and will continue to work with them through his senior year  at least.

Right now I have one day on and then the next Id have like a half day, thats on the A (day) and B day schedule, he said of his current working apprenticeship.

His half day usually runs from noon to 3:30 p.m., he added, but the following day is a full day of school.

But next year what will happen is Ill have one day on and then one day off, so Ill be able to go in from 5 in the morning to 3:30, he said. And then the next day Ill have off. Thats what were looking at right now.

As a senior in high school hell already have what most consider a full-time career. Merchant will also be working full-time this summer for AGI.

Im really excited to get started, he said.

His current role at AGI is a material handler. Throughout the day Merchant works with a tablet and scanner to move through the AGI warehouse and locate, and move, the appropriate pallets of materials (both digitally and physically).

Next year I think theyre gonna train me on a machine, and then Ill be working on machines, he added.

Having a full-time career as a junior in high school is a point of pride for Merchant, he agreed.

Im pretty proud of myself, he said. I think its just a great opportunity. I love it, and then just the school and what they do for us, its just awesome.

Apart from the program itself, Merchant noted he appreciated the resources available through his school and those educators in the program that go out of their way to help.

One thing (the apprenticeship) has taught me is determination, Merchant concluded. You have to kind of go out of your way to get it. I had to do something that I wasnt comfortable with.

Like the interview with AGI, he added.

Im kind of a shy person, he said with a laugh. Ive had to push myself, get the interviews, stuff like that.
South Korea heightened its anti-terrorism alert status for five of its diplomatic missions by two levels on Thursday, in response to recent intelligence indicating North Korea's attempted acts of terrorist attacks against South Korean diplomats.

The government convened a meeting and decided to raise the state of its four-tier alert from "attention" to the third-highest level of "alert," for the five missions, officials said.

The five missions are the South Korean Embassy in Cambodia, the South Korean Embassy in Laos, the South Korean Embassy in Vietnam, the South Korean Consulate in Vladivostok, and the South Korean Consulate in the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang.

The alert level is issued when there is likelihood of terrorism, the government said.

In recent years, North Korea has repeatedly reaffirmed its stance against all forms of terrorism.

North Korea has a track record of staging terror attacks against South Korea in the past few decades, including the 1987 midair bombing of a South Korean airliner near Myanmar that killed all 115 people aboard.

The attack prompted the United States to put North Korea on its terrorism blacklist, but Washington removed Pyongyang from the list in 2008 to facilitate talks on ending North Korea's nuclear weapons programs.

In 2017, the U.S. redesignated North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism. (Yonhap)
(TBTCO) - Thi truong bat ong san, nhat la can ho tai cua ngo khu Tay TP. Ho Chi Minh ang tro thanh tam iem thu hut su quan tam cua nhieu nha au tu va nguoi mua o. Suc hut chinh la do ha tang giao thong trong iem ngay cang uoc chu trong nang cap va mo rong. Qua o, thi truong nay khong chi gop phan thuc ay giao thuong va phat trien kinh te trong khu vuc ma con giup gia tang gia tri bat ong san.
From Settlement to University

There are many stories of unsuccessful Roma children; this one from Slovakia is about how they can be helped effectively. From Dennik N.

by Veronika Folentova

Nikola sits in the corner of the classroom. Its her first day at a new school after a recent family move to the Slovak town of Levoca. The rest of the class are all Roma. They can all speak Slovak, but among themselves they speak Romani, and Nikola doesnt understand. Shes Roma herself, and not ashamed of it, but her family doesnt speak Romani at home. She cant understand her classmates and they dont understand why a Roma girl isnt able to speak their language.

Nikola is a quiet child and tries her best, at just 10 years of age, to understand why one class contains all the Roma children and a different one has the others. She experienced nothing like this at her last school, in Velky Krtis. There, her friends and classmates all had different skin colors. When shes older shell understand that what shes experiencing has a name: segregation.

When her parents ask how her first day at the new school was, she tells them she was put in the Roma class. The next day her mother goes to the school to sort things out and from that point on, Nikola is in the same class as white children. There, too, she sits quietly in the corner. She can now understand what the children are talking about, but she isnt accepted in this class either: she is seen as different.

Nikola had mixed experiences in Slovak schools: she was bullied, made fun of, had a learning disability misdiagnosed, and changed primary school twice; she even spent six months in the Northern Ireland education system. But today Nikola Pompova, 21 years old, is into her second year of Romani studies at Charles University in Prague.

She has been helped in her studies by stipends from the Roma Education Fund. Thanks to the fund she is now part of a community trying to get as many Roma children as possible into the highest levels of the Slovak education system.

Nikolas story shows that it is possible to help smart children who would otherwise be crushed by the Slovak school system. She is an example of why it makes sense to intervene, and a model for how to do it.

As well as granting money, the Roma Education Fund (REF) also offers students supplementary teaching and mentoring. Mentors advise students which areas of their education they need to work on, introduce them to role models, and talk to them about relationships at school and at home; all with the aim of getting them to achieve the best results they can.

Nikola. Photo by Vladimir Simicek/Dennik N.

The REFs programs begin in early childhood and so also cover children who havent yet started kindergarten. The aim is for children from Roma communities to go on to high school, and preferably to take final exams. The funds work with students also involves building a community of educated Roma people to address the lack of role models for Roma children. The idea of establishing the REF in Slovakia came from the Open Society Institute; the World Bank provided both funding and practical help to set up the program.

Children of parents who didnt even complete their primary education can start to fall behind their peers at school simply because no one at home can help with their homework. Sometimes the problem comes down to what might seem a trivial issue: simply giving children the belief that they can go to high school, pass their exams, and get to university. This is where the mentors come in.

The REF stipends only go to students who improve their grades and have no unexplained absences from school. When a Roma child from a ghetto or from one of the Roma settlements looks at how their parents live, and see that they dont have an education, they often lose their motivation to go to school and achieve anything themselves, even when they have what it takes. They absorb what they see at home into their own lives, because even outside the home environment they dont see examples of Roma people who have achieved anything, Nikola says.

The fund seeks out children who have the potential to pass their high-school exams and perhaps later to get to university. The fund has been operating for 10 years, in which time, across the whole of Europe, more than 7,000 Roma people have completed a university course.

Told She Wasnt Smart Enough

Nikola may soon join the ranks of Slovak Roma who have a university qualification. She began her schooling in Velky Krtis, where she was in a mixed class, did well and got top marks in all her exams. When she was 10 years old her family moved to Levoca; they were the first Roma family to move onto an estate inhabited by the majority Slovak community.

She joined the fourth year at the Francisci Street primary school in Levoca. I had problems fitting in because the non-Roma children didnt want to be friends with me. And even the Roma children didnt want to be friends with me, because I couldnt speak Romani and my skin was lighter.

This was Nikolas first experience of segregation: she didnt know where she belonged.

I knew I was a Roma, and we have never been ashamed of that. But we had lived our whole lives on mixed estates and I had lots of non-Roma friends, she says.

Today Nikola speaks authoritatively about prejudice, having experienced it herself.

When children are separated into different classes, the non-Roma children tell themselves its because the Roma are dirty and bad. Their parents often say the same at home. On the other hand, Roma children often envy the non-Roma children  how they live, how they dress. They dont make friends or get to know each other because they are in separate classes, she says.

Nikola cried at home a lot during her school days in Levoca: she wanted to go back to Velky Krtis, but her mother didnt want to. The Roma children started to bully her.

First they called me names, then it got worse. Once Nikola came home with the contents of her lunch box rubbed into her hair.

The situation didnt improve and her parents sent her to a new school. She got good marks and was accepted into a state gymnazium  a school for academically gifted students  where she was the schools first Roma girl. Even on registration day she sensed people were pointing at her and talking about her behind her back. It took her fellow students a while to get used to her. They could see that I could speak Slovak, and that I wore clean clothes; eventually everything worked out fine and Im still in contact with some of them today, she says.

She made friends, but then started having problems with math. She couldnt work out simple arithmetic without using her fingers or a pen and paper. Her teacher sent her for psychological testing, which concluded that she didnt have the ability to study at gymnazium level.

A New School, Dyscalculia and Graduation

At the end of the school year the family moved to Belfast in Northern Ireland, where Nikolas father was working long-term as a plasterer. She was 12 years old and was able to experience a school environment where she suffered no discrimination. She wanted to stay, but her mother couldnt settle. They returned to Slovakia and Nikola entered a different gymnazium in Levoca. This time she wasnt the schools only Roma girl, and the classes were mixed.

She went for more tests to find out why she was having trouble with math. The results showed she has a learning disability known as dyscalculia, which prevents the sufferer from doing arithmetic. She is unable to imagine numbers in the abstract. The condition also means I have spatial awareness issues: I get my left and right mixed up and find it difficult to read maps, Nikola says.

But she had no problems with school and for that reason was recommended for what turned out to be the first of several REF stipends. She used the money to buy study materials, and also paid for her school leaving party with it.

She was awarded the stipend even though her mother was receiving maternity pay and her father held a job. This is because REF stipends are awarded not as welfare payments, but on the basis of educational merit; the children of working parents are also eligible to receive them. Despite having work, parents often cannot afford to buy their children books and study materials or to cover their transport costs.

Because stipends are awarded purely on educational merit, and only children achieving the best school results receive them, the REF does not provide help for children with average or below-average grades. So the fund is not a universal solution to improve the performance of all children from marginalized environments. It only helps those getting good marks  the ones that have a higher chance of getting the grades to go on to study at university.

Nikola did well at school. She passed high school exams in civics, Slovak, English, and biology and wanted to study medicine, but was rejected by medical schools in Bratislava and Kosice. Two years later she received offers for Roma studies in Prague and English in Kosice. She chose Prague. She is one of eight students, half of whom are Roma.

Im enjoying it at the moment, though I dont know what Im going to do when Ive completed my studies. We are learning about the history of the Roma and about the different ethnic groups. And Ive learned to speak Romani.

These days, aside from her studies, Nikola also gets involved in the other activities the Roma Education Fund carries out in addition to awarding stipends. This involves trying to create a community of educated Roma people to help younger students. Among other things, Nikola has co-founded a reading club and led reading sessions with younger pupils.

A Mentor Who Teaches Parents Too

Jozef Demeter is another beneficiary of the REFs stipends and for the last five years has acted as a mentor for the fund, helping young female pupils to prepare for and study at secondary school and university. Jozef is a specialist in pedagogy and has been teaching for 17 years. He originally studied to be a cook and a waiter. He comes from a Roma settlement and still lives there today. Im not ashamed. Im proud to be Roma, he says.

Jozef Demeter on his graduation day

I used to cycle to the bus station and then catch a bus to school every day. I told myself that maybe one day I would teach at that school, he says about his childhood dreams. Since then he has graduated from high school, gone to university, undertaken various training courses and today is continuing his studies at Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, specializing in the education of children from particularly disadvantaged backgrounds.

Jozef is 38 years old and says segregation has increased markedly since he was a pupil himself, in a mixed class. We may have had to sit at the back, but it wasnt like it is today, he says. He excelled at primary school, loved his studies and never went out to play until he had done all his homework. I enjoyed school, he says. Today he works in a primary school in Slovenske Nove Mesto, as the tutor for a special needs class.

When I ask children what they want to be in life, those from the majority ethnic group have dreams: they want to be doctors, car mechanics, firefighters; but the Roma children often dont know where they want to work. It took a long time for the children to realize that they didnt have to limit themselves to community service work, he says.

The reason for this is that they often have no role models at home, and the only adults they see around them are unemployed and often under-educated. Jozef says this is where the Roma Education Fund stipends come in.

Demeters role as a mentor also involves working with parents. For the children to get good results, they have to have support at home, he says. The parents of students from marginalized communities often didnt complete secondary school themselves, Jozef says, and cant envisage their children being able to go beyond primary school.

They havent understood that higher levels of education open doors to other kinds of work and bring experience and higher levels of pay.

And here lies one of the funds limitations: the parents of children from the poorest backgrounds are often without work and see no prospects in education. They cant act as educational role models for their children, and role models are also often lacking in their wider circle.

When Jozef began working with Vanesa, her parents were unemployed and her mother was doing community service work. I had to motivate the parents more than I did the student, he says. They gradually discovered that when they worked, they had a lot more money. Over the four years that Demeter has worked with them, both parents have found work, repaired their house, and bought a car. Vanessas father did a welding course and now earns twice as much as I do, he laughs.

Jozef says often just talking things through with the parents and explaining why education is important for their children is enough to have an impact. When I speak to them, I talk to them at their level; I dont puff myself up, I dont make a show of having a higher level of education. Thats important, he says. Sometimes just chatting for a couple of minutes changes the parents attitude.

Jozef changes the attitudes not only of his students parents, but also of his own siblings. He has eight of them, and all are in work and continuing their education. Theyre not getting any younger,but theyre still learning: finishing off their secondary education, preparing for exams. My sister wants to go into social work, he says about how his family has changed the way it looks at education under his influence.

Demeter himself receives a stipend from the fund and is constantly learning. So far his mentoring has seen him work with three girls  one is now at university in Levoca and the other two are finishing off their studies at the private Deutsch-Slowakische Akademien (DSA) secondary school in Trebisov. Theyre preparing to go to university, and choosing their clothes for the high school leaving party, to which theyve invited their mentor. They are all studying teaching.

Jozef Demeter and Vanesa. Photo courtesy of Demeter.

Outside his work for the fund Jozef has also mentored two boys who are now car mechanics. Another of his students graduated from high school and is preparing to do a course to work in the private security sector. Jozef has also been helping parents to further their education, and five of them are now coming to the end of part-time courses in catering.

Few Settlement Children Finish High School

They all come from marginalized Roma communities, where only a very few children make it to secondary school or university. Im very happy for them, Demeter says.

He gives as an example one of his students, Melinda, whom he has known since she was in the first year of his school. She was so small  even her bag was bigger than her. I had to give her money for the bus so she wouldnt have to carry it home, he says. Today Melinda is in her second year at university in Levoca, studying nursery school teaching with the support of a REF stipend.

Jozef is in touch with his students at least twice a week; they talk not just about their studies, but about what else is happening in school, whether they are in a relationship, how things are going with boys. When I sense that a student is lacking motivation and things are getting them down, I offer them support. I tell them they can manage it, that they have to have a goal that they can gradually work towards. And then, when they regain motivation, we can go through specific subjects that are causing them problems, he says. He tries to help them achieve those goals: with his help they have started to work on getting driving licenses, for example. This is not common among Roma girls, he says: its often only the boys who drive.

Demeter encountered an additional problem with the girls he mentors: they didnt believe in themselves. They left primary school with the notion that they didnt have what it takes to finish secondary school or to go to university. At secondary school they were a hairs breadth away from dropping out in the first year, he says.

Melinda was told at primary school that she should become a pastry cook because she would come to nothing.

When she finished high school I called the teacher to tell her she had graduated from the private DSA school in Trebisov and had got a place at university. She was speechless for a minute and then congratulated the student, Demeter says.

When another two of Jozefs students found they were constantly being told to repeat their homework, a telephone call came to their rescue. Jozef called the teacher and asked what the problem was. He explained he was from the Roma Education Fund  something that often changes the attitude of the teachers, he says, because they realize that someone is looking out for the students, and also because the fund has a good reputation. Demeter says the teachers approach to the pupils then changed.

Jozef gives pupils extra classes himself at home, in his kitchen. My wife laughs at me, she says I have one school at school and another school at home. We have often still been up studying when my wife and child are already asleep in the room next door.

Motivation to Stay in School

What does Jozef think are the main problems in the Slovak school system? One is attendance levels; many students dont have support at home and so dont go to school. He would like to see a stricter approach to attendance, because if children dont go to school regularly, they cant get what they need to get on in life.

But Jozef was young himself once, and knows that at that age children will get up to mischief. And he also knows that some students stop going to school because they are being subjected to humiliating treatment, because they are made to feel bad, or because they are being hurt by others.

Students who want a stipend from the Roma Education Fund have to keep their attendance levels up. Demeter says this is a great motivator. Indeed, the question of attendance is another factor limiting the funds reach, because children who have missed a lot of classes cannot receive a stipend and so dont have access to a mentor.

To get support from the fund, students must have no more than 15 unauthorized absences from class in a school year. The fund also asks questions when a students record shows lots of authorized absences. Its happened to me many times that a girl has dropped out of school and I worried whether she would come back. But I kept at them for long enough that they didnt give up, Demeter says.

Viktor Teru and Slovak President Zuzana Caputova. Photo courtesy of Teru.

At the age of most of Jozefs charges, theyre experiencing their first loves and relationships. Roma girls have a completely different view of these things. I tell them its natural that they should have a boyfriend, but they dont have to get married straight away. They need to have boundaries and to finish their schooling.

A second problem is that Roma pupils can sometimes complete the compulsory number of years of education even before they finish primary school  often as early as the seventh grade. This can happen because children from socially disadvantaged backgrounds often have to repeat a school year, frequently as early as the first year of primary school, but also in later years.

If mentors were the norm in schools, the Roma community would make progress, he says. Mentors shouldnt just be looking after Roma children, but any child who is having problems and needs motivation or help, he says.

Jozef says the mentoring system should be extended to all schools, but the problem may be finding the money: the state doesnt have the means even to pay for teaching assistants for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. He says mentors should be employed as specialist staff members in schools, linking parents, students, teachers and specialist practitioners such as psychologists and speech therapists; whatever problem a pupil has, there should be a specialist there to help.

According to data from the Slovak Center for Scientific and Technical Information, the highest incidence of pupils dropping out of primary school is in the Banska Bystrica, Presov and Kosice regions  and it is precisely these areas that have the most segregated Roma settlements. The dropout rate in the older age groups is lower, probably because there are fewer children from the settlements in those classes.

Take the Trebisov district in eastern Slovakias Kosice region as an example: on the edge of the town is the countrys second biggest Roma settlement, according to the Atlas of Roma Communities. It has a population of 6,685, just less than in the well-known Lunik IX Roma estate in Kosice. Trebisovs Roma settlement makes up a quarter of its population.

In the last school year in Trebisov, a total of 213 pupils dropped out during their first year  18 percent of the total number of students. Three students even had to repeat the pre-primary zero year designed to bring them up to a sufficient level to start school. Among all students from that level to the fourth year, one in 10 had to repeat a year.

There are no accurate data on how many Roma students are studying in secondary schools and universities, a fact acknowledged by the Ministry of Education itself. This is because data are not collected by ethnicity. The only relevant data, cited by several experts, are from the EU Agency for Basic Rights, covering 2016. They indicate that 58 percent of children from marginalized Roma communities between the ages of 15 and 18 made it to secondary school. These figures are confirmed by the Slovak Government Representative for Roma Communities, Abel Ravasz. It is not clear how many of these children pass their final high school exams. Six percent go on to study for qualifications beyond high school; Ravasz says this is the same proportion as in Hungary, better than the figure in Romania, but worse than in the Czech Republic.

The number of children that leave the Slovak education system early, without even obtaining a certificate of education, is growing, and the overwhelming majority of them are from marginalized communities, says Viera Kalmarova, head of the National Schools Inspectorate. This is based on research on the success rates of students who go through the pre-primary zero year. No less than 92 percent of students in the zero year are from marginalized Roma communities. The zero year is supposed to enable children from a socially weaker background to catch up with their peers. Often, however, it leads to segregated Roma classes.

Research from the 2017-2018 school year has shown that less than half of students who went through the zero year successfully completed the first stage of primary school (the first four years), and only 19 percent successfully completed the ninth year of primary school without having to repeat a year.

Viktor Teru went to university thanks to the Roma Education Fund and today is an advisor to Slovak President Zuzana Caputova. We had one student who was the only Rom at his gymnazium and it was a great help to him when he got to know other Roma in other schools. He immediately realized that he was not alone, Teru says. Viktor and others have created a network of stipend recipients past and present. The university network has 200 members and the secondary school network over 1,000.

It is these students, who are currently studying or have finished university or gymnazium, who should be the model for younger students. One program aiming to support role models awards stipends to female students attending secondary-level schools that train future teachers. At the moment the program supports 45 students, some of whom may go on to become nursery school teachers.

Students start receiving support in the ninth year of primary school. To give one example, we had a student in Slovenske Nove Mesto, a town on the border with Hungary. She joined our program and completed secondary teacher training college and then went to the pedagogical faculty in Levoca. They speak very well of her at the university and her marks are among the highest there, Teru says.

Slovakia needs Roma teachers, he says. Wider society, including the Roma community, thinks that Roma teachers should only be for Roma children. Thats one way of seeing things. But our idea is that non-Roma children should also be exposed to Roma teachers, Teru explains. But this just wont happen without role models among the Roma, he says.

The stipend program isnt about someone getting money just because they are Roma. They get the money so they increase their motivation and are not afraid to study, Teru says. The money often helps students pay the costs of travel to school, or to buy books, or to pay for dormitories. Even when students have working parents, their income is often so low that they cant afford to send their child to secondary school if its located in a different town, for instance.

The fund organizes summer camps, training sessions, and workshops to reinforce the idea of a healthy identity. Teru explains that they want the students to be proud of the fact they are Roma and to show other Roma that they too can get an education.

One feature of the program is that older students help younger ones; students that want to receive a university stipend have to get involved in activities in the Roma community. In this way Roma students receiving support at university, like Jozef Demeter, can provide training to younger students who receive support from the Fund.

What Can Change

Support for students doesnt end after high school or university. The fund also offers internships and has contacts with employers. I worked as a field officer and as a trainer in the continuing education sector and what we observe  and this is not just true for Roma students  is that a secondary education provides the theory, but students still lack practical skills, how to write a CV or to fill in a simple questionnaire, for instance, Teru says. This is why the fund wants the students it supports at university to provide extra training and to act as mentors and tutors to those in secondary schools.

In a project covering the period from 2018 to 2021, the fund has received European funding for 60 mentors, each of whom is responsible for three students. They are already seeing results: the students with a mentor have improved their grades and reduced the number of missed classes.

But the reach of the fund is limited. In the current Slovak education system, it isnt realistic to expand the reach of the program to all schools, not just those with Roma pupils, given the financial restraints. Not only can many schools not afford teaching assistants for disadvantaged children, they often also lack professional practitioners such as psychologists or education specialists.

The work of the Roma Education Fund is necessary and valuable, says Miroslava Hapalova, an analyst at To da rozum, an educational foundation. Students from socially weaker backgrounds and marginalized areas need help to overcome the barriers they face due to a lack of money, she says.

Even though there is a system of state-funded stipends in secondary schools, the family income ceiling is set too low and the amount of the stipend depends on the grades being achieved, without taking account of the general standard in the school or the difficulty of the subjects being studied.

This means that many students from poorer families, and particularly those in subjects leading to a final exam, drop out for want of financial support. Our research shows that in both secondary and university education there is a priority need for other forms of support to students, not just financial. The [Roma Education] Fund helps dozens of students every year, but the figure simply isnt high enough, she says.

The model of stipends and support is replicable, she believes. So why doesnt the state take up the idea and apply the system universally? Hapalova says its not so much a question of money as one of legislation and the way support services are structured. University students with specific needs do have a statutory right to support, if they have a disability, an illness, or a learning disability. These students also benefit from a coordinator to help them in their studies.

But the state doesnt extend this provision to students from socially weaker backgrounds or from marginalized areas. We are often talking about the first generation of students at university and they dont have anyone from their social background to get advice from when they come up against a problem or face obstacles in their studies. They cant fall back on help or experience from the family; they dont have the necessary social capital, Hapalova says.

Other countries have the same problem, but in contrast to Slovakia, in many countries students from socially excluded groups receive comprehensive forms of support. The money could be found for this, Hapalova says. An average of 15 million euros is allocated each year for social stipends in universities and 3 million euros for secondary schools, she says.

To make this funding more effective  and create a better return  it would help for it to be provided in parallel with other support services, such as tutoring and mentoring, to help pupils and students overcome obstacles other than merely financial ones, Hapalova believes.

Aside from the REF, other organizations have also demonstrated the success of mentoring. The system of providing additional teaching for children in the domestic environment is something that works, Hapalova says. An example is Jarna Street School in Zilina, which received help from the Center for Research in Ethnicity and Culture in the form of individual teaching and tutoring.

The Roma Education Fund was created to try out these and other models. It then tries to extend those that work to the whole of society. Last year the fund joined an expert team for the education of Roma at the office of the Government Representative for the Roma Community. Stipends and mentoring and extra tuition have become part of the governments strategy to include Roma communities. The fund is currently working on a handbook on how to prepare calls for expression of interest in the stipend program.

The fund itself, however, cannot expand the stipend model into all schools. So far it has supported children in 147 secondary schools, but there are almost 800 in Slovakia.

Despite his work with the government representative, Viktor Teru sees the limitations, particularly in how the education system operates. He says the state is a passive actor and this threatens the sustainability of the activities and stipends that the fund carries out. If the state does not implement examples of good practice, there is a risk that in a few years these activities will be no more than a memory.

Veronika Folentova is a Slovak journalist who primarily covers health care and education.

This article originally appeared in the Slovak newspaper Dennik N. Research was supported by MEMO 98, Transitions, and the Solutions Journalism Network.

Translated by Paul Kaye.
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By Jung Min-ho

A police officer accidentally released the personal information of seven women with the same name after being tricked by a man impersonating a detective.

According to Heungdeok Police Station in Cheongju, Thursday, sensitive information such as addresses and resident registration numbers of the women, all in their 30s, were released to a man who claimed to be an investigator chasing wanted suspects on April 27.

By the time the police officer realized that something was wrong, the scammer had received the information.

It is still unclear why the impersonator wanted the personal information. Police said they are searching for the man involved in this incident.

In a statement released four days later, the police station issued an apology to the victims and the public, expressing its commitment to making utmost efforts to locate the individual responsible.

We sincerely apologize for causing concerns, it said. We will reform the internal system in regard to personal information management and prevent similar incidents from happening by educating officials doing related work.

The police stated they informed the affected women of the incident and pledged to protect them. They mentioned difficulty in reaching one of the women because she is currently residing abroad.
How you want this to go? You want me to kill you and your son, or you want me just kill you alone?

This was the question posed to 40-year-old Anna Ellis yesterday, when she was attacked by a man known to her at her home on Dibe Road, St James.

Ellis, who was stabbed multiple times, was able to speak with reporters yesterday afternoon while police were conducting a search for her 12-year-old son, who was kidnapped following the confrontation.
By Jung Min-ho

An Indonesian man has been arrested for allegedly stabbing one of his fellow countrymen to death in Daegu on April 28.

According to Seongseo Police Station on Thursday, an arrest warrant was issued by the court for the man in his 40s, who is suspected of inflicting fatal injuries on another Indonesian man with a weapon near a nightclub in the citys Dalseo District.

The victim, who was in his 30s, was immediately taken to a nearby hospital, where he died while being treated.

The suspect fled the scene, only to be apprehended by police eight hours later at a house in Goryeong-gun, North Gyeongsang Province.

Police said the two men, who did not know each other before that day, had a quarrel inside the club which eventually escalated into a physical fight. The cause of the altercation is still under investigation.

According to Indonesias media outlets, groups of Indonesians were involved in a fight, which they reported left one man dead and four others injured.
The second of three listening sessions hosted by the Arizona Board of Regents and the University of Arizonas presidential search advisory committee drew a crowd of under 10 people Wednesday night.

The listening sessions, which are meant to gather community input about the search for the next UA president, havent been very well-attended. The first gathering, which took place last week, had about 40 attendees and 12 speakers.

Wednesdays session had just two speakers and ended less than 10 minutes after it began.

We have a fairly small turnout today, Regent Doug Goodyear told the attendees. Final day of classes, exams, etc. etc. Perhaps the timing may not have been the best.

It wasnt just the last day of classes at the university, however. The night before the listening session, a chaotic scene erupted on campus when UA President Robert C. Robbins ordered law enforcement officers to arrest members of a pro-Palestinian encampment. Four people were arrested for trespassing.

Robbins announced last month, amid controversies over the UAs deficit, that he will step down at the end of his contract, in June 2026, or sooner if his successor is in place. The deficit stands at $162 million and is projected to shrink to $52 million next year.

Goodyear said the regents plan to open up the next listening session, on May 8, to Zoom in order to allow more people to participate. The meeting time and site have not yet been announced.

There also were not many members of the presidential search advisory committee present. Out of the 18-member committee, staff member Christina Rocha, Professor Caleb Simmons, Regent Fred DuVal and search consultant Alberto Pimentel were present.

ABOR Chair Cecilia Mata could not make it because she was traveling internationally, Goodyear noted.

The committee did have seven meetings Wednesday with different stakeholder groups across campus, DuVal said.

We will be doing that again a week from today with another seven or eight groups, DuVal said.

Erin Chadd, chief of staff and director of special projects for Arizona International, said she hopes the next president will be a strong team builder.

I would really like to see a really strong leadership team, not just a strong president, she told the committee. It really is a team effort.

Despite the listening sessions low turnout, the online survey sent out to students, faculty and staff soliciting feedback for the committee has received more than 2,800 responses, Goodyear said.

Even though there may not be throngs of people here in our presence, people are responding and giving us very good impact and feedback via our online survey, he said.

DuVal ended the listening session with what he called a statement of aspiration and optimism.

This is a world class university, it will remain a world class university, he said. This challenge we have is a serious challenge that will require a serious effort.

This is an institution that is rich with assets and strengths and reputation and brand, he said.
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Related content October 2023: Dozens rally in Tulsa to support Palestine

With students calling on school officials to take a public stance, a pro-Palestinian rally was organized Wednesday at the University of Tulsa, the first such protest held there since protesters began rallying on U.S. college campuses earlier in April.

The afternoon event, called a peaceful protest for Palestine, was held outside Collins Hall, where it drew more than 100 supporters.

Organizers said the goal was twofold: to call for a ceasefire in Israels ongoing war with Hamas and to call upon the TU administration to condemn the human rights violations occurring in Gaza.

TU freshman Sophia Rehman, the main organizer behind the protest, said: We condemn all organizations who violate human rights, whether it be Hamas, whether it be IDF. But today we are focusing on the violations occurring in Palestine. We dont want to see our university maintain a position of neutrality when thousands of innocent civilians, including children, are being killed by the Israeli military.

Sophomore Heba Saleh was among the students calling on TU officials to take a stance.

This is not about politics, Saleh said. Its not a political stance to be against genocide. Its a human rights stance.

She said the university has released statements before in support of Ukraine. So why cant they do the same for Palestine?

In a statement, Matthew Ingram, interim dean of students, responded on behalf of TU: The University of Tulsa supports our students right to free speech. These student organizers have handled themselves professionally and within university policy to safely express their views in a way that does not threaten others or disrupt university operations.

History professor Andrew Wood was among a handful of faculty members who came out to support the effort. He said he and his wife have followed the events in Gaza and want to see an end to the ongoing slaughter of innocent people.

Im just outraged and sickened by what our government is helping to perpetuate, Wood said. I call it a genocide, and I think theres no doubt its a genocide. Its just unconscionable.

Wood said he was encouraged by the event turnout Wednesday, and especially by the fact that it was student-led.

They are rocking it, he said. The young people are standing up for whats right. Theyre fearless, which is more than I can say for people my age.

The students participated in group chants, many of them carrying homemade signs.

TU sophomore Ali Sher led some of the chants.

This is a huge crowd, Sher said. I didnt expect this many people to show. Its a lot of people. And thats good thing.

Rahman, a Bixby High School graduate, said shes been wanting to organize a protest over the war in Gaza for a while. She had never done it before and had no idea how many would show up for her first effort.

School is almost out, and I hope there wont be a need for this this fall  that there will be a ceasefire soon. But if there is, we will do this again, she said.

Rehman, a political science major, added: Im an American. I love this country. Im thinking about dedicating my career to studying American politics. I love and am loyal to my country. And it tears me apart  it kills me  to see our nation be complicit in human rights violations.

This is an emotional issue for many of us, Rehman said. I often find myself in tears when I see the images coming out of Gaza. It breaks me apart. Its painful.

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By Jung Da-hyun

Seoul Metro said, Wednesday, it will compile a blacklist to target customers who sexually harass or abuse subway staff with violent language or bombard them with unreasonable complaints. This shift from a passive approach is meant to safeguard staff and ensure a safer, more respectful environment.

The operator of Seoul subway lines No. 1 to 8 announced proactive measures against malicious complainants, including pursuing legal action such as filing lawsuits. Individuals who persistently make unwarranted complaints will be added to a blacklist to prevent further issues.

In addition, it will inform that the matter is closed when a person continues to raise the same complaint more than three times, even after receiving a response. If the complainant persists in raising the same issue after being notified, Seoul Metro will consider taking legal action.

The company did not take such measures until now.

Currently, notices regarding the protection of staff responding to complaints under the Occupational Safety and Health Act are sent before calls are connected. Additional leave is also provided to staff members handling complaints, and safety equipment such as recorders is supplied to ensure their well-being.

However, with the implementation of the blacklist system, Seoul Metro aims to strengthen its response in a more fundamental and direct manner.

This decision stems from the acknowledgment that the current approach has failed to prevent work disruptions and the erosion of employee morale caused by malicious civil complaints.

Out of over 1,35 million complaints received last year, 3.8 percent, or 51,711 cases, were malicious complaints, Seoul Metro identified.

These cases included instances of sexual harassment, abusive language, threats, repeated claims that disrupted work and complaints that were likely to be malicious.

There have been extreme cases, such as an individual requesting information about train numbers around 15,000 times in a year, which can significantly disrupt the workflow of employees.

To address problems of malicious civil petitions, Seoul Metro plans to expand psychological counseling services for staff members and ensure the privacy of personal information for those handling complaints to protect staff.

"We will actively implement measures to enhance our response, as repeated malicious complaints have been causing disruptions to our operations," a Seoul Metro official said.
Kevin Canfield Tulsa World Staff Writer Follow Kevin Canfield Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

More than a year and a half after it was tabled, city councilors on Wednesday resumed their discussion of a proposed ordinance amendment originally intended to address complaints about homeless people blocking sidewalks and other rights of way.

Mayor G.T. Bynum proposed the amendment in May 2022 at the request of Police Chief Wendell Franklin.

This is really just addressing a growing issue that I know a number of you have contacted me about, with people using sidewalks as campsites and the need to really keep our sidewalks and rights of ways in place for what they are there for, which is for people to be able to use them to walk and move around, Bynum told councilors at the time.

The latest version of the proposal includes several significant changes from the 2022 proposal: If approved, it would eliminate jail time as a possible penalty and limit the possible fine to no more than $100, excluding costs, fees and assessments.

Under the 2022 version, first-time offenders would have been subject to a fine of no more than $100, excluding costs, fees and assessments, or jail time of no more than five days, or both. For subsequent convictions, the penalty would have been a fine of no more than $200, excluding costs, fees and assessments, or jail time of no more than 10 days, or both.

The 2022 proposed ordinance amendment also included language prohibiting sitting, kneeling, reclining and lying in public rights of way, with exceptions for disability or activities permitted by the city.

The latest version removes that language and defines obstruct as interfering with the use for the intended purpose or render(ing) passage unreasonably inconvenient or hazardous.

The latest proposed ordinance amendment also states that injury or equipment failure would constitute an affirmative defense of a violation.

As proposed, the ordinance amendment would make it unlawful and an offense for any person to obstruct any street, alley, crosswalk, sidewalk, or trail used for the passage of pedestrians  vehicles, or bicycles to which the public or a significant group of the public has access, unless allowed by the terms of a license or permit issued by the city.

The ordinance amendment would also apply to obstructing curb ramps and accessibility ramps, doorways, or similar points of access or egress.

In response to a councilors concern about what could happen to homeless people who do not pay their fines, City Council Administrator Sarah Davis explained that there are multiple protections for individuals who find themselves in that situation.

Theres something called a Rule 8 hearing where a judge has to assess somebodys ability to pay, Davis said. Theres also a state law that went into effect, I think November first of last year, that puts increased protections for people.

You cant consider certain types of income, like federally based income sources in that income assessment. And so there are additional protections for inability to pay.

Councilor Phil Lakin said after the committee meeting that options exist for people who find themselves unable to pay a fine. He noted, for example, that the Tulsa Municipal Court system offers a Special Services Docket that provides alternatives to paying fines and serving jail time.

Its got the Mental Health Association and other qualified charities that are providing these wraparound services, Lakin said. The person has to voluntarily go,  and its been a very impressive program.

Councilor Lori Decter Wright said she and Lakin presented the proposed ordinance changes to A Way Home for Tulsa, a consortium of service providers working to address homelessness in Tulsa.

Wright and Lakin are members of the mayors Housing, Homelessness & Mental Health Task Force, which recommended that city councilors bring the right of way ordinance back up for discussion.

The amended ordinance language was refined to the version we are considering today based on A Way Home for Tulsas and other community members feedback to the originally proposed amendment language, Wright said. We think we have achieved a balanced approach to regulating public rights of way to protect the health, safety and welfare of residents and visitors to our city with this amended ordinance proposal.

Mark Smith, CEO of Housing Solutions, said the organization was grateful that city councilors listened to the communitys concerns regarding the 2022 proposal and incorporated its feedback into the proposal presented Wednesday.

The city of Tulsa is our partner in the mission to end homelessness in our community, and we appreciate their sensitivity to concerns about how the previous ordinance may have had negative consequences for our most vulnerable neighbors and making changes to the ordinance to address those concerns, Smith said.

The current version of the right-of-way obstruction ordinance has been on the books for decades. It originally pertained to individuals blocking public rights of way with machinery, merchandise or other objects with no mention of individuals themselves blocking a right of way.

The proposed ordinance amendments  the 2022 proposal and the one presented Wednesday  include updated language that addresses both issues.

The proposed ordinance amended was on the City Council agenda on Wednesday night for a first read.

It is scheduled to be on next Wednesdays council agenda for public comments and a possible vote.



The Tulsa World is where your story lives
Steve Metzer Tulsa World Capitol Bureau Staff Writer Follow Steve Metzer Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

OKLAHOMA CITY  Organizers of a campaign to raise Oklahomas minimum wage are hopeful that if they collect enough signatures on an initiative petition a statewide vote wont be delayed by the process of validating signatures.

Thats what happened in 2022, when supporters of an effort to get recreational use of marijuana legalized witnessed a delay that ended up pushing a vote back from November of that year to March of 2023. It was the first time in nearly a century that Oklahoma voters missed the opportunity to decide a state question during a general election year.

State Rep. Mickey Dollens, D-Oklahoma City, isnt convinced that the Secretary of States Office and a company contracted to validate signatures are any better prepared now to push the process along faster.

Dollens was so concerned about the states experience in 2022 that he organized a legislative study to review what happened and try to ensure that it doesnt happen again.

People who get 180,000 signatures (on an initiative petition) should not have to wait on faulty software or a faulty process for them to be validated, he said.

Amber England, an organizer at Raise the Wage Oklahoma, which is currently circulating a petition proposing a vote on State Question 832 to raise the minimum wage, is more optimistic. She said she thinks officials will be more efficient in counting and verifying signatures on the next petition.

I think the secretary of state will do a better job this time around. (In 2022), there were a lot of lessons learned, England said.

According to reporting by Oklahoma Watch, backers of State Question 820 in 2022, which proposed legalizing marijuana for recreational use, thought they were well positioned to make the November ballot that year. They started their work in January, survived an early legal challenge and started collecting signatures by that spring.

In just 60 days they collected more than 164,000 signatures  well more than the 94,911 required to set the stage for a vote  and delivered 118 boxes of signed petitions to the Secretary of States Office on July 5.

Organizers said they were led to believe that verifying signatures would take two to three weeks.

Dollens said the process was delayed as the state contracted for the first time with a company, Western Petition Systems, to help validate signatures.

Dollens said the Legislature in 2020 had amended the state statute dealing with the handling of signatures on initiative petitions. Whereas previously the secretary of state had been required only to count signatures (one of the reasons petitioners often collected more signatures than actually required), now the office would be required to implement a process to verify that signatures were those of registered Oklahoma voters.

Dollens expressed doubts that the secretary of state was authorized to turn to an outside vendor at all or that open bidding processes were appropriately followed.

Brian Bingman, who was the secretary of state in 2022, responded that his office abided by the intent of the Legislature when it entered into the contract with Western Petition Systems. He said, too, that his office did request bids and that WPS was selected over a company from Arizona that proposed to do the signature validation work at a higher cost to the state.

In an email, Grayson Walker, counsel for current Secretary of State Josh Cockroft, said the Legislature in 2020 instructed the office to make or cause to be made a verification and count of the number of signatures on the petitions. He also clarified that the process of counting and verifying signatures was, and is, overseen by the secretary of state, not by Western Petition Systems.

And let me add that, at least as a technical matter, verification is performed electronically  by WPS software  not by staff, Walker wrote.

Dollens said the software wasnt up to the task of reading names on the SQ 820 petition and that WPS eventually had to hire temporary workers to verify signatures by human eye.

If supporters of the current state question to raise the minimum wage are successful in collecting signatures, he said he would hope things will run smoother.

At the very least I would like for signature verification to take place (at the same time as) petitioners are gathering signatures, he said. That would prevent the delay if they wait to begin verification until after all the signatures are turned in.

Bingman, who said he was more interested than frustrated by the lengthy process of signature verification in 2022, said he would not expect a lengthy delay going forward.

Im sure they have (improved) as a result of the experience, he said.

Walker agreed.

Although there were unexpected delays (in 2022), any delays were attributable to the steep learning curve associated with the carrying out of new duties, the deployment of new software and other technology and the management of temporary staff, he wrote.

(Since then) WPS has made technical updates that should result in enhanced performance of its software. Meanwhile, the secretary of state has engaged a new temporary staffing vendor and doubled its workstations to accommodate twice as many data entry clerks.

England said signature gathering on the SQ 832 petition, which began on April 16, is going well. She added that she currently has more concerns about people opposed to raising the minimum wage, who are expected to throw up additional legal challenges, than she has about processes for validating signatures at the Secretary of States Office.

But I think were in a really strong position, England said. And I believe the secretary of state will work in good faith to count and verify the signatures.

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Vietnam received foreign direct investment commitments worth US$1.68 billion in the real estate sector in the first four months of this year, a fourfold increase over that in the same period last year, proving that the Vietnamese housing market remains attractive to foreign investors, according to the General Statistics Office.

The figure was only $386 million in the same period last year.

In the year to April 20, the Southeast Asian country attracted close to $9.27 billion in foreign investment, edging up 4.5 percent year on year.

In particular, foreign investors registered to channel over $7.11 billion into 966 new projects, surging over 83 and nearly 29 percent, respectively.

The processing and manufacturing sector took the lead in the proportion of the amount with nearly $5 billion, making up 70.2 percent.

The real estate sector came in second.

Investors from 48 countries and territories have injected some $66.4 billion into 1,100 property projects in Vietnam over the past 33 years, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Singapore emerged as the biggest investor in the sector in Vietnam, followed by South Korea, the Virgin Islands, and Japan.

In 2023 alone, real estate was also the second-largest recipient of foreign investment with nearly $4.67 billion, inching up 4.8 percent over the year-ago period.

Trang Bui, CEO of Cushman & Wakefield Vietnam, a commercial real estate service firm, said Vietnam has become a popular destination for many foreign investors amid the global economic volatility.

An enterprise specializing in M&A told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Wednesday that plenty of foreign investors have expressed their interest in legal real estate projects in Vietnam regardless of the local property sectors difficulties and Vietnamese firms need for capital for survival.

Neil MacGregor, managing director of real estate service provider Savills Vietnam, said the firm had received many orders for M&A consultancy from Vietnamese enterprises.

Meanwhile, investors from Japan, Singapore, and Taiwan have sought to pour capital into the local property market.

FDI enterprises had funneled capital into industrial, tourism, and housing properties, said Le Hoang Chau, chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association.

KPMGs statistics revealed that real estate ranked second in terms of M&A transaction value, accounting for 23 percent of the $4.4 billion transactions in the Vietnamese market as of the beginning of the last quarter of 2023.

Major investors involved in these transactions were from Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, and South Korea.

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India's food safety regulator said on Thursday it had ordered testing and inspections at all companies making spice mixes, widening an investigation into the sector as global regulators look into suspected contamination in two popular local brands.

Hong Kong last month suspended sales of three spice blends made by India's MDH and an Everest spice mix for fish curry. Singapore ordered a recall of the same Everest mix as well, flagging high levels of ethylene oxide, which is unfit for human consumption and a cancer risk with long exposure.

MDH and Everest products are hugely popular in India and also sold in Europe, Asia and North America, and the companies have said they are safe. Still, U.S. and Australian food authorities said they are gathering more information on the matter, and India had already ordered testing of the two brands' products.

The Indian regulator has now ordered officials to conduct "extensive inspections, sampling and testing at all the manufacturing units", for powdered spices, with a focus on those making curry powders and mixed spice blends for local and foreign sales.

"Each of the product sampled will be analysed for the compliance with quality and safety parameters," the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India said in a statement.

The agency added checks would also be made for any presence of ethylene oxide, whose use is banned in India, and "appropriate actions will be initiated as fit" after testing was completed.

India is the world's biggest exporter, producer and consumer of spices, and its domestic market for the products was valued at $10.44 billion in 2022, according to Zion Market Research.

Beyond MDH and Everest, other major manufacturers include Madhusudan Masala, NHC Foods and consumer giants Tata Consumer Products and ITC.

None of the companies responded to a request for comment.

The Spices Board says India exported spice products worth $4 billion in 2022-23.

The Global Trade Research Initiative, a New Delhi-based think tank, said in a report on Wednesday that rising global scrutiny could put more than half of country's spice exports at risk.

If China decides to implement similar measures as other countries, Indian spice exports could see a "dramatic downturn", the report said.
Russia has yet to determine when Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Vietnam, but the date will soon be selected after his inauguration, slated for May 7, Russian Ambassador to Vietnam Gennady Stepanovich Bezdetko told a press briefing in Hanoi on Thursday.

Bezdetko reaffirmed that the Russian president accepted the invitation to visit Vietnam from General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong during a phone talk in March.

After the date of the expected visit is determined, we will announce it to the press, Bezdetko said.

During the phone talk on March 26, Party General Secretary Trong extended his deepest condolences to President Putin, the Russian people, and the families of the victims of a terrorist attack near Moscow on March 22, according to a statement of the Party Central Committee's Commission for External Relations.

The Vietnamese leader also congratulated Putin on his re-election as president of Russia for the 2024-30 tenure with a record number of votes in the country's modern history.

Party chief Trong also underscored that Vietnam treasures Russias significant support, affirming that the comprehensive strategic partnership with Moscow is one of the top priorities in Hanois foreign policy.

At the press conference on Thursday, the Russian ambassador listed some typical achievements of the bilateral relationship after 74 years.

This year marks the 45th anniversary of the construction of Hoa Binh Hydropower Plant with backing from Russia, and the 30th anniversary of its operation.

2024 also marks the 40th anniversary of the Da Lat Nuclear Research Institute and the Vietnam-Russia oil and gas joint venture Vietsovpetro, which has served as a cornerstone of Vietnam's modern oil and gas industry.

Ambassador Bezdetko underlined that one of the most valuable treasures of the Vietnam-Russia relationship is that tens of thousands of Vietnamese students have graduated from Russian universities.

The Russian diplomat said that several major Russian companies such as Zarubezhneft and Novatek are keen on investing in the wind power and liquefied natural gas fields in Vietnam.

I strongly believe that with great and mutual efforts, our two nations will overcome all difficulties and strengthen their comprehensive strategic partnership, Bezdetko asserted.

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Vietnams lawmaking National Assembly agreed on Thursday to remove Vuong Dinh Hue from the legislature chair role for the 2021-26 term and to relieve him of the duty as a deputy of the 15th National Assembly.

The 7th extraordinary session of the 15th National Assembly was convened in Hanoi on Thursday afternoon to consider the dismissal of the National Assembly chair for the 2021-26 tenure.

The session was also meant to approve the dismissal of Hue as a member of the Council for National Defense and Security, and to remove him from the responsibility of a delegate of the 15th National Assembly from the Hai Phong City delegation.

After listening to proposals and statements made by Hue, the National Assembly conducted discussions, held a secret ballot, and passed a resolution to dismiss him from the National Assembly chairmanship for the 2021-26 tenure.

The legislative body also approved the nullification of his membership in the Council for National Defense and Security as well as canceled his role as a delegate of the 15th National Assembly.

The 13th Party Central Committee had convened a meeting in Hanoi on April 26 to discuss and give opinions on relieving Hue of all his political roles and ending his public service.

Hue, born in 1957, was a key leader of the Party and the state who received fundamental training and rose through the ranks from grassroots levels to hold many important positions in the political apparatus.

However, reports from the Central Inspection Commission and relevant authorities indicated that he had flouted regulations prohibiting certain actions for Party members.

He failed to meet the obligation of demonstrating exemplary behavior for officials and Party members, which is especially vital for those in the Politburo, Secretariat, and Party Central Committee.

Moreover, he was held accountable as a leader in accordance with Party rules and state laws.

Hue's transgressions and shortcomings provoked unfavorable public opinion, tarnishing the prestige of the Party and the state, as well as his own reputation.

Having a clear understanding of his responsibilities to the Party, the state, and the people, he submitted a request to give up all of his assigned positions and duties.

In accordance with current Party and state regulations and taking into account Hue's preferences, the Party Central Committee then decided to relieve him of the following roles: member of the Politburo, member of the 13th Party Central Committee, and chairman of the 15th National Assembly for the 2021-26 term.

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A BMW X5 car parked by the roadside of a local street in Ha Dong District, Hanoi burst into flames on Thursday.

A police officer in Ha Dong District confirmed to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on the same day that a luxury car caught fire in the district.

The car fire happened on Ngo Thi Sy Street at noon.

After being notified of the flames, police officers and firefighters were dispatched to the scene to put them out.

The fire was totally extinguished at 12:45 pm.

The flames destroyed the BMW car, and burned the rear end and front end of the two cars parked near the BMW.

Police are investigating the cause of the fire, said the officer.

The car after the fire was extinguished. Photo: Social media

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Check out the latest news in Vietnam today:

Society

-- A fire engulfed a cold storage warehouse measuring some 300 square meters before sweeping into a nearby beer warehouse in Thu Duc City, under the jurisdiction of Ho Chi Minh City, on Wednesday night. No casualties were reported but two firefighters suffered from smoke inhalation and required medical attention.

-- Vietnam reported 347 traffic accidents that left 138 people dead and 285 others injured during the five-day holiday in celebration of the countrys Reunification Day (April 30) and International Workers Day (May 1), according to the National Committee for Traffic Safety.

-- Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Wednesday signed a dispatch demanding prompt actions to cope with the aftermath of a deadly workplace accident that took place in a wood factory in Dong Nai Province, southern Vietnam earlier the same day, as well as to support victims.

-- Seventy-three people in Dong Nai Province, southern Vietnam were hospitalized on Tuesday evening due to suspected food poisoning after they ate banh mi and developed several symptoms like fever, abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea, a local hospital where they were receiving medical care confirmed on Wednesday night.

-- Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Wednesday sent an urgent dispatch to relevant ministries and heads of localities nationwide, urging them to keep a close watch on the on-going heatwave that may pose a high risk of forest fires in many parts of the country.

Business

-- Two unlicensed tourist sites adjacent to a stream in Vietnams central province of Quang Binh were forced to suspend operations and be demolished after a 52-year-old tourist drowned there on Tuesday afternoon, a local official said on Wednesday.

-- Tourist arrivals in Phu Quoc City off Kien Giang Province, southern Vietnam during the five-day holiday commemorating Reunification Day (April 30) and International Workers Day (May 1) fell short of authorities expectation due to high airfares. The island city served only 125,860 visitors, including 22,420 international tourists, according to the provincial Department of Tourism.

World News

-- Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on Wednesday he will break diplomatic relations with Israel over its actions in Gaza, according to Reuters.

-- Ten people died and 21 are missing due to heavy rains this week in Brazil's southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, with the local government warning that the situation is critical and could deteriorate further, Reuters reported.

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By Jung Da-hyun

A small and adorable Pomeranian named Hodu is capturing attention on social media as it serves as a village patrol dog in the Seongdong District of eastern Seoul.

Three-year-old Hodu has been patrolling the neighborhood as part of a "dog patrol" program since April 20.

This initiative encourages pet owners and their canine companions to patrol the neighborhood during their daily walks, swiftly reporting any observed dangers or incidents to local authorities.

Eum Ho-sang, the owner of Hodu, shared his motivation for joining the patrol program, mentioning previous safety-related incidents such as potholes and illegal parking. He saw it as a chance for Hodu to contribute to the community while enjoying their walks, according to the Seongdong District Office.

The dog patrol initiative, which started with 64 teams in 2022, experienced significant growth, with 1,011 teams participating last year that filed 48,431 reports.

This year, the program has expanded further, with 1,424 teams engaged in patrols following a proclamation ceremony on April 20. Among these teams, a total of 46, including Hodu's team, are dedicated to patrolling Seongdong District.

To qualify for the canine patrol team, several screening criteria must be met, including how well dogs understand commands such as "wait" and "come here," their behavior when approached by strangers, and whether they can pass by other pets calmly without excessive barking.

As Hodu's charming patrol activities have garnered widespread attention, Chong Won-o, the head of Seongdong District Office, shared photos and a short video of the Pomeranian on social media, X.

"The dog patrol initiative, led by the Seoul Metropolitan Government's self-governing police commission, plays a crucial role in safeguarding our communities, identifying necessary facility repairs and offering assistance where needed," Cho said.
Police in Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi have affirmed that news reports of a local street peddler charging two foreign tourists VND500,000 (US$19.7) for three pineapples were inaccurate.

Police officers said that the vendor sold one peeled pineapple for VND50,000 ($1.97) but the tourists wanted to take two more, which led to their argument.

At 9:40 pm on Saturday last week, N.T.T., a 56-year-old local resident, was selling pineapples at the intersection of Hang Buom and Hang Duong Street in Hoan Kiem District when two foreign women asked to buy the fruit, according to a police report.

T. offered a peeled pineapple for VND50,000 ($1.97).

After receiving a VND500,000 ($19.7) banknote from the two tourists, T. gave them back VND450,000 ($17.7) in change.

Despite this, the two foreign female tourists requested two additional unpeeled pineapples, but T. turned them down.

The two sides got involved in a dispute as a result.

One of the two tourists flung the vendors belongings to the ground.

The street vendor at the police station. Photo: Q.A. / Tuoi Tre

As many local residents rushed to the scene, the vendor explained that she sold a pineapple for VND50,000 only.

Some people said the price was still high and asked her to return the money to the tourists.

T. later returned the VND500,000 banknote to the tourists and took back her VND450,000.

While working with police officers, witnesses also affirmed that T. sold a pineapple at VND50,000.

T. has no previous convictions and has not solicited or compelled tourists.

The Hang Dao Ward police just fined her for peddling goods in a banned area.

Earlier, a video saying that a street vendor charged two foreign tourists VND500,000 for three pineapples in Hanoi circulated on social media.

Police in Hang Dao Ward later coordinated with their colleagues in Hoan Kiem District to investigate the case.

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Road traffic accidents killed 138 people across Vietnam during the five-day holiday marking Reunification Day (April 30) and International Workers Day (May 1), a drop of 32.35 percent year on year, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

The death toll was recorded in 347 road crashes nationwide, which also injured 285 people, during the break period from April 27 to May 1.

Along with the sharp reduction in fatality, the numbers of accidents and wounded people also decreased from a year earlier, by 9.16 percent and 1.38 percent, respectively, Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper reported, citing the ministry.

There was one waterway traffic accident that took one life while no crash occurred on the railway.

The period saw traffic police handle 77,431 cases of road traffic violations, impose fines worth more than VND170 billion (US$6.7 million), revoke 14,987 drivers licenses, and impound 1,163 cars, 28,015 motorbikes, and 561 other vehicles.

Among the traffic violators were 21,369 drivers under the influence of alcohol, 21,088 overspeeding, and 87 abusing drugs.

On the waterway and railway, there were 696 and 19 instances of traffic violations, respectively. The fines for these violations amounted to VND728 million ($28,700) and VND11 million ($434), respectively.

The National Committee for Traffic Safety reported congestion at the entrances of major cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City during the beginning and end of the five-day break, stemming from a sharp increase in traffic volume, as people returned to their hometowns and got back to the cities for work.

Local traffic police units deployed their forces to the congestion points to moderate traffic flows and remove traffic jams.

The hotlines of the committee received 26 reports from local residents regarding traffic congestion, collisions, and cramming passengers into vehicles.

Following these calls, the committee coordinated with relevant agencies to verify the reports and deal with the incidents.

In Vietnam, memorial services are conducted in November annually to commemorate the dead victims of traffic accidents and call for strict compliance with traffic rules.

Such events are aimed at responding to the World Day of Remembrance for Victims of Road Traffic Accidents, which falls on the third Sunday in November each year, as adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2005.

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Plenty of taxis, charter, and ride-hailing cars packed parking spaces at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday afternoon to serve a huge volume of passengers, who returned to the southern hub for work and study after the five-day holiday commemorating Vietnams Reunification Day (April 30) and International Workers Day (May 1).

The airport received a soaring number of passengers toward the end of the day, especially between 5:00 pm and 9:00 pm, a representative of the airport told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper the same day.

According to several carriers operating there, domestic flights bound for the Tan Son Nhat airport recorded occupancy rates ranging from 90 percent to 100 percent, while the average number of passengers arriving at the domestic terminal reached between 2,000 and 300,000 during peak hours.

A representative of a tech-based ride-hailing firm told Tuoi Tre that the company stayed ready to arrange cars to pick up passengers at the airport, while warning against certain ride-hailing drivers who might turn off their app and seek to maximize their earnings by offering rides without the app at higher fares.

This ride-hailing firm ramped up efforts to encourage its driver-partners and customers to request and accept rides through the app, ensuring a safe journey and reaping the rewards of using the service.

The company would strictly tackle any drivers who turned off the app and intentionally negotiated the fare with customers.

Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City received a soaring number of passengers toward the end of May 1, 2024, which marked the end of the five-day holiday commemorating Vietnams Reunification Day (April 30) and International Workers Day (May 1). Photo: Cong Trung / Tuoi Tre

Taxi services at Tan Son Nhat Airport are supervised by competent agencies to prevent inappropriate business practices such as offering services at exorbitant prices and refusing low-paying rides. Photo: Cong Trung / Tuoi Tre

Passengers wait for taking ride-hailing rides at Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, May 1, 2024. Photo: Cong Trung / Tuoi Tre

The airport received a soaring number of passengers toward the end of May 1, 2024, especially between 5:00 pm and 9:00 pm. Photo: Cong Trung / Tuoi Tre

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More than 150 media leaders and practitioners from the Pacific and Australia have attended the 2024 Pacific Media Partnership Conference, hosted in Brisbane by ABC.

Participants in the two-day conference at ABC Brisbanes Southbank offices, attended workshops, presentations and discussions discussed media freedom, digital transformation, disinformation, the future of news and gender equality in reporting.

ABC Managing Director David Anderson said: The ABC has been delighted to welcome to Brisbane media professionals from across the Pacific and Australia for this important gathering, which reaffirms the ABCs commitment to our Pacific media partners and our regions multilateral media infrastructure. ABC Brisbane is a fitting location for the conference given its recent emergence as a hub for the ABCs Pacific content makers.

ABU Secretary General Ahmed Nadeem said: I would like to thank the ABC for hosting this meeting of the ABUs Pacific members and partners. In a rapidly changing media landscape, its important all broadcasters  large and small  have the opportunity to learn about the latest industry developments, enhance skills and share experiences from within the region and beyond. The ABC plays a very important role supporting its fellow members and we value its contribution to ABU activities such as the Pacific Media Partnership Meeting.

The conference follows a high-level summit of Pacific Media Leaders held in Sydney in February 2024, also hosted by ABC.
Production on Bay of Fires Season Two begins next week in Tasmania, with star, co-creator and executive producer Marta Dusseldorp hoping the locals are a little more chilled second time.

During filming of Season One, there were plenty of questions about what the ABC series might do to reputations.

I was getting quite a lot of flack. Are you representing Tassie in a bad light?' Dusseldorp recalls.

And Im going, Theyre not Tasmanians! But I couldnt reveal it because I didnt want to spoil it.

I also didnt want to spoil it for those who streamed it, because we were the top of ABC iview non-kids  that little blue dog, she laughs. But it really brought in a young and a male audience, which was really interesting.

Indeed the series was ABCs number one Australian drama series in 2023, even outranking The Newsreader, with a particularly big iview uplift. There was some debate about whether all episodes should drop at once on iview (in the end it was weekly).

That was a decision that went back and forth, back and forth and I started panicking. I rang ABC at one point, and said, Maybe we should drop them all! But it became this water cooler and the only time we got smashed was with the Matildas.

But the pick up the next day was 75% or something on the streaming, and catch-up was unprecedented on this show, which was really lovely. I mean, they were ringing me going, This is very unusual.'

Ive found working with the ABC on this show to be an absolute delight.

The series has also sold to a number of international territories through Fremantle Distribution (UK on May 23 through ITVX) and co-produced by Dusseldorps Archipelego Productions and Fremantle Australia for ABC.

Ive found working with the ABC on this show to be an absolute delight. Their belief in an independent producer I work alongside Fremantle Australia but I run the development side of it. Their belief in Archipelago Productions and giving me the resources meant I could get going quite quickly and early, she continues.

Weve folded in a whole lot of women into the Writers Room because last season, it was just Andrew (Knight) and Max (Dann). This season, Romina Accurso (The Heights, Wellmania), Josephine Dee Barrett (Love Child, Wonderland) and Hannah Samuel (The PMs Daughter) have joined us. Theyve got various experiences, and were also nurturing new, upcoming writers in the process. Andrew has been mentoring them all the way through which has been really beautiful to watch.

So what can viewers expect in Season Two? Dusseldorp is keeping her cards close to her chest.

Obviously, its one of those ones where you pull a thread and the whole thing just collapses. So I have to plot very carefully and make sure that we know exactly where were heading, which we did on Season One. Thats why we took the circuitous route. Andrew really wanted to do that. He said to me, I think often we leap too quickly into why we are here, and I want to take the scenic route.

When the money runs out another boss arrives

In Season Two obviously Stellas the boss of the town and shes trying to run it ethically and morally. But its very difficult because of course, when youre in a town of criminals, thats not the way they necessarily work. Everyones made a lot of money because shes very good at playing in the margins, dipping into the Russian income source, which she does with Sammy, which we allude to at the end of season one. But when the money runs out another boss arrives and she finds herself hurling through

Channeling an Eagles classic she adds, Its that thing where you can you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave.

Season two will air in 2025.
Nightly News 7 Tasmania broadcast by Southern Cross Television has been given a breach by the Australian Communications and Media Authority for poor captioning for deaf and hearing impaired viewers.

ACMA assessed a bulletin which screened on 9 November 2023, with local content produced by the Licensee and national and international news sourced from their Seven Network affiliate.

A complainant told ACMA, I have previously complained by email to this provider. On watching the news service tonight, I found that there had been no improvement since I emailed. The captions appearing on screen are completely out of sync with the news presenters spoken word. In most cases commencement of captions can be delayed 20-30 seconds after the commencement of the spoken word. This renders the news article indecipherable. In addition, as this leads to article overrun, the captions are edited to delete sentences or stopped completely.

As most of the articles and film clips are prerecorded, there appears to be no excuse why this occurs as surely the captions could have been inserted into the clip.

Whilst I am not totally hearing incapacitated, this practice leaves me angry and frustrated. I feel that the service demeans hearing impaired people in general and substandard service is more than what they should expect. In that regard I feel it is discriminatory and should not be allowed. It also brings into question the right of the broadcaster to hold a licence to broadcast.

ACMA assessed the broadcast and found the cumulative effect of readability, accuracy and comprehensibility of the captions was not meaningful to deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers. Amongst the problems were a latency of 24 seconds meaning captions did not coincide with the speech by the corresponding speaker. Some captions appeared for less than a second, rendering them effectively useless.

There were also accuracy problems such as the words I feel very emotional about this, I hope this sets a standard and I applaud the jury for being so sensible and for believing a victim being captioned as:

DERYN  REALLY EMOTIONAL HOPE IT SETS A PRECENT.

It concluded the captioning service for the program did not meet the requirements and was a Breach of the Broadcasting Services Act.

Southern Cross acknowledged the broadcast did not meet the standard.

As a live news broadcast, the captioning for the Program was conducted on a manual live basis  a challenging process requiring captioners to make editorial decisions around live spoken content, it said.

On review of the Program, SCA acknowledges that its captioning fell short of the requisite standard on the basis that the manual live captioning function was compromised due to unexpected staff changes.

It added, We have made significant progress in securing a captioning service. Currently, we are in negotiations with two providers, and we have already trialed the services of one provider on 23 March, demonstrating a high level of accuracy. We aim to commence this service at the earliest opportunity, pending technical requirements.
If youve seen the -riveting- After the Party (all episodes are on iview) youll be asking the question: is there going to be a second season?

But as Robyn Malcolm explains: thats all folks.

Im not giving anything away, but a lot of people have said to us at the end, Youve got to write a sequel! But we dont want to, we sort of feel that it does what it needs to do, she said.

Malcolm co-created the series produced by Lingo Pictures with writer Dianne Taylor, and stars as a Wellington school teacher whose world implodes and ricochets.

Or as Malcolms analogy describes it, We thought were gonna make this disagreeable woman, put her up a tree and throw rocks at her and see what happens.

Malcolms performance won her an acting honour at Series Mania in France. The jury noted, an incredible pair  Robyn Malcolm and Peter Mullan  deliver a remarkable story about the weight of accusation and truth.

The series also explores Pennys flawed nature against an ambiguous moral question.

If youre not a particularly likeable woman, should you be more or less trusted? Because we often trust people that we like. So someone who might be a bit strident or who might be a bit pissed off or, like Penny lecturing, might go on a bit. Shes got an agenda and should we trust that? she asks.

The woman that speaks out is so often pilloried but are we right to pillory her or not? We didnt want to pass too much judgement on that. We just wanted to go Okay, well, this seems to exist.'

After the Party screens 8:30pm Sundays on ABC (all episodes on iview).
By Jung Da-hyun

The Sejong City Government and The Korea Times signed a business agreement, Thursday, to promote Korean culture, including Hangeul, or the Korean alphabet, and enhance its global influence.

The agreement outlines cooperation between the city government and the nation's oldest English daily newspaper to cultivate a Hangeul-friendly environment within the city by establishing various institutions and hosting programs.

Sejong underscores Hangeul as its core identity due to the city being named after King Sejong the Great, the fourth monarch of the Joseon Dynasty (13921910) and the inventor of Hangeul.

In line with this, the city plans to evolve into a Hangeul Culture City. This vision involves creating an environment immersed in Hangeul and Korean culture, providing residents and foreign visitors easy access to them.

The city government and The Korea Times aim to promote the plan globally amid increasing interest in learning Korean and Korean culture.

Both will endeavor to organize a spelling contest tailored for elementary school students, with the goal of cultivating interest in Hangeul and promoting heightened precision in using the native alphabet.

As a journalism institution, The Korea Times also promised to support the city governments plan, which seeks to elevate the significance of Hangeul Day, a national holiday in Korea, with the possibility of holding celebrations in Sejong.

As part of its focus on developing the city as a Hangeul and Korean culture hub, the city government plans to create a vibrant community that offers diverse experiences in Hangeul and related cultural elements.

This initiative includes establishing an educational institute dedicated to teaching Hangeul and the Korean language, as well as a cultural center where people can experience Korean culture firsthand. These facilities will offer a range of programs for both residents and foreigners interested in the Korean language and culture.

Furthermore, the city government and The Korea Times will collaborate on a Korean language speaking contest, which was initiated by the newspaper this year. Both institutions aim to elevate the prestige of the contest domestically and internationally through their efforts.
By Jesus Aguado and Andres Gonzalez

MADRID/LONDON (Reuters) -Spanish bank Sabadell has lined up advisers to assess its options after rival BBVA unveiled a 12 billion euro ($12.83 billion) takeover offer, sources said on Thursday, as shares in Sabadell extended gains on the proposed deal.

BBVA said this week that it had approached its smaller rival with an all-share offer, nearly four years after previous talks on a merger between Spain's second and fourth-largest lenders collapsed.

The deal would create a Spanish bank with assets of nearly 1 trillion euros and a market value rivalling Santander, as well as helping BBVA diversify away from emerging markets like Mexico.

BBVA said it was ready to "move forward immediately with the transaction" and Chairman Carlos Torres in a letter called on Sabadell's board to give its assessment of the proposal as soon as possible.

In response, Sabadell said it was up to its board to examine the offer. The board is expected to meet in the coming days, a source familiar with the matter said.

To advise on the next steps, Sabadell has enlisted Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, three sources familiar with the situation told Reuters. The banks declined to comment.

BBVA's all-share offer of 1 new BBVA for every 4.83 Banco Sabadell shares is at a 30% premium to both banks' share prices as of the close on April 29, and based on those prices it valued Sabadell at more than 12 billion euros.

Shares in Sabadell rallied another 5% on Thursday as Spain's stock market reopened following a holiday, but the shares remain well below the premium price.

"We see no possibility of an improved offer from BBVA if Sabadell rejects the proposal. If BBVA were willing to pay part of the transaction in cash, it could be a move that would pave the way for closing the merger," Renta 4 analysts said.

BBVA's own shares slipped by 2.9% on Thursday, and were down nearly 10% from Monday's close.

In a note, Deutsche Bank analysts saw the premium as "attractive enough", but not "outstanding".

"We do not see much value added for BBVA in this deal, in spite of making strategic sense. It looks difficult to reach that 20% return on investment announced," they added.

The potential merger follows a period of consolidation in Spain's banking sector as lenders seek scale by cutting costs. The country now has 10 banks, down from 55 before the 2008 global financial crisis.

Morningstar equity analyst Johann Scholtz estimated that the merger would boost BBVA's share of Spain's deposits market to around 23% from 15% now, just behind Caixabank at around 25% and ahead of third-placed Santander at 22%.

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($1 = 0.9353 euros)

(Additional reporting by Matteo AllieviWriting by Tommy Reggiori WilkesEditing by Andrei Khalip and Susan Fenton)
UK business is beaming with pride with the recent news of the countrys emergence as the fourth largest exporter in the world based on the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development report. The UK jumped three places in 2022, surpassing France, the Netherlands and Japan.

This pride is justified, as there have been many challenges along the way, especially in the wake of Brexit, when the UK found itself redefining its economic landscape. With the dust settling from its EU departure, combined with COVID disruption, the UK was embarking on an uncertain journey.

But with the newfound autonomy, the UK decided to chart its own course in the international space. The break from the EU trading bloc meant a departure from established trade agreements and regulations, leading to a revaluation of economic policies and partnerships.

So how did the UK get from a place of uncertainty to the fourth largest exporter in the world? Untangling what export means is a good way to start. In simple terms, export means taking goods or services made in one country and sending them to another country to be sold or traded.

This description fits well with the two main categories into which the UK export portfolio is split: products and services. Exporting is a fundamental aspect of international trade, and it allows countries to exchange goods and services that they specialise in producing for those that they do not. Global economic growth, employment creation and access to a larger variety of goods and resources are all eased by export.

Right now, the UK government is trying to drive expansion in exports in response to global economic opportunities, and challenges like navigating new trade barriers and customs procedures, increased bureaucracy and logistical issues. Yet, the country has remained resilient, negotiating with old and new trading partners.

The government has signed strategic partnerships, for instance joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, a free trade pact with 11 countries, which allows the UK to develop its economic connections with Asia, among other regions. It also signed a agreement with Texas, boosting trading opportunities with the second-largest US state.

Perhaps because of deals like these, the government is promoting an export plan that aims to achieve a value of 1 trillion by 2030. Its an ambitious figure but, based on the UKs rising position, it aligns with business and trade secretary Kemi Badenochs comment that the UK is punching above its weight. Figures show that UK exports were worth 861.6 billion in the 12 months to the end of February this year.

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But we should sound a note of caution here. The growth is evident in the services sector, while the goods sector lags, especially compared to this time last year. This concern was highlighted by the Bank of England (BoE) at its March 2024 meeting, when the bank also noted that demand for UK goods remained strong in the US, while weakening in China and the EU.

The export of vehicles and aerospace equipment from brands like Land Rover and Rolls-Royce have contributed extensively to the UKs export figures. But the dominance of the service category is evident in the tourism and professional sectors such as higher education, architecture and insurance, and particularly in financial services. In the same March meeting, the BoE noted that service exports grew in value due primarily to prices, as volumes grew only slightly.

The post-Brexit export landscape

Since leaving the EU, the UK has negotiated trade agreements with several countries, allowing organisations to increase their reach through global supply chains. And there are ongoing discussions with Turkey on a modernised trade deal targeting the services sector.

Brexit happened in January 2020 and the UKs export figures saw a decline that year, with figures dropping from 706.7 billion in 2019 to 624.8 billion. But there has be a steady rise since, with exports reaching 864.5 billion in 2023.

Its hard to say whether the UK can sustain this trajectory. The rate of exported goods declined in 2023 compared to 2022, and some trading agreements are expiring. And there is also the perennial threat of cheaper goods flooding export locations.

However, there are ways the UK can attempt to maintain its exporting momentum. It could diversify the countrys export portfolio, drawing on its reputation for creativity, research and development, and resilience.

Data from the Office for National Statistics from 2021 suggest that only 11.4% of UK businesses were exporting. This has been largely attributed to the lack of awareness of the opportunity, knowledge of the process and skills.

But there is good news for UK businesses if exporting is something theyd like to explore. The first thing they should remember is that they are not alone on this journey  many have gone before that they can learn from, and there is help and support out there.

Businesses looking to move into exports can seek information from the Chamber of Commerces international trade department and the Department for Business and Trade. The opportunities are vast but its not without risk, so knowledge of the process is critical. But as the UN figures show, UK goods  and especially services  are in demand by the rest of the world. It could be a great time for businesses to capitalise.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The Conversation

Ibiyemi Omeihe does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
By Julia Payne

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Belgium and the Czech Republic have called for new European Union sanctions to counter Russian influence in the upcoming European elections after several countries discovered early interference, an open letter to the EU leadership showed.

The letter, dated April 16 and signed by Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo and Czech President Peter Fiala, was addressed to the heads of the European Commission, the Council and the European Parliament.

The two leaders say instances of pro-Russian disinformation and interference had already been found in several member states. In particular, Belgian security services unearthed a network inside Belgium that involved cash transfers that took place in part in the Czech Republic.

The network aimed to forge cooperation between pro-Russian politicians at the European Parliament, help elect more pro-Russian candidates and appoint "people active within this network as employees (of newly elected) MEPs (members of parliament)."

De Croo said EU leaders had agreed at a summit to deploy for two months an emergency crisis mechanism, which was activated during the COVID-19 pandemic. A task force will then closely monitor disinformation.

"The plan is to produce a state of play of disinformation on a very regular basis. We will link this information together, share it with member states and work with national judicial authorities to take action," De Croo told a news conference.

Belgium pointed to the particular risk posed not only to EU institutions but also to NATO which is headquartered near its capital Brussels. European parliamentary elections will take place June 6-9.

Belgium, along with other EU countries, has opened a criminal investigation while the Czech Republic sanctioned several individuals and one entity under national sanctions for efforts to undermine the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

"It is the right time to establish a new restrictive measure regime aimed to counter Russian malign activities," the leaders wrote.

(Reporting by Julia Payne, additional reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Stephen Coates)
The Repair Shop star has split from wife Lisa Zbozen after just 18 months of marriage.

The Repair Shop's Jay Blades married for the second time in a romantic ceremony in Barbados  but now his wife has said it is over just 18 months on from the wedding.

His wife Lisa Zbozen has posted online to say that she was "incredibly sad" and "in a spare room with a few essentials" on Thursday morning. Blades has not commented on the split.

It came just a day after Blades said he was taking some time away from the spotlight after his uncle's death in a neighbour dispute.

Take a look back at their relationship timeline, including Zbozen's help with Blades' dyslexia and their idyllic wedding in 2022.

What has Zbozen said about splitting from Jay Blades?

Zbozen shared her feelings at first on a private Instagram before making her comments public.

She wrote on Instagram: "I don't know how to say this because it's still really raw. I probably should be really angry but I'm just incredibly sad about the whole thing right now. I don't think I've ever cried so much."

She also wrote: "I will admit I'm crying as I type this as I can't believe this is even real. I hope you don't mind if I just have a few days trying to figure out my life as I'm currently in a spare room with a few essentials. I don't know what else to say. All my love, A very broken Lisa-Marie x."

She shared why she had decided to post it publicly. In the public post, she added to her message: "I have been quiet until now, but the papers seem to be picking up this story, I want it to be clear what I put so theres no misunderstanding."

Yahoo has reached out to Jay Blades' representatives for further comment.

Jay Blades and Lisa Zbozen pictured together. (@lisamariezbozen)

Early days

Blades had been married once before but split from his first wife Jade in 2015 and has said he was homeless for a while after things ended.

However, the dad-of-three found love again with fitness trainer Zbozen, who has a busy Instagram account where she regularly posts new workouts.

The pair carefully guarded their privacy, although after announcing their engagement in 2021 Zbozen told her Instagram followers that she had thought she would marry Blades the first time she met him.

Dyslexia support

When Blades opened up on his lifelong problems with reading and late in life diagnosis of dyslexia in BBC documentary Jay Blades: Learning to Read at 51, viewers got a glimpse of their relationship.

Zbozen was shown helping Blades to work through some words he was practising reading and he paid tribute to the support she had offered him.

He said: "I've mainly got by from the help from those around me, people like Lisa."

Barbados wedding

Jay Blades is the main star of The Repair Shop. (BBC)

Furniture maker and restorer Blades married Zbozen in November 2022 during an intimate outdoor ceremony in Barbados.

The couple invited just 15 guests to the grounds of a beachfront villa, where they exchanged rings made by The Repair Shop's Richard Talman in the Egyptian style of an imperfect circle. Zbozen told Hello! at the time: "I really don't want a perfect wedding ring because I think nothing is perfect. It's also more individual and has got a lot more care and love thought into it."

A year on from the wedding, Blades told Hello! in October 2023: "One word sums up the day: perfect. We had our closest family there, the weather held out and everything worked out so well."

Zbozen added: "Once you get to a certain age, you realise what's actually important on the day - and that is having the people around you that love you for who you are. So we made the day our day."

Read more
For some of us reading about Manchester Arena attacker Salman Abedi is an unpalatable experience. He committed appalling crimes against the innocent.

Those directly affected by the attack have shown incredible dignity, and the city has shown remarkable resilience in the face of evil. The urge to look away from what led to that evil act, to move on as best we can from the atrocity, is strong.

But in order to understand evil, its necessary to look into its face, however difficult that might be. For that reason, we investigate the social, political and religious forces that led to the making of a monster.

No one is compelled to read what we publish here. In publishing it, we aim only to keep a record of what is so far understood about how the events unfolded. Ultimately, its only by understanding what led to the atrocity that we can prevent its like from happening again.

The mass murderer moved unnoticed among shoppers in the Arndale.

His face was partially obscured by the baseball cap he wore under a hood, but nothing else about him stood out. He bought a rucksack for 36.99 from Sports Direct.

Now we know that this Friday night shopper, whose movements were captured on grainy CCTV, was making the final preparations in a plot to slaughter innocents and kill himself in the process. The rucksack he bought was to carry a bomb, tightly packed with nuts and bolts, a powerful battery and a deadly compound.

Each fragment is a weapon in its own right - it is like a hundred bullets coming out at once, an expert told the Manchester Evening News, in the aftermath of the explosion.

Several months on from the atrocity at Manchester Arena and the fragments of Salman Abedis bomb continue to scar lives. Some of the affected have spoken publicly, untold numbers of others deal privately with the consequences; life-shattering loss, trauma and injury.

The components of Abedis own life led to the appalling crime which he committed, and the deaths and injuries he caused. To understand how it happened, so it can be prevented from happening again, his life has to be put under the microscope.

Not just Abedis temperament, which we now know was marked by anger, and, by his final act, proven to be murderous. But also the climate he grew up in, his community and his family. A background of fundamentalist Islam, revolutionary politics and ties to known terrorists, a radicalisation that may have started in the cradle, and then went unchecked; a perfect storm of forces, personal and geo-political.

Manchester gave the Abedis a new life; work, friends, freedom and education for their four children

Salman Abedi was born on New Years Eve, 1994, weeks after his parents, Ramadan Abedi and Samia Tabba, settled in Manchester. Refugees from Libya, it was here that the Abedis found decent housing, work, friends, freedom to worship and education for their four children.

And yet, Salman Abedi would repay the city that had welcomed his family by killing 22 innocent people.

On the night of May 22, 2017, as American singer Ariana Grande performed Dangerous Woman, the last track of her sell-out Manchester Arena show, Salman Abedi was at the final stage of his twisted mission.

He had already called his mother in Libya, and told her Forgive me for anything I have done wrong. What crossed his mind as walked through Victoria Station and went up into the Arenas foyer?

It was a school night. A Monday. The audience was mainly young and female, including kids who had been allowed to stay out late to see their favourite pop star.

Abedi was carrying the Karrimor rucksack he had bought in the Arndale on Friday night. It contained his lethal cargo, primed to explode. He had made the final preparations for the bomb in a flat at Granby Row, near the Gay Village. Police havent confirmed his exact movements, but know he spent hours walking around the city centre before heading to the Arena. Piccadilly train station is believed to have been a target he considered.

Once the show at the Arena was over, Abedi waited for the City Room lobby of the arena to fill up. Relatives of young people who had been to the gig were waiting in the area close to the main box office. Others came into the area as they made their way home.

They formed an unsuspecting ring around their killer. At 10.31pm, when he was sure he could cause maximum carnage, he triggered the detonator in his left hand.

Abedi knew the damage he would cause. He had made the bomb himself, put in months of surreptitious planning, shopped for ingredients, researched techniques online, and no doubt prayed - prayed in the perverse belief his actions were somehow justified.

The search for an answer spans continents - and reveals some uncomfortable truths

What led a young man, Manchester born and bred, to embrace a world view so warped is a question that has to be asked. And, already, information has emerged which sheds some light on his dark trajectory.

The search for reasons why shines a light on uncomfortable truths, showing how foreign policy impacts on ordinary lives, linking events in Manchester with turmoil thousands of miles away.

It charts the development of Islamist terror, showing how a network of men with connections and sympathies for al-Qaeda were able get a foothold in Manchester as refugees, political asylum seekers and students.

It reveals how, in the years since, the warped ideology of ISIS has spread among youngsters in the southern suburbs of the city. It exposes the tangle of extremist factions that Abedi was brought into contact with by the tender age of 22. And it shows how the fall of a dictator 3,000 miles away in Libya has impacted all of us, incubating a new global terror threat.

An unremarkable red-brick Manchester terrace... until the black flag appeared on the roof

On the morning of May 23, Manchester woke up to the beginnings of a heatwave - and the awful news of mass murder in the city.

The Real IRA bomb of 1996 left a large scar on the city centres landscape, but claimed no lives. This time the damage to the skyline was contained, but the human toll stretched as far as the Outer Hebrides.

The hopes of families searching for loved ones, growing vainer and more heart-rending by the hour, dominated the news. Reporters from all over the world beat a path to the Abedi family home, as information trickled out about the perpetrator.

The killer and his three siblings, Ismail, Hashem and Jomana, grew up in a sixties red-brick terrace, on Elsmore Road on the Fallowfield estate, west of Wilmslow Roads studentland. In the months before the bomb, with his parents and younger siblings in Libya, and his brother Ismail marrying and moving away, Salman Abedi lived in the house alone.

About two years ago there was a black flag on the roof with Arabic writing on it, a neighbour told the Manchester Evening News.

The two deaths, and one conviction, that helped shape Abedi's mind

The Black Standard, or Black Banner, is a flag with origins in the early days of Islam. In recent years modern, inscribed versions of the flag have been co-opted by Islamist groups, like the Taliban, al-Qaeda, and more recently ISIS.

Groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS operate like cults, preying on peoples difficulties and normalising perverse values. As well as social and mental problems, unsettling life events can make people more susceptible to their rhetoric, radicalisation experts believe.

In May 2016, three events of this kind occurred in Salman Abedis life, in a period of just eight days. Firstly, one of his friends, Abdalraouf Abdallah, was jailed for terror offences in London. Then another mate, Abdul Hafidah, was stabbed to death in a gang murder in Moss Side. Finally, a third lad he knew, Raphael Hostey, was killed in a drone strike while fighting for ISIS in Syria.

Of course, for some troubled youths, growing up in communities where gangs and extremists are grim realities, having a friend killed in drone strike, or stabbed to death in the street, might act as a wake-up call. They might run as fast as they can from violence, from crime and religious fanaticism.

But Salman Abedis conditioning led to him reacting differently. He saw his friends as victims of enemies of Islam. He saw Manchester as deserving of revenge for their fate, and the fate of children dying in Middle Eastern wars, and he considered it his duty to take revenge.

He believed it was religiously sanctioned to use violence against enemies of Islam, and that no one, not even a little girl at her first pop concert, was an innocent. All infidels, in his warped worldview, were fair game for violent attacks.

In some cases the development of that mindset is the result of grooming from street preachers, or hours spent watching extremist videos. But in Salman Abedis case it was a mindset that was years in the making, because he grew up immersed in the idea of Holy War.

How Manchester became a battleground between Libyan liberals and extremists

Manchester is full of Libyan extremists. They considered me an unbeliever and threatened my life", Reda Fhelboom says. His opinions will no doubt sound harsh to the many peace-loving, law-abiding Libyans in the city, but hes a proud Libyan who lived here for 10 years, and he had some bad experiences.

The citys Libyan community is nicknamed Little Tripoli. It grew as people fled Colonel Gaddafis regime. As a metropolitan city with a world-class university, Manchester was a natural destination for opposition intellectuals and activists seeking safe haven.

But Manchesters Little Tripoli is divided - just as the nature of Gaddafis opposition was divided. Some are liberals, people like Reda and his friends, and some are Islamists, people who believe all public and political life should be guided by their religious principles. Some in this faction are very conservative, more conservative than people in Libya, according to Reda, who says Salman Abedis father, Ramadan Abedi, was a prominent member of this group.

While living in Cheetham Hill, Reda taught in Libyan supplementary schools. The schools were set up for families exiled from Gaddafis regime, in the hope that when the dictator fell and they were able to return, their kids would be up to speed with the curriculum. But, according to Reda, they became the battleground in a culture war.

Religious conservatives in the community insisted little boys and girls were segregated by gender, while women who refused to wear the hijab were prevented from teaching in some schools.

As a liberal who played pop music in his flat, spoke out against antisemitism, and challenged radical sermons in Manchester mosques, Reda was a natural enemy for this fundamentalist clique.

He tells us he was physically attacked and subjected to an internet hate campaign by fellow exiles from his North African homeland. He says he warned the authorities of extremism in his community as far back as 2005, but nothing came of it. A man accused of attacking him and a friend in Crumpsall was acquitted at trial.

I came back to Libya to spread democracy, human rights and the rule of law  values I learnt in Manchester  these people are against all these things. It was a matter of time before one of these extremists from the Libyan community in Manchester did something big, he says.

They have the same beliefs as al-Qaeda and ISIS and kept themselves separate from British society. The sons have inherited the ideology from their family.

Apart from the Libyan supplementary schools Reda speaks of, much of Salman Abedis education was spent in schools which were all male, largely Muslim, or both.

After school he enrolled at Manchester College. There, the hotheaded teenager got in a fight with a girl, punching her in the head after telling her the skirt she was wearing was too short.

Too many youngsters - from all communities - grow up in a bubble, with a lack of understanding or empathy for other walks of life, deradicalisation expert Ismael Lea South, who works with youngsters in Manchester, says.

If ideas are not challenged, that can lead to extremist attitudes. Like ideas that if a girl wears a short skirt, it means shes easy.

A short skirt is something Ariana Grande often wears  along with a lollipop and a wink. Considering the attitudes of religious extremists about how women should behave, its unlikely to be a coincidence that the American pop stars Dangerous Woman tour was targeted by the bomber.

I was really shocked when I saw the news, I still dont believe it, Ramadan Abedi said in Libya, after his son blew himself up at the pop concert. As we were discussing news of similar attacks earlier, (Salman) was always against those attacks, saying theres no religious justification for them. I dont understand how hed have become involved in an attack that led to the killing of children. Every father knows his son and his thoughts, my son does not have extremist thoughts.

And yet, despite Ramadan Abedis insistence that his son did not have extremist thoughts, there is evidence that the father admired and venerated people who not only had extremist thoughts, but were active terrorists.

Didsbury Mosque: A diverse group of worshippers - including the bomber's family

Didsbury Mosque found itself at the centre of media attention after the Abedi family's connection to it emerged. For many years the Abedi family worshipped there, along with many other Libyans. They gravitated towards the building, the former Albert Park Methodist Chapel, because it conducted worship in Arabic, as well as English. At times Ramadan Abedi would summon the faithful with his recitation of the adhan - the call to prayer.

Didsbury Mosque say this was not an official position at the mosque, and that there's a tradition of the adhan being performed by the first person to arrive.

The mosque attracts a diverse range of believers. Among the Arab and Pakistani families there are converts - young white and black men, blending eastern and western dress styles, traditional shalwar kameez with Nike trainers. The Abedis, like many of the mosque's attendees, adhered to the conservative Salafi branch of Sunni Islam, which has spread throughout the Muslim world, and beyond, with the sponsorship of oil-rich Arab states like Saudi Arabia.

Rashad Ali, a counter-terror expert from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, tells the Manchester Evening News Salafism is radical, puritanical fundamentalism. Its a growing problem in the country, he adds.

A spokesman for Didsbury Mosque defended Salafism as 'misunderstood'.

Abdullah Yusuf, a spokesman told us: "There's nothing wrong with being a Salafi. Salafism is a school of thought, just like being a Protestant in the Christian religion. Didsbury Mosque welcomes Salafis - but people are not welcome if they are a terrorist, a murderer or a criminal. It concerns me if people have extremist views. But it does not concern me that people attend our mosque. The purpose of a mosque, of an Islamic centre is to guide people in the right way. It's better that they come to us, than a mosque that will guide them in the wrong way."

Salafism may be a 'school of thought', as Yusuf insists, for many law-abiding Muslims. However it is the same school of thought that al-Qaeda and ISIS seek to claim for themselves. The terrorists insist it is religiously sanctioned to use violence to enforce their fundamentalist principles. Analysts describe groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS as 'Salafi-Jihadi'.

I dont think their mentality is Jihadi, Libyan community elder Mohammed Fadir said of Salman Abedis family. When (Ramadan) came to the UK none of that came up. He never preached hate or violence and was just getting on with raising his family.

But even if Ramadan Abedi wasnt a Salafi-Jihadist himself - though other sources claim he was - there is compelling evidence that the bomber's father knew and respected some of Salafi-Jihadisms most dangerous adherents. They were among his friends, neighbours and political allies. They were bonded by a hatred of Colonel Gaddafi, and the desire to replace his rule with Sharia law.

He would have been executed if he stayed in Libya, Fadir adds, speaking of the elder Abedi.

When Ramadan left his homeland in 1991, he had fallen foul of Colonel Muammar Gaddafis regime. Accused of using his position as a government security official to leak information to anti-Gaddafi Islamists, Abedi first settled in Saudi Arabia. Like others from the Libyan dissident movement he would come to the UK, and settle close to south Manchesters Wilbraham Road.

One of the Salafi-Jihadists Ramadan Abedi admired, and knew from the tight-knit Libyan dissident community in Manchester, was al-Qaeda commander Nazih Abdul-Hamed Nabih al-Ruqaii, a man better known by the nom-de-guerre Anas al-Libi. The story of al-Libi, and how he came to be in Manchester is worth a closer look, for an insight into the murky geo-political currents that produced Salman Abedi.

Anas al-Libi: The Manchester link between Ramadan Abedi, Libya and al-Qaeda

The roots of the infamous terror group al-Qaeda go back to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Osama bin Laden and other muhajideen (holy warriors) are said to have received US funding during the ten year fight against the occupation. However, veterans of the conflict went on to form jihadist groups - the most notorious of which was bin Ladens al-Qaeda.

Another group formed by veterans of the Afghanistan conflict was the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG). The aim of the group was to pursue jihad against Gaddafis government in Libya and replace the regime with a sharia state. The LIFGs shared origins with al-Qaeda meant that they were not only affiliated, but shared some high command.

Anas al-Libi, who settled in Manchester in 1995 and lived in a flat in Didsbury, was one of the jihadis believed to have straddled the LIFG and al-Qaeda, although he presented as a low-key student.

Al-Libi is believed by the US government to have been a close aide of Osama bin Laden who would act as his decoy on operations because of their similar height and bearing. Al-Libi was also an ally of Salman Abedis father Ramadan, who joined the LIFG in 1994, according to documents leaked by the Libyan government. Al-Libi, like Ramadan Abedi, is believed to have secured residency in the UK because of his opposition to Gaddafis regime.

In Manchester the two men were at the centre of a tight-knit, exile community with strong traditions of hospitality, brotherhood, and politicised religious fervour. Their wives had been friends since their college days in Tripoli, and they both had young families.

At the time when Anas al-Libi first came to Manchester, the Egyptian authorities suspected him of being part of an al-Qaeda attempt to murder then-president Hosni Mubarak and made an extradition request to the British government. The Egyptians told the British they believed al-Libi to be a high-level al-Qaeda terrorist, but the extradition request was refused on the grounds al-Libi would not get a fair trial.

The history of Libyan opposition to Gaddafi in Manchester... and why it matters

Until Colonel Muammar Gaddafi seized power in a 1969 coup, Libya had a pro-Western leader in King Idris, who had allowed the British and the Americans to establish military bases in the North African country in exchange for aid. But after taking power Gaddafi kicked out Western military and effectively nationalised the oil industry, leaving British investors millions out of pocket.

The relationship worsened as Libya went beyond supporting left-wing and anti-imperialist agendas and went violently rogue, with state-sponsored terrorism against Western targets occurring throughout the 1980s.

The 1984 murder of Pc Yvonne Fletcher, the bombing of a disco in West Berlin two years later, and the killing of 281 people, largely British and American, in the Lockerbie bombing, sealed the enmity between the West and Gaddafis regime.

But, in the LIFG and other Libyan Islamists, Gaddafi had a formidable enemy. His regime tried to put down the threat, opponents were jailed and put to death. But a number of Libyan Islamists, like Ramadan Abedi and his associates in the LIFG, fled the country for the UK where they could regroup in exile.

Shared opposition to the Gaddafi regime led to a dangerous alliance between the British government and these Libyan Islamist dissidents, according to colourful whistleblower David Shayler. After working on the Libyan desk of MI5, the former spy made the extraordinary allegation that MI6 had paid a Libyan al-Qaeda/LIFG cell around 100,000 in a thwarted 1996 plot to assassinate Colonel Gaddafi.

Anas al-Libi, Ramadan Abedis ally and fellow south Manchester resident was later named as being a member of this cell. It was alleged he had been promised he could stay in Britain if it was successful.

The claims of an MI6 plot were dismissed by the then foreign secretary, Robin Cook, as pure fantasy. But Shayler would be prosecuted and jailed for breaching the Official Secrets Act.

Certainly, by the 1990s, a curious situation had developed where men suspected of being high-ranking al-Qaeda figures - were, because of their opposition to Colonel Gaddafi, claiming refugee status and political asylum in the UK. Not all of the LIFG were hardcore Islamists - for some it was merely the most effective way to oppose Gaddafi. Either way, Manchester was at the centre of the movement.

All of the (LIFG) leaders lived in Manchester at one point, Dr Omar Ashour, of the University of Exeters Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, said.

Watch: Anas al-Libi is brought to the United States

Al-Libi would eventually be arrested on suspicion of terror offences in 1999, before being released through lack of evidence. By the time police tried to to arrest him again in May 2000, he had fled his Didsbury flat, leaving behind an 180-page jihadist guide to the overthrow of godless regimes- a text which became known as the Manchester Manual.

By the mid-2000s, tolerance towards LIFG members in the West was evaporating. Al-Qaedas September 11, 2001 attack on New Yorks World Trade Center, killing nearly 3,000 and injuring over 6,000, had sealed al-Qaedas global infamy, putting its network of allies under much greater scrutiny.

The Libyan Islamic Fighting Group threatens global safety and stability through the use of violence and its ideological alliance with al-Qaeda and other brutal terrorist organisations, an October 2006, US Treasury press release said.

Following a Libyan government security campaign against LIFG in the mid to late 1990s, the group abandoned Libya and continued its activities in exile. The group is part of the wider al-Qaeda-associated movement that continues to threaten global peace and security....

But, by that time, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group were already entrenched in Manchester. And, while al-Libi had fled Manchester, other Libyan dissidents with strong links to al-Qaeda remained in the city for years.

Men like Abd al-Baset Azzouz, a master bombmaker who lived on Wilbraham Road, a short distance away from the Abedi family. Azzouz came to the UK in the mid-nineties, just like Ramadan Abedi and Anas al-Libi. Azzouz would be arrested on suspicion of terror offences in 2006, but was released on bail and then fled the country.

Azzouz, who lived in Whalley Range, is presently subject to UN Security Council sanctions, which say he travelled to Libya in 2011 to build a network of terrorist fighters and recruit 200 militants in the east of the country - he is a key (al-Qaeda) operative due to his ability to mobilize terrorist fighters and train recruits in skills like improvised explosive devices construction.

Other links which draw together al-Qaeda, the LIFG, and Manchester have surfaced over the years.

An al-Qaeda cell was behind a 2009 plot to blow up the Arndale Centre. In 2015 in New York, a Pakistani student called Abid Naseer was jailed for forty years after being convicted of the Arndale plot, which would have targeted shoppers in Manchester city centre with car bombs and suicide bombs over Easter Weekend. An initial suspect in the case, a close associate of Abid Naseer, was living in a property let to him by a man accused by the US Treasury of being an LIFG financier.

Correspondence between Osama bin Laden and Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, a top-ranking al-Qaeda commander and a leader of the LIFG featured in Abid Naseers trial. The letters were recovered when bin Ladens compound in Abbottabad in Pakistan was stormed by US Navy Seals, leading to the 9/11 masterminds death.

Abbottabad was also the hometown of the late Aslam Awan, who plotted attacks against the West, and groomed young men for terrorist training, while living in Cheetham Hill on a student visa between 2002 and 2006. Awan was suspected of being one of al-Qaedas most senior commanders when he was killed in a drone strike in Pakistan in 2012.

As for al-Libi - the Didsbury man and Abedi family friend who was Bin Ladens body double - he would stay on the run until October 2013, when he was captured by US commandos in Tripoli. He was one of the FBI Most Wanted.

Ramadan Abedi, Salman Abedis father, knew of al-Libis arrest within hours. He posted an image of al-Libi on his Facebook page with the words: The Prophet knows how many have a picture of this lion in their (Facebook) profiles. The weak are forbidden to share it.

The man Ramadan Abedi was hailing as a lion was suspected of having conspired in the al-Qaeda bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, attacks which claimed 224 lives, and injured 4,500 people. But Al-Libi would never stand trial - he died in January 2015 of liver cancer, weeks before the hearing was to begin.

As the seeds of the Arab Spring are sown, a 'dislikeable' Manchester teenager is trying to cultivate a gangster image

By the end of the 2000s, the Islamist dissident group Ramadan Abedi belonged to, the LIFG, had been banned by the British government, had made peace with Gaddafi in Libya, renounced violence, officially distanced themselves from al-Qaeda and disbanded.

However the aims and Islamist inclinations of the some of the groups former members never went away. And they were given new impetus by the Arab Spring of 2011, as their dream of a revolution in Libya finally came to pass.

Salman Abedi, at that time 16, was old enough to play a part in that revolution.

If you are a Salafi and you couple that with an exposure to violence and warfare and revolutionary causes, thats going to make you more vulnerable to being radicalised by ISIS, is how Rashad Ali, from the Centre for Strategic Dialogue think tank, puts it.

The teenage Salman Abedi studied at Wellacre Academy, in Flixton, before leaving as a Year 9 pupil in January 2009.

He continued his secondary schooling at Burnage Academy For Boys. Violence and the politics of integration is something seared into the memory of that school. In 1986, when it was still called Burnage High, Ahmed Iqbal Ullah, a 13-year-old boy, was stabbed to death in the playground by a fellow pupil in a racist attack.

While the tragedy was nationally infamous, the school has a proud history beyond it, producing successful men - including footballer Wes Brown, Stone Roses guitarist Aziz Ibrahim, and NFL star Menelik Watson. During his time at Burnage, Salman Abedi was a less than stellar student.

No signs of a young man that wanted to take life through the most callous and senseless of acts, Mark Roberts, his former media studies teacher wrote in a piece for the TES.

Instead, all I can give are banal anecdotes about a dislikeable boy who displayed average laziness, mediocre rudeness and refused to complete his coursework on time.

With big ears, poor English, and slow academic progress, Abedi was nicknamed Dumbo by other kids during his childhood. In 2008 his father returned to Libya under a scheme for returning exiles. The absence of his strict father provided Salman Abedi with new freedoms, but also left a vacuum in his life at a critical time.

He was taking drugs and drinking, which is not acceptable in the Muslim community. But its a common issue, Mohammed Fadir, who knew the family, told the Manchester Evening News.

Much like any other teenager, Salman Abedi liked clothes, music, football, parties and hanging around with his mates. A friend who spoke to the Mirror Online website vividly recalls his attempts to cultivate an image.

He always tried to portray this image as a hard gangster type - wearing a large silver chain - but no-one was taken in. He had a bit of a giddy character and a very short attention span.

I used to sit next to him in media studies and he was very nice when he wanted to be. But he had an insidious side to him.

He stopped talking to me when he overheard a conversation and realised I was Sufi - different to him. His face went mottled, he was shocked and he barely spoke to me again.

In that encounter Abedi was showing early signs of the religious intolerance that would propel him into killing innocents.

Sufis are Muslims who place emphasis on the mystic element of their faith - centuries ago the spread of Sufi philosophy coincided with the spread of Islamic civlisation.

But Sufisms rich intellectual tradition of philosophy, architecture, art, astronomy and poetry is despised by Salafi-Jihadists, who have destroyed sites of religious and historical significance from Kashmir to Timbuktu.

And in Libya, following the revolution of 2011, Sufis and their shrines have been targeted by book-burning, grave-desecrating, hardline Islamists.

The Libyan revolution of 2011 would not only have tragic consequences for the countrys Sufis. It would seal Salman Abedis fate, leading to his appalling attack at Manchester Arena.

The 'Manchester Fighters' rushed to join the Arab Spring - as warning voices said it could have dire consequences for Europe

The Arab Spring was a wave of uprisings against regimes in the Middle East and North Africa, beginning with protests in Tunisia in late December 2010. Within weeks the president of that country had been ousted.

The first challenge to Colonel Gadaffis authority in Libya was in Benghazi in 2011. After violent crackdowns on peaceful protestors by the regime, including the shootings of scores of unarmed demonstrators, armed rebels took control of the city. Colonel Gadaffis son, Saif, condemned the protests as the work of Libyans in the West - singling out the Manchester community in a state TV diatribe.

The men of Manchesters Libyan dissident community considered themselves leaders in exile, and saw their chance to overthrow Gaddafi, take up government positions, and refashion Libyan society in their image. Calling themselves the Manchester Fighters, they rushed to join the insurgency.

As the conflict unfolded, a number of Mancunians hit the headlines. The imam at Didsbury mosque, Mustafa Graf, ended up being captured in the north African country by pro-Gaddafi forces. Another Manchester Libyan, from Cheetham Hill, was also seized by the regimes men, accused of fundraising for the LIFG, the dissident group Salman Abedis father had belonged to.

Events in Libya, like the rest of the Arab Spring, were welcomed by Western observers and pro-democracy campaigners as a new dawn for the region. But others - including Colonel Gaddafi himself, claimed other forces were gearing up to exploit the collapse of autocracy.

Days after the Libyan Revolution began, Colonel Gaddafi told Prime Minister Tony Blair, who had pursued a policy of rapprochement towards him, that his removal would benefit jihadis and have dire consequences for the West.

Transcripts released by the Foreign Affairs Select Committee reveal Gaddafi told Blair in two February 2011 phone calls: They (jihadis) want to control the Mediterranean and then they will attack Europe....The story is simply this: an organisation has laid down sleeping cells in north Africa, called the al-Qaeda organisation in north Africa. The sleeping cells in Libya are similar to dormant cells in America before 9/11.

NATO and David Camerons government would back the rebels against Gaddafi, intervening with air strikes on the basis they were needed to protect civilians in the rebel stronghold Benghazi from being massacred. Liam Fox, then defence secretary, has since admitted that the disparate nature of the rebels meant there was a view there would be some extremist elements.

Indeed, al-Qaeda welcomed developments in Libya. In a letter to Osama Bin Laden himself, Atiyah Abd al Rahman, senior al-Qaeda commander and founder member of the LIFG, wrote: Brothers from the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group and others are out of jail. There has been an active Jihadist Islamic renaissance underway in Eastern Libya for some time, just waiting for this kind of opportunity.

Dad makes a trip to Libya as Salman drifts into crime... and the sons are exposed to a new level of violence

After his fathers return to Libya, Salman Abedi hung around with a clique of youngsters from first and second generation refugee backgrounds. Libyans and Somalians, they sought their own identity on the streets of south Manchester.

Inspired by the mythology of the Moss Side gangs that started in the 1980s against the backdrop of joblessness, institutional racism and crack cocaine, the refugee boys formed their own gangs.

As friends Salman Abedi had grown up with drifted into crime, short-fused Abedi sought a reputation as a hardman, with one friend describing him as someone who would have fights for no reason.

In time, Salman Abedi would be reunited with his father. The reunion involved exposure to a new level of violence. Ramadan Abedi is believed to have taken his sons with him to the frontline of the conflict. No-one wanted to be left out of the fighting.

A former classmate recalls Salman Abedi posting pictures of himself brandishing weapons on family holidays to the warzone. Abedi had once told him that he wanted to kill Gaddafi with his own bare hands.

Former members of the LIFG, and the associated Islamist militias they splintered into, were central to the eventual overthrow of Gaddafi. But amid the bitter fighting of a civil war involving a complex web of groups and interests, law and order has effectively collapsed in Western Libya, the area around the capital.

There is a proliferation of weapons, kidnapping is rife, inflation is high, and people traffickers have taken to selling migrants travelling through the nation into bondage. Jihadi militias are rife. This chaotic situation is thought to have played a key role in tipping the Manchester bomber over the edge.

If you have been in Syria, or Libya during the anti-Gaddafi fighting then you could have got exposed to all sorts of radicalised groups. You may come back having fought against Gaddafi in a more radicalised position, counter-terror chief Dept Supt Russ Jackson, of the North West Counter Terrorism Unit, said of Salman Abedi.

A look at Ramadan Abedis Facebook page, before it was taken down, offered a snapshot into the world of Islamist fighting brigades. The page was festooned with images of militiamen, and in one post the bombers father praised Salafi-Jihadists Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian arm of al-Qaeda who are fighting Bashar al-Assad in a bid to establish a sharia state.

My greetings of peace to al-Nusra. May they be victorious against the infidels, he said.

The Facebook page contains 72 images - the same number of virgins Islamic martyrs are promised in heaven - which is perhaps a coincidence. Theres an image of Salman Abedis younger brother, Hashem Abedi, posing with a semi-automatic weapon under the caption, Hashem the lion...in training.

The lion in training now faces trial in Libya accused of helping his brother Salman in the Manchester attack. Hashem Abedi was reportedly being investigated for a month-and-a-half before the arena bomb, suspected of links to IS and a cell planning an attack on a UN envoy.

Following his arrest after the bomb, Libyan authorities claim, Hashem said he thought his brother was going to do something, and knew it was him when he learnt of what happened.

Meanwhile a cousin, Mohamed Younis Abedi, is in custody amid allegations his credit card was used to pay for parts of the Manchester bomb. Ramadan Abedi has been arrested but released, with Libyan authorities saying they have no concrete evidence against him.

ISIS has spread terror in Europe - while winning over a close-knit network of sympathisers in Manchester

The proliferation of jihadist groups in Libya coincided with the rise of ISIS on Europes streets. Salman Abedi would have known of this network of ISIS sympathisers in Manchester and it would have further normalised his warped idea of religion, compounding the radicalising effect of having jihadist role models, and his experiences in the Libyan revolution.

ISIS, also known as Islamic State, began life as the Iraqi branch of al-Qaeda, developing in the chaos that followed the US and UKs toppling of Saddam Hussein. Then, in 2013, ISIS broke from al-Qaeda and expanded into Syria, as Bashar al-Assads autocratic, but relatively secular regime turned on its own citizens following the Arab Spring.

The following year, ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, declared a caliphate, a sharia state. Westerners snatched by the group, like Salford charity volunteer Alan Henning, were beheaded on camera by Mohammed Emwazi, the masked British executioner nicknamed Jihadi John.

After seizing territory in the Middle East, ISIS set its sights on Europe. In late 2014 a series of attacks on European cities or resorts frequented by Westerners began. By 2015 they were occurring with alarming regularity - often perpetuated by fanatics who had been raised in the West and radicalised by the groups slick online propaganda machine.

Paris, Copenhagen, Sousse, a Russian plane, and a train between Amsterdam and Paris were all attacked in 2015, with the bloodshed extending to Australia and the US, where a gunman murdered Christmas partygoers in San Bernadino, California.

Meanwhile street preachers and YouTube videos presented salafi-jihadism as a romantic lifestyle, one that was exciting, noble and virtuous - like that of a medieval knight. The propaganda promised a glorious future in the caliphate, and a place in heaven to bored and disaffected young people from urban areas.

Inner south Manchester, where Salman Abedi grew up, became home to a small jihadist youth subculture.

For youngsters who have got in trouble, they see it as rehabilitation, others see it is as rebelling against the system, deradicalisation expert Ismael Lea South told the Manchester Evening News.

Often you see someone who was brought up in a strict Muslim family, but then went off living the worldly life, smoking weed, going out with girls. All the positive things they learned about the religion when they were young they forget, it gets smoked away. They learn a negative version of Islam.

Hashem Abedi is said by Libyan authorities to have told them that he and his brother Salman got the ideology of ISIS from the internet and some friends in the UK.

While its clear the background and unique experiences of the two brothers mean their radicalisation was possible even without internet propaganda and the rise of ISIS in Manchester, it is a fact that a cluster of young people whose backgrounds criss-crossed with theirs have been linked to ISIS.

Among that group is Ahmed Halane, who was a couple of years above Salman Abedi at Burnage Academy. He is banned from returning to the UK because he is suspected of fighting with militants in Syria and Somalia after being radicalised online.

Halanes twin sisters, Zahra and Salma Halane, were high-performing students who left their home in Chorlton to become jihadi brides for ISIS fighters in Syria - they were in the same year as Abedis sister, Jomana, at Whalley Range High School for Girls, and would go on to star in ISIS propaganda videos.

The Halanes cousin, Abdullahi Ahmed Jama Farah, from Fallowfield, was an IS propagandist who helped another young man Nur Hassan, from Whalley Range, travel to Syria to fight alongside militants.

Both young men are associates of Anil Khalil Raoufi, from Didsbury. Raoufi flew to Syria with two friends, Raphael Hostey, from Moss Side and Mohammed Javeed, from Levenshulme. All three are dead - Raoufi in combat, Javeed in a suicide bombing, Hostey in a drone strike.

All three were helped to Syria by Javeeds elder brother, Jamshed Javeed, a chemistry teacher from Levenshulme who was jailed for six years after his plans to join them were thwarted by police.

Having been helped to Syria by Jamshed Javeed, Raphael Hostey, who was known to Salman Abedi, became a senior commander and proflific recruiter for ISIS, promising recruits beautiful wives from his base in Raqqa.

Meanwhile, Abdalraouf Abdallah, from Moss Side, who recruited for jihadists in Syria, is a family friend of the Abedis. When he was shot in the spine fighting in the Libyan Civil War, Ramadan Abedi urged friends to pray for his recovery on Facebook.

On his return to the UK for treatment, the now-paraplegic Raouf tried to help Mustafa Gray, an RAF veteran from Moss Side who converted to Islam, to join jihadis in Syria. He also provided support to three others in the war zone, including his own brother Mohammed Abdallah, and Grays friend and fellow convert Ray Matimba, also from Moss Side.

Salman Abedi visited paraplegic recruiter Abdallah twice in Altcourse prison in early 2017 - at a time when he was preparing to bomb Manchester. What did they talk about? These visits now form part of the investigation into the atrocity.

By the time Salman Abedi detonated his bomb in Manchester on May 22, ISIS were in decline in their self-declared Caliphate. In Iraq, pro-government forces, with the help of a multinational coalition, were weeks from taking back Mosul, the countrys second-biggest city. And in Syria, Islamic State ceded ground to US-backed Kurdish and Arab fighters while Russian air strikes pounded the groups infrastructure.

ISIS have opened up a third front however - in Libya, through Katibat al-Battar al-Libi (KTB), Libyan Islamist militiamen who, after the fall of Gadaffi, joined the battle against Assad in Syria, before returning home.

One line of investigation is that the Libyan civil war led to Salman Abedi building alliances with the KTB - whose slogan is We Came to Slaughter You - before returning to ordinary life in Manchester.

Since the fall of Gaddafi the KTB have merged with ISIS. They now form the terror groups shock troops - and have established a training camp in the coastal Libyan town of Sabratha, attracting Westerners as recruits.

A European intelligence source has reportedly claimed that in the weeks before the Manchester attack, Salman Abedi met with KTB operatives in Tripoli, and then in Sabratha, and stayed in contact with them on his return to Manchester in the build-up to the bomb. ISIS attacks in Berlin, Paris and the Tunisian resort of Sousse are all thought by security experts to bear the fingerprints of KTB operatives.

Manchester, and the Abedi family, have strong links to the post-Gaddafi government

Salman Abedis attack on Manchester caused revulsion amongst people in divided Libya, where the Abedis have links to high levels of post-Gaddafi government.

At the time of the Manchester bomb his father, Ramadan Abedi, was working for the department responsible for policing in Tripoli. Meanwhile Manchester University graduate Mohammed al-Amari, who lived in a neighbouring house to the Abedi family on Elsmore Road in Fallowfield, is now a senior minister in the Presidential Council of Libyas Government of National Accord, the interim government formed under a United Nations intiative.

Al-Amari, like Ramadan Abedi and others who lived in south Manchester and worshipped at Didsbury Mosque, was part of the Libyan Islamist dissident movement. But the Government of National Accord which has given Islamists a political voice has a weak grip on power. Moves among some British politicians to support their rival, General Khalifa Haftar, may have caused yet more resentment towards Britain in the mind of Salman Abedi.

Haftar has control of Libyas main oil terminals, and in the view of some politicians, offers some hope of getting to grips with the migrant crisis and defeating jihadism. But Islamists and Haftar are bitterly at odds.

In a report published in March for the Conservative Middle East Council, MPs Kwasi Kwarteng and Leo Docherty urged the government to urgently engage with Haftar, reconsider its relationship with the Government of National Accord, and criticised militias linked to the LIFG, saying, they have a vested interest in prolonging the chaos...these militias reportedly derive significant income from the trafficking of migrants.

Wearing robes, chanting in the street, eyes glazed... Salman Abedi was angry and, for much of the time, alone

Salman Abedi is described by people who knew him in different ways - but anger seems to be a recurring theme. Its been reported that he told staff at Manchester College that he had anger management problems after he struck a fellow student.

Its also reported - although the college denied there was a flag against his name - that students reported him to staff in 2014 after he said he thought ISIS and suicide bombers were OK.

After the bomb - in comments that were met with outrage - Salman Abedis sister Jomana said: I think he saw children - Muslim children - dying everywhere, and wanted revenge. He saw the explosives America drops on children in Syria, and he wanted revenge. Whether he got that is between him and God.

Salman Abedi must have still had some hopes of a normal life in 2014, because he enrolled on a business management course at Salford University. He went to lectures for a couple of years.

But the pull of jihadist ideology was stronger. People who knew Abedi give colourful descriptions of him wearing robes and chanting in the street, his eyes glazed, as he grew more and more radical. Hungry for scripture, he stayed after hours in a Moss Side mosque so he could access religious texts. He had already stopped going to Didsbury Mosque after accusing an imam who criticised IS of talking bollocks.

One neighbour, who spoke to the Manchester Evening News, recalled thinking I wouldnt be surprised if he was ISIS.

After Abdul Hafidah, a teenager from Manchesters Libyan community, was killed in a 2016 gang murder, Abedi is said to have seen the murder as a hate crime and sworn revenge.

Relatives without Islamist leanings say he never explicitly expressed militant views to them - but sparked concern over his mental health as he became distant and stopped looking after himself.

The moment armed police raided the Abedi home in Fallowfield

By early this year Abedi had dropped out of university in order to prepare for the bomb, which he funded with his student loan. His slide into the jihadi mindset - that he was destined for martyrdom, that the UK was at war with Islam, and that civilian targets were legitimate - was complete.

Three months before the attack at Manchester Arena, Abedi went to Libya with his family for a wedding. Whatever sentiment he expressed to his parents, it was concerning enough, reportedly, for them to take his passport from him. He got it back by telling his mother he was going on pilgrimage to Mecca.

Instead, he returned to the UK, via Istanbul and Dusseldorf, the German city which is home to a number of Islamic militants, before returning to Manchester, days before the bomb.

By then, May 2017, Abedi had already established a network of addresses in Manchester where preparation for the bomb had been underway for some months. A flat in a tower block in the Charlestown area of Blackley was one of them - the landlord is said to have found a strong stench of chemicals after Abedi rented it for a short period in March. The electricity had been disabled and the smoke alarm had been disconnected. Cut up bits of material and a metal rod were found in the bath.

Significant materials were also covered from Abedis home at Elsmore Road, Fallowfield, where police carried out a controlled explosion the day after the bomb, and from his Nissan Micra, found later in Rusholme by investigators.

Bulky packages were seen being delivered to another flat Abedi kept in the city centre, at Granby Row, close to the Gay Village. Neighbours here noticed a strong smell of combustibles; Abedi is believed to have set out on from that address on the night of the bomb.

He had been intent on his course when he stepped off the plane from Libya on May 18. Police, in one of their biggest-ever investigations, are examining phone contacts, financial transactions, and CCTV in granular detail.

They have tracked his movements back. They know within minutes of his arrival from Libya he bought nuts and bolts for the bomb and the tin which the explosive was packed into. They have seen him, looking back through footage, lugging a blue suitcase back and forth to the Rusholme area where he was storing materials for the bomb, which he is understood to have assembled personally in the days just before the attack. For much of that time, he was alone.

Police cuts, community failings, foreign policy interventions... or a disastrous combination of all three?

Advanced in its planning and sophistication, Abedis attack was unique in the history of Manchester and terrorism, in the scale of loss of life.

More than 200 people were injured when the Provisional IRA detonated a 1,500kg bomb on Corporation Street in 1996, but there were no fatalities. In 2003, DC Stephen Oake was murdered in a knife attack by al-Qaeda operative Kamel Bourgass in Crumpsall, but no civilians were harmed. The 2009 al-Qaeda plot to attack Arndale Centre was foiled, and a string of people have been convicted of preparing for terrorist activity, facilitating terrorist activity overseas, and possessing documents useful for terrorism over the years.

The lower end of reasonable was how Greater Manchesters Chief Constable, Ian Hopkins described police numbers in the wake of Abedis bomb. So have police cuts led to Abedi succeeding where others have failed? Paul Condon, a former Metropolitan police commissioner, said in a recent interview that the contacts with the community (that) give you the leads could not be maintained if 20,000 street cops and 20,000 support staff were taken out of the picture.

In an interview with the MEN, GMPs Chief Constable Ian Hopkins said that despite the fact numbers were at the lower end of reasonable, police were more likely to get information from social media, these days, than on the street. Nevertheless, the view from inside some Muslim communities is that neighbourhood policing builds a trust that officials from Prevent - the governments anti-terror drive, has failed to build.

Thousands of officers who had built up relationships with the community were given voluntary redundancy, Mohammed Shafiq, from Rochdale-based Muslim organisation the Ramadhan Foundation said. Now you have Prevent officers in the community, but when you say youre a Prevent officer people shut down and dont want to hear.

Others defend the programme.

The counter-extremism strategy has help foil dozens and dozens of major terror plots until this one - Prevent has been largely very successful, Dr Usama Hasan, of the Quilliam Foundation, told the MEN.

Salman Abedi at the junction of Tib Street and Market Street, four days before his attack at the Arena

At least 150 people have been stopped from going to Syria and been persuaded, through monitoring schemes, that they are holding bad ideas.

The problem has been that Muslim communities have not cooperated with Prevent as much as they could have done, partly due to the suspicion and paranoia and fear of being targeted, but also because of a well-orchestrated campaign by extremists in the Muslim community, who have been enabled by naive, but well-meaning people in the wider British society, particularly on the left, who dont realise that anti-Prevent campaigning can be led by terrorist sympathisers within the Muslim community.

Either way, Salman Abedi - despite claims his extremist views had been reported in various capacities - was not known to the Prevent scheme. Claims are now swirling that opportunities were missed to stop Abedi  including reports that foreign security officials tipped off UK counterparts that he posed some kind of threat.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd has confirmed that Abedi was known up to a point by the intelligence services. Defence officials have said that at any one time, they will be dealing with thousands of suspects and hundreds of investigations.

Some are bound to blame the fact that security forces grapple with such a workload on UK foreign policy decisions. Comedian Frankie Boyle, not known for mincing his words, put it this way in his BBC show, New World Order: Keeping us safe is so low on our governments list of priorities. So Blair, before the Iraq War hes told it will increase terrorism, he stands up in the House of Commons and goes this will make us safer from terrorism. Camerons told before he goes into Libya this will increase terrorism, he stands up in the House of Commons and says this will keep us safer from terrorism. Theyre safe from terrorism, like Tony Blairs got armed guards outside his house and he doesnt even live in a rough area.

Joking aside, are we living with the consequences of foreign policy blowback? Is Libya the latest in a series of interventions to make us more vulnerable?

The debate about the west's role in Libya goes on, while our city faces a challenge

The Foreign Affairs Select Committees report - published in September, months before the Manchester bomb, was clear that failures of policy under David Camerons leadership had made a morass of Libya.

In words that will seem prescient if investigators establish clear links between Salman Abedi, Libyan ISIS or another Islamist group enabled by Gaddafi's fall, select committee chair Crispin Blunt said that the results of ill-conceived military action were still playing out today, when political, rather than military engagement could have protected civilians and delivered regime change and reform at lesser cost to the UK and Libya.

There is a debate about whether that intervention was necessary and on what basis it was taken, but having been achieved, the whole business then elided into regime change and then we had no proper appreciation of what was going to happen in the event of regime change, no proper understanding of Libya, and no proper plan for the consequences, Blunt said.

Islamist militants like Islamic State have been able to arm themselves with Gaddafis vast stockpiles of weapons - stockpiles the West failed to secure. This failure has fuelled instability in Libya and enabled and increased terrorism across North and West Africa and the Middle East, the select committee found.

However Dr Omar Ashour, of the University of Exeters Insitutute of Arab and Islamic Studies, says the UK had for many years been faced with state-sponsored terror from the Gaddafi regime, and rejects the idea the UKs intervention was a failure. He also thinks the authorities have done a good job of preventing terror in the UK.

To be fair the security services were successful in degrading the terrorism threat in the UK for 12 years, we went from the 7/7 bombings to terrorists trying to use kitchen knives to stab people, he said.

In many ways the intervention in Libya was a significant success, as was 12 years of degrading the terror threat against the UK, at a time when we see similar things happening around Europe, where there are also well-qualified security systems, but the UK has been doing better, he added.

Certainly the intervention was a success in getting rid of Gaddafi. But the persistence of the Libyan jihadist movement - with its historic connections to al-Qaeda, ISIS, and other radical jihadist groups with a similar world view - presents a problem. Days after Abedis attack, seven were killed and 48 were injured in a terror attack in London Bridge.

One of the attackers, Rachid Redouane, is believed to have fought with Libyan Islamists against Gaddafi before being dispatched to Syria, and then returning to the UK and staging an atrocity. Salman Abedi is suspected of having done exactly the same thing.

From Salman Abedis story a picture emerges - one in which the world of some Libyan Islamist dissidents in Manchester and the worlds most notorious terrorists were linked. A picture which suggests that even if ISIS had never existed, he was destined to be an extremist. Its a picture which suggests its perhaps not all that surprising that disaffected Abedi, angry and not too bright, having been inculcated in the language of jihad, became a homegrown terrorist. Not least since by the time Salman Abedi was at university, extremist clerics were urging youngsters to fight jihad in their own backyard, a number of his peers from the neighbourhood had joined ISIS in Syria and Iraq, and violent, radical Islamism was in the ascendant in war-torn Libya.

Ramadan Abedi settled in Manchester in 1994 as a refugee from Libya

What is undoubted is that the attack in Manchester was met with horror from across the world - including from across the broad spectrum of Greater Manchesters Muslim community, from liberal moderates to fundamentalist Salafists.

And, what Abedis dreadful history shows is that some things cannot be achieved by policing alone. Throughout the course of his life, Abedi appears to be worked on by a number of close influences. The challenge then becomes how to tackle those influences against the odds, without entrenching resentment, division, and curbing the liberty we hold dear. The challenge is to make sure that everyone in our diverse society understands that peaceable difference of opinion, of belief and culture is fine, but hatred and violence are not.
Hyundai has agreed to spend nearly $1 billion on Motional, an investment that will give the automaker a majority stake while providing the self-driving startup with the necessary capital to keep operating.

The Korean automaker invested $475 million directly into Motional as part of a broader deal that includes buying out joint venture partner Aptiv. As part of the deal, Hyundai will spend another $448 million to buy 11% of Aptiv's common equity interest in Motional, according to information revealed Thursday in Aptiv's first-quarter earnings report.

Aptiv also shared that it expects to reduce its common equity interest in Motional from 50% as of March 31 to about 15%, leaving Hyundai with the remaining 85% control. Aptiv chairman and CEO Kevin Clark flagged in January that the company would reduce its ownership interest in Motional. The company said at the time that it would stop allocating capital to Motional due to the high cost of commercializing a robotaxi business and the long road ahead to profits.

On Thursday, Aptiv reduced its full-year net sales forecast for 2024 to be between $20.85 billion and $21.45 billion, down from between $21.3 billion and $21.9 billion.

Motional confirmed the new funding round and increased stake from Hyundai but didn't confirm Aptiv's numbers. Hyundai, however, said the amounts listed in Aptiv's earnings report were accurate.

hyundai motional money

Image Credits: Aptiv

Motional started as Boston-based autonomous vehicle startup nuTonomy in 2013, before being acquired by Delphi for $450 million. Delphi would later split its business with the Aptiv unit absorbing nuTonomy. The entity became Motional under a $4 billion Hyundai-Aptiv joint venture in 2019. While it's clear from Aptiv's earnings report that the company is trying to manage risks and optimize finances amid a less positive outlook, the company's retreat, and Hyundai's step forward, raises questions about Motional's future.

In March, TechCrunch reported that Motional secured a bridge loan for an undisclosed amount as a lifeline while the AV startup secured its next round of longer-term funding. While it's likely that this funding round from Hyundai fits that bill, Motional has not responded to TechCrunch's request for more information about whether it will need to acquire more investors in the future.

Motional has been testing its autonomous vehicles with a safety driver behind the wheel in Boston, Pittsburgh, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Singapore. The company's go-to-market strategy involves partnering with existing ride-hail platforms like Uber, Lyft and Via to give customers rides. Motional has stated its goal of launching a robotaxi service using driverless Hyundai Ioniq 5 vehicles in 2024.

Motional and Hyundai announced plans in November 2023 to co-develop production-ready versions of the all-electric Ioniq 5 robotaxi at the automakers new innovation center in Singapore, the Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center Singapore (HMGICS). During CES 2024, Motional also announced plans to work with Kia on a next-generation vehicle that will enter commercial operations later this decade, with initial development stages beginning this year.

Motional's financial shifts come as the robotaxi industry continues to face uncertainty. The startup has been inching slowly toward commercialization, launching pilots in at least five cities. Crucially, Motional has not yet begun charging for rides or deliveries yet. Meanwhile, among the competition, Waymo continues to expand its fully driverless, paid robotaxi service in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Phoenix, with plans to hit Austin later this year. GM's Cruise is still mainly off the streets after an incident in October 2023 that left a pedestrian stuck under and dragged by one of its robotaxis, but the company has begun mapping again in Phoenix as part of a slow, deliberate reintroduction to public roads.

Then there's Tesla. CEO Elon Musk has shaken up his company, laying off thousands and increasing investment into AI, in a stated goal to go "balls to the walls for autonomy" and deliver a robotaxi in August.

This article has been updated to include confirmation from Hyundai.
Madrasas have never rejected contemporary subjects

The ulama, intellectuals and other members of academia were unanimous in their assertion, as against the common misconception, that madrasas have never rejected or denied the significance of contemporary subjects.

Thursday May 2, 2024 11:16 AM , Manzar Imam

New Delhi: The ulama, intellectuals and other members of academia were unanimous in their assertion, as against the common misconception, that madrasas have never rejected or denied the significance of contemporary subjects.

The Islamic scholars were expressing their views at a Two-Day International Seminar-cum-Workshop on Integration of Religious and Mainstream Education in Indian Madrasas: Prospects and Challenges.

The seminar was jointly organized by the newly established Centre for Research on Madrasa Education, Department of Islamic Studies, Jamia Hamdard and Everest Educational and Welfare Society, Hyderabad.

In his keynote address, Prof. Saud Alam Qasmi of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) spoke about the two systems of education that came into existence in the post-1857 British Indian scenario one of which was referred to as contemporary education, whereas the other came to be known as the Nizamia system adopted by ulama.

Among Muslims, the first system was led by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan whereas Maulana Muhammad Qasim Nanautwi was the prominent figure in the group that founded the famed seminary at Deoband which later became Darul Uloom Deoband.

There emerged slightly different models of the Nizamia system, one of which was the movement for Nadwatul Ulama that began in Kanpur. He said that the point of including modern sciences has always been there as nobody denied the significance of new knowledge.

Whether or not they included it in their syllabus is a different issue. He then emphasised the need to understand the present system of madrasas in which necessary contemporary subjects need to be included along with the foundational Islamic sciences. Underscoring the need for understanding the society he said:

It is not good in a composite society to say that you do not know others.

Maulana Mohd. Sufyan Qasmi, Rector, Darul Uloom (Waqf) Deoband impressed upon the idea of moving from mere thought to implementing a blended practical model of a new system of education.

He said that despite delay we still have the opportunity and scope to include news ideas and subjects in our madrasas, adding that madrasas have shown interest to include new changes, not just the partial and essential items suggested. Indicating to the kind of revolution such a model might create he said:

If that is done, madrasas would pose a great challenge to the contemporary educational institutions.

He then said that even in the past madrasas had suitable skills training that were helpful for livelihood. Courses such as tibb and suitcase making used to be there in Deoband.

Prof. (Dr.) M. Afshar Alam, Vice Chancellor of Jamia Hamdard spoke about the tremendous challenges that integration of religious and modern education offer, but it is the demand for which careful planning, caliber and resources are required.

Prof. Akhtarul Wasey, Professor Emeritus, Jamia Millia Islamia discarded the idea of the old (traditional) and new education calling it myopic. He referred to the past to bring home the point that we do not need modernisation of madrasas, rather the revival of their glorious past. He especially admired the role that madrasas have played in the development of Urdu language and literature and in Urdu journalism. Had there not been the madrasas, the country could not have been prevented from becoming another Spain, he said.

Earlier, after the welcome address of Dr. Arshad Hussain, Head of the Department of Islamic Studies, Jamia Hamdard, Dr. Abdur Raqeeb, Director of Everest Educational and Welfare Society presented an outline of the new academic programmes being introduced by his Society that focuses on a blended model of religious and contemporary subjects after which students can choose from a vast array of options available for them for research and higher studies.

Prof. Ajay Kumar Singh, Dean School of Humanities and Social Sciences highlighted the need for area integration of madrasas stating that this is no time to either celebrate or condemn any mode of education as madrasas in India have tremendous potential.

Maulana Alauddin Nadwi, Dean, Faculty of Arabic Language and Literature, Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama suggested to provide education up to 12th Standard to the Madrasa students in view of the new challenges.

Two books were released on this occasion: Barre Saghir Hind mein Jadid Ilm-e-Kalam by Dr. Waris Mazhari and Arbab-e-Madaris ka Idrak by Prof. Obaidullah Fahad Falahi. The programmes convener Dr. Safia Amir outlined the scope of the seminar whose inaugural session was compered by Dr. Mazhari and ended with an elaborate note of thanks by the seminars other convener Dr. Najmus Sahar.

After the inaugural programme four parallel technical sessions were held in which ulama and scholars associated with different universities and madrasas presented papers on number of relevant topics in offline as well as online mode to facilitate participation of scholars from other cities and even abroad.

(The author is a journalist and Director of MJ Achievers Academy, Delhi)







Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic.
Doctor-government standoff continues as new chief of doctors' group starts tenure

By Jung Da-hyun

The medical school quota for the next year will be increased to a maximum of 1,509 additional spaces, as 31 out of 32 medical schools that plan to expand, have confirmed their recruitment figures Thursday.

The Ministry of Education and the Korean Council for University Education unveiled the university admissions implementation plan for the upcoming year, based on submissions from medical schools nationwide.

Out of the 32 universities, 31 have finalized plans to add a combined total of 1,469 students.

Depending on Cha University's decision, which has not decided on its recruitment numbers, the expanding of the medical school quota will range from a minimum of 1,489 to a maximum of 1,509.

Cha University, a medical graduate school, initially proposed expanding by 40 students. However, if the university opts to recruit the maximum allowed, the total expanded medical school quota could reach 1,509. Nevertheless, if they choose to expand by only 50 percent, the minimum allowed, the total number will reach 1,489 additional spaces.

The projected total number of medical school applications in 2025 is estimated to be between 4,547 and 4,567, including the existing recruitment quota and the proposed increases.

Nine national universities located outside metropolitan areas such as Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon plan to recruit only 50 percent of the proposed quota hike.

Conversely, most private universities intend to fill all additional positions. This decision stems from private universities' comparatively smaller increase in their quota compared to national universities and the impact that medical school recruitment can have on their reputation.

Meanwhile, the fate of medical reforms and the proposed increase to the medical school quota still remains uncertain due to ongoing differences between the government and the doctors group.

Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong urged doctors to join a special committee to find common ground amid a prolonged standoff over medical reforms.

However, Lim Hyun-taek, the new chief of the Korean Medical Association (KMA), pledged to pressure the government to reconsider the expansion of medical school student numbers.

During his inauguration speech on Thursday, Lim emphasized that his focus is on promoting and protecting the rights of KMA members.

"I will confront any challenges to enhance the fundamental rights of our medical professionals. And I will implement a systematic and robust operational system to address the complex and challenging legal issues in the medical field," he said.

"We are committed to rectifying various unjust policies, such as the proposed increase of 2,000 medical school quota, and redirecting these policies toward a more suitable direction."

Some medical professors, who are senior doctors at university hospitals, also began a weekly stop-work day from this week, suspending outpatient clinics and surgeries in support of the walkout by trainee doctors.
HA NOI  Despite choppy sessions last week, the domestic stock market still posted a weekly gain, with the VN-Index breaking over to the 1,200 point-level.

However, the recovery trend is challenged as liquidity stayed low, while investors are likely to be reluctant to return to the market this week after long holidays.

This week, the market only has two trading days: Thursday and Friday.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) closed last week at 1,209.52 points, hovering in a range of 1,200 - 1,211 points, while the HNX-Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange (HNX) was last traded at 226.82 points.

For the week, the former gained nearly 3 per cent and the latter increased 2.7 per cent.

Last week, the liquidity on HoSE reached VN82.79 trillion (US$3.3 billion), marking a significant decline of 36.6 per cent from the previous week.

Foreign investors were net sellers, with a total value of over VN1.1 trillion. The VN-Diamond fund certificates, FUEVFVND, experienced the strongest selling pressure, with a value amounting to more than VN1.6 trillion.

It was followed by Vinhomes (VHM) and HDBank (HDB), which witnessed net selling values of VN383 billion and VN203 billion, respectively.

The market experienced significant divergence, with the recovery mainly focused on stocks that reported positive business results in the first quarter of the year.

FPT Corporation (FPT) and Mobile World Investment Corporation (MWG) led the rebound with gains of over 10 per cent. Vietnam Rubber Group (GVR) also made a positive contribution to the uptrend.

Conversely, PV Gas (GAS) had a negative influence on the market, erasing nearly 0.85 points from the VN-Index last week.

Technically, the market showed signs of recovery last week, raising expectations of reaching a resistance level of 1,215-1,230 points. However, the low liquidity indicates investors' cautiousness ahead of the long holidays.

There was a concern about the potential emergence of negative news during the holidays, which would impact the decisions of many investors.

Liquidity is still in focus as the strength of bottom-fishing demand is not yet robust, and the short-term supply continues to play a significant role in the market's recovery last week.

While some large-cap stocks contributed to the market's rebound last week, the performance within this group was not evenly distributed.

Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation (HSC) said that as the group is looking for bottoms, it is unable to provide sustained support and a solid foundation for the market benchmark.

Overall, the recovery is viewed as a technical rebound following a recent sharp and significant decline. As a result, a potential correction scenario for the VN-Index cannot be ruled out, as the upward momentum is not strong enough to overcome the resistance level of 1,215 - 1,230 points.

The market is expected to experience some fluctuations as it continues its recovery towards the 1,225 point-level.

Short-term investors should utilise the rebound to adjust their portfolios, reducing exposure to weak-performing stocks and focusing on holding stocks with positive upward trends. The funds generated can be allocated to strong-performing stocks to maximise profits.

Meanwhile, medium- and long-term investors should maintain their holdings in stocks with solid fundamentals until the target prices are reached. Additionally, they may consider increasing their holdings in stocks at the support area of 1,162-1,186 points.  VNS
HA NOI - Vietnamese stock market witnesses a historic high in outstanding margin loans, accompanied by substantial equity growth at securities companies, leading to plans for capital increases amid robust market activity.

Statistics indicate that outstanding margin loans at securities companies are projected to increase by VN23 trillion (US$903.7 million) compared to the end of 2023, reaching approximately VN195 trillion by the end of the first quarter of 2024. This marks a historic high in Vietnamese stocks, surpassing the period in the first quarter of 2022 when the VN-Index reached its peak at 1,500 points.

Despite the surge in margin loans, securities companies have also witnessed a significant increase in equity during the first quarter of the year, driven by robust profit growth and capital raising activities. As of March 31, 2024, the total equity of the securities company group stands at approximately VN235 trillion, reflecting a VN16 trillion increase compared to the beginning of the year. Consequently, the Margin/Equity ratio is estimated to reach around 83 per cent by the end of 2023, the highest level in six quarters.

Regulations dictate that securities companies are not permitted to lend margin exceeding two times their equity capital concurrently. With the current Margin/Equity ratio, securities companies estimate that up to VN277 trillion will be available for margin loans to investors in the near future. However, it should be noted that this is a theoretical calculation, and in reality, the Margin/Equity ratio of the overall market has never reached the 2-times threshold, even during the most active trading periods.

Examining individual securities companies, most of them still have significant room for lending, with Margin/Equity ratios mainly ranging from 100 per cent to 140 per cent. Notably, top companies in terms of equity such as Techcom Securities JSC (TCBS), SSI Securities Inc (SSI), VNDirect Securities Co (VND) and VPBank Securities (VPS) have ratios below 80 per cent. Only a few securities companies, such as HCM City Securities Corporation (HSC) and MB Securities Co (MBS), are facing relatively tight margin situations and are planning capital increases this year.

While securities companies currently do not face significant capital pressure when it comes to margin lending activities, they need to have substantial capital resources to support market upgrading processes, such as accommodating foreign investors who may not be required to deposit 100 per cent before trading in the future. Consequently, most securities companies have plans to increase capital in the 2024-2025 period. Notable names include:

Vietcap Securities Joint Stock Company (VCI) plans to offer over 143.6 million shares to both domestic and foreign investors with financial capacity and professional securities investors. The offering price will not be lower than the book value as of December 31, 2023, which is VN16,849 per share. The funds raised (at least VN2.42 trillion) will be used to supplement capital for margin lending activities (VN2.1 trillion) and proprietary trading activities (VN300 billion).

MB Securities Co (MBS) intends to offer over 109.4 million shares to existing shareholders (with a right exercise ratio of 4:1) at an offering price of VN10,000 per share. Additionally, the company plans to offer a maximum of over 28.7 million shares to fewer than 30 professional securities investors, in compliance with legal regulations, to supplement resources for business activities.

SSI Securities Inc (SSI) plans to issue 453 million shares to increase its charter capital from equity capital. This includes the issuance of 302 million bonus shares at a ratio of 100:20 and the offering of 151 million shares to existing shareholders at a price of VN15,000 per share and a ratio of 100:10. Upon completion, SSI's charter capital is expected to increase to VN19.65 trillion, maintaining its position as the leader among securities companies in terms of charter capital.

VNDirect plans to offer nearly 244 million shares to existing shareholders at a ratio of 5:1, with an offering price of VN10,000 per share. Simultaneously, a stock dividend will be paid at a rate of 5 per cent, corresponding to the issuance of nearly 61 million new shares. If both options are successful, VNDirect's charter capital will increase from VN12.18 trillion to nearly VN15.2 trillion. The implementation is scheduled for 2024, pending approval from the State Securities Commission (SSC). VNS
HCM CITY  GENTEXH Vietnam, a global exhibition on nonwoven and hygiene fabric products and technologies, will be held for the first time in Viet Nam next year to provide participants with networking, knowledge sharing and business opportunities.

Organised by Indias Radeecal Exhicon and Minh Vi Exhibition and Advertising Services Co Ltd (VEAS), it is expected to attract more than 200 exhibitors, including from India, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Europe, and Viet Nam.

It will showcase the entire nonwoven industrial chain, from raw materials and machinery to finished products, covering applications in various sectors like hygiene, medicine, filtration, packaging, agriculture, automobile, and geotextiles.

Specialised seminars and conferences will be held during the event.

Speaking at a press conference to introduce the exhibition, Nguyen Ba Vinh, VEASs director, said the exhibition is the first of its kind in Southeast Asia, which underscores the potential of Viet Nams nonwoven industry.

GENTEXH Vietnam will be an ideal platform for exhibitors to showcase advanced technologies and enable visitors to interact and access them, and seek partners, according to the organisers.

Maanuj Desai, chief marketing officer of Radeecal Exhicon, said the global nonwoven fabrics market is expected to be worth US$67.93 billion by 2030.

The Asia-Pacific is a key market for nonwoven fabrics, with growing demand from a range of industries such as hygiene, medicine, filtration, and automotive, he said.

The region is home to some of the worlds leading nonwoven fabric producers, and its production capacity is expected to grow steadily, he said.

He also shared some of the key trends in the Southeast Asian market, including the increasing demand for sustainable nonwovens, development and use of sustainable materials such as recycled fibers and bio-based fibers in their nonwoven fabrics and in e-commerce.

Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai, deputy general secretary of the Viet Nam Textiles and Apparel Association, said nonwoven fabrics are poised for rapid growth in Viet Nam as they are used in many sectors thanks to being environment-friendly, comfortable and affordable.

Viet Nam also exports nonwoven fabrics, with their value reaching $66.6 million in the first two months of 2024, up 15.3 per cent year-on-year, she said.

The exhibition is expected to become a bridge connecting domestic and international businesses, promoting the development of Viet Nams nonwoven industry, she added.

To be held at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre in HCM City from March 12 to 14 next year, the exhibition is expected to attract over 5,000 trade visitors.  VNS
HAI DUONG  The first international freight train from Cao Xa Railway Station in the northern province of Hai Duong departed on Thursday morning.

This event marks Cao Xa Station becoming a freight station in the rail freight network, participating in domestic freight transport from Hai Duong to other provinces and vice versa, and at the same time becoming an important link for the international transport network.

A train consisting of 12 containers carrying sulphur, aluminium and milk from factories in Hai Duong and Hung Yen provinces and Hai Phong City departed on Thursday morning from Cao Xa Station to Yen Vien Station to connect with international intermodal trains for export to China.

Vietnam Railways Corporation (VNR) reported that the Ha Noi - Hai Phong railway in Hai Duong Province spans 46km and has six stations across four districts and cities. However, due to the restricted infrastructure of railway stations, there have been no cargo yards qualified for container operations, and there is no access to industrial parks or companies. Goods in Hai Duong Province have yet to be directly imported or exported.

Cao Xa Station has been elevated to an international freight station thanks to its convenient position near industrial parks and the centre of Hai Duong City, and around two kilometres from Tien Kieu Port.

The station has undergone renovations and upgrades since January 2024. The first part of the project was finished after 83 days.

Two railway routes, Cao Xa - Yen Vien - ong ang and Cao Xa - Yen Vien - Lao Cai, have been inaugurated, connecting firms' import and export goods to Chinese railways and countries on the Asia-Europe railway transport route. Businesses that provide logistics services will save expenses and time spent shipping goods, enhancing overall business efficiency.

Chairman of Hai Duong Province People's Committee Trieu The Hung said Cao Xa Station's involvement in the international intermodal journey advances the local railway sector and creates new economic opportunities.

He directed local departments to work with VNR to implement effective solutions to fully utilise the railway line while expanding the road and waterway transportation system that connects to the station.

Hoang Gia Khanh, VNR general director, said the corporation will introduce the international railway to businesses and partners to promote cargo transportation services in the province.

The VNR plans to connect Cao Xa Station with international stations including Yen Vien, Lao Cai, and ong ang to maximise international intermodal transport by train, he said.  VNS
HA NOI  Viet Nams agro-forestry-aquatic product exports raked in some US$19.06 billion in the first four months of 2024, up 23.7 per cent year-on-year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) reported.

Meanwhile, the country imported $14.32 billion worth of these products, resulting in a trade surplus of $4.74 billion, a rise of 71.5 per cent year on year.

In April alone, the export value was $5.14 billion, an increase of 19.7 per cent from the corresponding time last year, of which main agricultural products made up $2.83 billion (up 29.2 per cent); forestry products, $1.39 billion (up 18.6 per cent); and aquatic products, $730 million (down 1.5 per cent).

In the four months, Viet Nam shipped abroad $10.44 billion worth of agricultural products, a year-on-year rise of 32.5 per cent; $5.18 billion of forestry products, up 22.8 per cent; and 2.68 billion of aquatic products, up 4.2 per cent.

Regarding markets, exports to Asia, America, Europe, Oceania and Africa experienced increases ranging from 19.8 per cent to 38.6 per cent. The US, China and Japan remained the three largest buyers of Viet Nam's agro-forestry-aquatic products.

To maintain the growth pace, the ministry said it has dealt with market-related issues to facilitate shipments, especially those to China, the US, Japan and the EU, while expanding to new ones like the Middle East, Africa and Islamic countries.

At the same time, it has maximised opportunities generated by free trade agreements, notably the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).  VNS
BAC NINH  A member of Hung Nhon Group, Visakan Investment and Biotechnology Development Joint Stock Company (Visakan), on Thursday in the northern province of Bac Ninh exported its first shipment of veterinary medicine valued at over US$200,000 to a Halal market.

These products, which are exported to Indonesia, were manufactured at NonBetalactam and Betalactam plants certified by the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development with WHO-GMP/GLP/GSP certifications.

Tran Van Binh, general director of Visakan, revealed that Visakan operates five production lines producing a variety of medicines and currently offers over 200 licensed products in the domestic market, partnering with animal feed companies, distributors, and livestock and aquaculture farms nationwide.

Beyond Indonesia, the Sakan brand has 23 product lines available in 13 countries and territories globally, with some products exclusively distributed by Visakan. The company aims to achieve revenue of over VN300 billion ($10.7 million) by 2024 and targets revenue exceeding VN1.2 trillion ($48 million) between 2025 and 2030.

At the export ceremony, Vu Manh Hung, chairman of Hung Nhon Group, highlighted the significance of these first exports to the Halal market. He emphasised the vast potential of the Halal market, citing the expected rapid increase in spending on Halal food worldwide.

According to the Global Islamic Economy Report, spending on Halal food is estimated to increase rapidly from $1.4 trillion in 2020 to $1.9 trillion in 2030, and nearly $5 trillion in 2050.

Therefore, this market is a potential opportunity for Vietnamese enterprises thanks to the advantage of abundant raw materials and its location in Asia, where approximately 62 per cent of the world's Muslim population resides, he said.

Alongside the export ceremony of the first batch of veterinary drugs to the Halal market, three enterprises, including Visakan, PT. Ekasapta Wijayatangguh from Indonesia, and De Heus Indonesia, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding a collaborative programme for the production and supply chain linkage of veterinary drugs and disinfectants in Indonesia.

Under the agreement, Visakan will supply quality veterinary products, PT. Ekasapta Wijayatangguh will manage importation and distribution, and De Heus Indonesia will prioritise using products provided within the collaborative supply chain.  VNS
ONG NAI  The southern province of ong Nai and the Republic of Korea (RoK)s Gyeongnam province signed a series of agreements on May 2 to deepen collaboration in labour and human resources training.

During a working session in ong Nai, Acting Chairman of the provincial Peoples Committee Vo Tan uc and Governor of Gyeongnam province Park Wan Soo signed a cooperation agreement on behalf of their respective provinces.

Authorities of ong Nais Thong Nhat district and Gyeongnams Geochang district also established a labour agreement while ong Nai University and Gyeongnam Geochang inked another agreement on human resources training, with a focus on Korean language skills.

The agreements pave the way for ong Nai to send seasonal workers to Geochang to support the agricultural sector. Additionally, they establish a framework for ong Nai to export skilled workers to Gyeongnam in industries like automotive, aerospace, aviation, and manufacturing.

Nguyen Hong Linh, Secretary of the ong Nai provincial Party Committee, highlighted the province's attractiveness to foreign investors, with projects from 43 countries and territories currently operating there. Korean enterprises lead the pack in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI) volume and value in ong Nai, with a total investment of nearly US$7.3 billion.

Governor Park lauded the robust and friendly cooperation between the two localities over the past 28 years, wishing that they would intensify collaboration in various areas for mutual benefit. - VNS
THUA THIEN HUE  The central province of Thua Thien-Hue has introduced a centre of investment, trade and business support as a positive step to promote investment towards building the province as a smart and green urban hub in 2030-50.

The province said the centre, which was built after the Prime Ministers decision, would help boost investment promotion programmes in key industries of high-tech, semiconductors, biological and nano-technology, information technology and sea-based economic development from major markets including Japan, Korea, Europe and the US in the coming years.

Thua Thien-Hue, which was designed as an attractive destination on the basis of world heritage and a rich unique culture, is expected to become a centrally-run city in 2025 and a heritage city of Viet Nam in 2030, as well as one of the major and unique centres of ASEAN in terms of culture, tourism, and health care.

The province has granted 13 new investment projects worth a total of VN3.53 trillion (US$141 million), including six foreign direct investment (FDI) projects worth US$30 million, since early January.

To date, the central hub has attracted 126 investment projects with total funds of $4.5 billion, with operating FDI projects creating revenue of $1.4 billion in 2023.

According to a report from the provincial planning and investment department, Thua Thien Hue contributed VN4.37 trillion  including VN3.5 trillion, or 86.4 per cent, from Carlsberg Viet Nam  to the state budget in 2023.

A series of key infrastructure projects commenced construction from 2023 and are expected to start operations in 2025.

Included among the construction projects were two piers at Chan May deep-sea port, sea and river cross traffic routes, and a domestic container route at Chan May Port connecting with Hai Phong and HCM City

The key port in the province will be able to handle 70,000 DWT (deadweight tonnage) cargo ships in a 200,000 DWT transshipment area. It expects to host from 5 million to 6 million tonnes of commodities by 2025.

Aeon Mall Viet Nam has registered to build its first trading centre, Aeon Mall Hue, covering 86,000 sq.m, with an investment of US$170 million in the central provinces new urban area of An Van Duong.

A project of Kim Long Hue Motors has been in construction on an area of 160ha at a cost of VND3.3 trillion ($143.4 million). The automobile plant on the Chan May-Lang Co EZ plans to manufacture 16, 30 and 45-seat buses and 16,000 vehicles per year.

The American Chamber of Commerce (AMCHAM) and the province authorities also agreed to boost ties between businesses from the US and the province to promote Hue as a future green economic growth area.

Hue  a tourism hub in central Viet Nam  is seen as a favourite destination for investors from European countries, Japan and the US in high-tech, tourism, logistics, health care and advanced farming.

It connects to the East-West Economic Corridor that links Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and Viet Nam, and has railway, seaport and airport systems and large areas for industrial zone development.

The province invested VN400 billion (US$16 million) to build the International Central Hospital No. 2 for the next decade of development. -VNS
VIENTIANE More than 263,160 Vietnamese people visited Laos in the first three months of this year, becoming the second biggest source of foreign visitors to the country during the period, according to the Tourism Development Department of Lao Ministry of Information, Culture, and Tourism.

Laos welcomed over 1 million foreign tourists in the reviewed period, it said, adding that visitors from Thailand topped the list with 337,689. China, the Republic of Korea and China ranked third, fourth and fifth, respectively.

According to the ministry, in addition to promoting tourism, the Visit Laos Year 2024 also aims to introduce the country's art, culture and traditions, as well as provide information about its long-standing history and sustainable use of natural resources to tourists.

Recently, many famous travel magazines in the region and the world have rated Laos as one of the attractive destinations or "slow travel" spots. They highlighted its cultural attractions, outdoor experiences and timeless charm.

To achieve the goals set for this year, Laos has built short-term and long-term strategies to develop this key economic sector to compete with other countries in the region, making an important contribution to its economic recovery and development.

The Lao government hopes to host at least 4.6 million international tourists in 2024, generating a revenue of US$1.3 billion. VNS
HA NOI  Rich flavours and the heritage of Mexican cuisine will be honoured during the 'Mexican Culinary Fiesta', an exclusive culinary and cultural event held throughout this month.

It has been organising by Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi, in partnership with the acclaimed Mexican restaurant Naco Taco in Ha Noi, and with the endorsement of the Mexican Embassy in Viet Nam.

The event will be held at angelina, the iconic hotels contemporary cocktail bar, whisky lounge and restaurant, starting from May 3.

Chef Gabriela Espinosa, a renowned figure in Mexican culinary arts who currently lives in Bangkok, will collaborate with angelina chefs and Metropoles Culinary Director Remi Van Peteghem to serve a distinctive menu that pays homage to the rich complexity and cultural heritage of Mexican flavours, distinguished globally as a UNESCO World Heritage cuisine.

Octavio Munoz Castillo Jauregui, Master Mezcalier and co-founder of Naco Taco, will also join forces with angelinas mixologists to complement the culinary offerings with a selection of expertly crafted mezcal-based cocktails.

Mexican Culinary Fiesta is not merely a celebration of our beloved cuisine but a vibrant bridge connecting Vietnamese and Mexican cultures, said Mexican Ambassador to Viet Nam Alejandro Negrin.

This event is a fantastic opportunity to introduce the authentic and rich flavours of Mexican gastronomy.

George Koumendakos, the General Manager of Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi, said that guests would enjoy an unforgettable dining experience at angelina.

"This event aligns perfectly with our commitment to showcasing world-class cuisine and celebrating cultural diversity, he added.

For more information or to make a reservation, call 0243 826 6919 (ext. 8200), email Bang.Au@sofitel.com or visit www.sofitel-legend-metropole-hanoi.com/. VNS
Q: On May 1, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a statement, saying that the United States strongly encourages the WHO to reinstate an invitation to Taiwan to participate as an observer at this years WHA. What is Chinas comment?

A: The US statement seriously violates the one-China principle and the three China-US Joint Communiques. China strongly deplores and firmly opposes the statement.

There is but one China in the world and Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinas territory. Chinas position on the Taiwan regions participation in the activities of international organizations, including the WHO, is consistent and clear, that is, this must be handled under the one-China principle, which is also a basic principle enshrined in the UNGA Resolution 2758 and WHA Resolution 25.1. The DPP authorities have stubbornly stuck to the separatist position of Taiwan independence, which means that the political foundation for Taiwan regions participation in the WHA no longer exists. The US statement presents this matter in a misleading way essentially to connive at and support Taiwan independence separatist activities.

The Taiwan question is at the core of Chinas core interests and the number one red line that must not be crossed in China-US relations. We once again urge the US to earnestly abide by the one-China principle and the three China-US Joint Communiques, observe international law and the basic norms governing international relations, act on the US leaders commitment of not supporting Taiwan independence, two Chinas or one China, one Taiwan, stop using the WHA to create confusion on Taiwan-related issues, and avoid sending wrong signals to Taiwan independence separatist forces.

The one-China principle has the extensive support of the international community. It is where global opinion trends and where the arc of history bends. Theres no denying or stopping of that trend. Any attempt to play the Taiwan card and use Taiwan to contain China will meet the firm opposition of the international community and is doomed to failure.
Separate bill on fresh investigation into Itaewon tragedy passed after bipartisan agreement

By Lee Hyo-jin

The main opposition-controlled National Assembly railroaded a contentious bill, Thursday, calling for a special counsel probe into allegations surrounding the death of a Marine, despite fierce protests from the ruling party.

The passage of this bill is expected to escalate conflicts between the rival parties, especially after they showed signs of cooperation the previous day by agreeing on another bill seeking a probe into the 2022 Itaewon crowd crush, which resulted in 159 deaths.

President Yoon Suk Yeol is also expected to exercise his veto power for the special counsel probe bill, which targets the governments alleged interference in the militarys investigation into the death of Marine Cpl. Chae Su-geun during a flood rescue operation.

During the plenary session, the bill was unilaterally approved by all 168 opposition lawmakers, including those from the majority-holding Democratic Party of Korea (DPK).

Members of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) boycotted the ballot and walked out of the chamber en masse before the voting began.

The bill aims to initiate an investigation into the government's alleged interference in the military's investigation into Chae's death, which occurred during a search and rescue operation in a flooded area in July 2023. The DPK speculates that Yoon's office might have exerted pressure during the Marine Corps' internal probe.

Hours before the plenary session, rival parties engaged in last-minute talks involving Rep. Yun Jae-ok, the acting leader of the PPP, Rep. Hong Ik-pyo, the floor leader of the DPK, and Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo, in an attempt to reach a compromise on the bill. However, they failed to reach an agreement.

Kim tabled the motion during the plenary session, which the PPP viewed as a violation of the agreed understanding.

"Our party agreed to hold a plenary session today upon bipartisan agreement to pass the Itaewon special probe bill. But without any prior notice, the speaker unilaterally tabled the bill and helped the legislative frenzy of the opposition party. We are very disappointed," Yun told reporters shortly after leaving the chamber.

Yun noted that the party will consider requesting the president to veto the bill.

The presidential office condemned the DPK for dampening public expectations on bipartisan cooperation, labeling its actions as politically motivated rather than being genuinely concerned about the Marine's death.



"The presidential office will take stern response measures to the unilateral passage of the bill, as concerns are rising that it may plunge the society into chaos," presidential chief of staff Chung Jin-suk said, hinting at the possibilty that Yoon may exercise his veto power.

Chung also emphasized that the ongoing investigation by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) into Chae's death should take priority before considering the special counsel probe.

Meanwhile, in a separate vote, the Assembly passed a special act mandating a new probe into the Itaewon crowd crush, following a bipartisan compromise on the controversial provisions.

The legislation comes about a year and seven months after the deadly incident occurred in Seoul's Itaewon on Halloween weekend of 2022, and three months after the president vetoed the initial bill.

The bill was approved with 256 votes in favor and three abstentions out of 259 lawmakers present. It now needs to be approved at a Cabinet meeting to become law, but this step is largely seen as a formality, considering that the presidential office welcomed the proposed bill on Wednesday.

The special act enables the Assembly to establish a special investigation committee that will look into the root causes of the tragic incident, potentially resulting in a wider array of high-ranking decision-makers being held accountable for their failure to prevent or adequately address it.

The Itaewon special bill has been one of the most hotly debated pieces of legislation since it was proposed by the DPK in April 2023.

The newly-passed bill is a revised version of an initial one which was unilaterally passed by the DPK on Jan. 9, amid a PPP boycott. Yoon vetoed the bill on Jan. 30.

Following Yoon's veto, the bill was returned to the Assembly for a revote.

On Wednesday, the rival parties came up with the revised version of the bill by changing clauses regarding the committee's composition and method of investigation.

Most notably, the revised version no longer grants the investigation committee the authority to conduct independent investigations or request arrest and search warrants against uncooperative individuals. This change was prompted by opposition from the PPP, which deemed the original version as granting excessive investigative power to the committee.

Additionally, under the revised version, the committee will consist of nine members, down from 11. The chair will be chosen through consultations between the rival parties, with four members to be recommended by each party.

Families of the victims have been calling for legislative measures to investigate the case and prevent a recurrence, but progress was delayed due to clashes between rival parties as well as the government's reluctance to cooperate with the motion.

The bipartisan agreement to come up with the revised version of the contentious bill came two days after Yoon met DPK leader Rep. Lee Jae-myung for the first time since the president took office two years ago. During the meeting, Yoon said that he does not categorically oppose the bill, but believes certain clauses should be reconsidered.
HA NOI - The National Assembly Standing Committee has decided to convene the 7th Extraordinary Session of the 15th National Assembly on Thursday to work on personnel issues within the scope of its authority, the NA General Secretary announced in a press release.

The meeting will be held according to provisions of the Constitution and law.

The meeting will take place in the afternoon at the National Assembly House in Ha Noi. VNS
PHNOM PENH  The 33rd experience-sharing conference on joint patrol activities between Viet Nam's Naval Region 5 and Cambodia's Ream Naval Base took place in the port city of Sihanoukville, the southwestern province of Preah Sihanouk of Cambodia on Thursday.

The conference, co-chaired by Rear Admiral Nguyen Huu Thoan, Political Commissar of the Naval Region 5 Command, and Rear Admiral Mey Dina, Commander of the Ream Naval Base, focused on successes achieved during the 73rd and 74th joint patrols in the historical waters between Viet Nam and Cambodia.

Both sides commended the effectiveness of their coordinated patrols in maintaining security and order within the patrolled areas. They highlighted successful joint training exercises that included maneuvering formations, search and rescue operations, and communications via flag signals, semaphore, and light signals as outlined by international signal law.

During the patrol process, the two countries' naval vessels regularly exchanged information on the maritime situation and related issues. They also conducted close observation and control of activities in the historical waters, thereby contributing to maintaining security and order, facilitating economic development of the two countries' coastal communities.

Looking ahead, the two sides pledged to raise awareness among both nations' fishermen of complying with maritime laws and regulations when exploiting marine resources, not infringing in foreign waters. They will proactively collaborate with relevant maritime management authorities in both nations to prevent and combat transnational crimes such as terrorism, smuggling, illegal transport of goods, weapons, explosives, drugs, humans, tax evasion, and illegal entry and exit.

They agreed to maintain open communication channels to ensure prompt and harmonious coordination in handling maritime incidents in the spirit of cooperation and respect for international law, independence and sovereignty. This contributes to maintaining a peaceful and stable environment, and strengthening solidarity, friendship, understanding and mutual trust between the two navies.

While in Cambodia, the Vietnamese delegation paid floral tribute and offered incense at the Viet Nam-Cambodia Friendship Monument, expressing their gratitude to the Vietnamese volunteer soldiers who sacrificed their lives to help the Cambodian people in their struggle against the Pol Pot regime.  VNS
HA NOI  Nearly 70 Vietnamese expatriates from 22 countries recently returned to their homeland and visited the Truong Sa (Spratly) and DKI platform, as part of a trip co-organised by the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs and the High Command of the Viet Nam People's Navy.

From April 24 to 30, they went to the islands of Sinh Ton ong, Len ao, a ong, and a Tay, the Truong Sa township, and the DKI/14 Phuc Tan platform, where they met residents, officers and soldiers; attended musical exchanges; and visited local schools, pagodas, and households.

They also joined a commemoration for fallen soldiers who fell down defending the countrys sea and islands and a meeting and parade marking the 49th liberation anniversary of Truong Sa, and visited memorial areas dedicated to late President Ho Chi Minh and martyrs, offering incense and flowers.

The delegation brought to Truong Sa close to VN1.6 billion (about US$66,666) worth of donations and necessities.

Joining such a trip for the second time, Cao Hong Vinh, a member of the Liaison Board for Vietnamese in Europe "For the sea and islands of Viet Nam", expressed her delight at positive changes in the places, which she attributed to significant efforts of the Party, State, army, and people.

According to Nguyen Manh ong, Deputy Chairman of the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs, the organisation of visits by those delegations to Truong Sa and the platform have enabled them to witness achievements of the Party and State in protecting the national territorial sovereignty over its sea and island. The trips affirm the Party and States consistent policy of taking the overseas Vietnamese as an integral part of the country.

Data from the committee shows that since 2012, 11 vessels have brought nearly 600 Vietnamese from more than 40 nations and territories worldwide to the Truong Sa and DKI. They have donated approximately VN30 billion for the area, established related forums, clubs, and funds in many countries; and organised myriad symposiums and exhibitions to disseminate information on Viet Nams sea and island sovereignty to their communities and international friends.  VNS
HA NOI  Four Vietnamese nationals have been arrested as part of a major joint UK-French investigation into alleged small boats people smugglers advertising crossings on Facebook.

Britains National Crime Agency said a woman aged 23 and three men aged 64, 34 and 25 were taken into custody last week after they were picked up at addresses in London, Croydon and Leicester.

Three were arrested on suspicion of assisting unlawful immigration and appeared at Croydon Magistrates Court on April 23.

The 25-year-old man is wanted by the French authorities, who allege he was involved in people smuggling and drug offences. He will now face extradition proceedings.

Following the arrests, UK Home Secretary James Cleverly said a new agreement has been signed with Vietnamese authorities to crack down on illegal migration.

Investigators allege the group were involved in advertising illegal immigration into the UK in social media posts aimed at the Vietnamese community, charging migrants thousands of pounds to make the crossing.

The 64-year-old is believed to have acted as a driver, collecting migrants who arrived on small boats and on at least one occasion bringing them back to the Croydon address.

At the same time in France, another 12 individuals have been arrested in the Paris area, suspected of being linked to the same people smuggling network.

UK Home Secretary James Cleverly said: We are using every possible lever at our disposal to crack down on people smugglers and break their supply chains. Just last week, we signed a new agreement with Vietnam, strengthening our cooperation on illegal migration.

Together with law enforcement agencies such as the NCA, our French partners, and other countries like Vietnam, we are committed to dismantling the criminal gangs who are trying to turn a profit by abusing our borders.

This operation is a prime example of that partnership working in action.

National Crime Agency Director of Threat Leadership Chris Farrimond added: People smuggling via small boats is extremely dangerous and the safety of those making the journey is of no concern for criminal groups who are exploiting them for profit.

As well the high-risk method of transport, entering under these clandestine means automatically puts these people under increased risk of being forced into exploitation and debt bondage by these groups. Migrants are often sold a dream of a better life and access to well-paid employment in the UK but this is not the reality.

Vietnamese nationals now make up a large number of those we see arriving on small boats. We allege this group were advertising their crossing services on social media to encourage others from their country to make the same treacherous journey.

The NCA is continuing our work with partners and has had thousands of social media pages and posts advertising organised immigration crime services removed from platforms.

These arrests were possible thanks to our close working with the CPS and the French authorities who have arrested a number of people they believe are linked to this group in France.

Tackling organised immigration crime is a priority for the National Crime Agency and our investigation continues to target people smugglers both in the UK and overseas at every step of the route.  VNS
Vu Hoa

TBILISI, GEORGIA  Developing Asia and the Pacific is unprepared to secure the well-being of its rapidly aging population as the growing share of older people in the region faces challenges from low pension coverage to health problems, social isolation, and limited access to essential services.

While longer lifespans reflect the regions development success, comprehensive policy reforms are urgently needed to support the welfare of older people, according to "Aging Well in Asia: Asian Development Policy" Report, released on Thursday by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) at its 57th Annual Meeting held in Tbilisi, Georgia.

The number of people aged 60 and older in developing Asia and the Pacific is set to nearly double by 2050 to 1.2 billion  or about a quarter of the total population  significantly increasing the need for pension and welfare programmes as well as health care services. At the same time, economies have an opportunity to reap a silver dividend in the form of additional productivity from older people, which could boost gross domestic product in the region by 0.9 per cent on average.

Asia and the Pacifics rapid development is a success story, but its also fueling a huge demographic shift, and the pressure is rising, said ADB Chief Economist Albert Park. Governments need to prepare now if theyre going to be able to help hundreds of millions of people in Asia and the Pacific age well. Policies should support lifetime investment in health, education, skills, and financial preparedness for retirement. Family and social ties are also important to foster healthy and productive populations of older people and maximise their contribution to society.

According to the report, 40 per cent of people over age 60 in Asia and the Pacific lack access to any form of pension  with women disproportionately affected, as they are more likely to do unpaid domestic work. As a result, many older people in the region have no choice but to work well beyond retirement age to survive. Among those still working at age 65 or older, 94 per cent work in the informal sector, which typically doesnt provide basic labour protections or pension benefits.

Physical and mental health challenges also increase with age. Around 60 per cent of older people in Asia and the Pacific do not attend or receive regular health checks, while 31 per cent report depressive symptoms owing to illness, social isolation, and economic insecurity. Older women in the region are also more likely than older men to suffer from ill health, from depression to diabetes and hypertension.

The report recommends a wide range of policy measures to support healthy and economically secure aging. Among these are government-assisted health insurance and pension plans, improved health infrastructure, and free annual check-ups and lifestyle evaluations. Policy makers should aim for universal health care coverage, while basic labour protections should be extended to older informal workers, according to the report.

By making mandatory retirement ages more flexible, helping older people stay healthy, and providing them with suitable work opportunities as well as lifelong learning and skills development, economies in the region can help older people stay productive longer.

Answering Viet Nam News reporters question on specific policy recommendations for Viet Nam to ensure sustainable economic growth and social welfare for older people while also addressing potential strains on the labour market, Aiko Kikkawa, ADB Economic Analysis and Operational Suppot Division, Economic Research and Development Impact Department, said that the Vietnamese Government is making different efforts like the extension of the retirement age and now the government is exploring the issue of long term care. So access to health is challenged.

The Government is doing the right track, but then we have to speed up because the speed of aging is very fast in Viet Nam, if we compare to some other country that's obviously rapidly aging, she added.

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members  49 from the region.  VNS
HA NOI  Viet Nam has expressed its hope that Cambodia will soon provide information on Cambodias Funan-Techo canal project and join hands in assessing its impacts and seeking solutions to them.

According to the Viet Nam National Mekong Committee (VNMC), the canal is set to flow 180km, connecting Bassac River (called the Hau River in Viet Nam, which is one of the two main branches of Mekong River) with Kep Port and onto the Gulf of Thailand.

The Cambodian side said the canal is designed to allow ships with a total load of up to 1,000 tonnes to pass through. Apart from three sluices, it will comprise 11 bridges, each measuring 161m long and 12m wide.

Its construction is scheduled to start in 2024 and be completed in 2027, with seven million tonnes of cargo expected to be circulated through the new waterway each year.

The VNMC said it has held bilateral working sessions with the Cambodian side at different levels to raise Viet Nams concern over the projects impacts on the Mekong Delta. Viet Nam asks Cambodia to share detailed information about the project, including the project feasibility report, conduct joint research on its impacts, and apply the International Mekong River Commission (MRC)'s guidelines for transboundary impact assessment to achieve common understanding of the project's transboundary impacts and appropriate mitigation measures.

At the meetings, the Cambodia National Mekong Committee took note of Viet Nams concern over the project, saying it is working with relevant ministries and agencies of Cambodia to convey such opinions to them.

The VNMC has also suggested that the MRC Secretariat support countries in conducting research on the project's transboundary impact assessment, and that the Secretariat quickly work on independent research on the project's impacts, especially its transboundary ones, and proposing impact mitigation and monitoring measures.

On April 23, the VNMC coordinated with the MRC Secretariat in organising a consultation workshop on the project.

Participants voiced their concerns about the canal project, including its impact on water resources of the Mekong Delta, especially in the context of drought and saltwater intrusion plaguing the region more frequently and more severely. The Funan - Techo canal will transfer water from the Bassac River, a tributary of the Mekong River, to Kep port located outside the basin. This will significantly reduce water resources to the Mekong Delta, causing a negative impact on the livelihoods and production of local people and natural ecosystems.

Official announcements made by Cambodia said the Funan Techo canal will be used only for water transport, but according to media reports and remarks of Cambodian leaders, the canal will also serve irrigation for agriculture and socio-economic development in the country's southwestern region. As information about the operation of the three planned sluices in the project is lacking, Viet Nam hopes that Cambodia will early share detailed information about the purpose, design and operation of the project.

Viet Nam also wishes that Cambodia will participate in joint research on the project's impacts and reach agreement on suitable impact monitoring and mitigation measures.

Chief of the VNMC Office Nguyen Thi Thu Linh said that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the VNMC will continue to coordinate closely with the MRC Secretariat, Cambodia and other MRC member countries to accelerate research over the impacts of the FunanTecho project and propose mitigation measures and monitor the impacts.

At a regular press conference of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on April 11, Deputy Spokesman oan Khac Viet said Viet Nam is highly interested in the Funan Techo canal project and requests that Cambodia work closely with the International Mekong River Commission to share information and assess the impacts of the project on the water resources and ecological environment of the Mekong Delta to ensure the harmonious interests of riparian countries and residents in the area.

He made clear that Viet Nam supports the socio-economic development needs of Mekong River countries, while underscoring the importance of enhancing cooperation to effectively and sustainably manage and use the Mekong River's water resources for the sustainable development of the basin, the interests of communities on the basin, the future of later generations, and the solidarity among riparian countries, he said.  VNS
Anh uc

There's a phrase that has been circling social networks for a long time: 'All men are bad'.

It has become a point of ridicule by misogynistic people, its obvious generalisation. Yes, not all men are bad, but the actions of many are giving the gender a bad name.

A director of a publishing company and a famous musician were made famous over the past few weeks, for the wrong reasons.

The businessman was accused of sexually harassing a female employee in the workplace. The victim was subjected to verbal harassment and actions, and confided with her relative, a famous author that used to collaborate with the publishing house.

The author announced he was stopping his collaboration with the publishing house, but while the author did not specify the reasons, his fans were quick to disclose an email sent to the publishing house, in which the girl's harassment was mentioned.

Fans flocked to the publishing house's social media accounts to demand an answer, and after a few days, the businessman, using his publishing house's account, posted an apology at around midnight.

He said that he "made some actions that portray his care and love for the girl, which does not cross the moral boundaries... and may have caused confusion, disturbance and may have hurt her."

The post backfired, and thousands of people became even angrier, claiming the apology was 'irresponsible'. Media outlets started to look at the company's dilemma as a case in crisis management, but I do not want to write from this perspective. Let's all look at the situation as what it is: harassment - a wrong thing to do.

The publishing company issued a new statement the following day, officially 'suspending' the director while conducting an internal investigation. The company also pledged to compensate for all mental or physical damage caused to the female employee.

The other incident involved a musician, named T, who was recently accused by his ex-wife of cheating on her as well as neglecting and starving his young child. Furthermore, the man demanded his ex-wife return all of the money he gave to raise his son.

This recent incident sparked comparisons with another famous celebrity named J, who allegedly only gave VN5 million (US$200) to his former girlfriend to take care of his own daughter. But T's actions, were even worse than J's.

A similarity between both incidents is noted: irresponsibility. And sadly, it's emerging among the current generation, and guys, you may not like this, but the trend is leaning more against men than women (at least, perhaps in Viet Nam).

I am not blaming male readers, because this is mostly a product of our upbringing by our parents, and a product of past gender prejudices.

In Viet Nam, families who have a boy are considered 'blessed' and male children are often spoiled by their parents.

Boys are also taught to be tough, never say sorry because it's a weak word (and thus eliminating the admission of fault), and to hide their emotions and thoughts.

Born as the second boy in my family in the times where gender prejudices were high, I was also spoiled by my parents, and I admit that I was sometimes, irresponsible in my past actions. But learning to take responsibility, to say sorry and to mean it, is my first step in becoming a better person day by day.

And a proper, responsible man's apology is to admit his faults, with no reasons on why he was wrong. A wrong decision is a wrong decision, and a 'sorry, but...' is not an apology.

In a paper written in 1992 by Ruben Katzman, titled "Why are men so irresponsible?", the author seeks to find out why men avoid obligations "connected with the formation and maintenance of a family", which leads to an increase in the rates of abandonment of families with children.

The article concluded that the majority of the population in question, which was based in Latin America, "are simply not filled to play the roles of husband and father", due to the fear of failure to fulfil the obligations of these roles might undermine the man's authority, which led to his abandonment of the responsibilities.

When I read this, the first thought that comes into mind is again, that we are all taught to be tough, be brave, but when our male ego is threatened, some of us choose to flight, not fight. Because to fight an ego one must use the heart, the emotions, not logic. And emotion is regarded a very taboo and 'unman' thing for men to talk about.

But the prime rule of empathy is to identify emotions of others, and react in a proper way. If our definition of emotion is a weak, unnecessary thing, it's possible that we can neglect not even our own, but others as well.

A director neglecting an employee's emotion of fear, and a father neglecting his son's cries of hunger,... that will lead to further damning consequences.

To be responsible, is perhaps firstly to be responsible and accept that you have feelings, and that others have feelings too and every action that you take could have a positive/negative influence on them.

In one of the author's books, which is perhaps one of my favourite pieces of literature, he wrote: "Compassion comes from empathy. Empathy is the ability to look at the world through the eyes of another person, and to place yourselves in their shoes... it is the ability to thoughtfully understand a person, their thoughts, to feel their feelings, without judgment."

And in my honest opinion, perhaps this is the key for us men to get better - to have empathy towards others, so that we don't feel entitled, so that we cannot hurt others.

And alas, it's a challenging thought for many that such an 'unman' thing to do is that everybody must be the better man. VNS
Tokyo should stop pressuring Naver to sell stake in Line









The Yoon Suk Yeol administration has signaled its support for Naver, the nation's No. 1 online portal operator, in addressing pressure from Tokyo to divest stakes in Line, Japans largest instant messaging app. On Tuesday, the presidential office, along with the foreign affairs and ICT ministries, vowed to adopt collaborative approaches to support Naver, while fully respecting its position. We welcome this initiative as a commitment o safeguard the interests of domestic enterprises against external pressure.

Earlier, Japans Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications asked LY Corp., Navers Tokyo-based operator, to reconsider its capital relations with Naver, in the wake of a data leak in November through Navers cloud server in Korea. LY Corp., Line's operator, is a consortium between Naver and Softbank. What is even more concerning is that the Japanese government recently requested the state-run Personal Information Protection Committee (PIPC) to conduct additional investigations into the hacking case. However, according to a report in the vernacular Chosun Ilbo on Thursday, the Korean government declined to accept the request, stating that the breach of personal data had negligible consequences.

Prompted by the Japanese ministrys guidelines, Softbank has been gearing up to acquire part of Navers 50 percent stake in A Holdings, a joint venture that owns 64.5 percent of LY Corp. Pressure from Japan, aimed at enabling Softbank to snatch managerial rights over the app from Naver, has triggered contentious debate over corporate governance and data security.

LY Corp. acknowledged that approximately 440,000 pieces of personal information were leaked due to hacking attacks on the server. Yet it also noted that there was only a limited impact on users. Japan's "improper" intervention in the case persisted despite the firm's acknowledgment, raising fresh concerns over Naver's management dynamics and broader implications for bilateral economic relations.

Against this backdrop, it is unreasonable for the Japanese government to escalate pressure on Naver to divest its holdings. This violates the Korea-Japan trade agreement that took effect in 2003, which guarantees the most favored treatment for investing enterprises between the two countries. Japan's attempt to convert Line, now with 96 million users, into a Japanese firm reflects a clear interference in the corporate management of a private enterprise, prompting criticism for a blatant anti-market approach.

The Korean government must play a more assertive role in dissuading Japan from escalating pressure. Japan's framing of Naver's stakeholding as a diplomatic issue will only risk distancing Seoul and deepening distrust between the two nations.

In parallel with international precedents, the U.S. Congress passed a bill mandating the sale of Chinas app TikTok, highlighting the complexities of balancing national interests with global market dynamics. This action was taken to contain the potential exploitation of information by an adversarial state, namely China. Seoul and Tokyo, however, are not adversarial states. They are friendly and cooperative neighbors, sharing a history of collaboration and mutual benefit.

Japan's concerns about potential foreign domination of their people's data are understandable, although this practice is common in global markets. However, a market-oriented democratic government should refrain from violating the property rights of foreign companies.

The Yoon administration has been eager to improve soured relations with Japan that deteriorated during the previous Moon Jae-in administration. Regarding the knotty issue of Korean workers forcibly mobilized during World War II, the Yoon administration suggested a device for a third party to compensate the victims. Chilled bilateral relations have shown remarkable improvement evidenced by the resumption of shuttle diplomacy between the heads of state.

Regrettably, however, the Japanese government's move is feared to dampen bilateral relations, by asking Naver to abandon its stake in LY Corp. It is like treating Korea as an enemy state. Japan should take full responsibility for any potential backlash resulting from its seemingly inappropriate actions. We urge Japan to cease making reckless demands, and we encourage the Korean government to pursue nuanced and prudent diplomatic approaches to resolve this impasse.








By Jason Lim

I visited Frankfurt and Helsinki last week. There is always a stirring sense of anxiety when you go to a new place, especially one where you dont speak the language and are unfamiliar with how everything works. Its a weird combination of excitement about experiencing something new and the instinctive fear of the same. Underlying all that is a soft static of irritation that not everything works the same way it does back home. I mean, why in the world do other countries use rounded electric outlets at 220 volts? At least, there are Burger King and McDonald's restaurants aplenty.

Which was what really struck me on this trip. Everything was already familiar. In Germany and Finland, the drive from the airport to the hotel was as familiar as the drive from Ronald Reagan National Airport to my house in northern Virginia or from JFK Airport to my parents in Jersey. There is the highway, filled with modern cars, dotted by familiar malls, signs, and buildings. Strip malls, tall office buildings, gigantic sporting venues, chain restaurants, and even indoor skydiving franchises along the side of the highway beckoned to the familiar in me. The signs were in English, most of the time.

But even if the signs were in Klingon, everything would have felt obnoxiously familiar. The hotel was a Marriott, with a familiar lounge that displayed fruits in the same basket and configuration that I saw in another Marriott in the U.S. just last week. The coffee machine in the room was the identical model with familiar looking capsules, bath amenities smelled exactly the same, and even the paper sleeve for the room keys was identical. Then you step outside into the downtown streets and realize that it could be downtown in any large city in the industrialized world. A sleek forest of modern metal and glass buildings, dotted with occasional glimpses of the old, mostly churches or town halls from bygone eras. Frankfurt could have been Dallas, and Helsinki could have been Boston. Frankly, the Germans and Finns that I met on this trip probably spoke English better than your typical American.

Am I complaining? Absolutely not. Sameness is super convenient and comforting. I already know what to expect wherever I go, as long as I stay within a certain parameter of gentrified existence. The familiarity caters to me. I dont have to waste cognitive energy to understand my new environment and figure things out. The familiarity empowers me to be super-efficient in my dealings, which is probably the point. I am there to do work. To produce. Like an assembly line in a factory, mass production can only happen when the parts are identical. I am also a cog in this machine. When fatigued or defective, I will be replaced by the next part in the bin. Its nothing personal. Its just that our industrialized existence has been made so efficient that we are forced to live with the constant awareness that we are always replaceable.

As I said, I am not complaining. But, somewhere deep within me, I suspect that there is a certain intangible price that I am paying for this molasses-like cloyingness of modern, soulless familiarity. I feel myself yearning to witness something truly new, feel something unexpected, and be dumbstruck by something thats overwhelming fresh. I want my travel to transport me to a different existence. I want to feel what Max Weber or Stanley Livingstone must have felt encountering unknown civilizations and primordial nature for the first time.

Of course, I am lying. Thou dost protest too much, indeed. Here I am complaining that the global electrical sockets have not been standardized to the American norm, and I want to go toe-to-toe with hostile indigenous tribes? As if.

Frankfurt is not Dallas, and Helsinki is not Boston. I know myself enough to realize that the unbearable sameness that I experience is one of my own making. I am the one thats static. I am the one thats not changing. I am the one who created this comfortable mental cage and is complaining that I cant get out. Since I am not changing, I see everything else as the same. The gentrification is actually happening within me. I am boring and predictable, actively seeking out the same and then complaining that everything is the same. I have become insufferable.

I have lost the true privilege of the young and inexperienced: the ability to see something as new. The young are constantly surrounded by the newness every day because they choose to embrace it. They delight in finding that little-known Turkish food kiosk in Frankfurt. They marvel at the weather that constantly shifts throughout the day. They are delighted to walk along the old cobblestone streets of Helsinki. They marvel at the late April snow that covers Helsinki with a soft sheen of white. The world is raw and ready to be devoured while fresh. Bon Appetit. May it last a long time.

Jason Lim (jasonlim@msn.com) is a Washington-based expert on innovation, leadership and organizational culture. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not reflect The Korea Times editorial stance.
Alibaba plans to build $1 billion data centre in Vietnam

Alibaba is renting space for computer servers from two leading Vietnamese telecom groups - Viettel and VNPT. The plan to build a data centre comes from a government decree promulgated in 2022 that Vietnam asked foreign-invested enterprises to have their particular data centres to store users data within the countrys territories.

Dang Minh Tam, solution architect lead at Alibaba Cloud, said that the company cooperated with Viettel and VNPT via the colocation method, which is a term for renting out space from data centre operators of these state-owned enterprises to park client data locally.

Tam did not disclose the specific timeline of the centres construction.

The data centre market in Vietnam is forecast to reach $1.26 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of 10.8 per cent, according to the latest report from Viettel IDC published in May.

Despite the potential opportunities and market momentum, Vietnam remains relatively slow to grow compared to its regional peers. Vietnam, a promising market, but lags behind other countries in terms of size. Currently, the country's data centre market is only a small fraction of the size of Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

Looking at the past three years from 2020 to 2022, the data centre market in Indonesia and Malaysia has grown about six-fold, while Vietnam has grown only 1.5 times.

Four major domestic providers in Vietnam, such as Viettel, VNPT, FPT and CMC, dominate the data centre market, holding approximately 97 per cent of market share.

Rules for localisation of data need clearer guidance In past years, we witnessed the great efforts Vietnam has put into building a regulatory framework for digital technologies. Less than two years ago, the government issued Decree No.53/2022/ND-CP guiding the implementation of the Law on Cybersecurity (LoC), detailing regulations on data localisation in Vietnam.

Vietnam's cloud transition strategy discussed at summit The shift towards cloud computing platforms is one of the fastest-growing trends in ASEAN. To successfully transition to the cloud, it is essential for businesses to develop clear strategies and cost management to navigate through four distinct stages.

Development of data centres on front foot Trends in AI, big data, smart urban construction, e-commerce, and also the ambition to turn Ho Chi Minh City into the regions leading financial centre are all creating opportunities for investment in data centre development.

Siemens holds first Data Centre Day in Vietnam Siemens Vietnam on April 9 held Vietnam Data Centre Day in Hanoi, attracting more than 130 delegates including industry experts, thought leaders, technology providers, and government representatives.
Pham Thi Thanh Huong, general director of Bidiphar, said that 2023 had been a positive year for the company in the context of economic uncertainties. Total pre-tax profit surpassed the annual target by 7 per cent, and although total revenue only reached 96 per cent of the yearly plan, it also rose 7 per cent from 2022.

The Bidiphar shareholders meeting 2024

Last year, Bidiphar made its mark with the inauguration of a factory producing cancer drugs meeting GMP-EU standards, and started construction of a sterile drug factory with a total investment of VND840 billion ($35 million). Thanks to these impressive achievements, Bidiphar maintained its position in the top five most prestigious pharmaceutical enterprises in Vietnam.

For 2024, Bidiphar has set a charter capital target of VND936 billion ($39 million), an increase of 25 per cent; revenue of VND2 trillion ($83.33 million), an increase of 15 per cent; and a pre-tax profit of VND320 billion ($13.33 million). This year, in addition to continuing to invest in upgrading the factory and ongoing projects, Bidiphar will expand new investment in the OSD - Non Betalactam factory meeting EU-GMP/WHO-GMP standards with a total investment of VND870 billion ($36.25 million). The factory will produce non-betalactam solid oral medication with a capacity of 100 tonnes a year, and construction is expected to start in 2025 in Nhon Hoi Economic Zone.

The meeting also approved a plan to distribute profits in 2023 to shareholders in the form of shares at a rate of 25 per cent. After completing shares dividends, Bidiphar's charter capital will increase to about VND936 billion ($39 million).

Shareholders also approved a plan to issue shares under the selection scheme for employees. The number of shares issued will not exceed 1 per cent of the total number of shares outstanding at the time of issuance. These shares will be issued in 2025.

In addition, shareholders also adopted an offering of individual shares to investors with 23.3 million shares at the minimum offering price of VND50,000 ($2.08). This is expected to be carried out in 2024-2025. All proceeds from the issuance will be used to supplement capital for investment in the sterile medicine factory project and the OSD Non  Betalactam Factory in Nhon Hoi Economic Zone.

Strong demand for high-quality drugs at reasonable prices As Vietnam experiences robust economic growth alongside a rapidly ageing population, the demand for pharmaceuticals and modern healthcare treatments has surged, with health expenditure in Vietnam witnessing an on-average growth rate of 11 per cent per year over the past decade.

Imexpharm set growth record in 2023 Imexpharm Corporation (Imexpharm or IMP.VN), a pioneer in Vietnams pharmaceutical industry, announced its business results on March 27, for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2023.
Creative economy opens up new space for economic development

A recently launched report conducted by the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM) and in collaboration with the German International Cooperation Organization (GIZ) has highlighted some of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges for creative economic development in Vietnam.

Of these strengths are a rich and diverse cultural heritage; a young, dynamic and technologically proficient population; and positive policy changes supporting new economic models.

Weaknesses are inherent limitations in funding, especially in traditional creative sectors; lack of many skills related to the creative economy in many creative groups, especially middle-aged and elderly people, women, localities with difficult socioeconomic conditions; and inadequacies in "hard" and "soft" infrastructure for creative economic development.

The report will continue to be completed to advise the government on solutions to promote growth through creative economic development, especially building a national strategy on the creative economy," said Tran Thi Hong Minh, president of CIEM.

The report noted that the main trend of creative economy over the world was exporting creative goods and services. The export of creative goods in the world increased from $208 billion in 2002 to $524 billion in 2020, of which, Asia has been the largest export region since 2007.

The structure of exported creative goods has changed significantly since 2006. Exports of CDs, DVDs, tapes, newspapers, and other printed materials decreased significantly, while exports of media and video game recordings increased sharply.

While developed countries dominate exports of visual and audiovisual arts, developing countries dominate exports of design and handicrafts.

Exports of creative services in the world have increased from $487 billion in 2010 to nearly $1.1 trillion in 2020. Exports of creative services have outstripped exports of creative goods due to the sharp increase in exporting software, research and development (R&D) services, and digitalisation of some innovative goods.

Developed countries are stronger in exporting innovative services than developing countries, but the gap between these two groups of countries is gradually narrowing.

Head of the CIEMs General Research Department Nguyen Anh Duong said that numerous new production industries in the creative industry's supply chain have formed and developed strongly in fashion/textiles, microelectronics, and IT.

A diverse economy with strong growth in tourism, high-level manufacturing, and some knowledge industries also creates better conditions for the creative industry in Vietnam to develop.

However, with a low starting point, Vietnam needs to learn from the experiences of many countries, as most of them are paying a lot of attention to creative economics, Duong said.

For example, in the 13th five-year plan (2016-2020), China considered the creative economy as a new industry, in addition to IT, biotechnology, and low-carbon technology, accounting for 15 per cent of GDP in 2020.

In South Korea, the creative economy has been set as a major agenda and policy since 2013. According to this countrys government, the creative economy is a new economic strategy, creating new industries and markets by integrating and adjusting imagination and creativity into science, information and communication technology, creating sustainable jobs, and strengthening traditional industries.

In Indonesia, a country similar to Vietnam, the creative economy contributed $82 billion to this country's GDP (accounting for 7.5 per cent), and $23.9 billion for exports (about 10 per cent) in 2021, using about 19 million employees.

Indonesia has established a specialised ministry and agency to manage the creative economy called the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, as well as built a relatively complete legal system regarding creative industries, including the Industrial Design Law; Trademark Law, Copyright Law, and National Industrial Policy.

In the United States, 4.01 per cent of all businesses and 2.04 per cent of workers were engaged in various creative industry sectors. Arts and culture accounted for 4.4 per cent of GDP, equivalent to $1.02 trillion in 2021.

To support workers and businesses in the creative industries, the US government issued the Promotion of Local Arts and Creative Economy Act. This aims to increase federal resources and expand federal benefits to those who use their creativity and skills on the job, empower creative workers, spur growth in new and existing businesses, and promote the export of American culture abroad. The US has also established an interdisciplinary council to encourage the development of a creative economy.

Singapore has issued strategies to promote a top-down creative economy with the directions of the government and the coordination of agencies. This country develops the measurement system of a creative economy by promoting statistics, as well as building a master plan to coordinate and implement policies and strategies.

Indonesia targets creating 4.4 million jobs in creative economy sector Indonesian Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno has targeted the creative economy sector to absorb 4.4 million domestic workers by 2024.

Localities go creative in digital tourism Accelerating digitalisation is a solution for tourism businesses to reduce operating costs and open up opportunities to improve visitor experiences.

Vietnam has three cities in UNESCO Creative Cities Network Two additional cities in Vietnam have been designated recently as UNESCO Creative Cities - Da Lat in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong in term of music and Hoi An ancient town in the central province of Quang Nam in crafts and folk art. Vietnam now has three cities in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN).

Digital economy contributes 15 per cent to GDP in H1 Vietnams digital economy has played an important role in the countrys socio-economic development in recent times, and accounted for nearly 15 per cent of GDP in the first half of this year, according to the Ministry of Information and Communications.

Promoting blockchain application in the digital economy Blockchain technology will not be able to create breakthrough growth and contribute strongly to Vietnams digital economy without a full legal corridor. The message was given at the Application of Blockchain Technology in the Digital Economy conference on September 27.
By Park Jung-won

South Koreas ruling People Power Party (PPP) is at a loss for direction after a major defeat in the general elections. The PPP only secured victories in 19 of the 122 constituencies in the Seoul metropolitan area, which is considered a barometer of national public sentiment. Despite seemingly garnering all possible conservative votes, the PPPs crushing defeat highlights the limitations of its competitiveness.

The overwhelming victory of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) in this election was not solely the result of the partys performance. There were unusual aspects to the election that made ascribing the massive support for the DPK to the sacred democratic principle of the will of the people too simplistic. Even if one understands the peoples vote as a judgment against the various problems of President Yoon Suk Yeols administration, it raises questions as to how to interpret the fact that the public instead cast their votes for opposition parties represented by Lee Jae-myung and Cho Kuk, who are both undergoing trials for serious criminal charges. Although there were other opposition parties to vote for, the majority of voters still chose to support the parties led by Lee and Cho.

The public, pre-emptively assuming that an electoral loss would result in investigations into President Yoon and his wife, effectively voted for parties led by Lee and Cho as a way of signaling their desire for Yoons removal. Is this a question of equality under the law or presumptive illegality? Politically driven retribution is not the same as justice. This vividly illustrates just how abnormal the current state of South Korean politics is.

That said, such abnormal behavior by voters does not absolve the PPP from responsibility for its crushing defeat. The loss implies that the PPP was also unable to garner sufficient support from reasonable, centrist voters. Although the PPP has championed sound policies, such as firm deterrence of North Korea and a solid South Korea-U.S. alliance, it failed to win the hearts of the majority in this election. Is it the end of the road for conservative parties in South Korea?

Upon reflection, the conservative party in South Korea did not come into being to conserve a political tradition; it was an abnormal creation that sprang up overnight due to the uncontrollable circumstances of the post-World War II era, namely the division of the Korean Peninsula between North and South and the Cold War. The conservative forces in South Korea did not adopt capitalism and liberal democracy as explicit state ideologies to provide meaning and purpose to life, as seen in countries like Britain that invented conservatism. Instead, capitalism and liberal democracy were embraced as means for the states very survival.

Therefore, the conservative party in South Korea has embodied a form that is incomprehensible from the perspective of classical conservatism found in political science textbooks. For instance, the ruling party during Park Chung-hees dictatorship, which used absolute state power to plan and shape the market for economic growth, was essentially anti-conservative. Yet, in the language of South Koreas real domestic politics, it was characterized as conservative. During the developmental dictatorship period, when the vast majority of South Koreans struggled with poverty, this type of anti-conservative conservative politics may have had certain beneficial effects. However, today, with a middle class established through economic growth and an entrenched procedural democratization, the situation is different, especially as this middle class now faces decline.

Since the 2008 global economic crisis, economic polarization has spread worldwide, and the resulting frustration among ordinary people has led to political and social instability manifested in extreme political populism. It is becoming increasingly apparent that as the majority becomes relatively poorer, economic growth stalls, unemployment and underemployment persist and opportunities for social mobility dwindle. People will not choose a conservative party that focuses on boldly facing the threats to liberal democracy and from North Korea simply out of loyalty. The conservative party in South Korea has failed to lay a solid foundation of support among ordinary people by not evolving and adapting to economic and social changes with policy agility and a continuous reinterpretation of conservative values, as has been seen in Western conservative politics.

The Yoon administration and the PPP have consistently touted the greatness of the free-market economy and the positive effects of competition, but in reality, they are still perceived as a government and ruling party that represent the interests of a few large corporations and the elite establishment, rather than earning the broad support of the common people. In fact, the basic direction of Yoons economic policy has been characterized by the deregulation of major corporations, various tax reductions, and real estate development policies that disproportionately benefit the privileged. Yoon himself has indicated, in various interviews, that his mindset is dominated by a neoliberal economic understanding of the world in the vein of Milton Friedman.

In this election, the PPP was overwhelmingly defeated by the DPK in most regions across the country except for the Gangnam area in Seoul, where property prices are relatively very high, and the Yeongnam region, which is traditionally a conservative stronghold due to regional sentiments.

In essence, the majority of voters, who are ordinary people, recognize that although the Yoon administration and the PPP talk about liberal democracy and the market economy, in reality, they are merely a party that represents and protects the interests of a wealthy minority.

In other words, the sense of fairness and justice that was associated with Yoon has dissipated since he became president. The prevailing feeling is that Yoons policies ultimately only benefit a small group of people  the rich  and that this election was an expression of frustration with that perception. If the PPP does not make efforts to win the hearts of the majority through bold socio-economic policies, they may face defeat in all future elections.

Park Jung-won (park_jungwon@hotmail.com), who holds a doctorate in law from the London School of Economics, is a professor of international law at Dankook University.
Visitors can enjoy a panoramic view of the city in the open air or feel cozy with romantic yellow lights in the indoor space. What makes Mai Sky loved by businesses in particular is its maximum capacity of 70 guests in the outdoor area alone, with even more room inside.

Guests will also have the opportunity to sample the bar's excellent drink-list, from classic cocktails to champagne and wine. Mai Sky boasts signature cocktails that have been inspired by the Mai House brand and Vietnamese culture.

Traditional Vietnamese ingredients are specially preserved and applied to the mixing menu, such as locally produced gin, lotus-seed vodka, and Vietnam's rum sous vide, all designed to help customers feel at ease.

Lam Quoc Huy, executive chef, Mai Sky

Mai Sky also has a special, world-class menu of snacks and tapas. All food is personally prepared by the bar's executive chef, Lam Quoc Huy, and offers the most complete party experience for guests.

For events or networking nights, music can be vital for setting the right mood. Every weekend, Mai Sky entertains patrons with a music party performed by a professional DJ. In addition, the rooftop bar also has a special 'Happy Hour' promotion every day from 5:30pm to 7:30pm, when customers can 'buy 1, get 1 free' on selected drinks.

With a full range of fully integrated amenities right on the top floor of Mai House Saigon Hotel with splendid views of the city, Mai Sky is the complete package for meetings and networking.

The magic of Christmas at Mai House Saigon Hotel Mai House Saigon Hotel invites guests to experience the enchantment of the holiday season with irresistible Christmas treats that delight your taste buds and warm your heart.

Wink Hotel Tuy Hoa Beach transforming Phu Yen tourist scene Challenging the hospitality industry norms, Wink Hotel Tuy Hoa Beach is the fourth Wink Hotel to open its doors, as the homegrown hotel chain expands its footprint across Vietnam.
MUFG pilots sustainable deposit scheme in Vietnam

The banks sustainable deposit allows its clients in Vietnam to place term deposits that would go towards funding eligible sustainability-linked and social loans. Such deposits are matched against an aggregated basket of eligible sustainability-linked (SLLs) or social loans as stated by the MUFG Asia-Pacific Sustainable Deposit Framework, developed in collaboration with consultant ERM.

This is in conjunction with the launch of MUFGs green deposit in Vietnam, making it the 10th market across Asia-Pacific to have rolled out the solution.

The sustainable deposit is a part of a comprehensive suite of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) financing solutions, across various related financing instruments, such as green and sustainability-linked loans, green deposits, and green trade finance products. Through MUFGs role as a financier with strategic priorities towards ESG, MUFG encourages local companies to have more involvement in promoting Vietnams sustainable development.

Belinda Han, MUFGs head of transaction banking for Asia-Pacific, said, We are pleased to launch MUFGs sustainable and green deposits in Vietnam. Both solutions are positioned to better bridge a growing demand for low-barrier-to-entry ESG liquidity management products, thereby creating a compelling ESG Deposit proposition that would enable clients to channel their excess liquidity towards SLL, social, or green financing efforts, depending on their objectives.

MUFG is one of the worlds leading financial groups. Headquartered in Tokyo and with over 360 years of history, it has a global network with approximately 2,000 locations in more than 40 markets.

For MUFG Vietnam, ESG brings opportunities to directly contribute to the transformation of its clients and Vietnam as a country. MUFG signed an MoU with strategic partner VietinBank to further support Vietnams sustainable development, which includes mobilising up to $1 billion of ESG financing for the countrys climate targets.

The 10th anniversary VietinBank - MUFG strategic alliance The year 2023 will mark the 10th anniversary of the VietinBank - MUFG strategic alliance. This is a significant milestone on the collaboration journey of the two banks and triggers so many special memories.

Committed to empowering a brighter future MUFG Vietnam believes empowering members of business and society to address environmental and social issues is an integral part of its mission. With that, we have been making relentless efforts to initiate conversations with clients and policymakers about the importance of transition finance.

VietinBank and MUFG Bank celebrate 10 years of strategic alliance VietinBank and MUFG Bank Ltd. have commemorated the 10-year strategic alliance that has enabled both organisations to support the growth of Vietnams banking sector and foster deeper Vietnam-Japan exchanges.

MUFG and NIC jointly propel Vietnams startup ecosystem A new partnership will support the development of Vietnamese startups in international markets while introducing global and Japanese tech firms to Vietnams opportunities.
De is a member of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, a member of the Prime Minister's Administrative Procedure Reform Advisory Council, chairman of the Vietnam Private Hospital Association, and chairman of the Board of Directors at Hop Luc JSC.

This awards ceremony was part of the Global Science and Economic Forum 2024 organised by the Global Trade and Technology Council of India (GTTCI India) in collaboration with international agencies and organisations.

GTTCI India coordinated with organisations in Vietnam and internationally to nominate more than 300 outstanding scientists, socio-political activists, and businessmen for universities to confer titles of academicians, professors and honourary doctors, including the IAU.

After successfully completing his obligations in the police force, De began his business career in 1996. Starting in transportation, Hop Luc has developed into a large enterprise over the past 30 years, with multi-industry businesses including healthcare, transportation, education, cremation, restaurants, and high-tech agriculture, with more than 20 member units nationwide.

Hospitals benefiting from double revision While the shortfall of medical devices at hospitals has eased since new rules were introduced in March, more improvements are required to further facilitate the healthcare sector.

Modern policy for private hospitals Since the early years of the 20th century, Vietnam has had the policy to attract private investment and resources from the society to develop private healthcare. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van De, chairman of the Vietnam Private Hospital Association, explains how the past can be linked up to the future in this regard.
Migrant advocates argue dorm rules too restrictive

By Ko Dong-hwan

The government plans to improve living conditions here for migrant workers by building 20 more dormitories across the country, to be completed by 2026, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Thursday.

The measure comes after the government said it will invite a record number of foreigners this year to support the country's agricultural industry nationwide.

Agricultural Innovation Policy Office Chief Kwon Jae-han from the ministry on the same day joined a ceremony in Gochang, North Jeolla Province, where a new dormitory for migrant workers working at a local blueberry farm was completed. Workers at the farm included seasonal foreign laborers who work during harvest seasons in April-June and August-October.

The dormitory in Gochang is one of 10 new dormitories the government plans to build within this year, each in a different city or county nationwide including Haenam in South Jeolla Province, Yeongyang in North Gyeongsang Province and Cheongyang in South Chungcheong Province.

The authority has already designated other cities and counties where they will build another 10 new dormitories by 2026, including Bonghwa and Gimcheon in North Gyeongsang and Anseong in Gyeonggi Province.

New dormitories are part of the government's plan to improve the workers' living conditions here which have drawn fierce criticism for their horrendous conditions. In December 2020, a Cambodian female migrant worker in Pocheon, a city in the north of Gyeonggi Province, was found dead inside a greenhouse that had been repurposed as living quarters for a number of migrant workers. The structure wasn't insufficient to protect her from the frigid winter conditions.

Under the government plan, a revised enforcement decree under the country's Farmland Act takes effect in July, in which residential structures for farmers and others in agricultural industry can be used for housing local or foreign workers at local farms. To make the plan feasible, the decree has raised the land area ceiling allowed for such structures from 660 square meters to 1,000 square meters.

These measures are to support the government's plan to invite 61,631 migrant workers this year, the biggest scale ever. It is a jump from last year of more than 10,000 and 4.9 times the figure from 2021. Among this year's figure is 45,631 seasonal workers, up from 35,604 last year.

While the ministry anticipates more foreign workers will arrive in the country than ever this year, allocating them to workplaces with particular needs remains a challenge for the authority, especially during the months when seasonal workers crowd the country. Over 70 percent of the entire migrant workers here are concentrated during peak periods each year.

To facilitate the allocation better, the ministry said it will increase employer-worker matching agencies from 170 to 189 this year. A number of such employment agencies run by the country's National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (NACF) will also be increased from 19 to 70 this year and the service will be expanded to 130 cities and counties by 2027.

"Keeping our farmers with enough hands on deck, especially during the harvesting seasons, is the key objective," Kwon said. "We'll monitor employment status in real-time and respond to varying situations as promptly as possible."

Migrant workers advocacy groups, while welcoming the government's move to build new dormitories, expressed concerns whether the new housing quarters will restrain foreigners by enforcing excessive rules to control their behaviors such as curfew or other strict time scheduling.

An activist from Migrants' Trade Union said that several member of NACF in Hamyang, South Gyeongsang Province, who managed a dormitory for dozens of migrant workers forced foreign nationals to come back to the dormitory and sleep at certain hours. The management ran a point-base system and deducted a point from any person who failed to comply with their rules. The final penalty was eviction from the dormitory.

"The farm workers must have been worried their employees might flee their workplaces and wanted to control them," the activist said. "But still, that is a violation of personal freedom. With the government officials limited in number, the dormitories will have to be operated by private groups. I'm worried that such inhumane management might occur in some of these new dormitories."
WATERLOO  Police arrested a Waterloo man after passing motorists saw him running naked down the road Wednesday evening.

Officers arrested 33-year-old Jack Lee Dangel for misdemeanor disorderly conduct/obstructing a street.

According to court records, residents called police around 6:35 p.m. Wednesday after noticing Dangel running naked in the street in the San Marnan Drive and LaPorte Road area near Burger King.

A video clip of his clothing-optional journey was posted on Facebook.

Traffic came to a stop at times and officers found Dangel near the entrance to CVS.

Dangel took off across the street toward U.S. Highway 218 and then turned back and laid down in the grass by Taco Bell where he was detained, police said.

It wasnt immediately clear where Dangel came from or why he was naked.

Authorities have encountered Dangel several times over the past month, according to police reports.

On Sunday, police were called to a report that a man had pulled a gun on another man in the 500 block of Bayard Street. Officers pulled over Dangels Chevrolet Cobalt and found a BB gun and he was arrested for disorderly conduct.

On April 12, he allegedly led police on a car chase and then fled on foot, tossing a backpack containing black tar heroin, meth, and K2 synthetic marijuana, court records state.

He is also awaiting trial for a November incident where he allegedly pointed a .380-caliber handgun at his girlfriend and her dog in the town of Montrose.

Photos: Cedar Falls motorcycle crash May 1, 2024 050124jr-crash-mc-cf-1 050124jr-crash-mc-cf-2 050124jr-crash-mc-cf-3
CEDAR FALLS  Twenty-seven life-size fiberglass TC mascot statues have been installed at sponsor locations throughout the Cedar Valley.

This community pride project, featuring the University of Northern Iowas TC mascot, will be on display through October.

We are thrilled to embark on this community-wide adventure with the city of Cedar Falls and celebrate the Panther spirit that unites us all, Pete Moris, director of university relations, said in a news release. Seeing how each artist has added a unique perspective into each statue will be something individuals of all ages can enjoy and share on social media. I hope everyone has a chance to visit all the Panthers on Parade!

To stay updated on the latest developments, connect with Cedar Falls Tourism on Facebook at Facebook.com/CedarFallsIA.

To explore all 27 TC mascots, set off on a self-guided journey by obtaining the required materials from the Cedar Falls Visitor Center, 6510 Hudson Road, or go online to panthersonparade.com. Alternatively, participants can download the Goosechase app for free on a smartphone and input the code W8E4DP. After completing the tour and associated tasks for all 27 mascots, participants can secure a spot on the Panthers on Parade Wall of Fame and have the chance to win prizes.

This is a fun way for the community to share their love of the University of Northern Iowa. We anticipate thousands of alumni, residents and visitors will enjoy this new way to explore the Cedar Falls area, said Jennifer Pickar, Cedar Falls tourism manager.

Cedar Falls locations include:

Brad Jacobson State Farm Agent, 4919 University Ave.

Cedar Falls Tourism, 6510 Hudson Road.

Cedar Valley Dental Associates, 3722 Cedar Heights Drive.

College Hill Partnership, 2205 College St.

Community Bank & Trust, 312 W. First St.

First Bank, 602 Main St.

FIT Courts, 924 Viking Road.

GreenState Credit Union, 3409 Cedar Heights Drive.

Hansens Dairy, 123 E. 18th St.

Hy-Vee, 6301 University Ave.

Martin Bros. Food Mart, 408 Viking Road.

Soifer Family McDonalds, 2515 Main St.

New Aldaya/Peters Construction, 7511 University Ave.

Scheels, 402 Viking Plaza Drive.

Structure Real Estate, 201 Washington St.

The Brass Tap, 421 Main St.

The Falls Aquatic Center, 3025 S. Main St.

University of Northern Iowa, Campanile Plaza, UNI campus.

University of Northern Iowa, Admissions Center, 2601 Campus St.

Unite Credit Union, 802 W. 29th St.

Urban Pie, 200 State St., #101.

Veridian Credit Union, 1050 Brandilynn Blvd.

Western Home Communities, 5307 Caraway Lane.

The Wild Hare/JCAM, 2512 White Tail Drive, #400.

Witham Auto Center, 2728 S. Main St.

Waterloo locations include:

Cedar Valley Arboretum, 1927 E. Orange Road.

John Deere Tractor & Engine Museum, 500 Westfield Ave.

For more information, go to panthersonparade.com.

Photos: Northern Iowa tennis vs. Belmont, April 20
WATERLOO  Ross Bauer has been appointed to the position of principal at Orange Elementary School beginning July 1, pending approval by the Board of Education.

Bauer, currently principal of Central Middle School, replaces Sunni Hart, who is transitioning to associate director of special education in July.

I am excited and deeply honored to step into the role of principal at Orange Elementary, Bauer said in a news release. I am really looking forward to connecting with the students, staff, and families, and discovering how I can best contribute to enhancing the schools already remarkable achievements!

Bauer, who has 14 years of experience within the Waterloo Community School District, began his career in 2007 as an English teacher at West High School.

Later, he became the smaller learning communities coordinator and eventually an administrator for the school. From 2014 to 2017, Bauer served as the principal of the Wapsie Valley Junior and Senior High Schools, before returning to Waterloo Schools. Since 2017, Bauer has served as the principal at Central.

Ross has an impressive background within our district and will bring a wealth of experience and dedication to his new role at Orange Elementary, said Superintendent Jared Smith. His commitment to enhancing educational achievements for our students makes him an excellent addition to our elementary education leadership team.

Bauer earned a bachelors degree in education, masters degree in education in pre K-12 principalship, and his superintendency endorsement, all from the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. Bauer lives in Waterloo with his wife and three children.

Photos: Protesters march against new Iowa immigration law in Waterloo
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By Park Jae-hyuk

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) is being criticized for hesitating to take disciplinary action against a professor found guilty of leaking autonomous vehicle technologies to China, according to intellectual property experts, Thursday.

In February, the 61-year-old professor surnamed Lee was sentenced to two years in prison for allegedly leaking 72 files, including research data on light detection and ranging (LIDAR) technologies, to a Chinese university between 2017 and 2020. A lower court sentenced him to two years in prison with a three-year suspended sentence in 2021.

Lee did not inform KAIST of financial profits he made from research he had conducted under Chinas Thousand Talents Plan, the appellate court said.

The lower court had suspended his sentence, as it saw that the financial profits he made were not large enough. However, the appellate court pointed out that the professor earned 1.5 billion won ($1 million) from China and that he had justified his conduct.

In 2017, the professor was selected to join the Thousand Talents Plan, the Chinese governments program to hire experts in science and technology from abroad. Although a petition was filed in 2019 to criticize his alleged leakage of LIDAR technologies to China in exchange for billions of won, KAIST did not call his conduct into a question at the time.

The institute only made a public apology and suspended Lee from work, following investigations by the National Intelligence Service and the Ministry of Science and ICT and the prosecution against him.

After lawmakers grilled then KAIST President Shin Sung-chul at a National Assembly audit in 2020 over Lees alleged tech theft, the institute promised in 2021 to improve its transparency under the leadership of incumbent president, Lee Kwang-hyung.

However, KAIST has yet to dismiss the professor in question.

We should wait for the Supreme Courts ruling in principle, a KAIST spokeswoman said. However, we may convene the disciplinary committee in the near future, as it may take too much time for the Supreme Court to make a ruling.

Son Seung-woo, president of the Korea Institute of Intellectual Property, criticized KAIST for being overly cautious about the matter.

Most universities take disciplinary actions against their professors, if they are found guilty by appellate courts, Son said. A criminal punishment for breaching research security usually leads to dismissal.
MOUNT HOREB  Mount Horeb police shot and killed an armed male student outside Mount Horeb Middle School on Wednesday, averting a potential mass tragedy.

The ordeal left this southwestern Dane County community shaken as frightened parents waited for hours for their children to be released from school.

The student arrived with a gun to the middle school around 11:30 a.m. but did not manage to get into the school or injure other students and staff, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said. During a confrontation with Mount Horeb police, including a school resource officer, the student was shot and killed.

This is an event that shatters the safety people feel sending their kid to school, Kaul said during a press conference at the Mount Horeb village hall Wednesday night.

Mount Horeb cancelled school Thursday, with the district promising to update staff and students about available support services before 10 a.m.

Mount Horeb Superintendent Steve Salerno said students saw something as the teen approached the school and alerted school staff.

Those students were able to communicate immediately as to what they had seen, and staff was able to take decisive action quickly, he said.

Salerno said more violence likely was prevented thanks to investments to school safety across the district made via referendums. Those include vestibules and locked front doors.

This could have been a far worse tragedy, Salerno said at the press conference. We are beyond grateful for the community support of our beautiful children and beloved staff.

The superintendent said the staff was loving and professional as they cared for the students even as some of them worried about their own children who were in the building.

Kaul, citing an active investigation, declined to answer further questions about the shooter, how the incident played out, if the armed student fired the weapon and what kind of gun the student had.

Authorities said multiple Mount Horeb officers, wearing body cameras, had fired weapons but they did not say how many.

The officers involved have been put on administrative leave, which is common policy for police shootings. The Department of Justice is leading the investigation. No officers were injured during the incident.

Chaotic scenes

Witnesses near the middle school Wednesday morning described a scene of pure chaos, with students and adults fleeing the sound of gunfire and sheltering in homes and businesses.

For panicked kids and their terrified parents, it was an anxious, unsettling wait. Parents described children hiding in closets, afraid to communicate on cellphones.

Robin Wasikowski, who lives across the street from the school, said three students and a band teacher fled into her home while gunfire rang out near the school.

Jeanne Keller said she heard about five gunshots while in her shop, The Quilting Jeanne, just down the block from the middle school.

It was maybe like pow-pow-pow-pow, Keller told The Associated Press by phone. I thought it was fireworks. I went outside and saw all the children running ... I probably saw 200 children.

One middle-schooler said his class was in the school gym practicing in-line skating when they heard gunshots.

Max Kelly, 12, said his teacher told the class to get out of the school. He said they skated to a street, ditched their in-line skates and ran to a nearby convenience store and gas station and hid in a bathroom.

Kelly was reunited with his parents and sat on a hillside with them early Wednesday afternoon waiting for his younger siblings to be released from their own schools. He still wore socks, his shoes left behind.

I dont think anywhere is safe anymore, said his mother, 32-year-old Alison Kelly.

Wasikowski, en route to pick up her 9-year-old daughter, recalled seeing dozens of skates scattered in the road.

All these kids just throwing their roller blades off to run away from all this, its the most horrifying thing Ive seen, she said.

Stacy Smith, 42, was at the bank Wednesday when she saw police cars rush by and got a text warning of an active shooter.

She initially couldnt reach her two children  junior Abbi and seventh-grader Cole. Finally, she reached Abbi by phone but the girl whispered she was hiding in a closet and couldnt talk. She eventually connected with both and learned they were OK.

Not here, she said in disbelief. You hear about this everywhere else but not here.

Schools nationwide have sought ways to prevent mass shootings inside their walls, from physical security measures and active shooter drills to technology including detailed digital maps. Many also rely on teachers and administrators working to detect early signs of student mental health struggles.

Campus locked down

Students werent released from the school until late afternoon Wednesday as police investigated, with parents standing outside the high school as their children stayed in classrooms and watched movies.

Kaul said law enforcement remained uncertain throughout the day whether there was an active threat to the schools and the community even after the gunman had been stopped.

Down a road lined with parked school buses, dozens of families waited to be reunited with their children at the districts bus garage.

At about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Salerno reported on the districts Facebook page that All buses carrying students have safely transported students to the District Bus Garage.

The middle school, which has students in sixth through eighth grade, is located on 900 E. Garfield St. in the village. About 500 students attend the middle school, according to the state Department of Public Instruction.

Mount Horebs intermediate, middle and high schools all sit on a combined campus area in the village, about 20 miles southwest of Madison.

Officials offer support

Throughout Monday, messages of support poured in from state and local elected officials.

Gov. Tony Evers said on X, formerly Twitter, that he was briefed about the incident.

I am praying for the health and safety of our kids, educators and staff and grateful for the first responders who are quickly working to respond.

Sen. Tammy Baldwin said on X: We cannot accept this as our new norm.

State Rep. Mike Bare, whose district includes Mount Horeb, said he visited the school district with Evers and State Sen. Dianne Hesselbein a couple weeks ago.

We saw firsthand the strength of the School Districts leadership, educators and staff, and their resolve to provide a safe, equitable and fulfilling learning experience for every student, he said in a statement.

Ive grown incredibly fond of Mount Horeb and its people and Im grieving with everyone in Mount Horeb.

The Associated Press and State Journal reporter Anna Hansen contributed to this report.
Mount Horeb Police Chief Doug Vierck thanked the community Thursday morning in a Facebook post and also asked people to be careful about the information they share about the shooting Wednesday outside Mount Horeb Middle School.

"We understand there is limited information available and we are working as quickly as we can to move forward so we can come to a closure," he wrote in a Facebook post. "Before sharing information ask yourself, 'Is it true?' 'Can I absolutely know that its true.' If either answer is no, please do not share the information. For the sake of everyone involved, please do not spread rumors."

According to law enforcement, an armed student came to the school at about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday but wasn't able to get into the building. No other students or staff were injured, but in the ensuing confrontation between the boy and police, he was shot and killed.

"I know everyone is still reeling from the events of yesterday. I want to thank everyone for their patience the past 24 hours as we worked through the unthinkable," Vierck said.

The Wisconsin Department of Justice is investigating the incident, he said, as state statute requires, the Mount Horeb Police Department is cooperating and will not be releasing more information at this time.

"As was stated at the press conference last night, there was a single individual reported around the school with a weapon," he said. "Officers from Mount Horeb Police Department responded to the area. When faced with a deadly threat, they responded with deadly force. No officers, students, or staff were injured other than the armed individual."

Vierck also addressed why it took hours for students to be reunited with their families, which didn't start until 5 p.m.

"Due to the number of resources needed to coordinate the response and the number of calls and information, there was a longer delay than anyone probably wanted for reuniting the children back to their families," he said. "Know that the time line and decisions made were in the best interest of safety for the children and staff while we confirmed critical details."

"Lastly, I want to thank everyone," he said. "This community has been nothing short of amazing. I have always loved how welcoming and supporting the community has been since I was appointed chief of police, but the show of support from businesses, other agencies, and the community at large has been beyond humbling."
CANstruction is back at the Meadowood Mall! It's a competition where teams build sculptures out of canned food.

There are ten teams participating in the 21st running of the event this year, with five of those being student teams.

This years CANstruction event started Wednesday, May 1 and will run through Sunday May 5. The structures will be built during a twelve-hour period on Wednesday, May 1. Teams will build in the mall, keeping the structure inside a 10x10x10 area.

The structures will be judged on Thursday afternoon by a panel of jurors in 5 categories.

Teams will be competing for the following awards:

* Best Original Design

* Structural Ingenuity

* Best Meal

* Best Use of Labels and Most Cans.

A public award ceremony will be held in Center Court on Thursday, May 2 at 6 p.m. All entries will be submitted to the national level of CANstruction to be judged.

The public is invited to vote in the Peoples Choice award from 10 a.m. on Wednesday, May 1 through Monday, May 6. Each vote is $1 and all of the money goes to the Food Bank of Northern Nevada where $1 helps to deliver 3 meals to those who need them.

"Right now we're helping about 153,000 people," said Jocelyn Lantrip, the Director of Marketing for the FBNN. "That number is about 27 and a half percent higher than it was even two years ago."

Lantrip explains how the CANstruction event represents 12,000 meals donated which is almost 17,500 cans of food.

"I feel really good," said Freddy Boyer, a student participant from at Sky Ranch Middle School. "It reminds me of 6th grade when we did Global Citizen. I like helping people out and providing for people who cant get the food themselves."

Lantrip explains how some who face food insecurity choose to pay expenses or feed their families before themselves.

"It's very difficult to solve other problems you may have in your life when you're hungry," she said.

Peoples choice voting will take place virtually with a ($10 vote minimum) at fbnn.org.

(Food Bank of Northern Nevada contributed to this report.)
Maryland plans to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge in just over four years at an estimated cost between $1.7 billion and $1.9 billion.

As salvage efforts continue, authorities also announced late Wednesday they had recovered the body of a fifth person who died in the March 26 collapse.

The state plans to build a new span by fall of 2028, said David Broughton, a spokesman for the Maryland Department of Transportation. He said the cost estimate is preliminary, and detailed engineering specifics have not been confirmed.

The Key Bridge Response Unified Command announced that the victim found Wednesday was identified as Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez, 49, of Glen Burnie, Maryland.

Six members of a roadwork crew plunged to their deaths on March 26 when a container ship lost power and crashed into one of the bridges supporting columns. Five bodies have now been recovered, but one worker, Jose Mynor Lopez, has not been found. They were all Latino immigrants who came to the United States from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.

Salvage teams found one of the missing construction vehicles Wednesday and notified the Maryland State Police, officials said. State police investigators and Maryland Transportation Authority Police officers and the FBI responded to the scene and recovered the body inside a red truck. The state police underwater recovery team and crime scene unit also assisted.

We remain dedicated to the ongoing recovery operations while knowing behind each person lost in this tragedy lies a loving family, Maryland State Police Superintendent Roland Butler said in a statement. Along with our local, state and federal partners, we ask that everyone extend their deepest sympathies and support to the families during this difficult time.

The Dali container ship has been stationary amid the wreckage since the collapse, but crews plan to refloat and remove the ship, allowing more maritime traffic to resume through Baltimores port. Officials expect to have it removed by May 10, according to a Port of Baltimore news release.

(Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.)
By Baek Byung-yeul

Yoon Young-bin, the administrator nominee of the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA), said Thursday that the space agency, which will be launched on May 27, will prioritize efforts to empower the private sector in leading commercial space development in the country.

Considering the history of Korea's space development, which started in the early 1990s, the establishment of KASA is somewhat late, but fortunately, this government has a strong will to open up the country's future in space, and the opening of KASA is scheduled for May 27, the nominee said at a press conference in Seoul. I think it is time for us to leap forward as an aerospace powerhouse with the establishment of KASA.

Until now, Korea's space development has been government-led. However, space development around the world has shifted to a private sector-led model and is developing too fast. I think KASAs role is very important for us to catch up with this trend, Yoon added.

On April 24, President Yoon Suk Yeol appointed the Seoul National University aerospace engineering professor as the inaugural administrator of the space agency.

Additionally, the president appointed John Lee, a retired senior executive from the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), to lead missions at the agency responsible for space research and development programs. Rho Kyung-won, a senior official at the Ministry of Science and ICT, was appointed as KASA's deputy administrator.

The president has expressed his vision to develop Korea's aerospace industry and make it the countrys new growth engine through the establishment of KASA.

The Korean version of NASA will be headquartered in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province, some 300 kilometers south of Seoul. The nominees will officially begin working in their positions after KASA launches on May 27.

The administrator nominee emphasized the importance of private sector-led development in the space industry and highlighted KASA's role in supporting this endeavor. He added that the government is actively considering the criteria and timing for transferring certain responsibilities and projects to appropriate entities within the private sector.

We want to empower the private sector to take the lead in space development. We want to be the stepping stone for private companies to lead Korea to become a space power, Yoon said. While the private sector is still lacking in technology and capabilities, the government's technology is quite strong, so we will transfer that technology to the private sector so that the government and the private sector can play a balanced role.

Lee, the R&D chief, said he hopes to help KASA contribute to the development of the Korean space industry by bringing the experience he learned at NASA.

I am thinking about how to apply what I have experienced in my 30 years at NASA to KASA. I think we can do well if we adapt it considering Korean culture rather than making it the same as NASA. When I looked at Korea's technical expertise, I felt that we could do it well, Lee said.

He added that it's important for KASA to set a standard that lays out specific criteria for the Korean space industry.

If the private sector, the government and universities are all working on projects with different standards, it's hard for them to work together. Like NASA, KASA will define a requirement standard and allow projects to be carried out according to it, he said.
Yucca Mountain, a proposed nuclear waste repository, is back in the news.

The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee debated whether to reopen the national nuclear waste repository last month. The issue has also been injected into the Nevada U.S. Senate race after the Los Angeles Times released an audio recording from 2022 on Tuesday. In the recording, Sam Brown discusses the potential for economic development at Yucca Mountain.

"Yucca Mountain has already been funded. One of the things I'm afraid of is out of a lack of understanding, and with fear mongering that Harry Reid and others have spread, is that we could miss an incredible opportunity for revenue in our state," said Brown during a Southern Hills Republican Women's luncheon at Dragon Ridge Country Club in Henderson, Nevada.

"If we don't act soon, other states like Texas and New Mexico right now are assessing whether or not they can essentially steal that opportunity from us, and at the end of the day, we all know that Nevada could use another great source of revenue. And it sure would be a shame if we didn't monopolize on that and become a central hub of new development that we can do at Yucca," said Brown.

In response to the audio released by the L.A. Times, incumbent Democrat Senator Jacky Rosen provided a video statement.

"For decades, Nevadans across party lines have been clear that they will not allow our state to be a dumping ground for the rest of the nation's nuclear waste. I've been fighting against Washington politicians; they're just trying to force nuclear waste storage at Yucca Mountain since Sam Brown was still living in Texas, and his extreme support for this dangerous project proves how little he understands the needs of our state," said (D-NV) Senator Jacky Rosen.

The Brown campaign provided us with responses to the L.A. Times article and Jacky Rosen on Wednesday.

"I am not strictly committed to opening Yucca Mountain at this time. However, I will consider all thoroughly vetted future proposals, with the safety of Nevadans being my top priority, while ensuring the proposals are substantially economically beneficial," said Sam Brown

"Sam's first priority will always be the safety and security of Nevadans, our water, and our environment. If a proposal isn't explicitly proven to be demonstrably safe, he will not support it. Senator Rosen is continuing the Harry Reid machine's dirty political tactic of fear-mongering for votes  just in time for her struggling reelection bid. As a U.S. senator, Sam will consider and vet every safe opportunity that brings jobs and economic investment to our state so that we can help working Nevada families earn a good living again and undo the economic destruction that Joe Biden and Jacky Rosen have brought to Nevada." Kristy Wilkinson, Sam Brown for U.S. Senate Communications Director.

Proposed Legislation Looks At Using Yucca Mountain For Renewable Energy Storage:

Going back to the early 1980s, Yucca Mountain was initially proposed as the nation's permanent underground nuclear waste repository. Political science professor Fred Lokken explains that the issue is that other states are dealing with storing nuclear waste in the long term, but they had never planned to do so.

"Ultimately, what we believe in the state, from both the Democratic and the Republican argument, is that the state opinion matters. It should go to a state that wants it. So, the conversation in Washington should be what the state wants it, not that we're going to put it here. Apparently, he's not very aware of the Yucca Mountain issue in Nevada and how emotive it is for voters and for electeds. Unfortunately, he's not in sync: short-term profit for long-term risk is not where Nevadans are on this," said Truckee Meadows Community College Political Science Professor Fred Lokken.

It is important to note that Yucca Mountain remains the official plan of the federal government to handle over 85,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel from various locations across the United States. An increasing number of Republican and Democrat lawmakers in Congress are urging the project to be reconsidered.

If you want to get a more in-depth perspective on the charged longstanding issue of Yucca Mountain, watch the full interview with political science professor Fred Lokken.
The allure of the open seas is hard to ignore. More than 31 million people set off on cruise adventures in 2023, according to the Cruise Lines International Association. The association notes 48 percent of cruise travelers over the past two years are boomers or Generation X. Cruises are popular for the onboard amenities, such as spas, shows and specialty restaurants, and the stops at ports of call. Unpack once and see multiple destinations in one vacation, but be prepared when you disembark, if only to make sure you return before the ship sails away from the cruise port.

In March, eight passengers were stranded on the African island of Sao Tome when they were late to return to the Norwegian Dawn after an excursion that wasnt organized by the ship. They traveled through many countries to make it to the next port. For new-to-cruise travelers, and as a refresher for those whove cruised before, heres what to know when youre going ashore.

Members only Passengers should carry travel essentials and dress in layers when leaving the ship at a port of call. Getty Images

When youre ready to leave the ship

When your ship docks, venture out on your own or as part of an organized shore excursion. You can book the outing through the cruise lines website, mobile app or excursions desk on the ship. You can book activities separate from the cruise line through a third-party operator.

Some ports of call may not be accessible for passengers with mobility challenges, so do your research before you book a cruise. Most cruise lines require guests who have special needs to provide details at booking, so the access teams are in the know about anything passengers may need, including wheelchairs, scooter rentals and recommendations for excursions. Crystal Cruises has an Onboard Guest Services department to talk about options at the time of booking. 

The cruise line will tell you the all aboard time, which is when you need to be back on the ship at the end of the day. Ships take this time very seriously. Expect to see the all aboard time posted on the ships mobile app, near the disembarkation gangway and on monitors across the vessel, says Doug Parker, host of Cruise Radio, a podcast for cruisers.

When you disembark, bring the essentials: cruise card (what you use to swipe off and swipe back on the ship), any prescription medications and a fully charged cellphone. Parker says its a good idea to have cash in the local currency.
Korea's industry ministry on Thursday discussed ways to seek new import contracts for liquefied natural gas (LNG) with the state-run Korea Gas Corp. (KOGAS) to stabilize prices and meet growing demand.

The discussion came as some of the long-term import contracts clinched by KOGAS are set to expire within three years, while the demand for LNG is anticipated to remain high down the road, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

"We plan to have forward contracts signed in a timely manner, considering the global market and supply stability, as such agreements have an impact on long-term supply and prices," a ministry official said.

KOGAS procures LNG through either forward contracts or spot contracts. While forward contracts lack flexibility, they offer relative stability in price and supply, even amid fluctuations in the international energy market.

KOGAS accounted for 78.8 percent of Korea's LNG imports in 2023. Of the volume, forward contracts accounted for 73.5 percent.

During the meeting, KOGAS and the industry ministry also discussed strategies to diversify the import portfolio to address supply uncertainties from specific regions. (Yonhap)


Secures Government Funding to Drill Giant Copper-Gold Targets

Perth, May 2, 2024 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Great Western Exploration Limited ( ASX:GTE ) is pleased to advise that it has secured funding from the Western Australian Government for the upcoming diamond drilling program at its giant Oval and Oval South Copper-Gold targets in Western Australia. The funding will be provided under the Government's Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS).



The giant Oval and Oval South Copper-Gold targets are within the Company's Yerrida North Project, located on the northern and western portions of the Yerrida Basin, approximately 800km north-east of Perth and adjacent to the DeGrussa and Monty Copper-Gold Volcanic Hosted Massive Sulphide deposits (VHMS), shown in Figure 1*.



Great Western will receive funding for up to 50 per cent of the drilling costs (capped at $113,000) and up to $5,000 towards drilling rig mobilisation costs.



The Company believes the EIS co-funding is a strong endorsement of the prospectivity of Oval and Oval South and appreciates the support from the Western Australian Government for the Company's exploration programme.



Rio Tinto & Sandfire's Work



The Oval and Oval South Targets were originally defined by Rio Tinto Tempest airborne EM survey in the late 1990s. Rio Tinto drill-tested the Oval target, drilling a hole to a depth of 232m and terminating the hole within black shale with disseminated pyrite, considered at the time to be the source of the conductor (GTE ASX Announcement 4 October 2023).



In 2010 a VTEM survey was completed by Great Western over an area that encompassed both Oval and Oval South. This geophysical method can penetrate deeper into highly conductive terrains such as shales at this location than the Tempest technique utilised by Rio Tinto. The VTEM data defined the conductor at a depth of 300m, below the shale surface where OVR001 was terminated (Figure 2*); hole OVR001 did not intersect the conductor.



Further definition of the Oval and Oval South targets was completed by a joint venture between Great Western and Sandfire ( ASX:SFR ), where Sandfire spent $4.5M on exploration on the project from 2017 before withdrawing (GTE ASX Announcement 17 August 2023). Great Western assumed 100% ownership of the Yerrida North Project, with all associated exploration data compiled and completed by Sandfire during the joint venture.



Sandfire completed an Airborne Gravity Gradiometry (AGG) in 2022, with the AGG survey defining discrete gravity highs at Oval and Oval South, that overlayed near perfectly with the VTEM anomalies (Figure 3*). The coincident gravity and electro-magnetic anomalies were interpreted as potential buried bodies of metal rich sulphide mineralisation (GTE ASX Announcement 4 October 2023).



The geophysical signatures are interpreted by Great Western as sharing similarities with the colossal intrusive related copper-gold Winu ((2.88Mt Copper - 7.88Moz Gold, Rio Tinto 2023) and Haverion (2.9Moz Gold - 140Kt Copper, Newcrest 2023).



Further Interpretation Defines "Growth Fault"



Further interpretation of geophysical data (gravity and magnetics) by Great Western defined a north-east trending feature (GTE ASX Announcement 18 December 2023). The Company's independent interpretation was found to align perfectly with Geological Survey Western Australia's (GSWA) major basin defining "growth fault" of the Yerrida Basin (Figure 1*) interpretation completed in 2000, undertaken without the extensive geophysical dataset Great Western now has. According to the GSWA in its report on the Yerrida Basin, this fault played a crucial role in development of the Basin (Pirajno and Adamides, 2000).



The Yerrida Basin Growth Fault is a long-lived structure, likely to have penetrated Archean Basement below the Yerrida Basin. Crucially for Oval and Oval South, this feature intersects the crustal scale mantle tapping Ida Fault (Figure 1*). The Company interprets these two faults in conjunction provided the plumbing to focus metal-rich fluids from the mantle in favourable trap sites and Yerrida Basin stratigraphy (shales, carbonates, and siltstones).



This identification of the Yerrida Basin growth fault significantly increases the potential for a giant Winu-Haverion style intrusive related copper-gold discovery to be made.



Oval & Oval South's Impressive Key Ingredients



Discovery of giant deposits often involve the identification of at least three key ingredients that may define a potential major mineralisation system. The interpretation of the Yerrida Basin Growth Fault adds to the very significant key ingredients of Oval and Oval South already identified, which greatly enhances the discovery of a giant Winu-style intrusive related copper-gold system, which now include:



- Co-incident gravity and electro-magnetic anomalies - zones of dense rocks that are conductive interpreted to represent obscured metal rich sulphide mineralisation;



- Co-incident magnetic anomalism potentially representing a deep intrusive providing mineralised fluids and heat source to drive a mineralised system;



- Proximity to the crustal scale Ida Fault, a proven fertile conduit for metal rich mantle fluids;



- Intersection of the Ida Fault by a basin defining "growth structure", allow mineralised fluids to ascend and focus within suitable trap site/stratigraphy;



- Favourable Yerrida Basin stratigraphy of the Johnson Cairn Formation for mineralised fluids to deposit coppergold (shales, dolomites, siltstones); and



- Position of both Oval and Oval South within an east-west intrusive corridor, a potential zone of weakened crust, which in conjunction with the Ida Fault and GSWA growth Fault, makes an ideal trap site for metal accumulation.



Great Western interprets that Oval and Oval South's coincident geophysics anomalism, location on a major crustal mantle tapping fault, newly interpreted intersection with a basin defining growth fault, and within favourable stratigraphy creates the potential for a colossal discovery to be made.



*To view tables and figures, please visit:

https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/6O7V5VG4





About Great Western Exploration Limited





Great Western Exploration (ASX:GTE) is an explorer with a world class, large land position in prolific regions of Western Australia. Great Western's tenements have been under or virtually unexplored. Numerous work programmes across multiple projects are underway and the Company is well-funded with a tight capital structure, providing leverage to exploration success.

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Investee Advent Renewal of Retention Licence 1

Perth, May 3, 2024 AEST (ABN Newswire) - BPH Energy Limited ( ASX:BPH ) is pleased to advise that investee Advent Energy Ltd has been offered and accepted a renewal of Retention Licence 1 (RL1) in by the Northern Territory Government for a five-year term.



Advent, through its wholly owned subsidiary Onshore Energy Pty Ltd, holds a 100 % interest in RL1 and is operator of the Retention Licence in the onshore Bonaparte Basin in northern Australia.



The Bonaparte Basin is a highly prospective, petroliferous basin, with significant prospective potential for reserves of oil and gas. Most of the basin is located offshore, covering 250,000 square kilometres, compared to just over 20,000 square kilometres onshore and is recognized as one of Australia's most prolific offshore hydrocarbon producing basin (after the Northern Carnarvon and Gippsland basins).



Retention Licence RL1 in the Northern Territory is 166 square kilometres in area and covers the Weaber Gas Field, originally discovered in 1985.



The renewal instruments are to be forwarded to Advent.





About BPH Energy Limited





BPH Energy Limited (ASX:BPH) is an Australian Securities Exchange listed company developing biomedical research and technologies within Australian Universities and Hospital Institutes.

The company provides early stage funding, project management and commercialisation strategies for a direct collaboration, a spin out company or to secure a license.

BPH provides funding for commercial strategies for proof of concept, research and product development, whilst the institutional partner provides infrastructure and the core scientific expertise.

BPH currently partners with several academic institutions including The Harry Perkins Institute for Medical Research and Swinburne University of Technology (SUT).

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Korean defense firm Hyundai Rotem has been selected as a preferred bidder to export 30 K-808 White Tiger wheeled armored vehicles to Peru, the company said Thursday.

STX Engine will serve as the main contractor for the deal, while Hyundai Rotem will supply the vehicles to the Peruvian Army.

The deal, valued at approximately 82.8 billion won ($601.6 million), is anticipated to be formalized later this month, according to company officials.

If finalized, it would mark Korea's first exports of armored vehicles to Latin America.

The K-808 is an eight-wheeled infantry transport vehicle designed for fast troop deployment and reconnaissance missions in front-line areas.

Last month, Korean shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries signed a 640.6 billion-won contract to build four warships for the Peruvian Navy jointly with a local shipyard. (Yonhap)
HYBE, the K-pop powerhouse behind BTS, Seventeen and NewJeans, reported a sharp decline in its earnings for the first quarter of this year, with operating profit plummeting 72.6 percent from a year ago.

The downturn comes as all members of BTS are performing in their mandatory military service, creating a significant gap in the company's artist lineup.

According to HYBE, the company's operating profit for the first quarter totaled 14.4 billion won ($10.4 million), a drop that was slightly steeper than the market estimate of 15.1 billion won by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.

The K-pop company, which typically sees a seasonal slowdown in the first quarter, attributed the steep decline not only to the absence of activities from key artists like BTS but also to the cost associated with launching new groups.

Despite these challenges, HYBE emphasized that it had managed to maintain a profitable quarter due to what it described as "improved fundamental earnings strength."

Revenue also fell by 12.1 percent on-year to 360.9 billion won, while net income took a drastic hit, dropping 87.4 percent to just 2.9 billion won.

However, HYBE noted some positive developments, particularly from newer acts.

The company highlighted the successful debuts of TWS and ILLIT, whose album sales each topped 500,000 copies.

"This success helped mitigate some of the financial impacts from the hiatus taken by senior artists," it explained.

"While there were fewer releases of new albums in the first quarter, the company laid the foundation for a stable performance thanks to digital music sales that generate consistent revenue. As a result, the proportion of digital music sales in HYBE's overall music and album sales for the first quarter rose to around 50 percent," the company added in a release.

By sector, digital music and albums, concerts and appearance fees accounted for about 60 percent of the first-quarter sales, totaling 217 billion won.

Merchandising, licensing, content and fan community platforms generated the remaining 40 percent, bringing in 143.9 billion won.

HYBE anticipates a rise in both revenue and operating profit for the second quarter, when many of its artists are set to drop new albums and launch world tours.

Its boy groups  Seventeen, Tomorrow X Together and Boynextdoor  released new albums last month, with another boy group, Enhypen, and girl group NewJeans set to return soon with new releases.

BTS members, in particular, will begin being discharged from the military, starting with the oldest member, Jin, next month.

"We expect the company's new album releases to increase by more than 30 percent from the previous year, thanks to the returns of existing artists and debuts of new ones," the company said. "We also anticipate expanding fan engagement opportunities, with 10 teams set to hold 160 concerts and fan meetings this year, compared with 128 events by eight teams last year."

The announcement of the quarter earnings comes amid an intensifying conflict between the company and Min Hee-jin, head of its subsidiary that manages NewJeans, over allegations that she plotted to seize control of her company from the parent company. Min denies the allegations as "groundless."

During the earnings call for the January-March period, HYBE CEO Park Ji-won apologized for troubling shareholders with the recent conflict and vowed to resolve it smoothly.

"We're sorry for causing concerns to our shareholders," Park said. "The company confirmed details of the issue through an audit and will take additional, necessary measures."

He also pledged to continue devising ways to refine the company's multi-label system, acknowledging mounting concerns about its stability following the incident.

HYBE filed a complaint against Min on breach of trust charges last Thursday following the audit into the current management of the sublabel Ador. It also seeks to convene a shareholders' meeting to formally dismiss her from the CEO position. (Yonhap)
The Asia Video Industry Associations Coalition Against Piracy (CAP) has published its 2024 annual piracy consumer survey, conducted by YouGov. Despite a decrease in piracy on pirate TV boxes, pirate apps and streaming or torrent websites, the survey shows an increase in the incidence of piracy across the region, climbing from 52% last year to 59% this year due to more piracy on social media and messaging platforms. Particularly concerning are the increases in the Philippines (12% yoy) and Vietnam (13% yoy), with both countries also now having the regions highest incidences of piracy amongst their populations, at 70% and 71% respectively.

The dominance of social media and messaging platforms as the conduit to piracy not only remains, but has grown more severe, increasing by 14% across the region. Meanwhile, only 13% of consumers in the region now access pirated content through websites, and 11% by pirate TV boxes  both down from last year.

Awareness of the negative consequences of piracy (89%) remains extremely high across the region, with consumers being most aware of criminals profiting from pirate services, the risks of malware and the damage piracy causes to local industry being most prominent. And the impact of judicial or administrative orders requiring ISPs to block access to pirate sites is clear, with Indonesian (59%), Vietnamese (54%), Malaysian (42%) and Singaporean (28%) consumers saying they have either stopped entirely or rarely access pirate sites as a direct result of sites being blocked.

The survey shows a dramatic increase in the number of consumers in Asia-Pacific both searching for and accessing pirate content via social media or messaging services. CAP is continuing to work with the major platforms across the region to address this issue but remains concerned with the lack of response from some platforms, notably Telegram.

Matt Cheetham, General Manager of CAP, noted, We are greatly encouraged by the continuing downward trend of consumers accessing pirate content from illegal websites, which reflects the work done over many years in the region by industry and governments. However, it is clear that social media and messaging platforms must do more to prevent their services being used to find and access pirate content.
Priya Barve has been appointed as Indias client head for Hindustan Unilever Limited at WPP. With a distinguished career spanning leadership roles at Google, Mondelez, and Leo Burnett across the Asia Pacific region, Barve brings a wealth of experience to her new position.

Barve's expertise lies in managing global brands and platforms, steering product development, crafting marketing strategies, and spearheading advertising campaigns. Her extensive background encompasses diverse perspectives on communications and media, derived from her experiences on both the agency and client sides, as well as collaborations with tech platforms.

Beyond her professional endeavors, Barve is renowned for her passion for food and cooking. Notably, she showcased her culinary talents on MasterChef Asia in 2015 and currently hosts a dining experience with her husband, highlighting regional Indian cuisine.

Moreover, Barve actively engages in social sector initiatives, lending her expertise to program design, fundraising, and communications efforts. Her commitment to social impact was further underscored by her recent completion of the 'Women on Boards for Social Impact' course offered by ISDM x Dasra.

Barve's multifaceted background and dedication to excellence make her a valuable addition to WPP's team, poised to drive innovative strategies and elevate Hindustan Unilever Limited's brand presence in the Indian market.
Redhill, a Singapore-headquartered communication services agency, is celebrating its 10th anniversary with the launch of a new Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). This programme prioritizes employee engagement and invests in their long-term success.

The ESOP, effective May 1, 2024, grants stock ownership to all current employees with at least three years of service. This initiative reflects Redhill's commitment to empowering its team and fostering a sense of shared ownership.

"As we celebrate this milestone, rewarding our employees who have been on this journey with us is a top priority," said Manisha Seewal, Redhill's president.

With over 200 team members across 20 countries, Redhill's international presence is a testament to its remarkable growth. The ESOP program reinforces their position as a global leader in communications and signifies their belief in the power of a collaborative workforce.

Seewal said that the ESOP plan is a strategic move to attract and retain top talent, solidifying Redhill's position as a truly global communications agency.

This employee-centric move comes on the heels of Redhill's acquisition of Vision Strategy Storytelling (VS Story) in 2022. VS Story strengthens Redhill's sustainability offerings, allowing them to meet the evolving needs of their clients.

Redhill provides PR, strategy, design, technology, and marketing services to companies across the world.
While India makes waves at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, it was announced on Friday (26 April 2024) in a statement by Warner Bros. Pictures and Fathom Events that Daniela Volkers much-talked about documentary The Commandants Shadow is set to release in 500+ theatres across the U.S. on May 29, 2024, with an encore presentation the following day.

A little known fact is that this hard-hitting documentary also boasts a strong Indian connection, with noted creative head and entrepreneur Sajan Raj Kurup serving as Executive producer on the documentary film.

Speaking about this Kurup said, It is a proud moment for us at Creators Inc. and Creativeland Studios to be able to back The Commandants Shadow, a story that deserves telling, and we are happy to see it reach a wide audience with its upcoming release in the US.

For me personally, I am happy that the dream I set out to achieve, to back content that builds legacy, is one step closer. I am positive this will be the first of many such landmarks from Creators Inc. and Creativeland Studios he added.

The Commandants Shadow follows Hans Jurgen Hoss, son of Auschwitz's Commandant Rudolf Hoss, confronting his father's terrible legacy for the first time and as he is introduced to Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, a Jewish survivor of the camp. Their historic meeting, eight decades later, in Anita's London living room, alongside their children Kai Hoss and Maya Lasker-Wallfisch, delves into their very different hereditary burdens and raises questions about love, guilt, and forgiveness. This feature-length documentary explores the trans-generational impact of war crimes, yet ultimately offers a story of hope, acceptance, and compassion.

The documentary film is written, produced and directed by Daniela Volker and produced by Gloria Abramoff, with Wendy Robbins, Neil Blair, Jonathan Blair, Matti Leshem, Joel Greenberg, Len Blavatnik, Danny Cohen, Sajan Raj Kurup, Jani Guest and Jamie Jessop serving as executive producers. Volkers creative team includes directors of photography Rob Goldie and Piotr Trela, editor Claire Guillon, and music composer Gabriel Chwojnik.

Warner Bros. Pictures Presents, in Association with HBO Documentary Films, A Snowstorm Productions / Creators Inc. Production, In Association with New Mandate Films, A Film By Daniela Volker, The Commandants Shadow. It will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, and is rated PG-13 for thematic content involving the Holocaust, some disturbing images, and smoking.
Authored by Bhaskar Majumdar, Head - Marketing Communication, Digital and CSR, Egis South Asia and co originator of CommsAdda.

In recent developments that have sent ripples across the public relations industry in Asia, prominent PR agencies like Ketchum Sampark have initiated significant layoffs and are winding down operations in pivotal markets such as India and China. This strategic retraction by global giants has not only impacted the employees but also disrupted the service continuum for numerous clients. Lets look into why these firms, despite their global prowess, are struggling in these fast-growing markets and the broader implications for all stakeholders involved.

Ketchum, a titan in the PR industry, has faced daunting challenges in maintaining its operational footprint in China and India. These markets are characterized by their unique cultural, economic, and media landscapes, which often require localized knowledge and a nuanced approach to business practices and client relations. Ketchum's decision to acquire local firms like Sampark in India and form alliances like Newscan in China initially seemed to pave the way for deeper market integration. However, navigating the complex business environment in these countries demands more than just a presence; it requires a holistic understanding of local consumer behaviour, media relations, and regulatory frameworks.

Recent news stories highlight that Ketchum is laying off most of its workforce in China and India, incorporating the remaining staff and clients into its sibling agency FleishmanHillard. This move suggests a consolidation strategy aiming to cut losses and streamline operations. Despite this drastic measure, Mike Doyle, Ketchum's global CEO, assured that the brand would continue serving the markets through the Omnicom network, indicating a shift in strategy rather than a complete exit.

However, such consolidations are often seen as a last resort when profitability is under severe pressure. Factors contributing to these pressures include Understanding the Indian market is essential for effective public relations due to its diversity in languages, cultures, burgeoning startup ecosystem, and numerous other factors influencing business viability. Acquiring insights into 'Bharat', representing the heartland of India, is particularly crucial for navigating this dynamic landscape. Another key factor is fierce competition from homegrown agencies who possess inherent advantages in understanding domestic markets and client needs, as well as challenges in adapting global strategies to local contexts effectively. Additionally, the rapid evolution of digital media landscapes and public relations tools may have outpaced the traditional operational models of these international firms.

Foreign consultancies often face higher operational costs due to their global standards and practices, which may not always align with local pricing dynamics. The pressure to deliver results comparable to their performance in Western markets can lead to misaligned business strategies that fail to resonate locally. Moreover, the entry strategy through acquisitions can sometimes backfire if the integration processes dilute the local firms strengths instead of building upon them.

The contraction of firms like Ketchum in India and China profoundly impacts various stakeholders, leaving a significant void across multiple dimensions of the PR industry. First and foremost, the layoffs engender immediate job losses, casting a shadow of uncertainty over the future career paths of numerous affected employees. While the transition of remaining personnel to FleishmanHillard might offer some semblance of continuity, the integration process is often riddled with challenges. These can range from issues of cultural fit within the new organization to substantial adjustments in roles and responsibilities, potentially complicating what might already be a stressful period for these individuals.

For clients of agencies like Ketchum, the impact is similarly disruptive. These businesses have depended on the established expertise and global reach of their PR agencies to guide their communications strategies and safeguard their corporate reputations. With the operational fold into FleishmanHillard, these clients could face interruptions that may affect the continuity of ongoing campaigns, disturb the established dynamics between client and agency, and misalign strategic objectives that were previously in place.

The local PR industry faces its own set of challenges and opportunities from these international pullbacks. On one hand, the retreat of a global player like Ketchum could reduce competition, potentially freeing up market space for domestic firms. On the other hand, this contraction also reduces the diversity of professional PR services and global perspectives within the market. International firms often bring different approaches and a broader worldview that can spur innovation and elevate standards within the local industry.

The market perception influenced by such high-profile exits cannot be underestimated. When international firms scale back their operations or exit markets like India and China entirely, it sends a potent message regarding the viability and attractiveness of these markets. Such moves might be interpreted as these regions being too challenging to navigate or not sufficiently profitable, potentially deterring future foreign investments in these sectors. This could have long-term implications for the economic landscape, affecting not just the PR sector but broader business activities in these vibrant markets.

The retrenchment of Ketchum and similar entities calls for a reassessment of how global PR firms operate in culturally and economically diverse markets like India and China. Success in these markets requires firms to not only adapt their strategies but also deeply immerse themselves in understanding local nuances. For the PR industry in Asia, this could be a moment of introspection and perhaps an opportunity for local firms to rise and fill the gaps, leveraging their inherent market insights and cultural compatibilities.
Universal Music Group (UMG) and TikTok have reached a new agreement, bringing UMG artists and music back to the platform after a temporary break.

Previously, UMG content was removed due to disagreements over artist compensation, AI usage, and user safety.

TikTok is crucial for music discovery, especially among young audiences in the US.UMG argued artists receive significantly less compensation from TikTok compared to other platforms.

AI-generated music using TikTok's tools was a major sticking point in negotiations. UMG opposed including AI works in royalty payments, fearing it would diminish payouts to human creators.

The music industry is concerned about the potential negative impact of AI on artist compensation.

This deal comes amidst uncertainty over TikTok's future in the US due to potential government restrictions.

Despite the agreement, the long-term outlook for TikTok in the US remains unclear.
Holding a sign that read Tide Against Genocide, a group of several dozen University of Alabama students gathered at the universitys student center Wednesday to call for a ceasefire in Gaza  and to urge the college to cut ties with a top defense contractor.

As students of the University of Alabama, we can no longer stand by in silent complicity as our institution funds a state-sponsored massacre of Palestinians, read a flier for the demonstration. The group is calling on the university to end its relationship with Lockheed Martin, a defense contractor that it said has supplied Israel with fighter jets, Hellfire missiles, and other weapons that are currently being used to slaughter Palestinians.

Counter-protesters, some holding American flags and Trump banners, began to gather near the fountain a few minutes into the peaceful demonstration, according to social media accounts. University police cordoned the groups off with cones and ropes.

Crimson White editor Maven Navarro captured video of one group of students chanting Free, free Palestine, while the other sang the national anthem. At one point, both groups chanted F--- Joe Biden. The protests lasted about three hours.

Protesters are chanting Free, free Palestine. Counter protesters singing the National Anthem. pic.twitter.com/zBq6QKvBuk  Maven Navarro (@MavenNavarro1) May 1, 2024

The demonstrations come after days of protests on college campuses across the United States, including many tent encampments of demonstrators calling on their universities to stop doing business with Israel.

According to the Associated Press, more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 70,000 wounded in the Gaza Strip since Israels war on Hamas began nearly five months ago. About 1,200 Israelis were killed in Hamas Oct. 7 attack.

The Tuscaloosa demonstrations appeared to remain peaceful, but were monitored by several police officers on both sides. According to the Crimson White, campus police distributed a flier, dated May 1, that outlined campus protest policies, which prohibited bullhorns and overnight camping. It is unclear whether those policies are new.

The University of Alabama is committed to free and open inquiry and expression for members of the University campus community, the university said in a statement Wednesday. As part of this commitment, UA encourages responsible deliberation and debate on campus facilitates numerous opportunities for members of our community to express differing points of view. While maintaining neutrality on matters of free speech, UA has policies in place to regulate access to facilities and grounds to ensure safety and security on campus and to maintain the orderly operations of the University.

Any protests must be fully compliant with all applicable University policies, and any deviation from those policies will be promptly addressed. To help ensure peaceful event, University staff has shared the attached guidance, which is consistent with existing University policy, with event organizers.

UA recently named a building after alumna Marillyn Hewson, then-CEO of Lockheed. In 2018, Hewson made a $15 million gift to the university  then the largest in UA history. The university also has partnered with the company to create a data analytics lab, and has held multiple Lockheed recruiting events on campus.

The universitys endowment is valued at $1.2 billion, according to a 2023 report.

Demonstrators are urging the college to:
Alabama attorney Alexander Shunnarah has bought a downtown Birmingham office building.

The prominent attorney has bought the former Birmingham News building at 2201 4th Ave. N.

The building housed The Birmingham News from 2006 until 2014. It was sold to Infinity Property and Casualty Corporation in 2015.

Shunnarah plans to consolidate all of the firms Birmingham operations into the building on 4th Avenue North.

Alexander Shunnarah has bought the former Birmingham News building. (Alexander Shunnarah)

The move will probably take place in late summer, after Internet and security systems are installed, a spokesman said.

The 120,493-square foot building has an open floor plan and a four-story atrium. The company said it cost $15 million when it was built across the street from the News former building, which dated from 1917.

Shunnarah, long known for his commercials and billboards, already owns the largest billboard in Birmingham. Last year, he announced a partnership with an Ohio law firm for an expansion into six states.
Mounting tensions on U.S. campuses boiled over on Wednesday when pro-Israel supporters attacked an encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters at UCLA, hours after police arrested activists who occupied a building at Columbia University and cleared a tent city from its campus.

Eyewitness videos from the University of California at Los Angeles, verified by Reuters, showed people wielding sticks or poles to hammer on wooden boards being used as makeshift barricades to protect the pro-Palestinian protesters before police were called to the campus.

The university canceled classes for the day on Wednesday, and UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said the school would conduct an investigation "that may lead to arrests, expulsions and dismissals."

In a statement, Block said the "appalling" assault on pro-Palestinian demonstrators, which came hours after their encampment was declared an unlawful assembly by UCLA, was committed "by a group of instigators."

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who returned to the city early from a trip to Washington, and California Governor Gavin Newsom each issued separate statements condemning the overnight violence and calling for an investigation.

Neither the Los Angeles Police Department nor the university answered queries from Reuters asking whether any arrests were made at the confrontation, which began around 11 p.m. local time and went on for two or three hours.

In New York City, scores of police officers in helmets and tactical gear arrested pro-Palestinian demonstrators occupying Hamilton Hall, an academic building at Columbia University.

Undergraduate students watching the extraordinary scene, many jeering at the police, fled into nearby buildings as police also cleared out a nearby protest encampment that had inspired similar protests at campuses across the country and abroad.

Police arrested about 300 people at Columbia and City College of New York, Mayor Eric Adams said. Many of those arrested were charged with trespassing and criminal mischief.

The clashes at UCLA and in New York were part of the biggest outpouring of U.S. student activism since the anti-racism rallies and marches of 2020.

The protests follow the Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel by Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip and the ensuing Israeli offensive on the Palestinian enclave.

Students have rallied or set up tent encampments at dozens of schools across the U.S. in recent days, expressing opposition to Israel's war in Gaza and demanding schools divest from companies that support Israel's government. Many of the schools have called in police to quell the protests.

With the presidential election coming in November, Republican lawmakers have accused some university administrators of ignoring antisemitic rhetoric and harassment, and some have demanded Columbia's President Minouche Shafik resign.

Many protesters, some of whom are Jewish, reject allegations of antisemitism. Shafik has said the protests brought rancor to life at Columbia and created a "threatening environment" for many Jewish students and faculty, while also blaming some episodes of harassment and hostile rhetoric on outsiders drawn to the busy Manhattan streets surrounding the campus.

U.S. President Joe Biden, who has angered many protesters by funding and arming Israel, plans to give a speech on antisemitism next week at a Holocaust memorial event.

"Americans have the right to peacefully protest," Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House spokesperson, told reporters. "Forcibly taking over a building is not peaceful."

Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump praised the police raid Columbia's campus, saying it "was a beautiful thing to watch." He called the ousted protesters "raging lunatics and Hamas sympathizers."

UCLA protesters report violent attacks

Before the clashes in Los Angeles, UCLA officials declared that an encampment on its campus was unlawful, violated university policy and included people unaffiliated with the campus.

Afterwards, counter-demonstrators  many of them masked and some apparently older than most students  can be seen in videos throwing objects and trying to smash or pull down the wooden and steel barriers erected to shield the encampment.

Some screamed pro-Jewish comments as pro-Palestinian protesters tried to fight them off.

"I just didn't think they would ever get to this," said Kaia Shah, a pro-Palestinian protester and researcher at UCLA, "where our protest is met by counter-protesters who are violently hurting us, inflicting pain on us, when we are not doing anything to them."

Demonstrators on both sides used pepper spray, and fights broke out. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators said the counter-protesters threw fireworks at them and beat them with bats and sticks.

Benjamin Kersten, a UCLA graduate student and member of the pro-Palestinian group Jewish Voice for Peace, called it "a devastating night of violence."

"The encampment would be a peaceful effort were it not for the continuous presence of counter-protesters and agitators," he wrote in a text message.

Police said UCLA had called them to restore order and maintain public safety within the encampment. Video later showed police clearing a central quad beside the encampment and erecting a metal crowd-control barrier in front of it.

The atmosphere was calmer on Wednesday. Hundreds of police officers were on campus and lining its perimeter. It was unclear how many arrests were made or the number of people injured.

Columbia demonstrators arrested

Columbia's Shafik said she had asked police to stay on campus until at least May 17, two days after graduation, and the main campus, where student dorms are located, remained under lockdown on Wednesday. The school said the rest of the semester would be conducted remotely, including final exams.

"I am sorry we reached this point," Shafik wrote in an email to the university community on Wednesday, promising efforts to reunite a frayed campus.

Ararat Sekeryan, a Slavic languages doctoral student from Istanbul, said he was pushed out of the encampment and described the police deployment as dangerous.

"I myself felt attacked," he said. "They were so afraid of this peaceful movement that they had to send more than a thousand, maybe hundreds of police to campus."

Ben Solomon, 22, a Jewish student at Columbia, said he welcomed the removal of what he called a "mob" from the occupied building and encampment.

The university earlier warned that students involved in the occupation faced academic expulsion. (Reuters)
A bill to allow virtual participation in parole hearings in Alabama won approval in the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday morning.

The committee amended SB312 by Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Montgomery, before approving it on a 10-2 vote.

Inmates under consideration for parole do not attend parole hearings in Alabama, which are held by the three-member parole board in Montgomery.

Barfoots bill, which passed the Senate last week without opposition, allows inmates the option to participate by videoconference, telephone conference, or similar means. Barfoot said it would be beneficial for inmates to have a chance to speak to the board directly and for the board to be able to ask inmates questions.

The committee added an amendment to allow victims, victims families and advocates, prosecutors, and others to also attend by video or teleconference.

Victim advocates, including Wanda Miller, executive director of Victims of Crime and Leniency (VOCAL), and Darlene Hutchinson, chair of the Alabama Crime Victims Compensation Commission, said they suggested the amendment. Overall, they oppose the bill and the changes it would make to parole hearings.

Miller said she believes the current system, where inmates are interviewed by a parole officer who reports to the parole board, works well.

It was a good system for the victim, because a lot of victims would say, Is the offender going to be there? Miller said. And we were able to say, No, in no shape, form or fashion is the offender going to be there. Its going to affect some victims. Thats to be seen, whether well lose that participation by some victims, or whether they will embrace this technology and do it in a different way. But its going to be a change.

Hutchinson said inmate participation will cause anxiety for victims. Hutchinson said the change would be beneficial for some victims who want to participate in hearings virtually without traveling to Montgomery. She said it will be beneficial for law enforcement and prosecutors, also because they can take part without setting aside time to come to Montgomery.

It will open it up for some victims that havent been able to come because you cant take time off work, you cant afford to drive down here, youve got to get child care, or whatever the circumstance is, youre taking care of your elderly parents. So it could open it up, Hutchinson said. Im glad the Legislature has been amenable to our amendment on that.

The committee approval moves the bill into position for consideration by the full House of Representatives. Rep. Jim Hill, R-Moody, the chairman of the committee, said he hoped to get a vote in the House next week. Three days remain in the legislative session after Thursday.
A bill to put time requirements in Alabamas law on access to public records moved closer to final passage on Thursday.

The House passed SB270 by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, by a vote of 101-0.

The bill returns to the Senate because of changes made by the House. The Senate, which passed the bill two weeks ago, could concur with the changes and send the bill to Gov. Kay Ivey, who could sign it into law.

Alabama law says citizens have a right to inspect and copy public records but has no requirements that government agencies respond by any certain times. That has been cited as a major weakness in the law.

Orrs bill, carried in the House by Rep. Cynthia Almond, R-Tuscaloosa, sets times for when agencies have to acknowledge requests and times when they have to provide substantive responses.

Alabama Press Association Executive Director Felicia Mason said the bill would be an important step in strengthening the law. The association has worked for years to put more teeth into the law.

Our hope and our intent with this bill was to establish timelines, Mason said.

She said the bill establishes a process that will be helpful to the public and to the agencies that are custodians of the records.

The bill defines requests for public records in two categories.

Standard requests are those that take less than eight hours of an agencys staff time to fulfill. Time-intensive requests are those that take more than eight hours to fulfill.

The bill requires agencies to acknowledge requests with 10 business days of receiving them. For standard requests, agencies would have to follow up with a substantive response within 15 days of acknowledging. A substantive response means providing the requested records, agreeing to provide them at a set place or time, agreeing to provide them after payment of a reasonable fee, or denying the request with an explanation of why.

Agencies could extend the response time in 15-day increments by notifying the requester in writing.

If the request is not filled within 30 business days or 60 calendar days after acknowledging receipt, it is presumed to be denied, the bill says.

For time-intensive requests, the deadlines are different. Agencies must provide a substantive response within 45 business days and can extend that in 45-day increments. If there is no substantive response to a time-intensive request with 180 business days or 270 calendar days, the request is presumed to be denied.

The bill says agencies are not required to respond to requests that are vague, ambitious, overly broad, or unreasonable.

The bill would change the law to apply to residents of Alabama and says agencies could require requesters to provide proof of residence.
The search continues for a missing 60-year-old central Alabama man who vanished more than two weeks ago after leaving a family gathering.

Michael Randall Thompson, of Tallassee, was last seen Wednesday, April 17, in Eclectic.

Thompson left the gathering about 1 p.m. and has not been heard from since then. He was last seen in a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee, which has since been found in Macon County.

Tallassee police investigators said blood was found in Thompsons home, and his wallet was still at the residence.

Thompsons family told WSFA the missing man has cancer and has been without his medications.

Macon County Sheriff Andre Brunson said Thompsons vehicle was found off County Road 36.

On Wednesday, Brunson said, sheriffs officials used a helicopter and tracking dogs to search the area where the car was discovered.

I thought it was important that we get out there and search where they found the car just in case, Brunson said. I want to help as much as possible to give closure or find out what happened to this man for his family.

Hopefully, he can be found alive, the sheriff said, but we dont have any idea what happened.

Thompson is 5-feet, 5-inches tall and weighs 135 pounds.

Anyone with information is asked to call Tallassee police at 334-283-6586 or Central Alabama Crime Stoppers at 334-215-STOP (7867) or 1-833-AL1-STOP.
Margaritaville at Seas newest vessel is ready to set sail this summer.

CruiseIndustryNews.com reported Margaritaville at Seas flagship vessel Islander recently completed a series of trials in the Irish Sea and will be repositioning to North America ahead of its debut. Starting in June, Islander will offer four and five-night cruises to the Western Caribbean and Florida, departing from Port Tampa Bay. Year-round itineraries include visits to Key West, Cozumel and Puerto Progreso, along with one or two days at sea, the industry tracking website reported.

In 2025, the line will add six and seen night cruises to different Caribbean stops, including Belize, Jamaica and Grand Cayman.

READ MORE: Popular cruise line cancels trip with guests already on board: What happens next?

The vessel, which originally entered service in the 2000s as part of the Costa Cruises line, recently underwent refurbishment. It has a capacity of 2,650 guests in 1,105 staterooms, including six Signature Grand Suites themed and influenced by Jimmy Buffet songs such as Come Monday and Everlasting Moon.

It will also feature a 14-story atrium, a three-story poolside LandShark Bar at Sea and food offerings including JWB Prime Steakhouse, Cheeseburger in Paradise and Ritas Taco House.
A large alligator died in the middle of a New Orleans-area roadway, leading to a crash which ended with one car in a nearby bayou, according to NOLA.com.

The incident took place in the New Orleans suburb of Chalmette. The St. Bernard Parish Sheriffs Office told NOLA.com deputies were called to the scene about 6:30 a.m. Monday.

The alligator had apparently died in the roadway median and, when one driver slowed down to take a good look at the reptile, the driver behind was evidently caught off guard.

That driver swerved to avoid rear-ending the other vehicle and wound up in an adjacent bayou.

This vehicle ended up in a Louisiana bayou after it swerved to avoid a car which had slowed to look at a dead alligator in the roadway.(Facebook image)

No one was injured during the incident. A truck crane was dispatched to remove the dead gator from the roadway, while a local towing company pulled the car out of the bayou.
Joshua Dean, a former quality auditor at Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems and one of the first whistleblowers to allege Spirit leadership had ignored manufacturing defects on the 737 MAX, died Tuesday morning after a struggle with a sudden, fast-spreading infection.

Known as Josh, Dean lived in Wichita, Kan., where Spirit is based. He was 45, had been in good health and was noted for having a healthy lifestyle.

He died after two weeks in critical condition, his aunt Carol Parsons said.

Spirit spokesperson Joe Buccino said: Our thoughts are with Josh Deans family. This sudden loss is stunning news here and for his loved ones.

Dean had given a deposition in a Spirit shareholder lawsuit and also filed a complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration alleging serious and gross misconduct by senior quality management of the 737 production line at Spirit.

Spirit fired Dean in April 2023, and he had filed a complaint with the Department of Labor alleging his termination was in retaliation for raising concerns related to aviation safety.

Parsons said Dean became ill and went to the hospital because he was having trouble breathing just over two weeks ago. He was intubated and developed pneumonia and then a serious bacterial infection, MRSA.

His condition deteriorated rapidly, and he was airlifted from Wichita to a hospital in Oklahoma City, Parsons said. There he was put on an ECMO machine, which circulates and oxygenates a patients blood outside the body, taking over heart and lung function when a patients organs dont work on their own.

His mother posted a message Friday on Facebook relating all those details and saying that Dean was fighting for his life.

He was heavily sedated and put on dialysis. A CT scan indicated he had suffered a stroke, his moms post said.

By the end, doctors were considering amputating both hands and both feet. It was brutal what he went through, Parsons said. Heartbreaking.

Dean was represented by a law firm in South Carolina that also represented Boeing whistleblower John Mitch Barnett.

Barnett was found dead in an apparent suicide in March. He was in the midst of giving depositions alleging Boeing retaliated against him for complaints about quality lapses when he was found dead from a gunshot wound in Charleston, S.C., where Boeing has its 787 manufacturing facility.

The Charleston County Coroners Office reported Barnetts death appeared to be from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Almost two months later, the police investigation into his death is still ongoing.

Brian Knowles, one of Deans lawyers, said he didnt want to speculate about the close timing and circumstances of the two deaths.

Whistleblowers are needed. They bring to light wrongdoing and corruption in the interests of society. It takes a lot of courage to stand up, Knowles said. Its a difficult set of circumstances. Our thoughts now are with Johns family and Joshs family.

Dean, a mechanical engineer, began working at Spirit in 2019. He was laid off the next year following pandemic-related job cuts and returned to Spirit in May 2021 as a quality auditor.

In October 2022, Dean said he found a serious manufacturing defect: mechanics improperly drilling holes in the aft pressure bulkhead of the MAX. When he flagged this issue with management, he said nothing was done.

Focused on those defects, he said he missed during that same audit a separate manufacturing flaw in the fittings that attach the vertical tail fin to the fuselage. When that was discovered in April and caused a delivery pause at Boeings Renton plant, Dean was fired.

Then in August, Spirit announced the discovery of improperly drilled holes in the MAXs aft pressure bulkhead, a flaw that was present in MAXs built as early as 2019. This caused another delivery halt in Renton.

With that discovery, Dean filed a safety complaint with the FAA. He said Spirit had used him as a scapegoat and had lied to the FAA about the aft pressure bulkhead defects.

After I was fired, Spirit AeroSystems [initially] did nothing to inform the FAA, and the public about their knowledge of the aft pressure bulkhead defects, he wrote in his complaint.

In November, the FAA sent Dean a letter stating that it had completed an investigation of the safety issues he had flagged. The letter cloaks the outcome though it seems to confirm that his allegations had substance.

The investigation determined that your allegations were appropriately addressed under an FAA-approved safety program, the FAA wrote. However, due to the privacy provisions of those programs, specific details cannot be released.

That same month, Dean filed his aviation whistleblower complaint with the Department of Labor, alleging wrongful termination and gross misconduct of senior level Spirit AeroSystems Quality Managers.

That case was still pending.

After he left Spirit, Dean took a job for a short time at Boeing Wichita, then left to work for another company.

The shareholder lawsuit alleging that Spirit management withheld information on the quality flaws and harmed stockholders was filed in December. Supporting the suit, Dean provided a deposition detailing his allegations.

After a panel blew off a Boeing 737 MAX plane in January, bringing new attention to the quality lapses at Spirit, one of Deans former Spirit colleagues confirmed some of Deans allegations.

___

(c)2024 The Seattle Times

Visit The Seattle Times at www.seattletimes.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Authorities have released the name of a man shot by Bessemer police.

Alabama Law Enforcement Agency officials identified the wounded man as Devon Vashaad Thomas. He is 27 and lives in Bessemer.

The shooting happened shortly before 8 p.m. Tuesday in the 500 block of Fourth Avenue Norh.

Authorities said officers were responding to a call of a car break-in.

ALEA Trooper Sgt. Jeremy Burkett on Wednesday night said when officers arrived on the scene, Thomas fled and brandished a gun.

Thomas was then struck by police gunfire. He was taken to UAB Hospital in stable condition.

Burkett said the investigation is ongoing by SBI agents. Once complete, the findings will be turned over to the Jefferson County Bessemer Cutoff District Attorneys Office.
A Mobile man will spend the rest of his life in prison after a jury found him guilty of capital murder in the death of his ex-wifes boyfriend on Christmas Eve 2021.

According to the Mobile District Attorneys Office, Murice Devell Sashington broke into the home of his ex-wife, Shanda Avery, and waited to ambush her and her boyfriend, 40-year-old Quincy Kemp of Prichard.

When Avery and Kemp arrived, Sashington shot and killed Kemp and also shot and wounded Avery, although she survived.

Sashington fled the area and remained at large until May 2022, when he was taken into custody in Nevada and extradited back to Mobile. He has been held without bond in Mobile Metro Jail ever since.

Sashington, 40, was not only found guilty of capital murder in Kemps death, but the jury found him guilty of the attempted murder of Avery, as well.

This case is an example of a planned attack in which the perpetrator was lying in wait for the victims as they returned home on the evening of Christmas Eve, 2021, said Mobile County District Attorney Keith Blackwood. They were ambushed and shot in a fit of rage and jealousy, leaving 40-year-old Quincy Kemp dead and Shanda Avery injured. What was supposed to be a joyous night ended up being a nightmare.

Sashington is scheduled to be sentenced June 11. The capital murder conviction carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole.
Two men were left severely injured, with one paralyzed below the waist, after a stabbing incident at a Tractor Supply store in Atmore last week.

Atmore police said Thursday officers responded to the location shortly after noon and found one of the men laying just inside the entry of the Tractor Supply, bleeding profusely from stab wounds.

Officers and employees assisted in applying a tourniquet to slow blood loss.

A second man, meanwhile, was found in the parking lot, also bleeding profusely from stab wounds. Again, officers and others worked to slow the mans blood loss until paramedics arrived.

Ultimately, both men were transported to Atmore Community Hospital before they were airlifted to separate trauma centers for treatment.

At the scene, police located two men who had large amounts of blood on their clothing, but were uninjured. They were detained, taken to the Atmore Police Department for questioning, and ultimately released.

Police were unable to interview the two men who were injured for several days due to the severity of their condition, but in the interim interviewed witnesses and also viewed surveillance footage which together provided investigators with a clear picture of the incident.

Additionally, within the last few days police were finally able to question the two men, although they both remain in intensive care -- the man found in the parking lot suffering from a punctured lung, bruising across both eyes and cheeks and currently paralyzed from the waist down.

Both men have had multiple surgeries and face a long road to recovery, according to Atmore police.

After presenting the evidence to the Escambia County District Attorney, it was determined the man who was found inside the Tractor Supply will be charged with 1st-degree assault once he is released from the hospital.

Atmore police have declined to release either mans identity.
Alabama lawmakers gave final passage Thursday to a bill to adjust the deadline for political parties to certify their presidential candidate for the ballot, a move intended to make sure President Biden is on the ballot.

Secretary of State Wes Allen notified the Democratic Party a few weeks ago that the national convention, which begins on Aug. 19, will be too late to meet the deadline in Alabama law, which is 82 days before general election, or Aug. 15 this year.

A bill - SB324 by Sen. Merika Coleman, D-Pleasant Grove - changes the deadline to 74 days. The House on Thursday morning passed it by a vote of 93-0. It had passed the Senate 31-0 last week and now goes to the governor, who can sign it into law.

House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville, who handled the bill in the House, urged the governor to sign the bill.

The Legislature has previously had to pass similar bills to accommodate the dates of the national conventions, including in 2020.

Before the bill passed, Rep. Steve Clouse, R-Ozark, asked if there was a plan to fix the law so that the deadline issue did not come up again.

Daniels also said it would be better if lawmakers did not have to repeatedly revisit the issue. He noted that the party that holds the White House has its convention last.

Were going to look into a permanent fix so that we dont have to keep going through this process every four years, Daniels said.

Read more: Democrats seeking provisional certification of Biden as nominee, say procedure used for Trump in 2020
An Athens contractor trying to bring a limestone quarry to Belle Mina has been awarded a $6.2 million contract by the city of Huntsville to resurface 54 streets within the next 10 months.

The city council approved the contract with Grayson Carter & Son Contracting Inc. to improve neighborhood streets as part of Huntsvilles Resurfacing of Residential Streets Fiscal 2024 phase two project.
Most water utilities in coastal Alabama will have to make major changes to comply with new federal regulations on forever chemicals.

Last month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency instituted new regulations on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PFAS or forever chemicals. Public utilities will be required to test for PFAS and install additional treatment facilities to remove the chemicals if necessary.
An Alabama man and his brother were ordered to pay more than $1 million in restitution Monday in the murder-for-hire killing of his ex-wife on Thanksgiving 2017, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Jason Starr, of Coffee Springs, and his brother, Darin Starr, of Lakehills, Texas, were ordered to pay $971,671.21 to the estate of Sara Starr, whom Darin Starr shot and killed in her driveway as she was leaving for work, just four months after her divorce was finalized, said U.S. Attorney Jonathan S. Ross.

According to the order from U.S. District Judge R. Austin Huffaker, Jr., Jason and Darrin Starr are also ordered to pay more than $23,000 to Sara Starrs mother and a little more than $10,000 to other entities, including Alabama Medicaid and Tricare, the militarys health insurance program.

Jason and Darrin Starr were convicted in September 2003 of committing the murder-for-hire scheme. Both of the brothers received life sentences, while Jason Starr was also ordered to pay a $25,000 fine.

There is no parole in the federal system.

Jason and Sara Starr were to share custody of their four children, and Jason Starr was ordered to pay his ex-wife $1,050 a month in child support and $1,500 in alimony. She also was awarded a portion of his military benefits.

Shortly after the divorce, from September 2017 to November 2017, Jason Starr sent approximately $2,600 to his brother, Darin Starr, authorities said. He also gave his brother a motorcycle, prosecutors said.

Testimony in the trial showed that cell phone records indicated that Darin Starr traveled from Texas to Coffee County just before Thanksgiving in 2017 and, on multiple occasions, was very near the home of his brothers ex-wife.

Around midnight on November 27, 2017, Darin Starrs phone was turned off.

About seven hours later, Darin Starr shot and killed his brothers ex-wife in her driveway as she was leaving for work.

Darin Starr turned his phone back on around 8 a.m. when he was on I-10 heading back to Texas.

Federal prosecutors said the jury determined that the money sent by Jason Starr to his brother was payment for the murder of his ex-wife.
A drunk driver who killed a woman while driving the wrong way on an Alabama highway three years ago was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison -- and may be locked up for 17 more years if she violates probation, prosecutors said.

Andrea Stacy pleaded guilty Wednesday to a charge of manslaughter in the death of Brittanie Ferguson, who died en route to the hospital after her vehicle was struck on Dec. 23, 2021, in Enterprise, said 12th Circuit District Attorney James Tarbox.

As part of a plea deal, Stacy was sentenced to 20 years in prison, but the sentence was split for Stacy to serve three years followed by five years of supervised probation. The remaining 17 years on Stacys sentence was suspended, but she would have to return to prison if she violates probation.

Stacy was driving in the wrong lane of Highway 27 in Enterprise when she struck Fergusons vehicle, evidence in the case showed, according to Tarbox.

Stacy smelled of alcohol and was seen holding a wine bottle when she was removed from her vehicle.

Tests showed she had a blood alcohol content of .212, or about three times the legal limit.

Todays outcome will not bring Brittanie Ferguson back, but it should serve as a reminder to anyone who may drink and drive that there are consequences for your actions, Tarbox said in a statement. In this case, Brittanie Ferguson and her family have paid the ultimate price for Defendant Stacys actions. After being released from custody, Defendant Stacy will have to abide by the terms and conditions of probation or risk having to serve another 17 years in prison.
This is a guest opinion column

When Gov. Kay Ivey announced recently that Alabama had agreed to buy the Foley Beach Express Bridge and eliminate its tolls, you could almost hear a collective cheer from Alabamians across the state.

The announcement is good for everybody, good for citizens, businesses and visitors, as Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon put it.

His sentiment captures the widespread approval of the agreement because it is indeed good for everybody. The leaders who made it happen  Gov. Ivey, local officials, the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) and the Baldwin County Bridge Company  are to be commended.

As soon as the agreement is finalized in May, Alabamians and visitors alike will see immediate benefits.

Theres the obvious benefit of a new, toll-free route to Alabamas beaches. For more than 20 years, the toll bridge has provided a key link to our beach communities. More than 5.6 million vehicles used the toll bridge in 2023 alone.

Each year, more than 8 million visitors come to Baldwin County. They account for nearly one-third of all visitors to Alabama. The vast majority  more than 6 million  come to Baldwin County to experience our pristine beaches.

While we encourage these visitors to leave only footprints, we definitely want them to leave their dollars. And they do. Our beach visitors inject approximately $8 billion into our economy and support 65,000 tourism-related jobs across the state.

This is especially important to Baldwin County, of course. Tourism is the countys number one industry, and tax revenues from tourism make up a majority of the budgets for both Gulf Shores and Orange Beach.

But the financial benefits extend far beyond one county. A portion of each communities lodging and retail sales tax revenues bolster the states Education Trust Fund, meaning schools in every community of Alabama benefit from beach tourism.

In addition to eliminating the $5 toll to cross the bridge, this agreement will also alleviate the long-standing problem of traffic congestion in the area.

When John Cooper was appointed ALDOT Director in 2011, he held a series of meetings in Baldwin County to identify local priorities. Providing relief from traffic congestion along Highway 59 was identified as the areas top transportation need. This congestion causes long delays for residents and visitors, and impedes emergency responders, access to hospitals and hurricane evacuations.

The Foley Beach Express was designed to help provide quick travel to the privately-owned toll bridge and therefore relieve congestion on Highway 59. However, many travelers used the express to get near the beach but then avoided the bridge because they didnt want to pay the toll. As a result, the toll bridge has not been a solution to congestion on Highway 59, which has only gotten worse.

Now with the tolls being eliminated, this agreement means the bridge will finally be able to help relieve Highway 59s traffic woes. This will enhance traffic flow significantly, making travel in the area smoother and easier.

Finally, the agreement includes additional road improvements. As part of the agreement, ALDOT will pursue the widening of Canal Road and upgrade the intersection of State Routes 161 and 180. Furthermore, construction of a second toll-free bridge over the intracoastal waterway continues. When completed in 2026, this bridge will further reduce traffic congestion on Highway 59, improve access to emergency services and make evacuations safer and faster.

It takes a team to achieve such positive results, and this agreement is certainly proof. Led by Gov. Ivey, and including local leaders, ALDOT Director John Cooper and the bridge company, this team reached a landmark agreement that benefits every Alabamian.

When we promote access to our beaches, help people save money and invest in local infrastructure, we boost Alabamas economy, sustain jobs and give our schools and communities a major win. Good work, team!

Lee Sentell was reappointed by Governor Kay Ivey in 2022 as director of the Alabama Tourism Department. This is his sixth term in the Alabama Governors Cabinet.
This is a guest opinion column

As a caregiver for someone with cancer, I know all about the importance of having access to health coverage, which gives people the best chance to prevent, detect, treat and ultimately survive the disease. Unfortunately, lawmakers in 10 states, including Alabama, are turning down billions of federal dollars that would help with this issue.

I recently attended a sneak preview of the film In Due Season at the Stonetank Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in Montgomery. The film tells the stories of three people living in the coverage gap  where they make too much money to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to afford private insurance.

People living in the coverage gap are hardworking and deserve access to health care. The film highlights the injustice and perpetuation of historic and racial health inequities that Black communities have faced for centuries, leading to particularly high cancer rates.

Please join me in calling on our Alabama governor and lawmakers to close the coverage gap. As a volunteer for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, we are committed to bringing about this change. To learn more about the film, visit here.

Erica Denson, of Montgomery, is a volunteer with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network










English News China's visa-free policies lead to surge in inbound tourism

Alwihda Info | Par People's Daily - 30 Avril 2024



"Before actually visiting China, I had heard some stereotypes about the country. However, during my travels across different parts of China, everyone greeted me with smiles and was willing to engage in conversations. Whenever I faced difficulties, the locals were always there to help me, without expecting anything in return. I am looking forward to visiting China again," Mirabella said.

By Guo Ziyun, Bai Yuanqi, People's Daily The number of foreign travelers to China increased threefold in the first quarter of this year compared with that in 2023. China issued 466,000 visas and documents to foreigners during this period, up 118.8 percent year on year. A total of nearly 1.99 million foreigners entered China visa-free, an increase of 266.1 percent.



China has continuously introduced a series of measures to optimize its visa system, including reducing the amount of information required on visa application forms, gradually reducing visa fees, simplifying the approval process for studying in China, exempting certain applicants from providing fingerprints, waiving the need for visa appointments, and implementing visa-free policies for citizens of certain countries.



These measures have provided greater convenience for foreigners traveling, working, studying, and living in China, and have been widely welcomed by the international community. The positive effects of these policies are becoming increasingly evident.



According to the Chinese National Immigration Administration, China resumed the 15-day visa-free policy for Singapore and Brunei passport holders for business, tourism, visiting relatives, and transit purposes on July 26, 2023.



On Dec. 1, 2023, China implemented an unilateral visa-free policy for ordinary passport holders from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Malaysia. Three months later, it adopted a visa-free policy for Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg. On March 1, 2024, a mutual visa exemption agreement between China and Thailand officially took effect.



As of now, a total of 989,000 foreign nationals from these 15 countries have entered China visa-free, accounting for over 60 percent of the total number of visitors from these countries, and the number is still rising.



"I plan to take my family to China for a vacation this summer, and I really want to visit Sanya and Zhangjiajie. I saw the breathtaking scenery of Zhangjiajie in a video before, and it was truly spectacular," said Laszlo, a resident of Budapest, Hungary, who was at a local travel agency seeking information about traveling to China.



He had been wanting to travel to China before, but his enthusiasm grew even stronger after the visa-free policy was implemented, Laszlo told People's Daily.



Andrea, a staff member at the travel agency, said that there has been an increasing number of customers inquiring about traveling to China recently, as China has become a popular destination for international tourists.



Vincent Oomen, head of a Belgian travel agency , has been busy organizing tour groups to China recently.



"As soon as we learned that Belgium has obtained visa-free access to China, we immediately started planning travel itineraries and schedules to China," he said.



On March 31, Oomen's travel agency organized a group of 14 tourists to visit Beijing, Guizhou, and Guangxi, allowing them to experience the local customs and traditions up close and appreciate the charm of Chinese traditional culture and urban landscapes.



"We are still planning multiple tour groups to China, as many Belgians are eager to visit and explore the country," he added.



The implementation of the visa-free agreement between China and Thailand has also spurred the willingness of tourists from the two countries to travel.



According to data from Ctrip, China's leading online travel agency, on the day the agreement took effect, the number of Thai tourists traveling to China increased threefold compared to the same period last year, which also marked a surge of 160 percent compared to 2019.



Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin noted that many Thai people are choosing to travel to China, resulting in fully booked flights and further promoting exchanges between the two countries.



Visa-free policies launched by China have been widely welcomed by foreign business people who are eager to expand into the Chinese market. Veronique Emmenegger, the founder of a Swiss medical beauty institution, told People's Daily, "China is an important market for us, and the visa-free policy has made my travels much easier."



Bernard Dewit, chairman of Belgium-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, said that China has implemented five measures to facilitate foreign travelers, and is actively addressing issues such as mobile payment for foreigners in China.



The country is committed to providing a safer, more comfortable, and convenient travel environment for foreign friends, which will further promote Chinese-foreign personnel exchanges, Dewit added.



Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto recently said that the trial implementation of the visa-free policy by China is good news for Hungarian tourists and business people traveling to China. In the spirit of reciprocity, the Hungarian government issues long-term visas to Chinese executives who come to Hungary for investment and cooperation.



Szijjarto stressed that these measures will further enhance economic, tourism, and cultural exchanges between Hungary and China.



It is reported that starting from April, there are up to 13 flights per week between Budapest and four Chinese cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, and Ningbo.



These visa-free policies have not only encouraged more foreigners to come to China, but also allowed people from various countries to have a more comprehensive and in-depth understanding of China.



"For me, the most unforgettable part of my trip was the friendliness and hospitality of the Chinese people," said Stefano Mirabella from Italy, who recently traveled to China.



"Before actually visiting China, I had heard some stereotypes about the country. However, during my travels across different parts of China, everyone greeted me with smiles and was willing to engage in conversations. Whenever I faced difficulties, the locals were always there to help me, without expecting anything in return. I am looking forward to visiting China again," Mirabella said.



Dans la meme rubrique : < > China-Africa cooperation fosters Africa's regional economic integration Progress made in desertification control along Yellow River Basalt rocks made into national flag carried by Chang'e-6 probe Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena)
Today on college campuses we are seeing the Israel-Hamas war being imported by the Left. The goal of their operations is to weaken the social fabric of society. In the same way that the Vietnam War once created a flashpoint for revolution, pro-Palestinian sympathizers are using the Israel-Hamas war to create polemics that lead to a subversion of the system.

Creating Polemics

Its as if the pro-Hamas organizers all have the same copy of Saul Alinskys Rules for Radicals, and they are implementing every rule that involves weakening ones enemies through the tactic of heightening tensions. (Of Alinskys 13 rules for radicals, the five below deal with increasing pressure):

Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy. Keep the pressure on, never let up. The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure on the opposition. Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it and polarize it. Ridicule is mans most potent weapon.

Just as the 1960s far-left group Weather Underground organized the Days of Rage, in October 1969 in Chicago, around John Jacobs slogan to bring the war home, Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) has also galvanized a popular movement around the Marxist language of oppression and liberation.

As they write on the CUAD website, Columbia University Apartheid Divest is a coalition of student organizations that sees Palestine as the vanguard for our collective liberation. They are a continuation of the Vietnam anti-war movement and the movement to divest from apartheid South Africa.

The language they use is utopian and idealistic. They want a collective future of liberation and the end of oppression. Those who are deemed on the right side are promoted as good, while those who are oppressors dont deserve to exist.

Open Calls for Murder

The pro-Palestinian side presents itself as calling for peace (a ceasefire) while at the same time, openly calling for the murder of Jews.

For example, Jon Levine, a correspondent for Newsweek, reported that just four days after the October 7 massacre in Israel, a pro-Hamas rally occurred in New York City. Protesters dressed up as Islamist fighters, chanting Death to Israel and We want it all, indicating that the coordinated bloodletting on October 7th was just the beginning.

Just two weeks later, at Cooper Union, on October 25, 2023, eleven Jewish students sheltered inside the library, attempting to call 911, while pro-Hamas protesters waved wooden sticks at the librarys windows. No police came, but the protesters eventually left.

Late in October 2023, posts appeared on an online discussion forum on fraternities at Cornell University, encouraging the killing of Jews. One post stated, If you see a Jewish student on campus, follow them home and slit their throats.

We can see the organized, coordinated efforts to terrorize in the pro-Hamas rally in New York City, the Cooper Union library incident, the anonymous posts at Cornell University by username kill Jews.

Victimhood Status Ensures Right to Violence

Interestingly, the victims consider themselves oppressed while at the same time attending the most elite institutions in the United States. Other vocal sympathizers are history professors, medical students, and artists. They are not all Palestinian. The pro-Palestinian faction is multi-ethnic and seemingly educated, at least educated enough to attend an Ivy League school.

For example, on April 26, 2024, Khymani James, an organizer for Columbia Universitys anti-Israel encampment, was banned from the university campus after a video he livestreamed in January came to light, showing him saying that Zionists did not deserve to live.

He further stated, The existence of them and the projects they have built, i.e. Israel, its all antithetical to peace. So, yes, I feel very comfortable -- very comfortable, calling for those people to die.

Be glad, be grateful that Im just not going out and murdering Zionists. Zionists, along with all white supremacists, need to not exist, because they actively kill and harm vulnerable people.

Another open call for murder occurred at a Bakersfield city council meeting on April 10th when Riddhi Patel stated during public comment:

Regardless of whether you elect people into office, theyll backstab you. Theyll let you die. And for that reason -- you guys want to criminalize us with metal detectors. Well see you at your house. Well murder you.

She also stated, I hope one day somebody brings the guillotine and kills all of you mother****ers.

Patel was able to post her bail of $500,000. (Where did she get the money for her release?)

Conclusion

These revolutionaries are the new face of the Marxist, far-Left, pro-Hamas movement. With breathtaking assurance, they tell us that Jesus would have killed Bakersfield city councilmen for not voting on a ceasefire. They take umbrage at having to go through a metal detector before attending a public meeting. It is a sign of their oppression. They dont know how to say thank you. Nor do they acknowledge the blessing of being given time to speak at a public meeting and having ones input considered.

Instead, we are told that we should be grateful that they are not murdering Zionists. From their statements, it would seem that the Days of Rage are here again, and they have a higher calling, not just to bring the war home, Just as Weatherman leader John Jacobs stated back in the sixties, they will shove the war down your dumb, fascist throat and show [you] while [they] are at it, how much better they are than [you], both tactically and strategically as a people (Gillies 86). Through their words, they tell us who they are and what they are capable of, tactically and strategically. They present themselves as victims, yet they are anything but.

Anne-Christine Hoff is an associate professor of English at Jarvis Christian University.

Image: Pexels
Conservatives are haunted by House Republicans who make all manner of campaign promises but, once in office, forget their obligations to voters or justify why they reneged on their word to support or reject a particular piece of legislation. Our biggest disappointments to date are probably their epic failure regarding Obamacare and capitulations ad nauseam regarding anything budgetary.

The Republican counter-response to these repeated failures has been less than exemplary. Basically, all weve done is eat our own. Recall Kevin McCarthy, who had a tough time getting elected Speaker in January 2023a prolonged, painful, and very public process that did not reflect well on House Republicans. In exchange for enough votes to win after 15 ballots, McCarthy agreed that any one member could bring a motion to vacate his Speakership.

Out of abject frustration and the desire to make a point (and perhaps a desire to make history), Rep. Matt Gaetz caused an uproar among his Republican colleagues and millions of constituents when he successfully moved to vacate Speaker McCarthy on October 3, 2023unleashing a Game of Thronesian Red October where candidates like Steve Scalise, Jim Jordan and Tom Emmer were paraded about as successors, then electorally crucified until Mike Johnson was elected on October 25.

It was a bloody mess. Although many agreed in principle, most didnt see any strategic value given our newfound but very slim majority and the need to present a united front until we could re-elect Trump and increase our numbers in Congress. Looking frail and scattered, they presented the antithesis of two core Democrat party principles: Never eat ones own and always vote in lockstep.

Image: Speaker Mike Johnson (edited). YouTube screen grab.

While most of us have put Red October behind us, we find ourselves in the same position today, only this time, the 2024 election is closer, the world has been turned upside down, the nation is imploding, and we all feel like chickens running around with our heads cut off. Against this backdrop, Marjorie Taylor Greene is seeking to oust Speaker Mike Johnson.

Wondering how deep the rift might be, I decided to poll Tea Party and MAGA conservatives who belong to 75m & Rising, a group I started after Trumps 2020 loss. I asked, Do you support Marjorie Taylor Greenes efforts to oust Speaker Michael Johnson?

Out of 280 responses, 23.2% were Yes; 38.9% were No; and 37.9% agreed that While Republicans must change how they do business, the solution isnt ousting him at this time.

In this solid sample of Tea Party and MAGA conservativesprecisely the type of individuals who support politicians like Gaetz and Greene76.8% do not support ousting Speaker Johnson.

Id be curious to see if national polls among Tea Party and MAGA conservatives would align with these results. Even President Trump has defended and continues to support Speaker Johnson. Lets hope MJT gets the memo.

Like so many of you, I toggle back and forth between that frustration and anger over Republican ineptitude and the practical knowledge that comes with political experience, which demands that we think and behave more strategically. With barely a one-man majority and the most consequential election of our lifetimes looming, we must keep our House in order and be of one mind.

This is not the time for intra-party squabbles. Red October proves such a move will only engender more bedlam. Our majority is already too attenuated to risk any further reductions. The optics will be glaringly negative, and the Republican Party and conservative movement will be perceived as frail, sloppy, unreliable, and chaotic. We must acknowledge that the thin majority we had under Speaker McCarthy and the feeble majority Speaker Johnson now has are not enough to pass any of the conservative agenda.

It seems we are forever outflanked by the left, and, if we oust again, they will benefit from our self-inflicted wound.

Numbers determine power within the Beltway, and numbers are the result of elections. Its that simple. Until we have the White House and solid majorities in the House and Senate, the conservative agenda will wither on the vine. Our focus today should not be on committing political suicide but on winning.

To younger voters who might be conservative, Republicans look out-of-control, intransigent, difficult to work with, and overly demanding in a 50:50 country. They want to join us but are reluctantare conservatives too traditional? Too out-of-touch with the contemporary American Zeitgeist? Toodare I say it, extreme?

Im not saying we should change who we are or what we stand for to get young votes but, at the very least, we should contain the histrionics and what looks like erratic behavior! They wonder if the Republicans/conservatives are being led by extreme right-wingers just as the Democrats are being led by ultra-commie pinko progressive Marxists? No doubt, this is promoted and reinforced by the Democrat Media-Educational-Corporate Complex and the LGBTQ+ and Race Cartels, but the machinations of Gaetz and Greene, and some of the imbecilic things conservatives say, make us vulnerable.

I question how much longer Americans can continue to vote in ways that put the nation in jeopardy. I get that taking such a strong stand, even against our own, mirrors the kind of Trumpian disruption that has been effective in the past. I understand the frustrationreflected in 25% of my polling respondentsthat leaves people so fed up that they are ready to give up.

But dont. Dont give up. Dont protest vote. Dont sit this one out. Dont stop supporting candidates financially. Dont turn against fellow conservatives despite differences.

We must all do our part to Get Out the Vote as well as Get Out and Vote.

Change takes time and comes from the grassroots up. When the Tea Party did this, we saw results and changed the face of Congress, along with local offices and legislatures. It took 50 years to get the Roe v. Wade results we wanted.

In a country thats been taken over by progressive and anti-American forces, the GOP must have a long-term plan, but it doesnt. Strategically speaking, all I see is spaghetti being thrown at the wall.

If we learned one lesson from the Gaetz-McCarthy affair, its that eating our own and leaving behind the strewn corpses of good people like Jim Jordan, Steve Scalise, and now Mike Johnson is not the answer.

We never should have forced George Santos outhis fate and accountability for his lies should have been left for the next election. Were his lies and corruption any worse than what weve witnessed with Biden? But we turned on him before the Dems did and lost another vote. The strategically intelligent approach would have been to hold our noses and keep that vote.

Critical to any kind of political success is grassroots involvement. It requires devotion, time, and money from average Joes. The Democrats have immense infrastructure in place for this, solidified under Obama. We have nothing, folks. Zip. Without infrastructure and grassroots support, we cannot coordinate and mobilize to effectuate change and rack up wins.

Republicans and conservatives get a big fat F in drumming up and organizing support. Frankly, if they have any infrastructure or a strategy of any sort, I dont see it. Their messaging is non-existent.

Since the GOP cant seem to do it, the grassroots need to step in. This can take decades but pressure on the GOP could speed the process.

Whether you align with the 25% who support the ouster or the 75% who dont, our mutual goals should be getting Trump elected and shoring him up with a viable House and Senate majority.

To do that, Republicans must be the adults in the room, reasonable, organized, united, composed, sane, and with the best solutions for this countrys worst problems.

And remember:
I am speaking of a $95-billion foreign military aid package that includes $61 billion for Ukraine.

Speaker Mike Johnsons turnaround from opponent to supporter of the war in Ukraine raised many eyebrows. His meeting with Donald Trump in advance of this announcement added intrigue and speculation regarding his sudden change of heart.

Most likely, both men decided that it would help Trump and the GOP to win votes in November, and how many more Ukrainians would die in the process was of no particular concern to them. Instead, Johnson used the same Lindsey Graham and Co. language that financing this war is the best investment ever made, since no Americans are dying. The only new element is that the speaker added his son into the equation. To put it bluntly, I would rather send bullets to Ukraine than American boys, Johnson told reporters last week. My son is going to begin in the Naval Academy this fall. This is a live-fire exercise for me, as it is for so many American families. This is not a game; this is not a joke.

Well, nowadays it is useless to ask whether such statements correspond to moral, ethical, or any other values that U.S. and E.U. politicians claim to adhere to. (There are exceptions, but so far, their numbers are not enough to change the course.) But Ukrainian president Zelensky surpasses their cynicism by thanking Congress, saying, The vital U.S. aid bill passed today by the House will keep the war from expanding, save thousands and thousands of lives. He is talking about saving American, not Ukrainian lives.

Such statements and actions from Washington or Brussels, and from Zelensky, confirm what was known anyway. The West found a foreign leader ready to serve its interests of weakening Russia by sacrificing the Ukrainian people and their country for money and glory. In the Western media, Zelensky is now George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Winston Churchill together. I doubt that any of them or his heirs would be thrilled being compared to someone who converted his own country into a foreign mercenary legion.

As for the media, Ashley Rindsberg in The Spectator called the Wests anti-Russian hysteria the medias Vietnam. She bitterly writes that the crusade against Russia has become the raison detre of the mainstream, so important that it has forced some of the most famous publications in the country to openly renounce cherished journalistic values such as objectivity and neutrality.

Historians might correct me, but, searching through the endless list of United States War Crimes from the 18891913 war in the Philippines to the 21st centurys wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Libya, I couldnt find a similar example. When it comes to the current U.S. proxy war in Ukraine, the crime reaches another level, which not only denigrates the politics of the supposedly democratic country, but also contradicts the basic spirit and soul of America itself.

Provoking, funding, and prolonging the war between the two Christian nations who lived together for over three centuries and who are bound by close historical, religious, economic, cultural, and family ties was never meant to promote democracy, but rather to use Ukrainians as cannon fodder to preserve the geopolitical advantage of the hegemon. Of course, there is an additional incentive to make money for the military-industrial complex, and all those with whom it shares its huge profits, including many members of Congress, think-tanks, and lobbyists.

Despite constant use of the word unprovoked, the current war was indeed provoked by the U.S. and NATO. As with any other nation, Russia does want to take its security interests seriously  in this particular case, to insist that the pledge given to Gorbachev not to expand NATO one inch east be honored.

One phone call from Biden to Putin before February 24, 2022, with a pledge to guarantee Ukraines neutral status, would have ensured no war. Russias other security concerns could be then negotiated in a calm working atmosphere.

Finally, this bill will not change the outcome of this war, which is now turning in Russias favor. According to Richard Sakwa, professor of Russian and European politics at the University of Kent, [t]his decision will only prolong the agony of Ukraine and Europe. Furthermore, [i]t also raises the stakes, and pushes the world one step further towards a cataclysm the likes of which we have never seen. Now is the time to start de-escalating, and to outline what it would take to start a diplomatic process of some sort.

Image: The Presidential Administration of Ukraine via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.
Joe Biden's civil rights chief at the Department of Justice, Kristen Clarke, has always been a problem.

She's been hauled into Congress for her draconian, flimsy and politicized prosecutions of pro-life activists, effectively acting as Joe Biden's knifewoman to punish his political pro-life enemies as if on a political mission closely connected to Joe Biden's bid to stick it to his political opponents.

I wrote about her record of it here.

Now we learn she's quite the knifewoman in a more literal sense, and a leading congressmember says she lied about it under oath.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke admitted Wednesday that she was arrested and chose not to disclose the legal matter during her Senate confirmation process because it had been expunged from her record. During her 2021 confirmation process, Clarke, who heads the Justice Departments civil rights division, was asked by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) in a questionnaire if shed ever been arrested for or accused of committing a violent crime against any person. Clarke responded, No. The Daily Signal reported Tuesday that Clarke was arrested in Maryland in relation to a domestic violence complaint back in 2006. The outlet cited court documents, her ex-husband Reginald Avery and text messages between Avery and the head of the American Accountability Foundation, a conservative nonprofit group. Avery told the outlet that his finger was sliced to the bone after Clarke allegedly came at him with a knife after he revealed that he was cheating on her. Charges against Clarke were dropped, and more than a year later, she filed paperwork that would wipe the arrest from her record. ... Clarke asserted that since the arrest was expunged, she wasnt required to disclose it to lawmakers. When given the option to speak about such traumatic incidents in my life, I have chosen not to, the Biden administration official said. I didnt believe during my confirmation process and I dont believe now that I was obligated to share a fully expunged matter from my past.

Which sounds mighty convenient for her, given that she wanted to be confirmed as Joe's enforcer at Justice.

She claims she was an abused woman, but that could have been explained out in her confirmation hearing. That she didn't is suspicious as the only spousal abuse we can see now is from her. She literally knifed her husband. While it's normal for most women (or men) to be angry at a philandering spouse, most don't pull the knife out and start stabbing.

Another suspicious element that could have been cleared up in the confirmation process but now looks funny is why the charges were dropped. She's been politically connected for a long time. Were the charges dropped because charges against violent criminals are routinely dropped these days by Soros district attorneys, or because of her political connections? The questions are still there. Most other people who pull knives on their spouses, even ones who seem unduly provoked or have mitigating factors see jailtime.

Which brings us to where we are now -- Clarke clearly lied to Congress, claiming a legal technicality, when if her story held water, probably would have not stopped her confirmation.

Her propensity for violence is suspicious, but her willingness to lie to Congress -- as well as politicize justice -- is surely grounds for impeachment. Sen. Cotton is calling for her to resign, but the experience with Alejandro Mayorkas and Bob Menendez pretty well tells us that there's no such thing as holding a Democrat accountable.

Maybe Congress should just keep her held up in hearings for the remainder of Joe Biden's miserable term. Whatever they do, this person is clearly unfit for public office and should never be allowed near the levers of power. They should at minimum, keep the heat on. Joe Biden's presidency is full of these flawed characters and the results for the country speak for themselves.

Image: New America, via Flickr // CC BY 2.0 DEED
Deb Haaland, secretary for the Department of the Interior, has never been to the southern border, but that doesnt mean shes not qualified to make serious political decisions affecting this nation and its peoplebecause, like (previously) never-been-to-the-border-either-border-czar Kamala Harris, Haalands been hired by Joe Biden.

During a congressional hearing yesterday, Wisconsin Republican Tom Tiffany asked Haaland if trash on the federal lands along the border was an issue, but like all bureaucrats, shes completely ignorant, replying, Congressman, I have not been to the border, so I couldnt tell you that.

Okay, so weve got another clueless bureaucrat on our hands (whats new?), so allow me to help her out, and I say this with as much emphasis as humanly possible: Migrants and their littering/polluting/careless/inconsiderate attitudes are a colossal problem.

Here are the rest of the details, from a New York Post report:

Tiffany revealed that Bureau of Land Management (BLM) officials told him in February at least 193 tons of garbage had been collected on the US-Mexico border in fiscal year 2021. But the Interior Department, which both oversees the BLM and manages federal lands, allocated $0 for the clean-up efforts in its annual budget. One of your priorities is conserving natural resources, Tiffany told Haaland. Is dumping 193 tons of garbage on our federal lands conserving our natural resources? Clearly not, Haaland acknowledged.  Each migrant discards between six and eight pounds of garbage as they enter America, according to a report from the conservative Heritage Foundation, adding campfires and illegal trails from crossings can also destroy natural habitats. More than 7.6 million migrants have been apprehended illegally crossing the southern border into the US since Biden took office, Customs and Border Protection data show.

Below are a few reminders of what the American landscape looks like after the illegals have been through:

Eagle Pass,Texas. This is what you dont see on TV. As migrants cross the river into America, they take off all of their wet clothing Leaving clothing and supplies everywhere! Crossing the river, they put a dry pair of clothing in a black trash bag. Cross, change and there off! pic.twitter.com/k8fQv8Bl9u  Brooke shirley (@Brookerteejones) April 24, 2024

And:

Biden met with climate activists today. Its only a matter of time before this group starts their threatening and dangerous protests. Let's not overlook the Biden CA migrant sewer sludge in US waters, and massive Biden trash at CA, TX and AZ borders pic.twitter.com/4EaXB81122  Ronda Yerman : ) (@ronda_yerman) April 24, 2024

And:

California Southern border garbage left behind from all of the migrants crossing into America! Clothes, shoes and Travel plans litter the ground! pic.twitter.com/bQciOzH02V  Brooke shirley (@Brookerteejones) March 11, 2024

And:

Where are the Environmentalist? The illegal migrants crossing our border don't care about our country, throwing garbage on the ground instead of the garbage cans. Now there is funding to pay people to come and pick up trash everyday in and around Lukeville, AZ. The contractors pic.twitter.com/QnUDoQiKrX  MAGA IFB (@Wills2024) December 29, 2023

And, dont forget the rape trees, where cartels litter childrens undergarments in the branches, and leave used condoms and bottles of lube strewn across the ground:

Yuma, AZ. Condoms, lube and kids cloths dumped on American soil right before these monsters turn themselves in to BP! Democrats say supporting open borders is compassionate! Tell that to the kids that are being sold by the cartels and raped!@RealAmVoicehttps://t.co/vWE9zO0gro pic.twitter.com/UWEKy9Lo8P  Ben Bergquam - Real Americas Voice (RAV-TV) News (@BenBergquam) March 16, 2021

Despicable doesnt suffice.

The illegal invasion being spurred on by the Democrats and their voters, and sustained by cowardly Republicans, is destroying our culture, our system of government, our solvency, our future, and even our landscape too.

Image: Public domain, cropped.
The Justice Department is, for the first time, taking a former president to court on criminal charges with the theory that his post-presidential actions were for personal benefit instead of relating to his presidential duties.

The three liberal Supreme Court justices, who almost always vote in lockstep, seem concerned that if President Trumps actions were indeed permitted under the scope of the Presidential Records Act, it will essentially mean he has immunity; they (ostensibly) worry tyrants that run the government for their own personal benefit, instead of working for the benefit of the people, will become the norm.

(Surreal isnt it?)

I would challenge the justices, the media, and everyone else to look at the following actions of Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and tell me how this wasnt already the case. Basically everything they did (and do) is for selfish reasons.

IRS. Obama used the IRS to target his political opponents, violating the free speech rights and freedom of association rights of Tea Party members to silence them before the election.

Benghazi. As Americans were under attack in Benghazi, Obama and Hillary didn't lift a finger to help them. Instead they concocted a lie that a video caused a spontaneous attack, instead of admitting what they knew: it was a planned terrorist attack. Obama sent Susan Rice out to all the networks to regurgitate the lie. The lie was obviously for personal benefitObama was running for reelection.

Iran. Obama dictatorially told the supposedly independent Justice Department to halt a years-long investigation into a billion-dollar-a-year terrorist drug-running operation, to appease Iran. Obama clearly abused his power to cater to Iran, thinking it would be a diplomacy point of pride on his personal legacy. Obama took an oath to enforce the law, not to let terrorists be above the law and harm the American people. How many people died from drug overdoses and terrorist attacks because of Obamas dictatorial act?

DACA. Obama admitted he did not have the right to change immigration law without congressional approval but did it anyway because he thought it would get votes for Democrats, and because his goal was to remake America. This action clearly did not fall in line with what a president is authorized to do, so it was for personal benefit.

Net Neutrality. Obama said that net neutrality was for the little guy, but the main benefit went to huge internet empires like Google, Facebook, Netflix, Microsoft, and Amazon, because the billionaire-owners wouldnt have to pay for the infrastructure; Google essentially had an office at the White House.

Obama did not go through the legislative process to get net neutrality.

As soon as Obama left office, he and Michelle received a payback from Netflix for $65 million, despite having no expertise or content. That sure looks like a huge personal benefit for his executive actions while he was president.

And now the billionaires are being rewarded againand again, without going through the legislative process.

Spying. Obama used the Justice Department to spy on Trump and associates during Trumps first campaign, because he wanted career criminal Hillary to continue his policies to remake America. Essentially, Obama politicized the Justice Department to target his political enemies instead of focusing on enforcing laws. That is pure abuse of power for personal benefit.

Slush Funds. Obama had slush funds at CFPB, the EPA, and the Justice Department. The departments essentially shook down corporations with lawfareexcuse me, I mean lawsuits. Then when they got payments, instead of giving the payments to the supposed victims, they would siphon off money to give kickbacks to Democrat political supporters. These funds were obviously for the benefit of Obama and other Democrats, which is certainly not something a president is supposed to do. From National Review:

President Biden will call on the Justice Department to consider reinstating an Obama-era practice that allowed prosecutors to reach settlements in which defendants payed [sic] compensation to third-party groups instead of directly to victims, Fox News reported on Wednesday.

Trump got rid of the slush fund, but Biden clearly loves slush funds.

Student Loans. Biden continues to dictatorially transfer debt, forcing people who didnt borrow money to pay for the loans taken out by those who did, in order to buy votes. This clearly is not something a president has the authority to do. It is for his personal benefit.

Keeping Schools Closed. The Biden administration supported keeping schools closed, not because of science, but essentially at the direction of teachers unions. This policy damaged an unknown number of children, and it was clearly a move to keep the money flowing to Democrats from their biggest supporters. It certainly wasnt what a president should do.

Open Borders. Biden, like presidents do, took an oath to enforce the nations laws, yet on day one, to keep a campaign promise, he started dismantling the law at the border and millions of illegals from around the world have flooded into the U.S., causing untold damage and harm. It is clearly personal when a president ignores the law.

Trumps court cases. It is very clear that the Biden White House has met with and coordinated the lawfare campaigns of the Justice Department, New York prosecutors, and Georgia prosecutors. It is obviously a personal issue when a president uses government officials and the system to destroy his opponent.

Politicizing the Justice Department. We have seen the Justice Department, namely Merrick Garland, target parents at the behest of the National School Boards Association. Bidens DOJ and FBI have also persecuted Catholics and Trump supporters, alleging these types of people are extremists.

Meanwhile, FBI director Christopher Wray recently said the agency isnt even monitoring the protests at universities, where people are advocating the destruction of Israel, the killing of Jews, taking hostages, and vandalizing buildings and property. The FBI also has shown almost no interest in vetting the millions of illegals coming in, or any concern about all the pro-crime DAs throughout the country.

But for the first time a former President is being criminally charged for questioning an election in which a number of state election officials refused to abide by their own state laws.

It is a much greater threat to democracy when Biden and Obama weaponize federal agencies and use unelected bureaucrats to issue massive regulations to control so many aspects of our life without going through the legislative process, than Trump, whose governing principle was to give as much power, money, and freedom back to the people, which is the opposite of what a self-interested dictator would do.

Image: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr, unaltered.
A name that often gets sidelined when we talk about the history of automobiles is Siegfried Marcus, a pioneering Austrian inventor who built and operated a road vehicle powered by a four-stroke gasoline engine about 10 to 15 years before Gottlieb Daimler, Wilhelm Maybach, and Carl Benz brought the first practical automobiles to life. While the trio is commonly credited as the progenitors of the automobile, Marcus's contributions beg the question: does he not merit equal recognition?

The second car of Siegfried Marcus at the Technisches Museum Vienna. Photo credit: Herbert Ortner/Wikimedia Commons

Siegfried Marcus was born on September 18, 1833, into a Jewish family in Malchin, now a part of Germany, northwest of Berlin. At the age of 12, he began working as an apprentice mechanic. Five years later, he joined an engineering company that built telegraph lines. At the age of 19, he moved to Vienna, the capital of the Austrian Empire, and started working as a technician in the Physical Institute of the Medical School. Later on, he became an assistant to Professor Carl Ludwig, a physiologist. In 1860, he started his own business, a factory for mechanical and electrical equipment, which he operated until the end of his life.

Marcus's inventive genius secured him 131 patents across 16 countries, encompassing innovations such as the electric lamp, the magneto ignition system, and a blasting machine. Notably, he installed the first electric bell in Empress Elisabeth's bedroom and assumed the role of a physics instructor to the ill-fated Crown Prince Rudolf.

Around 1860, Marcus embarked on constructing his first self-propelled vehicle. At that time, the Austrian regions, now part of Poland, had begun to produce oil. From this refining process emerged kerosene, lubricating oil, and an incidental byproduct: gasoline. Marcus began experimenting with gasoline,discovering that when finely dispersed in air, gasoline could be ignited with sparks, generating explosive energy. This breakthrough led to the world's first carburetor, which he patented in 1864.

The first car of Siegfried Marcus.

For his first machine, Marcus affixed a 2-stroke internal combustion engine, burning petrol as fuel, onto a rudimentary four-wheeled cart, linking it to the rear wheels. The machine had to be started by lifting the two rear wheels off the ground and spinning them by hand. When ready to roll, the vehicle was lowered and off it went. Marcus dismantled this vehicle because it was too clumsy, and redirected his efforts toward refining its design.

The second car was a landmark, featuring a four-cycle, gasoline-powered engine, a novel carburetor design, and his magneto ignition. The car was said to reach a top speed of 10 mph.

Marcus likely constructed a third and a fourth vehicle as well. Subsequent models were refined, incorporating steering mechanisms, brakes, clutches, and other essential features. None of these later models exist today. However, his second car remains intact, preserved under the ownership of the Austrian Automobile Club and prominently displayed at the Vienna Technical Museum.

More like this:

Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot And The Worlds First Automobile

Bertha Benzs Historic Car Ride

Le Jamais Contente: The First Car To Go 100kmph

In 1898, Marcus passed away, leaving behind a legacy that once positioned him as the undisputed originator of the motorcar. However, his rightful place in history was tragically overshadowed during the German annexation of Austria in 1938. As a Jew, Marcus fell victim to the insidious machinations of Nazi propaganda. His works were systematically obliterated, his name expunged from educational materials, and his public memorials dismantled.

Siegfried Marcus

In July 1940, the German Ministry for Propaganda sent a letter to the directors of Daimler-Benz-A.G. in Stuttgart. The propaganda ministry told Daimler-Benz management that the publishers of Germanys two most important encyclopedias, the Meyers Lexikon and the Grosse Brockhaus, had been directed to remove the name of Siegfried Marcus and replace it with that of Gottlieb Damiler and Carl Benz as the inventors of the automobile.

An English translation of the letter can be read below:

Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda Reference number S 8100 / 4.7.4.0 / 7 1 Berlin W8, 4 July 1940

Wilhelmsplatz 8-9 To the Directorate of Daimler-Benz A.G. Stuttgart-Unterturkheim Subject: True inventor of the automobile

Referring to your letter of 30 May 1940 Dr.Wo / Fa. The Bibliographical Institute and the publisher F. A. Brockhaus have been notified that in the future, [the encyclopedias] Meyers Konversations Lexikon and the Groe Brockhaus are to refer to the two German engineers Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz as the creators of the modern automobile, not to Siegfried Marcus. In order signed by Dr. Eckmann

The Nazi regime also ordered the destruction of the original Marcus automobile, then proudly exhibited at the Viennese Automobile Club. Fortunately some alert and sensitive members of the Viennese Museum for Trade and Industry had the foresight to brick the machine up behind a cellar wall of the museum. Due to this courageous initiative, the automobile survived, along with a few records of its invention.

After the war, a number of Germans and Austrians made an effort to restore Marcus to his proper place in the history of technology. In 1949 an inventor, Mario Petrucci, campaigned for a monument, which had been removed during the Nazi period, to be re-erected to Siegfried Marcus in the central cemetery of Vienna. Vienna's mayor unveiled such a monument and placed it in the care of the Viennese State.

References:

# Siegfried Marcus Car, ASME

# Siegfried Marcus, ASME

# HHF Factpaper: Siegfried Marcus - An Uncredited Inventive Genius, Hebrew History

# How the Nazis Made Daimler & Benz the Inventors of the Automobile and Wrote Siegfried Marcus Out of History, The Truth About Cars
The US has been imposing various regulations and trade sanctions on Huawei and even other companies known to be associated with it. In spite of losing access to Googles version of Android and the chip-building equipment and technologies, Huawei continues to manufacture and sell its products in the country. Currently, the Chinese giant is quickly regaining its lost position in the home country. The latest news is that the FCC will vote to ban Huawei and ZTE from certifying US wireless equipment.

The current position of Huawei in its home country

A recent report from IDC shows that Huawei came on top in terms of foldable smartphone sales in Q1 2024 in China. Just to give you an idea of the companys current position in its home country, it alone holds an approximately 44% market share in the foldable form factor, where Honor occupies the second place.

Huawei is powering the phones with chips made by Chinas SMIC on a 7nm process. This is a two-generation old process node as compared to TSMCs and Samsungs. However, even if the products are not topping the benchmarks, they appear to do the job. On the software side, Huawei has developed its alternative to the Play Store. Huawei is developing a new operating system called Harmony OS NEXT. Unlike its previous systems, this one will be based on a different kernel and wont even support Android apps. High demand and insufficient supply caused its new flagship Pura 70 series to sell out within minutes.

In simple words, Huawei is continuing to do what it was doing in its home country, even with the existing trade sanctions from the US.

FCC plans to vote on a bipartisan proposal to ban Huawei from certifying wireless equipment

The Federal Communications Commission is now taking steps to ensure national security. It will prevent foreign companies from certifying wireless equipment, reported Reuters.

The FCC will vote on a bipartisan proposal this month. It will effectively ban Huawei, ZTE, and other foreign companies that may pose a risk to US national security. The proposal will prevent telecommunications certification bodies and test labs from being influenced by such foreign firms.

According to the FCC, the new proposal will prevent Huawei and others that appear on an FCC list of national security threats from playing any role in the equipment authorization program. Reportedly, the US used to recognize Huawei as an accredited lab, which expired this past Tuesday. The FCC denied the companys request for an extension.
Today is a good day for users of Samsungs 2021 and 2022 Galaxy flagships. The company is rolling out the One UI 6.1 update to the devices. The Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S21 series picked up the update first. The Galaxy Z Fold 4, Galaxy Z Flip 4, Galaxy Z Fold 3, and Galaxy Z Flip 3 have also joined the party. One UI 6.1 may soon roll out to the Galaxy Tab S8 series as well.

Samsung updates Galaxy Z Fold 4, Flip 4, Fold 3 & Flip 3 to One UI 6.1

Introduced with the Galaxy S24 series, Samsung started rolling out One UI 6.1 to eligible older devices in late March. The Galaxy S23 series picked up the update first, followed by the Galaxy Z Fold 5, Galaxy Z Flip 5, Galaxy S23 FE, and Galaxy Tab S9 series. The company said more devices will get it starting in early May. It delivered the promised updates on the second day of the month.

Like the Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S21 series, Samsungs older foldables are also initially getting the One UI 6.1 update in South Korea. This is a standard practice of the company. It usually begins the rollout in its home country before going global. It shouldnt be long before the big new One UI update reaches Galaxy Z Fold 4, Galaxy Z Flip 4, Galaxy Z Fold 3, and Galaxy Z Flip 3 in more markets.

For Korean users, the update comes with the firmware build numbers F936NKSU2FXDC, F721NKSU2FXDC, F926NKSU2IXDC, and F711NKSU3IXDC, respectively. The OTA (over the air) package for all four foldables weighs over 2GB, though it varies depending on the model. The devices remain on the April security patch that they picked up last month. Samsung isnt pushing the May release yet.

There is still a lot to talk about in these updates. The Galaxy Z Fold 4, Galaxy Z Flip 4, Galaxy Z Fold 3, and Galaxy Z Flip 3 are getting several AI features Samsung introduced with One UI 6.1 on the Galaxy S24 series. These include Live Translate, Interpreter, Generative Edit, Circle to Search, Chat Assist, Note Assist, AI Wallpaper, and more. Some features may be missing on older models, though.

Samsung will soon update more Galaxy devices

The Galaxy Tab S8 series remains the only confirmed lineup to receive the One UI 6.1 update. However, Samsung is also expected to push the new One UI version to some mid-range devices, like the Galaxy A54. These devices wont get AI features, though. Eligible Galaxy devices will soon start picking up the May security patch as well. We will keep you posted about those releases.
Google Gemini is the companys crown jewel of AI technology, and the company is constantly improving it. Google just released its latest update to the platform, and it makes it more accessible to people around the world. Gemini is now available in more languages.

Googles AI technology has become one of the most advanced in the world. In fact, according to some emails sent a couple of years ago, Microsoft was afraid of Googles AI back in 2019. Microsofts Chief technology officer, Kevin Scott, sent an email to Satya Nadella and Bill Gates saying that he was very very worried about Googles AI technology. This is believed to be what prompted Microsofts first investment into OpenAI.

Gemini is now available in more languages

This might not be the biggest update when it comes to functionality, but its really huge when it comes to increasing Geminis user base. Theres no point in using an AI model if you cant understand its output.

Well, Google just released the latest changelog for Gemini, and it states that Gemini is now available in more languages bringing the total up to nine languages. These are English, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish. This increases the usability of the models immensely.

How to access Gemini

If youre excited about using Google Gemini, then its pretty easy to access it. Gemini is available in over 150 countries, and in many of them, you can download the mobile Gemini app. In countries where the app is unavailable, you can still opt into using Gemini through Google Assistant. This Will basically give you the same functionality as using the app.

To access Gemini, you can go to https://gemini.google.com or just go to ai.com. This will bring you to the signup page. There, sign in to your Google account and accept the terms of service. At that point, youll be taken to the Gemini website.

To get the app, just go to the Google Play Store, and search Gemini.
In another round of employee layoffs in the US, Google has cut 200 jobs in its Core technology departments. Incidentally, the company hasnt eliminated the positions or reduced the overall workforce. Google has reportedly transferred these jobs to Mexico and India.

Google removing employees in America, hiring in Mexico and India

According to CNBC, Google has laid off at least 200 employees from its offices in the US. Incidentally, employees who were let go were working on core technologies.

The Core Technologies unit comprises highly technical and skilled employees. These employees, several of whom have been with Google for many years, build and maintain the technical foundation of Google products.

Simply put, these employees are responsible for the core technologies that drive a large number of Googles flagship products and services. Google claims that the Core Technologies department is critical for protecting users online safety.

#BreakingNews : Google shakes up its workforce, laying off hundreds of 'core' employees and shifting positions to India and Mexico for cost-cutting measures. A move that raises questions about the future of tech employment and global labor dynamics #Google #Workforce #outsourcing pic.twitter.com/bv13smgOsG  Blackpa (@pablackpa) May 1, 2024

Some of the departments that qualify as Core Technologies include the Python developer team, technical infrastructure, security foundation, app platforms, core developers, and various engineering roles.

The employee layoffs in the Core Tech departments at Google also include the Governance and protected data group. Needless to say, this could create some challenges for the company especially because the company is grappling with regulators around the globe.

Googles offices in Sunnyvale, California witnessed some of the largest terminations. However, Google hasnt eliminated the positions. The company has reportedly transferred these jobs outside the US, mainly to Mexico and India.

Alphabet in a very large restructuring and reorganizing exercise

The last couple of years have witnessed massive layoffs across the majority of tech giants. Google has been one of the leading companies in cutting jobs.

Last year, Google announced plans to eliminate about 12,000 jobs or 6% of its workforce. The company has blamed this gargantuan downsizing on the downturn in the online ad market. However, even with digital marketing experiencing an upswing, Google hasnt reversed its course.

Googles parent company Alphabet has continued to lay off employees across several departments. Google is now claiming the company is in the midst of a foundational reorganization exercise.

The companys CFO (Chief Financial Officer) Ruth Porat had recently indicated the companys finance department would undergo restructuring. What the CFO may have indicated was the company would lay off its employees in the US, and move the roles or positions to Bangalore (India) and Mexico City (Mexico).

Google went from you have to be in Mountain View at least three days a week to do this job to you can do it from India and Mexico in less than a year. pic.twitter.com/GjTfw5ctTW  Dare Obasanjo (@Carnage4Life) May 1, 2024

According to Prabhakar Raghavan, who heads Google Search, Google plans to build teams closer to users in key markets, including India and Brazil. He even implied that Googles decision to shift jobs hinged on cheaper labor costs compared to the US.

Google and several other tech giants have been experiencing record growth. The last two years have been quite good for most of the tech companies. It is concerning to note that despite record growth, these companies havent reversed course as far as layoffs are concerned.

Several reports suggest Google and many other companies are betting big on Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI). Google even merged two of its biggest and most diverse departments to infuse AI into several products quickly. This could be one of the reasons for the layoffs.
Nowadays, the subjects of cybersecurity and AI are being put together more. The thing is that AI systems are usually under attack by bad actors, and that poses a major issue. Because of that, theres a new bill attempting to aid in the security of AI systems.

Weve been seeing more governmental bodies crack down on AI in general. The EU established the first laws surrounding AI safety, and the United States government has been bringing measures of its own. This means that more governmental bodies are realizing the potential danger of misused AI technology.

Theres a new AI security bill in the works

Named the Secure Artificial Intelligence Act, this is a bill that aims to help boost the security of AI systems in America. At this point, AI technology will be used in certain areas of governmental agencies, and this is why security is crucial.

What the act would do is basically boost research into what is called counter-AI. These are ways of manipulating AI systems for nefarious purposes. The two senators who introduced the bill, Mark Warner and Thom Tillis, actually classify these counter-AI methods under four categories. These are Invasion attacks, abuse attacks, data poisoning, and privacy-based attacks.

Along with research into AI measures, the bill will also require that the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency craft a large database of AI breaches. This will make it a lot easier to understand what types of cybersecurity incidents happened and keep track of them. Theyre even required to include near misses.

When it comes to subjects like these, its always important to have bills that help boost security with AI systems. If there are any government agencies using AI, you can bet that there will be people out there trying to take advantage. So, steps like these are the best sort of defense.
UPDATE (May 10, 2024): After an initial release in South Korea, Samsung has begun a global rollout of the One UI 6.1 update for the Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S21 series. The foldables are getting this update in Europe with firmware build numbers S90*BXXU9EXE1 and G99*BXXUAGXDA, respectively. A wider release may be just around the corner. The update doesnt bring the May security patch.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Last month, Samsung announced that it will expand One UI 6.1 to more eligible devices in early May. As promised, the company has started pushing the update to the Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S21 series. The new One UI version might soon land on other 2022 and 2021 flagship models. The Korean firm has already updated its 2023 flagships.

Samsungs One UI 6.1 reaches the Galaxy S22 and Galaxy S21 series

As of this writing, Samsungs One UI 6.1 update for the Galaxy S22, Galaxy S22+, Galaxy S22 Ultra, Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+, and Galaxy S21 Ultra is available in its home country South Korea. The company usually begins the rollout of major updates from its homeland, so that isnt surprising. More importantly, it doesnt take long to expand the updates globally.

The Korean Galaxy S22 phones are getting this update with the firmware build number S90*NKSU3EXDC, X user @tarunvats33 reports. The update for the Galaxy S21 trio comes with the build number G99*NKSU4GXDC. Since this is a major update, the OTA (over the air) package is massive, weighing around 3GB (varies slightly depending on the model).

The content of the update isnt the same for the two lineups, though. The Galaxy S22 series is getting almost everything Samsung introduced with One UI 6.1 on the Galaxy S24. The company previously suggested that its 2022 flagships will only miss out on Instant Slo-mo, Lockscreen Wallpaper Weather Effects, and Super HDR. The Galaxy S23 also didnt get the latter two features.

The Galaxy S21, on the other hand, is expected to receive only a few AI features found on the Galaxy S24. A Samsung Community Forum moderator recently said that the 2021 flagships will pick up Circle to Search and Chat Assist. The phones may get other One UI 6.1 changes and improvements, though. It is unclear if this update also brings the May security patch to either lineup. The devices have already received the April patch.

More Galaxy devices will get this update soon

One UI 6.1 will soon reach more Galaxy devices. Samsung has confirmed that the update will be available for the Galaxy Z Fold 4, Galaxy Z Flip 4, Galaxy Z Fold 3, Galaxy Z Flip 3, and Galaxy Tab S8 series. Some mid-range models may also get it. The new AI features may not be available on 2021 foldables and mid-range devices, though. We will let you know when the rollout begins. You can also manually check for the latest update from the Settings app.
A month into its release, Samsungs One UI 6.1 update reached 8.8 million Galaxy devices. The company started the rollout on March 28 and hit the figure before the end of April. This is the total number of devices updated to One UI 6.1. Some users have yet to download the update.

8.8 million Galaxy users have downloaded the One UI 6.1 update

One UI 6.1 is the latest iteration of Samsungs custom Android skin for Galaxy devices. Based on Android 14, the new version debuted with the Galaxy S24 series in January. It brought along a suite of AI features known as Galaxy AI. The company also introduced other software improvements to its devices with One UI 6.1.

Samsung was expected to push this update to eligible older models and it didnt disappoint. The Korean firm began the rollout at the end of March. The Galaxy S23 series, Galaxy S23 FE, Galaxy Z Fold 5, Galaxy Z Flip 5, and Galaxy Tab S9 series have received the update, and nearly nine million users have downloaded it.

Samsung Netherlands shared the data through a Newsroom post. According to the company, almost 75% of Galaxy Z Fold 5 users in Europe have installed the One UI 6.1 update. The new One UI version has also been installed by 80% of Galaxy S23 Ultra users and 65% of Galaxy Tab S9 users in the region.

This means many Galaxy users have yet to download One UI 6.1. Industry estimates suggest that Samsung has sold over 40 million units of the Galaxy S23 series, Galaxy S23 FE, Galaxy Z Fold 5, Galaxy Z Flip 5, and Galaxy Tab S9 series globally. So, only a fraction of eligible users have installed the latest update on their devices.

Samsung aims to bring Galaxy AI to over 100 million users this year

Shortly after the Galaxy S24 launch, Samsung said it aims to bring Galaxy AI to over 100 million users this year. The company is estimated to sell over 30 million units of the new flagships by the end of 2024. So, users of older Galaxy devices have to account for the rest. The adoption rate of One UI 6.1 appears slow but Samsung says it is one of the most popular software updates ever.

This suggests the company is on track to achieving its goal. It has already announced the One UI 6.1 update for the Galaxy S22 series, Galaxy Z Fold 4, Galaxy Z Flip 4, and Galaxy Tab S8 series. These devices will get the update this month. One UI 6.1 will also roll out to Samsungs 2021 flagships and all recent mid-range Galaxy phones. They may not get AI features, though.
Back in April a new Walmart streaming box was leaked and all that was really known about it at the time was that it ran on Google TV, and it was to be a pro model with new features, but the leak was lacking any sort of price information. Now the device has popped up again and the official price and features have been revealed. Officially known as the Onn 4K Pro, the Google TV box from Walmart will come with a $50 price tag. Its a noticeable jump from Walmarts previous device, but it also comes with new features and a revamped design.

Spotted by 9To5Google, YouTube content creator SuperDell-TV was able to get his hands on the box at a local store. Walmart hasnt made an official announcement about the devices release though, so its possible this was supposed to be a quiet launch, or the device was accidentally put on the shelves early.

Either way, consumers now know what they will have to pay to get their own. The old Onn box was around $20. It still offers 4K support for content, but its missing at least one feature of the new model.

The Onn 4K Pro from Walmart has a higher price because its also a speaker

its not uncommon to see new models of a particular product go up in price when new features are added. In fact, its probably more common than not. Thats the case with the Onn 4K Pro. Not only is it a 4K streaming box with Google TV, but it also doubles as a Google Assistant speaker. The new box comes with a partial fabric top that looks similar to what youd see with other Google Assistant speakers.

Another new feature appears to be a button on the back that you can press to find the remote if lost. In the event that you misplace the remote, you can simply tap this button and the remote plays a sound. Not too unlike youd find with an Android smartphone and a connected smart tag.

The Onn 4K Pro features more ports

If you take a look at the old streamer box, youll notice theres only one port. This is for the HDMI cable so you can plug the box into your TV. The Onn 4K Pro has more than just an HDMI port. Theres a USB-A port and an ethernet port. The addition of the ethernet port should be beneficial to anyone who has spotty Wi-Fi in their home. Because this will allow you to hardware the box. Theres also a switch on the side for disabling the mic if you want to turn it off.

Alongside the price and video footage of the design, user @AndroidTV_Rumor on X lists off some of the Onn 4K Pros specifications. Itll have 32GB of storage for apps, as well as 3GB of RAM, and support for both Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. It supports Wi-Fi 6 too. In short, this is a substantial upgrade from the older model so a $50 price point isnt all that surprising.
People can do some very cruel things to animals and abandoning them is one of the worst. There are so many shelters that take animals no questions asked, so there is no reason to just dump a pet, leaving them to fend for themselves...especially not a puppy. Daily Mail shared a video of a 3-month-old German Shepherd's reaction to being dumped, and it will break your heart.

The video was shared on Wednesday, May 1st, and it is so sad. Surveillance cameras captured footage of a white sedan backing away from the puppy in a California parking lot. The confused puppy didn't know what to do, and is seen chasing after the car; it was literally chasing after the people who had just abandoned it.

This was so heartbreaking to watch! In the caption, Daily Mail reported that the German Shepherd mix puppy was safely captured and is available for adoption at the Fresno Animal Center. Commenters were just as appalled as I was. @Amy Hannah shared, "How can people be so heartless? At least drop it off at a shelter where they can find a good home and someone who will love them." @Robyn Bassard admitted, "I just don't understand people." And another commenter added, "That needs to be illegal with a fine of $20 thousand and 5 years in prison."

Related: Dog Rescuer Warns About the Sad Practice of People Abandoning Their Dogs at Parks

More About This Abandoned Puppy

I wanted to know more about this story, so I did a quick search to learn more. The Independent shared more details about what happened with the poor German Shepherd pup. The puppy was dumped at the Country Living mobile home park in California on Thursday, April 25th.

The park's assistant manager shared her thoughts on the situation, "I was really sad that someone could just abandon a puppy, Ms. Garvey said. She was so energetic and so sweet that it just broke my heart that someone could just take this puppy somewhere and just go. She was able to get the puppy to come to her, and actually considered keeping the puppy herself. She even named the little one 'Bear'. She ultimately decided against keeping her and called animal control to pick up the pooch. Shelter officials said that the puppy is very friendly and ready for adoption.

In another article, animal resource officer Rudy Pina told Nexstars KSEE/KGPE that animal abandonment is on ongoing issue in the area, "Unfortunately, our animal control department responds to animal abandonment calls every single week in the city of Fresno, He hopes that by this story being shared, more awareness is brought to this issue. He went on to say that a police report had been filed and is being investigated. Under California law, anyone who abandons an animal can be charged with a misdemeanor. I really hope and charge the people who did this.

We adopted an abandoned puppy, and she's the best dog we've ever had! If you're interested in adopting the sweet little puppy in this video, you can visit Fresno Animal Centers website here.

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.
Leicester completed one of the biggest sporting fairy tales of all time eight years ago when they were crowned Premier League champions.

The Foxes defied odds of 5,000-1 at the start of the season to win the title for the first time in the clubs 132-year history.

They began the campaign among the favourites for relegation under new manager Claudio Ranieri but, having lost 19 matches the previous season, fell to just three defeats on the way to a stunning triumph.

Claudio Ranieri with the Premier League trophy (Nick Potts/PA)

Leicester were deserved champions having won at both title rivals Manchester City and Tottenham, while an unbeaten run from mid-February proved beyond any doubt they had the nerve to finish the job.

In the end, a little help from the previous Premier League winners Chelsea helped complete their rise from relegation fodder to champions.

Second-half goals from Chelsea pair Gary Cahill and Eden Hazard secured a 2-2 draw against second-placed Tottenham, halting Spurs bid on a night of high drama that Leicesters players watched unfold from striker Jamie Vardys home.

Foxes fans coined the chant Jamie Vardys Having A Party and the top scorer had quite the shindig in Melton Mowbray, where videos showed the group celebrating wildly as the title was confirmed.

Ranieris experience was more tranquil having flown back from Italy after visiting his 96-year-old mother in Rome to return home in time to watch Tottenhams draw with his family.

I am very, very happy now because maybe if I won this title at the beginning of my career maybe I would forget, Ranieri, then 64, said. Now I am an old man I can feel it much better.

I said every time I am very happy for the fans, for the chairman and for all the Leicester community. I dont know the secret. The players, the heart, the soul and how they play.

After being relegated last May, Leicester sealed their return to the top flight last week.
Don Gilet is the new lead detective of the hit BBC show Death In Paradise.

The British actor, known for his role as the villainous Lucas Johnson in the soap EastEnders, will play detective inspector Mervin Wilson.

His character will travel to the fictional Caribbean island of Saint Marie from London and will be not overly pleased with his new surroundings.

Don Gilet at the Broadcasting Press Guild Awards (Jordan Pettitt/PA)

He takes over from Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps and The Royle Family star Ralf Little.

Gilet said: Being offered the new lead role in Death In Paradise feels like a deeply loved and incredibly precious jewel has been placed in my hands.

This is a big show, with a big heart and the love continually grows for it. It is my intention to never lose sight of that and to remain grateful, humbled and dedicated.

Even during those testing times when every sinew is screaming at me to run off the set and dive into the sea, swimming pool or an ice-cold beer  whichever happens to be closer at the time.

He has also starred in Holby City, Silent Witness, Doctor Who, Shetland and The Stranger.

Gilet was congratulated by Little in an Instagram video, where he said he hopes that it is the most magical experience.

Little added: I wish you the best of luck. Im absolutely sure youre going to be magnificent.

Gilet made a guest appearance in series four Death In Paradise episode Stab In The Dark as Andre Morgan when Kris Marshall as DI Humphrey Goodman was the lead detective on the island.

He has recently begun filming in Guadeloupe and will appear in a feature-length Christmas special in December before a 14th series in 2025.

 Don Gilet announced as Death in Paradises new lead detective! Don will make his debut as D.I. Mervin Wilson this Christmas, before his first full series next year Read more  https://t.co/u7S1Bbel6W pic.twitter.com/PxIHe0qdBV  BBC Press Office (@bbcpress) May 2, 2024

Tim Key, executive producer for Red Planet Pictures, said: Don is an amazing actor and were delighted that hes joining us as the show enters another exciting new era.

Weve got huge plans for the new series and beyond, and I cant wait for the audience to meet Mervin and to see what weve got in store.

Others who played the main DI role include Father Ted star Ardal OHanlon and Bridgerton actor Ben Miller.

Lindsay Salt, director of BBC Drama, said: We could not be happier to welcome Don to the series.

Already known to BBC viewers from the likes of Sherwood, EastEnders and Doctor Who, hes long been one of the UKs most exciting actors. Death In Paradise is in brilliant hands  roll on Christmas.

An Australian spin-off, called Return To Paradise, has also been commissioned by the BBC and a spin-off Beyond Paradise featuring Marshall as DI Goodman in the UK has been renewed for a third series.
Drugmaker Novo Nordisk has revealed sales of its popular weight loss medicine doubled over the start of the year, driving higher earnings.

The Danish company warned over supply constraints as it said it was seeing strong demand for its obesity treatments around the world.

It reported net sales of 65.3 billion Danish krone (7.5 billion) for the first quarter of 2023, nearly a quarter higher than the same period a year ago.

Sales of obesity medicine Wegovy doubled to 9.4 billion Danish krone (1.1 billion) from 4.6 billion Danish krone (530 million) last year.

Wegovy is an injection pen using the medicine semaglutide, and works by regulating peoples appetite and helping them feel fuller in between meals.

It is a newly available treatment in the UK so is still monitored closely.

Demand for Wegovy currently exceeds the supply, Novo Nordisk said, which led it to reduce the availability of lower-dose medicines in the US last year.

It has started gradually increasing the supply this year and said it is investing in capacity to increase supply in the short term and in the future.

Meanwhile, sales of alternative injection pen Ozempic soared by 43% to 27.8 billion Danish krone (3.2 billion) in the latest quarter.

Ozempic is a medicine designed to treat people with type 2 diabetes, and is not licensed as a weight loss treatment like Wegovy.

Ozempic is a medicine designed to treat people with type 2 diabetes (Alamy/PA)

Sales growth was helped by demand in North America, but it has led to bouts of supply issues and drug shortages in its markets around the world, the company said.

Novo Nordisk dominates the market for obesity treatment with a global market share of more than 85%.

It also has a share of more than half of the global market for GLP-1-based products, the class of drugs that treat diabetes and obesity.

The pharmaceutical giant sells its products in around 170 countries including the UK and the US.

It reported an operating profit for the first quarter of 31.8 billion Danish kroner (3.6 billion) for the first quarter, 30% higher than the previous year.

Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen, president and chief executive of Novo Nordisk, said: We are pleased with the sales growth in the first three months of 2024, driven by increased demand for our GLP-1-based diabetes and obesity treatments.

More patients benefit from our innovative treatments, and the agreement to acquire the three Catalent manufacturing sites will enable us to serve significantly more people living with diabetes and obesity in the future.
John Swinney declared Im no caretaker as he launched his bid to become the new leader of the SNP and Scotlands next first minister.

With Humza Yousaf having announced he is stepping down from the role, Mr Swinney  who served as deputy first minister for more than eight years under Nicola Sturgeon  became the first candidate to declare he is running for the post.

There have been suggestions Mr Swinney would take on the role on an interim basis, but he insisted he will lead the party through this years Westminster election and the next Holyrood poll in 2026 as well.

Speaking as he launched his leadership campaign in Edinburgh on Thursday, Mr Swinney made clear: I am no caretaker. I am no interim leader.

I am offering to lead my party through the Westminster elections and to lead us beyond the 2026 elections  two contests which I intend to win for the SNP and for Scotland.

My message is crisp and simple  I am stepping forward to bring the SNP together, deliver economic growth and social justice, to deliver the very best future for everyone in a modern, dynamic, diverse Scotland.

He also told supporters: I want to unite the SNP and unite Scotland for independence, as he conceded the party is not as cohesive as it needs to be.

Humza Yousaf announced on Monday he is stepping down as First Minister  a move sparked by his decision to end the SNPs powersharing deal with the Scottish Greens (Jane Barlow/PA)

Mr Swinney launched his leadership bid a week after Mr Yousaf tore up the powersharing deal the SNP had with the Scottish Greens at Holyrood  a move which led to him announcing on Monday he is to step down from the post just 13 months after taking over from Ms Sturgeon.

With the party now facing the prospect of a second leadership contest in just over a year, Mr Swinney insisted he could bring the SNP back together again and get us focused on what we do best.

Mr Swinney joined the SNP as a teenager and served as an MP at Westminster before becoming an MSP when the Scottish Parliament was established in 1999.

After the SNP won power in 2007, he then served in the Scottish Government for 16 years, stepping down as deputy first minister only last year when Ms Sturgeon resigned.

He was SNP leader between 2000 and 2004, but stepped down in the wake of the partys performance in the European election that year.

Former Scottish finance secretary Kate Forbes will confirm later on Thursday if she is to run for the SNP leadership (Jane Barlow/PA)

Mr Swinney insisted: Having served as a senior minister for 16 years, having helped steer Scotland so close to independence in 2014, I want to give all I have in me to ensure the success of our cause.

I believe I have the experience, the skills and I command the trust and the confidence of people across this country.

He praised his potential leadership rival Kate Forbes  who is expected to declare later on Thursday if she will stand for the post.

Mr Swinney described the former Scottish finance secretary as an intelligent, creative, thoughtful person who has much to contribute to public life.

Promising she would play a significant part in his team, he added: If elected I will make sure Kate is able to make that contribution.

Mr Swinney has already attracted significant support from his party for his bid to be its next leader  with Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, Scottish Health Secretary Neil Gray and Scottish Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth amongst his backers.
Madame Tussauds has announced it will unveil a figure of the 15th Doctor, played by Ncuti Gatwa, alongside a Whoniverse-themed set.

Doctor Who will return to screens in May, with the new waxwork to be put on display from July, after the final episode of the new series airs.

Scottish actor Gatwa, 31, said: Im very excited to be joining the iconic lineup at Madame Tussauds London. The process was amazing to witness, I cant wait to see the final result.

Ncuti Gatwa plays the 15th Doctor (Madame Tussauds/PA)

The Doctor Who star has worked with the attractions studio team to get his body measurements, head mould, and eye colours to capture his perfect likeness.

Other incarnations of the time-travelling alien including the fourth Time Lord, played by Tom Baker, and Jodie Whittakers Doctor, have also been turned into wax for the London attraction.

The 15th Doctors waxwork is the first to be announced for the museums new film and TV-themed zone, which will feature familiar on-screen characters including James Bond and ET when it opens this summer.

Steve Blackburn, general manager at Madame Tussauds London said: Doctor Who has been loved by millions around the globe for over 60 years.

Millie Gibson, Russell T Davies and Ncuti Gatwa at the premiere of Doctor Who at the BFI Southbank in London (Ian West/PA)

We all have our favourite Doctor and were beyond thrilled to see Ncuti Gatwa bring this next chapter to a new generation, and his star power to Madame Tussauds London.

We cant wait for Whovians  old and new  to get up close and meet the Time Lord in his latest form.

Jeff Parker, creative producer, BBC Studios, added: Its great to once again be working alongside the fantastic magic makers at Madame Tussauds London.

It feels fitting that the longest-running sci-fi show in the world should have a place at one of Londons oldest and most iconic visitor attractions where we can be sure to give our global fanbase a chance to get up close to the Doctor.

I cant wait to see guest reactions when the installation is revealed.

The series will launch with a double bill that will land on BBC iPlayer at midnight on Saturday May 11 before it airs on BBC One later in the day, ahead of the final of the Eurovision Song Contest, which will also air on the BBC.

Sex Education star Gatwa first appeared on screen as the Time Lord during the last instalment of the 60th anniversary episodes which saw David Tennant return to play the 14th Doctor.

Gatwas Doctor met his companion Ruby Sunday, played by Millie Gibson, during Christmas Day special The Church On Ruby Road.
The Co-op Live arena in Manchester has postponed scheduled performances from US musician Olivia Rodrigo as part of her Guts world tour after a venue-related technical issue.

The 365 million venue, the biggest indoor arena in the UK, had postponed its opening show for the third time just over an hour before A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie was set to perform on Wednesday, confirming there was a problem during the soundcheck.

A component of the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system used to direct air had separated from the ductwork, and the installer, contractor and third-party inspector will now have to test each nozzle to confirm they are free from the defect, the Oak View Group confirmed.

Due to an on-going venue-related technical issue, the scheduled performances of Olivia Rodrigos GUTS World Tour on 3rd and 4th May are being postponed. Ticket holders can either hold onto their tickets or obtain a refund at point of purchase.  Co-op Live (@TheCoopLive) May 1, 2024

Two hours after cancelling A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, the venue confirmed Rodrigo would not be performing on May 3 and 4.

A statement on X, formerly Twitter, said: Due to an on-going venue-related technical issue, the scheduled performances of Olivia Rodrigos Guts World Tour on May 3 and 4 are being postponed.

Ticket holders can either hold on to their tickets or obtain a refund at point of purchase.

Three-time Grammy winner Rodrigo took her Guts tour across North America during March and April. She most recently performed at the 3Arena in Dublin, and is expected to perform at Londons O2 arena on May 14, 15, 17 and 18.

Olivia Rodrigo said she was disappointed her shows were cancelled (Doug Peters/PA)

On her Instagram story, Rodrigo said she was so bummed that two of her shows have been postponed.

Ive been having such a great time in Europe so far and Im sooooo disappointed that were unable to perform in Manchester due to on-going venue-related technical issues.

Were doing our best to reschedule the show, she said.

It comes after A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie confirmed something happened during his soundcheck at the venue on Wednesday that caused the cancellation of his show.

Im heated about the situation too, but safety first Manchester, I got you, just stay tuned for further info, he said.

Venue bosses had posted a statement cancelling the performance 10 minutes after the doors were set to open for what was meant to be its first official event, as fans queued outside awaiting entry.

Tim Leiweke, chairman and chief executive of the Oak View Group, said: The safety and security of all visiting and working on Co-op Live is our utmost priority, and we could not and will not run any event until it is absolutely safe to do so.

Today was a very unexpected situation but without a doubt the right decision. I deeply apologise for the impact that this has had on ticket holders and fans.

Meanwhile, the Co-operative Group said it was disappointed by the announcement and will seek a full explanation from the Oak View Group.

Due to a venue-related technical issue, tonights A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie show will no longer go ahead. We kindly ask fans to leave the area. Tickets holders will receive further information in due course.  Co-op Live (@TheCoopLive) May 1, 2024

As the naming rights sponsor for Co-op Live, we are shocked at the incident which has led to late cancellation of tonights show at the arena, a Co-op Group spokesperson said.

We are relieved that no-one has been injured, but we share the disappointment and frustration of ticket holders, many of whom are Co-op members, with the continuing delay to the opening of Co-op Live and the disruption that this is causing to everyone who has been looking forward to attending events.

We will be seeking a full explanation from Oak View Group (OVG), who are responsible for the building, to the obvious questions arising from this, together with a clear plan from the Co-op Live venue management team at OVG for opening the venue and postponed and future events.

Safety is, of course, the number one priority and it is critical that Co-op members and other ticket holders can enjoy events in a venue with the very highest levels of security and safety measures in place.

It comes after the venue had already postponed its opening twice last week after rescheduling performances from Peter Kay and The Black Keys, and had reassured fans that A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie and Rodrigos shows would be going ahead this week.

Bolton-born comedian Peter Kay had been scheduled to be the first performer at the arena which was rescheduled twice (Peter Byrne/PA)

Bolton-born comedian Kay was scheduled to be the first performer, but his show had to be postponed with less than 48 hours notice following a test event.

The rescheduled dates at the end of April were rescheduled again alongside dates for US rock duo The Black Keys as the venue had to undertake extensive protocol of testing critical procedures to ensure all areas are ready for fans.

The new date for the US rock band is May 15 while Kays performances have shifted to May 23 and 24.

The arenas general manager, Gary Roden, announced his resignation last week following the slew of issues that led to a delay in the venue opening.
Protesters must be met with an extremely strict response if they attempt to replicate violent pro-Palestinian demonstrations at US university campuses, according to Penny Mordaunt.

The Commons Leader issued the warning to universities after she condemned the disgusting scenes witnessed in the United States, which resulted in the arrest of more than 1,000 protesters.

Nationwide campus demonstrations began in the US last month to protest against Israels offensive in Gaza, which followed Hamas launching a deadly attack on Israel on October 7.

Students in the UK, including in Leeds, Newcastle and Bristol, have set up tents outside university buildings in protest against the war in Gaza.

Speaking in the Commons, Conservative former minister Sir Michael Ellis asked for a debate on antisemitism at UK universities.

Sir Michael told the Commons: There are reports in todays press some groups wish to actually replicate American-style protests where weve seen rioting and criminal damage.

He said terrorist slogans had been chanted and Hamas headbands worn at the US protests, adding: We dont want this type of terrorist-supporting delinquency in this country at UK universities.

Conservative former minister Sir Michael Ellis asked for a debate on antisemitism at UK universities (Victoria Jones/PA)

And would she agree that the Government and opposition parties must combine to do everything they can to stop such things happening here?

Ms Mordaunt replied: (Sir Michael) is right to draw attention to the disgusting scenes that we have seen in some universities in the United States and I think those activities are being met with the appropriate action and I think some universities have taken a very strict stance with regard to that.

I think, and I hope, all UK universities will be in no doubt about their responsibilities to all that attend their campuses and their facilities but, in particular, those communities that are feeling particularly under attack.

That is what we expect of them and we hope and expect that they will meet any such notion of similar protests with an extremely strict response.

The Prime Ministers official spokesman would not comment on protests in the US, but said: Weve always been clear that people have a right to peaceful and lawful protest but clearly people shouldnt abuse that right to intimidate others, cause unnecessary disruption.

Obviously, the police already have extensive public order powers to tackle disorder at protests and will continue to have our full support in doing so if needed.

Tom Southerden, Amnesty International UKs law and human rights director, said: The right to peaceful protest is fundamental to our democracy and its vital that UK universities and the police respect and protect peaceful student protests on Gaza.

Peaceful, student-led protests are an important part of the movement across the globe against Israels war crimes, apartheid and possible genocide in Gaza.

The authorities in the UK must avoid the dangerous clampdown weve witnessed at university campuses across the US.
A jab  developed in the 1950s  helped to almost eliminate the disease in Britain - Gareth Fuller/PA

Whooping cough might sound like a Victorian disease, but the bacterial infection has made a dramatic comeback in recent months across Europe, Asia, and America.

The 100-day cough  known clinically as pertussis  infects the lungs and respiratory system, causing severe coughing fits and flu-like symptoms that can persist for months.

Complications are particularly severe in infants under six months, where the infection can develop into pneumonia, seizures and, in some cases, death. Babies who survive may have long-term neurological or lung damage.

Whooping cough is cyclical and naturally peaks every three-to-five years. It is also endemic to all regions of the planet, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), meaning it occurs naturally in populations.

A jab  developed in the 1950s  helped to almost eliminate the disease in Britain.

But a steady decline in vaccine uptake coupled with a resurgence of respiratory diseases following Covid lockdowns have contributed to rapidly rising case numbers  with this year the worst on record since the mid-1980s.

This outbreak is huge

In January and February alone, England recorded 1,468 cases  compared to just 823 for the whole of 2023.

In the Czech Republic, cases are so widespread that criminal charges were filed against Pragues mayor, accusing him of allowing the virus to spread through reckless public health decisions. So far, the country has seen over 6,300 infections since January, and at least three infant deaths.

Parts of Asia are also struggling to contain the virus. In the Philippines, 54 babies have died this year, whilst in China, 30,000 have come down with the infection since January.

This outbreak is huge, and its not dissimilar to what we saw 40 years ago, explained Dr Paul Hunter, Professor of Medicine at the University of East Anglia.

When Covid hit, a lot of vaccination rates fell  which is certainly contributing to what were seeing now worldwide, he said.

Health systems worldwide fell behind on routine jabs for preventable diseases during the Covid-19 years, with the largest sustained decline in childhood vaccinations in over three decades.

During that time, the WHO estimated around 25 million children missed out on doses of the pertussis vaccine, which is combined with the jab for polio, diphtheria, and hepatitis B in the UK.

Immunisation rates are still struggling to catch up, allowing communicable diseases to spread more quickly through populations. For instance, cases of measles have soared across the world  to the point where more than half the planet is at high risk of an outbreak.

Another key problem is that vaccination uptake is steadily declining in pregnant women. If you vaccinate the mother, you protect the baby  and they are the ones most at risk, said Dr Hunter.

Pregnant women need to be vaccinated to protect their newborns against whooping cough, because they cannot be jabbed themselves until they are two months old.

Mothers pass antibodies to their infants via the placenta, which in turn bridges the critical protection gap between birth and eight weeks  the time when a child is most vulnerable to serious illness.

Babies born to women vaccinated at least a week before birth have a 91 per cent reduced risk of becoming ill with whooping cough in their first weeks of life, compared to babies whose mothers have not been vaccinated, according to the NHS.

But vaccine hesitancy  influenced in part by disinformation on social media  has meant uptake has fallen dramatically over the past ten or so years.

Is pertussis here to stay?

In Britain, around 70 per cent of pregnant women were jabbed for pertussis in 2017. But by 2023, that number dropped to around 58 per cent, according to the UK Health Security Agency.

Another key change, says Dr. Hunter, is the shift in the early 2010s from a whole-cell to an acellular vaccine for whooping cough.

In the past, pertussis vaccines were made using whole, inactivated Bordetella pertussis bacteria. These vaccines were highly effective but had some adverse side effects, including fever, mild allergic reactions, and in a very small number of babies, neurological damage  although there is debate over whether the jab was responsible.

Starting in the early 2010s, many countries, including Britain, transitioned to using acellular pertussis vaccines. These jabs contain only specific proteins of the Bordetella pertussis bacterium. They cause fewer side effects, whilst still providing protection  although it is slightly less effective.

There is certainly a view that, in part, the change in vaccine can explain the slight rise in cases beginning in the early 2010s, and could be playing a role in the current outbreaks, explained Dr Hunter.

Much is still to be understood about why whooping cough is on the rise  this might be a one-off, and we could return to pre-Covid levels of the disease. But its also plausible that this is the future  and that pertussis is here to stay, he added.

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Bosses of Co-op Live have blamed Brexit, Covid and the weather for the cancelations. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA

Angry concertgoers have demanded compensation from the troubled Co-op Live arena after it cancelled its opening concert for the third time, leaving thousands of young fans stranded in Manchester.

The venue announced minutes after the doors opened on Wednesday night that US star A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie would no longer be performing due to a technical issue.

A spokesperson for the 365m venue later said that part of an air conditioning unit had fallen from a gantry during the soundcheck. No one was hurt but it meant organisers also had to pull the plug on Olivia Rodrigos two sell-out shows this weekend.

It is the latest humiliating setback for the UKs biggest indoor arena, whose bosses have blamed Brexit, Covid and even the Manchester weather for a series of missteps that led to the cancellation of shows by Peter Kay, the Black Keys and a significantly reduced-capacity test event by Rick Astley on 20 April.

Jo Lunn, 51, said her 16-year-old daughter had travelled more than 200 miles from Hampshire to see A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie with her 18-year-old sister on Wednesday, only to be let down at the last minute.

Some fans had already been allowed into the venue and thousands more were queueing outside when Co-op Live posted on X at 6.40pm that the concert had been cancelled.

Its just really unforgivable, said Lunn. I had a lot of faith in [the venue] and really wanted it to succeed but its just so disappointing. Theyre going to be the laughing stock of the industry.

Lunns family have twice been left disappointed because they had tickets to one of the cancelled Peter Kay gigs last month. In total, she said, they had spent almost 1,000 on travel and hotel rooms for the two events, including 300 on train tickets.

She added: Am I going to get lots of compensation? Probably not, but a gesture would be nice. Unless you live a stones throw away I just wouldnt take the risk of going. Its crazy. The communications have been either arrogant or naive, thinking people will just show up the following week.

The venues recent setbacks have ranged from power supply issues to faulty building works and a PR gaffe that prompted its general manager, Gary Roden, to resign a fortnight ago when he told the BBC that grassroots venues were often poorly run.

However, the troubles date back long before Rick Astleys test show.

The venues manager admitted earlier this week that Co-op Live may still not be completed for another year.

Tim Leiweke, chief executive of the venues manager, the US-based Oak View Group (OVG), told the Manchester Evening News that the operators were still working through a 600-point list of issues to resolve. He added: Finding skilled labour is a lot harder to do right now in the UK than it was before Brexit.

It is understood that one of the most pressing issues is the installation of a communications system for the emergency services, after concerns were raised by Greater Manchester police (GMP) and the fire service.

Other internal security systems and fire safety measures were still being resolved as recently as last week.

The bumpy launch was forecasted two months ago when GMP and others expressed reservations about Co-op Lives readiness during a two-day licensing hearing.

GMP said it had been unable to examine the venues plans for a major incident or terror attack because there was no framework available to scrutinise.

The police and others also shared concerns about the ability to get tens of thousands of ticket holders to and from Co-op Live  4 miles from Manchester city centre  with limited public transport at 5am, its originally proposed closing time.

The venue was eventually granted a licence on 1 March after councillors said it would be a significant benefit to the region.

However, there are now doubts about its ability to host upcoming concerts.

On Thursday evening Take That said they will be moving their May shows from the Co-op Live to the rival AO Arena. Keane had already announced their Sunday gig at the venue had been postponed due to issues which they said are entirely beyond our control.

In an Instagram post Take That said: Given the ongoing technical issues around the opening of Co-op Live we have taken the difficult decision to move our May shows to the AO Arena where we have enjoyed many great nights over the years.

This is not a decision we have taken lightly, but we wanted to give our fans as much notice as possible.

Sacha Lord, Greater Manchesters night-time economy adviser, earlier said he was monitoring the situation closely. He added: As with all event venues, the safety of staff and customers is the highest priority even if that means there are delays.

Amanda Mather, 46, whose 17-year-old daughter was one of thousands left disappointed on Wednesday night, said the venues owners had potentially put young people at risk by immediately ordering them away from the site instead of allowing them to be collected.

Mather said: It was just: Go  get away from the area and leave. It showed a disregard for their immediate safety.

The fiasco is also embarrassing for the Co-op Group, which has the naming rights for the venue. The company said it was shocked at the latest cancellation and would be demanding answers from OVG.

But the biggest humiliation may yet transpire for Co-op Live as the rival AO Arena  which fiercely opposed plans for the new venue  was on Thursday reportedly exploring plans to host the cancelled concert by A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie.

That would fail to ease the disappointment for Liam Hadway, 27, who bought tickets to Olivia Rodrigos cancelled gig for his 16-year-old sisters birthday.

The pair were due to drive up from Milton Keynes for the concert on Saturday but had been left dejected: The communication has been terrible for the last couple of weeks. Is it happening? Isnt it happening?

He added: It still doesnt seem like its ready. I feel like some sort of accountability needs to be taken. They definitely need to do something, whether its reimburse people for hotels  which are expensive on a Saturday night in Manchester. Its not great.
Tim Cook, the Apple chief executive. Photograph: Bay Ismoyo/AFP/Getty Images

Apple released its earnings report on Thursday, revealing a drop in overall revenue fueled by slackening iPhone sales.

Earnings exceeded market expectations, however, and Apples shares rose in after-hours trading. Tim Cook, Apples chief executive, said in a statement released before the call that Apple is reporting revenue of $90.8bn for the March quarter, including an all-time revenue record in services.

The iPhone manufacturer reported revenue of $90.8bn, down 4% year-over-year, but surpassing anticipated earnings of $90.1bn. It declared $0.25 in cash dividend for each share, an increase of 4%. iPhone revenue was $45.96bn, down 10% from the same time period last year, whereas Wall Streets estimations were $46bn. The company also reported that its board had authorized a $110bn stock buyback.

Longer term, I think that Apples shift to a service business model is a robust approach to compensate for its dependence on iPhone sales performance, said Forrester vice-president and principal analyst Thomas Husson.

Apple unseated Samsung late last year as the worlds largest smartphone provider, capturing about 20% of the global market share. Shipments of Apples smartphones declined in the first quarter of this year, however, as Chinese competitors such as Huawei gained ground. Samsung, which saw a lighter fall in its shipments than Apple, took back the top spot among smartphone makers in the first months of 2024.

During the Q&A portion of the earnings call, Cook and Apples chief financial officer, Luca Maestri, fielded multiple questions about the companys performance in China. Demand in the country has fallen, although the earnings report showed that the situation was less dire than many investors feared.

Cook also said Apple would make significant investments in generative AI in the coming quarter, in line with similar announcements from Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft and Meta in recent weeks. He repeatedly brought up artificial intelligence, claiming that the MacBook Air was the best consumer laptop for AI.

We continue to feel very bullish about our opportunity in generative AI, Cook said on the call. We are making significant investments and were looking forward to sharing some very exciting things with our customers soon.

As with many big tech companies over the past year, Apple made cuts in several departments, laying off a sizable number of employees. It shuttered a decade-long project in February to produce an autonomous electric car and laid off about 600 workers last month following the announcement. It is estimated the development of the car, codenamed Project Titan, cost Apple roughly $10bn. The companys electric vehicle operation had a long history of turmoil, but the full shutdown of the multibillion-dollar effort surprised both the public and Apple employees working on the project.

When the electric vehicle project was canceled, Apple executives also announced that they would be dedicating more resources to artificial intelligence projects. Apple has been poaching AI researchers from other tech companies such as Google, according to a Financial Times analysis, and is quietly setting up an AI research lab in Zurich. Apple has also been releasing AI research papers that may predict new features in its phones.

Apple has been less public about its foray into generative AI than rivals like Microsoft and Google, but has similarly poured money into staffing up and acquiring AI startups. It is expected to reveal more of its plans for integrating generative AI into smartphones later this year.

The Vision Pro headset, Apples first new gadget in a decade, was released in early February. According to its two most recent earnings reports, the product does not make a significant contribution to Apples revenue.

The company is also facing numerous legal battles in the coming months, as regulators in the US and Europe have issued fines and levied antitrust lawsuits. The US Department of Justice filed a landmark antitrust lawsuit in March, accusing Apple of engaging in a broad, sustained, and illegal course of conduct to establish a smartphone monopoly.



Apple creates barriers and makes it extremely difficult and expensive for both users and developers to venture outside the Apple ecosystem, Merrick Garland, the attorney general, said while announcing the suit.

European authorities also fined Apple 1.8bn for EU antitrust violations, alleging that the company blocked competition from other music streaming services through unnecessary restrictions on its app store. Apple has rejected the allegations from European and US regulators, and vowed that it will contest the cases against its business practices.

Apples stock price declined in recent months to fluctuate around $170 per share, down from its all-time high of about $199 which it hit last December. Shares of Apple rose in the days before the earnings report after a well-known financial analyst at Bernstein upgraded the stock to a prediction that it would outperform current market expectations and advised people to buy Apple stock.

Cook ended his part of the call touting Apples commitment to environmentally friendly operations, and putting a positive spin on the companys forthcoming products.

I couldnt be more excited for the future we have ahead of us, driven by the imagination and innovation of our teams and the enduring importance of our products and services in peoples lives, Cook said.
Chinese aircraft carrier Fujian leaves harbour for initial sea trials, May 1, 2024. The ship boasts electromagnetic catapults and will receive a fully capable fifth generation air wing - Pu Haiyang/Xinhua via AP

On Wednesday morning Chinas third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, left the Jiangnan shipyard in Shanghai for her initial sea trials  and Beijings journey towards world dominance took another big step forward.

It wont be all that long before the Fujian completes trials and gets her first aircraft. The learning curve for the Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) will be steep: the new ship is Chinas first catapult carrier, and a big step up from the PLANs previous ships, Liaoning and Shandong. But one of these fine days the Fujian will have a complement of tailhook J-15B fighters (late fourth generation, derived from the Russian Flanker) and  almost more importantly  KJ-600 radar planes. Not so very long after that she will start getting carrier-capable J-35 fifth-generation stealth fighters. China already has a profusion of powerful escort warships, supply vessels and submarines ready to form a strike group around the Fujian.

British F-35B Lightning jump jets prepare to depart carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth and return to their base ashore, 17 March, 2024. Eight jets were embarked in the ship for Exercise Steadfast Defender: Britain has, so far, never been able to spare more. British carriers have no catapults and cannot operate fully capable warplanes - AS1 Amber Mayall RAF/UK MOD  Crown copyright 2024

Once the PLAN has learned how to use her, the Fujian will be more than a match for a British carrier, or the single French one. She will only be a little less powerful than one of the US Navys mighty supercarriers.

The implications of this are huge. Seventy per cent of the world is salt water. Almost all of the human race lives within range of aircraft launched from a carrier in the nearest sea or ocean. The vast majority of world trade moves by ship, especially bulk commodities like iron ore.

At the moment, no matter where across the aqueous globe one may find oneself, the most significant naval force is nearly always the nearest US Navy carrier strike group. On its own, that US carrier group is capable of defeating most national navies and air forces. It dominates the sea and the sky, and can project hard power many hundreds of miles inland. It can remain present for months on end without any land-based support or consent from the local region, fighting hard or just poised for action. This is true blue-water naval capability. Despite many claims to the contrary, it has not been rendered obsolete by ballistic or even hypersonic missiles.

As a result, with certain exceptions, its an American world run by Americas rules. Americans being essentially rather decent, and most of us adequately happy with the situation, we call this the rules-based international order, but it is what it is  the Pax Americana.

There is, of course, an emerging axis of opposition to this. Russia, China and Iran make no secret of the fact that they dont like the world the way it is. India appears to be slipping into this camp: certainly to the extent of snapping up cheap Russian oil, and thereby bankrolling Putins atrocities in Ukraine.

These malign actors extend their tentacles around the globe. Wagner Group operatives are active in Africa and other places. Iran, as is well known, has its proxies in Gaza, Lebanon and Yemen. Chinese money, often lent under the Belt and Road Initiative, has extended its influence worldwide. Last month deals were signed for $15bn of finance, mostly Chinese, which is expected to finally get the giant Simandou iron ore project in Guinea moving. New and massive supplies of iron ore will apparently begin to ship from West Africa before the end of 2025.

China buys over 70 per cent of all seaborne iron ore, and at the moment it is heavily dependent on Australian supplies  supplies which would probably cease, in the event of China invading Taiwan. In just a few years, perhaps, this dependency will be lessened. The government of Guinea will probably not be overly concerned about Taiwan. One of the rules of the rules-based order is that nobody is allowed to interfere with freedom of navigation on the high seas, so China will probably be able to get its ore even having invaded Taiwan.

The ore will be turned into steel, and steel will be turned into ships. The next carrier to follow the Fujian is already building, and this one will probably be fully the equal of a US vessel. Beijing plans to have six carriers by 2035.

More and more in future, no matter where you may be in the world, the nearest carrier strike group may be Chinese, not American. At first this will influence thinking and military realities in places like the Gulf  China has already found itself in naval control there for a spell recently. Then, perhaps, the Torres Strait north of Australia. Soon enough there may be a Chinese carrier group nearby anywhere in the Pacific, the Mediterranean, the Atlantic and from time to time the English Channel and the North Sea.

This is blue water carrier power. It can reach almost anywhere.

Its going to be a very different world.
Dr Shaw's parcel had been seized when it arrived in the UK but as the poison was not officially banned it was later sent to him - Paul Grover for the Telegraph

A doctor took his own life with poison that Border Force was powerless to prevent being sent to his address, an inquest heard.

Dr Jonathan Shaw had ordered the substance from Malaysia online but had his parcel flagged and seized by officers when it arrived in the country, the inquest heard.

However, under current legislation the agency can only keep hold of such items for up to 30 days, and because the poison was not officially banned it was delivered to Dr Shaw nine days later.

Police were not told the package had been sent to him and although he told family and police he would dispose of it, Dr Shaw then used it to take his own life.

Concerns for Dr Shaws welfare

In a Prevention of Future Deaths Report, Catherine McKenna, the area coroner for Manchester North, has said there should be greater consultation between police forces and UK Border Force.

The inquest heard Dr Shaw had purchased poison from Malaysia online, which was stopped by UK Border Force before being delivered to him.

The parcel had been flagged by the National Fast Parcels Targeting Team, which received intelligence about the Malaysian company and information about concerns for Dr Shaws welfare and the risk to life.

It was heard that officers from Greater Manchester Police (GMP) made contact with Dr Shaw and told him the parcel had been stopped by UK Border Force.

But when Border Force released the package after nine days without examining its contents or consulting with GMP, Dr Shaw hid it and told family and police he had got rid of it, before using its contents to end his life.

Significant missed opportunity

There is no evidence that the officers were informed by UK Border Force of the timescales before release and the officers would most likely not have been aware that UK Border Force could only lawfully keep hold of the package for 30 days, Ms McKenna said.

UK Border Force released the package nine days after its arrival in the UK and without examining its contents or consulting with GMP.

After recording a verdict of suicide, Ms McKenna said the lack of consultation between Border Force and GMP represented a significant missed opportunity.

She concluded that Dr Shaw would most likely have agreed to the safe destruction of the package if he had been asked before it came into his possession.

Action should be taken

Now, she has said evidence from the inquest revealed matters giving rise to concern.

In my opinion there is a risk that future deaths will occur unless action is taken, she wrote.

She said UK Border Force does not have legal powers to seize the specific package used because it is not a prohibited poison under the Poisons Act 1972.

If there is an ongoing police investigation or police interest in a particular consignment, the UK Border Force can use section 19 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 to stop and hold.

However, the holding power is limited to 30 days, after which the consignment must be released.

There is no national guidance or training provided to police forces or the UK Border Force on joint working around the management of consignments of the poison from overseas which have been ordered by individuals inside the UK for the purpose of ending their own life.

There is no legal requirement to alert the local police force before a consignment is released or to request a welfare check during which the recipient could be invited to agree to the safe destruction of the parcel by the police or UK Border Force.

Addressing the chairman of the National Police Chiefs Council and James Cleverly, the Home Secretary, she added: In my opinion action should be taken to prevent future deaths and I believe each of you respectively have the power to take such action.

They have until June 21 to respond.
Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan is currently serving a prison sentence for controversial corruption charges - AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary

Today, Pakistan and its people stand in confrontation with each other. Almost two years ago, an engineered vote of no confidence was moved against my government and a government cobbled together by the military establishment came into being.

Since then, the military establishment, under direct guidance of Gen Asim Munir, the chief of army staff, has tried every tactic to decimate my partys presence from the political environment of Pakistan.

The oppression, torture and denial of our election symbol have been extensively documented, but nothing has worked for the military and the powerless civilian leadership acting as its puppets.

Pakistans general elections on Feb 8 2024, showed the utter failure of their design.

With no single electoral symbol in a country where the vast majority of voters are guided by a party symbol, the people came out and voted overwhelmingly for candidates supported by my party, the Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI), despite standing as independents with a host of diverse symbols.

This democratic revenge by the people of Pakistan against the agenda of the military establishment not only was a national defiance by the people but also a complete rejection of the official state narrative of May 9 2023, when PTI supporters were falsely accused  as a pretext for a crackdown  of attacking military installations.

Pakistan's chief of army staff Gen Asim Munir (left) shakes hand with Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi - Inter Services Public Relations via AP

Unfortunately, instead of accepting the peoples mandate, the military establishment went into a fit of rage and electoral results were manipulated to bring into power the losers.

The same vote tampering was seen in the recent by-elections.

As a result, today Pakistan is at a dangerous crossroads. The people have shown in no uncertain terms their rejection of state electoral machinations and of the oppression, incarceration and torture of not just the PTI leadership but also of its workers.

The military leadership has been subjected to overt criticism at a level unseen before in our history. The government is a laughing stock.

More oppression and violence

The response of the state has been to unleash more oppression and violence not just on party workers but also on journalists and human rights defenders. Social media restrictions have been put in place with a complete ban on the X platform.

Perhaps the most ominous development has been the systematic attempt to destroy the independent functioning of the judiciary at all levels.

Judges have been subjected to all manner of pressures including blackmail and harassment of family members. As a result, our trials on false charges are conducted with no proper defence allowed and no concern for the law of the land and the constitution.

The chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) and of the Islamabad High Court have been found short of delivering unbiased justice.

But members of the senior judiciary have risen against the attempted destruction of the independence of the judiciary. Six brave judges of the Islamabad High Court have written a letter to the CJP highlighting instances of harassment and blackmail including of their families by intelligence agencies. Specific instances are cited and details given.

This is unprecedented in our history  although, informally, many knew what was happening to the senior judiciary but for such a letter to have come from these judges shows the level of despair, anger and frustration.

The sorry state of judicial affairs is reflected in the hesitancy shown by the CJP, who eventually felt compelled to act but instead of calling for a full bench hearing of the supreme court and summoning those named by the six judges, he has sought to put the six judges effectively in the dock.

With an economy in crisis, spiralling prices and a people politically angry at having their electoral mandate stolen and being economically beleaguered, the state stands isolated.

Unwilling to mitigate its grave errors which have led Pakistan to this precarious juncture and unable to go beyond its mantra of oppression and violence against critics, the State is treading the same path it trod in 1971, when it lost East Pakistan, now Bangladesh.

Upsurge in terrorism

At the same time, it is seeing an upsurge in terrorism and a growing alienation in Balochistan where the issue of enforced disappearances is growing in severity. On Pakistans borders, India has already admitted to undertaking assassinations inside of Pakistan and the international border with Afghanistan remains volatile.

The military establishments expectation of unquestioning support from the US, in return for the provision of access to airspace and related facilities to the US for military purposes, has been punctured after the publication of the latest US state departments Country Reports on Human Rights Practices which highlights the many human rights violations in Pakistan.

Again, seeking salvation by relying on support from the International Monetary Fund when there is a confrontation with the people will not result in any stability for Pakistan. There is no other way out of the crisis but to restore the peoples mandate and release all political prisoners including those being held for trial under military courts. The constitutional functioning of state institutions must be restored.

The military establishment has done all they could against me. All that is left for them is to now murder me. I have stated publicly that if anything happens to me or my wife, Gen Asim Munir will be responsible.

But I am not afraid because my faith is strong. I would prefer death over slavery.

Imran Khan is the leader of the Pakistan-Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) party. He is serving a prison sentence for controversial corruption charges.
Bureaucratic madness: It wasn't the lockdown sceptics who were going round the bend - Stu Forster/Getty

My mother has a sweet habit of keeping all my cuttings  columns, reviews of books. In the unlikely event that anyone should ever need to lay their hands on a Pearson opus from 1999, they will find it neatly filed in a bungalow in Carmarthenshire.

A couple of weeks ago, Mum alerted me to a piece by Janice Turner in The Times on the subject of motherhood. Turner, whose writing mum admires, kindly mentioned the impact my novel, I Dont Know How She Does It, had on shaping policy for working women with children.

Mum was pleased, but also worried that Janice had rather taken the shine off the compliment by adding that Pearson used to be good before her latter swerve into populism and Covid conspiracies.

Let it go, I thought. Janice Turner was hardly unique in doing nothing to challenge lockdown and other Covid measures which have left Britain both broke and broken. Most of our trade, journalism, either fell shamefully silent during that period or actively egged on the Government to close schools for longer, to have people arrested for sunbathing, to introduce vaccine passports and other authoritarian measures which it is the job of a free press to challenge. Or so I thought.

The few of us who continued to ask, Why? after the imposition of frankly bonkers rules (or was it guidance, Matt Hancock?) were routinely reviled, even threatened. Peter Hitchens, Toby Young, Julia Hartley-Brewer and I were some of the names on a so-called fact-checking website convened by Neil OBrien, the Conservative MP for Harborough, which set out to shame Covid cranks and dangerous conspiracy theorists.

It got worse. Sceptics like me who wondered, for example, why fathers were banned from attending the births of their own babies or why one devastated daughter was told off for not wearing a mask and gloves as she went to kiss the brow of her dying father and was marched smartly out of the room before Dad took his last breath, were called murderers.

Challenging Professor Sunetra Gupta, probably our greatest epidemiologist (and world-renowned expert in coronaviruses), who said that the old and the vulnerable must be protected while everyone else got on with their lives, OBrien claimed that moving away from lockdowns would lead to hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths.

He and his ilk have gone very quiet now that there are, indeed, thousands of unnecessary deaths. Among people, many of them distressingly young, who had early cancer symptoms but couldnt see a doctor after the NHS effectively became a Covid-only service. People who got scared and depressed and drank or ate themselves to death.

Teenagers cut off from friends who took their own sweet lives or plunged down a dark well into mental illness. The shattering cost of all this is slowly beginning to occur to even the most ardent lockdown cheerleaders. Looking back, I think we failed our children during the pandemic, mused Susanna Reid last week.

The Good Morning Britain presenter was commenting on a study which found that children in England face the worst exam results in decades and a lifetime of lower earnings because of school closures during Covid. National GCSE results will steadily worsen until 2030, when it is expected that fewer than 40 per cent of pupils [will] get good grades in maths and English.

A devastating picture of educational decline, Im sure youll agree, especially when compared to Sweden where no school for 16-year-olds and under was closed and Swedish educational attainment is as good as ever.

Anyway, I thought it might be instructive to revisit some of the conspiracy theories, of which Turner accuses me, and see how they worked out:

Allison Conspiracy Theory No 1: Schools must not be closed, I argued. Children are at no risk from Covid and teachers are in one of the lowest-risk professions. It will do incalculable damage to kids education as well as their mental and physical health. Reality: UK schools were closed for longer than in any other country except Italy. By 2023, one in five children and young people aged eight to 25 had a probable mental disorder. The Mental Health of Children and Young People in England report found that 20.3 per cent of eight to 16-year-olds now suffer mental health problems. An explosion of tics was seen during lockdown, believed to be caused by anxiety. Children are becoming more violent at school because lockdown delayed their development and created a background of fear.

Oh, and as I also predicted, childrens immune systems are in trouble. According to Nature, social isolation during the pandemic had lasting effects on the composition of microbes in a babys gut. (Could that spell lifelong health problems for lockdown infants?) Researchers claim children are now more vulnerable to other infections, in part due to reduced interactions during, yes, lockdown. The number of under-18s on the waiting list for paediatric care in England soared to 423,500 last year, the highest on record. Of those, 23,396 have been forced to wait over a year for their appointment.

Conspiracy Theory No 2: With the help of a senior source inside NHS England, Planet Normal, the podcast I present with Liam Halligan, was able to point out that many of the graphs for hospital admissions shown at No 10 press briefings were deliberately alarmist. The Guardian took me to task for this heresy. It tutted:

On 29 December, Pearson wrote, ICU occupancy is 78 per cent today. Remarkably low for this time of year and that winter 2020 is the lowest hospital bed occupancy for 10 years.

Reality: Those figures may be surprising but they were, and they remain, correct. While many ICUs dealt heroically with large numbers of Covid patients, the NHS was never in danger of collapsing, as we were told. Entire departments were empty, excess capacity in the paid-for private sector and the Nightingale hospitals was never used.

Meanwhile, hospital admissions for Covid were misrepresented by bundling together patients who were actually admitted for Covid, patients admitted for some other condition who happened to test positive for Covid, and patients unlucky enough to contract Covid while in hospital. Stay at Home to Save the NHS turns out to have been a very bad deal for the British public who now face hospital waiting lists in excess of eight million. More than 250 people a week could be dying because of long waits in A&E. Why did no one tell us that would happen? Oh.

Conspiracy Theory No 3: I said vaccine mandates were both discriminatory (creating social lepers) and pointless because the Covid jabs neither completely prevented infection nor transmission.

Reality: When it was belatedly admitted that the Covid vaccines neither completely stopped infection nor prevented transmission, I recall no apology to those of us who had been called Granny Killers and accused of peddling misinformation.

Nor, by the way, was I ever anti-vax. I had two AstraZeneca jabs and consider myself jolly lucky not to have had any of the side-effects suffered by some. As I argued at the time, mandatory Covid vaccines being brought in for care home workers in 2021 was a catastrophe in the making. Thousands upon thousands of workers left their jobs. It created a staffing crisis which is now responsible for bed-blocking in hospitals because elderly patients have no care home place to go to. The Government revoked the mandate by March 2022. Too late. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Conspiracy Theory No 4: Children and young people must not have the Covid vaccine.

Reality: I got myself into hot water for pointing out that it was morally wrong and deeply suspicious when an initially hesitant MHRA approved the Covid vaccine for youngsters. Where were the medical ethics? Although Covid vaccines mitigate serious symptoms in elderly and vulnerable people, they should never have been offered to the younger, healthier population where there was nearly all risk and practically no benefit.

Reported cases of myocarditis, more common in young males under 25, are worrying and highly credible. Only this week, I read about a preliminary scientific paper which investigates a hypothesis that increased fits in babies and small children are related to the jab.

Dear God. I could go on, and on, and on. I have left out the impact on our economy of spending 70 billion on furlough (as Halligan, a brilliant economist, suggested, millions did indeed get used to enforced indolence and free money and decided they liked it well enough not to return to work).

Altogether, we printed a boggling 450 billion to pay for the whole futile farrago; our grandchildren and great-grandchildren will still be picking up the tab long after Covid-19 has taken its rather undistinguished place in history.

A third-division pandemic, Professor Gupta calls it. Even recalling that list of horrific collateral damage makes me upset. How unforgivably cruel those draconian restrictions were. The playgrounds bolted up, when each one of us should have been outside where it was really hard to catch Covid. The tiny children at the mercy of their abusers; murdered. The lonely and confused who died in nursing homes thinking they were unloved, forgotten. FOR WHAT?

Yes, of course I got some things wrong, but nowhere near as much as the Government and the entire political, medical and scientific establishment. What we now know for certain is our country is weaker, poorer, sicker; our younger generation has taken a battering and recovery is uncertain. FOR WHAT?

Janice Turner insults me for my Covid conspiracies. What ignorance and complacency. Almost every conspiracy theory I wrote between spring 2020 and winter 2022 turned out to be correct, tragically. And is more vindicated by the day. Who are the murderers now?
Majid Jamshidi Doukoshkan, released from indefinite immigration detention under the NZYQ decision, has been charged over an alleged assault on Perth woman Ninette Simons, 73, and her husband Phillip, 76. Photograph: Western Australia police/AAP

A Perth grandmother allegedly assaulted by a freed immigration detainee has asked the immigration minister why the mans ankle monitoring bracelet was removed weeks before the alleged attack.

Ninette Simons, 73, and her 76-year-old husband, Phillip, were allegedly violently assaulted by three men during a home invasion on 19 April, during which Ninette was beaten and $200,000 in jewellery was stolen.

Kuwaiti-born Majid Jamshidi Doukoshkan, previously convicted on drug charges, has been charged over the alleged attack.

Related: Deep concern over alleged assault of 73-year-old Perth woman by detainee released under NZYQ decision

The decision to remove the ankle bracelet from the 43-year-old Doukoshkan, was made in March by the Community Protection Board, a panel of justice system experts set up by the government in the wake of the high court ruling in the NZYQ case, that found indefinite immigration detention was unlawful.

Doukoshkan had previously been obliged to wear the monitor after being released from immigration detention, part of a cohort of about 150 former detainees released as a result of the court decision.

During an interview with Channel Nine on Wednesday, the immigration minister, Andrew Giles, rang Ninette Simons. She questioned him about the lack of monitoring for Doukoshkan, who had already been accused of breaching his bail conditions.

Why was his ankle bracelet removed in March? she asked the minister.

Giles said that he was seeking information from the three-member Community Protection Board.

I dont feel very safe here unfortunately, I dont. But Im doing my best to live here, Simons told Giles.

Any noise I hear, any doorbell rings, Im just jumping out of my skin  we should feel safe, but we feel we have been let down.

Court documents show there had been earlier issues with Doukoshkans monitoring. On 13 February, his electronic monitoring showed a low battery  a fact known to the Australian federal police. The device went flat on 14 February.

The next day, Doukoshkan emailed police about problems charging the device. It was not until 16 February that AFP officers visited Doukoshkan to check on him.

Doukoshkan faced court in February over alleged curfew breaches. Bail was not opposed by the commonwealth, and the charges were later dropped over an administrative error around the issuing of his visa.

Doukoshkan was wearing the ankle bracelet at his court hearing in February, but in March it was judged he no longer needed to wear it.

Doukoshkan was bailed again by a Western Australian court several days before the alleged attack, after being charged with a drug-related offence.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, was asked on ABC radio on Thursday morning about the decision not to continue monitoring Doukoshkan.

The Community Protection Board is, of course, a board thats independent of politicians  Its not appropriate for me to comment on individual cases, particularly ones that are before the courts. And this matter is, of course, before the court.

Albanese said: My thoughts are very much with Ninette Simons and with those directly affected. It is unacceptable. Theres no place for violence in our society.
Reform UK claims the content shared by its parliamentary candidates are comedy memes. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA

Reform UK has chosen to stand by candidates who have promoted conspiracy theories online, called the climate emergency make-believe and expressed vaccine-sceptic views.

Those fringe views, and more, were put forward by a group of seven candidates selected to stand for the rightwing populist party at the next general election  including several who will contest seats that some analyses consider to be their top targets.

In an indication of the types of beliefs that Reform is willing to give a platform to, the party said it was proud to field them as prospective parliamentary candidates (PPCs) on Thursday.

Related: Is Reform UK on the rise? Blackpools soup kitchen candidate will find out

Among the views the party has publicly backed are Chris Farmers claim that the climate emergency was invented as cover for a plan to install dictators in positions of power. The PPC for Gloucester also said a group of mayors representing the worlds leading cities was trying to use the climate emergency to justify banning people from travelling by private car.

Reform has also backed Trevor Lloyd-Joness promotion of content online relating to the 15-minute city conspiracy theory.

Lloyd-Jones, who is the partys candidate in Aldershot  identified as one of Reforms top targets  spread anti-vaccine content on Facebook, as well as a post that falsely claimed the former health secretary Matt Hancock killed [pensioners] with midazolam [a sedative] and called it Covid.

The party has also backed Lynn Murphy  their candidate in Easington, another key seat  who referred to a make-believe climate crisis and said: You are deluded if you think the world is going to end due to climate change.

In recent months, Reform has been forced to drop a host of PPCs for expressing objectionable views, prompting serious questions about the vetting processes of a party some polls have in third place. Earlier this month, the partys leader, Richard Tice, claimed it had published its candidates list so the media could carry out vetting on its behalf.

But Reform appears to have changed approach more recently, telling the Mirror days later that it was standing by a candidate accused of posting racist messages online  characterising the posts as merely asking questions of the leftwing establishment.

Also deemed acceptable behaviour by Reform was Hamish Haddows claim that the RNLI  which is often called upon to rescue people who have attempted the perilous Channel crossing to reach the UK  has been working as a taxi service for illegal immigrants.

Haddow, the partys PPC in Chipping Barnet, stood down as a Conservative candidate for local elections in 2022 after saying he was rooting for Vladimir Putin. He claimed later he was joking about the reference to Putin. This did not bar his selection for Reform.

The party has also backed Andrea Whitehead, who has posted online about the chemtrail conspiracy theory, which claims vapour trails left in aircrafts wakes are evidence that malign forces are spraying the populace with dangerous chemicals.

Also judged acceptable by Reform this week was Alex Stevensons promotion of anti-vaccine content online. In addition, the prospective candidate for the key Amber Valley seat promoted some of the conspiracy theories pushed by the former Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen, who lost the whip in January after comparing the use of Covid vaccines to the Holocaust.

Reform has said it will stand by the PPC Noel Matthews, who is also the party official often given responsibility for dropping fellow PPCs whose views have been judged to be too toxic.

Matthews, who stood unsuccessfully in 2019, was reselected for the next general election in the knowledge he had reportedly defended the convicted fraudster and far-right agitator Tommy Robinson online, as well as saying Islamophobia was made up.

Far from distancing Reform from such views as those put forward by the seven PPCs, a party spokesperson indicated some were in tune with official party policy.

The spokesperson claimed the newly uncovered posts amounted only to a series of people posting mostly comedy memes and questions about issues that affect many people of the country. The spokesperson added: Some of their views may be considered eccentric, but none here are malicious.

The spokesperson confirmed that the party supported opposing net zero and the climate-change agenda and believed Covid lockdowns had been damaging to the country, its economy and the wellbeing of its people.

Whitehead said she viewed the coming to light of her posts about chemtrails as an opportunity for free publicity.

Matthews claimed never to have said Islamophobia was made up, adding: I do not deny that there is unwarranted hatred of Muslims in society and I abhor it. He said he was quoting someone else when he tweeted the words Islamophobia is a silly, made up word. And he did not respond to a request to clarify how his denial tallied with separately tweeting: Is it Islamaphobia or Islamophobia? I missed it when that word was made up.

Lloyd-Jones and Haddow declined to comment. Stevenson, Murphy and Farmer have not responded to requests for comment.
Put the joy back into travelling with this essential airport guide - Getty/E+

The time for holidays is finally here. But these days a certain level of anxiety accompanies our trips abroad. Beyond the extreme heat and wildfires in Europe, airport worker walkouts and European air traffic control strikes added an extra layer of stress to proceedings last year. Time will tell if 2024 sees similar.

The prospect of airport queues  while so far not comparable to the chaos of 2023  may also be causing passengers pre-holiday nerves. And while its impossible to mitigate against strikes, delays or cancellations, there are a number of tips to help increase your chances of a smoother airport experience.

Here we run through a host of hacks to help start your holiday off on the right note.

Choose flight times carefully

This ship may have sailed but for future reference, early morning flights can be a better bet as delays tend to have a knock-on effect as the day goes on  particularly for budget airlines whose planes make numerous trips each day. Given that hold-ups and cancellations tend to lead to increased queues and chaos throughout the terminal, that early start may prove worth it.

However, there is also an argument for booking flights late at night, as this is typically a less popular time to travel. As such, the airport is likely to be quieter and the security lines more manageable. The difference may be particularly marked at Europe-focused airports such as Stansted or Luton.

Download mobile boarding passes for quick and smooth sailing through security - Getty/Moment RF

Check-in online and pay for carry-on luggage

Without stating the obvious, checking in online can save precious time at the airport  and can often save money. And its always wise to print your boarding pass as well having a digital version in case of any technical failures on the day.

When it comes to luggage, an increasing number of airlines now charge for cabin bags larger than a small rucksack. So your options are travelling extremely light or paying for carry-on or hold luggage. And while it may be frustrating forking out for a small wheelie case, the joy of sailing straight through to security could prove a worthwhile investment. Plus you wont have to deal with that dispiriting wait at baggage reclaim on the other side.

Drop your luggage at the airport the night before

In the age of online check-in, the two airport pinch points are now bag drop and security. However, some airlines now mitigate against one of these lines by giving passengers the option of dropping their bags off the night before they travel.

British Airways offers a twilight bag drop at Heathrow Terminal 5 from 4-10pm for flights departing before 10am. At Gatwick passengers with flights before 1pm can drop off luggage between 6-9pm the night before. Other airlines who provide the service (with varying time constraints) include easyJet and Tui.

Of course, this tip will likely only be relevant to those staying at an onsite hotel, or those who happen to live close to the airport. Others may be less inclined to take multiple trips to Heathrow just to avoid a queue.

Some airports enable you to drop off your check-in luggage the night before you fly - Getty/iStock

Dont arrive excessively early

This may seem counter-intuitive, but arriving more than three hours early for your flight could actually increase queues, with multiple flight loads of passengers causing bottlenecks at security and beyond.

Committed early birds should also be warned that some airports will only allow you to go through security, or to drop your bags, four hours before departure. Still, for those determined to arrive at the crack of dawn, Heathrows check-in desks and security usually opens at 4am, while at Gatwicks North Terminal security opens at 2am.

Use the check-in or bag drop line closest to first/business travel

While by no means a hard and fast rule, next time you fly it might be worth choosing the check-in line closest to the one reserved for first- and business-class passengers. Some frequent flyers have noted that if the economy queue becomes unwieldy, the nearest passengers may be beckoned over to enjoy an expedited check-in.

While there, you could always try your luck asking for an upgrade or at least how much it might cost to bump up to business class (some airlines offer special deals on the day) as staff on the premium desks may be more plugged-in to whats available.

Choose the security checkpoint on your left

Weve all been there  when standing in a lengthy queue for security, you are suddenly confronted with a choice of which lane to plump for. One is always quicker and inevitably you pick badly. As time ticks on, you havent even secured a plastic tray while that loud couple behind you who went the other way are already through and munching on their Pret croissants.

However, there may be a way to ensure a speedier process. Studies have shown that people naturally tend to turn right when presented with a choice (due to the majority of us being right-handed), leaving queues on the left often a little shorter. So next time remember left is best.

Paying for fast-track security during busy periods can save you time - Getty/iStock

Pay for fast-track security

It may be frustrating to fork out for a faster security line, but the investment might feel worth it when you spy the snaking queue for everyone else. Still, theres no total guarantee that the priority security will prove significantly quicker.

Note that airports have different policies when it comes to fast track security. Stansted charges 8 for access to a dedicated priority lane and the service must be booked in advance. The airport also offers fast-track passport control for your return journey (6).

Gatwick, meanwhile, charges 6 if booked in advance, and 8 at the airport, while Lutons fee is 4 when reserved online or 8 from airport kiosks. The service is not currently available to book at Heathrow, though it may be offered through your airline.

This story was first published in July 2023 and has been revised and updated.
Fossil fuel companies will be allowed to explore for oil and gas under offshore wind-power sites for the first time, the government will announce on Friday, in a move that campaigners said is further proof that ministers are abandoning the climate agenda.

The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), which regulates North Sea oil and gas production, will confirm that it is granting licences to about 30 companies to look for hydrocarbons on sites earmarked for future offshore windfarms.

The move has brought renewed criticism of Rishi Sunak from environmentalists, including from the prime ministers own former net zero tsar, who worry that any future oil and gas production could hamper clean energy generation.

But it will also give the embattled prime minister a welcome piece of news to sell to his restive backbenchers  many of whom are keen to see more oil and gas production in the North Sea  the day after what are set to be a bruising set of local election results.

Chris Skidmore, the former Conservative MP who recently quit as Sunaks net zero champion in protest at the governments climate policies, said: With a general election just months away, this is a deeply irresponsible and divisive move that goes against all advice from the International Energy Agency or the UN, and regrettably will further set back the UKs climate reputation.

Instead of wind powering new oil, the investment should instead be in more wind and renewables. More fossil fuels will only create stranded assets and stranded jobs at a time when demand for oil and gas is falling.

He added: This is a political and cynical stunt that will only backfire  We need to stop playing politics with climate and peoples future, and take a grownup position on seeking to find consensus for an end date to new oil and gas.

A spokesperson for the NSTA said: The NSTA have worked closely with other regulators to consider matters of co-location with offshore wind and other users.

Sources say that the oil exploration itself will not involve any drilling, with companies largely using data to decide whether sites have the potential to be profitable for extraction.

Supporters of the scheme add that if any of the sites under windfarms prove suitable for production, oil and gas platforms will be able to use power from the wind turbines to lower their emissions. They will also have to strike an agreement with windfarm operators before they can begin drilling.

Experts say, however, that the emissions from burning any oil and gas produced will far outweigh whatever is saved in the drilling and extraction processes. They add that Fridays announcement is likely to undermine investor confidence in Britains green energy sector as a whole.

The Guardian understands that investors in offshore wind have already expressed concern to the government about the decision, even threatening to pull out of the UK clean power sector altogether.

Doug Parr, policy director at Greenpeace UK, said: Its hard to think of a worse use of clean electricity from windfarms than powering the dirty industry thats driving the climate crisis. Its like using a nicotine patch to roll a cigarette.

Sunak has made a series of announcements since becoming prime minister to roll back the governments climate policies, including delaying the end of new sales of petrol and diesel cars and giving the green light for the huge new Rosebank oilfield off the coast of Shetland.

The prime minister has said the policies are part of a push to bring energy costs down and improve energy security. But his critics believe Sunak is using them as a dividing issue between the Conservatives and Labour going into this years general election.

Last month, Chris Stark, the outgoing head of the Climate Change Committee, accused the prime minister of abandoning Britains reputation as a world leader in the fight against the climate crisis.

Sunak, however, is also under pressure from Tory rebels, with the party more than 20 points behind in the polls and heading for heavy losses after Thursdays local elections. A group of unhappy backbenchers is planning a move to unseat him altogether if the Tories lose the mayoralties in both the Tees Valley and the West Midlands this weekend.

No 10 has been working for weeks on a fightback plan to ward off any potential coup, and sources have told the Guardian the prime minister is likely to put his energy policies at the heart of any offer he makes to get his own MPs back on side.

Fridays announcement marks the third phase in the 33rd round of North Sea oil and gas licensing. Earlier this year the government gave licences to 17 companies to look for hydrocarbons, including Shell, Equinor, BP, Total and Neo.

This phase differs from previous ones, however, because officials are opening up parts of the sea which have been leased to offshore wind operators for the first time. The government issues about 100 licences a year, only 2% of which go on to receive consent for production.

Dan McGrail, the chief executive of the trade body RenewableUK, said: Prioritising offshore wind over oil and gas isnt just the right choice for the planet, but given renewables are the lowest-cost means of generating power, we should be doing this for bill payers.

Parr said: Most of the planet-heating emissions from oil and gas rigs come from burning the polluting fuels, not extracting them.

At best, this will make a small dent in the carbon footprint of a few oil companies operations. But more likely than not, it will end up greenwashing the fossil fuel industrys image just as the government keeps trying to expand extraction against the advice of leading scientists and experts.

A spokesperson for the energy department said: To strengthen our energy security and grow the economy, we want to maximise the huge energy potential of the North Sea.

We will continue to need oil and gas over the coming decades as we increase our share of renewables; thats why we welcome the work by the NSTA and the Crown Estates to facilitate the co-location of wind and oil and gas projects as the offshore space gets busier.
The 15-year-old has appeared in a Sydney court charged with conspiring to engage in an act in preparation for, or planning, a terrorist act. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP

The youngest member of a group of teenagers accused of conspiring to plan a terror attack has been denied bail on the grounds that he posed an unacceptable risk to society.

The 15-year-old had his head in his hands as he heard magistrate James Vineys decision, which means he could remain in custody for more than 12 months, awaiting trial.

He, alongside five other teenagers, has been charged with conspiracy to engage in preparation for, or planning, a terrorist act. After search warrants were executed last week, two other teenagers have been charged with possessing or controlling violent extremist material.

Viney said his decision to refuse bail was based on some of the encrypted messages revealed to the court yesterday, including some where the teenager allegedly explicitly told a group chat with his alleged co-conspirators that he wanted to stab Jews and Assyrians.

Related: Quiet and respectful Sydney teenager part of group wanting to stab non-Muslims, court told

In another message, he allegedly said he was actually thinking of doing an attack, and in another instance, said he wanted to do it to a bunch of Jews.

I am so cut, I want to do it so bad, he allegedly said in another message revealed to court on Wednesday.

Viney said these revealed an unacceptable risk to the protection of the community.

The messages clearly set up the young person wanting to do something catastrophic, Viney said.

The magistrate said this was of paramount consideration and found the boys alleged explicit threats to stab Jewish or Assyrian people and a previous alleged assault to be gravely concerning.

Viney said it was obvious the teenagers parents loved and cared for him.

They had confiscated his phone in the days after a 16-year-old allegedly stabbed bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel at a church in western Sydney, when they noticed the teens heightened activity.

Viney said the parents had tried very hard to deal with their sons problems as he has grown older and that they were genuinely shocked at the charges he is facing.

The magistrate said if the only consideration was the young mans wellbeing, the decision might have been different.

Outside court, the boys solicitor, Ahmed Dib, said he would be appealing against the decision in the supreme court, and that the teenagers family was disappointed.

Theyre a loving family, so you can imagine their disappointment, he said. Theyre loving parents who also have younger children to worry about, he said.

The teenager is due back in court on 21 June.
Tents cluster near Dublin's Office of International Protection

A couple of years ago, I noted in passing on Twitter (as it then was) that there was an international border between the UK and Ireland on the island of Ireland. To my surprise, Irish nationalists piled in to deny this objective legal reality. I couldnt help recalling George Orwells comment that, for nationalists, a known fact may be so unbearable that it is habitually pushed aside  or on the other hand it may enter into every calculation and yet never be admitted as a fact.

Or indeed both of those things. Such doublethink is evident in the Irish governments handling of the current migration row with Britain. In fact, it is not at all clear that the asylum and immigration problem in Ireland has been much boosted, let alone created, by our Rwanda policy. But it suits the Irish establishment to claim that its the Brits fault, and certainly one can empathise, if not exactly sympathise, with their wish to outflank the Sinn Fein monster  even if they do expect us to put up with it in Belfast.

The problem this gives the Irish is that, having decided to blame us, they must try to control movement of asylum seekers south across the border, while maintaining their long-standing position that there must be no controls at that border. Not surprisingly, this is hard to carry off and they can only do so by claiming that the necessary controls are non-intrusive and dont need to be at the border.

This probably all sounds wearisomely familiar. Its certainly awkward for the Irish, because it is the same as the British position on customs and trade in late 2019 and again in the abandoned Northern Ireland Protocol Bill. We argued that the customs border could be at the land border, managed through exactly such behind the border checks and appropriate legal enforcement. We were told that this was simply impossible, a unicorn, and would risk violence. In 2019, Parliament forced us to back down. In 2023, it was the British Government that backed down and signed the Windsor Framework instead. Thats why we have the current mess.

In responding to this latest crisis, the British Government, from the Prime Minister down, has chosen to enjoy the turned tables and lecture the Irish about the value of maintaining an open border. Irish self-righteousness makes this totally understandable, but it still misses the point. It is a feel-good tactic not an actual strategy.

For one thing, we arent immune to the same problems. One might forget, from the PMs comments, that the British Government will soon require an ETA, a travel authorisation, for non-resident third country nationals travelling from Ireland to Northern Ireland. Presumably, we intend to police this in some way  and indeed who can really doubt that, if for some reason, the flow of illegal migrants was in the other direction, we would seek to make that requirement bite as close to the border as we could?

For another, how can it possibly be in our interests now to be arguing for an open border, when Irish and EU demands for this have caused so much damage to our interests? We want, or should want, a meaningful land border. We really shouldnt be arguing for it to become even less significant than it is now, with third country nationals able in practice to wander across it at will.

So, even if it goes against the grain, the correct course of action is to let the Irish do what they want, noting that this is entirely achievable without fences and border posts. In an ideal world, we would then go on to argue the same could be done for goods and customs arrangements, too, but unfortunately the Government, at least under current leadership, has sold that pass with the Windsor Framework.

Still, the precedent is set; and just because we cant do the latter doesnt mean we have no interest in the former.

Like it or not, the United Kingdom and Ireland are deeply entwined as countries and as people for a whole raft of historical and political reasons. The Common Travel Area, the fact that anyone born in Northern Ireland may choose Irish citizenship, the common voting rights, all this is highly unusual among two independent countries. But it is precisely this deep intertwining that means we have to be clear about fundamentals.

One of those fundamentals is clarity about the border. We currently have a border for people in one place, a border for customs in another place, and both British and Irish governments denying that one or other of them really exists at all. This Schrodingers border isnt going to work. The current arrangements may be intended to avoid friction but will in fact generate endless anomalies, instability, and conflict. They cant last.

In the end, the legal border can only be in one place not two, and everyone must agree on where. The only long-run stable situations are for it to be at the current land border or in the Irish Sea. If we dont want it to be the latter, we must show it can work when its at the former.
Donald Trump speaks to members of the media at the Manhattan criminal court on Thursday - Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg via REUTERS

Donald Trump was accused of further violating his gag order with corrosive and insidious attacks on witnesses, days after the judge overseeing his hush money case warned the former president he could be jailed for future breaches.

Prosecutors claimed Mr Trump violated his gag order in remarks made during broadcast interviews and in the hallway outside the Manhattan courtroom where the trial is being held.

The alleged breaches include statements about Michael Cohen, a witness in the case, the jury, and former tabloid boss David Pecker, who testified last week.

Mr Trump called Cohen, his former lawyer and fixer, a convicted liar in remarks last month.

He also also made comments about the alleged political leaning of the jury.

That jury was picked so fast, 95 per cent Democrats. The areas mostly all Democrat. You think of it as a, just a purely Democrat area, Mr Trump told Real Americas Voice last Monday.

Prosecutor Christopher Conroy also claimed Mr Trumps remarks that Mr Pecker had been very nice during his testimony was classic carrot and stick. He said this was deliberate and it was calculated.

A Trump supporter screams outside Trump Tower before the former president departed to attend his criminal trial on Thursday - Mike Segar/Reuters

Calling on Judge Juan Merchan to hand Mr Trump another $4,000 fine  $1,000 for each alleged violation  Mr Conroy said Mr Trumps attacks create an air of menace.

He said the defendant had been engaged in persistent and escalating rhetoric aimed at participants in this proceeding but the prosecution was not yet seeking jail.

Todd Blanche, one of Mr Trumps lawyers, showed the court a string of unfettered attacks lodged at Mr Trump by Cohen.

Mr Cohen should not be part of this gag order, he does not need to be protected, Mr Blanche said.

He also referenced comments by Joe Biden last week in which he said Mr Trump had had a few tough days lately. You might call it stormy weather.

Mr Trump shrugged as Mr Merchan said he was certainly allowed to respond to something said by President Biden.

The judge will rule on the four alleged gag order violations at a later date.

Trump fined $9,000 for nine violations

On Tuesday, Mr Trump was held in criminal contempt for nine violations of the court order which prohibits statements about witnesses, jurors and court staff.

Mr Merchan fined Mr Trump $9,000 and ordered the Republican nominee to remove the offending posts from his Truth Social account and his campaign website.

The judge said he would not tolerate further violations and if necessary and appropriate he would impose an incarceratory punishment.

Mr Merchan also suggested he would like the option to hand Mr Trump a higher fine to urge him to respect the order.

Criminal contempt is only punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 or by 30 days in prison for each violation.

He said in such cases it would be preferable to impose a fine more commensurate with the wealth of the contemnor, such as a fine of up to $150,000 per violation.

The trial resumed on Thursday with the continuation of Keith Davidsons testimony. Mr Davidson previously represented porn star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal.

Mr Trump is accused of falsifying internal business records to cover up hush money payments - including $130,000 given to Ms Daniels by Cohen - recording them instead as legal expenses.

He has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
When Meghna Nair, a second-year student at the University of California, Los Angeles, saw a masked group of people headed toward the pro-Palestine encampment on campus late on Tuesday evening, she expected trouble.

I knew where they were going. I had an idea what they planned to do, she said. I didnt know what to do.

Related: California leaders condemn violence at UCLA after raid on pro-Palestine camp

But the violence that unfolded on the public universitys campus overnight and the slow response from authorities shocked Nair and other UCLA students.

Late on Tuesday night, a masked group surrounded the encampment in solidarity with Gaza, throwing fireworks and violently attacking students. Students and reporters for multiple outlets said university-hired security forces locked themselves in nearby buildings and police looked on for hours before intervening.

UCLA cancelled all classes on Wednesday and with the exception of the central meeting area, the normally lively campus was mostly deserted. A helicopter hovered overhead throughout the morning while groups of security guards and law enforcement stood around the sectioned off encampment. Students slowed as they passed the barricades, taking in the scene.

Noah, a law student who preferred to use only his first name, said he was horrified by the violence, which he described as akin to a battle. This is like sacred ground to me, he said, pointing to the large lawn and stately brick buildings. It reminded me of January 6. It was terrifying.

UCLA, like universities across the country, has seen continuing protests over the war in Gaza. Nair said the demonstrations at UCLA were largely peaceful when she attended last week, shortly after the encampment was established.

It was beautiful. It was really amazing to see so many young people come together like that all on their own, Nair said. The amount of support and passion that they had was just overflowing.

But tensions had been rising on campus, students said. Jewish students have reported feeling unsafe and described some of the behavior of demonstrators as antisemitic.

Its been absolute chaos and complete division, said Logan Cyr, a UCLA law student. Its so deeply politicized and its so divided. Cyr said he had faced antisemitism on campus in recent days and that people are frustrated the university allowed protests to continue as they have.

Over the weekend, thousands of pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli demonstrators poured on to the campus, and several groups clashed on Sunday. Video showed people shouting and shoving each other. Some demonstrators attempted to breach a barrier between groups of protesters.

Daniel Harris, a fourth-year student, said he stopped to observe the demonstrations on Tuesday evening, after the university chancellor said the encampment was unlawful, and could see tensions rising anew. Counter-protesters used speakers to play recordings of a crying child at a loud volume. A masked man attempted to hop the fence surrounding the encampment but was forced out by security.

Shortly after Harris witnessed a large group of people wearing black, with white masks that he said were like something from The Purge marching toward the encampment.

I was on the phone with my girlfriend, and I was like, what the fuck is happening right now? What the actual fuck? Ive never seen this in real life. This is stuff that only happens in movies.

After he left, he watched footage of those same demonstrators breaching the barricade and beating protesters in the encampment, Harris said. Video of the scene showed people grappling, throwing chairs and using sticks to beat one another. The violence unfolded for hours without intervention from police or security guards, media outlets reported.

They just let it happen. And it was up to the students to protect themselves, Nair said.

The Los Angeles police department referred questions about the attack to UCLAs campus police, which a spokesperson said was the lead agency in the incident. The campus police have not yet offered comment. UCLAs chancellor said the university is gathering information about the attack and its investigation may lead to arrests, expulsions and dismissals.

I knew where they were going. I had an idea what they planned to do. I didnt know what to do Meghna Nair

Nair said she was sickened by the attacks on students who she viewed as courageous for standing up for what they believe in and advocating for Palestinians.

They didnt start this. This was a peaceful protest, she said. What I saw last night, those people, as far as I know, were just random people coming in on to our campus, full grown adults and they started attacking kids.

Cyr said he believed the group that came on campus was unaffiliated with people behind pro-Israel demonstrations and came to antagonize and take advantage of the chaos. There is so much frustration in the community that the school is allowing [the encampment] to happen, he said. [But] I can never stand behind that sort of violence.

Noah, the UCLA law student, said he wasnt happy with UCLAs approach to the encampment and that he expected to see even more division after this weeks violence.

The campus community is really fractured  and this is really only going to increase it now, he said.
Tensions are boiling over on university campuses across the US as student protests in support of Palestinians continue to grow, and are increasingly met with police violence despite students and faculty insisting the demonstrations have been peaceful.

The White House weighed in on the growing unrest on Thursday. Dissent is essential for democracy, Biden said. But dissent must never lead to disorder.

His words came after more than 100 protesters were arrested at UCLA on Thursday morning in a tense raid that followed several arrests across US campuses on Wednesday. Tensions are high after a weeks-long protest movement over the Israel-Gaza war that has put student demonstrators at odds with university leadership.

Demonstrators have set up encampments on more than 80 campuses across the US and are demanding that academic institutions sever financial ties with Israel or companies that are connected to the Israeli militarys war in Gaza.

The exact number of arrests remains unclear but is believed to have exceeded 1,300 since the start of the latest bout of protests two weeks ago, with more students being detained on Wednesday evening. Heres a summary of the main campuses where arrests have taken place this week:

Columbia University, New York

The protest movement was sparked at New Yorks Columbia University when students pitched tents in the middle of campus and began rallying in support of Palestinians in Gaza on 17 April.

Police first tried to clear the encampment a day later, when they arrested more than 100 people. That move motivated Columbia protesters to regroup.

On Tuesday night hundreds of police entered Columbias campus at the request of the university president after protesters occupied an academic building. Less than two hours later, all protesters had been removed from Columbia.

Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg said 282 arrests had been made at the Columbia and City University of New York, or Cuny, campuses.

University of California, Los Angeles

Police cleared UCLAs student encampment in a late-night operation, and arrested at least 132 pro-Palestine demonstrators early on Thursday morning . The schools student newspaper said hundreds had been arrested, including students and faculty.

The raid came after UCLA was the site of some of the worst violence seen in the protests so far, when counter-protesters forcefully attacked a pro-Palestinian encampment on the campus on Tuesday night.

Fifteen people were injured during the UCLA confrontation, including one person who was hospitalised, while multiple news reports said security guards and law enforcement officials at the scene initially retreated or failed to intervene.

Californias governor, Gavin Newsom, called the violence unacceptable while Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass called for a full investigation into the incident.

Emory University

Emory entered the spotlight last week after students there set up their own encampment; Atlanta police descended on the scene within hours of the tents getting pitched.

Faculty members were even caught on camera being arrested by Atlanta police in riot gear.

Police deployed tear gas and beat students with batons to force them to disperse. At least 28 individuals  20 of whom were Emory University community members  were arrested on 26 April.

In a widely shared video, the philosophy department chair, Noelle McAfee, was seen being handcuffed by police. She asked the person recording to inform her colleagues that shed been arrested.

CNN reported the economics professor Caroline Fohlin was also arrested and charged with battery against a police officer.

The university is now under federal investigation for anti-Muslim discrimination, per a recent Guardian report, with students claiming they have been doxxed, and called terrorists and Hamas-sympathizers.

George Washington University

In Washington DC, students pitched their tents on the schools University Yard just over a week ago. The encampment is being overseen by DC Metropolitan police and has yet to be dismantled.

Nearby House republicans have visited the protest in an attempt to agitate the campus.

The far-right representative Lauren Boebert of Colorado told a crowd on Wednesday through a megaphone: The mayor must step up and do something to clear this. This is not the summer of love and we are not bowing a knee to the terrorists who caused the riots and chaos is in our cities anymore.

City University of New York

About 170 of the total 282 arrests were blocks away at the Cuny campus, reports said, with the total number of students involved unclear.

In a statement, the university said the calling in of police on Tuesday night was a public safety approach [that] was a response to repeated acts of violence and vandalism.

Video footage showed officers forcing some protesters to the ground late on Tuesday and shoving others as they cleared the street and sidewalks. The City news site said an unspecified number of staff and faculty stayed home from work on Wednesday in solidarity with the protesters.

Fordham University, New York

Police officers in riot gear began arresting protesters on Wednesday evening, the New York Times reported, adding that demonstrators did not appear to resist.

The universitys chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) had organized a small encampment in the Lowenstein Lobby building to urge Fordham to divest from Israel on Wednesday morning.

The university paper, the Fordham Ram, reported that all students participating in the encampment had been arrested and suspended by 6.30pm. The university said it had called in the police with the utmost regret but added that it had requested a police presence until 22 May.

The citys pro-Palestine movement reassembled across four different locations on Wednesday evening, including at a joint Columbia and City universities gathering at the Cuny campus in Harlem.

University of Wisconsin, Madison

In Madison on Wednesday, a scrum broke out after police with shields removed all but one tent at the universitys encampment and shoved protesters. Four officers were injured, including a state trooper who was hit in the head with a skateboard, authorities said.

More tents sprang up within hours. More than 30 people were initially detained, but police said only four were charged, with battering law enforcement.

University of Arizona, Tucson

Police at the University of Arizona in Tucson fired non-lethal chemical weapons at protesters and arrested four people in the early hours of Wednesday, the Arizona Daily Star reported, to break up a protest camp that had been set up on Tuesday. At least one protester was hit with a rubber bullet.

The universitys president, Robert C Robbins, said polices minimal use of pepper balls and rubber bullets in breaking up the protest was warranted and claimed that officers had been assaulted with projectiles.

Student leaders disagreed with the police tactics, saying: the use of force against peaceful students has never and will never deserve to have a place on our campus.

University of Texas, Dallas

The University of Texas in Dallas confirmed that 17 protesters had been arrested on its campus as of Wednesday evening, after police moved in at the request of university officials.

According to local media, the police operation involved dozens of state troopers in riot gear. The entire encampment was dismantled within about 20 minutes and additional law enforcement remained on the campus until about 6pm.

About 100 protesters are reportedly continuing demonstrations on another part of the campus.

Another Gaza solidarity encampment protest was set up on Thursday in UT Arlington.

The schools flagship university, the University of Texas, Austin, has also seen two police crackdowns since a student encampment was set up last week, which has since been dismantled by police and security.

At least 79 people were arrested on Monday and sent to Travis county jail.

Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana

Fourteen people including two students were arrested early on Wednesday when police were called in to clear a two-day encampment, the Tulane Hullabaloo news site reported. University officials said they supported free speech and the freedom to protest but were opposed to trespassing, hate speech and antisemitism.
More than 15,000 people were evacuated from Kabul in an effort led by the British military - NEWSPIX

A whistleblower has taken the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to an employment tribunal after she was sacked for speaking out against the Governments handling of the Afghanistan evacuation.

Josie Stewart, a former senior official at the department, has alleged unfair dismissal for making a protected disclosure after she gave an anonymous interview about her tragic experiences working in the FCDOs crisis centre during Operation Pitting in 2021.

The operation was launched after the Taliban gained control of Afghanistan and resulted in the safe evacuation of 15,000 people from Kabul, in an effort led by the British military.

However, on Thursday, Ms Stewart attended an employment tribunal against the department.

According to Ms Stewarts lawyers her case will decide the extent of the rights of civil servants to make public interest disclosures to the press when misleading claims from ministers and civil servants are made to Parliament and the media.

Documents supplied to the Central London Employment Tribunal read: [Ms Stewart] believed that the Governments mismanagement of the crisis caused huge amounts of avoidable suffering in Afghanistan and that it had probably cost lives.

Ms Stewart also suggested Prime Minister Boris Johnson, then-foreign secretary Dominic Raab and other political and civil service leaders made misleading claims about the success of the evacuation efforts in Afghanistan and the performance of the crisis centre.

She said in some instances officials were deliberately dishonest.

The tribunal heard Mr Johnson was involved in an outrageous decision to allow animals and staff working for the charity Nowzad to use Kabul airport which he then publicly denied involvement with  an allegation Ms Stewart had put before the Foreign Affairs Select Committee in 2022.

The 2021 operation was the biggest mission of its kind in generations and the second largest evacuation carried out by any country - BEN SHREAD/PA

Internal emails, to which Ms Stewart had access, demonstrated that Mr Johnson had been involved in the decision, her lawyers argued.

They added: Demonstrating that the [Prime Minister] had intervened in a potentially life and death scenario to favour a less vulnerable group over a more vulnerable group, and then publicly denied doing so, is a matter of quintessential public interest.

Mr Raab had told the same committee in September 2021 that he believed the crisis centre had met requirements, a comment Ms Stewart had suggested was misleading at a preliminary tribunal hearing last year.

Ms Stewart  whose anonymity was compromised after her unredacted emails were accidentally posted on social media  did not feel safe disclosing her concerns internally at the FCDO as she feared the department may have put a black mark against my name, tribunal judges heard.

Her lawyers said this left the whistleblower in an impossible situation as she believed it was in the public interest to speak out about how the Government had failed and subsequently attempted to cover up those failures.

In a witness statement referred to at an earlier preliminary hearing, Ms Stewart claimed she witnessed denial, lies and the complete lack of accountability while working on the Afghan crisis response.

She said: In my career as a civil servant, I witnessed many failings within government and was privy to much information that would have made a good news story.

I disclosed none of it.

Foreign policy failure

But through the Afghan evacuation, I witnessed both the biggest foreign policy failure of our time and the shameful handling of the resulting crisis.

Lawyers for the FCDO had previously challenged the admissibility of some of Ms Stewarts evidence on the grounds that including parts of her witness testimony would breach article nine of the Bill of Rights 1689 and general principles of parliamentary privilege.

Article nine says: The freedom of speech and debates or proceedings in Parliament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Parliament.

In November, the employment tribunal decided to allow some of the whistleblowers contested evidence, but redacted some elements.

An FCDO spokesperson said: The 2021 Afghanistan response was the biggest mission of its kind in generations and the second largest evacuation carried out by any country  and we are proud of our staff who worked tirelessly to evacuate more than 15,000 people within a fortnight.

We have learned lessons from the evacuation and have seen the benefits of this work in our response to the Sudan and Niger evacuations, as well as in our response to Russias invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing situation in the Middle East.

We have continued to provide assistance to those in Afghanistan, including bringing thousands more people to safety. We cannot comment further while legal proceedings are ongoing.

The tribunal will continue until May 20.
Post Office investigators described sub-postmasters as enemies of the business in a previously unseen draft report, the Horizon inquiry has heard.

The report was written by an accountant looking into whether branch accounts could be remotely accessed and raised serious concerns about investigators attitudes towards the sub-postmasters they were interviewing.

The draft report had been based on sub-postmaster cases referred to MPs and Alan Batess Justice for Sub-Postmasters Alliance campaign group.

Yet former in-house lawyer Chris Aujard told the inquiry he would have read the document before putting it to one side and likely took no further action after being handed it in January 2014.

The report, written by Second Sight forensic accountant Ron Warmington, was given to Mr Aujard a few months after he became the Post Offices General Counsel in October 2013, a position he initially held on a six-month fixed-term contract.

Chris Aujard told the inquiry that he 'took no further action' - UNPIXS

Entitled Draft observations on the investigations function, the report described how Post Office investigators were overwhelmingly focused on obtaining an admission of false accounting from the interviewed SPMR [sub-postmaster] (or employee).

[Post Office] investigators often appear to have paid scant attention to the interviewees assertions of innocence or his/her reference to specific transaction anomalies, it continued.

Mr Warmington went on to write: The overwhelming impression gained from reviewing the transcripts of investigative interviews is that the SPMR was viewed as an enemy of the business.

The culture within the investigation team appears to be one of a presumption of guilt when conducting an investigation, rather than the aim of seeking the truth.

Mr Warmington stated in his introduction to the report that members of the investigation team and senior staff had not been interviewed as part of his research.

Addressing Mr Aujard, inquiry chairman Sir Wyn Williams asked what he had done in response to receiving the report.

Mr Aujard said: My recollection is that I would have read it at the time, put it to one side and that would have informed my thinking more fully about the organisation that I had just joined.

Beyond that I cant recollect taking any further action in relation to this document.

Martin Smith arriving at the Horizon inquiry on Wednesday - Paul Grover/The Telegraph

Later, Martin Smith, a former Cartwright King solicitor, was asked why he did not call the police after discovering sub-postmasters may have been convicted on the basis of unreliable evidence.

Gareth Jenkins, an ex-Fujitsu engineer, helped the Post Office convict several sub-postmasters by giving evidence as an expert witness in their trials. However, in 2013 Cartwright King barrister Simon Clarke issued advice warning that Mr Jenkinss evidence may be unreliable as he had failed to disclose the existence of bugs in previous cases.

Mr Smith and Mr Clarke recorded a phone conversation with Mr Jenkins in the same year, in which they asked him about the bugs.

Addressing Mr Smith, Sam Stein KC, who represents several sub-postmasters, asked the former legal chief why he did not call the police or inform Fujitsu about what had happened.

After a long silence, Mr Smith said I just dont think that was something we thought of.

After being pressed, he added: Myself and Mr Clarke did not discuss that  the fact that we were potentially witnesses or the possibility of informing the police or Fujitsu.

Lawyers for Mr Jenkins have previously said it would be inappropriate for him to comment before giving evidence to the inquiry in June.

On Friday, the inquiry will hear from Jarnail Singh, the Post Offices former head of criminal law.

04:21 PM BST

Thats all for today

Thank you for following The Telegraphs live coverage of today;s Post Office Inquiry, which saw Chris Aujard and Martin Smith questioned by counsel to the inquiry.

The inquiry will continued on Friday and hear from Jarnail Singh, solicitor and former lawyer at Royal Mail Group and Post Office.

You can read more about the Post Office Horizon scandal here.

04:11 PM BST

Fujitsu engineer given no warning about recorded call with lawyers

Former Fujtisu engineer was given no warning about a call with two Cartwright King lawyers, which was recorded without his knowledge.

Heather Oliver, representing Fujitsus Gareth Jenkins, questioned Martin Smith over the call, which took place in 2013.

Ms Oliver asked Mr Smith do you agree Mr Jenkins was given no warning about that call?, to which he responded I do, yes.

Ms Oliver continued to by asking whether the call was to test Mr Jenkins credibility as [he] and Mr Clarke saw it..

Mr Smith said himself and Simon Clarke wanted to find out more information about the cases Mr Jenkins was assisting with.

04:06 PM BST

Simon Clarke sent email with phew amid Seema Misras disclosure case

The inquiry has heard that Martin Smith received an email from Simon Clarke, then a barrister at Cartwright King, which included only word phew.

The email from 2014 contained a full review of the Seema Misra case with the singular word phew and three exclamation marks after Harry Boywer, another Cartwright King employee, was taken off the case.

Mr Smith responded to the email though details of the response were not provided.

03:47 PM BST

Wrongly-convicted sub-postmistress is owed the truth, says Martin Smith

Mr Martin admitted he did not realise Seema Misra was watching him give evidence in person today before acknowledging she is owed the truth.

Lawyer Edward Henry KC, who represents Mrs Misra, was questioning Mr Smith on advice given by Brian Altman KC when he asked: You realise of course that I am sitting next to Mrs Seema Misra today?

To which Mr Smith replied: I didnt realise that.

Mr Henry asked Mr Smith if he believed she is owed the truth to which Mr Smith agreed.

03:43 PM BST

Keep a vice-like grip on disclosure

The inquiry has been shown a document which features Brian Altan, the Post Offices QC, advising the company and their lawyers to keep a vice-like grip on disclosure.

In response, Martin Smith said he did not recall the words vice-like grip ever being used.

Mr Smith continued when pressed by lawyer Edward Henry KC: [Mr Altman] was very much of the view that a casual comment or a throw-away comment or even an apology could actually have substantial ramifications for the Post Office.

03:30 PM BST

Martin Smith met with judge to try and prevent information disclosure

Lawyers successfully applied for details of an incoming Second Sight report to be held back from the trial of a sub-postmasters.

The inquiry was told Martin Smith accompanied Simon Clarke to see a judge in person in order to submit a public interest immunity (PII) application.

This is an application to stop material from being released to the defence in order to prevent a risk of serious prejudice..

Asked about the incident, Mr Smith said: Wed heard from Post Office Ltd of there being a report that theyd referenced two bugs and I dont believe at that point wed had a copy of that, wed only knew what wed been told.

Mr Smith was asked if he had discussed the release of such information causing a widespread loss of confidence in the Post Office and potential adverse publicity.

Mr Smith said he didnt recall such a conversation and the inquiry was told the trial was adjourned for eight weeks as a result of the application.

03:03 PM BST

It is beyond me why we took on prosecution cases, says Martin Smith

Martin Smith has said it was beyond him why his firm decided to take on prosecution cases for the Post Office.

Asked by Sam Stein KC about whether he followed a code of practice in his work, Mr Smith said: It is beyond me as to why the firm decided to take on prosecution work knowing we hadnt been specifically trained in prosecution work.

Whilst there may invariably be codes of practices and other requirements, I think it is difficult to follow them if youre not aware of them.

Counsel to the inquiry reminded Mr Smith that as an individual solicitor he is subject to a code of conduct by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

02:27 PM BST

Lawyers feared giving sub-postmistress ticket to appeal

Lawyers feared giving a sub-postmistress, who was pregnant when imprisoned, a ticket to the Court of Appeal, file notes suggest.

The inquiry was shown notes from a May 2015 telephone call between Martin Smith and Andrew Parsons, then a solicitor at Womble Bond Dickinson.

The notes read: TC [Telephone call] Andy Parsons; MJS [Martin Smith] explaining positon. Issues RE: disclosure; clearly unhelpful if POL proceeds with draft CRR [case review report] responses without regard to disclosure issues; May damage POLs integrity - disclosure may give Misra ticket to C of A.

Julian Blake, counsel to the inquiry, then asked if the reference showed concern of Mrs Misra being able to successfully appeal her conviction, to which Mr Smith told the inquiry this was not the case.

Mrs Misra was handed a 15-month sentence in 2010 following a shortfall of 74,000 at her Surrey Post Office branch

Former sub-postmistress Seema Misra - Eddie Mulholland for The Telegraph

02:07 PM BST

Martin Smith calls banning sub-postmasters from mediation scheme sensible

Martin Smith said he accepted it was a sensible approach to ban convicted sub-postmasters from the mediation scheme.

The inquiry was shown legal advice given to Cartwright King that read: Whilst the issue is strictly outside of our criminal purview, we feel bound to point that the potential for adverse publicity generated by the mediation of criminal applicants - and particularly where some concession, agreement or payment is made by Post Office.

It concluded: We can identify no proper reason for the inclusion of criminal applicants into the scheme.

When asked whether the document reflected his views, Mr Smith said: I think I accepted that as being a sensible approach.

01:59 PM BST

Inquiry resumes

The Post Office Inquiry has resumed after a short break for lunch.

It will pick up where we left off hearing from Martin Smith, solicitor and former Cartwright King employee.

Martin Smith arriving at yesterday's Post Office Inquiry - Paul Grover for the Telegraph

01:57 PM BST

Who is Martin Smith?

Martin Smith is a solicitor and former employee of law firm Cartwright King.

Mr Smith became a prosecuting solicitor who took on Post Office cases under instruction from the organisation.

Having previously been a duty defence solicitor before he joined Cartwright King, he had no prior involvement with the Post Office before his firm won their contract.

Yesterday, we heard Martin Smith questioned over his part in the case of Khayyam Ishaq, who was sentenced to 54 weeks in prison after pleading guilty to theft.

01:10 PM BST

Inquiry breaks for lunch

The Post Office Inquiry has taken a short break for lunch.

It will start again at 1.55pm, with Martin Smith continuing to give evidence.

01:09 PM BST

Martin Smith admits he clearly got it wrong over redacted Horizon tests

Martin Smith has told the inquiry he clearly got it wrong when instructing details of pending tests on Horizon to be redacted from investigator reports.

The ex-Cartwright King solicitor was shown emails exchanged with a Womble Dickinson lawyer concerning an offender report requested by a postmaster seeking to appeal his conviction.

In the May 2015 email, Mr Smith said: I would prefer not to let the applicant see the sentence in Daine Matthews report of 25 Oct 2005, which noted that she was currently awaiting the result of the tests by Fujtisu on the Horizon system if those test results cannot be found.

Such a sentence may well invite a request for the disclosure of test results.

Counsel to the inquiry asked Mr Smith on what basis the redaction could be justified, to which he said looking at this with hindsight, I dont know.

Then asked what was wrong with disclosure requests being made by those convicted, Mr Smith admitted: I clearly got that wrong.

12:55 PM BST

Post Office feared postmasters would use mediation scheme to get ammunition

Martin Smith has said the Post Office feared the mediation scheme for prosecuted sub-postmasters could be used for applicants to gain information to launch an appeal.

Mr Smith has said the company were concerned sub-postmasters would be able to gain ammunition from information in the scheme.

He said: When the mediation scheme was started, it was not ourselves that were raising concern.

It was Post Office that was initially raising concern that concessions could be made - or throw-away comments could be made - which might provide a mediation scheme applicant with some form of ammunition to argue that the case being presented by Post Office at that stage was different to the basis upon which they had been prosecuted.

He added: Whether that had been by Cartwright King or indeed by the Royal Mail group sometime previously, I think it was initially Post Office that were concerned about the convicted applications in the mediation scheme.

12:46 PM BST

Documents used to prosecute sub-postmasters not checked by Mr Smith

Martin Smith said he does not believe he checked Fujitsu engineer Gareth Jenkins witness statements complied with legal requirements before they were used to prosecute sub-postmasters.

The former Cartright King lawyer said: I was simply just not aware of the duties on a prosecutor to actually make sure that an expert witness was fully informed of their duties.

It was clear from when Mr Clarke wrote his advice that we had been seeking reports from Mr Jenkins in a way which perhaps was not well, undoubtedly was not compliant.

Julian Blake, counsel to the inquiry, responded: Did you consider whether his witness statements complied with various legal requirements?

To which Mr Smith said: No, I dont believe I did. I took the view that hed been advised to obtained a section 9 statement and thats what we prepared and we sought to update it in cases in which there as not a guilty pleas. I dont believe I gave it any more thought than that.

Martin Smith, solicitor and former employee of Cartwright King, giving evidence at Thursday's Post Office Inquiry - PA

12:35 PM BST

Why on earth would you think anything sinister would be happening?

Martin Smith has said he was concerned initially about remote access because he did not think anything sinister would be happening at the Post Office or Fujitsu.

Julian Blake, counsel to the inquiry, asked: Did it [remote access] cause you any concerns about all those cases that you had been prosecuted over the years?

Mr Smith responded: Well, I dont think it did when I first became aware of the issue, because I didnt think that anything sinister would be happening.

I mean, this is the Post Office. This is Fujitsu. Why on earth would you think anything sinister would be happening?

12:29 PM BST

How the Post Office Horizon scandal unfolded

12:23 PM BST

Post Office bug discussions happened off-line

Martin Smith has said it was the Post Offices decision to have some discussions about bugs off-line rather than in minuted meetings.

The former Cartwright King solicitor was shown notes relating to internal morning meetings held to discuss concerns.

One note described how a Wimbledon branch could be taken off the agenda, with a note adding: Martin [Smith] and Rodric [Williams] catching up offline.

Julian Balke, counsel to the inquiry, said: It looks very much as though you followed Rodrics request not to correspond on that issue, is that right?

Mr Smith responded by saying it may be that before adding it does look like that, yes.

Mr Smith: But again as far as I was concerned, this issue had been flagged up and it was now in the central record.

If Rodric Williams did not want additional material preparing, from a civil litigation perspective, that was his not my decision.

11:49 AM BST

Post Office used legal privilege to avoid making information public

Asked about the Post Offices commitment to transparency, Martin Smith has said his view of the company changed over time.

He said: I think my view changed over time.

There was certainly a tendency to use legal privilege to cut down the information entering the public area but at this early stage I was certainly of the view that there was going to be a single central hub of information which was going to be accurate.

I could understand the position that the Post Office would wish to avoid from a publicity perspective and also from a civil litigation perspective of potentially having incorrect information.

11:45 AM BST

Cartwright King Solicitors were so concerned by the destruction of Post Office information

Martin Smith, former employee of Cartwright King Solicitors, has been questioned over whether Post Offices bosses misunderstood advice from the law firm.

Mr Smith has been shown documents with advice circulated by the Post Office detailing the destruction of meeting minutes and not typing up comments.

He has maintained this advice was not provided by Cartwright King Solicitors.

He said he was so concerned about what I was being told here that is why I used my other telephone to try and record this, referring to the recording of conversation between himself and Jarnail Singh, then head of the Post Offices criminal law team.

I was concerned that an instruction had been given and information had been destroyed, Mr Smith added.

11:31 AM BST

Inquiry continues with Martin Smith

The inquiry has returned from their break, with Martin Smith, solicitor and former employee of Cartwright King Solicitors, giving evidence.

He is being asked about the recording of a conversation between him and Jarnail Singh, then head of the Post Offices criminal law team.

11:22 AM BST

Inquiry break

The Post Office inquiry has taken a short break and will continue at 11.30am.

In the meantime, you can read the Telegraphs breakdown of the Post Office Horizon scandal here.

11:20 AM BST

Information shouldve been shared with hindsight, says Mr Aujard

Chris Aujard has been questioned by the inquiry on the decision not to share the information that balancing Post Office transactions did not require approval from sub-postmasters.

The fact that sub-postmasters content was not needed was information not shared with the Post Offices mediation scheme because the implications of this were unknown, according to Mr Aujard.

Mr Aujard said: It was known but it was the understanding of the implications of this that were quite different then to what they are today and the reasons for that I just dont know.

I believe knowing what we now know about horizon and the matters that have come to light and the benefit of hindsight, this document or this particularly finding shouldve been.

10:53 AM BST

Chris Aujard denies completely incompetent role in failing to flag Horizon

Chris Aujard has said the need to notify the board of Simon Clarkes advice should have been flagged to him.

He told the inquiry he assumed this report and the Helen Rose review of cases, where Horizon inaccuracies had been a concern, had already been passed on to board members.

Mr Aujard said: In the normal course of events, I would have expected something which is - that is red hot and urgent - to be flagged as such by the individuals briefing me, that is indeed the way general counsels operate.

People brief and inform them of - theres that is the way the role works.

Sam Stein KC asked Mr Aujard how he saw his role in this and whether he saw someone who was completely incompetent, failed to notify the board or was someone who was so risk averse that he preferred to keep the document away from board members.

Mr Aujard said he did not believe his role was any of those and insisted he expected to be briefed on urgent issues.

10:44 AM BST

Chris Aujard: This is a matter of deep regret for me

Chris Aujard has said he feels deep regret after failing to ask questions following a 2016 report into the Horizon system.

The inquiry has been discussing a the team charged with acting in response to a 148-page report by Deloitte, which found that staff at Fujitsu, which built and ran Horizon, could remotely alter sub-postmasters cash accounts.

Looking back at the time of the report, Mr Aujard said: I would have asked the technical people what this really meant in the real world - is this an issue or is this not an issue. From what I know of my past behaviour, that is what I would have done.

He added: If I did do that and I missed something, that is a matter of deep regret for me.

10:31 AM BST

Chris Aujard accused of omitting vital Post Office information from review

The senior Post Office lawyer is facing accusations of leaving out vital information from correspondence in the Criminal Cases Review Commission.

Mr Aujard was shown a letter from 2014 which purports to be a summary of a review into the Post Offices prosecution policy.

Flora Page describes the letter as devoid of any mention of the issues that the CCRC really needed to know about, particularly any mention of the Clarke advice.

Mr Aujard said: That is correct. It doesnt mention the Clarke advice.

Simon Clarke, then a barrister at Cartwright King, had written formal advice in July 2013 suggesting evidence given by Fujitsu engineer Gareth Jenkins was not reliable and recommended not using him for future sub-postmaster prosecutions.

Ms Page added: You acceptedthat the content of the Clarke advice was starting. This is a bland and reassuring letter aimed at making everything go away?

Mr Aujard told the inquiry the letter had been drafted by Bond Dickinson, despite the fact he signed it off.

10:07 AM BST

Senior Post Office lawyer didnt recognise Post Office cover-up

Chris Aujard said he certainly didnt recognise a cover-up taking place on the Post Office Board at the time he was general counsel at the organisation.

Flora Page asked Mr Aujard if the board was going into cover-up mode as concerns around the burgeoning scandal grew, to which he replied: If it was that, I certainly didnt recognise it at the time.

And I certainly would struggle to put my finger on specific instances of someone engaging in cover-up behaviour at the board.

10:04 AM BST

Chris Aujard understands Lord Arbuthnots view of less open Post Office after became counsel

Chris Aujard admitted he can understand why Lord Arbuthnot believed things at the Post Office became less open and more combative after he took on the role as its most senior in-house lawyer.

Lord Arbuthnot, then a Tory MP, began supporting wrongly-accused sub-postmasters at an early stage in the scandal.

Flora Page, who represents several sub-postmasters, asked Mr Aujard what he made of the Tory peers opinion.

Mr Aujard, who is appearing remotely at the inquiry, said his involvement with Lord Arbuthnot was very limited and that he had as little as two meetings with him.

He added: I can understand why from an external perspective he might draw those conclusions.

They were, however, I think as a result of the actions taken in relation to the Mediation Scheme and those actions were very much directed by both the Sparrow subcommittee and the Board, as was seen in my evidence last week.

10:01 AM BST

Chris Aujard admits Post Office was facing legal crisis

The inquiry has begun with Chris Aujard, former General Counsel of the Post Office, being questioned over whether he joined the organisation during a time of legal crisis.

Mr Aujard has denied the word crisis being used by the Post Office within his first six months at the company, although admitted there was apparent scrutiny around the mediation scheme.

He said: The direction that I was given by Paula and Alice Perkins upon joining was that I was there as corporate general counsel and I dont believe the word crisis was used at any time - at least not within the first six months or so.

Asked if there were considerable legal challenges against the Post Office when he joined in his legal opinion, he said: Yes, indeed.

09:49 AM BST

Hearing to start at 9.45am

This mornings inquiry will kick off at 9.45am and see Chris Aujard, former General Counsel of the Post Office, and Martin Smith, Solicitor and former employee of Cartwright King Solicitors, speaking.

Mr Aujard is to speak first from a remote video stream.

09:41 AM BST

Good Morning

Welcome to the Telegraphs live coverage of the Post Office Inquiry.

This morning the inquiry will hear Chris Aujard, the Post Offices former most senior in-house lawyer, questioned by legal representatives of sub-postmasters.

Telegraph reporter Fiona Parker at the inquiry will be bringing you the latest updates here.
Olivia Rodrigo has said she is sooooo disappointed she is unable to perform in Manchester after ongoing venue-related technical issues at the Co-op Live arena.

The 365 million venue, the biggest indoor arena in the UK, had postponed its opening show for the third time just over an hour before rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie was due to perform on Wednesday, confirming there was a problem during the soundcheck.

Vampire singer Rodrigo had been due to perform at the venue on May 3 and 4 as part of her Guts world tour, but those shows have now been postponed.

Olivia Rodrigo said she is disappointed that her shows had to be cancelled (Doug Peters/PA)

She wrote on her Instagram story: Ive been having such a great time in Europe so far and Im sooooo disappointed that were unable to perform in Manchester due to ongoing venue-related technical issues.

Were doing our best to reschedule the show.

You can hold on to your tickets for further info or request a refund at your point of purchase. More info will be sent directly to ticket holders.

Im so bummed and I really hope to see you all soon.

A component of the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system used to direct air had separated from the ductwork, and the installer, contractor and third-party inspector will now have to test each nozzle to confirm they are free from the defect, according to the Oak View Group, which is responsible for the building.

Due to an on-going venue-related technical issue, the scheduled performances of Olivia Rodrigos GUTS World Tour on 3rd and 4th May are being postponed. Ticket holders can either hold onto their tickets or obtain a refund at point of purchase.  Co-op Live (@TheCoopLive) May 1, 2024

Two hours after cancelling A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, the venue confirmed via a statement on X, formerly Twitter, that Rodrigo would not be performing.

It said: Due to an ongoing venue-related technical issue, the scheduled performances of Olivia Rodrigos Guts World Tour on May 3 and 4 are being postponed.

Ticket holders can either hold on to their tickets or obtain a refund at point of purchase.

Three-time Grammy winner Rodrigo took her Guts tour across North America during March and April. She most recently performed at the 3Arena in Dublin, and is expected to perform at Londons O2 on May 14, 15, 17 and 18.

It comes after A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie confirmed something happened during his soundcheck at the venue on Wednesday that caused the cancellation of his show.

Im heated about the situation too, but safety first Manchester, I got you, just stay tuned for further info, he said.

Venue bosses had posted a statement cancelling the performance 10 minutes after the doors were set to open for what was meant to be its first official event, as fans queued outside.

Oak View Group chairman and chief executive Tim Leiweke said: The safety and security of all visiting and working on Co-op Live is our utmost priority, and we could not and will not run any event until it is absolutely safe to do so.

Today was a very unexpected situation but without a doubt the right decision. I deeply apologise for the impact that this has had on ticket holders and fans.

Meanwhile, the Co-operative Group said it was disappointed by the announcement and will seek a full explanation from the Oak View Group.

Due to a venue-related technical issue, tonights A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie show will no longer go ahead. We kindly ask fans to leave the area. Tickets holders will receive further information in due course.  Co-op Live (@TheCoopLive) May 1, 2024

As the naming rights sponsor for Co-op Live, we are shocked at the incident which has led to late cancellation of tonights show at the arena, a Co-op Group spokesman said.

We are relieved that no-one has been injured, but we share the disappointment and frustration of ticket holders, many of whom are Co-op members, with the continuing delay to the opening of Co-op Live and the disruption that this is causing to everyone who has been looking forward to attending events.

We will be seeking a full explanation from Oak View Group (OVG), who are responsible for the building, to the obvious questions arising from this, together with a clear plan from the Co-op Live venue management team at OVG for opening the venue and postponed and future events.

Safety is, of course, the number one priority and it is critical that Co-op members and other ticket holders can enjoy events in a venue with the very highest levels of security and safety measures in place.

The opening of the venue has already been postponed twice, with performances from comedian Peter Kay and American rock duo The Black Keys rescheduled.

However, the venue had reassured fans that A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie and Rodrigos shows would be going ahead this week.

Bolton-born comedian Peter Kay had been due to be the first performer at the arena (Peter Byrne/PA)

Bolton-born stand-up Kay was scheduled to be the first performer, but his show had to be postponed with less than 48 hours notice following a test event.

The rescheduled dates at the end of April were rescheduled again alongside dates for The Black Keys because the venue had to undertake extensive protocol of testing critical procedures to ensure all areas are ready for fans.

The new date for the US band is May 15, while Kays performances have shifted to May 23 and 24.

The arenas general manager, Gary Roden, announced his resignation last week following the slew of issues that led to the delays in the venue opening.
A 26-year-old police officer has pleaded guilty to two terror offences over messages he shared on WhatsApp in support of Hamas.

West Yorkshire Police constable Mohammed Adil shared two images in support of Hamas  a banned group in the UK  just weeks after the October 7 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw another 250 being taken hostage.

The messages Adil shared on his WhatsApp stories in October and November last year show a Hamas fighter wearing a Hamas headband, prosecutor Bridget Fitzpatrick told Westminster Magistrates Court on Thursday morning.

The image posted on October 31 had writing on it saying: Today is the time for the Palestinian people to rise, set their paths straight and establish an independent Palestinian state.

It was said to be a quote from the leader of Hamass military wing, Mohammed Deif.

The image on November 4 had another message on it, saying: We will hold accountable all those who occupied our lands and Allah will hold accountable all those who remained silent against this occupation and oppression.

The second quote was said to be from Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for the Al-Qassam brigade  which is Hamass military wing.

Two of Adils colleagues reported to their superior officers that they had viewed images posted by Adil on his WhatsApp stories which caused them concern, the prosecution said.

Adil had 1,092 contacts on his WhatsApp at the time who would have been able to access the images for 24 hours, Ms Fitzpatrick said.

Adil was arrested on November 6 and had his mobile seized.

He answered no comment to all questions during his interview.

Adil, from the Wibsey area of Bradford, who spoke to confirm his name, date of birth, address and to make his pleas, was given conditional bail and the case was adjourned for a pre-sentence report to be prepared.

He will be sentenced on June 4 at the same court.

Chief magistrate Paul Goldspring said: I accept that at the time of the offending you were of good character.

The Crown has conceded you didnt put the pictures on WhatsApp against the public at large.

Mr Goldspring added the matters are very serious and said at this stage he is not persuaded he can rule out custody.

Adil, who is based in Calderdale, is currently suspended.
Ralf Little in Death In Paradise BBC / Red Planet / Amelia Troubridge

Death In Paradise has unveiled its new lead detective.

Comic actor Ralf Little announced back in March that he would not be returning to the hit crime comedy after four seasons at the helm as DI Neville Parker.

Since then, a number of potential replacements have been named in the press, including former The Inbetweeners actor Simon Bird, Harry Potter star Rupert Grint and US performer Michael Rapaport all touted to be joining the show.

However, on Thursday afternoon it was revealed that Don Gilet will make his Death In Paradise in this years Christmas special.

Don Gilet on the set of Death In Paradise Philippe VIRAPIN/BBC

Don will be playing new addition Detective Inspector Mervin WiIson, with filming already underway in Guadeloupe.

The former EastEnders star enthused: Being offered the new lead role inDeath in Paradisefeels like a deeply loved and incredibly precious jewel has been placed in my hands. This is a big show, with a big heart and the love continually grows for it. It is my intention to never lose sight of that and to remain grateful, humbled and dedicated.

Even during those testing times when every sinew is screaming at me to run off the set and dive into the sea, swimming pool or an ice-cold beer  whichever happens to be closer at the time!

Per a BBC press release, Dons character will arrive on the idyllic island of Saint Marie from London, where he wont overly pleased with his new surroundings.

Don Gilet at the Broadcasting Press Guild Awards in March Joseph Okpako via Getty Images

Don is best known to soap fans for his performance as Lucas Johnson in EastEnders, having also appeared in Holby City as Jesse Law.

His additional on-screen roles have included the police drama 55 Degrees North, the 2006 Doctor Who Christmas special and the Netflix series The Stranger.

MORE TV NEWS:
Royal Mails six-day delivery service must continue, a business minister has said, as the group proposes cuts.

The postal service put forward proposals in April that would see a dramatic reduction in second-class letter deliveries.

Regulator Ofcom is currently consulting on the groups reforms which are not expected to impact first-class mail.

In the Commons on Thursday, Kevin Hollinrake urged Royal Mail to abandon its plans to reduce the service.

Business minister Kevin Hollinrake urged Royal Mail to abandon plans to reduce the six-day postal delivery service (James Manning/PA)

Conservative former minister David Mundell argued that a reduction in services would negatively affect elderly residents in rural areas.

The Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale MP said: Are ministers as concerned as I am about continued reports that Royal Mail are determined to move away from a six-day service?

In a large rural constituency like mine, with an older population, people continue to rely on the Royal Mail for important communications.

So can the minister make clear that this is not the direction of travel that the Government wants to see Royal Mail going?

During business and trade questions, Mr Hollinrake replied: We absolutely agree with his point. We have been very clear with Royal Mail, and indeed with Ofcom, the regulator, that we want to see a continued six-day service.

And the Royal Mail, and hopefully Ofcom, will have heard what hes said today and what we have said today  the six-day service must continue.

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: Our proposal for the future Universal Service retains a six-day service for First Class letters. Furthermore, parcels would continue to be delivered up to seven-days-a-week.

The proposal is based on listening to thousands of people across the country to ensure it meets their needs. It is good for our customers, good for our people and would allow Royal Mail to invest in products and services that the UK wants.

Elsewhere in the session, Labour MP Sir Chris Bryant claimed there was a great deal of murkiness about the trade envoys.

Labour MP Sir Chris Bryant asked about trade envoys and their costs (Yui Mok/PA)

Business and trade minister Greg Hands told MPs that costs for UK trade envoys in 2023/24 were 232,325, stating: These costs are for flights and accommodation when the official British residence was unavailable, and other sundry expenses.

Sir Chris (Rhondda) said: The minister has point-blank refused to publish the breakdown of all the trade envoys and their costs on absolutely spurious reasons.

If you go on a select committee visit to South Korea, for instance, all the details of that cost are published, but not if a trade envoy goes, so how can we possibly judge whether the 750,000 that have been spent so far in the last three years have been well spent?

Is there any accountability whatsoever? Or isnt this really just a means of providing sinecures for people that they like in the Government?

Mr Hands replied: I think theres a lot of bluster there, and not a few accusations that I think he may wish to  or try and stack these things up a little bit.

Business and trade minister Greg Hands said gifts and hospitality were already published in departmental registers (James Manning/PA)

But it is a cross-party programme, it is not a Government-only programme. Many Labour MPs, Labour peers and others are members of the programme.

Gifts and hospitality are already published in departmental registers. And, if I might two qualifications for the cross-party role are diplomacy and discretion, which might explain why not everybody has been asked to do the role.

Later in the session, Liberal Democrat MP Wera Hobhouse was accused of bringing constant doom and gloom to the Commons by Mr Hands.

Ms Hobhouse, MP for Bath, said a lack of coherent agri-trade policy together with a complex set of import and export certification rules is preventing rural food producers from trading outside the UK.

She added: How is the department going to support UK food producers to deal with complex trade red tape?

Mr Hands said that contrary to Ms Hobhouses comments, the Government is putting a huge amount of resources into promoting agricultural food exports.
A teenager who armed himself with a kitchen knife and shouted Im going to f****** get you after stabbing a 17-year-old boy in broad daylight over a drug debt has been jailed for life for his murder.

Armin Mehdikhani-Sarvejahani, 16, smiled as he was arrested for Mustafa Momands murder in central Brighton on October 5 2023.

Lewes Crown Court heard on Thursday how Mustafa spent his dying moments running away in fear after he was knifed through the breast bone on Queens Road.

The A-level business and law student ran for 150 metres before he staggered and collapsed while his attacker yelled after him.

Judge Mr Justice Constable KC said Mustafa was trying to turn his life around from being a minor pawn in the terrible drug business which destroys so many lives.

The trial heard how Mustafa had racked up a 20,000 shared drug debt and that his parents had tried to save him from drug dealing and debts, and even begged the police to send him to prison.

Sentencing Mehdikhani-Sarvejahani, Mr Justice Constable said: (Mustafa Momand) was a brave young man who took the decision to try and leave the drug world behind him with his parents support, but this meant leaving this so-called unpaid debt.

I have no doubt that you were tasked, as an expendable foot soldier, with inflicting lethal punishment on Mustafa.

He added: This tragic case serves as a stark reminder of the very real dangers that await young people who get involved in dealing drugs, of the appalling way in which young lives spiral quickly into effective servitude for the financial benefit of others and become treated as expendable, and most clearly, of the devastating consequences of ever more frequent knife crime.

The judge sentenced the defendant to a minimum of 17 years in prison for what he described as a planned and premeditated attack.

In CCTV footage he is seen wearing a balaclava and putting a single glove on his right hand in the moments before stabbing Mustafa.

Armin Mehdikhani-Sarvejahani has been sentenced for the murder of Mustafa Momand (Sussex Police/PA)

The judge also said his evidence given during the trial that it was an accident was untrue and cowardly.

During the trial, jurors heard how Mustafa had told his mother Suraya Momand he regretted everything and talked about going to college to study law to help exploited children.

He had moved to the UK from Afghanistan with his family in 2009 when he was three years old, and in late 2021 his mother found cannabis in his room and suspected he was using or dealing drugs.

When Mustafa turned 16, things got worse and his behaviour changed, his parents found weapons in his pockets and he went missing for days on occasion, coming back with valuable items or injuries, the court heard.

Jurors were told that in November 2022 Mustafa told his father he was in debt and needed 8,000 or they will kill me.

The teenager cried and pleaded until his father managed to give him some money, the court heard.

His father got him a job in a chicken shop, and he would stand outside for hours while Mustafa worked as he was scared the people who he owed money to would find him there.

Eventually, Mustafa was moved out of the area to a care home in Croydon in April 2023.

While living there he registered to begin a two-year A-level course in business and law and went shopping with his mother for new clothes for college in Brighton on September 23.

On the trip to Churchill shopping centre, Mustafa was shocked and shaken to bump into someone and was surrounded by a group of young men who let him go, because he was with his mother.

His mother recalled a phone call Mustafa received in the car afterwards to tell him to run.

Less than two weeks, later on October 5, Mustafa travelled from Croydon to Brighton Magistrates Court for an appearance in relation to drug offences.

He left court alone and was walking in the direction of Brighton train station, on Queens Road.

The pair were seen coming into contact on bus CCTV footage at about 5pm, when the city centre was busy, and lots of people saw the fatal attack.

Mehdikhani-Sarvejahani was also found guilty and sentenced over a separate incident in 2023 of threatening another person with a bladed article. He was cleared of a similar offence.

During the trial he was granted anonymity because he was under 18-years old, but the judge lifted the reporting restriction at sentencing after applications by the press.
A third man has been charged with an immigration offence after five migrants died trying to cross the English Channel.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) said the defendant, from Sudan, appeared at Reading Magistrates Court on Thursday, charged with entering the UK illegally.

He was detained in Hayes, west London, and was interviewed by officers on Wednesday.

The defendants age was originally given as 23 but during his court appearance on Thursday he claimed to be a minor, an NCA spokesperson said.

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, on board the RNLI Dover Lifeboat (Gareth Fuller/PA)

It comes after two other males from South Sudan and Sudan were charged over the incident, but disputes about their ages and whether they are youths have delayed court proceedings.

The pair claimed they are 15 and 16, but initial age assessments by immigration officers and a social worker placed them in their early 20s.

Further in-depth assessments have been ordered by Folkestone Youth Court.

The NCA previously said it was working with Kent Police, immigration enforcement teams and Border Force to support the French-led investigation into the incident off the northern French coast on April 23.

A dinghy carrying more than 100 people set off from Wimereux at around 6am but got into difficulty.

Three men, a woman and a seven-year-old girl died.

A Border Force vessel brings a group of people thought to be migrants in to Dover (Gareth Fuller/PA)

Nearly 50 people were rescued but 58 others refused to leave the boat and continued their journey towards the UK, the French coastguard said, with several other boats later embarking on the crossing.

The NCA has said more than 50 people who were on board the dinghy which arrived in the UK have now been interviewed.

An 18-year-old man from Sudan has also been arrested over the incident and remains on bail pending further inquiries.
The Government has no concerns that trade union legal action could disrupt its timetable for deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda, Downing Street has said.

The FDA union, which represents senior civil servants, has applied for a judicial review of the Governments Rwanda scheme, arguing that any decision not to comply with an order from the European Court of Human Rights could conflict with civil servants duty to comply with international law.

FDA general secretary Dave Penman said the Government had chosen to put civil servants in a position where they are conflicted between the instructions of ministers and adhering to the Civil Service Code.

The FDA has today launched a judicial review of the Safety of Rwanda Act. We do not welcome this action, but neither are we prepared to shy away from it as we must protect the interests of our members and the integrity of the Civil Service Code. pic.twitter.com/EhQd8lhLn1  Dave Penman (@FDAGenSec) May 1, 2024

But a Number 10 spokeswoman said on Thursday that there was no such conflict and the Government did not expect legal action to prevent deportation flights taking off within the next 11 weeks.

She said: We have set out our position very clearly. There have been letters from the Cabinet Office to the Home Office permanent secretary setting out very clearly civil servants are acting fully in line with the code in carrying out policies and delivering for ministers.

Thats the case here and civil servants are fully supported in doing so.

The Civil Service Code requires civil servants to comply with the law, but also implement Government policy.

In a letter to Home Office permanent secretary Sir Matthew Rycroft on Monday, the Cabinet Office said Parliament had legislated to leave it up to ministers whether the UK complied with injunctions from the European Court of Human Rights, known as Rule 39 indications.

The letter said: In the event that the minister, having received policy, operational and legal advice on the specific facts of that case, decides not to comply with a Rule 39 indication, it is the responsibility of civil servants to implement that decision.

It added: The code does not require or enable civil servants to decide not to do so, and so to frustrate the will of Parliament and ministers, on the basis that non-compliance with a Rule 39 indication would or might be a breach of (the European Convention on Human Rights).
The UK must pay more attention to the Balkans amid risks of destabilisation in the European region, the chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee has warned.

Conservative MP Alicia Kearns will lead a Commons debate on the south-eastern region of Europe on Thursday, warning it could become the site of a third global, major conflict, alongside Ukraine and Gaza, if preventative action is not taken.

The Balkans matters and if we ignore it, we will end up with a fire on our doorstep, she told the PA news agency.

Ms Kearns added: It matters not only for European security, because it is essentially our extended backyard and if there is crisis in the Balkans we will feel it here, it will impact on all of us; and we cant afford a third global, major conflict, and that is exactly what it would be.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has visited Serbia in recent days (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool, File)

Ms Kearns pointed to Chinese President Xi Jinpings visit to Serbia in recent days among the developments which suggest tensions around the region could rise.

A new pro-Russian government has come to power in Serbia, which some fear could lead to clashes with the West.

Discussions at the UN about officially marking the 1995 Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia and Herzegovina have also recently proved a point of contention, with Russia and Serbia seeking to oppose a resolution on the matter.

Meanwhile Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008, is in talks to join the Council of Europe, signalling a closer relationship with Western countries.

Ms Kearns suggested Russia intended to sow chaos in the region, telling PA: It is all about creating as many theatres of conflict as they can. I have given many speeches where I have talked about the fact that for Russia, if Ukraine wouldnt go well, I would destabilise the Balkans.

While she acknowledged that the British Government was engaged in ongoing political efforts in Ukraine and Israel, among other places, she warned of the need to take preventative steps in the Balkans too.

Foreign policy comes at you fast, but the problem is too often foreign secretaries think that foreign policy is something you just respond to, she said.

It is not, we have the ability to shape it and we have the ability to mitigate the worst excesses. We have to actively choose to do so.
Scientists have, for the first time, observed an orangutan treating a wound with a plant known to have pain-relieving properties.

Biologists witnessed a wild male Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) in Indonesia, chewing the leaves of a climbing plant known as Akar Kuning (Fibraurea tinctoria) and applying the juicy mixture to a wound on his right cheek.

The team said its findings, published in the journal Scientific Reports, could help shed light on how the knowledge of wound medications evolved in humans.

Rakus with a wound on his right cheek (Suaq Project/PA)

It said this is the first time a wild animal has been observed using a plant with known medicinal properties to treat wounds.

The researchers said the existence of self-medication in great apes  the closest human relatives  suggest the behaviour could have arisen in a common ancestor shared by both.

Dr Caroline Schuppli, an evolutionary biologist at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behaviour in Germany, said: The treatment of human wounds was most likely first mentioned in a medical manuscript that dates back to 2200 BC, which included cleaning, plastering, and bandaging of wounds with certain wound care substances.

As forms of active wound treatment are not just human, but can also be found in both African and Asian great apes, it is possible that there exists a common underlying mechanism for the recognition and application of substances with medical or functional properties to wounds and that our last common ancestor already showed similar forms of ointment behaviour.

A team of biologists, which also included scientists from Universitas Nasional in Indonesia, observed the orangutan, named Rakus, selectively ripping off leaves and chewing on them, and then applying the resulting mixture precisely onto the wound.

Rakus had sustained the wound three days before his self medication was observed at the Suaq Balimbing research site in Indonesia  a protected rainforest area home to 150 critically endangered Sumatran orangutans.

He was seen smearing the chewed leaves onto the wound until it was fully covered  a process that lasted more than 30 minutes.

The researchers said there were no signs of wound infection in the following days.

The wound closed within five days and was fully healed within a month, they added.

The researchers said it is likely that Rakus was intentionally treating the wound with the medicinal plant as he did not apply it to other parts of the body.

Dr Isabelle Laumer, a primatologist and cognitive biologist at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behaviour, said: During daily observations of the orangutans, we noticed that a male named Rakus had sustained a facial wound, most likely during a fight with a neighbouring male.

She said the Akar Kuning plant, which is found in tropical forests of Southeast Asia, is known for its pain relieving and anti-inflammatory effects and is often used in traditional medicine to treat diseases such as dysentery, diabetes and malaria.

Leaves of the Akar Kuning plant, which are between 15 to 17cm long (Suaq Project/PA)

Dr Laumer said: Analyses of plant chemical compounds show the presence of furanoditerpenoids and protoberberine alkaloids, which are known to have antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, antioxidant, and other biological activities of relevance to wound healing.

She said Rakus was also observed resting more than usual while being wounded.

Dr Laumer said: Sleep positively affects wound healing as growth hormone release, protein synthesis and cell division are increased during sleep.

The researchers said there is also a possibility that Rakus may have found out about the healing properties of Akar Kuning by accident.

Dr Schuppli said: Orangutans at the site rarely eat the plant.

However, individuals may accidentally touch their wounds while feeding on this plant and thus unintentionally apply the plants juice to their wounds.

As Fibraurea tinctoria has potent analgesic effects, individuals may feel an immediate pain release, causing them to repeat the behaviour several times.
Scott Sheffield, founder and longtime CEO of a leading American oil producer, attempted to collude with OPEC and its allies to inflate prices, federal regulators alleged on Thursday.

The Federal Trade Commission said Sheffield, then CEO of Pioneer Natural Resources, exchanged hundreds of text messages discussing pricing, production and oil market dynamics with officials at the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, the oil cartel led by Saudi Arabia.

Regulators say Sheffield used WhatsApp conversations, in-person meetings and public statements to try to align oil production in the Permian Basin in Texas with that of OPEC and OPEC+, the wider group that includes Russia.

Mr. Sheffields communications were designed to pad Pioneers bottom line  as well as those of oil companies in OPEC and OPEC+ member states  at the expense of US households and businesses, the FTC complaint said.

Unlike with OPEC nations, US oil production is supposed to be decided by the free market, not by coordination among the major players.

Sheffield retired in December 2023 as CEO of Pioneer. The company he founded is the biggest producer in the Permian Basin, the abundant oil field that has helped make the US the worlds top producer of oil and gas.

The FTC gave the green light on Thursday for Pioneer to be sold to ExxonMobil for $60 billion  but only under an agreement that prevents Sheffield from sitting on Exxons board or serving as an adviser.

Mr. Sheffields past conduct makes it crystal clear that he should be nowhere near Exxons boardroom, Kyle Mach, deputy director of the FTCs Bureau of Competition, said in a statement. American consumers shouldnt pay unfair prices at the pump simply to pad a corporate executives pocketbook.

The FTC alleges that Sheffield campaigned to organize anticompetitive coordinated output reductions between and among US oil producers and OPEC and OPEC+.

Asked about reports that the FTC was considering recommending Sheffield face criminal charges, FTC spokesperson Douglas Farrar told CNN: The FTC has a responsibility to refer potentially criminal behavior and takes that obligation very seriously.

Regulators acknowledged that Sheffield did not hide his efforts to align US production with that of OPEC, pointing to public comments he made urging US rivals to be disciplined about production.

But Mr. Sheffield did not limit himself to public signaling to US counterparts  he has also held repeated, private conversations with high-ranking OPEC representatives assuring them that Pioneer and its Permian Basin rivals were working hard to keep oil output artificially low, the FTC said.

Using the tactics of OPEC

The FTC said Sheffield lobbied the Railroad Commission of Texas at the outset of the Covid pandemic in 2020 to impose output restrictions on Permian oil production, cuts that it said would have increased crude oil prices above market levels.

The FTC also said that while Sheffield was discussing efforts to coordinate output with other Texas producers, the Pioneer CEO said: If Texas leads the way, maybe we can get OPEC to cut production. Maybe Saudi Arabia and Russia will follow. That was our plan.

Sheffield added, according to regulators: I was using the tactics of OPEC+ to get a bigger OPEC+ done.

Global oil prices plunged by about 50% in early 2020 as pandemic lockdowns decimated demand for gas and aviation fuel. OPEC+ responded by slashing production.

Pioneer released a statement defending Sheffield and arguing it was neither the intent nor an effect of his communications to circumvent the laws and principles protecting market competition.

We disagree and are surprised by the FTCs complaint, Pioneer said in the statement. Mr. Sheffield and Pioneer believe that the FTCs complaint reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of the US and global oil markets and misreads the nature and intent of Mr. Sheffields actions.

But Pioneer and Sheffield signaled they wont fight the FTCs findings, saying they are not taking any steps to prevent the merger from closing.

Exxon said in a statement that it had learned about the allegations from the FTC.

They are entirely inconsistent with how we do business, Exxon said, noting that officials raised no concerns with our business practices after the company submitted more than 1.1 million documents in response to the FTCs requests.

Exxon said that in response to the FTCs concerns, it will not add Sheffield to its board. The company said it expects the deal to acquire Pioneer will close on Friday.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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An aviation worker  who went public with safety concerns and alleged retaliation by his employer  has died following a brief illness, weeks after another Boeing whistleblowers death, attorneys who represented both men said Thursday.

Joshua Dean, 45, of Wichita, Kansas, died Tuesday after he received multiple diagnoses that included the flu, pneumonia and MRSA, prompting his family to seek an autopsy, attorney Robert Turkewitz said.

"He was a healthy individual who ate well and exercised," Turkewitz told NBC News. "So it just seems odd that he went so fast."

Dean had been sick for two weeks and had been struggling to breathe, forcing him to be put on a ventilator.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Josh and his family," said a statement from Brian Knowles. another attorney representing Dean. "Joshs passing is a loss to the aviation community and the flying public. He possessed tremendous courage to stand up for what he felt was true and right and raised quality and safety issues."

Turkewitz and Knowles had also represented John Barnett, a 62-year-old Louisiana man, who died March 9 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Charleston, South Carolina, officials said.

Barnett was in town for a deposition in his federal legal action against Boeing, with his case set to go before an administrative law judge later this year, his attorneys said.

Barnett, who spent more than three decades at Boeing, told aviation authorities in 2017 about what he said were potentially catastrophic safety failings with the 787 Dreamliner.

Dean was a former quality auditor at Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems and he alleged that managers failed to act on manufacturing defects on the 737 MAX planes.

Though he was not a plaintiff, he is mentioned in a 2023 shareholder lawsuit against Spirit.

The "mis-drilled holes" in the rear bulkhead of the MAX planes were reported by Dean, who submitted "formal written findings to his manager" but Spirit "concealed the defect," according to the lawsuit. Those holes could create cracks and threaten an aircraft's structural integrity.

"Now, Im not saying they dont want you to go out there and inspect a job. You know, they do," he told NPR this year. "But if you make too much trouble, you will get the Josh treatment. You will get what happened to me."

Dean was let go from the company April 26, 2023, in what he called an act of retaliation.

"I think they were sending out a message to anybody else," Dean said. "If you are too loud, we will silence you."

Spirit said in a statement that it is mourning Deans passing, but declined to comment on his accusations. The supplier previously told NPR that it strongly disagrees with the allegations in the suit and is fighting the case in court.

"Our thoughts are with Josh Deans family," Spirit spokesperson Joe Buccino said in the statement. "This sudden loss is stunning news here at Spirit and for his loved ones."

The stress of the past few years could have taken a toll on Dean, Turkewitz said.

"We were told that stress can cause the immune system to weaken and makes you more susceptible to pneumonia, the flu and MRSA," he said. "He'd been under a lot of stress for blowing the whistle and being terminated, he believed, as a result of blowing the whistle. He'd been trying to get the word out and no one would listen."
Content Warning: This story contains depictions of suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24 hours a day at 1-800-273-8255.

More than two years since the day that changed her life, Brittney Griner has provided her first account of her arrest in Russia and the horrors that followed.

Griner sat down for an hour-long interview with ABC's Robin Roberts ahead of the release of her memoir "Coming Home" on May 7, going through everything from her arrest at a Moscow airport for possession of a vape cartridge to her life in Russian prison to life back in the United States after her release.

She didn't hide how low she reached:

I wanted to take my life more than once in the first weeks ... I felt like leaving here so badly."

Griner said she decided against taking her life partially because she worried Russian authorities wouldn't release her body to her family.

The mistake that landed Griner in prison was 0.7 grams of hash oil, which contains THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. She described her possession as "absent-minded" and a "mental lapse" while packing, comparing it to more mundane mistakes like forgetting keys in your car, but on "a more grand scale."

The Russian legal system had little sympathy for the nine-time WNBA All-Star. Her first stop was a prison known as IK-1:

"The mattress had a huge blood stain on it. They give you these thin two sheets, so you're basically laying on bars. The middle of my shin to my feet stuck through the bars which, in prison, you don't really want to stick your leg and arms through bars because someone go up and grab it, twist it, break it and that's what was going through my mind."

Griner confirmed she was only allowed one roll of toilet paper for an entire month, receiving nothing in some months, and had to use toothpaste that was 15 years past its expiration date:

"We used to put it on the black mold to kill the mold on the walls."

She credited a cellmate named Alana for helping her survive in a prison where she was well-known as "The American" or "The Basketball Player."

Brittney Griner wanted Paul Whelan to come back with her. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images) (Steph Chambers via Getty Images)

Then came IK-2, a notorious work camp where she said she was forced to cut off her dreadlocks because of the freezing temperatures:

"We had spiders above my bed making nests. My dreads started to freeze. They would just stay wet and cold and I was getting too sick. You gotta do what you gotta do to survive."

Griner pleaded guilty during her trial and was sentenced to nine years in prison, but was released in Dec. 2022 after the United States struck a deal to exchange her with convicted arms trafficker Viktor Bout. Her fate was linked to fellow American Paul Whelan, whose family hoped he could also return home in the deal. The Russians refused, likely with the intent to foment a backlash against the U.S. government.

Griner has since called for Whelan's release as she adjusts to life back in America, and continued to do so with ABC when recalling her disappointment upon seeing Whelan wasn't on the plane with her:
Editors Note: If you are in the US and you or a loved one have contemplated suicide, call the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255) to connect with a trained counselor. Outside the US, a worldwide directory of resources and international hotlines is provided by the International Association for Suicide Prevention, and you can turn to Befrienders Worldwide.

Brittney Griner has detailed the mental anguish she suffered during her time in Russian detention, saying in a new interview on ABCs 20/20 that she considered taking her own life on multiple occasions.

The WNBA star spent almost 300 days in custody in Russia having been detained in February 2022 and sentenced to nine years in prison after authorities found cannabis oil in her luggage.

The US State Department deemed that Griner had been wrongfully detained and she was released in December 2022 in a prisoner swap involving Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

I wanted to take my life more than once in those first weeks. I felt like leaving here so badly, Griner said in the ABC interview which aired on Wednesday.

She added: I just didnt think I could get through what I needed to get through. I definitely thought about it. But then, I was just like, What if they didnt release my body to my family? I cant put them through that. I have to endure this.

Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, also said that she was required to write Russian President Vladimir Putin a letter asking for forgiveness.

Griner is escorted to a court hearing in Khimki outside Moscow in August 2022. - Natalia Kolesnikova/Reuters

They made me write this letter, said Griner, not specifying who told her to write the letter. It was in Russian. I had to basically ask for forgiveness and thanks from their so-called great leader. I didnt want to do it, but at the same time, I want to come home.

In the same interview, Griner detailed the conditions she was subjected to in prison, including dirty cells, a huge blood stain on her mattress, no soap and not enough toilet paper.

Russian prosecutors accused her of trying to smuggle less than one gram of cannabis oil in her luggage contained in vape cartridges while she was playing for UMMC Ekaterinburg during the WNBA offseason.

Her detainment highlighted the salary limits WNBA players face in the US, pushing athletes to go overseas to earn more during the offseason. The Phoenix Mercury star is entering her 11th WNBA season having returned to the team in May last year.

Earlier this month, Griner and her wife Cherelle announced that they are expecting their first child, while the 33-year-old is also in contention for a spot on the US team for this years Paris Olympics.

CNNs Ben Morse contributed to reporting.

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MIAMI  Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, the leading Democratic candidate to take on Sen. Rick Scott of Florida this fall, said she would support pushing aside the Senate filibuster to pass a handful of policy measures, including federal protections for abortion.

Democracy is 50-plus-one, and for certain issues, I am very much in favor of pausing the filibuster and voting for a womans right to choose to codify Roe v. Wade, Mucarsel-Powell, a former House member from the Miami area, said in an interview Wednesday after a news conference at which she addressed the implementation of Floridas six-week abortion ban.

Mucarsel-Powell said she would also support undoing the filibuster, which requires 60 Senate votes to advance most legislation, to pass federal voting rights protections and gun measures.

Pressed about whether she would support completely removing the filibuster without the possibility of reinstalling it, Mucarsel-Powell demurred.

I have to think about that, she said, adding that the filibuster has been there for quite some time and that she would need to understand the implications before she decided whether to support permanently removing it.

Mucarsel-Powell's statement comes amid broader Democratic efforts to link their 2024 campaigns and abortion rights, both in terms of federal policy platforms and the abortion-rights ballot measures that will go before voters in a number of states this fall, including Florida. And while Democratic performance has slid in Florida in recent years, a number of polls there have shown broad support for abortion rights, even as state Republicans enacted a ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, one of the stricter limits nationwide.

Democrats' attempts to eliminate the Senate filibuster have come up short in recent years.

Eliminating the filibuster was a rallying cry for a number of Democratic Senate candidates in 2020. But the party took the Senate by only a narrow margin, and Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona were key players in blocking fellow Democrats' efforts to remove the barrier in the early years of the Biden administration.

Manchin and Sinema, who later left the party and became an independent, have both since announced they will not seek re-election this year. That might help tip the Senate back into Republican control, but it also means any future Democratic majority might be more amenable to rules changes to eliminate the 60-vote threshold for most legislation.

For example, Rep. Ruben Gallego, the Democrat seeking to succeed Sinema in Arizona, has signaled support for reforming the procedure.

Mucarsel-Powell has put a laser focus on abortion rights in the weeks since Florida's state Supreme Court voted to allow a referendum to go before voters this fall that, if it passes, would put Roe v. Wade-era protections into the state constitution.

"We have an amendment on the ballot at the same time," she said, adding that voters will "have an opportunity to make sure that extremists like Rick Scott, someone that supports this extreme abortion ban, doesnt get re-elected."

Sen. Rick Scott. (Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images file)

"If we pass this amendment here in the state of Florida but he gets re-elected, he goes back to the Senate and pushes an abortion ban at the federal level," she continued.

Recently, Scott has offered mixed signals on the issue of abortion. In a few days in April, he said he believes there is consensus around 15-week restrictions, but he also said in an interview with Spectrum News that he would have signed the states new six-week ban into law if he were still the governor.

Scott's campaign said he does not favor national legislation on abortion.

Everyone knows that Senator Rick Scott supports the right to life. Congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell does not, Scott campaign spokesman Will Hampson said in a statement.

Floridians agree that there should be some reasonable limits placed on abortion. Senator Scott has been very clear where he stands: No national bans, with the consensus at 15 weeks with limitations for rape, incest and life of the mother, he added.
The news of their split comes two months after police were called to their Florida home over a domestic disturbance in March, according to a police incident report

Rodrigo Varela/Getty (L) Elizabeth Gutierrez and William Levy

Elizabeth Gutierrez and William Levy have separated after 20 years together.

The Latin actress, 45, confirmed that the couple were no longer an item in a candid interview with HOLA! amid swirling rumors and headlines about the status of their relationship.

"I always bet on my relationship. I loved William, I think it's no secret that he was the love of my life as I always bet and wanted to show us as we were," she began while reflecting on the various moments they lived throughout their 20-year relationship.

"Currently, we are not together. On my part, it was never for lack of love," Gutierrez explained. "I think I'm not the same girl I was 20 years ago when he met me. What we want at this moment is different. I will always love him, I will always wish him the best, and as I have always said, being with me or not, I want to see him happy."

Related: 10 Latino and Hispanic Power Couples Who Make Us Believe in Love

Alexander Tamargo/Getty (L) Elizabeth Gutierrez and William Levy

The telenovela star went on to confess that she "fell in love with his smile" and hoped that Levy, 43, would continue doing so. Despite all of the reasons she wanted to stay, Gutierrez said, "There are things that, if they don't change, you have to change. And that was the option I had to take."

When asked if she believed if there was a chance she and the Dancing with the Stars alum would reunite, the actress said that she's leaving the decision up to a higher power and shared how she was leaning on her faith to get her through tough times.

"I really feel, at this moment, that I'm in the middle of the ocean, and I'm surviving," she continued. "My children are at peace because William is an excellent father, and the love from both of us is not lacking, so they are fine and will be fine. Obviously, it wasn't ideal for either of us, but things happen, and you have to move on. You have to show that even if you feel defeated in some way, you have to keep your head held high and move forward."

Gutierrez said that the couple's decision to call things quits was "never based on superficial reasons," nor was she influenced by public opinion or her family members.

Related: Celebrity Couples Who Broke Up in 2023

"My decisions are my own. I make them, I know when, and that's why maybe they see me at peace, happy, because I know I couldn't give more, I gave everything," she added.

Gutierrez and Levy met when they starred on the reality show Protagonistas de novela 2 in 2003. The same year, the two tied the knot and went on to welcome their children Christopher, now 18, and Kailey, now 14.

The confirmation of their separation comes two months after Florida police were called to their once-shared residence over a domestic disturbance, PEOPLE can confirm.

Since January, the couple has reported multiple incidents to law enforcement, per police incident reports obtained by PEOPLE. The latest incident took place on March 1, 2024, and involved their daughter Kailey, according to one of the police incident reports.

(L) Elizabeth Gutierrez and William Levy

Related: Famous Break Up Songs  and Who They're About

In the police report, Kailey told officers that she entered the family's home to grab a few pieces of clothing when she heard a female voice coming from her parents' bedroom. When she tried to enter, Levy allegedly "pushed her to prevent her from entering the bedroom."

The Cuban actor later denied pushing her and claimed he would never intentionally hurt his daughter before claiming he had been alone.

The report noted that there were "no marks, redness or signs of injury" indicating a physical altercation on Kailey. She and her mother later grabbed their personal belongings and left the residence.

A rep for Levy did not return PEOPLE's request for comment.

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Levy has shared several posts dedicated to his daughter on Instagram as of late. On March 24, Levy posted a video showing Kailey behind the steering wheel as he taught her how to drive. "This are the moments I live for " he captioned the post, adding, "My children [are] my life. "

On May 1, he also shared a fan account photo of him and Kailey on his Instagram Stories with a red heart next to the image.

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  Several flights to Dubai were cancelled and diverted Thursday, airport authorities announced, as heavy rains hit the United Arab Emirates for the second time in a month.

An airport authority spokesperson said five inbound flights were diverted overnight, while nine arriving and four departing flights were cancelled.

In April, heavy thunderstorms dumped the heaviest rains ever recorded in the UAE in a span of hours, flooding portions of major highways and Dubai International Airport, the worlds busiest for international travel and a hub for the long-haul carrier Emirates. The airport ended up needing 22 tankers with vacuum pumps to get water off its grounds.

Authorities warned residents to stay home ahead of Thursdays rain, announcing that they should work remotely, and that schools will hold classes online.

Although Thursdays rain did not cause major problems or flooding, authorities still issued warnings on Wednesday and took precautions.

The flooding two weeks ago quickly overwhelmed the UAEs drainage systems, flooded out neighborhoods, business districts and even portions of the 12-lane Sheikh Zayed Highway, which links Dubai and the neighboring emirate of Abu Dhabi. Many residents lost their belongings when their homes flooded, and many cars were destroyed.
Ridley Scott is revisiting one of his most iconic films with Gladiator II, which stars Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington

Dreamworks/Universal/Kobal/Shutterstock; Karwai Tang/WireImage Russell Crowe in 'Gladiator'. ; Paul Mescal attends The Olivier Awards 2023 on April 02, 2023 in London, England.

Twenty-four years after the original movie came out, Gladiator II is on its way to theaters.

Ridley Scott, who was nominated for an Academy Award for 2000s Gladiator, is back at the helm of the sequel. The much-anticipated movie stars Paul Mescal as the lead, with a star-studded supporting cast including Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington.

Gladiator tells the story of Maximus (Russell Crowe), a Roman general who is the victim of a coup by the evil emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix). He is forced into slavery and fights his way up the ranks as a gladiator so he can take vengeance upon Commodus, who killed his family.

In theaters on Nov. 22, 2024, Gladiator II picks up where Gladiator left off with a new fighter, Commodus nephew Lucius (Mescal), ready to enter the arena.

I thought the [first] film was, as it were, completely satisfactory, creatively complete, so why muck with it, right? Scott told Deadline in November 2023 of why he chose to make a sequel. But these cycles keeps going on and on and on, they repeat globally for the last 20 years. It started to spell itself out as an obvious thing to do, and thats how it evolved.

The original movie was met with wide critical acclaim, nabbing 12 nominations at the Academy Awards and winning five, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Crowe.

From the starry cast to when it will come out in theaters, heres everything to know about Gladiator II.

What is Gladiator II about?

Dreamworks/Universal/Kobal/Shutterstock Joaquin Phoenix and Russell Crowe in 'Gladiator'.

Considering Gladiator left off with both Commodus and Maximus dead, the sequel had to follow a new lead. The story picks up with Commodus sister Lucilla's son, Lucius Verus, who idolizes the late Maximus. While not much is known about the plot, the filmmakers showed a sneak peek of an unfinished trailer at CinemaCon in April 2024.

The clip included glimpses of Lucius in Roman garb taking on a number of enemies in large stadiums to the cheers of massive crowds. In addition to people, Lucius faces baboons and an angry rhinoceros, which he ends up blinding with sand in one scene. In another fight scene, Lucius is in a stadium filled with shark-infested water, fighting his foes on boats.

Who is in the cast of Gladiator II?

Amy Sussman/Getty ; Arturo Holmes/Getty ; Michael Loccisano/Getty Paul Mescal attends the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California. ; Pedro Pascal attends the 95th Annual Academy Awards on March 12, 2023 in Hollywood, California. ; Denzel Washington attends the 2022 Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum Salute to Freedom Gala on May 26, 2022 in New York City.

Mescal leads the new movie as Lucius, a decision Scott made after watching him in 2020s Normal People. The director told Deadline that he was impressed by Mescals acting in the show and invited him for a personal meeting to discuss the role shortly after.

Im always looking for someone, something new and fresh. I mean, fresh is terribly important, he said. So theyre not carrying  baggage is a terrible word for what theyve done before, because its great stuff, but you will remember he just did this character already.

In addition to Mescal, Pascal joined the cast for a yet-to-be-revealed role, and Washington will also take part. Per Deadline, Washington is an arms dealer who supplies everything from weapons to wine for the Romans and has his own legion of 30 to 40 gladiators.

He likes to actually see them fight and it evolves that thats where he came from, Scott said of his character. He was captured in North Africa, and evolved into a free man because he was a good gladiator. But he hides that because also hes now realizing the potential of his actual power.

Also joining the cast are Stranger Things Joseph Quinn as Caracalla and The White Lotus Fred Hechinger as Geta, both co-emperors. Hechinger took on the role after Saltburns Barry Keoghan had to step away for another project.

From the original cast, Connie Nielsen will reprise her role as Lucilla while Derek Jacobi will once again play Roman Senator Gracchus.

What has Paul Mescal said about Gladiator II?

Dave Benett/Getty Paul Mescal attends the Netflix 2024 BAFTA Awards after-party on February 18, 2024 in London, England.

Mescal has admitted that he was nervous about taking on the part of Lucius, which he didnt actually audition for. The Aftersun actor told The Hollywood Reporter in February 2023 that he was offered the part after a personal meeting with Scott.

"And I'm so proud I get to make it," he said. "It's an intimidating feat. It's something I'm nervous about but something I feel like I can do."

As he prepares for the role, he told the outlet that he does not care for a focus on the physical aspects of the part.

"Of course there's a physical robustness required for the character, but past that, I'm not interested," Mescal told THR. "This guy's got to fight and got to be a beast. And whatever that looks and feels like is right for me, is what it's going to be."

"Sometimes I see films and I'm like, 'That person doesn't look real,' " he said of other action movies.

While talking about the film in August 2023 with Esquire, Mescal said he has yet to talk to Crowe about the part, given their characters are totally separate.

I dont know what we would talk about, he said, adding that he would still love to hear Crowes stories from filming.

What has Russell Crowe said about Gladiator II?

Jaap Buitendijk/Dreamworks/Universal/Kobal/Shutterstock Russell Crowe in 'Gladiator'.

In April 2023, Crowe said he was not involved in the film  presumably since his character is dead  but is slightly jealous of the new movie.

"Look, the only thing that I really feel about it is slightly jealous, you know? Because I was a much younger man, obviously, and it was a huge experience in my life," Crowe told Collider.

"It's something that changed my life, really. It changed the way people regarded me and what I do for a living, and, you know, I've been very lucky to be involved in lots of big movies, but the legs on that film are incredible," he continued.

He added that he didnt know much about the story, but trusted Scott to create something the same level of spectacle as the original.

The previous month, he said on RTE Radio One's The Ryan Tubridy Show that he hadnt been reached out to about the movie.

"It's an extension of the narrative, but it is long beyond Maximus's passing, so it doesn't really involve me at all, Crowe said. I hear that young fella Paul is a good dude and I wish him the best of luck with it."

He continued, "I think where they're picking the story up from, a young Lucius, stepping into the role of emperor. I think that's a very smart idea within the world of the film that we created."

Who is making Gladiator II?

Gareth Cattermole/Getty Ridley Scott attends the "Napoleon" UK Premiere on November 16, 2023 in London, England.

Over two decades after the first film, Scott is back to direct the sequel and brought his usual filmmaking crew along with him. Cinematographer John Mathieson, production designer Arthur Max and costume designer Janty Yates, all of whom are Academy Award-nominated, also worked on the film.

When did filming for Gladiator II finish?

United Archives GmbH / Alamy 'Gladiator'.

In November 2023, Scott told Deadline that he had already shot about 90 minutes before the SAG-AFTRA strike started in July 2023. Most of the movie was shot in Morocco and Malta, starting in June.

Shortly before the interview, the strike had ended and Scott said there was still about half the film left to shoot, which he planned to get going within two weeks to ensure Pascal could wrap up before filming season 2 of The Last Of Us, per Deadline.

Its really getting the sets cleaned up; theyre already built, he told the outlet. I got another 90 minutes to go.

The movie wrapped filming in January 2024.

When will Gladiator II be released?

Dreamworks/Universal/Kobal/Shutterstock Russell Crowe in 'Gladiator'.

Gladiator II will hit theaters on Nov. 22, 2024.

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GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene announced Wednesday she will force a vote over House Speaker Mike Johnsons ouster next week  a move that comes after Democrats have said they will vote to kill the effort and ensure Johnson doesnt lose his job.

I think every member of Congress needs to take that vote and let the chips fall where they may and so next week, I am going to be calling this motion to vacate. Absolutely, calling it, she said at a news conference.

Greenes decision puts an end to weeks of speculation over whether she would move forward to trigger the consequential vote. The move escalates pressure on Johnson and sets up a major showdown on the House floor, even though the vote is expected to fail.

Johnson has defended his leadership against the threat, saying that he will not resign and warning that a vote to oust him could cause chaos in the House.

This motion is wrong for the Republican Conference, wrong for the institution, and wrong for the country, the speaker said in a statement after Greenes announcement.

Many Republicans oppose the push to oust Johnson and do not want to see the House GOP Conference devolve into disarray like it did after former Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted in a historic and unprecedented vote last year.

Greene on Wednesday insisted she is absolutely not defying former President Donald Trump, even though Trump has defended Johnson, by forcing the vote.

Im the biggest supporter of President Trump, she said. I fight for his agenda every single day, and thats why Im fighting here against my own Republican conference.

Greene also said she has not made a decision yet if she will force repeated votes on the issue if the vote fails next week.

I havent made a decision on that yet, she said.

Greene originally filed the motion to oust Johnson in March amid conservative anger over the Louisiana Republicans handling of the government funding fight.

A floor vote to oust Johnson would require a majority to succeed, but it can still be preempted. A motion to table  or kill  the resolution could be offered and voted on first. That would also only require a simple majority to succeed.

House GOP leaders plan to quickly take up and kill Greenes motion, according to GOP sources. Greene has yet to specify which day she plans to go to the floor and call for a vote. GOP sources say they could vote the same day she offers it, depending on attendance.

After Johnson moved last month to pass a major foreign aid package that included aid for Ukraine, House Democratic leadership announced that Democrats would help Johnson keep his job by voting to table if the issue arose.

We will vote to table Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greenes Motion to Vacate the Chair. If she invokes the motion, it will not succeed, House Democratic leaders said in a statement on Tuesday.

But on Wednesday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries would not commit to having Democrats save Johnson from multiple attempts to oust him if there are repeated attempts.

Jeffries said the Democratic caucus will take it one step at a time.

Greene railed against Johnson on Wednesday for roughly 10 minutes, taking issue with his support for Ukraine aid and focusing on the recent announcement that House Democrats would vote to kill her effort to oust him.

Now we have (House Democratic leader) Hakeem Jeffries and the Democrats coming out, embracing Mike Johnson with a warm hug and a big, wet, sloppy kiss, she said.

Greene said she didnt trigger the motion previously because she was being controlled and responsible.

I was being conscious and caring about my conference in our majority. It was a warning to stop serving the Democrats and support our Republican conference and support our agenda. And he didnt do it. And we all went home and Republican voters everywhere, Americans were raging at Mike Johnson.

During the news conference, Greene put a Make Ukraine Great Again hat on a photo of Johnson and Jeffries.

A wide range of House Republicans immediately pushed back on Greenes plan.

I disagree with that, said Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina, a member of the conservative Freedom Caucus. She had every right to do it, but its not the time.

Whos in line to take over, who wants the job? And I really hate, you know, with all the problems were facing now  you see whats going on at campuses  you know, we got an election coming up, he continued.

However, Norman acknowledged that he is still frustrated with Johnsons job performance so far.

We expected more when Mike took office  and I like him personally, hes a very devout man  but the reason hes getting the criticism  is because they expected him to fight, Norman said.

Rep. Marc Molinaro, a vulnerable Republican from New York, accused Greene of simply wanting more attention.

He continued, Mike Johnson will sustain the speakership. The speaker acknowledges the reality that we live in, and has been focused on conservative principles, acknowledging that we have to negotiate with another branch and another house that dont see the world, all the issues the same way we do.

Rep. Greg Pence of Indiana was also disappointed with Greenes announcement. I wish she wouldnt, he said, calling the speaker fight terribly painful and unproductive. Weve got more important things to work on instead of that.

Lets just move forward, Pence added. You know, God put our eyes in the front of our head so we would always look forward, and shes looking back.

Later Wednesday, Greene dismissed concerns that her effort will hurt Republicans in November and said she doesnt give a rats a** about what other members think of her actions.

What you guys need to know is I really dont give a rats a** what anybody up here says about what Im doing, Greene told CNN. I care completely about the people in this country, and I cannot wait to put the entire party on record.

This story has been updated with additional information.

CNNs Morgan Rimmer, Melanie Zanona and Ailee n Graef contributed to this report.

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Grizzly bears will roam Washington state once again after federal authorities decided in April that the animals will be restored to the North Cascades ecosystem.

The National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service signed an agreement in April to bring grizzlies back to the North Cascades mountain range, a decision that is the result of a process that began in 2022.

"The purpose of this plan is to restore the grizzly bear to the (North Cascades ecosystem), a portion of its historical range," according to the Joint Record of Decision.

A grizzly bear living at the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone, Montana, explores its enclosure.

How will the agencies bring back grizzlies to Washington state?

To restore the bears to North Cascades, the federal agencies will undergo a translocation process that will bring in grizzlies from other ecosystems in the Rocky Mountains or interior British Columbia, the National Park Service said in a news release.

Once in the North Cascades, the grizzlies will be designated as a "nonessential experimental population" under the Endangered Species Act, according to the agency.

"The designation will provide authorities and land managers with additional tools for management that would not otherwise be available under existing Endangered Species Act regulations," the agency said.

Why do the agencies want grizzlies back in Washington state

Grizzlies have been rooted out of the North Cascades ecosystem since they were listed as "threatened" in the lower 48 states under the Endangered Species Act on July 28, 1975, according to the agencies. Thousands of grizzlies were killed for their fur, causing them to be spotted sporadically since 1996, the agencies added.

Restoring grizzlies to the mountain range will help enhance the variety of life in the ecosystem and make it more resilient to disturbances, which benefits and contributes to the enjoyment of people of present and future generations, the agencies said.

In addition to helping the ecosystem, the restoration efforts will "enhance the probability of long-term survival of grizzly bears in the (North Cascades ecosystem) and thereby contribute to overall grizzly bear recovery through redundancy in multiple populations and representation in a variety of habitats," the agencies continued.

The end goal of restoring grizzlies to North Cascades is to get the bear's population to the point where it can be removed from the federal list of engaged and threatened wildlife, according to the agencies.

Pictured is Ross Lake awaiting spring runoff to fill it on April 15, 2001, near the North Cascades National Park, WA.

How long will it take to get grizzlies back to North Cascades?

The grizzlies in the North Cascades will initially begin with a "founder population" of 25 bears over the next five to 10 years, and the animals will be released into remote parts of the forest, according to the agencies.

The agencies said they plan to release three to seven grizzlies each year with the goal being a population of 200 bears inhabiting the North Cascades ecosystem within 60 to 100 years.

Jason Ransom, a wildlife biologist at North Cascades National Park, told NBC News that "theres a lot to be done before we could even come up with a timeline."

For a project like this to be successful, its really important you get the planning right," Ransom said.

Congressman not in favor of grizzlies returning to Washington state

Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington called the agencies' decision to restore grizzlies "outrageous" and "misguided."

The National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services decision regarding the North Cascades grizzly restoration plan is outrageous, yet consistent based on the recent actions of this administration, Newhouse said in a statement.

Newhouse's statement went on to criticize the federal government's decision-making and lack of care for residents' input.

"Throughout this entire process, I have been hearing from local residents, participating in public comment sessions, and meeting with the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to prevent this misguided decision from moving forward, and todays announcement reinforces what we feared: no amount of local opposition was going to prevent these federal bureaucrats from doing what they wanted all along," the congressman said.

U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) speaks during a news conference in front of the U.S. Capitol on February 13, 2019, in Washington, DC.

'We're busy dealing with wolves'

Rachel McClure, a rancher in Washington state's Okanogan County, told NBC News, "We already have predator issues in the state. We dont need another apex predator when we cant deal with what we have."

"Were busy dealing with wolves," McClure said. "We dont need to be thinking about bears.

Two buffalo wolves roam their pen at a Wolf Haven International sanctuary outside Bridger, Montana.

The Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW) said it counted 260 wolves in 42 packs in Washington state at the end of 2023. Twenty-five of the packs were successful breeding pairs.

"Gray wolves play a large role as an apex species and can influence the dynamics of wildlife species across an entire ecosystem," the WDFW said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Grizzly bears coming to Washington state's North Cascades ecosystem
Airbnb just announced a handful of exciting new stays ahead of the summer.

During a special event in Los Angeles on May 1, the company revealed their new Icons slate, a category of extraordinary experiences that includes pop culture moments brought to life. Among the experiences are nights hosted by celebrities like Kevin Hart and Doja Cat, and a stay in a re-creation of the Disney and Pixars Up house that will be suspended in the sky after guests depart.

Located in Abiquiu, New Mexico, guests will feel like they are stepping inside the movie. Airbnb built the house from scratch and painted the home to match the exact Pantone colors used in the film.

The bed inside the

Brian Chesky, Airbnb co-founder and CEO, elaborated at the event that every room was custom created to feel like guests were inside with Carl and Ellie.

Guests will find Carl's chairlift, the green helium tank, his and his late wife's chairs, as well as a dog bed for Dug  or other fur guests.

The living room inside the

They also re-created the Adventure Book that Ellie made in the movie.

No detail in this house went unnoticed, Chesky said.

The best part, he told people, just like in the movie, this house goes up.

It is a 40,000 pound house with 8,000 balloons attached to it and its suspended 50 feet above the ground and starting today, you can book it on Airbnb, he said.

The inside of the

When potential guests select dates in the Airbnb app, they'll be asked to submit a written entry as to why they want to book it.

We expect to get a lot of requests. Were going to choose guests based on what they write, said Chesky. Well contact everyone whos selected a few days before the booking window.

The lucky guests who are selected will also receive a digital golden ticket, and more than 4,000 tickets will be available in 2024. The booking windows and costs vary per Icon experience, but most are free or priced under $100 per guest.

New experiences will drop around the world throughout the year.

Check out additional experiences below.

'Inside Out 2' experience

Inside Out 2. (Airbnb)

An overnight stay at Headquarters, the control center of Rileys emotions, based on Disney and Pixars Inside Out 2. Each room is based on an emotion.

'X-Men' school

The X-Mansion. (Max Miechowski / Airbnb)

Step into "X-Men 97" in a 2D animated re-creation of Marvel Animations X-Mansion in Westchester, New York. Once inside, the place is made to look like you're in an actual cartoon.

Prince's 'Purple Rain' House

Purple Rain House. (Eric Ogden / Airbnb)

Guests can stay in the late Princes "Purple Rain" house from the movie. The home has never been made available to the public until now. It has been fully restored to look like the bedroom in the film. The team worked with Prince's estate to also include actual wardrobe and instruments.

Additionally, guests will get to listen to unreleased tracks from Princes collection that have never been heard before, per Chesky.

VIP with Kevin Hart

Kevin Hart. (Airbnb)

Guests will have a VIP experience with comedian Kevin Hart inside of members-only Coramino Live Lounge.

According to Chesky, 30 guests will stay at a speakeasy comedy club that Airbnb created. Hart will host a tequila tasting and perform a set with his friends and other comedians to close out the night.

Musee d'Orsay. (Frederik Vercruysse / Airbnb)

Guests will be able to stay in the Musee dOrsay's clock room and watch the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games along the River Seine in Paris.

Guests will also have the Paris art museum to themselves and get a private tour.

Private Doja Cat performance

Doja Cat. (Airbnb)

People can also book a living room session with Doja Cat, who will give a special performance and hang out with guests.

Go on tour with Feid

Tour with Feid. (Kelsey McClellan / Airbnb)

Join reggaetonero Feid on his "FERXXOCALIPSIS World Tour" for an entire week. Guests will travel in their own tour bus and ride along, joining the crew for rehearsals and get backstage access for every show.

Ferrari Museum stay

The Ferrari Museum. (Thomas Prior / Airbnb)

Fans of the Italian luxury car company can stay in the Ferrari Museum in Maranello, Italy. Guests will sleep on a bed crafted from the same leather as Ferrari seats, take a lap with Scuderia Ferrari ambassador driver Marc Gene, and head to Emilia-Romagnas premier race as a VIP.

Live Like Janhvi. (Bikramjit Bose / Airbnb)

Bollywood star Janhvi Kapoor opens up her never-before-seen family home in Chennai, India. The star will personally hosts guests and share her beauty secrets to her favorite foods.

Game with Khaby. (Federico Ciamei / Airbnb)

People can book an Italian stay and adventure with TikTok sensation Khaby Lame in a Fortnite Battle Royale. In his hometown of Milan, guests will stay in a one-of-a-kind gaming loft designed by Lame, where people will #learnfromkhaby and face off with him in a Fortnite Battle Royale.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
Wilder Shaw / Cheapism

Toasting the Data

There are two types of people in this world: Those who are loyal to one flavor of Pop-Tarts, and those who have never had Pop-Tarts. Opinions form hard and fast in the world of the beloved breakfast pastry, and we are a nation divided.

Thanks to a study from CasinoReviews, we can see who loves what the most. Want to know how your state has represented your favorite Pop-Tarts flavor? Take a look at the breakdown below.

Cheapism / Microsoft Copilot

How Often Do Americans Eat Pop-Tarts?

Before we get into the state-by-state data, a few additional facts: Most of us aren't eating Pop-Tarts that often. According to the survey, 60% of Americans rarely eat them, 25% eat them a few times a month, 7% eat them once a week, 6% a few times a week, and 2% daily.

"Daily" may in fact be too many Pop-Tarts for one body, but we're not here to judge.

Wilder Shaw / Cheapism

Who Eats the Most Pop-Tarts?

Though everybody in the country is chowing down on Pop-Tarts, there are a few standout states that deserve some recognition for their loyalty. Here are the top Pop-Tarts-eating states:

New Mexico (52% of residents)

Tennessee (46% of residents)

Michigan (39% of residents)

South Carolina (38% of residents)

Louisiana (36% of residents)

Mississippi (31% of residents)

Virginia (27% of residents)

Maryland (24% of residents)

Nevada (23% of residents)

Texas (19% of residents)

Pennsylvania (18% of residents)

As for which states are favoring certain flavors, read on to find out the Pop-Tarts variety that holds your state's heart.

Wilder Shaw / Cheapism

1. Frosted Strawberry

California

Connecticut

Florida

Georgia

Iowa

Louisiana

Michigan

Mississippi

New York

North Dakota

South Carolina

Tennessee

Utah

Frosted strawberry landed in the No. 2 spot when I ranked Pop-Tarts flavors, but in the hearts and stomachs of America, it's No. 1. As potentially the most approachable flavor, this makes sense to me.

For more regional food preferences, please sign up for our free newsletters.

Wilder Shaw / Cheapism

2. Frosted S'mores

Delaware

Illinois

Indiana

Nevada

New Jersey

New Mexico

Ohio

Oregon

Virginia

Washington

The sweet tooth is real. I'll never understand how people can crank something this sweet early in the morning, but I do respect it.

Related: 13 Foods Banned in Other Countries But Not in America

Wilder Shaw / Cheapism

3. Frosted Brown Sugar Cinnamon

Arizona

Kentucky

Massachusetts

Minnesota

Missouri

Nebraska

North Carolina

Oklahoma

Wisconsin

As the best flavor in my opinion, I'm surprised to see it as the third most popular choice. I live in North Carolina, so I assume most of those purchases are from me.

Related: This Is the Most Popular Costco Product in Your State

Wilder Shaw / Cheapism

4. Frosted Cherry

Alaska

Maryland

Pennsylvania

Texas

Only four states love Cherry the most, and that means there are 46 states missing out. Cherry is a good one.

Wilder Shaw / Cheapism

5. Frosted Blueberry

Colorado

New Hampshire

Wyoming

A toasted Frosted Blueberry Pop-Tart isn't far off from a hot blueberry muffin, which means Colorado, New Hampshire, and Wyoming know exactly how to kick off a beautiful morning.

Kellanova

6. Frosted Hot Fudge Sundae

Alabama

Kansas

Vermont

I've never tasted this flavor, but just like S'mores, it's quite a decadent way to start your day. Unless Alabama, Kansas, and Vermont are eating these for dessert, we are not on the same page at all.

Amazon

7. Frosted Chocolatey Churro

Rhode Island

These seem to be discontinued, which is a shame because I'd love to try them. C'mon, Pop-Tarts, don't do this to Rhode Island.

Wilder Shaw / Cheapism

8. Wild Berry

Maine

Maine stands alone in its love of Wild Berry, and that's a bummer. Wild Berry is a top five flavor, according to a certain genius (me). Oh well. More for Maine.

Kellanova

9. Unfrosted Blueberry

South Dakota

There is no conceivable reason to eat an unfrosted Pop-Tart, let alone a blueberry one. Is everything okay in South Dakota? Did you know there are other flavors, too?

Wilder Shaw / Cheapism

10. Frosted Raspberry

Hawaii

Raspberry is a pretty decent flavor. Not sure why the folks in Hawaii are the only ones who know that.

Wilder Shaw / Cheapism

11. Frosted Cookies & Creme

Idaho

Though Cookies & Creme isn't my favorite Tarts flavor, I do feel pride for Idaho's let's-have-Oreos-for-breakfast vibes.

Wilder Shaw / Cheapism

12. Frosted Apple Cinnamon

West Virginia

How is a flavor that's barely different from Brown Sugar Cinnamon only popular in one state? I bet the rest of the country is just too afraid to try it. Scaredy-cats.

Wilder Shaw / Cheapism

13. Frosted Chocolate Fudge

Arkansas

This thing is so chocolatey that you could serve it in a restaurant as the most decadent dessert on the menu. Arkansas, are you firing this thing up at 7 a.m.?

Instacart

14. Frosted Chocolate Strawberry

Montana

Here's another flavor I didn't know existed. It seems to be discontinued, but as a lover of chocolate and red fruit, I'd like to try this immediately.

This article was originally published on Cheapism

Wilder Shaw / Cheapism

More From Cheapism
Pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University yelled disclose, divest, we will not stop as they broke into Hamilton Hall earlier this week, demanding the school drop any investments in companies doing business in Israel.

But shedding those stakes first requires identifying them, and even that step  disclosure  can get tricky fast, higher education finance experts say. Many large university endowments are murkily set up with thousands of individual funds that have their own rules on how theyre invested, few requirements to share their investments publicly, and third-party managers whose oversight of day-to-day trading can limit campus officials knowledge of their own schools portfolios.

I think a lot of people believe an endowment is a piggy bank, and its not, said Bill Guerrero, chief financial officer at the University of Bridgeport, a private university in Connecticut.

School endowments are typically composed of many smaller funds, each with their own purposes, said Scott Malpass, who served for over three decades as the chief investment officer at the University of Notre Dame, a private Catholic institution outside of South Bend, Indiana, with nearly 9,000 students. During his tenure, which concluded with his 2020 retirement, the market value of the schools endowment pool  a collection of several thousand distinct funds  grew from over $450 million in 1988 to more than $13.8 billion by the end of fiscal year 2019.

The big endowments have tried to improve on that in the last 20 to 30 years, Malpass said of investment transparency, suggesting there may be room in some cases to go further.

The University of Bridgeport, with nearly $42 million in assets and fewer than 2,000 students, has individual fund agreements numbering in the hundreds, said Guerrero, in which donors can specify how theyd like their contributions invested. A given fund might, for example, be earmarked solely for environmentally friendly investments.

Whats more, many of these agreed-upon rules of investment are confidential, Guerrero said: Its very, very restrictive.

Student demonstrators have seized on this opacity as part of their broader divestment push.

It has been impossible to get Columbia to fully disclose their entire investment portfolio despite efforts from not just student organizers, but concerned faculty, the Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine said in an Instagram post last week. They have refused transparency for far too long.

The university has rejected calls to divest from Israel and instead offered to publish a process for students to access a list of Columbias direct investment holdings, and to increase the frequency of updates to that list of holdings.

But direct investments rarely reflect the full scope of an institutions portfolio. Many resemble a series of matryoshka dolls, in which some component funds that may not directly hold certain Israeli stocks could still have indirect ties to the country, for instance through mutual funds and exchange-traded funds that themselves may have exposure to Israel.

Whats more, universities tend to be mum about which asset management firms they hire to handle their investments  both direct and indirect ones. The Knight Foundation reached out to 50 U.S. colleges with some of the largest endowments last year, asking them to share details about the share of their funds managed by firms with diverse leadership. Only 18 participated fully, and eight others opted to self-report more limited data.

Even as public-facing institutions, universities historically are not transparent about their financial affairs, the researchers concluded.

Theres no incentive for institutions to share more details about their investments, Malpass acknowledged. Many institutions worry that publicizing too much information could allow others to copy their investment strategies or scare away asset managers that prefer keeping their client lists private.

By law, nonprofits like university endowments are required to report some information annually on the Internal Revenue Services Form 990. The document outlines the broad mix of assets (i.e., stocks versus bonds) that an endowment has invested in, but it doesnt require granular detail on specific companies or industries those investments are focused on.

Many school endowment officers also publish their own annual reports to help students, faculty, alumni and donors understand how money has flown in and out of their portfolios over a given year. But these reports are optional, leaving it mostly up to university administrators to decide how much additional information to publicize.

Institutions with assets exceeding $100 million are also required to report holdings every three months through 13F filings, which are mandated by the federal Securities and Exchange Commission. But those snapshots arent comprehensive; for example, Columbia Universitys endowment reported $13.6 billion in assets in June of last year, but 13F filings detailed only $68 million of those holdings, which include stakes in various therapeutics companies as well as Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway. With just 0.5% of the portfolio covered by 13F filings, the remaining 99.5% is outlined only in much broader strokes on the schools Form 990.

In a statement to NBC News, Columbia University spokesperson Robert Hornsby said we dont share direct holdings beyond what is filed publicly, and nor do we disclose investment manager information.

The complexity of endowment funds hasnt stopped universities from making divestments in the past. Three years ago, several large schools agreed to reduce ties with the fossil fuel industry following students climate change protests. An investment policy guiding Columbias endowment now lists fossil fuels, thermal coal, private prison operators and tobacco as restricted industries.

Malpass, who restricted some exposure to drillers and oil exploration companies during his time at Notre Dame, said divesting stock holdings isnt challenging at all. Many could be sold in a day, he said, though private investments could take longer to exit.

Some argue that even a widespread divestment push across American higher education, which seems unlikely, would have little impact on the war in Gaza.

Corporate decisions are going to make a much bigger statement than divestment from a university endowment ever would, said Chris Marsicano, the director of the College Crisis Initiative at Davidson College, a small liberal arts school in North Carolina.

Others have warned that selling shares of Israeli firms at a cheap price could benefit investors who support the country, noting that boycotts of goods tend to exert greater pressure than boycotts of stocks. Theres also the risk that pro-Palestinian divestment efforts could trigger an exodus of deep-pocketed university donors with countervailing sympathies.

Even so, Marsicano noted that pro-Palestinian campus protests are getting the attention of the Israeli government, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denouncing them in an address last week.

Divestment is definitely the vehicle to keep the protests going, he said, rather than the financial implications of divestment.
By Patrick Wingrove

(Reuters) -Moderna on Thursday reported quarterly revenue that beat Wall Street estimates but came in dramatically lower than the previous year when demand for COVID-19 vaccines was higher.

Sales of Modernas COVID-19 shot Spikevax, its only marketed product, dropped 91% from the previous year to $167 million for the quarter but surpassed analysts expectations of $97.5 million.

The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company reaffirmed that it expects to receive approval from regulators for its respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine in time for it to be included in this fall's U.S. vaccine campaign.

The vaccine maker is set to enter a market for RSV shots where Pfizer and GSK are already battling it out for share. GSK's Arexvy currently holds two-thirds of the new RSV vaccine market.

Moderna also posted a smaller-than-expected loss of $3.07 per share. Analysts had expected a quarterly loss of $3.58 a share, according to LSEG data.

Shares of Moderna were down 1.5% in premarket trading.

"We're encouraged by the performance but recognize it's a small percentage of our overall year because 90% of our revenue will come in the second half of the year," said Moderna Chief Financial Officer James Mock.

Moderna reaffirmed its 2024 sales forecast of $4 billion, the lowest figure for annual revenue since its COVID vaccine got U.S. emergency authorization in late 2020.

Analysts on average expect Moderna's COVID shot to bring in $3.73 billion in 2024 and for its RSV vaccine to make $166.67 million. They estimate that the company will generate $4.18 billion in 2024 sales.

First-quarter revenue included $100 million in U.S. sales and $67 million from the rest of the world, which was mostly driven by markets in Latin America, Mock said.

The company has been banking on its experimental shots including for RSV, influenza and cancer to make up for declining COVID revenue.

Moderna said it intended to file for approval of its flu vaccine with regulators this year.

Cost of sales for the quarter totaled $96 million, including manufacturing wind down costs of $27 million, it said.

The company last September said it was in talks with its partners that fill vials and syringes with its messenger RNA-based COVID vaccines globally to downsize production.

"We've mostly completed that resizing but we built for something that can scale up to $8-10 billion dollars in sales, so there will be some amount of unutilized capacity throughout the year," said Mock.

(Reporting by Patrick Wingrove in New York, Additional reporting by Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonali Paul)
Police clash with pro-Palestinian protesters after an order to disperse was given at UCLA early Thursday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

More than 200 people were arrested Thursday morning as police moved into the pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA, dismantling tents and pushing out protesters in a clash that lasted hours.

The operation caps two days of upheaval that began when UCLA declared the encampment "unlawful" and continued when a group of pro-Israeli counterprotesters attacked the camp Tuesday night, with police taking hours to stop the violence.

Early Thursday morning, officers wearing body armor, helmets and face shields methodically pulled apart the barricade as protesters tried to hold together the assemblage of plywood and metal fencing. Police launched flares that arced over the encampment, igniting with piercing blasts, and smoke filled the air from fire extinguishers that demonstrators sprayed at police. At least one officer is seen on video shooting rubber bullets into the crowd.

Hours later, as police continued to move people out of the area, trash was seen strewn across the lawn. Tents were upended, and nearby buildings had been spray-painted with words in support of Gaza. Bulldozers rolled onto the campus to clean up the debris. Crews placed tents, chairs, food and other supplies into large trash bins.

A line of police officers wearing body armor, helmets and face shields clash with pro-Palestinian protesters at UCLA. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles)

There were several fronts to law enforcement's pre-dawn operation, with police using flash-bang devices that echoed across campus and disoriented the crowd.

Other officers watched from the high windows of Royce Hall, infuriating protesters who shone lights in their eyes and challenged them to come down.

A man was struck in the chest with a rubber bullet after California Highway Patrol officers told protesters to stop throwing boards and other objects at them. It is not clear whether the man was throwing anything or how many others were injured.

Police moved protesters out of Royce Hall after a series of tense scuffles. Some appeared to leave the scene on their own, but many were arrested. Los Angeles Police Department officials said 209 people were taken into custody. Many were booked on suspicion of failing to disperse, a misdemeanor, a law enforcement source told The Times.

Read more:Photos: Clashes at pro-Palestinian demonstrations on California campuses

UCLA has moved all classes online for the rest of the week in the wake of the unrest.

It is not clear how many of those arrested are UCLA students. The university did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Five Occidental College students were taken into custody at UCLA, according to Matthew Vickers, a member of the Occidental chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine.

By mid-morning, students, university staff and other protesters had begun trickling out of the jail in downtown Los Angeles, carrying plastic bags filled with their belongings and yellow citations.

As they left the jail one by one, they were greeted by cheers from a swarm of students and legal advocates across the street. Many chanted, "Free Palestine," as they emerged from the building.

Ella, a UCLA sophomore who declined to give her last name, said it had been an exhausting and disappointing night.

Its nothing compared to what the kids in Gaza are going through, she said.

Some said they planned to return to the UCLA campus Thursday evening.

Were definitely not done, said one woman, carrying a carton of orange juice and pumping her fist as she walked out. Ive never felt more proud of myself.

Yaas Farzanefar, a 23-year-old UC Berkeley alum, said she watched many faculty members get arrested first  including a neurogenetics professor  followed by her and her friend.

They used a lot of rubber bullets at close range, Farzanefar said. The students just had umbrellas.

Read more:'I've been terrified.' Student fears triggered by Israeli-Palestinian conflict skyrocket

President Biden on Thursday addressed the ongoing protests on college campuses, saying that while he understands Americans have strong feelings, "it doesn't mean that anything goes."

"Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations  none of this is peaceful protest," Biden said. "Dissent is essential to democracy, but dissent must never lead to disorder or to denying the rights of others so students can finish the semester and their college education."

He reiterated that discrimination should never be tolerated.

"There is no place for hate speech or violence of any kind, whether it's antisemitism, Islamophobia or discrimination against Arab Americans or Palestinian Americans. It's simply wrong," he said.

Early in the police operation about 15 LAPD officers entered through a makeshift barricade near the school's Tongva steps around 1:30 a.m. before protesters pushed them back, according to a UCLA student who witnessed the incident.

The student, who declined to be named, said the demonstrators who had planned to stay were prepared to be arrested.

"The people who have been here consistently are sleep-deprived, but people here are ready to defend the camp," she said.

UCLA police repeatedly announced over loudspeakers that protesters should clear the area "immediately" and that those who failed to do so would be subject to arrest.

Pro-Palestinian protesters pray in front of Royce Hall on the UCLA campus Wednesday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

In recent weeks, UCLA, like other universities across the country, has emerged as a hotbed of pro-Palestinian activism.

Students, faculty and staff have erected makeshift camps and demanded an end to Israels war in the Gaza Strip and that their universities divest from companies that sell weapons or services to Israel.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators watch police break through a fence to their tent on the UCLA campus Thursday early in the morning. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Police at one of the buildings on the UCLA campus on Thursday. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Citing "sufficient confusion" surrounding the events, UC President Michael V. Drake said he was ordering an independent review of the university's actions and the response by law enforcement.

UCLA faculty on Wednesday circulated a letter with about 360 signatures to Chancellor Gene Block demanding no police or disciplinary actions be taken against students.

As police began arriving in significant numbers early Wednesday evening, students lined up arm in arm in an effort to prevent law enforcement from reaching the encampment.

UCLA campus police officers and L.A. County sheriff's deputies stand guard during the campus protest at UCLA. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

What followed was hours of stalemate, with hundreds of other protesters showing up and packing the courtyard stairs between the tent encampment and most of the police officers.

A small number of pro-Israeli activists showed up carrying a large flag, but they were vastly outnumbered and there was no violence.

Behind the plywood barricades of the encampment, the mood was anxious but not panicked. People were handing out respirators, masks and buckets to fill with water if needed to flush tear gas from eyes.

A woman handing out cookies, grapes and granola bars to protesters said, "Its the revolution. You gotta eat.

Pro-Palestinian protesters and pro-Israel activists clash at an encampment at UCLA early Wednesday morning. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times )

Meanwhile, in the road across from the encampment, dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters flowed into the driving lanes in front of Dickson Plaza chanting, "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free."

Matt Barreto, a professor of Chicano studies and political science, stood under a blue-and-gold banner that read "UCLA Faculty and Staff, We Stand with Our Students."

Barreto said he was one of about 30 faculty and staff members who were in the encampment and willing to be arrested alongside students.

"Our job is to stand up for their 1st Amendment rights, their rights on their own campus. We're not trying to speak for the students," he said. "We're just here to support them and make sure no harm comes to them, especially after last night."

"We're going to stand here all night holding this banner," he added.

Times staff writers Summer Lin and Ashley Ahn and Times staff photographer Jason Armondcontributed to this report.

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.
Protests at Columbia University against the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza have been allegedly "co-opted" by what New York City police officials described as professional outside agitators bent on sowing chaos and violence.

Top police brass said protesters unaffiliated with Columbia University have been escalating the violence.

On Thursday morning, the NYPD said a preliminary analysis of the 282 people arrested Tuesday night at Columbia and the City College of New York 47% were not affiliated with either school.

At Columbia, 32 people arrested were not affiliated with the university, while about 80 people were, according to the NYPD. At CCNY, 102 people arrested were not affiliated and 68 were, police said.

"I know that there are those who are attempting to say, 'Well, the majority of the people have been students.' You don't have to be the majority to influence and co-opt an operation. That's what this is about," said New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

The mayor added, "We're going to protect our city from those who are attempting to do what is happening globally. There is a movement to radicalize young people and I'm not going to wait until it's done and all of a sudden acknowledge the existence of it."

PHOTO: Pro-Palestinian supporters confront police during demonstrations at The City College Of New York (CUNY) as the NYPD cracks down on protest camps at both Columbia University and CCNY on April 30, 2024 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

"These external actors are obviously not students and their presence on campus is a violation of Columbia's clearly stated policy," Adams said during a press briefing Tuesday. "This is to serve their own agenda. They are not here to promote peace or unity or allow the peaceful displaying of one voice. But they're here to create discord and divisiveness."

On Tuesday night, police arrested nearly 300 people at Columbia University, and at City College of New York in Harlem, the latter where Adams said officers had bottles and garbage cans thrown at them as they moved in to make arrests.

The mayor said demonstrators who occupied Columbia's Hamilton Hall were guided by people who have no connection to Columbia University. He further said those arrested were at the time still being processed by police, who were determining who is a student and who is not.

The arrests at Columbia and CCNY Harlem came hours after Rebecca Weiner, the NYPD deputy commissioner for Intelligence and Counterterrorism, said officers have observed outsiders on campus with whom they are familiar from other protests staged in the city over the years.

PHOTO: New York City Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner Edward Caban and Mayor Eric Adams appear at a press conference in New York City, May 1, 2024. (Mike Segar/Reuters)

Without identifying them, Weiner said some of the alleged demonstrators unaffiliated with Columbia were active in the Occupy Wall Street protests of 2011, the 2020 so-called "autonomous zone" protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota following the police killing of George Floyd, and the ongoing Stop Cop City demonstrations opposing a police training facility in Atlanta.

"These protests have been and are being influenced by external actors who are unaffiliated with the universities, some of whom have been known to our department and others for many years for their dangerous, disruptive and criminal activity associated with protests for years," Weiner said during Tuesday's briefing. "So, this is not about what's happening overseas, it's not about the last seven months. It's about a commitment to, at times, violent protest activity as an occupation."

MORE: Biden, speaking on campus protests, says both free speech and rule of law 'must be upheld'

Weiner said officers observed the alleged outside agitators on campus at Columbia teaching students, who have been conducting mostly peaceful pro-Palestinian protests, aggressive tactics that she said were used in the takeover of Hamilton Hall.

MORE: Protests engulf Columbia University and other campuses with encampments, arrests

Weiner played a two-minute video showing individuals dressed in black breaking into windows at the Hamilton Hall academic building, and others dragging metal barricades into the building to use to help block entrances and exits. She said the alleged agitators taught students to use de-arresting tactics, and encouraged them to destroy property and to fortify protest signs for use as shields. Another tactic Weiner said protestors used was chaining themselves together to block access to Hamilton Hall.

"Cameras have been destroyed and there's only one reason to destroy a camera. It's certainly not something anyone is taught at school," Weiner said.

She added, "We think these tactics are a result of guidance that's being given to students from some of these actors."

PHOTO: Police watch as pro-Palestinian supporters continue to demonstrate outside of an encampment on the campus of Columbia University on April 30, 2024 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Protesters allegedly unaffiliated with Columbia who were removed from Hamilton Hall and arrested are facing charges of trespassing, destruction of property, vandalism, and criminal mischief, according to police officials.

New York Police Commissioner Edward Caban said the more aggressive tactics being deployed by protesters are "endangering public safety."

"These once-peaceful protests are being exploited by professional outside agitators and the safety of all students, faculty and staff are now a concern," Caban said at Tuesday's briefing.

He said Columbia University is private property, and so "decisions on what to do on that property are up to the university."

On Tuesday, Columbia officials asked the NYPD to come on campus and clear Hamilton Hall of the demonstrators, Adams said Wednesday, adding that university officials acknowledged that "outside agitators were on their grounds training and really co-opting this movement."

MORE: Speaker Johnson, House Republicans ramp up criticism of 'out of control' college protests

Other U.S. colleges have also alleged that outside agitators have infiltrated student protests. At the University of Texas in Austin, officials said 45 of the 79 people arrested on campus Monday had no affiliation with the university.

"These numbers validate our concern that much of the disruption on campus over the past week has been orchestrated by people from outside the University, including groups with ties to escalating protests at other universities around the country," University of Texas officials said in a statement. "To date, from protesters, weapons have been confiscated in the form of guns, buckets of large rocks, bricks, steel-enforced wood planks, mallets, and chains.

"Staff have been physically assaulted and threatened, and police have been headbutted and hit with horse excrement, while their police cars have had tires slashed with knives," the statement also said. "This is calculated, intentional and, we believe, orchestrated, and led by those outside our university community."

"We will continue to safeguard the free speech and assembly rights of everyone on our campus, while we protect our University and students, who are preparing for their final exams," the statement concluded.

What to know about 'outside agitators' cops say are co-opting Columbia protests originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
On Tuesday afternoon, Mikenzie Buchanan scooped up an armful of clipboards piled behind the front desk at A Womans Choice, an abortion clinic here; it was almost too many to hold. On each clipboard, behind a blue cover to protect personal information, were documents and charts for patients who had visited the clinic to receive a medication abortion that day.

Starting tomorrow, I will be making a lot less of these, said Buchanan, who has been working at the front desk for a few months.

Over the past couple of days, the Jacksonville clinic had been seeing two to four times as many patients as it typically would. But today, May 1, a significant shift in Floridas abortion law takes effect, cutting the 15-week ban down to a six-week ban  a time before many women know theyre pregnant.

The new restrictions will reverberate through the state and the broader region, as Florida has become a key abortion access point for the South in the years since the US Supreme Courts Dobbs decision revoked the federal right to an abortion.

Buchanan is often the first person people see when they arrive for their appointments. Some patients who come in arent familiar with the new six-week ban, but many are worried and stressed about beating the clock, she said. I feel a sense of urgency, too. I dont want to add any stress to it. But behind the scenes, were definitely making sure that they can be seen as quickly as possible and get where they need to go.

Candace, a Jacksonville resident and 36-year-old mother of two, learned about Floridas six-week ban when she called A Womans Choice to make an appointment for an abortion. She was within that limit when she had her appointment on Tuesday but worries about what it means for the future, including for her teenage daughter.

I feel relieved to be able to get in, and I feel lucky that, you know, right now, I do have a voice, and I have a right over my own body. But waking up tomorrow  its devastating. I know my daughter and myself are waking up tomorrow with less rights than we do today, she said. The new time limit raises fear in Candace, who has experienced high-risk pregnancies and traumatic births, including the death of a newborn. Now, she worries that shes at even greater risk since shes older than 35.

Im terrified, she said. My life matters.

Books on a shelf at A Woman's Choice of Jacksonville clinic, which provides abortion care, in Jacksonville, Florida. - Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Candace said she would have preferred to get a surgical abortion but opted for medication abortion to leave space for the many women who may need to travel from other states.

Last year, nearly 8,000 people traveled from out of state to receive an abortion in Florida, according to data from the state health department  thats nearly a tenth of all abortions that happened in the state and three times more than five years ago. After the Dobbs decision, nine of the 16 states in the South banned abortion. Florida now joins Georgia and South Carolina with a six-week ban. This leaves just three states in this US Census region  Delaware, Maryland and Virginia  where abortion remains legal past the first trimester and North Carolina with a 12-week limit.

The parking lot behind the single-story gray building that houses the A Womans Choice clinic in Jacksonville had been full for weeks leading up to the new ban, and some patients had to park in neighboring lots, a group of clinic escorts told CNN. The clinic escorts volunteer to help patients and staffers avoid harassment or danger as they come and go from abortion facilities.

The crowded lots and farther parking distances have made their role extra important, especially as anti-abortion activism has also ramped up, said Ryan Moran, a clinic escort who has been volunteering for years.

Its a struggle to try to cluster all these appointments before May 1 to get people the care they need, he said.

On Wednesday, at least a half-dozen anti-abortion activists had stationed themselves behind the Jacksonville clinic, with regular trips up and down the parking lot, making beelines for parking cars that could have patients in them.

Floridas new six-week ban is a landmark for the pro-life movement and for women, said one person who asked to be identified as Wayne. Today, we see this as a victory for all women. Its not a victory for us in any way.

By 11 a.m. Tuesday, the last day when abortions up to 15 weeks were allowed in Florida, all of the patients who had appointments for the day at A Womans Choice in Jacksonville were checked in, and the parking lot was full once again, with a half-dozen clinic escorts with big rainbow umbrellas and a sheriffs patrol car scattered throughout. The parking lot emptied a little slower than usual throughout the afternoon, as the busy day had the clinic running a few hours behind schedule.

Florida law requires that people seeking an abortion have an in-person visit for an ultrasound, lab work and meeting with a physician at least 24 hours before their appointment to receive the procedure or medication. Sometimes, patients wait weeks to come back for their second appointment  in some cases, its so long that the lab work expires and the process has to start over again. But over the past couple of days, with the new ban looming, more patients showed up for their second appointments to be sure they made it in time.

The examination room in the A Woman's Choice of Jacksonville clinic. - Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The last day before the new ban took effect may have seemed like business as usual. Up and down the clinics bright yellow hallways dotted with inspirational quotes, patients waited behind closed doors for their appointments. They met medical staff in exam rooms or sat in leather reclining chairs with heating pads to recover.

But the work to get to that point has been months in the making.

The Florida Supreme Court issued the decision that paved the way for the six-week ban on April 1, just 30 days before it took effect. A Womans Choice often schedules appointments a few weeks out, so alternate plans had to be made for some patients almost as soon as the decision was made public.

All of that coordination happens in the call center across the parking lot from the clinic, where a few operators answer a near-constant stream of calls from people trying to understand their options and schedule appointments across the five clinics that A Womans Choice has: the Jacksonville location; three in North Carolina, where abortion is legal through 12 weeks; and one in Virginia, where there are no restrictions.

Having this network of clinics in locations with different laws lets workers in the call center make real-time adjustments to help patients find the best option for their situation, said Gabby Long, the hotline director for A Womans Choice.

Having that direct line makes it easier on patients, she said. When you go to a place you kind of already know, you dont have to say, Oh, I dont know where to call. I dont know where to go. What is my next move?

Communicating with patients about the new ban in Florida has been disheartening, but managing what it means for patients and how they might feel is nothing new, Long said.

I feel like we were more prepared for this just because weve seen so much change, she said. My biggest thing was my girls in the call center  its just humanity. Just be mindful of patients. Put yourself in their shoes. Because we know that our patients are stressed. We know theyre scared. They just want to have access to basic health care. But there are always options for our patients.

Sometimes, that option might mean coordinating care for patients at the Virginia location and helping them access abortion funds to help them make the 500-mile trip from Jacksonville.

The Virginia clinic just opened in February; its so new that the address, just a few miles across the states southernmost border, isnt yet included on much of the printed material that can be found around the offices.

But opening that clinic was in direct anticipation of stricter laws in Florida and planning for it started as soon as we knew [state law] was being challenged, said Terry Sallas Merritt, an executive team member at A Womans Choice.

On Wednesday, when the new ban took effect, three patients who had their initial consultation at the Jacksonville location of A Womans Choice learned that they were past the new gestational limit in the state and would have to travel out of state to get an abortion.

One patient was about eight weeks along, and two were just over six weeks, Kelly Flynn, president and chief executive officer of A Womans Choice, told CNN. The clinic helped one patient schedule an appointment for an abortion in North Carolina, and the other two connected with patient navigators to help them find funding and other resources for an out-of-state trip.

Thats the majority of our patients. They dont know the exact time they got pregnant, Flynn said. If they werent previously [aware of the new ban], they are now.

The battle over abortion in Florida continues, as its one of at least three states that have an abortion-related measure on the November ballot.

But for now, the focus remains on individual patients.

We are going to continue to stay open, Flynn said. The biggest hurdle right now is just to get patients in the door that need an abortion, get their consent process started and then help them navigate the way to the option they choose.

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Connected fitness company Peloton, known for its tech-enabled stationary bikes and treadmills, has cycled through yet another chief executive.

On Thursday, the beleaguered company announced Peloton CEO Barry McCarthy is stepping down from his roles as company CEO, president and board director. He will be succeeded by interim co-CEOs Karen Boone and Chris Bruzzo, both Peloton board members. Peloton also announced it is cutting 15% of its staff  or 400 employees  as it tries to trim costs.

The job cuts mark the fifth time Peloton has reduced its headcount since the company peaked in 2021. As the company struggles to regain its stronghold in the fitness industry and among consumers, questions are being raised about what the future has in store for the formerly red-hot fitness fad.

"Hard as the decision has been to make additional headcount cuts, Peloton simply had no other way to bring its spending in line with its revenue," McCarthy said in a statement announcing his departure Thursday. He added that the move was necessary as the company prioritizes "the necessary task of successfully refinancing its debt."

Based in New York, Peloton was among the companies that were well-positioned during the COVID-19 pandemic, benefitting tremendously from lockdown policies that kept Americans isolated indoors. At its height, it was valued at $50 billion, and had long waitlists for its equipment.

With the fate of crowded gyms and fitness studios uncertain at best, it appeared during the pandemic that the future of fitness would be in-home equipment.

Peloton's sales surged, and the company couldn't keep up with customer demand. That is until 2021 when restrictions eased and gyms and fitness studios reopened. Peloton, which had funneled money into meeting the mountain of unprecedented consumer demand, appeared to be caught flat-footed.

Still recovering from COVID

Eric Koester, adjunct professor at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business, described Peloton as a "company that is still trying to find itself post-COVID," adding that its eventual new CEO will likely take one of two tacks.

"A company that hit those heights and came back to earth now has to decide how to pivot," Koester told CBS MoneyWatch.

That could mean either focusing on developing new in-home fitness products and attacking the traditional gym business industry, or focusing on embracing its existing customer base and capitalizing on their devotion to the brand.

"The company has rabid fans, and maybe the company crossed the chasm into the mass market too hard and not everyone was a believer," Koester said.

On Thursday, interim co-CEO Bruzzo blamed flagging sales on consumers continuing to adjust to post-pandemic life."We are still dealing with the whiplash, the normalizing that occurred post-COVID," he said on a call with investors.

Faced with cash-flow issues, numerous defective product recalls, and a dwindling subscriber base, it seems Pelaton has failed to capitalize on the unsolicited boost the unprecedented event of a global pandemic, provided it with. How is a company that was recently hugely popular among both consumers and investors now floundering?

A lifetime's worth of demand

One argument is that while the pandemic caused demand for Peloton's fancy fitness machines to skyrocket, the sudden explosion in consumer interest actually hurt the company.

"Some people believe the pandemic was the best thing to happen to Peloton, but I believe it was the worst," BMO Capital Markets analyst Simeon Siegel told CBS MoneyWatch.

That's because what was somewhat of a niche, luxury fitness company with limited appeal, quite suddenly, entered the zeitgeist and became a symbol of the lockdown phase.

"It was a really great idea with a very strong following and a great community, that was propelled onto the big stage and basically pulled forward a lifetime's worth of demand," Siegel said.

In Siegel's view, the company mistook the fleeting pandemic-era demand for transformative growth that would be long-lasting.

"What happened was the pandemic created the perfect environment for people to want to buy a Peloton," Siegel said. To be sure, some consumers who were drawn to Peloton during the pandemic may have since given up on fitness altogether.

Rockstar moment

Had the pandemic never occurred, Peloton might not be as well-known as it is today, but it would likely be a company "with a fairly steady growth rate and incredibly loyal fanbase that pays a profitable monthly fee," Siegel said. "It would be a smaller, healthier business that never reached that rockstar moment."

BNB Paribas managing editor and senior equity analyst Laurent Vasilescu said the company has had plenty of time to reposition itself post-pandemic, but failed to do so under McCarthy's leadership.

"I think he tried to do too many things too fast and didn't really hone in on just the core business. I don't have an answer for them; I don't know where they go from here," Vasilescu said. "But I think it's just going to become a smaller company to the point that one day you're not going to care."

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Editor's Note: This page is a summary of news on campus protests for Thursday, May 2. For the latest news, view our live updates file for Friday, May 3.

LOS ANGELES  "Instigators'' and "outside agitators'' have been behind some of the most violent and shocking incidents from the rash of pro-Palestinian protests that have swept college campuses across the nation, according to two university leaders who grappled with major disturbances this week.

UCLA Chancellor Gene Block vowed the university will investigate the events from the last few days, especially "Tuesday nights horrific attack by a mob of instigators" on a protest encampment in a prominent university plaza, which left at least 15 people injured and prompted the school to cancel classes.

Early Thursday, police in riot gear swept onto the UCLA campus and tore down makeshift barricades that bordered the antiwar encampment, which had drawn hundreds of demonstrators before being attacked by counterprotesters late Tuesday into Wednesday. More than 200 people were arrested in the raid, according to the school.

Block said the encampment began peacefully but had become disruptive and a flashpoint that endangered students, so it had to go. Hostilities were "continuing to escalate,'' he said.

At Columbia, the campus was much calmer Thursday, two days after hundreds of New York Police Department officers arrived and reclaimed a building that had been broken into and occupied by pro-Palestinian demonstrators, resulting in 112 arrests. Of those, 44 took place inside the occupied Hamilton Hall, 13 of them involving people the university called "outsiders.''

Mayor Eric Adams warned about the involvement of "external actors'' in the protests just hours before sending law enforcement to campus. Columbia President Minouche Shafik also cited the participation of outside agitators accused of escalating protests in her decision to call for police intervention.

The college protests stem from concerns for civilian deaths in Gaza during the Israeli-Hamas war that began Oct. 7 when about 1,200 people in southern Israel were killed and more than 200 taken hostage in a Hamas-led attack. More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli reprisal, the majority women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

A California Highway Patrol officers kicks a wooden piece of ply-wood that was used to construct the barricade on the eastern wall of the Gaza Solidarity Encampment. Pro-Palestinian protesters clash with law enforcement as officials clear demonstrator encampments on UCLA's campus on May 2, 2024 in Los Angeles.

Developments:

 Pro-Palestinian protesters in New Jersey dismantled their encampment on the Rutgers-New Brunswick campus after they had successful negotiations with university officials Thursday afternoon, NorthJersey.com, part of the USA TODAY Network reported. In a statement, Rutgers-New Brunswick Chancellor Francine Conway said the "resolution was achieved through constructive dialogue between the protesting students and our leadership teams."

 Several dozen students were peacefully evacuated from the University of Mississippi campus on Thursday after more than 200 counter-protestors started to throw objects and shout at the protestors, the Mississippi Clarion Ledger, part of the USA TODAY Network reported. About 50 to 60 protestors had gathered for a demonstration before the event escalated with counter-protestors outnumbering the pro-Palestinian protestors.

 Officials at the University of California, Berkeley, have opened talks with student leaders regarding the encampment set up in front of the school's Sproul Hall since April 22, the Daily Californian campus newspaper reported. The school said "skirmishes'' at the site between protesters and counterdemonstrators Wednesday evening resulted in three people sustaining minor injuries.

 Florida Chancellor Ray Rodrigues has told state university presidents not to cancel or modify commencement ceremonies because of "unruly" demonstrators. "While we are witnessing a descent into chaos all over the country, under the leadership of Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida has maintained law and order," Rodrigues wrote in a memo to the presidents.

 Students at several French universities, including La Sorbonne and Sciences Po, have barricaded or occupied areas of their schools in protest of the war in Gaza.

Biden speaks out on college protests: 'Violence is not protected'

Reports: NYPD officer accidentally fired gun at Columbia building

A NYPD officer accidentally discharged his firearm inside Hamilton Hall at Columbia University while police were clearing out protestors who were occupying the building, according to media reports. The officer's action were first reported by news outlet The City on Thursday.

NYPD and the Manhattan District Attorney's Office confirmed the incident to media outlets. Doug Cohen, a spokesperson for the district attorney's office, told The City that the firearm did not appear to be aimed at anyone and no one was injured.

In a statement to The Associated Press, NYPD said the officer was attempting to access a barricaded area and tried to use a flashlight attached to his firearm. He accidentally discharged a single round that hit a frame on the wall, according to the AP.

No students were in the "immediate vicinity," according to the statement, and only police personnel were near the area.

UCLA chancellor says encampment became 'focal point for violence'

Block explained his decision to put an end to the encampment in a letter to the campus community, saying the site had become "a focal point for violence."

"Early this morning, we made the decision to direct UCPD and outside law enforcement officers to enter and clear the encampment," his statement reads. "Officers followed a plan that had been carefully developed to protect the safety of protesters at the site. Those who remained encamped last night were given several warnings and were offered the opportunity to leave peacefully."

According to the statement, about 300 protesters left the site voluntarily, while more than 200 resisted and were arrested.

"I also want to recognize the significance of the issues behind the demonstrators advocacy," Block said. "The loss of life in Gaza has been truly devastating, and my administration has and will continue to connect with student and faculty leaders."

Many 'outsiders' among those who occupied Columbia building

Of the 112 people arrested Tuesday night at Columbia, 32 were not students, according to city figures released Thursday evening.

Citing NYPD data, university spokesperson Ben Chang said 13 of the 44 people arrested inside the occupied Hamilton Hall werent affiliated with Columbia, though the definition of who is unaffiliated remains unclear. The remaining 31 people had connections to the university. Among the arrested: 14 Columbia undergraduates; six students at affiliated institutions such as Barnard College and the Union Theological Seminary; nine graduate students; and two Columbia employees.

"A significant portion of those who broke the law by occupying Hamilton Hall were outsiders," Chang said.

Columbias campus remains closed to the public, including outside press, though student journalists have remained inside. Hamilton Hall is an active crime scene being investigated by police, a campus update Thursday afternoon said.

To give you a picture of campus today, Chang said, Hamilton Hall and the encampments have been cleared and materials removed. Campus has been calm and, on campus, there were no rallies or demonstrations.

University of Minnesota, protesters reach deal

Pro-Palestinian supporters agreed to remove their four-day encampment at the University of Minnesota following an agreement made with school leadership. Interim University President Jeff Ettinger agreed to "facilitate conversations" with the career services department in response to the coalition's demand to ban companies that do business with Israel from attending campus events and partaking in job fairs.

Ettinger will also recommend the University of Minnesota Police Department not arrest or press charges against anyone on a criminal offense as a result of the demonstrations and allow the organizing coalition to address the Board of Regents on May 10 concerning its demand that the university divest from Israel.

Northwestern University and Brown University are among other schools that have resolved the protests through negotiations. The Minnesota deal "grew out of a desire among those involved to reach shared understanding,' Ettinger said in a letter to the university community. "While we do not condone tactics that are outside of our policies, we appreciate student leaders' willingness to engage in dialogue."

 Sam Woodward, USA TODAY NETWORK

Biden says speech is protected but not 'chaos'

President Joe Biden condemned violence and destruction on college campuses while defending the right for pro-Palestinian protesters to peacefully demonstrate in his first public address on this week's unrest on college campuses. Biden, in previously unscheduled remarks Thursday from the White House Roosevelt Room, called peaceful protest "in the best tradition of how Americans respond to consequential issues," but he said "violent protest is not protected."

"Destroying property is not a peaceful protest. It's against the law. Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows shutting down campuses, forcing the cancelation of classes and graduations, none of this is a peaceful protest," Biden said. "Theres the right to protest, but not the right to cause chaos."

Biden said he does not believe governors should call out the National Guard to quell the protests and that the demonstrations have not compelled him to reconsider his Middle East policies.

 Joey Garrison and Francesca Chambers

Pulitzer Prize Board lauds student journalists covering protests

The Pulitzer Prize Board recognized student journalists across the country who are covering protests in the midst of "great personal and academic risk," according to a statement released Thursday by the organization that awards journalism's highest honor.

We would also like to acknowledge the extraordinary real-time reporting of student journalists at Columbia University, where the Pulitzer Prizes are housed, as the New York Police Department was called onto campus on Tuesday night, the board's statement said. In the spirit of press freedom, these students worked to document a major national news event under difficult and dangerous circumstances and at risk of arrest.

Finalists and winners for the Pulitzer Prizes are set to be announced Monday at Columbia. The campus remained closed to outside press Thursday. Access has been heavily restricted, with the campus only open to students living on campus and essential personnel. This doesnt include most faculty.

Police watch over demonstration at University of Pennsylvania

A "large demonstration" took place on College Green at the University of Pennsylvania, the school's public safety office said in a campus alert, urging people to avoid the area and saying police were at the scene.

Students from the Gaza Solidarity Encampment climbed a campus statue of Benjamin Franklin, draped him with the Palestinian flag, and sang songs advocating for a free Palestine.

Scene at University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia on May 2, 2024, pro-Palestinian encampment similar to a number of universities across the United States.

Counter-protestors in support of the Jewish community also rallied, carrying Israeli flags and standing at the entrance of the encampment that was set up about a week ago.

The encampment consists of around 20 tents, a table with food and water, a small bookshelf, a craft table with art supplies for everyone to use, and a medical tent. Campus security watched from several spots surrounding the Ben Franklin statue, which had been power washed earlier the day to remove graffiti. Student protesters could be seen banging water bottles, playing tambourines and singing over loudspeakers.

The metal barricades surrounding the encampment were expanded Thursday, with the addition of a pen to separate the two groups of protesters. By late afternoon, a truck pulled up to the College Green and unloaded more fence pieces, signaling preparation for a continued occupation.

 Annemarie Dooling

Scene at University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia on May 2, 2024, pro-Palestinian encampment similar to a number of universities across the United States.

All quiet at Columbia University

More than a dozen law enforcement officers and security personnel remained posted Thursday along the metal barricades at and around the Columbia University gate where pro-Palestinian protesters were taken into custody Tuesday night.

Outside Hamilton Hall, which was occupied by protesters early Tuesday, some people waited in line at a checkpoint to enter campus. The encampment that made Columbia the epicenter of campus protests across the nation lasted nearly two weeks before being taken down by police Tuesday.

The semester's remaining classes and final exams will be conducted online, the school's provost said Wednesday. Graduation is set for May 15, and university President Minouche Shafik has requested police maintain a presence on campus through at least May 17.

 N'dea Yancey-Bragg

Professors association lends support to protesters

Members of the Columbia University chapter of the American Association of University Professors "unequivocally condemn" the school administration's decision this week to summon the NYPD to remove student protesters from campus, the group said in a social media post Thursday. The group demanded the campus be immediately reopened to faculty, staff and students and that the NYPD be withdrawn.

The national chapter issued a statement in defense of the protests nationwide: "The AAUP and its chapters defend the right to free speech and peaceful protest on university campuses, condemn the militarized response by institutional leaders to these activities and vehemently oppose the politically motivated assault on higher education."

Alums, political landscape raised pressure on Columbia president

A few days ago, Shafik indicated she had no intention of bringing police back to respond to pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia. Doing so would be "counterproductive, further inflaming what is happening on campus, and drawing thousands to our doorstep who would threaten our community, she wrote in a message signed by other school leaders.

But many alumni were clearly alarmed by what they were seeing, and so was New York City Mayor Eric Adams. By Tuesday night, the president had changed her mind. New York Police Department officers descended on campus en masse and for the second time arrested scores of protesters.

Shafik had to assess the political landscape, said Lincoln Mitchell, an adjunct associate professor of political science at Columbia. "If you get an alumni base angry, youre done," he said.

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Alumni pressure, crime-fighting mayor: Both helped set the stage for Columbia arrests

Police clear protesters from occupied library at Portland State

Portland State University's campus in Oregon was closed Thursday because of an "ongoing incident at library," the school said in a social media post, and at 10:17 a.m. the Portland Police Bureau announced it had cleared protesters who had occupied the facility since Monday.

"We have found caches of tools, what appears to be improvised weapons, ball bearings, paint balloons, spray bottles of ink, and DIY armor,'' the PPB said on the X platform. "None of this was used on police.'' The bureau said in another posting that 12 people were arrested, four of them Portland State students.

Earlier this week the school asked police to help remove dozens of protesters occupying the building. Last week the university paused seeking or accepting gifts or grants from Boeing pending a review of weapons sales to Israel.

Columbia faculty, students protest: Campus protests intensify

Almost half of NYC protesters arrested not affiliated with schools, reports say

Adams said in an interview Thursday with NPR that more than 40% of the 282 arrested Tuesday at Columbia and City College of New York protests were not affiliated with either school. An NYPD official told CNN the department was able to determine the breakdowns by cross-checking records with the schools.

Shayoni Mitra, a theater professor at Columbia-affiliated Barnard College who has been logging arrests and injuries, said all those arrested at Columbia had been released by 5 p.m. ET Thursday. The vast majority if not all were charged with misdemeanor criminal trespassing, she said. Those arrested at CCNY had also been released, protest organizer Nick Rodrigo said.

Body-cam footage released by the NYPD on Thursday shows police removing barricades of tied-up tables and chairs at Columbia's occupied Hamilton Hall, then breaking locks and chains to enter. At one point an officer says, "Let's deploy a flash bang, followed by several booms. Officers then enter the area behind a protesters' barricade and find most of them sitting on the floor against a wall, their arms linked as a chant of "Free, free Palestine'' can be heard. The video ends as police begin pulling protesters apart.

 Contributing: Eduardo Cuevas

Members of the California Highway Patrol push back protesters at the UCLA campus on May 2, 2024.

Protesters at NYU undeterred by arrests

Though law enforcement has removed demonstrators camping out at some universities across the city, encampments at schools including New York University persisted Thursday. Initially, the group established an encampment at a plaza near the business school, but after police arrested more than 100 people, the group relocated to a space next to the John A. Paulson Center, according to Ryna Workman, a third-year law student at NYU.

Workman said that as Black student having NYPD on campus and seeing her classmates and professors get arrested has been jarring and a little traumatizing. Still, she stressed students are not afraid of violence or further arrest and plan to continue to escalate.Its a scary thing, but at the end of the day Im still going to be here for Palestine, she said.

 N'dea Yancey-Bragg

At UCLA, first flash bangs, then the dismantling began

Hours before the move to dismantle the UCLA encampment at Dickson Plaza, officers in tactical gear began filing onto the campus as protesters chanted "Peaceful protest" and Were not leaving! and Who do you protect? and "Where were you last night?"

Twice before the main push, officers attempted to gain ground inside the encampment in the early hours Thursday, only to be fended off by protesters, some holding umbrellas and homemade wooden shields.

Shortly after 4 a.m., officers started firing flash bangs into the sky above the protest every few seconds, as deafening bangs echoed. Police then dismantled the main barricade piece-by-piece before moving in as a unit and systematically driving students out of the plaza, arresting those who did not comply.

Some demonstrators tried to push back and shine bright lights at the officers, while others surrendered and were ushered away by police. A USA TODAY reporter witnessed one man gushing blood from a head wound who was rushed by protesters to the medics tent, where he was bandaged up before being helped away.

The UCLA administration has decided to take an approach of criminalizing students who are here trying to talk about whats going on in Gaza and to talk about Palestinians lives, Graeme Blair, an associate professor of political science and member of Faculty for Justice in Palestine at UCLA, told USA TODAY. If our mission is a teaching mission, I cant understand why they would choose to take the actions they have over the last 48 hours.

UCLA faculty member Graeme Blair, who is an associate professor of political science, and Danielle Carr, an assistant professor at the Institute for Society and Genetics at UCLA, on May 1, 2024.

Hundreds face charges across nation but will charges stick?

Hundreds of U.S. college students arrested this week while protesting the war in Gaza face criminal charges amid encampments, building takeovers and civil unrest. But how those charges play out remains a key question. On Tuesday night, New York police arrested nearly 300 people at Columbia University and the City College of New York. A day earlier, clashes with protesters at the University of Texas in Austin resulted in 79 arrests. Tulane University said 14 protesters were arrested at an "illegal encampment" on the New Orleans campus.

And officers made at least 70 arrests late last week and over the weekend at Arizona State University. But scores of cases at other universities have already been dropped.

Richard Serafini, a South Florida criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor at the Manhattan District Attorneys Office, explained that with hundreds of arrests at a mass protest, prosecutors still have to be able to have the evidence against each individual.

You cant charge someone who just happened to be there, he said.

 Cybele Mayes-Osterman and Asher Stockler

What are college protests across the US about?

The student protesters opposed to Israel's military attacks in Gaza say they want their schools to stop funneling endowment money to Israeli companies and other businesses, like weapons manufacturers, that profit from the war in Gaza. In addition to divestment, protesters are calling for a cease-fire, and student governments at some colleges have also passed resolutions in recent weeks calling for an end to academic partnerships with Israel. The protesters also want the U.S. to stop supplying funding and weapons to the war effort.

More recently, amnesty for students and professors involved in the protests has become an issue. Protesters want protections amid threats of disciplinary action and termination for those participating in demonstrations that may violate campus policy or local laws.

 Claire Thornton

Campus protests across the US: Hundreds were arrested. But will the charges stick?

Contributing: Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Instigators, agitators behind violence, schools say: Protest updates
In Georgia, dozens of protesters against the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas continued to demonstrate at the University of Georgia in Athens and Emory University in Atlanta, resulting in numerous arrests.

Demonstrators are demanding the universities end financial ties with any entities associated with Israel and issue a public declaration advocating for an immediate and permanent cease-fire of hostilities while condemning Israel's actions in Gaza.

Pro-Palestinian protesters reinforce barricades around their encampment.

U.S. News AP via Scripps News

UCLA cancels classes after overnight clashes between dueling protesters

These demonstrations have resulted in arrests at both campuses. In Athens, authorities detained at least 16 individuals at UGA, several of whom were students, according to The Red&Black, the schools paper. Meanwhile, at Emory, at least 28 people, including students, faculty, and one previously convicted felon, were arrested, according to WSB-TV.

Following the arrests, some students and faculty members have called for the resignation of Emory's president, Greg Fenves. This demand comes from his decision to call on police to break up the protests, which led to forceful arrests involving pepper spray, tasers, and aggressive tackling of demonstrators.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams

U.S. News Alexandra Miller

New York Mayor is attributing the escalation of protests at Columbia to 'outside agitators'

On Wednesday, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp echoed New York Mayor Eric Adams, suggesting that external agitators were responsible for the increase in protests and reaffirming his backing for a strong police intervention, The Associated Press reported.

We are not going to allow Georgia to become the next Columbia University, Kemp said, praising officers for standing strong and maintaining order in the face of protests and disturbances on our college campuses.

Those arrested are now facing charges ranging from criminal trespassing to disorderly conduct, obstruction of law enforcement officers, and battery of an officer.

Additional reporting by The Associated Press.
Wednesday, May 1, 2024 at 8:00PM

by Claudio Alves

The Merry Month of May is upon us, but first, there's still some April business to attend. Specifically, Penelope Cruz turned fifty last weekend and celebrated a big party that included such names as husband Javier Bardem, auteur par excellence Pedro Almodovar, former scene partner Salma Hayek, and many more. Happy belated birthday to the Spanish star!

Here, at The Film Experience, the best way to mark such occasions is surrendering to list-mania, so let's consider this Oscar winner's extensive filmography and sing her praises. Excluding TV and with honorable mentions woven into the write-ups, here are my top ten favorite performances from Penelope Cruz



THE GIRL OF YOUR DREAMS (1998) Fernando Trueba

Out of all the directors she's worked with, Penelope Cruz is most associated with Pedro Almodovar. However, he wasn't the first auteur to discover the actress or have her star in multiple movies. In a career bursting at the seams with names of some of the most important Spanish filmmakers alive, Fernando Trueba deserves recognition. Due to its Oscar win, Belle Epoque is probably their most known collaboration, but Cruz was much better later in the partnership. Indeed, 1998's The Girl of Your Dreams earned her the first of three Goya awards, which should mean a great deal for an actress who's sometimes struggled to be accepted by the public in her country.

Here, Cruz plays Macarena Granada, an up-and-coming star of Spanish cinema in the 1930s, who finds herself shooting a film in Nazi Germany. Inspired by real-life coproductions between Franco's regime and the Third Reich, The Girl of Your Dreams sometimes errs on the side of frivolity, as if forgetting most of its characters are Fascists, even amid their rebellious hijinks. However, Cruz manages the tonal inconsistencies like a pro, capturing Macarena's ebullience with the same verve as she registers her dangerous circumstances. A musical interlude shines for its polyglot artifice while shooting a death scene springs forth genuine hurt once the shadow of unscripted loss overcomes the character.

Cruz and Trueba revisited the story 18 years later, showing a more mature vision of Macarena, now a Hollywood sensation returned to her fascist homeland. The Queen of Spain is less impressive than its predecessor, but its leading lady makes it all worth it. There's a moment when Macarena zones out during a take that might be among Cruz's finest work, a shot of displaced reality within the dream of cinema.

The Girl of Your Dreams isn't streaming anywhere right now. Funnily enough, The Queen of Spain is available on Starz, Hoopla, Kanopy, Freevee and Film Box+. So, if you want to experience Macarena Granada, look there.

VOLVER (2006) Pedro Almodovar

The first time Almodovar directed Cruz happened in 1997's Live Flesh, an anguished prologue where the actress pantomimes a traumatic birth, alone in the streets of Christmastime Madrid. Two years later, they reunited for All About My Mother, and once again, Cruz plays a pregnant body cursed to a tragic end. However, this time, her role was much more prominent. Jump to 2006, after many Hollywood misadventures ruined the actress' international reputation, and you have Volver, the first proper star vehicle of their partnership. Unlike those previous projects, the whole movie is built around Cruz, here envisioned as Spain's answer to Sophia Loren, a desperate mother willing to do anything to protect her daughter.

But even if you exorcise the curse of Two Women, there's much to appreciate about Cruz, shot like the star she was always meant to be, luminous yet earthy, hands covered in blood and spirit unbroken by life's cruelty. As Raimunda, she initially conceals the character's inner life, slowly uncovering her tender heart as crisis meets miracle. She aces her director's bizarre alchemy of tone and genre expectations, cooking up a boiling pot of feminine resilience and sensuality, absurd comic beats, with a dash of lipsync-ed musicality, melodrama expressivity laced with the grounded quality of her character's circumstance. There's also a tart sting for good measure. Best of all, she nails it with ease, never calling attention to actorly effort or virtuosity.

Volver is available for rent and purchase on Amazon, Apple TV, Google Play, and YouTube.

ELEGY (2008) Isabel Coixet

Penelope Cruz is an expert at playing dream girls, often idealized or formed by a man's imagination. But she's equally skilled at complicating such constructs, finding humanity beneath the surface or shattering the viewer's skewed perception of these women. Her career is full of them. Sometimes, it's one who only exists in memory, be it a lover's slippery mind or celluloid artifacts. Think Broken Embraces and the many ways it approaches the beautiful Lena. Or perhaps she's someone whose whole presence on screen is mediated by a man's desire, like in Open Your Eyes and its American remake. In the best cases, Cruz presents the ideal and then makes us question it by suggesting the person within.

In Isabel Coixet's adaptation of Roth's The Dying Animal, she's Consuela, a student who finds herself entangled with an older professor. Such phrasing seems wrong, however, for it projects too much passivity into a characterization that repudiates it in every way. For as much as her lover might instinctually reduce Consuela to her youth, her beauty, her assumed innocence, Cruz never lets herself be trapped in a box of outside conjecture. Instead, she's a fleshed-out individual, her eyes containing mystery but, above all, a piquant gaze that can just as easily slip into hunger as annoyance. In lesser hands, Consuela would be some idea floating above the film like a whisper of smoke. With Cruz on the wheel, she's a tridimensional marvel who'll beckon your love but won't diminish in its absence.

Elegy is streaming on Peacock, Tubi, Kanopy, Shout! TV, Plex, Freevee, and the Roku Channel.



VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA (2008) Woody Allen

As a beautiful Spanish actress who's endeavored past her national cinema into the English-speaking mainstream, Penelope Cruz has often been saddled with stereotypical roles. They're defined by notions of exotic fieriness, a temptress with a terrible temper whose licentiousness contrasts with less liberated entities. As Maria Elena, she's working within that tired milieu, though Allen's script provides enough leeway to circumvent the worst of it. Even at her maddest, there's a spark of keen intelligence in the woman's eye, the hint of an artist's inspiration bubbling with sincerity beneath the archetypical rage. Her Maria Elena is a megalomaniac, alright, but she's not just that.

In a sense, Vicky Cristina Barcelona finds Cruz in a paradox of excellence. On the one hand, she's playing it according to the mercuriality her presence has always entailed. It's invigorating stuff, capable of making the most perfunctory trope feel fresh, and the text zing with unpredictability. At points, you feel the danger of the diva, as if she's capable of anything. On the other hand, the performance is graceful when switching tonalities, sometimes registers, and the turn is disciplined throughout. Her physicality is especially impressive, dancer-like, oft more eloquent than the dialogue. And so, to best embody chaos made woman, Cruz is in complete control. That's why the characterization works, contradictory as it may seem.

Some of that same dynamic repeats in Nine, the Oscar follow-up that earned her a third nomination. Sadly, you won't find anything to marvel at in her other Allen collaboration. The least said about To Rome with Love, the better.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona is streaming on Hoopla and Tubi. It's also available to rent and purchase on the major platforms.

MA MA (2015) Julio Medem

Julio Medem's cancer melodrama is one of those films where suffering seems to be the entire point of the exercise. It comes to a point when the character's integrity warps in the face of the textual convolutions. In the crisis, it's up to a cadre of fine Spanish actors to make the impossible work. Other leading ladies might have collapsed under the strain, but Cruz remains steadfast. Indeed, she thrives, pummeling through the material with equal parts ferociousness and gentility. Whenever the narrative threatens to unravel, there she is, ready to keep it all together, couching the most ludicrous developments in honest emotion.

The trick lies in her negotiating approach. Some scenes require her to be the force propelling the tragedy, while others only function if one tamps down on the excess and ceases to be the source of energy. Rather than acting a storm, she depicts herself overwhelmed by storming emotion. It's all in the thespian's reticence, Cruz's ability to recede and contain the blast of feeling. Crazed choices are suddenly understandable through her restraint, as if recognition blossomed within those who watch her. She does similar things in On the Fringe, reunited with Ma Ma co-star Luis Tosar. Truthfully, that piece of social realism requires less strain and doesn't depend on Cruz as much as the other feature.

Ma Ma is streaming on Peacock, Tubi, Kanopy, Plex, Revry, Popcpornflix, and Pluto TV. It's also available to enter or purchase on the major platforms.

EVERYBODY KNOWS (2018) Asghar Farhadi

Everybody knows that Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem, the only Spanish actors to win Academy Awards, are married. They tied the knot in 2010 after romance blossomed around 2007, but have known each other for much longer. Indeed, they shared the screen right from the start of her career when Binas Lunas cast them both in Jamon Jamon. Shot like pure sex, the two were a match made in heaven, electrifying the screen with such carnality it's a miracle no one was zapped out of existence. While both starred in Live Flesh, they shared no scenes, and The Counselor is similar. Thankfully, there's Vicky Cristina Barcelona to capitalize on their chemistry, with Loving Pablo also fitting the bill despite being generally lackluster.

By far, their best on-screen pairing can be found in Farhadi's Everybody Knows, a curious Spanish detour for the Iranian director. Much of their work depends upon the etching of small details, building complex shared pasts out of finely judged reactions and negotiations of space. It's an exercise in naturalism that asks much from its cast, commanding them to anchor a twisted plot that could easily turn into exploitative trash. Cruz, in particular, does miracles, sketching one of her most lived-in portrayals ever, so complete and finely crafted you believe the woman's reality no matter how ludicrous her tragedy might become. If possible, her scenes shared with Ricardo Darin and Barbara Lennie are even more impressive than what Cruz accomplishes with Bardem.

Everybody Knows is available to rent and purchase on Amazon, Apple TV, Google Play, and YouTube.

PARALLEL MOTHERS (2021) Pedro Almodovar

In the aftermath of Broken Embraces, Almodovar returned to casting Penelope Cruz as the prototypical mother figure of his cinema. Hell, she basically played the director's own mama in Pain and Glory, and even the throwaway cameo in I'm So Excited! revolves around ideas of maternity. I wrote about that and more when doing an FYC for Penelope Cruz in 2021. My love for her Parallel Mothers hasn't changed since then, and since it's a piece I'm incredibly proud of, let me redirect you to it. Here's a sample of that write-up:

"Since they started working together, Penelope Cruz has always been a mother figure in Pedro Almodovar's cinema. He calls her the epitome of Spanish motherhood, resilient and sensual. It's an archetype she has represented, in some way, in all their collaborations  from 1997's Live Flesh to this year's Parallel Mothers. Indeed, their latest partnership feels like a culmination, the maximum manifestation of the auteur's ideas on motherhood. It's also the most complicated role he's ever given his current muse, an extreme of melodrama paralleled by political reflections. The actress is asked to go to extremes of emotion while also holding back. She must be outwardly demonstrative, crystalline clear, naked in sentiment and expression. However, the part also demands internalization, reticence, secrets that burn. All in all, it's a monumental challenge

Surprisingly enough, after all these acting pyrotechnics, it's through a quiet monologue that the actress tears down the last of our defenses. Janis talks of love, pride, and dignity in the face of fascism. Her words resurrect the dead with Cruz's delivery invoking ghosts. The line readings transcend mortality and history's distance, a gut-punch of haunted recollection. Just as her face once lit up - when falling in love and lust, when regarding her on-screen daughter - there's now a shadow darkening the beauty. This is the kind of achievement that should win awards and earn applause. Cruz has never been better"

Parallel Mothers is streaming on Starz. You can also find it, available to rent and purchase, on the major platforms.

OFFICIAL COMPETITION (2021) Gaston Duprat & Mariano Cohn

Throughout a varied career, Penelope Cruz has often played characters of different nationalities from hers. We'll consider her Italian projects soon enough, but for now, let's think of the actress' Latin-American wanderings. Sometimes, it manifests in English-language work with a nebulous accent sprinkled on top, as in Blow, a protean performance to rival Vicky Cristina Barcelona's Maria Elena. On other occasions, we find Cruz studying the idiomatic peculiarities of national speech, adapting her Spanish to different regions of the world. Wasp Network is probably her best work in that regard. And anything less than total immersion would destroy that work, so insistent on the virtues of quotidian observations. Cruz is so formidable she becomes the film's saving grace.

In Official Competition, she wasn't as unmoored in her excellence, but Cruz still shines as the picture's greatest element. At the same Venice Film Festival where she won the Volpi Cup for Parallel Mothers, the thespian showcased she's as agile with comedy as with melodrama. Her portrayal of an eccentric movie director toying with a pair of leading men is a riot, delicious to savor in her most outlandish passages and similarly entrancing when Cruz must draw back, complicate the humorous pitch, and maybe even signal suspense. There's no greater proof of her flexibility as a performer, no better testament to the limber fierceness with which she approaches her roles. By the end, you'll be on your feet applauding.

Official Competition is streaming on Hulu, AMC, and IFC Films Unlimited. You can also rent and buy it on the major platforms.

L'IMMENSITA (2022) Emanuele Crialese

Beyond Spanish and English, Penelope Cruz also speaks French and Italian. That latter one has allowed her to intrude upon Italy's cinematic circles, starting with the production that led her to learn the language in the first place. For Sergio Castellitto, Cruz was Italia in Don't Move, a cipher of brutalized womanhood, simultaneously earthy and airy, a broken fantasy oozing blood. She's a whole lot. So much so that Cruz won the David di Donatello award, or, in other words, an Italian Oscar. She reunited with Castellitto for Twice Born, another bit of misery porn where, against all odds, Cruz finds the path to greatness. Whatever happens, this star will break your heart.

One can say the same about the best of her Italian exercises, an autofiction where Emanuele Crialese looks back on his childhood as a trans boy - L'immensita. Despite that confessional aspect, the film is as much a memory play on the director's maternal traumas, finding a complicated beacon of love in Penelope Cruz's Clara. Again, she's something of an ideal, a mirage invoked by a son's remembrance. But she's also a volatile element whose instability can turn the sweetest moments into a brush with danger. It's one hell of a feat to cohere the character's two essential facets while putting forward a notion that we're still not seeing all of her. While we know this woman through her child's memory, her truth extends beyond what he can grasp.

L'Immensita is streaming on Prime Video, Plex, and Xumo Play. You can also rent and purchase it on the major platforms.

FERRARI (2023) Michael Mann

Once more, let me quote myself. This time, it's the Almost There I recently wrote on Penelope Cruz' tremendous turn in Michael Mann's Ferrari. Here's a sample of that much longer write-up:

"Ungenerous viewers might dismiss Penelope Cruz's take on Laura from this first moment as a reprise of greatest hits. The fiery woman archetype is there, and so is the fury of a jilted wife, with the firearm's blast recalling the role that got her an Oscar. However, I'd argue such conclusions are too hasty and surface-level. Sure, on paper, Laura can feel cliched in her introduction, but Cruz doesn't play her as such. Notice the stillness as she listens to Enzo make his way inside, the nonchalant way she fishes the revolver out of a bedside drawer. She is angry, but hers is a controlled, even comfortable fury. Harsh words don't yet rise to screams.

Above all else, Laura seems defeated yet ready for a fight. She's a paradox of the warrior who's lost her most important battle and now exists in limbo. Indeed, Cruz almost acts the morning passages as someone going through the motions. In her, Mann finds the inverse of his protagonist, though they're both bound by off-screen tragedy. The director's complementing portraiture can be best appreciated when he forces the viewer to consider how each parent behaves when visiting their son's grave. Alone in the mausoleum, Driver breaks apart, talking more openly than he ever does in the rest of the film, emotion ripping through him until the camera itself seems to shy away.

This vulnerability is secret, kept behind closed doors. It looks painful, a cilice wrapped around his heart. But then, he leaves, and in comes Cruz. Unlike him, she doesn't say a single word, and Mann lingers in long takes rather than cutting to alternate angles. Contemplating the actress' face, we're made to confront a woman's brokenness, tears swimming within her look while a smile sketches itself across the face. Enzo confessed and left part of himself in that mausoleum. Laura communes with the dead as if they're still there. They go with her when she leaves, an invisible shroud that Cruz makes palpable to the viewer. If the drivers are in a kind of death cult, so is Laura, even if she's the only member"

Ferrari is available for rent and purchase on Amazon, Apple TV, Google Play, YouTube, the Microsoft Store, and Spectrum On Demand.

What about you, dear reader? What are your favorite Penelope Cruz performances?
Taking the stand on Thursday, an attorney for porn actor Stormy Daniels fielded questions on a litany of celebrity gossip stories as attorneys for Donald Trump tried to paint him as an extortionist who helped leverage sex tapes into multimillion-dollar payouts.

Keith Davidson, the lawyer who represented two women  Daniels and Karen McDougal  who said they had affairs with Trump and were paid to stay quiet, gave jurors crucial insight into how the payment came about. Trump has denied the claims by McDougal, a former Playboy playmate, and Daniels.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg watched from the courtroom as a forensics specialist from his office, Doug Daus, explained in painstaking detail how data is extracted and preserved from electronic devices. Daus explained data about data  and served as an expert to enter into evidence text messages and conversations between people like former Trump White House aide Hope Hicks; Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organizations former chief financial officer; former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, and even Trump.

After reports about Trump closing his eyes daily during court proceedings, appearing at times to fall asleep, he pushed back. I simply close my beautiful blue eyes, sometimes, listen intensely, and take it ALL in!!! he said in a Truth Social post this afternoon.

Trump fundraises off gag order as attorney fights it in court

As his lawyer Todd Blanche argued that Trump hasnt further violated the gag order, Trumps presidential campaign sought to raise money off it. Trump said he had been FULLY GAGGED and stuck in court all day in a message to his supporters that urged them to send him cash. The page included a survey asking whether you support President Trump more or less after every single witch hunt, raid, indictment, and arrest.

Blanche argued Trump should be able to respond to months of attacks by Cohen, who is expected to testify later in the trial. Trumps lawyer also invoked President Joe Biden, saying Trump cant respond after the sitting president made an oblique reference to the trial by mentioning stormy weather during recent remarks.

Nobodys forcing him, but hes running for president. He has to be able to go speak, Blanche said. Trump shook his head.

Prosecutors argued Trump is creating an air of menace with statements they said are corrosive to the case. Days earlier, Judge Juan Merchan fined Trump $9,000 over what prosecutors said were willful violations of the courts order and warned he could face prison time.

Blanche bemoaned the media attention on the case.

Every time we whisper to our client it is livestreamed all over social media, Blanche said, alluding to the banks of reporters who sit in the court pews behind Trump and his team watching their every move.

Carefully worded denials

Davidson, a Los Angeles attorney who has represented clients in settlement agreements against A-list celebrities, explained to jurors how denials he had issued in Daniels name were, in his opinion, truthful  as prosecutors tried to press him to admit the obfuscated the truth.

A denial that Daniels and Trump had a romantic relationship was technically true, he said, under a very, very, very fine reading of it.

How is that technically correct? prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked.

Youd have to hone in on the definition of romantic, Sexual, and affair, said Davidson. I dont think anyone had ever alleged that any interaction between she and Mr. Trump was romantic.

He testified to other narrowly worded denials, and repeatedly resisted any characterization of the payoff to Daniels, instead saying it was a settlement.

Sleazy deals and tabloid secrets

Trump watched closely as his attorney Emil Bove rattled through Davidsons involvement in several high-profile scandals.

He pointed to an article Dylan Howard  a former National Enquirer editor who played a key role in the alleged scheme to buy McDougals story  co-wrote about a Hulk Hogan sex tape on which he made racist comments. Bove asked about an alleged extortion scheme around the tape.

Bove asked about Davidsons involvement in a story about actor Lindsay Lohans treatment at a rehab facility (Davidson said he did not recall), his dealings with a sex tape broker in connection with the Tila Tequila tape (Davidson again could not recall), or his involvement in a widely publicized $2 million settlement from Charlie Sheen that the actor called tortious. Davidson denied any extraction of money from Sheen, instead maintaining that there were valid settlements executed.

He also asked Davidson whether he had used the words leverage and settlers remorse in conversation with Cohen, in a phone call Cohen had recorded. Asked if he recalled saying of Trump, If he loses this election, we all lose all fucking leverage. This case is worth zero, Davidson conceded that he had. On cross-examination, the prosecution solicited more context, depicting the conversation as having occurred long after the election was over and to be about an attorney Daniels had later retained.

It was a line of cross-examination that intended to sow doubt about the nature of the Daniels deal, and Davidsons motivations.

Trump leaned into his chair, his arm slung over the side, as Bove elicited again from Davidson that he had never been in the same room as the former president until today.

Listening to the tapes

Daus, the forensics expert, attested to the accuracy of audio recordings of phone calls that were removed from Cohens phone. Cohen taped his conversation with Davidson and the defense aired the conversations in court.

Its not just me thats being affected. Its my entire family, Cohen told Davidson. Nobodys thinking about Michael.

Another recording heard Cohen and Trump speaking about the McDougal deal, as Cohen explained his intent to set up a company that would purchase the rights to the story.

Pay with cash, Trump tells Cohen in a recording played for the jury.
Even though the overall intensity of severe weather will throttle back for a few days, AccuWeather meteorologists urge people in the central United States not to let down their guard this weekend as more thunderstorms will be on the prowl, and some zones will be subject to more than one round of storms with high winds, hail and flooding rainfall.

The overall weather pattern will remain busy ahead of what is likely to be the next Great Plains tornado outbreak on Monday.

Incidents of severe weather peppered the nation's midsection during the first days of May. Between Thursday and Friday, more than 160 reports of large hail, high winds and tornadoes spanned states from Texas to Nebraska and Illinois.

This photo provided by the Texas Department of Transportation shows a truck parked as floodwaters rise over a bridge in Grapeland, Texas on Thursday, May 2, 2024. Heavy rains have caused flooding in southeastern Texas and officials in one county asked residents to leave. (Texas Department of Transportation via AP)

The severe thunderstorms also produced torrential rainfall. Huntsville, Texas, received 8.54 inches of rain in less than 12 hours from Wednesday evening to Thursday morning. Some areas just north of Houston picked up close to a foot of rain in 24 hours from Thursday morning to Friday morning.

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Storms in the South Central states will continue to have access to plenty of Gulf of Mexico moisture and will result in an ongoing regional risk of not only flash flooding but also river flooding. Before the rainfall late this week, streams were already running high from excessive rainfall in April.

"While there has been widespread flooding problems across parts of Southeast Texas, especially north of downtown Houston, the flooding has been significant in localized areas with major damage to homes and businesses. The persistent downpours from rounds of thunderstorms are resulting in a dangerous combination of flash flooding, including roadways and low-lying areas, as well as flooding of creeks, streams, and rivers. Flooding problems will continue into next week in these areas with additional rounds of slow-moving thunderstorms across the region," AccuWeather Senior Vice President and Chief Meteorologist Jon Porter said.

This snapshot of the state of river levels in eastern Texas shows multiple gauge points at major flood stage (purple) as of Sunday morning, May 5, 2024. (National Water Prediction Service)

Multiple rivers will be at major flood stage through this weekend in central and northeastern Texas, including the San Jacinto, Trinity and Neches rivers.

As shower and thunderstorm activity settles over the High Plains into Sunday, the zone farther to the north and west from I-10 to I-40 will remain active with a mosaic of showers and thunderstorms.

The combination of a stalled front over the southern Plains and lower Mississippi Valley and the eastward shift of the Rockies disturbance resulted in a zone of severe storms into Saturday night from eastern New Mexico to southeastern Oklahoma and northeastern Texas.

These storms produced numerous reports of damaging wind gusts and large hail across western and central Texas. Additionally, heavy rain fell across portions of central Texas, with a zone of rainfall totals as high as 4-8 inches south of Dallas and north of Austin.

Heavy rain and thunderstorms will continue across parts of northeastern Texas and Oklahoma through Sunday morning, while showers and thunderstorms will continue through the day across southeastern and south-central Texas.

Areas where the storms repeat on Sunday or where slow-moving storms sit for a couple of hours will face the greatest risk of flash flooding.

"We are forecasting additional rounds of heavy rain can occur in the region into this week, which may further add to existing flooding, renew flooding or trigger flooding in some areas that have so far dodged flooding this past week," Porter said, "There can be a time, perhaps on Tuesday into Wednesday, with a reduced risk for heavy rain before the risk for rain once again elevates later in the week."

Want next-level safety, ad-free? Unlock advanced, hyperlocal severe weather alerts when you subscribe to Premium+ on the AccuWeather app. AccuWeather Alerts are prompted by our expert meteorologists who monitor and analyze dangerous weather risks 24/7 to keep you and your family safer.
Severe weather was expected in southern Plains states Wednesday night, including the risk of very large hail and possible tornadoes in a region that stretches from central Kansas south to west Texas.

Risk was forecast to come from scattered thunderstorms and from supercell storms in western Kansas. More storms were forecast to blow northwest from eastern Colorado overnight, where they would then pose a hail risk to Nebraska and Kansas overnight.

In Texas, a ragged storm line over the panhandle and northern plains was forecast to produce very large hail, high winds and possible tornadoes into the overnight hours. One tornado was reported near Turkey, Texas, on Wednesday evening.

National Weather Center severe conditions on Friday

U.S. NewsSevere weather impacts large area covering multiple Midwest, Southern states

Douglas Jones 6:20 PM, Apr 26, 2024

On Tuesday evening one person died in Kansas after a tornado moved through the city of Westmoreland, some 45 miles northwest of Topeka. The tornado destroyed 22 homes and did damage to other homes and outbuildings. Officials said three other people were injured, none critically.

Lawmakers and federal and state officials in Oklahoma toured tornado damage this week from storms over the weekend, which killed four people and injured about 100 others. The National Weather Service confirmed 22 tornadoes touched down in Oklahoma on Saturday night alone.

FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell was preparing to brief President Joe Biden on the aftermath in order to guide federal resources to recovery efforts.
The first sign that the weekslong standoff at Columbia University was nearing a dramatic finale came after dusk, when New York City police officers clad in riot gear began massing south of the east gate of the venerable Ivy League school.

It was around 9 p.m. Tuesday and the pro-Palestinian protesters standing in front of the wrought-iron gate could see the police gathering, and they were defiant.

We will not move. We will not bend, they chanted. The occupation has to end.

The protests had erupted April 17 when students  demanding a cease-fire in Gaza and insisting that Columbia divest from corporations that could be profiting from the war  set up 50 tents on campus and refused to leave. The police cleared them out the next day, but the protesters returned.

This time, the NYPD was back at the request of school administrators after a group of protesters had taken over Hamilton Hall, an on-campus building beside the gate at Amsterdam Avenue and 116th Street.

Preparing for a long occupation, the protesters had festooned the facade with pro-Palestinian banners, set up a rope system by which they would get supplies into the building and renamed the building Hind's Hall after a 6-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed in Gaza.

Three hours earlier, at about 6 p.m., Mayor Eric Adams and top NYPD brass declared that professional outside agitators had most likely engineered the seizure of the ornate building.

This must end now, Adams said.

Adams, himself a former NYPD police officer, presented no proof at that moment that somebody off campus was pulling the strings of the students, who had, for weeks, repeatedly rebuffed the universitys calls to end the protests.

As of Wednesday, city officials had identified only one person who might have been involved in the Hamilton Hall takeover, and she has not been arrested.

NYPD officers in riot gear march onto Columbia University. (Kena Betancur / AFP - Getty Images)

But the die had been cast.

Within hours, Columbia would become the setting for a confrontation that ended before midnight with police carting more than 100 protesters off to jail, 40 to 50 of whom had been in Hamilton Hall, which after the protest and raid was left in shambles.

Another police action almost simultaneously at City College of New York resulted in the arrests of more than a hundred more protesters. Final data on the total number of people who were arrested and their university affiliations is pending.

Its unconscionable, said Debbie Becher, a sociology professor at Barnard College, which is part of Columbia, as the police rousted the protesters from Hamilton Hall. Theyre sending hundreds of police after our students.

NYPD officers in riot gear enter Columbia University's encampment. (Julia Wu / AFP - Getty Images)

In a statement, Columbia said the takeover of Hamilton Hall overnight Monday was the final straw.

We regret that protesters have chosen to escalate the situation through their actions, it said Tuesday. After the University learned overnight that Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalized, and blockaded, we were left with no choice.

Police and protesters collided for the first time at 9:01 p.m. Tuesday, three blocks south of the gate at 113th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, where the police had erected barricades, according to NBC News reporters on the scene.

"Free Palestine! Free Palestine!" the protesters chanted as the police officers drew closer, many of them holding plastic zip ties.

Then police ordered them to leave.

If you refuse to disperse, you will be placed under arrest on the charge of disorderly conduct, the disembodied voice echoed through the street.

The NYPD arrest protesters outside the gates of Columbia University. (Alex Kent / Getty Images)

While protesters heckled the police and yelled "Shame! Shame!" the first phalanx of officers who got to the intersection began cuffing their hands behind their backs with the zip ties.

Four minutes later, at roughly 9:05 p.m., when a much bigger contingent of police in riot gear came marching up Amsterdam Avenue, the angry cries of protesters turned into a roar.

Some tried to use the barricades police had erected earlier to pen them in to keep the approaching officers from advancing, to no avail. Others formed human chains and collapsed on the pavement to make it harder for them to be moved.

"I watched as the police kenneled us in and began brutally pushing, shoving us," said protester Soph Askanse, a junior who is Jewish. "One of them elbowed me in the chest trying to force us apart. "

By 9:12 p.m., the police breached their own barricades and were nearing the east gate of the campus at Amsterdam Avenue and 116th Street. By 9:18 p.m., they were face to face with the protesters gathered by the gate.

Demonstrators link arms. (Alex Kent / Getty Images)

For about two minutes, the sides stared each other down.

Fifty-six years earlier, Columbia students protesting the Vietnam War had occupied Hamilton Hall and clashed with police near this very spot. Back then, the police fought their way up the steps of the stately building to roust the protesters holed up inside.

On Tuesday, as night fell, protesters linked arms outside Hamilton Hall and listened as one of their own sang. By the time police arrived, the protesters held a Palestinian flag in the middle of their ranks and chanted as officers cleared bystanders from the steps.

The NYPD breached the building using a flash-bang device to roust the 40 to 50 protesters on the first floor who had barricaded the front door with furniture.

The NYPDs Emergency Service Unit also used an armored vehicle that was equipped with a MARS  a Mobile Adjustable Ramp System  sending another group of officers to gain access to the upper floors of Hamilton Hall. In helmets and bulletproof vests, they filed inside a second-floor window, one after another, starting around 9:20 p.m.

NYPD officers in riot gear break into a building at Columbia University. (Kena Betancur / AFP - Getty Images)

Perhaps sensing that the tide was turning against them, people in the crowd outside the gate suddenly began thinning out. But they didnt go quietly.

How do you fg sleep at night? a protester screamed at the police.

"Go back to Staten Island," yelled another, referring to the New York City borough that is home to many police officers and firefighters.

As that was going on, the first of the police buses packed with arrested protesters pounding on the windows with their bound hands departed for downtown.

Meanwhile, the police action at Hamilton Hall was underway.

Members of the NYPD detain protesters from the pro-Palestinian protest encampment. (Stephanie Keith / Getty Images)

The protesters inside Hamilton Hall had also blocked the inside stairs and entryways with furniture, including vintage wooden school chairs with attached writing surfaces that looked like they had been there the last time the building was taken over in 1968.

Police officials told NBC News they had expected the protesters to move to the upper floors. Instead, they stayed on the first floor, where they were all arrested.

But to reach them, the officers had to dismantle the barricades and pass the furniture from officer to officer to clear their path inside, images supplied by the NYPD showed.

Officers breached locked doors using hammers and chisels to break the locks.

Police! the officers announced as they barged inside the rooms with their flashlights out and their guns drawn, video supplied by the NYPD showed.

NYPD officers in arrest pro-Palestinian students. (Julia Wu / AFP - Getty Images)

By 11 p.m., police could be seen marching arrested protesters with their hands bound out of Hamilton Hall.

It wasnt immediately clear whether the protesters put up a fight. Only two were transported to a nearby hospital with what were described as minor injuries, and one was treated at the scene, the New York City Fire Department reported.

Later, after the siege of Hamilton Hall was over, the NYPD released images of what was left behind  furniture stacked in elevators, overturned tables, smashed windows, the jetsam of discarded clothing and food that the protesters had managed to accumulate in just one day.

Students who had been trapped in their dorms during the police action were allowed to leave their buildings around 11 p.m.

Chris Mendell, who lives in Ruggles Hall, told NBC News earlier that the police blocked their doors and warned they would be arrested if they ventured outside.

So theyre not letting us do anything but sit here, he said.
Let's call them snakes headed on a plane.

Transportation Security Administration agents in South Florida got a slithery surprise after the federal agency reported finding snakes in a passenger's pants at an airport checkpoint.

According to TSA, the reptilian discovery took place at the Miami International Airport on Friday.

The agency did not identify the passenger or say whether they were arrested.

Photos taken at the airport provided by TSA show two slender pink snakes outside of a small camo-colored bag, after apparently being pulled from the passenger's pants before they were able to board a plane.

Transportation Security Administration agents in Florida this week reported they got a slithery surprise after finding snakes in a passengers pants at an airport checkpoint in Miami.

See the 'Two-headed gal': Rare snake with two heads undergoes surgery to remove ovaries

Snakes found in passenger's pants turned over to Florida wildlife officers

After the discovery, TSA said it called the Customs and Border Protection Southeast Region and Miami-Dade Police for assistance.

Transportation Security Administration agents in Florida this week reported they got a slithery surprise after finding snakes in a passengers pants at an airport checkpoint in Miami.

It was not immediately known if the snakes were the passengers pets or whether the person was simply trying to transport them out of the city.

The snakes, TSA reported, were turned over to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Internet reacts to snakes in pants

When TSA posted the finding on X over the weekend, people on the internet had thoughts.

One user posted: "OMG why would anyone have that?!"

"Is that a snake in your pants?" another person asked.

Another X reader commented: "Maybe he wanted to film a remake of the movie 'Snakes on a Plane'!!!"

Maybe he wanted to film a remake of the movie "Snakes on a Plane"!!!  FBenWhite (@FBB667) May 1, 2024

"Because the TSSSSSSSSSA fearsssssss competition," one person posted.

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: TSA finds snakes in passenger's pants at Miami airport
More than six months out from the presidential election, many Republican voters harbor deep doubts not only about whether President Joe Biden is fit for a second term  but also about whether he can even win re-election fair and square.

I think that the powers that be on the Democratic side have figured out a way to circumvent democracy, said Darlene Anastas, 69, of Middleborough, Massachusetts.

Poll after poll has found that a large proportion of the Republican electorate believes the only reasons Joe Biden is president are voter fraud and Democratic dirty tricks, buying into former President Donald Trumps baseless claims about the 2020 election.

Trump continues to stoke those fires on the campaign trail.

He frequently airs false claims about his 2020 election performance and has leaned into defending his supporters who rioted at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. In an interview with Time this week, he said he would have trouble hiring anyone who believes Biden legitimately won in 2020: I wouldnt feel good about it.

And on Wednesday, Trump said he may not accept the presidential election results this time, either.

"If everything's honest, I'd gladly accept the results," Trump told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "If it's not, you have to fight for the right of the country."

The doubts Trump pushed last time around resulted in Jan. 6 and linger to this day. Now, there is a fresh cycle of skepticism, pushed again by Trump and many others in the Republican Party. And the views have firmly taken root with many of their followers, as interviews with 50 Republican voters across a dozen states showed.

The majority of voters who spoke with NBC News said they werent prepared to accept a Biden victory as legitimate, potentially setting up another presidential election  and potentially a volatile aftermath  in which a large part of the public refuses to believe the results.

Trump himself wouldnt dismiss the possibility of violence around the election in his interview with Time: If we dont win, you know, it depends. It always depends on the fairness of the election.

Democrats cheat like crazy, said George Crosby, 72, a veteran from Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire. I think they cheated before, and I think theyre going to try to do it again, because theyre a bunch of communists.

James Russon, 38, of Eagle Mountain, Utah, said, Theres no way Biden could legally ... win without unfair means. He added that the only way Biden could prevail would be through cheating or a lot of deceased people voting.

Randall Minicola, 62, of Las Vegas, said it would be impossible for Biden to win.

I dont think hes got a following. I mean, you look whos behind him  the only thing hes got is ghosts behind him. Thats what I believe. Wheres the supporters then? Are they in the basement with him? I dont think so, Minicola said.

The possibility of another election in which large numbers of Republicans refuse to accept a Biden victory has also been stoked by influential conservatives.

A senile man is not going to get elected in the most powerful country in the world unless theres fraud, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson said on the Lex Fridman Podcast in March.

Who would vote for a senile man? Carlson asked. He literally cant talk.

Republican voters who said they dont believe Biden can win in 2024 frequently cited their doubts about the outcome in 2020 as a reason to be skeptical again. But they also had three other driving concerns: Bidens age and mental fitness, mistrust in the electoral process and information from social media.

'A few bubbles off center'

Questions about Bidens mental and physical fitness for the job have consistently come up this election cycle. Biden, 81, would be the oldest president ever if hes re-elected. Trump, who is 77, would also be the oldest.

The latest NBC News national polling, conducted April 12-16, finds Americans with little confidence in Bidens mental and physical health. Only 26% of those surveyed picked Biden over Trump when they were asked which candidate has the necessary mental and physical health to be president. Forty-five percent went with Trump, and 26% responded that neither candidate is up to snuff.

Some Republican voters belief that Biden isnt up for the job mentally also convinces them theres no way he could pull off a win.

Asked why she doesnt believe Biden can win without cheating this cycle, Martha OHara, 64, of Parker, Colorado, said it was because of his inability to complete a sentence.

I just dont think that he has the ability to do a debate effectively where you could understand the topic, she said. I just dont think that hes mentally able.

Cheryl Pulice, 61, of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, shared OHaras sentiment.

Oh, no, no, Pulice said when she was asked whether Biden could win legitimately. Cognitively, hes not well. Im surprised that he hasnt been made to step down at this point.

Nancy Glawe, 45, a hospital worker from Tucson, Arizona, said, Theres a few bubbles off center. She voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020 but is supporting Robert F. Kennedy Jr. this year.

Mistrust of voting machines

In the wake of the 2020 election, prominent conspiracy theorists and Trumps lawyers made outlandish claims about voting machines, arguing that the election was rigged by a global cabal of corporations and foreign communists. Trumps lawyers promised proof but offered none, which in part led to the failure of dozens of lawsuits seeking to overturn the outcome of the election.

The voting machine companies Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic, which were repeatedly accused of rigging the election, responded with a dozen defamation suits against Trump allies and conservative media outlets.

Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems reached a $787.5 million settlement agreement last year. The litigation made public emails showing that Trump lawyer Sidney Powell offered up an email from someone who identified as an internally decapitated time traveler as evidence of Dominions supposed election rigging.

Fox said in a statement at the time of the settlement that it recognized the courts previous ruling that certain claims it had made about Dominion were false.

But the unfounded theories linger, and some voters still arent convinced.

I have great concern, as well, for the machines, any electronic [machines], said Ellen Streiff, 57, of Glendale, Arizona. Streiff also plans to support Republican Kari Lake for the Senate; Lake has repeatedly spread false claims about voting machines in the wake of her failed 2022 bid for governor.

Kelly Hicks, 41, a Trump supporter from Litchfield, New Hampshire, said the embrace of voting machines is also whats driving her distrust in Bidens ability to win fair and square.

We see an increase in the machines being used that were used in our previous election, Hicks said. She added that she believes not enough has been reformed since 2020 to make 2024 a fair fight.

The U.S. has used voting machines for decades, and theres no evidence of any fraud schemes involving them  despite countless investigations and reviews by state and local authorities.

Michael Granger, a state legislator from Milton, New Hampshire, also mentioned voting machines as the reason hes unsure whether this years results will be legitimate.

Its very hard to prove one way or another without auditing all the votes, said Granger, 33, a state representative. All the votes are counted across different municipalities. Theres different procedures. Some places have machines; some places dont. Itd be very hard to prove.

Voting machines are used in the vast majority of U.S. elections  less than 0.2% of registered voters in the U.S. live in jurisdictions that will hand-count ballots this year. Pre-election accuracy testing and post-election audits are used to verify results. In Georgia, for example, voters cast ballots on machines, but post-election audits count the votes listed on paper ballots.

Social media bubbles

As Republicans and Democrats alike absorb their political information through personally targeted social media algorithms, voters acknowledged to NBC News that their disbelief that Biden can legitimately win might be spurred by the content theyre being delivered on their phones.

Asked why he doesnt believe Biden can win fairly, Davis Green, a financial analyst from Salt Lake City, said, Maybe its the bubble Im in and the algorithm that Im seeing.

Green, 35, voted third party in 2016 and in 2020 but is supporting Trump this year.

Joseph Murillo, 22, an air-conditioning technician from Las Vegas, also pointed to his social media feeds for why hes skeptical about Bidens 2020 win and any potential victory in November.

Maybe because my social media stuff kind of tells me what I want to hear sometimes, you know, the algorithm, Murillo said. I dont feel like theres a fair way that Biden could win.

'Anything's possible'

Michael Ferraro, 66, of Fairfax, Virginia, said voting by mail fueled his skepticism of the 2020 results.

The whole mail-in ballot thing in 2020 was confusing for not only citizens but for people counting the ballots, he said.

Yet Ferraro said his questions about the last election wont stop him from accepting the results this year, even if Trump doesnt win, because he feels better about whats being set up for November.

I think there are more people watching on both sides, he said.

At least where we live, I can tell there are a lot more people at polling places. ... People are going to be attentive, he added.

Paul Gleske, 61, of Berwick, Maine, also thinks its at least possible for Biden to win legitimately.

It seems like most people have already decided; theres a small sliver in the middle, Gleske said, predicting a tight race.

Dan Wilson, 69, a retired medical ethicist from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, who has supported Trump since 2016, said nothing could be ruled out.

Anythings possible, he said.

Janice Woerner, 51, a music teacher from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, thinks a legitimate Biden win could be in the cards. But she dreads the day that ever comes.

If he is legitimately elected by our country, Woerner said, then heaven help us is all I have to say.
Your mouth is guaranteed to water.

Courtesy Photo

The 150th annual Kentucky Derby is this weekend, and more than 150,000 people are expected to attend in person. If youre envious of those that will be viewing the horse races IRL and will certainly be chowing down on delicious food, youre in luck: you can easily bring this experience to your own home.

We got our hands on the official recipes for the Kentucky Derby menu, featuring recipes developed by Chef Robert Lopez, the senior executive chef of Levy Restaurants. From veggie sides like Roasted Cauliflower & Brussel Sprouts to the comforting star, Smoked Brisket, here is the complete list of this years dishes. Don't forget to make one of our fruity and refreshing cocktail recipes to pair with this meal.

Related: 26 Frozen Drinks to Cool You Down This Weekend

Spring Pea Pasta Salad

Serves: 4

8 ounces uncooked fusilli pasta

1 pound fresh English peas

6 ounces shaved pecorino cheese

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 cup cooked cubed country ham

4 green onions, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons fresh parsley

1 tablespoon snipped fresh dill

Kosher salt, to taste

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, place peas in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil; cook, uncovered, until crisp-tender, 8-10 minutes. Drain pasta and beans; rinse in cold water. Place in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk the oil, vinegar and cayenne. Drizzle over pasta mixture and toss to coat. Add the country ham, green onions, parsley, dill and salt; toss to coat. Refrigerate until serving.

Spring Panzanella Salad

Serves: 4

1 garlic clove

2 lemons

1/4 cup champagne vinegar

6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

1 English cucumber, halved lengthwise, cut crosswise into 1 pieces

4 scallions, thinly sliced on a diagonal

1 bunch asparagus, trimmed, sliced on a diagonal into 2 pieces

6 ounces sugar snap peas, trimmed, thinly sliced

8 ounces home-style croutons

1 cup (packed) tender herb leaves with tender stems, like dill, mint, basil or parsley

4 ounces feta cheese

Finely grate garlic and the zest of 1 lemon into a large bowl. Slice both lemons in half and squeeze their juice into the bowl. Add champagne vinegar and oil and whisk to combine. Season dressing with salt and lots of pepper. Lightly crush cucumber on a cutting board with a rolling pin or wine bottle. Add cucumber, scallions, asparagus, and peas to dressing and toss well to combine. Let sit for 10 minutes. Add home-style croutons to salad. Toss to evenly coat and help bread soak up some of the dressing. Taste and season with more salt and pepper as needed. Add herbs to salad and toss once more. Divide salad among shallow bowls, reserving any dressing and juices that pool at the bottom of bowl. Break feta into large pieces and nestle into salad in each bowl. Drizzle reserved dressing and juices over. Serve immediately.

Related: Why Restaurant Salads Taste Better, According to Chefs

My Old Kentucky Bibb Salad

Serves: 4

1 large head bibb lettuce, leaves washed and dried

2 Bosc pears, halved, poached in bourbon

1/2 cup toasted walnuts

1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles

1/4 cup red onion, thinly sliced

1/4 cup chives, chopped

1/2 cup Herbed Buttermilk Dressing

Arrange lettuce on four plates or in a large salad bowl. Top with remaining ingredients and drizzle with Buttermilk Dressing. Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Herbed Buttermilk Dressing

3 cups buttermilk

1 cup mayonnaise

 cup rice wine vinegar

3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons lemon juice

 tablespoon lemon zest

2 tablespoons chives, chopped

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon kosher salt

 tablespoon fresh ground pepper

 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 cup fresh basil leaves

Place all ingredients except basil in a blender and process until smooth. Add fresh basil and pulse in the blender until basil is broken up and dressing is pale green. Store dressing in a glass jar or airtight container in the refrigerator. Refrigerate or serve immediately. For best results, refrigerate for at least an hour.

Related: 11 Creamy Salad Dressings You Should Be Making, Not Buying

Courtesy Photo

Herbed Gournay Weisenberger Grits

Serves: 4

1 cup chicken stock or broth

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided

1 cup half & half

Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

1 cup grits, like Weisenberger grits

4 ounces roasted corn (off cob)

4 ounces Boursin cheese

1 green onion, sliced

2 ounces Cheddar cheese, shredded

Place grits into saucepan and add chicken stock and 3 tablespoons butter and bring to a boil. stir in half & half, salt and pepper. Slowly stir in grits until fully incorporated, then add corn, stir and reduce to a simmer. Cook, stirring often, about 10 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed and grits are creamy. Taste, adjust seasonings if needed and transfer to serving bowl. Top with thin slices of remaining butter, green onion and Cheddar cheese, serve immediately.

Roasted Cauliflower & Brussels Sprouts

Serves: 4

16 ounces Brussels sprouts

16 ounces cauliflower florets, about 1 head

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves, sliced thin



Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper, to taste

2 ounces red onion, sliced thin

3 ounces peppadew peppers, sliced

Smoked Maldon sea salt

Preheat the oven to 425 F. Wash Brussels sprouts and cauliflower. Cut stems from Brussels sprouts and cut into halves or quarters. Cut the stem and leaves from cauliflower, then cut the florets from the head into 1-inch pieces for roasting. Toss the vegetables in a bowl to completely cover with oil and sprinkle with sliced garlic, salt, and pepper. Arrange the cauliflower and Brussels sprouts on a baking sheet and drizzle with remaining olive oil. Place the sheet pan in the oven and roast for 35 minutes, stirring halfway through to roast on all sides. Remove the pan from the oven, arrange vegetables on a plate and garnish with peppadew peppers, red onions and smoked sea salt.

Related: Our 15 Best Brussels Sprouts Recipes for the Perfect Dinner Side Dish

Smoked Brisket

1 12-14 lb whole brisket

2 tablespoons coarse Kosher salt

2 tablespoons coarse ground black pepper

Store your brisket in the refrigerator until you are ready to start trimming. Cold briskets are much easier to work with. Flip your brisket over so the point end is underneath. Remove any silver skin or excess fat from the flat muscle. Trim down the large crescent moon shaped fat section until it is a smooth transition between the point and the flat. Trim any excessive or loose meat and fat from the point. Square the edges and ends of the flat. Flip the brisket over and trim the top fat cap to about 1/4 of an inch thickness across the surface of the brisket. In a mixing bowl or empty spice container, mix the salt and pepper. Rub over the brisket to evenly distribute the spices on all sides. Preheat your smoker to 225 F using indirect heat and hardwood smoke. Place the brisket on the smoker with the point end facing your main heat source. This is a thicker part of the brisket and it can handle the additional heat. Close the lid and smoke until an internal thermometer reads 165 F (usually takes around 8 hours). On a large work surface, roll out a big piece of butcher paper (or foil) and center your brisket in the middle. Wrap the brisket by folding edge over edge, creating a leak proof seal all the way around. Return the wrapped brisket to the smoker, seam side down so the weight from the brisket crimps the edges of the paper wrap down tight. Close the lid on the smoker and, maintaining 225F, continue cooking until the internal temperature of the brisket reaches 202 F in the thickest part of the meat (takes anywhere from 5-8 hours).

Bourbon Cherry Brisket Burnt Ends

Serves: 4

24 ounces brisket burnt ends (the ends of your smoked brisket)

1 cup veal demi-glace

1 cup tart cherry juice

1/2 cup cherry preserves

1/2 cup barbecue sauce

4 ounces bourbon

4 ounces fried onions

1 ounce fried rosemary

Preheat the smoker to 250 F and smoke with cherry wood for a sweet smoky flavor. In a pot, combine: 1 cup demi, 1 cup cherry juice, 1/2 cup cherry preserves, 1/2 cup levy bbq sauce and 4 ounces of bourbon. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes until it begins to thicken then remove from heat. Place the brisket burnt ends in a pan then pour the sauce over the top. cover with foil, then place it on the smoker for an hour. Remove the foil the last 15-20 minutes to help the sauce tack up. Remove from the smoker once the burnt ends reach an internal temperature of 200F. Garnish with crispy onions and rosemary.

Related: Is It Safe to Eat Burnt Food?

Nduja Shrimp Pasta

Serves: 4

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon nduja

16 ounces penne pasta

1/4 cup dry white wine



21 ounces crushed tomatoes

Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper, to taste

1 cup large shrimp (prawns) cleaned, deveined and roughly chopped



1/2 cup fine chopped parsley

1 lemon, zest only



Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it well. Add the olive oil to a large pan or skillet, add the nduja and cook for about 1 or 2 minutes until it starts to melt. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until al dente (around 8-10 minutes). Add the white wine to the nduja and reduce by half then add the crushed tomatoes with a pinch of salt and pepper and simmer for around 10 minutes or until the pasta is cooked. About 1 or 2 minutes before the penne is ready, add the chopped shrimp to the tomato sauce and simmer until they turn pink, then add the penne along with the parsley, lemon zest and a little pasta water (1-2 tablespoons). Toss well until everything is combined and serve.

Related: 60 Mother's Day Lunch Ideas That Show Your Appreciation to Mom

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Freedom of expression is supposed to be a cornerstone of democracy. All views, even the most disagreeable, must be allowed to compete in an open marketplace of ideas. Capitalism, we are told, is the only system capable of facilitating such tolerance; communism would crush dissent beneath the iron heel of conformity and the party line. Yet, as we write these words, students and academics are being beaten and arrested on dozens of campuses across capitalist America for their unacceptable views. Communists, meanwhile, are the only ones mounting a consistent defence of free speech  from our own class perspective.

Under a regime of formal bourgeois democracy, anyone can say (more or less) what they wish, as long as the banks and big monopolies decide what happens. But in times of crisis, the nominal ability of ordinary people to speak their minds is seen by the capitalists as a threat to their authority. Far from an immutable right, freedom of speech is becoming a dangerous luxury the ruling class can ill afford. With their propaganda increasingly failing to sway public opinion, the direction of travel is towards ramping up repression.

Free speech under attack

In the past seven months, millions have hit the streets to protest Israels war of slaughter in Gaza, which is armed, funded, and abetted by all the Western imperialist countries. This open opposition to their key Middle Eastern ally threatens their major geopolitical interests and billions of dollars worth of investments. Thus, so-called liberal democracies across Western Europe have banned solidarity marches, and sent in police to arrest and harass protestors. Meanwhile, their prostitute press has branded peaceful anti-war demonstrations antisemitic mobs, to justify the repression of hate speech.

The hypocrisy of the bourgeoisie has been thrown into especially sharp relief by the coast-to-coast wave of protest encampments at universities in the USA. Students and faculty members are demanding their institutions divest from Israel, while the latter butchers civilians. Isnt this the protestors right? Isnt freedom of expression enshrined in the First Amendment of the US Constitution? Arent prestigious universities like Columbia, Harvard, MIT etc. supposed to be centres of open discussion?

The ruling class and its agents can always find excuses to limit freedom of expression by citing threats to public safety, the threshold for which they set themselves. The establishment press and politicians from both main parties in the United States have unleashed a hail of hysteria, calling for protestors to be expelled, arrested and even deported, citing the safety of Jewish students. Even though anti-Zionist Jewish students have been prominently involved, and the only real violence has come from university authorities calling in the police and state troopers, armed with batons, rubber bullets and riot gear.

The whole situation carries ominous echoes of Kent State University in 1970, where national guardsmen shot dead four student anti-war protestors. This occurred amidst a nationwide protest movement that threatened the foundations of US imperialism, and thus incurred a brutal crackdown. For instance, in 1968 at Columbia, over 700 anti-war protestors were arrested in one day. We could also cite Ronald Reagans offensive against the Free Speech movement at Berkeley in the 1960s, or the Red Scare and McCarthyite witch-hunts. In all these cases, the US capitalist class werent prepared to let a piece of paper like the First Amendment stand in the way of their interests.

In recent years, right-wingers have whined about the suppression of free speech, especially at universities, in response to the alleged suppression of conservative and anti-LGBT views by a pervasive woke agenda. For example, Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbot bragged in 2019 about signing a bill into law protecting free speech on campuses. Fast forward five years, and he tweets a video of state troopers breaking up an encampment in Austin with the caption:

These protesters belong in jail Students joining in hate-filled, antisemitic protests at any public college or university in Texas should be expelled.

A Palestine Conference in Germany was unilaterally shut down by the Social Democrat-led government of Olaf Scholz / Image: OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, FlickrCompare and contrast as well the polices tendency to handle far-right demonstrators with kid gloves, while brutalising workers and youth protesting injustice. The enforcement of free speech rights in practice largely protects the right of reactionaries to spew hatred, while limiting opposition to capitalisms crimes.

Not only open reactionaries, but liberals and reformists too have exposed their shameless double standards on this question.

For instance, a few weeks ago, a hue-and-cry was raised over a Belgian court shutting down a far-right National Conservatism conference. Papers and politicians of all stripes, who cheered on the suppression of pro-Palestine demonstrations for months, denounced this affront to free speech, and the conference went ahead. Meanwhile, days earlier a Palestine Conference in Germany was unilaterally shut down by the Social Democrat-led government of Olaf Scholz. Some speakers, including former Greek Finance Minister Yannis Varoufakis, were banned from all political activity in the country! Our liberal democrats simply shrugged.

But communism denies free speech altogether! the bourgeois protest. Under communist rule, the party would control the press! And who controls the press under capitalism? As Lenin explained: the exploiters, the landowners and the profiteers own 9/10 of the stocks of newsprint, printing presses. Today, 90 percent of the media in the United States is controlled by just six corporations, owned in turn by capitalist fatcats whose interests are bound up with the status quo, and who can be relied upon to defend it in print. Meanwhile, bourgeois politicians privileged access to the media means their opinions hold far more sway than mere mortals.

Individual journalists are under immense pressure from the state, advertisers and their editors not to rock the boat. The few who dare to challenge the establishment line end up ostracised, hounded out of work, or worse: as in the case of Julian Assange, who rots in jail for exposing the crimes of US imperialism.

The situation is no better online. Elon Musk, one of the worlds richest men, purchased Twitter with the express purpose of allowing freedom of expression to flourish. But he has been accused of exploiting the platform to boost attention for his reactionary friends and admirers while throttling left-wingers. Billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg collaborate with the state to facilitate surveillance of our online activities. Meanwhile, the US government is banning TikTok by decree to spite China, even while TikTok itself arbitrarily censors content. As long as the media is a plaything of the rich, and is entangled with their interests, it will never be free.

Well, communists would never allow dissenting opinions to their one-party rule! the bourgeois retort. In fact, there was great diversity of opinion inside and outside the Bolshevik Party, before and after the Russian Revolution. Lenin himself was occasionally in a minority on various key questions, which were resolved through debate.

Elon Musk has been accused of exploiting the platform to boost attention for his reactionary friends and admirers / Image: Daniel Oberhaus, Flickr

While it is true factions and parties were eventually abolished and the dissident press suppressed, this was in the middle of a Civil War, where the regime was fighting for its life. Opposition parties openly supported the Tsarist counter-revolution that sought to drown the revolution in blood. Name one capitalist regime in history that permitted freedom of press and organisation to a rebel faction during a civil conflict! To quote Abraham Lincoln, who banned the pro-slave-owner and anti-war press in the North during the American Civil War:

Must I shoot a simple-minded soldier-boy who deserts, while I must not touch a hair on the head of a wily agitator who induces him to desert? I think that in such a case to silence the agitator and save the boy is not only constitutional, but withal a great mercy.

Free speech and the Russian Revolution

Our enemies paint only one side of the picture of the Russian Revolution. The revolution also saw an outpouring of intellectual and creative energy from people who were finally able to speak their minds without the Tsarist secret police breathing down their necks. There was a yearning by ordinary workers and peasants to express themselves. Even the reactionary Woodrow Wilson administration had to concede the following:

At the height of the Civil War, since every army unit and local soviet wanted to have its own paper there was a great proliferation of publications. At the end of the Civil War there were more periodicals printed in Russia than there had been in peacetime.

Given the dire circumstances, this is remarkable. Artistic expression also flourished under the Bolsheviks. Before Stalinist degeneration, great permissiveness prevailed in cultural matters. Such is admitted even by the conservative Oxford Historian Max Hayward:

[The revolutionary censorships] main function was to prevent the publication of overtly counter-revolutionary works It did not interfere with basic literary freedom in matters of form and content.

Furthermore, the great Russian dramatist Stanislavski, who was not a Bolshevik, stated in 1928: When the political events in our country had caught us our Government did not force us to dye ourselves red and pretend to be what we were not. Far from ending freedom of expression, the revolution gave millions of Russians a voice by removing the iron grip of tsarism from their throats, and beginning to put the reigns of society into their hands.

Communists today call for unwavering defence of free speech by the working class, utilising their fighting organisations and methods of struggle. Not because we have a superstitious belief in universal rights applicable to all people, at all times, in all possible worlds. But because our class can use democratic handholds to advance its interests. In the same way, the capitalists attack free speech and further arm their repressive apparatus to preserve their class interests.

The brutality of the bourgeois clampdown on Palestine solidarity is teaching a new generation a painful but important lesson: free speech is not a guarantee under capitalism, it is a weapon in the class struggle. By using this weapon, in addition to all the other means at our disposal, communists aim to dismantle the system that puts the press, culture and state apparatus at the disposal of a parasitic profiteering minority.

By fighting for revolution, an end to capitalism, and a socialist future, we aim to open up universities, the media and the world of culture to the masses, giving billions of men and women a voice for the first time.
YEREVAN, MAY 2, ARMENPRESS. A collapse of an expressway section in China's Guangdong province caused vehicles to plunge and killed 36 people while injuring another 30, Reuters reports citing Chinese state media.

The collapse, triggered by heavy rain, occurred at around 2:10 a.m. on Wednesday on the Meizhou-Dabu Expressway, Xinhua news agency reported, adding that the collapsed section was 17.9 meters in length and caused 23 vehicles to plunge.

Meizhou is one of the areas in southern China's Guangdong that has been badly hit by heavy rain and hail since late April which set off dangerous mudslides, inundated homes and destroyed bridges, Reuters adds.

President Xi Jinping called for the utmost efforts to save lives and eliminate dangers as the rainy weather continued in the region.

The Guangdong provincial government dispatched a rescue force of approximately 500 people, the state broadcaster said.
YEREVAN, MAY 2, ARMENPRESS. French President Emmanuel Macron, in an interview with the Economist, reaffirmed he did not rule out sending troops to Ukraine, saying the issue would "legitimately" arise if Russia broke through Ukrainian front lines and Kyiv made such a request, Barron's reports.

"I'm not ruling anything out, because we are facing someone who is not ruling anything out," said Macron when asked if he stood by comments earlier this year not excluding the sending of Western troops that sent shockwaves around Europe.
YEREVAN, MAY 2, ARMENPRESS. During the Azerbaijani aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2023, there were cases of torture, mutilation of bodies, and targeting of civilian objects. Armenian Human Rights Defender Anahit Manasyan stated this during the presentation of the annual report on the activities of the Human Rights Defender in 2023 at the National Assembly.

Anahit Manasyan noted that from the very beginning of the forced deportation from Nagorno-Karabakh, she visited registration centers in Syunik and Vayk. As a result of interviews with more than 350 people conducted by the staff of the Human Rights Defender, an extraordinary public report was published.

"Cases of torture, mutilation of bodies, and targeting of civilian objects were documented there, I mean, during the September events, as well as various problems related to human rights resulting from the blockade of the Lachin Corridor prior to that," said Manasyan.

She considers the greatest achievement related to this to be the fact that, for the first time, such a report from the Human Rights Defender of Armenia was referenced in the observations presented by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunya Mijatovic.
New Delhi: Indias gross goods and services tax (GST) collections hit a record high in April 2024 and crossed Rs 2-lakh crore mark as well.

The government on Wednesday said that the gross GST mop-up stood at Rs 2.1 lakh crore, representing a growth of 12.4 percent on year-on-year basis.

After accounting for refunds, the net GST revenue for April also stood at Rs 1.92 lakh crore, which is a growth of 15.5 per cent, compared to the same period last year, according to the finance ministry.

The ministry said the rise in tax collections is mainly driven by the robust growth in domestic transactions and imports. The GST collections hit a record high in April 2024 at Rs 2.1 lakh crore. This represents a 12.4 per cent year-on-year growth, driven by an increase in domestic transactions (up 13.4 per cent) and imports (up 8.3 per cent), the ministry said.

The GST collection crosses the Rs 2 lakh crore benchmark, thanks to the strong momentum in the efforts of the revenue department and the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs, the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman posted on social media platform X.

The GST revenue, which is accounted for as taxes on goods sold and services rendered, was over Rs 1.78 lakh crore last month, while it was Rs 1.87 lakh crore in April 2023.

In April this year, the mop-up under Central GST (CGST) pool stood at Rs 43,846 crore, while State GST (SGST) collection reached Rs 53,538 crore and Integrated GST (IGST) Rs 99,623 crore, including Rs 37,826 crore collected through levies on imported goods. The total Cess collection was registered at Rs 13,260 crore, including Rs 1,008 crore collected on imported goods, the ministry said.

The ministry further said that the central government settled Rs 50,307 crore to CGST and Rs 41,600 crore to SGST from the IGST collection. This translates to a total revenue of Rs 94,153 crore for CGST and Rs 95,138 crore for SGST in April 2024 after regular settlement. There are no dues pending on account of IGST settlement to the states, the finance minister said.

The Indian economy is on a fast track to formalisation and businesses are fast becoming organised and are coming into the mainstream, said Vivek Jalan, partner at Tax Connect Advisory Services LLP.

Deloitte India Partner Mahesh Jaising also said that the consistent buoyancy in GST collections has set the stage for pursuing forward-thinking reforms under GST 2.0.

PwC India Partner Pratik Jain said with the next wave of GST reforms expected after the formation of the new government.
New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday yet again dithered on announcing the partys candidates for the Lok Sabha polls in Rae Bareli and Amethi, despite the fact that the last day for filing nominations ends on Friday.

Thursday started with speculation that Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will contest from Amethi and Rae Bareli, respectively. During the course of the day, other names started cropping up. The names of party secretary K.L. Sharma from Amethi and Supriya Shrinate from Rae Bareli started doing the rounds.

Earlier, the central election committee (CEC) of the Congress had authorised Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to decide the candidates for Amethi and Rae Bareli. Insiders claim that Mr Kharge wants somebody from the Gandhi family to contest these two seats.

Ms Vadra had said that she is busy campaigning across the country and does not want to be tied down to any particular seat, while Mr Gandhi is still undecided.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, the BJP announced former Congress MLA and present BJP leader Dinesh Pratap Singh as its candidate in Rae Bareli. Union minister Smriti Irani has already filed her nomination from Amethi on Monday.

Ms Irani defeated Mr Gandhi from Amethi in 2019. Former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi was the lone Congress candidate to have won the Lok Sabha seat from UP in the last general election.

The Congress has been delaying the decision on candidates for the two seats for weeks. But now, the time has almost run out. Many in the Congress claim that the announcement will be made on the last day of filing the nomination papers, which is a Friday.
New Delhi: Asserting that the Congress' deep partnership and collaboration with Pakistan had been exposed, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the neighbouring country was eager to foist the "Shehzada" (apparently referring to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi) as India's next Prime Minister as the country's enemies want a weak government to be at the helm.

Targeting the Congress-led I.N.D.I.A. bloc at four back-to-back powerful rallies in Gujarats Anand, Surendranagar, Junagadh, and Jamnagar, Modi alleged that the Opposition alliance aimed for "vote jihad" in India.

At the Anand rally, Modi said, "India's enemies hope for a weak government that existed before 2014. The enemies of India want a government that existed during India's 26/11 terror attack. The enemies of India wish for a corrupt government in India, which was there before 2014. But Modi's strong government neither bows down nor does it stop.

The Prime Minister noted that, unlike under the Congress governments, India today was a bright spot in the global economy and a "Vishwamitra". Today, India is ensuring the safety of all through the "Tiranga".

"Pakistan is crying because the Congress is dying here. Pakistani leaders are now praying for the Congress. Pakistan is eager to make Shehzada the next Prime Minister of India. This is not surprising because we already know that the Congress is 'murid' (follower) of Pakistan," he said.

Modi's assertion linking the Congress with Pakistan came a day after a former minister in Imran Khan's Cabinet, Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, reportedly shared a video featuring Gandhi on his social media handle and praised him.

In a veiled dig at Pakistan, the Prime Minister said, "The country that exports terror is struggling to import atta. The hands that used to hold bombs are now holding bheekh ka katora (begging bowl).

At the rally, Modi once again alleged that Congress wanted to change the Constitution to hand over SC, ST, and OBCs' reservations to Muslims.

I have three challenges for the Congress: first, they must not indulge in religion-based reservations, disregarding the Constitution. Second, they must not reduce the reservations meant for the SC, ST, and OBC communities. And third, they must not play the appeasement politics card in any state of India, he said.

Attacking the Opposition over "vote jihad"  the call was given by Congress Farrukhabad candidate Salman Khurshids niece Maria Alam at a campaign meeting  Modi said, "Now, the I.N.D.I.A. bloc calls for vote jihad. This is new because we have so far heard about 'love jihad' and 'land jihad'. This is said by a person who belonged to an educated Muslim family, not someone who studied in a madrasa. I hope you all know what the meaning of jihad is and against whom it is waged. This is an insult to democracy and not a single Congress leader has condemned it. Such statements expose that the intentions of the INDIA bloc are dangerous.

Addressing a rally in Junagadh, Modi attacked the Congress over divisive politics. He said, The Congress opposes the abrogation of Article 370 and CAA to enable divisive politics. The Congress aims to divide India into North and South and wants to keep India insecure to play its power politics.

Attacking Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge over a recent remark pertaining to Lord Rama and Lord Shiva, Modi said the Opposition party had declared that this election is a fight against Lord Ram.

"The Congress aims to create a conflict between 'Ram Bhakti' and 'Shiv Bhakti'. The president of the Congress party has tried to create conflicts between Shiv and Ram Bhakts, aiming to create unnecessary divisions in the country. The Congress president said his objective is to defeat Lord Rama and that Lord Shiva will defeat Lord Rama. What are they thinking? The Mughals destroyed the Ram temple in Ayodhya and Somnath temple with this same mentality," he asserted.

He also claimed that the Congress boycotted the consecration ceremony at the Ram temple in Ayodhya due to its appeasement politics.

In Surendranagar, hitting out at the Congress's governance model, the Prime Minister said, The Congress' report card is a report card of scams. Their record is replete with scams like the 2G scam, the Commonwealth Games scam, the copter scam, etc. The BJP's report card is synonymous with unprecedented development. Our report card has shown the reduction of poverty, empowering all."

Addressing the last rally of the day in Gujarat's Jamnagar, the Prime Minister said, Its because of the efforts of Maharaja Digvijay Singh of Jamnagar that India has great relations with Poland. Maharaja gave haven to Polish citizens fleeing the country during World War II."
Raichur: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi demanded answers from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the shielding of JDS leader Prajwal Revanna, named in the sexual harassment of over 2,800 women, and permitted him to leave the country.

During his rally, Gandhi highlighted the allegations of sexual harassment against Revanna and launched a scathing attack on the BJP, Prime Minister Modi, and Home Minister Amit Shah.

Referring to a letter written by a BJP leader to Amit Shah detailing the atrocities and harassment committed by Prajwal Revanna's family, Rahul Gandhi accused the home minister of inaction despite knowledge of the allegations.

Gandhi criticized Prime Minister Modi for endorsing Prajwal Revanna despite the allegations against him and asked why the Prime Minister was protecting him and urging voters to support him.

"Those women who faced harassment and molestation in some form should remember that Prajwal has done similar acts by victimising 400 women. If Amit Shah knew about this then even the Prime Minister did. Women of India and Karnataka want to ask why is the Prime Minister protecting this person and why he had asked to vote for him, he questioned.

He alleged that despite Amit Shah's awareness of the accusations, Prajwal Revanna was allowed to leave for Germany.

"Despite all agencies being under the control of the Central government, Prajwal Revanna was allowed to escape. Now the Prime Minister is hesitant to visit Karnataka. All meetings have been cancelled. However, he should be aware that women are aware of his support for Revanna in allying with his party. The individuals who govern the country have shielded him (Revanna)," he emphasised.

He stressed the difference in principles between Congress and the BJP, accusing the latter of prioritising power over justice and disregarding the suffering of women and the poor.

"The Prime Minister must not evade Karnataka. He should visit and address the issue of Prajwal Revanna. If the home minister had prior knowledge of his actions, it constitutes criminal negligence. Action should be taken, especially considering minor girls were among the victims. The protection of a rapist is intolerable," he added.
New Delhi: At least 100 schools in the Delhi-NCR area received identical bomb threats by email on Wednesday, triggering mass evacuations and large-scale searches as panicked parents rushed to pick up their children. The threat was declared a hoax as nothing objectionable was found during searches. The Union home ministry said the bomb threats turned out to be a hoax.

The Delhi government has, meanwhile, issued an advisory to schools asking them to ensure that emails received at their official email addresses are checked timely.

Police sources said the email the schools received had the same source, suspected to be sent from Russia, aimed at creating panic. They added it was also possible that culprits may have masked their identity using the DarkNet. The special cell anti-terror unit of the Delhi police will investigate the bomb threat. The case is being registered with the special cell and a dedicated team will be formed to conduct the investigation. The matter is related to national security. It needs a deeper probe, the official said. The police will also probe foreign involvement, including of the Islamic State.

Some schools of Delhi received emails regarding bomb threats. The Delhi police has conducted thorough checks of all such schools as per protocol, the Delhi police said in a post on X. Nothing objectionable has been found. It appears that these calls seem to be a hoax. We request the public not to panic and maintain peace, it said.

The police said the content of the email to every school was the same, adding that it was sent from a user with email id, sawariim@mail.Ru. Kill them wherever you meet and drive them out of the places from which they drove you. There are many explosive devices in the school... reads the identical email sent to all schools.

The investigation so far has revealed that Sawariim (clashing of the swords) is an Arabic word, which has been used by the Islamic State since 2014 to spread Islamist propaganda. Thus, the police is investigating if there is a conspiracy of any organisation behind these threatening emails Sources claimed that a single IP address was used to send the email to all schools.

The police received at least 131 PCR calls regarding the bomb while the Delhi Fire Service got over 109 calls from different schools. They started receiving calls about the bomb threat at 6 am, an officer said. An official said that DFS also received calls even after noon and firefighters are still on the ground.

Multiple private schools in Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad and Gurgaon also received the bomb threat, but the local police dismissed them as a hoax.

The bomb threat was received in 16 schools in Outer district, 24 private schools in East Delhi, 18 schools in South Delhi, 21 schools in West Delhi and 10 schools in Shahdara, four in Northeast Delhi and several schools in other areas too.

Special CP (Crime) Ravinder Yadav said: These emails were received in several schools. Some hospitals also received these emails on Tuesday. Thorough checking was done Even if it was a hoax call, we cannot take chances. We will conduct an investigation.

Earlier in the day, the Union home ministry said there was no need to panic as the threat appeared to be a hoax. It said the Delhi police and security agencies were taking all the necessary steps as per protocol, it said. The Delhi police said it has conducted a thorough check of all schools that received the bomb threat but found nothing.

Delhi lieutenant-governor V.K. Saxena visited one school and said that the Delhi police has traced the origin of the threat emails.

Delhi education minister Atishi said nothing was found in the schools and requested parents not to panic. We are in constant touch with the police and schools. Would request parents and citizens not to panic. The school authorities will be in touch with parents wherever needed, Atishi said in a post on X.

Parents and guardians rushed to the schools to pick up their children. The school administrations made announcements on the microphone as parents rushed to collect their wards. Fire tenders, ambulances and lines of police vehicles were seen on standby outside the schools, while bomb detection teams and bomb disposal squads were conducting searches inside the schools.
The British section of the International Marxist Tendency is celebrating this years May Day, International Workers Day, by launching the Revolutionary Communist Party. Explosive events, upheavals, and class battles are coming in Britain. We must prepare by building the forces of genuine communism.

[Originally published at communist.red]

Over the May Day bank holiday, hundreds of delegates and visitors from all parts of the country are gathering for the founding congress of the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP).

The launch of the RCP comes at a time of collapsing living standards and complete disenchantment with the old order. British capitalism is in terminal decline. All the gains of the past are being systematically destroyed. The working class is facing an existential crisis.

The rich are getting richer, while working people are being driven into the ground, burdened with rising debts, rents, and bills.

But the only thing on offer from the main political parties  both the Tories and Labour, and the SNP in Scotland too  is more of the same. No wonder there is a profound disillusionment with all the establishment politicians and parties.

It is time for a radical break. We must stand up to the onslaught facing us. A revolutionary party is needed to fundamentally transform society, and put an end to this relentless barrage by the capitalists and their representatives.

The aim of this landmark congress is to found a party in Britain on the lines of Lenins Bolshevik Party, which led the Russian working class to power in 1917.

The RCP will be the British section of the new Revolutionary Communist International, which is being launched at a world conference in June.

The establishment of such a party is necessary preparation for the titanic events that impend.

Bankrupt Britain

The founding congress is due to discuss the draft theses on the coming British revolution, which was circulated to branches nearly two months ago, and published in The Communist.

This document outlines the world crisis that forms the background to events in Britain. We live in an epoch of unparalleled upheaval and turbulence. The long-term decay and demise of British capitalism has dramatically accelerated.

British imperialism has been relegated to a third-rate power, of little global importance. The ruling class has demonstrated its complete senility and bankruptcy. Britain has become one of the weakest links in the global chain of capitalism.

The economic collapse of 2008 ushered in a period of plummeting living standards and austerity for the working class. The corona-crash of 2020 intensified the crisis, which will sharpen even further in the years to come.

Already, local councils are going bankrupt. Essential services are being scrapped, especially hitting the most vulnerable.

The Tory Party has been completely discredited. Labour under Starmer, meanwhile, has shifted sharply to the right, and has become the willing lackey of capitalism.

Given the hatred towards the Tories, Starmer  this admirer of Thatcher  will be thrust into power. In Number 10, however, the Labour leader will be even more enthusiastic than his predecessors in carrying out the diktats of big business.

Explosive events

The growing turmoil internationally, combined with the collapse of British capitalism, is preparing an era of storm and stress.

This is the worst combination of problems at home and abroad that any government will have taken on since the Second World War, remarked Lord Ken Clarke, a former Tory chancellor.

This is the backdrop to a massive attack on the working class. The Starmer government will become one of the most hated governments of all time, as it attempts to place the burden of the crisis on the backs of workers.

But the working class has had enough. It will not lightly tolerate further impositions.

The situation has dynamite built into its foundations. Yet all the accumulated anger and discontent finds no outlet.

The scene is therefore being set for a massive explosion of the class struggle. Even the strike wave of the past couple of years will pale in comparison, compared to the fierce battles that loom.

Under these conditions, the Tory Party will pass rapidly over to the side of extreme reaction. The ruling class will be forced to lean on the likes of Starmer. In turn, the attacks meted out by a right-wing Labour government will serve to burn away any lingering illusions in reformism.

Crisis of leadership

Without doubt, a pre-revolutionary period is being prepared in Britain.

Rather than mobilise workers to radically change society, however, the trade union bureaucracy acts as a huge brake on the workers movement.

Even the supposed lefts offer no real alternative. They believe in trying to make capitalism more humane. But this is utopian. Lacking any confidence in the working class, they too will attempt to keep the struggle within the confines of the system.

This is why we are launching a new party  a revolutionary party. It is necessary to break the logjam. Our task is to resolve this crisis of leadership.

Reformism vs revolution

We are not sectarians. We do not stand on the sidelines, but boldly turn towards militant workers and the youth, who are looking for a way out.

Why have we adopted the name Revolutionary Communist Party?

We have done this to raise the genuine banner of socialist revolution; to differentiate ourselves from the so-called Communist Party of Britain, which has nothing in common with communism or revolutionary change.

They are reformist and nationalist to the core. They very much cling to their Stalinist heritage. Their paper, the Morning Star, is simply the mouthpiece for the trade union bureaucracy and left reformists.

These lefts only seek to reform capitalism, as seen in the Corbyn movement.

The collapse of Corbynism was a reflection of this political weakness. They defended Labour as a broad church. When it came to the fight to drive out the Blairites, the lefts simply capitulated, crumbling to the pressure of the Labour right wing.

Likewise, other politically similar formations, such as the Peoples Assembly, seek to divert the energy of the working class into harmless reformist channels. They produce a lot of hot air, but little else. Like the Grand Old Duke of York, they march activists up to the top of the hill and then back down again.

It is a time for a fundamental break with such weak, woolly politics; to present a clear revolutionary programme, capable of pointing the way forward.

Youth and communism

The RCP poses sharply the need for revolutionary change, in Britain and internationally.

The reformist leaders have provided nothing but betrayals. In fact, there is a colossal vacuum on the left.

Hundreds of thousands of workers and youth are questioning the entire system, and are wide open to the ideas of genuine communism.

The latest wave of inspiring student protests  breaking out in one country after another  is an indication of the radical mood amongst young people, and across society more widely.

Our task is to find those who are turning towards communism, and to win over as many of these as possible  as quickly as possible.

There are no shortcuts to revolution. But the stormy events that lie on the horizon will radically transform consciousness, making even broader layers receptive to revolutionary ideas.

Heritage and ideas

Our young and determined forces are gathering at this founding congress to declare that genuine communism is back!

Our pre-history  of assembling the ones and twos, and developing a national presence  is over. A new stage is opening up.

We recognise that we are still a small party. The delegates and visitors to the founding congress of the RCP, however, are looking to the future with confidence.

A new chapter is being turned in the history of the British working class. We are entering into uncharted waters.

The tasks are great. But we have an important advantage over those in the past. We have accumulated an enormous theoretical heritage, in the form of the ideas of revolutionary Marxism, supplemented with the lessons passed down by those who have fought before us.

This equips us with the understanding, strategy, and methods needed to change society.

Join the RCP!

The system is at an impasse. Capitalism is undergoing a prolonged death agony. We base ourselves on such a perspective.

History will provide us with ample opportunities to build; to prepare the working class for the conquest of power.

Our task is to patiently explain to workers and youth the nature of the epoch  and the tasks required. Our objective is the building of a revolutionary party in Britain, before the revolutionary wave breaks.

We know this will not be easy. On the contrary, there are huge obstacles we need to overcome. On the basis of the hammer blow of events, combined with clear ideas and flexible tactics, this will be entirely possible.

All experience has shown that only the building of a mass revolutionary party can resolve the crisis of capitalism, and put an end to the nightmare facing the working class.

Never in the history of the workers movement has so much depended upon this endeavour. We do not have all the time in the world. We must make haste! So join us, and help build the RCP!
Behind the din of whether the Congress Party is likely, as alleged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to tax wealth and inheritance if it comes to power, lies the stratagem of signalling to the top 10 per cent of Indians, whose share in the national income surged from 45 per cent in 1981 to 64.6 per cent by 2023, that only the BJP lies between them and the deep sea of marauding socialists and other opportunists. It proved effective too by provoking the Congress, now lulled into a habitually reactive mode, to go all out to deny the allegation. The question is -- why did they bother?

The share of Congress voters in the top 10 per cent by wealth is likely to be negligible. The BJP has been good for urban business, professionals and government servants who are the majority in this population segment. The Congress best shot at power, as of all other Opposition parties, is to tap the seething resentment amongst the have-nots. Farmers, workers and the minorities together are more than one half of the voters. The neatly devised Mahalakshmi scheme of the Congress manifesto targets 220 million poor via an assured direct transfer of Rs 0.1 million per year payable to the oldest woman in a poor family. This should cost around Rs 4.4 trillion (for 44 million poor families), or about 1.4 per cent of the GDP this year.

At present this promise hangs in the air with no identified source of finance. Will this come at the expense of the Garib Kalyan Yojna, which now provides free food to 110 million people, which costs about Rs 2.05 trillion, and the end of cheap fertiliser costing another Rs 1.64 trillion? The alternative is to pancake it onto the existing welfare schemes, that will enhance the fiscal deficit from a projected, already high 5.1 per cent to an even more unsustainable 6.5 per cent. Are the BJPs dreams being

countered with even bigger Congress dreams? Had the Congress acted true to its voter base, it could have proposed a new tax on wealth and inheritance. The share in wealth of the top one per cent (10 million) individuals increased from 12.5 in 1981 to 39.5 per cent in 2023 as per Bharti, Chancel, Piketty and Somanchi (2024). Marxist writers Patnaik and Ghosh assess the potential of a 2 per cent wealth tax and 33 per cent inheritance tax levied on this set at Rs 12.1 trillion in 2018.

That the Congress shunned this bold approach reflects the dilemma of all middle-of-the-road parties. Politics and not economic theory drives tax policy in India. The politically docile, urban middle class is the only cash cow now available which spends more than one half its income on Union, state, or municipal tax compliance.

Liberal capitalistic economic opinion warns that resurrecting wealth and inheritance tax is a distraction. India should instead focus on accelerating growth with fiscal stability, the benefits from which overshadow a tax funded redistributive tax policy.

Far better, they say, to incentivise earning Rs 100 than to give the same as a tax-funded dole. Far better to incentivise new private sector jobs than to increase tax-funded expensive government jobs. There is merit in this argument.

Sadly, the external conditions are not supportive. Global growth is low, which is sinking all boats. Automation, robotics, and AI are likely to squeeze human employment. Tax policy traditionally favours capital investment via tax rebates, rather than human capital development -- the key resource in a service-led economy. The wealth of an economy is the competitiveness of its workforce and the efficacy and resilience of its institutions, not the volume of land or physical and financial capital alone. An additional 300 million Indians will boost the population by 2060. Enhancing public expenditure for education and healthcare are, consequently, the surest way to dilute constraints on economic growth, with lightly regulated private industry and services generating new jobs.

Memories are short in the social media age. India has a history of wealth appropriation. Ceilings on the ownership of land were imposed in the 1970s through state government-level legislation and surplus land was redistributed. In 1971, the privy purses -- guaranteed amounts under the Constitution, paid annually to the erstwhile hereditary rulers of colonial India in exchange for their voluntarily merging with India -- were terminated and judicial scrutiny of the Constitution-amending act barred under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Large-scale nationalisation of industry followed. No government since has implemented privatisation of Indias mammoth public sector, after Atal Behari Vajpayees 2000-2003 push floundered. In 1978, Prime Minister Morarji Desai of the Janata Party diluted the fundamental right to property, making it subject to legislated constraints. In 1985, the Estates Duty Act 1953, a quasi-inheritance tax, was abolished by Rajiv Gandhis Congress government. In 2015, the wealth tax of 1955 was abolished by Narendra Modis first government, citing low revenue performance.

So, are new taxes on wealth and inheritance the answer to the twin problems of unfunded welfare and infrastructure needs -- the latter increased by the investment demands of the energy transition and low revenue collections of around 19 per cent of current GDP for Union and state government combined?

This is a chicken and egg question. The generation of private, domestic wealth is a choice to defer present consumption for future gains via investment -- a significant input into economic growth. Bleeding the rich and the near-rich can reduce the incentive for savings-led investment in India. The establishment of the Gift City in Gujarat as an international financial hub insulated from the domestic economy only serves to preserve a part of the resultant value addition from international financial transactions, as do Singapore, London, or New York. The outward flow of domestic capital is still regulated. The INR is still a managed currency. Taxing wealth or inheritance can aggravate the undesirable, financial sub-culture of undercover operations, to stash wealth overseas in tax havens.

Far better to make India a competitive and efficient economy first, which attracts more capital than it exports -- like the United States. Once this is achieved, imposing a wealth and/or inheritance tax to generate public resources and level the playing field across individuals becomes an option. More likely though, the process of making the economy competitive would automatically build human capital and create enough merit-based opportunities, making family wealth only a residual input into the future value of an individual. Social divisions like caste might also matter less. Till we get to Ram Rajya (good governance), populist, Robin Hood-style quick fixes can only score a self-goal.
Former Foreign Minister Jeremiah Manele will be the new prime minister. Analysts expect him to adopt a less confrontational approach despite ties to China. Pacific nations are torn between loyalty to their Western partners and agreements (especially on security) with China.

Honiara (AsiaNews)  The government of the Solomon Islands will remain pro-Chinese. The parliament elected on 17 April chose Jeremiah Manele as the countrys new prime minister.

Manele was foreign minister in 2019 when the country under then Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare broke off diplomatic relations with Taiwan and signed, three years later, a security treaty (whose content have not been made public) with China, which thus continues to maintain some influence in the Pacific.

Last week Sogarave announced that he would drop out of the prime ministerial race because of his party's disappointing results, then backed Manele, who has already announced that he would maintain close ties with Beijing.

Analysts, however, expect that, unlike his predecessor, Manele will take a less confrontational approach towards Western partners, who are concerned about relations between China and Pacific island nations.

In recent years, China has been increasingly involved with the police forces of several countries in the region. It has also provided funds and investments in ports, roads, and telecommunications infrastructure, in places where travel and contacts are limited by scarce resources and the progressive rise in sea levels due to climate change.

Case in point: In September 2021, China sent its first police liaison officer, based at the Chinese embassy, to Fiji. Last year teams of Chinese experts were sent to Vanuatu and Kiribati (another country that broke relations with Taiwan in 2019), while assistance to the Solomon Islands was stepped up after protests erupted in 2021 in the capital, Honiara. Many fear that the security pact signed in 2022 includes the deployment of Chinese military forces to the archipelago.

After the January unrest in Papua New Guinea, the countrys Foreign Minister Justin Tkachenko said that China had offered to provide surveillance equipment and technology in September, but he was careful to emphasise immediately that, in any case, Papua New Guinea will not "jeopardise or compromise relations" with Western partners.

In addition, China has offered investments to revive the tourist sector in Palau and the Marshall Islands, two countries that, together with Micronesia, are linked to Washington through Compacts of Free Association (COFA), which allow the United States to have access to the defence and security infrastructure in the Pacific nations in the event of an attack (and more).

According to experts, China has a dual interest in promoting police cooperation with these countries.

On the one hand, there is a practical need to protect the Chinese diaspora and investments, especially in the case of unrest, which is frequent; on the other hand, it is clear that this is an area where Beijing wants to exert greater influence at the expense of Washington.

For their part, US officials have again voiced concerns earlier this year after Chinese police officers visited Kiribati, fearing that China could rebuild a military airstrip less than 4,000 kilometres from Hawaii.

The small Pacific nations may not mind the geopolitical competition between China and their Western allies, because it provides additional leverage in diplomatic relations and helps get more aid and resources.

In 2022, China's foreign minister, Wang Yi, failed to convince Pacific leaders to sign two new cooperation agreements, while the following year, Fiji's prime minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, said he would tear up the police officer exchange deal with China, but then softened his tone.

In this competition for influence in the Pacific, China argues that the United States is not a reliable partner, seeking to counter what it believes to be an anti-China view proposed by Western media.

Last January, following a leak, it was discovered that one of the duties of a Chinese diplomat stationed at the embassy in Honiara was to influence local media coverage of the presidential election in Taiwan.

Western states, for their part, have highlighted the authoritarian style of police and officials from China, where human rights often take a back seat. In 2017, for example, Fijian police arrested 77 Chinese nationals, who were deported to China.

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The pontiff met with the Jordanian monarch today at the Vatican. The Holy See noted the "cordial" conversation and the two sides shared commitments. For the Jordanian priest, the bilateral relationship is well established with Jordan as a model of Christian-Muslim relations. Both are concerned about the escalation in the region, while stressing the importance of tourism, especially religious tourism.

Amman (AsiaNews)  Today's meeting between Pope Francis and King Abdullah II shows the great importance of collaboration between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Jordan to build a global commitment for a ceasefire in Gaza, this according to Fr Rifat Bader, director of the Catholic Center for Studies and Media (CCSM) and editor-in-chief of abounga.org.

As one of the most authoritative voices of the Church in Jordan, the clergyman spoke to AsiaNews in the year that marks the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations" between the two states.

The Holy See stressed the importance of the cordial private talk between the two leaders, which lasted 20 minutes. The two, who have known each other for a long while, took part in the traditional exchange of gifts.

Vatican-Jordan ties go back a long way, well before official relations", explains the priest, since Jordan is "the first land to have welcomed" a pontiff "on an official visit" with the arrival in 1964 of Paul VI, before he travelled to Jerusalem and Bethlehem on pilgrimage.

Jordan, he continues, "is part of the Holy Land" and is "respected by the Holy See for its role in interfaith dialogue, for the relations that have been created between Christians and Muslims" that have made it "a model."

Over time, Jordan has undertaken many initiatives, such as the proposal to the UN for the Week of Harmony between Religions, which was held in February, Fr Bader noted. The Vatican itself "looks carefully at Jordan" to contribute to regional peace.

Today's meeting comes just over a month after the Vaticans Foreign Minister, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States and International Organisations, visited the kingdom, which he described as a land of "peace and stability".

"The country has not entered into wars, and has not been stained with blood", the Jordanian clergyman said; instead, it has welcomed refugees from Palestine, Iraq and Syria".

The pontiff also "mentioned and cited several times" Jordan as an example "of welcoming, together with Lebanon" and today's meeting "is very important precisely in light of ongoing wars in the Middle East.

Fr Bader insisted that one of the priorities that unite the Jordan and the Holy See is to "get humanitarian aid to the needy in Gaza", as well as the urgency of achieving the release of the hostages" still in the hands of Hamas.

Having addressed these two points in the immediate future, it is necessary then to look to the future, not only to find a solution to the conflict in the Strip but to give a global response to the Palestinian problem.

On this matter, he says, there is a common vision of peace and two states (Israel and Palestine), because both Amman and the Vatican encourage this solution," while parting ways somewhat over Jerusalem, whose eastern part would be the capital of the future Palestinian state for Jordan, while the Holy See is pressing for a special status.

The conflict in Gaza, the Iranian attack on Israel, and the response of the Jewish state, the assaults of pro-Tehran Houthi militias in the Red Sea and the conflict between Lebanons Hezbollah and the Israeli military contribute to raising tensions.

In particular, the Iranian attack and the Israeli response have raised more than one concern.

"For us civilians, Fr Bader said, it was a difficult time because we are not used to hearing the sounds of military vehicles, of war, but, on this occasion, Jordan showed that it is a stable and independent nation, that it does not want to contribute to a destructive war, but to remain an actor of peace because a strong and stable Jordan is the best way to help the Palestinians."

However, the danger of escalation "is always present," because "there are many actors ready to come into play and the risk of enlargement is real, but this is not Jordan's desire, nor that of the Holy See."

Moreover, we must not forget the Christian community in Gaza, a minority that shows patience, faith, and courage; they too have contributed by providing martyrs for Palestine.

On the topic of dialogue, King Abdullah II himself "encourages brotherhood between Christians and Muslims. This year we celebrate a quarter of a century since his accession to the throne and in this time, he has met three popes, Saint John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, and the current, Pope Francis. Once the youngest Arab monarch, he is now the doyen among Mideast leaders.

On the home front, Fr Bader sees some critical issues that need to be addressed, starting with poverty; there are many poor people, as well as the unemployed, even if the government is committed to improving the situation.

The country, he explains, depends on tourism, especially religious tourism, which guarantees work, even for young people. However, the number of visitors has dropped in the last period and we must count on the aid of the Holy See to develop religious tourism.

The focus is on 2030, when Amman will celebrate the 2,000th anniversary of Jesus' baptism in the Jordan. To this end, We are preparing to welcome thousands of tourists and the presence of a resident nuncio[*] will help achieve the goal, he said.

(Photo: Vatican media)

[*] The current nuncio, Archbishop Giovanni Pietro Dal Toso, was appointed in January 2023; he celebrated his first Mass in Petra.
by Shafique Khokhar e Melani Manel Perera

On a day when even among local politicians rhetoric about labour abounds, in Pakistan and Sri Lanka the most defenceless groups have tried to make their voices heard. Fr Bonnie Mendes: "Even the Church should value the feast of St Joseph the Worker more to defend their dignity".

Faisalabad (AsiaNews) - Yesterday's May Day in many Asian countries was also marked by celebrations and politicians' words on work. In many cases heard with great bitterness in those realities where the rights and dignity of the person are less respected.

Speaking to AsiaNews, Fr Bonnie Mendes, a priest who has been on the front line of social struggles in Pakistan for decades, comments: "Like many other international days, for Workers' Day there are only symbolic declarations on the part of the government; but beyond this nothing concrete emerges. The trade unions do not exist and the Workers' Party is weak. The Church itself should make better use of the feast of St Joseph the Worker to reach out to workers: it is not enough to celebrate a Mass for the occasion. Today would be a public holiday in Pakistan, but we see so many people working even on this day to earn something for their families. Only good policies and their implementation could give hope for the future of workers".

Two concrete examples concern the rights of women working in the home and those working in semi-slavery conditions in brick factories. The executive director of the Association of Women for Awareness and Motivation (AWAM), Shazia George, renewed on the occasion of May Day the call to policy makers for the recognition of the status of women who work in the home for companies: "The inability of women homeworkers to access social security benefits and protection programmes," she explains, "underlines the urgent need for a comprehensive legal framework. Immediate attention is needed from the authorities and decision makers to safeguard the fundamental rights of these women workers'.

For his part, Asghar Shaheen, representative of Freedom Bhatta, the brick kiln workers' union, comments: 'Despite the presence on paper of a legal framework and a clear policy for brick kiln workers, they are often unable to receive the wages stipulated in the government's directive and do not have access to social security benefits. He urged the government to take immediate action to ensure compliance and protect workers' rights, particularly against the severe exploitation of child labour in the kilns, which requires swift and punitive action against those responsible.

Similar tones also characterised the stances on the May Day holiday among Tamil plantation workers in Sri Lanka. "Without the recognition of the fundamental rights of people working in the sectors that sustain the country's economy, the government's year after year celebrations are meaningless. It is questionable whether there is a 'moral right' to celebrate May Day in this way," denounces the Voice of the Plantation People Organisation (VOPP), the historic organisation founded in the Galle and Matara districts for the welfare of the Malaiyaha who have been living in Sri Lanka's southern province for two hundred years now.

'Work here means nothing but exploitation and does not enjoy any reasonable recognition, respect or consideration,' continues Voice of the Plantation People Organisation. 'We have no suitable houses to live in dignity, there is no legal right to land. Since only the Sinhala language is used in government offices and hospitals, Tamils find it difficult to get any services. Even today, non-plantation workers do not receive a daily wage commensurate with the current economy. Without any development programme, Malaiyaha women are forced to emigrate abroad and their children's lives are ruined'.
by Vladimir Rozanskij

Top executives of the main transnational criminal organisation, which was responsible for transporting drugs abroad, arrested, while local consumption is also growing. Drug trafficking continues to travel the so-called 'northern route' through Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Russia to finally reach Europe, with widespread connivance among law enforcement agencies.

Bishkek (AsiaNews) - The special services of the Gknb of Kyrgyzstan have declared a "relentless fight" against drug trafficking in the country, particularly against synthetic drugs. At the same time, news was released that 10 police officers, including three officers, have been discovered to have been involved in the spread of narcotics over the past year and a half.

In the last few days, a decisive blow was dealt to the main transnational criminal organisation, which was involved in the transport of drugs abroad through Kyrgyzstan territory, with the arrest of two of the group's main members. The operation was conducted together with the Manas customs agency (name of the epic hero of the Kyrgyz people), and large quantities of narcotics were confiscated. In one of the warehouses in Biskek, four tonnes of opium were found, which laboratory analysis revealed to contain narcotic and psychotic elements such as codeine and morphine in the amount of approximately 350 kilograms.

Gknb President Kamcibek Tasiev insisted on the intentions to 'go all the way without hesitation', visiting the town of Samaldy-Saj in the Dzalal-Abad region, as 'the consumption, sale and spread of narcotics has become a mass social problem'. In the past, narcotic herbs were cultivated, while today synthetic drugs are produced, and laboratories for their manufacture are multiplying. Whereas drugs used to pass from hand to hand, today they are distributed using the internet and other technologies; dealers do not show their faces, but merely offer the link and collect the money on electronic wallets.

In this way, Tasiev laments, 'so many intelligent and talented young people become drug addicts, and they will do no good for the state in their future, in fact they will do a lot of damage'. The aim is 'to keep our youth healthy, so that our society does not go to ruin within the next 10 years'. The police are keeping a special eye on holiday resorts and nightclubs, but also on schools, colleges, administrations, restaurants and bars in every town. The 'drug barons' traditionally have many connections in public bodies, and 'the roof must be broken'.

The war on traffickers has received a significant acceleration after the killing of criminal leader Kamci Kolbaev during a shooting last October, but Security Council head Marat Imankulov warned that 'it is too early to sing victory in this battle'. He recalls that the arrival of the Taliban brought the benefit of the cessation of opium production in Afghanistan, but this does not mean that the drug trade has stopped: 'the reserves left for the traffickers are still sufficient for many years, to produce thousands of tonnes of narcotics'.

The drugs continue to travel the so-called 'northern route' through Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Russia to finally reach Europe. Connivance between law enforcement agencies is still widespread, and recently in the city of Os a number of high-ranking policemen were arrested who controlled the transport from Afghanistan, and without whom it would be impossible to secure the drug trade at such extensive levels. Internal control mechanisms have been perfected, as confirmed by the head of the analytical section of the Interior Ministry Marsel Dootaliev.

The ex-deputy and ex-police officer Turatbek Malylbekov believes that the issue of the cleansing of state organs in mixing with drug traffickers is 'still very far from being solved'. There are in fact only two possible passages from the Afghan borders, in addition to a number of rather precarious secret routes, and much depends on who controls these roads: 'if they don't get rid of the corrupt policemen at the borders, the problem falls on the whole police force'. On the other hand, synthetic drugs, the spread of which began in 2017, come mainly from Russia, Kazakhstan and China, and a special division has been set up to counter this sector, with specialists in digital technologies. Police control actions are getting tougher and are causing several protests among citizens, but all precautions have now been put aside.
The outbreak of the First World War in August 1914 left Lenin practically isolated politically, and in exile with very few contacts with the party in Russia. The Second International had solemnly voted at several congresses to oppose the imperialist war, and in the case of its outbreak to use all means at their disposal to accelerate the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism. Instead, all the major parties collapsed into social-chauvinism, each defending the interests of their own ruling class in the war.

[Get your copy of Lenin's masterpiece Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism now from Wellred Books]

This came as a big shock, including to Lenin, who initially thought that the issue of the German Social Democratic paper Vorwarts which announced support for the war credits was a forgery of the German armys general staff. Only a small minority of internationalists remained firmly opposed to the imperialist massacre.

It is in that context that Lenin wrote his famous work Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism. Having fled Austrian-occupied Galicia for neutral Switzerland, he started a battle for an internationalist position against the war. He conducted correspondence with anti-war socialists, analysed the resistance developing against the betrayal of the Second International, and fought to fertilise it with a clear uncompromising revolutionary Marxist position. It was not an easy battle, but ultimately it was one which was crowned with success, and through the socialist conferences at Zimmerwald and Kienthal, eventually led to the formation of the Third (Communist) International in 1919, after the victory of the Russian Revolution.

And yet, at the same time as Lenin was engaged in this struggle against the stream, he went back to theory, to sharpen his understanding of Marxism and the Marxist understanding of imperialism, which had led to the war.

The role of theory

Immediately after his in-depth study on Hegel, Lenin moved on to the question of the nature of imperialism / Image: public domain

It might come as a surprise to some that one of the first things he did when he arrived in Bern was to spend long hours in the library studying Hegel! His work is contained in eight Notebooks on Philosophy, which he wrote between 1914 and 1916, comprising over 300 pages. Already in 1902, Lenin had famously declared that without revolutionary theory there can be no revolutionary movement, and that included a serious understanding of the dialectical logic of Marxism.

Immediately after his in-depth study on Hegel, Lenin moved on to the question of the nature of imperialism. Again, he approached the question in a scientific way. Marxism is not a set of formulae, which can be mechanically applied to reality, but rather, Marxism starts out with an in-depth and many-sided study of the facts at hand, their inner connection and contradictions, and their evolution over time. From all this, it derives generalisations, which then need to be checked once more against reality.

This is precisely how Lenin proceeded in studying what, at that time, was a relatively new phenomenon. Now in Zurich, he started by amassing a mountain of facts and figures covering every different aspect of the capitalist economy in its imperialist epoch. He also read and studied the most important works that had been written about the subject, both from a capitalist point of view as well as from a Marxist or socialist perspective.

For instance, he conducted a detailed study of Imperialism by John Atkinson Hobson, written in 1902. He also read and commented on Hilferdings book Finance Capital, written in 1912. Hilferding was a prominent German Social Democrat and certainly not a Marxist, but his book played a positive role in Lenins study of imperialism.

Lenins Notebooks on Imperialism, the preparatory work for the book, span over 800 pages, and is contained in Volume 39 of his Collected Works. According to the Progress Publishers preface, they contain extracts from 148 books (106 in German, 23 in French, 17 in English and two translations into Russian), and 232 articles (of which 206 in German, 13 in French and 13 in English) from 49 periodicals (34 German, 7 French and 8 English). These figures alone should indicate the seriousness with which Lenin approached the study of this crucial subject.

The full title of Lenins work is Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism  a Popular Outline, and it was written in the first half of 1916. The book was aimed for legal publication in Russia, as he wanted to give his work the biggest audience possible, but as Lenin explains in his preface to the first edition:

I was not only forced to confine myself strictly to an exclusively theoretical, specifically economic analysis of facts, but to formulate the few necessary observations on politics with extreme caution, by hints, in an allegorical languagein that accursed Aesopian languageto which tsarism compelled all revolutionaries to have recourse whenever they took up the pen to write a legal work.

As well as skirting around the political questions, he also had to be careful about what he said regarding Russia itself. In the same preface he explains that the careful reader will easily substitute Russia for Japan, and Finland, Poland, Courland, the Ukraine, Khiva, Bokhara, Estonia or other regions peopled by non-Great Russians, for Korea.

In the book, Lenin proceeds from the concrete to the general, describing how the development of capitalism, which was originally based on free trade, gave rise to monopoly; how monopolies came to dominate the whole economy; how these merged with the banks and the state; and finally, how it is these economic factors that underpin the aggressive annexationist tendencies of imperialism.

The capitalist imperialism which Lenin describes is therefore different from previous forms of imperialism and also from Kautskys conception of imperialism as just a mere aggressive foreign policy.

What is imperialism?

Readers should study the book in detail, but here we can jump ahead to Lenins conclusion. What is the definition of imperialism he arrives at? First he warns that definitions per se are limited, and that one should not forget the conditional and relative value of all definitions in general, which can never embrace all the concatenations of a phenomenon in its full development. Having said that, he then proceeds to describe the five basic features of imperialism:

(1) the concentration of production and capital has developed to such a high stage that it has created monopolies which play a decisive role in economic life; (2) the merging of bank capital with industrial capital, and the creation, on the basis of this finance capital, of a financial oligarchy; (3) the export of capital as distinguished from the export of commodities acquires exceptional importance; (4) the formation of international monopolist capitalist associations which share the world among themselves and (5) the territorial division of the whole world among the biggest capitalist powers is completed. (my emphasis)

Imperialism inevitably leads to war for redivision, as the relative balance of power between the imperialist countries inevitably changes / Image: public domain

From this description of imperialism, which involves also the domination of the colonies and the division of the world amongst a handful of imperialist powers, the conclusion also flows that imperialism inevitably leads to war for redivision, as the relative balance of power between the imperialist countries inevitably changes.

The book is also a polemic against the ideas of Kautsky, who had been one of the main theoreticians of the Second International but failed to oppose the war. Kautsky argued that the concentration and monopolisation of capital and the tendency for these cartels to become international would lead to a peaceful domination of the world in what he described as ultra-imperialism. Lenin rejects this idea, which he tackled head on:

() the only conceivable basis under capitalism for the division of spheres of influence, interests, colonies, etc., is a calculation of the strength of those participating, their general economic, financial, military strength, etc. And the strength of these participants in the division does not change to an equal degree, for the even development of different undertakings, trusts, branches of industry, or countries is impossible under capitalism. () Peaceful alliances prepare the ground for wars, and in their turn grow out of wars; the one conditions the other, producing alternating forms of peaceful and non-peaceful struggle on one and the same basis of imperialist connections and relations within world economics and world politics. (my emphasis)

It is worth noting that Lenin did not conceive imperialism as something static and fixed forever, but rather as the result of the dynamic struggle between different imperialist powers for the division and redivision of the world among themselves. The rise and fall of different powers was precisely the cause of the First World War:

Half a century ago Germany was a miserable, insignificant country, if her capitalist strength is compared with that of the Britain of that time; Japan compared with Russia in the same way. Is it conceivable that in ten or twenty years time the relative strength of the imperialist powers will have remained unchanged?

Lenin also explains that in the epoch of imperialism, capitalist development takes place in an extremely uneven way and therefore there are still important differences amongst the main powers:

() and among the six countries mentioned we see, firstly, young capitalist countries (America, Germany, Japan) whose progress has been extraordinarily rapid; secondly, countries with an old capitalist development (France and Great Britain), whose progress lately has been much slower than that of the previously mentioned countries, and thirdly, a country most backward economically (Russia), where modern capitalist imperialism is enmeshed, so to speak, in a particularly close network of pre-capitalist relations.

Lenin is careful in describing how there are all sorts of transitional forms between the big powers and the colonies. He describes small states which have their own colonies (at the time, Belgium, Holland, etc); semi-colonial countries, that is, countries which are politically independent, but nevertheless still dominated by finance capital from the main powers. There are even other types of countries like Portugal, which have their own colonies and are politically independent, but are effectively protectorates of one of the big imperialist powers, in this case Britain.

As Lenin pointed out, the political aspects of the question are underdeveloped in a text that was written with an eye on the tsarist censor. These are mainly two.

The first one is the fact that imperialism is the highest stage of capitalism, when it has reached the limits of its own development and becomes parasitical, decaying and moribund. This does not preclude the growth of capitalism, says Lenin, but it means that this is more uneven, creates further contradictions, and leads to the decay of the countries which are richest in capital. This means that imperialism, with its strong elements of fusion between finance capital and the state, and the internationalisation of trusts and cartels, betrays a strong tendency towards the socialisation and planning of production, which can only be fulfilled through socialist revolution. As Lenin says imperialism is the eve of the social revolution of the proletariat.

The second is the connection which exists between imperialism and the rise of opportunism in the labour movement. This is hinted at in the text, but spelled out clearly in the 1920 preface to the French and German editions. Lenin explains that out of the super-profits which the imperialist powers squeeze from their colonies it is possible to bribe the labour leaders and the upper stratum of the labour aristocracy. He describes this layer as real agents of the bourgeoisie in the working-class movement, the labour lieutenants of the capitalist class. It was this layer of social-democratic leaders, politicians, members of parliament, etc. that backed their own imperialist ruling class in the First World War.

Enduring relevance

Finally, it is worth asking whether Lenins analysis of imperialism has stood the test of time? This is an open and shut case. The features that Lenin described in analysing imperialism over 100 years ago are today more in evidence than then. In every sector of the economy (food and beverages, media, steel, oil and gas, electric vehicles, solar panels, logistics, aerospace, weapons, textiles) a handful of powerful multinationals dominate the world. In turn, these are all enmeshed in a network of shareholdings and investments ruled by powerful investment funds, banks and insurance companies  that is, by finance capital. All of them, multinational giants and finance capital, are closely linked to the capitalist state of the main imperialist countries.

The world today, as it was in Lenins time, is witnessing the struggle between different imperialist powers  an old, decaying one, the US; and a young, dynamic, rising one, China  for the domination of the world. This is a struggle for the control of markets, fields of investment, sources of raw materials and energy which is being waged across the world. This struggle inevitably leads to wars. There is a difference with Lenins time: the existence of nuclear weapons precludes an all out world war. Nevertheless, the conflict between the powers expresses itself in countless conflicts, trade wars, sanctions and also regional wars, in which tens of thousands are killed and millions displaced.

In order to analyse imperialism today, its underlying tendencies and contradictions, we must adopt the same serious, scientific, Marxist approach as Lenin. We must start with a detailed and thorough study of the facts in order to draw general conclusions. In doing so, Lenins book and his method will be an invaluable tool. The only possible conclusion we can arrive at is that the features which Lenin described have become even more extreme today.

As in Lenins time, the aim of studying imperialism today is to draw the necessary revolutionary conclusions. Imperialism is moribund, decaying capitalism. It is the cause of predatory wars and must be overthrown through socialist revolution, the conditions for which have been ripe for over a century now.

Next week

The betrayal of the working class by the leaders of the Socialist International in August 1914 left the advanced workers shellshocked. A general mood of national chauvinism swept the belligerent nations. But the reality of the war soon led to a sobering up. Bitter anger at the ruling classes that had plunged Europe into this slaughter mounted in the trenches, factories and desolate homes of the workers and peasants. Wartime curtailment of democratic rights kept this anger bottled up beneath the surface, but it inevitably exploded.

In January 1917, Lenin remained in Switzerland, where, delivering a lecture on the 1905 Revolution to a group of Swiss socialist youth, he told them:

We of the older generation may not live to see the decisive battles of this coming revolution. But I can, I believe, express the confident hope that the youth which is working so splendidly in the socialist movement of Switzerland, and of the whole world, will be fortunate enough not only to fight, but also to win, in the coming proletarian revolution.

Mere weeks later, Tsar Nicholas II was deposed and Russia was in the throes of revolution. Capitalism had broken at its weakest link. Yet Lenin remained far from the action. Whilst desperately trying to return, he followed events as closely as he could and sent letter after letter (the famous Letters from Afar) to the leading Bolsheviks in the Russian interior, urging them to adopt the perspective that the revolution could only be victorious if the workers seized power.

Finally, in April, Lenin arrived in Petrograd, and set to work. His first task: politically rearming the Bolshevik Party, to which end he wrote his celebrated April Theses, which we will take up next week in our series, Lenin in a Year.
The Azerbaijani online publication Report quoted Ahmet Yildiz, Turkeys ambassador to the United Nations, as saying that the return of Azerbaijani villages is a key factor in restoring peace in the region.

It should be noted that Armenia has realized its responsibility and is moving in the right direction, added Yildiz. That will first and foremost have a positive impact on the countrys economy.

Since the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh, Turkey has continued to strongly support Azerbaijan in the conflict with Armenia, adding its voice all of Bakus demands to Yerevan. Those include the opening of an extraterritorial corridor that would connect Azerbaijan to its Nakhichevan exclave as well as Turkey. Turkish leaders have indicated that this is a necessary condition for the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations.

The land handover to Azerbaijan praised by Yildiz has been strongly condemned by Armenian opposition groups. They say it would create additional security risks for Armenia and encourage Baku to demand further Armenian concessions.

Opposition leaders also accuse Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian of being willing to give ground on the issue of the 1915 Armenian genocide in Ottoman Turkey. Ankara has resented growing international recognition of the genocide that has been welcomed and encouraged by Yerevan until now.

Earlier this month, a senior Armenian pro-government lawmaker, Andranik Kocharian, called for verifying the number of the genocide victims and ascertaining the circumstances of their deaths. Kocharian said Pashinian wants to make the entire list of compatriots subjected to genocide more objective.

The remarks sparked uproar from Armenian government critics, civil society figures and genocide scholars. Some of charged that Pashinian effectively echoed through Kocharian the official Turkish narrative that Armenians had died in much smaller numbers and not as a result of a premediated Ottoman government policy.

Pashinian faced more such allegations following his statement on the 109th anniversary of the genocide marked last Wednesday. It was markedly different from his previous April 24 statements. The prime minister no longer called for wider international recognition of the genocide and said instead that Armenians should overcome the trauma generated by the slaughter of some 1.5 million Armenian subjects of the Ottoman Empire. He also put the emphasis on the Armenian phrase Meds Yeghern (Great Crime), rather than the word genocide.
2 May 2024 08:30 (UTC+04:00)

By Nazrin Abdul, AZERNEWS

In recent years, the economic ties between Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia have flourished, extending beyond the realm of traditional oil and gas industries. The collaboration between the two nations has expanded into renewable energy, marking a significant milestone in their bilateral relations.

One of the focal points uniting Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia is their joint commitment to addressing global climate challenges. This commitment takes center stage with Azerbaijan hosting the upcoming COP29 event, underscoring the mutual interest in renewable energy production and the development of sustainable energy sectors.

A key player in this collaboration is "ACWA Power," a leading Saudi Arabian company specializing in renewable energy. Currently, ACWA Power is undertaking a groundbreaking project in Azerbaijan, constructing a 240 MW wind power plant. This initiative stems from a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2022 between Azerbaijan's Ministry of Energy and ACWA Power, focusing on offshore wind energy cooperation.

Highlighting the significance of this partnership, a ceremony was held on January 13, 2022, attended by the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, and Saudi Arabia's Minister of Energy, Prince Abdul Aziz bin Salman Al-Saud, to mark the commencement of the "Khizi-Absheron" Wind Power Plant project. Once operational in 2025, this plant will be Azerbaijan's largest renewable energy facility, capable of producing one billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, thereby reducing carbon emissions and preserving natural resources.

The collaborative efforts extend beyond energy production. In April 2024, Azerbaijan's Minister of Economy, Mikayil Jabbarov, engaged in discussions with Amin Nasser, President, and CEO of "Saudi Aramco," Saudi Arabia's national oil company. The talks explored investment opportunities in Azerbaijan's energy sector and potential joint ventures.

Moreover, agreements on green fertilizers and renewable energy projects were signed between Azerbaijan's State Oil Company (SOCAR) and ACWA Power, further solidifying the commitment to sustainable development. As part of the Southern Gas Corridor Consultative Council, SOCAR and ACWA Power penned an agreement in 2023 to collaborate on wind, solar, and green hydrogen projects in Azerbaijan.

SOCAR has set ambitious targets, aiming to increase the share of renewable energy sources in electricity generation capacity to 30 percent by 2030, with a concurrent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2050. These goals align with the broader agenda of promoting sustainable economic development and reducing environmental impact.

Looking ahead, the collaboration between Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia holds promise for future endeavors, including wind power and seawater desalination projects. The exploration of alternative energy sources and potential green energy initiatives signifies a long-term commitment to environmental stewardship and economic prosperity.

In continuation of fostering economic ties, representatives from Azerbaijan's Export and Investment Promotion Agency (AZPROMO) embarked on a business trip to Saudi Arabia in April 2024. Meetings were held with various institutions in Riyadh, culminating in discussions with the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Development (ICCD) to explore avenues for joint ventures and partnerships.

As Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia deepen their economic cooperation, the pursuit of renewable energy projects emerges as a cornerstone of their shared vision for a sustainable future.

During the gathering of the Azerbaijan-Saudi Arabia Joint Business Council, discussions revolved around the export capabilities of both nations and business as well as investment prospects within recently liberated Azerbaijani territories.

The 4th meeting was held in Riyadh under the organization of the Small and Medium Business Development Agency (KOBIA) of Azerbaijan and the Federation of Saudi Chambers. Topics covered included discussions on bilateral export potential, investment opportunities in recently liberated Azerbaijani regions, avenues for enhancing cooperation between business communities in trade and investment, joint initiatives and projects, bolstering the role of the Azerbaijan-Saudi Arabia Joint Business Council in these domains, and amplifying the contribution of SMEs to investment promotion.

The Azerbaijan-Saudi Arabia Joint Business Council was established in December 2022 under the Agreement signed between SMBDA and the Federation of Chambers of Saudi Arabia. The Azerbaijan-Saudi Arabia Joint Business Council, which will be represented by businesspersons from both countries, will support entrepreneurs' initiatives, help to establish direct ties between them, organize mutual visits, meetings and various events, and exchange information between businessmen.

A Deepening Alliance Beyond Energy

The longstanding cooperation between Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia extends far beyond the realms of energy, encompassing economic, investment, and cultural ties. Central to this collaboration is their joint participation in the OPEC+ format, where both nations have played pivotal roles in stabilizing the global oil market.

Since the inception of the OPEC+ format, Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan have worked closely together to reconcile supply and demand in the world oil market, fostering stability through years of concerted efforts.

Moreover, Azerbaijan has emerged as an attractive destination for Saudi Arabian investment, thanks to its conducive business environment and robust legal framework that ensures the protection of foreign investments. The country's recent energy sector reforms and overall development trajectory, coupled with its stability and security, further bolster its appeal to investors.

Beyond economic cooperation, Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia share vibrant ties in tourism, underpinned by their cultural and religious affinities. Azerbaijan's favorable climate, scenic landscapes, and cultural richness attract a growing number of tourists from Saudi Arabia each year. Notably, in the first two months of 2024, Saudi Arabian citizens accounted for 3.4 percent of the total tourists visiting Azerbaijan, reflecting the strengthening tourism links between the two nations.

The historic visit of National Leader Heydar Aliyev to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in July 1994 marked a turning point in the comprehensive development of bilateral relations. Since then, the ties between Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia have continued to deepen, with Azerbaijan prioritizing bilateral and multilateral relations with Arab countries, rooted in shared religious and cultural heritage.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia holds a special place in Azerbaijan's diplomatic engagements, given its prominence in the Islamic and Arab worlds. The enduring bond between Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia underscores a commitment to mutual prosperity and solidarity within the broader Muslim community and beyond. As these relations evolve, both nations look forward to further enhancing cooperation across various sectors for the benefit of their citizens and the wider region.

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2 May 2024 12:35 (UTC+04:00)

Ulviyya Shahin Read more

The recent panel discussion at the annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has underscored the pivotal role of Azerbaijan in revitalising the Middle Corridor and bolstering European connectivity. With a focus on enhancing trade links between Europe and Asia, discussions have centred on the potential of this corridor to catalyse economic growth and integration in the region.

A key aspect of Azerbaijan's contribution to the Middle Corridor initiative lies in its commitment to renewable energy development. Samir Sharifov, the Minister of Finance and Governor for Azerbaijan at the ADB, emphasised Azerbaijan's dedication to diversifying its economy away from traditional oil and gas reliance towards renewable energy sources. This strategic shift not only aligns with global sustainability goals but also positions Azerbaijan as a proactive player in shaping the future of energy.

Sharifov highlighted Azerbaijan's upcoming role as the host of COP29, a crucial global climate conference. This platform will provide Azerbaijan with an opportunity to showcase its commitment to sustainability and renewable energy leadership on the world stage. Furthermore, he outlined ambitious plans for Azerbaijan to ramp up renewable energy production to up to 5 GW by 2030, leveraging both public investment and private capital. This proactive approach not only enhances energy security but also fosters innovation and economic diversification.

In line with these efforts, the World Bank has stepped in to support the preparation of a feasibility study for laying a cable along the bottom of the Black Sea. Rolande Pryce, the World Bank Director for the South Caucasus, highlighted the comprehensive nature of this study, which will assess technical, economic, financial, and institutional aspects to ensure the viability of the project. Signed by the governments of Georgia, Azerbaijan, Romania, and Hungary in December 2022, this agreement signifies a collaborative effort to enhance energy connectivity between the region and Europe.

Crucially, the study is being spearheaded by the Italian energy consulting company CESI, indicating international cooperation and expertise in driving forward this transformative initiative. As Azerbaijan continues to play a leading role in advancing the Middle Corridor, such partnerships underscore the country's commitment to sustainable development and economic prosperity.

Azerbaijan's proactive stance towards renewable energy and its involvement in initiatives like the Middle Corridor highlight its emergence as a key player in the global energy landscape. By leveraging its strategic location and fostering international partnerships, Azerbaijan is poised to unlock new opportunities for sustainable economic growth and regional integration.

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2 May 2024 10:51 (UTC+04:00)

The deepening of strategic partnership relations between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan was discussed, Azernews reports, citing a post shared by the Azerbaijani Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov on his X account.

The minister noted that during his business trip to Uzbekistan, he was received by the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev:

"During our working visit to Uzbekistan, we had the honor of being received by H.E. Mr. Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the President of Uzbekistan. It was emphasized that the Azerbaijan  Uzbekistan strategic partnership relations have deepened and reached a higher level, driven by the strong political will and friendly ties between the Presidents of the two countries. Discussions revolved around initiatives aimed at serving our common economic interests, as well as the contributions of our economic collaboration to joint development."

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2 May 2024 12:07 (UTC+04:00)

Ulviyya Shahin Read more

Jeyhun Bayramov, Azerbaijan's Minister of Foreign Affairs, held discussions with Giorgio Mule, Vice President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, who was on a visit to Azerbaijan to participate in the 6th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue, Azernews reports.

The talks primarily focused on bilateral and multilateral cooperation between Azerbaijan and Italy, as well as the prevailing regional dynamics in the post-conflict phase. Both parties underscored the significance of parliamentary diplomacy in advancing the multifaceted strategic partnership between Azerbaijan and Italy, alongside stressing the importance of high-level engagements and dialogue. They highlighted extensive opportunities for further collaboration across various sectors, including economy, trade, energy security, transportation, education, and culture.

They also highlighted the establishment of the Italy-Azerbaijan University in Azerbaijan as a noteworthy initiative to bolster educational cooperation.

Minister Jeyhun Bayramov provided insights into the historical Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, the existing regional landscape in the aftermath of the conflict, ongoing large-scale reconstruction and development efforts in the liberated territories, as well as the reconciliation and peace efforts between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and the regional challenge posed by landmines.

Furthermore, both sides exchanged perspectives on other matters of mutual interest.

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2 May 2024 14:43 (UTC+04:00)

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Azerbaijan discussed with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) the possibilities of future cooperation in the agriculture development field in the territories freed from occupation, Azernews reports.

This was announced in the meeting of Minister Majnun Mammadov with the delegation led by Viorel Gutu, Regional Representative of FAO for Europe and Central Asia.

Minister Viorel Gutu congratulated on the appointment of FAO Regional Representative for Europe and Central Asia. He talked about the reforms carried out in the field of agriculture in our country, informed about the main directions of the agricultural development strategy in Azerbaijan, and the implemented innovative projects.

The minister noted that the development of the agricultural sector was declared one of the priority areas by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. At the meeting, great potential for the development of agriculture in the territories freed from occupation was pointed out. It was noted that the development of agricultural areas and rural areas in these territories is one of the main priorities. In these fields, views were exchanged on the possibilities of future cooperation with FAO.

Cooperation with international organizations is being continued in order to apply advanced practices in the agricultural field in Azerbaijan. At the meeting, the importance of the projects implemented in the framework of joint cooperation with FAO was emphasized, cooperation prospects were discussed.

M. Mammadov touched on the importance of holding the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) in Azerbaijan and spoke about the measures implemented to minimize the impact of climate change on the agricultural sector.

V. Gutu, on the other hand, emphasized that importance is attached to cooperation with Azerbaijan in the field of agriculture. The guest said that he will spare no efforts for the further development of relations in the agrarian field. The FAO official stated that they are ready to support the events to be held in Azerbaijan within the framework of COP29. At the end, a wide range of views were exchanged on issues of mutual interest.

Recall that Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, will host the 2024 UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 29) for the first time in the region from November 1122, 2024. The decision was made at the plenary session of COP28 on December 11. Azerbaijan successfully participated in the COP28 held in Abu Dhabi last year.

Azerbaijan will take the opportunity to bring heads of state and governments, civil society organisations, business, and international institutions together in the South Caucasus to discuss climate change, measures to accelerate the implementation of the Paris Agreement, and focus on long-term climate strategies and goals.

It is worth noting that Azerbaijan confirmed its commitment to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases by 35 percent by 2030 and increase this target by 40 percent by 2050. Fulfilling the commitments under the Paris Agreement adopted in 2015 and actively working in this regard are priority issues for the government of Azerbaijan.

The Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has been held annually since 1995. The event aims to assess the progress made in combating climate change around the world.

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2 May 2024 13:26 (UTC+04:00)

By Nazrin Abdul, AZERNEWS

The total volume of trade turnover of the countries that are members of the Organisation of Turkic States (OTS/TDT) is worth 42 billion US dollars, and there is potential for increasing this indicator.

According to Azernews, the Turkish Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Cahit Bagchi, said this at the Economic Forum of Turkish States held in Baku today.

The ambassador emphasised that this organisation contributes to the development of economic and trade relations between member countries.

According to him, yesterday, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan signed a Memorandum of Cooperation on the integration of energy systems: "Their cooperation once again showed that the region has a valuable and strategic importance."

C. Bagchi added that the Turkish defence industry has developed a lot: "In this direction, we produce products based on high technologies. This advantage can strengthen cooperation between the Organisation of Turkic States.

The ambassador believes that this forum promotes economic relations between the countries that are members of the organisation.

"In addition, we should expand investments."

It should be noted that the Organisation of Turkic States is an international intergovernmental organisation that promotes comprehensive cooperation between Turkic-speaking countries. The organisation was established on November 1, 2012, based on the Nakhchivan Agreement signed by the heads of state of Turkic-speaking countries at the Summit Meeting held in Nakhchivan on October 3, 2009. When the organisation was created, its name was Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States (CCTS). In 2021, the name of the organisation was changed, and it continues to operate under the name "Organisation of Turkish States".

The Republic of Azerbaijan is one of the 4 founding countries of the organisation, and currently the organisation has 5 member states: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkiye. Hungary, Turkmenistan, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus have observer status in the organisation. The headquarters of the organisation is located in Istanbul, Turkiye.

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2 May 2024 17:03 (UTC+04:00)

Ulviyya Shahin Read more

The EU Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Peter Michalko, expressed the European Union's commitment to collaborating with Azerbaijan to bolster its leadership during COP29, aiming to advance global climate solutions, Azernews reports.

During a meeting with journalists on World Press Freedom Day, the diplomat highlighted climate change as the central focus of cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan this year.

Emphasising the enduring partnership between the EU and Azerbaijan, he affirmed the EU's readiness to sustain dialogue and deepen collaboration. Michalko underscored that combating climate change will be a prominent global priority this year.

Notably, Azerbaijan is set to host COP29 in November, highlighting its growing role in addressing climate issues on the international stage.

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2 May 2024 18:21 (UTC+04:00)

Ulviyya Shahin Read more

A new format for bilateral business relations between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan was discussed.

According to Azernews, the Minister of Economy of Azerbaijan, Mikayil Jabbarov, wrote about this on X social account.

"Within the framework of the 3rd Tashkent International Investment Forum, we took part in the panel session titled "The common road to success: Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan." Our discussions centred on the prospects of the strategic partnership between our countries, the new format of bilateral business relations, and the initiatives aimed at promoting mutual investments, the minister noted.

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The Azerbaijan Culture Ministry and Baku Choreography Academy have organized a graduation concert for students at the secondary special education (college) level, Azernews reports.

The event was timed to the 95th anniversary of the Baku Choreography School, the 10th anniversary of the Baku Choreography Academy and International Dance Day.

The event was attended by the head of the Department of Humanitarian Policy, Diaspora, Multiculturalism and Religious Issues, Farah Aliyeva, Deputy Culture MinisterSaadet Yusifova, rector of the Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts, Jeyran Mahmudova, Vice-Rector for Scientific work of the Azerbaijan National Conservatory, Lala Huseynova, staff ministries of culture, representatives of universities, public and cultural figures, representatives of the New Azerbaijan Party, foreign guests and the student and teaching staff.

At the graduation concert, students of the complete secondary education level of the Baku Choreography Academy, students and graduates of the secondary specialised education level performed scenes from the ballet La Bayadere by L. Minkus, Dance of the Palace Girls from Koroglu opera by U. Hajibayli, fairy variations from the Sleeping Beauty ballet by P. Tchaikovsky, Gaytagi and Yalli folk dances by J. Guliyev and other compositions.

The artistic director of the reporting and graduation concert is the Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs of the Baku Choreography Academy, Acting Rector, Honoured Artist Naila Mammadzade.

Guests of the event shared their impressions of the evening in connection with the 95th anniversary of the Baku Choreographic School, the 10th anniversary of the Baku Choreographic Academy and International Dance Day.

People's Artist of Azerbaijan Tarana Muradova noted that the evening became a holiday for everyone involved in dancing.

"In connection with International Dance Day, I cordially congratulate the professionals involved in this wonderful art, the dance masters, our teachers, everyone related to choreography. Today marks 95 years of choreographic school. We celebrate our 95th anniversary, especially at the dance festival. Many guests from foreign countries came to our event who graduated from this academy 50-60 years ago, and now they are People's Artists, honoured Artists, theatre directors, performers, and famous masters. I am very pleased that Azerbaijani dances, both national, classical and modern, are recognised throughout the world. Today's guests of the academy are masters of choreographic art. The guests present here represent Azerbaijani dance, Azerbaijani choreography in Turkey, Israel, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine. and other countries, I am sure that choreographic art will continue to develop, and our followers will raise the Azerbaijani flag all over the world. Happy holiday to each of us," Tarana Muradova said

Advisor to Turkish Education Kamile Percin Akgul expressed satisfaction with the festive evening, which was organised at a high level.

"Over the past years, I have often visited Azerbaijan. At one of the concerts, I performed an Azerbaijani pair dance with great pride. We are one nation, two states , so holding a master class with students of the Baku Choreography Academy was a great opportunity for me. I would like to continue this kind of event and want to thank everyone who contributed to its organisation," Kamile Percin Akgul said

People's Artist of Azerbaijan, choreographer Medina Aliyeva, stressed the importance of dance art.

"My life is in dancing! We, dance lovers, start dancing wherever we hear music, because we cannot live a day without dancing. So today is a very big holiday for us. Congratulations to everyone on this day!," Medina Aliyeva said.

Professor of the Department of Performing Arts, Faculty of Arts, Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University, Dr. Kurshad Gyulbeyaz, emphasised that, along with performance, theoretical knowledge is very important in dance.

"As a dance teacher, I am very happy today. We are also here to participate in the symposium, simultaneously organised by the Baku Academy of Choreography. I have been participating in symposia for the third year. In connection with the organisation of this symposium, I express special gratitude to the Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs of the Baku Academy of Arts, Acting Rector, and Honoured Artist Naila Mammadzade. Because when we talk about dancing, performance comes to mind. , however, science and theoretical training are no less important. This year, the Baku Choreography Academy celebrates its tenth anniversary. In fact, this is a continuation of the 95-year period of fruitful activity. Along with performance, the development of dance from the theoretical side will be ensured, the promotion of Azerbaijani dance throughout the world. .Everyone can dance, but not everyone can do science. Therefore, I sincerely congratulate Naila Mammadzade and express my gratitude to everyone who supported this symposium. I would like these scientific and creative measures to continue," Dr. Kurshad Gyulbeyaz said.

Dean of the Faculty of Arts of the Baku Choreography Academy, Honoured Artist Sanan Huseynli, stressed the importance of the event for every choreographer.

"Today is an important day for every choreographer. Today is a very big holiday for us, because our academy has reached very great heights. 10 years is not a short period of work. Our graduates are already carrying out professional activities. We will continue to do everything possible to train good personnel," Sanan Huseynli said.

Honoured Artist of Azerbaijan and Russia, artistic director of the ballet troupe of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre, Eldar Aliyev, spoke about his inextricable ties with Azerbaijan.

"Azerbaijan is my homeland. I am proud of Azerbaijan, which is always in my heart. I consider it my home. My parents are buried here. In a word, I am inextricably linked with Azerbaijan. I am very grateful for the invitation and would like to thank you for being remembered on the anniversary of the creation of my school. It was here that I spent 9 years of my life. I worked in this theatre for two years. My first solo roles were played here. It is impossible to forget. This is where the foundation of my entire future creative life was laid. Therefore, I always come to Baku with great pleasure and respond to invitations from Azerbaijan with special enthusiasm. I hope for our further fruitful cooperation and will do everything possible to prepare worthy personnel for the choreographic art that we all love so much," Eldar Aliyev said.

Honoured Artist of Azerbaijan, President of the Foundation for the Development of the Russian Ballet Theatre, Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences, and Professor of the Russian Institute of Theatre Arts (GITIS), Vitaly Akhundov, hailed the holding of the event.

"I was received very well here. Now we will watch a play about the graduates, and then a concert. I think everything is fine. After all, we are all graduates of the Baku Choreographic School. I would like to note that I taught at the choreographic school. In general, I have very pleasant impressions at home. Azerbaijani music is native to me. I staged Seven Beauties in Syktyvkar and Moscow, and One Thousand and One Nights in Syktyvkar and Saransk. In a word, I promote Azerbaijani music and enjoy it," Vitaly Akhundov said.

The People's Artist of Azerbaijan, Afag Malikova, noted that the concert is timed to the 95th anniversary of the Baku Choreographic Academy.

"Today is our holiday. It is celebrated all over the world. Today marks the 95th anniversary of the creation of the Baku Choreographic School. Here we see a large number of graduates. I also graduated from the choreographic school, and worked for 45 years as the artistic director of the State Dance Ensemble. Therefore, today is a significant, joyful day for us. During the celebration of anniversaries, you experience especially wonderful feelings. Because today we see our wonderful graduates who are embarking on a new path. I hope that this day will bring joy to everyone. to attend the centenary of the school," said Afag Malikova.

The People's Artist of Azerbaijan, Gulagasi Mirzoyev, expressed gladness with the organisation of the event.

"Today is a very exciting day for me. I came here from Perm from the Arabesque competition. I wish our choreographic art to reach the very peaks of professional excellence. We will try to do everything possible to achieve this!, "Gulagasi Mirzoyev said.

Note that graduates of the Baku Choreography Academy, who have made a great contribution to the education of hundreds of professional dancers, represent Azerbaijani dance art worldwide.

Media partners of the event are Azernews.Az, Trend.Az, Day.Az, and Milli.Az.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @lmntypewriterrr

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2 May 2024 09:00 (UTC+04:00)

Fatima Latifova Read more

The first meeting of political consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Australian Union was held in Baku.

Azernews reports, citing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan that during the consultations, the delegation of the Republic of Azerbaijan was led by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Elnur Mammadov, and the delegation of the Australian Union was led by Rod Brazier, Deputy Secretary of the Development, Multilateral and European Group of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

During the consultations, discussions were held on the current state of relations between the two countries, expansion of cooperation in political, economic, humanitarian and other fields and development prospects.

E. Mammadov informed the other side in detail about the current situation in the region during the post-conflict period, the restoration and construction works carried out in the territories freed from occupation, as well as the mine clearance process.

It was emphasized that the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), hosted by our country this year, created favorable opportunities for cooperation.

Prospects of cooperation between the two countries within the framework of international organizations were also discussed at the meeting.

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2 May 2024 10:16 (UTC+04:00)

As a result of police investigations, one AKS machine gun was found in Baku city, Binagadi district, Azernews reports, citing the release made by the Penitentiary Service of the Ministry of Justice.

The Ministry noted that, as a result of the operation and search conducted by the operative apparatus of the Penitentiary Service together with the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, one AKS automatic weapon belonging to Chobanov Nicat Gurbat oglu and one machine gun case containing 10 bullets of 5.45 calibre were found in the territory of Cicek settlement of Binagadi district.

The fact is being investigated.

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2 May 2024 13:37 (UTC+04:00)

Fatima Latifova Read more

According to the Individual Partnership Cooperation Programme for 2024 between the Azerbaijan Defence Ministry and NATO, a coordination meeting called MAREVAL Course was held with the participation of the expert group of NATO's Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), Azernews reports.

The meeting exchanged views on a number of issues of common interest on the course.

It was noted that the course is focused on teaching NATO standards and Operational Capabilities Concept (OCC) methodology in combat training.

It should be noted that about 30 NATO partner countries are expected to attend the course.

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2 May 2024 12:54 (UTC+04:00)

Fatima Latifova Read more

A 30-person large delegation of Norway's "Vagaclub," consisting of international travellers, begins its trip to Garabagh and Eastern Zangazur, Azernews reports.

The team led by world traveller Jorn Augestad is dominated by young people. Almost all of them have visited more than 150 countries.

The delegation plans to travel by road on the Fuzuli-Khojavand-Shusha-Aghdam-Kalbajar-Lachin-Zengilan-Jabrayil route for 3 days.

It is worth noting that over the past four years, large delegations of the major international travel networks, such as ETIC, MTP, TCC, NomadMania and the Turkish Travel Club, as well as Turkish travellers' club, British "Piki Reels", Swedish "Club 100" have visited Garabagh and Eastern Zangazur nine times.

In total, during these trips, more than 360 international travellers from 46 countries had the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the situation in Azerbaijan's liberated areas. Through them, millions of people around the world received detailed information about the real situation in Garabagh.

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Themed "Dialogue for Peace and Global Security: Cooperation and Interconnectivity," the 6th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue highlights the significance of addressing major global issues through dialogue and collaboration, Azernews reports.

The forum aims to explore the critical intersections between dialogue facilitation, cooperative frameworks, leadership efficacy, and the complex dynamics of interconnectedness, all in the service of advancing global peace and security imperatives.

During the forum, the 5th Meeting of Culture Ministers was organised, bringing together culture ministers from various countries to discuss matters of global importance.

Azerbaijan Culture Minister Adil Karimli chaired the meeting on the theme "Harmony in Diversity: Fostering Intercultural Dialogue for a Global Cultural Renaissance".

In his speech, Adil Karimli stressed that Azerbaijan is known as the country where representatives of different religious confessions and nations have always lived in an atmosphere of peace.

The minister outlined that at a time when culture and religion divided humanity into communities at war with each other, Azerbaijan became a beacon of hope in the world.

"At a time of tension and confrontation in the world, Azerbaijan remains a country in which representatives of all religions live in conditions of mutual respect and understanding. This is a valuable legacy of our history, the minister said.

Belarusian Culture Minister Anatoly Markevich underscored the importance of the 6th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue.

In his speech, Anatoly Markevich noted that in Belarus, different peoples coexist under conditions of mutual understanding.

"We pay special attention to the preservation of cultural monuments and strive to pass them on to future generations. Representatives of various religions living in our country are citizens of Belarus," Anatoly Markevich said.

He stated that there is currently only one value on the planet, and that is peace.

"Every person is responsible for this. International organisations are of great importance for establishing cooperation between peoples. Along the way we make new friends. We have created a cultural bridge between Belarus and Azerbaijan," he added.

Russian Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova expressed satisfaction with participation in this forum dedicated to intercultural dialogue.

She informed about cultural events held in her country and noted that the main goal is to preserve traditions and equality between people.

The Georgian Minister of Culture, Sports, and Youth Policy, Thea Tsulukiani, said that her country is a state distinguished by its high Christian culture.

Thea Tsulukiani added that relevant documents in the field of cultural diversity have been prepared and adopted in Georgia, bringing to attention that this is beneficial for creating a climate of multiculturalism.

"We highly value our friendship and partnership with Azerbaijan and celebrate this at every international event. We also consider it an honour to cooperate with Azerbaijan," she said.

Chairman of the Malta National Commission of UNESCO, Raymond Bonde, hailed Azerbaijan's rich heritage.

"Azerbaijan has a wonderful heritage, its greatness is amazing. We must live in peace, establish cooperation, and get to know each other. Every effort must be made to preserve the world's cultural heritage. I hope that enough attention will be paid to sights that are important in the history of mankind. I express my deep gratitude to Azerbaijan for holding such important meetings," Raymond Bonde said.

UAE Culture Minister Sheikh Salem bin Khalid Al Qassimi said that this forum coincided with Azerbaijan's preparations for COP29. He expressed hope that COP29 will contribute to solving global climate problems.

"We must strive to promote world peace, work together to achieve our goals, and move towards a global cultural renaissance," he said.

CIS Deputy Secretary General Denis Trefilov expressed his hope for the strengthening and development of intercultural dialogue.He stressed the significance of cooperation between the CIS states.

"We also regularly update the legislative framework to expand cultural ties between the CIS countries," he said.

Libyan Minister of Culture and Education Mabrouka Othman said that the world is currently in a state of struggle, which affects stability and peace on the planet.

"Humanity is now faced with numerous risks. It is necessary to find ways to solve the challenges. We must encourage intercultural dialogue and understanding," she said.

Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad Mehdi Esmaili noted that international organizations should deal with the issue of maintaining peace and tranquility.

"There is a great need for numerous intercultural projects in this area to achieve peace, unity and equality. And in multinational, multilingual countries, there is a need for such platforms at the regional level," he said.

Representatives of other countries who spoke at the event underlined that the 6th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue would contribute to ensuring peace on the planet.

It was noted that all countries should live in conditions of peace and tranquility. It is necessary to learn lessons from the past and move confidently into the future. The sharing of values on such platforms leads to prosperity and happiness.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @lmntypewriterrr

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2 May 2024 21:17 (UTC+04:00)

Fatima Latifova Read more

Right after Azerbaijan liberated the Garabagh from Armenian occupation, visits by official and unofficial foreign representatives were organised to the territories.

Over the past four years, large delegations from major international travel networks such as ETIC, MTP, TCC, NomadMania, British Piki Reels, and Swedish Club 100 have visited Garabagh and Eastern Zangazur several times. Additionally, last year, a UN mission visited Garabagh to observe the situation.

However, despite this, the facts about Garabagh, the vandalism committed by the Armenian junta regime against cultural monuments, historical buildings, and mosques in the occupied territories are still not strongly condemned by the leading bodies and institutions of Europe. On the contrary, the West unfairly defends Armenia due to the liberation of Azerbaijan's sovereign territories.

In a comment for Azernews on the issue, Patrick Walsh, an Irish historian, said that the West's biased policy leans on religious reasons.

The Western attitude towards the conflict is unfortunately conditioned by history, culture, and contemporary US politics. The historical residue of Western Christian sympathy for the Armenians persists, despite all contemporary facts, the expert added.

Walsh noted that Armenians use the concept of democracy to spread anti-Turk propaganda.

The anti-Turk propaganda of World War One and before is still in the Western consciousness. Similarly, Armenians have availed themselves of the current Washington ideology directed against Russia, China, and Iran to place themselves in the "democratic" camp against the "authoritarians" of the East and Eurasia," the historian emphasised.

But as we know, Armenia failed once again in the real war in Garabagh, and Azerbaijan liberated its own historical territories in 2020.

Touching on the official and unofficial travels to Azerbaijans Garabagh, an expert said that these visits may play a role in future.

The visits are necessary and essential in making small gains and encouraging some influential Westerners to give a truer picture of the situation. It may not have a massive impact, but Azerbaijan, working against history, culture and politics, has to engage in this kind of long-term work that will pay dividends in the future, he added.

Patrick Walsh also noted that Garabaghs history should be learned in foreign countries to diminish Armenian lies.

Azerbaijan's case is excellent, and it has to be told in the West to combat Armenian misinformation, which is everywhere, the expert noted.

The historian said that Armenians sponsor some Western-elected politicians and representatives of organisations that have authority on the continent, and this is bad fortune.

This is an unfortunate fact of life because of the prevalence of powerful Armenian interest groups in some parts of the West who sponsor elected representatives. Pressure groups, it is well known, distort the democratic process in the West. This is widely understood by political scientists and indeed the general public, he said.

The expert also underlined the role of the Armenian diaspora in Europe as an obstacle to hearing the truth about Garabagh.

They are a fundamental part of Western democracy that is, at the same time, a hindrance to understanding the facts of the situation. The Armenians have a great advantage in this area with their large and wealthy diaspora and lobby groups. It is just an unfortunate fact of life that only counterarguments can combat. Walsh said in conclusion.

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2 May 2024 08:00 (UTC+04:00)

By Alimat Aliyeva

Recently restored in Spain, the sword turned out to be a rare artifact of the Islamic period on the Iberian Peninsula, which illustrates the multi-layered history of the conquest of the region, Azernews reports, citing foreign media.

Scientists have dated the weapon to the period when Valencia was called Balancia.

The restored iron blade was dated to the tenth century, when the Umayyad caliphate controlled the Iberian Peninsula. The sword was given the name "Excalibur". The weapon was found buried vertically, that is, it was in a position similar to the legendary sword of King Arthur encased in stone. By this analogy, it received the appropriate name.

"This sword has a unique design that gives it great archaeological value and cultural heritage value," City councilman Jose Luis Moreno said in a statement.

Archaeologist Jose Miguel Osuna conducted the new study as part of a broader review of Valencia's collection of metal objects, which covers the period from the Roman era to the late Middle Ages. The short sword, made of iron, is about 18 inches (24.72 cm) long. According to the statement, its handle is decorated with bronze plates and notches for ease of handling. The tip of the blade is slightly curved, which creates confusion in chronology, since Visigothic swords had a similar shape. The design probably reflects the evolution of earlier Visigothic models. Osuna and his colleagues confirmed the age of the artifact by analyzing the sedimentary rock layers in which it was buried.

The small size of the weapon and the absence of a guard suggest that it was used by an Andalusian horseman. Only one similar weapon was found during excavations in Spina, on the outskirts of Cordoba. Archaeological finds from this period are rare in the country, and even rarer in Valencia due to the peculiarities of the urban soil.

The Islamic era in the Iberian Peninsula was a time of "remarkable intercultural exchange between the Christian, Jewish and Muslim populations," the Metropolitan Museum of Art notes on its website. By the 900s, Cordoba had become "perhaps the greatest intellectual center in Europe," the museum adds. Muslim rule lasted until about 1492, when a long period of weakening influence ended with the conquest of Granada by Christians.

Thanks to the recent examination of the sword, Moreno says, "we have a new treasure in the form of this 'Islamic Excalibur' and the historical heritage of ancient Balancia."

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2 May 2024 13:15 (UTC+04:00)

Ulviyya Shahin Read more

The decision to embark on a groundbreaking endeavour to lay a cable along the bed of the Black Sea stems from a collaborative effort involving several key stakeholders.

According to Azernews, the World Bank Director for the South Caucasus, Rolande Pryce, said this.

Pryce, recently announced the institution's pivotal role in supporting the preparatory stages of this ambitious project. The World Bank's backing signifies a significant step forward in addressing the region's energy needs and fostering international cooperation.

According to Price, the forthcoming feasibility study is poised to be a comprehensive evaluation, encompassing various critical dimensions. Technical specifications, economic viability, financial feasibility, as well as institutional and legal frameworks will all undergo meticulous scrutiny. This holistic assessment aims to provide a thorough understanding of the project's feasibility, serving as a blueprint for its successful implementation.

A landmark development occurred in December 2022, when the governments of Georgia, Azerbaijan, Romania, and Hungary came together to formalize an agreement regarding the cable's installation. This multinational accord underscores a shared commitment to advancing regional energy infrastructure and promoting cross-border energy transmission.

To spearhead the preparatory phase of the feasibility study, the task has been entrusted to CESI, a prominent Italian energy consulting company renowned for its expertise in the field. With their specialized knowledge and technical prowess, CESI is poised to play a pivotal role in shaping the trajectory of this transformative initiative.

As anticipation builds for the completion of the feasibility study, scheduled for July 2024, stakeholders remain optimistic about the prospects of leveraging the Black Sea's strategic location to enhance energy connectivity between the South Caucasus region and Europe. This collaborative effort signifies a paradigm shift in regional cooperation, poised to usher in a new era of sustainable energy development and economic prosperity.

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2 May 2024 22:19 (UTC+04:00)

By Alimat Aliyeva

The level of disapproval of the Japanese government led by Fumio Kishida has risen to 69%, the highest level since October 2021, when he became prime minister, Azernews reports, foreign media resources.

The level of government support remains unchanged at 26%. After the failure of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), led by Kishida, approval of the leading opposition Constitutional Democratic Party (KDP) increased markedly in by-elections in three regions of the country: although 13% of respondents called themselves supporters, 18% are ready to give their votes for it in the next elections.

One of the main reasons for the downgrade of the current administration was the scandal that broke out at the end of last year around financial reporting violations when collecting political donations to the LDP. The level of support for the government fell below 30%, which is considered a dangerous line in Japan, and several deputies were forced to leave prominent positions, including heads of ministries and party bodies.

Although the general level of support for the LDP remains at 29%, 28% are ready to give their votes for it in the next elections. The gap between the LDP and the KDP has narrowed to 10 percentage points. 33% of respondents do not support any party.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Open borders advocates have been proven wrong yet again.

A year ago, on Jan. 1, 2023, Florida cracked down hard on illegal aliens working in the state by requiring all employers to verify legal status of all of there employees. At the time the open borders cheerleaders including their advocates in the liberal media predicted gloom and doom for the Florida economy as a result of that action. Media quoted the ultra-liberal Florida Policy Institute's claim that the new law would cost the Florida economy $12.6 Billion in its first year.

Instead of shrinking as claimed by the left and the open borders lobby, Florida's economy has boomed under the new law. The US Bureau of Economic Analysis statistics show it has grown by a whopping 4.6% last year. Neighboring Georgia which did not crack down on illegal aliens working only grew by 3.6%, and the sanctuary state of New York,, only by 1.6%.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, during 2023, while eliminated jobs for illegal aliens, Florida's overall job growth was at 2.2% representing 211,000 new jobs created in the state during the year. This compares with sanctuary state of New York at 1.5%. Florida's unemployment rate was 3.2%, which is below the national average.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/2988223/florida-restricted-cheap-immigrant-labor-economy-awesome/

This blows up the open borders argument about illegal aliens being necessary to fill jobs. Some of the jobs elsewhere that illegal aliens have been flocking to include burglary and other crimes, prostitution, and welfare recipient. The American economy would be better off without those things.

Here is Ray Stevens musical satire on illegal immigration, "Come to the USA":
Hannibal (Mo.) Regional Healthcare Systems has faced a delay in the construction of its new ASC in Kirksville, Mo., according to a May 1 report from CBS affiliate KTVO.

The new facility was approved by the city in fall 2022, and construction was slated to begin in fall 2023 but has not happened yet.

HRHS' CEO, Todd Ahrens, told KTVO that the system is making adjustments to the ASC after analyzing and learning from the local community. The planned specialties for the ASC have shifted, leaving the facility still in the design process.

At this point, there is no longer an estimated date to break ground, according to the report.

HRHS is also working with state legislators to try to receive monetary support for the project.






Gov. Tina Kotek has signed legislation making Oregon the first state in the country to officially change the title of "physician assistant" to "physician associate."

The Oregon Society of Physician Associates is hopeful that this change will give patients a better understanding of the roles and responsibilities of PAs and build on the work that OSPA has championed in recent years to modernize the way PAs practice medicine in Oregon, according to an April 5 press release.

The new law will go into effect on June 6, and the Oregon Medical Board will establish regulations and guidelines.
Healthcare real estate companies Remedy Medical Properties and Kanye Anderson Real Estate acquired 37 medical properties across 13 states for $252 million.

The portfolio consists of more than 708,000 square feet of medical properties, including ASCs, physician practices, imaging centers and surgical hospitals, according to a May 2 news release shared with Becker's. The properties are leased by tenants such as Dallas-based ASC operator United Surgical Partners International, Charlotte, N.C..-based Advocate Health, and Tampa (Fla.) General Hospital.

Remedy and Kanye Anderson are the largest private owners of healthcare real estate nationwide.
On May 1, UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty testified before Congress, expressing that he is "deeply, deeply sorry" about the effect the late February cyberattack on Change Healthcare had on patients, physicians and health systems.

Mr. Witty testified for more than two hours in front of a Senate committee about both his and the company's hand in what some are calling the biggest cybersecurity disruption to healthcare in American history.

Following the hearings, the American Gastroenterological Association released a statement commending Congress for placing a high level of scrutiny on the hack, calling UnitedHealth "one of the largest, most profitable and least transparent health insurers in the world."

"UHC's slow and inadequate response to the Change Healthcare cyberattack left many practices high and dry, which threatens their ability to serve their communities," the AGA wrote in the May 1 statement. "UHC's efforts to rectify this colossal breach are far from commensurate with the damage done."

The AGA also expressed frustration with UnitedHealth over prior authorization requirements and barriers to gastrointestinal care.

"UHC forewarned the gastroenterology community and its patients of this prior authorization program nearly a year ago," the statement said. "Yet, physicians have been left in the dark with mounting concerns as they know all too well prior authorization often leads to unnecessary delays and denials for care. This is particularly worrisome as applied to colonoscopies and endoscopies when colorectal cancer is the nation's #2 cancer killer and is on the rise among Americans under 50."
Adventist HealthCare is expanding its Silver Springs, Md.-based White Oak Medical Center campus after seeing such a high demand for care since the center's 2019 opening, according to a May 2 report from the Washington Business Journal.

The facility "does not have enough inpatient beds for the patient care demand in the community," the hospital's president told the Journal.

The system is planning to add a $20 million, 20,500-square-foot unit for patients either admitted after coming through the ER or requiring care following surgical procedures. The hospital's existing 198 beds are typically full, with patient counts well exceeding that number, according to the report.

The hospital is also adding a three-level, 62,000-square-foot medical office building with an ASC that will have two operating rooms and three procedure rooms.
Since acquiring EHR vendor Cerner, Oracle Health's local workforce has decreased, the Kansas City Business Journal reported April 30.

According to leaked documents obtained by the publication, in 2023 Oracle informed the Kansas City Area Development Council that Cerner employed 11,900 people locally in 2022. However, internal documents show the workforce has decreased to 6,400 since the $28.4 billion acquisition was completed in June 2022.

This comes as Oracle has made a succession of workforce reductions pertaining to the EHR company.

In August 2022, Oracle said it was considering a $1 billion cost reduction effort that included eliminating thousands of jobs. The workforce reduction affected Cerner employees, but Oracle did not mention how many employees would be laid off as part of the move.

In March, the company said it would conduct a second round of layoffs and was planning to enforce an in-office mandate for the remaining Cerner employees. The employees had been working remotely for about three years. The number of employees affected by this layoff also was not disclosed, but Oracle said the move was a part of another restructuring plan to save costs.

In June, people familiar with the matter reported that Oracle was laying off another round of Cerner employees as well as rescinding job offers and cutting back open positions. Oracle did not disclose how many employees were affected by this move.

The current number of local employees is significantly lower compared to Cerner's workforce before the acquisition, according to the publication. In 2019, Cerner had 14,000 full-time-equivalent employees locally, as reported by the 2019 Private-Sector Employers List, which was consistent with their 2018 figures. The company's employee count rose steadily from 6,800 in 2012 to its peak at 14,000 in 2018 and 2019.

Just before the acquisition in February 2022, Cerner reported 12,778 local full-time-equivalent employees. Although there was a trend of declining local employment prior to the acquisition, it was less severe than after the acquisition.

Oracle has also consolidated its workforce into its campus in the southern region of Kansas City, vacating former Cerner offices, which now hosts four Oracle Health offices.

Oracle did not respond to the publication's request for comment. Becker's reached out to Oracle for comment and will update this story if more is learned.
Ten home health agencies and 11 hospice operations previously led by Cincinnati-based Bon Secours Mercy Health will now be managed by Compassus, a provider of home-based healthcare services.

Bon Secours formed a joint venture with Compassus, according to a May 2 news release from the health system. Under the agreement, Compass will manage Bon Secours home health agencies and hospice operations in Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio, South Carolina and Virginia.

Bon Secours Mercy Health will retain ownership of its current hospice house real estate assets, according to the release, with Compassus handling operational management at designated sites.
Travis Sisson was named CEO of Merit Health Wesley in Hattiesburg, Miss.

Mr. Sisson brings more than two decades of healthcare experience to the role, according to an April 23 news release.

Most recently, he served as CEO of Merit Health Biloxi (Miss.). He also previously held COO roles at Longview (Texas) Regional Medical Center and at the Hattiesburg hospital.

Merit Health Wesley and Merit Health Biloxi are both part of Flowood, Miss.-based Merit Health.
Yonkers, N.Y.-based Saint Joseph's Medical Center has named Ann Marie Moynihan, DNP, MSN, vice president of patient care services and chief nursing officer.

In her new role, Dr. Moynihan will lead strategic nursing initiatives and help drive quality improvement efforts, according to a May 2 news release.

She comes to Saint Joseph's from NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital in New York City. Dr. Moynihan joined the hospital in 2013 and has since ascended through several nurse leadership roles, most recently serving as the senior director of acute care and ambulatory nursing.
Chan Badger, MD, has been named senior vice president of Novant Health and president of the Winston-Salem, N.C.-based health system's primary care services.

Dr. Badger is a board-certified family medicine physician. He will oversee the strategic development, operations and direction of primary care services in the new role, according to an April 16 press release. He will also continue working with the health system's employer solutions division, which focuses on partnerships with employers across the state to promote employee health.

Dr. Badger has served in numerous clinical leadership roles throughout his 13 years at Novant Health, including as medical director for Kernersville (N.C.) Medical Center.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill May 1, allowing the state to help finance the University of Northern Colorado's proposed College of Osteopathic Medicine.

With the state allocating $127.5 million toward construction and accreditation costs, plus $41 million for escrow needs, the university said it plans to annually enroll 150 medical students as early as fall 2026.

The College of Osteopathic Medicine will address the state's physician shortage: "A staggering 65% of the state's physician needs are still unmet," the university said in a news release. "In 2023, all but three of Colorado's 64 counties lacked enough primary care health professionals."

The project needs a minimum of $200 million, the school said, and donations will fund the remaining costs not covered by the state.
The University of Kansas Health System and Liberty (Mo.) Hospital have signed definitive agreements for the hospital and its clinics to join the Kansas City-based health system.

KU Health System currently operates six acute care hospitals and two behavioral health hospitals. While it operates various clinics in Missouri, Liberty would be its first hospital in the state.

The deal is expected to close July 1.

"When you look at the metro area here in Kansas City, there aren't many independent hospitals. There are many hospitals that are now managed outside the metro area," Bob Page, president and CEO of the University of Kansas Health, told Becker's. "This was a perfect opportunity to partner with another independent hospital in a prime area for our health system. We also have that cultural compatibility, so it was pretty much a no-brainer for us to pursue."

Notably, 35% of KU Health's patients come from Missouri, "so having a great community hospital in the state was really important to us," Tammy Peterman, MS, RN, president of the health system's Kansas City division, told Becker's. "This agreement will not only allow us to treat more patients overall, but also offer access to those with the most complex care needs at 39th and Rainbow and other locations."

As part of the agreement, Liberty's staff and employed physicians will be retained for at least one year after closing.

The hospital, which has more than 2,000 employees and 330 physicians, will also maintain an open medical staff  except for certain hospital-based service lines and specialties for which exclusive provider coverage arrangements may be necessary.

KU Health has also committed to invest $324 million into Liberty over the next 12 years to expand and improve care across various areas and make more care available closer to patients' homes. The system operates the only NCI-designated cancer center in the metro area and in the state of Kansas, and plans to expand the program to Liberty Hospital.

"A lot of our patients from this area are already receiving care from the University of Kansas Hospital. The benefit is that a lot of that care can be brought here so patients dont have to travel to the main campus," Raghu Adiga, MD, president and CEO of the hospital, told Becker's. "The same level of high-quality care can be provided right here in their hometown."

"As a small independent hospital, recruitment of talent is not easy, so our first focus is certainly to expand and strengthen our existing service lines, before we look at adding new ones," Dr. Adiga, said.

KU Health, which recently acquired 2-hospital system Olathe Health, also plans to integrate the Epic EHR system it uses across all clinics and hospitals.

"That would be an eventual goal," Dr. Adiga said.

Once the transaction closes, the next challenge that will need to be addressed is the integration process, but it is a challenge made easier by the cultural alignment of Liberty and KU Health, according to leaders from both organizations.

"This is a great cultural fit that really made sense for both organizations," Ms. Peterman said. "We both have similar philosophies and areas of focus. You can't put organizations together that don't have a great cultural fit, and I think we're very well positioned for that integration next step."

KU Health recently welcomed Olathe Health and has a systematic and intentional process for integration that emphasizes collaboration.

"The reality is that while we have a process, we don't have a playbook," Mr. Page said. "It's all about collaboration; if you put the right teams in place and help them shape the future, there's a higher likelihood of success."

Dr. Adiga added that the partnership will ensure the future of Liberty and its ability to meet the growing healthcare needs of people in the Northland and northwest Missouri.

"We are excited to bring world-class healthcare to our patients, for our employees to experience the benefits of academic medicine, and for our community to enjoy the economic growth and local opportunities we expect from this partnership," Dr. Adiga said.
Heather Pressdee, a Pennsylvania nurse, pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and 19 counts of attempted homicide, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported May 1.

Ms. Pressdee pleaded guilty on May 2 in an ongoing hearing that is expected to go until May 3. She was sentenced to life in prison, according to NBC affiliate WPXI of Pittsburgh.

Ms. Pressdee, 41, was first charged in May 2023 in connection with the mistreatment of three nursing home patients while working at Quality Life Services in Chicora, Pa., including two counts of homicide and one count of attempted murder. In November, she was charged in connection with the mistreatment of 19 additional patients that were in her care at five different facilities since 2020.

"Pressdee is accused of administering excessive amounts of insulin to these patients, some of whom were diabetic and required insulin, some of whom were not," the office of Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry said in a Nov. 2 statement on the latest charges. "In total, 17 patients died who had been cared for by Presdee."

Since she was first arrested, three wrongful death lawsuits have been filed against two of the facilities she worked for, alleging they employed a nurse who had a history of complaints.

The case has sparked a push for legislation that would allow Pennsylvania to create a registry where employers could flag concerns about nursing home employees. Professional medical associations have also called on healthcare organizations to improve insulin safety by putting stricter safeguards in place.

Becker's will update this story if more information becomes available during the course of the hearing.
GOBankingRates released a new study April 30 that determined the minimum salary a single adult would need to live comfortably in 100 major U.S. cities.

For the study, the personal finance publication examined census data on population, total households and median household income, as well as the cost of living index from Sperling's BestPlaces, the livability index from AreaVibes, the average single-family home value from February 2024 as sourced from Zillow Home Value Index, and other data to calculate the average cost of living for each city.

Considering a 50-30-20 rule that recommends putting half of an individual's money toward needs, 30% toward wants, and 20% toward savings, the cost of living was doubled to determine the salary needed to live comfortably in each city. More information on the methodology is available here.

Here are the major cities with the highest and lowest salaries a single adult needs to live comfortably, per the analysis:

Major cities with the highest salary needed for a single adult to live comfortably:

1. Irvine, Calif.  $287,311

2. Fremont, Calif.  $271,867

3. San Jose, Calif.  $269,386

4. San Francisco  $251,308

5. Honolulu  $236,787

6. San Diego  $211,007

7. Los Angeles  $193,581

8. Arlington, Va.  $191,110

9. Anaheim, Calif.  $191,110

10. Seattle  $181,694

Major cities with the lowest salary needed for a single adult to live comfortably:

1. Detroit  $51,144

2. Cleveland  $56,044

3. Toledo, Ohio  $56,939

4. Memphis, Tenn.  $61,459

5. St. Louis  $64,504

6. Laredo, Texas  $66,115

7. Baltimore  $67,753

8. El Paso, Texas  $69,024

9. Oklahoma City  $70,333

10. Tulsa, Okla.  $70,337












Value-based care has seen some growth in spine and orthopedics, with some groups embracing the payment model.

Unlike fee-for-service, value-based care encourages a greater emphasis on patient outcomes. Spine surgeons discuss their outlook on value-based care and how it can expand.

Ask Spine Surgeons is a weekly series of questions posed to spine surgeons around the country about clinical, business and policy issues affecting spine care. Becker's invites all spine surgeon and specialist responses.

Next question: What is one key lesson from a mentor that you pass along to spine residents and fellows now?

Please send responses to Carly Behm at cbehm@beckershealthcare.com by 5 p.m. CST Wednesday, May 8.

Editor's note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity and length.

Question: Whats needed to broaden value-based cares reach? How do you predict it will look in 10 years?

Brian Gantwerker, MD. The Craniospinal Center of Los Angeles: I think value-based care's goals have to be defined in their most basic sense: bringing value to whom. As of right now, the only people getting value are the billion-dollar quarterly profits for the insurers. It's time we stopped feeding into it, and make our care better, safer and more efficient. Value will then be a desirable byproduct by doing a good job first.

Emeka Nwodim, MD. Centers for Advanced Orthopaedics (Bethesda, Md.): The purpose of value-based care is to optimize quality, performance and the [global] patient experience to control what has become unsustainable healthcare costs. I believe in order for this to be successful and truly fulfill what is intended, it will require all parties involved in the healthcare system to be willing to compromise and be intentional about finding solutions.

At this point in time, the most tangible and effective compromise to optimize VBC will have to come from payers, large healthcare systems and hospitals. This does not preclude the responsibility of physicians and multi-specialty practices, such as my own (CAO), which have the responsibility of managing ancillary use and expenses. However the majority of money spent on healthcare is consumed by payers, large healthcare systems and hospitals. Rather than continuing to decrease reimbursements to physicians and medical staff responsible for direct patient care, our society must recognize where most expenses are consumed  and those parties have to be accountable with controlling their consumption.

This is not to demonize payers, large healthcare systems or hospitals as their good will and participation are paramount to establishing true value-based care. One of the first steps, and what I believe is the most important, is to establish trust amongst all parties involved, including patients, providers, medical staff, payers, healthcare systems and hospitals. I believe compromise would soon follow.

Christian Zimmerman, MD. St. Alphonsus Medical Group and SAHS Neuroscience Institute (Boise, Idaho): Value-based care is a healthcare delivery model under which all providers are contracted and reimbursed on the health outcomes of their patients and services rendered. Under some value-based contracts, there is shared financial risk and potential incentives for providing high-quality, efficient care. While quality care can be provided under both a VBC and Traditional Model, the aggregate management in VBC's management/paid and theoretically saved healthcare dollars streamline the process. In my opinion, the failure of this system is lack of participation by all physicians especially in the for-profit, physician-owned surgical system where metrics are neither collated nor applied.

The over-lengthened pandemic and its financially disastrous effects to the entire healthcare system are more semblant as reimbursements from federal, state and private insurers have diminished, resulting in capital project and purchase curtailment has waned. The foreboding trends of unrealizable VBC are being redefined as prohibitive and withholding of care, especially in regard to the underserved and the complicated/chronic disease affected. Fine tuning of healthcare delivery is no longer the objective but rather a resource management issue for all physicians, fraught with delays and added scrutiny.
Radley will open its doors at Northern Irelands only premier designer outlet at The Boulevard this weekend.

Bolstering its high-end offering, luxury accessories brand, it will officially open on Saturday 4 May.

Creating seven new jobs, the 1,800sq ft store is the latest brand to join the Lotus Property owned scheme where it will feature Radleys collection of luxe leather bags and accessories.

From maxi to micro and cross body to top handle, the new outlet store will carry a wide selection of handbags at discounted prices.

Cementing itself as the go-to location for designer and luxury fashions, The Boulevard continues to buck national trends and has gone from strength to strength through what has been a challenging time for retail, having welcomed 21 new permanent and pop-up stores onsite since the pandemic in 2020.

Radley joins top brands at The Boulevard in Banbridge including kate spade ny, Guess, Dune London, M&S, Levis, Joules and Kurt Geiger.

Alastair Coulson, Managing Director of Lotus Property said: The Boulevard is fast becoming a destination for luxury brands, and we are delighted to welcome Radley to Banbridge.

"With a strong retail mix of womenswear, menswear, home and outdoor, we are benefiting greatly from a healthy consumer appetite for premium brands at discounted prices. We look forward to seeing the queues when Radley open their doors on Saturday.

Designed in London by their in-house team, the fashion brand has cemented itself as one of the leaders in expertly made leather handbags and accessories.

Kevin Morris, Head of Retail at Radley said: After four years, we are excited to return to Northern Ireland with a brand-new store and premium product offering.

"Radley is uniquely places in the market to bring customers affordable luxury leather handbags that never compromise on style and quality.

"Thank you to the teams at Radley and The Boulevard for what is set to be a successful and significant store opening.

Lotus Property is advised by Johnstone Property Consultants and KLM Real Estate Ltd.

Celebrating the new store, Radley is offering a gift with every purchase for the first 25 customers, 10% bounce back voucher for shoppers during opening week and a handbag personalisation event one week after opening.
Pre-tax profits at Antrim-based Schrader Electronics took a 50% hit in 2022 as the motor industry continued to feel the effects of the pandemic.

The subsidiary of global industrial technology company Sensata Technologies saw pre-tax profits drop from $33.9m (27m) in 2021 to $16.5m (13.2m) in 2022, according to its latest accounts.

Schrader is best known in the industry for its tyre pressure monitoring system installed in most new vehicles on the market.

The accounts for the year ended December 2022 show that turnover decreased by 11% from $301.7m in 2021 to $269m in 2022.

The cost of sales also saw a 5% drop, decreasing from $216.9m in 2021 to $205.5m.

And administrative expenses during the year decreased to $42.6m from $46.6m in 2021.

But distribution costs increased from $4m to $4.8m mainly due to global increase in logistics costs and supply chain disruptions, the accounts said.

In the strategic report filed with the accounts, the directors said: Global production of light vehicles has consistently demonstrated steady annual growth for most of the decade up to 2019 when it started to decline.

Fiscal years 2020 and 2021 were depressed production years due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on global markets.

Fiscal year 2020 was hardest hit, with global production of light vehicles declining approximately 16% from fiscal year 2019.

According to previous accounts filed with Companies House, in 2018 the company recorded pre-tax profits of $95.4m but in 2019 they had dropped to $49.9m.

The report added: In fiscal year 2022, global production of light vehicles increased about 6% from fiscal year 2021, according to third-party data.

Global production of heavy and medium-duty trucks in the markets we serve rebounded to increase approximately 30% in fiscal year 2021 but decreased approximately 12% in fiscal year 2022.

Employee numbers saw a slight drop, from 836 in 2021 to 824.

Payroll spend at the company was also down 14%. In 2021 the company spent $55.8m on wages, contributions and pensions, but by 2022 this was down to $47.6m.

In the strategic report, the directors said that the company is still experiencing lingering disruptions.

They added: The extent to which the Covid-19 pandemic will continue to impact our business and financial results going forward will be dependent on future developments such as the length and severity of the crisis, the potential resurgence of the crisis, variant strains of the virus, vaccine availability and effectiveness, future government actions in response to the crisis and the overall impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the global economy and capital markets, among many other factors, all of which remain highly uncertain and unpredictable.

The reported continued: Research and development remain an important area of focus to the company as it continues to develop its RTPMS and related products.

But spending on R&D decreased during the year, dropping to $28m from $31.1m.

The directors said that the reduction in spend was mainly due to internal and contractor labour costs.

The directors did not approve a dividend payment for the year, but in 2021 paid out a total of $250m.
Little Simz reflected on her career in conversation with Elle UK (Ian West/PA)

British rapper Little Simz has said she has always made a point to not appeal to the male gaze in terms of how she dresses.

The Mercury Prize winner, who will perform on Glastonbury Festivals Pyramid Stage for the first time in June, said she wants young girls to know that theres options when it comes to what to wear.

Speaking to Elle UK for its June issue, the artist, real name Simbiatu Ajikawo, said: It was always the same situation, Yeah, this is cool, but this is whats selling  which was less clothing.

Little Simz attending the Brit Awards 2024 (Ian West/PA)

And thats just never been my vibe. Ive always made a point to not conform to the industry status quo of how women  especially in hip-hop  should dress to appeal to the male gaze.

I want to ensure that young girls who are like me  a bit quirky, a bit tomboyish  can see me.

But also, I can fling on a dress and make it look sick. I want them to know that theres options.

The London-born musician reflected on what it is to be a role model and said that she wants to make young people feel like their dreams are within reach.

Allowing people to see me on the ground is super important, because I want people to feel like its in reach; Im in reach; your dreams are in reach, she said.

Little Simz accepting the Mercury Prize 2022 (Ian West/PA)

Im working out how I can be more present  going into schools and youth centres.

I hope an experience like that might stay with a young person: Im there, with them in this youth club, and tomorrow I might be walking the catwalk.

I want people to see me and say, Yeah, I could be doing that.

Ill do whats necessary for there to be good change but, I dont know, I still have this stance of being young and feeling like (politicians) arent doing anything for me.

But, ultimately, its about the next generation, so Ill do what I can to help.

The June issue of Elle UK is on sale from May 9 (Elle UK/Ekua King)

My money would go towards mindfulness and teaching kids how to understand their bodies, their feelings, understand emotional intelligence.

I think kids are just mad anxious. And I think social media plays a part in that so I would start with the mental wellbeing of young people.

I would love to see that taught in schools. Journaling. Meditation. Small practices like that can go a long way.

Little Simzs studio album, Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, scooped the 2022 Mercury Prize and that same year she was named Best New Artist at the Brit Awards.

The June issue of Elle UK is on sale from May 9.
The Belfast Telegraph Business Awards are taking place this evening (Image: by Kevin Scott)

Staff from Cleary Contracting Ltd attending the Belfast Telegraph Business Awards 2024 at the Crowne Plaza, Tuesday, May 2, 2024. Picture by Peter Morrison

Sasha Geoffrey and Alice Byrne attending the Belfast Telegraph Business Awards 2024 at the Crowne Plaza, Tuesday, May 2, 2024. Picture by Peter Morrison

Sarah Taylor, Eileen Taylor and Saima Akran attending the Belfast Telegraph Business Awards 2024 at the Crowne Plaza, Tuesday, May 2, 2024. Picture by Peter Morrison

Claire Loftus and Stephen Loftus attending the Belfast Telegraph Business Awards 2024 at the Crowne Plaza, Tuesday, May 2, 2024. Picture by Peter Morrison

Louise and Roger McLaughlin of Home Instead UK attending the Belfast Telegraph Business Awards 2024 at the Crowne Plaza, Tuesday, May 2, 2024. Picture by Peter Morrison

Eoin Brannigan, Editor in chief of Belfast Telegraph, Economy Minister Conor Murphy, Belfast Telegraph Business Editor Margaret Canning and Ed McCann, Director of Publishing Operations, Mediahuis Ireland. (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

Dame Rotha Johnston DBE receives the Lifetime Achievement Award presented by Ed McCann, Director of Publishing Operations at Mediahuis Ireland, and Mark Crimmins, Regional Managing Director, Corporate, Commercial and Business Banking at Ulster Bank, at the Belfast Telegraph Business Awards. (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph

Almac Group has been named Outstanding Business of the Year while Dame Rotha Johnston received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2024 Belfast Telegraph Business Awards in partnership with Ulster Bank.

Winners were announced across 19 categories at a glittering awards ceremony on Thursday in Belfasts Crowne Plaza Hotel. It was attended by around 500 people, including Economy Minister Conor Murphy.

The Minister said the optimism of the ceremony reflected the general mood of the business community here.

Eoin Brannigan, Editor in chief of Belfast Telegraph, Economy Minister Conor Murphy, Belfast Telegraph Business Editor Margaret Canning and Ed McCann, Director of Publishing Operations, Mediahuis Ireland. (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph)

"I congratulate all the winners, nominees and all businesses in attendance who are at the forefront of writing a new, more prosperous chapter for our economy, he added.

Mark Crimmins, head of Northern Ireland for title sponsor Ulster Bank, said: This years Business Awards in partnership with Ulster Bank were a fantastic showcase for the local business community and it was fantastic to see so many industries and business leaders represented on stage.

Congratulations to all the winners, who exemplify the talent and innovation companies here are so renowned for and rightly deserve to be celebrated for all they have achieved.

Its been wonderful to be associated with awards again this year and sincere thanks must go to the team at the Belfast Telegraph for delivering a great event and to all of the judges and other partners who made tonight a success.

Drug development company Almac Group, which is based in Craigavon and employs around 7,000 people worldwide, was praised by the judging panel, led by Belfast Chamber chief executive Clare Guinness.

They said: Almacs turnover has grown significantly year-on-year, but it stands out for its ethos, values and its commitment to Northern Ireland.

"It has also adopted science-based climate targets, including transitioning to renewable energy and zero waste to landfill and has a significant CSR programme, including generous donations to charity."

They said the company was to be commended for expanding in Northern Ireland, adding two new facilities in Craigavon and announcing a centre of excellence at Queens University.

Almac Group, a privately-owned business, is regarded by major global biopharma companies as a trusted expert in drug research and development and diagnostic services.

Dame Rotha Johnston DBE receives the Lifetime Achievement Award presented by Ed McCann, Director of Publishing Operations at Mediahuis Ireland, and Mark Crimmins, Regional Managing Director, Corporate, Commercial and Business Banking at Ulster Bank, at the Belfast Telegraph Business Awards. (Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph) Photo by Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph

Dame Rotha Johnston was celebrated for a distinguished career spanning textiles, economic development, foodservice, banking, property investment and film.

With her husband Henry, she developed the first all-Ireland foodservice business, selling to Musgrave Foodservices in 2006.

She was chair of Northern Ireland Screen from 2013 to 2021 and is the former chair of NIE Networks. During 2022 she was a member of the Independent Review Panel of Invest NI.

Belfast Telegraph Business Awards 2024

Eoin Brannigan, editor in chief of the Belfast Telegraph and Sunday Life, said: We are delighted to honours the stars and often unsung heroes of Northern Irelands economy by holding the Business Awards every year.

"The last two events went ahead when we had no Executive so I was particularly happy to see the Economy Minister in attendance.

"Thank you to Ulster Bank and all our sponsors for their support and well done to all the winners, especially Almac Group and Dame Rotha Johnston, who collected a Lifetime Achievement Award."

Ms Guinness said the awards were a chance to celebrate the vibrant business community.

"Chairing the awards and working with an expert panel of judges is of course a pleasure, but the true enjoyment is drawn from reading the quality applications from businesses of all types, across all sectors and from all parts of Northern Ireland, she said.

Winners across 19 categories in the 2024 Belfast Telegraph Business Awards in partnership with Ulster Bank:

Heres how the evening unfolded:
A police officer who admitted perverting the course of justice by presenting a forged letter contending he was insured to drive when his policy had lapsed has avoided prison.

Luke McCabe (32), whose address was given as Stormont Estate Management, home of the Northern Ireland Assembly, emailed a forged letter to police stating he was insured to drive a Jaguar XF when he was not.
Teaching union calls for action after startling figures revealed

The number of pupils suspended from schools has topped 5,000 for the 2022/23 academic year

The number of pupils suspended from school in Northern Ireland has topped 5,000 for the first time, with the rise in the number of serious assaults on teachers prompting a call for action from teaching unions.
Covid Inquiry: Top Stormont health official voiced concern that death figures were completely misleading

Director of public health, who is no longer in post, had earlier dismayed Health Minister Robin Swann, his special adviser and his top official, blunt exchanges reveal

Professor Hugo van Woerden

Sam McBride Thu 2 May 2024 at 18:00







One of Northern Irelands most senior medical figures accused the Department of Health (DoH) of completely misleading the public about Covid-19 deaths  but weeks prior to that he had himself been heavily criticised, it has emerged.
The cost of Irish reunification is overblown and its benefit underplayed, academics have suggested.

A report earlier this year by the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA) suggested a united Ireland would cost the Republic 20bn (17m) a year over two decades.

But two professors have said that the cost of Northern Ireland's subvention by the rest of Ireland would only be 1.3 billion per year  and could lead to a prosperous future if successful education and economic policies in the Republic were replicated in Northern Ireland.

The earlier report, authored by John FitzGerald of Trinity College Dublin and Prof Edgar Morgenroth of Dublin City University, said reunification would require an increase in taxation and a reduction in public expenditure.

But writing in the Irish Times, Prof John Doyle of Dublin City University and Prof Brendan O'Leary of the University of Pennsylvania said they have a more positive view of reunification  and said subvention in terms of what is calculated and what is spent should be scrutinised before any calculation is made.

Both are founding members of the ARINS project (Analyzing and Researching Ireland North and South), a joint initiative of the Royal Irish Academy and the University of Notre Dame.

They highlighted anxieties over public pensions, which adds greatly to the 20bn cost quoted in the IIEA report.

"The largest single element of the actual subvention is the cost of public pensions, perhaps 3.5bnper year. But Ireland has no liability for UK public pensions incurred before the appointed day on which reunification occurs. The UK does," they said.

"People who have worked part or all of their working life in the UK, but who live in the Republic, Spain, or the US, currently receive their UK public pensions, according to the number of years they worked and contributed.

"The most ardent anglophobe ... must acknowledge that the UK is paying its debts, including its pension debts, to the European Union. The fear of non-payment of pension obligations is a mistaken anxiety.

"Terminating payments of UK public pensions for former veterans, police, nurses, and teachers with full British citizenship rights would have devastating reputational disadvantages. It would be political folly," they said.

"The reasonable conclusion is that those receiving UK pensions would continue to do so the day after unification. And for those in work in Northern Ireland, on the appointed day, their future public pensions would be determined by their past UK contributions (for which they would get a future UK pension, if they have paid sufficient contributions) and their Irish contributions to an Irish pension going forward."

The IIEA report also highlighted Northern Ireland's share of the national debt. But the professors said this could be addressed.

"The UK, however, is legally responsible for the UKs debts, eg, to bondholders. Not Northern Ireland, and not a united Ireland.

"If the UK tries to insist in future negotiations that Northern Irelands share of its debts should be transferred, then Ireland can simply refuse. No provision in the Good Friday Agreement obliges Ireland to accept any UK debt in the event of unification," they said.

"If the Westminster government refused to pay public pensions to those in Northern Ireland, then it would stand to reason Northern Ireland would receive its share of UK assets  North Sea oil royalties and tax revenues, the capital value of all public properties, the assets of the royal family, public assets held outside these islands, and Northern Irelands share of all public art held in Great Britain."

A simple majority north and south will decide on Irish reunification and it won't be subject to debt discussions, the professors said.

The third largest item in subvention estimates is Northern Ireland's share of the UK's defence budget, which amounts to over 1bn per annum. But this is overwhelmingly incurred in Great Britain or UK bases outside these islands and would not amount to the same in Northern Ireland alone, they said.

"Collectively these adjustments, and other minor savings, would reduce the annual subvention of the North by the rest of Ireland on day one of a united Ireland to around 1.3 billion.

"The figure would rise to 4.8 billion if and only if the UK reneges on its pension responsibilities, which we have just suggested is unlikely."

Work should be under way to build a budget to account for some transitional costs of reunification, in which the Irish public is willing to invest, they said.

Unification would see demonstrably successful education and economic policies imposed across the island and it would stand to reason private sector wage levels and tax revenues in Northern Ireland would rise, while Belfast would become a high-performing second city, relieving M50 congestion.

However, the authors suggest health economics may matter more to voters than any question of debt or pensions.

"Doomsters should be free to dislike the prospect of a united Ireland, but, on current evidence, they are not right to suggest it is likely to lead to the mutual ruin of the North and South," they said.
Kamile Vaicikonyte and Jamie Moore who died on the A5

A priest who led the funerals of two people killed on the A5 has told how his heart sank after he learned of the latest tragedies on the road.

Fr Roland Colhoun, of Ardstraw East and Newtownstewart parish, said the deaths of Kamile Vaicikonyte and Jamie Moore had caused fresh sadness in the local community, which he described as having been engulfed in grief.

He added: My heart sank when I heard the news. Its just unimaginable.

The A5 is our areas connection to the rest of the country. Anyone who dies on it could be someone from this area. Thats whats really heartbreaking.

You hear about one of these deaths. The clip on the radio or news [will say something] like Travelling up from Dublin, and youll think, Its not going to be anyone I know. Its miles away.

But then you hear its this road and you realise it could be someone very close to you.

Julia McSorley

Fr Colhoun led the funerals of Julia McSorley (73) last year and 23-year-old Caoimhe OBrien in 2016.

Ms McSorley died alongside her niece and nephew, Dan (53) and Christine McKane (49), in an accident near Aughnacloy as they travelled home from a funeral in England. Ms OBrien, meanwhile, died following a collision between Londonderry and Strabane.

Fr Colhoun said: When I did the funeral of Ms McSorley, she was 75 years old, still full of life, still active, a great person. She didnt die comfortably in bed, like many people should. Instead, she was taken in this tragic way.

The term I used at both funerals was engulfed by grief. It couldnt have been more true, and now its true today.

We were [left] broken-hearted by both of the deaths. To die in a traffic accident is awful.

Fr Colhoun also said people were tired of dealing with the pain caused by A5 deaths.

The road is filled with people coming back from work  tradesmen coming back and forth, buses  but I know its those travelling in cars [who are dying], he added.

The community is tired. Its the only way of putting it. Very tired.

I know my colleagues are tired of performing funerals [for people] taken like this.

Im just back from a funeral of a 90-year-old woman who died peacefully. Thats the death we all want.
An ombudsmans investigation into the murder of Katie Simpson found that officers who probed her death committed misconduct, the Policing Board has been told.

Ms Simpson died in hospital in August 2020, six days after an incident at the house she shared with her sister and her sisters partner, Jonathan Creswell, who was subsequently charged with the rape and murder of the 21-year-old showjumper.

Creswell (36), who had claimed he found Ms Simpson hanging following a suicide attempt, was found dead at his home on the second day of his trial last week. He was on bail at the time.

Ms Simpsons death was initially treated as a suicide by police. It was not until March of 2021 that Creswell was arrested and charged with her murder.

In May 2021, the Police Ombudsmans office confirmed it had launched an investigation after receiving complaints about the PSNIs investigation into Ms Simpsons death.

Following a question asked by Alliance Party Policing Board member Nuala McAllister, PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher explained how the investigation into the showjumpers death unfolded.

On the morning of Monday, August 3, 2020, Katie was admitted to Altnagelvin Area Hospital by ambulance as a result of a suspected suicide attempt by hanging, after having been discovered by her sisters partner, Jonathan Creswell, he said.

Sadly, Katie did not regain consciousness and died as a result of her injuries on August 9, 2020. The incident was treated as a suspected suicide.

A number of departments and branches who responded, including detectives of various ranks, carried out initial enquiries, including during the weekend of August 14, when information was raised with us around a concern about the cause of Katies death.

Mr Boutcher said that, as Ms Simpson was admitted to hospital on August 3 and died on August 9, evidence that could have been discovered, had her body been examined by a pathologist sooner, may have eroded, making it harder for the pathologist to determine the exact cause of death.

And, of course, Katie never regained consciousness to say what had happened, he said.

But, in effect, due to people raising concerns about Creswell and his behaviour, between August and December [of 2020], there were a number that led to a reassessment of what had happened.

In January of 2021, Creswell was determined to be a suspect in the murder of Ms Simpson. In March, he was arrested and prosecuted.

There has been a [Police Ombudsmans] investigation and I have been in touch with the ombudsman this week in regards to that investigation, to ensure that any information we have about our response is properly examined so that we understand any lessons to be learned.

We have had a circa-1,400-page report from the ombudsman which has identified officers having committed misconduct  not gross misconduct or criminal [misconduct]  and that misconduct process is now underway through our professional standards department, under the stewardship of the Deputy Chief Constable.

These events will be further examined, I suspect, through an inquest [into Ms Simpsons death].

Mr Boutcher added: We now know, through his lifestyle, that there were additional vile offences which he committed.

In a further question, Ms McAllister said it is her understanding that, between the time Ms Simpson was admitted to hospital and the time she died, concerns were raised with response team officers who attended that scene, from where she was found by Creswell, that it wasnt a suicide attempt.

PSNI Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Davy Beck replied: For confirmation and clarity, I can confirm that, while Katie Simpson was being treated in hospital, a member of the public did contact police with concerns regarding the incident, suggesting that it may not have been a suicide attempt.

This was flagged with [Criminal Investigation Department] officers and, as a result of that, a forensic post-mortem examination was directed and a CID detective attended that post-mortem, which was conducted on August 11, to help and advise the pathologist.

The coroner still has to direct on an inquest, so it would not be appropriate to expand on the pathologists findings at this time. But on the basis of those findings, and on the basis of the evidence available at that time, it was accepted by police at the time that the incident was non-suspicious.

Clearly, other information in the weekend that followed, of August 14, that required further examination.

Speaking after the meeting, Ms McAlister told the Belfast Telegraph: There are a number of concerns around the investigation and why it was treated as suicide for quite some time. Those concerns have been vindicated now the Chief Constable has revealed publicly officers have committed misconduct in relation to it.

Lots of questions need answered about the police investigation and while due process needs to happen and statutory bodies have roles to play, that cannot come at the expense of accountability.

This is an issue I am not going to rest on  Katies family need answers but also there is a point for wider society and accountability of police officers, no matter their rank. If our police service is to serve all the people fairly, it needs to give them confidence it is investigating incidents correctly from the moment they take place.

On the first day of Creswells trial last week, the prosecution said he had previous illicit sexual relations with Ms Simpson and had murdered her after discovering she had started a relationship with someone else.

The prosecution alleged Creswell tried to cover up Ms Simpsons death in a calculated and deceitful manner by claiming the young showjumper died as a result of suicide.
Northern Ireland has officially recorded its warmest day of 2024 as a Co Tyrone town proved to be the hotspot once again.

The Met Office had said Thursday would come close to breaking a high of 19.3C that was recorded in Castlederg, Co Tyrone, on April 21.

Marco Petagna BSc MSc, Senior Operational Meteorologist and Media Advisor at the Met Office said: (Thursday) is going to be a close call for the warmest day of the year because were certainly looking at 19C across some western parts of Northern Ireland.

The east coast will be cooler because its a bit of an easterly breeze, so Belfast and spots towards the east are likely to be cooler, but again, somewhere like Castlederg towards the west could do quite well.

Were certainly looking at 19C with a small chance we could get towards 20C.

There is a chance tomorrow could be the warmest day of the year for Northern Ireland but not high confidence at the moment.

Castlederg is the hotspot once again recording a temperature of 20C.

The Met Office said: It's been the warmest day of the year so far in all four home nations. England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland all recorded a temperature above 20C.

But where it stayed cloudy or with a wind off the sea, temperatures were significantly lower than this.

There is expected to be a fine end to the day with some sunshine, then clear spells overnight.

Low cloud could form around some Irish Sea coasts later in the night, or a few fog patches in prone spots with a minimum temperature of 9C.

On Friday it will be rather cloudy with the best of any brightness in the west. It will be dry for much of the morning, but patchy rain or showers possible later, with light winds and a maximum temperature of 16C.

Low cloud and drizzle is possible on Saturday.

While it will be generally brighter with some warm sunshine around on Sunday and Monday, but rather cloudy at times with showers or longer spells of rain.
Senior nurse Catalina Puiu was a home manager at Cherryvalley nursing home in east Belfast when she supplied an online reference for her husband to an agency. (stock image)

A former nursing home manager who provided a false reference for her husband is to be allowed to practise as a nurse again in the UK after a 12-month suspension is complete.

Catalina Puiu, now a director of nursing at a Co Dublin residential home, said she lives with the shame and regret of her actions while she was a manager at Cherryvalley nursing home in east Belfast.
An Alliance Party councillor for the Ormiston area of East Belfast has announced his resignation citing the end of hybrid meetings as an obstacle to parenting responsibilities.

Councillor Ross McMullan said it has been an honour to serve the area for the past five years and not something he has taken for granted.
The Tanaiste has dismissed the Daily Telegraph as "the right-wing Tory press" after it claimed on its front page this morning that gardai were being sent to the border to tackle immigration.
A teenager has been charged with three counts of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm after three people were injured at a secondary school in Sheffield, South Yorkshire Police said.

The 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was arrested on Wednesday morning following reports of an incident involving a sharp object at Birley Academy.

Two women in their 20s and a child suffered minor injuries that did not require hospital treatment.

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The 17-year-old, who has also been charged with possession of a blade or sharply pointed article on a school premises, has been remanded in custody.

He is due to appear before Sheffield Magistrates Court on Friday.

On Wednesday police said the sharp object was believed to be a piece of broken glass.

Officers said all three victims were checked over by paramedics at the scene and the child had no visible injuries.

The school was placed into lockdown during the incident, with many parents rushing to the gates to try to collect their children.

Speaking on Wednesday, school head Victoria Hall told reporters: I just wanted to thank all of our students and staff who helped manage the situation this morning, and our staff who prioritised the safety and wellbeing of all of our students.

Mrs Hall also praised the students exemplary behaviour.

South Yorkshire Police also praised the school staff for their actions following the frightening ordeal, saying they helped keep the school community safe.

It comes just a week after two teachers and a pupil were stabbed at Amman Valley School in Carmarthenshire, south-west Wales.
By Nazrin Abdul, AZERNEWS

In recent years, the economic ties between Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia have flourished, extending beyond the realm of traditional oil and gas industries. The collaboration between the two nations has expanded into renewable energy, marking a significant milestone in their bilateral relations.

One of the focal points uniting Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia is their joint commitment to addressing global climate challenges. This commitment takes center stage with Azerbaijan hosting the upcoming COP29 event, underscoring the mutual interest in renewable energy production and the development of sustainable energy sectors.

A key player in this collaboration is "ACWA Power," a leading Saudi Arabian company specializing in renewable energy. Currently, ACWA Power is undertaking a groundbreaking project in Azerbaijan, constructing a 240 MW wind power plant. This initiative stems from a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2022 between Azerbaijan's Ministry of Energy and ACWA Power, focusing on offshore wind energy cooperation.

Highlighting the significance of this partnership, a ceremony was held on January 13, 2022, attended by the President of Azerbaijan, Mr. Ilham Aliyev, and Saudi Arabia's Minister of Energy, Prince Abdul Aziz bin Salman Al-Saud, to mark the commencement of the "Khizi-Absheron" Wind Power Plant project. Once operational in 2025, this plant will be Azerbaijan's largest renewable energy facility, capable of producing one billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, thereby reducing carbon emissions and preserving natural resources.

The collaborative efforts extend beyond energy production. In April 2024, Azerbaijan's Minister of Economy, Mikayil Jabbarov, engaged in discussions with Amin Nasser, President, and CEO of "Saudi Aramco," Saudi Arabia's national oil company. The talks explored investment opportunities in Azerbaijan's energy sector and potential joint ventures.

Moreover, agreements on green fertilizers and renewable energy projects were signed between Azerbaijan's State Oil Company (SOCAR) and ACWA Power, further solidifying the commitment to sustainable development. As part of the Southern Gas Corridor Consultative Council, SOCAR and ACWA Power penned an agreement in 2023 to collaborate on wind, solar, and green hydrogen projects in Azerbaijan.

SOCAR has set ambitious targets, aiming to increase the share of renewable energy sources in electricity generation capacity to 30 percent by 2030, with a concurrent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2050. These goals align with the broader agenda of promoting sustainable economic development and reducing environmental impact.

Looking ahead, the collaboration between Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia holds promise for future endeavors, including wind power and seawater desalination projects. The exploration of alternative energy sources and potential green energy initiatives signifies a long-term commitment to environmental stewardship and economic prosperity.

In continuation of fostering economic ties, representatives from Azerbaijan's Export and Investment Promotion Agency (AZPROMO) embarked on a business trip to Saudi Arabia in April 2024. Meetings were held with various institutions in Riyadh, culminating in discussions with the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Development (ICCD) to explore avenues for joint ventures and partnerships.

As Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia deepen their economic cooperation, the pursuit of renewable energy projects emerges as a cornerstone of their shared vision for a sustainable future.

During the gathering of the Azerbaijan-Saudi Arabia Joint Business Council, discussions revolved around the export capabilities of both nations and business as well as investment prospects within recently liberated Azerbaijani territories.

The 4th meeting was held in Riyadh under the organization of the Small and Medium Business Development Agency (KOB?A) of Azerbaijan and the Federation of Saudi Chambers. Topics covered included discussions on bilateral export potential, investment opportunities in recently liberated Azerbaijani regions, avenues for enhancing cooperation between business communities in trade and investment, joint initiatives and projects, bolstering the role of the Azerbaijan-Saudi Arabia Joint Business Council in these domains, and amplifying the contribution of SMEs to investment promotion.

The Azerbaijan-Saudi Arabia Joint Business Council was established in December 2022 under the Agreement signed between SMBDA and the Federation of Chambers of Saudi Arabia. The Azerbaijan-Saudi Arabia Joint Business Council, which will be represented by businesspersons from both countries, will support entrepreneurs' initiatives, help to establish direct ties between them, organize mutual visits, meetings and various events, and exchange information between businessmen.

A Deepening Alliance Beyond Energy

The longstanding cooperation between Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia extends far beyond the realms of energy, encompassing economic, investment, and cultural ties. Central to this collaboration is their joint participation in the OPEC+ format, where both nations have played pivotal roles in stabilizing the global oil market.

Since the inception of the OPEC+ format, Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan have worked closely together to reconcile supply and demand in the world oil market, fostering stability through years of concerted efforts.

Moreover, Azerbaijan has emerged as an attractive destination for Saudi Arabian investment, thanks to its conducive business environment and robust legal framework that ensures the protection of foreign investments. The country's recent energy sector reforms and overall development trajectory, coupled with its stability and security, further bolster its appeal to investors.

Beyond economic cooperation, Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia share vibrant ties in tourism, underpinned by their cultural and religious affinities. Azerbaijan's favorable climate, scenic landscapes, and cultural richness attract a growing number of tourists from Saudi Arabia each year. Notably, in the first two months of 2024, Saudi Arabian citizens accounted for 3.4 percent of the total tourists visiting Azerbaijan, reflecting the strengthening tourism links between the two nations.

The historic visit of National Leader Heydar Aliyev to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in July 1994 marked a turning point in the comprehensive development of bilateral relations. Since then, the ties between Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia have continued to deepen, with Azerbaijan prioritizing bilateral and multilateral relations with Arab countries, rooted in shared religious and cultural heritage.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia holds a special place in Azerbaijan's diplomatic engagements, given its prominence in the Islamic and Arab worlds. The enduring bond between Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia underscores a commitment to mutual prosperity and solidarity within the broader Muslim community and beyond. As these relations evolve, both nations look forward to further enhancing cooperation across various sectors for the benefit of their citizens and the wider region.
Holyroods longest-serving deputy first minister has announced he will stand for the top job in Scottish politics as the SNP seeks its second new leader in the space of 13 months.

Several high-profile figures in the party have already backed John Swinney as the best candidate for the post in the wake of Humza Yousafs abrupt resignation as First Minister.

The experienced politician would be seen as being able to provide calm leadership at what is a time of political turmoil for Scotlands governing party.

But it would not be the first foray into the leadership for the former Tayside North MP.

Mr Swinney celebrates after being elected SNP leader in 2000 (PA)

In September 2000, he took over as leader following the first departure of Alex Salmond, having served as his deputy for two years previously.

His tenure was not a happy one.

Under his leadership, the SNPs fortunes slid, returning just five MPs at the 2001 Westminster election and 22 MSPs in the 2003 Holyrood vote.

After seeing off an attempt to oust him by a party activist, Mr Swinney stepped down voluntarily after a poor showing at the 2004 European election.

John Swinney as finance secretary with then first minister Alex Salmond in 2010 (PA)

But that was not the end of his political story as he was brought back by Mr Salmond to serve as finance secretary when the SNP took power in 2007.

He served in the role for the entirety of Mr Salmonds tenure, before being appointed deputy first minister by Nicola Sturgeon when she took over.

Over the following nine years, the Perthshire North MSP occupied several ministerial offices in the Scottish Government, including as education secretary, Covid-19 recovery secretary and again in finance  taking over that brief from Kate Forbes while she was on maternity leave.

Nicola Sturgeon and John Swinney embrace after her final session of First Ministers Questions in 2023 (Jane Barlow/PA)

During his time as Ms Sturgeons deputy, he cemented his reputation as a dogged defender of his boss, as well as an SNP stalwart.

But it was not without its challenges, as he faced two close no confidence votes in Holyrood  first over the handling of school exams during the pandemic, and his initial refusal to publish legal advice during the inquiry into the botched handling of harassment complaints against Mr Salmond.

The election of Humza Yousaf as first minister saw Mr Swinney call time on his career in the Scottish Cabinet  but he is now gearing up to take the helm.
The first results of the local elections are due in the early hours of Friday May 3 (Peter Byrne/PA)

The results of Thursdays elections are being declared over several days, starting shortly after polls close and ending on Sunday May 5.

Here is a summary of all the key contests and times.

 Thursday May 2, 10pm

Polls close across England and Wales in elections for 107 local authorities, 37 police & crime commissioners, 11 mayors, the London Assembly and the Blackpool South parliamentary by-election.

 Overnight May 2 into May 3

Around a third of councils are due to declare overnight, including Bolton and Hartlepool, where Labour is hoping to win overall control, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock  key tests of Conservative and Labour popularity in Essex  and Redditch in Worcestershire, where the Tories could lose their majority if the partys vote collapses.

The result of the Blackpool South by-election is likely to be declared halfway through the night, with Labour tipped to gain this marginal seat from the Conservatives, in what would be the Tories 11th such defeat so far this parliament.

Three police & crime commissioner (PCC) results are also due, for Avon & Somerset, Cumbria and Lincolnshire, all of which were won comfortably by the Tories at the last PCC elections in 2021, so it would be a shock if any changed hands.

 Friday May 3, morning

Counting begins for almost all the remaining councils in England, along with most PCCs and four of the mayoral elections: East Midlands, North East, Tees Valley and York & North Yorkshire.

(PA Graphics)

 Friday May 3, afternoon

Key council results include Dudley, where Labour could become the largest party if the Conservatives are doing badly; Solihull and Walsall, where the Tories could lose overall control; Sheffield, which is likely to see a three-way tussle between Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens over who ends up the largest party; Cannock Chase, where the Tories and Labour are currently tied; and Brentwood and Wokingham, where the Lib Dems are hoping to win an overall majority.

Of the four mayoral results due this afternoon, most eyes will be on Tees Valley, where Conservative incumbent Ben Houchen is hoping for a third term and whose re-election would give a boost to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in what could otherwise be a grim set of polls.

Some 24 PCC results are due, with Plaid Cymru keen to hold on to its one post in Dyfed-Powys and Labour looking to make gains from the Tories in areas such as Cleveland, Humberside and Lancashire.

 Friday May 3, evening

A few council results will arrive late on Friday, including Dorset, Elmbridge in Surrey and Gloucester: all places where the Liberal Democrats are hoping for big wins in blue wall territories.

Bristol is also due to declare, where the Greens are already the largest party but could take full control.

(PA Graphics)

 Saturday May 4, morning

Counting begins for some of the most high-profile contests of these elections: the mayoral contests in Greater Manchester, London and the West Midlands, along with counts for the mayors of the Liverpool City Region, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and Salford, plus eight more PCCs, three councils and the London Assembly.

 Saturday May 4, afternoon

By early afternoon the outcome of the London mayoral election should start to become clear, with each of the 14 constituencies across the capital due to report their results and show whether Labours Sadiq Khan has won a third term in office.

A strong Labour performance in the capital could see the party gain the London Assembly seat of West Central, where the Conservatives are defending a majority of just over 2,000.

The Tories will be hoping Andy Street holds on as mayor of the West Midlands and helps offset losses elsewhere, including in the PCC elections where Labour could take back Cheshire.

 Sunday May 5, afternoon

Salford is the 107th and final council due to declare, along with the PCCs for Kent and Sussex plus any late results from the previous days.
Daniel Anjorin was killed as he was walking to school on Tuesday (Metropolitan Police/PA)

An accused samurai sword attacker ran up behind a 14-year-old boy before slashing him in the neck and chest, a court has heard.

Marcus Arduini Monzo, a dual Spanish-Brazilian national living in Newham, east London, is accused of murdering teenager Daniel Anjorin as he was walking to school on Tuesday, and injuring four other people.

The 36-year-old appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court on Thursday, wearing a grey sweatshirt and grey tracksuit bottoms, and holding his left arm across his chest.

He spoke slowly with long pauses to confirm his name in the dock at Westminster Magistrates Court.

It is alleged that Monzo crashed a van into a fence in Laing Close just before 7am on Tuesday, hitting a member of the public, Donato Iwule.

The court was told that he then got out of the van, said that he would kill the man and slashed him to the neck.

Prosecutor David Burns told the court that 15 minutes later it is alleged Monzo broke into a nearby home where a couple were asleep with their four-year-old daughter.

He went into the bedroom and attacked the childs father, Henry De Los Rios Polania, shouting about believing in God and causing injuries to his neck and arm, it is alleged.

Court artist sketch of Marcus Aurelio Arduini Monzo appearing at Westminster Magistrates Court (Elizabeth Cook/PA)

Monzo is accused of then running up behind Daniel and slashing his neck, before stabbing him in the chest as he lay on the ground.

Police officers arrived and tried to help the teenager, when it is alleged that Monzo appeared from a bush and they chased him.

The court was told that he jumped out at Pc Yasmin Margaret Mechem-Whitfield and attacked her with the sword while she was on the ground.

He is also accused of injuring a second officer, Inspector Moloy Elec Campbell.

Monzo has been charged with attempting to murder Mr Iwule and PC Mechem-Whitfield, and causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Mr De Los Rios Polania and Inspector Campbell.

He has also been charged with aggravated burglary and possession of a bladed article.

Floral tributes laid in Laing Close, Hainault (Yui Mok/PA)

The sister of Mr De Los Rios Polania has described her brother as a hero for protecting his family.

Jessica De Los Rios, 31, said her brother had been left traumatised by the event but described his actions as heroic.

Hes very devastated to believe something like this could happen, she told the PA news agency, adding: To us, hes our hero. He protected them, my niece and my sister-in-law.

They were just literally sleeping, opened their eyes to see a man with a big machete sword.

He felt helpless in the moment but to us he is our hero. It could have been extremely worse.

Ms De Los Rios said her brother was recovering in hospital after sustaining a deep wound to his hand.

In the days following, floral tributes, hand-written notes and teddies have been left at the bottom of Laing Close in Hainault, as well as a painting of Daniel.

Staff and pupils at Bancrofts, an independent school, said they have been left in profound shock and sorrow at his death.

The school was also hit by tragedy last summer after former pupil Grace OMalley-Kumar was stabbed to death in Nottingham as she tried to save her friend Barnaby Webber from a knife attacker.

A neighbour who witnessed the sword attack on Daniel has told how she tried to warn the teenager but he could not hear her because he was wearing headphones.

Aiste Dabasinskaite, Daniels next-door neighbour, said the attacker had initially confronted her on Tuesday morning before attacking the teenager.

She said she and others had tried to shout warnings to Daniel.

She told PA: The man approached me first and I managed to run away when he drew the sword.

We were shouting and waving towards Daniel as he came out.

He had his headphones in so he wouldnt hear us. It just happened right before our eyes, it was horrible.
MPs have heard calls for a public inquiry into the Kingsmill Massacre, an attack described by DUP MP Jim Shannon the pinnacle of evil intention (Niall Carson/PA)

MPs have heard calls for a public inquiry into the Kingsmill Massacre, an attack described by DUP MP Jim Shannon the pinnacle of evil intention.

In an adjournment debate on the inquest findings into the killing of 10 Protestant workmen at Kingsmill in Co Armagh in 1976, Mr Shannon called for a day of reckoning.

The atrocity, which was one of the most notorious of the Troubles, saw the 10 workmen killed when their minibus was ambushed by a gang of at least 12 men posing as British soldiers outside the village of Kingsmill on their way home from a textiles factory.

The Kingsmill massacre saw 10 workmen killed when their minibus was ambushed by a gang of 12 men posing as British soldiers in 1976 (Claudia Savage/PA)

In the inquest findings published last week, a coroner ruled the murders were an overtly sectarian attack by the IRA.

The Kingsmill shootings were seen as a retaliatory action in response to loyalist attacks against two Catholic families the day before in which six men were fatally injured.

Mr Shannon told the Commons: The Kingsmill massacre families deserve more and I very, very humbly ask for that inquiry, that justice, that public inquiry, those questions to be answered for them.

The Governments Legacy Bill came into effect this week, meaning all new civil litigation and inquests into Troubles-related deaths which have not completed oral evidence were stopped.

Earlier in the debate Mr Shannon said that the continuation of some police ombudsman cases, despite the Legacy Bill halting other investigations, was an anomaly.

He said: We in this party, and I believe all parties on this side of the chamber, opposed that Legacy Bill in its entirety and yet, not excluding the state bodies. My view was that Government was seeking to cease these cases and not see the furtherance of any police ombudsman cases.

Mr Shannon said the families of the victims of the massacre deserve justice (Jessica Taylor/PA)

And Im afraid that question really has to be answered because there is an anomaly, there is a disparity for those who lost loved ones at Kingsmill and elsewhere, have to have their questions answered.

Describing the details of the Kingsmill massacre to the Commons, Mr Shannon became emotional saying, its clear that those 10 men were murdered because they were Protestants.

He said the coroner in the inquest should have named three now-deceased individuals believed to have been involved in perpetrating the attack.

He told MPs: The coroner failed to name the three known IRA terrorists, individuals who are now deceased themselves and who carried out the killings.

The corner should have done that; it was common knowledge, but for the purposes of the coroners report, they should have been named.

The MP for Strangford also stated that the Irish police, An Garda Siochana, were not cooperative with investigations into the massacre.

He said: The excuse within the findings that the Garda were not asked for information that they held at the time is completely, my goodness me, is untenable and further makes a mockery of the current legal proceedings against the Government Legacy legislation, when this clear evidence of their unwillingness then and now to help with investigations is so blatant.

Northern Ireland minister Steve Baker said the Kingsmill murders are an appalling example of the pain and suffering inflicted on civilians during the troubles.

He told the Commons: I have not suffered the losses as (Mr Shannon) has suffered the losses, and I think its with great humility therefore that any of us who had any reason to consider the Troubles and what they meant, I think we all with great humility have to acknowledge the suffering of those who lost those they loved.

And indeed we have to acknowledge the contribution of those who served to defend us from great evils.

Mr Baker urged the Irish government to co-operate with the independent commission, he said: The relationship between the UK and Ireland is fundamental, it is fundamental, I think for too long we failed to look West, we shouldve done.

As its often said, one of the problems we face is that the Irish never forget their history and the English never remember, well I think we need to make the effort to remember, and I think we need to make the effort to go forward as friends in the spirit of co-operation.

He added: Where questions remain, I urge the families to make use of the powers of the new commission, in seeking answers to those questions.
A 36-year-old man has appeared in court charged with murder after a 14-year-old boy was killed in a samurai sword attack in east London.

Marcus Arduini Monzo, a dual Spanish-Brazilian national living in Newham, also east London, is also accused of two counts of attempted murder, two of grievous bodily harm, aggravated burglary and possession of a bladed article.

Wearing a grey sweatshirt and grey tracksuit bottoms, and holding his left arm across his chest, he spoke slowly to confirm his name in the dock at Westminster Magistrates Court.

Chief Magistrate Paul Goldpsring remanded him in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on Tuesday if a hearing is not available on Friday.

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It is alleged that Monzo crashed a van into a fence in Laing Close just before 7am on Tuesday, hitting a member of the public.

The court was told that he then got out of the van, said that he would kill the man and slashed him to the neck.

Prosecutor David Burns told the court that 15 minutes later it is alleged Monzo broke into a nearby home where a couple were asleep with their four-year-old daughter.

He went into the bedroom and attacked the childs father, shouting about believing in God and causing injuries to his neck and arm, it is alleged.

Monzo is accused of then running up behind Daniel Anjorin, 14, who was walking to school, and slashing his neck, before stabbing him in the chest as he lay on the ground.

Daniel Anjorin, the 14-year-old boy who died in Hainault, east London on Tuesday. (Metropolitan Police/PA)

Police officers arrived and tried to help the teenager, when it is alleged that Monzo appeared from a bush and they chased him.

The court was told that he jumped out at a female officer and attacked her with the sword while she was on the ground.

He is also accused of injuring a second officer.
Pro-life demonstrators in the front of the Arizona Capitol prior to the vote (Ross D Franklin/AP)

The Arizona legislature approved a repeal of a long-dormant ban on nearly all abortions on Wednesday, advancing the Bill to Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs, who is expected to sign it.

Two Republicans joined Democrats in the Senate on the 16-14 vote in favour of repealing a Civil War-era ban on abortions that the states highest court recently allowed to take effect. The repeal Bill narrowly cleared the Arizona House last week.

Ms Hobbs said in a statement that she looks forward to quickly signing the repeal into law.

The devastating consequences of this archaic ban are why Ive called for it to be repealed since day one of my administration, she said.

Arizona women should not have to live in a state where politicians make decisions that should be between a woman and her doctor, Ms Hobbs continued.

While this repeal is essential for protecting womens lives, it is just the beginning of our fight to protect reproductive healthcare in Arizona.

The revival of the 19th century law had put Republicans on the defensive in a battleground state for the presidential election.

Across the country, women are living in a state of chaos and cruelty caused by Donald Trump, Vice President Kamala Harris said in a statement on Wednesday.

What is happening in Arizona is just the latest example, she continued. While Arizona Democrats have worked to clean up the devastating mess created by Trump and his extremist allies, the states existing ban, with no exception for rape or incest, remains in effect.

If the repeal Bill is signed, a 2022 statute banning the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy would become Arizonas prevailing abortion law. Still, there would likely be a period when nearly all abortions would be outlawed, because the repeal will not take effect until 90 days after the end of the legislative session, likely in June or July.

Arizona state Attorney General Kris Mayes called the vote a win for freedom in our state, but expressed concern that without an emergency clause, Arizonans would still be subject to the near total-abortion ban for some time.

Rest assured, my office is exploring every option available to prevent this outrageous 160-year-old law from ever taking effect, she said.

The near-total ban on abortions, which predates Arizonas statehood, permits abortions only to save the patients life  and provides no exceptions for survivors of rape or incest. In a ruling last month, the Arizona Supreme Court suggested doctors could be prosecuted under the 1864 law, which says that anyone who assists in an abortion can be sentenced to two to five years in prison.

Voting on the bill stretched more than an hour, amid impassioned speeches about the motivations behand individual votes.

This is about the Civil War-era ban that criminalises doctors and makes virtually all abortions illegal, the ban that the people of Arizona overwhelmingly dont want, said Democratic state Senator Eva Burch. Were here to repeal a bad law. I dont want us honouring laws about women written during a time when women were forbidden from voting because their voices were considered inferior to men.

There were numerous disruptions from people in Senate gallery, as Republican state Senator Shawnna Bolick explained her vote in favour of repeal, joining with Democrats.

GOP state Senator Jake Hoffman denounced Republican colleagues for joining with Democratic colleagues, calling it an affront to his partys principles.

It is disgusting that this is the state of the Republican Party today, Mr Hoffman said.

Advocates on both sides of the abortion issue arrived outside the Arizona Senate on Wednesday to emphasise their views. They included people affiliated with Planned Parenthood and faith-based groups opposed to abortion.

A school-age girl kneeled in prayer in front of a table holding a large statue of the Virgin Mary, while a man with a megaphone shouted at passersby to repent.

The law had been blocked since the US Supreme Courts 1973 Roe v Wade decision guaranteed the constitutional right to an abortion nationwide.

Planned Parenthood officials vowed to continue providing abortions for the short time they are still legal and said they will reinforce networks that help patients travel out of state to places such as New Mexico and California to access abortion.

Advocates are collecting signatures for a ballot measure allowing abortions until a foetus could survive outside the womb, typically around 24 weeks, with exceptions  to save the parents life, or to protect her physical or mental health.

Republican politicians, in turn, are considering putting one or more competing abortion proposals on the November ballot.

A leaked planning document outlined the approaches being considered by House Republicans, such as codifying existing abortion regulations, proposing a 14-week ban that would be disguised as a 15-week law because it would allow abortions until the beginning of the 15th week, and a measure that would prohibit abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, before many people know they are pregnant.

House Republicans have not yet publicly released any such proposed ballot measures.
Bereaved family members of the victims of the Halloween crush in 2022 react at the National Assembly in Seoul (AP)

South Koreas parliament has approved legislation mandating a new, independent investigation into the 2022 Halloween crush in Seoul that killed 159 people.

The single-chamber National Assembly passed the bill by a 256-0 vote.

It will become law after it is signed by President Yoon Suk Yeol and promulgated by his government agency  steps that are considered formalities because the leader and his ruling party already agreed on the legislation.

The bill is meant to delve into the root cause of the crush, details about how authorities handled the disaster and who should be blamed for it.

It also envisages the creation of a fact-finding committee with nine members that would independently examine the disaster for up to 15 months.

Once the committee determines who is responsible and who should face charges, it would report them to the governments investigation agencies. The agencies would then conclude investigations of the suspects within three months, according to the bill.

The crush, one of the biggest peacetime disasters in South Korea, caused a nationwide outpouring of grief. The victims, who were mostly in their 20s and 30s, had gathered in Seouls popular nightlife district of Itaewon for Halloween celebrations.

More than 150 people died in the disaster (AP)

In the aftermath of the tragedy, there was also anger that the government had again ignored safety and regulatory issues despite the lessons learned since the 2014 sinking of the ferry Sewol, which killed 304 people  mostly teenagers on a school trip.

In early 2023, a police special investigation concluded that police and municipal officials failed to formulate effective crowd control steps, despite correctly anticipating a huge number of people in Itaewon.

At the time, investigators said police had also ignored hotline calls by pedestrians who warned of swelling crowds before the surge turned deadly.

More than 20 police and other officials have been on trial over the disaster but few top-level officials have been charged or held accountable, prompting bereaved families and opposition leaders to call for an independent probe.

President Yoon had previously opposed a new investigation of the disaster.

However, during a meeting with liberal opposition leader Lee Jae-myung on Monday, Mr Yoon said he would not oppose it, should some existing disputes be resolved, such as whether the fact-finding committee can request arrest warrants.

The shift in Mr Yoons position came as he faces growing public calls to cooperate with Lees Democratic Party, which scored a massive win in the April 10 parliamentary election, extending its control of parliament for another four years.
Including parliamentary seats from his coalition and of two parties that committed support, he would command a 71% majority.

Indonesias Defense Minister and President-elect Prabowo Subianto (left) and Vice President-elect Gibran Rakabuming Raka speak to the media after a meeting of the General Elections Commission (KPU) announcing the 2024 presidential election at its office in Jakarta, April 24, 2024.

As rival parties align with President-elect Prabowo Subianto, it appears Indonesia will have a stable government when he takes office in October, but analysts warn that the lack of a viable parliamentary opposition may harm this young democracy.

Two major parties, the National Awakening Party (PKB) and NasDem Party, backed Prabowos rivals in the Feb. 14 election, but both have now endorsed him. If they join his coalition, the president-elect will command a 71% majority in the House of Representatives (DPR).

Idil Akbar, a political analyst at Padjadjaran University in Bandung, believes there can be no democracy without an effective opposition.

Without political parties that can genuinely provide a counterpoint to the Prabowo administration, democracys essential equilibrium is at risk, he told BenarNews.

Its challenging to remain optimistic about the future when all political parties are in support of the government.

As it is, human rights groups say Indonesian democracy slid back during the two terms of outgoing President Joko Jokowi Widodo, when a majority of lawmakers in the House supported him. Activists cite a decline in free speech, rampant restrictions on civil liberties, and police surveillance.

During Jokowis administration, the lack of a strong opposition allowed for the passage of controversial bills such as the criminal code, the job creation law and the KPK law.

Indonesias President-elect Prabowo Subianto (left) and Surya Paloh, chairman of the NasDem Party, which has expressed support for his leadership, gesture after a meeting at Prabowos home in Jakarta. April 25, 2024. [Donal Husni/AFP]

Meanwhile, if two more parties, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the United Development Party (PPP), also join Prabowo as they have indicated, he could have an even larger majority in the legislature.

Like NasDem and PKB, which backed opposition candidate Anies Baswedan for president in the election but are now supporting Prabowos keadership, the Muslim-oriented PKS and PPP also endorsed Anies and third-place candidate Ganjar Pranowo, respectively.

This would leave the current ruling party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), as the only opposition  that is, if it decides it wont join the Prabowo bandwagon.

PDI-P won the most seats in the Feb. 14 legislative election, and controls 16.7% of the DPR. It has hinted it wants to play the role of opposition.

The party no longer has the support of now-former member Jokowi who tacitly backed Prabowos presidential ticket, instead of PDI-P candidate Ganjar.

Jokowis move was seen as an attempt to maintain political influence and ensure his policies continue after he steps down in October due to term limits. That his eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, was chosen by Prabowo as his vice presidential nominee made Jokowis intentions even more clear.

Cyril Raoul Hakim, a spokesperson for the party, said it would follow due process before officially announcing whether it would stay in the opposition or join Prabowos coalition. But the PDI-P leadership does know what the party rank-and-file want to do.

The prevailing sentiment among our base  from local branches to the national leadership is to remain outside the government. Nonetheless, we must follow due process before announcing an official position, he told BenarNews.

Even if the PDI-P were to remain in the opposition, analysts worry it wont be very effective because Prabowo would have a big majority in the House of Representatives with just the potential support of NasDem and PKB.

Megawati Sukarnoputri (center), leader of the Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) talks with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, as Ganjar Pranowo, a presidential candidate in the 2024 election, stands next to them, during the partys national meeting in Jakarta, Sept. 29, 2023. [Willy Kurniawan/Reuters]

PKB chair Muhaimin Iskandar, who voiced his partys commitment to collaborate with the Prabowo administration, has a complicated history with the president-elect.

Before he ran for vice president with Prabowo rival Anies in the election, he and his party had allied with Prabowos Gerindra party. The move to back Gerindra was to promote a possible Prabowo-Muhaimin pairing, but when that did not work out he decided to back Anies.

Still, Muhaimin said, there is a history of fruitful cooperation between PKB and Gerindra across both legislative and executive branches, and we are keen to strengthen this alliance.

The partnership aims to address the developmental challenges that lie ahead for the nation, he said.

NasDem chairman Surya Paloh conveyed the partys endorsement after a visit to Prabowos home late last month.

Our optimism about Indonesias future is the driving force behind our full support for President Prabowo and Vice-President Gibran, he said.

Signaling a realignment of political forces, PKS, which previously backed Prabowo in the 2014 and 2019 presidential contests, has hinted at pivoting from its opposition role, which it has been in for 10 years.

Aboe Bakar Alhabsyi, PKSs secretary general, recently relayed the partys intention to play an active role in the nations trajectory.

We aim to contribute constructively to the nations future, optimizing the potential of our party members who are ready to serve with positivity and professionalism, he said at a party gathering.

Sandiaga Uno, a member of PPP and one of Indonesias richest men, has said the party should extend its support to Prabowo.

Democracy is rife with paradoxes

Majority support could lead to the emergence of what political analyst Wasisto Raharjo Jati calls a political cartel that would shut out alternative voices in the House.

Additionally, Prabowo runs the risk of leading a bloated government, because the parties that supported him would likely want at least one of their lawmakers in a ministerial position, Wasisto told BenarNews.

A large coalition guarantees stability in the executive and legislative branches, facilitating smooth policy formulation and budget approval, he said.

Yet, as the coalition expands, so too does the size of the government. This expansion could potentially lead to a more cumbersome governmental process due to the increased complexity of the decision-making chains, Wasisto said.

On Prabowos part, he has invited all national elements to participate, in an inclusive approach that mirrors Jokowis strategy, said Kacung Marijan, an analyst from Airlangga University in Surabaya.

Prabowo himself ran for president against Jokowi twice  2014 and 2019  and lost both times. But after his win in 2019, Jokowi invited Prabowo to be in his cabinet as defense minister. Prabowo accepted.

Democracy is rife with paradoxes, balancing between conflict and consensus, Kacung told BenarNews.

Without conflict, consensus alone cannot sustain checks and balances, nor can it foster the presence of dissenting voices essential for democratic discourse.
A man drinks water after being caned in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, by a member of the Sharia police as punishment for consuming alcohol, Aug. 2, 2023.

An Indonesian official on Thursday dismissed as excessive an American government commissions recommendation that the Biden administration put the Southeast Asian nation on a special watchlist for allegedly engaging in or overlooking severe violations of religious freedom.

Rumadi Ahmad, a staff expert at the office of the presidential staff, said Indonesia had made regulatory improvements and resolved religious conflicts.

He spoke to BenarNews in response to the Wednesday release of an annual report by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), which alleged that Jakarta criminalized blasphemy and hate speech without clear definitions.

I believe this recommendation is excessive, he said. The Indonesian government is consistently making improvements, both in terms of regulations and in the prevention and resolution of various religious conflicts.

He cited ongoing revisions to a joint ministerial regulation on building houses of worship and changes in the new criminal code that exclude certain statements from falling under blasphemy laws. Those include objective, non-threatening statements within ones own circle or for scientific purposes.

Diverse landscape

While Indonesia, the worlds most populous Muslim-majority nation, boasts a diverse religious landscape, concerns have long been raised about the treatment of minority faiths. Existing blasphemy laws have been used to prosecute individuals based on their beliefs, according to activists.

Additionally, the Information and Electronic Transactions Law has been criticized for its broad application, allowing authorities to target religious expression online.

Indonesias blasphemy laws ... have long been a tool for prosecuting individuals for their religious beliefs, the USCIRF report said.

The report identified Indonesias new criminal code, expected to take effect in 2026, as a further threat to religious liberties.

It also criticized a 2006 joint decree on houses of worship for enabling ongoing and systematic violations against religious minorities.

In June 2023, Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas announced plans to eliminate the need for a recommendation from Forum Kerukunan Umat Beragama (FKUB) representing recognized religions in Indonesia, as a condition for establishing houses of worship.

Human rights groups have criticized this required recommendation for the construction of houses of worship because, they say, it creates unnecessary bureaucracy and hinders the rights of minority religious communities. In addition, the FKUBs close ties to the government have raised questions about its independence and ability to advocate for the rights of all religious groups.

Persecution in 2023

Instances of religious persecution continued throughout 2023, USCIRF said in its report. In February, authorities disrupted a Pentecostal church service, citing a lack of permits. In August, a mob damaged a church in Riau Islands province.

The Indonesian governments promotion of the Pancasila ideology, which emphasizes monotheism, excludes indigenous religious groups and creates discrimination, the report noted.

Its promotion of this ideology extends only to officially recognized religions and does not include indigenous religious communities or nontheists. As a result, members of unrecognized religions face legal hurdles in acquiring government jobs and having their marriages officially recognized, the report said.

Despite some positive developments, such as the recognition of a seventh religious category on official IDs, USCIRF highlighted the persistence of mandates that force even non-Muslims to adhere to Islamic codes.

Government officials and politicians throughout Indonesia increasingly engaged in rhetoric and passed local laws and regulations citing Islamic values that target or ostracize religious, gender and sexual minorities. In January, the mayor of Medan, North Sumatra, declared the city LGBT-free [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender] in an effort to appeal to certain religious actors, the report said.

In West Java, politicians inspired by the MUI and other similar religious organizations promulgated municipal- and regency-level laws that used language around morality and religion to exclude minorities from the public space, the report said, using an acronym for Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), a semi-official body of clerics.

Indonesias 2023 chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) did little to significantly improve the religious freedom landscape, according to the report.

It urged the government to repeal the blasphemy laws, reform the regulation on constructing houses of worship and the information technology law to ensure greater religious freedom online and take effective action against those who commit violence against religious minorities.
Former Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama [right] talks to supporters in Suva following a court hearing on May 2, 2024 that rejected his request for the acting chief justice to remove himself from the case.

A last ditch legal maneuver by Fijis Frank Bainimarama to avoid possible prison time for obstruction of justice was rejected by a court on Thursday and the former strongman leader will be sentenced next week along with the countrys suspended police commissioner.

Acting Chief Justice Salesi Temo refused a request from Bainimaramas lawyers to recuse himself from the case and said sentencing would take place on May 9. Lawyer Devanesh Sharma had argued that Temo had shown bias against the ex-prime minister.

Bainimarama, who held sway over Fiji for 16 years following a 2006 military coup and forged close ties with China, faced trial last year for halting a police investigation into alleged financial mismanagement at the University of the South Pacific.

Temo in March ruled that Bainimarama was guilty of perverting the course of justice and his police chief, Sitiveni Qiliho, guilty of abuse of office, overturning a lower courts acquittals.

Fijis Crimes Act allows a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment for conspiring to defeat justice. Abuse of office can be punished with up to 17 years prison if it was done for personal gain. Under Fijis constitution, Bainimaramas conviction would make him ineligible to run for public office for nearly a decade.

Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions, Laisani Tabuakuro, said Bainimaramas recusal request was intended to delay sentencing and damage the reputation of the court.

This is a baseless, useless application that has been made, she told the Suva court.

Fijis suspended police commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho [center] is pictured at a Suva court on May 2, 2024. Qiliho and former Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama will be sentenced on May 9 for abuse of office and obstructing justice, respectively. [Reggie Smith/BenarNews]

Bainimaramas years in power ended in December 2022 after his Fiji First Party dropped below 50% of the vote in national elections, allowing opposition parties to form a coalition government led by Sitiveni Rabuka. Both men are former coup leaders  Rabuka in the late 1980s.

A purge of Bainimarama appointees from important public positions followed the change in government along with the removal of restrictions on the media and a slew of investigations into alleged abuses of office.

However, Bainimarama still commands a significant following in Fiji  the second most populous Pacific island country with nearly 1 million people  while the initial enthusiasm for Rabukas coalition government has faded amid cost-of-living increases, slowing economic growth and scandals involving government ministers.

Supporters and former members of the military were at the court on Thursday to learn the outcome of Bainimaramas latest legal battle and he stopped to chat with them following the hearing.

After finding Bainimarama and Qiliho guilty in March, Temo ordered a lower court to sentence them but its lenient sentences  no record of conviction for Bainimarama and a small fine for Qiliho  were rejected by the acting chief justice following an appeal from the public prosecutor.
Jeremiah Manele speaks outside the Solomon Islands parliament in Honiara following his election as prime minister on May 2, 2024.

The Solomon Islands new prime minister, Jeremiah Manele, has promised an aggressive approach to improving the economy after a national election last month showed widespread frustration with falling living standards.

Manele, who was foreign minister in the previous government, was elected by a secret ballot of members of Parliament on Thursday. He replaced Manasseh Sogavare, the combative pro-Beijing leader who attracted international attention to the Pacific island country of 700,000 people by pulling it into Chinas orbit.

Speaking outside the Parliament building in Honiara, Manele called on Solomon Islanders to respect the democratic process and not resort to the violence that has followed previous elections.

Our economy and livelihoods have suffered because of this violence. However today we show the world that we are better than that, he said. We must respect and uphold the democratic process of electing our prime minister and set an example for our children and their children.

Maneles governing Ownership Unity and Responsibility Party won 15 of Parliaments 50 seats in the Apr. 17 election.

Combined with coalition allies, independents and apparent defections from the opposition camp, it was able to secure 31 votes for Maneles election as prime minister. Opposition leader Matthew Wale got 18 votes. One member of Parliament wasnt present for the voting.

Sogavare announced earlier this week he would not seek the prime ministership. Under his leadership, the Solomon Islands switched diplomatic recognition to China from Taiwan in 2019 and signed a secret security pact with China, alarming the United States and its allies.

The election and Parliaments choice of prime minister has been watched by governments from China to Australia and the U.S. as they jostle for influence in the Pacific.

Manasseh Sogavare [right] is pictured at a press conference in Honiara on Apr. 29, 2024 announcing he will not seek reelection as Solomon Islands prime minister and that Jeremiah Manele [left] will be the OUR Partys candidate for leadership of the country. [Charley Piringi/BenarNews]

Analysts have said Manele is regarded as a more moderate figure than Sogavare, but is unlikely to spurn close ties with China. Earlier this week, Manele said hed continue the countrys friends to all, enemies to none foreign policy if elected.

For many observers, the election has been the most consequential for the Solomon Islands in a half century since independence and a test of Sogavares embrace of China. The superpower rewarded the nation with showcase sporting facilities for the Pacific Games and funding for members of Parliament.

However, going into the election, voters interviewed by BenarNews in Honiara and other areas of Guadalcanal said they were frustrated by the governments ineffectiveness in providing basic services and were preoccupied by the daily struggle to earn enough to get by.

Crumbling roads and rundown health clinics were a common complaint as were high prices in mostly Chinese-owned shops in Honiara. In a village kilometers from the capital, one resident said he hoped the community could get bore water and proper toilets rather than having to dig pits in the ground.

The OUR Partys underwhelming performance in the election was primarily down to poor economic conditions which left voters frustrated, said Terence Wood, a development aid and Melanesian politics researcher at Australian National University.

Also, MPs had less money available to them to provide direct material assistance to their supporters and so they got turfed out at a higher rate, he said.

A recent report by the Solomon Islands central bank on the precarious state of the economy is concerning and calls for a more focused and aggressive approach, Manele said.

The report called for major reforms to improve infrastructure such as roads and boost the economic growth rate to a minimum of 5.0% annually. The Solomon Islands population has been growing faster than the economy, which means the average Solomon Islander is getting poorer.

It is not an easy task but we will be reaching out to all relevant stakeholders as we progress on our road to recovery, Manele said.

The economy, he said, had been damaged by the COVID-19 pandemic and riots in Honiara in late 2021, which were sparked by anger at the diplomatic switch and Sogavares leadership.

Priorities for the new government are possible revisions to the 2024 budget and laws covering special economic zones and the minerals and forestry industries, Manele said.

No doubt Manele would like to focus on the economy but to some extent macroeconomic circumstances are beyond the ability of any individual prime minister to address, said Wood.
A rainbow appears over the port in Basco, the capital of Batanes, the northernmost province of the Philippines, March 2, 2024.

Basco, the capital of the island-chain province of Batanes, is a small town of narrow alleys, green hills and, in spring, bright pink blossoms of bougainvillea. Surrounded by the broad waters where the Pacific Ocean blends into the South China Sea, things tend to move slowly here.

Batanes is a small place, says Mayor German Caccam. It is like living in a paradise, and we do not like being disturbed by conflicts.

But islanders increasingly fear a conflict could be coming.

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Though Batanes marks the northernmost point of the Philippines, it in fact lies closer to Taiwan, which is only 120 miles (193 km) away. On a clear day, islanders say they can see Taiwans southern tip.

Beyond that lies the Taiwan Strait, another flashpoint in a watery region beset by them. Beijing, which considers democratic Taiwan one of its provinces and vows to reunite it with the mainland, by force if necessary, regularly sends warships and airplanes around Taiwan in a show of strength to Taipei.

The brewing war in the Taiwan Strait brings a lot of concerns to the people of Batanes, says Caccam, a former teacher who has held the post since 2022. Because of the proximity to Taiwan, Batanes is likely to be affected.

Nida Cartano, a teacher in Diura fishing village, 20 km from Basco, points to the direction of Taiwan, March 2, 2024. [Luna Pham/RFA]

That possibility sets up an interesting dilemma for the islanders.

The people here feel vulnerable. They are served by a single, small airport that frequently closes due to bad weather.

And yet they are wary of hosting soldiers or military equipment for fear of provoking China and being caught up in a conflict that isnt theirs.

We are very worried about the situation in Taiwan, Nida Cartano, a Batanes teacher, said. Batanes is so small, we dont have facilities to go into a war with anyone, so we are afraid.

But hopefully there wont be any war any time soon.

The Philippine military has recruited hundreds of reservists in Batanes. In February, Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro visited the province to inspect local facilities. He ordered the military to boost the number of Filipino troops stationed in Batanes and to develop more military structures there.

The province is the spearhead of the Philippines as far as the northern baseline is concerned, Teodoro told reporters.

Two boys walk past a school in Basco, March 2, 2024. [Luna Pham/RFA]

China and the Philippines are at odds over territory in the South China Sea, including at Second Thomas Shoal (Ayungin Shoal), an area within the Philippines exclusive economic zone but where Chinese ships frequently run-off Filipino fishermen.

China bases its sovereignty on the so-called nine-dash line, which dips from the Chinese mainland deep into the South China Sea, encompassing the shoal and other nearby features that Manila views as their own.

But Taiwan is a particularly sensitive topic to Beijing. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson warned the Philippine government against playing with fire on the issue of Taiwan and being exploited by others, implying military cooperation between the Philippines and its treaty ally the United States.

US troops presence

The Bashi Channel, which separates Taiwan from Batanes, is a choke point for Chinese military operations in the region.

It is also the place where the United States and its allies hold naval drills as one of the locations for Balikatan, an ongoing joint exercise between the American and Philippine militaries.

Filipino media reported last year that the local government and the U.S. were discussing construction of a sea port on the island chain that could also be used for security purposes and facilitate American access to the area.

Local officials last year discussed the possibility of working with the U.S. to construct a sea port in Batanes that could also be used for security purposes and facilitate U.S. access to the area.

U.S. Marine Corps planners evaluate a potential port location with Philippine Marine Corps personnel in Basco, Batanes, Philippines, Oct. 25, 2023. [Cpl. Christopher W. England/U.S. Marine Corps]

The U.S. military ultimately declined to get involved in the-estimated $50 million project  a move some believe is tied to local resistance to the idea.

The decision not to proceed in helping to pay for the port may help remove a source of tension with China. But the U.S. is expected to take part in a couple of other projects in the province, such as helping to upgrade an airport and build warehouses that can also have a dual use.

And in 2023, the Philippines extended the number of its military bases that U.S. forces can access to nine, including three facing Taiwan.

Mayor Caccam said residents welcome the Balikatan exercise, which has been held three times, because it makes us feel more secure.

However, as the mayor of Basco, I am not so amenable with the presence of foreign forces, especially the U.S., because that will make us a target.

Basco Mayor German Caccam, a former teacher, is seen in his office, March 2, 2024. [Luna Pham/RFA]

For now, daily life in Batanes goes on as usual. Women wait in small alleys near the shore to clean and gut the day's catch.

Unlike areas in the South China Sea where China claims territory, the fishermen of Batanes still have access to their traditional fishing grounds.

But as tensions rise throughout the region, the people here cant help but wonder how long their peaceful piece of the world will remain so.

This report was produced as part of a series through a collaboration between BenarNews and its sister agency, Radio Free Asia (RFA).
The BRP Bagacay (center), a Philippine Coast Guard ship, is hit by water cannon fired by Chinese coast guard ships near Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, in this frame grab from a handout video filmed and released April 30, 2024.

The Philippines on Thursday demanded that China pull out immediately from a disputed South China Sea shoal, after the Chinese coast guard fired water cannon at Manilas vessels near the area this week.

The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said it summoned Zhou Zhiyong, the deputy chief of mission at the Chinese embassy in Manila, over the April 30 incident near Scarborough Shoal that damaged two vessels from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).

During Thursdays meeting, the Philippines demanded that Chinese vessels leave Bajo de Masinloc and its vicinity immediately, the department (DFA) said in a statement.

The resource-rich Scarborough Shoal, known as Bajo De Masinloc in the Philippines and Huangyan Dao in China, lies within Manilas 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone but has been under Beijings de-facto control for more than a decade.

Manila also protested the harassment, ramming, swarming, shadowing and blocking, dangerous maneuvers, use of water cannons, and other aggressive actions of China Coast Guard and Chinese Maritime Militia vessels against the Philippine vessels, according to the DFA.

Chinas aggressive actions, particularly its water cannon use, caused damage to vessels of PCG and BFAR, the department said.

The Philippine Coast Guard pegged the repair costs for its ship damaged in the incident at PHP 2 to 3 million (between U.S. $34,700 to 52,000). It also said Manila would shoulder the cost of repairs.

On Thursday night, the Chinese embassy issued a statement responding to the Philippines.

China said it had indisputable sovereignty over the shoal and its adjacent waters, adding that Scarborough was always part of its territory, according to an embassy spokesperson.

The Philippine vessels entered waters off Huangyan Dao on the 30th of April without Chinese permission, which seriously infringed on Chinas sovereignty, the spokesperson said in the statement.

[The] China Coast Guard took necessary measures to expel them in accordance with the law. The operations on the ground were professional, rational, reasonable and legitimate.

The Chinese embassy in the Philippines also said Beijing had lodged solemn representations in Beijing and in Manila demanding that the Philippines stop its provocation and infringement immediately.

A rocket is fired from a M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) from the coastal village of Campong Ulay, in Rizal town on the Philippine island of Palawan, during Balikatan military drills between the Philippines and the United States, May 2, 2024. [Mark Navales/BenarNews]





This was not the first time Chinese vessels had used water cannons against Philippine boats near the shoal. Beijing also regularly used water cannons against vessels conducting resupply missions to Philippine troops stationed at the Second Thomas (Ayungin) Shoal, another disputed territory.

The Philippines has consistently filed diplomatic protests against China over Beijings activities in the South China Sea. Since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. took office in July 2022, the government has lodged 153 protests, including 20 filed in the first four months of 2024.

Overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea have been a long-standing source of tension in the region, pitting China against Taiwan and Southeast Asian countries including the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, and Vietnam.

In 2012, the Philippines took China to a world court following a standoff over Scarborough Shoal, after Chinese ships and boats first occupied the area. In a landmark verdict issued four years later, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled in favor of Manila and dismissed Beijings sweeping territorial claims to the South China Sea. But China has refused to acknowledge the ruling, insisting on its historical claims over the waters.

The latest confrontation took place as Balikatan, the largest annual joint military drills between the U.S. and the Philippines, was underway, with some of the drills happening in Philippine waters that overlap Chinas territorial claims in the sea.
A new crop of lawmakers will soon be selected from a cross-section of society to replace junta-appointed Senate.

Senators attend a session at Parliament in Bangkok during the first reading of a bill to legalize same-sex marriage, April 2, 2024.

Pon, a content creator who describes himself as being frustrated with Thai politics, said there was no way to make changes other than to be a part of the system  in this case the countrys 200-member Senate.

He is among those in the running to be selected to replace members of the legislative body appointed in 2019 by Thailands then-military rulers, and whose five-year term expires on May 11.

If I had to vote to completely remove the Thai Senate, I would, the 41-year-old told BenarNews. But there is no other way to instigate change that I can think of.

Pon is not this mans real name. He requested that his identity be withheld because the Election Commission had ordered senatorial candidates to not talk to the media.

During their tenure, members of the old Senate were empowered to take part in parliamentary voting to elect the prime minister  a power they controversially used to block a progressive PM hopeful, whose party won the biggest share of votes in the 2023 general election. Members of the incoming and trimmed down Senate will lose that power, according to new rules.

Candidates for the new Senate told BenarNews that one of their goals is to change the Constitution regarding how senators are elected.

The new Senate will be formed with members being voted from among 20 social and professional groups including from the fields of education, law, health care, agriculture, the arts, as well as groups representing elderly people and people who are physically impaired. According to the selection procedure, each of the 20 groups will elect 10 members to the Senate. Applications are due on May 13.

The process, which will occur at the district, provincial and national levels by July 2, means the public will have no say because only candidates, age 40 or older, have the right to vote among themselves.

Then-Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha speaks to reporters following a cabinet meeting at Government House in Bangkok, May 16, 2023. [Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP]

Last week, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisins cabinet greenlit the new process for selecting members of the Senate, according to a report by Reuters.

On April 26, the Election Commission issued regulations relating to the Senate selection process. These include barring candidates from public campaigning, giving interviews to the press, or introducing themselves on media platforms.

Under the new rules for the Senate, the upper house of the Thai legislature will see its membership reduced from 250 to 200 senators.

In a recent Facebook post, Sawaeng Boonmee, the commissions secretary-general, said because the lower House of Parliament is for politicians who are members of political parties, the Senate then, according to the Constitution, must be politically neutral, and any lobbying or electioneering attempts are banned.

Outgoing Senate

The incumbent 250-member Senate was hand-picked by the National Council for Peace and Order, the official name for the junta set up by Gen. Prayuth Chan-o-cha, the army chief who became prime minister after the 2014 military coup.

More than 100 of its members are active or retired military and police officers, including Prayuths brother, while the rest are seen as allies to the junta and opponents of the pro-democracy Shinawatra faction.

In the 2014 coup, military forces spearheaded by Prayuth deposed Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Yinglucks older brother, Thaksin, was ousted by a similar military coup in 2006 after months of street protests where he was accused of disrespecting the monarchy, abusing power and corruption. Pheu Thai, the party associated with the Shinawatras, is now back in power.

Throughout the current Senate term beginning in 2019, members have drawn scrutiny, not only over how they came to office, but on the extent of their power. Most controversially, they voted down Thai PM-hopeful Pita Limjaroenrat following his partys win in the May 2023 election.

The Move Forward Party was able to create a 312 House-member coalition after the election. But without enough support from the Senate, the party failed to receive at least 376 votes for Pita to lead the government, in a move seen as the establishments rejection of the electoral outcome.

Essentially, the junta-appointed Senate has been a rubber stamp for ultra-conservatives, said Paul Chambers, an analyst at Thailands Naresuan University who specializes in Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) politics and security.

However, it did approve the accession of Pheu Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, if only to avoid a more progressive Move Forward Prime Minister Pita, Chambers told BenarNews.

Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin (center) arrives at Pheu Thai Party headquarters in Bangkok, after the king formally endorsed his cabinet, Aug. 24, 2023. [Sakchai Lalit/AP]

The new Senate will not be able to vote for the next prime minister, meaning the top candidate will need only a majority of the 500-seat lower House  far fewer than those who supported Pita last year.

While Election Commission regulations on the Senate selection process require that names of candidates cannot appear in the media, those who were interviewed by BenarNews shared plans to upend the Senates oversized role which, they said, did not reflect the will of the Thai people.

I think any institution should serve the people, Pon said. But if they get to office via the wrong means, they should not have a say in what the people demand.

Other potential candidates questioned the process, adding they were running to change the Constitution.

A musician who spoke to BenarNews said he wanted to run for Senate because, Its a small way for the people to select the senators.

This self-selection process is very complicated. Im not sure if the people can really benefit from this system, he said.

A former academic who also plans to run said, The self-selection process means the Thai voters rights are discarded. But I have my mission which is to amend the Constitution.

Constitutional amendment

Thailand has kickstarted the process to amend the 2017 Constitution, drafted by a junta-backed committee. The process faced blockades while Prayuth was in power, but the Pheu Thai-led government and Srettha, the prime minister, said they were ready to support this move.

A constitutional amendment is seen as a crucial step to overturn what observers call the Prayuth System that influences mechanisms of Thai politics.

A third of the Senate is needed to pass a constitutional amendment bill. The outgoing Senate never voted to approve the amendment process.

Yingcheep Atchanont, director of iLaw, a Thai democracy campaign group, said the outgoing Senate was never neutral to begin with, given how members were appointed and how they voted for only those who shared their political views. Those votes were for members of independent organizations including the Constitutional Court, National Anti-Corruption Commission or even the Election Commission.

I expect the new Senate to support the constitutional amendment. I want them to freely select officials of the independent organizations because in the past senators only voted for whoever represented their interests. I also want the new Senate to change how it comes to power in the future.

Thai politician Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, who led the former Future Forward Party, speaks in front of artwork of an indigenous ethnic Karen elder from the Bang Kloi community, in front of Government House in Bangkok, March 15, 2021. [Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP]

The commission issued its warning against publicity by candidates after one of Thailands most prominent activists, Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, was seen traveling throughout the nation urging people to run for the Senate. Some have even criticized him for trying to put the orange senators in Parliament.

In 2018, billionaire Thanathorn founded the Future Forward political party on a progressive platform. After the 2019 general election, his party, whose party logo was colored orange, was disbanded and he and other party executives were handed 10-year political bans by the Constitutional Court. Pitas Move Forward is an offshoot of Future Forward.

Yingcheep said there was no way to predict whose side would control the Senate  the progressive or the conservative  but he was certain it would be more diverse in terms of ideology.

Meanwhile, Chambers, the ASEAN analyst, expressed concern about the future.

The new Senate is indirectly elected, which allows progressives to partially influence the Upper House. However, the Senate is still not fully elected as it was during 2000 to 2006, Chambers said.

I think the Senate elected after May will have a more progressive, democratic streak to it. But this will frighten conservatives, some of whom already support a new military coup in Thailand.
Bennington, VT (05201)

Today

Partly cloudy skies early then becoming cloudy with periods of rain late. Low 34F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early then becoming cloudy with periods of rain late. Low 34F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
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LANESBOROUGH  If he was going to suffer a life-threatening event, Bill Prendergast couldnt have timed it better.

On Feb. 23, Prendergast had just gotten up to go to lunch in the kitchen of his Lanesborough home. He collapsed backward in the living room. His wife, Donna, thought hed simply hit his head, but realized hed lost consciousness. She quickly dialed 911.

The Lanesborough Ambulance was just returning from Berkshire Medical Center when the call came in. That meant Jen Weber and Aidan Scholz were first on the scene, responding within three minutes of Donnas call.

They brought me back several times, I guess, Bill Prendergast told The Eagle. His own memory of that day is fuzzy.

Of this, though, he is clear: He believes Lanesborough Ambulances quick response to start CPR saved his life. Hed already been a supporter of the ambulance, and his recent experience has only strengthened that conviction.

Bill Prendergast is not the only one with confidence in the lifesaving skills of Lanesborough Ambulance or impressed with its work.

The basic ambulance service that Weber has worked to reinvent and professionalize since 2019 has been recognized as the 2024 EMS Agency of the Year by the Western Massachusetts Emergency Medical Services Committee.

The recognition came with a plaque honoring Lanesborough Ambulance "for consistency in EMS excellence when providing or supporting pre-hospital care in the EMS environment."

In the time Weber has been at the helm, Lanesborough Ambulance has transitioned from relying on County Ambulance, based in Pittsfield, for its calls to a service that now handles all calls in town as well as providing mutual aid.

Lanesborough Ambulance received several nominations for this award in a region that covers 102 cities and towns in the states four western counties.

Weber was first appointed to be a volunteer EMS director in Lanesborough in July 2019. At that time, she had just received basic EMT certification and Lanesborough had just contracted with County Ambulance to be its primary responder.

At first, she responded to calls by caring for patients on scene while waiting for County Ambulance to arrive to complete the transport.

Soon, she began to look for drivers to assist her so that Lanesborough Ambulance could complete its own transports. As the ambulance began billing, revenue started to roll in.

And then when COVID hit, we were able to respond to all the calls, she said.

Weber then began to get paid for her work and to think about staffing 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. for five days a week. Today, Lanesborough Ambulance is staffed seven days a week during those hours. Overnight hours are covered by on-call staffing at a per-call rate.

Weber is paid $63,960, and every member of the crew is paid as well, including firefighters, who earn a stipend for responding to medical calls.

Lanesborough Ambulance is funded in two ways, through an enterprise fund made up of fees from billing for services. That had about $108,000 in it in April. Its used to pay Webers salary as well as intercepts when advanced care is needed. In those cases, County Ambulance is called.

The annual local budget for the ambulance this year is $254,600. The request for the next fiscal year will be $270,000.

There are three basic EMTs and three first responders who regularly work for Lanesborough Ambulance.

First responders earn $19.50 per hour and typically drive, so that the EMTs, who earn $23 an hour with a higher level of training, are free to tend to the patient on the way to the hospital.

On overnight calls and holidays, that pay scale adjusts to $35 per call for first responders and $40 per call for EMTs.

So a lot of people have questions about what we do in our down time, which is easy, Weber said. We deliver soup, we deliver produce, we go to the school, we hang out with the senior center. We do a ton of community outreach so that people know that we're here and available and try to have them be comfortable with us.

As towns look to regionalize their ambulance services, Weber recognizes there may be some advantages.

Lanesborough has a high enough call volume that it makes sense for us to have our own ambulance, she said. At the same time, If there were some kind of countywide regionalization, we would participate in it.

Lanesborough Ambulance's shoot time, which refers to its time from when a call comes in to the time the ambulance hits the road, is about two and a half minutes.

In 2023, Lanesborough Ambulance responded to 638 calls. In 2020, the call volume was 314.

As it is, about 25 percent of the calls Lanesborough Ambulance runs are in response to mutual aid, with the lions share of those calls to Pittsfield.

While local calls dont always result in a transport to a hospital  and therefore no billing for Lanesborough Ambulance  mutual aid calls almost always do.

Some worry that responding to mutual aid might tie up Lanesboroughs ambulance when help is needed locally.

We have had two calls in Lanesborough at the same time, or car accidents with more than one person where we've had to call for assistance, Weber said. Not to say that it can't happen, but it has not happened in my tenure, where we've been providing mutual aid and had to call somebody to Lanesborough.

Weber said there has been some increase in response to the territory formerly served by the now closed Adams Ambulance Service, but mutual aid requests from that region had picked up prior to its closing because of staffing issues.

Weber said she hopes to expand the number of EMTs and first responders on call in Lanesborough.

As to Donna Prendergasts call in February, County Ambulance responded with paramedics, and Bill Prendergast was transported to Berkshire Medical Center via Lanesborough Ambulances distinctive blue ambulance.

From there Bill Prendergast was transferred to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield for a triple bypass. He was given an 8 to 10 percent survival rate prior to surgery, but hes home now, after a 10-day stay at Baystate and a stint in cardiac rehab at Berkshire Medical Center.

On Monday, at the Select Board meeting, Bill Prendergast and his wife stepped forward to praise Lanesborough Ambulance.

Thank God they were here, Donna Prendergast said. Their quick response was a godsend.
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Fundraise to be used to add more vial, lyophilisation, and suspension capacity

Maiva Pharma, a Bengalure-based Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisation (CDMO), has announced a significant milestone in its growth journey.

The company has successfully raised approximately Rs 1,000 crore in primary and secondary funding from a fund managed by Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia and India Life Sciences Fund - IV (ILSF - IV). This investment marks Maiva's first private equity fundraise and signals a significant move in the healthcare investment landscape.

The funding has been utilised to acquire a controlling stake from existing investors and to infuse primary capital into the company. Maiva Pharma plans to allocate the proceeds towards the establishment of a new manufacturing facility near Hosur. This facility will boast capabilities in sterile dosage forms, including pre-filled syringes, bags, oncology, and hormonal injectables, thus expanding the company's production capacity and enhancing its product portfolio.

Avendus, a leading financial advisory firm, facilitated the transaction as the exclusive financial advisor to Maiva and its shareholders.

Dr Bhaskar Krishna, Managing Director and CEO, Maiva Pharma, said, "Over the last three years, Maiva has quadrupled its manufacturing capacity for US, Canada, and EU markets. Based on continued strong interest from customers in partnering with Maiva, we will expand at a greenfield site near Hosur. This fundraise will be used to add more vial, lyophilisation, and suspension capacity and introduce new manufacturing capabilities such as prefilled syringes, cartridges, and bags."
Flight Centre Independent South Africa has appointed Kerry Sinclair as its business development manager. Sinclair looks forward to contributing towards the expansion of the brand.
Dan Schneider has filed a defamation lawsuit against the producers of Quiet On Set: The Dark Side Of Kids TV documentary series, claiming it has irreparably harmed his reputation.

The former Nickelodeon TV producer, who created hit shows including iCarly, Victorious, Drake & Josh, Zoey 101 and The Amanda Show, said the documentary falsely implied he sexually abused the children who worked on his television shows.

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The court documents said that while two people who worked on Nickelodeon shows were later convicted of sexual offences, Schneider had no knowledge of their abuse, was not complicit in the abuse, condemned the abuse once it was discovered and, critically, was not a child sexual abuser himself.

But for the sake of clickbait, ratings, and views  or put differently, money  defendants have destroyed Schneiders reputation and legacy through the false statements and implications that Schneider is exactly that, the lawsuit said.

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Schneider never sexually abused a child, nor has he been charged or convicted with sexually abusing a child.

The trailer and Quiet On Sets statements and implications to the contrary are both false and made with reckless and malicious disregard for the truth.

The lawsuit, filed on Wednesday in the Los Angeles Superior Court, described Schneiders portrayal in the documentary as a hit job  naming producers Maxine Productions, Sony Pictures Television and Warner Brothers Discovery as defendants.

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Schneiders reputation and career have been irreparably harmed by the trailers and Quiet On Sets defamatory and malicious content, the documents said.

On a personal level, after the trailers publication, Schneider was immediately contacted by friends and colleagues in disbelief about the trailers false depiction of Schneider as a criminal and child predator.

While these persons know the truth, the overwhelming majority of the public does not  to them, Schneider is and will remain what defendants have portrayed him to be.

The harm to Schneiders reputation, career, and business, to say nothing of his own overwhelming emotional distress, cannot be understated.

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The five-part series, which originally aired on US streaming platform Max, levelled allegations at Schneider including his tolerance of toxic workplace conditions and alleged torment and humiliation of cast and crew on his TV sets.

In a statement given to the PA news agency, Schneider said of the lawsuit: Recently the docuseries Quiet On Set highlighted mistakes I made and poor judgment I exhibited during my time at Nickelodeon, most of which happened decades ago during my early career as a producer.

There is no doubt that I was sometimes a bad leader.

I am sincerely apologetic and regretful for that behaviour, and I will continue to take accountability for it.

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However, after seeing Quiet On Set and its trailer, and the reactions to them, I sadly have no choice but to take legal action against the people behind it.

In their successful attempt to mislead viewers and increase ratings, they went beyond reporting the truth and falsely implied that I was involved in or facilitated horrific crimes for which actual child predators have been prosecuted and convicted.

I have no objection to anyone highlighting my failures as a boss, but it is wrong to mislead millions of people to the false conclusion that I was in any way involved in heinous acts like those committed by child predators.

I owe it to myself, my family, and the many wonderful people involved in making these shows to set the record straight.

Schneider is said to have launched the careers of child actors who became major stars, including Miranda Cosgrove, Jamie Lynn Spears and Ariana Grande.

The defendants named in the lawsuit have been contacted for comment.
A pregnant woman who was incorrectly prescribed a painkiller has said overcrowding at University Hospital Galway was like a warzone, the Dail has heard.

During Leaders Questions on Thursday, Sinn Fein TD Mairead Farrell recounted the story of Niamh, who presented at the emergency department of University Hospital Galway at 6am on Tuesday, April 9th.

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Ms Farrell said Niamh described a crazy-long queue of people winding up to reception as others sat on the floor or lay across chairs.

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Relaying her words, she added: Some had been there since Sunday. Staff under huge pressure, stressed with their workload, no time to think.

It was just panic, at one point I thought, Im going to die.

Ms Farrell told the Dail that after showing up to the hospital following a night of intense stomach pain and despite being unable to walk or sit due to the discomfort, Niamh was not triaged until after 7am.

She felt the nurse had no time to ask proper questions and she was rushed out.

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When her bloods were taken over an hour later, Niamh was in a bad way and she could barely move with the pain.

Other patients looked on with worry, but she had to ask for pain medication. 

Sinn Fein representatives Pearse Doherty, Mary Lou McDonald and Mairead Farrell. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA.

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At this point, a nurse asked the woman if she could be pregnant and Ms Farrell told the Dail: Niamh never saw that nurse again.

Niamh had an ectopic pregnancy but this would not be but discovered until much later.

She finally saw a doctor five hours after she presented at reception, the Dail was told.

She had to walk to the other side of the emergency department in pain at a level described as eight out of 10.

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Ms Farrell added: She wasnt even offered a wheelchair.

She felt the doctor was so rushed that he wasnt taking in what she was saying.

Niamh was returned to the waiting area which she described as like a warzone.

She provided a urine sample which she was asked to leave on a cart for collection.

Two hours later, she noticed that it was still on the cart.

Niamh broke down crying. She asked her nurse why her sample was still sitting there, what was happening with her blood tests, and her questions were matched with confusion.

One blood test result came back showing elevated white cells as part of a suspected infection.

She was prescribed an antibiotic and a pain drug Keral.

Ms Farrell said: As she was being administered, the nurse came rushing back in panic and shouted: You are pregnant. You cant be on this painkiller while pregnant.

And then panic ensued about how much she had been given.

Niamh was ultimately referred to gynecologist at 12.45pm, where the possibility of an ectopic pregnancy was raised.

It was determined that Niamh needed an emergency scan, which she didnt get until 2.30pm  eight and a half hours after coming in.

The scan showed nothing but blood in her uterus. Niamhs emergency surgery wouldnt happen until 6.45pm, 12 hours after she first presented.

Niamhs partner was told it would take 1.5 hours. The operation took over three due to significant internal bleeding.

Sometimes Niamh cant believe she survived. She kept thinking whats going to happen to my baby if I dont survive.

Ms Farrell said the ordeal was deeply traumatising for the woman and her family.

She said Niamh did not blame the hospital staff as they were under too much pressure.

She said she felt lucky that she went in early in the morning.

Tanaiste Micheal Martin. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA.

Ms Farrell said Niamhs experience was not unique and that hospitals across the country are experiencing overcrowding amid understaffing.

The Sinn Fein TD called on the Government to lift the recruitment embargo in the health service.

Stories like Niamhs are why your recruitment embargo is so dangerous  lift this recruitment embargo.

Ms Farrell added: Niamh wanted me to ask you: People are dying needlessly in our emergency departments. I could have been one of them. We need change. What is it going to take for change to happen. Tanaiste, is that what it is going to take?'

In response, Mr Martin said the description of Niamhs experience in the hospital was shocking.

Clearly, Niamh went through an extraordinarily traumatic and horrific journey from arrival to the emergency department and subsequent developments and treatment.

However, Mr Martin said her story raises issues beyond resources and staffing.

The numbers have increased substantially in terms of recruitment, and thats a fact.

Ms Farrell shook her head at the comments.

The Tanaiste said he was mystified about the recruitment embargo, adding: 28,000 extra people have been recruited into our health service since 2020  28,000 people.

There comes a time when you have to look at other factors: whats happening on the ground, whats happening in terms of the organisation of the hospital.

And parallel with that is the need to enhance community-based interventions and care  which is happening  and the primary care sector as well.

Mr Martin, a former health minister, said dealing with issues in emergency departments involves a multitude of factors beyond recruitment.

It is about reducing the numbers on trolleys, it is about reducing the pressure on emergency departments and hospitals but it is also about reform on how we manage patients.

Ms Farrell reiterated her position that the main contributing factor to Niamhs negative experience was that the hospital was understaffed.

Niamh was told by numerous medical staff that she was very lucky.

But Niamh has been very clear, she shouldnt have had to be lucky, nobody should have to be lucky  luck shouldnt come into this.

Ms Farrell called on Mr Martin to lift the recruitment embargo, deliver 1,500 beds and an elective hospital in the west.

The Fianna Fail leader responded by saying more people were working in the health service than ever before.

He added: The safe staffing in emergency departments has happened  and that has been rolled out in every emergency department.

Mr Martin said there was an obligation on members of the Dail to focus on reforms and performance of the health service amid ever-growing budget allocations.

It means a more rigorous analysis than just saying more numbers will change and resolve (the problem).

Not necessarily, deputy, is the point Im making.
The Government has confirmed there will be no gardai deployed to the Border on the island.

The Tanaiste and the Northern Secretary held a phone call on Wednesday evening amid diplomatic tensions after a reported upsurge in asylum seekers crossing the Border following the passing of the UKs Safety of Rwanda Act.

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Concern was raised after Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said her department was planning to make 100 additional gardai available for frontline enforcement work.

While the Government insisted gardai would not be assigned to physically police the border with Northern Ireland, British prime minister Rishi Sunak told the UK parliament he wanted urgent clarification that there would be no disruption or checkpoints near the Border.

In a statement later on Wednesday, the Northern Ireland Office said Northern Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris had a constructive phone call about illegal migration with Tanaiste Micheal Martin.

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Rishi Sunak said there must be no cherry-picking of important international agreements (Yui Mok/PA)

It said: The Tanaiste confirmed that there will be no deployment of officers from An Garda Siochana to the Northern Ireland/Ireland border and that the Irish Government shared a steadfast commitment to securing the external border of the Common Travel Area.

Another focal point of the diplomatic row centred on Dublin passing emergency legislation to deem the UK as a safe country for the return of asylum seekers.

Both governments have acknowledged the existence of an operational agreement which provides for the reciprocal return of asylum seekers between the UK and Ireland, but Downing Street has said it contains no legal obligations to accept them.

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Mr Sunak said he was not interested in a returns deal if the European Union did not allow the UK to send back asylum seekers who had crossed the English Channel from France.

Tents housed asylum seekers near to the Office of International Protection in Dublin (Niall Carson/PA)

In a softening of language, the statement from the Northern Ireland Office on Wednesday concluded: The Secretary of State reiterated that the UK will not accept any readmissions or returns arrangements that are not in our interest.

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The phone call came after Mr Sunak said the Irish Government must uphold its promises to avoid a hard Border on the island of Ireland and avoid setting up checkpoints to prevent asylum seekers entering the country.

Answering questions in parliament, Mr Sunak said ministers were seeking urgent clarification that there will be no disruption or police checkpoints at or near the border, and that there must not be cherry-picking of important international agreements.

He added: Now, its no surprise that our robust approach to illegal migration is providing a deterrent but the answer is not sending police to villages in Donegal. Its to work with us in partnership to strengthen our external borders all around the common travel area that we share.

Mr Sunak was replying to a question from DUP MP Carla Lockhart, who accused the Irish Government of hypocrisy given its stance on the border during Brexit negotiations.

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Asked about Mr Sunaks comments, Taoiseach Simon Harris reiterated that no gardai will be sent to border areas, saying: Of course there wont be.

Noting upcoming elections in the UK, he expressed a desire to not become involved in the day-to-day back and forth in the House of Commons.

However, he stressed the importance of countries upholding agreements.

Mr Harris said: Well uphold the agreement we have with Britain under the Common Travel Area, the standard operating procedure that we have in place.

I also welcome the comments of the Northern Ireland Secretary of State, where he referred to the importance of the two countries working together to protect the common travel area from abuses.

Regularising our laws in relation to the arrangement we have with Britain is only one of a number of things we intend to do to ensure we have a firm, effective migration system.

Helen McEntee said there had been an upsurge in asylum seekers crossing the Border following the passing of the UKs Safety of Rwanda Act (Liam McBurney/PA)

Asked about the diplomatic dispute, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said Mr Harris had provided Mr Sunaks government with a propaganda coup in the run-up to elections.

Speaking to RTE, she added: Its never a good place for the Irish Government to be scoffed and laughed at in the House of Commons.

Downing Street has repeatedly stressed that the UK is under no legal obligation to accept returns of asylum seekers from Ireland, and would not do so while France continued to refuse to accept returns from the UK.

The UK Labour Party said it agreed with the British government that the UK should not accept returns from Ireland while Britain is not able to return people who arrive here from the EU.

Mr Martin has previously said a figure provided by Irish justice minister Helen McEntee that approximately 80% of asylum seekers were coming from Northern Ireland was not evidence-based while DUP MP Ian Paisley told the Commons it was made up.

The UK government has claimed the reported increase in asylum seekers entering the Republic from Northern Ireland demonstrated that its Rwanda scheme was already acting as a deterrent.

It is not clear how many asylum seekers have crossed from Northern Ireland into the Republic, with Downing Street saying it did not have that data as the Border is not policed.
A man has been arrested over an alleged incident on Sheriff Street in Dublin 1 on Thursday afternoon.

Gardai responded to an incident in Sheriff Street just after midday and a man in his 20s was arrested.

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He is currently being held at a Garda station in Dublin under the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, 1997.

Gardai say investigations are ongoing as they verify the details of the incident.
A 35-year-old man who was found guilty of dangerous driving causing the death of hugely popular GAA commentator Paudie Palmer has been jailed for six years.

Bohdan Bezverkhyi, who is a native of Ukraine but has an address at Rigsdale House in Ballinhassig, Co Cork had denied dangerous driving causing the death of Mr Palmer (65) at Dunkereen Cross, Innishannon, Cork on December 29th, 2022.

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Mr Palmer was a native of Kenmare in Co Kerry. The accident occurred just 500 metres from the home of the commentator who was employed by 96FM and 103FM.

The much loved father of two was hospitalised in the aftermath of the crash. However, he died at Cork University Hospital on January 8th 2023.

Mr Palmer was killed when Mr Bezverkhyi went through a stop sign crashing into his car before fleeing the scene in his vehicle. He was subsequently arrested.

At the sentencing hearing at the Cork Circuit Criminal Court on Thursday, Judge Jonathan Dunphy described as an aggravating factor a video made by Mr Bezverkhyi the day before the crash where he recorded himself driving at speeds of 200 kilometres per hour in Curraheen, Co Cork.

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Victim impact statement

Claire Palmer-Panagiodis, a daughter of the late Mr Palmer, made a victim impact statement. She said that she was heartbroken that the life of her father was cut short prematurely.

She spoke of her upset that Paudie didnt live long enough to walk her down the aisle at her wedding. Claire said that having your father escort you down the aisle on your big day was every girls dream.

Instead, Claire placed a buttonhole of flowers on the grave of her father on her wedding day. She said it was utterly distressing that her mother Colette hadnt been able to pin the flowers on the suit of Paudie on the special day because his life had been ended by the dangerous driving of Mr Bezverkhyi.

Claire told Judge Dunphy that great pain had been caused by suggestions by the defence during the trial last month that her father was somehow to blame for what happened.

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To hear our father being blamed for this incident was very offensive," she said.

"(He was) a man who had only the respect of every single person he came in contact with.

Not just the county but the entire country grieved when they heard the news of Dads tragic passing  'a pillar of society', 'the voice of Cork'."

"Just moments before this accident, after spending his first and last Christmas with his first beloved grandchild, Lucas, he left our home to meet a work colleague for a simple coffee and a catch-up."

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"He shared his usual morning moment with my mother with a big wave goodbye and a cheeky smile. He was struck by a vehicle that then left the scene only 500 metres from our family house, never to return alive again."

"To hear our father being blamed for this accident is hurtful and even at this late stage, if the accused man had shown any sign of remorse and could at least realise the effect his actions have had...it would be some comfort. But this remorse has never been seen."

Cornerstone

Claire said that her father was the cornerstone of their close-knit family.

Our mentor, supporter and guiding star. His wisdom shaped who we are as adults. His death has left a void in our identities and lives. As a result of Dads sudden and horrific departure, our family dynamics have shifted significantly.

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I got married to my own best friend and now husband, Nicolas, several weeks ago, having postponed last years date following those heartbreaking few months before. Not having your father walk you down the aisle, which is every girls dream, was simply heartbreaking.

Having to place my fathers buttonhole of flowers on his grave instead of my mother pinning it to his suit was utterly distressing, on a day that should have been the happiest day in our familys lives.

Our mother has had to forcefully put on a brave face to tell us all well be okay while shes struggling so deeply herself.

Claire said that her son Lucas, who was only three months old when Paudie was killed, was in an instant deprived of not just a grandfather but one of the greatest role models he could ever have had.

Mr Palmer's brother Johnny also made a victim impact statement. He said the family found it incomprehensible that Mr Bezverkhyi had opted to leave the scene of crash.

"What makes it even worse is the fact that the guilty party drove away from the scene of the accident leaving our brother fatally injured in his overturned car on an embankment."

"The guilty party then admitted to his mother and friends in text messages that he had left the scene of the traffic accident drunk.' It is very clear to us from transcripts of the guilty partys text messages, that he was only concerned about himself and demonstrates no concern whatsoever for our poor brother Paudie."

"The guilty party went through a stop sign, causing Paudies car to spin and collide with the embankment, admitted in text messages that he was drunk, drove away from the scene of the accident and then refused to plead guilty to the charge of dangerous driving causing death."

John said he and his brothers Denis and Richie can no longer turn to their eldest sibling for advice and guidance.

Magic commentary

He said that GAA games have a different meaning now, and they will never hear that magic commentary on the airwaves again.

John added that Paudie had the ability to turn a bad game in to a good game.

Defence counsel Seamus Roche, SC, said in mitigation that his client was without previous convictions.

Judge Dunphy offered his condolences to the family of the deceased and applauded their strength. He disqualified Mr Bezverkhyi from driving for ten years and jailed him for seven and a half years suspending the last year and a half of the sentence. The sentence was backdated to when he entered custody.

Meanwhile, the trial heard that Mr Bezverkhyi admitted to his mother and his friends in texts messages just hours after the collision that he had left the scene of a traffic accident drunk.

Texts sent in Russian in the aftermath of the crash were translated in to English and presented as evidence to the jury.

The texts were translated by translator Liudmilla Ladchenko. In one text the accused said It is not funny to me. I will be jailed.

Left the scene of a traffic accident. They will take me in now. They will come and get me.

One friend asked if he had hit anyone. He replied  I did. He asked another person for guidance via a text message.

I got in a to a car accident. Advise me what to do. I am in the wrong 100%. I drove off. I was drunk. There is no excuse for me. I am guilty of all.

Text messages

He said via text that he was blaming himself and when asked by a friend why he hadnt gone to the police he replied because I am not sober.

Mr Bezverkhyi also exchanged text messages with his mother in which he said that he would hand himself in the following day.

His mother told him to put a remnant of soapin his pocket when he handed himself in to police.

In one of the texts he said that he had left the scene of accident. Was pissed. Nevertheless, need to surrender to the garbage. I dont see any other way out. I think this is the most correct option.

His daughter Claire told the hundreds who had gathered for the funeral that her father had adored the newborn.

"Dad was looking forward to this year for so many reasons but being able to see his grand son Lucas grow and learn made his day. And that has now been robbed from us and him.

There has been a piece of all three of us lost forever more. Dad although you cannot be with us anymore you can rest easy knowing that your three girls will be well minded having such as close knit family rallying around us.

Chief celebrant Fr Finbarr Crowley described Paudie as having a multitude of gifts. He said that Palmer brought a palpable sense of joy to his commentating.

"Whether it was for C103FM from some unknown village in Co Cork or senior hurling final it made no difference to Paudie or his listeners because we all lived the excitement. But above all what Paudie got was that sense of community. The joy that a small village could celebrate a victory the same as the biggest club in Ireland could celebrate a victory.

"I don't think he realised what it did for every single community."

Mr Palmer is survived by his wife Colette, his daughters Claire and Emily, his three brothers, extended family and friends. The retired teacher was an uncle of Claudine Keane, who is the wife of former Ireland International Robbie Keane.
Department of Justice officials warned that UK plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda were likely to make migrants think twice and look at other options like Ireland.

In a briefing on deportation, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee was told that while Britains Rwanda policy was mired in legal actions, it was still likely to have a knock-on effect for other states.

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It said it could make Ireland seem like an attractive alternative or as a stepping stone to later getting back into the United Kingdom permanently.

The briefing, which was prepared in 2022 as the department considered an end to a Covid-19 moratorium on deportations, said UK policy on migration would inevitably affect Ireland.

It said: The first transfer of refugees from the UK to Rwanda has yet to succeed. It is currently mired in legal actions.

While it remains to be seen how successful the U.K.s much criticised attempt to outsource its immigrant processing to Rwanda will be in reality, [it could be that the chance] of being removed to that state would cause migrants to the U.K. to think twice and seek alternatives.

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The briefing said if the United Kingdom was successful in reducing or deterring arrivals, neighbouring states would feel the impact.

Ireland may ultimately be seen as an attractive alternative, or a stepping stone to the U.K. via eventual Irish citizenship and the Common Travel Area at a later date. Such behaviour would not be new, said the briefing.

The warnings about the Rwanda plan have come into stark relief as Ms McEntee said that at least 80 per cent of migrants were crossing the Border from Northern Ireland amid a diplomatic row with the British government over immigration.

The briefing also discussed the complexity of carrying out deportations, even in cases which involved serious criminality.

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It explained how the only enforced removals that took place during the pandemic were ones where an individual was deemed to carry an unacceptable risk to public safety.

However, these had been few and far between, and even still could be stopped by a person making a late application for international protection.

Officials wrote: Applications have been lodged by individuals who have been in this state for many years and who, up to the point of deportation, never felt the need to make such an application.

It is not desirable from a public safety perspective that individuals with serious criminal records or other offences considered suitable for deportation, should remain at liberty in this State for prolonged periods while the state deals with potentially vexatious applications.

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It also cited difficulties in getting certain countries  the names of which were redacted from the briefing  to accept deportees back.

This stemmed from pandemic-related issues, dysfunctional administrative capabilities and outright unwillingness to cooperate.

The briefing added: It is also noteworthy that some of these states are also the beneficiaries of visas for their citizens from Ireland. A question of good faith and reciprocity may arise.

The moratorium on removals had also created another problem where deportation orders signed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic might no longer be as robust and be subject to legal challenge.

The fact is that peoples circumstances change, and someone considered suitable for deportation three years ago may now, for example, be married to an Irish citizen or have Irish-born children, said the document.

There were also questions over whether some of the people subject to older deportation orders were even here anymore.

Ireland is not in a position to ascertain who has left the state as it has no exit controls, said the briefing.
A report has identified that police officers committed misconduct in the early part of their investigation into the death of showjumper Katie Simpson, PSNI chief constable Jon Boutcher has said.

Mr Boutcher told the Policing Board that an internal disciplinary process has now begun and added the force would learn whatever lessons it could from the investigation into the death of the 21-year-old in 2020.

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Ms Simpsons murder was originally thought by police to have been a suicide.

The trial of Jonathan Creswell, 36, over the rape and murder of Ms Simpson ended last month following his sudden death.

Ms Simpson, who was from Tynan, Co Armagh, died in hospital almost a week after an incident in Gortnessy Meadows, Lettershandoney, on August 3RD 2020.

The chief constable was asked about the case during his monthly meeting with his oversight body by Alliance Party member Nuala McAllister.

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She said: The death of Jonathan Creswell was a massive blow to justice for Katie and her family and loved ones.

I just want to ask to ensure that Katies legacy is that this never happens again to another woman and we rid society of violence against women and girls.

Mr Boutcher confirmed that her death was initially treated as a suspected suicide in August 2020.

He said that forensic opportunities would have been eroded due to the length of time between her being admitted to hospital and her death.

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He said: It becomes harder to understand causes of death. Of course Katie never regained consciousness to say what had happened.

In effect, due to people raising concerns about Creswell and his behaviour, between August and December there were a number of concerns which led to a reassessment of what had happened.

In January of 2021 Creswell was determined as a suspect in the murder of Ms Simpson. In March he was arrested and prosecuted.

Mr Boutcher added: There has been a PONI (Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland) investigation.

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I have been in touch with the ombudsman this week with regard to that investigation to ensure that any information that we have about our response has been properly examined so that we understand any lessons learnt, which I promise you we will undertake.

We have had a circa 1,400 page report from the ombudsman which has identified officers having committed misconduct, not gross misconduct or criminal.

That misconduct process is now under way through our professional standards department under the stewardship of the deputy chief constable.

He added: Anything we need to do in this organisation with regard to violence against women and girls, we will.

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We now know from Creswells lifestyle that there were additional violent offences that he committed.

Whatever we need to learn from this, we most certainly will learn from this.

Temporary assistant chief constable Davy Beck told the board: I can confirm that while Katie Simpson was being treated in hospital a member of the public did contact the police due to concerns they had regarding the incident, suggesting it may not have been a suicide attempt.

This was flagged to CID officers and as a result of that a forensic post-mortem examination was directed and a CID detective attended the post-mortem which was conducted on August 11 to help and advise the pathologist.

He added: On the basis of those findings and on the basis of the evidence available at that time, it was accepted by police that the incident was non-suspicious.

Clearly other information came forward in the weekend that followed that again required further examination.
Democratic Arizona governor Katie Hobbs has relegated a Civil War-era ban on most abortions to the past by signing a repeal bill on Thursday.

Ms Hobbs said the move is just the beginning of a fight to protect reproductive health care in Arizona.

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But the repeal may not take effect until 90 days after the end of the legislative session, in June or July.

Abortion rights advocates hope a court will step in to prevent that outcome.



Katie Hobbs holds up the repeal of the near-total abortion ban at the Capitol in Phoenix (AP Photo/Matt York)

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The effort to repeal the long-dormant law, which bans all abortions except those done to save a patients life, won final legislative approval on Wednesday in a 16-14 vote of the Senate, as two Republican lawmakers joined with Democrats.

Ms Hobbs denounced a ban that was passed by 27 men before Arizona was even a state, at a time when America was at war about the right to own slaves.

This ban needs to be repealed, I said it in 2022 when Roe was overturned, and I said it again and again as governor, Ms Hobbs said.

The vote extended for hours as senators described their motivations in personal, emotional and even biblical terms  including graphic descriptions of abortion procedures and amplified audio recordings of a foetal heartbeat, along with warnings against the dangers of legislating religious beliefs.

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Anti-abortion supporters protest outside at the Capitol in Phoenix (AP Photo/Matt York)

At the same time on Wednesday, supporters of a South Dakota abortion rights initiative submitted far more signatures than required to make the ballot this fall, while in Florida a ban took effect against most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, before many people even know they are pregnant.

Democratic Arizona attorney general Kris Mayes, an opponent of the near-total abortion ban, has said the earliest the dormant abortion-ban law could be enforced is June 27, though she has asked the states highest court to block enforcement until sometime in late July.

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But the anti-abortion group defending the ban, Alliance Defending Freedom, maintains county prosecutors can begin enforcing it once the Supreme Courts decision becomes final, which has not yet occurred.

The near-total ban provides no exceptions for survivors of rape or incest. In a ruling last month, the Arizona Supreme Court suggested doctors could be prosecuted under the law first approved in 1864, which carries a sentence of two to five years in prison for anyone who assists in an abortion.

A repeal means that a 2022 statute banning the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy would become Arizonas prevailing abortion law.

President Joe Bidens campaign team believes anger over the fall of Roe vs Wade gives them a political advantage in battleground states like Arizona, while the issue has divided Republican leaders.

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The 19th century law had been blocked since the US Supreme Courts 1973 Roe vs Wade decision guaranteed the constitutional right to an abortion nationwide.

After Roe vs Wade was overturned in June 2022, then-Arizona attorney general Mark Brnovich, a Republican, persuaded a state judge that the 1864 ban could be enforced.

Still, the law has not actually been enforced while the case was making its way through the courts.

Dr Ronald Yunis, a Phoenix-based obstetrician-gynaecologist who also provides abortions, called the repeal a positive development for patients who might otherwise leave Arizona for medical care.
A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a scuba dive boat captain to four years in custody and three years supervised release for criminal negligence after 34 people died in a fire aboard the vessel.

The September 2nd, 2019 blaze was the deadliest maritime disaster in recent US history, and prompted changes to maritime regulations, congressional reform and several ongoing lawsuits.

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Captain Jerry Boylan was found guilty of one count of misconduct or neglect of ship officer last year.

The charge is a pre-Civil War statute colloquially known as seamans manslaughter. It was designed to hold steamboat captains and crew responsible for maritime disasters.

Captain Jerry Boylan was the first to jump overboard when the ship Conception caught fire (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

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Boylans appeal is ongoing. He faced up to 10 years behind bars.

The defence had asked the judge to sentence Boylan to a five-year probationary sentence, with three years to be served under house arrest.

While the loss of life here is staggering, there can be no dispute that Mr Boylan did not intend for anyone to die, his lawyers wrote in a sentencing memo.

Indeed, Mr Boylan lives with significant grief, remorse, and trauma as a result of the deaths of his passengers and crew.

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The Conception was anchored off Santa Cruz Island, 25 miles south of Santa Barbara, when it caught fire before dawn on the final day of a three-day excursion, sinking less than 30 metres from shore.

Thirty-three passengers and a crew member died, trapped in a bunkroom below deck.

Among the dead were a deckhand, who had landed her dream job; an environmental scientist who conducted research in Antarctica; a globe-trotting couple; a Singaporean data scientist; and a family of three sisters, their father and his wife.

Boylan was the first to abandon ship and jump overboard. Four crew members who joined him also survived.

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Thursdays sentencing was the final step in a fraught prosecution that has lasted nearly five years and repeatedly frustrated the victims families.

A grand jury in 2020 initially indicted Boylan on 34 counts of seamans manslaughter, meaning he could have faced a total of 340 years behind bars.

Boylans lawyers argued the deaths were the result of a single incident and not separate crimes, so prosecutors got a superseding indictment charging Boylan with only one count.

With the conclusion of the criminal case, attention now turns to several ongoing lawsuits.
Hamas is considering the latest proposal for a ceasefire with Israel that the United States and other mediators hope will avert an Israeli attack on the Gaza town of Rafah.

But the chances of a deal are entangled with the question of whether Israel can accept an end to the war without reaching its stated goal of destroying Hamas.

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The stakes in the ceasefire negotiations were made clear in a new UN report that said if the war in Gaza stops today, it will still take until 2040 to rebuild all the homes that have been destroyed by nearly seven months of Israeli bombardment and ground offensives in the territory.

It warned that the impact of the damage to the economy will set back development for generations and will only get worse with every month fighting continues.

Antony Blinken said there is no time for quibbling over a ceasefire (Pool via AP)

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Hamas has insisted it will not sign onto the deal without assurances that, if it eventually releases all its hostages, Israel will end its onslaught in Gaza and pull its troops out of the territory.

The proposal that US and Egyptian mediators have put to Hamas  apparently with Israels acceptance  sets out a three-stage process that will bring an immediate six-week ceasefire and partial hostage release but also negotiations over a permanent calm that includes some sort of Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, according to an Egyptian official.

If Israel does agree to end the war in return for a full hostage release, it would be a major turnaround.

Since Hamas bloody October 7th attack stunned Israel, its leaders have vowed not to stop their bombardment and ground offensives until the militant group is destroyed. They also say Israel must keep a military presence in Gaza and security control after the war to ensure Hamas does not rebuild.

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Publicly at least, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to insist that is the only acceptable endgame.

He has vowed that even if a ceasefire is reached, Israel will eventually attack Rafah, which he says is Hamas last stronghold in Gaza.

Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli airstrike in Deir al Balah (AP)

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He repeated his determination to do so in talks on Wednesday with US secretary of state Antony Blinken, who was in Israel on a regional tour to push the deal through.

The deals immediate fate hinges on whether Hamas will accept uncertainty over the final phases to bring the initial six-week pause in fighting  and at least postpone what it is feared would be a devastating assault on Rafah, Gazas southernmost town where some 1.4 million Palestinians have taken refuge.

Egypt has been privately assuring Hamas that the deal will mean a total end to the war. But the Egyptian official said Hamas claims the texts language is too vague and wants it to specify a complete Israeli pullout from all of Gaza.

The group is still studying the offer, senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said in a message on Thursday to The Associated Press. He did not confirm whether it would formally give an answer later in the day.

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On Thursday, Hamas said it was sending a delegation to Cairo to continue ceasefire talks. The groups supreme leader, Ismail Haniyeh, said in a statement that he had spoken to Egypts intelligence chief and stressed the positive spirit of the movement in studying the cease-fire proposal.

The statement said Hamas negotiators would travel to Egypt as soon as possible to complete the ongoing discussions with the aim of working forward for an agreement.

Spoke with Minister @gantzbe on our efforts to secure the release of hostages through an immediate ceasefire deal. We also discussed our commitment to Israels security and the imperative to ensure more humanitarian aid reaches civilians in Gaza.  Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) May 1, 2024

The statement did not say when the delegation would travel. Hamas had been expected to deliver an answer to Egypts latest proposal as soon as Thursday.

Mr Blinken hiked up pressure on Hamas to accept, saying Israel had made very important compromises.

Theres no time for further haggling. The deal is there, Mr Blinken said on Wednesday before leaving for the US.

Hanging over the negotiations is the threat of an Israeli attack on Rafah, which the US and UN have warned could be catastrophic for Palestinian civilians. After fleeing Israels assault elsewhere in Gaza, more than half the territorys population has crowded into tent camps and other shelters in and around Rafah.

The United States, which has staunchly supported Israel throughout the war, has said it should not move on Rafah and has grown increasingly critical of the staggering toll borne by Palestinian civilians.

American officials say they oppose a major offensive in Rafah but that if Israel conducts one, it must first evacuate civilians. Israel has said it is developing plans for a mass evacuation of civilians.

The Israel-Hamas war was sparked by the October 7 raid into southern Israel in which militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250 hostages. Hamas is believed to still hold around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others.

Since then, Israels campaign in Gaza has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials.

It has wreaked vast destruction and brought about a humanitarian disaster, with several hundred thousand Palestinians in northern Gaza facing imminent famine, according to the UN. More than 80% of the population has been driven from their homes.
Walt Disney World will host dozens of portraits of service members and veterans by former US president George W Bush.

The George W Bush Institute will lend the 60 colour portraits to the Florida theme park resort.

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The paintings of service members and veterans will be displayed for a year at Epcots American Adventure pavilion starting next month.

Portraits of service members and veterans painted by George W Bush (George W Bush Presidential Centre via AP)

Accompanying each painting is a veteran biography written by the former president. The exhibit also will include information and resources created to support veterans and their families.

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My hope is that those who have the opportunity to see this special exhibit will also remember the leadership, service and sacrifice behind each of the heroes painted and the unique challenges our servicemembers and their families face when transitioning out of the military, said Ken Hersh, president and chief executive of the George W Bush Presidential Centre.
The parliament of Georgia has cancelled a session following massive protests against a proposed law that critics fear will stifle media freedom and endanger the countrys bid for European Union membership.

The parliament said the cancellation of Thursdays plenary session was connected to damage the building suffered during protests on Wednesday in which police used water cannon, tear gas and pepper spray against the tens of thousands of demonstrators.

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The legislature had approved a second reading of the bill that would require media and non-commercial organisations to register as pursuing the interests of a foreign power if they receive more than 20% of funding from abroad.

The third and final reading was expected in mid-May and it is not clear if the cancellation of Thursdays session would affect the bills progress.

Demonstrators build a barricade during an opposition protest against the Russian law near the Parliament building in Tbilisi (AP)

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The ruling Georgian Dream party withdrew a similar proposal last year after large crowds protested.

Opponents have denounced the bill as the Russian law because neighbouring Russia uses similar legislation to stigmatise independent news media and organisations critical of the Kremlin.

Eighty-three of Georgias 150 legislators approved the bill in its second reading, while 23 voted against it.

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, increasingly at odds with the governing party, has criticised the bill and vowed to veto it if it is passed by parliament.

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But the governing party can overrule the veto and ask the parliamentary speaker to sign the bill into law.

The EUs foreign policy arm earlier this month also criticised Georgian Dreams decision to reintroduce the law, which it said raises serious concerns around media freedom in the country  something it called crucial for the EU accession process.
The situation on the front line in eastern Ukraine is worsening but local defenders are so far holding firm against a concerted push by Russias bigger and better-equipped forces, a senior Ukrainian military official has said.

Russia has amassed troops in the Donetsk region in an effort to punch through the Ukrainian defensive line, according to Nazar Voloshyn, a spokesperson for Ukrainian strategic command in the east of the country.

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Mr Voloshyn said on national television: The enemy is trying to seize the strategic initiative and breach our defence.

The enemy is actively attacking along the entire front line, and in several directions they have achieved certain tactical advances. The situation is changing dynamically.

Russia has pushed Ukraine onto the back foot on the battlefield as Kyiv grapples with shortages of troops and ammunition.



A Russian attack struck the city of Odesa (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

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Ukrainian forces are now racing to build more defensive fortifications at places along the around 600-mile front line.

Ukraines difficulties have been deepening for months as the military waited for vital new military aid from the United States. The support was held up in Washington for six months.

Ukrainian soldiers withdrew from Avdiivka, a city in the Donetsk region, in February under a withering Russian barrage that had sapped their fighting strength and morale.

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Since then, the Kremlins forces have used their military might to take village after village in the area, bludgeoning them into submission, as they look to capture the parts of Donetsk they do not already occupy.

Cities in Russias crosshairs, including recent target Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine, are pulverised by Moscows missiles, drones and glide bombs.

The Donetsk and Luhansk provinces together make up the Donbas, an expansive industrial region bordering Russia that President Vladimir Putin identified as a focus from the wars outset and where Moscow-backed separatists have fought since 2014.



There has been a concerted effort in eastern Ukraine, military chiefs said (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

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Russia has also launched its third attack in a week on Odesa, firing ballistic missiles at the southern Ukrainian port city and injuring 14 people, local officials and emergency services said.

The attack hit a sorting depot belonging to Ukraines biggest private delivery company, Nova Poshta. No staff were injured, the company said, but the strike started a major fire.

On Monday, six people were killed in a Russian missile strike on Odesa, and two days later three people died there when the Kremlins forces targeted civilian infrastructure.

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Long-range strikes have been a feature of Europes biggest conflict since World War II, which mostly has focused on attrition. Kyiv officials have pleaded for more air defence systems from Ukraines Western partners, but they have been slow in coming.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that Russia had launched more than 300 missiles of various types, almost 300 Shahed-drones, and more than 3,200 guided aerial bombs at Ukraine in April alone.

Odesa, a key export hub for millions of tons of Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea, has been repeatedly targeted by Russia. Thursday is the 10th anniversary of clashes in the city between pro- and anti-Russia demonstrators that left 48 people dead.

Ukraine has deployed increasingly sophisticated long-range drones to hit back, aiming at targets on Russian soil, especially infrastructure that sustains the Russian economy and war effort.

The governors of three Russian regions reported that energy facilities were damaged by Ukrainian drone strikes overnight. Oryol region governor Andrei Klychkov said energy infrastructure was hit in two communities. The Smolensk and Kursk governors reported one facility damaged in each region.

The Russian defence ministry said Ukrainian drones were shot down over the Bryansk, Krasnodar, Rostov and Belgorod regions. Most were intercepted in Bryansk, where five were brought down, it said.
Voters in England and Wales head to the polls on Thursday in a series of local elections seen as the final test of public opinion before British prime minister Rishi Sunak goes to the country later this year.

Forecasts suggest Mr Sunak's Conservative Party could lose up to half of the council seats they are defending, with finance minister Jeremy Hunt saying the party expects to suffer significant losses.

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Most of the seats up for re-election were last contested in 2021, at the peak of former prime minister Boris Johnsons popularity as the Covid-19 vaccine was rolled out.

A total of 11 mayoral contests are also taking place, including for the London mayoralty between frontrunners, Labour incumbent Sadiq Khan and Tory challenger Susan Hall.

Labours incumbent Mayor of London Sadiq Khan (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

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Conservative mayors Andy Street in the West Midlands, and Tees Valleys Ben Houchen are also facing key re-election battles, with polls suggesting narrow contests with their Labour opponents.

Forecasts have consistently put Mr Khan ahead of Ms Hall, with a poll published on Wednesday by Savanta giving him a 10-point advantage after his lead tapered over the campaign.

Both main parties have sought to manage expectations ahead of polling day, with Mr Hunt insisting governments can get punished in local votes.

He told Sky News Politics Hub: Tony Blair easily lost those amounts of councillors. And, you know, David Cameron lost hundreds of councillors in the run up to the 2015 general election.

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So, you know, we are expecting to see significant losses. That often happens in local elections.

But what we say to people is, look, this may be a moment when you want to express a view about the national picture but actually the local services you depend on will be decided by how you vote.

Meanwhile, Labour said the mayoral system favours incumbents, though Keir Starmer said he is hopeful it will win the West Midlands contest in an interview with Sky News.

Wins for both Mr Street and Mr Houchen would offer the Tories a ray of light in what forecasts suggest could be a dismal set of results, but experts warned the metro mayor races would be the least reliable indicator of what could happen at a general election.

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Both received backing from Mr Johnson, whose interventions the prime ministers press secretary said were welcome despite both candidates having appeared to have distanced themselves from their party allegiance throughout campaigning.

John Curtice told an Institute for Government event on Wednesday the Conservative Party was emphasising the two contests because they think they might manage to win the contest and therefore theyll be able to cover whatever disasters happen elsewhere.

Because of the personal votes of these two, [these contests are] going to be the least reliable indicator, he said.

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Equally, conversely here in London, Sadiq Khan will not do as well as the Labour Party would do in a general election because Sadiq has a negative personal vote. But this city is now so strong Labour, hes going to win anyway, he said.

In a final message before polling stations open, Starmer said: Britain is, despite everything this Tory government has thrown at it, a great country.

Its people, businesses, and communities continue to come together in the face of adversity. It is a strong nation of pride and potential, with boundless ambition for its family and its community.

But it needs a government to match that ambition, and with a plan to unlock it. Today, you have a chance to vote for that change, and pass a verdict on fourteen years of decline. You can start to rebuild our country and take your community in a different direction.
Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters remain behind barricades on the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus despite police orders to leave.

Officers are poised to move in on their fortified encampment ringed by an even larger crowd, including supporters who locked arms as well as curious onlookers.

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Huge numbers of police began arriving on Wednesday afternoon, and empty buses were parked near UCLA to take away protesters who do not comply with the order.

Campus operations will be limited tomorrow and Friday. Please continue to avoid campus and the Royce Quad area. Per Academic Senate guidance on instruction, all in-person classes are authorized and required to pivot to remote tomorrow and Friday. https://t.co/MNiqJ7bu67  UCLA (@UCLA) May 2, 2024 Advertisement

The tense stand-off came one night after violence instigated by counter-protesters erupted in the same place.

A small city sprang up inside the barricaded encampment, full of hundreds of people and tents on the campus quad.

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Some protesters said Muslim prayers as the sun set over the campus, while others chanted were not leaving, or passed out goggles and surgical masks.

They wore helmets and headscarves, and discussed the best ways to handle pepper spray or tear gas as someone sang over a megaphone.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators watch police activity behind a barricade on the UCLA campus (AP)

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A few constructed homemade shields out of plywood in case they clashed with police forming skirmish lines elsewhere on the campus. For rubber bullets, who wants a shield? a protester called out.

Meanwhile, a large crowd of students, alumni and neighbours gathered on campus steps outside the tents, sitting as they listened and applauded various speakers and joined in pro-Palestinian chants.

A group of students holding signs and wearing T-shirts in support of Israel and Jewish people demonstrated nearby.

The crowd continued to grow as the night wore on as more and more officers poured onto campus.

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The law enforcement presence and continued warnings stood in contrast to the scene that unfolded the night before, when counter-demonstrators attacked the pro-Palestinian encampment, throwing traffic cones, releasing pepper spray and tearing down barriers.

Police have ordered protesters to leave (AP)

Fighting continued for several hours before police stepped in, though no arrests were made. At least 15 protesters suffered injuries, and the tepid response by authorities drew criticism from political leaders as well as Muslim students and advocacy groups.

Elsewhere, police in New Hampshire made arrests and took down tents at Dartmouth College and officers in Oregon came onto the campus at Portland State University as school officials sought to end the occupation of the library that started on Monday.

The chaotic scenes at UCLA came just hours after New York police burst into a building occupied by anti-war protesters at Columbia University on Tuesday night, breaking up a demonstration that had paralysed the school.

An Associated Press tally counted at least 38 times since April 18 where arrests were made at campus protests across the US. More than 1,600 people have been arrested at 30 institutions.

Demonstrators are seeking an immediate ceasefire in Gaza (AP)

UCLA chancellor Gene Block said in a statement that a group of instigators perpetrated the previous nights attack, but he did not provide details about the crowd or why the administration and school police did not act sooner.

However one feels about the encampment, this attack on our students, faculty and community members was utterly unacceptable, he said. It has shaken our campus to its core.

The nationwide campus demonstrations began at Columbia on April 17 to protest Israels offensive in Gaza, which followed Hamas launching a deadly attack on southern Israel on October 7. Militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took roughly 250 hostages. Vowing to stamp out Hamas, Israel has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to health officials there.

Israel and its supporters have branded the university protests antisemitic, while Israels critics say it uses those allegations to silence opposition.
Solomon Islands lawmakers elected former foreign minister Jeremiah Manele as prime minister on Thursday in a development that suggests the South Pacific island nation will maintain close ties with China.

Mr Manele used his first speech as leader to promise to govern with integrity and to put his nations interests first.

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I will discharge my duties diligently and with integrity. I will at all times put the interests of our people and country above all other interests, Mr Manele said in a speech outside the National Parliament of Solomon Islands.

Mr Manele won 31 votes in a secret ballot of 49 lawmakers who won general elections on April 17, governor general David Vunagi said, while Matthew Wale, who led the opposition in the previous parliament, received the remaining 18.



Manasseh Sogavare had hoped to become the first Solomons prime minister to maintain power in consecutive four-year terms (Australian Broadcasting Corporation via AP)

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The withdrawal of pro-Beijing former prime minister Manasseh Sogavare from the contest to make way for Mr Manele as their partys candidate indicated the country could follow a similar direction.

Mr Sogavare had hoped to become the first Solomons prime minister to maintain power in consecutive four-year terms following the election.

During his previous term, Chinas influence increased more in the Solomons than anywhere else in the South Pacific.

Mr Sogavare switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region.

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In his speech, Mr Manele also urged against any post-election violence.

Past prime ministers elections have been met with the act of violence and destruction. Our economy and livelihoods have suffered because of this violence, Mr Manele said.

However, today we show the world that we are better than that. We must respect and uphold the democratic process of electing our prime minister and set an example for our children and their children, he added.

Mr Sogavares election in 2019 sparked riots in the capital Honiara over legal questions hanging over his eligibility to become prime minister.

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More serious riots resulted in arson and looting in Honiara in November 2021 after his leadership survived a no-confidence motion moved by Mr Wale.

Riots following the 2006 election, which were fuelled by allegations of Chinese interference and resentment against Chinese business people, led to then-prime minister Snyder Rinis resignation after a week in office and Mr Sogavare taking power. It was the second of Mr Sogavares four stints as prime minister.

Meg Keen, the director of the Pacific Islands programme for Lowy Institute, a Sydney-based international policy think tank, said Mr Manele will be a less fiery and combative leader for the West to manage but he will continue to pursue close relations with China.

She said: As the former foreign minister he helped broker the security deal with China that panicked the West. But he is also a seasoned diplomat with experience at the UN and in western countries  hes no stranger to western engagement.

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She said Mr Sogavare had pulled out of the race because his partys loss of several lawmakers at the election was evidence that voters wanted change.
Bonzas administrators confirmed the company will be grounded until at least next Wednesday morning and have asked thousands of customers with bookings scheduled before then not to turn up to their respective airports.

Hall Chadwick, the accounting firm Bonza appointed after it entered voluntary administration on Tuesday, said the company remained in discussions with the lessor which has attempted to seize its entire fleet and does not expect a resolution until next week.

One of Bonzas 737 Max 8s blocked off at the end of Melbourne Airport. Credit: Joel Carrett

Whilst the administrators are continually in discussions with the lessor of the companys fleet and relevant parties regarding resumption of operations, those discussions are occurring daily and will continue to take place over the forthcoming days and into next week, Hall Chadwick said on Thursday.

There are 183 flights with 33,000 passengers who were scheduled to fly with Bonza over the next week. Its not clear whether passengers expecting to fly with Bonza after next Wednesday will be able to do so.
What exactly is a Future Made in Australia? You can read the long speech Anthony Albanese made about it and still not be sure. My guess is its a slogan designed by spin doctors to mean whatever youd like it to mean.

As I wrote on Monday, what I hope it means is that the government intends to secure our economic future by ensuring all the income were going to lose from the worlds decision to stop buying our exports of fossil fuels is replaced by us using our new-found comparative advantage of being able to produce renewable energy more cheaply than most other countries.

Credit: Matt Davidson

We can produce masses of the stuff but, because its expensive to export, we can set up new industries which use the renewable energy to produce green iron, green aluminium and various other green minerals and then sell them to the world.

Because such industries dont yet exist, the businesses that start them will inevitably make mistakes from which later businesses will learn. So it makes hard-headed economic sense for the government to cover much of the cost of this learning-by-doing positive externality  this spillover benefit to the wider economy for which the original businesses will go unrewarded.
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Review Eating outArmadale A little Japanese, a little French but a lot to love at this Armadale passion project Dont be deterred by the words fusion food. At this High Street newcomer, two cuisines meld with sensitivity and purpose. Dani Valent May 3, 2024 Save Log in , register or subscribe to save recipes for later. You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add more. Save this article for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime. Got it Share

This venue appears in the June hit list Melbourne 2024. See all stories .

1 / 6 Go-to dish: Banshos sushi platter is a world away from food-court fodder. Bonnie Savage 2 / 6 Salmon tartare is very French, but the seasoning takes its inspiration from Japan. Bonnie Savage 3 / 6 Prawn tomalley, made with king prawn liver, miso and cream cheese, served on Japanese brioche. Bonnie Savage 4 / 6 Roulade, featuring chicken breast encircling herbed mince, is tempura-fried so the skin is crackle-crisp. Bonnie Savage 5 / 6 Duck marinated in koji fungus is served with smoked eggplant and black garlic puree. Bonnie Savage 6 / 6 Banshos interior features brass, curves and natural stone, creating a harmonious setting. Bonnie Savage Previous Slide Next Slide Good Food hat 15 / 20 How we score Japanese$$$$ When you hear the words fusion food, do you feel excited or alarmed? The term always makes me think of the respected American chef and author Norman Van Aken, whos often credited with coining the phrase in the 1980s. He celebrated the thrill of influence and interpolation but also cautioned against melding flavours simply for kicks. Someone might say, Im going to put together blueberries and squirrel meat because nobody has ever done it, he told Smithsonian magazine in 2014. Maybe there is a reason theyve never done it. When it is forced and it is done to surprise for the sake of surprise, it becomes something that has little value, if any. Rest assured: theres no squirrel and blueberry at Bansho, a Japanese-French restaurant in upscale Armadale that opened to little fanfare at the end of 2023. Rather, the food here is thoughtful and accomplished and the dining experience warm and enveloping. When Japanese and French flavours and techniques are melded, its done with sensitivity and purpose.

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Salmon tartare with ginger oil and pickled plum: a jaunty snack. Bonnie Savage Take the tartare ($15), which uses king salmon, farmed in New Zealand. The fatty, finely chopped fish is very French, but the tart seasonings  ginger oil, pickled plum  lean towards Japan. The salmon is spooned over mustard leaf, turning a fork dish into a jaunty but luxurious hand snack. Theres chawanmushi ($22), a Japanese set custard. Its studded here with spanner crab and  in a daring move  topped with celeriac vichyssoise. Japanese steamed egg layered with creamy French soup? Well, yes. Its delightful, the variations in silky savouriness playing like gentle but persistent ripples. The chicken roulade: comforting food hug meets elegant culinary ballet. Bonnie Savage Ill always order a dish that sounds strange. Would the chicken mousseline roulade with kombu-dashi bechamel ($32) be Banshos squirrel-berry catastrophe? Chicken breast is rolled around herbed mince thats slow-cooked before being tempura-fried so the skin is crackle-crisp but still light, closer to oven-baked perfection than finger-lickin calorie dump. Some of the milk in the bechamel, a classic French white sauce, is replaced with dashi, a Japanese stock. Also on the plate, a golden bake of thinly sliced potatoes and a red wine jus. Sorry, rubberneckers, its delicious, a happy midpoint between comforting food hug and elegant culinary ballet. When Japanese and French flavours and techniques are melded, its done with sensitivity and purpose.

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Bansho is a passion project by first-time restaurateurs Larry Xie and Mira Wu. Hes from Melbournes western suburbs, where his parents ran cafes and a motel before shifting to Adelaide, where they owned casual Japanese eateries. She grew up in China. The couple met in Chicago as architecture students and bonded over a shared love of dining out. The restaurants that captivated them were cosy bistros in New York neighbourhoods and the fancy French restaurants of Tokyo. Back in Melbourne, they cooked up the idea for Bansho with Japanese chef Tomotaka Ishizuka, who has three decades of experience. I first encountered Tomo-sans food at the exquisite Melbourne kaiseki restaurant that still bears his surname. He later had a four-year stint as chef de cuisine at Crown Resorts. The trio is hands-on at Bansho which feels professional but also personal, like the people running it care deeply that it works. Banshos owners have created a harmonious and welcoming dining room. Bonnie Savage You see nothing of Bansho from the outside. Before I dined here, I stood on the street one bright autumn day and squinted pointlessly into the dimly brown dining room. Once you walk in, though, the setting is harmonious and welcoming. The curved lines, brass railings and booths read a little art deco, but there are Japanese elements in the printed wallpaper, natural stone and open sushi counter.

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You could just come for sushi or sashimi: its exquisite. You could even visit for vegan sushi: the plant-based menu is amazing, a product of Ishizukas time designing kaiseki, a style of dining that entails a progression of set courses and includes many vegetables. I loved the red capsicum on rice ($6) and the gunkan ($6), an oval sushi roll piled here with native beach banana. The regular sushi platter ($78) is truly lovely, reminding the diner that even though raw fish is ubiquitous these days, theres a huge gap between food-court fodder stuffed in plastic clamshells and the skilful rendering of premium seafood. Banshos sushi platter is truly lovely. Bonnie Savage I didnt have huge expectations of Bansho: the one report Id had from a diner was that it was a bit weird. I have to disagree: I was transported as soon as I walked in, then carried along by the experience. Whether you call it fusion, melding or mash-up, the closest I got to a squirrel was seeing a possum scarper up a tree on my way home. The low-down Vibe: A stylish amalgam of two of the worlds most poised cuisines Go-to dish: Sushi platter, $78 Drinks: Theres a good range of wines from France plus local French varietals. The nascent sake offering needs developing Cost: About $200 for two, plus drinks This review was originally published in Good Weekend magazine

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Eating outRestaurant news Botswana Butchery owes staff more than $500,000 as administrators recommend closure The New Zealand-owned restaurant group likely traded while insolvent, according to a new report. Scott Bolles May 2, 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

The group behind under-administration Botswana Butchery restaurants in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra owes creditors $4.5 million, according to a report dissecting one of the largest hospitality shake-outs of 2024. The financial stakes of the restaurant industry are laid bare in a report to creditors by the administrators. Details include unpaid taxation accounts across the group totalling $3.52 million; employee entitlements exceeding $500,000; and creditor debts including $1.81 million in unpaid rent, although the administrators note that will be partially offset by security bonds. The Sydney steakhouse in early 2022. Edwina Pickles The New Zealand-owned steakhouse entered voluntary administration in early April with the appointment of administrators Duncan Clubb and Andrew Sallway, from accounting firm BDO. The latest report to creditors  which also details $9.7 million in secured debt to the bank and $9 million in inter-company loans  is sombre reading for an industry under siege from higher operating costs and flatter consumer spending. The administrators report said the group was likely insolvent from last September.

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The Botswana Butchery restaurants continue to trade under the eye of Clubb and Sallway, who declined to offer further comment. But the administrators recommendation is that it would be in the best interests of creditors to wind the companies up. With a creditors meeting scheduled for Tuesday, May 7, at the time of writing administrators were yet to receive a completed deed of company arrangement from its directors or shareholders offering an alternate path. CopperTree Farms dry-aged Friesian rib-eye at Botswana Butchery. Edwina Pickles The high stakes of restaurant investment is also highlighted. While there is value for creditors in the groups wine cellars, research by administrators found the cost of removal of kitchen equipment had considerable depreciation attached. Parent hospitality group Good Groups arrival in Australia appeared to be well timed, opening during the post-pandemic dining boom. Botswana Sydney opened on prime turf at 25 Martin Place in December 2021, luring seasoned Sydney chefs. Melbourne followed in 2022 and Canberra earlier this year.

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Good Group also opened sibling restaurants in Sydney and Melbourne, White + Wongs, with some users on social media querying the names appropriateness. White + Wongs had even bigger problems behind the scenes. Both outlets had been unprofitable since opening. White + Wongs and its Melbourne spin-off Wong Baby Chapel ceased to trade before BDOs appointment. The Sydney branch closed last month. Financial reports suggest there had been some reasons for optimism. Botswana Butchery in both Sydney and Melbourne reported profits during their short trading history. But the economic downturn and wider group issues seemingly put a strain on the business. What is still unclear is where the owners of Good Group believe they went wrong. According to the report, the directors of the companies have as yet failed to provide administrators with their opinion of the reasons for the companies failure. In New Zealand, Good Groups operations are not affected. Exclusive Steak? Out! Botswana Butchery restaurants enter voluntary administration
Network Tens lawyers said Bruce Lehrmann had a great deal to lose if he continued his defamation case against the broadcaster and did not accept an offer to walk away from the case, new documents reveal.

In an interview on Sevens Spotlight program in June last year, Lehrmann said: Beware the man whos got nothing to lose.

In an offer of settlement sent to Lehrmanns lawyers on August 31 last year, released by the Federal Court this week, Tens lead solicitor, Thomson Geer partner Marlia Saunders, referred to that interview and said: Your client has previously stated he has nothing to lose.

Bruce Lehrmann departs court after losing his defamation case against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson. Credit: Wolter Peeters

Indeed, your ... communications [with Tens lawyers] repeat this as if to suggest your client is litigating from a position of strength. Frankly, he is not and he in fact has a great deal to lose if he proceeds to a trial in this proceeding.

Saunders said Lehrmann had told Seven that he accepted theres going to be 50 per cent of the country, probably more, that think Im a rapist but there were two sides to every story.

If our clients truth defence succeeds, the remaining 50 per cent of the country will have to accept that your client is a rapist. That much is plain. Such a finding would also almost certainly be fatal to your clients foreshadowed claim for compensation from the Commonwealth, Saunders wrote.

Lehrmann launched defamation proceedings against Ten and high-profile presenter Lisa Wilkinson in February last year over an interview with his former colleague Brittany Higgins, aired on The Project in February 2021. Both Higgins and Lehrmann had worked as advisers to the then Liberal defence industry minister Linda Reynolds.

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Lehrmann lost the case last month when Federal Court Justice Michael Lee ruled that Ten and Wilkison had established a truth defence by proving to the civil standard, meaning the balance of probabilities, that Lehrmann raped Higgins in Parliament House in March 2019.

Ten is now pursuing Lehrmann for its legal costs of defending the action. In support of its application for indemnity costs, which cover a higher proportion of a successful partys costs bill than the standard order, Ten says Lehrmann unreasonably rejected the walk away settlement offer in August last year, under which the proceedings would have been dismissed without any admission of liability or any costs order.

Lehrmann has previously settled defamation cases with News Corp and the ABC which included a combined contribution of more than $400,000 to his legal fees.

Lee indicated this week that he would make a costs order in favour of Ten but he has yet to say whether it will be made on an ordinary or indemnity basis.

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Saunders said in the letter offering to resolve the proceedings last year: This offer involves significant compromise. Clearly, it involves [the media parties] ... forgoing their costs to date (which are significant) as well as the opportunity to obtain a judgment which vindicates their journalism.

The reply from Lehrmanns lawyer, Paul Svilans, was curt. We refer to your letter to us of todays date containing the Respondents settlement offer. Our client rejects that offer, he said.

Lee will deliver his decision on costs at a later date. The judge has granted Lehrmann an extension of time in which to file any notice of appeal against his decision. The new deadline is May 31.
Towers of up to 75 storeys would be allowed in Woolloongabba under a new Queensland government planning scheme put out for public comment on Thursday.

The new 106-hectare Priority Development Area, which wrests planning control for the precinct from Brisbane City Council, will allow the heights in two catalyst uplift projects near the Gabba stadium and the new Cross River Rail station.

An indicative render of the proposed Woolloongabba priority development area. Credit: Queensland Government

It would allow for 14,000 new homes, which would house an estimated 24,000 residents, and aimed to deliver more public space, improved pedestrian and cycle connections to South Bank and the CBD, and limit urban sprawl on the citys fringes.

In addition, about 36,000 workers would be employed in the precinct.
Dear mum, I love you. I miss our holidays together and our tickle fights. I miss you a lot, and I will love you every day and night. You are the best mum in the world.

A four-year-old boys farewell message to his mother, Molly Ticehurst  a mother who will never witness her son become a man  was read aloud to raw silence.

Mourners at the funeral of Molly Ticehurst on May 2. Credit: Kate Geraghty

Outside, under the late autumn sky, the mourners had come to Forbes Rugby Club to farewell this mother, whose death has assumed a national weight  one that has galvanised a national movement against domestic violence.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese labelled it a national crisis and this week announced further funding for women escaping violent relationships. The Minns government is considering a royal commission.
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 This article is part of a series on the impact of toxic forever chemicals produced as part of the documentary How To Poison a Planet. See all 11 stories . After 3M learnt that one of its best-selling chemicals had contaminated the blood of the general population, it was what the companys internal documents didnt say that was most incriminating. It was April 1979 and the Wall Street giants top executives hopped in the company jet and flew from their headquarters in Minnesota to San Francisco for secretive talks with two world-leading scientists to gauge their opinion on a pressing issue. How big a problem did the company have following the discovery its miracle waterproofing ingredient, perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), had been turning up in the blood of the general public? The answer was ominous. The substance caused symptoms in animals similar to those observed with carcinogens, the scientists warned. 3Ms global headquarters in Maplewood, Minnesota. Credit: Bloomberg If high levels were widespread in peoples blood for long enough, we could have a serious problem. But when the final version of the meeting minutes was published, those comments had mysteriously disappeared.

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But as detailed in a new documentary investigation from Stan, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, and iKandy Films, whoever removed them left a trail of breadcrumbs. Fast-forward 40 years and an earlier draft still containing the damning comments had been left sitting in 3Ms files, waiting to be subpoenaed by class action lawyers who pounced on their smoking gun. Last month, they reached a $US12.5 billion ($19 billion) settlement with the chemicals maker over the pollution of thousands of water supplies across America with the chemical. It was our holy shit moment. Like, people do this? Gary Douglas, lawyer This world-renowned expert, his conclusion was completely deleted from the final draft, lawyer Gary Douglas says in the documentary, How to Poison a Planet. It was our holy shit moment. Like, people do this? says Douglas, a partner at New York law firm Douglas & London and the lead trial counsel in the recent case against 3M. The film lifts the lid on 3Ms alleged decades of deception after it discovered its chemical, PFOS, had contaminated the entire planet through its widespread use in food packaging, the best-selling fabric protector, Scotchgard, and firefighting foam sprayed at airports, fire stations and Defence bases.

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Almost no Australian has escaped unscathed, with revelations 98 per cent of the population has been contaminated with forever chemicals. By the early 2000s, when 3M pulled PFOS off the market, most Australians had levels in their blood well above what the companys own scientists deemed safe. Critical words disappeared from the meeting minutes. Credit: IKANDY FILMS & KINGDOM OF LUDD In recent years, authorities in the United States and Europe have linked forever chemicals, also known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS, to cancer, suppression of the immune system, high cholesterol and endocrine disruption. The US Environmental Protection Agency has recently designated PFOS a hazardous substance. It says there is no safe level of exposure in drinking water. Now a trove of correspondence unearthed by this masthead has raised fresh questions about whether 3M properly warned the Australian government of the risks of the foam containing PFOS. It can be revealed that a 3M employee told Australian bureaucrats the foams waste could be allowed to bleed into the environment. The comments were made in a letter written in 1985, years after the company was warned about the chemicals carcinogenic potential in the meeting with the vanishing minutes.

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At the time, the Fortune 500 company also knew the PFOS in the foam killed monkeys in laboratory studies, would not break down in the environment and was considerably more toxic than anticipated, its own internal documents show. Gary Douglas, the trial lawyer who took on 3M over PFAS chemicals. Credit: Stan The 1985 letter is likely to be a flashpoint if the Department of Defence follows through on its threat to sue 3M for firefighting foam contamination that has seeped off its bases and poisoned tens of thousands of Australian homes. So far, Australian taxpayers have been saddled with a bill of more than $366 million to settle class actions launched against Defence by those home owners. The trove of documents, obtained by this masthead from the National Archives of Australia, also show grave warnings were sounded from within the NSW government in the 1980s that the foam could contaminate drinking water if it was allowed to escape into waterways. The documents shine a light on the disturbing extent to which the foam has also been used at the countrys major airports.

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Emergency services personnel from across Victoria attended training courses with the foam at Melbourne Airport multiple times a week over the decades. About 21,600 litres of the foam concentrate were sprayed at Tullamarine in 1984 alone. When a small fire broke out a year later at Avalon airport, it took only two minutes for a deluge of about 35,000 litres of firefighting foam solution to be sprayed over the floor. It was then squeegeed into a drain at the hangar, which belonged to Government Aircraft Factories. Aviation firefighters use foam contaminated with PFAS in Victoria in 1998. It took about three hours to clean the floor, a briefing paper said. It is estimated about 60,000 litres of water was used to wash down the hangar. Authorities closed the airports fire station in 2022 after unsafe levels of forever chemicals were discovered in the drinking water. Documents show concern was brewing within multiple Australian government departments about the disposal of the firefighting waste in the early 1980s.

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This is the column Ive been deciding not to write for nearly a decade.

I think I first made that decision in 2015, when Malcolm Turnbull declared that disrespecting women does not always result in violence against women. But all violence against women begins with disrespecting women. Here, Turnbull echoed what seemed to be the dominant explanation of domestic violence at the time. But I couldnt repress a simple thought when I heard Turnbulls comment: I just dont think thats correct.

Illustration: Andrew Dyson

Thats because my academic work was studying the roots of violence, where research overwhelmingly identifies factors like humiliation, shame and guilt as motivating drivers, not a lack of respect. When the literature mentions respect at all, it isnt about the perpetrator disrespecting the victim: its more about the perpetrator feeling someone had disrespected them. Thus could James Gilligan  a prison psychiatrist working with Americas most violent men for 35 years  conclude he was yet to see a serious act of violence that was not provoked by the experience of feeling shamed or humiliated, disrespected and ridiculed. Gilligans language is strikingly absolute: all violence is an attempt to replace shame with self-esteem, and direct: the most dangerous men on earth are those who are afraid they are wimps.

Still, I withheld my scepticism for a few reasons. For one, it felt momentous just to see a prime minister put this on the agenda. Also, the people emphasising disrespect almost certainly have expertise that I dont. And, it can be possible to work gender into violence analysis, roughly as follows: hierarchical gender norms, in which women are assumed inferior, lead men to feel humiliation, shame and disrespect when women dont behave like their supplicants. They also lead men to think violence is the best way to restore their self-esteem. By this logic, perhaps if we established a more gender-equal culture, the humiliation would dissipate and violence would reduce.
Instagram and Facebook feeds would be stripped of news if the federal government uses its laws to force Meta to pay for Australian journalism in a high-stakes threat that has prompted Labor to mull new laws to take on Mark Zuckerbergs social media giant.

Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones has revealed that Mark Zuckerbergs firm has told Australia it will stop media companies and individual users posting news links if the government enforced a world-first Morrison government scheme compelling tech giants to pay for articles.

Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones, Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg and X owner Elon Musk. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen, AP

Metas threat to pull news content from Australia should send a shudder down the spine of every small business in Australia that uses Meta as a platform to ply their trade, Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones said.

Meta has made it clear theyll play hardball. So will the government.
A narrow moat in the heart of the University of Melbourne became the scene of an uneasy stand-off between its pro-Palestine student encampment and Jewish groups on Thursday.

Tensions were already running high on campus  overnight, pro-Israel supporters harassed another student encampment newly set up at Monash University in Clayton to protest against university ties to weapons companies. Footage shows a group appearing after midnight blasting music and calling campers rapists  hiding in your tunnels like Hamas, your terror cells before rummaging through the camps food supplies, while waving Israeli and Australian flags.

The Pro-Palestine student camp faces off a visit from Israel supporters and Jewish students. Credit: Darrian Traynor

Students say they were woken in the middle of the night by the intrusion, and claim the group of about 12, mostly middle-aged men, also shook tents with people still inside them and destroyed some of the campsite. Police confirmed they moved the group on, but no arrests were made.

Monash said it would continue to work with organisers to ensure everyones safety, but as this is a matter Victoria Police are actively investigating it would be inappropriate to comment further.
Honolulu: For decades, tourists to Hawaii have bought gift boxes of the islands famous chocolate-covered macadamia nuts for friends and family back home, but these days many of the kernels in the package might not be Hawaii-grown.

This little-known fact is surfacing at the state legislature as it wrestles over a law that would force macadamia-nut processors of iconic brands like Mauna Loa to disclose whether their products contain nuts from outside the islands.

Growers want the measure to protect their crops and farms, while commercial nut brands say what Hawaii needs is more capacity to process mac nuts locally.

Packets of macadamia nuts on store shelves in Honolulu. Credit: AP

Foreign nuts are being marketed cleverly as Hawaiian, said Jeffrey Clark, chief operating officer of a trust that owns Hamakua Macadamia Nut Company.
By closely examining the evolving financial needs of SMEs in the market, Prospa was able to develop technology that can inform the creation of new and relevant financial products in the future.
By Azernews

Ulviyya Shahin

The recent panel discussion at the annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has underscored the pivotal role of Azerbaijan in revitalising the Middle Corridor and bolstering European connectivity. With a focus on enhancing trade links between Europe and Asia, discussions have centred on the potential of this corridor to catalyse economic growth and integration in the region.

A key aspect of Azerbaijan's contribution to the Middle Corridor initiative lies in its commitment to renewable energy development. Samir Sharifov, the Minister of Finance and Governor for Azerbaijan at the ADB, emphasised Azerbaijan's dedication to diversifying its economy away from traditional oil and gas reliance towards renewable energy sources. This strategic shift not only aligns with global sustainability goals but also positions Azerbaijan as a proactive player in shaping the future of energy.

Sharifov highlighted Azerbaijan's upcoming role as the host of COP29, a crucial global climate conference. This platform will provide Azerbaijan with an opportunity to showcase its commitment to sustainability and renewable energy leadership on the world stage. Furthermore, he outlined ambitious plans for Azerbaijan to ramp up renewable energy production to up to 5 GW by 2030, leveraging both public investment and private capital. This proactive approach not only enhances energy security but also fosters innovation and economic diversification.

In line with these efforts, the World Bank has stepped in to support the preparation of a feasibility study for laying a cable along the bottom of the Black Sea. Rolande Pryce, the World Bank Director for the South Caucasus, highlighted the comprehensive nature of this study, which will assess technical, economic, financial, and institutional aspects to ensure the viability of the project. Signed by the governments of Georgia, Azerbaijan, Romania, and Hungary in December 2022, this agreement signifies a collaborative effort to enhance energy connectivity between the region and Europe.

Crucially, the study is being spearheaded by the Italian energy consulting company CESI, indicating international cooperation and expertise in driving forward this transformative initiative. As Azerbaijan continues to play a leading role in advancing the Middle Corridor, such partnerships underscore the country's commitment to sustainable development and economic prosperity.

Azerbaijan's proactive stance towards renewable energy and its involvement in initiatives like the Middle Corridor highlight its emergence as a key player in the global energy landscape. By leveraging its strategic location and fostering international partnerships, Azerbaijan is poised to unlock new opportunities for sustainable economic growth and regional integration.
Rocket Software, Inc. (Rocket Software), a global technology leader in modernization software, has expanded upon its position as a partner of choice empowering the world's leading businesses on their modernization journeys. Closing the acquisition of the Application Modernization and Connectivity (AMC) business of OpenText, formerly part of Micro Focus, Rocket Software now offers customers modernization software solutions spanning the mainframe to the cloud. With a total purchase price of $2.275 billion, before taxes, fees and other adjustments, the deal increases the companys revenue by over 60% and expands its customer base to more than 12,500 companies and network to more than 750 partners worldwide. In addition, the company welcomes more than 770 new software engineers, go-to-market professionals and other supporting team members and is hiring hundreds of additional Rocketeers to complement its existing team.

Rocket Softwares customers are global market leaders that are constantly setting new benchmarks for excellence and innovation in their industries that we are proud to power and advance, said Milan Shetti, president and CEO of Rocket Software. The acquisition of the OpenText AMC business is a significant milestone that sets a similar new standard for modernization innovation and excellence at Rocket Software and greatly accelerates our strategic growth and market penetration. We now have the solutions, resources and expertise to tackle modernization challenges at scale, and the continued flexibility, winning culture, proven partnerships and growth mindset necessary to help our customers win today and well into the future.

The combination of OpenTexts AMC business and Rocket Softwares highly complementary businesses will create one of the worlds largest mainframe modernization and connectivity software companies, said Peter Rutten, Research Vice-President, Performance Intensive Computing, IDC. While many in the industry would champion moving everything to the cloud, or never moving anything off the mainframe, this investment shows Rocket Softwares commitment to meeting clients wherever they are in their modernization journey. Now Rocket Software will have a comprehensive portfolio that allows clients to modernize their workloads in place, move applications to the cloud or a combination of both through a hybrid strategy, which we see most enterprises prefer.

With the added talent and innovation acquired from AMC, the company has set a new bar for modernization innovation in a single partner that:

Offers Leading Technology for Mainframe Modernization by building on its deep expertise and long-standing commitment to optimizing mainframe environments to facilitate seamless, secure and compliant solutions that meet the demands of the digital era

by building on its deep expertise and long-standing commitment to optimizing mainframe environments to facilitate seamless, secure and compliant solutions that meet the demands of the digital era Meets Customers Wherever They Are on Their Journeys with an unyielding grasp of the entire landscape and comprehensive range of software solutions for any stage of modernization

with an unyielding grasp of the entire landscape and comprehensive range of software solutions for any stage of modernization Values and Builds on Past and Current Investments by recognizing there is a better approach to the rip and replace playbook for modernization and instead helps customers leverage their existing foundation for a seamless technological evolution

by recognizing there is a better approach to the rip and replace playbook for modernization and instead helps customers leverage their existing foundation for a seamless technological evolution Delivers Solutions as a True Partner, Not Just a Vendor with a 93.7% customer satisfaction rate for enterprises that demand nothing short of excellence, and need a trusted partner



Rocket Software will integrate and continue to develop AMC products to enhance its portfolio, helping customers stay competitive and leverage their data, applications and infrastructure regardless of their modernization strategy. In addition to several complementary Host Connectivity, Application Development and CORBA solutions, Rocket Software will also offer COBOL and Enterprise Suite, market leading technologies that allow companies the ability to run COBOL and PL/I applications on distributed or cloud servers. These added capabilities expand the mainframe modernization approaches that Rocket Software can deliver, enabling choice and allowing customers to run workloads wherever it makes sense for their business. This breadth, and the ability to integrate the various approaches, allows customers to seamlessly connect any combination of solutions across the modernization continuum.

Application modernization is key to digital transformation in financial services, said Martin Wildberger, EVP, Innovation & Technology, RBC. As a Rocket Software customer, we've experienced firsthand the companys commitment to innovation.

Within our organization, the need for modernization is a dynamic process, continually evolving as we grow and scale our business.," said Jose Fortemps, CTO, AG Insurance. "The OpenText AMC solutions have served us well and, now as part of Rocket Software, we look forward to exploring new opportunities for our data, application and infrastructure that propels us into the future.

To learn more about Rocket Software and its enhanced capabilities and solutions, click here.

About Rocket Software

Rocket Software is the global technology leader in modernization and partner of choice that empowers the world's leading businesses on their modernization journeys, spanning core systems to the cloud. Trusted by over 12,500 customers and 750 partners, and with more than 3,000 global employees, Rocket Software enables customers to maximize their data, applications, and infrastructure to deliver critical services that power our modern world. Rocket Software is a privately held U.S. corporation headquartered in the Boston area with centers of excellence strategically located throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Rocket Software is a portfolio company of Bain Capital Private Equity. Follow Rocket Software on LinkedIn and Twitter or visit www.RocketSoftware.com.

Cautionary Information Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Some of the statements contained in this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, including, but not limited to, statements about our future performance, results and operations following the acquisition of the AMC business. These forward-looking statements are generally identified by the use of words such as anticipate, believe, could, estimate, expect, intend, may, plan, potential, predict, project, should, target, will, would and, in each case, their negative or other various or comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements reflect our views with respect to future events as of the date of this press release and are based on our current expectations, estimates, forecasts, projections, assumptions, beliefs and information. Although management believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that these expectations will prove to have been correct. All such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside of our control, and could cause future events or results to be materially different from those stated or implied in this press release. Such factors and risks include, but are not limited to, risks related to our ability to successfully integrate the AMC business and realize the expected synergies and certain other risks. It is not possible to predict or identify all such risks. We expressly disclaim any obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240430605619/en/
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Forum to Include Georgia First Lady Marty Kemp, who will Address 988 Suicide Crisis Line Rollout, and Mental Health Services for Youth and Georgias Veterans

ATLANTA  The Carter Center will convene its 28th Rosalynn Carter Georgia Mental Health Forum on May 14, 2024. This free, in-person and virtual event explores pressing mental health issues in Georgia and the rest of the country (see below for agenda and how to participate in person or online). This forum will emphasize inclusivity, equity, and resilience in mental health advocacy. Through engaging, bipartisan discussions and thought-provoking presentations, participants will explore critical issues, confront systemic barriers, and chart a path forward toward a more effective mental health system for all Georgians.

This year, our Georgia Mental Health Forum is especially meaningful  not only due to last years passing of our inspirational founder, former U.S. First Lady Rosalynn Carter, but also because we are collectively increasing our resolve to take concrete action to bring mental health care access to all Georgians, said Carter Center Mental Health Program Director Dr. Eve Byrd. Were working to eliminate barriers to mental health care access, move forward crisis response, and help hold key stakeholders accountable to implement Georgia mental health parity laws. Children and families have an urgent need for prevention, intervention, and targeted treatment and services.

Georgia First Lady Marty Kemp joins a panel with Department of Behavioral Health and Disabilities Commissioner Kevin Tanner. In Georgia, suicide is the third leading cause of death among youth ages 15-24, and in 2020, 45% of Georgias children aged 317 had difficulty accessing or were unable to access needed mental/behavioral health treatment and counseling. Other panels will address the importance of school-based behavioral health in communities and a plan for serving children in diverse communities.

Those attending the event in person can view the Georgia Comfort for Recovery Quilt, handcrafted by members of R2ISE to Recovery, a nonprofit recovery community organization in partnership with the Michael C. Carlos Museum. The Comfort of Recovery quilt embodies the transformative power of connection, recovery, and storytelling.

Attendees can also observe an onsite demonstration of how puppies and young service dogs are trained to mitigate the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder.

How to View and Participate in the May 14 Georgia Mental Health Forum:

In person at The Carter Center from 9:30 a.m.3:30 p.m. ET | Click here to register.

Address: The Cecil B. Day Chapel, The Carter Center, One Copenhill, 453 John Lewis Freedom Parkway NE, Atlanta, GA 30307

View online from 9:30 a.m.  3:30 p.m. ET | Click here to view.

Participants and viewers are encouraged to join the conversation on X (formerly Twitter) using #GeorgiaMentalHealth and tag @CarterCenter.

The Rosalynn Carter Georgia Mental Health Forum, established in 1995, is held each May to address timely mental health policy issues facing the state. Consumers, service providers, policymakers, advocates, and media from across Georgia are invited to participate in open discussions on diverse, pressing topics.

More about the Centers Mental Health Program is here, and a timeline of Rosalynn Carters 50 years of mental health advocacy is here. Our 2024 Journalism Resource Guide on Mental Health Reporting is here. The guide provides an update on recommended language and expert tips for language around mental health and suicide.

View the agenda (PDF) 

Media: Media wishing to attend the Georgia Forum must RSVP to Rennie Sloan at rennie.sloan@cartercenter.org.

Resources: If you or someone you know may be considering suicide or is in crisis, call, or text 9-8-8 for assistance in accessing support and services.

Contact: In Atlanta, Rennie Sloan, rennie.sloan@cartercenter.org
ATLANTA (May 2, 2024)  The Carter Center is monitoring protests at universities across the United States, and at Emory in particular. We stand in support of freedom of opinion, expression, and assembly as central tenets of democracy. We urge university leaders and law enforcement to uphold human rights principles and avoid unnecessary escalation; and we urge protesters to remain peaceful as they use their voices to work for change.

###

The Carter Center

Waging Peace. Fighting Disease. Building Hope.

A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, The Carter Center has helped to improve life for people in over 80 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; and improving mental health care. The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide.
CEMEX has reached full investment grade status after being upgraded to BBB- by rating agency Fitch Ratings. This follows S&P Global Ratings upgrade announced in March 2024.

Achieving investment grade is a milestone for CEMEX, said Fernando A Gonzalez, CEO of CEMEX. This rating is confirmation of both our strategy and our execution against it. By optimizing our cost of capital, it also serves as the foundation for increased financial flexibility going forward to address our capital allocation priorities of growth investments in key markets and shareholder return.

CEMEXs strategic focus on its key markets was advanced further last week by the announcement of the agreement to divest its operations and assets in the Philippines. CEMEX also recently announced the closing of a EUR750m bank refinancing as part of its comprehensive financing plan designed to increase liquidity and flexibility.
Holcim US scoops slag cement award

Suzanne Starbuck By 02 May 2024

Holcim US has been recognised by the Slag Cement Association (SCA) as a winner in the 2023 Slag Cement in Sustainable Concrete Awards. The company was honoured in the Innovation Applications category at an awards ceremony held in conjunction with the Spring American Concrete Institute Convention in New Orleans.

Holcim US secured the win by showcasing its project at the Duck Lake Country Club, Albion, Michigan. The project revived the clubs distressed, asphalt parking lot by topping it with a concrete overlay. By replacing 25 per cent of the Portland limestone cement with slag, the mix reduced the embodied carbon of the white-topped parking lot project.

What makes this project particularly innovative is the way we used slag cement to mitigate potential concerns with material degradation while increasing long-term strength and durability, said Patrick Cleary, senior vice president, sales at Holcim US. This award exemplifies what we do best in providing our customers with sustainable, long-lasting and economical solutions.

Since 2010, the awards have recognised the exceptional use of slag cement in sustainable concrete construction. Holcim US has previously won the Sustainable Concrete Awards in such categories as Architectural, Lower Carbon Concrete, Durability, High Performance and Infrastructure.

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Phinma to invest in PHP2bn Davao plant

Muriel Bal By 02 May 2024

Philippines-based Phinma Corp plans to invest approximately PHP2bn (US$34.7m) in a new cement plant in Davao to further consolidate its presence in the cement market.



"Were putting up our Davao plant which is almost similar to Mariveles plant. That is in joint venture with some of our partners in Davao, Philcement Corp President and CEO, Eduardo Sahagun, said.



That will bring our total capacity to somewhere like 5Mta if all those things will be completed in a couple of years, he added.



Philcements 2Mta Mariveles cement facility in the Freeport Area of Bataan, which was inaugurated in January 2020, is considered to be one of the largest independent cement terminals globally.

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NARA, May 02 (News On Japan) - Tenri City in Nara Prefecture has opened a "dedicated desk" to handle complaints that were traditionally managed within schools.

The ongoing saga of excessive parental demands and complaints is a significant factor contributing to teacher burnout. In the 2022 fiscal year, a record 639 teachers resigned due to mental health issues like depression.

Current Elementary School Teacher's Struggle: "Parents would stand at the back of the classroom, monitoring the lesson because they thought I wasn't educating properly. Ive had to discuss issues with parents until about 11 PM. It was exhausting... constantly thinking about that person."

Unreasonable complaints and demands from parents are exacerbating the already heavy burdens of busy teachers.

In response to this pressing situation, Tenri City has established a "specialized desk for parental responses" separate from the schools.

Approximately a month after the introduction of this new system, those manning the dedicated desk began to feel its positive impact. However, this has not completely dissolved the tension, as the ingrained anger and anxiety among parents about child upbringing and school activities continue to pose challenges.

The aim is to foster a better understanding and address the root causes of parental anxiety, which often escalates into anger. Introducing specialists to assist with these interactions is proving invaluable. While the system helps bridge some gaps, concerns remain about the intensity of the relationships that develop between parents and the school. Not all responsibilities can be shifted to the new system, as maintaining a direct connection with parents is essential for building trust and understanding.

Source: KTV NEWS
The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) has awarded a $434,131 grant to Walker County to help fund a direct connection for pedestrians and cyclists between the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park and downtown Chickamauga, known as the Chickamauga Battlefield Connector Trail.

Walker County is committed to enhancing access to outdoor recreational opportunities for residents and visitors, said Shannon Whitfield, chair, Walker County Board of Commissioners. In addition to being a huge quality of life component for our residents, outdoor recreation is the lifeblood of our tourism industry. This project will significantly impact our community by linking a population center with a popular natural and cultural asset.

The ARC grant will be paired with a local match to construct a nearly one-mile multi-use pathway that will connect two existing surfaced trails to complete a 2.2 mile trail from the Chickamauga Battlefield at Wilder Road to downtown Chickamauga.

Walker County partnered with the city of Chickamauga, Trust for Public Land (TPL), Northwest Georgia Regional Commission, Lyndhurst Foundation, Riverview Foundation, Jewell Memorial Foundation and others to make this strategic investment to capitalize on one of the regions most significant assets.

The Battlefield Connector Trail is a great first opportunity for Trust for Public Land to partner with Walker County, Chickamauga, and the Northwest Georgia Regional Commission to achieve a long held and shared vision to connect more people from more communities to the remarkable natural assets throughout north Georgia and the Tennessee Valley, said Noel Durant, TPL Tennessee State director. We know that quality of life matters to this community and that thoughtfully linking tourist destinations to business districts can grow local economies. We are grateful to the ARC for their generous investment in this project, to our philanthropic partners, and to the people of Walker County for inviting TPL to help them with this wonderful project."

Letters of support for the project came from U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia State Rep. Mike Cameron, and the acting superintendent of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, among others.

Construction on the trail could start as early as late summer with the project potentially wrapping up by the end of the year.
A teen who dropped his cellphone at a murder scene and was charged with criminal homicide has had murder and robbery cases dismissed.

Kenneth Zy Shaun Moore, who was 19 at the time of the 2021 murder of Alfred Pitmon on Seventh Avenue, pleaded guilty to facilitation of aggravated robbery pursuant to a plea agreement.

District Attorney Coty Wamp said the murder case was unprovable on Moore. She said the fact that his cell phone was found at the scene "is basically the extent of the evidence against him."

Police said the cellphone was taken to the TBI lab where a forensic download was completed.



It was found that Facebook user "PeeKay" was using the phone just before the murder. Police said "PeeKay" was determined to be Kenneth Moore.

Moore said the phone found by police was his. He said he was one of those who returned to search for the phone after he noticed it was missing.

A Criminal Court jury in March found 21-year-old Marvin Menifee guilty on two charges in the Pitmon slaying. He was found guilty of criminally negligent homicide and especially aggravated robbery.

Menifee still faces another murder charge. He had been out on bond two weeks on the Pitmon case when he was charged with killing Deountay Brown in a drive by shooting. That happened April 14, 2023, on Dodds Avenue.

The daughter of Pitmon, who was described as a small time marijuana dealer, said Menifee was at her father's home with four teens on the night he was killed.

She said they were all wearing ski masks, and she saw Menifee lock the front door as she drove off with a friend in an Uber.

The daughter said she was raised along with Menifee and that her father had help bring him up. She called him "Little Marvin."

It was testified that some projectiles found at the murder scene came from a Hi-Point 40 handgun that Menifee left in a closet on the Westside after the slaying.

Police located a neighbor's video showing Menifee and the other youths walking toward the Pitmon residence that night.

The victim was shot four times.
Lawsuits that had been filed against Walden Vice Mayor Lizzy Schmidt have been dropped.

The plaintiffs entered into a voluntary dismissal in Circuit Court.

A group wanting to build a town center at the town of Walden had sued Vice Mayor Schmidt in January, saying she had a conflict of interest on the issue and failed to disclose it.

LOP, LLC filed the complaint in Circuit Court.

There was also a legal filing seeking the ouster of Vice Mayor Schmidt.

The group said it owns a 23-acre tract at Walden and wants to build a town center anchored by a grocery store. It says the Walden Planning Commission recommended approval of a town center with no cap on the size of the buildings.

LOP says it drew up plans for a town center with a grocery limited to 30,000 square feet. It says, compared to prior plans, that was a drastic reduction in size for the grocery.

It says Vice Mayor Schmidt introduced an ordinance to limit the grocery size to 15,000 square feet, and it passed, 2-1, with the other board member in favor and Mayor Lee Davis opposed.

Mayor Davis sent the matter back to the Walden Planning Commission, which recommended that just two buildings in the center be up to 30,000 square feet. That was rejected by the Walden Council, 2-1, with Vice Mayor Schmidt casting one of the no votes. The 15,000 square foot limit was approved.

The suit says the ordinance "destroyed any possibility" of building the center as proposed.

The group maintained that Vice Mayor Schmidt has an interest in the lease for a rival grocery, Pruett's and did not disclose that.

The town center suit, filed by attorney Josh Crowfoot, had asked $1.2 million compensatory damages, $3.6 million for compensatory damages in connection with interference with a business relationship, and $7.2 million in punitive damages.

Legal authorities said it had been about 25 years since an ouster petition had been filed in Tennessee - after a group failed in its ouster effort and wound up paying a large legal bill incurred by the officeholder.

Mayor Davis and Vice Mayor Schmidt are back on the ballot this year, and both are expected to run.
HYOGO, May 02 (News On Japan) - Mayor Ryosuke Takashima of Ashiya City, Hyogo Prefecture, has completed one year in office as the youngest mayor in history. In an interview, Mayor Takashima stated, "Executing policies is the critical theme for my second year."

Having graduated from the University of Tokyo and then Harvard University in the United States, Takashima won his first mayoral election in April last year and took office on May 1st at the age of 26, becoming the youngest mayor in history. Since his inauguration, he has focused on "education reform" and "dialogue with citizens" as his main themes, conducting "dialogue assemblies" at all elementary and junior high schools in the city to consolidate opinions towards educational reform.

Mayor Takashima shared, "So far, we have engaged in dialogue and reflected the voices we heard in our policies. However, simply reflecting these voices in policies is not enough to solve problems; how we utilize these reflections is the most crucial theme going forward." He added, "I want to continue the dialogue with citizens and integrate it into the culture of Ashiya City as a whole."

Source: ABCTVnews
Deanna Hulsey, instructor of Cosmetology at Georgia Northwestern Technical College (GNTC) has been named the First Runner-Up for the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) 2024 Rick Perkins Instructor of the Year.

Ms. Hulsey was named one of nine regional winners on Tuesday at the GOAL and Rick Perkins State Conference in Atlanta. She competed against other regional winners from across Georgia on Wednesday, at the GOAL and Rick Perkins State Conference in Atlanta where she was named the First Runner-Up.

We are very proud of Deannas representation of GNTC and commitment to technical education, said Dr. Heidi Popham, GNTC president. She is focused on student success, and her passion is reflective of the quality of our faculty.

The Rick Perkins Award honors the TCSGs most outstanding instructors. The award has been an ongoing statewide event since 1991 and recognizes technical college instructors who make significant contributions to technical education through innovation and leadership in their fields.

As the First Runner-Up should the state winner not be able to fulfill their duties, Ms. Hulsey would step in and serve as an ambassador for technical education in Georgia during a number of system and college functions throughout the year, including addressing both chambers of the Georgia General Assembly.

Ms. Hulsey, a Rome resident, is a Georgia licensed master cosmetologist. She received her diploma in Cosmetology from GNTC in 2011 and has been an instructor at GNTC since 2014. She has taught dual enrollment high school students and adult students.

Ms. Hulsey said she left high school after becoming pregnant and received her GED diploma at GNTC. After enduring years of abuse by her childrens father and a harrowing incident when he held them hostage, she fled with her two daughters and never returned.

Feeling grateful to have survived when many domestic violence victims do not, she decided to return to GNTC to study Cosmetology.

I wanted to do work that would bring me joy and give others joy as well, she said.

She loved Cosmetology, took her state board exam immediately after graduating and went to work in a salon, she said.

Technical education opened doors for me that made my dreams obtainable in my situation, Ms. Hulsey said. Getting an education made me feel worthy again and showed me how to not just survive, as I had for so many years, but how to truly live.

Ms. Hulsey said she looked to her own single-mother for inspiration, explaining that she taught us that perseverance opens doors that circumstances cannot. She hopes her story can also inspire others.

I teach because I want my students to feel worthy and to know that regardless of what their past looks like, they are valued and have a purposethat it does get better, she said. I want them to know someone cares about them and wants them to have the future they have always dreamed of and to know that the goal is not survival, its building a life that brings you joy.

Ms. Hulsey has been active in her community, including assisting victims of domestic abuse to obtain protective orders if they did not have an advocate and needed help, she said. She has also supported Penfield Addiction Ministries to sponsor recovering addicts who cannot afford rehabilitation costs.

Ms. Hulsey has sponsored children for Christmas through the Rome branch of the Salvation Army. She has also sponsored a single-parent family every Christmas, most recently raising more than $3,000 to assist a family without a vehicle to purchase one.

Ms. Hulsey has also donated her hair and makeup services, as well as salon products, for various fundraisers in the community.

The most recent state winners to represent GNTC were 2019 Rick Perkins Award winner Leyner Argueta, program director of Business Management, and 2013 winner Troy Peco, a former GNTC faculty member who served as assistant dean of Industrial Technologies, program director and instructor of Automotive Technology. Salvador Gonzalez, program director and instructor of Diesel Equipment Technology at GNTC, was named the First Runner-Up for the 2023 Rick Perkins Instructor of the Year.
Fall Creek Falls State Park will host an open house on Thursday, May 9, to share information with the community about a project at the parks scenic loop. Thousands of trees were downed by storms last year creating hazards within the park and for the gorge.

Work to remove the fallen trees will begin this summer and continue into the fall. Park leadership wants to give information about the plan to attendees at the open house and answer any questions they may have before the work begins. Park staff along with project partners will be sharing information in an open house format from 5-7 p.m. at the Lodge at Fall Creek Falls.

We are eager to engage everyone who loves Fall Creek Falls State Park to let them know the plans for this restoration, said Greer Tidwell, deputy commissioner at the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. This is an opportunity to restore the area to an oak meadow.

Through a partnership with the Tennessee Department of Agricultures Division of Forestry, the downed trees will be salvaged and the proceeds will be used to fund the habitat restoration. The work may mean temporary road closures. Once the trees are removed, the park will use several land management techniques to restore the area.

The land management work will include mechanical removal, pesticides, and routine prescribed burns to revitalize the land along with the planting of a mixture of seeds to attract pollinators. Controlled burning is a well-planned conservation tool. Workers receive extensive training to ensure they know how to protect surrounding communities, themselves, and the land they are working to restore.

Bringing back the native habitat will provide new opportunities for wildlife viewing and showcase different kinds of landscapes for visitors. Most importantly, the steps will protect the rare old-growth forest inside the park.

All citizens are invited to attend the open house, and anyone can visit tnstateparks.com for any posted alerts.
Through a partnership with EPB, Chattanooga School for the Arts & Sciences, has been selected to win grant of $410,000 from the TVA EnergyRight School Uplift program. The funding includes $400,000 for building energy upgrades along with a $10,000 Learning Environment Grant to make non-energy improvements by engaging students and faculty.

As Hamilton County Schools oldest and most historic school facility, some portions of the building are more than 100 years old. The grant funding will be used for comprehensive energy renovations including the replacement of all the schools aging A/C window units with modern, highly energy efficient window units with a dedicated outdoor air supply to improve air quality. Through the project the schools florescent lighting will also be replaced with energy efficient LED light bulbs.

School Uplift is a year-long energy management training program developed with the State of Tennessees Energy Efficient Schools Initiative that helps public schools make smart energy choices that improve the classroom learning environment and save money through decreased energy use.

Through the program, EPB Energy Pros worked with teachers at CSAS to complete a comprehensive energy assessment while also engaging students in a series of activities including the formation of a student Energy Squad who took responsibility for enacting energy efficiency measures on a daily basis at the school. School leaders also worked with EPB, TVA and green|spaces to organize Energy Day at CSAS, a program of activities to increase student knowledge of practical energy efficiency measures and the value they provide.

We are proud to celebrate this incredible achievement by the Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences, said Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Dr. Justin Robertson. This $410,000 grant from EPB and TVA signifies a leap towards sustainable progress for our school buildings but also highlights the extraordinary capabilities and ambitions of our students. I want to extend my deepest congratulations and gratitude to Karen Lin, Aarav Patel, Hetvi Patel, Rithvik Siddenki, and Sullivan Smith. These exceptional seniors have exemplified the spirit of leadership and commitment to community service by spearheading the grant application process. They have not only secured a significant resource that will benefit the entire school community but have also furthered a legacy of student-driven change and impact in Hamilton County Schools. As we move forward, let their work inspire each of us to continue creating opportunity by design for all students, ensuring that every child thrives and experiences a future without limits."

Since coming into office, we have been focused on modernizing school facilities across Hamilton County to expand opportunities for students, said Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp. This program is a great example of two of our major employers coming together to invest in students at one of the highest performing schools in the state.

Every dollar invested in our schools helps districts allocate resources to where it matters most  educating our children, said Monika Beckner, vice president of TVAs Energy Services & Programs. Were inspired by the winners of this years School Uplift grants and proud of their dedication to reducing energy waste and building a sustainable future for us all.

EPB was honored to work with CSASs engaged faculty and students to put together their winning application, said EPB Energy Pro David Vanzant, who is a Key Customer Engineer in EPB's Commercial Energy Department and School Uplift Representative for EPB. Were always ready to provide free energy expertise to help all of our customers, but CSASs students and teachers made this application successful by showing their commitment to learning about energy efficiency and applying what they learned.

CSAS joins over 225 schools to have completed School Uplift over the past four years, competing to earn grants for building upgrades and other learning environment improvements. On average, participating schools save nearly 10% on their annual energy bills from behavior changes alone.

Recently, the School Uplift program was recognized as a 2024 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year by ENERGY STAR, administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
photo by Tennessee Aquarium/Doug Strickland photo by Tennessee Aquarium/Doug Strickland photo by Tennessee Aquarium/Doug Strickland photo by Tennessee Aquarium/Doug Strickland photo by Tennessee Aquarium/Doug Strickland photo by Tennessee Aquarium/Doug Strickland photo by Tennessee Aquarium/Doug Strickland Previous Next

Just across from the iconic peaks of the Tennessee Aquarium on the shore of the Tennessee River, a group of scientists with the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute gathered Thursday to restore a primordial fish to the state's primary waterway.

One by one, they carefully navigated down a boat ramp at Coolidge Park before gently releasing juvenile Lake Sturgeon, each just under a foot in length, into the rivers shallows. These 50 sturgeon were the final youngsters yet to be reintroduced from a class of hundreds of sturgeon fry that arrived at the Conservation Institutes freshwater field station last summer. Their introduction to the Tennessee River represented the latest milestone of a decades-long conservation effort to restore this state-endangered fish.

Despite reclaiming their one-time home in the waters of the Volunteer State, these newfound Tennesseans began life some 850 miles north of Chattanooga.

Two weeks ago, a team of about a dozen biologists watched under gray skies as scores of wild Lake Sturgeon gathered among the rocks and fast-flowing water in the shallows of the Wolf River in Wisconsin. Piled atop one another near the shore, these huge fish  many five to six feet long  had made their way upriver to the base of a dam in the rural town of Shawano to spawn.

If you look into the water, you can see all the sturgeon tails kind of sticking up, says Tennessee Aquarium Reintroduction Biologist II Sarah Kate Bailey. You can see the sturgeon stacking up together and swimming, splashing the water around. That is a sign that they are spawning.

Prompted by rising water temperatures and a lengthening daylight period, the sturgeon will gather each spring by the hundreds along shorelines in this location and in other tributaries of the Fox River, which connects to Lake Michigan through Green Bay.

The gathered biologists included representatives from the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS). Although the Aquariums presence in Shawano is a rare occurrence, scientists and wildlife managers from these other agencies travel here annually to collect and fertilize eggs from the rivers healthy population of Lake Sturgeon.

On this occasion, a team from USFWS Warm Springs National Fish Hatchery in Warm Springs, Georgia, gathered about 150,000 eggs destined to be hatched out and released into locations where Lake Sturgeon populations are struggling.

USFWS fish biologists then ferried these sturgeon-in-waiting more than 1,200 miles south to the Peach State, where theyll spend about six weeks hatching and going through the early stages of their development. Later this spring, many of these baby sturgeon will be delivered to the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute, where theyll spend the next few months growing robust enough to survive after reintroduction to the Tennessee River.

I am so incredibly proud that our population is healthy enough that were actually able to help reintroduce populations to areas like Tennessee and Georgia, says WDNR Fisheries Biologist Margaret Stadig. The fact that we can play even the smallest of parts in that is just absolutely awe-inspiring.

Stadigs team serves as the frontline in the collection process in Wisconsin, dipping their nets to remove sturgeon from the shallows. It isnt an easy task wrangling such enormous fish across slippery river stones, and safely getting the fish to shore is a group effort.

Back at the Conservation Institute we work with these fish when theyre really tiny, Bailey says. A big sturgeon to us is maybe a foot long, whereas out here were regularly catching fish that are five or six feet long. Its really amazing to see how large these sturgeon grow and what our populations in Tennessee may look like someday.

This daunting undertaking is the culmination of a 24-year effort to restore Lake Sturgeon to the species erstwhile home in the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers.

By the 1970s, damming, overfishing and poor water quality led to the extirpation (aka local extinction) of Lake Sturgeon in the Tennessee River. In the decades that followed, however, passage of the Clean Water Act of 1972, new fisheries management practices and improvements to river management led to a general improvement to water quality in the Tennessee and other waterways.

In the early 90s, conditions in the river once again were favorable enough to support Lake Sturgeon, which led the Aquarium and partnering organizations to form the Lake Sturgeon Working Group in 1998. The Working Group consists of more than a dozen conservation science organizations, universities and government agencies whose goal is to see this river giant returned to its ancestral waters.

To create new generations of Lake Sturgeon, however, scientists first needed the help of a healthy wild population. Fortunately, despite the species troubles farther south, they were thriving in the northern parts of their range in places like the Wolf River.

The first sturgeon hatched from these northern donors were returned to the Tennessee River in 2000. To date, the Lake Sturgeon Working Group has introduced more than 330,000 Lake Sturgeon into the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers.

None of this would be possible without the partnerships between state and federal agencies and nonprofits like the Conservation Institute, Stadig says.

Our partners are here throughout every step of the process, she says. This is a huge program that spans across the southeast and up here into Wisconsin.

The residents of Shawano and the surrounding communities are also partners  albeit unofficial ones  in that process, thanks to their dedication to preserving the aquatic environments these sturgeon rely on to spawn every year.

Its been really cool to come out here and see that the sturgeon is ingrained in the culture here in Shawano, and the surrounding areas, says Aquarium Watershed Coordinator Helaina Gomez. The community members come out and watch the sturgeon spawning. They put statues everywhere of the sturgeon.

This mascotization of the sturgeon is best exemplified in the Sturgeon Guard, a volunteer program comprised of concerned residents that partners with WDNR. Members of the Guard serve as ambassadors and stand watch over the spawning sturgeon every year, helping to keep them safe and inform the public about the importance of these native fish.

Gomez hopes that enthusiasm will eventually catch hold in Tennessee where Lake Sturgeon populations have been buoyed by two decades of consistent reintroductions. Though the restoration project has been ongoing for 24 years, the very first sturgeon released by the Working Group are only now reaching the age when they could begin spawning in the wild.

Getting to work hands-on at the beginning of a process that takes these fish across five states was particularly special for Gomez.

I feel like we talk often about how large sturgeon get and the massive size of them, but to actually put my hands on one and see them in their natural environment doing these spawning behaviors, piling up on top of one another, I was pretty speechless, she says. It puts into context the itty bitty sturgeon that we get in Tennessee, and theyve got a long life ahead of them after they leave our care.
From many peoples perspectives, the world is only now returning back to normal following the disastrous COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, a familiar viral menace still seems to be making a comeback: measles.

Despite being on the brink of eradication due to widespread vaccination efforts, this highly contagious childhood illness is experiencing a concerning resurgence in multiple nations.

During the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Global Congress held in Spain this year, scientists voiced concern over the escalating frequency and scale of measles outbreaks across the globe.

Dr. Patrick OConnor, who represented the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Switzerland, reported that, thus far in 2024, the cumulative count of measles cases documented is anticipated to reach or surpass the 321,582 provisional cases documented in 2023.

So, while reporting delays imply that the actual tally for 2024 is probably substantially higher than the 94,481 cases registered by early April, its evident that the trajectory is unfavorable. Even more concerning, the 321,582 cases of measles in 2023 nearly doubled the count from 2022, which stood at 171,153.

Close to 50% of the cases reported this year have emerged in the WHO European Region, where countries such as Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, and Yemen have recorded the highest incidence rates of measles worldwide.

This has worried researchers as the number of nations contending with large or disruptive outbreaks  which are defined as 20 cases per 1 million people sustained over 12 months  has tripled from 17 to 51 within just one year.

Over the last decade, there has been significant progress towards measles and rubella elimination  the Regional Verification Commissions for Measles and Rubella Elimination (RVCs) from all of the WHO Regions will review all national measles and rubella 2023 reports in 2024, Dr. OConnor said.

Large outbreaks and continuous transmissions of measles are always a concern and can make achieving and maintaining elimination challenging.

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For many people, throwing back a couple of antacids following a spicy dinner is the go-to remedy for alleviating heartburn. However, a new study conducted by researchers at the University of Maryland suggests there may be another unexpected and painful consequence.

The findings indicate that individuals who use acid-reducing medications might have a heightened susceptibility to experiencing migraines.

These medications include histamine H2-receptor antagonists, like cimetidine and famotidine, proton pump inhibitors, such as omeprazole and esomeprazole, and antacid supplements.

Its crucial to note that the researchers arent claiming to have found definitive evidence that acid-reducing medications directly cause migraines. However, the team observed a correlation.

Acid reflux occurs when stomach acid moves into the esophagus, typically happening after a meal or when people lie down. Individuals with acid reflux commonly suffer symptoms like heartburn and ulcers.

Persistent acid reflux can also progress to gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), potentially raising the risk of esophageal cancer.

Given the wide usage of acid-reducing drugs and these potential implications with migraine, these results warrant further investigation, said Margaret Slavin, one of the studys authors.

These drugs are often considered to be overprescribed, and new research has shown other risks tied to long-term use of proton pump inhibitors, such as an increased risk of dementia.

For this study, the researchers analyzed data from 11,818 individuals. The participants disclosed their usage of acid-reducing medications and whether they experienced migraines or severe headaches in the preceding three months.

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You may know the men in black as a film franchise from the 90s and 2000s, about super-secret agents in black suits played by actors such as Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones.

These men are tasked with the duty of protecting humanity from extraterrestrial activity. The concept is based on a 1990 comic book series and makes for some highly entertaining sci-fi movies, but do the men in black actually exist in real life?

The comic book, written by Lowell Cunningham, was inspired by a conspiracy theory that started on June 27, 1947.

According to the story, a man named Harold Dahl was on Puget Sound near the eastern shore of Maurys Island in Washington with his son, Charles, and their family dog. Dahl was collecting logs when he noticed six objects shaped like donuts floating about a half mile above his boat.

All of a sudden, one of the objects fell, and metallic debris began raining down around them. Some of the debris hit Charles on the arm, and unfortunately, the dog did not survive the incident. Dahl had managed to capture photos of the aircraft with his camera.

Later, he showed the pictures to his supervisor, Fred Crisman. Crisman went to the site to check it out for himself and saw a strange aircraft.

The next morning, Dahl was paid a visit by a man in a black suit. They ended up at a local diner, where the man was able to describe exactly what Dahl had experienced. Dahl was instructed to keep quiet about the incident; otherwise, bad things would happen.

Three days after the Maury Island incident, a pilot named Kenneth Arnold reported a UFO sighting near Mount Rainier, Washington. It became the first widely reported sighting, kickstarting popular cultures obsession with flying saucers.

Dahl and Crisman reached out to a Chicago magazine editor about their story, who then contacted Arnold, hoping that he could help back up Dahl and Crismans claim. Arnold contacted two Army A-2 Intelligence officers to conduct an investigation.

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Why not write something that a lot, a lot, of people like? Regina OConnor asks her daughter, the writer Flannery OConnor, in the middle of the new biopic Wildcat. The same question might be put to the film itself. Its not a movie that a lot of people will like. But unlike the authors mother, I mean that as a high compliment. Director and screenwriter Ethan Hawke has made a film worthy of Flannery OConnors genius.

An epigraph from OConnors essay The Nature and Aim of Fiction sums up what Wildcat sets out to do: Im always irritated by people who imply writing fiction is an escape from reality. It is a plunge into reality. Fittingly, rather than depict the writers life from birth to death, Wildcat uses her fiction to discover whats real, to get down under things to the problem of suffering, the limitations of human experience, the desire for goodness, the habits of evil, and, always present, the longing for God.

The result is a movie as scandalous as one of OConnors short storiesshocking to the system, to borrow her words. Her devotees will applaud it; most of the audience will be left wondering what just clobbered them.

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After that opening epigraph, Wildcat rolls a fake trailer for a 1950s-style horror flick inspired by OConnors story The Comforts of Home. (A mother brings home a wayward, orphaned teen who tries to seduce her grown son. The son attempts to kill the teen, but shoots his own mother instead.) The trailer, starring Laura Linney and Maya Hawkewho also play the roles of Regina and Flannery sets up expectations for Wildcats time period, for its gothic weirdness, and for its blending of fiction and biography.

Most of the movies action occurs in 1950, the year OConnor returned home to Milledgeville, Georgia, and was diagnosed with lupus. Fictional stories, threaded throughout the biographical narrative, are drawn from all over her corpusfrom Good Country People (a Bible salesman steals a crippled womans prosthetic leg) to Revelation (Mrs. Ruby Turpin is a warthog from hell capable of having her virtue burned clean).

Flannery OConnor wanted to be a great writer and a good Catholic, and viewers witness her wrestle with disappointments as she tries to be faithful to both God and vocation. We hear voiceover petitions from her A Prayer Journal, composed while she was a student at the University of Iowa MFA program, with beautiful shots of the young woman as a pilgrim. She confesses to the priest Father Flynn (Liam Neeson) in a scene that mimics her story The Enduring Chill. (Asbury Fox returns home to his mothers farm, sick and debilitated, and is catechized by the local priest.)

When OConnor attends a graduate school party, she drops a bottle of rum before she arrives. This scene is drawn from her biography; in fact, her friend Sally Fitzgerald thought this incident was a real-life metaphor for how Flannery seemed fated to asceticism. Wildcat does portray OConnor as an outcast from what her friend called frolics; she simply cant compromise her zealous Christian faith. Through scenes both real and imagined, the film demonstrates the untiring dedication to truth that made OConnor perhaps unpopular with her peers. That zeal also made her the great writer (and good Catholic) that she desired to be.

Wildcat also brings OConnors writing to life, defamiliarizing even the most well-known of her stories. Take, for instance, the ahistorical treatment of Parkers Back (1964). (This synopsis is a straightforward one: O. E. Parker has a tattoo of Jesus on his back.) We hear the name of the central figure, Obadiah Elihue, in the mouth of an editor at Rinehart Publishing. In reality, the editor had nothing to do with this storys publication, though he did notoriously decide not to publish OConnors novel Wise Blood.

Later, OConnor reads Parkers Back at Iowa in front of Robert Cal Lowell (Philip Ettinger). The scene is cast as a first meeting, though the two writers actually met at the artists retreat Yaddo in 1948, and Lowell didnt teach at the university until 1950. But seeing his imagined response intensifies our own understanding of the story. The newly converted poet listens enthralled.

And later, Wildcat riffs on Parkers Back yet again, dramatizing the story on screen. O. E. Parker (Rafael Casal) and his future wife Sarah Ruth (Maya Hawke, again) fall in love. Their marriage as portrayed here is even more believable than on OConnors pageperhaps in part because of that final scene, when Sarah Ruth beats her husbands back. Reading about Christs bleeding face is one thing; seeing it, droplets running over the tattoo ink, is another. Wildcat does not merely translate words into images; it glosses OConnors stories for us, so that we can reimagine them anew.

Though fans are often tempted to deify OConnor, Wildcat resists that temptation. It allows us to know the woman behind the artistry: her illness, her feelings for friends, her nuanced relationship with her mother. Its one thing to hear about her deterioration from lupus; its another to see the rash on her face, to watch a young girl inject cortisone shots into her thigh with a needle the size of her hand.

Because of her sickness, OConnor had to forego mild love interests that could have become something more. Biographers publicized her brief affair with Erik Langkjaer, a traveling textbook salesman from Denmark, who said kissing her was like kissing a skeleton. That unfortunate description casts OConnor as less than flesh and blood. However, Wildcat shows a young woman enamored with her writing mentor (who seems just as drawn to her). One rightly wonders what might have happened had she been spared the ravages of lupus.

Instead, the dominant relationship in OConnors life was with her mother, whom she called Regina from the time she was a child. Some have characterized Regina as overbearing and suffocating, much like the comic maternal characters in OConnors short stories. Other biographers uplift her as sacrificing everything for Flannery, trying to support the daughter that she didnt understand but to whom she was devoted until her death. The reality is likely a mix of both, which the film balances well.

In 1957, OConnors short story The Life You Save May Be Your Own was made into a televised play starring tap-dancing sensation Gene Kelly. Everyone in Milledgeville thought that Reginas daughter who writes had finally done something worthwhile (They feel I have arrived at last, OConnor wrote) because her uncomfortable stories had been sanitized for public consumption. In a letter to a friend, OConnor derides the congratulations: The local city fathers think I am a credit now to the community. One old lady said, That was a play that really made me think! I didnt ask her what.

Clearly, Flannery OConnor did not take any pleasure in growing her audience by making her stories more palatable. (Thankfully she was not alive in the era of platform building!) She wrote not to placate lukewarm Christians, but to startle them. Like a 20th-century Kierkegaard, she knew the truth was absurd, and therefore it would have too few adherents. She had a prophetic imagination, which means that if she was true to using her talent, shed have as many fans as Ezekiel or Jeremiah.

Wildcat is loyal to that prophetic gift. If 1950s adaptations of Flannery OConnors work to the screen dishonored their maker, Wildcat accomplishes the opposite. It celebrates a writer who was once called prematurely arrogant, but who was, by much suffering that she did not deserve, beautifully transfigured.

Jessica Hooten Wilson is the Fletcher Jones Chair of Great Books at Pepperdine University and senior fellow at Trinity Forum. She is the author of several books, most recently Flannery OConnors Why Do the Heathen Rage?: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at a Work in Progress.
A migrant woman carrying her daughter near the first border control of the Darien Province in Panama.

(UPDATED) Migrant rights have been off-radar for many Panamanian Christians. But as pressures increase, some are speaking out ahead of this weekends general elections.

Luis Acosta / Contributor / Getty

Update (May 6, 2024): Jose Raul Mulino will be Panamas new president after the Realizando Metas (Realizing Goals) party candidate won 34.2 percent of the vote.

Mulino began the campaign as the running mate of former president Ricardo Martinelli. (Martinelli previously served from 2009 to 2014.) When Martinelli was booted from the ticket after receiving a 10-year prison sentence for money laundering, Mulino assumed the top of the ticket. While other candidates fought to get him removed from the ballot for bypassing the partys selection process, the countrys supreme court declared it legal two days prior to the election.

Last month, Mulino promised to close the Darien Gap, where tens of thousands of migrants have crossed from Colombia to Panama on their journey to the US border. On Monday, the president-elect reiterated his desire to do so, saying that he will work with the governments of Colombia and the United States to jointly create a long-term solution.

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Currently we have technology to survey the border, and I hope to start a repatriation process as early as possible, he said in an interview Monday with Radio Blu.

Mulino is set to be inaugurated on July 1.

-

On May 5, Panamanians will vote for a new president. The outcome of this election may have consequences for far more than its 4.4 million residents; it could change the migration reality for the hundreds of thousands of people traveling from South America, Asia, and Africa who pass through the Central American country en route to the United States.

Leading in the polls is Jose Raul Mulino, a candidate for Realizando Metas (Realizing Goals), a right-wing populist party founded by disgraced president Ricardo Martinelli. He has vowed to shut down the Darien Gap, a densely forested jungle area that migrants must traverse to enter Panama from the bordering country of Colombia.

Were going to close Darien and were going to repatriate every one of these people, respecting their human rights, said Raul Mulino in April.

For many Panamanians, there was no migrant crisis before 2022. After passing through the Darien gap, migrants passed through the country on government buses to the Costa Rican border. But after a shift in US migrant policy sent many back to Central America a couple years ago, hundreds have since moved to Panama City and a handful of small towns. Residents have begun to blame them for crime and for overwhelming their sanitation systems.

Though evangelicals have largely been on the sidelines, many leaders say they should have done more.

The church does not see the refugee problem as their own problem, said Panamanian missionary Robert Bruneau, a regional leader with United World Mission. They believe it is something the state should do and are not aware of the great opportunity they have to graciously and honorably serve someone who bears the image of God.

A treacherous journey

With its mountainous rural terrain and long-standing control by Colombian gangs, the Darien Gap is one of the most treacherous passages of the arduous journey undertaken by migrants heading north. Few communities live in its swamps and jungles, rendering it one of the worlds most dangerous migration routes.

Immigrants first traveled through the region beginning in the 1990s, when Colombian citizens used the jungle to escape guerilla groups and flee to Panama or elsewhere. In the 2000s, Venezuelans started to travel through Central America and the Darien Gap as they sought refuge in the United States through the Mexican border. Since 2014, more than 7 million have left the country. Today, migrants from places as diverse as Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Haiti, Nepal, and China (who first fly into Colombia or Brazil) follow the same dangerous path.

As recently as 2011, fewer than 300 migrants crossed the border between Colombia and Panama irregularly. Last year, the number surged to 520,000. Through the end of April this year, more than 135,000 people have entered Panama. And about 120,000 children crossed the Darien Gap last year, many unaccompanied, with approximately half under the age of five.

Survivors who make it through the forest arrive at camps, established by the Panamanian government, often suffering from health issues due to extreme exertion, malnutrition, or diseases transmitted by mosquitoes or contaminated water.

World Vision is one of a handful of Christian organizations serving migrants passing through the Darien Gap and works with churches to provide food, clothing, security, and legal guidance to those passing through the region.

[These people] do not migrate by choice, Mishelle Mitchell, a World Vision spokesperson for Latin America and the Caribbean, told CT. They flee hunger, war, poverty, and deserve the right to be respected.

Unseen and unheard

After recuperating in camps, the government offers migrants two ways of continuing their journey: For roughly $40, they can travel in privately operated buses to the Costa Rican border. Or they can go to the border of Costa Rica and Nicaragua for around $80 to $90. The journey, which takes less than a day, keeps migrants from traveling on foot, a common scene in most Central American countries. It also largely keeps them out of sight and out of mind, says Gustavo Gumbs, an evangelical pastor who began working with migrants nearly a decade ago.

The church was not awake to the refugee problem, he said. Even today, there are those who are either unaware of migrants or are not mobilized to help them.

Evangelicals make up 22 percent of the population, compared to 65 percent of Catholics. But more than a dozen Catholic organizations work in the Darien region, led by Caritas, the international arm of the Vatican for human rights, food security, and sustainable development.

In March, in a letter, Pope Francis addressed a group of migrants who met bishops and local authorities in Lajas Blancas, a city close to the Darien Gap, trying to find common ground with them as a son of Italian immigrants who went to Argentina in search of a better future.

Migrant brothers and sisters, never forget your human dignity, he wrote. Do not be afraid to look others in the eye, because you are not a throwaway; you too are part of the human family and of the family of Gods children.

Gumbs began Fundacion de Asistencia a Migrantes (FAM) after feeling like he had a Christian responsibility to help those he saw in need in Panama City.

We had an explosion in the number of migrants, he said. The government admitted that it could not take care of everyone.

In 2016, he began collecting donations from churches of food, clothing, and hygiene items to take to migrants in Darien. Currently, more than 100 volunteers travel to the region daily to help migrants.

For years, Panamas camps and bus system meant that few migrants interacted with locals. But in 2022, migrants began to return to other Latin American countries after the shift in US policy. Many arrived in Panama City.

Suddenly, we had 10,000 people to feed, said Gumbs, who picked up food from churches and collected donations from other Christians to pay for plane tickets for migrants going home.

For the first time in many years, all denominations came together to do something together in Panama, he said.

The success of the initiative led the Panamanian government to recognize FAMs efforts, which now participates in migration discussions with internationally recognized organizations such as UNHCR and the Red Cross.

As Matthew 5:16 says, even if they are not believers, they give thanks to God when they see the good works we do, he said.

Even so, Panamanian Christians know the sum of their efforts has been modest.

We are a small country. What we can do is insufficient; its like trying to stop a hemorrhage with a Band-Aid, said Roderick Burgos, an evangelical social services leader.

For Panamanians, the influx of migrants is discomforting. Once sleepy towns, cities near the Colombian borders have become hubs for refugees as people wait for buses. Locals often charge migrants three to four times the previous amount for food, says Gumbs. Despite Darien being home to numerous endangered species including jaguars, macaws, and tapirs, garbage from the flow of people is everywhere, further threatening the animals and their habitat.

In 2020, Panamanian authorities blamed migrants for burning down reception centers in La Penita, close to the Colombian border, and in Lajas Blancas, by the border with Costa Rica. In March, 44 migrants were arrested following a brawl that damaged part of a support center in San Vicente.

The population in general is very upset [that so many people are passing through Darien], said Jocabed Solano Miselis, a missionary to Panamas indigenous peoples. Its not xenophobia, its the exhaustion of local resources.

A new situation

Migration wont be a top issue for most Panamanian evangelical voters, most of whom see the strongest connection between their faith and a socially conservative agenda. These convictions have led growing numbers to run for seats in Panamas National Assembly and in city government.

For many years, churches and Christians stayed away from politics, positioning themselves as intercessors, said pastor Cesar Forero of the New Life Family Restoration Center in Panama City.

But in 2014, the government announced a new sex education law that evangelicals believed would open the door for schools to teach pro-LGBT messages. Over the course of two years, pressure groups formed, and evangelicals teamed up with Catholics to organize in opposition.

I thought that if we didnt have about 10,000 people in a march, the law would pass, said Burgos. We had about 300,000 show up.

After the government backed down in 2016, Panamanian Christians discovered a political strength they had previously never imagined. In the last general election in 2019, candidates began publicly identifying themselves as evangelicals.

Now, in 2024, many of the aspirants are proposing pro-family policies, said Forero. This includes trying to introduce a ban on same-sex marriage and advocating against issues like abortion and euthanasia, none of which are legal in Panama and currently face no proposals trying to legalize them.

In this regard, Panama already boasts some of Latin Americas most socially conservative legislation. Last February, the Supreme Court upheld a decision affirming that marriage is between a man and a woman. In April of this year, a coalition of LGBTQ organizations asked candidates to sign a pact expanding the rights of their community, including guaranteeing support for same-sex marriage. Seven of the eight presidential candidates declined to sign the document.

In the week leading up to the elections, the Evangelical Alliance of Panama called for a day of fasting and prayer on May 1 and asked Christians to judge candidates by several criteria, including fear of God, track record of transparency, pro-life stance, defense of the traditional family, concrete solutions to issues like education and health, fight against corruption, and desire to build a better country. Corruption, and crimes related to it, appears to be a main concern for voters. Last year, previous president Martinelli, who was current candidate Mulinos mentor, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for money laundering.

In general, Latin American evangelicals vote for right-wing candidates, but public Panamanian polls do not include a religious affiliation question, so its not clear which candidate will have the most support from believers.

For the hundreds of thousands crossing the jungle on foot, however, there are decisions that are more urgentand the results from the ballot can make a difference

We believe in Gods justice, and justice relates to the dignity of individuals, both citizens and immigrants, said Solano Miselis.
May 02 (News On Japan) - After a five-year hiatus, Haruna Hori stars in the movie "Sumiko 22," a drama that humorously portrays the internal conflicts of a woman in her twenties, based on director Sawako Fukuoka's own experiences.

The story follows the protagonist, who realizes her feelings are becoming vague, as she tries to honor her senses through conversations with herself.

Sumiko Shizuoka, played by Haruna Hori, feels her likes, dislikes, and sense of humor are unclear. She decides to converse with herself to clarify these feelings. Sumiko values her family's cat greatly and realizes the need for delicious chocolate after attempting to fit in with others. Eventually, she quits her job at a company she joined after graduating from university, only four months in, and starts a new life.

The film is set to hit theaters on June 29, 2024.

Source: 
United Methodists react to the vote at their General Conference on Wednesday to repeal a ban on LGBTQ clergy.

After years of disagreement and the departure of thousands of churches, the change passed without debate.

Chris Carlson / AP

United Methodists meeting for their top legislative assembly Wednesday overwhelmingly overturned a measure that barred gay clergy from ordination in the denomination, a historic step for the nations second-largest Protestant body.

With a simple vote call and without debate, delegates to the General Conference removed the ban on the ordination of self-avowed practicing homosexualsa prohibition that dates to 1984.

With that vote, the worldwide denomination of some 11 million members joins the majority of liberal Protestant denominations such as the Episcopal Church, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the United Church of Christ, which also ordain LGBTQ clergy.

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Weve singled out one group for discrimination for 52 years, said Ken Carter, bishop of the Western North Carolina Conference. And weve done that on an understanding of homosexuality whose origins came when it was understood to be a disease and a disorder.

That, he said, has now changed. Increasingly, he said, people see that Gods spirit is in gay and lesbian people.

The morning vote on the motion was part of a larger series of calendar items voted on in bulk. They also included a motion barring superintendents, or overseers, from punishing clergy for performing a same-sex wedding or prohibiting a church from holding a same-sex wedding, though the actual ban on same-sex weddings in churches has yet to be voted on.

The vote on the calendar items was 69251, or about 93 percent in favor.

After the vote, LGBTQ delegates and their allies gathered on the floor of the Charlotte Convention Center to sing, hug, cheer, and shed tears. As they sang liberation songs, Child of God and Draw the Circle Wide, they were joined by Tracy S. Malone, president of the denominations Council of Bishops.

The votes reverse prohibitive policies toward LGBTQ people taken on at the denominations 2019 General Convention, when delegates doubled down and tightened bans on gay clergy and same-sex marriage. Most of those 2019 measures have now been reversed.

After the 2019 General Convention, some 7,600 traditionalist churches across the United Statesabout 25 percent of the total number of US churchesleft the denomination, fearing that the tightening of the bans would not hold.

The absence of delegates from churches that left the denomination accounted for the quick reversal of the policies.

Wednesdays vote follows several others approved Tuesday that removed mandatory minimum penalties for clergy who officiate same-sex weddings as well as a ban on funding for LGBTQ causes that promote acceptance of homosexuality.

Tom Lambrecht, vice president and general manager of Good News Magazine, a theologically conservative advocacy group, said the votes were expected.

It indicates a consensus in the United Methodist Church that it wants to go in a much more liberal pathway, said Lambrecht, who previously served as a United Methodist pastor.

Lambrecht, who is observing the conference along with some members from the Wesleyan Covenant Association, another dissenting group, wanted to reopen the time period churches may leave the United Methodist Church with their properties. That exit window closed at the end of 2023.

The General Conference instead voted to eliminate the pathway to disaffiliation that was created in 2019. In another motion, it directed annual conferences to develop policies for inviting disaffiliated churches to return to the fold, if they wish.

Still to be voted on is a larger measure to remove from the rule book, called the Book of Discipline, a 1972 addition that says homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching. The Book of Discipline also defines marriage as between one man and one woman. Those are expected to be debated as part of a revision to the denominations social principles on Thursday.

US Methodists are hoping that a radical realignment of the worldwide church would give different regions of the church greater equity to tailor church life to their own customs and traditions, including on issues related to sexuality. That so-called regionalization plan passed the General Conference but must still be ratified by individual conferences over the course of the next year.

The main group opposing the changes in policy toward LGBTQ were some African delegates, many of whom live in countries where homosexuality is illegal. The United Methodist Church is a global denomination and its footprint outside the US is greatest in Africa.

We see homosexuality as a sin, said Forbes Matonga, the pastor of a church in West Zimbabwe. So to us, this is a fundamental theological difference where we think others no longer regard the authority of Scripture.
Home News House antisemitism bill sponsor calls MTG's claim it criminalizes the Gospel 'absurdity'

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Antisemitism Awareness Act amid a series of anti-Israel protests springing up on college campuses throughout the country, with the bill's sponsor pushing back on claims that the law will criminalize speech about the New Testament.

On Wednesday, the Antisemitism Awareness Act passed in the lower chamber by a 320-91 bipartisan vote, with 70 Democratic and 21 Republican representatives voting in opposition. New York Republican Rep. Mike Lawler introduced the legislation and Democratic Reps. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey and Jared Moskowitz of Florida were among the bill's 61 co-sponsors.

The legislation would require the U.S. Department of Education to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of antisemitism when enforcing federal anti-discrimination laws. The IHRA includes denying the Jewish people their right to "self-determination" and labeling the creation of the state of Israel as a "racist endeavor" in its examples of contemporary antisemitism.

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In addition, the IHRA lists comparing contemporary Israeli policies to Nazism and holding Jews collectively responsible for all of Israel's actions as other examples of contemporary antisemitism.

Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia opposes the bill. In a Wednesday X post, she declared that she would not vote for it. Greene included screenshots highlighting certain portions of the IHRA antisemitism list.

As an example of antisemitism in public life, Greene highlights the IHRA list stating: "Using the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism (e.g., claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterize Israel or Israelis."

"Antisemitism is wrong, but I will not be voting for the Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2023 (H.R. 6090) today that could convict Christians of antisemitism for believing the Gospel that says Jesus was handed over to Herod to be crucified by the Jews," Greene stated.

Similar arguments that the bill makes parts of the New Testament illegal were made by conservative personalities Tucker Carlson and Charlie Kirk.

Lawler and Moskowitz appeared on "The Lead with Jake Tapper" to discuss the Antisemitism Awareness Act, and the CNN host asked about Greene's statement regarding the bill. Lawler called the Georgia representative's remarks an "absurdity," stating that her comments were "thrown into this discussion at the last minute."

The lawmakers said that the Antisemitism Awareness Act would not criminalize the Gospel, with Moskowitz noting that the bill was a "bipartisan effort."

"We're not interested in messing with the Gospel, nor does this language do that, and I don't think the Jewish community is worried right now what the 'Jew Laser Lady' has to say, I mean that's not who we want on our side," Moskowitz said, saying Greene has "stoked" antisemitism in the past.

Ian Haworth, the host of the "Off Limits" podcast, accused critics of the bill who claim the bill criminalizes speech, specifically about the New Testament, of attempting to create "religious division for clicks."

In a Thursday X post, Haworth stated that the legislation follows IHRA's "widely accepted" 2016 definition of antisemitism, which was used by the Trump administration. In December 2019, former President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 13899 on Combating AntiSemitism. The Executive Order required federal agencies to consider the working definition of antisemitism the IHRA adopted in 2016 when enforcing Title VI.

"The subtly-highlighted screenshots spinning up Gospel-related fury are ignoring that the IHRA definition relates to using the claim that 'the Jews killed Jesus' (I won't even get into the obvious addition collective weight carried by the 'the') to declare hate for Israel," Haworth wrote. "Again, this isn't a defense of this bill, but if you can't tell the difference between 'the Jews killed Jesus' and 'Israel is evil because the Jews killed Jesus,' then you're missing the complete point."

The passage comes amid a wave of anti-Israel protests and antisemitic incidents on college campuses throughout the country. Jewish students at Columbia University were advised to remain home due to a "Gaza Solidarity Encampment" on campus, with multiple reports surfacing of harassment and intimidation efforts against Jewish students taking place at Columbia and other college campuses. A pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of California Los Angeles was raided by police Thursday. Police made over 130 arrests.

"What is happening at Columbia, at Yale, at UCLA, and so many other schools is reprehensible and alarming," Lawler said in a Wednesday statement. "When people engage in harassment or bullying of Jewish individuals where they justify the killing of Jews or use blood libel or hold Jews collectively responsible for the actions of the Israeli government  that is antisemitic. It's unfortunate that needs to be clarified, but that's why this bill is necessary."

One of the bill's critics, the American Civil Liberties Union, asked House representatives in an April 26 letter to oppose the Antisemitism Awareness Act. According to the legal advocacy group, existing laws already prohibit antisemitic discrimination and harassment by federally funded entities. The ACLU believes that the act will "chill the free speech" of college students and equate criticism of the Israeli government with antisemitism.

"While we wholly support efforts to fight discrimination and harassment through Title VI complaints and investigations, we strongly oppose use of the IHRA definition, or any definition of discrimination that threatens to censor or penalize political speech protected by the First Amendment," the letter stated.

In a Wednesday interview with CBS New York, Lawler noted that some of the chants heard on college campuses  "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free"  are calling for the eradication of Jews. Gottheimer, one of the bill's Democratic co-sponsors, also told the outlet that there is a difference between protected speech and "harassment, and violence and intimidation."
Home News Arizona Senate repeals abortion ban, governor expected to sign

The Arizona Senate has passed a bill to repeal the states near-total abortion ban that the governor is expected to sign.

The Republican-controlled Arizona Senate passed House Bill 2677 in a 16-14 vote Wednesday. Two Republicans joined all Democrats in voting for the measure, which would repeal the states near-total abortion ban, upheld by the Arizona Supreme Court last month, if enacted. As the legislation was already passed by the states Republican-controlled House of Representatives, it now heads to the desk of Arizonas Democrat Gov. Katie Hobbs.

In a statement released after the bills passage in the Arizona Senate, Hobbs said she planned to quickly sign the repeal into law. When that happens, the 15-week abortion ban signed into law by former Republican Gov. Doug Ducey in 2022 will become the law in the state.

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Hobbs encouraged every Arizonan to make their voices heard this November when abortion rights will be on the ballot. As the governors remarks suggest, a ballot question that would establish a constitutional right to abortion will appear before Arizona voters in November.

While Hobbs expressed enthusiasm about the developments in Arizona, pro-life groups condemned them as a cause for concern. In a comment shared with The Christian Post, March for Life President Jeannie Mancini stated, The March for Life is very disappointed by the repeal of one of Arizonas strongest pro-life laws  an action that will not only result in the tragedy of many mothers who will regret choosing abortion but also the loss of countless unborn children across the state.

Thankfully, for now, babies will still be protected after 15 weeks, the point at which an unborn child can feel excruciating pain  however the fearmongering campaign to mislead voters into approving a late-term abortion constitutional amendment threatens even this modest protection, she added. Its imperative for pro-life citizens in Arizona to educate themselves and their neighbors about this extreme constitutional amendment.

Mancini warned that if approved, the proposed constitutional amendment would open the floodgates to painful abortion up until birth, ending precious, innocent life and stripping women of the health and safety protections they need and deserve.

Conversely, the ACLU of Arizona cheered the repeal of what it deemed as an inhumane abortion ban and expressed support for the proposed constitutional amendment, known as the Arizona Abortion Access Act.

Without further court intervention, Arizonans may still lose access to abortion ... for months despite this eleventh-hour repeal, lamented ACLU of Arizona Director of Program and Strategy Victoria Lopez, who supports abortion. Politicians should never have this much power over our bodies and healthcare decisions. Voters need and deserve to take their power back with the Arizona Abortion Access Act this November.

The progressive advocacy group noted that the repeal of the near-total abortion ban will not take effect until 90 days after the legislative session adjourns, adding, At that time, the total ban will be lifted. The ACLU of Arizona also lamented that the 15-week abortion ban will still be in effect and reiterated its call for Arizonans to support the Arizona Abortion Access Act.

The proposal comes as voters in many other states have voted to establish a right to abortion in their respective state constitutions following the United States Supreme Courts 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization decision determining that the U.S. Constitution does not contain a right to abortion. Voters in California, Michigan and Vermont approved state constitutional amendments establishing a right to abortion in 2022, while Ohio voters did the same in 2023.

Following the Dobbs decision, several states implemented laws that amounted to either near-total abortion bans or restricted the legality of abortion to the earliest parts of a pregnancy. Besides Arizona, other states that have near-total abortion bans are: Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Arizona is one of three states where a near-total abortion ban has been tied up in court, along with Utah and Wyoming.
Home News Podcaster's claim that women who get abortions 'should be killed' sparks intense debate

A podcaster's recent suggestion that women who have abortions "should be killed" has led to an explosive debate within the pro-life movement.

Jenna Ellis, a former attorney for former President Donald Trump and host of "The Jenna Ellis Show" who describes herself as a "servant of Jesus Christ," shared a clip captured by the left-wing X account Right Wing Watch on Monday. The clip in question, taken from Sunday's episode of "The Regular Man Podcast," documents a conversation between host Steve Cruz and former Daily Wire reporter Ben Zeisloft.

"The person who paid to murder this baby and [consented] to kill it, they're never held accountable for that murder," Cruz declared, referring to women who have abortions.

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Cruz put air quotes around the term "pro-lifers" as he expressed disappointment that "they never want to hold the mother accountable for this."

Dig a hole and put her down.



This is disgusting and vile and no way to speak of any human being made in Gods image, including a woman who has had an abortion.



This isnt pro-life, or the way to deal with this issue. Utterly reprehensible. https://t.co/f0ni3Ntp1h  Jenna Ellis (@JennaEllisEsq) April 29, 2024

Noting that "the mother decided to murder her baby," Cruz proclaimed, "That's murder." He suggested "she should be tried and convicted," adding, "dig a hole and put her down."

"Somehow, we're placating to her, somehow we're coddling her and holding her and saying it's OK," he lamented. "No, you're a freaking murderer. You should be killed."

Ellis reacted to the clip by condemning Cruz's remarks as "disgusting and vile and no way to speak of any human being made in God's image, including a woman who has had an abortion."

"This isn't pro-life, or the way to deal with this issue," Ellis said. "Utterly reprehensible."

Cruz responded to Ellis by offering to come on her podcast to discuss his position further. Ellis appeared to laugh off that idea.

"Of course you would, since my platform is 1M+, and you have like five subscribers," she wrote.

Ellis responded to Cruz referring to her as a "fake Christian," expanding on her opposition to the death penalty for women who have abortions in an X post Tuesday.

"[T]he Bible equally values men and women and their status as co-inheritors of Christ and image bearers of God," Ellis maintained. "When speaking about potential civil punishment for abortion, the pro-life position is not advanced by men treating women without compassion, derogatorily, or as anything less than Imago Dei image bearers."

After Zeisloft responded to Ellis' initial post about his conversation with Cruz, Ellis clarified that "I didn't comment on what if any civil punishments I support for abortions (for women or providers)" but rather asserted that "I said it's not a pro-life position to use the vile rhetoric you did, specifically, 'Dig a hole and put her down.'"

Cruz doubled down on his comments in an X post Tuesday.

"If anyone is confused, this should help," he wrote. "If you murder another person, inside or outside your body, you should be prosecuted to the full [extent] of the law and be prescribed capital punishment for murder. Full stop. Dig a hole and put em down."

In a separate X post that appears to be a response to Ellis, Cruz expanded on his point of view while taking a shot at "'Christian' liberal women" whom he said "scream together with pagan feminists in blood lust for their unfettered ability to murder the unborn with impunity."

"How [dare] you tell women there ought to be consequences for murdering the unborn!" Cruz said sarcastically. "How dare you suggest the death penalty for legal convictions of murder in a court of law! How dare you call abortion supporters non-Christians! How dare you invite those who disagree to [an] open conversation!"

Lizzie Marbach, the former communications director of Ohio Right to Life, also responded to Ellis' criticism.

"How is this disgusting and vile? The death penalty is what God prescribes for murderers," Marback stated. "He is speaking about a woman that murder her child. Isn't THAT disgusting and vile? Isn't the fact that the pro-life movement gives blanket immunity to women who murder their own children reprehensible?"

"Have you ever actually talked to a woman who has had an abortion?" Ellis responded. "Im sure it will win hearts and minds to know that the [Christian nationalism] movement wants to 'put them down' like theyre 'less than worthless' Noem dogs."

Marbach responded by saying that her argument is "not about putting them down or calling them worthless."

"In fact, its the opposite. Its about upholding human value & dignity, as God says," she continued. "Preborn babies lives are not worthless, therefore their murders demands justice. Post-abortive women murdered their child. Your reaction to someone demanding justice for those innocent image bearers is evidence that you view preborn babies as less than."

In March, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Albert Mohler shared his belief that exempting "women seeking abortions from any moral accountability" constituted "an embarrassing shortfall on the part of many who call themselves pro-life."

Mohler rejected the "categorical statement that women are just victims when they seek an abortion" as "just not morally credible."

"That's just not morally honest, especially in a day in which so many women, particularly in the activist community, they are actually bragging about their abortions," he said.

"I think it's morally insane to suggest that there is no moral culpability there, nor that the law should not recognize that with some form of criminal sanction. I think that's just clear."

Mohler said he believes "there is varying moral accountability."

"I think a woman who's coerced by a man into an abortion has far less moral culpability than a woman who brags about her abortion and celebrates it as a matter of personal autonomy and tweets about it," he said.

Evangelical author and professor Karen Swallow Prior had a different take.

"Where suicide (once called self-murder) is against the law, those who attempt it and fail are not tried, imprisoned or executed but are offered help and assistance. The same principle is applied in all cases of self-harm and self-mutilation," she wrote in an op-ed for Religion News Service.

"While the child carried by a pregnant woman is a complete, whole, individual human being, that being is connected to her body," she contended. "This is a physical and biological reality. It means that the child cannot be helped or protected without supporting the mother, too."

Characterizing abortion as "a failure not just of individuals but also of the village," Prior warned that punishing women for having abortions "reinforces the idea that she is a radically autonomous being acting on her own apart from the formation of culture and her culture's norms and laws." She stated, "This view stands starkly against the teaching of the Bible, from the Hebrew Scriptures through the New Testament."
Home Opinion Why is the US turning a blind eye to Nigerias genocide?

The vibrant Nigerian nation enjoys not only the largest African population, but also the most powerful economy on the entire continent. Nigerias oil sector is responsible for much of the countrys success, making it wealthier than all other West African nations and thus holding considerable power. Even Nigerias historic art culture is acclaimed by some European experts, while its music scene is also applauded by many. Thats the good news.

Unfortunately, however prominent its art and wealth may be, Nigeria is also responsible for the most violent persecution of Christians in all of Africa. And, tragically, the brutal violence against those endangered believers continues to escalate. Ferocious attacks by radical Islamists continues to rip apart the nations vulnerable Christian population.

The United States sees itself as a reputable watchdog, calling out religious freedom violators when it is so inclined. But, as Alliance Defending Freedom recently reported, when the U.S. State Department released its annual religious freedom watchlist earlier this year, it did not mention Nigerias horrific record of Christian killings.

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In fact, the U.S. government has totally ignored the bloodshed of both Catholic and Protestant believers in Nigeria for at least three consecutive years.

At the same time, according to a February report published in the Catholic Herald, The combined forces of the government-protected Islamic Jihadists, and the countrys Security Forces are directly and vicariously accountable for hacking to death in 2023 of no fewer than 8,222 defenseless Christians  covering a period of thirteen months [from] Jan (2023)  Jan (2024).

Kidnappings, murders, and forced disappearances, largely affecting Christian victims, continue to take place in several Nigerian regions. Crux Now reported in February 2024 that the carnage of Christians has been carried out by a broad range of actors, including Fulani jihadist herdsmen, who are said to have been responsible for at least 5,100 Christian deaths. Boko Haram and their allies killed some 500 believers and Fulani bandits 1,600. Meanwhile, Islamist inspired security forces robbed some other 1,000 Christians of their lives.

The attacks from January 2023 into 2024 against Nigerian Christians were reportedly the deadliest in recent years. Sadly, the countrys security forces failed to defend its vulnerable Christian population from violent deaths. In fact, some Nigerians have expressed concerns that some of the governments protectors of the people may at times have been complicit in the anti-Christian attacks.

The watchdog organization Genocide Watch has reported Since 2000, 62,000 Christians in Nigeria have been murdered in genocide perpetrated by Islamist jihadist groups including Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), and Fulani militias. The International Committee for Nigeria refers to this genocide as the Silent Slaughter. Although 2023 saw President Bola Ahmed Tinubu replace his predecessor Muhammadu Buhari, there has been no observable change in the plight of Christians. Neither president has expressed concern or provided even minimal protection that could have saved Christian lives.

For those of us who have an interest in international religious freedom, there was enthusiastic applause when, for the first time in December 2020, the U.S. Department of State  under the leadership of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo  designated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC). And, in fact, it was a timely move because the BBC reported a surge in attacks on Christian churches and believers in 2021.

However, without explanation, this vital designation was abruptly removed almost immediately after the inauguration of Joe Biden in November 2021. And the de-listing of Nigerias CPC designation has proved to be to an outrageous betrayal of an already brutalized Christian community.

In January 2024, Open Doors reported that 90% of the more than 5,600 Christians killed for their faith during the previous year were from Nigeria. Previously, Aid to the Church in Need noted that more than 7,600 Nigerian Christians were killed between January 2021 and June 2022.

In February 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee voted for a House resolution calling for greater U.S. action in Nigeria, due to the religious freedom crisis there. The House resolution, which can be read in full here, calls on the U.S. secretary of State to designate Nigeria as a CPC on their list of worst religious freedom offenders.

Why did the U.S. House specifically call for greater American action with regard to Nigeria? For one reason at least: In January 2024, the U.S. State Department released its annual religious freedom Watch List  and it left Nigeria off the list for the third consecutive year.

Meanwhile, year by year, more Christians are killed in Nigeria for their faith than everywhere else in the world combined. With that in mind, one specific question deserves a clear answer: Why has the U.S. government continued to turn a blind eye to Nigerias ongoing religious genocide?

Originally published at The Washington Stand.
Home News 12 Christians killed by herdsmen in Nigerian village attack

Fulani herdsmen attacked residents of a village in central Nigerias Plateau state as they slept at 2 a.m. on April 19, killing 12 Christians, sources said.

In the farming community of Mangu Countys Tilengpan Pushit, the Fulanis attacked with deadly weapons without provocation, said resident Israel Bamshak.

Most of the victims are women and children who were unable to escape from the invaders, Bamshak told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News.

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Resident Monday Mwansat confirmed the attack on the predominantly Christian community, as did John Musa.

Twelve members of our community have been killed, Musa said. We have become targets of attacks from Fulani herdsmen for no just cause.

Markus Artu, chairman of the Mangu Local Government Council, also said the attacks were carried out by Fulani herdsmen.

Plateau Gov. Caleb Mutfwang expressed sadness that in spite of efforts his government has made to curtail the unprovoked attacks, the assailants have continued to carry out more vicious assaults. Mutfwang appealed to Christians to remain steadfast in the face of unprovoked attacks, saying his government will continue collaborating with security agencies to bring about security.

I extended my heartfelt condolences to all those affected by the incidents, and pray for the recovery of the injured who are currently being treated in various hospitals, Mutfwang said.

Nigeria remained the deadliest place in the world to follow Christ, with 4,118 people killed for their faith from Oct. 1, 2022, to Sept. 30, 2023, according to Open Doors 2024 World Watch List (WWL) report. More kidnappings of Christians than in any other country also took place in Nigeria, with 3,300.

Nigeria was also the third highest country in the number of attacks on churches and other Christian buildings such as hospitals, schools and cemeteries, with 750, according to the report.

In the 2024 WWL of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, Nigeria was ranked No. 6, as it was in the previous year.

Numbering in the millions across Nigeria and the Sahel, predominantly Muslim Fulani comprise hundreds of clans of many different lineages who do not hold extremist views, but some Fulani do adhere to radical Islamist ideology, the United Kingdoms All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom or Belief (APPG) noted in a 2020 report.

They adopt a comparable strategy to Boko Haram and ISWAP and demonstrate a clear intent to target Christians and potent symbols of Christian identity, the APPG report states.

Christian leaders in Nigeria have said they believe herdsmen attacks on Christian communities in Nigerias Middle Belt are inspired by their desire to forcefully take over Christians lands and impose Islam as desertification has made it difficult for them to sustain their herds.

This article was originally published by Christian Daily International in conjunction with Morning Star News.
Home News Biden asks 'for Gods continued guidance in National Day of Prayer proclamation

President Joe Biden is calling on Americans to join him in "asking for God's continued guidance, mercy, and protection" in his National Day of Prayer proclamation this week.

The first Thursday of every May is set aside for the National Day of Prayer, an observance in the United States in which people are called to pray for the nation's wellbeing.

In his Wednesday proclamation, Biden, a Catholic, said, "Americans of every religion and background have come together to lift up one another and our Nation in prayer."

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"Throughout America's history, faith and prayer have helped fuel some of the greatest moral missions of our time  from the abolition of slavery to the fight for voting rights and the Civil Rights Movement," Biden stated.

"Many of our Nation's greatest leaders have been motivated by faith to push all of us toward a more perfect Union and to bend the arc of the moral universe toward justice."

While people "will never know the full impact of prayer on our Nation or the world," Biden said he and others "remain confident that it makes a profound difference each and every day."

"I call upon the citizens of our Nation to give thanks, in accordance with their own faith and conscience, for our many freedoms and blessings, and I invite all people of faith to join me in asking for God's continued guidance, mercy, and protection," the proclamation reads.

Biden stressed that Scripture "tells us to rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, and be constant in prayer."

"This year, my prayer for our Nation is that we keep faith that our best days are ahead of us and continue to believe in honesty, decency, dignity, and respect," the proclamation adds. "May we see each other not as enemies but as fellow human beings, each made in the image of God and each precious in His sight."

The National Day of Prayer dates back to 1952 when Congress proposed legislation to enshrine an annual day of prayer, which President Dwight Eisenhower signed into law.

The observance has experienced some legal fights, with the secularist group Freedom From Religion Foundation arguing that the day of prayer violates the U.S. Constitution.

In 2011, a three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld the observance, arguing that the FFRF lacked the standing to sue as they could show no injury resulting from it.

On Thursday, thousands of prayer gatherings will be held at or organized by churches and other community institutions with the help of National Day of Prayer Task Force volunteer coordinators in every state.

On Thursday evening, a special broadcasted National Day of Prayer event will be held, with the theme "Lift Up the Word - Light Up the World," as inspired by 2 Samuel 22:29-31.

The event will be co-hosted by Pastor A.R. Bernard of the Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn, New York, and National Day of Prayer Task Force President Kathy Branzell.

The broadcast will feature special guests Matthew West, Geoff Eckart, Bishop Robert Stearns, Os Guinness, Tony Perkins, Doug Stringer, Dianne Ogle, Glenn Shepherd and others.
Home News Global Methodist Church reacts to UMC votes to allow LGBT clergy, same-sex weddings

The Global Methodist Church has issued an official response to the United Methodist Church's General Conference votes to drop the denomination's decades-old ban on ordaining noncelibate homosexuals and allow the blessing of same-sex weddings.

UMC General Conference delegates voted this week via consent calendar to remove assorted rules from the denomination's Book of Discipline, shifting its stance on multiple LGBT issues.

Launched in 2022 as a conservative alternative to the UMC at a time when many churches were planning to leave the mainline Protestant denomination, the GMC issued a statement Wednesday stating that it "do[es] not have any affiliation with their decisions, nor do we wish to comment or provide commentary on the actions of other religious organizations."

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Nevertheless, the nascent Methodist denomination took the opportunity to state that it remains "dedicated" to maintaining a historic understanding of Christianity.

"The Global Methodist Church maintains its steadfast commitment to advancing its mission, which involves proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ and serving its community of more than 4,501 churches and congregational members worldwide," stated the GMC.

"Rooted in the teachings of Jesus Christ and the historic confessions of the Christian faith proclaimed over the past two thousand years, The Global Methodist Church remains dedicated to upholding its denomination's strong foundation."

The GMC was launched in 2022 after the UMC delayed its General Conference, originally scheduled for May 2020, for a third time amid the COVID-19 pandemic. GMC's goal was to provide a new denomination for conservatives seeking to leave the UMC in objection to theologically progressive leaders within the denomination refusing to abide by the denomination's rules on sexuality.

Although decades of efforts to change the rules prohibiting gay weddings and noncelibate homosexual clergy had failed, many liberals within the UMC refused to enforce or follow the Book of Discipline's ban on ordaining LGBT clergy.

A 2019 special session of the General Conference approved a temporary measure creating a disaffiliation process for congregations that wanted to leave the UMC. Over 7,500 churches had done so by the end of last year.

On Tuesday, as part of a consent calendar vote, delegates voted 667-54 to remove the Book of Discipline's ban on funding LGBT advocacy groups and mandatory punishments for clergy who blessed same-sex unions.

The following day, delegates approved without debate in a vote of 692 to 51 a consent calendar that included removing a ban on "self-avowed practicing homosexuals" being ordained, a measure that had been in the Book of Discipline since 1984.
Home News Beth Moore, doctor criticize John MacArthur for claiming mental illness isnt real

Pastor John MacArthur is facing withering criticism from some doctors, Christian mental health experts and outspoken Evangelical figures like Beth Moore following his comment saying there is no such thing as mental illness.

This is such a bad, dangerous take. As a pediatrician, me, and the people I work with are committed to children. This conspiracy theorist language re ADHD treatment making children addicts or criminals is wrong, & has no data to support it, Dr. Stephen Patrick, incoming professor and chair of health policy and management at Emory Universitys Rollins School of Public Health, said in a statement on X. Beyond that its another attack on pediatricians/healthcare providers  and those attacks are taking a tangible toll on pediatricians/nurses/healthcare providers.

Though more than one in five U.S. adults live with a mental illness, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and more than one in five youth (ages 13-18) either currently or at some point during their life have had a seriously debilitating mental illness, MacArthur, who leads Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, claimed just days before the start of Mental Health Awareness Month in May that mental illness isnt real.

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Citing arguments presented by clinical psychologist Bruce E. Levine in his book A Profession Without Reason and The Myth of Mental Illness by the now-deceased Hungarian-American psychiatrist Thomas Szasz, MacArthur urged parents not to believe in noble lies he alleges are being supported by the pharmaceutical industry so they can sell medication to the public that turn children into drugs addicts and potential criminals.

The major noble lie is there is such a thing as mental illness. Now, this isn't new. You have Thomas Szasz  writing a book, who was a psychiatrist, on The Myth of Mental Illness. There's no such thing as PTSD. There's no such thing as OCD. There's no such thing as ADHD. Those are noble lies to basically give the excuse to, at the end of the day, to medicate people. And Big Pharma is in charge of a lot of that, the pastor said during a panel discussion at Grace Church of the Valley last Thursday.

Take PTSD for example, what that really is, is grief. You are fighting a war you lost. Your buddies, you have a certain amount of survival guilt because you made it back, they didn't. How do you deal with grief? Grief is a real thing. But grief is part of life, and if you can't navigate grief, you can't live life, he added.

Christians who struggle with their mental health, like retired law enforcement officer Sharon Kroger, called MacArthurs arguments a slap in the face to veterans and law enforcement officers.

Thanks for the slap in the face for every veteran, law enforcement and fire personnel, dealing with the life-long effects of PTSD. There is the body, mind, and soul. Know your area of training, knowledge, and expertise. I've had five years of therapy and professional assistance, Kroger wrote on X. Arrogance is never a good look! Sounds demonic. God bless!

Moore noted that her husband struggles with PTSD and suggested MacArthur, who is 84, might have had a senior moment when he made the comments.

Ive had several very serious conversations with my daughters & my board concerning my public voice in my aging when filters naturally thin & were at greater risk of saying more than we should, Moore wrote on X. Please love & respect him enough to sift what should & shouldnt be publicized. There is simply no way he could know, for example, what my husband has endured over being in a fire with his brother when he was a toddler and watching him burn and not acknowledge the reality of PTSD.

Former Planned Parenthood clinic director turned pro-life CEO, Abby Johnson, who is also a trained Christian counselor, condemned MacArthurs comments as well.

John MacArthur just publicly proclaimed that he has zero understanding of PTSD or any other mental health disorder. I have my doctorate in Christian counseling and anyone reading this who is struggling, this is NOT truth, she noted on X. This is NOT what Jesus wants for you. He wants health and wholeness for your mind, body, and spirit. That often includes therapy and sometimes medication. And thats OKAY. Please do not feel ashamed for seeking health. Seeking help is the courageous thing to do.

Gavin Ortlund, former senior pastor of the 100-member First Baptist Church of Ojai in Ojai, California, who now ministers full time via his Truth Unites channel on YouTube, said MacArthurs ideology on mental health is destructive.

He further noted that MacArthurs ideology on mental health is common among American Evangelical culture and its something that needs to be better addressed.

Among American Evangelicals, we have to rehabilitate the doctrine of common Grace. This is a part of our heritage that we've kind of fallen away from. We often have a kind of underdeveloped or sort of malnourished doctrine of common grace, he said in a video response.

Ortlund described common grace as the grace God gives to everyone regardless of whether they are in a saving relationship with Him.

I think the fruits of that neglect of this doctrine are manifest in many ways, asserted.

 ... sometimes we have this, like this this lack of common Grace almost makes us try to super spiritualize everything and it's not healthy. One example of this, I would say, would be the sense that there's something wrong with learning from non-Christians, Ortlund added.

Theres so much that comes to us from common grace. The technology that enables me to record this video and you to watch it is the fruit of common grace. The clothing that I'm wearing was stitched together by common grace. The room that I'm sitting in was built by the knowledge of common Grace and medication and professional help is available to people who struggle with mental illness, and it is valid because of common Grace.

Large scale studies like The State of Religion & Young People 2022: Mental HealthWhat Faith Leaders Need to Know, which was conducted by the Springtide Research Institute, point to a positive relationship between religion, spirituality and mental health.

The study found that while religion and spirituality "can be strong antidotes to much of what contributes to mental-health struggles among young people" and that "people who are religious are better off mentally and emotionally," only 35% of the respondents said they are connected to a religious community.

While the study indicates that religion can have a positive impact on mental health, Josh Packard, Springtides executive director, notes in the report that "solutions to mental-health struggles are more complicated than just 'give young people more religion,'" as about 20% of "very religious" respondents report they are "not flourishing."

"The reality is that without addressing mental-health issues, a young person who is mentally and emotionally unwell wont be able to really engage with or understand the depth, beauty, power, awe, and love that can come with religion and spirituality," Packard wrote. "As Jeff Neel, the executive director of Northern Colorado Youth for Christ, puts it, 'Young people have to heal and belong before they can hear and believe.'"

Other studies previously highlighted by The Christian Post, show how ill-equipped many churches are in ministering to Christians who struggle with

In a subreddit of more than 40,000 anonymous former Christians, many shared stories about how they suffered as their Evangelical churches and family members urged them to pray away conditions such as bipolar disorder, anxiety and ADD before they were finally able to get help. Some said they never got the help they needed until they were adults.

As a TEENAGER I said to the Christian I looked up to, Hey, I hear voices and see shadow people everywhere, also I want to kill myself," a former Christian, who was later diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, wrote. "And I was told it was just spiritual warfare and Satan fighting for my soul. I was told to NOT seek therapy because therapists work for the devil to drive people away from the Lord."
NAGOYA, May 02 (News On Japan) - Mai Watanabe, 25, who operated under the alias "Itadakijoshi Riri-chan (Riri the sugar baby)" has filed an appeal after being sentenced to nine years in prison and fined 8 million yen for defrauding three men of over 150 million yen.

According to the indictment, Mai Watanabe induced affection from three men in their fifties and deceived them out of more than 150 million yen by falsely claiming she had a friend in debt. In addition to her fraud charges, she was also found guilty of violating the Income Tax Law by failing to declare about 40 million yen in earnings.

Last month, the Nagoya District Court delivered Watanabe a nine-year prison term and an 8 million yen fine. Her defense attorney filed an appeal with the Nagoya High Court on May 1st.

Related: "Riri-chan" Sentenced to 9 Years in Prison

Source: ANN
Home News Liberty's Jonathan Falwell on whether the 'perfect candidate' exists, a Christian's role in politics (part 1)

Read part 2 of Falwell's interview with The Christian Post here.

NASHVILLE, Tenn.  Does the "perfect candidate" exist?

As the election season heats up, Pastor Jonathan Falwell is reminding Christian voters that there is no such thing as a perfect" presidential candidate  but they must stay engaged in the process and vote for candidates who align most closely with biblical values.

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We have a responsibility to find people that most closely aligned with the biblical truth and our values and that will espouse the kind of truths that we believe flow from the Word of God, Falwell, pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia, and chancellor of Liberty University, told The Christian Post.

Obviously, all of us are humans and all of us are flawed, he said, adding that his father, late Liberty University founder Jerry Falwell, once said, I've never met anyone that I think is the perfect candidate.

In fact, he said, I don't think sometimes I can even vote for myself, because I know myself, he said. Sometimes, as human beings, we do things that don't honor our commitment to Christ and the walk that we have, because we have a sinful nature. Recognize that we're all flawed, recognize that you're not going to find a perfect candidate that will be absolutely in complete alignment with everything that you believe in, everything that you want that person to be.

We have to find the individuals that will most closely align with what we believe and what we believe God's Word teaches, and what we believe is best for our nation. Certainly, there are a lot of biblical values that come into play, but there are also some practical values that have to do with issues such as our connection to taxes, all of the things that are not biblical in nature, but yet still practical in nature.

Engaging with politics

The 57-year-old pastor highlighted the flawed nature of even historically lauded leaders such as Presidents Ronald Reagan, John F. Kennedy and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Despite the imperfections of political leaders, he emphasized the duty of Christians to stay engaged in the political process.

Jesus taught us that several different times in Scripture, he said. We need to be engaged. We're never going to find a perfect candidate. But we do need to find the person who most closely aligns with what we believe and support them, vote for them, and pray for God's blessing.

The Falwell family's association with politics has a significant history, particularly through the involvement of Jerry Falwell Sr., a Baptist pastor and televangelist, who in 1979 founded the Moral Majority, a political organization aimed at mobilizing conservative Christians into the political arena.

Falwell Sr. has been credited for playing a key role in galvanizing Evangelical Christians to support Reagan in his successful 1980 presidential campaign.

Falwells oldest son, former Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr., also publicly supported Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, cementing Liberty University's reputation as a center for conservative Christian politics.

Jonathan Falwell, who took over Thomas Road Baptist Church in 2007 following the passing of his father, who founded the church, told CP he sees his role as guiding the congregation through biblical truths, even when those truths intersect with political topics.

I focus on issues. I don't focus on political parties. I don't focus on political arguments or Republican, Democrat, Left, Right, whatever it might be, but I do talk about the issues that are important to people of faith, the issues that flow from the Word of God, he said.

When you're teaching the whole counsel of God, you're going to talk about life. You're going to talk about family, you're going to talk about religious liberty and freedom, all of these kinds of things that are at the forefront of our political landscape and the divisiveness that seems to be so prevalent in our culture today.

When you're talking a lot about issues from a biblical perspective, as it relates to how we can apply God's Word and God's truth to the issues of the day, you don't really have to delve too far into the issues of this candidate or that candidate, he added.

Christian nationalism and American exceptionalism

Falwell also weighed in on the topic of Christian nationalism, a term he acknowledged has a negative connotation.

He highlighted Jesus' teachings to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength" and to "love your neighbor as yourself" as guiding principles for Christians. According to the pastor, living out these teachings naturally leads to becoming a good citizen who positively impacts people, regardless of political affiliation, ethnicity or background.

If we can do that, the divisiveness and the strain that comes along with that statement of Christian nationalism  goes away, he said. It becomes less about making sure that I'm right and everybody else is wrong, and it becomes more like, I'm a follower of Jesus Christ, and I'm going to do what He's called me to do, and I'm going to love people the way that He's called me to love them and I'm going to share with them the Gospel, that Jesus died, that He rose again for them. If we live that kind of life, it takes that argument out of the out of the picture.

Falwell said theres no question God has blessed the United States, highlighting America's rapid development since its founding. "Our nation is such a young nation in comparison to [countries in] Europe, Asia and Africa, but we've accomplished so much in a relatively short time."

He attributed this success to America's exceptional nature, yet emphasized that it does not imply divine favoritism. "Does that mean God loves America more than other countries?

"Absolutely not," Falwell noted, citing John 3:16, "For God so loved the world.

I believe to whom much is given, much is required, he said. We have to make sure and recognize that yes, while we are an exceptional place, while America is a special, very accomplished nation, and we've been blessed beyond measure, that means that we need to do all that we can to take the resources that we have, the education that we have, the skills that we have, the money that we have, and we need to make a positive impact in countries around the world.

We have a responsibility, as I believe the greatest nation on the face of the Earth, to make sure that we are doing all that we can to bless others and to help others because that is what God has called us to do, he added.
Home News Judge upholds hate crime charge against Christian facing 5 years in jail for toppling satanic altar

An Iowa judge recently denied a motion to toss out the hate crime charge against a Christian U.S. Navy veteran who potentially faces five years in prison for toppling a satanic statue in the Iowa state Capitol last year.

The legal team for Michael Cassidy, which filed the motion to dismiss the hate crime charge against him from Polk County Attorney Kimberly Graham, said the judge told them on Tuesday that he will face a jury over the charge, according to the Republic Sentinel.

They argue Cassidy is being legally targeted because of his Christian faith.

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"Despite the inability of the prosecution to find a single instance in Iowa, or another state with a similar hate crime statute where the law had been applied to an organization, the judge denied our motion to dismiss," Cassidy's attorney David Younts told the outlet. "We believe that the state is uniquely targeting our client with a hate crime because of his religious faith."

Cassidy, a former GOP candidate for the Mississippi House of Representatives, drew national attention in December when he traveled to Des Moines from Mississippi and pushed over a red-cloaked statue of Baphomet where it stood near a Nativity scene.

The statue was erected by the Iowa chapter of The Satanic Temple and stood in front of a candle-lit altar adorned with the seven "Fundamental Tenets" of the organization, which claims not to believe in a personal devil.

The statue prompted fierce debate even among Christian state legislators and pastors, as The Christian Post reported. Republican state Rep. Jon Dunwell, a pastor, acknowledged that while he personally finds the altar "objectionable" and "evil," he didn't think the government should be arbitrating religious displays.

Republican state Rep. Brad Sherman, who is also a pastor, argued the opposite, claiming the display violated the Iowa state Constitution. He urged Republican Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds to order its removal, which she declined to do despite issuing a statement calling it "absolutely objectionable."

After turning himself into authorities upon tossing the statue's ram head in the garbage, Cassidy was first charged with fourth-degree criminal mischief, a misdemeanor.

In January, the Polk County Attorney's Office escalated the charge to felony third-degree mischief and a hate crime under Iowa state law, according to the Des Moines Register.

"Evidence shows the defendant made statements to law enforcement and the public indicating he destroyed the property because of the victim's religion," Lynn Hicks, a spokesman for the Polk County Attorney's Office, said at the time.

Graham, the county attorney whose office enhanced the charge against Cassidy, is a Democrat whose campaign was flooded with hundreds of thousands of dollars from Justice and Public Safety PAC, a George Soros-backed organization. She was elected top prosecutor in 2022 after pledging to reduce incarceration rates by easing up on low-level crimes such as marijuana possession.

Cassidy's attorney argued that he was not guilty of a hate crime, and that he was instead moved by a righteous desire to topple a symbol of evil antithetical to American values.

"Our client was motivated by a desire to protect the people of Iowa from having their sincerely held religious beliefs mocked by an organization that specifically chooses a symbol of hatred," Younts told the Sentinel. "The promotion of a symbol of lies and death is a direct attack on the ideals that our nation was founded on and that are necessary for a free society."

During an interview with CP in December, Cassidy argued that Christians who believe the U.S. Constitution protects a satanic altar are "overcomplicating" blatant evil that they should be resisting.

"The people who wrote our Constitution would be shocked to think of defending Satan as consistent with their beliefs when they wrote the laws that govern our nation," he said.

"People start overcomplicating the truth, which is that God is great and should be honored, and the devil is evil and should not be honored," he said. "I think people are tying themselves in knots trying to justify it, and it's really a lot simpler than that."

Cassidy's legal defense fund, which has drawn public support from figures such as Pastor John MacArthur, had raised more than $130,000 as of Thursday.
Home News 'Most wanted' New York fugitive arrested at the Vatican with knives during papal audience

A New York man who was on the state's most wanted list was arrested last month in Italy after being found with weapons in crowded St. Peter's Square during a papal audience.

Moises Tejada, 54, whom the New York state prison service's investigations unit classified as violent, was arrested on April 10 by Italian police while in possession of three concealed knives, according to Reuters.

The arrest of American Moises Tejada in the vicinity of Saint Peters Square on Wednesday, April 10, has sparked shock and worry, given that the individual is sought by the NY Authorities for his alleged participation in a series of violent crimes.



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The arrest occurred on the same day the square was packed with tourists and pilgrims from around the world while Pope Francis was holding a general audience.

Law enforcement did not reveal whether Tejada posed a threat to the pope, according to Reuters.

Tejada was first convicted by a court in Suffolk County, New York, in 1999 of robbery and kidnapping for robbing a realtor after handcuffing him to a pole and pointing a gun at him while pretending to be a potential customer, according to a 2004 appeal.

He was sentenced to 20 years to life after committing a similar crime against another realtor, according to an appeals court that upheld his prior conviction.

New York state corrections officials said Tejada started serving time in state prison in March 2000 on his kidnapping and robbery convictions and was returned to prison in January 2022 after violating the terms of his May 2018 parole, according to Catholic News Agency.

Tejada told authorities that he came to Rome via Moldova after spending time in Ukraine, where he was aiding in the war effort against Russia, according to Italian outlet La Repubblica.

In March 2022, Tejada was again released on parole from the maximum-security Sullivan Correctional Facility in Fallsburg, New York, but authorities issued a warrant for his arrest that October after he neglected to report to his parole officer, according to CNA.

The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision is reportedly working with federal law enforcement to extradite Tejada from Italy to the United States.

Tejada sued the New York Department of Corrections in 2022 after claiming to have suffered "severe and permanent injuries when he slipped and fell due to water which had accumulated and remained on the floor of the bathroom" at Rikers Island in 2021.
Home News UCLA anti-Israel protests: Violence erupts as delayed police response sparks criticism Police arrest over 130 in raid of pro-Palestinian encampment

Police dressed in riot gear broke up a violent brawl at the University of California Los Angeles between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel protesters that reportedly went on for around three hours before the authorities intervened, drawing criticism from state leaders.

The clash between the two sides appears to have occurred sometime after a group of anti-Israel demonstrators allegedly beat a Jewish woman until she was unconscious.

The violence occurred near an anti-Israel encampment, which activists at college campuses throughout the country have organized to demand their schools divest from Israel and express "solidarity" with the people of Gaza amid the ongoing war with the terror group Hamas.

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A group of counter-protesters approached the encampment around 11 p.m. Tuesday, at which point, fireworks were reportedly thrown into the encampment, ABC 7 reports.

During the clash between the opposing demonstrations, people were beaten with sticks, and the Los Angeles Police Department did not immediately intervene until around 1:30 a.m., according to the report, which noted officers didn't disperse the crowd until around 3 a.m.

On Thursday, police raided the encampment, arrested over 130 people and took them to a complex downtown for booking, a spokesperson for the California Highway Patrol Southern Division told The Associated Press.

A spokesperson for Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, told ABC 7 that the "limited and delayed campus law enforcement response at UCLA last night was unacceptable  and it demands answers."

Mayor Karen Bass called for a full investigation.

"Those involved in launching fireworks at other people, spraying chemicals and physically assaulting others will be found, arrested, and prosecuted, as well as anyone involved in any form of violence or lawlessness," Bass wrote on X Wednesday.

"I want to make sure the message I delivered to law enforcement and other officials earlier today is clear: Free speech will be protected. Violence and bigotry will not."

Before the authorities' intervention, a video surfaced Tuesday that purportedly showed a group of anti-Israel protesters assaulting a Jewish woman and stomping on her Israeli flag.

Eliana Jolkovsky, a UCLA medical student, shared the video under her "@ThatKoreanJew" account on Instagram.

According to a video caption, and as seen in the footage, the woman's body was "limp" as several people carried her away from the crowd. The text explains that the woman was later taken to the emergency room, and a screenshot included in the video shows a giant scar on the back of the woman's head.

"She has a concussion and was unable to recognize her family when she woke up," Jolkovsky wrote in response to a comment on Instagram. "But she is stable now."

Jolkovsky's video and claims couldn't be immediately verified by The Christian Post. UCLA did not immediately respond to The Christian Post's request for comment about the police intervention or to an inquiry about the video shared on social media.

In a Wednesday X post, UCLA announced the cancellation of classes due to the "distress" from the previous night and early morning that occurred on the Royce Quad. The school also instructed students to avoid the Royce Quad area.

On Tuesday, the university's administration warned the demonstrators that their encampment "is unlawful and violates university policy," threatening students who did not comply with the instruction to leave that they would face arrest or expulsion.

California District 51 Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur, a Democrat, was critical of authorities' delayed response to the developments at UCLA.

"Yesterday, my staff witnessed the violent assault of a Jewish student on campus, just one of many antisemitic incidents that have occurred in the last week and in recent months," he wrote on X Wednesday. "Hours later, a violent mob attacked protestors at the encampment with fireworks, pepper spray, and blunt objects, reportedly injuring students and reporters. In both instances, University security failed to prevent the assaults or respond in a timely manner, despite Chancellor Blocks assurances of adequate security on campus."

"While we continue to gather all the facts, one thing is abundantly clear: the UCLA Administration has failed in their most important duty  to protect the safety, wellbeing, and civil rights of all students on campus.

Reports have also surfaced of anti-Israel demonstrators at UCLA blocking students from accessing their classes and the library.

In an audio recording shared this week on social media and by the Jewish News Syndicate, a mother is heard asking the university police if protestors are permitted to block students who pay tuition from accessing the library.

"No, they're not allowed, but unfortunately, they have kind of taken over that little area. ... The police are not intervening with that right now, and this is coming from the university," the police representative told the mother.

Another video shows a group of demonstrators demanding people show the right wristband to enter certain areas on campus, with the protestors refusing entry to "Zionists."

The news about the anti-Israel protests comes after the New York Police Department arrested demonstrators at Columbia University.

According to USA Today, the police arrested around 300 anti-Israel protesters after the university called on them to help.

Protesters at Columbia University had taken over Hamilton Hall on campus. Several demonstrators broke windows, while others used furniture to barricade themselves inside.

"Columbia has a long and proud tradition of protest and activism on many important issues such as the Vietnam War, civil rights, and the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa," Columbia University President Minouche Shafik said in a Wednesday statement.

"Today's protesters are also fighting for an important cause, for the rights of Palestinians and against the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza. They have many supporters in our community and have a right to express their views and engage in peaceful protest."

"But students and outside activists breaking Hamilton Hall doors, mistreating our Public Safety officers and maintenance staff, and damaging property are acts of destruction, not political speech," she concluded.
Home Opinion Russell Brand just got baptized. But what does it mean?

Activist Russell Brand recently made headlines when he shared on his social media accounts that he was planning on getting baptized. On Sunday, April 28, 2024, Russell Brand was baptized into the Roman Catholic Church.

Brand was previously an actor and comedian, but recently he is a political activist. He has 6.79 million subscribers on YouTube and close to 12 million followers across Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.

Brand has, up to very recently, promoted many New Age ideas and philosophies across his social media platforms and hosted conferences on meditation and transcendentalism. He has also been a strong proponent of Eastern mysticism and spiritualities that are found in Buddhism and Hinduism. Many in the Christian world are split over whether his most recent baptism and conversion announcements are, in fact, sincere.

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One of the biggest issues is that he is still promoting New Age ideas across his social media, and on April 29, he promoted what practically all Christians would define as witchcraft. April 29 is the day after his baptism and he posted a video on his social media involving tarot cards. In the video, he shares the specific meaning of the tarot card he was holding in his hand and that certain symbols can serve as tools for reflection and personal analysis. Ending the video, he asks viewers their view on synchronizing other spiritual practices with Christianity and jokingly asks if it is ok to meddle in the occult arts.

Some in the Christian world are defending the video, stating that he is just a baby Christian and needs discipleship. Then there are others like me who believe that Brand did not convert to Christianity but rather is just adopting certain principles and beliefs into his New Age belief system. As he talked about baptism in another of his Instagram videos, he referenced the idea of new birth and becoming an enlightened individual. However, these terms are also present in other religions. They mean something entirely different from the same words within a Christian worldview. Apart from the context of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, these words may be the same but mean something entirely different.

In the past, I have researched Russell Brand extensively and have been aware of his belief system, which is one of universalism and syncretism, or the idea that multiple religions and spiritualities are different roads leading to the same source. And along with that, one can adopt the best practices from each that help them further their spiritual journey. Several years ago, he made headlines for getting a tattoo of Jesus on his arm. In a video on his YouTube channel, he explained why he specifically tattooed a crucifix. However, it was not due to conversion or belief in the biblical Jesus but he explains that he also tattooed Krishna, a masonic number, Hindu Sanskrit, and Ganesha, the Hindu elephant god, on other parts of his body. He appreciated principles and ideas from the story of Jesus without belief in the biblical narrative of who Jesus Christ is and how we must respond in repentance and faith to the Gospel message. At that time, he made it clear that he thought it was a good message, but it just didn't resonate with him.

His most recent social media announcements about baptism and its effects on him did not contain anything pertaining to the biblical Gospel. He did not mention sin, repentance, or the exclusivity of Jesus Christ. He did not renounce his former errant spiritual ideas or practices. Instead, he makes references to tarot cards, Buddhist and Hindu ideas and concepts, as well as keywords that pertain to New Age spirituality. In many of Brands past videos, he shared that Jesus is a way to get to God, or what he called the universal consciousness. In the past, he stated that he found more interest in other forms of spirituality than Christianity. Now it would seem that he has taken a greater interest in Christianity.

But the problem is that interest in Christianity leads neither to salvation nor true conversion. It is not enough to have an interest in Christian ideals or principles; many atheists, Muslims, Hindus, etc. find some of the ideas of Christianity to be interesting, and some even acknowledge them as valuable and helpful. However, Christianity is not a vehicle for enlightenment or self-actualization, as New Age philosophies present themselves to be. To become a Christian, one must at the very least believe in the exclusivity of Christ and His unique divinity, the sinfulness of man, the need for salvation through the finished work of Jesus on the cross, repentance from sin, and total trust and faith in Jesus Christ. These are prerequisites in the New Testament for someone to be born again. Sadly, it seems that Brand does not understand that this is what it means to be a Christian and a follower of Jesus. When listening to his recent videos, it feels like he is adopting some added beliefs that fit him for his current season of life. This is what New Age spirituality often entails. It has a cafeteria feel to it.

Christianity, on the other hand, posits that there is truth and falsehood. It posits that any form of spirituality outside of the Bible and outside of trusting in Jesus Christ alone is satanic in origin and a deception.

Tarot cards are a form of witchcraft, the occult, and divination. In the Old Testament, God made it clear the seriousness of any involvement with the occult. It is one of the things that God hates. Deuteronomy 18:1012 says, There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations, the Lord your God is driving them out before you. Think about that: God actually considers involvement in divination to be on par with child sacrifice. Practicing anything that is witchcraft or divination is extremely serious to God.

Likewise, in Leviticus 20:6, the Bible says, If a person turns to mediums and necromancers, whoring after them, I will set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people. In light of this, it is very serious that Russell Brand is publicly discussing tarot cards and suggesting they can be used in the life of a Christian in order to provide some kind of insight or revelation.

In the Old Testament as well as the New Testament, Gods greatest offense concerning his people was mixture. So often, Israel would worship Yahweh while also worshipping the Baals and Asherahs. This serious issue of blending paganism with true worship of God is seen all throughout scripture, from the worshipping of the golden calf to some of the churches in the book of Revelation being rebuked for their compromise and allowing pagan practices to come in. God does not accept the worship of false gods or the embracing of pagan practices to occur along with true worship. He forbids it. He hates idolatry. But in the Prophets, it is clear that He has an even greater hatred for the mixture of idolatry with true worship than just the idolatry of the pagans. Purity of worship and spiritual practice are highlighted as necessary all throughout the Bible. God never compromises on it or blurs the line.

No one expects perfection out of a new Christian. However, becoming a Christian is more than taking the plunge of baptism. When the Lord saves someone from serious spiritual error and deception, there is no way that He would allow them to continue promoting that deception to millions of followers under the guise that they can be a Christian and participate in what the Bible defines as witchcraft.
Christian teacher banned over stance on pronouns seeks judicial review

A Christian maths teacher who was banned indefinitely from the profession after refusing to use a student's preferred pronouns is seeking a judicial review.

Joshua Sutcliffe was banned for a minimum of two years by the Teaching Regulation Authority (TRA) for allegedly "bringing the profession into disrepute".

It followed his 2017 dismissal from Cherwell School in Oxford after allegedly using the wrong pronouns and "misgendering" a biologically female pupil who had started identifying as male.

At a High Court hearing in London on Wednesday, lawyers for Mr Sutcliffe said "there is no legal requirement to use preferred pronouns" and that he has a right "not to believe gender identity belief".

The 32 year old is being supported by the Christian Legal Centre (CLC) who said he should be vindicated by the government's draft transgender guidance for schools, published last December.

The draft guidance says that teachers should not be compelled to go against their conscience and use preferred pronouns that are contrary to a pupil's biological sex.

"No teacher or pupil should be compelled to use these preferred pronouns and it should not prevent teachers from referring to children collectively as 'girls' or 'boys,' even in the presence of a child that has been allowed to change their pronouns," the guidance says.

Mr Sutcliffe is pursuing a judicial review into the Secretary of State For Education's decision to accept the TRA's recommendation that he be banned indefinitely from teaching.

The Department for Education (DfE) claims that his application for a judicial review has "no merit".

DfE lawyer Iain Steele told the hearing, "[Mr Sutcliffe] seeks to make this a case about freedom of religion and freedom of expression, but in truth it is a case about a serious failure to treat pupils with dignity and respect and to safeguard their wellbeing."

Following Wednesday's hearing, the judge will hand down his written judgment at a later date.

Speaking ahead of the hearing, Mr Sutcliffe said he had been a "marked man ever since I dared to express my Christian beliefs in a school and tell the media about how I was punished for doing so".

"I feel vindicated by the draft government guidance and the Cass Review, and it is time for my ban to be overturned," he said.

"In 2017 there was no training and no guidance on these issues for teachers. I was a young teacher building my career in the profession at a time when schools were taking guidance from Stonewall, not the government or any experts on these issues.

"If the ruling is upheld then every teacher is at risk if they share their beliefs and views in the classroom."

CLC chief executive Andrea Williams said, "We can't underestimate the chilling impact that the ruling in Joshua Sutcliffe's case has. Teachers are intimidated into silence for fear of losing their jobs if they say something with which the regulator disagrees.

"The teaching profession is no longer an easy place to navigate for Christian teachers. Expressing long held Christian beliefs on marriage and gender can get you suspended, investigated and barred.

"For refusing to use preferred pronouns and expressing his Christian belief on marriage in response to questions from pupils, Joshua became a marked man. From that moment, everything he did in and out of the classroom came under intense scrutiny.

"From the beginning, Joshua has faced viewpoint discrimination from the schools. For loving Jesus and expressing his beliefs in response to questions Joshua has been punished severely by the TRA and the Secretary of State.

"If the draft government guidance had been in place six years ago, none of what Joshua has been through would have happened. It's now time for justice for Joshua. The ban must be overturned."
God wants me to stand up and speak out against 'woke mob', says Dr Phil

TV personality Phil McGraw - popularly known as Dr Phil - says he feels compelled to speak up about some of the "strange" ideas being pedalled in modern America.

Dr Phil joined the stage at Pastor Ed Young's Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas, to promote his new book, We've Got Issues: How You Can Stand Strong for America's Soul and Sanity.

In a sit-down interview with Young, Dr Phil said that family in America was "under attack" and that Christians need to fight back using the tools at their disposal, including their "active relationship with God".

He said that the Church was the best hope for young people to grow up protected from harmful influences.

"If you are married and you do have two parents in [the] family and you are going to church, that's your best shot of those children going into a lifestyle that will be drug-free, alcohol-free, abuse-free, divorce-free, that's your best shot," he said.

Dr Phil expressed concern about "cancel culture" and attempts by the "woke mob" to rewrite the truth about history, science and biology. He said he would continue to speak out even if he gets cancelled.

"We've got some strange ducks out there peddling all kinds of alternatives to God and religion," he said.

"As a result, I've seen things in our country that made me think, 'Wow, I know some things I need to talk about.' And people are less willing to speak out now than they have been in the last 75 years because of cancel culture.

"If you take a position, boy they're going to come after you, the hounds are going to be on you, and get you cancelled."

He continued, "I don't care. I guess I've been around so long that somebody has to stand up and speak out. I just believe that's what God wants me to do."

He told Young that having a "kind of live and let live" mentality would not cut it anymore as people "start hijacking your narrative, until they start hijacking science or biology, history and common sense".

"At some point, you got to say, 'Enough's enough and too much is too much,' and this is too much. So I'm pushing back, and that's what this book is all about," he said.
Pastor's daughter to proceed with legal action against Hillsong

A former student of Hillsong College is to proceed with legal action against Hillsong Church following the collapse of talks to reach a settlement.

Anna Crenshaw, daughter of Ed Crenshaw, senior pastor of Victory Church in Pennsylvania, claimed she was indecently assaulted by Hillsong employee Brian Mays at a social gathering in 2016, when she was 18 years old.

Mr Mays later pleaded guilty to one count of indecent assault in January 2020 and was handed a two-year conditional release order with no conviction recorded. He was suspended by Hillsong for a year.

Ms Crenshaw was suing Hillsong for its handling of her formal complaint against Mays, made in 2018. She alleges that Hillsong breached its duty of care.

The case had been due to go to trial this week in Sydney but was adjourned on Monday after it appeared that Hillsong and Ms Crenshaw had reached a settlement.

The Daily Mail reports that talks have collapsed and Ms Crenshaw will proceed with plans to sue the church.

Her lawyer was quoted as saying that a settlement "has not been forthcoming due to a disagreement between the parties".

Court will be reconvened on 13 May to set a date for the hearing. Ms Crenshaw is claiming damages, aggravated damages and exemplary damages.
TOKYO, May 02 (News On Japan) - Scheduled to air on May 5th, the 1103rd episode of "ONE PIECE" titled "Bring Back My Father! Bonnie's Fleeting Wish!" delves into a deeply emotional arc.

Caught in a relentless pursuit, scientist Vegapunk remains silent about his reasons for modifying his daughter's powers, despite Bonnie's desperate efforts to understand. The episode captures the heart-wrenching determination of a daughter resolved to reconnect with her father. The unfolding drama hints at pivotal revelations that could open new doors in the narrative, as Bonnie vows, "I will become the Pirate King," adding a layer of determination to her quest. Tune in to witness how Bonnie's wishes lead her on a path that could change her destiny.

Source: ONE PIECE Official YouTube Channel
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After almost four years of debating a law that would force ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, to sell the app or be banned in the United States, Congress finally passed legislation promising exactly that, and President Biden signed it into law last week. (Ive written a number of times over the years about the back-and-forth in Washington regarding a potential ban, including here and here and here.) As recently as a few weeks ago, the prospect of such a law passing looked doomed; the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly in favor of a version of the law on March 13, but the bill then seemed to lose momentum in the Senate, as I detailed recently. So what changed? And what happens now? Even though the law has passed, a number of hurdles, roadblocks, and potential landmines still stand in its way.

To answer the first question, sources in Washington believe that ByteDance made a series of miscalculations in its attempts to forestall the passage of the law, according to the Wall Street Journal. The sources said that Shou Zi Chew, TikToks CEO, failed to build support on Capitol Hill and instead relied on negotiations with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US, a government panel that reviews deals involving overseas companies on national security grounds, to produce a complex restructuring that never panned out. Chew testified before Congress earlier this year, an appearance that ByteDance felt went welland the company got support from the Club for Growth, a conservative organization backed by Jeff Yass, a major TikTok shareholder. But despite these successes, the Journal wrote, opinion on Capitol Hill was already shifting against the company, as a result of what the Journal called Washingtons deepening, bipartisan distrust of China, especially on tech matters.

As for what might happen next, the idea of selling TikTok to a US company as an alternative to a ban isnt a new one. It was first proposed in 2020, after Donald Trump tried to ban the app by executive order. The New York Times reported at the time that ByteDance was discussing a potential deal with investors, including Sequoia and General Atlantic, two US investment firms that already owned shares in the company. Under that plan, TikTok would have received new cash from existing investors, with ByteDance retaining a minority stake. When those discussions took place, the companys market value was estimated at a hundred billion dollars, roughly the same as it is now. But talk of a sale cooled after Trumps ban foundered in court and Joe Biden became president.

Over the past year or so, talk of a sale-or-ban bill started to ramp back up and a number of parties expressed interest in buying TikTokunsurprisingly, given that it is one of the most popular social apps in the world, with almost two billion monthly users. Among the prospective buyers now are Steven Mnuchin, an investment banker and former treasury secretary under Trump who said that he has assembled a group of interested investors, and Bobby Kotick, the former CEO of the gaming company Activision Blizzard, who is reportedly looking for partners to join in an acquisition. The Journal reported that Kotick spoke to Zhang Yiming, the cofounder of ByteDance, about a possible TikTok deal, although ByteDance has denied this. Other potential acquirers could include Microsoft and Oracle. After Trump tried to ban TikTok, Microsoft expressed an interest in buying the app, according to an NBC News report, while Oracle started working with ByteDance as part of Project Texas, which was designed to wall off the data that TikTok had gathered from US users and thus defuse concerns about Chinas ability to use it for nefarious purposes.

Indeed, the biggest hurdle standing in the way of a TikTok acquisition might not be a lack of interested buyers, but the Chinese government. After Trump proposed banning the app, Beijing passed a new law covering the export of technology, including algorithms such as the one that powers TikTok. (I wrote about this for CJR at the time.) Arthur Dong, a business professor at Georgetown University, told The Verge this week that China likely would not agree to a TikTok sale if it included the algorithms, because it probably feels at this point that theyve got a gun to their head. ByteDance could theoretically sell everything but the algorithms, but as Dan Primack, of Axios, has noted, this would be like McDonalds selling a Big Mac without the meat. The Information has reported that ByteDance has held discussions about a sale without the algorithms, but the company has denied this.

If a sale is not possible, then under the new law, a ban seems inevitable. But some observers believe that this course of action could face significant obstacles in court. TikTok itself has suggested that a challenge on First Amendment grounds is likely: in a video addressing users after Biden signed the new law, Chew, the CEO, described it as a ban on you and your voice, while a spokesperson for the company pledged to challenge it in court. Some outside observers seem to think that such a challenge would have merit. In a statement following the laws passage, Jameel Jaffer, the executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, agreed that it is unconstitutional. The First Amendment means that the government cant restrict access to ideas, information, or media from abroad without a very good reason for it, Jaffer saidand no such reason exists here.

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Many of TikToks critics disagree with this view, of course. Last year, an analysis published by an arm of the US State Department argued that the Chinese government is using its influence over TikTok to reshape the global information environment, just as it uses its control over Chinese state media to manipulate information, intimidate critics of the government, and promote the ruling Communist Partys interests. Some members of Congress, meanwhile, have supported a ban due to concerns that the app might turn over the private data of US users to the Chinese government. A number of critics of this position, however, have argued that Beijing doesnt need access to TikTok to get such informationit can simply buy it from online data-brokers, in much the same way that lots of other, non-Chinese companies do routinely.

Nor is everyone convinced that a First Amendment challenge by ByteDance would be successful. Matt Schettenhelm, a senior litigation analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, told The Verge that the DC circuit court, where such a challenge would be heard, would likely tread carefully before it overturns a policy decision that was adopted by an overwhelming bipartisan majority of Congress. Schettenhelm puts the likelihood of the government prevailing at around 70 percent, and thinks that, in such a scenario, the Supreme Court might be inclined to let its ruling stand.

As Seth Stern noted recently for CJR, the courts went in the opposite direction in the Pentagon Papers case in the seventies, when the publication of secret government assessments of the Vietnam War was portrayed as a clear national security threat but was determined to be protected by the First Amendment. Whether the courts today would make the same decision remains an open question. Regardless, there is a lot of ground left to cover before a TikTok banor even a salebecomes a reality.



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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.
Months after a catastrophic fire burned more than 2,200 homes in Hawaii, some property owners are getting more bad news  their property insurance wont be renewed because their insurance company has deemed the risk too high.

Its a problem that has played out in states across the U.S. as climate change and increasing development has raised the risks of wildfires and other natural disasters damaging communities. Insurance providers, state regulators and researchers are grappling with how to keep the insurance companies in business while keeping residents and their properties insured and protected.

I think most of the insurers, you know, Im very grateful that theyre committed to the Hawaii market, so we havent seen wholesale withdrawals, after the Aug. 8, 2023 fire burned through Lahaina and killed 101 people, Hawaii Insurance Commissioner Gordon Ito said during a Wildfire Risk Forum for insurance commissioners held at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.

But one or two insurance companies have stopped renewing policies for wood structures like townhomes that are in wildfire risk areas, Ito said Monday, in part because the companies have seen their own insurance costs climb. Property insurers typically have their own insurance coverage to help when there are big payouts, like the roughly $3 billion in claims that have been paid so far on an estimated $6 billion in damages from the Lahaina fire. But those reinsurance rates are climbing, Ito said, and thats forcing some companies to reevaluate the policies they are willing to issue to residents.

The same thing happened in Colorado after the 2021 Marshall Fire destroyed 1,100 homes in Boulder County, causing an estimated $2 billion in damage, said Colorado Division of Insurance deputy commissioner Jason Lapham. Last year, Colorado lawmakers authorized the creation of the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) Plan, which is expected to provide bare-bones property insurance coverage for residents who cant get insurance from a private company starting in 2025. Other states like California, Louisiana and Florida have also resorted to providing their own state-affiliated insurers of last resort, which can fill in the gap when when the private insurance market abandons an area because of natural disaster risk.

Insurance industry researchers say part of the solution could come from homeowners taking steps to make their properties more fire-resistant.

This peril is a preventable peril, and it will take a will to change and do something different, said Anne Cope, the chief engineer for the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety. She later demonstrated her point by taking the commissioners to two nearly identical buildings  one made out of fire-resistant materials with plenty of space between landscaping and the structure, and the other built with traditional materials and landscaping. Small fires were started next to each building, and the fire-resistant one remained mostly undamaged while the traditional building was quickly engulfed and burned to the ground.

Research shows that protecting homes from blowing embers using fire-resistant roofs and gutters and keeping the area around a home free of easily flammable material makes a big difference, Cope said.

In the early 1970s, the U.S. had more annual fire deaths than any other industrialized nation, Cope told the insurance commissioners, but a 1973 government-commissioned report on the problem called America Burning led to dramatic improvements, in part because of the widespread adoption of smoke detectors and building codes.

We can do that here with suburban conflagration, Cope said, by protecting homes from blowing embers using fire-resistant roofs and gutters and taking other basic steps like keeping defensible space around a home. Wood roofing materials are not only more statistically likely to lead to the destruction of their own building in a fire but also to the destruction of 10 other buildings nearby, she said. Juniper bushes and wooden fences and decks near homes are also likely fire entry points, as are gutters that are filled with debris.

Once one building in a community catches fire, the problem quickly compounds  while forest fires and other wildland fires generally produce small blowing embers that are quickly extinguished, structure fires create much larger embers that can be as big as a human hand, Cope said. Those big, chunky embers carry enough fuel with them to keep burning once they land on another structure, quickly setting it aflame.

The economic effects of a catastrophic fire last for years, said Ito. Insurance companies in Hawaii have already paid roughly 80% of the claims filed for personal property, nearly 100% of the claims filed for motor vehicles and about half of the commercial insurance claims, he said. Commercial insurance claims typically take longer because additional records are needed to document the losses sustained by a business.

But thats just the recoverable losses. The economy has been devastated by the lack of tax revenue, more than 2,000 displaced residents are still living in hotels, and rebuilding hasnt started yet, Ito said. Lahaina was a major destination for visitors, and the fires will likely lead to an ongoing reduction of about 10% or 15% in revenue for the states tourism industry, he said.

And to me, the heartbreaking thing  theres quite a few Lahaina survivors that cannot afford to stay and have chosen to leave the islands because of the lack of housing availability, said Ito. And so thats, I think, the biggest impact.

Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
On the morning of September 11, 2001, Robert Liotta was at his job as a senior court officer at 100 Centre Street in New York City when not far away terrorists attacked the World Trade Center. Right away, he began evacuating buildings and clearing streets to make way for emergency vehicles.

In 2019, under a workers compensation law enacted for those who worked in Wold Trade Center (WTC) rescue, recovery or cleanup operations, he registered as a participant potentially eligible for benefits and thereafter filed a claim. The deadline to register was September 11, 2026. In June 2021, his claim was denied because the state Workers Compensation Board found he was not qualified as a participant in the recovery and cleanup effort.

That denial was reversed last week by the appellate division of the New York State Supreme Court, which found that Liottas activities and location on that day qualified him for the benefits under a liberal reading of the law. The court found that some of Liottas activities on that day were sufficiently connected to rescue efforts to make him eligible for benefits.

In determining in June 2021 that Liotta did not qualify, the Workers Compensation Board specifically found that he did not describe activities that had a tangible connection to the WTC rescue, recovery and cleanup operations. The board noted that Liottas location on the days in question fell within the area statutorily defined as the WTC site. However, the board said that there was no testimony that he engaged in any recovery or cleanup at the site.

The appeals court revisited whether the activities in which Liotta engaged constituted rescue work or had a tangible connection to rescue efforts.

The applicable statute, Workers Compensation Law article 8-A, was enacted to remove statutory obstacles to timely claims filing and notice for latent conditions resulting from hazardous exposure for those who worked in rescue, recovery or cleanup operations following the attack. According to the court, this legislation was intended to be liberally construed to provide a potential avenue of relief for workers and volunteers suffering from ill health as a result of their efforts in the aftermath of the terrorists attacks.

The law extends eligibility to any employee or volunteer who participated in the rescue, recovery, or cleanup operations at the WTC site between September 11, 2001 and September 12, 2002. The board has interpreted that to require that the injured or ill person directly participated in or otherwise had some tangible connection to the rescue, recovery or cleanup operations in order to fall within the coverage of Workers Compensation Law article 8-A. The deadline to register as a participant potentially eligible for benefits was September 11, 2026.

According to Liotta, on September 11 right after the attack, he began assisting in evacuating the courthouse where he worked and the building across the street, moving people north in order to clear the street to allow emergency vehicles to pass as they headed to the WTC site.

He and other court officers were then bused to Ground Zero where they were given a briefing. They were then moved to Pace University due to concerns about buildings collapsing. He testified that once at Pace University, he continued evacuating civilians, getting the area cleared and assisting other emergency personnel, stating that there were still a lot of emergency vehicles coming through.

He also testified that he assisted in distributing safety equipment and medical supplies, although it was unclear whether he distributed these to civilians and/or first responders.

On September 12, 2001, Liotta returned to work for a 25-hour shift and was assigned to the street in front of the courthouse where he assisted in keeping the area cleared for emergency personnel. He also said he distributed safety equipment and provided security for the courthouse.

The appeals court found that although not all of Liottas described activities involved a tangible connection to the rescue efforts at the WTC site, in light of the liberal construction afforded to the law, his activities of assisting with clearing the area  which was located within the statutorily-defined WTC site  in order for the emergency vehicles to access Ground Zero did establish a tangible connection to the rescue efforts.

On that basis, the court concluded that the boards determination that he was not a participant in the rescue effort operations to qualify for benefits was not supported by substantial evidence. Thus the boards decision was reversed and the matter remitted to the board for further proceedings consistent with the courts decision.
UnitedHealth Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Andrew Witty told lawmakers his company is still trying to determine why its computer systems were left vulnerable to hackers who perpetrated a devastating cyberattack.

Lawmakers zeroed in on lax defenses during more than two hours of questioning by the Senate Finance Committee, in the first of two congressional hearings about the breach on Wednesday. The intruders got in through a server that didnt have multifactor authentication  a basic cybersecurity measure used on consumer bank accounts  and got access to a hoard of health and personal data. Witty said the trove might cover one-third of Americans.

Were trying to dig through exactly why that server had not been protected, Witty told lawmakers. Im as frustrated as anybody about that fact.

Some lawmakers said the company had neglected basic safeguards and failed both to prevent the attack and recover from it, with backup systems that were also vulnerable. This company flunked both, said Senator Ron Wyden, the Oregon Democrat who chairs the Finance Committee.

The largest US health insurer faced aggressive questions from some lawmakers over the February hacking incident, including concerns about whether its vast reach into myriad health-care operations concentrated risk that cybercriminals exploited. The hack snarled billions of dollars in payments for doctors and hospitals.

The ransomware strike that wrecked systems at UnitedHealths Change Healthcare subsidiary will likely be the largest health-care data breach in the US to date, the company said. Its also among the most costly hacks ever, denting UnitedHealths profit by as much as $1.6 billion this year.

Witty was the sole witness to appear in the hearings, which also included an afternoon session with a subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Lawmakers from both parties expressed concern about UnitedHealths size at a separate House panel two weeks ago.

Senator Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts Democrat, called on regulators to break up the company during the Wednesday hearing. Even conservatives expressed concern about its corporate power.

Is the dominant role of United too dominant, because its into everything, and messing up United messes up everybody? said Senator Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana.

Witty said Change Healthcares footprint was the same as it was before UnitedHealth acquired it in 2022. The company UnitedHealth bought for almost $8 billion ran on legacy technology, he said, with some systems 40 years old. Weve been working to improve those, he said.

UnitedHealths shares closed almost unchanged Wednesday, a sign that Wittys grilling in Washington had little impact for investors.

Lax Defense

Wyden said the committee is drafting legislation in response to the attack. He called again for standards for the industry, and said larger companies would have to meet tougher standards. The bigger the company the more significant your responsibilities, he said.

UnitedHealth faces constant attacks from intruders trying to crack digital defenses, with more than 450,000 attempts a year, according to Wittys prepared testimony released ahead of the hearings. The exact nature of those attempts wasnt immediately clear.

Despite the persistent threat, he said the intruders gained entry to Change Healthcares systems through a Citrix remote access portal that wasnt protected by multifactor authentication, a common cyberdefense meant to thwart hackers by requiring more than a password to verify that a login is legitimate.

Once they broke into the system on Feb. 12, attackers claiming to be the notorious cybercrime group BlackCat pilfered data undetected for more than a week. They deployed ransomware nine days later. Witty said he was at a board meeting when he learned of the attack on Feb. 21.

Wyden questioned whether UnitedHealth knew how much personal data of its users was stolen. You dont have the logs to show what data walked out the door, he said.

Witty estimated that the data breach could affect about one-third of all Americans  which would be more than 100 million people  though he said the number was uncertain. Facing a House panel in the afternoon, he said he couldnt guarantee that hackers hadnt copied stolen the data to distribute online.

The full extent of that breach will take months to assess, according to UnitedHealth, leaving Americans in the dark about what private medical data may have been exposed. The company has set up a site to offer credit monitoring and other help.

Witty said he decided to pay a ransom to protect patient data, one of the hardest decisions Ive ever had to make. He confirmed that the payment was $22 million, a figure that has previously been reported based on an analysis of cryptocurrency payments.

He also said the attackers locked up the companys backup systems, delaying how long it took to restore Change Healthcares services. UnitedHealth rebuilt much of the infrastructure from scratch on cloud-based systems, he said.

He told the committee that UnitedHealths response was swift and forceful, by disconnecting Changes systems from the rest of the health-care world. While that was extremely disruptive, he said it stopped the damage from spreading more widely.

The company said many systems are back online. It has advanced more than $6.5 billion in payments and interest-free loans to medical providers facing cash-flow interruptions.

Witty also said the company supports minimum security standards for health-care companies and improvements to the USs cyber defenses, including standardized reporting of cybersecurity events.

Top photo: Andrew Witty, chief executive officer of UnitedHealth Group Inc., center, arrives for a Senate Finance Committee hearing in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. UnitedHealth, which has a market value of $451 billion, has estimated that the Feb. 21 cyberattack that paralyzed much of the US health-care system could reduce its profit by as much as $1.6 billion this year, making it one of the costliest hacks ever. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg.

Copyright 2024 Bloomberg.
Ulviyya Shahin

Jeyhun Bayramov, Azerbaijan's Minister of Foreign Affairs, held discussions with Giorgio Mule, Vice President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, who was on a visit to Azerbaijan to participate in the 6th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue, Azernews reports.

The talks primarily focused on bilateral and multilateral cooperation between Azerbaijan and Italy, as well as the prevailing regional dynamics in the post-conflict phase. Both parties underscored the significance of parliamentary diplomacy in advancing the multifaceted strategic partnership between Azerbaijan and Italy, alongside stressing the importance of high-level engagements and dialogue. They highlighted extensive opportunities for further collaboration across various sectors, including economy, trade, energy security, transportation, education, and culture.

They also highlighted the establishment of the Italy-Azerbaijan University in Azerbaijan as a noteworthy initiative to bolster educational cooperation.

Minister Jeyhun Bayramov provided insights into the historical Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, the existing regional landscape in the aftermath of the conflict, ongoing large-scale reconstruction and development efforts in the liberated territories, as well as the reconciliation and peace efforts between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and the regional challenge posed by landmines.

Furthermore, both sides exchanged perspectives on other matters of mutual interest.
CLEVELAND, Ohio  A U.S. marshals task force on Tuesday arrested a Cleveland man accused of fatally shooting a 17-year-old.

Kevin Wright, 20, is charged with aggravated murder in the Jan. 2 shooting of Tyrone Griffin. Task force officers arrested Wright in the 4300 block of East 164th Street in Cleveland.
FRANKLIN, Tennessee  Duane Eddy, a veteran of the early days of rock n roll who set himself apart with his twangy guitar sound, leading to hits such as Peter Gunn and Rebel Rouser, has died at the age of 86.

Eddy died of cancer Tuesday at the Williamson Health hospital in Franklin, Tennessee, according to his wife, Deed Abbate.

Duane inspired a generation of guitarists the world over with his unmistakable signature Twang sound, a representative for Eddys family tells Variety. He was the first rock and roll guitar god, a truly humble and incredible human being. He will be sorely missed.

Eddy sold more than 100 million records worldwide. While his biggest hits came in the late 1950s, they remain instantly recognizable and often are used in movies and television shows.

I had a distinctive sound that people could recognize and I stuck pretty much with that. Im not one of the best technical players by any means; I just sell the best, Eddy told The Associated Press in a 1986 interview. A lot of guys are more skillful than I am with the guitar. A lot of it is over my head. But some of it is not what I want to hear out of the guitar.

Eddy perfected his sound with a Gretsch Chet Atkins 6120 hollow-body electric guitar played with plenty of reverb, deadline.com reports. The twang sound was highlighted with his first album, 1958s Have Twangy Guitar Will Travel, and carried his career, including the 1993 album Twang Thang: The Duane Eddy Anthology.

While he didnt consider himself a technically skilled player, his songs had an enormous influence on musicians such as Bruce Springsteen, John Fogerty and George Harrison. He was more popular overseas, with 10 of his singles reaching the top 10 in the United Kingdom, deadline.com reports, including Forty Miles of Bad Road.

Eddy was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.

Instrumentalists dont usually become famous. But Duane Eddys electric guitar was a voice all its own, said Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, in a statement to Variety. His sound was muscular and masculine, twangy and tough.

... But more importantly, his style inspired thousands of hillbilly cats and downtown rockers  the Ventures, George Harrison, Steve Earle, Bruce Springsteen, Marty Stuart, to name a few  to learn how to rumble and move people to their core. The Duane Eddy sound will forever be stitched into the fabric of country and rock n roll.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.
WASHINGTON  A new advisory from the U.S. State Department warns European travelers to exercise increased caution if they visit Germany for fear of terrorist activity.

The warnings were contained in an advisory issued Wednesday that said terrorist groups continue to plan attacks in Germany and may strike with little or no warning.

They target tourist locations and transportation hubs, the advisory states. They also target markets/shopping malls and local government facilities. They target hotels, clubs, and restaurants. They also attack places of worship, parks, and major sporting and cultural events. They target schools, airports, and other public areas.

The advisory is a Level Two warning that calls for exercising increased caution. Level Three (Reconsider Travel) and Level Four (Do Not Travel) advisories are the two more serious levels.

But the Level Two advisory for Germany is unusual. It is a large nation in central Europe with a thriving economy and a population second only to Russia.

The only more serious warnings issued in the last year for European travel were for countries impacted by the war in Ukraine. Do-not-travel warnings were issued for Ukraine (May 2023), Belarus (July 2023) and Russia (September 2023) in connection with the fighting.

The State Department cautions that U.S. citizens traveling to Germany should take the following measures:

Travelers may also want to follow the State Department on Facebook and Twitter for any updates, the advisory states.
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Former U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks on the day of his court appearance in New York after being indicted by a Manhattan grand jury following a probe into hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels, in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., April 4, 2023.

Former President Donald Trump will travel from a courtroom in New York to his ritzy private club in Florida this weekend, to mingle with potential running mates and wealthy Republican donors.

Trump is scheduled to spend Thursday and Friday in court in lower Manhattan, where he is on trial and charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in a political hush money case.

After that, the former president will return home to Florida, where he will headline the Republican National Committee's spring donor retreat.

The annual weekend traditionally brings together major donors and GOP heavyweights. But this year, the list of "Special Guests" expected in Florida reads like a roster of Trump's shortlisted potential vice presidential picks, according to an agenda obtained by CNBC.

Republican Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida, J.D. Vance of Ohio and Tim Scott of South Carolina are all "special guests." So is North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, another reported short-lister. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, fresh off a dog shooting scandal, is also expected. So is New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, one of Trump's fiercest defenders in Congress.

All of them are reportedly under consideration as potential vice presidential candidates on Trump's presumptive ticket.

As for when Trump might announce his running mate, the former president said Wednesday that he doesn't plan to unveil his choice until closer to the Republican National Convention, which begins July 15 in Milwaukee.

"We'll be making that decision, I think, closer to Wisconsin time, if you want to know the truth," Trump told a local Fox affiliate in Wisconsin. "It's very early right now."
The flag of the United States of America and the flag of the Republic of China.

Americans overwhelmingly hold an unfavorable view of China, with an increasing number labeling the nation as an enemy of the United States, according to a Pew Research Center survey released Wednesday.

About 42% of those polled labeled China as an enemy of the U.S. the highest share since the Washington, D.C.-based think tank began asking the question in 2021 up from just a quarter two years ago.

The survey found that for the fifth year in a row, about four in five Americans saw the country in an unfavorable light, while 43% viewed it very unfavorably.

Half the respondents identified China as a competitor, while 6% saw it as a partner to the U.S.

The polling results come at a contentious time between the world's top two economies and ahead of the U.S. presidential elections.

Democratic incumbent Joe Biden as well as Republican rival Donald Trump have signaled tough stances on China, amid a ramp-up in trade restrictions, sanctions, and proposed bans on Chinese companies such as TikTok owner ByteDance.

These policies appear to be in line with public sentiment. Pew Research's findings showed that about half of the Americans polled think curbing China's power and influence should be a top foreign policy priority for the U.S.

"They are likewise critical of China's impact on the U.S. economy, describing its influence as large and negative," Pew said in its report. The survey also found that those who say the current U.S. economic situation is bad are more likely to blame China and hold unfavorable opinions of the country.
Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Thursday: Morgan Stanley reiterates Ferrari as overweight Morgan Stanley said shares of the luxury automaker are underappreciated. "For years, the pushback on RACE was its lofty valuation. Now that the stock trades near parity with Hermes (and is widely held in portfolios), the stock's multiple is seen as more reasonable with the investor refrain: 'Ferrari's always been expensive and always will be.'" Mizuho reiterates Nvidia as buy Mizuho said the stock is a top pick in May. "With the push for greater AI adoption, we believe NVDA could potentially see a ~$280B revenue opportunity by C27E, [calendar year 2027] up > 6x from the $47.5B we saw in F24." UBS upgrades Burlington to neutral from sell UBS said the outlook for Burlington is improving. "We see risk rising, long-term supply chain, freight, and labor costs offset the progress BURL is making its business more efficient." Jefferies reiterates Netflix as buy After a change in analyst coverage, the firm said it's standing by its buy rating. "We are positive on NFLX, given our view that advertising, price hikes, and password sharing crackdown can sustain low- to mid-teens rev growth over the next few years." Rosenblatt upgrades Extreme Networks to buy from neutral Rosenblatt said revenue is bottoming for the networking equipment company. "We downgraded EXTR to Neutral a few months ago on lack of near-term catalysts. We are now upgrading to Buy because 3Q24 (March) was the bottom for revenues and margins, Cisco's (CSCO, Neutral) execution in the Enterprise Networking space is not improving, and Juniper's (JNPR, Neutral) and HPE's are deteriorating." Jefferies upgrades Trade Desk to buy from hold Jefferies said in its upgrade of Trade Desk that the digital marketing company is at an inflection point. "In our view, the street's FY24 rev ests, which assume no acceleration in growth vs. 2023, are conservative given the tailwinds of U.S. political elections and a significant amount of new programmatic CTV [connected TV] supply becoming available." UBS upgrades TJX Companies to buy from neutral UBS says the off-price retailer is a "growth stock with surprising upside." "We believe Off-Price retailers like TJX will take more share from Department Stores than previously thought." TD Cowen downgrades Wolfspeed to hold from buy TD Cowen said it sees too much uncertainty for the silicon carbide company. "Factors In And Out Of Wolfspeed's Control Have Weighed On Results, But Capped Long- Term Potential And High Leverage Move Us To The Sidelines." Raymond James upgrades Parsons to strong buy from outperform Raymond James said in its upgrade of Parsons that shares of the digital solutions provider have plenty of room to run. "Raising rating to Strong Buy from Outperform and raising target to $95 from $82. Budget certainty, strong business development, and numbers that we think will exceed $7B in sales by 2025 (with future M & A) set the stage for the stock to approach $100 per share over the next 12 months." BTIG upgrades Upwork to buy from neutral BTIG said it sees "more good things to come" for the freelancing job platform company. "We are upgrading shares of UPWK to Buy from Neutral after a very constructive 1Q24 report." UBS downgrades CVS to neutral from buy UBS said it sees too much uncertainty for shares of CVS. The firm said Medicare Advantage is weighing on the stock. "Time is Needed to Know if the Guide is Fully De-Risked." JPMorgan upgrades Ziff Davis to overweight from neutral JPMorgan said investors should buy the dip in shares of the digital media company. "We are upgrading Ziff Davis from Neutral to Overweight ahead of earnings." JPMorgan upgrades Carvana to overweight from neutral JPMorgan upgraded Carvana following earnings on Wednesday. "Move to OW from N and Raise Dec 2024 PT to $130 After 1Q24 Results Show Continued Rapid Progress on All Fronts." Compass Point upgrades Tanger to buy from neutral Compass upgraded the real estate investment trust and operator of malls following earnings. "We are increasing our PT for SKT to $32 as a result of 7.8% expected earnings growth and we are raising our rating to Buy despite a higher relative valuation to mall peers." KBW upgrades Synchrony Financial to outperform from market perform KBW said it sees plenty of upside for the financial services company. " SYF Is the Easy Way to Play Upside  Trading at 7x earnings and probably being able to offset adverse impacts within 12 months or so, we see SYF managing through late fee pains in short order." Susquehanna upgrades MGM to positive from neutral Susquehanna said it sees a favorable risk/reward for shares of the casino and hotel company. "If you buy MGM, you better be right on LV [Las Vegas], and we finally have enough valuation support in light of the more significant value drivers MGM has in LV. Maybe we are early, but we are on-board and see a favorable risk/reward trade-off." Bank of America downgrades Fastly to underperform from buy Bank of America double-downgraded the cloud computing networking company and said it sees too many negative catalysts. "We downgrade Fastly from Buy to Underperform as the near-term risks outweigh the longer-term positive catalysts." Piper Sandler upgrades New York Community Bank to overweight from neutral Piper upgraded the regional bank following earnings on Wednesday. "More important than the company's reported earnings this quarter, the new management team at NYCB unveiled their much-anticipated go-forward plan for the bank." Cantor Fitzgerald initiates Tesla as buy Cantor initiated the automaker and said it's bullish on full self-driving. "Full Self-Driving, Robotaxis, and Plans to Introduce Low-Cost Vehicles. Initiating Coverage on Tesla with an Overweight Rating and a $230 Price Target." Loop downgrades Etsy to sell from hold Loop downgraded the stock and said it lacks a "growth catalyst." "We are downgrading our rating on Etsy from Hold to Sell and lowering our price target from $70 to $50."
Embattled tech giant Apple will have to convince investors of its artificial intelligence strategy and China market trends during its fiscal second-quarter earnings announcement Thursday after the bell. The Magnificent Seven member has struggled in 2024, with shares losing about 11% year to date. Declining iPhone sales trends in its major China market, along with the cancellation of its electric car project to rival Tesla, has put an overhang on sentiment surrounding the stock. Apple is now the second worst-performing stock in the Magnificent Seven group, and shares are up a mere 2% over a 12-month period. AAPL 1Y mountain Apple shares' performance over the past year For the fiscal second quarter, analysts expect earnings of $1.50 per share and $90.01 billion in revenue, per LSEG consensus estimates. Despite Apple's rocky performance over the last few months, a number of Wall Street analysts are maintaining a relatively positive view on the stock. "Buy the fear," Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi wrote in a note on April 29 when upgrading the stock to outperform from market perform. He noted that while expectations for the prior-quarter results are low, "guidance could serve as a clearing event for the stock, similar to 2023 and 2019." Sacconaghi has a $195 price target on shares, suggesting 15% upside from Wednesday's close. China demand concerns Investors will be listening closely for management's comments on China demand, as the nation represents one of its largest markets and also dominates its supply chain. Consequently, a recent drop in iPhone sales in China has raised concerns for investors. Sales of the iPhone fell 19.1% in the first quarter of 2024 amid intensifying competition from Huawei, according to a report from Counterpoint Research. Bernstein is optimistic that the ongoing weakness in the China market "is more cyclical than structural." "Historically, Apple's China business has exhibited much higher volatility than Apple overall, given its very feature-sensitive installed base," Sacconaghi said. Incremental generative AI features for the upcoming iPhone 16 and replacement cycle tail winds could also boost shares, he added. Oppenheimer analyst Martin Yang lowered his forecast for the current quarter ahead of the report, accounting for softer iPhone sales trends in China. "AAPL's weakness in China, in our view, is primarily driven by macro factors rather than competition. We expect Chinese middle-class consumers to stay cautious as their real estate holdings and stock portfolios remain at multi-year bottoms," Yang said in a client note on April 30. He holds an outperform rating and $200 price target on shares. Yang also thinks that the release of the iPhone 16, expected this fall, could drive a reacceleration in shares. JPMorgan underscored investors' focus on "measuring downside from cyclical headwinds prior to AI headwinds." Better-than-feared outcomes could create a positive setup for the stock, according to analyst Samik Chatterjee. "The upcoming earnings print will still matter for investors in offering insights into the magnitude of the cyclical challenges on account of pressured consumer spending as well as the headwinds in relation to market share moderation in China," Chatterjee said in a research note on April 30. The analyst has an overweight rating and a $210 price target on the stock. Meanwhile, TD Cowen's Krish Sankar thinks growth in underpenetrated markets, such as India, could offset some of the weak demand trends across the China segment. Sankar has a buy rating and a price target of $220. AI updates Several analysts think that promising updates on new generative AI features could help the stock make a comeback this year. Apple's 2024 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June will likely hold major updates as to where the company stands in the AI race. JPMorgan's Chatterjee thinks the stock's current pullback provides an attractive entry point ahead of a potential rebound from an AI upgrade cycle. He holds a "favorable outlook on the iPhone cycle led by AI upsides." Citi expects sales in the previous quarter to come in below estimates and is remaining conservative on iPhone demand in 2024. However, the firm says unit demand could rise in 2024 as Apple rolls out generative AI features. "We believe 1HCY24 bad news is largely priced-in and investors are looking through the upcoming earnings to WWDC24 event in June for AI updates," analyst Atif Malik said in a note on April 29. Malik reiterated his buy rating on the stock ahead of the announcement while notching down his price target to $210 from $220. TD Cowen's Sankar also expects that an AI strategy rollout at the WWDC event could be next major catalyst for shares. "We think a compelling AI strategy could matter more to stock sentiment and valuation over [the] medium term as it will help investors better gauge AAPL's product competitiveness in the coming GenAI market," Sankar wrote in an April 29 note.
BANGKOK, THAILAND - 2024/05/01: Satya Nadella, the executive chairman and CEO of Microsoft Corporation speaks during the "Microsoft Build: AI Day" event at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center. Satya Nadella announced that Microsoft corporation plans to invest in its first data center, the Cloud First platform, in Thailand. (Photo by Peerapon Boonyakiat/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Microsoft chairman and CEO Satya Nadella on Wednesday announced "significant commitments" to build a new regional data center in Thailand, among other initiatives, as the U.S. tech giant doubles down on Southeast Asia.

The firm said it will also commit toward AI skills training for over 100,000 people and support local developers, but did not reveal the investment amount.

A day earlier, Nadella said the firm will invest $1.7 billion into Indonesia over the next four years to build new cloud and AI infrastructure.

"Thailand has an incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future," Nadella said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that the investments will help drive impact and growth in Thailand's public and private sectors.

Microsoft said there is rising demand for cloud computing services in Thailand from its companies and the commitments will allow the country to tap on economic and productivity opportunities arising from AI.

"Today's announcement with Microsoft is a significant milestone in the journey of our 'Ignite Thailand' vision  one that promises new opportunities for growth, innovation, and prosperity for all Thais," said Prime Minister of Thailand Srettha Thavisin, in the press release.
Norfolk Southern Chief Executive Alan Shaw testifies during a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing titled "Improving Rail Safety in Response to the East Palestine Derailment" in Washington, U.S., March 22, 2023.

Norfolk Southern -invested unions and pension funds should back activist Ancora's full seven-director slate at the railroad's shareholder meeting later this month, two different Institutional Shareholder Services proxy advisory services said.

ISS' Taft-Hartley Advisory Services and Social Advisory Services, which focus their recommendations on regulated unions and socially responsible investors, respectively said in their reports, which were both viewed by CNBC, that an Ancora majority would help address "negligence" by the current board and address its "serious concerns with accountability."

"The proxy contest is centered on a debate over which management team is best suited" to lead the company forward," both reports said. "It is therefore important to provide the dissident with a voice that is loud enough to have its case for management change appropriately considered."

The recommendations also voiced their support for Ancora's CEO pick Jim Barber as a "credible" director and chief executive, undercutting criticisms that his lack of railway experience was a liability. The former UPS executive appears "to be a capable candidate with experience and skills that should be transferable to the railroad industry," the reports said.

ISS' main advisory arm and Glass Lewis, the two proxy giants, had already said that shareholders should support most of Ancora's nominees at Norfolk Southern's May 9 meeting. Glass Lewis endorsed six of Ancora's director picks, including Barber.

ISS earlier endorsed five of Ancora's nominees, withholding support for the activist investor's proposed CEO Barber, but noting that he would likely be a capable executive as well.

Thursday's news "represents an important message to union retirement plans and firms prioritizing both socially responsible investments and enhanced value," Ancora said in a statement to CNBC. The statement added that Ancora's three-year precision-scheduled railroading strategy "differs greatly from Norfolk Southern's resilience railroading model" and has worked well at the other four publicly traded Class I railroads.

A Norfolk Southern spokesperson said that the ISS team behind the Taft-Hartley report did not engage with the railroad's management, unlike the main ISS research team, which "concluded that shareholders should support a majority of Norfolk Southern's director nominees."

"That 'benchmark' ISS recommendation is a clear endorsement of Alan Shaw's leadership and the company's balanced strategy," the spokesperson said in a statement.

Still, the proxy advisor endorsements thus far have backed a clear mandate for change at the troubled railroad, which has underperformed its peers in the stock market and is still grappling with the fallout from a derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.

ISS' two more tailored recommendations carry particular weight in light of the derailment, which caused more than 100,000 gallons of toxic chemicals to be released into the environment.

The company had contributed more than $105 million to the region, not including the $600 million class-action settlement, the spokesperson said.

"From the beginning, we promised to safely and thoroughly remediate the derailment site and to make it right in East Palestine," the spokesperson said. "We have kept that promise."

The recommendations also carry heft because of the outsize influence that unions have in the railroad industry.

Union support has been divided between management and the activist investor. Two different Teamsters unions are backing the activist, around 42% of NSC's unionized workforce. Another coalition of unions is backing management.

Union support is unusual for activist campaigns at railroads, which are typically focused on reducing costs and headcount to improve operating ratio, a key financial metric for rails.

But Ancora has managed to secure those union endorsements and backing from several shareholders. Neuberger Berman said earlier that it would support Ancora's case for change at Norfolk Southern, while Canadian asset manager EdgePoint also reaffirmed on Thursday that it would be voting its shares with the activist. (EdgePoint was initially partnered with Ancora's campaign at Norfolk Southern but dissolved that arrangement months earlier.)

Top institutional shareholders include Vanguard, BlackRock, State Street and Dodge & Cox, as well as California's pension funds, CalPERS and CalSTRS, and Colorado's public pension fund.
Servicemen of the National Guard of Ukraine undergo training to storm enemy trenches using simulation equipment as the war between Russia and Ukraine continues in Kharkiv Region, Ukraine on February 29, 2024.

The U.S. has formally accused Russia of using chemical weapons against Ukrainian troops and announced late Wednesday that it is imposing more sanctions on Russian individuals and entities.

The U.S. State Department released a statement late Wednesday in which it accused Russia of violating the Chemical Weapons Convention, which bans the production and use of chemical weapons, by using the "choking agent" chloropicrin against Ukrainian forces.

"We make this determination in addition to our assessment that Russia has used riot control agents [tear gas] as a method of warfare in Ukraine, also in violation of the CWC. The use of such chemicals is not an isolated incident, and is probably driven by Russian forces' desire to dislodge Ukrainian forces from fortified positions and achieve tactical gains on the battlefield," the statement said.

The Kremlin's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, rebuffed the accusations when asked to comment by reporters Thursday.

"Yes, we saw the news on this matter. As always, such announcements sound absolutely unfounded and are not supported by anything. Russia has been and remains committed to its obligations under international law in this area," Peskov told reporters, news agency RIA Novosti reported.

Chloropicrin was used as a poison gas in World War I but is now more commonly utilized in agriculture as an insecticide. No longer authorized for military use, the choking agent inflicts injury mainly on the respiratory tract. It irritates the nose, throat and especially the lungs.

"When inhaled, these agents cause alveoli, air sacs in the lungs, to secrete fluid, essentially drowning those affected," the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons states.
Tesla 's share price remains "very expensive" despite a recent earnings report that failed to impress investors, according to Mark Hawtin, investment director at GAM Investments. The electric vehicle maker's stock has risen 24% since the earnings release on April 23 , driven partly by CEO Elon Musk's optimism about the potential for robo-taxis and a deal reportedly with Baidu that will enable Tesla to introduce driver assistance features in China. However, Hawtin argues that Tesla's fundamentals are not promising. TSLA 1Y line "The bottom line here is the fundamentals are not good. There's a huge plethora of offerings in the market now for EVs, and Tesla is lagging behind," he said. Other automakers are seeing strong growth in their electric vehicle sales even as the overall global auto market faces a downturn, adding to the pressure for Tesla. Volkswagen this week reported that new orders for electric cars more than doubled in Europe in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the previous year. Similarly, BMW said earlier in April that sales of fully electric vehicles at its core brand jumped 41% in the first quarter. One key factor that could impact Tesla's demand in the future is the rising cost consumers are likely to face when leasing its vehicles, according to Hawtin. He pointed out that until two years ago, secondhand values for Tesla cars remained extremely high, allowing for low lease prices. However, as the EV maker aggressively cut the cost of new vehicles globally, used car values have dropped in parallel. According to Hawtin, who runs long and short funds at GAM, financial institutions that loan the vehicle out to consumers are likely to raise the cost of future leases to make up for the loss in value. "You could lease a Model 3 for $300 a month in the United States  now that number is $900," he said. "All these leases will be rolling over, and those owners who were paying $300, essentially a false lease price because secondhand prices were so high, will now be having to pay $900 and will find that unaffordable." "I think there's going to be a huge demand problem for Tesla," he added. Hawtin does not hold a position in the stock. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment. This sentiment is echoed by analysts who note that pricing and demand continue to be pressure points for Tesla. "While the recent price cuts may help, we struggle to see a path to positive volume growth despite CEO Musk's commentary," said Guggenheim analyst Ronald Jewsikow in a note to clients on April 24. Guggenheim has a sell rating on Tesla with a $126 price target, indicating a further 30% downside. Piper Sandler analysts Alexander Potter and Ben Johnson suggested that "due to an aging product lineup, more price cuts may be necessary." However, they reiterated their "overweight" rating for the stock with a price target of $205  or 12% upside  for Tesla.
Life-changing experiences, unforgettable memories and beautiful pictures  these are things that come to mind when people think of a year-long family trip. But there are also blunders behind the adventures, said Margaret Bensfield Sullivan, recalling the year she spent abroad with her husband and two kids. From encountering piranhas in Brazil to getting trapped in an airport in Mozambique, the Sullivans endured many unexpected challenges during their trip to 29 countries.

Unexpected beginnings

"I think people were very surprised that we were doing this because we did not fit the profile of a family that you picture when you think of a family that would do this," Sullivan said. "Our lives were good. We were settled, coming along  two great kids, nice careers, apartment, a dog."

The Sullivans, shown here in Mongolia's Gobi Desert, visited 29 countries on six continents during their year-long travel adventure. Margaret Bensfield Sullivan

But that changed after Sullivan, who previously worked as a partner at a brand marketing agency in New York, came back from a work trip in Tanzania in 2017, which she described as an "eye-opening event." The trip made her realize the world was big, and her life operated in a such a small fraction of it.

I realized our family kind of needed a shake-up. We needed to get out there and see what was going on. Margaret Bensfield Sullivan

"So I had to ask myself: 'What else am I missing because I'm busy at work or consumed with the daily tasks of my life?'" she said. "And I realized our family kind of needed a shake-up. We needed to get out there and see what was going on." Plus, Sullivan said she wanted to spend time with her family while she still had the chance. "I worry that I will wake up one day, and ask myself: 'Where did the time go?'" she said. "Taking a year off like this was a way to future-proof against regret."

The planning

Before they left, Sullivan and her husband Teddy, an entrepreneur, spent months preparing for their year abroad. She said they had both reached natural stopping points in their careers, so they decided it was a good time to take a year off.

The Sullivans at Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Margaret Bensfield Sullivan

"The best part: canceling all bills. Not a single bill and we hit the road  our home was now our suitcase," she said. Budgeting for a year away was a big consideration, she said. "What kept us sane was  it was finite," she said. "It had an end date, and that was very reassuring." Sullivan said she and her husband decided on a warm weather itinerary, or to "follow the sun," which later became part of the title of a book she published about their year abroad. "We bought a giant white wall map, put it on the wall of our apartment. And we would spend every day just staring at it dreaming about the places we wanted to go," she said. In the end, the Sullivans hired travel agents to help with planning. "This was not a 'winging-it adventure'," she said, adding that when they left they had three months of plans in place. In January 2019, the Sullivans left New York, journeying first to South America, then to Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and finally to Asia and Oceania before heading home.

The mishaps

During the trip, the Sullivans endured a "terrible" stomach bug in Beijing, altitude sickness in Peru and a lice infestation in Berlin.

The Sullivan family, shown here at Machu Picchu in Peru, ran into several unforeseen circumstances throughout the year. Source: Margaret Bensfield Sullivan

"We had packed every conceivable medication, and it never occurred to me that we would encounter lice," she said. "In New York, there are all kinds of services where people would come and eliminate these lice from your children. That did not exist in Germany." There was also what's now known as "The Piranha Story" in the Sullivan household, which happened while fishing in the Amazon rainforest. Sullivan, who is afraid of fish, said someone threw a live piranha onto her lap in their boat. "I screamed bloody murder, lurched backward, crashed into the floor of the boat, taking my daughter back with me, all while the live piranha flopped around between us. It was the most absurd thing that has ever happened to me," she said. "We wound up eating the piranha that night, and its jaws are framed in our home now."

The mistakes

Besides the mishaps, Sullivan said her family made their fair share of mistakes too, including following a travel agent's advice to visit an orphanage in Vietnam. "We immediately realized we shouldn't be there. We felt terrible about it," she said. "I cannot state strongly enough that this kind of tourist destination is completely irresponsible, and no one should visit an orphanage."

Margaret Bensfield Sullivan, shown here admiring a sunset in the Amazon rainforest with her children, said when problems occurred, the family didn't fight or blame one another. "We just rolled with it." Margaret Bensfield Sullivan

In Cambodia, the Sullivans encountered a sign near the airport that stated: "Children are not a tourist destination. Do not visit an orphanage." "Wealthy tourists come into a place and feel like they want to contribute or do good. And so, they ... hand out school supplies at a school and that's not helpful for a community," she added. "It is harmful and potentially exploitative." "Visiting a country with deference and respect and curiosity, the same way you would visit France or Japan, is just the way to go," she said.

The misguided assumptions

During their time abroad, the Sullivans also reflected on the gap between their expectations and the reality of their year-long journey. "We assumed we would have tons of free time," she recalled. "I thought: 'this was it, this was my big year' to sit back and do all those creative projects I wanted to do, and [watch] all the shows I meant to watch." "But we had two small children with us. There was no free time," she said, of her kids, who were four and six years old at the time. The Sullivans reluctantly left home with only carry-on luggage, but were surprised to return home with their bags only half full. "You just don't need as much as you think," she mused. The couple also found themselves surprised by their energy levels during their extensive travels. "We were in our rooms asleep by 8:30, basically every night. Turns out, rest and the lack of stress can do wonders for your energy," she noted. As they ventured into unfamiliar territories, Sullivan said the family division between adults and children disappeared. "My husband and I were bumbling, clueless, didn't know the language, vulnerable ... we didn't know everything. We quickly shed that invincible parent facade," she admitted. "At the same time, our children are proving themselves to be very funny, very brave, and very curious."

More good than bad

Amid all the challenges, Sullivan revealed that the biggest lesson for the family was learning how to visit places without bias. "We just learned to go to a place with a blank slate," she said. "Take it in, just ask questions because we all have assumptions about other parts of the world." After journeying to six continents, Sullivan said she learned people are just trying to help each other through life.

After a year abroad, Sullivan, shown here in Egypt, said her family returned home with a stronger bond. Margaret Bensfield Sullivan
(This is CNBC Pro's live coverage of Thursday's analyst calls and Wall Street chatter. Please refresh every 20-30 minutes to view the latest posts.) Thursday's analyst calls feature upgrades to discount retailers TJX and Burlington and used car outlet Carvana, while there was more bad news for CVS Health following a tough earnings report Wednesday. UBS said it likes the outlook for the off-price stores as consumers hunt for better value. With CVS, the company's earnings miss and pullback in outlook mean trouble for a healthcare chain that needs a "reset," according to UBS. On Carvana, JPMorgan upgraded shares following best-ever earnings results Wednesday and indicated the stock could be in for big things ahead. Check out the latest calls and chatter below. All times ET. 8:21 a.m.: Jefferies resumes Netflix coverage at a buy rating There's a rosy outlook ahead for Netflix, according to Jefferies. The financial institution resumed its coverage of the video streaming platform at a buy rating. Analyst James Heaney's price target of $655 implies that shares could rise 19% from their Wednesday close. Netflix stock has already added 13% on the year. Heaney foresees several catalysts as driving further upside in 2024. For one, the analyst believes that Netflix's strategy to no longer report subscribers may actually be a positive factor going forward. "In our view, the decision to stop disclosing subs will end up being a positive, as investors will likely shift focus to the impressive low- to mid-teens rev CAGR rather than a hyper-focus on near-term subscriber trends," he wrote. Meanwhile, subscribers should continue to grow as the company cracks down on password sharing. Heaney is also optimistic that Netflix's advertising business has strong growth ahead. "While ad rev is small today, we view NFLX's leading 8% share of US viewing hours as a goldmine for advertisers," he wrote. "We believe ad rev can approach > $5.5B over the next several years and comfortably make up 10-15% of total rev."  Lisa Kailai Han 8:07 a.m.: Casino giant MGM Resorts 'hitting accelerator,' Susquehanna says MGM Resorts ' attractive valuation and promising forward outlook has Susquehanna Financial Group confident in the company's performance this year. The company posted better-than-expected top and bottom line results in the first quarter on Wednesday afternoon. Revenue per available room also increased. Analyst Joseph Stauff upgraded shares to positive from neutral. He also lifted his price target to $54 from $46, indicating 35.8% upside potential from Wednesday's close. "While MGM's 1Q24 print was a modest beat, what stood out for us (leading us to our upgrade) was its management call where there seemed to be a much better focus on the outlook," Stauff wrote in a Thursday note. He cited management's likelihood to increase its reinvestment into its Las Vegas segment, which accounts for around 80% of the stock's value. Sports events at the company's venues will also drive profitability, Stauff added. "We are now confident this will lead to more significant upward estimate revisions in 2024 and into 2025. If you buy MGM, you better be right on LV, and we finally have enough valuation support in light of the more significant value drivers MGM has in LV," the analyst said. Shares jumped 7% premarket Thursday. 7:43 a.m.: Jefferies upgrades The Trade Desk, sees more than 20% upside The modernization of the advertising market could help push shares of The Trade Desk to their highest level in more than two years, according to Jefferies. Analyst James Heaney upgraded the advertising sales platform to buy from hold, saying in a note to clients that the shift toward connected television is gaining steam. "Based on our intra-quarter checks and recent Disney news ... we believe TTD is about to benefit from a major inflection in programmatic CTV," the note said. Shares of The Trade Desk are already up 18% year to date, but are trading just below the level where previous rallies topped out over the past 12 months. Heaney sees the stock breaking through that level and rising more than 20% from here. "The valuation multiple at 38x FY25E EBITDA remains the biggest pushback, but we believe the stock can get to $105/share," Heaney said, referring to a metric of profitability that is often used in valuation analysis.  Jesse Pound 7:35 a.m.: Short-term risks ahead for Fastly, says Bank of America Edge cloud platform Fastly 's weak second-quarter guidance has Bank of America stepping away from the stock. BofA downgraded shares to underperform from buy following Fastly's quarterly earnings announcement, during which management reduced its forward outlook. Fastly expects revenue to grow 7.5% in the second quarter, nearly just half of analyst forecasts for 14% growth. Analyst Madeline Brooks said the company's "near-term risks outweigh the longer-term positive catalysts." "Decelerating growth in Fastly's largest customers, share loss in delivery, and limited visibility in 2H cause us to question a rebound in 2024. While we continue to like Fastly's positioning in the edge compute market, we see it as a 2025 opportunity instead of a near-term growth driver," Brooks wrote in a Thursday note. "We believe the risk factors listed above could prompt further downward revisions to guidance which may keep a lid on the stock," she added. Brooks also slashed her price target to $8 from $18, indicating more than 38% downside from where shares closed on Wednesday. Shares plummeted nearly 33% Thursday before the bell.  Hakyung Kim 7:06 a.m.: JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley raise price targets on Qualcomm Despite a difficult smartphone market, Qualcomm has managed to post positive results, setting it apart from its peers, according to Wall Street analysts. Qualcomm's fiscal second-quarter earnings announced Wednesday afternoon topped analysts' expectations. The company also provided a strong guide for the current quarter. Shares gained around 5% Thursday premarket. "Qualcomm does face challenges in CY24, with long anticipated share loss within the Samsung platform (back to the normal historic split) and the loss of the Huawei 4G business as Huawei transitions to internal 5G, but the company continues to power through with solid content gains and strong share in the premium tier handsets," Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore wrote in a note on Thursday. He reiterated his equal weight rating on shares while lifting his price target to $172 from $158, suggesting 4.8% upside from Wednesday's close. Moore also highlighted investor enthusiasm over the Edge AI theme driving shares higher. JPMorgan also lifted its price target to $185 from $170. Analyst Samik Chatterjee, who has an overweight rating on the stock, underscored Qualcomm's diversification in markets beyond smartphones, such as autos and internet of things devices. "While Qualcomm's diversification beyond Smartphones has received little attention while the Smartphone market was impacted by headwinds, the stabilization of market trends are now leading to a more positive set up with the growth in Autos and [Internet of Things]," Chatterjee said in a Wednesday note. The analyst said those factors are "enabling Qualcomm to budge typical smartphone seasonality, and also stand-out this earnings season relative to most Smartphone supplier peers including Skyworks, Qorvo, and Mediatek relative to expectations around seasonality into the June-quarter." Bank of America analyst Tal Liani noted the stock "may have limited near-term catalysts," but cited strength in long-term drivers. These include "continued recovery of the global handset market in 2024 and a positive impact of AI trends on handset demand and ASPs over the long-term. Compute is another driver, with Qualcomm benefiting from the expected 2025 launches of Qualcomm-powered Microsoft PCs," Liani wrote in a note on Thursday. Liani reiterated his buy rating but raised his price target to $180 from $173, implying nearly 10% upside from Wednesday's close.  Hakyung Kim 6:22 a.m.: Carvana shares could surge nearly 50%, says JPMorgan Carvana 's record first-quarter results has JPMorgan convinced of the company's progress. Analyst Rajat Gupta upgraded shares to overweight from neutral following best-ever earnings posted after the bell Wednesday. He also raised his price target to $130 from $70, or 49.2% above Wednesday's close price. The used car retailer was last up nearly 38% during premarket trading after the earnings results, which come on the back of major restructuring efforts over the last two years, during which the company shifted focus to profitability rather than growth. Bankruptcy concerns in 2022 had nearly wiped all value from the stock. "The rapid progress on margin expansion and overall EBITDA, combined with existing cash on the balance sheet, should put to rest any lingering concerns around optionality to reduce debt/interest burden over time," Gupta wrote in a Thursday note. "At this point, we believe the thesis and debate squarely shifts towards CVNA's ability to continue at this pace (or faster) of throughput expansion while expanding margins along the way," he added. Year to date, the stock has rallied 64.5%.  Hakyung Kim 6:16 a.m.: UBS steps to the sidelines on CVS Health, slashes price target UBS says CVS's path to achieving its current guidance won't be simple  and that time is needed to know if the path is fully de-risked. CVS Health on Wednesday reported weaker-than-expected first-quarter revenue and adjusted earnings and reduced its full-year profit outlook. The company cited higher medical costs likely to persist throughout the year as more Medicare Advantage patients receive procedures they postponed during the pandemic. Analyst Kevin Caliendo downgraded shares to neutral from buy. He lowered his price target by $25 to $60, or just 5.6% higher from Wednesday's close price. "Our lack of conviction is not due to a lack of confidence in [management's] process.  Our issue is that there were more parts of the business that required a reset, and a fix is not as simple as 'cut benefits and reprice' and margins will improve," Caliendo wrote in a Wednesday note. "Membership loss contributed to a mix issue that led to failures to guaranteed savings in the PBM, something we rarely see. That may all imply a kitchen sink approach to the guide, but it also means more things to worry about when recommending buying the stock," the analyst added. Although the CVS valuation is at a trough, a re-rate will not come unless visibility on membership changes and competitive Medicare Advantage pricing for 2025 becomes clearer, Caliendo said. CVS shares are down nearly 29% year to date, losing more than 16% on Wednesday alone, though they were up more than 1% premarket Thursday.  Hakyung Kim 6:03 a.m.: UBS upgrades discount retailers TJX and Burlington Discount retailers could be a greater threat to traditional department stores than previously expected, according to UBS. The firm upgraded TJX Companies , parent company of T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, to buy from neutral. Analyst Jay Sole also lifted his price target to $132 from $104, indicating nearly 41% upside from Wednesday's close. "Good value for money" has consistently been one of the top factors consumers opt for when deciding where to shop, which UBS believes will benefit TJX. "TJX's value proposition is durable and likely leads to sustained market share gains," Sole wrote in a Wednesday note. "Consumers associate 'Good value for money' with TJX's banners more than other retailer's banners." Sole also raised his rating on off-price retail peer Burlington Stores to neutral from sell. He raised his price target to $212 from $126, suggesting shares could gain 19.1% from where they closed Wednesday. The analyst said he is still on the sidelines with Burlington due to weakening consumer spending for soft goods and long-term supply chain risks from its business efficiency efforts. "We rate TJX Buy and prefer it over BURL since we believe TJX offers a better combination of growth potential, less operational risk, and stock valuation," Sole said. Shares of TJX are flat for 2024 while Burlington has lost more than 8%. TJX rose 1.6% in premarket trading Thursday.,  Hakyung Kim  CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
The New York state comptroller sent a letter to Best Buy last week questioning whether the company changed its commitment to inclusivity and supporting LGBTQ groups. The letter was sent four weeks after NBC News was first to report that the consumer electronics giant offered to screen LGBTQ nonprofit donations following conservative pressure.

The comptroller's office manages the state's $207 billion public pension fund, which has invested in Best Buy.

"Diversity, equity and inclusion are fundamental values of companies with sound, sustainable, and profitable long-term strategies. Inclusion is essential for employee recruitment and retention, a driver of innovation, and an element of consumer brand loyalty," Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli wrote to Best Buy CEO Corie S. Barry and the company's board chairman, J. Patrick Doyle.

The letter, which the comptroller's office shared with NBC News, was sent to Best Buy after NBC News first reported on a public Securities and Exchange Commission filing that showed Best Buy offered to screen donations from its employee resource groups going to LGBTQ causes following pressure from the National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank that holds shares in the company.

"I am concerned that Best Buy's actions could be seen by shareholders, employees, customers, and other

stakeholders as a departure from its stated commitment to policies and practices that promote inclusivity

and support for the LGBTQ+ community," DiNapoli wrote. "Actions that compromise or are misaligned with a company's core values and business strategy may result in reputational risk and threaten long-term shareholder value."

DiNapoli ended by urging the company to send him responses "regarding the actions Best Buy is taking to address the risks articulated" and inviting the chief executive and board chairman to meet with his office to discuss the matter further.

A spokesperson for Best Buy told NBC News on Friday that the company's standard process in dealing with shareholders' concerns is to listen and engage in a conversation, as the spokesperson said the company is now doing with the state comptroller. The spokesperson did not comment further on the specifics of the comptroller's letter.

In an email to NBC News, Scott Shepard, the general counsel of the NCPPR's Free Enterprise Project, took issue with parts of DiNapoli's letter, including his views on equity, with Shepard stating that equity "is by its own terms discrimination on the basis of race, sex and orientation against members of 'non-diverse' groups in ways that often violate law and the Constitution." He also denied that the NCPPR pressured Best Buy to stop supporting LGBTQ groups in general.

"What our proposal sought and what Best Buy agreed to was a process for screening company donations for whether they supported organizations that took extreme positions on issues not fundamentally connected to Best Buy's core business purposes, of any kind," he wrote. In a separate email to NBC News, Shepard stressed that the NCPPR's position was not motivated by anti-LGBTQ animus, but rather a desire to get "Best Buy [to] stop being radically left-wing, and just be a little more neutral" in order to protect shareholder value.

Shepard also shared with NBC News a letter from the NCPPR to Best Buy that he said outlined the deal that led his organization to withdraw its shareholder proposal. The first page of the letter  which Shepard said Best Buy drafted  states that the electronics retailer will not donate, as it had a few years ago, to The Trevor Project, an LGBTQ youth suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization, and "Our Gay History in Fifty States," a queer history book for young adults.

It also states that Best Buy has never and will not in the future fund six additional LGBTQ groups or "similar organizations," including SAGE, which advocates on behalf of LGBTQ elders, and GLAAD, an LGBTQ media advocacy group. The second page outlines a "Charitable Giving Annual Risk Review" to be performed by Best Buy management and shared with company executives and board members to "ensure charitable giving aligns with Company strategies and fiduciary duties."

When asked about the letter, a company spokesperson did not say whether Best Buy contributed to the document in any way or whether any agreement was made.

"Nothing has changed in the ways we give to LGBTQIA+ organizations," Carly Charlson, a spokesperson for Best Buy, said in response to questions about the alleged agreement. "At Best Buy, we strongly believe in an inclusive work environment with a culture of belonging where everyone feels valued and has the opportunity to thrive."

Charlson added that Best Buy has long supported and will continue to support the Human Rights Campaign, the country's largest LGBTQ advocacy group, which Charlson said has recognized Best Buy as one of the best places to work for the LGBTQ community for the past 18 years in its annual Corporate Equality Index.

Eric Bloem, HRC's vice president of programs and corporate advocacy, said in an email to NBC News that the group was "working with Best Buy to understand more."

"Any company that uses their Corporate Equality Index distinction as cover while working with fringe groups and bad actors does not reflect true LGBTQ+ allyship in the corporate space," Bloem said.

The monthslong email exchange between Best Buy and the NCPPR, detailed in an SEC filing, began in December when the group sent a shareholder proposal requesting Best Buy produce a report for investors about how all of its "voluntary partnerships" are benefiting the company's business.

"Best Buy has partnerships with and contributes to organizations and activists that promote the practice of gender transition surgeries on minors and evangelize gender theory to minors," read the proposal, signed by Ethan Peck, an associate at the NCPPR's Free Enterprise Institute. "This contentious and vast disagreement between radical gender theory activists and the general public has nothing to do with Best Buy selling electronics."

In a Jan. 17 email, Peck told Best Buy's attorneys that the NCPPR "will withdraw its shareholder proposal if Best Buy were to end its partnerships with and contributions to" eight LGBTQ nonprofits and initiatives, which he described in the email as "predatory butchers." The groups and initiatives are The Trevor Project, Our Gay History in 50 States, SAGE, GLAAD, It Gets Better, The GenderCool Project, GLSEN and CenterLink. Peck did not ask Best Buy to stop its donations to the HRC, saying in the email, "We understand that it's unrealistic for Best Buy to leave HRC in the near future because of their political clout."

An attorney for Best Buy, Marina Rizzo, responded in a Feb. 5 email telling Peck that the company had reviewed the NCPPR's concerns and informed him that Best Buy hadn't donated in several years to two of the LGBTQ causes mentioned in the Jan. 17 email  The Trevor Project and Our Gay History in 50 States  and has never donated to the other six. She then said the company would screen certain donations from employee groups that the NCPPR may find concerning.

"As discussed during our call, we do allow our individual employee organizations, including our Military ERG, Conservative employee interest group, and our PRIDE group, among many other groups, some discretion to directly support organizations of their choosing," Rizzo wrote. "That said, any such contributions would be screened to ensure they do not advocate or support the causes or agendas you have identified as concerning. We hope this addresses the concerns."

On March 22, the NCPPR withdrew its December proposal, which, in turn, ensured that the NCPPR's shareholder proposal regarding "voluntary partnerships" will not be presented at Best Buy's annual shareholder meeting in June.
Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump shouts during a campaign event in Freeland, Michigan, U.S. May 1, 2024.

The Securities and Exchange Commission under a second Donald Trump presidency would roll back the aggressive stance the government agency has taken against corporate giants with current chairman Gary Gensler at the helm, according to people familiar with the matter.

If Trump were to defeat President Joe Biden in November, the SEC under his administration would likely start by curtailing many of the rules recently put in place tied to the environment, according to experts and people close to the former president. An initial target of the SEC under a second Trump administration would be to roll back the new climate disclosure rules, these people explained.

Gensler and the SEC adopted a rule in March requiring large publicly traded companies to disclose their levels of greenhouse gas emissions. The largest companies are required to make climate disclosures as early as fiscal 2025, with specifics on greenhouse gas emissions as soon as fiscal 2026.

Gensler argues greenhouse gas emission levels and other climate related data have a material impact on businesses, and investors deserve to know this information.

But an SEC chaired by a Trump appointed Republican would likely remove these Biden-era disclosure requirements, these people said.

The rule "costs companies and investors a tremendous amount of money, and provides them no benefit," said a person advising Trump on SEC related matters. Like others in this story, they were granted anonymity in order to recount private conversations.

The prospect of a Trump pullback on the SEC's climate disclosure rules is also tied to the former president's dislike of environmental, social and governance investment standards, some of these people explained.

During his term in office, Trump issued an executive order that made it harder for employers to offer ESG funds in employees' 401(k) retirement plans. The Biden administration later softened the Trump rule.

In February, he said in a Truth Social post that if he is elected to a second term, he would reinstate his previous rule.

A spokesman for Trump did not return a request for comment from CNBC.
Former US President Donald Trump attends his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments linked to extramarital affairs, at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City, on May 2, 2024.

Donald Trump on Thursday denied recent reports from multiple news outlets that he has at times appeared to nod off during his New York criminal hush money trial.

"Contrary to the FAKE NEWS MEDIA, I don't fall asleep during the Crooked D.A.'s Witch Hunt, especially not today," Trump, 77, wrote on Truth Social during a break in the Manhattan Supreme Court trial.

"I simply close my beautiful blue eyes, sometimes, listen intensely, and take it ALL in!!!" the presumptive Republican presidential nominee wrote.

His campaign previously lashed out after multiple reporters in the courtroom, including The New York Times' Maggie Haberman, reported on the first day of jury selection that Trump seemed to doze off a few times.

Trump has appeared to be sleeping in court on numerous other occasions over the course of the trial, which entered its 10th day Thursday. On Tuesday, NBC News reported that Trump's "eyes were closed for extended periods and his head at times jerked in a way consistent with sleeping."

Trump looked to be resting his eyes again Thursday afternoon, according to NBC.

Any claim of Trump "sleeping" carries outsize significance during the 2024 presidential election, given that Trump has been calling President Joe Biden "Sleepy Joe" for years.

Trump must sit in court every day of the trial, which is expected to last six weeks.

The post came after testimony from Keith Davidson, the lawyer who helped bury allegations of Trump's extramarital affairs before the 2016 presidential election.

Davidson testified Thursday that on the night Trump won that election, he texted, "What have we done?" to a tabloid editor who worked on the hush money deals with him.

Davidson was asked on the stand about the text, which he sent as Trump pulled off a stunning upset victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton.

The recipient of the text was Dylan Howard, then the editor in chief of the National Enquirer, who was also involved in the $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. That payment is at the center of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's case against Trump.

"Oh my god," Howard texted back.

Davidson, who represented Daniels at the time, testified Thursday that his text was "sort of gallows humor." But he added that he and Howard understood at the time that "our activities may have in some way assisted the presidential campaign of Donald Trump."

Davidson returned to the witness stand after Judge Juan Merchan held a second hearing on whether Trump violated his gag order by speaking about likely witnesses in the case.

Two days earlier, Merchan held Trump in criminal contempt for nine violations of the gag order, which bars Trump from discussing jurors, witnesses and others involved in the Manhattan Supreme Court trial.

After the first gag order hearing last week, state prosecutors accused Trump of violating the gag order four more times, prompting the judge to schedule a second hearing.

"His statements are corrosive to this proceeding, and to the fair administration of justice," prosecutor Chris Conroy said of Trump on Thursday morning.

Merchan on Tuesday imposed the maximum fine of $1,000 for each of the nine violations, an amount he acknowledged was barely a slap on the wrist for Trump, a multibillionaire.

But the judge also warned Trump that future violations of court orders could land him in jail.

Conroy said in Thursday's hearing that, "Because we prefer to minimize disruptions to this proceeding, we are not yet seeking jail."

Merchan did not issue a ruling before Davidson resumed his second day of testimony.

Davidson, who represented Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal, had testified Tuesday about his involvement in selling the story rights for both women, each of whom separately claimed to have had sex with Trump while he was married.

The $130,000 payment to Daniels in particular is at the center of the historic criminal trial in Manhattan Supreme Court, where Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records.

Bragg accuses Trump of mislabeling those records as part of a scheme to secretly reimburse his then-lawyer Michael Cohen, who paid Daniels shortly before the 2016 presidential election. Trump unlawfully tried to influence that election by buying and suppressing damaging information about him, Bragg alleges.
The U.S. has formally accused Russia of using chemical weapons against Ukrainian troops and announced late Wednesday that it is imposing more sanctions on Russian individuals and entities.

The U.S. State Department released a statement late Wednesday in which it accused Russia of violating the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) by using the choking agent chloropicrin against Ukrainian forces. Read more on the story here

The Kremlin responded Thursday, saying the accusations were "unfounded" and unsubstantiated.
Ukrainian servicemen ride on an armored personnel carrier in a field near Chasiv Yar, Donetsk, on April 27, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The United States on Wednesday issued hundreds of fresh sanctions targeting Russia over the war in Ukraine in action that took aim at Moscow's circumvention of Western measures, including through China.

The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on nearly 200 targets and the State Department designated more than 80 in one of the most wide-ranging actions against Chinese companies so far in Washington's sanctions aimed at Russia.

The U.S. imposed sanctions on 20 companies based in China and Hong Kong, following repeated warnings from Washington about China's support for Russia's military, including during recent trips by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the country.

China's support for Russia is one of the many issues threatening to sour the recent improvement in relations between the world's biggest economies.

"Treasury has consistently warned that companies will face significant consequences for providing material support for Russia's war, and the U.S. is imposing them today on almost 300 targets," Yellen said in a statement.

Russia's embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for China's embassy in Washington, said the government oversees the export of dual-use articles in accordance with laws and regulations, adding that normal trade and economic interactions between China and Russia are in like with World Trade Organization rules and market principles.

"The Chinese side firmly opposes the U.S.'s illegal unilateral sanctions," he said.
Some of the most influential influencers on social media sites arent people, but computer-generated digital creations. And soon digital people will be commonplace in business.

In the past, fabricated fake folks were built the old-fashioned way  using Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN) AI technology (the process behind video deepfakes). Nowadays, phony friends are build using LLM-based genAI tools.

One early digital influencer on Instagram, named Lil Miquela, has been 19 years old since 2016, is worth millions of dollars and was named one of the 25 most influential people on the Internet back in 2018, despite not being a person.
Weekly COVID-19 hospitalizations have reached their lowest point ever recorded since the onset of the pandemic.

As per data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for the most recent week, there had been 5,615 COVID hospitalizations -- a stark contrast to the over 150,000 weekly admissions seen during the peak of the Omicron variant's circulation in early 2022.

Dr. John Brownstein, chief innovation officer at Boston Children's Hospital and an ABC News medical contributor, expressed optimism on the figures, stating, "The significant decline in COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths to these new lows is encouraging, showing that our public health measures and vaccination efforts have paid off."

According to ABC News, the CDC forecasts suggest that new hospital admissions are likely to remain stable for the next four weeks. However, Brownstein emphasized the importance of continued vigilance, stating, "It's important to continue monitoring for new variants and maintaining protective health behaviors to prevent possible surges."

As hospitals' requirements to report respiratory illness data, including COVID hospital admissions, expire, federal officials plan to utilize alternative data sources such as wastewater, laboratory tests, and emergency department data to stay abreast of illness spread.

Highlighting the necessity of robust reporting systems, a CDC spokesperson remarked, "A key lesson we learned from the COVID-19 pandemic is the importance of having reporting systems in place before an active emergency."

Regarding vaccine updates, CDC data indicates that approximately 22.6% of adults and 14% of children have received the updated COVID vaccine, formulated to better protect against current sub-variants. Older adults over 65 are advised to receive an additional updated COVID vaccine this spring due to their increased risk of severe disease.

The Food and Drug Administration's advisory panel is scheduled to convene to discuss recommended strains for the next formulation of COVID vaccines, reflecting ongoing adjustments to combat evolving virus strains.

While COVID deaths have steadily decreased this year, reaching new lows, with an estimated 231 deaths in the most recent week of available data, experts stress the necessity of maintaining robust surveillance and data collection to swiftly respond to any changes in the virus's behavior.
Governor Kathy Hochul of New York has unveiled a significant state-wide commitment to bolster mental health services, as outlined in her 2025 budget.

The announcement on Wednesday disclosed that over $33 million will be allocated to enhance services for New Yorkers grappling with mental illness and entangled in the criminal justice system.

In discussions with CBS New York, mental health experts and beneficiaries of these programs shared insights into the transformative impact of the proposed funding.

Ibrahim Ayu, who faced federal charges in 2023 after an encounter with an NYPD officer, credited the Midtown Community Justice Center with altering the course of his life.

Reflecting on his experience, Ayu stated, "I could be in jail rotting away, but I changed my life. No issues since this incident and have been on the trajectory of going up because of Midtown Community Court."

The Midtown Community Justice Center aids individuals contending with mental health challenges in navigating their legal proceedings, representing just one of several initiatives set to benefit from Hochul's latest investment in mental health services.

Governor Hochul emphasized the importance of shifting away from incarceration as a solution, advocating instead for comprehensive support systems.

"By enhancing mental health supports, we're not just helping people find stability and peace, we're making our community safer," she said.

Echoing Hochul's sentiments, Ayu expressed optimism, stating, "It worked for me. There will be more Ibrahims in the future."

Additionally, the budget earmarks $19 million to furnish critical care to New York's youth outside of school settings, aiming to ensure broader access to necessary assistance within local communities.

Dr. Dayana Jimenez, owner of Manhattan Teen & Young Adult Psychology, noted the significance of early intervention in youth mental health in response to the announcement, saying, "Being able to manage distress, stress, anxiety, depression early on... can enable healthy development in youth."

The state's investments in mental health services for youth are anticipated to yield a much-needed positive impact.
In today's fast-paced work environment, workplace stressors have become a prevalent issue affecting the well-being of employees across various sectors.

Workplace Stressors

A recent poll conducted by leisure operator Better sheds light on the alarming extent to which workplace stressors are impacting the health of individuals in the U.K. From unpaid overtime to excessive workload, these stressors are taking a toll on the workforce, needing urgent attention and intervention.

Unpaid Overtime and Workload Pressures

The poll revealed a concerning trend: two-thirds of respondents admit to regularly working unpaid overtime, averaging an extra two hours per week. This equates to a staggering 14 working days annually. For some, particularly those aged 45-54, the burden is even greater, with 11 percent reporting more than five extra hours per week-equivalent to 35 days of unpaid work per year. Sectors such as education and human resources bear the brunt, with employees averaging 15 days of unpaid overtime annually.

Impact on Wellbeing

Eight out of ten respondents believe their workplace negatively impacts their well-being. Excessive workload and pressure are cited as the primary culprits by 34% of respondents, a figure that rises to 42% in Northern Ireland and Scotland. The pervasive "always on" culture exacerbates the situation, making it challenging for employees to disconnect after hours. Consequently, 68% struggle to switch off during weekday evenings, while 59% find it difficult to disengage over weekends.

Sick Leave and Mental Health

The strain is evident in the nation's sick leave statistics, with Britons averaging four days off work per year. Notably, mental health concerns are a significant factor, prompting one in five respondents to take time off for this reason. The prevalence of sick leave for mental health reasons is particularly pronounced in the South West, where 30% of respondents cite it as a cause. Additionally, fatigue and musculoskeletal issues contribute to absenteeism, highlighting the multifaceted impact of workplace stressors on health.

Considerations for Change

Amidst these challenges, a significant portion of the workforce contemplates leaving their current job due to stress or burnout. A poor work/life balance further fuels this sentiment, with 39% of respondents considering it a motivator for change. While some workplaces offer support measures such as mental health assistance and generous annual leave policies, more comprehensive strategies are needed to address the root causes of workplace stress and promote employee wellbeing.

Overall, the findings underscore the urgent need for organizations to prioritize employee welfare and implement proactive measures to mitigate workplace stressors. By fostering supportive environments and promoting a healthier work-life balance, employers can safeguard the health and productivity of their workforce in the long term.
As they say, history is written by the victors. This gives them a lot of latitude to adjust the details that arent exactly complimentary. You can just pump out a bunch of books that say you were, of course, always fighting for a good reason while your enemies were brutal savages. Especially here in America, we get an education thats both impressively skewed and lacking at the same time. Meanwhile, records of European conquests are thoroughly sanitized, heavy on the tales of triumph and light on the admittance of war crimes.

Theyre also quite literally cleaned up in many cases, since it doesnt jibe with the story of pious god-sent saviors that pretty much everybody they met thought they smelled absolutely horrendous.

First off, lets give the Europeans of the 16th century and surrounding times the small credit theyre due. They werent completely bathless, walking, talking clods of hardened horse pucky. They did regularly wash themselves. Just not as much of themselves as you would like. They would wash their hands and face, but full-body baths were rare. They became even rarer in the 16th century when public baths were thought to be a hotbed of diseases like smallpox and syphilis.

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Which is why their scent was horrific to most of the other populations they met.

Public Domain You know it smelled crazy in there.

Case in point: Some accounts from the native people of the Americas, who were displeased for a whole host of reasons when settlers washed up on their shores. One of the civilizations done the dirtiest by adjusted history, they sure want you to think these natives were loinclothed savages awestruck by the Pilgrims finery. In reality, they thought, and talked amongst themselves, about just how gross they found this strange new brand of man.

In addition to thinking they were weak and untrustworthy, they also gossiped about how bad these new humans smelled.

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One particularly fun story is that of the Spanish conquistadors experiences with the Aztec people. When they first showed up, they noticed that they would be assigned Aztecs to follow them around with burning incense. They immediately assumed this was some sort of high honor. They even went as far as to think it was an indication that the Aztecs considered them divine beings. Review Aztec sources, though, and you find the real reason for this pungent accompaniment: it was to cover up their smell. They thought it was a tribute, when in reality it was the Aztec equivalent of firing off a match after a particularly dire bathroom visit.

Similarly, Japan is known for its cleanliness, and history suggests that they found European settlers bathing habits atrocious. They werent helped by biology either, which tells us that most of the East Asian population, thanks to genes, dont produce the kind of body odor Western bodies do. If youre largely unfamiliar with armpit stench, and then suddenly get hit with a years worth? Youre probably not all too eager to welcome the customs connected to it.

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Even within Europe, some civilizations fared better than others. For example, Anglo-Saxons were known to complain about Vikings, another civilization usually pictured as barbarians  for smelling too good. In fact, there were protests that the Vikings were stealing all their women with their devilish, pleasant scents.
On April 30, NYPD officers stand watch as they prepare to enter the campus of Columbia University. Photo: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

At about 9 p.m. on Tuesday night, student protesters who had taken over Hamilton Hall at Columbia University began singing on the steps of the building. Where you go I will go, they sang in harmony, linking arms and swaying. Your people are my people. Some were in tears.

They had received an alert on Telegram that the New York Police Department would be closing in to arrest them within a few minutes. One protester with the Gaza solidarity encampment screamed, We are victorious! They would not have called the police on us; they would not have used the tools of state repression if we had not been successful!

I was a few steps away from the entrance to Hamilton, along with other student reporters from Columbias Graduate School of Journalism and reporters with The Spectator, the undergraduate student newspaper, and WKCR, the campus radio station. For weeks, many of us had been sleeping at Pulitzer Hall, the graduate journalism building, to cover what was happening at the Gaza encampment on the main quad, and we were, on some days, the only reporters on the ground. As dozens of police vehicles rolled up, we could only assume that the NYPD was preparing to enter Hamilton by force, and that we would be able to report on what happened.

However, when officers entered the campus near Hamilton at a little past 9 p.m., they immediately told us to move away from the stairs and began to kettle us. Then they began to move all of the press corps toward John Jay Hall, a residential building across from Hamilton Hall. They used their batons to push us inside, said Iryna Humenyuk, a masters student at the journalism school. She was part of a group of approximately 50 people crowded into a narrow vestibule behind the doors. Since none of the press were residents of the building, they remained trapped there. As soon as the space filled up, officers locked the doors and stood guard outside, blocking views to Hamilton. People were yelling at the police and they just wouldnt acknowledge anyone or answer any questions, Humenyuk said. At midnight, long after Hamilton was cleared, she was informed that the group inside could leave in escorted pairs of twos.

Around the same time as police arrived at Hamilton, another group of student press who were on the main quad taking photographs at the encampment were notified that they needed to go inside. I heard journalists being told by the cops, Go inside now, said Oishika Neogi, an investigative journalist at the school. Jelani Cobb, the dean of the journalism school, and Professor Sheila Coronel opened the side door to the Pulitzer building to let them in, and were told by police to keep everyone inside. In an email sent on Wednesday afternoon, Cobb confirmed, All those who remained inside [campus] were instructed to stay in Pulitzer Hall, or risk arrest. No one was allowed to enter or leave campus. Those reporters stuck in the building tried to glean what was happening through social-media posts while police officers sat in the basement and the entrance of the hall, leaning against a backdrop of posters showing the nearly 100 journalists killed in Israel, Palestine, and Lebanon since October 7.

I had managed to avoid getting pushed into John Jay or Pulitzer, but I found myself in the biggest group of student reporters and professors herded by police outside of campus, to 114th Street and Amsterdam. Dozens of officers surrounded us and confined us there for more than an hour. We began to realize that there was no press left at Hamilton to document what was going on.

The videos that did go online, posted to X, were shot by organizers still in the building. They show students being thrown onto the ground, rolling down the steps, and screaming. Someone taped a police officer texting, ESU [Emergency Service Unit] used flashbangs. Thought we fucking shot someone. We had no way to verify the social-media posts or verify what we were hearing. Our phones were running out of battery, it began to rain, and we were each trapped in our respective locations.

By around 11 p.m., after all the protesters had been loaded into police buses, half of the group I was with were finally able to get back into campus with the help of a professor. I was part of another group of student reporters who didnt get back in, and we had no choice but to wander around the neighborhood for another hour, looking for shelter and a place to charge our phones. Just after midnight, we went back to campus, and after being turned away by campus safety and the NYPD, a dozen professors in the journalism building helped us get escorted back to Pulitzer Hall by police officers.

For many of the student reporters, it was our first time being completely shut out from reporting on an event that happened on campus. While its not rare for the police to interfere with or block media access, the near-complete media blackout of student journalists from documenting such a major event was unexpected. We later learned that police had arrested 109 people at Columbia, and are still waiting to hear if any students have been injured in the process.

This morning, I arrived on campus to work, and tried to enter the school through the main entrance at 116th and Amsterdam, the only entrance in operation. Public-safety officers denied me entry until a professor came out with an official list of student reporters that had my name on it. The grounds were eerily silent and mostly empty of people, and almost every building on the quad was lined with barricades and police officers, whom President Minouche Shafik has requested stay on campus until May 17.

By 11:15 a.m., we received a message from Shafik explaining that she had requested the NYPD to enter campus to end the occupation of Hamilton Hall and dismantle the encampment. What we still do not know is how long police will be on campus, when we will be allowed to enter our school without escorts, and if we will get a full picture of what happened in Hamilton Hall on April 30. What we did hear this morning, at the press conference held by Mayor Adams and the NYPD, is the NYPD deputy commissioner saying that we had been cordoned off and restricted from the scene because press get in the way.
Photo-Illustration: Curbed; Photos: Getty

Nat Serrano, an app developer, lives in an Upper West Side one-bedroom with his wife and three young kids. Their current arrangement  a five-way share of an Alaskan king  can only last them so long. I cannot sleep with my kids forever, he says. Theyve been searching for a three-bedroom in the neighborhood, but everything theyve seen in their price range is awkwardly carved up and about the same size as their current 750-square-foot apartment. We can pay up to $5,000 a month, but theres nothing, he tells me. Its impossible. Three years in, a three-bedroom in a fourth-floor walk-up on 82nd and Amsterdam that they turned down early in their search haunts him: We should have taken it.

In New York City, true threes are rare and coveted. Theyve always been elusive, but never have the pickings been so slim  or expensive  brokers say. Most of whats out there seems to be a one- or two-bedroom chopped up to accommodate a third (the new kitchen unit awkwardly tacked onto the wall of an already small living room is a dead giveaway) or luxury new builds that are priced for Goldman executives. Anyone with a halfway decent three-bed  that is, an apartment that is actually, properly large, not just excessively partitioned  isnt giving it up. That leaves families like the Serranos in apartment purgatory.

Several trends have brought us here. In terms of demand, the actual three-bedroom that offers more space and not just more rooms sits at a very particular nexus in the citys real-estate hierarchy: highly sought after by families in general, but a white whale for affluent-ish parents who cant afford an $9,500 Park Slope duplex or the interest on the $2 million fixer-upper uptown. All the people whod otherwise like to buy, theyre staying put, says Noble Black, an associate broker at Douglas Elliman. The old pressure-release valve of the family exodus to the suburbs has also broken down: An extremely tight suburban-housing market means that many whod like to leave are staying in the city, at least for now. Your neighbor putting their dream of moving to New Rochelle on hold is part of the reason you cant take over their lease and why the couple down the hall expecting their first kid cant take over your two-bedroom. All those areas of the housing market trickle into each other, says Black. Its a sticking point.

Three-bedrooms have long been hard to find, says Julie Rhinehart, of Corcoran, but in the past Brooklyn buyers would go from a two-bedroom to a townhouse. Now townhouses trade for $2.5 million and up (and thats a gut renovation in most neighborhoods), and a nicely renovated place in Park Slope goes for $7 million or more. One of Rhineharts clients got fed up with losing out in six- and seven-person bidding wars for three-bedrooms and thought theyd solved their problem by finding a $1.7 million townhouse in Prospect Heights that needed a total gut reno. They were so excited. They were like, We can get this house, she says. The house got 26 offers in one week.

And really, there were never many bigger apartments out there to begin with. A three-bedroom is super rare, super rare, says Lisa James, a Corcoran agent who works in South and Central Brooklyn. Many of the older rent-stabilized three-bedrooms havent turned over in decades  life circumstances like marriage or kids push residents out of studios and one-bedrooms, but people hang on to threes  and those that did in years past were often broken up by landlords into smaller, separate units. (When it comes to stabilized apartments, theres also zero incentive for someone paying $1,000 a month to downsize to a more expensive unit.)

Three-bedroom rentals only account for about 9.7 percent of new Manhattan leases, according to Jonathan Miller, of Miller Samuel, up from around 4.5 percent in the late 1990s. But leasing only reflects whats in circulation, not what exists, and the assumption is a lot of the better units, like the covetable stabilized three-beds, arent changing hands much. A decent amount of that growth, at least given what does hit the market, also seems to be coming from faux three-beds. Its not all cheap remodels  new construction, especially when its a rental going for a somewhat attainable price, is often stingy with the square footage. (A lot of them dont feel like three bedrooms, a broker tells me.) And then, of course, theres the ultra high-end new construction  a press release that made the rounds earlier this year trumpeted $25,000-a-month three-beds.

The lack of three-beds is also at least partially an affordable-housing issue  as high rents continue to make living alone prohibitively expensive for many, single people opt for shares, and together, with three incomes, are able to pay more than a lot of families can manage. Affordable-housing advocates, meanwhile, frequently complain that housing lotteries mostly offer studios and one-beds, which are cheaper for developers to build, rather than larger apartments (and the larger apartments that do get built are almost always two-beds, never threes). A Gothamist analysis found that 70 percent of the affordable apartments built under Mayor Eric Adams were studios and one-beds.

So the market-rate three-bed is out of reach and the affordable one essentially nonexistent. In Manhattan, the average three-bedroom rental price was $8,737 in March, according to Douglas Elliman. In Brooklyn, it was $4,818, although a StreetEasy search in that price point pulled up a lot of divvied-up older apartments in neighborhoods like East Flatbush and East New York and basement-level duplexes in Gravesend and Bensonhurst. The more alluring stuff, in prime brownstone neighborhoods close to transit and in-demand school districts, tends to go for significantly more: a Cobble Hill brownstone duplex three-bedroom posted on a local listserve, for example, is asking $11,500 a month for a summer sublet. The $5,000-to-$7,000-a-month price point? Oh theres nothing, says one Manhattan broker.

None of this surprised the renters I spoke with, whose experiences had already confirmed as much. One woman living in a $3,500-a-month two-bed in Morningside Heights she described as dark, with a cockroach issue told me she was looking for more space on a $4,500-a-month budget (her boyfriends mom had agreed to help subsidize their rent if they found a place with a guest room for her). A broker shed reached out to that morning had sent over some listings, including one for an apartment in the building next door that was identical to hers, except that it was carved up into three bedrooms instead of two. A recent post on an Upper West Side Facebook group from someone hoping for a $3,500 three-bed for June 1 was met with pity and disbelief. Highly unlikely, one person replied. Especially on the UWS. Staten Island? one suggested. Would you consider NJ? asked another.

I think people are struggling to find something better than what they have, says Paul Campbell, a communications consultant who was living in a two-bedroom condo in Downtown Brooklyn with his wife and son when COVID hit. Like a lot of people, he and his wife started working from home a lot more, their son turned 13, and the apartments shared living space started to feel cramped. But their two-bedroom apartment, which had a double-decker terrace theyd built out with a pergola and an apricot tree, was just so much nicer than everything else they saw. My wife would take me on these tours and it was like, We can afford this, but its horrible, everything creaks and it smells, Campbell says. Once, the seller of a Windsor Terrace house accepted their offer only to come back to say theyd been outbid. They offered a higher amount, had a handshake deal, and it happened again.

Campbell ultimately found a three-bedroom in a Red Hook condo development called the Conover. It did cost him over $2 million, though. Not unexpected, given that Brooklyn new development now exceeds $1,200 per square foot on average, according to Douglas Elliman. The odds are better in new development, where 20 percent of new development units in Manhattan are three-bedrooms (and 19 percent in Brooklyn), says Stephen Kliegerman, president of development marketing at Brown Harris Stevens. Although, theyre more expensive and often involve compromising on neighborhood. Kelly Scher, a Corcoran broker who bought a $2.6 million three-bedroom at the Solaire, in Battery Park City, loves her apartment (it has three bathrooms and a big foyer) but admitted she hadnt exactly sought out the neighborhood, though its grown on her. Once she and her husband decided they wanted a three-bed under 14th Street, on the West Side, for under $3 million, it was the obvious choice. (It was pretty much that or the Financial District.) I didnt have to do too much looking around because there wasnt too much to look at, she says.

There are, of course, plenty of classic sixes and sevens uptown. But anything that needs renovation is sitting, brokers say, and buyers are fighting over any remotely turnkey apartment thats not optimistically priced. Adjina Dekidjiev, an associate broker at Coldwell Banker Warburg, recalled how swiftly one of her listings, a renovated three-bedroom, two-bath at 305 West 98th Street priced at $1.65 million, sold. (That, apparently, is what passes for a bargain these days.) I wish we had another one like West 98th, she says wistfully. Theres plenty of inventory, but it needs work or its overpriced, says Robert Geils, a Corcoran associate broker. People want perfect, but perfect costs a lot. Senad Ahmetovic, an associate broker at Brown Harris Stevens, told me hed listed a combo unit on Sutton Place South  a fully renovated three-bed, three-bath  and received more than 20 offers in a few weeks. He has another listing in the same building with a direct river view that needs work but is asking almost half-a-million less. No one is biting. The older apartments are still expensive and they need work, complained one buyer whos been in the market for over a year. On the Upper East Side, you could get a three-bedroom for under a million, but you would never want to live there, one broker tells me. Under $2 million is where it becomes difficult, says another.

So what about everyone below that threshold? Mostly, people say theyre trying to make the most of what they have, focusing on square feet rather than walls, or lack thereof, in their current apartments. Sandy Earl lives in a Morningside Heights one-bedroom with her husband and four kids (and another on the way), but its a 1,000-square-foot duplex with outdoor space. Theyve outfitted the apartment with a triple bunk and a lofted bed for the kids and a Murphy bed for them. They love their kids school and dont want to move, even though their landlord just informed them that their rent will be increasing from $4,400 to $5,100 a month. Thats up $1,300 in three years. Every year at renewal time, they go on StreetEasy, certain that for that much rent they can find if not a three-bed then at least a nicely configured two-bed. And every year, theyre wrong. I feel like weve never made so much money in our lives and been able to afford so little in our lives, says Earl. But anything else that we want thats this size with more doors is $6,000 or $7,000. And its just not worth it to pay that much more for more doors. Even though, she added, she really would like a few more doors.
By Nazrin Abdul, AZERNEWS

The tourism sector in Azerbaijan has witnessed a remarkable resurgence, with a substantial increase in visitor numbers during the first quarter of this year, Azernews reports.

According to Kanan Gasimov, Chief of Staff of the State Tourism Agency, Azerbaijan has swiftly revitalised its tourism industry following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gasimov's remarks, as reported by Azernews, highlight a significant surge in tourist arrivals, with 513,413 visitors recorded in January-March of the current year. This figure reflects a notable 39 percent increase compared to the corresponding period last year.

Gasimov attributed this growth to the concerted efforts and support of the state in bolstering the tourism sector. Notably, Azerbaijan welcomed 2.2 million tourists last year, marking a substantial 30 percent increase over the previous year.

Looking ahead, Gasimov noted plans to collaborate on joint projects with countries within the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). These initiatives aim to further enhance tourist visits to Azerbaijan.

It's important to highlight that the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) serves as a significant international body, uniting 57 member states and acting as the collective voice for the Muslim world.

Following Azerbaijan's reestablishment of independence, it promptly pursued OIC membership, successfully joining in 1991.

In 2017, Azerbaijan proudly designated the "Year of Islamic Solidarity," marked by a series of impactful events. Among these, Baku hosted the IV Islamic Solidarity Games, a major sporting event of the OIC, attracting participants from 54 nations across 24 sports.

This initiative notably sparked a substantial surge in tourism from Muslim-majority countries, underscoring the power of cultural and sporting exchanges in fostering global connections and understanding.

Of particular note was the remarkable rise in arrivals from Gulf countries. Compared to 2016, the influx from Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Iran experienced exponential growth, collectively contributing to a 65.2% surge in arrivals from the Gulf, totaling 614.7 thousand people.

This trend extended beyond the Gulf, with notable upticks in arrivals from other regions. Notably, arrivals from European Union member states rose by 17.4% to reach 105.4 thousand, while arrivals from Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries increased by 14.3%, totaling 1006.5 thousand people during 2017.

The impact was palpable as Azerbaijan welcomed 2696.7 thousand foreigners and stateless individuals from 187 nations in 2017, marking a 19.9% rise from the previous year.

Significantly, there was a remarkable surge in arrivals from Gulf countries. Compared to 2016, the number of visitors from Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Iran saw exponential growth. Collectively, these countries contributed to a 65.2% increase in arrivals from the Gulf, totaling 614.7 thousand people.

This trend extended beyond the Gulf region, with notable increases in arrivals from other parts of the world. Noteworthy was the rise in visitors from European Union member states, up by 17.4% to 105.4 thousand, and from Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, up by 14.3% to 1006.5 thousand during 2017.
Engineers warned if repairs are not made to the foundation soon, the historic structure could collapse and sink into the Hudson River sometime in the next three years.
Niskayuna is moving forward with a special committee tasked with studying the salaries of elected officials within the town, with the town board approving the five residents who will make up the bipartisan panel during the boards Tuesday meeting.
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Now in my seventh decade, I work in an office with people half my age. When I recently told one that I had a bottle of Cinzano older than him, he replied: 'What's Cinzano?'

For all I know, my young and charming workmates may call me 'Grandpa' behind my back and consider me  guilty as charged  a wheezing relic.

But doing so might incur the disapproval of employment judge Patrick Quill. Judge Quill recently heard the case of a Kent nursing assistant in her 60s who claimed to have been a victim of discrimination.

She alleged that a younger worker had said 'back in your day' to her.

Her claim failed, but the judge found that this could constitute harassment to older workmates in some circumstances. It was 'an unwelcome and barbed highlighting of the age difference'.

Many of us regard age differences as a natural and interesting fact of life. Youngsters learn from us, we from them. But Judge Quill's employment tribunal is a reminder that language at work has become a minefield and that difference of any sort can be an opportunity to flex grievances.

Lawyers and litigants seem hellbent on making office chat a thing of the past. Innocent phrases are being put up against a wall and frisked.

Our country's greatest gift to the world, English, is being pulled into the red lane by linguistic customs inspectors and having its baggage checked for planted political contraband.

These joyless commissars are tarnishing words with which, for generations, we have joshed our way through the working week.

It has the insidious effect of making us wary of one another, mistrust cuckolding camaraderie.

'Back in your day' is the least of it. Call a colleague 'love' and you may be pitched out of your job faster than a boulder catapulted over Jerusalem's walls during the Crusades. The Press canteen in Westminster, where I work, is run by two friendly tea-ladies called Mabel and Cat. Sometimes I find myself saying 'thank you, dear' and then kick myself in case a politically-correct sneak reports me for sexism.

But why should I not call Mabel and Cat 'dear'? I have known them for years and am fond of them. Yet in the hands of an employment lawyer that could be turned into workplace abuse.

I also sometimes accidentally call young colleagues 'darling' because they are roughly the same age as my daughters and I forget where I am. So far they have been merciful and not reported me to Judge Quill, but it may only be a matter of time before I am up in front of the revolutionary courts on charges of sexism and en route to the guillotine in a tumbril.

It's hard to keep up with what can and can not be said. Fashionable agonising over the slave trade has put several old sayings beyond the pale. Before any nincompoop accuses me of being a member of the Ku Klux Klan, let me point out that 'beyond the pale' is nothing to do with skin colour but derives from 'beyond the palisades'.

Next time you blag your way through a meeting, don't say 'well, that was a cake walk'. According to the Harvard Business Review, a cake walk was a dance that slaves were obliged to perform for the amusement of plantation owners.

'Sold down the river' is another one to avoid, as, most unfairly, is 'picnic'. The Words Matter task force of the University of Michigan's information and technology services department came up with the theory that 'picnic' originated from 19th-century lynchings in the U.S. Total baloney. The French were saying 'pique-nique' long before America was discovered.

On television a year or so ago I used the noun 'tramp' and fainthearts on social media called me a brute. They thought it was disrespectful to 'homeless people'. Hang on, 'homeless person' has itself been criticised by Left-wing neck-clutchers.

So-called experts at Brandeis University, Massachusetts, produced an 'oppressive words list' and claimed that it was less hurtful to say 'person experiencing housing insecurity'. The real victim here is directness or, at the risk of sounding pompous, the truth. Language censors do not like clarity because it allows less space for special-pleading.

Other 'oppressive' phrases on that list included 'take a shot at it', which might trigger victims of gun crime. Then we are told that 'trigger' and 'trigger warning' are themselves trigger words  oops!  for gun-crime survivors.

Not that 'survivor' may be bandied about without proper consideration. Some survivors do not feel empowered and prefer to be 'victims'.

Universities pump out much of this nonsense. The University of Kent last year told students to avoid using the terms 'Christian name', 'surname' and 'last name'. 'Christian name' is a no-no because, obviously, we must disown our religious heritage and grovel before the gods of multi-culturalism and self-hatred.

'Surname' is dodgy because it might have come from 'sire-name' or 'father-name' and that would be hierarchical and sexist.

'Last name' was unacceptable because in some Asian cultures they put their family names first. Incidentally, the expression 'long time no see' might also land you in trouble because there is a theory that it mocks the English accents of Chinese people.

My daughter-in-law is from Chengdu. She would find this comical. And weak.

Charities also produce this stuff partly as a way of justifying themselves. Peta, an animal-rights outfit, published a list of phrases that 'perpetuate violence towards animals'. 'Bring home the bacon' was one. Poor little piggies! 'Let the cat out of the bag', 'open a can of worms' and 'hold your horses' were others that could 'normalise abuse'. 'More than one way to skin a cat,' had them reaching for the sal volatile.

Peta does not even allow 'cry over spilled milk' because, hey, some people here might be vegan.

Tempted to ask a workmate to 'cheer up, Mavis'? Tread with caution, mes amis. Militant feminists will say you are pushing a trope about women being humourless.

Likewise 'bossy' or 'hysterical' are deemed sexist because they 'are never applied to men'. One of the bossiest people I knew was a Cirencester traffic warden called Mr Heaven. He certainly did not identify as a woman.

Recently it has been put about that 'uppity' is a racist term. Complete cobblers. Uppity is a fine old word for unjustified pomposity. There's a lot of it about. We need to use such words more, not less.

Instead the boot comes down and our vocabularies are plundered and freedom of expression is curtailed and the only people who win are those who make a career out of encouraging neurosis and tending to all this wetness.

'You're nuts,' we might say to an old work chum, moments before human resources ('personnel', as was) hauls us off for a lecture about mental health.

Don't call anyone an addict. It 'might equate a person's identity with their disease' and then they'll only need counselling, probably paid for by the state. Instead of 'drug addict', or in my case 'Cheddar biscuits addict', you should now say 'someone with a substance abuse disorder'.

'Opposite sex' will allegedly upset those who 'do not identify as male or female and see gender as a continuum rather than a binary construct'.

Keep up at the back, please. You shouldn't even say 'the bank of Mum and Dad' because some people don't have parents, and they might start leaking like punctured hoses about that. 'Parents' are better referred to as 'care givers'.

Alternatively, we could just ignore the likes of Judge Quill and continue to frolic under God's sun, speaking English with the rude relish and flair and freedom that has made Britain the most linguistically interesting place in the world.
Edward and Sophie are taking centre stage at this year's Royal Windsor Horse Show, an unmissable diary event for the late Queen.

But can the Edinburghs do something about the long-standing ban on dogs? At the 1943 show a lurcher nicked George VI's lunch, leading to their banishment  something the dog-loving Queen never countermanded.

Now, a source says there is pressure on the Royal Windsor to let the pets back in. Surely 80 years in the dog house is sufficient punishment!

Edward and Sophie are taking centre stage at this year's Royal Windsor Horse Show, an unmissable diary event for the late Queen

At the 1943 show a lurcher nicked George VI's lunch, leading to their banishment  something the dog-loving Queen never countermanded

After Birmingham and Washington were confirmed as the final two host cities in contention for his 2027 Invictus Games, Prince Harry is caught between a rock and a hard place.

At the 2016 event in Florida, the late Queen teamed up with the Obamas for a promotional video.

If Birmingham is chosen, it's unlikely William and Kate will be so accommodating.

And if Washington is the venue with President Trump back in the White House, Harry might be in receipt of the order of the boot from Donald over his admission of drug use in Spare.

Prince Harry speaking at the 2023 Invictus Games in Dusseldorf, Germany

Justin Webb famously never knew his father, BBC newscaster Peter Woods. But is he slowly turning into his absent pater, pictured on the right above?

'I look in the mirror and I see my father,' he says of the toll of rising at dawn for the Today programme.

'Those baggy eyes and a slightly dazed look? That is Peter Woods.'

Reflecting on Home Office videos showing illegal immigrants being deported, Commons leader Penny Mordaunt describes images of people being put into the back of police vehicles, adding: 'Scotland has produced quite a few similar videos, although the people put in the back of police cars have been members of the SNP.'

Isn't Penny wasted at Westminster? Surely a summer season at Blackpool beckons.

Having just celebrated his 13th wedding milestone  the lace anniversary  can Prince William look forward to next year's event?

As a leading campaigner against ivory who has expressed his wishes for all such items in the Royal Collection to be taken out and burned, he might want to skip his ivory anniversary!

John Cleese, elaborating on his curious boast that a Danish dentist laughed so much at a screening of A Fish Called Wanda that he suffered a fatal heart attack, says that his co-star Kevin Kline sought more information.

Speaking on the Rosebud podcast, John said: 'When I told Kevin about this, he said to me 'Erm, exactly which scene?'
Fine lines and wrinkles are a fact of life.

And while we often assume it's simply the ageing process in action, did you know it's actually sun exposure which is the No. 1 cause of these visible signs of skin damage?

The good news is that not only can we take steps to prevent further damage, we can now REVERSE visible signs of sun damage too.

No7 scientist Dr Eleanor Bradley in the No7 laboratory

No7 scientist Dr Eleanor Bradley explains: 'The peptide technology in Future Renew is game-changing. Up to 80 per cent of skin damage is caused by the sun, and Future Renew is clinically proven to reverse visible signs of sun damage.'

Because brilliant No7 scientists introduced a powerful world first skin care technology, into a serum that's CLINICALLY PROVEN to turn back time.

A massive 15 years of research went into developing the new super-peptide formula in No7s Future Renew range.

And it cant be found in any other brand or skincare range.

Its so good that tests found a staggering 97 per cent of over 4,000 women saw a reversal in the appearance of multiple signs of skin damage in just FOUR weeks.

GAME CHANGING TECHNOLOGY

Future Renew burst onto the scene last year and was immediately hailed a game changer by women all over the UK

The super-peptide blend was the result of a 15-year collaboration between world-leading scientists at No7  the UKs number one skincare brand  and the University of Manchester. Called Pepticology, it supports the skins natural self-repair process.

No7 scientist Dr Eleanor Bradley explains:

'The peptide technology in Future Renew is game-changing. Up to 80 per cent of skin damage is caused by the sun, and Future Renew is clinically proven to reverse visible signs of sun damage, including fine lines and wrinkles, uneven skin tone and dullness.'

So what are peptides and how do they improve the skin?

Dr Mike Bell, Head of Science Research at No7, says: 'As we get older, our bodies are less able to make more of the proteins that make up our skin, and what is there has become damaged by long term exposure to the sun, leading to visible signs of damage.

'When proteins get damaged small bits of themselves called peptides get broken off. These peptides can then act as alarm signals to cells around them, stimulating the cells to make more proteins. Topically applied peptides can mimic these naturally produced signalling peptides, thereby kickstarting the natural self-repair process.'

That means that even if you haven't been as careful with your skin as you could have been, its still not too late because this innovative formula really can reverse visible signs of skin damage.

So there's no need to regret the past when you can reverse some of the visible effects!

REVERSE VISIBLE SIGNS OF SKIN DAMAGE

Results get better over time! Left: Case study Heather before using No7 Future Renew Serum; Centre: after 12 weeks; and Right: after 12 months

Development of the ground-breaking peptide technology was No7's biggest cosmetic science innovation in a generation - so it's BIG news for anyone looking to rejuvenate their skin.

The revolutionary, and clinically proven, Future Renew Serum works to actively reverse multiple visible signs of sun damage and since its launch a year ago, people all over the UK have been seeing incredible results.

As well as improving the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, this dermatologist approved formula also tackles uneven skin tone and texture, dryness and that feeling of lost elasticity many of us know well.

And while results get better and better over time, skin is brighter and more hydrated from the first use, thanks to an antioxidant combination of vitamins C and E which help to protect skin against environmental stressors.

The serum is best applied both morning and evening as the skin does most of its repairing overnight and alongside the rest of the Future Renew Range.

SPF  Your faces best friend No7 Future Renew Damage Protection Defence Shield SPF50 is designed for everyday use, all year round, so that you can protect your skin from incidental daily sun damage One of the greatest gifts you can give your skin is to protect it against future damage. And thats where No7 Future Renew Damage Protection Defence Shield SPF50 comes in. Use this NEW lightweight and hydrating SPF daily, either on its own or under your make-up, to protect against everyday, and often incidental, sun exposure. 40 per cent of our annual UV exposure happens outside of the summer months, so damage continues to accumulate all-year round. So its important to have a product with SPF (sun protection factor) as part of your regular daily routine, not just on holiday. So make it part of your daily beauty regime.

SHOP THE No7 FUTURE RENEW RANGE

No7s Future Renew Damage Reversal Serum and Defence Shield SPF 50 arent the only incredible products in the range.

Stop regretting and start reversing at boots.com now.

The full No7 Future Renew range is available in store and at boots.com

No7 Future Renew Damage Reversal SPF 40 Day Cream This intensely moisturising cream contains No7s new super-peptide blend and SPF40 to protect the skin against the ageing UV rays of the sun and reverse visible signs of damage. Users reported brighter, healthier, more supple skin after just one week. Shop

No7 Future Renew Damage Reversal Night Cream With nourishing shea butter and the new super-peptide blend, this is formulated to support skin's natural self-repair process while you sleep and reverse visible signs of skin damage. Users saw instant results with softer, smoother skin. Shop

No7 Future Renew Damage Reversal Eye Serum Expertly developed for the delicate eye area where skin is thinner and more susceptible to damage, this reduces fine lines in a week, the appearance of wrinkles and puffiness in four weeks and visible signs of skin damage in eight weeks. Shop

Clinical study. Expert grading of appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, evenness of skin tone & texture, radiance and firmness

Recommend as part of a regime with daily SPF usage

Consumer studies. Users saw a reversal in appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, uneven tone and texture, dryness; feel of lost firmness.

Source: Kantar Total Market, UK, 52 weeks ending 24/12/2023. Boots No.7 Value Share of Mass Female/Unisex Skincare. Email ukgb@boots.co.uk to verify

Images from case study demonstrating best results seen in a clinical study. Most users experienced noticeable improvements in visible signs of damage.
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The Aussie brand behind a range of effortlessly stylish 'packable' sun hats is struggling to keep them in stock ahead of the 'European summer' travel rush.

Avenue The Label, started by pals Gabriella Weinstock, 31, and Jessie Shand, 30, has become a favourite of women across the country thanks to the 'insanely comfy' wardrobe staples and uber-cool hat range.

But the pair have noticed a mega jump in sales of the packable hats since word got out about them ahead of the Euro summer period in 2023.

The bestsellers, the Fornillo and the Izzy, are both durable, Australian-designed and handwoven using a crochet weaving technique that ensures they never lose their shape - even when rolled up tightly in luggage.

The Aussie brand behind a range of effortlessly stylish 'packable' sun hats is struggling to keep them in stock ahead of the 'European summer' travel rush

The bestsellers, the Fornillo and the Izzy (pictured), are both durable, Australian-designed and handwoven

'We started the brand in 2017 and both had a background in fashion. We realised a gap in the market for really good quality, cool sun hats and spent a year designing one that could retain its shape in a bag,' Gabriella, a mum-of-one from Bondi, told FEMAIL.

'We have them woven by hand and also put a wire in the brim to ensure that they keep their shape no matter what.'

Gabriella said the brand grew steadily and organically as more women discovered the clever designs and swore by them for domestic and international travel.

Customers also love the fact that each one somehow 'goes with everything the wardrobe'.

'The tanks and tees have a really high return rate - they are really popular staples. But the hats have really taken off over the past year with so many heading off to Europe,' Gabriella said.

'We spent a year designing one that could retain its shape in a bag,' Gabriella said

The Sabine Sunhat is crafted from natural cotton canvas and features an oversized brim with a frayed edge. It's coming soon

'The most popular designs are the Fornillo and the Izzy but they all do really well, especially with women aged 25-45 and mums on the go like we are.'

The Fornillo Sunhat is reminiscent of high-end designs and crafted from fine, sustainably sourced paper straw. It also comes in 11 colours.

It has received hundreds of rave reviews from women who are delighted with their chic buy.

'Just loved my first hat purchase and will stay on even when a strong breeze is blowing,' one customer wrote. 'The coverage is excellent protection from the sun too.'

The Izzy is made from 100 per cent raffia making each piece unique and stand the test of time. This also explains the higher price point of $150 - a solid investment given the durability.

The Fornillo Sunhat (pictured) is reminiscent of high-end designs and crafted from fine, sustainably sourced paper straw

'This is such a stylish hat! Can be molded into any shape you want - even cowgirl! I love wearing it. I feel cool and protected finally,' one woman wrote of the design.

'So gorge - absolutely living in this hat! It goes with everything and is super comfortable. Love that it's industrious enough to survive mum life, getting wet and rolled up and shoved into bags and still looks beautiful each wear. Love!' Another added.

A new range of hats is on the horizon and include the Elena, Jeanne, Sabine, and Remi.

Other bestsellers on Avenue are the Kate Tank, Louie Blazer and Josephine Tee.

'We have so much more on the way, too,' Gabriella said.

'We have a knit set coming in a few weeks for winter and I'm really excited for that,' it's absolutely stunning!'

You can shop the Avenue range of hats here and basics range here.
Lisa Flom, from Minnesota, used the material to stick her daughter to a seat

A mother has sparked debate after she filmed herself sticking her child to an airplane seat with fastening strips.

Lisa Flom, from Eden Prairie in Minneapolis, Minnesota, published a video on TikTok to her 800,000 followers and labeled the clip 'Things I wish I knew as a first-time mom'.

The influencer, who regularly shares videos about her parenting hacks, has two daughters aged three and one.

In a clip that has sparked controversy, Lisa filmed herself sticking two strips of fastening material to a navy leather seat on a plane before going on to put a further two on her toddler's clothing.

The mother-of-two then placed her daughter on the seat, but she was determined to wriggle free.

Lisa Flom, from Eden Prairie in Minneapolis, Minnesota, filmed herself sticking her youngest daughter to a plane seat

The child leaned forward in a bid to escape the seat and moved side to side to try and free herself, but the fasteners proved to be strong.

Lisa previously spoke to Newsweek about her methods and said it was her husband's idea initially.

Lisa said that motherhood can be 'overwhelming' and added: 'My one-year-old is all over the place and sometimes you just want two minutes to get something done.'

'It was actually my husband's idea to add Velcro to the chair and the back of the baby's clothes so she would stay in one place.'

She added it was a 'fun' thing to do with the children and insisted her hack was light-hearted yet practical.

At the end of their flight, Lisa peeled the strips off both the seat and her child, but this did not go down well with all the viewers.

The video - which was viewed more than 19 million times - racked up thousands of comments from people who were concerned about her baby and other passengers.

One wrote: 'So after you pull it off the next passenger has to sit in the sticky tape residue?'

The one-year-old is seen struggling to get off the seat and is therefore wriggling around restlessly

The video - which was viewed more than 19million times - racked up thousands of comments from people who were concerned about her baby and other passengers

Another added: 'What about the sticky residue just left for the next passenger?'

A third said: 'And do you pay the airline to get the residue off the seat or do you scrub them yourself?'

Others questioned why she did not bring a car seat with her on the trip and buckle it using the seat belt on the plane.

'Mom of four here. Kid would be safer in a car seat,' one wrote, while another said: 'Just bring her car seat.'

A third commented: 'I take my car seat on every single trip. So easy. And my aunt is a retired flight attendant and have seen lots of babies injured during turbulence.'

'Just bring the car seat! It was a life saver with my toddler,' a fourth said.

Although it is unclear which Airline Lisa and her children were flying with, American Airlines say most seats that are safe to use in cars usually acceptable to bring onto airplanes.

The airline's website reads: 'The seat must have a solid back and seat, restraint straps installed to securely hold the child and a label indicating approval for use on an aircraft.'

The airline said these seats cannot be used in an exit row or in the rows on either side of an exit row and that they are best in window seats.
I'm changing my two-week-old son's nappy. He bursts into tears. His tears explode my heart but I can't comfort him because I'm exploding too, only I wish I had the primal courage to cry out like him. I am unable to soothe him. To tell him everything will be OK, because I'm not sure that's true.

I've not told anyone about the days of incessant racing thoughts and snakes of paranoia, the strangling anxiety and rampant insomnia. I'm embarrassed because it sounds 'strange', 'dramatic' and 'silly', but nothing is 'OK' any more.

The radio has been playing songs about me; the potted fig tree outside is trying to tell me something; and that teddy bear is watching me with CCTV eyes. Don't worry, I know this isn't good. It certainly isn't what I'd read about in the books and forums that promised this Golden Time of new motherhood would be the best moment of my life. So how can I say, out loud, that the day my son was born, and the brutal, postnatal, abstract hours since, have been the very worst days of my life? Stunned with fear and medical intervention and now whatever this is.

I ask my partner, Hugo, to take over the change, and head to the bathroom, only a 'voice' inside my head follows. 'What have you done?' it snarls. I look at myself in the mirror. I'm unrecognisable, haunted. Just days ago I was someone, a proper, established person with a loving family, friends, a career; now, I'm nobody. Oh God. I am mad. Is that really what's happening here?

Laura Dockrill began suffering with the severe mental illness postpartum psychosis after welcoming her son, Jet. 'No, I hadn't heard of it either until it tried to kill me,' she writes

'Six years on, I'm somehow grateful for the illness,' Laura Dockrill writes. 'I am a kinder, more empathetic, wiser person because of it.'

I had a baby and then I went mad.

This was February 2018, and it would be a week before I dared tell anyone what I was experiencing, two weeks before I began to feel suicidal and three weeks when I found myself waking up in a psychiatric hospital.

It turned out I was suffering with the severe mental illness postpartum psychosis (PP). No, I hadn't heard of it either until it tried to kill me. PP affects roughly one in 1,000 women every year, can occur  as in my case  'out of the blue', and is considered a medical emergency.

Little is known about exactly how or what triggers the illness and so far little evidence to suggest it can be linked to a traumatic birth. The main symptoms are shame and guilt, so writing and talking about my experience has thrown darkness into the light.

Hugo and I had been together for less than a year when I fell pregnant at 31, but we'd been best friends for 17 years so it didn't seem premature. 'Do you think we're rushing into things?' we'd joke.

We couldn't wait to meet our little boy. I did all the 'right' things, dumped the wine and cheese and rested. Thankfully my pregnancy was kind to me; happy and healthy with no sickness. Hugo, a musician, and I, a freelance writer, saved and worked hard so we could take time off to be together once our son was born. We didn't overdo it on the research but we weren't naive either  we knew we were heading for a massive life change.

But no amount of preparation could have set us up for what was to happen and if it wasn't for all those years of friendship I don't think we would have survived it.

My labour was 24 hours of chaos and stress; long, sharp needles, poking fingers, violent hooks that resembled Victorian weapons of torture and lots of crying. Bleeping monitors, piercing alarms, changing midwives, a failed induction and bad news. The placenta had 'failed', meaning my baby was starving inside me. The umbilical cord wrapped  twice around his neck, meaning as I pushed he was being strangled.

'I didn't deserve this beautiful baby boy waiting for me to step up and be his mum,' Ms Dockrill writes of how she felt when nurses asked how she was feeling

My unborn son was distressed, his scalp lacerated by the Victorian hook of torture and now there was meconium in the amniotic fluid, this presence of my son's first faeces a sign of his stress. I called for an emergency caesarean and within the hour a just-under-5lb flaming, red-faced baby was torn from my belly and plunged like Simba into the air  his angry, screwed-up face already stirring the dreaded 'Mum Guilt' in my tremoring heart.

He wanted to feed immediately. Only, my milk hadn't come in yet. I had nothing to offer him. I said, 'Hello Jet. I love you.' I'm sorry.

'Breast is best,' I was told and advised to stick at it. We spent days begging for my milk to flow to relieve our hungry son.

I was weak with fatigue, barely had the strength to hold Jet's tiny, delicate body against my chest, but I did, terrified of dropping him on the cold, hard hospital floor.

My scar raw and bloody, I still hadn't slept  couldn't. I became feral, filthy, a caged tiger; downing water straight from the jug, eating anything put in front of me, ripping meat from the bone like a Viking, all hands and teeth (I'm a vegetarian!) and, although never alone for a heartbeat, dangerously lonely.

Eventually, my milk came in. I was overjoyed. Jet gained weight and we were discharged. Home was the North Star, where everything would fall into place.

But things went from bad to worse; something other had returned with us. Something my family couldn't see. It was internal and menacing, that Sunday-night-before-school dread, hangover times-a-million, end of the world doom.

Outside a wild, freak-storm surrounded our flat; we were a snow globe shaken in the hands of a cyclops. In the rare snatches where I wasn't breastfeeding, I'd be wide awake, wired, checking for danger from my watchtower of the kitchen window. Manic and restless. Frantically fizzing. My blood pressure spiking.

Every passing police siren was for me; I'd been 'found out'. Overwhelmed by my medication timetable and Jet's routine feeding times  L breast, R breast, nap, nappy changes, sterilisations  the 24-hour clock was a riddle. Time either froze or accelerated at the speed of light. Even a minute's sleep would be consumed with a night terror so fierce I'd snap awake in panic  until I no longer knew the difference between nightmare and reality.

I felt I was awake every second of the day, staring at my son, wrapped in his blissful slumber, with both love and envy. 'I'm going to be too tired to care for him tomorrow,' I'd panic. 'What if I make a mistake?' I logged Jet's every move in sad little nonsense scrawls like the diaries of a stalker. I messaged friends with kids; 'It's hell,' they reassured, 'you won't sleep for the next 18 years  get used to it.'

I'd be momentarily pacified, but if everyone felt this bad, nobody would have a baby again! As the sleeplessness stacked up, my mind purring into overdrive, the delusions became louder; scarier. More persuasive. Harder to hide. The illness began to live in my eyes and fester.

Two weeks on from giving birth, I could no longer concentrate. I stopped eating and drinking. My brain, so overtaken with the illness, couldn't string a sentence together. And then, my milk dried up. This was unimaginably devastating for us all, but I knew it meant I had to get help. I said to Hugo: 'I need to see the doctor. I'm not OK.'

The GPs were patient and listened but failed to diagnose me. Had I a history of mental illness? No. Was I 'seeing' things? Hearing voices? Not exactly. The maternity nurse asked: 'Do you think you're God?'

This shocked me  I thought I was the total opposite. I didn't deserve this beautiful baby boy waiting for me to step up and be his mum.

Baby blues became PTSD. I was prescribed sleeping aids, diazepam, antihistamines. One medication I was given, the doctor said, 'is used to treat schizophrenia, but don't let that worry you'.

And that was it. I was off with my delusional diagnosis of secret schizophrenia. My brain would sprint catastrophic loops; what if Jet dies? What if I hurt him? I'm a bad mum.

I was prescribed antidepressants but was told they'd take six weeks to take effect. I thought: 'I haven't got six weeks. In fact, I'm not even sure I'll last the weekend.'

Jet was almost three weeks old when my mum and sister moved in, my living room resembling Glastonbury Festival. I thought they were here to care for Jet but, of course, they were here to care for me. This act of kindness only patronised and fuelled my suspicions.

Asking for help was the bravest and best thing I've ever done

I ruminated like an FBI agent doing overtime until: Bingo! Hugo was conspiring against me to take Jet; they all thought he'd be better off without me!

But I couldn't trust the professionals with this matter of confidentiality, so I'd stay awake, locked inside paranoid, delusional conspiracies, scheming about how I could escape Hugo with Jet.

Then I'd remember myself and be so disgusted and ashamed of my dark thoughts. With no way out of them, I quickly became suicidal.

I was that fearful of what I might do, conscious that I didn't want to cause further damage or harm to anyone. I told my sister that I couldn't take any more. That I didn't want to be alive. It was alarming how fast my illness escalated into an emergency scenario.

Asking for help was the bravest and best thing I've ever done.

With my father-in-law taking care of Jet, Hugo drove me to hospital that night. My sister held my hand in the back seat. As kids, driving through London at night used to be one of our favourite things to do; now we were both crying, petrified of the unknown.

Rock bottom was waking up on my first Mother's Day in a psychiatric hospital, separated from Jet, who was less than a month old, on 'suicide watch'. This meant a nurse had to watch me sleep.

That's where I was diagnosed with postpartum psychosis. Although surreal, I felt great relief to be diagnosed, to know it wasn't just something in my head that I'd 'invented' and that I would recover. I remember my doctor saying: 'You're going to go back to being a mum and writing books again.'

I didn't believe him in a million years, but look, here I am.

I stayed at the hospital for two weeks, my hours monitored and punctuated with medication and group therapy.

Hugo would bring Jet to see me every evening. I felt so guilty that I wasn't at home but I knew I had to get better. Still, recovery wasn't linear. I thought, once home, everything would fall into place, but it just felt like returning to the scene of my unravelling. In a way, I was a newborn myself; I had to learn to sleep and be in the world again, taking one step at a time.

But with support from loved ones, bonding with my son and working with the life-saving organisation APP (Action on Postpartum Psychosis), of which I am now a proud ambassador, I began to see that recovery was possible. Nobody gives you a medal for getting better  there is no finish line. One day you just find yourself laughing freely at the TV. Wanting to put make-up on. Pushing your baby in a pram and thinking: 'OK, I've got this.'

Jet's first word was 'Mama'. I remember looking at him thinking: 'Oh my word, you're beautiful, I love you. I actually properly love you.'

For Jet's first birthday we took a spontaneous Eurostar to Paris. Everything felt laced in gold that day. The sun shone like honey, the sky was sapphire blue. The hotel gave us an upgrade to the best room for no reason. We all pretended to be cool about it and then jumped on the massive bed laughing.

It was like Jet was in on it all. Like he knew it was special. We couldn't believe our luck. I've never held on so tight to any feeling.

Six years on, I'm somehow grateful for the illness. I am a kinder, more empathetic, wiser person because of it. I talk to my son about mental health. I feel grateful for small things and don't take my health for granted. Mental illness doesn't discriminate and nobody is immune.

Loved ones are crucial in the early days after childbirth. They can tell if somebody is not being themselves. If you're worried for yourself or someone you love, don't hide in silence.

Hugo and I always thought we'd have more kids but there is a 50 per cent chance of me experiencing PP again. One of the things I am grateful for is that Jet was too young to remember me so unwell. I couldn't risk that. I'm not disappointed that I cannot have more children. My family is complete, because I am alive to be a part of it. I am lucky to have Jet; I didn't make him, he made me.

Grey by Laura Dockrill, a picture book about feelings illustrated by Lauren Child, is out today (14.99, Walker).

Laura Dockrill is judging The Women's Prize for Fiction 2024. The winner will be announced on June 13. More info can be found at womensprize.com.
Anita Rani has become an empowering image of what being single, child-free and fabulous in your 40s looks like.

The Countryfile host, 46, has been opening up about embracing 'uncharted territory' after splitting up with her husband in September - and admits that she feels more joyful than ever.

The broadcaster has served as the antidote to outdated stereotypes of career-oriented spinsters, often posting glamorous selfies showcasing her busy, fun and energetic lifestyle.

Most recently, Anita said she 'loves' being a 'single, Asian woman with no children' - eight months after separating from her husband of 14 years.

Speaking candidly about her home life as a newly-single woman in the June edition of Good Housekeeping magazine, the star said she feels like she has a 'blank slate' to start on again in life.

Anita Rani has become an empowering image of what being single, child-free and fabulous in your 40s looks like. Pictured in 2022

The presenter and her husband, tech company owner partner Bhupi Rehal, broke up after their busy schedules kept them apart after first meeting at a rave in east London and marrying in a traditional Sikh ceremony back in 2009.

Anita revealed she has moved back in to a flat she bought years ago and has decided to transform it into her dream home following her marital split.

'I've sort of got a blank slate in front of me, and that feels really good. I bought a flat about 20 years ago, which I kept for all these years, and I've moved back into it,' she gushed, revealing she has transformed it into a 'Parisienne dream house'.

The star added how she has found a place of confidence thanks to 'inner strength and power', while redefining what it means to be 'sexy'.

'I met this 82-year-old woman recently, who left her husband at 75, and she's one of the most strikingly beautiful women I've ever met,' Anita told the outlet.

'She walks into a room and she has this power about her, and that's very sexy. That's who I want to be. Someone who has bigger things to think about than the size of my nose!'

The TV presenter also touched upon covering the theme of generational trauma in her novel Baby Does A Runner, which is set for release next month.

Meanwhile, in November, Anita spoke to The Sun of her new approach to life, explaining: 'I always knew I'd get to my 40s and become who I wanted to be. It's when I'd start blossoming.

The presenter and her husband, tech company owner partner Bhupi Rehal, broke up after their busy schedules kept them apart after first meeting at a rave in east London and marrying in a traditional Sikh ceremony back in 2009. Pictured in 'All Star Musicals at Christmas' in 2021

The star added how she has found a place of confidence thanks to 'inner strength and power', while redefining what it means to be 'sexy'. Pictured in 2022

The Countryfile host, 46, has been opening up about embracing 'uncharted territory' after splitting up with her husband in September (both pictured in 2020) - and admits that she feels more joyful than ever

Speaking candidly about her home life as a newly-single woman in the June edition of Good Housekeeping magazine, the star said she feels like she has a 'blank slate' to start on again in life

'I'm going to get sexier as I get older. It's liberating that people know that I'm single now.

'Not everything works out and things come to their natural conclusion, and that is absolutely fine. There's no shame attached to being single and living your best life in your 40s.

'I'm single, I'm child-free, I'm in my mid-40s and I have never felt better, sexier, more powerful or more excited about the future.'

She added that she is now exercising her choice to do what the 'hell I want' and that makes her feel empowered, before adding she is having an 'awakening'.

When asked if she is back on the dating scene she said she is happy being single at the moment and is concentrating on her female friendships.

At the beginning of this year, Anita opened up about the challenges she's faced in light of her new lifestyle, in an Instagram post with 134,000 followers.

'Sometimes self care is just going with how you feel and I felt like hibernating and reflecting on 2023. Last year was a one, it may well have been THE one,' she explained.

The broadcaster has served as the antidote to outdated stereotypes of career-oriented spinsters, often posting glamorous selfies showcasing her busy, fun and energetic lifestyle. Pictured in October

In late 2023, Anita also told how she's stopped 'people pleasing ' after being being put 'in a box' for much of her life. Pictured in October

'So much change and magic and mayhem and all of it so fast. I'm not very good at resting but the universe had something to say about that too.

'My first week of the new year I had no choice but to rest. I might tell you about it sometime. I've had to pay attention to myself and what my body needs. No bad thing. Don't you hate it when people are cryptic.

'Today I got myself out into the cold sunny perfect jan morning and it felt spectacular. Vitamin D did its job. I hope you are doing well and if you had a bumpy start to the year, don't worry..one day at a time.

'Here's my buzz words for the year ahead - health, adventure, wisdom and love, yeah, let's go with love. Apparently it starts with the self. So I'll be back back here keeping you posted with all of it. My new life, chapter two, spreading joy and positivity..and maybe sharing my own bumps too. Let's go team.'

In late 2023, Anita also told how she's stopped 'people pleasing ' after being being put 'in a box' for much of her life.

Speaking to Yahoo News, Anita - born in Bradford to Indian parents - told of the pressure she felt to settle down after it was instilled that marriage and children equals success, remarking that the notion is 'drip fed to you'.

At the beginning of this year, Anita opened up about the challenges she's faced in light of her new lifestyle, in an Instagram post with 134,000 followers

The TV host previously told how she and Bhupi had a good marriage. Pictured on Lorraine in August

She said: 'How many of us are making choices based on what we actually want to do? and how many of us are doing it because it's what's expected of us? And those are the things that I'm personally grappling with.'

The presenter told how she began 'second guessing' what people wanted after watching women in her life facilitate everyone before themselves.

Anita went on to say that her 40s were very 'transitional' and she started to not 'give a f*** as much' as she felt more 'empowered' and 'confident' within herself.

She shared: 'I think at some point, you wake up and realise it's time to make myself happy, because I think women do look after everybody, whether that's because that's what society expects, or whether it's your parents or your husband or your children.

'You realise that it's a bit of a waste of time trying to please other people. And once you find who you are, and you walk into a room authentically, valuing who you are  that's a sensational feeling.'

The TV host previously told how she and Bhupi had a good marriage, saying: 'He's great and we have a great life. It's like any marriage: you have to work at it.'

In the past, Anita opened up about suffering a devastating miscarriage in 2018, telling The Times: 'I'm much better at self-care and I ask myself more questions about how I want to live my life.

'I'm also more willing to be vulnerable, like talking about the miscarriage I had in 2018.

'Vulnerability used to scare the s*** out of me, but it has been liberating to share my personal story and see the response.'
The Princess of Wales has broken tradition again on Princess Charlotte's birthday after being late to share a snap of Prince Louis last week.

Princess Charlotte is nine today, with royal watchers all over the world eagerly anticipating a new picture of the youngster.

Kensington Palace typically releases portraits of the Wales children early in the morning to mark their birthdays.

However, in a break with tradition, William and Kate shared a photo of Prince Louis last Tuesday afternoon rather than at midnight on his birthday as is customary with new royal portraits. They also shared an unseen wedding photo to mark their 13th wedding anniversary.

Many are wondering if the future King and Queen will share a new snap of their only daughter, following the fallout from their Photoshop furore earlier this year.

Kate has broken tradition again by delaying the release of Charlotte's birthday portrait

Princess Charlotte turns nine today, with royal watchers all over the world eagerly anticipating a new picture of the young royal

Princess Charlotte is pictured here on her eighth birthday in a portrait that was released by the Palace

Royal fans have shared online that they cannot wait to see the new image of Princess Charlotte

A Mother's Day portrait of Kate and her children, released on 10th March, was pulled by multiple photo agencies after it was revealed the image had been significantly edited.

Less than two weeks later, Kate announced in an emotional video that she has cancer and spoke of the need to protect her young family.

The Mail's Rebecca English revealed that the couple had initially decided not to issue one at all given their recent appeals for privacy at such an unprecedented time for their family, but changed their minds because they wanted to thank fans for their kind wishes to Prince Louis.

And in conversation with The Express royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams added that once they'd decided to release a photo there were likely a lot of discussions about the best approach, given the furore over Kate's edited Mother's Day photo.

Overall, Richard said the timing could 'emphasise Kate's need for time, space and privacy.'

Describing the 'vexed' issue of her Mother's Day portrait, he described the backlash as a 'highly embarrassing contretemps'.

He added that not rushing out a birthday photo of Louis could also 'emphasise her need for time, space and privacy which she expressed so movingly' in the video message revealing she has cancer.

Earlier this year, the Princess of Wales detailed how the cancerous cells were discovered, while she was undergoing surgery for a different condition in January.

The Princess of Wales took Prince Louis's birthday snap to mark her youngest child turning six last month

Kate and her daughter Charlotte are pictured sat in the Royal Box at Wimbledon last year

Charlotte and Kate are pictured donning similar headpieces for the Coronation of King Charles last year

Kate, William, Charlotte, George, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip are pictured at Trooping the Colour in 2016

The Princess of Wales pictured holding a camera as she takes part in a a photography workshop with the charity 'Action for Children' in Kingston in June 2019

She explained that she had not spoken out about it earlier because she wanted to have time to 'explain everything' to George, Charlotte and Louis and assure them 'I'm going to be ok'.

In March, royal fans went into meltdown after Associated Press issued a 'kill notice' on a photo of the Princess of Wales and her three children that had been released for Mother's Day.

It was the first official photo that was published of Kate after she underwent abdominal surgery in January.

That evening, the Associated Press became the first agency to 'kill' the photo over an 'inconsistency in the alignment of Princess Charlotte's left hand'.

While AP said there was no suggestion the photo was fake, it retracted it because it said on closer inspection, the source had manipulated the image in a way that did not meet the agency's photo standards.

The following day, the Princess of Wales admitted that she edited the Mother's Day photo herself and apologised for 'any confusion' it had caused.

2022: This image of Princess Charlotte, taken at the Wales' Norfolk home Anmer Hall, was shared to mark the youngster turning seven. Royal watchers noted the resemblance to her father in this image

2021: Princess Charlotte is pictured on her third birthday

In 2018, Princess Charlotte's birthday photo included a snap with her new little brother Louis

The Prince and Princess of Wales have been spotted searching for a festive fir in Windsor Great Park alongside their two eldest children Prince George and Princess Charlotte (pictured together in December 2022)

A statement from the Princess of Wales said: 'Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing.

'I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother's Day. C'

Two weeks later, the Princess of Wales announced she was battling cancer - amid mounting pressure for the Palace to comment on her condition.

It is believed that the Princess of Wales announced her cancer diagnosis on 22 March as this was the day George, Charlotte and Louis broke up from Lambrook School in Bracknell for their Easter break.

The announcement may have been timed so that her children would not immediately face questions in the playground after the news was made public.

The family are reported to have spent the Easter holidays together as they adjust to Kate's diagnosis, which was discovered in post-operative tests following her major abdominal surgery.

In the emotional message, which was filmed in Windsor, Kate revealed the news had come as a 'huge shock' and that she and William 'have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family'.

Kate was last seen with her family attending church at Sandringham on December 25, 2023

Speaking from a bench surrounded by daffodils and spring blossom, she said: 'It has taken us time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them, and to reassure them that I am going to be ok.

'As I have said to them; I am well and getting stronger every day by focusing on the things that will help me heal; in my mind, body and spirits.

'Having William by my side is a great source of comfort and reassurance too. As is the love, support and kindness that has been shown by so many of you. It means so much to us both.'

Kate revealed that she had been diagnosed with cancer after undergoing a planned operation at The London Clinic in January.

The insider also claimed to PEOPLE magazine Kate and William are also prioritising family time as 'having fun together when they can is very important'

She explained: 'In January, I underwent major abdominal surgery in London and at the time, it was thought that my condition was non-cancerous,' she said.

'The surgery was successful. However, tests after the operation found cancer had been present.

READ MORE: Kate and William share unseen wedding portrait: Prince and Princess of Wales release stunning picture to mark their 13th wedding anniversary Advertisement

'My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy and I am now in the early stages of that treatment.'

The announcement sent shockwaves around the world and came after weeks of speculation - and wild conspiracy theories - about her health. It also createc a fresh crisis for the Royal Family at a time where King Charles is also battling cancer. In January Sarah, the Duchess of York, was diagnosed with skin cancer, just six months after being treated for breast cancer.

However, this week will hopefully be a quiet relief for Kate who has previously discussed how much she loves her children's birthdays.

The royal has previously said that she's known for staying up late the night before her children's birthdays to whip up a homemade cake for their special day.

Back in 2019 on the one-off special A Berry Royal Christmas, she told Mary Berry: 'I love making the cake.

'It's become a bit of a tradition that I stay up until midnight with ridiculous amounts of cake mix and icing and I make far too much but I love it'.

The Waleses were intending to release a photograph for Louis' birthday despite the frenzy over the manipulated family picture issued by Kensington Palace on Mother's Day, sources close to the family said last month.

However, the snap of the beaming young prince has finally been released, with the account wishing him a very happy birthday.

The photo was taken by his mother, the Princess of Wales, who often photographs her children's birthday portraits.

The caption reads: 'Happy 6th Birthday, Prince Louis! Thank you for all the kind wishes today.'

As the beaming prince looks into the camera, he is lying on his front and looks all grown up with his brunette hair swept to the side, and a smart checked shirt.

He appears to be wearing dark trousers and is lying on a fleeced blanket.

The Waleses have released a new photo of Charlotte each year to mark her birthday.

Last year Charlotte was pictured snuggling up to the family's black cocker spaniel Orla - as she recreated her seventh birthday portrait.

The birthday girl dressed in a 23 blue-and-white striped jumper from Boden, white button-up blouse and pair of blue jeans.

Looking happy and relaxed in front of the camera, Charlotte appears to be lying in a meadow for her annual birthday portrait.

Although the couple didn't reveal exactly where the photo was taken, it appears to be a very similar setting to previous family portraits - which were shot in the grounds of Amner Hall in Norfolk.

The image was taken by the photographer Millie Pilkington - whom Kate and William used for Prince Louis' fifth birthday portrait too.

For her sixth birthday, Charlotte wore a Rachel Riley floral summer dress and her widest smile as Kate captures something of her impishness too. Similar traits are shared by the women on her mothers side of the family.
Sarah Ferguson looked sophisticated in navy ensemble as she stepped out for Global Citizen Prize and Cisco Youth Leadership Award on Wednesday.

In a positive sign that the Duchess is doing well after a series of health woes, the Duchess of York, 64, appeared in great spirits as she posed up a storm with the Prime Minister of The Bahamas, Philip Brave Davis, at Spring Studio in New York.

In January, the Duchess revealed that she was diagnosed with skin cancer just months after having a mastectomy for breast cancer.

But in recent weeks, she's been increasing her public appearances, even travelling as far as Samoa to visit women's leadership groups last month.

Sarah Ferguson looked sophisticated in navy ensemble as she stepped out for Global Citizen Prize and Cisco Youth Leadership Award on Wednesday

The duchess donned a chic cropped blazer which she paired with a matching skirt, sheer tights and black pumps.

The mother-of-two donned a pair of elegant earrings and opted for a smattering of glamorous makeup.

Her locks were styled in loose curls and she completed the look with a sparkling headband.

During the event, Sarah beamed for a snap with Lydia Charles Moyo, who was the Citizen Award Recipient.

The Global Citizen Prize and Cisco Youth Leadership Award honors an individual aged 18-30 who has contributed meaningfully to global problem solving.

The prize winner received a $250,000 (199,347) grant to enable their organization to continue to grow.

The outing comes as the Royal Family has faced a bout of health issues, with Sarah, King Charles III and the Princess of Wales all undergoing cancer treatment.

Last month, the mother of Princess Beatrice and Eugenie said she is 'full of admiration' for Kate Middleton for revealing her diagnosis.

Taking to social media, Prince Andrew's ex-wife, fondly known as Fergie, payed tribute to the mother-of-three, saying that 'everyone is praying for her'.

The mother-of-two donned a pair of elegant earrings and opted for a smattering of glamorous makeup

Fergie looked thrilled to be attending the Global Citizen Prize in New York, after she has taken some time out

The Duchess of York, known for her vibrant character, was in her element as she took to the stage at the event

The Duchess stepped out in style at the Global Citizen NOW event in New York

The 64-year-old appeared animated as she greeted fans while exiting the Manhattan-based event

She waved to members of the public as she left the Global Citizen event on Thursday

The mother of Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie seemed in high spirits as she interacted with royal fans

In a heartfelt Instagram statement, the Duchess said: 'All my thoughts and prayers are with the Princess of Wales as she starts her treatment.

'I know she will be surrounded by the love of her family and everyone is praying for the best outcome.

'As someone who has faced their own battles with cancer in recent months, I am full of admiration for the way she has spoken publicly about her diagnosis.'

Sarah was herself diagnosed with skin cancer just months after having a mastectomy for breast cancer.

Speaking about Kate's decision to reveal her own diagnosis, the Duchess added: I know it will do a tremendous amount of good to raise awareness.'

She concluded the message, saying: 'I hope she will now be given the time, space and privacy to heal.'

Fergie revealed her shock skin cancer diagnosis in January. The mother-of-two had a number of moles removed while undergoing breast reconstruction surgery last year, one of which was found to be malignant.

Sarah gave a speech at the 2024 Global Citizen NOW Summit held in Spring Studios in Manhattan

The royal beamed on stage as she shared a few words with attendees at the event

Sarah donned a bright blue blazer for the occasion, paired with a sophisticated mid-length navy dress

Fergie smiled alongside Lydia Charles Moyo as she arrived at the event

The Duchess of York smiled alongside Philip Brave Davis

The duchess donned a chic cropped blazer which she paired with a matching skirt, sheer tights and black pumps

The Duchess of York , 64, appeared in great spirits as she posed up a storm with the Prime Minister of The Bahamas, Philip Brave Davis, at Spring Studio in New York

During the event, Sarah beamed for a snap with Lydia Charles Moyo, who was the Citizen Award Recipient

The Global Citizen Prize and Cisco Youth Leadership Award honors an individual aged 18-30 who has contributed meaningfully to global problem solving

Her locks were styled in loose curls and she completed the look with a sparkling headband

The duchess was described as being in 'good spirits' after the 'distressing' news, which was broken to her just days after Christmas.

A melanoma is a type of skin cancer that can spread to other areas of the body, mainly caused by exposure to ultraviolet light from the sun or sunbeds.

People with paler skin, a large number of moles and family history of skin cancer tend to be more at risk of developing this.

Friends at the time said Fergie is the 'most resilient' person they know and was already planning to pick up her television career again soon to encourage others to get themselves checked out.

One friend told the Mail that the duchess had been informed she would need 'further investigations' to make sure it has been caught at the early stages.

'Everyone is hoping this is the case and the doctors are hopeful they have got it early, but melanoma is aggressive and they need to double check everything,' they said.

Friends at the time said Fergie is the 'most resilient' person they know. Pictured with her daughters in November

Sarah, King Charles III (right) and the Princess of Wales (left) are all undergoing cancer treatment

They added of Sarah: 'She's very resilient and she does bounce back from things quite quickly but two diagnoses of cancer in six months, particularly when she thought she had just got over the breast cancer, is a lot for anyone to deal with and process.

'You hope you've beaten it and then get something like this.

'That's why she wanted to take herself off to Austria for a couple of weeks, to get her head around everything. She's back home now and the family have been very supportive.'

They also praised 'her girls' - Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie - who they said have been 'fantastic over the last six months'.

'They really have been brilliant over her breast cancer diagnosis. And they are already rallying around her,' they said.
Miriam Rivera, said to be the world's first trans reality star, died in 2019

When reality star Miriam Rivera passed away in 2019 aged 38, authorities claimed it was 'suicide' - but her husband Daniel Cuervo insisted she was murdered.

Miriam had risen to fame thirteen years earlier on British reality show There's Something About Miriam.

The Sky One programme was one of the most controversial reality shows of the early 2000s - as six male contestants sought to woo Miriam for a 10,000 prize, but were only told she was transgender at the end of the show.

After the show, Miriam was hounded by the media and suffered with declining mental health.

Her husband Daniel, who her friends say recently passed away, insisted people were after her and that she was murdered.

Miriam Rivera's husband Daniel Cuervo always insisted she was murdered in the years following her death

However, in Channel 4's new documentary Miriam: Death Of A Reality star, her friends and family expressed their doubts about Mr Cuervo's character, calling him a 'freaky person'.

Mr Cuervo, a real estate worker with apartments in New York, met Miriam in her home country of Mexico when she was 16 years old and had known her for more than 20 years.

In a 2021 interview, he described himself as 'much older' and said they were initially just friends. At a later - he did not specify when - she became his girlfriend.

But in the documentary, Miriam's brother Ariel Mendoza only described him as a long-term 'friend' of hers.

He said: 'Daniel Cuervo he was a friend of Miriam's for a long long time.

'But he also was this kind of freaky person. Colombian guy, much older than Miriam. He loves transgender women.'

Miriam's friend, Daniella Real, also suggested that the pair were just friends rather than a married couple.

'He was in love with Miriam. She loved him of course but not the way Daniel wanted it.'

Following Miriam's death, Daniel posted a heartbroken tribute to her on Facebook, writing: 'My adorable wife, rest in peace darling until God lets us be together again.'

Although her family and friends did not refer to their marriage in the documentary, Daniel had posted pictures of their wedding on February 9, 2019 - just four days after her death. It is unclear when the wedding took place.

Mr Cuervo was a real estate worker with properties in New York. In the Channel 4 documentary, it was said he recently passed away

Mr Cuervo posted pictures of his 'wedding day' with Miriam to Facebook after she passed away

Mr Cuervo had known Miriam for more than 20 years, having met her when she was just 16

Meanwhile, Miriam had changed her name on the platform to include his surname, and they returned to Mexico together after stints in New York and Vegas, according to Cosmopolitan.

Miriam's friend Nikki Exotica said she 'couldn't stand him' but could 'understand' his side of the story.

Daniel said that Miriam had been involved with a mob in New York and Las Vegas.

In the documentary, he revealed that Miriam had contacted him on the day that she died to tell him she was coughing up blood, and he told her to go to hospital. But hours later he was told she had died, and it was claimed it was suicide.

Mr Cuervo has in the past told Daily Mail Australia that he believed his wife's death may have been 'passed off' as a suicide after she refused to accept work as a prostitute.

When Mr Cuervo learned of Miriam's death, he enquired about the possibility of flying the body to New York.

He was informed the body had already been cremated, leaving no opportunity to perform an autopsy.

Mr Cuervo claimed an unknown male called him when he was trying to arrange Miriam's funeral and said: 'Don't come back to Mexico or we'll kill you too.'

At the time of her death, Mr Cuervo paid tribute to his 'adorable wife' on Facebook

Miriam's brother Ariel referred to Daniel as her long-term 'friend' and said he was a 'freaky person'

In the documentary, he said: 'I want to make sure everybody knows there is no way in hell she committed suicide.'

But Miriam's brother, Ariel, and her close friend Daniella Real both accept the official decision made about her death - that she died by suicide.

Real believed the reality show gave Miriam fame, which was negative and permanently harmed her. Meanwhile Ariel believes she was struggling with depression.

Miriam suffered with declining mental health after the show - and a terrible assault in 2007 damaged her confidence even further.

Her friends have previously spoken out about an assault in 2007 that saw Miriam be pushed out of the fourth-story window of her New York apartment. She later disappeared for six months, claiming she had been kidnapped at gunpoint.

Miriam spent most of her time after the attack in Europe, never again engaging in showbiz or music - which was her dream before - and instead getting caught up in the party scene.

She was, during this time, also understood to have taken up sex work to pay off hospital bills, which racked up.

There's Something About Miriam ended up in huge controversy for Sky One, which broadcast the show in the UK - despite being a success at the time.

Miriam appeared on Sky's controversial dating show There's Something About Miriam, where she didn't reveal she was transgender until the end. She was just 21 at the time

Sky later removed There's Something About Miriam from its platforms and apologised

New Channel 4 documentary Miriam: Death Of A Reality Star is exploring her life and rise to fame in more detail

The Channel 4 documentary marks 20 years since the original reality show, and five years since Miriam's death.

Sky later apologised and removed There's Something About Miriam from its platforms.

The show was originally meant to air in November 2003 but legal proceedings stopped it airing until February 2004.

The six male contestants alleged conspiracy to commit sexual assault, defamation, breach of contract, and personal injury in the form of psychological and emotional damage.

Miriam: Death Of A Reality Star is available to watch now on Channel 4.
Paul Whitley from Sheffield popped into WH Smiths for his usual oat milk coffee

A passenger was left stunned when he tried to order oat milk in his coffee at a northern train station - only to be told 'we don't do that sort of thing here'.

Paul Whitley from Sheffield admitted his 'surprise' when staff at a WHSmith store in Bolton Station said they could only give him dairy milk in his brew.

He had been waiting for a train on the platform of the Greater Manchester terminal when he went to the shop to satisfy his caffeine cravings.

But Paul, 39, who has changed his name to 'celebr-oaty' on Twitter since the incident, claimed he was told that oat milk was not on the menu.

In a post on the site, he wrote: 'I'm in Bolton train station and I asked for oat milk in my coffee and the lady told me they don't do that kind of thing here.'

Paul Whitley, 39, from Sheffield was left stunned at the response when he tried to order oat milk in his coffee at Bolton train station

Paul, who has been happily married to his husband, Steve, for 13 years, later told The Bolton News: 'I don't think she was lying.

'They did offer iced coffee on the menu, so they do partially cater to the gays. The staff member was nice. I'd hate to get her in trouble.

'She did offer skimmed as an alternative. I noticed they had about six different flavours of syrup.'

After Paul, an arts centre manager, shared his experiences on X where it went viral, racking up more than three million views.

It also sparked a debate on Jeremy Vine's Radio 2 phone-in show, with punters ringing in from around the country to share their points of view.

Many users on X also went on to detail their similarly 'surprising' culinary experiences in the North West region in the replies to Paul's original post.

One person wrote: 'My mother in law once asked for oat drink in her tea in a cafe.

'She heard the waitress around the back asking her boss what it was, and the boss replied: "Just use skimmed milk".

Paul had been waiting for a train on the platform of the Greater Manchester terminal when he went to the shop to satisfy his caffeine cravings

The staff at WH Smith in Bolton train station (pictured, file image) said they only offered dairy milk

Paul shared his experiences on X, where it went viral, racking up more than three million views

Others added: 'When my husband asked once in a hotel "what milk choices have you got l" he got replied "hot or cold".';

'Having grown up in Bolton, I can confirm the milk choices available in the majority of Bolton are "milk" and "no milk". We're a simple folk.'

'This is my home town. I salute her.'

These days, shoppers are usually spoilt for choice for milks when ordering their coffee, with alternatives such as oat, soya, coconut and almond being readily available in most outlets.

X users rushed to share their own experiences when asking for plant-based milk alternatives

Paul, 39, who has changed his name to 'celebr-oaty' on Twitter since the incident

In January nutritionists issued a warning against oat milk, revealing that, despite being trendy, one cup can have more sugar than two Krispy Kreme donuts.

The plant-based milk alternative is very popular in the UK but contains more fat and sugar than traditional milk and less bone-boosting calcium.

Incredibly, one cup can contain up to 17g sugar, nearly as much as two Krispy Kreme donuts or four Chips Ahoy! cookies.

FEMAIL has reached out to WH Smith for comment.
A pair of savvy best friends from Liverpool, who flew to Pisa for a pizza and got back in time for work the next day, have revealed that it cost them less than a trip to London.

Morgan Bold, 27, spotted budget flights to and from Pisa, Italy, and decided to try an 'extreme day trip' so they would only need to use a single day of annual leave.

She and best friend Jess Wooder, 26, booked day return flights and jetted off at 6am from Manchester airport on April 24.

They had a full day of shopping, sightseeing, and enjoying Italian cuisine and say it was less than the cost of a trip to the capital.

Morgan, from Maghull, Liverpool, said the whole day set her back just 170 - including flights, airport parking, food, and activities.

Morgan Bold (LEFT), 27, and best friend Jess Wooder (RIGHT), 26, booked day return flights and jetted off at 6am from Manchester airport on April 24

The social media manager revealed: 'We went to another country and it was probably cheaper than us going from Liverpool to London.

How much the day trip to Pisa cost per person

Flights: 101 Airport parking: 28.50 Food and drink: 41 Sightseeing: Free Total: 170.05 Advertisement

'Trains to London Euston there and back are around 100 and that's without the expensive food and drinks.

'It's so easy to do as well - you don't need to check a bag, you just go straight through security and you're on the plane. I only took one day off work - I was back the next day!'

The women drove from Liverpool and parked at Manchester airport, where they flew from. It cost 28.50 each to park a car for the day.

Morgan and Jess, a customer service manager from Melling, Liverpool, arrived in Pisa at 9am and used Google Maps to find their way to the centre of the Italian city.

They sat in the sunshine by the Leaning Tower of Pisa to take some fun touristy photos before doing a free tour of the cathedral nearby.

The pair enjoyed a pizza and Aperol Spritz in the afternoon before wandering around the local markets and shops.

In total, they were only set back 41 each for the food and drink they consumed while in Pisa.

Morgan Bold, 27, spotted budget flights to and from Pisa, Italy, and decided to try an 'extreme day trip' so they would only need to use a single day of annual leave

The pair enjoyed a pizza and Aperol Spritz in the afternoon before wandering around the local markets and shops

They sat in the sunshine by the Leaning Tower of Pisa to take some fun touristy photos before doing a free tour of the cathedral nearby

In total, they were only set back 41 each for the food and drink they consumed while in Pisa

Morgan said: 'The food prices were so reasonable even right by the tower. It was a surreal experience knowing you were going back the same night'

After a successful day trip abroad, Morgan and Jess flew home at 6pm and were in bed by 11pm - ready to be back at work the next day.

Morgan said: 'The food was the best bit, being able to have a pizza while looking at the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

'The food prices were so reasonable even right by the tower. It was a surreal experience knowing you were going back the same night.'

And the friends loved it so much that they are already planning their next extreme day trip.

Morgan gushed: 'We loved it so much we're going to do a day trip to Christmas markets in December - we're thinking Krakow or Prague. I just love exploring.'

They forked out a total of 170.05 each, which they believe is cheaper than a quick trip to the capital would cost, including transport and food and drinks.

The concept of 'extreme day tripping' is becoming increasingly popular, with more Facebook groups popping up that are dedicated to the idea of jetting off somewhere for less than 24 hours.

Last November, Londoner Ehteshan Hanifa, 29, jetted off to Milan at 5:45am and enjoyed a day out, before flying back to London at 8:30pm - and it cost just 27 to get there and back.

He crammed in a relaxing spa day and some sightseeing, before enjoying some pasta and a pistachio pizza, with gelato to finish.

Ehteshan's X (formerly Twitter) post about his day abroad quickly racked up more than a million views, with people flooding the replies section with questions.

In terms of his chosen activities, the spa was 60 and food and drinks totalled 40. He then spent 15 on trains while he was in the city.

Others were inspired by the spontaneous trip, with one penning: 'Need to try these day trips one day', and another adding: 'I need friends I can do this with!!'
An expert has revealed the details which prove the Princess of Wales has 'not overly retouched' her daughter's birthday portrait.

Royal fans were delighted to see that Kate Middleton was once again behind the camera as she and her husband released a sweet portrait of Princess Charlotte to celebrate her ninth birthday on Thursday.

And an expert has revealed, in the wake of the couple's Mother's Day photoshop furore, that she shot a 'lovely, natural picture'.

Speaking to FEMAIL, London-based professional photographer Glenn Gratton explained that Kate likely used a portrait lens to achieve a focused effect and a slightly blurred background.

'It's shot in daylight, not with flash,' he added, pointing out that the natural lighting can be demonstrated with the lack of harsh reflection in Charlotte's eyes.

An expert has revealed the details which prove the Princess of Wales has 'not overly retouched' her daughter's birthday portrait

The expert added that the colour 'hasn't been bleached', and instead natural tones of the royal's clothing, and the setting around her, come through.

He also explained that there are 'no harsh shadows', signalling that there is no intense contrasting.

Glenn said it's 'exactly what you want from a portrait' which serves as a 'good follow-up' from Kate's portrait of her son Prince Louis last week.

'She's a good, competent photographer,' he added. 'Who likes to take pictures of her family.

'And you can see that Charlotte's nice and relaxed. Some children get a little shy posing around their parents but she's really relaxed and really natural.'

He also found that the young royal's ensemble was a good selection in lieu of glitzy 'designer gear'.

Kate's photo of Charlotte, released on Thursday, also appeared to pay a sweet tribute to Queen Elizabeth II.

With flowing blonde hair and her cheeky grin, the young royal looked every inch the perfect Princess, wearing a 42 raspberry wool cardigan from Parisian brand Cyrillus teamed with a denim skirt from the same brand.

Speaking to FEMAIL, London-based professional photographer Glenn Gratton explained that Kate (pictured in 2011) likely used a portrait lens to achieve a focused effect and a blurred background

In a positive sign that Kate is well enough to be up and about and taking photos, which is one of her passions, she made sure to include a nod to her husband's late grandmother by posing Charlotte alongside pale pink flowers named in Her Majesty's honour.

The Clematis Elizabeth blooms are one of the first plants named after the late monarch and start flowering June.

The Wales's daughter also shares a special link to her 'Gan-Gan' because she shares a name with the late monarch.

She was christened Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, after the late Queen and Prince Wiliam's late mother, in July 2015.

It's the second time in recent weeks that Kate and William have broken with their long-held tradition for releasing their children's birthday portraits.

Kensington Palace typically sends out portraits of the Wales children early in the morning to mark their birthdays.

However, in a break from the usual protocol, the pair shared a snap of Prince Louis last Tuesday afternoon rather than at midnight on his birthday - as is customary with new royal portraits.

And it would appear Charlotte paid a sweet homage to her late great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II (pictured in 2021) , as she posed alongside pale pink flowers named in her honour

She was also in attendance at Elizabeth's funeral in 2022, alongside with her older brother George

For their daughter's birthday last year, the couple released two images of a beaming Charlotte. In one, she gave her mother a gap-toothed grin to mark the occasion

In another, she was pictured in a blue-and-white striped jumper from Boden as she snuggled up with the family's beloved black cocker spaniel Orla

They also shared an unseen wedding photo to mark their 13th wedding anniversary. Many were wondering if the future King and Queen will share a new snap of their only daughter, following the fallout from their Photoshop furore earlier this year.

A Mother's Day portrait of Kate and her children, released on 10th March, was pulled by multiple photo agencies after it was revealed the image had been significantly edited.

Less than two weeks later, Kate announced in an emotional video that she has cancer and spoke of the need to protect her young family.

The Mail's Rebecca English revealed that the couple had initially decided not to issue one at all given their recent appeals for privacy at such an unprecedented time for their family, but changed their minds because they wanted to thank fans for their kind wishes to Prince Louis.

Earlier this year, the Princess of Wales detailed how the cancerous cells were discovered, while she was undergoing surgery for a different condition in January.

For their daughter's birthday last year, the couple released two images of a beaming Charlotte.

In one, she gave her mother a gap-toothed grin to mark the occasion. With her tousled dark hair and flushed cheeks, it seems that country life at the Kings Berkshire estate, where the family moved to last summer, is agreeing with her.

Princess Charlotte, taken at the Wales' Norfolk home Anmer Hall, was shared to mark the youngster turning seven. Royal watchers noted the resemblance to her father in this image

Charlotte pictured when she was five (pictured, left) and six (pictured, right) for her birthday portraits

Previously, Princess Charlotte has shared her birthday pictures with her younger brother Louis (pictured, left), returning to solo portraits the next year when she turned four (pictured, right)

A princess turns one (pictured, left), and the princess turns two, with this sweet photo shared to mark her big day

In another, she was pictured in a blue-and-white striped jumper from Boden as she snuggled up with the family's beloved black cocker spaniel Orla.

Releasing the images, Kensington Palace said: 'The Prince and Princess of Wales are delighted to share a new photograph of Princess Charlotte ahead of her eighth birthday.'

Many at the time noted her similarity to her father, William. The father-daughter duo appear to share a number of similar facial features, including their eyes and nose, and expressions.

They both have large, beaming smiles, which boast more than a passing family resemblance.

The year prior, as Charlotte celebrated turning seven, photos showing the youngster at the family's country home Anmer Hall in Norfolk were published.

The images show Charlotte laughing into the lens, as she wears a blue patterned blouse and jumper, and clutches a posy of freshly picked daisies.

Today's celebrations saw the Prince and Princess of Wales's Instagram comments filled with happy birthday wishes for their daughter as they once again remarked on her similarity to William.

It comes as, last week her father revealed his daughter's favourite joke this morning during a surprise school visit on a day of engagements in the West Midlands.

The future King dropped in on Freddie Hadley, 12, St Michael's Church of England High School in Rowley Regis, Sandwell, after the youngster wrote to the Prince of Wales last year inviting him to see their mental health initiatives.

During the visit, the Prince joined Freddie and his classmates for a segment on the school's radio station, where he was asked to share a 'dad joke'.

Charles is not yet clear of the disease and is still undergoing treatment, but his medical team are understood to be 'pleased with the progress made so far' and 'remain positive' about his recovery. Charles and Camilla pictured leaving the hospital in February

He said: 'I'm kind of trying to channel Jack Whitehall, because most of his jokes are pretty dad-like.'

The royal then told a knock-knock joke about 'Interrupting Cow' instead, saying it's currently Princess Charlotte's favourite, adding: 'That's one I hear a lot at home at the moment.'

In a punchline some may have predicted, as the others around the table tried to ask: 'Interrupting Cow who?' the royal let out an abrupt 'moo'.

As some laughed and some groaned at the quip, William insisted it was the best joke he could think of that was 'clean' and 'broadcast-able'.

It comes amid a turbulent time for the royal family, with both King Charles III and Kate receiving treatment following cancer diagnoses.

However, the monarch last week got the go ahead by doctors to return to public-facing duties.

His medical team are understood to be 'pleased with the progress made so far' and 'remain positive' about his recovery.

Meanwhile, Kate opened up about her diagnosis in March, saying that 'it has taken them time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them, and to reassure them that she is going to be ok'

Officials have stressed that His Majesty's treatment for cancer is still ongoing, saying: 'His Majesty's treatment programme will continue, but doctors are sufficiently pleased with the progress made so far that The King is now able to resume a number of public facing duties. Forthcoming engagements will be adapted where necessary to minimise any risks to His Majesty's continued recovery.'

They are not able, at this stage, to specify how long it will continue. A spokesman said: 'It is too early to say, but His Majesty's medical team are very encouraged by the progress made so far and remain positive about The King's continued recovery.'

They added that 'any public-facing engagements will be announced nearer the time in the usual way, and will remain subject to doctors' advice' and stressed that it would not be a 'full summer programme'.

It is unclear yet whether he will be able to travel to Normandy in June for the major D-Day anniversary commemorations or to Australia, New Zealand and Samoa as planned in October, but it is understood that the King is keen to if his health allows.

Meanwhile, Kate opened up about her diagnosis in March, remarking that 'it has taken them time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them, and to reassure them that she is going to be ok'.

Speaking from a bench surrounded by daffodils and spring blossom, the future queen said: 'As I have said to them; I am well and getting stronger every day by focusing on the things that will help me heal; in my mind, body and spirits.

'Having William by my side is a great source of comfort and reassurance too. As is the love, support and kindness that has been shown by so many of you. It means so much to us both.'
The Duchess of Edinburgh looked stylish in a khaki blazer and leather skirt as she attended the Royal Windsor Horse Show on Thursday.

Sophie, 59, appeared in high spirits as she accompanied her husband, Prince Edward, 60, to the annual event in Windsor, Berkshire.

The mother-of-two completed her ensemble with a white blouse and burgundy leather boots.

She pulled her blond locks back into a ponytail with a colourful satin scarf, while the royal donned glamorous makeup for the event.

Sophie accessorised with a khaki leather handbag, a pair of gold earrings and she donned a metal Royal Windsor Horse Show Club membership badge, which allows access to the club enclosure on show days, on her lapel.

The Duchess of Edinburgh looked stylish in a khaki blazer and leather skirt as she attended the Royal Windsor Horse Show on Thursday

The Duke of Edinburgh looked smart in a green check blazer which he paired with. stripped tie and cords.

Princess Anne was also spotted at the horse show, looking typically chic a sage green tartan ensemble.

She paired her sophisticated outfit with black suede boots and a green scarf was draped around her neck.

It comes after Sophie became the first British royal to visit Ukraine since Russia's invasion.

Sophie, met with President Zelensky and his wife - and passed on a personal message from King Charles - as she showed her solitary with survivors of conflict-related sexual violence and torture during her emotional one-day trip.

The mother travelled in her role as champion of the UK's Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative and the Women, Peace and Security agenda.

It is understood she was 'keen to show her solidarity with men, women and children affected by the Russian invasion'.

She arrived in the country on the same day at least four people were killed in a barrage of Russian missile strike in the Ukrainian port city of Odesa nearly 300 miles away.

In Kyiv the duchess listened as survivors of sexual violence, both male and female, bravely shared their stories, as well as talking to female IDPs - internally displaced persons - and volunteers who help their communities cope with the trauma of the invasion.

The royal couple appeared to be having a great time together at the Royal Windsor Horse Show

The pair beamed as they took a break from the horse show to sample some local ice creams

Sophie, 59, appeared in high spirits as she accompanied her husband, Prince Edward , 60, to the annual event in Windsor, Berkshire

She pulled her blond locks back into a ponytail with a colourful satin scarf, while she donned glamorous makeup for the event

The mother-of-two completed her ensemble with a white blouse and burgundy leather boots

Sophie accessorised with a khaki leather handbag, a pair of gold earrings and she donned a metal Royal Windsor Horse Show Club membership badge, which allows access to the club enclosure on show days, on her lapel

She also met with children who have now been safely returned to Ukraine, after being forcibly separated from their families and deported by Russia as part of a sustained campaign to erase Ukrainian culture.

And she paid her respects to those who lost their lives in Bucha, two years on from its liberation from Russian forces, and visited the 'Road to Life', a bridge which became a key part of the Ukrainian resistance when it was blown up to stop Russian troops proceeding to Kyiv and later became a vital route for people to flee to safety from the Russian occupation.

It is understood she was particularly keen to show her support for Ukrainian women who have played important roles in the conflict and community recovery and held a meeting with female volunteers who help their communities cope with the aftermath of the attacks with mental health care activities for children.

Meeting with President Zelensky and First Lady Zelenska, Sophie discussed how best to support survivors of conflict-related sexual violence and the women peacebuilders who have a vital part to play in ensuring Ukraine's recovery and reconstruction is effective and long-lasting.

Speaking at a conference last month, Her Royal Highness said: 'Survivors here and around the world have spoken out so bravely about their experiences.

Princess Anne was also spotted at the horse show, looking typically chic a sage green tartan ensemble

She paired her sophisticated outfit with black suede boots and a green scarf was draped around her neck

Sophie and Prince Edward spent some time sampling ice cream from a local popup parlor

The Duke of Edinburgh looked smart in a green check blazer which he paired with. stripped tie and cords

The royal couple appeared in great spirits as they watched the horse show in Windsor, Berkshire

The royal couple appeared in great spirits as they beamed at laughed together

Sophie and Edward walked around the horse show and met with visitors and royal fans

Sophie appeared to sample some drinks from a local vendor at the Royal Windsor Horse Show

Sophie beamed and joked with vendors as she sampled some local drinks at the horse show

'They are the most powerful advocates who remind us all that we must not turn our backs on the horrors of this crime, we must never forget survivors.

'Rather, we must stand shoulder to shoulder with all survivors to secure justice and holistic redress, and ensure that this crime isn't an accepted part of conflict.

'Their rights and their voices must be at the heart of all our efforts to consign conflict-related sexual violence to the history books.'

Since 2022, the UK has pledged over 4.7 billion in non-military support to Ukraine. This includes over 660 million of bilateral assistance that prioritises the needs of women and girls, for example by funding vital services for survivors of Gender Based Violence, as well as working with the Office of the Prosecutor General to put survivors at the centre of approaches to prosecuting conflict-related sexual violence crimes.

The UK is also working with international partners to hold those responsible for atrocities to account.

Buckingham Palace said in a statement: 'Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Edinburgh is visiting Ukraine at the request of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, to demonstrate solidarity with the women, men and children impacted by the war and in a continuation of her work to champion survivors of conflict-related sexual violence.

'Her Royal Highness this morning met the President and First Lady of Ukraine and delivered a message to them on behalf of His Majesty The King.'

The timing of her visit to Ukraine coincided with a Russian barrage that killed at least four people in the port city of Odesa, nearly 300 miles to the south.
Former Nickelodeon star Victoria Justice has opened up about what it was like to film her first sex scene - admitting it was 'uncomfortable' to have 'random dudes watching.'

The actress, 31, who was propelled into the spotlight as a teen when she starred in Nickelodeon's Victorious, had to get intimate with a fellow actor for the first time on screen for her upcoming movie Depravity.

Now, the Zoey 101 alum spoke out about what it was like to have to shoot the racy part of the flick, and she explained that it happened on their first day on set - before she had a chance to get to know her costar - which left her 'very nervous' and 'totally anxious about the entire situation.'

She explained on a recent appearance on SiriusXM's Hits 1 LA with Tony Fly and Symon that upon learning she'd have to film the sex scene on day one, she wondered if she had 'made the wrong choice' by agreeing to star in the film.

Former Nickelodeon star Victoria Justice has opened up about what it was like to film her first sex scene - admitting it was 'uncomfortable' to have 'random dudes watching'

The actress, 31, had to get intimate with a fellow actor for the first time on screen for her upcoming movie Depravity. She's seen with her costars Devon Ross and Taylor John Smith

Now, the Zoey 101 alum spoke out about what it was like to have to shoot the racy part of the flick, and she explained that it happened on their first day on set

'I'm like, "Really, guys? We're gonna schedule this for the first day? Cool. Thanks for that,"' she recalled.

'It is uncomfortable. I was actually very nervous about it and totally anxious about the entire situation.

'I was like, "Did I make the wrong choice? I don't know if I should do this."'

She said that while filming the part was 'uncomfortable,' director Paul Tamasy really helped ease her stress.

'I think sometimes people think filming sex scenes or anything like an intimate scene that it's like really sexy it's really not,' she continued.

'It's uncomfortable, honestly, and there's a bunch of random dudes in the room breathing and watching you.

'I had a lot of faith and trust in our director, Paul Tamasy, and he made me feel very comfortable about it.

'He was like, "Listen, I'll show it to you beforehand. If you don't like it, we'll change it, whatever."'

That mean she hadn't had a chance to get to know her costar - which left her 'very nervous' and 'totally anxious about the entire situation'

She also credited the other actor in the scene, who she did not name, with making her feel 'very safe' since he was so 'police and respectful.' She's seen with her costars

Victoria - who was on the show to promote her new single, RAW - also credited the other actor in the scene, who she did not name, with making her feel 'very safe' since he was so 'police and respectful.'

'We like barely knew each other because it was the first day of filming, but he was a super nice guy and made me feel very safe and was very polite and respectful,' she dished.

'It went well and it's very tasteful.'

In addition to Victoria, Depravity also stars Sasha Luss, Dermot Mulroney, Dylan McDermott, Taylor John Smith, Alex Roe, Adam Lazarre-White, and Devon Ross.

It follows 'three residents of an old apartment building who suspect their creepy neighbor is a serial killer and after acting on their suspicions, stumble upon an art heist worth millions,' per Deadline.

While this was Victoria's first official sex scene on camera, she previously got hot and heavy with her costar Daniel Lissing in one part of the 2015 series Eye Candy

She previously told Hollywood Life about it, 'Once youre in the zone and you're filming the scene, it kinda just happened naturally, and you just kind of lose yourself'

She also praised Daniel to People, calling him a 'gentleman' who was 'super nice about everything'

While this was Victoria's first official sex scene on camera, she previously got hot and heavy with her costar Daniel Lissing in one part of the 2015 series Eye Candy.

She previously told Hollywood Life about it, 'Once you're in the zone and you're filming the scene, it kinda just happened naturally, and you just kind of lose yourself.'

She also praised Daniel to People, calling him a 'gentleman' who was 'super nice about everything.'

'He's a great actor. He's also a gentleman and was super nice about everything,' she shared.

'It was a closed set because there's some skin being shown  but not too much. It was fun to do and the way it's shot is really beautiful and really tastefully done.'
As I pull my three-year-old son back from the car hes very nearly just jumped out in front of, I instinctively lean over to smack his legs. Whack goes my hand over the back of his chubby, toddler thighs.

Dont ever, ever do that again! I shout. Dont you realise you could have got run over? What were you thinking?

His shocked, tear-stained little face looks up at me as a series of loud sobs escape from his throat. Im sorry, Mummy, he howls.

I immediately feel flooded with remorse and regret. I hug him and promise never to do it again.

Two more children and 12 years later, I cant say Ive kept that promise, though I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times Ive smacked them. Im still filled with shame when I think about it, but  as someone who was regularly hit as a child  I have tried to forgive myself too.

A recent survey by the NSPCC found that more than half of adults would back a ban on smacking and physical punishment for children. The study of 3,000 adults in England also found that 71 per cent of us believe smacking, hitting, slapping or shaking a child is unacceptable.

I completely agree  with my calm, rational head on, I know that hitting a child is never acceptable. But it is also something that I, and probably millions of others who were raised in the 1980s, have sadly and, against our better judgment, absorbed and, at times of high emotion, even normalised to some extent.

I was quite a naughty, spirited child, unlike my well-behaved older siblings, writes Georgina Fuller, who is pictured as a girl with her mum

Why else would I have raised a hand to my own three children? Its not something I am remotely proud of and now that they are a bit older  10, 12 and 15  something I have managed to refrain from doing for quite a few years.

The thing is, smacking children seemed so habitual when I was growing up. I really didnt think anything much of it until I had children myself. I dont remember my lovely Dad, Tony, ever raising a hand to me but my mother used to give me a regular wallop to try and keep me in check.

I was quite a naughty, spirited child, unlike my well-behaved older siblings. One of my earliest memories is of my mother telling me, several times, not to keep turning the television on.

If you touch that again, youll get a wallop, she warned. I was around three at the time and found pushing buttons, including my mothers, great fun. I toddled over to do it again. Whack went my mums hand on my bottom as I howled.

Years later, when I was in my teens, my mum recounted the story of taking me to the doctors with tonsillitis and five-year-old me making a loud, embarrassing announcement in the surgery waiting room.

Do you remember, Mummy, when you smacked me so hard you could see the hand mark on my leg for days afterwards? I announced to the waiting room.

It was mortifying. I thought for a moment someone was going to call social services, Mum told me.

Nowadays, of course, they probably would.

Georgina with her mother Maggie in 1994. She died in 2005 when Georgina was 27

I think the last time Mum hit me was probably when I was 15 and had, against her wishes, got on the train to London one New Years Eve to meet a boy I had met that summer. I had taken a friend with me, and we had climbed out of her bedroom window without telling her parents.

We were smuggled into the basement of a very smart house in Barnes, south-west London (this boy did go to Marlborough College, after all) and werent discovered by the boys parents until the next morning, when I was promptly sent home.

I still remember my mother waiting for me outside the train station in her car, a red Mercedes she called Bertha. I braced myself when I saw her and slid quietly into the passenger seat.

Im really sorry, Mum, I said. She leant over and smacked me so hard that my face hit the window. The impact was so great, I thought it might shatter.

How could you? she said. Im so angry with you, I cant even look at you. Im taking you to stay at your grandmothers.

When I look back, I can remember the feeling of powerlessness and injustice I felt then. Its one of the reasons I never wanted to do it to my own children.

There is something fundamentally wrong with an adult using brute force and physical strength on a child. Were so much more aware of the damage it can do to children who, lets not forget, were meant to be seen and not heard right up until the early 1900s.

Yet now that I am now 46 and have reflected on my childhood, I realise I am, of course, a product of my childhood and generation.

I have explored and read various books, including the pioneering The Body Keeps The Score by Dr Bessel van der Kolk, which looks at how we hold trauma in our bodies, and The Myth of Normal by renowned psychologist Dr Gabor Mate, which looks, among other things, at generational trauma.

My mother, Maggie, who died of heart failure when I was just 27  before I became a mother myself  was part of the post-war spare the rod, spoil the child generation. Its only recently that I learned her father, my Grandad George, was held as a prisoner of war at Arnhem in the Netherlands during the Second World War and married my grandmother a few months after he escaped.

My uncle Paul talked about how Grandad used to wake up screaming in the middle of the night and my mum often spoke of his terrible temper. If lunch was a few minutes late, he would explode and start shouting. He was, of course, shell-shocked and no doubt deeply traumatised by everything he experienced in the war.

Undoubtedly, however, Mum  the eldest of three  had what would now be classified as a dysfunctional childhood. She often said it was like walking on eggshells around my Grandad. If she played up, she would be hit with a belt. Or if it was my Granny, the wooden spoon.

Is it any wonder, then, that Mum, who was also wonderful  funny, affectionate and kind  went on to become a temperamental parent herself? And that I, much as I hate to admit it, have also struggled to regulate my emotions at times too? They f*** you up, your mum and dad, as Philip Larkin famously said.

My eldest, who is probably the most like me out of my three children, knows just how to wind me up. Hes just like I was as a teenager, but with testosterone. You know what they say about karma.

His answering back, door slamming and rude ripostes can be very triggering at times but I have, over the years, learned how to regulate my emotions a bit better. I have to take myself off and count to ten before I can face him when I feel myself getting angry.

It is worth noting, however, that I never felt anything other than unconditionally loved and nurtured throughout my childhood, Georgina writes

The current popular trend of gentle parenting, where children are treated with great empathy and respect, is a world away from my childhood, which was, Mum used to joke, one based on healthy neglect.

As the youngest of three, with a mum who went back to work when I started school, I was given an inordinate amount of freedom.

Id go off on my bike with my friends for the whole day or would be dropped off at the local riding stables, where I was lucky enough to have a pony, with a couple of pounds in my pocket to buy a sausage roll for lunch. I was left to my own devices until Mum decided to pick me up. If I told Mum I was bored, she would say: Why dont you go and play on the motorway, then darling?

Physically punishing and, dare I say it, abusing children, was pretty standard back then. My late brother, who died in his 30s, was caned (a term which now seems utterly anachronistic) numerous times at prep school and I was frequently whacked on the knuckles by one awful teacher for my messy handwriting. At eight years old, I tried to explain to her that, as a left-hander, I needed to put my book at an angle to write properly but this just seemed to anger her.

I still feel aggrieved that she was allowed to get away with something like that. But I dont think my parents would ever even have thought of going into school to complain.

It is worth noting, however, that I never felt anything other than unconditionally loved and nurtured throughout my childhood. Yes, my mum may have given me plenty of wallops but she also dished out kisses and cuddles in abundance too. Her quick temper was matched by her sense of fun, and there was lots of it. Although she could be quick to anger, she was also very quick to laugh.

I hope that my children would say the same about me. I might struggle to regulate my emotions at times  if, for example, I have laboured for hours over a meal and one of my children then refuses to eat it. But I think back to how my mum would have reacted, and hope that at last Ive changed the pattern.

Nowadays, perhaps thanks to selective amnesia, Ive almost forgotten the rare occasions when I have hit out at one of my children, but I do know that I have always taken them aside afterwards to apologise. I have tried to explain that I was tired or stressed and that I shouldnt have taken it out on them.

This is not something I ever really remember my Mum doing, although I have kept one letter she wrote to me during my turbulent teenage years.

I forget, sometimes, that youre still just a child, she said.

I miss her every single day. Her infectious and inimitable laugh, her silly sense of humour. I miss her being my sounding board for the minutiae of my day-to-day life.

I like to think that I have broken the mould with my kids but I suppose its a bit like being a recovering alcoholic  although I havent raised a hand to any of my children for years and dont plan to, I cant swear that it will never, ever happen again.

And, you know what, I like to think Mum would be proud to see how hard I have worked to be the best mother I can be. I learnt everything from her  and yes, I learnt from the wallops, too.
The Danish King and Queen were all smiles as they set sail in the sunshine this afternoon - amid accusations they photoshopped their royal portraits.

Queen Mary, 52 and King Frederik, 55, boarded the Royal Yacht Dannebrog as they set off for a traditional summer tour at sea - their first since the King ascended the throne in January.

Mother-of-four Mary looked elegant in a navy polka dot dress with an a-line skirt, paired with a stunning white headband as she accepted a posy of flowers before boarding the boat.

Meanwhile her husband looked regal in his military uniform as he joined his wife to wave goodbye to people on land when they set sail.

The royal couple beamed as they set off on the tour, which will see them visit the Faroe Islands and Greenland in June and July - and showed they would not be cowed by accusations they photoshopped their first royal portrait since becoming king and queen.

Queen Mary and King Frederik of Denmark beamed as they arrived at the port today to board the Royal Yactht Dannebrog

The Queen donned a navy polka dot dress and navy pumps, plus a stunning white headband, as she set off on the summer tour

The royal couple beamed as they waved goodbye to people on the land after setting sail on their summer tour

The Queen was given a posy of flowers as she departed for the waters as the couple head off on their summer tour

The Queen's dress flowed in the breeze as she walked towards the port

Mary and Frederik beamed as they prepared to board the yacht

Royal fans suggested the Palace had digitally altered the regal photo of the King and Queen weeks after the UK royals were caught up in a similar controversy over the Princess of Wales's Mother's Day photo.

The royal couple's official picture was released last week and featured the Australian-born queen standing alongside the king.

Queen Mary wore a deep green velvet and lace gown along with the crown's 'most complete' heirloom jewel set featuring matching emeralds.

Many praised the photo's 'beauty' but also questioned whether it had been manipulated, with some claiming the couple 'obviously' took their single portraits and had photoshopped them together.

'Beautiful photo, but another digitally enhanced royal photo,' one woman commented on the picture - receiving multiple 'likes'.

'Was this photoshopped? I mean it looks like they were photographed separately then put together? Mary looks exquisite and Frederik, well the king looks like he just rolled out of bed,' wrote one woman.

'Terrible translation. So stiff and awkward. AI,' another questioned. Others pointed out the placement of Queen Mary's hand in front of King Frederik's, claiming it looks out of place.

'It looks like Queen Mary has been put into the photo of Fred. The hand position is identical,' said one fan.

The palace has confirmed the picture is real and says 'the Royal House's official gala portrait has not been manipulated'.

The accusations didn't stop the palace from releasing further portraits this week as the royal family sat for photos to celebrate Princess Benedikte's 80th birthday.

The Danish royals shared the family portrait on their official Instagram page on Tuesday, which featured Queen Margrethe, 84, beside her two younger sisters Princess Benedikte, 80, and Queen Anne Marie of Greece, 77.

The King and Queen had invited Benedikte and family to a birthday lunch in Frederick VIII's Palace, where she was born and raised.

Benedikte, who sat in between her two sisters, looked picture perfect in a cream blazer and pale pink skirt.

Benedikte's daughter Princess Alexandra of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, 53, looked chic in a cream ensemble.

Alexandra stood next to her son Count Richard von Pfeil und Klein-Ellguth, who donned a smart navy suit and her husband Count Michael Ahlefeldt-Laurvig-Bille, 59.

Meanwhile Princess Alexandra's daughter Countess Ingrid von Pfeil und Klein-Ellguth looked stylish in a pink floral gown.

Elsewhere in the snap Princess Nathalie of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, 49, who is the third child and youngest daughter of Princess Benedikte, donned a colourful skirt which she paired with a cream long sleeved top.

She stood next to her son Gustav Heinrich Richard, 14, who is Princess Mary of Denmark's godson and Princess Benedikte grandchild.
Aussies have been warned to look out for a new dating term that signals their partner is being unfaithful.

In a bizarre new trend sweeping online forums and apps, cheaters have taken to calling their affair partners 'coleslaw' because they are a 'side dish'.

While most people are familiar with the terms 'ghosting' and 'love bombing', the little-known new term has left many in the dark.

Women have started to notice their partners inexplicably bring up coleslaw in conversations over the past several months - with many now realising the double-meaning.

Cheaters typically refer to their spouses or 'main' partners as foods that are considered main dishes, like eye fillets.

Australians have been warned to look out for a new dating term that means your partner is being unfaithful: coleslaw

The term was seemingly first used when an American TikTok influencer posted a video admonishing women who go after taken men.

'Some people are happy to be a side piece... okay, coleslaw,' the video was captioned.

This isn't the first time food has been used as an innuendo.

For example, 'breadcrumbing' is a dating approach taken by those with no intention of being tied down.

Taking its name from the classic tale of Hansel and Gretel, breadcrumbing involves leading someone on with a trail of flirtatious messages but never following through.

Some of the worst offenders might not even meet the recipient of their teasing texts.

Dating experts in the US also previously uncovered the term 'foodie call' - similar to common phrase and Americanism 'booty call' - where a person sets up a date with someone they are not romantically interested in to be wined and dined.
The mother of a toddler with measles has revealed how she thought he would 'die in my arms' after the little one fell sick with the extremely infectious disease.

Jessica Colleti, from Chicago, said her son Vincent, three, developed a fiery, red, rash on his face in early March that rapidly spread 'all the way down his body'.

Within days of feeling sick, he had a 'super empty' and vacant look in his eyes and almost completely stopped moving and speaking.

'I honestly thought he was going to die in my arms,' she said. 'I just kept telling him that "mommy's getting help, and you're going to be okay".'

'I didn't think that [this] would happen to us. I never would have thought he would come back positive for measles'.

Vincent is one of around 130 Americans struck with measles this year, amid warnings that falling vaccination rates and surging immigration is leaving America's children more vulnerable to the disease than ever before.

The family, who say their 10-month-old also got sick, do not know where Vincent caught the virus, but they live in the same city as the Pilsen migrant center that is thought to be the source of Chicago's outbreak.

Vincent Coletti, 3, pictured above, was admitted to hospital with measles. His mother said she was worried he would not survive

The above pictures show Vincent's rash as it spread down his chest and onto his arms. It is the small red marks across his body

Migrants pictured at a makeshift shelter in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood, where many are being moved to. There has been an outbreak of measles and tuberculosis linked to the shelter

Ms Coletti said she rushed her son to hospital on Monday after a neighbor who was a nurse checked him over, where doctors quickly confirmed the infection.

He spent a night in the ER and received fluids, before being discharged with medications as doctors  with Ms Coletti told to bring him back if he worsened.

At home, he battled a fever of 105F (40C) for five days before finally recovering from the infection.

Ms Coletti pictured with her son Vincent before the diagnosis. It is not clear where he became infected

Vincent had received his first dose of the vaccine against measles, his mother said, but hadn't yet got the second because he was too young. He is said to be up to date on all other vaccines.

The CDC says infants should receive their first dose of the measles vaccine at the age of 12 to 15 months, and their second dose between the ages of four to six years.

Studies show the first dose is 93 percent effective against the virus while the second is 97 percent effective.

Vaccinated people can still get sick, doctors say, but they have a much milder infection because they already have immunity.

The mother was worried for her young daughter Vanna who was too young to receive any vaccinations against the disease at the time Vincent was diagnosed.

'I know for our specific case, for my son, I have never seen him sicker,' she told WGN Chicago.

'I had never been more worried, or scared, or tired. From fighting fevers for five days and just trying to figure out how to get him better... I felt like I could not get him better.'

In Chicago, many migrants have been packed into buildings in the Pilsen neighborhood for shelter  which have been completely overrun after more than 25,000 migrants arrived in the city over the past 16 months, including 2,400 who were housed at the shelters.

A total of 31 measles cases have already been diagnosed at the shelter, while officials also say some residents have tested positive for tuberculosis.

The surge in migrants comes as Chicago continues to pride itself as a 'sanctuary city', or a location where people can ask for aid from city services without revealing their immigration status. Officials also do not ask residents about whether they are legally entitled to be in the US.

Measles cases have surged in the US in recent months, which has been tied to falling vaccination rates against the virus

Chicago is at the epicenter of the measles outbreak in the US, with 58 cases recorded so far

Ms Coletti said workers at the city's health department had tried to trace her son's infection to the Pilsen migrant center, but had been unsuccessful.

'We weren't by the 12 cases [at the migrant center at the time],' she told WGNTV, 'and they still can't link us to the 12 cases'.

She added: 'I was shocked, honestly, I didn't think that that would happen to us.'

Experts say it is possible for people to catch the disease in many locations because it is one of the most infectious known to man.

Dr Claudia Hoyen, a pediatrician at UH Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, told CNN: 'Measles is so terribly contagious. You could be in line at a grocery store with somebody who had measles and catch it and would never know, because the measles virus hangs out in the air for so long.'

Measles infections are more dangerous for children younger than five years old because they are less likely to be vaccinated and have immature immune systems.

Complications the disease can cause include pneumonia and encephalitis  or swelling of the brain  with the CDC saying up to every three in 1,000 children who are infected die from the disease.

In the current US outbreak, nearly half of patients  46 percent, or 57 individuals  have been under five years old.

This group has also recorded the highest hospitalization rate, with 65 percent or 37 individuals hospitalized.

For comparison, among those aged 20 years or older there have been 40 cases detected  or 32 percent of the total  and 53 percent, or 21 individuals, have been hospitalized.

She said: 'He seems much better. He's sitting next to me. He has chocolate on his face, but he is much better.

'I never would have thought we would come back positive for measles, and now I'm just scared and concerned for my 10-month-old.'

Vanna appeared sickly in mid-March, shortly after Vincent's diagnosis, and had tested positive for Covid and adenovirus.

Both Ms Coletti and her husband have been tested and found to have antibodies against measles.

But the whole family had to quarantine for 21 days to minimize the risk of them spreading the disease to others.

He also battled a fever for five days, his mother said, before recovering. She is now worried about her 10-month-old daughter Vanna

MS Coletti also described her son as having a 'super empty' look in his face because of the infection

He is pictured above here after recovering and appearing happier, with Ms Coletti saying he had some chocolate on his face

Dozens of migrant families are seen arriving from Texas at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York in September 2023

They also had to provide a list of where they had been and who they had been in contact with for tracing purposes to avoid any other cases.

As millions of migrants race to come to America under Joe Biden's policies, experts have warned that overcrowded shelters and low vaccination rates in other countries could leave the US vulnerable to outbreaks.

They've said asylum seekers could be bringing infectious illnesses across the southern border and 'open border' policies are leading to drug-resistant diseases.

And city leaders have said migrants are arriving to their areas in 'disturbing' and 'very very unhealthy' conditions.

Migrants themselves have said illnesses are rampant in shelters because of overcrowding and unsanitary conditions.

Chicago's newest outbreak adds to the growing list across the country, which has seen clusters of tuberculosis, chicken pox and an unidentified illness that killed a five-year-old boy in December.
The Pentagon has spent more than $26million treating transgender troops since 2020, official records show.

The number of US army staff with gender dysphoria has doubled in that time  from around 1,800 to 3,700, according to DoD data seen by DailyMail.com.

In the past three years, $17.5m in taxpayer money was spent on psychotherapy for trans service people and $1.5m went towards hormone drugs.

A further $7.6m funded gender-affirming surgeries, including facial tweaks to make a recruit more masculine or feminine, and the removal or creation of breasts and genitals.

The number of military personnel diagnosed with gender dysphoria has risen from 1,892 in 2020 to 3,700 in 2024

Since 2020, $17.5 million was spent on psychotherapy, $1.5 million on hormone therapy and $7.6 million on gender-affirming surgeries, according to Defense Department data provided to DailyMail.com

The US Military Health System spends about $50bn annually to provide care to 9.6 million active duty service members, retirees, and their families through its TRICARE health plans.

According to its website, TRICARE does not generally cover surgery for the treatment of gender dysphoria, but active duty service members 'may request a waiver for medically necessary gender affirming surgery.'

The total number of transgender individuals in the armed forces is unknown, because it is likely not all of them have sought treatment.

But as of last month, 3,700 active military personnel were diagnosed and treated for gender dysphoria, according to DHA spokesman Peter Graves.

This includes 1,240 Army soldiers, 1,046 Navy soldiers, 1,024 Air Force airmen and 278 Marine Corps.

They account for 0.3 percent of military personnel, which is lower than the 0.6 percent of trans people in the US population more broadly.

In 2020, 1,892 military personnel had been diagnosed and treated for gender dysphoria, including 726 Army soldiers, 576 Navy sailors, 449 Air Force airmen and 141 Marines.

This accounted for 0.1 percent of the 1,333,822 active duty military personnel at the time.

The increase in gender dysphoria diagnoses is not out of balance with the increase of transgender individuals seen in the general population, which has been attributed to growing acceptance in society.

Former speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., left, gives challenge coins to US Army Maj. Ian Brown, right, and other military service members in 2019 to thank them for their service. Brown, 38, is a two-time Bronze Star recipient who transitioned from female to male while advising the Army's deputy chief of staff in operations and planning

According to the Defense Health Agency, the surgeries were performed in military health facilities and included removal of breasts or testicles, hysterectomies and labiaplasty - creating of or reshaping the flesh around a vagina

A range of different gender-affirming procedures have been performed on members of the military since 2020, but the most popular was facial reconstruction surgery.

These are designed to make people look more feminine or masculine and include reshaping forehead and brow, jaw and chin contouring and the removal or creation of an Adam's apple.

The next most popular surgery was a mastectomy, or the removal of breasts, with 192 of these being performed since 2021.

Rarer surgeries include one vaginectomy, which is an operation to remove all or part of the vagina, one clitoroplasty, a procedure to create a clitoris, and one scrotoplasty - the re-arrangement of the labia to create a scrotum.

Three individuals also underwent gender-affirming voice training in 2022, which involves helping transgender people adjust their voices to communication patterns that fit their gender identity, according to Mayo Clinic.

Two unclassified surgeries also took place between 2022 and 2023.

Individuals must be at least 17 years old to join the US military.

In 2017, then-President Donald Trump announced through a series of tweets that he would ban transgender people from serving in the military.

Biden reversed the policy on his fifth day in office in January 2021.
Working from home during the pandemic may be to blame for Britain's 'stalling' smoking rate, researchers say.

The decade-long decline in the number of cigarettes puffed each day by smokers has ground to a halt, figures show.

Researchers in London, who assessed the smoking habits of almost 58,000 Brits, found smokers had 11 cigarettes per day on average in 2019.

For comparison, the figure stood at 14 at the start of 2008. But the number hasn't shifted since.

Scientists today claimed Covid was an 'influencing' factor, with WFH set-ups 'more permissive' of regular smoking breaks.

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The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 2023 health report showed 12.7 per cent of Brits over the age of 15 smoke cigarettes daily, far higher than the US and New Zealand, the latter of which recently introduced a similar phased smoking ban

Cancer Research UK, which funded the study, warned the statistics show 'the fight against tobacco is far from over'.

Across England, 45.5million cigarettes are now smoked every day, down from 77.1million in 2011.

Experts have long said the introduction of modern anti-smoking laws, such as selling cigarettes in plain packaging, are behind the huge fall.

Other tough measures deployed in the past two decades include slapping graphic warning labels depicting their damaging health effects on all tobacco and banning smoking in restaurants, pubs and nightclubs.

Dr Ian Walker, Cancer Research UK's executive director of policy, said: 'This study makes it clear the UK Government must not let up in its fight to reduce smoking.

'All tobacco products are harmful, and more work needs to be done to end cancers caused by smoking for good.

'By voting in favour of the age of sale legislation, MPs have positioned the UK as a world leader in tobacco control.

'Now, it's vital that MPs continue to listen to the demands of their constituents and place themselves on the right side of history.'

Rishi Sunak's bold plan to effectively ban today's children from ever smoking, last month moved one step closer to reality when it cleared its first hurdle as MPs voted to back it.

The 57,778 smokers involved in the study were quizzed on their habits  including cigarette consumption and the type of tobacco smoked.

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University College London (UCL) researchers found over the same time period, the average consumption of manufactured cigarettes fell from 9 per day to 5.

But hand-rolled cigarettes smoked rose to six per day, up from the four reported in 2008.

Forty-four volunteers also claimed to smoke more than 80 cigarettes every day (0.08 per cent).

Writing in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research, researchers said consumption was 'consistently higher' among older people, men and those from more disadvantaged backgrounds.

Covid 'may have been an influencing factor' in the stall in cigarette consumption, they added, with working from home arrangements 'generally more permissive of more regular smoking breaks'.

Prior to the pandemic, only one in eight of us were home-workers, and in many cases this was only some of the time.

In what has been the biggest gear shift in employment for decades, today just under a third of Britains working population  around 9.5million  have swapped being in the office full-time for flexi-work that allows them to log-on from their living rooms, kitchens and home studies some of the time.

The shift in the type of cigarettes smoked is also 'likely' down to affordability, driven by greater tax increases on manufactured cigarettes, they said.

Dr Sarah Jackson, study author and principal research fellow in the UCL Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group, added: 'This 15-year study captures shifts in smoking behaviour, showing that while the average number of cigarettes smoked per day has fallen, this trend has stalled since 2019.

'People are increasingly opting to use cheaper hand-rolled tobacco over more expensive manufactured cigarettes, proving that consistency in the taxation and regulation across all cigarette types is key.

'Some groups across England still smoke more heavily than others.

'It's vital that smoking cessation services are made easily and equally available across the UK, so that those who want to quit smoking are given all the support they need to do so.'

Under Rishi Sunak's bold bill, which MPs voted to back by 383 to 67, anyone born after 2009 won't ever be able to legally buy tobacco.

If eventually passed, it means children aged 15 or younger today will never legally be sold a cigarette.

The Government predicts the move will save tens of thousands of lives, and avoiding avoid up to 115,000 cases of strokes, heart disease, lung cancer and other lung diseases.

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The approach was initially recommended in a Government-commissioned report published in 2022 by ex-children's charity chief Javed Khan.

Smoking kills around 78,000 people in the UK every year, with many more living with illnesses due to their habit  half of which are due to cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attack and stroke.

It is estimated that around 500,000 hospital admissions every year in England are attributable to smoking and that smoking costs the economy 17billion per year.

The 7,000 chemicals in tobacco  including tar and others that can narrow arteries and damage blood vessels  are thought to be behind some of the damage smoking inflicts on the heart.

Meanwhile, nicotine  a highly addictive toxin found in tobacco  is heavily linked with dangerous increases in heart rate and blood pressure.

Smoking also unleashes poisonous gases such as carbon monoxide, which replaces oxygen in the blood  reducing the availability of oxygen for the heart.

Responding to the study today, a spokesperson for the Department for Health and Social Care said: 'Smoking remains the single biggest cause of ill-health, disability and death.

'In the UK, it is responsible for 80,000 deaths per year and 1 in 4 cancer deaths.

'That's why we are introducing world-leading legislation to create the first smoke-free generation, protecting lives and easing the strain on the NHS.'

They added: 'Alongside this, we've also announced an additional 70 million per year, more than doubling funding in smoking cessation services for the next five years to support people to quit smoking.

'This includes access to a range of local services including face-to-face support and stop smoking tools.'
A woman whose watermelon-sized tumor kept her from being intimate with her boyfriend has been 'given the gift of renewed life' after having the mass removed.

Jennifer, 56, from Coarsegold, California, first noticed a spot growing on the right side of her abdomen in 2014 - which 'exploded in size' in 2019.

By the time she saw a doctor that year the mass had ballooned to nearly 6lbs, at which point she was unable to do work on the farm and felt too self conscious to have sex with her boyfriend Bill.

But when she finally had the growth removed, she said: My confidence level is through the roof. I feel really good.

And a few weeks after her surgery, Jennifer broke up with Bill.

She said: 'Before when I had the tumor, being intimate wasn't really on my radar too much. I didn't give it a lot of thought.

'And now that I don't have the tumor, it's very freeing.'

Jennifer first noticed a spot growing on the right side of her abdomen in 2014

Jennifer said on this week's episode of TLC's Take My Tumor that she had never received a proper diagnosis of her tumor

Jennifer said after the removal: 'There has been a dramatic improvement in the quality of my life since the tumor was removed. I feel so different now. I feel lighter. My confidence level is through the roof. I feel really good'

Jennifer said on this week's episode of TLC's Take My Tumor that she had never received a proper diagnosis of her tumor and when she visited a doctor in 2019, the physician was shocked - and didn't know who to refer Jennifer to.

Jennifer said: '[In 2019] that's about when it got kind of scary for me.'

Determined to take her life back, however, the ranch owner discovered surgical oncologist Dr Kimberly Dalal, who was able to remove the tumor.

Jennifer said: Things like this affect you in a different way than you would ever imagine psychologically.'

The 5.74-pound tumor was severely interfering with her life. She could no longer venture along her favorite hiking trails with her dog and boyfriend, help around the farm they owned, bend down or lift heavy objects.

It was even hard to walk for extended periods of time.

Additionally, Jennifer said the tumor 'greatly' affected their intimacy as it crushed her confidence and she felt very self conscious around her partner.

The tumor made her feel unattractive, and as the mass grew, so did the distance between the couple.

She hoped removing the mass would restore her self esteem.

For her surgery, Jennifer traveled to San Francisco to meet with Dr Dalal, medical director of surgical oncology at Sutter Health Mills Peninsula Hospital.

After examining Jennifer, Dr Dalal became very concerned over the veins running through the mass and told Jennifer the tumor could be a rare form of cancer. She said it needed to be removed as soon as possible and sent for testing.

Jennifer said: 'Once it stares you in the face, the possibilities of it being cancerous, it's just emotional. Her examining me and it being addressed and finally getting it done, you know, it's kind of overwhelming, I guess.'

Jennifer said she felt too self conscious to have sex with her boyfriend Bill because of her tumor

A few weeks after her surgery to remove the growth, Jennifer broke up with Bill

On the day of surgery, Dr Dalal told Jennifer her goal was to remove the entire mass, even cutting out some healthy tissue surrounding the tumor to ensure every piece was eliminated and the tumor would not grow back, out of fear it was a rare cancer.

But cutting deeper into Jennifer's muscle meant a more painful recovery.

While the procedure was largely uncomplicated, the large veins and blood vessels throughout the tumor were bleeding more than the surgeon expected.

Dr Dalal said because the tumor was so large, it had developed its own blood supply. And anytime the surgical team hit a vein, blood forcefully squirting out and onto the operating room floor.

Dr Dalal said she encountered more bleeding than expected, but she was able to remove the entire mass.

One week later, the doctor called Jennifer with the pathology report. Her tumor was malignant.

Results showed the mass was a solitary fibrous tumor, a rare soft tissue growth. The growths can develop anywhere on the body but are most common in the lining around the lungs.

For her surgery, Jennifer traveled to San Francisco to meet with Dr Dalal, medical director of surgical oncology at Sutter Health Mills Peninsula Hospital

Dr Dalal said because the tumor was so large, it had developed its own blood supply

In Jennifer's case, the tumor was classified as a soft tissue sarcoma, a type of cancer that develops in muscles, tendons, fat, lymph nodes and blood vessels.

It is a rare type of cancer that accounts for less than one percent of all cancer cases in the US. Some research has shown incidence rates between two and five cases per 100,000 people.

In 2024, the American Cancer Society estimates 13,600 new cases of soft tissue sarcoma, with 5,200 deaths.

Despite the diagnosis, because the entire tumor was removed, Dr Dalal said Jennifer is considered cured - though she sent Jennifer for repeat body scans to see if the cancer had spread.

Three months later, Jennifer was happy to report that additional scans showed she was cancer free.

A week later after surgery, the doctor called Jennifer with the pathology report. Her tumor was malignant

Despite the diagnosis, because the entire tumor was removed, Dr Dalal said Jennifer is considered cured

She said: There has been a dramatic improvement in the quality of my life since the tumor was removed.

I feel so different now. I feel lighter.

My confidence level is through the roof. I feel really good.

With the tumor gone, Jennifer began hiking again and going out with friends.

She said: Its feels amazing to be able to get out into nature. I have so much energy. It feels incredible I feel like I was given a gift of renewed life.

Jennifer added that she broke up with her boyfriend but they remain close friends.

She said: 'Before when I had the tumor, being intimate wasn't really on my radar too much. I didn't give it a lot of thought.

'And now that I don't have the tumor, it's very freeing.'

Take My Tumor airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on TLC.
Thirty-four states had more than 1,000 STD cases per 100,000 residents

Singletons in Philadelphia beware - the city has just been ranked America's STD hotspot.

One in 65 residents in Philly caught a sexually transmitted infection in 2022, according to an analysis of the latest CDC data.

Memphis, Tennessee, and Jackson, Mississippi, took second and third place, respectively, where the rate was about one in 67.

Meanwhile this was nearly twice as high as the national average for 2022, which was about one in 130.

While most of the infections were caused by gonorrhea and chlamydia, there has been a 'deadly rise' in syphilis which can be particularly deadly if pregnant women give it to their babies.

Philadelphia reported the highest rate of STDs in 2022, followed closely by Memphis and Jackson, Mississippi

Researchers from Innerbody reported that rates of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis are increasing at 'worrying rates' across the US

New Orleans, Louisiana, and St Louis, Missouri, rounded out the top five cities for STD rates.

Southern cities were disproportionately represented in the data, accounting for 17 out of the top 25 areas, which the researchers called 'disturbing.'

Meanwhile, Provo, Utah, was the least rife with STDs, with about one in 300 residents being infected, which could be due to the area's largely Mormon population, causing people to often have fewer sexual partners.

Overall, the total rate per 100,000 was about 751 for 2022. This adds up to roughly 2.4 million infections, a slight decrease from 2.55 million last year. However, STD rates nationally have increased by 1.9 percent in the last five years.

And rates have increased by nearly 20 percent from 10 years ago, as there were 1.9 million total infections in 2014.

Experts estimate that rates are on the upswing due to lifted Covid restrictions, the popularity of dating apps, and increase in IV drug use, and fewer gay men using condoms.

The team from the Health research firm Innerbody, which did the research, said the new analysis marked the 'first post-lockdown STD data,' and the team noted that increasing trends show the data 'isn't reassuring.'

More than one-third of the cities had STD rates of over 1,000 infections per 100,000 people.

The top 10 were: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Memphis, Tennessee; Jackson, Mississippi; New Orleans, Louisiana; St Louis, Missouri; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Montgomery, Alabama; San Francisco, California; Detroit, Michigan; and Washington, DC.

The first-place city, Philadelphia, had 1,504 STD cases per 100,000 residents, which adds up to around one in 65 people. The city's rates jumped dramatically from last year, when Philadelphia had the fifth-most STDs.

Its over 1,500 STDs were made up of 618 HIV cases, 15,442 chlamydia cases, 10,854 gonorrhea cases, and 1,170 syphilis cases.

'As a result, it now leads all major metropolitan areas with the highest infection rates,' Innerbody's team wrote.

Memphis' rate of 1,498 per 100,000 was mainly taken up by chlamydia cases, with the Music City reporting 9,386 infections. Jackson has 1,490 cases per 100,000 people, while New Orleans had 1,450 per 100,000. St Louis rounded out the top five with 1,423 cases per 100,000.

The rest of the top-five cities reported more chlamydia infections than any other type of STD.

Though southern cities have taken up a large portion of the rankings, there were areas that improved from last year. Columbia, South Carolina, for instance, moved down to 21st place from third, and Charlotte, North Carolina, went from 13th to 28th in a year.

The researchers noted that chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis are all surging, with rates having 'risen back to pre-2020 levels,' signaling that people are less isolated than during the pandemic.

There were 710,000 new cases of gonorrhea and 1.6 million of chlamydia in 2022, while syphilis rates have risen by 28.6 percent in just a year. '

Additionally, rates of congenital syphilis - when the disease is transmitted from mother to baby in the womb - rose by over 30 percent, 'constituting a tenfold increase in newborn syphilis cases over the span of a decade.'

'These numbers mean that, since 2001, syphilis cases in our nation have increased 781 percent. Cases of congenital syphilis during that 20-year span rose by 464 percent,' the researchers wrote.

The team reported that California, Texas, Florida, Arizona, and Louisiana collectively accounted for nearly 60 percent of all reported syphilis cases.

Experts have pointed to a slew of reasons for the uptick, including falls in condom use, fewer local sexual health clinics and rampant drug use.

Provo, Utah, came in at the bottom of the list, with just 300 STD infections per 100,000 residents. The city of 113,000 reported 24 cases of HIV, 1,599 cases of chlamydia, 347 cases of gonorrhea, and just 21 cases of syphilis.
Electronics giant Philips has reached a $1.1 billion settlement deal with patients who claim the firm's sleep apnea machines caused their cancers and other diseases.

The Dutch company will shell out the money to settle over 700 lawsuits brought forward by more than 58,000 Americans who say they were affected.

But the deal still must be finalized by a federal judge, and sufferers and their families wont see any compensation until 2025.

The breathing devices were part of a massive 2021 recall after they were found to release toxic foam and gasses which have been linked to kidney and liver damage, lung infections, and cancers.

CPAP masks come in various styles and sizes to accommodate different preferences and facial structures. They consist of a motor that draws in room air and pressurizes it. The pressurized air is delivered through a hose to a mask worn over the nose, mouth, or both

The recall affected a range of Philips machines for sleep apnea, a condition characterized by pauses in breathing or choking for air during sleep.

The machine delivers a steady stream of mild air pressure through a tube connected to a snorkel-like mask to keep the airways from collapsing.

But they were found to be leaking particles of black foam used to dampen the sound of the machine through the tube that connects to the persons face. As the foam degraded, it entered the airway, which carries a host of severe health risks from asthma to head and neck cancer.

The foam in the recalled CPAP machines was made with polyester-based polyurethane, which was found to degrade into smaller particles and toxic gases that the user could inhale.

The massive settlement comes less than a year after a partial $479 million settlement on Sept. 8, 2023, to compensate people for financial damages related to the recall.

An estimated 30 million Americans have sleep apnea, but only about 6 million have gotten a diagnosis, while about 5 million Americans have at least tried using a CPAP device, including President Joe Biden.

Philips still does not admit any fault or liability for its apnea devices, including Bi-Level Positive Airway Pressure (Bi-Level PAP), Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), and mechanical ventilator devices, which cost between $500 to $1,650.

Rodney Thomas was just 51 years old when he died from cancer in 2021 after using a Philips sleep apnea machine for several years

While Philips did not admit to doing anything wrong or negligent, its leaders were optimistic that swiftly ending its legal battles would protect its overall cash flow in the near term.

Philips CEO Roy Jakobs said in a company call to discuss early 2024 financial results that they are very confident that this [settlement] will really put an end to this.

And that's very important because then, with ending economic loss, economic personal injury and medical monitoring, we really have put the vast majority of these cases behind us with finality and clarity, and therefore, we can focus on really running the business and growing Philips and bringing it back to where it belongs.

But many Americans will have a harder time moving forward after the 2021 recall that changed their lives.

Rodney and his wife Shawne were married for 32 years and had three children together

Rodney Thomas was just 51 years old when he died from aggressive nasopharyngeal cancer, a rare type of head and neck cancer, after using a Philips sleep apnea machine.

His family didnt know the culprit was the machine which he had been using since 2019.

While they would spot black specks in the tubing, Mr Thomas and his wife Shawne shrugged it off.

In 2020, Mr Thomas developed a severe cough and fatigue, as well as a large lump on his throat.

A doctor misdiagnosed him with a bacterial infection and gave him antibiotics.

But when Mr Thomas condition didnt improve, he decided to undergo diagnostic imaging, revealing a tumor.

In January 2021, he was diagnosed with nasopharyngeal cancer. He died just five months later, a few days short of the Philips recall.

After his death, Mrs Thomas learned of the recall through an ad on YouTube. She checked the serial number on her husbands machine and, to her shock, it matched the one on the list of machines affected.

She told DailyMail.com: 'My husband didn't need to die. This was totally unnecessary. We've lost our world.'

Around the same time as Mr Thomas passing, Louisiana Sheriff Brett Stassi, 62, was being rushed to the emergency surgery after a routine doctor visit found he had kidney cancer.

Sheriff Brett Stassi, 62, used the Philips DreamStation for four years before being rushed into emergency surgery when his doctor discovered he had kidney cancer. It was only after the recall that he learned the black specks from his CPAP could harm his kidneys and liver

He had to undergo an urgent procedure to remove his right kidney, according to ProPublica.

Mr Stassi, now in remission, said: Youre worried about dying in your sleep, and you come to find out that the machine might be doing more damage than the apnea.

St Louis native and father of four Terry Flynn, 63, lost his battle with esophageal cancer in 2021 just two weeks after receiving the diagnosis.

Mr Flynn had used his Philips apnea device for nine years. His family cant know for sure that it was the cause of his fatal cancer, but they still fault the company for failing to warn the public about the devices sooner.

Terry Flynn of St Louis, Missouri died of esophageal cancer in 2021 just two weeks after being diagnosed. His family will never know for certain that the Philips machine lead to his deadly cancer, but they fault the company with failing to warn customers sooner

The agreement will need to be filed with a federal court in Pennsylvania before it can become final.

The FDA reported earlier this year that it had received reports of 561 deaths linked to the devices among a total of 116,000 complaints.

The lawyers for the plaintiffs in the lawsuits said Monday: Ultimately, these combined agreements accomplish what we sought to achieve when this litigation began - holding Philips accountable by obtaining care for those with physical injuries and compensation for those needing new respiratory devices.
Social media users have been horrified after learning about 'waffle stomping,' which doctors branded 'unhygienic' and 'a mistake.'

The topic got the internet riled up when Andrew Carpenter, a lawyer in Australia, recirculated a Reddit post in which a man details his wife's revolting shower habit.

In the post, which was originally posted in 2022, the man said their wife 'poops in the shower and stomps it down the drain. Not a joke.'

'She even broke the news to me while laughing about it,' the user wrote. "You know what a waffle stomp is", she asked me as she laughed and laughed so hard she started crying! I feel disgusted and betrayed.'

Doctors slammed the practice for risking serious bacteria and infections like E coli, salmonella, and norovirus.

A Reddit post about 'waffle stomping,' or defecating in the shower, recirculated on social media this week, leading users and doctors to slam the 'revolting' habit as 'unhygienic' and 'a mistake'

Dr Stuart Fischer, an internal medicine physician in New York, told DailyMail.com: 'This is non hygienic and medically and cosmetically incorrect.'

A 2020 study carried out by QS Supplies looked at the bathroom habits of 1,000 Americans and Brits, such as how often they bathe.

In addition to one in three people claiming to urinate in the shower, a startling one in 30 admitted to waffle stomping.

Dr Fischer noted that, in addition to being 'ridiculous,' waffle stomping means that you're coming into contact with a variety of harmful pathogens. These can pass through toenails and open wounds on the foot, leading infections.

One of the primary bacteria found in feces is E coli, as it lives in the intestines of people and animals. While many strains of E coli are harmless, others can cause infection, such as Shiga toxin-producing E coli.

Symptoms of this infection include fever, diarrhea, stomach cramping, nausea, and vomiting.

In some cases, patients can develop a kidney disease called hemolytic uremic syndrome. Left untreated, this can lead to kidney failure and death.

Additionally, feces have been shown to carry salmonella and norovirus, the number of foodborne illness in the US.

'There are plenty of bacteria in human feces that, in some people, can be deadly,' Dr Fischer said.

'This is definitely a mistake.'

He also noted that if bacteria gets on the surface of a waffle stomper's foot, it would take intense scrubbing to get it off, leading to it potentially lingering for days or weeks.

'We have to make the right health choices all the time. Even even in the shower,' Dr Fischer said.

Social media users were horrified when they learned about waffle stomping.

'Divorce and restraining order,' a user named ana_gwugwu said on Mr Carpenter's Instagram repost.

Paige Gregory said: 'So is she just doing it while in the shower OR does she go to the shower to do it?!'

'That is the most revolting thing I've ever heard,' shana.mamay said.
We spoke to a security expert to get his tips on protecting your phone

He was told he had 'authorised' crypto transactions so couldn't get reimbursed

In December, I was mugged and had my phone stolen while on a night out.

Around 3,900 was transferred from my savings account to my Revolut account, where I believe it was used to buy cryptocurrency. Some money was also transferred in from another account, which wasn't mine, and that was used to buy crypto too.

I reported all of this to the police and to Revolut, but it has declined to reimburse me, saying I 'authorised' the transactions.

Bad night out: The evening ended in disaster for our reader when his phone was stolen

It's impossible to speak to anyone at Revolut over the phone and I rarely deal with the same person when having a 'live' conversation via their in-app chat function.

The senior member of staff that I've emailed three times hasn't got back to me.

The money taken was my entire savings. I have just moved out of my parents' house in to my own place and without it I'm starting to struggle financially. J.G, London

Helen Crane of This is Money replies: I was sorry to hear that thieves have taken your savings - and at such a crucial time in your life.

Swiping phones in busy public places is an increasingly common pursuit for criminals, but unlike in the past it is no longer the device itself that they are after.

Instead, they will watch over the person's shoulder until they see them enter their passcode - known as 'shoulder surfing'. Armed with that, they can then take the phone and worm their way in to any app accessed with the same code.

A banking app is the top prize, but they can also do plenty of financial damage on other apps where card details are stored, for example by ringing up big bills on Amazon or Uber.

Having reported on theft of money via stolen phones before, I'd urge anyone who gets into their banking apps with the same set of digits they use to access their phone to change one of them without delay.

CRANE ON THE CASE Our weekly column sees This is Money consumer expert Helen Crane tackle reader problems and shine the light on companies doing both good and bad. Want her to investigate a problem, or do you want to praise a firm for going that extra mile? Get in touch: helen.crane@thisismoney.co.uk

In your case, the thieves were able to use your account to buy cryptocurrency, as well as making some purchases at Argos, which you were refunded for separately.

You contacted Revolut and tried to explain that it was not you that had bought the crypto, explaining your phone had been stolen and giving them the crime number.

But the person you spoke to on its online chat said that you weren't likely to get a refund because the transactions had been 'authorised'.

Usually, this refers to a code being entered which has been sent to your phone in a text message - something the thieves would easily have been able to do.

You told me you thought the transactions should have been flagged as suspicious and blocked, as you had not bought cryptocurrency before and they took place between 2am and 5am.

This is what happened when the thieves tried to spend more money on your credit card with a high street bank, but not with Revolut.

I agree that this should have raised eyebrows, and think it is also unacceptable that it is so hard for Revolut customers to speak to the company on the phone.

It is not unique among app-based banks, and unfortunately some high street banks are making it more difficult to reach a real human, too, with the first port of call being an automated online chat.

In situations like this where time is of the essence, customers don't want to be fiddling around on an app trying to get through the AI robots to a real person while thieves keep draining their cash.

Target: Armed with access to J.G's phone and passcode, the thief was able to get into his Revolut app and spend thousands on cryptocurrency

I contacted Revolut to ask if it would reconsider reimbursing you for the 3,900.

I am pleased to say it has now recognised you were a victim of theft and agreed to refund you, as well as offering a 150 goodwill payment.

A spokeswoman said: 'We are very sorry to hear about J.G's case, or any instance where our customers are targeted by ruthless and highly sophisticated criminals.

'We have observed an increase in networks of criminals attempting to steal devices from unsuspecting individuals and we continue to take action to identify and prevent unauthorised access.

'As with all emerging threats, we urge our customers to take care, remain vigilant to "shoulder surfers" and encourage users to regularly update their passcodes and not to use the same password or passcode across multiple applications.

'On further investigation of J.G's case we have issued a full reimbursement for the stolen funds, in addition to a goodwill payment in recognition of the distress experienced in this case.'

You told me you have since decided to close down your Revolut account.
The number of self-checkouts in the UK has ballooned in recent years

While Britons might have a reputation for being good at queuing, they still resent waiting in line as much as anyone else.

The introduction of the self-checkout was designed to take away the worst of these queues, allowing consumers to scan their own items. It also significantly cuts costs for retailers, as they can cut down the use of manned tills.

Since their introduction at the UK's largest retailer Tesco more than two decades ago, they have become a fixture in our supermarkets - but so too have technical glitches, problems recognising customers' bags, and the dreaded phrase 'unexpected item in bagging area'.

Self-checkouts divide opinion, but retailers have doubled down on their use in recent years in a bid to offset rising costs in other areas.

So will more shops introduce them, or could customer backlash and rising problems with theft halt their progress?

Unexpected item in bagging area: Customers are divided when it comes to self-checkouts

Have self-checkouts been a success?

Seamless and frictionless are words retailers like to employ when they talk about customer experience. Self-checkouts were intended to provide just that, and it is true that they have been welcomed by many shoppers.

Graham Soult, retail expert at Canny Insights tells This Is Money: 'They were introduced to make the customer experience easier and better. The supermarkets would certainly claim that.

'If you're in an M&S in a railway station buying a sandwich, it speeds up the process.'

But they have also been a huge cost-cutting exercise for supermarkets, which have ramped up self-checkout tills while staff numbers have dwindled.

Data from RBR Data Services reveals the number of self-checkouts in supermarkets have increased from 53,000 to 80,000 over the past five years.

Andrew Busby, retail expert at Redline Retail says: 'From a retailer point of view, it's fairly straightforward.

Poll How often do you use self-checkouts? All the time - I prefer them Sometimes Rarely Never - I always go to the till How often do you use self-checkouts? All the time - I prefer them 301 votes

Sometimes 285 votes

Rarely 248 votes

Never - I always go to the till 657 votes Now share your opinion





'It's got nothing to do with customer experience, it's all about cost - but it's sold to the consumer as the opposite of that.'

Soult adds: 'Retailers will argue that it's not about cost-cutting, it's about freeing up staff to do other things.

'But I'm not sure many customers would perceive it that way. I don't think you go into a store and suddenly see more staff on the shop floor to help you.'

Supermarkets say that self-service tills have increased because more customers are choosing to use them, and that staff have not been cut.

For example, a spokesperson for Morrison's tells this Is Money: 'We are committed to providing choice for our customers on how they want to checkout and pay for their shopping.

'Over recent years more and more customers have chosen to use self checkout options, therefore we are ensuring we update our stores with a mix of payment points'.

But are customers really getting a better customer experience as a result?

Do it yourself: Supermarkets have cut manned tills in favour of self-checkouts to cut costs

Soult says that while most shoppers generally don't mind scanning their own goods, they still want to be able to speak to a real person if the need arises.

'I think where the flashpoint comes is when you have the self-checkouts and it is at the expense of the customer experience. That is quite a dangerous place to be,' he adds.

There are some kinks that still need ironing out, too. 'Unexpected item in the bagging area' is a familiar refrain for many consumers, as well as hefty queues and age checks needed for items such as alcohol and razor blades.

Where you've got somebody who is much older [a checkout] might be the only conversation they have with somebody that day Jonathan De Mello

A YouGov survey conducted earlier this year showed self-checkouts continue to be an annoyance for 27 per cent of UK adults.

It becomes progressively more irritating as age increases, growing to 34 per cent for those aged 55 and over.

Jonathan De Mello, chief executive of consultancy JDM Retail, says there is a 'vocal portion' of customers who would still prefer manned tills.

'That's kind of generational a typical scenario is where you've got somebody who is much older and that might be the only conversation they have with somebody that day,' De Mello adds.

While supermarkets have leant into the new technology, most still provide a balance of manned and self-checkout tills, especially in larger stores.

'It's one thing buying a sandwich, buying a suit you expect a personal touch'

The argument for self-checkouts in local supermarkets is a relatively easy one to make.

These are typically smaller stores, where customers are buying just a few items and want to get in and out quickly.

De Mello says: 'Tesco is a good example. Self-checkouts generally tend to work in the more local environment. On balance it is a force for good which is why we're seeing them more often.'

Less hassle? Uniqlo has introduced self-checkouts in its stores across the globe

Popping in at lunch time to pick up a meal deal is much less hassle when you can scan it yourself with minimal queues. When it comes to buying clothes though, it's a little different.

Despite that, growing numbers of retailers are starting to introduce them, including Zara, Matalan and Uniqlo.

Primark has introduced self-checkouts in 20 stores across the UK, and says customers have had a 'really positive' response to them. It says it has not made job cuts, with staff helping customers at self-checkouts and regular tills.

Many customers argue that it is a luxury that they pay for, and resent having to fold their own clothes.

Soult says: 'It's one thing to buy a sandwich, but buying a suit I think you expect a bit of a personal touch.'

Without supermarkets having paved the way for self-checkouts, it's unlikely fashion retailers would have ever introduced them, and it marks a significant shift in the way people shop.

'The whole concept of self-service is becoming more accepted, although there'll still be a percentage of customers who don't like it,' says Busby. 'I think we'll come to accept that as part of the in-store shopping experience.'

Uniqlo and Decathalon have been lauded as particularly good examples of introducing self-scanners. Both retailers have introduced baskets in which customers can put all of their items, and they are automatically scanned.

But there are still pain points for customers.

'Retailers haven't fully worked it out,' says De Mello. 'They understand it's good and they like the idea of implementing tech to save money and reduce friction, and hopefully increase spend.

'However, they haven't fully worked through the entire customer touch points, like security tags.

'There's no point in having self-checkout if you then have to go and see a member of staff.'

Helping hand: Retail experts say that speaking to a member of staff can be useful when it comes to buying clothing - and helps to prevent customers having to return items

And there are still some customers that won't be happy with the change.

Soult says: 'M&S in the last year or so has ruffled a few feathers with the introduction of self-checkouts in its fashion and home departments. I commented at the time that I think it's a misstep.'

Busby thinks customers will also miss some of the checks and balances that come with manned tills.

'You take something off the track based on the size that's shown on the hanger and you don't check the label inside.'

Staff can prevent this, so without them there could be an uptick in returns.

Busby thinks it will be different for fashion retailers but there might be times when it comes in use.

'You can imagine that sometimes you'd need something like a pair of socks, a necessity purchase, and you want to get in and out as quickly as possible. That would certainly be a use case where fashion self-checkouts enhance the customer experience.'

Jonathan De Mello thinks higher costs will prevent retailers from investing in tech

What happens next for self-checkouts?

For fashion retailers looking at the next models, it is very unlikely they will go down the supermarket route, although it will depend on the store.

'The [self-checkout] bucket is quite a unique selling point for Uniqlo, it stems from its Japanese roots where they're very tech-focused,' says De Mello.

'But I don't think many retailers these days, given all the other cost headwinds, have the capital to invest in anything really too tech-focused. It just needs to be basic tech that they can implement fairly quickly.'

That means customers could be dealing with supermarket-type self-checkouts, which will likely increase frustration.

As a result, some other businesses may well move in the other direction and invest more in their staff, as a differentiator to major brands.

'The increase in self-checkouts which was partly a consequence of Covid,' says Soult. 'I think in parallel you're seeing a move by certain retailers, more premium brands and independents, who are really focusing on the human element. One of the things we learned during Covid was how much people valued human contact.

'Some businesses are going down the self-scanner route and trying to take humans out of the equation, and other businesses are focusing on what they can do in store that actually makes them different.'

Some bigger brands have already done so. Booth's - often dubbed the Waitrose of the North - ditched self-checkouts in the majority of its stores last autumn.

'We're not great fans of self-checkouts,' managing director Nigel Murray told the Grocer at the time. 'We pride ourselves on great customer service and you can't do that through a robot.'

De Mello thinks the decision is likely a misstep: 'This is a backward step in my opinion, I'm not sure it's going to pay off for them,' he says.

'I can see the reasons as to why some retailers might want to abolish them, but I do think in general there's a consumer need for them.'

Could shoplifting affect the rollout?

Major retailers will also be keeping a keen eye on how shoplifting will affect any further rollout of self-checkouts.

The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show shoplifting rose 37 per cent to a record high in 2023.

Even though one or two staff are normally around to monitor self-scanners, there is no doubt that it is easier to steal when you are checking out your own shopping - so retailers will need to weigh up the amount they save by implementing self-checkouts with potential increases in theft.

'It is a major problem,' says De Mello. 'People are buying expensive things and putting them through as cheaper items, that's certainly an issue.

'People are doing all sorts of things to game the system, but the system is there to be gamed in a sense - you don't have people there to monitor you.'

It is even more endemic in the US, where retailers have been forced to revise their self-checkout strategies.

Walmart removed self-checkout machines at some stores in New Mexico last year, while Costco has blamed the technology for a rise in 'shrink', the retail term used to describe theft.

Soult says: 'My view is that if the wastage was so high that it didn't stack up, they wouldn't do it. I suppose some degree of error or of theft is built in. I think also the tech arguably has got better so that certainly in some stores where you're having to weigh things, it can be quite difficult to play jiggery pokery with the thing and sneak stuff out.

'Unfortunately one of the biggest things you hear is people just blatantly taking stuff off the shelves and walking out with it. Those who are intent on stealing from shops will just do it anyway.'

Retailers have their work cut out trying to ensure self-checkouts don't become more of a pain point for customers, but it might prove more inconvenient to row back now.

Busby says: 'I'm old enough to remember that my first job in retail was working on a petrol station forecourt and filling people's tanks of fuel.

'I think we'll see the same thing [with self-checkouts] as it becomes more and more commonplace. It will just be a part of the shopping journey which we accept and will grow to embrace.'
As England and Wales go to the polls, it's been revealed that UK motorists don't feel their local council is doing enough to help the switch to electric vehicles.

Just 30 per cent say motorists who own or want to own an EV are supported by their local council, new research from car brand Vauxhall has found.

This comes as many drivers turn out to vote in local and mayoral elections on Thursday 2 May.

Vauxhall has found that only 30 per cent of motorists feel supported in the switch to EVs by their local authorities

Some 75 per cent of UK drivers are depending on their Local Authorities to be the main driving force behind installing accessible on-street charging - devices located on residential streets only - to meet demand and increase EV ownership.

Yet, despite the government's push towards zero emissions driving, the majority of motorists reported that charging infrastructure has dropped off the political agenda.

Only 25 per cent of the 2,000 drivers surveyed by Vauxhall had noticed issues around EV charging infrastructure playing a role in the political manifestos and canvassing of local candidates.

London is the only place in the UK where voters feel their council is supporting the switch to zero emissions driving

Many voters believe better charging options are needed, with fewer than one-in-10 drivers reporting to Vauxhall that they are happy with on-street charging in their area.

Satisfaction rates were even lower in some parts of Britain, with just four per cent of respondents in Wales happy with their local on-street charging.

London was found to be the only region of the country where the majority of motorists (60 per cent) say EV drivers are supported by their local council.

England's capital was also the only area where over 50 per cent of drivers noticed issues around EV infrastructure playing a role in political campaigning ahead of local elections.

On-street charging provision is vital for the 40 per cent of drivers who dont have access to a driveway and are reliant on on-street charging.

On-street charging is vital for the 40 per cent of drivers who don't have a driveway and can't charge at home

Installation of UK public charging device since 2015 has been substantial but critics say it's not keeping pace with EV adoption or government ambitions.

This report comes as the Department for Transports released its April 2024 Electric vehicle public charging infrastructure statistics.

As of 1 April, there were 59,670 public EV charging devices installed in the UK - an increase of 11 per cent since 1 January. 5,993 new devices have been installed in total since the start of the year.

Some 37 per cent (22,199) of all the UKs chargers are designated as on street chargers, while the other 46 per cent (27,583) are destination chargers.

Destination charging devices are located at the end of an EV journey or a place where a driver will stop for an extended period - such as car parks, leisure centres, restaurants and hotels.

Compared to 1 April 2023, theres been a 49 per cent increase in a year, with 19,520 new charging devices installed.

Sainsbury's launched its own electric car charging brand in January, becoming the first supermarket in the UK to introduce and run its own EV charging network

The DfT found an overall rise in the number of public charging devices in all regions of the UK.

But, as also laid bare by Vauxhall, the DfT reports an uneven geographical distribution of charging devices within the UK.

The DfT also attributes this to local council failure, as some UK local authorities have bid for UK government funding for charging devices, and others have not.

In July 2023 Vauxhalls Electric Streets of Britain campaign found that more than 70 per cent (71.6) of UK councils do not currently have a published strategy in place for the installation of residential on-street charging.

Vauxhall submitted a Freedom of Information request to 414 councils and local authorities across the UK, of which 298 responded.

At the time Vauxhall found that 69 per cent of local authorities have yet to install any on-street residential charge points.

Public charging devices by destination of charging device 1 April 2024

After London, Scotland leads the UK with the best provision of public chargers per 100,000 people, with Dundee (pictured) one of the leading EV cities in Europe

As the DfT report shows all regions in the UK are benefiting from increased public charging, so local authorities falling short on providing on-street chargers doesnt mean that residents wont have access to any public charging.

Instead, private companies are having to pick up the slack, stepping in to help residents who feel abandoned in EV efforts by their local councils.

The DfT confirms in its April report that most of the provision of this infrastructure has been market-led, with individual charging networks and other businesses (such as hotels) choosing where to install devices.

Public charging devices per 100,000 of population by UK country and region: 1 April 2024

Counties with a large number of rural residents tend to have a lower number of publics charging devices per 100,000 people than urban areas

Recent figures show London is predictably miles ahead with the availability of public chargers.

DfT and ZapMap data shows London has 221 public charging devices per 100,000 people, ahead of the UK average of 89/100,000.

Scotland is also leading Britain with 93 devices per 100,000.

The North West and the Humber lag behind on 53/100,000, while Northern Ireland has the worst rate with just 29 chargers per 100,000.

James Taylor, managing director, Vauxhall, said: Electric vehicle charging infrastructure is just one of many concerns that should be discussed in great detail ahead of this years local and mayoral elections.

'While recent figures show charge point numbers are increasing, our latest research highlights how drivers are increasingly reliant on their Local Authorities to make sure infrastructure needs are being met.

We hope to see local councils listening to these drivers who are reliant on their support to provide confidence and ensure motorists across the country feel they can join the electric transition efficiently and safely.'
Hiscox reported a rise in written premiums in the first quarter but warned of a 'moderate' loss from the fallout of the Baltimore Bridge crash.

In the first three months of the year, total insurance contract written premiums (ICWP) increased 8.3 per cent to $1.5billion.

It was bolstered by Hiscox's retail division which saw written premiums grow 5.8 per cent, as well as strong performances in the UK - up 8.3 per cent - and Europe.

Hiscox reported a rise in written premiums driven by strong performance in its retail business

The insurer said that 'for the first time in a number of years all parts of the UK business are in growth mode'.

This was partially offset by 'continued headwinds' within its US broker business, which saw ICWP grow 3.1 per cent in the first three months of the year.

'These challenges are not new and we are confident they will be overcome as the year progresses and our initiatives bear fruit - with profitable growth remaining the key priority,' the insurer said.

It said there had been 'challenging market conditions' in cyber and it had taken longer than expected to pivot to growth after the back was re-underwritten.

Shares in Hiscox fell 3.53 per cent, or 43p, to 1,174p in early trading on Thursday.

Re & ILS posted a 19 per cent increase in written premiums to $497.4million while Hiscox London Market reported a 4.9 per cent fall to $316.9million.

Hiscox said this was mostly due to the non-renewal of certain large binder deals to focus on its open market business.

Hiscox's claims experience in the first quarter were 'well within expectations of natural catastrophe losses.'

However it warned that it could face a 'moderate' net loss due to the fallout from the Baltimore Bridge crash.

Hiscox has 'no direct exposure to the business interruption policy of the port or the property policy covering the bridge'.

However Hiscox London Market participates on the reinsurance for the International Group of Protection and Indemnity Clubs, which could rise.

'No associated reserves were booked in the first quarter, as it remains an emerging event, however we expect the net loss to be moderate for the Group due to the reinsurance arrangements in place.'

CEO Aki Hussain said it had been a 'good start to 2024, with our focus on profitable growth continuing to deliver The outlook for the year remains positive.'
Pharma giant Novo Nordisk has seen the booming demand for its weight loss drugs outstrip supply.

The Danish companys revenues have surged thanks to an explosion in popularity for its diabetes and obesity drugs Ozempic and Wegovy.

The frenzy means it has pumped cash into making more. Sales for the first three months of the year rose 24 per cent to 7.4billion compared to a year earlier.

As a result, it is now expecting annual sales to increase by between 19 per cent and 27 per cent this year, an upgrade from the 18 per cent to 26 per cent it forecast in January.

Wegovy is a weekly injection and tricks the body into thinking it is full. It is available on the NHS but the drugs popularity has taken off in the US.

Fat jab: Novo Nordisk's revenues have surged thanks to an explosion in popularity for its diabetes and obesity drugs Ozempic and Wegovy

Celebrity fans include eccentric billionaire Elon Musk and talk show host Oprah Winfrey.

Novo is signing up more than 25,000 new patients for Wegovy every week in the US. But it warned there will be continued periodic supply constraints.

Holding on to half of the worlds market share for medical treatments of this kind, Novo Nordisk has seen its share price rise 55 per cent in a year.

And Novo is set to grow even more as stars show off their new looks. It is set to debut Wegovy in China this year.

And analysts believe the price  around 170 in UK pharmacies but 1,078 in the US  will fall, drawing in a new wave of patients.

Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell, said: The buzz around Wegovy makes it more than just a must-have product.

Its in danger of becoming a status symbol with the rich and famous eager to take it.
The City watchdogs boss Nikhil Rathi is under increasing pressure over plans to name and shame firms it is investigating  as peers demanded answers amid an intensifying row.

Rathi has been summoned to appear before a parliamentary committee as it launched an inquiry into the proposals.

His response so far to questions isnt acceptable, the Lords financial services regulation committee said. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) chief executive looks increasingly isolated after upsetting City trade bodies and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt.

At stake are plans for the regulator to drop its policy of only naming firms it is investigating in exceptional circumstances. Instead, it would decide whether to do so is in the public interest.

A consultation ended this week. The financial sector says it will damage competitiveness.

Pressure: Financial Conduct Authority chief exec Nikhil Rathi (pictured) looks increasingly isolated after upsetting City trade bodies and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt

Lord Forsyth of Drumlean, chair of the Lords committee, wrote to Rathi last month expressing concerns about the disproportionate effect on firms that are named but turn out to be blameless.

But the FCA said it had been urged to be more open about probes such as those it carried out into the likes of Woodford Investment Management and Greensill Capital.

Officials have said the aim is not seeking to shame firms but to shine a spotlight on a case in a way that will deter others.

But Forsyth wrote to Rathi to express the committees disappointment. It has now launched an inquiry and said it will invite the FCA boss to appear before it.

The committee said it was unhappy that Rathi did not respond to a request to pause changes until after it had taken further evidence.

Forsyth said: The FCA response failed to directly address our concerns. This isnt acceptable.

The FCA said: We have received the letter and will respond. The latest developments come after 16 trade bodies expressed their opposition in a letter to the Chancellor.

Hunt said: I hope the FCA re-look at their decision.

He told the Financial Times the plan doesnt feel consistent with the FCA duty, made law last year, to support the UKs international competitiveness, alongside its main objective of protecting consumers.

The furore leaves Rathi looking more isolated and comes as, on a separate matter, he is at odds with the Bank of England, after telling the FT he was not convinced private equity firms pose a systemic risk  a contrast with the Banks warnings about the sector.

But Rathi won the backing of Lord Tyrie, the former Tory MP who, as chair of the Treasury select committee, grilled bankers on the financial crisis.

He told The Times: If a large number of consumers look as if theyre being ripped off... disclosure is likely to be in the public interest.


AIM-listed late-night bars group Nightcap is looking to shake up the sector in a cheeky bid for Revolution Bars.

Revolution met Nightcap to discuss proposals up to and including a full offer for the struggling business, and added that talks are not part of the formal sales process it unveiled in early April.

The bar operator said then it had received commitments from investors under a 12.5million fundraise to keep it afloat as it undergoes a restructuring.

In January, it announced that eight sites would be shut and has said up to a quarter of Revolutions 80 venues could be closed.

Nightcap, co-founded by former Dragons Den star Sarah Willingham, is assessing options including buying certain sites or operating subsidiaries of Revolution.

Takeover bid: In January, Revolution Bars announced that eight sites would be shut and has said up to a quarter of its 80 venues, could be closed

Nightcap acquired the Dirty Martini cocktail chain and central London brasserie Tuttons in a 4.65million deal last year.

Revolution, which has a market cap of just north of 4million, rose 13.8 per cent, or 0.2p, to 1.65p, while Nightcap was up 2.4 per cent, or 0.1p, at 4.25p.

The FTSE 100 was up 50.91 points, or 0.6 per cent, at 8172.15 to resume its run of closing highs, but still below this weeks all-time peak.

The FTSE 250 found gains after recent falls, adding 125.74 points, or 0.6 per cent, at 20,052.33.

Smurfit Kappa rose 5.8 per cent, or 200p, to 3674p as earnings rose and it reported more improvements in demand in Europe and the Americas.

In September, the paper and packaging firm agreed to merge with US firm WestRock to form Smurfit Westrock.

Meanwhile, Standard Chartered rose 8.8 per cent, or 61p, to 756p, a six-month high, after the emerging markets-focused lenders first-quarter profit delivered a significant beat to expectations, driven by non-interest income growth.

Stock Watch - Kinovo Kinovo rose 21.5 per cent, or 8.8p, to 49.8p as the London property services group expects results for the year ended March 31 to beat expectations. It now anticipates a 22 per cent advance in earnings to 6.7million, up from 5.5million, on revenues of around 64million. Chief executive officer David Bullen said a strong performance reflected the strength of its growth strategy following legacy issues with its former construction subsidiary.

Melrose led FTSE 100 losses  down 2.9 per cent, or 18.2p, to 603p  despite strong first-quarter trading.

It was boosted by strength in its Engines division, which saw revenues jump by 21 per cent.

It is now a pure play aerospace business, based around its acquisition of GKN, having spun off its automotive engineering businesses as Dowlais last April.

Spectris lost 2 per cent, or 64p, to 3208p as the supplier of high-tech instruments, test equipment and software for industry reiterated its annual guidance, although it reported an 8pc fall in first-quarter like-for-like sales.

TI Fluid Systems rose 4.3 per cent, or 5.8p, to 142.2p as the fluid engineering specialist held guidance after first-quarter revenues fell 0.4 per cent, in line with expectations.

International Personal Finance added 3.3 per cent, or 3.5p, to 109p, after a solid first quarter, with customer lending rising 5 per cent.

But insurer Hiscox fell 1.8 per cent, or 21.99p, to 1175p although it reported healthy growth in first-quarter premiums despite a drop in the London market.

Surface Transforms fell 62.3 per cent, or 1.77p, to 1.08p as the maker of carbon-ceramic brake discs raised 6.5million in a share placing.

And Smiths News rose 3 per cent, or 1.6p, to 55p as it said it was on track to deliver full-year results in line with expectations.
EXCLUSIVE

A hospitality worker in a BDSM relationship was busted with child abuse material after asking his 'master' to distribute a sex video over WhatsApp in a bid to satisfy his 'humiliation fetish'.

Stephen Corbett, 37, was arrested on February 1 last year, after police raided his North Bondi property, in Sydney's eastern suburbs, following a tip off from one of his friends that he was in possession of child abuse material.

He originally pleaded not guilty and a court date was set for early 2024, however, when the hearing finally took place 12 months later, he admitted guilt.

Now, court documents obtained by Daily Mail Australia following Corbett's guilty plea in March reveal the bizarre chain of events that led to his arrest.

According to the police fact sheet, Corbett met his male friend - who would later turn him over to detectives - through a mutual friend in 2017.

But in 2021, the boundaries of the friendship began to be tested when the cafe worker's friend started to receive odd WhatsApp calls from various people overseas claiming to be Corbett or one of his associates.

Stephen Corbett (pictured left) was arrested when a friend dobbed him into police after receiving a seedy home-made video showing child abuse material on his laptop screen

The calls were always 'strange' and generally involved 'some sexual aspect', according to the fact sheet.

However, the worst call would take place two years later on January 23, 2023, when the friend received a WhatsApp call about 9pm from a Filipino man called 'James', who appeared to be aged between 14 and 19.

According to the documents, James revealed that he and Corbett were in a master-and-slave relationship and the 37-year-old had developed a new fetish relating to humiliation.

Corbett has pleaded guilty to one count of possessing child abuse material

James asked the friend for his PayPal details so he could send him $300 to receive several sexually compromising videos of Corbett, which the cafe worker had requested to fulfil his sexual fixation.

The friend said no - but James still proceeded to bombard him with messages and a video which showed Corbett engaged in a sex act while watching child abuse material on a laptop.

Nine days later, the friend reported the matter to police, who raided Corbett's home the next day on February 2 and seized an Acer Predator Laptop, Asus Laptop and iPad.

Corbett was not home at the time, but saw police at his property via a wireless doorbell app and immediately contacted his father.

After their conversation, the 37-year-old then contacted police and arranged to meet officers at Redfern Police Station, where he was arrested and his phone seized.

He was then taken to Mascot Police Station, where he gave a no-comment recorded interview after seeking legal advice.

However, he told officers he had deleted social media 'some time ago' - only to admit once the recorder was switched off that he had used WhatsApp since deleting it in April 2021 - but claimed he could not remember why or when.

Court documents reveal Corbett had requested his young Filipino 'master' to send the video to a friend to humiliate him

The video featured Corbett (pictured) committing a sex act while watching the exploitation material

In March last year, it was revealed in court that, after his arrest, Corbett spent two weeks in jail before he was granted bail on February 14 under strict conditions, including being banned from accessing the internet or possessing electronic devices.

Just seven days after being released, he fronted Waverley Local Court, where he successfully applied to have his bail conditions altered to be allowed to have a mobile phone.

Dressed in a grey suit, glasses, and coloured striped tie, Corbett appeared nervous as he sat in the gallery with his legs crossed and his hands clasped tightly in his lap, twirling his dangling foot in a circular motion.

Addressing the court, Corbett's lawyer asked Magistrate Ross Hudson to review his client's bail conditions to allow him to have a mobile phone designed without internet capabilities.

Magistrate Hudson appeared amused thinking about the rarity of non-smart phones, joking that he used a similarly old-fashioned device.

'What are those types of [non-smart] phones called again?' Magistrate Hudson asked.

Corbett's lawyer replied: 'Burner phones your honour.'

Stephen Corbett (pictured centre) leaves Waverley Local Court in March 2023 with his lawyer (left) and his dad

Corbett initially pleaded not guilty before admitting to the crime about 12 months later as his case was due to be heard in court. He is pictured outside court in March 2023

After police prosecutor Chris Davis did not object to the request, Magistrate Hudson agreed to amend the condition to allow Corbett to have a phone so long as it could not be used to access the internet.

Leaving court, Corbett was supported by his mum and dad who had watched the hearing from a separate area of the gallery.

Asked by Daily Mail Australia if he would like to comment on the allegations, Corbett remained silent and lifted his backpack up in front of his face.

He eventually peeled off the walkway without saying goodbye to his parents and headed in a different direction.

Shortly after being confronted by Daily Mail Australia, Corbett's social media accounts were deactivated.

Under his ongoing bail conditions, Corbett must live at his parent's Kingsgrove home and regularly report to authorities.

Corbett is due to be sentenced on June 19, 2024.

In NSW, producing, disseminating or possessing child abuse material carries a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment.
A former Big Brother contestant has offered to pay for socially disadvantaged students to attend a posh Oxford ball after the university charged more than a month's rent per ticket.

Last week, MailOnline revealed students were infuriated after the University of Oxford's Pembroke College charged 446 per person for its 400th birthday white tie bash this summer.

At that price, a ticket for the fancy ball is more expensive than the average monthly student rent in the UK, which is 418. Pembroke's latest accounts show the college has reserves of 287.5million.

Banker and Pembroke alumnus Derek Laud, who also appeared on Big Brother, told MailOnline he was shocked by the 'exorbitant' prices to attend to such a 'magnificent' event.

Mr Laud said he was prepared to pay poorer students' way as the issue of a 'growing disparity between the haves and the have nots' was one that was 'in his heart'.

Pembroke College told MailOnline it was 'most grateful' to Mr Laud for his offer and said it was a 'welcome addition'.

Banker and Pembroke alumnus Derek Laud (pictured), who also appeared on Big Brother, told MailOnline he would pay for socially disadvantaged students to attend the ball for free

Oxford student Chloe Pomfret, 20, (pictured) revealed the price of a ticket to Pembroke College's anniversary ball was a whopping 446

A ticket for the fancy white tie ball is more expensive than the average monthly student rent in the UK, which is 418

He said: 'It doesn't matter who you are. You are there on merit. You stand on the same platform as everyone else.

'But people do not have the same deep pockets as others.

'Socially disadvantaged students should not be discouraged from [going because of] the cost.'

Just this week while announcing a report about disparities between colleges, the incoming president of Oxford's student union Addi Haran said: 'The reality is that Oxford is an unequal playing field because of disparities in the support given at different colleges.'

The author of the report, Oxford student Danial Hussain, said: 'Oxford is a golden ticket, but not for everyone.

'College disparities can negatively shape student experiences, especially for those from disadvantaged backgrounds.'

Mr Laud said one of the most prevalent reasons why ethnic minorities did not apply to Oxford was because they believed they would not be able to afford the day-to-day costs of a lifestyle at the historic university.

Students said Pembroke's high prices showed just how 'inaccessible' the historic university is for working class students.

They said poorer students are being priced out of Oxford's posh perks, such as their formals and summer balls.

Oxford student Chloe Pomfret, 20, revealed the staggering price of the anniversary ball at Pembroke, which was founded in 1624.

Chloe posted the price of tickets in disgust online, writing: 'You wonder why oxford is so inaccessible for working class students... 446 for one college ball.' Pictured: Chloe with her boyfriend Viraansh on a boat ride along The River Thames, London, in May last year

Pembroke College (pictured) was founded in 1624, 400 years ago, and has reserves of 287.5million

The Human Sciences undergraduate grew up in foster care and was left homeless at the age of 16 after becoming estranged from her family.

She posted the price of tickets in disgust online, writing: 'You wonder why Oxford is so inaccessible for working class students... 446 for one college ball.'

After Chloe's post on social media about the tickets, one literature-loving social media user replied: 'My goodness that's a month's rent right there.'

Another said: 'That's ridiculous. I'm a member of a private members' club, and even factoring in the membership fee, it doesn't work out at these kind of prices for formal events.'

St Catherine's College student Chloe later added that there had been cheaper prices specifically for students, but even those tickets were still a whopping 196, almost half a month's rent.

She previously said: 'It's still surreal when I walk out into Oxford. You see all these big, fancy buildings, and it's just a whole other world.

'You go to formals, where they're serving you food, I have a cleaner that comes and cleans my room, and I just think, ''What on Earth?''

Other students were shocked by Chloe's (pictured) revelation. Georgie Hobden, 25, a PhD student in Experimental Psychology, told MailOnline such high costs led to a polarising divide between rich and poor students

Chloe previously said her life had a 'surreal' turn after she was accepted into Oxford University

Social media users reacted furiously to the incredibly expensive prices at the Oxford college

Pembroke College said it had offered tickets to students for 166 and their guests at 196 but they had all sold out.

It said the remaining tickets priced at 446 were aimed at family and friends and included an element of donation that was used to subsidise tickets for poorer students.

However, those tickets were still 106. It said Mr Laud's offer was a 'welcome addition' and they were 'most grateful' to him.

It said: 'A number of alumni and friends of College have chosen to purchase Celebration Tickets, or made generous donations, to enable attendance at the Ball at subsidised rates.

'The College welcomes help of this kind and is most grateful. All Pembroke students were welcomed to apply to the Ball's Community Tickets scheme which confidentially allocates this support.'

Georgie Hobden, 25, a PhD student in Experimental Psychology, told MailOnline the high cost of Pembroke's ball led to a polarising divide between rich and poor students.

She said: 'These prices contribute to an unhealthy polarisation within the student body - those who can those who can't.

'Social hierarchies and injustices that students seek to escape by coming to a supposedly inclusive university are sadly mirrored, reinforced and amplified by these distinctly non-inclusive events.'

Speaking about Pembroke's 400th anniversary ball, Mr Laud added: '[It's an] extremely historic social occasion.

'[Oxford makes] effort to try and change their image and reputation.

'They need to look much more internal. The slowness of those changes is problematic.

'Those colleges have got be be much better at fundraising.

'Because they are useless at it they are having to charge those excessive prices.

'It shouldn't be a sin to try to do things differently. They want to rely on the same old methodology.'

MailOnline has contacted the University of Oxford for comment.
When Lali Sokolov was lying on his death bed after an extraordinary life, the woman who would reveal his story to millions was able to make him one final promise.

Heather Morris vowed as the Holocaust survivor lay in hospital after suffering a stroke that she wouldn't stop trying to tell the world what happened to him. That was in 2006.

It would be another 12 years before Morris's novel The Tattooist of Auschwitz was finally released, after she had tried and failed to get Lali's testimony made into a film.

Speaking to MailOnline as a Sky adaptation of her novel hits screens, the New Zealand-born author, 71, said: 'I was with Lali knowing he wasn't going to survive the night.

'I knew when I said goodbye to him I wouldn't see him again. I promised him I wouldn't stop trying to tell his story.'

That story, which has sold more than three million copies in its fictionalised form, is an incredible one of survival, hope and courage.

Lali encountered Gita Fuhrmannova - the woman who would become his wife - when she stood before him terrified.

Amidst the evil of the Nazi killing machine, Lali - himself a Jew who had been put to work under threat of death - tattooed a number on her arm like he had done to tens of thousands of people before her.

Lali Sokolov with author Heather Morris. Her 2018 novel The Tattooist of Auschwitz told his story to the world

Lali Sokolov with his wife Gita. Their story was made famous by Heather Morris's novel The Tattooist of Auschwitz

The pair were both already comparatively lucky, for they had not been among those who were immediately condemned to death after arriving at Auschwitz.

Around one million Jews died at the camp in Nazi-occupied Poland, many of them in the gas chambers.

The moment Lali saw Gita, he fell in love with her. Remarkably, both survived the Holocaust and went on to marry in October 1945.

They emigrated to Australia and had son Gary together, before devoting the rest of their lives to helping others.

Lali finally told his story to Morris after Gita's death in 2003. The author spent three years meeting with him several times a week, and the pair became great friends in the process.

He had urged her to finish recording his story so he could be with Gita again.

'I was joking a bit with him at the time, here is a man who has had a stroke. Lali used to do all the talking when were together,' Morris said as she opened up for the first time about their final meeting as he lay in a hospital bed.

Heather Morris vowed as the Holocaust survivor lay stricken after suffering a massive stroke that she wouldn't stop trying to tell his story. That was in 2006. It would be another 12 years before Morris's novel The Tattooist of Auschwitz was finally released, after she had tried and failed to get Lali's testimony made into a film

A new Sky adaptation of Morris's novel was released today. The six-part series stars both Jonah Hauer-King (left) and Harvey Keitel as Lali, whilst Polish actress Anna Prochniak (right) portrays Gita

Harvey Keitel (left) portrays Lali in later life, while Melanie Lynskey (right) depicts Morris. The author spent three years meeting with him several times a week

Lali and Gita joyfully embrace in a photo that was taken after their wartime ordeal in the Holocaust

Lali and Gita Sokolov in later life. Their romance survived against all the odds

'I remember joking with him that I am doing more than my share of talking with him tonight.

'I talked to him for more than two hours. I kissed him on both cheeks, the way he always kissed me.

'I said it was ok, it was time to be with Gita, I never tried to stop telling his story. The doctor and that nurse who were in the room at the time, they both had tears streaming down their face.

'The nurse looked at the number on his arm and said he was important wasn't he. I said he was.'

Morris kept meeting with Lali because, she said, they enjoyed being together.

'I kept going back to him because he became my friend. He became part of my family,' she said, before adding: 'He used to joke with my late husband that "she may be your wife but she's my girlfriend."

Despite its popularity, Morris's novel did receive some criticism from historians at the Auschwitz Memorial, who claimed the book contained 'numerous errors and information inconsistent with the facts, as well as exaggerations, misinterpretations and understatements.'

Among the alleged errors highlighted was the number that Lali was depicted tattooing on Gita's arm.

Morris recorded it as 34902, but this was disputed by scholar Wanda Witek-Malicka in a report she wrote on the book.

Gary Sokolov was born in 1961. His parents married in October 1945 after their ordeal at Auschwitz. Above: Gary with his mother and father

Gary Sokolov attending a screening for The Tattooist of Auschwitz in London on April 9

Polish actress Anna Prochniak (right) as Gita. Like Lali she was deported to Auschwitz but survived

Prochniak portraying Gita in The Tattooist of Auschwitz, which debuted today on Sky

Melanie Lynskey as Heather Morris and Harvey Keitel as Lali Sokolov

Melanie Lynskey as Heather Morris, interviewing Sokolov (played by Harvey Keitel) in later life

She said: 'We do not find any surviving documents with her personal data or relating to number 34902 issued in the women's series.'

It was pointed out that women who entered the camp in 1942 - as Gita did - were given four-digit numbers.

Years earlier, Gita herself had said in oral testimony given to the USC Shoah Foundation that her number was 4562.

However, Morris was insistent that Gita was initially tattooed by someone else, when Auschwitz's authorities were 'still experimenting with how to do it'.

She claimed that the number Lali tattooed on her - the one he recounted to Morris - was the second attempt, because the other had faded.

The author also defended herself against the book's other mistakes, including her depiction of Lali giving Gita penicillin for typhoid fever in 1943.

Ms Witek-Malicka had said this was incorrect because the medicine was not widely available until after the war.

'It had one or two factual statements that they said that wasn't correct,' Morris said.

'He could not have got penicillin, we rectified those immediately.

'We acknowledged and rectified them, where they mattered.

'Not one holocaust survivor - and I have been privileged to meet many of them, not one of them ever said "you got it wrong".'

She added: 'I didn't see it as questioning my integrity as a writer.

'I had these wonderful publishers and they said how do we fix this. So we fixed it. I'm a big girl, I can put my big girl pants on and said we will change these things.

'I never set out to offend anyone by writing this story. I never pretended to be something I'm not, that I'm an academic with knowledge of the Holocaust.'

For the new TV drama, the show's producers utilised the knowledge of academic historians to ensure that every detail on screen is correct.

Lali is portrayed during his time at Auschwitz by The Little Mermaid Star Jonah Hauer-King, 28, and then as an elderly man by Taxi Driver's Harvey Keitel, 84.

Gary Sokolov admitted that he was moved to tears by Keitel's performance and said there were moments where he couldn't tell the difference between them.

A scene from the Tattooist of Auschwitz showing Anna Prochniak as Gita and Yali Topol Marghalith as fellow inmate Cilka

Jonah Hauer-King as Lali Sokolov and Jonas Nay as Nazi Officer Stefan Baretzki in the Tattooist of Auschwitz

Another scene from the Tattooist of Auschwitz, depicting a meeting between Lali and Stefan Baretzki

He told Sky: 'He was my father on every single level. If he wasn't, I wouldn't have spent so much time in tears.'

Morris watched the show's six episodes with Mr Sokolov, who lives in Melbourne.

'He was very, very emotional watching it,' she said.

'He held my hand and squeezed my hand for the entire six hours. He was reduced to emotional crying, a proud son on my shoulder.'

Morris's conversations with Lali are also depicted on screen. She is portrayed by Melanie Lynskey.

The show depicts his emotional turmoil as he recounts his story for the first time.

'He didn't talk about it because Gita wouldn't let him,' Morris said. 'He had survivor guilt, every single survivor I met had it.

'The ones who never spoke about it like Gita, it was terribly difficult for her.

'The only way she could deal with it was to never ever talk about it. It was a part of their lives that ended.

Jonah Hauer-King as Lali Sokolov in new Sky drama The Tattooist of Auschwitz

Anna Prochniak portraying Gita as she lines up with other inmates in The Tattooist of Auschwitz

Dylan Corbett-Bader as Jakub and Jonah Hauer-King as Lali Sokolov in The Tattooist of Auschwitz

'No one can blame anyone for feeling bad about the fact that they survived and others didn't.'

Lali, who was born in Slovakia in 1916, was herded off to Auschwitz in a packed cattle train in horrendous conditions in April 1942.

Like every other prisoner who was not immediately sent off to die, he was given a number.

His - 32407 - was tattooed on his arm by a French academic named Pepan.

He was initially sent to work on the construction of new housing blocks as the camp expanded.

When Lali contracted typhoid soon after arriving at Auschwitz, he was cared for by Pepan, who set him to work as his assistant.

Lali was then made the main tattooist after Pepan was shipped out of Auschwitz.

Because of his role, he was given extra rations and ate in an administration building. He also slept in a single room rather than in a cramped hut in horrendous conditions.

And when there were no new prisoners to tattoo he was given free time.

He would barter gems stolen from Nazi treasure troves for food and medicine for people who needed them most.

Lali also used his knowledge of half a dozen languages to obtain any intelligence he could about the camp.

After tattooing Gita, the pair exchanged letters and he found a way of smuggling her his extra rations. He also got her moved to a better work station.

In 1945, the Nazis began forcing prisoners on death marches to other camps as the Russians closed in amid Germany's ensuing defeat in the war.

It was then that Lali and Gita were separated when she was sent away.

Lali also eventually left the camp and made his way back to his home town of Krompachy in Czechoslovakia.

Only inmates at Auschwitz and its subcamps - Birkenau and Monowitz - were tattooed

Children are seen in Auschwitz after the camp's liberation in 1945

The arrival of Hungarian Jews in Auschwitz-Birkenau, in German-occupied Poland, June 1944

Incredibly, the pair were reunited when Gita stepped out in front of his horse and cart.

Lali had been on his way to Bratislava - the entry point for survivors returning home - to look for her.

The first thing he did was to ask for her hand in marriage, and she accepted.

After tying the knot, the couple emigrated to Australia in 1949 and built a textile business.

Gary, who was born in 1961, then told Morris - a friend of a friend - that his father had a story worth telling.

But when her plan to get his testimony turned into a film failed to come to fruition, Morris instead opted to write a book.

'When it started to do so well, it was a surprise for me,' she said.

Heather Morris's novel, The Tattooist of Auschwitz

'When I think about it, it is all about timing. All good stories cycle around. Holocaust stories, like the First World War and Second World War, they cycle around.

'I think I tapped into the beginning of a new cycle. I'm so grateful that so many others have been able to tap into that cycle.'

She admitted that she 'deliberately' did not visit Auschwitz until after her book was published.

'I did not want how I saw that place 70 years later to colour how I portrayed it,' she said.

Asked if she hopes that the TV drama may help to combat rising anti-Semitism, she said: 'It's hard to say that anybody watching this who has anti-Semitic feelings is going to change their minds.

'There's nothing you can say to them to change their mind. On the flip side there is nothing they can say to me to make me change mine.

'I want viewers to feel something. I don't care if it is love or anger. After each episode, have yourself feeling something.

'I'm pretty sure it is going to do that. It's going to be something that stays with everybody.'

The Tattooist of Auschwitz is available to buy now and the series is out now on Sky and the streaming service NOW.

Heather Morris's latest novel, Sisters under the Rising Sun, publishes in paperback on July 4.
His fellow inmates also contacted her speculating he was deliberately moved to a 'gang cell' where gangsters 'could get to him' for tipping off the DoJ

Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, she revealed Jeffrey was found dead just hours after he was moved to a notoriously unsafe dorm without explanation

Lisa Hall, 62, is yet to learn husband Jeffrey's official cause of death, six weeks after he was found dead at Limestone Correctional Facility, in Harvest, Alabama

A key informant who helped the Department of Justice to build a case against the appalling conditions in Alabama prisons died under mysterious circumstances shortly after being moved from his honor dorm to another one said to be ruled by gangs.

Now Jeffrey Hall's 'prison bride' widow is demanding a full investigation into how he died and whether his cooperation with the federal probe had anything to do with it.

Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com on Monday, former nurse Lisa Hall, 62, said: 'When I think about it now, Jeff tried to warn me that something like this might happen.'

'We didn't talk about it much on the phone because it wasn't private, but he said to me, 'This is going to catch up to me one day'.

Hall, 65, was 21 years into a life term in Limestone Correctional Facility in Harvest, Alabama, when he was found dead on March 29.

Six weeks after his death, Lisa, who married him behind bars six years ago, is yet to receive an official cause of death, her husband's autopsy report or his death certificate on the grounds that it is the subject of an 'ongoing investigation'.

John Hall married Lisa while in prison. His widow is yet to learn the official cause of his death in March

Speaking to DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview on Monday, Hall said she believes her husband was murdered because he was a key informant for the Department of Justice

Hall was serving a life sentence at Limestone Correctional Facility, in Harvest, when he was found unresponsive in his cell on March 29

Prison authorities say he had been 'under chronic care for an ongoing medical condition'.

But Lisa refutes this claim, saying her husband was 'healthy as a horse'.

Jeffrey was on medication for elevated blood pressure but nothing that was ever raised as a significant concern, according to his widow.

The truth, she says, is that on the night of his death, Jeffrey was moved, without explanation, from the relative safety of the Honor ward in which he had been held, to the L dorm, known throughout the prison for being run by gangs.

Choking back emotion, Lisa recalled the last time she spoke with her husband.

'One of his friends called me earlier that evening and said Jeff had been moved and they didn't know why,' she said.

'That was around 6:00, 6:30pm and I didn't hear from Jeff until after 8:00pm that night.

'I asked him, 'What's going on?' And he said, 'They won't tell me.'

'He said, 'I've asked several times, but they won't tell me why they moved me'.

'He also told me there was a virus going round making people nauseous and he said, 'I've been in here about 30 minutes and I'm starting to get nauseous to my stomach.'

'I remember saying, 'Oh baby I hope you're not getting sick'.

'I later learned he'd had to go to another dorm to use the phone because both phones in L dorm were not working. I thought about that later because it meant he couldn't get outside help.'

They finished their conversation that evening as they always did, with Hall telling Lisa that he loved her and her telling him she loved him too and they would talk tomorrow.

The Alabama Department of Corrections has faced numerous allegations of brutality and of attempting to cover up inmate deaths within its walls over the years. Pictured: A 2016 file photo of a dorm at Limestone Correctional Facility

Sources linked to inmates told DailyMail.com other prisoners have been previously targeted for speaking about 'the horrible conditions which are going on in the Alabama prison system'

Limestone made headlines in 2022 after a prisoner strike demanding better conditions at the facility

Within hours he was dead.

In an official statement, the Alabama Department of Corrections said: 'On Friday March 29, 2024, an inmateJeffrey Hall was discovered unresponsive in his cell. Medical staff responded and he was pronounced decease by the attending physician. Hall had been under chronic care for an ongoing medical condition.'

Lisa has still not received any official account of what transpired in her husband's last hours but communications between her and fellow inmates, shared with DailyMail.com and corroborated by a different prison source with whom DailyMail.com has spoken directly, paint a disturbing picture.

According to one prisoner: 'The police [guards] moved him where the gang members could get to him.'

Another stated, that Hall was moved after a prison guard, whom we are not naming, 'ordered the hit.'

This source said: 'It was told to me that they drug tested H dorm and 15 minutes after the drug test they moved him to L dorm.'

Lisa is adamant that her husband did not do drugs.

She explained: 'That had been part of his life once, before he was in prison and it's something he said he would never, ever do again.'

Sources inside the prison confirm that Hall was strongly anti-drugs.

Certainly, there has been no official statement to the effect that he failed any test if one were conducted.

Instead, Lisa fears this was part of a ruse to facilitate a move that left him helpless and open to attack.

She has been told by multiple sources, as has DailyMail.com, that Hall started complaining of chest pains later that evening and tried to get medical assistance on five separate occasions but that he was denied it.

Lisa Hall pointed out that her husband's sudden death came just hours after he was inexplicably moved from the prison's 'honor ward' to the much more unfavorable 'L dorm'

Message exchanges between Lisa and her husband's fellow inmates, shared with DailyMail.com, paint a disturbing picture

The prison source told Lisa that Jeffrey was allegedly moved to a 'gang cell' where gang members 'could get to him' because he was a DoJ informant

One prison source told DailyMail.com: 'The guys who were in his cell were banging on the door trying to get the guards to come but they wouldn't.

'They refused him five times.'

Lisa believes her husband was deliberately placed in a dorm riddled with contraband and run by gangs. She believes that he was poisoned and that he was then denied the medical help that might have saved him.

If that sounds far far-fetched, it is worth noting that Alabama Department of Corrections has faced numerous allegations of brutality and of attempting to cover up inmate deaths within its walls.

Last year 325 inmates died in prison in Alabama  five times the national average and the highest rate since records began.

At least another 40 have died this year according to statistics kept by prison advocates.

Conditions across Alabama's 13 state prisons are allegedly so bad that the US Department of Justice has sued the state twice.

First in 2019 and again in 2021 when they filed another lawsuit stating that the squalid and dangerous conditions and excessive force used by many guards, had not improved since the original filing.

In a complaint signed by US Attorney General Merrick Garland the DOJ alleged: 'In the two and a half years following the United States' original notification to the State of Alabama of unconstitutional conditions of confinement, prisoners at Alabama's Prisons for Men have continued to daily endure a high risk of death, physical violence and sexual abuse at the hands of other prisoners.'

It continued: 'The conditions are pervasive and systemic across all 13 Alabama's Prisons for Menas indicated by facility-level data and examples of the violence, sexual abuse, excessive force and unsafe physical conditions.'

And Lisa is not the first to accuse Alabama Department of Corrections of covering up the truth about the death of an inmate.

In a letter dated April 11, the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences informed Lisa that reports regarding her husband's death are not yet available because the case is still under investigation

DailyMail.com has learned that the officer who ordered Hall's transfer, has been named in multiple lawsuits

Lisa believes her husband was deliberately placed in a dorm riddled with contraband and run by gangs

Last November, the death of 22-year-old father of one, Daniel Williams, made headlines and provoked outrage after prison authorities told his family that he had died of an overdose, only for insiders to inform his loved ones that he had been, 'kidnapped, bound, assaulted and sold out by other inmates.'

According to sources the attack lasted more than two days and resulted in Williams being found unresponsive in his cell October 22.

He was transported from Staton Correctional Facility where he had been serving a year sentence for theft, to Kilby Correctional Facility medical ward and subsequently to Jackson Hospital where he was declared brain dead and taken off life support November 5  the very day of his scheduled release.

DailyMail.com went on to expose the fact that Staton's warden, Joseph Headley, the man who told Williams's family he had overdosed, is the subject of more than 40 federal lawsuits alleging abuse, brutality, and dereliction of duty.

Similarly, DailyMail.com has learned, the corrections officer who is said to have ordered Hall's transfer from the Honor dorm to L dorm has been named in multiple lawsuits, accused of brutality, failure to protect prisoners in his care and even calling for their murder.

Last November prisoner and activist Robert Earl Council filed a suit against Limestone in which he alleges that officer threatened his life and asked other inmates who are gang members to kill him.

According to the suit, obtained by DailyMail.com, told other inmates: 'Even if y'all killed him I'll make sure nothing happens to y'all.'

Council's attorney, Andrew Menefee, told DailyMail.com that his client, who has been in prison since 1994, was targeted 'because he's willing to speak about the horrible conditions which are going on in the Alabama prison system.'

Attorney, Lauren Faraino, who represents Lisa and specializes in representing incarcerated people, their families, and victims of government corruption, agrees that the system is riddled with corruption that puts prisoners at risk  none more than those who try to expose it.

She believes that Hall is the third DOJ informant to die in Alabama prisons within the last year.

Faraino described Hall as, 'one of the top sources for the DOJ,' and revealed that he was due to be deposed as a witness for the upcoming trial against the state which is slated to take place in November.

Lisa admits her husband was not a perfect man, serving time in prison for domestic assault and a sexual crime

She revealed Jeffrey was up front about his criminal past when they first met, at which time he had already served 15 years of a life sentence

For her part, being denied any real account of what happened to her husband has only added to Lisa's pain and shock at his loss.

In a particularly awful detail she reveals that, when she went to view his body, she was shocked to find he had not been sown up after autopsy.

She said: 'I was expecting for him to be stitched up, but he wasn't, and it was obvious.

'You could tell from his forehead. It was covered up, so that just his face was showing, but it was protruding. And his body was covered too but you could tell.'

To Lisa it is further proof of the disdain with which Alabama's prison system treats both its prisoners and their families.

Indeed, UAB Medical Center, where prisoner autopsies are conducted, is currently at the center of a controversial lawsuit in which families of prisoners have alleged that their loved one's bodies were returned without internal organs which had been kept without permission.

Wherever you look, it seems, there are allegations of brutality, wrongdoing, and their concealment.

It's what Lisa says her husband saw every day and it's what he chose to knowingly risk his own safety to try to change.

He was not a perfect man, she says.

She said he was upfront about his past from the moment they met at which time he had already served 15 years of a life sentence.

Lisa believes her late husband is the third DOJ informant to die in Alabama prisons within the last year

Last year, Daniel Williams, 22, was reported to have been found dead while serving a 12-month sentence for second-degree theft at Staton Correctional Facility in Elmore, Alabama on October 22

Inside one of the rooms at ADOC's Staton Correctional Facility - where Williams was being held

She recalled: 'My sister was dating a friend of ours who ended up in prison and she asked me to come along with her to visit. I wasn't at all keen, but I had to put down a name of someone I was visiting  so it was his friend Jeff.'

Then a widowed mother of four grown children, Lisa says that she was strongly opposed to her sister's prison romance and even did her best to persuade her to abandon it. She had no intention of embarking on one herself.

But she said: 'We met and there was just a connection. He was very honest with me about what he had done and his past. And I wrestled with it.

'I paced the floor when I got home and tried to talk myself out of it but in the end I couldn't.'

Hall had been in prison for 17 years by the time he and Lisa met. He had, she said, done a lot of thinking and a lot of changing.

Once a successful contractor, his life had, he told her, imploded following the suicide of his adult son and his marriage to his then wife had fallen catastrophically and violently apart.

She said: 'He wasn't proud of what he'd done but he was open about it and I appreciated that. That first time we met we were sitting next to my sister and her guy and she told me later they were trying to talk to us but I just couldn't hear a thing, they couldn't reach us.

'They were just a blank to me and Jeff, we were just so wrapped up in each other.'

Hall was, she said simply, 'an awesome man who would do anything to help other inmates both on the inside and once they got out.'

His generosity of spirit  organizing clothing through her for men about to be released who had no-one on the outside, making sure there was someone to meet them - is one of the reasons she fell in love with him.

They spoke about their shared love of the outdoors  fishing and hunting  though each knew they could never enjoy it together. He told her that when he died he wanted his ashes to be scattered along with hers in 'his' river which flows between Phenix City, Alabama, and Columbus, Georgia.

But, Lisa said, 'It got to it that he said it didn't matter so much to him anymore so long as we were together.'

And despite her hesitation the woman who had 'begged' her sister: 'Please don't marry an inmate,' married one herself on February 21, 2018 after a year of dating.

They had just celebrated their sixth wedding anniversary the month before Hall's death.

Lisa said: 'Jeff had found God and we shared that, and it was a comfort to me that he had that. He used to say to me, Lisa, if I can just get one foot in the door, I'll make it to Glory.

'He saw the injustice around him. He saw things, he heard things, and he did what he did for a better system.

'That's all he hoped for. That's why they set him up for the killand that's why I'm speaking for him now.'

Because wherever the truth lies one thing seems clear - whether by design or neglect, Hall was ultimately a victim of the system he was working so hard to expose.
A drunken Household Cavalry staff corporal - featured by the Royal British Legion for his military tattoos - molested a 15 year-old party guest during a sleepover.

Father-of-four Lawrence Sabatini, 38, ventured down to the living-room, where the teen was sleeping with another young girl and groped her bum and between her legs.

When confronted he angrily barked: 'Can you f***? You're just lesbians, f*** you lesbians.'

Sabatini, of Bulford, Wiltshire, was a subject of the 'Tribute Ink' exhibition, due to his multiple tattoos commemorating the service of Commonwealth servicemen and women.

He fought the charge, claiming his alcohol intake resulted in loss of control of his actions, but this was rejected by the Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court jury, which convicted him of sexual assault.

Household Cavalry staff corporal Lawrence Sabatini, 38, who molested a 15 year-old party guest during a sleepover

Sabatini on tour in Afghanistan, where he regularly operated behind enemy lines as part of the Brigade Reconnaissance Force

Sabatini and his wife were guests at the Hounslow house party on August 8, 2021 and were expected to share an upstairs bedroom.

'You drank heavily at that party and knew at the time you were sleep-deprived after a Wiltshire military exercise, but consumed beer and several litres of vodka,' Judge Marcus Tregilgas-Davey told him.

The victim, who attended the sentencing with relatives, told the trial: 'I was on a blow-up bed and he came in and laid there and then started going down by my bed.

'I thought he was drank and so I moved, but he moved and started touching my bum and tried to go through my legs.

'He grabbed my bum and tried to pull me closer and was scooping me by my bum.'

The girls left the living-room due to Sabatini's creepy behaviour and when the second teen persuaded the victim to return he verbally abused both of them.

Stock picture of members of the Household Cavalry leave Hyde Park Barracks before taking part in a parade for the Major General's annual inspection of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment. Sabatini is not pictured.

'Wisely the two girls left the room distressed and sought comfort elsewhere,' added Judge Tregilgas-Davey. 'In the morning you said you had no recollection of the incident.'

Prosecutor Michael Hillman said: 'There is no victim impact statement, but she was in tears when I spoke to her this morning.

'She has been effected by this offending and is much less social and not going out as much.'

Sabatini's lawyer Ailsa Williamson told the court: 'The defendant has not drank alcohol since this incident three years ago and has been seeking treatment for his PTSD.

'He has been recently medically discharged and received a lump sum and now he and his family will be moving out of military accommodation.'

Judge Tregilgas-Davey announced: 'I accept this incident has had a not insignificant impact on her and it is deeply upsetting as a young woman should be enjoying life and going out socialising.

'It struck me during the trial that she was very brave coming forward with the complaint. She showed a great deal of fortitude.'

First-time offender Sabatini received a twelve-month community order, which includes 200 hours community service work and thirty days of a rehabilitation activity requirement.

He must also sign the sex offenders register and pay 4,000 costs.

Sabatini joined the Army in 2005, becoming an elite Paratrooper before transferring to the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, where he was a Staff Corporal - the equivalent rank to Staff Sergeant.

He served two tours of Afghanistan, where he regularly operated behind enemy lines as part of the Brigade Reconnaissance Force.

Before his second tour of Afghanistan South African-born Sabatini's left arm was 'sleeved' with tributes to fallen Commonwealth soldiers.

'Some people are not good with words. Tattoos are a way of expressing something important to you without having to speak,' Sabatini told the 'Tribute Ink' touring exhibition.

'People might spot your tattoo, but never ask you about it, but if they do it is a way to start that conversation about its meaning.

'To some people they are just tattoos, but for me it will always be more than that. It is a good way of expressing yourself.

'Getting my sleeve before I headed back out to Afghanistan allowed me to get in the mindset and to set the tone for the forthcoming deployment.

'My favourite piece within my tattoo are the poppies. These were the first thing I got.

'They represent the respect for the fallen. There is no greater sacrifice than being prepared to die for your country and it commemorates the ultimate sacrifice.'
Young people in big cities are using the mundane space to host comedy shows

Laundromats have become more than just the place you go to lather, rinse, and repeat - with Gen Z hailing the humble washer-dryer institutions as their 'home away from home.'

Young people living in cosmopolitan cities have to flock to laundromats as a necessity, but many have made it their new multifaceted social space, where they go on dates and even host stand-up comedy shows.

Julissa James, a staff writer for the LA Times, recently shed light on the long-standing 'romanticization' of laundromats, an objectively mundane venue that has ironically become her place of solace.

Others have taken to TikTok to glorify otherwise average trips to do their washing - by coordinating their timings with friends and having vintage photoshoots with machines as the backdrop.

In New York, one comedy event has even hosted several shows inside La La Laundry in East Village - featuring amateur and professional comics in the unusual setting.

Young people have taken to TikTok to glorify otherwise average trips to do their washing. Pictured: A couple on TikTok made their 'laundry day' a romantic date, stating 'anything is romantic if you add 'date' after it right'

The laundromat has become more than just the place you go to lather, rinse, and repeat - it has also become a place for shows and photoshoots (Pictured: Founders of Underground Overground with comedian Jatty Robinson at La La Laundry in East Village)

James, writing about her beloved local laundromat, said: 'I'm here now, crying as I type this. I'm surrounded by people who see the color of my underwear as I pull it out of the dryer. What are a few tears at this point? We're already well acquainted.'

She said that her local laundromat is the perfect place to 'slip into my subconscious mind' because of its 'familiar, sterile smell of cleaning products and metal, and the constant chugging sound of water and hot air.'

An avid people watcher, James said she fantasizes about the different types of customers that roll through the store - ranging from entire families washing their laundry, to couples standing against a machine holding hands.

'What most people see as an undesirable chore I see as a comfort zone,' said James.

'My local laundromat is open 24 hours  as all the good ones are  and any time of day or night, for the rest of my life, I know there is a place that is open and waiting for me (as long as I have a hoodie to wash).

'I've never had an in-unit washer and dryer in my many years of living on my own. And it never mattered. Because I have something rarer, more special: a home away from home.'

With the advancement of technology and the convenience of modern life, Gen Z have made it their mission to re-establish 'third places' in the cities and towns in which they live - and it seems many are using laundromats to do so.

Third spaces, a term coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg, is an informal gathering place for socialization that is not your home or work.

With young people living in New York and Los Angeles forced to rent in shoebox apartments with a lack of amenities, going to the laundromat to wash clothes is a necessity - but people online are urging others to see the silver linings in the chore.

An iconic Levi's advert in a laundromat from the 1990s

'The laundromat  its familiar, sterile smell of cleaning products and metal, the constant chugging sound of water and hot air  is a place that feels particularly primed for me to slip into my subconscious mind,' James said. Pictured: One person 'romanticizing' their laundry trip

Pictured: A Gen Z TikToker taking the time to film herself at the laundromat while washing her clothes in an effort to romanticize an otherwise boring task

Pictured: Ethan Mansoor, cofounder of Underground Overground Comedy, at La La Laundry

'There is something cool about hanging out in different spaces that you wouldn't usually hang out. Laundromats are very cool, nostalgic spaces, which people normally go to for very boring reasons, so if you can get people in there for a comedy show, it's great,' Mansoor told DailyMail.com (Pictured: Comedian Jared Fried performing at La La Laundry)

'I love romanticizing my life lately. A day at the laundromat? I give main-charater-in-a-90s-coming-of-age-drama-energy. It makes everything more fun,' one social media user wrote, as she filmed herself reading a book at her local establishment.

Another set up her camera on one of the industrial machines and filmed herself posing in between the laundry aisles while waiting for her clothes to dry.

Julissa James argued that the laundromat is one of the remaining third places that will never not have reason to exist - for more reasons than just laundry.

'The number of activities done there that have nothing to do with washing your clothes feels specific, in a lot of ways, to L.A,' she said.

'We do all of our photo shoots for our merch brands at laundromats, throw experimental punk shows, come up with our best ideas.'

'We make ourselves at home in places where we need to pass time. We find ways to be comfortable, to turn it into our living room.'

Even on television, the laundromat has long been a place for friends to meet - with one episode of Friends chronicling Ross pretending his washroom is rat-infested so he can join Rachel on 'laundry day.'

Jeans brand Levi's also used the laundromat setting for their iconic 1996 advert, featuring hunky Nick Kamen stripping down into his underwear in front of shocked patrons.

Aside from washing clothes and people-watching, the laundromat has also become a stage for some comics who are keen to redefine the mundane space.

Underground Overground, a popular word-of-mouth comedy event that keeps showing up in strange places across town, has hosted several comedy shows at an East Village laundromat.

Ethan Mansoor, comic and co-founder of Underground Overground Comedy, launched a series of shows inside the innocuous La La Laundry in 2021.

Pictured: Comedian and cofounder of Underground Overground performing at La La Laundry

By day, the laundromat served swathes of New Yorkers who don't have their own washers in their apartments, but by night it transformed into a bustling stage for comics to perform, hailing from across the city.

Mansoor told DailyMail.com that the laundromat was a perfect location for a show - because of its low ceilings, good acoustics, and nostalgic feel.

He said: 'There is something cool about hanging out in different spaces that you wouldn't usually hang out. Laundromats are very cool, nostalgic spaces, which people normally go to for very boring reasons, so if you can get people in there for a comedy show, it's great.

The comedian, 25, recalled how the shows were filled to the brim - over 65 young New Yorkers were squashed inside the laundromat, with some patrons even sitting in washing machines, while staff handed out drinks in laundry carts.

By day, the laundromat served swathes of New Yorkers who don't have their own washers in their apartments, but by night it transformed into a bustling stage for comics to perform, hailing from across the city (Pictured: A comedian having a photoshoot at La La Laundry)

Pictured: A scene from the Friends Episode 'The One With the East German Laundry Detergent'

Mansoor said: 'It was like recreating a childlike experience in there, those places at night are normally vacant, so it was a great use of space.'

The comedy troupe hosted a total of six shows at the laundromat in 2021, at a time when Covid restrictions in New York City started to slowly ease.

He added: 'It was the first time we really went into indoor spaces, people were really itching for things to do. We packed it in, it was incredible.

'Comedy clubs were closed, so comics were looking for spaces to perform, even they were having a great time.'

Overground Underground Comedy are planning to return to the laundromat on May 31 for a one-off night of laughter - and all ticket proceeds are going to the shop's owner, as it faces closure over financial issues.
A scammer who spent years duping people and stealing $1.1million in COVID funds to support his luxury lifestyle has been identified as he faces prison for his crimes.

Joey Cipolla drove a Lamborghini and a Bentley that frequently sat in the driveway of his 12,000sqf mansion in Bloomingdale, Illinois, an affluent area outside Chicago.

He had his own Cessna plane, which he was able to pilot, and was known for gambling thousands of dollars at a clip in casinos.

Rather than a legitimate businessman, Cipolla was an out-and-out fraudster and a conman for his entire adult life. He previously pleaded guilty to stiffing people on luxury auto-sales on eBay and using COVID funds to buy his home.

Now, federal prosecutors want to see him locked up for 10 years as they lay out their case for sentencing.

'Hes like a Talented Mr. Ripley,' Chicago restaurateur and victim Dion Antic told the Chicago Tribune. 'Hes an arch criminal, and its been going on like this for years.'

A scammer who spent years duping people and stealing $1million in COVID funds to support his luxury lifestyle has been identified as Joey Cipolla

Cipolla faces sentencing for several schemes including fraudulently selling cars on eBay and taking $1million in COVID funds to support his lifestyle

Cipolla flaunted his lifestyle on social media. Now, prosecutors want him locked up for a decade for his con game

Antic was referring to the 1999 movie about a con artist as he talked about Cipolla who once gave him a fake $35,000 check for a used Corvette.

Three years ago, Antic started a Facebook account called 'Conned by Joey Cipolla' as an outlet for his frustration that now has more than 100 followers. He and other victims of Cipolla have since formed lasting bonds over their shared experiences.

The people who are part of Antic's conned community say Cipolla's sentence is only a fraction of what he deserves to be held accountable for.

In November, Cipolla pleaded guilty to his crimes. Prosecutors want him locked up for a decade. His defense is arguing for a seven-year sentence.

'It was a lifestyle, fueled by unbridled avarice,' Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Chapman wrote in a recent filing with the court. 'There is no sound reason to believe that Cipolla, once released, will abjure his life of fraud and walk a lawful path to acquire the necessities of life.'

According to his defense lawyer, Cipolla has sobered up in jail awaiting trial and wants to turn his life around.

Cipolla's five-bedroom, nine-bathroom home in Bloomingdale, Illinois, an affluent suburb of Chicago

Cippola showing off a plane and a Ferrari on his Instagram

Cipolla's criminal history and accusations against him are lengthy.

In November, Cipolla pleaded guilty to his crimes. Prosecutors want him locked up for a decade. His defense is arguing for a seven year sentence.

In November, Cipolla pleaded guilty to his crimes. Prosecutors want him locked up for a decade. His defense is arguing for a sevenyear sentence.

The most serious incident remains shrouded in mystery happened in 2017, when Jeffery Charles Fox, 46, of Evanston, died falling 39 stories from the balcony of Cipolla's Chicago apartment in a luxury building a heartbeat away from Lake Michigan.

Fox had been accused two years earlier of assaulting a woman who is now Cipolla's wife.

Cipolla was not charged with any wrongdoing in that case. Fox's death was ruled an accident by the Cook County medical examiner's office.

By 2008, Cipolla had 15 convictions in four states, mostly for writing bad checks to buy vehicles. After serving time in Illinois and Michigan, he was paroled in 2010 and by 2014, the court was no longer supervising his release.

'By no later than 2016, he had returned to the relatively lower-paying grift of defrauding people on individual vehicle sales,' U.S. Attorney Chapman wrote in a filing.

Chapman added Cipolla forged paperwork to get an FAA pilot's license, then his schemes focused on aircraft sales and rentals.

He set up companies, including one that kept planes at hangers in the DuPage County Airport, outside Chicago.

Cipolla also ran a car business on eBay. He admitted to screwing over customers by illegally rolling back the mileage on exotic vehicles he was selling.

At times, he even accepted payment for vehicles he never possessed while also unloading cars that were in much worse condition than listed.

These airplane and car business allowed Cipolla to apply for more than $1.35 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans, which were introduced during the pandemic to help business owners struggling through lockdowns.

Cipolla posted piles o money on his social media accounts

Cipolla's guilty plea stated that $1.18 million was actually given through the program, and he said he used the lion's share of that money to buy his five-bedroom, nine-bathroom home in Bloomingdale.

The home sold for $1.3 million in July 2020, according to an FBI search warrant.

He also spent the money on Louis Vuitton goods and jewelry.

The scams eventually caught up with Cipolla when he was indicted on federal tax charges in April 2022.

Prosecutors wanted Cipolla held in custody because of his history of fleeing from law enforcement, something he tried to do in July 2021 when federal agents raided his home.

Cipolla 'attempted to evade the officers by retreating to the roof of his own residence, which required law enforcement officers to talk him off of the roof for Cipolla's and the officers' safety,' prosecutors wrote in a motion to deny him bond.

Weeks before his indictment in April 2022, Cipolla was stopped for speeding and told officers he thought federal agents were following him. Cipolla later admitted he had used cocaine shortly before the traffic stop, the Tribune reported.

A screenshot from a bizarre video where Cipolla is seen setting up a male acquaintance of his with a transgender woman on a hookup, only for the acquaintance to reject the woman at the last second to make fun of her. Cipolla and the other man laugh in the car about it after the fact

Cipolla was hit with a superseding indictment in fall 2022, and was ordered by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly on November 29 of that year to turn himself in to federal marshals that day, according to court records.

Sure enough, just like prosecutors warned, agents who were tailing him saw Cipolla get into a vehicle with no license plates and try to flee.

Once he was apprehended, he was taken to the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago, where he's been held without bond ever since.

The court heard from Cipolla on Tuesday through a letter he wrote as he apologized for his 'downright greedy and selfish behavior.'

'I was selling cars and telling people what they wanted to hear just to make a sale,' Cipolla wrote. 'I am sorry to anybody that lost money, and I mean that sincerely.'
Polish leaders have condemned a series of arson attacks on a synagogue in Warsaw which left visible fire damage to the outside walls today.

The Nozyk Synagogue, the only synagogue in the city to have survived the Holocaust, was hit with three firebombs early on Wednesday morning, with police as yet unable to identify an assailant or motive.

Nobody was hurt and the damage appeared minimal, but the violence has sparked concern from Jewish leaders, and prompted authorities to urge a 'strong and robust' response.

'If it (the bottle) had gone 15 centimetres to the left it would have reached the window and possibly inside the synagogue. There's a library there,' Poland's chief rabbi Michael Schudrich told reporters earlier today.

The fire ultimately burned itself out outside the building, according to Eliza Panek, vice president of the Jewish community in Warsaw.

Poland's chief rabbi Michael Schudrich points to the Nozyk Synagogue in Warsaw, Poland, on Wednesday, May 1, 2024

Soot marks are seen on the outside wall of Nozyk Synagogue, after it was hit overnight by a bottle containing a flammable substance

Traces of flames are seen on the facade of the Nozyk Synagogue in Warsaw on May 1, 2024

'For the moment, we don't know anything about the person or persons behind the attack, or their motives,' she told the AFP news agency.

'Thankfully, no one was hurt and no serious damage was done,' the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Twitter/X. 'However, we must respond very strongly and robustly to this outrageous and vicious attack.'

Yacov Livne, the Israeli ambassador in Poland, said 'outrageous anti-Semitic attacks such as this cannot be tolerated today,' noting the building was 'the only synagogue that survived in Warsaw after the Holocaust'.

'The perpetrators must be found and punished,' he added.

Warsaw police said they 'always take this kind of incident seriously' and they would do everything to ensure those responsible were punished.

'We were informed overnight about an incident involving a bottle containing a flammable liquid being thrown onto synagogue grounds,' a police spokesperson said earlier on Wednesday.

So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Poland's President, Andrzej Duda, wrote on social media site X, formerly Twitter, that he condemned 'the shameful attack', adding: 'There is no place for antisemitism in Poland! There is no place for hatred in Poland!'

A statement from Radosaw Sikorski, Minister of Foreign Affairs, speculated on who might have carried out the attack on the 20th anniversary of Poland's membership of the European Union.

'Maybe the same ones who scrawled the Stars of David in Paris?' he said.

French prosecutors started an investigation after several dozen Jewish symbols were daubed on buildings in Paris in October.

In November, in the weeks following the outbreak of war between Hamas and Israel, more than 200 paintings of the Star of David appeared to mark buildings in Paris.

France believes that Russian security services were behind the vandalism, an official French source said, but Russia has denied any involvement.

Carine Petit, mayor of the 14th arrondissement, slammed the 'anti-Semitic and racist' tags in a press release.

'This act of marking recalls the processes of the 1930s and the Second World War which led to the extermination of millions of Jews,' she said.

'Along with the municipal team, I firmly condemn these anti-Semitic and racist acts.'

Poland's chief rabbi Michael Schudrich said the bottle narrowly missed a window to the shul

The Union of Jewish Students of France said at the time the stars were designed to mirror the way Jews were forced to wear the stars by the Nazi regime.

'This act of marking recalls the processes of the 1930s and the Second World War which led to the extermination of millions of Jews,' its president Samuel Lejoyeux told AFP.

'The people who did this clearly wanted to terrify,' he added.

Little more than a month after the attack in Israel, the French Interior Ministry said 1,247 anti-Semitic incidents had been reported since October 7, nearly three times the total for all of 2022.

The Star of David was also graffitied onto Jewish homes in Berlin in October, amounting to a crime under German law.

During the Holocaust, Nazi brownshirts painted the Star of David in white on the doors of Jewish businesses to discourage non-Jewish Germans from going into them.

An Molotov attack on a synagogue in Berlin late last year prompted desperate outcry from religious and political leaders, urging tighter laws to combat anti-Semitism in Germany.

'Antisemitism is out of place in Germany, and we will do everything we can to stand against it,' admitted German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the time.

'We will do that as citizens and as those who bear political responsibility.'

By November, a group tracking anti-Semitism in Germany reported that incidents had climbed by 320 per cent since October 7.

The RIAS group said it recorded 994 incidents, which is an average of 29 incidents per day and an increase of 320% compared to the same time period in 2022.

The group looked at the time period from October 7 to November 9.

Among the 994 antisemitic incidents, there were three cases of extreme violence, 29 attacks, targeted damage to 72 properties, 32 threats, four mass mailings and 854 cases of offensive behavior.

The monitoring group said that during the time period analyzed, about one in five incidents, or 21%, was attributed to anti-Israeli activism.

'A further 6% can be attributed to Islamist background, 5% of cases were classified as left-wing/anti-imperialist, while the far-right and conspiracy ideology backgrounds each account for just under 2%,' RIAS wrote.

'1% of the cases could be attributed to the political center and less than 1% can be attributed to the Christian/fundamentalist spectrum.'

Britain also recorded its worst year for anti-Semitism since 1984 last year, according to the Jewish advisory body CST.

The number of anti-Semitic incidents across the country reached 4,103, more than twice the figure in 2022, amid a surge of threats, hate speech, violence and damage to Jewish institutions and property, the Community Security Trust said.

The CST, which advises Britain's estimated 280,000 Jews on security matters, said two-thirds of those incidents occurred on or after October 7.

An exterior view of the Nozyk synagogue that was targeted with a Molotov cocktail in Warsaw

U.S. Ambassador to Poland Mark Brzezinski, left, Poland's chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich, middle, and Israel's Ambassador Yacov Livne look at damage to the Nozyk Synagogue

Only this week, a teenager described by police as holding neo-Nazi beliefs was convicted for having plans to attack a synagogue in Sussex.

Police raided the home of Mason Reynolds, 19, and found bomb instruction manuals and a note detailing his plans to attack the shul in Hove.

Police said Reynolds had shared extreme right-wing videos and praised attacks by terrorists.

He was found guilty of possession of an article connected with the preparation of an act of terrorism.
When I pick up a male patient's notes for the first time, there are some conditions I tend to rule out. Ovarian cancer is one of them.

So imagine this scenario. It's a hypothetical case  but one that is all too plausible. A new patient books a GP appointment at my surgery, complaining of back pain, bloating and loss of appetite. Let's call him 'Mac'.

My initial concern might be that he has irritable bowel syndrome. The first assessment is done over the phone. Mac wants an instant cure, a prescription to fix the problem. That sense of urgency makes me cautious, and I ask him to come in for a consultation. There may be nothing in the medical notes, nothing at all, to indicate that Mac is a trans patient  a biological woman, presenting as a man.

But one simple question  'Were you born female?'  could prove a lifesaver, though in the current climate I might hesitate to ask directly. If Mac does indeed have early-stage ovarian cancer, that's something that I could never have surmised from the notes.

Dr Renee Hoenderkamp

Health Secretary Victoria Atkins' (pictured) announcement that it is essential 'biological sex is respected' is a crucial step in the right direction, Dr Renee Hoenderkamp writes

The NHS's obsession with 'trans rights' is deeply dangerous in many ways, not least to the trans men and trans women whose medical records do not reflect that they identify as the opposite sex. They might even have obtained a new NHS number to eradicate their history.

Health Secretary Victoria Atkins' announcement this week that it is essential 'biological sex is respected' cannot undo all the damage wreaked in the past decade by trans dogma.

But it is a crucial step in the right direction. It means that the NHS must start using clear, unambiguous language, sweeping away the woke waffle that labels mothers-to-be as 'pregnant people' and 'breast-feeding' as 'chest-feeding'.

And it heralds a shift away from the misuse of single-sex wards, where biological males identifying as 'trans women' can share facilities with women. It also raises a renewed hope that women undergoing intimate examinations will be able to request that the doctor carrying out the examination is a biological woman, without trans women present.

But I have serious misgivings about the news. It comes far too late: I'm one of many women doctors who have been warning about these problems for years, and our voices have been comprehensively ignored until now. The Secretary of State's pledges do not go nearly far enough  and already we are seeing resistance from outraged trans activists within the health service, who will fight to prevent any changes to the NHS constitution.

Yesterday Dr Emma Runswick, the deputy chair of the British Medical Association council, lashed out at the proposals. These will be subject to an eight-week consultation period during which they are at risk of being completely reversed or once again watered down until they are meaningless.

The proposals have, said Dr Runswick, 'the potential to incite further discrimination, harassment and ostracisation of an already marginalised group. Transgender and non-binary patients will potentially find their access to vital NHS services limited'. She makes no comment about women who are excluded as a result of current trends.

'By concentrating on 'trans-friendly' language, the NHS is dehumanising everyone else,' Dr Hoenderkamp (pictured) writes

Trans activists and extremists within the NHS cannot be allowed to keep imposing their fantasy on everyone else's reality. The vast majority of British people, in my long experience as a doctor, have no truck with the notion that gender is a personal choice, a matter of 'emotional instinct' rather than basic biology.

At a time when public trust in the health service is already eroded, peddling the trans ideology actively discourages people from seeking medical help. One of my patients, a man well past pension age, became visibly frustrated and distressed last week when he was asked to fill in a form asking questions that were, to him, deeply nonsensical.

He hated being asked whether he 'identified as the sex to which he was assigned at birth', and he was genuinely insulted by a question about his sexuality. In the end, I took the form and put a red line through the offending sections  then wrote across the top in red Biro, 'This patient is 79 and male,' with details of his symptoms. That's all any doctor needs to know.

I have to assume that when pages of data like this are being collected from every patient, there will be armies of analysts collating it and compiling it into reports  at untold cost to the NHS. That money could go into the reduction of waiting lists.

In the same way, inordinate amounts of time and money are being spent on the leaflets, the posters, the Pride flags, the slogans, the diversity officers and all the rewriting that goes with 'trans inclusivity'.

It's a colossal waste of resources, probably running into hundreds of millions of pounds. If that energy and funding wasn't being diverted into pointless wokery, it could be helping to solve the NHS crisis that leaves patients dying in emergency waiting rooms before they can be seen by A&E doctors.

By concentrating on 'trans-friendly' language, the NHS is dehumanising everyone else. I hate being called a 'person who menstruates', 'a cervix-haver' or a 'patient with ovaries'. That reduces me to the status of a chattel defined by body parts.

It's also dangerous. I know exactly what an ovary and a cervix is, but many women sadly don't. It's abominable to discriminate against women who don't happen to have all the medical terminology memorised. After all, data shows 44 per cent of women don't know what a cervix is, so it's only right that cancer-screening clinics should invite 'women' to attend, not 'people with cervixes'. Every woman knows she's female, whether or not she can explain where her cervix is.

If medical data does not accurately record whether patients are biologically male or female, the results will be skewed. This has long-term implications: how can clinicians improve early diagnosis rates if they don't have the full facts? How can public health plan for future needs and spend money effectively?

Men and women don't only have different diseases, they have different risks of developing diseases shared in common. For example, either sex can suffer breast cancer, but it's much more prevalent in women.

The most urgent problem of all is the presence of trans women in all-female hospital wards, a bizarre change introduced in 2021. For three years, NHS guidance has been that trans patients can be placed in single-sex wards, based on the gender they 'identify' with. The Health Secretary's proposals will belatedly reverse this. The new guidance will state: 'We are defining sex as biological sex.'

This cannot come a day too soon. Women in hospital wards are especially vulnerable to assault. Between 2017 and 2021, according to data in the British Medical Journal, 35,000 female patients suffered rapes, sexual assaults and sexual harassment in hospital. That is a disgrace, something the NHS should be doing everything to prevent. One obvious way is to put an end to the madness of placing trans women on female wards.

Nobody wants to deprive trans people of any medical care. That should go without saying. But the crisis in the health service affects everyone. We cannot continue to allow the NHS to be held to ransom by a tiny minority of activists who continue to trumpet the increasingly discredited slogan that 'trans women are women'.
A driver collapsed to the floor in shock after he copped a massive fine for supposedly using his phone while behind the wheel, but he claims he was holding his wallet.

The 62-year-old man had been driving in Bankstown, south-west Sydney, when he was nabbed by a mobile detection camera on April 1.

He received a letter in the mail on Tuesday informing him that he had been caught on his phone and that he had been fined $387 and lost 10 demerit points as a result double the normal amount.

His son Husni Tarmizi was with his father when he opened the letter and said the 62-year-old immediately went into shock and needed help being lifted off the ground.

Mr Tarmizi said the photo should exonerate his father, and the family have already appealed.

The photo shows the man holding a $50 bill in his right hand which is on the steering wheel, lending creedence to his claim the item in his left hand was his wallet rather than a phone.

A Sydney man who collapsed after being fined for being on his phone has instead claimed he was holding his wallet and said his phone was safely stowed in a cradle (pictured)

'I went to the computer and downloaded the image and I could see clearly that it's a wallet [in his hand], you can see his phone is in the cradle,' he told Yahoo.

'In his left hand you can see the wallet and his right hand he's holding a $50 bill.'

Mr Tarmizi explained his father is 'old school' and barely uses his phone.

The 62-year-old had left the house to fill up his car at the service station around the corner from his house.

He was hit with the exorbitant number of demerit points after they were doubled because it was Easter Monday.

The father is now on the brink of having his license suspended as NSW offers a maximum accumulation of 13 points before cancelling a driver's licence.

Mr Tarmizi said he was 'scared a bit' about his father's reaction to the fine as he is living with a heart condition.

'For the older generation where they don't understand the technologies and stuff, it's scary,' he said.

Mr Tarmizi confirmed he has appealed the fine after others told him to dispute it and is awaiting a response.

Another man, Frank Singh, was given the same fine despite never owning a mobile phone - or even a computer - and took Revenue NSW to court.

He had been socked $362 after being caught on a mobile phone detection camera on the Pacific Motorway in NSW's Northern Rivers region last September.

His son has appealed the infringement and is awaiting a response (stock image)

Images captured by the traffic detection cameras showed Mr Singh behind the wheel, holding and looking down at an item in his left hand.

'It could be my wallet,' he said when questioned what the item could be.

While Mr Singh admitted he couldn't specifically remember what he was doing at the time, he believed he was possibly placing his wallet on the passenger seat after paying for fuel.

Despite facing thousands in legal fees if he lost the appeal, the 77-year-old stood strong and Revenue NSW eventually revoked the fine following a review.
Friends of a 19-year-old found dead in her Sydney eastern suburbs unit are demanding to know what happened to the young mother, who they say was happy and healthy.

The North Bondi apartment block where Yolonda Mumbulla was found unresponsive shortly after 9am on Tuesday sits empty with no flowers or tributes, despite the tragic circumstances around her death.

Detectives combed over the flat and left by Wednesday with a few remnants of police tape and a boarded-up door the only signs that anything had happened at the scene.

A drug overdose is one of many lines of inquiry the police are investigating.

'Yolonda always had such an uplifting spirit, she was funny, full of joy and she was always there to help anyone,' her friend Alyah Pera said.

Yolonda Mumbulla (pictured) was found unresponsive in her North Bondi unit on Tuesday morning

The unit now sits sadly empty of flowers or tributes despite the tragic circumstances around the young mother's death

'She was still always happy. You never saw her mad, and if you did it didn't last long,' another friend, Isabella Pike, told news.com.au.

'We're just so angry ... we want answers.'

Ms Mumbulla had only recently moved to North Bondi after growing up in Macquarie Fields in Sydney's south-west.

She went to Guise Public School where she had played netball and then James Meehan High School with Ms Pike and Ms Pera.

'She was just always a joyful, very bubbly person,' Ms Pike said.

Ms Pera has made a GoFundMe to raise funds to give Ms Mumbulla a 'proper send off'.

Ms Mumbulla's 32-year-old partner Aaron Carey, claimed to have found her not breathing inside the unit and paramedics were called, who declared her dead.

Shortly after, police arrested Carey, who was wanted on an unrelated outstanding warrant for larceny.

Teenage mum Yolonda Mumbulla and her partner Aaron Carey seen in a filtered photo on social media

The block of units in Hardy Street, North Bondi, where Ms Mumbulla's body was found is pictured

Her shattered father Derek Mumbler is completely 'cut up' over the loss of his youngest daughter.

'She is my beautiful daughter,' the father-of six told The Daily Telegraph.

'This shouldn't happen. It shouldn't.'

'I'm so lost.'

Mr Mumbler recalled how detectives came to his home on Tuesday morning to deliver the harrowing news that Yolonda had died.

'It shocked me big time,' he recalled.

'It's still hard to process it all at the moment.

'I miss my daughter. I miss her.'

Yolonda regularly travelled from North Bondi to visit her dad in Macquarie Fields.

'She was here last week. She was here for a couple of days,' he said.

'She was alright. I was glad to see her. We sat down and talked.

'We had a beautiful relationship.'

Mr Mumbler said his daughter - who descends from the Yuin and Yaegl tribes - left James Meehan High School in Year 11.

Derek Mumbler (pictured) said he is 'lost' without his youngest daughter

Emergency services were called to the unit on Hardy Street at North Bondi, where police discovered the body of Yolonda Mumbulla (pictured), 19, at about 9.20am on Tuesday

Daily Mail Australia previously revealed the troubled couple - who were allegedly taking drugs together the night before - had a child together last year.

Mr Carey gushed about his new family in a social media post from January 2023.

'I love you so much babe. Thank you for starting a family with me,' he wrote.

'I'm the luckiest guy ever to have you in my life Yolonda.

'You make me the happiest man ever. I love you so much.'

However, Mr Mumbler claimed he did not know Carey 'from a bar of soap.'

The unit where Ms Mumbulla was living is part of a squalid public housing apartment block in the otherwise affluent suburb.

A neighbour told Daily Mail Australia the unit complex is notorious for loud disturbances.

'It's a housing commission block, there is always fights and loud music coming from the units,' she said

'I used to live in a housing block so I know what they're like, now I live next door, this specific block has a lot of junkies living there.'

The pair were known to police, with an apprehended domestic violence order between them, which included standard conditions preventing them from associating.

Aaron Carey (pictured) has been charged with a string of offences not connected to his partner's death

Following inquires, officers executed a search warrant at an address in nearby Flood Street in Bondi on Tuesday night, where police allegedly seized methylamphetamine and cannabis.

Carey was charged with the outstanding warrant for larceny value less than or equal to $2,000, three counts of entering a vehicle or boat without consent of the owner/occupier, destroying or damaging property less than or equal to $2,000, hindering or resisting a police officer in the execution of duty, and goods suspected stolen in/on premises.'

A second man, 34, was issued a field court attendance notice to appear at Waverley Local Court on June, 18.
George Alan Kelly, the Arizona rancher who became the face of the border crisis after he was charged with shooting a migrant dead on his land, says he feels vindicated after charges were dropped.

Kelly, 75, was charged with the killing of Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea, a Mexican national found dead on Kelly's sprawling ranch in January 2023.

He insists he never shot Cuen-Buitimea, instead only firing a warning shot to scare away groups of migrants who regularly crossed through his land.

Last week, a jury failed to reach a verdict after one hold-out juror refused to acquit and on Monday, prosecutors announced they would not seek a new trial.

In his first major interview since charges were dropped, Kelly says he and his wife are trying to 'start our life over again.'

'I don't feel that I was treated fairly in the investigation,' Kelly told NewsNation. 'I think I was arrested without cause, without probable cause.'

George Alan Kelly, the Arizona rancher who became the face of the border crisis after he was charged with shooting a migrant dead on his land, says he feels vindicated after charges were dropped

Kelly, 75, was charged with the killing of Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea, a Mexican national found dead on Kelly's sprawling ranch in January 2023

He said that despite a crowdfunding service helping out Kelly and his wife, he still has fears for the future.

'That cloud's still over my head,' he said. 'It's a long road, and we're not out of danger yet, but we're not giving up. I'm not going to let them beat me down.'

Kelly adds the crisis at the United States-Mexico border makes him worried about the state of his land.

'I've lived in a place like this all my life,' Kelly said. 'I'm not, I'm not afraid to exist here. But I know that it's a definite risk.'

He said he was living in constant fear and was desperate to protect his wife after multiple incidents.

Prosecutors claim that Kelly recklessly fired his AK-47 nine times at a group of migrants 100 yards away who were trespassing on his 170-acre cattle ranch near the U.S.-Mexico border.

Kelly and his wife Wanda arrive for an arraignment hearing at the Arizona Superior Court in Nogales, Arizona

A sign referring to Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea, a Mexican man found dead on the ranch of George Alan Kelly

The group, which included Cuen-Buitimea, were allegedly running from border patrol agents, according to law enforcement officials.

At trial, prosecutors claimed that Kelly's story to border patrol officers kept changing, first saying he returned fire at all five individuals who were shooting him, then saying it was a group of 10 to 15 people armed with AR-styled rifles, ABC News reported.

Kelly said he fired warning shots in the air to scare the group off and never intended to hit, let alone kill anyone.

The defense said authorities were lying about Kelly admitting to shooting at multiple people.

'That was not true, Alan never said that,' Kelly's lawyer Brenna Larkin said.

'Law enforcement wasn't listening and they didn't care, they already decided that he was guilty.'

George Alan Kelly enters court for his preliminary hearing in Nogales Justice Court in Nogales

Kelly is followed by reporters as he exits the Santa Cruz County Courthouse

Lowthorp said Kelly is 'in good spirits' and has decided to retain her and Larkin once again if there is to be another trial.

Cuen-Buitimea, who was found with a bullet hole in his back on Kelly's ranch, lived just south of the border in Nogales, Mexico.

He had previously entered the US illegally several times and was deported, most recently in 2016, court records show.

Kelly was also charged with aggravated assault against another person in the group that ended up on his property, including a man from Honduras who was living in Mexico and who testified during the trial that he had gone into the US that day seeking work.

A second-degree murder conviction would have mandated a minimum prison sentence of 10 years.
Former President Donald Trump blasted the criminal and civil cases against him and railed against the presiding judges and President Biden at an energized rally in Michigan as he took a day off from court.

The ex-president's travel to Wisconsin and Michigan on Wednesday were the first campaign rallies Trump has held since the hush money trial against him began in New York nearly three weeks ago.

Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records for covering up hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.

Over the past two weeks, multiple witnesses have taken the stand to give salacious details of his alleged affairs and efforts to hide them before the 2016 election.

It is the first of four criminal case against Trump to go to trial.

'Every one of these fake cases is bulls**t,' the ex-president said to a boisterous crowd outside an airplane hanger. 'Every single one of them.'

Donald Trump at a rally in Freeland, Michigan where he slammed the criminal cases against him while on a day off from court in the hush money case

'I have come here today from New York City where I'm being forced to sit for days on end in a kangaroo courtroom with a corrupt and conflicted judge enduring a Biden sideshow trial,' Trump said as the crowd booed.

Trump claimed what his supporters are witnessing in New York is 'not a legal proceeding' but an 'unlawful exercise in very stupid and very evil politics.'

He suggested lot of political opponents wouldn't do well under such circumstances, but Trump argued he has a 'relationship with the people' and when he explains it to them, they 'understand it's a scam.'

The ex-president claimed the good news is the cases have driven up his poll numbers and said the ultimate verdict will not come in a courtroom but at the ballot box.

The ex-president's travel to Wisconsin and Michigan on Wednesday were the first campaign rallies Trump has held since the hush money trial against him began in New York nearly three weeks ago

Donald Trump flew into Michigan for a rally at an airfield where his plane pulled up before an energized crowd of supporters

A supporter of Donald Trump's at his rally in Freeland, MI where the ex-president visited on Wednesday, May 1, 2024

Trump prepares to walk on stage at the Waukesha County Expo Center in Waukesha Wisconsin

During his rally in Freeland, MI, Trump blasted the criminal cases against him and complained about the gag order in the hush money case to a crowd of rowdy supporters

'What happened is incredible, and we could have done something on Hillary Clinton. I thought it would be a terrible thing for the country to be honest with you, terrible,' Trump said referencing his 2016 presidential opponent.

'We could have done it on other people too,' Trump added. 'They did on me what was never ever supposed to happen, especially when there's nothing.'

The ex-president blasted the judge in the hush money case Judge Juan Merchan and lamented being 'gagged.'

'I'm not even supposed to talk to you because he gagged me,' Trump dramatically exclaimed.

Trump was found to have violated the gag order in the case and fined $9,000 in court on Tuesday. He was also ordered to take down multiple posts from Truth Social, which he did Tuesday afternoon.

The judge signaled if Trump continues to violate the order, he could face jail but the order also specifically noted that Trump is a political candidate for office and acknowledged the importance to protect his first amendment rights.

Donald Trump in a Manhattan criminal courtroom on April 30 where he is standing trial for falsifying business records

A sketch from Trump's hush money trial where texts have been read aloud in court over whether the ex-president cheated on his wife Melania

Trump will return to court for the hush money case on Thursday where witness testimony is set to resume.

The Republican presidential candidate also held an event earlier in the day Wednesday in the battleground state of Wisconsin where he also blasted the cases against him.

During the afternoon rally, the ex-president acknowledged that he did in fact want to go to the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

'I sat in the back, and you know what I did say? I said "Id like to go down there because I see a lot of people walking down."' Trump recalled telling the Secret Service. 'They said "sir, its better if you dont."'

Trump is facing a separate case in Washington, DC over election interference. The trial date for the case has not been set yet.

Last week, the ex-president's lawyer argued before the Supreme Court that the president has absolute immunity as he fights the case stemming from the investigation of Special Counsel Jack Smith of efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

The Supreme Court is expected to release its decision on immunity by the end of June.

Trump's visit to Michigan was his second visit to the state in just over a month. He was last in Grand Rapids in early April.

The latest polls from the battleground state show a razor thin race. The Real Clear Politics average of polls shows Trump with just over a one point lead. But the recent CBS News poll shows President ahead in the state by barely two points.
Families flocked to see a haunting collection of military 'trophies' brought back to Russia from Ukrainian battlefields on Wednesday as the country marked a public holiday at Moscow's Victory Park.

Armoured vehicles from a dozen NATO countries, as well as drones, rocket launchers and American tanks, were displayed in the symbolic space dedicated to Russia's triumph over the Nazis in World War II.

The army did not say where exactly where the rows of armoured vehicles were captured - or at what cost - only that they came from Russian-occupied eastern and southern Ukraine.

Among them, visitors could goggle at a British Army Husky, the windshield shot up from conflict with British and NATO flags shown in the windscreen.

More than two years into Russia's Ukraine offensive, the mood was one of admiration and patriotism - but also of fear in the face of a dragging conflict with no end in sight.

People look at a US-made M2 Bradley (C) infantry fighting vehicle captured by Russian troops at the exhibition on the Poklonnaya Hill in Moscow, May 1 2024

An M2 Bradley infantry vehicle, made in the US and captured in Ukraine, on display in Moscow

Among the vehicles on display: a British Army Husky, with visible damage to the windshield

It was not clear where the vehicles were from, but Russia claimed they were from Ukraine

A German Leopard tank pictured at the Victory Park exhibition on May Day, a national holiday

Around 40 military vehicles of all sizes were on display in total, including a German Leopard, a French AMX-10 and a seriously damaged US Abrams tank.

One of the military men guiding visitors, Andrei Lyubchikov, was keen to stress the comparison between the Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany and Russia's more recent animosity with NATO.

He said the show aimed to 'show that - like in the Second World War - our fighters are resisting in the face of the West and its technology. They are winning.'

Emblazoned on a large sign at the event, the words 'our victory is inevitable' drew families for photo opportunities as crowds swarmed to inspect the damaged tanks for themselves.

The event was held ahead of May 9 celebrations, when Russia marks the victory over the Nazis in what has become central to President Vladimir Putin's long rule.

Many who came to the show in Victory Park were receptive to the state-backed line, painting Russia as the protagonist against Western belligerence.

Dmitry Pervukhin, 75, regretted that Moscow did not act more 'decisively' against 'the Ukrainian Nazis' in 2014 - the year Russia annexed Crimea after a pro-Western revolution in Kyiv.

But the retired military man was reassured that Russian troops can seize Western tanks.

'It means we can fight them,' he said.

One woman, speaking to the BBC, said: 'It's incredible, jaw dropping. It's amazing to think our guys managed to get these trophies.'

A French vehicle on display ahead of the opening of the event in Moscow

The event, featuring more than 30 tanks from 12 countries, opened on May 1 to last the month

Crowds ogle the rows of Western tanks near banners reading 'Our victory is inevitable'

Weapons and tanks from nine other countries including Turkey, Sweden, Czechoslovakia, South Africa, Finland, Australia and Austria are also set to feature in the show

File photo. Vladimir Putin attends a meeting at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow on April 27, ahead of the opening of the park on May 1

Others were shocked by the immediate proximity of the war, somewhat disturbed by the display.

Denis Donskoy, a 21-year-old science student, said he felt a mix of 'admiration and fear' while seeing the conquered vehicles.

'When I see that, I admire our soldiers, their bravery, their will.. But I also worry about their lives,' he said. 'I hope it will all end well.'

In Moscow, the conflict in Ukraine can often seem distant, with authorities promoting a business-as-usual approach in the mega-city.

For Alexei, an IT engineer, seeing the tanks made the conflict more real than what is shown on TV and social media.

'It's terrible to see a weapon like this, that advances, that shoots,' the 29-year-old, who preferred not to give his last name, said.

Parents Marina and Andrei Novik-Zolotov, who came with their children aged four and 11, had smiles on their faces - but were also worried.

Marina, 34, described herself as a 'patriot' and believed Russian soldiers are 'continuing to fight against fascism.'

'But it is still a war, it is hard, people are dying,' she added.

Her husband, 37-year-old Andrei, said he found the show 'frightening' but believed it was 'important to show people that the war is not distance, but very close.'

Both were convinced the conflict was nowhere near an end.

'We are not talking about a year, or two, or five. It is for a very long time,' the father-of-two said.

Captured cars were moved to the Victory Park earlier this week, planned as a month-long exhibit to last through May.

Spectators spoke of their pride at seeing the captured vehicles - but also fears for the future

Large crowds turned out for the opening of the Victory Park display in Moscow, on May 1

The exhibition will run alongside Moscow's Red Square Victory Day Parade on May 9 in commemoration of Russia's victory against the Nazis

The exhibition was announced by the Russian Ministry of Defence just days after they disclosed that Russian marines had seized a number of Western-made weapons

The open-air museum, which commemorates Germany 's defeat in the Second World War , has been transformed into a glorification of Russia's invasion of Ukraine

Described as a celebration of Russia's success 'against Ukrainian militants and their Western supporters', the captured vehicles were displayed beneath red banners reiterating: 'Our victory is inevitable.'

Weapons and tanks from nine other countries including Turkey, Sweden, Czechoslovakia, South Africa, Finland, Australia and Austria are also set to feature in the show, along with Ukrainian combat documents and 'ideological literature'.

The exhibition was announced by the Russian Ministry of Defence just days after they disclosed that Russian marines had seized a number of Western-made weapons during their operation to take the village of Novomikhailovka in eastern Ukraine.

A similar event was held last year at Patriot Park near Moscow, where Russia also showcased a range of captured Western military equipment - including an American-made M113 armoured personnel carrier and a fully intact French-made Storm Shadow cruise missile.
A Perth woman has pleaded guilty to killing a 21-year-old following a fatal crash while she was speeding and under the influence of a cocktail drugs.

Evie Lyn Butterworth, 30, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of 21-year-old Abbey Rose Sheriff in the Western Australia Supreme Court on Wednesday morning, the ABC reports.

The court heard Butterworth's Nissan Maxima collided with Ms Sheriff's Nissan X-Trail near Baldivis on the Mundijong-Kulija Freeway in southern Perth shortly before midnight on January 11, 2023.

Evie Lyn Butterworth, 30, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of 21-year-old Abbey Rose Sheriff

Abbey Rose Sheriff (pictured) was hit and killed while driving to see her friend on January 11, 2023

Ms Sheriff was killed when Butterworth's vehicle collided with her car.

Police had previously told the court Butterworth's blood contained drugs including methamphetamine, amphetamine, cocaine and tetrahydrocannabinol  the psychoactive substance found in cannabis.

They also said she was travelling between 141 and 188 kilometres per hour before the crash.

Butterworth pleaded guilty to one charge of manslaughter. The charge of driving a motor vehicle under the influence of drugs was discontinued as state prosecutors said criminality was covered by the manslaughter charge.

Butterworth was remanded in custody and will be sentenced in October.

Ms Sheriff's parents said the guilty plea came as a relief.

'She had five high-end cocktail drugs in her system, she was speeding. She knew what she was doing behind the wheel, and it's taken a life that did not deserve,' Ms Sheriff's mother Julie Sheriff said outside court.

Abbey was the couple's only child, and Ms Sheriff becomes distressed when she sees traumatic injuries or new mothers with their children, as she and her husband will now never be grandparents.

Abbey had been on her way to support an upset friend and was driving a route she regularly took to her job at the Dome Cafe when Butterworth hit her.
Tory MPs last night urged Rishi Sunak to fund the installation of mobile phone lockers in schools to prevent children from using them during the day.

More than 50 MPs and peers have written to the Prime Minister asking him to go further to tackle the 'disastrous consequences of a phone-based childhood'.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan issued new guidance to schools in February urging head teachers to ban the use of smartphones in schools, including during break periods.

But a study by the Policy Exchange think tank this week found that only one in 10 secondary schools have an 'effective ban' that physically prevents children from using their phones.

In their letter today, MPs urge the PM to fund the installation of lockers in all schools and to update guidance for Ofsted

The group warns that the prevalence of smartphones among teenage children 'has serious implications for learning' (Stock Image)

These schools either ban them from the premises or insist that phones are shut away in dedicated lockers or pouches for the entire school day.

In their letter today, MPs urge the PM to fund the installation of lockers in all schools and to update guidance for Ofsted to require the watchdog to assess the effectiveness of mobile phone bans in the classroom.

The letter was sent by former minister Neil O'Brien and fellow MP Miriam Cates and signed by 40 Conservative MPs and 19 peers.

Signatories include former home secretary Suella Braverman and former education ministers Tim Loughton, Kelly Tolhurst, Vicky Ford and Jonathan Gullis.

The group warns that the prevalence of smartphones among teenage children 'has serious implications for learning, as well as for mental health and healthy development of our children'.

They say the 'constant distraction' caused by the devices make it 'impossible for children to concentrate', while youngsters who spend their breaks 'glued to their phones' miss out on 'important opportunities to play and socialise'.

They write: 'The disastrous consequences of a phone-based childhood are becoming apparent, not only for educational outcomes but for mental health and preparation for adult life.

'The Government has a vital role to play in helping to change the culture and as a first step towards this we must truly get smartphones out of our schools.'

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan issued new guidance to schools in February urging head teachers to ban the use of smartphones in schools

Just over half of schools (52 per cent) said they allowed pupils to keep phones in their bags (Stock Image)

This week's Policy Exchange report found that secondary schools which impose a total ban on smartphones are twice as likely to be rated outstanding.

But it found that only 11 per cent had done so, either by banning them from school grounds or by insisting they are locked away.

Just over half of schools (52 per cent) said they allowed pupils to keep phones in their bags, while 36 per cent said children were allowed to use their phones during breaks.

The call comes as the PM is considering calls for a total ban on smartphones for under-16s. He said last month that infant school children 'shouldn't be having access to phones full stop'.

Whitehall sources said the PM was also considering other measures, including tighter age restrictions on social media use and mechanisms to require children to get parental consent before using certain sites.
A crazed cannibal was caught chewing the flesh from a man's face after eating his ear and eyeball after bashing him to death in a 7-Eleven car park, police say.

Colin Czech, 29, is charged with murder after police found him covered in blood and kneeling above the man's mutilated head, just off the Las Vegas strip.

The homeless man admitted to police he 'used his teeth to eat [the victim's] eyeball and ear', his arrest report alleged.

Czech faced Las Vegas Justice Court on Wednesday where he made bizarre facial expressions and his lawyer argued he was too insane to stand trial.

Colin Czech, 29, faced Las Vegas Justice Court on Wednesday charged with bashing a man to death and eating his ear and eye, where he made bizarre facial expressions

Witnesses called 911 at 4.44am on Sunday after seeing Czech tackle a man, identified as Kenneth Brown in court documents, to the ground.

He was 'banging [Brown's] head on the concrete, appeared paranoid, was screaming and yelling, and pacing in front of the business'.

Police alleged Czech murdered brown by repeatedly bashing his head on the concrete, causing his death from severe head injuries.

The 7-Eleven parking lot is at 1100 S Las Vegas Boulevard, steps from the famous Haunted Museum and Little White Chapel.

Another 911 call was placed at 5.33am saying the same man was 'eating the face of the male on the ground' at a nearby bus stop. Police arrived four minutes later and were horrified to allegedly find Czech with blood and 'biological matter' on his face, hands, mouth, and clothing.

Czech was caught chewing the flesh from a man's face after eating his ear and eyeball after bashing him to death in this 7-11 car park, police allege

A 911 call claimed Czech was 'eating the face of the male on the ground' at a nearby bus stop, and police arrived to find him kneeling over the victim and covered in blood

Brown was unresponsive and bleeding from his head and was missing his left ear and left eye.

Czech was 'kneeling on the ground' next to Brown's head and when cops asked what happened, he 'gave a blank stare' and didn't say anything, authorities said.

Czech was taken to hospital as he was 'going in and out of consciousness', while Brown was pronounced dead on arrival.

Czech later told detectives he was homeless and hadn't slept for five nights in a row because something was 'possessing him.'

He allegedly claimed Brown 'attacked him' and he thought he was fighting a 'shape-shifter' but was helped to victory by a 'higher power.'

Voices in his head told him to kill a person called Drake, whom he didn't know and thought it was Brown, he allegedly told police. Czech also said he was 'tweaking.'

Czech admitted to police he 'used his teeth to eat [the victim's] eyeball and ear,' his arrest report alleged

Chief deputy public defender David Westbrook (pictured) told the court Czech was insane and was granted a competency hearing on May 24

When asked what he used to attack Brown, he allegedly said 'my teeth' and that he 'he used his teeth to eat [Brown's] eyeballs and ears'.

Chief deputy public defender David Westbrook told the court Czech was insane and was granted a competency hearing on May 24.

'I've spoken to him, and I've determined that he is incompetent,' he said.

'We will get to the bottom of all the factual allegations, that is a process. But before we get there we have to go into the competency proceedings.'

Should the hearing determine Czech is too mentally incompetent to stand trial, he would be sent to a mental institution for treatment until that changed.

Czech was remanded in custody without bail and is behind bars at Clark County Detention Center.
Network Ten's top lawyer has belatedly admitted she was wrong to approve Lisa Wilkinson's speech at the Logies about the Brittany Higgins matter.

Tasha Smithies' apology was in an affidavit tendered to the Federal Court on Wednesday during a hearing over who will bear the costs for Bruce Lehrmann's unsuccessful defamation trial against Network Ten and Wilkinson.

Ms Smithies had told the court in February that she did not think there were any issues with Wilkinson's Logies acceptance speech before it was delivered at the award ceremony in June 2022.

The speech was broadcast live on television, eight days before the original date of Lehrmann's rape trial, and was regarded as a potential contempt-of-court issue because Wilkinson referred to Brittany Higgins as a proven rape victim rather than an alleged one.

As a direct result of that speech, the criminal trial was pushed back from June to October 2022 because the ACT Chief Justice was concerned jurors may have been exposed to the intense publicity and form bias against Lehrmann.

During a cross-claim in Lehrmann's defamation hearing in February, Ms Smithies refused to accept that her legal advice regarding the speech was poor.

However her subsequent affidavit reflected a significant change of heart.

Justice Michael Lee handed down his decision in the defamation matter on April 15 - which included findings about the Wilkinson speech and Ms Smithies' legal advice.

Network Ten's senior litigator, Tasha Smithies, is pictured leaving court in February

Lisa Wilkinson is pictured delivering her Logies speech in June 2022

She said: 'The trial judgement has had a profound and sobering impact on me ... The 11 days since April 15, 2024, have been the most difficult of my career.

'The day after the delivery of the trial judgement, I took a week off work to go away with my family.

'I have read the trial judgement very carefully, especially those parts which relate to me and the advice I gave Ms Wilkinson in relation to the speech she delivered at the TV Week Logie Awards on June 19, 2022.'

She said the judgement at paragraph 1054 in particular 'hit home'.

In paragraph 1054 of the judgement, Justice Lee said: 'There has been ample time for mature reflection and yet there is no recognition, even now, that the speech could have undermined the administration of justice and caused it to be disrupted.

'It is one thing to make a mistake, even a serious mistake  after all, to err is to be human.

'But I regret to say that the continuing lack of insight by Ms Smithies as to the inappropriateness of her conduct related to the speech reflects, in my view, a lack of proper appreciation of her professional obligations as a solicitor and her paramount duty to the Court and the administration of justice.'

Ms Smithies said she had 'reflected deeply' on her legal advice to Wilkinson, the prejudice the speech caused, and the impact it had on Lehrmann's trial.

She has now sought counsel from Network Ten's barrister Matthew Collins KC about the advice she gave Wilkinson, along with her evidence, and the conclusions Justice Lee made about her conduct.

Bruce Lehrmann is pictured leaving court after the judgement on April 15

Lisa Wilkinson gave a speech outside court on April 15, after she and Network Ten won the case

She continued: 'I unreservedly accept that the law of contempt must be complied with.'

'I have never given legal advice clearing metaphor publication that I believe to amount to contempt. I would never give such advice. I always strive to give pre publication advice that complies with the law.

'I honestly believed at the time that Ms Wilkinson's delivery of [the speech] would not amount to contempt of court.'

Ms Smithies said she would approach the matter 'entirely differently' if the situation arose again.

She said her evidence in court on February 13 and 14 was 'misplaced' because, though she stood by the advice she gave to Wilkinson at the time, that did not reflect her current state of mind.

'I have come to see that the evidence I gave on February 13 and 14, 2024, was misplaced,' she said.

'The focus of my advice should have been, but was not on the potential impact on the criminal trial, Mr Lehrmann's right to a fair trial and the protective purpose of the law of contempt.'

Ms Smithies was cross-examined by Wilkinson's barrister Michael Elliott SC in February in Wilkinson's civil case against Network Ten, which was a cross-claim in Lehrmann's defamation trial.

She sued the network for more than $700,000 worth of legal fees accrued when she hired defamation barrister Sue Chrysanthou to defend her, rather than using Ten's lawyers.

Brittany Higgins is pictured with her fiance David Sharaz. Justice Lee found she had been raped by Bruce Lehrmann on a balance of probabilities

Wilkinson had claimed the network did not have her best interests at heart, which her lawyers sought to prove when Ms Smithies was cross-examined.

Network Ten had initially refused to reveal whether it provided Wilkinson with legal advice about the Logies speech, before it later confirmed she did get legal advice but would not reveal the substance of that advice.

READ MORE: Bruce Lehrmann could go bankrupt, as a judge lashes Lisa Wilkinson and Ten in brutal costs hearing Brittany Higgins (right) and David Sharaz (left) are pictured leaving a court Advertisement

The advice was only revealed during the cross-claim in February.

Mr Elliott accused Ms Smithies of trying to hide the advice because it would be a matter of public embarrassment to her if it ever came out that she gave the speech the tick of approval.

'I am not personally or professionally embarrassed by the advice I have given Ms Wilkinson,' Ms Smithies had said.

Mr Elliott also said Network Ten could have released a media statement to clear Wilkinson's name during the Logies speech fallout, protecting her from intense public criticism.

'You knew full well there was nothing stopping Channel Ten from making a statement saying Ms Wilkinson had been given advice about the Logies speech,' he suggested.

Ms Smithies said: 'I don't accept that.'

Mr Elliott continued: 'Then you are utterly ill-equipped to have any role in Ms Wilkinson's defence.'

She replied: 'I don't accept that.'

Wilkinson's cross-claim was successful and the network was required to cover her legal costs.

In his findings on April 15, Justice Lee found on a balance of probabilities that Lehrmann had raped Ms Higgins in Parliament House in March 2019.

The costs hearing on Wednesday was to determine what Lehrmann, as the loser of the trial, will have to pay his opponents or whether they will be split.
The story of seven-year-old Sara Alhashimi, crushed to death aboard a migrant boat near Calais last week, is both tragic and deeply distressing.

She perished under the weight of bodies throwing themselves on to the flimsy craft in pitch-darkness, while her parents, sister and brother looked helplessly on.

No-one could fail to be moved by her father Ahmed's grief as he recalled that fateful night.

But emotion aside, the story also reveals much about the laxity of our asylum system and the motivation of those seeking to exploit it. Mr Alhashimi had made numerous asylum claims over 14 years in Europe, first in Belgium, where Sara was born, and later in Sweden and Finland.

There are rumours that Labour are beginning to fear the Rwanda scheme could work. This is hugely to Rishi Sunak's credit

Those claiming refugee status will be sent abroad for assessment, and even if successful will not have the right to return to the UK (Pictured: People believed to be migrants disembark from a British Border Force vessel on April 29)

All were turned down on the grounds that his home city of Basra, in southern Iraq, is relatively stable and he did not have a well-founded fear of persecution. So, he decided to try his luck in Britain.

It's understandable, of course, that he should want to give his family a better life. But asylum is there to protect the helpless and dispossessed, not provide economic opportunities.

For too long, so few claimants have been removed that merely getting here was effectively guaranteed the right to remain. It makes a mockery of the system.

That's why the Rwanda scheme is so important. Those claiming refugee status will be sent abroad for assessment, and even if successful will not have the right to return to the UK.

Not only would this cut asylum numbers but also break the cross-Channel traffickers' business model and prevent more people suffering Sara's tragic fate.

There are signs it's already working. The Irish government complains that 80 per cent of its recent asylum claimants had crossed over from Northern Ireland because of the risk of deportation.

So, despite having previously declared the UK an unsafe country for migrants because of the Rwanda scheme, Ireland is now begging us to take these asylum seekers back.

And they are not the only screaming hypocrites on the block. The idea of third country assessment, originally sneered at, is now being taken up by several other European countries.

On so many issues, including the trans debate, workers' rights, and net-zero, targets, it's increasingly obvious Sir Keir is flapping in the wind

There are even rumours that Labour are beginning to fear it could work. This is hugely to Rishi Sunak's credit.

He has single-mindedly driven this policy through despite a torrent of personal abuse and the wrecking tactics of opposition parties, unelected peers and human rights lawyers.

Yesterday, he showed his determination to make it work in practice before the election. A number of failed asylum seekers were detained in a series of raids codenamed Operation Vector.

They are among 5,700 migrants earmarked for deportation to Rwanda, with the first flights expected to be airborne by mid-July. There are further legal obstacles to overcome, but the PM clearly means business.

Labour's response was characteristically lame. Sir Keir Starmer is still branding the scheme a 'gimmick' but has no credible plan of his own to stop the small boats.

On so many issues, including the trans debate, workers' rights, and net-zero, targets, it's increasingly obvious Sir Keir is flapping in the wind. Mr Sunak by contrast seems to be getting into his stride.

It may be too late to stave off heavy defeat in today's local elections. But whatever the result, the party must get firmly behind its leader and between now and the general election work flat out to persuade the electorate they are fit to govern.
Millions of Britons will go to the polls today in a series of local elections across England and Wales.

Forecasts suggest the Tories could lose up to half of the council seats they are defending, with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt saying the party expects to suffer 'significant losses'.

Boris Johnson urged people to vote for Tory mayors Andy Street and Ben Houchen, even though they shunned their party's brand in the run-up to today's elections.

Mr Street sent a letter to West Midlands voters in which the former prime minister tells them to 'forget the Government'.

Most of the seats up for re-election were last contested in 2021, at the peak of Mr Johnson's popularity as the Covid-19 vaccine was rolled out.

A total of 11 mayoral contests are also taking place, including for the London mayoralty between frontrunners, Labour incumbent Sadiq Khan and Tory challenger Susan Hall.

Boris Johnson backed Tory mayors Andy Street and Ben Houchen in the local elections

Million of Britons will go to the polls today in a series of local elections across England and Wales

Conservative mayors Mr Street in the West Midlands, and Tees Valley's Mr Houchen are also facing key re-election battles, with polls suggesting narrow contests with their Labour opponents.

Forecasts have consistently put Mr Khan ahead of Ms Hall, with a poll published on Wednesday by Savanta giving him a 10-point advantage after his lead tapered over the campaign.

Both main parties have sought to manage expectations ahead of polling day, with Mr Hunt insisting governments can get 'punished' in local votes.

He told Sky News' Politics Hub: 'Tony Blair easily lost those amounts of councillors. And, you know, David Cameron lost hundreds of councillors in the run up to the 2015 general election.

'So, you know, we are expecting to see significant losses. That often happens in local elections.

'But what we say to people is, look, this may be a moment when you want to express a view about the national picture but actually the local services you depend on will be decided by how you vote.'

Meanwhile Labour said the mayoral system favours incumbents, though Sir Keir Starmer said he is 'hopeful' it will win the West Midlands contest in an interview with Sky News.

Wins for both Mr Street and Mr Houchen would offer the Tories a ray of light in what forecasts suggest could be a dismal set of results, but experts warned the metro mayor races would be the 'least reliable indicator' of what could happen at a general election.

Andy Street (pictured) sent a letter to West Midlands voters in which the former prime minister tells them to 'forget the Government'

Both received backing from Mr Johnson, whose interventions the Prime Minister's press secretary said were welcome despite both candidates having appeared to have distanced themselves from their party allegiance throughout campaigning.

Sir John Curtice told an Institute for Government event on Wednesday the Conservative Party was emphasising the two contests 'because they think they might manage to win the contest and therefore they'll be able to cover whatever disasters happen elsewhere'.

'Because of the personal votes of these two, (these contests are) going to be the least reliable indicator,' he said.

'Equally, conversely here in London, Sadiq Khan will not do as well as the Labour Party would do in a general election because Sadiq has a negative personal vote. But this city is now so strong Labour, he's going to win anyway,' he said.

In a final message before polling stations open, Sir Keir said: 'Britain is, despite everything this Tory government has thrown at it, a great country.

'Its people, businesses, and communities continue to come together in the face of adversity. It is a strong nation of pride and potential, with boundless ambition for its family and its community.

'But it needs a government to match that ambition, and with a plan to unlock it. Today, you have a chance to vote for that change, and pass a verdict on fourteen years of decline. You can start to rebuild our country and take your community in a different direction.'

The Opposition has also indicated it hopes to win the Blackpool South Westminster by-election, which is taking place concurrently on Thursday.

In his video for Mr Houchen (pictured), Mr Johnson says: 'He is a guy who does what he says he's going to do'

The Liberal Democrats, who have focused campaigning efforts in traditional Conservative areas, said polling day would be a moment for the Prime Minister to 'face the music'.

Sir Ed Davey said the results would be a 'damning verdict on record waiting lists, sewage destroying rivers, and the worst cost of living crisis in a generation'.

'The country knows the buck stops at the door of Downing Street,' he said.

Mr Johnson recorded a video in support of Lord Houchen in which he asks people in Tees Valley to re-elect their mayor.

His intervention comes as the country goes to the polls today to vote in local council  and 11 mayoral  elections.

The Tories are predicted to lose 500 council seats  half of those the party is defending.

Mr Street and Mr Houchen both led campaigns focusing on their personal brand, with little mention of the party or Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

In his endorsement of Mr Street, Mr Johnson writes: 'Forget about the Government. Forget about Westminster. This election is about the next four years in the West Midlands  and who you want in charge.'

He adds: 'You might not like everything the Conservatives have done. But you won't like anything Labour would do.'

In his video for Mr Houchen, Mr Johnson says: 'He is a guy who does what he says he's going to do.'
Fraudsters are using 'shallowfake' technology to tamper with photos of car damage in the 'latest big scam' which is driving up insurance costs, the industry has warned.

Scammers are doctoring photos and documents to make fake claims for thousands of pounds to con insurers.

Insurer LV said cases with distorted images, videos, and images had rocketed by 300 per cent in 2023 and described 'shallowfake' photos as having 'all the signs of becoming the latest big scam to hit the insurance industry'.

Software readily available to fraudsters means they can easily manipulate the photos, Zurich's head of fraud Scott Clayton said.

He warned fraudsters are photoshopping registration numbers onto total loss vehicles and making claims.

Have YOU been a 'shallowflake' victim? Email megan.howe@mailonline.co.uk

In one known case, a picture of a tradesman's van had been lifted from his business's social media page

It was then doctored with cracks on the front bumper (circled above) which scammers claimed had been caused in an accident

In one known case, a picture of a tradesman's van had been lifted from his business's social media page and then doctored with cracks on the front bumper which scammers claimed had been caused in an accident.

Matt Crabtree, LV's head of financial crime intelligence, told The Times fraudsters are using the technology for their 'their own illegal purposes and to target innocent members of the public to make a profit'.

Insurers though are fighting back and are turning to modern technology themselves to detect the fraudsters.

Last week, Allianz said it had prevented 29 per cent more fraud and announced a new partnership with voice analytics tool Clearspeed to detect more scammers.

Mr Clayton said Zurich was seeing 'more and more' claims that have been manipulated with shallowfake technology.

He said: 'This is becoming one of the most emerging threats from a counter-fraud point of view.

'There's software that is easy for fraudsters to access which can manipulate images. For example, we have seen devices that if you were to draw a picture of a building, it could provide that building with impact damage or a broken window.'

Long-suffering motorists faced another car insurance premium hike this year, with the average driver now paying a record 635 for cover.

This is another record high, and a rise from 627 in the final three months of 2023, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) said.

Insurers said that claims costs, thefts and repair prices were behind high car insurance premiums.

ABI director of general insurance policy Mervyn Skeet said: 'We understand that car insurance costs are putting pressure on household finances. These figures show how competitive the motor market is, with insurers absorbing significant cost rises but keeping prices relatively stable.

'Even though these figures demonstrate a slowdown in price increases, we wont be taking our foot off the gas when it comes to our work on tackling the cost of cover.'

Have YOU been a 'shallowflake' victim? Email megan.howe@mailonline.co.uk
Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi has refused to respond when asked outside her hate speech hearing if she considered all white people to be racist.

Senator Faruqi is suing Senator Pauline Hanson for $150,000 in damages over online comments the One Nation leader made in September 2022, telling Sen. Faruqi to 'p*** off back to Pakistan' after the Green made a disparaging comment following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

The Greens deputy leader took to X to say she 'cannot mourn the leader of a racist empire built on stolen lives, land and wealth of colonised peoples'.

Senator Faruqi was approached by independent journalist Chris De Bruyne outside the Federal Court in Sydney this week where she gave a surprisingly non-committal answer to what should have been an easily refutable proposition.

'Are all white people racist?' Mr De Bruyne asked.

Senator Faruqi shook her head and replied 'no comment'.

'That's not a no,' Mr De Bruyne pushed.

Senator Faruqi's solicitor then advised her not to respond and the pair walked away.

Senator Mehreen Faruqi outside Federal Court this week replied 'no comment' when asked 'are all white people racist?'

She is suing Pauline Hanson (pictured with her lawyer Sue Chrysanthou) for $150,000 in damages over what she claims was a racist tweet aimed at her

Sen. Faruqi has accused Sen. Hanson of beaching section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act which prohibits acts that offend, insult or humiliate a person based on their race, ethnicity or nationality.

She told the Federal Court this week that verbal attacks on white people cannot be considered racist because the concept is 'tied to power' and that 'power ... is held by white people' in Australia.

'It is tied to who holds the power and who has the authority to perpetrate racism and oppress people,' Ms Faruqi said when asked about comments her son, journalist Osman Faruqi, had made criticising white people.

'And in this country, the power of that is held by white people.

Are all white people racist?

No Comment replies Senator Faruqi to what should have been an easy answer: No.



Leaving federal court in her case pursuing @PaulineHansonOz

for $150,000 in damages for what Faruqi alleges are racist comments. pic.twitter.com/2fsQs34pWj  Chriscoveries (@Chriscoveries) May 1, 2024

In his closing submissions in the Federal Court on Wednesday, Ms Faruqi's barrister Saul Holt KC labelled Senator Hanson a 'a high-profile purveyor of hateful speech' against people of migrant heritage.

'The words published (in her tweet) were a version of a well known, anti-migrant, racist phrase 'go back to where you came from',' he said.

'And they were plainly targeted (at) a brown, Muslim, migrant senator.'

Senator Faruqi was born in Pakistan before migrating to Australia, where she became Australia's first Muslim senator in 2018.

Mr Holt argued the words sent 'a clear message' of 'the idea of banishment' and that Senator Faruqi was 'of a lesser status' because of her ethnic origin.

'Being told ... not to bite the hand that feeds you, is really to be told to shut up and stop engaging in controversial speech because you're a migrant,' he said.

The court was told Senator Faruqi had experienced psychological trauma and 'extreme distress' after receiving her Senate colleague's tweet and the 'bluntly sickening' flood of tweets that followed.

Sen. Hanson's assertion thjt she should have 'taken it on the chin' revealed the 'myth' that public figures are 'inoculated' from the effects of public criticism, Mr Holt said.

He argued the impact of the tweet was 'much more substantial' on Senator Faruqi because she already feels 'excluded' and 'othered' as a result of being the first Muslim woman in parliament.

Senator Hanson played 'the person and not the ball' by 'abusing a person versus an idea' in her tweet, Mr Holt said.

Hanson wrote, 'You took citizenship, bought multiple homes, and a job in a parliament. It's clear you're not happy, so pack your bags and p*** off back to Pakistan'

He noted the senator had not targeted the controversial message or words of Senator Faruqi's initial tweet, but rather attacked her as a person.

'This was a personal racist attack based on a response to a political tweet,' Mr Holt asserted.

'This tweet was (posted) because of the fact that Senator Faruqi is a Muslim woman of colour as well as the fact that she happened to be from Pakistan,' Mr Holt said.

'It's bluntly just classical racial hatred.

'(Senator Hanson) has never given any thought to the hurt she might cause.'

However, Senator Hanson's lawyer Kieran Smark SC rebutted the allegations by arguing his client had been engaging in political speech.

'You've got two members of the Australian senate, both making public communications ... and the subject matter is the death of the head of state,' he said.

'It's hard to think of a plainer example of matters connected with government and political matters.'

Senator Faruqi claimed Hanson's tweet provoked a 'torrent' of nasty online comments

Ms Chrysanthou honed in on social media posts made by Ms Faruqi's son, journalist Osman Faruqi (pictured), which she told the court were offensive to white people - but Senator Faruqi argued criticising 'white people' was not racist

Mr Smark stated Senator Faruqi had 'used the occasion of the death of the Queen to advance the nominated political causes' by pushing for Australia to become a republic just hours after the monarch died.

He argued Senator Hanson had responded with a fair expression of her own opinion on the matter of public interest.

When he was queried about the personal nature of the tweet, Mr Smark responded that politicians often use 'powerful language' to convince audiences of a view.

'When you're replying to an attack, you may choose to respond to the attack or respond to the character of the accuser,' he said.

The court heard Senator Hanson had previously told another white senator to go back to where he came from, indicating such sentiment was not based on race.

The court was shown a clip of Senator Hanson on a morning TV show in 2018 telling then-Senator Derryn Hinch to 'pack (his) bags and get on the next plane out of the country' back to New Zealand.

'Come back when you've got your manners,' she berated her colleague on air.

The video was tendered to the court after Senator Hanson was challenged on Tuesday about whether she had ever told a white person to go back to their birth country.

Mr Smark will continue his closing statements on Thursday after declaring Senator Hanson has 'no liability' towards the Greens deputy leader.

The court heard Senator Faruqi was not seeking monetary penalties, but rather an order for Senator Hanson to donate $150,000 to Sweatshop Literacy Movement charity, attend anti-racism training and publish an apology tweet.

Both senators have partially funded their legal fees through crowd-funding platforms.
The parents of a student at a 15,951-a-year private school in Edinburgh were allegedly reported to social workers by staff after they refused to affirm their daughter's transgender identity.

George Watson's College called social services at the end of 2020 after the parents, who acted on advice from psychologists, asked the school to carry out a 'watchful waiting' approach to their child.

This is where a child's view of their gender is closely monitored by staff without social or medical intervention, with evidence suggesting that some children wanting to change gender will revert to identifying as their biological sex.

But the school said it would take the approach of 'respecting his [the pupil's] wishes to use the masculine pronouns,' because this was in the best interest of the child.

The school said it was given a gold award from trans activist charity LGBT Youth Scotland (LGBTYS) in 2019.

The mother of the child said the school would defer to the charity rather than listen to the parents, who were acting on clinical guidance.

George Watson's College (pictured) allegedly reported parents to social services after they refused to affirm their daughter's transgender identity

The school runs an LGBT club, which the child had joined, according to The Telegraph.

The mother told the newspaper: 'We were repeatedly lied to by the school.

'I feel that our child was just seen as a little guinea pig by the school and LGBT Youth Scotland.'

She added: 'We had received two expert opinions, including from a specialist in gender, not to challenge our child but that adults should basically turn a blind eye, and not affirm her.

'But these experts were repeatedly dismissed by teachers.'

Information the mother got from the school after making a Subject Access Request showed her child's 'preferred name' was changed on the school's systems.

The child then said they identified as male, and the school addressed the student using male pronouns, reportedly without telling the parents.

Correspondence with social services said the child was 'anxious' after social work was contacted.

A spokesman for George Watson's College said: 'Social and gender transitioning are amongst the most challenging and polarising issues facing schools today.

The school said it was given a gold award from trans activist charity LGBT Youth Scotland (LGBTYS) in 2019

'We have always worked collaboratively with parents and apologise to those involved in this case for any distress caused by what are difficult and challenging circumstances.

'Every school in Scotland has to weigh up parental engagement with the rights of children, with transitioning being a fluid and ongoing challenge for all.

'The welfare of our pupils remains our first priority and we continue to work constructively with both parents and their children as we work through these matters.'

A spokesman for LGBTYS said George Watson's said: 'When it comes to advising on supporting trans pupils in schools we always refer to Scottish government guidance.'

Paediatrician Hilary Cass, who had her landmark review into child gender services in the English NHS published in April, warned about the potential dangers of social transitioning.

Dr Cass called for a cautious approach in schools, adding that social transitioning could lead children to go down the path of a potentially damaging medical pathway.
Rishi Sunak warned Ireland against sending police to patrol the border for illegal migrants as the row between the two countries deepened last night.

The Prime Minister said the government in Dublin must keep its promise to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic after it announced 100 Gardai officers would take on immigration enforcement duties.

His Irish counterpart Simon Harris was forced to make clear that there would be no police checkpoints.

But he repeated his claim that there is a legally-binding agreement between the two governments to return failed asylum-seekers, something No 10 has disputed.

As the war of words continued between the leaders, the Irish authorities stepped in to remove hundreds of migrants from a makeshift 'tent city' around the International Protection Office where they have to register on arrival in Dublin.

Rishi Sunak has warned Ireland against sending police to patrol the border for illegal migrants

Some of those sleeping rough on the streets of the capital are known to have first crossed the Channel to England before travelling to Ireland to avoid being deported to Rwanda.

READ MORE: Rishi Sunak planning to introduce major overhauls to benefit system this week Advertisement

Unionist MP Carla Lockhart used Prime Minister's Questions yesterday to accuse the Irish government of 'hypocrisy' for asking police to patrol the border for asylum-seekers despite having fought against checks in post-Brexit trade talks.

Mr Sunak replied: 'The House will be aware that we have made commitments to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland. The hon. Lady makes a very important point that the Irish Government must uphold their promises, too. We cannot have cherry-picking of important international agreements.'

He said Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris was 'seeking urgent clarification that there will be no disruption or police checkpoints at or near the border'.

The PM added: 'It is no surprise that our robust approach to illegal migration is providing a deterrent, but the answer is not to send police to villages in Donegal but to work with us in partnership to strengthen our external borders all around the common travel area that we share.'

He also repeated his insistence that the United Kingdom 'has no legal obligation to accept returns of illegal migrants from Ireland'.

Mr Sunak's Irish counterpart Simon Harris (pictured) was forced to make clear that there would be no police checkpoints

The Taioseach later said there 'of course won't be' police checkpoints on the border.

He insisted he was 'not getting involved in British politics' but went on: 'I very much welcome the British Prime Minister's comments in relation to the importance of countries upholding agreements.

'We'll uphold the agreement we have with Britain under the common travel area, the standard operating procedure that we have in place.

'I also welcome the comments of the Northern Ireland Secretary of State, where he referred to the importance of the two countries working together to protect the common travel area from abuses.'

Mr Harris added that a total of 268 people had been moved, by Gardai, council staff and health workers, from the encampment in Mount Street to state-provided accommodation including a hotel and 'robust' tents elsewhere.
Young man died with stab wounds to neck and chest

A young surfer was stabbed to death moments after he left the water, with police now trying to identify the suspected assailant who left the scene.

The 22-year-old was wounded in his neck and chest following an incident in Park Beach Reserve at Coffs Harbour, on NSW's North Coast, at 6.45am on Wednesday.

He was transported to hospital but succumbed to his injuries.

Chief Inspector Detective Guy Flaherty said the victim suffered significant stab wounds.

A young man has been rushed to hospital following an incident in Coffs Harbour (pictured)

'We believe he recently came out of the surf and was wearing a black wetsuit at the time,' Detective Flaherty said.

'We are conducting an evidence search in relation to possible objects used in the offence in and around the area.

'Our search at the car park and the waterfront around Coffs Harbour beach will continue for some time.'

Detective Flaherty said officers were continuing to search for the attacker.

'We believe the person responsible may have travelled back from the car park, back towards the creek and bridge area,' he said.

Coffs Harbour Surf Lifesaving Club operations manager Craig Peart said members were being questioned over what they saw.

'It's a shock to see that happen outside in the car park, outside the surf club,' he told ABC.

'There's surf lifesavers that come in on a morning that grab boards and go out for a surf or use the gym facilities.

SES personnel were seen at the scene of an alleged stabbing on Wednesday morning

A crime scene was established at Ocean Parade with SES personnel also in attendance

'There were some chefs that came in before the club opened at 7am to set up for breakfast,' he said.

'They need to give statements to police.'

A local, who has been sleeping rough in the area for some time, said he noticed the surfer drive into the car park at 6am.

'I just saw him drive in,' he told NBN.

'Then I came back to put my runners on.

'It just looked like he was just sitting up against his driver's door.'

Anyone with information urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
Russia has been accused of having used a chemical weapon against Ukrainian forces in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention.

Putin's forces are alleged to have used chloropicrin likely in an effort to 'dislodge Ukrainian forces from fortified positions and achieve tactical gains on the battlefield', the US State Department claimed on Wednesday.

Chloropicrin is a toxic agent that was originally designed for use as poison gas in World War I.

Announcing fresh sanctions against Moscow, the department assessed that the use of the potentially deadly gas and other 'riot control agents' were 'not an isolated incident' and came 'from the same playbook as [Russia's] operations to poison Aleksey Navalny and Sergei and Yulia Skripal with Novichok nerve agents.

Russia has denied the poisoning of both late dissident Navalny and double agent Skripal.

File photo shows damaged cars at the site of shelling in Kharkiv area, Ukraine, on May 1, 2024

Ukrainian soldiers operate a 2S1 Gvozdika ('Carnation') self-propelled howitzer on April 27

Accompanying the claims, the US Treasury Department announced sweeping sanctions aimed at crippling Russia's military and industrial capabilities.

This was to include targeting nearly 300 entities in Russia, China and other countries accused of supporting President Vladimir Putin's invasion.

READ MORE: Russians descend on Moscow's Victory Park to goggle at captured Western military hardware including British armoured cars put on display by Putin after they were seized in Ukraine Advertisement

The sanctions are meant to punish companies that help Moscow acquire weapons for its war in Ukraine.

They also target Russian government entities and companies involved in the country's chemical and biological weapons programs.

Russia has said it no longer possesses a military chemical arsenal, but the country faces pressure for more transparency over the alleged use of toxic weapons.

According to the US National Institutes of Health, the chemical chloropicrin is used both as a warfare agent and pesticide. If inhaled, it poses a health risk.

'Today's actions will further disrupt and degrade Russia's war efforts by going after its military industrial base and the evasion networks that help supply it,' Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement.

The accusations and sanctions come a week after US President Joe Biden signed a much-delayed bill to provide new funding for Ukraine as Kyiv's military struggles to hold back Russian advances.

'Even as we're throwing sand in the gears of Russia's war machine, President (Joe) Biden's recently-passed National Security Supplemental is providing badly-needed military, economic, and humanitarian support to bolster Ukraine's courageous resistance,' Yellen said.

'Combined, our support for Ukraine and our relentless targeting of Russia's military capacity is giving Ukraine a critical leg-up on the battlefield.'

As part of the measures, the State Department blacklisted additional individuals and companies involved in Moscow's energy, mining and metals sectors.

The sanctions also targeted individuals connected to the death of Russian opposition leader Aleksey Navalny who died in a Siberian prison in February.

US intelligence officials have since determined that Russia likely did not order the death of the dissident Putin-critic, according to an official familiar with the determination.

While U.S. officials believe Putin was ultimately responsible for the death of Navalny, who endured brutal conditions during his confinement, the intelligence community has found 'no smoking gun' that Putin was aware of the timing of Navalny's death.

Navalny's death, sparking protests nationwide, came shortly before the Russian president's reelection in March.

Soon after Navalny's death, U.S. President Joe Biden said Putin was ultimately responsible but did not accuse the Russian president of directly ordering it.

At the time, Biden said the U.S. did not know exactly what had happened to Navalny but that 'there is no doubt' that his death 'was the consequence of something that Putin and his thugs did.'

Ukrainian soldiers prepare a handmade small MLRS for firing toward Russian troops near a front line, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine April 27, 2024

Ukrainian servicemen ride on an armored personnel carrier in a field near Chasiv Yar, Donetsk region, on April 27, 2024

The almost 300 targets sanctioned included dozens of actors accused of enabling Russia to acquire desperately needed technology and equipment from abroad, the Treasury said.

Some of those targeted were based in countries such as China that have faced increasing pressure from Washington over support for Russia during its 15-month invasion of Ukraine.

'This support enables Russia to continue its war against Ukraine and poses a significant threat to international security,' the Treasury Department said.

Other than China, targeted non-Russian entities were located in Azerbaijan, Belgium, Slovakia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.

These companies 'enable Russia to acquire desperately-needed technology and equipment from abroad,' the statement said.
A female parishioner of Hillsong Church who claims she was indecently assaulted by a staffer will go ahead with plans to sue the church after talks on a legal settlement collapsed.

Anna Crenshaw said church employee Brian Mays wrapped his arms around her and kissed her exposed stomach, before groping her bottom and crotch as he begged her not to leave a gathering at a private home back in 2016.

In a statement of claim, Ms Crenshaw - who was 18 years old at the time - said she was 'sexually assaulted by (Mays) whilst (Mays) was an employee of (Hillsong) and in his capacity as a worship leader'.

She alleged she had suffered harm, injury, and loss as a result of the church's negligence and breach of contract.

In the Penrith Local Court in January 2020, Mays pleaded guilty to one count of indecent assault.

He was sentenced to a two-year conditional release order and no conviction was recorded.

A settlement between Hillsong Church and a female parishioner in a lawsuit over her indecent assault at the hands of a church employee has been scrapped at the last minute

An apparent settlement between Ms Crenshaw and Hillsong was reached on April 29, the day the week-long civil hearing was due to start in the NSW Supreme Court.

However Ms Crenshaw's lawyer said the settlement 'has not been forthcoming due to a disagreement between the parties' so the hearing will proceed.

Justice Robertson Wright adjourned the matter to May 13 to set a date for the hearing.

Ms Crenshaw is claiming damages, aggravated damages and exemplary damages in her lawsuit against the church.

She came to Australia to study a Bachelor of Theology at Hillsong College and began attending Hillsong Church services.

The case centred around Mr Crenshaw's allegations that she was assaulted by Jason Mays, a worship leader at Hillsong College (pictured) when she was just 18

According to court documents, the indecent assault occurred in April or May 2016 at the house of another Hillsong member, where she was present with Mays and other students.

In her statement of claim, Ms Crenshaw said Mays 'put his right hand on the inside' of her left thigh.

And when she stood to leave, she said that he wrapped his arms around her upper leg and began kissing her exposed stomach.

In the court documents she said Mays left 'his hand between her inner thigh and fondling her bottom and vagina.'

She said he repeatedly said 'no, don't go'.

Mays, in his defence, denied 'the allegation that he fondled (Ms Crenshaw's) bottom and vagina'.

Hillsong, in its defence, denied Mays 'was acting in any capacity relating to his paid employment or volunteer duties with Hillsong' at the house.
A 12-year-old boy has passed away following a horrific crash while he was heading on an Easter long weekend fishing trip with his friend.

Joel West was travelling in a car with a friend when they were hit by a Toyota Prado at Dunsborough, north of Margaret River in Western Australia, on March 28.

He was airlifted to Perth Children's hospital and underwent a seven-hour operation on his femur which had broken in two places.

The crash also left him with broken ribs, severely damaged liver and kidneys and in need of 20 units of blood.

Joel tragically died from his injuries on Sunday with his mother Roanna by his bedside in ICU.

His death marks the second tragedy to strike thee family in two years after Joel's father took his own life.

Joel West (pictured), 12, has tragically died after a horrific car crash last week while on a fishing trip with his friend

'It is with a heavy heart that I am here to let you all know that young Joel left this earth yesterday morning and has gone to be with his Dad in heaven,' family friend Jennifer McNab said in a GoFundMe.

'He fought very hard, however his liver and kidneys were so badly damaged that his little body couldn't cope any longer.

'Roanna, his brother's Jesse and Darci and their extended family are naturally devastated.

'Ro is so grateful for all messages, calls, texts and support. Your kindness and compassion is keeping her going, so please keep it coming.'

The family are now calling for donations to support his funeral costs.

Ms West was already struggling with loss after the death of Joel's dad.

'We've had a very tough two years. We lost the boys' dad  to suicide two years ago. It's just been a nightmare,' she told the ABC.

He was travelling in a car with a friend when they were hit by a Toyota Prado Dunsborough (pictured)

The family also had to leave their home in Dunsborough, where they had lived for 11 years, because of the rental crisis.

'We just couldn't find a house, so we've had to move to Eaton [one hour away], so that's been turmoil,' Ms West said.

Western Australian police are working with the Major Crash unit to investigate Joel's death.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
The crusading international lawyers who recently set up shop in Sydney have issued a dire warning to BHP shareholders as the mining giant faces a $70billion lawsuit.

Pogust Goodhead co-founder Thomas Goodhead made waves in Australia over his decision to open a Sydney office to pursue local high-return class actions.

'If I were a shareholder, I'd be extremely concerned about governance as well as the future financial liabilities that [BHP] face,' Mr Goodhead told ABC RN on Wednesday.

'They should be massively concerned because BHP has consistently failed to properly make contingencies in relation to the liabilities and the financial liabilities that they face.'

The firm is going head-to-head with BHP in the UK over the Samarco mine disaster in Brazil, which cost 19 people their lives and contaminated waterways and land spanning multiple villages.

In all, there are 700,000 claimants and the case could be worth $70billion in damages.

The crusading international lawyers who recently set up shop in Sydney have issued a warning to shareholders in mining giant BHP

Pogust Goodhead founders Thomas Goodhead and Harris Pogust proudly boast of their plans to make their lawyers some of the highest paid on the planet

Mr Goodhead said he and his partner, legal high-flyer Harris Pogust, 'absolutely' intend to launch new claims against Australian corporations.

'Until these companies stop committing environmental crimes, then there's a role for firms such as mine to be seeking to hold them to account,' he said.

Opposition legal affairs spokeswoman Michaelia Cash slammed 'predatory class action law firms', describing them as 'a direct threat to the economic well-being of businesses across Australia.

She singled out mining and resources companies as being the most vulnerable to the legal actions.

'We have seen conservative estimates that the value of claims made against Australian businesses in a single year, before a crackdown by the former Coalition Government, exceeded $10 billion dollars,' she said.

'This will only increase after the Albanese Government rolled back those tough reforms put in place in the previous Parliament.'

Mr Goodhead and Mr Pogust proudly boast of their plans to make their lawyers some of the highest paid on the planet.

Mr Pogust and his wife live the high life according to social media

Mr Goodhead visited Australia twice in 2023 to meet with MPs, unions and super funds over the litigation against BHP

They do so by specifically investing their time in high-return class actions, pocketing 50 per cent of the payouts which can - and have - been worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Mr Goodhead visited Australia twice in 2023 to meet with MPs, unions and super funds over the litigation against BHP.

Mr Goodhead, who is both Oxford and Cambridge educated, spoke in February about the expansion and their current litigation portfolio.

He said winning one or more of the major litigations would see his team become 'the highest-paid lawyers in the country by quiet some margin'.

And several months earlier in an interview with the Law Gazette in November 2023, Mr Goodhead spoke openly about his company's capitalist ambitions.

'We are here to make a profit,' he said bluntly.

'This isn't an NGO, though I know we look like one. We are here to make a profit... I've got trainee solicitors earning 150k.'

He shared another photo of his laptop overlooking the ocean

The business partners are currently going head-to-head with BHP in the UK over the Samarco mine disaster in Brazil

It's his co-founder and chairman, New Jersey-born Harris Pogust who offers the greatest insight into their high-flying lives.

Mr Pogust has 25 years' experience in litigation and class actions across the United States.

In November 2023, he shared details of his new property - a sprawling six-bedroom, eight-bathroom mansion boasting a pool, gym and wine cellar.

'After bidding on this house for the third time over the last 12 years we finally were able to purchase it and from a fellow lawyer no less,' he said.

'Hopefully this is the last move along with the Pygmy goats, miniature horses and a few other friends to add to the 7 dogs...'

A month prior he shared another photo of his laptop overlooking the ocean.

'Nothing like flying down for dinner than back home. The fun never ends...' he wrote, tagging his location at Philadelphia International Airport.

His wife has also shared photos of both Mr Pogust and the couple's dog on a private jet, as well as luxurious snaps on yachts.

The firm launched in 2018 and earned the title 'the first legal unicorn' after raising $300million in financial backing early on.

His wife has also shared photos of both Mr Pogust and the couple's dog on a private jet

It now boasts 700 employees across five offices and has up to 27 current litigation claims.

The litigation known as 'My Diesel Claim' was helmed by Pogust Goodhead, winning more than AU$350million for nearly two million customers in a settlement against 14 carmakers who did not reveal the true emissions of their diesel products.

But there was backlash in June 2023 when the law firm sent a late-night email to claimants apologising for a mistake in the small print which indicated Pogust Goodhead's fee would be capped at 35 per cent of the profit, when it was actually 50 per cent.

A spokesperson said: 'An email has been sent out to all MyDieselClaim clients bringing their attention to an error that has been made in the small print of our conditional fee agreements.

'This relates to a reference of our fees being capped at 35%. This should, as it does in every other section, read 50%.'

The confusion prompted a flood of negative reviews online from claimants who said they were confused or felt misled by the mistake.

'Totally unacceptable... 15% x the numbers of claims submitted equals a huge increase in their profits,' one wrote.
The family of a 22-year-old woman killed in a high-speed crash was awarded $8 million after first responders took nearly 90 minutes to find her pinned in the mangled wreckage.

The crash that claimed Annie Becerra's life took place on November 30, 2018, when she was in the passenger seat of her boyfriend Freddy Mieryteran's Nissan Versa when it sped through a red light and hit another vehicle.

Mieryteran fled the scene and hid as police arrived at the scene of the crash and started to interview people in the area without attempting to get to Becerra's body.

One hour and 23 minutes after the crash, a Florida State Trooper was doing inventory on the crash when they discovered Becerra 'wedged between the passenger side front floorboard and the dashboard.'

The young mother died of her injuries two days later, with her family suing Miami-Dade Police and the state troopers for negligence and being awarded millions of dollars for their mistake and missing an opportunity to save her life.

The family of a 22-year-old woman killed in a high-speed crash was awarded $8 million after first responders were found to be negligent in taking nearly 90 minutes to find her

The crash that claimed Annie Becerra's life took place on November 30, 2018, when she was in the passenger seat of her boyfriend Freddy Mieryteran's Nissan Versa when it sped through a red light and hit another vehicle

'My daughter was my life,' Pablo Becerra told NBC South Florida. 'She was my first daughter, she was everything.'

'After that, we really didn't have a life,' her father added. 'It changed everything.'

Family attorney John Lukacs Jr police did not act swiftly enough to find Becerra's - who was mother to a now-seven year old child - body to save her life.

'Had they found her when they asked within minutes because remember, Miami-Dade County was there within minutes,' Lukacs said.

'Had they opened up the door, they would have just put her in a normal breathing position, they would have given her oxygen, and that would have relieved her brain swelling.'

He also slammed the poor job officers undertook to find her because the airbag in the passenger seat had been deployed.

'There are no policies or procedures that provide for this exact situation, however, there are policies and procedures and memos that dictate that they need to use their common sense and intelligence,' Lukacs said.

One hour and 23 minutes after the accident, a Florida State Trooper was doing inventory on the crash when they discovered Becerra 'wedged between the passenger side front floorboard and the dashboard'

Family attorney John Lukacs Jr. said police did not act swiftly enough to find Becerra's body to save her life

'My daughter was my life,' Pablo Becerra said. 'She was my first daughter, she was everything'

Family attorney John Lukacs Jr police did not act swiftly enough to find Becerra's body to save her life

Attorneys for the county claimed the car door had been too damaged and therefore officers weren't required to open it.

A jury decided in favor of Becerra's family to the extent of $8 million to be paid out by Miami-Dade County.

'I don't know how to explain it to you, every day that goes by, I still feel the pain and I still feel it in my heart,' Pablo Becerra said.

The State, county and local police have yet to comment on the decision.
This video is no longer available

This video is no longer available

A 12-year-old boy and girl are among five children who have been arrested after a delivery rider was allegedly set upon while delivering food.

The horrific incident unfolded on Glebe Point Road at Glebe, in Sydney's inner west, at about 1am on April 15.

A terrified bystander captured the alleged ambush showing the rider dodge a number of projectiles, including glass bottles, that had been hurled in his direction.

An 18-year-old man was arrested by police on Wednesday and charged with affray and assault occasioning actual bodily harm in company of others.

A 12-year-old boy and girl are among five children who have been arrested after a delivery rider was allegedly set upon while delivering food

He was refused bail and will appear in Newtown Local Court on Thursday.

Police have also charged a 17-year-old boy, 16-year-old girl and 14-year-old boy.

A 12-year-old boy and girl were also arrested and will participate in youth conferences at a later date.

The shocking video showed the delivery driver in a hi-vis jacket surrounded by the group while he was making a delivery.

'Get him now, get him now,' one is heard screaming.

One local claimed the delivery rider was pushed off his bike before his food was taken from him.

NSW Police were called to the scene, however nobody was at the scene when they arrived.

One Glebe cafe worker said young gangs were running rampant in the community.

'They have no fear. They absolutely have no fear. And that's what's the scary thing,' she told 7News.

Detective Chief Inspector Grant Watson insisted police 'want everyone to feel safe'.

A NSW Police spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia they are not expecting to make any further arrests.
EXCLUSIVE:

A married prison worker accused of having an illicit relationship with an inmate has been spotted out shopping for snacks ahead of her first court appearance.

Mother-of-two Jessica Jade Elguindy, whose father is a decorated senior corrections officer, stocked up on sweets at a western Sydney service station on Wednesday afternoon.

Elguindy was arrested at her home at Spring Farm in Sydney's south-west last Friday and charged with engaging in a relationship with an inmate causing a safety risk.

The 25-year-old was also charged with accessing/modifying restricted computer data and misconduct as the holder of a public office.

Amber Clavell, another employee at Geoffrey Pearce Correctional Centre in Sydney's north-west, has been charged with the same offences as Elguindy, as well as bringing drugs into the jail.

Prison worker Jessica Elguindy, who is accused of having an illicit relationship with an inmate, has been spotted out shopping for snacks ahead of her first court appearance

Elguindy's husband Mitch Haden arrived at the couple's home shortly before she headed out to run errands on Wednesday.

When asked yesterday if he or his wife wished to comment on the charges she faced, Mr Haden's initial response was brief: 'F*** off'.

'Nobody has any comments for yous leave us alone yous all twist s*** anyways the way yous want,' he wrote in a follow-up mesaage on Facebook.

Elguindy is an administrative assistant with Corrective Services NSW and according to an online profile has been employed by the department for the past six years.

Her father Walid 'Wally' Elguindy has worked in the prison system for 30 years and is general manager of strategic population management.

Two years ago he was awarded the Australian Corrections Medal, the highest distinction specifically bestowed on prison staff, in the Australia Day Honours List.

Prison employee Jessica Jade Elguindy has been charged with engaging in a relationship with an inmate causing a safety risk, accessing/modifying computer data and misconduct as the holder of a public office

Elguindy's husband Mitch Haden was brief when asked if he or his wife wished to comment about her circumstances. 'F*** off,' he said. The couple is pictured

When contacted by Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday, Mr Elguindy said he was not in a position to comment about his daughter's circumstances.

'I haven't got anything at this stage to say in relation to that,' Mr Elguindy said. 'It's a difficult time and there's nothing I can say at the moment.'

Detectives from the Corrective Services Investigation Unit within the NSW Police Force commenced an investigation into Jessica Elguindy in January.

Investigators had received reports of an allegedly inappropriate relationship between Elguindy and a male inmate at the Geoffrey Pearce Correctional Centre.

During the course of those inquiries, another employee at the prison, 25-year-old Clavell, was allegedly found to be engaged in similar conduct at the same jail.

Jessica Elguindy's father Walid 'Wally' Elguindy has worked in the prison system for 30 years and is general manager of strategic population management for Corrective Services NSW

Clavell was arrested at the jail on April 23 and charged with having a relationship with an inmate causing a risk to safety.

She is also accused of bringing a prohibited drug into a prison, supplying a prohibited drug and two counts of accessing/modifying restricted computer data.

On April 24, police arrested two inmates aged 27 and 30 at Geoffrey Pearce Correctional Centre and charged both with using/possessing a mobile phone in jail.

The Australian newspaper has reported footage taken on a smuggled phone relevant to the investigation has been circulating within the prison.

The Geoffrey Pearce Correctional Centre at Berkshire Park is a minimum-security facility for men and part of the Francis Greenway Correctional Complex.

Investigators received reports of an allegedly inappropriate relationship between Elguindy and an inmate at the Geoffrey Pearce Correctional Centre at Berkshire Park

The other prisons in the complex are the men's medium security John Morony Correctional Centre and maximum-security women's Dillwynia Correctional Centre.

Under Elguindy's bail conditions she must not communicate with Clavell or approach any NSW prison without approval of the director of custodial services.

Clavell is not to have any contact with prosecution witnesses or alleged co-offenders and faces the same restrictions about attending jails.

A spokesman for Corrective Services NSW said the department was aware two staff members had been charged with various offences.

'As the matters are before the courts, it would be inappropriate to comment further,' the spokesman said.

Clavell and Elguindy are due to appear in Penrith Local Court on May 15 and May 29 respectively. The inmates will face the same court on June 5.
A land and air search is underway for a missing woman whose car was found at a boat ramp at a beach in Tasmania.

Nicole Barrenger, 45, has not been heard from since Tuesday.

Police have been searching the Sisters Beach area where she lives, about 87km west of Devonport in the state's north-west.

A large-scale search intensified on Wednesday after officers discovered her vehicle at the Sisters Beach boat ramp.

Nicole Barrenger, 45, is described as having a stocky build with shoulder-length red hair

Police have been searching the Sisters Beach area where she lives, about 87km west of Devonport in the state's north-west

The boat ramp at the end of Irby Boulevard is mostly used by recreational fishermen.

There are serious concerns for Ms Barrenger's welfare.

Authorities have deployed multiple police units and ground crews, including the police dive squad and Surf Life Saving Tasmania.

The Westpac Rescue Helicopter from Melbourne is helping in the search.

Ms Barrenger is described as having a stocky build with shoulder-length red hair.

Anyone with information regarding her whereabouts is urged to call police on 131 444.
Millionaire California homeowners are attempting to ban hikers from using a hillside near their property - two years after they helped save the green space from property developers by claiming they wanted to keep it for public use.

A residents' group in the affluent city of Ventura has expressed concerns over plans to set up formal trails in the stunning Mariano Rancho Preserve.

The trails - which are currently traversed by 'trespassing' hikers - would create formal pathways on the stunning hillsides overlooking Ventura and the Pacific Ocean.

The group 'Neighbors for the Ventura Hillside' says allowing the public access under the plans would be, 'surprisingly and unnecessarily intrusive to residents', SF Gate reports.

The group was formed in 2015 and successfully killed plans for 55 homes on the site by insisting the land should be preserved for 'public hiking.'

However, tensions have begun to flare up again after the current landowner, a conservation non-profit, unveiled plans to formalize the trail network and introduce car parking by 2025.

Millionaire California homeowners are attempting to ban hikers from using a hillside near their Ventura property - two years after they helped save the green space from property developers by claiming they wanted to keep it for public use

Neighbors for the Ventura Hillside previously campaigned to stop a property development on the land in 2015 arguing it should be for public use

Now, the Neighbors for the Ventura Hillside are raising concerns about plans for trails on the hillside noting how close it would be to home and how many visitors it would bring to the area

A diagram showing the proposed trails per the Neighbors for the Ventura Hillside group

Ventura Land Trust bought the hillside in 2020 with plans to preserve the green space. At the time, Neighbors for the Ventura Hillside hailed the acquisition as 'very good news' for its conservation.

Developers have been circling the verdant, 1,600 acre stretch since 2002 and locals were anxious to prevent any homes being built. A developer had proposed houses on the site in 2015, but drew strong backlash from the community. Those plans were abandoned with the Trust buying the property.

In 2022, the trust received $7.2 million from the state to complete the purchase and to prepare the hillside for public use.

But now Neighbors for the Ventura Hillside, headed by Nick Bonge, have expressed resistance to the Trust's proposals for formal trails, despite the fact the area has been popular with hikers for decades.

'As only a smattering of news has emerged regarding the trails, NVH has been inundated with questions about the future of this preserve and its potential impacts to the City of Ventura and its residents,' a post on their Facebook page states.

Concerns include estimates of up to 1,600 visitors descending every day. However, this has now been revised to 274 hikers per day, according to the Ventura Land Trust.

A post from the Neighbors for the Ventura Hillside also highlights how parts of the trail could be within 150ft of homes, by comparison trails at nearby Harmon Canyon are within 650ft of homes.

'[The Trust] plans to build fencing along the entire border of the property which may block access and obstruct residential views,' the post read.

The average price of a home in Ventura, which has counted Kevin Costner and Chuck star Zachary Levi among its residents, is currently more than $880,000, according to Zillow.

A post from the Neighbors for the Ventura Hillside also highlights how parts of the trail could be within 150ft of homes. Pictured: a home in Ventura

Concerns include estimates of up to 1,600 visitors descending every day

Neighbors for the Ventura Hillside headed by Nick Bonge (pictured) have expressed resistance to the Trust's proposals for formal trails, despite the fact the area has been popular with hikers for decades

Neighbors for the Ventura Hillside was set up in 2015 in response to plans for 55 homes at the site. Pictured: Artist rendering of the 2015 development

Developers have been circling the verdant hillside for decades. Pictured: Artist rendering of the proposed development in 2015

Neighbors for Ventura Hillside describes itself as, 'a grassroots organization formed to protect Ventura's hillside, Ag land and open space'.

It adds that it, 'played an active role in opposing a development project that the majority of residents believed was inappropriate for the hillside'.

During the group's 2015 campaign to stop the housing development, the word 'save' was spelled out from sandbags on the hillside, although the group disavowed any responsibility.

However, its stance towards Ventura Land Trust's newest plans have earned it the nickname 'Neighbors for gatekeeping' among some disgruntled residents.

'So Neighbors for the Ventura Hillside advocated for years to preserve the hillside. And now is up in arms about public access to the very hillsides they fought to protect?' Local Tanner Shelton wrote in a social media post.

'To be blunt, this reeks of gatekeeping of our community's shared backyard by a disgruntled group of elitist homeowners.'

'The whole state needs housing and you lot and others like you make life harder. Now you can't even let hikers use the space as intended? Get over yourselves,' user Dave Gillis said.

'Pure un-distilled Not in My Backyard-ism,' Eugene Koontz added.

Ventura Land Trust executive director Melissa Baffa said the resistance is because 'people are afraid of change

However, officials with the trust backed the proposed trail plan, saying its been used by hikers for years.

'People are always afraid of change, because you don't know what's coming, and I feel like it's a very human quality to imagine worst-case scenarios, and to let your brain kind of run away with those,' Ventura Land Trust executive director Melissa Baffa said.

'From an empathy standpoint, I can understand absolutely how it can be scary to think of strangers on land right next door to your house. The fact is, though, that people have been trespassing on the Mariano Rancho land for generations.'

The clash bears similarities to the outraged sparked in nearby Montecito when millionaires in the exclusive town blocked a public trail to a popular hot spring with huge boulders.

Residents of Montecito received angry letters from Santa Barbara County after they passive aggressively placed boulders along the roads outside their mansions.

The homeowners were trying to ward off visitors of the stunning trail nearby their homes that leads to hidden-gem hot springs who had been parking on their street.
A Queensland mother got a huge shock when she found a highly venomous red-bellied black snake was hiding in her daughter's toy box.

The mother and her daughter were choosing toys to play with at their home in Maroochydore, on the Sunshine Coast, when they made the terrifying discovery.

The concerned mother immediately called Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers, who urgently removed the snake from the home.

Stuart McKenzie, who runs the snake-catching service, said it was one of his 'wildest' jobs yet.

The 'very big' snake (pictured) was found hidden amongst the child's dolls and toys at their home on the Sunshine Coast

'A highly venomous snake within the kids' toys, not a situation you want to be in - thats for sure,' he said.

Mr McKenzie used a hook to dig through the basket before he found the snake coiled at the bottom.

He said it was extremely lucky that none of the family were bitten by the huge snake.

'It sends a shiver down your spine,' he said. 'Look at the size of this bastard,' he said.

The snake was about three or four fingers thick and extremely healthy, Mr McKenzie said.

Stuart McKenzie (pictured), who runs the snake-catching service, said it was one of his 'wildest' jobs yet.

After catching the snake, he released it back into the wild.

Red-bellied black snakes are common throughout eastern Australia.

While the snakes are usually reserved, if provoked, they can deliver a deadly bite with their venom, causing bleeding, swelling, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, sweating, muscle pain and weakness.

An untreated bite can be fatal.

Thousands of Aussies were left shocked by the discovery.

'Id want my whole house inspected - could you imagine trying to sleep tonight,' one said.

Another added: 'What bothers me most is how long was that snake in the kids room before they noticed it?'

A third said: 'OMG, how did a child not get bitten? I am a grandma of a three-year-old, and kids just dive into the toy box.'
READ MORE: Immigration at forefront ahead of US election

Family trying to travel to the scene now

WA brothers have gone missing in Mexico

Two Australian brothers have vanished while on a surfing trip to Mexico, sparking a search.

Jake and Callum Robinson are believed to have gone missing in the Baja California region near Ensenada on Mexico's north-west coast.

After sharing regular social media posts about the first two days of their trip, they have made no contact for four days.

According to Mexican local media reports, a Special Operations Group has been dispatched to join police in their search.

Jake Robinson, a doctor, was visiting his brother who is a lacrosse player based in San Diego in the United Sates and the keen surfers had made the short trip across the Mexican border with another friend.

The brothers' family are understood to be trying to arrange travel to the region to join the search.

Jake and Callum Robinson have not been heard from for days after going on a surfing trip to Mexico (pictured with their parents)

The pair are understood to have gone missing from the Baja California region near Ensenada

Local news outlet En Contraste reported authorities tracked the phone of one of the brothers.

A woman was found in possession of the phone and methamphetamine in the Maeadero area, south of Ensenada, and was placed in custody.

The pair's mother, Debra Robinson, has issued a plea for help on social media.

'Reaching out to anyone who has seen my two sons,' she wrote.

'They have not contacted us since Saturday 27th April. They are travelling with another friend, an American citizen.

'They were due to book into an Airbnb in Rosarito after their camping weekend, but they did not show up.

'Callum is type one diabetic, so there is also a medical concern.'

The third man in their group, Jack Carter Rhoad, is also missing.

Friends said they were driving a white Chevrolet with California number plate 70189W1.

Jake and Callum Robinson (left) shared social media posts about the first two days of their Mexico trip (right) but they have not been heard from for four days

The brothers were due to book into an Airbnb in Rosarito after their camping weekend, but they did not show up

Jake had been visiting Callum, a lacrosse player based in San Diego, when they took the trip to Mexico with a friend

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) have confirmed they are assisting the family.

Western Australia Premier Roger Cook said it was 'very worrying for the family '.

'When we do send our young men and women overseas to enjoy that adventure holiday they invite an element of risk and this is really quite distressing,' he said.

More to follow.
An Iranian academic claims pro-Palestine protesters that have taken over American universities would support Iran in a war with the US.

Tehran University Professor Foad Izadi, who was educated in the US, declared 'these are our people' in an interview with Iranian state TV station IRIB Ofogh on April 26.

He said Iran's brutal Islamic dictatorship, which he he claimed to be part of, was cheering on the protests from coast to coast in the US.

Hundreds of cops on Tuesday night cleared protesters out of Columbia University in New York City, and the next night police hit the UCLA encampment.

Tehran University Professor Foad Izadi declared 'these are our people' in reference to US protestors in an interview with Iranian state TV station IRIB Ofogh on April 26

The police presence at protests comes after many grew dangerous with students fighting with each other or taking over university buildings.

Izadi also claimed in the interview, translated and posted online by the Middle East Research Institute, that Iran had Hezbollah-like militant cells hiding in the US.

'Sooner or later, this kind of support for the Zionist regime by the American regime will diminish. It might not stop completely, but its diminishing is important,' he said.

'We are watching the demonstrations and like what we see, but it should not end with this.'

He said Iran's brutal Islamic dictatorship, which he he claimed to be part of, was cheering on the protests from coast to coast in the US

While at LSU he did an externship at the USC Center on Public Diplomacy with a 'research project examining the recent US public diplomacy objectives and methods in Iran'

Izadi tried to take credit for Iran keeping 'the Palestinian idea' alive, claiming it would have 'closed years ago' if not for the Iranian regime.

'The idea of resistance belongs to Iran, but on the operational level, when it comes to recruiting connections and building networks, the [Iranian] state has not been involved in a sufficient level,' he said.

The professor then made his boldest claim - the students and other protesters would support Iran over their own country if there was ever conflict.

'These are our people,' he said.

'If tensions between America and Iran rise tomorrow or the day after, these are the people who will have to take to the streets to support Iran.'

People link arms while gathered inside the ongoing encampment of pro-Palestinian protestors on the campus of UCLA

Dozens of universities like Columbia (pictured) have tent cities of students and outside agitators squatting on lawns and refusing to leave

NYPD cops dressed in riot gear have stormed through a window of a Columbia University building occupied by dozens of pro-Palestine protesters to begin clearing them out

Izadi claimed Iran it could do more damage to the US with an armed militant group than it did in Lebanon, where Hezbollah has caused chaos for decades.

'Personally, I think that the potential to repeat in the US what Iran did in Lebanon is much higher,' he said. 'Our Hezbollah-style groups in America are much larger than what we have in Lebanon.

'American is the Great Satan and our main enemy, but we have hope in these areas.'

Izadi got both his bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Houston and his doctorate from Louisiana State University before returning to Iran.

While at LSU he did an externship at the USC Center on Public Diplomacy with a 'research project examining the recent US public diplomacy objectives and methods in Iran.'

His project would 'identify institutional processes and players in U.S. public diplomacy initiatives toward Iran and will investigate how these initiatives fit with the concept of new public diplomacy'.

Students and protestors at City College of New York also clashed with police on Tuesday night as the city cracked down on pro-Palestine protestors at college campuses

Protesters light flares and shout from the inside of locked gates to CCNY as hundreds of other demonstrators rally outside

At Houston, he won an award for his paper A Discourse Analysis of American Newspaper Editorials: The Case of Iran's Nuclear Program.

Izadi frequently posts videos from American university protests, expressing support for the demonstrators and blasting police.

'Freedom of the press, American style: the demonstration is in support of the Palestinian people, and the cameraman was arrested along with more than 50 students,' he wrote on April 26.

When the US Congress passed a bill giving billions of dollars in military aid to Israel, he lashed out in an April 20 post.

'The child-killing Prime Minister of the Zionist regime: Financial support for Israel is "defense of Western civilization". It really is the same. The end of western civilization is the same crime that you see in Gaza,' he wrote.
Randomly chosen guests will get the chance to stay in movie-inspired homes

A real-life UP house is now available on Airbnb for lucky guests

Airbnb has launched the ultimate adventure for movie fans including the chance to stay at the house from Pixar's UP as it is suspended in the air by balloons.

On Wednesday, the short-term rental company announced its new 'Icons' collection that features stunning houses inspired by movies.

'Icons let you step into worlds youve only ever dreamed of. Drift off in the Up house. Spend the night in the Ferrari Museum. Hang out with Kevin Hart,' the company said.

The UP house is located in Abiquiu, New Mexico , and is hosted by none other than Carl Fredricksen - the fictional star of the movie. Stays in the home are free, but lucky occupants will be chosen by random after the company reviews applicant's answers about their 'perspectives and connections to the icon.'

The home is being hoisted by balloons and a crane allowing occupants to hang in the air during their stay.

In addition to the iconic balloon-topped home, the company has also created a Prince inspired Purple Rain house and an 'X-Mansion' inspired by Marvel's X-Men series.

Airbnb has launched the ultimate adventure with a stunning house inspired by the Disney movie UP, where guests can stay suspended in the sky by a huge crane

The UP house is located in Abiquiu, New Mexico, and is hosted by none other than Carl Fredricksen

The house is part of its new 'icons' collection, with other movie-inspired homes up for grabs

According to the listing, Airbnb purchased Carl and Ellie's home to celebrate the 15-year anniversary of movie

Though the home is being hoisted by a crane, it still features the iconic balloons which captured the imaginations of so many viewers

UP's Fredricksen listed his quaint house that can fit four guests all while being suspended in mid-air.

'I don't always like visitors, but I guess it's pretty nice to have them now that it's just me and Dug,' Fredricksen said. 'So, come stay in my cozy home I made with my dear Ellie.'

He said that each guest will start out as 'Junior Wilderness Explorers,' like Russell from the 2009 movie.

As the stay goes on, Fredricksen said each guest will get to go on 'mini adventures' and collect badges along the way.

He has also asked his chosen guests to tidy up around the home, including chores such as 'fetching mail' and 'minding the house.'

His house also features a fun activity that allows guests to create their very own Adventure Book, straight from the movie.

Fredricksen added that chosen guests can also enjoy picnics on the lawn, watch the 'night sky' like Ellie loved to do and enjoy his favorite breakfast - bran flakes.

According to the listing, Airbnb purchased Carl and Ellie's home to celebrate the 15-year anniversary of the movie. Requests to book the home close on May 13.

'Ellie was the best adventurer, so youve got big shoes to fill,' Fredricksen said.

The chance to live in the house left people split on social media, with some loving the idea and others fearing for their safety.

'Airbnb is the next Disney,' a commenter said online.

'You ain't paying me to stay in this place,' another wrote.

Fredricksen's quaint house, and its crane, can support four people for their stay

As the stay goes on, Fredricksen said that each guest will get to go on 'mini adventures' and collect badges along the way

With visitors starting out as 'Junior Wilderness Explorers,' like Russell from the 2009 movie, the badges are a nod to the boy's obsession in the 2009 film

The house even includes Fredricksen's stairlift

'I don't always like visitors, but I guess it's pretty nice to have them now that it's just me and Dug,' Fredricksen said in the listing. 'So, come stay in my cozy home I made with my dear Ellie'

Guests can enjoy Fredricksen's favorite breakfast - bran flakes

Stays in the home are free, but lucky occupants will be chosen by random after the company reviews applicant's answers about their 'perspectives and connections to the icon'

Chosen guests will be asked to tidy up around the home with chores including 'fetching mail' and 'minding the house'

The listing added that chosen guests can also enjoy picnics on the lawn and watching the 'night sky' like Ellie loved

Requests to book the home close on May 13

Another wonderous movie-themed home that is being offered in the rental company's new promotion is the chance to stay at 'X-Mansion' in New Castle, New York.

The massive home, which can fit eight guests and costs $97 per person. Requests to book the mansion opened on Wednesday and will close on May 14.

The property is hosted by Jubilee, a Marvel comic book character, who offers guests the opportunity to have a 'totally 90s sleepover.'

'Calling all mutants! Or anyone who feels just a little bit different. Nows your shot to find out how super special you are at Xaviers Institute for Higher Learning,' Jubilee said.

During the stay, Jubilee has promised to guide 'new students' through orientation, the chance to enter Beast's 'totally gnarly lab,' take a class in the Danger Room, and try on Cerebro in the War Room.

Before guests say their goodbyes, the 'superhost' will 'debrief' them on their 'new powers,' and also gift them their very own diploma and class picture.

'Cant wait to have you over to the house so you can see what were all about,' she wrote.'

Another unique getaway offered by Airbnb gives guests the chance to stay at the actual house in Minnesota Prince used in filming the movie Purple Rain.

The rental, located in Minneapolis, is hosted by Wendy and Lisa, the musical duo that worked with the Prince of Funk. It will open for requests in August.

Tear-jerking references to the film in the holiday home include some heartwarming snaps of Carl and Ellie

'Ellie was the best adventurer, so youve got big shoes to fill,' Fredricksen said

His house also features a fun activity that allows guests to create their very own Adventure Book

The chance to live in the house left people split on social media, with some loving the idea and others fearing for their safety

Another wonderous movie-themed home that is being offered in the rental company's new promotion is the chance to stay at 'X-Mansion' in New Castle, New York

The property is hosted by Jubilee, a Marvel comic book character, who offers guests the opportunity to have a 'totally 90s sleepover'

'For the first time ever, celebrate the life and music of our friend and The Revolutions legendary frontman, Prince, by staying at the actual Purple Rain house from the film,' the duo wrote.

It is unclear how much the Purple Rain experience will cost but according to the listing, guests get the opportunity to 'sleep like The Kid himself,' get a glimpse into Prince's world, and 'go crazy for rare Prince tracks.'

No word if the stay comes with a little red Corvette.

Wendy and Lisa have requested that guests wear their 'finest purple fits' and 'feel free to unleash you royal rockstar.'

Other amazing experiences offered by the company include the chance to spend a night in the Ferrari Museum, stay in the Paris Musee dOrsay, and in June, Airbnb will unveil it's 'core memories' experience inspired by the Disney animated film Inside Out 2.

Besides crashing in dream-like homes, the rental company has taken it a step further and offered exclusive interactions with celebrities and internet stars, including Kevin Hart, Doja Cat, Khaby Lame, Feid and Bollywood star Janhvi Kapoor.

Another unique getaway offered by Airbnb gives guests the chance to stay at the actual house Prince used in filming the movie Purple Rain

In August, lucky guests will get the chance to hang one-on-one with Kevin Hart at a private speakeasy and enjoy 'exclusive, knockout comedy sets' by him and his friends

In October, chosen individuals will get the chance to join Doja Cat in a 'living room session' where she will bring her music straight from the road to an 'intimate living room environment'

In August, lucky guests will get the chance to hang one-on-one with Hart at a private speakeasy and enjoy 'exclusive, knockout comedy sets' by him and his friends.

In October, chosen individuals will get the chance to join Doja Cat in a 'living room session' where she will bring her music straight from the road to an 'intimate living room environment.'

Requests for each listing, including VIP experiences, will be chosen by Airbnb. The company will pick about 4,000 winners over the course of the year.

'We're not historically known for making anything. We're a platform,' Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said. 'I think it's really great to show what it looks like when suddenly you can step into our vision and our imagination.'
Donald Trump has revealed what he will do in November if he loses the 2024 presidential election and concerns about the election's integrity linger.

The former president spoke to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about issues around election authenticity during a recent interview.

His comments came after a rally in Waukesha, Wisconsin. The midwestern state will be key to the presidential election and will be home to the 2024 Republican National Convention where Trump is expected to be formally nominated as the party's nominee to take on Democrat Joe Biden.

'If everything's honest, I'll gladly accept the results. I don't change on that,' Trump said. 'If it's not, you have to fight for the right of the country.'

The comments bore echoes of his 2020 election denial claims, which were central to his attempt to unseat Biden. Election fraud claims were a catalyst that propelled a mob to storm the Capitol on January 6 in protest of the election's certification.

Donald Trump has revealed what he will do in November if he loses the 2024 presidential election

His comments came after a rally in Waukesha , Wisconsin . The midwestern state will be key to the presidential election and will be home to the 2024 Republican National Convention

Trump told the crowds on January 6, 'if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore'

Trump told the crowds on January 6, 'if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore.'

In the interview on Wednesday, Trump repeated a lie that he had in fact won Wisconsin in 2020.

'If you go back and look at all of the things that had been found out, it showed that I won the election in Wisconsin,' Trump said. 'It also showed I won the election in other locations.'

His claims were disproven following a recount and Republican-backed reviews that found no evidence of voter fraud as Trump claimed.

President Biden clinched Wisconsin in 2020 by just over 20,000 votes, securing 1,630,866 votes compared to Trump's 1,610,184. Trump previously won the state in 2016.

Trump's latest interview and claims comes as he faces a slew of criminal cases. Trump has been hit with is a charge of obstruction in Special Counsel Jack Smith's criminal case against him for election interference.

However, the Supreme Court appears to be casting aspersions on whether federal prosecutors went too far in bringing obstruction charges against hundreds of participants in the January 6 riot.

'If everything's honest, I'll gladly accept the results. I don't change on that,' Trump said in his most recent interview. 'If it's not, you have to fight for the right of the country'

The former president is facing federal charges in connection to the events of January 6

If the court determines prosecutors over stepped, it could have far reaching consequences for Trump who faces the same charge for his efforts to overturn his election loss in 2020.

The Supreme Court's conservative justices appear skeptical of an obstruction charge against a former police officer who entered the Capitol on January 6.

Joseph Fischer, was charged with assaulting a police officer, disorderly conduct in the Capitol and obstruction of a Congressional proceeding on January 6, 2021.

Fischer asked the court to throw out the felony obstruction charge, arguing the law he is accused of violating was only intended to apply to evidence tampering not events such as January 6.

Conservative justices pressed Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar over the use of the provision of the law.

Justice Clarence Thomas asked whether the provision had ever been used in other protests in the past.

Prelogar said said it had been used in a variety of prosecutions that don't focus on evidence tampering.

'Now I can't give you an example of enforcing it in a situation where people have violently stormed a building in order to prevent an official proceeding,' she admitted.

The Supreme Court appears to be casting aspersions on whether federal prosecutors went too far in bringing obstruction charges against hundreds of participants in the January 6 riot

Supporters react as Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Freeland, Michigan, on May 1

'But that's just because I'm not aware of that circumstance ever happening prior to January 6th.'

Trump was sensationally restored to the ballot by the Supreme Court after attempts to remove him in several states over his alleged role in inciting the January 6 mob.

The justices ruled a day before the Super Tuesday primaries that states cannot invoke a post-Civil War constitutional provision to keep presidential candidates from appearing on ballots.

That power resides with Congress, the court wrote in an unsigned opinion.

The former president was back out on the campaign trail on Wednesday as he took a break from court. Trump used the rallies in Wisconsin and Michigan to blast the criminal and civil cases against him and railed against the presiding judges and President Biden.

The events were the first campaign rallies Trump has held since the hush money trial against him began in New York nearly three weeks ago.

Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records for covering up hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Witness said ex-cop drove Audi at speeds up to 200km/h

Nurse, 24, on her way to a wedding killed in horror tunnel crash

A young nurse on her way to a wedding was killed when an ex-cop slammed his speeding Audi into the back of her car in a Brisbane tunnel.

Lily Galbraith, 24, was in the passenger seat of a sedan driven by her friend Emma McLean - who is in a critical condition in hospital - when the horrific crash occurred about 3pm Wednesday.

Witnesses reported seeing ex-cop Bruce Daley, aged in his 50s, stop his black Audi convertible at the entrance to the Legacy Way tunnel, rev his engine, and then take off at speeds up to 200km/h shortly before the crash.

Ms Galbraith was originally from the Northern Territory and had been working as a nurse at Flinders Private Hospital in South Australia.

She regularly appeared on friend Ms McLean's social media.

Ms McLean, 23, is from Adelaide and had recently got engaged to her boyfriend after a five year relationship. She underwent surgery at Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital on Wednesday night.

Lily Galbraith (left) was killed after an ex-cop driving an Audi convertible slammed into the back of a car she was a passenger in. Her friend Emma McLean (right) is in a critical condition

The black Audi convertible slammed into the car the two girls were in (pictured) which then hit a truck in the Legacy Way Tunnel in Brisbane on Wednesday afternoon

Mr Daley was retired from the Queensland Police Service on medical grounds in 2014.

He had mentioned his mental health struggles in worrying online posts including references to loneliness and suicide.

Asked whether the ex-cop's mental state would be a focus of the investigation, Detective Acting Inspector Chris Hansel told the media he could not not comment on specifics.

'I'm unable to comment on exact scenarios at this stage. As you would appreciate it is a very complex investigation, a very confronting scene that was experienced by our first responders and members of the public last night,' he said.

'It would be again irresponsible for me to nominate a specific scenario without the full investigation having been undertaken.'

Mr Daley was killed in the crash.

Debris from the wreckage between Mr Daley's Audi, the other sedan, and a truck was spread over hundreds of metres inside the tunnel at Mount Coot-Tha.

Mr Daley had been heading north in the tunnel when it collided with the sedan which then smashed into a truck.

A witness claimed the Audi had been travelling at speeds of 200km/h just seconds before it ploughed into the sedan, the Courier Mail reported.

Ex-cop Bruce Daley (pictured) was also killed in the horror crash

The former police officer is seen posing in his black convertible Audi in November of 2016

Mr Daley had been heading north in the tunnel in a black Audi S3which witnesses said was speeding at up to 200km/h

'I was driving behind the Audi for some reason (the driver) slowed down and stopped when we entered the tunnel,' the witness said.

'(The driver) didn't indicate or put hazards on I indicated around him and kept going a few people beeped at him.'

The witness then heard a 'car engine roaring' as the Audi passed 'doing 200kph past me in the tunnel', and then around 20 seconds later 'smoke and debris was flying around'.

The speed limit in the Legacy Way tunnel is 80km/h.

Another witness said: 'I was just out of sight behind this when it happened.'

'The vehicle pictured was just ahead of me and accelerated quickly just after the first speed camera heading eastbound until it was out of sight.'

Photos of the crash scene showed how fierce the impact of the crash was, with the Audi largely destroyed.

It's understood Mr Daley (pictured) left the Queensland Police Force 10 years ago

The collision shut down the city tunnel with both inbound and outbound lanes closed for over two hours during peak hour.

Queensland police duty officer Acting Inspector Stephen Crabbe described the crash scene as 'extensive' on Wednesday.

'Police are appealing for information in relation to a black Audi s3 that would have been travelling northbound on the Centenary Motorway through the Legacy Way tunnel,' he told a press conference.
Please send your photos or videos of the lightning to: pictures@mailonline.co.uk

The roof of a care home was destroyed by one of 35,000 lightning strikes that hit Britain overnight ahead of what is set to be the warmest day of the year so far.

Dramatic photographs showed debris scattered across the grass outside the care home in Elmer, West Sussex, following the lightning strike in the middle of the night.

While most of the 35,000 strikes recorded overnight by the Met Office were over the English Channel, millions of Britons were woken up by the storms in the early hours.

Elsewhere in West Sussex, fire crews said another lightning strike hit a university building in Chichester which suffered damage to its roof and power system.

No one was injured and residents were relocated while the damage was assessed and the electrical supply made safe, according to West Sussex Fire and Rescue.

Southern England and Wales bore the brunt of the heavy rain and thunderstorms, with two weather warnings in place throughout the night and into this morning.

There were also delays on some Great Western Railway services this morning after lightning damaged the electricity supply between Westbury and Castle Cary.

But temperatures could reach 24C (75F) in parts of the south East today, following a high of 22.1C (71.8F) yesterday which was the warmest UK temperature yet for 2024.

A lightning strike destroyed the roof of a residential care home in Elmer, West Sussex, today

Debris outside the residential care home in Elmer, West Sussex, after the lightning strike today

A thunderstorm passed over Portsmouth in Hampshire in the early hours of this morning

Lightning above Medmerry Mill in Selsey, West Sussex, in the early hours of this morning

Dramatic lightning over Bembridge Lifeboat Station on the Isle of Wight overnight

Drone footage captures lightning in the sky over Worthing early this morning

Commuters were warned of travel chaos this morning, due to spray and sudden flooding, while trains and buses may be delayed or cancelled.

The Met Office said the downpours could flood homes, while there could also be power cuts and damage to buildings from strong winds.

Marco Petagna, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said: 'After a night of storms, the rain will ease in the south of England for a while.

'We could see the skies brightening up in a few places and it will be another warm day. Parts of the south East could even get to 24C.

'But as the skies brighten and temperatures increase, this could spark a few more thundery showers in the afternoon, so it is likely to still be a bit unsettled and the forecast will be changeable over the next few days.'

While southern parts of the country experienced heavy rain, areas in the north should stay dry and warm.

Looking ahead to the Bank Holiday weekend, Mr Petagna said the forecast showed a 'very mixed picture'.

Crazy lightning tonight near Haywards Heath, West Sussex. Not seen this much in years.  #Lightning #thunderstorms pic.twitter.com/eXikuUVqGU  Kerryn Groves  (@monkeykezza) May 2, 2024

Woken up in A hotel room in Canary Wharf by thunder and lightning, all feeling a bit dystopian #thunderstorms pic.twitter.com/NbhLRr35OF  Manakdeep Singh (@ManakdeepSingh) May 2, 2024

So much flashing lightning it woke me up, and the thunder is getting louder #thunderstorms  pic.twitter.com/JgZEnWh34b  Lorraine Maunder  (@iiLorraine) May 2, 2024

This lightening is no joke, its been going on for ages now, plus the rain and thunderthe repeated light flashes woke me up and still going!!!! pic.twitter.com/Xq8ieS3RPK  Genelle Aldred (@genellealdred) May 2, 2024

A lilac sky in Worthing this morning as thunderstorms sweep across southern parts of the UK

A lightning storm passes Newhaven in East Sussex in the early hours of this morning

The lightning illuminated Portsmouth Harbour in Hampshire at 1.30am this morning

Lightning during a thunderstorm in Bromley, South East London, this morning

Most areas of the country are likely to experience some rain but temperatures will remain fairly warm, in the mid to late teens.

There are likely to be showers across the country on Monday.

The Met Office said the forecast for Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday was 'still fairly uncertain, but overall it should be fairly warm with scattered showers'.

It added: 'There is also a chance of cloudier conditions with rain spreading from the southwest for a time on Sunday.'

As for next week, the 'chance of rain and showers reduces as high pressure builds to the east of the UK'.

It added: 'This will bring dry and fine weather for most areas, although there is still a possibility of rain or showers in the west'.

And for the week beginning 13 May, 'high pressure is likely to remain dominant'.

The Met Office added: 'Sunnier conditions are expected across the south, while it may be cloudier in the north and east. Temperatures are expected to be slightly above normal for early May.'

Yesterday was the warmest day of the year so far, as temperatures reached a peak of 22.1C (71.8F) in Santon Downham in Suffolk.

Plenty of heavy rain and thunderstorms are currently being seen across the southern counties of England and Wales this morning 



Did you hear any rumbles last night? pic.twitter.com/d15aMLB6Ea  Met Office (@metoffice) May 2, 2024

Two Met Office weather warnings were in place throughout the night and into this morning

Rainfall totals for the week up to Friday show how western areas will face the wettest weather

Meanwhile, the temperature in Scotland reached 21.9C (71.4F) at Aultbea in the north-west Highlands.

However, while some areas of the UK experienced their warmest temperatures of the year, there were wide variations across the country.

Temperatures were over 10C lower in some coastal areas, such as in Weybourne, a town about 45 miles north of Santon Downham, which recorded a maximum temperature of 13.6C (56.5F).

Meanwhile, temperatures in Inverbervie, a town on the north-east coast of Scotland, peaked at 9.9C (49.8F).

Last month, the maximum temperature recorded was 21.8C (71.2F) in Writtle, Essex, on April 13.

The lowest recorded in April was -6.3C (20.7F) in Shap, Cumbria, on April 26.

Please send your photos or videos of the lightning to: pictures@mailonline.co.uk
A Ukrainian man has been sentenced to 13 years and seven months in prison for his role in conducting more than 2,500 ransomware attacks across the globe.

Yaroslav Vasinskyi, 24, demanded more than $700 million in ransom payments for data he stole from his victims, or he would publicly release it.

He was also ordered to pay over $16 million in restitution, the US Department of Justice said.

Vasinskyi conducted the ransomware attacks using the Sodinokibi/REvil ransomware variant, and publicly exposed victims' data when they would not pay up.

'Today, the FBI's close collaboration with our worldwide partners has again ensured that a cybercriminal who thought he was beyond our reach faces the consequences of his actions,' FBI Director Christopher Wray said.

Vasinskyi was arrested after crossing the Poland border and US officials are now working to have him extradited

Vasinskyi was responsible for the July 2021 ransomware attack against Florida software provider Kaseya, the department said previously.

The Ukrainian national was accused in the indictment of breaking into Kaseya, and simultaneously distributing with accomplices REvil ransomware to as many as 1,500 Kaseya customers.

Their data was encrypted and some of the customers were forced to shut down for days, the Justice Department said.

'Using ransomware, malicious actors from around the globe can paralyze U.S. companies in a matter of minutes,' said Leigha Simonton, the US attorney for the Northern District of Texas, where Vasinskyi was tried.

Vasinskyi, who was extradited to the United States from Poland, previously pleaded guilty to an 11-count indictment.

He was charged with conspiracy to commit fraud and related activity in connection with computers, damage to protected computers, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole Argentieri, head of the Justice Departments Criminal Division, said he hacked into thousands of computers around the world.

'Although the conspirators attempted to cover their tracks by laundering the payments from victims, Vasinskyi could not hide from law enforcement,' she said.

'Today, the FBI's close collaboration with our worldwide partners has again ensured that a cybercriminal who thought he was beyond our reach faces the consequences of his actions,' FBI Director Christopher Wray said

Vasinskyi was allegedly responsible for the July 2021 ransomware attack against Florida software provider Kaseya, the department said previously

'Vasinskyis sentence today should serve as a reminder to ransomware actors everywhere: we will track you down and bring you to justice.'

Ransomware is malicious software designed to encrypt data on victim computers, allowing bad actors the ability to demand a ransom payment in exchange for the decryption key.

The co-conspirators demanded ransom payments in cryptocurrency and used cryptocurrency exchangers and mixing services to hide their ill-gotten gains.

To drive their ransom demands higher, Sodinokibi/REvil co-conspirators also publicly exposed their victims' data when victims would not pay ransom demands.
The parent company of several fine dining restaurants located in iconic Australian locations has collapsed with $23million of debt and more than 200 jobs at risk.

Good Group Australia, the owner of the high-end steak chain Botswana Butchery and several Asian venues, announced last month that it had entered voluntary administration.

The famous Botswana Butchery sold steaks for as high as $500 a piece across Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra restaurants.

Those three restaurants employ 200 staff, and all branches continue to operate.

However, three other major businesses under the group - White and Wong's in Sydney's Martin Place and Melbourne's Chadstone, and Wong Baby in Melbourne's Chapel St - have ceased trading.

Good Group Australia, the owner of high-end teak chain Botswana Butchery (pictured), entered voluntary administration last month

A report sent to creditors this week, obtained by News.com.au, revealed the group owed some $23million with Andrew Sallway and Duncan Clubb, from BDO Australia, appointed to oversee its seven businesses.

Good Group owe $9.7million to Commonwealth Bank in secured debt and $4.5million to other creditors, including landlords, suppliers and its employees.

Its debt to landlords alone stands at $1.81million. The landlord of the company's head office in Melbourne evicted the group over failure to pay rent.

The landlord is expected to recover some money through security bonds.

An additional $9.3million is owed in inter-company loans.

Good Group's cumulative debt to staff is one of its biggest bills at $523,804 from unpaid annual leave and long service leave entitlements.

Workers are also owed $92,000 in unpaid superannuation.

Other companies linked to Good Group lent it $9.3million in related party loans.

The company also owes about $3.6million in taxes but administrators did not include that debt in the total amount as the Australian Tax Office has not yet lodged any proof of its debt claims.

The famous Botswana Butchery sold steaks for as high as $500 a piece across restaurants in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra

The administrator's report noted Good Group directors, who are all based in New Zealand, had failed to respond to their requests for information.

BDO Australia will seek to report the directors to the financial regulator, ASIC.

Mr Sallway and Mr Clubb believe the group has been unable to pay its debts since last September.

In terms of assets, the restaurants contained hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of food and alcohol.

The Canberra Botswana Butchery, which only opened in January, had $19,327 worth of food and $67,236 worth of drinks

The value of goods at its Sydney and Melbourne restaurants was even higher.

The Melbourne steakhouse had $58,906 worth of food and $168,493 of drinks.

The Sydney restaurant had food estimated at around $28,701 during a stock take, while its alcohol products totalled $119,181.

However, Mr Sallway and Mr Clubb noted, 'the majority of the food stock was perishable and therefore would be of very limited value in a liquidation scenario'.

While the Botswana Butchery restaurants are still open, they have racked up operating losses totaling $207,000.

Administrators recommended the group be placed into liquidation.

The report found, before their closure, White and Wongs and the Wong Baby Chapel were also operating at a loss since they opened with money from the New Zealand group keeping them afloat.

The owner of Botswana Butchery have closed restaurants White and Wong's in Sydney's Martin Place and Melbourne's Chadstone, and Wong Baby in Melbourne's Chapel St

'The venues have been unprofitable since their opening,' the administrators said.

'The group owes $9.3million in inter-company loans to New Zealand entities. The group has been reliant on the New Zealand entities to fund daily operations and trading losses.'

Mr Sallway and Mr Clubb determined the hospitality group's launch in Australia was poorly times as it 'coincided' with the Covid pandemic.

The subsequent cost of living crisis sealed the group's fate with its operating costs rising by 10 per cent each month.
An alleged teenage terrorism conspirator who made 'explicit threats' to stab Jewish or Assyrian people has been denied bail and deemed an 'unacceptable risk' to the community.

The 15-year-old, who cannot be named, was charged on Friday with conspiring to engage in an act in preparation for, or planning, a terrorist act.

A court previously heard the boy claimed to be friends with the 16-year-old accused of stabbing Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel during a live-streamed sermon in April.

Magistrate James Viney denied the teenager bail on the basis exceptional circumstances did not exist to secure his release.

'There is an unacceptable risk for the protection of the community,' he told Parramatta Children's Court on Thursday.

The family of an alleged teenage terrorism conspirator leave Parramatta Children's Court

Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was stabbed during a live-streamed sermon at a Wakeley church on April 15 (pictured), an alleged terror incident

The magistrate said this was of 'paramount consideration' and found the boy's alleged explicit threats to stab Jewish or Assyrian people and a previous alleged assault to be 'gravely concerning'.

The teenager propped his head up with his hand for much of the hearing as he watched on from custody via videolink, as his parents sat in court.

The magistrate said he had 'no doubt' the parents were both loving and supportive of their son, and had confiscated his phone after becoming concerned over his behaviour.

'They are genuinely shocked as to the charges he's facing,' he said.

After delivering his findings, the boy's mother left the courtroom in tears.

The boy's lawyer Ahmed Dib told reporters outside court the parents had been left devastated by the news.

The court previously heard the boy had been involved in an encrypted chat group titled Plans where he talked with co-conspirators who were planning an upcoming attack targeting Jewish or Assyrian people.

Prosecutor Rebekah Rodger said the boys were not just talking and knew people who had acted on threats.

The magistrate detailed messages allegedly sent by the teenager between April 20 and April 21.

'Don't youse want to do any attack  what about Jews brother what about Palestine? ... I am so cut, I want to do it so bad,' the teenager allegedly wrote in one message.

'I really want to do an attack now because I have so much hatred for these kuffar (non-Muslims) its not funny, I want to do jihad now,' another message read.

In one exchange, the teenager suggests: 'Try not to kill, just stab.'

'The messages clearly set out the young person wanted to do something catastrophic,' Mr Viney told the court.

A court previously heard the boy claimed to be friends with the 16-year-old accused of stabbing Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel

The magistrate also expressed concerns over an earlier incident where the teenager was arrested after allegedly throwing a wooden plank towards a worker at a bottle shop and allegedly being in possession of a knife at the time.

Mr Dib said his client had a history of behavioural issues, lacked confidence and had low self-esteem.

He said the teenager put on a macho performance in messages about performing an attack but disputed that any such plan was in motion.

Two hand-drawn ISIS flags were found in the boy's bedroom when police raided the family's home in April, the court previously heard.

The matter is set to return to court on June 21.
Russia and China must ensure only humans, and never artificial intelligence, are given control of nuclear weapons to avoid a potential doomsday scenario, a senior US official has declared.

Washington, London and Paris have all agreed to maintain total human control over nuclear weapons, State Department arms control official Paul Dean said, as a failsafe to prevent any technological glitches from plunging humanity into a devastating conflict.

Dean, principal deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of Arms Control, Deterrence and Stability, yesterday urged Moscow and Beijing to follow suit.

'We think it is an extremely important norm of responsible behaviour and we think it is something that would be very welcome in a P5 context,' he said, referring to the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

It comes as regulators warned that AI is facing its 'Oppenheimer moment' and are calling on governments to develop legislation restricting its application to military technology before it is too late.

The alarming statement, referencing J. Robert Oppenheimer who helped invent the atomic bomb in 1945 before advocating for controls over the spread of nuclear arms, was made at a conference in Vienna on Monday, where civilian, military and technology officials from more than 100 countries met to discuss the prospect of militarised AI systems.

Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile is launched from an undisclosed location in North Korea

Washington, London and Paris have all agreed to maintain total human control over nuclear weapons, State Department arms control official Paul Dean said, urging Russia and China to follow suit (Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile launch pictured)

A Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile is pictured in a silo in an undisclosed location in the US

Though the integration of AI into military hardware is increasing at a rapid clip, the technology is still very much in its nascent stages.

But as of yet, there is no international treaty that exists to ban or limit the development of lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS).

'This is the Oppenheimer Moment of our generation,' said Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg. 'Now is the time to agree on international rules and norms.'

During his opening remarks at the Vienna Conference on Autonomous Weapons Systems, Schallenberg described AI as the most significant advancement in warfare since the invention of gunpowder over a millennia ago.

The only difference was that AI is even more dangerous, he continued.

'At least let us make sure that the most profound and far-reaching decision  who lives and who dies  remains in the hands of humans and not of machines,' Schallenberg said.

The Austrian Minister argued that the world needs to 'ensure human control,' with the troubling trend of military AI software replacing human beings in the decision-making process.

'The world is approaching a tipping point for acting on concerns over autonomous weapons systems, and support for negotiations is reaching unprecedented levels,' said Steve Goose, arms campaigns director at Human Rights Watch.

'The adoption of a strong international treaty on autonomous weapons systems could not be more necessary or urgent.'

There are already examples of AI being used in a military context to lethal effect.

Earlier this year, a report from +972 magazine 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.

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.

Meanwhile, Ukraine is developing AI-enabled drones that could lock on to Russian targets from further away and be more resilient to electronic countermeasures in efforts to ramp up its military capabilities as war rages on.

Deputy Defence Minister Kateryna Chernohorenko said Kyiv is developing a new system that could autonomously discern, hunt and strike its targets from afar.

This would make the drones harder to shoot down or jam, she said, and would reduce the threat of retaliatory strikes to drone pilots.

As of yet, there is no international treaty that exists to ban or limit the development of lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS)

Civilian, military and technology leaders from over 100 countries convened Monday in Vienna to discuss regulatory and legislative approaches to autonomous weapons systems and military AI

A pilot practices with a drone on a training ground in Kyiv region on February 29, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine

'Our drones should be more effective and should be guided towards the target without any operators.

'It should be based on visual navigation. We also call it ''last-mile targeting'', homing in according to the image,' she told The Telegraph.

Monday's conference on LAWS in Vienna came as the Biden administration tries to deepen separate discussions with China over both nuclear weapons policy and the growth of artificial intelligence.

The spread of AI technology surfaced during sweeping talks between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on April 26.

The two sides agreed to hold their first bilateral talks on artificial intelligence in the coming weeks, Blinken said, adding that they would share views on how best to manage risks and safety surrounding the technology.

As part of normalising military communications, US and Chinese officials resumed nuclear weapons discussions in January, but formal arms control negotiations are not expected any time soon.

China, which is expanding its nuclear weapons capabilities, urged in February that the largest nuclear powers should first negotiate a no-first-use treaty between each other.
Rishi Sunak is braced for a moment of truth today as voters deliver their verdict in crucial local elections.

Polling stations are open with Tories fearing they could lose up to half of the council seats they are defending.

As rebels prepare a fresh coup bid, the PM is hoping that two mayors - Ben Houchen in Tees Valley and Andy Street in the West Mids - can hold on to give him positive news to trumpet.

But the bleak wider picture was underlined today with a Westminster poll suggesting Labour has a massive 26 point lead, with the Tories on 18 per cent - just three points ahead of Reform UK.

Most of the council seats up for re-election were last contested in 2021, at the peak of Boris Johnson's popularity as the Covid-19 vaccine was rolled out.

A polling station in Yarm prepares to open for voting in local elections today

Rishi Sunak was out canvassing in Chelsea with wife Akshata (left) and minister Greg Hands (right) this morning

Keir Starmer, pictured with wife Victoria today, said Labour is 'hopeful' it will win the West Midlands contest in an interview with Sky News

Mr Sunak is hoping that two mayors - Ben Houchen in Tees Valley and Andy Street in the West Mids (pictured) - can hold on to give him positive news to trumpet

Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen voted with wife Rachel and their baby this morning

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A total of 11 mayoral contests are also taking place, including for the London mayoralty where Sadiq Khan is seeking a third term.

Polls have give Mr Khan a significant lead over against Tory challenger Susan Hall despite backlash on crime and policing issues - although some believe the final result might be closer.

Labour is widely expected to win the Blackpool South Westminster by-election, which also taking place.

Although some council results and the by-election will declare in the early hours of the morning, most of the outcomes will not emerge until tomorrow and Saturday.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt tried to manage expectations last night, insisting governments can get 'punished' in local votes.

He told Sky News' Politics Hub: 'Tony Blair easily lost those amounts of councillors. And, you know, David Cameron lost hundreds of councillors in the run up to the 2015 general election.

'So, you know, we are expecting to see significant losses. That often happens in local elections.

'But what we say to people is, look, this may be a moment when you want to express a view about the national picture but actually the local services you depend on will be decided by how you vote.'

Keir Starmer said Labour is 'hopeful' it will win the West Midlands contest in an interview with Sky News.

Wins for both Mr Street and Mr Houchen would offer the Tories a ray of light in what forecasts suggest could be a dismal set of results.

But experts warned the metro mayor races would be the 'least reliable indicator' of what could happen at a general election.

Polling guru Sir John Curtice told an Institute for Government event yesterday that the Conservative Party was emphasising the two contests because they can 'cover whatever disasters happen elsewhere'.

'Because of the personal votes of these two, (these contests are) going to be the least reliable indicator,' he said.

'Equally, conversely here in London, Sadiq Khan will not do as well as the Labour Party would do in a general election because Sadiq has a negative personal vote. But this city is now so strong Labour, he's going to win anyway,' he said.

In a final message before polling stations open, Sir Keir said: 'Britain is, despite everything this Tory government has thrown at it, a great country.

'Its people, businesses, and communities continue to come together in the face of adversity. It is a strong nation of pride and potential, with boundless ambition for its family and its community.

London mayor Sadiq Khan voted with wife Saadiya and their dog this morning

Tory candidate in London Susan Hall also voted in Hatch End early this morning

The classic photos of dogs at polling stations started appearing this morning

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A total of 11 mayoral contests are also taking place, including for the London mayoralty where Sadiq Khan is seeking a third term

Polls have give Mr Khan a significant lead over against Tory challenger Susan Hall despite backlash on crime and policing issues

'But it needs a government to match that ambition, and with a plan to unlock it. Today, you have a chance to vote for that change, and pass a verdict on fourteen years of decline. You can start to rebuild our country and take your community in a different direction.'

The Liberal Democrats, who have focused campaigning efforts in traditional Conservative areas, said polling day would be a moment for the Prime Minister to 'face the music'.

Sir Ed Davey said the results would be a 'damning verdict on record waiting lists, sewage destroying rivers, and the worst cost of living crisis in a generation'.

'The country knows the buck stops at the door of Downing Street,' he said.
An anti-vaping professor has been grilled during a senate inquiry to provide examples of e-cigarette deaths before she eventually admitted the only known deaths is when vape batteries exploded.

Professor Emily Banks was questioned at the senate inquiry for the Therapeutic Goods and Other Legislation Amendment (Vaping Reforms) Bill on Wednesday.

The head of the Centre for Public Health Data and Policy at Australian National University in Canberra is a leading advocate for stricter regulations on vapes due to health concerns regarding the popular devices.

Federal Nationals Senator for Queensland Matt Canavan told the inquiry that he is still not sure 'after all these years' if anyone had died using a vape in places like the United Kingdom or New Zealand.

'Or even just a severe medical episode. Because I'm trying to reach what the threshold is here before we ban something,' he said.

Professor Emily Banks (pictured at Wednesday's senate inquiry) was asked to provide an example of deaths resulting from vape use, which she couldn't

Senator Matt Canavan (pictured via link at the senate inquiry into vapes) had to keep asking the professor to answer his question

READ MORE: Anthony Albanese calls young Aussies 'revolting' for this common habit Anthony Albanese has branded vaping as a 'revolting habit' (stock image) Advertisement

'Is there that evidence?'

Professor Banks talked about the 34 countries that had banned vapes before saying the issue is bigger than consenting adults buying the product, as children have been targeted by companies to become addicted.

Mr Canavan conceded that while it was an important point, he wanted an answer to his question which Professor Banks finally answered.

'So we're not just talking about deaths, there are examples of deaths in those countries from exploding batteries, for example,' she said.

Although Professor Banks couldn't point to anyone dying because of inhaling e-cigarettes, she listed other heath implications.

'There are also examples of severe lung injuries. I was just in an international forum recently where a doctor was talking about having a teenager on a ventilator, with tubes in their chest, due to lung trauma related to vaping,' she said.

'They were talking about it being very difficult to remove the tubes because the lung damage is so severe, also noting that they had never had a teenager in their care in that situation because of smoking.

'So there are examples of severe outcomes.

The main thing is we don't have to talk about severe outcomes; you can just talk about the fact that there are large proportions of people getting addicted.

It doesn't have to be severe or a death.'

The Professor also said it is too early to know the long-term effects of rape and we don't know the impact they have on the heart and cancer cells (pictured stock image of a vape being smoked)

Professor Banks told the inquiry that 30 per cent of Aussie e-cigarette users have never smoked, with just under a third saying they would find it difficult to quit.

However, Senator Canavan still asked for evidence of severe impact and if they were the result of illegal or regulated vapes, saying he had very 'limited time' for her answer.

He then went back to the point of companies targeting children and directed his questions to Dr Becky Freeman, which took away Ms Banks opportunity to reply.

Western Australia Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John asked Professor Banks if she would agree that vaping is '95 per cent safer than tobacco smoking'.

'There's really no evidence to support the '95 per cent less harmful' factoid, which I think is what you could call it,' she replied.

'In saying it's 95 per cent less harmful, what outcome are you talking about? If you're talking about childhood addiction, you might actually say that e-cigarettes can be a greater risk than smoking.

Professor Banks believes vapes (pictured) are worse than cigarettes for childhood addiction, especially due to the flavours available

'We're seeing 23 per cent of school students who start using vapes start by the age of 12 and another 23 per cent start by the age of 13. These are not harsh on your throat, they've got flavours, they're very easy to use.

'You could also say that in terms of poisoning children they are higher risk. Having one blanket statement is problematic.'

She also conceded that the impact of vapes are largely unknown due to them being a recent product.

'We don't know a lot of the effectswe don't know what it does to cancer and we don't know what it does to cardiovascular diseaseit's very difficult to actually come to an appreciation of the comparison,' Professor Banks said.

Around 24,000 Australians lose their lives each year to cigarettes, according to the Cancer Council, a fact that has divided health advocates and politicians in their support of vapes, with some believing they are safer.
EXCLUSIVE

A former Channel Seven producer says he ran up a legal bill of almost $60,000 which he wants Bruce Lehrmann to pay the bulk of after giving evidence and producing documents in the defamation trial against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson.

Taylor Auerbach was on the team at Seven's Spotlight program when it secured exclusive interviews with Lehrmann, which aired in June and August last year.

In April, he managed to get Lehrmann's defamation case reopened when he swore four affidavits piled-high with allegations against the former Liberal staffer and his former employer.

Mr Auerbach claimed Seven reimbursed Lehrmann for those interviews with lavish dinners at fancy restaurants with $300 steaks, as well as covering his costs for prostitutes, Thai massages and cocaine.

Lehrmann specifically denied getting $10,000 worth of Thai massages on Seven's corporate credit card, prompting Mr Auerbach threatening to sue him for defamation.

He hired defamation solicitor Rebekah Giles, who charges $900-per-hour, and made those same claims on the witness stand in the Federal Court - racking up an enormous legal bill at the same time.

Lehrmann lost the defamation trial on April 15 when Justice Michael Lee found on a balance of probabilities that he had raped Brittany Higgins in Parliament House in 2019, and is now liable for the legal costs of his opponents - including Mr Auerbach.

Taylor Auerbach hired defamation solicitor Rebekah Giles (pictured), who charges $900-per-hour

Taylor Auerbach is pictured outside the Federal Court in April. He was a producer for Seven's Spotlight program

There was a costs hearing in the Federal Court on Wednesday, during which Network Ten, Wilkinson, and Mr Auerbach tendered submissions stating what Lehrmann should have to pay.

According to the affidavit filed on Mr Auerbach's behalf by Ms Giles, costs associated with producing evidence for Lehrmann's lawyers in response to a subpoena issued at his request amounted to $38,145.25 - backdated to April.

Evidence included his employment termination letter with Channel Seven, medical reports referring to psychiatric injuries, and material referencing allegations of misuse of funds while employed with Seven.

The costs were broken down by each lawyer's hourly rate at Ms Giles' firm, Giles George.

Mr Auerbach owed Ms Giles and special counsel Jeremy Marel a collective $24,420 for almost 30 hours of work combined, he owed two associates $13,428.25 for a combined 26 hours of work, and a paralegal was owed $297 for almost one hour.

Lehrmann was offered a discount on April 19 of about $2,000, which took the cost to $36,000.

He was then given another offer on April 30 with a further discount of $4,000, which took the price down to $34,000.

Bruce Lehrmann is pictured outside the Federal Court on April 15, after the judgement was handed down

Lehrmann's lawyers rejected both offers.

The court documents show Mr Auerbach also charged Network Ten $20,000 because the broadcaster subpoenaed him to be a witness in the trial and had to fly back from New Zealand to appear in court.

However, he then offered the network a discount of 15 per cent which took the overall figure to $17,000.

In court on Wednesday, Justice Lee said: 'That ain't gonna happen.

'The whole idea that someone can spend $17,500 complying with a subpoena to give evidence is one that strikes me as...it's not on.

'People who get a subpoena shouldn't assume they're entitled to be able to cover legal costs, except in particular circumstances and some costs.'

Justice Lee will make orders as to costs at a later date.
Police have raided a Gold Coast home and charged two Chinese nationals over an alleged online phishing scam where more than 1.7 million fake text messages had been sent.

On March 23, police executed a search warrant at a Southport residence and found two SIM boxes and SIM cards they claim were used to send the text messages.

Following investigations, a man and woman, both aged 37 years old, were arrested at the home on April 18.

Police allege the SIM boxes were used to send more than 1.7 million scam messages

Police allege the boxes were used to send out fraudulent links directing victims to fake websites for the purpose of stealing money and identity information

READ MORE: The single texted that scammed Aussies out of $1 million Advertisement

Police allege the SIM boxes were used to send more than 1.7 million scam messages pretending to be from legitimate organisations over a two-week period in February this year.

Detectives identified that the SIM boxes were capable of sending bulk text messages across Australian telecommunications networks.

They will allege the boxes were used to send out fraudulent links directing victims to fake websites for the purpose of stealing money and identity information.

The pair have been charged with obtaining or dealing with identification information and using a telecommunication network with intention to facilitate the commission of a serious offence.

They are due to appear in the Southport Magistrates Court on Thursday.
The family of a young mother murdered almost three decades ago have made an emotional appeal to the public to help crack the cold case and bring her killer to justice.

Toni Tiki, 26 was killed while walking home from a New Year's Eve party held at the South Maroubra Surf Life Saving Club in Sydney's south-east in the early hours of January, 1, 1996.

She left the party with a male friend who said would walk her home but then decided to go back to the party, leaving her to head home alone. It would be the last time she would be seen alive.

A friend reported Ms Tiki missing to police the following day after the mother-of-two could not be contacted or located.

A three day search came to a tragic end on January 5 when police found Ms Tiki's body dumped in scrubland near the surf live saving club where she'd spent her final hours alive.

Toni Tiki (pictured centre) was killed after she was making her way back from a New Year's Eve party, which was held at the South Maroubra Surf Life Saving Club, in Sydney's south east, on January, 1, 1996

The family of Ms Tiki (pictured centre) pleaded with anyone with information in relation to her death, to come forward and assist police with their inquiries

READ MORE: Father of teenager mum found dead inside an apartment in Sydney's east breaks his silence Yolonda Mumbulla (pictured) was found unresponsive in her North Bondi unit on Tuesday morning Advertisement

A coroner found that Ms Tiki suffered from significant injuries however, her death has remained unsolved after the investigation was handed over to homicide detectives.

On Thursday, NSW Police announced a $1m reward to help detectives solve the case, where they were joined by Ms Tiki's children and other family members.

Her son Michael Hinds broke down in tears as he pleaded with anyone with information to come forward.

'For nearly thirty years, our family has been wanting answers. My mother's murder has left a huge hole in all our hearts,' he said.

'Closure isn't something we'll ever get, but we can get answers and justice we all long for.'

His sister Shannon Hall was almost nine when her mother was killed.

'Everything done in the dark will always come to light,' Ms Hall said.

'The night she was killed, we were robbed. Robbed of experiences, of having her here to navigate this life.'

NSW Police Homicide Squad Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty said the 28-year-old cold case will be reinvestigated entirely, with forensic testing to be included as part of the renewed investigation.

The reward will assist detectives to piece together exactly what happened.

The location where Ms Tiki's body was found is an area frequented by locals who would be aware of how to navigate the area.

Police hope the million dollar reward will assist their investigations to help detectives including forensic officers, piece together what happened on the night Ms Tiki (pictured centre) was killed

Shannon (pictured left) was not yet none when her mum Toni was killed

The remains of Ms Tiki were found by police in bushland (pictured), near the surf life saving club

Initial investigations from police who examined the body of Ms Tiki at the scene, have led officers to believe the attack on the victim was sexually motivated.

'We're hoping the $1 million reward will encourage anyone who may be still sitting on information about Toni's death to come forward and talk to police,' Det Supt Doherty said.

NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley added: 'This announcement reinforces that even after nearly 30 years, NSW Police Force investigators remain committed to finding justice for Toni.

'The message is: if you have any information, regardless of how small or insignificant you might think it is  please come forward.'

The investigation into the death of Ms Tiki comes as Australia grapples with increasing cases of violence against women, which was declared a 'national crisis' by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, with 27 women killed in 2024 alone.

The Prime Minister committed $925 million in funding, to address the issue after he convened an emergency national cabinet meeting with state and territory leaders on Wednesday, to discuss the matter.

Anyone with information in relation to Ms Tiki's death has been urged to contact Crime Stoppers 1800 333 000.

If you or someone you know is experiencing or is at risk of experiencing domestic, family or sexual violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732.

Shannon (left) and Michael (right) were robbed of their mum Toni at a young age
Fatime Letifova

According to the Individual Partnership Cooperation Programme for 2024 between the Azerbaijan Defence Ministry and NATO, a coordination meeting called MAREVAL Course was held with the participation of the expert group of NATO's Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), Azernews reports.

The meeting exchanged views on a number of issues of common interest on the course.

It was noted that the course is focused on teaching NATO standards and Operational Capabilities Concept (OCC) methodology in combat training.

It should be noted that about 30 NATO partner countries are expected to attend the course.
Port Sudan, Sudan (PANA) - Health charity, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), says in response to the escalating fighting in North Darfur, Sudan, it has treated over 100 war-wounded patients  including 11 children, many with gunshot wounds  at South Hospital, El Fasher, over the past two weeks
Brussels' plan to make Brits scan their fingerprints and take their photo when entering the EU is likely to cause travel chaos for UK holidaymakers, ministers fear.

British and non-EU passport holders will have to go through fingerprint checks and face scans under the new EU Entry/Exit System (EES). The system will check each passenger's name and biometric data when they enter an EU country.

It will replace the stamping of passports, which began after Brexit when the UK became a 'third country' to the bloc  meaning it is not a member state and does not have the right to free movement within the EU.

French officials will carry out EES border checks at Dover for the Eurotunnel and at St Pancras International for the Eurostar.

Lord Cameron, James Cleverly and Mark Harper have all raised concerns about the new system with French ministers, noting that the changes could lead to travel chaos, the Telegraph reports.

One senior Government source familiar with the discussions on the new checks told the Telegraph: 'The main risk is that we are in the hands of the French in those places where there is going to be disruption on UK soil.'

Lord Cameron, James Cleverly and Mark Harper have all raised concerns about the new system with French ministers, noting that the changes could lead to travel chaos, the Telegraph reports

File image of queues at the Port of Dover - one of the locations where the new border checks will be in place - on August 26, 2023

Rishi Sunak (right) was supposed to bring up the EES plans during a call with Emmanuel Macron last month, but the two leaders ended up addressing other topics. But he did speak to Ursula von der Leyen (left), the president of the European Commission who is hoping to be reappointed next month, about the new checks

Rishi Sunak was supposed to bring up the EES plans during a call with Emmanuel Macron last month, but the two leaders ended up addressing other topics.

But the Prime Minister did speak to Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission who is hoping to be reappointed next month, about the new checks.

Some nations have previously expressed concerns about how much time the EES process will add to queues at EU borders, with the Slovenian government saying it will take 'up to four times longer'.

In a report released last year, French public finance watchdog Cour des Comptes predicted queues at the UK-France border will at least double when the EES is launched this autumn.

The Port of Dover, which has regularly seen long delays resulting from post-Brexit checks, said the new system could lengthen inspections on cars from 45 seconds to as long as ten minutes.

In January, Ashford council warned that the EES could lead to 14-hour queues at the port, with potential tailbacks along the A20 and M20.

Eurotunnel warned it could take as much as six minutes longer to process each car boarding its trains.

It will not apply to EU citizens, non-EU citizens requiring a visa to enter the EU - as they would have already provided fingerprints with their visa application - and non-EU citizens resident in EU countries.

Despite apprehensions EES will be introduced on October 6 - just a few weeks before school half-term and potentially right in the middle of a general election campaign.

Each time visitors try to cross into the continent, they will have to show a facial image and provide four fingerprints.

Personal data including first name, surname, date of birth, nationality, sex, travel document and the three-letter country code will all be required  with under 12s exempt.

Austria claims processing times would be 'double compared to the current situation', while Croatia warned checks would 'certainly be significantly longer'.

EES will cover arrivals to all EU countries except Cyprus and Ireland. It is also being adopted by Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

Ryanair has warned against EES, saying it would 'result in significant duplication of effort' because of the high proportion of people exempted.

One of the reasons for delaying its introduction was next year's Olympic Games in Paris, with chiefs warning it could cause chaos for millions of passengers travelling to France.

But sources in the European Commission and the French government said there would be no further delays.

People queue for Eurostar train services at St Pancras International station as they make their Easter getaway in London, Britain, 29 March 2024

Each time visitors try to cross into the continent, they will have to show a facial image and provide four fingerprints

Around six months after EES is introduced, the EU will bring in Etias  a visa waiver system similar to the US Esta. This will cost 7 (6) per person and will be required for people entering the Schengen Area.

The EU has rejected concerns ESS will cause chaos at borders and claimed it will actually save time.

It is understood that the concerns raised by UK ministers are centered around two issues.

For one, they asked why an EU app that could make the process smoother and quicker for travelling Brits - by enabling them to upload some of the new information needed from home - would not be introduced until months after the EES is introduced.

They also enquired whether France would station more guards at the border to Britain for the Eurostar, Eurotunnel and ferries so checks can be carried out more efficiently.

While companies have already made adjustments, for example at St Pancras International, where 49 extra kiosks were put up alongside a 10million investment, more border guards are needed to take the fingerprint scans and photographs.

This is a matter for Paris and London to solve - and two ministers appearing before a House of Commons committee yesterday said that the cooperation between the UK and France on the upcoming introduction of the checks was working well.
European judges could rule on disputes involving Gibralatar under a new Brexit deal, ministers have admitted.

The Rock territory will also have to follow some EU rules under the agreement in order to secure a more open border with Spain, the Foreign Office said.

Tory MPs have expressed 'considerable alarm' over the concessions, and questioned whether British sovereignty of the territory might be compromised as a result of the deal.

UK minister for Gibraltar David Rutley emphasised to the Commons European Scrutiny Committee that defending the sovereignty of the British Overseas Territory was a 'red line'.

The concerns have been raised as Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron is leading talks with the EU in a bid to secure a deal and end the post-Brexit impasse, with officials announcing last month that the 'core elements' of the pact had been agreed upon.

The Rock territory will have to follow some EU rules under the agreement, in order to secure a more open border with Spain , the Foreign Office said

Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron is leading talks with the EU in a bid to secure a deal and end the post-Brexit impasse

Britain has been locked in talks over Gibraltar's future since it left the European Union in 2016, ending freedom of movement between Spain and the territory.

The sovereignty of the territory, which was ceded to the British from Spain in 1713, remains a source of tension between the UK and Spain.

Its inhabitants voted twice to reject Spanish sovereignty in 1967 and 2002. In 2016 they voted overwhelmingly (96%) to stay in the European Union.

Madrid continues to claim sovereignty over the spit of land, which is located on the southern end of the Iberian peninsula.

It is pushing for a treaty over the territory's post-Brexit future before crunch European parliament elections on June 6.

But pressure from Tory MPs has been mounting after a Foreign Office civil servant involved in the negotiations admitted that concessions include European Court of Justice (ECJ) having influence there.

He told MPs at the Commons European Scrutiny Committee that while the Luxembourg-based court would not enforce the 'direct application' of EU rules on the Rock there could be cases 'where there may be [a] referral'.

The chairman of the committee, Sir Bill Cash, said that its role was focused on its sovereignty.

Madrid continues to claim sovereignty over the spit of land, which is located on the southern end of the Iberian peninsula. Pictured: Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares

'I sincerely trust that the Government and the Foreign Secretary are well aware of the fact that any expansion or indirect application of the ECJ's jurisdiction to matters relating to these issues will be regarded as a very, very serious matter,' he cautioned.

David Jones, a former Brexit minister, 'We're talking about, it seems to me, a significant diminution of British sovereignty that the Government is quite happy, apparently, to play along with.'

Mr Rutley told the committee that Gibraltar's government was happy with the proposed deal and wanted it to be completed.

'The UK will only reach an agreement with the EU on Gibraltar which the Government of Gibraltar is content with, which safeguards Gibraltar's sovereignty and which fully protects the operations and independence of the UK's military facilities in Gibraltar,' he said.

'These are effectively our red lines, they have been from the start. We're not going to do a deal that isn't the right deal.'

In theory, Gibraltar - home to more than 32,000 people - is currently outside the EU's customs union and not under free movement rules.

However, Madrid has granted a temporary exemption for workers and tourists to avoid disruption on the narrow peninsula that jets off Spain's southern coast - leaving the overseas territory in a state of limbo since Brexit.

The temporary agreement could be rescinded by Spain at any time, and so the negotiations are working towards agreeing common travel between Gibraltar and the EU's Schengen zone, which would remove most border controls.

A view from the top of the rock of Gibraltar, with the airport and Spanish border below (left)

The latest wrangling comes after a top EU commissioner was accused of 'grandstanding' by the former head of Britain's Royal Navy after he said that 'Gibraltar is Spanish'.

Margaritis Schinas, a vice-president of the European Commission, made the comments at a briefing in Seville last month.

They have already been rebuked as 'incomprehensible' by Spain's foreign minister, Jose Manuel Albares.
Have YOU taken your pooch to the polls today? Send your pictures to emily.cooper@mailonline.co.uk and let us know where you voted

The hashtag dogsatpollingstations is already trending on X, formerly Twitter, as it has on a host of other election days in recent years.

Dogs across England and Wales were out in full force at the polling stations today, waiting dutifully for their owner to cast a vote in the local elections .

Polling stations opened at 7:00am and will close at 10:00pm on Thursday, with the results expected to give an indication of whether Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer will be moving in to Downing Street after the next general election.

Local elections are taking place in 107 local authorities across England and Wales, as well as 11 mayoral races.

London mayor Sadiq Khan is seeking re-election and standing against 12 other candidates for the job.

Getting in on the action, Mr Khan and his wife Saadiya Ahmed were seen walking their dog Luna to a polling station to cast their votes.

Getting in on the action, Mr Khan and his wife Saadiya Ahmed were seen walking their dog Luna to the St Alban's Church in South London to cast their votes

London mayor Sadiq Khan, pictured here with his dog Luna, is seeking re-election and standing against 12 other candidates for the job

Dogs Trust posted some advice for dog-owners taking their pooches to the 'paw-ing station'.

In a post on X they said: 'Be prepared for queuing in any weather! If it's cold or wet, bring your dog's coat.

'Many polling stations allow dogs inside. If you're not sure your does, take a voting buddy to watch them while you vote, or leave your dog at home.'

Plenty of dogs have been prepared for the British weather, accompanying their owners to the polls in tracksuits and rain coats.

Other four-legged friends are decked out in political regalia such as Stanley, who made it clear he would be voting for the Greens.

Anyone casting a vote in-person will need to show one of 22 accepted forms of ID including a driving license or a passport.

When asked about acceptable voted ID for a dog, Swindon Borough Council tweeted: 'A good boy/girl certificate is acceptable, we believe.'

Caroline Lucas, co-leader of the Greens, said in a post on X: 'Don't forget the Tories made it deliberately more difficult for people to cast their votes today by bringing in a new requirement for photo ID - please remember to take it with you and have your say! And if you do have a dog, take them with you too.'

Stanley made it clear he would be voting for the Greens at his local polling station

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen's dog Boris waited politely for the politician to cast a vote in Yarm

Dog walker Alistair Blake, from Oreton, Shropshire, was accompanied by French bulldog Coco on his way to the polls earlier today

Dawn Jenkin's dog Sirius Papillon seems to be both at the polling station and running in the local election. His sign reads: 'I'm all ears! A vote for me is a vote for all dogs!'

A labrador was pictured waiting patiently outside Bank View Cafe polling station in Stocksbridge, Sheffield

Local elections are taking place in 107 local authorities across England and Wales, as well as 11 mayoral races

Cinna, an 8-year-old rescue dog from Greece, was pictured arriving to the polling station at St Alban's Church in South London

Cinna's owners were at the polling station to cast a vote in the local elections

Hector was pictured at the polls in a red tracksuit

A rather large dog was spotted outside a polling station in Godshill Village

Photos of dogs pictured next to polling station signs has become a regular trend on social media but it is not a new practice.

An archived picture from the Manchester Guardian in 1921 shows a police officer standing outside a polling station looking after a baby and dog as their respective owners vote.

Whether or not you can take your dog inside a polling station can vary depending on where you are in the UK.

According to guidance from the Electoral Commission, dogs, apart from assistance dogs, are not usually allowed inside as they can disturb voters.

However, some polling stations may be more flexible. If you're thinking of taking your dog along with you to vote, it's best to check with the venue in advance.

Becky Thwaites, Head of Public Affairs at Blue Cross said: 'We love how #dogsatpollingstations has become an event across the country at every election but do check in advance with your polling station to see if they allow dogs inside before taking them along.

'Sadly there's a real risk that your beloved pet could be stolen if you leave them tied up alone outside, so take someone with you who can stay with your pet while you vote, or leave your pet at home.'

A clipping from a copy of the Manchester Guardian in 1921 shows a police officer looking after a dog and a baby as their respective owners went inside to vote

Bailey the Saint Bernard was pictured waiting for his owners to vote at a library in Chester-le-Street in County Durham this morning

Miniature poodles Marvel and Belle went with their owner Roger Harden to a polling station in the London borough of Bexleyheath

Murphy, aged two-and-a-half, was at the Scout Hut polling station in Gloucestershire

Billy the Labrador was the first dog to visit a polling station in Swindon with owners Chris (left) and Larry (right)

CJ, a Staffordshire bull terrier, was at Blackpool polling station today with owner Sophia Shepherd

This pair of pups accompanied their owner Rhoda Barker-Wilson to the polls today

Another dog waits patiently for their owner to cast a vote in London

Although he did not bring a dog in tow, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer was spotted voting in the local and mayoral elections.

The Labour leader arrived at the polling station with his wife Lady Victoria Starmer.

Pollsters have predicted swathes of Conservative losses in the local elections, results which will may have an impact on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's future at 10 Downing Street.

Voters in England and Wales will also elect 37 police and crime commissioners (PCC).

Freya and Lottie's owner Elizabeth from Brighton told MailOnline that the pair were 'eager to cast their vote for Sussex PPC'.

Freya and Lottie, as pictured at the polling station, were 'eager to cast their vote for Sussex PPC'

Ernie, a Welsh terrier, also accompanied his owner to the polls

Daisy, pictured at her local polling station, urged her owner's followers on X to vote

Former racing greyhound Bay waited at the entrance of a polling station in Horsted Keynes in rural Sussex

Pups Luna and Coco took their owner Suzanne Baum to the polling station

Working Cocker Pippa was very patient while waiting outside a polling station in the London borough of Bromley

A Pair of Hungarian Puli dogs outside a polling station in Manchester, where a mayoral election is taking place
A Norwegian man who was the ringleader of an extreme body modification cult played a 'staged dice game' with a victim before cutting off his penis with a vegetable knife.

Marius Gustavson, 46, faces years in jail along with six other members of his cult for carrying out castrations and uploading the footage online to a paying audience.

The Old Bailey heard today how the self-titled 'The Eunuch Maker' had 'masterminded' a website where subscribers would pay to watch penises, testicles and legs being removed in operations filmed by himself.

In one of his many sick castrations, Gustavson removed a penis using the same red vegetable knife he used to remove his own penis, leading to his victim having a 'catastrophic and uncontrolled haemorrhaging.'

Gustavson uploaded this video and many others onto his website, where he made nearly 300,000 during the four year plot from the 22,841 subscribers across the globe.

Prosecutor Caroline Carberry KC told the Old Bailey that Gustavson was involved in a minimum of 30 procedures and had 'manipulated vulnerable victims' to take part in the practice.

Marius Gustavson, 46, carried out extreme body modifications, including the removal of penises and testicles

He also recruited 'like-minded individuals' to carry out the procedures in his flat in Haringey, north London, or at rented apartments and hotels.

The operations were filmed and uploaded to the website eunuchmaker.com - which 'operated in plain sight' and had basic, premium and VIP membership options for up to 100 a year.

The videos included the electrocution of a 16-year-old's private parts, which Gustavson filmed and uploaded, the court heard today.

In another upload, Gustavson encouraged a Swedish man to cut off a testicle and then his penis, in two FaceTime recordings filmed three days apart.

In the first video, Gustavson can be heard saying you know what to do and encouraging the man as he hesitated with the knife, before removing the testicle.

In the second, the Norwegian is sipping on a drink as he tells the victim to cut off the penis and is heard laughing as he said just cut it off. He then tells him to put the penis in a freezer' and go to hospital to sort out the bleeding.

Ms Carberry said: 'Gustavson set up a website called eunuchmaker.com on which he advertised extreme body modification services such as male castration and penis removal.

'And it is an incredible feature of this case that that website operated in plain sight, not on the dark web, but accessible to anyone who stumbled upon it and had the inclination and the mans to view the gruesome footage.

'This footage, which is extremely explicit, was uploaded to eunuchmaker.com. Users could pay to subscribe or buy individual videos.

'There is evidence that the victims were promised a sum of money from the video revenue.'

The operations were filmed and uploaded to Gustavson's 'Eunuch Maker' website which subscribers would pay to watch

In November 2020, a victim came forward and told the police what had happened to him sparking the investigation. He is the only victim who has assisted the police with their enquiries.

When police searched Gustavson's property, they found a wide variety of tools including clamps commonly used to castrate livestock, forceps, electrodes, catheters scalpels.

Gustavson faces sentence alongside six other members of the body modification cult 'right hand man' Peter Wates, 67, Romanian Ion Ciucur, 30, and 61-year-old German Stefan Scharf.

He is now using a wheelchair after his leg was frozen and then amputated. He has also had his penis and nipple removed.

He received 18,500 in disability benefit after forcing the NHS to amputate his left leg by putting it in dry ice for two hours.

Also facing jail are former surgical assistant David Carruthers, 61, his boyfriend Ashley Williams, 32, and Janus Atkin, 39, all from South Wales.

The Recorder of London, Judge Mark Lucraft, KC, will sentence the seven men tomorrow.

Janus Atkin has admitted conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm and is seen arriving in court

Carruthers was involved in six procedures including four testicle removals.

He worked for Ceredigion and Mid Wales NHS trust from 1991 to 2002 as a 'domestic assistant' but has no medical qualifications.

Atkin had studied veterinary medicine and was involved in eight procedures including a penis removal.

Wates is a retired chemist and a former member of the Royal Society of Chemists and was involved in nine procedures.

He was arrested at his home in Purley, Surrey on 2 February 2022.

In February 2021 he bought five scalpels online and in June 2017 he bought a suturing kit online.

Ciucur was involved in two procedures including a testicle clamping.

Williams was involved in assisting his husband, Carruthers, to remove their friend Atkin's testicle.

The couple both worked at the passport office in Wales.

Gustavson appeared in court via video-link from HMP Wandsworth as the Old Bailey cannot accommodate wheelchair using defendants. He sat making notes during the hearing.

He admits conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm, five counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, possessing criminal property, namely money and making and distributing two indecent videos of a child between January 2017 and January 2020.

He also admits possessing extreme pornographic images, and three counts of possessing pseudo-photographs of a child.

Wates admits conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm.

Ciucur, who works in a hotel in Gretna Green, Scotland, admits conspiracy to cause GBH with intent in relation to two modifications.

Ashley Williams - seen outside court - has admitted to performing the castrations

Williams admits causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Atkin at his home in Newport, south Wales, on 7 November 2017.

Carruthers and Atkin admit conspiracy to commit bodily harm.

Scharf admits causing grievous bodily harm with intent by taking part in a single procedure by removing a testicle in an apartment in Camden in July 2019.

Former nurse Nathaniel Arnold, 49, Jacob Crimi-Appleby, 23, and male prostitute Damien Byrnes, 36, all admitted removing body parts from Gustavson and were jailed last year.

Crimi-Appleby, who had a sexual relationship with Gustavson after meeting him aged 17, froze his leg causing it to require amputation, Byrnes removed his penis with a vegetable knife while Arnold partially removed his nipple with a scalpel.

Byrnes was earlier jailed for five years, Crimi-Appleby for three years and eight months while Arnold was given a two year suspended sentence.

The hearing continues.
Scores of pro-Palestine students are staging protests on university lawns across Britain in a stand against Israel's war in Gaza, in a bid to replicate sit-ins on campuses in the US.

Protesters at Russell Group universities including Manchester, Leeds, Bristol, Sheffield and Newcastle have pitched tents and erected anti-Israel signs as they call for an end to military action in the Gaza strip.

Students from Manchester University filled nearby Brunswick Park with banners, plaques and Palestinian flags to call for the university to 'end it's partnership with systems which support Israel'.

One banner read: 'UOM blood on your hands', while another claimed: 'UOM supports Israeli Genocide.'

In Bristol, hand-painted banners were erected between tents, emblazoned with messages of defiance as students lobbied their university to cut ties with arms companies and back calls for a ceasefire as the war rages on in the Levant.

Large crowds have also been forming in Newcastle, as students say their protest will 'highlight the institution's investment strategy and its complicity in the Israeli military's war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank'.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said police will 'have our full support' to tackle potential disorder if students attempt to replicate the violent demonstrations recently seen at US university campuses.

NEWCASTLE: People gather during a protest in support of Palestinians, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on May 1

SHEFFIELD: A number of students walked out lectures at Sheffield university yesterday to take part in their demonstration

MANCEHSTER: People have been seen chanting for the university to 'end it's partnership with systems which support Israel'

LOS ANGELES: UK students have been inspired by a similar demonstrations in America - which has now been crippled by violent clashes

Last night Jewish community leaders urged universities to shut down encampments over fears Jewish students may be 'harassed and excluded'.

The spokesman for No 10 said: 'We have always been clear that Jewish students must feel safe on campuses and whilst our universities rightfully pride themselves on their openness and tolerance and diversity it is obviously absolutely clear that any antisemitism shouldn't be tolerated.

'We've always been clear that people have a right to peaceful and lawful protest but clearly people shouldn't abuse that right to intimidate others, cause unnecessary disruption.

'Obviously the police already have extensive public order powers to tackle disorder at protests and will continue to have our full support in doing so if needed.'

Elsewhere, a number of students walked out of lectures at Sheffield University yesterday to take part in the demonstration and are refusing to leave until the universities meet their demands.

Leeds students also announced plans to camp 'indefinitely' outside their student union, occupying land opposite the building and pledging to remain until the university, in their view, is 'no longer complicit in the oppression of the Palestinian people'.

One camp, at Warwick University, has been set up in the piazza for a week, while student activists elsewhere held marches and one-off protests.

Bristol students said they staged the action 'in protest of the university's complicity in Israel's genocide of Palestinians'.

The groups have called on their universities to divest from Israel in response to its military operation in the Gaza Strip. This would mean selling off stock in Israeli companies or otherwise dropping financial ties.

The students have asked for supporters to donate food, drinks and hygiene products.

MANCHESTER: The camp of students who are demanding the University Of Manchester to end it's partnership with systems which support Israel

MANCHESTER: One of the many banners seen at the demonstrations in Manchester

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign, a UK-based organisation which claims to be the largest British group 'dedicated to securing Palestinian human rights', wrote on X: 'Today, students from Leeds, Newcastle, Bristol and Sheffield have joined Warwick - demanding that our universities stop investing in Israel's genocide!'

The protests follow violent clashes at campuses across the US, most prominently at Columbia University in New York.

Violence also broke out at the University of California (UCLA), and more than 1,000 protesters have been arrested across the US.

Commons leader Penny Mordaunt says the UK protesters must be met with an 'extremely strict response' if they attempt to replicate the violence seen at the demonstrations on US university campuses.

Speaking in the Commons, Conservative former minister Sir Michael Ellis asked for a debate on 'antisemitism at UK universities'.

Sir Michael said 'terrorist slogans' had been chanted and 'Hamas headbands' worn at the US protests, adding: 'We don't want this type of terrorist-supporting delinquency in this country at UK universities.

'And would she agree that the Government and opposition parties must combine to do everything they can to stop such things happening here?'

Commons leader Penny Mordaunt (pictured) has warned that UK protesters will be met with an 'extremely strict response'

NEWCASTLE: Protesters say they are willing to stay 'indefinitely' at universities across the UK in solidarity

NEWCASTLE: A protest at the University of Newcastle organised by pro-Palestine supporters

Ms Mordaunt replied: '(Sir Michael) is right to draw attention to the disgusting scenes that we have seen in some universities in the United States and I think those activities are being met with the appropriate action and I think some universities have taken a very strict stance with regard to that.

'I think, and I hope, all UK universities will be in no doubt about their responsibilities to all that attend their campuses and their facilities but, in particular, those communities that are feeling particularly under attack.

'That is what we expect of them and we hope and expect that they will meet any such notion of similar protests with an extremely strict response.'

Bristol University told The Bristol Tab they 'fully respect the rights of our students to peacefully protest within the law'.

The 'bristoloccupy4palestine' group took part in an occupation of university buildings last month, but were shut down by the university, the outlet reported.

A member of the group said they were 'steering clear of... asserting too many demands' at present until they can be 'fleshed out in a more democratic way'.

NEWCASTLE: Universities in Britain have staged sit-ins similar to those emerging in the United States

NEWCASTLE: Crowds pitching tents around university buildings

In Leeds, demonstrators with the Leeds Students Against Apartheid Coalition rallied against what they claimed was the university's 'complicity in Israel's crimes against humanity'.

'Its partnerships with arms companies and Israeli universities are especially dangerous in light of Israel's incessant bombing campaigns in Gaza and intensifying settler violence in occupied Palestine,' the coalition said in a statement.

A banner reading 'IDF off campus' was seen at the event where activists are planning to host fundraisers and know-your-rights training by the end of the week.

Tom Southerden, Amnesty International UK's law and human rights director, said: 'The right to peaceful protest is fundamental to our democracy and it's vital that UK universities and the police respect and protect peaceful student protests on Gaza.

'Peaceful, student-led protests are an important part of the movement across the globe against Israel's war crimes, apartheid and possible genocide in Gaza.

'The authorities in the UK must avoid the dangerous clampdown we've witnessed at university campuses across the US.'

In February a Jewish chaplain at Leeds University was forced into hiding with his young family after receiving death threats over his role as an IDF reservist.

In Sheffield, a coalition of 'staff, students and alumni' from both the universities of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam began a similar encampment.

They said there had been a mass walk-out from lectures, and that many were ready to camp 'indefinitely' in support of Gaza, where more than 34,000 people have been killed in Israel's ground and air assaults since Hamas' bloody incursion into Israel on October 7.

LOS ANGELES: A pro-Palestinian demonstrator (C) is beaten by counter protesters attacking a pro-Palestinian encampment set up on the campus of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), May 1

'We've got gazebos and picnic tables and a generator for power. We'll stay indefinitely until the university meets our demands,' a student said, as reported by The Guardian.

And in Newcastle, students protested an alleged partnership between the university and defence and security company Leonardo SpA, claimed to have involvement in producing equipment for Israeli jets.

READ MORE: Biden accused of using student loan forgiveness program to PAY pro-Palestine activists with taxpayer dollars as campus protests continue Advertisement

Last October, the company did open a technology research site in the city and hosted an event attended by at least one faculty member from the university - although it was unclear to what extent the firm worked directly with the institution.

Leonardo did launch a data science partnership with the National Innovation Centre for Data hosted at the university last summer.

Last weekend, Warwick University students staged a sit-in protest, acknowledging the adjacent demonstrations in the United States and calling on their peers in Britain to do more to 'escalate'.

David Maguire, the vice-chancellor of the University of East Anglia (UEA), said that protests had so far been peaceful but agreed that US-style clashes 'could happen here', as reported by The Guardian.

More camps are due to be set up at universities including Swansea, Edinburgh and Lancaster.

Jonathan Turner, chief executive of UK Lawyers for Israel, said: 'Universities should take immediate legal action to remove these encampments before Jewish and other students are harassed and excluded.'

A spokesman for Jewish charity Community Security Trust said: 'While the right to protest is important, university authorities must ensure that other students do not have their lectures or exams disrupted, and that any examples of hate speech or support for terrorism are dealt with robustly.'

LOS ANGELES: Counter-protesters hold objects at a pro-Palestinian encampment on the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus, May 1

The demonstrations follow protests on US campuses, where demonstrations have turned ugly with counter-protesters meeting the encampments with force.

At UCLA, a masked pro-Israeli group ambushed a pro-Palestinian camp, shocking footage showing figures in hoodies bashing activists with bats and setting off flares.

Police had established control by dawn on Wednesday. The college cancelled classes in response to the assault.

Hundreds of protesters have also been arrested at Columbia amid similar events, with police officers clearing encampments and an occupied building.
A UN human rights official has said Israel may have committed a war crime following an investigation into the shooting of two Palestinian boys in the West Bank.

The two children, eight-year-old Adam al-Ghul and 15-year-old Basel Abu el-Wafa, were shot and killed by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) in the city of Jenin in November.

Shocking CCTV footage of the incident in the West Bank - which is not controlled by Hamas - showed how the pair appeared to flee from a heavily armoured IDF convoy before being gunned down.

One bullet hit Adam in the back of the head, while Basel was shot twice in the chest.

The teenager can be seen struggling on the ground in apparent agony for at least half a minute before he died - but Adam was killed instantly when the Israeli round shattered through his skull.

Eight-year-old Adam al-Ghul was shot in the head by IDF soldiers in November in the West Bank city of Jenin

Basel Suleiman Tawfiq Abu Al-Wafa, 15, was also killed in the gunfire in November

CCTV footage shows the boy circled in red being shot during an Israeli military raid in Jenin

An unexploded Israeli missile lies among the rubble of a destroyed building in the north of Al Nusairat refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, 29 April 2024

More than 34,300 Palestinians and over 1,455 Israelis have been killed, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), since Hamas militants launched an attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip on 07 October 2023, and the Israeli operations in Gaza and the West Bank which followed it

In the days after the shooting last year, an official with the Palestinian Red Crescent said the children were standing on a side street of central Jenin's main thoroughfare - an area theoretically off limits to the Israeli military as it is under the sole control of the Palestinian Authority.

But the IDF convoy passed them after having been involved in an early morning raid in Jenin in which the Israeli military claimed it killed terrorists from Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

The footage shows how the children were hit by gunfire from roughly 40-50 feet away.

The IDF claimed that Basel was holding an explosive device when he was shot, and officials at the time said the 'suspects hurled explosives toward IDF soldiers'.

The teenager can be seen holding something in his hand at the time of the shooting, but it is not clear what the object was.

The boys cannot be seen throwing anything at the IDF convoy in CCTV footage, and most of them appeared to be running away when the gunfire rang out.

Ben Saul, UN special rapporteur on human rights, said there was a possibility the IDF committed a war crime in killing the two boys upon reviewing materials provided by the BBC following an investigation into the incident.

The rapporteur pointed out that there may have been legal grounds for the IDF to deploy lethal force on Basel if he was in fact holding an explosive.

But he said there was no legal justification for the killing of eight-year-old Adam.

'This appears to be a violation of the International Humanitarian Law prohibitions on deliberately, indiscriminately or disproportionately attacking civilians, a war crime, and a violation of the human right to life,' Saul told the BBC.

The IDF maintains that the circumstances surrounding the deaths of the two boys are under review.

But there is little hope the investigation will turn up findings that could see the soldiers in question punished or reprimanded.

It comes as human rights group Amnesty International said in a recent report that there were several instances in which Israeli forces deployed disproportionate and unnecessary force against civilians in the West Bank, conducted unlawful killings, and denied medical assistance to those injured.

Though the bulk of Israel's military operations are unfolding in Gaza, the latest figures suggest 492 people have also been killed in the West Bank since October 7.

A BBC investigation into the shooting provided materials to human rights advocates, lawyers and war crimes investigators

Ben Saul, UN special rapporteur on human rights, said there was a possibility the IDF committed a war crime in killing the two boys upon reviewing materials provided by the BBC following an investigation into the incident

Red Crescent first aiders are pictured in action close to the scene of Adam's shooting in Jenin, West Bank, November 2023

Israeli military vehicles travel in a single-file line as a convoy moves through the West Bank city of Jenin

Israel has long maintained its army is among the world's most disciplined and says its military operations in Gaza are dedicated to rooting out Hamas.

IDF chief of staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said that Israel's rules of engagement - which have not been made public - mean that his men operate according to clearly defines parameters and principles.

'We cannot fight when discipline and our principles are not clear and are not followed,' Halevi said recently.

'A commander cannot skip instructions without approval if there is no operational and self-evident emergency reason for doing so.'

But a slew of incidents in recent months appear to show that the IDF is by no means the morally just and disciplined fighting force its commanders claim.

Besides the shooting of eight-year-old Adam, an Israeli drone killed seven foreign aid workers, including three British citizens, when it fired three separate missiles at three different vehicles part of a clearly marked World Central Kitchen aid convoy.

The heinous attack prompted international outrage and questions over the IDF's decision-making - particularly after two drone operators told The Telegraph in December that they never operate a drone with lethal payload without a lawyer on an uplink, plus eyes on the ground and a senior officer in the room.

Two military commanders were dismissed from their posts and a third was reprimanded over the strike, with the IDF ultimately admitting they had mishandled critical information and violated the army's rules of engagement.

That incident followed the tragic shooting of three Israeli hostages in Gaza City in December.

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

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

British victims (L-R) John Chapman, 57, James 'Jim' Henderson, 33, and James Kirby, 47, were killed in the attack

Israeli soldiers are pictured in the Gaza Strip as the war rages on between Israel and Hamas

Three Israeli hostages killed mistakenly by Israeli forces in Gaza in December had been holding up a white flag. Left to right: Alon Shamriz, Samer El-Talalka and Yotam Haim

The death of the three hostages sparked anger in Israel. Pictured: Relatives and supporters of hostages held by Palestinian militants demonstrate outside the Israeli ministry of defence in Tel Aviv

Yotam Haim, 28, Alon Shamriz, 26, and Samer El-Talalka, 22, were gunned down by soldiers from their own nation - a shocking incident which sparked fury on the streets of Tel Aviv.

Again, Israeli officials said the hostages were fired upon against Israel's rules of engagement.

And in the days after the outbreak of war in October, a single Israeli airstrike on Jabalia refugee camp is believed to have killed more than 100 civilians.

The eye-watering civilian death toll is one of the hallmarks of Israel's war in Gaza, and suggests the IDF's already murky rules of engagement have been loosened considerably.

Nearly 35,000 Palestinians have been killed since the IDF launched its operations in Gaza following Hamas' October 7 attacks, mostly due to brutal bombing campaigns that have reduced much of Gaza's infrastructure to rubble.

An investigation by Israeli newspaper Haaretz also suggested in March that the IDF has broken down Gaza into a network of 'free-fire zones' - where any person present is presumed a terrorist and liable to be treated with lethal force.

'From our understanding, looking at the IDF's behaviour and targeting, it makes it clear that the tolerance for civilian [casualties] is systematically far worse than in past wars,' Yehuda Shaul, co-founder of the thinktank Ofek, told The Guardian.
A woman whose neighbour installed a camera looking directly into her backyard has been told that there's nothing she can do about it.

The Sydney mum who lives in a Cronulla townhouse had been having disagreements with her male neighbour before she noticed the 'uncomfortable' new installation.

What made the situation 'horrible' is that the surveillance system directly overlooks her backyard where her three young children frequently play.

The mum asked her real estate agent if there was anything they could do about the camera but was told that nothing could be done.

A Sydney mum was horrified to discover that her neighbour had installed a security camera facing into her backyard where her three young children play

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The woman told Yahoo News that her neighbour also installed another camera which faces the common area in front of her garage.

She wrote in an online community group that she was most disturbed by the thought of the neighbour watching her children play.

'Our neighbour that we don't get along with at all has put up a camera directly facing our townhouse,' she wrote.

'We have three young kids and it makes me feel so uncomfortable that they're being watched when they play outside.'

Those who commented on the post slammed her neighbour's behaviour but said that it was an all too common problem for some.

'We've had the same and called the police, they came out within the hours and asked to see their footage to confirm what they can see,' one woman wrote.

Some suggested solutions which included planting bamboo to obstruct the view or installing a screening panel.

NSW residents are allowed to have cameras overlooking public areas but are not allowed to face them towards other people's bathrooms or windows.

Police can be called to verify what the camera can see and only if it is found to invade someone's privacy can they order the owner to remove or reposition it.

The mum expressed how she was made 'uncomfortable' by the discovery but that her real estate agent said there was nothing that could be done

'Contact the local police and they can come out and actually request to view that person's footage to see exactly what's been looked at,' property lawyer Monica Rouvellas told Yahoo News previously.

'And then the police can actually, I believe, request that the camera be taken down or repositioned.'

'If it is directed at a person's house or window then that's a violation of that person's privacy.'
Illegal dog fights are 'more lucrative than dealing drugs' with winning owners earning 100,000, according to a new documentary on the blood sport in Britain.

The Channel 4 documentary called 'Untold: Inside Britain's Dog Fighting Gangs' features members of the underworld talking candidly about the illicit trade.

The programme shows the aftermath of a dog fight between two London gangs which is likened to a 'murder scene' with blood covering the floor and walls.

Filmed between London and the Midlands, the investigation shows trainers talking about losing 50 dogs to fights- detailing the harrowing injuries suffered.

These include ears being ripped off, broken legs, stomach lacerations and perhaps most brutally of all 'snout breaking' where the dog can no longer use its mouth.

Eastern European countries such as Bulgaria and Moldova have underground networks of trainers who breed and prepare dogs for fights across the world.

Trainers use secretive chat rooms and messaging apps such as Telegram to sell their dogs to buyers across Europe including Britain.

Fights held in the UK often taken place in warehouses, on industrial wasteland and on traveller camping sights far away from the eyes of the law.

Dogs are trained to resist to pain and can be starved before a bout to make them fight harder

The documentary called 'Untold: Inside Britain's Dog Fighting Gangs' looks at the illicit trade

'Jules' told the documentary the fights can be to the last dog standing or to the death

One trainer called 'Jules' says: 'I am not going to sugarcoat it. It is brutal. It is nasty. It is vile. But that is what they were bred for'.

And a dog owner in the Midlands who is proud of his fighting record says: 'It's the money. When you realise what money you could make, you would get into it.'

It is also revealed in the show - available on YouTube - that gangs in London are now using dog fights to settle debts and feuds rather than facing off in street battles.

During the programme the host Benjamin Zand is taken to a council estate in the capital and listens to two dogs fight to settle a debt between two gangs.

By the end of the fight he is allowed inside the room where the fight was held and sees walls covered in blood and a dog so wounded it can no longer walk.

A gang member before the fight arranged with a rival to settle a debt, in the documentary

The owner of 'Ghost' who lost in the gang fight at the London council estate leading him away

Jules uses a hardened length of leather to teach Rottweilers to be 'desensitised to pain'

Mr Zand says: 'Their rational is, it is either me or the dog. In some sick, twisted way, you can kind of understand that. But why is it either of those options?'

The purpose of the documentary is to address the rise in the sport- and perhaps unsurprisingly money has a lot to do with it.

Wearing a balaclava and with his voice doctored, one owner from London says simply: 'It is lucrative. Drugs is small money compared to dog fighting. Minimum 50,000 to 80,000.'

But far from being a fringe event, the money involved means anyone entering dogs or hosting fights comes in with connections: 'This is an elite world. Everybody has got that money to spend, in this world.'

With the recent ban on XL Bullies coming into force there are also fears the dog fighting trade will go further underground amassing even more protection from the eyes of the law.

'Jules' tells the documentary that dog fights draw large bets up to 100,000 across Britain

The documentary moves to the Midlands to a dog fighting training ground, where a female trainer known as 'Jules' uses a hardened length of leather to teach Rottweilers to be 'desensitised to pain'.

'You will have about four to five days warning before the fightMaybe you need to starve it a little bit, because it sounds horrible, but some dogs work better when they are hungry,' she says.

'It could be that they fight to the death, it could be that they fight to the last dog standing. It all depends on the stakes, it all depends on the money.

'A prize pot for a fight can be anything up from 1,000 up to 50,000 to 100,000.'

According to the trainer some fights see the dogs forcibly given ecstasy to make them hyper and she adds she has lost about 50 dogs.

According to the trainer some fights see the dogs forcibly given ecstasy to make them hyper

The trade also has links to the Caribbean where there is a large market for dog fighting.

Dogs which earn reputations for being good fighters are breed because of their 'bloodline' in the belief their prowess will be passed on.

Those who do not fight are branded 'curs' and are dismissed by their owners.

Fights between animals have held for human amusement since the Roman Empire with dogs taking part in gladatorial combat.

Historial accounts- including records and descriptions- are frequent in the 1700s.

Benjamin Zand with Jules at her training facility in the Midlands

By 1835 the sport was illegal in Britain- but it continued to thrive underground among gangs and the travelling community.

In April police scored a number of convictions against a European dog fighting gang.

Amongst those prosecuted was Phillip Ali or 'Dr Death' as he is known in the dog fighting world.

He was found to have ran a gang which kept dogs in appalling conditions and bred them for fighting during a trial at Chelmsford Crown Court in Essex.

In total police recovered 19 bulldogs connected to Ali, 67, who were recorded having fights.

Phillip Ali, left, and Stephen Brown, right, were found guilty after a dog fighting investigation

There were even match reports - in one case detailing a 25 minute fight when one dog suffered a broken leg.

Despite being illegal for nearly 200 years it is thought there is a at least one dog fight a day with large purses to be won.

According to figures from the RSPCA from 2020 to 2023 dog fights have increased by over a third - amassing to 2,000 reports for that period.

London is the hotspot for dog fighting but it is also popular in Yorkshire, the Midlands and Manchester.

'Untold: Inside Britain's Dog Fighting Gangs' is available on Channel 4 Documentaries and Channel 4's YouTube channel
Trump has been making similar claims about London since 2016, once saying parts of the UK capital were 'no go areas'

The GOP frontrunner lumped London and Paris together, alleging that Jihadists have left the iconic cities 'unrecognizable'

Donald Trump has claimed mass immigration has rendered London 'unrecognisable' after Europe 'opened its doors to jihad' - insisting he would 'never' allow the same to happen in the US.

The ex US-President's remarks, made to supporters at an election rally in Wisconsin on Wednesday, is the 77-year-old's latest broadside aimed at the UK's capital and risks re-igniting his long-running feud with London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

'We've seen what happened when Europe opened its doors to jihad. Look at Paris, look at London, they're no longer recognisable,' Trump told supporters in a May Day rally as he hit the campaign trail away from his legal troubles.

'I'm gonna get myself into a lot of trouble with the folks in Paris and the folks in London, but you know what, that's the fact. They are no longer recognisable and we can't let that happen to our country.'

'We have incredible culture, tradition. Nothing wrong with their culture, their tradition - we can't let that happen here and I'll never let it happen to the United States of America.'

Sadiq Khan later responded to Trump's comments.

'Today is an opportunity to show Donald Trump and my Tory opponent that London will always choose hope over fear and unity over division. This election will be close. Polls are open until 10pm this evening and you will need photo ID to vote,' he told MailOnline.

'We've seen what happened when Europe opened its doors to jihad. Look at Paris, look at London, they're no longer recognisable,' Trump told supporters in a May Day rally in Wisconsin

The rally on Wednesday marked Trump's return to the campaign trail despite his legal troubles in New York

'Today is an opportunity to show Donald Trump and my Tory opponent that London will always choose hope over fear and unity over division,' Khan told MailOnline

Prior to a 2018 visit to London, while he was a sitting president, Trump slammed Khan as having 'done a terrible job in London.'

Khan responded, telling the Huffington Post that he would be happy to meet Trump to explain 'in a respectful, courteous manner where I think he's wrong on a couple of issues.

In another exchange, Trump said that he felt Khan had 'done a very bad job on terrorism.'

The same year, as Trump arrived in the UK capital for a state visit, protesters received permission from Khan's office to fly a blimp showing Trump dressed as a baby while crying.

In 2016, Trump had a similar beef with then-London Mayor Boris Johnson when he claimed on the campaign trail: 'London and other places are so radicalised that the police are afraid for their own lives.'

Johnson dismissed Trump as 'ill-informed.'

'The only reason I wouldn't go to some parts of New York is the real risk of meeting Donald Trump,' he famously quipped back.

Two years later, Trump told then-Prime Minister Theresa May that there were 'no-go areas' in London due to the presence of jihadis. May said later she disagreed with his assertation.

In 2016, while Boris Johnson was London's mayor, he joked that he wouldn't travel to New York for fear of running into Trump, the pair later patched up their relationship

In 2018, Trump asserted that Islamic radicalization had rendered parts of London as 'no go areas,' then Prime Minister Theresa May, disagreed

The huge inflatable depicts the US president in a nappy and clutching a mobile phone

Trump's latest remarks also come has police across the US are removing pro-Palestinian encampments that have been set by students on college campuses across the country.

Those encampments have been the sites of violence, most notably all out brawling seen between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian supporters at UCLA in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Speaking on about the protests, Trump encouraged officials to continue their removals.

'To every college president, I say remove the encampments immediately. Vanquish the radicals and take back our campuses for all of the normal students who want a safe place from which to learn,' he said.

Trump's remarks at events in the battleground states of Wisconsin and Michigan were being closely watched after he received a $9,000 fine for making public statements about people connected to the criminal case.

In imposing the fine for posts on Trump's Truth Social account and campaign website, Judge Juan M. Merchan said that if Trump continued to violate his orders, he would 'impose an incarceratory punishment.'

'There is no crime. I have a crooked judge. He's a totally conflicted judge,' Trump said speaking to supporters at an event in Waukesha, Wisconsin, claiming again that this and other cases against him are led by the White House to undermine his campaign.

Earlier this week, Trump as slapped with a $9,000 fine for breaking a gag order in his case involving Stormy Daniels

Trump pictured with porn star Stormy Daniels in 2006

The former president is trying to achieve a balancing act unprecedented in American history by running for a second term as the presumptive Republican nominee while also fighting felony charges in New York.

Trump frequently goes after Merchan, prosecutors and potential witnesses at his rallies and on social media, attack lines that play well with his supporters but that have potentially put him in further legal jeopardy.

Later at a rally in Freeland, Michigan, he said he was being forced to spend days in a 'kangaroo court room,' and claimed without evidence the district attorney was taking orders from the Biden administration.

'I've got to do two of these things a day. You know why? Because I'm in New York all the time with the Biden trial,' he said. 'It's a fake trial. They do it to try and take your powers away, try and take your candidate away.'

Even before the hush money trial got underway on April 15, Trump has held just a handful of public campaign events since becoming his party's presumptive nominee in March.

The gag order bars him from making public statements about witnesses, jurors and some others connected to his hush money case. Trump is still free to criticize the judge and the district attorney.

Trump insists he is merely exercising his free speech rights, but the offending posts from his Truth Social account and campaign website were taken down. Merchan is weighing other alleged gag-order violations and will hear arguments on Thursday.

Attendees agreed he is being unfairly prosecuted, contending the trial and gag order were designed to distract him.

Later at a rally in Freeland, Michigan, he said he was being forced to spend days in a 'kangaroo court room,' and claimed without evidence the district attorney was taking orders from the Biden administration

'I've got to do two of these things a day. You know why? Because I'm in New York all the time with the Biden trial,' he said. 'It's a fake trial. They do it to try and take your powers away, try and take your candidate away'

'It's a trial looking for a crime,' said Ray Hanson, of Hartford. Hanson said he expected Trump's lawyers would 'keep him in line' so he doesn't violate the gag order, as much as he likely wants to talk about the trial.

Manhattan prosecutors have argued Trump and his associates took part in an illegal scheme to influence the 2016 presidential campaign by purchasing and then burying negative stories. He has pleaded not guilty.

Trump's visits to Wisconsin and Michigan mark his second trip to the swing states in just a month.

For the previous rallies, the former president largely focused on immigration, referring to people who are in the U.S. illegally and who are suspected of crimes as 'animals.'
A man has been arrested after sensitive details of more than a million patrons who visited licensed venues across NSW were exposed in a major security breach.

NSW Police were alerted to a website which had published details of patrons who used their drivers' licences to check into 17 clubs and clubs across the state.

Prominent politicians are reportedly among those who may have had their details compromised.

Officers from the State Crime Command's Cybercrime Squad formed Strike Force Division and worked closely with federal and state agencies to contain the breach.

Following extensive inquiries, detectives raided a Fairfield West home in Sydney's south-west on Thursday afternoon and arrested a 46-year-old man.

He was taken to Fairfield Police Station where he's expected to be charged with blackmail.

Dramatic footage of the raid released by police showed up to 10 armed police officers storming the home on a quiet suburban street to execute

They were followed by plain-clothed detectives.

Officers from NSW's Cybercrime Squad arrested a 46-year-old man during a raid in Fairfield West on Thursday afternoon

Dozens of officers raided the Fairfield West home in Sydney's south-west

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Detective Chief Superintendent Grant Taylor said the leak was live for 'a number of days' but 'only really became known to the public in the last 24 hours to 48 hours'.

'We believe it's a breach of a third party provider,' he told reporters.

Seventeen venues were affected by the breach which police believe was compromised when a third-party IT provider contracted to collect the data sent it offshore to another contractor.

Registered clubs are required by law to document and store the personal details of patrons entering their venues in NSW.

One club affected by the data breach posted to Facebook that it used the provider from January 2021 to October 2022, but no longer used their services.

Club Old Bar said it had started an investigation and was working with the provider to identify the extent to which any data relating to the club may be involved.

The third party IT company, Outabox, said it was investigating the potential breach by an 'unauthorised third party from a sign-in system' and had alerted authorities.

'We are restricted by how much information we are able to provide at this stage given it is currently under active police investigation,' it said.

Investigators overloaded the site on Thursday to disable further searching of records.

The records were published online, with allegations contracted software developers in the Philippines had not been paid.

NSW Detective Superintendent Grant Taylor (pictured) said the sensitive data had been published online days ago but had only been noticed within the last 48 hours

Some affected clubs had already severed contracts with Outabox, including in one case because it was sending data offshore.

Police urged concerned patrons to wait until they are advised they have been affected by the breach before changing any details.

NSW Gaming Minister David Harris admitted the breach was worrying.

'We're really concerned about the potential impact on individuals and we will encourage clubs and hospitality venues to notify patrons whose information might be affected,' Mr Harris said.

The exposed records include visitation data, meaning some of the one million records will be near-duplicates.

Alliance for Gambling Reform said the breach could have been avoided by a centralised, secure universal cashless gambling card system.

'This breach highlights just how unaccountable clubs are and how haphazard they are with the mountain of private information they routinely collect from the public, without direct consent,' chief executive Carol Bennett said.

Federal and state police worked with the Cybercrime Squad to take down the information and locate the man who is expected to be charged with blackmail

Commander of the Cybercrime Squad, Detective Acting Superintendent Gillian Lister issued a timely reminder urging everyone to protect their sensitive information.

'Now is the optimal time to make sure your cyber hygiene is good; you have strong passwords and are using two-factor authentication where possible,' Det Lister said.

'If you think your details may have been compromised, use extra caution when reviewing emails or texts and never click on a suspicious or unfamiliar link.

'Always make sure to report incidents of cybercrime through the Australian Cyber Security Centre or Scamwatch.'
New York, US (PANA) - The UN migration agency (IOM) and refugee agency UNHCR on Wednesday mourned yet another major loss of life at sea, when at least 50 migrants trying to reach the Canary Islands from Senegal were reported dead or missing
Another Kangaroo has been spotted trying to 'drown dogs' in the latest attack by the marsupials of mayhem, but experts have argued that this is unusual behaviour for the creatures, who have a natural 'flight response'.

The disturbing footage, captured in Australia, showed a kangaroo standing in a creek as four dogs barked at it from the shore, before one of the pack lunged at the kangaroo, only to be knocked away in a tussle.

But this wasn't the first time the usually docile animals have been caught throwing punches with the public, last year there was a string of viral videos, showing the beefed up animals caught in entanglements with locals and their pets.

Rachel Leather, an animal behaviour expert, told MailOnline: 'We must remember kangaroos are herbivores so they're not going to be aggressive in the same way that a predator would be.

'They are much more likely to flee rather than be aggressive, generally they will always choose flight given the option.'

The disturbing footage, captured in Australia, showed a kangaroo standing in a creek as four dogs barked at it from the shore, before one of the pack dashed forward and lunged at the kangaroo, only to be knocked away

But experts have argued that this is unusual behaviour for the creatures, who have a natural 'flight response'

She added that changes in behaviour, such as the rise in attacks, can likely be linked to resource or habitat pressures in the area.

'Any change in behaviour like that [attacking other animals] is almost always to do with the pressures of the resources in the local area.

'For example, with predators, if there's a big increase in the population, or there's a big decrease in the resources available. Then that puts pressure on the individual animals to turn elsewhere, either for prey or habitat.

'Similarly, if it's around the mating season, male kangaroos will have threat displays and dominance displays during the mating season, and so any anybody encroaches on him is much more likely to be seen as a threat.'

Last October another man and his dog crossed paths with a Kangaroo in the outback, when he filmed it in a viral video holding his pet just above the water.

Rushing in to save the visually distressed animal, the man is heard cursing at the kangaroo, saying: 'I'm going to punch you f*****g head in. Let my dog go'.

Then, the kangaroo lunges at the man before the video cuts out - a struggle is heard before the video reappears showing the kangaroo stood facing the man and the dog now free.

Professor Benjamin Kear, a researcher in Australasian palaeontology, said that the real problem here is 'urban environments encroach on natural environments', as settlements expand you are going to see more and more incidents of wild animals coming into clash with humans.

To prevent these attacks though, he said the simple solution is for owners to ensure they can control their pet.

'Australia is has a long term issue with introduced animals, and this goes back thousands of years.

'The kangaroos have adapted to dingoes, the not so native dog in Australia for thousands of years, introduced by people and so they view the dog as a predator.

'And the dog views any kind of large animal coming into its territory is something to to get aggressive with. That's just a dogs behavior.'

Adding Kangaroos are 'skittish' and no threat to people, so he recommended that you just 'back away slowly' if ever caught in a stare down with one.

In the video, captioned 'martial arts are for everyone, even kangaroos', the dog is seen being held just above the water by the kangaroo

In a shocking incident with a human, a raging 'roo' put a farmer in a headlock in 2023 after dragging him off his motorbike in county Victoria.

Brian O'Donnell, 74, was riding his Honda across his farmland to check on a cow that was due to give birth when he noticed the massive marsupial stalking him.

Instead of hopping away - as most kangaroos would - the creature 'started growling and jumping up and down', he told the ABC.

The farmer said the kangaroo put him in a headlock and tore at his clothing, leaving with him gashes on his neck and back.

Another shocking video from June last year showed the moment an American tourist was forced to grab a kangaroo by the throat after it kicked and scratched him at Perth zoo.

The clip started with a woman trying to get away from the animal before the tourist came between them.

In response the marsupial reared up, jumping at and clawing at the man as he tried to keep it at bay.

The dad, wearing a black t-shirt, cap, blue jeans and brown boots, lifted up his leg to defend himself but the animal continues to come at him before a younger man came in to help.

Instead of hopping away - as most kangaroos would - the creature 'started growling and jumping up and down', Brian O'Donnell told the ABC

Another shocking video from June this year showed the moment an American tourist was forced to grab a kangaroo by the throat after it kicked and scratched him at Perth zoo

The dad, wearing a black t-shirt, cap, blue jeans and brown boots, lifted up his leg to defend himself but the animal continues to come at him before a younger man came in to help

Both men tried to walk away from the animal but the kangaroo continued to follow, kicking and jumping at them.

Finally the 'roo' was placated after a staff member at the zoo intervened, telling the two men to walk away and calling the animal a 'naughty boy'.

It also seems that kangaroos picking on dogs is a common theme - in 2016, another dog owner was forced to punch a 'roo' in the face after it grabbed his pooch in a headlock.

The moment the man stood toe-to-toe and traded punches with the marsupial to save his dog 'Max' was captured on camera by a friend, who videoed the fight from the safety of his vehicle.

With the dog in a headlock, the man's approach initially fails to deter the kangaroo, who kicks out with its leg.

Eventually the marsupial releases the dog, turning its attention instead to the man.

Standing upright, it momentarily before being struck by a forceful punch that sends it stumbling backwards.

Again, in May 2022, another angry kangaroo chased down a terrified man before tackling him to the ground as the two slugged it out in a drawn-out brawl.

Footage uploaded to a Ballina, New South Wales, Instagram page showed the man sprinting away from the irate eastern grey before stumbling and hitting the ground.

The ruthless marsupial then stomps on the man, who gets back on his feet desperately clutching a stick and swinging it wildly in self-defence.

At the end of the 'man vs animal battle,' both fighters looked worse for wear.

The last kangaroo attack that proved fatal was back in 2022 - police believe it was a wild animal which aged less than 12-months-old which was being kept as a pet.

Until then, a deadly attack had not occurred in Australia since 1936 when hunter William Cruickshank, 38 tried to rescue his two dogs from a fight with a kangaroo in Hillston in western NSW.
It moves through the water using 'efficient, buoyancy-driven gliding'

The new class of uncrewed underwater vehicle's future missions are unknown

The Manta Ray drone completed testing in the last three months off California

A Thunderbirds-style military vehicle designed for unmanned, long-distance underwater missions has completed in-water testing.

The Manta Ray prototype uncrewed underwater vehicle (UUV) completed the full-scale testing off the coast of Southern California over the last three months, according to manufacturer Northrop Grumman.

Manta Ray was built through the U.S. Department of Defense's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) program.

Although its future missions have not been revealed, Northrop Grumman describe the vehicle as a 'new class of UUV'.

It moves through the water using 'efficient, buoyancy-driven gliding' and could reduce need for as much human involvement in underwater missions.

A Thunderbirds-style Manta Ray drone has completed in-water testing off the coast of California

The military vehicle is designed for unmanned, long-distance underwater missions

Dr. Kyle Woerner, the Department of Defense's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) program manager for Manta Ray said: 'Our successful, full-scale Manta Ray testing validates the vehicle's readiness to advance toward real-world operations after being rapidly assembled in the field from modular subsections'

Manufacturers added: 'It is an extra-large glider that will operate long-duration, long-range and payload-capable undersea missions without need for on-site human logistics.'

Testing of at-sea hydrodynamic performance included submerged operations using all the vehicle's modes of propulsion and steering - buoyancy, propellers, and control surfaces.

'Our successful, full-scale Manta Ray testing validates the vehicle's readiness to advance toward real-world operations after being rapidly assembled in the field from modular subsections,' Dr. Kyle Woerner, DARPA program manager for Manta Ray said.

'The combination of cross-country modular transportation, in-field assembly, and subsequent deployment demonstrates a first-of-kind capability for an extra-large UUV.'

Northrop Grumman say the prototype was built in Maryland before being shipped in subsections to its test location in California.

The demonstrated ease of shipping and assembly supports the possibility of rapid deployment throughout the world without 'crowding valuable pier space at naval facilities'.

'Shipping the vehicle directly to its intended area of operation conserves energy that the vehicle would otherwise expend during transit,' added Woerner.

Manufacturer Northrop Grumman said: 'It is an extra-large glider that will operate long-duration, long-range and payload-capable undersea missions without need for on-site human logistics'

Pictured: Thunderbird 2, from the classic British sci-fi series, which bears a striking resemblance to the Manta Ray

'Once deployed, the vehicle uses efficient, buoyancy-driven gliding to move through the water. The craft is designed with several payload bays of multiple sizes and types to enable a wide variety of naval mission sets.'

DARPA say they are engaging with the U.S. Navy on the next steps for testing and transition of this technology.

Admiral Lisa Franchetti, Chief of Naval Operations, previously said she saw robotic systems such as the Manta Ray and other emerging technologies as a way to 'put more players on the field'.

The Navy received a first Orca XLUUV undersea drone from Boeing in December for further testing. The Orca is capable of waging war at depths of 11,000 feet, hunting mines and sinking submarines.
Sadiq Khan and Tory rival Susan Hall voted today as the London mayoral battle races towards its conclusion.

The Labour incumbent, who is hoping for a third term, took his dog along as he cast his ballot alongside wife Saadiya.

Meanwhile, Ms Hall went to a polling station in Hatch End, as she warned Londoners it is their 'last chance to vote for a Mayor who will get a grip on crime and make people safe' and scrap ULEZ.

Polls have give Mr Khan a significant lead over his Tory challenger Hall despite a backlash on crime and policing issues.

Sadiq Khan, who is hoping for a third term, took his dog along as he cast his ballot alongside wife Saadiya this morning

Tory contender Susan Hall went to a polling station in Hatch End, as she warned Londoners it is their 'last chance to vote for a Mayor who will get a grip on crime and make people safe' and scrap ULEZ

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A final survey for Savanta yesterday indicated the gap was 10 points, while YouGov has put it as wide as 22 points.

However, many at Westminster expect the final result to be closer, as happened at the last elections three years ago.

Mr Khan has been facing intense scrutiny over his record on law and order, after a 14-year-old schoolboy become the latest victim of knife crime in the capital.

Daniel Anjorin was killed just moments after leaving his house when he was attacked in a sword rampage in Hainault that saw four other people, including two police officers, seriously wounded.

Home Secretary James Cleverly was among those slamming the Mayor's perceived failures, with calls for every front-line officer to be equipped with a Taser.

And Ms Hall told MailOnline today: 'This is Londoners' last chance to vote for a Mayor who will get a grip on crime and make people safe, stop the ULEZ expansion, halt Khan's plans for pay-per-mile and build more family homes that people can afford.'

Rishi Sunak is braced for a moment of truth as voters deliver their verdict in the crucial local elections.

Tories fear they could lose up to half of the council seats they are defending.

As rebels prepare a fresh coup bid, the PM is hoping that two mayors - Ben Houchen in Tees Valley and Andy Street in the West Mids - can hold on to give him positive news to trumpet.

But the bleak wider picture was underlined today with a Westminster poll suggesting Labour has a massive 26 point lead, with the Tories on 18 per cent - just three points ahead of Reform UK.

Most of the council seats up for re-election were last contested in 2021, at the peak of Boris Johnson's popularity as the Covid-19 vaccine was rolled out.

Although some council results and the by-election will declare in the early hours of the morning, most of the outcomes will not emerge until later.

The winner in London is not likely to become clear until Saturday afternoon.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt tried to manage expectations last night, insisting governments can get 'punished' in local votes.

He told Sky News' Politics Hub: 'Tony Blair easily lost those amounts of councillors. And, you know, David Cameron lost hundreds of councillors in the run up to the 2015 general election.

'So, you know, we are expecting to see significant losses. That often happens in local elections.

'But what we say to people is, look, this may be a moment when you want to express a view about the national picture but actually the local services you depend on will be decided by how you vote.'

Keir Starmer said Labour is 'hopeful' it will win the West Midlands contest in an interview with Sky News.

Wins for both Mr Street and Mr Houchen would offer the Tories a ray of light in what forecasts suggest could be a dismal set of results.

But experts warned the metro mayor races would be the 'least reliable indicator' of what could happen at a general election.

Polling guru Sir John Curtice told an Institute for Government event yesterday that the Conservative Party was emphasising the two contests because they can 'cover whatever disasters happen elsewhere'.

'Because of the personal votes of these two, (these contests are) going to be the least reliable indicator,' he said.

'Equally, conversely here in London, Sadiq Khan will not do as well as the Labour Party would do in a general election because Sadiq has a negative personal vote. But this city is now so strong Labour, he's going to win anyway,' he said.
Fawlty Towers star John Cleese has said Brits shouldn't be frightened to say 'some cultures are superior to others'.

The 84-year-old claimed it is 'wrong' for Muslims to want sharia law to be enforced in the UK.

Sharia, derived from the Quran, is regarded as Islam's legal system. While it is a source of guidance for many Muslims, sharia councils have no legal jurisdiction in England and Wales.

The screenwriter also defended previous comments made on how London is no longer an English city - and insisted it was 'not a racist remark'.

The comments come as Fawlty Towers is set to be revived after more than 40 years.

Cleese slammed the BBC in 2020 for temporarily removing an episode of the show from its streaming platform because of 'racial slurs'.

He has previously told LBC he is in favour of trigger warnings on TV - but added that it is a 'mood that will pass' because 'everyone is super sensitive at the moment'.

John Cleese has said Brits shouldn't be frightened to say 'some cultures are superior to others'

The 84-year-old claimed it is 'wrong' for Muslims to want sharia law to be enforced in the UK

The comments come as Fawlty Towers is set to be revived after more than 40 years. Pictured is the original cast of the Fawlty Towers sitcom

Speaking to The Oldie magazine, Cleese said: 'Race doesn't matter, but culture does.

'I think that some cultures are superior to others, and we should not be frightened to say so.

'A society that goes in for female genital mutilation is abhorrent and I happen to think that if people come to live in Britain, they should accept and adhere to our values.

'I understand that some 20 per cent of Muslims in the UK would like to see Sharia law and I believe that's wrong.'

In May 2019, Cleese came under fire after he posted on Twitter, formerly X - that 'London was not really an English city any more'.

Defending this claim, the comedian said: 'That was not a racist remark.'

Last year, Cleese released a 10-part discussion show for GB News titled The Dinosaur Hour.

Discussing this, he said: 'I was allowed to say what I wanted and enjoyed that.

'On one programme, we had three academics and discussed this whole woke business.

'What annoys me is how some people think they have invented kindness, but kindness has always been there.

John Cleese confirmed a new play will include the scene in which a delusional Fawlty, suffering from a head injury, continually brings up the Second World War

Cleese wrote BBC Two's Fawlty Towers - which was broadcast from 1975 to 1979 for two seasons - with his ex-wife Connie Booth, 83

Germany's ambassador to the UK gave his endorsement to the controversial Fawlty Towers scene in which John Cleese's hotelier upsets a German family with references to the Nazis

'Kindness is everywhere, and much of my comedy is about teasing people with affection.'

Cleese wrote BBC Two's Fawlty Towers - which was broadcast from 1975 to 1979 for two seasons - with his ex-wife Connie Booth, 83.

In 2020, the BBC removed an episode of Fawlty Towers from UKTV over 'racial slurs'.

EXCLUSIVE READ MORE - Basil Fawlty is told he CAN mention the war... by the German ambassador as he says the embassy LOVE the controversial goose-stepping Fawlty Towers scene! Advertisement

Titled The Germans, Cleese's hotelier upsets a German family with constant references to the Nazis.

Last month, Germany's ambassador to the UK gave his endorsement to the controversial Fawlty Towers scene.

'We here at the embassy think the iconic restaurant scene is funny,' said a spokesman at the German embassy in London. 'To quote Basil Fawlty, we think it's 'veally good'.'

Despite the controversy, Cleese confirmed a new West End production of the classic 1970s sitcom will include the scene in which a delusional Fawlty, suffering from a head injury, continually brings up the Second World War.

It comes after Cleese revealed he is forking out up to 17,000 a year to pay for stem cell therapy to combat the side-effects of ageing.

He admitted the fee was hefty was claimed it's 'worth it if you're buying yourself a few extra years'.

Cleese, who has been having the treatment for more than 20 years, is ensuring he doesn't 'look bad' for his age by getting the 'highest quality' cells from Switzerland.
A collection of antique dolls, amassed by a couple over 75 years, has sold for 632,000 at auction, with some fetching 15,000 on their own.

Prolific collectors Austin Smith and his late partner Margaret Harkins filled their property near Bath, Somerset, with more than 1,000 dolls from a variety of time periods, including a number dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries.

The first item in the collection, which has been described as the 'largest and most valuable seen for 25 years', was a broken doll from a house contents sale in the West Country.

The first part of the set sold for 315,000 by Special Auction Services (SAS) in Newbury, Berkshire, in February.

A collection of antique dolls, amassed by a couple over 75 years, has sold for 632,000 at auction, with some fetching 15,000 on their own (pictured: a rare mid 19th Century china shoulder head fashionable doll which sold for 6,875)

A German bisque shoulder head fashionable doll (pictured) was among the most expensive items, selling for 15,000

A set of Punch and Judy dolls (pictured) shocked auctioneers after they went for 60 times more than the estimate, at 2,500

The second has recently gone for 317,000 bringing the total sale price to a whopping 632,500.

READ MORE: Fancy a cuddle? Horrific toys and dolls once beloved by Queen Mary are up for auction but could be too scary to handle Advertisement

A German bisque shoulder head fashionable doll was among the most expensive items, selling for 15,000, while a rare 1880s Jean Roullet 'Le Berger Watteau' shepherdess with a lamb made 13,750 at auction.

Meanwhile, a French fixed shoulder-head with painted eyes went for 12,750 and a set of Punch and Judy dolls shocked auctioneers after they went for 60 times more than the estimate, at 2,500.

Daniel Agnew, doll and teddy bear expert at Special Auction Services said: 'This was another exciting auction of Mr Smith and Margaret Harkin's Antique Doll Collection that was a huge success with many amazing prices.

'The collection has now made over half a million pounds, which is certainly the largest and most important collection of dolls I have ever handled and there will be more items in our other auctions in June and December.

Mr Agnew added that he had been shown the collection by a relative, as Mr Smith was unwell, but was 'blown away' by the dolls.

A French fixed shoulder-head fashionable doll with painted eyes (pictured) sold for 12,750

A rare 1880s Jean Roullet 'Le Berger Watteau' shepherdess with a lamb (pictured) made 13,750 at auction

Daniel Agnew, doll and teddy bear expert at Special Auction Services said: 'This was another exciting auction of Mr Smith and Margaret Harkin's Antique Doll Collection that was a huge success with many amazing prices' (pictured: a 1780s English wooden doll which sold for 10,625)

Prolific collectors Austin Smith and his late partner Margaret Harkins filled their property near Bath, Somerset, with more than 1,000 dolls from a variety of time periods, including a number dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries (pictured: a Grodnerthal pedlar doll sold for 9,375)

'I was staggered by the first room which was full of the best antique dolls you could imagine, then shown a corridor full of wall mounted cabinets of small dolls, then another room of dolls' houses, a room of automata, then a further two rooms of dolls,' he said.

'Truly a collector's dream.'
An ex-shoplifter who claims to have stolen 3million worth of goods says thieves now 'have a licence to steal' as thefts from stores hit a record high.

Recovered heroin addict Cullan Mais, 32, was jailed 10 times for shoplifting, serving a total of three years.

Mr Mais  who says he stole 2,000 of items at the height of his offending before turning his life around insists punishments are not harsh enough and the only way to tackle Britain's shoplifting epidemic is to impose longer sentences for organised criminal gangs.

The Cardiff-based podcaster, who works for a charity which helps people with drug addictions, said: 'People now have total licence to steal.

'If it's on an organised level, the sentences need to be harsher, because at the end of the day these people know penalties are weak.

'When you go to an off licence, everything is behind Perspex - it's a bit dystopian, but it works.

'Big supermarkets should lock up all meat, booze, aftershave, and then just have a guy there whose job it is to unlock the goods for shoppers.'

Cullan Mais, 32, of Cardiff, was sent to prison 10 times for shoplifting (left, while addicted to drugs, and right, Mr Mais now, having overcover his drug addiction)

A pair are seen ransacking shelves at a Boots store in Chingford just yards from a police station

A security-protected bar of Dairy Milk Wholenut was seen at a Co-op in Codsall in Staffordshire

A Tesco branch in Theydon Bois, Essex, has slapped security tags on shopping baskets

He also pointed to some of the desperate measures already being deployed in stores, such as displaying empty boxes on shelves for higher value goods.

Mr Mais' comments come as shoplifting soared to its highest level since records began in 2003 - with 430,104 offences recorded by police last year.

The shocking figure has swelled by more than a third, up from 315,040 offences recorded in the previous 12 months.

Retail bosses have accused the government of allowing shoplifting to become effectively decriminalised, with many forces failing to attend the majority of reports or not gathering any evidence when they do.

Under 40 per cent of shoplifting reports were attended by the Met between April 2022 and April 2023, recent figures revealed.

A total of 430,104 offences were recorded by police in the year to December 2023

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the spike in shoplifting was 'clearly unacceptable' and Crime and Policing minister Chris Philp acknowledged there 'is always more to do' and pointed to the government's latest clamp down through the Criminal Justice Bill.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to scrap the 200 shoplifting threshold  which allows thefts of goods below this value to be dealt with by post - and has backed a Mail campaign to crack down on assaults of shop staff.

Last year, the Mail launched a campaign calling for the police, Crown Prosecution Service and courts to be tougher on such offenders and for a change in the law to make abuse or violence towards shop workers a specific offence.

The Government last month confirmed the law will be amended on the latter.

Cullan Mais' eight-point plan for ending the UK's shoplifting scourge - Harsher sentences for shoplifting - Lock away all meat and booze and have a specific person employed to unlock security boxes - Always locate tills close to store exits for added security - Be aware of store blind spots and ensure you monitor them at all times - Keep ultra-valuable goods off the shop floor - Use empty boxes for high-value goods if they need to be on shelves - Deploy security staff on the shop floor at all times - Don't keep any spirits on the shop floor Advertisement

Mr Mais told how he was able to steal goods with ease because the sentences if he got caught did not serve as a deterrent.

'I used to weigh it up and think I'd rather go out and make thousands a day nicking stuff rather than risking my life trying to sell drugs - and getting a much longer sentence if I was caught,' he said.

Mr Mais said he began taking heroin when he was 18, but by 22 was struggling to fund his addiction.

It was when he got a car in 2010 that he says he turned to shoplifting, as it 'made it so easy' to 'blag the stuff and make a getaway'.

He began by targeting local shops and stealing clothes before moving on to supermarkets where he stole food and alcohol.

Mr Mais said at the height of his criminality, he was making 2k-a-day, largely from stealing and re-selling alcohol.

In August 2020, aged 28, after being caught shoplifting for the 12th time he was rushed to hospital with pneumonia and sepsis caused by his constant drug abuse.

He made a bargain with himself that if he survived, he would never take drugs again.

Mr Mais marked his 29th birthday in hospital and was discharged where he was confined to bed rest for a month and went on to make a full recovery.

Since then, he has turned his life around. He is clean and works as a mentor for the charity Kaleidoscope supporting people suffering with drug addictions.

He also has a weekly podcast, the Central Club, where he talks about his former struggles and journey to change his life for the better.
Some 711 people were detected crossing the English Channel on Wednesday, the highest number on a single day so far this year, according to provisional figures from the Home Office.

The cumulative number of arrivals by small boats in 2024 now stands at a provisional total of 8,278.

This is 34% higher than the total at the equivalent point last year, which was 6,192, and 19% higher than the total at this stage in 2022, which was 6,945.

Some 14 boats were detected on Wednesday, which suggests an average of around 51 people per boat.

A group of migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent by the RNLI on Tuesday after being picked up

The number of arrivals by small boats in 2024 now stands at a provisional total of 8,278

Channel crossings had already hit a new record high for the first four months of the year

Channel crossings had already hit a new record high for the first four months of a calendar year, jumping 34% on 2023 when 6,192 were recorded and up 19% on the total at this stage in 2022 (6,945).

Last year 29,437 migrants arrived in the UK, down 36% on a record 45,774 arrivals in 2022.

The number of people coming across the channel is 'unacceptable'. the Prime Minister's official spokesman said.

'That is exactly why we need to get flights off the ground to Rwanda to provide the effective deterrent such that people know if they arrive here illegally they won't be able to stay here.'

He added: 'Whilst we've seen these high figures in recent weeks ... in the last 12 months small boats crossings are still down by 33% compared to 2022', citing work with French police and the deterrent effect of the Albania returns scheme as being among the reasons behind the drop.

He said the Rwanda scheme would provide a similar deterrent but declined to provide predictions on how much crossings could drop by after deportations to Rwanda begin.

Since the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act became law after receiving Royal Assent on Thursday last week, 1,611 migrants have made the journey in 32 boats.

The highest-ever number of arrivals in a single day is 1,295 and was recorded on August 22, 2022.

The news comes as a migrant boat packed with 66 people on board was rescued off Dieppe trying to cross the Channel - where the stretch of water between France and the UK is at least 65 miles wide.

READ MORE: Masked protesters pop tyres of coach trying to take migrants to Bibby Stockholm barge after forming a human chain outside hotel Advertisement

Men, women and children were on board the vessel when it got into difficulty on Wednesday morning off the coast of the French port.

Dieppe is 70 miles down the coast from Calais and Dunkirk where the vast majority of migrant crossings have been launched, heading to the Kent coast as the Channel is just 21 miles wide.

It is not clear at this stage if the boat had set off from the French coast near Dieppe, despite the greater journey distance, or if it had got lost and veered off course.

Lifeboats were scrambled to find the boat, the French authorities said.

A maritime coastguard vessel then found the stricken vessel and rescued the occupants.

Dozens of migrants made the crossing from the French coast near Calais on Wednesday and were intercepted by British Border Force vessels.

The French Prefecture Maritime said all 66 people were rescued on May 1 and brought them into the port.

In a statement they said the migrants were rescued by the Maritime Gendarmerie's coastal maritime surveillance boat Yser.

'The Yser rescued the boat, which was in difficulty, in the afternoon.

'The crew rescued 66 castaways, including women and children.

'The castaways were then taken to the port of Dieppe where they were taken care of by the land rescue services and the border police', the statement said.

The perilous crossings cost more lives last week, as five drowned when nearly 100 migrants piled into a small boat which sank off the French coast, including Sara Alhashimi, seven.

Sara (pictured) died while trying to cross the Channel to Britain last week

Sara (right) pictured with her father Ahmed

A French policeman slashes an inflatable dinghy filled with migrants trying to leave a beach

Her distraught father, Ahmed, 41, said he all he wanted was for my kids to go to school and saw the UK as his last chance after 14 years of failed claims to stay on the continent, even though his daughter was born in Belgium.

Sara had spent most of her short life living with relatives in liberal Sweden, which has boasted of its open doors policy but gave her just two days notice that she would be deported.

I will never forgive myself, but the sea was the only choice I had, Mr Alhashimi told the BBC from the northern French coast earlier this week.

Meanwhile, a third man has been charged with an immigration offence in relation to the deaths.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) said Mohammed Jibril, 23, from Sudan, will appear at Reading Magistrates' Court on Thursday, charged with entering the UK illegally.

He was detained in Hayes, west London, and was interviewed by officers on Wednesday.

It comes after two other males from South Sudan and Sudan were charged over the incident, but disputes about their ages and whether they are youths have delayed court proceedings.

The pair claimed they are 15 and 16, but initial age assessments by immigration officers and a social worker placed them in their early 20s.

French authorities have been told to significantly ramp up their efforts to prevent migrants leaving the coast since the tragedy.

They were pictured deploying tear gas and slashing dinghy's with knives in a bid to try and stop the migrants from crossing.

Distraught migrants were seen collapsing onto the beach as they are prevented from making the dangerous journey, which some had paid up to 1000 each to attempt.
A farmer has been told to pay 45,000 for taking a wrecking ball to a Grade II listed dovecote on his land without permission.

Phillip Gore, who owns Lower Newton farm in Shropshire, was sentenced at Kidderminster Magistrates' Court on Tuesday as he failed to obtain consent before flattening the 30-foot dovecote to build a grain store instead.

The red brick structure with a tiled roof was believed to be the last of an ancient moated farmstead that once existed on the site.

Chris Schofield, the cabinet member for planning and regulatory services at Shropshire Council said: 'This was one of the worst examples of deliberate damage and destruction to a listed building seen in the county in recent decades'.

The farmer was fined 30,000 and ordered to pay a contribution towards the council's cost of 15,000, plus a victim's surcharge of 190 - a total of 45,190.

The judge said the fine should be more than any potential financial gain by the defendant for the offence, and it should also act as a deterrent for other people thinking of bulldozing Britain's heritage.

The 30-foot dovecote (pictured) was believed to be the last of an ancient moated farmstead that once existed on Lower Newton Farm in Shropshire

Farmer Phillip Gore was sentenced at Kidderminster Magistrates' Court on Tuesday as he failed to obtain consent to flatten the Grade II listed dovecote

Shropshire Council became aware of the offence when Mr Gore submitted a notification for a new grain store on the site of the former dovecote.

What is a dovecote? In the 16th and 17th centuries, English nobility built dovecotes as a way to house pigeons or birds they would later eat. People would collect feathers as well as the birds' excrement for fertilizer, gunpowder, and tanning hides. Dovecotes quickly became a recognisable status symbol, according to the National Trust. Early 20th century pigeon expert Arthur Cooke estimated that by the 1650s, there were 26,000 dovecotes in England alone. During the reign of Elizabeth I, a pigeon tower was a privilege reserved only for feudal lords. Advertisement

Councillor Schofield said: 'When officers visited the farm in March 2022 they found the dovecote demolished and the site levelled with hardcore in preparation for the new building. Altering or demolishing a listed building without consent is a criminal offence.

'We have not taken the decision to prosecute Mr Gore lightly.

This case will have long term consequences for both him and his farm business.'

The red-brick dovecote was situated 160 feet from the Lower Newton farmhouse where Mr Gore had lived most of his life.

The structure, consisting of one storey with a loft, was believed to have been built in the late 17th century.

According to Historic England, the dovecote with 'dentilled eaves cornice' was first listed in 1986.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, English nobility built dovecotes as a way to house pigeons or birds they would later eat.

Dovecotes quickly became a recognisable status symbol, according to the National Trust.

Shropshire has 7,500 listed buildings, the owners of which are encouraged by the council to 'undertake routine repairs and maintenance'

'They form a vital part of Shropshire's heritage and a vital part of the county's appeal and unique nature and what help to make it such and attractive place for so many people,' a spokesman for Shropshire Council said.

'Anyone thinking of undertaking any works to a listed building is advised to first talk to Shropshire Council's planning team.'
Britain will be hit by further thunderstorms today with the Met Office issuing an urgent 12-hour warning on what is set to be the warmest day of the year so far.

An alert covering central England and parts of Wales will run from noon until midnight tonight with up to 2in (50mm) of rain expected to fall in just two hours.

Forecasters said spray and sudden flooding could lead to difficult driving conditions and road closures, with a 'small chance that some communities become cut off'.

More delays and cancellations to train and bus services are also possible - with rail routes north of London from the likes of Euston, King's Cross and Marylebone most likely to be affected. There could also be power cuts and a loss of 'other services'.

The Met Office also warned homes and businesses 'could be flooded quickly, with damage to some buildings from floodwater, lightning strikes, hail or strong winds'.

It comes after more than 35,000 lightning strikes lit up the skies of southern England overnight - two of which destroyed the roofs of properties in West Sussex.

But temperatures could reach 24C (75F) in parts of the South East today, following a high of 22.1C (71.8F) yesterday which was the warmest UK temperature yet for 2024.

A warning for central England and parts of Wales will run from noon until midnight tonight

Rainfall totals for the week to tomorrow show how western areas will face the wettest weather

While some areas will remain dry for the rest of today, thunderstorms are likely to develop from the east and move relatively slowly westwards or north-westwards.

READ MORE Millions are woken by deafening thunder claps as spectacular storms strike Britain: Met Office map shows path of chaos as homes suffer power cuts and commuters face travel disruption Advertisement

Where thunderstorms occur, heavy rain accompanied by frequent lightning is likely with the potential for 25mm (1in) to 30mm (1.2in) of rain to fall in one or two hours in a few places as much as 50mm (2in) could fall in one or two spots.

It comes after dramatic photographs showed debris scattered across the grass outside the care home in Elmer, West Sussex, following the lightning strike in the middle of the night.

Elsewhere in the county, fire crews said another lightning strike hit a university building in Chichester which suffered damaged to its roof and power system.

No one was injured and residents were relocated while the damage was assessed and the electrical supply made safe, according to West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service.

While most of the 35,000 strikes recorded overnight by the Met Office were over the English Channel, millions of Britons were woken up by the storms in the early hours.

Southern England and Wales bore the brunt of the heavy rain and thunderstorms, with two weather warnings in place throughout the night and into this morning.

There were also delays on some Great Western Railway services this morning after lightning damaged the electricity supply between Westbury and Castle Cary.

A lightning strike destroyed the roof of a residential care home in Elmer, West Sussex, today

Debris outside the residential care home in Elmer, West Sussex, after the lightning strike today

A thunderstorm passed over Portsmouth in Hampshire in the early hours of this morning

Lightning above Medmerry Mill in Selsey, West Sussex, in the early hours of this morning

Dramatic lightning over Bembridge Lifeboat Station on the Isle of Wight overnight

Drone footage captures lightning in the sky over Worthing early this morning

Commuters were warned of travel chaos this morning, due to spray and sudden flooding, while trains and buses may be delayed or cancelled.

The Met Office said the downpours could flood homes, while there could also be power cuts and damage to buildings from strong winds.

Marco Petagna, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said: 'After a night of storms, the rain will ease in the south of England for a while.

'We could see the skies brightening up in a few places and it will be another warm day. Parts of the South East could even get to 24C.

'But as the skies brighten and temperatures increase, this could spark a few more thundery showers in the afternoon, so it is likely to still be a bit unsettled and the forecast will be changeable over the next few days.'

While southern parts of the country experienced heavy rain, areas in the North should stay dry and warm.

Looking ahead to the Bank Holiday weekend, Mr Petagna said the forecast showed a 'very mixed picture'.

Crazy lightning tonight near Haywards Heath, West Sussex. Not seen this much in years.  #Lightning #thunderstorms pic.twitter.com/eXikuUVqGU  Kerryn Groves  (@monkeykezza) May 2, 2024

Woken up in A hotel room in Canary Wharf by thunder and lightning, all feeling a bit dystopian #thunderstorms pic.twitter.com/NbhLRr35OF  Manakdeep Singh (@ManakdeepSingh) May 2, 2024

So much flashing lightning it woke me up, and the thunder is getting louder #thunderstorms  pic.twitter.com/JgZEnWh34b  Lorraine Maunder  (@iiLorraine) May 2, 2024

This lightening is no joke, its been going on for ages now, plus the rain and thunderthe repeated light flashes woke me up and still going!!!! pic.twitter.com/Xq8ieS3RPK  Genelle Aldred (@genellealdred) May 2, 2024

A lilac sky in Worthing this morning as thunderstorms sweep across southern parts of the UK

A lightning storm passes Newhaven in East Sussex in the early hours of this morning

The lightning illuminated Portsmouth Harbour in Hampshire at 1.30am this morning

Lightning during a thunderstorm in Bromley, South East London, this morning

Most areas of the country are likely to experience some rain but temperatures will remain fairly warm, in the mid to late teens.

There are likely to be showers across the country on Monday.

The Met Office said the forecast for Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday was 'still fairly uncertain, but overall it should be fairly warm with scattered showers'.

It added: 'There is also a chance of cloudier conditions with rain spreading from the southwest for a time on Sunday.'

As for next week, the 'chance of rain and showers reduces as high pressure builds to the east of the UK'.

It added: 'This will bring dry and fine weather for most areas, although there is still a possibility of rain or showers in the west'.

And for the week beginning 13 May, 'high pressure is likely to remain dominant'.

The Met Office added: 'Sunnier conditions are expected across the south, while it may be cloudier in the north and east. Temperatures are expected to be slightly above normal for early May.'

Yesterday was the warmest day of the year so far, as temperatures reached a peak of 22.1C (71.8F) in Santon Downham in Suffolk.

Plenty of heavy rain and thunderstorms are currently being seen across the southern counties of England and Wales this morning 



Did you hear any rumbles last night? pic.twitter.com/d15aMLB6Ea  Met Office (@metoffice) May 2, 2024

Two Met Office weather warnings were in place throughout the night and into this morning

Meanwhile, the temperature in Scotland reached 21.9C (71.4F) at Aultbea in the north-west Highlands.

However, while some areas of the UK experienced their warmest temperatures of the year, there were wide variations across the country.

Temperatures were over 10C lower in some coastal areas, such as in Weybourne, a town about 45 miles north of Santon Downham, which recorded a maximum temperature of 13.6C (56.5F).

Meanwhile, temperatures in Inverbervie, a town on the north-east coast of Scotland, peaked at 9.9C (49.8F).

Last month, the maximum temperature recorded was 21.8C (71.2F) in Writtle, Essex, on April 13.

The lowest recorded in April was -6.3C (20.7F) in Shap, Cumbria, on April 26.

Please send your photos or videos of the lightning to: pictures@mailonline.co.uk
A mysterious creature has washed up on a popular beach, sparking a divided reaction from shocked locals and visitors.

Beachgoers originally thought it was a big rock when they first spotted the 2.7m wide marine monster at Petrel Cove near Encounter Bay along South Australia's south coast last weekend.

Stunned locals shared pictures and videos of the carcass to social media.

While some were excited to come across the 'amazing' discovery, others described it as 'sad to see'.

South Australia Museum has since confirmed that the creature is 'almost certainly a bump-head sunfish'.

The dead sunfish, which is partially buried in the sand, has brought a steady stream of visitors to the beach, despite its strong odour.

Measuring 2.7m wide, some people first thought the giant sunfish was a large rock

Local Dani Brown though the giant sunfish was 'pretty cool' and posed beside it to show the scale and size of the creature

READ MORE: Aussies baffled by strange googly-eyed creature A homeowner was left puzzled after she found a bizarre creature (picture) that looked like a cartoon character in the backyard of her home Advertisement

It has also since gone viral online.

'Wow! The dead sunfish, which is partially buried in the sand, has brought a steady stream of visitors to the beach, despite its strong odour. sighting,' one viewer commented.

Another added: 'Amazing. I wonder how prolific they are?'

A third wrote 'Beautiful gentle creatures.'

Local resident Dani Brown heard about the fish and wanted to see for herself.

'It was pretty cool to see, this is the first time I've seen one,' she told Yahoo.

Although sunfish can grow up to 4m wide, this 2.7m specimen was still enormous when Ms Brown lay beside it.

A South Australia Museum spokesperson told Yahoo that although sunfish are found worldwide, the giant species washed ashore is the most common one to be seen in South Australia.

'You can tell it's a bump-head sunfish rather than one of the other two types (Mola tecta, the hoodwinker sunfish and Mola mola, the ocean sunfish) because of the prominent chin you can see in the photo. The other two species don't have that,' she said.

Although it is not known how the sunfish died, Danish marine biologist Dr Marianne Nyegaard previously told Yahoo it can be impossible to tell what kills them and even believes stranded sunfish sometimes 'fall onto land' the way people 'fall into the ocean'.

'Stranded sunfish typically appear to have been healthy with no obvious cause of death, or impairment to explain why they ended up on the beach,' she said.

The giant sunfish partially embedded in the sand, has attracted a steady stream of visitors since Sunday, despite its smell

It is not the first time a sunfish, which normally inhabit the depths of the ocean, has washed ashore along South Australia's coast.

It is believed a Mola mola species was found near the mouth of the Murray River in 2019.

South Australia Museum fish collection manager Ralph Foster told ABC News at the time the giant animals enjoyed coming to the surface and basking in the sun - which is how they got their name.

Mr Foster said the creatures come to the surface and lay on their sides and once warm enough, will return to a depth of several hundred metres and 'feed on jellyfish and stay down there'.
Dar Salaam, Tanzania (PANA)  Viewing the world on a climatic precipice, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay has said that no effective climate action is possible without access to free and reliable scientific information
Dublin has backed off threats to deploy police at the border with Northern Ireland amid the bitter row over migrants.

Taoiseach Simon Harris insisted 'of course there won't be' police checkpoints on the border after Rishi Sunak demanded 'urgent clarification'.

The Republic had raised alarm by saying 100 Garda officers would be moved to 'immigration enforcement' duties.

The move came as Irish ministers complained that large numbers have been crossing the border from Northern Ireland, driven by fears they face deportation to Rwanda.

A tent city of asylum seekers has appeared in Dublin, which the authorities acted to dismantle yesterday.

Dublin has pledged to pass emergency legislation to deem the UK as a 'safe country' for the return of migrants - but Mr Sunak is adamant none will be accepted unless France agrees to take Channel boat arrivals back.

A tent city of asylum seekers has appeared in Dublin, which the authorities acted to dismantle yesterday

Rishi Sunak (pictured canvassing for local elections today) has warned Ireland that both countries have made 'commitments to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland'

Taoiseach Simon Harris insisted 'of course won't be' police checkpoints on the border after Rishi Sunak demanded 'urgent clarification'

Unionist MP Carla Lockhart used PMQs yesterday to accuse the Irish government of 'hypocrisy' for asking police to patrol the border for asylum-seekers despite having fought against checks in post-Brexit trade talks.

Mr Sunak replied: 'The House will be aware that we have made commitments to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland. The hon. Lady makes a very important point that the Irish Government must uphold their promises, too. We cannot have cherry-picking of important international agreements.'

The PM added: 'It is no surprise that our robust approach to illegal migration is providing a deterrent, but the answer is not to send police to villages in Donegal but to work with us in partnership to strengthen our external borders all around the common travel area that we share.'

He also repeated his insistence that the United Kingdom 'has no legal obligation to accept returns of illegal migrants from Ireland'.

Mr Harris later said there 'of course won't be' police checkpoints on the border.

He insisted he was 'not getting involved in British politics' but went on: 'I very much welcome the British Prime Minister's comments in relation to the importance of countries upholding agreements.

'We'll uphold the agreement we have with Britain under the common travel area, the standard operating procedure that we have in place.

'I also welcome the comments of the Northern Ireland Secretary of State, where he referred to the importance of the two countries working together to protect the common travel area from abuses.'

Mr Harris added that a total of 268 people had been moved by Gardai, council staff and health workers, from the encampment in Mount Street to state-provided accommodation including a hotel and 'robust' tents elsewhere.

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris was said to have had a 'constructive phone call' about illegal migration with Irish deputy premier Micheal Martin.

Migrants boarding a boat bound for the UK from France last week

The UK government said: 'The Tanaiste confirmed that there will be no deployment of officers from An Garda Siochana (the Irish police) to the Northern Ireland/Ireland border and that the Irish Government shared a steadfast commitment to securing the external border of the Common Travel Area.'

Both governments have acknowledged the existence of an 'operational agreement' which provides for the reciprocal return of asylum seekers between the UK and Ireland, but Downing Street has said it contains no legal obligations to accept them.

The PM said he was 'not interested' in a returns deal if the European Union did not allow the UK to send back asylum seekers who had crossed the English Channel from France.

In a marginal softening of language, the UK statement said: 'The Secretary of State reiterated that the UK will not accept any readmissions or returns arrangements that are not in our interest.'
A delivery rider who bit off a customer's thumb in a bloody doorstep row over pizza has been caught still working for Deliveroo - despite her account being suspended.

Jenniffer Rocha, 35, from Aldershot, Hampshire, had been working as a 'substitute' driver using another rider's account when she attacked customer Stephen Jenkinson.

The Brazilian-born mother gnawed Mr Jenkinson's thumb 'clean off' above the knuckle and admitted grievous bodily harm in March.

Deliveroo promptly cancelled Rocha's account after her court appearance, calling the incident 'awful'.

Yet the disgraced delivery worker was filmed still delivering food last month - apparently again via a Deliveroo account.

BBC News caught former Deliveroo driver Jenniffer Rocha, 35, picking up food for delivery in Aldershot, Hampshire - despite having her account removed from the platform

The Brazilian mum was convicted of grievous bodily harm in March after biting off a customer's thumb in a row over his pizza delivery

Pictured: Victim Stephen Jenkinson's hand after the attack by Rocha. Part of his big toe was sewn onto the stump of his thumb during the 11-hour reparative surgery

In footage captured by BBC News, Rocha can be seen riding her moped around Aldershot as she picks up food for delivery.

In one occasion, on 18 April, Rocha was filmed going to a takeaway, stowing a bag of food in a box on her bike and riding off.

The takeaway manager confirmed that Rocha had been using a Deliveroo account to pick up the delivery.

Deliveroo said today that a second account being used by Rocha has now been suspended.

The delivery rider is set to be sentenced tomorrow.

The original grisly attack was sparked by Rocha delivering a 57 Pizza Express order to the wrong address in December 2022.

Plumber Stephen Jenkinson, who had ordered the pizza, walked down the street to meet her - but forgot his phone, so was unable to provide a pick-up code.

The two began arguing, before Mr Jenkinson claimed he was attacked by the delivery worker, culminating in Rocha gnawing his thumb down to the knuckle.

Mr Jenkinson was rushed to hospital where he underwent an 11-hour operation to replace the missing appendage which saw a piece of his big toe sewn on to the stump of his thumb.

Rocha can be seen going to a takeaway, stowing a bag of food in a box on her bike and riding off in the footage

The takeaway manager confirmed that Rocha had been using a Deliveroo account to pick up the delivery. Deliveroo said today that a second account being used by Rocha has now been suspended

Mr Jenkinson has since said that the attack in 2022 has ruined his life - causing him to split with his partner and move out of his house

The 36-year-old told Winchester Crown Court in March that he is now 'permanently disabled' and unable to work.

Rocha's recent sighting comes just days after delivery apps Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats promised to tighten up their systems and check identities of their 'substitute' riders.

All riders are self employed and can therefore lend their account to anyone they want as a so-called substitute.

The main account holder has in the past been responsible for checking that person is over 18, has no serious convictions and is legally allowed to work.

But the systems meant a black market developed with accounts for sale or rent online  and illegal workers and even children have been discovering working for Deliveroo.

All three firms have now committed to changing their processes to confirm substitute riders have the right to work legally in the UK directly.

Deliveroo rolled out its new system last month - claiming to be the first major platform to be carrying out 'direct right to work checks' that include a registration process and identity verification technology.

Rocha's victim has since said that the attack in 2022 has ruined his life.

'I've had to move out my house and I've separated from my partner because of the pressure this has put on us - not only from a financial point of view but also from a life point of view,' he told Good Morning Britain.

'Our relationship just broke down and I don't blame either of us for that - it is just unfortunate how everything just spiralled.'

He also revealed more detailed about the attack, including how his thumb ended up in Rocha's mouth.

He said: 'As she was swinging for me, I pushed her away to keep her at a distance.

'She was a little shorter than I am so as I put my hand up, she was wearing a helmet and my hand hit the side of her helmet.

'My thumb went through her visor and she just clamped down on it until it was gone.'

Mr Jenkinson said the married mother-of-two bit with the power of 'a chainsaw'.

A Deliveroo spokesperson said: 'We take our responsibilities extremely seriously and are committed to preventing misuse of our platform.

'We immediately cancelled the account that was being used at the time of this terrible incident and subsequently terminated an alternative account.

'We have strengthened our processes and recently introduced a new registration process and identity verification technology for substitute riders.'
Former French first lady and supermodel Carla Bruni was today being questioned by police as a criminal suspect in a wide-ranging corruption case.

The 56-year-old is said to have tried to 'whitewash' her husband, former President Nicolas Sarkozy, 69, over allegations that he accepted millions in cash from the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

Bruni, who denies any wrongdoing, on Thursday attended the Paris offices of the Central Office for the Fight against Corruption and Financial and Tax Offenses.

'Her status is free suspect,' said a source close to the case. 'She has spoken to officers before, but not as a suspect in a case in which she's accused of trying to whitewash her husband.'

Bruni is a close friend of Mimi Marchand  a French media fixer who has been placed under formal investigation for 'witness tampering' and 'criminal corruption'.

Former French first lady and supermodel Carla Bruni (pictured) was today being questioned by police as a criminal suspect in a wide-ranging corruption case

The 56-year-old is said to have tried to 'whitewash' her husband, former President Nicolas Sarkozy (left), 69, over allegations that he accepted millions in cash from the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi (right, pictured together in 2007)

Bruni is a close friend of Mimi Marchand (pictured)  a French media fixer who has been placed under formal investigation for 'witness tampering' and 'criminal corruption'

Marchand, 77 and nicknamed 'The Paparazzi Queen', is accused of paying former French-Lebanese arms dealer Ziad Takieddine, 74, to drop a sworn testament that he arranged for millions of dollars from Colonel Gaddafi to be paid to Sarkozy.

During an interview which was published in Paris Match magazine four years ago, Takieddine withdraw his claim that suitcases stuffed with cash had been delivered to Sarkozy's colleagues.

The money was used to fund the 2007 election campaign that saw Sarkozy win his one and only term in office as President of France, it was alleged.

Sarkozy used the 2020 interview to falsely claim that he had been cleared because 'the truth is out'.

READ MORE: Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy LOSES bid to overturn conviction and prison sentence for illegally funding election campaign

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But Marchand  who also denies any wrongdoing  is said by prosecutors to have offered Takieddine inducements to change his story.

The case involving Bruni is dubbed 'Operation Save Sarko', and is running in tandem with the Libyan funding case, in which Sarkozy has already been indicted.

Takieddine, who is currently in Lebanon, is said to have received the equivalent of up to 4million to 'change his story,' according to prosecution claims.

Bruni has continually denied any involvement in 'Operation Save Sarko,' saying she tries to avoid legal cases involving her husband, who is already a twice convicted criminal.

She said: 'When people talk to me about it, it puts me in a situation of anger and indignation which does not help my husband.'

Bruni added: 'I don't have the beginnings of the slightest curiosity about my husband's affairs.'

But detectives say Bruni deleted all of the messages she had exchanged with Marchand on the encrypted Signal app, before Marchand's indictment in June 2021.

It has also emerged that when Marchand travelled to Beirut to see Takieddine in October 2020, at the height of the worldwide Covid crisis, Bruni helped 'fix' a positive medical test for her.

'It is alleged that this would help Marchand in the Save Sarko operation,' said an investigating source.

One of Bruni's security guards sent her a text at the time, saying: 'Madame, this is a matter settled for Tuesday morning, 48 hours before their departure for Lebanon.'

Marchand, 77 and nicknamed 'The Paparazzi Queen', is accused of paying former French-Lebanese arms dealer Ziad Takieddine (pictured in 2016), 74, to drop a sworn testament that he arranged for millions of dollars from Colonel Gaddafi to be paid to Sarkozy

The case involving Bruni is dubbed 'Operation Save Sarko', and is running in tandem with the Libyan funding case, in which Sarkozy has already been indicted. Bruni has continually denied any involvement, saying she tries to avoid legal cases involving her husband, who is already a twice convicted criminal

Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi, right, and then French President Nicolas Sarkozy during the National anthems at the Bab Azizia Palace in Tripoli on July 25, 2007

France's former president Nicolas Sarkozy (centre left) arrives for the verdict in his appeal trial in the so-called Bygmalion case, at the courthouse, in Paris, on February 14, 2024

According to the Mediapart investigative news site, Sarkozy himself told detectives as recently as October: 'My wife helps Ms. Marchand as she does her friend a favor so that she can go on a trip.'

Sarkozy continued: 'You ask me if Carla Bruni knew about the trip to Lebanon? Yes, I can't dispute it, but was she aware that Mr. Takieddine was sentenced to prison? No. Did she know he had run away, or was in Beirut? No.'

The flamboyant Takieddine is  like Marchand  somebody who has numerous celebrity contacts, and has even claimed to be Amal Clooney's uncle.

During dealing with French courts in April 2014, Takieddine asked for a supervision order to be lifted so that he could attend a London party in honour of the marriage of his 'niece', then called Amal Alamuddin, to American actor George Clooney.

Takieddine has cited his family relationship with Amal Clooney  who was born in Beirit  on a number of occasion since, although Ms Clooney has not confirmed it.

Sarkozy has been charged with corruption, 'illicit funding of an election campaign', 'receiving misappropriated public funds', and 'criminal conspiracy' in relation to the Gaddafi scandal, and is due to go on trial next year.

Three of his former ministers  Brice Hortefeux, Claude Gueant and Eric Woerth  are also under investigation.

In January, Sarkozy failed to overturn a criminal conviction and prison sentence for illegally funding his campaign for re-election.

His lawyers had asked the Paris Appeal Court to revoke one-year in jail, with six months suspended, but judges ruled no.

It followed a five-week trial at the city's Correctional Court three years ago, when Sarkozy was found guilty of fiddling the books during his unsuccessful 2012 bid to become head of state.

Sarkozy, who was President of France for five years up until 2012, served his sentence wearing an electronic tag at the Paris home he shares with Bruni.

In March 2021, Sarkozy was also convicted of corruption and influence peddling and sentenced to three years in prison, two of them suspended.

Sarkozy's conservative predecessor as President of France, the late Jacques Chirac, received a two-year suspended sentence in 2011 for corruption, but this related to his time as Mayor of Paris.

The last French head of state to go to a prison cell was Marshall Philippe Petain, the wartime Nazi collaborator.
A Boeing whistleblower who raised the alarm about defects in 737 Max jets has died suddenly at the age of 45.

Joshua Dean previously said he was fired from his job as a quality auditor at Spirit AeroSystems for questioning standards at the supplier's plant in Wichita, Kansas, in October 2022.

Spirit manufactured the door plug on the Boeing jet which shockingly blew out midair on an Alaska Airlines flight in January.

Dean died in hospital on Tuesday after a sudden illness, his family said on social media. He was fired from Spirit AeroSystems in April 2023.

Earlier this year, Dean spoke with NPR about being fired. 'I think they were sending out a message to anybody else. If you are too loud, we will silence you,' he said.

Joshua Dean, 44, who went by Josh, is pictured in an undated photo. He passed away Tuesday after being admitted to the hospital complaining of shortness of breath

Josh Dean was employed by Spirit AeroSystems based in Wichita, Kansas

Boeing's share prices have tumbled by almost 10 percent to $173.86 over the past six months as more safety concerns have come to light.

Dean's aunt, Carol Parsons, confirmed his death in a series of Facebook posts, as did other family members in messages seen by MailOnline.

She also confirmed his death in a statement to The Seattle Times.

Parsons told the newspaper that Dean went to a hospital in Wichita, Kansas, where he lived, after experiencing breathing difficulties.

During his stay, Dean developed MRSA, pneumonia and needed to be intubated.

'I am grateful for the prayers of my family and friends for this young man,' she wrote on Facebook.

'He passed away yesterday morning, and his absence will be deeply felt. We will always love you Josh.'

His former employer, Spirit AeroSystems shared a statement expressing condolences to Dean's family.

'Our thoughts are with Josh Dean's family, spokesperson Joe Buccino said. 'This sudden loss is stunning news here and for his loved ones.'

Boeing has long denied Dean, and other whistleblower claims that the company willfully ignored safety warnings.

As recently as Monday, Dean was conscious and communicating with doctors, his mother said in a post on Facebook.

'At the time, a doctor told him that he had a '50/50 chance of living,' she wrote.

'Josh is very depressed, frightened, and doing a lot of sleeping and not responding as much as he was a few days ago and has not been on any sedation or pain meds.'

In his final days, Dean was breathing through an ECMO machine.

'The doctor asked him if he wanted the machine turned off, and he wouldn't respond,' his mother added.

'I told the doctor he doesn't know what he wants, I'm sure he wants to live.'

She went on to say that her son underwent a procedure to investigate the damage done to his lungs through the pneumonia, which he pulled through.

In March, another Boeing whistleblower, John Barnett (pictured) took his own life in the midst of a legal action against Boeing

Boeing Co. 737 fuselage sections sit on the assembly floor at Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Kansas in a file photo

In early January, an unused emergency exit door blew off a brand-new Boeing 737 Max shortly after take-off from Portland International, sparking a still-ongoing DOJ investigation

Doctors found that Dean contracted MRSA and tested positive for influenza B, while a further scan found that he also suffered a stroke.

On Wednesday, Parsons wrote in a Facebook post: 'I am grateful for the prayers of my family and friends for this young man. He passed away yesterday morning, and his absence will be deeply felt. We will always love you Josh.'

Dean's brother Justin died just this past January at the age of 26.

In January, Dean told The Wall Street Journal that he was fired because he pointed out that holes were wrongly drilled in a fuselage, something his employer denied.

'It is known at Spirit that if you make too much noise and cause too much trouble, you will be moved. It doesn't mean you completely disregard stuff, but they don't want you to find everything and write it up,' he said.

In March, another Boeing whistleblower, John Barnett took his own life in the midst of a legal action against Boeing.

He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound - though his friends contested this, saying that he told them before 'if anything happens to me, it's not suicide'.

Dean and Barnett were represented by the same attorney, Brian Knowles, who would not speculate on his clients' sudden deaths in brief comments to The Seattle Times.

'Whistleblowers are needed. They bring to light wrongdoing and corruption in the interests of society. It takes a lot of courage to stand up,' Knowles told the outlet.

Dean described a pizza party held in the Wichita plant to celebrate a decline in the number of defects reported, saying that chatter at the meal quickly turned to the observation that the gains were due only to under-reporting problems.

'We're having a pizza party because we're lowering defects. But we're not lowering defects. We just ain't reporting them, you know what I mean?,' Dean said in his NPR interview.

He went on to tell the station that both his father and grandfather previously worked at he same Wichita plant as him and said that he quickly grew frustrated with the workplace culture.

'Now, I'm not saying they don't want you to go out there and inspect a job. You know, they do. But if you make too much trouble, you will get the Josh treatment. You will get what happened to me,' he said.

Dean's complaints are included in a shareholder lawsuit filed against Spirit in December, alleging the company failed to disclose defects.

Spirit told the Journal that it strongly denies the allegations in the lawsuit said that it remains 'focused on the quality of each aircraft that leaves our facilities.'

Boeing engineer Sam Salehpour testifies before the US Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Investigations

Last month, Boeing engineer Sam Salehpour, said excessive force was applied to fit panels together on the 787 assembly line, raising the risk of fatigue, or microscopic cracking in the material that could cause it break apart.

The Boeing officials described how sections of a fuselage are brought together.

Shims are added to fill gaps, holes are drilled and cleaned, and fasteners attached to apply 'pull-up force' that 99% of the time results in margins no greater than .005 inches (0.127 millimeters) apart  the width of a human hair, they said.

A gap problem was discovered in 2019 between two panels, which led to design and assembly changes, they said.

Boeing conducted testing replicating 165,000 flights with no findings of fatigue in the composite structure, Steve Chisholm, Boeing's vice president of structural engineering, said. The average 787 makes 600 flights a year, he said.

The company said planes already in use are proving safe. Chisholm said 671 Dreamliners have undergone the intensive inspections for 6-year-old planes and eight have undergone 12-year inspections with no evidence of fatigue in the composite skins.

Cracks have been found on metallic parts, including a piece above where the wings join the fuselage, and Boeing issued inspection guidelines for those parts, the officials said.

The 787 Dreamliner is a two-aisle plane that has often been used on international flights since its debut in 2011. The composite material makes the plane lighter, contributing to better fuel efficiency.

A series of battery fires briefly grounded the planes. Deliveries of the aircraft have been stopped at times because of questions about gaps between fuselage panels that were wider than Boeing's standards allowed, the use of unapproved titanium parts from a supplier in Italy, and flaws in a pressure bulkhead.

The Federal Aviation Administration must inspect and approve each 787 that rolls off the assembly line before it can be flown to an airline customer.

The whistleblower Salehpour claims that after he raised safety concerns about the 787, Boeing transferred him to work on an older widebody plane, the 777. He told the Seattle Times that he saw workers jumping on fuselage panels to get them in alignment, which Boeing disputes.

The New York Times reported that the FAA is investigating Salehpour's claims. The FAA, while not commenting specifically on Salehpour, said it investigates all safety reports.

Boeing says it is 'fully confident' in both planes.

Salehpour is the latest in a line of Boeing whistleblowers to come forward, often alleging retaliation for raising safety concerns. The company said it encourages employees to speak up about problems.

Lisa Fahl, the vice president of engineering for Boeing airplane programs, said employee reports have 'exploded'  with as many reports in January and February as were filed in all of 2023  'which is what we want.'
Online gamblers who lose 500 or more a month are to face extra checks from August, the regulator has confirmed.

The new measures have been announced as part of a large package of measures aimed at protecting the most vulnerable customers.

Checks will initially come into force for online gambling customers spending 500 a month from August 30, before reducing to 150 a month from February 28 next year, the Gambling Commission said.

It said the move would help to identify acutely financially vulnerable online customers, such as those subject to bankruptcy orders or with a history of unpaid debts.

The checks would only use publicly available data and would not require gambling operators to consider an individual's personal details such as postcode or job title.

Online gamblers who lose 500 or more a month are to face extra checks from August, the regulator has confirmed

The Government's White Paper on gambling reform proposed that 'enhanced financial checks' would be triggered by a spend of 1,000 in 24 hours or 2,000 in 90 days.

This measure aims to prevent harm from online gamblers accumulating unaffordable losses, but politicians have repeatedly promised that any checking would be frictionless.

As well as light touch checks, the commission said a pilot of enhanced frictionless financial risk assessments will go ahead.

This is aimed at preventing cases where customers are able to spend large amounts in a short time without any checks, resulting in significant gambling harm.

The pilot, which is expected to last six months and will not take place in a live environment, will see the commission work with credit reference agencies and gambling operators to assess potential customer impact.

It comes after the commission announced new rules on iGaming products in January, which banned features which speed up the time for a result to be shown, or that can give the illusion of control such as 'turbo' or 'slam stops'.

Autoplay features will be banned and audio or visual celebrations of returns less than or equal to the stake are to be removed.

Operator-led functions which allow gamblers to play multiple games simultaneously such as roulette and blackjack tables will also be banned, alongside casino games spin speeds of less than five seconds - excluding peer-to-peer poker.

From August 30, land-based operators must have procedures that require staff to check the age of any customer who appears to be under 25, as opposed to under 21.

The commission said it will tighten rules around online gambling marketing from January 17.

Checks will initially come into force for online gambling customers spending 500 a month from August 30, before reducing to 150 a month from February 28 next year, the Gambling Commission said

Gambling Commission chief executive Andrew Rhodes said: 'As a gambling regulator it's vital that the introduction of new rules is based on evidence and takes into account the views of consumers and other interested parties.

'We have listened to the views expressed in our engagement and in the consultation responses, and we have made changes while still ensuring that we deliver meaningful protections.

'We are also pleased to be taking forward a pilot of financial risk assessments and data collection, which together will ensure that we can make informed decisions about how these assessments can be implemented in a way that supports both consumer freedom and protections.

'We have to get the balance right between protecting people from the potentially life-ruining effects of gambling-related harm and respecting the freedom of adults to engage in an activity that the vast majority do so without experiencing harm.'
Russia is responsible for GPS jamming that has disrupted thousands of European flights and caused a Finnish air carrier to stop travel to Estonia, the country's Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna has declared.

Finnair announced on Monday it was suspending daily flights to Tartu after two of its planes were forced to turn back to Helsinki when their GPS signals were disrupted.

The European Aviation Safety Agency warned back in January that authorities had seen a 'sharp rise' in jamming in recent months, particularly over the Baltic states, but did not specify the origin of the disruptions.

Then in March, an RAF plane carrying British Defence Secretary Grant Shapps had its signal jammed as it flew near the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad while returning to the UK from Poland.

At the time, military chiefs warned that a secretive Russian system known as Tobol, based in Kaliningrad, could be interfering with signals on planes and boats, causing them to 'malfunction'.

But now Estonian officials believe the most prominent source of the jamming around the Baltics is located in mainland Russia near St Petersburg.

'We have proof that it is coming from Russia, and Russia is violating all the international agreements,' Tsahkna said.

'I'm really sure that they know exactly what they're doing,' he added.

Russia is believed to be responsible for GPS jamming that has disrupted thousands of European flights (satellite image shows suspected jamming station in Kaliningrad

This image purports to show one of the satellite dishes of Russia's secretive Tobol GPS jamming system in Kaliningrad

In March, an RAF plane carrying British Defence Secretary Grant Shapps had its signal jammed as it flew near to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad

Finnair has suspended flights to an airport in Estonia amid GPS jamming concerns

Finnair announced on Monday it was suspending daily flights to Tartu after two of its planes were forced to turn back to Helsinki when their GPS signals were disrupted

'We have proof that it is coming from Russia, and Russia is violating all the international agreements,' Estonia's foreign minister has said of GPS jamming in Europe (Vladimir Putin pictured)

Tsahkna told the BBC his nation had located three sites from which the GPS jamming has emanated - one close to St Petersburg, one in Kaliningrad, and another in Pskov near to the Estonian border.

Though the minister did not offer specifics, open-source investigators also concurred with his assessment, plotting a chart of flight paths of aircraft that had experienced jamming and working to find the intersection where the disruption to signals was most intense.

This method was corroborated by other analysts who performed dozens of drone flights and recorded the positions at which they suffered jamming.

The data compiled from these investigations appears to show a GPS 'black hole' in a position south-west of St Petersburg where a number of Russian military bases are located, suggesting one or several of these bases are likely the primary source of the jamming attacks.

Jamming systems, such as the 'Tobol' platform believed to be in use in Kaliningrad, typically work by generating and then transmitting a signal on the same frequency used by aircraft or ships.

This matched frequency overwhelms the GPS receiver aboard these crafts and confuses the navigation system.

Instances of this kind of jamming in Europe have increased dramatically since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Jamming GPS signals reduces the accuracy of various missiles and drones used by Ukraine - including Western-provided GMLRS rockets - helping Russian troops, military and civilian assets to evade Kyiv's attacks.

Dr Thomas Withington from the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think tank told the Telegraph earlier this year that these jamming devices are likely being used by Russia as a defensive tool.

But this has interfered significantly with civilian aircraft and maritime vessels.

Aircraft logs have revealed jamming hotspots in the Baltic region, Black Sea and eastern Mediterranean, with a map showing where attacks are alleged to have taken place

Jamming GPS signals reduces the accuracy of various missiles and drones used by Ukraine - including Western-provided GMLRS rockets

The Sun recently reported that some 46,000 flights logged satellite navigation issues over the Baltic region between August last year and March.

Among those were 2,309 Ryanair flights, 1,368 Wizz Air flights, 82 British Airways flights and four EasyJet flights.

Estonia's military chief Martin Harem said that the jamming does not exclusively apply to air traffic, as ships around Finland, the Baltics and Poland have also been affected by the jamming.

'What we have seen is a malfunctioning of GPS for ships and air traffic,' General Harem, commander of the Estonian Defence Forces, told the Telegraph.

The extent to which civilian transports have been disrupted by Russian jamming around the Baltics has led some to question whether Moscow is deliberately targeting civilian aviation in Europe.

'We really do not know if they [Russia] want to achieve something or just practice and test their equipment,' Harem said.

Dr Jack Watling, a war expert at RUSI, told The Sun that Russia has 'long used GPS jamming as a harassment tool' and that the country is 'projecting it across NATO borders'.

'Wherever there is a large Russian garrison you are seeing GPS denial and there is one in Kaliningrad,' he said.

'They just have that stuff switched on because there are standing orders.'

Jamming GPS signals reduces the accuracy of various missiles and drones used by Ukraine

An RAF plane carrying Defence Secretary Grant Shapps had its signal jammed as it flew near to Kaliningrad in March

GPS disruption for civilian aircraft is not seen as a major threat, as most planes and airports have alternative navigation methods and do not rely on the technology.

However, Finnair was forced to turn its flights back to Helsinki because Tartu's airport exclusively employs GPS to bring planes in to land.

And the practice can still prove extremely disruptive.

Justin Bronk, an expert on air power and aerial warfare at RUSI said that ongoing jamming attacks could force air carriers to dramatically change their flight plans.

'Given the busy airspace within which (civilian aircraft) are operating, lack of reliable GPS will significantly increase the separation distances required for safety,' he said - a move that would be 'enormously disruptive'.

Other experts warned that widespread GPS jamming of ships also increases the likelihood of collisions out at sea.

Dana Goward, president of the US-based Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation, told the BBC: 'When we take the GPS out, clearly to some degree the efficiency and the safety of the aviation system is going to go down.

'People have to revert to old procedures that they're not quite so familiar with. There is going to be some harm, and we just hope it all stops before something bad happens.'
One of University of North Carolina fraternity brothers who was seen guarding the US flag from pro-Palestine protesters says he would've protected it with his life.

A few dozen members of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity took it upon themselves to shield the flag on Tuesday at UNC Chapel Hill where protesters at one point replaced it with the Palestinian flag.

Dan Stompel, a political science student at the school, told Fox News he and other fraternity brothers held the flag up for over an hour until police arrived to clear the hundreds of protesters.

The junior said: 'I was like, "Id die for this flag." And everybody was like, "Yeah." If they got any closer that we're going to start throwing hands. We're not going anywhere, I don't care. They're going to have to tear me off this flag over my dead body.'

Stompel claimed that as he shielded the flag, protesters tried to intimidate them and began throwing objects at them.

One of University of North Carolina fraternity brothers who was seen protecting the US flag from pro-Palestine protesters says he would've protected it with his life

Dan Stompel, a political science student at the school, told Fox News he and other fraternity brothers held the flag up for over an hour until police arrived to clear protesters

After footage of the frat brothers went viral, a GoFundMe was set up to throw them a party

'We're looking at every direction. If stuff was flying in, we would say, "Heads up." We would cover each other. We would look out for other people

'And it did hurt our arms. It was like an arm day [workout] for me that day. There was no gym happening that day afterwards. It was exhausting. It was beautiful moment.'

The student added: 'It shows that, based on the people there, nice, normal, strong boys protecting America's flag. There's nothing more patriotic, nothing more genuine, nothing more inspiring than that.'

After footage of the frat brothers went viral, a GoFundMe was set up to throw them a party. As of Thursday morning, it has collected more than $330,123, with billionaire Bill Ackman donating $10,000.

'These boys... no, men, of the UNC Chapel Hill Pi Kappa Phi, gave the best to America and now they deserve the best,' the GoFundMe reads.

'Help us raise funds to throw this frat the party they deserve, a party worth of the boat-shoed Broleteriat who did their country proud.'

Guillermo Estrada, another of the young men seen shielding the flag, said the day had been 'sad yet empowering,' and that he had become upset after seeing the Palestinian flag raised on campus.

Another frat member, Alex Jones, said on X: 'For me, protecting the flag was not about taking a stance within the ongoing Israel-Palestine discourse'

Fraternity brother Guillermo Estrada said the day had been 'sad yet empowering,' and he had become upset after seeing the Palestinian flag raised

Meanwhile Brendan Rosenblum, a Junior, told On Balance With Leland Vittert that 'it was important that I stood there with the Israeli flag because Israel and America work side by side'

He wrote: 'I cannot say I am fully educated on the Israel/Palestine conflict but it upset me that my country's flag was disrespected in order to advocate for another.

'Shortly after, Chancellor Roberts came with police officers to hang the flag once again. They were met with profanity, middle fingers, thrown bottles, rocks, and water.

'When the flag was raised once again, the Greek community began singing the National anthem. As the Chancellor left, the quad erupted into chaos as protestors began removing the flag once again, preparing to destroy it.

'My fraternity brother and others ran over to hold it up, in order for it not to touch the ground. People began throwing water bottles at us, rocks, sticks, calling us profane names. We stood for an hour defending the flag so many fight to protect.

'My parents started a new life in the United States, a country that has helped them flourish and raise two kids. I grew up in a Military community and saw first hand the sacrifices they make. I will not stand for the disrespect these "protestors" cause for the sake of another country.

'My LDOC will be memorable in knowing that my fraternity brothers and others fought to keep the flag up. But it was also be memorable in knowing that so many yearn to disrespect it.

Footage emerged on social media showing the group of male students holding onto the stars and stripes during a protest on Tuesday

Pro-Palestine groups lobbed bottles of water at the group who clutched the flag as they were screamed at by masked protestors

Despite the best efforts of the hardy group, the protestors eventually managed to hoist the Palestine flag on the Chapel Hill campus

Another frat member, Alex Jones, said on X: 'For me, protecting the flag was not about taking a stance within the ongoing Israel-Palestine discourse.

'I recognize the pain and suffering experienced by both sides of that conflict. But my decision yesterday to protect the flag of the United States was not about any other nation. It was simply about the importance of our country and the values we believe in.

'I believe in the right to free speech and peaceful protest. I am honored to give back to the nation that has given me and my family countless opportunities.

'I owe everything to the hard work of my parents and this great nation, and I am proud to be among those who stood up for it yesterday. I am proud to be an American.'

Meanwhile Brendan Rosenblum, a Junior, told On Balance With Leland Vittert that 'it was important that I stood there with the Israeli flag because Israel and America work side by side.'

Rosenblum added: 'Fraternity members get a bad rap, but in the end, we have a brotherhood and a belief of who we are. All of us felt that America and the American flag and, for me, the Israeli flag represented what we believe in.

'And we weren't going to let anyone stop us from keeping those two things up and representing for what we believe in.'

Despite the massive support they have received, some have pointed to a video that shows some of the fraternity members appear to call a female protesters a wh*** as they instruct her to 'lose some weight.'

Despite the massive support they have received, some have pointed to a video that shows some of the fraternity members appear to call a female protesters a wh*** as they instruct her to 'lose some weight'

Pi Kappa Phi was founded in 1904 in Charleston, South Carolina by Andrew Kroeg, Simon Fogarty and Harry Mixson and now has more than 120,000 members across the country.

Following the chaos on the Chapel Hill campus, classes were canceled for the rest of the day and non-mandatory operations were suspended.

Police had moved in to clear out an encampment and detained some of the protestors in a tense showdown.

The Daily Tar Heel reported that 36 people protestors were detained within the encampment.

Six of those 36 were later arrested and transported to the local magistrate's office, the outlet said, with all six charged trespassing before being released. The university said three of those arrested had been students, while the other three were not affiliated with the school.

In a statement Roberts said: 'For the last several months, we have spoken regularly and respectfully with the demonstrators on our campus, consistently supporting their right to assemble and express their views.

'We have been clear that students and community members can assemble and make their voices heard, but University policies must be followed.

'During events in recent weeks, the student demonstrators abided by our policies.

'That changed Sunday evening when protesters - including outside activists -- backtracked on their commitment to comply with these policies, including trespassing into classroom buildings overnight.

'This group has now made it clear they will no longer even consider our requests to abide by University policies and have ended our attempts at constructive dialogue.'

In a similar fashion, police in New York City restored the American flag after protestors at City College of New York raised a Palestine flag on the campus.

Footage taken on the ground shows one officer tossing the flag aside before later raising Old Glory on the flagpole.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday morning, Mayor Eric Adams berated the schools for allowing the flying of the flag.

He said: 'That's our flag folks, it might be fine to some people but not to me. My uncle died defending this country.

'It's despicable that schools will allow another country's flag to fly in our country. So blame me for being proud to be American. We are not surrendering our way of life.'
Emmanuel Macron has said he would be prepared to send troops to Ukraine if Vladimir Putin's forces break through the front lines - further raising the risk of NATO forces clashing with Russia's armies.

In an interview published today, the French president said the issue of sending troops would 'legitimately' arise if Kyiv and president Volodymyr Zelensky made such a request.

The Economist said Macron gave the interview after delivering a keynote speech last week where he declared that Europe is 'mortal' and could 'die' partly due to the threat posed by Russian aggression after its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

It also came as Russia claimed its forces had taken another town in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, with Moscow's armies continuing to push against Kyiv's defences.

Russia is rushing to advance against struggling Ukrainian forces ahead of the long-awaited arrival of the bulk of US weapons to the front for Kyiv's outgunned troops.

French President Emmanuel Macron has said he would be prepared to sent troops to Ukraine if Vladimir Putin 's forces break through the front lines - further raising the risk of NATO forces clashing with those from Russia

In an interview published today, Macron did not rule out sending troops to aid Kyiv, saying the issue would 'legitimately' arise if Kyiv made such a request.

'I'm not ruling anything out, because we are facing someone who is not ruling anything out,' Macron said when asked if he stood by comments earlier this year not excluding the sending of Western troops that sent shockwaves around Europe.

Such a move would see NATO troops go head-to-head with those in the Russian army, dramatically increasing the risk of an escalation.

What's more, some analysts believe that Russia could be on the verge of launching a major new offensive in Ukraine.

Macron said 'if Russia decided to go further, we will in any case all have to ask ourselves this question' of sending troops, describing his refusal to rule out such a move as a 'strategic wake-up call for my counterparts'.

He described Russia as 'a power of regional destabilisation' and 'a threat to Europeans' security'.

'I have a clear strategic objective: Russia cannot win in Ukraine,' Macron said.

'If Russia wins in Ukraine, there will be no security in Europe,' he warned.

'Who can pretend that Russia will stop there? What security will there be for the other neighbouring countries, Moldova, Romania, Poland, Lithuania and the others?'

Under NATO's Article 5, all members are obliged to defend others in the case of an armed attack. Should Russia directly attack a NATO member, then the US, the UK, France and Germany are among those who would be expected to respond.

Any such conflict risks growing into a global war, the like of which has not been seen since the end of the Second World War.

The release of the interview came as Moscow's defence ministry said troops had 'fully liberated the settlement of Berdychi.'

Kyiv said it had retreated from the village, northwest of the Moscow-held town of Avdiivka, over the weekend.

Berdychi - which lies some 7 miles from Avdiivka - is the latest in a string of tiny eastern villages Russia has claimed in recent weeks.

This photo taken from a drone video provided by Ukraine Patrol Police, shows devastation in Chasiv Yar, an eastern Ukrainian city Russia is assaulting, Ukraine, April 29

A map shows the location of Berdychi which Russia on Thursday said it had claimed

Moscow has made some gains in the area since capturing Avdiivka in February after some of the most brutal battles in its more than two-year offensive.

Ukraine said in February it had established defensive lines in Berdychi after the fall of the nearby village of Lastochkyne.

Over the weekend, Ukraine's commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky said Kyiv had retreated from Berdychi and two other nearby villages to protect 'the lives and health of our defenders.'

He called the area the 'most complicated' part of the front and conceded that Russia has made 'certain tactical successes' there.

Until Ukrainian forces on the frontlines start to see the impact of the $61 billion US aid package approved last week, Russia will have far superior firepower.

Its troops are gradually advancing around the town of Avdiivka after capturing it in February and also to the west of Bakhmut, which it seized last year.

Commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Sunday that fighting in the east had recently worsened and that his troops had fallen back in three places on the front.

According to Pasi Paroinen, an analyst with Black Bird Group, a Finnish-run volunteer group that analyses satellite imagery and social media content, Russia has gained more territory in Ukraine this year than Kyiv did in its counteroffensive last summer.

From June 1 to October 1, 2023, Russian forces lost control of 414.26 square kilometres of territory. From January 1 to May 2, 2024, they have gained 432.3 square kilometers, most of it in the Donetsk region, the analyst said.

Russian forces are focusing most of their assaults on the strategic town of Chasiv Yar, just west of Bakhmut, and further south around Ocheretyne.

Ukrainian officials believe that Moscow wants to seize Chasiv Yar by the symbolic date of May 9, or Victory Day in Russia. That would place some of the Donetsk region's largest Ukrainian-held cities within artillery range, analysts say.

Troops at the position, the location of which Ukraine's armed forces requested not to be disclosed, told Reuters Russian attacks were steady but often unpredictable.

'We can have a calm night and just keep watch, or we can be running to the gun 15 to 20 times,' said Boichak, a bespectacled former builder.

'And the same thing during the day.'

A Ukrainian serviceman of the 148th Separate Artillery Brigade of the Ukrainian Air Assault Forces, fires a M777 howitzer toward Russian troops near a front line, May 1, 2024

A Ukrainian serviceman of the 148th Separate Artillery Brigade of the Ukrainian Air Assault Forces, prepares shells to fire a M777 howitzer toward Russian troops, May 1 2024

Russian drones are a constant threat, the soldiers said, while a lack of fresh manpower meant that they were spread thin and growing tired.

Kyiv has designed a new mobilisation package to replenish its forces, which are easily outnumbered.

'I'd like to leave at least for a week and rest, but we keep working for as long as needed,' Boichak said.

A battalion commander in the same brigade, who withheld his name for security purposes, said small tactical gains by Russian forces did not yet amount to a significant strategic advantage.

He acknowledged, however, Moscow's ability to throw far more troops into battle than Kyiv in its bid to seize the initiative.

'To lose an entire company in one day is nothing for them.'

Peace talks are set to be held next month in Switzerland, with the Swiss government inviting over 160 delegations for the talks.

However, the government said today that 'at this stage' Russia is not among the dozens of countries invited to mid-June summit.

Switzerland said it had always shown openness to inviting Russia but added Moscow has repeatedly underlined it has no interest in participating in the initial talks.

'Switzerland is convinced that Russia must be involved in this process,' the Swiss government said in a statement. 'A peace process without Russia is not possible.'

Ukraine's government has for its part questioned the utility of Russian participation in the talks due to be held from June 15-16 near the Swiss city of Lucerne.

'We know that it doesn't make sense to have Russia at the table if you cannot ensure that they act in good faith,' Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in an interview with Foreign Policy magazine published this week.

Kuleba said putting pressure on Russia on the battlefield and bringing together countries 'who share principles' should help to make Moscow more willing to engage in dialogue.

Russian officials point to Switzerland's adoption of EU sanctions against Moscow over its invasion, and argue it therefore lacks credibility as a neutral broker.

Switzerland in January said it would host the summit at the request of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Anti-tank systems known as 'dragon teeth' are seen in the field close to the Russian border in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine, on Wednesday, April 17, 2024

Switzerland said the talks will build on Zelenskiy's peace formula and other peace proposals based on the UN Charter and key principles of international law.

The delegations invited include members of the G7, G20, BRICS groups, the EU, international organizations and two religious representatives, Switzerland said.

The talks aim to create a framework for a lasting peace, and a roadmap for Russia's participation in the process, it said.

'The overarching objective of the summit is to inspire a future peace process,' the Swiss government said.
Woman arrested in the search for missing Perth men

A woman has been arrested during the search for two missing Perth brothers in Mexico that failed to return to their Airbnb after a surfing trip.

Jake and Callum Robinson went missing five days ago in the Baja California region near Ensenada on Mexico's north-west coast.

After sharing regular social media posts about the first two days of their trip, they have no been heard from since Saturday.

Mexican media have reported that authorities tracked the woman down after she turned on a mobile phone that belonged to one of the brothers.

Authorities also found drugs on the woman when she was arrested, Nine News reported.

Earlier, the pair's mother Debra Robinson issued an urgent plea for help to find her sons.

Jake and Callum Robinson have not been heard from for days after going on a surfing trip to Mexico (pictured with their parents)

Debra Robinson appealed for help from the public in the search for her sons on social media on Thursday

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'Reaching out to anyone who has seen my two sons,' Ms Robinson wrote on Facebook.

'They are travelling with another friend, an American citizen.

'They were due to book into an Airbnb in Rosarito after their camping weekend but they did not show up.'

Ms Robinson posted a photo which said her sons had gone missing around the Rosarito and Ensenada region of Baja California on Saturday morning.

Rosarito is a coastal city in Baja California, Mexico and is about an hour's drive north of Ensenada and a 45 minute drive south of the US city of San Diego.

It said they were driving a Chevrolet Colorado with the Californian number plate 70189W1.

Ms Robinson said there was a medical concern, given Callum is a type one diabetic.

She asked for anyone who had seen her sons or knew their whereabouts to contact her.

Lacrosse Australia issued a statement on social media expressing its concern over the whereabouts of Jake, Callum and their friend, Jack Carter Rhoad.

It described Callum as an 'Australian lacrosse star'.

A woman has reportedly been arrested during the search after she turned on a mobile phone that belonged to one of the brothers (pictured with their parents)

Jake and Callum are understood to have gone missing from the Baja California region near Ensenada

'We urge the Australian lacrosse community and our global lacrosse family to continue sharing the post from Callum's friends and family (located on the LA Facebook and Instagram story) in the hope that Callum, Jake and Jack are found safe and sound,' it said.

'Our thoughts are with the families and friends of the Callum, Jake and Jack during this incredibly stressful time.'

WA Premier Roger Cook said the situation was 'very worrying'.

'When we do send our young men and women overseas to enjoy that adventure holiday, they invite an element of risk and this is really quite distressing,' he told reporters.

'I understand that one of the individuals has a medical condition that would need ongoing care, so I share concerns of all Western Australians in terms of their welfare.'

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed they were assisting the family.

'The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to the family of two Australians reported missing in Mexico,' a spokesperson said.

'Owing to our privacy obligations we are unable to provide further comment.'
Have YOU been injured on the 'optical illusion' cycle lane? Email emily.cooper@mailonline.co.uk or tips@dailymail.com

A council has refused to pay any compensation to victims who tripped on an 'optical illusion' cycle lane - despite 40 claims being submitted.

The route through Keynsham High Street in Somerset was branded 'the most dangerous in Britain' with locals blaming a trick of the eye design.

Photos show how it appears to be flat at a glance - but actually passes over an elevated pedestrian crossing.

A Freedom of Information Request submitted by the Local Democracy Reporting Service has now revealed 40 people have sought compensation from the Bath and North East Somerset Council for their injuries.

To date no payments have been made with 30 claims having been dismissed while 10 remain ongoing.

A shopper is helped to his feet in April after tripping over the cycle lane and falling to the ground in Keynsham High Street, Somerset

The cycle lane has been branded as 'the most dangerous in Britain' with shoppers outside the bustling town centre tripping over a 'hidden' kerb

Since it was installed by Bath and North East Somerset Council in March 2022, more than 100 people have been injured on it.

Walkers on the bustling high street have repeatedly missed and tripped on a 'hidden' curb - which they say looked like a flat line as it is painted white.

Despite the high number of injuries, MailOnline revealed in April last year that just three cyclists use the lane every hour.

Retired local resident Martin Crew, 64, said he fears the deceptive kerb could result in tragedy. He said: 'It's not a question of if somebody gets seriously hurt or killed, it's only a question of when.'

Shopper Brie Jones, 23, added: 'It is stupid. They took years ripping everything up and sure it looks nice and new but people aren't looking where they are going and getting hurt as a result.

'You see the odd kid using it on their electric scooter but you hardly ever see cyclists going down it.

'I think a lot more than 60 people have been hurt, the local Facebook groups are full of people saying they're injured. I don't know if they're looking to get something for money.'

Outrage prompted the cycle path to be painted bright red in August 2022.

Shopper Brie Jones, 23, added: 'It is stupid. They took years ripping everything up and sure it looks nice and new but people aren't looking where they are going and getting hurt as a result'

Campaigners say the 'optical illusion' cycle lane on Keynsham High Street is still too dangerous - and has now injured around 100 people

Around 100 people have been injured since the cycle lane in Keynsham, Somerset (pictured), 40 of whom have tried to claim compensation

The council also changed a solid white line to a dotted line in the hope of stopping the confusion, falls and injuries.

But a road safety audit in December warned: 'Whilst the number of incidents has clearly reduced since opening, it remains an ongoing issue with a relatively consistent rate of incidents per month, rather than one which is reducing over time.'

Injuries have included fractures, lost teeth, and significant bruising.

Photos showed Dave Dawson, 76, becoming the latest victim when he tripped over the kerb, which appears level but is actually a 4inch drop, and cut his hands and knees.

Mr Dawson said: 'I was walking along the pavement, and it's sort of like an optical illusion; it looks as if it's all level.

'I was walking back towards the church and stepped with my right foot on the edge of the pavement because it looked flat, and I lost my balance and fell down.

'I cut the palms of my hands and my knees a bit because the surface of the cycle lane is very sharp.

'When I came back up the road, I was obviously quite conscious of the kerb because I'd fallen over, and lo and behold, I fell over going back as well! Exactly the same.

'The trouble is that in some places on the high street, the cycle path uses the same principle, but the cycle path is level with the kerb, but as you walk along, it drops down about two inches. I think it's where they thought people would be crossing.'

Photos showed Dave Dawson (pictured), 76, becoming the latest victim when he tripped over the kerb, which appears level but is actually a 4inch drop, and cut his hands and knees

Mr Dawson said: 'I was walking along the pavement, and it's sort of like an optical illusion; it looks as if it's all level'

Locals wanting the cycle lane scrapped have previously recalled their experiences of coming to harm there.

One person said: 'I fell into the road last year, cutting my knee, twisting my ankle and ripping my jeans.

'The council were not very helpful or even asked if I was ok. They did suggest that I use the crossing next time.'

Another added: 'I tripped but manage to get my balance. Don't know whether it was the kerb or cycle lane.'

One said 'That's just the ones that have been reported... it's a daily occurrence pretty much.

'Have seen some pretty nasty falls having worked in one of the shops on the High street.'

Another person said they had been pushing a wheelchair when they nearly fell.

They said: 'You just can't judge the step especially if you are distracted a really poor design.'

Bath and North East Somerset Council has been contacted for comment.
Penny Mordaunt flatly denied plotting to oust Rishi Sunak today as a dire poll showed Tory support under the low point of Liz Truss.

Research by YouGov put the party on just 18 per cent - the worst the firm has recorded since 2019.

Worryingly for Conservatives, as well as trailing Labour by 26 points they are just three points ahead of Reform UK.

The findings emerged as the PM faces a moment of truth with rebels gearing up for another coup bid if local elections prove as bad as feared.

The Tories are expected to lose hundreds of councillors, while incumbents in Tees Valley and West Mids have been struggling to hang on.

There is also a by-election in Blackpool South where some believe Reform could knock them into third place.

Penny Mordaunt flatly denied plotting to oust Rishi Sunak today as a dire poll showed Tory support under the low point of Liz Truss

The PM faces a moment of truth with rebels gearing up for another coup bid if local elections prove as bad as feared

Research by YouGov put the party on just 18 per cent - the worst the firm has recorded since 2019

Ms Mordaunt has been at the centre of speculation about an effort to replace Mr Sunak, with critics saying he has failed to shift the dial despite apparent progress on Rwanda deportations and curbing legal migration.

Kemi Badenoch, Suella Braverman and Grant Shapps are also among those accused of being 'on manoeuvres'. Rebels would need 52 MPs to send no-confidence letters to trigger a vote on the premier's future.

Speaking at business questions in Parliament, the Commons Leader said: 'I too have read that I'm to be installed rather like a new boiler into No10 next week.

'And I have to say there is as much truth to these stories as there is in Labour's assurances to its business community that it isn't actually going to do the things it's been saying it's going to do, as it's promised its union paymasters.

'But let me say again, I support our Prime Minister and I will continue to support him after this weekend and beyond.'

Ms Mordaunt also expressed confidence that 'something will crop up' to turn the tide in the political struggle.

'I think something is going to crop up because whether it's pensions, the NHS, rail tax or welfare, the Labour Party claim they are going to do one thing, but are planning another and I think the public will see through this,' she said.

'It is the most audacious deception since the Big Bad Wolf donned a nightie and asked Little Red Riding Hood to admire his upper dentures. But unlike Red Riding Hood, the British people have met this wolf before and they remember it doesn't end well.'

Kemi Badenoch (pictured), Suella Braverman and Grant Shapps are also among those accused of being 'on manoeuvres'

The latest YouGov survey suggested the Tories had dropped two points since April 24.

The 18 per cent support was the lowest of this Parliament, worse than the 19 per cent under Ms Truss.

By contrast, Labour was on 44 per cent.

The last time YouGov recorded a lower vote share for the Tories was during 2019, in the run-up to the European Parliament elections of that year.

It also matches the lowest share Labour ever received under Jeremy Corbyn in the summer of 2019.
Emmanuel Macron has said that Brexit has 'impoverished the UK' and 'done nothing to solve immigration' as he called on Europeans to keep out nationalists ahead of crunch elections next month.

The French President also warned that all European nationalists were 'hidden Brexiteers' who want to see the downfall of Europe but continue to reap its benefits.

'I say to Europeans: Wake up. Wake up! They are hidden Brexiteers. All European nationalists are hidden Brexiteers. It's all the same lies,' he said in an interview with The Economist.

Macron gave the example of the Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally (RN) party, which is now leading in opinion polls for the European contest, ahead of his own centrist alliance.

He said that while the RN, whose president is 28-year-old firebrand Jordan Bardella, previously 'wanted to pull out of Europe, out of the euro, out of everything,' it now 'no longer says anything.'

Emmanuel Macron has said that Brexit has 'impoverished the UK' and 'done nothing to solve immigration' as he called on Europeans to keep out nationalists at the

French far-right party Rassemblement National (RN) member of Parliament Marine Le Pen (L), and party President Jordan Bardella

Nationalist parties are surging ahead in the polls across Europe, including Belgium's Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest), and the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) in Austria.

FPO, whose slogans include 'stop the EU madness', is currently polling at 30 per cent ahead of Austrians going to the polls on June 9.

Yesterday, former presidential candidate Le Pen urged voters to inflict 'the most crushing electoral sanction' possible on Macron's Renaissance party at the polls next month.

In comments published today, Macron hit back at his arch rival, saying: 'Make no mistake. If you entrust the keys to people who think like they do, there is no reason why Europe should become a great power.

'In a way it's as if we were saying it's not a problem if we entrust the bank to robbers. When they are around the table, they take Europe hostage.'

'It's reaping the benefits of Europe, while wanting to destroy it without saying anything,' he said. 'And that's true in every country.'

He noted that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whose Brothers of Italy party has neo-fascist roots, had 'a European approach' and had 'supported the asylum and immigration pact'.

But 'after that, the best way of building together is to have as few nationalists as possible', he added.

France and Britain last year struck a deal to end migrant Channel crossings - with Rishi Sunak agreeing for the UK to pay Paris almost half a billion pounds over the next three years

Macron previously warned that 'Europe could die' and said the continent must form closer defence ties with Britain amid Russian aggression in Ukraine.

His comments on the economic state of Britain post-Brexit come after UN data showed last month that the UK was the fourth biggest exporter in the world - ahead of France.

But the impact of Brexit on the cost of living is still being felt, retailers warned this week, as Brits face higher grocery bills with new border checks coming into force.

Meat, dairy, plants and seeds are just some of the products which will now be subject to physical checks when imported in.

Companies have warned that the new checks will likely hit small businesses hardest and lead to price rises for customers.

The government says the measures will increase the country's bio-security and the added cost will be 'negligible' compared to a major outbreak of disease.

On migration, France and Britain last year struck a deal to end migrant Channel crossings - with Rishi Sunak agreeing for the UK to pay Paris almost half a billion pounds over the next three years.

Channel crossings had already hit a new record high for the first four months of the year

Some 711 people were detected crossing the English Channel on Wednesday, the highest number on a single day so far this year, according to provisional figures from the Home Office.

Channel crossings had already hit a new record high for the first four months of a calendar year, jumping 34 per cent on 2023 when 6,192 were recorded and up 19% on the total at this stage in 2022 (6,945).

Last year 29,437 migrants arrived in the UK, down 36 per cent on a record 45,774 arrivals in 2022.
An employee at a Minnesota ice cream shop was fired for receiving a generous tip from a customer that 'could be' dealing with dementia.

Emily Swenson was working a shift at the Moorhead Freez when a customer came in and tried to leave her a $100 tip.

After Emily insisted that the tip was too generous and that she could not accept it, the customer put the bill in the tip jar and drove away.

Days later, on April 24, Emily received a written warning from her boss. Her parents, Seth and Lisa Swenson, uploaded the 'employee warning notice form' on their joint Facebook post.

It read: 'Emily needs to understand that some of our customers are elderly and could be dealing with dementia or other illnesses that make it hard for them to understand their actions. No one in their right frame of mind tips $100 at a place where every menu item is under $12.'

An employee at a Minnesota ice cream shop was fired for receiving a generous tip from a customer that 'could be' dealing with dementia

Emily Swenson received a written warning from her boss after the tip was left. Her parents, Seth and Lisa Swenson (pictured), uploaded the 'employee warning notice form' on their joint Facebook post

The parents explained in their Facebook post that Emily was working her fifth season at the ice cream shop - and revealed that her boss had accused her of 'taking' the $100 from a customer.

The written warning went on to say, 'As an employee of The Freez, it is your responsibility to protect the reputation of the establishment. If the customer is dealing with issues and the family finds out that she was allowed to put $100 in the tip jar, The Freez will be looked down on as a place that takes advantage of the elderly.'

Emily was fired the next day, according to her parents.

The Freez terminated her on the basis that she violated the company's policy which states that employee's should not accept bills over $20 as a form of payment - although the policy does not mention anything about tips.

The ice cream shop released their own statement on Facebook after receiving harsh backlash following the Swensen's post.

'Ice cream makes people happy. Social media bullying - not so much,' the Freez wrote.

The Freez terminated her on the basis that she violated the company's policy which states that employee's should not accept bills over $20 as a form of payment - although the policy does not mention anything about tips

The written warning went on to say, 'As an employee of The Freez, it is your responsibility to protect the reputation of the establishment'

'Ice cream makes people happy. Social media bullying - not so much,' the Freez wrote in their own statement

'We did not terminate the adult at will employee of five years for not accepting a tip. There's more to the story.

'We won't go into details, it's a personal matter. However, we believes that if the parents are posting for an adult child - they haven't asked the right questions of their adult daughter,' the Freez continued.

Members of the public rushed to the comments to share their reactions to the controversial termination.

'So perhaps the owner should check to see if that customer was an elderly one with dementia before firing her employee,' Atlanta Swensen wrote.

'Perhaps she was someone who really appreciated Emily and her coworkers who do a good job. I doubt any other food establishment would fire someone for saying they couldnt accept the tip and then the person put it in the tip jar anyway!'

Another user said, 'Im trying to wrap my head around this situation. How is it Emilys fault if the lady dropped the money in the tip jar after Emily refused to take it? It sounds to me like the manager/owner was looking for fault in employees.'

'Dementia or not this is an insane response to the situation,' a user wrote.

'Im just sad, for everyone. Im sad that it even happened. But really the comments do need to stop,' one user said in reaction to the harsh backlash.

DailyMail.com has reached out to the Moorhead Freez as well as Seth and Lisa Swenson for comment.
Elite private bank Coutts has said it wants to take an estimated 2billion of clients' funds out of the London stock market and put it into foreign company shares.

The royal bank, which is almost 30 per cent owned by taxpayers, said its 'home bias' towards UK shares was an 'anachronism' requiring 'fundamental change'.

The move is another blow for the City and also risks the spotlight being put back on Coutts after the infamous 'debanking' row with politician Nigel Farage in July 2023.

Speaking at a Coutts in Conversation event earlier this week, the bank's chief investment officer Fahad Kamal said: 'Currently, about 20 per cent of a standard balanced portfolio here is UK stocks, which is something of an anachronism.

'It would be closer to 3 per cent or 4 per cent if it were more commensurate with the proportion of UK stocks in global stock markets. So this is a recalibration.'

He added that the firm would be 'adjusting our compass accordingly', with the cash shifted from six Coutts UK equity and bond funds to more world-focused schemes.

An extraordinary row between politician Nigel Farage (pictured) and NatWest broke out last summer after his account with Coutts  which is owned by the lender - was closed

Former NatWest chief executive Alison Rose (pictured) was forced to quit after admitting to telling a BBC journalist that Nigel Farage's account was shut down for commercial reasons

According to the Evening Standard, Mr Kamal said while the UK market had hardly changed in a century, many companies in the US did not even exist 20 years ago.

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And his colleague, multi-asset strategist David Broomfield, added: 'To get access to the widest and best opportunity set, we need to be part of global equities.'

It comes after an extraordinary row between Mr Farage and NatWest broke out last summer after his account with Coutts  which is owned by the lender - was closed.

Former NatWest chief executive Alison Rose was forced to quit after admitting to telling a BBC journalist that the former Ukip leader's account was shut down for commercial reasons.

However, internal reports showed that Mr Farage's political leanings had been a factor in the decision.

The leading Brexiteer branded an investigation into the closure a 'whitewash' and later said his battle with NatWest was 'far from over'.

The scandal raised serious questions over the industry's policies on closing bank accounts.

Coutts  which is owned by NatWest - is still almost 30 per cent owned by the taxpayer

Nigel Farage previously said that his battle with NatWest (pictured) was 'far from over'

Data released by the Financial Services Ombudsman last month showed Britons made 4,000 complaints about debanking in the 2023/24 year.

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A Coutts spokeswoman told the Standard today: 'We retain significant investment in the UK and our investment strategy is to achieve the best returns for our clients in the most attractive markets.

'We closely follow the performance of all markets in line with our individual client needs and our House Views are subject to constant review.'

During the Budget in March, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced the introduction of a new British ISA to encourage investment in UK companies and boost the City.

The new savings account will give people an additional 5,000 tax-free allowance to invest in UK assets, on top of the existing 20,000 limit.

Mr Hunt said he had received calls from more than 200 City representatives to reform the ISA system and encourage more people to invest in UK assets.

It forms part of plans to revive the UK's stock market, which has faced an exodus of listed companies moving to international peers and a dearth of new companies choosing to float in London.
Police brawled with protesters while smashing through barricades at UCLA's Gaza encampment after hundreds of anti-Israel students defied orders to leave.

California Highway Patrol officers wearing face shields and protective vests went face-to-face with protesters clad with shields.

As of Thursday morning the encampment was cleared and at least 132 protesters were arrested after an tense overnight standoff between anti-Israel protesters and police.

Officers ripped apart an umbrella one activist tried to use as a shield while the crowd chanted 'peaceful protest.'

'Leave the campus, this is a f*****g school. This is a f*****g school, what are you doing, this is a school, we f*****g learn. I got to learn about public health,' one protester shouted.

Cops face-off with pro-Palestinian students after destroying part of the encampment barricade on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles

LAPD officers dispersed earlier as they were pushed back by a wave of protesters , who far outnumbered police and were holding umbrellas and makeshift shields

Police methodically ripped apart the encampment's barricade of plywood, pallets, metal fences and trash dumpsters and made an opening toward dozens of tents of demonstrators

An anti-Israel protesters is arrested after police destroy part of the encampment barricade

Police arrest a demonstrator as they clear out the UCLA Gaza encampment

At least 132 protesters were arrested and at least one officer was injured during the overnight standoff, reported NBC News.

Those arrested will booked at the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Downtown Los Angeles jail. It is unclear how many of the people arrested are students and faculty.

Objects, including water bottles, were thrown at officers according to a CHP spokesperson.

The mob of protesters resisted the cops attempts to disperse them as they pulled signs and shields from the group.

As police helicopters hovered overhead, the sound of flash-bangs, which produce a bright light and a loud noise to disorient and stun people could be heard as police moved in, amid chants of: 'Where were you last night?'

Riot cops supported by busloads of reinforcements have smashed through barricades at UCLA's Gaza encampment after a smaller group of police was forced to retreat by pro-Palestine protesters.

LAPD officers who had been trying to hold a skirmish line dispersed earlier as they were pushed back by a wave of protesters, who far outnumbered police and were holding umbrellas and makeshift shields.

Soon after, hundreds of CHP officers were bussed to the campus as backup, cramming into a small walkway as they again attempted to breach the wall of people trying to prevent them from entering the encampment.

Hundreds of protesters, many brandishing umbrellas, shields and wearing helmets, continued to resist the police advance into the quad area on the west side of Royce Hall, attempting to push them back as they had done before.

But a huge stream of officers, armed with batons and equipped with riot gear, cleared away makeshift barricades made out of dumpsters and wooden boards as they marched on the camp.

As the confrontation began on the west of Royce Hall, another busload of officers was brought in and circled around the east side of the hall, escorting surrendering students away and starting to rip down fortifications.

Within minutes, police were able to tear down the perimeter barrier, launching flash bangs into the air. Protesters are reported to be using pepper or bear spray and fire extinguishers as they continue to resist law enforcement dispersal orders.

CNN reported officers fired off what appeared to be rubber bullets.

As of Thursday morning the encampment was cleared after an tense overnight standoff between anti-Israel protesters and police

Law enforcement officers detain a protester at the University of California Los Angeles

Officers, equipped with riot gear, are seen lining up and brandishing batons at the campus

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators hold hands as police advance on them on the UCLA campus

Protesters attempt to barricade cops from advancing on their encampment

After issuing a dispersal order last night, police began detaining people who remained on campus in the early hours of this morning, tying their wrists with zip ties.

The law enforcement action came after officers spent hours threatening arrests, and shortly after a group of cops who had managed to get into the inner area of the encampment were forced out by protesters.

Dramatic footage from the ground and from a helicopter circling above shows the moment crowds swelled and converged on dozens of officers, appearing to push towards them in an effort to eject them from the area.

Shortly after, a line of cops filed out of the Janss Steps, an inner area of the encampment dubbed the 'Liberated Zone' by campaigners, with cheers from the crowd as they allowed officers to exit. Police are still present in the wider campus.

There had been reports that students were hoping to re-barricade after the police breached their defenses, but their defenses were quickly torn down.

It is the second night in a row that confrontations between police and protesters on the California campus turned physical.

It comes as police are cracking down on encampments at campuses across America, with at least 90 people arrested at Ivy League Dartmouth College in Rhode Island.

Arrests were also made at the University of Texas at Dallas, and the University of Wisconsin at Madison. At Wisconsin, more than 34 were arrested and some cops were hurt in clashes.

New York City continued to see it's share of protests as well, as police broke up protests at Fordham a day after ending encampments at Columbia and the City College of New York. Officers arrested at least 15 Fordham protesters Wednesday.

Approximately half of the 282 total people arrested at Columbia and CCNY, 134 people, were not affiliated with the school, reported CNN.

Columbia University protesters smashed windows, upended furniture and caused damage throughout Hamilton Hall during the occupation before police stormed the campus.

Body camera footage captured the moment NYPD officers broke down the door to the barricaded university and sawed through the locks and chairs being used to hold it shut.

Police approach demonstrators inside a pro-Palestinian encampment on the UCLA campus

Police and UCLA pro-Palestine protesters face-off on the UCLA campus

Protesters with makeshift shields, umbrellas and placards are seen squaring up with riot police

Gaza solidarity protestors wore helmets and fortified their barricades as they prepared for clashes as LAPD flooded the UCLA campus Wednesday night.

A large crowd of students, alumni and neighbors gathered on campus steps outside the barricaded area of tents, sitting as they listened and applauded various speakers and joined in pro-Palestinian chants.

As day turned to night, LAPD officers dressed in riot gear poured into the campus, making their way up the stairs to where the encampment is based.

Videos shared on social media showed students fortifying their barricades as they prepared for confrontations with police. Some chanted 'shame on you!' and 'LAPD KKK!'

Overheard television cameras at UCLA showed students in the barricaded area passing out goggles and helmets, as well as setting up medical aid stations.

A small group of students holding signs and wearing T-shirts in support of Israel and Jewish people gathered nearby.

The law enforcement presence and continued warnings stood in contrast to the scene that unfolded the night before, when counter-demonstrators attacked the pro-Palestinian encampment, throwing traffic cones, releasing pepper spray and tearing down barriers.

Fighting continued for several hours before police stepped in, and no one was arrested.

At least 15 protesters suffered injuries, and the tepid response by authorities drew criticism from political leaders as well as Muslim students and advocacy groups.

Ray Wiliani, who lives nearby, said he came to UCLA on Wednesday evening to support the pro-Palestinian demonstrators.

'We need to take a stand for it,' he said. 'Enough is enough.'

UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said in a statement that 'a group of instigators' perpetrated the previous night's attack, but he did not provide details about the crowd or why the administration and school police did not act sooner.

'However one feels about the encampment, this attack on our students, faculty and community members was utterly unacceptable,' he said. 'It has shaken our campus to its core.'

Block promised a review of the night's events after California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Los Angeles mayor denounced the delays.

'The community needs to feel the police are protecting them, not enabling others to harm them,' Rebecca Husaini, chief of staff for the Muslim Public Affairs Council, said in a news conference on the Los Angeles campus later Wednesday, where some Muslim students detailed the overnight events.

Speakers disputed the universitys account that 15 people were injured and one hospitalized, saying the number of people taken to the hospital was higher.

After issuing a dispersal order last night, police began detaining people who remained on campus

Police were able to tear down the perimeter barrier, launching flash bangs into the air

Riot cops supported by busloads of reinforcements have smashed through barricades at UCLA's Gaza encampment

One student described needing to go to the hospital after being hit in the head by an object wielded by counter-protesters.

Several students who spoke during the news conference said they had to rely on each other, not the police, for support as they were attacked, and that many in the pro-Palestinian encampment remained peaceful and did not engage with counter-protesters.

UCLA canceled classes Wednesday.

Tent encampments of protesters calling on universities to stop doing business with Israel or companies they say support the war in Gaza have spread across campuses nationwide in a student movement unlike any other this century.

The ensuing police crackdowns echoed actions decades ago against a much larger protest movement protesting the Vietnam War.

In Madison, a scrum broke out early Wednesday after police with shields removed all but one tent and shoved protesters.

Four officers were injured, including a state trooper who was hit in the head with a skateboard, authorities said. Four were charged with battering law enforcement.

This is all playing out in an election year in the U.S., raising questions about whether young voters - who are critical for Democrats - will back President Joe Biden's reelection effort, given his staunch support of Israel.

In rare instances, university officials and protest leaders struck agreements to restrict the disruption to campus life and upcoming commencement ceremonies.

At Brown University in Rhode Island, administrators agreed to consider a vote to divest from Israel in October - apparently the first U.S. college to agree to such a demand.

The nationwide campus demonstrations began at Columbia on April 17 to protest Israels offensive in Gaza after Hamas launched a deadly attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7.

Militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took roughly 250 hostages. Vowing to stamp out Hamas, Israel has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the Health Ministry there.

Israel and its supporters have branded the university protests antisemitic, while Israels critics say it uses those allegations to silence opposition.

Protesters reinforce the barricades set up against one of the doors of Royce Hall as police started clearing the encampment

Although some protesters have been caught on camera making antisemitic remarks or violent threats, organizers of the protests, some of whom are Jewish, say it is a peaceful movement aimed at defending Palestinian rights and protesting the war.

Late Tuesday, New York City police officers entered Columbia's campus and cleared an encampment, along with Hamilton Hall, where a stream of officers used a ladder to climb through a second-floor window, and police said protesters inside presented no substantial resistance.

The demonstrators had seized the Ivy League school building about 20 hours earlier, ramping up their presence on the campus from a tent encampment that had been there for nearly two weeks.

They encountered police clearing tents early on, as well as more than 100 arrests and threats of suspension unless they abandoned the encampment Monday. Instead, protesters took over Hamilton Hall early Tuesday.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams blamed 'outside agitators' on Wednesday for leading the demonstrations and repeatedly cited the presence of a woman on Columbias campus whose husband Adams said had been 'convicted for terrorism.'

The woman, Nahla Al-Arian, wasnt on Columbias campus this week and isnt among the protesters who were arrested.
WWE wrestler-turned-GOP Congressional candidate Dan Rodimer was dressed as Barbie's boyfriend, Ken, and dancing moments before he allegedly beat a man to death.

Rodimer, 45, who ran for US Congress with the endorsement of Donald Trump, is accused of murdering Christopher Tapp, 47, at a Vegas hotel Halloween party last year.

In a video obtained by KLAS, the muscle-bound former wrestler is seen dancing and partying in the iconic 'Ken' outfit featuring a fur coat, a short blonde wig and a hairband, from the Barbie movie.

Rodimer allegedly turned into 'angry Ken,' ripping off his white fur coat and charging shirtless at Tapp after discovering the man was offering cocaine to his stepdaughter Bella Duffy, 21.

Witness Dani Lyons, a close friend of Duffy, claimed to have heard Rodimer say, 'If you ever talk to my daughter again, I'll ***** kill you,' according to documents.

'Immediately after hearing Dan say this to Christopher, [the witness] heard two loud banging noises,' investigators wrote.

WWE wrestler-turned-GOP Congressional candidate Dan Rodimer was dressed as Barbie's boyfriend, Ken, and dancing moments before he allegedly beat a man to death

Rodimer (pictured in 2020), 45, ran for US Congress with the endorsement of Donald Trump

Rodimer (pictured left in his mugshot) is accused of pummeling Christopher Tapp (right) to death at the Las Vegas party last October. Tapp was a recently exonerated man who had served 20 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of killing his friend in 1996

The alleged fatal assault unfolded at a Halloween party in the Resorts World suite on the Vegas strip, where event organizers bring 'Instagram models' to a number of parties that are put on for wealthy clients.

On the night of the fight, the master bedroom became the 'fun room,' where Lyons told cops that several people were taking cocaine.

She told detectives she had been doing cocaine with Bella and another person with lines of coke already set up on the counter along with a $100 bill to ingest them.

Lyons said Tapp then joined them.

She told police that Duffy's dad came in soon after and 'got upset with Christopher,' according to the court papers.

One party organizer said 'Bella rules' had been discussed before the party got fully underway. One of them was that Bella should not be given cocaine.

Lyons also told police she saw 'Dan knock Christopher to the ground, at which time Christopher's head hit a small table.'

She then witnessed Rodimer 'punch Christopher throughout his head and body,' documents said.

Lyons (left) was at the Resorts World hotel room with Bella Duffy, 21, (right) Rodimer's stepdaughter

The alleged fatal assault unfolded at a Halloween party in the Resorts World suite on the Vegas strip, where event organizers bring 'Instagram models' to a number of parties that are put on for wealthy clients

Lyons said Tapp then joined them. She told police that Duffy's dad came in soon after and 'got upset with Christopher,' according to the court papers

The incident unfolded in a hotel room in Resorts World Las Vegas (pictured) on October 29, 2023 after an alleged bust-up with the former wrestler-turned GOP candidate. Tapp later died in the hospital

Rodimer's wife Sarah can be seen dressed as Barbie in the video. She later ran into the room in the costume in an attempt to calm down her husband, documents say.

DailyMail.com previously revealed that Rodimer and Sarah were caught on a police wiretap agonizing over how to keep Bella and Dani silent, according to an affidavit supporting Rodimer's arrest.

'Bella told the police she was there with her friends,' Sarah tells her husband during a January 2 phone conversation. 'I'm like why did you have to say anything?'

Sarah then calls her own daughter 'so f***king dumb,' 'the dumbest girl that ever lived on earth.'

'Ugh,' Rodimer replies, and asks whether Bella has spoken with Dani about the case, and Sarah replies: 'She said she hasn't talked to her about it yet.'

'Yep, well at least just to talk to her, like I know nothing, I didn't see anything,' Rodimer tells his wife.

In text messages between Rodimer and Sarah, she says, 'I watched you nearly murder somebody and I had to take your *** hands off from his neck as he laid there.

'You ran away and I spent the next two hours trying to take care of him. Nobody should have to watch their husband murder somebody,' she wrote.

Another message said: 'I watched you murder somebody like let that sink in you psychopath.'

Rodimer, a married father-of-six, pictured with his wife Sarah. Investigators found chilling text messages after the alleged murder, where she reportedly told him: 'I watched you murder somebody like let that sink in you psychopath'

Rodimer became a wrestler after winning the 2004 WWE's reality 'Tough Enough' contest

The host of the cocaine-fueled bash is John Odom, 48, a flashy millionaire construction executive who owns a drag racing team and a major Republic doner whose ex-wife accused a former Trump aide of groping her.

Tapp, who was one of his racing team's major backers, died in the hospital five days after the wild Halloween party at a luxury suite at the Resorts World Hotel last October.

Odom allegedly waited 30 minutes to an hour to call hotel security after the brutal altercation, according to documents.

He allegedly told security that Tapp slipped on a pair of slippers, which Resorts World security were not able to recover.

Odom spent seven years in prison for financial crimes and, according to court records, is facing a new litany of lawsuits from investors, banks and creditors.

His ex-wife Trashelle hit the headlines in 2021 when she claimed top Trump aide Corey Lewandowski had drunkenly groped her and thrown a drink over her at a charity event in Vegas.

Lewandowski, 50, was charged with battery and fined $1,000, given community service and ordered to undergo impulse control counseling.

Rodimer and Odom became firm friends after meeting at a CPAC event in Dallas earlier in 2021. They often partied together when Odom was in Vegas.

They shared a lot of the same vices, drugs, women and the spotlight, one insider who has hang out with both told DailyMail.com. They both loved being the center of attention.

Odom, who has been pictured with Donald Trump and with South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem  who has been accused of having an affair with Lewandowski  was a major donor to Republican Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry.

Odom, a construction executive, is a major GOP donor and Trump supporter, whose now ex-wife Trashelle (pictured) once accused the former president's Corey Lewandowski of unwanted sexual advances

Odom himself also thanked Tapp for his support in a Facebook post showing himself revving a metallic blue GT-R for a race in Vegas, a week before the ill-fated event

Christopher Tapp, pictured right with his public defender John Thomas during Tapp's post-conviction relief hearing at the Bonneville Courthouse in Idaho Falls on March 22, 2017

Tapp's death was ruled a homicide in December, as the medical examiner determined he died of blunt force trauma to his head.

He died not long after he was freed from prison where he was serving time for the wrongful conviction of the rape and murder of his friend 18-year-old Angie Doge in Idaho.

Tapp was charged in February 1997, roughly eight months after Dodge's nearly decapitated body was discovered at her Idaho Falls apartment.

Tapp initially told investigators he had nothing to do with the crime, but after multiple interviews and a polygraph test, the then 20-year-old confessed to being involved and accused two others.

One of his friends was also charged, but this was later dismissed. Tapp was found guilty in 1998 and sentenced to 40 years.

However, he maintained he had only told police what they wanted to hear and his case was eventually taken up by the Idaho Innocence Project.

Rodimer, who adamantly denies the murder, was only charged in early March, four months after Tapp died, when police got a warrant to search phones belonging to him, his wife, Odom and Duffy.

Rodimer is currently out of jail on a $200,000 bond and is due back in court May 8.
Among the protesters arrested at the University of South Florida's pro-Palestine demonstration was a 39-year-old man with a gun.

Atah Othman is charged with trespassing on property, unlawful assembly, resisting an officer, and possession of a firearm on school property.

It's unclear what his connection to the school is, or exactly what type of weapon he brought with him.

Atah Kheir Othman, 39, was arrested Tuesday at the USF campus and charged with felony possession of a firearm on a campus, among other things

Several of the protestors did not seem to be students at USF

On social media after the shutdown, the rowdy student group wrote: 'SHAME ON USF! USF administration allowed for the brutalization of students and community members utilizing their rights to free speech and assembly'

The Sunshine State has taken an especially strong stance against the spate of pro-Palestinian protests that have popped up on college campuses in Florida, and across the country

The arrests came after dozens of agitators gathered near Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza on the Tampa campus for a demonstration that quickly got out of control. Several arrests had taken place in the same location on Monday.

The school said that after 5pm on Tuesday, the protest would no longer be considered lawful.

When protestors failed to disperse by that time, police arrived with tear gas to break up the group before making arrests.

Othman was arrested with nine others and released on bond just after midnight on Wednesday.

Protestors at the University of South Florida saw their Gaza Solidarity Encampment broken up Tuesday evening

Some of the protestors held up wooden shields and umbrellas when police with tear gas arrived to disrupt the demonstration

The campus anti-Israel protest was organized by the Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society group. It attracted some 100 protestors, some of whom were not enrolled at the university.

According to a local NBC report, some protestors lined up holding umbrellas and wooden shields as police moved in to clear them out.

Eventually, law enforcement authorities used tear gas to break up the crowd.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office released a statement Tuesday: 'After repeatedly ignoring several dispersal commands while assisting the University of South Florida Police Department with an unsanctioned protest, #teamHCSO used tactical skills to evacuate agitators.'

Others arrested and released, who may not be students but have now been slapped with felony charges include: Emmanuel Atmosfera, 25, and Leonardo Tilelli, 23.

Among the others apprehended were Daniel Powell, 32, Jake Geffon, 23, and 27-year-old Cameron Pressey.

It is not clear what older, in some cases armed, non-student protestors were doing at the student-organized demonstration.

USF told Fox News that any student arrested as part of the protests may be subject to sanctions from the institution.

On social media after the shutdown, the rowdy student group wrote: 'SHAME ON USF! USF administration allowed for the brutalization of students and community members utilizing their rights to free speech and assembly.

'We will not be silenced. We call upon students, faculty, and the community to attend an emergency rally in solidarity with students and Palestine!'

The school told students that they needed to clear the area by 5pm on Tuesday or face the consequences

The consequences being the intervention of law enforcement, who would go on to arrest 10 of the protestors

A pro-Palestinian demonstrator listens to a speaker at the school's MLK Plaza before the encampment was abolished

Radical students sporting keffiyehs were detained, as they have been at many schools across the country this week

Pro-Palestinian protesters take their belongings and vacate the premise, while law enforcement patrol at the University of South Florida

A Pro-Palestinian protester is arrested by law enforcement at the University of South Florida on April 30

Law enforcement officers arrest a protester after clearing an "unlawful assembly" where Pro-Palestinian protesters congregated at MLK Plaza at the University of South Florida on Tuesday, April 30

The Sunshine State has taken an especially strong stance against the spate of pro-Palestinian protests that have popped up on college campuses in Florida, and across the country.

The University of Florida shut down one such protest earlier this week and reportedly arrested nine demonstrators.

In a statement, the university made its position entirely clear: 'This is not complicated: The University of Florida is not a daycare, and we do not treat protesters like children - they knew the rules, they broke the rules, and theyll face the consequences.'

The large school is run by former Republican Senator Ben Sasse.
Oregon Governor Tina Kotek has announced she has decided not to create an Office of the First Spouse position for her mentally ill wife, Aimee Kotek Wilson.

After widespread public scrutiny, Wilson won't hold the Office of the First Spouse, a planned formal office created just for her by the governor.

In a press conference held Wednesday, Kotek stated that her wife's responsibilities will be restricted to ceremonial appearances and listening to groups of locals.

Kotek said she is awaiting direction from the Oregon Government Ethics Commission to more clearly define what her wife's role might be.

Her remarks follow more than five weeks of ambiguity and controversy around her wife's expanding position, which Kotek admitted to poorly communicating to the public how involved Wilson would actually be in governmental affairs.

Oregon Governor Tina Kotek (pictured) has announced she has decided not to create an Office of the First Spouse for her mentally ill wife, amid public scrutiny

For the time being, Kotek (pictured right) stated that the responsibilities of her wife Aimee Kotek Wilson (pictured left) will be restricted to ceremonial appearances and listening to groups of locals

Kotek (pictured left) said she is awaiting direction from the Oregon Government Ethics Commission to more clearly define her wife's (pictured right) long-term role

'I take responsibility for not being more thoughtful in my approach to exploring the role of the first spouse,' Kotek said in a statement.

'I am sorry for the way this conversation between my office and you has started.'

Except for the staff members delegated to her for formal responsibilities, Kotek said Wilson will not have a chief of staff or directly manage any other employees.

Meliah Masiba, who Kotek hired on a temporary basis last month to investigate the possibility of establishing the Office of the First Spouse, will remain in her position.

According to Masiba's job description, she oversees Wilson's programs, plans public engagement activities and represents Wilson at local, state, and federal events, among other duties that are akin to that of a chief of staff.

Masiba, who earns $144,000 a year, was referred to as the first lady's chief of staff in paperwork announcing her move from the Department of Administrative Services to the governor's office, according to emails obtained by the governor's office last week.

Yasmin Solorio, who has been the first lady's scheduler since last year, will take on a new position in the governor's office, confirmed Kotek.

'Between now and when we learn more from (the ethics commission), the first lady will continue to accompany me and attend events representing the governor's office, such as tribal visits and ceremonial events, and she will listen to Oregonians about the issues most impacting them, especially in the area of mental health and addiction,' Kotek said.

Wilson announced in March that she is in recovery from alcoholism

Wilson's comment come as news organizations have been questioning her new role in Kotek's administration, which includes a security detail funded by the state (Pictured: Kotek at the press conference Wednesday)

The couple is seen with vice president Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff

Wilson announced in March that she is in recovery from alcoholism but did not specify what kind of mental illness she lives with, as reported by Oregon Live.

'I share this information about myself now, and have in the past, in the hopes it will make a difference and reduce stigma,' Wilson said in a statement.

'Far too often, individuals have remained silent about their experience because of shame, pain, and fear... And, that is why it is so important for me to do my part to reduce the stigma around addiction and mental health.'

News organizations have been questioning Kotek Wilson's new role in her wife's administration, which includes a security detail while she attends events on the governor's behalf. The funds to pay for the extra security were originally supposed to come out of the existing governor's budget.

The governor's wife, who previously worked as a social worker, has reportedly been attending some weekly policy meetings on mental health and addiction initiatives.

Wilson has also taken part in most of Kotek's meetings with mental health and substance abuse providers regarding the topic.

Additionally, three of Kotek's top aides, including her chief of staff, have left her office over tensions with Wilson.

The Oregon Government Ethics Commission revealed in March it has received a complaint connected to Kotek and has opened a preliminary review of the complaint.

The commission will later vote on whether to open an investigation into the matter.

DailyMail.com has reached out to the governor's office for comment on this story.

Questions regarding Kotek's inclusion of Wilson in her administration come after former Gov. John Kitzhaber's and his fiancee Cylvia Hayes were accused of ethical concerns.

The commission will later vote on whether to open an investigation into the matter

Hayes played an active role in Kitzhaber's third term, attending meetings, communicating with state officials and helping him push for environmental and clean energy policies.

At the same time, she did consulting work for several organizations involved in similar policies.

Kitzhaber was forced to respond to reports that Hayes was paid $118,000 over two years for a fellowship with a green energy group  money that may not have been reported on her taxes.

Hayes eventually agreed to pay $44,000 for ethics violations.
A top lawmaker is sounding the alarm on the Biden administration's reported plan to bring Palestinian refugees directly to the U.S., saying it presents a national security risk.

According to government documents reviewed by CBS News, multiple federal agencies under Biden are considering a plan to bring Palestinian refugees straight to the U.S.

The plan comes as pro-Gaza protests have engulfed college campuses across the country and students - who could be seen as likely Biden voters - have expressed solidarity with the strip.

But Republicans are ripping the idea as foolish and dangerous.

'There is no justification for allowing those who actively hate America, our founding principles, and our way of life into our country,' House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., told DailyMail.com in an exclusive statement.

President Joe Biden's administration is reportedly mulling a plan to bring Palestinian refugees from Gaza directly to the United States. The plan may provide the refugees housing assistance and a pathway to citizenship and the White House and other federal agencies have not confirmed or denied the plan

'Additionally, there is no way to properly vet any of these potential refugees.'

'But given his nonsensical and destructive approach to border security, immigration, and national security, its hardly surprising that President Biden is considering welcoming refugees from Hamas-dominated Gazasomething even neighboring Arab nations in the region have refused to do.'

The majority of Senate Republicans have also come out strongly against the Biden administration effort.

'We demand that your administration cease planning for accepting Gazan refugees until you adequately answer our concerns and focus your attention instead on securing the release of U.S. hostages held by Hamas,' Senate Republican Policy Chair Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, wrote to Biden on Wednesday.

The letter was signed by 34 members of the Senate GOP caucus.

House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., said the plan could pose a risk to national security, adding there is not an appropriate method to verify the refugee's identities

The U.S. has helped over 1,800 American citizens and their families get out of Gaza, a White House spokesperson told DailyMail.com

When reached for a comment on the reported plan, the a White House spokesperson neither confirmed or denied its existence.

'The United States has helped more than 1,800 American citizens and their families leave Gaza, many of whom have come to the United States,' the spokesperson told DailyMail.com in a statement.

'The United States also continues to be the largest contributor of humanitarian assistance to Gaza to address the dire conditions, and we are pressing hard to get more urgently-needed aid in to more people as soon as possible.'

Under the plan, the refugees would need to have a direct connection to the U.S., however, with family members who are citizens or permanent residents.

If they pass a number of medical and security tests, these refugees would be able to obtain benefits such as housing assistance and a pathway to citizenship.

The considered action could involve the United States Refugee Admissions Program, which enables the U.S. Departments of State, Homeland Security and Health and Human Services to admit refugees and give them 'U.S. government-funded resettlement assistance.'

The three Departments did not immediately respond to requests for comments.

Since its inception in 1980, the program hasn't resettled large numbers of Palestinians.

In the last 10 years, while the U.S. has allowed 400,000 refugees to come in, fewer than 600 were Palestinian.

A woman walks through the rubble of a collapsed building in the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war

The terrorist group Hamas has been in control of the Gaza Strip for decades and has engaged in brutal fighting with Israeli forces for months. Green expressed concern about bringing Palestinians to the U.S. amid their support of Hamas

Still, Green told DailyMail.com the Biden administration idea is a threat.

'The last thing our country needs in the middle of a historic border crisisa crisis driven in part by people abusing our asylum systemis to stretch that system even further while also putting our national security at risk.'

'And if the botched Afghan withdrawal and subsequent vetting failures tell us anything, its that admitting these individuals poses a major risk to our safety and security, now and in the future.'
Donald Trump turned back to look at one of his top legal aides during a hearing on Thursday morning and shook his head, as his defense lawyer struggled to make his point to an increasingly irritated judge.

The former president is accused of four more breaches of a gag order.

Defense counsel Todd Blanche tried to argue that the restrictions were preventing his client from punching back against political opponents or responding to media reports about witnesses, such as National Enquirer publisher David Pecker.

'Everybody can say whatever they want, except President Trump,' Blanche said.

'Theyre not defendants in this case,' Judge Juan Merchan shot back, triggering laughter in the public gallery. Nor are they subject to gag orders, he added.

Donald Trump took his seat in court on Thursday morning after spending Wednesday on the campaign trail, visiting the crucial swing states of Wisconsin and Michigan

Trump railed against the gag order on his social media site two hours before arriving in court

EXCLUSIVE READ MORE: The texts from Stormy Daniels' publicist claiming Trump first tried to silence her in 2012 Advertisement

Prosecutors allege that Trump violated a gag order four times last week, calling his former lawyer Michael Cohen a 'liar' and former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, another witness, a 'nice guy' in interviews.

He also questioned the fairness of the jury as he continues to say the prosecution is political.

On Tuesday, he was fined $9000 for nine other breaches of an order designed to protect the jury, the court and witnesses.

The hearing on Thursday got testy at times, as Merchan signaled he will likely find Trump in breach of the order again.

One of the exchanges focused on the moment last week when Trump called his former fixer Michael Cohen a liar as he stood in the hallway outside the courtroom.

'You're telling me that the scrutiny is outrageous,' he continued. 'Nobody forced your client to go stand where he did that day.'

He added that Trump did not have to stand in front of media cameras set up in the hallway and that the exit is in a different direction.

At that point Blanche said he agreed, triggering the angry shake of the head from Trump who expects his lawyers to act as attack dogs rather than agreeing with judges.

The exchange showed Merchan's skepticism for Trump's claims that the gag is affecting his free speech rights and his run for president.

Press aide Margo Martin was with Trump again on Thursday morning

Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen was the subject of much of the contempt hearing

A pen has been set up outside courtroom 1530 for Trump to speak in front of cameras. It was an appearance here last week that prompted another alleged gag violation

Blanche also argued that it meant his client was unable to respond to attacks made by his election rival President Joe Biden.

'He mocked President Trump,' said Blanche, referring to a joke made at the White House correspondents dinner. 'He said Donald has had a few tough days lately, you might call it stormy weather.'

His client, he continued, was unable to respond because Stormy Daniels was likely to a witness in the case.

Nothing in the order means Trump cannot hit back at Biden, said Merchan.

'The defendant knows whats he's doing.' said prosecutor Chris Conroy. 'He talked about a testifying witness... says nice things, in front of the cameras.'

It was a message to other witnesses as well as Pecker, he said.

'it was deliberate and it was calculated: Pecker be nice,' he added.

They also say he breached the order by saying 'that jury was picked so fast  95 percent Democrats. The area's mostly all Democrat.'

On Thursday, Conroy said there was no excuse for talking about a seated jury that will hear his case.

Judge Merchan held Trump in contempt and fined him $9,000 for violations on Tuesday

Lawyer Keith Davidson, who represented former Playboy model Karen McDougal, gave evidence on Tuesday and is expected to resume his testimony after the contempt hearing

'By talking about the jury at all he places the process and this hearing in jeopardy and he did it anyway,' he said.

Blanche said it was part of Trump's belief that the proceedings were political, but Merchan cut him of

'Did he violate the gag order? That's all I want to know, he said.

The order was imposed in order to protect witnesses and the jury, but Trump claims it prevents him responding to political attacks.

Trump leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed as Conroy outlined how the defendant had called Cohen a 'liar' right outside the courtroom

'This is the most critical time, the time the proceeding has to be protected,' said Conroy.

He asked for the maximum penalty of a $1000 for each violation.

'We are not yet seeking jail,' he said.

Trump was fined $9000 Tuesday for nine earlier counts and was ordered to remove social media posts that threw shade on the jury selection process and slammed Cohen, who is expected to be a key witness for the prosecution.

Merchan said he would consider jailing Trump if he continued to breach the order.

Keith Davidson is due to return to the stand after describing Tuesday how he negotiated hush money deals with the National Enquirer and Michael Cohen, Trump's former fixer, on behalf of former Playboy model Karen McDougal and porn actor Stormy Daniels.

Prosecutors say it was part of a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election with a 'catch and kill' scheme to buy and bury negative stories about the then Republican candidate.

Trump denies all 34 charges of falsifying business records.

Prosecutors accuse him of trying to hide the payments by entering them filing them as legal expenses.

Trump used Wednesday's day off to hit the campaign trail, visiting the key battleground states of Michigan and Wisconsin.
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A real estate agent has been fined after a shocked homeowner discovered they had been sold the wrong property.

The buyer found out about the mistake when she received a call about her first home owners grant application, and was informed the lot number on her application did not match official records.

The error related to two lots of adjacent, street front, strata-titled land in the Perth suburb of Camillo, which belonged to the same sellers.

The two certificates of title listed street addresses that did not match the physical street addresses of the lots.

During the preparation of a sale agreement in March 2022, the agency John O'Neil & Son relied on the street address given by the seller to obtain the certificate of title and strata plan.

A real estate agent from John O'Neil & Son has been fined after a customer found an error in their new certificates of title (stock image)

READ MORE: Heartbreaking tale of homeowner who lost everything Marcus Graham, 27, was forced to sell his western Sydney home in June 2022 after falling into arrears with his mortgage repayments Advertisement

The agency failed to notice that the lot on the purchased certificate of title did not correspond with the lot on the strata plan that was planned to be sold.

The mistake was not spotted during the sale and resulted in the certificate of title being issued in the buyer's name for the wrong property.

Selling the wrong property to the buyer resulted in the real estate agency being fined $7,000 by the State Administrative Tribunal following action by Consumer Protection.

The SAT found the agency breached the Real Estate and Business Agents and Sales Representatives Code of Conduct when it failed to exercise due care, diligence and skill preparing a sales agreement.

Consumer Protection Commissioner Trish Blake said it was disappointing the error had not been picked up at any stage during the sale process.

'Mistakes of this nature are unacceptable and represent major breaches of the laws that are designed to protect both buyers and sellers of real estate in WA,' she said.

'Agents must ensure that they have the proper procedures in place to prevent any errors being made which could result in disciplinary action.

'There was no way for the new homeowner to know they were being sold the wrong property.

'But buyers could put their mind at ease by asking their real estate agent whether they have properly checked the property information before signing a legally binding contract.'
A concerned daughter claimed that her 81-year-old mother was a victim of fraudulent activity.

Laurie Johnson recalled an incident while speaking with CTV News about a Bank of Montreal (BMO) scam that lost her mother $15,000.

According to Johnson, her mother fell into a trap after she received a one-time passcode from her bank that a scammer, who claimed to be a BMO employee, used to access her account.

The fraudster then used that code to log into her account and they later sent $15,000 to an account in Bangladesh.

'She has never, and I have never, done a global money transfer,' Johnson told CTV News in March 2024.

'Would they not flag that and make a phone call or just stop it and try to find out if that was in fact made by the client? It just seems like it's too easy for that to happen.'

Laurie Johnson recalled an incident on CTV News about a Bank of Montreal (BMO) that her 81-year-old mother fell for

According to Johnson, the $15,000 was sent to an overseas bank account in Bangladesh and she has been working to get her mother's money back for at least two months

Laurie Johnson recalled an incident on CTV News about a Bank of Montreal (BMO) that her 81-year-old mother fell for (Pictured: Stock photo of a woman on her phone)

BMO was founded in Montreal, Quebec in the 1800s, and it is currently the oldest bank in Canada.

Its website reads that the goal of BMO is 'to boldly grow the good in business and life.'

BMO provides personal and commercial banking and global markets and investment banking services to more than 10 million individuals.

Johnson's mother is one of those individuals and despite her account being associated with that bank, her aggravated daughter is frustrated with the bank's actions.

'She has been a customer with the Bank of Montreal for 60 years and I have been as well,' said Johnson.

'You would think with all of the profits they report, that they would be able to help out their customers.'

Johnson is now acting as her mother's power of attorney and has claimed that she's been trying to get her mother's money back for months.

However, Johnson's mother is not the only victim of a BMO scam.

Several BMO customers have been retelling their stories on being scammed and losing thousands of dollars to scammers in a group on WhatsApp

Ottawa resident Katya Feder told CTV News a similar scamming story that happened to her in April 2023.

Feder claimed that she too was tricked by a scammer who claimed to be a BMO employee while they spoke on the phone.

The incident began after the so-called employee called her to ask if a transaction to purchase cryptocurrency from her account was legitimate.

'I said OK, great! They are keeping on top of things at the bank. Wonderful,' said Feder.

'Then she said "we're just going to verify your identity; we're just going to send you a verification code.'"

Once she repeated the code to the scammer, her account was compromised, and she lost $14,500.

'I was completely shocked. Flabbergasted. I mean, I was in disbelief really,' she stated.

She added that other BMO customers have shared their own scam stories on a WhatsApp group.

The group was created in January 2024, and it contains 'various stories of fraud that occurred through their bank in different ways.'

Katya Feder told CTV News that she lost $14,500 after a scammer, who claimed to be a BMO employee, sent her a one-time passcode in April 2023. (Pictured: Stock photo of a woman on her phone)

Christine and Kevin Avey of Norwich, Ontario, were also victims of fraud, and they did not like the answers BMO gave them about the problem.

A scammer asked Kevin to confirm his identity by submitting a one-time password while he was trying to log into the BMO website.

He woke up the next day and discovered that $15,000 was taken from them and put into an overseas account.

'I had only made deposits into this account, and this large amount of a transaction was allowed to go through without even notifying us or just not allowing the transaction to be completed,' Christine wrote in an email to CTV News.

BMO has responded to the couples complaints, but like Johnson, they were not happy with the bank's response.

'BMO explained that if we did not give it to anyone, then we did not take reasonable care in protecting our password,' Christine wrote.

'This seems to be the standard line BMO give to their customers instead of the BMO implementing stronger security measures or perhaps a smaller limit allowed on a global transfers.'

The couple spoke with a local BMO manager, and they ended up receiving $7,500 from the bank.

However, the manager claimed that the money was sent to them as an act of 'good faith' and that it is against bank policy.

BMO has since warned their customers to take extra security measures so that they will have a lower risk of being scammed.

Christine and Kevin Avey of Norwich, Ontario discovered that $15,000 was removed from their BMO account. The Avey's received $7,500 from the bank soon afterward. (Pictured: Stock photo of a couple looking at bills)

The bank said in their statement that it 'encourages customers to be diligent in protecting their online and mobile credentials.'

Some of BMO's suggestions including signing up for alerts to monitor bank accounts, frequently chained passwords and PIN numbers, and to never disclose passwords and one time passcodes.

'In the normal course, when a customer receives a one-time passcode, it is accompanied by the following disclosure: 'Warning: this code grants access to your accounts,' the statement read.

'Calls to request it may be a scam. If called, hang up and call the number on BMO card.'

Daily Mail has reached out to BMO for comment.
A 63-year-old woman seen instructing student demonstrators at Columbia University is a professional protester who charges as much as $300 for her services.

Lisa Fithian, a constant figure at leftist protests for nearly five decades, was one of the Palestine supporters who 'occupied' Hamilton Hall on Tuesday.

As a counter-protester tried to prevent the protesters from barricading the building, Fithian was filmed telling them: 'This is ridiculous... Were trying to end a genocide in Gaza.'

Additional footage shows her instructing students to 'Tie it right to the lock' as they held zip ties.

While the presence of a middle-aged woman at the demonstration may have struck some as odd, the Columbia encampment is exactly the kind of movement Fithian has made a career out of.

Lisa Fithian, a constant figure at leftist protests for nearly five decades, was one of the Palestine supporters who 'occupied' Hamilton Hall on Tuesday

Footage shows her instructing students to 'Tie it right to the lock' as they held zip ties

While the presence of an elderly woman at the demonstration may have struck some as odd, the Columbia encampment is exactly the kind of movement Fithian has made a career out of

When asked about her presence at the protest, Fithian denied being an organizer, telling the Boston Globe that she was being smeared by the right.

'They love to hate me,' the activist said, adding that she was on campus on Monday conducting a 'training session on safety and logistics of a protest.'

The Austin, Texas, resident claimed she was invited 'informally' by someone whose name 'she did not catch.'

Despite Fithian's claim that reports about her are coming from the right, it was Democratic New York City mayor Eric Adams who this week referred to her as a 'professional outside agitator.'

Adams called Fithian 'the nation's best-known protest consultant', noting she gets paid as much as $300 a day to run demonstrations and teach how to take over streets during protests.

'They are not here to promote peace or unity or allow a peaceful displaying of ones voice,' Adams said. 'They are here to create discord and divisiveness.'

Despite Fithian's claim that reports about her are coming from the right, it was Democratic New York City mayor Eric Adams who this week referred to her as a 'professional outside agitator.' She is seen outside Donald Trump's hush-money trial

Fithian has a long history of participating in the major anti-establishment protests of the generation, such as the Occupy Wall Street movement

Fithian has a long history of participating in the major anti-establishment protests of the generation, such as the Occupy Wall Street movement in 2011 and Black Lives Matter protests in 2020.

She published a book in 2019 titled, Shut It Down: Stories From a Fierce, Loving Resistance, where she described herself as an 'anti-racist organizer' and bragged about 'shutting down the CIA and disrupting the World Trade Organizations first major meeting.'

In a 2021 profile, the progressive magazine in Mother Jones described her as 'the streetwise radical whos teaching kids who want to be badass to be smart.'

The publication also called her 'the nation's best-known protest consultant' as it explained how she was paid by unions and activist groups to teach protest tactics, including how to avoid being detained by police.

Fithian, from Hawthorne, New York, said she has been starting trouble since a young age

'Does someone want to be a cop and come get me?' she was quoted as saying to students before adding, 'Of the two choices, running away or going limp, what does running away communicate?'

The students then replied, 'guilt,' to her satisfaction.

Mother Jones claims in the profile that there is a 'right and wrong way' to break the law, and one of Fithian's jobs is 'to teach the right way.'

'Call her Professor Occupy,' the magazine adds before mentioning Fithian's 80 to 100 arrests to the time as a badge of honor.

Fithian, originally from Hawthorne, New York, said she has been starting trouble since a young age, when 'police might knock on her door to inquire about, say, a suspicious fire in a neighbors front yard.'

She also recalled getting in trouble in middle school for bringing a knife to class.

On the money she makes as an activist, Fithian told the Boston Globe: 'Of course, if I can get paid for it, I want to. If its an organization bringing me in to train staff, of course I want to get paid.

'But if youre talking about young people in the street who are throwing down, I dont even want to take donations.'

NYPD officials have said Fithian is just one of the outsiders believed to be training protesters in tactics of occupation.

CNN has reported that at least half of demonstrators at Columbia are not affiliated with the university.

Fithian has been called 'the nation's best-known protest consultant', as she is paid by unions and activist groups to teach protest tactics

The People's Forum, a tax-exempt advocacy group who often hosts propaganda events for the regimes of countries like Venezuela and Cuba, has been accused of being behind the Columbia protests.

The Washington Free Beacon reports the group, which has received $12million from Goldman Sachs, may have provided materials for the so-called occupation of Hamilton Hall.

She published a book in 2019, where she described herself as an 'anti-racist organizer'

Over 100 masked activists met at the group's Manhattan headquarters, a base for all kinds of leftist activism, to plan their moves on Monday, participating in breakout sessions that taught 'resistance' methods.

There, Peoples Forum executive director Manolo De Los Santos told the group to 'give Joe Biden a hot summer' and 'make it untenable for the politics of usual to take place in this country.'

He then claimed 'Zionist' Columbia administrators 'want to be more like their masters in Israel.'

Daniel DiMartino, a PhD student at Columbia and a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, told DailyMail.com The People's Forum is a group that aims to lobby for enemies of the US.

The People's Forum, a tax-exempt advocacy group who often hosts propaganda events for the regimes of countries like Venezuela and Cuba, has been accused of being behind the Columbia protests.

The Washington Free Beacon reports the group, which has received $12million from Goldman Sachs, may have provided materials for the so-called occupation of Hamilton Hall.

On Tuesday night, NYPD officers carrying zip ties and riot shields stormed Columbia Universitys Hamilton Hall which was being 'occupied' by pro-Palestinian protesters

Peoples Forum executive director Manolo De Los Santos told the group to 'give Joe Biden a hot summer' and 'make it untenable for the politics of usual to take place in this country

Over 100 masked activists met at the group's Manhattan headquarters, a base for all kinds of leftist activism, to plan their moves on Monday, participating in breakout sessions that taught 'resistance' methods.

There, Peoples Forum executive director Manolo De Los Santos told the group to 'give Joe Biden a hot summer' and 'make it untenable for the politics of usual to take place in this country.'

He then claimed 'Zionist' Columbia administrators 'want to be more like their masters in Israel.'

Daniel DiMartino, a PhD student at Columbia and a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, told DailyMail.com The People's Forum is a group that aims to lobby for enemies of the US.

Most of the protests across the US campuses have been partly organized by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), a campus group with more than 250 chapters across the country.

SJP was founded by UC Berkeley lecturer Hatem Bazian, who has repeatedly justified terror attacks against Israel and Intifada (uprising) in the US.

The group has received millions from several charities with alleged links to Hamas, per a report by the think tank Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP).

Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) is one of the main organizers of a protest that brought Columbia University to a standstill

A new report reveals the group got millions from several charities with alleged links to Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas. Students are pictured receiving checks from AMP

The ISGAP report asserts that SJP has become an effective and well-funded network for organizing protests around the country, but that its failure to register as a charity or formal organization left its funding sources and operations murky and unregulated.

Hints of financial backing could be seen at the Columbia 'Gaza Solidarity Encampment', including students erecting several identical high-end tents costing hundreds of dollars each, and handing out free Dunkin' Donuts coffee, $12.50 sandwiches from Pret-a-Manger and $10 rotisserie chickens to participants.

The nonprofits funding SJP include the Westchester People's Action Coalition (WESPAC), Tides, American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), its parent organization Americans for Justice in Palestine (AJP), and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP).

The ISGAP report said SJP had the closest financial links with WESPAC, which acts as a 'financial sponsor' for the organization, routing tax-free donations through its accounts to SJP chapters.

The report said SJP also gets extensive organizational aid from American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), a nonprofit under investigation by the Virginia attorney general and accused of being a reincarnation of a charity found liable for funding Hamas.
For those beginning to despair that anybody would do anything about the unrest, even anarchy, gripping university campuses across the country, it was a sight for sore eyes: after clearing out the student protestors and their encampment at City University of New York (CUNY) this week, the NYPD pulled down a Palestinian flag and restored the Stars and Stripes to its rightful place on a college flagpole.

Maybe the forces of sanity as well as law and order were getting a grip at last.

Just a little further south on Manhattan's west side the NYPD had already cleared out Columbia University's 'Little Gaza' encampment and retaken the Ivy League university's Hamilton Hall, which was being trashed by pro-Hamas occupiers.

At the weekend the university authorities said they would not call in the NYPD to avoid 'further inflaming' the situation and would instead concentrate on 'de-escalating the rancor'.

Student militants, egged on by outside agitators, rewarded this restraint by seizing Hamilton Hall, smashing doors, windows and property in the process.

So the appeasing academic authorities were forced to call in the police after all.

After clearing out the protestors and their encampment at CUNY this week, the NYPD pulled down the Palestinian flag, raised by the student occupiers, and restored the Stars and Stripes to its rightful place on the university flagpole. (Pictured: UCLA on Thursday morning).

It was a sight for sore eyes: Maybe the forces of sanity as well as law and order were getting a grip at last. (Pictured: UCLA on Thursday morning).

By Wednesday morning, cops had retaken Hamilton Hall with admirable military precision and minimal violence, arrested 119 of the occupiers and tossed the detritus of the encampment into dumpster trucks.

University bosses have now asked the NYPD to stay on campus until the university breaks up later this month and the students disperse for the summer.

The protestors are being charged with trespass, criminal mischief and burglary. It remains to be seen if Manhattan's left-wing district attorney Alvin Bragg, elected on a pledge to destroy Donald Trump rather than keep the peace, proceeds with prosecutions against them, or the 173 arrested at CUNY.

Across the nation there's been a hardening of attitudes and responses towards the student protests, many of which have quickly gone from being pro-ceasefire in Gaza to pro-Palestinian to pro-Hamas.

The Washington Post calculates 1,700 have been arrested in the past two weeks. The right to free speech and to protest (almost a rite of passage for any student worth their salt), which no sensible person is denying, has deteriorated into violence, destruction, intimidation and brute anti-Semitism.

Even the soft-headed bosses of UCLA on the West Coast were forced this week to call in the forces of law and order after the campus was desecrated by a night of fights between opposing factions.

When finally given the go-ahead, the police cleared the Los Angeles campus of protestors and encampment without undue fuss or violence, marching out the occupiers handcuffed but unmasked, which let us see just how young many of them are.

Police in New York and LA have cause to be satisfied with jobs well done.

Encampments have been torn down from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, to Tulane in New Orleans. At Yale, protestors dispersed after they were threatened with suspension and arrest.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the University of Florida set the gold standard for how to deal with these agitators.

'This is not complicated,' university authorities said. 'The University is not day care and we do not treat protestors like children. They knew the rules, they broke the rules and they'll face the consequences.' All is now largely quiet on the Florida campus front.

So, belatedly, some universities have found their voices and discovered their spines.

So have many in Congress, including some Democrats, appalled by the anti-Semitism endemic in the protests, and even some in the liberal-left media.

But all this has only served to amplify the recent deafening silence from the one person above all others who should have been speaking for the nation at this time: President Biden.

For days, as university unrest spread and descended into violence then ugly anti-Semitism, with Jewish students being excluded from campus in echoes of the early days of Nazi Germany, and as swastika graffiti started appearing where Jewish students gathered, not a word emanated from the Oval Office.

Until finally, with pressure mounting from friendly networks like CNN, Biden was dragged to the podium Thursday  and what he said was pathetic.

Speaking for just a few minutes, he issued platitudes about the lawlessness of 'destroying property', notably mentioning 'islamophobia' in the same breath as 'anti-Semitism', before making a swift exit. He didnt identify a single university by name and defended the right to protest.

The truth is, this all seems to be inspired by base political calculation.

The Biden campaign thinks, rightly, that their man can't be re-elected without the votes of the young.

Cops have retaken Columbia's Hamilton Hall with admirable military precision and minimal violence. University bosses have now asked the NYPD to stay on campus until the university breaks up later this month and the students disperse for the summer. So, belatedly, some universities have found their voices and discovered their spines.

But all this has only served to amplify the recent deafening silence from the one person above all others who should have been speaking for the nation at this time: President Biden.

In 2020, he won around 60 percent of the young vote, a massive margin essential to the much smaller margin overall which elected him president. But a recent CNN poll shows Biden trailing Trump by 51 percent to 40 percent among the under 35s, echoing a previous Fox News poll which gave Trump an 18-point lead among the under-30s. These are election-losing margins.

Shameless Joe doesn't want to make things worse by overly scolding the student protestors. For some reason he thinks the pro-Palestinian views of the privileged, entitled elite currently cosplaying as Gazan refugees in makeshift encampments are representative of young people in general.

There is scant evidence for this but it's what he and his advisers believe. Hence the refusal to use the presidency as a bully pulpit to make clear what is acceptable and what is not when it comes to protest, surely a core function of any responsible president.

Instead of some blunt truths about the limits of protest in a democracy, Biden is trying to buy young votes.

His efforts to write off all outstanding student-loan debts were thwarted by the Supreme Court but he's found several substantial workarounds, most recently cancelling $6 billion in debt for students who went to a now defunct network of private arts colleges accused of defrauding students.

So far, he's managed to wipe out $160 billion worth of student loan debt for 4.5 million college graduates, about 10 percent of all outstanding student loans.

It represents vote-buying on a grand scale which even the corrupt, bad old days of Tammany Hall could not match, a massive federal subsidy to the already largely affluent. Another student debt bonanza is scheduled to drop this Fall, just in time for the election.

The administration is also hoping to court the young vote with its plans to reclassify cannabis from its current strict Schedule I category, along with other seriously harmful illegal drugs, to a Schedule III drug, which will place it alongside Tylenol.

Perhaps the president thinks if young folks use some of their student loan forgiveness windfall to get high on pot they might be more inclined to vote for him in November.

There is no sign that any of this is working for Biden. Nor can we be sure that the student protests have passed their peak. After all, we are dealing here with a phenomenon of the Democrats' own making.

The power of violent protest to change public policy has been absorbed by today's protestors from the example of the post-George Floyd riots of 2020. The widespread looting and vandalism which scarred many American cities in the aftermath of Floyd's death went largely unpunished.

The truth is, this all seems to be inspired by base political calculation. The Biden campaign thinks, rightly, that their man can't be re-elected without the votes of the young. (Pictured: UCLA on Thursday morning).

A recent CNN poll shows Biden trailing Trump by 51 percent to 40 percent among under 35s, echoing a previous Fox News poll which gave Trump an 18-point lead among the under-30s. These are election-losing margins - and Shameless Joe doesn't want to make things worse by overly scolding the student protestors. (Pictured: New York City on Tuesday).

Indeed, Democrat mayors and city councils dismissed the violence as justified and courted the protestors by slashing police budgets and ceasing to prosecute crimes deemed minor, such as shoplifting (hence the spree of shoplifting and other crimes which followed).

Though many Democrats have since thought better of all this, there was little condemnation from them at the time. The Democratic convention that summer of 2020 had nothing to say about what was often urban anarchy. Then vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris even backed a bail fund to aid the protestors.

If, rather than dissipating in the months ahead, the pro-Palestinian/pro-Hamas protestors gather pace through the summer, culminating in serious unrest and violence at the Democratic convention in Chicago in August, then Biden will pay a political price much wider than his inability to buy young voters.

It was the chaos of anti-Vietnam War protestors trying to disrupt the 1968 Democratic convention which helped tilt Middle America to Richard Nixon that year and gave Republicans the presidency.

Back then the Democrats could at least count on the stern Democratic mayor of Chicago, Richard Daley, and his sometimes-brutal police force to deal harshly with the protestors.

This August, the Democratic establishment will be dependent on Brandon Johnson to keep the streets of the Windy City safe for delegates, a far-left mayor who is pro-Palestinian and with America's largest Palestinian population in his greater metro area  but who doesn't even have the confidence of the Chicago Police Department.

Good luck with that, Mr President. You're going to need it.
A British man's family has issued a desperate plea for funds after he suffered a freak fall while using gym equipment in Turkey, leaving him fighting for his life.

Marlon McCormack, 51, suffered a bleed on the brain and is currently in an induced coma while his family seek donations through GoFundMe to help urgently raise funds to pay his medical bills in the hospital in Turkey.

His daughter, Renelle McCormack, 27, was taking family pictures with her younger sister, her father and his girlfriend just the night before and woke up to the terrible news last Thursday that her dad was having a stroke.

Since then, he had to undergo surgery 'as 50 per cent of his brain is bleeding', according to his daughter Renelle, and he now needs a second operation.

She told MailOnline: 'He went to sleep and hasn't woken up since. Our whole lives were just turned upside down overnight.'

The family has been asked to fork out 24,000 for the first surgery and 1,500 for every day Marlon has to stay in the ICU as they do not have travel insurance - and with the father-of-two now needing another surgery, the hospital bills are racking up.

Marlon McCormack, 51, suffered a bleed on the brain and is currently in an induced coma. He is pictured the night before he fell ill with his daughter Renelle (right) and her 16-year-old sister (left)

Marlon (left) said he fell while at the gym on holiday in Turkey, before losing feeling in his body

'He's been in a coma for seven days and he needs another brain surgery in a week, followed by four weeks of recovery in the ICU which is going to be around 80,000 in total,' Renelle said.

She added that the family was looking into medical repatriation, whether it be by plane or by boat, to get Marlon back to the UK - which could set them back another 40,000.

Despite having already raised nearly 23,000, this only covers the first surgery and not any of Marlon's hospital stay, let alone the second surgery and the repatriation.

Renelle said: 'Now we're back to square one again [with the fundraiser], because we're already gonna have to pay the hospital 19,000 for his first brain surgery.

'I've heard that [the hospital] is not just gonna let him die if we can't afford it, but I don't know if they are going to want half upfront - but we need to raise the funds.

'Regardless of whether it's the funds for him to fly home or the funds for the operation, we are going to have to come up with some funds, because the medical repatriation company won't fly without cash upfront.'

Aside from the financial worries weighing on the family, Renelle said she was also thinking about what could happen if her father dies.

'My 16-year-old sister's mum already passed away. My dad is all she has so if he dies, my sister would be an orphan. She's got nobody, all she'll have left is me. So that would leave me in a position where I would be her carer. It's a lot,' Renelle said.

Anna Ryan (R) said she had raised the initial 3,000 payment for Marlon's (CR) treatment - but the family are now crowdfunding for support with the hospital asking for tens of thousands

She added: 'My dad's girlfriend is now in Turkey, alone, in a foreign country, and her boyfriend is asleep. So even though she's with him, she's alone.'

Marlon's girlfriend, Anna Ryan, 41, was with the 51-year-old on the day he was rushed to hospital.

'Marlon got up early to go to the gym,' she told BirminghamLive a day after the freak accident. 'He came back and said he'd fallen while he was there.

'He went back to sleep and when he woke up he couldn't stand - it looked like he'd had a stroke. We called an ambulance and he was rushed to hospital.'

The forklift operator from Chelmsley Wood had planned a 'last-minute' getaway with his family, leaving for Turkey on April 24.

Anna said she slept in the next morning as Marlon got up early to go to the gym.

Renelle McCormack, 27, was taking family pictures with her younger sister, her father and his girlfriend just the night before

When Marlon returned and was rushed to hospital, Anna was told her fiance's treatment would go ahead without the payment - but that the money would need to be found.

'Due to the language barrier we believed it was a success, however they were unable to remove all the mass on his brain from the brain bleed and he remains in a critical condition,' the organiser of the GoFundMe, Cherry Ryan, wrote on April 25.

She said that Marlon had been placed in an induced coma in intensive care while the family remained 'at his side'.

She said the cost of the surgery would be 24,000 plus 1,500 a day in care for four weeks of recovery.

They previously said the hospital had demanded 25,000 up front for the treatment.

Anna said: 'I'm being asked to pay loads of money I don't have. They want 24,000 for surgery and then it's four weeks of recovery which we'd need to fund too. We don't have that kind of money - I don't know what to do.

'Something like this has never happened to me. We need as much help as we can get.'
A rapist who drugged and sexually assaulted a stranger on her 30th birthday after lurking in a pub at closing time to target vulnerable victims, wept as he was jailed for eight years.

Mouritala Saibou, 43, joined in with a random group of strangers' celebrations at the bar in Peckham, southeast London, before travelling back with them to the flat of his victim.

When everyone other than the victim had gone to bed, Saibou plied her with drink and drugs before raping her.

In a victim impact statement read out in court by the prosecution, she said that her 'identity had been completely taken away from me, and I mourn the loss of it everyday.'

The 43-year-old attacker is also currently under investigation for another offence but has not yet been charged.

Mouritala Saibou, 43, (pictured) joined in with a random group of strangers' celebrations at the bar in Peckham, southeast London , before travelling back with them to the flat of his victim

Paul Douglass, prosecuting, said it was a a calculated and predatory offence.

'She (the victim) recalled asking the defendant, when at her flat, why he had been at the Prince of Peckham where the party had been,' he said.

'She recalled his response: 'I only go to the Prince of Peckham when it is closing time', the inference that he was on the prowl for vulnerable people, the crown suggests.

'There's also the issue of whether or not one takes the view that she was particularly vulnerable.

'I suppose that will rely on what your honour makes of her account of how the substance which was given by the defendant changed her.

'Effectively she says that it brought her to the state of complete vulnerability.

'She was unable to control herself, unable to control her surroundings.

The Prince of Peckham pub (pictured) where the victim's 30th birthday party was held

'It seems to be the timing is victim specific and you take your victim as you find them.

'If you rape someone on their birthday then that is going to seriously exacerbate the effects of the crime.'

Judge Benedict Kelleher told Saibou: 'The victim of your offending was celebrating her birthday that evening with friends.

'She had been to a public house in Peckham where a planned party took place, and when that ended she and her friends were intending to move on to a nightclub in Vauxhall.

'She had by then consumed by her own account to the jury a very large quantity of alcohol and cocaine.

'You happened to be in the area at the point that she and her friends were getting into taxis.

Saibou said that he would go to the Prince of Peckham at closing time

'Why you were there has been the subject of some conjecture after the trial by the probation service.

'Whilst it is certainly reasonable for them to consider whether you were in fact looking to commit a sexual offence that night, I am not satisfied to say that I am sure you had offending in mind.

'It is clear from what you did though that you wished to find female company and no doubt if it became a possibility some form of sexual encounter.

'What you did was to get into the taxi, to get into the taxi with a group of friends, move on to Vauxhall and stay with them as they tried to get into a nightclub there.

'When they were refused to the nightclub you went back to the victims' flat.

'What followed was a party for some hours into the evening in which some more alcohol and some drugs were consumed.

'When that came to something akin to an end, only you and she were left in the living room with her dancing to music.

'You at that point offered her more drugs.

'It has been suggested that you had with you some form of drug that you knew would sedate her.

'There's no evidence before me that leads me to be sure that is so.

'You certainly had a drug, probably cocaine, of some kind which you offered her and which she took.

'After that her memory of events was vague and her state was clearly rendered worse.

'She was already heavily drunk and intoxicated, and after that was extremely vulnerable.

'She was of course by then alone in her flat, her flatmate had gone to bed.

'You took that opportunity to force yourself upon her sexually.

'You raped her orally and then vaginally.

'The effect of what you did was very substantial.

'It is significant in my view that this happened on her birthday, in the sense that it will, as she describes, always be something she has to remember on what would otherwise be a happy day.

'In my judgement, obviously this is so serious that only an immediate custodial sentence can be imposed.

'The starting point of eight years is imprisonment is the correct sentence.'

Saibou was found guilty on two counts of rape and two counts of sexual assault.

He wept and was given a pack of tissues by the clerk before he was led to the cells.
Elated passengers were heard chanting 'cheerio!' to a pair of customers who were thrown off an easyJet flight that was forced to divert and make an unplanned stop due to their allegedly raucous behaviour last night.

EasyJet flight EZY3165 from Glasgow to Hurghada, Egypt, abandoned its flight path last night and set down in the Greek city of Heraklion after a couple reportedly got into a heated argument with fellow passengers.

Flight tracking data shows how the flight continued on past mainland Greece over the Mediterranean before circling back and touching down in Heraklion.

The couple are seen being removed from the front of the plane in footage shot and shared on social media by another passenger.

Other customers disgruntled by the layover began cheering before most of the cabin launched into chants of 'cheerio!' and started clapping officers who escorted the couple off the flight.

Passengers are seen standing up as officer board the plane in Heraklion to remove two rowdy customers

A policeman is seen standing in the aisle as his colleagues begin removing a couple

Customers disgruntled by the layover began cheering before most of the cabin launched into chants of 'cheerio!' and started clapping officers who escorted the couple off the flight

The couple are seen being removed from the front of the plane in footage shot and shared on social media by another passenger

Flight tracking data shows how the flight continued on past mainland Greece over the Mediterranean before circling back and touching down in Heraklion

A statement from easyJet read: 'EasyJet can confirm that flight EZY3165 from Glasgow to Hurghada on April 29 diverted to Heraklion where the aircraft was met by police due to two passengers behaving disruptively onboard' (easyJet Airbus file photo)

One traveller said of the couple's behaviour: 'It was awful. They were arguing with other passengers for half an hour before the crew stepped in.

'They were being verbally abusive and threatening to the cabin crew... The woman was told to sit down seven times over the tannoy as we landed but she kept getting up,' Michael McLennan, a British holidaymaker told The Mirror.

The couple in question were detained by Greek police after being removed from the flight.

The easyJet Airbus A320-251N then continued onto its original destination, touching down in Hurghada at 12:24am local time this morning.

A statement from easyJet read: 'EasyJet can confirm that flight EZY3165 from Glasgow to Hurghada on April 29 diverted to Heraklion where the aircraft was met by police due to two passengers behaving disruptively onboard.

'The flight then continued to Hurghada once the passengers were removed.

'EasyJet's cabin crew are trained to assess and evaluate all situations and to act quickly and appropriately to ensure that the safety of the flight and other passengers is not compromised at any time.

'Whilst such incidents are rare we take them very seriously and do not tolerate disruptive behaviour onboard.

'The safety and wellbeing of passengers and crew is always easyJet's highest priority.'

It comes weeks after a flight from Manchester to Turkey was forced to divert to Serbia after an unruly passenger caused chaos on board.

SunExpress flight XQ505 took off from Manchester Airport at 7:30pm on April 9 destined for Dalaman, but circled over Serbia and ultimately landed in the capital Belgrade following the mid-flight disturbance.

Footage snapped and shared on social media by shocked customers showed how one man appeared to yell at another passenger, pointing his finger and shouting expletives.

A woman can be heard barking back and the pair went back and forth, with the volume and aggression increasing as other passengers tried in vain to calm the situation.

Mid-air drama as cops storm plane from Manchester Airport after 'unruly passenger' forces emergency diversion

A passenger had to be escorted off a Ryanair flight from Manchester to Alicante by police after 'drinking a bottle of Disaronno'

SunExpress flight XQ505 took off from Manchester Airport at 7:30pm on April 9 destined for Dalaman, but circled over Serbia and ultimately landed in the capital Belgrade following the mid-flight disturbance

It is unclear to what extent the argument escalated but another clip filmed once the plane was on the tarmac in Belgrade showed how police burst into the cabin to haul one of the passengers away.

A struggle ensued and footage shows how the police officers bundled the unruly passenger to the floor before dragging them out of the cabin door.

Belgrade is more than 700 miles away from Dalaman, with the detour causing a two-hour delay.

SunExpress said: 'Our flight XQ505, which was scheduled from Manchester to Dalaman on April 9, had to divert to Belgrade due to an unruly passenger.

'Upon arrival, the passenger was removed from the aircraft by local police and the aircraft continued to Dalaman after the passenger's disembarkation.

'The safety and security of our passengers and crew is of the highest priority to SunExpress.'
Kate Forbes today dramatically pulled out of the SNP leadership race - putting John Swinney on track for a coronation.

Ms Forbes announced that she had decided getting behind the veteran MSP is the 'best way to deliver the urgent change Scotland needs'.

Hinting that Mr Swinney had offered her a big job - despite previous clashes over her devout Christian opposition to gay marriage - Ms Forbes said she looked forward to 'playing my role'.

Nominations do not close until next Monday, but it looks highly unlikely that any other contender will emerge now.

Confirming he was standing earlier, Mr Swinney - Nicola Sturgeon's long-term deputy - extended an olive branch to Ms Forbes as he said he can 'unite' the party.

'We are not cohesive right now,' he admitted, warning that there would be 'tough times' unless the SNP 'changes'.

He said Ms Forbes was a 'intelligent, creative, thoughtful person who has much to contribute' to public life.

Promising she would play a 'significant part' in his team - although dodging on whether that meant being his deputy - he added: 'If elected I will make sure Kate is able to make that contribution.'

Kate Forbes has now decided not to run against Mr Swinney for Scotland's top job

John Swinney officially launched his SNP leadership bid today

Polls have indicated that while Mr Swinney is more popular among SNP activists, the wider public would prefer her as First Minister

In her statement this afternoon, Ms Forbes said: 'Ultimately, I have concluded that the best way to deliver the urgent change Scotland needs is to join with John Swinney and advocate for that reform agenda within the Scottish Government.'

Devout Christian Ms Forbes - who clashed bitterly with Mr Swinney over her opposition to gay marriage as she narrowly lost to Mr Yousaf just over a year ago - had pointed to a 'groundswell' of backing for her to make another pitch.

Supporters have also swiped that Mr Swinney is a 'continuity' candidate and 'apologist' for Ms Sturgeon.

She has been boosted by a poll indicating that while Mr Swinney is more popular among SNP activists, the wider public would prefer her as First Minister.

Mr Swinney told a crowd at the Grassmarket Community Project in Edinburgh this morning that he is 'not a caretaker' option.

He said: 'I am offering to lead my party through the Westminster elections, to lead us beyond the 2026 elections, to contest, which I intend to win for the SNP and for Scotland.'

Mr Swinney said the party is 'not cohesive just now, we are not together'.

'We're not operating as one big unified team, but what I am absolutely certain about is if the SNP gets its act together it will be a formidable force for good in Scotland and a formidable force for success in Scotland as well and that's what I offer,' he said.

Mr Swinney, 60, served as Ms Sturgeon's deputy for almost nine years.

The Perthshire North MSP was also SNP leader between 2000 and 2004, standing down after a poor showing at the European elections.

When he decided not to stand for the leadership last year he said it was time for a new generation to take over.

Senior party members, including Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, Scotland's Health Secretary Neil Gray and Scotland's Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth, have already said they would support Mr Swinney if he decides to stand for election.

He is expected to make his statement at 10.30am at the Grassmarket Community Project in Edinburgh.

Former Scottish finance secretary Kate Forbes has yet to confirm whether or not she will make any similar statement on the future leadership of the SNP.

Several senior party members have backed the Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch MSP, including Joanna Cherry and Fergus Ewing.
Hard Left politician George Galloway has been accused of 'blatant homophobia' after saying that gay relationships are 'not normal' and he does not want his children taught that they are.

The Workers Party of Britain leader and Rochdale MP was criticised over comments he made on the eve of the local elections.

In an interview with Novara Media, to be broadcast in full this weekend, he said he didn't want children to be taught 'that gay relationships are exactly the same and as normal as a mum, a dad and kids'.

He added: 'I want my children to be taught that the normal thing in Britain, in society across the world, is a mother, a father and a family.

'I want them to be taught that there are gay people in the world and that they must be treated with respect and affection as I treat my own gay friends and colleagues with respect and affection but I don't want my children to be taught that these things are equal because I don't believe them to be equal.'

As a clip of the interview was shared on social media he later doubled down on his remarks, tweeting that without 'hetero-normative relationships.... there would be societal collapse.'

Labour MP Sir Chris Bryant tweeted: 'A while ago I was heavily criticised for saying that I feel more fearful as a gay man than in years gone by. Gay bashing and prejudice has never stopped but my sense of deep unease has increased significantly recently with moments like this.'

The Workers Party of Britain leader and Rochdale MP was criticised over comments he made on the eve of the local elections.

Mr Galloway became the MP for Rochdale in February, gaining almost 40 per cent of the vote in a contest mired in chaos and controversy and dominated by the Gaza conflict.

A large proportion of his base support comes from the socially conservative local Muslim population.

In his interview he also lashed out at sex education teaching, saying: 'I don't want my children prematurely sexualised at all, I don't want them taught that some things are normal when their parents don't believe that they're normal.'

'Now there's lots of things not normal, doesn't mean you have to hate something that isn't normal. But if my children are taught that there's - whatever the current vogue number is - 76 or 97 or whatever the number of purported genders that exist, I don't want my children taught that.'

Momentum, the leftwing grassroots organisation closely linked to former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, responded in a tweet that Galloway's comments were 'shameful.'

'This kind of blatant homophobia and opposition to LGBT rights has no place on the Left,' the left-wing pressure group said.

Mr Galloway has previously represented seats in Glasgow, east London and Bradford in the Commons, for Labour and later the Respect Party.
Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer took their wives on the local election trail today as they brace for the verdict of voters.

The PM and Akshata posed for pictures out campaigning in Chelsea, while the Labour leader went to vote with wife Victoria.

Other politicians gave a glimpse into their family lives, with Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen carrying his baby into a polling station - and many beloved dogs on show.

Tories fear they could lose up to half of the council seats they are defending, with rebels circling if Mr Sunak fails the electoral test.

The premier is hoping that Mr Houchen and Andy Street in the West Mids can hold on to give him positive news to trumpet.

But the bleak wider picture was underlined today with a Westminster poll suggesting Labour has a massive 26 point lead, with the Tories on 18 per cent - just three points ahead of Reform UK.

Most of the council seats up for re-election were last contested in 2021, at the peak of Boris Johnson's popularity as the Covid-19 vaccine was rolled out.

Rishi Sunak was out canvassing in Chelsea with wife Akshata this morning

Keir Starmer, pictured with wife Victoria today, said Labour is 'hopeful' it will win the West Midlands contest in an interview with Sky News

Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen voted with wife Rachel and their baby this morning

A polling station in Yarm prepares to open for voting in local elections today

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A total of 11 mayoral contests are also taking place, including for the London mayoralty where Sadiq Khan is seeking a third term.

Polls have give Mr Khan a significant lead over against Tory challenger Susan Hall despite backlash on crime and policing issues - although some believe the final result might be closer.

Labour is widely expected to win the Blackpool South Westminster by-election, which also taking place.

Although some council results and the by-election will declare in the early hours of the morning, most of the outcomes will not emerge until tomorrow and Saturday.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt tried to manage expectations last night, insisting governments can get 'punished' in local votes.

He told Sky News' Politics Hub: 'Tony Blair easily lost those amounts of councillors. And, you know, David Cameron lost hundreds of councillors in the run up to the 2015 general election.

'So, you know, we are expecting to see significant losses. That often happens in local elections.

'But what we say to people is, look, this may be a moment when you want to express a view about the national picture but actually the local services you depend on will be decided by how you vote.'

Keir Starmer said Labour is 'hopeful' it will win the West Midlands contest in an interview with Sky News.

Wins for both Mr Street and Mr Houchen would offer the Tories a ray of light in what forecasts suggest could be a dismal set of results.

But experts warned the metro mayor races would be the 'least reliable indicator' of what could happen at a general election.

Polling guru Sir John Curtice told an Institute for Government event yesterday that the Conservative Party was emphasising the two contests because they can 'cover whatever disasters happen elsewhere'.

'Because of the personal votes of these two, (these contests are) going to be the least reliable indicator,' he said.

'Equally, conversely here in London, Sadiq Khan will not do as well as the Labour Party would do in a general election because Sadiq has a negative personal vote. But this city is now so strong Labour, he's going to win anyway,' he said.

In a final message before polling stations open, Sir Keir said: 'Britain is, despite everything this Tory government has thrown at it, a great country.

'Its people, businesses, and communities continue to come together in the face of adversity. It is a strong nation of pride and potential, with boundless ambition for its family and its community.

London mayor Sadiq Khan voted with wife Saadiya and their dog this morning

Tory candidate in London Susan Hall also voted in Hatch End early this morning

The classic photos of dogs at polling stations started appearing this morning

Mr Sunak is hoping that two mayors - Ben Houchen in Tees Valley and Andy Street in the West Mids (pictured) - can hold on to give him positive news to trumpet

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A total of 11 mayoral contests are also taking place, including for the London mayoralty where Sadiq Khan is seeking a third term

Polls have give Mr Khan a significant lead over against Tory challenger Susan Hall despite backlash on crime and policing issues

'But it needs a government to match that ambition, and with a plan to unlock it. Today, you have a chance to vote for that change, and pass a verdict on fourteen years of decline. You can start to rebuild our country and take your community in a different direction.'

The Liberal Democrats, who have focused campaigning efforts in traditional Conservative areas, said polling day would be a moment for the Prime Minister to 'face the music'.

Sir Ed Davey said the results would be a 'damning verdict on record waiting lists, sewage destroying rivers, and the worst cost of living crisis in a generation'.

'The country knows the buck stops at the door of Downing Street,' he said.
A doctor killed himself with poison that had been intercepted by the Border Force on the way from Malaysia, but they had no power to stop him from getting it, an inquest has heard.

The intercepted package containing poison was released and delivered to Dr Jonathan Shaw, who had ordered it online.

An inquest heard that the parcel - containing poison which isn't officially banned -was flagged and seized by officers when it arrived in the country.

Current legislation means the agency can only keep hold of such items for up to 30 days.

The Border Force released the parcel without examining its contents, according to a coroner, and it was delivered to Dr Shaw nine days later.

Police weren't told the package had been sent to him and sadly, although he told family and police he would dispose of it, Dr Shaw hid it and used it to kill himself.

A doctor killed himself with poison that had been intercepted by the Border Force on the way from Malaysia , but they had no power to stop him from getting it. Stock photo

The Border Force released the parcel without examining its contents, according to a coroner, and it was delivered to Dr Shaw nine days later. Stock image

In a Prevention of Future Deaths Report, Area Coroner for Manchester North, Catherine McKenna has called for greater consultation between police forces and the UK Border Force.

The inquest heard that the parcel had been flagged by the National Fast Parcel Targeting Team who received intelligence about the Malaysian company and information about concerns for Dr Shaw's welfare and the risk to life.

It was heard officers from Greater Manchester Police (GMP) made contact with Dr Shaw and told him the parcel had been stopped by UK Border Force.

But when Border Force released the package after nine days without examining its contents or consulting with GMP, Dr Shaw hid it, told family and police he'd got rid of it, before using its contents to end his life.

'There is no evidence that the officers were informed by UK Border Force of the timescales before release and the officers would most likely not have been aware that UK Border Force could only lawfully keep hold of the package for 30 days,' Ms McKenna said.

'UK Border Force released the package nine days after its arrival in the UK and without examining its contents or consulting with GMP.'

After recording a verdict of suicide, Ms McKenna said the lack of consultation between Border Force and GMP represented a 'significant missed opportunity'.

She concluded that Dr Shaw would 'most likely' have agreed to the safe destruction of the package if he had been asked before he came into its possession.

Now, she has said evidence from the inquest revealed 'matters giving rise to concern'.

'In my opinion there is a risk that future deaths will occur unless action is taken,' she wrote.

She said UK Border Force does not have legal powers to seize the specific package used because it is not a 'prohibited poison under the Poisons Act 1972'.

The report was addressed to the Chair of the National Police Chiefs Council and Home Secretary James Cleverly (pictured)

'If there is an ongoing police investigation or police interest in a particular consignment, the UK Border Force can use section 19 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 to stop and hold.

'However the holding power is limited to 30 days, after which the consignment must be released.

'There is no national guidance or training provided to Police Forces or the UK Border Force on joint working around the management of consignments of [REDACTED] from overseas which have been ordered by individuals inside the UK for the purpose of ending their own life.

'There is no legal requirement to alert the local police force before a consignment is released or to request a welfare check during which the recipient could be invited to agree to the safe destruction of the parcel by the police or UK Border Force.'

Addressing the Chair of the National Police Chiefs Council and Home Secretary James Cleverly, she added: 'In my opinion action should be taken to prevent future deaths and I believe each of you respectively have the power to take such action.'

They have until June 21st to respond.

A Home Office spokesperson said: 'We are saddened by the death of Dr Shaw and our thoughts are with his friends and family at this difficult time.

'We are considering the findings of the coroner's report and the Home Secretary will respond in due course.'

For confidential support, call Samaritans on 116 123, visit samaritans.org or visit https://www.thecalmzone.net/get-support
The Hainault swordsman's 22-minute 'reign of terror' saw him slash a pedestrian in the neck before he broke into a family home, murdered a 14-year-old boy on his way to school and then nearly severed a police officer's arm, it is claimed.

Marcus Arduini Monzo, 36, appeared in court today accused of the murder of Daniel Anjorin along with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of grievous bodily harm, aggravated burglary, and possession of a bladed article.

Four others were seriously injured during the alleged rampage on Tuesday, including a heroic female police officer.

Today the name emerged of the second victim - IT engineer Henry De Los Rios Polania. The court heard that the 35-year-old was stabbed as he tried to fend off the attacker after he broke into the family home while his four-year-old daughter was sleeping.

David Burns, prosecuting, told a court that Monzo drove a van at speed at pedestrian Donato Iwule before exiting the vehicle and slashing him around the neck, leaving an injury that required hospital treatment.

Monzo is then alleged to have forced entry into the family home before attacking the father, the prosecutor said. Mr Burns said he was shouting: 'If you do not believe in God he will cause you harm.'

Marcus Aurelio Arduini Monzo, a Spanish and Brazilian national, appeared in court today charged with murder

Daniel Anjorin was leaving his home just before 7am when he was caught up in the horrifying ordeal

The suspect larking around in fancy dress in a video he posted on social media

Monzo at Westminster Magistrates Court today flanked by custody officers

The prosecutor added: 'He has then left the scene and attacked Daniel Anjorin, a schoolboy on his way to school.'

It is alleged that he stabbed him in the neck and chest.

The court heard that while officers were tending to Daniel's injuries Monzo appeared from a bush and attacked a female police officer with the weapon while she was on the ground.

A second officer named Moloy Campbell was also injured, the court heard.

Today, Henry De Los Rios Polania's sister, Jessica, said her brother had been left 'traumatised' by the event but described his actions as heroic.

'He's very devastated to believe something like this could happen,' she said, adding: 'To us, he's our hero. He protected them - my niece and my sister-in-law.

'They were just literally sleeping, opened their eyes to see a man with a big machete sword.

'He felt helpless in the moment but to us he is our hero. It could have been extremely worse.'

Ms De Los Rios said her brother was recovering in hospital after sustaining a deep wound to his hand.

'It's a very long process to get his hand recovered, due to this wound,' she said, adding: 'He's awake, he's in hospital,' but 'he lost a lot of blood' and 'it's going to be a really long, traumatising recovery for him'.

Ms De Los Rios expressed concern that the attack would have a long-term psychological impact on the whole family.

She said: 'We just have faith, but what worries me the most is how traumatised they are. They haven't been able to sleep.

'It's unbelievable. These kind of things you see on the news and you never think it could happen to you.

'Unfortunately I don't think they will want to go back into the house and live there again. It's been extremely hard to take in such a horrific situation.'

Ms De Los Rios thanked the police for their bravery and the paramedics, nurses and doctors tending to her brother.

Daniel Anjorin, pictured here with his mother Grace, was tragically killed during an attack in Hainault on Tuesday

Daniel, pictured here wearing a red and blue Spiderman costume, was on his way to school when he was attacked

Flanked by three burly male dock officers and one female, Monzo, a dual Spanish-Brazilian national, wore a prison-issue grey tracksuit and held his left hand over his chest for today's entire seven-minute hearing.

When asked to confirm his full name, he responded very slowly: 'My full name? As of my recollection it is Marcus Aurielo Audini.'

Senior District Judge and Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring said: 'I am going to send your case, all seven charges, to the Central Criminal Court, you might know it as the Old Bailey.

'I don't have the power to consider bail. You will therefore be remanded in custody to appear at the Central Criminal Court on 7 May.'

Social media photos show Monzo smiling and doing a thumbs-up with a collection of medals round his neck after success in a sports contest.

On Boxing Day last year, he posted another video on the same Instagram page showing him larking around in Robin Hood fancy dress during an archery competition. He spoke in Portuguese as he joked with friends.

Elsewhere on social media, Monzo describes himself as a 'mystic and a musician'.

He also lists himself as the director of a London-based company which has now been dissolved.

Daniel was remembered last night as a 'true scholar' with a 'gentle character' - as well-wishers raised more than 28,000 on GoFundMe for a celebration of his life.

The 14-year-old was said to put a smile on faces whenever he walked in the room while being described as a 'very much-loved' boy who brought joy to his family and was an 'admirable' student at his prestigious independent school.

Daniel went to the 24,990-a-year Bancroft's school in Woodford Green

Daniel attended Bancroft's School in nearby Woodford Green, the 24,999-a-year school, which yesterday flew its flag at half-mast while flowers were laid by fellow students.

His heartbroken parents are trusting in their deep Christian faith to cope with their profound shock and grief at his killing, family friends revealed.

Bancroft's School said on its website: 'We are devastated by the heartbreaking news of the death of Daniel. This has left us in profound shock and sorrow.

'He joined Bancroft's at seven years old and quickly became a core member of our community. He was a true scholar, demonstrating commendable dedication to his academic pursuits.

'His positive nature and gentle character will leave a lasting impact on us. Losing such a young pupil is something we will always struggle to come to terms with.' Nottingham stabbing victim Grace O'Malley-Kumar, 19, had also been a pupil at the Bancroft's.

Her parents offered to meet Daniel's family  health and safety consultant Dr Ebenezer Anjorin, 59, and science teacher mother Grace Anjorin, 49  to help them through their traumatic time.

A photo of a man prowling the streets of Hainault on Tuesday

A heroic female officer who was involved in Tasering and arresting the man. She was not the one who was injured

Sinead O'Malley, Grace's mum, told ITV's Good Morning Britain: 'I don't think there's anything that anybody can say to alleviate their heart and their pain so we wouldn't try to minimise that, but all we can do is empathise and hope they will heal with time.'

Daniel was killed at just before 7am on Tuesday when a stranger wielding a samurai-style sword is said to have set upon him in the street, yards from his front door.

Aiste Dabasinskaaite revealed how she tried to warn Daniel but it was too late. She said: 'My instinct was to shout and wave at him, which is what me and another neighbour did, but because he had his headphones on, I don't think he heard us.

'It was sort of a moment where we just went from shouting to just blankness, just felt empty.'

Neighbour Sheryl Carter said: 'I heard a scream which came from [Daniel's] mum. My neighbour saw her running and then she had to be held back by police.'

She heard Mrs Anjorin say: 'I only spoke to him a minute ago.'

A woman leaving flowers in Daniel's memory at a police cordon near the scene in Hainault today

The tributes included a teddy bear and a sign reading 'RIP Little Angel' with a love heart

Friend Cyan Thompson added: 'I can't believe he has gone. He was such a good person with great manners.

'He was so caring. You couldn't help but smile when he walked into the room.'

Close friends revealed Daniel's respected Nigerian parents believe they will be reunited as a family in heaven.

Janti Charalambous and Ade Caxton-Cole have known the football-loving Arsenal fan since he was little.

They explained: 'He was a joyful boy  he brought his family a lot of joy and his life has just been taken away.'

The couple added: 'The family are in shock and are heart-broken. Such a young boy taken away from the family.

'Their faith is sustaining them and we are all supporting them in any shape they need.'
Celebrity comedian Dane Baptiste has been reported to police after apparently making death threats to a fellow performer.

Cops were called on comedian Baptiste, 42, over the threatening Instagram post about an unnamed Jewish woman who he claimed to be 'stalking' his family online.

Baptiste - who previously hosted Live at the Apollo - posted: 'I want you to sit down with your husband and kids and imagine what their lives will be without you, b/c north London is a quick trip to make and a Think Tank will have to be an actual tank to keep you safe from me.

'Ask about and comedians will tell you I will be at your literal doorstep. Your agent won't keep you safe. And I'll sit in prison while your family sit at the cemetery.

'First and last warning. Your act is dumb but don't be a dumb woman. For your own safety.'

Cops were called on comedian Dane Baptiste (pictured) over the threatening Instagram post about an unnamed Jewish woman who he claimed to be 'stalking' his family online

Dane Baptiste (pictured) previously hosted Live at the Apollo and has starred on 8 Out of 10 Cats

He later deleted the threat but police are understood to be investigating.

The Jewish comic he targeted, who wishes to remain anonymous, declined to comment.

Baptiste has been condemned by a number of fellow comedians.

Josh Howie tweeted: 'I've known and liked Dane Baptiste a long time. I'm also a fan of his comedy. So I've somewhat held back as he's descended down the rabbit hole of Jew hatred. But this is the end point - openly threatening Jewish, I mean 'Zionist', women. The priority now is this woman's safety.'

Lee Kern said it was 'the most chilling, sincere and credible death threat against a Jewish woman. This has to be dealt with in the most serious manner possible.'

Marcus Brigstocke added: 'The threat made by Dane Baptiste against a woman on IG wasn't vague & cannot be justified. It was targeted & dangerous. Driven (imo) by antisemitism & misogyny. I refuse to look the other way & stay silent while only Jewish friends speak up. Hatred & racism like this has to end.'

In 2014, Baptiste became the first black Briton to be nominated for best newcomer at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards  and the following year made his own BBC sitcom Sunny D. He also piloted the sketch show Bamous for the broadcaster in 2021. His other TV credits include Live At The Apollo and Richard Osman's House Of Games.

The comedian later apologised for his remarks which he blamed on a 'massive error of judgement'.

Dane Baptiste (pictured) later deleted the threat but police are understood to be investigating

Dane Baptiste (pictured) has been condemned by a number of fellow comedians.

He said: 'In the recent past, I have received a number of threatening and abusive messages from accounts accusing me of antisemitism for having pro Palestinian views. I have a new family and my partner made me aware that some of the same people were monitoring her Instagram account.

'In a massive error of judgement, I posted an excessive and impulsive response, hoping to dissuade anybody monitoring my family. I made a point to say Zionist and not Jewish, but I appreciate how disturbing, threatening and incendiary that language is, I would categorically state I have no ill intention towards the Jewish community and never have.

'I have a loving family of which I am massively protective; I reacted poorly and emotionally to a perceived threat with no considered thought to the consequences, and I apologise profusely for my actions to the Jewish community, my colleagues and my fans.'

A spokesman for the Met Police said: 'Enquiries are being made in relation to a post reported to police by a number of social media users on Wednesday 1 May.

'We have since made contact with a number of people who are helping our enquiries.

'We would continue to urge anyone who has information which could help our enquiries to contact police on 101, quoting CAD8660/01MAY24.'
Royal bank Coutts has been accused of 'abandoning' Britain as it plans to shift billions of pounds of clients' cash out of the UK.

In a blow to the City, the 332-year-old lender, where King Charles is a client, will transfer 2billion from British funds into overseas investments.

Analysts said Coutts' decision to join a 'foreign exodus' is part of a 'vicious circle' causing London-listed firms to lose value, making them vulnerable to takeovers.

City insiders blasted the timing as 'ironic' as the Government will encourage people to invest in British stocks when it sells its stake in Coutts' owner NatWest this summer.

It is the latest scandal to hit Coutts after it was plunged into crisis last year when a row broke out over the closure of Nigel Farage's account, in part due to the ex-Ukip leader's political views.

Coutts was founded in London in 1692, making it the eighth oldest bank in the world

Coutts, an elite private lender, was founded in London in 1692, making it the eighth oldest bank in the world.

It handles the fortunes of the UK's richest people, including the Royal Family and celebrities.

Experts today slammed its decision to snub Britain's listed companies amid concerns over the future of London's stock market.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said 'abandoning the UK stock market' is a 'highly questionable decision.'

She said: 'The time is ripe to back British listed businesses, rather than join a foreign exodus, given the value which has the potential to be unlocked.'

Coutts was plunged into crisis last year when a row broke out over the closure of Nigel Farage's account, in part due to the ex-Ukip leader's political views

British stocks are seen as undervalued compared to their American peers and firms are increasingly ditching London for New York.

Betting giant Flutter, the FTSE 100 owner of Paddy Power, this week became the latest to vote to quit the City in favour of Wall Street.

And foreign buyers are circling London's blue-chip companies in pursuit of a bargain.

Footsie firms Royal Mail and Anglo American have become takeover targets in recent weeks.

According to data from Calastone, outflows from UK equity funds hit 8bn in 2023  making the 2billion planned withdrawal by Coutts a huge increase in the short term.

Among Coutts' clients is King Charles, pictured visiting a hospital in London on Tuesday

'This will inevitably put further selling pressure on the UK market at a time when valuations are already depressed,' Charles Hall, head of research at investment bank Peel Hunt, said of

'This continues the theme of globalisation in wealth management portfolios, which is resulting in continued outflows from UK equities.

'This is driving a vicious circle of depressed valuations and heightened mergers and acquisitions.'

He added: 'If we do not have policies that encourage UK investment, then it is not surprising that there are outflows from the UK and that UK companies underperform.'

The Government will encourage people to invest in British stocks when it sells its stake in Coutts' owner NatWest this summer

Lindsay James, investment strategist at Quilter, said: 'It is becoming ever more apparent that the UK must work harder to defend the role of its financial markets.'

Coutts will start to make the changes to its investment funds at the end of next month, with the transition set to be completed in July.

The lender insisted that it retains 'significant investment' in the UK.

A spokeswoman for the bank said: 'Our investment strategy is to achieve the best returns for our clients in the most attractive markets.'
This is the moment an Amsterdam party took a turn for the worse as a boat of revellers slowly sank underwater as they celebrated King's Day.

As the overcrowded boat nosedived under the weight, some of the orange-clad patriots made a leap for the banks of the Herengracht canal, but most were forced to take an unexpected dip with laughing crowds watched on.

King's Day is a Dutch national holiday celebrating King Willem-Alexander on his birthday - April 27.

Shortly before 2pm, the festivities were in full swing with many citizens opting to take to the river for the big event.

The viral clip, which amassed over 20million views in the two days following, captures the moment passengers of more sea-worthy crafts watched their fellow Dutchmen and women resigned themselves to a soggy celebration.

This is the moment an Amsterdam party went south as a boat of revellers slowly sank underwater as they celebrated King's Day at the weekend

With onlookers shouting 'no', the divers-to-be met their fate, though a few unashamed passengers leapt to dry land and left their friends behind, before eventually offering an arm up

When it became clear that the sunk passengers were all safe and making their way out of the canal, pockets of laughter erupt from the surrounding fleet, as well as from those watching on from stable ground

The boat finally returned to the surface once everyone had evacuated

The clip begins with an air of tension as it is unclear whether the dinghy will actually stay afloat.

However, cruelly, as the boat turns towards the adjacent road, and passengers move to the nearest side, they unbalanced the vessel enough for it to start filling with water leaving them doomed to the not-so-deep blue.

With onlookers shouting 'no', the divers-to-be met their fate, though a few unashamed passengers leapt to dry land and left their friends behind, before eventually offering an arm up.

When it becomes clear that the sunk passengers are all safe and making their way out of the canal, pockets of laughter erupt from the surrounding fleet, as well as from those watching on from stable ground.

With Amsterdam's 165 canals adding up to 75km of waterways, it is no surprise that many choose to spill out onto them for the biggest party of the year.

King's Day, also known to natives as Koningsdag or Koninginnedag depending on whether the monarch is male or female, has been celebrating the Netherlands' royal family for nearly 150 years.

First celebrated as Princess' Day on August 31, 1885, for Princess Wilhelmina the holiday assumed its current name when she ascended the throne five year's later.

The date moved to April 30 when her daughter, Juliana, became Queen in 1948, and it remained on that date when Queen Beatrix took over as her birthday fell in the depths of winter.

King's Day is a Dutch national holiday celebrating King Willem-Alexander (centre) on his birthday - April 27. He is pictured with (L-R) Princess Amalia, Queen Maxima, Princess Alexia and Princess Ariane

Many of Amsterdam's citizens flock to its 75km-worth of canals to celebrate the day

Partying nationals also mark the occasion by dressing up in their national colour - orange - as they soak up the atmosphere with a day of street music and dancing

Beatrix abdicated in 2009, leaving Willem-Alexander as King and he has since held Koningsdag on his birthday, moving it by just three days.

As well as the prevalence of boat parties, the celebration has become known for its nationwide 'free market' of used items.

Partying nationals also mark the occasion by dressing up in their national colour - orange - as they soak up the atmosphere with a day of street music and dancing.

The King goes to one lucky city every year and for 2024 he went to Emmen, meaning that he and his family missed the excitement of Amsterdam's canals this time around.
The body of the fifth construction worker killed after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore more than a month ago has finally been recovered.

Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez, 49, of Glen Burnie, Maryland, has been identified as the victim found Wednesday, the Key Bridge Response Unified Command announced.

Six members of a roadwork crew plunged to their deaths on March 26 when a container ship lost power and crashed into one of the bridge's supporting columns.

Five bodies have now been recovered, but one worker, Jose Mynor Lopez, has not been found.

They were all Latino immigrants who came to the United States from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.

Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez has been identified as the fifth victim found Wednesday

He was a 49-year-old man from Glen Burnie, Maryland

Six members of a roadwork crew plunged to their deaths on March 26 when a container ship lost power and crashed into one of the bridge's supporting columns.

Salvage teams found one of the missing construction vehicles Wednesday and notified the Maryland State Police, officials said.

State police investigators and Maryland Transportation Authority Police officers and the FBI responded to the scene and recovered the body inside a red truck. The state police underwater recovery team and crime scene unit also assisted.

'We remain dedicated to the ongoing recovery operations while knowing behind each person lost in this tragedy lies a loving family,' Maryland State Police Superintendent Roland Butler said in a statement.

The 50m-wide ship is marooned under the bridge. It arrived in Baltimore from Norfolk on Monday having previously made journeys to New York City and Panama

Five bodies have now been recovered, but one worker, Jose Mynor Lopez, has not been found

'Along with our local, state and federal partners, we ask that everyone extend their deepest sympathies and support to the families during this difficult time.'

The Dali container ship has been stationary amid the wreckage since the collapse, but crews plan to refloat and remove the ship, allowing more maritime traffic to resume through Baltimore's port.

Officials expect to have it removed by May 10, according to a Port of Baltimore news release.
Terrifying footage shows the moment a runaway driverless truck mowed down 29 schoolchildren at a festival in Kyrgyzstan today.

The truck was being used by an ice cream seller when it suddenly started rolling downhill into a crowd of thousands - most facing in the opposite direction.

While some were able to run out of its path, many others were not so lucky, and were hit full on as the truck ploughed through one crowd after another.

Eighteen children were hospitalised, with seven in intensive care.

The injured children were aged nine to 16.

Terrifying footage shows the moment a runaway driverless truck mowed down 29 schoolchildren at a festival in Kyrgyzstan today

The shocking incident was captured on video from a number angles, including by a drone hovering above the crowd as some children held up a large Kyrgyzstan flag.

Other children are seen sitting on the grass on the side of the hill.

Many were in costumes for the event - a festival dedicated to Manas Epic, a legendary poem that holds great cultural significance in the mountainous ex-Soviet republic - including traditional dresses and soldier outfits.

Suddenly in the footage, the truck appears in view further up the hill.

The hapless driver and security men raced towards the truck as they realised the vehicle was out of control and heading through the crowd of children.

It begins to roll down towards the large crowd, picking up speed, and accelerates as it crested over a grass verge with a steep slope on the other side.

Estimates suggest the blue Hyundai Porter pickup truck reached 30 miles per hour.

At first it passes through a line of mounted horses whose riders were able to move them out the way in the nick of time.

The truck (seen emerging top-right from behind a tree) was being used by an ice cream seller when it suddenly started rolling downhill into a crowd of thousands - most facing in the opposite direction

The shocking incident was captured on video from a number angles, including by a drone hovering above the crowd as some children held up a large Kyrgyzstan flag. The trick is seen moments after ploughing through a group of people

The vehicle rolled down another steep slope and into yet another group of children, this time mostly sitting on the ground

More men were seen bravely sprinting towards the vehicle in an attempt to get into the cabin and bring it to a stop

A group of people slightly further down the hill were not so lucky, however, with the truck crashing through the crowd and even rolling over people.

The screams from the crowd alerted some people ahead of the truck who frantically tried to jump out of the way. Again, however, some were not quick enough.

The vehicle rolled down another steep slope and into yet another group of children, this time mostly sitting on the ground.

They too were smashed into, with the truck also rolling over at least one more.

More men were seen bravely sprinting towards the vehicle in an attempt to get into the cabin and bring it to a stop.

It finally came to a halt after bursting through a marquee, footage shows.

An ambulance was seen offering help to the young victims of the runaway truck.

Children were seen lying wounded, scattered over the grass.

'The driver forgot to put the handbrake,' stated one report.

The truck is seen rolling down the hill in a second clip of the incident

The truck finally came to a halt after bursting through a marquee (pictured)

The truck is seen having come to a halt after ploughing through a marquee

A health ministry spokesman said: 'According to preliminary information, ice cream was sold from the truck.'

Doctors were ordered by government officials 'to provide high-quality medical care, as well as the necessary medicines'.

The country's Minister of Health Alymkadyr Beishenaliev took 'personal control' of overseeing treatment for the victims, it was reported.

Police have launched a preliminary investigation into the incident.
Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei has quietly been funding cutting-edge research at America's top universities, despite being blacklisted by the US government.

Huawei is using an independent Washington DC-based foundation to give millions of dollars to universities including Harvard since 2022, according to a bombshell report by Bloomberg.

The US imposed restrictions on Huawei over concerns that it is beholden to the Chinese Communist Party, and its technology could be Xi Jinping as a spying tool to advance his anti-US agenda.

However, a research competition solely funded by Huawei has drawn hundreds of professors at top US universities, many of which, like Harvard, have banned their researches from working with the Chinese firm.

The competition is overseen by the Optica Foundation, a wing of the nonprofit Optica, which focuses on communications, biomedical diagnostics and lasers.

The US imposed restrictions on Huawei over concerns that it is beholden to the Chinese Communist Party, and its technology could be Xi Jinping as a spying tool to advance his anti-US agenda. Xi is seen with Ren Zhengfei, president of Huawei

Huawei's Chief Optical Standards Expert, scientist Xiang Liu, is part of the competitions 10-person selection committee.

In documents seen by Bloomberg, the foundation declares it 'shall not be required to designate Huawei as the funding source or program sponsor' of the competition.

Moreover, the document states 'the existence and content of this Agreement and the relationship between the Parties shall also be considered Confidential Information.'

Several applicants and university officials told Bloomberg they were not aware that Huawei was behind the program, which hands out $1million per year.

Huawei's Chief Optical Standards Expert, scientist Xiang Liu, is part of the competitions 10-person selection committee

A Huawei spokesperson told Bloomberg the Optica Foundation was created to 'support global research and promote academic communication,' and there was no ill intent.

Opticas CEO Liz Rogan said some of the foundation's donors, including US donors, prefer to stay anonymous and 'there is nothing unusual about this practice.'

Rogan told DailyMail.com in a statement: 'The Bloomberg story has raised some important questions not just for the Optica Foundation but the research community at large.

'The foundation's donors are clearly listed in our annual report. We are taking a holistic review of our policies to identify ways to increase transparency as the foundation continues to support young researchers in our community.'

As Bloomberg notes, it's unlikely that Optica's competition violates US Commerce Department regulations that make sharing technology illegal with Huawei because of the type of research being funded.

Experts have expressed concern that Beijing uses Huawei to make its bidding in the telecommunications and technology industries in the western world.

There is also concern that Huawei could recruit talent and obtain intellectual property from US academics.

Two researchers at Texas A&M University applied for the competition without awareness of its links to Beijing.

At least one applicant came from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which has a policy against working with Huawei.

Meanwhile two winners over the past two years have come from the University of Southern California, which has also denied knowing the competition's connection with Huawei.

Harvard also has banned its researches from working with Huawei, yet Harvard physics professor Eric Mazur serves as chairman of the Optica Foundation board

USC engineering professor Alan Willner has served as a judge for the competition

Moreover, USC engineering professor Alan Willner has served as a judge for the competition.

The Optica Foundation required that the universities of the competition's winners accepted the money on their behalf.

Harvard also has banned its researches from working with Huawei, yet Harvard physics professor Eric Mazur serves as chairman of the Optica Foundation board.

He told Bloomberg: 'As the Foundation grows and continues to explore avenues for broadening our programming, we are committed to ensuring clear transparency policies related to our funding sources.'

In 2022, the US banned the sale of communications equipment made by Huawei and ZTE .

It also restricted the use of some China-made video surveillance systems, citing an 'unacceptable risk' to national security.

The White House said in 2020 Huawei can secretly tap into communications through the networking equipment it sells globally.

US officials have long argued that Huawei is duty-bound by Chinese law to spy on behalf of the countrys ruling Communist Party. Huawei denies that claim.
President Joe Biden has finally addressed the chaos caused by pro-Palestinian protesters at college campuses across the country.

'Destroying property is not a peaceful protest. It's against the law,' he said from the Roosevelt Room Thursday. 'Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows and shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduation. None of this is peaceful protest.'

'There's the right to protest,' he continued. 'But not the right to cause chaos.'

The president was facing mounting pressure from both parties to address the havoc that has led to hundreds of arrests and damage at some of the nation's most prestigious universities.

He spoke for less than four minutes before departing for a planned trip to Wilmington, North Carolina, telling reporters as he walked out the door that he didn't want to see the National Guard deployed.

Biden also said the protests didn't change his thinking on Middle East policy.

President Joe Biden finally spoke out about the pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses Thursday

Cops face-off with pro-Palestinian students after destroying part of the encampment barricade on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles

Biden spoke after police brawled with protesters while smashing through barricades at UCLA's Gaza encampment after hundreds of anti-Israel students defied orders to leave.

'We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent,' Biden said. 'The American people are heard. In fact, peaceful protest is in the best tradition of how Americans respond to consquential issues.'

'But, but neither are we a lawless country. We are a civil society. And order must prevail,' the president continued.

At UCLA, California Highway Patrol officers wearing face shields and protective vests went face-to-face with protesters clad with shields.

As of Thursday morning the encampment was cleared after a tense overnight standoff between anti-Israel protesters and police.

Officers ripped apart an umbrella one activist tried to use as a shield while the crowd chanted 'peaceful protest.'

'Leave the campus, this is a f*****g school. This is a f*****g school, what are you doing, this is a school, we f*****g learn. I got to learn about public health,' one protester shouted.

An anti-Israel protesters is arrested after police destroy part of the encampment barricade

Police arrest a demonstrator as they clear out the UCLA Gaza encampment

At New York's Columbia University, where students broke into Hamilton Hall and raised a banner that read 'intifada' - a term that encourages violence against Jews and Israelis - the NYPD were called Tuesday.

Several White House spokespeople criticized the Hamilton Hall takeover and condemned the antisemitism coming out of the protest movement but it took until Thursday for Biden to directly address the students' actions.

In the meantime, Republicans like Sen. Tom Cotton pushed Biden to personally condemn the 'hate-filled little Gazas,' pushing that college campuses have turned into 'disgusting cesspools of antisemitic hate full of pro-Hamas sympathizers, fanatics and freaks.'

'Let's be clear about this as well. There should be no place on any campus. No place in America. For antisemitism or threats of violence against Jewish students,' Biden said Thursdsay.

'There is no place for hate speech or violence of any kind. Whether it's antisemitism, Islamophobia or discrimination against Arab-Americans or Palestinian-Americans. It's simply wrong. There's no place for racism in America,' Biden reiterated.

A top Jewish group on Columbia's campus reported that Jewish students were being told to 'go back to Poland' and 'stop killing children' by pro-Palestinian demonstrators.

'I understand people have strong feelings and deep convictions,' Biden said. 'In America we respect the right and protect the right for them to express that.'

'But it doesn't mean anything goes,' Biden warned.

'It needs to be done without violence, without destruction, without hate and within the law,' the president said.
A serving police constable has admitted to posting pro-Hamas messages on Whatsapp as a judge warns him he could face jail time.

Mohammed Adil from West Yorkshire Police pleaded guilty to two terror offences over two images he shared in support of Hamas just weeks after the October 7 attack.

Prosecutor Bridget Fitzpatrick told Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday morning that Adil shared messages on his WhatsApp story showing a Hamas fighter wearing a Hamas headband.

The first image posted on October 31 had writing on it saying: 'Today is the time for the Palestinian people to rise, set their paths straight and establish an independent Palestinian state.' It was said to be a quote from the leader of Hamas's military wing, Mohammed Deif.

The 26-year-old then shared a further image on November 4 with another message on it, saying: 'We will hold accountable all those who occupied our lands and Allah will hold accountable all those who remained silent against this occupation and oppression.'

Mohammed Adil from West Yorkshire Police pleaded guilty to two terror offences over two images he shared in support of Hamas just weeks after the October 7 attack

Prosecutor Bridget Fitzpatrick told Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday morning that Adil shared messages on his WhatsApp story showing a Hamas fighter wearing a Hamas headband

Adil, who is based in Calderdale in West Yorkshire, is currently suspended from the force. He will be sentenced on June 4 at the same court

The second quote was said to be from Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for the Al-Qassam brigade - which is Hamas's military wing.

Two of Adil's colleagues reported to their superior officers that they had viewed images posted by Adil on his WhatsApp stories which caused them 'concern', the prosecution said.

Adil had 1,092 contacts on his WhatsApp at the time who would have been able to access the images for 24 hours, Ms Fitzpatrick said.

Adil was arrested on November 6 and had his mobile seized.

He answered no comment to all questions during his interview.

Adil, from the Wibsey area of Bradford, who spoke to confirm his name, date of birth, address and to make his pleas, was given conditional bail and the case was adjourned for a pre-sentence report to be prepared.

He will be sentenced on June 4 at the same court.

Chief magistrate Paul Goldspring said: 'I accept that at the time of the offending you were of good character.

'The Crown has conceded you didn't put the pictures on WhatsApp against the public at large.'

Mr Goldspring added the matters are 'very serious' and said at this stage he is not persuaded he can 'rule out custody'.

Adil, who is based in Calderdale in West Yorkshire, is currently suspended from the force.
The American Airlines flight attended arrested for secretly recording a teenage girl in the bathroom had four other videos of minors on his phone, court documents have revealed.

Estes Carter Thompson III, 36, was indicted on one count of attempted sexual exploitation of children and one count of possession of child pornography depicting a prepubescent minor.

He was arrested in January for allegedly trying to secretly record a 14-year-old passenger while she was using the bathroom on the flight he was working on last September. She noticed a phone taped to the toilet and alerted her parents.

The FBI then found other victims after searching his devices and iCloud including material of girls ages 7, 9, 11 and 14, as well as AI generated pornography.

'Agents have located additional evidence of Thompson's sexual interest in children within the account. For example, agents have located hundreds of images of child pornography, which appear to have been created through an artificial intelligence,' said court documents view by DailyMail.com.

American Airlines flight attendant Estes Carter Thompson III, 36, had four other videos of minors on his phone, court document said

Investigators said that about midway through the September 2, 2023, flight from Charlotte to Boston, the 14-year-old got up to use the main cabin lavatory nearest to her seat but found it was occupied.

Thompson then told her the first-class lavatory was unoccupied and escorted her there, investigators said. Before she entered the bathroom, Thompson allegedly told her he needed to wash his hands and that the toilet seat was broken.

After he left, the teen entered the bathroom and saw red stickers on the underside of the toilet seat lid, which was in the open position, stating, 'INOPERATIVE CATERING EQUIPMENT', 'REMOVE FROM SERVICE' and 'SEAT BROKEN' handwritten in black ink on one of the stickers, according to court documents.

Beneath the stickers, Thompson had concealed his iPhone to record a video, investigators said. The girl used her phone to take a picture of the stickers and concealed iPhone before leaving. Thompson then immediately went back into the bathroom.

The girl told her parents, and her father confronted Thompson, who locked himself in the lavatory with his iPhone for three to five minutes before the flights descent, investigators said.

The minor's parents also informed other flight attendants and the captain was notified. The captain then contacted law enforcement on the ground.

When the flight landed, police said Thompson's phone may have been restored to factory settings while he was locked in the bathroom.

A search of Thompsons suitcase found 11 'INOPERATIVE CATERING EQUIPMENT' stickers, investigators said. A search of his iCloud account allegedly revealed four additional instances between January and August 2023 in which Thompson recorded a minor using the lavatory on an aircraft.

Police also found photos Thompson took of a nine-year-old unaccompanied minor on a flight from Charlotte to San Antonio on July 9.

He took close up photos of the girl asleep in her seat during the flight and a video of her buttocks as she exited the aircraft.

Thompson was arrested after one of his victims took a photo of the set up he created to film the girls using the bathroom

Police also found photos Thompson took of a nine-year-old unaccompanied minor sleeping and walking off the plane

The parents of one of Thompsons victims have filed a lawsuit against the flight attendant.

'It felt like we were living in a nightmare when the FBI showed up on our doorstep to tell us that our daughter had been secretly filmed by an American Airlines flight attendant. Since then, our daughter has struggled with fear and anxiety,' the girl's family told DailyMail.com in a statement.

'We are doing everything we can to support her during this traumatic time. An important part of our familys healing is making sure that the flight attendant and American Airlines are held accountable for what happened to our daughter. We hope that this lawsuit is the first step in making sure nothing like this ever happens to another family.'

The father of a 14-year-old girl who was secretly filmed in a plane bathroom confronted the male flight attendant accused of making the video.

The girl's father then 'ran into the back of the plane, and there was quite a kerfuffle back there,' attorney John Buric, representing the victim, told NewsNation.

'Minor A's father then engaged Thompson directly and demanded to see his phone,' reads the affidavit filed against the attendant.

'He saw the color drain out of Thompson's face. Thompson responded that he did not know what Minor A's father was talking about,' the affidavit continues.
The daughter of a Canadian woman who died after being 'trapped' in a hell hole hospital in Jamaica said she had 'no tests done' before she was flown home.

Kelly Beckerley-Murphy, 65, was hospitalized for eight days after falling sick on a vacation to Jamaica while her family tried desperately to have her flown home for treatment.

The family say her travel insurance company refused to fly her home for over a week, claiming there were no beds available in Ontario to receive her.

After Shannon contacted the media and local politicians, Kelly was finally flown home where doctors told her family she had suffered brain damage and would not recover. She died on April 25.

Kelly's daughter, Shannon Horner, said: 'Our family has been robbed of eight days we should have had with her, she didn't receive any proper treatment or have any tests done.'

While on the way to the hospital, Beckerley (pictured right) suffered from respiratory failure and cardiac arrest, her daughter Shannon Horner (pictured left) said

Kelly Beckerley-Murphy, 65, traveled to Jamaica for what was supposed to be a weeklong vacation with her best friend

Shannon said: 'No one from the travel agency nor the insurance company helped... we lost eight precious days we will never get back with her all because profits came before the life of my loved one.'

Kelly's health issues began shortly after she landed in Jamaica. She began to have difficulty breathing and was rushed by ambulance to a Montego Bay hospital.

On the way to the hospital she suffered respiratory failure and cardiac arrest.

She was resuscitated but remained unconscious in a hospital bed while she waited to be transported back home to St. Catharines.

She developed pneumonia, sepsis and a 'horrific bed sore,' according to her daughter. Shannon said she was 'trapped' in the hospital and 'didn't receive proper treatment'.

Her insurance provider, CAA Niagara, allegedly told her family that she could not be flown home because there were no beds available in Ontario to accommodate her.

After Shannon contacted journalists and local politicians a bed was found at St. Catharines hospital, where she was admitted on April 16.

Shannon said: 'We learned my mom suffered brain damage due to lack of oxygen from her cardiac arrest... our family then had to make the decision to take her off life support'.

Now Shannon is raising awareness about the insurance companies' failings, saying 'many families have gone through this but it usually goes unreported. This is a tragedy no one should have to go through.'

She added: 'We lost 8 precious days we will never get back with her all because profits came before he life of my loved one.

'This is a common occurrence that insurance companies say this all the time because they don't want to have to pay to get your loved one home.'

Beckerley tragically died surrounded by her family late on Thursday night at the local hospital

St Catharines Hospital in Niagara, Canada, where Kelly was transferred on her return home

Will McAleer, executive director of Travel Health Insurance Association of Canada (THIAC), said situations like Kelly's are far too common.

He said that most incidents go unreported when Canadians become sick and get stuck in foreign hospitals with no indication of when they can return home.

'We don't think that's an equitable level of accessibility that we would expect under universal health care,' he said.

St. Catharine's member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Jennie Stevens said she plans to take action after learning of Kelly's case.

'The end of life is such a crucial part of saying goodbye and healing with your family,' she said.
The French parliament on Thursday agreed to create a commission of inquiry to investigate sexual and gender-based violence in cinema and other cultural sectors after several recent allegations.

The National Assembly, or lower house, unanimously agreed to set up the commission demanded by actor Judith Godreche in a speech to the upper house, the Senate, in February.

The 52-year-old actor and director has become a key figure in France's MeToo movement since accusing directors Benoit Jacquot and Jacques Doillon of sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager. Both have denied the allegations.

All 52 lawmakers present for the vote approved the creation of the commission, watched by Godreche, who was present in the public gallery in the chamber.

'It's time to stop laying out the red carpet for abusers,' said Greens lawmaker Francesca Pasquini.

French actress Judith Godreche poses on the beach as part of the 49th edition of the American Film Festival in Deauville, northwestern France on September 3, 2023

Judith Godreche (pictured in 1992), filed a complaint for rape of a minor against the movie director Benoit Gachot, according to her lawyer on February 7, 2024

French director Benoit Jacquot looks on during a press conference for the film 'Eva' presented in competition during the 68th Berlinale film festival on February 17, 2018 in Berlin

French director Jacques Doillon (R) rests his head on the shoulder of his actress daughter Lou Doillon (L) during a photo call for their film 'Carrement a l'Ouest' (Totally Flaky) at the 54th International Cannes Film Festival, May 11, 2001

The new commission is to look into 'the condition of minors in the various sectors of cinema, television, theatre, fashion and advertising', as well as that of adults working in them, it said.

On the basis of Godreche's proposal, a parliamentary commission on culture decided to extend the scope of the inquiry to also include other cultural sectors.

It is to 'identify the mechanisms and failings that allow these potential abuses and violences', 'establish responsibilities' and make recommendations.

The parliament vote comes a day after actor Isild Le Besco, 41, said in an autobiography she was also 'raped' by Jacquot during a relationship that started when she was 16 but was not ready to press charges.

Godreche, by contrast, has filed a legal complaint against the prominent arthouse director, over alleged abuse that occurred during a relationship that began when she was 14 and he was 25 years her senior.

She has also formally accused Doillon of abusing her as a 15-year-old actress in a film he directed.

It comes as prosecutors confirmed French actor Gerard Depardieu will go on trial for sexual assault in October after police questioned him over recent claims made by two women - the latest in a litany of such charges.

The 75-year-old star, who has made more than 200 films and television series, was charged with rape in 2020 in a separate case and was forced to put his career on hold last autumn as allegations of sexual harassment and assault mounted against him. He denies any wrongdoing.

After police questioned Depardieu on Monday, the Paris prosecutor said Depardieu would face charges in October 2024 over the assaults allegedly committed in September 2021 during the filming of 'The Green Shutters' movie.

'Gerard Depardieu was given a summons to appear before the criminal court... for sexual assaults likely to have been committed in September 2021 to the detriment of two victims, on the set of the film 'The Green Shutters',' said a statement.

Earlier, a police source said Depardieu was to be questioned over allegations from two women that he assaulted them on film sets, one in 2021 and the other in 2014.

French screen legend Gerard Depardieu (pictured) will go on trial for sexual assault in October

The 75-year-old star, who has made more than 200 films and television series, was charged with rape in 2020 in a separate case and was forced to put his career on hold last autumn

He was released following the questioning, Depardieu's lawyer Christian Saint-Palais told reporters.

The first woman accuses Depardieu of assaulting her when she was a member of the crew on the 2022 feature film 'The Green Shutters'.

The set designer, who filed a formal complaint in February, told investigative website Mediapart that Depardieu grabbed her as she left the set in a private hotel in Paris.

She alleged he groped her 'waist and stomach, moving up to (her) breasts' and made obscene comments before his bodyguards removed him.

The woman's lawyer, Carine Durrieu-Diebolt, declined to provide AFP with further details.

The second woman has alleged Depardieu groped her 'all over' and made 'inappropriate' remarks while she was an assistant on the set of 2015 film 'Le magician et le Siamois' ('The Magician and the Siamese'), she told regional newspaper Le Courrier de l'Ouest.

Depardieu already faces a rape charge, as well as claims of assault from more than a dozen women - all of which he has strongly denied.
Residents of Los Angeles county have been advised not to swim or engage in water-based activities in the 'bacteria-infested' waters at 12 different beaches, even though they are not closed to the public.

The L.A. County Department of Health issued warnings about the high level of bacteria that has been detected in the water until they have given proper clearance.

'These warnings have been issued due to bacterial levels exceeding health standards when last tested,' the department said

Although the department has not specified what kind of bacteria has contaminated the water, Newsweek reports that no-swim warnings are often issued due to high levels of enterococcus, a drug-resistant strain of bacteria.

The advisories in place pertain to several beaches across southern California.

Residents of LA county have been advised not to swim at 12 different beaches

No-swim warnings are often issued due to high levels of enterococcus (pictured) that are indicative of present fecal matter

Picture: Map of all 12 beaches in LA County that have been issued a swimming advisory

In Malibu, the swimming area near the public restrooms at Leo Carrillo State Beach has an advisory. At Latigo Shore Drive, the area up and down the coast from the public access steps is also under watch.

While the Malibu Pier is open, the area 100 yards up and down the coast from the pier should be avoided.

The entire swim area of Las Flores Creek at Las Flores State Beach in Malibu has an advisory.

The Santa Monica Pier is open, but the area 100 yards up and down the coast from the pier carries a warning.

In Pedro, the entire swim area at Inner Cabrillo Beach has a swimming advisory.

For Puerco Beach, the area near the public access steps at Marie Canyon Storm may be contaminated, as is the area near the Puerco Canyon Storm Drain.

The entire swim area at the Sweetwater Canyon Storm Drain at Carbon Canyon Beach has a swimming advisory, as well as Castlerock Storm Drain at Topanga County Beach.

The area around the public restrooms at Malibu Lagoon at Surfrider Beach have a swim warning.

At Will Rogers State Park beach near Tower 18, the swimming area at Santa Monica Canyon Creek that leads into the ocean also has an advisory.

The areas affected include multiple beaches in Malibu and Santa Monica

Several state beaches and storm drains have also been affected

Enteroccoci live in the intestinal tracts of warm-blooded animals, including humans, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. High levels of enterococci indicate that fecal matter is preset.

Wastewater discharged from recreational boats, septic tank leaks, stormwater runoff, domestic animal and wildlife waste and wastewater treatment plant effluent can all contaminate lake basins.

Enterococcus is often the cause of a range of illnesses, including urinary tract infections, bacteremia, wound infections, and infective endocarditis. If left untreated, these ailments can worsen and become serious.
A New York firefighter has adopted a three-legged puppy he helped to save after she was hit by a car.

Buffalo Fire Department first responder Anthony Pulvino, 30, took in the vulnerable canine called Auburn after two teenagers found her injured on the street.

The teens brought her to Pulvino's station at Engine Co.19 last month. They said she'd been hit by a vehicle one block away near the intersection of Forest Ave and Grant.

Pulvino was the first firefighter they spoke with, and he quickly alerted the lieutenant and the other responders in his crew.

Auburn did not have a collar, and she suffered a leg injury along with grazing on her body.

Buffalo Fire Department first responder Anthony Pulvino, 30, took in the vulnerable canine called Auburn after two teenagers found her injured on the street

'She's great with kids. Great with other dogs. I have cats, too, and she's even good with them, but they don't really like her,' Pulvino said

The firefighters placed her inside a box with a pillow and took her to the emergency vet.

'One of her rear legs was a little messed up, but she didn't seem [to be] in too much pain,' Pulvino, who has been a firefighter for 2.5 years, told Fox News Digital.

'She did have a lot of road rash, so we treated her, kind of cleaned up her cuts.'

Pulvino said he had been considering getting a puppy for a while, and he felt an immediate bond with the rescued dog.

'I had told the guys, "I really want a puppy." And they said, "Yeah, you could bring her to the house any time",' he told Fox.

'I left my phone number (with the vet) and said if nobody claims her, I'd love to take her.'

A week later the puppy still had not been claimed, so the vets gave Pulvino the call he had been hoping for.

'She just kind of fell right into my hands,' he said.

Auburn was missing a leg when he picked her up. 'She fractured her back right leg,' Pulvino told Fox.

'But you'd never know it. She's doing great.'

'I may have adopted her, but my whole crew helped save her,' Anthony Pulvino said

The teens brought her to Pulvino's station at Engine Co.19 last month. They said she'd been hit by a vehicle one block away near the intersection of Forest and Grant

Pulvino revealed that he named the puppy Auburn because his crew had attended a fire on Auburn and West during the same shift that they saved her.

He brings Auburn to work and the teenagers who found her also came back to check on her.

Along with gaining the affections of the firefighters, Auburn has also become somewhat of a local celebrity.

'When I'm walking down the street, everybody recognizes her now,' Pulvino said.

'She's great with kids. Great with other dogs. I have cats, too, and she's even good with them, but they don't really like her.'

'I may have adopted her, but my whole crew helped save her,' he added.

'The fire department's there to help people, and we love it,' he said.

'If an animal is hurt, people should call animal control. But if they don't have anywhere else to go at that moment, we'll help them figure it out from there.'
A 35-year-old Louisiana teacher has been charged with engaging in inappropriate relationships with teenage boys.

Alexa Wingerter, 35, was arrested on Tuesday morning in connection with allegations of sexual relationships with students at Slidell High School, where she taught.

An investigation was launched in early March after complaints were made alleging that Wingerter was having 'inappropriate relationships' with male students.

She sent sexual photographs and messages over text and various social media sites, according to Slidell police.

After looking into the allegations, police found that Wingerter was involved in an inappropriate and sexual relationship was at least one 18-year-old male student - who she taught.

Alexa Wingerter, 35, was arrested on Tuesday morning in connection with allegations of sexual relationships with students at Slidell High School, where she taught

An investigation was launched in early March after complaints were made alleging that Wingerter was having 'inappropriate relationships' with male students

Pictured: Slidell High School in Louisiana, where Wingerter taught

Police confirmed that the 35-year-old Slidell woman 'acted in the capacity of the student's educator,' according to WDSU.

On top of engaging in sexual relationships with her students - Wingerter was also purchasing alcohol for her students at local bars in Slidell, police found.

She was arrested on suspicion of prohibited sexual conduct between an educator and student as well as unlawfully purchasing alcoholic beverages on behalf on an underaged person.

Social media shows that Wingerter appeared to be married to Philip Wingerter - with whom she shared at least two young children.

The pair resided at a home in Slidell, which sits in Saint Tammany County.

Wingerter's Linkedin suggests that she worked as a business specialist for a company called Netchex in Mandeville, Louisiana, so it is unclear in what capacity she was an educator for Slidell High School.

The St. Tammany School Board issued a statement in regards to the teacher arrest: 'The safety and well-being of our students is our top priority. Our district has responded appropriately and is fully cooperating with the Slidell Police Department in their investigation.

Social media shows that Wingerter appeared to be married to Philip Wingerter - with whom she shared at least two young children. She is pictured here in old Facebook posts

'Any allegations of inappropriate conduct are taken very seriously and are reported directly to law enforcement officials. We have strict policies in place to ensure that any behavior compromising the safety of our students is not tolerated.

'We will continue to prioritize the safety of our students above all else,' Superintendent Frank Jabbia wrote.

Police have said the investigation is ongoing.

Dozens of female teachers have been arrested this year across the nation for sex crimes involving students - as the seeming number of 'cougars in the classroom' continues to grow.

A long line of female teachers allegedly involved with youngsters across the country dominates headlines.

DailyMail.com discovered that 25 female teachers had been arrested in 16 states in only the last 12 months - and it is feared to be merely the tip of the iceberg as there appears to be no centralized data collection to track this disturbing trend.

A new DailyMail.com investigation has revealed that at least 25 female teachers across 16 states have been arrested for sex crimes in the last year, I think back to those sessions.

In the last month, married New Jersey teacher Jessica Sawicki, 37, was arrested after cops found her half-naked in the back seat of a teen's car at a wildlife center. The mother-of-two allegedly admitted to police she and the student had 'unprotected' sex at least five times.

In Nebraska, 45-year-old Erin Ward was arrested after being caught naked in the backseat with a teen boy. The substitute teacher is married to a Department of Defense official and was quickly arrested at the scene by police.

The typical physical profile of a female sex predator is a caucasian woman in her 30s, according to new research.

Many of the accused female teachers charged in the last year are married and one was even named teacher of the year.

The teachers are enticing students with sexually-charged texts, nude photos and videos, before and during physical encounters, police say.

Leading child psychologist Dr. Michael Oberschneider, of Ashburn Psychological Services, said social media influence has contributed to the abuse dynamic and rise in number of cases.

'Social media can serve to blur the lines between the student-teacher relationship, which can in turn open the doors to more inappropriate outcomes,' he said.

He explained that students have more access to their teachers through various online formats, which can lead to inappropriate communication and even inappropriate relationships of a sexual nature.

'As we've seen in the news, some female teachers are choosing to put out sexually focused content on sites like OnlyFans, Loyalfans, Fansly and other similar platforms that students can then see and be part of,' Oberschneider explained.

He said even Instagram, and other social media platforms, allow students to see, and to possibly interact with, their teacher in more personal or intimate ways.
A high-speed camera has captured the chilling moment four UFOs were spotted above the 'cursed' Skinwalker Ranch in northeastern Utah.

Never-before-seen footage has exposed a possible 'portal' on the haunted ranch, where the team has witnessed a mutilated cow who died under mysterious circumstances.

The video, released by The History Channel in a new episode of 'The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch,' features a team of scientists investigating the 512-acre ranch, long known for its paranormal and UFO-related activities.

Among the eerie sightings, the team observed what appeared to be a possible portal on the ranch.

During the investigation, Erik and Travis, two scientists on the team, were amazed as they observed four UFO's on the high-speed camera.

'Now, one of the things that stands out - Look, there's something,' Erik, a scientist on the team said. 'It looks like there's something under it. Moving with it.'

A high-speed camera has captured the chilling moment four UFOs are spotted above the 'cursed' 'Skinwalker Ranch' in northeastern Utah

The team observed four unidentified flying object - and what appeared to be a possible portal on the ranch

Travis, another scientist, chimed in: 'And then what's this thing at the bottom coming up?'

'You see what's happening here? Yeah, you got three things on the camera ... Four things! There's one over here,' Erik added.

The four unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), were described as rectangular with dark tops and light bottoms, moving swiftly and independently of each other - defying typical aircraft movements.

'There's something here. And as you let it move forward, you can see they're moving. And they're not necessarily moving together,' Travis said.

'Right - but they're moving at about., said Erik. 'So we've got four things. It never changes its appearance. It always seems to be this rectangular, dark-on-top, light-on-bottom.'

'I don't see anything like wings flapping around at all. And it's not moving like an aircraft but something but much faster.'

Travis noted the sudden appearance of one UFO directly above a triangular airspace, coinciding with previous observations of strange circular patterns detected by advanced technology on the ranch.

'It's speeding way up,' Erik added. 'And it seems to be diving. But that's not all it's gonna do.'

'That thing is basically in the triangle airspace.'

Never-before-seen footage exposes a possible portal on the haunted ranch, where the team has witnessed a mutilated cow who died under mysterious circumstance

The four unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), were described as rectangular with dark tops and light bottoms, moving swiftly and independently of each other - defying typical aircraft movements

The history of Skinwalker Ranch is steeped in mystery. It's been called a supernatural place - others say it's 'cursed'

Travis noted the sudden appearance of one UFO directly above a triangular airspace, coinciding with previous observations of strange circular patterns detected by advanced technology on the ranch

'So it came from, you know, the middle of nowhere,' Travis said. 'swoops in, and then turns back.'

'Below cloud level and apparently down. Like it's turning to make a final approach here, like it's coming in for a landing or something.'

'Seeing this UAP suddenly appear and then maneuver directly above the triangle was incredible,' Travis said.

'...that's right where Jim Royston's lidar drone detected a perfectly circular ring with a black void in the center that we've speculated could be related to a wormhole or portal.'

'Could this UAP appearing at that location be evidence that just might confirm our suspicions and maybe validate all the legends we've heard about portals on Skinwalker Ranch?'

This discovery adds to the mystique surrounding Skinwalker Ranch, where past events have included encounters with mutilated cattle and other unexplained phenomena.

This discovery adds to the mystique surrounding Skinwalker Ranch, where past events have included encounters with mutilated cattle and other unexplained phenomena

Rancher Terry Sherman, who bought the property in the 90's became so spooked that he sold the property and moved his family of four away. Sherman found several heads of his cattle mutilated after purchasing the land in 1996

The history of Skinwalker Ranch is steeped in mystery. It's been called a supernatural place - others say it's 'cursed.'

Rancher Terry Sherman, who bought the property in the 90's became so spooked that he sold the property and moved his family of four away.

Sherman found several heads of his cattle mutilated after purchasing the land in 1996.

Additionally, Sherman witnessed unexplainable encounters, one in which Sherman saw a wolf-like creature three times the size of a normal wolf.

Another researcher saw an bizarre creature with piercing yellow eyes surveilling him from a tree, among other mysterious instances.

The ranch later became the focus of Pentagon investigations into UFOs through programs like the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP).

In 2020, a bombshell report in Popular Mechanics describes the Pentagon's UFO program on 'Skinwalker Ranch.'

Using black-budget money under the auspices of the Defense Intelligence Agency, in 2008 AATIP contracted private space technology company Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies (BAASS) to provide the government with technical reports and research into UFOs, according to the magazine.

The ranch later became the focus of Pentagon investigations into UFOs through programs like the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP)

BAASS controlled 'Skinwalker Ranch' in Utah - which the company proposed as a 'possible laboratory for studying other intelligences and possible interdimensional phenomena.'

Two previously unreleased technical reports submitted through the contract were published in full or in part by Popular Mechanics, revealing research into the medical effects of contact with anomalous flying objects and the frequency of unexplained phenomenon near nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile silos.

In 2008, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) awarded a $10 million contract to BAASS under a contracting program known as the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP).

A lifelong enthusiast of space travel and the paranormal, Bigelow purchases the Skinwalker Ranch, after various strange and paranormal events were reported there.

Bigelow proposed to use the ranch to study paranormal phenomenon, and a visit to the ranch by a DIA scientist in 2007 may have inspired the creation of the AATIP, according to Popular Mechanics.

Former AAWSAP contractor and astrophysicist Eric Davis shared what colleagues had told him of the DIA scientist's experience in an interview with researcher Joe Murgia.

A lifelong enthusiast of space travel and the paranormal, Bigelow (pictured left next to NASA astronaut Mike Gernhardt) purchased the Skinwalker Ranch, after various strange and paranormal events were reported there

Bigelow proposed to use the ranch to study paranormal phenomenon, and a visit to the ranch by a DIA scientist in 2007 may have inspired the creation of the AATIP

'In the living room of the former NIDS double wide observation trailer/staff quarters. A 3D object appeared in mid-air in front of him and changed shape like a changing topological figure. It went from pretzel-shaped to Mobius strip shaped. It was 3D and multi-colored. Then it disappeared,' he said.

According to former Senator Harry Reid, whatever happened at Skinwalker was enough to convince the DIA to seriously investigate paranormal and UFO phenomena.

'Something should be done about this. Somebody should study it.' I was convinced he was right,' Reid told New York Magazine.

A 2009 BAASS report commissioned by the Pentagon mentions Skinwalker Ranch in Utah as a 'possible laboratory for studying other intelligences and possible interdimensional phenomena.'

In 2016, Bigelow sold Skinwalker Ranch for $4.5 million to 'Adamantium Holdings', a shell corporation whose true owners have never been traced.

After this sale, all roads leading to the ranch were blocked, the perimeter was secured with cameras and barbed wire, and signs went up warning strangers not to approach.

Anyone who approached the ranch after reported being immediately confronted by guards and ordered to leave.
Conservatives have reacted angrily to revelations that devil worshipers plan to send 'Ministers of Satan' into Oklahoma schools to guide students under a new GOP law.

The outrage comes amid the passage of a senate bill that would allow volunteer chaplains in Sooner State schools, subject to background checks.

The Satanic Temple (TST), a decade-old religious and political group, says the bill would let them send members into schools and offer 'compassionate guidance to students.'

State Superintendent Ryan Walters says satanists 'are not welcome in schools, but they are welcome to go to hell.'

Lucien Greaves, co-founder of the Salem-based Satanic Temple, says the devil has been misunderstood

State Superintendent Ryan Walters says the satanists should 'go to hell'

'In Oklahoma, we have conservative values,' the Republican told DailyMail.com.

'President Joe Biden and the National Education Association want Christianity out of the classroom and are advocating for our kids to have zero morality and faith.'

Poll Should satanists have the same rights as other faiths? Yes No Not sure Should satanists have the same rights as other faiths? Yes 107 votes

No 200 votes

Not sure 10 votes Now share your opinion





Johnny Davis, of the National School Chaplain Association, said satanists were 'spreading lies' as they did not have any qualified chaplains on their books.

'The Satanic Temple is using threats by means of trying to hijack the term 'chaplain' for their own ideological and political agendas,' Davis told DailyMail.com.

Members are 'trying to hold children's mental and spiritual health hostage,' he added.

Senate Bill 36 would allow Oklahoma's public school to welcome faith-based chaplains as hired staff or as volunteers to support students.

They would be subject to background checks.

It passed the House by a 54-37 vote on April 26 and an amended version is back with senators.

Advocates of the bill say it would boost the number of chaplains in schools who could support students during a youth mental health crisis.

School chaplain Rev. Dominic Bouck performs an Ash Wednesday ceremony in North Dakota in 2019

A meeting of the National School Chaplain Association, which says satanists are hijacking the term 'chaplain' for their own agenda

Satanists view Satan as a literary figure rather than the literal devil found in the Bible, says the group's co-founder

If adopted by the Senate and signed by Gov Kevin Stitt, it would become effective on November 1.

The text uses universal language and does not state which groups can volunteer chaplains.

A school board that turned down a Satanic Temple volunteer, but accepted Christians, could be slapped with a First Amendment discrimination suit, says House Democrat Jared Deck.

'This is the logical end to poorly crafted legislation,' Deck told DailyMail.com.

'While Oklahoma public schools have a dearth of both mental health and career counselors, granting more uncertified people access to children is not a solution.'

TST earlier this month announced plans to send members into Oklahoma schools under the new chaplain law.

The group is recognized by the federal government as a tax-exempt church.

Rachel Chambliss, the satanists' operations chief, said the law offered her members an 'unprecedented opportunity for our Ministers of Satan to join the state workforce.'

'We are committed to offering compassionate guidance to students who come to us so that we can help make positive changes,' she added.

The Satanic Temple is headquartered in Salem, Massachusetts, but has members across the US and internationally

The Satanic Temple sponsors the 'After School Satan Club,' in Saucon Valley, Pennsylvania

Lilith Starr, head of the Satanic Temple chapter in Seattle, Washington

Her chaplains should be 'afforded equal opportunities to participate in this program,' she said.

Once in schools, they would offer 'compassionate guidance to students who come to us so that we can help make positive changes in their lives,' she said.

They would be 'listening to their needs and providing support,' she added.

Texas passed a similar bill about volunteer chaplains last year, and lawmakers in Utah are currently debating another.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed another school chaplain bill last month, but insisted it would not lead to satanists in classrooms.

'Some have said that if you do a school chaplain program, that somehow you're going to have satanists running around in all our schools,' DeSantis said.

'We're not playing those games in Florida,' he added, adding that satanism was 'not a religion. That is not qualifying to be able to participate in this.'

The Satanic temple was founded by Lucien Greaves and others in 2013 and has its headquarters in Salem, Massachusetts.

Greaves has previously said that satanism is misunderstood by American society.

Satanists view Satan as a literary figure representing an eternal struggle against authoritarianism, rather than the literal devil found in the Bible, he says.
Stormy Daniels' lawyer was scared Michael Cohen was going to 'kill himself' when he didn't get a job in the Trump administration after the 2016 election, the hush money trial heard on Thursday.

Keith Davidson told the court he was 'concerned' for Cohen's welfare during a phone call in which the self-described 'fixer' revealed he wasn't being chosen as Trump's Attorney General or Chief of Staff.

'Can you f****** believe Im not going to Washington after everything Ive done for that f****** guy?, Cohen told Davidson.

'I cant believe Im not going to Washington. Ive saved that guys a** so many times you dont even know.'

Lawyer Keith Davidson, who represented former Playboy model Karen McDougal, shows correspondence with former National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard in regards to the sale of McDougal's story of an alleged affair with former U.S. President Donald Trump, during Trump's criminal trial on charges that he falsified business records to conceal money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, in Manhattan state court in New York City, U.S. April 30, 2024 in this courtroom sketch

Michael Cohen, Trump's former 'fixer', was angry at not getting a job in his administration, the court heard

Trump communications aide Margo Martin heads to court for the trial

Cohen was referring to the hush money deal he made with Davidson to keep Daniels initially going public with allegations of an affair with Trump.

Davidson detailed the tortured process he went through where Cohen would go ballistic every time Daniels made a TV appearance.

The lawyer was also questioned about a statement he released denying Daniels and Trump had an affair.

Davidson squirmed on the stand when asked about a text he sent National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard in the early hours of November 9th 2016, the night of the election.

Davidson wrote: What have we done.

Speaking to the jury, Davidson said: This was gallows humor.

'On election night as the results were coming in. It was a surprise amongst the broadcasters and others that Donald Trump was leading in the polls and that there was a growing sense folks were about ready to call the election.

'There was an understanding our efforts may have in some way assisted the presidential campaign of Donald Trump.'

The court heard that in a text Howard replied: Oh my god

Lawyer Keith Davidson, who represented former Playboy model Karen McDougal, is questioned during former U.S. President Donald Trump's criminal trial on charges that he falsified business records to conceal money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, in Manhattan state court in New York City, U.S. May 2, 2024 in this courtroom sketch

Former U.S. President Donald Trump awaits the start of proceedings in his criminal trial at the New York State Supreme Court in New York, U.S. May 2, 2024

Trump's Deputy Communications chief Margo Martin and Eric Trump listen as former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks outside of the courtroom

Davidson also represented Playboy model Karen McDougal who claimed to have had an affair with Trump.

The lawyer told the jury that Cohen called him fairly frequently after the election.

During one call in mid December on a Saturday morning, Cohen called him seeming very despondent and saddened.

Davidson said: 'He was calling me and he told me he was depressed, he used very colorful language about that stage of his life.

Trumps lawyer Emil Bove asked Davidson about the December 2016 conversation with Cohen.

Bove asked if Davidson was concerned for Cohens welfare after he got off the phone.

Davidson said: I thought he was going to kill himself.

Stormy Daniels, American pornographic film actress and director, at Oxford Union, Oxford, England, on May 24, 202

Former President Donald Trump talks to the media outside Manhattan Criminal Court, Thursday, May 2 2024

According to Davidson, Cohen was upset because he wasnt getting a job in the Trump administration

Bove asked if Cohen thought he might become Trumps chief of staff. Davidson replied that this job came up amongst others.

Bove asked if Cohen thought that at one point he was going to be Attorney General

Davidson replied: Thats true.
A Jewish university has been flooded with applications amid the widespread anti-Israel protests taking place on Ivy League campuses across the country.

The private Orthodox Jewish institution Yeshiva University, with four locations in New York, has seen a a significant increase in enrollment, due to Jew hatred and a rise in antisemitic hate crimes driven by the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

The university was already at capacity before the violent demonstrations began at NYU and Columbia, the epicenter of pro-Palestinian protests, but they opened their doors to students and faculty that felt unsafe in their current environment.

Currently, the university has seen a 53 percent increase in student transfer applications from from Yale, Cornell and Columbia. One former student from Cornell who recently transferred, told Fox Business, he spent his time at university 'fighting Jewish hate.'

Yeshiva had to lease additional buildings for student housing this semester with more residence accommodations needed for the fall.

A student walking along the campus of Yeshiva University

NEW YORK: Pro-Palestinian supporters climb a fence during demonstrations at The City College Of New York and Columbia on Tuesday that prompted police interference

NEW YORK: Tents were placed across the main concourse at Columbia by student protestors as dozens of police swarmed the campus

Students aren't the only groups fleeing these prominent institutions - with many educators following suit.

A professor from MIT left to join the faculty at Yeshiva University, due partly to the mismanagement of antisemitism on campus.

Last week, Yeshiva President Rabbi Ari Berman reinstated their transfer portal to undergraduate students.

Part of the expansion at the university include new faculty positions that will be added that were based on inquiries from other academics from other elite universities, who were looking for a school that shares the same values as their own.

Protestors wave Palestinian flags on the West Lawn of Columbia University Tuesday in New York, the epicenter of pro-Palestinian protests that have erupted at US colleges

CALIFORNIA: At the UCLA campus police apprehend a protestor during a pro-Palestinian rally

Rabbi Berman said how disheartened he was by the absence of leadership at colleges amid the October 7 terror attack.

He questioned 'how presidents of universities were not able to call out what was so obvious, which is that Hamas is a terrorist organization.'

He formed Universities United Against Terrorism, a coalition of higher education leaders in the United States, with more than 100 institutions on board - including public and private, faith-based and historically black colleges.

'They've been coddled, they've been acting inappropriately and scaring their fellow Jewish students since Oct. 7,' Berman said.

'And the college campuses that haven't educated the truth about the clear and unambiguous  a sense of Hamas being a terrorist organization  this is a fight against people who represent the greatest evil that has been committed to the Jewish people since the Holocaust.'

Berman spoke of his peers fellow university presidents that he said are 'good people' who are committed to creating a safe environment for all students.

He added that despite the fact enrollment has expanded greatly at Yeshiva, they are 'unable to take every Jew in this country.'
A tanker truck carrying thousands of gallons of gasoline crashed into a tractor-trailer on I-95 in Connecticut on Thursday, causing a massive fireball to erupt and engulf the overpass above.

The fiery crash happened in Norwalk near exit 15 at around 5am, leading to both sides of the major east coast highway being shut down down by emergency personnel that arrived at the scene, the Hartford Courant reported.

The tanker truck, the tractor-trailer and a passenger vehicle got wrapped up in the accident, though nobody was seriously injured in what appeared to be devastating collision, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont said in a press conference.

Connecticut State Police put out a statement at noon Thursday urging drivers to 'avoid non-essential travel in the Norwalk area.'

Local firefighters responded first, putting out the flaming vehicles. Crews from Connecticut's Department of Transportation, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and state energy provider Eversource also arrived to the scene to offer assistance.

Fire crews arrive on the scene to put out the truck which is still burning strong

A screen cap from a video posted by Governor Ned Lamont showing the towering fire caused by a collision on I-95 in Norwalk, Connecticut

Given the cleanup efforts and the damage assessments that still in the process of being carried out, Lamont advised travelers to take different roads, including I-84 or I-87.

'I know what an incredible inconvenience this is for people,' Lamont said, adding that he had briefed U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg on the developing situation this morning. 'And all I can ask you to do is stay away from that area the best you can. The traffic jams are horrendous.'

Buttigieg also released a statement this morning about four hours following the crash, telling drivers to listen to local authorities who may have to divert them away from the collision site.

'Our highways team is working closely with Connecticut's DOT on the tanker fire that has closed I-95 in Norwalk,' Buttigieg wrote on X.

He added: 'Please heed local authorities on detours and avoid the area if possible. Thank you to the first responders who are dealing with the fire and keeping other drivers safe.'

The bridge above sustained fire damage, according to officials, but remains safe

The aftermath of the crash with the remains of the tanker truck pictured underneath the smoldering overpass

Updates are being provided to locals who are told to avoid the area

Paul Rizzo, bureau chief of highway operations for the Connecticut DOT, said during the press conference that detours had already been set up on I-95 to steer people away from the incident.

Another DOT official said the bridge that sustained fire damage as a result of the crash was 'stable' and that the surrounding area was 'safe.'

'I just want to stress that the bridge is stable,' said Scott Hill, bureau chief of Engineering and Construction at the DOT, adding, 'There is damage to the bridge, so I want to make sure everybody knows that...but its not a collapse issue and the area is safe.'

Hill explained that the extremely high temperatures the inferno gave off could have deformed the steel in the bride, which is why further investigation by an engineer is needed.

Lamont said Connecticut officials would have an update for the public by the early afternoon about when the portion of I-95 affected by this incident can reopen.

There have been no updates as of publication.
Kim Jong Un takes time each year to select 25 virgin girls to entertain him personally in a disturbing 'pleasure squad', a North Korean defector has claimed.

Yeonmi Park, 30, alleged that officials 'visit every classroom and... even go to school-yards in case they missed someone that was pretty' in their horrifying searches for young women, according to The Star.

After undergoing medical examinations to check they are still virgins, the women then 'have to learn how to please these menthat's their only goal,' she said.

According to the outspoken YouTuber, Kim's officials select women based on social status and attractiveness, reserving those deemed the most attractive for the despot himself, with 'less stunning members... ordered to cater to the needs of lower-ranking generals and politicians'.

With rare insight, she claimed the 'Pleasure Squad' is broken into three divisions: one specialising in giving massages, another in entertaining through song and dance, and a third prepared to be 'sexually intimate with the dictator, and other men'.

Ms Park fled the regime as a teenager and was allegedly human trafficked in China before 'escaping hell' to reach America, where she has found success through her memoir and podcast appearances, often comparing life in the 'Hermit Kingdom' to the US.

Ms Park has shared tall stories of life in North Korea since defecting as a child

Ms Park claims she was fortunate to avoid selection for Kim's harem due to her 'family status', suggesting 'they eliminate any girls with family members that have escaped from North Korea or have relatives in South Korea or other countries'.

But she said for many, life in North Korea is so dire that parents will happily allow their daughters to be recruited in the hope they might enjoy a better quality of life.

The defector, who has amassed more than one million subscribers on YouTube with her tales of life inside the dictatorship, claimed that the luxury lifestyle is often short-lived, with women cast out when they reach their mid-twenties.

Some will be married off to Kim's personal bodyguards, she claimed, adding that 'there are rumours' that the leader's 'wife was originally in the Pleasure Squad'.

Ms Park claimed the system had evolved as a family tradition, with the incumbent leader preferring more 'slender', taller and 'western-looking' women while his father, Kim Jong-Il had a penchant for round-faced women who would not dwarf him, standing at just 5ft 2".

Kim Il-Sung, father to Jong-Il, 'had a more traditional taste in women', meanwhile, with his own group called the Pochonbo Electronic Ensemble, Ms Park said.

Little is known about life inside North Korea, with even fewer details leaked about the alleged 'Pleasure Squads'.

In 2010, one defector told Marie Claire magazine that she was just 15 when two men in uniforms took her from her classroom at school without warning.

Mi-Hyang claimed they made a record of her background, in line with Ms Park's account, and asked her if she had had sex before.

After passing their tests, she said she was expected to spend a decade with Kim Jong-Il as part of his Kippumjo, or Pleasure Squad.

She claimed she was not allowed to speak to her family during that time and knew that she would be executed if she tried to escape.

Mi-Hyang maintained that Kim Jong-Il never made sexual advances on her as a teenager, but would hold her hand.

She was convinced had she stayed in the role through to adulthood, he would have.

Critics have cast doubt on stories of life inside North Korea as espoused by Ms Park since her rise to fame as a conservative, or 'heterodox', voice in the United States.

Park brushed off criticism in an interview with Megyn Kelly last year, as reported by the Washington Post, before Kelly claimed to have fact-checked stories retold by Ms Park.

North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (C) taking part in a red carpeted ceremony to mark the completion of the second phase of a 10,000-unit housing development in Pyongyang

Ms Park (pictured with Joe Rogan) has become a conservative voice in the US since her escape

Jay Song, a University of Melbourne professor of Korean studies, told the Washington Post Ms Park had been 'very enterprising' in her stories but felt she was 'really misrepresenting the entire community' of defectors.

Ann Jolley, writing in The Diplomat, warned of 'serious inconsistencies' within her stories. Park admitted her English skills and imperfect childhood memories may have led to some errors in her recollection.

Ms Park previously told how she was sold as a sex slave in China for $200 while trying to escape North Korea as a child.

In 2022, she officially became a U.S. citizen, eight years after her family moved to the States.

She attended Columbia University and in her 2015 memoir compared the environment to that of North Korea, assessing that students were 'brainwashed like North Korean children are'.
The four BBC news presenters taking legal action against the broadcaster have suffered a partial defeat after a judge threw out the equal pay element of their case.

Martine Croxall, 55, Karin Giannone, 50, Kasia Madera, 48, and Annita McVeigh, 55, are all taking action against the corporation when they lost their roles after a 'rigged' recruitment exercise.

As part of a bigger series claims against the BBC, the four women believed they have not been paid equally compared with their male counterparts since February 2020.

They claim there was a gap of about 36,000 a year in pensionable salary as of February 2023.

But the BBC disagreed that this equal pay part of their claim should be included at the full hearing next year.

The four presenters said they remain committed to seeking equal pay, claiming the BBC lawyers had relied on a novel argument to stop the claims going ahead.

Karin Giannone, Martine Croxall, Kasia Madera and Annita McVeigh arriving at the Central London Employment Tribunal on May 2

Ms Croxall (pictured) and Ms McVeigh, who are both 55, plus Ms Madera, 49, allege discrimination on the grounds of age, sex, being a union member and wages

Judge Sarah Goodman 'dismissed' this part of the women's case because the women had already previously agreed equal pay settlements.

Lawyers for the BBC had described the situation as being like seeking a 'second bite of the cherry on the same set of facts'.

But the majority of the claims made by the women will be included in the full three-week tribunal which will begin next March.

They are also accusing the corporation of age and sex discrimination over the way it handled the recruitment process for chief presenter roles, as well as discrimination about trade union activities.

The chief presenter positions were subject to a selection process after the BBC merged its domestic and international news channels.

The London Central Employment Tribunal was told on Wednesday how the four women were taken off air last year after missing out on top jobs.

Today a BBC spokesman welcomed the tribunal's decision to dismiss the equal pay claims ahead of the full hearing.

The four presenters said they remain committed to seeking equal pay, claiming the BBC lawyers had relied on a novel argument to stop the claims going ahead

All the journalists are expected to give evidence during their full employment tribunal against the BBC, which was set for three weeks from March 17 next year

They said: 'We are pleased with the result and that the tribunal has accepted our position. We will not be commenting further at this stage.'

BBC presenters Ms Giannone, Ms Madera, Ms McVeigh and Ms Croxall also issued a statement following the judge's decision.

It said: 'We are pleased the tribunal has agreed our four discrimination claims should be heard together, claims the BBCs lawyers tried to split, which would have necessitated eight hearings at great additional expense to the licence fee payer.

'We remain committed to seeking equal pay despite the BBCs lawyers relying on a novel argument to prevent our claims progressing.

'We await the judge's written ruling, to which we will give further consideration.'

The women have previously made equal pay claims, which they believe in part explains why the BBC treated them the way it did.

The hearing had been told that news presenter Matthew Amroliwala was being used in the case as the male 'comparator'. But the BBC contests the claim he should be regarded as an equivalent male colleague.

Ms Croxall told the employment tribunal this week that the corporation 'grinds you down - it breaks you' on pay, adding: 'That's why I'm here.'

Speaking at the hearing in London on Wednesday, Ms Croxall, who revealed she was paid 139,000 a year and had been through three pay disputes with management, claimed discrimination was 'baked in' to the BBC's pay structures.

All the journalists are expected to give evidence during their full employment tribunal against the BBC, which was set for three weeks from March 17 next year.

Ms Croxall and Ms McVeigh, who are both 55, plus Ms Madera, 49, allege discrimination on the grounds of age, sex, being a union member and wages.

Ms Giannone, 50, alleges discrimination based on age, sex and wages.

The women were also given the go-ahead to have their cases heard jointly.

The women maintain the selection process was predetermined, claiming the corporation already knew who it wanted.

When they challenged the process, the women claimed they lost jobs and were off air for a year.

In their witness statements, which appear similar, they said: 'Four of us have been demoted, three are facing a sizeable pay cut, with a fourth having had her pay cut for half of her job. No men and no women younger than us suffered these detriments.'

BBC News presenter Martine Croxall (pictured) when she became emotional during a broadcast about Prince Philip's death in April 2021) has been off air since March last year

(From left) Kaisa Madera, Geeta Guru-Murthy, Annita McVeigh, Karin Giannone and Martine Croxall pictured enjoying a drink together on April 5 last year

Ms Croxall's original claim form alleged that just ahead of the July 2022 announcement on the reorganisation of the news operation, the BBC's channels manager Jess Brammar privately assured four other chief presenters - two men and two younger women - that their jobs were safe.

The statement claims discrimination on the grounds of age and sex. Ms Croxall insisted they all suffered harassment with a 'hostile, degrading, intimidating environment in the workplace' which caused ill health and reputational damage.

Ms Croxall, who has been with the BBC since 1991, also said: 'This was because of a sham recruitment exercise where our jobs were closed even though the redundancies were not genuine as the work still exists.'

Her written statement had added: 'A whistleblower statement will show recruitment in Jan 2023 of BBC News chief presenters was rigged. This led to the five of us losing our jobs and being kept off air for a year when we challenged the process.'

The BBC has said the application process was rigorous and fair and it is understood that its position is that it complied with equal pay legislation.

The corporation is also thought to be confident that it applied a rigorous and fair recruitment process and that all managers conducted that process properly.

The ruling means next year's tribunal will not include the equal pay claims.
Maddy Baloy, a TikToker who captured the hearts of millions while documenting her life with terminal cancer online, has died at the age of 26.

The Florida kindergarten teacher, who posted candid videos while ticking off her bucket list dreams including dining with Gordon Ramsay at his Miami restaurant, died Wednesday night, her fiance said.

'Madison passed away peacefully last night,' her partner Louis Risher told PEOPLE in a statement on Thursday, adding that she was 'surrounded with love.'

'She is so special,' Risher said. 'I turned 27 yesterday, actually. I was holding her hand all day and that's all I needed.'

Baloy, from Tampa, started suffering stomach issues in the summer of 2022, and she was later diagnosed with stage four colon cancer after vomiting blood.

Madison Baloy, from Tampa, Florida, was diagnosed with stage-four colon cancer after going to the ER for what she thought was a common stomach bug

Chef Gordon Ramsay helped her dreams come true by flying her out to his restaurant and cooking for her after she revealed it was a bucket list aspiration

According to the American Cancer Society , a colostomy is an opening made during surgery in the abdominal wall in the belly. A colostomy changes the way your body passes stool

But the 26-year-old stayed positive through the harrowing struggle by sharing her powerful journey on social media, attracting hundreds of thousands of followers.

In her final TikTok posted in March from Japan, she showed viewers internal photographs of tumors in various parts of her body.

She went on to explain that she was on her dream vacation in Kyoto but the weather was so cold she had been 'shivering', so she wanted to face the challenge of taking a bath with her colostomy bag.

'Hi my name is Madison and I have stage four terminal cancer, and I haven't taken a bath in a year,' she said.

'My cancer is in my large intestine, my small intestine, my uterus, my ovaries, basically the entire lower half of my body is filled up with cancer. Because of that, I had to have an emergency surgery to receive a colostomy [bag].'

As tears filled her eyes, she added: 'The only thing that I can think of is how amazing a bath would feel. This house happens to have the most beautiful bath that I've ever seen. But because I have a colostomy, I haven't taken a bath in a year.'

Baloy noted that after she had her colostomy, she never imagined she would take a bath again because it would be too 'messy.'

'But I'm in Japan for a very limited amount of time. I'm here on Earth for a very limited amount of time, and I don't want to be afraid to take a bath. So, come take a bath with me,' she said as tears fell down her face.

The video cut to a clip of her in a bubble bath as she smiled from ear-to-ear.

The 26-year-old noted that after she had her colostomy, she never imagined she would take a bath again because it would be too 'messy'

According to the American Cancer Society , a colostomy is an opening made during surgery in the abdominal wall in the belly. A colostomy changes the way your body passes stool (Madison's colostomy bag shown)

Madison has also given viewers a look at her life after being diagnosed, with her most recently sharing her excitement at being able to bathe after a year

As she sat in the bath, she said: 'I hope, in your life, you get to take a thousand baths

Following her diagnosis, Baloy made her first cancer TikTok to share the bucket list which she was in 'a hurry to finish'.

Coming in at number one, Madison said she wanted to 'see everything.'

She also revealed that she wanted to party in a DJ booth, learn how to roll a joint, have a wedding, get a tattoo with her grandma, sleep under a willow tree, be a podcast guest, and meet Gordon Ramsay.

In response to her clip, the 57-year-old British chef said he would love to meet Madison - and not just as a regular meet-and-greet.

'First of all, I'd like to fly you down to Miami, have dinner with you and your friends in Hell's Kitchen and then the following night, Friday night, you'll be our special guest at the opening of our new restaurant, Lucky Cat, in South Beach,' he said.

After meeting Baloy, Ramsay added: 'I hope you had the best time @madison in Miami! It was such an honor for you to be my VVIP last night at #LuckyCat! Thanks to everyone on TikTok too for helping making sure these dreams come true.'

Baloy said the experience was 'the best night of my life'. 'Thank you endlessly for giving me the biggest yes, Chef,' she said in a video.

Ramsay wrote back saying it was 'an absolute pleasure' and involved him dancing in his kitchen for the first time ever.

Baloy, from Tampa, started suffering stomach issues in the summer of 2022, and she was later diagnosed with stage four colon cancer after vomiting blood

Baloy, from Tampa, started suffering with stomach issues in the summer of 2022, and she was later diagnosed with stage four colon cancer after vomiting blood

Her stomach pain, nausea and exhaustion quickly became too much, and she went to urgent care

Baloy began feeling symptoms last year while at a music festival with her friends. She initially thought she had IBS or Crohn's disease.

But her stomach pain, nausea and exhaustion quickly escalated and she went to urgent care.

A nurse told her could have cancer and redirected her to the ER, where medics diagnosed her with stage-four colon cancer.

Baloy told USA Today that after receiving her diagnosis, she took to TikTok to find other people in her position - and in hopes of reclaiming her identity.

'I was really scared that people were only going to see me for cancer and forget who I was,' she said.

She noted that she wanted to tell the world she was still very much a 'person' and began documenting a day in her life online.

Baloy said that she had come to terms with the possibility of having cancer forever and was trying to make the best of the time she had.

'Whether I only live five years or if somehow I live 70 years, I will, at some point die with cancer in my body still,' she said.
At 2am on Memorial Day in 2018, Bryn Spejcher watched herself die.

'I saw my own body laying there on the porch with paramedics,' she recalls. 'Then I heard my mom weeping over my corpse.'

Next, 'a funeral, where people were crying.'

And, most horrific of all, a hand clutching a bread knife, a dog covered in stab wounds and the bloodied, lifeless body of Chad O'Melia, the man she'd been dating for just a few weeks.

Then everything went black.

Some 24 hours later, Spejcher woke up in the hospital having undergone emergency surgery to save her from multiple near-fatal knife wounds to her own neck.

'Where's Chad? Is he okay?' she screamed.

Of course, Chad was dead.

At 2am on Memorial Day in 2018, Bryn Spejcher (pictured) watched herself die. 'I saw my own body laying there on the porch with paramedics,' she recalls. 'Then I heard my mom weeping over my corpse.'

And, most horrific of all, a hand clutching a bread knife, a dog covered in stab wounds and the bloodied, lifeless body of Chad O'Melia (pictured), the man she'd been dating for just a few weeks.

Some 24 hours later, Spejcher woke up in the hospital having undergone emergency surgery to save her from multiple near-fatal knife wounds to her own neck. (Pictured: With her husky - the dog survived).

Spejcher's terrifying, bloody vision hadn't all been imagined. She'd stabbed O'Melia a total of 108 times in a frenzied attack at his apartment in Thousand Oaks, California, that a court judged to be brought on by cannabis-induced psychosis.

She'd then turned the knife on her Alaskan husky, Aria, before plunging it into her own neck multiple times.

When police arrived at the scene  alerted by concerned neighbours  Spejcher was so uncontrollable with murderous rage that she couldn't even be restrained with a taser, and detectives had to beat her with batons until the bones in her arms broke.

In January, Spejcher  now 33  made global headlines when she was handed a verdict of no jail time and just 100 hours of community service.

Despite a jury finding her guilty of involuntary manslaughter, the judge deemed her 'not in control of her own actions'.

Many commentators were up in arms, accusing the judge of giving marijuana users 'a license to kill'.

As the only national journalist covering her case in court, I watched as O'Melia's family launched furious attacks on Spejcher, damning her as 'remorseless'.

But now, speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com and for the first time since her sentencing, Spejcher is giving her side of the story  and the details are explosive.

Far from the innocent man O'Melia's family sort to portray in court, Spejcher reveals her one-time lover to be 'angry, intimidating' and at times even physically aggressive.

Notably, she says she felt 'pressured' by O'Melia  who was a daily cannabis user  to inhale the high-potency marijuana that sparked her psychotic episode.

She also implies that, on two occasions, he attempted to non-consensually choke her during sex, saying he 'put his hands on me during an intimate moment' but declining to go into further detail when I pressed her.

'I felt intimidated by him,' she says. 'If something felt personal to him, even if it really wasn't, he'd have this short fuse.'

In January, Spejcher made global headlines when she was handed a verdict of no jail time and just 100 hours of community service. Despite a jury finding her guilty of involuntary manslaughter, the judge deemed her 'not in control of her own actions'.

Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com and for the first time since her sentencing, Spejcher is giving her side of the story - and the details are explosive. (Picture courtesy of Dr Phil show).

Far from the innocent man O'Melia's family sort to portray in court, Spejcher reveals her one-time lover to be 'angry, intimidating' and at times even physically aggressive. (Pictured: Spejcher in hospital after the attack). (Picture courtesy of Dr Phil show).

In fact, Spejcher says, such were O'Melia's 'temper outbursts and uncontrollable emotions' that she 'feared the consequences' of declining to use his marijuana when he offered it to her on the night of his death.

'I think we're both accountable for what happened,' she says, describing how O'Melia 'prepared' weed in a 'bong' device he owned before alleging coercing her to inhale it.

'He said 'hurry up. Inhale now Do it really fast, go go go',' she says.

'Yes, I physically inhaled it. So, we're both accountable. But there's obviously been more attention to my part [in the attack] versus Chad's part.'

These key detail form the basis of an appeal that the Mail can now exclusively reveal Spejcher's legal team are launching.

They will argue her intoxication was 'involuntary', and the result of O'Melia's 'fraud and trickery'.

Spejcher met O'Melia when she was 27 at a dog park Thousand Oaks in early 2018. She had recently moved to the area for a new role in the audiology department at UCLA, and the pair bonded over their pets.

'We got along great,' she recalls. 'We just laughed about all kinds of stuff and we're both sarcastic. I have brothers and a lot of male friends, so I know how to talk and hang with a guy.'

Previous reporting has described O'Melia as Spejcher's 'boyfriend', however she now says this characterization is false.

'It didn't have a label,' she says, admitting their connection was initially romantic.

However, within just a month of knowing O'Melia  a 26-year-old accountant and amateur boxer  Spejcher ended things due to his 'intimidating' behaviour.

She says she made it clear she 'was not interested in any sort of romantic relationship' two days before her psychotic attack.

'He was fine with it. It was mutual and we remained friends,' she says.

Asked why she wanted to remain friendly with a man she claims was aggressive, Spejcher explains that her friendship group in the area was 'limited'.

Spejcher also says that while she has used cannabis 'less than 10 times' in her life, O'Melia was a daily user  allegedly admitting to her that he would even smoke in the mornings before taking his own dog for a walk.

However, within just a month of knowing O'Melia  a 26-year-old accountant and amateur boxer  Spejcher ended things due to his 'intimidating' behaviour. (Pictured: O'Melia).

Asked why she wanted to remain friendly with a man she claims was aggressive, Spejcher explains that her friendship group in the area was 'limited'. (Pictured: Shane, O'Melia's brother, crying outside of court in January).

Spejcher also says that while she has used cannabis 'less than 10 times' in her life, O'Melia was a daily user - allegedly admitting to her that he would even smoke in the mornings before taking his own dog for a walk. (Pictured: O'Melia as a child with his father, Sean).

In court documents seen by DailyMail.com, O'Melia's roommate, Vinicius De Oliveira, or 'Vinnie', testified: 'If Chad was home, he was high.'

'When he doesn't have his weed, he can be mad that he doesn't have what he likes,' Vinnie said, adding that O'Melia smoked the 'biggest, the best, the strongest strains' of the drug.

Vinnie also recalled how, two months before his death, O'Melia had also persuaded him to get high for the first time  preparing the same bong he gave to Spejcher.

Vinnie testifies that the drug made him feel sick and as if he was 'dying': 'My heart beating really fast. The wall and faces were kind of moving.'

Vinnie says he pleaded with O'Melia and another friend to take him to a hospital, but they simply laughed.

On the night of Spejcher's attack, she describes how she and O'Melia were 'chatting and laughing' on the balcony of his apartment.

Around 1am, he took a 'hit' from his bong which he said made him feel 'very high'.

Despite her 'neutral' attitude to marijuana, Spejcher asked for a hit.

'I get asked why I did it a lot,' she says. 'When you're with your friends who have a drink, or are doing some sort of activity, it's natural to ask if you can do it with them. It was for social reasons. And of course, I regret those decisions.'

Spejcher tried the bong but said she wasn't feeling high, to which O'Melia alleged replied: 'Oh, well let's make this really intense for you.'

According to court documents, O'Melia then 'layered' the bong with extra doses of high potency marijuana - although it is not clear exactly what was added.

Spejcher says she didn't want to take anymore, but that O'Melia 'was quickly rushing and pressuring me he quickly rose out of this chair, turned the bong around to face me. He was so close, and moved the bong much closer to my face.'

And so she took another 'hit'.

'I do take complete responsibility for taking that dose that he provided to me,' she says. 'And I wish I didn't. I would have never smoked marijuana my entire life had I know something like [the attack] could have happened.'

Almost immediately, Spejcher says she recognized a wildly different reaction to anything she'd experienced before.

She felt an 'intense burning sensation' in her throat, causing an uncontrollable cough.

'I felt like a puff of air was stuck in my throat and I needed to vomit it out,' she says.

She then felt dizzy and stumbled between the bathroom and the living-room, as everything 'spun clockwise'.

On the night of Spejcher's attack, she describes how she and O'Melia were 'chatting and laughing' on the balcony of his apartment. Spejcher tried his bong but said she wasn't feeling high, to which O'Melia alleged replied: 'Oh, well let's make this really intense for you.' (Pictured: In court).

Almost immediately, Spejcher says she recognized a wildly different reaction to anything she'd experienced before. She felt an 'intense burning sensation' in her throat, causing an uncontrollable cough. (Pictured: In court).

She O'Melia simply laughed at her and told her she was 'acting high'. It is at this point that she claims she lost all sense of reality. (Pictured: Spejcher as a child).

Tearful, she lay on the sofa and asked O'Melia to stay awake and 'keep an eye' on her in case she choked in her sleep.

But she says he simply laughed at her and told her she was 'acting high'.

It is at this point that Spejcher claims she lost all sense of reality.

She describes seeing a 'television screen' playing clips of her disembodied limbs moving totally out of her control.

It was as if 'a camera was recording someone else doing all these horrible, horrible things'.

'There was no thought, there was no emotion, there was no pain, there was no morality, there was nothing. I was just literally watching a screen as a zombie,' she says.

The 'screen' moved towards the kitchen, where she saw 'two hands' grab multiple knives, throwing them in O'Melia's direction.

'Then there was a brown dog in front of me [her own husky, Aria]. And the knife in the left hand stabbed that dog. It [the 'screen'] kept moving towards Chad, who was on the other side of the dining table,' she says. 'As the vision got closer to him, I saw the knife in my left hand stab his abdomen. And then it just went black.'

Spejcher's next vision on the 'screen' was Chad's body on the floor, accompanied by voices in her head bidding her to, 'keep going, don't stop. You're almost there. You can do this.'

'I remember seeing one knife in both of my hands aimed towards the center of my throat,' she says. '[Initially] it was like [I felt] no pain... but at some point, when trying to aim the knife again toward my throat, it felt like a thousand bullets a second.'

The early investigation suspected that O'Melia had laced the bong with a secondary drug that caused the extreme psychotropic effects.

However, toxicology experts later showed marijuana to be the only substance in Spejcher's blood.

Asked what she thinks of critics who believe she has been let of lightly, Spejcher says: 'The people around me know that I am remorseful.'

'I think that, no matter what, somebody is going to be dissatisfied with my words, my actions, my behaviors.'

She highlights a key detail in Judge Worley's closing statement: that Spejcher could not have known that using cannabis would have led to psychosis.

'He was right. I didn't know,' she says. 'Who does know that THC can lead to psychosis and violence? There are no public health warnings. Marijuana has been so normalized. If I knew, I would never have used it.'

Spejcher, who has been forced to move back to her parents' Chicago house, still struggles to sleep.

Following the attack, she lost her job as an audiologist. She is currently struggling to raise the thousands of dollars she owes O'Melia's landlord to remdy damage to his property that she caused during her frenzied attack.

'I think about that night everyday,' she says. 'I wish I could go back in time to change everything. It will be carried with me for the rest of my life.'

'I pray for my family, my inner circle of people. But more importantly, I pray for Chad and his grieving family and friends. His life was taken too soon.'

She hopes to dedicate much of her future to working with charities such as the non-profit Every Brain Matters, which aims to help educate people on the risks of high potency marijuana, something that has been made all the more urgent by the Biden Administration's announcement this week that they plan to lower the 'classification' of the drug.

Psychiatrist Dr Kris Mohandie, a key expert witness in her trial, argued in his testimony that California has rolled out legalization of cannabis 'without much regard for public health'.

Spejcher says: 'The popularization of these potent strains has created a misconception that cannabis is harmless. But my experience obviously shows that this is not always the case,' she says. 'I am not special. This can happen to anybody.'
A botched U.S. drone strike in Syria killed a shepherd last year after he was mistakenly identified as a senior Al Qaeda operative.

The Pentagon has admitted a civilian and not a terrorist leader was slain on May 3, 2023 after an internal Central Command (CENTCOM) investigation.

The victim has since been 56-year-old father-of-10 Lufti Hasan Masto, who was killed while he was tending to his sheep.

A MQ-9 predator drone was tracking his movements in fields around his home in the rural town of Qorqanya when a Hellfire missile was fired in his direction.

Mohammed Hassan Masto sits next to the grave of his brother Lutfi, who was killed in a botched U.S. drone strike in May 2023, after he was mistaken for an Al Qaeda operative

Masto's brother told the Washington Post they were having tea just 20 minutes earlier.

Videos and photos show a plume of smoke rising into the air after the explosion.

Masto's neighbors called White Helmets - the emergency

The suspect the U.S. thought they were tracking is still believed to be at large.

CENTCOM 'determined U.S. forces misidentified the intended Al Qaeda target and that a civilian, Mr. Lufti Hasan Masto (Masto), was struck and killed instead'.

However officials said that the strike was conducted in compliance with the law and no one was disciplined as a result.

Videos and photos show a plume of smoke rising into the air after the explosion

A MQ-9 predator drone (pictured) was tracking Masto's movements in fields around his home in the rural town of Qorqanya when a Hellfire missile was fired in his direction

The family has not been compensated after the Department of Defense deemed it 'not appropriate'.

The Pentagon has faced constant criticism for its drone program in the post-9/11 conflicts.

In August 2021, a the U.S. wrongly killed 10 civilians - including seven children - in an airstrike in Kabul.

The Pentagon initially said it was a successful operation against ISIS-K members plotting more attacks of the suicide blast at Hamid Karzai International Airport the same month.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Central Command for further comment.

More to follow
The chair of the Palm Beach County Democratic Party announced her resignation in a furious rant about 'MAGA' tactics which she said are being used to attack her.

Mindy Koch, 70, wrote in her resignation letter, 'My hope is that in doing so I can expose this subversive, cancerous element... trying so hard to destroy the party from within.'

The surprising announcement came only six weeks after Koch survived efforts by Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried to oust her for allegedly not complying with party bylaws on contracts.

Koch had a tumultuous 17-month term after winning the election to lead the local party in Palm Beach by a single vote - 160-159 - in December 2022, as reported by the Sun Sentinel.

In her resignation letter, she said personal attacks and harassment from within the party left her with 'no choice but to resign,' adding the decision went into effect immediately.

Mindy Koch, 70, the chair of the Palm Beach County Democratic Party announced her resignation in a furious rant about 'MAGA' tactics, which she said are being used to attack her. Pictured: Koch and President Joe Biden in a 2020 photo

Koch had a tumultuous 17-month term after winning the election to lead the local party in Palm Beach by a single vote - 160-159 - in December 2022, as reported by Sun Sentinel

'The MAGA tactics of refusing to recognize my legitimate election as chair spawned a relentless campaign attacking me... and others. It has made it impossible to fulfill our mission to elect Democrats,' Koch wrote. Pictured: President Trump supporters wearing faith in God and Trump shirts at a rally

The 70-year-old wrote in the letter: 'The ongoing vicious personal attacks and harassment directed toward me and my leadership team from a small minority of members of the Palm Beach County (Democratic Executive Committee) are destructive and unprecedented.'

'The MAGA tactics of refusing to recognize my legitimate election as chair spawned a relentless campaign attacking me... and others. It has made it impossible to fulfill our mission to elect Democrats,' she added.

But the resignation by no means suggests she's quitting local politics, as she told the local publication in a telephone interview.

'I'm OK with the decision. I've never quit anything in my life. So this is a first for me,' she said.

'My team was fabulous and very supportive. And I met some great people and learned some interesting things  and don't think I'll be up at 3:30 tomorrow morning.'

Almost immediately she sent the resignation letter, she drove to the Supervisor of Elections Office headquarters and turned in paperwork as a candidate for Palm Beach County School Board.

Koch said she's running for the District 5 seat of the school board with endorsements of state Sens. Tina Polsky and Lori Berman and state Reps. Kelly Skidmore and Katherine Waldron.

Maria Cole, the state Democratic committeewoman for Palm Beach County, rebutted Koch's claims, saying there's no corrosive element within the party.

'There's no nefarious group of people that is out to destroy her. There is no Trumpian type of mentality among people. This is not about personality. This is not a personal attack,' she said.

The surprising announcement came only six weeks after Koch (right) survived efforts by Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried (left) to oust her for allegedly not complying with party bylaws on contracts.

Palm Beach is the states third-largest county

The committeewoman stated that party members would like to see changes in the way the party is operated, with more resources allocated to voter outreach.

'They don't want the same things that retirees of 40 years ago want. They want to be heard,' Cole said.

'Young people are not going to sit through a meeting and be told to shut up and be quiet and not exercise their rights. They're just not going to do it.'

'You can't do that if we're not working together. You can't do that in an environment of acrimony. And you can't do that in an environment of chaos,'

'It wasn't about acrimony, it was simply for transparency and accountability,' she said.

'I just think this is really a time to move forward. We've had a little over a year filled with acrimony, and hopefully we can get past it and move on.

'This is an important election, and there are important things to talk about like abortion and public education,' Cole said.

Koch, a retired teacher and union leader, is now running for the membership on local school board, which is now chaired by Frank A. Barbieri

Almost immediately after she sent the resignation letter, she drove to the Supervisor of Elections Office headquarters and turned in paperwork as a candidate for Palm Beach County School Board

Koch, a retired teacher and union leader, is now running for the membership on local school board, which is now chaired by Frank A. Barbieri.

'Public education is what has made America the great nation that it is. And we have to make sure that that continues,' Koch said.

'I've always wanted to be on the School Board. I've got all that experience in education, and I'd love to share it,' she said.

Sean Rourk, the county party's vice chair, is now the acting leader of the organization.

A state Democratic Party spokesperson said: 'We look forward to working with the new chair to get Palm Beach County back on track to reelect Democrats up and down the ballot and send President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris back to the White House in November.'
A nursery worker accused of killing a nine-month-old baby and strapping her face down on a bean bag prior to her death has told a jury she has 'always wanted to work with children'.

Kate Roughley is on trial at Manchester Crown Court accused of the manslaughter of nine-month-old Genevieve Meehan, who died following an incident at Tiny Toes Nursery in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport.

The 37-year-old, of Heaton Norris, Stockport, who was a deputy manager at the nursery, is alleged to have swaddled the baby in a blanket and put her to sleep on her front on bean bag on May 9 2022, Manchester Crown Court previously heard.

She then fastened a strap across Genevieve's back before she placed another cover over her, prosecutors allege.

Staff and paramedics performed chest compressions on the infant, but were unable to revive her. Genevieve was pronounced dead at Stepping Hill Hospital later the same afternoon.

Deputy manager Kate Roughley (pictured) is on trial at Manchester Crown Court accused of causing baby Genevieve's death through her ill-treatment

Nurse Kate Roughley is seen leaving Manchester Crown Court after Genevieve's death

Giving evidence, Ms Roughley - who denies manslaughter - told jurors the staff to child ratio at the nursery had 'gotten worse' over the years and that she had been told to not place a child on their front up until the age of six-months-old.

She told jurors: 'Ever since school I always wanted to work with children, since Year 10 or 11.'

After completing her NVQ Level 3 in childcare while working at Tiny Toes, Ms Roughley did a three-month stint with an agency going to different nurseries, before going back to the nursery in Cheadle Hulme full time, she said.

She was later promoted to 'head of the toddler group', which meant her additional duty included administering medicine. During the coronavirus lockdown, the toddler room and baby room were merged. Ms Roughley said she was asked to move to that section of the nursery, which remained open for children of key workers.

'I went into the baby room after Covid,' she added. 'You hadn't worked with babies before then at all?,' her barrister, Sarah Elliott KC asked. 'That's right,' Ms Roughley replied.

She said she was later asked by senior management if she wanted to become a deputy manager, and she agreed, though no additional management tasks were delegated to her such as enrolling children, training other staff members or implementing monitoring systems for the children.

Ms Roughley said when she first started working at the nursery when she was 18, the staff to child ratio was 'less than what it ended up'.

'The numbers got a lot worse over the years. Just gradually more children were being added each day and it was over a long period of time,' she added.

She said the only on-site training provided was first aid, and that was at the weekend when the nursery was closed. She did some additional courses in her own time, titled 'Understanding Babies' and 'Blossoming Babies', to further her knowledge on babies, the defendant said.

Genevieve Meehan died after she was found unresponsive at the Tiny Toes Children's Day Nursery (pictured) in Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester

In relation to policies at the nursery, Ms Roughley said they were in a number of files in the different rooms, and staff were asked by management to 'sign for it'.

When asked by Ms Elliott KC if she recalled reading the policy on 'Safeguarding Children', she said: 'Not reading it precisely.'

Discussing the 'Sleep Policy', Ms Roughley told the court that she had read it then discussed with management and other staff that sometimes babies slept 'in different ways and not just on their backs'.

'Did you have an understanding in your mind of the appropriate way for a child to sleep?' Ms Elliott KC asked her.

'The only time I was told not to put a child on their front was up to six-months-old,' Ms Roughley said.

The court heard that there was a policy about monitoring babies regularly up to the age of six-months until the staff were familiar with them and their sleeping routines.

'It was quite hard to do that particularly due to the sheer volume of children we had,' she added.

The trial continues.
Republican Rep. Nancy Mace tore into 'Jew hating' student protestors as college campuses across the country have been flooded with pro-Gaza and, at times, antisemitic activists.

The South Carolina lawmaker particularly took aim at how a large cohort of the Pro-Gaza activists appear to be progressives.

'These are Jew haters, these are terrorist loving Jew haters, gender studies students who hate our country,' Mace said on Fox News as video of a police raid on UCLA's pro-Palestinian encampment played.

'What I would like to see is if these terrorists-loving kids and students hate our country so much, they should take their terrorist flags, they should go to Gaza in their crop-tops and nose rings and see how long they would last.'

The Republican went on, 'Hamas would chop off their heads [and] throw them off the roof of a building before they ever have a chance to tell them their pronouns.'

A student gets arrested by Austin police officers during a Protect Palestine Rally on the University of Texas at Austin

Protestors at Columbia University secured operational control of the school's Hamilton Hall earlier this week. The occupation prompted the New York Police Department to raid the university building before arresting activists

The firebrand - who gained notoriety for voting to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy - joined the mounting calls to cut these student's debt forgiveness.

'They ought to be defunded,' she said. 'They shouldn't have their student loans forgiven.'

'We should reverse what Joe Biden announced in the last couple weeks that taxpayers are going to pay their student loans off. This shouldn't be happening.'

Her statements are some of the harshest yet used to describe student protestors from lawmakers.

Many on Capitol Hill have expressed they feel it is their duty to intervene as many of the schools where protests have been ongoing are under civil rights violations investigations from the Department of Education.

The Education Sec. Miguel Cardona even testified before the Senate on Tuesday he would 'remove federal dollars' from schools found guilty of civil rights violations.

Cardona also condemned the protests, calling them 'abhorrent.'

On Wednesday, a cohort of Republicans on the House Oversight Committee took a tension-filed tour through George Washington University's Gaza solidarity encampment.

They were greeted with screams and slurs from activists as they witnessed the dirty school lawn covered in tents, signs and debris.

Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., tried to make his case for the visit, telling students it was his Congressional duty to perform oversight of federal entities, such as the streets of D.C. which were now filled with their tents and makeshift dining areas.

At the end of April, Speaker Mike Johnson similarly visited student protestors at Columbia University.

He slammed the activists for being 'lawless agitators and radicals' and questioned their ability to become 'leaders of America.'

He also showered praise on Jewish students who remained committed to their studies.

Videos and reports from several college protests have shown pro-Palestinian protestors blocking students, including Jewish ones, from entering campus buildings or public areas.

Mace called the protestors 'Jew haters' and 'terrorist sympathizers.'

'I want to know where the adults are on campus putting a stop to this kind of violence,' Mace said.

'They are preventing Jewish students from going to class. They are trashing these college campuses. This is not what America stands for.'

'These are terrorist sympathizers. They are waiving the flag of Hezbollah. They are very sympathetic to terrorism in the Middle East because they hate Jews.

'And Joe Biden has allowed this to happen,' she added.
A 21-year-old Kansas steakhouse employee has been arrested for allegedly contaminating food with 'bodily fluids' for nearly a month.

Jace Christian Hanson was taken into custody by the Leawood Police Department after they received a tip from the FBI late last week.

He was arrested and charged with one felony count of criminal threat after detectives spoke with management at Hereford House about their suspicions.

Hanson had allegedly been intentionally contaminating the food between March 26 to April 23.

Jace Christian Hanson, 21, was taken into custody by the Leawood Police Department for allegedly contaminating food with 'bodily fluids' for nearly a month

Hanson had allegedly been intentionally contaminating the food between March 26 to April 23 at Hereford House in Leawood

Johnson County District Attorney Stephen Howe explained: 'There were bodily fluids placed on the food, and by virtue of that, we're asking the public to reach out to us so we can see the extent of the damage that was done.'

He also said that officials cannot say how they believe Hanson contaminated the food.

The news has left long-time customers shocked and worried about who was being 'targeted.'

One unidentified customer told KCTV5: 'I was shocked, it was unbelievable that somebody would do that intentionally. It's a reaction that many had after police said an employee contaminated food at the Hereford House  on purpose.'

The news has left long-time customers shocked and worried about who was being 'targeted'

A customer named Gayla Tocco, who said she's been going to the establishment for years, wondered: 'You wonder if they were targeting the restaurant, the owner, other customers, people they didn't like'

Hereford House management has assured people that necessary measures to ensure quality food have been taken after the accused was arrested.

Another customer named Gayla Tocco, who said she's been going to the establishment for years, wondered, 'You wonder if they were targeting the restaurant, the owner, other customers, people they didn't like.'

But Hereford House management has assured people that necessary measures to ensure quality food have been taken after the accused was arrested.

'Once authorities arrested the individual on April 25, we immediately took all measures and steps to thoroughly clean and sanitize the kitchen in accordance with health department guidelines,' they told the channel.

The eatery also confirmed that Hanson was a part-time employee at the restaurant for less than a month. It is unclear which role he was employed for.

The accused is currently booked at the Johnson County Detention Center with a bond amount set at $100,000.
Stanford University administrators say they were 'deeply disturbed' to see a picture of someone on the California campus wearing the same green headband sported by Hamas terror fighters in Gaza.

The elite university says it has passed on the photo to the FBI as it continues to struggle with reigning in the anti-Israel activity taking place on its campus.

As is the case on many US campuses, anti-Israel students at Stanford have erected a Gaza Solidarity encampment to protest the school's involvement with Israel and the Jewish state's ongoing war with Hamas, the terror group that opened the war on October 7.

A photo of someone at the encampment wearing a green headband, face covering, and glasses recently came to the attention of those running the school. The individual in the photo also has a keffiyeh draped around their shoulders and is looking down at a phone, averting their gaze from the camera.

This picture of an unidentified pro-Palestinian individual on Stanford's campus. The photo has, according to the elite university, been sent the FBI

As is the case with many of its peer institutions, Stanford is battling the establishment of a Gaza Solidarity encampment

On Wednesday, representatives of the institution delivered the following statement: 'We have received many expressions of concern about a photo circulating on social media of an individual on White Plaza who appeared to be wearing a green headband similar to those worn by members of Hamas.

'We find this deeply disturbing, as Hamas is designated a terrorist organization by the United States government. We have not been able to identify the individual but have forwarded the photo to the FBI.'

On Monday, the president and provost of the university said that encampment violates the campus policies that prohibit overnight camping on campus.

Stanford says it has submitted the names of students identified as having violated the campus policy by being part of the encampment to the Office of Community Standards for whatever disciplinary proceedings may follow.

In response, the protestors have strongly condemned the university's behavior, calling it racist.

'Stanford is actively discriminating against Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, and anti-Zionist Jewish students using their internal disciplinary process,' wrote the protest organizers on social media.

On the other side of the issue, also on Monday, a letter to school administrators called on the university to take a more definitive stance against anti-Semitic behavior.

It called for the school to remove the protestors, as has now happened at Columbia, the University of South Florida, and others.

Stanford Students setup an encampment as they join the Pro-Palestinian protest movement spreading across US college campuses

Stanford students and Pro-Palestinian protesters gather to protest Israel's ongoing participation in the Israel-Hamas war, as well as their university's financial entanglements with the Jewish state

A group of Palestinian Hamas fighters sport the same green headband as the unidentified individual in the Stanford photo

At UCLA, the massive Gaza encampment was broken up Wednesday night

Cops faced-off with pro-Palestinian students after destroying part of the encampment barricade as protestors became increasingly hostile

Police methodically ripped apart the encampment's barricade of plywood, pallets, metal fences and trash dumpsters and created a path toward the main hub of tents

Arrests also took place at the University of California, Los Angeles after fighting that broke out between pro-terror protestors and pro-Israel counter protestors led to the cancelation of classed on Wednesday.

'Other colleges across the country have begun arresting and disciplining malicious student and non-student agitators, setting an important precedent. We, Jews and non-Jews alike, call on Stanford to follow suit,' read the letter.

The letter, which was signed by more than 28,000 people, was written by Jewish students on campus and linked to the picture of the protestor in Hamas gear.

The Jewish students wrote: 'Individuals dressed openly as members of a terrorist organization is unacceptable and must be dealt with swiftly and harshly. Not doing so sets a dangerous standard, as no citizen should have to worry about distinguishing between individuals merely dressed as terrorists and true terrorists who seek to deal us serious bodily harm.'

Police approach demonstrators inside the pro-Palestinian encampment on the UCLA campus

Down the coast in Los Angeles, at least 132 protesters were arrested and at least one officer was injured during the overnight standoff at UCLA.

As of Thursday morning, the school's Gaza encampment was cleared and the dozens of protestors were being booked at the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Downtown Los Angeles jail.

Now fed up after weeks of anti-Israel encampments, school administrations are sanctioning crackdowns on the protestors, often executed but local law enforcement.

At Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, 90 people were arrested as the Ivy League's Gaza Solidarity encampment met its end.

New York City continues to see it's share of protests broken up as well. At Fordham, a day after ending encampments at Columbia and the City College of New York, officers arrested 15 protestors Wednesday.
THE Foreign Office sacked a staff member after she exposed a 'cover-up' of the failures of the Afghanistan evacuation in 2021, legal documents claim.

Josie Stewart was dismissed after revealing what she claims were 'life and death' errors by senior civil servants reporting to then Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.

Mr Raab faced repeated calls to resign following the Taliban's coup in Afghanistan, after it emerged he was on a beach holiday in Crete during the crisis. He insisted that he directed his team and engaged with international partners.

He was responsible for the Afghanistan Crisis Centre, where civil servants such as Ms Stewart coordinated the evacuation of UK nationals and refugees.

According to legal documents, Ms Stewart, 43, was 'horrified' when Mr Raab, and then prime minister Boris Johnson, 'made claims publicly and internally about the effective performance of the crisis centre'.

Josie Stewart was dismissed after revealing what she claims were 'life and death' errors by senior civil servants made during the Taliban's coup of Afghanistan in 2021

The then Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab came under fire for continuing his holiday on the Greek island of Crete as the crisis unravelled in Afghanistan

In legal papers, Ms Stewart claims political and civil service leaders sought to 'cover-up' failures and presented 'a misleading and in some instances even dishonest account'. Pictured: Hundreds of people gather at Kabul airport in 2021

She claims mismanagement by senior Foreign Office officials caused 'huge amounts of avoidable suffering' and 'probably cost lives'. Her case for wrongful dismissal by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) opened yesterday at a London employment tribunal.

'Horrified' by the apparent discrepancy between Mr Raab's remarks about the effectiveness of the crisis centre and her experience of working there, she turned whistleblower.

She sent emails to the BBC exposing the 'cover-up' of failures by officials and ministers tasked to protect UK citizens and Afghans from 'death, violence, imprisonment or other human rights abuses at the hands of the Taliban'. When Foreign Office managers identified her as the source, they revoked her security clearances in February 2022 and told her there were no other roles she could do in the civil service.

Her written submission to the employment tribunal says: 'The effectiveness of the UK government's response to the Afghanistan crisis in the summer of 2021 was and is a matter of the most profound public importance... failures by political leaders and civil servants in London were liable to have life and death (or other extremely serious) consequences on the ground.

'Learned lessons': The Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office said it is 'proud' of its staff for helping to evacuate 15,000 people in two weeks. Pictured: An infant is lifted by soldiers over the barbed wire fence during an evacuation at Kabul Airport in 2021

'The UK government failed badly and political and civil service leaders sought to 'cover-up' failures, presenting a misleading and in some instances even dishonest account.'

Her submission claims the crisis centre was 'chaotic, dysfunctional and ineffective' and alleges ministers were 'pre-occupied with high-profile cases and managing the political and media fallout'.

The FCDO does not dispute her appraisal of its handling of the Afghan security crisis, but it does dispute her public interest defence. In its summary presented to the court, it claims she acted 'emotionally' and that she later regretted her unauthorised disclosures to the media.

The FCDO said: 'We are proud of our staff who were tirelessly to evacuate more than 15,000 people within a fortnight.

'We have learned lessons from the evacuation . . . we have continued to provide assistance to those in Afghanistan, including bringing thousands more people to safety. We cannot comment further while legal proceedings are ongoing.'

Ms Stewart is expected to give evidence next week.
A surreal image from war-torn Gaza shows how Palestinians are showing their gratitude to student protesters at Columbia University.

Dozens of Palestinian students and children held a display of gratitude on Sunday at the Shaboura refugee camp in the southern town of Rafah, where more than a million people are sheltering.

'Thank you students in solidarity with Gaza. Your message has reached us. Thank you students of Columbia. Thank you students,' was scrawled across a tent.

Powerful images from the camp also show young children holding signs that read: 'Students of Columbia University continue to stand by us' and 'thanks for Columbia University students for their solidarity with Gaza.'

The Palestinian children gathered near a school that now serves as a shelter for Gazans displaced from the country's northern region.

A surreal image from war-torn Gaza shows how Palestinians are showing their gratitude to student protesters at Columbia University

The Palestinian children gathered near a school that now serves as a shelter for Gazans displaced from the country's northern region

Rafah is hosting more than 1.3million displaced Palestinians, but Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threated to unleash a ground invasion in the tow

Other signs read: 'Violating our right to education and life is a war crime.'

Student Takfeer Abu-Yousuf told CNN of the demonstration: 'Those are thank you messages on our tents, those tents that dont protect us from the heat or cold. The least we can do is thank them.

'We cant write these thank you messages on the walls of our homes because we have no homes. They have been destroyed on top of our children, elders, and women.'

Rafah is hosting more than 1.3million displaced Palestinians, but Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threated to unleash a ground invasion in the town -a plan that has raised global alarm because of the potential for harm to more than a million Palestinian civilians sheltering there.

As US, Egypt and Qatar pushed for a cease-fire deal they hope would avert an assault on Rafah, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated on Tuesday that the military would move on the town with or without a deal to achieve its goal of destroying the Hamas militant group.

A displaced Palestinian girl writes slogans on a tent expressing gratitude to American students

A sign held up by the displaced people of Gaza read: 'The students give us hope'

Dozens of Palestinian students and children held a display of gratitude on Sunday at the Shaboura refugee camp in the southern town of Rafah

'We will enter Rafah because we have no other choice. We will destroy the Hamas battalions there, we will complete all the objectives of the war, including the return of all our hostages,' he said.

While Palestinians may be gratified to see American university campuses erupt in outrage over Israel's offensive in Gaza, some in the embattled enclave also wondered why no similar protests have hit the Arab countries they long viewed as allies.

Although there have been some protests in Arab states, they have not been nearly as large or as vociferous as the confrontations between students, counter protesters and police seen at US universities.

'We follow the protests on social media every day with admiration but also with sadness. We are sad that those protests are not happening also in Arab and Muslim countries,' said Ahmed Rezik, 44, a father of five sheltering in Rafah, in Gaza's south.

Organized encampments in support of Palestinians have appeared across the country's most respected universities after first showing up at Columbia in New York City

Four of the students who attended the seminar were later suspended. Pictured: Pro-Palestine protesters gather on the campus of Columbia on April 23, 2024

Reasons for the comparative quiet on Arab campuses and streets may range from a fear of angering autocratic governments to political differences with Hamas and its Iranian backers or doubts that any protests could impact state policy.

American students at elite universities may face arrest or expulsion from their schools, but harsher consequences could await Arab citizens protesting without state authorization.

Tensions on US college campuses have been building for days as demonstrators refuse to remove encampments and administrators turn to police to clear them by force, leading to clashes that have seized widespread attention.

'I ask Arab students to do what the Americans have done. They should have done more for us than the Americans,' said Suha al-Kafarna, displaced by the war from home in northern Gaza.

On Tuesday night, NYPD officers carrying zip ties and riot shields stormed Columbia Universitys Hamilton Hall which was being 'occupied' by pro-Palestinian protesters

Protestors wave Palestinian flags on the West Lawn of Columbia University on April 29

In Egypt, which made peace with Israel in 1979 and where President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has largely outlawed public protests, the authorities fear that demonstrations against Israel could later turn against the government in Cairo.

At state-sanctioned protests over the war in October, some demonstrators veered off the agreed route and started chanted anti-government slogans, prompting arrests.

'One cannot see the lack of large public protests against the war and the muted reaction on the Egyptian street in isolation from a broader context of crackdown on all forms of public protest and assembly,' said Hossam Bahgat, head of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights.

In Lebanon, where success in studies has become even more personally important to many young people after years of political and economic crises that have shrunk their shot at future prosperity, that calculation is even tougher.

Several students Reuters approached at campus protests in Beirut declined to be interviewed, saying they feared repercussions from university authorities.
A BBC correspondent has accused the broadcaster of having a pro-Israel bias, urging his employer to question the 'facts' of Hamas' October 7 attacks.

Rami Ruhayem, a Lebanon-based journalist for BBC Arabic, accused the BBC of bias in an email sent to hundreds of staff, prompting complaints from Jewish workers.

In the correspondence, he claimed the BBC had failed to properly investigate claims made by Israel about Hamas' deadly incursion into southern Israel last year.

'Why does the BBC seem to have steered away from the growing body of evidence that casts doubt on the official Israeli version of the events of October 7?' he wrote.

The email provoked concerns from Jewish staffers at the BBC, according to The Times, which reported staff are understood to have launched a formal complaint.

'Nothing has quietened down,' one told the newspaper, accusing the BBC of failing to adequately tackle anti-Semitism across its network. 'It's a s**t show.'

Ruhayem said the BBC seems 'to have steered away from the growing body of evidence that casts doubt on the official Israeli version of the events of October 7' in an email sent to staff

Israeli police officers evacuate a woman and a child from a site hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in Ashkelon, southern Israel, Saturday, October 7, 2023

Destroyed cars are seen at the party site near the Kibbutz Re'im on Tuesday, October 10, 2023

The email was shared with the BBC's director-general Tim Davie, as well as news chief executive Deborah Turness and staff from the BBC Asian Network, Radio 4, Radio 5 live and the BBC's foreign language service.

Ruhayem said that the BBC's forum set up to interrogate concerns over its coverage of a deeply sensitive and unsettling conflict were 'little more than a short-lived venting exercise' and said that his concerns had been ignored.

'Words like 'massacre', 'slaughter' and 'atrocities' are being used prominently in reference to actions by Hamas, but hardly, if at all, in reference to actions by Israel,' an extract from the email seen by The Times read.

'Does this not raise the question of the possible complicity of the BBC in incitement, dehumanisation and war propaganda?'

The email was reported to have drawn backlash from a number of Jewish employees, who told The Times they found it 'sickening'.

One employee told The Times the email had 'caused a lot of anger and upset'.

The outlet reported that Liliane Landor, director of the BBC World Service, advised Mr Ruhayem to use the appropriate channels for feedback on coverage.

In October, some three weeks after the war in the Levant began, Mr Ruhayem reportedly sent an email to Mr Davie urging the broadcaster to use the terms like 'settler-colonialism' and 'ethnic cleansing' in its coverage to avoid 'reinforcing Israeli propaganda meant to dehumanise the Palestinians'.

'Words like 'massacre', 'slaughter' and 'atrocities' are being used  prominently  in reference to actions by Hamas, but hardly, if at all, in reference to actions by Israel,' he wrote.

A letter, later sent to BBC bureaus around the world, warned that the broadcaster risked being complicit in 'war propaganda' if it did not carefully employ language to reflect the 'apartheid' nature of the conflict.

'The BBC has taken upon itself in recent years the task of fighting fake news, disinformation, hate speech and such things, a trend in western media,' he said at the time.

'Where is the content analysing the flood of incitement against Palestinians and tracking its impact?'

Commenting on the email, a BBC spokesperson said: 'Regular feedback and robust editorial discussions are central to our journalism at the BBC and essential for our commitment to impartiality.

'While we don't comment on specific internal emails, we do expect our staff to use the appropriate routes.'

Rami Ruhayem is a Beirut-based correspondent for BBC Arabic (pictured)

Palestinian militants ride an Israeli military vehicle that was seized by gunmen who infiltrated areas of southern Israel, in the northern Gaza Strip October 7, 2023

A boy pushes a young girl in a wheelchair past a destroyed building in Gaza City on March 28

The BBC has faced scrutiny over its use of the language since the beginning of the 2023-24 conflict between Hamas and Israel.

Some criticised the broadcaster for refusing to refer to Hamas as 'terrorists', per the government's designation for the de facto governing authority of Gaza, in the early days of the war.

John Simpson, World Affairs editor for the BBC, argued that the decision 'goes right back to the BBC's founding principles', that terrorism 'is a loaded word'.

'It's simply not the BBC's job to tell people who to support and who to condemn - who are the good guys and who are the bad guys,' he wrote.

In November, a 2,300 word letter shared with Al Jazeera by employees of the BBC reiterated accusations the broadcaster had employed a 'double standard' in humanising Israeli victims compared to Palestinians, and omitting historical context from its coverage.

The group, requesting anonymity, said their employer had 'therefore failed to help the public engage with and understand the human rights abuses unfolding in Gaza'.

Across its coverage of a deeply divisive and sensitive topic, the BBC has also been accused of favouring the Palestinian perspective in its coverage.

A survey carried out in November 2023 found 45 per cent of those sympathising with 'the Israeli side' believed the BBC had been mostly biased in favour of 'the Palestinian side'.

Just 13 per cent believed the BBC had been more biased in favour of 'the Israeli side'.

Of those sympathising 'more with the Palestinian side', 38 per cent believed the BBC had been more biased in favour of 'the Israeli side'.

Fourteen per cent believed the BBC was favouring 'the Palestinian side'.

An Israeli officer walks around a campsite at the Nova festival near Re'im kibbutz on October 17

A man carries a child as he walks with other people fleeing following Israeli bombardment in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on April 29, 2024

A Palestinian man pulls a cart on a road lined with destroyed buildings in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on May 2, 2024

Among those expressing 'equal' sympathies, a majority 50 per cent believed the BBC had been mostly neutral, 11 per cent assessing bias towards Palestine and 15 per cent towards Israel.

And among those sympathising with neither side, 40 per cent believed the BBC had been mostly neutral. Nine per cent believed the BBC showed bias in favour of Palestine and 14 per cent believed there was bias towards Israel.

The researchers warned that 'many of those with the strongest views on the conflict' have switched to getting their news from social media, 'and particularly Instagram'.

'There is a risk that low trust in the BBC from those with strongly held pre-existing views on the conflict means the most opinionated Britons end up with no shared facts to inform their debates about the conflict.'
Israel has issued a travel warning urging citizens to avoid going to Malmo in Sweden ahead of the Eurovision song contest, citing 'credible concerns' of terrorist attacks.

The advisory warned 'that terrorist factions will take advantage' of 'anti-Israel' demonstrations and an atmosphere of opposition to 'execute attacks on Israelis'.

The country's National Security Council advised those planning to travel to Sweden's third largest city during the contest from May 7 to 11 to reconsider their plans.

The security council raised the travel alert for Malmo from level 2 (potential threat) to level 3 (moderate threat) without changing alert levels for the rest of Sweden.

It came as the city of Malmo on Wednesday promised heightened security for this year's contest, where at least half a dozen applications have been filed for demonstration permits to protest the Israeli presence at the competition.

Police with bomb dogs take part in security checks ahead of the Eurovision in Malmo, April 26

Pro-Palestinian activists planning two large demonstrations to protest at the country's participation in this year's competition

Eden Golan, 20, will represent Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest this year

The security council today also advised those who did wish to travel to download the Israeli army's Home Front Command application in order to receive real time announcements in case of an emergency there.

The application is usually used to send notifications in case of rocket attacks in Israel.

Malmo is home to over 360,000 inhabitants spanning 186 nationalities, including a large portion of the country's Palestinian-origin population.

There have been 11 applications to Swedish police by pro-Palestinian and Israeli-supporting groups to protest in front of the Malmo Arena during the contest, whose grand finale will be on Saturday May 11.

Critics have called for Israel to be banned from competing, as the war in Gaza nears seven months.

But the European Broadcasting Union allowed Eden Golan to represent Israel with her song 'Hurricane', a rewritten version of another song that was considered too political for its references to the October 7 attack.

'October Rain' included lyrics like 'There is no air left to breathe' and 'They were all good children, every one of them', which commentators believed referenced the victims of the Hamas attack.

Israeli media reported that Shin Bet, the country's internal security service, advised the 20-year-old Russian-Israeli to stay confined to her room for the duration of her stay in Malmo.

Golan, 20, arrived in Malmo on Tuesday afternoon for rehearsals, wearing a yellow ribbon pin to show solidarity with hostages who are still being held in captivity by Hamas.

She will now reportedly be under round-the-clock bodyguard protection.

Last month, former Shin Bet official Mickey Weinberg told Israel's Channel 12 she would be followed by a body guard wherever she goes and security team would have likely visited the country weeks earlier to scope out the area.

Swedish police will also bring in reinforcements from Denmark and Norway to assist amid concerns protests could lead to unrest and an increased threat of terrorism.

Eden Golan performing. Israel were told to change the lyrics of its song submission for this year's competition or risk being disqualified

There have been fears this year's Eurovision will be a prominent target for Islamic extremists because of the inclusion of Golan. (pictured: the inside of the Malmo Arena)

Swedish police have received 11 applications by pro-Palestinian and Israeli-supporting groups to protest in front of the Malmo Arena during the contest

The war started with Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel estimates that 129 captives seized by militants during their attack remain in Gaza. The military says 34 of them are dead.

Israel's retaliatory offensive against Hamas has killed at least 34,596 people in Gaza - mostly women and children, according to the health ministry.
AI has taken over the drive-thru at a Florida Wendy's, and a TikTok user was not thrilled to see this change.

Brittany, who is known by @brittanyann_22 on TikTok, posted a video on April 19 of her making a drive-thru order with an AI employee.

The TikTok user, who revealed in her video description that she is 'not for this,' got into the back of a line at Wendy's drive-thru to record her video.

It's led to more than 22,000 TikTokers debating the ethics of AI, which one user said is 'getting out of hand.'

Despite the non-human entity taking her order, she successfully received a medium chocolate frosty in less than a minute.

Brittany's clip has gotten more than 16 million views, and it's currently her most-watched TikTok video.

Brittany, who's known as @brittanyann_22 on TikTok, posted a video on April 19 of her giving her order of a Chocolate Frosty to an AI employee

Brittany revealed in her video description that she was not a fan of the AI employee at the Wendy's she went to in Florida

The AI employee video has been debated on three TikTok videos since Brittany posted her first viral video that currently has more than 16 million views

Wendy's first began replacing drive-thru employees with AI chatbots in 2023.

The fast-food chain and Google Cloud have been working together to develop Wendy's FreshAl.

A Wendy's news release read that its AI ordering system is 'intended to feel as natural as interacting with a crew member.'

'Its at least as good as our best customer service representative, and its probably on average better,' said Wendy's CIO Kevin Vasconi to The Wall Street Journal during their earlier test runs.

Although Brittany has made it clear that she's not a fan of the AI drive-thru employee, it appeared to be easy for her to place an order.

Wendy's began experimenting with AI chatbots in their drive-thrus last year and they are working to further develop the system with Google Cloud

A Wendy's news release read that its AI ordering system is 'intended to feel as natural as interacting with a crew member'

The AI employee welcomed Brittany to Wendy's and asked her what she'd like to order right when she drove up to the menu.

The AI employee's words also appeared on the screen in English and Spanish.

Although it appeared to be fully functional, the AI technology did make a few errors while Brittany was ordering her Chocolate Frosty.

Brittany asked the AI employee: 'Can I Have a Chocolate Frosty.' The machine translated it to 'And I Have a Chocolate Frosty' while she was placing her order.

Once she selected the size, Brittany said she wanted nothing else.

The machine paused for a few seconds, and then it told Brittany to pull up to the next window while showing her order total.

Brittany was able to order a Chocolate Frosty in less than a minute and she later responded to the comments written by other TikTokers on her video

Brittany read through the comments of her first video and decided to give the AI employee a more complex order in another TikTok she posted on the social media platform last week.

She ordered a Dave's Double with a slice of cheese, two tomato slices, and the bottom portion of the bun with ketchup on the side.

The AI employee noted everything Brittany asked for at the bottom of the screen and asked her if she wanted to make it a combo.

She ordered a small Chocolate Frosty after the AI employee told her that they did not have vanilla.

She then upgraded her cheese fries and the grand total of her meal was $11.81.

'I really do not know how people who order through drive-thru... This wasn't even complex or difficult,' she said after placing her order.

She added that the drive-thru window employee asked her why she only wanted the bottom portion of the bun.

TikTok users debated the topic of AI employees at restaurants on Brittany's viral video and they have also dissed the technology in her reaction clip that she posted last week.

One user commented that her Chocolate Frosty order was 'not a good demonstration.' She went back to the AI employee and ordered a more complex order last week

TikTok users have been commenting on her initial video and two reaction clips for more than a week. One TikToker who commented on a video claimed that they work at the restaurant she went to

More than one commenter wrote positive things about the AI employee and one person even called it 'polite and friendly.'

One user revealed that they think it's 'better than screaming your order six times' because an employee wouldn't hear it.

TikTokers have been harsh on the other videos and one person dissed Wendy's by writing that Wendy's would rather 'not have employees' then pay minimum wage.

'AI taking over these jobs is perfectly fine because AI has better customer service skills than the people who actually work there,' one person wrote.

'It encourages kids to go for something more complicated as a job instead.'
A South Carolina grandfather, 54, was tragically killed by an enraged bull while repairing a fence at a farm.

Brian Oliver succumbed to his injuries after fighting for his life for four days in the hospital, according to Cherokee County Coroner Dennis Fowler.

The unexpected attack occurred Sunday afternoon when Oliver was fixing a fence at DK's Creek and Pasture farm near Blacksburg, a town about a 45-minute drive from Charlotte.

The bull dragged Oliver into a creek bed and began trampling him until his friend Mike Carroll intervened, as reported by Fox59.

Carroll stabbed the bull with a knife, successfully diverting its attention from Oliver before becoming a target of the attack himself.

Brian Oliver, 54, succumbed to his injuries after he was attacked by an enraged bull while repairing a fence at a farm

Oliver suffered broken ribs, two broken shoulders, punctured lungs and other injuries as he spent his final days in the intensive care unit, his family said. Pictured: Oliver and his grandchildren

The unexpected attack occurred Sunday afternoon when Oliver was fixing a fence at DK's Creek and Pasture farm near Blacksburg, a town about a 45-minute drive from Charlotte

'Oliver was reportedly repairing a fence post when the bull charged and dragged him into a nearby creek bed where he was stomped and mauled,' Fowler said in a release.

'The friend ran to help but was also attacked by the bull. A family member arrived on the scene and called 911 for help.'

The Cherokee-Kings Creek Volunteer Fire Department and EMS rushed to the scene and airlifted two men to different hospitals due to the extent of their injuries.

Oliver suffered broken ribs, two broken shoulders, punctured lungs and other injuries as he spent his final days in the intensive care unit.

Carroll sustained a few broken bones and a punctured lung but is expected to recover.

Oliver's daughter Megan Danielle Hughes wrote in a heartbreaking post that her father died on Thursday.

'He had been fighting so hard since the attack on Sunday, but passed quickly & peacefully,' she wrote.

The bull dragged Oliver into a creek bed and began trampling him until his friend Mike Carroll(pictured) intervened. Carroll stabbed the bull with a knife, successfully diverting its attention from Oliver before himself becoming a target of the attack

Oliver's daughter Megan Danielle Hughes(left) wrote in a heartbreaking post that her father died on Thursday

'Though we know he is no longer suffering, won't have to live a life filled with more pain, and is with the Lord, to say we are broken & devastated is a great understatement,' the post continues.

'I'm even more heartbroken our children are losing their pawpaw. Our kids were his entire world, and they all loved each other so, so much. He was truly the best pawpaw to them you could ever have imagined!'

'This week has been such a blur, I don't think it's really sunk in yet that he's gone physically from this world, but I know I will spend the rest of my life missing him,' the grief-stricken daughter wrote.

Hundreds of friends sent their prayers to Oliver's family, with many sharing their memories of Oliver under the post.

One person wrote: 'Praying for yall breaks my heart into pieces for all of yall. Truly such a funny guy. He was always such a hoot to talk to. Sending you much love. hang on to his memories'
Irish ministers claim migrants are arriving there fearful of being sent to Rwanda

Ireland should join the Rwanda scheme if they believe it is already having an effect, Government sources said last night.

After Irish ministers claimed migrants fearful of being deported to the African state are seeking sanctuary in Ireland instead, Westminster offered them to join forces.

Ministers believe the reported uptick in asylum seekers entering Ireland from Northern Ireland demonstrates that the Rwanda scheme is already acting as a deterrent.

And tonight a Government source told the Mail: 'If the Irish Government believe the Rwanda plan is already having an effect, we can explore Ireland joining the Rwanda scheme.

'Many countries are looking at a third country now, which is why Sir Keir Starmer's amnesty for 115,000 illegal immigrants a year is so shortsighted.'

Irish ministers claim migrants fearful of being deported to Rwanda are seeking sanctuary in Ireland instead. Pictured: An aerial view of asylum seekers who have set up tents outside the International Protection Office in Dublin

Ministers believe the uptick in migrants entering Ireland is a sign the Rwanda scheme is working. Pictured: A group migrants seen attemping to cross the English Channel from France in a small boat on April 23

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, pictured at Downing Street on Wednesday, has said he wants 'urgent clarification' there will be no disruption or checkpoints near the border

A major diplomatic row erupted this week when an Irish minister said as many as 80per cent of its asylum claims this year have been made by people crossing from Northern Ireland.

READ MORE Ireland backs off threats to deploy police at NI border after Rishi Sunak warns 'commitments must be honoured' despite bitter row over migrants heading for Dublin to avoid Rwanda deportation Advertisement

The figure was disputed by Irish deputy premier Micheal Martin, but the spat deepened when justice minister Helen McEntee said her department was planning to make 100 additional police officers available for 'frontline enforcement work'.

While Dublin insisted they would not be 'assigned to physically police the border with Northern Ireland', Rishi Sunak told the Commons on Wednesday that he wanted 'urgent clarification' that there would be no disruption or checkpoints near the border.

His Irish counterpart Simon Harris was forced to make clear that there would be no police checkpoints.

Another focal point of the row centred on Dublin passing emergency legislation to deem the UK as a 'safe country' for the return of asylum seekers.

Both governments have acknowledged the existence of an 'operational agreement' which provides for the reciprocal return of asylum seekers between the UK and Ireland, but Downing Street has said it contains no legal obligations to accept them.

The Prime Minister said he was 'not interested' in a returns deal if the European Union did not allow the UK to send back asylum seekers who had crossed the English Channel from France.
One side held Israeli flags while the other carried pro-Palestine signs, but they agreed on one thing.

Both factions of the Israel-Palestine protest at the University of Alabama were seen united in their disdain for president Joe Biden on Wednesday.

'F*** Joe Biden,' both sides of the demonstration chanted in unison on Wednesday, per video from the scene shared on social media.

According to The Crimson White, hundreds of students gathered to protest the schools alleged financial ties to the Department of Defense and defense contractor Lockheed Martin.

One of the sides, led by the UA Leftist Collective, formed the 'Protest for Palestinian Lives' and demanded the university cut ties with any companies connected to Israel or aiding the war in Gaza.

Both sides now chanting F*** Joe Biden pic.twitter.com/Jbt7TU1b9b  Maven Navarro (@MavenNavarro1) May 1, 2024

'F*** Joe Biden,' both sides of the demonstration chanted in unison on Wednesday, per video from the scene shared on social media

One of the sides, led by the UA Leftist Collective, formed the 'Protest for Palestinian Lives' and demanded the school cut ties with any companies connected to Israel

Biden has been facing heat from conservatives and leftists for his stand on both the was in Gaza and the student protests at universities across the country. On Thursday, he rejected calls from student protesters to change his approach to the conflict

The university said in a statement: 'Protests were held on campus today by groups with opposing viewpoints. The University appreciates that attendees peacefully exercised their free speech rights with no disruptions, violence, vandalism or arrests.'

While the protest at UA remained peaceful and without any arrests, most student protesters across the country, including at Columbia and UCLA, have not been so successful finding common ground.

Tensions on college campuses have been building for days as demonstrators refuse to remove encampments and administrators turn to police to clear them by force, leading to clashes that have seized widespread attention.

Biden has been facing heat from conservatives and leftists for his stand on both the was in Gaza and the student protests at universities across the country.

On Thursday, he rejected calls from student protesters to change his approach to the conflict while insisting that 'order must prevail' as college campuses across the country face a wave of violence, outrage and fear.

'Dissent is essential for democracy,' Biden said at the White House. 'But dissent must never lead to disorder.'

The Democrat broke days of silence on the protests with his remarks, which followed mounting criticism from Republicans who have tried to turn scenes of unrest into a campaign cudgel.

By focusing on a law-and-order message while defending the right to free speech, Biden is grasping for a middle ground on an intensely divisive issue in the middle of his reelection campaign.

He largely sidestepped protesters demands, which have included ending U.S. support for Israeli military operations.

While the protest at UA remained peaceful, most student protesters across the country have not been so successful finding common ground. A pro-Palestinian protestor is arrested at the University of Texas in Austin

Law enforcement officers detain a demonstrator, as they clear out the protest encampment in support of Palestinians at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)

The NYPD moved to clear Hamilton Hall on April 30, less than 24 hours after it was occupied by protesters at Columbia University on Wednesday

Asked after his remarks whether the demonstrations would prompt him to consider changing course, Biden responded with a simple 'no.'

Biden said he rejected efforts to use the situation to 'score political points,' calling the situation a 'moment for clarity.'

The president's last previous public comment on the demonstrations came more than a week ago, when he condemned 'anti-Semitic protests' and 'those who dont understand whats going on with the Palestinians.'

The White House, which has been peppered with questions by reporters, had gone only slightly further than the president.

On Wednesday, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Biden was 'monitoring the situation closely' and that some demonstrations had stepped over a line that separated free speech from unlawful behavior.

'Forcibly taking over a building,' such as what happened at Columbia University in New York, 'is not peaceful,' she said. 'Its just not.'
A key Donald Trump ally has accused Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron of 'panda hugging' China and 'lecturing' Americans.

Elbridge Colby, a front-runner to be chosen a Trump's national security adviser, also said he would rather work with Labour than the Conservatives, accusing the former Prime Minister of 'foreign interference' in US politics over funding Ukraine.

But Mr Colby, who worked in the US defence department when Trump was president, met with shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy, as Sir Keir Starmer ploughs ahead with schmoozing Trump allies.

The Trump ally has been critical of the $61billion aid package that the US Congress approved last month in the face of criticism from many Republican congressmen and women.

Lord Cameron and the UK Government approved of the funding and the Foreign Secretary visited congress and Trump at his home in Mar-a-Lago before the vote.

Key Donald Trump ally Elbridge Colby (pictured) has accused Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron of 'panda hugging' China and 'lecturing' Americans

Then-Prime Minister David Cameron (left) greets China's president Xi Jinping as he arrives in Downing Street on October 21, 2015

Mr Colby said this trips were an 'astounding intervention into the American system, I mean, talk about foreign interference', when speaking to Politico's Power Play podcast, The Telegraph reports.

'Cameron finds every opportunity to come and moralise to the Americans after he was responsible for cutting the British military and the 'panda hug' in the early 2010s,' he added.

'So it's really the height of audacity for such a person to be coming and lecturing us.'

As Prime Minister, Lord Cameron hosted Chinese president Xi Jinping for a drink at a pub in moves to foster a closer relationship between China and the UK.

China-skeptic Mr Colby could end up as a key voice on US foreign policy if Trump wins the presidential election in November.

And with a UK general election looming and the possibility that that the Labour party could take power, Mr Colby said that David Lammy is 'far preferable to David Cameron'.

He said that Mr Lammy is 'laying out a more compatible vision to what people like me are talking about', being a rise in defence spending, with a UK focus on Europe.

Mr Colby said shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy is 'far preferable to David Cameron'

This comes after The Telegraph reported that Mr Lammy is at the forefront of the Labour leader's attempts to win over 'Trump world'.

He has been to the US six times since he was made shadow Foreign Secretary in 2021.

The Labour frontbencher has also had talks with Robert O'Brien and Matt Pottinger, who worked with Trump on national security.

Mr Colby also took aim at the PM over defence spending, branding his recent pledge to raise it from two to 2.5 per cent of GDP as 'fake accounting trickery'.
A woman's wallet left behind in a cinema bathroom in the mid-twentieth century has been found more than six decades later and reunited with her living relatives.

Floy Culbreth accidentally left her valuables at Atlanta's Plaza Movie Theater in 1958 - and it was only uncovered during recent renovations.

The red leather dust-covered relic was brushed off and given to her daughter, Thea Chamberlain.

'It has meant more than I realized that it would, truly,' Chamberlain told Investigate TV of the unexpected find, which still contained her mother's old bank cards and family photographs.

'Floy Culbreth was actually stared as Floy Porter. To be honest, mother losing stuff would not have been a surprise.'

Floy Culbreth (pictured) accidentally left her valuables at Atlanta's Plaza Movie Theater in 1958 - and it was only uncovered during recent renovations

The red leather dust-covered relic was brushed off and given to her daughter

The Plaza Movie Theater is Atlanta's oldest continuously-operating independent movie theater after opening as an art deco cinema in 1939

The wallet contained credit cards for Davison's and Rich's Department Stores, gas receipts (10 gallons for $3.26), and Culbreth's ID.

Culbreth died more than a decade ago, but her wallet was traced to her living relatives through the medium of 21st-century internet sleuthing.

Chris Escobar, who owns the movie theater, said his wife set to work on finding the woman's relatives online, a task which only took her a couple of hours.

Escobar said the decades-old wallet was uncovered in the corner of the ladies restroom by construction workers.

He said it was covered by brick and dust after being left in a small closet in the restroom.

'Once we started taking off the old tile, we discovered a little piece of the wall fell out here in this corner,' Escobar told Investigate TV.

'And then we see this space behind the wall that no one knew was there. That's when we discovered this incredible, little historic find.'

'It has meant more than I realized that it would, truly,' Thea Chamberlain (pictured) said of the unexpected find, which still contained her mother's old bank cards and family photographs

Culbreth died more than a decade ago, but her wallet was traced to her living relatives through the medium of 21st-century internet sleuthing

The wallet contained credit cards for Davison's and Rich's Department Stores, gas receipts (10 gallons for $3.26), and Culbreth's ID (pictured)

The Plaza Movie Theater is Atlanta's oldest continuously-operating independent movie theater after opening as an art deco cinema in 1939.

It became an X-rated adult cinema and live burlesque venue in the 1970s, until returning back to a theater showing arthouse and independent films as it changed hands again in the following decades.

The Georgia theater retained the original marquee and many of its original furnishings.
The wife of a California doctor who drove her and his kids off a cliff in a failed murder-suicide bid has begged prosecutors to drop the charges.

Dharmesh Patel's wife spoke for the first time in court since the January 2, 2023, incident in which her husband purposely drove off a massive cliff on the Pacific Coast Highway south of San Francisco and plunged from the precipice.

His wife along with his then-four-year-old son and then-seven-year-old daughter were in the car. They miraculously survived the crash but were left seriously injured.

She urged prosecutors to drop the criminal charges against her husband on Thursday, asking for her husband's release under the condition that he participated in a mental health diversion program.

'We need him in our life,' Patel's wife told the court on Thursday, before blaming the crash on 'a mental health episode beyond any of our understanding or control,' The Mercury News reported.

Neha Patel (pictured) urged prosecutors to drop the criminal charges against her husband, who drove her and his kids off cliff in failed murder-suicide bid on January 2, 2023

Patel's wife blamed the crash on 'a mental health episode beyond understanding.' Dharmesh Patel (pictured in February 2023) stands in an orange jumpsuit in a San Mateo County courtroom

Patel's wife said his return will not only 'restore him back to himself, but it will restore the health and wellness of our entire family'

She also promised that 'things will be different' if her husband is allowed to return home to their family.

Patel's wife said his return will not only 'restore him back to himself, but it will restore the health and wellness of our entire family.'

Emphasizing the importance of the 'health and safety' of her family, she said that she 'will not hesitate to seek help when needed.'

'We need  we need him in our life,' Patel's wife added. 'We're not a family without him.'

If the plan is approved, Patel's care would be in the hands of Stanford psychiatric clinician, James Armontrout.

The medical treatment would entail group and individual therapy sessions, as well as sessions with a psychotherapist.

But the San Mateo County prosecutors, are opposing the request, and have filed motions against it.

The Pasadena radiologist's children, aged four and seven at the time, and wife Neha Patel, 41, were in the car, and an official said it was an 'absolute miracle' that they made it out alive

Dharmesh Patel, 42, accused of purposefully driving his Tesla off a 250ft Devil Slide's cliff thought he was protecting his family, a psychologist testified

Expressing the impact of her husband's absence of her and her children, Patel's wife said, her son is asking what's 'taking so long' for her father's return.

'He wished daddy would magically appear on St. Patrick's Day when he saw a rainbow,' she said. 'Seeing my kids in emotional pain is one of the hardest things I've had to endure.'

Calling him a 'kind and altruistic' man, she said Patel 'has been my best friend for more than 25 years.'

In April, it was reported that despite Neha's insistence that her husband intentionally drove their family off a cliff, Patel's defense attorney said that she did not want her husband prosecuted.

The lawyer's statements were rebuffed by Wagstaffe who said that Neha's statements following the crash support the attempted murder charges.

'She said very simply this was not an accident. We do believe the evidence establishes the necessary intent to kill,' Wagstaffe told the San Francisco Chronicle.

The wreckage of the Tesla is pictured at the bottom of the cliff

Court records show Neha, 41, told a California Highway Patrol officer that, 'He's a doctor. He said he was going to drive off the cliff. He purposely drove off.'

Witnesses backed that story up and said that they did not see the car attempt to stop as it flew off the cliffside and down onto a rocky beach.

Patel survived with only minor injuries to his leg and foot while Neha had more serious injuries from the crash.

The couple's seven-year-old child was seriously injured and their four-year-old made it out with just bruises. Both children were released from the hospital within weeks.

The radiologist had initially claimed that he was not guilty and that his Tesla had been experiencing tire issues on the day of the crash.

He said he had stopped three times at gas stations to put air in the tires and that the tire pressure light had turned on just before they went off the cliff.

In June last year, the doctor was banned from practicing medicine after being called 'an alarming danger to the public,' by the medical board

In June last year, the doctor was banned from practicing medicine after being called 'an alarming danger to the public,' by the medical board.

Regulators argued that the ban was necessary because Patel had an 'impairment of cognitive abilities needed to safely practice medicine.'

In a statement issued to the Mercury News, the medical board said Patel could not practice 'under any circumstances' with the case still open.

'The prohibition on practicing medicine will continue until the order is modified by the court or the criminal case against him concludes,' the statement read.

Expert witness called by Patel's attorney, Dr. Mark Patterson, told the court that Patel, 42, was experiencing a psychotic episode and feared his two kids would be sex trafficked prior to the incident.

'It was paranoid and kind of delusional thinking that he acted on at the time to protect his family from a worse fate,' Patterson told the court.

'He was concerned that his children were at risk of being kidnapped, possibly for sexual molestation.  There were concerns surrounding the explosion of fentanyl in this country and the war in Ukraine.'

Patel, who remains in Redwood City jail, pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted murder.

Patterson diagnosed Patel with major depressive disorder with a single episode of psychotic features and anxious distress after meeting him a dozen times.

The psychologist said Patel's psychosis peaked in the days before the car crash, adding that he had been hearing footsteps and thought he was followed.

Patterson said he believed the 42-year-old is qualified for treatment under the mental health diversion law, as he said, 'I see him as someone who is very motivated and amenable to treatment.

He stopped having delusions while being held without bail at the San Mateo County jail, Patterson testified, adding, 'he still feels a lot of remorse.'
Footage showing a Portland State University student protestor crashing into a police officer while holding a makeshift shield and being arrested has emerged.

The Portland Police Bureau confirmed that officers were at the University to clear the unlawful occupation of Millar Library that began on Monday.

The video shows two mask-clad protestors carrying shields made out of trash cans running directly toward a police officer as people cheered in the background.

One of the protestors is then seen crashing into the official but ends up getting knocked down to the ground.

Video shows one the protestors crashing into the official but ends up getting knocked down to the ground

The unidentified protestor can be seen running running away from the officer but ends up being caught by two others

The officials can be heard yelling, 'Stop, you're under arrest. Stop!' right before the crash.

The unidentified protestor can be seen running away from the officer but ends up being caught by two others.

As the demonstrator is handcuffed, the crowd can be heard yelling, 'Let him go!'

Ultimately, officers are seen carrying the man away from the crowds and handcuffing him as another official blocks the view.

Ultimately, officers are seen carrying the man away from the crowds and handcuffing him as another official blocks the view

Protestors in Portland State University raided the school library to graffiti pro-Palestine messages on the walls

Police officers scuffle with protestors trying to block vehicles taking detained students, who had been occupying the Portland State University's Millar Library

The Police Bureau has confirmed that they have made 'several such arrests' today.

'The Portland Police Bureau is actively collaborating with Portland State University to address the illegal activities at the university's Millar Library,' read a statement on its website.

Police also said: 'After a group of protestors departed from a peaceful First Amendment gathering and unlawfully entered the campus building on Monday, the PPB has been working in partnership with city leaders, other municipal bureaus, the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office and Portland State University to ensure a safe resolution.'

The footage a day after brutal clashes broke out between pro and anti-Israeli protestors at UCLA in Los Angeles - hours after cops in New York cleared a Gaza encampment at Columbia University.

There were scenes of mayhem with 'horrific acts of violence' as activists brawled openly in the grounds of UCLA deep into the night with fireworks hurled into crowds and objects thrown before police intervened.

The fighting erupted just hours after cops in New York dramatically raided halls at Columbia University in New York City and arrested 300 pro-Palestine protestors who had occupied the building.

Around 200 pro-Israel supporters clashed with pro-Palestinian activists late on Tuesday night

Police drag a protestor out of the line and into custody as law enforcement clears an encampment of pro-Palestinian protestors from the University of Arizona campus, early Wednesday

NYC Mayor Eric Adams blamed the majority of the trouble at the Ivy League college on outside agitators.

'There is a movement to radicalize young people, and I'm not going to wait until it's done and all of a sudden acknowledge the existence of it,' he added.

'This is a global problem that young people are being influenced by those who are professionals at radicalizing our children and I'm not going to allow that to happen as the mayor of the city of New York.'

At the same time as the altercations were taking place in California, a protestor on the campus of the University of Arizona was struck in the head with a rubber bullet as four people were arrested with cops using 'non lethal chemical munitions.'

In New Orleans, state police and local police worked in tandem to disperse a crowd of protestors on Tulane University's campus.

That resulted in six arrests and the suspension of seven students. An investigation has been launched into whether or not faculty were actively in the protests. Meanwhile, group of protestors ransacked a library in Portland State University, also on Tuesday.

These incidents unfolded amid a deepening national crisis with dozens of universities around the United States struggling to contain similar protests.

Police face off against pro-Palestinian supporters at an encampment on the Library Mall of the University of Wisconsin on Wednesday

A firework reportedly thrown by pro-Israel supporters explodes close to the student encampment at UCLA overnight

A pro-Palestinian demonstrator (center) is beaten during violent scenes at UCLA last night

A pro-Palestinian protestor is treated 'after being maced' during violent clashes at UCLA

Violence erupted through the night at UCLA before cops finally intervened to restore calm

Rival protestors brawled openly in the campus of UCLA overnight in scenes of mayhem

A pro-Palestinian encampment on the University of California, Los Angeles overnight

Pro-Israel supporters attempting to dismantle a Pro-Palestine encampment

On Tuesday night, cops raided a Columbia University hall where activists had occupied the building

In UCLA last night, protestors and counter-protestors were seen clashing with sticks, and tearing down metal barricades, TV footage showed. Others were seen launching fireworks or hurling objects at each other in the dark - lit up with laser pointers and bright flashlights.

The Los Angeles police department said that 'officers have been deployed, and are currently on the UCLA campus, to assist in restoring order.'

The nationwide protests have posed a challenge to university administrators trying to balance free speech rights with complaints that the rallies have veered into anti-Semitism and hate.

The unrest has swept through US higher education institutions like wildfire, with many student protestors erecting tent encampments on campuses from coast to coast.
Fire up the DeLorean and get the flux capacitor revving: the SNP is heading back to the future. John Swinney pulled up at the Grassmarket to launch his campaign to replace Humza Yousaf.

Swinney has been SNP leader before, back in what friends children refer to as the olden days, or the early 2000s to be exact.

But, as he chided one impertinent correspondent, it is ageist to query why the Nationalists are turning to a party elder rather than one of the many talented young Nats we keep hearing about but never seem to encounter.

I feel compelled to defend Swinney. Joe Biden is 81, Donald Trump, 77. At 60, Swinney is a mere whippersnapper.

And he plans on hanging around. I am no caretaker, he vowed. I am no interim leader. Not only would he lead the Nationalists into the general election, he would take them into Holyrood 2026 and serve a full term as first minister.

John Swinney at the launch of his leadership bid

He proved how much hed adapted to the modern SNP by spitting out buzzwords like a political vending machine: when he wasnt dispensing a reflects my values, he was serving up a modern, diverse, dynamic Scotland.

The purpose of such empty verbiage is to speak without saying anything anyone might hold you to later, but it has the added advantage of dulling the senses of those listening.

All the better to sneak in some more daring lines, such as his pledge to unite Scotland for independence.

The idea of bringing people together to tear them apart is novel enough, but unity? From Swinney?

The first time round, the bloke couldnt even bring his own party together. Good luck with Scotland.

He also accused Labour of dumping policies in the empty pursuit of power.

Quite the charge from Blairgowries answer to Niccolo Machiavelli. Swinney has made a political career out of opportunism; in the empty pursuit of power, he has seldom failed to make the podium.

His pitch to party members staked out a middle ground between the progressivism of Yousaf and the centrism of Kate Forbes.

He told the room: Only the SNP stand where the majority of people want their government to be: in the moderate centre-left of Scottish politics.

That cunningly inoffensive term moderate, a devious little chameleon of a word, may prove to be the devil in the detail.

Everyone thinks his politics is moderate and so all factions of the SNP will assume Swinney was aligning himself with them.

Beyond his own, hazily defined values, Swinney made a bid for Kate Forbes support, calling her an intelligent, creative, thoughtful person who has much to contribute to our national life.

She would play a significant role in his team. The whole press conference was really a one-way conversation with Forbes, with the rest of us invited to listen in.

His pitch as a uniter of the party was his unsubtle way of pointing out her shortcomings as a leadership candidate and his personal graciousness towards her his way of making her look churlish and divisive if she insisted on a contest.

Yes, hes been in politics forever. How do you think he got so good at skullduggery? He spoke from a pokey little room with a couple of John Swinney placards hastily taped to a wall, giving the launch a church hall bake sale aesthetic. (Another pitch for Kate Forbes vote?)

It was a tell as to how quickly this enterprise had been cobbled together. Down at Holyrood, where First Ministers Questions soon kicked off, Douglas Ross barely acknowledged Yousaf and had already begun sticking his size 10s into the likely successor.

He even got the Nationalist benches to applaud his charge that Swinneys priority was independence, informing them that the footage of them clapping would be going in his party election broadcasts.

And he was right to start in early on Swinney. Barely an hour later, Forbes confirmed she was not standing and was backing Swinney for Bute House. Instead of a contest, a stitch-up.

No wonder. Look what happened last time they let SNP members choose a leader.
As campaign slogans go, John Swinneys uniting for independence is as predictable and uninspiring as the SNPs efforts to foist him upon Scotland as First Minister.

After a Nationalist stitch-up to talk Kate Forbes out of running for the leadership, it looks like a coronation  so much for a reset after the chaos, scandals and failures of Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf.

Were in for more of the same, with even more focus on trying to break up the UK.

The Nationalists grand plan for recovery is a backroom deal to ensure the installation of man who was already a (thoroughly ineffectual) leader of their party, a generation ago  its 20 years since Mr Swinney stood down as SNP leader.

The prospect of his return is like a desperate sequel in a zombie horror franchise, with the living dead returning yet again, long after everyone hoped they had seen the last of them.

Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross said change will only come when Scotland sees the back of the SNP

It is a dismal indictment of the SNPs failure of vision and shortage of talent that, rather than do something to reverse the catastrophic damage their policies have caused, theyve chosen to go back to the future.

They are clearly desperate to spare the party the bloodbath of another leadership contest. But this carve-up wont cover up the bitter splits within the SNP.

Ms Forbes, who announced yesterday that she would not run, and who has clearly done a deal with Mr Swinney, previously said continuity wont cut it.

Yet she is now backing the ultimate continuity figure  a man who is not only a previous party leader, but was in Cabinet under both Alex Salmond and Ms Sturgeon.

He might look slightly less accident-prone than Humza Yousaf but, lets face it, so would Mr Bean. The fact that Mr Swinney takes himself seriously doesnt obscure the fact that, as education secretary, he let down young people across Scotland.

He was Nicola Sturgeons right-hand man, and he has been unswervingly loyal to the SNPs most disastrous policies and its now-toxic former First Minister.

He is inextricably linked with the secrecy and cover-ups of the Sturgeon era, from the ferries fiasco to the orchestrated mass deletion of Whats- App messages during Covid.

H E was subject to a motion of no confidence for his secrecy around the Alex Salmond inquiry, while Lord Hardie criticised him for a lack of candour in his report into the Edinburgh trams scandal.

That the Nationalists are preparing to anoint a diehard party loyalist, almost certainly without a contest, shows they have not learnt a single lesson from Mr Yousafs calamitous tenure.

Scots want action to reverse the damage their policies have inflicted.

They want NHS waiting lists reduced; schools that arent sliding down the league tables; police tackling real crime, rather than imaginary offences; roads maintained and upgraded; ferries that sail; basic public services that actually function as intended.

All those modest expectations were absent from Mr Swinneys statements yesterday.

His focus was entirely on how he would be good for the unity of the SNP and would further the cause of independence.

We are not going to see any real improvement until we have seen the back of his party and its discredited policies.
George Santos revealed that he will launch an OnlyFans and said he would have sex with Taylor Swift for attention in a wild new podcast appearance.

At first, the embattled ex-congressman said he would not have sex with Taylor Swift.

'What about for the media coverage?' the host Adam22 asked on his show No Jumper. 'Maybe. I just thought about that, maybe,' Santos said.

He then revealed he's been to 'more Beyonce concerts than I can count' but slammed the pop artist and her rapper husband Jay-Z for not 'saying diddly s***' about the sexual abuse allegations against Sean 'Diddy' Combs.

The infamous Long Island liar also claimed he partied in the Hamptons with Jay-Z and Cuba Gooding.

George Santos revealed that he will launch an OnlyFans and said he would have sex with Taylor Swift for attention in a wild new podcast appearance

Santos also talked about coming out as a gay man to his 'wife,' and informing her that he cheated on her with her best friend

'I do think Jay-Z talks shit about Kanye because it's been done in the Hamptons,' Santos said. 'That's the only time I catch up with these crowds, is when we're in the Hamptons all in the summer, and we all run into each other. Same circle, same party. Small, tight community, right? In the party circuit. So yeah, Cuba Gooding Jr. can easily be seen partying around the Hamptons. I've been to parties with him.'

Santos also talked about coming out as a gay man to his 'wife,' and informing her that he cheated on her with her best friend.

Santos was married to a Bralizian woman, Uadla Vieira Santos, for seven years from 2012 to 2019. During that time, in 2014, he announced his engagement to another man, Pedro Vilarva, though Vilarva reportedly never accepted his proposal.

'[The closet] was me trying to hide natural urges and try not to disappoint mom and dad kind of,' Santos says. 'You see, both my parents are Brazilian. There's a very machista culture in Brazil Being gay is kind of dangerous in that country. Well, I grew up here. My parents, little I knew, had such an open mind about it. But I was married for a couple of years. I mean, on paper, it looks like I was married for nine years. But in reality, I was married for like three, four years. But then it took another five years to actually finalize a divorce because I came out to her. I'm like, 'You know what? I can't do this no more. I had sex with your best friend, a gay dude.'

The ex-congressman was also asked about his sex life. 'I'm not giving you that for free! You can subscribe to my OnlyFans when it launches.

Adam22 asked him if he was planning on doing 'the full thing on there.'

'No, no, no, absolutely not. Maybe show [my] moobs.'

'I cannot stand gay culture,' Santos said in another moment of the interview.

'I'm gay. That's it. That's between me and the four walls of my bedroom. I don't need to push that shit on you. I don't need to be. I have rights. I've never felt like any rights I think I had, in my opinion, you and I have the same exact rights as men in this country, period. That who you sleep with makes no difference on your rights. The Bill of Rights covers us both equally. So all this nonsense of DEI and gender equality and all of this other stuff, it's just pandering for political bullshit.'

And like gay culture, he said he hated the culture around Congress.

'I completely hated the culture around it, it was garbage. Not what I thought it was going to be,' he said.

At first, the embattled ex-congressman said he would not have sex with Taylor Swift. 'What about for the media coverage?' the host Adam22 asked on his show No Jumper . 'Maybe. I just thought about that, maybe,' Santos said

The congressman revealed his husband, whom he married two years ago, 'hates' him being in the public eye, but enjoys the money it brings in.

'It's very simple. Every time he says I want you out of the public spotlight, I'm like, "Alright, guess no more bags for you." He's obsessed with bags, right.'

Santos also touched on his legal case against late night host Jimmy Kimmel - who he accused of illegally airing his Cameo clips on his ABC show.

'I was in court yesterday against Jimmy Kimmel. Jimmy didn't show up, hides behind corporate lawyers,' Santos said.

'Kimmel's a fraud. He's not funny. He's absolutely not funny So Jimmy Kimmel went and hired, under false pretenses, a bunch of Cameo videos with these bizarre scripts. Now, here's the reality. This was day three of me being on Cameo with over $200,000 worth of Cameo requests sitting in my queue.'

Kimmel has asked the court to throw out the case since he enriched Santos by requesting the Cameos.

Last week Santos officially dropped out of the race for Congress after launching a run against New York Republican Rep. Nick LaLota.

LaLota shot back at the news: 'Chat GPT translation: Hes taking a plea deal.'

Santos is set to stand trial in September for allegedly defrauding investors, lying to election officials and stealing unemployment benefits.

Santos was expelled from Congress in December and replaced by Democrat Tom Suozzi, leaving the House GOP with an even smaller majority. But, the 34-year-old suggested this wouldn't be the end of him in public life.

'I have meet with leaders and with constituents and I have made the decision to hang it up here and stop perusing this race, THIS YEAR! The future holds countless possibilities and I am ready willing and able to step up to the plate and go fight for my country at anytime,' Santos said.

Santos had announced a run against LaLota last month after making a dramatic appearance at President Biden's State of the Union address.

He did not qualify for the GOP primary in June, but could have still run as an Independent.
A Tesla owner has revealed his thoughts on why purchasing a coveted Cybertruck might not be for everyone.

Jeremy Junkins, a Cybertruck owner since March 8, took to social media with a long list of complaints about his brand new vehicle.

His frustrations might not come as a surprise to some. Tesla temporarily halted all Cybertruck deliveries in mid-April due to reports that the accelerator pedal was becoming stuck, which led to Tesla recalling nearly 4,000 Cybertrucks.

Now some of the car's less favorable features have been called out in a series of clips posted by Junkins.

One of his warnings goes to anyone who gets anxious easily, as he suggests owning the striking mode of transportation draws a lot of attention.

'The Tesla Cybertruck is not good if you have social anxiety because people are always watching you,' Judkins said in a TikTok video he posted on April 17.

Jeremy Judkins explains why people who have social anxiety and are bad at parking might not want to splurge over $80,000 on a Tesla Cybertruck

A Tesla Cybertruck during a test drive in Los Angeles, California on February 16, 2024

Another potential, he explained, is that trying to park at a super charging station can be difficult. In one example, he was having trouble maneuvering the car without feeling like he was going to hit the one in front of him or the supercharger itself.

After two or three attempts, he said he was embarrassed, feeling people's eyes on him, and gave up even though he was at around a 20 percent charge.

'So, I literally just parked in the parking spot, acted like I wasn't even trying to charge,' Judkins said. 'I walked and got some Starbucks and then I left and cam to another supercharger.'

Judkins most recent videos tackle the latest Cybertruck controversy: Its frunk - a.k.a. the front truck.

A number of people on social media began to notice in April that the frunk continues to close even if there's something obstructing it.

Judkins sticks a cucumber into the frunk to see if it will get chopped in half

In a follow up video, he escalates it by putting his own limbs in harm's way to put the frunk to the test

One of Judkins' TikTok followers goads him into sticking his finger into the frunk. Judkins obliges in his next video

Judkins is seen desperately trying to pry his finger out from the frunk as it continues to close, even after a software update that is supposed to prevent this from happening

Judkins posted a video Wednesday where he positions various fruits and vegetables underneath the frunk as it closes.

The door proceeded to chop bananas, carrots and cucumbers in half.

One person in the comments of Judkin's video wrote: 'So it will cut off fingers still just not an arm.'

This comment, among others, prompted Judkins to post yet another TikTok on Thursday to see whether the frunk would indeed cut off his finger.

Spoiler alert: it didn't. But it came somewhat close.

Judkins explained that after he installed a software update, the frunk was then able to detect obstructions as it closed.

Even after the update though, the frunk closed pretty hard on Judkins' finger.

After he pried his digit out amid groans of pain, he said, 'I feared for my finger for a second, not going to lie.'

A Tesla Cybertruck parked next to several other vehicles

Entrepreneur Thomas Remo shared a video of him picking up an $82,000 Cyberbeast in Irvine, California

Remo was driving down a busy street when the dashboard screen began flashing a bright red and beeping to alert him about a critical steering issue

Tesla shares have plummeted since the beginning of 2024. The stock's all time high was nearly $410 back in November 2021

Other Cybertruck owners besides Judkins have been pretty outspoken about their issues with the vehicle.

Some have described the outside of the truck as 'a fingerprint magnet' given that it has a stainless steel coating. Others have claimed that their trucks appeared to be rusting, which a Cybertruck engineer publicly denied on X in February.

'Stainless is reactive and free iron that sits on it will rust. It's surface contamination only and can be cleaned off easily,' Wes Morrill wrote.

The often noticeably large gaps between panels on the exterior of the truck have also raised concerns among some Cybertruck owners. Tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee attributed this issue to its stainless steel construction.

Then there's also the freak cases of the Cybertruck failing right out of the gate.

Despite Tesla CEO Elon Musk touting it as 'apocalypse proof' that certainly wasn't true for entrepreneur Thomas Remo.

Remo shared a video of him picking up the Cybertruck only to have it break 'not even six inches off the lot.' It proceeded to fail another '30 times' throughout his first day owning it, according to Remo.

Tesla isn't having the best year so far, with Musk announcing in mid-April that he was laying off 14,000 employees, some of whom were on crucial teams involved with engineering the EVs.

Tesla shares are down almost 28 percent year to date.
A former Lord Advocate yesterday compared the death of Sheku Bayoh to the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence.

Frank Mulholland said he knew the Scottish case would be high profile and that issues of racial motiviation would be front and centre.

Mr Bayoh, 31, a father-of-two, died after he was restrained by six police officers in Kirkcaldy, Fife, on May 3 2015 after being arrested while high on drugs.

The Sheku Bayoh Inquiry is examining the circumstances leading to his death, how police dealt with the aftermath, the investigation, and whether race was a factor.

Mr Mulholland, 65, head of Scotlands prosecution service between 2011 and 2016, gave evidence to the inquiry yesterday.

Mr Lawrence was murdered in a racially motivated attack in 1993.

Mr Bayoh died after he was restrained by police officers in Kirkcaldy, Fife, in 2015

He said: In my experience meeting the family of Sheku Bayoh, they were a nice family. They werent looking for revenge or someone to pay a price.

What they wanted was answers. We need to be deaf not to know the difficulties the Stephen Lawrence murder caused and the loss of public trust in the legal process.

As lord advocate I was going to do everything I could, which is why I liaised and listened to the family of Sheku Bayoh. I dont regret it, and if it happened tomorrow I would do the same thing.

Mr Lawrence, 18, was stabbed to death in London in 1993.

But it was not until 2012 that two men were finally convicted of his murder and jailed.

Mr Mulholland said he was surprised that the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (Pirc) did not launch an active investigation into race over Mr Bayohs death.

Speaking about the time of Mr Bayohs death, Mr Mulholland said: As soon as I heard I knew it was going to be high profile. Issues of racial motivation were going to be front and centre.

Senior counsel to the inquiry Angela Grahame said: From September 2015 there was reference to race in correspondence but prior to that the Pirc investigation had taken cognisance of race but not taken active investigation into race.

Mr Mulholland said: I find it surprising, the interaction with Pirc is not just letters, it was quite clear in the conversations that race was front, left and centre.

The inquiry also heard the family of Mr Bayoh felt they were being smeared and feared leaks may have came from the Crown Office.

But Mr Mulholland said: Smearing is not my style. In my time at the Crown I know of no one who would engage in that behaviour. 

Ms Grahame said: Is there anything you think could have been done to make it clear the Crown Office was not complicit?

Mr Mulholland said: I have great respect for the family and I felt for the position they were in, which had been thrust upon them. Its a matter of trust.

What youve got to do is build up trust and how youre dealing with the investigation.

Later, inquiry chairman Lord Bracadale said: We are very conscious tomorrow is the ninth anniversary, we know and understand that each anniversary is a distressing time for members of the family and friends of Sheku Bayoh.

I want to renew the commitment of the inquiry to a thorough examination of the evidence.

The inquiry continues.
Two-fifths of Scottish employees no longer work full-time in the office, amid fears it is damaging the economy.

The number of people working flexibly now stands at 40 per cent.

But a third of employers reported they were struggling to get workers into the office as much as they would like, according to research by consultants Flexibility Works.

Research in the US last year found that remote workers productivity is reduced by between 10 and 20 per cent compared with those fully office-based.

The trend for flexible working  championed by the Scottish Government  has also had a massive effect on businesses reliant on footfall.

Two-third of Scots employees no longer work full-time in the office amid fears for the economy

Pubs, restaurants and small businesses have been hit hard by the sharp downturn in the number of people going to their workplace full-time.

Retail and hospitality were both in the top five of industries  topped by manufacturing  with the lowest levels of flexible working.

Paul Waterson, president of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association, said: The big problem is people not coming into towns for work, and that has a massive effect on businesses, especially at lunchtimes. It makes town centres less attractive than they were.

When you ally that with what is going on with LEZs, the dearth of public transport, especially late at night, and car parking charges, it has affected us greatly.

He added: Governments  local and national  must look at that and have a change of emphasis. Everybody is well aware that high streets have died, and the saviour of those high streets is going to be hospitality.

Colin Borland, director of the Federation of Small Businesses Scotland, said that people coming into town for work are a big element of weekday footfall for businesses.

He said those working from home dont buy the sandwich, or nip out for a bit of lunchtime shopping, or have a quick drink with colleagues before catching the train home.

Scottish Conservative business spokesman Murdo Fraser said flexible working has its benefits but SNP ministers cannot blithely ignore the impact it is continuing to have on our economy.

The survey of 262 Scottish business leaders and managers and 1,016 workers, published in a Flex for Life 2024 report, showed that 83 per cent of high earners work flexibly compared with 57 per cent of those earning less than 20,000 a year.

Women from low-earning households were least likely to work flexibly.

Meanwhile, 77 per cent of those who do not work full-time in the office reported being happier with their work-life balance, and 43 per cent of business leaders and managers agreed that greater flexibility is being held up by opposition from their peers and senior colleagues.

The research found three-quarters of business leaders believed flexibility helped to retain staff and 71 per cent said it had reduced sickness and absence rates.

The Scottish Governments fair work minister Gillian Martin said: Flexible working is here to stay.

Catherine McWilliam, head of the Institute of Directors in Scotland, said many key business challenges, such as how to increase productivity or deal with staff shortages, can be addressed, at least in part, through greater flexible working.
Crofters and farmers whose sheep have been killed and eaten by sea eagles are to be handed a 400,000 funding package to help deter the predators.

The population of the huge birds of prey has grown to 150 breeding pairs since they were reintroduced to Scotland over the past 40 years.

But there are concerns about the impact the birds are having on flocks, with some farmers calling for culls in hotspots where they target lambs.

It is hoped the cash injection will protect sheep and the birds themselves by paying for new scaring technology to keep them away from lambs.

The protections include audio and light devices, the felling of trees where the birds nest and feeding them animal carcasses to attract them away from areas with a high number of sheep farms.

A huge sea eagle swoops down and flies off after grabbing a lamb with its talons

Agriculture minister Jim Fairlie said: Ive spoken to many farmers who have experienced these disruptive attacks.

They have expressed their frustrations and I fully understand both the mental and financial toll that eagle attacks are having on them.

I hope this news provides much-needed reassurance for farmers. I know the support will help them continue to find ways to mitigate against the effects of sea eagles.

The new funding has been allocated to the Sea Eagle Management Scheme (SEMS) and farmers can receive between 500 and 5,000 to fund their efforts to deter the birds.

Robbie Kernahan, Nature-Scots director of green economy, said: We are pleased the scheme has been allocated funding for 2024.

We are currently working to get management agreements in place and will be in touch with those affected as soon as possible.

Argyll farmer David Colthart, chairman of Argyll and Lochaber Sea Eagle Stakeholder group, said: I welcome the funding.

With eagles actively predating in lambing, the funding for mitigation measures and management will be a relief.

Also known as white-tailed eagles, sea eagles are the UKs largest bird  with wingspans up to 8ft  leading to their nickname flying barn doors.

However not everybody is happy about the reintroduction of the raptor to Scotland.Western Isles MP Angus MacNeil has called for them to be culled after they allegedly killed two of his neighbours flock.

TV naturalist Chris Packham condemned the calls to cull, which he said risks fanning the flames of conflict in struggling Scottish communities.

A previous study highlighted the economic benefits the birds have brought to Mull, with between 4.9million and 8million of tourist spend being attracted by white-tailed eagles annually, which in turn supports up to 160 jobs.

The new compensation cash announcement follows complaints from farmers that the funding was being held up by NatureScot, even though lambing is now well under way.

NFU Scotland president Martin Kennedy said: White-tailed eagles are already active in lambing in several parts of Scotland, as seen in much-publicised social media posts.
Ulviyya Shahin

The Cabinet of Ministers approved the "Regulation on the preparation, approval, and control of the implementation of the energy balance".

Azernews reports that Prime Minister Ali Asadov has signed a new decree in this regard.

Under the decision, the Ministry of Energy must approve reporting forms and methodological explanations based on information obtained from energy entities for the preparation of the energy balance within six months.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Energy is tasked with creating a working group, including representatives from the Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Finance, State Statistics Committee, State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), "Azerenergy" OJSC, "Azerishig" OJSC, "Azerigas" OJSC, and State Contract Corporation "Azcontract," to ensure the drafting and execution of the "Energy Balance of the Republic of Azerbaijan" project annually. The ministry is also required to establish a limited-access electronic database titled "Energy Balance of the Republic of Azerbaijan" on its official website within 10 months.
Pay attention, everyone. This is a classic of the form. We are witnessing, in all its grotesque and cynical glory, a masterclass in SNP hypocrisy.

Conclusive proof that the party wouldnt dream of living up to the lofty standards it demands of its opponents. Its almost a work of art.

The Nationalists decision to install John Swinney as leader, setting him up to be Scotlands seventh First Minister, displays the sort of contempt for the electorate they continually detect and dramatically deplore in others.

Down the years, TV studios have echoed with the exhausting sounds of outraged SNP politicians accusing their opponents of attacking the foundations of democracy.

When David Cameron stepped down as Prime Minister following defeat in 2016s EU referendum, Nicola Sturgeon insisted the country have a general election.

Scotland is crying out for change  but is John Swinney really the man to deliver it?

The Conservatives didnt really think they could get away with imposing a new leader on the country, did they?

This demand for an election was repeated by Ms Sturgeon and other senior Nationalists when Mr Camerons successor, Theresa May, quit in 2019.

And, youve guessed it, when Boris Johnson was replaced by Liz Truss, the Nationalists declared an election absolutely necessary.

On that occasion, Ms Sturgeon tweeted: This cant go on. General Election now.

And when Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister, she said: He should call an early general election.

Hes the second person in a row to be appointed as Prime Minister by Tories  not elected by the population.

The idea that he can go two years before seeking or winning a democratic mandate I think is just unthinkable.

But whats sauce for the Tory goose is not sauce for the SNP gander. Yesterday, in a desperate bid to stop his party falling apart, former leader John Swinney  the very definition of yesterdays man  announced his candidacy to succeed Humza Yousaf.

By 2pm, former finance secretary Kate Forbes had ruled herself out of the running.

Under pressure from colleagues not to spark a potentially bloody leadership contest while the SNP is in crisis, Ms Forbes caved.

She is expected to be handed a senior Cabinet role by Mr Swinney  who, when he takes office, will be the second person in a row appointed as First Minister by the SNP rather than the electorate.

If it was an undemocratic outrage for the Tories to impose leaders on the country without an election, why then do the Scot Nats think they can do exactly the same?

The reason, Im afraid, is that the Nationalists moral code runs no further than: If we do it, it is a fine and moral act.

Mr Swinney told supporters at his, it turns out, entirely unnecessary campaign launch that only the SNP stands where the majority of people want their government to be, in the moderate centre-Left of Scottish politics, adding, That is where I stand.

You may be forgiven for finding this confusing.

This is, after all, the politician who  as Deputy First Minister to Nicola Sturgeon for nine years  helped drive a bitter wedge through Scotland, participating in a strategy of demonising opponents and angrily attacking anyone who dared speak out again the SNP governments failures.

This is the politician who was second in command in a government that repeatedly ignored the priorities of Scots, a government that obsessed over gender ideology and displayed a worrying contempt for freedom of speech.

This is the man who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Ms Sturgeon when, her brain addled by a cocktail of queer theory and the desire to be loved by a generation of hipsters, refused to say rapist Adam Graham, who declared before his trial that he had changed gender, was a man.

Mr Swinney presents himself as an affable fellow, with a calm and reassuring tone.

But we should not be lulled. The First Minister-in-waitings fingerprints are smudged on every appalling failure of the SNP Government.

His signature is on every broken, unnecessary or illiberal piece of legislation imposed on Scots by the SNP while it neglected the NHS, schools and the economy.

Mr Swinney promised change yesterday and, heaven knows, Scotland is crying out for that. But the returning SNP leaders ideas of change may, I think, differ.

The Scottish peoples idea of necessary change is a government that stops promising a divisive referendum which they do not want.

And one that frees itself from the grip of gender ideologues, whove driven such unsuccessful Swinney-backed legislation as the plan to reform the Gender Recognition Act, allowing men to self-ID as women and then gain access to single sex spaces.

Mr Swinney could not have made it clearer, yesterday, that he doesnt get it.

Just seconds into his speech he was declaring his intention to unite Scotland for independence when what Scotland wants is for him to fix its failing services.

Asked by a female political journalist what, given the recent fierce debates over identity politics, his view was on whether a trans woman is a woman, Mr Swinney offered the most dismissive answer.

If, said Mr Swinney, our politics is defined purely and simply by these questions, I think were not addressing the core issues and challenges that people face in our society.

So, today, I am going to address the core challenges and priorities that face people in our society.

Could it be the countless women who believe gender ideology to be dangerous, dont count as people with priorities to Mr Swinney? Surely not?

If he really doesnt realise how important this issue is, he had better think again, and quickly.

Among the factors that ended Nicola Sturgeons time in office was the huge public backlash to her gender recognition reforms. And this ideology played its part in Mr Yousafs downfall, too.

The refusal of senior Greens, including Patrick Harvie, to accept the findings of Dr Hilary Casss report into the treatment of gender-confused children infuriated a number of SNP backbenchers and played a part in Mr Yousafs decision to end their power-sharing deal, a move that saw the Greens line up behind a planned vote of no confidence in his First Ministership.

Mr Swinney is not going to persuade moderate, middle Scotland his party is changed if he cannot state that sex is a matter of biology and not a fluid concept, dictated by post-modernist narcissists.

I wonder whether Mr Swinney felt he could not answer that question clearly because of the danger it might upset the Greens.

Green co-leaders Mr Harvie and Lorna Slater hold fringe views on the matter of sex and gender. If Mr Swinney cannot differentiate himself from them on this issue then he will pay a price.

John Swinney may feel he needs to keep the Scottish Greens onside to help preserve the position he is about to inherit but, surely, hes not prepared to indulge their extremist views and to let them dictate the direction his government takes?

Judging by what he said yesterday, I fear he might be.
A teenager has been charged with three counts of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm after three people were injured at a secondary school in Sheffield, South Yorkshire Police said.

The 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was arrested on Wednesday morning following reports of an incident involving a 'sharp object' at Birley Academy.

Two women in their 20s and a child suffered minor injuries but did not require hospital treatment.

The teenager, who has also been charged with possession of a blade or sharply pointed article on a school premises, has been remanded in custody.

He is due to appear before Sheffield Magistrates' Court on Friday.

Birley Academy, in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, where a 17-year-old attacked two staff members and a child

The teenager was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and has now been charged after three people were injured in an in incident involving a sharp object

On Wednesday police said the sharp object was believed to be a piece of broken glass.

Officers said all three victims were checked over by paramedics at the scene and the child had 'no visible injuries'.

The secondary school was put into lockdown on Wednesday following the attack and pupils described having to hide under their desks.

It comes just a week after two teachers and a pupil were stabbed at Amman Valley School in Carmarthenshire, south-west Wales.

Speaking outside the school following the terrifying incident on Wednesday afternoon Assistant Chief Constable Dan Thorpe said officers were called to the scene at about 08:50am.

'The two adults suffered minor injuries, one from a sharp object which is believed to be broken glass,' he said.

'The child was assaulted and thankfully has no visible injuries. But I know this will have been a frightening ordeal for everyone involved.'

The school was locked down all morning and pupils could not leave until after 11am.

One parent said: 'I heard from my daughter. She was under the table crying. It wasn't nice  it was a bit overwhelming.'

Another said he received a text from his son telling him the school had gone into lockdown. It read: 'There was an alarm, the headteacher ran out and told us to get back inside, then we were on the floor.

Police outside the school after the attacker, 17, was arrested following the attack. He has also been charged with possession of a blade or sharply pointed article on a school premises

A 'scrum' of mothers and fathers were waiting outside the gates to collect their children when pupils were sent home at 11am

Following the incident the Birley's school has gone into lockdown and anxious pupils texted their parents that they had been forced to hide under their desks for safety

The school has reassured parents that the children are safe following the incident

A 'scrum' of mothers and fathers were waiting outside the gates to collect their children when pupils were eventually sent home. The school has not yet announced whether it will open for the rest of the week.

One mother, who had gathered at the school gates, said her daughter had heard an alarm go off around the time when the attack took place.

She said she had got a text from her just after 9am saying the girl had been 'locked in' her classrooms while police swooped on the school and arrested the suspect.

The mum said: 'She said it was really calm. They were in their rooms. The alarm went off and they were locked in their classrooms.

'There's rumours but I actually don't know what happened.

'The school have been good, they've been really communicative. It sounds like they reacted really quickly.'

All three victims of the assault were given treatment at the scene for minor injuries sustained in the attack.

An email sent to parents by head teacher Vicky Hall read: 'There has been an incident in school this morning.

'I want to reassure you that all staff and students are safe and well. Emergency services attended immediately and are in attendance.

'Please do not attend school at the moment.'

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said she was 'disturbed' to hear about the incident at The Birley Academy.
The FBI seized phones and laptops belonging to crew on board the Dali cargo ship that crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore last month.

On April 15, the FBI released a statement to the media that agents were on board the Dali conducting court-authorized 'law enforcement activity.'

Crew members were eager to speak to trained Chaplain Associates from the Seamen's Church Institute (SCI) in their native languages when they finally boarded the ship.

The chaplains learned from crew that their mobile phones and computers had been taken by the FBI as part of its investigation, meaning they had lost their contact numbers, WeChat, and WhatsApp applications that they used to connect with family and friends - which made the stranded crewmembers even more isolated on board.

On their second visit, the chaplains brought new SIM cards and other items on board the ship to give to crewmembers, the Maritime Executive revealed.

Six members of a roadwork crew plunged to their deaths on March 26 when a container ship lost power and crashed into one of the bridge's supporting columns.

The 50m-wide ship is marooned under the bridge. It arrived in Baltimore from Norfolk on Monday having previously made journeys to New York City and Panama

SCI workers contacted the U.S. Coast Guard authorities to fend for the crewmembers, and to find out if and when their phones would be returned by the FBI.

The ships operator provided six new mobile phones the next day to give to the crew - and promised that their original phones would at some point be returned.

As the probe continues - the body of the fifth construction worker killed after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge more than a month ago was finally recovered yesterday.

Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez, 49, of Glen Burnie, Maryland, has been identified as the victim found Wednesday, the Key Bridge Response Unified Command announced.

Six members of a roadwork crew plunged to their deaths on March 26 when a container ship lost power and crashed into one of the bridge's supporting columns.

Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez has been identified as the fifth victim found Wednesday

He was a 49-year-old man from Glen Burnie, Maryland

Five bodies have now been recovered, but one worker, Jose Mynor Lopez, has not been found.

They were all Latino immigrants who came to the United States from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.

Salvage teams found one of the missing construction vehicles Wednesday and notified the Maryland State Police, officials said.

State police investigators and Maryland Transportation Authority Police officers and the FBI responded to the scene and recovered the body inside a red truck. The state police underwater recovery team and crime scene unit also assisted.

'We remain dedicated to the ongoing recovery operations while knowing behind each person lost in this tragedy lies a loving family,' Maryland State Police Superintendent Roland Butler said in a statement.

Five bodies have now been recovered, but one worker, Jose Mynor Lopez, has not been found

'Along with our local, state and federal partners, we ask that everyone extend their deepest sympathies and support to the families during this difficult time.'

The Dali container ship has been stationary amid the wreckage since the collapse, but crews plan to refloat and remove the ship, allowing more maritime traffic to resume through Baltimore's port.

Officials expect to have it removed by May 10, according to a Port of Baltimore news release.
Almost a year after they were crowned at Westminster Abbey, the King and Queen have received the official recording of the proceedings, the Coronation Roll.

It is the first in history to be made from paper and not parchment  which is made from calf, goat or sheepskin  due to Charles's interest in animal welfare.

At Buckingham Palace on Wednesday Their Majesties were presented with the roll by Antonia Romeo, the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery.

Ms Romeo said the roll comprises 57 pages stitched together and contains around 11,600 handwritten words.

As it was unrolled on a trestle table, the King joked: 'It goes for miles.' The Queen added: 'I won't attempt to read it without my specs.'

Unrolled: The King and Queen with Antonia Romeo as they are presented with the Coronation Roll

Illuminated: The first page of the Coronation roll presented to King Charles and Queen Camilla

Clerk of the Crown in Chancery Antonia Romeo's signature on the Coronation Roll

King Charles III and Queen Camilla are shown a digital version of the Coronation Roll

The King said he was hugely impressed by 'the most marvellous illuminations', light-heartedly adding: 'All the right spellings?' Ms Romeo replied: 'That's been checked many times, many times.'

'It's extraordinary, it goes right on to us leaving the abbey,' the King commented.

The first Coronation Roll was created for Edward II and Queen Isabella in 1308.

The National Archives hold most of them, but many are missing and none exist for Edward III, Henry VI, Edward IV, Richard III, Henry VII, Edward VI, Mary I, Elizabeth I and Charles I.

The King said: 'I'm riveted, I read that after 1308, there are quite a lot missing. And we don't know where they disappear to? What happened to all the other lost rolls?'

The King and Queen were introduced to Timothy Noad, the heraldic artist, and Stephanie Gill, the calligrapher.

'I can't tell you how grateful I am for your work,' the King said, adding: 'You deserve a stiff drink after all that!'

Speaking to Ms Gill, the Queen said: 'Your eyes must have been very strained?' She replied: 'More so my hands, it was a lot of detail.'

Clerk of the Crown in Chancery Antonia Romeo (right) and Head of Conservation at the National Archives Sonja Schwoll (left) unfurl the Coronation Roll at the College of Arms in London

The Coronation Roll of Queen Elizabeth II on display at Buckingham Palace

The Coronation Rolls of previous monarchs on display at Buckingham Palace

The Coronation Roll of Queen Victoria on display at Buckingham Palace

King Charles III and Queen Camilla after being presented with the Coronation Roll, an official record of their Coronation, at Buckingham Palace on March 1

Head of Collections at the National Archives Sean Cunningham with the Coronation Roll at the College of Arms

The couple were also shown a unique digital version which is being launched as part of a project where the public will be able to view the roll and search for specific information.

It will also include video and photos from the ceremony as well as interviews with key players.

The King and Queen were also shown a collection of previous rolls including the one made for his mother Queen Elizabeth II.

Read more about the Coronation Roll by clicking here
New details about Legacy Tunnel crash that killed two emerge

A retired policeman stopped his black Audi at the entrance of a busy tunnel, revved his engine and accelerated to speeds of 200km/hour just seconds before he ploughed into the back of a car and killed a young woman.

Ex-cop Bruce Daley, 56, was killed when he smashed into a silver sedan, which then crashed into a truck in the Legacy Way tunnel at Mt Coot-Tha on Wednesday.

Young nurse Lily Galbraith, 24, who was a passenger in the silver sedan, was killed while the driver, Emma McLean, 23, was left in critical condition.

Witnesses to the horror crash recall how the Audi stopped at the entrance of the tunnel at about 3.10pm, forcing other motorists to drive around it.

'The driver didn't indicate or put hazards on. I indicated around him and kept going. A few people beeped at him,' one witness told The Courier-Mail.

'I went past slowly. He was just sitting there in the car.'

Ex-cop Bruce Daley (pictured) was also killed in the horror crash

Lily Galbraith (left) was killed after an ex-cop driving an Audi convertible slammed into the back of a car she was a passenger in. Her friend Emma McLean (right) is in a critical condition

Mr Daley had been heading north in the tunnel in a black Audi S3 (pictured) which witnesses said was speeding at up to 200km/h

The witness had called his brother on his commute home from work.

'This car was flying, he went past me and my brother could actually hear it through the hands-free, my car shook,' he said.

'About 80metres in front of me is where the impact happened. I told my brother "I have to get off the phone" and jumped out.

'All you could see was the smoke and debris everywhere.'

The witness said he and another man checked on Mr Daley, who had 'minimal pulse' and was later declared dead at the scene.

Mr Daley retired from the Queensland Police in 2014.

He had mentioned his mental health struggles on social media, including references to loneliness and suicide.

Detective Acting Inspector Chris Hansel told a press conference that speed would be a focus of the investigation, which was not criminal.

'This will be a very protracted matter, and all elements and angles of this incident will be investigated thoroughly,' he said.

'This includes looking at our fatal five factors, such as any distractions, drink-driving, speeding, fatigue or unrestrained behaviours that were present leading up to or during the incident.'

It's understood Mr Daley (pictured) left the Queensland Police Force in 2014

The former police officer is seen posing in his black convertible Audi in November of 2016

Inspector Hansel would not comment on whether the ex-cop's mental state would inform the investigation, which is expected to take several months.

'I'm unable to comment on exact scenarios at this stage. As you would appreciate, it is a very complex investigation, a very confronting scene that was experienced by our first responders and members of the public,' he said.

'It would be again irresponsible for me to nominate a specific scenario without the full investigation having been undertaken.'

Ms Galbraith, from Darwin, and Ms McLean, from Adelaide, were in Brisbane for a wedding when their lives were turned upside-down by the crash.

Ms McLean remains in a critical condition at Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital after undergoing surgery on Wednesday evening.

She was engaged to her boyfriend of five years only a few weeks ago.

The driver of the truck was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The collision shut down the major Brisbane tunnel, and both inbound and outbound lanes were closed for over two hours during peak hours.

Police want to speak to anyone who saw the black Audi S3 before the crash and anyone with information for investigators.
A weekend of persistent, heavy rain is on the way for NSW as a slow-moving band of wet weather moves across the state's interior.

Showers have persisted for much of the week but are expected to increase on Friday ahead of a dreary weekend, the Bureau of Meteorology warned.

'The rain is still over the interior and the north of NSW ... that will change this weekend though,' bureau meteorologist Angus Hines said.

'Into Saturday, we will see this broad area of rain and possible storms move further eastwards.'

Clouds started to form in the 'border corner' of NSW, Queensland and South Australia on Thursday and are expected to move towards the coast on Friday, Mr Hines said.

More than 100mm of rain will be dumped on Sydney between Friday and Sunday (pictured, forecasted rain for the east coast next Monday)

Weatherzone said the largest daily totals are expected across the central and northeastern NSW and southern Queensland on Saturday (pictured, rainfall forecast this weekend)

Showers were already falling on the coast throughout the week.

The rain is expected to intensify in coastal areas from Wollongong north to the mid-north coast at Port Macquarie, with Sydney and Newcastle also set to be drenched.

'All of these places are in line for a very wet weekend,' Mr Hines said.

Coastal districts could receive as much as 150mm of rain, enough to cause flooding, he said.

The bureau is also warning powerful surf conditions could create hazardous conditions for rock fishers and swimmers during the weekend, particularly on south-facing beaches.

The continuing wet weather comes on the back of above average rainfall with Sydney receiving almost 30mm more for April, boosted by 111mm falling on April 5 at the city's Observatory Hill station.

Parts of NSW and southern Queensland are expected to flood during this period due to the wet days that have preceded the deluge.

Significant rainfall totals have already been recorded across NSW.

Australia's east coast is bracing for a weekend washout with Sydney (pictured on Wednesday) set to be hammered with more than a month's worth of rain in just 48 hours

Nord's Wharf Oval in NSW's Hunter Valley recorded 93mm of rain in the 24 hours leading up to 9am on Wednesday.

Cooranbong, a town in NSW's Lake Macquarie, recorded its wettest day in 13 years with 52.4mm falling during the same period.

In weather across Australia, Perth will receive a morning shower on Friday while Melbourne will remain cold and cloudy for most of the week.

Canberra will get down to 2C on Friday with a maximum of 18C on Sunday while Adelaide can expect blue skies with tops of 20C.

Brisbane will be plagued by sporadic showers all weekend with tops of 24C, Hobart will remain cold and cloudy and Darwin will be mostly sunny with highs of 35C.
Woman and two men arrested in the search for three missing surfers

A woman and two men have been arrested during the search for three foreign missing surfers in Mexico who failed to return to their Airbnb after a surfing trip.

Jake, 30, and Callum Robinson, 33, from Perth, Australia, and their friend Jack Carter Rhoad, 30, from San Diego, vanished five days ago in the Baja California region near Ensenada on Mexico's north-west coast.

After sharing regular social media posts about the first two days of their trip, they trio have not been heard from since Saturday.

A 23-year-old Mexican woman has been arrested in connection to the case, Baja California Attorney General Maria Elena Andrade Ramirez told reporters.

She was discovered in possession of a mobile phone belonging to one of the brothers, along with methamphetamine.

Two men, also Mexican, were arrested alongside her, Ms Ramirez said.

It is understood police were able to make the arrests after one of the brothers' mobile phones was turned back on, and pinged a local mobile tower.

Jake (left) and Callum Robinson (right) have not been heard from for days after going missing on a surfing trip to Mexico (pictured with their parents)

Jack Carter Rhoad, 30, from San Diego, is also missing

According to local media, blood was discovered at three abandoned tents where the brothers and their friend were believed to be staying before they vanished.

A burnt-out white Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck was found on a ranch in the Santo Tomas area after the ranch manager called 911 on Thursday (local time), according to local media TalkBaja.

A check of the vehicle's VIN reportedly identified it as belonging to one of the three missing surfers.

The men were said to be driving a Chevrolet Colorado with the Californian number plate 70189W1.

The three tents were discovered south of the Ensenada region and local authorities have searched hundreds of square kilometres of land in the surrounding area.

A woman and two men, all Mexican, have been arrested in connection to the case, Baja California Attorney General Maria Elena Andrade Ramirez (centre) told reporters

According to local media, blood was discovered at three abandoned tents where the brothers and their American friend were believed to be staying before they vanished. A truck, said to belong to either Jake or Callum, was also found burnt out at a nearby farm (pictured)

Former FBI agent Phil Andrew (right) pinpointed the most worrying detail about the police investigation so far: the fact one of the men's phones was found in the hands of another person

EXCLUSIVE READ MORE: Samantha Murphy's body may never be found The hunt for Samantha Murphy's body Advertisement

Ms Ramirez said 'very important time was lost' as police only launched their search for the three men after seeing reports of their disappearance on social media.

'A working team [of investigators] is at the site where they were last seen, where tents and other evidence was found that could be linked to these three people we have under investigation,' Ms Ramirez said on Thursday.

'There is a lot of important information that we can't make public.'

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Friday the Department of Foreign Affairs had been in touch with the brothers' family.

'This is a really concerning situation,' he said.

'Our embassy in Mexico is working with local authorities as well to try to ascertain what has happened here.'

'We hope that these brothers are found safely but there is real concern about the fact that they've gone missing.'

'Their mother is obviously very distressed about this and we just hope for a positive outcome.'

The brothers' family is said to be 'frantically' trying to get a flight to Mexico, reports 7News.

It comes as a former FBI agent pinpointed the most worrying detail about the police investigation so far: the fact one of the men's phones was found in the hands of another person.

'This additional information that their phone was in a third person's hands, that creates concern,' Phil Andrew told Sunrise on Friday morning.

'They're in an area that is difficult to police and very remote, and there are reports of increased level of crime there.'

When asked what was 'most likely scenario' for the men, Mr Andrew said it was safe to assume the trio met with foul play.

He added the likelihood of the incident being a kidnapping was diminishing the more time passes without any 'sort of demand' being made.

Debra Robinson appealed for help from the public in the search for her sons on Thursday

A woman has reportedly been arrested during the search after she turned on a mobile phone that belonged to one of the brothers (Jake, left and Callum, right, with their parents)

Jake and Callum are understood to have gone missing from the Baja California region near Ensenada

Earlier, Jake and Callum's mother Debra Robinson issued an urgent plea for help to find her sons.

'Reaching out to anyone who has seen my two sons,' Ms Robinson wrote on Facebook.

'They are travelling with another friend, an American citizen.

'They were due to book into an Airbnb in Rosarito after their camping weekend but they did not show up.'

Ms Robinson posted a photo which said her sons had gone missing around the Rosarito and Ensenada region of Baja California on Saturday morning.

Rosarito is a coastal city about an hour's drive north of Ensenada and a 45-minute drive south of the U.S. city of San Diego.

Ms Robinson said there was a medical concern as Callum is a type one diabetic.

She asked for anyone who had seen her sons or knew their whereabouts to contact her.

Lacrosse Australia issued a statement on social media expressing its concern over the whereabouts of Jake, Callum and their friend Jack Carter Rhoad.

It described Callum as an 'Australian lacrosse star'.

Callum, who was an avid social media user, is pictured here at a festival with a friend who is unconnected to his disappearance. He has been described as an 'Australian lacrosse star'

'We urge the Australian lacrosse community and our global lacrosse family to continue sharing the post from Callum's friends and family (located on the LA Facebook and Instagram story) in the hope that Callum, Jake and Jack are found safe and sound,' it said.

'Our thoughts are with the families and friends of the Callum, Jake and Jack during this incredibly stressful time.'

WA Premier Roger Cook said the situation was 'very worrying'.

'When we do send our young men and women overseas to enjoy that adventure holiday, they invite an element of risk and this is really quite distressing,' he said.

'I understand that one of the individuals has a medical condition that would need ongoing care, so I share concerns of all Western Australians in terms of their welfare.'

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed they were assisting the family.

'The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to the family of two Australians reported missing in Mexico,' a spokesperson said.

'Owing to our privacy obligations we are unable to provide further comment.'
It is always a struggle to get anyone in a government office to pick up the phone.

But members of the public calling the Department of Health switchboard have been lucky enough to be connected to the Health Secretary herself.

Callers were put through to Victoria Atkins under a new system designed to auto-divert calls to relevant officials via Microsoft Teams.

Several were connected to the minister before officials replaced her laptop to stop this happening, Politico reported.

The embarrassing error comes after Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's Budget announcement that an extra 3.4billon would be spent on NHS productivity over five years  with the aim of ramping up digitisation and automation in a health service that until recently used fax machines.

Members of the public calling the Department of Health switchboard were put through to the Health Secretary herself, Victoria Atkins (pictured)

Callers were put through to Ms Atkins under a new system designed to auto-divert calls to relevant officials via Microsoft Teams (stock image)

He told MPs that the 'landmark' investment would 'modernise NHS IT systems so they're as good as the best in the world'  and lead to 35billion in savings. Ms Atkins' experience is reminiscent of ministers being prank-called in the past.

In 2022, then defence secretary Ben Wallace was caught up in a suspected Russian hoax call after he spoke to an 'imposter' pretending to be the Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal for ten minutes.

The episode raised concerns about the ease with which rogue states could source the phone numbers of senior government officials. Last year, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's number was published online in an embarrassing security breach.

And when she was prime minister, the mobile numbers for Liz Truss and 25 of her cabinet ministers were made available on the internet.

During his time in No 10 in 2021, Boris Johnson was advised to stop using his personal phone and not to access it again on security grounds after it emerged that his number had been freely available online for 15 years.

A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said of the switchboard error: 'We do not comment on security matters.'
Lord David Cameron has supported Ukrainian strikes against targets inside Russia using British-supplied weapons, arguing Kyiv has a 'right' to use missiles from London as it saw fit.

On a visit to Kyiv today, Lord Cameron said: 'In terms of what the Ukrainians do, in our view, it is their decision about how to use these weapons, they're defending their country, they were illegally invaded by Putin and they must take those steps.

'We don't discuss any caveats that we put on on those things. But let's be absolutely clear, Russia has launched an attack into Ukraine and Ukraine absolutely has the right to strike back at Russia.'

The comments came as the Foreign Secretary promised to provide Ukraine with three billion pounds in aid 'every year for as long as is necessary', while adding that 'we've just really empties all we can in terms of giving equipment'.

The UK has supplied billions of pounds of munitions including long-range Storm Shadow missiles to Volodymyr Zelensky's forces since Putin's 2022 invasion.

Britain's Foreign Secretary David Cameron walks past a display of destroyed Russian military vehicles in Saint Michael's Square in Kyiv, Ukraine, on May 2, 2024

The Foreign Secretary said Ukraine was right to launch a strike on targets within Russia

Lord Cameron visited Ukraine following the Government's announcement that it will commit to at least 3 billion a year in military support to the country.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak last week announced 500 million ($617 million) in additional military funding for Kyiv with the goal of reaching 3 billion per year.

The Foreign Secretary met Mr Zelensky in Kyiv to reiterate the UK's support. He told reporters outside St Michael Cathedral today that it was the largest aid package from the UK so far.

Lord Cameron announced that the UK's donation of military equipment would include the provision of precision-guided bombs, and air defence missiles and equipment for 100 mobile air defence teams to enable Ukraine to shoot down Russia's drones and missiles.

'Some of that (equipment) is actually arriving in Ukraine today, while I'm here,' he said.

Cameron, who led the UK from 2010 and 2016 as prime minister and only returned to frontline politics several months ago, met Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on his second visit to Kyiv as foreign secretary.

Britain's top diplomat celebrated the release of a long-delayed $60 billion aid package by the U.S. Congress.

'It's absolutely crucial, not just in terms of the weapons it will bring, but also the boost to morale that it will bring to people here in Ukraine.'

Britain has also since committed to spending 2.5 per cent on defence as allies in Europe respond to a period of increased global conflict.

During his visit, Cameron also 'revealed that the UK intends to bring international partners together next month to attract additional contributions to the International Fund for Ukraine to meet Ukraine's urgent capability requirements'.

Created in 2022, the fund has so far collected around $1 billion with contributions from Britain, Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Lithuania, Iceland, Australia and New Zealand.

'This war is the challenge of our generation and Ukraine cannot fight it alone. We must all step up to ensure Ukraine has what it needs to win,' the statement quoted Cameron as saying in Kyiv.

'Through our multi-year military funding, weapons provision and vital support to protect and repair Ukraine's energy infrastructure, the UK is standing with Ukraine and we will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes.'

David Cameron (front) and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba lay flowers at a memorial wall to fallen servicemen, outside St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery on May 2

Ukrainian soldiers fire with mortar during a military training with French servicemen, in a military training compound at an undisclosed location in Poland, on April 4, 2024

A Ukrainian infantry soldier of the 23rd Mechanized Brigade waits to head toward the frontline in the Avdiivka direction, in the Donetsk region, on April 3, 2024

France, too, has recently suggested bringing together a coalition of European forces to train together in a move intended to reduce reliance on the US and prepare the continent against external threats.

In an interview published today, French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated commitments to sending troops to Ukraine if Russia pushed through the front lines.

The comments, reflective of a recent shift in tone, have been controversial among leaders in Europe and Macron's political rivals at home.
President Joe Biden traveled to the other Wilmington Thursday - the one in North Carolina - and ribbed Republicans for not supporting his stimulus and infrastructure bills, which he said brought clean drinking water to the state.

'In fact your Sen. Ted Budd called the infrastructure law part of "a socialist agenda,"' Biden pointed out. 'I don't know about you, but I don't think ensuring kids can drink clean water to avoid brain damage is a socialist agenda.'

'I think it's just plain decency,' Biden added.

North Carolina could be a key swing state in the November election, with former President Donald Trump barely eking out a win there in 2020.

Now a controversial Republican gubernatorial candidate could draw Democratic voters out.

President Joe Biden traveled to the other Wilmington Thursday - the one in North Carolina - and ribbed Republicans for not supporting his stimulus and infrastructure bills, which he said brought clean drinking water to the state

Biden slapped around North Carolina Sen. Ted Budd and former President Donald Trump during a day trip to North Carolina on Thursday. He mocked Trump for never being able to get an infrastructure bill passed

Biden slapped around Trump - referring to him as his 'predecessor' - in ways he has before.

The president gleefully spoke of the many times Trump tried to hold an 'infrastructure week' - only for some kind of scandal to occur.

'He didn't build a damn thing,' Biden said.

'At the same time, he and his MAGA allies in Congress were happy to give a $2 trillion tax cut that benefitted the super wealthy and the biggest corporations while exploding the federal debt,' the president added.

Biden's late-in-the-day remarks came after he diverted his original plan to just come to Wilmington and stop in Charlotte instead - to meet with family members of the four police officers who were gunned down earlier this week.

They were: Sam Poloche and William Elliott of the North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections; Charlotte-Mecklenburg Officer Joshua Eyer; and Deputy U.S. Marshal Thomas Weeks.

'The entire nation is grieving with these families,' Biden told the crowd in Wilmington.

President Joe Biden salutes Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Chief Johnny Jennings, as he arrives on Air Force One at Charlotte Douglas International Airport. Biden met with the families of law enforcement officers shot to death on the job

Actor Ralph Fiennes (second from right) watches Marine One depart Thursday at the White House. The actor, known for his portrayal of Voldemort in the Harry Potter series, is in Washington performing Macbeth at the D.C.-based Shakespeare Theatre Company

His meetings with the family members were private.

They took place at the North Carolina Air National Guard base, instead of downtown Charlotte, in order for there to be a smaller police footprint due to the entire community being impacted.

Biden's trip to North Carolina came after he finally addressed the pro-Palestinian unrest on college campuses.

The president spoke for less than four minutes Thursday - saying he supported non-violent demonstrations, but suggested college demonstrators were causing 'chaos.'

'Destroying property is not a peaceful protest. It's against the law,' he said from the Roosevelt Room Thursday. 'Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows and shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduation. None of this is peaceful protest.'

'There's the right to protest,' he continued. 'But not the right to cause chaos.'

As he departed he told reporters he did not wish to see the National Guard deployed on college campuses.

He also said the campus protests didn't sway his thinking on Middle East policies.

And as he left the White House Thursday, actor Ralph Fiennes was spotted in the crowd watching Marine One take off.

Fiennes is starring in Macbeth at the D.C.-based Shakespeare Theatre Company.
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In the end, it took rubber bullets and 'flash bang' grenades to dislodge the keffiyeh-clad hardcore, as police finally ended a week-long pro-Palestinian protest encampment in Los Angeles yesterday.

Several hundred demonstrators equipped with white hard hats, goggles and respirator masks were in a stand-off throughout Wednesday night against even larger ranks of similarly outfitted riot police at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

President Biden insisted yesterday that 'order must prevail' on campuses after protests over the Gaza conflict had spread to more than 50 universities across the country.

He addressed the crisis for the first time in a week, insisting there was 'the right to protest but not the right to cause chaos'.

Mr Biden is walking an electoral tightrope between offending Jewish and more moderate voters by not coming down hard on illegal and reportedly anti-Semitic protests, and alienating younger and Muslim voters by being too supportive of Israel.

An LAPD officer in the midst of a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)

Police clash with protesters equipped with white hard hats, goggles and respirator masks on the university campus

Protestors wearing protective clothing including goggles line up alongside each other with makeshift shields made of plastic and plywood in the clash with police

However, he said: 'Destroying property is not a peaceful protest. It's against the law. Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations, none of this is a peaceful protest.'

READ MORE: UCLA students are cuffed with zip ties after trying to fend off SWAT teams with BEACH umbrellas in latest college campus uprising Advertisement

The UCLA demonstrators, who had fought with pro-Israel counter-protesters on Tuesday night, linked arms as they formed a line and squared up to police.

Others used makeshift shields and even beach umbrellas  which in southern California are in plentiful supply  to fend off the officers, as well as throwing water bottles and fireworks.

Some reportedly even used anti-bear spray  which chokes and blinds its targets  and fire extinguishers. One student was furiously screaming at the advancing policemen to leave as 'this is a 'f***ing school . . . we f***ing learn'.

However, for all their foul-mouthed defiance and unbending demands for an end to the war in Gaza, the most combustible of the pro-Palestinian protests that have convulsed US universities ended at UCLA more with a whimper than a bang.

Police had given the demonstrators  estimated to be up to 2,000 strong at the protest's height  repeated warnings that if they remained they would be doing so illegally, and during the night many students heeded the threat and drifted away in the darkness.

As police helicopters hovered overhead, hundreds of officers encouraged their departure by relentlessly letting off deafeningly loud 'flash bang' devices above their heads to disorientate them.

As the bulk of the demonstrators gave up, police were able to surround the rump as their colleagues methodically went through the encampment, pulling down the tents, gazebos and other structures that had sprouted up since last week.

LA police said they made 130 arrests, binding the hands of protesters with plastic ties as their comrades chanted 'Let them go!'.

Later, the arrested demonstrators were made to sit at a kerbside waiting for blacked-out buses to take them away to jail. At least one of them was a professor.

The authorities had initially tolerated the unrest. But they changed their mind as the anarchy grew, deciding it amounted to an occupation and was therefore illegal. Jewish students across the US have complained that many of the protests are threatening their safety.

Sympathetic voices on the Left have tried to compare the protests to the anti-Vietnam student demos of 50 years ago, when young Americans were dying in an unnecessary war. Police who waded in back then laid into the protesters mercilessly with riot batons.

But, although officers were seen firing rubber bullets on at least one occasion yesterday, there was nothing approaching that sort of heavy-handedness at UCLA.

Independent observers agreed that officers acted with remarkable restraint. That didn't stop students from complaining of police brutality.

'The cops brutalised hundreds of 18- and 19-year-olds who were protesting peacefully, but we expected this to happen because we can't trust our university or our state,' said Matthew, one of the leaders of the protest.

'It's pretty distressing to see dozens of your friends zip-tied and hauled off by police, but we're proud of what we did and we'll be here again tonight. The authorities are not going to stop us.'

The end of the protest left UCLA's great lawn looking like the sorry aftermath of the Glastonbury Festival while surrounding buildings were covered in graffiti. A UCLA staff member said: 'They've trashed the place. It's disgusting.

They have the right to protest but not to cause all this chaos.

Many people on campus are angry about the protests but don't want to say anything as the atmosphere is so tense.'

There is nothing to stop protesters coming back, apart from the fact that the university term is about to end.

If the student radicals choose to put their summer holidays before the Palestinian cause, it might be a blow to their credibility  but it would be a great relief for America's universities.
A Dutch tourist has died after collapsing while snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef.

The 51-year-old woman had just returned to the boat from the water at Norman Reef on Wednesday when she lost consciousness.

Paramedics who arrived at the scene on a Rescue 510 helicopter attempted to revive her but she died at the scene.

Queensland Police are currently investigating whether the woman suffered a medical episode.

The reef is located about 60km north-east of Cairns.

The 51-year-old Dutch tourist had just returned to the boat from the water at Norman Reef on Wednesday when she collapsed

Queensland Police are currently investigating whether the woman suffered a medical episode at the reef, which is located 60km north-east of Cairns

In November, Adrian Meyer from Angaston in South Australia died after he and a group of snorkellers were swept away by a strong current while on the reef.

The 71-year old was with his son, Nicholas Meyer, and daughter Angela Henson about 60km off the coast northeast of Cairns when disaster struck.

Mr Meyer had travelled to Cairns to see the World Heritage Area as part of a belated 70th birthday present.
A man who drowned his three sons in a dam is to launch a fresh appeal against his life sentence, with a specialist doctor proclaiming his innocence.

Robert Farquharson drove his Commodore into an icy dam with his boys Jai, 10, Tyler, 7, and Bailey, 2, inside and left them to die on Father's Day 2005.

He crashed into a seven-metre deep dam near Winchelsea, 117kilometres south-west of Melbourne, and was the only survivor, swimming free.

Separate juries found Farquharson guilty of murdering his children in both 2007 and a retrial in 2010 after his first conviction was overturned, condemning his children to what Supreme Court judge Lex Lasry called 'a terrifying death'.

But specialist respiratory doctor Chris Steinfort, who is one of Farquharson's most prominent supporters, said 'I think he's an innocent man'.

Robert Farquharson (pictured) drove a car into a dam with their three boys Jai, 10, Tyler, 7, and Bailey, 2, inside and left them to die on Father's Day 2005

READ MORE: Mother of three boys whose husband murdered them all suddenly dies The family of Ms Gambino (pictured) were 'shattered' at her unexpected death Advertisement

Farquharson's bid for freedom is based on new laws introduced in Victoria in 2019 which allow an appeal if there is fresh and compelling evidence of a substantial miscarriage of justice, the ABC reported.

'It's always somewhat distressing when you believe someone has had a miscarriage of justice, and that I was somehow involved in that process,' Dr Steinfort, who testified at Farquharson's previous trials told 7.30 in a interview to be broadcast on Thursday night.

Dr Steinfort assessed Farquharson before his first trial and is convinced the crash was an accident caused by a cough-induced fainting condition known as cough syncope, though this was rejected by the juries.

'I said to him, "What happened?" And (Farquharson) basically said, "Well, I really don't know what happened",' Dr Steinfort said.

'That made me think there may well be something in this as the cause of the accident, and I wrote all that down in my medical record.'

Farquharson had been sick before the crash, but took his sons to get KFC for dinner in nearby Geelong.

The crash happened as he was driving them back to Winchelsea where they lived with their mother, Cindy-Gambino-Moules; they had separated the year before.

Ms Gambino-Moules died suddenly, aged 50, in May 2022.

At first, she believed her former husband was innocent but later changed her mind and thought he deliberately killed their children in an act of family violence.

The prosecution argued Farquharson made up the coughing fit that caused him to faint.

Another medical expert Dr Thomas Naughton testified that Farquharson was unlikely to have been suffering from cough syncope.

Dr Naughton said the condition was 'extremely uncommon' and in Farquharson's case, 'medically, extremely unlikely'.

Jai, Bailey and Tyler Farquharson (pictured left to right) died when their father drove them into a dam in Victoria in 2005

The boy's mother, Cindy Gambino-Moules, is pictured leaving the Supreme Court in Melbourne on May 11, 2010

A key witness in the case told the court that Farquharson intended to kill his children to get back at Ms Gambino-Moules for ending their marriage.

Greg King testified about a conversation with Farquharson two months before the murders, when he spoke of getting revenge on his former wife and wanting to 'take away the things that mean the most to her'.

Farquharson's new appeal is expected to cite the case of Geoffrey Ferguson, a truck driver who was jailed over a fatal crash near Shepparton, Victoria in 2015.

Ferguson was freed on appeal after a court accepted that he had blacked out during a coughing fit.

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He allegedly crashed a motorbike into a tree last year

The accused killer of Samantha Murphy has been hit with new charges in relation to an alleged drug and alcohol-fuelled bender last year.

Patrick Orren Stephenson, 22, who has been charged with murdering Ms Murphy, has been hit with drink and drug driving charges after he allegedly crashed a motorbike into a tree on the night of October 1 following the AFL grand final.

He has also been also charged with careless driving.

Ms Murphy, a beloved mother-of-three was last seen leaving her home on Eureka Street, Ballarat East, to go for a run in the Canadian State Forest, 125km west of Melbourne, on the morning of February 4.

The 51-year-old went to go for a 14km run in nearby Woowookarung Regional Park, at about 7am that morning and has not been since.

Detectives charged Stephenson with her murder in March after he was arrested in the Ballarat suburb of Mount Clear - about 5kms from Ms Murphy's home.

Patrick Orren Stephenson (pictured) has been hit with fresh charges of drink and drug driving a month after he was charged over the death of Samantha Murphy

He has since been hit with three fresh charges after he allegedly crashed a motorbike he was riding into a tree last year, the Herald Sun reported.

No other vehicle was involved.

A friend told the newspaper the crash allegedly occurred after Stephenson attended an AFL grand final celebration.

Celebrations reportedly started around lunchtime on October 1 and is understood to have continued late into the night at a bar in Ballarat.

Police attended the crash scene and conducted a alcohol breath test, which Stephenson allegedly failed.

He was taken to Ballarat Police Station where he then allegedly failed a drug test.

Daily Mail Australia doesn't suggest that Stephenson has been involved in any wrongdoing, only that charges have been laid.

He has not yet entered a plea to the new charges.

Victoria Police wouldn't confirm any details about the fresh charges against Stephenson when contacted by Daily Mail Australia for comment on Thursday night..

The body of Ms Murphy (pictured left) has not been found after she went to go for a run in the Woowookarung Regional Park, in Ballarat, Victoria on February 4

The latest twist comes as police continue to search for the body of Ms Murphy, which has been abandoned in the Victorian bush for three months come Saturday, without any trace of her ever having been found.

Despite numerous searches, Victoria Police detectives appear no closer to finding her body despite having her alleged killer in custody.

A Victoria Police spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia this week that the investigation remained 'very much active and ongoing'.

'We are continuing to do all we can to locate her,' the spokesperson said.

It is understood Stephenson has continued to maintain his right to silence while awaiting his next court appearance in September.

Detectives from Victoria Police's Missing Persons Unit have been in a race against time to find Ms Murphy's body.

In the three months since she vanished, the area around Ballarat has seen heatwaves, bushfires and heavy rain as search teams tried to retrace her steps.

Wild animals including foxes are also known to have large populations in the dense bushland in the forests surrounding Ballarat.

If left uncovered in the harsh bush, experts believe a body can quickly decompose, destroying important DNA evidence.

'The time taken for a body to decompose depends on climatic conditions, like temperature and moisture, as well as the accessibility to insects,' the Australian Museum stated.

'In summer, a human body in an exposed location can be reduced to bones alone in just nine days.'

Experts believe if Ms Murphy's body has been buried, or dumped down one of Ballarat's many mine shafts, detectives could still be able to extract important evidence.

'A body that is buried 1.2m under the ground retains most of its tissue for a year,' the museum stated.

The hunt for Samantha Murphy's body

Police look for clues in Buninyong during another search in March

Police have been forced to scour rugged terrain in the search for Ms Murphy's body

While insects can decimate a body both buried or left uncovered, wild animals are also a real threat in the area where Ms Murphy went missing.

Last month, police brought in specialist cadaver dogs from New South Wales to scour the Victorian bush at multiple locations in dense scrub spanning a vast stretch of countryside.

Teams of officers focused their search within Enfield State Park, 30km south of Ballarat - but another search team was also working 25km away in thick scrub in the Durham Lead Nature Conservation Reserve.

The nature reserve is just south of Buninyong where Ms Murphy's phone was last detected by mobile phone towers at 5pm on the day she vanished.

Detectives are in a race against time to find the body of Ms Murphy (picture) with Victoria Police confirming the investigation into her disappearance remains ongoing

Mick Murphy speaks during a rally against men's violence on April 12

Ms Murphy's long suffering husband Mick Murphy recently told Nine News that he had not stopped searching for her.

'On that particular day, I was outside and thought she'll be coming up the road pretty soon,' he said.

'Then she didn't.'

Mr Murphy still searches daily, either by driving through town or spending two hours walking through a pine plantation.

'Sometimes I go for a drive and it might not be anywhere particular, or I go for a walk for two hours. It varies every day,' he said.

'It's very good for my mind and if I sat at home I wouldn't do myself any favours.'

Missing Persons Unit Detective Acting Superintendent Mark Hatt has previously stated police would never give up looking for Ms Murphy.

'I want to assure those in the Ballarat community that police remain focused on doing everything we can to return Samantha to her family,' he said last month.

Stephenson, the son of ex-Geelong and Richmond AFL player Orren Stephenson, will return to court for a committal mention on August 8.

Anyone with any information about Ms Murphy's disappearance is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Princess Charlotte turns nine today - another family celebration for the Waleses

Her every fashion move makes waves - and the same even applies to the way the Princess of Wales dresses her daughter, Princess Charlotte, who turns nine today.

The attention comes with the territory.

Although the Waleses do their very best to give their three children something close to a normal childhood, the family carries a certain weight of expectation.

Catherine often dresses Charlotte in coordinating outfits with matching colour palettes for public engagements.

But there is another reason, too, why the little princess attracts so much attention - and that's the timeless British styles that dominate her wardrobe - to the envy of parents up and down the country.

Here we look back at some of the outfits that have charmed a nation.

Cosy knitwear

Princess Charlotte wore a John Lewis cardigan in her second birthday portrait

For her second birthday portrait, Princess Charlotte wore a cosy pastel yellow cardigan by John Lewis.

Featuring embroidery of playful sheep, it sold out on the John Lewis website almost instantly.

It was subsequently seen on eBay listed for triple the price.

Charlotte chose Ralph Lauren knitwear to help her mother in the Big Help Out 2023

Princess Charlotte has been pictured in two luxurious Ralph Lauren sweaters over recent years.

The cable-knit design is made in Italy from cashmere, and features hand-linked shoulders (attached to the main body by hand rather than by machine) for a premium finish.

Charlotte wore the sky blue version in 2022, followed by the charming rose shade in 2023.

Favourite coat

Charlotte has worn this smart Trotters coat on three occasions (pictured in 2022 and 2023)

A firm favourite in the young royal's wardrobe, Charlotte has worn this smart Trotters coat on three occasions.

The timeless burgundy outerwear is made from pure wool, featuring a knee length decorated with tonal velvet buttons and trims.

Most recently, she wore it to her mother's Together at Christmas carol service, held at Westminster Abbey, last December.

Birthday blooms

Charlotte wore a Rachel Riley dress in her sixth birthday portrait in 2021

A Rachel Riley dress that featured in Charlotte's sixth birthday portrait was a sensation.

The delightful frock boasted a vintage floral print, accentuated by coordinating ric rac trims (in zig-zag braid) and buttons.

The 59 dress had completely sold out within 12 hours, prompting the brand to introduce a preorder system to meet the overwhelming demand.

It became the fastest-selling item in the brand's 27-year history.

Stylish stripes

Princess Charlotte has worn her striped Rachel Riley dress twice since 2022

Charlotte wore a striped Rachel Riley dress for the 2023 Royal International Air Tattoo in Gloucestershire.

She expertly teamed it with a cream Reiss cardigan and navy plimsolls by Trotters.

The Princess debuted the design the previous year, and it flew off the shelves, selling out in under 24 hours.

Complementary colours

Trooping the Colour 2016 was Princess Charlotte's first public appearance

Princess Charlotte and her mother complemented each other at Trooping the Colour in 2016.

Kate selected an ivory Alexander McQueen coatdress, which she had previously worn to Charlotte's Christening the year before.

The royal mother-of-three wore a Philip Treacy soft pink hat to coordinate with her daughter's adorable outfit.

The event marked Charlotte's first public appearance .

The mother and daughter duo attended the Christmas Day church service in matching attire in 2019

The mother and daughter duo sported matching attire again in 2019.

Attending the Christmas Day service at St Mary Magdalene on the Sandringham estate, Princess Charlotte donned a bottle green coat by Amaia.

The double-breasted style incorporated pocket flaps and heraldic buttons, creating a timeless appeal.

Kate picked accessories in the same hue: a Lock & Co. hat, and clutch and heels by Emmy London.

Classic florals

Charlotte wore a dress by Kate's old friend Alice Avenel as she was snapped waving at photographers outside the Lindo Wing in 2018

The Princess delighted fans as she waved to photographers outside the Lindo Wing in 2018.

Accompanied by her father, Prince William, she arrived with a beaming smile to meet her new brother, Prince Louis, for the first time.

Charlotte was immaculately clad in a floral dress by Alice Avenel, a childhood friend of her mother.

The garment sold out within 24 hours of her appearance.

Charlotte's 169 dress by Spanish brand Friki dress sold out soon after the royal wore it

A summery Charlotte watched the Wimbledon 2023 men's final in a floral dress by Spanish brand Friki, paired with Leosun sunglasses.

The smocked dress was an immediate hit and sold out the same day, pushing it to be placed on preorder.

Although Charlotte's sunglasses were from an earlier collection, the brand experienced a 450 per cent surge in web traffic during the royal's outing.

A similar style, called Rose Fade, outsold other models three times over.

Designer frock

Charlotte opted for a chic Self-Portrait dress at the Coronation Concert

The Royal Family made a grand appearance at the Coronation Concert the day after Charles was crowned.

Each member was impeccably dressed, with Charlotte appearing in a Self-Portrait frock for the occasion.

Given her mother's support for the brand, it was likely that the young royal would wear Self-Portrait at some point.

The choice was a cream tiered dress, adorned with a Peter Pan collar, bow detailing and flutter sleeves.

The look left a lasting impression, highlighting the brand's popularity with the fashion elite.

Sailor girl

Charlotte wore a nautical dress during the 2023 Trooping the Colour ceremony at Horse Guards Parade

The royal tradition of sailor outfits for young boys traces back to Queen Victoria, who had a sailor suit made for her eldest son, Prince Edward.

While it's less common to see royal girls, like Princess Charlotte, in sailor dresses, it offered a welcome change from her usual palette of floral prints.

This choice also aligned well with the formal military atmosphere of the event.

Coronation glamour

Charlotte and her mother displayed coordinating headpieces, designed by Jess Collett x Alexander McQueen, at the Coronation of King Charles III and Camilla

In arguably their most regally coordinated appearance to date, Kate and Charlotte donned ivory dresses to the Coronation of King Charles III and Camilla.

Their outfits featured embroidered rose, thistle, daffodil and shamrock motifs, symbolising the four nations of the United Kingdom.

Even more striking were their coordinating headpieces, created by Jess Collett in collaboration with Alexander McQueen.

The dazzling pieces were crafted using silver bullion, crystal and three-dimensional leaf embroidery.
Seeming, once again, to present themselves as an alternative royal family, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will undertake a very regal visit to Nigeria next week.

Invited by the West African nations highest-ranking military official, the Chief of Defence Staff, Prince Harry and Meghan are guaranteed to receive the sort of security which they expected British taxpayers to provide.

Harry, you might recall, sought a judicial review of the Home Offices decision to strip him, Meghan, and their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, of their automatic right to police security in Britain after they chose to quit royal duties and seek their fortune across the Atlantic.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex on their royal tour in South Africa in 2019

King Charless younger son lost the case in February, with the action estimated to have cost him about 1million, including his own legal costs and those due to the Home Office.

There will be no such worries for Harry and Meghan next week, when the security tab will be paid by the government of Nigeria, a country where an estimated 87million people live below the poverty line.

Why are they making the trip? It seems the Duke struck up a conversation with defence chief General Christopher Gwabin Musa, during Septembers Invictus Games in Dusseldorf.

No one is challenging the good work of the Games, Harrys Paralympics-style venture for wounded servicemen and women, which are a subject scheduled for discussion on the Nigeria trip.

No doubt the visit will be good for Brand Sussex, too, and will highlight what the couple could have achieved for the Commonwealth had they stuck with the Windsors.

The Sussexes had been given key roles working with young people through the Queens Commonwealth Trust before they decided to step back from royal duties.

But I do wonder if Harrys time in Africa could be better spent addressing a scandal at a charity hit with allegations of abuse.

African Parks, a conservation charity of which he is a director, is facing further accusations of human rights abuses that include extra-judicial killings and violent beatings.

Claims of brutality by rangers who are jointly managed by the charity first emerged in January, when a front-page report in The Mail on Sunday revealed claims that armed guards had beaten, raped and tortured Baka tribal people in the Republic of the Congo.

The charity, which manages reserves in 12 African countries  although not Nigeria  is a considerable enterprise.

Claiming that it saves wildlife by working with local communities, African Parks helps manage 1,400 guards patrolling protected land almost the size of Britain.

Harry, who was the president for six years until he joined the governing board of directors last year, has been effusive in his praise, saying previously: The African Parks model is exactly what conservation should be about  putting people at the heart of the solution.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle take selfies with fans during the Invictus Games Dusseldorf in Germany last September, where they struck up a conversation with the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Gwabin Musa

But in March, The Mail on Sunday uncovered fresh allegations of brutality by rangers, this time in Zambias Bangweulu Wetlands, including claims of extra-judicial killings and violent beatings.

A conservation area almost the size of Devon, the Wetlands are home to 50,000 indigenous people who have the right to sustainably harvest natural resources such as fish, antelope and rabbits.

According to Fiore Longo, campaign director of Survival International, which fights for the rights of indigenous people: This is another case of abuse and violence supposedly in the name of conservation.

Her group wrote to Harry last year about appalling human rights abuses in Congos Odzala-Kokoua National Park.

At the time, Harrys spokesman said he had immediately escalated the allegations to the chairman and chief executive of African Parks.

There is no suggestion that Harry had any knowledge of the allegations about what happened in Zambia.

Responding to these, the charity said: While there have been incidents that we condemn, suggesting African Parks is responsible for structural misconduct in the area would be false.

Perhaps, on his next foreign visit, Harry could consider spending time in the Bangweulu Wetlands of Zambia  and seeing for himself. The claims are extremely serious.

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New Yorkers are going on a paranoid spending spree.

'I've never been busier,' one of America's longest-running makers of high-end 'panic rooms' confessed this week.

Heavily fortified 'safe spaces,' some with electrified doorknobs, ballistic doors and facial-recognition locks, have become all the rage among Manhattan's elite.

At a starting price of $50,000, these custom-built panic rooms, complete with bulletproof night-vision gear, medical kits and food supplies, can be constructed to blend in invisibly with any building  from a stately old pre-war townhouse to a glassy penthouse loft.

But those prices can easily balloon up to $1 million or more for luxury apartments, as materials like blast-proof doors weighing thousands of pounds cost extra to ship.

Makers of these hidden rooms believe the spike in business came about during the anti-police-violence protests after the death of George Floyd in 2020 that saw unrest across New York City for months.

 Slide me  Heavily fortified 'safe spaces,' some with electrified doorknobs, ballistic doors and facial-recognition locks, have become all the rage among Manhattan's elite

 Slide me  'I've never been busier,' America's longest-running makers of high-end 'panic rooms,' Bill Rigdon, has confessed, as rich New Yorkers go on a paranoid spending spree. Above, a hidden armory of rifles designed by Rigdon's Arizona competitor Creative Home Engineering

'I hate to sound paranoid, but I don't trust the bodyguards. I don't trust security,' one panic room-maker said, justifying his high price. 'I don't trust anybody.'

David Vranicar, the owner of a Florida-based construction and design firm that specializes in panic rooms, Fortified Ballistic Security, is just one of many leaders in his industry who has noticed a boom in the city over the past year.

'New York has gotten really busy for us lately,' Vranicar told real estate site Curbed. 'People are not feeling safe the way they used to.'

Another maker of bespoke hidden rooms and secret passageways, Steve Humble of Creative Home Engineering in Arizona, traced the spike in New York-area business to the anti-police-violence protests after the death of George Floyd in 2020.

'That wave has kind of died down,' Humble said, 'but it was replaced in large part by the persistent uptick in violent crime in large cities like New York.'

While FBI data has shown a dramatic decrease in violent crime nationally, down 49 percent in total since 1993, with steep drops in robberies (-74 percent), aggravated assaults (-39 percent), murders and manslaughter (-34 percent)  public perception has spiked upward.

Over three quarters of Americans believe crime has gone up according to polling by Pew, fears stoked by waves of violent clashes between protestors and police and countless other shocking moments caught on tape and posted to social media.

Nevertheless, according to Vranicar, 'It is better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.'

He recently installed security features for an apartment at the tony, luxury condo building 1 Central Park West.

Bill Rigdon, president of Panic Room Builders, who consulted on the 2002 thriller Panic Room starring Jodie Foster, said he has recently worked on panic rooms with electrified door handles and hidden devices that tag intruders with a mixture of colored paint and pepper spray

Rigdon said he has also fortified rooms to make them more capable of withstanding nuclear attack, but noted that a key issue clients tend to forget is adding a bathroom

The condo, according to Vranicar, needed to be reinforced with steel and ballistic-proof doors, and its panic room came with facial-recognition tech that unlocks with a glance that, during certain hours, would recognize the faces of household staff.

But Bill Rigdon, the president and CEO of Panic Room Builders, who consulted on the 2002 thriller Panic Room starring Jodie Foster, said he has worked on much more extreme defensive measures in recent years.

Rigdon, who started his business building bunkers for Mormons in Nevada over four decades ago, recently designed panic rooms with electrified door handles, and hidden devices that tag intruders with a mixture of colored paint and pepper spray.

The unique feature not only helps neutralize intruders, but makes it easier to track the criminals if they try to flee.

Rigdon's advice for ordinary New Yorkers and anyone else looking for a little more security, he said, is to stock up to a full month's worth of frozen food in case the US descends into a civil war. 'I work with government agencies,' he said, 'people who know, and they're worried'

Rigdon said he has also fortified rooms to make them more capable of withstanding nuclear attack, but noted that a key issue clients tend to forget is adding a bathroom.

'I once had a Fox News reporter who had a whole plan for a basement bunker where 13, 14 people could stay for a period of time,' Rigdon told Curbed.

'But,' he added, 'there was no bathroom.'

When pressed for comment, Rigdon would neither confirm nor deny that this client was the late chairman and CEO of Fox News Roger Ailes, who died in 2017.

'Doomsday prepping' used to be seen as a hobby relegated to the conspiratorial fringe, but in recent years even ordinary, middle class Americans have embraced the practice.

US residents spent a staggering $11 billion on survival items from April 2022 to April 2023, according to one estimate.

And about a third of all Americans now admit to prepping, surveys show, even though few have the resources of today's billionaire bunker-builders.

Outside of New York, the world's wealthiest have increasingly spent hundreds of millions on securing more sprawling underground compounds, private islands and (for the merely rich) 'survival condos.'

Late last year, for example, news broke that Facebooke founder and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was building a $100 million hidden fortress beneath his Hawaiian island ranch, complete with its own energy and food supplies and blast-resistant doors.

Rigdon's advice for ordinary New Yorkers and anyone else looking for a little more security, he said, is to stock up to a full month's worth of frozen food in case the US descends into a civil war.

'I work with government agencies,' he said, 'people who know, and they're worried.'
Floridians have been warned about 'fecal pollution' in waters surrounding two popular beaches - just months after seven others were contaminated.

Residents and visitors are urged to stay out of the Midtown Beach and Dubois Park in Jupiter, the northmost town in Palm Beach County.

The waters were found to contain high levels of enterococci bacteria, which can cause urinary tract infections in people who go swimming during the advisory.

The bacteria can also lead to meningitis, which is caused by a viral infection and deadly blood infections like sepsis, which can end in organ failure and death.

The state's health department has detected the presence of enterococci bacteria found in the intestinal tracts of mammals (pictured)

'Following a poor beach result, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) contacts local water and wastewater utilities to identify any operational malfunctions such as sewage spills that may have contributed to the poor beach water quality and reports the results of their investigation to DOH-Palm Beach,' spokesperson for the Florida Department of Health told DailyMail.com.

'The advisories will be lifted when the enterococci levels subside to acceptable levels.'

The sample taken from the beaches had 201 colonies forming per 100 millimeters of sampled water - a sample is deemed 'poor' when results show 70.5 parts per 100.

The fecal pollutions, called enterococci bacteria, is found in the intestinal tracks of mammals, including dogs and humans that frequent beaches.

'If they are present in high concentrations in recreational waters and are ingested while swimming or enter the skin through a cut or sore, they may cause human disease, infections, or rashes,' said the spokesperson.

The Florida Department of Health issued the advisory on April 30 following results of tests that came back the day before.

'The presence of enterococci bacteria is an indication of fecal pollution, which may come from stormwater runoff, pets and wildlife, and human sewage,' the department shared.

The advisory must stay until levels reach at least 35 colonies per 100 millimeters, but officials cannot ban people from going into the water.

Officials have not revealed how the bacteria made its way along the coast, but the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) noted sources could include wastewater treatment plant effluent, leaking septic systems, stormwater runoff, sewage discharged or domestic animal and wildlife waste.

The Florida Department of Health issued another warning in March when the bacteria was detected at seven Palm beaches.

The sample taken at Midtown beach had 201 colonies forming per 100 millimeters of sampled water - a sample is deemed 'poor' when results show 70.5 parts per 100

Residents and visitors are urged to stay out of the contaminated waters as the bacteria can cause urinary tract infections, and meningitis and could lead to sepsis if untreated. Pictured is Jupiter Dubois Park where fecal pollution was found

The affected beaches were Carlin Park in Jupiter, Riviera Beach in Riviera Beach, Phil Foster Park in Riviera Beach, Lake WorthKreusler in Lake Worth, Ocean Inlet Park in Ocean Ridge, Sandoway-Delray Beach in Delray Beach, and Spanish River in Boca Raton.

However, in 2023, the state saw levels skyrocket 150 times beyond safe levels in some canals after record flooding that April.

Miami Waterkeeper, a nonprofit group, found one day after the historic rainfall that the water collected from the city's canals had excess levels of the bacteria enterococci bacteria - in some cases, up to 144 times healthy limits.

The record levels of rainfall lead to record levels of bacteria.

Aliza Karim, water quality specialist at the non-profit, told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: 'The results on the 13th at some of the sites are the highest that have been detected in the last two years. Weve never seen this many sites fail above 1,000, ever.'

She added: 'I would not recommend contact with the water. Boating should be OK, but fishing, or any sort of interacting with the water I would not recommend until the bloom subsides.'

Natalia Soares Quinete, a chemist at Florida International University who studies water contamination, told the local newspaper: 'Even without flooding, the canals can already have high coliform (bacteria) levels.'

She said: 'Those levels are a good indication of the probable overflow of septic tanks. You have a lot of septic tanks in South Florida, and some of them are failing, but even the good ones, with this water, they might overflow.'

Ms Quinete said that floodwater in parks, where there is dog and human feces, is also flooding into rivers.
Bonza ticket-holders have been dealt a further blow, with administrators saying the financially-stricken airline was not currently able to provide refunds for cancelled flights.

The airline was placed into voluntary administration on Tuesday hours after all of their flights were grounded and their fleet of leased Boeing 737 Max 8s repossessed.

Thousands of affected customers were initially told they would receive a refund within 21 days, however that now appears highly unlikely.

Bonza's appointed administrator Hall Chadwick said in a statement on Wednesday afternoon the company is 'not in a position' to process refunds until its financial position improved.

The administrator did say there was hope for the airline to resume operations and was talking with other 'key industry participants' to get back in the air.

Bonza customers have been dealt a devastating blow after administrators revealed the budget airline would currently be unable to provide refunds for cancelled flights

Thousands of affected customers were initially told they would receive a refund within 21 days, however their hopes could similarly be downed

The statement revealed Hall Chadwick has had an 'open dialogue' with the fleet's lessor AIP Capital.

'We have also today met with the company's chief financial officer to go through the financial position of Bonza with a view to updating creditors of that position in due course,' it reads.

While meetings with those within the Australian and international aviation industry remain ongoing, passengers were told they would have to wait longer for their refunds, The Australian reported.

'Unfortunately, the administrators and/or the company are not in a position to process or issue refunds at this time,' said the statement.

'We understand how frustrating this is and we appreciate customers' patience at this time.'

Almost 2,600 Bonza passengers have reached out to a government hotline for help after being left stranded by the sudden collapse.

Qantas, Virgin and Jetstar offered free flights for stranded passengers where available, however AAP spoke to multiple customers who spent hundreds of dollars to secure alternative flights home.

The Transport Workers Union is in talks about the future of 150 Bonza staff with other players in the industry.

The airline's chief executive Tim Jordan (pictured) apologised to customers shortly after the company collapsed on Tuesday after they were told they would be refunded within 21 days

Bonza chief executive Tim Jordan on Tuesday apologised to customers and said the company's ongoing viability was being discussed.

'We're working as quickly as possible to determine a way forward that ensures there is ongoing competition in the Australian domestic aviation market,' he said.

The Sunshine Coast-based company was unveiled in October 2021 and its first flight took off in January 2023.

It operates Boeing 737-Max-8 planes and is backed by 777 Partners, an investment group based in Miami, Florida.

It originally flew 27 routes to 17 destinations but started cutting services during its first six months.

The airline operates flights from select airports on Australia's east coast but does not have flights to or from Sydney and Brisbane.

It flies to many regional destinations including Albury, Mildura, Mount Isa, Tamworth and Port Macquarie.
Thousands of flights between major Australian cities and holiday destinations will soon go on sale to celebrate Jetstar's 20th birthday.

The low-budget airline has dropped its second massive sale within days as part of the celebrations by discounting 29,000 flights to as low as $29 each.

The sale which begins 9am Friday (AEST), includes 82 one-way domestic flights for budget-savvy travellers.

The five day sale include flight fares from Melbourne to the Whitsundays, along with Sydney to Hobart from as little as $29.

Jetstar has announced a second major sale to celebrate its 20th birthday

29,000 one-way domestic flights will go on sale at 9am Friday with some tickets as cheap as $29 to destinations such as the Whitsundays (pictured)

The $29 price tag is a reference to Jetstar's introductory price of $29 per seat when it first launched in 2004.

Tickets for the lowest fares 'will be limited' but also include Brisbane to Newcastle, Adelaide to Brisbane, Perth to the Gold Coast, and Sydney to Ballina/Byron Bay.

'The best fares are expected to sell out fast,' a spokesperson said.

Checked luggage is not included in the fares,

The sale will end when all tickets are sold or at 11.59pm Tuesday, May 7.

Those in Adelaide seeking some sunshine this winter could fly to Brisbane (pictured) for as little as $29 one-way

There will also be other discounted fares from Jetstar on sale during this period.

The latest wave of cheap fares follows Jetstar's 48-hour sale earlier in the week when it offered more than 200,000 'return for free' fares between 64 domestic and 33 international destinations.

More than 200,000 'return for free' flights to 64 domestic and 33 international destinations were included in the first of the back-to-back sales.

The $29 one-way fares will be available across 82 domestic routes on select travel dates, including Sydney to Hobart (pictured)
Shannon Beador has sparked concerns for her wellbeing as she continues to drink - despite her recent stint in rehab for a DUI, insiders have claimed.

The Real Housewives of Orange County regular, 59, completed '28 days of behavioral wellness' counseling with an alcohol specialist following the hit-and-run incident last September.

But Beador is reportedly still drinking, with friends worried that she is not acknowledging that she has a problem with alcohol.

'Even after her recent DUI and outpatient rehab she is still drinking,' an insider told DailyMail.com exclusively. 'She isn't getting wasted and getting behind the wheel, but she still does enjoy a drink.

Shannon Beador's loved ones are concerned for her health and wellbeing because she is still drinking despite a recent stint in rehab, insiders have claimed

'Although Shannon thinks this is okay, it is of concern to those who love her and have supported her through her process of overcoming the pain caused by the DUI.

'It is ultimately Shannon's life  but lying to herself and trying to convince herself that her drinking is not a problem after getting a DUI from an accident that could have been way worse is not on.'

The insider claimed that Beador's drinking could be a result of her struggle to deal with the pressure of starring on the Bravo show.

'She sure knows how to stay on air but she doesn't know how to deal with the pressure of that it seems', the source stated.

'Drinking isn't the healthy way to handle the stress of being a rich and successful reality star with your own food empire.'

DailyMail.com has contacted representatives for Beador for comment.

Gina Kirschenheiter previously voiced her concerns about her costar's drinking habits.

Speaking on an episode of The Sarah Fraser Show podcast back in December, she said she was 'shocked' that no one was asking Beador outright whether or not she had quit.

Beador, 59, was arrested in September 2023 after she crashed her car into a Newport Beach home (pictured in November 2023)

Addressing the incident at BravoCon 2023, she said it was a 'terrible mistake' (pictured)

'This is not information that I know directly from myself,' she said. 'So I dont know whether to verify it or not but I have heard. Shes not said that shes not drinking, right?

'I would ask her that question. Shes not gonna be outed, Ill tell you that much. Its hard for me because I dont like speaking on things that Ive heard through other people and I dont know that directly but I would be very curious

'I was shocked that nobody asked her that point blank at BravoCon.'

It was reported in November that Beador avoided jail time in her DUI hit-and-run case after a California judge settled on three years of probation.

The troubled reality star was also given 36 months of informal probation plus fines and fees and had to complete 40 hours of community service and a nine-month alcohol program.

The Bravo staple did not show up to court herself, instead allowing her attorney to appear on her behalf to enter her plea of no contest to one count DUI and one count driving with a blood alcohol content of .08 percent or more.

The judge dismissed the single count of hit-and-run with property damage.

Legal documents originally obtained by TMZ revealed that Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer attempted to convince the judge to dole out a sentence of 30 days in jail.

The reality star was handed a sentence of three years of probation, plus fines, community service and the mandatory completion of an alcohol abuse program (pictured in 2020)

The insider claimed that Beador's drinking could be a result of her struggle to deal with the pressure of starring on Bravo's Real Housewives of Orange County

Beador was arrested in September after she crashed her car into a Newport Beach home.

Video surveillance footage showed her speeding through a residential area before smashing her car into the side of a house.

In the legal documents, DA Spitzer wrote that Shannon had a .24 percent Blood Alcohol Content ahead of the crash  three times the legal limit.

Beador walked away from the crash with a fractured left wrist, in addition to cuts and bruising to her left eye.

She has since paid for the property damage to the house she hit.

Following her September arrest, Beador's lawyer Michael Fell told DailyMail.com: 'Shannon is extremely apologetic and remorseful. We will be awaiting the official information on this case as it becomes available, and Shannon is prepared to accept full responsibility for her actions.'

After sentencing, Fell said: 'Shannon pleaded no contest/nolo contendere this morning to Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol and Driving when she had a blood-alcohol level of .08 or above. The Orange County District Attorneys Office argued that Shannon should be sentenced to jail and be convicted of DUI and a hit-and-run.

'But after receiving legal arguments from both sides, the judge denied the prosecutors request and dismissed the hit-and-run. In so ruling, the judge acknowledged that Shannon had made full restitution to the homeowner in this matter, who did not desire prosecution, and admitted her wrongdoing at an early stage of the proceedings.

Gina Kirschenheiter previously voiced her concerns about her costar Beador's drinking habits

Beador has been a staple on the show since 2014; (L-R) Emily Simpson, Beador, and Tamra Judge

'As we first reported she would, Shannon took full responsibility for her actions and accepted the judges sentence of 40 hours of community service, 9 months of alcohol classes and the standard three years of unsupervised/informal probation.'

Beador herself said: 'I am grateful that no one else was injured besides me in this incident. I have learned so much from my terrible mistake that night and realize that driving any distance while impaired is too far.'

In the wake of the accident, Beador told her fans that she is 'focusing on getting healthy, getting back to myself and walking Archie (her dog).'

It had been a tough year for the TV regular whose beau John Janssen blindsided her by splitting in November 2022 after nearly four years of dating.

Janssen broke up with Beador shortly after filming for season 17 of RHOC had wrapped, but she did not go public with their split until January.

The reality star has daughter Sophie, 21, and twin daughters Stella and Adeline, 19, with ex-husband David Beador.

She has previously faced legal troubles, with Janssen suing her for $75,000 for money he allegedly loaned her to pay for a facelift, which he claims she never repaid.
Gemma Collins broke down in tears as she told of her 'heartbreak' at being advised to terminate a pregnancy during a candid interview on the new Everything I Know About Me podcast.

The former TOWIE star, 43, became emotional as she recalled how she was advised by medical professionals to end her pregnancy.

In a trailer for the podcast interview, which will be released on May 9, Gemma said: 'They advised me you need to have a termination. I remember that being really stressful. That hurt me.'

Talk also turned to her past relationships, with the reality star admitting: 'I was really heartbroken because I was pregnant and he was having an affair.'

It is not clear if this is the pregnancy she was advised to terminate by healthcare professionals.

Gemma Collins broke down in tears as she discussed termination a pregnancy during a candid interview on the Everything I Know About Me podcast

The former TOWIE star, 43, became emotional as she recalled how she was advised by medical professionals to end her pregnancy

The trailer also touched on lighter topics discussed during the wide-ranging interview including some of cosmetic procedures Gemma has had.

She said: 'I have had an operation years ago, I have had a designer vagina,' before jokingly adding: 'But I don't have camel toe!'

Gemma has been open about her fertility struggles and has previously suffered three miscarriages.

She suffered her first heartbreaking loss in 2012, finding the strength to speak out about it publicly eight years later in 2020.

The reality star did not realise she was pregnant at the time, said that the baby 'died in front of her' after giving birth at home on her landing.

Speaking on her own podcast, Gemma said: 'I've had some shocking things happen to me, I'm not sure I've spoken about this before.

'But I actually gave birth to a child, sadly, and basically the child was four months old, basically I had a miscarriage but obviously the baby was formed and it died in front of me.'

'I had to go to the hospital and my mum was there. I can remember my mum being really upset, I was in shock, I was upset.

'That was really a shocking moment for me. But this is what I'm saying, I can talk about it now. Things sometimes are not meant to be.

'I'll never forget it, it was a very traumatising experience because I didn't know I was pregnant and literally I remember waking up with severe pains and my mum said to me, 'Gemma you need to go to the toilet,' and I was like, 'Honey, this is not'

'I mean obviously I couldn't describe Look I try and find the bit of entertainment in this bad situation because I think that's probably a coping mechanism of mine, I try to laugh or see a brighter side in things even though it was really traumatic.

'But I can remember just being in utter shock. I've been through a lot so I feel in life, nothing shocks me.

'So anything you could tell me now wouldn't shock me because I've been through a lot and dealt with a lot but I'm grateful for those experiences because I can sit here today and relay them to other people.'

Gemma revealed earlier this year she was praying for a baby with her fiance Rami Hawash. She is stepmother to his son Tristan, five

Gemma suffered her second pregnancy loss in 2020 during the Covid pandemic.

She spoke about the upsetting incident on an episode of Loose Women, explaining: 'It was really difficult for me in isolation because, as you know, with my condition of PCOS, it's not easy to fall pregnant and I did suffer a miscarriage which was really sad during the lockdown period.'

She added: 'I have suffered with it for the last 10 years. I started to gain weight when I was 28, my periods were all over the place. I've suffered miscarriages.

'I did go through a very sad miscarriage in lockdown. Due to PCOS I just thought that I was having an unusually heavy period. I actually left it 10 days.'

'I can remember thinking the month before, "Ooh, my boobs seem really perky!" It's been no secret recently that I've found my boobs so heavy in my life, I'm turning 40 this year, I will not be taking them into the next decade with me.'

'So, I thought, "Oh, maybe I won't have the operation, I've been working out, maybe they're lifting up a bit." Then 3 or 4 days into a heavy period really realising it's not like a usual period but thinking there's been a lot going on lately, maybe my body's been a bit stressed.'

She explained it was her sister-in-law who advised her to seek medical attention, continuing: 'It went on for 10 days between 9am and midday, I was getting through 10 super sanity towels. Then it was my sister-in-law, not to be graphic, but I had to show her.'

'I said, "I don't think this is normal". I rang my doctor and he said, "You need to go straight to the hospital". It was very sad. But it does make me realise that, potentially there is hope there for me for the future.'

Gemma revealed she was pleased to hear that Tana Ramsay had welcomed her sixth child at the age of 49 , because it gave her hope that she too can conceive in her 40s

Tragically, just a few months later, Gemma suffered a third devastating miscarriage in July 2020 after falling pregnant with her ex-boyfriend James Argent's baby.

The TOWIE star spoke out about her heartbreaking loss after Meghan Markle announced she had lost her second child with Prince Harry.

Speaking at the time, she said: 'I've not talked about this before, but it was my third, each one a devastating loss on my longed-for journey to motherhood.

'I've been trying to have a baby for nearly a decade now, only to have my hopes dashed time and again by first one miscarriage, then another.'

EXCLUSIVE READ MORE: Gemma Collins reveals another hurdle in her fertility journey as she says she still hopes to achieve her baby dream Advertisement

In a poignant essay, Gemma detailed the beginning of her miscarriage and said she had no idea she was pregnant with on-off boyfriend Arg's baby, before she started experiencing sharp cramps one morning.

The reality star said she had dismissed the pains as a heavy period, and tried to push on through the excruciating pain, before her sister forced her to visit her doctor.

After being sent to hospital, Gemma was given the tragic news that she had suffered a miscarriage.

She continued: 'In a single instant, I learned that I'd been carrying a baby and lost it, meaning that once again I found my longstanding dreams of motherhood shattered into pieces.'

However, the star has refused to give up her dream of motherhood and said in November last year she was starting a new fertility journey.

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline about her family plans, she revealed she was pleased to hear that Tana Ramsay had welcomed her sixth child at the age of 49, because it gave her hope that she too can conceive in her 40s.

'The Tana Ramsay news was the greatest thing to wake up to. Incredible', Gemma mused.

'It really made me think positively about my future and kind of took the pressure off. I don't think anyone knew she was pregnant, so it was a lovely surprise, but I got butterflies in my stomach when I saw it.'

Gemma continued: 'This is amazing news for me. I'm starting my fertility journey within the next couple of weeks.

'I'm going to a clinic so watch these cards and get ready for me, honey.'

Revealing she feels positive about her chances, Gemma continued: 'I'll be standing on them steps announcing the child to the world. London will go to a standstill. The great Queen will come and greet the child!'

Gemma revealed earlier this year she was praying for a baby with her fiance Rami Hawash. She is stepmother to his son Tristan, five.

In November 2020, Gemma told how she became pregnant with her ex-boyfriend James Argent 's baby but sadly lost it (pictured together in 2018)

During a spiritual trip to Tel Aviv in January, Gemma and her fiance visited Bethlehem, with the star later confessing: 'I did pray when I was there, I said ''please God, please give me a baby this year'' and you know please God it happens.'

She previously detailed her battle with polycystic ovary syndrome battle (PCOS) which can affect fertility.

Polycystic ovary syndrome is a hormonal disorder causing enlarged ovaries with small cysts on the outer edges. Symptoms include menstrual irregularity, excess hair growth, acne, and obesity.

For confidential support please contact the Miscarriage Association on 01924 200799 or email info@miscarriageassociation.org.uk

Listen to Gemma Collins on the Mail's Everything I Know About Me podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. New episodes released every Thursday, with the first two of Gemma's episodes launching on May 9.
Anita Rani 'loves' being a 'single, Asian woman with no children' - eight months after splitting from her husband of 14 years.

Speaking candidly about her home life as a newly-single woman in the June edition of Good Housekeeping magazine, the Countryfile host, 46, said she feels like she has a 'blank slate' to start on again in life.

The broadcaster and her husband, tech company owner partner Bhupi Rehal, split in September 2023 after their busy schedules kept them apart after first meeting at a rave in east London and marrying in a traditional Sikh ceremony back in 2009.

Anita revealed she has moved back in to a flat she bought 30 years ago and has decided to transform it into her dream home following her marital split.

She explained: 'I feel like I've stepped into a place that I never, ever expected myself to be in. I'm in uncharted territory - I'm a single, Asian woman with no children, and do you know what? I love it!

Anita Rani 'loves' being a 'single, Asian woman with no children' - eight months after splitting from her husband of 14 years

The broadcaster and her husband, tech company owner partner Bhupi Rehal, split in September 2023 after their busy schedules kept them apart after meeting at a rave in 2009

'I've sort of got a blank slate in front of me, and that feels really good. I bought a flat about 20 years ago, which I kept for all these years, and I've moved back into it.

'When I first became single, a friend said, "You could make your little apartment like a Parisienne dream house" - and that's exactly what I've done.

'I have lovely cream drapes and white floorboards. My bedroom is dusky pink and I've turned my spare room into a dressing room.

'Just talking about it makes me happy! It's my little sanctuary and it feels really important to have that.'

Anita also told how she has found a place of confidence thanks to 'inner strength and power', while redefining what it means to be 'sexy'.

She told Good Housekeeping: 'I think confidence and beauty go hand in hand, and I admire women who have an inner strength and power.

'I met this 82-year-old woman recently, who left her husband at 75, and shes one of the most strikingly beautiful women Ive ever met.

'She walks into a room and she has this power about her, and thats very sexy. Thats who I want to be. Someone who has bigger things to think about than the size of my nose!'

Speaking candidly in the June edition of Good Housekeeping, the Countryfile host, 46, said she feels like she has a 'blank slate' to start on again in life

The TV presenter also touched upon covering the theme of generational trauma in her novel Baby Does A Runner, which is set for release next month.

Anita explained: 'I don't think I am at a place of peace with it. I don't want to sound like an angry, raging feminist, but I won't deny that I'm angry. I'm a very happy, optimistic person fuelled by rage!

'I grew up in a Punjabi family where men and women were treated very differently and I could see the inequality everywhere around me.

'But when you have something to fight against, it really empowers you. It's like a fire inside that drives you.'

In late 2023, Anita told how she's stopped 'people pleasing' after being being put 'in a box' for much of her life.

Speaking to Yahoo News, Anita - born in Bradford to Indian parents - told of the pressure she felt to settle down after it was instilled that marriage and children equals success, remarking that the notion is 'drip fed to you'.

She said: 'How many of us are making choices based on what we actually want to do? and how many of us are doing it because it's what's expected of us? And those are the things that I'm personally grappling with.'

The presenter told how she began 'second guessing' what people wanted after watching women in her life facilitate everyone before themselves.

Anita went on to say that her 40s were very 'transitional' and she started to not 'give a f*** as much' as she felt more 'empowered' and 'confident' within herself.

She shared: 'I think at some point, you wake up and realise it's time to make myself happy, because I think women do look after everybody, whether that's because that's what society expects, or whether it's your parents or your husband or your children.

'You realise that it's a bit of a waste of time trying to please other people. And once you find who you are, and you walk into a room authentically, valuing who you are  that's a sensational feeling.'

Read the full interview in Good Housekeepings June issue, on sale now

The TV host previously told how she and Bhupi had a good marriage, saying: 'He's great and we have a great life. It's like any marriage: you have to work at it.'

In the past, Anita opened up about suffering a devastating miscarriage in 2018, telling The Times: 'I'm much better at self-care and I ask myself more questions about how I want to live my life.

'I'm also more willing to be vulnerable, like talking about the miscarriage I had in 2018.

'Vulnerability used to scare the s*** out of me, but it has been liberating to share my personal story and see the response.'

Read the full interview in Good Housekeeping's June issue, on sale now
Drake has hit back at Kendrick Lamar's fiery diss track Euphoria by posting a clip from the movie 10 Things I Hate About You.

The Canadian rapper, 37, took to his Instagram story on Tuesday night to share the dictionary definition of the term 'euphoria' followed by a snippet from the popular 1999 romcom.

It was overlaid with two emojis - a broken heart and smirking face - with no other context provided.

The scene itself saw Julia Stiles as teenager Kat Stratford becoming emotional as she read a poem in front of class listing out all the things she hated about a former flame.

Drake has hit back at Kendrick Lamar's fiery diss track Euphoria by posting a clip from the movie 10 Things I Hate About You

The Canadian rapper, 37, took to his Instagram story on Tuesday night to share the dictionary definition of the term 'euphoria' followed by a snippet from the popular 1999 romcom

In the clip that Drake shared, Kat could be seen fighting back tears as she read: 'I hate the way you talk to me and the way you cut your hair. I hate the way you drive my car. I hate it when you stare.

'I hate your big dumb combat boots, and the way you read my mind. I hate you so much, it makes me sick. It even makes me rhyme.

'I hate the way you're always right. I hate it when you lie. I hate it when you make me laugh, even worse when you make me cry.

'I hate it when you're not around and the fact that you didn't call.'

Fans believe that Drake's humorous post was to mock the lyrics in Kendrick's Euphoria.

Kendrick rapped: 'Now let me say I'm the biggest hater, I hate the way that you walk, the way that you talk.

'I hate the way that you dress, I hate the way you sneak diss, if I catch flight, it's gon' be direct.'

Drake's followers flocked to social media to share their thoughts as one wrote: 'The boy is a master at trolling.'

Drake's followers flocked to social media to share their thoughts as one wrote: 'The boy is a master at trolling'

Another added: 'Kendrick is shooting shot after shot and keeps missing.'

Someone else branded Drake as 'sassy' as another dished: 'If this is the response, the fight is over.'

But, on the other hand, Kendrick fans quickly took to the comments to defend their favorite rapper.

One person wrote: 'LMFAOOOO DRAKE IS A CLOWNNNN.'

Another shared: 'Drake is so corny,' and a third person added: 'Cornball hours.'

A fourth person commented: 'This is exactly why I think he's a cornball.'

One person added: 'Drake, really? C'mon bruh.'

'These old men are way past their time,' another person commented.

But, on the other hand, Kendrick fans quickly took to the comments to defend their favorite rapper

Drake had previously slammed the 36-year-old Grammy winner's physical stature and suggested that his pop collaborations have caused him to lose his edge in his barbed tracks n songs Taylor Made Freestyle and Push Ups - which in itself came after Lamar slammed Drake on the album We Don't Trust You in March.

Lamar has since dropped track Euphoria which addresses Drake directly and whether he 'feels black enough' - as well as branding him an absent father and 'master manipulator.'

Lamar raps: 'How many more fairytale stories about your life 'til we've had enough? How many more Black features 'til you finally feel that you're Black enough?'

Drake was previously slammed by Pusha T for a 2007 photo featuring him in blackface while Pusha T also revealed Drake had a child on 2018 diss track, The Story of Adinon - which was unknown to the public at the time.

Elsewhere in the track, Lamar raps: 'Know you a master manipulator and habitual liar, too/But don't tell no lie 'bout me, and I won't tell truths 'bout you.'

Kendrick Lamar recently dropped a retaliatory diss track against nemesis Drake - questioning the biracial rapper's ethnicity in shock lyrics

Drake previously slammed the 36-year-old Grammy winner's physical stature and suggested that his pop collaborations have caused him to lose his edge in his barbed tracks

Taking direct aim at Drake's legal threat from Tupac Shakur's estate over using AI generated vocals of the late star, he rapped: 'Somebody had told me that you got a ring/On God, I'm ready to double the wage/I'd rather do that than let a Canadian n---a make 'Pac turn in his grave.'

'The very first time I shot me a Drac', the homie had told me to aim it this way/I didn't point down enough/Today, I show you I learned from those mistakes.'

'This ain't been 'bout critics, not about gimmicks, not about who the greatest / It's always been about love and hate.'

Lamar also accused Drake of being an absent father to son Adonis, six, rapping: 'I got a son to raise, but I can see you know nothin' 'bout that.'

Even the song's title appeared to be a jab as Drake is notably an executive producer on HBO drama Euphoria.

The drama appeared to ignite back in March, when Kendrick dissed Drake and J. Cole on the song Like That from Future and Metro Boomin's album We Don't Trust You.

The song is Drake's second diss track against Lamar and was dropped on Instagram last week.

Lamar raps: 'How many more fairytale stories about your life 'til we've had enough? How many more Black features 'til you finally feel that you're Black enough?' - Drake is of white Jewish Canadian and black American descent - seen with parents Sandi and Graham

Taking direct aim at Drake's legal threat from Tupac Shakur's estate over using AI generated vocals of the late star

Lamar also accused Drake of being an absent father to son Adonis, six, rapping: 'I got a son to raise, but I can see you know nothin' 'bout that' (Drake pictured with Adonis in January)

'Taylor Made Freestyle,' he captioned the post, adding: 'While we wait on you I guess.'

Snoop reacted to the track in humorous fashion on Instagram, stating to the camera: 'They did what? When? How? Are you sure? Y'all have a good night.

'Why everybody calling my phone, blowing me up? What the f**k? What happened? What's going on? I'm going back to bed. Good night.'

Lamar threw multiple lyrical jabs to both Drake and J Cole, furiously rapping the stand out line: 'Motherf**k the big three, n***a, it's just big me.'

The line was seemingly a direct response to a bar Cole dropped in his collaboration with Drake called First Person Shooter.

'Love when they argue the hardest MC / Is it K. Dot [Kendrick]? Is it Aubrey [Drake]? Or me? / We the big three, like we started a league,' J Cole said.

Lamar didn't miss the chance to take another a jab at Champagne Papi, cleverly referencing his latest album title, For all the Dogs.

'Fore all your dogs gettin' buried/ That's a K with all these nines, he gon' see Pet Sematary. Woof!'

Drake is complying with Tupac's estate after he was sent a cease and desist letter for using AI to recreate the late rapper's voice in his Lamar diss track, Taylor Made Freestyle.

The drama appeared to ignite back in March, when Kendrick dissed Drake and J. Cole on the song Like That from Future and Metro Boomin's album We Don't Trust You - Lamar pictured 2022

After taking down the track on his social media accounts on Friday, the rapper, 37, and his team are also reportedly working with Tupac's estate to get the song removed from all other platforms online.

Drake gave no explanation for removing the song from his Instagram and X, formerly known as Twitter, account.

According to TMZ, his team and representatives have been in direct contact with the late rap star's estate after receiving the cease and desist demands on Wednesday and have had multiple, productive discussions.

This comes after attorneys for Tupac's estate sent out a letter to Drake for the 'flagrant violation' and for insulting Lamar, who they said was 'a good friend to the Estate' and 'has given nothing but respect to Tupac and his legacy publicly and privately.'

They also set a 24-hour deadline to remove the song and explain how the soundalike was created, including what recordings were used to recreate Tupac's voice with AI.

The letter added that the estate was 'deeply dismayed and disappointed' by the unauthorized usage as it was 'a blatant abuse of the legacy of one of the greatest hip-hop artists of all time.'

Last week, Drake dropped Taylor Made Freestyle, which used artificial intelligence to clone both Tupac and Snoop Dogg's voices in his second diss track against Lamar.

On Wednesday, the late rapper's estate has sent Drake a cease and desist letter seeking the removal of the song, according to Rolling Stone.

Sent by attorney Howard King, the letter gave Drake 24 hours to take the track down or else they would pursue legal action against him.

The letter claimed the estate 'would have never' approved of the AI recreation of Tupac.
Rosie O'Donnell will star alongside Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon in the upcoming third season of HBO's And Just Like That...

The talk show host, 62, revealed the big news as she shared a snap of the script on her main Instagram page on Wednesday during a table read with production officially underway.

The star additionally showed that she will be playing a character named Mary as she looked through the script for an episode titled, Outlook Good.

Social media users jumped to the comment section to express their excitement over the casting, while some fans also speculated that O'Donnell could potentially play Miranda's (Dixon) new love interest.

Cynthia's character previously dated Che Diaz - played by Sara Ramirez - until their split in the series. Earlier this year in January, it was confirmed that Ramirez would not be returning to And Just Like That...

Rosie O'Donnell, 62, will star alongside Sarah Jessica Parker , Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon in the upcoming third season of HBO's And Just Like That...

The talk show host revealed the big news as she shared a snap of the script on her main Instagram page on Wednesday during a table read with production officially underway

One follower penned, 'I hope Mary is a love interest for Miranda!' while another questioned, 'Miranda's new lady?'

An Instagram user also typed, 'Oh my gosh I'm so excited for this!! Can't wait to see who you will become on the show.'

One fan gushed, 'OH MY GOD I AM SO EXCITED ONE OF MY FAV HUMANS EVER AND FAV SHOW OF ALL TIME !!! WOW !!!! I love you Rosie !!!'

Along with a photo of the script, Rosie also uploaded a close-up selfie to show off her natural complexion. She wore a dark green jacket as well as a black shirt underneath for the quick snap.

In the caption of the post, the TV personality simply penned to her 506k followers, 'here comes mary #andjustliekthat @hbo.'

While the star is known for hosting her own talk show, The Rosie O'Donnell Show from 1996 through 2002, she has also taken on roles in a number of projects, including A League Of Their Own (1992) and Exit To Eden (1994).

Parker, Dixon and Davis also posted pics from a table read of two episodes of the third season of ...And Just Like That on Wednesday.

Parker  who adopted the kitten Carrie rescued in the series  shared a snap of her place card reading 'Carrie' over the scripts for episodes one and two, dated April 30. The Square Pegs actress captioned the post: 'Here. We. Go. X, SJ.'

The revival of the beloved series from the early 2000s was renewed for its third season before season two wrapped

Cynthia's character previously dated Che Diaz - played by Sara Ramirez - until their split in the series. Earlier this year in January, it was confirmed that Ramirez would not be returning to And Just Like That...; Ramirez seen in April in NYC

Kristin, also 59, shared hers in the same manner but with her 'Charlotte' place card and a slightly different view of the script

And Cynthia's featured her character's name 'Miranda' and shared a pic of the scrips similar to SJP's photo

Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon, 58, gave Sex and the City fans a little teaser

Kristin, also 59, shared hers in the same manner but with her 'Charlotte' place card and a slightly different view of the script.

Davis wrote 'Were back! #AJLT' over a photo of her script and place card.

And Cynthia's featured her character's name 'Miranda' and shared a pic of the scrips similar to SJP's photo.

She didn't caption her post but she did have it set to the song Get Ready For This by Noelinar.

The revival of the beloved series from the early 2000s was renewed for its third season before season two wrapped.

'We are thrilled to spend more time in the Sex and the City universe telling new stories about the lives of these relatable and aspirational characters played by these amazing actors. Here comes season three.' executive producer Michael Patrick King said in a press release at the time.

Meanwhile, Sarah Aubrey, Max's Head of Original Content Sarah Aubrey said at the time: 'We raise our cosmos to Michael Patrick King and his magnificent team of writers, producers, cast and crew who continue to charm us, 25 years later, with dynamic friendships and engaging stories. We cannot wait for audiences to see where season three will take our favorite New Yorkers.'

At the end of season two, Carrie spoke with Kim Cattrall's character Samantha on the phone. This scene marked Cattrall's first appearance (if by voice only) on the revival series.

In the scene, Samantha sends her regrets that she will be unable to attend the 'sending off" party for Carrie's old apartment.

'We are thrilled to spend more time in the Sex and the City universe telling new stories about the lives of these relatable and aspirational characters played by these amazing actors. Here comes season three.' executive producer Michael Patrick King said in a press release at the time

Meanwhile, Sarah Aubrey, Max's Head of Original Content Sarah Aubrey said at the time: 'We raise our cosmos to Michael Patrick King and his magnificent team of writers, producers, cast and crew who continue to charm us, 25 years later, with dynamic friendships and engaging stories. We cannot wait for audiences to see where season three will take our favorite New Yorkers'

At the end of season two, Carrie spoke with Kim Cattrall's character Samantha on the phone

This scene marked Cattrall's first appearance (if by voice only) on the revival series. In the scene, Samantha sends her regrets that she will be unable to attend the 'sending off" party for Carrie's old apartment

'My flight's three hours delayed, Carrie! I won't be able to make it there in time,' Samantha exclaimed.

Samantha went on to explain that she was trying to surprise her for the 'last supper' at her longtime residence.

'Thank you for everything you f---ing fabulous, fabulous flat,' she said, aptly closing an era in Carrie's life and the lives of her closest friends.

And Just Like That... season three debuts on Max in 2025.
Red Wiggle Caterina Mete has opened about her IVF journey as a single mother.

Caterina, 43, made headlines in February when she announced she is expecting twin girls after undergoing IVF with a sperm donor.

Appearing on the Darling, Shine! podcast on Wednesday, the children's performer told listeners she was surprised by the outpouring of support she received after announcing the news.

'So many women have reached out to me.. that they are a solo mum and they've been able to use me as an example for their children,' she revealed.

'I didn't realise the effect it would have on people... it's so nice to hear from other women.'

Red Wiggle Caterina Mete, 43, has discussedIVF journey as a single mum after announcing she is expecting twin girls via a sperm donor

She continued: 'They'll say their child watches the video all the time, my pregnancy announcement, and they get excited because they can relate because they were born in that same way.'

It comes three months after Caterina took to Instagram to announce the joyous news she was expecting, telling fans she 'could not wait to be a mum'.

In the clip, a beaming Caterina debuted her bump while dressed in her red skivvy.

Appearing on the Darling, Shine! podcast on Wednesday, the children's performer told listeners she was surprised by the outpouring of support she received after announcing the news

'Hey, everyone. I've got some exciting news to share with you all. I'm pregnant with twin girls!' the professional dancer beamed, holding up two child-sized Red Wiggle costumes.

'I'm due later in the year, but I wanted to share this news with you now now, as I'll be seeing many of you at the upcoming Wiggles shows... and as you can see, my girls are already starting to make an appearance,' she joked, cradling her blossoming bump.

Reflecting on her exciting news in a press release, Caterina said: 'Becoming a mother has always been a dream of mine. I feel overwhelmingly blessed to share that I am expecting two beautiful little miracles.'

'So many women have reached out to me.. that they are a solo mum and they've been able to use me as an example for their children,' she revealed. (Pictured with Purple Wiggle John Pearce, centre)

'This journey has been challenging, but filled with so much love and support. I am immensely grateful for the incredible team at my fertility clinic and the technology that has made this possible.'

Caterina went on to say she can't wait to meet her bundles of joy and begin this new chapter of her life.

She concluded by thanking her Wiggles colleagues for their 'unwavering support' during her pregnancy journey.

Caterina has been part of the Wiggles show for two decades, originally joining the crew as a dancer before moving into roles such as head of wardrobe, dance captain and choreographer.
Duane Eddy, the pioneering rock guitarist known for his instrumental 'twang', died on Tuesday at the age of 86.

The Grammy-winning musician passed away from cancer in Franklin, Tennessee, surrounded by family, according to wife Deed Abbate.

'Duane inspired a generation of guitarists the world over with his unmistakeable signature 'Twang' sound,' a rep told Variety. 'He was the first rock and roll guitar god, a truly humble and incredible human being. He will be sorely missed.'

The musician gained fame with a string of instrumental hits in the late '50s and early '60s including the theme to TV series Peter Gunn and Rebel Rouser.

He's recognized as the most commercially successful instrumental artist in rock 'n' roll history, with 16 top-40 singles, and 100 million records sold worldwide.

Duane Eddy, the pioneering rock guitarist known for his instrumental 'twang', died on Tuesday at the age of 86; seen in 1960

The Grammy-winning musician passed away from cancer in Franklin, Tennessee , surrounded by family, according to wife Deed Abbate; Duane and Deed in 2018

'I had a distinctive sound that people could recognize and I stuck pretty much with that. I'm not one of the best technical players by any means; I just sell the best,' he told The Associated Press in a 1986 interview.

'A lot of guys are more skillful than I am with the guitar. A lot of it is over my head. But some of it is not what I want to hear out of the guitar.'

'Twang' defined Eddy's sound from his first album, Have Twangy Guitar Will Travel, to his 1993 box set, Twang Thang: The Duane Eddy Anthology.

'It's a silly name for a nonsilly thing,' Eddy told the AP in 1993.

'But it has haunted me for 35 years now, so it's almost like sentimental value  if nothing else.'

He gained induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.

Eddy recorded over 50 albums, including several reissues. From the 1980s onward, he scaled back his work, stating in 1986 that he was 'living off my royalties.'

Born on April 26, 1938, in Corning, New York, Eddy began playing guitar at the tender age of five. As a teenager, he relocated with his family to Arizona.

In Coolidge, Arizona, Eddy crossed paths with DJ Lee Hazlewood, who produced the budding guitarist's breakthrough single Rebel Rouser in 1958.

A year later, Eddy achieved another hit with his rendition of Henry Mancini's theme song for the private eye television series, Peter Gunn.

He also scored theme music for movies including Because They're Young, Pepe and Gidget Goes Hawaiian.

The musician gained fame with a string of instrumental hits in the late '50s and early '60s including the theme to TV series Peter Gunn and Rebel Rouser; seen in 1961

Eddy recorded over 50 albums, including several reissues. From the 1980s onward, he scaled back his work, stating in 1986 that he was 'living off my royalties,' seen in 1986

He gained induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994; seen in 2023

Eddy's distinctive style left a lasting impression on younger British musicians like George Harrison of The Beatles and Hank Marvin of The Shadows, as well as inspiring numerous instrumental surf bands that emerged in Southern California during the early '60s, per Variety.

Later on, Bruce Springsteen paid tribute to Eddy's aggressive guitar approach through the expansive sound of Born to Run.

Eddy underwent a brief but notable resurgence in the late '80s, marked by his collaboration with Art of Noise on a synthesizer-heavy remake of Peter Gunn.

This updated version soared to the top 10 in the UK charts and clinched the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental in 1986.
Teddi Mellencamp revealed that her copper IUD has caused her to have menopause symptoms in a candid Instagram video uploaded on Wednesday.

The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills alum, 42 - who recently underwent her 15th melanoma surgery amid skin cancer battle - kicked off the clip by telling her 1 million fans and followers that 'we gotta talk.'

'So, I thought I was going through menopause or perimenopause because, not to be TMI, but I was having all the signs,' the TV personality explained while sporting a moon-patterned pajama top.

'Finally I went in for my yearly OB/GYN check, I was for sure this was going to be the end and they were going to tell me, "You're going through the change."'

"'That's why you're not sleeping. That's why you're constantly bleeding. That's why you're having mood swings." The list goes on and on,' she added.

Teddi Mellencamp, 42, revealed that her copper IUD has caused her to have menopause symptoms in a candid Instagram video uploaded on Wednesday

The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills alum - who recently underwent her 15th melanoma surgery - kicked off the clip by telling her 1 million fans and followers that 'we gotta talk'

Mellencamp then revealed that, 'my numbers came back and everything's fine. And it's potentially from my copper IUD.'

In conclusion, she questioned her followers, 'Guys, tell me about your symptoms from the copper IUD. Did this happen to you?'

And on a lighter note, she added with a small smile while adjusting her glasses, 'And who would've thought I'm a spring chicken?'

The media personality captioned the latest post by writing that she was 'in a doozy of a stich.'

'I thought I was going through "the change" only to find out from a recent OBGYN visit that these symptoms were something elseCopper IUD users-has this happened to you as well?'

She then referenced her husband, Edwin Arroyave, and typed, 'Also, the fact that @tedwinator thought this new information meant we would have another baby is hilarious.'

Teddi jokingly added, 'Shop is closed for business,' followed by the hashtags, '#menopause #copperiud #beingawoman.'

Teddi tied the knot with Edwin back in 2011 and the couple share son Cruz, nine, as well as daughters Slate, 11, and Dove, four. Upon marrying, she also became stepmother to Arroyave's daughter, Isabella, from a previous marriage.

'So, I thought I was going through menopause or perimenopause because, not to be TMI, but I was having all the signs,' the TV personality explained while sporting a moon-patterned pajama top

'Finally I went in for my yearly OB/GYN check, I was for sure this was going to be the end and they were going to tell me, "You're going through the change"'

Mellencamp then revealed that, 'my numbers came back and everything's fine. And it's potentially from my copper IUD'

In conclusion, she questioned her followers, 'Guys, tell me about your symptoms from the copper IUD. Did this happen to you?'

A copper IUD 'can provide long-term birth control (contraception)' and is also classified as a 'nonhormonal IUD option,' according to the Mayo Clinic. The device can also 'prevent pregnancy for up to 10 years after insertion.'

Mellencamp later jumped to the comment section to humorously explain why she was wearing two glasses in the video and penned, 'Also, still not into progressives, obviously.'

Earlier this month, Teddi revealed that she underwent her 15th melanoma surgery and admitted that it felt as if she had been 'stung by 20 bees' afterwards.

She uploaded a photo to her Instagram stories as she headed to the doctor, and typed out to her followers, 'On my way to the next surgery with Dr. Fairies (my oncologist) to cut out the spot on my arm.'

'Trying to be positive and happy I can do this one awake I just cry everytime I get the shots for some reason.'

The star explained, 'Not scared of shots it's just the knowing they are about to cut into me again right after I get one,' and added the hashtag, '#curemelanoma.'

After the surgery, she updated her fans while resting with an ice pack on her arm and said, 'After 3 days of no sleep. I was able to nap.'

'I did wake up to my arm feeling like it was stung by 20 [bee emoji' but this too shall pass.' She later shared a snap of her herself posing to show a large scar on her back and encouraged others to 'get your skin checks!!!'

And on a lighter note, she added with a small smile while adjusting her glasses, 'And who would've thought I'm a spring chicken?'

Teddi tied the knot with Edwin back in 2011 and the couple share son Cruz, nine, as well as daughters Slate, 11, and Dove, four. Upon marrying, she also became stepmother to Arroyave's daughter, Isabella, from a previous marriage

Earlier this month, Teddi revealed that she underwent her 15th melanoma surgery and admitted that it felt as if she had been 'stung by 20 bees' afterwards

Her skin cancer journey began in March 2022 when her fellow RHOBH co-star, Kyle Richards, had pointed out spots on Teddi's back. Later that same year in October, she was diagnosed with stage 2 melanoma.

During an interview with Good Morning America late last year in December, Mellencamp recalled the conversation with Richards.

'She said, "Teddi, the spot on your back, one spot looks so different. I'm not allowing you to not go to the doctor right now and get it checked."'

The Real Housewives alum then explained that after trying immunotherapy cream and having 'over a dozen spots removed,' she was 'still not in the clear.'

'There was that initial heartbreak,' Teddi admitted. 'Because you're like, "But I went through so much. Like, that should have worked...'

After the surgery, the mother-of-four opened up about her next steps, stating, 'I want to start the New Year, and I want to keep fighting, I want to keep pushing.'

A few months earlier in February, she expressed that she wanted to focus on 'strength' throughout 2024 during her melanoma cancer battle. 'Every year I like to choose my word for the year.'

After the surgery, she updated her fans while resting with an ice pack on her arm and said, 'After 3 days of no sleep. I was able to nap'

She later shared a snap of her herself posing to show a large scar on her back and encouraged others to 'get your skin checks!!!'

Her skin cancer journey began in March 2022 when her fellow RHOBH co-star, Kyle Richards, had pointed out spots on Teddi's back. Later that same year in October, she was diagnosed with stage 2 melanoma

'From the start of 2024, people have asked what my word is and I have consistently joked that my word would be "cope."'

She later added, 'But the truth is, EFF THAT. I have decided my word for 2024 is going to be STRENGTH.'

'It's been 6 weeks since my last surgery and I am cleared to do whatever it is I want. And I want to be strong. I will be strong,' Teddi wrote, explaining she would not focus on negatives, such as, 'What if I die?'

'I am now focusing on how I can be the strongest version of me possible. I am committing to being in the best mental and physical shape I can be in. This year my primary focus (in addition to my fam) will be becoming my STRONGEST self yet...'
Marciano's 'hot temper' caused issues, Zee was also capable of being 'nasty.'

Its not been revealed he clashed with GMA meteorologist Ginger Zee

Ousted ABC News weatherman Rob Marciano frequently butted heads with his predecessor Ginger Zee who 'brought out the worst in him.'

On Tuesday, it was announced that Marciano, 55, was fired two years after he was yanked off air for 'anger issues.'

Marciano had joined 'GMA' in 2014 to take over Zee's weekend role after she was promoted to the daily set to replace chief meteorologist Sam Champion. Marciano and Zee's relationship was rocky for years, an anonymous media executive told the New York Post.

While Marciano's 'hot temper' caused issues on set, the source said Zee was also capable of being 'nasty.'

'I think she brought out the worst in him. Im not giving him a pass,' the source said. 'Its sad because they are two people who are really into the science of the weather, unfortunately their personalities didnt work.'

On Tuesday, Rob Marciano was fired from ABC News, two years after he was yanked off air for 'anger issues'

An anonymous media executive said Marciano and his former co-worker, Good Morning America meteorologist Ginger Zee, had a rocky relationship

The source said that Zee often treated Marciano as a 'beta' while she acted as 'the alpha.' Marciano and Zee are seen posing together in Halloween costumes on set in 2018

The source added Zee is a 'know-it-all' that acted as an 'alpha' and often treated Marciano as a 'beta.'

'But they were much more peers in experience, more than Ginger was with Sam.'

Zee, who joined Good Morning America in 2011, reportedly 'pulled rank' over assignments when Marciano joined the network.

When he was brought on, the station decided to launch a 24/7 weather unit for ABC News, 'GMA' and World News Tonight.

'If you say something she disagrees with, she references her Twitter followers, saying "you are wrong, my followers on Twitter loved it,"' the media executive revealed.

The executive said when Marciano 'was unhappy about something' others would know.

'He lost his cool in meetings when he got news he didn't like,' the source said.

Another source, close to Zee, 43, said Marciano had 'behavioral' problems.

'Ginger is a collaborative, inclusive and hard-working leader who is well respected by her colleagues and has never had a complaint about her working style,' the person told the outlet, adding any other suggestion is 'sexist.'

DailyMail.com contacted Zee and Marciano's teams for comment.

Marciano had joined 'GMA' in 2014 to take of Zee's weekend role after she was promoted to the daily set to replace chief meteorologist Sam Champion. (pictured: Zee outside of Good Morning America on April 1)

'I think she brought out the worst in him. Im not giving him a pass,' the source said. 'Its sad because they are two people who are really into the science of the weather, unfortunately their personalities didnt work'

Zee, who joined Good Morning America in 2011, reportedly 'pulled rank' over assignments when Marciano joined the network

Marciano appeared on Good Morning America until he disappeared in March 2022 during the breakdown of his marriage to ex-wife Eryn Marciano (pictured)

Marciano appeared on Good Morning America until he disappeared in March 2022 during the breakdown of his marriage to ex-wife Eryn Marciano.

He was 'banned' from the studio after an incident with a female colleague and made multiple colleagues 'feel uncomfortable' around him.

After a month off the air he was shuffled to ABC's World News Tonight, which shoots from a different studio, and reported from the field.

However, he was fired on Tuesday after two years of exile from the flagship morning show, the New York Post reported.

Why he was dumped now is unknown and neither he nor ABC commented.

Marciano's last report was published on Sunday, a 'reporter's notebook' from Shreveport, Louisiana, a year after a huge storm that now reads like his epitaph.

He was reposting ABC News weather content on his Instagram stories on Tuesday morning, indicating the firing may have been sudden.

Marciano was initially suspended for a month, but GMA executive producer Simone Swink kept him banned from the studio indefinitely.

'He was found to have done something  that was improper, but he was punished for it, and they still haven't let him return,' a source told the Post last year.

After a month off the air he was shuffled to ABC's World News Tonight, which shoots from a different studio, and reported from the field

Eryn Marciano filed for divorce on June 18, 2021, and they are co-parenting their children Madelynn, 12, and Mason, 6

'He made people feel uncomfortable. There was a period where there were some issues, a number of alarming events,' a second source claimed.

'There were times when [Marciano] was very cranky and angry unsavory behavior on his part. He was pulled off to deal with it and he's been back.'

Swink was said to have considered Marciano's issues a 'distraction' from the show's newsgathering mission and refused to let him back in the studio.

His ex-wife, Marciano filed for divorce on June 18, 2021, and the breakup dragged on well into 2022 with their attorneys exchanging legal salvos.

'The last couple of years have been very difficult,' Marciano said at the time.

'I didn't want this and tried to save the marriage, but we are sadly divorcing. My focus now is on my kids.'

They were married for 11 years and are co-parenting their children Madelynn, 12, and Mason, 6.
The Block stars Eliza and Liberty have announced their shock career move.

The sisters revealed on Wednesday they will be dipping their toes into stand-up comedy.

The pair will take to the stage at the Comic Lounge in North Melbourne on Tuesday.

Eliza and Liberty are among nine other comedians who will take to the stage to perform a five minute set.

'Our producers have been working really hard to find somewhere where we can tag on with real comedians,' the pair told their social media followers.

The Block stars Eliza and Liberty have announced their shock career move

'You can only come if you're going to give us sympathy laughs.'

Appearing on their Try Before You Die Podcast, where they try new experiences, the fan favourites revealed they had been requested to attempt stand-up comedy.

'I've been losing sleep over this.. the idea of doing this is so horrific to me,' Liberty told the podcast.

The sisters revealed on Wednesday they will be dipping their toes into stand-up comedy

'I feel like my daily life is a stand up routine so I feel like I'm going to be just fine,' Eliza said.

It comes after the pair revealed that while they have not been asked to come back as Blockheads on the upcoming 20th anniversary season, it would not be an easy decision.

'We sure as s**t havent got a call yet,' Eliza, 37, told Yahoo Lifestyle on Tuesday.

The pair will take to the stage at the Comic Lounge in North Melbourne on Tuesday

'So many people are like, "If you got asked to do Phillip Island, would you do it?", and thats something we would truly have to think about.'

The sisters, who walked away with $1.05million after selling House 5 for $4.3million last year, say the two-hour plus commute from their home in Melbourne to the new site would be off-putting.

'It was hard enough doing it in Bayside Melbourne, but doing it on Phillip Island would be so hard,' Liberty, 34, explained in the report.

Eliza and Liberty are among nine other comedians who will take to the stage to perform a five minute set

However, Eliza and Liberty say they would do a 'guest appearance' in a 'heartbeat'.

'We had the best experience and some of the crew have become our best friends, so if we got to go back and experience that again, yeah,' Liberty said.

Adds Eliza: 'If it was just a visit, yeah.. .I just think [the commute] it would be too much for us. Youd be so grateful to be asked back, but we havent.'
Simon Cowell has hired a Britain's Got Talent star to help out with his German shepherd puppy, who is running riot.

The music mogul, 64, told the Mirror he has asked Lucy Heath from the impressive dancing dog act The Trickstars for help with training Pebbles.

He explained: 'She's a little bit naughty. She nicks everything, including all the telephones in the house. Anything she can get hold of, she will take.

'And then when I try and get it back, she's running away from me and she just thinks it's a game. So she's got a very playful nature'

The 45-year-old wowed the BGT judges with a fun dance act to the tune of Friend Like Me from the Aladdin soundtrack.

Simon Cowell has been forced to draft in help because his German shepherd puppy is running riot

Simon and fans were left shocked by the performance, with the star now eager to pick up some tips, even though Pebbles' naughtiness is part of the reason he loves her.

'I think we got really lucky with Pebbles.I think she's absolutely beautiful, gentle, very protective already. She's just a gorgeous, gorgeous, beautiful dog.'

It comes after Simon added a new member to his ever growing four-legged family, just months after he brought home a new German Shepherd called Pebbles.

The music mogul, 64, who is known for his love of dogs, currently lives with his fiancee Lauren Silverman , their son Eric, 10, and five dogs.

And now the family have a new resident, a pet Chihuahua, who Simon showed off in a slew of adorable Instagram snaps on Tuesday.

Simon captioned to post: 'I've just fallen in love,' but didn't reveal the pooch's name yet.

The Chihuahua is Simon's sixth dog, after already being a proud dog owner to German Shepard Pebbles Yorkshire terriers Squiddly and Diddly as well as his late mum's dog Freddy and Daisy, who he adopted in Barbados.

The music mogul, 64, told the Mirror he has asked Lucy Heath from the impressive dancing dog act The Trickstars for help with training Pebbles

It comes after Simon added a new member to his ever growing four-legged family

The Chihuahua is Simon's sixth dog, after already being a proud dog owner to German Shepard Pebbles Yorkshire terriers Squiddly and Diddly as well as his late mum's dog Freddy and Daisy, who he adopted in Barbados (not pictured)

In April 2022 Simon revealed he will leave a 'substantial amount' to various dogs shelters in his last will and testament, which is believed to be around 20million.

The star decided to draw up his last wishes after suffering a traumatic bike accident which left him with an injured arm.

The music mogul described the process as 'one of the most depressing things I've ever done, and one of the hardest', as he revealed that 'everything he cares about' will be covered in the will.

Talking of the morbid experience with The Sun, Simon shared: 'Unfortunately, you have to  and that day, when it comes, is like, 'Christ, I've now got to sit and talk about my death for the next few hours' It was dreadful. But the fact that I've done it now has given me peace of mind.'

During the chat, he also revealed that he will leave a 'substantial amount', to dog charities - including Dogs Trust, K9 in Barbados, and London's Battersea Dogs Home.

Simon rescued Daisy when he came across the abandoned dog on one of his trips to Barbados back in 2018.

Simon hosts annual auctions from homeless dogs on the Caribbean island and fell in love with Daisy.

She was found abandoned along with her two puppies, but thanks to charity K9 Puppies, of which Simon is a patron, they were all nursed back to health.

In April 2022 Simon revealed he will leave a 'substantial amount' to various dogs shelters in his last will and testament , which is believed to be around 20million

Simon also revealed in the past that he hopes to clone his pet pooches, so strong is his love for them.

He revealed he plans to spend 180,000 to have them cloned by harvesting their genes through a South Korean company.

The star told The Sun on Sunday: 'I am 100 per cent cloning the dogs, all of them.'We've thoroughly looked into it, got all the details and I can prove to you I'm going to clone them. There is documentation.

'I am doing it because I cannot bear the thought of them not being around.'

The dogs travel with Simon regularly as he works in both Los Angeles and London, as well as an annual trip to the Caribbean, and on the flight the dogs get their own squeaky toys to play with, and bespoke jum-bones.
Furious Farmer Wants A Wife fans have taken to social media to slam contestant Karli's 'desperate' move to win over hunky star Bert.

On Tuesday night's episode, the women prepared a blind date for the men, who had to choose which one to go on despite not knowing who they would be paired with.

Unfortunately for Karli, who has her eye on Farmer Bert, 30, the pineapple grower chose to go on a painting and picnic date with fellow contestant Brooke.

A jealous Karli quickly grabbed Bert upon his return and told him offscreen about all the great things he missed out on by not choosing her.

'The chemistry between Bert and I is like nothing else,' Karli later told the cameras, with Brooke then admitting she felt 'a bit hurt' by her romantic rival's overprotective nature.

Furious Farmer Wants A Wife fans have taken to social media to slam female contestant Karli's (pictured) 'desperate' move to win over hunky star Bert

Viewers were not impressed by Karli's behaviour and quickly took to social media to slam the jilted brunette.

'Karli is embarrassing and so desperate. I don't think she has many girl friends as she only thinks about herself,' one person sniped.

'She is absolutely the type of woman I would avoid,' a second person added and a third chipped in: 'Karli gives a b***hy energy'.

On Tuesday episode, the women prepared a blind date for the men, who had to choose which one to go on despite not knowing who they would be paired with. Unfortunately for Karli, who has her eye on Farmer Bert (left), 30, he chose to go on a painting date with Brooke (right)

Karli has developed a reputation for clashing with the female contestants over Bert, and on Monday she was locked in a war with rival Caity over his affections.

Unfortunately for Karli, Caity was the victor during a romantic date with Bert, with the pair cuddling up under a blanket on a dock alongside a waterway.

As the couple bonded, they shared a sweet kiss with Caity declaring, 'Well, that was nice'.

Despite having a good time on the date, a jealous Karli quickly grabbed Bert upon returning and told him offscreen about all the great things he missed out on by not choosing her

Viewers were not impressed by Karli's behaviour and quickly took to social media to slam the jilted brunette

The following day, the other women quizzed Caity over whether she and Bert had kissed the night before.

Caity left it to Bert to answer, but the modest farmer would not kiss and tell.

Jealous, Karli said that she was certain the pair had locked lips, but it had not cooled her affection for the pineapple farmer.

'I think they would have kissed. I try not to think about it to much. Because at the end of the day, he will be all mine and I won't be worrying about it,' she told the camera.
Matthew McConaughey was spotted dancing up a storm with his niece at her Texas Quinceanera in a viral TikTok posted by user @mackynile on Saturday evening.

The 54-year-old actor - who recently called Jennifer Lopez a 'five-threat' as he reminisced over their time together on the set of The Wedding Planner - stole the show as he made a surprise visit to the event.

The How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days star donned a cowboy hat with a feather accent paired with a blazer and jeans as he took the dance floor.

He tied the look together with a pair of brown boots as family and friends looked over in awe during the celebration.

'Happy Birthday Maggie!' the user who posted the video wrote in the caption.

Matthew McConaughey was spotted dancing up a storm with his niece Maggie at her Texas Quinceanera in a viral TikTok posted by user @mackynile on Saturday evening; seen on April 25

Margarita Olympia, daughter of Matthew's brother Rooster, looked stunning in a white princess gown and glittering tiara in the video.

Her long dark locks were slightly curled as she opted for a full glam look for her big day.

The video went viral as it racked up over 3.4 million views and 240,000 likes and counting.

Fans went wild in the comments as one wrote, 'Imagine Matthew McConaughey being your [Godfather].'

Traditionally at Quinceaneras, the birthday girl selects a Godparent that serves as a spiritual guide and may sponsor the celebration.

Another fan chimed in saying, 'He gets the best of so many worlds. I know a lot of people are excited about him, but I truly believe he values every experience he's bestowed.'

In a follow up video posted by @mackynile, she explained that she posted the video because attendees found the rom-com hunk's presence amusing.

She revealed that McConaughey's daughter and son participated in the Quinceanera court.

Fans went wild in the comments as one wrote, 'Imagine Matthew McConaughey being your [Godfather]'

Margarita Olympia is the daughter of Matthew's brother Rooster; Matthew, Rooster (left) and their mother Kay McCabe seen in 2011

The celebration was described by the TikTok user as 'very beautiful' and said 'Maggie was absolutely stunning, the day was all about her.'

She told viewers that the actor is 'a very sweet guy' and 'super chill'.

When the Uvalde, Texas native is not dancing the night away, he's spending time with his wife and kids as he balances his acting career.

The Oscar winner and his wife Camila Alves, 41 opened up last month about their marriage and family life, detailing their decision to move from Malibu, California to Austin, Texas in 2014.

'We were living a happy life in Malibu,' Alves said. 'We had a beautiful house that we'd built together and put a lot of love and care into.'

Alves said an emergency led the family to go to Austin to help McConaughey's mother Kay McConaughey and his brothers.

She noticed that his mood was much lighter in his native Texas than it had been in California, among other factors as they took the plunge and packed their bags.

The TikTok user said that Matthew was 'very sweet guy' and 'super chill' at the function in Texas; seen in March 2024

When the Uvalde, Texas native is not dancing the night away, he's spending time with his wife and kids as he balances his acting career; Matthew and Camila pictured in March 2024

She and McConaughey famously met at the Hollywood nightclub Hyde in 2006, at the peak of his rom-com fame while she was working as a model; Matthew and Camila pictured in January 2024

The couple shares Levi, 15, Vida, 14, Livingston, 11, all pictured on April 25 in Austin, Texas

After living ten years in Texas, Alves said she can confidently call the Lone Star State her home.

She and McConaughey famously met at the Hollywood nightclub Hyde in 2006, at the peak of his rom-com fame while she was working as a model.

They wed six years later in Austin, Texas over a three-day celebration at their home in front of their closest loved ones and A-list stars like Reese Witherspoon, Kenny Chesney and Woody Harrelson.

The couple shares Levi, 15, Vida, 14, Livingston, 11.
Just after hitting the red carpet at the Unfrosted premiere in Hollywood, Jerry Seinfeld revealed one bit of dream casting he almost pursued: Daniel Day-Lewis.

Seinfeld, 70, appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Tuesday to discuss the film, which is loosely based on the true story of how the Pop Tart was created.

The comedian was asked to clarify a rumor that he had considered casting three-time Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis in the film, who has been retired since 2017.

'I was going to ask Daniel Day-Lewis. I wanted him to play - we have a sugar drug lord who controls all of the world's sugar, his name is El Sucre,' Seinfeld explained.

'I wanted Daniel Day-Lewis to play it like Daniel Plainview from There Will Be Blood. I wanted him to do that, but I never called him,' Seinfeld admitted.

Just after hitting the red carpet at the Unfrosted premiere in Hollywood , Jerry Seinfeld revealed one bit of dream casting he almost pursued: Daniel Day-Lewis

Seinfeld, 70, appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Tuesday to discuss the film, which is loosely based on the true story of how the Pop Tart was created

The comedian was asked to clarify a rumor that he had considered casting three-time Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis in the film, who has been retired since 2017

Kimmel added that Day-Lewis has been retired for several years, though Seinfeld thought this might be the role to coax him out.

'If there's anything to come out of retirement for, it's a Pop Tart movie,' Seinfeld said with a laugh.

Kimmel asked, 'I wonder if he's disappointed,' as Seinfeld added, 'I hope so.'

The El Sucre role would ultimately be played by Felix Solis (The Rookie: Feds, City on Fire).

Seinfeld makes his feature directorial debut with Unfrosted, which he also produces and co-wrote with Spike Feresten, Andy Robin and Barry Marder.

The film is loosely based on the true story of the creation of Pop-Tarts, following the corporate battle between Kellogg's and Post to create the ultimate breakfast pastry.

Seinfeld leads an all-star cast that also includes Christian Slater, Hugh Grant, Amy Schumer, Cedric the Entertainer, Melissa McCarthy, James Marsden, Peter Dinklage and Jon Hamm.

Kimmel added that Day-Lewis has been retired for several years, though Seinfeld thought this might be the role to coax him out

'If there's anything to come out of retirement for, it's a Pop Tart movie,' Seinfeld said with a laugh

Kimmel asked, 'I wonder if he's disappointed,' as Seinfeld added, 'I hope so'

Also during his interview with Kimmel, Seinfeld confirmed there is an extended cut of the now-infamous 'bearded lady' scene from the Curb Your Enthusiasm finale.

'I even went back and re-watched it to make sure that I was seeing what I thought I saw. It had nothing to do with the show at all,' Jimmy said.

'Nothing,' Jerry confirmed of the scene in which Larry asks him to consider a hypothetical situation about dating a gorgeous bearded lady who is about to shave.

'But what you saw there is how Larry and I wrote comedy. Because I didn't know what he was going to say. They had that set up. He's going to suggest a strange idea to you. And you just respond,' Jerry said.
Abbie Cornish is slated to play late celebrity Anna Nicole Smith in a forthcoming motion picture titled Trust Me, I'm a Doctor.

The Lochinvar, Australia native, 41, is joined in the cast of the movie by The Terminator actress Linda Hamilton, 67, and Harold & Kumar star Kal Penn, 47, Deadline reported on Wednesday.

The film is the latest from director-writer Thane Economou, and will be placed on the market at the Cannes Film Festival later this month.

'Playing Anna Nicole Smith is such a dream,' Cornish told the outlet in a statement. 'I am honored to have been chosen by our amazing producers and talented writer/director, Thane Economou.

'And I am so excited to work with our incredible cast and crew. I am blessed to stand alongside the charismatic and gifted Kal Penn and tell the tale of this moment in history.'

Abbie Cornish, 41, is slated to play late celebrity Anna Nicole Smith in a forthcoming motion picture titled Trust Me, I'm a Doctor. Pictured in LA earlier this year

Cornish said she was 'truly grateful' for the opportunity to portray Smith, who died in 2007 at the age of 39 following an accidental drug overdose.

'There are so many layers and chapters to Anna's life story that I look forward to embodying on screen with all of my heart and soul,' said the actress, who's also been seen in movies such as Bright Star, Limitless and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

The motion picture is based on Dr. Sandeep Kapoor's 2017 memoir Trust Me, I'm A Doctor: My Life Before, During and After Anna Nicole Smith, according to the outlet.

The film follows as the doctor's 'life is turned upside down when he is implicated in the death of his former patient,' the outlet reported, as he 'forced into the spotlight through the court of public opinion.'

In an Instagram post pointing to the article, Cornish said she was 'beyond excited to announce' her role in the feature film.

Penn told Deadline in a statement that the film will illuminate the interesting story of Dr. Kapoor, who he plays in the movie.

'We all know the tragic story of the iconic Anna Nicole Smith,' Penn said, 'but very few of us - myself included - knew much about her young doctor: flamboyant, old school, blurring the lines between patient and acquaintance, and ultimately arrested and charged following her death.

'It's a wild story brought to life in an especially tremendous script.'

In an Instagram post, Cornish said she was 'beyond excited to announce' her role in the movie

The cast's Al Sapienza posted a pic to Instagram from a table read for the film last month

The Terminator actress Linda Hamilton, 67, and Harold & Kumar star Kal Penn, 47, co-star in the motion picture with Cornish

The motion picture is based on Dr. Sandeep Kapoor's 2017 memoir Trust Me, I'm A Doctor.: My Life Before, During and After Anna Nicole Smith. Pictured in 2007 in LA

Hamilton, best known for her iconic character Sarah Connor from The Terminator films, portrays Kapoor's lawyer Ellyn Garafalo in the movie. Pictured in 1991

Hamilton, best known for her iconic character Sarah Connor from The Terminator films, portrays Kapoor's lawyer Ellyn Garafalo in the movie.

The cast is rounded out by David Julian Hirsh, Eric Woolfe, Charlotte Ubben, Dhirendra and Al Sapienza.

Sapienza, best known for playing short-lived enforcer Mikey Palmice on The Sopranos, posted a pic to Instagram from a table read for the film last month.

He wrote: '1st Table Read for my new project with Kal Penn, Abbie Cornish and Linda Hamilton. Thank you Stephanie Gorin. I friggin love show biz!!!! lol.'
Married At First Sight's Jules Robinson is set to make a return to reality television.

Daily Mail Australia can reveal that the 42-year-old will be fronting a new series which will see her and husband Cameron Merchant transform people for the better.

Tristan Black, who appeared on the latest series of the Channel Nine dating show, teased his collaboration with Jules on Wednesday night by sharing an Instagram photo of the pair posing together.

'What a week styled by the one and only Jules Home Reno's with the Queen and king Steph & G Couple of cheeky photos in between,' Tristan captioned the post.

The upcoming series, which is yet to be picked up by a major network, will also feature The Block winners Steph and Gian Ottavio.

Married At First Sight's Jules Robinson is set to make a return to reality television as she fronts new renovation and transformation series. Pictured alongside Tristan Black

An insider has let slip the series will see Tristan, who was paired with Cassandra Allen on MAFS this year, transform his bedroom, all while working on his own body transformation.

'The whole nation want Tristan to be happy and love himself,' Jules teased. 'He is our first male contestant. It's feel good and heartwarming to see the transformation.'

Daily Mail Australia understands that the series is a 'wholistic makeover show, renovating people from the inside out to start a new phase in their lives'.

Daily Mail Australia can reveal the 42-year-old will be fronting a new series which will see her and husband Cameron Merchant (right) transform people for the better

'The internal dialogue, the external transformation to the change out in the environment. If you're looking for changes in your life, it all starts here in Renovate Me Please, from the inside out!'

It comes after Jules and Cameron walked away with a cool $150,000 after offloading their Gold Coast investment pad.

The glamour couple, who met on the Channel Nine show in 2018, purchased the cosy two-bedroom, two-bathroom townhouse in Mermaid Beach for $700,000 three years ago.

The upcoming series, which is yet to be picked up by a major network, will also star The Block winners Steph and Gian Ottavio (both pictured with Tristan)

Located just minutes away from Nobby's Beach, the residence is situated inside the Diamond Sands residential complex.

The couple, did an upgrade on the efficient beach cottage, which was quickly listed as a rental after the recent sale for $690-a-week.

According to the realestate.com, the home has now been leased after it was secured with a bond of $2760.

The glamour couple, who met on the Channel Nine show in 2018, purchased the cosy two-bedroom, two-bathroom townhouse in Mermaid Beach for $700,000 three years ago

Located just minutes away from Nobby's Beach, the residence is situated inside the Diamond Sands residential complex

Features of the apartment include a spacious open-plan design and a large patio off the main living area.

Meanwhile, the large main bedroom offers a walk-in wardrobe, and there's also a modern kitchen with plenty of storage space.

Built on what was once a caravan park, the Diamond Sands residential site was created in 1994 and hosts villas, townhouses and units.

Built on what was once a caravan park, the Diamond Sands residential site was created in 1994 and hosts villas, townhouses and units
Tommy Little broke down live on-air Wednesday morning as he read the plea his radio co-host Carrie Bickmore made to end violence against women.

The comedian, 39, was asked by his colleague, 43, to read out the letter she wrote to the Australian government about the national crisis, and it brought him to tears.

In an emotional moment, Carrie expressed hope that having a man read her words would help other men to listen, as Tommy vowed to 'happily stand by her side'.

After Carrie urged him and other men around the country to 'stand up, speak up and speak loudly', Tommy attempted to choke back tears as he read the letter out loud.

It began by referencing 'the crisis that our country is in' which has seen one woman be allegedly murdered by a man every four days so far this year.

Tommy Little, 39, (right) broke down live on-air Wednesday morning as he read the plea his radio co-host Carrie Bickmore, 43, (left) made to end violence against women

Tommy continued to read: 'No, not all men are monsters, but we live in fear of the ones that are.

'We change our behaviour to account for the bad ones, not the good ones because the risk is too high for us not to.

'To the good men out there, do something more. Just not killing us is not enough. Do something.'

Carrie's letter then said if men were killed at a similar rate by terrorists or cyclists were run down, 'laws would be drawn up overnight' to prevent it happening again.

In an emotional moment, Carrie expressed hope that having a man read her words would help other men to listen, as Tommy vowed to 'happily stand by her side'

Tommy became emotional as he read: 'What we are asking for is not too much. We are simply asking to have the same basic right as you. The right to live, to be safe.'

He added: 'We shouldn't have to march to draw attention to his issue. You [Prime Minister Anthony Albanese] know what the issue is. Please do something more.'

The heartbreaking letter continued, with Tommy breaking down when it noted: 'This is not a matter of opinion... Every four days a woman in Australia is violently killed.'

'If you think we are being dramatic, think again... We are scared and we are asking, pleading for help. Do something and stop killing us.'

Carrie's letter began by referencing 'the crisis that our country is in' which has seen one woman be murdered every four days so far this year, sparking protests across the country

Carrie is not the only public figure in Australia to demand an end to gendered violence, as Sunrise host Natalie Barr also put her voice to the cause this week.

Their pleas follow the protests which saw tens of thousands of Australians march in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Canberra over the weekend.

The rallies were sparked by growing outrage over a spate of gendered killings with approximately 28 women murdered this year - or one every four days.

Among the victims were five women who lost their lives after knifeman Joel Cauchi, 40, carried out his stabbing rampage at Westfield Bondi Junction on April 13.

Barr said the protests and discourse around gender-based violence were overly represented by women and needed the input from men.
More than 30 years after the original film classic hit theaters, Death Becomes Her has become a new musical.

The original movie debuted in 1992, starring Meryl Streep as star actress Madeline Ashton, who discovers a magic potion that promises eternal youth.

While Ashton was a Broadway musical star in the film, the story has become its own musical, starring Megan Hilty as Madeline Ashton and Jennifer Simard as her rival Helen Sharp.

The musical opened at the Cadillac Palace Theatre on Tuesday with the world premiere, with the first images surfacing of Hilty and Simard.

The production even took to Instagram on Tuesday night, sharing a video of the ensemble and the main cast taking their first bows.

More than 30 years after the original film classic hit theaters, Death Becomes Her has become a new musical.

The original movie debuted in 1992, starring Meryl Streep as star actress Madeline Ashton, who discovers a magic potion that promises eternal youth

The musical opened at the Cadillac Palace Theatre on Tuesday with the world premiere, with the first images surfacing of Hilty and Simard

Hilty was wearing a stunning royal blue gown with ruffled sleeves as she took the hand of her co-star Simard.

Simard was clad in a low-cut maroon gown with elegant earrings and her red hair done up as the dress flowed behind her.

Michelle Williams (Viola Van Horn) was also seen in a unique black gown as she came out to take her bow as did Christopher Sieber (Ernest Menville).

They all parted the way for Hilty and Simard, who walked on stage hand-in-hand to take their bows to raucous applause before the full cast bow.

The original movie starred Streep and Hawn alongside Bruce Willis as Ernest Menville and Isabella Rossellini as Lisle Von Rhuman.

The original movie was also renowned for its advances in visual effects, showing Meryl Streep turning her head completely backwards and a huge hole in Goldie Hawn's stomach.

The musical follows Madeline Ashton, 'the most beautiful actress (just ask her) ever to grace the stage and screen,' and her 'frenemy' Helen Sharp, a, 'long-suffering author (just ask her) who lives in her shadow,' until Madeline steals Helen's fiance.

'As Helen plots revenge and Madeline clings to her rapidly fading star, their world is suddenly turned upside down by Viola Van Horn, a mysterious woman with a secret thats to die for,' the description reads.

Hilty was wearing a stunning royal blue gown with ruffled sleeves as she took the hand of her co-star Simard

Simard was clad in a low-cut maroon gown with elegant earrings and her red hair done up as the dress flowed behind her

Michelle Williams (Viola Van Horn) was also seen in a unique black gown as she came out to take her bow

Christopher Sieber (Ernest Menville) also took a bow after the premiere

'After one sip of Violas magical potion, Madeline and Helen begin a new era of life (and death) with their youth and beauty restored and a grudge to last eternity,' the description concludes.

The ensemble includes Marija Abney, Sarita Colon, Kaleigh Cronin, Natalie Charle Ellis, Gabriella Enriquez, Taurean Everett, Michael Graceffa, Neil Haskell, Kolton Krouse, Josh Lamon, Sarah Meahl, Diana Vaden, Sir Brock Warren, Bud Weber, Ryan Worsing and Warren Yang.

The musical features a book from Marco Pennette with an original score by Julia Mattison and Noel Carey.

Christopher Gattelli directs the musical, which runs through June 2 at the Cadillac Palace Theater in Chicago, ahead of a possible Broadway run in the future.
Lauren Phillips did not hold back when slamming her former employer KIIS FM for gatecrashing an event she was hosting with her radio co-star Jase Hawkins.

The new Nova FM presenters was hosting a cash giveaway on Thursday morning at a Melbourne park, when a KIIS FM Kyle and Jackie O Show branded bus showed up.

In November, Lauren, 42, and Jase were sacked from KIIS to make way for The Kyle and Jackie O Show's Melbourne launch on Monday.

An upset Lauren revealed on her breakfast show that she was not happy seeing a KIIS FM bus attempt to make its way into the Nova event.

'It's pretty poor form to turn up to our event. They fired us, we haven't done anything wrong to them. They got rid of us, told us we weren't good enough,' Lauren began.

Lauren Phillips did not hold back when slamming her former employer KIIS FM for gatecrashing an event she was hosting with her radio co-star Jase Hawkins. Both pictured

'And now they're turning up to where we're standing there with the people that love our show and listen to it. And trying to sabotage, it's a bit tasteless.'

Jase then added the KIIS FM bus was definitely 'not invited' to the event and he was shocked to see it there.

'Some people weren't invited, I just want to mention the bus. There's a giant Kyle and Jackie O bus going around Melbourne at the moment,' he said.

The new Nova FM presenters was hosting a cash giveaway on Thursday morning at a Melbourne park, when a KIIS FM Kyle and Jackie O Show branded bus showed up. Pictured: an advertisement for the Kyle and Jackie O Show on a Sydney bus

Fortunately, apart from the KIIS bus' brief appearance the event appeared to go well, with Jase and Lauren gifting prize giveaways to their die-hard fans.

Lauren appears to still be visibly upset that she and Jase's contracts with KIIS FM were ended to make way for The Kyle and Jackie O Show.

On Monday, Lauren shared a screenshot to Instagram capturing her social media notification feed, which showed KIIS FM recently 'liked' a video she posted.

She did not hold back when revealing what she thought about her former employer's actions: 'This feels like an ex-boyfriend sliding into the DM's.'

Jase and Lauren were picked up by Nova in February to go head-to-head against their former stablemates Kyle and Jackie in the Melbourne radio market.
Nicki Minaj surprised her audience by bringing Young Money partner and frequent collaborator, Drake, onstage during her Pink Friday 2 World Tour stop at Scotiabank Arena in his Toronto hometown on Tuesday night.

The Canadian 37-year-old gave the Trinidad-born, New York-raised 41-year-old a long kiss on the cheek after they debuted the live version of their 2023 song, Needle, which peaked at No. 34 on the Billboard Hot 100.

'It's been too long,' Drake (born Aubrey Graham) said after also kissing Nicki's hand.

Minaj (born Onika Maraj) shouted at the 19,800 fans packed into the arena: 'Make some noise for the king of Toronto! Make some noise for this icon, this legend!'

And when the 12-time Grammy nominee needed to do a costume change, she allowed the five-time Grammy winner to take over the stage solo and perform his 2023 track Rich Baby Daddy.

Nicki Minaj (L) surprised her audience by bringing Young Money partner and frequent collaborator, Drake (R), onstage during her Pink Friday 2 World Tour stop at Scotiabank Arena in his Toronto hometown on Tuesday night

The powerful hip-hop stars have recorded a total 10 songs together since 2010, including last year's For All the Barbz and the 2021 track Papi's Home.

'Toronto night two was a magical moment in time that I'll never forget,' Nicki - who boasts 353M social media followers - gushed on Wednesday.

'I really freaking love you guys! Imagine having a crowd with incredible energy, then in walks the superstar of all superstars. The genius we call Drake. Thank you @champagnepapi - nostalgic isn't even the word. Wow. We're really doing everything we used to talk about, dream about, worry about... Love for life!'

Minaj added on Twitter: 'He made me so happy tonight by coming out. Them screams be real different when the boy touch down chi.'

Before leaving the stage, Drake teased a potential follow-up to his diss tracks Push Ups and Taylor Made (Freestyle) aimed at rap rival Kendrick Lamar, who dropped his six-minute diss track titled Euphoria (Drake is an executive producer on the Max series) hours earlier.

'I love you. You know what time it is  you know what I have to do,' the OVO Sound co-founder said ominously.

The 36-year-old Pulitzer Prize-winning musician began Euphoria saying: 'I hate the way that you walk, the way that you talk, I hate the way that you dress / I hate the way that you sneak diss.'

In response, Drake dragged Kendrick by Instastorying a clip of Julia Stiles from the 1999 rom-com 10 Things I Hate About You reading a similar poem: 'I hate the way you talk to me and the way you cut your hair / I hate the way you drive my car I hate it when you stare.'

Drake x Nicki Minaj  pic.twitter.com/55bAqm8S6S  Banjee Barbie  (@BoujeeNBanjee) May 1, 2024

The Canadian 37-year-old gave the Trinidad-born, New York-raised 41-year-old a long kiss on the cheek after they debuted the live version of their 2023 song, Needle, which peaked at No. 34 on the Billboard Hot 100

Drake (born Aubrey Graham) said: 'It's been too long'

Minaj (born Onika Maraj) shouted at the 19,800 fans packed into the arena: 'Make some noise for the king of Toronto! Make some noise for this icon, this legend!'

And when the 12-time Grammy nominee needed to do a costume change, she allowed the five-time Grammy winner to take over the stage solo and perform his 2023 track Rich Baby Daddy

The powerful hip-hop stars have recorded a total 10 songs together since 2010, including last year's For All the Barbz and the 2021 track Papi's Home (pictured in 2009)

Nicki gushed on Wednesday: 'Imagine having a crowd with incredible energy, then in walks the superstar of all superstars. The genius we call Drake. Thank you @champagnepapi - nostalgic isn't even the word. Wow. We're really doing everything we used to talk about, dream about, worry about... Love for life!'

Minaj added on Twitter: 'He made me so happy tonight by coming out. Them screams be real different when the boy touch down chi'

Before leaving the stage, Drake teased a potential follow-up to his diss tracks Push Ups and Taylor Made (Freestyle) aimed at rap rival Kendrick Lamar (R, pictured in 2012), who dropped his six-minute diss track titled Euphoria hours earlier: 'You know what I have to do'

The Titles Ruin Everything poet and Lamar (born Duckworth) used to tour together and record songs together, but their on/off feud dating back to 2013 was rekindled around Halloween.

Meanwhile, the Big Difference rapper got some good news last month when a judge granted a request from her husband of four years - Kenneth Petty - to travel internationally with her for her Pink Friday 2 World Tour, according to TMZ.

The 46-year-old 'music industry professional' - who's serving three years probation for failing to register as a sex offender in California - will serve primary caregiver duties for their three-year-old son nicknamed 'Papa Bear' while Nicki is working.

Minaj was only 16 when she first met Kenneth, who served a combined 11 years in prison for raping a 16-year-old girl in 1995 and shooting a man to death in 2002.

After tonight's show in Brooklyn, the FTCU rapper - who gets 50.5M monthly listeners on Spotify - is next scheduled to bring her 59-date Pink Friday 2 World Tour to the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans on May 8.
Jules Robinson was every inch the glowing mother to be as she flaunted her growing baby bump alongside Jana Hocking in Sydney on Wednesday evening.

The Married At First Sight star, 41, looked extravagant as she stepped out at a Francesca Jewellery event in a stunning black and white dress, promoting a pop-up store which opened in Paddington on Thursday and closes on Sunday.

The frock featured an eye-catching zebra print which was perfectly complemented by a nude heel and black nail polish.

Accentuating her heavily pregnant belly with a gold belt, Jules carried a black designer bag in hand as she posed with Daily Mail Australia columnist Jana.

The writer, 39, opted for an all-blue look during the occasion, tying off a button-up over a satin dress which tumbled to her ankles.

Jules Robinson, 41, (left) was every inch the glowing mother to be as she flaunted her growing baby bump alongside Jana Hocking, 39, (right) in Sydney on Wednesday evening

Jana accessorised her chic ensemble with a pair of black boots with a matching designer handbag from Saint Laurent.

She went on to accentuate her natural beauty with a minimal makeup look, opting for a mauve lipstick to boot.

The columnist then finished off her look by softly curling her blonde tresses.

The Married At First Sight star looked extravagant as she stepped out at a Francesca Jewellery event in a stunning black and white dress, promoting a pop-launch happening in Paddington from Saturday to Sunday

The frock featured an eye-catching zebra print which was perfectly complemented by a nude heel and black nail polish

Accentuating her heavily pregnant belly with a gold belt, Jules carried a black designer bag in hand as she posed with Daily Mail Australia columnist Jana (right)

The writer opted for an all-blue look during the occasion, tying off a button-up over a satin dress which tumbled to her ankles

Elsewhere, Fiona Falkiner was all smiles as she showed up toting a flashy Saint Laurent handbag across her torso.

The Biggest Loser Australia host, 41, looked very chic in a black pant suit with a casual blue and white striped shirt beneath it.

Wearing a pair of black flats and a simple gold necklace, Fiona then straightened her blonde locks and let them tumble to her shoulders.

Elsewhere, Fiona Falkiner, 41, (pictured) was all smiles as she showed up toting a flashy Saint Laurent handbag across her torso

The Biggest Loser Australia host looked very chic in a black pant suit with a casual blue and white striped shirt beneath it

Married At First Sight star Cathy Evans, 30, also made an appearance, wearing grey slacks over a black shirt with a leather trench coat.

Fellow MAFS star Selina Chhaur, 34, wasn't shy to show plenty of skin in a black and white two-piece look with a mini skirt and high socks.

Love Island stars Claudia Bonifazio and Phoebe Spiller showed up in casual looks with Claudia, 25, wearing an all-black look with a bright red handbag.

Phoebe, 24, rocked a black jean jacket and beige slacks over a white T-shirt for a chic street-wear look.

Married At First Sight star Cathy Evans, 30, (pictured) also made an appearance, wearing grey slacks over a black shirt with a leather trench coat

Fellow MAFS star Selina Chhaur, 34, (pictured) wasn't shy to show plenty of skin in a black and white two-piece look with a mini skirt and high socks

Love Island stars Claudia Bonifazio, 25, (pictured) and Phoebe Spiller, 24, showed up in casual looks with Claudia wearing an all-black look with a bright red handbag

Phoebe (pictured) rocked a black jean jacket and beige slacks over a white T-shirt for a chic street-wear look
Sylvester Stallone celebrated May Day by reminiscing about one of his first breakthrough roles, 1974's The Lords of Flatbush.

The 77-year-old actor - who recently announced a tell-all memoir - took to Instagram on Wednesday, the 50th anniversary of the film, which was released on May 1, 1974.

He shared three snaps from the film, which helped spawn revitalized interested in 1950s 'greaser' culture, alongside co-stars Paul Mace, Henry Winkler and Perry King.

'Reflecting on 50 incredible years since The Lords of Flatbush took to the big screen,' Stallone began in his caption.

'Crafting this film was more than just a jobit was a journey of friendship, growth, and passion,' he added.

Sylvester Stallone celebrated May Day by reminiscing about one of his first breakthrough roles, 1974's The Lords of Flatbush

The 77-year-old actor - who recently announced a tell-all memoir - took to Instagram on Wednesday, the 50th anniversary of the film, which was released on May 1, 1974

He shared three snaps from the film, which helped spawn revitalized interested in 1950s 'greaser' culture, alongside co-stars Paul Mace, Henry Winkler and Perry King

'Im grateful for the friendships forged and the timeless experiences shared. Heres to half a century of cherished moments and lifelong bonds,' he concluded.

The Lords of Flatbush is set in 1958, following four lower-middle-class teenagers who have dubbed themselves the title group.

Stallone played Stanley Rosiello, with Perry King playing Chico Tyrell, Henry Winkler playing Butchey Weinstein and Mace playing Wimpy Murgalo.

The fearsome foursome spend their days getting into trouble in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, though the coming-of-age story shows how they eventually mature.

Stallone was said to have been at a low point in his acting career and was considering giving up entirely, after failing to land even an extra role on The Godfather.

An agent saw Stallone's acting in a play, and thought he would be a great fit for the Stanley Rosiello character.

The production took place over a two-year stretch between 1972 to 1974, with Winkler stating when he landed the role of Arthur Fonzarelli in Happy Days, he based that character on Stallone's Stanley Rosiello.

Interestingly enough, another future star was originally cast - Richard Gere - who was initially set to play Chico, though he ultimately clashed with Stallone.

'Im grateful for the friendships forged and the timeless experiences shared. Heres to half a century of cherished moments and lifelong bonds,' he concluded

The Lords of Flatbush is set in 1958, following four lower-middle-class teenagers who have dubbed themselves the title group

Interestingly enough, another future star was originally cast - Richard Gere - who was initially set to play Chico, though he ultimately clashed with Stallone

'One day, during an improv, he grabbed me (we were simulating a fight scene) and got a little carried away. I told him in a gentle fashion to lighten up, but he was completely in character and impossible to deal with,' Stallone said

'We never hit it off. He would strut around in his oversized motorcycle jacket like he was the baddest knight at the round table,' Stallone said in a 2006 interview.

'One day, during an improv, he grabbed me (we were simulating a fight scene) and got a little carried away. I told him in a gentle fashion to lighten up, but he was completely in character and impossible to deal with,' Stallone said.

'Then we were rehearsing at Coney Island and it was lunchtime, so we decided to take a break, and the only place that was warm was in the backseat of a Toyota,' he continued.

'I was eating a hotdog and he climbs in with a half a chicken covered in mustard with grease nearly dripping out of the aluminum wrapper. I said, "That thing is going to drip all over the place,"' Stallone added.

'He said, "Don't worry about it." I said, "If it gets on my pants you're gonna know about it." He proceeds to bite into the chicken and a small, greasy river of mustard lands on my thigh,' Stallone explained.

'I elbowed him in the side of the head and basically pushed him out of the car. The director had to make a choice: one of us had to go, one of us had to stay. Richard was given his walking papers and to this day seriously dislikes me,' he concluded.
Stella Maxwell put on a chic display as she attended Montblanc's 100-year celebration of its Meisterstuck pen on Wednesday in Los Angeles.

The 33-year-old Belgian supermodel  who also attended a Montblanc event last September  turned heads in a sleek black look.

Maxwell wowed in a black gown with a modest train and asymmetric neckline.

She topped it with a black leather blazer that was stylishly draped over her shoulders.

The fashionista was also present at the Daily Front Row Awards earlier this week.

Stella Maxwell put on a chic display as she attended Montblanc's 100-year celebration of its Meisterstuck pen on Wednesday in Los Angeles

The 33-year-old Belgian supermodel  who also attended a Montblanc event last September  turned heads in a sleek black look

Her long blonde locks were slicked back into a partless style as they flowed down her back in a slightly tousled straight texture

The former Victoria's Secret Angel carried an understated black leather clutch.

Her long blonde locks were slicked back into a partless style as they flowed down her back in a slightly tousled straight texture.

She skipped flashy earrings in favor of tiny ones, keeping her look sophisticated and minimal.

The stunner looked typically gorgeous in a soft face of makeup that highlighted her delicate features.

A warm palette of pink-toned makeup was used to flush her cheeks.

And a coordinating matte shade was coated onto her pout to complete the look.

She posed for photos on the event's golden yellow carpet, showing off her statuesque figure.

Stella, who boasts 9.2 million Instagram followers, flaunted a glossy onyx manicure.

Stella topped her dress with a black leather blazer that was stylishly draped over her shoulders

The Belgium beauty posed with Montblanc's famous pen

Maxwell also wore black to the annual Daily Front Row Awards on Sunday evening, where her friend and fellow model Elsa Hosk was honored.

She looked amazing in a plunging halter design that bared her chest and wrapped around her neck.

Taking to Instagram after the event, she shared outtakes with her nearly 10 million fans.

She wrote in the caption: '@hoskelsa major night honoring your achievements as an entrepreneur @helsastudio love you!!!'
Influencer Sarah's Day is expecting her third child with husband Kurt Tilse.

The 31-year-old YouTuber, whose real name is Sarah Stevenson, took to social media on Thursday to share the exciting news with her 1.2million followers.

'We can't wait to meet you gorgeous baby,' she wrote in her Instagram caption, before adding that the moment she found out she was pregnant had been uploaded to her YouTube account.

Sharing another Instagram post, the blonde Sydney-based vlogger revealed the baby will be due in October.

In the nine-minute YouTube clip, Sarah went through several negative pregnancy tests until she received a positive reading on a digital stick.

Influencer Sarah's Day is expecting her third child with husband Kurt Tilse. Both pictured

'My heart is beating so fast,' she said after the good news. 'We've always prayed for, dreamed of having three kids.'

Sarah currently shares two kids with her husband Kurt - sons Fox Ocean, five, and Malakai Koa, two - and has spoken openly in the past about her hormonal problems and how difficult it's been for her to conceive.

In May 2021, Sarah and Kurt tied the knot in an intimate ceremony and their son walked down the aisle as a page boy.

The lifestyle and fitness vlogger has gained a loyal following due to her handy tips and tricks on fitness, health and wellbeing.

The 31-year-old YouTuber, whose real name is Sarah Stevenson, took to social media on Thursday to share the exciting news with her 1.2million followers

The blonde Sydney-based vlogger revealed the baby will be due in October

But she has also received a wave of controversy in recent months, coming under fire for her bizarre antics.

Earlier this year, Sarah shared a video of herself eating an entire three-course dinner from a local Italian restaurant in the confinements of her Range Rover Sport, which ranges from $143,600 to $197,700.

In the video, Sarah chowed down on a garlic sourdough pizza, lamb meatballs were with cheese and a rocket salad.

She also recently unleashed on her own fans for correcting the way she pronounces a well known designer brand.

The lifestyle and fitness vlogger has gained a loyal following due to her handy tips and tricks on fitness, health and wellbeing

Sarah currently shares two kids with her husband Kurt - sons Fox Ocean, five, and Malakai Koa, two - and has spoken openly in the past about her hormonal problems and how difficult it's been for her to conceive

Taking to Instagram Stories to show off her outfit before heading out for dinner with a friend, the mother-of-three posed holding two handbags by Spanish luxury fashion house Loewe, pronouncing the brand 'Low-ee'.

Fashion-savvy fans immediately flooded Sarah's inbox with messages informing her that the correct pronunciation is actually 'Lo-weh-vay'.

This clearly struck a nerve for Sarah, who returned to Instagram Stories with a bizarre rant hitting back at her critics.

'Literally shut up, shut up! Ok?' the blonde raged.

She went on to condemn her followers for correcting her in an 'unkind' way.

Earlier this year, Sarah unleashed on her own fans for correcting the way she pronounces a well known designer brand

'First of all, yes, I did. I said Low-ee. Second of all, I don't appreciate the sass, OK?' she ranted.

'There is a loving and kind way to correct somebody. You will learn that when you're a mother and you try raising children.'

Sarah insisted it wasn't her fault she pronounce Loewe incorrectly as no one had corrected her in the past, while claiming that she still doesn't know how to pronounce brands like Moet, Louis Vuitton and Jacquemus.

She also noted that she 'isn't the kind of person who is going to Google' how to pronounce a name.

'Like that's just not in my DNA. I just would never do that. Like, I just read something and I just, like, call it what it is... I'm not an over thinker. I'm like an under thinker in that way,' she explained.
Kim Kardashian certainly knows her best angles as she posted another flawless selfie on Wednesday.

The stunning reality star, 43  who is producing a new show with Emma Roberts called Calabasas  shared a gorgeous snap of herself via Instagram with a simple yellow heart as the caption.

Puckering up her perfectly painted lips, the makeup mogul wore her new blonde locks pinned back, allowing them to gently cascade over her shoulders.

She seemed to be in the midst of an on-set wardrobe change, with a rack of clothes visible behind her, along with a production assistant.

The sensational social media shares comes after Kim's fashion line SKIMS revealed she wears a size small bra and a size XS onesie this week.

Kim Kardashian certainly knows her best angles as she posted another flawless selfie on Wednesday

The bra size reveal follows an outing LA on Sunday where she looked as if she had taken a page from the stylebook of her ex-husband Kanye West 's current wife Bianca Censori

The sensational social media shares comes after Kim's fashion line SKIMS revealed she wears a size small bra and a size XS onesie this week

In a western-themed photo shoot for the brand, Kim posed in a white bra and matching shorts with a floral print, as she donned a cowboy hat.

The company tagged the snaps: '@KimKardashian wears the Cotton Rib Plunge Bralette, size S, and Boxer, size XS, in Marigold Rosebud Print.'

The bra size reveal follows an outing LA on Sunday where she looked as if she had taken a page from the stylebook of her ex-husband Kanye West's current wife Bianca Censori.

Kim showcased her style in a sleek black ensemble by Balenciaga, reminiscent of an outfit worn by Bianca nearly a year ago in June 2023, right down to her platinum hair.

Debuting her striking ice-blonde locks at the Home Boy Industries' Lo Maximo Awards last Saturday, Kim turned heads with a daring display of sideboob and posterior in the eye-catching ensemble.

The outing comes after Kim made a trip to Washington, DC, where she engaged in discussions with Vice President Kamala Harris on April 25 regarding criminal justice reform.

President Joe Biden has recently granted clemency to 16 individuals incarcerated for nonviolent drug offenses, with four of them present during the meeting.

In recognition of April as Second Chance Month, the Biden Administration expressed gratitude to Kardashian for her advocacy efforts, acknowledging her impactful use of her platform to raise awareness about and advocate for second chances.

'I'm so honored to be here to continue this fight, to learn more every day, every visit, every administration,' Kim said. 'I'm just here to help and spread the word.'

In a western-themed photo shoot for the brand, Kim posed in a bodysuit, as she donned a cowboy hat.

Kim debuted her striking ice-blonde locks at the Home Boy Industries' Lo Maximo Awards last Saturday

Back in 2018, Kim had a meeting with former President Donald Trump to advocate for a commuted sentence for Alice Marie Johnson, who had been imprisoned for 21 years due to a nonviolent drug offense.

'Every time I've gone and visited a prison, I've met some of the smartest individuals with the brightest ideas,' she said at the time. 'And to see the changes that are happening to make their reentry easier, I think, is going to be life changing and give so many people hope.'

Meanwhile, Kim is venturing into the television industry, teaming up with Emma and Pretty Little Liars creator I. Marlene King as producers for the upcoming Netflix series Calabasas.

She's also involved in an untitled thriller project at Amazon and a legal drama by Ryan Murphy, where she'll portray a character based on her own divorce attorney, Laura Wasser.
I'm A Celebrity star and self confessed 'non-swimmer' Stephen K Amos stepped out of his comfort zone and tried his hand at surfing on Thursday.

The British comedian, 56, braved the rainy weather and choppy waters as he enjoyed private surfing lessons on the Sunshine Coast.

Dressed in a blue rash shirt and a pair of red board shorts, he practiced his surfing moves on the sand before heading out into the swell.

The 56-year-old was accompanied by a surf instructor who looked on and helped the star catch some waves.

At one point, Stephen could be seen falling sideways as the surfboard slipped from under his feet, propelling him back into the ocean.

Im a Celebrity star and self confessed 'non-swimmer' Stephen K Amos stepped out of his comfort zone and tried his hand at surfing on Thursday

The funnyman previously referred to himself as a 'non-swimmer' in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald in 2015.

Amos said at the time that despite often visiting Australia, he won't even dip his toe into the ocean.

'If I'm panicking about swimming I'm not going to add to that the possibility of having to punch a jellyfish on the nose,' he quipped.

The British comedian, 56, braved the rainy weather and choppy waters as he enjoyed private surfing lessons on the Sunshine Coast

Dressed in a blue rashie and a pair of red board shorts, he practiced his surfing moves on the sand before heading out into the swell

In March while appearing on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! Australia, the English comedian was shown almost drowning in the waterhole near the celebrity camp in South Africa.

While several of his celebrity contestants relaxed in the deeper water beneath the waterfall, Stephen remained on a pontoon in the shallower area.

'He told me on day one when we arrived here that he does not swim, and will not swim,' said co-star Frankie Muniz in a cutaway.

But when Amos decided to pluck up the courage to try the deeper water, he began to struggle.

The 56-year-old was accompanied by a surf instructor who looked on and helped the star catch some waves

At one point, Stephen could be seen falling sideways as the surfboard slipped from under his feet, propelling him back into the ocean

The comedian splashed and attempted to tread water, but in a terrifying moment, his head slipped under water and he was unable to rise for air.

However, iron-woman and surf life saver Candice Warner was quick to render aid, with the help of the other celebrities.

'I literally panicked. However, I couldn't shout anything out,' Stephen later said in his confessional about the incident.

'I was panicking inside, and thankfully, they saw in my eyes the sheer panic, and Candice quickly swam over to me, grabbed me by the arm, and took me safely back to the pontoon,' he added.

The funnyman has previously referred to himself as a 'non-swimmer' in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald in 2015

Amos said at the time that despite often visiting Australia, he won't even dip his toe into the ocean

'If I'm panicking about swimming I'm not going to add to that the possibility of having to punch a jellyfish on the nose,' he quipped
Rock rock icon Alice Cooper stunned fans with a secret midnight performance at a Brisbane pub appropriately named the Alice Bar over the weekend.

The surprise gig came as a spectacular finale to Cooper's headlining spot at the Pandemonium Rocks festival, as he captivated a lucky crowd with a spontaneous set.

The American rocker and his band, known affectionately as Goon Squad, have been touring Australia since early April, playing shows in Melbourne, Sydney, the Gold Coast, and Queensland's Eatons Hill, alongside other legendary acts like Blondie.

Their tour culminated in this intimate Brisbane City bar gig and the appearance came as a shock to patrons.

Taking to Instagram, the 76-year-old rock veteran shared a clip from the night, performing his 1994 hit Lost In America.

Rock rock icon Alice Cooper (pictured) stunned fans with a secret midnight performance at a Brisbane pub appropriately named the Alice Bar over the weekend

He captioned the video, 'Live after party from the amazing @alicebarbris! Australia you ARE worthy! Thank you to @pandemoniumrocks and all the fans who came to see the great shows here in Australia!'

The post was an enthusiastic nod to the electric atmosphere and the receptive Australian audience.

Earlier this month, it was announced that six acts had been scrapped from the festival, including international headliners Placebo and Deep Purple as well as US band Dead Kennedys.

The surprise gig came as a spectacular end to Cooper's headlining spot at the Pandemonium Rocks festival, as he captivated a lucky crowd with a spontaneous set

Their tour culminated in this intimate Brisbane City bar gig and came as a shock to most

The location of several dates have also been changed, while organisers also confirmed that its original multi-stage layout had been condensed into one stage.

General admission tickets have also been slashed from around $285 to $190, while VIP tickets have been reduced from $830 to $650.

Pandemonium Rocks then clarified on social media that, despite the changes, ticketholders could not claim a full refund.

He captioned the video, 'Live after party from the amazing @alicebarbris! Australia you ARE worthy! Thank you to @pandemoniumrocks and all the fans who came to see the great shows here in Australia!'

Instead, they could either receive one complimentary GA ticket per full price ticket purchased, a partial refund of $70 (which is the difference between the initial price and the new ticket price), or an 'exclusive Pandemonium hoodie valued at $100'.

The decision not to provide a full refund option caused outrage among fans, who took to social media at the time to voice their disapproval.

Last month, the festival was hit by fears it would be cancelled after a string of Australian festivals got the axe.

But organisers reassured fans at the time the festival would go ahead with 'some changes', before officially confirming the line-up alterations.
Aussie actor Ryan Kwanten has been keeping a low profile since he portrayed heartthrob sheriff deputy Jason Stackhouse in True Blood from 2008 to 2014.

However, on Wednesday, the Sydney-born actor, 47, was spotted filming his latest movie Primitive War on a jungle set just outside the Gold Coast in Queensland.

The former Home and Away hunk looked almost unrecognisable in the snaps, donning an army camouflage outfit and matching boots.

He looked every inch the action star in the eye-popping photos as he carried a prop machine gun and had a green beret army knife strapped to his waist.

His brunette hair was uncombed and stylishly mussed, adding an air of rugged authenticity to his character.

Aussie actor Ryan Kwanten (pictured) has been keeping a low profile since he portrayed heartthrob sheriff deputy Jason Stackhouse in True Blood from 2008 - 2014. However, the Sydney-born actor, 47, was spotted filming his latest movie Primitive War on Wednesday

With a steely gaze and determined expression, Kwanten seemed to embody the essence of a seasoned warrior navigating the treacherous jungle terrain.

He was later spotted filming a scene with Lucifer star Tricia Helfer, 50, and Revenge actor Nick Wechsler, 45, and the trio looked like seasoned professionals as they navigated the challenging environment.

Primitive War is helmed by Bring Him to Me director Luke Sparke and is an adaptation of Ethan Pettus' popular book series of the same name.

The former Home and Away hunk looked almost unrecognisable in the shots, donning an army camouflage outfit and matching boots

He looked every inch the action star in the eye-popping photos as he carried a prop machine gun and had a green beret army knife strapped to his waist

His brunette hair was uncombed and stylishly mussed, adding an air of rugged authenticity to his character

After starring in the hugely popular HBO series True Blood, Kwanten has dropped off the radar and almost entirely wiped his social media presence.

He was last spotted in public in 2022, when he enjoyed breakfast in the Sydney suburb of Manly with his family and fiancee Ashley Sisino after jetting in from Los Angeles.

The veteran actor had a boom in his career when he moved to LA following his stint on Home and Away, and landed on HBO's hit series True Blood from 2008 to 2014.

With a steely gaze and determined expression, Kwanten seemed to embody the essence of a seasoned warrior navigating the treacherous jungle terrain

He was spotted filming a scene with Lucifer star Tricia Helfer (left), 50, and Revenge actor Nick Wechsler (right), 45, and the trio looked like seasoned professionals as they navigated challenging environment

Primitive War is helmed by Bring Him to Me director Luke Sparke and is an adaptation of Ethan Pettus' popular book series of the same name

However, he is rarely seen on the mainstream big screen nowadays, despite working more than ever in the film industry.

Since True Blood, Ryan has worked in a slew of movies and television series, with his IMDB showing multiple works being released every year.

Recently, he teamed up with Australian director Ivan Sen on Mystery Road and Expired, with the latter featuring Hugo Weaving and Jillian Nguyen.

Despite his apparent non-stop flow of work, Ryan has rarely been spotted in the media or online, choosing to keep much of his work and personal life private.

After starring in the hugely popular HBO series True Blood, Kwanten has dropped off the radar and almost entirely wiped his social media presence

Kwanten was last spotted in public in 2022 , when he enjoyed breakfast in Manly with his family and fiancee Ashley Sisino after jetting in from Los Angeles

The veteran actor had a boom in his career when he moved to LA following his stint on Home and Away, and landed on HBO 's hit series True Blood from 2008 to 2014
Andy Lee and Rebecca Harding have announced that they are engaged after 10 years together.

The comedian, 42, revealed the exciting news on his podcast on Wednesday, before sharing loved-up snaps of Rebecca flashing her ring to Instagram on Thursday.

The couple first met in 2014 at a Melbourne cafe where Rebecca, 33, was working as a waitress, with Andy then slyly giving her his email address on a napkin.

They quickly became loved-up, but things were not always smooth-sailing in their romance, as they briefly split up just two years into their relationship.

The couple went their separate ways as Rebecca - better known as Bec - struggled with the 'immense pressure' dating someone in the public eye.

Andy Lee and Rebecca Harding have announced that they are engaged after 10 years together, sharing the exciting news to Instagram on Thursday

Andy has previously shared details about their six-month break, sharing the unique way he tried to win Rebecca back during the difficult time.

Speaking on Nova's radio show Fitzy & Wippa in 2019, Andy told how he took things into his own hands and would drive past her house every week in a bid to see her.

'On our six-month break, once a week, I drove past your house and your work. Once each per week. Hoping to accidentally bump into you,' Andy divulged.

He was quickly branded a 'creep' by host Fitzy upon his confession, while Bec admitted he wasn't as subtle as he thought as she was well aware of his actions.

'Actually I knew about this people at work saw you at the cafe, and they were like why is Andy going to the cafe next to work?' she said.

The couple first met in 2014 at a Melbourne cafe where Rebecca, 33, was working as a waitress, with Andy then slyly giving her his email address on a napkin

'What a creep!' Fitzy laughed, adding: 'Were there any moments where you did run into Bec and were like, 'Oh, what are you doing here?''

'No!' Andy responded. 'I saw her once. Pretty creepy stuff!'

The couple did later rekindle their romance with Andy joking that he 'held off' telling her about his 'creepy' antics for 'a while' after they got back together.

Andy has also previously reflected on the moment he met Bec while she was working in a cafe, describing it as love at first sight.

'I caught her eye and I was attracted to her,' he revealed on his radio show in 2015. 'Just the way she was treating other people, she had a lovely demeanor.

But things were not always smooth-sailing as they briefly split up two years into their romance when Bec struggled with the 'immense pressure' dating someone in the public eye

'I was trying to chat to her, so I was ordering a lot. I had like an hour and a half breakfast and you know I don't really like that because I like getting in and out in food situations.'

Ever the romantic, he ended up leaving his e-mail address on a napkin for her - and the rest is history.

The couple announced their engagement this week, after 10 years of dating, and Andy dished on some of the intimate details of the epic proposal.

He told how he took Bec to their house - which is being renovated in a $5million project - under the guise of filming videos for social media ahead of the big build.

Speaking on his Hamish and Andy podcast, Andy told how he pretended to get something out of the fireplace before producing a napkin in a nod to how they met.

Andy has previously reflected on the moment he met Bec while she was working in a cafe, describing it as love at first sight

'I stayed on one knee and I gave her another napkin - because when I first met her at the cafe, I wrote on a napkin my details - and I gave her another napkin,' Lee said of the proposal.

Bec said 'yes' to the all important question and the couple took to social media to announce their jovial news on Thursday.

In a sweet post, Bec shared an array of photographs of herself beaming from ear-to-ear as she flashed her engagement ring.

'People keep saying we've rushed into this but we don't care what people say!' she jokingly captioned her post, referring to their long 10-year romance.

Andy and Bec have been hit with engagement and elopement rumours over the years, and have previously denied claims of a secret marriage.

The couple first went public with their relationship at the 2015 Australian Open, making a loved-up appearance at the event (pictured)

The couple got engaged over the weekend, with Andy taking Bec to their house - which is under renovation - under the guise of taking videos, before getting down on one knee

In 2020, eagle-eyed fans were left questioning whether they were engaged when Bec was seen hiding her left hand in snaps from her 30th birthday.

The couple first went public with their relationship at the 2015 Australian Open, making a loved-up appearance at the event.

Before his romance with Bec, Andy was previously in a relationship with Australian model and actress Megan Gale.

The couple, who met when Megan appeared on Andy's radio show, went their separate ways in 2010 after four years together.

'They remain great friends and both think the world of each other,' they said in a statement at the time.

Before his romance with Bec, Andy was previously in a relationship with Australian model and actress Megan Gale but they went their separate ways in 2010 after four years together

Megan later claimed that her career took a knock after the highly-publicised split as she felt 'rejected' by her fans.

'I went from being really loved to being really rejected,' she said of the difficult time in 2019.

Megan believed that the public resented her for debuting her relationship with AFL star Shaun Hampson just months after splitting with Andy.

'That's really horrible, you feel powerless. I saw [my career] suffer,' she admitted.
Andy Serkis and his wife Lorraine Ashbourne dressed to impress as they made a red carpet appearance at the National Theatre Up Next Gala on Wednesday night.

The Hollywood actor, 60, seemed in good spirits as he wrapped an arm around his glamorous actress partner, 63, while posing for photos on the red carpet at the National Theatre.

Andy cut a smart figure in a dapper black tuxedo while his wife looked incredible in an extreme plunging black gown.

The Crown actress turned heads as she went braless under the eye catching netted number which boasted a layered floor length skirt.

Lorraine added a pair of large gold dazzling hoop earrings to the look and wore her blonde hair in an up-do.

Andy Serkis and his wife Lorraine Ashbourne dressed to impress as they made a red carpet appearance at the National Theatre Up Next Gala on Wednesday night

The Hollywood actor, 60, seemed in good spirits as he wrapped an arm around his glamorous actress partner, 63, while posing for photos on the red carpet at the National Theatre

The couple were joined at the gala by Sir Lenny Henry, and his partner Lisa Makin, who have been together since 2012.

Comedian Sir Lenny looked sharp in a satin white shirt which he teamed with a black blazer, while Lisa stunned in a sequinned green blouse.

Award-winning actor Andy and Lorraine attended the UK premiere of Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes at BFI IMAX Waterloo in London last week.

The couple, who tied the knot in 2002, seemed in high spirits as they were joined by their youngest son Louis, 19.

Andy, who played Caesar in the first three films, was a consultant on the new Planet Of The Apes movie.

He looked stylish in a blue jacket which he teamed with a colourful neck scarf while Lorraine rocked a long black coat with which chunky boots.

Louis, who is has followed in his famous parents footsteps as an actor, cut a more casual figure in a black sweatshirt and trousers.

Andy and Lorraine are also parents to daughter Ruby, 26, and son Sonny, 24.

Andy cut a smart figure in a dapper black tuxedo, while his wife looked incredible in an extreme plunging black netted gown

The couple were joined at the gala by Sir Lenny Henry, and his partner Lisa Makin, who have been together since 2012
Dr. Richard Johnson will assume his new duties on Monday, May 6.

Dr. Richard Johnson ORANGEBURG, S.C.  South Carolina State University President Alexander Conyers on Thursday announced the appointment of Dr. Richard Johnson, a senior special agent with the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division (SLED), as the universitys new police chief.

Dr. Johnson brings 35 years of law enforcement and teaching experience to our campus, Conyers said. I have full confidence that he will help make SC State a national leader in campus safety and security measures.

Based on his track record at SLED and at the State Department of Corrections, I know his expertise is precisely what SC State needs in the Campus Police Departments leadership, said Conyers, who has a background in military policing. Dr. Johnsons experience as the SLED community relations agent for the Low Country Region will lend itself to our community policing philosophy at SC State.

When Johnson assumes the role on Monday, May 6, he will be returning to the campus he helped protect early in his career. From 1990-2000, Johnson was a member of the Campus Police force.

Before joining SLED in 2005, Johnson spent five years as a criminal investigator for the South Carolina Department of Corrections, where he started his career in 1989 as a corrections officer. He went on later to teach courses in criminology at SC State, as well as neighboring Claflin University and Virginia Union University, Richmond.

An Orangeburg resident, Dr. Johnson earned his Ph.D. in public safety from Capella University, in Minneapolis, MN, in 2015; his Master of Arts in criminal justice from the University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, in 1998; his Bachelor of Science in criminal justice from Voorhees University, in Denmark, SC, in 1994; and an Associate Arts degree in criminal justice from Denmark Technical College in Denmark, SC, in 1990.
Penelope Cruz took a step back in time to the 1930s as she was spotted on-set for her upcoming movie The Bride on Wednesday.

The Vanilla Sky star, 50, looked incredible in a checked skirt suit with a matching blazer while transforming her look entirely with a bobbed hairdo and short fringe.

She sparked a cigarette and leaned against a police car suited to the decade.

Between poses, the star chatted to superstar director Maggie Gyllenhaal, 46, who stood out boldly against the 1930s set in a very modern khaki jacket and cargos.

Maggie sits at the helm of the project, and has also cast Jessie Buckley, Christian Bale, Annette Benning and her husband, Peter Sarsgaard in the film, which is a remake of James Whale's 1935 classic horror Bride Of Frankenstein.

Penelope Cruz took a step back in time to the 1930s as she was spotted on-set for her upcoming movie The Bride on Wednesday

Between poses, the star chatted to superstar director Maggie Gyllenhaal, 46, who stood out boldly against the 1930s set in a very modern khaki jacket and cargos

Her checked suit comprised a fitted jacket with pockets and a midi skirt while she paired the look with red lace-up heeled brogues

While little is known of the characters in the film, which is sue for release next year, Penelope, who is playing Myrna, looked to be involved in the police.

Her checked suit comprised a fitted jacket with pockets and a midi skirt while she paired the look with red lace-up heeled brogues.

The brunette beauty's hairdo deemed her near-unrecognisable as she shed her usual flowing locks in favour of the choppy bob and short fringe.

A slick of red lipstick coordinated with both her shoes, top and the fine red stripe included in the checked detail of the suit.

It has been reported that the movie will cost in the realms of $80million and Christian has been named as Frankenstein's monster while Jessie will play the Bride.

The tagline for the film reads: 'A lonely Frankenstein 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.'

She flashed a smile as she sat in the car while rocking her unrecognisable look

Maggie clutched a microphone during her animated chat with the star

On Tuesday, her co-stars Christian and Jessie were also seen on-set, where they shared an extremely steamy kiss while in character.

The film marks a reunion for Bale and Gyllenhaal, who starred alongside one another in 2008's Batman film The Dark Knight.

This film tells the story of 1930s Chicago. Frankenstein asks Dr. Euphronius to help create a companion. They give life to a murdered woman as the Bride, sparking romance, police interest, and radical social change.

Ahead of production, Christian opened up about 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, "What's wrong with Bale? What's up with him?"' Bale said.

'I said, "Just let me get through the groundbreaking and then I'll be off to join you,"' Bale said, adding he was starting preparations soon.

'I'll be working with the wonderful Maggie, Jessie and so many talented actors in the cast,' he said.

A slick of red lipstick coordinated with both her shoes, top and the fine red stripe included in the checked detail of the suit

On Tuesday, her co-stars Christian and Jessie were also seen on-set, where they shared an extremely steamy kiss while in character

The Batman actor is portraying as Dr. Frankenstein's Monster in the movie, while his co-star Jessie plays the spooky bride

Her day at work comes after Penelope joined a slew of stars including Irina Shayk and her husband Javier Bardem for a night on the town.

Sharing various snaps from the party to mark her milestone birthday on Sunday, Penelope looked to be having a wild night on the town.

Italian fashion designer Riccardo Tisci took to Instagram to share a stunning snap showing Penelope beaming alongside pals including model Irina.

He simply penned: 'HB @penelopecruzofficial' beneath the photo.

The brunette beauty's hairdo deemed her near-unrecognisable as she shed her usual flowing locks in favour of the choppy bob and short fringe

Penelope's on-set outing comes after she celebrated her 50th birthday with celeb pals
Sir Lenny Henry made a rare appearance with his partner Lisa Makin as they attended the Up Next gala at London's National Theatre on Wednesday.

The comedian, 65, cut a dapper figure in a wine-red crushed velvet blazer as he headed home hand-in-hand with theatre mogul Lisa, also 65.

He paired his sharp ensemble with a crisp white shirt, black tailored trousers and a pair of black shiny shoes.

The British actor began dating Lisa in 2012 after he split from Dawn French, his wife of 25 years, in 2010.

Lisa looked incredible as she wore a green sparkly zip-up jacket, black trousers and some platform block-heel sandals.

Sir Lenny Henry made a rare appearance with his partner Lisa Makin as they attended the Up Next gala at London's National Theatre on Wednesday

The comedian, 65, cut a dapper figure in a wine-red crushed velvet blazer as he headed home hand-in-hand with theatre mogul Lisa, also 65

The pair appeared in high spirits for the evening as they walked the red carpet.

Their outing comes just weeks after Sir Lenny hosted his final Red Nose Day in March 2023 after 39 years.

He starred alongside Davina McCall, Joel Dommett, Paddy McGuinness, Rosie Ramsey, Romesh Ranganathan, Maya Jama and David Tennant.

In a recent interview with The Radio Times, Sir Lenny said that missing his former Comic Relief co-hosts - including ex-wife Dawn - was one reason why he decided to step down from presenting the iconic telethon after 39-years.

The comic, who co-founded the charity alongside Richard Curtis, has fronted the Red Nose Day specials since its inception as a charity in 1985, but confirmed that this month's show will be his last.

Sir Lenny, who was married to Dawn from 1984 to 2010, told Radio Times he 'missed his gang' of fellow comics who co-hosted with him in the 80s including French And Saunders, Billy Connolly and the late Victoria Wood.

He told the publication: 'We were like a little gang. But for a few years I've felt, ''Where's the new gang?''.

He paired his sharp ensemble with a crisp white shirt, black tailored trousers and a pair of black shiny shoes

The British actor began dating Lisa in 2012 after he split from Dawn French, his wife of 25 years, in 2010

Lisa looked incredible as she wore a green sparkly zip-up jacket, black trousers and some platform block-heel sandals (Pictured L-R: Lisa, Lenny, Sir Damon Buffini, Saba Nazar and guest)

The pair appeared in high spirits for the evening as they walked the red carpet

'[Comic Relief] is a baton to be handed on to a new group of people who are going to take on Comic Relief'.

Sir Lenny then tipped his replacement after praising David Tennant who hosted the show in 2019 due to theatre commitments.

Saying: 'I thought, well, actually, [David was] brilliant. And I think there's other people, newer people, who are coming up like Romesh Ranganathan, Alesha Dixon, AJ Odudu.

'There are new people coming up now who can absolutely take the reins'.

However Sir Lenny did admit that while he would not be on screen during the big night he'd continue working for the charity behind the scenes as it's Life President.

In 2010, Dawn and Sir Lenny, who share daughter Billie, divorced on the grounds of his 'unreasonable behaviour'.

There were rumours that Sir Lenny cheated on Dawn in 1999, an allegation he denied.

After 36 years at the helm, Sir Lenny said that he's decided it's time for new names to take the presenter reins, while he continues to support Comic Relief and Red Nose Day on other projects throughout the year.

He said: 'When we first started Comic Relief back in 1985, I never dreamed we'd still be here today. I thought we'd probably do three shows and that would be it, but fast-forward nearly 40 years, and that enthusiasm and determination to step up and help others has never wavered.

'As Life President of Comic Relief, I'm excited to see some new and familiar faces come forward now to present the big night and lead us into the next chapter.'

'Right now, we know there is a cost-of-living crisis and people are struggling, a lot of people are struggling here and around the world.

Their outing comes just weeks after Sir Lenny hosted his final Red Nose Day in March 2023 after 39 years

The comic was married to actress Dawn from 1984 to 2010 (pictured together in 2005)

'But we also know that the British public are brilliant  you're so kind and generous, if somebody has a problem, you always want to help out.

'Without you, we couldn't do what we do. I'd love nothing more than if you joined me in getting involved this year.

'Let's make it one to remember and show that having a laugh can actually make a world of difference.

'Do something funny for money, join me at The London Palladium, wear your Red Nose with complete and utter pride  whatever you do, thank you! Let's go!'
Lewis Hamilton showed off his quirky sense of style as he attended an event to promote his non-alcoholic tequila Almave in Miami on Wednesday.

The F1 driver, 39, opted for a tyically quirkly look for the outing as he sported a sleeveless denim top with matching loose-fitting jeans.

Showing off his arm tattoos, Lewis also sported a pair of black shoes as he mixed and mingled with his guests.

The star completed his look with a pair of eye-catching diamond earrings and a pearl bracelet.

Lewis was mobbed by fans at the event where he happily signed autographs and caps for those in attendance.

Lewis Hamilton showed off his quirky sense of style as he attended an event to promote his non-alcoholic tequila in Miami on Wednesday

The F1 driver, 39, opted for a tyically quirkly look for the outing as he sported a sleeveless denim top with matching loose-fitting jeans

It comes after Lewis told how he is going to focus on 'film and fashion' when he retires from racing.

The Formula 1 star is already mulling over his future away from the track and has revealed he's sought advice from some of his famous friends who have already stepped away from their sports.

He told GQ's annual Creativity Issue: 'I'd spoken to so many amazing athletes, from Boris Becker to Serena Williams, even Michael Jordan. Talking to greats that I've met along the way, who are retired - or some that are still in competition - and the fear of what's next, the lack of preparation for what's next.'

'A lot of them said: "I stopped too early." Or: "Stayed too long." "When it ended, I didn't have anything planned." "My whole world came crashing down because my whole life has been about that sport".

'Some of them were like: "I didn't plan and it was a bit of a mess-up because I was really lost afterwards. There was such a hole. Such a void. And I had no idea how I was going to fill it. And I was in such a rush initially to try and fill it that you fill it with the wrong thing..."'

'But it just got my mind thinking about: "Okay, when I stop, how do I avoid that?" And so I got serious about finding other things that I was passionate about.'

He added: 'I went through this phase of understanding that I can't race forever ... Because when I stop, I'm gonna drop the mic and be happy.'

Lewis went on to reveal he has many passions he wants to pursue, but he needs to narrow it down so he's decided to focus on film and fashion - and wants to set up a luxury brand company to rival LVMH which boasts names including Tiffany Co., Christian Dior and Givenchy.

Showing off his arm tattoos, Lewis also sported a pair of black shoes as he mixed and mingled with his guests

The star completed his look with a pair of eye-catching diamond earrings and a pearl bracelet

Lewis was mobbed by fans at the event where he happily signed autographs and caps for those in attendance

It comes after Lewis told how he is going to focus on 'film and fashion' when he retires from racing

He explained: 'The difficult thing is I want to do everything. I'm very ambitious. But I understand that you can't doactually, I take that back because I don't believe in the word can't.

'To be a master at something, there's the 10,000 hours it takes. Obviously, I've done that in racing. There's not enough time to master all of these different things ...

'I think it's gonna be film and fashion ... Honestly, one of my dreams is I have thought about creating my own diverse LVMH.'

'Like, I don't know if we live in a time where that's really possible. But that's something that I'm conceptualising.'

Lewis has previously ventured into both music and movies - founding his own production company called Dawn Apollo Films - and he's also collaborated with American fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger.
Emily Atack's cousin Molly Robbins has fired back at trolls who criticised her relationship with celebrity chef Glynn Purnell who is 16 years older than her.

The Secret Chef star, 49, has posted loved-up snaps with the baker, 33, confirming their relationship to his friends on fans on Instagram page.

Molly, who is the daughter of comedian Ted Robbins, took to Instagram to speak out against the cruel messages she has received over her and Glynn's age gap.

The beauty shared a horrible comment she received from a troll who wrote: 'Useless lady... dating dads... waste of life... can't find young boyfriend... seriously this is awful... deserives to unfollow now... young girl likes old luggage... bad choice.'

Screenshotting the comment, Molly told how she receives messages like it anytime she posts a picture of herself and Glynn.

Emily Atack 's cousin Molly Robbins has fired back at trolls who criticised her relationship with celebrity cheef Glynn Purnell who is 16 years older than her

The Secret Chef star, 49, has posted loved-up snaps with the baker, 33, confirming their relationship to his friends on fans on Instagram page

She wrote: 'Wouldn't normally react to these sort of comments but sick to death of them now. I'm 33, Glynn is 49, not that it's anoyine's business.

'He's also the kindest, funniest, most talented, genuine person I've ever met, and makes me so happy.

'My DMs are flooded with comments about the fact we are different ages every time I post a picture of him. It's boring.'

Glynn and Molly recently posed for cosy selfies together as they enjoyed a drink out together in a snap, which he caption: 'My funny girl and my love.'

Underneath the post one of Glynn's friends said they 'couldn't wait' to meet his 'gorgeous' new girlfriend as they told the TV personality he looked 'so happy'

As well as having a famous family, Molly has previously hit the headlines for her flirty messages with Paul Hollywood, while he was married to ex-wife Alexandra.

However she has now found happiness with Yummie Brummie Glynn, who is the proprietor and Head Chef at Purnell's restaurant in Birmingham.

Molly, who appeared on Channel 4's Extreme Cake Makers, owns a bakery in East Lancashire as well as running her online bespoke cake shop.

Molly, who is the daughter of comedian Ted Robbins, took to Instagram to speak out against the cruel messages she has received over her and Glynn's age gap

Speaking about her cake shop, she said: 'Even if youre not interesting in cakes or baking, there will be something fun to look at. Its a playful and fun shop.'

She has won Cake Masters' People's Choice award and several gold and silver awards at Cake International, which is 'the world's biggest cake decorating competition'.

During her time on the baking show, Molly, who specialises in wildlife designs, made a life-sized baby elephant cake and a huge chameleon cake.

The series followed Molly and her company, Creative Cakes, and a group of elite bakers who try to create jaw-dropping treats.

In June Molly holiday with her relative Emily, 34, and shared a throwback from their getaway to celebrate her birthday this week.

In January 2019 it was reported that Bake Off judge Paul had splashed out 5,000 on a designer watch for Molly, while he was still married to Alexandra.

The Secret Chef star has posted loved-up snaps with the baker confirming their relationship to his friends on fans on Instagram page

Confirming their blossoming romance, underneath one of the photos, Glynn wrote: 'Out for a pre service drink with my girl'

In June Molly holiday with her relative Emily, 34, and shared a throwback from their getaway to celebrate her birthday this week

He was said to have also exchanged a string of flirty messages with the TV star and paid for expensive meals and gifts.

Paul's estranged wife Alexandra only discovered the betrayal after they announced their divorce in 2017, according to The Sun.

A source told the publication: 'Paul and Molly grew close and had a real chemistry between them, they started texting and messaging regularly and things quickly escalated.

'Paul is a very warm and generous guy, Molly was delighted with the watch and proudly showed it to family members saying it was from Paul. He gave her loads of presents  he was very thoughtful in that way.

'Alex only found out her husband had befriended a younger woman once they had officially split, when she found the messages she was understandably confused.'

Paul reportedly struck up the friendship with the daughter of Phoenix Nights star Ted after bonding over baking, later gifting her the expensive Tag Heuer watch.

Back in 2014, a delighted Holly took to Twitter when she first met the TV star as she cheekily wrote: 'Of all the pictures I could have had with Paul, I can't find one that doesn't look like I'm touching him up! Dammit!'

Former make-up artist Molly, from Rossendale, Lancashire, became a cake artist after she got an amazing reaction when she baked a sweet treat for a friend.

Close: Paul reportedly struck up the friendship with Ted Robbins' daughter Molly after bonding over baking (pictured together in 2014)

Big fan: She cheekily wrote: 'Of all the pictures I could have had with Paul, I can't find one that doesn't look like I'm touching him up! Dammit!'

Meanwhile, Glynn was accused of his own romantic scandal when he was accused of exchanging sexually explicit messages with a female fan he met on Twitter.

According to The Mirror in 2017, - who has three children with his long-term ex-partner Kerry O'Carroll - sent nude images and 'hundreds' of raunchy messages with the fan behind his devoted love's back.

'I was surprised when he started following me on Twitter, and I got carried away,' the fan is quoted as saying. 'I didn't realise he had a family at first. When he started talking about sex one thing led to another.

'Before I knew it we were swapping pics of our tattoos, and then he started sending intimate photos of himself.'

The Mirror reported that Glynn initiated contact with the woman in question back in October, leading to months of late-night messaging - and even a failed plan to meet up in London.

'I felt wanted,' admitted the fan. 'I love him when he appears on Saturday Kitchen.'

Family man: Glynn has three children with his ex-long-term partner Kerry O'Carroll

As of Sunday, the TV personality - who was responsible for landing Birmingham's first Michelin star as head chef at local restaurant Jessica's - appeared to have deleted his @Yummy_Brummie Twitter account.

In an interview with The Guardian back in 2015, Glynn had spoken of his love of spending quiet time at home with his partner and their children.

'The second Sunday Id spend at home  I love being there,' he said. 'About six years ago we moved out of the city into a house with an orchard, right next to a river.

'I have a little treehouse, overlooking both, and I often sit up there, just gathering my thoughts, taking five minutes out of my busy life. So this is where Id like to be, with my wife and kids.
Paris Fury has revealed she had a 'reality check' during a visit to a laundrette - despite being the wife of one of the world's richest sportsmen.

Taking to Instagram on Wednesday, the mother-of-seven, 34, shared a clip showing she was at the communal washing facility with a bowl full of coins.

Sharing a Boomerang with her 1.8million followers, she allowed the camera to pan between the washing machines and her bowl of coins - while adding the caption: 'Reality check today' over the top of the video.

The visit will no doubt be shocking to fans, as the Netflix star's 6'9" boxer husband Tyson Fury, 35, is worth an estimated 180million.

The trip to the laundrette comes amid the family's modest getaway to Buxton, Derbyshire, which Paris documented with a stunning snap from the trip.

Paris Fury has revealed she had a 'reality check' during a visit to a laundrette - despite being the wife of one of the world's richest sportsmen

Taking to Instagram on Wednesday, the mother-of-seven, 34, shared a clip showing she was at the communal washing facility with a bowl full of coins

Tyson and Paris are parents to large brood and welcomed their seventh child, a son Prince Rico in September. They also share Venezuela, 13, Prince John James, 11, Prince Tyson II, seven, Valencia, five, Prince Adonis Amaziah, five, and Athena, two.

Paris has often been lauded for her down-to-earth nature, despite her husband's staggering wealth, with the trip to the laundrette being the latest.

She has been deemed 'a saint' who 'has her hands full' as she juggles her vast family with little help as well as looking after her husband.

Tyson and Paris, who have been married for 15 years, are parents to large brood and welcomed their seventh child, a son Prince Rico in September.

They also share Venezuela, 13, Prince John James, 11, Prince Tyson II, seven, Valencia, five, Prince Adonis Amaziah, five, and Athena, two.

Showing their low-key nature, in March the couple showed themselves food shopping - where Tyson refused to purchase higher-end items on offer.

Tyson declared in his first video inside the store: 'Now it's time to go on a food shop in Asda with Paris Fury. Asda, Lancaster. The highlight of our evening!'.

After showing off a block of Lancashire cheese, Fury then filmed himself and Paris deliberating over which chocolate spread to buy.

She said: 'Decisions, decisions. Do you spend 6.10 on a jar of Nutella or do you spend 1.85 on some chocolate spread?'

Paris and Tyson have been married for 15 years,

Showing their low-key nature, in March the couple showed themselves food shopping - where Tyson refused to purchase higher-end items on offer

Paris then interjected: 'No, you pay 2.75 for the big one! ' as she pointed out to the Asda value range option. They then continued their shop, as Tyson said: 'There's Paris getting some ice lollies for the kids'.

'Ferrero Rocher ones', Paris said before the heavyweight star quickly intervened.

'Put them back! They're a fiver for some ice lollies - I don't think so! Get them ones that are a quid. Value for money.

'After spending all the money on the Lambo, Paris, I think we need to save on shopping'.

Fans of the Fury family will recall a similar moment in their Netflix documentary - titled 'At Home With The Furys'.

During an episode, Paris was seen telling their children that they were not allowed to buy pencils while they were out shopping.

The couple hit headlines last year when they showcased the inner workings of their family on their Netflix reality show At Home With The Furys.

The couple hit headlines last year when they showcased the inner workings of their family on their Netflix reality show At Home With The Furys

Back in March Tyson filmed scenes for the second series of the show in his hometown of Morecambe. It seems the boxer has changed his mind about the series after he previously turned down an offer to film more seasons of the reality show.

Tyson had shut down their proposals as he doesn't want to be labelled a 'reality star.'

A TV insider told MailOnline the intrusive nature of the show and the fact that cameras followed him, his wife Paris and their children 24/7 took its toll and he admitted he wanted to stop filming the debut Netflix series on several occasions.

Despite Tyson's stance Netflix are still keen to work with the family namely Paris who is a natural on camera and has been praised by viewers for supporting Tyson.

He suffers from various mental health disorders including bipolar and ADHD but could face competition from other TV networks.

Last year, brand and culture expert Nick Ede revealed he believes Paris could even bag a standalone deal with Netflix, with streaming service bosses keen to keep their 'golden egg', thanks to her celebrity equity 'going through the roof'.

The boxer, 35, teased the news on social media as Paris looked stunning while posing in a satin dress at a glamorous family party to celebrate her niece's sweet 16th birthday

Nick told MailOnline: 'Paris Fury has shown the world what a fabulous, interesting, energetic and super woman she is.

'The new reality show on Netflix has elevated her even more to become a household name in her own right, not just mother to Tyson's kids and his loving wife.

'Her celebrity equity has gone through the roof and I can see her being courted by TV stations to either appear in hit reality shows like I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! or being asked to have a spin off reality show based around her.

'Netflix won't want to loose this golden egg, so I am sure developers will be thinking of formats for Paris to star in that play to her strengths.

'I am sure she will release another bestselling book, perhaps even writing children's books or fiction. She could even launch a clothing range or be the face of a fragrance called FURY!'
Katie Price has claimed that she has been signed off from appearing in court for her mental health, after receiving backlash for missing her last bankruptcy hearing to go on holiday to Cyprus.

The former glamour model, 45, has been declared bankrupt for a second time after failing to pay over 750,000 in unpaid tax - and will now face losing her home unless HMRC can recover the money.

She had been due to give evidence about her finances at the High Court last week, but at the start of the hearing, lawyers said that she had told them at the last minute she couldn't attend due to health issues. A judge described this excuse as 'scanty'.

Katie then jetted off on holiday to Ayia Napa with her MAFS star boyfriend JJ Slater, facing public backlash after being spotted sunbathing together by the pool.

Taking to her podcast, The Katie Price Show on Tuesday, Katie hit back and claimed she had been signed off from court because she was 'mentally not strong enough'.

Katie Price has claimed that she has been signed off from appearing in court for her mental health, after receiving backlash for missing her last bankruptcy hearing to go on holiday to Cyprus

The former glamour model, 45, has been declared bankrupt for a second time but failed to appear at the High Court last week, with lawyers saying that she had told them at the last minute she couldn't attend due to health issues

Katie then jetted off on holiday to Ayia Napa with her MAFS star boyfriend JJ Slater , facing public backlash after being spotted sunbathing together by the pool

She said: 'Everyone is like "oh she's missed bankruptcy and she's gone on holiday!" No, let me address it.

'The court knew that I wasn't going to my bankruptcy, because mentally - my consultant at The Priory - I've been signed off for any kind of activity for court.

'I'm mentally not strong enough at the moment to stand in court, be cross examined in front of the media and public.'

She went on: 'I am taking my bankruptcy so serious, like I do everything else. It's a very serious situation I'm in and it does look like "oh she's just gone on holiday".

'No, my head at the moment needs a break. I had four days in my diary where I was able to go away.

'When I say I'm not mentally able and stable to stand in court at the moment because I have a lot of things going on behind the scenes I'm dealing with.

'Hence, I haven't been on TikTok for months, since December, I'm only doing what my body and brain will let me do at the moment.'

She continued: 'I am taking the bankruptcy seriously. It's not like I've jetted off on a bloody five star holiday. I'm not in a 760 a night hotel.

Taking to her podcast, The Katie Price Show on Tuesday, Katie hit back and claimed she had been signed off from court because she was 'mentally not strong enough'

Katie then added that she wouldn't be going to her next hearing and that she was getting a signed letter to allow her not to appear

'It's not my fault that my friend came to this hotel a week before me and told them that I was coming and to look after me. So when I came here they upgraded me for nothing, this holiday was actually a very cheap holiday.'

Katie then added that she wouldn't be going to her next hearing and that she was getting a signed letter to allow her not to appear.

She said: 'There is another court hearing and I won't be going to that either. I want everyone to know I've had a letter from my trustees.

'Before I went away on holiday I had an hours conversation with my trustees who handle both of my bankruptcies and explained fully my situation. Since then I've had a letter from them and a letter from court.

'[My consultant] has now given a list of things I need to do to discharge me and suspend me from this which has to be signed off by a lawyer.

'I'm back today, I have the appointments with my consultant, my therapist and everyone around me who will be signing me off legally.'

However, the reality star is now facing the threat of arrest by police after failing to attend the last court hearing over her bankruptcy.

The court heard that Katie's personal assistant had sent a statement from a consultant psychiatrist saying she had anxiety and depression, as well as other issues affecting her mental health.

However, the reality star is now facing the threat of arrest by police after failing to attend the last court hearing over her bankruptcy

Barristers for the trustees of Katie's first bankruptcy asked the judge to order her attendance at a future hearing and said she should be 'on notice' that she could be arrested if she did not attend.

Darragh Connell, representing the trustees, told the court: 'It is important that she is on notice of the fact that this is a possibility.'

In written submissions, he said: 'The respondent should be in no doubt that any future non-attendance without a reasonable excuse will constitute contempt of court and necessitate an application for a warrant for her arrest.

'As with any other litigant, the respondent must comply with the orders of the Insolvency and Companies Court or face severe consequences.'

Mr Connell said Katie had been aware of the hearing 'for a considerable period of time' and her evidence 'simply is not good enough'.

He said: 'It is clear that the evidence filed very late is of a variety that is deeply, deeply unsatisfactory and we are in a very serious situation as a consequence.

'In these circumstances, there is deep concern from the trustees that what is happening here is an attempt at the 11th hour to kick things off into the long grass and that should not be allowed to happen.'

Insolvency and Companies Court Judge Mark Mullen said 'similarly brief' letters had been sent before previous court hearings which Katie also did not attend.

While he described the court as 'sympathetic' to people with health conditions, he said: 'There is a consistent pattern of last-minute adjournments being sought on the basis of scanty medical evidence. This can't be allowed to drag on on such an unsatisfactory basis.'

Judge Mullen ordered that Katie attend the next hearing unless she gave a reasonable excuse and that she provide medical information so adjustments could be made to 'facilitate' her giving evidence.

He said: 'It is a fact that those who do not attend without a reasonable excuse for public examinations are likely to be arrested.

'It is important that Ms Price is under no illusion that just like any other bankrupt, she is expected to attend unless there are reasonable reasons why she should be excused.'

Alex Reid, Katie's former partner, was present at the hearing. The former glamour model owes him 250,000 plus legal costs following a court ruling in 2019.

Katie allegedly shared sexual videos and photographs of the former cage fighter, 48. Alex sued his ex-wife for 'distributing private information  some of it of a sexual nature', which he said 'violated his right to privacy.'

Debt collectors were pictured outside her 'mucky mansion' earlier this year in an attempt to collect the money, it is understood.

In March, a judge at the High Court ruled that Katie be declared bankrupt after an official from HMRC said she has failed to pay any money owed or responded to any correspondence since the demand was made for the unpaid tax last year.

Alex Reid, Katie's former partner, was present at the hearing. The former glamour model owes him 250,000 plus legal costs following a court ruling in 2019 (pictured)

Debt collectors were pictured outside her 'mucky mansion' earlier this year in an attempt to collect the money, it is understood (Katie pictured outside the home)

It is the second bankruptcy faced by Katie as she is being chased by creditors for a 3.2million payment over the failure of her company Jordan Trading Ltd which sells perfume and cosmetics in 2019.

Judge Sebastion Prentis sitting at the High Court Rolls Building said Katie had been served with a petition on November 27 2023 with a demand for 761,994.05.

The amount is made up of unpaid tax from self-assessment on her earnings from between 2020 and 2022 as well as penalties and surcharges.

The judge said she also owed 140,000 in unpaid VAT and added:' As with the unpaid tax no payment has been made.'

Katie previously revealed that she didn't feel able to attend court to discuss her finances.

Speaking exclusively to the Mail's comedy podcast in March, she said: 'I just can't cope with going to a court. Mentally, I can't do it.'

Katie went on to explain: 'Since my breakdown. When you are ill and depressed everything accumulates. If you can't cope with something or you haven't paid that bill. Communicate, don't ignore because when you ignore it, it just gets worse.

'It does upset me because they don't know how hard I've tried mentally to get out of that rut that I was in. A rut that I hung myself and thought I'd died.'

Katie was served with papers in October by HMRC informing her of the debt owed  and she has failed to respond to the demand.

The judge said: 'There is a substantial debt due from Miss Price due to HMRC and therefore I will make a bankruptcy order.'

Katie has failed to appear at an insolvency hearing on six previous occasions with the model submitting an excuse for her no show each time.

A HMRC source said every effort will be made to recover the money and if not paid then assets owed by Katie will be seized.
Clarkson's Farm (Amazon Prime)

Rating:

Jeremy Clarkson once claimed that global warming whingers made him want to shoot a polar bear in the middle of its face.

He says he watches David Attenborough documentaries as a drinking game, chugging a beer every time climate change is cited.

So the 64-year-old presenter and petrolhead is an unlikely champion for green farming. Yet, as Clarksons Farm (Amazon Prime) returns  his improbably popular telly diaries of muddles and mishaps on his 1,000-acre Oxfordshire rustic retreat  he is teaming up with a millionaire pop raver to promote regenerative agriculture.

Simply put, this means cutting back on chemicals and planting a mix of arable crops to coax the land back to health.

His conversion seems about as plausible as Chris Packham commentating on F1, but he is in earnest. What an irony if Clarkson becomes the chief ambassador for back-to-nature politics  though, on the other hand, no one could have predicted before Amazon Prime launched this show in 2021 that he would be the man to make farming look fun and even cool.

Jeremy Clarkson stands with his crew for season three of Clarkson's Farm beside Diddly Squat's quirky entrance

The former Top Gear presenter holds one his newborn piglets close to his chest on the farm

Clarkson, 64, pulls one of his trademark expressions as he rests against his machinery stuck in a ditch

Clarksons mind has been changed, he admits, not by climate stats or conservationists but by the impact of extreme weather on his farm.

As the show opens, hes moaning about the driest summer for 87 years. Thats 2022  no doubt hes equally unhappy about the 18 months that followed, officially the soggiest since records began.

Relentless drought meant his potatoes developed skin set, a condition where the tubers close up like clams. Unable to grow, they remained inedible pebbles. The sunflowers dried up, too, and the ground was too hard for planting oilseed rape for the next years crop.

A celebrity farmer requires a celebrity solution, so Clarkson turned to Andy Cato, once the keyboard player in 1990s electronic hit group Groove Armada. Cato sold the rights to his songs six years ago to buy a farm and now runs a company promoting a more natural, less intensive approach to food production.

Our soils have been pounded and poisoned to a point where theyre within a few decades of giving up, he tells Clarkson and his land agent, Charlie Ireland. Weve lost 80 per cent of our insects. We cant keep doing that.

Pay attention! screamed a warning label blazed across the screen, and this is important! I half expected Clarkson to parrot Greta Thunbergs famous lament, You haf stolen my childhood!

Andy Cato, the keyboard player for 1990s pop group Groove Armada, is recruited by Clarkson on the show to help revive his damaged crops

The petrolhead is joined by his girlfriend Lisa Hogan and 25-year-old farm manager Kaleb Cooper (second from right) for lunch

Catos methods arent organic, but rely on selective use of chemicals, rather than blitzing the crops with insecticide and artificial fertilisers. He plants wheat and beans mixed together, because the plants support each other.

And this is the bit that really caught Jezzas attention: he sells his grain to Marks & Spencer. The mere mention of their brand brought a smitten smile to his face.

Cato made a less positive impression on the real star of the series, 25-year-old Kaleb Cooper, now the farm manager and still driving combine harvesters like they are go-karts.

With his rich Cotswolds accent and untamed facial hair, hes a real-life Wurzel  and he resented a lecture on agronomics from a man he plainly regarded as an amateur.

Never quiet when on camera, Clarkson spreads his arms in front of cow as it walks off a trailer

Were you in a band? he growled at Cato. I can tell. Because you left a tractor running at a pound-a-litre of fuel.

With his crops failing, and the district council forcing him to close his lucrative restaurant, Clarkson was driven to seek alternative moneyspinners.

First he harvested the hedgerows for blackberries, boiled up with sugar for jars of jam (he calls it Jeremys Juice and theres a picture of him on the front, but if youre going to buy your preserves from an egomaniac, this is only to be expected).

Simmering in huge tureens, the jam did look delicious. Id love to see a comparison test, with Jeremy sampling Meghan Markles American Riviera Orchard strawberry conserve, while the Duchess tastes his blackberry spread. Sussex vs Chipping Norton  what a titanic contest.

A jar of the Duchess of Sussex's American Riviera Orchard strawberry jam - which Clarkson's farm-made equivalent may rival

Clarkson stands with partner Lisa as the evening draws in over the farm

With his girlfriend Lisa Hogan, Clarkson then set about rearing pigs on the parched potato patch. The running joke of the show is his epic incompetence, and I cant help wondering how often he deliberately engineers a cock-up on camera... knocking over a drystone wall, toppling a fencepost, hanging a pair of five-bar gates so that neither of them opens properly.

But he insists the scenes arent scripted, and relies on his gift for constant chunter. Every so often, muttering endlessly to himself, he coins a perfect phrase: as the running costs mount up, for example, he complains the profit-and-loss column looks like Boris Beckers bank balance.

And as he manoeuvres a massive blackberry picker up a narrow lane, he worries about meeting a bus coming the other way: Hell be going home with a picking machine fastened to his face like a moustache.

The one perfect quip, though, fell not to Jeremy but to Lisa. Droning on about rare breeds, he was explaining to her at length that his favoured breed of pig, the shandy and black, nearly went extinct.

Shandy and black, it sounds like the sort of thing a Northern woman would drink in a pub on a Friday night, he opined. But a few years ago, there was in the whole world only one man pig.

Boar, said Lisa.
Vicky Pattison and Ercan Ramadan have jetted to Dubai on their joint stag and hen dos, ahead of their summer wedding in Italy.

The reality star couple, aged 36 and 30 respectively, opted against traditional pre-wedding festivities by joining together to head to the United Arab Emirates with their nearest and dearest for a raucous getaway.

Things kicked off with a white party on a yacht, during which the couple, who became engaged in February 2022, were joined by a host of friends and family, including Vicky's mum Carol and her friend Gavin Foord.

Ensuring all eyes were on her, the former Geordie Shore star wowed in a sexy white bikini with sculpted cups and low-slung bottoms to best show off her figure.

She ensured she had all the trimmings of a modern day hen do, including personalised glasses and a veil adorned with Mrs Patti-Ran-to be.

Vicky Pattison and Ercan Ramadan have jetted to Dubai on their joint stag and hen dos, ahead of their summer wedding in Italy

The reality star couple, aged 36 and 30 respectively, opted against traditional pre-wedding festivities by joining together to head to the United Arab Emirates with their nearest and dearest for a raucous getaway

Vicky revealed HA Designs had her personalised veil ready for her in 45 minutes, in an apparent hen wardrobe rush

Vicky revealed HA Designs had her personalised veil ready for her in 45 minutes, in an apparent hen wardrobe rush, and shared with followers that her sexy bikini was from swimwear giant Melissa Odabash.

The yacht party was laden with lavish details, including a vast wall of shots adorned with the words: 'They're tying the knot! So let's take a shot!'

Coconuts containing cocktails were seared with personalised lettering reading Vicky and Ercan, while Tequila Rose was free-flowing on the shores.

Alongside a series of snaps from the day at sea, she added a caption reading: 'The Patti-Rams 2024... If we were to go home now, I would still consider this to be one of the the trips of my life!!! Thankyou so so much for organising the sten of a lifetime!!

'Ercan and I are so grateful for your friendship. And to all of our gorgeous family and friends- god, where do I begin... we just love you and are so happy you're here.'

It seemed Vicky had overindulged on the big day, as the following morning she took to Instagram to share a make-up free selfie alongside the caption: 'We *may* have stenned a little too hard' in a nod to her hangover.

The trip comes after Vicky revealed that even though her wedding day is costing 'the same price as a house' she still doesn't have enough money to fund her dream day.

She admitted that her celebrity wedding planner has told her that her fund won't even cover the flowers she wants.

Speaking to Rock My Wedding, Vicky admitted that despite trying to be a little sensible in places, she will be wearing four wedding dresses on the day.

The yacht party was laden with lavish details, including a vast wall of shots adorned with the words: 'They're tying the knot! So let's take a shot!'

She looked jaw-dropping as she wowed on the boat

Vicky was joined by her mum Carol as they partied up a storm

Vicky shared a sweet group snap of the Sten party dressed in all white

It seemed Vicky had overindulged on the big day, as the following morning she took to Instagram to share a make-up free selfie alongside the caption: 'We *may* have stenned a little too hard' in a nod to her hangover

But she has limited certain luxuries and won't be splashing out on the flower installation she had her eye on for their welcome dinner.

Vicky said: 'I knew weddings were a big money business and, like I say, it's not my first rodeo in this space, but everything's just got more and more expensive.

'I was really shocked. I don't want to be paying it off for the next 10 years, or remortgaging my house for a wedding,' she added.

She admitted that at first she thought she was going to have the 'wedding of the century' but the reality quickly set in when she realised the cost.

Unfortunately, her wedding planner revealed that what she wanted was impossible with her initial wedding fund.

She posed with her pal DJ Chris Wright, who she revealed was the brains behind the whole trip

Party mode was in full swing for the group, as they partied around heaving tables of booze

After hosting 300 guests for their engagement party in London's 14 Hills, Vicky and Ercan decided to officially marry at Marylebone Town Hall with an attendance of 100.

They will then head to Italy for a welcome dinner, wedding ceremony and evening reception, which has attracted 150 guests so far.

Vicky teased that she will be wearing a sixties-inspired gown for her UK wedding and said she loves the short veil and big sunglasses look. The pair got engaged in the summer of 2019, when Ercan proposed to her on the beach in Dubai.

Coconuts containing cocktails were seared with personalised lettering reading Vicky and Ercan, while Tequila Rose was free-flowing on the shores
Laura Dundovic left little to the imagination as she arrived at the Australian premiere of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga on Thursday.

The Miss Universe Australia winner, 36, walked the red carpet at Sydney's State Theatre wearing a very revealing outfit.

The racy sheer gown exposed her chest and midriff, and clung to her incredible body.

Laura, who won Miss Universe Australia in 2008, worked her angles in the slinky gown, which featured stitched in jewels that glittered in the light.

She completed her look by wearing statement earrings with ruby-light gems set into thick gold hoops.

Laura Dundovic left little to the imagination as she arrived to the Australian premiere of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga on Thursday

The racy sheer gown exposed her chest and midriff underneath, and clung to her incredible body

Meanwhile, the stars of the new Mad Max filmed also stormed the red carpet with astounding looks.

Anya Taylor-Joy put on a quirky display as she joined Chris Hemsworth and his wife Elsa Pataky at the Australian premiere.

The actress, 28, is known for her epic red carpet looks and bared all in a racy gown as she stepped out for the star-studded event.

She completed her look with statement earrings with ruby-light gems set into thick gold hoops

Anya, who stars as the titular character Imperator Furiosa in the Mad Max prequel, turned heads in an extravagant gold outfit featuring a dramatic headpiece.

She put on a very revealing display in the gold beaded Paco Rabanne mini dress, which bizarrely featured a collection of beaded arrows sticking out of the skirt.

Anya seemingly went braless underneath the backless chainmail style dress, while she simply sported G-string underwear to protect her modesty.

The stars of the new Mad Max filmed also stormed the red carpet with astounding looks. Anya Taylor-Joy put on a quirky display as she joined Chris Hemsworth and his wife Elsa Pataky at the Australian premiere

She was joined on the red carpet by her co-star Chris and his wife Elsa, who have become a Hollywood fan favourite couple since tying the knot in 2010.

Chris, who portrays Dr. Dementus in Furiosa, cut a dapper figure in a checkered black suit as he stepped out to celebrate the release of his latest adventure epic.

He teamed his ensemble with a black shirt and a pair of smart shoes as he stepped out alongside his wife, Spanish model Elsa, 47.

Elsa put on a busty display in a glitzy black lace gown embellished with sequins and featuring a daring side split.

She toted her essentials in a small black clutch bag and accessorised her bombshell ensemble with a gold necklace as she posed up a storm with Chris.

Chris, who portrays Dr. Dementus in Furiosa, cut a dapper figure in a checkered black suit as he stepped out to celebrate the release of his latest adventure epic

Furiosa was filmed in New South Wales and was expected to become the biggest movie ever to be made in Australia. Filming wrapped up in September 2022.

Franchise creator George Miller returned as director and co-writer of Furiosa, alongside Nico Lathouris, as well as his long-time producing partner Doug Mitchell.

George described the prequel as 'a saga' that will be told over a 15-year period, which is much different from Fury Road, which spanned three days in its timeframe.
Lucia Hawley looked as sophisticated as ever as she stepped out for the Australian premiere of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga on Thursday.

The niece of Nicole Kidman, 26, captured attention as she stormed Sydney's State Theatre alongside huge stars including Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth.

For the glitzy night, Lucia put on a leggy display in a stylish black gown with padded shoulders and a daring side split.

The daughter of actress Nicole's sister Antonia and late businessman Angus Hawley gave herself a few extra inches in a pair of pointed black heels.

She let her outfit do all the talking as she opted for an array of gold rings to accessorise and added to her features with a high-glamour make-up palette.

Lucia Hawley looked as sophisticated as ever as she stepped out for the Australian premiere of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga on Thursday

The niece of Nicole Kidman, 26, captured attention as she stormed Sydney's State Theatre alongside huge stars including Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth

Elsewhere, Hollywood stars Anya and Chris also stepped out to celebrate the release of the Mad Max prequel, in which they are both starring.

Anya, who stars as the titular character Imperator Furiosa in the Mad Max prequel, turned heads in an extravagant gold outfit featuring a dramatic headpiece.

She put on a very revealing display in the gold beaded mini dress, which bizarrely featured a collection of beaded arrows sticking out of the skirt.

Anya seemingly went braless underneath the backless chainmail style dress, while she simply sported G-string underwear to protect her modesty.

For the glitzy night, Lucia put on a leggy display in a stylish black gown with padded shoulders and a daring side split

Lucia is the daughter of Hollywood actress Nicole's sister Antonia and late businessman Angus Hawley (Lucia is pictured with Nicole and her husband Keith Urban in 2018)

Australian actor Chris, who portrays Dr. Dementus in Furiosa, put on a dapper display as he stepped out alongside his glamorous wife Elsa Pataky.

Elsa, 47, put on a busty display in a glitzy black lace gown embellished with sequins and featuring a daring side split.

The couple looked as loved-up as ever as they packed on the PDA on the red carpet, sharing a sweet kiss in one moment caught on camera.

Mad Mad: Furiosa, the fifth movie in the long-running series, will be released in cinemas on May 24.

Elsewhere, Anya Taylor-Joy (left) and Chris Hemsworth (right with his wife Elsa Pataky) also stepped out to celebrate the release of the Mad Max prequel, in which they are both starring

Anya showed off her peachy behind as she posed up a storm in her eye-catching ensemble on the red carpet

Elsa and Chris, who were recently hit by split rumours, looked as loved-up as ever as they packed on the PDA on the red carpet

The film tells the origin story of a young Imperator Furiosa, played by Anya, who rose to fame as the star of Netflix hit The Queen's Gambit.

Chris portrays villainous character Dementus, who he has described as 'a very violent, insane, brutal person that is born from the Wasteland'.

'He has been birthed into a space where it's kill or be killed,' he said at CCXP in Brazil, when the trailer footage was unveiled.

'He's learned to rule with an iron fist. There's a charisma to him and it's very manipulative.'

Furiosa tells the origin story of a young Imperator Furiosa, played by Anya, while Chris portrays villainous character Dementus

Furiosa was filmed in New South Wales and was expected to become the biggest movie ever to be made in Australia. Filming wrapped up in September 2022.

Franchise creator George Miller returned as director and co-writer of Furiosa, alongside Nico Lathouris, as well as his long-time producing partner Doug Mitchell.

George described the prequel as 'a saga' that will be told over a 15-year period, which is much different from Fury Road, which spanned three days in its timeframe.
Raised on the rodeo circuit, writer Cyra McFadden, shown here around 1990, lampooned 1970s Marin County in The Serial and recounted her itinerant upbringing in Pulitzer-nominated Rain or Shine. Courtesy Steve Smith Cyra McFadden lampooned 1970s Marin County in The Serial and recounted her itinerant upbringing in Pulitzer-nominated Rain or Shine, but didnt complete her second novel. She died April 20, at the age of 86. Courtesy of Steve Smith

When The Serial made its debut in 1976 as a weekly parody of Mill Valley New Age hedonism, its outlet was Marin County alternative newspaper the Pacific Sun, and its author, Cyra McFadden, was known only to the insular and well-off society she was writing about.

The Serial was hyperlocal, what the Chronicle columnist Herb Caen would call an only in Marin phenomenon. But interest in the topics it covered  wife swapping and hot-tubbing and Zen jogging  turned out to be national and even international.

Robert Gottlieb, the famed editor at Alfred A. Knopf in New York, snapped it up to be issued in 1977 as a spiral-bound, cardboard-covered, illustrated novel titled The Serial: A Year in the Life of Marin County. By 1980, it was a Hollywood movie starring Martin Mull, Tuesday Weld and Sally Kellerman, retitled Serial, with the poster slogan Honor thy wife and everyone elses.

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McFadden had sold the rights and was unimpressed with the film version. She walked out on the premiere, and when people asked what she thought of it, shed say, They are showing it on airplanes, and people are still walking out.

But the legend lived on, like Christo and Jeanne-Claudes Running Fence, a site-specific art installation that appeared in Sonoma County and West Marin at the same time. If any activity was described as something out of the Serial, that usually meant it took place in the very expensive hillside hamlet of Mill Valley, and would probably involve meditation and yoga, though not minimalism or a Christian vow of poverty.

The author, McFadden, who was only an observer of the scene and was good-natured about being asked about The Serial for nearly 50 years thereafter, died April 20, at home on her houseboat in Sausalito, said her daughter, Caroline McFadden. She had been sick for a month, but the cause of death was not determined and there will be no autopsy, her daughter said. She was 86.

The daughter of a traveling rodeo announcer, Cyra McFadden, shown here in 1999, was raised on the traveling cowboy circuit. She described her upbringing in Rain or Shine: A Family Memoir, which was a 1987 finalist for the Pulizer Prize in nonfiction. The Chronicle file

For 30 years, people have asked me if my mother is the one who wrote The Serial,  said Caroline, a dog trainer with her own Sausalito houseboat. Ive always proudly answered, Yes, then waited to see if I will be lambasted or praised. With time, it has become mostly praise.

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Among those who praise it is Lynn Freed, author of seven novels and a retired professor of English at UC Davis. Freed first read The Serial in the weekly installments and then re-read it in the spiral-bound book she still has in her library at home.

I was highly entertained by The Serial. It was marvelously sardonic, and I just loved the takedown of the smug idiocy of the 70s, said Freed, a South African who lived in San Francisco before retiring to Sonoma. Her style was crisp, clipped and immensely funny with a straight face.

Essentially a soap opera in print, The Serial told the story of Kate and Harvey Holroyd, an aspirational husband and wife living with their Cuisinart, his-and-hers Motobecane 10-speeds, and any number of other personal-growth enhancements in a Mill Valley tract home. They held to the dream of upward mobility, which meant that as soon as the money came in, you sold the tract home in the flats and gained at least 100 feet of altitude with the next home.

The dream got derailed by the usual affairs  his with a woman from the office and hers with the yoga instructor, which leads to divorce and a re-marriage ceremony for Kate and Harvey, in nonstop action that moved from Sausalito to Fairfax.

Readers who loved Jane Austens descriptions of polite society in England and Edith Whartons descriptions of the East Coast rich gobbled up Cyra McFaddens The Serial,  said former Chronicle columnist Leah Garchik. It was on bookshelves all across the Bay Area, where those of us without therapists or peacocks found great satisfaction in making fun of those who had them.

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McFadden wrote a second book Rain or Shine: A Family Memoir, to dispel any notions that she had grown up pampered. The daughter of a traveling rodeo announcer, she was raised on the traveling cowboy circuit, which is a world apart from what she portrayed in The Serial.

Rain or Shine was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in nonfiction in 1987. McFadden later spent years on a second novel, but she abandoned a 200-page draft and was never able to regain her momentum.

Cyra McFadden, shown here in 2017, walked out on the premiere of the movie Serial. When people asked what she thought of it, shed say, They are showing it on airplanes, and people are still walking out. Courtesy Caroline McFadden

I consider myself primarily a humorist, and Im happy to have that designation, she told the Noe Valley Voice in 1997. But I didnt want to be pigeonholed forever, and I didnt want to write Son of The Serial and Nephew of The Serial, and Grandson of The Serial and Great Grandson of The Serial, although I probably would be a lot richer if I had.

Cyra Sue Taillon was born Dec. 2, 1937, in Great Falls, Mont. Her dad Cy Taillon was known as the Dean of the rodeo announcers and her mom, Patricia Montgomery, was a trick rider in a glittery costume.

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After five years of living in a Packard hitched to a Silverstream trailer, the Taillons divorced, and Patricia took her daughter to Missoula to live in an actual house near the University of Montana. Cy Taillon made it into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, but Pat Taillon did not.

According to her daughter, Cyra (pronounced sigh-rah) was theatrical, acting in school plays, and after graduating from high school in 1956, she stayed local, graduating from the University of Montana in 1959. A very brief marriage resulted in a daughter, Caroline, born in 1960. Divorced in 1962, McFadden decamped to San Francisco, which she had visited when her father announced the big rodeo at the Cow Palace.

She was ready for the big city. Thats what she told me, said her daughter. Her first job was secretarial, at the San Francisco Opera. In 1963, she married John McFadden, a Stanford University graduate who worked in the growing import-export field. They bought a house and moved to the Horse Hill neighborhood in Mill Valley, with their daughter, who took McFaddens name.

While still working full time at the opera and raising Caroline, McFadden enrolled in an MFA program in English Literature at San Francisco State, which is where she began her career as a short-story writer.

She always wrote on canary-yellow paper because she said it made her smile, said her daughter. She got a lot of rejection notices, but it didnt stop her.

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Don Stanley, the editor of the Pacific Sun did not reject her. The Serial was his idea.

As it gained momentum, funny things happened, said her daughter, who was a teenager at the time. She got banned from the Mill Valley market for making fun of the town. But the wider audience loved the satire, which Newsweek described as one of the most delicious acts of cultural sabotage since Mark Twain.

Cyra McFadden, shown here in an undated photo, lived on a houseboat in Sausalito for the last 27 years of her life with partner Donald Bennett, a jazz bassist. Courtesy Caroline McFadden

John McFadden died of cancer in 1980. After his death, McFadden moved to New York City for a few years but returned to San Francisco and bought a 1901 Victorian in Noe Valley when she got a column in the afternoon Examiner. The topical column ran weekly from 1985-1991.

After it ran its course, McFadden moved onto a houseboat in Sausalito where she lived for 27 years with her partner Donald Bennett, a jazz bassist.

Rain or Shine is still in print and so is The Serial, in standard book format and digital edition. The film Serial is available on Apple TV and Amazon Prime, but McFadden never watched it again after walking out on the premiere, her daughter said. She may have missed the priceless wedding scene presided over by Tom Smothers as a New Age officiant, where the bride sincerely intones, You-ness, me-ness, us-ness, we-ness.

She preferred to remember its literary form as she so brilliantly created it.
A huge name in British telly is starring in a new comedy show, from the award-winning team behind Smack The Pony and Green Wing.

The actress, 55, looks completely unrecognisable in the first photos shared of new ITV comedy Piglets, coming to screens this summer.

Ditching her usual long, brown locks for a short grey wig, the actress posed for an on set selfie as she declared: 'Say hello to Superintendent Julie Spry. What a cracker!'

So can you guess who it is?

A huge name in British telly is starring in a new comedy show, from the award-winning team behind Smack The Pony and Green Wing - guess who it is?

It's Sarah Parish!

The actress, who has previously starred in the likes of Cutting it, Broadchurch and Doctor Who, is heading up the cast for Piglets - a brand new series set in a fictional police training college.

The governments stated policy of recruiting 20,000 new police officers in double quick time has not come at the cost of lowering standards. Or has it?

Piglets follows a newly recruited group of six very different would-be cops and the handful of key staff whose thankless task it is to knock them into some kind of shape.

Sarah posed in character as Superintendent Julie Spry for an Insta snap shared on Wednesday night, whilst also joining her co-stars for a cast photo.

Heading up the cast are Sarah and Friday Night Dinner star Mark Heap as no-nonsense Superintendent Julie Spry and some-nonsense Superintendent Bob Weekes, whose job it is to oversee the training of the next batch of police recruits.

Those new recruits are Steph (played by Callie Cooke), Leggo (Sam Pote), Geeta (Sukh Kaur Ojla) Afia (Halema Hussain), Dev (Abdul Sessay) and Paul (Jamie Bisping).

Working alongside Superintendents Julie Spry and Bob Weekes are Head of Admin Melanie (Rebecca Humphries) and police trainers Mike & Daz (Ukweli Roach and Ricky Champ).

It's Sarah Parish! The actress, who has previously starred in the likes of Cutting it is heading up the cast for Piglets - a brand new series set in a fictional police training college

Piglets follows a newly recruited group of six very different would-be cops and the handful of key staff whose thankless task it is to knock them into some kind of shape

The six part, 30 minute episode series is will simultaneously drop as a full series box set on ITVX and air weekly on ITV1 primetime.

It's written by Robert Harley, James Henry, Oriane Messina, Victoria Pile, Richard Preddy and Fay Rusling - the team responsible for Green Wing (Channel 4) - and ITVs Comedy Writers Initiative candidate Omar Khan.

It's a return to the police for Sarah, whose first TV role was a small part in The Bill back in 1994.

She went on to star as Dawn Rudge in Peak Practice in the late nineties and Allie in Cutting it which ran for four seasons between 2002 and 2005 and was set in two rival hairdressing salons in Manchester.

Sarah posed in character as Superintendent Julie Spry for an Insta snap shared on Wednesday night, whilst also joining her co-stars for a cast photo
Chris Hemsworth and his wife Elsa Pataky looked as loved-up as ever as they attended the Australian premiere of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga on Thursday.

The Hollywood actor, 40, and the Spanish model, 47, packed on the PDA as they shared a sweet kiss on the red carpet at Sydney's State Theatre.

The couple made a rare family appearance as they were joined by their twin boys Sasha and Tristan, nine. They also share a daughter India, 11.

Chris, who portrays Dr. Dementus in Furiosa, cut a dapper figure in a checkered black suit as he stepped out to celebrate the release of the adventure movie.

He teamed his ensemble with a black shirt and a pair of smart shoes as he stepped out alongside his wife.

Chris Hemsworth and his wife Elsa Pataky looked as loved-up as ever as they attended the Australian premiere of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga on Thursday

The Hollywood actor, 40, and the Spanish model, 47, packed on the PDA as they shared a sweet kiss on the red carpet at Sydney's State Theatre

The couple made a rare family appearance as they were joined by their twin boys Sasha and Tristan, nine. They also share a daughter India, 11

Elsa made sure all eyes were on her as she put on a busty display in a glitzy black lace gown embellished with sequins and featuring a daring side split.

She toted her essentials in a small black clutch bag and accessorised her bombshell ensemble with a gold necklace as she posed up a storm with Chris.

Elsa and Chris, who tied the knot in 2010, have gone on to become one of Hollywood's favourite couples and often storm the red carpet together.

Chris was also seen posing at the premiere with his Furiosa co-star Anya Taylor-Joy, who stars as the titular character Imperator Furiosa in the prequel.

She put on a very revealing display in a gold beaded Paco Rabanne mini dress, which bizarrely featured a collection of beaded arrows sticking out of the skirt.

Chris cut a dapper figure in a checkered black suit as he stepped out to celebrate the release of the adventure movie, in which he stars

He teamed his ensemble with a black shirt and a pair of smart shoes as he cosied up to Elsa on the red carpet

Elsa made sure all eyes were on her as she put on a busty display in a glitzy black lace gown embellished with sequins and featuring a daring side split

She toted her essentials in a small black clutch bag and accessorised her bombshell ensemble with a gold necklace as she posed up a storm with Chris

Elsa was every inch the proud wife as she supported Chris' latest film release at the premiere

Elsa and Chris have gone on to become one of Hollywood's favourite couples and often storm the red carpet together

Anya seemingly went braless underneath the backless chainmail style dress, while she simply sported G-string underwear to protect her modesty.

Mad Mad: Furiosa, the fifth movie in the long-running series, will be released in cinemas on May 24.

The film tells the origin story of a young Imperator Furiosa, played by Anya, who rose to fame as the star of Netflix hit The Queen's Gambit.

Chris portrays villainous character Dementus, who he has described as 'a very violent, insane, brutal person that is born from the Wasteland'.

'He has been birthed into a space where it's kill or be killed,' he said at CCXP in Brazil, when the trailer footage was unveiled.

Chris was also seen posing on the red carpet with his Furiosa co-star Anya Taylor-Joy, who put on a very daring display in a quirky Paco Rabanne gold chainmail-style mini dress

Furiosa tells the origin story of a young Imperator Furiosa, played by Anya, while Chris portrays villainous character Dementus

'He's learned to rule with an iron fist. There's a charisma to him and it's very manipulative.'

Furiosa was filmed in New South Wales and was expected to become the biggest movie ever to be made in Australia. Filming wrapped up in September 2022.

Franchise creator George Miller returned as director and co-writer of Furiosa, alongside Nico Lathouris, as well as his long-time producing partner Doug Mitchell.

George described the prequel as 'a saga' that will be told over a 15-year period, which is much different from Fury Road, which spanned three days in its timeframe.
Georgia Kousoulou looked tense as she stepped out in Essex on Wednesday after her husband Tommy Mallet admitted he 'sold everything' amid financial woes.

The TOWIE star, 32, married the billionaire businessman, 31, last December and she was by his side while he built up his lucrative footwear line.

Tommy resigned from his position as Director of Mallet Footwear Ltd in October last year and in a series of Instagram posts this week, he revealed he is going through a 's**t time' after battling on an unknown problem for months.

Georgia appeared to be also feeling the strain as she cut a sombre figure while heading to a garage with their two-year-old son, Brody.

She failed to raise a smile on the outing as she filled up her car before grabbing some essentials from the shop.

Georgia Kousoulou looked tense as she stepped out in Essex on Wednesday after her husband Tommy Mallet admitted he 'sold everything' amid financial woes

Georgia appeared to be also feeling the strain as she cut a sombre figure while heading to a garage with their two-year-old son, Brody

The TOWIE star, 32, married billionaire businessman Tommy, 31, last December and she was by his side while he built up his lucrative footwear line

Georgia was dressed in all black as she teamed a zip front hoodie with tracksuit bottoms and trainers.

It's not clear if her footwear was from Tommy's footwear range, which he launched in 2015 and made more than 11.8million in sales in one year, making Tommy one of TOWIE's most successful exports.

The entrepreneur's success skyrocketed and he was named on Forbes' 30 under 30 list for Europe in the retail and ecommerce category in 2021.

However in stark contrast, Tommy admitted he had 'nothing left' in December last year after the quitting footwear business months earlier.

Taking to Instagram this week, Tommy revealed he had been going through a 'four month battle and won' as he insisted he now 'has point to prove an will make all that he's lost back abundantly'.

He continued: 'It's probably not over, but as it stands I can work and support my family.

'I've sold all my assets to defend myself and starting from scratch, but I've got some wonderful companies and I will give it my all to get it back so my family can continue living the life I worked so hard to give them.'

'You can buy followers, but you can't buy talent. Once they realise this they try to ruin your character.'

Tommy added: 'Normally we are used to this but not on the same year as my wife having a miscarriage and me feeling weak.

'But as they say it's nothing personal just business baby.'

Tommy added: 'Just call me the monk who has sold his Ferrari for a bit.'

She failed to raise a smile on the outing as she filled up her car before grabbing some essentials from the shop

Georgia was dressed in all black as she teamed a zip front hoodie with tracksuit bottoms and trainers while Brody donned a grey tracksuit

It's not clear if Georgia's footwear was from Tommy's footwear range, which he launched in 2015 and made more than 11.8million in sales in one year

She looked under pressure as she held her heads in her hands while leaving the garage

Georgia's husband Tommy admitted he had 'nothing left' in December last year after the quitting footwear business months earlier

Taking to Instagram this week, Tommy revealed he had been going through a 'four month battle and won' as he insisted he now 'has point to prove'

He continued: 'It's probably not over, but as it stands I can work and support my family'

Tommy insisted he was feeling stronger than ever amid the mystery battle

Tommy admitted he couldn't hope with the attack due to his personal issues, writing: 'Normally we are used to this but not on the same year as my wife having a miscarriage and me feeling weak

He issued a veiled jab at those who had 'turned against him'

He spoke about his financial struggles during an appearance on Brogan Garrit-Smith's Getting There podcast, where he insisted he had 'no money'.

He said: 'I've got nothing financially at the moment. I basically made an acquisition in January, it was quite a big one and it was to buy some shares back for Mallet.

'I put money into Mallet to get my shares back up thinking that I was going to go and basically build the next year, just full force.'

Also touching on his wife Georgia's tragic miscarriage, he said: 'And obviously, after seeing you, I lost the baby. That turned my whole world around and I was like, something needs to change.

'I basically started from scratch. I've got the biggest tax bill ever.'

Tommy previously opened up to MailOnline about how he managed to make his multi-million pound fortune.

He told how he went from being 'unable to read and write' and 'tortured' by his mind due to undiagnosed ADHD to a landing on the Forbes 30 Under 30 rich list.

Tommy left school with no GCSEs after struggling with dyslexia and worked as a carpenter before becoming a reality TV star on TOWIE.

In 2015, Tommy then channelled his passion for trainers into his own footwear line and the business clocked 11.8 million in sales in 2020, with Mallet London shoes and apparel stocked in over 150 stores around the world.

Tommy, who shares his son Brody with Georgia, married his co-star in December last year after popping the question in 2022.
Pip Edwards dressed to impress on Thursday night as she stepped out to celebrate celebrity sushi chef Nobu Matsuhisa's return to Australia.

The P.E. Nation co-founder, 44, made a style statement as she arrived to the Crown Sydney in an all-black ensemble.

She flaunted her figure in a long black gown as she posed at the popular establishment.

Pip completed her look with a black jacket, which featured shoulder pads and sheer sleeves at the forearm.

She finished her ensemble with simple, yet chic black pumps and drank Don Julio cocktails at the party.

Pip Edwards dressed to impress on Thursday night as she stepped out to celebrate celebrity sushi chef Nobu Matsuhisa's return to Australia

She flaunted her figure in a long black gown as she posed at the popular establishment

Pip schmoozed with Australian actress and 'it girl' Sarah Ellen, who wore black pants and bared her shoulders in a white tank top.

Columnist Jana Hocking was also in attendance, rocking out in a floral pattern dress and black blazer.

She accessorised her stylish look with black heels and a matching coloured headband.

Pip completed her look with a black jacket, which featured shoulder pads and sheer sleeves at the forearm

Pip schmoozed with Australian actress and 'it girl' Sarah Ellen, who wore black pants and bared her shoulders in a white tank top

Internationally renowned chef Nobu Matsuhisa's restaurant is located in Barangaroo and opened when the $2.4billion Crown Sydney was built in December 2020.

The restaurant is almost always a full-house seven days a week, with reservations booked well in advance.

Nobu describes itself as a modern fusion dining destination, 'where Japanese sophistication is reimagined with a passionate Peruvian influence'.

World famous signature dishes on the menu include Black Cod Miso and Yellowtail Jalapeno.

Menu items start from $6 for Nigiri and Sashami to $98 for Lobster Wasabi Pepper.

A seven course meal starts from $180 while the Japanese Wagyu A5 will set you back $275.
Rachael Evren looked strikingly different from her Love Island Australia days as she attended the Australian premiere of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga on Thursday.

The reality TV star, 24, was instantly recognisable for her long brunette tresses during her ten-day stint on the dating show back in 2021.

However, she has now changed up her look and was seen opting for a very different style as she attended the star-studded premiere at Sydney's State Theatre.

Rachael has ditched her long brunette tresses in favour of a platinum blonde choppy bob, looking almost unrecognisable with her gorgeous new look.

She also showed off her array of arm tattoos, which included a moon on her shoulder, a butterfly on her wrist and a dragon inking.

Rachael Evren looked strikingly different from her Love Island Australia days (right) as she attended the Australian premiere of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (left) on Thursday

Rachael has ditched her long brunette tresses in favour of a platinum blonde choppy bob, looking almost unrecognisable with her gorgeous new look

For the night out, Rachael put on a glamorous display in a stunning black halter-neck gown with a daringly low neckline which showed off her toned frame.

She gave herself a few extra inches in a pair of platform heels and accessorised her look with a statement gold pendant necklace.

Rachael joined a whole host of Hollywood stars at the premiere, including the likes of Chris Hemsworth and Anya Taylor-Joy, the leads of the Mad Max Furiosa prequel.

Rachael was among the original cast on season three of Love Island Australia, but was dumped from the villa after 10 days - leaving her partner Chris Graudins in tears.

Rachael put on a glamorous display in a stunning black halter-neck gown with a daringly low neckline which showed off her toned frame

Rachael was among the original cast on season three of Love Island Australia, but was dumped from the villa after 10 days. She had been paired up with Chris Graudins on the show

But it wasn't long until he locked lips with newcomer Zoe Clish and they went on to place as runners-up on the series, before splitting up later that same year.

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia at the time, Rachael admitted she was 'shocked' to see Chris move on so fast.

'I watched it the same time Australia did, so I watched the episode and he kissed that girl and I was like, "Oh my god. I can't believe this is happening,"' she said.
Her new book Bits And Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, And Me is released May 7

Whoopi, 68, reportedly used drug regularly when she moved to LA in the 1980s

Whoopi Goldberg has revealed that a hotel maid once found her in the closet with cocaine 'all over' her face after she became a 'high-functioning' addict in the 1980s.

Whoopi, 68, opens up about her substance abuse in her new memoir, Bits And Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, And Me, where she also writes about her mom, Emma, being sent away to a psychiatric hospital for two years.

Recalling the height of her addiction to cocaine, the Sister Act star reportedly wrote that she believed she could handle the drug because it didn't seem as dangerous as heroin, which she had previously been hooked on in the 1970s.

According to The US Sun, Whoopi explains in her new book how after moving to Los Angeles, she would attend parties in Hollywood, Bel Air, and Beverly Hills, where a bowl of Quaaludes would greet her at the door and lines of cocaine would be laid out for guests.

Whoopi Goldberg reportedly opens up about her cocaine addiction in her new memoir, Bits And Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, And Me

Whoopi, pictured here in 1985, says she was a 'very high-functioning addict' after moving to Los Angeles

The actor, pictured here at the age of 30 in March 1986, said lines of cocaine would be laid out for guests at the parties she was attending in Hollywood

The mother-of-one, whose first husband Alvin Martin was her drug counselor, explained that at the time she was a 'very high-functioning addict' because she would still show up to work.

However, about a year in Whoopi says that she realized she was getting 'sloppy' when it came to being on set and says a horrifying incident in a Manhattan hotel room was a real 'slap-in-the-face' moment for her.

She described how she was sitting on the closet floor sniffing cocaine on her own, when a maid knocked on the door and let herself in.

'I screamed, she screamed and backed up and looked like she was going to run,' Whoopi explained.

'I had to get to her quickly and try to calm her down. She was staring at my face as I talked,' The View host continued, before admitting she then looked in the mirror and realized that she had cocaine 'all over' her face.

'I'd have been so embarrassed if my mother knew the extent the coke had me in its clutches.'

Elsewhere in the candid memoir, the Oscar winner says she saved her mother, Emma, from taking her own life shortly before she was carted off to New York City's Bellevue psychiatric hospital when Whoopi was just eight years old.

In the book, which will be released on May 7, Whoopi - whose real name is Caryn Elaine Johnson - describes the day when she came home from school and found her mother looking 'disheveled' and barefoot while 'muttering incoherently' and being confused about where she was.

She writes: 'I watched as she went over to the oven, turned it on, and put her head in there. I was old enough to know this was really bad news. I ran over and grabbed her around the waist and pulled her out.'

Whoopi pictured with her daughter and her second husband, David Claessen, in Hollywood in 1986

In the book, Whoopi reveals how her mother, Emma, was sent away to a psychiatric hospital

Whoopi also writes about older brother Clyde in the book, who sadly died of a brain aneurysm in May 2015

During Wednesday's episode of The View, Whoopi opened up about such extracts from her new memoir during an interview with the panel, including Joy Behar.

Joy, 81, said: 'You write in the book that when you were a kid your mother had what they used to call a nervous breakdown? She had a difficult, difficult time and she taken to Bellevue, that's scary right there.

'And you didn't really know what happened to her for two years, right? And then she came back and she didn't really remember the two of you? Who was taking care of you and Clyde?' she asked, referring to Whoopi's older brother, who was 14 at the time.

'Our cousin, Arlene, she took care of us, and my dad showed up and he took care of us, but in those days kids were told nothing, parents just disappeared, things happened,' Whoopi explained.

'And for me it was really kind of like, "Oh, so they've taken her to this hospital and no one's going to tell me anything and I can't go see her,"' the Sister Act star continued.

'They just never mentioned it because you didn't do that, but we didn't know any better, we didn't know that. Now we discuss everything with children and maybe that's not the greatest thing to be doing.'

When Joy asked Whoopi what happened to her mom at Bellevue, the Ghost actor confirmed: 'They gave her electroshock treatments.'

Turning to the live studio audience, Whoopi then said: 'So, here's another reason why you must really pay attention to what's going on politically because there was a time in this country where your husband or your brother or any man involved in your life could make medical decisions for you.

'So my mother's father, my grandfather, and my dad okayed it. They okayed that my mother get the shock treatment for two years.'
Activist Danny Lim flashed the peace sign as he stepped out at the Australian premiere of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga on Thursday.

Danny, 79, who is famous in Sydney for wearing sandwich boards with peaceful political slogans, appeared in good spirits as he arrived at the city's State Theatre.

In a rare appearance without his iconic signs, Danny flashed the peace sign as he posed on the star-studded red carpet.

For the glitzy premiere, he cut a smart figure in a black jumper and grey suit trousers, which he styled with a pair of comfortable brown boots.

He shielded his eyes with a pair of vibrant orange aviator shades and used a walking stick as he posed for photographs.

Activist Danny Lim flashed the peace sign as he stepped out at the Australian premiere of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga on Thursday

Danny, 79, who is famous in Sydney for wearing sandwich boards with peaceful political slogans, appeared in good spirits as he arrived at the city's State Theatre

Danny rubbed shoulders with a whole host of A-list stars who attended the event, including the likes of Aussie actor Chris Hemsworth and Anya Taylor-Joy.

A string of Australian talent also descended on the premiere, including Nicole Kidman's niece Lucia Hawley and model Laura Dundovic.

The premiere was to celebrate the upcoming May 24 release of the fifth Mad Max movie, titled Furiosa, which stars Chris and Anya in the leads.

For the glitzy premiere, he cut a smart figure in a black jumper and grey suit trousers, which he styled with a pair of comfortable brown boots

In a rare appearance without his iconic signs, Danny flashed the peace sign as he posed on the star-studded red carpet

Danny is a popular and well-known figure around Sydney's east and inner-west for his slogan sandwich board signs

Danny is a popular and well-known figure around Sydney's east and inner-west for his sandwich board signs.

He has famously sported signs reading 'Peace love, think love love love, smile 4 peace' and 'Be happy, be horny, more love not war'.

He is known for his positive messages about peace and love while he often also poses with strangers for photographs.
Rebel Wilson has celebrated her tell-all memoir Rebel Rising reaching number seven on the New York Times bestseller list.

The Australian actress, 44, shared a post to her Instagram stories on Thursday announcing her book's success.

Over a picture of the list, she added an animated arrow pointing to the title of her memoir.

'Back again at number 7 on the New York Times bestseller list,' she wrote.

Wilson's book has been plagued with controversy ever since it has released, including legal issues involving her former co-star Sacha Baron Cohen.

Rebel Wilson has celebrated her controversial memoir reaching number seven on the New York Times bestseller list

Last month, Wilson lost her legal battle with her former Grimsby co-star to ensure an intact version of her book Rebel Rising is published in Australia.

Instead, a redacted version of the 44-year-old's memoir will be published in Australia and New Zealand, in which the entire chapter where she accused Cohen of inappropriate onset behaviour will be blacked out.

Although the book has already been published in the US, publisher HarperCollins Australia confirmed that Aussie readers will not be able to read the chapter.

Over a picture of the list, she added an animated arrow pointing to the title of her memoir

'For legal reasons we have redacted one chapter in the Australian/New Zealand edition and included an explanatory note accordingly,' they said in a statement.

'That chapter is a very small part of a much bigger story and we're excited for readers to know Rebel's story when the book is released, on Wednesday 8 May.'

The blacked out chapter was titled 'Sacha Baron Cohen and Other A**holes' and described the allegedly inappropriate manner Cohen behaved towards her on the set of the 2016 comedy movie Grimsby.

Last month, Wilson lost her legal battle with her former Grimsby co-star Sacha Baron Cohen to ensure an intact version of her book Rebel Rising is published in Australia after she accused him of inappropriate behaviour on set

Instead, a redacted version of the 44-year-old's memoir will be published in Australia and New Zealand, in which the entire chapter where she accused Cohen will be blacked out. (Pictured: Wilson and Baron Cohen in a scene from Grimsby)

A spokesperson for Baron Cohen said this move was a clear victory for the actor: 'Harper Collins did not fact check this chapter in the book prior to publication. Took the sensible but belated step of deleting Wilson's defamatory claims.

'Printing falsehoods is against the law in the UK and Australia; this is not a "peculiarity" as Ms. Wilson said but a legal principle that has existed for hundreds of years. This is a clear victory for Sacha Baron Cohen.'

In April, Rebel cancelled her Australian book tour which had been scheduled to promote her tell-all memoir.

The actress was set to host an event in Brisbane on May 12 and Melbourne on May 14.

She said her book will be available in the country on May 8, but said she 'won't be able to host any book events due to a changing work schedule'.

In April, Rebel cancelled her Australian book tour which had been scheduled to promote her tell-all memoir
The Repair Shop star Jay Blades has had a week from hell after revealing the tragic death of his uncle just days before his wife Lisa Zbozen announced she had left him.

The grieving presenter, 54, took to Instagram on Monday where he revealed he had just attended the funeral of his uncle after his death a few weeks ago.

Jay's beloved uncle was allegedly stabbed to death by a neighbour following a long-running dispute over a shared alleyway.

On Thursday his wife Lisa said she has left him in an emotional message posted on social media.

Fitness instructor Lisa Marie Zbozen, 43, said she has left the TV star, 54, who she married in November 2022.

The Repair Shop star Jay Blades has had a week from hell after revealing the tragic death of his uncle before his wife Lisa Zbozen announced she had left him

In a statement posted on Instagram, Lisa said: 'I don't know how to say this because it's still really raw'

In a statement posted on Instagram, Lisa said: 'I have been quiet until now, but the papers seem to be picking up this story, but some parts have been definitely missed, so it's forced my hand...

'This was the whole post on a private forum:

'I don't know how to say this because it's still really raw.

'I probably should be really angry but I'm just incredibly sad about the whole thing right now.

'I don't think I've ever cried so much.

'I wanted my husband to love me & keep me safe, and I would love him right back, but it just got worse and worse, until I grabbed a bag of a few thing's & I just left.

'Anyway, That's why there's been no new wkouts [workouts].

'(I would never miss a wkout [workout] - I'd do it on the pavement bare foot & naked if I had to).'

Fitness instructor Lisa Marie Zbozen, 43, said she has left the TV star, 54, who she married in November 2022 (seen last September)

In another post, she said: 'I will admit I'm crying as I type this as I can't believe this is even real. I hope you don't mind if I just have a few days trying to figure out my life as I'm currently in a spare room with a few essentials.

'I don't know what else to say. All my love, A very broken Lisa-Marie x.'

The next Repair Shop episode is due to air on BBC on May 15 at 8pm.

MailOnline has contacted a representative for Jay and BBC has been contacted by for comment.

It comes after Jay's beloved uncle was allegedly stabbed to death by a neighbour on a quiet residential street following a long-running dispute over a shared alleyway, MailOnline revealed this week.

The Repair Shop star announced on Monday that he would be taking time away from social media to process his grief following the death of his uncle, telling his fans the shocking bereavement had left him feeling 'messed up'.

In a statement posted on Instagram, Lisa said: 'I don't think I've ever cried so much. I wanted my husband to love me & keep me safe'

Richard Brathwaite, 72, was found dead on Cromwell Road in Wembley around lunchtime on March 21 after his next door neighbour Derek Brown, who lived on the same street, allegedly knifed him.

Brown, also 72, is said to have launched the attack on Mr Braithwaite after accusing the victim of leaving items in the shared alleyway between their homes.

During the fatal incident, Mr Blades' 71-year-old aunt Annetta was also injured and suffered cuts to her head and face.

The funeral for Mr Brathwaite is thought to have been held on Monday, with the BBC presenter paying tribute to his uncle, who he called a 'really, super nice guy' adding that the alleged killing 'should never have happened to him'.

In an emotional video, still wearing his black suit following the service, he told his Instagram followers: 'Hope you're all well. This is kind of like a public service announcement. I've just been to my uncle's funeral [...].

'Really, super nice guy, shouldn't have happened to him, but it really affected me. I feel a little bit messed up. So what I'm intending on doing is this.

It comes just a day after it was revealed that Jay's beloved uncle (seen) was allegedly stabbed to death by a neighbour following a long-running dispute over a shared alleyway

In an emotional video, still wearing his black suit following the service, he told his Instagram followers: 'This is like a public service announcement. I've just been to my uncle's funeral'

'I'm coming off social media for a bit, and I'll be back in a bit. Going to go and get some therapy and just chill out. Please, take care of each other, take care of yourself, and I'll see you guys soon.'

Emergency services were called to the North London property in March but tragically pronounced Mr Brathwaite dead at 12.30pm. A man was later arrested outside Wembley Police Station.

A special post-mortem examination that took place two days later gave the victim's cause of death as a stab injury.

A man appeared in court on March 26 where he was charged with murder, wounding with intent and possession of a bladed article in a public place.

Prosecutor Deanna Heer KC told the Old Bailey in March the alleged murder took place following a 'long-running neighbour dispute between the defendant and the deceased'.

Judge Sarah Whitehouse KC set a plea hearing for June 11, scheduling a three-week provisional trial from January 27 next year.

Neighbours living on the street told MailOnline they did not know much about Mr Braithwaite who 'kept to himself'.

Jay did not disclose details about the tragedy but said he was having to take time off his social media because the shock had left him feeling 'messed up' (pictured on The Repair Shop)

Mr Blades' video, which was captioned 'good evening all, see you soon', led to an outpouring of support from fans and those within the television community.

BBC and ITV presenter Julia Bradbury wrote: 'Sorry to hear this Jay. Glad you're taking some time out'.

Channel 4's First Dates star Fred Sirieix posted a red heart emoji, while 5News host Claudia-Liza Vanderpuije said: 'Look after you bro. So sorry for your loss.'

BBC Breakfast presenter Louise Minchin added: 'I am so sorry to hear this, sending you love xx'.
Rebel Wilson has shed light on her sweet wedding plans to Ramona Agruma and recalled her dating challenge prior to meeting her partner.

The Pitch Perfect actress, 44, is blazing the promo trail with her memoir Rebel Rising and as part of the UK leg she appeared on This Morning on Thursday.

Speaking to Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard on the ITV magazine show, she revealed she is planning to wed Ramona, with whom she shares daughter Royce Lillian, 18 months, next year and they will likely have a beach wedding.

Rebel came out as queer in June 2022 by posting on Instagram: 'I thought I was searching for a Disney Prince but maybe what I really needed all this time was a Disney Princess' - something alluded to in the chat.

The star, who revealed she lost her virginity at 35, recalled how she challenged herself to date 50 men, before she fell in love with a woman.

Rebel Wilson has shed light on her sweet wedding plans to Ramona Agruma and recalled her dating challenge prior to meeting her partner

The Pitch Perfect actress, 44, is blazing the promo trail with her memoir Rebel Rising and as part of the UK leg she appeared on This Morning on Thursday

Speaking to Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard on the ITV magazine show, she revealed she is planning to wed Ramona, with whom she shares daughter Royce Lillian, 18 months, next year and they will likely have a beach wedding

Rebel and Ramona are pictured at the Vanity Fair Oscars party in March last year

Rebel has been hitting headlines in recent weeks with her promo of Rebel Rising, in which she makes bold allegations about working with Sacha Baron Cohen while also detailing her 'late bloomer' love life.

Speaking about her wedding, she said: 'It'll probably be next year. I feel like it's gonna be a beach wedding but I just don't know what beach!'

On her dating history, the blonde beauty said: 'I was a late bloomer in love, so dating was something I felt very, very shy about going on dates. That's why in 2019, when I was really single I realised I need to go on more dates!...

'I did my own little experiment, when I dated like 50 men - not at the same time - but anyone who asked me out, I had to say yes. I got more and more comfortable dating. I did lose my virginity late compared to a lot of people - 35 years old.'

In the memoir, she divulged that she didn't lose her virginity until she was 35. Rebel then explained that she had shared the detail in the hopes that it will help young people because 'not everybody has to lose their virginity as a teenager.'

She said: 'People can wait till they're ready or wait till they're a bit more mature...

'And I think that could be a positive message. You obviously don't have to wait until you're in your thirties like me, but you shouldn't feel pressure as a young person'.

In the past, she even lied about having had sex just to not have to talk about it.

Speaking about her wedding, she said: 'It'll probably be next year. I feel like it's gonna be a beach wedding but I just don't know what beach!'

Rebel has been hitting headlines in recent weeks with her promo of Rebel Rising, in which she makes bold allegations about working with Sacha Baron Cohen while also detailing her 'late bloomer' love life (pictured together in their 2016 film Grimsby)

Rebel first met Ramona in 2021, and they announced their engagement in February 2023. Rebel confirmed news of Rebel in a gushing social media post at the time

Speaking about how happy she is now since welcoming Royce via surrogate with Ramona, she went on: 'There's a lot of things I've had to overcome in my life but obviously, the end of the story is a very happy story because I am engaged...

'I have I struggled with fertility with something called PCOS [Polycystic ovary syndrome] and the end of the day my story is I have a beautiful baby daughter who just she melts my heart! She's just started talking and she says like, 'I love you'...

'I went through five rounds of IVF to get her and it was worth every moment of that emotional rollercoaster and anyone who's dealing with fertility stuff knows what I'm talking about.'

Rebel first met Ramona in 2021, and they announced their engagement in February 2023. Rebel confirmed news of Rebel in a gushing social media post at the time.

'Beyond proud to announce the birth of my first child, Royce Lillian, born this past week via surrogate,' she wrote.
A statue with its arms raised in supplication stands at the edge of the tents at UC Berkeley where a pro-Palestinian tent encampment remains on the steps of Sproul Hall in Berkeley on Thursday night. Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle

In a sign of rising tensions among Bay Area campus protesters, three people were injured at UC Berkeley in a confrontation between pro-Palestinian protesters and counterprotesters, according to videos and a university statement Thursday confirming the skirmish.

The incident Wednesday evening, spurred by a man grabbing an Israeli flag from a counterprotester, came as larger conflicts erupted for a second night at UCLA. Police descended on a pro-Palestinian encampment there, dismantling it, and arrested dozens of protesters.

At campuses across the country, police have also arrested hundreds of students as protests have turned violent or demonstrators have seized buildings and refused to leave.

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So far, encampments at Stanford, San Francisco State University  and, as of Thursday, at the University of San Francisco  have remained peaceful, with no arrests. Stanford has warned students that they risk arrest because their encampment and banners violate campus policy.

Students cover a candle at a vigil for Palestinians near a student encampment on campus at San Francisco State University on Monday. Benjamin Fanjoy/Special to the Chronicle

Emily Williams, a Stanford junior acting as spokesperson for the protesters, said her group is wary of how administrators will respond to events at UCLA and is evaluating how to continue pushing for the university to divest from companies with ties to Israels war in Gaza.

It was insane to watch because it was two nights of repression, she said of UCLA.

UC Berkeley has issued no warning similar to Stanfords. But shortly before 8 p.m. on Wednesday, the campus sent out an alert that an aggravated assault occurred at Upper Sproul Plaza, near where students set up about 60 tents in protest of Israels war in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis it has triggered. The student-run Daily Californian first reported the incident.

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Two videos posted by a group called Students Supporting Israel show the incident.

In one video, a small group of counterprotesters holds an Israeli flag and faces the far larger rally on the steps of Sproul Hall as a speaker reminds the crow, We are here for Palestine! There is a genocide happening in Gaza today because of the Zionist, Israeli occupation forces, which have destroyed every single university in Gaza! Which have killed over 35,000 Palestinians!

The crowd boos as a man is heard calling, Hamas! Another man is heard shouting, Go back to Europe, colonizers!

The other video, showing a close-up of one man whose face is covered by a blue keffiyeh, reveals the skirmish more clearly. The woman holding the camera asks him to step away from her because hes getting too close.

Suddenly, another man wearing gray sunglasses lunges between them as the woman cries, Hey! The man in sunglasses is seen yanking the blue and white Israeli flag as the woman screams, Oh, my god!

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A tussle ensues. A group of people grabs back the flag and someone shouts, Break it up! as the crowd chants, Free, free Palestine!

On Thursday, campus officials issued a statement urging everyone to avoid engaging in pointless provocation and physical conflict and condemning violence by protesters on either side.

Faculty and staff take the floor during a pro-Palestinian protest at the UC Berkeley student encampment in Berkeley on Wednesday. Michaela Vatcheva/Special to The Chronicle

We have been assured that UCPD will pursue investigations into the alleged assault and attempted robbery, said the statement, which reaffirmed that everyone has a right to their beliefs, to freedom of speech, and to protection from harm.

The injuries from the incident were minor, the university said.

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On Thursday, the protesters had set up additional makeshift barricades  about 10 folding tables on their side on the front of Sproul Hall, as well as plywood barriers to block steps and paths around the building.

Vengeance, read one barrier.

The incident follows more violent clashes between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protesters at UCLA that began Tuesday night. Nearly 200 counter-protesters sent up fireworks, breached barriers surrounding the tent encampment on campus and aimed tear gas at the protesters, according to the Daily Bruin, UCLAs student newspaper.

Overnight on Thursday, the situation erupted again as police arrested more than 200 pro-Palestine protesters in a tense confrontation, dismantling encampments and setting off flash-bang devices, the Los Angeles Times reported.

UCLA moved classes online for the rest of the week.

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At Cal Poly Humboldt, administrators canceled in-person classes for the rest of the semester, which ends May 10, after protesters took over the administration building and caused more than $1 million in damage. Police arrested 31 student protesters there.

A protester gets searched by police after a raid at the occupied campus at Cal Poly Humboldt in the early hours of Tuesday, April 30. Manuel Orbegozo/Special to the Chronicle

The melees at UCLA and Cal Poly Humboldt echo the mass arrests and civil disobedience that have swept through similar protests across the country.

On Thursday, Republicans in the California Legislature responded, saying they want to withhold funding from state-funded campuses that have shut down instruction as a way to urge school administrators to restore order immediately.

The harsh stance against administrators navigating campus tensions mirrors that of U.S. House Republicans who have called several university presidents before Congress and accused them of enabling antisemitism on their campuses. Those tense interactions contributed to the decisions by the presidents of Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania to resign.

The state effort by Republicans is not expected to succeed, however, because Democrats hold a supermajority in the state Legislature.

Far more peaceful is the encampment at Stanford, which has become a classroom of sorts.

Protest art hangs at Stanfords student encampment in support of the Palestinian liberation in Palo Alto on Wednesday. The encampment is referred to by students as the Peoples University. Clara Mokri/Special to the Chronicle

David Palumbo-Liu, a professor of comparative literature and an outspoken advocate of Palestinian rights, held class amid the protesters tents Thursday morning.

Sitting in a circle on the encampments blue tarp, about a dozen undergraduates discussed the novel Mornings in Jenin by Palestinian author Susan Abulhawa, a multigenerational chronicle of a familys forcible removal from their village after the formation of Israel in 1948.

Palumbo-Liu said he approves of how Stanford has handled the encampment so far, which he described as nonconfrontational.

Stanford has sent letters threatening disciplinary action to at least 13 students accused of participating in the encampment, student organizers said Monday.

Im hopeful that Stanford will go the way of Berkeley and, I think, Harvard, which is, Lets let kids graduate. Lets just resist the temptation to grandstand and show Congress were not antisemitic,  Palumbo-Liu said.

On Thursday, UC Berkeleys encampment was similarly peaceful on the sunny morning.

A father and his 16-year-old son nearby, who had just flown in from Hawaii, asked workers how to get inside Sproul Hall, an administration building, where their campus tour was to begin. Its also where protesters first erected tents on April 22.

But the tour was canceled. There was no way to get into the building, the workers said.

Well just have to do a self-guided tour, shrugged the father, who declined to give his name. He had heard the campus was in turmoil, but said, It doesnt seem to be as bad as theyre making it out to be.

Students set up an encampment at University of San Francisco on May 2, joining others from 140 campuses around the U.S. calling for a cease-fire in Gaza and for their schools to divest ties to Israel. Yuri Avila/The Chronicle

Also on Thursday, students at USF, a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, joined some 140 campuses around the U.S. calling for a cease-fire in Gaza and for their school to divest itself of ties to Israel.
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Sofia Vergara is one of the top beauties in Hollywood.

And she has no intention of letting her looks slide, the 51-year-old siren told the new digital issue of People magazine.

The Modern Family veteran - who shared why she didn't have kids with ex Joe Manganiello - admitted that she will push back on nature for as long as she possibly can. 'I'm going to fight it every step of the way!' said the Griselda actress.

For now, she feels amazing: 'I feel great. I know I dont look the same. But I dont think I am going to ever be the woman that has the courage to be, like, all-white hair.'

She has also tried every silly beauty treatment that is out there: 'Ive done it all. I mean, you tell me to put cement under your eye, youre going to look younger, Ill do it immediately. I do it all.'

The interview also covers her beauty secrets, what her workouts are like, how she is a sugar addict and why she won't cut her long hair.

Sofia Vergara is one of the top beauties in Hollywood. And she has no intention of letting her looks slide, the 51-year-old siren told the new digital issue of People magazine. Seen left in 2022 and right in the 1980s

'Its like I put coconut oil on my head. I put it on my feet. Ive wrapped myself in plastic with Aquaphor up to the neck. Ill do it. I dont care. Its not stupid,' she noted.

And the America's Got Talent revealed her real beauty secret that anyone can do: sleep.

'I take sleeping seriously now. Before, I could survive on six hours, now I know that I dont look good if I dont sleep more,' added the designer.

If she has a photo shoot, she tries to wake up earlier because she needs time to get rid of the 'puffiness': 'Our job as actors, its not like, put your glasses on, and go pick up your kid at school or go and sit in a desk. You have to be camera-ready and do your job. But it takes longer now that Im older,' the star noted.

She also hops in the shower every morning to lather up.

'I wash my hair every single day of my life. I mean, unless Im sick or I have to catch a plane at 3 in the morning, then I dont have time,' noted the diva.

'But I wash my hair every day. Everybody always told me its going to ruin your hair, and it never has.'

And she won't cut her long hair off.

'In Latin America, I mean they used to tell you that once you hit 40, youre not supposed to have this crazy long hair. So Im always thinking like, Is it time? Is it time to cut it? I dont know, I dont want to feel like old-fashioned [with] short hair.

One of the biggest shockers of the interview is that she works out lightly but often: 'I have bad knees, so Ive never been really into crazy workouts. Ive worked out kind of like an older person my whole life. I do little weights like this [she curls up her arm], but I am constant. I do it often because I cant do spinning or any of those sexy exercises now.'

And she loves to eat cake often as she is a self-proclaimed sugar addict.

The Modern Family veteran admitted that she will push back on nature for as long as she possibly can; seen in an ad for her Walmart swimwear line this year

For now, she feels amazing: 'I feel great. I know I dont look the same. But I dont think I am going to ever be the woman that has the courage to be, like, all-white hair.' Seen left this year and seen right in Miami in the 1980s

'I'm going to fight it every step of the way!' said the Griselda actress; seen last summer in Ravello, Itay

Sofia loves to keep herself looking her very best probably because of where she grew up: in Colombia.

'I think because I'm Latin, we always grow up thinking about looking good, doing your hair, your makeup. It's something that makes you feel good,' she said.

'I love beauty products. I love makeup, I love clothes. And I think now that I'm older, it's great, because you know exactly what you like, what looks good on you, what doesn't look good on you. I don't do what is in fashion. I just do what feels good, makes me feel confident and beautiful.'

And she did not like covering up her looks for her latest series, she admitted: 'I did Griselda for six months. It was a horrific [look],' she said, laughing. 'It was torture.'

Sofia also said that she is grateful that she is good looking because it helped open doors: 'I always knew how I looked, and I was always very thankful, because at the end of the day, you have to be.'

Shockingly, as a teenager she was 'very skinny and not very voluptuous at that time.'

She said: 'So it took me some years to fill in, and then I started feeling confident. But at the beginning I was like, "Oh, I don't have anything." And then God punished me. [Laughs].'

She has also tried every silly beauty treatment that is out there: 'Ive done it all. I mean, you tell me to put cement under your eye, youre going to look younger, Ill do it immediately. I do it all.' Seen in Italy last summer

She also revealed why she did not want to have children with ex-husband Joe Manganiello after welcoming her first and only child Manolo 32 years ago.

During her marriage to Magic Mike star Joe, 47, it never felt like the right time for them to have a child.

'There's things in life that might sound like good ideas, but they're not,' she explained in the digital issue of People.

'I was a mother already,' she said, referring to son Manolo, whom she shares with her first husband, Joe Gonzalez.

'I know what it means to be a good mother or to try to be the best mother that you can, and that takes a lot of sacrifices, takes a lot of energy,' she shared, before explaining that she didn't believe she was capable of doing that again at a certain point in her life.

Vergara split from Joe last year and they finalized their divorce this year - and last year, she admitted that their break up was due, at least in part, to the fact that he wanted children, while she did not.

Vergara has shared why she decided to not have more children after welcoming her son Manolo 32 years ago. The 51-year-old told the digital issue of People that it just was not the right time to have a baby with husband of seven years, Magic Mike star Joe Manganiello
Selena Gomez is feeling 'inspired' by the next generation when it comes to mental health.

The 31-year-old actress - who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder 2020 - hosted a special event for her Rare Impact fund on Wednesday.

She later revealed that the company had raised $7 million for mental health causes and took to social media to explain that she was left with 'so much hope' afterwards.

She wrote on Instagram: 'Our 3rd annual @rarebeauty Mental Health Summit has me leaving inspired by the next generation, filled with so much hope, and grateful to each of you for being on this meaningful journey with us.

'Mental health means so much to me and I'm honored we get to share this mission with the world together.

Selena Gomez is feeling 'inspired' by the next generation when it comes to mental health. The 31-year-old actress - who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder 2020 - hosted a special event for her Rare Impact fund on Wednesday

She later revealed that the company had raised $7 million for mental health causes and took to social media to explain that she was left with 'so much hope' afterwards

'Thank you to everyone who joined us and continues to use their voice for good!'

The Only Murders in the Building star spoke with U.S. Surgeon General Vice Admiral Vivek Murthy during the event, where the pair discussed 'the power of social connection and how communities, like the one Selena has created.'

And he claimed that the Rare Beauty founder had been 'paving the way for self-acceptance, support, and healing' around the world.

In October 2023, the former Disney Channel star hosted her first annual Rare Impact Fund Benefit at Nya Studios in Hollywood and gave a speech in which she opened up about how she had 'struggled' until her diagnosis gave her the tools to deal with difficult times.

She said: 'I struggled with the world inside my head for a long time and I felt lost and I felt hopeless at times.

'And in 2020, I received my diagnosis of bipolar disorder.

The Only Murders in the Building star spoke with U.S. Surgeon General Vice Admiral Vivek Murthy during the event, where the pair discussed 'the power of social connection and how communities, like the one Selena has created'

She wrote on Instagram: 'Our 3rd annual @rarebeauty Mental Health Summit has me leaving inspired by the next generation, filled with so much hope, and grateful to each of you for being on this meaningful journey with us.' Seen with Murthy and Elyse Cohen

(L-R) Anijah Lezama, Raquel Mata, Judith Martinez, Cohen, Gomez, and Natasha Baron

'Mental health means so much to me and I'm honored we get to share this mission with the world together,' she added

'And to be honest, everything quickly changed.

'I actually got the knowledge and the answers that I had been desperate for for so long.

'And understanding that obviously makes me become more aware of it and I'm less afraid than I used to be.'
Jack Whitehall was stopped by police as he filmed new psychological thriller series Malice in Stockwell, London on Thursday.

The comedian, 35, has a role in the new Amazon show alongside The X Files star David Duchovny and Game Of Thrones actress Carice van Houten.

For the scene, Jack was behind the wheel of a car when he was pulled over and questioned by a policeman.

The actor was seen chatting to his co-star who played the cop between scenes while members of the crew stood nearby.

Jack was dressed casually for filming in a green jumper with navy trousers and a black jacket.

Jack Whitehall was stopped by police as he filmed new psychological thriller series Malice in Stockwell, London on Thursday

The comedian, 35, has a role in the new Amazon show alongside The X Files star David Duchovny and Game of Thrones actress Carice van Houten

For the scene, Jack was behind the wheel of a car when he was pulled over and questioned by a policeman

As filming for the day came to an end, the comedian was seen hugging members of the cast and crew.

According to Deadline, Malice follows a young man (Jack) who seeks to infiltrate the world of a wealthy family, lead by David and Carice.

Jack has been enoying his new role as father in recent months after he and his girlfriend Roxy Horner welcomed daughter Elsie in September.

Jack and Roxy met during his trip to Australia and quickly fell into a relationship when the pandemic and lockdown hit.

Long before Jack, Roxy had made a name for herself. Signed to Premier Management, she appeared in British Vogue at just 17.

She and Jack decided on the name Elsie for their daughter two weeks after her birth, though she very nearly had a 'stripper' name.

Elsie was born in the Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital, famous for a host of Royal births, most recently The Princess of Wales' three children.

Speaking of becoming a father on This Morning, Jack said: 'I still feel like I am very much in the trenches, my baby daughter is amazing and it's all so full on'

The actor was seen chatting to his co-star who played the cop between scenes while members of the crew stood nearby

Jack was dressed casually for filming in a green jumper with navy trousers and a black jacket

According to Deadline, Malice follows a young man (Jack) who seeks to infiltrate the world of a wealthy family, lead by David and Carice

Jack posed for pictues with members of the crew during a break from filming

As filming for the day came to an end, the comedian was seen hugging members of the cast and crew

Jack has been enoying his new role as father in recent months after he and his girlfriend Roxy Horner welcomed daughter Elsie in September

'People do say there is a honeymoon period and the first week was so amazing, and blissful, Then by the second week I was googling boarding schools, it happened that quickly.'

Jack, Roxy, and Elsie live in a 12 million converted pub mansion - complete with a swimming pool, gym, and sauna.

In 2023, Jack co-lead sci-fi rom-com Robots with Shailene Woodley, and he is due to appear in the film Silent Retreat.
Brooke Shields is making the rounds promoting her upcoming Netflix rom-com movie Mother of the Bride.

On Thursday, the Blue Lagoon actress, 58, stopped by Good Morning America in New York City to talk about her film, which co-stars Chad Michael Murray, Benjamin Bratt and Miranda Cosgrove.

The mom of two hammed it up for the cameras as she exited her SUV to make her way into the studio.

Brooke wore a knee-length cream-colored trench coat over a tan top, brown leather skirt and brown boots.

Her trademark long, brown hair was down and in loose waves falling over her shoulders and black Wayfarer-style sunglasses were perched on her famous face.

Brooke Shields is making the rounds promoting her upcoming Netflix rom com Mother of the Bride

On Thursday, the Blue Lagoon actress, 58, stopped by Good Morning America to talk about her film, which co-stars Chad Michael Murray, Benjamin Bratt and Miranda Cosgrove

In Mother of the Bride, Brooke discovers that her daughter is marrying the son of the man who broke her heart in college.

During her GMA interview, the Suddenly Susan alum talked about shooting in Thailand for almost three months and praised her fellow cast, including Lucifer actress Rachael Harris.

'It was unbelievable in Thailand, it sort of harkened back to what I remember movie making was, Blue Lagoon, we were all just concentrated in one area and we had to become a family,' she gushed of her experience making the movie.

And she had nothing but compliments for her fellow cast, calling Cosgrove 'so lovely and so sweet,' before saying, 'I felt so lucky to be able to be in that environment,' she added.

She even learned pickleball, a sport she'd been resisting, while on the film, revealing she took intense lessons which led her to believe she was a good player.

Then she got home and played pickleball against her husband Chris Henchy.

'I realized I wasn't good at all,' she said with a laugh and revealed she intends to keep playing the popular sport.

In Mother of the Bride, 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).

The mom of two hammed it up for the cameras as she exited her SUV to make her way into the studio

Her trademark long, brown hair was down and in loose waves falling over her shoulders and black Wayfarer-style sunglasses were perched on her famous face

In Mother of the Bride, Brooke discovers that her daughter is marrying the son of the man who broke her heart in college

'It was unbelievable in Thailand, it sort of harkened back to what I remember movie making was, Blue Lagoon, we were all just concentrated in one area and we had to become a family,' she gushed of her experience making the movie

And she had nothing but compliments for her fellow cast, calling Cosgrove 'so lovely and so sweet,' before adding, 'I felt so lucky to be able to be in that environment,' she added

Shields executive produces the film and 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.'

'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 in early April.

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 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

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'
Bachelor alum Courtney Robertson, 40, has welcomed her third child with her attorney husband Humberto Preciado.

The couple shared that her third baby, son Gabriel Ricardo Preciado, was born on Sunday.

'Party of five ready to rock n roll!' she said in a statement to People as she was seen with the newborn in her arms.

'Introducing Gabriel Ricardo Preciado. Born April 28th, weighing in at 7.2 lbs., 19.5 inches long and as sweet as they come. Everyone is happy, healthy and adjusting nicely.'

The star is best known for being a contestant on the 16th season of The Bachelor, where she got engaged to Ben Flajnik.

Bachelor alum Courtney Robertson, 40, has welcomed her third child with her husband Humberto Preciado. The couple shared that her third baby, son Gabriel Ricardo Preciado, was born on Sunday. 'Party of five ready to rock n roll!' she said in a statement to People as she was seen with the newborn in her arms

The brunette beauty from Arizona seen pregnant with her third child

She also dated Bachelor veteran Arie Luyendyk Jr for a year after she split from Ben.

Also in the new snapshots was Courtney's husband Ricardo and their two other children as they posed by a cream colored sofa in a living room setting.

They already have son Joaquin, age three, and daughter Paloma, age two, who wore blue clothing for the new photo shoot.

She announced in November 2023 that she was expecting her third child.

The brunette beauty from Arizona met Humberto in 2019 and they wed in 2020.

They tied the knot in an intimate outdoor ceremony in Sedona, Arizona.

The wedding location held a special significance to Robertson, whose parents were wed near the Tlaquepaque Arts & Shopping Village 40 years prior.

They already have son Joaquin, age three, and daughter Paloma, age two

The brunette beauty from Arizona met Humberto in 2019 and they wed in 2020

The spot was also a tribute to Courtney's mother, who passed away in 2019.

'My mom was in my heart all day,' she told People at the time.

'Tlaquepaque has always been a special place for my family. So I love that I can keep coming with Joaquin and Humberto and it's special for us too.'

'It was just surreal to watch my dream come to life,' she added. 'We've had so many life events this year. And I'm so excited for our next phase as a family.'

Robertson shot to notoriety on Season 16 of the hit show as a 'villain'

Marry me! The model won a proposal from San Francisco resident Ben Flajnik in 2012

The two split shortly thereafter. They're seen in April 2012 above

Robertson shot to notoriety on Season 16 of the hit show as a 'villain.'

The model won a proposal from Ben Flajnik in 2012, but the two split shortly thereafter.

Speaking about her now partner, Courtney revealed, 'I was giving up on dating. But I'm so glad I waited.'

She continued, 'Humberto feels like home to me. And I know I finally met the right one,' adding, 'hes been everything I ever dreamt of.'
His curly blonde locks and chiselled jawline won him heartthrob status in the 80s during his time on Just Good Friends.

But now more than 40 years later Paul Nicholas is playing a very different role as the bumbling old Major in John Cleeses stage adaptation of his BBC hit show Fawlty Towers.

The 79-year-old said: Well, Im at that stage in my life where Peter Pan is no longer an option.

Im at the age where these kinds of roles come up - I played Colonel Pickering recently and thats not dissimilar.

His comments come as John Cleese revealed it took twenty minutes for him and his then-wife, Connie Booth, to come up with the concept for Fawlty Towers.

Paul Nicholas was a heartthrob in the early 80s wit his chiseled jaw and curly blonde hair but he's now playing bumbling old Major in John Cleese s stage adaptation of Fawlty Towers

John Cleese with the cast of the West End show. Right to Left: Anna-Jane Casey, John Cleese, Hemi Yeroham, Adam Jackson-Smith and Victoria Fox

John Cleese with the original cast of Fawlty Towers, the hit BBC sitcom

John Cleese was all smiles as he arrived at the sneak peak of the West End show dressed in a pair of blue jeans with dark brown and grey trainers, a plain black t-shirt, and a light beige jacket

Adam Jackson-Smith (left) plays Basil Fawlty in the new theatrical adaptation and stars opposite Paul Nicholas

Cleese and Nicholas posing together and smiling despite the gloomy weather. Nicholas donned a smart suit with grey trousers and a black double-breasted jacket with gold buttons to compliment his gold and blue tie

It comes as the West End stage adaptation of the hit BBC series will have its first run on Saturday and Cleese declared, 'It's much better than it was on television.'

Reflecting on how the show came about, the 84-year-old said: I had lunch with Jimmy Gilmore, the BBC director and producer, and said I didnt want to do any more Monty Pythons.

I said: Id like to do something with my wife because we laugh at the same things and shes a wonderful actress and great at dialogue.

He told me to go away and talk to her and said he would commission.

Connie and I had a chat that lasted about twenty minutes and we agreed we were going to set it in this hotel that wed stayed in when the Pythons had gone down to Torquay to shoot for the Monty Python show. Connie was in the hotel quite a lot which people forget.'

The 12-episode sitcom is based on a real-life hotel owner, Donald Sinclair, who ran the Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay and the couple became fascinated with his incredibly rude behaviour.

Cleese posing with a poster for his new play which he has adapted for the stage

Adam and Victoria onstage taking on the roles of chambermaid Polly Sherman and hotel manger Basil Fawlty which were based on real people at a hotel in Torquay

The cast performing the new play based on this hit BBC sitcom. The performance and Q&A is the first real sneak peak of the hotly anticipated show

John Cleese joins the cast for a Q&A following the sneak peak performance. During the live session, Cleese said: 'It's much better than it was on television.'

Cleese and Jackson-Smith posing outside the Apollo Theatre in central London. Its been 50 years since the first show was recorded at the BBC studios in December 1974

Cleese continued: So I rang Jimmy Gilmore up and I said: Wed like to set it in a hotel, to which he said, Fine.

And that was how the BBC used to work in those days - Now it would go through three committees none of whom really would have any idea what they were talking about.

Cleese was married to Ms Booth, 83, from 1968 to 1978 after they both met on the comedy circuit while studying drama in New York.

The couple co-wrote and starred opposite each other in both series of Fawlty Towers with Ms Booth playing the chambermaid Polly Sherman - although they divorced before the second series was finished and aired.

Its been 50 years since the first show was first recorded at the BBC studios in December 1974.

The new cast of the hit show are the spitting image of the original actors. The play was written by Cleese and his wife Connie Booth although the pair had divorced before the second series had aired

Cleese posing with Anna-Jane Casey who wore the iconic outfit of her character Sybil- a pink suit and white ruffled blouse with her curly hair piled on top of her head

Cleese towers over Anthony who plays bumbling Major in the new play. The duo opted for different outfits with Cleese going for a more relaxed look in contrast to Anthony's formal suit

Cleese with his wife Connie who played Polly in the original BBC show. The pair divorced in 1978 but there are rumour Booth will be sneaking into the West End revival

The original Basil Fawlty posing with he new Polly, Victoria Fox who wore her blonde hair on top of her head in a bun and wore a sky-blue dress as part of her costume for the photocall outside the Apollo Theatre, central London

And now the Monty Python creator has adapted his hit series into a stage show which will have its first run this Saturday at the Apollo Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue in London.

Cleese declared today: 'The stage show is better than it was on television.'

It is reported Ms Booth, who lives in North London with her second husband the renowned American theatre critic John Lahr, will sneak into the West End revival.

Mr Lahr told the Mail: 'She'll be going to see it - probably not on opening night but she'll be there.'

A source added: 'She is looking forward to seeing it but she likes to keep a low profile these days and stay very much out of the limelight.'
Colt Ford revealed he 'died two times' when he had a heart attack last month.

The country rap musician, 54, recalled having no recollection of his performance at the Dierks Bentley's Whiskey Row venue in Gilbert, Arizona after having a heart attack once he got off the stage.

He said that he 'died two times,' when one of the hosts on Big D & Bubba's radio show asked if he had been 'clinically dead.'

He ended up at an Intensive Care Unit at the Banner Desert Medical Center in Mesa, Arizona, according to a press release the day after the incident on April 4.

And amid his recovery, he admitted that he is still 'not 100 percent out of the woods.'

Colt Ford revealed he 'died two times' when he had a heart attack last month

The country rap musician, 54, recalled having no recollection of his performance at the Dierks Bentley's Whiskey Row venue in Gilbert, Arizona after having a heart attack once he got off the stage

'I didn't even remember coming out here to do a show in Phoenix, and apparently we played this great, sold-out show and it was incredible,' he said during the phone interview.

'I walked back to the bus, texted my fiancee, "Hi baby," and fell over dead.'

He explained that because his bandmates decided to check on him and found him, they saved his life.

'They're like, "It's really hot in there." I'm getting to kind of be an old guy now and they came out and checked on me and then all of a sudden, they were like "Oh God." That's when all hell broke loose.'

Ford explained that the band and Bentley transported him to a hospital, where medical professionals determined he needed Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO).

According to the Mayo Clinic, ECMO is when blood is pumped outside of the body and oxygenated in order to help vital organs like the heart rest while recovering from serious illness and injury.

However, Ford explained that the first hospital did not have the facilities to perform the procedure, so they had to get him to 'another hospital ASAP.'

'Bentley's trauma team got me [to a second hospital],' he continued. '[I] died on the way over [again] and they brought me back and saved my life.'

He said that he 'died two times,' when one of the hosts on Big D & Bubba 's radio show asked if he had been 'clinically dead.' He also admitted that he is still 'not 100 percent out of the woods'

He said he had just gotten off the stage and was texting his now-wife Megan Ford when he collapsed at his tour bus

He was taken to the Intensive Care Unit at the Banner Desert Medical Center before being transferred to the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, according to his spokesperson at the time.

In the days following his heart attack, it was reported that he was 'stable' but still in 'critical condition.'

And in videos of his performance, he seemingly showed no signs of feeling ill while performing on stage.

Ford has a history of health problems, including eye cancer and autoimmune disease Myasthenia Gravis.

Three years ago, he revealed he had undergone surgery for eye cancer, telling People: 'The doctor told me I was a week to 10 days from having to go on full chemo.'

He first went to the doctor after a friend noticed a spot on his eye.

He said: 'I went to a doctor in Georgia that specialized in cataracts and all that stuff, and I remember them saying, "This ain't good" and "You gotta get this out,"' recalled Ford, 51. 'They wanted me to go see a cornea specialist, Dr. Uyen Tran, in Nashville, and that's when I started getting really nervous.'

Following surgery, Ford resumed his music career and was able to treat the cancer with chemotherapy drops.

Ford has a history of health problems, including eye cancer and autoimmune disease Myasthenia Gravis. Last year, he opened up about his health battles and how it encouraged him to take care of himself

Last year, he opened up about his health battles and how it encouraged him to take care of himself.

He told Taste of Country: 'I've gotten in a lot better shape, and I just feel great. My life is in a great place. I'm getting married in October. I found my person. And I'm just as happy and excited as I've been about music, which is kind of hard to believe. I feel like I'm not even making my best music.

'Last year, I got diagnosed with an autoimmune disease called Myasthenia Gravis. it's been tough. The last year quite honestly got really hard for me. It's a disease and there's no cure for this.'

He said the condition 'affects the muscles in your face, your eyes, and your throat. It hadn't really affected my throat, but it really affected my eye. I had no control over my right eye. It really messes with your vision. I could see perfectly out of either eye, but then I would look together and I'd see three of you and you would be melting together like a lava lamp,' he explained.

'There is a terrible fatigue factor that comes from it. They say there's no cure, but this doctor has me on these supplements that are really helping me. I'm in a dang better place than I was.'
Don Gilet has been announced as the new lead in crime drama Death In Paradise as he steps up to the role as Detective Inspector Mervin Wilson.

The actor, 57, will make his debut in a feature-length Christmas special later this year, before a brand-new series in 2025 as his character arrives on the idyllic island of Saint Marie from London, and isn't overly pleased with his new surroundings.

But prior to his role in the sunny Caribbean, the star is best known for appearing in EastEnders and Sherwood as well as an appearance in Doctor Who.

Don made his first ever television debut on the Channel 4 dating show Streetmate, where he was interviewed as the friend of a participant.

However he got his breakout role in 2001 as Johnny Lindo in Babyfather, where he starred opposite his future EastEnders co-star Diane Parish.

Don Gilet has been announced as the new lead in crime drama Death In Paradise as he steps up to the role as Detective Inspector Mervin Wilson

But prior to his role in the sunny Caribbean, the star is best known for appearing in EastEnders and Sherwood as well as an appearance in Doctor Who

Inspector Mervin won't be the first detective Don has played, after he previously bagged the starring role as Detective Sergeant Nicky Cole in 55 Degrees North.

Doctor Who fans may also recognise him from the 2006 Christmas episode The Runaway Pride.

He later joined EastEnders in 2008 as serial killer Lucas Johnson. Don was nominated for Villain of the Year at The British Soap Awards in 2010 and 2011.

His character left his former wife Trina to die in a raking accident and later murdered Denise's ex-husband Owen Turner.

In July 2010 he left the soap after his character was arrested for their murders, before he rejoined for a spell in 2016 and another in 2020 until he left again in 2021.

In 2014 the star joined Holby City as Consultant Anaesthetist Jesse Law and also played psychologist Blake Albrighton in TV series The Loch, with his now rumoured partner Siobhan Finneran.

Don keeps his life away from the screen fairly private but he shares a 17-year-old son Flynn with his former wife and fellow actress Tracy Whitewell.

The pair used to live together in Bedfordshire, however it is unknown when they split.

Don Gilet is set to put his detective hat on as he has been announced as the new lead in crime drama Death In Paradise

He then made his breakout acting appearance as Johnny Lindo (R) in Babyfather, where he starred opposite his future EastEnders co-star Diane Parish

He joined EastEnders in 2008 as serial killer Lucas Johnson. Don was nominated for Villain of the Year at The British Soap Awards in 2010 and 2011

In 2014 the star joined Holby City as Consultant Anaesthetist Jesse Law and also played psychologist Blake Albrighton in TV series The Loch, with his now rumoured partner Siobhan Finneran (pictured in The Loch)

Discussing his son in an interview with The Sunday Post back in 2014, Don said: 'Flynn's eight and he's pretty rambunctious.

'I think he's got some of my playful genes... I have fun at work but when I get home I have to become a father and keep an eye on him not getting too wild. He's a lovely kid but he's very active and loves to run about the place.

'If you wind him up to play you have to allow the time to calm him before he beds down at night.'

More recently Don has been romatically linked to Happy Valley star Siobhan Finneran, although the pair have never confirmed their relationship.

They were last seen together at the TV Choice Awards in February and were spotted holding hands on the red carpet.

Speaking about his new role in the popular BBC show Don said: 'Being offered the new lead role in Death in Paradise feels like a deeply loved and incredibly precious jewel has been placed in my hands.

More recently Don has been romatically linked to Happy Valley star Siobhan Finneran, although the pair have never confirmed their relationship (pictured at the TV Choice Awards in February)

It comes after former show lead Ralf Little , 44, quit the lead role in Death In Paradise after five years with a final appearance in March's series 13 finale

'This is a big show, with a big heart and the love continually grows for it. It is my intention to never lose sight of that and to remain grateful, humbled and dedicated.

'Even during those testing times when every sinew is screaming at me to run off the set and dive into the sea, swimming pool or an ice-cold beer  whichever happens to be closer at the time!'

Tim Key, Executive Producer for Red Planet Pictures, added: 'Don is an amazing actor and we're delighted that he's joining us as the show enters another exciting new era.

'We've got huge plans for the new series and beyond, and I can't wait for the audience to meet Mervin and to see what we've got in store.'

It comes after former show lead Ralf Little, 44, quit the lead role in Death In Paradise after five years with a final appearance in March's series 13 finale.
Leave it to Mariah Carey to get glammed up on a rollercoaster.

The music icon - who celebrated her 55th birthday in March - was caught getting her hair done while on Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure at Universal Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida on Wednesday.

Carey's stylist wasted no time ensuring his client looked her absolute best once the rollercoaster came to a stop.

He brushed the star's long waves as she sat with a smile in the adjacent coaster.

Once her stylist's work was complete, Mariah's hair looked camera ready once again.

Mariah Carey got her hair styled while on a rollercoaster at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida

Her glam team appeared to jump into action once the ride had come to a stop, smoothing out her windswept tresses.

During the fast-paced ride, Mariah's long hair blew with the breeze as she soared through the track alongside her stylist.

Mariah was clad in jeans, fashionable sunglasses, and a custom airbrushed 'Mimi' shirt. Her stylist also wore a similarly designed top.

Mariah was at the theme park celebrating her twins Moroccan and Monroe's 13th birthday.

She marked the occasion on Instagram on Wednesday, sharing playful video of her with daughter Morocco.

'Kicking off the birthday celebrations of the year!! #demkids #roeroe #rockytobefeaturedlater,' she captioned the post.

Mariah shares her two children with her ex-husband, Nick Cannon.

Carey's stylist wasted no time ensuring his client looked her absolute best

He managed to comb through her tresses from the adjacent seat

Mariah was at the theme park to celebrate her twins Moroccan and Monroe's 13th birthday

Mariah's hair whipped with the breeze as the ride kicked off

The birthday celebrations comes after Mariah ended her third Las Vegas residency.

The star took to the stage for eight dates from April 12 to April 27 to mark the 19th anniversary of The Emancipation of Mimi album.

The album dropped in 2005 and featured hits including We Belong Together and Shake It Off.

The star held onto the handles

She donned a custom 'Mimi' top, jeans, and sunglasses

And in the past weeks, Mariah had some very familiar faces among the crowd.

Supermodels Tyra Banks and Heidi Klum publicly reunited and used Mariah's big stage of Las Vegas to pull it off to the delight of fans who attended her live gig.

In fact, Tyra and Heidi, both 50, actually attended two of the pop superstar's concerts in Sin City.
Sharon Stone looked beautiful in a coral, crushed velvet suit as she walked with the assistance of a gold cane in New York City on Wednesday.

The Basic Instinct star, 66, paired the colorful suit with a pair of white trainers and a white, crossbody handbag.

She wore a white blouse with a plunging neckline and a statement necklace to complete the chic look.

Sharon  who is being sued over a car accident she was involved in last year  had a big smile on her face as she walked with an acquaintance.

This comes after Stone did not need a cane when she looked ravishing next to friend Jeff Bridges at the 49th Chaplin Award Honoring Bridges at Lincoln Center in New York City on April 29.

Sharon Stone looked beautiful in a coral, crushed velvet suit as she walked with the assistance of a cane in New York City

The Basic Instinct star, 66, paired the colorful suit with a pair of white trainers and a white, crossbody handbag

Last week she cried about the icons she looked up to and how happy she is to be working with them.

In an interview with Alex Salmond for Turkish Tea Talk, Sharon got emotional as she said she loved the people she got to meet in her role as a global humanitarian.

The silver screen goddess teared up talking about being able to spend time with peacemakers she admired like Betty Helena Williams, a Welsh Labour politician.

'These people are so courageous... suddenly I was like I am in the right goddamn room, these are my people, I would stand in the street with these people, I would risk my life with these people, they get me and I get them,' said the star through her tears.

'It took 35 years but I am in the right room,' she said about working with her heroes.

'I never told people here in LA that I even went to get a Nobel Prize... I thought how can I tell people in the movie business that I won a Nobel prize?' she cried about the 2013 win.

Stone also touched on mental health and how so many people need help in her wide-ranging interview.

'We are all trying to confront our demons, including me,' she said, noting one in 10 people are suffering which was highlighted by COVID-19 lockdown when so many had to spend time alone.

She wore a white blouse with a plunging neckline and a statement necklace to complete the chic look

Stone did not need a cane when she looked ravishing next to friend Jeff Bridges at the 49th Chaplin Award Honoring Bridges at Lincoln Center in New York City on April 29

Last week, the Casino star debuted a collection of paintings she did in a gallery show at Gallery 181 in San Francisco.

She shared two images on Instagram previewing her collection. This isn't the first time she's had a gallery show.

In recent years, the mother of three has taken a step back from Hollywood and turned her attention to her art, which has been showcased at galleries across the country.

She spends 17 hours a day painting in her Los Angeles mansion, and her work is being taken seriously. Her first painting sold for $30,000.

When asked why she paints, Sharon said: 'I was really thinking about this the other day... I was thinking about how rarely women get to be what they want to be,' she shared.

'I loved to paint growing up,' said the Beauty Of Living Twice author who was raised in Pennsylvania.

In a new interview with Alex Salmond for Turkish Tea Talk , Sharon got emotional as she said she loved the people she got to meet in her role as a global humanitarian. The silver screen goddess teared up talking about being able to spend time with peacemakers she admired like Betty Helena Williams, a Welsh Labour politician
Demonstrators clash early Wednesday at an encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles. Police moved in to arrest protesters early Thursday and dismantled the camp. Ethan Swope/Associated Press

Police arrested 210 pro-Palestinian protesters at UCLA early Thursday, authorities confirmed. The arrests came a week after students and community members pitched tents in front of Royce Hall to support Palestinians in Gaza and demand the UC system divest from Israel.

There were no serious injuries to officers or protesters during the arrests, Los Angeles Police Chief Dominic Choi said Thursday.

In a statement to the campus community Thursday, UCLA Chancellor Gene D. Block said the Bruin community is in deep pain.

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The past week has been among the most painful periods our UCLA community has ever experienced. It has fractured our sense of togetherness and frayed our bonds of trust, and will surely leave a scar on the campus, Block said. The loss of life in Gaza has been truly devastating, and my administration has and will continue to connect with student and faculty leaders advocating for Palestinian rights to engage in discussions that are grounded in listening, learning and mutual respect. Similarly, we will continue to support our Jewish students and employees who are reeling from the trauma of the brutal Oct. 7 attacks and a painful spike in antisemitism worldwide.

Media outlets, including the Associated Press, reported that more than 1,000 protesters had gathered in and around the encampment by late Wednesday. The Daily Bruin reported that by 5:50 a.m., protesters who had gathered near Dickson Plaza and Pritzker Hall had dispersed as police broke up the encampment.

Before police enforcement, university officials met with leaders of the encampment to discuss voluntarily taking the encampment down but the two sides could not come to an agreement, Block said Thursday.

Those who remained encamped last night were given several warnings and were offered the opportunity to leave peacefully with their belongings before officers entered the area, he said. Ultimately, about 300 protesters voluntarily left, while more than 200 resisted orders to disperse and were arrested.

Crews at the campus were dismantling structures around the encampment and cleaning the quad Thursday, Block said.

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Throughout Wednesday afternoon and into the night, officers with the Los Angeles Police Department, equipped with riot gear, attempted to move in on the encampment and surround the protesters. Around 7:45 p.m., police informed protesters that if they did not disperse, they could face arrest and a misdemeanor charge, according to the Associated Press.

Early Thursday, UCLA sent a campus-wide alert announcing that the encampment had been declared an unlawful assembly. The university said that students who remained in the area could face sanctions, such as interim suspension, that could lead to dismissal. Officials added that faculty and staff members involved in the protest could face discipline as well.that

Protesters fought with police as officers tried to break through barricades set up around the encampment, according to videos from reporters at the scene. As police continued their operation Thursday morning, they deployed rubber bullets, CNN reported.

Block said the encampment needed to come to an end after it led to unsafe conditions. He added that he supported peaceful protest and recognized the loss of Palestinian lives in Gaza.

Several days of violent clashes between demonstrators and counter-demonstrators put too many Bruins in harms way and created an environment that was completely unsafe for learning, he said. Demonstrators directly interfered with instruction by blocking students pathways to classrooms. Indirectly, violence related to the encampment led to the closure of academic buildings and the cancellation of classes. And frankly, hostilities were only continuing to escalate.

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The protest at UCLA mirrors dozens of other similar protests occurring at colleges and universities across the U.S. as Israel continues its military campaign in Gaza, which has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, the United Nations said, and laid waste to much of the territory with airstrikes. The war began on Oct. 7 when militant group Hamas invaded Israel, killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostages, 100 of them still being held captive.

Most pro-Palestinian protesters across college campuses seek a permanent cease-fire in Gaza and are demanding universities stop allocating money to investments with Israel.

The action from police Thursday came on the heels of violence one night earlier between pro-Palestinian demonstrators and pro-Israel counterprotesters. Shortly before midnight Tuesday, masked demonstrators dressed in black led a siege on the pro-Palestinian encampment and began tearing down barricades, throwing fireworks, wood and other objects, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Block said Thursday that UCLA is still investigating the Tuesday attack by a mob of instigators and other unspecified violent incidents.

The New York Times reported that more than 2,000 protesters have been arrested on college campuses around the country.

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On Wednesday evening, UCLA officials announced that campus operations would be limited Thursday and Friday, adding that in-person classes would be required to meet remotely. However, the universitys hospital and health system, clinical operations, and housing were to remain open, officials said.

As protests in solidarity with Palestinians continue to surge at universities up and down California, two of the states college education systems, the California State University and University of California, have already rejected demands from protesters to discontinue their investments with Israel.

On Thursday, demonstrations continued at Bay Area universities. At Stanford, a pro-Palestinian encampment had reached its seventh day at the universitys White Plaza. Last week, administrators warned that demonstrators who camped overnight could be disciplined or arrested.

Some universities have taken a different approach with the protesters. At Sacramento State University in Northern California, a pro-Palestinian encampment in the library quad has been given approval by administrators to remain until May 8, as long as it remains peaceful. The university said further extensions of that date were possible.

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The mansion that Matthew Perry purchased for $5million just three months before his tragic death and never got the chance to enjoy before dying from 'acute effects of ketamine' has gone back on the housing market.

Perry, who died suddenly at the age of 54 on October 28, 2023, after being found unresponsive in a hot tub at his home in Los Angeles, bought another stunning home also in LA shortly before his death.

The Hollywood Hills property, which sits at 1479 Rising Glen Road, is a three bed four bath home sprawling over 2,566 square feet on a 9,622 square foot lot.

Perry closed the $4,995,000 sale for his new, fully-furnished house on May 31, 2023.

The stunning home perches in the hills above the iconic Sunset Strip and boasts a classic look, with walls of glass surrounding a sun-filled patio at the center of the property.

It has been revealed that Matthew Perry purchased a $5million mansion just three months before his tragic death

Perry, who died suddenly on October 28, 2023, after being found unresponsive in a hot tub at his home in Los Angeles , bought another stunning home also in LA shortly before his death

The Hollywood Hills property, which sat at 1479 Rising Glen Road, was a three bed four bath home sprawling over 2,566 square feet on a 9,622 square foot lot

From the street, the house offers privacy with surrounding gates and a large driveway leading to a double-car garage.

There is a beautiful swimming pool and fire-pit on the south-facing deck, which gets an abundance of sunlight all-day-long.

The sprawling deck offers a large space for entertaining guests and enjoying the best of California's sunny weather.

All bedrooms feature en-suite bathrooms and offer natural light throughout the day.

Featuring classic architectural design with a modern flare, the house is styled with light and bright walls and furniture, with touches of wood and earth-toned patterns.

Listing agents Greg Holcomb and Tim Durkovic of Douglas Elliman declined to comment.

Unfortunately, Perry didn't get the chance to enjoy his exciting purchase before he passed away abruptly in October - in a death that shocked the entire world.

Perry made a fortune thanks to his time playing Chandler Bing on the hit sitcom Friends, but he also made millions from a robust real estate portfolio.

There is a beautiful swimming pool and fire-pit on the south-facing deck, which gets an abundance of sunlight all-day-long

The sprawling deck offers a large space for entertaining guests and enjoying the best of California's sunny weather

Before his tragic death at the age of 54, the beloved star had downsized. He sold his properties for a total of $35million over the last years and replaced them with more modest homes - although there's no suggestion he was in any financial trouble.

Like many actors when they find success, Perry bought his first Los Angeles mansion just one year after Friends premiered in 1994 - a two-bedroom home in the Hollywood Hills

'Its the law when you have a successful sitcom: Between the first and second seasons, you buy a house,' he told the Toronto Star at the time.

It's not clear for how much he bought it for, but he Canadian-American sold his first mansion in 2001 for $839,000. The property is now worth around $2 million.

He had already moved to a new home in 1999, when he bought a 6,500-square-foot mansion in Beverly Hills for a reported $3.2 million. The nearly 2,000 square feet property included a pool and a sauna and glass walls, a feature that would be a part of many of Perry's future homes.

Also in 2005, Perry bought a furnished two-bedroom condo on the Sunset Strip for about $2.5 million. The home, previously owned by sir Elton John, was a corner unit in the Sierra Towers building in the West Hollywood area.

Featuring classic architectural design with a modern flare, the house is styled with light and bright walls and furniture, with touches of wood and earth-toned patterns and some bold color statement

Perry never got the chance to enjoy his newly-purchased property, as he died just months after the $5million purchase in a tragic and sudden death

In 2006, Perry purchased a 4,100-square-foot mansion on the Sunset Strip for $1.7million. It featured glass walls that opened to a patio and swimming pool as well as multiple fireplaces and a home theater. He sold the property in 2014 for $5.695 million.

In 2008, Perry moved from that glass house to a mansion on Carman Crest Drive that he paid $4.475 million for. The three-bedroom home also featured glass walls and modern architecture.

He sold the house for $4.6million in 2013, but had already moved to a different home by 2011, when he bought another glass-covered three-bedroom home in the Hollywood Hills for $8.5 million.

Also in 2011, the Friends star bought a $12 million beachfront home in Malibu that he once called his 'kick-ass Malibu home'.

Perry moved again in 2017 - this time to a 'mansion in the sky' with a whopping $21 million price tag.

In 2020, Perry sold his Malibu beach house for $12.95 million - down from the original listing price of $14.95 million but still more than what the actor purchased it for.

That summer he bought a $6million cottage in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles - where years later he would be found dead in the hot tub.
Alicia Keys looked absolutely stunning as she was joined by fellow Tony Awards nominees including Rachel McAdams and Sarah Paulson at a special event.

The trio of leading ladies looked absolutely gorgeous at the 77th Annual Tony Awards Meet The Nominees Press Event at the Sofitel in New York City on Thursday just days after nominations were announced.

Alicia, 43, showcased her abs in a black leather bralette along with baggy indigo-washed jeans.

The stunner completed the look with a bright highlighter yellow jacket along with a gold Fendi belt.

She accessorized with a large chain necklace and hoop earrings.

Alicia Keys looked absolutely stunning as she was joined by fellow Tony Awards nominees including Rachel McAdams and Sarah Paulson at a special event; ; they are pictured left to right

Her locks were put in an updo as she showcased her natural looks with complementary make-up topped off with a swipe of red lip.

Alicia was one of the featured nominees as the Alicia Keys musical was one of the stage shows recognized on Tuesday.

Rachel, 45, was a wonder in all-white including silk top and flowy trousers.

She wore her brown locks down as she accentuated her natural looks with complementary make-up on her face.

Sarah, 49, kept it simple in a black suit which she went shirtless under.

Her short blonde locks were combed back as she showed off her evergreen looks.

Also in attendance at the event were several nominees including Daniel Radcliffe, Eddie Redmayne, Jessica Lange, Jeremy Strong, and Leslie Odom Jr.

On Tuesday morning the nominations were announced.

Alicia, 43, showcased her abs in a black leather bralette along with baggy indigo-washed jeans

Rachel, 45, was a wonder in all-white including silk top and flowy trousers

She wore her brown locks down as she accentuated her natural looks with complementary make-up on her face

Sarah, 49, kept it simple in a black suit which she went shirtless under

Jessica Lange looked stunning as always

Daniel Radcliffe kept his look simple

Eddie Redmayne wore a quirky knit sweater and baggy jeans

He posed up with Gayle Rankin

Bebe Neuwirth looked effortlessly cool

Amy Ryan donned a floral maxi dress

Jeremy Strong and Liev Schreiber looked cool in casual menswear

Leslie Odom Jr. looked chic in a black suit with bell-bottomed twist

Gayle Rankin, Eddie Redmayne, and Rachel McAdams posed together

Jonathan Groff looked happy

Sarah hammed it up with actor Corey Stoll

Rachel enjoyed a cuddle with Amy Herzog

Jeremy looked proud of his mustache

Ariana DeBose, who won an Oscar for Steven Spielberg's movie adaptation of the Broadway classic West Side Story, will host this year's Tonys on June 16.

Some of the highest-profile categories were announced Tuesday on CBS, read out by Renee Elise Goldsberry and Modern Family star Jesse Tyler Ferguson.

The rest of the nominations were unveiled later the same day, via the official YouTube page for the Tony Awards.

One of the nominees for best musical is Hell's Kitchen, a jukebox musical featuring songs by Alicia and loosely based on her life.

Hell's Kitchen was the most nominated musical, with 13 nods - a feat equaled this year only by the straight play Stereophonic about a 1970s rock band.

The other best musical nominees include Suffs, a show about the suffragettes that has Hillary Clinton and Malala Yousafzai among its producers.

Illinoise, a jukebox musical of Sufjan Stevens' work, and The Outsider, based on the classic young adult novel of the same name, are also up for the top prize.

The best musical nominations were rounded out by Water For Elephants, an adaptation of the bestselling novel that was previously made into a movie starring Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon.

On Tuesday morning the nominations were announced including the aforementioned Rachel McAdams (pictured onstage in Mary Jane)

One of the nominees for best musical is Hell's Kitchen, a jukebox musical featuring songs by Alicia and loosely based on her life; Alicia is pictured at its opening night earlier this month

Daniel Radcliffe is nominated for best supporting actor in a musical for his role in a revival of Merrily We Roll Along, which he is pictured promoting at the 92nd Street Y

Notable snubs for best musical included the Britney Spears show Once Upon A One More Time, the as well as the adaptations of the classic movies Back To The Future, The Notebook and Days Of Wine And Roses.

Rachel McAdams was nominated for best lead actress in a play in honor of her work in Mary Jane, starring her as the mother of a son with cerebral palsy.

She is up against Sarah Paulson for Appropriate, a dark comedy about three siblings feuding over their father's estate after his death.

Jessica Lange is up for Mother Play, playing the mother of teens portrayed by Tony winner Celia Keenan-Bolger and The Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons.

Daniel is pictured on the opening night of Merrily We Roll Along with Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez, who are also nominated for their parts in the show

Amy Ryan (left) and Liev Schreiber (right) are both pictured opening night of Doubt: A Parable, in roles played onscreen by Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman

A new revival of the 1960s show Cabaret stars Eddie Redmayne, who is pictured at its opening night is nominated for best lead actor in a musical

The category includes Betsy Aidem in Prayer For The French Republic, a dark comedy by Joshua Harmon about mounting antisemitism in France.

Rachel's category is rounded out by Amy Ryan for the lead role in John Patrick Shanley's classic drama Doubt: A Parable, which was made into an acclaimed movie starring Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Viola Davis.

Liev Schreiber is nominated for best lead actor in a play for Doubt: A Parable, playing the role of the priest accused of molesting a young boy.

He is up against a formidable group of thespians including Succession star Jeremy Strong in a revival of Henrik Ibsen's An Enemy Of The People.

William Jackson Harper is also nominated in that category for Anton Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, as is Hamilton star Leslie Odom Jr for Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through The Cotton Patch and Michael Stuhlbarg for Patriots.

Jim Parsons in Mother Play is nominated for best featured actor in a play, against Corey Stoll for Appropriate and Will Brill, Eli Gelb and Tom Pecinka, all three for the play Stereophonic about a rising 1970s rock band.

The best featured actress in a play nods went to Quincy Tyler Bernstine in Doubt, Juliana Canfield and Sarah Pidgeon in Stereophonic, Celia Keenan-Bolger in Mother Play and Kara Young in Purlie Victorious.

Daniel Radcliffe is nominated for best supporting actor in a musical for his role in a revival of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's Merrily We Roll Along, a polarizing 1980s piece that unfolds backwards in time.

Jessica Lange (center) and Jim Parsons (right) are both nominated for Mother Play, whose opening night they are pictured at with their co-star Celia Keenan-Bolger (left)

Notable snubs include the Britney Spear jukebox musical Once Upon A One More Time

His competitors are Roger Bart in Back To The Future: The Musical, Joshua Boone and Sky Lakota-Lynch in The Outsiders, Brandon Victor Dixon in Hell's Kitchen and Steven Skybell in the new revival of Cabaret.

Cabaret, with a score by Fred Ebb and John Kander and a book by Joe Masteroff, first opened on Broadway in 1966 and became an instant sensation, later adapted into a movie starring Liza Minnelli and directed by Bob Fosse.

Now rechristened Cabaret At The Kit Kat Club, the revival stars Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne in the role of the master of ceremonies.

Eddie is nominated for best lead actor in a musical, in a category that includes Looking star Jonathan Groff in Merrily We Roll Along.

Dorian Harewood is also up for the musical of The Notebook, the Nicholas Sparks novel made into a beloved movie starring Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling.

Broadway veteran Brian D'Arcy James is nominated for his lead the musical of the 1962 movie Days Of Wine And Roses, in which his role was played by Jack Lemmon, and the category is rounded out by Brody Grant in The Outsiders.

The best lead actress in a musical nominees include Wicked alumna Eden Espinosa for the title role in Lempicka, the story of the controversial interwar Polish painter Tamara Lempicka whose posthumous fanbase includes Madonna.

She is up against Maleah Joi Moon who plays Alicia Keys in Hell's Kitchen, as well as Kelli O'Hara for Days Of Wine And Roses, Maryann Plunkett for the Rachel McAdams role in The Notebook and Gayle Rankin for the Liza Minnelli role in Cabaret.

Hamilton star Leslie Odom Jr is up for best lead actor in a play for Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through The Cotton Patch; pictured at its opening night curtain call

The best lead actor in a play nominees include Succession star Jeremy Strong in a revival of Henrik Ibsen's An Enemy Of The People (pictured)

Broadway titan Bebe Neuwirth has earned a nomination for best featured actress in a musical for her role as landlady Fraulein Schneider in Cabaret At The Kit Kat Club.

She is in a category that includes Shoshana Bean and Kecia Lewis for Hell's Kitchen, Amber Iman for Lempicka, Nikki M James for Suffs, Lindsay Mendez for Merrily We Roll Along and Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer for a revival of Monty Python's Spamalot.

In the best original score for a musical category, David Byrne and Fatboy Slim are nominated for their immersive musical Here Lies Love about Imelda Marcos.

So is Adam Guettel, the grandson of The Sound Of Music composer Richard Rodgers, for the score of Days Of Wine And Roses.

The best original score category includes Shaina Taub for Suffs, Will Butler for Stereophonic and Jonathan Clay, Zach Chance and Justin Levine for The Outsiders.

Meanwhile the best book of a musical nominations went to Kristoffer Diaz for Hell's Kitchen, Bekah Brunstetter for The Notebook, Adam Rapp and Justin Levine for The Outsider, Shaina Taub for Suffs and Rick Elice for Water For Elephants.

For best play, Jocelyn Bioh is nominated for Jaja's African Hair Braiding, Amy Herzog for Mary Jane, Paula Vogel for Mother Play, Joshua Harmon for Prayer For The French Republic and David Adjmi for Stereophonic.

The best revival of a musical nominees were Cabaret At The Kit Kat Club, Gutenberg! The Musical!, Merrily We Roll Along and The Who's Tommy.

Appropriate, An Enemy Of The People and Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through The Cotton Patch are up for Best Revival Of A Play.
Halle Berry joined a group of bipartisan senators at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday to push for legislation that would allocate $275 million toward research and education for menopause.

The 57-year-old actress proudly declared that she was in menopause, the major hormone shift middle-age women experience marking the end of their menstrual cycles.

'I'm in menopause, OK?' Berry announced. 'The shame has to be taken out of menopause. We have to talk about this very normal part of our life that happens.

'Our doctors can't even say the word to us, let alone walk us through the journey.'

The bipartisan Senate bill, known as the Advancing Menopause Care and Mid-Life Women's Health Act, asks the federal government to increase funding for hormone therapy, which is used to treat hot flashes and other symptoms, as well as clinical trials related to menopause.

Oscar-winning actress and women's health activist Halle Berry joins female senators as they introduce new legislation to boost federal research on menopause, at the Capitol in Washington, DC, on Thursday

The 57-year-old actress proudly declared that she was in menopause, the major hormone shift middle-age women experience signaling the end of their menstrual cycles

The bipartisan Senate bill, the Advancing Menopause Care and Mid-Life Women's Health Act, would create public health efforts to improve women's mid-life health

After receiving a false diagnosis of Herpes, Berry found out the truth about her painful symptoms: she was experiencing perimenopause, or the beginning stages of menopause when estrogen levels begin to drastically decrease.

The proposal would set aside $125 million for clinical trials, public health and medical research on menopause.

The leftover funds would be used to support menopause diagnosis, detection, treatment and raising awareness.

'Menopause is not a bad word, it's not something to be ashamed of, and it's not something Congress or the federal government should ignore,' Murray said.

Seventeen female senators  three Republicans, 13 Democrats and one independent  voiced their support for the bill.

On Thursday, more senators expressed their hope that the bill will make starting the conversation about menopause easier and less taboo.

Berry is one of many middle-aged female celebrities who have become candid about their menopausal journey.

Drew Barrymore has invested into Evernow, a menopause telemedicine company. Wile, a company that sells supplements, was founded by Judy Greer. Stripes, founded by Naomi Watts, offers menopause products, AP News reported.

Last year, President Joe Biden announced a new program to help improve federal research on women's health, particularly menopause.

The National Institutes of Health's director, Dr. Monica Bertagnolli, said that there is not enough research done for women's health, especially older women.

Berry (right) found out she was experiencing perimenopause, or the beginning stages of menopause when estrogen levels begin to drastically decrease

Berry (pictured) is one of many middle-aged female celebrities who have become candid about their menopausal journey

Before learning she was experiencing perimenopause, Berry was falsely diagnosed with Herpes

While the legislation gained rare bipartisan support, the future of the bill is uncertain given the nation's polarizing political climate and the presidential election just around the corner.

Although Congress is notoriously male-dominated, Murkowski said she was looking forward to winning their support, as their fiscal support is pivotal in funding research.

'If men went through menopause we would have adequately and appropriately funded the research (into) menopause decades and decades ago,' said Murkowski.
The Tattooist Of Auschwitz (Sky Atlantic)

Rating:

Perhaps it is a trick of the imagination.

Perhaps it is some chemical or psychic echo. But anyone who has walked through the underground gas chamber at Auschwitz in Poland can attest to its overwhelming aura of horror.

In the opening shots of The Tattooist Of Auschwitz, the Holocaust survivor Lali Sokolov (Jonah Hauer-King) is taken through the jaws of death into 'Bunker 1', the killing room, by an SS soldier.

At the end of his life, Sokolov (played in old age by Harvey Keitel) describes the moment in more detail to naive, middle-aged mother Heather Morris (Melanie Lynskey), who is helping him to write his memoirs.

The Nazi guard needed him to decipher the numbers tattooed on the arms of two naked corpses, lying on the floor of the gas chamber.

Holocaust survivor Lali Sokolov (Jonah Hauer-King) is taken through the jaws of death into 'Bunker 1', the killing room, by an SS soldier in The Tattooist of Auschwitz

This adaptation of Heather Morris's 2018 bestseller, based on Lali Sokolov's true story, does not flinch from the soul-searing cruelty of the death camps

Their faces and histories were of no interest to the soldiers, but an accurate catalogue of their ID numbers was considered essential.

That Prussian obsession with book-keeping is one of the most chilling aspects of the museum that stands today at Auschwitz, near Krakow.

The precisely compiled records of extermination are as shocking, in their own way, as the mountains of shorn hair or truckloads of children's shoes.

This adaptation of Morris's 2018 bestseller, based on Sokolov's true story, does not flinch from the soul-searing cruelty of the death camps.

Individuals are shot, battered and clubbed at random by smirking SS troops, while hundreds of others are selected for the conveyor belt of mass murder.

But there are stories of love and friendship that make this endurable, both for us and for those few who did survive the camps.

Hauer-King plays the 26-year-old Lali as a gentle, thoughtful but physically courageous man, much like his character in the BBC1 drama that made his name, World On Fire.

He is put to work by the Nazis as a kind of administrator, tattooing the numbers on new arrivals at Auschwitz.

True love: A young woman called Gita (Anna Prochniak), looks into Lali's eyes and an instant bond develops

There are stories of love and friendship that make the brutality endurable, both for viewers and for those few who did survive the camps

As he does this, he whispers an apology to each one, like a prayer. One of them, a young woman called Gita (Anna Prochniak), looks into his eyes as he does it, and an instant bond develops.

A far stranger relationship begins to develop between Lali and the psychopathic SS man, Baretski (Jonas Nay).

Viewers who have seen the outstanding Cold War spy drama Deutschland 83 will know Nay is an actor capable of exceptional complexity, and here he makes the Nazi guard almost hypnotically repulsive.

As he beckons Lali out of the gas chamber, telling him he's the only Jew ever to walk out of there alive, he gives a demented giggle that will recur in your nightmares.

Keitel is superb too, conjuring depths of regret and survivor's guilt with a few awkward words or a forced smile.

No amount of acting or special effects can truly replicate conditions at Auschwitz  the disease, the starvation, the stench of death can only be conveyed in hints.

The rest must be left to our imaginations.
Brad Pitt and his girlfriend Ines de Ramon enjoyed a romantic morning stroll on the beach on Monday.

The actor, 60, and the jewelry executive, 34, enjoyed a idyllic getaway as they spent time in Santa Barbara together and enjoyed their morning coffee while walking on the shore.

This comes after she was seen on an outing with a male pal in Los Angeles on the same day following exclusive DailyMail.com reports that her and Pitt's relationship has been strained by his ongoing divorce from his ex, Angelina Jolie, 48.

The couple appeared to be in high spirits as they chatted and watched their two dogs run along the shore beside them.

At one point, the two-time Oscar winner even wrapped his arm around his live-in girlfriend and was seen pulling her close during their walk.

Brad Pitt and his girlfriend Ines de Ramon enjoyed a romantic morning stroll on the beach on Monday

The actor, 60, and the jewelry executive, enjoyed a idyllic getaway as they spent time in Santa Barbara together and enjoyed their morning coffee on the seashore

At one point, the two-time Oscar winner even wrapped his arm around his live-in girlfriend and was seen pulling her close during their walk

For their relaxing morning, the couple wore complementing, white outfits as they enjoyed their warm beverages and conversation.

The Fight Club alum looked youthful in an all-white ensemble.

He sported a cream button-down with the sleeves rolled up and a T-shirt underneath.

Paired with his top, he wore wide-leg khaki pants and matching sneakers for their morning stroll.

To shield his eyes from the sun, he donned a pair of lightly tinted shades.

At his side, de Ramon wore a white, midi-length sundress with matching high-top sneakers.

Over her airy dress with a thigh-high slit, she wore a dark green puffer vest.

Throughout their walk, they looked relaxed and, at times, even packed on the PDA as Pitt couldn't keep his hands off de Ramon and she cozied up beside him.

For their relaxing morning, the couple wore complementing, white outfits as they enjoyed their warm beverages and conversation

The couple appeared to be in high spirits as they chatted and watched their two dogs run along the shore beside them

The Fight Club alum looked youthful in an all-white ensemble. He sported a cream button-down with the sleeves rolled up and a T-shirt underneath. Paired with his top, he wore wide-leg khaki pants and matching sneakers for their morning stroll

To shield his eyes from the sun, he donned a pair of lightly tinted shades

At his side, de Ramon wore a white, midi-length sundress with matching high-top sneakers. Over her airy dress with a thigh-high slit, she wore a dark green puffer vest

Their romance appears to be growing strong as it has been reported that Pitt had recently moved his girlfriend into his home.

The pair were first romantically linked when they were spotted backstage together at a Bono concert in Los Angeles in November 2022.

At the time, sources revealed that they had been dating for 'a few months' already.

She also showed her support for by accompanying him the premiere of his film Babylon the following month as they went public with their romance.

The couple looked to be in good spirits as their relationship progresses and gets serious.

Their seaside stroll is the first time the couple has been seen since she moved into his home.

Sources recently told DailyMail.com that Pitt has been making an effort to 'try and move with his life' despite the latest legal drama in his divorce battle with his ex.

The former couple were married from 2014 until their separation in 2019.

The couple  who have reportedly been struggling to 'move forward' with their relationship as Pitt deals with his ongoing divorce battle  appeared relaxed and were smiling as they watched their dogs run around them

At various points, the couple appeared to be deep in conversation

Their romance appears to be growing strong as it has been reported that Pitt had recently moved his girlfriend into his home. The pair were first romantically linked when they were spotted backstage together at a Bono concert in Los Angeles in November 2022

Pitt's eight-year divorce battle from his estranged wife has been impacting his relationship as he and his current girlfriend are struggling to fully 'move on,' insiders have claimed.

Brangelina's convoluted break-up looks set to last almost as long as the relationship that preceded it; the pair have been locked in a bitter legal battle since their shock split in 2016.

Though the pair were deemed legally single in 2019, a contentious dispute  dubbed 'the war of the roses'  over their French property and winery, Chateau Miraval, has slowed down proceedings.

Insiders claim that the actor is desperate to sever all ties to his ex for good in order to finally 'shake off' the demons from their marriage.

'Brad really wants this to be finalized more than anything,' a source told DailyMail.com exclusively.

'If it were up to him entirely, this would have been wrapped up a long time ago.'

Previously, Jolie accused her 'controlling' ex of 'financially draining her' through the protracted legal battle over the winery.

However, a DailyMail.com investigation this week revealed that the actress' relationship with Pitt has helped enrich her by close to $100 million.

The couple looked to be in good spirits as their relationship progresses and gets serious. Their seaside stroll is the first time the couple has been seen since she moved into his home

Sources recently told DailyMail.com that Pitt has been making an effort to 'try and move with his life' despite the latest legal drama in his divorce battle with his ex

Pitt's eight-year divorce battle from his ex Angelina Jolie has been impacting his relationship as he and his current girlfriend are struggling to fully 'move on,' insiders have claimed; seen in November 2015

The pair's former French home, a stunning 1,200-acre estate and vineyard was worth $60 million when they bought it in 2008.

Now, thanks to his effort and investment in the business, it is worth a staggering $164 million.

Jolie went on to sell her 50 percent stake in Chateau Miraval to Russian oligarch, Yuri Shefler, in 2021 without her estranged husband's consent.

The source explained that Pitt is eager to be free so he can continue to 'move on' in his life as things progress with de Ramon.

The insider continued: 'Brad wants to move forward with Ines, and he can't when he is technically still married to the mother of his children.
No gentlemen's club is prouder of its reputation as a bastion of the Establishment than White's, founded in 1693 and lying just a couple of hundred yards from St James's Palace.

But is change afoot behind its bow-windows, through which generations of noblemen have looked disdainfully at the outside world?

I ask because the club, where King Charles held his stag night before his wedding to Lady Diana Spencer, has, I can disclose, elected a member who, on occasion, dresses in billowing robes and headdress.

Not a woman, of course  the fairer sex remains rigidly excluded, though White's once or twice tolerated a visit by Queen Elizabeth, a photograph of whom, surrounded by well-nourished members, now adorns its loos.

I refer, instead, to Khalid bin Bandar Al Saud, Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United Kingdom.

Pictured: Khalid bin Bandar Al Saud, Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United Kingdom

'I think he's the first ever Saudi to make it,' a devotee of several St James's clubs tells me, adding that the process of being 'put up' for membership of White's is full of pitfalls.

By way of example, he cites the case of an eminent hotelier who, aware that he faced being blackballed, asked the member who had proposed him how his page in the candidates' book was looking. 'Well,' came the reply, 'think of a bowl of Beluga...'

Evidently, no such indignity was suffered by the 46-year-old ambassador  helped, perhaps, by the fact that he was educated at Eton, in common with a sizeable percentage of White's members, Nicholas [now Lord] Soames among them.

No gentlemen's club is prouder of its reputation as a bastion of the Establishment than White's, founded in 1693 and lying just a couple of hundred yards from St James's Palace

Nor will his marital connections have harmed him: his wife, Lucy, with whom he has two daughters, is a niece of Ralph Percy  the Duke of Northumberland.

No one at the Saudi Embassy was available to comment on the ambassador's private arrangements. White's declines to comment, though it may feel it's pulled off a bit of a coup.

The late Lord Charles Spencer-Churchill  known as 'Nutty'  invited the similarly named Prince Khaled bin Abdullah to join him for tea in the White's tent at Ascot, but was turned down. 'I leave Saudi Arabia at this time of year to get away from tents,' explained the Prince.

Dame Kristin Scott Thomas transformed Scarlett Johansson into a Royal Navy captain in her debut as a film director, North Star, last year.

And for her second-in-command, she cast Mark Ebulue, an alumnus of the London Nautical School, after they bonded over their naval backgrounds.

Dame Kristin Scott Thomas transformed Scarlett Johansson into a Royal Navy captain in her debut as a film director, North Star, last year

'Kristin told me how her family were entrenched in the military,' he tells me at the launch of Los Mochis London City.

Dame Kristin's grandfather captained World War II destroyer HMS Impulsive.

Minnie misses marriage

She missed out on an Oscar for her role in Good Will Hunting, and now Minnie Driver says she's missing out on marriage, too.

'No one's wanted to marry me,' wails the actress, 54, who has been with American film-maker Addison O'Dea since 2019.

She missed out on an Oscar for her role in Good Will Hunting, and now Minnie Driver says she's missing out on marriage, too

Minnie, whose exes include Matt Damon and Josh Brolin, adds: 'He doesn't want to get married for lots of hilarious reasons. I said, 'Can we just have a party because I want dancing and speeches and food?'

Why was Chrysalis Records boss Chris Wright so reluctant to release Ghost Town, The Specials' 1981 anthem?

'Wright wanted a gong,' former Chrysalis PR Chris Poole reveals in Too Much Too Young, a new book about British ska.

Ghost Town was 'too political' argued Wright, who concluded 'it would never be a hit'.

Wiser heads prevailed and Ghost Town topped the charts. Wright eventually got a CBE for services to the music industry  but only in 2005.

Sophie gets in the spirit of the show

The late Queen was never happier than when revelling in the Royal Windsor Horse Show, not a day of which she'd miss.

So she would have been delighted that her favourite daughter-in-law, Sophie  now the Duchess of Edinburgh  was getting fully into the spirit of things yesterday when she and Prince Edward joined Princess Anne at the show's second day.

Sophie's good mood seemed to be enhanced after she'd enjoyed a little hospitality, downing a shot of something which undoubtedly broadened her smile.

Sophie  now the Duchess of Edinburgh  was getting fully into the spirit of things yesterday when she and Prince Edward joined Princess Anne at the show's second day

Dame Maureen Lipman has explained why she won't be following the inspiring example of Angela Rippon, 79, and competing on Strictly Come Dancing.

'I love to watch it, but I can't bear to be criticised in public because then I get really nasty,' admits the Coronation Street star, who turns 78 next week.

'I was asked a few years ago, but I'm not good at taking criticism.

'I love dancing, but there's no point me going on Strictly because if you're the old bag, then you get thrown out in week four'.

Long associated with low pay and a constant turnover of workers, the Royal Household is expanding its search for staff. Its new 35,000-a-year recruitment adviser must develop 'new and existing partnerships' with agencies and other third parties.

'We're looking for an experienced and passionate recruitment/HR professional to lead a wide variety of recruitment campaigns,' explains the advert on the royal website.

'We're a wonderfully diverse organisation. The sheer breadth of roles will present you with some truly fascinating, and often unique, challenges.'
Don't try this at Royal Ascot!

Princess Diana's favourite milliner, Marina Killery, turned up for a charity luncheon in New York City wearing a hat decorated with marijuana leaves.

'I'm not quite sure how I settled on this, but it seems that my hat is going to be pretty dope,' she said before the event.

While cannabis  strongly linked to severe mental health problems  remains illegal in this country, the State of New York legalised recreational possession of up to 3oz for adults over 21 three years ago.

Princess Diana's favourite milliner, Marina Killery (pictured), turned up for a charity luncheon in New York City wearing a hat decorated with marijuana leaves

The hat decorated with marijuana leaves that was worn by Ms Killery at the charity luncheon

While cannabis  strongly linked to severe mental health problems  remains illegal in this country, the State of New York legalised recreational possession of up to 3oz for adults over 21 three years ago.

Killery, an Oxford University pal of actor Hugh Grant who now lives in the USA, was a royal favourite, making hats for the Duchess of York as well as for the late princess.

Perhaps Diana's younger son might buy one of Killery's creations for Meghan?

Prince Harry admitted in his memoirs that he smoked cannabis at Eton College, and continued to do so at Nottingham Cottage, the home he moved into with Meghan in the grounds of Kensington Palace.
Actor Paul Walter Hauser is having a very productive 2024.

The Emmy-winning Black Bird star, 37, has secured a role in the upcoming Marvel Studios film The Fantastic Four, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

It was not immediately clear what role the Grand Rapids, Michigan native would be playing in his first foray into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, according to the outlet.

Already set to appear in the film include Pedro Pascal in the role of Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic; Vanessa Kirby playing Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman; Joseph Quinn in the role of Johnny Storm/The Human Torch; Ebon Moss-Bachrach portraying Ben Grimm/The Thing; and Julia Garner playing the Silver Surfer.

The motion picture - based on the comic quartet that debuted in 1961 - is directed by Matt Shakman and slated to hit theaters on July 25, 2025.

Actor Paul Walter Hauser, 37, has secured a role in the upcoming Marvel Studios film The Fantastic Four. Pictured in January 2023 in Beverly Hills, California

Marvel Studios' president Kevin Feige spoke about the movie during the studio's presentation at CinemaCon 2024 in Las Vegas on April 11

Hauser's career has been scorching this year, amid a number of exciting projects on tap.

Hauser will play late Saturday Night Live star Chris Farley in a biopic about the comedian, who died of a drug overdose in December of 1997 at the age of 33.

New Line Cinema has picked up the biopic, which will be directed by Josh Gad off a script penned by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber. The biopic is based off the 2008 book The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in Three Acts from authors Tom Farley Jr. and Tanner Colby.

'I wanted to do a Chris Farley movie where hes in rehab for half of the film, and for the other half of the movie, hes doing his SNL stuff and his movies,' Hauser said in a May 2021 piece in THR.

He continued: 'I think I have a really great take on that story, but Im trying to lose weight and Im trying to redefine myself as a person of healthy choice-making, and as an actor.

'So the days of doing Fatty Arbuckle, Chris Farley or Ignatius J. Reilly in a Confederacy of Dunces movie have a very small time window, and its getting smaller by the week.'

He is also set to appear in Paramount's reboot of the Naked Gun franchise, the police comedy trilogy that featured the late Leslie Nielsen, George Kennedy and O.J. Simpson.

Hauser's career has been scorching this year, amid a number of exciting projects on tap. The actor was pictured in June of 2023 in LA

Hauser was pictured at the premiere of The Iron Claw in December in LA

Hauser will portray the role of Captain Ed Hocken, previously played by Kennedy, in the reboot of the comedy franchise that is due in theaters July 18, 2025, a week before The Fantastic Four, according to THR.

The cast of that film includes Liam Neeson (in Nielsen's former role of Lt. Frank Drebin), Pamela Anderson, Kevin Durand and pro wrestler Cody Rhodes.

Hauser has also appeared in motion pictures including 2017's I, Tonya; 2018's BlacKkKlansman and in the titular role in Clint Eastwood's 2019 film Richard Jewell.
Chloe Burrows beamed at the special screening party for UNTOLD: Love in the Limelight, her documentary debut with Channel 4, in London on Thursday.

The influencer and podcaster, 28, faked a relationship with Too Hot To Handle's Harry Johnson to investigate the power of 'showmances' - a portmanteau of 'showbusiness' and 'romances'.

At the screening, the former Love Islander wore a dark cream sleeveless turtle neck shirt with off white high-waisted trousers.

She finished her look with shiny brown heels and a gold bracelet, styling her blonde locks in a low side ponytail.

Chloe posed with radio DJ Harriet Rose who wore a one-shoulder black top with an eye-catching black and pink skirt.

Chloe Burrows, 28, beamed at the special screening party for UNTOLD: Love in the Limelight, her documentary debut with Channel 4, in London on Thursday

The influencer and podcaster faked a relationship with Too Hot To Handle's Harry Johnson to investigate the power of 'showmances' - a portmanteau of 'showbusiness' and 'romances'

At the screening, Chloe posed with radio DJ Harriet Rose who wore a one-shoulder black top with an eye-catching black and pink skirt

Also there was Chloe's best pal Millie Court, now back to blonde, who appears in the documentary with her boyfriend Liam Reardon.

Millie looked stunning in a white sleeveless mini dress and green and white Nike trainers with red laces.

She and Liam won Chloe's series of Love Island in 2021 before splitting in July 2022 and reuniting in August 2023.

The winners of the second series of Love Island, Cara De La Hoyde and Nathan Massey, also attended and also featured in Chloe's doc.

Cara looked beautiful in a classic white dress and tan cowboy boots and Nathan looked lovely in jeans and a grey jacket.

The couple, who split when Cara fell pregnant before rekindling before first child Freddie's birth, looked loved-up during their appearance on the documentary.

In Untold, Chloe gathered a host of reality stars who were either currently dating another star or had in the past.

She asked them about the benefits and negatives of being in such high profile relationships.

Also there was her best pal Millie Court, now back to blonde, who appears in the documentary with her boyfriend Liam Reardon

Millie, 27, looked stunning in a white sleeveless mini dress and green and white Nike trainers with red laces

She and Liam, 24, won Chloe's series of Love Island in 2021 before splitting in July 2022 and reuniting in August 2023

The winners of the second series of Love Island, Cara De La Hoyde and Nathan Massey, also attended and also featured in Chloe's doc

Chloe sat down with Davide, whom she sparked romance rumours with during filming, who said the industry should pay him for all the money they make.

Whitney Adebayo and Lochan Nowaki, the only couple still together from Love Island series 10, incredulously recalled being paid to go on a five-star holiday.

TOWIE's Jordan Brooks and Sophie Kasaei, currently wrapping up series 33 of the reality show, also opened up about their relationship.

Also in the documentary was rapper Wes Nelson who dated Arabella Chi and Megan Barton-Hanson, the latter of whom he met on Love Island.

Newer couple Matt Pilmoor and Shona Manderson, of Netflix's Married At First Sight fame, also featured.

The documentary detailed how Chloe worked with paparazzi to ensure she and Harry were photographed together everywhere.

The fake couple were so convincing that they got coverage from all news outlets - including MailOnline.

UNTOLD: Love In The Limelight is available to watch on channel4.com and the Channel 4 Documentaries YouTube channel.

The couple, who split when Cara fell pregnant before rekindling before first child Freddie's birth, looked loved-up during their appearance on the documentary

Chloe sat down with Davide, whom she sparked romance rumours with during filming , who said the industry should pay him for all the money they make

Whitney Adebayo and Lochan Nowaki, the only couple still together from Love Island series 10, incredulously recalled being paid to go on a five-star holiday

TOWIE's Jordan Brooks and Sophie Kasaei, currently wrapping up series 33 of the reality show, also opened up about their relationship

Also in the documentary was rapper Wes Nelson who dated Arabella Chi and Megan Barton-Hanson, the latter of whom he met on Love Island

Newer couple Matt Pilmoor and Shona Manderson, of Netflix's Married At First Sight fame, also featured
Sadie Sink flashed her bra in a sleek black outfit on Thursday as she attended the Chanel Cruise in Marseille.

The Stranger Things actress, 32, wore a leather-look black short-sleeved top, which she unbuttoned from the bottom, leaving just the top button done.

She paired it with a skirt of matching material which reached below her knees and a pair of chunky black boots.

The American star was joined in the front row by Marion Cotillard and Game Of Thrones actress Nathalie Emmanuel.

Also at the star-studded show was Lily-Rose Depp who flaunted her washboard abs in a black crop top.

Sadie Sink, 22, flashed her bra in a sleek black outfit on Thursday as she attended the Chanel Cruise in Marseille

She paired a mostly unbuttoned shirt with a skirt of matching material which reached below her knees and a pair of chunky black boots

The American star was joined in the front row by Marion Cotillard and Game Of Thrones actress Nathalie Emmanuel

The fifth and final series of Stranger Things will air sometime in 2025.

Sadie has been a member of the cast since its second series and plays Max Mayfield, the stepsister of Billy Hargrove (Dacre Montgomery).

The Netflix sci-fi series shot Millie Bobby Brown, who plays its main character Eleven/Jane Hopper, into superstardom.

In February, the salary bumps of the cast of Stranger Things cast were revealed, with Millie, 20, the future daughter-in-law of Jon Bon Jovi, topping the list, according to Puck News.

Stranger Things captured the hearts of viewers when it debuted in 2016, introducing a host of child actors.

Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), Gaten Matarrazo (Dustin Henderson), and Noah Schnapp (Will Buyers) joined Millie as the show's focus group of friends when it first aired.

Completing the show's main cast set to return for season five are the older siblings and their peers - Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers), Joe Keery (Steve Harrington) and Maya Hawke (Robin Buckley).

Netflix confirmed in January that the hit was finally back in production after being delayed by the Hollywood strikes.

L-R Noah Schnapp (Will Buyers), Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), Gaten Matarrazo (Dustin Henderson), and Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair) join Millie as the show's focus group

Completing the show's main cast are Joe Keery (Steve Harrington) and Maya Hawke (Robin Buckley) - both pictured

The streaming platform took to social media in February to share a photograph of the cast and creators Matt and Ross Duffer back together again.

But eagle-eyed fans were quick to notice that Sadie was in the photo.

It confirmed her return to the cast after her character's fate was left up in the air in a cliff hanger at the end of series four.

The series ended with Max in a coma after nearly being killed by the villainous Vecna.
California electricity prices are the second highest in the nation as of February, which is unusual for midwinter. Samantha Laurey/Special to the Chronicle 2023

North Beach resident Serena Satyasai never thought much about her utility bill, but that was before February when Californias electricity prices rose to become the highest in the contiguous United States, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Satyasais Pacific Gas and Electric Co. bill jumped by about $100 compared with the same month last year. Like many of PG&Es 5.5 million customers, shes having to rescript her monthly budget around these rising costs.

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Everyone is getting squeezed, Satyasai said.

Propelled in large part by PG&E, which hiked residential electricity rates by 20% for about 16 million Californians in January, the states high electricity prices are second only to Hawaii, which is always an expensive outlier because of the costs of shipping oil to the far-flung archipelago.

A pack of New England states have historically had some of the nations highest electricity prices (the federal government doesnt track rates but rather calculates prices using customer counts, sales and revenue data) due to factors such as a shortage in natural gas pipeline capacity plus the regions reliance on costly fossil fuels to generate electricity.

But California has joined them in the past 10 years, leapfrogging with Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire to periodically hold the title as the most expensive state for electricity usage in the lower 48. (Even though Californians pay a high amount for each unit of electricity, their total bills tend to be lower than other states in the Northeast and South due to the West Coasts relatively temperate climate.)

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East Coast residents are paying higher prices during cold winter months with Californians paying higher electricity prices for a brief period nearly every summer since 2014, likely when people must cool their homes during heat waves.

It is unusual for Californians to pay higher prices than the East Coast in the depth of winter. This year alone, typical Northern and Central California households (which use about 500 kilowatt-hours of electricity each month) will pay over $400 more annually on their PG&E bill.

PG&E currently charges the most for electricity among Californias three investor-owned utilities with an average residential rate of $0.397 per kilowatt hour. The companys residential electricity rates have risen more dramatically than the other utilities, jumping 128% over the last decade.

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San Diego Gas and Electrics average residential electricity rate is $0.383 per kilowatt hour, and Southern California Edisons rate is $0.338.

PG&E has vowed to keep future rate increases between 2% and 4% annually and said Januarys dramatic hike was partly due to the slow pace of state approvals that compressed two years of rate hikes into one.

PG&E CEO Patti Poppe told investors during a quarterly earnings call last week that the company is taking dramatic steps to increase efficiency and lower costs. In an interview with the Chronicle, Poppe said the focus on lowering operational costs is new for the company and one that she hopes will show up in lower bills in the future.

The work were doing is really necessary, Poppe said.

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Robert McCullough, an Oregon-based energy consultant who has studied Californias utility markets, said Californias historically high electricity prices can in part be tied to complicated factors like the states deregulation of the energy industry in the 1990s.

But McCullough blamed Januarys sticker shock hitting PG&E customers this year on the companys deferred maintenance of its aging electric grid.

The company attributes about 85% of Januarys rate increase to covering the costs to modernize, upgrade and strengthen its aging electric and natural gas infrastructure at a time when climate change has made the state increasingly vulnerable to storms and wildfires.

Pacific Gas and Electric fell behind on its maintenance, and even without global warming that would have been a big bill, McCullough said.

And PG&Es rates are set to be eclipsed by San Diego Gas and Electric before the end of 2024. The San Diego utility has temporarily dropped rates to compensate customers after previously charging too much, according to the Public Advocates Office of the California Public Utilities Commission.

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Mariska Hargitay sizzles in sexy all-black as she graces the cover of Variety's Power Of Women issue this month.

Puckering her glossy nude pout, the Law & Order: SVU star, 60, rocked a black leather jacket over a pussy bow blouse and wide-legged pants.

She stood on tall stiletto heels and her honey-toned hair looked voluminous as she posed against a gray backdrop.

In the issue, Hargitay  who has played the role of NYPD Captain, Olivia Benson, for over two decades  discussed the show's 'loyal and protective' fanbase as well as the 'tough love' she's received from creator Dick Wolf.

'I feel like I have different kinds of fans because of the [show's] subject matter. They're so loyal and protective, it feels personal,' she told Variety.

Mariska Hargitay sizzles in sexy all-black as she graces the cover of Variety's Power Of Women issue this month

Having first premiered on NBC in 1999, the Law & Order spin-off follows the elite detectives of the NYPD's Special Victims Unit as they work to bring justice to victims of crimes, such as sexual assault, child molestation, domestic violence and human trafficking.

From 1999 until 2011, Hargitay played second fiddle to Christopher Meloni's Elliot Stabler.

Things changed, however, after Meloni left the program in 2011 and Hargitay became the program's lead and her character was promoted to squad captain.

The Dick Wolf-created show that also stars rapper Ice-T as Sergeant Odafin 'Fin' Tutuola, has since surpassed the episode count of its predecessor, and it has become one of the longest-running programs in television history.

Law & Order: SVU's newest season premiered in January, and NBC celebrated the show's 25th anniversary by temporarily changing Rockefeller Plaza's name to Olivia Benson Plaza.

The show was renewed for a 26th season in March.

'This show is such a unicornThe world and the culture needed an Olivia Benson, needed somebody to talk about these things and fight for survivors and believe victims,' Hargitay explained.

The actress has been a dedicated advocate for victims of sexual assault and even launched the Joyful Heart Foundation in 2004, which helps sexual assault victims defend themselves in court.

In the issue, Hargitay  who has played the role of NYPD Captain, Olivia Benson, for over two decades  discussed the show's 'loyal and protective' fanbase as well as the 'tough love' she's received from creator Dick Wolf

Having first premiered on NBC in 1999, the Law & Order spin-off follows the elite detectives of the NYPD's Special Victims Unit as they work to bring justice to victims of sexual assault, child molestation, domestic violence and human trafficking; seen with Christopher Meloni in 1999

From 1999 until 2011, Hargitay played second fiddle to Christopher Meloni, who played the leading man on the program as Elliot Stabler. Things changed, however, after Christopher Meloni left the program in 2011 and she became the program's lead and her character was promoted to squad captain

The foundation's mission is to 'transform society's response to sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse, support survivors' healing, and end this violence forever,' as per the Joyful Heart Foundation website.

She continued: 'The inception of the show was so genius that way, because Olivia was the loving mother that we all want and Stabler was the angry, protective father. It was this beautiful, perfect construct of what an injured soul needed.'

Hargitay then opened up about her working relationship with series creator Dick Wolf and how she sees him as 'family.'

'There's a beautiful mutual respect. We're extremely close, like family. He and I have had some gnarly negotiation. And I don't think he's had that with anyone else,' she confessed.

Hargitay said that Wolf's 'tough love' taught her how to advocate for herself.

'He's said things to me that are almost paternal over the years, but tough. When I say tough love, I mean, tough love. There's no coddlingI can do hard things now,' she told the outlet.

'I don't know that I was always like that. I think in the beginning of the show, I had to fake a lot of it. I was still learning it. Now I fit into these shoes.

'It's been a magnificent journey. I have learned to advocate for myself, ironically, from Dick.'

Hargitay then opened up about her working relationship with series creator Dick Wolf and how she sees him as 'family.' 'There's a beautiful mutual respect. We're extremely close, like family. He and I have had some gnarly negotiation. And I don't think he's had that with anyone else,' she confessed; Hargitay and Wolf seen in 2019

Hargitay then addressed Benson's 'near kiss' with Meloni's Eilliot Stabler in season 24, which left many diehard fans disappointed; Hargitay and Meloni pictured

She revealed that her and Meloni were totally on board for the long-awaited kiss but that it was Wolf's last-minute decision to axe it

Hargitay then addressed Benson's 'near kiss' with Meloni's Eilliot Stabler in season 24, which left many diehard fans disappointed.

She revealed that her and Meloni were totally on board for the long-awaited kiss but that it was Wolf's last-minute decision to axe it.

'To be honest with you, [Meloni] and I thought it should go one way and the powers that be didn't, so it got changed at the last minute, that near kiss,' she explained.

'Obviously Dick gets final say. It's his show and he didn't want thatWe want to hold the tension and do what's right and truthful for both characters.'

Hargitay also discussed co-star Kelli Giddish's shock exit from the hit legal drama in season 24 and how it's still a 'sore subject' for her.

Giddish played Detective Amanda Rollins for 12 years before announcing her departure in August 2022.

'Kelli is my favorite actor to work with. Kelli is my heart. It's a sore subject. I have a lot of say on the show, but I didn't have enough thereI don't like not being listened to, especially when I'm right,' Hargitay told the magazine.

Hargitay also discussed co-star Kelli Giddish's shock exit from the hit legal drama in season 24 and how it's still a 'sore subject' for her; Giddish and Hargitay seen in April 2024

Hargitay elaborated on the 'strength of women' and how 'liberating' it's been to showcase that on screen; seen in January 2024

'That relationship was one of the most powerful relationships in television because you saw these two bada** women, so flawed and so there for each other.'

Hargitay elaborated on the 'strength of women' and how 'liberating' it's been to showcase that on screen.

'That kind of integration has been the most liberating, because I can cry and I can be a bada** and scare the f**k out of you,' she explained. 'Were a pie; we have all these different pieces. Im many things and I accept that.

'So being all of it makes me feel Im more compassionate with myself and therefore others.'
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Emma Roberts and Kiernan Shipka led the A-list attendees at Wednesday night's Montblanc event celebrating 100 years of the Meisterstuck pen.

The soiree was held at the historic Paramour Estate in Los Angeles, a 18,000 square-foot mansion built in 1923 that once belonged to silent film star Antonio Moreno.

Montblanc launched the Meisterstuck, their first-ever luxury pen line, back in 1924 and it's still regarded as the best in high-end writing instruments.

Roberts, 33, struck a pose on the event's bold yellow carpet in an elegant off-white strapless dress and $525 Britt Netta 'Eseme Slingback' heels.

The Nickelodeon alum carried a black clutch at her side and her wavy golden hair was swept over one shoulder.

Emma Roberts and Kiernan Shipka led the A-list attendees at Wednesday night's Montblanc event celebrating 100 years of the Meisterstuck pen. The soiree was held at the historic Paramour Estate in Los Angeles

Shipka dazzled photographers in a black sequin off-the-shoulder minidress.

The Mad Men star, 24, styled the glitzy frock with a simple black leather purse and sky-high heels.

Her blonde hair was worn in a chic ponytail and her curtain bangs perfectly framed her heart-shaped face.

Stella Maxwell stunned in an edgy all-black look that included a trendy leather blazer.

The model, 33, layered her jacket over a floor-length sheath dress.

The runway maven rocked the 'wet hair' look made famous by Megan Fox and Kim Kardashian.

Hollywood star Laura Harrier looked radiant as she modeled a stylish olive green coord.

The actress, 34, opted for natural glam makeup and sexy beach waves.

Maude Apatow oozed 60s glam in a vibrant orange tweed coat styled with matching heels and opaque black tights.

The Euphoria star, 26, rocked a wavy brunette bob and she popped on a glossy, red-orange lip.

Roberts, 33, struck a pose on the event's bold yellow carpet in an elegant off-white strapless dress and $525 Britt Netta 'Eseme Slingback' heels

The Nickelodeon alum looked ethereal with her wavy golden hair swept over one shoulder

Shipka dazzled photographers in a black sequin off-the-shoulder minidress

The Mad Men star, 24, styled the glitzy frock with a simple black leather purse and sky-high heels

Stella Maxwell stunned in an edgy all-black look that included a trendy leather blazer

The model, 33, layered her jacket over a floor-length sheath dress

Hollywood star Laura Harrier looked radiant as she modeled a stylish olive green coord. The actress, 34, opted for natural glam makeup and sexy beach waves

She beamed for shutterbugs with her black faux leather clutch in hand

Maude Apatow oozed 60s glam in a vibrant orange tweed coat styled with matching heels and opaque black tights

The Euphoria star, 26, rocked a wavy brunette bob and she popped on a glossy, red-orange lip

Marvel hunk Simu Liu smoldered for shutterbugs in a fitted black suit with shiny black dress shoes.

For a pop of color, the Barbie actor, 35, carried his essentials in a dark green cross-body bag.

Dua Lipa's new boyfriend Callum Turner attended the Wednesday night event without the Grammy Award-winning pop star, 28.

The British actor, 34, rocked a gray suede zip-up jacket styled with skinny black trousers and leather booties.

Lipa and Turner sparked romance rumors back in January  months after her split from French film director Romain Gavras, 42.

Dylan Sprouse flashed a peace sign as he hit the red carpet wearing an orange suede blazer.

The former Disney star, 31, paired his retro-inspired jacket with a black leather cross-body bag, an olive green polo shirt and classic black pants.

Mexican model/actress Esmeralda Pimentel flashed her toned abs in a cropped tuxedo jacket and white collared shirt.

Marvel hunk Simu Liu smoldered for shutterbugs in a fitted black suit with shiny black dress shoes

For a pop of color, the Barbie actor, 35, carried his essentials in a dark green cross-body bag

Dua Lipas new boyfriend Callum Turner, 34, attended the Wednesday night event without the Grammy Award-winning pop star, 28

The British actor rocked a gray suede zip-up jacket styled with skinny black trousers and leather booties

Dylan Sprouse flashed a peace sign as he hit the red carpet wearing a groovy orange suede blazer

Mexican model/actress Esmeralda Pimentel flashed her toned abs in a cropped tuxedo jacket and white collared shirt

Toni Garrn made jaws drop in a classic LBD as she attended the event with fellow model and close friend, Jon Kortajarena

The beauty rocked strappy heels and loose curls for the LA event

Adrien Brody looked suave in a gray suit, white button-up shirt and black tie for the starry soiree in LA

EGOT winner John Legend, 45, posed up in a navy blue double-breasted jacket as he celebrated the Germany brand's anniversary without wife Chrissy Teigen, 38

Maya Erskine showed off her growing baby bump in a brown dress as she and husband Michael Angarano arrived

Asteroid City star Jason Schwartzman, 43, kept an arm wrapped around his lovely wife Brady Cunningham as they posed for photos before mingling with other celebrity attendees

The stunner, 34, rocked trendy black ports and strolled the step-and-repeat photo op in bow-adorned heels.

Toni Garrn made jaws drop in a classic LBD as she attended the event with fellow model and close friend, Jon Kortajarena.

Adrien Brody looked suave in a gray suit, white button-up shirt and black tie for the starry soiree in LA.

EGOT winner John Legend, 45, posed up in a navy blue double-breasted jacket as he celebrated the Germany brand's anniversary without wife Chrissy Teigen, 38.

Along with luxury pens, Montblanc is also known for their high-end leather goods, fragrances and watches.

Maya Erskine, 36, showed off her growing baby bump in a brown dress as she and husband Michael Angarano, 36, arrived.

hThe couple  who quietly wed sometime last year  recently announced that they're expecting their second child together, a baby daughter.

Asteroid City star Jason Schwartzman, 43, kept an arm wrapped around his lovely wife Brady Cunningham as they posed for photos before mingling with other celebrity attendees.
Others said bad therapists made them not want to seek help anymore

Women revealed their therapists flirted with or tried to date them

Nearly one-third of American women are in therapy, whether they're looking for help with anxiety, depression, work stress or relationship issues, tens of millions of women seek support.

But what happens when the professional you turn to for help with your problems ends up becoming a problem themselves?

Women on social media are sharing their therapy horror stories, including paying practitioners hundreds of dollars per hour just for them to fall asleep in sessions, victim blame their clients or tell them to simply 'get over' their problems.

One 31-year-old New Yorker told DailyMail.com one of the first times she visited a therapist in high school the provider fell asleep in her chair 'just as I was finally able to gain the courage to open up about something that had happened to me.'

Amy Nordhues, author of Prayed Upon: Breaking Free from Therapist Abuse , said in a TikTok: 'There are so many bad therapists out there'

Amy Nordhues said her therapist fell asleep during one their sessions while she was describing 'a very painful story'

Not only was it awkward, but it was extremely discouraging.

And she isn't the only patient 'whose trauma wasn't entertaining enough to keep the therapist awake.'

Amy Nordhues, author of Prayed Upon: Breaking Free from Therapist Abuse, said in a TikTok: 'There are so many bad therapists out there.'

Ms Nordhues said her therapist fell asleep during one of their sessions while she was describing 'a very painful story.'

'She had the nerve to question me,' Ms Nordhues said in the video.

She added: 'On top of that, she said, "Well, I've heard that story a million times."'

Licensed marriage and family therapist Lauren Accolla described three major red flags to watch out for when seeing a therapist: Lack of progress; the therapist overshares personal details or crosses boundaries; and the practitioner does not disclose their training or licensure information.

In one example of blurring the patient-provider line, Ray Yasmine described her horror therapy story on TikTok: 'I saw my first long term therapist as a teenager. Trusted her with all my guts.

'When we stopped the therapeutic relationship she invited me over to her house, took me out to eat, and on the day I was moving out of state for grad school, she took me to get matching tattoos together.

'My current therapist, who she referred me to, then reported her (but got no repercussions) and only at 26 [years old] realized how wrong all that was.

'The tattoo is now covered up.'

Dr Liz, who is herself a psychologist, said in a TikTok she has had her own experiences with 'really toxic therapists,' including those who have pushed the clinical relationship limits.

On Tiktok, Victoria Vance said one therapist she went to as a kid for her anxiety told her to 'pray to God about it'

Dr Liz said: 'Therapists make mistakes, and thats human of us, but these ones are obviously unacceptable.'

The psychologist said she has had therapists flirt and push romantic and sexual boundaries with her, take her partner's side in couples therapy and 'ghost' her, suddenly and unexpectedly ending all communication with no warning or explanation.

In some cases, therapists respond without compassion, give bad advice or minimize a patient's feelings and experiences.

TikTok user Brianne Olsen described her 'worst therapy experience ever' in a video, saying her therapist told her: 'It seems like you have everything going for you, you don't have any reason to be sad.'

The therapist also dismissed her depression symptoms and previous ADHD diagnosis.

She ended the appointment with telling Ms Olsen to 'cheer up.'

Ms Olsen said the experience made her not want to return to therapy, but commenters, including some identifying themselves as therapists, told her to 'Give up on [the therapist], not therapy.'

Reddit user azmasaco wrote her therapist told her to 'wipe the slate clean' and start trusting her husband again after years of physical and emotional abuse and infidelity.

Another wrote their therapist told them to 'Stop being sad and speak to people,' despite the person suffering from depression and social anxiety.

Reddit user FutureMailCarrier wrote their therapist's advice on tackling their issues was to 'Face your fears.'

On Tiktok, Victoria Vance, the daughter of a therapist, said one provider she went to as a kid for her anxiety told her to 'pray to God about it.'

'That was not that answer I was looking for,' she said.

User MeltyMermaid97 commented one of their therapists said it was her dad's own fault for getting cancer.

Another added their therapist told her to 'quit with the theatrics' when she was having a mental breakdown during one of their sessions.

In another instance, one Reddit user's practitioner told her she would 'miss the attention' someday after she revealed a man followed her around a store blowing kisses, waving, and asking for her number even after she asked him - shortly after she had been stalked by another man.

Redditer Wackydetective said: 'About a year before my father died, they convinced him to go to therapy. He was a retired trucker with a potty mouth. My brother went missing 10 years ago after the death of my mother. It was my Fathers greatest sorrow.

'The therapist said to him, I think its time to accept that your son is dead.

WrestlingWoman also commented: 'First time seeing one. I had never opened up before and decided to give her a fair chance. I answered all her questions and told her what had happened to me as a child.

'Her answer to my trauma: "Why aren't you over that yet? Other people had it worse than you and they're over it."

Dr Danna Bodenheimer, a therapist in Philadelphia, said: 'Therapists can be incredibly harmful and, in fact, if therapists are not monitoring themselves on a constant vigilant basis, chances are they are going to do something harmful because they're given a sense of power and a false sense of expertise about the people they're working with that leave the person feeling oftentimes like they don't know themselves.'

She said it was important for therapists to be 'human' and engage with their clients in a way that lets patients know 'they're sitting with a real person.'

Despite the roundup of bad advice and unprofessional behavior, therapists and patients alike stress the importance of therapy and explain it may take some time to find a provider you connect and feel comfortable with.

But, many add, it's worth it in the end.
Shell reported first-quarter profits of $7.7 billion on Thursday - thanks largely to strong margins on gas.

The profit - $1.3 billion above Wall Street expectations - comes as gas prices hit an average of around $3.70 a gallon in April, up from about $3.20 in January.

In some parts of California prices have skyrocketed to $7.29.

The cost of gas the pumps is now higher than a year ago, after months of being on a fairly steady downward trajectory.

Bank of America recently noted that US oil refiners have experienced a 'golden age' of refining thanks to a generally high 'crack spread.'

That is the difference between the price of crude oil and the cost of gas.

Shell reported first-quarter profit of $7.7 billion on Thursday, beating expectations thanks largely to strong profit margins on gas. Pictured are gas prices in Los Angeles in September

Shell's chief executive Wael Sawan said the company delivered 'another strong quarter.' He is pictured attending a conference in Houston

Demand for gasoline and jet fuel has remained high after the pandemic, although margins have slipped from historic peaks in 2022 - after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Over the quarter, Shell's chemicals and products divisions - which includes the refining busines that turns oil to fuels like gas for cars and trucks - registered a more than threefold rise in profit from the previous quarter to $2.8 billion.

As well as profits from selling gas to motorists in America and Europe, Shell - based in London - made money from other parts of the business.

Disruption to Red Sea shipping and Russian refining also boosted oil trading, now a vital source of revenue for the company, and liquefied natural gas production rose.

The company's cash flow rose 6 percent from the previous quarter to $13.3 billion. Shell shares were up around 2 percent on Thursday, having risen some 12 percent so far this year.

Shell's liquified natural gas production rose in the quarter by 7 percent from the previous three months to 7.6 million metric tons.

Its overall oil and gas production increased by 3 percent in the first quarter to 2.9 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.

On Thursday, Shell's chief executive Wael Sawan said: 'Shell delivered another quarter of strong operational and financial performance, demonstrating our continued focus on delivering more value with less emissions.'

The refining industry has seen steady growth over the past decade, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

Hmmm, Menlo Park @shell gas prices be hitting. Off San Hill Road and Sharon Oaks Drive. pic.twitter.com/LZO8AzGFEm  Stanley Roberts NEWS IN BI0 (@StanleyRoberts) September 29, 2023

Shell shares were up around 2 percent on Thursday, having risen some 12 percent this year

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And since the war in Ukraine, bans on the import of Russian refined products were put in place which restricted supply as demand remained strong.

More recently, outages at Russian refineries because of Ukrainian drone attacks also helped profits, finance chief Sinead Gorman told reporters.

Shell also timed refinery maintenance for the last quarter of 2023 while most of its peers opted for the first quarter of the year, giving it a further advantage in supplying oil products such as gasoline and diesel, Gorman said.

In a nod to investors, the company said it will buy back a further $3.5 billion of its shares over the next three months, at a similar rate to the previous quarter. Its dividend remained unchanged.
Jindal Stainless, on Wednesday, announced its entry into a joint venture with a Singapore-based company to develop and operate a stainless steel melt shop (SMS) in Indonesia. The company further announced that it will invest around rupees 1,900 crores to expand its downstream lines in Jajpur and Odisha to increase their melting capacity. Jindal Stainless will also acquire a 54% equity stake in Chromeni Steels Private Limited (CSPL).

Abhyuday Jindal, Managing Director of Jindal Stainless, said, With these acquisitions and investments, they have orchestrated a clear growth plan to become one of the leading players in the world. He further added that this is a plug-and-play model, and there will be good growth in three years.

The company also addressed that although Jindal Stainless already has a facility in Indonesia, this will be a completely separate facility that will be operational in 2 years. The government of Indonesia promotes Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and they would get a secure availability of raw materials and increased production efficiency in Indonesia.

The Government of Indonesia has banned the export of nickel ore and is promoting investments into downstream facilities through long-term tax holidays. The acquisition of Chromeni supports our strategy to increase cold rolled products in our product mix. said the CEO & Wholetime Director, Tarun Kumar Khulbe. Anurag Mantri, Executive Director & Group CFO, said these investments will especially contribute to the overall balancing of their downstream cold-rolled capacities, bringing them closer to the global benchmarks.
John Distilleries Ltds Paul John single malt whiskey Nirvana has been awarded Gold medal in the prestigious London Spirits Competition 2024. JDLs two other offerings  Roulette London Dry Gin and Paul John XO Brandy  have also won Silver medals. JDL is the only Indian company to have been awarded in three different categories  whiskey, gin and brandy.

We are honoured to have been awarded at the London Spirits Competition. It is indeed a privilege to be appreciated for the quality of our products, said JDL Chairman and Managing Director Paul P John.

JDL is one of the most awarded Indian companies internationally as it has bagged various prestigious awards in the events like the International Wine and Spirit Competition, the World Whiskey Awards and the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

The London Spirits Competition, organized by the Beverage Trade Network, aims to recognise and promote spirits brands that resonate with consumers and offer value for both trade buyers and end consumers. Judging criteria include quality, value for money, and packaging appeal.
By Azernews

Fatime Letifova

Right after Azerbaijan liberated the Garabagh from Armenian occupation, visits by official and unofficial foreign representatives were organised to the territories.

Over the past four years, large delegations from major international travel networks such as ETIC, MTP, TCC, NomadMania, British Piki Reels, and Swedish Club 100 have visited Garabagh and Eastern Zangazur several times. Additionally, last year, a UN mission visited Garabagh to observe the situation.

However, despite this, the facts about Garabagh, the vandalism committed by the Armenian junta regime against cultural monuments, historical buildings, and mosques in the occupied territories are still not strongly condemned by the leading bodies and institutions of Europe. On the contrary, the West unfairly defends Armenia due to the liberation of Azerbaijan's sovereign territories.

In a comment for Azernews on the issue, Patrick Walsh, an Irish historian, said that the West's biased policy leans on religious reasons.

The Western attitude towards the conflict is unfortunately conditioned by history, culture, and contemporary US politics. The historical residue of Western Christian sympathy for the Armenians persists, despite all contemporary facts, the expert added.

Walsh noted that Armenians use the concept of democracy to spread anti-Turk propaganda.

The anti-Turk propaganda of World War One and before is still in the Western consciousness. Similarly, Armenians have availed themselves of the current Washington ideology directed against Russia, China, and Iran to place themselves in the "democratic" camp against the "authoritarians" of the East and Eurasia," the historian emphasised.

But as we know, Armenia failed once again in the real war in Garabagh, and Azerbaijan liberated its own historical territories in 2020.

Touching on the official and unofficial travels to Azerbaijans Garabagh, an expert said that these visits may play a role in future.

The visits are necessary and essential in making small gains and encouraging some influential Westerners to give a truer picture of the situation. It may not have a massive impact, but Azerbaijan, working against history, culture and politics, has to engage in this kind of long-term work that will pay dividends in the future, he added.

Patrick Walsh also noted that Garabaghs history should be learned in foreign countries to diminish Armenian lies.

Azerbaijan's case is excellent, and it has to be told in the West to combat Armenian misinformation, which is everywhere, the expert noted.

The historian said that Armenians sponsor some Western-elected politicians and representatives of organisations that have authority on the continent, and this is bad fortune.

This is an unfortunate fact of life because of the prevalence of powerful Armenian interest groups in some parts of the West who sponsor elected representatives. Pressure groups, it is well known, distort the democratic process in the West. This is widely understood by political scientists and indeed the general public, he said.

The expert also underlined the role of the Armenian diaspora in Europe as an obstacle to hearing the truth about Garabagh.

They are a fundamental part of Western democracy that is, at the same time, a hindrance to understanding the facts of the situation. The Armenians have a great advantage in this area with their large and wealthy diaspora and lobby groups. It is just an unfortunate fact of life that only counterarguments can combat. Walsh said in conclusion.
President Biden announced Thursday the expansion of the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument. From the top of the new monument lands, Indian Valley Reservoir in Lake County and the surrounding mountains can be seen. Brian L. Frank/Special to the Chronicle Geoff Benn, education associate with the conservation group Tuleyome, shows a pine cone to California Deputy Secretary for Tribal Affairs Geneva E.B. Thompson during a recent tour of Molok Luyuk. Brian L. Frank/Special to the Chronicle

WALKER RIDGE, Colusa County  Up a long dirt road flanked by wildflower-drenched meadows and rolling green mountains, about 120 miles north of San Francisco, lies Californias newest national monument land.

President Joe Biden announced Thursday, after months of speculation, that 13,696 acres of federal land along the picture-perfect ridge known as Molok Luyuk would be added to the 330,000-acre Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument. He cited the areas prolific botanical richness and tribal significance. The monument, in the inner Coast Range, was created in 2015.

Plans for the newly designated land in Lake and Colusa counties are not set. But a recent tour of the unpaved Walker Ridge Road revealed the many possibilities for the future of the site, inspired by its natural beauty and cultural past. Among the visions is to turning the road, an old trade route for tribes with views of distant Mount Shasta and the Sierra Nevada, into part of a lengthy recreational trail running from the Klamath Mountains to the Bay Area.

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Its an amazing place and, in many ways, a microcosm of the entire monument, said Sandra Schubert, executive director of the nonprofit conservation group Tuleyome, which pushed for the creation of the original monument as well as the addition of Molok Luyuk. This really gives people much more access to the area than theyve ever had.

Berryessa Snow Mountain, originally designated by President Barack Obama, remains a relatively obscure and lesser-visited monument. Theres no visitor center. Few signs designate its boundaries. Much of it is accessible only by dirt roads.

Still, the monuments vast wilderness, which stretches 100 miles from northern Napa County to Mendocino County, draws hikers, backpackers, river-rafters, fishermen and hunters. A trail network, campgrounds and off-highway vehicle areas accommodate those who make it here.

Rounding a bend on Walker Ridge Road, which runs off Highway 20  the only highway that bisects the national monument  a splashy show of wildflowers unfurled, with fields of bright yellow goldfields and fiery red paintbrush taking center stage.

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Molok Luyuk contains about 450 plant species, 7% of the states total even though it represents only a few hundredths of a percent of the states land. More than 40 species are considered rare, including the colorful adobe lily and Purdys fritillary, which dazzled pink and white beneath the sun on a recent afternoon.

The new addition to the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument is home to a wide range of plants and animals not found in other parts of the state. Goldfield flowers were blooming during a recent visit. Brian L. Frank/Special to the Chronicle

The biodiversity is largely the result of a long history of colliding tectonic plates, which have chiseled a varied landscape of serpentine soils amid sedimentary sandstones and shales. Each accommodates a unique set of plants.

You wouldnt have this tapestry of habitats without the geology, said Nick Jensen, conservation program director at the California Native Plant Society, which has also been advocating for the protection of Molok Luyuk. Theres a lot going on here.

As the road climbed higher, rising above 2,000 feet, Cold Spring Mountain came into view. Its the high point of the ridge at 3,587 feet. Just beyond, was Snow Mountain, the monuments signature peak, at 7,056 feet, and still capped with snow in late April. A golden eagle caught a ride in the wind blowing above.

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From this vantage point, many of the far-away places where Northern California tribes would historically travel from to gather, talk and trade could be seen: the Cascade Range, the Sacramento Valley, Clear Lake and the Bay Areas Mount Tamalpais.

Nick Jensen, conservation program director at the California Native Plant Society, holds a piece of serpentinite rock at Molok Luyuk. Brian L. Frank/Special to the Chronicle

The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, which traces its lineage to the Patwin people who lived and worshiped here since wooly mammoths roamed the state, was one of the primary advocates of the monument addition.

Tribal Chairman Anthony Roberts said in a statement that the expansion honors the years of effort that tribes have invested in protecting the land of our ancestors. Reintroducing the endangered California condor to the area is one of the tribes hopes for the site, he said.

Molok Luyuk means condor ridge in the Patwin language.

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As part of the monument designation, Biden made the Patwin name of the site the official name. While it was often called Molok Luyuk, the area was identified as Walker Ridge on most maps. The president also directed the federal government to explore co-stewardship of the area with tribes.

Standing along one of the many serpentine outcroppings along the ridge, Andre Sanchez, community engagement and conservation policy manager for the conservation group CalWild, said he hopes monument status will raise the profile of the site and draw in more people  especially because its within a two-hour drive of the Bay Area and Sacramento.

Not a lot of folks know about this area, which can be a good thing and a bad thing, he said.

Andre Sanchez, community engagement and conservation policy manager for CalWild, recently visited the new addition to the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument. Brian L. Frank/Special to the Chronicle

At a lower spot along Walker Ridge Road, Sanchez pointed to a grassy hillside that had begun to slip, an example of erosion caused by off-road vehicles. Dirt bikes and all-terrain vehicles are popular at Molok Luyuk and throughout the monument.

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Monument supporters hope the new designation will bring protections for sensitive ecological areas. Many in the off-highway vehicle community support greater regulation as long as some areas are reserved for off-road activity.

Another thing that monument advocates are happy to see reined in is wind power. The possibility of windmills going up on the ridge is widely believed to have kept Molok Luyuk from being included in the original monument designation. Monument protections prohibit most development.

The future of the site will be determined by whatever plan is drafted by the Bureau of Land Management, which owns the area. Other parts of the national monument are owned by the U.S. Forest Service. The agencies are expected to eventually create a joint management document for the entire monument.

California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot recently visited the new addition to the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument. Brian L. Frank/Special to the Chronicle

The Bureau of Land Management, in an email to the Chronicle, said working with tribes and Tuleyome to improve the trail system and restore degraded habitats was a priority going forward. The agency also noted that heavy rain and above-average temperatures over the past two years had caused a spike in weeds in the monument, which they hope to get under control.

Climate impacts will continue to influence weed infestations and invasive species invasions that affect native plant communities, the email said.

Wildfire, which has burned 98% of the monument over the past decade, is another factor that federal officials say theyll have to contend with as they manage the land.

California Reps. John Garamendi and Mike Thompson led legislative efforts to enlarge Berryessa Snow Mountain in the House, and Sen. Alex Padilla introduced legislation in the Senate. The bills, however, stalled. Under the Antiquities Act, presidents have the power to single handedly create or expand a national monument. They apply only to federal land.

To me, its clear that we need to do more to protect cultural sites and biodiversity, said Wade Crowfoot, Californias natural resources secretary, who joined last months tour of Molok Luyuk. This is a really big deal.

The proclamation to expand Berryessa Snow Mountain was accompanied by a proclamation to also expand Southern Californias San Gabriel Mountains National Monument. The 346,000-acre Forest Service property near Los Angeles, originally designated by Obama as well, was extended by 105,919 acres.

With the two new additions, the Biden administration has established or expanded seven national monuments and restored monument designations that had been removed for three others.

Vice President Kamala Harris, who as senator of California had pushed for a larger San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, praised Bidens actions in a statement Thursday.
Amit Shahs proposal to repeal AFSPA in J&K could restore normalcy, but it must consider the broader implications and evolving security of the region

Recently, the Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the Centre will consider the removal of AFPSA in J&K. This statement assumes significance as it reflects the Governments vision towards J&K and most importantly Prime Ministers promise of Naya Kashmir. Soon, after the Lok Sabha elections, the focus will be panned towards J&K as the Union Territory is scheduled to go for polls in September this year. After abrogating article 370, the Government seems to turning towards solving another long-standing conundrum in J&K- AFSPA. At the security and strategic level, this attempt will accelerate the cleaning of Pakistans propaganda by cleaning up their psychological warfare designs in J&K and will provide full throttle for holistic development. Before the Government sets its approach, it must see the bigger picture first.

The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act gives sweeping powers to armed forces (which also extends to CAPF under Section 2) and most significantly provides them legal immunity for their actions under Section 7 of the act. However, the Supreme Court in 2016 struck down this blanket protection from prosecution. The Supreme Court said It does not matter whether the victim was a common person or a militant or a terrorist, nor does it matter whether the aggressor was a common person or the state. The law is the same for both and is equally applicable to both. The sweeping powers under Section 4 of the act include

1, Arrest without warrant,

2. Fire (After due warning) upon or use other kinds of force even if it causes death, against the person who is acting against law or order in the disturbed area for the maintenance of public order.

3. To enter and search any premises in order to make such arrests, or to recover any person wrongfully restrained or any arms, ammunition or explosive substances and seize it.

4. Stop and search any vehicle or vessel reasonably suspected to be carrying such person or weapons. The AFSPA debate stems from two perspectives first is security necessity and second is cases of extrajudicial killings in the Northeast. The most debatable part is the second one which has made this act controversial. In 2004, a thorough review of the act of was done by the Justice Jeevan Reddy Commission which concluded that the act should be repealed and observed that agitations such as in Manipur and elsewhere are merely the symptoms of a malaise, which goes much deeper and called on the Government to address the core issues.. However, the importance of National security somehow gets shadowed by a few cases of misuse of the act.

Call for AFSPA comes under extraordinary situations which if not controlled or mitigated can result in serious consequences from the genocide of Kashmiri Pandits in 1990, 1986 Kashmir riots killing 2000 2000 people primarily Hindus, Sopor firings in January 1993 killing 40 people to Bij Behara firings in October 1993 killing 60 people. Such horrifying incidents need stringent measures in place and a certain amount of free pass to operate efficiently. We feel that by revoking special legal provisions, which are in place here, definitely our operational capabilities will be compromised, General Officer Command (GOC) of Armys Srinagar-based 15 Corps Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain said in 2011. To deal with a situation that is spiralling out day by day in a state requires effective operational dominance over the adversary which can only be possible if armed forces can freely operate.

The imposition of AFSPA in the state or UT itself explains that the state has almost lost its capacity to deal with the situation and when the state loses its capacity then it means that the adversary or any adverse situation will soon grip the state leading to mayhem and breakdown of national security. Such situations of breakdowns are not ordinary and demand extreme measures and interventions to normalise and any constraints in intervention will affect the normalisation process therefore to let normalisation progress an effective emergency response mechanism is required which AFSPA provides. A call for the removal of AFPSA should only come when the security environment is significantly improved or secured as hurried removal might bring back the old situation. The case of a fresh wave of radicalisation in 2018 in J&K after the killing of terror poster boy Burhan Wani is one incidence where a cautious decision must be made to decide the removal of AFSPA.

AFSPA is not immune; it has its limitations and misuses. For example, the Nagaland case in 2021 of killing innocent 14 civilians or the 1995 Kohima Massacre where 16th Rasthtriya Rifiles fired upon civilians mistaking the sound of the tyre bursting for a bomb attack killing 7 and injuring 36. The free pass or the freeness in the name of operational efficiency or capabilities has also led to some serious consequences which are eroding the primary objective of the act. The AFSPA Act is in place to mitigate the extreme situation in the state and to aggravate it. Such incidents aggravate the situation and further complicate the situation in a state. Therefore, these immunities either required a removal or needed a proper check to put caution in the exercise of powers by the armed forces which later was done by the Supreme Court in 2016.

AFSPA cannot stay for long as extraordinary or exceptional situations are temporary and once under control, AFSPA could be withdrawn. If it goes beyond necessity, then AFSPAs presence would hinder the normalisation process. The normalisation process does not only include fighting with the adversary it also includes the restoration of a peaceful and harmonious environment. A state of being normal is only when the state begins to function without any constraints, fear and anxiety. AFSPA being in place distorts the state of being normal and rather heightens the anxiety and fear which in the long run affects the democratic ecosystem and governance in a state that might further lead to socio-political instability if overlooked. The case of J&K ever since the removal of Article 370 has significantly improved there was a 66 per cent drop in terror cases in J&K. The union territory has also seen a significant drop in terror recruitment under Armys Operation Sahi Raasta. According to reports only seven youth joined terror groups last year.

As the security environment in J&K is significantly improved, a call for the removal of AFSPA is well reasoned. Now, the CAPF presence would easily tackle any security situation if arises as the substantial threat of terror now seems to be subsiding. Like the Government withdrew AFSPA from Punjab in 1997 it should soon take a call on J&K as well, though few CAPF presence can be there considering bordering areas the operation of the act must be withdrawn.

The removal of AFSPA will facilitate and exhort confidence and peace among people. Most importantly, eliminates the sense of fear and accelerates the pace of normalisation and developmental processes at socio-political levels. The Prime Ministers promise in Naya Kashmir lies beyond the security to society and politics which will only strengthen after the removal of AFPSA.

(The author is an Advocate based out of New Delhi, views are personal)
The confluence of elections, electioneering and the economy demands meticulous examination and rethinking to make the system work flawlessly

As India goes ahead with its 18th General Elections, the nation finds itself at a crossroads of democracy, economics and governance. The elections, spanning 44 days from April 19 to June 1, are poised to be the lengthiest in Indian history, reflecting both the enormity of the task at hand and the significance of the decisions to be made. Against the backdrop of a burgeoning economy, evolving political landscapes and pressing social challenges, the intersection of elections, electioneering and the economy warrants scrutiny.

The magnitude of election expenditures provides a glimpse into the economic dynamics surrounding the electoral process. According to the Centre for Media Studies (CMS), the anticipated expenditure for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections is staggering, surpassing Rs 1.35 lakh crore. This figure, more than double the amount spent in 2019, indicates to the monumental scale of electoral spending in the worlds largest democracy.

With a projected voter base of 96.6 crore, the per-voter spending is estimated at around Rs 1,400, signifying both the financial investment and the democratic imperative of ensuring widespread participation. However, its worth noting that the Election Commissions expenditure is expected to constitute only a fraction of the total outlay, pointing towards the diverse economic activities spurred by the electoral process.

The Election Commission tirelessly strives to facilitate universal suffrage across the nation. Recognising the pivotal role of public figures in shaping civic consciousness, the Commission enlisted the famed actor Rajkumar Rao as its national icon to galvanise youth engagement and voter turnout as the country approaches the general elections. Raos portrayal of a dedicated poll officer in the acclaimed film Newton, a poignant exploration of electoral challenges in a Naxal-affected region, resonated deeply with young voters. However, despite the cinematic depiction of electoral fervour, the anticipated Newton effect has yet to materialise in voting patterns in two phases so far. Nonetheless, the indomitable spirit of election officers persists, as they traverse treacherous terrain and surmount logistical obstacles to ensure the integrity of the electoral process.

Electioneering acts as a catalyst for various sectors of the economy, fostering growth and employment opportunities across the spectrum. From hospitality and transportation to textiles and advertising, the ripple effects of political campaigns are palpable. As political parties vie for voter attention, rallies, events and promotional activities proliferate, injecting vitality into local economies and stimulating demand for goods and services. Moreover, the advent of digital campaigning has revolutionised the electoral landscape, with professional agencies employed to enhance brand visibility and engagement. The economic dividends of such strategies are evident, as digital platforms emerge as potent tools for political communication and mobilisation.

Amidst the fervour of electoral competition, political manifestos serve as blueprints for governance, delineating policy priorities and economic agendas. The contrasting visions articulated by major political parties underscore the divergent approaches to addressing pressing socio-economic challenges.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), buoyed by its track record and incumbent status, advocates for policy continuity and fiscal consolidation. With Prime Minister Narendra Modis emphasis on infrastructure development and economic reforms, a BJP-majority Government is poised to prioritise private investment and fiscal prudence, thereby fostering economic stability and growth.

Conversely, the Indian National Congress or INDI Block champions a progressive agenda focused on job creation, social welfare and agrarian reforms. Proposals such as Government-led employment initiatives, minimum support price guarantees and education loan waivers underpin the Alliances commitment to inclusive growth and equitable development.

While political rhetoric often dominates electoral discourse, the economic imperatives transcending partisan lines merit attention. Issues such as water scarcity, climate change and unemployment pose formidable challenges to Indias socio-economic fabric, necessitating concerted action beyond the electoral cycle. The water crisis in cities like Bengaluru serves as a poignant reminder of the urgent need for sustainable resource management and climate resilience. Yet, the conspicuous absence of these issues from political manifestos is very disheartening. There is an urgent need for non-partisan dialogue and policy discourse on environmental sustainability and socio-economic resilience.

As India embarks on its electoral journey, the confluence of elections, electioneering and the economy offers both opportunities and challenges. While the democratic process catalyses economic activity and political discourse, the imperatives of inclusive and sustainable development transcend electoral cycles. By transcending electoral exigencies and embracing a shared vision of progress, India can realise its aspirations for a vibrant democracy and a prosperous future for all.

(The author is Delhi-based senior journalist. Views expressed are personal)
Modi 3.0 plans to bolster infrastructure creation post-election by expanding the infrastructure financing ecosystem

In the interim budget for FY25, infrastructure outlay was increased by 11.1 per cent to 11.11 lakh crore, including Rs 2.78 lakh crore for the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and Rs 2.55 lakh crore for the Railway Ministry. Post-poll, the plan for a full-fledged budget for FY25 will look to raise Rs 25000 crore of finance through green bonds - higher than Rs 20000 crore raised through green bonds in FY24.

That going ahead private investment will be a big driver of infrastructure development, is evident from the National Investment & Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) plan to raise USD 1 billion for its second Private Markets Fund (PMF). The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is likely to invest nearly USD 125 million. NIIF manages over USD4.9 billion of equity capital commitments across its four funds- Master Fund, PMF, Strategic Opportunities Fund and India-Japan Fund.

The MoRTH is looking to raise a whopping Rs 60,000 crore in FY 25 through monetisation of Toll Operate Transfer (TOT) highways and NHAI InvIT. In FY 24, Rs 38334 crore was raised from ToT, InvIT and project-based financing. It is significant to mention that under the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP), an ambitious target of raising Rs 1.08 lakh crore has been fixed for FY25.

The share of privately funded highways in the overall award of projects in FY25 is expected to meet the Governments target of 10 per cent. NHAI has drawn up a plan to develop 53 listed highways worth Rs 1.2 trillion through BOT. The MoRTH had a healthy award project pipeline of over Rs 45,000 crore as of March 2024. Following the Governments push for private participation in highways, IRB Infra Development has committed to invest 10000-12000 crore in FY25, to add road capacity through Build Operate Transfer (BOT) mode. The recent modification in concession agreements, according to IRB, has bolstered investors confidence by enhancing the bankability of projects. Further, the central Government is putting into place its plan to pare a large portion of NHAIs Rs 3.4 trillion debt within 5 years. This will free up NHAIs resources for development in the highways sector.

The energy sector is getting a big green private investment boost. REC Limited, a leader in the power sector in India has availed a SACE-covered green loan for JPY 60.536 billion to finance eligible green projects. In the power sector, besides the airport, Adani Enterprises is firming up its plans to plough USD 1 billion into these businesses. It is in advanced talks with several investors in the US and Europe to raise USD 1 billion for its Solar Panel business and Mumbai Airport. The company, which is enhancing its focus on green energy, raised USD 750 million through bonds in 2022.

The investors and Indian corporates engaged in infrastructure development are banking on political and policy continuity for the fructification of the ambitious plan for infra financing push.

(The author is a veteran journalist; views are personal)
In an era marred by misinformation, censorship and threats to journalists, the celebration of press freedom assumes greater significance than ever before

Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a Government without newspapers, or newspapers without a Government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter - Thomas Jefferson

Every year on May 3rd, the world comes together to celebrate World Press Freedom Day, a day dedicated to honouring the fundamental principles of press freedom, defending the independence of the media and paying tribute to journalists who risk their lives to report the truth. In an era marked by misinformation, censorship and threats to journalists worldwide, this day holds more significance than ever. Press freedom is the cornerstone of democracy. It empowers citizens by providing them with access to diverse viewpoints and information, enabling them to make informed decisions. A free press serves as a watchdog, holding Governments and powerful entities accountable for their actions. It acts as a voice for the voiceless, bringing attention to social injustices and human rights violations.

Despite the crucial role they play, journalists around the world face numerous challenges in their pursuit of truth. They encounter threats, harassment and violence, both online and offline. Many journalists risk imprisonment or even death for daring to report on sensitive issues. Censorship, propaganda and attacks on press freedom have become increasingly prevalent, hindering the ability of journalists to fulfil their vital role in society. World Press Freedom Day. Since 1993, it has been observed globally to honour a declaration made by African journalists in Windhoek, Namibia, in 1991. It commemorates press freedom principles and acknowledges journalists courage. UNESCO awards the Guillermo Cano Prize to those preserving press freedom.

While technology has revolutionised the way information is disseminated, it has also presented new challenges for press freedom. Social media platforms have become powerful tools for spreading information, but they have also been weaponised to spread misinformation and silence dissenting voices. Journalists must navigate through a digital landscape fraught with fake news and online harassment, often at great personal risk. India, home to one of the worlds largest and most vibrant media landscapes, has faced scrutiny in recent years regarding its press freedom record. According to the World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Indias ranking has seen fluctuations. In the 2023 index, India was placed at 163 out of 180 countries, indicating significant challenges to press freedom within the country.

When asked to bend, the media crawled. And when asked to crawl, it cringed.This statement was made by Advani in the context of the Indian medias behaviour during the Emergency period (1975-1977), imposed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. During this time, press freedom faced severe restrictions, with journalists being arrested, newspapers censored and the Government exerting tight control over media outlets. Advanis quote reflects his criticism of how certain sections of the media capitulated to Government pressure and failed to uphold journalistic integrity and independence. It suggests that instead of resisting unjust demands or censorship, some media outlets complied with the Governments wishes, even to the point of degradation. This quote serves as a reminder of the importance of a free and independent press in holding those in power accountable and safeguarding democracy. It highlights the need for journalists to remain vigilant in upholding the principles of press freedom, especially in times of political turmoil or authoritarian rule. British politician Edmund Burke is often credited with coining the term in the late 18th century, referring to the gallery of the House of Commons as the fourth estate, symbolising the presss influence on political affairs. The term fifth estate underscores the transformative role of social media in democratising access to information, enabling individuals to participate in public discourse and challenging established institutions and power structures. Social media platforms empower users to share news, opinions and perspectives instantaneously, bypassing traditional gatekeepers of information.

On World Press Freedom Day, we must reaffirm our commitment to defending press freedom and protecting journalists worldwide. Governments must uphold the principles of free speech and ensure the safety of journalists within their borders. Civil society plays a crucial role in advocating for press freedom and holding those who seek to suppress it accountable. Media organisations must continue to strive for independence, transparency and ethical journalism, even in the face of adversity. World Press Freedom Day is also a day to celebrate the courage and resilience of journalists who risk their lives to report the truth. It is a day to honour those who have faced persecution, imprisonment and even death for their commitment to upholding the principles of press freedom. Their dedication serves as a reminder of the invaluable role journalists play in safeguarding democracy and promoting transparency.

(The writer is an associate professor, views are personal)
Representatives of 18 political parties from 10 countries will interact with a host of BJP leaders, including party president J P Nadda and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, during their visit to India on the ruling partys invitation to get a first-hand experience of the Lok Sabha polls.

The BJP said the foreign leaders will also be given insights into the partys election campaign and will be briefed about its strategies and the overall electoral process. They will meet Nadda on Wednesday and also interact with Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

Australias Liberal Party, Vietnams Communist Party of Vietnam, Bangladeshs Awami League, Israels Likud Party, Ugandas National Resistance Movement, Tanzanias Chama Cha Mapinduzi, and Russias United Russia Party are among the political parties whose representatives are visiting India.

Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna and United National Party from Sri Lanka, Militant Socialist Movement, Mauritius Labour Party, Mauritian Militant Movement and Parti Mauricien Social Democrate from Mauritius, and Nepali Congress, Janamat Party, Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and Rashtriya Swatantra Party from Nepal are among other parties visiting on the BJPs invitation.
Ending weeks of speculation, the BJP on Thursday denied ticket to sitting MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh who has been embroiled in a sexual harassment controversy and fielded his son Karan Bhushan Singh from Kaiserganj in Uttar Pradesh.

For the first time since 2009, the BJP dropped its heavyweight leader and sitting MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh from Kaiserganj.

The former president of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) is currently facing allegations of sexual harassment levelled against him by six women wrestlers. Karan is likely to file his nomination on May 3. The move retains the seat's contest within the family highlighting the influence of the Thakur leader and six-time MP in the region and the party.

The party also named Dinesh Pratap Singh as its candidate from Raebareli, a Gandhi family bastion which has been won by former Congress president Sonia Gandhi for five consecutive times. Sonia, who won from the Gandhi family bastion five consecutive times, was elected to the Rajya Sabha unopposed from Rajasthan earlier this year. The deadline to file nominations for Amethi and Rae Bareli is on Friday. These seats are going to polls in the fifth phase, on May 20.

Karan Bhushan is the youngest son of Brij Bhushan. Born in 1990, Karan is presently the president of the Uttar Pradesh Wrestling Association. Previously, Karan was the senior vice president of the UP wrestling association. Karan Bhushan is a national-level double-trap shooter. He holds a law degree besides doing a business management course in Australia. He will be making his debut in electoral politics this time.

Days after Karan's election, Olympic medallists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik had threatened protests, claiming the government had promised that Brij Bhushan or his relatives or associates would not govern the sport.

Karan is also the president of the Cooperative Village Development Bank in Nawabganj, Gonda. Polling will be held in Kaiserganj in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections on May 20. Earlier, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh blamed the media for the delay in the announcement of his name as the BJP candidate for the seat.

Interestingly, Brij Bhushan has already began his campaign in Kaiserganj on April 8 with a road show even though the party has not declared his candidature. He was found appealing to voters to fulfil Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream of 'Abki Baar, 400 Paar'.

The president of the Wrestling Federation of India for over a decade, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh hit the headlines in 2023, when the country's top wrestlers, including Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik, accused him of sexually harassing women wrestlers and staged a massive protest in the national Capital.
Just when the campaigning is peaking for the May 25 polls in national Capital, the Congress which is contesting on three of the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi as per arrangements with INDIA Bloc partner Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), faltered further as exodus continued on Wednesday.

Two former MLAs and observers for the Lok Sabha seat  Naseeb Singh and Neeraj Basoya  resigned from the party citing their dissatisfaction with the party's decision to form an alliance with AAP and its choice to allot Lok Sabha tickets to Kanhaiya Kumar and Udit Raj.

In separate letters to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Neeraj and Naseeb, who are AICC observers for West Delhi and North West Delhi Lok Sabha seats respectively, claimed that the Congress workers are "upset" and feel "humiliated" due to the alliance with the AAP.

The Congress had on Tuesday appointed former MLA Devender Yadav as interim president of its Delhi unit after Lovely resigned citing the tie-up with AAP and statements of Congress candidates in the national Capital, exposing the cracks in the party's Delhi unit.

Last week, former Minister and four-time MLA Raj Kumar Chauhan resigned from the party, alleging that he was humiliated by Deepak Babaria, AICC in charge of Delhi Congress. Lovely has resigned from the Delhi Congress president post, protesting against party in-charge Babaria and objecting to the choice and conduct of two candidates who are "total strangers" to party workers.

In the coming days, some more leaders may resign from the party. Several former MLAs here are reluctant to campaign for Udit Raj and Kanhaiya Kumar.

Several prominent leaders including former Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan, ex-Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Nirupam, spokesperson Gourav Vallabh, former social media head Rohan Gupta, Acharya Pramod Krishnam, former defense minister AK Antony's son Anil Antony, and Gujarat Patidar leader Hardik Patel have also left the Congress.

In his letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Basoya said the alliance with AAP was bringing "great disrepute" and "embarrassment" to Delhi Congress workers on a daily basis.

Basoya, said, "I am addressing the present communication to you, being aggrieved by the alliance of the party with the AAP in Delhi. I have humbly submitted that the said alliance is bringing a great dis-repute and embarrassment to Delhi Congress workers on a daily basis. And I believe that as a self-respecting party leader, I cannot be associated with the party anymore."

The top three leaders of AAP  Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Satyendar Jain and Manish Sisodia  are already in jail. Their party has been accused of serious corruption charges on various issues such as the Delhi liquor scam and Delhi Jal Board scam, Basoya said in his letter. Also, AAP has throughout its existence levelled serious allegations against the Congress and its top leadership, he said.

Singh, in his letter, said that Davinder Yadav, who is also AICC (in-charge Punjab), has till now run a campaign in Punjab solely based on attacking Keiriwal's "false agenda. "And today, he will be mandated to praise and support AAP and Kejriwal in Delhi," he said. The Congress and AAP are not in alliance in Punjab.
The Election Commission on Wednesday issued revised protocol for handling and storage of symbol loading unit (SLU) of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips against the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM). This comes in the backdrop of the latest order by the Supreme Court which said, "After the completion of symbol loading process, the symbol loading unit (SLU) should be sealed in containers. The SLU should be stored at least for a period of 45 days." The SLU uploads the name and symbol of the candidates contesting on a particular seat on VVPAT or paper trail machines.

In a statement on Wednesday, the poll authority said all State Chief Electoral Officers have been directed to create necessary infrastructure and provisions to implement the new protocols for handling and storage of the symbol loading units (SLUs).

"As mandated by the Supreme Court, the revised protocols are applicable in all cases of completion of the symbol loading process in the VVPATs undertaken on or after May 1, 2024," the commission said.

Currently, only the three components of the EVM  the ballot unit, control unit, and VVPAT  are stored for 45 days after the results.

This is the first time that SLUs, used to load candidate symbols onto the VVPATs, will also be available for examination along with the EVMs if a candidate challenges the results by filing an election petition in court. The EVM and VVPAT slips can be called by the court while hearing the plea.

The SLU is used to load the symbols of the candidates onto the VVPAT. It is a matchbox-sized device that is first connected to a laptop or personal computer, from which a symbol loading application is used to load a bitmap file containing the candidates' names, serial numbers, and symbols.

The SLU is then connected to the VVPAT to transfer that file on to the paper audit machine. This is done under the supervision of a district election officer.

As per the SOP, during the commissioning period in Assembly Constituency/Segment, all Symbol Loading Unit(s) along with its accessories shall be in the custody of the Returning Officer/Assistant Returning Officer, as the case may be and shall be securely stored in locker/safe/cupboard etc. under lock and key in the Commissioning premises with proper security. RO/ARO shall be responsible for safe custody of Symbol Loading Unit(s) along with its accessories during the commissioning period.

Each set of SLU along with its accessories used in a particular AC/AS shall be kept in a separate container. Not more than one set of SLU along with its accessories should be kept in a container.

"After sealing the SLU containers, the same shall be deposited with the District Election Officer concerned within 24 hours of the completion of commissioning. These containers shall be stored by the DEO in a separate strong room/secured room and shall be marked clearly on the door as 'SLU STORAGE ROOM'. It is clarified that both the used SLUs and Reserve SLUs shall be stored in the SLU Storage Room. District Election Officer shall be responsible for their storage and security. The SLU Storage Room shall be under double lock system with all keys of each lock with two separate specified officers," it said.

While rejecting the plea for 100 per cent verification of VVPAT slips against the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) count, the Supreme Court on Friday (April 26) directed the EC to "seal and secure" the Symbol Loading Unit (SLU) for 45 days after the declaration of election results. This means that a candidate can ask ECI officials to check the one-time programmable software in the BU (Ballot Unit), CU (Control Unit), and VVPAT for tampering, in case of any doubts regarding the result. This verification involves inspecting the burnt memory/ microcontrollers of these three components.

Before the Supreme Court order, the SLUs were handed over to local poll officials by the engineers of BEL or ECIL. A day after the poll, the SLUs were returned to the engineers of the two public sector units who manufacture the ballot unit, the control unit and the VVPAT along with SLUs.

A few years ago, a feature was added which helped the candidates or their representatives see the symbol loading process on a TV monitor. The feature was added to enhance transparency.
With its topmost leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal still in Tihar, the AAP has received yet another blow as the Women and Child Development (WCD) Department of the Delhi Government has terminated the services of 52 "illegally" appointed contractual employees of Delhi Commission for Women (DCW).

The termination has been carried out on the basis of a report submitted by a committee way back in June, 2017. Earlier, an order issued on April 29 said that the WCD Department had terminated the services of 223 contractual staff, but the department on Thursday issued a statement saying it had directed for the termination of 52 such employees.

According to an official, 223 posts were "illegally" created but only 52 staffers were hired and the remaining posts were vacant. It is alleged that the former chairperson of the DCW, Swati Maliwal, who is currently Rajya Sabha member, had appointed the staffers without permission, going against the rules.

The crackdown is set to become another flashpoint between the Lieutenant Governor's office and the ruling AAP over the administration of the national capital. The development also comes at a time when AAP leader and Kejriwal is in jail after being arrested in connection with alleged irregularities in the capital's now-scrapped liquor policy.

Calling the notice to DCW a "Tughlaqi order", Maliwal on X wrote, "LG has issued a Tughlaqi order to remove all the contract staff of DCW. Today, the Women's Commission has a total staff of 90 out of which only 8 people have been provided by the government, the rest are on 3-month contracts."

"If all the contract staff is removed, the Women's Commission will be locked. Why are these people doing this? This institution has been built with blood and sweat. Instead of giving it staff and protection, you are destroying it from its roots?" Maliwal added.

The committee was constituted by the then Lt Governor Anil Baijal to look into the complaints of "irregular and illegally created posts and contractual appointments" in February, 2017 at DCW, said the statement from the WCD Department.

"The committee, headed by the then Chief Secretary and comprising Principal Secretary (Finance), Secretary (WCD) and Secretary (Law) as members, after inquiry, had found the appointments and the processes that were followed, to be illegal and had held the appointments to be invalid ab initio", it said.

The committee had recommended that the appointment of existing contractual staff engaged without having sanctioned posts, are void ab initio and they cannot be allowed to continue, it said.

"However, the DCW and its then chairperson, Swati Maliwal, who in the first instance had appointed these individuals, illegally kept the recommendations of the Committee in abeyance and the same could be moved by the WCD Department only upon her demitting office recently," the statement added. The officials said that currently, 52 contractual staffers were employed.

An order issued by the office of the Lieutenant Governor said that the panel has a sanctioned strength of 40 employees and that 223 new posts were created without the approval of the Lieutenant Governor.

"DCW has violated the statutory provisions of DCW Act, 1994 and various standing instructions of the Department of Finance & Planning Department, GNCTD by creating 223 posts and engaging staff without following due procedure i.e. no study was conducted to assess the actual requirement of additional staff and eligibility criteria for each post, no administrative approval and expenditure sanctioned was obtained from the GNCTD for engaging such manpower and applications for such posts were not formally invited, role and responsibility for any of these posts were not assigned and emoluments of some of the incumbents which were decided at the time of initial appointment, were enhanced very sharply and arbitrarily," the order read.

Taking cognizance of all these alleged irregularities and illegalities made by the DCW, the order said, "the Hon'ble Lieutenant Governor has approved the proposal of the department that the appointments of contractual staff engaged in DCW without having sanctioned posts and without following due procedures is void ab initio and the same cannot be allowed to continue in DCW."

"Therefore, the approval of the Government is hereby conveyed to Delhi Commission for Women to discontinue the services of all contractual staff with immediate effect who have been appointed by DCW at any point of time, by going beyond its delegated power and without following various procedures laid down and in violation of DCW Act/ rules/regulations/guidelines issued by Govt of NCT of Delhi from time to time," the order added.

Before entering the Rajya Sabha, Maliwal, who is currently AAP's Rajya Sabha MP, had headed the Delhi Commission for Women for nine years. As per the order, she was repeatedly advised to take the finance department's approval for making these appointments.

This is not the first time former DCW chairperson Maliwal had trouble with the law. Earlier, it was alleged that she had abused her power to appoint acquaintances between 2015 and 2016. However, in a major relief, the Delhi High Court last year stayed the proceedings against her till the next date of hearing. Maliwal was charged under the Prevention of Corruption (POC) Act, which she later denied.

The case was filed on the complaint of BJP leader Barkha Shukla Singh, a former DCW chief who was also attached to the Anti-corruption Branch in 2016. After an initial enquiry, an FIR was registered in the matter.
In a scare of unprecedented scale, panic gripped schools in the national Capital and adjoining Noida after 131 of them received identical bomb threats through emails on Wednesday morning, triggering mass evacuations and massive searches as panicked parents rushed to pick up their children.

The anti-terror unit of the Delhi Police has started investigations into the bomb threat email sent to schools in the Delhi-NCR region, as the initial probe hinted at a deeper conspiracy by a terror group during the Lok Sabha elections.

The schools received the threats on their official email IDs around 4 am. Bomb detection teams, bomb disposal squads and officials of Delhi Fire Service were rushed to schools but nothing suspicious was found. Multiple private schools in Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad and Gurugram also received the bomb threat but local police dismissed them as a hoax.

As panicked parents crowded outside the schools, the Ministry of Home Affairs said the mails appeared to be a hoax. In a statement, the Union Home Ministry officials said, "There is no need to panic. Mails appear to be hoaxes. The Delhi Police and security agencies are taking necessary steps as per protocol."

The schools sent out messages and notices to the concerned parents, informing them to pick up kids at the earliest with kids using buses and vans being sent to their home.

"Dear parent, this is to inform you that due to a message received in the school we are evacuating the children early today in their respective school buses and vans. The parents who pick up their ward from the school should reach the school by 10.30 am. at the school gate," read one such message sent to worried parents.

According to police, the threat was declared a hoax as "nothing objectionable" was found during searches. Bomb threats sent via email to schools in Delhi-NCR originated from Russia, as indicated by the IP address of the email, which was traced back to the domain "mail.ru".

Investigating agencies said it is also possible that culprits may have masked their identity using the dark net. Such mails are often sent from a vpn that helps them mask their real ip address as is the case in these "bomb threat" emails, said the sources.

Special Cell of the Delhi Police has registered an FIR against unknown people under section 120B, 506 of IPC. The investigation will be done by the Counter Intelligence Team Special Cell. The IFSO unit is also trying to find out the origin from where the mail was sent, till now the connection to Russia (IP address) has been revealed.

As per the investigation till now, it seems to be part of a larger conspiracy. The investigating agency is also probing the angle of joint conspiracy between China and ISI, the Delhi Police sources said.

Although the email, said to be sent out by one accused, has been called a hoax, the Delhi Police has stepped up security at all metro and railway stations, bus stands, and markets for precautionary measures. "We have stepped up security at every station. We have also alerted our staff to keep strict vigil on any suspicious activity," Deputy Commissioner of Police (railways) K P S Malhotra said.

As per reports, about eight schools in Southwest Delhi, three in North Delhi, 18 in South Delhi, 21 in West Delhi, one in North East Delhi, 24 in East Delhi, 21 in West Delhi and 16 in Outer Delhi received these threats among others. Delhi Police Public School of Wazirabad, Mother's Marry Senior Secondary School of Mayur Vihar, DPS International of Saket, Sanskriti School of Chanakyapuri, Don Bosco School of CR Park and DAV Public School of Paschim Vihar were some of the prominent schools that received the threat via an email early morning. In the adjoining region of Noida, Delhi Public School received the bomb threat.

According to central intelligence agencies sources, this could be a wakeup call as the entire nation and security forces are engaged in the election process. This comes after Chacha Nehru Hospital in Delhi's Shahdara received a bomb threat via email on Tuesday morning. An email claiming that a bomb had been planted at Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya in Shahdara caused panic and disruption at the hospital on Tuesday. The email was also sent to at least 50 others, including government departments. On Monday, Raja Bhoj International Airport in Bhopal, Dabolim airport in Goa, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata and the Jaipur International Airport received bomb threats.

Lt Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena said that Delhi Police has traced the origin of the bomb threat emails that were sent to multiple schools in Delhi-NCR on Wednesday, and assured that the culprits will be given strict punishment. Officials said the bomb threat appeared to be hoax and said there was no reason to panic. Saxena visited DAV school in Model Town area that also received the bomb threat. The LG said that Delhi Police responded quickly to the bomb scare and began action after cordoning off and searching the premises with bomb disposal teams and dog squads.

A senior security officer said, "A general advisory has been issued in the Delhi Metro network and CISF personnel have been asked to remain extra vigilant," adding that additional police force, along with paramilitary, has been deployed in several parts of Delhi and barricades have been installed at city borders.

Special commissioner of police RP Upadhyay termed the bomb threat emails as a "terror threat" and stated that the counterintelligence unit is investigating the matter.

According to Delhi Fire Service (DFS), at least 97 calls from different schools have been received till 12 noon on Wednesday. They started receiving calls about the bomb threat at 6 am, an officer said. An official said that DFS also received calls even after noon and firefighters are still on the ground. Delhi Fire Services chief Atul Garg said all calls are being attended diligently.
UC Berkeleys new xucyun ruwway graduate student housing complex in Albany, shown in a rendering, will be located south of Village Creek adjacent to the existing University Village family housing, recreational fields and Sprouts grocery store. Courtesy of Ayers Saint Gross Architects/American Campus Communities A rendering of UC Berkeleys xucyun ruwway graduate student housing complex at Monroe and Jackson streets in Albany. Courtesy of Ayers Saint Gross Architects/American Campus Communities A rendering shows the transit plaza that will be added along Monroe Street in Albany where students at UC Berkeleys new xucyun ruwway housing complex can catch a direct ride to campus on AC Transit and connect to nearby BART stations, according to officials. Courtesy of Ayers Saint Gross Architects/American Campus Communities UC Berkeleys new xucyun ruwway student housing complex in Albany will include outdoor courtyards like the one shown in this rendering. Courtesy Ayers Saint Gross Architects / American Campus Communities A recreational lawn space at UC Berkeleys new xucyun ruwway student housing complex in Albany is shown in this rendering. Courtesy of Ayers Saint Gross Architects/American Campus Communities

A new UC Berkeley student apartment complex will not only add hundreds more units of badly needed housing for graduate students  it will be the first building in the universitys history to bear an Ohlone name, chosen in collaboration with a local tribe.

The 761-unit complex for single graduate students, 3.5 miles northwest of campus in neighboring Albany, will be called xucyun ruwway (pronounced HOOCH-yoon ROO-why), a name in Chochenyo, the language of the Ohlone people.

Xucyun refers to the ancestral land of the Ohlone people of the East Bay that includes Albany and Berkeley. Ruwway is a house or a home.

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Xucyun ruwway is under construction in Albany next to University Village, an existing housing development for UC Berkeley students with families. It is scheduled to open in August, according to university officials.

The naming of the complex feels like part of an earnest reconciliation with UC Berkeley and the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, said Charlene Nijmeh, tribe chairperson, in a news release from the university.

It comes after years of Indigenous distrust of the university, for a number of reasons  including the legacy of anthropologist Alfred Kroeber, Nijmeh said. Kroebers name was removed from a UC Berkeley building in 2021 for reasons including his immoral and unethical collection of Native American remains, and his erroneous 1925 declaration that the Ohlone people were culturally extinct, which led to the federal government not recognizing the tribe, university officials said.

In recent years, Nijmeh said in the release, the university and the Muwekma Ohlone have grown more cooperative in part due to the universitys support of federal recognition efforts for the tribe.

Those efforts have come with controversy, including tactics that have rankled members of the Bay Areas congressional delegation and neighboring tribes.

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Support letters, reading land acknowledgements, naming buildings in our language  these small steps of acknowledgement are always the beginning of reconciliation, Nimjeh said.

The naming fits with UC Berkeleys ottoy initiative, an effort to include the Ohlone in museum displays, use tribal horticulture and landscaping, include Ohlone language and even cook elaborate traditional meals to teach about the Indigenous culture. Ottoy means to repair or mend in the Chochenyo language.

(G)rowing up,  an unfortunate amount of people didnt know were still in our home, and that our culture is still around, said Vincent Medina, co-founder of the ottoy initiative, in the release.

To see our culture respected outside our homes and led by us, to see our living identity, our language represented on our terms  this is positive change happening, and it gives us a lot of hope for whats possible in the future, said Medina, an East Bay Ohlone cultural leader who co-founded Cafe Ohlone on the UC Berkeley campus.

Naming the housing complex xucyun ruwway is just one recent example of ways in which the Ohlone culture is being increasingly recognized in the Berkeley-Albany area. Berkeley in March bought the former Spengers parking lot, which covers an Ohlone shellmound on Fourth Street, and agreed to return it to an Indigenous land trust. Albany recently replaced its city limits signs with new orange ones declaring the city Ohlone Territory.

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When it opens, the UC Berkeley complex will feature interpretive signs discussing the significance of the xucyun ruwway name and its historical and cultural significance  and how to pronounce the buildings name.

The housing complex, reserved for single graduate students, features five conjoined six-story buildings with two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments, all with single-occupancy rooms.

The housing complex will also include a fitness center, meeting rooms, lounge areas and a transit center for AC Transit buses, which can make the trip to and from the Cal campus in about 18 minutes.

Xucyun ruwway sits at the corner of Monroe and Jackson streets, across the street from University Village and next door to a shopping center with a grocery store. Its also walking distance from the Gilman district in Berkeley and Solano Avenue in Albany, both popular corridors for dining and shopping.

The large apartment complex will be latest addition to UC Berkeleys much-needed student housing supply. The campus, which has struggled with a student housing shortage for decades, set housing availability goals of two years for incoming freshmen, one year for transfers, and one year for graduate students.

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Kyle Gibson, a UC Berkeley spokesperson, said that meeting those will require the addition of more than 9,000 beds, which would double the campus current housing supply.

While there is more work to be done, the university is making substantial progress towards these goals, he said.

Since 2018, UC Berkeley has added about 900 beds in two new housing developments that are now open for student residents  Blackwell Hall, with 775, opened in 2018, and the Intersection Apartments opened in 2021 with 105 units.

In addition to xucyun ruwway, Gibson said, the university has about 4,600 units under construction at four sites including Peoples Park, which is now surrounded by walls of shipping containers and awaiting a state Supreme Court decision on whether it will be allowed.

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Amid the suspense over Congress nominees from Amethi and Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh, party sources indicated that Rahul Gandhi is likely to contest from the seat he lost last time and face sitting BJP MP and Union Minister Smriti Irani.

With Friday being the last date of filing of nominations, the party is expected to announce its candidates from the two prestigious constituencies late at night.

Sources said the party has started making preparations for the nomination filing in both the seats in Uttar Pradesh, which have been traditionally held by members of the Gandhi-Nehru family and revealed that the entire Gandhi family, including sitting MP of Rae Bareli Sonia Gandhi and party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, is scheduled to travel in Uttar Pradesh in a chartered plane.

They added that Rahul is the most likely choice of the party for Amethi which he lost to Irani in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Sources also said since Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has declined to contest from Rae Bareli, a grandson of former Congress leader and Indira Gandhi's aunt Sheila Kaul may be fielded from Rae Bareli, earlier represented by Sonia.

Sonia has called it a day for electoral politics and has been elected as a member of Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan.

People and loyals associated with the Gandhi family are already in Amethi and neighbouring Rae Bareli and are believed to have prepared the nomination documents for both Rahul as well as Priyanka.

The Amethi and Rae Bareli constituencies go to polls on May 20 in the fifth round of the seven-phase general elections.

Sources said official announcement was delayed as Rahul's affirmation came late evening after he and party president Kharge, who were both in Shimoga at a joint poll rally in Karnataka, held discussions over his nomination from Amethi.

The Uttar Pradesh leadership of the Congress has already called upon the Gandhi family to contest both the seats traditionally held by their family. The members of the Central Election Committee have also urged the party leadership to field both Rahul and Priyanka.

The Amethi seat has been represented by Rahul from 2004 and he remained the member of Parliament from the constituency for three consecutive terms till 2019. He currently represents the Wayanad constituency in Kerala from where he has contested this time also.

The Rae Bareli constituency was represented by Sonia Gandhi from 2004 to 2024. Prior to that, Sonia Gandhi had represented the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency after she entered politics and contested for the first time in 1999. The seat has previously been represented by Sanjay Gandhi and former Prime Minister late Rajiv Gandhi.

Congress has forged an alliance with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh as part of the INDIA Bloc and is contesting 17 Lok Sabha seats in the State.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday dubbed the Congress party a "disciple" of Pakistan, and targeted Rahul Gandhi saying the neighbouring country was eager to make the 'shehzada' of the grand old party India's next Prime Minister as the country's enemies want a weak Government in the neighbourhood.

Modi's comments in an election rally in Gujarat, linking Congress with Pakistan came a day after Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, a former Minister in Imran Khan's Cabinet in Pakistan, reportedly shared a video featuring Rahul on his social media handle and praised him.

"Pakistan is crying because Congress is dying here. You all must have learnt that Pakistani leaders are now praying for Congress. Pakistan is eager to make 'shehzada' (referring to Rahul) the next PM. This is not surprising because we already know that Congress is Pakistan's 'murid' (follower). The partnership between Pakistan and Congress has now been exposed completely. It shows that the country's enemies want a weak Government in India, not a strong one...A weak Government which was there at the time of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack. They want a corrupt Government which was there before 2014. But Modi's strong Government neither bows down nor does it stop," Modi said in a rally in Anand in Gujarat.

The PM came down more and said unlike in the past when Congress was in power, the "tyres of Pakistan's terror have got punctured" now. "A country which used to export terror in the past, is now struggling to import 'atta' (flour). The hands which used to hold bombs are now holding 'bheekh ka katora' (begging bowl)," he said. People across the world are now saying that India is a global bright spot. India is seen as a 'vishwa bandhu' (global friend) who can resolve conflicts between two countries, Modi said.

The PM also reiterated that Congress wants to change India's Constitution to provide reservation of Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Other Backward Classes (OBC) communities to Muslims. "Congress wants to give reservation to Muslims, the party's favourite vote bank. For that, they want to change the Constitution. I challenge Congress to give in writing that they will not change the Constitution to give reservation to Muslims on religious basis," he said.

The PM also challenged the Congress and the INDIA Bloc to give in writing that it won't give reservation to Muslims "through backdoor by reducing OBC quota" in the states where the party and its allies are in power. "I am challenging the shehzada to give this guarantee. There is no sense in taking the copy of the Constitution on the head and dancing. If you want to learn how to live for the Constitution and die for it, then come to Modi," the PM added.

Modi also took a dig at the grand old party over opposition leader Salman Khurshid's niece Maria Alam's call for 'vote jihad'. Alam, a Samajwadi Party (SP) leader, called for a "vote jihad" in favour of the INDIA Bloc candidate from Farrukhabad Lok Sabha seat of Uttar Pradesh. "Now, the INDI alliance calls for vote jihad. This is new, because we have so far heard about 'love jihad' and 'land jihad'. This is said by a person who belonged to an educated Muslim family, not someone who studied in madrasa. I hope you all know what the meaning of jihad is and against whom the jihad is waged. This is an insult to democracy and not a single Congress leader has condemned it," he said. Modi said such statements prove that intentions of the INDIA Bloc were "dangerous".

In another rally at Junagadh in Gujarat, Modi said the ongoing Lok Sabha elections were not for satisfying his personal ambitions, but for fulfilling his "mission." Accusing the opposition Congress of having a "dangerous mentality", Modi said its manifesto is written in the language of Muslim League.

Referring to the controversy surrounding Katchatheevu island, the PM said during Congress rule, the Union Government had no idea about the exact number of islands India had. "I then got a satellite survey done and found that we have 1,300 islands. Some of them are as big as Singapore. We will develop some of them for tourism purposes," said Modi.
On a day when Karnataka Chief Minister K Siddaramaiah wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to cancel the diplomatic passport and take swift action against the Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna who is facing allegations of sexually abusing several women, the latter took to social media to announce that he will join the probe soon and said the truth will prevail.

Revanna's family conducted a havan at their Holenarasipura residence which is also home to his father JD(S) MLA and former Karnataka Minister HD Revanna.

The MP, who left the country as soon as the election to his constituency ended, has also sought seven days' time to appear before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the Karnataka Government to enquire into the huge cache of about 3,000 explicit videos and photos allegedly pertaining to him, which have gone viral on social media.

"As I am not in Bangalore to attend the enquiry, I have communicated to CID Bangalore through my advocate. Truth will prevail soon," Prajwal, grandson of former Prime Minister and JD(S) patriarch HD Deve Gowda, said in a Facebook post.

A case has been registered against MLA and former minister H D Revanna and his son Prajwal at Holenarasipura on a complaint lodged by their former cook and relative for allegedly sexually harassing her. She also alleged that Prajwal made video calls to her daughter and spoke in an objectionable manner, which forced her to block him.

The MP who is seeking re-election from Hassan on a JD(S) ticket, shared a letter by his lawyer Arun G to the Deputy Superintendent of Police of the SIT, in which he has sought seven days' time to appear before the official because he is abroad.

Further, in a letter to Modi, the Karnataka Government asked the PM to take other steps such as using diplomatic and police channels of the Government of India as well as international police agencies to ensure the swift return of the "absconding" Member of Parliament to face the full force of the law.

Prajwal is the BJP-JD(S) alliance's candidate from Hassan, which went to the polls on Friday. Explicit video clips allegedly of Prajwal sexually abusing several women had started making the rounds in Hassan in recent days, following which the State Government constituted a SIT to investigate the crime allegedly involving the MP.

"According to reports, sensing the impending police case and arrest, the accused Member of Parliament and NDA candidate for Lok Sabha Prajwal Revanna has fled the country and travelled abroad on April 27 itself. It is learnt from reports that he is travelling abroad on his diplomatic passport," Siddaramaiah said.

He said that while the SIT is working round the clock to investigate the allegations of crimes against several women by Prajwal Revanna, getting him back to the country is of utmost importance so that he faces investigation and trial as per the law of the land.

"In this regard, this is to urge you kindly to move the Ministries of External Affairs and Home Affairs to take swift action to cancel the diplomatic passport of Prajwal Revanna and to take such other steps using diplomatic and police channels of the Government of India as well as international police agencies to ensure the swift return of the absconding Member of Parliament to face the full force of law," the CM said in the letter.

When he was the Public Works Minister in the coalition Government of Congress-JD(S), which was led by his brother Kumaraswamy, he travelled 350 km to and from Holenarasipura after an astrologer had advised him not to stay in his own house in Bengaluru as it would bring him bad luck. One cannot miss out a broad 'Tilak' on his forehead, a garland of Rudraksh Rosary around his neck and rings on his fingers studded with precious stones.
Lok Sabha elections 2024 are being celebrated as the grand festival of democracy. Awareness campaigns are also going on at various levels regarding this. Everyone has equal rights in elections, we all have to contribute to it and also inspire people around us towards it. With the aim of increasing voter participation in the Lok Sabha elections 2024, all the school/college children of the state, influencers, celebrities and everyone must participate in the #MainBhiElectionAmbassador social media campaign from 6 pm to 8 pm on May 7.

Meanwhile, every citizen must upload digital content of their work on social media to make voters aware about voting and celebrate the grand festival of elections in an enthusiastic manner, said Chief Electoral Officer, Jharkhand, K. Ravi Kumar in a meeting held at the Election House through Google Meet with the principals of all CBSE and ICSE schools of the state.

He said that the children of schools and colleges participated enthusiastically in the SVEEP program to tell the importance of voting among the voters. They are playing an important role in the elections as our future and first time voters. Many activities related to SVEEP are being conducted by children in schools and colleges. These children have worked to spread awareness among their parents and nearby voters through many interesting and entertaining activities like quiz competition, poster making, slogan, letter writing etc. He said that in the social media campaign to be held on May 7, the school management should upload the digital content of all these activities on their social media handles with the hashtag #MainBhiElectionAmbassador. Also, tag the social media accounts of the Chief Electoral Officer Jharkhand and the Election Commission of India.

Chief Electoral Officer K. Ravi Kumar said that it is the priority of the Election Commission to motivate voters to participate in the voting by telling them the importance of elections. Along with this, making voters aware of ethical voting is also an important task. By connecting school children with programs like 'Main Bhi Election Ambassador', we will be able to prepare them as an aware voter of democracy. Along with this, we will also be able to ensure their participation in future elections.

In the meeting held through online medium, Additional Chief Electoral Officer Dr. Neha Arora, Joint Chief Electoral Officer Subodh Kumar, Assistant Chief Electoral Officer Dev Das Dutta, Deputy Electoral Officer Sanjay Kumar from Election House along with the Principals of all CBSE and ICSE schools of the state were present.
Chief Electoral Officer Anupam Rajan has said that the Model Code of Conduct is in force from March 16 for the Lok Sabha elections 2024 in the state. Complaints of violation of Model Code of Conduct are being received from citizens on C-Vigil App. From March 16 to May 2, 4 thousand 292 complaints of violation of the code of conduct have been received on the C-Vigil app. All these complaints have been resolved promptly.

Rajan said that mostly 513 complaints have been received in Gwalior, 327 in Sagar, 303 in Damoh, 267 in Ujjain, 231 in Morena, 192 in Rajgarh, 182 in Indore, 168 in Rewa, 131 in Katni, 124 in Khargone, 120 in Sehore, 110 in Bhopal, 109 in Chhatarpur, 109 in Narsinghpur, and 105 complaints have been received in Satna district. Similar complaints have been received from other districts of the state also.

Rajan has urged the citizens of the state that if they want to make any direct complaint related to violation of Model Code of Conduct in elections, then they can do so through C-Vigil App. For this, the concerned citizen will have to go to Google Play Store and download C-Vigil App.

Rajan said that if a citizen has information about any incident related to violation of the model code of conduct, he will have to upload the photo or video on the C-Vigil App. On receiving the complaint, action will be taken within the next 100 minutes.

It is noteworthy that "C-Vigil App" has been prepared by the Election Commission of India for redressal of complaints regarding violation of Model Code of Conduct. Through this app, people can prevent political parties or candidates from distributing money, goods, clothes, jewellery, etc. in any way to woo voters, threatening voters to vote in their favour, transporting voters in their own vehicle and can make other types of complaints including pasting or putting up election campaign material on the building or walls or premises of any building owner or getting election advertisements written on the walls without the permission of the building owner.
In a strategic shift from the legacy of Mulayam Singh Yadav, who was renowned for promoting Yadav representation both within and outside the family, the Samajwadi Party has opted to field only members of the Saifai family as its Yadav candidates in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

Political analysts have been swift to comment on this tactical manoeuvre. Rajendra Kumar, a seasoned political observer, remarked, Under Akhileshs leadership, the SP seems to be adopting a new approach by exclusively nominating Yadav candidates from within the Saifai family, a notable departure from Mulayam Singh Yadavs strategy.

With approximately 19.40 per cent of Yadav voters in Uttar Pradesh typically aligning with the SP, this move by Akhilesh Yadav is poised to be tested in the upcoming elections, he said.

Of the 63 seats the SP is contesting out of 80 in UP, only five Yadavs have been fielded so far  Dimple Yadav from Mainpuri, Akhilesh Yadav from Kannauj, Dharmendra Yadav from Azamgarh, Akshay Yadav from Firozabad and Aditya Yadav from Budaun. Notably, all these candidates belong to the Saifai family.

These constituencies are considered strongholds of the SP, meticulously cultivated under the leadership of Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Historically, candidates from the Saifai family have exclusively contested from these constituencies, with rare exceptions, noted Kumar, highlighting the partys efforts to consolidate its hold over the Yadav vote bank.

Rajendra Chaudhary, the chief spokesperson of the SP, defended the partys decision, citing the principle of PDA  Pichhada, Dalit and Alsankhayak (minority). The nomination of five Yadav candidates aligns with our alliances framework and the principle of PDA, Chaudhary asserted.

The exclusive nomination of candidates from the Saifai family has left many Yadavs feeling disillusioned, as the SP is traditionally seen as the authentic voice of the Yadav community.

There is a growing sense of disconnect between Yadav voters and the partys ticket distribution, remarked disillusioned party members.

Comparatively, the SP has allocated 8.47 per cent of its tickets to Yadavs, while the Bahujan Samaj Party has allotted 9.30 per cent of its declared tickets to Yadavs. In contrast, the Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded only one Yadav candidate.

Arun Yadav, state president of the All India Yadav Mahasabha, expressed disappointment, stating that Yadavs feel neglected by all parties.

We are treated as mere vote banks without genuine representation, he lamented, hinting at the need for Yadavs to carve out their independent political path akin to other communities like Rajputs.
Sanjay Seth, BJP candidate for the Ranchi Lok Sabha constituency in the upcoming 2024 general elections, filed his nomination with the backing of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.

Accompanied by CM Dhami during the nomination filing process, Seth expressed confidence in securing victory for the BJP in Ranchi. CM Dhami, in turn, voiced his optimism about the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) winning all 14 seats in Jharkhand.

Dhami said that those who worked to govern the country after independence never researched tribal society. Prime Minister Narendra Modi worried about the development of every deprived section of the country. Jharkhand and Uttarakhand were formed at the same time. It is a matter of equality for us. The circumstances of both the states are also similar. Atal Bihari Vajpayee had created both these states. Droupadi Murmu, born in a tribal society, is today the first woman tribal President of the country.Earlier, people of a particular category were nominated. Tribal and deprived people of the society are getting opportunities today. This is possible only during the tenure of Bharatiya Janata Party, NDA and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The entire nation is eager to see Narendra Modi become Prime Minister for the third time. In Jharkhand, the overwhelming support is evident, and people are enthusiastic. The NDA is poised to claim victory in all 14 seats in Jharkhand. Sanjay Seth jis campaign will set new records, securing Ranchis support to represent them in Parliament, CM Dhami remarked.

Highlighting the development initiatives under PM Modis leadership, CM Dhami emphasized the governments efforts towards societal upliftment, particularly in integrating tribal communities into the mainstream. He expressed confidence in the people of Jharkhand contributing significantly to achieving the Abki Baar 400 Paar resolution in the Lok Sabha elections.

Dhami said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken a pledge to develop India by visiting Ulihatu, the birthplace of Lord Birsa Munda, paying obeisance to him and applying Tilak on this soil. Plans are being made keeping the people of tribal and deprived communities at the center. Earlier schemes were made only for a few people. Today, under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, India's name is being celebrated across the world. Respect is increasing all over the world. India is now in strong hands, not in forced hands.

Polling for Ranchi is scheduled for May 25, part of the multi-phase elections in Jharkhand spanning May 13, 20, 25, and June 1. In the previous 2019 elections, the BJP-led NDA secured 12 seats in Jharkhand, with the BJP winning 11 seats. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Congress each claimed one seat.

Leader of Opposition Amar Kumar Bauri said that Jharkhand, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh were created at the same time and the full credit for this goes to respected Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji who resolved the long pending issue of separate state for the common people on the basis of region, culture, language etc.

AJSU Party chief Sudesh Mahato said that every NDA worker is engaged to fulfill the target given by PM Modi for this state. This time Ranchi will give better results than last time, we all are preparing for it together. This election is to select the Prime Minister of the country. On one hand, there is a Prime Minister who has been engaged in the development of the country for the last 10 years, on the other hand, there is an alliance which has changed its name, but has not been able to decide till date who will be the leader in front of Modi ji.

NDA candidate from Ranchi Sanjay Seth said that Prime Minister Modi changed the fate and picture of the country. Modi's guarantee works. Prime Minister Modi gave the house. Gave gas connection. Giving free ration. On this occasion, Ranchi MLA CP Singh, Samri Lal, Balmukund Sahay, former MLA Malkhan Singh, Aarti Kujur, Aarti Singh, Seema Sharma, Mahesh Poddar, Jitendra Singh, Sanjay Mahato and others were present.
Putting an end to the suspense surrounding the selection of the party candidate for the prestigious Kaiserganj Lok Sabha constituency, the Bharatiya Janata Party has denied ticket to the sitting Member of Parliament Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and instead fielded his son Karan Bhushan from there.

Karan Bhushan, who is the president of UP Wrestling Association, is scheduled to file his nomination papers at 11 am on Friday.

Brij Bhushans influence in the Kaiserganj constituency has been profound. Following allegations of sexual misconduct leveled against him by women wrestlers, speculations arose regarding BJPs choices of potential candidate, with suggestions that a relative of the sitting MP might be fielded.

Just days ago, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh had remarked, The name of Kaiserganj resonates not only in Hindustan but across the globe. Our workers are vigilant about the ticket, but the party has remained silent. The wedding procession is ready, but the groom is missing. However, I assert that even if the BJP declares the candidate an hour before, we will secure a resounding victory.

While the BJP did not field him, it did choose his son as the party candidate from Kaiserganj.

Political analysts suggest that BJPs decision to stick with Brij Bhushan Sharan Singhs family has been largely influenced by concerns over the sentiments of the Thakur community. With Brij Bhushan Sharan Singhs substantial influence spanning four neighboring constituencies, the BJP aimed to prevent potential backlash from the Thakur fraternity, fearing their discontent if Brij Bhushan or his family were overlooked for the ticket, remarked political analyst Suresh Bahadur Singh.

The Thakur community holds significant sway in Uttar Pradesh politics, constituting 6-7 per cent of the electorate. Their historical prominence is evident through the numerous chief ministers and prime ministers hailing from this community since independence. Brij Bhushan Sharan Singhs stature as a prominent Thakur leader further emphasises the importance of appeasing this influential demographic.

The fallout of the initial phases of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections also played a crucial role in shaping BJPs decision-making process. Despite repeating most of the sitting MPs in Uttar Pradesh, the denial of ticket to VK Singh from Ghaziabad and the absence of any Thakur leader in the 27 Lok Sabha constituencies in west UP sparked resentment within the Thakur community. This discontent prompted urgent intervention from the BJPs top leadership, leading to the concession of awarding the ticket to Brij Bhushans son.

This strategic move reflects the partys concerted efforts to maintain its stronghold in Uttar Pradesh amidst brewing dissent within crucial demographic factions.

The deadline for filing nomination papers in Kaiserganj is May 3, with polling scheduled for May 20.
n Bomb squads were put through a test as threat loomed over 131 schools in Delhi and adjoining region of Noida as bomb threats were received by school authorities on Wednesday morning. The Delhi Police had to rush their dog and bomb squads to more than 100 schools which received a bomb threat via e-mail, originating from Russia.

As schools took various safety measures to ensure the safety of the students, the city police too went into an overdrive after their emergency phone started ringing from 6 am with bomb threat reports, a situation that lasted till 3 pm. Some schools even made a PCR call without receiving a threat as panic gripped the national capital.

Senior police officers with dog and bomb squads had to rush from one school to another and there was no time to be wasted. "Every district has its own one bomb squad and one dog squad. If needed, we take help from other districts. But today the situation was totally different as all the schools of Delhi in different 15 districts received bomb threats through e-mail," a senior police officer said.

Another senior police officer, who requested anonymity, said that they did face a bit of a problem in moving the dog and bomb squad immediately, but they managed the situation. "There are almost 20 members in the dog and bomb quad. We divided those members according to the call. We also directed them to make no hurry," said the officer.

In light of the event and being prepared for any uncertain future circumstances, some schools said they plan to issue a circular for parents, outlining the standard operating procedure to guide them on how to react in adverse situations like these.While the school tried to evacuate the students swiftly, many younger kids started crying, sensing panic in the atmosphere, with blaring sirens of fire-tenders and sniffer dogs being pressed into service to conduct a thorough check of their schools in light of the email being originated from Russia. Parents rushed to the schools to ensure the safety of their children as soon as the school authorities informed them via messages and circulars.

Authorities swung into action by sending fire tenders, ambulances, and police vans to be on stand-by outside schools and bomb detection and disposal squads searching inside. As per reports, about eight schools in Southwest Delhi, three in North Delhi, 18 in South Delhi, 21 in West Delhi, one in North East Delhi, 24 in East Delhi, 21 in West Delhi and 16 in Outer Delhi received these threats among others. Delhi Police Public School of Wazirabad, Mothers Marry Senior Secondary School of Mayur Vihar, DPS International of Saket, Sanskriti School of Chanakyapuri, Don Bosco School of CR Park and DAV Public School of Paschim Vihar were some of the prominent schools that received the threat via an email early morning.
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav in support of BJP candidate Lata Wankhede from Sagar Lok Sabha seat, Bina and Malthon, Lahar in support of BJP candidate Mrs. Sandhya Rai from Bhind Lok Sabha seat, Dabra in support of BJP candidate Mr. Bharat Singh Kushwaha from Gwalior Lok Sabha seat.

Addressing the public meetings held in Mehgaon of Assembly and Chinor of Bhitarwar Assembly, he said that Congress party and its leader Rahul Gandhi is a shop of lies. Whenever he speaks, he always lies. After independence, Congress always created obstacles in the welfare of the country for 70 years. Could not remove poverty. Now Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is praying for the countrymen like the Sun. The BJP government has brought BIMARU Madhya Pradesh into the category of progressive states.

Yadav said that Congress and its leaders are saying that BJP will change the Constitution if it comes to power, but everyone knows that after independence, Congress was in power till 1950. He amended the Constitution several times. During the Congress government since 1950, Jawaharlal Nehru amended the Constitution about 17 times. After this Late Lal Bahadur Shastri ji 3 times, late. Indira Gandhi 29 times, late. Rajiv Gandhi also amended the Constitution 10 times. After this, Sonia Gandhiji also ran the government from behind. She also brought amendments to the Constitution several times. Amendments were made in the Constitution also during Narasimha Rao's government. The Constitution was amended almost 100 times during the Congress rule and now they are blaming others.

Now they are saying that BJP will change the Constitution. The BJP government has been in power at the Center for 10 years under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji. Is Congress not seeing this?

The Chief Minister said that the Congress government created obstacles in every good work of the country for 70 years since independence. Lord Shri Ram remained sitting under the open sky for 70 years, but Congress could not make him sit in the sanctum sanctorum. Congress has always created obstacles in the construction of Lord Shri Ram's temple and when the path to Ram temple opened under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, they created obstacles here too.

They could not remove poverty from the country for 70 years and now they are lying that if they come to power they will remove poverty. Congress put obstacles in all the work being done for the welfare of the country and now the public has understood. Now obstacles have started appearing in his party itself. Before 2014, there was a Congress government at the Centre. The actions of the Congress removed the Congress government. From the time of 1947, from 2003 to 2013, the then Congress government tried to separate Jammu and Kashmir by imposing Article 370.

Yadav said that in the 2018 assembly elections, the Congress party had formed the government by lying. Rahul Gandhi had said that if farmers' loans are not waived off within 10 days, he will change the Chief Minister. He ran the government for 13 months and could not change even a single minister. Their lies did not last long and their government fell.

Now with everyone's blessings BJP again came to power and now we took many important decisions in the 100 days of the government. Our government has decided that those who have Ayushman card will be provided free treatment up to Rs 5 lakh, irrespective of their age. We will send serious patients to the hospital by air ambulance for treatment.

Yadav said that no scheme running in Madhya Pradesh will be stopped. Other schemes including Ladli Brahmin Yojana will continue as usual.
Chicken claypot with caramel at the Slanted Door in 2015. The Ferry Building restaurant will not reopen. John Storey

The Slanted Door, the acclaimed Vietnamese restaurant from chef-owner Charles Phan, is pulling its flagship location from the San Francisco Ferry Building after 15 years.

In a statement, the restaurateur said construction costs to remodel the long-dormant space were too high to make an opening feasible. We loved being there, but Im also excited for future projects, Phan wrote in a statement. The closure was first reported by Eater SF.

The location first closed temporarily in 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. It remained closed as Phan announced plans to renovate the space, leading to constant rumors of a permanent closure.

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Representatives at the Ferry Building declined to comment when contacted by the San Francisco Chronicle in late April. Its unclear what will move into the Slanted Doors prime space in the Ferry Building.

The departure comes after Phan successfully opened a new Slanted Door in Napa and a sandwich shop, Chucks Takeaway, in San Francisco. It also follows a string of closures: His casual spot Rice & Bones at the UC Berkeley campus shuttered last year, Slanted Door spinoff Out the Door closed in 2021 and Embarcadero bar Hard Water shut down in 2022. The Slanted Door location in San Ramon remains open.

The Slanted Door first opened in 1995 in the Mission District, serving Vietnamese dishes made with local ingredients in a contemporary setting. Phan is often credited with redefining Vietnamese food in California, earning the James Beard award for best chef in the state in 2004. Soon after, he moved his restaurant to the Ferry Building. In 2014, the James Beard Foundation gave its top national honor of Outstanding Restaurant to the Slanted Door.
The Election Commission of Indias efforts over the last two years to include the countrys Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) in the electoral process are now yielding results. Expressing their faith in democracy, the tribes in Madhya Pradesh have enthusiastically participated in the first and second phases.

The Election Commission of India has made special efforts over the last two years to include PVTGs in the electoral process for their enrollment as voters and participation in voting. During the special summary revision for updating of electoral rolls, special outreach camps were organized for inclusion in the electoral rolls in areas where PVTGs reside. It may be noted that Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar had emphasized on the special efforts of the Commission to enroll and empower PVTGs as proud voters of the country.

Baiga and Bharia tribal voters vote enthusiastically in Madhya Pradesh

There are three PVTGs in Madhya Pradesh, Baiga, Bharia and Saharia. Out of the total population of 9 lakh 91 thousand 613 in 23 districts in the state, there are 6 lakh 37 thousand 681 eligible voters and all of them are registered in the voter list. In the two phases of voting held so far in the state, a lot of enthusiasm was seen among the voters of Baiga and Bharia tribes.

These voters reached their polling booth early in the morning. They waited for their turn to vote and voted enthusiastically, ensuring their participation in the great festival of democracy. For the convenience of these voters, new polling stations were established even in inaccessible areas.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath staged an extensive roadshow in Mainpuri on Thursday in support of Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Jaiveer Singh, while urging voters in Etah to re-elect Rajveer Singh. Additionally, he appealed to Firozabad residents to cast their votes for Vishwadeep Singh for holistic development.

During all three public gatherings, Chief Minister Yogi vehemently criticised the Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party.

Addressing a huge gathering in Firozabad, Chief Minister Yogi highlighted a concerning aspect of the Congress manifesto, which suggests granting minorities the freedom to consume food according to their preferences. The majority of Indians say that we do not eat beef, but some people deliberately encourage cow slaughter to irritate them, he remarked.

Chief Minister Yogi warned that supporting such agendas would invite condemnation from future generations and ancestors alike, implying that voting for the INDI Alliance would be akin to participating in sinful activities.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath led an impressive roadshow in support of Jaiveer Singh, the Tourism Minister in the Yogi government and the BJP candidate for the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat. During the roadshow, voters voiced their support for Chief Minister Yogi, echoing the chant Saat Mayi, SP Gayi (On May 7, SP is gone).

Addressing the people after the roadshow, Chief Minister Yogi said, Your enthusiasm reflects Mainpuris commitment to change this time. The Samajwadi Party, which is focused on family interests, insulted Babu Kalyan Singh and disrespected faith. They should face consequences for their alliance with Congress.

In Etah, Yogi Adityanath remarked that Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar opposed reservation based on religion in the country, yet Congress was intentionally seeking to impose Taliban-like governance with the aim of Islamising India.

Yogi asserted, By doing so, Congress is maliciously attempting to sow seeds of division in the country once again. Beware of the alliance between Congress and SP. These parties are trying to drag India back to slavery by diverting reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes to the minorities. Their aim to prioritise reservation for Muslims over Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes is a direct affront to the principles of Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkars Constitution.

He emphasised that the voters are faced with a choice between those who betray Lord Ram and those who are devotees of Lord Ram. In such circumstances, it is crucial for voters to decide whether SP and Congress deserve their support, he added.

Yogi also noted that those responsible for the murders of Raju Pal and Umesh Pal were now deceased.

In Firozabad, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that a new version of the Congress-SP INDI Alliance resembling Aurangzeb had emerged, proposing the imposition of inheritance tax. He likened this proposal to Aurangzebs imposition of Jizya tax on Hindus. The chief minister questioned whether people would agree to pay Jizya in independent India.

He emphasised that when the country is in capable hands, adversaries remain subdued, but when it is in weak hands, threats emerge. He highlighted that when adversaries attempt to harm India, a strong response is delivered, causing them to falter.

Furthermore, he criticised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for fleeing the country during times of crisis, only to return during elections to make grand promises without genuinely caring for Indias welfare. He pointed out the lack of justice for victims during the SP-BSP governments tenure, emphasising that Congress had compromised the dignity of the nation.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, on Wednesday, said that Congress, the grand old party of India, lost its direction soon after independence and currently it had become leaderless as well.

Addressing a press conference at his official residence here on Wednesday before embarking on his tour to Maharashtra, Chief Minister Yogi expressed concern over the detrimental consequences of this lack of direction, noting instances where certain Congress leaders disparaged Indias civilisation, culture and Sanatan Dharma through malicious remarks.

He particularly recalled an incident during the United Progressive Alliance government when a senior Congress leader and former Union home minister attempted to denigrate Indias Sanatan culture by coining the term saffron terrorism.

Yogi Adityanath further asserted that the policies of the Congress have contributed to the proliferation of Naxalism and terrorism within the nation.

The chief minister said, Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, significant strides have been made in resolving the challenges of terrorism and Naxalism. Moreover, extremism and terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, as well as unrest in the Northeast, have been effectively contained.

He highlighted, During the UPA government, approximately 115-120 districts across 17 states were grappling with Naxalite violence. This led to widespread disorder and instability in the country.

Attributing this to Congress lack of resolve in combating terrorism, Naxalism and extremism, he added that there has been notable progress in this regard in the last 10 years, with Naxalism now confined to only a few districts in select states.

He expressed optimism that with continued efforts, Naxalism will soon be eradicated from those remaining areas.

Chief Minister Yogi said, There have been significant strides in enhancing national security over the past decade. Under the decisive leadership of Prime Minister Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Article 370, the root cause of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, was abrogated. This step seamlessly integrated Jammu and Kashmir into the nations developmental mainstream. Similarly, efforts to quell extremism and unrest in the Northeast have successfully brought these regions into the national fold.

He contrasted this with the terror attacks and Naxal ambush during the previous Congress administration, which he accused of disparaging Indias timeless civilisation and culture. However, under Prime Minister Modis leadership, India is now gaining global respect while the national pride stands restored, he stated.

The chief minister said, Congress is jeopardising the nations security through malicious attempts to defame Sanatanis, exploit them, and foster caste divisions.

He noted a widespread shift in public sentiment, with people increasingly rallying behind the committed leadership of Prime Minister Modi under the banner of Ek Baar Phir Modi Sarkar.

He confidently predicted that when the results of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections are unveiled on June 4, Prime Minister Modi will secure a commanding victory, marking the beginning of his third term.

This upcoming term, he asserted, will be pivotal for Indias progress, encompassing prosperity, security, self-reliance and development, serving as a source of pride for every Indian.

Responding to a query, Chief Minister Yogi remarked that Congress strategy of appeasing Muslims had contributed to the countrys partition. He argued that this exemplified how Congress leadership had become subservient to individuals responsible for the partition, who denigrated Indias timeless culture and traditions. These individuals, he suggested, consistently disparaged India and its essence, causing irreparable harm.

Yogi further criticised Congress for continuously undermining India while aligning itself with those who sought to undermine the nation.

Before departing for his tour of Maharashtra on Wednesday, Chief Minister Yogi said, The nationalist sentiment prevailing among the people of Maharashtra indicates a solid inclination to grant Prime Minister Modi a third term.

He underscored that the National Democratic Alliance, under the leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party, is contesting nationwide elections, with Modi as its guiding force.

There is palpable optimism among the general populace regarding the remarkable strides made under Prime Minister Modis leadership in bolstering security, enhancing national prestige, promoting development, and implementing welfare programs for the disadvantaged, he remarked.

Both BJP and NDA candidates are reaping the benefits of this pro-Modi sentiment, he stated.

Maharashtra, with its rich history encompassing figures like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Sahu Ji Maharaj, Mahatma Phule, Savitri Bai Phule, Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, and Veer Savarkar, has traditionally served as a beacon for national progress, he added.

Chief Minister Yogi expressed his belief that the BJP and NDA are also receiving the goodwill and support of the people of Maharashtra.
While discussing with the media persons in Gwalior, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said that the state president of Congress is not able to digest the Chief Minister from an OBC category... he is continuously using mild language. Those who could not save their party's candidate are throwing mud at others. i hope they stop

On doing politics in the rape case, Chief Minister Yadav said that the laws made by the state government regarding women and minor children, through which it is necessary to hide their identity, because after this identity is revealed, there will be disappointment in the life of the victim. ..The victim's life will become hell. Therefore this is part of law and order.. this should be avoided.

Regarding Congress, he said that whatever movement they want to do, they should definitely do it, but at least making fun of the victim's family in public is equivalent to playing with their life. 'I can understand that they should understand the rule of law, but I believe that the one who respects the law cannot be a Congressman.

Congressmen always consider themselves above the law. That is why they are called arrogant people. They should apologise.

The Chief Minister said that strict action will be taken against those who break the law. Chief Minister Dr. Yadav urged that during this election period, everyone should remain within their limits. Whoever breaks the limits will pay the price.
Ahead of polls, the list of candidates released by the Congress party for Lok Sabha elections in Haryana has created a sense of discontent among the disgruntled aspirants in the State. Some of the aspirants for tickets, are lying low and are yet to join the campaign.

Senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, however, downplayed the resentment and said that no party leaders are upset and the final decision to allot tickets was made by the party's high command.



In Haryana, Congress is fighting the polls in alliance with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), with the former contesting from nine of 10 seats. AAP has named former Rajya Sabha member and state party chief Sushil Gupta from Kurukshetra.



Of the nine candidates fielded by the Congress, Hoodas son and Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Singh Hooda is contesting from Rohtak Parliamentary Constituency, while former Union Minister and Congress General Secretary Kumari Selja from the Sirsa reserved seat; senior Congress leader and sitting MLA Rao Dan Singh from Bhiwani-Mahendragarh; youth leader Divyanshu Budhiraja from Karnal; Hooda loyalist and veteran leader Jai Prakash from Hisar; Sitting MLA Varun Choudhary from Ambala reserved seat; Hooda associate Satpal Brahmachari from Sonepat; while former State Minister Mahendra Pratap from Faridabad and Film Actor and senior party leader Raj Babbar from Gurugram.



Eight of the nine Congress candidates who have got tickets in Haryana for the May 25 polls are loyalists of former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.



After the Congress party announced the candidature of Raj Babbar from the Gurugram, Congress leader Ajay Singh Yadav, a contender for the seat, hit out at the Haryana unit of the party over a "deep-rooted" conspiracy "to crush senior leaders". Yadav took to X to express his unhappiness. "I will abide by the decision of the National leadership. But there is a deep-rooted conspiracy of a few congress Haryana state leaders to crush the senior Congress leaders," Yadav, who is the party's chairman of the OBC department, said without taking any names. "I am and will always work for the Congress Party," Yadav added.



While Kiran Choudhary, a sitting MLA of the Congress, was eyeing a ticket for her daughter Shruti Choudhary from the Bhiwani-Mahendragarh seat, Birender Singh's son Brijendra Singh was a ticket hopeful from the Hisar seat but both of them were denied tickets.



Party sources said that allegations of cross-voting during Raj Sabha Election against Kiran Choudhary, coupled with Hoodas lobbying for his close associate Rao Dan Singh, likely influenced the partys decision. Before the ticket announcement, some farmers had voiced their opposition to Birendra Singhs son Brijendra, citing his absence during the 16-month-long farmers protest in Uchana.

Days after Congress announced Mahendergarh MLA Rao Dan Singh as its candidate from Bhiwani-Mahendergarh parliamentary seat, another ticket aspirant Shruti Choudhry, along with her mother and Tosham MLA Kiran Choudhry, recently met party workers in Bhiwani and claimed that she (Shruti) had emerged as the most popular during a party survey. Kiran Choudhry said, Rao Dan Singh did tremendous work in the last poll. I will call my workers meeting in a week and assign them their duties.



In response to his sons ticket denial, Chaudhary Birendra Singh expressed disappointment, emphasizing Brijendra Singhs eagerness to contest the elections. Birender Singh, a former Union minister, and Brijendra Singh, the outgoing Lok Sabha MP from Hisar, had left the BJP recently and joined the Congress.



Senior Congress leader and five-time MLA Karan Singh Dalal, who was denied ticket from Faridabad, has also sounded the bugle of rebellion asking the party to field him in place of the candidate announced by the party. Dalal also gave the party time till May 5 to take the decision. May 6 is the last date for filing of nominations for the May 25 election.



Upset over the denial of ticket when the party announced eight candidates, including for Faridabad, Dalal, convened a Sarv-Jatiya Mahapanchayat at Palwal, where he discussed his future course of strategy.

The Mahapanchayat has decided that the party high command should change their decision by May 5 and field me as the party candidate in Faridabad or I should contest from some other political party. However, I have decided that if the party fields me as a candidate then I will contest. I will not contest as an Independent, Dalal said after the Mahapanchayat.



He said the nomination process has begun in Haryana. The process shall go on till May 6. The party high command has enough time to change their decision, added Dadal, whose son is married to the daughter of Hoodas brother.

In the list of nine announced by the Congress, as many as eight are loyalists and supporters of Hooda. They include former minister Mahendra Pratap who has been fielded from Faridabad. Dalal claimed that Mahendra Pratap was never in the list of contenders from Faridabad, but a few people in the BJP managed to get him the Congress ticket to get their candidate a comfortable victory.



Sources in the Congress Party said that several party functionaries wielding considerable influence among respective communities were unhappy with the way tickets had been distributed in the State. Moreover, with the fear of disgruntled aspirants playing spoilsport against the official candidates looming large, the partys central leadership has intensified their efforts to suppress the rebellion within the party ranks.
Syed Abid Hussain said that this is a big achievement for him. organized by P Club Education Private Limited , the grand event of P Club Global Indian Award 2024 was organized on the evening of April 25, 2024 at Lata Mangeshkar Auditorium, Mira Road, Mumbai. Brigadier Gautam Ganguly, G Shahida P Ganguly, Assistant Commissioner of Police Captain Eddie Manek, film actor Tinu Verma, Pride of Maharashtra, Vindhya Gaurav Award Director Vishnu Mishra, Syed Abid Hussain was honored for their excellent and social work.

Abid Hussain has been praised with many awards for social work for many years. Abid was also praised in this event. Abid Hussain helps innocent Indian expatriates stuck abroad and works to bring them back to their homeland. His efforts have helped more than 750 people so far.

Abid Hussain expressed his gratitude to the organizers of this program, Mr. Salesh Tiwari and Vishnu Mishra, and said congratulations and best wishes to them for organizing such a huge and successful event.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa has said that the Election Commission of Indias directives are being adhered to uphold law and order during the Lok sabha elections.

He said that various agencies  the Police, Income Tax, Excise and Narcotics  were taking concerted action.

The state has deployed 438 inter-state and 1,827 check posts to ensure thorough scrutiny.

Between March 16 and April 30, 2024, the police confiscated 535 licensed weapons from individuals with criminal records. Additionally, licences for 4,694 weapons were revoked and surrendered. Proactively preventing potential disturbances, the authorities have issued notices under the Criminal Procedure Code to restrict the movements of 26,27,735 individuals, with 22,36,435 individuals complying with the ban.

The police have seized 8,317 unlicensed weapons, 8,384 cartridges, 2,900.32 kg of explosives, and 455 bombs. A total of 3,559 illegal weapon manufacturing centres were raided while 157 establishments were sealed.

With the announcement of election dates for Lok Sabha elections-2024 on March 16, 2024, efforts are being made in the entire state to conduct free, fair, peaceful, fear-free, inducement-free, inclusive and safe voting. Model code of conduct is in effect, the CEO said.

He added, On April 30, 2024, the police cancelled the licence of two weapons of criminal persons and deposited them. Taking preventive action under the CrPC, 25,514 people were banned. Besides, 167 unlicensed weapons and 127 cartridges were recovered and seized. Police raided 67 centres manufacturing illegal weapons of which five were sealed.
The email ID which sent more than 150 bomb threat letters to various schools in Delhi and adjoining regions of Noida is allegedly sawariim@mail.ru, creating a link of the incident with Islamic terror organisations. The email via which the threat was sent reportedly originated from Russia. However, the police officials have declared it a hoax as "nothing objectionable" was found during searches.

According to the sources, the e-mail ID from which Delhi NCR schools were sent the bomb threat letter has the word 'Sawariim' (clashing of the swords), which is an Arabic word and has been used by the Islamic State since 2014 to spread Islamist propaganda. Delhi Police is investigating if there is a conspiracy of any organisation behind these threatening emails. It is being ascertained if any terror organisation is at work in creating a panic-stricken atmosphere in the national capital.

Bomb threats sent via email to schools in Delhi-NCR originated from Russia, as indicated by the IP address of the email, which was traced back to the domain "mail.ru. Investigating agencies said it is also possible that culprits may have masked their identity using the darknet. Such mails are often sent from a vpn that helps them mask their real ip address as is the case in these bomb threat emails, said the sources.

Further, the wording of all the mails look similar with sources stating that this work is of one accused. The letter read, Kill them whenever you meet and drive them out of places from which they drove you (2:191). There are many explosive devices in the school..Did you really think that there would be no answer for all the evil you have done.

The schools received the threats on their official email IDs around 4 am. Bomb detection teams, bomb disposal squads and officials of Delhi Fire Service were rushed to schools but nothing suspicious was found. In a statement the Union Home Ministry officials called the mail hoax and said, "There is no need to panic. Mails appear to be hoaxes. Delhi Police and security agencies are taking necessary steps as per protocol.

However, keeping in mind the security of the citizens, security was beefed up in several parts of the national capital. They have stepped up security at all metro and railway stations, bus stands, and markets.
To elevate voter turnout for the third and fourth phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, the "Chalein Booth Ki Ore" campaign has been initiated across polling stations within the corresponding parliamentary constituencies. Chief Electoral Officer Anupam Rajan actively engaged in this campaign, personally participating in Bilkisganj and Kankarkheda villages of Sehore district. Emphasizing the significance of each ballot, Rajan urged citizens to exercise their franchise to fortify democracy. He traversed the village aboard a tractor, spreading awareness among voters.

Chief Electoral Officer, Rajan, urged voters to embrace the grand celebration of democracy by actively participating in the Lok Sabha elections. Encouraging citizens to cast their votes without hesitation, he emphasized the importance of playing an engaged role in fortifying Indian democracy. Rajan stressed the need for an enhanced voter turnout in the upcoming two phases, underscoring the significance of every individual exercising their franchise. He highlighted the necessity for the same level of enthusiasm and discipline observed presently to be maintained on Election Day.

Rajan has said that during the voting, tight security arrangements have been made in the polling stations. In view of the heat, adequate arrangements for shade, water, medicines and seating have been made in all the polling stations. He said that whenever you go to vote, you must carry a photo identity document along with the voter information slip. Chief Electoral Officer Rajan honoured senior voters and Divyang voters by presenting them with flower bouquets, shawls, shrifal and tying turbans and gave EPIC cards to young voters. At the end of the programme, he administered an oath to the citizens present to definitely vote.

Strive for Maximum Voter Turnout in Sehore

Collector and District Election Officer Sehore Praveen Singh emphasized the aim to position Sehore district at the forefront of the state by achieving a 100 percent voter turnout. He highlighted the personal delivery of voter slips to every eligible voter and encouraged active participation. Singh reassured voters about the heat, ensuring provisions such as tents, cold water, and seating arrangements at each polling center. Furthermore, additional staff has been deployed in polling stations with high voter traffic to minimize wait times.

Message conveyed through more than 100 tractors and bikes

The message of voter awareness was given by taking out a rally of more than 100 tractors in village Bilkisganj of Sehore district and of motorcycles in village Kankarkheda. An appeal was made to voters through posters and banners. Chief Electoral Officer Rajan flagged off the rally. During this, Superintendent of Police Mayank Awasthi, CEO District Panchayat and other officials were present.

Officials participated in the campaign in various districts

Additional Chief Electoral Officer Rajesh Kaul took part in Chalein Booth Ki Ore campaign in Village Manaura, District Vidisha, Joint Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Khatri in village Kharwai and Sehatganj of Raisen District and Deputy Chief Electoral Officer Pramod Shukla joined the campaign in village Mandawar, District Rajgarh.

It is worth noting that Chief Electoral Officer Rajan has instructed all Joint and Deputy Chief Electoral Officers including Additional Chief Electoral Officer to reach different districts and participate in the Chalein Booth Ki Ore campaign and monitor them.
Former Congress legislator Dalvir Singh Khangura Goldy on Wednesday joined the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Just a day after bidding farewell to the Congress due to his discontent with the party leadership's decision to deny him a ticket for the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat, Goldys surprising alignment with AAP has sent shockwaves through the political corridors of the State.

The move not only dealt a significant blow to the Congress party in Punjab, particularly in the Sangrur segment, but also set the stage for a potential realignment of political dynamics in the region. Congress Bholath MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira has been pitted against AAPs Barnala MLA and Cabinet Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer from Sangrur  a seat currently represented by Khalistan supporter and former IPS Simranjeet Singh Mann of Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar).

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann presided over Goldys induction into AAP, marking a significant moment in their political journey, having contested against each other in the 2022 state assembly elections in Dhuri. Mann had defeated Goldy by a margin of 58,206 votes to become the Chief Minister.

Hailing him as a hardworking individual, Mann welcomed Goldy as a younger brother into the party fold. Mann, in fact, went on to describe Goldy and Meet Hayer as his two arms in Malwa region.

Goldy, after his induction, expressed gratitude towards the Chief Minister Mann for his generosity in embracing someone who had previously contested against him. He pledged his unwavering commitment to AAP and vowed to work tirelessly for the betterment of Punjab.

At the same time, Goldy vowed to reveal the dirty secrets of Congress, while exposing how they ruined so many homes.

Mann emphasized that Goldy's decision to join AAP was driven by his own choice, highlighting that AAP provides a conducive platform for emerging young leaders like him. It is not Goldy who left Congress but rather Congress that overlooked him, he said.

Criticizing Khaira, Mann recalled his previous electoral performance in Bathinda, where he fell short of garnering even 19,000 votes. Mann predicted a similar outcome for Khaira in Sangrur, suggesting that he would be compelled to apologize to the electorate on June 4  the day of result.

Goldys decision to switch parties came after the Congress nominated Khaira as its candidate for the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat, overlooking Goldys aspirations. Feeling sidelined by the party's leadership, Goldy made the bold move to join AAP, citing the need for a more inclusive and transparent political environment.

Taking on the Congress for nepotism in ticket distribution, Mann contrasted AAP's ethos of meritocracy. Welcoming Goldy to AAP, Mann hailed him as a dynamic leader, emphasizing AAPs inclusive ethos devoid of a high command structure.

Mann also highlighted Goldy's political journey, from student politics to MLA, underscoring AAPs commitment to nurturing diverse talent. Goldy made a place for himself in the Congress. But whenever the party got an opportunity, he was sidelined. I am inducting him into AAP as a younger brother. We have no high command. We are younger and older brothersWe have found a young man in Malwa. Our party will be strengthened, said Mann.

Dalvir Goldy was an MLA from Dhuri and I was the MP...and we crossed each other many timeswe were also in touch that time. It is democracy. It is not necessary that all flowers are of the same kind in a bouquet. I had always said MP belongs to everyoneI am the Chief Minister of everyoneCandidates are till elections. Later, we all are elected representatives, he said.

Why I was asked to pat Rs 50k and apply for ticket

Visibly upset over allotting a ticket to Khaira, Goldy asked, If they had to give the ticket to him, why did they ask me to apply for the ticket and pay Rs 50,000 as application fee when they had already finalized the candidate?

I and my wife applied for the ticket because we were told to do so, but now Khaira is saying that he knew for more than six months that he'll be contesting from Sangrur.This is discouraging for a young leader like me who worked every day and prepared to fight from Sangrur since the by polls, he added. He said that a number of people were joining AAP with him and that he would be reaching Sangrur on Thursday to campaign for AAP candidate Hayer.

Goldy Is Clean: Mann

Responding to Khaira's allegations that Goldy was pressurized to join the ruling party, Mann said: Goldy is clean. We have checked him. We keep checking our own people also. It is not Goldy who has quit the party. Parties need people like Goldy who are good orators, and hardworking. You know what they (Congress) have done. The Bathinda-based leader has been sent to Ludhiana. The Sangrur-based leader has been sent to Anandpur Sahib. This is what they do, Mann said.
Shawn Swim, right, holds his 8-month-old daughter Reese at Westbrae Biergarten in Berkeley. Yalonda M. James/The Chronicle

Of all the things that are riling people up this week, the presence of children at breweries has ignited a unique sort of dispute.

STOP BRINGING YOUR KIDS TO BREWERIES IM TRYING TO RELAX, wrote @tapptastical on X in a post that, as Im writing, has been viewed 3.4 million times.

Predictably, the internet had some thoughts. Im going to bring my kids to breweries even harder now, responded @Ephon. Another user, @RolyBenitez, pointed out the obvious: Who relaxes at a brewery? Many suggested that if @tapptastical wanted to avoid children they might consider going to  a bar.

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But a sizable contingent of the thread agreed with the original posters sentiment: Breweries should be child-free zones. Some criticized parents for getting drunk around their kids; others proposed that brewery-goers hire a babysitter. And if you purposely let your kids run wild and I just so happen to spill my beer on them, that is your fault, wrote @Don_Yeager. (To which @clhubes replied, If you think beer is the worst thing my child has been covered in, think again.)

As a new parent, I have some thoughts too. I liked going to breweries before I had a kid; since having one, I am at breweries all. the. time. To scroll through my phone photos is to witness my babys grand tour of Bay Area taprooms. Granted, sometimes these visits constitute work (work) for me, but my family and I find ourselves at a brewery pretty much every weekend regardless of my assignments. In other words, Im @tapptasticals worst nightmare.

It wasnt always this way. At some point in the last decade or so, craft breweries became hubs for parents with young children, and its easy to see why. Taprooms tend to be casual, expansive, often outdoor spaces with plenty of room for running around. Theyre open during the day, an ideal time for socializing if you have to be home for an early bedtime. If they serve food, the menu often includes items like fries and burgers. Unlike in a chic restaurant, no one cares if you get a little messy or a little loud.

Those features made breweries incidentally kid-friendly, without them even having to try. Then they started trying. These days, as many X users pointed out this week, breweries actively woo children by installing playgrounds and claw machines.

The San Francisco poster child for this is Barebottle Brewing in Bernal Heights, which happens to be the taproom that my family visits most frequently. The sprawling, open brewhouse includes a whole arcade, with games like Ms. Pacman and Killer Queen.

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I called up Lester Koga, one of Barebottles three owners, to discuss the recent X storm. When we opened, people would call us Babybottle, he said, which made me laugh out loud.

Welcoming families was part of Barebottles intention from the start, Koga said. He wanted to model the place on the biergartens hed visited in Germany  essentially public parks with jungle gyms, he said, where you have your beer hut and your hot dog hut and your pretzel hut. Kids run free while parents drink their low-alcohol kolsches.

But Koga, whose partner was pregnant when the brewery opened in 2016, was beginning to see San Francisco as a kid un-friendly environment. Even at restaurants that ostensibly allow children, families dont always feel comfortable. When you come in with a stroller, you feel like youre taking up too much space, said Koga. He attributed this attitude partly to the citys culture  after all, were famously the most childless major city in the U.S.  and partly to the fact that many public spaces here feel cramped.

He thought Barebottle, with its massive square footage, could be an antidote to that. Yet even with that mission, Koga said they never could have predicted just how much of a baby magnet Barebottle would become. I know what he means. I can still remember the first time my husband and I went soon after it opened. On a crowded weekend afternoon, we were the only people there without a child in our group.

The anti-kid feelings expressed in the X thread felt familiar to Koga. In the early days, he said, childless patrons (not me!) would complain to the bartenders and send him angry emails. Over the years, though, those have trickled off. Maybe its just people naturally saying were not gonna come to Barebottle if they dont want to be around kids, said Koga, and thats OK with me.

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To be clear, not every Bay Area brewery is as much of a childrens wonderland as this one. Even Barebottles other taprooms (in Salesforce Park, Santa Clara and Menlo Park) arent as inundated with little ones, according to Koga. And some outright ban children: My baby has gotten turned away from Southern Pacific in the Mission District. That would be a great place for @tapptastical to relax.

A generational shift may be underway. When I was a kid, the country wasnt overrun with taprooms the way it is now, but even if it had been, I dont think it ever would have occurred to my parents to spend a Saturday at a big communal table (an Oktoberfest table, as some breweries call them) with a group of their friends and drag us kiddos along. But for millennial parents like me, this has become the dominant weekend vibe.

Sometimes, my husband and I feel jealous of people like @tapptastical, who (Im presuming here) dont have their weekend schedules dictated by naptimes and can waltz into any bar they want without having to wonder what sort of liquor license the place has. We miss going to our favorite dives and seedy beer bars. We miss the Toronado and Vesuvio and OKeeffes and the Lone Palm. We miss going out at night.

But like Koga and the many other parents we congregate with every weekend, were gradually accepting that were in a new stage of life now. And breweries offer us a different kind of magic. Thats what at its core makes brewery taprooms great  theyre meeting places, Koga said. Youre not going there to get plastered and find somebody to hook up with. Its an environment that feels safe for your kids.

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Former Delhi Minister Raaj Kumar Anand wrote to the Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena, accusing the Arvind Kejriwal Government for running a fraud in the name of the poor of Delhi while calling the AAP Government of anti-Dalit, anti-Ambedkar character. Anand on Thursday met Saxena at raj Niwas and handed over a memorandum, seeking more benefits and facilities for upliftment of dalit people.

Anand, who has served as the Minister in-charge for Labour, Social Welfare and SC/ST/OBC before resigning, launched a scathing attack on the AAP government and said that having served as the Minister in-charge for Labour, Social Welfare and SC/ST/OBC, I resigned recently in wake of the prevalent excessive corruption in the GNCTD and consequent arrest of Kejriwal, adding that he is uncertain about his resignation being accepted or not due to the Chief Minister being in jail.

He accused the government of running in the name of the poor of Delhi and the incessant lies that were peddled in the Media to cover the wrong-doings. Anand claimed that the Kejriwal government is flouting reservation norms for the scheduled caste, scheduled tribes and other backward classes. For the past many years, the GNCTD has been deliberately flouting constitutional norms for reservation of seats in Government employment for SC/ST/OBC candidates. Deliberately ad hoc, contractual and temporary appointments are made against permanent vacancies in Government so as to circumvent the compulsory reservation rules, he alleged, adding that despite thousands of appointments were made as consultants, experts and fellows, no reservation criteria of the backward classes was followed.

Despite repeated requests to the Chief Minister for sending Dalit pilgrims to Bodhgaya and other places of Buddhist worship like Baba Sahebs Bhim Janmabhoomi and Chaitya Bhoomi, no action has been taken till now even as hundreds of trains have carried devotees to other pilgrimage sites, he claimed, adding that this reflects the true anti-Dalit, anti-Ambedkar character of Arvind Kejriwal Government.

He requested Saxena to expedite this as this Buddhist pilgrimage train will facilitate religious tourism and cultural exchange. He also proposed the provision of professional courses, exam preparations, and financial assistance up to the 12th standard for the children of contractual labourers through the Labour Welfare Board. The formation of the Labour Welfare Board is pending and must be expedited to address the welfare needs of labourers effectively, he said.

Anand said that an investigation into irregularities in the issuance of ration cards and the alleged malpractices post-surrender of old cards is warranted. Further he proposed the appointment of a Dalit woman as the Chairperson of Mahila Aayog to ensure inclusive representation and address the concerns of marginalised women effectively.

Further he said an amount of Rs 4271.37 crore, collected as Cess, is lying in the Construction Workers Labour Welfare Fund, only Rs. 8.72 Cr. have been utilised as Welfare Expenditure. While no efforts were made by the Department for the welfare of the most marginalised real labour, the Delhi Government spent Rs. 458.08 Cr. during FY 2021-22 on ghost beneficiaries, in return of kickbacks. Once this scam came into public, the expenditure reduced to negligible levels, he asserted.

In his letter, he said that money from the SC welfare fund has remained unspent and has even been diverted for other activities and urged for a thorough investigation in the matter. He also claimed that due to the cessation of loans and other facilities for SC and labour classes, coupled with the mismanagement of funds within Delhi SC/ST/OBC/Min. & Handicapped Finance & Development Corporation Limited has led to a dire financial crisis and the suicides of two employees.
In a sensational killing in Deoria, the aged priest of Siddhapeeth Hanuman temple situated in Bhaluani police station area of the district was beaten to death by goons on Tuesday night.

Ashok Chaube, who was seriously injured in the attack, was taken to the medical college hospital by his family where the doctor pronounced him dead.

According to reports, on getting the information, a large number of people, including the temples Peethadheeshwar Shivcharan Das and successor Gopal Das reached the hospital. Superintendent of Police Sankalp Sharma also reached the hospital and took information and also inspected the spot.

It is worth noting that Ashok Chaube (60) of Tendua Chaube village under Bhaluani police station, used to perform worship rituals in Baripur Hanuman temple. Two days ago, when he reached home from the temple at night, a birthday party was going on at the house of one Hausla Paswan, who lives in the neighbourhood. A lot of people had gathered there and DJ was playing. When Ashok Chaube protested against the loud sound of the DJ, the Paswan family got into a fight. The victim had complained about this to the local police. The neighbours were angry about this. However, the local residents intervened and brokered a settlement.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday late night, Hausla Paswans family members reached the grocery store next to the house of the deceased to buy goods, while the shop was closed. Ashok asked them to go back. There was a dispute again between the two on this matter and later some close associates of Hausla Paswan reached there with sticks and rods and brutally attacked the victim till he fell unconscious.

The family and local residents shifted him to hospital but he died on the way.

Baripur temples Mahant Gopal Das said that many times complaints were made to the police that the Paswan community often quarreled after consuming intoxicants but the police did not take any action in this matter due to which assistant priest Ashok Chaube was killed.

SP Sankalp Sharma reached the spot and took information about the whole case and said that further action was being taken by taking many people into custody in the case.

Temples successor Gopal Das said that Ashok Chaube had filed a complaint about the dispute that took place two days ago but the police did not take any action and this had emboldened the accused.

Police said that some suspects had been taken into custody and were being questioned. The reason for the incident is said to be the dispute that took place two days ago.

Meanwhile, seeing tension in the area, a heavy police force was deployed to avert any untoward incident. The body was sent for post-mortem after registering a case against Hausla Paswan and his aides.
The Delhi Police Special Cell in its FIR registered on Wednesday evening revealed that the perpetrators of the hoax bomb threat letters received by nearly 200 Delhi schools wanted to create mass panic and disturb public order.

At least 125 bomb threat calls were received from different schools from 5.47 am to 2.13 pm on Wednesday, according to an official source, who has access to the FIR. The person said that after receiving the calls, PCR vehicles were rushed to schools, and district police, BDS, MAC, Special Cell and Crime Control Room, DDMA, NDRF, Fire CATS and several other agencies were alerted.

Further, a part of the FIR states that the movement of these units to the schools resulted in massive inconvenience, according to the source. The officials evacuated the schools in an elaborate exercise and carried out anti-sabotage checks across the city, he said. The emails were apparently sent with the conspiratorial intention of creating mass panic and to disturb the public.

These resulted in massive inconvenience and elaborate exercise across the city in safely evacuating the schools and carrying out anti-sabotage checks. It appears that the emails used to send the threats were made with the conspiratorial intention of creating mass panic and to disturb the public been made out, the FIR stated.

The FIR has been registered at Special Cell Police Station under IPC sections 505 (2) (statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes), 507 (criminal intimidation by an anonymous communication), and 120 (B) (punishment of criminal conspiracy).

Additionally, according to police sources, the investigation will be done by the Counter Intelligence Team Special Cell. The IFSO unit is also trying to find out the origin from where the mail was sent, till now the connection to Russia (IP address) has been revealed as the domain of the email is mail.ru. The investigating agency is also probing the angle of joint conspiracy between China and ISI to ascertain if there is a larger conspiracy at work in the matter.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police on Thursday urged the public to not believe in the claims circulating on WhatsApp groups about the bomb threat letters received by over 200 schools in Delhi and adjoining Noida region, calling the claims of explosives being found in the schools false.

Police made an appeal to people to not believe in the audio messages that have surfaced on WhatsApp groups making false claims about the bomb threat that schools in Delhi-NCR received on Wednesday morning. Some audio messages are being pushed on WhatsApp and other chat groups that some suspicious objects were found in some schools, a statement issued by the Delhi Police.

Further, they said that there is no truth in the claims of actual bombs found in the schools that have been circulating.

In some of the audio messages that have been seen spreading such messages, a woman is seen telling mothers that despite the police calling the threats a hoax, an actual bomb has been recovered from the premises of some schools.

I request all to please convey further that these are false messages. Messages doing rounds are as below, the police said taking note of such WhatsApp messages that will create panic among the citizens.

Around 200 schools in Delhi-NCR received an identical threat email Wednesday claiming that explosives had been planted in their premises, triggering massive evacuations and searches as panic-stricken parents rushed to pick up their children. Nothing was found during searches by authorities which later declared it a mass hoax.
AAP gains more strength in Ludhiana constituency

Ludhiana: AAP on Thursday got a big boost in Ludhiana Lok Sabha constituency, while Congress and SAD suffered a big setback, with Jagraons current city council president Amarjit Singh Malwa, along with many current and former councillors, left Congress and joined the AAP. Besides, SADs many district level leaders also joined AAP. All the leaders were formally inducted into the party by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who said that AAP is continuously getting stronger in Punjab because people are very impressed with the public welfare works of the AAP Government in the last two years. Aam Aadmi Party has the support of every section of Punjab. We will win this election by 13-0.

Warring leading the charge: PPCC responds to turncoat Jakhars allegations

Chandigarh: Responding to recent accusations made by former Congressman and now Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar regarding Congress partys leadership, the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) on Thursday asserted its commitment to robust governance and electoral success. PPCC, in a tweet directed at Jakhar, blamed him for the structural challenges faced during his tenure and emphasized the proactive approach of its current president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring. Unlike Jakhar, who abstained from electoral participation, Warring is leading the charge, poised to demonstrate the party's strength and emerge as the foremost political entity in Punjab.

Rather to push development, AAP Govt burdened Punjab with debt: Maluka

Bathinda: Accusing the Punjab Government of deceiving the public with false promises, BJP candidate from Bathinda Lok Sabha constituency, Parampal Kaur Sidhu Maluka on Thursday said that rather to push the development, the Bhagwant Mann Government in Punjab has burdened the state with debt. The people of the State are now feeling cheated and have set their hopes on BJP, she said, during her poll campaigns in various assembly constituencies in Bathinda. Highlighting the financial mess of the AAP Government, Parampal criticized its lavish spending on advertisements and then resorting to loans to pay government employees salaries. Disillusioned voters of the State are now looking towards PM Modi for the states development. This can be noticed from the fact that more and more people are taking BJP memberships in Bathinda and surrounding areas, she added.

First ask AAP to give Rs 24k due to each woman, and then seek votes: Harsimrat to women voters

Bathinda: Former Union Minister and Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Thursday appealed to the women voters to ask AAP to first give Rs 24,000 due to each woman as per Rs 1,000 per month promised made to them by AAP and then seek their votes. Bathinda MP, who toured several villages in Bathinda rural constituency, said: Thousands of women opened bank accounts in the hope that they will start receiving Rs 1,000 per month. It has been more than two years now since the AAP Government came into power but Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has forgotten about this promise. It is high time you remind the jhadoo wali party about this promise and demand Rs 24,000 due to each of you is deposited in your accounts before they come seeking your votes.
Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Maneka Gandhi filed her nomination papers for the Sultanpur Lok Sabha seat on Wednesday.

Accompanied by National Democratic Alliance ally NISHAD Party president Dr Sanjay Nishad and Apna Dal (Sonelal) leader and cabinet minister Ashish Patel, Manaka Gandhi took out a roadshow to the Collectorate where she filed her nomination papers in the presence of District Election Officer Krittika Jyotsna.

Expressing her commitment to serving the constituency, Maneka Gandhi articulated her vision for the region.

I will do more work in the next five years than was done in the last five years, she affirmed, highlighting her dedication to expanding initiatives such as the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana to provide more housing for the people.

Addressing concerns raised by the opposition regarding reservation policies, Maneka Gandhi asserted, No one can end quota.

She dismissed allegations that the Bharatiya Janata Party would alter the Constitution to revoke reservation benefits.

When asked about speculation surrounding her son Varun Gandhis possible candidature from Rae Bareli, a Congress stronghold, Maneka Gandhi opted not to comment, maintaining focus on her campaign.

Varun Gandhi has been denied a ticket from Pilibhit by the BJP.

Maneka Gandhi, seeking a second term from Sultanpur, faces challenge from Congress-backed Samajwadi Party candidate Ram Bhuwal Nishad and Bahujan Samaj Partys Udraj Verma.

Sultanpur will go to polls in the sixth phase of election on May 25.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi became emotional while addressing the election rally in Morena. Talking about her father, Priyanka said that my father inherited martyrdom, Modi ji will not be able to understand this. Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi reached Morena on Thursday.

Priyanka became emotional while addressing the election rally here. Priyanka said that at the age of 19, I brought home the pieces of my martyr father. So I was angry with this country. I had this feeling in my heart that I sent my father to keep your work safe. I sent my father to you with safety. But returned me the pieces.

The pieces were wrapped in the country's flag. I was angry. I understand what martyrdom means.

How can I explain how much love I have for the country? Today I am 52 years old, for the first time I have made this public on the stage.

That was resentment, I understood that this kind of resentment is felt only by the one one loves. How can I explain how much love I have for my country? Modi ji stands on the stage and calls my father a traitor. Modi Jeet says my father changed some law to take inheritance from his mother. So my heart Modi ji will not be able to understand this. That my father did not inherit any wealth. My father inherited the spirit of martyrdom.Modi ji cannot understand this feelingPriyanka further said that you can understand. You are farmers of this country. You have watered the soil of this country with your sweat. You have sent your sons for martyrdom.

When your sons are martyred for the country, I know what is the feeling in your heart. Because the same feeling is in my heart.

Some of the families who were martyred in Pulwama were from UP. I went to his house. The children who were left in those families told me, Didi, I also have to join the army. There was a girl, her brother was in the Air Force.

She said, Didi, I will join the Air Force and become a pilot. This is the spirit of martyrdom. Modi ji cannot understand.So many cases have been filed against my brother that he goes from here to there.Priyanka said that Modi ji talks wrongly about a martyr like Indira Gandhi. Seeing this sentiment, Modi ji only sees familyism. Don't see patriotism. Do not see service to the country.

They can't understand this feeling. I have come to tell you this. Call us traitors. Throw us out of the house. My brother was expelled from Parliament. File a case against us. So many cases were filed against my brother. Sometimes he goes to court here, sometimes there, sometimes in Gujarat, sometimes in Bihar. Do anything. Kill. But no one can remove this feeling from our heart.
Parents rushing to schools, children running out of classes, students crying, blaring sirens of fire-tenders, sniffer dogs being pressed into service -- these were the scenes witnessed outside schools in Delhi-NCR on Wednesday as more than 100 schools received a hoax e-mail about the presence of bombs on their premises.

It was only an hour or so since parents had dropped off their children at schools when they received messages from the school authorities, informing them that they have received an e-mail threatening the safety and security of the students.In panic, many parents rushed to the schools.

Noida resident Monika Arora, whose son studies in Class 12 in DPS-Noida, said, "My son had left for his extra classes at 6:30 am. Around 8 am, we received a message about a threat e-mail. The school authorities asked the parents whose children travel by private taxis to get them picked while those who come in school buses were being sent back."

Initially, when the students learnt that it was going to be an off-day for them, they were excited but later, the younger ones among them started crying.

"The parents in the school WhatsApp group were in a state of panic. They were asking several questions even as teachers kept updating that the bomb disposal squad had arrived and even sniffer dogs were present. My son told me that while students in the higher classes said it could be a hoax e-mail, younger students started crying," Arora said

Parents, who had more than one kid to pick up and take care of, found it difficult to reach the spots all at once.Rukesh Kumar, whose daughters study in two different schools in east Delhi, said students were evacuated by teachers. "Some students climbed up trees saying they will be saved if there is an explosion. Some tried to hide themselves in safe places," Kumar said.Visuals from Mayur Vihar's Mother's Mary school showed concerned parents assembling outside to pick up their children.

The school administration made announcements on the microphone."I dropped my child 10-15 minutes ago. Then I received a call from the school, asking me to take my child back due to some emergency," Vijay Kumar said.

"I had come to drop my children off. A lot of people had gathered outside the school and there were shouts of people coming from inside. When we inquired, we did not get any satisfactory response," Manoj Kumar, a local resident, said.

Similar scenes were witnessed outside Chanakyapuri's Sanskriti School.Fire-tenders, ambulances and police vehicles were seen on stand-by outside the schools while bomb detection teams and bomb disposal squads were conducting searches inside.

Kirti had dropped her son at the BGS International School in Dwarka and was waiting for him to go in when she saw the boy return with the school staff.

"I was waiting outside the school when I saw my son returning along with all the staff members. I was extremely worried. When some people shouted that there was a bomb in the school, I asked my son to hop on to my scooter," she said.

Several schools called up and sent messages to parents, asking them to urgently pick up their wards.Hemlata, the mother of a student in the Amity School in Pushp Vihar said this was the third time she had to rush to the school to pick up her child due to a hoax."We were asked by the school authorities to pick up our children. It was natural to feel scared. If such threats surface again and again, it means there is some danger looming over the students," she said.

Khushboo, whose daughter is a Class-6 student in the Red Roses Private School in Saket, said, "I was preparing to leave for office when I received a call from the driver of my daughter's school van, asking me to rush to the school as there was a bomb threat. We immediately went to the school. All of us in the family were tense but fortunately, she returned safely."

Schools that did not receive the bomb threat were also flooded with queries by parents and guardians.

According to police officials, initial investigations suggest that the e-mail was sent to multiple locations since Tuesday.
Taking a dig at the Congress party over Sam Pitrodas remarks on inheritance tax, BJP candidate from Raipur Lok Sabha constituency Brijmohan Agrawal has said that his uncalled-for comments reflected the vicious mindset of the grand old party which is bent upon in distorting the united fabric of the country.

Speaking exclusively with The Pioneer, Agrawal, who turned 65 today, said: His controversial statement makes it clear that the Congress is now a sinking ship. Several senior leaders have abandoned it with a heavy heart amid the Lok Sabha elections. Its clearly visible that the Congress has neither any leader nor leadership and theres no future as well for this party.

Agrawal, an eight-time MLA and a prominent face within BJP, currently serves as a minister in the Vishnu Deo Sai government. His winning streak in Assembly elections since 1990 and previous ministerial roles underscore his political acumen. He has never lost any election ever since he took a plunge into politics.

The Congress has fielded Vikas Upadhyay, a Brahmin candidate, to contest against Agrawal from Raipur constituency. While Upadhyay attained his first MLA victory in 2018, he faced defeat in the 2023 elections from the Raipur City West assembly seat.

The highest number of candidates, 38 in total, including five women, are in the fray in the Raipur Lok Sabha seat where polling will be held in the third and final phase on May 7.

However, Agrawal further said: Advocating for an inheritance tax can be seen as detrimental to the principles of individual liberty and property rights. Taxing inheritances can disincentivize wealth creation and entrepreneurship as individuals may be less motivated to work hard and accumulate assets if a significant portion of their wealth is subject to taxation upon passing it on to their heirs.

Furthermore, implementing an inheritance tax can lead to unintended consequences, such as family businesses being forced to sell off assets or downsize in order to pay the tax bill, potentially harming economic growth and job creation. It can also create complexities in estate planning and administration, imposing additional burdens on families already dealing with the loss of a loved one, he added.

Additionally, there are concerns about the fairness and effectiveness of inheritance taxes. They may disproportionately affect certain families, particularly those with valuable assets tied up in land or businesses, while wealthy individuals may find ways to evade or minimize their tax liabilities through loopholes and tax planning strategies, Agrawal opined.

Critics argue that instead of focusing on punitive measures like inheritance taxes, policymakers should prioritize reforms that promote economic opportunity and mobility for all citizens, such as reducing barriers to entrepreneurship, improving access to education and healthcare, and creating a level playing field in the economy.

Ultimately, while addressing wealth inequality and promoting social justice are important goals, implementing an inheritance tax may not be the most effective or equitable solution. It is essential to carefully consider the potential consequences and explore alternative policy approaches that better balance the needs of society with respect for individual rights and freedoms, the BJP candidate said.
The anti-terror unit of Delhi Police has started investigations into the bomb threat email sent to over 130 schools in the Delhi-NCR region, as the initial probe hinted at a deeper conspiracy by a terror group during the Lok Sabha elections 2024.

A case has been registered under relevant sections of law for offences like conspiracy and threat by the Special Cell and a dedicated team formed to conduct the investigation. "The matter is related to national security. It needs a deeper probe," an official said.

Bomb squads were put through a test as threat loomed on 131 schools in Delhi and adjoining region of Noida as bomb threats were received by school authorities on Wednesday morning. The Delhi Police had to rush their dog and bomb squads to more than 100 schools which received a bomb threat via e-mail, originating from Russia.

As schools took various safety measures to ensure the safety of the students, the city police too went into an overdrive after their emergency phone started ringing from 6 am with bomb threat reports, a situation that lasted till 3 pm. Some schools even made a PCR call without receiving a threat as panic gripped the national capital.

Senior police officers with dog and bomb squads had to rush from one school to another and there was no time to be wasted. "Every district has its own one bomb squad and one dog squad. If needed, we take help from other districts. But today the situation was totally different as all the schools of Delhi in different 15 districts received bomb threats through e-mail," a senior police officer said.

Another senior police officer, who requested anonymity, said that they did face a bit of a problem in moving the dog and bomb squad immediately, but they managed the situation. "There are almost 20 members in the dog and bomb quad. We divided those members according to the call. We also directed them to make no hurry," said the officer.In light of the event and being prepared for any uncertain future circumstances, some schools said they plan to issue a circular for parents, outlining the standard operating procedure to guide them on how to react in adverse situations like these.
Punjabs Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) on Thursday took decisive action against political parties found in violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) during the Lok Sabha Elections 2024. Following directives from the Election Commission of India (ECI), warnings have been issued to both the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for their respective transgressions.

One of the key infractions involved the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) utilizing the derogatory phrase Delhi ke Dalal in a campaign video targeting AAPs state convener and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, as well as AAP candidates. Such language, deemed inflammatory and violative of MCC guidelines, was promptly removed by the SAD after receiving the warning.

Additionally, the use of children in election rallies, notably during the campaign of SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal, has also drawn censure. Reports from Ludhianas Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Election Officer highlighted this breach, prompting a stern reminder from the electoral authorities regarding the prohibition of involving children in political campaigns. The SAD has been duly cautioned to adhere strictly to MCC guidelines henceforth.

Notably, AAP had lodged a complaint with the poll panel against Sukhbir accusing him of violating ECI directions by making A child raise slogans in favour of his party during election campaigning. The complaint alleged that Sukhbir had passed the microphone to the child and made him raise slogans of Shiromani Akali Dal Zindabad and Vote for Akali Dal during his Punjab Bachao Yatra at Raikot on April 6.

Meanwhile, the ruling AAP also faced reprimand for its online content, notably posts and videos such as Unsacred Games of Punjab. Such materials were flagged for their potential to incite discord or violate the MCC.

Furthermore, the casteist remarks attributed to the state Cabinet Minister and AAPs candidate from Khadoor Sahib Laljit Singh Bhullar were condemned as clear violations of electoral conduct standards. Reports from Tarn Taran Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Election Officer corroborated these findings, leading to a formal warning issued to AAP.

Notably, on April 13, Bhullar, in his speech during his election campaign at Patti, allegedly ridiculed members of the Ramgarhia and Suniyar communities, calling them Ghuli gharh. Following this, complaints were sent to the ECI, against the Minister by both Shiromani Akali Dal and Ramgarhia Singh Sabha, Tarn Taran.

About a fortnight later, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had offered an apology for Bhullars casteist remarks. Following widespread condemnation, Mann had taken a firm stance during a campaign rally for Bhullar in Patti emphasizing AAPs commitment to inclusive politics and stressed the need for Bhullar to issue an unconditional apology. Mann, acknowledging the gravity of the situation, had offered his own apology as the head of the party, reiterating AAP's dedication to governance based on meritocracy and devoid of discrimination.

Both AAP and SAD have been directed to desist from further breaches of the mode code of conduct, and to conduct their campaigns in strict adherence to the guidelines set forth by the Election Commission of India. The warnings underscored the commitment of electoral authorities to uphold the integrity and fairness of the electoral process, ensuring that campaigns remain focused on issues rather than resorting to divisive rhetoric or unethical tactics.

BOX: ECI Appoints 15 Expenditure Observers for Punjab

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday appointed 15 expenditure observers for 13 Lok Sabha constituencies of Punjab to oversee the expenditure incurred by candidates and political parties during the campaign period, ensuring compliance with election expenditure regulations.

Sharing details of the appointed expenditure observers, the state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sibin C said that the appointed observers are distinguished Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officers who bring a wealth of experience and expertise to their roles.

While one observer each has been appointed for Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Khadoor Sahib, Fatehgarh Sahib, Faridkot (SC), Ferozepur, Sangrur, Patiala, Jalandhar (SC), and Hoshiarpur (SC) Lok Sabha constituencies; two observers each have bene appointed for Anandpur Sahib, Ludhiana, and Bathinda constituencies.

CEO Sibin C said that each appointed observer will play a crucial role in ensuring the fairness and transparency of the electoral process in their respective constituencies.
There are preparations to promote the operation of electric buses in Madhya Pradesh. For this, the State cabinet has already decided to operate it in 6 big cities of the state under PM e-bus service in February. Now the Urban Administration and Development Department has become active in preparing SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) along with discussing other issues including operation of buses run under this scheme and demand from the bus center.

Since policy decisions cannot be taken and cabinet meetings cannot be held during Lok Sabha elections. Therefore, now the officials of the ministry are busy in making rules for the decisions taken before the implementation of the code of conduct and completing other processes.

In this context, the Urban Development and Housing Department is going to convene a meeting this week regarding the operation of electric buses in the state. In this meeting, along with the arrangements for operation of e-buses, experts will also be called so that every aspect can be discussed and after the implementation of the code of conduct, this matter can be brought back to the cabinet for detailed discussion.

Mohan government had decided to run electric buses in the 6 big cities of the state in the cabinet held in the last week of February, which include Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Ujjain and Sagar Municipal Corporation areas, where 552 e buses were operated. Will go.

MP government will operate these buses under the Pradhan Mantri E-Bus Scheme. The central government will provide the buses and also bear the operational and maintenance costs for 12 years. Through this scheme, e-buses will be promoted and gradually expanded.

According to the decisions taken so far regarding the operation of e-buses, a committee will be formed at the local level by the state government for the operation of e-buses. On the other hand, the Central Government claims that after the operation of e-buses, passenger fares can be reduced by up to thirty percent. Along with this, dependence on diesel will also reduce and it will be easier to prevent pollution.
Senior leader of Bharatiya Janata Party and former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shivraj Singh Chauhan, while addressing a public meeting in Kolaras of Shivpuri district on Thursday in support of party candidate from Guna-Shivpuri parliamentary constituency and Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a Vikas Purush.

People should bless BJP with their votes in all 29 Lok Sabha seats of the state including Guna-Shivpuri to make Narendra Modi the Prime Minister for the third time with a historic majority. Addressing the public meeting, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said that while being the Chief Minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan has fulfilled every promise made to the Guna-Shivpuri region. The BJP government has laid electricity network along the roads in this area. Work is also going on on a project worth thousands of crores for irrigation facilities.

Very soon irrigation water will be supplied to most of the villages in this area.Former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan said that the credit for the formation of Bharatiya Janata Party government in Madhya Pradesh for the fourth time also goes to Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia along with the work of the double engine government of BJP under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. If Mr. Sidhiya had not taught a lesson to the anti-people Congress government, the public would have had to suffer more due to the dark deeds of the Congress.

Scindia came with Bharatiya Janata Party and BJP government was formed. After the BJP government was formed in Madhya Pradesh, I was able to launch the Ladli Behna Scheme to honor the poor sisters. Therefore, the credit for Ladli Brahmin Yojana, which has given the right to live with dignity to more than 1.25 crore sisters of Madhya Pradesh, also goes to senior BJP leader, party candidate from Guna-Shivpuri region and Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia.

Former Chief Minister Chouhan said that Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has always been concerned about the happiness and sorrow of this area. Scindia had taken the right decision at the right time by joining the Bharatiya Janata Party family. He had understood long ago that there was no use in staying in Congress. I salute his foresight. Chouhan said that Rajmata Late. He always received blessings, affection and blessings from Vijayaraje Scindia. Chouhan said that when he got engaged, Rajmata Scindia had blessed him. Apart from this, when my son Kartikeya was born, I played in his lap. When I contested the first election from Vidisha parliamentary constituency, I got her blessings and when my Padyatra ended, Rajmata ji also came to the closing programme. My relation with the Scindia family is not of one generation, it is a very old relationship of the heart. Today I have come to seek your blessings for Jyotiraditya Scindia. Strengthen their hands and we will work together for further development of the area.

Former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan said that the journey of Ladli Behna will continue further. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav has also made it clear that no scheme being run by the Madhya Pradesh government for the welfare of sisters will be stopped. Their aim is to empower the beloved sisters. Sisters and daughters should be taken forward. In the coming times, this journey will not stop here, more Lakhpati Didis and Lakhpati Sisters will be created.If we go to Delhi then both will work together Chauhan said that now uncle will go to Delhi. Our colleague Jyotiraditya Scindia will also go to Delhi with us. We both will work together. Will work for the development of the area. If we go to Delhi, we will definitely do something, therefore, strengthen the hands of both of us for the development of the area.Rahul Gandhi Ranchod Das, there is no benefit in voting for Congress.
Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Sameer Oraon reached Pesharar located in the remote jungle area of Lohardaga district. The local villagers welcomed him in a traditional manner. Candidate Sameer Oraon inaugurated the block level BJP election office in Pesharar by formally cutting the ribbon. On the occasion, BJP District Minister Anil Oraon, Kailash Kumar, former OBC District President Shukul Ram, former Block President Basanti Devi, Tuimu chief Ashok Yadav, Mohan Yadav, Sanjay Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Aneshwar Munda, Mahendra Singh, Umesh Yadav, Jaggu Turi. Nandkishore Pandit, Siva Yadav etc. were mainly present. After the inauguration of the office, the workers expressed happiness by feeding each other sweets and under the leadership of Block President Bharat Kisan, BJP workers and villagers raised more than 400 slogans this time. While addressing the workers and villagers present on this occasion, Sameer Oraon said that PM Modi has given guarantees for the all-round development of the country and making India a world leader. BJP will achieve historic victory in Lohardaga Lok Sabha constituency.

All workers should work at the grassroots level to get votes for the Bharatiya Janata Party. We will win the elections on the basis of the hard work of the workers, booth presidents and chiefs. Addressing the villagers, Shri Oraon said that this time I have got the opportunity to serve you all. I am very fortunate and with the blessings of all of you, I will complete all the work after winning the election.
An eight-year-old girl was allegedly raped in the hostel of a private school in Madhya Pradesh capital Bhopal, following which a case has been registered against three persons, a police official said on Wednesday.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav ordered a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the case.

The police said they were trying to ascertain when the incident exactly took place.

"An eight-year-old girl was allegedly raped at a girls' hostel of private school. Following a complaint in this regard, the police registered a case on Tuesday night against three persons under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 376 (rape) and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act," Misrod police station in-charge Manish Raj Bhadoria said.

Although the names of the accused are mentioned in the FIR, their identity is being established, he said.

When asked about the allegation that the girl was drugged before the crime, Bhadoria said all these things will be clear once the investigation gets over.

"The process of carrying out the medical examination of the victim and recording her statement is underway," he said, adding that several police teams have been constituted to collect the evidence related to the case.

On whether the clinical examination confirmed that the girl was raped, Bhadoria said a comprehensive report is awaited.

Replying to a query that injuries and swelling were found in the girl's private part during a medical examination conducted by doctors as per the request by the victim's mother, the police official said the complainant has made this allegation, but things will be clear in a detailed medical examination.

Bhadoria said that the CCTV footage of the hostel has been recovered as the date of the incident is not clear.

"The accused will be arrested once their identity is established," he said.

The office of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said that taking cognizance of the matter, he has ordered an SIT to probe into the matter.
Accusing former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel of nurturing Naxalism, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday vowed to stamp out Maoism from the state in two years if Narendra Modi becomes the prime minister for a third term after the Lok Sabha elections.

He told a public meeting in Korba that while Baghel's government kept promoting Naxalites, within just four months of BJP rule, 85 Naxalites had been killed and 350 had been arrested in the state.

Shah also mentioned the development works done under the leadership of Modi.

He said: Due to relentless efforts by the Prime Minister in the last five years, Naxalism has been eliminated from Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. But because of Bhupesh Baghels government, Chhattisgarh was left out.

"If the people of the state make Modiji the Prime Minister for a third time, then Naxalism will be uprooted from the state in two years.

He added: Security forces showed bravery and 29 Naxalites were killed, but Bhupesh Kakka is shamelessly saying that it is a fake encounter. Even Naxalites accepted that they suffered a lot, but the Congress is not ready to accept it.

"To win the election, the Congress nurtured Naxalism and terrorism in the country for years. But now the people of Chhattisgarh need not worry because there is a BJP government in the state and the BJP is going to form the government at the Centre. And Naxalism will definitely be wiped out. Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma, Cabinet Ministers Lakhan Lal Dewangan and Shyam Bihari Jaiswal, Korba Lok Sabha candidate Dr. Saroj Pandey and other leaders were also present at the event. Speaking exclusively with The Pioneer, Saroj Pandey said: For the all-round development of Korba, the Congress did nothing all these years. The dondition of the roads here is very pathetic. Theres no electricity and drinking water in rural areas. Theres not even a good hospital or school. Even today, women face several challenges which we need to address.

Asking people to vote for the BJP candidate, Amit Shah said: The people of Korba should make Sarojji victorious. The PM will himself take care of every village. Today Korba is known for the Missing MP, but once you choose Sarojji, she will come to your village and solve all your problems.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on mega rallies in Jharkhand ahead of May 13 elections on three parliamentary seats from May 3 onwards. As per his itinerary, the PM will hold a rally in Chaibasa on May 3 afternoon for Singhbhum seat while he will address two rallies in Palamu and Lohardaga on May 4.

In between these three rallies, the Prime Minister is all likely to hold a 10 km road show from Birsa Munda International Airport to Raj Bhawan seeking support and votes for BJP candidate and sitting MP Sanjay Seth--who filed his nomination for Ranchi Lok Sabha seat today.

Within six month, this will be Modis second road show in State Capital. The last time he held the road show was in November much before the election dates were announced. It is all likely that Prime Minister Narendra Modi might hold a road show in Ranchi on the evening of May 3. On May 3, the Prime Minister will return to Ranchi after the public meeting in support of BJP candidate Geeta Koda in Chaibasa.

While returning from Chaibasa to Raj Bhavan, a road show is being planned in support of BJP candidate Sanjay Seth from Airport to Ratu Road. State BJP is giving the final shape to the plan of the Prime Ministers program.

On May 4, the Prime Minister will attend a public meeting organized at Chianki Airport in Palamu and address a meeting for BJP candidate Sameer Oraon from Lohardaga in Sisai, Gumla.

After returning from Sisai, the Prime Minister will leave for Delhi from Ranchi Airport. However, the state government has not yet received official information about the Prime Ministers program.

The November last year road show was a big hit as thousands of people lined up on both sides of the stretch to greet PM Modi. The two day visit of PM Modi assumes importance as Prime Minister Narendra Modi will blow the poll bugle in Jharkhand from Chaibasa on May 3.

The PM on his two day visit will cover all four Lok Sabha seats will goes to poll on phase four. The four seats which goes to poll on May 13 are, Lohardaga, Chaibasa, Khunti and Palamu. From Chaibasa the party has given ticket to former Congress MP Geeta Koda.

Ahead of the Lok Sabha election, the Congress has got a big jolt as its lone MP in Jharkhand Geeta Koda on February 26 joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Ranchi. Koda, wife of former Chief Minister of Jharkhand Madhu Koda, won the 2019 Lok Sabha seat from Chaibasa by defeating the BJP candidate Lakshman Giluwa. She joined the party in the presence of Jharkhand BJP State president Babulal Marandi and Leader of Opposition in Jharkhand Assembly Amar Kumar Bauri.

The JMM has fielded Joba Manjhi from the seat. From Lohardaga the party has given ticket to BJP former Rajya Sabha MP Samir Oroan, while from Khunti the party has given ticket to union agriculture minister Arjun Munda. From Palamu the party has reposed faith on sitting MP VD Ram.
Tata Steel Utilities and Infrastructure Services Limited (Tata Steel UISL), formerly known as Jusco, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Steel, has unveiled plans for an extensive expansion of its services in Jamshedpur. Managing Director Ritu Raj Sinha revealed this information during a press conference held on Tuesday, outlining the company's commitment to providing water and electricity connections to areas currently lacking such essential amenities.

In a bid to address the pressing need for water infrastructure, Tata Steel UISL is set to extend water connections to various localities in both East and West Jamshedpur. Sinha specified that areas such as Jemco Azad Basti, Jemco Basti, Laxmi Nagar, Namda Basti, Maha Nand Basti, Harijan Basti, and Cable Town in Jamshedpur East will receive water connections. Similarly, in Jamshedpur West, Shiva Nagar, Kapali Basti, Balram Basti, Kanhu Basti Jon, and Ramjanam Nagar are slated to benefit from this initiative.

Despite distributing a total of 3,266 forms for water connections in East Jamshedpur and 2,916 forms in West Jamshedpur, the response has been relatively low, with only 1,595 and 1,320 forms filled and submitted, respectively. However, Tata Steel UISL has managed to provide 1,301 water connections in East Jamshedpur and 965 in West Jamshedpur, with plans to fulfill the remaining demand as it arises.

Tata Steel UISL is also actively working towards providing electricity connections in various areas. While efforts are being made to collaborate with JBVNL for supplying electricity in government electricity areas, challenges remain in achieving this objective. Additionally, the company is focusing on enhancing cleanliness in several parts of Jamshedpur, with a special emphasis on reaching underserved areas that have been neglected in the past.

Tata Steel UISL's expansion of services reflects its commitment to improving the quality of life for residents of Jamshedpur. By addressing the critical need for water and electricity connections in underserved areas and prioritizing cleanliness initiatives, the company aims to contribute positively to the development and well-being of the community.

Meanwhile the company also inaugurated the 500 KLD Sewage Pumping Stations in Bistupur today, marking a significant leap forward in urban infrastructure development. The ceremony, led by Capt. Dhananjay Mishra, Senior General Manager of Town Operations & Maintenance and Real Estate, showcased the commitment of Tata Steel UISL to enhance community well-being and environmental sustainability.

The inauguration ceremony, graced by esteemed dignitaries, witnessed Capt. Dhananjay Mishra leading the ceremony in the presence of Mr. Chanakya Chaudhary, Chairman, Tata Steel UISL, Mr. Ritu Raj Sinha, Managing Director, Tata Steel UISL and Mr Pranay Sinha, Chief, Corporate Services, Tata Steel. Their collective vision and dedication symbolize a collaborative effort towards addressing environmental challenges and enhancing community welfare.

The newly inaugurated 500 KLD Sewage Pumping Stations signify a substantial leap forward in sewage management capabilities, reflecting a blend of innovation and efficiency. Designed to accommodate 500,000 liters per day, these stations epitomize technological excellence and operational reliability, ensuring optimal performance in wastewater handling.
Shahpura police have nabbed a 24-year-old woman and recovered stolen Rs 2 lakh cash and documents from her possession.

Police said that Prashanta Kumar Sahu of Shahpura, Bhopal, came to the police station and reported that he operates a clinic in Shahpura. On April 29, around 2 pm, an unknown thief stole Rs 2 lakh kept in his house. He has stolen cash and some documents and expressed suspicion on Rupa Mishra, the woman working with him. Based on the report, police registered a case under 381 IPC.

The police interrogated the people and employees who frequently visited the house and then based on the suspicion of Suspect Rupa Mishra was detained. A detailed inquiry was conducted and raided 102 Harsha Height Danish Kunj Kolar Road Bhopal which established the date and time of the incident the accused confessed stealing Rs 2 lakh kept in the house.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath slammed the remarks of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge concerning Lord Ram and Lord Shiva and said that the party, facing significant setbacks in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, was resorting to disparaging the beliefs of the Hindu majority community to vent its frustration over impending defeat in the Lok Sabha elections 2024.

Addressing the media at his official residence before embarking on election rallies in Mainpuri, Etah and Firozabad, Chief Minister Yogi remarked, The history of the Congress party is replete with such actions. Yet, during elections, such tactless behavior becomes conspicuous. By bringing up such issues, the Congress is not only disrespecting the faith of India, but also hurting the sentiments of the majority community.

Yogi remarked, The Congress carries forward the British legacy of divide and rule. It sows the seeds of discord in society based on caste, region and language for petty political gains. The party will continue its divisive agenda in future also to stay relevant in Indian politics.

Chief Minister Yogi highlighted the pledge made by the Congress in its manifesto to include Muslims also among the beneficiaries of the reservation meant for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes.

Yogi highlighted the essence of Sanatan Dharma, emphasising that Lord Ram and Lord Shiva hold significant reverence within its worship practices. He pointed out that in the epic Ramcharitmanas, there are instances where Lord Ram worships Lord Shiva and vice versa, illustrating their mutual respect and complementarity.

Lord Ram says, Shivdrohi mam das kahava so nar mohi sapnehu nahi paava (if someone betrays Lord Shiva and proudly claims to be my servant or devotee, they cannot reach me even in their dreams.)

Chief Minister Yogi also expressed his strong disapproval of Congress disregard for Indias Sanatan traditions, accusing the party and its president of disrespecting and manipulating the countrys faith. He condemned the attempt to pit Lord Ram against Lord Shiva in speeches of Congress leaders.

Yogi further said, Our scriptures bear testimony to the fact that betrayal of either Lord Shiva or Lord Ram inevitably leads to defeat and downfall.

He said the Congress presidents recent derogatory remarks were a new beginning of the partys downfall.

Chief Minister Yogi criticised the party leader for not only undermining the Hindu faith but also steering Congress towards oblivion through such divisive actions.

He hoped that the divine wisdom of Lord Shri Ram and Devadhidev Mahadev Shiva would guide the Congress leadership to embrace the path of truth amid these challenges.
In a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday said when the elections are over, people will only remember him as the PM who indulged in "divisive and communal speeches filled with lies" to avoid an inevitable defeat.

Noting that the PM in his letter to NDA candidates had claimed that reservation will be taken away from SC, ST and OBC and given to the Congress' "votebank", Kharge said, "Our votebank is every Indian -- the poor, the marginalised, the women, the aspirational youth, the labour class, the Dalits and the Adivasis."

In a letter to the prime minister, Kharge urged Modi to seek votes on the performance of his government over the last ten years instead of indulging in "hate speeches".

The Congress president's remarks comes days after Modi levelled various charges against his party in his letter to NDA candidates after the second phase of the Lok Sabha polls.

Prime Minister Modi asked the BJP-led NDA candidates in the Lok Sabha polls to spread awareness among voters about the Congress's intention to snatch "reservation from SC, ST and OBC communities and give it away to their vote bank".

In a personal letter written to them, Modi also accused the Congress and its allies of having divisive and discriminatory motives, even though reservation on the basis of religion is unconstitutional.

Writing to Modi, Kharge said, "I saw the letter written by you to all the NDA candidates about what they need to communicate to the voters. From the tone and content of the letter it seems that there is a lot of desperation and worry in you which is leading you to use language that does not suit the office of the prime minister."

"The letter makes it look like the lies in your speeches are not having the effect you intended and now you want your candidates to amplify your lies. Repeating a lie a thousand times will not make it the truth," he said.

The Congress chief said the voters are intelligent enough to read and understand by themselves what his party has written in its manifesto and what guarantees it has promised.

"Our guarantees are so simple and clear, that we don't have to explain it to them. For your benefit, I will reiterate them here," Kharge said in his letter and elaborated on the party's Yuva Nyay, Nari Nyay, Kisan Nyay, Shramik Nyay and Hissedari Nyay.

"We have heard you and the Home Minister say that Congress is practising appeasement politics. The only appeasement policy that we have seen in the last 10 years is the appeasement of Chinese by you and your ministers. Even today, you refuse to call China as 'Ghuspaithiye', instead on June 19, 2020, you said 'Na Koi Ghusa Hai, Na Hi Koi Ghus Aaya hai', insulting the supreme sacrifice of 20 Indian soldiers in Galwan," the Congress chief said.

"Your public 'Clean Chit' to China, has weakened India's case and made it more belligerent. Even as tensions escalate due to repeated Chinese transgressions and construction of military infrastructure near LAC in Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh and Uttarakhand, the imports of Chinese goods to India has increased by 54.76 per cent in the past 5 years alone and has crossed USD 101 billion in 2023-24," he said.

Kharge also claimed that the RSS and BJP have opposed reservations at every stage since 1947.

"Your leaders have openly spoken about it. You need to clarify why you are opposed to reservation to SCs, STs and OBCs on the basis of their population as per Article 16 of our Constitution," Kharge said.

"In your letter, you have said people's hard-earned money will be snatched and given away. I would like to take this opportunity to request you to direct your party to return the Rs 10 crore that was swindled from the poor Dalit farmers in Gujarat and given as electoral bonds to BJP," Kharge said.

The Congress president accused the BJP of amassing Rs 8,250 crore through the "illegal and unconstitutional" Electoral Bonds.

He said Modi's letter "lies" that Congress wants to bring Inheritance Tax when it is a former BJP Finance Minister and BJP party leaders who have repeatedly mentioned they want Inheritance Tax.

"I see from your letter that you are worried by the low turnout of voters in the first two phases of the elections. It shows people are not enthusiastic about your policies or your campaign speeches. This is not because of the summer heat, but because the poor have been burnt by your policies," the Congress chief said.

Kharge claimed the prime minister was not interested in talking about the ever widening inequality, unemployment and unprecedented price rise.

"You are not interested in talking about the increasing atrocities on women by your leaders," he said in his letter to Modi.

"It is better as the prime minister if you seek votes on the performance of your government over the last ten years instead of indulging in hate speeches. The Congress Party would like to challenge you or anyone you depute to debate with us on our manifesto and the points you have made," he said.

"As I mentioned in my earlier letter, when the elections are over, people will only remember you as the prime minister who indulged in divisive and communal speeches filled with lies to avoid an inevitable defeat," Kharge said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom announces action in 2022 to protect women from other states seeking abortion services in California. Andri Tambunan/Special to the Chronicle 2022

Gov. Gavin Newsom and California lawmakers are trying to send a loud, unapologetic message to the rest of the country following the U.S. Supreme Courts overturning of Roe vs. Wade: Other states may criminalize women for seeking abortion and reproductive health care, but womens rights are protected  and prioritized  in California.

Last week, Newsom and the Democratic leaders of the California Legislative Womens Caucus introduced a bill to give Arizona doctors temporary, emergency permission to perform abortions in California after the procedure was restricted in their state. And Newsom is doubling down on his campaign of running TV ads in Republican states with abortion restrictions  recently launching one in Alabama that depicts young women traveling to receive reproductive health care getting pulled over by police and being asked to take a pregnancy test.

Given the draconian abortion policies Republican states are adopting, California officials are right to be laser-focused on reproductive rights. But there are other key issues that disproportionately affect women, such as domestic violence and rape.

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Despite some encouraging developments  lawmakers are considering bills to protect domestic violence survivors from tech-based violence and to expand the statute of limitations for certain sexual assault claims, for example  state law still tends to minimize the consequences of violence against women.

Believe it or not, rape of an intoxicated person is considered a nonviolent crime under California penal code. Despite its name, domestic violence is also considered nonviolent. This means both crimes are exempt from Californias three-strikes law, which can result in significantly steeper sentences for repeat offenders.

Last week, the Assembly Public Safety Committee killed a bill from Assembly Member Joe Patterson, R-Rocklin, to classify felony domestic violence as a violent crime  the second time in as many years that the effort has failed. This year, however, the bill didnt even get a hearing. Assembly Member Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, who leads the committee, told me that with nearly twice as many public safety-related bills introduced this year compared to last year, there simply wasnt enough time to grant all of them a hearing.

Many lawmakers are understandably uneasy about expanding three strikes after decades of over-incarceration. But avoiding debate on such a critical issue is inexcusable.

The consequences of inaction are too severe.

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Research shows that domestic violence is deeply connected with mass shootings. In more than 68% of U.S. mass shootings from 2014 through 2019, the shooter either had a history of domestic violence or killed at least one partner or family member. The man who allegedly assaulted a parishioner at a San Francisco church in October and set off two pipe bombs as he fled from authorities also had a history of domestic violence.

And domestic violence, far too often, escalates to the point of killing. In January, Santa Clara police arrested a Google engineer on suspicion of brutally murdering his wife. In December, San Francisco prosecutors charged a 29-year-old man with murder for allegedly stabbing his girlfriend to death in their Presidio Heights apartment. Five of the 12 homicides that San Mateo County recorded in the first nine months of 2023 were the result of domestic violence, according to law enforcement officials.

These arent warning signs for California lawmakers to take domestic violence seriously. These are alarm bells clanging at decibel-shattering levels.

This urgency is why the Assembly Public Safety Committee should consider SB268, authored by state Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil, D-Modesto, which would classify as violent the rape of an intoxicated person intentionally drugged by the defendant.

All forms of rape are violent, and they should be classified as violent felonies, Alvarado-Gil told me, adding that while Newsom and Democratic lawmakers appear increasingly willing to strengthen accountability for offenders, in no shape or form do I believe this is a slam dunk.

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If you have a hard time believing that such a common-sense bill could be an uphill battle, consider that California lawmakers were initially reluctant to eliminate an archaic law treating spousal rape less seriously than rape and to classify child trafficking as a serious crime.

Is it any surprise, if the language of our laws dismisses the seriousness of violence against women, that our culture and our politics do, too?

Perhaps thats why San Francisco police seemed curiously slow to launch a comprehensive investigation into reports of domestic violence and rape that three women filed against Jon Jacobo  seen as a rising star in local politics despite a 2021 rape allegation from another woman, tenants rights advocate Sasha Perigo  until after the April 16 publication of a San Francisco Standard story.

Perhaps thats why Sonoma County sheriffs deputies appeared to discourage a woman who told them she had been sexually assaulted in September 2022 by a Fairmont Sonoma Mission Spa Inn massage therapist from pressing charges, telling her the case would be difficult to prove, as my colleague Matthias Gafni recently reported.

And perhaps thats why sexual abuse is so often swept under the rug until it becomes convenient to cynically leverage for the political purposes of one party or another  or, in the case of San Francisco, one Democratic faction or another.

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San Francisco politicos are now tripping over themselves to show their dedication to rooting out sexual harassment, with the Democratic County Central Committee  the group that governs the local party  creating a new committee to investigate allegations.

This is a step in the right direction, but much depends on implementation.

About Opinion Guest opinions in Open Forum and Insight are produced by writers with expertise, personal experience or original insights on a subject of interest to our readers. Their views do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Chronicle editorial board, which is committed to providing a diversity of ideas to our readership. Read more about our transparency and ethics policies

Policy can be excellent and great on paper, but if you have a culture where theres a lack of accountability and transparency, it doesnt really matter, Ruth Ferguson, an advocate against workplace harassment, told me.

If Newsom and legislators truly want to influence other states laws, they should begin by more closely examining the gaps in their own.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday attacked Rahul Gandhi, saying he started his party's campaign with Bharat Jodo Yatra that will end with a 'Congress Dhoondho Yatra,' suggesting that the party will get a severe drubbing in the Lok Sabha elections.

Addressing an election rally here, Shah alleged that Rahul, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and SP's Akhilesh Yadav did not attend the Ram Temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya fearing this may alienate their vote bank.

"The 'shehzade' (prince) of 'ghamandia' INDI Alliance started his election campaign with Bharat Jodo Yatra but on June 4 (counting day), it will end with a 'Congress Dhoondho Yatra'," Shah said.

"In the first two phases, Congress is nowhere, while Narendra Modi has made a century and taken a lead in the '400 race' (race to 400 seats)," he said.

He said that this election is for ending terrorism and Naxalism and making India the third major economy globally.

Shah hit out at the INDIA bloc partner Samajwadi Party, saying it indulges in dynastic politics, for its president Akhilesh Yadav has given tickets to five members of his family in the current election.

He said that while Akhilesh is contesting from Kannauj and his wife Dimple Yadav is in fray from Mainpuri, Akshay Yadav, Aditya Yadav, and Dharmendra Yadav, all three his family members, are contenders from Firozabad, Budaun, and Azamgarh.

"Had he given a ticket to some Yadav youths, it would have been better," he said.

Shah said that for the past 70 years, Congress was stalling the Ram Temple construction, a task completed by the BJP.

"When you made Modi PM for the second time, within five years, we won the case, did the groundbreaking, and performed the consecration ceremony of the temple on January 22. Samajwadi Party chief Akhliesh Yadav, Dimple, Rahul and Priyanka, all were invited by the temple trust but they did not attend the consecration ceremony  because of the fear of their vote bank," Shah said.

"You all know who their vote bank is," he added.

On revoking Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, he said, "Congress president asks what do people of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have to do with Kashmir. He doesn't know that for Kashmir, every child of Bareilly can sacrifice his lives  In Kashmir, our tricolour is flying with pride."

On the "surgical strike" after Pulwama attack, Shah said that under the past Congress governments, there was no reprisal for such acts and anyone could enter the country and do bomb blasts. "We did a surgical strike inside Pakistan to get rid of terrorists."

He praised the Narendra Modi government's successful Covid vaccination of 130 crore people.

Shah claimed that Uttar Pradesh was riven with communal riots till 2017, when Yogi Adityanath came to power and made it riot-free and stopped residents' exodus from western UP.

"In Yogi's regime, it is the hooligans who are migrating," he said.

In Samajwadi Party's UP, factories prepared country-made pistols, but now they manufacture tanks and missiles that will be fired on Pakistan, he said.

Claiming that the Opposition's INDIA bloc is torn with internal differences, he said, "Akhilesh wants to become chief minister. Sonia ji wants his son (Rahul Gandhi) to become prime minister. Those who are working to make their family members PM and CM, can they think of poor welfare?"

Bareilly will go to poll in the third phase on May 7.
Lowell High School in San Francisco has long been the subject of debate over the lack of diversity among its student population. Felix Uribe/Special to the Chronicle 2022

Regarding Racial makeup of Lowells incoming class could reignite debate over diversity (Bay Area, SFChronicle.com, April 28): Increasing access and opportunities for Black and brown students at Lowell High School is not a zero-sum game for other students, as this article portrays.

Lowell High Schools reversion to merit-based admissions is a blatant cop-out from addressing the racial inequities rampant in San Franciscos public school system. We dont live in a utopian world where anti-Blackness and racism dont exist  Black and brown students in San Francisco still disproportionately attend underfunded public schools and are denied the resources they deserve.

We cannot address issues of racial inequity without recognizing race in our solution. We need policies like affirmative action that adequately address and act on generations of race-based harm and oppression in San Francisco.

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If we actually address the funding discrepancies for Black and brown students in the public school system, all schools could be like Lowell. The rising tide lifts us all.

Olivia McHaney, San Francisco

Get community input

Regarding West Portal street safety plan appears over, but the status quo cant be allowed to prevail (Editorial, SFChronicle.com, May 1): The horrific accident near West Portal Station provides an impetus to speed up improvements at the intersection, which is fine.

However, the final plan should include the ideas and concerns of all stakeholders, especially the neighborhood residents and businesses.

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The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agencys ill-considered Valencia Street center bike lane is an example of what can happen without sufficient input.

Stan Barnett, San Francisco

Judges arent doctors

Jack Ohmans political cartoon (Letters to the Editor, May 1) pictured someone who appeared to be a Supreme Court justice saying to a pregnant woman,   How dare you question our medical Expertise! We went to top Law Schools!

It took me back to my law school days when I had read the recently published Roe v. Wade decision. My first reaction was that the justices had provided a sound medical analysis, but had little basis for making it part of a legal opinion.

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My initial reaction to Roe and the cartoon suggested the same thing  that the justices had pursued the wrong professions.

Daniel Mauthe, Livermore

What will change?

Regarding Restaurant surcharges will soon be illegal in California (Restaurants, SFChronicle.com, April 30): I dont understand how letting me know my hamburger is going to cost $20 on the menu as opposed to $18 with a $2 service fee is going to result in significant pay cuts for employees or price increases.

Its the same revenue. Telling customers the actual price is how almost every business on the planet operates, including restaurants before San Francisco required them to support employee health care.

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Doug Fielding, Berkeley

Improve service

Regarding Restaurant surcharges will soon be illegal in California (Restaurants, SFChronicle.com, April 30): Now that restaurants can no longer add surcharges to our bills they should reconsider how they run their businesses.

Look to Europe to see that a waitperson can make a career out of their work, and no tips are required. Service from waitpersons here is generally mediocre to nonexistent, and the price of the prepared food is driving the public away.

Rather than looking for ways to add money, restaurant owners should be looking for ways to improve service and provide careers by keeping the waitstaff around. Money spent on training and good service will bring the public back repeatedly.

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Nina Duhl, Richmond

It works in Europe

Regarding Restaurant surcharges will soon be illegal in California (Restaurants, SFChronicle.com, April 30): Im baffled by the angst of restaurateurs over the ban on service charges.

About Opinion Guest opinions in Open Forum and Insight are produced by writers with expertise, personal experience or original insights on a subject of interest to our readers. Their views do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Chronicle editorial board, which is committed to providing a diversity of ideas to our readership. Read more about our transparency and ethics policies

Ive traveled a fair bit in France, where every single restaurant rolls taxes and a 17% service charge into the menu price. I love looking at a posted menu and knowing that the price I see there is the entire amount I will spend.

Why do American restaurant owners think customers would rather be surprised by extra fees?
A group of Jewish activists demonstrating against antisemitism and also calling for a cease-fire in Palestine are prevented by police from reaching City Hall, where the Unity March rally took place on March 3. Manuel Orbegozo/Special to The Chronicle

Do you want Columbia University to be cursed by God?

This was the question posed by Rep. Rick Allen, R-Ga., to Columbia University President Minouche Shafik during an April 17 House Committee on Education and the Workforce hearing investigating antisemitism at the university. According to Allen, such a curse is the real clear import of Genesis 12:3, which he quoted as: If you bless Israel, I will bless you, and if you curse Israel, I will curse you. By allowing pro-Palestinian protests to continue at Columbia, Allen implied, Shafik was courting divine wrath.

Setting aside the separation of church and state issues of Allens inquiry, as a religious studies professor who teaches courses on Judaism, Zionism and the Bible, I immediately heard the error in the congressmans comments: The word Israel does not appear in Genesis 12:3. Allens misquote is a common one among Christian Zionists, who draw a direct line from Abraham to the modern state of Israel, and therefore invest that state with holy significance. For some among them, like pastor John Hagee, Israeli wars are seen not as lamentable tragedies but as positive signs of the end times. Support for Israel in this worldview welcomes the deaths of thousands, if not millions of Jews, insofar as that is seen as the divine plan.

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Allens performance of protecting Jews is, like the actions of so many in government, a performance to serve his own political interests or personal beliefs. And just like the Houses recent passage of the Antisemitism Awareness Act  a bill which would direct the Department of Education to use a controversial definition of antisemitism when enforcing anti-discrimination laws  such actions are coming at the expense of American Jews and our democracy.

Take last weeks introduction of the bipartisan College Oversight and Legal Updates Mandating Bias Investigations and Accountability (COLUMBIA) Act. If passed, the bill would allow the Department of Education to send antisemitism monitors to colleges that receive federal funding. The monitor would release quarterly reports evaluating progress in combating antisemitism. If such progress were deemed insufficient, federal funding could be revoked.

I immediately wondered what guidance the Department of Education would use in appointing this monitor. Who would be qualified for the role? What definition of antisemitism would be employed? What methods of combating antisemitism would be recommended? Depending on which party is in power, I can envision this playing out in several different ways  all of them bad.

Under a Democratic president, I could see the Education Department deferring to specific preferred nongovernmental organizations to provide the monitor with its charges. Self-proclaimed mainstream Jewish organizations, like the Anti-Defamation League, would eagerly seek to influence the position along their desired lines  even though many American Jews such as myself vehemently oppose its politics. The result: a policing of pro-Palestinian speech and genuine academic inquiry. Controversial debates that belong in the classroom, such as the claim that the slogan from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free is necessarily and inherently antisemitic, could now be arbitrated by federal policy and enforced against university students.

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Under Republican presidents, the situation would almost certainly be even worse. A monitor could set about discovering antisemitism in every left-wing intellectual trend the GOP despises. The recent campaigns against critical race theory, and diversity, equity and inclusion give clear indications of how this office would work. Under the guise of protecting Jewish students, this federally constituted thought police would browbeat institutions into suppressing the academic freedoms of students and faculty until they conformed to conservative preferences.

An all-too-predictable outcome is that thousands of Jews, who dissent from the position of the so-called major Jewish organizations and therefore take prominent roles in pro-Palestinian activism, could find themselves caught in this dragnet. Christians in government will farcically accuse Jews of antisemitism, a dystopian scenario that has been the reality in Germany for some time now.

The practice of those in power protecting Jews in this dubious way is not a modern phenomenon. What we are seeing play out in Congress today recalls the medieval status of Jews in Christendom as servi camerae regis, servants of the royal chamber, under the special protection of the king. Royal power exploited Jews economically while using them as a buffer against both nobles and the lower classes. Eventually, the kings always sacrificed their pawns: Englands King John proclaimed in 1201 that the Jews were like our own private thing, but his successor Edward I expelled them all in 1290 to ease the passage of a tax.

One can easily see this playing out yet again should the COLUMBIA Act become law. As the antisemitism monitors systematically assault critical race theory or diversity, equity and inclusion or whatever other demons the GOP invents, non-Jewish students and faculty will inevitably see Jews as beneficiaries of special government protection that they themselves are denied. Jews, drawn ever more tightly into alliance with power, will be unable to forge alliances with other marginalized groups. This will actually strengthen antisemitism because antisemites always claim that Jews deviously accrue illicit power and privilege. A similar outcome is likely should the Antisemitism Awareness Act become law.

About Opinion Guest opinions in Open Forum and Insight are produced by writers with expertise, personal experience or original insights on a subject of interest to our readers. Their views do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Chronicle editorial board, which is committed to providing a diversity of ideas to our readership. Read more about our transparency and ethics policies

That those in power have selectively decided that only pro-Israel Jews are worth protecting lays bare the disingenuous motives behind their actions. For American Jews, regardless of where you stand on Israel, supporting these governmental actions is a devils bargain that can only hurt our communities in the long run.

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President Joe Biden speaks Thursday at the White House about protests on college campuses. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden ramped up criticism of protests at college campuses around the nation Thursday, saying, Theres the right to protest, but not the right to cause chaos.

His characterizations of the protests may be further alienating some young voters, some of whom told the Chronicle they believe his comments are giving implicit permission for the increasing police violence against demonstrators. Two Democratic members of Congress suggested the administration could do more to engage with the substance of the protesters concerns and to explicitly condemn violence carried out by police.

Police conducted violent arrests of students at UCLA and Columbia University over the last two days. A viral video last week showed police in Atlanta forcefully wrestling to the ground and arresting an Emory University professor who asked officers why they were arresting protesters.

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Young voters are getting the message from the White House and other elected leaders that their voice doesnt matter and deserves to be crushed, Angus Abercrombie, a student at Emerson College and elected member of the legislative body in Belmont, Mass., told the Chronicle. Turning that around is going to be difficult, he said.

Young voter turnout was key to Bidens 2020 win, and political analysts expect it could make or break his reelection bid. Many young voters havent tuned into the presidential campaign yet, but more support a permanent cease-fire in Gaza than oppose it, according to recent polling.

Biden had been largely silent about the protests for most of the week, other than a brief comment to reporters Monday condemning the antisemitic protests and those who dont understand whats going on with the Palestinians. He relied on his press staff to articulate his position  that Americans have the right to peacefully protest, as long as its within the law, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Wednesday.

Thursday, the president offered a mixed message about the right to protest while condemning violence, antisemitism and other hate speech.

Dissent is essential to democracy, but dissent must never lead to disorder or to denying the rights of others so students can finish their semester and their college education, Biden told reporters.

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Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations  none of this is a peaceful protest, he said.

Bidens role in the war is being invoked in campuses across the country, including at San Francisco State and Stanford.

UC Berkeley professor Hatem Bazian, founder of Students for Justice in Palestine, speaks at a tent encampment Tuesday in White Plaza at Stanford University. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle

The Democrats who just gave Israel $26 billion are coming telling us that were going to lose the White House if we dont vote for Biden, Hatem Bazian, a UC Berkeley lecturer who co-founded Students for Justice in Palestine, told Stanford University protesters Tuesday afternoon. Youre gonna lose the White House because you lost our vote. You lost the White House because you opted to protect Netanyahu rather than protect the American public.

Some students say they feel ignored by the White House.

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Its good to see Biden condemning antisemitism. But, at the same time, not talking about the police violence, not talking about what these students are actually asking for is making students feel like theyre not being heard, Abercrombie said.

The College Democrats of America, the student arm of the Democratic National Committee, said in a statement Tuesday that they support Bidens reelection effort, However, as representatives of youth across the country, we reserve the right to criticize our own party when it fails to represent youth voices.

Democrats messaging on the protests have largely aligned with the White Houses perspective. California Gov. Gavin Newsom said, The right to free speech does not extend to inciting violence, vandalism, or lawlessness on campus. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said, Campuses cannot be places of learning and argument and discussion when protests veer into criminality, and those who commit such acts are doing nothing to convince others that their cause is just.

But two Bay Area Democrats said the party could be doing more to acknowledge the students efforts in a positive way.

Im appalled by any violence that takes place, including by law enforcement, Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, told the Chronicle. But right now is a moment when you have to calibrate your response and allow these young people  and whomever else  to speak their mind and to voice their opinions and to hopefully be heard by those in power.

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Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Santa Clara, said leaders should be engaging in conversations with young voters about Gaza, not silencing them or punishing those who are speaking out peacefully.

Others feel that Biden is taking the right stance. Allyson Bell, chair of the College Democrats of America Jewish Caucus and an MBA student at Meredith College in Raleigh, N.C., told the Chronicle that Bidens comments about the protests have been exactly what she wanted to hear.

We appreciate the way that Biden has stood up for Jewish students, Bell said. I support peaceful protests, even if those protests dont align with my own beliefs or views. I think everybody has the right to advocate for what they think is right. But if you break university codes of conduct, if you break the law, there are consequences for that.

People attending protests probably have already made their mind up on the election, but their friends watching at home are suddenly receiving one of the strongest pieces of campaign messaging that theyre going to receive between now and November, Abercrombie said.

They are definitely going to pay attention when their fellow students get arrested, and theyre going to pay attention when those friends, when their peers, when their classmates dont show up to class, and when the president of the United States doesnt say anything about it, Abercrombie said.

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Jenna Auayoub, a UC Berkeley political science major who is Palestinian American, said she was not deeply involved with the protests but had been closely watching what was going on nationally and internationally.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators camp out at UC Berkeley on Wednesday in recognition of May Day. Michaela Vatcheva/Special to the Chronicle

The Biden administrations support for the Israeli government would of course inform how she would vote in November, she said.

Our tuition dollars, our tax dollars are going towards this, and thats a form of complicity, she said. And people need to consider that when they vote.

Christine Diehr, 32, a UC Berkeley graduate student of medieval history, said she didnt think the issue would make or break Bidens chances, although it was adding on to the lack of enthusiasm for him among younger people.

Ive not been dissatisfied with what Biden has accomplished to this point, but why is he running again? Its piling onto that, but I wouldnt say its the root cause of most peoples general dissatisfaction, she said.

Even activists who agree with Bidens position acknowledge that it may lose him votes in November. Biden has stood up for what is right and morally clear, despite the fact that it might mean he loses voters within College Democrats, said Bell, of the Jewish Caucus.

The White Houses position on the protesters could impact more than just the voter turnout. The demonstrators on these campuses are politically active and have often been the backbone of campaigns volunteering operations, Abercrombie said. These are not just the voters that were demobilizing, these are the campaigns that were demobilizing through these kinds of actions, he said.

Protests  especially when it comes to a protest of this breadth and intensity  have always involved some illegal actions, Abercrombie said. Its not that civil disobedience and illegal actions shouldnt be punished within the bounds of the law, but the level of police violence that were seeing in response is deeply problematic. And I think thats something where students are feeling really wronged by the administration.

Annie Wu Henry, a Democratic political communications consultant known for her work engaging younger voters, posted on X that if Biden were to issue a statement or speak out against these administrators calling for a change in their course action, it would probably result in less violence.

The demonstrators are advocating for their universities and government to change its policies, but it doesnt appear to be making an impact on the White House. Just before walking away from reporters, Biden said the protests have not caused him to reconsider his stance.
The federal and state governments accused San Francisco on Wednesday of discharging huge amounts of untreated wastewater and sewage into the bay and the ocean for many years, violating environmental laws and endangering beachgoers and aquatic life. Yalonda M. James/The Chronicle

The federal and state governments accused San Francisco on Wednesday of discharging huge amounts of untreated wastewater and sewage into the bay and the ocean for many years, violating environmental laws and endangering beachgoers and aquatic life.

Since 2016, the city has discharged an average of 1.8 billion gallons of combined sewage, which includes untreated sewage, each year from its combined sewer systems into the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Regional Water Quality Control Board said in a lawsuit filed in federal court. And they said its been getting worse: In the rainy season from October 2022 to March 2023, more than 4 billion gallons were spewed into the waters.

The suit seeks court orders requiring the city to change its practices, and hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties to be paid to the federal and state governments.

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San Franciscos aging wastewater system has exposed the public to risks for too long, Alexis Strauss, chair of the regional water board, said in a statement. This is the time to commit to an outcome which reduces sewage overflows and builds upgraded wastewater infrastructure.

In response, John Cote, spokesperson for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, said the city is an environmental leader when it comes to keeping pollutants out of the bay and that suing us doesnt help.

All it does is drive up costs for our ratepayers and reduce resources that are better invested in improvements to further protect the bay, he said.

The EPA said San Francisco started planning to deal with sewage overflows in the 1970s and made its last overall improvements more than 25 years ago.

Since then, no significant upgrades or updates have been made to the system to reduce combined sewer overflows and currently, the controls are insufficient to meet the requirements in San Franciscos Clean Water Act permits, the agency said in a statement accompanying the lawsuit.

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In anticipation of the legal action, city officials have said they are doing all they can to reduce offshore pollution.

In a letter to the regional water board on April 2, Dennis Herrera, chair of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, described a plan to reduce pollutants from the citys Southeast Water Treatment into the bay over the next 15 years, at a cost of $1 billion, addressing one of the most pressing water quality issues facing the bay. The city plans to spend more than $1.3 billion over 15 years on other sewage-control measures, but cant afford the $10 billion it would need to treat waste discharges from every storm, the commission said.

That was disputed by Eric Buescher, an attorney for the environmental group SF Baykeeper, which plans to seek court permission to join the governments lawsuit. He said deficiencies in the citys treatment system are causing discharges of huge amounts of sewage, garbage and other unsafe materials into the bay and the ocean.

The city has not undertaken meaningful investment to limit the discharges, Buescher said. That will require a meaningful long-term investment, the kind of commitment and investment that has been missing for the last two-plus decades.

San Francisco has challenged the EPAs pollution-control requirements for the citys Oceanside plant, which treats about 20% of its wastewater and sewage. Last July, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the federal agency can enforce its standards requiring the city to do more to prevent pollution by bacteria and other contaminants. San Francisco has appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court.

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Hard leftist radical socialists are rife with paradox. Here they are championing a group of hardline Islamic terrorists who gladly put newborn babies into ovens and switch them to high after murdering the infants entire family in their quaint Kibbutz, yet they claim to be benevolent, egalitarian and empathetic. Terrorist group Hamas have committed unspeakable atrocities on other humans that defy any form of logic or understanding, yet Western radical Marxists love them. Even LGBTQP groups are singing the praises of Hamas despite the fact that if the members of these groups ever landed on Palestinian or any Arab territory, they would be beaten viciously in public, paraded through the streets, then either stoned to death or thrown from a tall building head first. The paradox continues with drag queens singing the praises of Hamas to young children in socialist schools, where the children sing back the same chants the drag queen on stage blurts out. On the ground in Palestine or any Arab nation, a transexual or drag queen would be effectively ripped apart piece by piece by rabid mobs for being an abomination to Islam, and ultimately humanity.

Much like Holocaust denial, the majority of pro-Hamas protestors do not even acknowledge that the October 7th attack on Israel by Hamas occurred.

So why do the socialist leftists pander to terrorist groups? Why do they sing From the river to the sea which effectively means an entire race of humans should be wiped off the face of the earth by genocidal means? The answer in part is that these people are easily indoctrinated, they are easily manipulated by the media and propaganda that terror group Hamas has very successfully incorporated into the Western media apparatus. Hamas is also backed up by Russia, China, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen and Syria who utilise Western creations like social media to flood these pliable Marxists with intense levels of propaganda. Their modus operandi is of course to sow the seeds of discord and chaos in the West, and each day is a fruitful one for doing exactly that.

The other paradox of course is that in the USA, particularly socialist groups, are full of Jewish people, so what happens now that there is a big question mark upon their name by the same group that Jews traditionally champion? Either they become self-hating Jews and champion the Hamas terrorist group that wants them wiped off the face of the earth, or they get the fuck out of dodge. They are now ostracised amongst the same group of socialists that they previously championed.

Speaking of paradoxes, now the same radical socialists have been heard chanting Fuck Joe Biden! in their Marxist-breeding halls and universities. One wonders what Joe Biden thinks about that if he had a single thought in his empty head?

One could easily postulate that the same socialists in the West have now somehow morphed into a form of nihilism, and are undergoing a fundamental existential shift in their political and moral state of ideological madness. It is hard to effectively tell, however, because the far-left socialists do not generally follow any logic.

One thing is for sure is that these pliant virtue signalling socialists are always looking for a cause to follow blindly and are so easily manipulated by various external entities that they are puppets in an altogether larger geopolitical game they will never understand or even want to ever understand.

The most absurd part of this entire imbroglio is that watching all of this nonsense are the Palestinian people in Gaza who have essentially been hijacked not only by the terrorist group Hamas but now by Western radical socialist groups, LGBTQP, and external intelligence agency propaganda operations sowing the seeds of discontent in the already fractured West.
By News Centre

Antalya is among the most important tourism destinations in the world. The city, which attracts the most attention in tourism, broke a new record.

According to the data of the Culture and Tourism Ministry of Turkiye, Antalya hosted 2.7 million foreign visitors, an increase of 14.10 percent in the first 4 months of the year. This figure was recorded as one of the most successful beginnings in the history of Antalya tourism.

The number of tourists visiting Antalya in April was recorded as 1 million 61 thousand 26, an increase of 4.86 percent compared to the same period last year.

This was the highest April data of all time. Germany ranked first with 259 thousand 717 visitors in April, followed by Russia with 194 thousand 949 tourists and England with 141 thousand 497 visitors.

Germany ranked first among the countries that sent the most visitors to Antalya in the first four months of the year, with 539 thousand 663 visitors.

Russia ranked second with 366 thousand 783 visitors, and England ranked third with 266 thousand 120 visitors.

Poland, Netherlands, Iran, Belgium, Ukraine, France and Lithuania were the countries that sent the most visitors to Antalya, respectively, after England.

Compared to the same period last year, the number of tourists coming from the main market countries was 21 percent for Germany, 32 percent for England, 30 percent for Poland, 52 percent for Iran, 42 percent for Belgium, 51 percent for Ukraine and France for 51 percent. It was noteworthy that there was an increase of 52 percent.
TogetherSF Action founder Kanishka Cheng said Wednesday the group decided to stop collecting signatures for a ballot initiative that would increase the mayors power. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle 2023

A moderate political advocacy group has halted plans for a November ballot measure aimed at strengthening the power of San Franciscos mayor.

The We Need SF to Work Initiative would have given the mayor the sole authority to appoint and remove members of most of the citys commissions and delegate responsibilities to deputy mayors.

TogetherSF Action founder Kanishka Cheng said Wednesday the group decided to stop collecting signatures for the ballot initiative due to lack of clarity in voters minds about who will be the citys next mayor  and voter concerns that it might ultimately empower a victor they oppose.

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The decision comes less than a month after Supervisor Aaron Peskin  one of the citys most prominent progressive politicians  entered the race against Mayor London Breed and a crowded field of other moderates vying for the office.

The group is still gathering signatures and campaigning for another initiative, Cheng said, that would also empower the mayor. That one would cut the number of city commissions in half and cap the number at 65. That measure also gives the mayor the power to appoint and remove two-thirds of the members of city commissions and to appoint and remove most department heads.

The decision to abandon the first initiative is not the first setback for TogetherSF Action. Just weeks after the group announced its effort in December, its leaders pulled the commission reform initiative over worries that by eliminating certain commissions, the ordinance would actually hand more power to supervisors. They later resubmitted it.

Cheng said the idea behind taking these issues to the voters is to help make the citys government more effective.

Cheng said the group is still moving full steam ahead for the second initiative, called the Cut the Dysfunctional Bureaucracy Initiative.

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Fundraising is going well and we are continuing to pick up the support for this measure, and look forward to doing everything in our power to ensure its victory this November, she said.

Cheng said TogetherSF Action has gathered most of the signatures it needs for that measure. Both efforts sprang from a report published in August by the Rose Institute of State and Local Government at Claremont McKenna College that was commissioned by TogetherSF Actions community organizing arm, TogetherSF.

Peskin on Wednesday accused TogetherSF Action of prioritizing politics over public policy.

Nobody talked about needing a stronger mayor when Ed Lee, Gavin Newsom or Willie Brown was mayor. And apparently they wont be saying that if Im elected mayor either, he said. Im surprised they just pulled one (proposal). They should pull both of their backroom, venture-capitalist-funded train wrecks of a Charter amendment off the ballot before they do real damage to the city we love.

Eric Jaye, a longtime political consultant, said the move was a political ploy all along, and they just publicly admitted it.

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If it was based on principle, it would be irrelevant who the mayor was, is or will be, he said. If they truly believed the citys strong mayor needed to be stronger, they would have gone forward with the measure.

Cheng and her cohort argue that San Franciscos government is rigid and slow to adapt, and vesting more power in the office of the mayor would help cut through red tape and bloat.

Currently, the mayor is constrained by city laws that require commissions to consider a pool of candidates and submit appointment recommendations. In many cases, the mayor may not fire department heads  that responsibility falls to city commissions.

Critics dispute that argument, however.

San Francisco already has a strong mayor arrangement, said University of San Francisco political science professor James Lance Taylor.

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The mayor controls most of the budget, Taylor said, along with the police department, the sheriff, the jails and many of its commissions.

Giving more power to the San Francisco mayor  regardless of who it is  is really not necessary, he said. Because its already there.

The commission reform measure, meanwhile, would give city officials 16 months to eliminate or consolidate the citys more than 130 commissions and other oversight bodies and advisory groups, with a hard cap of 65. The law would require supervisors to review the streamlining recommendations and by August 2025 create a list of commissions to retain.

If the board does not act within that time, nearly all commissions would be eliminated by the end of that year, with the exception of 22 core commissions such as those handling transportation, public safety, civil service, elections and ethics. Supervisors could re-create dissolved commissions after that deadline if they wanted to, so long as they remained below the limit of 65 civic bodies.

While TogetherSF Action has abandoned one proposed Charter amendment to strengthen the mayors office, the commission reform proposal would achieve similar ends: It would allow the mayor to appoint at least two-thirds of the members of the surviving commissions, and give the mayor sole authority to appoint and remove most department heads. In a blow to the Police Commission, it would also give the citys police chief sole authority to adopt rules governing police officers conduct.

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Proponents of the measure have raised  and spent  millions of dollars campaigning for the proposed amendment, according to campaign finance filings.

In December, Cheng created the Committee to Fix San Francisco Government, a Coalition of San Francisco Civic Organizations Dedicated to Improving the Citys Future to push for the reform effort. It has raised more than $2 million this year, with $750,000 of that coming Neighbors for a Better San Francisco, an advocacy group run by Chengs husband, Jay Cheng.

Venture capitalist Michael Moritz, who has also provided millions of dollars in funding to TogetherSF and serves as treasurer for TogetherSF Action, donated close to $1 million to the ballot effort, campaign filing disclosure show.
A demonstrator waves a flag depicting marijuana leaves during a 2016 protest outside the White House calling for the legalization of marijuana. The Drug Enforcement Agency is expected to reclassify cannabis under the Schedule III category of the Controlled Substances Act, down from a Schedule I. Jose Luis Magana/Associated Press 2016

The federal governments expected move to reclassify cannabis as a less dangerous drug could be a lifeline to struggling legal weed businesses in California  and possibly lead to lower prices for consumers.

The Drug Enforcement Agency is expected to reclassify cannabis under the Schedule III category of the Controlled Substances Act, akin to codeine and anabolic steroids, the Associated Press first reported. Until now, it has been in the Schedule I category, equated with drugs such as heroin that have no known therapeutic value.

This move will acknowledge what California has known for almost 30 years: Cannabis has medical value, said Nicole Elliott, director of Californias Department of Cannabis Control. It will enable new scientific research into the value and potential risks of the plant. It will also help level the financial playing field for businesses that have long been burdened by inequitable federal tax laws.

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But  and theres always a but when it comes to regulations involving cannabis  dont expect the changes to happen overnight in California, where $4.4 billion worth of legal cannabis was sold last year.

Changes will become visible next year at the earliest, as it will take months, at least, for the federal government to complete the reclassification process. Cannabis, like Schedule III drugs, is still federally controlled and subject to criminal penalties for illegal trafficking.

Much of the potential good news in rescheduling for California herb businesses lies in the fact that they will no longer be subject to Section 280E of the federal tax code, which has long prohibited such businesses from writing off standard business expenses such as payroll and insurance costs. If youre trafficking a Schedule I substance, you cant claim federal tax deductions. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, estimated that this will save individual marijuana businesses thousands, if not millions, in excessive taxes.

Removing those costs could help legal cannabis businesses compete better in California, where weed-related taxes can be as high as 40%, depending on how much a particular municipality decides to tax a business, said Hirsh Jain, founder of Ananda Strategy, a California consulting firm that advises cannabis retailers and brands. Compare that to a state like Michigan, where the tax rate is 16% or Missouri, where it is 10%.

Because California cannabis businesses have to deal with this really high state tax rate and then deal with the federal tax burden, thats what makes it really, really difficult to compete, Jain said. When that federal tax penalty goes away, at least these California cannabis businesses have a fighting chance. When they have to deal both with the state tax burden and with the federal tax burden, its almost impossible to run a sustainable legal cannabis business.

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One-third of the cannabis cultivation businesses havent renewed their licenses over the past few years, and 15% of all weed businesses in California are behind on their state tax payments, said Jain, who also serves on the board of the California chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

They may not have failed yet, but thats a good sign that theyre on the precipice of failure, Jain said.

Jeff Wyckoff, lab director of 710 Labs, consumes marijuana during the annual observance of 4/20 at Mission Dolores Park in San Francisco in 2021. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle 2021

Californias high tax burden trickles down to consumers. It is so difficult  and expensive  to legally sell cannabis that 70% of the weed consumed in California comes from the illegal market, which doesnt have to worry about including taxes in their sale price.

There are huge consequences of having a rampant illicit market. Closing the competitive gap between legal and illegal operators will help the state with its very unique problem, Jain said.

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But many challenges remain.

Many banks are still reluctant to be involved with cannabis businesses, forcing many to continue to transport their proceeds in cash, an often dangerous proposition. On Wednesday, Senate Democrats, led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, introduced legislation that called for the end of the federal prohibition against cannabis. But supporters were far short from securing the 60-vote threshold needed for a vote.

Schumer and other Democrats re-upped their support for the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation Banking Act, which passed out of the Senate Banking Committee last fall with the support of three Republicans. The measure would enable banks to lend to weed businesses in states where the product is legal.

But Congress is unlikely to do much in an election year. Congressional Republicans wont want to hand President Joe Biden a win on an issue that might help him, particularly with younger voters. A January Pew Research poll found that 93% of voters ages 18 to 29 support legalizing cannabis for medicinal or recreational purposes.

California researchers could enjoy some benefits from rescheduling, too, said Igor Grant, a professor of psychiatry and director of Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at UC San Diego.

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Now, researchers have to obtain cannabis for their studies from the federal government. That requires a time-consuming and arcane process to comply with regulations about handling, storing and transporting the product, said Grant, who has been involved in cannabis research for more than two decades. It took more than a year to jump through the various federal hoops for one recent project the center was researching, he said.

Its not like conducting a clinical trial with some new cancer drug. Its much much more complicated, Grant said. So this rescheduling is going to make that a lot easier.

Lee has been at the forefront of cannabis reform for decades, focusing particularly on those who were incarcerated for violating weed laws. While she welcomed this new development, she urged lawmakers to lift the federal prohibitions that could help states such as California, where many involved in the industry are struggling.

Its a welcome step. Its a major step, Lee said. But its not the final step.
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A man has been jailed at Derry Magistrates Court charged with breaching a restraining order and stalking his former partner.

Holger Berthold (49) of Abercorn Road in Derry admitted breaching a restraining order after his former partner reported, on September 23 last year, that she had received word from a friend that Berthold had been posting about her on Facebook, calling her a 'narcissistic bitch'.

The post was in German and had to be translated.

The woman reported that she had been granted a Restraining Order earlier in September.

She again reported on October 7 that Berthold had continued to post about her, including sharing photos from a private photo shoot years before.

Overall, his former partner provided police with 170 pages of Facebook posts he had made about her.

Defence Barrister Sinead Rogan said that Berthold had made full admissions and pleaded guilty to the charges, adding that he had been in custody since December.

District Judge Barney McElhom called the breach of the restraining order 'particularly egregious' since it occurred two weeks after it was put into place.

He sentenced Berthold to nine months in prison and extended the restraining order to 2027.
The RIA, is an academic body based in Dublin, that promotes study in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier learned society and one of its leading cultural institutions.

Finding common ground, building community: strengthening and stimulating tertiary regional collaboration in the north-west of the island of Ireland was published by the RIA this week.

The discussion paper, funded by the Irish governments New Foundations scheme and the Shared Island Unit, expands on previous work by the RIAs Higher Education Futures Taskforce and recommends action towards an ambitious cross-border university to alleviate historic underinvestment in the region.

Professor Gerry McKenna, senior vice-president of the Royal Irish Academy, Sinead Riordan and Jennifer Kenneally authored the paper, which highlights the historical lack of investment across both jurisdictions in the greater north-west of the island of Ireland, as well as often discussed infrastructure deficits in transport, particularly road, rail and air.

Derry has 5,000 students after a decades-long campaign to expand the campus to 10,000 students.

"What has been made clear by this project is the immediate need for a coherent strategy for the north-west that is underpinned by the requisite levels of investment and oversight, the discussion paper argues.

Derry University Group, a campaign group fighting for major changes to the current university economy in the city, plan to convene this month to discuss the reports recommendations.

The group said of the report: The focus, quite rightly, is on how best to develop an independent NWU. But the arguments as to why autonomy is essential, particularly the economic ones, are also outlined in full.

The report states: The distribution of HE provision in Northern Ireland, with over 80 percent of places being based in the capital city, Belfast, is in sharp contrast to that found in the other jurisdictions in these islands. Northern Ireland, unlike the other jurisdictions, has no independent oversight of HE or tertiary education provision.

"It is difficult to envisage a HE oversight body supporting the current geographically skewed distribution of HE places or concluding that such concentration would be in the interests of economic and cultural development or social cohesion.

"It has been argued, based on analyses of regional HE strategies across a range of countries, that a regional representative body helps to ensure the retention of a regional mission and reinforces diversity and resilience.

The report goes on to make a strong call for a cross-border oversight body to oversee the distribution of university provision.

The future development of the greater north-west requires effective cross-border planning of tertiary education with enhanced concurrent and coordinated funding from both jurisdictions.

"Although this could conceivably be achieved by expansion of the NWTEC with independent oversight, the development of a federal crossborder tertiary education institution merits serious consideration.

"A federal cross-border tertiary education institution would be made up of existing constituent institutions but with an overall governance structure involving coordinated oversight of planning across the region, promoting collaboration and eliminating wasteful and unnecessary duplication.

"In such a scenario, each jurisdiction would continue to be responsible for the funding of its colleges and campuses, the paper concludes.

The authors fall short of exploring any potential models in detail pointing to limited resources to do so, recommending a feasibility study be commissioned by UK and Irish governments in conjunction with the NI assembly to ascertain how the project should look.
Irelands Government has confirmed there will be no Irish police deployed to the border on the island, the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) said.

The Northern Ireland Secretary and the Irish deputy prime minister held a phone call on Wednesday evening amid diplomatic tensions after Dublin said there had been an upsurge in asylum seekers crossing the border following the passing of the UKs Safety of Rwanda Act.

Concern was raised after Irish justice minister Helen McEntee said her department was planning to make 100 additional police officers available for frontline enforcement work.

While Dublin insisted they would not be assigned to physically police the border with Northern Ireland, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told the Commons he wanted urgent clarification that there would be no disruption or checkpoints near the border.

In a statement later on Wednesday, the NIO said Northern Ireland Secretary Christ Heaton-Harris had a constructive phone call about illegal migration with Irish deputy premier (Tanaiste) Micheal Martin.

It said: The Tanaiste confirmed that there will be no deployment of officers from An Garda Siochana (Irish police) to the Northern Ireland/Ireland border and that the Irish Government shared a steadfast commitment to securing the external border of the Common Travel Area.

Another focal point of the diplomatic row centred on Dublin passing emergency legislation to deem the UK as a safe country for the return of asylum seekers.

Both governments have acknowledged the existence of an operational agreement which provides for the reciprocal return of asylum seekers between the UK and Ireland, but Downing Street has said it contains no legal obligations to accept them.

The Prime Minister said he was not interested in a returns deal if the European Union did not allow the UK to send back asylum seekers who had crossed the English Channel from France.

In a softening of language, the statement from the NIO on Wednesday concluded: The Secretary of State reiterated that the UK will not accept any readmissions or returns arrangements that are not in our interest.

The phone call came after Mr Sunak said the Irish Government must uphold its promises to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland and avoid setting up checkpoints to prevent asylum seekers entering the country.

Answering questions in the Commons, Mr Sunak said ministers were seeking urgent clarification that there will be no disruption or police checkpoints at or near the border, and that there must not be cherry-picking of important international agreements.

He added: Now, its no surprise that our robust approach to illegal migration is providing a deterrent but the answer is not sending police to villages in Donegal. Its to work with us in partnership to strengthen our external borders all around the common travel area that we share.

The Prime Minister was replying to a question from DUP MP Carla Lockhart, who accused the Irish Government of hypocrisy given its stance on the border during Brexit negotiations.

Asked about Mr Sunaks comments, Irish premier Simon Harris reiterated that no gardai (Irish police) will be sent to border areas, saying: Of course there wont be.

Noting upcoming elections in the UK, he expressed a desire to not become involved in the day-to-day back and forth in the House of Commons.

However, he stressed the importance of countries upholding agreements.

Mr Harris said: Well uphold the agreement we have with Britain under the common travel area, the standard operating procedure that we have in place.

I also welcome the comments of the Northern Ireland Secretary of State, where he referred to the importance of the two countries working together to protect the common travel area from abuses.

Regularising our laws in relation to the arrangement we have with Britain is only one of a number of things we intend to do to ensure we have a firm, effective migration system.

Asked about the diplomatic dispute, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said Mr Harris had provided Mr Sunaks Government with a propaganda coup in the run-up to elections.

Speaking to Irish national broadcaster RTE, she added: Its never a good place for the Irish Government to be scoffed and laughed at in the House of Commons.

Downing Street has repeatedly stressed that the UK is under no legal obligation to accept returns of asylum seekers from Ireland, and would not do so while France continued to refuse to accept returns from the UK.

Labour said it agreed with the Government that the UK should not accept returns from Ireland while Britain is not able to return people who arrive here from the EU.

Mr Martin has previously said a figure provided by Irish justice minister Helen McEntee that approximately 80% of asylum seekers were coming from Northern Ireland was not evidence-based while DUP MP Ian Paisley told the Commons it was made up.

The UK Government has claimed the reported increase in asylum seekers entering Ireland from Northern Ireland demonstrated that its Rwanda scheme was already acting as a deterrent.

It is not clear how many asylum seekers have crossed from Northern Ireland into the Republic, with Downing Street saying it did not have that data as the border is not policed.
Budget pressures have left policing in Northern Ireland at a tipping point, PSNI chief constable Jon Boutcher has said.

Outlining the scale of the financial challenges facing his force, Mr Boutcher said it was beyond startling that the funding for other public services and police forces had risen while the PSNIs budget had declined.

Stormonts powersharing executive agreed its draft 2024/25 spending plan last week, which included an allocation of 1.26 billion to the Department of Justice, an increase of 8.3% from the previous year.

However, Justice Minister Naomi Long, whose department has responsibility for policing, courts and prisons, has warned the allocation could lead to potentially catastrophic failure.

In his monthly accountability report to the Policing Board, Mr Boutcher said he had consistently raised concerns over finances and a diminishing number of officers.

He said: We have been providing a service to the people of Northern Ireland based on what we can afford to do, not what they need us to do.

Quite simply, it is affecting our ability to keep people safe and we are now at a tipping point.

I recognise that each public service in Northern Ireland, and indeed each police force in Great Britain, continually make statements about inadequate funding.

However, the Police Service of Northern Ireland has suffered more financially than any of these bodies.

Even when compared against all other such organisations we are an outlier of inadequate funding.

Mr Boutcher said he had written to Ms Long as well as the Office of the First Minister and deputy First Minister and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Chris Heaton-Harris to set out the challenges he faces.

He said: Failure to properly resource the Police Service of Northern Ireland is beginning to have a serious impact and is becoming increasingly noticeable.

The truth is that things are now taking longer. We are becoming a less visible, accessible and responsive service.

The chief constable outlined the consequences of the funding shortfall. He said this would include:

 the public will have to wait longer for officers to attend emergency and non-emergency incidents;

 the PSNIs capacity to investigate crime will be reduced and slowed;

 there will be a detrimental impact on the PSNIs ability to support national security operations;

 the PSNI will be a reduced proactive presence on roads despite rising road deaths;

 the force will continue to actively review access to, and closure of, further police stations across Northern Ireland;

 the PSNIs ability to respond to sustained protest and public disorder will be reduced.

Mr Boutcher said there was a compelling case for the PSNI to have an officer headcount of 8,500 with 3,000 civilian staff.

He added: Obviously, this is well in excess of the circa 6,400 police officers and 2,400 police staff we have currently.

Since 2010, public spending in Northern Ireland on public order and safety has risen by just 8%, demonstrating the real financial difficulties facing the justice sector.

However, during this same period, the Police Service of Northern Ireland budget has fallen by 3%.

At the same time, the health budget has increased from 3.5 billion to 7.76 billion (121%).

Our policing colleagues in An Garda Siochana have seen their budget increase by 25% since 2020.

These figures are beyond startling.

Mr Boutcher said he had requested that the PSNI receive a baseline budget of 900 million which will return us to our 2010 funding level.

He added: The situation we face is serious and unsustainable.
San Francisco mayoral candidate Mark Farrell, center, speaks to the Asian American and Pacific Islander community in Chinatown in March. Farrell is proposing to cut red tape and improve financing conditions for new housing developments in the city. Manuel Orbegozo/Special to the Chronicle

Mayor London Breed considers herself a champion of the YIMBY movement that seeks an aggressive expansion of new homes in expensive cities such as San Francisco where residential development is advancing at a glacial pace.

Now, Breed is trying to defeat four serious reelection challengers who each argue they could do a better job at alleviating San Franciscos notorious housing crisis marked by astronomical rents, million-dollar-plus sales prices, byzantine permitting and a dearth of construction. Some candidates hope to chip away at Breeds support among her YIMBY allies.

Mark Farrell, one of Breeds moderate opponents in the mayors race, became the latest candidate to make a big push for the pro-housing vote on Thursday when he released a list of ideas intended to increase supply, cut red tape and improve financing conditions for new development. Farrell unveiled his proposals days before hes set to meet with the San Francisco chapter of YIMBY Action, a housing advocacy group that has already met with Breed and two of her major challengers, Daniel Lurie and Ahsha Safai. The chapter hopes to make an endorsement by late June.

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Another prominent mayoral candidate, progressive Supervisor Aaron Peskin, has long been viewed by YIMBY adherents as an obstructionist who has blocked important housing projects. While Peskin is not courting endorsements from YIMBY groups, he has been trying to highlight housing developments hes supported in the past. And on Tuesday he announced a legislative proposal to create a financing mechanism for workforce housing.

The candidates varied efforts demonstrate the extent to which housing remains a core issue in the mayors race, even as voters and politicians contend with open-air drug dealing, property crime, homelessness and other concerns. The efforts will need to be ambitious if San Francisco has a chance at coming close to meeting a state mandate to approve 82,000 homes by 2031, which the city is already far behind on.

Weve gone through a period where some other issues have cropped up to the top  certainly public safety and the like  but housing still matters, said Jane Natoli, San Francisco organizing director for YIMBY Action. Its something that impacts every San Franciscan.

Farrell, a former city supervisor and appointed mayor, said in his Thursday proposal that he would seek to maximize building heights in the Financial District, South of Market and Mission Bay areas  an effort to make some of the densest swaths of the city even denser. Farrell would also push to raise building heights on the west and north sides of San Francisco, but not everywhere: His campaign said he would focus new development in those areas on select transit and commercial corridors.

Raising permissible heights alone is unlikely to quickly produce an influx of new housing: San Francisco already has approved high-rises that arent yet being constructed due to financing problems.

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Additionally, Farrell proposed further lowering the percentage of affordable units that builders are required to include in their projects. Last year, legislation from Breed and Peskin reduced the percentage to 12% to 16%, depending on location and type. Farrell wants to urge the Board of Supervisors to slash it to 10%, a move he hopes would help more projects pencil out. He said hed also direct city planners to recommend fee reductions or eliminations that could help produce more housing.

He said he also wanted to ask voters to repeal 2020s Proposition I, which raised the real estate transfer tax and is viewed by Farrell, and some developers, as another financial barrier to building. And his campaign said his administration would provide a comprehensive list of approved housing projects along with a firm schedule commitment and responsible party for each approval.

Theres no one issue that is a panacea to build more housing, Farrell said in an interview. But I simply believe City Halls posture needs to be one of lowering barriers to development so that we can build more housing across the city, so that we can keep families in San Francisco and we can support the middle income in our city.

Still, Farrell may have a hard time convincing YIMBY groups that hes a better pick than Breed, given her yearslong alignment with their policies.

Breed has made supporting new home construction a centerpiece of her agenda. After failed attempts to get the Board of Supervisors to send a measure to voters that would accelerate housing production, Breed and her YIMBY allies got 2022s Proposition D on the ballot through signature-gathering. The measure failed, as did a competing measure, Proposition E, placed on the ballot by supervisors, including Peskin and Safai.

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Mayor London Breed speaks next to a rendering of the housing project at 395 Third St. in September 2023. Breeds challengers in the race for mayor say they will do a better job at alleviating San Franciscos housing crisis. Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle 2023

Some of her staunchest supporters include state Sen. Scott Wiener, one of the YIMBY movements chief legislative proponents, and an alliance of Northern California construction unions that want to speed up home construction.

She obviously doesnt control every outcome, but she has been a steadfast supporter of housing at all income levels, said Corey Smith, executive director of the Housing Action Coalition, which has endorsed Breeds reelection bid. She has been a housing champion as long as she has been mayor.

Smith trumpeted Breeds recent decision to focus on allowing more six- to eight-story buildings spread across the city instead of concentrating on high-rises. The approach comes with political benefits, because residents worried about huge condo towers in their neighborhoods might be more sympathetic to mid-rise development. But Breeds directive to planners also reflected feedback from home builders, Smith said.

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She takes the data and the facts from people who are actually doing it, he said.

While YIMBY Action mulls a mayoral endorsement, Natoli said Breed is the clear leader so far due to her pro-YIMBY record. But members of Natolis group are eager to hear more solid ideas from Lurie, she said. The groups meeting with Farrell is scheduled for Monday.

Based on Farrells past comments, he appeared to be less full throated than Breed about adding density in west side neighborhoods, Natoli said.

Farrell told the Chronicle he supported increasing density on the west side but wanted it to be focused on corner lots and corridors well served by public transit.

I dont believe every neighborhood in San Francisco should look the same, he said.

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Lurie, a nonprofit founder and Levi Strauss heir, said in a statement that City Hall needs to get serious about creating more housing now. He touted his nonprofit work to help create a 145-unit apartment complex for formerly homeless people and said his plan to tackle City Hall corruption would also overhaul a corrupt permitting system that he said has contributed to the stalled advancement of about 70,000 units the city has already approved.

We cant afford to nibble around the edges, Lurie said. Its time for the type of aggressive reform that can only come from someone not captured by City Halls narrow and outdated thinking.

As part of his housing pitch, Safai points to the hundreds of new homes built in his district during his two terms as supervisor. He also said hed push to shorten the citys permitting processes to get more homes built faster.

San Francisco needs to get out of its own way, said Safai, who represents the Excelsior. San Francisco has the longest (housing approval) process in the entire state of California.

Safai also said he would commit to spending at least $50 million of Prop. I transfer taxs annual revenue to help nonprofit developers buy small apartment buildings to keep them affordable to middle-income households.

The other supervisor in the race, Peskin, stands a near-zero chance of picking up any significant support from YIMBY activists. While Peskin and his supporters say his record on housing is much more nuanced than his critics contend, his campaign also argues that the priority he places on neighborhood input is an asset.

Aaron believes that we can build a lot of homes in San Francisco with the consensus and involvement of neighborhoods rather than trying to bulldoze over the neighborhoods, said Jim Stearns, Peskins political consultant.

The financing mechanism Peskin proposed Tuesday would allow the city to issue new types of tax-exempt revenue bonds to fund construction of homes for middle-income residents. It comes after he promised at the start of his mayoral campaign to launch a Marshall plan for middle-class housing that would create thousands of new homes if he wins the race.

Peskin is betting that most voters will evaluate his housing plans on the merits and dont see it through an ideological lens, Stearns said.
Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie has described revelations that it was suggested Health Minister Robin Swann be reshuffled at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic as extraordinary and bizarre.

Evidence to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry has suggested a senior civil servant made the suggestion after frustrations were voiced within the Stormont Executive.

The move was mooted after then deputy first minister Michelle ONeill, and to a lesser extent then first minister Arlene Foster, expressed frustration with the Department of Health, evidence to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry has suggested.

In a tranche of evidence documents published by the inquiry on its website on Wednesday evening, an email exchange between civil servants in March 2020, then head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service Sir David Sterling noted Ms ONeills frustration at having little power or influence over the health service.

He wrote that Ms Foster recognised the operational independence of the health minister but was also frustrated at the lack of information coming out of the Department of Health and frequent surprises, such as an announcement over hospital visits ending.

A senior official in the Department of Finance at the time, Hugh Widdis, suggested a ministerial reshuffle with a view to a health minister from Sinn Fein or the DUP, the two largest parties in Northern Ireland, which Ms ONeill and Ms Foster respectively belonged to.

There would be more radical options but I presume that they arent palatable eg: asking Robin to take a different portfolio for the duration (they would have to make a tempting offer) and putting a SF or DUP Minister in? Or causing dHondt to be run again, he wrote in the email exchange.

There were also other suggestions such as developing an emergency programme for government, or creating an all-Exec overarching Covid strategy which the first and deputy first ministers can lead and own.

Mr Swann remained in place as health minister throughout the pandemic, and in January 2024 resumed the role following the re establishment of devolved government.

Mr Beattie said some of the revelations coming out of the inquiry are extraordinary and bizarre.

He said he is writing to the current head of the Civil Service, Jayne Brady.

Some of the commentary seems to suggest that a deliberate attempt to isolate and bully the health minister was taking shape, he said.

The suggestion is that the then deputy first minister  Michelle ONeill  wanted the two big parties, the DUP and Sinn Fein, to take control of the situation.

At the same time, some of their ministers refused to bring forward Covid regulations before the Assembly because it would be unpopular and, in some cases, refused to support necessary but unpopular regulations.

I will be writing to the head of the Civil Service  Jayne Brady  to discuss the revelation that one of her senior civil servants floated the idea that the health minister should be replaced by a minister from one of the two big parties.

The Civil Service should be non-party political, yet this idea clearly showed that this individual was more concerned about placating Sinn Fein and the DUP duopoly.

Inquiry hearings continued on Thursday with evidence from former interim head of the civil service Jenny Pyper, Dr Joanne McClean from the Public Health Agency, and Chris Stewart, the then head of civil contingencies at the Executive Office.

Mr Stewart said Northern Irelands Civil Contingencies Policy Branch (CCPB) was on its knees at the start of the pandemic.

The inquiry heard the branch could activate the Civil Contingencies Hub in the event of incidents such as extreme weather events or pandemics.

Mr Stewart said in business as usual mode the branch was focused on policy, but the role changes quite significantly when it goes into operational mode, and becomes the core of the staff of the hub.

It was developed on the back of Brexit, but it was designed to be contingency blind, to be sufficiently flexible to be deployed for any type of contingency that might arise, he said.

The inquiry heard there were five members of staff in the branch in February 2020, with an aim for 12 staff, but by February 6 it had gone down to two staff.

He said after extremely hard work, by March 9 the hub produced initial sectoral resilience plans.

As a result of that extremely busy period that the branch had had, I think the phrase I used, was that they were on their knees, Mr Stewart told the inquiry.

Mr Stewart said he also agreed with evidence given by Sir David to the inquiry on Wednesday, that they ought to have been better prepared.

The UK-wide inquiry opened hearings in the Northern Ireland capital on Tuesday morning.

The hearings in Belfast will run for three weeks and are designed to provide an opportunity to look in depth at the decisions taken in Northern Ireland.

This module will investigate the initial response, central government decision-making, political and Civil Service performance as well as the effectiveness of relationships with governments in the devolved administrations and local and voluntary sectors.

It will also assess decisions behind lockdowns and other non-pharmaceutical interventions.
Tata Electronics to visit PSMC by end of May

A team from Tata Electronics is set to visit Taiwan, specifically PSMC, amidst global efforts towards semiconductor self-reliance.

Sources told DIGITIMES that Tata Electronics representatives are scheduled to visit Taiwan by the end of May. Their itinerary includes participating in the India-Taiwan Semiconductor Summit, hosted by SEMI in Taiwan, and visiting PSMC's facilities.

During their visit, they plan to meet with PSMC's chairman, Frank Huang, and other senior executives to discuss potential collaboration opportunities. In addition to representatives from the Tata Group, Ashwini Vaishnaw, India's Minister of Electronics and IT, and Akash Tripathi, CEO of the India Semiconductor Mission will join the forum to interact with leaders from the Taiwanese industry.

India is actively bolstering its electronics industry and focusing on semiconductor production to solidify a domestic supply chain. In February 2024, the Indian government greenlit three foundry and ATMP projects amounting to US$15.2 billion. Among the projects, Tata Electronics joined forces with PSMC to invest US$11 billion in establishing India's inaugural 300mm wafer fab in Gujarat, alongside a US$3 billion ATMP plant in Assam.

The Taiwanese government has tasked PSMC with aiding Tata Electronics in constructing a 300mm wafer fab, presenting a model for other Taiwanese companies to venture into India. PSMC's responsibilities include overseeing the construction of the wafer fab and earning fees for hardware and software while maintaining a hands-off approach to operations and customer orders.

India, with technology hubs like Bengaluru, played a significant role in the global semiconductor supply chain, especially in chip design. India now harbors strong ambitions in hardware manufacturing.

In recent years, the Indian government has proposed multiple subsidy policies, including PLI schemes, SPECS, and EMC 2.0, to strengthen its position in the global technology supply chain, focusing on manufacturing. In 2022, India set up the India Semiconductor Mission to attract global semiconductor firms to build its semiconductor and display manufacturing ecosystem.
Global geopolitical shifts disrupt Taiwanese business strategies in China

In the wake of the Ukraine War, the ripple effects are felt far beyond the Eastern European theater. As China and Iran throw their weight behind Russia, the landscape of global commerce undergoes seismic shifts.

From the lens of the supply chain, the clash between democracy and authoritarian regimes intensifies, exacerbating the predicament of Taiwanese enterprises operating in China. Export-oriented Taiwanese factories face a grim reality as they grapple with the inability to penetrate European and American markets, a direct consequence of geopolitical tensions emanating from the Russo-Ukrainian conflict and China's military ambitions vis-a-vis Taiwan.

Thirty years since Taiwanese conglomerates broke ground in the outskirts of China, the erstwhile lucrative real estate investments have morphed into a complex conundrum. The dichotomy between democratic and authoritarian supply chains casts a shadow over the prospects of Chinese-made products abroad, prompting a mass exodus of Taiwanese businesses.

At the heart of the matter lies the dilemma of asset disposition. Despite the astronomical appreciation in land valuesexponentially higher than their acquisition costsTaiwanese firms are confronted with the Herculean task of navigating bureaucratic hurdles and repatriating funds from their Chinese ventures.

As Taiwanese enterprises stage a gradual retreat, the reverberations are keenly felt in Taiwan's domestic real estate market. In response to the evolving landscape, three of Taiwan's four major accounting firms have established dedicated real estate departments, attesting to the burgeoning demand for asset management services amidst geopolitical turmoil.

KPMG Taiwan underscores the structural and intricate shifts characterizing the supply chain relocation saga. Amidst geopolitical uncertainties, asset allocation management assumes paramount significance, prompting industry stalwarts like KPMG to launch specialized real estate consulting arms.

In the crucible of geopolitical flux, Taiwanese businesses find themselves at a crossroads, torn between the allure of the Chinese market and the exigencies of geopolitical realities.

According to the Global Wealth Report 2023, the total global wealth is approximately US$460 trillion. Among non-financial assets, real estate assets account for roughly 53% of the total.
Meredot enables simultaneous wireless charging for diverse micromobility vehicles, robots

How will people live 30 years from now? From the perspective of startup Meredot, wireless charging will become part of our daily lives.

The company, which develops wireless charging solutions for mobility, was founded in 2017 in Ukraine, where the founders are from. Nowadays, it focuses on the US and European markets, according to Roman Bysko, Meredot's co-founder and CEO.

Bysko said that compared to cable charging, wireless charging can function in various weather conditions, including snow and extremely cold temperatures. Wireless solutions also enable an autonomous charging process.

At CES 2024, Meredot officially launched its Infinity Charger for micromobility vehicles and robots. Bysko claimed that it was the first product in the industry to charge up to 10 different micromobility vehicles simultaneously. The charging station's dimensions are several times smaller than those of competitors, he added.

The charging solution supports electric scooters, food delivery robots, material handling carts, and more. Bysko said the charging process can start automatically in one second once these light vehicles or robots equipped with a receiver unit are parked on charging pads.

The Infinity Charger's efficiency is 93%, Bysko said, similar to what cable charging offers. More importantly, it is a contactless solution with an operation distance (between a receiver and a charging pad) of up to 30 cm. This is why the charger can provide power to different types of vehicles or robots.

To raise awareness of the wireless charging station's capabilities, Bysko said Meredot is working on deploying the solution at big-box stores like Costco and Walmart, where electric shopping carts, electric wheelchairs, and other light vehicles are adopted. The company also targets Amazon and DHL warehouses because these companies use robots for sorting and packaging.

Autonomy is a critical element of Meredot's technology. Bysko said the company has been working with Canada-based Cyberworks Robotics, which develops self-driving technology for mobile machines and light vehicles. Although these vehicles can function autonomously, they still need to be charged manually at the end of the day. Bysko said Meredot is helping its Canadian partner overcome the challenge. The pair has launched a pilot project at an airport in Michigan, the US, this year.

A solution requires no electrical infrastructure improvement

Meredot has progressed to the second part of its roadmap  developing an autonomous mobile wireless charging robot for electric cars. According to Bysko, when people park their EVs on the street or in a parking lot, the charging robot will come over, park underneath the vehicle, and start charging. When the service is finished, the robot will return to its spot autonomously.

"With such a solution, you don't need to change the electrical infrastructure in a parking space or a city," the CEO added.

He also said the charging robot allows drivers to park in any space, not just the one next to the charger. Meredot plans to release the product later in 2024. The company aims to develop single-based wireless EV charging stations and dynamic wireless charging road solutions by 2030.

Meredot entered the market with solutions for micromobility vehicles because the wireless charging sector is still developing. Bysko said the EV penetration rate must increase to at least 50% before wireless charging becomes prevalent among automobiles. He added that governments need to improve the grid and other infrastructure to satisfy charging needs.

Micromobility will also help Meredot scale its technology quickly. Bysko said it will take some time for people to migrate from cable to wireless charging. Therefore, the company has approached potential customers to show what its solution offers.

Besides developing the US and European markets, Meredot is poised to debut in Asia. According to Bysko, a leading Japanese manufacturer has got in touch with the company, seeking collaboration.

"Hopefully, we will see some pilot projects next year," he said.

Roman Bysko is Meredots co-founder and CEO. Credit: Meredot
SK Hynix says 2025 HBM production almost sold out

SK Hynix held a press conference on May 2 at its headquarters in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, to reveal details of its investment plans for the M15X fab in Cheongju and the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster in South Korea, as well as advanced packaging facilities in Indiana, the US. Company CEO Kwak Noh-Jung disclosed during the conference that SK Hynix has already sold out of its HBM memory production for this year and is almost sold out for 2025.

SK Hynix CFO Kim Woo Hyun, head of DRAM development Kim Jonghwan, head of N-S committee Ahn Hyun, head of manufacturing technology Kim Yeongsik, head of package & test Choi Woojin, Head of corporate strategy & planning Ryu Byung Hoon, and head of AI infrastructure Justin (Ju-Seon) Kim are among the additional attendees at the event.

Gearing up for AI memory

According to Kwak, the company foresees a rapid proliferation of AI technology beyond data centers and into a broader spectrum of on-device applications, including smartphones, PCs, and automobiles. Demand for memory products that are ultra-fast, high-capacity, and low-power is anticipated to increase exponentially for AI applications.

SK Hynix offers industry-leading technologies for a variety of products, including HBM, TSV-based high-capacity DRAM, and high-performance eSSDs. The company is also ready to supply the industry's best customized memory solutions to clients through collaboration with partners around the world, Kwak claimed.

Kwak stated that SK Hynix's available capacity for HBM memory is already sold out for 2024 and nearly sold out for the next year. On the technology side, the company plans to provide samples of 12-high HBM3E with industry-best performance in May, enabling the start of mass production in the third quarter.

According to Kim, the company's head of AI infrastructure, AI memory sales are expected to expand significantly, with HBM and high-capacity DRAM modules accounting for around 5% in 2023 and 61% in terms of value by 2028.

SK Hynix has begun mass production of HBM3E and modules with ultra-high capacities of more than 256GB, and has commercialized the world's fastest LPDDR5T, Kim noted. The chipmaker is also a leading provider of AI memory in the NAND arena, serving as the exclusive supplier of QLC-based SSDs with capacities of more than 60TB, he continued. The development of next-generation products with better performance is underway, with plans to introduce revolutionary memory such as HBM4, HBM4E, LPDDR6, 300TB SSD, CXL Pooled Memory Solution, and Processing-In-Memory.

According to Choi, the company's head of packaging and testing, SK Hynix's proprietary MR-MUF is a key technology in HBM packaging. MR-MUF reduces chip stacking pressure by 6%, increases productivity by fourfold by reducing process time, and improves heat dissipation by 45% compared to earlier technologies.

SK Hynix recently released an advanced MR-MUF that improves heat dissipation by 10% through the use of a new protective material while keeping the existing advantages of MR-MUF, Choi said. Advanced MR-MUF is an optimum solution for high stacking, and technology development for 16-high stacking is underway. The company plans to utilize advanced MR-MUF achieving 16-high HBM4, while preemptively reviewing hybrid bonding technology.

Choi also discussed the company's plans to establish advanced packaging facilities for AI memory in West Lafayette, Indiana. The Indiana fab will begin mass production of AI products such as the next-generation HBM in the second half of 2028.

Investment plans in South Korea

According to Kim, head of manufacturing technology, SK Hynix plans to establish an M15X fab in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, given a significant increase in demand for AI memory, which necessitates capacity expansion before operations at the Yongin Cluster begin.

M15X, a two-story fab that accommodates various processes for HBM production including EUV, is expected to maximize production efficiency thanks to its proximity to M15, which has been boosting TSV capacity. 15X construction commenced last month (April 2024) with an anticipated completion date of November 2025; bulk production will commence in the third quarter of 2026, Kim said.

Additionally, SK Hynix aims to build the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster, an infrastructure and manufacturing complex that will house fabs for business partners. Four fabs will be ready in order, while suppliers of materials, components, and equipment will move in to develop the semiconductor ecosystem in collaboration with SK Hynix, Kim noted. Construction of the first fab will begin in March 2025 and be completed in May 2027.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed and Dan Safier attend the groundbreaking for a new $4 billion flagship hospital at UCSFs Parnassus Campus in San Francisco on April 27. Colin Peck/Special to the Chronicle

Mayor London Breed is adding funding for a public health clinic to a bond she wants to get on the November ballot after LGBTQ activists fought for the project to be included.

The city controller said Thursday that the bond, originally proposed at $360 million, can grow by $30 million without raising taxes. The change caused Breeds office to announce that she would alter her proposal so it includes money to finance a new home for the San Francisco City Clinic, a SoMa facility that provides low-cost testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections as well as treatment and prevention services for people with HIV.

When Breed introduced her bond on Monday, she said it would help pay for retrofits and repairs at San Francisco General Hospital and the Laguna Honda public nursing home as well as a renovation and expansion of the aging Chinatown Public Health Center. Additionally, she said the bond would provide funding for road repairs, family homeless shelters and improvements to two transit plazas: Harvey Milk at the Castro Muni Station and Hallidie at Powell Station.

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But city officials had previously discussed using the November bond to fund $29 million for the City Clinic, causing alarm among LGBTQ activists and others who were surprised about its omission from Breeds proposal this week.

Breed spokesperson Jeff Cretan said the mayor would use $27 million of the increased bond capacity to fund the purchase of a new site for the clinic, which currently leases space on Seventh Street.

Our plan was to look at other opportunities to improve the patient experience at the leased space, but with a bond you can actually purchase a whole building and put it into a city-owned facility, Cretan said. The ability to actually secure a long-term home for this space is a good thing.

Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, who is running for mayor against Breed, was glad to see the inclusion of the clinic funding but said the proposal was still missing about $16 million for absolutely, objectively critically needed improvements to S.F. General that go beyond whats already included in the measure. Peskin sits on the City Hall capital planning committee that is reviewing the bond measure before sending it along to supervisors for consideration.

Were getting there, but nobody should declare victory yet, Peskin said. The mayor injected some high-profile, last-minute items that have never been in the capital plan and put some critically needed, long-identified capital investments to the side.  Public health comes before nice neighborhood amenities.

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After Breed announced her proposal that omitted funding for the clinic this week, critics including the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club questioned whether she was using the bond to steer funding to pet projects she deemed politically popular in light of her reelection bid. Cretan denied that was the case.

With any bond, you have to make choices, he said. The goal of the bond is to create a mix of investments in the health and vitality of San Francisco.

Jeffrey Kwong, the Milk clubs president, said his organization was relieved to see the mayor add funding for the clinic to the bond proposal. But he still faulted Breed for creating what he called a divisive situation.

The mayor needs to listen to sound public policy planning and stop playing politics  that is the lesson here, Kwong said.

His club and other activists organized a Thursday afternoon rally to protest the mayors bond proposal, and they were proceeding with those plans despite her decision to add funding for the clinic. Kwong said he wanted to press the city to add $2 million more to the clinic funding to match previous projections.

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We are still going to hold (Breed) accountable, he said.

Even some supporters of projects included in the bond were upset by the City Clinics original omission.

Cleve Jones, an LGBTQ activist, told the Chronicle on Tuesday that while he was thrilled that the bond will fund a planned memorial for Milk, the late supervisor assassinated in 1978, at his namesake plaza in the Castro, he was upset to learn the City Clinic wasnt originally slated for funding.

The bond wont raise taxes because the city issues new bonds only as old ones are paid off. The controllers revised estimate on Thursday was based on updated projections of how much property tax capacity was available to pay off bonds at the current tax levels.

Breeds proposed bond still needs to be vetted by the capital planning committee and supervisors. At least eight supervisors would need to agree to send it to the Nov. 5 ballot, where it would need a two-thirds majority to pass.

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A father of three found with a M16 machine gun used in war zones in Shannon has stated that getting caught was for the best as it prevented the gun being ever used.

At Ennis Circuit Court, Evan Little said that the reason he stored the weapon in a forested area at Clonmoney West in Shannon was that he was scared that people he owed a 12,000 drug debt to would harm his partner and their children, aged 11, 7 and 4.

In the case, Mr Little (33) of Inis Eagla, Shannon has pleaded guilty to the possession of the M16 machine gun, 179 rounds of ammunition and a 30 round capacity magazine in a forested area at Shannon last September.

Tree surgeon, Mr Little has been on remand in custody since local Gardai and members of the Emergency Response Unit (ERU) swooped on Mr Little during a surveillance operation on the military grade weapon on September 15th last.

Read More: Clare drivers 'failure to yield' lands them in court for more offences

In a letter penned by Mr Little to Judge Francis Comerford read out in open court, he said that he wanted to express his deepest remorse for his actions.

Mr Little said: On reflection this could have led to dire consequences - I had no right to do what I had done."

I now believe that getting caught with the fire-arm was for the best as to prevent it ever being used."

I know in my heart of hearts that if that happened, it would be the end of me. I would certainly never want anything bad to ever happen to anyone."

He said: I can truly say that I am racked with guilt over this awful decision I made.

He said: It has had a knock-on effect on a number of people - my partner and my children are never far from my mind.

Mr Little said: I feel terrible for the rest of my family for bringing shame to our name. I dont believe that I am a bad person but I made some very poor choices.

Mr Little said that he has three friends who have died in recent years.

He said: Five years ago, l lost a friend to suicide and this I think led to a decline and I got very depressed after. Two and a half years ago, the same thing happened to another friend and a year ago the same thing happened again.

He said that he turned to drugs after the most recent death and ran up the drugs debt.

He said: The people I got the drugs off threatened me and my family. I was scared that they would hurt my partner and children and that is the reason I agreed to hide the gun for them.

It was a terrible decision to make but I was under duress I was caught between a rock and another rock.

He said: It breaks my heart that I let myself, my partner and my children down. Seeing the kids cry at prison visits breaks my heart.

In the statement read out by his counsel, Patrick Whyms BL (inst by solicitor, Daragh Hassett) Mr Little said that he knows that he has to be punished but asked Judge Comerford for leniency.

In a separate letter by Mr Littles partner read out by Mr Whyms, she said that Mr Little is a good man, hard working and a good Dad who went down a bad road

She said: Evan went for a walk with the dog as he would have most days and never came home - the kids are very affected by this."

She said: He has never been in trouble in his life and I am sure this is his first and last time.

Mr Whyms said that Mr Littles letter was very insightful and he is very remorseful.

He said that Mr Little is not a threat to society and asked that a substantial portion of the sentence be suspended.

Garda Gerald Cunningham of Shannon Garda Station told the court that Mr Littles only previous convictions are for public order and simple drugs possession.

He said that an examination of Mr Littles phone found searches for different guns - pistols, rifles, machine guns.

Mr Whyms stated that Mr Little has an almost unblemished record and has had almost no contact with the criminal justice system.

Mr Whyms stated that he has a reference from a tree care firm and the letter states that they will have work for Mr Little in the future.

Judge Francis Comerford said that he would give judgement on Friday (tomorrow) and further remanded Mr Little in custody to then.
Anti-racism groups have criticised the decision not to prosecute gardai involved in the fatal shooting of a black man outside his home.

George Nkencho, 27, died outside his home in December 2020, after being shot multiple times by members of a Garda armed support unit while allegedly brandishing a knife.

He was experiencing mental health issues at the time.

The incident was the subject of an independent criminal investigation by GSOC (Garda ombudsman), which concluded in June 2023 with the submission by GSOC of an investigative file to the director of public prosecutions (DPP).

Following the DPPs decision not to prosecute the case, Mr Nkenchos family expressed disappointment as they indicated they would launch an appeal.

On Thursday, anti-racism demonstrators staged a protest outside the Department of Justice in Dublin.

About 40 people gathered and held signs with slogans such as Justice for George Nkencho, Gardai cant be exempt from trial and travesty of justice.

Members of the Nkencho family, including Georges mother, Blessing, were also in attendance.

Pierre Yimbog, co-founder of Black and Irish, said Mr Nkencho needed support and said the decision not to seek a prosecution was a miscarriage of justice.

He added: George suffered and needed support and empathy. Instead, he was met with quick decisions which  in our view  was excessive force.

Liam Herrick, from the Irish Council of Civil Liberties, said Mr Nkenchos case was an issue of human rights.

The State has an obligation in these instances  when agents of the state are responsible for the death of an individual  to carry out an effective, independent investigation into the circumstances of that death.

He added: His family still have not had that effective, independent investigation of his death.

They are entitled to know how he died, the circumstances of his death, and have an explanation from the State which answers their legitimate questions.

Mr Herrick said the Nkencho family needed to be provided with answers from the DPP for their decision.

The family deserve justice, and ultimately the family will get justice.

Event organiser and former TD, Ruth Coppinger, warned that there was a rise in racism and the far-right in Ireland, who she said spread misinformation about the incident.

Thats why it was very important for us to mark today with a protest and to show our support for the Nkencho family.
The Irish premier is to meet Stormonts leaders during his first official visit to Northern Ireland on Friday.

Simon Harris, who became Taoiseach on April 9, will meet First Minister Michelle ONeill and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly during his trip to Belfast.

He is expected to discuss developments in Northern Ireland since the restoration of its political institutions in February, as well as areas of common interest and potential opportunities for all-island co-operation.

He will be formally greeted at Parliament Buildings by the Speaker of the Assembly Edwin Poots, before he has bilateral meetings with Alliance leader Naomi Long, UUP leader Doug Beattie and Colum Eastwood leader of the SDLP.

Mr Harris will also hold a working lunch with key business stakeholders in Northern Ireland.

He will later be hosted by The Duncairn arts centre where the focus will be on the achievements in reconciliation and community development work of the 174 Trust, through disability, arts, women and pre-school groups.

Its projects have been recipients of the Reconciliation Fund and Shared Island Creative Ireland programmes of the Government of Ireland.

The day will conclude with a visit to Queens University Belfast where the Taoiseach will meet academics involved in ongoing all-island research, including on cancer care, sustainable energy and resilient food systems and others co-funded by programmes resourced through the Irish Governments Shared Island Fund.
Amjad Masad, co-founder and CEO of AI company Replit, attends the opening night of Web Summit Qatar 2024 at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center in Qatar on Feb. 26. Stephen McCarthy/Getty Images Geese are seen at Marlin Park Beach in Foster City in June 2022. AI company Replit is moving its headquarters from San Francisco to the San Mateo County city. Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle

Amjad Masad, the founder and CEO of Replit, an artificial intelligence company in the Bay Area valued at over $1 billion, announced this week that the company has relocated its headquarters from San Francisco to Foster City.

The move was motivated by a desire for a more livable city and to establish a new home base for the AI coding startup, akin to how Google is associated with Mountain View and Apple with Cupertino.

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The why were leaving is boring, sad, and predictable (crime, dysfunction, etc), so instead let me tell you why we chose Foster City, Madad wrote in a thread on Twitter explaining his decision to move the company. Foster City embodies the American postwar optimism and the long-lost California pro-growth mentality.

It was not immediately clear how many employees the company has in San Francisco, though Crunchbase lists 100-250. The company did not respond to a request for comment.

Founded by Masad and Haya Odeh in 2016, Replit is backed by venture firms such as Andreessen Horowitz and Khosla Ventures. Its former headquarters were near Third and Harrison streets in San Francisco.

Masad, who has previously criticized the living conditions in San Francisco, lauded Foster City for its innovative civic engineering and its origins as a master-planned community. He highlighted its lagoon system, designed to combat sea level rise.

He also noted that the tech-infused community of over 30,000 residents is relatively affordable compared with the rest of the Bay Area.

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But rental costs in Foster City are in fact almost 20% higher than average for the San Francisco Metro Area, and nearly 10% higher than the city of San Francisco, according to estimates from Zillow.

He also called it a fun place to live or hang out.

The city is super livable, Masad said. When Haya and I moved to California, we first took residence there and, in fact, incorporated Replit here. Our first bank was Wells Fargo, a few steps from our new office.

In response to a followers comment about Foster City being quieter than the bustling city, Masad saw this as a benefit.

Quiet is good, he replied. Thats why Silicon Valley worked  the most fun thing to do is build computers and software.
Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) recently launched their inaugural Dr Niamh Shaw Award at an event which also hosted their annual Peter Rice Medal award.

The Institute was extremely honoured on the day to have Dr Niamh Shaw on campus who gave a keynote speech. Dr Niamh Shaw from Dundalk is an Irish engineer, scientist, writer and performer, recently voted one of Irelands leading science communicators and STEAM specialists. Niamh believes in Dreaming Big and she is currently on a mission to get to Space.

At the event Niamh gave a phenomenal speech which was immensely inspiring for all the attendees.

The inaugural Dr Niamh Shaw, PhD Award sponsored by Engineers Ireland North East Region was awarded this year to Seamus O'Grady. Seamuss award-winning project was based on 'waste-water treatment' in the Carlingford area.

Seamus expertly demonstrated an investigation into a relevant real world engineering challenge that impacts a community within the North East region. Other finalists of this award included Cryslen Gabrielle Soares De Silva for her project on Solar tracking systems.

Dr Niamh Shaw said of the event: Im so honoured that DkIT and Engineers Ireland North East Branch created an award in my name to acknowledge project excellence from their undergraduate engineering students. And it was so cool to present the award at their project event. Thank you DkIT!

This event also saw DkIT student Colin McGuiness being awarded the Peter Rice medal award. Colin McGuiness an engineering graduate who studied part-time in DkIT won this prestigious award for his project on 'Carbon fibre reinforced polymer used in concrete beams'. Colins project demonstrated an in-depth investigation into materials and physical reactions through theory and experimental validation. Other finalists of this award included Ewan Yiik Tung Sia for his project LIDAR based obstacle detection.

The annual Peter Rice Medal Award which is also sponsored by Engineers Ireland Northeast, honours the renowned Dundalk-born engineer, Peter Rice who worked for Ove Arup on major global projects such as the Centre Pompidou, Lloyds of London, the Louvre Pyramid and Sydney Opera House.

The judging panel for the Dr Niamh Shaw PhD Award and the Peter Rice Medal Award consisted of Breen Jackson, Engineers Ireland North East Region Committee member, Peter Nowak, a previous winner of the Peter Rice competition in 2020, with special thanks to Sean McCarthy and the Engineers Ireland North East Region committee.

Dr Breda Brennan, Head of School of Engineering, DkIT said: These awards are extremely important for us as an Institute as they enable us to highlight the quality of engineering education in DkIT.

This event is a great opportunity for students to showcase their hard work. This year we were delighted to introduce the Dr Niamh Shaw Award alongside our Annual Peter Rice Medal Award and we were absolutely delighted to welcome Niamh on campus and have her give the keynote address on the day.

Thanks to Pat McCormick who was Master of Ceremony at the event, Pat is the Chair of Engineers Ireland North East Region and was supported by Maryellen Kelledy who is Vice Chair. The event was proudly sponsored by Engineers Ireland North East Region and the DkIT School of Engineering.
Local Breast Cancer Nurse Specialist Mary Keane is set to travel to Kenya this month with the mission of providing breast prosthesis and mastectomy bras to cancer survivors in the country.

Mary, from Blackrock, Co Louth, told how she was acutely aware of the amount of prosthesis and mastectomy bras that were being disposed of in Ireland that could give confidence and hope to women in developing countries who have survived breast cancer.

Mary came up with the idea of collecting prosthesis and mastectomy bras that were no longer of use to women here and bringing them to women that needed them in developing countries and so began her breast prosthesis and mastectomy bra fitting project.

Mary went to Ghana last October with 500 plus prosthesis and mastectomy bras and travelled to four teaching hospitals in Accra, Kumasi, Ho and Abor offering breast prosthesis/mastectomy bra fitting clinics and breast awareness education.

The majority of patients travelled for four to six hours to the clinics and for most of the ladies it was the first time ever having prosthesis or a mastectomy bra fitted with one woman saying now I can feel like my old self again and can wear some of my old clothes again.

Mary, speaking about the project in Ghana, said: To be able to offer a small glimmer of hope in helping to restore some of the ladies body image by only providing a small service was an honour and a privilege for me.

Following the successful initiative in Ghana Mary is travelling to Kenya in May where she will spend a month distributing hundreds of more prosthesis and mastectomy bras to female cancer survivors in rural locations; offering specialist breast prosthesis fitting clinics and lymphoedema (swelling of the arm) education to patients and staff with breast awareness clinics.

The dedicated volunteer is fundraising to help cover the cost of her travel for the project.

Mary, who worked in various hospitals in the UK and Ireland as a Breast Cancer Nurse Specialist for over 20 years and volunteered in the refugee camp in Calais said she encountered many women who had no access to a breast prosthesis and didn't know it was an option.

I was acutely aware of the waste in the clinical setting with out-dated and used prosthesis and mastectomy bras being disposed of in the waste at every breast care fitting.

The idea was borne out of the idea that surely some of these items could be reusable by ladies in developing countries, Mary continued.

Mary explained that all ladies in Ireland who have had breast cancer surgery are entitled to one free breast prosthesis and two mastectomy bras per year while the grim reality for many patients in developing countries is they wear plaster of paris, socks, plastic bags, face cloths and tights to create a breast form after surgery.

Mary, speaking about how she developed the project, said: I designed a poster campaign with some of the breast care suppliers with the goal of collecting used breast prosthesis and bras and reached out to some of the cancer support centres in Ireland.

I travelled to the locations on a monthly basis and collected and stored the items safely.

The response was overwhelming with most ladies delighted to donate items they had stored as some had had breast reconstruction or their body habitus had changed.

Other ladies stated that they had always wondered why there was not a collection point for such items to donate to less fortunate patients.

One woman in Ghana, who attended the prosthesis and mastectomy bra fitting clinic, said: When seeing my body for the first time after the surgery, I only saw a scar, I felt that a precious part of my body was missing and I cried a lot. Now when I see this beautiful bra and shape I am excited about my life again.

Following the success of the project in Ghana Mary is travelling to Kenya in May to replicate the initiative.

The average age of a lady being diagnosed with breast cancer in Kenya is 40 years old with the typical presentation to a doctor very late due to cultural,spiritual and religious considerations, according to Mary.

This is within a context in which the resources and skill set for reconstructive surgery after mastectomy are not available to patients, Mary continued.

Women diagnosed with breast cancer in Kenya must often travel to have their Mastectomy surgery in a larger city and then return home to a rural location without aftercare or post Mastectomy products.

Mary will work in Kenya with local NGO The Needy Cancer Health Initiative, which was developed by cancer survivor Nana Kilemi, and is very much focused on helping people on the ground.

Mary continued: We will travel to rural locations offering specialist breast prosthesis fitting clinics,lymphoedema (swelling of the arm) education to patients and staff with breast awareness clinics.

All clinics will be scheduled in advance of my trip and patients with any symptomatology will be notified to avail fully of all services provided.

I am taking a month unpaid leave to spend time on this project and am self funding the trip. I would appreciate any donations to assist with the costs of the flights,vaccines and transportation of the items.

To donate go to https://www.idonate.ie/crowdfunder/MaryKeane
The National Weather Service predicts minor to major winter weather impacts across the Sierra Nevada on Saturday due to snow and wind. Baron/Lynx

Winter-like weather will make a brief return to California this weekend, with widespread snow in the Sierra Nevada. The National Weather Service has issued winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories for much of the Sierra, including Donner Pass, the Tahoe Basin and Yosemite National Park.

The spring snowmaker will add fresh powder in some locations, boosting an already healthy snowpack.

Its not like its shocking to see it by any means, but at the same time, now that were officially into May, we expect most of the big storms to be over by this point, said Andrew Schwartz, lead scientist and manager of the UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Laboratory.

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Warnings and advisories are in effect from 11 a.m. Saturday to 8 a.m. Sunday. Locations above 5,000 feet on the west slope of Sierra are forecast to accumulate 5 to 12 inches of snow; higher elevations could log a foot or more.

The National Weather Service has issued winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories for much of the Sierra Nevada on Saturday. More than a foot of snow is possible at the highest peaks. Baron/Lynx

Truckee, Tahoe City and South Lake Tahoe are also included in the warning for 5 to 8 inches of snow. Elevations above 5,000 feet in Yosemite National Park could measure up to 8 inches of snow, with a dusting possible at the valley floor.

Gusts from 30 to 50 mph are expected at pass level, and could exceed 100 mph at ridgetops.

The agency advises drivers to slow down and use caution while traveling and highlighted potential travel delays from slick roads and reduced visibilities. Its likely chain controls will be necessary Saturday afternoon and evening.

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Precipitation is set to begin as rain early Saturday morning, but temperatures are expected to fall below freezing by midday, and snowfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour are possible during the afternoon and evening. The transition from rain to snow could occur rapidly, meaning road conditions could quickly deteriorate over the passes.

Weather models forecast a wide range of potential snow totals for the Central Sierra Snow Lab, located at Donner Pass, at an elevation of 6,894 feet. But generally were looking at roughly at least 10 inches during the course of the weekend, Schwartz said.

While snowstorms in mid- to late spring arent frequent, April and May storms do occasionally occur. In 2023, a late April storm boosted the already plentiful Sierra snowpack, dropping about 8 inches at the Central Sierra Snow Lab.

Winter storm warnings in May are less common, typically occurring on the west slope of the Sierra only once or twice every few years. This is the first winter storm warning for the east side of the Sierra since at least 2005.

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Though the weather could make for dangerous mountain travel, the additional snow provides benefits.
May 1, 2024: The US Air Force has invested heavily in its new F-35A fighter and is planning to purchase 1,763 of them at a cost of about $450 million each. While an F-35A costs $130 million, the cost of maintaining and operating each aircraft throughout its expected service life increases to nearly half a billion dollars each. Over the last 40 years, over 4.500 F-16s have been built and put into service. Currently about 3,000 F-16s are still flying. Since it first entered service, F-16s have shot down 76 aircraft while five F-16s have been lost to ground fire and one was lost in flight as two F-16s accidentally collided. One aircraft was able to land safely while the other F-16 was lost and its pilot killed.

Plans to replace F-16s with F-35s are in danger of being rendered obsolete because the fighting in Ukraine demonstrated that the air war has moved to lower altitudes and is being fought with UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) costing less, often much less than $15,000 each. These UAVs often have human operators who are five or ten kilometers away but still close enough to the fighting to be attacked by hostile UAVs. In Ukraine the vast majority of surveillance and attack missions are carried out by UAVs, leaving little work for manned aircraft. Transport aircraft and some specialized surveillance like AWACS are still around but four and twin engine AWACS aircraft are being replaced by UAVs. While surveillance UAVs may last for a year or two in wartime, the majority of UAVs are armed with explosives and used once to attack a target. Those attacks are not always successful because of ground fire or electronic warfare efforts that cause the attacking UAV to crash.

The U.S. Air Force has noticed all this and is considering the elimination of many current F-16s and reducing the number of F-35s purchased and put into service. Currently the plan is for over 5,000 F-35s to be built by 2035 for the U.S. and its allies. As of early 2024 there are no F-35s in service because of problems with the software. Unlike the F-16, the F-35 is heavily dependent on its software to achieve what the aircraft was designed to do. When the software doesnt work, neither does the F-35.

F-16s are still in service and are now a stable and reliable design. So far, the average F-16 has served f0r about 17 years. During that time, it spent about 200 hours in the air each year. In wartime, or a period when hostilities are a possibility for F-16s, flight hours can reach over 300 hours a year. An F-16 spends three to four hours in the air each time it is sent out on a mission. These flights can be for training or combat. Since the 1990s combat missions have not been very dangerous for F-16s because these fighters were used as bombers and smart bombs or missiles were used. These weapons could be used high enough and far enough away from enemy anti-aircraft weapons to keep the F-16s safe from enemy fire. But not safe from obsolescence and replacement by cheaper and more useful UAVs. This shift is being demonstrated in Ukraine. While Ukraine requested F-16s and these are now arriving, there wont be much for them to do. Originally the plan was the F-16s could deal with the few modern Russian combat aircraft operating along the border between Russia and Ukraine.

Over two years of combat in Ukraine have demonstrated that the best way to deal with enemy aircraft and missiles is with anti-aircraft missiles like Patriot and the European IRIS-T. Patriot is particularly effective at intercepting Russian missiles. Meanwhile the increased use of UAVs provided most of the airstrikes and surveillance the troops needed. Soldiers prefer air support delivered by UAVs because the troops control the UAVs. Soldiers used UAVs to find targets and then used explosives equipped UAVs to damage or destroy the targets. With manned aircraft the troops on the ground have to depend on someone on the ground communicating effectively with armed aircraft providing support. This is inefficient and dangerous compared to using UAVs. Calling airstrikes takes time and the attacks sometimes hit friendly troops. These problems are largely eliminated when the troops employ UAVs to find and attack targets. These attacks are not only happening more quickly and accurately, but they are a lot cheaper than when a manned aircraft is involved. And that is why the new F-35 is at risk because it has been replaced by cheaper, more reliable and, for the troops, safer UAVs in the ground support role. The air force doesnt like where this is going because it means less work, less need, and a reduced annual budget for the air force.

In early 2024 Ukraine created a new branch of their military, the UAV Force. This is in addition to the Ukrainian Air Force and its manned aircraft. The UAV Force does not control the UAVs Ukrainian forces use regularly but will contribute to developing new UAV models and organizing mass production for those new models that are successful. UAVs have been an unexpected development that had a huge impact on how battles in Ukraine's current war are fought. UAVs were successful because they were cheap, easily modified, and expendable.

Early on both Russian and Ukrainian forces were using cheap, at about $500 each, quadcopter UAVs controlled by soldiers a kilometer or more away using FPV (First Person Viewing) goggles to see what the day/night video camera on the UAV can see. Adding night vision at least doubles the cost for each UAV, so not all of them have that capability. Each of these UAVs carries half a kilogram of explosives, so it can instantly turn the UAV into a flying bomb that can fly into a target and detonate. This was an awesome and debilitating weapon when used in large numbers over the combat zone. If a target isnt moving or requires more explosive power that the UAVs can supply, one of the UAV operators can call in artillery, rocket, or missile fire, or even an airstrike. Larger, fixed wing UAVs are used for long range, often over a thousand kilometers, operations against targets deep inside Russia. Since 2022 the use of UAVs by both sides has escalated and so far about 10,000 UAVs have been put to work providing surveillance and attack services for both sides.

A major limitation to the expansion of UAV operations was the need for trained UAV operators. These operators need over a hundred hours of training before they are able to start operating these UAVs, and another hundred hours of actual use before they are able to make the most out of the system. These small UAVs are difficult to shoot down until they get close to the ground and the shooter is close enough, as in less than a few hundred meters, away to successfully target a UAV with a bullet or two and bring it down. Troops are rarely in position to do this, so most of these UAVs are able to complete their mission, whether it is a one-way attack or a reconnaissance and surveillance mission. The recon missions are usually survivable and enable the UAV to be reused. All these UAVs are constantly performing surveillance, which means that both sides commit enough UAVs to maintain constant surveillance over a portion of the front line, to a depth, into enemy territory, of at least a few kilometers. This massive use of FPV-armed UAVs has revolutionized warfare in Ukraine and both sides are producing as many as they can. Military observers from other countries are reporting that warfare has undergone a fundamental change because of the widespread use of UAVs in Ukraine. Many armed forces at peace are reluctant to change, despite the evidence from Ukraine that any future war will provide the more prolific user of UAVs with a significant edge in combat.
An axe was used to smash through the window of an apartment in Sundays Well as the resident was watching television. Now one of the men who broke into the apartment has been jailed.

Jake OConnor, of Glenside, Grange, Cork, was not the man wielding the axe  that was his co-accused  but now he has been sentenced to five years imprisonment, with the last 20 months suspended, by Judge Helen Boyle at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

The crime was carried out by the 21-year-old and his co-accused on November 27, 2022 at the apartment on Sundays Well Road, Cork.

Jeff Hitchmore, defence barrister, said: Although he did punch the injured party, he was not the one who had the axe. He had a very good upbringing, but has mental-health difficulties and addiction issues.

He has had numerous admissions for rehabilitation. He has had serious problems with polysubstance misuse.

He has been associating with persons he shouldnt be.

The probation report is not glowing, Judge Boyle said in the case, where Mr OConnor pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary, criminal damage, and assault causing harm.

The aggravating factors are that this was a man sitting in his own sitting room watching television, minding his own business, when you and your co-accused come through the window smashing it with an axe.

You punched him in the eye. I accept it was your co-accused who had the weapon.

In terms of mitigating factors, you pleaded guilty, saving the victim the trauma of coming to court. Your family life is now more stable.

Alcohol is the big problem. You say you have never been arrested, only when you are drunk. That is a clear message for you about what needs to be cut out of your life.

Unless you take your own recovery seriously, the probation service wont be able to be of assistance to you.

Although (the other man) had an axe, I take this as a joint enterprise.

Mr Hitchmore said that Jake OConnor had acknowledged that the injured party had not deserved what happened to him.

He has shown victim empathy. All of his offending occurred in a whirlwind of intoxication, the barrister said.
Greenes Restaurant on MacCurtain St, which announced its temporary closure earlier this year, has reopened with a brand new look and food offering.

Management at the city centre establishment took to social media in February to reveal that Greenes would be closing its doors while an overhaul took place.

We feel the restaurant, in its current form, has run its course and we have made the decision to shift from a fine dining offering, they said.

Until we reopen we will be busy behind the scenes creating a new concept that we are excited about, the management team said at the time.

The restaurant has now reopened having undergone a makeover now offering a contemporary, producer-led, traditional Irish food style menu.

Commenting on the redesign, David O'Brien, interior designer, project manager and creative director at RJ O'Brien Building Contractors, said it was an absolute honour to work on the redesign of Greenes Restaurant.

We wanted to transform a Cork gem into something that really connected to its incredible surroundings, bringing the outdoors in to create an oasis in the heart of the city, he added.

Nicolas Alegre, executive chef at Greenes Restaurant. Photo: Joleen Cronin

Meanwhile, Nicolas Alegre, executive chef at Greenes Restaurant, said:

We have been busy behind the scenes, reinventing the menu and watching the interiors come to life.

The new menu features local, Irish suppliers forming a basis for what we want the food at Greenes to represent.

Ricardo Pinto heads up the front of house at Greenes, located at 48 MacCurtain St.

See greenesrestaurant.com for more.
The Ukrainian national whose dangerous driving caused the death of GAA broadcaster Paudie Palmer hurt the family even more by blaming the deceased for it.

Victim impact evidence was presented at the sentencing hearing today and Judge Jonathan Dunphy said he would impose sentence later in the afternoon or tomorrow.

The late Mr Palmers brother, John  on behalf of brothers, Denis, Richie and himself  said: Every aspect of this horrific road traffic accident is very difficult to deal with, and what makes it even worse (if thats possible) is the fact that the guilty party drove away from the scene of the accident leaving our brother fatally injured in his overturned car on an embankment. The guilty party admitted to his mother and friends in text messages that he had 'left the scene of traffic accident drunkl.

Its very clear to us from transcripts of the guilty partys text messages, that he was only concerned about himself and demonstrates no concern whatsoever for our poor brother Paudie.

There are so many upsetting aspects to this horrid moment in our life  the guilty party went through a stop sign, causing Paudies car to spin and collide with the embankment, admitted in text messages that he was drunk, drove away from the scene of the accident and then refused to plead guilty to the charge of dangerous driving causing death.

When the summer season kicked in, Paudie was on the airwaves where we would all tune in to listen to his magic commentary on big games. He had the ability to turn a bad game into a good game... We will never hear that magic commentary again.

The late Mr Palmers daughter, Claire, said on behalf of the family including her mother Colette and sister Emily today: Moments before this accident, after spending his first and last Christmas with his first grandchild, Lucas, he left our home to meet a work colleague for a simple coffee and a catch-up. He shared his usual morning moment with my mother with a big wave goodbye and a cheeky smile. He was struck by a vehicle that then left the scene only 500 metres from our family house, never to return alive again.

Claire Palmer-Panagiodis daughter of the late Paudie Palmer left the Cork Circuit Criminal Court on Anglesea St with family solicitor Diarmuid O'Shea after Claire delivered a victim impact statement in court. Picture Dan Linehan

Our father was the cornerstone of our family  our mentor, supporter and guiding star. His wisdom shaped who we are as adults. His death has left a void in our identities and lives. As a result of Dads sudden and horrific departure, our family dynamics have shifted significantly.

I got married to my own best friend and now husband Nicolas several weeks ago having postponed last years date following those heartbreaking few months before. Not having your father walk you down the aisle, which is every girls dream, was simply heartbreaking.

"Having to place my fathers buttonhole of flowers on his grave instead of my mother pinning it to his suit was utterly distressing, on a day that should have been the happiest day in our familys lives.

Our mother has had to forcefully put on a brave face to tell us all well be okay while shes struggling so deeply herself."

The family found the trial - and the previous trial that ended suddenly at the eleventh hour when a juror investigated the scene on a lone visit to the crash scene - hard to take.

To hear our father being blamed for this incident was very offensive. A man who had only the respect of every single person he came in contact with. Not just the county but the entire country grieved when they heard the news of Dads tragic passing  'a pillar of society', 'the voice of Cork'.

To hear our father being blamed for this accident is hurtful and even at this late stage, if the accused man had shown any sign of remorse and could at least realise the effect his actions have had  obviously on our father, but on the rest of us for the remainder of our lives - it would be some comfort. But this remorse has never been seen.

We are immensely grateful to the first responders and passersby who were present at the scene of the accident. Your effort to help our father will never be forgotten.

To all in Bandon garda station, particularly Manus ODonnell and Michelle OConnor, who have guided us through such a difficult time and continue to do so. To all in Cork University Hospital, especially the staff in the A&E and ICU, whose dedication and care go unnoticed until one faces such a tragedy.

To the whole community of Innishannon and indeed the country, your messages of condolences and constant letters on how Dad impacted your daily lives have been of huge comfort and continue to be.

All of Dads colleagues at St Brogans, Bandon, C103 and 96FM, The Evening Echo, The Bandon Opinion and Valley Rovers  not to forget his colleagues at The Celtic Ross Hotel  your support has been so thoughtful and cherished, and we know you all are grieving a significant loss as well.

As we navigate through this tumultuous period, my hope is for justice to be served today, not only as a legal necessity but as a crucial step in our healing process.

Bohdan Bezverkhyi of Rigsdale House, Rigsdale, Ballinhassig. Picture Dan Linehan

Detective Garda Manus ODonnell went through the circumstances of the incident whereby the accused drove on to the road from a minor road guided by a stop sign and caused the death of Mr Palmer, and then driving away from the scene. The detective also described the accused video recording himself the previous day driving the BMW that he bought two weeks earlier at speeds in excess of 200 kilometres per hour at Curraheen, County County Cork.

33-year-old Bohdan Bezverkhyi, of Rigsdale House, Rigsdale, Ballinhassig, County Cork, pleaded not guilty to the charge of dangerous driving causing the death of Mr Palmer at Dunkereen Cross, Innishannon, Co Cork, on December 29 2022. Mr Palmer was fatally injured as his car ended up overturned on an embankment at the junction near his home, having been in a collision with the defendant's car which was then driven from the scene.

The seven women and five men who deliberated for approximately five hours returned to Cork Circuit Criminal Court on April 18 with their unanimous guilty verdict on what was the seventh day of the trial.
A six-year-jail term was imposed today on the Ukrainian national whose dangerous driving caused the death of GAA broadcaster Paudie Palmer  as the family said the accused hurt them more by blaming their loved one for what happened.

Judge Jonathan Dunphy said, This tragic case related to December 29 2022 at Dunkereen Cross, Innishannon, when Mr Palmer was driving his Peugeot car along a road he was very familiar with when the defendant exited from a minor road on to the main road and was found guilty of dangerous driving causing death.

One of the aggravating factors in the case was a video made by the accused man, 35-year-old Bohdan Bezverkhyi, the previous day where he recorded himself driving the same BMW 5 series car at Curraheen, County Cork, at speeds of 200 kilometres per hour, to which he pleaded guilty to dangerous driving.

In relation to the day of the crash that caused Paudie Palmers death, the accused man pleaded guilty to four charges related to leaving the scene of the crash after witnessing the late Mr Palmers car turning over.

Further aggravating factors consisted of texts sent by the accused to family and friends shortly after the collision.

In those texts he variously stated, I am in the wrong 100%, I drove off, I was drunk, there is no excuse for me, I am guilty of it all. I will be jailed. I left the scene of a traffic accident, drunk. I am a moron. I am guilty of it all. Dont know what happened to the people. I am blaming myself for driving off." Left the scene of the accident. Was pissed."

Judge Dunphy disqualified the accused from driving for ten years and imposed a seven-and-a-half-year jail sentence with the last year and a half suspended at Cork Circuit Criminal Court. It was backdated to December 29 2022 as the accused has been in custody since then.

Mitigating factors raised by defence senior counsel Seamus Roche included the absence of previous convictions and the fact that it would be more difficult for a non-national to serve a jail term in a country where he effectively had no family support.

'Very difficult to deal with'

The late Mr Palmers brother, John  on behalf of brothers, Denis, Richie and himself  said, Every aspect of this horrific road traffic accident is very difficult to deal with, and what makes it even worse (if thats possible) is the fact that the guilty party drove away from the scene of the accident leaving our brother fatally injured in his overturned car on an embankment. The guilty party admitted to his mother and friends in text messages that he had left the scene of traffic accident drunk.

Its very clear to us from transcripts of the guilty partys text messages, that he was only concerned about himself and demonstrates no concern whatsoever for our poor brother Paudie.

There are so many upsetting aspects to this horrid moment in our life  the guilty party went through a stop sign, causing Paudies car to spin and collide with the embankment, admitted in text messages that he was drunk, drove away from the scene of the accident and then refused to plead guilty to the charge of dangerous driving causing death.

When the summer season kicked in, Paudie was on the airwaves where we would all tune in to listen to his magic commentary on big games. He had the ability to turn a bad game into a good game... We will never hear that magic commentary again.

'The cornerstone of our family'

The late Mr Palmers daughter, Claire, said on behalf of the family including her mother Colette and sister Emily today, Moments before this accident, after spending his first and last Christmas with his first grandchild, Lucas, he left our home to meet a work colleague for a simple coffee and a catch-up. He shared his usual morning moment with my mother with a big wave goodbye and a cheeky smile. He was struck by a vehicle that then left the scene only 500 metres from our family house, never to return alive again.

Our father was the cornerstone of our family  our mentor, supporter and guiding star. His wisdom shaped who we are as adults. His death has left a void in our identities and lives. As a result of Dads sudden and horrific departure, our family dynamics have shifted significantly.

Claire Palmer-Panagiodis daughter of the late Paudie Palmer left the Cork Circuit Criminal Court on Anglesea with family solicitor Diarmuid O'Shea after Claire delivered a victim impact statement in court. Picture Dan Linehan

I got married to my own best friend and now husband Nicolas several weeks ago having postponed last years date following those heartbreaking few months before. Not having your father walk you down the aisle, which is every girls dream, was simply heartbreaking. Having to place my fathers buttonhole of flowers on his grave instead of my mother pinning it to his suit was utterly distressing, on a day that should have been the happiest day in our familys lives.

Our mother has had to forcefully put on a brave face to tell us all well be okay while shes struggling so deeply herself.

The family found the trial (and the previous trial that ended suddenly at the eleventh hour when a juror investigated the scene on a lone visit to the crash scene) hard to take.

To hear our father being blamed for this incident was very offensive. A man who had only the respect of every single person he came in contact with. Not just the county but the entire country grieved when they heard the news of Dads tragic passing  a pillar of society, the voice of Cork.

To hear our father being blamed for this accident is hurtful and even at this late stage, if the accused man had shown any sign of remorse and could at least realise the effect his actions have had  obviously on our father, but on the rest of us for the remainder of our lives - it would be some comfort. But this remorse has never been seen.

We are immensely grateful to the first responders and passersby who were present at the scene of the accident. Your effort to help our father will never be forgotten.

To all in Bandon garda station, particularly Manus ODonnell and Michelle OConnor, who have guided us through such a difficult time and continue to do so. To all in Cork University Hospital, especially the staff in the A&E and ICU, whose dedication and care go unnoticed until one faces such a tragedy.

To the whole community of Innishannon and indeed the country, your messages of condolences and constant letters on how Dad impacted your daily lives have been of huge comfort and continue to be.

All of Dads colleagues at St. Brogans, Bandon, C103 and 96FM, The Evening Echo, The Bandon Opinion and Valley Rovers  not to forget his colleagues at The Celtic Ross Hotel  your support has been so thoughtful and cherished, and we know you all are grieving a significant loss as well.

As we navigate through this tumultuous period, my hope is for justice to be served today, not only as a legal necessity but as a crucial step in our healing process.

Circumstances

Detective Garda Manus ODonnell went through the circumstances of the incident whereby the accused drove on to the road from a minor road guided by a stop sign and caused the death of Mr Palmer, and then driving away from the scene. The detective also described the accused video recording himself the previous day driving the BMW that he bought two weeks earlier at speeds in excess of 200 kilometres per hour at Curraheen, County County Cork.

Bohdan Bezverkhyi of Rigsdale House, Rigsdale, Ballinhassig has been jailed. Picture Dan Linehan

Bohdan Bezverkhyi, of Rigsdale House, Rigsdale, Ballinhassig, County Cork, pleaded not guilty to the charge of dangerous driving causing the death of Mr Palmer at Dunkereen Cross, Innishannon, Co Cork, on December 29 2022.

Mr Palmer was fatally injured as his car ended up overturned on an embankment at the junction near his home, having been in a collision with the defendant's car which was then driven from the scene.

The seven women and five men who deliberated for approximately five hours returned to Cork Circuit Criminal Court on April 18 with their unanimous guilty verdict on what was the seventh day of the trial.
AN UMBRELLA previously owned by Michael Collins has been gifted to the Michael Collins House Museum by the family who owned a pub where he left it behind.

The Devlin family safeguarded the umbrella after Collins left it in Devlins Pub on Parnell Street in Dublin, and it was their wish to have the historic item available for public display.

The family recognised the museum, run by Cork County Council, as the ideal location, and the umbrella was presented to the museum on long-term loan by John Merivale, husband of the late Jocelyn Merivale, the granddaughter of Liam Devlin, who was the proprietor of Devlins Pub and a trusted intelligence officer in the Irish War of Independence.

The silk mechanical umbrella is held in a faux wood cover that doubles as a walking cane, with canes becoming synonymous with Michael Collins in recent years. It seems that Collins, though rarely photographed with a cane, may have used a cane as part of his disguise of a normal businessman.

The Mayor of County Cork Frank OFlynn said: The story of Michael Collins is one that is well known, but artefacts such as the umbrella donated by the Merivale/Devlin family gives us a little more insight into the history of the revolutionary hero.

I want to thank the family for preserving this piece of Irish history and urge the public to visit the Michael Collins House to learn more about our history and the fight for Irish independence.

Chief Executive of Cork County Council, Valerie OSullivan added, Now entering its ninth season in operation, Michael Collins House welcomes up to 30,000 visitors annually and since its opening the museum has generated over 5m into the local economy.

Michael Collins House Museum opens Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm, and more information on it is available at www.michaelcollinshouse.ie or 023-8858676.
May 1, 2024: Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began there has been a major Russian effort to destroy the Ukrainian economy. That effort involved about a thousand ballistic missiles, 2,800 armed UAVs (Unmanned aerial Vehicles) and some 7,000 GPS guided bombs. Only about three percent of this firepower was used against military targets, the rest were directed at the Ukrainian economy. The Russians were seeking to destroy all major sources of electrical power and by doing so black out the country and disable war supply and sewage removal systems. Russia is going in this direction because they have been unable to defeat the Ukrainian military. Ukrainian resourcefulness has disrupted and often disabled Russian efforts to win militarily. For example, Ukraine developed a series of remotely controlled and difficult to detect USVs (Unmanned Surface Vessels) that were used to destroy a third of the Russian Black Sea Fleet and forced the surviving warships to take refuge a thousand kilometers from the Crimean Peninsula where the fleet had been based for centuries.

The USVs were difficult to detect, especially at night and were even able to get into well protected harbors used by the Russian warships. This campaign eliminated threats to the sea lane along the west coast of the Black Sea for commercially shipping carrying Ukrainian agricultural exports of distant markets around the world. Incoming shipping brought needed goods to Ukrainians in general.

Russia followed the Ukrainian example and adopted the use of UAVs for reconnaissance, surveillance and attacks on any targets detected. The UAVs were cheap, abundant, and persistent. That worked both ways, especially on land where soldiers could be tracked down and killed by UAVs. Troops on both sides had to beware of attacks by UAVs. In some cases, Russian troops were attacked by Russian UAVs who identified Russian troops as Ukrainians. These friendly fire incidents were more common for Russian troops because the Ukrainian developed more effective techniques to monitor where their troops were.

There were morale and attitude issues at work as well. The Russians were the invaders and while that didnt bother Russian leader Vladimir Putin and his generals, the invasion was less popular with Russian troops, who were suffering heavy casualties, as in nearly half a million killed, missing and/or disabled so far. The Ukrainians were more frequently defending and had developed tactics and techniques that increased the casualties among the less experienced Russian attackers. The morale among Ukrainian troops was much higher than their Russian counterparts. Ukrainians were defending their country while the Russian invaders were dismayed that they were operating as invaders facing Ukrainians defending their country.

Because of those morale problems the Russian depended more on bombardment using the 10,000 missiles, UAVs, and guided bombs. Using most of these weapons against civilian infrastructure led to accusations of committing war crimes. Russia denies any misbehavior, but the fact that over 90 percent of their long range weapons are used against towns, cities and ports has led to accusations of war crimes. Russia denies it is committing war crimes, but their normal military operations are considered war crimes by the Ukrainians and their NATO allies. Russian propaganda has not been able to do much about changing international attitudes about who does what to who in Ukraine.
By Cate McCurry, PA

Forcing the Irish education systems equality of opportunity on the Norths middle class nationalists and unionists in a united Ireland would be very unpopular, an economist has claimed.

John FitzGerald, adjunct professor at Trinity College Dublin, has said Northern Irelands educational system does not offer equality of opportunity to children from different backgrounds, with particularly damaging effects for working-class children.

He told the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement that if Northern Ireland was to reform its education system, it would reduce the cost of unification.

Prof FitzGerald published a report last month which estimated that the reunification of Ireland would cost around 20 billion a year for two decades.

The findings were published by the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA).

The report took into account the current level of funding Northern Ireland receives from the British Government, as well as the share of UK national debt it presumed the province would carry into a united Ireland.

Prof FitzGerald, who co-authored the report with Edgar Morgenroth, a professor of economics at DCU Business School, spoke to the committee about the Norths educational system.

If you think about this huge problem with the education system in Northern Ireland, we on this island, the ethos is one of equality of opportunity, whether youre from a poor agriculture background or a working-class background, you should have an equal opportunity, Prof FitzGerald said.

If you unify and the educational system has not been reformed in Northern Ireland, do you immediately force the Irish system on Northern Ireland, which I know will be very unpopular with middle class nationalists as well as unionist-background people.

Or do you leave it there where theres an ethos that doesnt believe in equality of opportunity, and doesnt look after kids from disadvantaged backgrounds in Northern Ireland?

You really need to do that and have that in place before you unify because for the Republic to say youre going to have to accept our ethos of equality of opportunity if you want to join us, thats going to be a difficult sell.

Thats why I think it is vital that Northern Ireland reforms itself first.

Prof FitzGerald also said he estimated that to raise Northern Ireland welfare rates and public sector pay rates to the levels in Ireland, would cost around another 5 per cent of national income.

Commentary on our report has quite rightly highlighted the fact that the subvention to the North is only one element of the major economic changes on this island that would result from unification, he added.

There would be a wide range of other factors, some of them positive and many of them negative. These have not yet been seriously examined.

Fine Gael TD Fergus ODowd asked if they considered whether a significant contribution to reunification would come from the European Union, the UK or the US.

Prof FitzGerald said: Its very hard to see a large enough contribution from Europe to make a difference given that Ireland will still be one of the richest countries in Europe.

To expect the rest of Europe to subsidise Ireland when we have chosen to unify is unlikely but its possible.

In terms of the UK, they could be very generous, but if theyre very generous with Ireland, it has major implications in terms of Scotland.

We dont know for certain. We just think its unlikely.

Prof Morgenroth said the cost of reunification could end up being higher, as the report did not include one-off costs such as changing road signs.

Unification itself would lead to additional costs and there are a huge range of them. Some of them probably quite minor, others probably quite large, he added.

They ultimately end up on the practical side of things and we see this currently with Brexit. There were costs associated with Brexit that nobody anticipated and unification, because youre trying to unify two systems, its very, very similar only in the other direction.

He also told the committee that the report just talks about cost.

We dont talk about the value of what might arise and thats a really important thing, he added.

Our paper and our work is trying to stimulate some discussions about how unification could be done most efficiently and best for the people rather than saying we should or shouldnt do it.

Sinn Fein TD Rose Conway-Walsh was critical of last months report.

It was difficult to understand how such strong conclusions were given and explicitly, considering the narrow focus of the work that you have done, she said.

I think its just important that you dont have too many nuances. Obviously, you have to have certain assumptions in any paper, but the assumption just seems to go towards a headline of 20 billion.

Prof FitzGerald also told Fianna Fails Brendan Smith about the issues of students and graduates leaving Northern Ireland to study and work in Britain.

Kids who leave school with A-levels go to England, they dont come to the Republic to university, predominantly. They go to England, not Scotland, and two-thirds of them dont come back, Prof FitzGerald said.

They are predominantly from the Unionist community and they dont go back to Northern Ireland. Its a huge potential asset.
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.

A flooded area in the Mathare slums in Nairobi, Kenya on April 30, 2024. Han Xu / Xinhua via Getty Images

Since March, flooding and landslides throughout Kenya have killed at least 188 people, with dozens still missing, according to the countrys ministry of the interior, as AFP reported. There have been at least 125 injuries with 165,000 people displaced.

The flooding has taken out bridges and roads while destroying homes and infrastructure. A flash flood on Monday killed at least 48 people in the town of Mai Mahiu in central Kenya, reported Reuters.

A heavy downpour caused a river to overflow its banks on Wednesday in the Maasai Mara wildlife reserve, stranding many people, including almost 100 tourists, AFP said.

Accessing the Mara is now a nightmare and the people stuck there are really worried, they dont have an exit route, said Stephen Nakola, sub-county administrator of Narok West, who said there were likely to be waterborne diseases, as AFP reported. I am worried that the situation could get worse because the rains are still on.

Nakola told AFP bridges had been washed away and the area was currently inaccessible. Nakola added that roughly 50 camps at the reserve had been affected, causing more than 500 local workers to be temporarily unemployed.

Two helicopters had been deployed to rescue local staff and tourists who had been stranded, authorities said, according to CNN.

On Thursday, James Apolloh Omenya, a 27-year-old tour guide, told CNN that the sounds of rushing flood waters had awakened him. The water had risen to his waist, and the area surrounding Talek Bush Camp was submerged.

My driver and I were the first to wake up, so we woke up all the 14 international tourists and 25 staff and climbed ladders to some water tanks that are raised, Omenya told CNN. We were being rained on from around 2 a.m. to 5.30 a.m. but we couldnt get out.

Kenyas Red Cross said more than 90 people had been rescued, while more than a dozen camps in the area surrounding River Talek were closed.

Locals said the rainy season had flooded parts of the Mara before, but the extent of this years floods was unprecedented.

Rains last year came after the worst drought seen in decades in large swaths of East Africa, reported Reuters.

Red Cross workers from Kenya were helping residents marooned by floods in Kitengela, about 20 miles from Nairobi.

Highways and other roads had been closed because of flooding and debris.

Kenya is facing a worsening flood crisis due to the combined effects of El Nino and the ongoing March-May 2024 long rains, Jagan Chapagain, CEO of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said on X.

Pope Francis expressed his sympathy for people in the country at the Vatican on Wednesday.

I wish to express to the people of Kenya my spiritual closeness at this time as severe flooding has tragically taken the lives of many of our brothers and sisters, injured others and caused widespread destruction, the pope said.

The Horn of Africa region, which includes Kenya, is a highly climate-vulnerable area, CNN said. Burundi and Tanzania were also severely affected by the deluge.

The unfolding devastation highlights the governments obligation to prepare for and promptly respond to the foreseeable impacts of climate change and natural disasters, said Nyagoah Tut Pur, Human Rights Watch Africa researcher, as CNN reported.
"Keep farmed meat out of Florida": this is the spirit with which Florida Governor Ron DeSantis yesterday signed, making effective, the bill (SB 1084) which prohibits the production, sale, possession or distribution of meat grown in a laboratory in the territory of Florida, a State that is acting with the aim of "stop the objective of the World Economic Forum to force the world to eat meat and insects grown in a laboratory", we read in an official note, which adds: As the World Economic Forum calls on the world to give up meat consumption, Florida is increasing production, and encouraging residents to continue consuming and enjoying 100% real Florida beef.

Today, Florida is fighting against the global elite's plan to force the world to eat insects or meat grown in Petri dishes to achieve their authoritarian goals, DeSantis said. Our administration will continue to focus on investing in our local farmers and ranchers and we will save our beef. Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson echoes this: Florida is taking a huge step in the right direction by signing the nation's first legislation banning lab-grown meat. We must protect our incredible farmers and the integrity of American agriculture."

Lab-grown meat is a shameful attempt to undermine our proud traditions and prosperity, and is in direct opposition to authentic agriculture, the commissioner added, congratulating Governor DeSantis , Florida Senate President Kathleen Passidomo , State House Speaker Paul Renner , Senator Jay Collins and Representative Danny Alvarez "for standing up for Florida farmers and consumers. Together, we will keep Florida's agriculture industry strong and thriving, concludes Simpson .

The state has taken the following actions to support its agriculture and meat industry:

- Modernize Florida's Right to Farm Act to protect viable agricultural businesses from frivolous lawsuits.

- Sign legislation to ensure that agritourism operators are entitled to protection from property tax assessments when operating on agricultural land.

- Streamline the steps for Florida farmers to receive agricultural sales tax exemptions.

- Restore funding for the 2022 Rural and Family Lands Protection Program to $300 million.

- Protect over 36,000 acres of farmland through this program.

- Invest more than $2.8 billion in Florida's agriculture sector in the Framework for Freedom Budget.

Additionally, to promote the growth of one of Florida's leading agricultural counties, Governor DeSantis awarded $6 million to Hardee County through the Job Growth Grant Fund. This award will help develop an industrial site there and build a 40,000-square-foot warehouse to encourage new companies to move to the area. This facility will also provide additional space for current operations on the site. The investment is estimated to create nearly 200 new jobs and help attract additional high-demand, high-wage jobs to the county. Since 2019, Florida has invested more than $195 million through the Job Growth Grant Fund to strengthen infrastructure and workforce training programs.

Below is the video of the press conference in Hardee County, during which Governor DeSantis signed bill SB 1084 yesterday:
Continuing the long American tradition of wealthy corporate overlords making union-busting comments, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy went on a media blitz in 2022 to warn of the workplace-altering terrors of labor unions. (Surely, its an unfortunate happenstance that his urgent PSA coincided with an uptick in organizing efforts at Amazon.) Sadly for Mr. Jassy, the US still has a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), and CNBC reports that the board ruled Wednesday that his anti-union comments broke federal labor laws.

Jassy popped up on CNBC in April 2022 to say that if employees voted for and joined a union, they would become less empowered and could expect things to become much slower and more bureaucratic. In an interview with Bloomberg, he added, If you see something on the line that you think could be better for your team or you or your customers, you cant just go to your manager and say, Lets change it.

He capped off his union-busting trifecta at The New York Times DealBook conference, where the CEO said that a workplace without unions isnt bureaucratic, its not slow.

Its the latest in Amazons long history of union-busting behavior.

Amazon

NLRB Judge Brian Gee said Jassy violated labor laws by suggesting employees would be less empowered or better off without a union. However, Gee said the CEOs other comments about worker-employer relationships changing were lawful. According to the judge, the difference is that the more aggressive quotes went beyond merely commenting on the employee-employer relationship.

Gee added that the comments threatened employees that, if they selected a union, they would become less empowered and find it harder to get things done quickly. The judge recommends that Amazon cease and desist from making similar comments in the future. The company is also required to post and share a note about the judges order with all of its US employees.

In December, Jassys Amazon shares were valued at $328 million, making him one of Americas wealthiest CEOs.

In a statement to CNBC, an Amazon spokesperson said the judges ruling reflects poorly on the state of free speech rights today. Because, hey, what kind of free country do we even have if a retail magnate cant tell low-income workers scary bedtime stories about the perils of voting to empower themselves in the workplace?
Emails from the Department of Justices antitrust case against Google revealed how Microsoft executives were alarmed by and even envious of Googles AI lead.

In an email thread, CTO Kevin Scott wrote he was very, very worried about Googles rapidly growing AI capabilities. He said he initially dismissed the companys game-playing stunts, likely referring to Googles AlphaGo models. The emails reference Gmails autocomplete features, which execs called scary good. Microsoft struggled to copy Googles BERT-large, an AI model that deciphers the meaning and context of words in a sentence. It took the company six hours to replicate the model, while Google inched further ahead on more elaborate, bigger models.

Scott said Microsoft had very smart people on its machine-learning teams but their ambitions had been curbed and that their company was multiple years behind the competition in terms of ML scale. This all led to a billion-dollar push into OpenAI in 2019. Its since invested $13 billion.

 Mat Smith

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What connects you with a B2B marketer in West Virginia? Four letters.

LinkedIn, the career-centric social network, is getting into gaming. But the kind of earnest, word-based games your mom would let you play when you were a kid. LinkedIn describes them as thinking-oriented games, though the format will likely look familiar to fans of The New York Times Games app. You can only play each game once a day, and you can share your score with friends. And just maybe... strike up a conversation on how you can help each other with targeted SaaS projects. Yes, I have feelings about who hits me up on LinkedIn.

Continue reading.

It appears to be directing users to avoid in-app service fees.

TikTok is allegedly violating Apples App Store rules, with the app allowing (even recommending) particular users to purchase its coins directly from its website. TikTok has apparently given some iOS users the option to Try recharging on tiktok.com to avoid in-app service fees  namely Apples 30 percent commission on purchases, which are more likely than not passed onto those users. Its definitely not available to all users and seems to be there for TikTok users who have previously bought a large number of coins  the TikTok whales, if you will.

Continue reading.

Someone pulled the APK out and put it on an Android phone.

Rabbit

The Rabbit R1, a pocket-sized AI virtual assistant device, runs Android under the hood. Now early users have been able to tease out the R1 APK, install it on an Android phone and make it work  if not with all the features. If thats the case, whats the point in the $200 gadget?

In a statement sent to Android Authority, Rabbit CEO Jesse Lyu, said the Rabbit R1 is not an Android app. He added the R1 ran on very bespoke AOSP (Android Open Source Project) build and lower-level firmware modifications, so a local bootleg APK wont be able to access most R1 services. Were wrapping up our own detailed review  stay tuned.

Continue reading.
New York rapper Lil' TJay turned 23 on the same day he was arrested in Miami.

The Bronx native was reportedly en-route to partake in birthday festivities when he was apprehended by authorities on April 30.

'The Shade Room' reported that Lil' TJay, formally Tione Jayden Merritt, was cuffed on Tuesday by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers while he attempted to board a flight at Miami-Opa Locka Airport.

RELATED: Benzino Says R. Kelly Shouldn't 'Rot In Jail For 30 Years' And Deserves A Second Chance: 'It's Legal In America'

However, the 'Zoo York' rapper doesn't seem to be fazed by the turmoil that ensued during what should have been a day of celebration. Following his release, the 23-year-old shared on Instagram that posting $500 for bond was easy.

"I AINT HEAR NUN THE BLOGS SAID CAUSE WHERE IM AT IT AINT NO SERVICE ... 500 ON MY BDAY SHI** BOUT NUN I DESERVE IT," the rapper wrote in his caption.

The photo dump included Lil' TJay posing on a private jet, flaunting expensive watches and jewelry, chatting with friends at the airport, and eating fresh fruit  implying he's living "too good" to worry about blog banter.

RELATED: Gary Owen Ignores Ex-Wife's Warnings To Not Talk About Their Divorce On 'Club Shay Shay:' 'I Can Tell My Version Of Things'

Information regarding the exact details of the arrest remains unknown; however, per Complex, it seems to be related to a missed court date. In 2022, he was shot multiple times in New Jersey during a reported attempted robbery.

He was arrested last January for an alleged gun possession followed by another arrest that June for reckless endangerment. He's also allegedly been jailed for missing a court hearing.

The rapper's current Instagram Story shows him boarding a new jet and arriving at a lofty location  which he was intentional in noting was "not a resort."
Kevin Hart's ex-wife Torrei Hart revealed her firm stance against any other woman being addressed as "mom" by her children.

During an episode of Destah's "The Culture Club" talk show, Torrei appeared as a guest alongside Tameka Foster, Usher's ex-wife, and family therapist Dr. Makungu M. Akinyela. In a recently surfaced clip from the December 2021 episode discussing co-parenting dynamics, the 46-year-old shared insights into her co-parenting relationship with the "Fatherhood" star.

Co-hosts Claudia Jordan and Osei Kweku asked Torrei how she felt about her kids calling another woman "mom."

"My kids better not call nobody else 'Mom,' " she said.

Jordan remarked, "Oh, I felt that when you said that!"

"They know better," she added. "I'm sorry, but no. They know I birthed you, and I'm not a negligent mother. You don't need to call nobody else mother, and they understand that. Now, that's where I do put my foot down."

"Can I also put this out? 'Cause there's this misconception that I don't have custody of my kids for whatever reason," Torrei stated. "I have my kids every other weekend when I'm supposed to have them and every other week when I'm supposed to have them. Or I might have them for a month, or I might have them for two months."

In 2001, Kevin and Torrei first met in Philadelphia while attending community college. They both shared a passion for comedy, Hot New Hip Hop reports.

After their engagement eight months later, they married in 2003 in a private ceremony. Two years later they welcomed their first child, a daughter Heaven Leigh, and a son, Hendrix, three years later.

Eight years of marriage passed when the couple filed for divorce. Torrei later claimed to PEOPLE Kevin cheated on her in 2009 with his now wife Eniko Parrish.
A Black female mayor California has initiated legal action against her city with two separate lawsuits for discrimination.

The lawsuits are suing for racial and gender discrimination, invasion of privacy, and mishandling of her retirement savings.

Mayor Deborah Robertson of Rialto, California, has initiated legal action after her claims were dismissed by the city. One of these claims pertains to the city's handling of the aftermath of the 2015 mass shooting in San Bernardino, which resulted in the loss of 14 lives and left almost two dozen others wounded.

After the shooting, the city engaged a security consultant to evaluate the risks at City Hall. Robertson, 73, contends that the city manager and members of the city council discriminated against her by failing to furnish her office with a specialized security door designed for active shooter scenarios, despite providing one to her opponent.

Despite the security consultant's assessment which did not advocate for the installation of security doors, city officials proceeded to order a door for Councilman Raphael Trujillo's office, which was subsequently installed in November 2020. It wasn't until five months later that a door was installed on Mayor Robertson's office.

In a claim filed by Robertson last year, she asserted that following the assessment, "The City immediately installed a security door in one of my Caucasian male colleague's office." This action was reportedly taken without addressing her own expressed safety concerns.

Acting City Manager Arron Brown clarified to the San Bernardino Sun that Councilman Trujillo is of Latino descent, not Caucasian as asserted, and emphasized that the installation of security doors occurred years after the initial security assessment.

In a separate claim filed by Robertson in March 2023, she accused the city police department of conducting searches on her name in their database on multiple occasions without any legitimate law enforcement justification. These searches allegedly occurred at undisclosed times within the premises of both the police and fire departments, a confidential informant claimed.

Robertson revealed that in 2022, she received an email from the Rialto police chief confirming that her name had been subjected to 10 separate searches within the police database.

In a previous incident in 2021, the city settled a case with Councilman Ed Scott for $500,000 after he asserted that his sons' names had been searched multiple times in the police database over a two-day span in 2016. Scott believed that the searches were conducted with the intent to unearth negative information about him and his family to undermine his re-election campaign.

"She's so embroiled in all these lawsuits, she's lost sight of the direction of the city," Trujillo shared with the Daily Mail. "You start to question what her intentions are: being a steward of our taxpayer dollars? Or is it to have personal gains from the taxpayers?"

Rialto is situated within San Bernardino County. The city, which boasts a population of just over 104,000 according to the 2020 US Census, is located 56 miles east of Los Angeles.
Los Angeles, CA--Two of the most colorful pilots of the 1st Annual Around the World Air Rally were Italian Air Force Generals Umberto Bernardini and Giorgio Bertolaso, both retired. Featured in the just released book by Rally documentarian Michael B. Butler, Round the World & Across Russia in 21 Days, 30 Years Later, their story comes from Umberto's account of the World Flight in A Baby Around the World. The reason for that title is that, as the oldest Rally pilots, they also flew the slowest of the 12 aircraft involved, a Piper PA-28 Archer. They combined the first two letters of both their last names and a BeBe was born.

They both flew on both sides in World War II, with Giorgio a survivor of El Alamein and many air battles over Sicily during the Allied invasions. Following the Italian armistice, they switched sides and flew against the Nazis and went on to successful careers as test pilots and high ranking Italian Air Force officers. Participating in a private group that were the first general aviation aircraft to circumnavigate while crossing Russia was a cherry on top of stellar aviation lives.

Flying long hours over the desolate terrain of Siberia, our Italian generals clocked in over 150 hours of flight time and usually arrived last in every location. But that never stopped them from keeping an upbeat attitude during the World Flight Across Russia. They served in governments hip deep in the Cold War and were amazed at what they saw in Moscow, at Star City and on military airfields in Syktyvkar, Novosibirsk, Yakutsk and Anadyr, the latter a highly restricted air base and ICBM nuclear launching site that can hit any city in North America.

Currently available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, the author, who also documented the event, constructed the book using 7 major pilot journals, 5 ancillary journals, 25 hours of video tape, interviews and what he recalled. Details and color slide shows can be found at www.MichaelButlerBooks.com.

Round the World & Across Russia Book Triailer





Here a small section of Umberto's book, A Baby Around the World, which covers how it got involved in this historic flight around the world.

"My story, regarding the 1st Annual Around the World Air Rally, began on March 28, 1992 at Rome's Centocelle Airport where, in the presence of the highest military authorities, the anniversary of the establishment of our Armed Forces was celebrated. Of the many officers on hand was Giorgio Bertolaso, who I knew from the Royal Air Force Academy at Caserta.

"He was ahead of me in that tough three-year internship. Those were hard times when Professor Simeon, Air Navigation, told us that for people like us 'the only alternative to military life was being a barber.' Fearing such a consequence was why we studied with tenacity, passed exams, learned to fly and became pilots; from penguins we became seniors, from seniors we were promoted to aspirants, earning the privilege of pilot officer training in the Regia Aeronautica.

"By chance I learned that Giorgio, for some time, had been preparing to participate in an Air Rally going around the world. Fascinated by the news and not asking for any information, I offered to participate as a co-pilot, navigator, interpreter, PR officer, fac-totem, luggage handler, bottle holder, shoe shinerwhatever, I did not careI was totally fascinated and enthusiastic about the idea.

"The key thing for me was to participate, like the Olympics, you have to play to win. Having jumped in enthusiastically, I got immersed in the many serious problems and issues involved in this fascinating adventure; one that certainly must be a professional experience, unforgettable but also safe, because it so happens I love Umberto Bernardini a lot. Bertolaso, struck by my enthusiasm, perhaps out of good luck or as I hope, respect, accepted my offer and the co-pilot position was mine. Is your passport in order? I heard in Russia they expect payment only in cash, in dollars, and in other countries will the AmEx card be good enough. Which navigation charts so we use; what will our fuel consumption and requirements be? Which how many yes, yes, yes endless questions.

"With an instinct for quick decisions rather than analyzing problems, I realized that, after solving them, a fresh set of newer and more difficult tasks and problems popped up. Even then I continued to rely, above all, on my good luck and outstanding resistance to physical fatigue. This time, however, it will be a good idea to pack pills, disinfectant, sweaters, woolen long johns and four pairs of socks, the long winter ones.

"Naturally, in addition to my military pilot's license, over the years I had obtained first, second- and third-degree civilian pilot licenses, in 1954, and registration as a test pilot. I am owner of certificate #1 as an experimental test pilot, issued by the Italian Air Force, following a 1953 course at the Empire Test Pilots' School, Farnborough, UK. Needing a private pilot license, I surmised it would be easy to get it renewed by civil authorities, however, I did not figure on the cumbersome Italian bureaucracy requiring me to redo the entire civilian pilot license process.

"I considered it scandalous that I, Italian Air Force General Umberto Bernardini, had to take a written exam on aerodynamics, engines, law, navigation, meteorology and aeronautical medicine. So, in 1992, over fifty years after my first glider flight, in 1938, and paying the outrageous sum of 250,000 Lira, I once again became a 'student pilot'Certificate #693. Then, after testing in a Cessna 152, I received a 'private aircraft pilot' licensecertificate #27036from the Italian Civil Aviation Authority.

"Another issue was my family. How did they feel about my decision to fly around the world across Russia, a development that was shocking as it was unexpected. At first, thinking it was a joke, they found it difficult to believe their old man did not intend to slow down...

Media Interviews: For review copies or interviews please contact Eric Blair Enterprises at MichaelButlerBooks@pm.me or 213-534-7292.
By Alimat Aliyeva

The American company SpaceX has started booking places for tourists to fly into space, Azernews reports.

Four directions will be available for those who wish: to the orbit of the Earth, the International Space Station (ISS), the Moon and Mars.

During flights on Dragon and Starship rockets, the company will provide space tourists with a spacesuit, sensory gloves and a 3D-printed helmet.

The dates of future flights in two directions are now known. So, those who wish will be able to go into Earth orbit at the end of 2024, and to the ISS in 2025.
LEXINGTON, Ohio  Crew members from Ohio Valley Barn Salvage are in position: a telescopic forklift holds a strap attached to a 56-foot beam running along the top of a barn frame. Moving this piece to the ground is their next step in dismantling the 150-year-old barn.

With a shout of all clear, the beam rises slowly, guided by one man in a nearby lift, and another crew member on the ground using a rope to help keep the beam steady. The lift truck beeps as it moves back. The telescopic arm swings the beam around while crew members race under, calling instructions to each other to ensure a soft landing.

Randy Smith, owner of Ohio Valley Barn Salvage, choreographs this precision dance as they gently set the frame down, and tilt it to a stable resting position. Then, they start pulling out the wooden pegs with crowbars. They separate the sections of a frame that have fit together for more than a century.

They tag and number each piece of wood, matching them to the diagrams theyve drawn to assure the frame can be rebuilt when it moves to its new home. Back at their warehouse and workshop in Butler, Ohio, Smith and his crew will powerwash and inspect each piece. Theyll make repairs if needed and replace any pieces that are damaged.

The process can take up to 18 months from dismantling to rebuilding.

How it started

Randy Smith got interested in old barns because of a new girlfriend. On their first date, she said her dream home was an old, restored barn.

I could do that, he remembers thinking.

Smith owned a commercial roofing business for more than 25 years before he found his true love: old barns that needed a new life. His relationship [with barns] started casually. When that new girlfriend became his wife, they spent weekends driving the countryside looking for barns that matched their vision.

They sought barns from the right time period, which fit the theme of the house he was building for them. The main structure was one complete barn frame, but additions and details include pieces from about 15 different barns. They spent 11 years building the house.

I can tell you where every piece came from, Smith said.

Some barns had usable sections, but many had fallen into ruin. He worked with farmers to dismantle the old structures, using what he could. Over the decade, he took down hundreds of barns, selling beams and flooring to other salvagers.

I was a picker, Smith said.

He estimates there are about 25 companies across the U.S. in the salvaging business; five or six in Ohio alone.

After about 10 years as a picker, Smith said he fell into the abyss. Instead of breaking barns into pieces and selling the wood, he wanted to salvage barns to re-purpose the frames for homes or event spaces.

Its one of lifes mysteries, Smith said. Its hard to understand why you are attracted to the things you are. Im lucky.

The men who work for OVBS are just as passionate about seeing the historic barns treated with the proper respect and care.

This job is the [slang term for best], said Dave Sheets, whose tongue-in-cheek title is manager of acquisitions.

Their barn Bible is Eric Sloanes An Age of Barns: An Illustrated Review of Classic Barn Styles and Construction, originally published in 1967. According to Sloane, barns are reminiscent of the time [19th century] when the farmer was king, and barns were the palaces of America.

How its going

After nearly 15 years salvaging barn frames built between 1820 and 1880, Smith can tell you a barns history by walking through the door.

Barns talk to me, he said. I can tell you everything about it in about 5 minutes.

He knows their approximate date of construction based on the wood, the style of cutting and the architecture of the structure.

The bigger the timber, the older the barn, Smith said. During the 1800s, the beams were hand-hewn, and the frames in his warehouse reflect the cuts made then. Other clues of the age of the structure include the style of the wind braces or Roman numerals etched into the pieces.

Smith and his crew will deconstruct about 20 barns this year, with a plan to put about 10 back together. In addition to pieces salvaged from damaged frames, the warehouse in Butler contains several complete frames available for sale. They can be seen at his website, ohiovalleybarnsalvage.com. They are perfect for people who dream of living in or hosting events in a refurbished barn.

Despite trying other businesses, hes always drawn back to barns.

Theres no rational reason; no heritage, he said. Maybe I built castles in a past life.

Respecting the past

According to Smith, Ohio is a hotspot for old barns, built in the 1800s from the mostly oak forests that covered much of the state. Smith pays farmers for their barns. Payment varies depending on the size and condition of the structure. Smaller frames in the 30-by-50-foot range start around $15,000 if theyre in good condition. Larger barns in better condition are more valuable.

Smith usually spends about two weeks taking a barn down. Then, about two to three weeks for cleaning and repairing beams, flooring and siding. OVBS can arrange shipment to nearly anywhere.

When someone buys a frame, Smith can provide the expertise to help put it up. Owners often want newer siding, but Smith can offer older siding as well.

Most clients have a look in mind, he said. About 60% go with newer siding on the outside but some want it all old.

Typically, the new owner has a contractor who pours the foundation and completes the finish work. Smith provides drawings for all the projects. He has sold some barn frames to timber framers who had the knowledge to reconstruct them. Smith estimates he and his crew put up about 90% of the frames they sell.

So far this year, hes scheduled to put up barns in Massachusetts, North Carolina, Florida, Iowa, Montana and Pennsylvania.

The barn frame taken down in Lexington, Ohio ships to New Zealand in late April.

My first international sale, Smith said. He said the barn was in remarkably great shape. Of more than 80 pieces, he replaced only four, and two of those were intentional, not because of damage. Smith plans to go to New Zealand later this year to raise the barn at its new location.

Old barns with new lives

One of Smiths largest jobs was a 50-by-80-foot bank barn, taken down near Navarre, Ohio. Bank barns are an example of Pennsylvania German construction. According to Sloane, the name came from its location. They were built into a bank (of dirt) to better protect farm animals during the winter.

Smith found this barn for Don and Lisa Rouse. They planned to construct a salvaged barn on their property near Houston, Texas to use as a wedding venue. After seeing the OVBS website, they contacted Smith. They had a particular size in mind for their business and believed Smith could help them find it. When he walked into the barn in Navarre, he called them right away. They drove to Ohio to see it.

Restoration Road with Clint Harp, on Magnolia Network, documented the 18-month process of dismantling and re-building the structure, now called the Bonner Barn. This barn was well-loved by the family who owned the farm from the 1920s through the 1940s. Bob Baker, who grew up there during those years, even wrote several books about it.

Baker, now in his early 90s, lives near Houston, and was able to visit the site and see the frame as Smith and his team rebuilt the barn at its new home.

Don and Lisa Rouse, like to call it, the barns new career.

We like to think it retired to Texas, they said.
The Racing Report is a five-part photo essay shot at short tracks in Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania that will run in Farm and Dairy through the summer. Each month we will bring you a different theme to ponder from a different track.

For the first installment, photojournalist Matthew Chasney visited Wayne County Speedway in Orrville, Ohio, for its opening night race April 20.

The theme is revival. Were going to look at the dirt  mainly what it takes to turn a muddy patch of Ohio clay into a racetrack and everything happens after that.

Click on the photo to enlarge the gallery. Use the left and right arrow keys or the arrows on the screen to navigate between photos.
A loose dog which attacked and killed four ewes has left one Derbyshire farmer having to foot the cost of the crime, amounting to almost 2,000.

Between 15 and 16 April, the farmer found that four of his ewes had been killed by a dog on his land at Hardy Barn Lane, Buxton.

Speaking about the incident, Derbyshire Rural Crime Team said the dead ewes cost around 1,200 plus 40 each for disposal.

The ewes had six lambs between them, one of which has now also died and the others are having to be hand reared on milk formula at a cost of 50 per week per lamb.

The incident has led to a total of almost 2,000 damages to this farmer, not considering his time and potential future earnings.

Derbyshire Rural Crime Team said: "The impact of livestock worrying offences cannot be under estimated, with significant financial losses along the stress and upset caused to farmers and their families.

"The area is popular for visitors and dog walkers and particularly popular with private dog walking companies operating in the Buxton area."

Dog attacks on sheep continue to plight farmers across the UK, impacting both animal welfare and farmers' mental wellbeing.

According to the National Sheep Association, 78% of rural crime police teams have reported an increase in dog attacks on sheep over recent years.

The majority (76%) of the forces reported that they respond to dog incidents at least once a month, with 33% of them dealing with incidents on a weekly basis.

And just over half of the forces contributing to the survey (57%) stated that sheep worrying by dogs was their most frequently reported rural crime.

The stress of worrying by dogs can cause sheep to die and pregnant ewes to miscarry their lambs, while sheep fleeing from dogs are often killed or seriously injured by their panicked attempts to escape.

Dog bites can cause death in sheep or necessitate them being put down at a later date, or in less severe cases considerable veterinary bills and additional welfare issues.

Sheep worrying by dogs can cause serious damage to farmer mental wellbeing, the NSA explained in its campaign.

The body's chief executive, Phil Stocker said there should be a 'true deterrent' to those who continue to ignore the recommendations to keep dogs on leads near livestock.

He said: We know that cases continue to rise, however, only a fraction of those do actually get reported to the police due to farmers believing there may be little this action can do.

"But NSA urges farmers to report all attacks as we continue to strive to reveal the true alarming level of this problem.

"Only then can we hope for much needed legislation to be brought about that punishes those responsible for these crimes appropriately."

Derbyshire Rural Crime Team is appealing for any information regarding the incident in Buxton.

"Hopefully this post will act as a stark reminder to put your dog on a lead if near to or likely to come into to contact with livestock," the team added.

"Please get in touch via the usual means, FB Messenger or Crimestoppers quoting crime number 24000238188."
A new vaccine has been authorised for use in the Netherlands against bluetongue virus, but there are still questions over rollout plans for use in the UK.

The Dutch government has authorised a vaccine for bluetongue virus serotype 3 (BTV-3) through an accelerated procedure.

Produced by the Spanish pharmaceutical company Syva, it is authorised for use on both sheep and cattle.

The Netherlands has confirmed over 6,000 cases of BTV-3 across the country in 2023, with the UK also confirming a significant number of cases since November last year.

Defra recently warned farmers to be aware over a possible increase of cases of bluetongue virus over the coming months as the weather warms.

The vaccine will likely come as a welcome relief to Dutch producers, with the outbreaks decimating the industry.

Figures show that the Netherlands has lost around 5% of its sheep population due to infection with bluetongue.

Although mortality rates are lower in cattle, it is estimated that 0.2% of the Dutch cattle population died from infection.

The disease also causes tongue and mucous membranes lesions, causing problems with swallowing, lameness and stiffness with swollen legs affecting animal welfare and a reduction in milk yields.

Bluetongue also financially impacts many businesses, causing emotional turmoil for farmers.

The NFU welcomed the news, adding that it anticipated the vaccine to become available for use in the UK once authorised by the government.

NFU livestock board chair, David Barton said: This disease has had a devastating impact in the Netherlands and UK livestock farmers will be anxious to protect their livestock as the weather gets warmer.

As this is very new vaccine, there are still questions to be answered  not least about the cost of the vaccine, how it will be rolled out, and what support the government can offer to get it deployed quickly and efficiently.

Following approval via a fast-track procedure, a total of two million doses will be available to Dutch farmers by the end of April.

Sheep will require one dose, and cattle two doses administered three weeks apart. Animals will be protected approximately 28 days after vaccination, though the duration of immunity is yet to be determined.

With the Netherlands one million strong sheep and almost four million-strong cattle herds, the two million vaccines will not be enough to vaccinate all animals.

However, more doses are expected to be available over the coming months, in addition to other vaccines which may gain market approval.
New efforts are being undertaken by the Scottish red meat sector to safeguard pig farmers against the growing threat of African swine fever (ASF).

Striving to stay ahead of this highly transmissible disease, various strategies, including participation in global consultations and the establishment of a dedicated 'Feral Pig Working Group', are being deployed.

Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) recently attended the global consultation on ASF control organised by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Speaking about the significance of the initiative, the levy board emphasised the urgent need for proactive measures, citing the devastating impact ASF has had on pig populations worldwide.

ASF is the biggest animal disease outbreak ever recorded, posing a very real threat to Scotland's pig industry and wild boar population.

Andy McGowan, QMS board member and chief executive of Scottish Pig Producers, who attended the FAO meeting, said the sector's goal was to keep it out of the country.

"We are also preparing for the possibility of an outbreak and working on contingency plans to minimise its impact," he said.

Highlighting the importance of border controls, he expressed deep concerns over existing regulations that could potentially allow the virus to enter the UK.

Stricter measures were also needed to prevent the introduction of ASF through commercial and personal imports of pork products, he said.

Border controls in the UK are woeful. Having been delayed for seven years due to Brexit, veterinary certificates are now required for commercial imports, but they arent being checked.

"Unlike Europe, the UK still permits individuals to bring in up to 2kg of pork products for personal consumption. That is being tested and positive results show some does contain viable ASF.

Across the world weve seen this virus spread primarily through wild boar accessing infected food products. It is essential that we minimise the likelihood that the wild boar and feral pigs in Scotland encounter contaminated food.

Research indicated that the chances of ASF spreading from one infected pig farm to another is around 0.2% while the risk of an infected wild boar or feral pig spreading the disease to an outdoor farm is closer to 50%.

Alongside preventative actions, the global consultation highlighted the importance of a swift and effective response in case of an outbreak.

Mr McGowan stressed the need for a coordinated approach plan involving testing, culling, and movement controls - beyond those already in place through ASF being a notifiable disease.

Often the secondary impact of a disease outbreak is greater than the primary, he said. With foot and mouth, for example, 80% of the financial losses were through the tourism sector and wider rural economy.

"While I dont think an outbreak of ASF would have the same impact on tourism businesses, the knock-on effects for the supply chain and other producers in the rest of the UK would be significant.

In addition to participating in international efforts, QMS has taken proactive steps at the domestic level, including the formation of a 'Feral Pig Working Group'.

This collaborative initiative brings together stakeholders such as land management agencies, Scottish Gamekeepers Association, deer management groups, forestry national parks and NatureScot, to address the threat posed by feral pigs as potential vectors for ASF.

Scotland has wild boar, wild pigs and feral pigs located around the West coast, notable areas include Fort William and the Northwest Highlands as well as the Monadhliath mountains and Dumfries and Galloway, explains Bruce McConachie, head of industry development at QMS.

Members of the Feral Pig Working Group already do a good job of mapping and controlling populations of wild and feral pigs.

We understand the population dynamics and how they move across the landscape but currently the focus is the damage they can do to ground nesting and rare birds.

"There is more we can learn when we consider populations through the lens of controlling ASF.
Nominations are needed for the annual Wales Woman Farmer of the Year award which celebrates the contribution of women in the farming industry.

Now in its 26th winner, the jointly-run NFU Cymru-NFU Mutual Wales competition puts a focus on women and what they do for farming businesses and wider rural life.

The winner of this year's Wales Woman Farmer of the Year award will receive 500 and a Welsh Royal Crystal bowl.

The closing date for the competition is 27 May 2024, and the award will be presented on 25 July at the Royal Welsh Show.

NFU Cymru deputy president Abi Reader is a former winner of the award and she will be one of this years judges.

She said the award was there to champion the contribution that women made to farming businesses and wider rural life.

"Over the past 25 years we have had a variety of winners, all representing different sectors and parts of the farming industry, and we look forward to receiving applications for the 2024 title and celebrating this great award.

Heather Holgate, NFU Cymru & NFU Mutual Group Secretary, who will also be judging, said: "For generations women have played a crucial role in Welsh agriculture.

"We hope the award inspires other women in Wales to take centre stage and influence farming in the future."

Those interested in entering, or who knows someone worthy of a nomination, are being told to visit the NFU Cymru website to download an application form.

Alternatively, they can contact the NFU Cymru office by telephoning 01982 554200 or emailing clare.williams@nfu.org.uk.
A tourist has been hit with a hefty fine after getting too close to a walrus in Norway.

A man has been fined for approaching a walrus

The man was slapped with a fine of 12,500 Norwegian Kroner (900) after he ventured onto an ice floe in the archipelago of Svalbard last week and "disturbed a walrus that was lying on the ice".

Members of the public saw the man in question approaching the mammal and reported him to the local governor while "parts of the incident were also observed by the governor's employees".

Laws in Svalbard mean that humans must behave in a way that does not lead to unnecessary disturbance of the wildlife.

The authorities said in a statement: "The governor encourages everyone to keep a good distance from walruses so that they are not disturbed and so that no danger to people can occur."

The offending tourist was brought to the governor's office where he accepted his punishment.
Women who vape could be reducing their chances of having kids.

Vaping women are damaging their chances of having children

Scientists have found that female e-cigarette users between the ages of 36 and 40 have a fifth less of the hormone AMH - an indicator of fertility - than those who do not vape.

The study by the UK fertility firm Hertility analysed data from 325,000 women and the company's boss Dr. Helen O'Neill has warned females to stop vaping if they want to increase their chances of getting pregnant.

She said: "This is the first piece of evidence to show a link between fertility and vaping across a large population.

"It shows AMH is suppressed in vapers compared to non-vapers in a similar way to smokers."

The research also found that seven per cent of females trying to conceive continued to use recreational drugs and four per cent were drinking more alcohol than recommended by the NHS.

Dr. O'Neill added: "The best advice is to stop, as opposed to cutting down or trying in moderation."
When We Were Silent, my debut novel, is a dark academia thriller set in a private convent school in 1980s Dublin. Lou Manson is an outsider in the throes of grief and rage when she joins Highfield Manor, a private convent school. Beyond the granite pillars and the wrought-iron gates is a world of wealth, privilege and potential  and the abuse Lou has come to expose. But the deeper Lou digs, the more she discovers that the Highfield elite will go to any lengths to protect their own reputation, even when the consequences are fatal.

Fiona McPhillips

Thirty years later, Lou has rebuilt her life after the harrowing events of the so-called Highfield Affair when she is called to testify in a new lawsuit against the school. But telling the truth means confronting her own complicity and there is one story she swore shed never tell.

When We Were Silent tackles the issues around sexual abuse  naming it and standing up to it, listening to women and girls, speaking out and calling it out. But its rarely that simple.

Its not as straightforward as just being brave enough to speak. Its exhausting to relive trauma, to choose the right words, to present as a worthy victim. Speaking out is often wielded as the weapon that will destroy abusers, as if men will crumble when their dirty deeds are exposed. As if speech alone will protect the speaker.

Its simply not enough to place the burden on victims to tell their stories without putting in place structures that will allow them to speak without penalty. What we have now is a system that questions everything women say, that demands they prove themselves and that gives agency to mens anger against them.

There is also a hierarchy of who we are more likely to believe. The elements of class, from money to status to accent and appearance, bestow credibility and without them, women are too often accused of making up stories of sexual abuse for fame and money. In When We Were Silent, Lous working-class background is used to discredit her over and over again while a blind eye is often turned to the behaviour of her wealthy peers. The character Shaunas elite position at the school lifts her perceived worth above that of her peers so that any lapses in morality are excused and even ignored by Highfield, while Lou is hit with the full force of the establishment.

However, sometimes it is those with the most to lose who are least likely to speak. Lou has nothing to lose at 17 but everything at 49. As a professional adult, she has more status than she could have imagined as a teen. But the power that comes with that is a double-edged sword as she can lose it all if she challenges the status quo that supports it.

Similarly, Lous peers at Highfield have their swimming careers on the line so despite their wealth and privilege, they are afraid to speak. Just because they have one type of power, it doesnt make them immune to other forms of it.

In When We Were Silent, the absolute power that teacher McQueen wields (as a respected, successful white man with the full backing of the establishment) is something that MeToo tackled and has been diluted in recent years both by legislation and a change in attitudes. But power is rarely absolute and it takes a long time to understand the different layers of it, and most teenagers arent fully alert to the subtleties at play. Especially not the all-encompassing and often internalised power of social norms and expectation.

It takes the power of solidarity for women to be believed. But we need more than that. Solidarity and support has to come from all sides. Its not women versus men or rich versus poor. It doesnt matter what the victim was wearing, how much she had to drink, whether or not she was in a relationship with her abuser, how many sexual partners shes had. Social change does not happen on its own. We need to legislate for this.

In Ireland, if the accused believes, however mistakenly, that a woman consented to sex, he can use this as a defence. This is not good enough. There have been recent proposals to change this so that the belief would have to be one that a reasonable person would hold. There are also suggested changes to the way in which character references are given. This is also welcome. The idea that a mans right to his good name outweighs his victims right to justice is still a pervasive one and is possibly the biggest obstacle to giving women a voice. Only 3% of rape allegations are false. Good men do bad things and its time to shift the focus from the victim to the perpetrator.

When We Were Silent is an exploration of power, corruption and retribution but it is also a love letter to all the women who have fought so hard for change and continue to do so in a country still coming to terms with its dark and abusive past.

When We Were Silent by Fiona McPhillips is published by Bantam (16.99)
Sofia Vergara feels she can't be too "picky" about who she dates.

Sofia Vergara has opened up about her love life

The 51-year-old actress announced her split from Joe Manganiello last year, but she remains open to the idea of dating another celebrity.

Sofia told PEOPLE: "I mean, its already hard for a 50-something-year-old woman to find someone. Im not going to be now picky about, 'Oh, he can only be a doctor. Oh, he can only be an astronaut.' No, I mean, Im not that picky."

Sofia has learned that love can be a "tricky" thing.

The Hollywood star - who married Joe in 2015 - explained: "You never know what the future is going to bring.

"You need to always give the best that you can, be the best person to the other person. Be there for them when they need you, when theyre going through the hardest time. Hopefully that will one day come back to you."

Sofia has a 32-year-old son called Manolo with her first husband, Joe Gonzalez.

And the actress revealed that she's actually looking forward to becoming a grandmother one day.

She added: "I already kind of like what he does with me. Manolo has a dog, and on the weekends he just drops the dog at my house. And I used to drop him at my moms house during the weekend so that I could at least go out every once in a while."

Sofia - who was born in Colombia but emigrated to the US in the late 90s - feels she's gained a lot of "knowledge" because of everything she's been through in her life.

Asked what she appreciates about being in her 50s, Sofia shared: "Its all the knowledge. Thats all. Ive never really cared that much about what people think. But now I really care less."
The total foreign direct investment (FDI) disbursed in Vietnam between January and April this year is estimated to be worth $6.28 billionup by 7.4 per cent year on year (YoY), the highest four-month amount in the last five years, the general statistics office (GSO) said.

The processing-manufacturing sector witnessed the largest amount: $4.93 billion, accounting for 78.5 per cent of the total FDI disbursed in the country during the period. It also led the newly-registered FDI capital at nearly $5 billion.

By April 20 this year, total FDI inflows into the country had reached nearly $9.27 billion, a YoY rise of 4.5 per cent.

The total FDI disbursed in Vietnam in January-April 2024 was an estimated $6.28 billionup by 7.4 per cent YoY, the highest four-month amount in the last five years. By April 20, total FDI inflows had reached nearly $9.27 billion, a YoY rise of 4.5 per cent. Meanwhile, Vietnamese investors invested $98.3 million in 36 new projects abroad during the period.

Of the total, $7.11 billion was poured into 966 new projects, an increase of 28.8 per cent YoY in the number of projects and 73.2 per cent YoY in the capital amount.

Among the 50 countries and territories with newly-licenced projects in Vietnam in the first four months this year, Singapore contributed the highest with $2.59 billion, making up 36.4 per cent of the total.

Hong Kong came second with $898.6 million, while Japan ranked third at $814.1 million.

Foreign investors also poured $929.6 million into 902 capital contribution and share purchase deals during the period, a news agency reported.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese investors invested $98.3 million in 36 new projects abroad during the four-month perioddown by 29.8 per cent YoY, along with $580,000 in three operating projects.

The Netherlands received the highest investment capital ($54.6 million) from Vietnam among the 14 countries and territories that attracted Vietnamese investment.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
US cotton net sales of Upland totalling 97,400 RB (running bales, each weighing 226.8 kg or 500 pounds) for 2023-24 were 45 per cent down from the previous week and 20 per cent from the prior 4-week average.

According to the export sales report from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) for the week ending April 25, cotton export sales increased primarily for Vietnam (29,600 RB, including 1,100 RB switched from South Korea and 400 RB switched from Japan), Pakistan (17,400 RB), China (15,000 RB, including decreases of 3,600 RB), India (7,100 RB, including decreases of 100 RB), and Bangladesh (6,300 RB). However, the gain was offset by reductions for South Korea (1,100 RB) and Mexico (600 RB).

US cotton net sales of Upland for 2023-24 dropped 45 per cent from last week and 20 per cent from 4-week average. Exports surged for Vietnam, Pakistan, China, India, and Bangladesh but declined for South Korea and Mexico. Pima sales for 2023-24 dropped 63 per cent, with increased exports to Vietnam, China, India, Colombia and Pakistan, but decreased overall.

Net sales of 34,400 RB for the next crop year 2024-25, primarily for Vietnam (9,200 RB), Turkiye (7,500 RB), Mexico (5,400 RB), Pakistan (4,400 RB), and Ecuador (4,400 RB), were offset by reductions for Guatemala (4,000 RB). Exports of 180,000 RB were down 31 per cent from the previous week and 39 per cent from the prior 4-week average. The destinations were primarily China (56,100 RB), Pakistan (30,200 RB), Turkiye (25,400 RB), Vietnam (16,100 RB), and Mexico (7,600 RB).

US cotton net sales of Pima totalling 4,600 RB for 2023-24 were down 63 per cent from the previous week and 25 per cent from the prior 4-week average. Increases were reported for Vietnam (1,800 RB), China (1,500 RB), India (600 RB, including decreases of 800 RB), Colombia (500 RB), and Pakistan (200 RB). Exports of 4,600 RB were down 55 per cent from the previous week and 51 per cent from the prior 4-week average. The destinations were India (1,900 RB), China (1,700 RB), Pakistan (600 RB), Thailand (200 RB), and Colombia (200 RB).

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)
Milrem Robotics, Europe's leading robotics and autonomous systems developer, is to introduce its most advanced autonomous combat support unmanned ground vehicle (UGV), THeMIS, at the Defense Services Asia (DSA) exhibition in Kuala Lumpur.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240501367206/en/

THeMIS UGVs can be utilised for a wide range of missions, including logistics, casualty evacuation, reconnaissance, and, equipped with remote weapon systems, for combat operations, making them invaluable assets for modern armed forces. The vehicle on display at DSA is configured to transport cargo and for casualty evacuation. The same systems are combat-proven and are currently deployed in Ukraine. (Photo: Business Wire)

The THeMIS UGV is an operationally proven multi-role UGV that considerably enhances combat effectiveness while reducing manpower requirements. These vehicles can be utilised for a wide range of missions, including logistics, casualty evacuation, reconnaissance, and, equipped with remote weapon systems, for combat operations, making them invaluable assets for modern armed forces.

The vehicle on display at DSA is configured to transport cargo and for casualty evacuation. The same systems are combat-proven and are currently deployed in Ukraine. The Royal Thai Army is using a combat THeMIS UGV.

"UGVs, equipped with advanced technologies and autonomous capabilities, are already playing a crucial role in assisting and even replacing soldiers on the battlefield. These cutting-edge systems not only enhance operational efficiency but also significantly mitigate risks to human life," explained Patrick E. Shepherd, Chief Sales Officer of Milrem Robotics.

"Moreover, the deployment of UGVs reduces the burden on human troops, allowing them to focus on strategic planning and higher-level tasks while delegating repetitive or dangerous missions to autonomous systems," Shepherd added.

THeMIS UGVs are equipped with Milrem Robotics' Intelligent Functions Kit MIFIK that leverages state-of-the-art artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms and allows operators to plan missions using waypoint navigation and set en-route vehicle behaviours. The UGVs can operate autonomously in complex and dynamic environments, drastically reducing the need for human intervention and reducing the need for large manpower deployments.

The THeMIS UGV is part of robotics programs in 16 different countries internationally, eight of which are members of NATO, including Estonia, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, the UK, and the US.

At DSA, the THeMIS Cargo can be found in the UAE Pavilion in hall 3, stand 3900.

Milrem Robotics is the leading European robotics and autonomous systems developer and systems integrator, with offices in Estonia, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the US. The company is known for their THeMIS and Multiscope UGVs, the Type-X Robotic Combat Vehicle and MIFIK.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240501367206/en/

Contacts:

More information

Gert Hankewitz

Director of Marketing and Communications

gert.hankewitz@milrem.com
Funding also supports the start of phase I/IIa study for lead vaccine, ITOP1

OXFORD, England, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Infinitopes Precision Immunomics, an integrated cancer biotech combining world leading platforms in precision antigen discovery with vaccine vectors capable of durably stimulating protective immune responses, today announced the completion of a 12.8m seed funding round led by Octopus Ventures. The round was heavily oversubscribed, also drawing in funds from Cancer Research Horizons, Cancer Research Institute, CRIS Cancer Foundation, Kindred Capital, Manta Ray, Martlet Capital, Meltwind Advisory, Saras Capital, Wilbe Capital, and expert angel investors. The total funds raised combine new equity investment and a prestigious non-dilutive award from Innovate UK's Future Economy Investor Partnership scheme.

Right targets, right vectors, right patients, right time

Since incorporation in 2021, Infinitopes has moved swiftly to cement its leadership position in cancer vaccines by overcoming three key challenges in the field. Firstly, using its Precision ImmunomicsTM antigen discovery technologies, the Company can identify and rank tumour signatures, without prior bias, enabling the accurate selection of novel, synergistic tumour targets. Secondly, Infinitopes continues to develop safe and effective, proprietary vector delivery systems, capable of stimulating durable T-cell responses necessary to prevent the recurrence of life-threatening cancer metastases. Finally, the Company leverages its deep knowledge of immunology, partnering with disease KOLs, in order to optimally schedule therapies to drive maximal protection for patients.

Lead phase I/IIa on schedule to begin this autumn

Infinitopes' lead asset, a novel cancer vaccine called ITOP1, is scheduled to commence a phase I/IIa study in first line cancer patients in the third quarter of 2024. This rapid transition into the clinic has become possible after receiving an Innovative Licensing & Access Pathway (ILAP) innovation passport from the UK's Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in August 2022.

Best-in-class antigen discovery

The new investment accelerates the installation of best in class, next generation LC-MS/MS mass spectrometer equipment, enhancing the company's proprietary tumour antigen discovery and computational immunobiology/AI/machine learning techniques, to identify and rank the best target combinations, to treat five more cancers.

Supported by Cancer Research UK

Infinitopes is a Cancer Research UK (CRUK)-led spinout from Oxford University, combining underlying technologies, know-how, patents and licenses that were developed with CRUK funding across the laboratories of Professor Paul Klenerman and Associate Professor Nicola Ternette, and clinical programmes led by Professor Mark Middleton.

Jonathan Kwok, CEO and co-founder of Infinitopes said:

"Since founding in September 2021, Infinitopes has established world leading capabilities to design, develop, and clinically evaluate an exciting new class of precision targeted, durable cancer vaccines. Our therapies are emerging at a time when blockbuster checkpoint inhibitors are hitting their peak, capable of preventing tumour recurrence in 30-40 per cent of patients at best. Our preclinical results suggest that our vaccines may significantly outperform them, to transform care for future cancer patients. We're excited to announce this fundraise, which enables us to pursue our uniquely integrated strategy of selecting the right targets, with the right vectors, for the right patients, at the right time in their treatment journey. We continue to seek academic and Big Pharma collaborators, smart technical investors, and passionate new hires and interns to join our mission to cure cancer."

Phil Masterson, Associate Director, Cancer Research Horizons commented:

"Infinitopes is at the forefront of the cancer vaccine revolution emerging from Covid-era technology advances. Cancer Research Horizons' investment strategy focuses on maximising patient impact - Infinitopes is empowering the immune system to fight the cancer metastases that cause 70 to 90 percent of cancer deaths through better targeting, better delivery mechanisms and better clinical trials. We are delighted to support the building of a leading company based on innovative CRUK-funded foundational science."

Hugo Villanueva, Octopus Ventures, said:

"At Octopus Ventures, we back the entrepreneurs who are revitalising healthcare. The Infinitopes team is a great example of this - their work to design, develop and clinically assess novel cancer vaccines is incredibly important, and we're delighted to support them in their work to combat cancer."

John W Cassidy, General Partner, Kindred Capital, added:

"At Kindred, we don't just invest; we partner with trailblazers who reimagine the future. Infinitopes exemplifies this spirit, weaving together scientific acumen with technological foresight to architect the next frontier in cancer care. This significant funding milestone underscores our collective commitment to empower healthcare innovation that promises not only to challenge the current paradigms but to redefine them. Infinitopes is charting a bold course towards a world where cancer is no longer a formidable foe but a conquerable condition. We are delighted to support them in this mission."

Julia Schrameier, Investor at Manta Ray, added:

"Our initial investment in Infinitopes in December 2022 was driven by our strong conviction that they were the right team at the right time to create a leading computational, proteomics-driven antigen discovery platform. Their focus on accessible, non-personalised treatments, combined with the team's deep scientific expertise and remarkable track record, distinctly set them apart from other companies in the space. After observing their impressive progress and growth over the past year, our conviction has only strengthened. Working with Jonathan and his team has been remarkable, and we are excited to follow our initial investment and continue supporting Infinitopes on its journey to cure cancer, one epitope at a time."

Infinitopes presented at the 8th Immuno Oncology Europe (London, April 23-25) and Immuno'24 (London, April 25-26) last week, and will attend the 7th European Neoantigen Summit (Amsterdam, April 29-May 1), and BioEquity (San Sebastian, May 12-14).

About Infinitopes

Infinitopes Ltd is a soon to be clinical stage, integrated cancer biotechnology company supported by Cancer Research UK (CRUK) and the University of Oxford. The Company combines two world leading platforms, in precision antigen discovery and in high efficiency, vector delivery systems, to develop immunologically durable vaccines for use against multiple solid tumour indications. The lead vaccine candidate is expected to begin phase I/IIa trials in Q3 2024. Infinitopes has cultivated in-house talent across antigen discovery, immunology, vaccinology, oncology, biomanufacturing, trials and regulation, winning an 'Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway' (ILAP) innovation passport from the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in 2022. Infinitopes has also won two prestigious, maximum size nondilutive awards from Innovate UK, a Cancer Therapeutics Award (in 2022) and a Future Economy Investor Partnership (in 2023). In 2024, the company closed its 12.8 m seed financing. Since incorporation, the Infinitopes team has grown from three co-founders to 28 full time equivalents, and is now the largest tenant of Oxford University's BioEscalator Innovation Building. For more information, visit www.infinitopes.com

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/integrated-cancer-biotech-infinitopes-secures-12-8m-seed-financing-to-enhance-its-precision-immunomics-antigen-discovery-technologies-to-target-five-more-cancers-302132932.html
Tortoise today announced the following unaudited balance sheet information and asset coverage ratio updates for TYG, NTG, TTP, NDP and TPZ.

Tortoise Energy Infrastructure Corp. (NYSE:TYG) today announced that as of April 30, 2024, the company's unaudited total assets were approximately $527.3 million and its unaudited net asset value was $413.1 million, or $38.38 per share.

As of April 30, 2024, the company's asset coverage ratio under the 1940 Act with respect to senior securities representing indebtedness was 684%, and its coverage ratio for preferred shares was 467%. For more information on the company's coverage ratios, please refer to the leverage summary web page at https://cef.tortoiseadvisors.com .

Set forth below is a summary of the company's unaudited balance sheet at April 30, 2024.

Unaudited balance sheet

(in Millions) Per Share Investments $ 523.1 $ 48.60 Cash and Cash Equivalents 0.3 0.03 Current Tax Asset 0.4 0.03 Other Assets 3.5 0.33 Total Assets 527.3 48.99 Short-Term Borrowings 26.5 2.46 Senior Notes 50.3 4.68 Preferred Stock 35.7 3.31 Total Leverage 112.5 10.45 Other Liabilities 1.7 0.16 Net Assets $ 413.1 $ 38.38

10.76 million common shares currently outstanding.

Tortoise Midstream Energy Fund, Inc. (NYSE:NTG) today announced that as of April 30, 2024, the company's unaudited total assets were approximately $294.6 million and its unaudited net asset value was $238.1 million, or $46.75 per share.

As of April 30, 2024, the company's asset coverage ratio under the 1940 Act with respect to senior securities representing indebtedness was 700%, and its coverage ratio for preferred shares was 527%. For more information on the company's coverage ratios, please refer to the leverage summary web page at https://cef.tortoiseadvisors.com .

Set forth below is a summary of the company's unaudited balance sheet at April 30, 2024.

Unaudited balance sheet

(in Millions) Per Share Investments $291.3 $ 57.20 Cash and Cash Equivalents 0.4 0.07 Current Tax Asset 0.2 0.05 Other Assets 2.7 0.53 Total Assets 294.6 57.85 Short-Term Borrowings 12.8 2.51 Senior Notes 29.2 5.73 Preferred Stock 13.7 2.70 Total Leverage 55.7 10.94 Other Liability 0.8 0.16 Net Assets $ 238.1 $ 46.75

5.09 million common shares currently outstanding.

Tortoise Pipeline & Energy Fund, Inc. (NYSE:TTP) today announced that as of April 30, 2024, the company's unaudited total assets were approximately $94.0 million and its unaudited net asset value was $77.0 million, or $38.32 per share.

As of April 30, 2024, the company's asset coverage ratio under the 1940 Act with respect to senior securities representing indebtedness was 889%, and its coverage ratio for preferred shares was 563%. For more information on the company's coverage ratios, please refer to the leverage summary web page at https://cef.tortoiseadvisors.com .

Set forth below is a summary of the company's unaudited balance sheet at April 30, 2024.

Unaudited balance sheet

(in Millions) Per Share Investments $ 92.5 $ 46.00 Cash and Cash Equivalents 0.5 0.24 Other Assets 1.0 0.49 Total Assets 94.0 46.73 Short-Term Borrowings 6.6 3.28 Senior Notes 3.9 1.96 Preferred Stock 6.1 3.03 Total Leverage 16.6 8.27 Other Liabilities .4 0.14 Net Assets $ 77..0 $ 38.32

2.01 million common shares currently outstanding.

Tortoise Energy Independence Fund, Inc. (NYSE:NDP) today announced that as of April 30, 2024, the company's unaudited total assets were approximately $76.0 million and its unaudited net asset value was $66.1 million, or $39.67 per share.

As of April 30, 2024, the company's asset coverage ratio under the 1940 Act with respect to senior securities representing indebtedness was 781%. For more information on the company's coverage ratios, please refer to the leverage summary web page at https://cef.tortoiseadvisors.com .

Set forth below is a summary of the company's unaudited balance sheet at April 30, 2024.

Unaudited balance sheet

(in Millions) Per Share Investments $ 75.2 $ 45.12 Cash and Cash Equivalents 0.5 0.27 Other Assets 0.3 0.20 Total Assets 76.0 45.59 Credit Facility Borrowings 9.7 5.82 Other Liabilities 0.2 0.1 Net Assets $ 66.1 $ 39.67

1.67 million common shares currently outstanding.

Tortoise Power and Energy Infrastructure Fund, Inc. (NYSE:TPZ) today announced that as of April 30, 2024, the company's unaudited total assets were approximately $127.4 million and its unaudited net asset value was $102.7 million, or $17.44 per share.

As of April 30, 2024, the company's asset coverage ratio under the 1940 Act with respect to senior securities representing indebtedness was 521%. For more information on the company's coverage ratios, please refer to the leverage summary web page at https://cef.tortoiseadvisors.com .

Set forth below is a summary of the company's unaudited balance sheet at April 30, 2024.

Unaudited balance sheet

(in Millions) Per Share Investments $ 125.4 $ 21.30 Cash and Cash Equivalents 0.3 0.05 Other Assets 1.7 0.28 Total Assets 127.4 21.63 Credit Facility Borrowings 24.4 4.14 Other Liabilities 0.3 0.05 Net Assets $ 102.7 $ 17.44

5.89 million common shares currently outstanding.

The top 10 holdings for TYG, NTG, TTP, NDP and TPZ as of the most recent month-end can be found on each fund's portfolio web page at https://cef.tortoiseadvisors.com .

About Tortoise

Tortoise focuses on energy & power infrastructure and the transition to cleaner energy. Tortoise's solid track record of energy value chain investment experience and research dates back more than 20 years. As an early investor in midstream energy, Tortoise believes it is well-positioned to be at the forefront of the global energy evolution that is underway. With a steady wins approach and a long-term perspective, Tortoise strives to make a positive impact on clients and communities. To learn more, please visit www.TortoiseAdvisors.com .

Tortoise Capital Advisors, L.L.C. is the adviser to Tortoise Energy Infrastructure Corp., Tortoise Midstream Energy Fund, Inc., Tortoise Pipeline & Energy Fund, Inc., Tortoise Energy Independence Fund, Inc. and Tortoise Power and Energy Infrastructure Fund, Inc.

For additional information on these funds, please visit cef.tortoiseadvisors.com.

Safe harbor statement

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer or solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the laws of such state or jurisdiction.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain statements that may include "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. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are "forward-looking statements." Although the funds and Tortoise Capital Advisors believe that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, they do involve assumptions, risks and uncertainties, and these expectations may prove to be incorrect. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors, including those discussed in the fund's reports that are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Other than as required by law, the funds and Tortoise Capital Advisors do not assume a duty to update this forward-looking statement.

Contact information

For more information contact Eva Lipner at (913) 981-1020 or info@tortoiseadvisors.com.

SOURCE: Tortoise

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 1, 2024) - Nexus Uranium Corp. (CSE: NEXU) (OTCQB: GIDMF) (FSE: 3H1) (the "Company" or "Nexus Uranium") announces that it has granted an aggregate of 1,000,000 stock options ("Options") to its directors, officers and consultants.

Each Option is exercisable to acquire one common share at an exercise price of $0.55 for five years. The Options are subject to a one-year vesting period, with 25% of the Options vesting on August 1, 2024 and 25% vesting every three months thereafter.

About Nexus Uranium Corp.

Nexus Uranium is a multi-commodity development company focused on advancing the Cree East uranium project in the Athabasca Basin and the Wray Mesa uranium-vanadium project in Utah in addition to its precious metals portfolio that includes the development-stage Independence mine located adjacent to Nevada Gold Mine's Phoenix-Fortitude mine in Nevada, the Napoleon gold project in British Columbia, and a package of gold claims in the Yukon. The Cree East project is one of the largest projects within the Athabasca Basin of Saskatchewan spanning 57,752 hectares (142,708 acres) and has seen over $20 million in exploration to date. The Wray Mesa project covers 6,282 acres within the heart of the prolific Uruvan mining district in Utah and has extensive historical drilling of over 500 holes defining multiple mineralized zones. The Independence project hosts an M&I (measured and indicated) resource of 334,300 ounces of gold (28M tonnes at 0.41 g/t gold) and an inferred resource of 847,000 ounces (9M tonnes at 3.22 g/t gold) of gold with a substantial silver credit. A 2022 Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) outlined a low-cost heap leach operation focusing on the near-surface resource with total production of 195,443 ounces of gold at an all-in sustaining cost of $1,078 (U.S.) per ounce of gold. The Napoleon project comprises over 1,000 hectares and prospective for multiple forms of gold mineralization, with exploration in the area dating back to the 1970s with the discovery of high-grade gold. The Yukon gold projects are comprised of almost 8,000 hectares of quartz claims prospective for high-grade gold mineralization with historical grab sampling highlights of 144 g/t gold.

Nexus Uranium cautions investors the preliminary economic assessment is preliminary in nature, it includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the preliminary economic assessment will be realized. The Company further cautions investors Mineral Resources which are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability and further cautions investors the quantity and grade of the reported inferred Mineral Resources are uncertain in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define these inferred Mineral Resources as indicated Mineral Resources.

The Company cautions investors it has yet to verify the historical data and further cautions investors grab samples are selective by nature and are unlikely to represent average grades of sampling on the entire property.

The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Warren D. Robb, P.Geo. (BC), a Director and VP Exploration of Nexus Uranium Corp. and a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101.

----

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Jeremy Poirier

Chief Executive Officer

info@nexusuranium.com

This news release includes certain statements and information that may constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Generally, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "intends" or "anticipates", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "should", "would" or "occur". All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical facts, including statements regarding future estimates, plans, objectives, timing, assumptions or expectations of future performance are forward-looking statements and contain forward-looking information.

Forward-looking statements are based on certain material assumptions and analysis made by the Company and the opinions and estimates of management as of the date of this news release. These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, including, but not limited to general market and industry conditions, as well as those risk factors discussed in the Company's most recently filed management's discussion & analysis.

Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement, forward-looking information or financial outlook that are incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/207694

SOURCE: Nexus Uranium Corp.
NextGen Food Robotics Corp. (the "Company" or "NextGen") (CBOE:NGRB)(OTC PINK:NGRBF)(Frankfurt:O83) announces that, pursuant to Section 11.5 of National Instrument 51-102 - Continuous Disclosure Obligations, as a result of a review by the British Columbia Securities Commission, it plans to amend and refile its interim management's discussion and analysis ("MD&A") for the three and nine months ended January 31, 2024 (as amended, the "Amended MD&A") to clarify its disclosure. The Amended MD&A is expected to provide revised and updated disclosure respecting, among other things, the Company's operations, revenues, equipment and machinery, leased facilities, marketing expenses and development of the Lily App.

The changes noted above will be intended to enhance and update the disclosure that was included in the originally filed MD&A for the three and nine months ended January 31, 2024 and provide readers with a more detailed discussion of the Company's operations. The updates are not expected to have any effect on the Company's financial position, and the Company does not intend to amend or restate its interim financial statements for the three and nine months ended January 31, 2024. The Company intends to file the Amended MD&A as soon as possible and will issue another press release announcing the same upon the filing date.

About NextGen Food Robotics

Nextgen Food Robotics is a food manufacturing company that operates commissary kitchens from its two locations in Vancouver. Additionally, Nextgen is developing the "Lily app", which is an AI-powered food application.

For investor inquiries or further information, please contact:

Paul Rivas, Chief Executive Officer

1 (236) 471-1357

privas@nextgenai.ca

Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws with respect to the Company. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by words such as "believe," "project," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "strategy," "future," "opportunity," "plan," "may," "should," "will," "would," and similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements include statements regarding the Company's intention to file the Amended MD&A and the expected timing thereof; the changes that will be included in the final Amended MD&A; that the Company will not be amending or restating its financial statements for the same period; and the subsequent press release announcing the filing of the Amended MD&A. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking statements and information are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements and information because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements and information address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this press release. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable laws.

Neither Cboe Canada nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the Listing Manual of Cboe Canada) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

SOURCE: NextGen Food Robotics Corp.

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 1, 2024) - European Energy Metals (TSXV: FIN) (FSE: W28) ("European Energy Metals" or the "Company") announces that it has granted an aggregate of 1,150,000 stock options ("Options") to its directors and officers.

Each Option is exercisable to acquire one common share at an exercise price of $0.36 for five years. The Options are subject to a one-year vesting period, with 25% of the Options vesting on July 30, 2024 and 25% vesting every three months thereafter.

About European Energy Metals Corp.

European Energy Metals Corp. is a junior mining company currently focussed on the Lithium-Cesium-Tantalum Finnish Pegmatite Project in central Finland. Governing bodies in Europe and Finland are legislating environmentally friendly and energy independent laws and policies. One of the key components is access to REE and, specifically, lithium. The Company's concessions are located within 15 kms of the Keliber mine and production complex, currently under construction and expected to begin production in H2 2025. The Company cautions the presence of lithium mineralization on Keliber's properties is not necessarily indicative of similar mineralization on the Company's mineral reservations.

An estimated 600 million investment by Keliber's parent company Sibanye-Stillwater Limited (NYSE: SBSW) in partnership with the Finnish Minerals Group (www.mineralsgroup.fi) is underway in the Kautinen Region and will see the development of open-pit and underground mining from several deposits, construction of a central spodumene concentrator plant and a lithium hydroxide chemical plant at tidewater in Kokkola. When completed, this complex will comprise a complete hard-rock spodumene pegmatite lithium supply chain (source: www.sibanyestillwater.com).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Jeremy Poirier, CEO

Telephone: 604-722-9842

Email: info@europeanenergymetals.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. 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. Such statements include, without limitation, statements regarding the future results of operations, performance and achievements of the Company, including the presence of lithium mineralization at, and the exploration and development potential of, the Finnish Pegmatite. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurances that such expectations will prove to be correct. All such forward-looking information is based on certain assumptions and analyses made by the Company in light of their experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors management believes are appropriate in the circumstances. This information, however, 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. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from this forward-looking information include the costs of any anticipated work programs and the ability to fund such costs, required approvals in connection with any work programs and the ability to obtain such approvals, risks inherent in exploration as well as those described under the heading "Risks and Uncertainties" in the Company's most recently filed MD&A. The Company does not intend, and expressly disclaims any obligation to, update or revise the forward-looking information contained in this news release, except as required by law. Readers are 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/207695

SOURCE: European Energy Metals Corp.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 1, 2024) - Medaro Mining Corp. (CSE: MEDA) ("Medaro" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has amended its option agreement (as amended, the "Amended Option Agreement") with Skyharbour Resources Ltd. ("Skyharbour") dated November 1, 2021, as amended on November 14, 2023, pursuant to which the Company holds an option to acquire a 100% interest in the Yurchison uranium property located in the Wollaston Domain of Northern Saskatchewan (the "Property"). The Company paid Skyharbour a fee of $2,500 in consideration for the amendment.

Pursuant to the Amended Option Agreement, the Company must make and incur the following outstanding cash payments, share issuances, and exploration expenditures to satisfy its earn-in obligations:

issue Skyharbour 825,000 common shares in the capital of the Company (the "Shares") at a deemed price of $0.40 per Share, on or before May 2, 2024; pay Skyharbour $250,000 in cash and incur $1,500,000 in exploration expenditures on the Property by May 1, 2025; and pay Skyharbour $250,000 in cash, issue Skyharbour $1,670,000 worth of Shares, and incur $3,000,000 in exploration expenditures on the Property by November 1, 2025. The 20-day volume weighted average price will be used in calculating the value of any Shares issued.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

Michael Mulberry

CEO & Director

About the Company

The Company is a lithium exploration company based in Vancouver, BC, and holds options over the Darlin, Rapide, Lac La Motte and CYR South lithium properties in Quebec and the Yurichson Uranium property in the Athabasca basin in Saskatchewan. The Company owns the James Bay Pontax Project in Quebec. The Company is a party to a joint venture agreement that engages the Company in the development and commercialization of a new process to extract lithium from spodumene concentrate.

For more information, investors should review the Company's filings that are available at www.sedarplus.ca.

Contact Information

info@medaromining.com

778-837-7191

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements that are not historical facts, including without limitation, statements regarding future estimates, plans, programs, forecasts, projections, objectives, assumptions, expectations or beliefs of future performance, including statements regarding the acquisition of the Property and the Company's earn-in obligations under the Amended Option Agreement, are "forward-looking statements." These forward-looking statements reflect the expectations or beliefs of management of the Company based on information currently available to it. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including those detailed from time to time in filings made by the Company with securities regulatory authorities, which may cause actual outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. These factors should be considered carefully, and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws.

Neither Canadian Securities Exchange nor its regulation services provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/207696

SOURCE: Medaro Mining Corp.


EQS Newswire / 02/05/2024 / 10:33 UTC+8

Macau, May 2, 2024 - Macau Pass S.A., a leading payment services enterprise in Macau, in collaboration with HSBC, won the "Best Cash Management Solution" award at The Asset Triple A Treasure Awards 2024 hosted by the renowned Asian financial magazine, The Asset, for the Macau region. This recognition is a testament to our outstanding achievements and innovative breakthroughs made by Macau Pass and HSBC in the field of cross-bank automated merchant fund settlement. The Asset Triple A Treasurise Awards aim to recognize enterprises and financial institutions with outstanding performance in corporate treasury, trade finance, supply chain, risk management initiatives implemented in the past year across the Asia-Pacific, Middle East, Europe, and North America. The awards hold significant influence in the international financial market and are considered one of the most credible accolades in the Asian investment community.

Since established in 2005, Macau Pass has been one of the largest payment acquiring service providers in Macau. Faced with the significant challenge of settling a large volume of daily transactions, Macau Pass has partnered with HSBC to enhance payment processing speed and strengthen real-time fund flow monitoring and reconciliation through innovative solutions. This collaboration has significantly improved the efficiency of Macau Pass' daily settlement payments to merchants, jointly driving the digital upgrade of Macau's payment services. This successful practice demonstrates the leading position and innovative spirit of both parties in the field of payment technology, as well as their professional capabilities in providing efficient and secure financial management solutions. Sun Ho, Chairman and CEO of Macau Pass, said, "Winning this award showcases Macau Pass' steadfast steps in digital transformation. Technological innovation will bring tremendous business opportunities to Macau Pass and further our progress in the digital journey. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with leading international financial institutions, including HSBC, to bring more value to our clients." Grace Suen, Head of Wholesale Banking, HSBC Macau, said, "Macau Pass is the first customer of HSBC Macau to utilize the Smart API. We are delighted to collaborate with Macau Pass in making use of financial technology to develope innovative cash management solutions. HSBC will continue to invest in technology to make banking simpler, faster and better for our corporate customers. " 02/05/2024 Dissemination of a Financial Press Release, transmitted by EQS News.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.



Media archive at www.todayir.com


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

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The new product enables registered users in the EEA to make everyday payments with their crypto holdings, and integrates seamlessly with CEX.IO App.

VILNIUS, May 02, 2024, a global ecosystem working to bridge the worlds of crypto and traditional finance, announces the debut of CEX.IO Card, a debit card that empowers users to seamlessly spend their crypto assets on everyday purchases. This innovative product marks a pivotal step forward in CEX.IO's mission to simplify crypto adoption, and bring the benefits of decentralized finance to the masses.



The CEX.IO Card seamlessly integrates into users' existing spending habits, allowing them to effortlessly make purchases with millions of merchants who accept Mastercard, in over 150 countries. Users can fund their cards via a variety of accessible methods, including bank transfers, as well as fiat and crypto deposits. In addition, they may set ranked priorities for their preferred methods, ensuring they always have access to the funds they want and need.

"We want the crypto landscape to be welcoming to newcomers and experienced users alike," said Oleksandr Lutskevych, Founder and CEO of CEX.IO. "That's why we created the CEX.IO Card - our most intuitive solution yet for bridging the gap between the familiar world of traditional finance, and the exciting potential of decentralized finance."

In addition to convenient funding methods, and the increased ease of spending crypto assets on real-world purchases, the CEX.IO Card offers additional, compelling features, including:

Zero Fees: No issuance or maintenance fees for card holders, making it an accessible and cost-effective choice for European Economic Area (EEA)-based users.

Security: Benefit from robust security measures, protecting the safety of funds and transactions.

Mobile Forward: Card transactions enjoy seamless integration via the CEX.IO App.

Users of the newly-updated CEX.IO App will be able to fully weave the CEX.IO Card into their financial lives, with the ability to link and prioritize multiple crypto assets, eliminating the need for manual crypto conversions. In addition, customers can set spending limits, add their card to Apple and Google Pay, and accomplish it all wherever their smartphone takes them.



"CEX.IO was the first crypto platform to introduce credit and debit card purchases for Bitcoin, and we're thrilled to bring this revolutionary concept full circle through the enablement of crypto-to-fiat spending," added Lutskevych. "We're committed to making crypto accessible to everyone, and the introduction of our card is further testament to that resolve."

While CEX.IO Card is currently available only to EEA residents, the company has plans to expand to additional regions in the near future. To learn more about CEX.IO Card, click here.

###

ABOUT CEX.IO

CEX.IOwas founded in 2013 with a mission to support global financial inclusion through the adoption of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. As one of the most tenured market participants, CEX.IOoffers a comprehensive ecosystem of intuitive solutions built with safety and security at their core, enabling users to trade, store, transfer and earn digital assets. With over six million registered users globally, CEX.IO helps retail, enterprise, and institutional customers seize opportunities in decentralized finance every day. Learn more at CEX.IOor connect with us on LinkedIn.

 2024 | CEX.IO Ltd All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced or retransmitted without permission.

CEX.IO is a trading name of, and [digital asset platform products and services] are offered by: in the U.S., CEX.IO Corp., registered with FinCEN in jurisdictions where it is licensed to operate as a Money Service Business (MSB Activities 409 499), registered office 900 E Diehl Rd STE 110, Naperville, IL 60563; In Europe, CEX.IO EU VASP, UAB is registered as the Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) and depository virtual currency wallets operator in the State Enterprise Centre of Registers of the Republic of Lithuania, registration number 306186479; CEX OVRS LLC, registered in St. Kitts & St. Nevis, No. L 22275, registered office Suite 1, A.L. Evelyn LTD Building, Charlestown, Nevis. CEX.IO Limited and CEX OVRS LLC are subsidiaries of CEX.IO Holding Ltd.

These materials are for informational purposes only, and are not intended to be used for trading or investment purposes or as an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any security or financial product. These materials do not provide any form of advice (investment, tax or legal). CEX.IO is not a registered investment adviser and does not provide investment advice or recommendations to buy or sell securities, to hire any investment adviser or to pursue any investment or trading strategy.

The value of digital and virtual currencies is derived from supply and demand in the global marketplace which can rise or fall independently of any fiat or government currency.

Holding digital and virtual currencies carries exchange rate and other types of risk.

Transactions in virtual currency are irrevocable, and, accordingly, losses due to fraudulent or accidental transactions may result in the loss of your money with no recourse.

Any questions regarding this document or application of any law, rule or regulation can be referred to us via email at [compliance@cex.io].

All trademarks, service marks, and trade names not owned by CEX.IO Ltd are the property of their respective owners.



Please refer to the Terms of Usefor more details.
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Open Society Justice Initiative Files Complaint to the UN Human Rights Committee

New York, May 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Russian Federation has been accused before the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva of carrying out a deliberate attack on a hospital in Syria-in a legal action that highlights Moscow's repeated use of military force against health care facilities in Syria, where its forces have been supporting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

A complaint before the Committee, filed on May 1, focuses on a series of air strikes on Kafr Nabl Surgical Hospital in Idlib province on May 5, 2019.

It accuses the Russian Air Force of killing two civilians and endangering the lives of all those working in and using the hospital at the time-medical practitioners, patients, support staff, and visitors.

The complaint has been brought before the Committee by a Syrian man whose two cousins were killed by the attack, and by Hand in Hand for Aid and Development, the humanitarian NGO that was supporting the hospital at the time. Hand in Hand is representing the interests of the patients of the hospital.

The applicants are represented by lawyers of the Open Society Justice Initiative, with Professor Philip Leach, professor of human rights law at the UK's Middlesex University as co-counsel.

The evidence being presented to the Committee includes a detailed account of the Russian Air Force attack on the hospital at Kafr Nabl, and on three other hospitals near Kafr Nabl in just 12 hours on May 5-6, 2019. There was no fighting near the hospital at the time of the attack, which lay in opposition-controlled territory some 20km away from the front line.

The complaint draws on a wealth of video and audio recordings made at the time, as well as eyewitness accounts that point to direct Russian Air Force involvement in coordinating and executing the attacks. The material includes observations of Russian aircraft in the area at the relevant time, and audio recordings of communications between a Russian pilot and Russian ground control, authorizing the release of aerial munitions and confirming that the aerial munitions had been dropped, at the precise times that strikes were captured on video. Some of the material included as evidence in the complaint was used by the New York Timesin a special report published on October 13, 2019.

Fadi al-Dairi, the director of Hand in Hand, said: "The Russian air force attack on Kafr Nabl hospital was a well-documented atrocity that was part of a systematic assault on hospitals and healthcare facilities in opposition-held territory in Syria in 2019. The coordinates of the hospital had been shared with Russia by the UN under the UN Deconfliction Mechanism. Syrians are looking to the Human Rights Committee to show us some measure of redress by acknowledging the truth of this brutal attack, and the suffering caused."

James A. Goldston, executive director of the Justice Initiative, said: "This complaint before a preeminent international human rights tribunal exposes the Russian government and armed forces' deliberate strategy of targeting healthcare in clear violation of the laws of war. It must remind us all that attacks on protected healthcare facilities-whether in Syria, Sudan, Ukraine, or the Gaza Strip-are an abomination that must never be normalized."

The complaint is being supported by expert analyses prepared by Syrian Archive and Physicians for Human Rights. Physicians for Human Rights has documented 604 attacks against medical facilities in Syria since 2011, the overwhelming majority conducted by Syrian and Russian forces.

Houssam al-Nahhas, MD, Middle East and North Africa Researcher for Physicians for Human Rights, said: "Widespread and systematic attacks on health care in Syria are part of a strategy implemented by the Syrian and Russian governments, devastating the country's health care system. Despite the seriousness of these crimes, no perpetrators have ever faced accountability. We hope this landmark case helps to end the impunity for attacks on health care in Syria and serve as a warning to perpetrators in other conflicts around the world."

The Geneva-based Human Rights Committee is a body of 18 independent experts that monitors implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which has been signed by 173 countries. Under the ICCPR's Optional Protocol, which the Russian Federation signed in 1990, individuals can bring complaints against signatory states before the Committee over rights violations.

The complaint accuses the Russian Federation of perpetrating a clear and serious violation of International Humanitarian Law by deliberately attacking a protected medical facility, in breach of the Right to Life under the ICCPR. The attack killed two brothers and endangered the lives of everyone working in and using the busy hospital. The hospital was operating normally at the time of the attack and neither Russia nor Syria provided any warning before the attack. This is not the only time the facility was targeted: Kafr Nabl Hospital was attacked 13 times between 2014 and 2019.

From a legal perspective, a decision against Russia would provide significant new jurisprudence on the extraterritorial obligations of States in armed conflict, and would pave the way for progressive decisions from other human rights bodies and courts.

The Open Society Justice Initiative is part of the Open Society Foundations, and pursues strategic litigation on a range of issues including advancing human rights and advancing the rule of law. Its work on Syria has included supporting efforts to bring top Syrian officials and leaders to trial before national courts in Europe for crimes against humanity committed in Syria.
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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2024 / (TSX:NANO)(OTC PINK:NNOMF)(Frankfurt:LBMB)

Highlights:

Strategic Alliance Agreement and License Agreement with Worley, a global engineering leader in sustainability solutions.

Strategic Alliance Agreement to develop, market, and deploy One-Pot enabled cathode plant design.

License Agreement to govern licensing, fees and other remuneration to both parties.

Design-once-build-many growth strategy to accelerate deployment of One-Pot LFP and other cathode chemistries.

Leverages technology, know-how, credibility and global relationships of both parties.

Reduces risk and cost to accelerate project certainty, financial decisions and permitting.

Design package to include IP, know-how, flow sheets, engineering and key equipment.

Worley to also design and fabricate reactors optimized for the One-Pot process.

Nano One Materials Corp. ("Nano One") a clean technology company with patented processes for the sustainable production of lithium-ion battery cathode active materials (CAM), and Worley Chemetics, a wholly owned Canadian subsidiary of Worley Limited have entered into a Strategic Alliance Agreement and a License Agreement for the purposes of jointly developing, marketing and licensing a process engineering design package for the deployment of cathode active material (CAM) production facilities with potential customers in the lithium-ion battery materials sector. Through Worley Chemetics, Worley offers technology and solutions for sulphuric acid and other specialty chemicals facilities.

"This licensing agreement and global strategic alliance with Worley is another major milestone for Nano One," said Nano One CEO, Dan Blondal. "It adds to the growing confidence of our shareholders, partners, and government stakeholders. It amplifies the value of our One-Pot process and addresses a growing need for a new generation of scalable battery cathode material production technology and clean, diversified supply chains. Worley has a global network of clients, deep engineering knowledge and a track record of designing and building process facilities that can accelerate our design-once-build-many growth strategy. We have found in Worley a collaborative, insightful and visionary team that is just as passionate about changing how the world makes battery materials as we are."

Under the Strategic Alliance Agreement, Nano One and Worley will jointly develop a holistic technology CAM package that incorporates Nano One's proprietary One-Pot process into a modular process engineering design package with intellectual property rights, flow sheets, detailed engineering, the operational know-how of both parties and applicable proprietary equipment. Worley Chemetics will also design and fabricate One-Pot reactors made with customized metal alloys. The License Agreement oversees the sale of CAM packages, including necessary cross-licensing of intellectual property, license fees and remuneration to both parties over a term of up to 20 years.

The One-Pot enabled CAM package will be marketed, sold and deployed to a wide range of customers in North America, Europe, the Indo-Pacific and other regions globally, enabling them to develop competitive CAM production assets to meet emerging market demand in renewable energy storage and electric vehicle sectors. The CAM package is expected to reduce risk and cost, while accelerating the timeline to project certainty and financial investment decision with easier permitting and broader community acceptance.

Worley's Chief Executive Officer, Chris Ashton, said, "We're pleased to work with Nano One to bring the One-Pot process to market, which aligns with our technology solutions strategy of commercializing and scaling technologies that accelerate lower cost, lower carbon solutions."

Worley Limited is an A$8.59B1 global professional engineering company of energy, chemicals and resources experts. With nearly 50,0002 people across 45 countries3, Worley brings a global team to the Nano One - Worley alliance, with a commitment to sustainability, and specialization in designing and delivery of battery materials facilities, including first-of-a-kind technology scale-up and deployment. Battery Materials is a key growth area for Worley with AUD 1.5B in new business since July 20214.

Nano One brings its patented One-Pot process to the alliance as well as its innovation hub in Burnaby, British Columbia, its LFP CAM demonstration facility in Candiac, Quebec and one of the most experienced LFP teams outside of Asia, having produced and sold LFP CAM for 10-plus years in automotive and energy storage sectors. The One-Pot process makes commercially competitive cathode materials by combining the processes for precursor CAM (pCAM) and CAM, thereby enabling a smaller physical footprint than incumbent processes5 and up to 60% fewer GHGs for NMC, 50% fewer GHGs for LFP and 80% less process water6. Equally important, the One-Pot process eliminates wastewater and harmful sodium/ammonium sulphate by-products, a major disposal and permitting challenge in current cathode material production processes. The technology also leverages localized and sustainable sources of raw material inputs to enable a secure and diversified supply chain7.

Mr. Blondal added, "Our partnership with Worley is a collaborative technology delivery business model proven in energy and chemicals sectors, and we are very much looking forward to pioneering this in the battery materials sector, and leading the way with Worley."

###

About Worley

Worley is a global professional services company of energy, chemicals and resources experts. We partner with customers to deliver projects and create value over the life of their assets. We're bridging two worlds, moving towards more sustainable energy sources, while helping to provide the energy, chemicals and resources needed now.

Worley Limited is headquartered in Australia and listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX: WOR).

About Nano One

Nano One Materials Corp. (Nano One) is a clean technology company with a patented, scalable and low carbon intensity industrial process for the low-cost production of high-performance lithium-ion battery cathode materials. Nano One has formed strategic collaborations and partnerships with various automotive OEMs, Sumitomo Metal Mining, Rio Tinto, BASF, Umicore and now Worley. Nano One's technology is applicable to electric vehicles, energy storage, and consumer electronics, reducing costs and carbon intensity while improving environmental impact and supply chain diversity. Nano One aims to pilot and demonstrate its technology as modular production solutions for license, joint venture, and independent production opportunities, leveraging Canadian talent and critical minerals for emerging markets in North America, Europe, and the Indo-Pacific region. Nano One has received funding from SDTC, NRC-IRAP and the Governments of Canada and British Columbia.

For more information, please visit www.nanoone.ca

Company Contact:

Paul Guedes

info@nanoone.ca

(604) 420-2041

Cautionary Notes and Forward-looking Statements

Certain information contained herein may constitute "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking information in this news release includes, but is not limited to: the success of the alliance, the success in the development of the CAM package, the attributes, contents and benefits of the CAM package, including, the CAM package being a modular process engineering design solution and being able to be rapidly deployed, the success in the marketing and deployment of the CAM package with customers the development of technology, supply chains, and plans for construction and operation of cathode production facilities; successful collaboration with SMM; industry demand; successful current and future collaborations that are/may happen with OEM's, miners or others; the functions and intended benefits of Nano One's technology and products; the development of Nano One's technology and products; achieving commercial production of LFP and pilot scale production of NMC at the Candiac facility; Nano One's licensing, supply chain, joint venture opportunities and potential royalty arrangements; the purpose for expanding the Candiac facilities and scalability of developed technology; and the execution of Nano One's plans - which are contingent on support and grants. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of terminology such as 'believe', 'expect', 'anticipate', 'plan', 'intend', 'continue', 'estimate', 'may', 'will', 'should', 'ongoing', 'target', 'goal', 'encouraged', 'projected', 'potential' or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "will" occur. Forward-looking statements are based on the current opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made are not, and cannot be, a guarantee of future results or events. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Nano One to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, including but not limited to: general and global economic and regulatory changes; next steps and timely execution of Nano One's business plans; the development of technology, supply chains, and plans for construction and operation of the Candiac facility; industry demand; successful current or future collaborations that may happen with OEM's, miners or others; the execution of Nano One's plans which are contingent on support and grants; Nano One's ability to achieve its stated goals; the commercialization of Nano One's technology and patents via license, joint venture and independent production; anticipated global demand and projected growth for LFP batteries; and other risk factors as identified in Nano One's MD&A and its Annual Information Form dated March 27, 2024, both for the year ended December 31, 2023, and in recent securities filings for Nano One which are available at www.sedar.com. Although management of Nano One has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Nano One does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information that is incorporated by reference herein, except as required by applicable securities laws. Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

(1) ASX:WOR Stock Quote as at 30 April 2024 AEST- https://www.marketindex.com.au/asx/wor (2) Worley Limited headcount was 49,200 as at 31 December 2023, refer page 3 of Half Year 2024 results ASX release. (3) Worley Limited has a presence in 45 countries, refer page 50 of 2023 Annual Report. (4) https://www.worley.com/-/media/files/worley/investors/results-and-presentations/2024/wor-presentation-half-year-results-fy24.pdf (5) Independent Pre-Feasibility Study - https://nanoone.ca/news/pre-feasibility-study-anticipates-10x-increase-in-capacity-for-nano-one-lfp-site-in-quebec/ (6) Independent Life-Cycle Analysis - https://nanoone.ca/news/nano-one-could-reduce-ghgs-by-up-to-60-for-nmc-50-for-lfp-and-reduce-water-use-by-up-to-80/ (7) Rio Tinto & Nano One Strategic Partnership on Localized Iron Supply - https://nanoone.ca/news/nano-one-and-rio-tinto-announce-strategic-partnership-and-us-10m-investment/ SOURCE: Nano One Materials Corp.

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Capitalica Asset Management, an investment management company of the SBA Group, has completed the construction of the greenest office complex, Verde, in Riga. The business complex, consisting of two buildings with a total area of ??45 thousand square meters, is home to 19 Latvian and international companies. The construction cost of the first Capitalica Asset Management project in Latvia exceeded 65 million euros. Construction of Verde began in 2020, and the complex's first building was opened in 2022. The eleven-story Class A buildings were implemented according to the highest sustainability and energy building standards, making it the greenest office complex in Riga. "Completing Verde construction is essential for all involved in developing the complex - tenants, investors, and bondholders. The total area of ??leased and common-use premises is 30 thousand square meters, of which the first building is fully occupied, and the second building, more than 90%, has been leased to international and local IT, financial, and medical companies. This indicates that the real estate market in the Latvian capital was indeed "thirsty" for Class A buildings. Therefore, in the future, we will continue to develop Class A office complexes in Lithuania and Latvia," commented Mindaugas Liaudanskas, CEO of Capitalica Asset Management. Challenges of Construction Iveta Lace, Commercial Director of the Verde office complex, says that one of the most significant achievements in developing the second office building was the timely implementation of the project. The first tenants can move into the second building as early as this May. "Sincerely congratulate all colleagues, partners, and tenants on completing the second Verde building. Construction presented unexpected challenges - we were "hit" by the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and various economic shocks, but thanks to a motivated and goal-oriented team of developers, architects, and builders, the second Verde building became the only newly opened Class A commercial building in the Skanste business district this year," she says. Companies such as Tietoevry Latvia, Swisscom, Roche Services & Solutions, Vividerm, Merito Group, and Indexo will be moving into the second building this month. In addition to the mentioned companies, the following companies are located in the office complex: Decta, Swetch, Enefit, KPMG Latvia, Workland, VIA SMS Group, IGK AG, Also Cloud, Moltto Coffee, Dia 36.Line, Marsh, and others. The Project Embodies a "Green" Outlook The second Verde building is like the twin of the first, but even closer to the center of Riga, at the beginning of the modern Skanste business district. The buildings are connected by a spacious underground garage and vestibule with the Dia 36.Line restaurant in the center. As in the first building, the newly opened fifth floor features over 600 square meters of lushly landscaped terrace with relaxation and work areas. The project embodies a "green" outlook, realized by architects Andris Kronbergs, Janis Zvejnieks (Arhis Architects), and landscape architects from Zala Landscape Architects and the structural design bureau Arenso. Technical supervision of the construction was carried out by Forma 2, engineering design of utility networks was handled by Berga Projekti and A. Abeles inzenieru birojs, fire safety solutions were provided by VPM Latvia, and sustainability certification consultations were provided by Vesta Consulting. The leasing and management partner of the project is Colliers, the leading real estate agency in Latvia. About Verde Verde (www.Verde.lv) is the greenest Class A office complex in Riga, located in the Skanste district, with the first phase opened in the summer of 2022 and the second phase completed in the spring of 2024. The Verde office complex consists of two buildings with a total leased area of 30 thousand square meters (45 thousand square meters, including the underground parking lot). This project was created according to the highest sustainability standards, BREEAM Excellent and nearly Zero Energy Building (nZEB) standards. An exceptional feature of Verde will be a 1,200-square-meter green terrace with trees and plants, as well as green outdoor workspaces in the courtyards of each of the buildings. The "green" worldview is embodied in the Verde complex through sustainable and modern architectural solutions implemented by Latvian architects Andris Kronbergs and Janis Zvejnieks (Arhis Architects), applying Class A energy efficiency and smart building management solutions. SEB bank financed the construction of the Verde office complex by providing a five-year, 60 million euro loan to the project developer, SBA Group company Capitalica Asset Management. About Capitalica Asset Management and SBA Group Capitalica Asset Management (www.capitalica.lt) is a licensed and supervised investment management company of the Bank of Lithuania, managing investment funds investing in commercial real estate in the Baltic States. The Capitalica Baltic Real Estate Fund I managed by Capitalica Asset Management, owns the Verde office complex in Riga, the 135 business center in Vilnius, the Kauno Dokas business center in Kaunas, and the Luize shopping center in Klaipeda. The Capitalica Green Logistics Fund currently owns five green-concept logistics building complexes, three in Tallinn and two in Riga. The majority shareholder (70 %) of Capitalica Asset Management is SBA Group, one of the largest Lithuanian business groups, employing about 3,500 people across 30 companies. Mindaugas Liaudanskas CEO of Capitalica Asset Management mindaugas.liaudanskas@capitalica.lt +370 612 30412
Forum will be held on May 30 at the Science Museum, London

Chaired by Professor Sir Munir Pirmohamed, Forum to consist of four panel sessions highlighting solutions to pressing issues facing private and public-sector innovators in the healthcare space

Keynote presentation by Dr Miles Congreve, Chief Scientific Officer, Isomorphic Labs, and c losing remarks from Dr Hilary Marston, Chief Medical Officer, Food and Drug Administration

Awards Ceremony to be hosted following Forum at the Natural History Museum, London

LONDON, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Galien Foundation will celebrate the third annual Prix Galien UK Forum at the Science Museum in London, on May 30, 2024, from 9:30 AM - 5:00 PM. The Prix Galien UK Forum brings together industry scientists, researchers, and organisations at the forefront of scientific advancement to exchange and offer perspectives on the future of global health. Together with the evening Prix Galien Awards Ceremony recognising the best in UK medicine, the events reflect the worldwide mission of The Galien Foundation to improve the human condition through breakthrough innovations that progress the understanding in diagnosing, treating, and curing disease.

"The Prix Galien UK Forum is an exemplary platform for scientific discussion and dynamic peer-led conversations on the most prevalent topics and challenges we face as professionals in the life sciences arena," commented Professor Sir Munir Pirmohamed, David Weatherall Chair of Medicine at the University of Liverpool and the NHS Chair of Pharmacogenetics, Chair of the Prix Galien UK Committee. "The Forum is an unmissable opportunity to delve into the leading minds working across a myriad of health-related research and product development areas."

This year's lineup will feature the following panels:

9:40 AM - 10:40 AM

PANEL 1: No decision for me without me: Putting patients at the heart of drug development

CHAIR

Dr Mel Walker, Life Sciences Strategic Advisor and Managing Director, BioPharma Futures

PANELISTS

Robyn Bent, Director of CDER's Patient-Focused Drug Development (PFDD) Program, FDA

Dr Sarah Gheuens, Chief Medical Officer, Head of R&D, Agios Pharmaceuticals

Dr Maria Mavris, Patient Liaison at European Medicines Agency

Elizabeth Vroom, Co-founder and chair of the World Duchenne Organization

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

PANEL 2: Introducing New Technologies: Optimising pathways to improve population health

CHAIR

Dame June Raine, Chief Executive, Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency

PANELISTS

Pr Gary Ford, Chief Executive Officer, Health Innovation Oxford and Thames Valley

Hilary Hutton-Squire, Vice President, Head of Global Value and Access, Gilead Sciences

Sir Harpal Kumar, President, BioPharma Business & Europe, GRAIL, LLC

Dr Hakim Yadi, CEO, Closed Loop Medicine

12:45 PM - 1:30 PM

KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Can we use artificial intelligence to design new drugs?

Dr Miles Congreve, Chief Scientific Officer, Isomorphic Labs

1:30 - 2:30 PM

PANEL 3: Innovation in R&D: The birth of breakthroughs

CHAIR

Lord Prior of Brampton, Deputy Chairman UK and Global Senior Advisor at Lazard, Chairman of Protas; Chairman of the Cambridge Life Sciences Council and Chairman of Tympa Health

PANELISTS

Tamsin Berry, Co-founder and partner of Population Health Partners

Dr Joep Muijrers, General Partner, Gilde Healthcare

Dr Matthias Mullenbeck, SVP, Head Global Business Development & Alliance Management

Dr Jane Osbourn, CSO at Alchemab Therapeutics Ltd

2:45 - 3:55 PM

PANEL 4: Data Driven Medicine: The NHS as a strategic partner in life science

CHAIR

Dr Vin Diwakar, National Director for Transformation (interim), NHS England

PANELISTS

Dr Michelle Longmire, CEO & Co-Founder, Medable

Pr Andrew Morris, Director, Health Data Research UK & Professor of Medicine and Vice Principal Data Science, University of Edinburgh

Dr Adrian Rabe, Head of RWE Centre of Excellence, Boehringer Ingelheim Ltd.

Richard Stephens, Patient partner; Chair of use MY data, UK Cancer Research Advocates Forum

Ming Tang, Chief Data and Analytics Officer, NHS England

3:55 - 4:40 PM

CLOSING SPEECH

Dr Hilary Marston, Chief Medical Officer, Food and Drug Administration

Bruno Cohen, Chairman of the Galien Foundation, commented, "It is wonderful to welcome both returning and new industry thought leaders to the Prix Galien UK Forum stage. As the Forum enters its third year, the quality and breadth of our panel discussions continue to pave the way for a stronger, healthier, and sustainable future for global healthcare."

Following the Prix Galien UK Forum, the Prix Galien UK Awards Ceremony will take place at the Natural History Museum, London, from 7:30 PM - 10:30 PM. Under the leadership of Professor Sir Munir Pirmohamed, the Prix Galien UK Awards Committee will select the latest cohort of leading innovators and products in the life sciences industries to be awarded for their profound achievements.

To learn more about the 2024 Prix Galien Forum and Awards Ceremony, please visit: https://prixgalien.co.uk/.

To purchase a ticket to the events, please visit: https://join.galienfoundation.org/

About the Galien Foundation

The Galien Foundation fosters, recognises and rewards excellence in scientific innovation to improve the state of human health. Our vision is to be the catalyst for the development of the next generation of innovative treatments and technologies that will impact the state of medical practice and save lives.

The Foundation oversees and directs activities in the UK for the Prix Galien, an international awards programme dedicated to progress through innovative medicines development, with chapters in 14 countries, Africa and an inaugural chapter established in India in 2024. The Prix Galien was created in 1970 by Roland Mehl in honour of Galien, the father of medical science and modern pharmacology. Worldwide, the Prix Galien is regarded as the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in biopharmaceutical research.

For more information, visit www.galienfoundation.org .

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EfficAPSI is a real-world study with the largest number of patients follow-up to date in the field of allergen immunotherapy (AIT). 1

The rigorous methodology used in this study provides important insights about Stallergenes Greer SLIT-liquid as allergic asthma disease-modifying medicine. 1

In this study, treatment with Stallergenes Greer SLIT-liquid was associated with a one-third reduction in the incidence of new asthma events in patients, with or without a history of asthma. 1

The findings confirm the real-life long-term effectiveness of personalised SLIT-liquid for the treatment of allergic rhinitis patients (above the age of 5), with and without pre-existing asthma, regardless the allergen. They substantiate SLIT-liquid as a relevant causal treatment option to prevent both asthmatic disease onset and progression. 1

By demonstrating the benefit on the onset and worsening of asthma, SLIT-liquid treatments confirm their impact in terms of public health.1

Stallergenes Greer, a global healthcare company specialising in allergen immunotherapy (AIT), today announced that results of its EfficAPSI real-world study evaluating the impact of Stallergenes Greer liquid sublingual AIT (SLIT-liquid) on asthma onset and evolution in patients with allergic rhinitis have been published in the Lancet Regional Health-Europe. The publication is available online (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanepe.2024.100915) and will be available in print at a later date.

This retrospective longitudinal pharmaco-epidemiological real-world study, which evaluated data over a 9-year period, included over 440,000 patients: more than 110,000 patients with allergic rhinitis, with or without asthma, treated with Stallergenes Greer SLIT-liquid and symptomatic drugs; compared to more than 330,000 patients with allergic rhinitis, with or without asthma, treated with symptomatic drugs only.

The primary objective of the study was the evaluation of the real-world impact of Stallergenes Greer SLIT-liquid on the prevention of asthma onset or worsening in patients with allergic rhinitis. Study results were consistent across all age groups (patients above the age of 5), allergens and endpoints.

In patients undergoing treatment with Stallergenes Greer SLIT-liquid and symptomatic drugs versus patients treated with symptomatic drugs only, the study showed:

a 36% reduction in the risk of new asthma events in the overall cohort*;

a 38% reduction in the risk of asthma onset in patients without pre-existing asthma;

a one-third reduction in Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) treatment stepping-up, in patients with pre-existing asthma demonstrating the impact of SLIT-liquid to prevent asthma worsening.

"I am pleased that the publication of this extensive, large real-world EfficAPSI study in the Lancet Regional Health-Europe is now available for the medical community. The study confirms the role of SLIT- liquid in reshaping asthma management. The findings deliver important insights on the relevance of SLIT liquid as etiological medication which offers the advantage of a personalised treatment tailored to each patient's unique needs for improved outcomes," said Professor Pascal Demoly, MD, PhD, Head of the Pulmonology, Allergology and Thoracic Oncology Department, Montpellier University Hospital (France), President of the French Society of Allergology, and member of the study's scientific committee.

Exploring the impact of allergen immunotherapy on asthma onset and progression is crucial, and we're committed to filling those gaps. Through this real-world EfficAPSI study, Stallergenes Greer is honoured to contribute valuable scientific evidence and insights to allergy treatment. We remain focused on advancing disease-modifying solutions, fuelled by strong clinical data, to redefine respiratory care, and dedicated to improving quality of life for people with allergies" declared Dr Elena Rizova, Chief Medical Officer, Stallergenes Greer.

By demonstrating the benefit on the onset and worsening of asthma, Stallergenes Greer SLIT-liquid treatments confirm their impact in terms of public health. Stallergenes Greer intends to increasingly use a real-world approach to bolster the evidence supporting the beneficial effects of SLIT. Additional endpoints are currently under evaluation and will be published subsequently.

ABOUT EfficAPSI 1

EfficAPSI is to date the largest retrospective real-world, longitudinal cohort study regarding liquid sublingual AIT. Its main objective was to evaluate the real-life impact of SLIT-liquid on the prevention of asthma onset and worsening in patients with allergic rhinitis. This study included more than 110,000 patients in France with allergic rhinitis, with or without asthma, treated with Stallergenes Greer SLIT-liquid and symptomatic drugs and more than 330,000 patients with allergic rhinitis, with or without asthma, treated with symptomatic drugs only. The EfficAPSI study, evaluated data from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2018.

EfficAPSI is the first study in the AIT field in which the French national system database (SNDS), covering 99% of the French population, has been used to gain insight on therapeutic benefits in real life practice by pairing their data with the data of a healthcare company.

Onset or worsening of asthma were defined as the first occurrence of a specific pharmacy dispensation, hospitalisation or long-term disease (LTD) for asthma in the sensitive analysis; pharmacy dispensation was omitted for a more specific, secondary definition, focusing on severe forms of asthma. A combined definition, both sensitive and specific, was also used considering specific pharmacy dispensation of major medications (omalizumab or three inhaled corticosteroids associated or not with long-acting beta agonists), hospitalisation or LTD for severe asthma. Analyses were stratified on pre-existing mild or moderate asthma to differentiate between the onset and worsening of asthma.

A total of 112,492 exposed (SLIT-liquid) and 333,082 unexposed patients (control) were included.

Findings on new asthma events: in allergic rhinitis patients, Stallergenes Greer SLIT-Liquid exposure was associated with a significantly lower risk of new asthma events, when compared to control group (symptomatic drugs only), according to all definitions (sensitive, HR: 0.76, 95% CI 0.75-0.76; specific, HR: 0.66, 95% CI 0.63-0.69; combined, HR: 0.64, 95% CI 0.63-0.65).

Findings on onset of asthma: in allergic rhinitis patients without pre-existing asthma, Stallergenes Greer SLIT-liquid exposure was associated with a significantly lower risk of asthma onset when compared to control group (symptomatic drugs only), according to all definitions (sensitive, HR: 0.77, 95% CI 0.76-0.78; specific, HR: 0.67, 95% CI 0.61-0.72; combined, HR: 0.62, 95% CI 0.60-0.63).

Findings on worsening of asthma: in allergic rhinitis patients with pre-existing asthma, Stallergenes Greer SLIT-liquid exposure was associated with a significantly lower risk of asthma events when compared to control group (symptomatic drugs only), according to all definitions (sensitive, HR: 0.71, 95% CI 0.70-0.72; specific, HR: 0.62, 95% CI 0.59-0.65; combined, HR: 0.62, 95% CI 0.61-0.63). In addition, a one-third reduction in GINA treatment stepping-up was observed regardless of patients' GINA treatment step at baseline (HR: 0.72, 95% CI 0.69-0.75 for baseline step 1; HR: 0.73, 95% CI 0.68-0.79 for baseline step 2; HR; 0.71, 95% CI 065-078 for baseline step 3/4).

The EfficAPSI study covers a wide range of allergens including house dust mites, grass, birch and ragweed pollens, and cat dander. Results were positive and consistent for all analysable allergens and all age groups (above the age of 5).

The study was designed with a scientific committee composed of Prof. Pascal Demoly, MD, PhD, HDR, Head of the Pulmonology, Allergology and Thoracic Oncology Department, Montpellier University Hospital (France); Prof. Philippe Devillier, Hopital Foch, Suresnes (France); Prof. Jean Francois Bergmann, Head of Internal Medicine, Hopital Lariboisiere, Paris, Professor of Therapeutics, Paris-Diderot University (France); Dr. Bertrand Delaisi, Boulogne-Billancourt (France), and Prof. Mathieu Molimard, Head of the Pharmacology Department, Bordeaux University Hospital (France).

ABOUT ALLERGIC RHINITIS

Allergic rhinitis is a worldwide disease affecting more than 500 million people, who are at higher risk of developing rhinitis exacerbation and asthma than the general population. Allergic rhinitis can include symptoms such as sneezing, a runny or itchy nose, nasal congestion and watery or itchy eyes, among others.2,3 Symptoms may be severe and can worsen over time and have a significant impact on quality of life.2,4,5,6,7

ABOUT STALLERGENES GREER INTERNATIONAL AG

Headquartered in Baar (Switzerland), Stallergenes Greer International AG is a global healthcare company specialising in the diagnosis and treatment of respiratory, food and venom allergies through the development and commercialisation of allergen immunotherapy products and services. Stallergenes Greer International AG is the parent company of Greer Laboratories, Inc. (whose registered office is in the United States) and Stallergenes SAS (whose registered office is in France). For more information, visit www.stallergenesgreer.com.

*combined score

_______________________________

1 Demoly P, Molimard M, Bergmann JF, et al. Impact of liquid sublingual immunotherapy on asthma onset and progression in patients with allergic rhinitis: a nationwide population-based study (EfficAPSI study). Lancet Reg Health Eur. 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanepe.2024.100915

2 Demoly P, Corren J, Creticos P, et al. A 300 IR sublingual tablet is an effective, safe treatment for house dust mite-induced allergic rhinitis: An international, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized phase III clinical trial. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2021;147(3):1020-1030.e10

3 Bousquet J, Khaltaev N, Cruz A, et al. Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma (ARIA) 2008 update (in collaboration with the World Health Organization, GA(2)LEN and AllerGen). Allergy. 2008 Apr;63 Suppl 86:8-160.

4 Brozek JL, Bousquet J, Agache I, Agarwal A, Bachert C, Bosnic-Anticevich S, et al. Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma (ARIA) guidelines- 2016 revision. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2017;140(4):950-8

5 Linneberg A., Henrik Nielsen N., Frolund L, et al. The link between allergic rhinitis and allergic asthma: a prospective population-based study. The Copenhagen Allergy Study. Allergy. 2002 Nov;57(11):1048-1052.

6 Shin J-W, Sue J-H, Song T-W, et al. Atopy and house dust mite sensitization as risk factors for asthma in children. Yonsei Med J.2005;46: 629- 634.

7 Hankin C. S., Cox L., Lang D., et al. Allergen immunotherapy and health care cost benefits for children with allergic rhinitis: a large-scale, retrospective, matched cohort study. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2010 Jan;104(1):79-85

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Contacts:

Stallergenes Greer

Communications

Catherine Kress

Tel: +33 (0)1 55 50 26 05

Email: catherine.kress@stallergenesgreer.com
Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), through its Energy Transition Fund, and Uniper have signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen collaboration on bringing green hydrogen from CIP's HST PtX Esbjerg project to Germany.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, May 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The partnership between CIP and Uniper, a global energy merchant and one of the world's largest power producers, will drive collaboration on the production, transport, and marketing of green hydrogen from the HST PtX Esbjerg project, located on the Danish Westcoast, to Germany.



It is expected that HST as ultimo 2028, will be connected to the German hydrogen backbone via a new hydrogen pipeline to be developed from Denmark to Germany by the Danish transmission system operator Energinet in cooperation with Gasunie Deutschland Transport Services. This will enable access to the consumption sites in Germany and help bring competitively priced green hydrogen to the German market.

In partnership, CIP and Uniper will develop a model to bring up to 140,000 tons of green hydrogen annually to customers in Germany. Uniper intends to include the green hydrogen from HST into its green gas portfolio and supply the industry's needs with varying flexibility profiles and with different contract lengths.

Holger Kreetz, COO at Uniper: "We see great potential in this collaboration. HST fits our strategic target of achieving at least 1 GW installed electrolyser capacity by 2030 and our other electrolyser developments in Germany such as Green Wilhelmshaven. Uniper's diversified hydrogen portfolio consists of various supply sources to guarantee competitive and secure supplies in line with customer needs."

Karsten Plauborg, partner at CIP commented: "This is an important step for CIP and the HST PtX Esbjerg project. With the vast renewable energy potential from the North Sea as well as the planned hydrogen pipeline connecting Denmark to Germany, we are excited to take the next step in bringing the green hydrogen from the HST project to German customers. While CIP has a significant portfolio of power-to-gas projects, Uniper's strong position with German energy customers is a key enabler in establishing this new market."

About Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP)

Founded in 2012, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners P/S (CIP) today is the world's largest dedicated fund manager within greenfield renewable energy investments and a global leader in offshore wind. The funds managed by CIP focus on investments in offshore and onshore wind, solar PV, biomass and energy-from-waste, transmission and distribution, reserve capacity, storage, advanced bioenergy, and Power-to-X.

CIP manages 12 funds and has to date raised approximately EUR 28 billion for investments in energy and associated infrastructure from more than 160 international institutional investors. CIP has approximately 500 employees and 12 offices around the world.

About HST PtX Esbjerg

Part of CIP's Energy Transition Fund I, the HST PtX Esbjerg project is a leading, Danish Power-to-X project under development, deploying large-scale industrial use of electrolysis technology on gigawatt level to produce green hydrogen. Powered entirely by renewables, HST PtX Esbjerg will produce up to 140,000 tonnes of green hydrogen per annum for use in the chemicals industry, predominantly expected in the German market.

About Uniper

Dusseldorf-based Uniper is an international energy company with activities in more than 40 countries. The company and its roughly 7,000 employees make an important contribution to supply security in Europe, particularly in its core markets of Germany, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and the Netherlands.

Uniper's operations encompass power generation in Europe, global energy trading, and a broad gas portfolio. Uniper procures gas-including liquefied natural gas (LNG)-and other energy sources on global markets. The company owns and operates gas storage facilities with a total capacity of more than 7 billion cubic meters.
CHICAGO, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The report "Engineered Wood Adhesives Market by Resin (Melamine Formaldehyde, Phenol Resorcinol Formaldehyde), Product (CLT, OSB, MDF, LVL), Technology (Solvent-Based, Water-Based), Application (Structural, Non-Structural), and Region - Global Forecast to 2029", size is projected to grow from USD 8.7 billion in 2024 to USD 10.5 billion in 2029, at a CAGR of 3.7%. The construction industry's demand for eco-friendly and healthier adhesives and the rising need to improve performance, durability, and aesthetics are key factors contributing to the growth of the engineered wood adhesives market. The growing investment in emerging markets is expected to create growth opportunities for the market players globally. However, stringent and time-consuming regulatory policies act as a challenge for market players.

Browse in-depth TOC on "Engineered Wood Adhesives Market"

239 - Tables

74 - Figures

309- Pages

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The phenol-resorcinol-formaldehyde segment is expected to account for one of the largest shares in 2023.

Phenol-Resorcinol-Formaldehyde (PRF) resins represent a cornerstone in adhesive technology, particularly valued for their exceptional thermal stability and durability. These resins are designed to withstand extreme conditions, surpassing the combustion point of wood, which underscores their utility in high-stakes applications. Certified by ASTM D-7247, the most rigorous test for adhesive bonds at elevated temperatures, PRF adhesives ensure reliability and safety in critical environments. This level of performance is critical in applications requiring robust, enduring adhesive joints, such as in the construction of load-bearing structures where material failure could have dire consequences.

The plywood segment is expected to account for one of the largest share in 2023.

Plywood remains a cornerstone in the construction and manufacturing industries, renowned for its durability and versatility. Created from thin sheets of cross-laminated veneer, plywood panels are bonded under heat and pressure using strong adhesives. This process imbues the panels with superior dimensional stability and an outstanding strength-to-weight ratio, making plywood an ideal material for a wide range of structural applications. Furthermore, plywood's resistance to impacts, chemicals, and fluctuations in temperature and humidity enhances its utility in demanding environments.

The manufacturing quality of plywood allows it to be produced in a variety of appearance grades, catering to diverse aesthetic and functional needs. These grades range from smooth, natural finishes ideal for decorative and finish work, to more cost-effective options suited for utilitarian purposes such as sheathing. The availability of more than a dozen thicknesses-from 5/16 inch to 1-1/8 inches-and over twenty different grades, allows designers and builders to select the perfect plywood for specific applications, ensuring both efficiency and economy in construction projects.

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Asia Pacific is expected to account for the largest share in 2023.

In 2022, the Asia Pacific region led the global market for engineered wood adhesives in terms of revenue and is projected to continue its rapid growth through 2029. Within the region, China, Japan, and Thailand are key players, with China commanding the largest share of the market. This dominance is supported by its substantial industrial capabilities and an increasing demand for superior quality adhesives. Despite facing economic challenges, the construction industry in the Asia Pacific experienced significant growth in 2022, largely fueled by strong demand for residential developments across its major economies. Additionally, there was a marked increase in investments in infrastructure projects, with regional construction companies actively exploring expansion into new markets.

Key Players:

The key players in the engineered wood adhesives market include H.B. Fuller Company (US), Henkel AG & Co., KGaA. (Germany), AkzoNobel N.V. (Netherlands), Arkema SA (France), BASF SE (Germany), Dow (US), Huntsman Corporation (US), AICA Kogyo Co., Ltd (Japan), Astral Limited (India), and Hexion (US).

Browse Adjacent Market: Coatings Adhesives Sealants and Elastomers Market Research Reports & Consulting

Related Reports:

Timber Laminating Adhesives Market - Global Forecast to 2028

Wood Adhesives Market - Global Forecast to 2026

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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2024 / Faraday Copper Corp. ("Faraday" or the "Company") (TSX:FDY)(OTCQX:CPPKF) is pleased to announce that it has received approval from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management ("BLM") for its Notice of Intent ("NOI") to conduct drilling on eleven drill pads at its Copper Creek Project in Arizona ("Copper Creek").

Paul Harbidge, President and CEO, commented "Approval of the NOI is significant as it allows us to drill high-priority targets above the American Eagle porphyry and in the Rum area. This drilling has the potential to unlock significant value by adding high-grade, near-surface mineralization to the current resource. We are currently evaluating bringing additional drill rigs to the project."

Highlights

Nine drill pads permitted in the American Eagle area, targeting near-surface breccia-hosted mineralization; Two drill pads permitted in the Rum area, targeting porphyry-hosted mineralization exposed at surface; and Earthworks contractors are being mobilized to re-establish road access and prepare drill pads.

American Eagle Area Overview

The American Eagle area includes numerous breccias mapped at surface (Figures 1 and 2). Historically, this area was drilled by near-vertical holes to define the American Eagle porphyry mineralization at depth. Near-surface breccia-hosted mineralization remains largely untested. Analysis of surface outcrops by portable X-ray fluorescence analyzer1 ("pXRF") returned elevated copper values which, together with copper oxide staining, was used to prioritize drill targets.

Rum Area Overview

The Rum area is located approximately 3.5 km northwest of the Amerian Eagle area. It includes hydrothermal breccias and granodiorite porphyry intruding Glory Hole Volcanics. Copper oxide mineralization is present in porphyry outcrops with a historical drill hole (R-1-1X) intersecting near-surface high-grade mineralization of 48.77 metres at a grade of 1.07% copper from surface (true width is unknown due to the orientation of the drill hole). The drill pads allow testing the extent of mineralization as well as targeting untested breccias in this area.

Figure 1: Map Showing the High Priority Targets, pXRF Data1 for Copper Values and Nine Permitted Drill Pads on BLM Land

Figure 2: Outcrop of the American Eagle Breccia with Secondary Copper Minerals

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Faraday's VP Exploration, Dr. Thomas Bissig, P. Geo., who is a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101").

Notes

1 Portable XRF ("pXRF") results shown in Figure 1 represent spot analyses and only provide an indication of the order of magnitude of formal assay results. These samples have not been submitted for laboratory analyses and represent a layer of information to provide guidance in drill hole design. Each datapoint represents the mean of three spot measurements.

About Faraday Copper

Faraday Copper is a Canadian exploration company focused on advancing its flagship copper project in Arizona, U.S. The Copper Creek Project is one of the largest undeveloped copper projects in North America with significant district scale exploration potential. The Company is well-funded to deliver on its key milestones and benefits from a management team and board of directors with senior mining company experience and expertise. Faraday trades on the TSX under the symbol "FDY".

For additional information please contact:

Stacey Pavlova, CFA

Vice President, Investor Relations & Communications

Faraday Copper Corp.

E-mail: info@faradaycopper.com

Website: www.faradaycopper.com

To receive news releases by e-mail, please register using the Faraday website at www.faradaycopper.com.

Cautionary Note on Forward Looking Statements

Some of the statements in this news release, other than statements of historical fact, are "forward-looking statements" and are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made and are necessarily based on estimates and assumptions that are inherently subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Faraday to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements and forward-looking information specifically include, but are not limited to, statements concerning the exploration potential and future drilling plans at the Copper Creek property.

Although Faraday believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements should not be in any way construed as guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information.

Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include without limitation: market prices for metals; the conclusions of detailed feasibility and technical analyses; lower than expected grades and quantities of mineral resources; receipt of regulatory approval; receipt of shareholder approval; mining rates and recovery rates; significant capital requirements; price volatility in the spot and forward markets for commodities; fluctuations in rates of exchange; taxation; controls, regulations and political or economic developments in the countries in which Faraday does or may carry on business; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development, competition; loss of key employees; rising costs of labour, supplies, fuel and equipment; actual results of current exploration or reclamation activities; accidents; labour disputes; defective title to mineral claims or property or contests over claims to mineral properties; unexpected delays and costs inherent to consulting and accommodating rights of Indigenous peoples and other groups; risks, uncertainties and unanticipated delays associated with obtaining and maintaining necessary licenses, permits and authorizations and complying with permitting requirements, including those associated with the Copper Creek property; and uncertainties with respect to any future acquisitions by Faraday. In addition, there are risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development and mining, including environmental events and hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formations, pressures, cave-ins, flooding and the risk of inadequate insurance or inability to obtain insurance to cover these risks as well as "Risk Factors" included in Faraday's disclosure documents filed on and available at www.sedarplus.ca.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in any jurisdiction to any person to whom it is unlawful to make such an offer or solicitation in such jurisdiction. This press release is not, and under no circumstances is to be construed as, a prospectus, an offering memorandum, an advertisement or a public offering of securities in Faraday in Canada, the United States or any other jurisdiction. No securities commission or similar authority in Canada or in the United States has reviewed or in any way passed upon this press release, and any representation to the contrary is an offence.

SOURCE: Faraday Copper Corp.

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Win-win cooperation, China-France cooperation begins a new journey



02.05.2024 / 12:27 CET/CEST

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.





Win-win cooperation, China-France cooperation begins a new journey

2024 marks the 60th anniversary of the official establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France. Over the past 60 years, China and France have always upheld the spirit of independence, jointly promoted the in-depth development of bilateral relations, and significantly increased global peace and stability.

France and China have had a positive and steady development of relations since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1964 and a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2004, France-China relations have always developed healthily and made continuous progress. The two sides have carried out constructive cooperation in the fields of diplomacy, economy, culture, education and other fields, achieved fruitful results, and become a model for cooperation between major countries.France and China should continue to build on their current foundation of cooperation in order to reach greater agreement in the areas of upholding international peace, combating climate change, environmentally sustainable development, green and clean energy, artificial intelligence, and other areas as globalization continues to advance.

The uniqueness of China-France relations lies in its adherence to the principles of independence, mutual understanding, foresight, and mutual benefit. This spirit is seen in daily interactions between the citizens of the two nations as well as in high-level discussions and reciprocal visits between their leaders. For example, the National Library of China has collected the French version of "An Introduction to the Analects of Confucius" that President Xi Jinping received when he visited France in 2019. This gift cleverly and delicately demonstrates the long-standing friendly relations between France and China.France and China's economic partnership is exhibiting strong trends and endurance. One of the first Western nations to invest in China was France, which was also the first nation to collaborate with China on civilian nuclear energy. The two countries have a profound foundation for cooperation in aerospace, nuclear energy, agriculture, finance and other fields, and are also actively exploring cooperation in emerging fields such as green transformation and intelligent manufacturing.

Humanities-wise, the two countries' exchanges have become more frequent and in-depth. Cultural exchange activities are rich and colorful, such as the China-France Cultural Tourism Year, art exhibitions, concerts, film festivals, etc., giving people more opportunities to learn about and appreciate each other's cultures. In addition, cooperation between China and France in the fields of education, science, sports, and cultural heritage protection has also been continuously strengthened, creating favorable conditions for exchanges between ordinary people of the two countries.

France and China have the potential to be leaders in a number of areas in the future. As responsible large nations, France and China should work together to address global issues and act as the "anchor" and "glue" of the world in international relations. Second, to encourage the high-quality development of both economies, China and France should actively explore cooperation in emerging fields while strengthening their established fields of cooperation when it comes to innovative development. Thirdly, with regard to transparency and mutual benefit, China and France ought to uphold the idea of transparent cooperation and offer a reasonable, equitable, and stable business environment to businesses from all nations, including each another. Finally, in terms of dialogue among civilizations, France and China should strengthen cultural exchanges and mutual learning to contribute to the world's cultural diversity.

From China's announcement to implement a unilateral visa-free entry policy for France to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport's announcement to build a "Chinese tourist-friendly airport", China and France have taken multiple measures to accelerate personnel exchanges between the two sides. 2024 is the China-France Culture and Tourism Year. From the "Versailles and Forbidden City" exhibition to the Paris Olympics, hundreds of exciting activities have been carried out throughout the year, realizing the two-way relationship between the two countries.



Media Contact:

Global News Online

Joe Concord

info@globalnewsonline.info



02.05.2024 CET/CEST Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by EQS News - a service of EQS Group AG.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.



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Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 2, 2024) - Midnight Sun Mining Corp. (TSXV: MMA) is pleased to announce that due to significant investor demand, the Company has increased the maximum gross proceeds of its previously announced non-brokered private placement (the "Offering") from $3,300,000 to $4,400,000. Under the revised Offering, the Company intends to sell up to 20,000,000 units of the Company (the "Unit") at a price of $0.22 per Unit.

Each Unit will consist of one common share of the Company ("Common Share") and one Common Share purchase warrant ("Warrant"). Each Warrant will entitle the holder thereof to purchase one Common Share for a period of 36 months following the closing date of the Offering at an exercise price of $0.33 per share. The Company intends to close the Offering as soon as practicable.

The net proceeds of this offering will be used by the Company to fund exploration work on its Zambian mineral properties as well as general working capital.

Red Cloud Securities Inc. is acting as a finder in connection with the Offering.

The Offering, including the future issuance of the Common Shares and Warrants, is subject to the final approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. All securities issued will be subject to a hold period of four months and one day pursuant to applicable securities laws.

About Midnight Sun

Midnight Sun is focused on exploring our flagship Solwezi Project, located in Zambia. Situated in the heart of the Zambia-Congo Copperbelt, the second largest copper producing region in the world, our property is vast and highly prospective. Our Solwezi Project is surrounded by world-class producing copper mines, including Africa's largest copper mining complex right next door, First Quantum's Kansanshi Mine. Led by an experienced geological team with multiple discoveries and mines around the world to their credit, Midnight Sun intends to find and develop Zambia's next generational copper deposit.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF MIDNIGHT SUN MINING CORP.

Al Fabbro

President & CEO

For Further Information Contact:

Adrian O'Brien

Director of Marketing and Communications

Tel: +1 604 809 6890

Em: adrian@midnightsunmining.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 NEWS RELEASE.

These securities being offered have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the benefit of, U.S. persons (as defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act) absent U.S. registration or an applicable exemption from the U.S. registration requirements. This release does not constitute an offer for sale of securities in the United States.

This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements." All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, the expected completion of the Offering, and the expected use of proceeds are forward-looking statements. 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 developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include, changes in market conditions, unsuccessful exploration results, changes in commodity price, unanticipated changes in key management personnel and general economic conditions. Mining exploration and development is an inherently risky business. Accordingly the actual events may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking statements. These and other factors should be considered carefully and readers should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by the Company or on its behalf, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO THE UNITED STATES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/207596

SOURCE: Midnight Sun Mining Corp.
Growth in the pharmaceutical sector, increase in demand from the e-commerce industry, and surge in demand for reverse logistics drive the growth of the global pharmaceutical warehousing market.

PORTLAND, Ore., May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Pharmaceutical Warehousing Market by Type (Cold Chain Warehousing and Non-Cold Chain Warehousing) and Application (Pharmaceutical Factory, Pharmacy, Hospital, and Others): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2032". According to the report, the global pharmaceutical warehousing market generated $24.80 billion in 2022, and is anticipated to generate $39.00 billion by 2032, witnessing a CAGR of 4.7% from 2023 to 2032.

Prime Determinants of Growth

The global pharmaceutical warehousing market has experienced significant growth and transformation, driven by a combination of increase in demand from the e-commerce industry and surge in demand for reverse logistics. Pharmaceutical warehousing provides optimal storage for temperature, light & humidity sensitive medications, thus allowing a seamless flow of medication to the end user. Moreover, technological growth in the pharmaceutical industry is likely to shape the industry's future, enhancing safety and efficiency.

Request Sample of the Report on Pharmaceutical Warehousing Market Forecast 2032

https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/A124142

(We are providing connected ship Industry report as per your research requirement, including the Latest Industry Insight's Evolution, Potential and Russia-Ukraine War Impact Analysis)

117 - Tables

44 - Charts

197 - Pages

Report Coverage & Details:

Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 2023-2032 Base Year 2022 Market Size in 2022 $24.80 billion Market Size in 2032 $39.00 billion CAGR 4.7 % No. of Pages in Report 197 Segments Covered Type, Application, and Region. Drivers Growth in pharmaceutical sector Increase in demand from the e-commerce industry Surge in demand for reverse logistics Opportunities Introduction of the blockchain technology Technological growth in pharmaceutical warehousing Restraints Lack of standardization in pharmaceutical warehousing Poor infrastructure and higher logistics costs

Procure Complete Report (197 Pages PDF with Insights, Charts, Tables, and Figures)

https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/checkout-final/pharmaceutical-warehousing-market-A124142

The cold chain warehousing segment to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period

By type, the cold chain warehousing segment held the highest market share in 2022, and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period 2023 to 2032 with the highest CAGR of 5.0%, due to the growing emphasis on biotechnology & personalized medicine and an increase in the development & production of temperature-sensitive medications.

The others segment to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period

By application, the others segment held the highest market share in 2022 and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period owing to the increased sales of pharmaceutical products through online channel mode resulting in third party logistics and e-commerce companies spending more on pharmaceutical warehousing. However, the pharmaceutical factory segment is projected to manifest the highest CAGR of 4.9% due to increase in the production of medication & pharmaceutical drugs and surge in instances of chronic diseases, such as diabetes and cancer across the globe.

Asia-Pacific to maintain its dominance by 2032

By region, Asia-Pacific held the highest market share in terms of revenue in 2022 and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period. Similarly, the region is expected to witness the fastest CAGR of 5.7% from 2023 to 2032, owing to increase in R&D activities for pharmaceutical & healthcare sector, strong presence of pharmaceutical manufacturer in the region, rise in investment in development of pharmaceutical storage by major companies, and growth in pharmaceutical and healthcare industry in the region.

To Talk With Our Industry Expert @ https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/connect-to-analyst/A124142

Leading Market Players: -

RSA TALKE

KEMITO

Brenntag SE

Rinchem Company, LLC

Univar Solutions LLC

Commonwealth Inc.

DHL GROUP

Anchor 3PL

Broekman Logistics

Odyssey Logistics & Technology Corporation

The report provides a detailed analysis of these key players in the global pharmaceutical warehousing market. These players have adopted different strategies such as new product launches, collaborations, expansion, joint ventures, agreements, and others to increase their market share and maintain dominant shares in different regions. The report highlights business performance, operating segments, product portfolio, and strategic moves of market players to showcase the competitive scenario.

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We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Allied Market Research CEO Pawan Kumar is instrumental in inspiring and encouraging everyone associated with the company to maintain high quality of data and help clients in every way possible to achieve success. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.

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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/pharmaceutical-warehousing-market-to-reach-39-00-billion-globally-by-2032-at-4-7-cagr-allied-market-research-302134393.html
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.



Im kostenlosen, exklusiven Spezialreport prasentieren wir ihnen 5 innovative KI-Unternehmen, die bahnbrechende Entwicklungen in diesem Sektor pragen konnten.



Warum sollten Sie dabei sein?

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.



Nutzen Sie die Chance!

Fordern Sie sofort unseren brandneuen Spezialreport an und erfahren Sie, welche 5 KI-Aktien das grote Potenzial zur Vervielfachung besitzen. Dieser Report ist komplett kostenlos und zeigt Ihnen die aussichtsreichsten Investments im KI-Sektor.

Handeln Sie jetzt und sichern Sie sich Ihren kostenfreien Report!
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2024 / Toggle3D.ai (the "Company") (CSE:TGGL)(OTCQB:TGGLF)(FSE:Q0C), a innovative AI solution harnessing the power of generative AI to convert CAD files, apply stunning 4K texturing, and seamlessly publish superior 4K 3D models and 3D photography is pleased to announce new management changes as it prepared for new product launches and rapid growth.

Management changes:

Hareesh Achi has been appointed CEO and director of Toggle3D.ai. With a solid history at major tech firms like Microsoft and Meta, where he was involved in large-scale operations, Hareesh aims to leverage his expertise to propel the growth and scaling of Toggle3D's AI and 3D technologies. Evan Gappelberg, who is stepping down as CEO/director of Toggle comments, "It's been my pleasure to work with Hareesh preparing Toggle3D.ai for rapid growth in the CAD-3D-AI space. He has a proven track record of success at big technology companies like Microsoft and Meta and so it makes total sense to hand over the reins to him to grow this exciting platform and business."

Hareesh Achi commented, "Joining Nextech3D.ai was a key moment in my career, contributing to the company's growth and profitability. I am excited to lead Toggle3D.ai and drive further expansion and innovation in the AI and 3D sectors."

Anum Wagas, CPA, CGA, previously the Director of Finance for Toggle3D.ai has been appointed interim Chief Financial Officer. Anum brings over a decade of experience from multinational companies and government sectors, with a strong background in financial reporting under IFRS. She succeeds Andrew Chan, who is exploring new job opportunities in different industries. The Board expresses appreciation for his contributions and wishes him success.

Recent Toggle3D.ai News

Toggle3D.ai Announces its Groundbreaking AI Textures Increases Productivity by 100% In 3D Model Production For Ecommerce

Toggle3D.ai Reports 75% Usage Growth in Q4, New Release With AI Search Engine Integration Set for Q1

Toggle3D.ai Grows Userbase by 70% and Unveils Groundbreaking AI Tool Transforming Doodles into 3D Models

Toggle3D.ai's AI Lab Announces Breakthrough With Generative AI Photo Rendering

About Toggle3D.ai



Toggle3D.ai (CSE:TGGL)(OTCQB:TGGLF)(FSE:Q0C) is a groundbreaking SaaS solution that utilizes generative AI to convert CAD files, apply stunning 4K texturing, and enable seamless publishing of superior 4K 3D models, serving various industries within the $160 billion CGI market. With its Augmented Reality-based rapid prototyping web app, Toggle3D empowers designers, artists, marketers, and eCommerce owners to effortlessly convert, texture, customize, and publish high-quality 3D models and experiences, regardless of technical or 3D design expertise.

Toggle3D.ai Investor Relations

Visit the Toggle3D Investor Relations website and sign up for the investor mailing list to receive the latest news, press releases, investor presentations, CEO interviews, financial information and more.

Sign up for the investor mailing list - click here

Follow Toggle3D.ai on Social Media

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Toggle3D

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/toggle3d.ai/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Toggle3D

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/toggle3d-ai/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Toggle3Dai

For further information, please contact:

Investor Relations Contact

Julia Viola

investor.relations@toggle3D.ai

Toggle3D.ai

Evan Gappelberg

CEO and Director

866-ARITIZE (274-8493)

Forward-looking Statements

The CSE has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Certain information contained herein may constitute "forward-looking information" under Canadian securities legislation. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as, "will be" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "will" occur. Forward-looking statements regarding the completion of the transaction are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Nextech will not update any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information that are incorporated by reference herein, except as required by applicable securities laws.

SOURCE: Toggle3D.AI Inc.

View the original press release on accesswire.com
VANCOUVER, BC, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Scope AI Corp. (CSE: SCPE) (OTCQB: SCPCF) (FSE: VN8) ("Scope" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an update on new developments of Scope's artificial intelligence driven recognition technology called GEM (General Enterprise Machine Learning) system. With the latest advancements to Scope's proprietary technology, Scope's focus has broadened in addition to past announced realized technology applications to developing a one-stop web solution for developers and individuals, as well as businesses, large and small, to create, build, and use their own image detection, behavior analysis and neural network systems for their customer business case.

Highlights of New Developments

Broad based one tool solution for businesses to develop their own artificial intelligence object detection and visual information system.

Application will focus on allowing companies to test how visual variations in creatives and user flows affect performance

GEM will allow companies in any industry to harness the power of neural networks for their own unique use cases

Beta version of new GEM system expected to launch in late May 2024.

Over the last few months, Scope's management and technology team have devoted a significant amount of time diversifying the GEM system. The new one-tool-solution for businesses to develop their own object detection and visual information system will be offered through a proprietary platform launch by Scope in the second quarter of 2024. In particular, users will be offered the ability to easily render their own neural networks, annotate datasets and verify the inference improvements through various state of the art analytics tools.

The new GEM Platform comes as a SaaS web-application with advanced user management for administrators or supervisors (CRM), enhanced login and account security, as well as full data encryption built natively into the platform. Scope's initial target market is the advertising, gaming and health care industries. Businesses of any size can easily onboard and start using the intuitive web-interface to build custom solutions for their respective businesses. An advanced Application Programming Interface (API) will also be made available later this year.

The beta version will allow Scope to determine optimal economics for the product offering as well as an initial industry focus. Currently, Scope is contemplating a recurring revenue subscription fee structure and a pay-as-you-play model on the platform in order to best meet the needs of the client in a flexible way. A final decision on a revenue model will be determined after beta testing.

About Us:

Scope AI Corp is an artificial intelligence-based technology company focusing on its recognition system called GEM - General Enterprise Machine Learning. The company, located in Vancouver, British Columbia is consistently developing the AI-driven software and intellectual property for use in analyzing which the company intends to use for any "visual" application. The vision of the Company is to expand the capabilities of its GEM Platform and provide a one-tool solution in any visual information systems.

For more information please visit Scope AI Corp. , info@scopetech.ai , or follow along on social media.

LinkedIn: scope-ai-corp

Facebook: Scope AI Corp

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ScopeAICorp

Contact Information

James Young, Chief Executive Officer

(604) 416-1720

james@scopetech.ai

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements that constitute forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements in this news release that are not purely historical statements of fact are forward-looking statements and include statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations, future, strategy, objectives, goals and targets, and more specifically, the use of proceeds of the Offering. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable and reflect expectations of future developments and other factors which management believes to be reasonable and relevant, the Company can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: "believes", "expects", "aim", "anticipates", "intends", "estimates", "plans", "may", "should", "would", "will", "potential", "scheduled" or variations of such words and phrases and similar expressions, which, by their nature, refer to future events or results that may, could, would, might or will occur or be taken or achieved. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and are based on assumptions and analyses made by the Company in light of its experience and its perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, including, but not limited to, those risks and assumptions described in the Company's prospectus dated August 10, 2022, a copy of which is available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. While Scope considers these assumptions to be reasonable, based on information currently available, they may prove to be incorrect. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. In addition, forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks, including, without limitation, risks associated with general economic conditions, continued satisfaction of Canadian Securities Exchange requirements, product safety and recalls, regulatory compliance and risks associated with the Company's business. For more information on the risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause anticipated opportunities and actual results to differ materially, please refer to the risk factors set out in the Company's prospectus dated August 10, 2022, a copy of which is available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and, unless required by applicable law, the Company assumes no obligation to update the forward looking statements or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in these forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.

The Canadian Securities Exchange has in no way passed upon the merits of the business of the Company and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release and accepts no responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy hereof.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/scope-ai-provides-corporate-update-302134032.html
Highlights



Results of the 2023 soil sampling program, taken together with previous geochemical and geophysical results1, are interpreted to support the Trojan-Condor Corridor as a high priority, drill ready exploration target.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- COLLECTIVE METALS INC. (CSE: COMT | OTC: CLLMF | FSE: TO1) (the "Company" or "Collective") is pleased to provide a review of results from Ah and B horizon soil samples taken from the Trojan-Condor target areas in its flagship Princeton Project in south-central B.C. (the "Project" or the "Property"). The Property hosts several alkalic Cu-Au porphyry targets associated with Triassic diorite intrusions analogous to those associated with the currently producing Copper Mountain Mine, which lies approximately 10 km to the east. Results from two soil geochemical surveys completed in 2023 are interpreted to confirm the mineral potential of the Trojan-Condor target area as one of five (5) promising prospects with favourable geology, geophysical signatures, and/or historic geochemistry (please see the Company's News Release dated January 8, 2024). The Trojan-Condor Corridor, which hosts significant chargeability anomalies identified in a previous Induced Polarization ("IP") survey1, is considered a drill-ready target.



Chris Huggins, Chief Executive Officer of Collective, commented, "Integration of 2023 geochemical results and reprocessed geophysical data with historic geochemical and geological work on the Property has helped us identify and prioritize our current exploration targets. The well documented mineral endowment and large size of the Property provides significant opportunity for discovery. We look forward to advancing exploration on several secondary targets, including the Lamont Ridge and Fourteen Mile Creek areas, using 3D IP in 2024, in tandem with drilling our primary Trojan-Condor target area."

A total of 483 Ah horizon soil samples and 166 B horizon soils were collected as part of Phase I (Trojan-Condor Corridor) and Phase II (infill sampling on Trojan-Condor Corridor and multiple grids elsewhere on the Property) (the "Programs"). Samples were analyzed using predominantly analytical package AuME-TL43, with a subordinate proportion using ME-MS41. Both use an Aqua Regia digestion, differing only by the inclusion of a gold analysis in AuME-TL43 and a slightly wider range of detection for select elements in AuME-TL43. Analytical results from Phase I soil samples taken in the Trojan-Condor Corridor were previously discussed in a very limited manner (please see the Company's News Release dated September 21, 2023).

Analytical data for soil samples in the Trojan-Condor Corridor were collected from two different horizons, namely the Ah and B horizons. Strictly speaking, the data comprise two separate and distinct datasets for the same area, representing results from two different locations in the variably developed soil profile. In order to fully utilize these data, the two sets of data were leveled with respect to one another, using a module in the Python programming language, resulting in a single dataset for the high priority survey grid. Despite representing samples from two different levels in the soil profile, levelled data for a given station location, where both Ah and B horizon samples were taken for comparative purposes, tend to agree well with one another (see inset to left in the following figures).

Leveled Copper Results

Leveled copper results for the Trojan-Condor Corridor grid document the majority of results are predominantly background (5.6 - 46.15 ppm; please see Figure 1). However, there are elevated values strongly localized immediately adjacent to the surface trace of the Whipsaw Fault (PA1 anomaly as defined by Phase I soils; please see the Company's News Release dated September 21, 2023) and on the eastern margin of one of the Whipsaw Stocks (PA2 anomaly).

A comparatively large number of weakly anomalous (46.151 to 100.58 ppm) and weakly moderate (100.561 to 155.010 ppm) values are underlain by Late Triassic Nicola Group sediments (unit uTNs; shaded in grey) associated with anomaly PA1, whereas across the Whipsaw Fault to the east (sub-parallel to Whipsaw Creek) results returned have predominantly background values (Nicola Group volcanic sediments; uTNvs; shaded in light green).

There are a relatively large number of elevated copper values underlain by Nicola Group Volcanics (uTNv), with a greater proportion evident on the eastern side of the Whipsaw Fault relative to the west. Copper values documented are dominantly weakly anomalous (46.151 to 100.58 ppm) to weakly moderate (100.561 to 155.010 ppm) values. Interestingly, there is only a single moderately anomalous value (155.5 ppm) located within the PA2 anomaly. In addition, there is a single moderately high value of 252.6 ppm west of the Whipsaw Fault and two moderately high values (232 and 252.6 ppm) and two highly anomalous values (380.3 and 724 ppm) within an interpreted halo around the Whipsaw Stock. Note: The value of 724 ppm is the highest obtained from the 2023 soil program.

Finally, there is a comparatively high proportion of elevated results within, or immediately adjacent to, the PA2 anomaly as defined by Phase I soil results. These elevated results are spatially associated with a Late Triassic ultramafic (Tru) mapped in the northwest margin of the dioritic Whipsaw Stock (note the oval outline which partially straddles Whipsaw Creek). This may indicate the Whipsaw Stock is a multi-phase intrusion, with the ultramafic stock potentially being the causative source of anomalous copper.

Anomalous copper values are evident on the southernmost soil lines within the Whipsaw Stock, interpreted to indicate anomalous copper remains open to the south and southwest.

Copper values returned from within the Princeton Group are all at background levels.





Figure 1 - Leveled copper results for the Trojan-Condor Corridor. Late Triassic Whipsaw Stock (red) hosted by Late Triassic Nicola Group host rocks (green) unconformably overlain by Eocene Princeton Group (yellow). (Note: Inset (left) Ah and B horizon soils samples taken immediately adjacent to one another, have leveled values that strongly agree with one another.)

Leveled Calcium Results

Leveled calcium results (please see Figure 2) document a strong spatial association of elevated to anomalous results with both the PA1 and PA2 anomalies. The PA1 anomaly to the northeast, spatially associated with the Condor Chargeability anomaly1, is characterized by anomalous values on the central four soil lines, with generally background to weakly anomalous values on the peripheral lines on either side.

There is a high proportion of anomalous values, ranging from weakly anomalous (0.641 to 0.940%) through weakly moderate (0.941 to 1.24%) and moderately anomalous (1.241 to 1.54%) to moderately highly (1.541 to 1.84%) and highly (1.841 to 18.65%) anomalous. Anomalous values are present on either side of the surface trace of the Whipsaw Fault and an unnamed northwest - southeast fault juxtaposing units uTNs (shaded in grey) and uTNvs (shaded light green) to the northeast against unit uTNv (shaded medium green) to the southwest. These anomalous soil results are spatially associated with the intersection of two faults and are interpreted to indicate geochemical leakage from below, within, and adjacent to, the resulting damage zone (i.e, structural control to anomalous geochemiostry). They are also spatially associated with the Condor Chargeability anomaly.

The other concentration of anomalous results is spatially associated with the PA2 anomaly. There is a comparatively small number of elevated results within the Whipsaw Stock, with a higher proportion in the immediately adjacent Nicola Group volcanic host rocks to the west-southwest. Notably, there are very few anomalous results spatially associated with the Whipsaw Fault in this area, nor are there many elevated results elsewhere throughout the Whipsaw Stock. Again, the highest proportion of anomalous results are localized within the PA2 anomaly on the west side of the Whipsaw Stock and immediately adjacent Nicola Group host rocks. The highest proportion / largest concentration of anomalous results is localized at the mapped contact between the Whipsaw Stock and the host Nicola Group volcanic rocks.

This highly anomalous area is very interesting with respect to the PA1 anomaly and is tentatively interpreted as support for the interpretation of another, near subsurface (blind) Whipsaw Stock underlying the anomaly. The relative lack of elevated to anomalous values along most of the surface trace of the Whipsaw Fault, except in association with the PA1 anomaly, is interpreted to indicate there has not been widespread geochemical leakage along the Whipsaw Fault, so localized concentrations of anomalous values may be a valuable exploration signature.

Again, there are very few anomalous results evident with the mapped exposure of the Princeton Group and, in general, throughout the remainder of the Nicola Group volcanic unit.





Figure 2 - Leveled calcium results for the Trojan-Condor Corridor. Geochemical units as per Figure 1.

Leveled Silver Results

Leveled silver results (please see Figure 3) are similar to gold results (not shown), supporting identification of the PA1 and PA2 anomalies. The majority of results documented throughout the grid have background values, however, three areas stand out with multiple elevated to anomalous values.

The first is, once again, the PA1 anomaly. The single line of anomalous results which defined the anomaly in Phase I (please see the Company's News Release dated September 21, 2023) has been bracketed by five additional lines, one (immediately west) of which similarly returned multiple anomalous results and a second (immediately east) returned a subordinate proportion of anomalous results. The results are predominantly weakly (0.111 to 0.200 ppm) to weakly moderate (0.201 to 0.290 ppm) anomalous, with subordinate moderately (0.291 to 0.380 ppm) and a single moderately high (0.400 ppm) value.

There is an increase in the proportion of weakly moderate to moderately anomalous values at the northern and southern ends of the lines in the PA1 anomaly. Furthermore, the southern end of the PA1 anomaly becomes slightly better defined southwest of the unnamed fault juxtaposing units uTNs and uTNvs to the northeast against unit uTNv to the southwest and immediately east of the Whipsaw Fault.

The second area of interest is, again, the PA2 anomaly. A high proportion of anomalous values, ranging from weakly anomalous to highly anomalous are associated with both the PA2 anomaly, as initially defined by Phase I soils, and the contact between the Whipsaw Stock and Nicola Group volcanic host rocks. Anomalous silver values extend farther southwest along one of the Phase II lines to a second Whipsaw Stock, where, again, there are multiple anomalous silver values, ranging from weakly to moderately anomalous, localized at the contact between the Whipsaw Stock and Nicola Group volcanic host rocks.

The third area of interest comprises a number of elevated to moderately highly anomalous silver values returned from two soil lines straddling the unconformable contact between the Nicola Group volcanics and the overlying Eocene Princeton Group south of the PA1 anomaly. Anomalous values include a moderate value (0.33 ppm) and two moderately high values (0.41 and 0.45 ppm).

The remainder of the grid is characterized predominantly by background values with highly subordinate weakly anomalous values.





Figure 3 - Leveled silver results for the Trojan-Condor Corridor. Geochemical units as per Figure 1.

Summary

Results from the 2023 soil sampling program support results from both historical and recent rock sampling in the Trojan-Condor Corridor (please see the Company's News Release dated October 24, 2023). The comparative footprint of alkalic Cu - Au porphyries relative to calc-alkalic Cu- Mo porphyries (i.e. the Highland Valley Camp at Logan Lake, BC) is much more subtle and smaller. The results of the 2023 program, taken together with previous geochemical and geophysical results1, are interpreted to support the Trojan-Condor Corridor as a high priority, drill ready exploration target.

Extension of Marketing Agreement

The Company is also pleased to announce, further to its news release on March 15, 2024, that it has increased its engagement of marketing services with RMK Marketing Inc. ("RMK") (address: 41 Lana Terrace, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, L5A 3B2; email: Roberto@rmkmarketing.ca). RMK was originally retained by the Company on March 14, 2024 to provide marketing services (the "Services") for a term of 6 months, commencing March 22, 2024 (the "RMK Agreement"). Pursuant to the terms of the RMK Agreement, the Company has decided to execute its option to increase the advertising budget by compensating RMK an additional $100,000.

The Company will not issue any securities to RMK as compensation for its marketing services. As of the date hereof, to the Company's knowledge, RMK (including its directors and officers) does not own any securities of the Company and has an arm's length relationship with the Company.

Qualified Person

This news release has been reviewed and approved by Rick Walker, P. Geo., who is acting as the Company's Qualified Person for the Project, in accordance with regulations under NI 43-101.

The information disclosed is not necessarily indicative of mineralization on the Project.

References

1 - Saleken, L.W., 2013. Compilation Assessment Report on the Tulameen Project Mineral Property, Similkameen Mining Division, BC Geological Survey Assessment Report 33626a

About Collective Metals:

Collective Metals Inc. (CSE: COMT | OTC: CLLMF | FSE: TO1) is a resource exploration company specializing in precious metals exploration in North America. The Company's flagship property is the Princeton Project, located in south-central British Columbia, Canada, approximately 10 km west of the currently producing Copper Mountain Mine. The Princeton Project consists of 29 mineral tenures totaling approximately 28,560 ha (70,570 acres) in a well-documented and prolific copper-gold porphyry belt and is easily accessible by road, located immediately west of Highway 3.

The Company's Landings Lake Lithium Project is located in northwestern Ontario where numerous lithium deposits have been delineated to host significant reserves of Li 2 O. The Landings Lake Lithium Project is located 53 km east of Ear Falls, Ontario and covers 3,146 hectares. The Whitemud Project, with several identified pegmatite outcrops, neighbours the Landings Lake Project and consists of 381 single cell mining claims totaling 7,775 hectares.

Social Media

X @COMT_metals LinkedIn Collective Metals Inc Facebook Collective Metals Inc



ON BEHALF OF COLLECTIVE METALS INC.

Christopher Huggins

Chief Executive Officer

T: 604-968-4844

E: chris@collectivemetalsinc.com

Forward Looking Information

Certain statements in this news release are forward-looking statements, including with respect to future plans, and other matters. Forward-looking statements consist of statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such information can generally be identified by the use of forwarding-looking wording such as "may", "expect", "estimate", "anticipate", "intend", "believe" and "continue" or the negative thereof or similar variations. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, including but not limited to, business, economic and capital market conditions, the ability to manage operating expenses, and dependence on key personnel. Forward looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements respecting: results of the Programs; the Project and its mineralization potential; the provision of the Services by RMK; the Company's objectives, goals or future plans with respect to the Project; the commencement of drilling or exploration programs in the future; further exploration work on the Property in the future. Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future, anticipated costs, and the ability to achieve goals. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include, the continued availability of capital and financing, litigation, failure of counterparties to perform their contractual obligations, loss of key employees and consultants, and general economic, market or business conditions. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information.

The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed this press release and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.





Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a99a52f8-a8d5-4003-a82b-5de512b8fc96

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8a968ff6-0fa6-43c5-9175-e7b54e4cccf8

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/59defd56-3463-4a7c-aeae-a8a3dfa4dbea
Geneva, Switzerland, May 2, 2024 - STALICLA SA, a late-stage biotechnology company specializing in precision medicine for brain disorders, announces the First Patient First Visit (FPFV) for the company's drug-drug interaction (DDI) study of STP7 (Mavoglurant), an mGluR5 negative allosteric modulator, licensed to STALICLA by Novartis. The DDI study is the last regulatory requirement in a comprehensive Phase 2 program and completion is expected to trigger initiation of a Phase 3 study in the U.S. in 2025.

Lynn Durham, CEO and Founder of STALICLA said, "This DDI study unlocks the opportunity under our Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the U.S. NIH National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) to begin Phase 3 trials for STP7 in 2025 to address the high unmet medical need of cocaine abuse globally. Results from successfully completed Phase 2 studies for cocaine use disorder (CUD) showed highly convincing and unprecedented efficacy results including increase in abstinence from cocaine use and reduction in co-morbid dependencies such as alcohol abuse with STP7 (Mavoglurant).

In addition, STALICLA is investigating alternative therapeutic indications for STP7 (Mavoglurant) to benefit patients with other CNS conditions."

STP7by Novartis of STP7 (Mavoglurant) to date have included over 1800 adults for up to 2 years, demonstrating good safety and tolerability and significant reduction in cocaine use and positioning STP7 (Mavoglurant) as a strong candidate therapy for substance use and other CNS disorders.

STALICLA SA is a Swiss clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, pioneering precision treatment in neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders. Its AI-driven precision neuro medicine platform has allowed to identify two precision small molecule drug candidates for autism spectrum disorder, STP1 and STP2, both planned to enter Phase 2 trials in 2024. Following the in-licensing of Mavoglurant from Novartis in 2023, STALICLA has also established an advanced mGluR5 NAM platform offering multi-faceted late-stage clinical development opportunities broadening STALICLA's scope to address wider CNS disease unmet needs. For more information, please visit: www.stalicla.com.

For further information, please contact:

STALICLA SA

Lynn Durham

Founder & CEO

lynn.durham@stalicla.com Chris Maggos

Cohesion Bureau

+41 79 367 62 54

chris.maggos@cohesionbureau.com

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NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2024 / Quest Diagnostics:

At a glance:

Quest worked with St. James Health in Newark to provide no-cost Blueprint for Wellness screenings during a Choose Healthy Life event to celebrate expansion of Newark, NJ-based Metropolitan Baptist Church's The Willing Heart Community Care Center

Willing Heart is a Choose Healthy Life HUB partner supported through a grant from the Quest Diagnostics Foundation as part of the Quest for Health Equity (Q4HE) initiative

Q4HE team also arranged a special guest appearance from Elmo thanks to a collaboration with Sesame Workshop

The full story:

Quest Diagnostics provided no-cost Blueprint for Wellness comprehensive health screenings in collaboration with St. James Health, a community health center focused on providing comprehensive primary health and preventive services in the East, West, and South Wards of Newark, NJ, at a Choose Healthy Life (CHL) event at Metropolitan Baptist Church in Newark. The effort was part of an ongoing collaboration between Choose Healthy Life and the Quest Diagnostics Foundation as part of its Quest for Health Equity (Q4HE) initiative.

The event celebrated the expansion of the church's Willing Heart Community Care Center, which is focused on addressing social inequities in healthcare, employment, housing, food disparity, and poverty in Newark and surrounding communities, and the center's transformation to Willing Heart Family Empowerment Center.

"I'm truly grateful to celebrate such a groundbreaking initiative at Metropolitan Baptist Church. Under the leadership of Pastor, Rev. Dr. David Jefferson Sr. and with the support of our HUB partner, Willing Heart Community Care Center (WHCCC), we are setting a new standard for holistic community care with the new family empowerment center. This center serves as a testament to the power of faith and community collaboration. Metropolitan is the first in the state of New Jersey and the second among Choose Healthy Life churches to have such a center," said Rev. Kimberly L. Williams, Executive Director, Choose Healthy Life. "I extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone who played a part in making this vision a reality. Special gratitude goes to the Quest Diagnostics Foundation for their continued support and donated testing services to address health equity in the communities we serve like Newark through the Quest for Health Equity initiative. Together, we are not just dreaming of a healthier future; we are building it."

As a founding sponsor, the Quest Diagnostics Foundation provided financial support to establish CHL's church-based community health workforce. This includes support of CHL HUB partners like The Willing Heart.

Quest Diagnostics and the Quest Foundation, through the Q4HE initiative, are building on our initial commitment to CHL through its support of CHL's Community Wellness Program by offering Blueprint for Wellness, which provides a clinical set of laboratory tests and measurements completed to highlight personal health strengths and risks that will support underserved communities in taking control of their health.

In total, Quest provided no-cost Blueprint for Wellness to 51 attendees during a recent celebration of Metropolitan Baptist Church's expansion in the community, with St. James clinic staff performing specimen collection and taking biometric measurements. The Q4HE team, several Quest regional employees-including phlebotomists Karen Powell and Lisa Lawson, Jill Fannin, key account manager, and Q4HE intern Lizete Negrete volunteered their time to support this important event. Volunteers were also joined by East Region President Ruth Clements.

"This event embodied our Quest Purpose-working together to create a healthier world, one life at a time-on all fronts," said Clements. "With Quest as the founding sponsor of the Choose Healthy Life initiative, Pastor Jefferson is realizing his vison to impact the local community of Newark by working together with RJW Barnabas, St. James FQHC, AETNA/CVS, and Quest to realize a new health clinic, daycare and job training center adjacent to his church."

A special visit from Sesame Workshop

To continue the excitement for the families, the Q4HE team arranged for a special guest appearance-Elmo-thanks to a collaboration with Sesame Workshop. The global impact nonprofit behind Sesame Street, Sesame Workshop is one of the organizations that Q4HE collaborates with across many sectors to drive change and empower better health in underserved communities.

Kids were also treated to "Staying Healthy" children's books, part of a series developed through Q4HE in collaboration with the Sesame Workshop. The series provides bilingual resources, available in English and Spanish, designed to connect and support parents, caregivers, and healthcare providers as partners in children's healthcare.

Feedback from Quest volunteers

"The event was a great opportunity to see firsthand how Quest is making a difference-one life at a time," said Quest volunteer Jill Fannin, Quest Key Account Manager for health care providers. "The collaboration with Sesame Street was the perfect way to engage people of all ages to Choose Healthy Life. The children were excited to receive books, the adults were excited for the opportunity for Blueprint, and everyone wanted a picture, or two, with Elmo."

"I was proud to see our Quest employees volunteer their time on the weekend to allow the community to get their Blueprint for Wellness and be connected to care," said Clements. "And Elmo's appearance through our collaboration with Sesame Workshop was a hit!"

To learn more:

For more about Choose Healthy life, visit www.choosehealthylife.org

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Quest Diagnostics on 3blmedia.com.



Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Quest Diagnostics

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/quest-diagnostics

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: Quest Diagnostics

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Conqueror seized this special anniversary as an opportunity to recognize founding members with an Awards Ceremony and to present its new web app, its new website and cutting-edge digital services

Bali, 2nd May 2024: Conqueror's networking and conference event, from the 21st to the 23rd of April, came to a successful close last Wednesday. Conqueror Freight Network hosted professional leaders from the freight forwarding industry to discuss the global logistics environment, the industry challenges and growth and the technological trends in freight forwarding.

The meeting that took place at the Intercontinental Bali Resort in Bali, Indonesia was attended by more than 120 freight forwarders from over 60 countries, facilitating their company's increase, expansion and networking. In order to mark the 10th edition of Conqueror's in-person conference, they presented an award honoring longstanding members who have been integral to the network since its inception, making invaluable contributions to its expansion.

During the conference, Conqueror introduced several cutting-edge digital solutions, including a new web app, redesigned website, and advanced digital services aimed at enhancing member experiences and streamlining operations. This initiative underscores Conqueror's role as a leader in embracing technology for the benefit of its global network of freight forwarders.

The one-to-one meetings meticulously arranged over the course of two days, enabled participants to spotlight their businesses, explore future collaboration prospects, and secure promising ventures. The launch of Conqueror's new web app, redesigned website, and strategic partnerships with industry leaders such as Container xChange and Redkik mark key milestones in the network's journey toward digital transformation. These initiatives empower Conqueror's agents with enhanced tools and resources to navigate the complexities of modern freight forwarding.

During the conference, Conqueror introduced several cutting-edge digital solutions, including a new web app, redesigned website and new features added to the networks' online quoting platform FreightViewer aimed at enhancing member experiences and streamlining operations. This initiative underscores Conqueror's role as a leader in embracing technology for the benefit of its global network of freight forwarders.

"On the occasion of the 10th Anniversary of Conqueror's Annual Meetings, our aim was to organize a very special event. This is why we organized an awards ceremony to express our appreciation for the trust our founding members have shown in us over the last 13 years. Likewise, our gathering in Bali provided a platform for delegates to solidify existing partnerships, showcase expertise, and cultivate trust among fellow members. This camaraderie will undoubtedly catalyze collaborative projects within our network," remarked Antonio Torres, President, and Founder of Conqueror Freight Network.

In a seamless continuation of last year's success, Conqueror's innovative web application once again enhanced the experience for the delegates. Additionally, Andrea Martin, Conqueror's FreightViewer Coordinator, led informative FreightViewer Workshops where network members were briefed on the latest enhancements to the network's exclusive Transport Management System (TMS) and instructed on maximizing the utility of these new features.

Beyond professional engagements, attendees immersed themselves in Bali's rich culture through a captivating Group Tour to visit Taman Ayun and Tanah Lot's temples, fostering deeper connections with prospective partners. The business meeting reached a crescendo at the Gala Dinner, where members bonded over food, drinks, and live music.

For further information kindly contact:

Maria Serrano, PR & Event Coordinator

Tel. +34 91 494 58 76

mserrano@conquerornetwork.com

www. conquerornetwork.com



The Conqueror Freight Network is the largest exclusive network of Independent Freight Forwarders in the world represented in 258 cities and 134 countries. The Conqueror Freight Network (CQR) brings together carefully-selected freight forwarders in each major city who cooperate reciprocally and securely to expand their businesses, reduce costs and risks, and compete on more equal terms against the largest international companies

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Highlights:

Strategic Expansion and Market Growth: AI/ML Innovations Inc. expands its portfolio by acquiring Naiad Labs Inc. Product Division.

AI-driven Strategic Healthcare Assets: The purchase includes a proprietary "Long ECG Neural Net", reducing the reading and labeling of long ECGs from a couple of weeks to under 5 minutes.

VICTORIA, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2024 / AI/ML Innovations Inc. ("AIML" or the "Company") (CSE:AIML)(OTCQB:AIMLF)(FWB:42FB), a leading company committed to acquiring and advancing Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning technologies that address urgent societal needs, is pleased to announce a significant milestone in the signing of a binding Letter of Intent (the "LOI") dated April 27, 2024 to purchase Naiad Labs' Product Division, subject to certain terms and conditions.

The Acquired Assets include:

Naiad's proprietary Long ECG Neural Net (L-ECG NN) - An accurate and efficient method to read and label long ECGs. The L-ECG NN can label an entire 48-hour long ECG file in less than 5 minutes, while conventional methods take a couple of weeks.

The Neural Network Store (NNStore) - A subscription-based online neural net store that allows device company developers and researchers to upload files for analysis by various AI systems.

Paul Duffy, CEO of AIML, added, "We are very excited by this acquisition, as we see great synergy between these newly acquired technologies and our current Follow Your Heart suite of products". Duffy continues, "Moreover, the Neural Net Store expands our reach, offering our Neural Nets as a Service to the broad and growing community of smart sensor wearables and end user applications.'"

The salient terms of the LOI include:

1. AIML will purchase 100% of Naiad's Long ECG Neural Net, 100% of Naiad's Neural Net Store & NNaaS, and access to certain contracted services to be provided by Naiad's management and technical team on an ongoing basis under separate employment/consulting agreements (collectively, the "Assets"). 2. AIML will issue 6,700,000 Common Shares from its Treasury to Naiad, (currently valued at $469,000), as full and final payment for the Assets. The shares will be subject to a 12-month hold period. 3. AIML will create a new operating subsidiary which shall hold the Assets. 4. AIML will pay a streaming royalty (the "Royalty") to Naiad for up to a 20-year period, as per the following terms: i. a 2% Royalty which is payable on gross revenue of not less than $1,500,000 and not greater than $5,000,000 inclusive per fiscal year, if and only if such revenue is directly attributable to third-party licensing of the Long ECG Neural Net, AND ii. a 3% Royalty which is payable on all gross revenue above $5,000,000 per fiscal year, if and only if such revenue is directly attributable to third-party licensing of the Long ECG Neural Net. iii. AIML at its sole discretion may purchase the Royalty from Naiad at any time for $1,000,000. 5. AIML will grant a total of 700,000 stock options for 5 years at a $0.20 exercise price to management members of Naiad, in accordance with the Corporation's Stock Option Plan. 6. a 3% Royalty which is payable on all gross revenue above $5,000,000 per fiscal year, if and only if such revenue is directly attributable to third-party licensing of the Long ECG Neural Net. 7. AIML at its sole discretion may purchase the Royalty from Naiad at any time for $1,000,000. i. the Long ECG Neural Net has formally entered the US FDA approval process; AND, ii. The Long ECG Neural Net generates gross revenue of not less than $1,000,000.

The Assets Purchase has a non-arm's length component to it in that AIML's Interim CPO, Esmat Naikyar, is the CEO and co-Founder of Naiad Labs Inc. Mr. Naikyar is neither on the board of directors of AIML, nor will he be involved in AIML's approval process.

The closing of the Asset Purchase is subject to satisfactory completion of due diligence by AIML, AIML Board approval, any requisite regulatory approval, and other conditions typically set out in a purchase and sale agreement of this type. The parties are working to complete a definitive agreement based upon the terms found of LOI on or about May 30, 2024.

No Finder's Fee will be paid in conjunction with this transaction. The Asset Purchase will not result in either a change of control or the creation of new control persons.

###

About AI/ML Innovations Inc. https://aiml-innovations.com/

AI/ML Innovations Inc. has realigned its business operations to capitalize on the burgeoning fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), with an initial investment focus on emerging digital health and wellbeing companies that leverage AI, ML, cloud computing and digital platforms to drive transformative healthcare management solutions and precision support delivery across the health continuum. Through strategic partnerships with Health Gauge (95.2% owned by AIML), Tech2Heal (up to 22% ownership rights, with 12.44% currently owned by AIML), AI Rx Inc. (70% owned by AIML) and other planned accretive investments, the Company continues to capitalize on expanding growth areas, to the benefit of all the Company's stakeholders. AI/ML's shares are traded on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol "AIML", the OTCQB Venture Market under "AIMLF", and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under "42FB".

On behalf of the Board of Directors

Tim Daniels, Executive Chairman

For more information about AI/ML Innovations :

For detailed information please see AI/ML's website or the Company's filed documents at www.sedarplus.ca

For further information, contact: Blake Fallis at (778) 405-0882 or info@aiml-innovations.com

Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For AI/ML Innovations Investors

Certain statements made in this press release that are not based on historical information are forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. This press release contains express or implied forward-looking statements relating to, among other things, AI/ML Innovations' expectations concerning management's plans, objectives, and strategies, including strategies for defending the Company's intellectual property. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees but are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in these forward-looking statements. Existing and prospective investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. AI/ML Innovations Inc. undertakes no obligation to update or revise the information contained in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events, or circumstances or otherwise except as expressly required by applicable securities law. Further information regarding the uncertainties and risks can be found in the disclosure documents filed by AI/ML with the securities regulatory authorities, available at www.sedar.com.

SOURCE: AI/ML Innovations Inc.

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Porocarb represents potentially significant new revenue stream for Northern

Ottawa, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - May 2, 2024) - Northern Graphite Corporation (TSXV: NGC) (OTCQB: NGPHF) (FSE: 0NG) (XSTU: 0NG) (the "Company" or "Northern") is pleased to provide an update on the development, production, and commercialization of Porocarb, a patented high-performance macro-porous hard carbon material aimed at boosting performance in next generation battery chemistries for electric vehicles ("EVS"), including both lithium ion and solid state batteries.

Since the launch of its Battery Materials Group ("NGCBM") in February, Northern has signed non-disclosure agreements with top-tier global battery manufacturers from South Korea, China, and several Western countries who are keen on utilizing Porocarb as a performance additive in lithium-Ion batteries or as a protective carbon coating for All-Solid-State-Battery ("ASSB") anodes.

NGC Battery Materials Group was formed through the acquisition of the assets and R&D team of the battery division of Germany's Heraeus Group, and included a fully operational, state-of-the-art laboratory in Frankfurt. The acquisition included licensing for the IP to develop, produce, and sell Porocarb, a high-performance porous hard carbon material developed over the last 10 years and patented by Heraeus to enhance the efficiency and speed of energy storage mechanisms.

"Since we launched our new battery materials group, we have been leveraging the deep, longstanding commercial relationships that the new team has brought Northern to position Porocarb with prospective clients as a frontrunner in the development of next-generation, lithium-based energy storage and ASSB," said Northern Chief Executive Officer Hugues Jacquemin. "We are in advanced discussions with several major battery manufacturers who are assessing Porocarb for its potential to extend cycle-life for current and future technologies. The market potential of Porocarb lies in its unique applications in tailored battery electrode formulations."

A number of global automakers are working to commercialize ASSB chemistries that will enable longer driving distances, faster charging and an overall safer energy storage system. Based on information from SNE Research and EV Tank, the solid-state battery market is expected to grow from approximately 2 GWh today to an estimated 220 GWh by 2030, of which 60 GWh will be ASSB.

"Porocarb has opened a whole new potential revenue stream for the Company that is separate but complimentary to our work towards becoming a major supplier of battery anode material ("BAM") to lithium-ion battery makers when our Baie-Comeau BAM plant is built," said Mr. Jacquemin. "While timing will depend on the qualification process with battery makers, Porocarb has the potential to provide revenue to the Company sooner even than our natural graphite Lithium-Ion battery anode material products."

Porocarb plays a vital role in multiple battery applications (Fig.1). It acts as a protective layer in ASSBs, enhances energy density and cycle life as a host material for active materials, and serves as an additive in LIBs to improve overall cell performance.

Fig.1: Main markets for Porocarb in battery applications such as ASSBs, active material and LIBs.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/4186/207766_737742c9045368ca_001full.jpg

"We have made great progress in finalizing a specialized Porocarb grade employed as a protective carbon layer between the current collector and solid-state electrolyte in an anode-free ASSB design. The latest results with world leading South Korean and Chinese battery manufacturers indicated superior performance with Porocarb compared to other carbon materials and we are currently in the pivotal phase of product qualification with our clients," said Dr. Moritz Hantel, VP Innovation & Product Management of NGCBM.

"This positive feedback has led to an increase in orders for qualification material from battery cell makers assessing Porocarb for use in ASSBs. These developments underscore the promising future of Porocarb in the market," said Michael Grimm, President of NGCBM.

Northern is advancing toward its goal of becoming a vertically integrated, mine-to-market supplier to traditional downstream customers and to the emerging market for battery anode material. The Company is progressing toward construction of a 200,000 tonne-per-year BAM plant in Baie-Comeau, Quebec, and is advancing technical relationships with multiple partners with the objective of securing the technology, engineering and financial partnerships necessary to develop BAM facilities in Baie-Comeau and elsewhere.

"Today, Northern is an integrated, pioneering technology company that is innovatively designing carbon products for energy storage systems, whether it be LIB or ASSB," said Mr. Jacquemin. "Our ability to meet customer needs, understand their requirements and swiftly implement solutions in our lab positions us a key player in the future of battery technologies."

About Northern Graphite

Northern, the only flake graphite producing company in North America, is a Canadian, TSX Venture Exchange listed company that is focused on becoming a world leader in producing natural graphite and upgrading it into high-value products critical to the green economy, including anode material for lithium-ion batteries/EVs, fuel cells and graphene, as well as advanced industrial technologies.

Northern expects to become one of the largest natural graphite producers outside of China when its Namibian operations come back online. The Company also has the large-scale Bissett Creek project in Ontario and substantial additional measured and indicated resources in Namibia and the Mousseau property in Quebec which are expected to be sources of continued production growth in the future. All projects have "battery quality" graphite and are located close to infrastructure in politically stable jurisdictions.

For media inquiries contact

Pav Jordan, VP of Communications

Email: pjordan@northerngraphite.com

For additional information

Please visit the Company's website at https://www.northerngraphite.com/home/, the Company's profile on www.sedarplus.ca our Social Channels listed below or contact the Company at (613) 271-2124.

LinkedIn

YouTube

Twitter

Facebook

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements and information are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "potential", "possible" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may", "will", "could", or "should" occur. Forward-looking statements in this news release include statements regarding, among others, the Company's plans to develop, produce and commercialize Porocarb, develop its Baie-Comeau Battery Anode Material facility, intentions to restart the Okanjande mine in Namibia and development plans for its other projects including Bissett Creek. All such forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and analyses made by management based on their experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors they believe are appropriate in the circumstances. However, these statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected including, but not limited to, unexpected changes in laws, rules or regulations, or their enforcement by applicable authorities; the failure of other parties to perform as agreed; social or labour unrest; changes in commodity prices; unexpected failure or inadequacy of infrastructure and the failure of ongoing and contemplated studies to deliver anticipated results or results that would justify and support continued studies, development or operations and the inability to raise required financing. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information or statements.

Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based on what management believes are reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with them. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Subject to applicable securities laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this news release.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/207766

SOURCE: Northern Graphite Corporation
Parents will soon have access to Owlet's Dream Sock with medically-certified CE-Marking across the European markets

Owlet, Inc. ("Owlet" or the "Company") (NYSE:OWLT), the pioneer of smart infant monitoring, announces the EU medical device certification of Dream Sock. This EU-CE-Mark certification, issued by Owlet's EU notified body, signifies that Owlet's Dream Sock has been assessed and certified to meet safety and health requirements set out under EU medical device legislation. With this certification, Owlet plans to expand its medical-device product portfolio to even more caregivers around the world.

This EU medical device certification follows two marketing authorizations from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (the "FDA"), for Dream Sock, with new medical technology for healthy infants over-the-counter without a prescription, and for BabySat, a prescription-only pulse oximeter designed for use with babies that have a pre-existing medical condition.

"Our mission to be there for every parent and every baby becomes even more realized with the European medical certification for Dream Sock," said Kurt Workman, Owlet Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder. "Parents throughout Europe will soon have access to the most innovative, consumer-friendly, medical-grade, smart baby monitoring technology so they can be more empowered to provide care from the comfort of their homes."

Dream Sock comfortably wraps around a baby's foot and is intended for routine, in-home surveillance of healthy infants by measuring oxygen saturation and pulse rate, and will provide sleep insights for parents that are new for the European markets. Its advanced technology offers clinically-proven accuracy, while the connected Owlet Dream App delivers live readings directly to a mobile device and a nearby Base Station both of which can provide a notification to the caregiver, prompting them to assess the infant. Dream Sock, as certified for the EU, is intended for use with healthy infants between 0-18 months and 2.5-13.6 kg. Its notifications and associated data are intended to supplement the decision by caregivers to seek additional guidance for medical care of the infant. It is not intended to replace traditional methods of diagnosis and/or treatment.

While not currently available for sale, Dream Sock is expected to launch throughout Germany, France and the UK this spring, with other European countries to follow.

About Owlet, Inc.

Owlet was founded by a team of parents in 2012. Owlet's mission is to empower parents with the right information at the right time, to give them more peace of mind and help them find more joy in the journey of parenting. Owlet's digital parenting platform aims to give parents real-time data and insights to help parents feel calmer and more confident. Owlet believes that every parent deserves peace of mind and the opportunity to feel their well-rested best. Owlet also believes that every child deserves to live a long, happy, and healthy life, and is working to develop products to help further that belief. To learn more, visit www.owletcare.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "Reform Act"). All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding the Company's certification of its Dream Sock in the EEA and the impacts, growth prospects, and expanded product offerings and product availability in international markets. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as "estimate," "may," "believes," "plans," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "goal," "potential," "upcoming," "outlook," "guidance," the negation thereof, or similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Forward-looking statements are based on the Company's expectations at the time such statements are made, speak only as of the dates they are made and are susceptible to a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors. For all such forward-looking statements, the Company claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Reform Act. The Company's actual results, performance or achievements may differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements. Many important factors could affect the Company's future results and cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the Company's forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, (i) the availability of, adoption and commercial success of Dream Sock and its new medical technology within these international markets, (ii) the regulatory pathway for Owlet's products, including submissions to, actions taken by and decisions and responses from regulators, such as the FDA and similar regulators outside of the United States, as well as Owlet's ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval or certification for our products and other regulatory requirements and legal proceedings; (iii) Owlet's competition and the Company's ability to profitably grow and manage growth; (iv) the Company's ability to enhance future operating and financial results or obtain additional financing to continue as a going concern; (v) Owlet's ability to obtain additional financing in the future, as well risks associated with the Company's current loan and debt agreements, including compliance with debt covenants, restrictions on the Company's access to capital, the impact of the Company's overall debt levels and the Company's ability to generate sufficient future cash flows to meet Owlet's debt service obligations and operate Owlet's business; (vi) the ability of Owlet to implement strategic initiatives, reduce costs, grow revenues, develop and launch new products, innovate and enhance existing products, meet customer demands and adapt to changes in consumer preferences and retail trends; (vii) Owlet's ability to acquire, defend and protect its intellectual property and satisfy regulatory requirements, including but not limited to requirements concerning privacy and data protection, breaches and loss, as well as other risks associated with Owlet's digital platforms and technologies; (viii) Owlet's ability to maintain relationships with customers, manufacturers and suppliers and retain Owlet's management and key employees; (ix) Owlet's ability to upgrade and maintain its information technology systems; (x) changes in applicable laws or regulations; (xi) the impact of and disruption to Owlet's business, financial condition, operations, supply chain and logistics due to economic and other conditions beyond the Company's control, such as health epidemics or pandemics, macro-economic uncertainties, social unrest, hostilities, natural disasters or other catastrophic events; (xii) the possibility that Owlet may be adversely affected by other economic, business, regulatory, competitive or other factors, such as changes in discretionary consumer spending and consumer preferences; and (xiii) other risks and uncertainties set forth in the Company's other releases, public statements and filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including those identified in the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, and as any such factors may be updated from time to time in the Company's other filings with the SEC. All such forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or any person acting on the Company's behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to above. Moreover, the Company operates in an evolving environment. New risk factors and uncertainties may emerge from time to time, and factors that the Company currently deems immaterial may become material, and it is impossible for the Company to predict such events or how they may affect Owlet. Except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements after the date of this press release, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise, although Owlet may do so from time to time. The Company does not endorse any projections regarding future performance that may be made by third parties.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240502773039/en/

Contacts:

Media:

pr@owletcare.com

owlet@diffusionpr.com
ful. Health Partners With Blackwell Captive Solutions to Deliver Innovative Cost-Containment Solutions, Featuring CirrusMD's Physician-Led Care, Ensuring Payers Benefit From Enhanced Savings and Superior Healthcare

CHICAGO, IL / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2024 / CirrusMD, creator of the Physician-first Care & Guidance virtual care model, is reshaping healthcare delivery by enabling care that is instantly accessible, always informed, and directly connected to the patient's longitudinal health record. In a groundbreaking collaboration with ful. Health, CirrusMD's renowned virtual care services are now available to self-funded groups, marking a significant leap forward in healthcare accessibility and affordability.





ful. Health





CirrusMD's Physician-first Care & Guidance model, which connects users to a doctor in less than 60 seconds, 24/7/365, not only enhances efficiency but also supports early diagnosis and treatment, ultimately improving health outcomes and reducing healthcare costs. This model also helps to address issues stemming from the scarcity of physicians in the U.S. by empowering CirrusMD physicians with a smart, proprietary platform for scalable care that enhances the quality, continuity, and efficiency of care.

Dr. Bernie Saks, founder and CEO of ful. Health, commends CirrusMD's model, stating, "CirrusMD represents the epitome of the right model for virtual care, seamlessly integrating technology with compassionate, physician-led guidance. Their innovative approach aligns perfectly with our mission to transform how plans use and pay for healthcare. Partnering with Blackwell Captive Solutions further strengthens our commitment to delivering cost containment solutions that improve members' health and financial well-being."

In this transformative partnership, Blackwell Captive Solutions, a respected leader in the self-funded industry, serves as the channel partner, facilitating access to CirrusMD's virtual care services. Kari L. Niblack, President of Blackwell Captive Solutions, emphasizes the importance of physician-guided care, stating, "CirrusMD's unwavering commitment to on-demand, transparent, proactive care not only enhances patient outcomes, but also ensures sustainable cost management for healthcare stakeholders. We are thrilled to partner with ful. Health to deliver CirrusMD's virtual care."

Jamie Hall, President and CEO of CirrusMD, highlights the significance of a human-centered design approach, stating, "To realize virtual care's full potential, we need to integrate it seamlessly into healthcare. This model supports expanded Primary Care, delivering high-quality, empathetic, and accessible care for patients, efficiency for providers, and savings for plan sponsors."

This collaboration among CirrusMD, ful. Health, and Blackwell Captive Solutions promises improved patient outcomes, cost savings, and enhanced accessibility to quality care. Together, these industry disruptors are spearheading an important transformation in healthcare delivery, making physician-led virtual care a reality for everyone.

About ful. Health

ful. Health is a leading provider of comprehensive healthcare navigation solutions, dedicated to empowering individuals to make informed decisions about their healthcare options. Through innovative technology, data-driven insights, and personalized guidance, ful. Health enables plan members to navigate healthcare choices efficiently, saving time and money while improving health outcomes. With a mission to transform the healthcare experience, ful. Health offers a user-friendly platform that integrates all the tools members need to learn, shop, and save on healthcare in one convenient app. From telehealth services and cost comparison tools to curated educational resources, ful. Health is committed to delivering a seamless and empowering healthcare navigation experience for all. Learn more at ful-health.com.

About Blackwell Captive Solutions

Blackwell Captive Solutions is a leading provider of innovative solutions in the captive insurance industry. With a commitment to delivering tailored risk management strategies and cost-effective insurance solutions, Blackwell Captive Solutions empowers businesses to take control of their insurance needs and optimize their risk financing strategies. Leveraging deep industry expertise and a client-centric approach, Blackwell Captive Solutions collaborates closely with clients to design and implement customized captive insurance programs that align with their unique risk profiles and business objectives. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Blackwell Captive Solutions serves a diverse portfolio of clients across various industries, offering comprehensive services in captive formation, management, and consulting. Learn more at BlackwellCaptive.com.

About CirrusMD

CirrusMD is a virtual healthcare company delivering care that is instantly accessible, always informed, and directly connected to the patient's longitudinal health record. We are solving three of healthcare's most pervasive problems directly at the point of care: lack of access, lack of relevant information, and lack of care continuity. With a simple chat, our network of high-quality physicians is instantly accessible (<60 seconds), anytime (24/7/365), anywhere in the U.S. CirrusMD doctors are supported by our proprietary Clinical Intelligence Engine, which uses AI-based technology to mine the care encounter for underlying health risks, surface relevant benefit resources and update patient records via integration with a Quality Health Information Network (QHIN). To learn more, visit cirrusmd.com.

Contact Information

Buse Kayar

buse.kayar@issuerdirect.com

SOURCE: ful-Health

View the original press release on newswire.com.
MFAM investment returns to fund the Mastercard Foundation's work with its partners in Africa and Canada over the long term

TORONTO, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Mastercard Foundation today introduced the Mastercard Foundation Asset Management (MFAM) Corporation, a new, separate asset management company with a mandate to build and manage a diversified portfolio to support the mission of the Mastercard Foundation and the work of its partners over the long term. The Mastercard Foundation is a registered Canadian charity and one of the largest private foundations in the world. It works with visionary organizations to advance education and financial inclusion to enable young people in Africa and Indigenous youth in Canada to access dignified and fulfilling work.

Reeta Roy, President and CEO of the Mastercard Foundation, said, "The programs of the Mastercard Foundation are transforming the lives of young people in Africa and in Indigenous communities in Canada. Led by John Barker, MFAM is building a team of world-class investment professionals charged with diversifying Mastercard Foundation's portfolio and delivering returns that will fund the philanthropic mission of the Mastercard Foundation over the long term."

The Mastercard Foundation was established in 2006 through the generosity of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE: MA), which gifted the Mastercard Foundation common shares as part of its initial public offering. Over the past 18 years, the value of that original gift has grown substantially. The Mastercard Foundation now requires a dedicated asset management team to manage and diversify the Mastercard Foundation's growing investment portfolio.

John Barker, Chief Investment Officer of MFAM, said, "I am thrilled to be leading the investment team at MFAM and to be working with the Mastercard Foundation to fund its critical mission in Africa and Canada. MFAM is building a team of investment professionals and a network of investment partners that will be inspired by the opportunity to create meaningful value and lasting impact through the Mastercard Foundation."

Mr. Barker joined MFAM in January 2024. He brings over three decades of investment management experience to the role, having served as the Chief Investment Officer at Mass General Brigham and as a Managing Director at Harvard Management Company.

Headquartered in Toronto, MFAM has an investment strategy that is global in scope. MFAM was established by the Mastercard Foundation as a separate entity with a separate Board of Directors and management team.

The Mastercard Foundation partners with approximately 400 organizations and supports initiatives in 33 countries, including the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program, the Saving Lives and Livelihoods Initiative in Africa, and the EleV Program supporting Indigenous youth in Canada.

Established in 2023, Mastercard Foundation Asset Management (MFAM) Corporation was created to build and manage a diversified investment portfolio for the Mastercard Foundation, one of the largest private foundations in the world. MFAM is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. It has a global investment strategy and mandate to deliver returns that will fund the philanthropic mission of the Mastercard Foundation over the long term. To learn more, visit the MFAM website at www.mfamc.org.

The Mastercard Foundation is a registered Canadian charity and one of the largest foundations in the world. It works with visionary organizations to advance education and financial inclusion to enable young people in Africa and Indigenous youth in Canada to access dignified and fulfilling work. Established in 2006 through the generosity of Mastercard when it became a public company, the Foundation is an independent organization separate from the company, with offices in Toronto, Kigali, Accra, Nairobi, Kampala, Lagos, Dakar, and Addis Ababa. Its policies, operations, and program decisions are determined by the Foundation's Board of Directors and leadership. For more information on the Foundation, please visit www.mastercardfdn.org

About MFAM, please contact: Lynnette Visaya, Edelman Smithfield, media_pr@mfamc.org, (416) 316-4518

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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/mastercard-foundation-introduces-mfam-a-new-separate-asset-management-company-to-support-its-philanthropic-mission-302134534.html
By Webster Bank

STAMFORD, CT / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2024 / In recognition of Financial Literacy Month, Webster Bank and YWCA Hartford Region recently celebrated the opening of the Webster/YWCA Hartford Region Finance Lab in Hartford, Connecticut.

The program was created to provide women and girls in YW programs such as YW Career Women and the Young Women's Leadership Corps (YWLC) with the financial skills and literacy to plan for a future of economic security and long-term self-sufficiency. A $100,000 grant was provided by Webster to fund the programs.

Webster Bank's partnership with YWCA Hartford Region underscores its commitment to corporate social responsibility and its dedication to making a positive difference in the communities it serves. Webster Bank is actively building a stronger and more resilient community by investing in programs that empower individuals and promote economic vitality.

The Webster/YWCA Hartford Region Finance Lab is part of a signature initiative designed to help Webster's partners in low- to moderate-income (LMI) communities expand financial empowerment and improve financial literacy for youth and young women.

"Having an understanding of financial skills creates new opportunities for the next generation of youth and families in our community," said Marissa Weidner, Webster's Chief Corporate Responsibility Officer. "Our newest Finance Lab collaboration with the YWCA Hartford Region will provide the resources and tools necessary to enable young people and women to make financially sound decisions and drive economic vitality in the region."

"We thank Webster Bank for believing in and investing in YWCA Hartford Region's programs and services with this grant to empower women and girls from the Hartford Region," said Adrienne W. Cochrane, Chief Executive Officer, YWCA Hartford Region. "The financial resources from this grant will lay the foundation and provide essential tools for a solid financial education. These programs will teach participants the value of money and how to save, budget, spend and invest money. They will learn and understand how to create generational wealth."

Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam, State Senator Douglas McCrory, and state elected dignitaries and Commissioners Andrea Barton Reeve, CT Department of Social Services and Board Chair for YWCA Hartford Region joined Webster leaders and YWCA leadership to officially open the programming during an event held at YWCA's office.

"As Mayor of our capital city, I am proud to see this partnership between Webster Bank and YWCA Hartford Region," said Mayor Arulampalam. "This grant will directly benefit families in our community by providing education on the core tenets of financial responsibility-debt, budgeting, saving, and investing. We thank YWCA Hartford and Webster Bank for believing in Hartford with a program like this that will uplift women, girls, and their families."

The YWCA's Finance Lab location is one of two Webster Finance Labs in Connecticut that will open this year and the fourth to open across the bank's footprint since the initiative's inception in 2022. Webster expects to announce plans for additional Finance Lab partnerships with nonprofit partners in Long Island, Rhode Island, and Boston, Massachusetts.

About Webster

Webster Bank ("Webster") is a leading commercial bank in the Northeast that provides a wide range of digital and traditional financial solutions across three differentiated lines of business: Commercial Banking, Consumer Banking and Healthcare Financial Services, one of the country's largest providers of employee benefits and administration of medical insurance claim settlements solutions. Webster is a values-driven organization headquartered in Stamford, CT, with $76 billion in assets. Its core footprint spans the northeastern U.S. from New York to Massachusetts, with certain businesses operating in extended geographies. Webster Bank is a member of the FDIC and an equal housing lender. For more information about Webster, including past press releases and the latest annual report, visit the Webster website at www.websterbank.com.

Contact Information

Media Contact:

Alice Ferreira

acferreira@websterbank.com

203-578-2610

Investor Contact:

Emlen Harmon

eharmon@websterbank.com

212-309-7646

YWCA Hartford Region Contact:

Yvonne Renee Davis

yvonne@davisworldtraining.com

860-796-2842

***

About YWCA Hartford Region

YWCA Hartford Region puts our mission of eliminating racism and empowering women into action daily to promote peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all. We offer programs that address the needs of community members at every stage of life and transform the lives of nearly 2000 women, children, and families annually. www.ywcahartford.org.

View original content here.

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Webster Bank on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Webster Bank

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/webster-bank

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: Webster Bank

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Campaign awarded a Gold Award

BOSTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2024 / Sappi North America Inc., a leading producer and supplier of diversified paper, packaging products and pulp, today announces a notable win from the Hermes Creative Awards for its Power of Trees campaign, receiving a Gold Award in the Video TV Ad category.

Trees benefit us in every part of the day, from a morning box of cereal to the shoes we wear, to our bed sheets. In "The Power of Trees," we demonstrate woodfiber's potential as a material of the future because of its renewable, regenerative and recyclable capabilities. It also highlights Sappi's responsible forestry management. Our practices not only ensure the health of the forest and enhance the biodiversity of its habitat, but they also contribute to the circular economy by introducing sustainable and recyclable woodfiber into the production stream.

"This campaign speaks directly to our core mission of harnessing the power of trees to make life more sustainable and brings awareness to the many sustainable and renewable products that can replace those made with fossil fuel-based materials," said Patti Groh, Director of Communications. "In addition to creating awareness around the power of trees, this campaign serves to bolster employee's pride and showcase to the next generation of employee just how innovative, sustainable, and forward-thinking the paper and packaging industry is."

The Hermes Creative Awards honors the messengers and creators of the information revolution. Armed with their imaginations and computers, Hermes winners bring their ideas to life through traditional and digital platforms. Each year, competition judges evaluate the creative industry's best publications, branding collateral, websites, videos, and advertising, marketing, and communication programs.

To learn more about Sappi's award-winning initiatives, please visit: https://www.sappi.com/.

###

About Sappi North America, Inc.

Sappi North America, Inc., headquartered in Boston, is a market leader in converting wood fiber into superior products that customers demand worldwide. Our four diversified businesses - high-quality Graphic Papers, Dissolving Pulp, Packaging, and Specialty Papers deliver premium products and services with consistent quality and reliability. Our high-quality Coated Printing Papers are used for premium magazines, catalogs, books, direct mail and high-end print advertising. We are a leading manufacturer of Dissolving Pulp, which is used in a wide range of products, including textile fibers and household goods. We deliver sustainable Packaging and Specialty Papers for luxury packaging and folding carton applications with our single-ply packaging brands and for the food and label industries with our specialty papers. We are one of the world's leading suppliers of Casting and Release Papers with lines for the automotive, fashion and engineered films industries.

Sappi North America is a subsidiary of Sappi Limited (JSE), a global company headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, with more than 12,000 employees and manufacturing operations on three continents in seven countries and customers in over 150 countries.

Contact

Rajira Hernandez

Account Manager

Matter Communications

(978) 499-9250

sappi@matternow.com





View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Sappi North America on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Sappi North America

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/sappi-north-america

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: Sappi North America

View the original press release on accesswire.com
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2024 / T. Rowe Price:

As we recognize Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Island (AANHPI) Heritage Month, we celebrate the richness and dynamism of the Asian and Pacific Island community. With backgrounds hailing from East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, and the diasporic communities of these regions, this large and diverse global population represents 50 ethnic groups and speaks more than 100 languages.?

This year's AANHPI Heritage Month theme recognizes members of this community who have shaped our history and continue to influence our collective future. AANHPI leaders use their ingenuity and creativity to make lasting contributions to global economic prosperity, technological advancements, and social and political change-while also often navigating cultural and systemic hurdles.

Here, a few of our associates share the importance of advancing leaders through innovation:

Mavis Fernandes, Senior Offer Manage, Individual Investor Advice Solutions and MOSAIC @ T. Rowe Price's Asian Heritage Community Chair

At T. Rowe Price, Asian Americans strive to be more than technical experts in their fields. Across the firm, we demonstrate innovation in small and large increments, leading efforts to grow, scale, and serve our clients. As chair of the MOSAIC's associate-led Asian Heritage Community, we have used novel approaches to reach our associates, including online learning platforms, chat groups, and virtual mentoring circles, continuing to create a sense of inclusion and belonging. Advancing leaders will require that we continue to spend time listening to the needs of associates and clients and find ways to identify and elevate great ideas across all levels of the organization.

Lee Sun, Analyst, Vice President, Fixed Income

From boardrooms to beyond, innovation helps us advance, shaping a future where every voice matters. Unlocking the power of innovation relies on embracing diverse perspectives, promoting forward-thinking strategies, and harnessing cultural and technological insights. As innovators and pioneers, AANHPI ancestors have made outsized contribution for what's possible today. Looking ahead, AANHPI leaders can leverage their unique heritage to inspire change, disrupt norms, and pave the way for a more inclusive and dynamic future in leadership. Join the movement and dare to innovate, because together, we are limitless.

Stephy Wong, Senior Project Manager, Global Distribution

As an individual of Asian descent, the theme of Advancing Leaders Through Innovation embodies the journey of the countless leaders who have carved out their place in history by harnessing their creativity and ingenuity. For us, innovation isn't just a means to an end; it is a vehicle for overcoming barriers, driving positive change, and leaving a lasting impact on society. This year's theme celebrates our ability to navigate complex landscapes while reshaping narratives, and it inspires me to continue pushing boundaries and fostering progress in my own endeavors.

Harold Wu, Head of Procurement

Intentionality is key to enjoying the career journey and finding purpose. In the realm of procurement, embracing intentionality has the power to transform our business and the communities we serve.

Our goal is not merely to provide a service, but to create opportunities and ensure fairness and equity in the process. This transformative potential should inspire us all. Supply chain inclusion is an intentional effort driven by leadership to include one or more historically underrepresented businesses in our procurement process, and to support their growth as suppliers. These programs can build strong business relationships and create meaningful change that impacts the newest entrepreneurs to the most seasoned small business owners. They can uncover new approaches, diverse ideas, and innovations for the future. By institutionalizing a procurement-driven initiative with meaningful intention, we can break down obstacles and provide opportunities for all.

As we recognize AANHPI Heritage Month and other celebrations of diversity, we invite you to learn more about our diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and how our differences bring us together and multiply our impact at troweprice.com/diversity.

042024-3543320

T. Rowe Price Associates: Advancing Leaders Through Innovation

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from T. Rowe Price on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: T. Rowe Price

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/t-rowe-price

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: T. Rowe Price

View the original press release on accesswire.com
The "Poland 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.

A comprehensive analysis of Poland's loyalty programs market has indicated a robust growth forecast, with projections estimating the sector to grow by 11.9% annually, reaching a market value of US$1.36 billion in 2024. This upward trend is expected to persist, with a projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.4% from 2024 to 2028, culminating in a market value of US$2.03 billion by the end of the period. This data-centric analysis provides a clear understanding of the loyalty market size, trajectory, and share statistics in Poland.

Key Performance Indicators and Sector Analysis

The report highlights crucial performance indicators across diverse segments, such as retail ecommerce spend, point-of-sale (POS) transactions, and redemption rates in loyalty programs. It also presents a comprehensive analysis of the various loyalty program types, including point systems, tier-based, and community programs, among others. These insights span multiple channels such as in-store, online, and mobile, further demonstrating the market's diverse operational landscape.

Impact on Industry Categories

The loyalty programs market in Poland is making significant strides across varied industry categories. Notably, critical sectors such as retail, financial services, healthcare wellness, and travel hospitality are experiencing substantial growth. The analysis delves into both online and in-store domains, emphasizing the shift toward mobile app integrations and their influence on consumer behavior.

Consumer Demographics and Market Dynamics

The report also sheds light on loyalty spend market dynamics, reflecting on the effective engagement methods for various consumer demographics categorized by age, income level, and gender, among other attributes. This data is crucial for stakeholders aiming to tailor their loyalty program offerings to meet the demands of an evolving consumer base.

Decision-Making Insights for Businesses

This analysis provides businesses with invaluable insights for informed decision-making regarding the establishment and refinement of loyalty programs. By offering a granular view of the market, businesses can benchmark their operations against competitors, identify emerging trends, and design loyalty strategies that resonate with their target audiences to secure a competitive edge in the market.

Key Attributes:

Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 117 Forecast Period 2024 2028 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2024 $1.37 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2028 $2.03 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 10.4% Regions Covered Poland

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/2pbxai

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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ResearchAndMarkets.com

Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com



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NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2024 / Covia is thrilled to be partnering with Monarch Joint Venture (MJV) in an effort to safeguard and enhance the habitat of the migratory monarch butterfly and other pollinators. Through MJV's work, they aim to protect monarchs and their migration by collaborating with partners, like Covia, to deliver habitat conservation, education, and science across the monarch range. The monarch butterfly is facing significant challenges that have raised concerns about the sustainability of its long-distance migration. These obstacles have led to population declines, prompting consideration for protection under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Factors such as habitat loss, climate change, pesticide use, and the decrease in milkweed plants, crucial for monarch breeding, have all contributed to this decline.

Our shared goal includes the distribution of milkweed plugs throughout the eastern monarch population range in states such as Texas, Oklahoma, Georgia, North Carolina, Arkansas, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, and Missouri, often referred to as the "Monarch Central Flyway." These efforts align with Covia's commitment to the conservation, restoration, and enrichment of biodiversity. Learn more about Covia's ESG efforts at https://www.coviacorp.com/esg/.

As part of our partnership, Covia will be distributing nearly 5,000 milkweed plugs to employees located within the monarch population footprint. We will be using various native milkweed species such as common, showy, swamp, butterfly, whorled, and spider milkweed to accommodate different regions. Milkweed plays a vital role as a food source and breeding ground for monarch butterflies.

In addition to the milkweed distribution, Covia's Cleburne, Texas, plant is collaborating with MJV on a yearlong project to develop a multi-acre pollinator habitat at the plant. MJV will be offering guidance, expertise, and technical support in designing the habitat layout, preparing the site, selecting native plant species, and giving recommendations for dormant seeding.

"We are pleased to share that we have established a partnership with Monarch Joint Venture," said Natalie Eglinton, Director of ESG. "Monarch butterflies and pollinators play a crucial role in our ecosystem, and we look forward to contributing to the enhancement of habitats for these important species. It is exciting to see that many of Covia's facilities align with the Monarch Central Flyway, providing us with a unique chance to support the habitat improvement for pollinators and other wildlife."





View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Covia on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Covia

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/covia

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: Covia

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Patriot Software's founder & CEO, Mike Kappel, has been selected by Ernst & Young LLP as a finalist for the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2024.

Patriot Software is proud to announce that its founder & CEO, Mike Kappel, has been selected by Ernst & Young LLP ("EY") as a finalist for the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2024. Kappel is among 29 entrepreneurs selected by an independent panel of judges.

Kappel is known for founding the first of the Patriot Software companies in 1986 in a cold and dingy basement of a factory. EY initially zeroed in on Kappel after hearing his many bizarre-but-true national radio ads on Sirius XM that told of his business escapades. And more recently, EY took notice of Patriot Software's intentionally unconventional social media presence led by Kappel.

Now in its 38th year, EY's Entrepreneur Of The Year competition is the preeminent business award for entrepreneurs who disrupt markets, revolutionize industries, and have a transformational impact on lives. The East Central program celebrates entrepreneurs from Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky.

"I think it's incredible and almost comical that EY selected me as a finalist because I'm so unconventional," says Kappel. "Like most entrepreneurs, I've started more businesses than I probably should have, but I couldn't help myself. I've made every business mistake known to man, and many of them twice."

Kappel went on to say, "I probably hold the world record for taking the longest amount of time to turn a company profitable; 21 years. No kidding, I intentionally allowed Patriot Software to run with a negative EBITDA for 21 years. I did this because I knew it was more important to build Patriot's systems and products to actually solve American businesses' accounting, payroll, time & attendance, and HR problems than it was to cut corners to generate short-term profits. Naturally, bankers and equity firms admonished us, but once we hit about 58,000 American businesses using our software, they started changing their tune. They wanted to see short-term results, but we were building generational results. What we've done is unheard of, and it's good. American businesses are going to be blessed, and our shareholders are going to reap healthy dividends for decades to come. So, me being selected by a very buttoned-up organization like EY for Entrepreneur of the Year, actually blows my mind!"

EY's competition celebrates original founders who bootstrapped their businesses, raised outside capital, delivered unique innovative products, and created multigenerational solutions helping thousands or even millions of people.

According to Patriot's president, Michael Wheeler, Esq., "Don't let Mike Kappel's self-deprecating nature fool you. He is a savvy entrepreneur and more than meets the criteria laid out by EY. Patriot Software is already helping tens-of-thousands of American business owners and their accountants, which represents hundreds of thousands of American employees and contractors, and it's on its way to helping millions. And Kappel, even with all of his quirks, has demonstrated grit by building one of the largest and most automated payroll companies in the USA."

Regional award winners will be announced on June 13, 2024 during a special celebration. The winners will then be considered by the National independent panel of judges for the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Awards, which will be presented in November at the annual Strategic Growth Forum, one of the nation's most prestigious gatherings of high-growth, market-leading companies.

About Patriot Software:

Patriot Software is disrupting the accounting and payroll industries with its low prices, highest customer reviews, and award-winning software. Patriot offers cloud-based accounting , payroll , HR, and time and attendance solutions that help American businesses with up to 500 employees simplify their administrative tasks. Patriot's US-based Customer Support Team provides a personal touch that most software companies lack today. The company has been serving tens of thousands of businesses nationwide since 2002.

For more information, please contact:

Patriot Software, LLC

Michael A. Wheeler, Esq.

mwheeler@patriotsoftware.com

https://www.patriotsoftware.com

SOURCE: Patriot Software, LLC

View the original press release on accesswire.com
The company's collaboration with industry-leading solutions helps customers strengthen cloud security operations

Sysdig, the leader in cloud security powered by runtime insights, today announced the launch of the company's Runtime Insights Partner Ecosystem, recognizing the leading security solutions that combine with Sysdig to help customers prioritize and respond to critical security risks. With Sysdig, ecosystem partners leverage Sysdig's runtime insights to help organizations harden defenses, identify active cloud risks, stop attacks, and streamline cloud security from development through production.

Attacks in the cloud are fast and sophisticated. In just 10 minutes, threat actors can inflict damage. To secure innovation in the cloud, organizations must be able to prioritize their most critical risks and stay ahead of evolving threats. Responding at the speed of the cloud requires real-time insights that bolster vulnerability management, posture management, entitlement management, and threat detection and response.

Empowering Partners with Runtime Insights

"Continuously securing cloud-native environments requires accurate real-time insights at every stage of the cloud life cycle," said Phil Williams, SVP of Corporate Development at Sysdig. "No single vendor can deliver this value it requires powerful integrations between leading cloud and application security companies. By delivering a seamless, unified security experience, Sysdig and its partners bolster cloud security programs and foster improved collaboration to keep cloud environments safe."

Sysdig ecosystem partners help security teams benefit from cohesive solutions that live up to the realities of modern attacks and give teams an advantage with tooling and processes designed for the cloud. Sysdig's runtime insights, built on open source Falco, empower security solutions across a number of domains to offer a unique lens into what is in use and actually happening in production.

The Four Pillars of the Sysdig Runtime Insights Partner Ecosystem

Vulnerability Management: Runtime insights help Sysdig partners reduce vulnerabilities by up to 95%, boost developer productivity with actionable insights, and prioritize the most critical security issues by focusing on what's in use and exploitable in production.

Entitlement Management: 98% of cloud permissions go unused, leaving a large surface area for exploitation. Sysdig helps partners close permissions gaps in minutes by identifying inactive users and identities with excessive permissions. Comprehensive entitlement management leveraging runtime insights enables organizations to gain greater visibility into cloud identities, quickly enforce least privilege access, simplify compliance with identity and access management requirements, and eliminate excessive entitlements using recommended access policies based on in-use permissions.

Threat Detection and Response: Traditional security measures are ineffective given the dynamic and distributed nature of modern applications. Real-time Sysdig detections help next-generation security information and event management (SIEM); security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR); and extended detection and response (XDR) partners incorporate the information they need to respond quickly to cloud threats. By correlating activity across containers, cloud services, servers, and identities, Sysdig helps reveal active threats, such as lateral movement, at cloud speed.

Posture Management: Static scanning for misconfigurations is not enough to prevent cloud attacks. Sysdig partners help prevent cloud breaches and prioritize the most significant cloud risks using runtime insights. With Sysdig, partners seamlessly triage risks, enhance mitigation effectiveness, and enrich existing customer workflows to bolster security strategy and posture with the power of real-time context.

What our Runtime Insights Partners are Saying

Sarit Kozokin, VP, Product Management, Snyk, a leader in developer security

"Sysdig's unique container runtime threat protection capabilities combined with Snyk's powerful detection and risk management tooling empower developers across the world to innovate securely. By delivering risk insights early in the development pipeline, Sysdig and Snyk instantly eliminate up to 95% of the vulnerabilities that would otherwise demand developers' attention."

Ori Bendet, VP of Product Management at Checkmarx, a leader in enterprise cloud-native application security

"Sysdig enhances Checkmarx's ability to prioritize and address vulnerabilities effectively from a code-to-cloud perspective while better identifying and remediating security threats. Our partnership fosters a more resilient cloud-native environment while empowering developers and security teams with a more proactive security posture."

Matt Lanagan, Vice President of Partnerships and Alliances at Docker, a leading provider of cloud-native application development tools

"With over 20 million developers globally, Docker is dedicated to elevating security across the entire development life cycle. For example, leveraging Docker Scout's robust supply chain management features alongside Sysdig's powerful runtime insights allows us to provide a holistic security solution that adeptly manages risks from development through to production. This collaboration not only streamlines security procedures but also underscores our mutual dedication to delivering trusted software solutions tailored for the challenges faced by today's developers."

Mike Nichols, Vice President, Product for Security at Elastic, a leading search analytics company

"Elastic is helping organizations modernize SecOps with a unified and open solution for SIEM and security analytics. Like Sysdig, Elastic is committed to open source and embracing community-driven innovation. By incorporating runtime insights from Sysdig, we're able to collapse data silos and enable customers to investigate and respond quickly to evolving threats."

Ariel Shuper, VP of Product Management at Mend.io, a leader in enterprise application security

"We are excited to join Sysdig's Runtime Insights Partner Ecosystem. The partnership between Mend.io and Sysdig provides holistic security coverage for applications from code repositories through runtime execution. This integration will accelerate the security resolution process by increasing developers' efficiency and streamlining communication between security and engineering teams."

David Willis, Vice President of Technology Integrations at Netskope, a global secure access service edge (SASE) and zero trust cybersecurity leader

"Sysdig and Netskope each create unique insights into user and workload behaviors. By correlating a user's engagement with cloud resources, joint customers can implement a continuous, trust-based enforcement policy. This collaboration is a great example of how zero trust principles can be applied to the world of dynamic workloads and security DevOps requirements, ultimately with better protection for users, apps, and data."

Julia Fare, Vice President, Partnerships at PagerDuty, a global leader in digital operations management

"In the high-stakes realm of cloud security, our partnership with Sysdig equips security teams using the PagerDuty Operations Cloud with essential tools and insights, enabling rapid, effective incident management to mitigate risks when every second counts."

Drew Horn, Senior Director, Product Marketing Technology Alliances at Sumo Logic, a leading software-as-a-service (SaaS) log analytics platform

"As organizations increasingly rely on the cloud to accelerate innovation, the ability to detect and triage threats and speed incident investigations is critical to stop cloud attacks. Sysdig brings an invaluable source of threat visibility and context to Sumo Logic that helps users more effectively manage and respond to risk."

Charlie Ardagh, Head of Partnerships at Tines, a trusted leader in smart, secure workflows

"Sysdig is a valuable contributor to the security community and we are thrilled to be collaborating with them. Together, we'll support our joint customers to advance their threat detection and response by combining critical runtime insights from Sysdig with Tines' powerful workflow automation capabilities."

The Sysdig technology ecosystem also includes integrations with Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, IBM Cloud, Microsoft, Oracle Cloud, Atlassian, CloudBees, Cyberark, Cybereason, GitHub, GitLab, HashiCorp, JFrog, Kasten, Mirantis, Okta, Panther, Portworx, Rafay, Red Hat, ServiceNow, Splunk, SUSE, Torq, VMware, and others.

To learn more about becoming a Runtime Insights Ecosystem Partner, visit the partnership page

Resources

Read "Strengthening Cloud Security Together: Meet the Runtime Insights Partner Ecosystem."

Explore the Sysdig cloud-native application protection platform (CNAPP).

Visit Sysdig in Booth S-742 at the RSA Conference in San Francisco, California, May 6-9, 2024, to learn more about the Runtime Insights Partner Ecosystem.

About Sysdig

In the cloud, every second counts. Attacks move at warp speed, and security teams must protect the business without slowing it down. Sysdig stops cloud attacks in real time, instantly detecting changes in risk with runtime insights and open source Falco. Sysdig, rated No. 1 for cloud security posture management (CSPM) in the Gartner Peer Insights "Voice of a Customer" report, correlates signals across cloud workloads, identities, and services to uncover hidden attack paths and prioritize real risk. From prevention to defense, Sysdig helps enterprises focus on what matters: innovation. Sysdig. Secure Every Second.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240502527564/en/

Contacts:

Damon Weinhold

damon.weinhold@sysdig.com

+1 415-873-4772
PUNE, India, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The report titled "Neurovascular Intervention Devices Market by Product (Balloon Systems, Carotid Stents, Catheters), Process (Carotid Endarterectomy, Cerebral Angiography, Coiling), Indication, End-use - 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 $4.01 billion in 2023 to reach $6.21 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 6.46% over the forecast period.

" The Advancement of Minimally Invasive Devices Across the Globe "

Neurovascular disorders, conditions impacting the blood vessels of the brain and nervous system, are at the forefront of medical innovation with the advent of neurovascular intervention devices. Designed for precision, these devices, including stents, embolic coils, and clot retrieval tools, facilitate minimally invasive approaches to treat critical conditions such as aneurysms and strokes, significantly improving patient recovery times and outcomes. The demand for such advanced treatments is on a sharp rise due to the increasing incidence of neurovascular diseases globally, coupled with a growing preference for procedures that are less invasive than traditional surgery. This shift emphasizes the critical need for highly skilled specialists and state-of-the-art healthcare facilities, although challenges remain, including improved device navigability through complex vascular structures. Breakthroughs in technology, including the integration of AI and robotics, promise enhanced procedural accuracy and patient care. Regionally, the Americas lead with robust healthcare infrastructure and a focus on innovation, while the Asia-Pacific region witnesses rapid growth driven by healthcare development and an aging demographic. Europe's standardized regulatory framework supports the seamless introduction of safe, effective devices. This global landscape showcases a concerted effort towards advancing neurovascular care, prioritizing patient safety, and accessibility to cutting-edge treatments.

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" The Rise of Minimally Invasive Treatments "

The medical landscape is rapidly transforming, with an increasing emphasis on minimally invasive procedures, especially for neurovascular care. These innovative techniques highlight the remarkable progress in medical technology and approach, offering patients with required delicate brain and nerve treatments. Traditional surgeries, minimally invasive neurovascular interventions involve smaller incisions, leading to significantly less tissue damage, reduced infection risks, and a quicker recovery period. This shift not only elevates patient outcomes but also contributes to decreased healthcare costs, shorter hospital stays, and heightened patient satisfaction. The convergence of clinical benefits and technological advancements is propelling the need for these procedures, marking a pivotal turn in patient care and healthcare provider preferences.

" The Role of Neurovascular Intervention Devices in Modern Medicine "

Neurovascular intervention devices play a crucial role in stroke prevention and treatment in enhancing patient care. These tools, including balloon systems for angioplasty, ensure the reopening of narrowed or blocked brain arteries, improving blood circulation. Carotid stents support arteries to prevent collapse, which is crucial in preventing strokes in patients diagnosed with severe artery stenosis. Neurovascular catheters deliver essential drugs and devices precisely within the brain's intricate vasculature, aiding in various treatments. Embolic coils offer a preventive approach to brain aneurysms by promoting clot formation, thereby preventing rupture. Embolic protection devices safeguard patients by capturing debris during procedures, minimizing stroke risks. Flow diverters are revolutionizing the treatment of complex aneurysms by redirecting blood flow, leading to safer and more effective outcomes. Guidewires provide the necessary navigation within the brain's delicate arterial network, facilitating the accurate placement of these devices. Intracranial stents are essential in maintaining open blood vessels for patients with intracranial stenosis. Intrasaccular devices provide an innovative solution for aneurysm management, disrupting blood flow to encourage occlusion. Neurothrombectomy devices have transformed acute ischemic stroke treatment, allowing for the direct removal of clots. Stent retrievers efficiently extract large clots, representing a critical step forward in stroke management. These advances emphasize a promising direction in neurovascular care, emphasizing innovative, life-saving strategies.

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" Stryker Corporation at the Forefront of Neurovascular Intervention Devices Market with a Strong 14.84% Market Share "

The key players in the Neurovascular Intervention Devices Market include Terumo Corporation, Stryker Corporation, Medtronic PLC, Penumbra, Inc., Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc., and others. These prominent players focus on strategies such as expansions, acquisitions, joint ventures, and developing new products to strengthen their market positions.

" Introducing ThinkMi: Revolutionizing Market Intelligence with AI-Powered Insights for the Neurovascular Intervention Devices Market "

We proudly unveil ThinkMi, a cutting-edge AI product designed to transform how businesses interact with the Neurovascular Intervention Devices 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 Neurovascular Intervention Devices 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/neurovascular-intervention-devices

" Dive into the Neurovascular Intervention Devices Market Landscape: Explore 186 Pages of Insights, 490 Tables, and 24 Figures "

Preface Research Methodology Executive Summary Market Overview Market Insights Neurovascular Intervention Devices Market, by Product Neurovascular Intervention Devices Market, by Process Neurovascular Intervention Devices Market, by Indication Neurovascular Intervention Devices Market, by End-use Americas Neurovascular Intervention Devices Market Asia-Pacific Neurovascular Intervention Devices Market Europe, Middle East & Africa Neurovascular Intervention Devices Market Competitive Landscape Competitive Portfolio

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Related Reports:

Neurovascular Catheters Market - Global Forecast 2024-2030 Brain Imaging Modalities Market - Global Forecast 2024-2030 Neurovascular Devices Market - Global Forecast 2024-2030

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.

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LONDON, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- myGwork, the largest global LGBTQ+ business platform, will offer complimentary access to its award-winning allyship course to the first 500 sign-ups to this year's WorkPride Conference.

WorkPride, from 17-21 June 2024, will once again unite thousands of virtual attendees worldwide enabling them to exchange insights and strategies for fostering inclusive workplaces that honour all sexual orientations, gender identities, and expressions. Like last year, the week-long event will provide LGBTQ+ professionals, graduates, allies, and employers the opportunity to advance workplace diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) initiatives thanks to 60 panels and workshops, delivered by over 250 experts.

Training and awareness initiatives are crucial for creating bias-free inclusive workplaces, which is why myGwork is proud to extend complimentary access to its award-winning allyship course from the myGwork Academy to the first 500 sign-ups for WorkPride 2024. Launched last year, the myGwork Academy offers practical and relevant training and education to help create inclusive environments for all.

This year's event will also commemorate myGwork's 10th anniversary. Over the past decade, myGwork has been at the forefront of empowering and accelerating LGBTQ+ inclusion within workplaces. The upcoming five-day WorkPride conference not only celebrates this milestone but also serves as a pivotal moment for myGwork's co-founders Adrien and Pierre Gaubert to unveil their vision for the next decade. They will reveal their new plan aimed at eradicating workplace discrimination and ensuring that everyone can work authentically and advance in their careers.

Some of myGwork's key celebratory milestones over the last decade include recent investments exceeding 3 million, leading to a doubling of the global team to around 40 employees and international expansion. Additionally, the platform launched its award-winning myGwork Academy, offering practical and innovative DEI training to support workplace inclusion efforts. Other notable achievements include:

Empowering and accelerating LGBTQ+ inclusion for more than 350 corporate partners, including FTSE 100 companies, assisting them in attracting and retaining LGBTQ+ talent while enhancing their employer brand visibility.

Receiving an impressive average of over 230,000 job applications per month, demonstrating the tangible impact of the platform in connecting talent with inclusive opportunities.

Garnering a global readership exceeding 2 million and fostering an engaged professional networking community of over half a million members, comprising LGBTQ+ professionals, graduates, and allies.

Spearheading initiatives such as WorkPride, a flagship five-day global conference held during Pride month, and WorkFair, the largest virtual careers fair connecting LGBTQ+ graduates and students with inclusive employers.

Hosting regular monthly panels addressing key DE&I topics and careers-related workshops, drawing hundreds of attendees each month and fostering dialogue and learning around topical workplace and community issues for the LGBTQ+ community.

Earning nominations for prestigious accolades such as the upcoming National Diversity Awards 2024, alongside securing multiple awards in the tech and DEI space over the past decade, highlighting myGwork's dedication to workplace inclusion and tech innovation.

"As we celebrate a decade of myGwork, we are immensely proud of the strides we have made in advancing LGBTQ+ inclusion within workplaces globally. Our journey has been marked by profound moments of progress and meaningful collaborations thanks to our corporate and community partners, all of which have contributed to creating environments where authenticity is celebrated and diversity thrives," stated myGwork's co-founders Adrien and Pierre Gaubert. "As we embark on the next chapter, our commitment to creating discrimination-free workplaces remains unwavering. Together, we will continue to champion inclusivity, empower allies, and pave the way for a future where everyone can work with pride, regardless of how they identify."

Once again, myGwork's WorkPride conference promises to be a dynamic platform for dialogue, learning, and collaboration. "Join us as we celebrate a decade of myGwork's impact and collectively chart the course for the next era of LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace," added Adrien and Pierre Gaubert.

This year's event is sponsored by long-standing corporate partners such as Booking.com and RS Group. Commenting on their support for myGwork as WorkPride's headline sponsor, Booking.com stated: "Booking.com wholeheartedly supports myGwork because fostering inclusivity means embracing all facets of diversity. By standing with myGwork, we affirm our commitment to creating a workplace where everyone feels valued, respected, and empowered to bring their authentic selves to the table."

RS Group also returns this year as a proud Day sponsor of WorkPride. "RS Group are proud to support WorkPride 2024 in collaboration with myGwork. We proactively work to ensure we build an inclusive organisation where our current and future people can bring their true self to work each day and thrive. Our partnership with myGwork ensures that we not only attract new and diverse talent but also that they help us learn, grow and evolve to be the best we can be," shared RS Group's Jessica Chu. "As the Group Head of Diversity and Inclusion I was excited to commence working with myGwork at RS Group as I knew it would be a great partnership that would help us attract talent, and mature in our thinking in support of the LGBTQIA+ community. That was five years ago, and each and every year has been a success."

In fact, Chu has been involved with myGwork since its inception in 2014: "Personally, I have known the co-founders Adrien and Pierre Gaubert for 10 years. I must have been one of the first few to join myGwork, so it is exciting to see that over a decade has passed and they are still thriving, growing and sharing their brilliance with all of us. Congratulations on your 10th year anniversary myGwork!"

For more information about WorkPride and register, click here .

About myGwork?

myGwork ?is the largest talent platform and professional network for LGBTQ+ professionals, graduates, inclusive employers and anyone who believes in workplace equality. It empowers the LGBTQ+ community by offering individual members a safe space where they can connect with inclusive employers, find jobs, mentors, professional events, e-learning/training, news and much more.

myGwork 's co-founders and twin brothers Adrien and Pierre?Gaubert have won many accolades in the diversity and inclusion space since setting up the platform. They have been honoured as 2023's inspirational role models in the Global Diversity List , and featured in the UK's Top 50 inclusion champions in the? 2022/23 Diversity Power List. They also won the Attitude Young LGBTQ+ Entrepreneur of the Year Award and named as one of the? Top 100 Global LGBT+?OUTstanding?Executives .? myGwork has won many awards too. Most recently myGwork scooped the 2023 Award for the D&I Tech Initiative?category , and the co-founders, as well as the? Bank of London's 2022 Rainbow Honours . It was also shortlisted for the 2023 European Diversity Awards and? The 2022 Digital Leaders Impact Awards celebrating UK tech for good. Additionally, the company has been listed in the Top 5?Startups?with Pride by?Geek Times and won the?Diva Magazine ?Award of Corporate Allies.??

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CHICAGO, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- With the help of AI, IoT, and big data analytics, the Railway Management System Market will undergo a digital revolution that will allow for autonomous operations, intelligent infrastructure, and individualised passenger experiences. Innovation will be fueled by cybersecurity, green initiatives, and regulatory compliance; industry-wide breakthroughs and standardisation efforts will be fostered by international collaboration.

The Railway Management System Market size is projected to grow from from USD 57.1 billion in 2024 to USD 87.3 billion by 2029, at a CAGR of 8.9% during the forecast period, according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets. Innovations such as Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), big data analytics, and cloud computing are transforming the railway management landscape. These technologies enable predictive maintenance, automated operations, and data-driven decision-making, leading to better performance and reliability.

Browse in-depth TOC on "Railway Management System Market"

200 - Tables

50 - Figures

250 - Pages

Download PDF Brochure @ https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=193193339

Scope of the Report

Report Metrics Details Market size available for years 2019-2029 Base year considered 2023 Forecast period 2024-2029 Forecast units Value (USD) Million/Billion Segments Covered Offering (Solutions(Rail Operations Management, Rail Traffic Management (Signaling Solutions, Real-Time Train Planning And Route Scheduling/Optimizing, Centralized Traffic Control, Positive Train Control, Rail Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC), Other Traffic Management Solutions), Asset Management (Enterprise Asset Management, Field Service Management, Asset Performance Management, Other Asset Management Systems), Intelligent In-Train Solutions, Other Solutions), Services (Consulting Services, System Integration and Deployment Services, Support And Maintenance Services), and Region Region covered North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, Latin America Companies covered Alstom SA (France), Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (China), Siemens AG (Germany), Hitachi, Ltd. (Japan), Wabtec Corporation (US), Cisco Systems, Inc. (US), ABB (Switzerland), Indra Sistemas, S.A. (Spain), IBM (US), Honeywell International Inc. (US), CAF, Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles, S.A. (Spain), WSP (Canada), Kyosan Electric Mfg. Co., (Japan), Advantech Co., Ltd. (Taiwan), Thales (France), Amadeus IT Group SA (Spain), AtkinsRealis (UK), DXC Technology Company (US), Fujitsu Limited (Japan), Railroad Software (US), RAILCUBE (Netherlands), Uptake Technologies Inc. (US), NWAY Technologies Private Limited (India), Eurotech S.p.A. (Italy), Frequentis (Austria), Railinc Corporation (US), and Arcadis Gen Holdings Limited (UK)

Based on solutions, the rail traffic management system segment holds the largest market size during the forecast period

Rail traffic management system facilitates centralized supervision and control of the entire rail network, enabling the regulation of all rail operations through a central control system. This system utilizes real-time data transmitted via high-speed communication links across trains and rail infrastructure to automate traffic management. Functions of rail traffic management encompass signaling, traffic control, routing, and train scheduling, providing a flexible solution to enhance network capacity and time efficiency while regulating traffic flow, mitigating operational delays, and bolstering disaster management capabilities for the entire rail network. Key features of the rail traffic management system include traffic planning, operational management systems, power supply and infrastructure management, passenger information services, maintenance support, and both driver-only and driverless operation capabilities.

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Based on solutions, the rail operations management segment is expected to grow with the highest CAGR during the forecast period

The management of rail operations entails organizing and optimizing various tasks to ensure the safe, effective, and dependable functioning of railway networks. This involves coordinating activities such as scheduling, dispatching, maintenance planning, crew allocation, and performance tracking. Rail operations management integrates data from all rail systems and subsystems into a unified platform to enhance operational effectiveness. This system furnishes up-to-date status reports on all railway facilities via a centralized platform, enabling rail managers to establish a comprehensive central office capable of overseeing and administering rail station systems, railway infrastructure assets, and communication networks.

North America to hold the largest market size during the forecast period.

The Railway Management System Market in North America has experienced substantial growth recently, fueled by technological advancements and a burgeoning need for efficient transportation solutions. With a focus on safety and operational efficiency, railway operators are increasingly investing in advanced signaling, traffic management, and passenger information systems. Digitalization is a key trend, with the adoption of IoT, AI, and big data analytics revolutionizing railway operations. Moreover, the integration of mobility solutions and government initiatives aimed at modernizing infrastructure further propel market expansion. As railway networks expand and upgrade, the demand for sophisticated management systems continues to rise, positioning North America's Railway Management System Market for continued growth and innovation.

Top Key Companies in Railway Management System Market:

The Railway Management System Market comprises major providers, such as Alstom SA (France), Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (China), Siemens AG (Germany), Hitachi, Ltd. (Japan), Wabtec Corporation (US), Cisco Systems, Inc. (US), ABB (Switzerland), Indra Sistemas, S.A. (Spain), IBM Corporation (US), Honeywell International Inc. (US), CAF (Spain), WSP (Canada), Kyosan Electric Mfg. Co., (Japan), Advantech Co., Ltd. (Taiwan), Thales (France), Amadeus IT Group SA (Spain), AtkinsRealis (UK), DXC Technology Company (US), Fujitsu Limited (Japan), Railroad Software (US), RAILCUBE (Netherlands), Uptake Technologies Inc. (US), NWAY Technologies Private Limited (India), Eurotech S.p.A. (Italy), Frequentis (Austria), Railinc Corporation (US), and Arcadis Gen Holdings Limited (UK). To increase their market share in the railway management system industry, these competitors have used a variety of growth methods, including partnerships, agreements, collaborations, new product releases, product enhancements, and acquisitions.

Recent Developments

In March 2024, Siemens partnered with Metrolinx, the regional public transit operator for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, to handle their track, signal, and right-of-way maintenance for the Central Region of Toronto's passenger railway infrastructure system. This partnership builds upon Siemens Mobility's existing maintenance services in the West Region and signal and communications services at the Metrolinx Network Operations Center.

In March 2024, Hitachi Rail announced the launch of Train Maintenance DX as a Service, the industry's first "as a Service" solution to improve the work environment and the quality of train maintenance for railway operators, using the digital expertise in train manufacturing that it has accumulated at its Kasado Works in Kudamatsu City, Yamaguchi Prefecture in Japan.

In February 2024, Alstom has signed a central service agreement with PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe S.A, managing the Polish national railway network. The contract aims to offer post-warranty maintenance for railway traffic control devices and computer systems produced by Alstom. This includes Alstom's railway traffic control systems, track vacancy system (SOL) and power supply. Alstom will provide service support for 328 facilities in 17 Railway Line plants located throughout Poland.

In February 2024, Huawei launched its Smart Railway Perimeter Detection solution, to empower high-speed, secure, intelligent, and sustainable development across the transportation industry, facilitating intelligent railway transformation.

In December 2023, Alstom launched India's first Digital Experience Centre ever built by a rail OEM. Located in Bangalore and spread over 5000 sq.ft., the Digital Experience is a hub for executing Urban, Mainline, Freight & Mining (specific market) projects along with the integrated cybersecurity, Security & Telecom and SCADA features. With this center, Alstom has its largest signaling lab infrastructure spread over 60000 sq.ft. in India that aids the company's vision of making India a global hub for technology and innovation.

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Railway Management System Market Advantages:

Railway management systems enhance the efficiency and dependability of rail services by automating tasks like scheduling, ticketing, fleet management, and maintenance.

By incorporating cutting-edge safety features like real-time monitoring, collision avoidance, and signalling, these systems enhance the safety of freight transportation, personnel, and passengers.

Railway management systems improve the overall experience and happiness of passengers by providing passenger-centric services including online booking, seat reservations, real-time updates, and digital amenities.

Railway management systems assist in lowering operating costs, minimising downtime, and maximising the use of infrastructure, train stock, and labour by optimising resource allocation and utilisation.

Railway operators are empowered to enhance service quality, optimise routes, and make well-informed decisions by utilising the actionable insights and analytics these systems offer, which are derived from data gathered from diverse sensors and devices.

Railway management systems enable smooth connectivity and multimodal transportation solutions by facilitating interoperability and integration with other forms of transportation and infrastructure.

Railway management systems help to reduce traffic congestion and carbon emissions by encouraging the change from vehicle to rail mode and optimising energy use.

By assuring adherence to legal and operational laws, these systems assist railway operators in meeting safety standards and regulatory requirements set by industry associations and government authorities.

Report Objectives

To determine, segment, and forecast the global Railway Management System Market based on offering, and region in terms of value.

To forecast the size of the market segments to five main regions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and Latin America.

To provide detailed information about the major factors (drivers, opportunities, threats, and challenges) influencing the growth of the Railway Management System Market.

To study the complete value chain and related industry segments and perform a value chain analysis of the Railway Management System Market landscape.

To strategically analyze the macro and micro markets to individual growth trends, prospects, and contributions to the total Railway Management System Market.

To analyze the industry trends, patents, and innovations related to the Railway Management System Market.

To analyze the opportunities for stakeholders by identifying the high-growth segments of the Railway Management System Market.

To profile the key players in the market and comprehensively analyze their market share/ranking and core competencies.

To track and analyze competitive developments, such as mergers & acquisitions, product launches & developments, partnerships, agreements, collaborations, business expansions, and Research & Development (R&D) activities.

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Ottawa, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - May 2, 2024) - The Canadian Race Relations Foundation (CRRF), in collaboration with Statistics Canada is launching a series of workshops on hate crimes in cities across Canada.

These two-day workshops for law enforcement and communities are scheduled to take place in twelve cities across the country. On the first day, Statistics Canada will share information with local police on key topics such as hate crime identification, standardized police reporting through the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey and resources.

During the second day of the workshops, led by the CRRF, participants will have the opportunity to network with community organizations to address hate and engage in open dialogue with law enforcement. The workshops have been designed to support communities and prepare policing services in identifying hate crimes.

"Our government takes a stand against rising hate crimes. That's why we are proud to support initiatives such as this first nationwide training series on hate crimes, which will bring communities together and build bridges with law enforcement. This isn't just about fighting hate; it's about safeguarding our values and creating a future where every Canadian feels secure and respected. Workshop by workshop, we're building a more resilient, inclusive, and fairer country for all." -The Honourable Kamal Khera, Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities

"The CRRF has been and continues to be actively engaged in preventing and addressing hate crimes in Canada. These workshops are an important extension of this work to understand the systemic challenges and gaps in addressing hate crimes and incidents in Canada, and connecting people with crucial, community-informed tools and resources."

- Mohammed Hashim, CEO of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation

"We are pleased to collaborate with the Canadian Race Relations Foundation and law enforcement across the country to continue to advance the collection and reporting of hate crime incidents. Better data will allow for better insights and more informed decisions, to ensure all Canadians feel safe and respected."

- Andre Loranger, Chief Statistician of Canada

"As co-chair of the Hate Crimes Task Force, the RCMP is proud to support the Canadian Race Relations Foundation and Statistics Canada as they launch this important initiative. The training workshops announced today will complement the work already underway by the Task Force to provide local and provincial policing partners with the tools, resources and training to better respond to hate crimes and incidents." - Alison Whelan, Hate Crimes Task Force Co-Chair, Senior ADM, Reform, Accountability and Culture, RCMP

- 30 -

The Canadian Race Relations Foundation (CRRF) is a federal Crown corporation committed to fighting systemic racism in Canada. The CRRF's mission is to create systemic solutions and advance public policy on anti-racism through partnership engagement, creating awareness and mobilization. For more information, visit https://crrf-fcrr.ca/

Statistics Canada is the national statistical office. The agency ensures Canadians have the key information on Canada's economy, society and environment that they require to function effectively as citizens and decision makers.

Media contact info

Jayme Wilson

905-320-1291

Statistics Canada

Media Relations

statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/207770

SOURCE: Canadian Race Relations Foundation (CRRF)
CHICAGO, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Cardiac Monitoring & Cardiac Rhythm Management Devices Market in terms of revenue was estimated to be worth $21.3 billion in 2024 and is poised to reach $26.4 billion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 4.3% from 2024 to 2029 according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets.

Market is driven by factors such as rising in aging population as the global population ages, there is a higher incidence of cardiac conditions associated with aging, such as atrial fibrillation and heart failure. On the other hand, Cost Constraints is expected to limit market growth to a certain extent in the coming years. As High upfront costs associated with cardiac monitoring and rhythm management devices may limit adoption, particularly in resource-constrained healthcare settings or for patients without adequate insurance coverage. Likewise, Continued advancements in technology offer opportunities for the development of more sophisticated and effective cardiac monitoring and rhythm management devices. Innovations such as miniaturization, wireless connectivity, artificial intelligence (AI), and remote monitoring capabilities can improve device performance, patient outcomes, and user experience. However, availability of lack of practiced professionals is anticipated to hinder market development.

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Browse in-depth TOC on "Cardiac Monitoring & Cardiac Rhythm Management Devices Market"

424 - Tables

48 - Figures

313 - Pages

Cardiac Monitoring & Cardiac Rhythm Management Devices Market Scope:

Report Coverage Details Market Revenue in 2024 $21.3 billion Estimated Value by 2029 $26.4 billion Growth Rate Poised to grow at a CAGR of 4.3% Market Size Available for 2022-2029 Forecast Period 2024-2029 Forecast Units Value (USD Billion) Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, and Trends Segments Covered Enteral feeding devices - Type, Age Group, Application, End user and Region Geographies Covered Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa and GCC countries Report Highlights Updated financial information / product portfolio of players Key Market Opportunities Wearable technologies and mobile health (mhealth) applications Key Market Drivers Growing geriatric population and subsequent increase in cvd prevalence

Resting ECG in ECG type segment to witness the highest shares during the forecast period."

Based on the type, the global cardiac monitoring & cardiac rhythm management devices market is segmented into Resting ECG Devices, Stress ECG Devices, Holter Monitors, Smart ECG Monitors, Event Monitors. The Resting ECG Devices is expected to dominate because of its wider application. Resting ECG is the most commonly performed type of ECG test and is widely used in clinical practice for routine cardiac screening, diagnosis, and monitoring. It is a non-invasive, cost-effective, and readily available diagnostic tool that can be performed quickly and easily in various healthcare settings. Similarly, Resting ECG is accessible to a wide range of healthcare providers, including primary care physicians, cardiologists, emergency department staff, and allied healthcare professionals. The simplicity and affordability of resting ECG make it accessible to patients in various healthcare settings, including hospitals, clinics, and ambulatory care facilities.

US dominates the North American cardiac monitoring & cardiac rhythm management devices Market

Based on the North America region, the cardiac monitoring & cardiac rhythm management devices Market is divided into US and Canada. US is expected to dominate the cardiac monitoring & cardiac rhythm management devices Market. The United States has a highly advanced and sophisticated healthcare infrastructure, including research facilities, laboratories, and healthcare institutions. This infrastructure supports the development, adoption, and implementation of advanced diagnostic screening such as cardiac. Similarly, The U.S. is a global hub for biomedical research and innovation. The presence of leading research institutions, academic centers, and biotechnology companies fosters a conducive environment for the development and validation of novel diagnostic as well as research of cardiac devices.

Japan dominates the Asia Pacific cardiac monitoring & cardiac rhythm management devices Market

The APAC Carrier Screening Market is segmented into Japan, China, India, and Rest of APAC. In 2023, Japan accounted for the largest share of the Asian cardiac monitoring & cardiac rhythm management devices Market. The large share of Japan can be attributed to the presence of Advanced Healthcare Infrastructure, as Japan boasts a highly advanced healthcare infrastructure with modern medical facilities, state-of-the-art equipment, and well-trained healthcare professionals. The country's advanced healthcare system enables the adoption of cutting-edge cardiac monitoring and rhythm management technologies similarly, Japan has one of the oldest populations globally, with a large proportion of elderly individuals who are at increased risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. Moreover, Japan has a relatively high level of healthcare expenditure, with substantial investments in medical infrastructure, research and development, and healthcare services.

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Cardiac Monitoring & Cardiac Rhythm Management Devices Market Dynamics:

Drivers:

Growing geriatric population and subsequent increase in CVD prevalence Availability of reimbursement for CM & CRM devices Rising awareness and prevention initiatives Increasing investments, funds, and grants for research Growing preference for wearable cardiac devices

Restraints:

High device cost Adverse effects and associated complications

Opportunities:

Measures to reduce infections caused by CIEDs Untapped emerging markets

Challenge:

Risk of associated cybersecurity vulnerabilities Frequent product recalls Stringent regulatory requirements delaying the approval of cardiac devices Dearth of skilled professionals

Key Market Players of Cardiac Monitoring & Cardiac Rhythm Management Devices Industry:

The major players in the cardiac monitoring & cardiac rhythm management devices Market are Abbott Laboratories (US), Medtronic (Ireland), Boston Scientific Corporation (US), GE HealthCare (US), Koninklijke Philips N.V. (Netherlands), Asahi Kasei Corporation. (Japan), MicroPort Scientific Corporatio (China), Baxter. (US), NIHON KOHDEN CORPORATION.(Japan), BIOTRONIK (Germany)

The primary interviews conducted for this report can be categorized as follows:

By Company Type: Tier 1 - 32%, Tier 2 - 44%, and Tier 3 - 24%

By Designation: C-level - 30%, D-level - 34%, and Others - 36%

By Region: North America - 40%, Europe - 28%, Asia Pacific - 20%, and the Rest of the World - 12%

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Recent Developments of Cardiac Monitoring & Cardiac Rhythm Management Devices Industry:

In 2023, Abbott launched Asert-IQ, a Bluetooth-enabled insertable cardiac monitor for the long-term monitoring of heart rhythms.

In 2023, Boston Scientific received FDA clearance and launched the next-generation LUX-Dx II/II+ ICM system for long-term monitoring of arrhythmias.

In 2021, Baxter International announced the acquisition of Hillrom. Baxter paid USD 156.00 in cash for each outstanding share of Hillrom common stock for a purchase price of USD 10.5 billion (based on Hillrom share counts at closing).{deal size USD 12.5 billion}

Cardiac Monitoring & Cardiac Rhythm Management Devices Market - Key Benefits of Buying the Report:

This report studies the cardiac monitoring & cardiac rhythm management devices market based on Type, Application, Procedure, End User, and Region. The report also analyses factors (such as drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges) affecting the market growth. It evaluates the opportunities and challenges in the market for stakeholders and provides details of the competitive landscape for market leaders. The report also studies micromarkets with respect to their growth trends, prospects, and contributions to the total cardiac monitoring & cardiac rhythm management devices market. The report forecasts the revenue of the market segments with respect to four major regions.

The report provides insights on the following pointers:

Market Drivers: Comprehensive information about driving factors of the markets. The report analyses the markets drivers across key geographic regions.

Market Penetration: Comprehensive information on cardiac monitoring & cardiac rhythm management devices Market products offered by the top 25 players in the market. The report analyses the cardiac monitoring & cardiac rhythm management devices market by Product & Service, Type, Medical Condition, Technology, End User, and Region.

Market Development: Comprehensive information about lucrative emerging markets. The report analyses the markets for various securement devices across key geographic regions.

Market Diversification: Exhaustive information about untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments in the cardiac monitoring & cardiac rhythm management devices market

Competitive Assessment: In-depth assessment of market shares and strategies of the leading players in the cardiac monitoring & cardiac rhythm management devices market

Market Position: It will upkeep stakeholders better understand the competitive landscape and gain more insights to better position their business and make suitable go-to-market strategies.

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Get access to the latest updates on Cardiac Monitoring & Cardiac Rhythm Management Devices Companies and Cardiac Monitoring & Cardiac Rhythm Management Devices Industry Growth

About MarketsandMarkets:

MarketsandMarkets has been recognized as one of America's best management consulting firms by Forbes, as per their recent report.

MarketsandMarkets is a blue ocean alternative in growth consulting and program management, leveraging a man-machine offering to drive supernormal growth for progressive organizations in the B2B space. We have the widest lens on emerging technologies, making us proficient in co-creating supernormal growth for clients.

Earlier this year, we made a formal transformation into one of America's best management consulting firms as per a survey conducted by Forbes.

The B2B economy is witnessing the emergence of $25 trillion of new revenue streams that are substituting existing revenue streams in this decade alone. We work with clients on growth programs, helping them monetize this $25 trillion opportunity through our service lines - TAM Expansion, Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy to Execution, Market Share Gain, Account Enablement, and Thought Leadership Marketing.

Built on the 'GIVE Growth' principle, we work with several Forbes Global 2000 B2B companies - helping them stay relevant in a disruptive ecosystem. Our insights and strategies are molded by our industry experts, cutting-edge AI-powered Market Intelligence Cloud, and years of research. The KnowledgeStore (our Market Intelligence Cloud) integrates our research, facilitates an analysis of interconnections through a set of applications, helping clients look at the entire ecosystem and understand the revenue shifts happening in their industry.

To find out more, visit www.MarketsandMarkets.com or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Contact:

Mr. Aashish Mehra

MarketsandMarkets INC.

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Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - May 2, 2024) - Impact Development Group Inc. (TSXV: IMPT) (formerly Yubba Capital Corp.) ("Impact Development Group" or the "Company") announces a delay in the filing of its audited annual financial statements (the "Financial Statements"), management's discussion and analysis and related chief executive officer (CEO) and chief financial officer (CFO) certifications (collectively, the "Annual Filings") for the financial year ended December 31, 2023, such filings due by April 29, 2024. The Company was not able to complete the Annual Filings on time as the Company's auditors require more time to complete the audit of the Financial Statements.

As a result of the delay, the Company will be noted in default by applicable securities regulatory authorities in Canada, and expects that the Ontario Securities Commission ("OSC"), as principal regulator, will issue a 'failure-to-file' cease trade order ("CTO") in accordance with the principles and guidance set out in National Policy 12-307 Failure-to-File Cease Trade Orders and Revocations in Multiple Jurisdictions of the Canadian Securities Administrators ("NP 12-307"). The CTO will prohibit any direct or indirect trading in securities of Impact Development Group for so long as it remains in effect, in all Canadian jurisdictions in which the Company is a reporting issuer as well as certain other Canadian jurisdictions based on the provisions of local securities legislation and will remain in effect until after the Annual Filings have been filed. The CTO will result in a suspension of the Company's common shares from trading on the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") and continue until the CTO is revoked and all TSXV requirements are satisfied.

The Company intends to file the Annual Filings as soon as practicable and is working diligently to facilitate the completion of the Annual Filings with the auditors. The Company will provide updates if and when necessary, in accordance with applicable securities laws.

Neither TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For further information, please contact:

Tom Wenz, Director and CEO

Phone: + 1 (702) 329-8038

Email: twenz@ihcpanama.com

Forward-Looking Information

The information in this news release includes certain information and statements about management's view of future events, expectations, plans and prospects that constitute forward-looking statements, including statements with respect to trading in the common shares of the Company and the ability for the Company to complete the Annual Filings. Such statements and information reflect the current view of the Company. Risks and uncertainties exist that may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated or implied in the forward-looking statements and information. Such factors include, among others: the limited business history of the Company; reliance on key management; risks related to the Company's growth strategy; dependence on and availability of the auditors; disruptions or changes in the credit or security markets; unanticipated costs and expenses; and general market and industry conditions. The forward-looking statements, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently based upon assumptions that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the Company and the auditors' ability to complete the Annual Filings and whether the Company will be able to carry out its business plan as contemplated. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in forward-looking statements are reasonable, they can give no assurances that the expectations of any forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. The forward-looking information contained in this press release represents the expectations of the Company as of the date of this press release and, accordingly, is subject to change after such date. Readers should not place undue importance on forward-looking information and should not rely upon this information as of any other date. While the Company may elect to, it does not undertake to update this information at any particular time except as required in accordance with applicable laws.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/207779

SOURCE: Impact Development Group Inc.
MANCHESTER, England, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Human Appeal, a global humanitarian aid organization, is teaming up with United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to supply and deliver the equivalent of 1,470,588 hot meals to approximately 8,196 people each day in Gaza up to the end of June 2024. The aid comes at a critical time where famine is looming over Gaza, with children and families in desperate need of food and supplies.

"We are committed to providing aid for as long as the people in Gaza are in dire need," said Dr. Mohamed Ashmawey, CEO of Human Appeal. "No human should endure the hunger people in Gaza are experiencing, and Human Appeal is grateful to WFP, partners and donors who enable the delivery of critically needed relief aid."

According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report, 1.1 million people in Gaza are struggling with catastrophic hunger and there are growing cases of malnutrition along the Gaza strip. Human Appeal is supporting WFP to provide essential nourishment through items such as lentils, green beans, pasta, rice, canned beans, flour, freekeh, and more to keep hunger at bay.

"We are grateful for this new partnership with Human Appeal which comes at a critical moment. Together, we are dedicated to providing emergency assistance to families who are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance in Gaza." said WFP UK Director Geraldine O'Callaghan.

About Human Appeal

Human Appeal (registered charity 1154288) is a fully independent global development and relief NGO based in Manchester, UK. It was established in 1991 and runs targeted poverty relief programmes in collaboration with global organisations like the United Nations. Its mission is to save and transform lives through emergency response and sustainable development programmes, across over 25 countries worldwide.

For more information, please visit www.humanappeal.org.uk

or for media requests email to press@humanappeal.org.uk; +44 (0)161 225 0225

About United Nation World Food Programme

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world's largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change. To learn more about WFP visit: www.wfp.org

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TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2024 / A recent study conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC), commissioned by the Certified Professional Bookkeepers of Canada (CPB Canada), reveals the important role and significant impact of bookkeeping professionals on the financial health and economic stability of Canadian businesses and the broader economy.

The comprehensive study, which incorporated extensive secondary research, interviews with industry stakeholders, and a survey of 468 bookkeeping professionals across Canada, provides insights into the evolving role of bookkeepers beyond traditional record-keeping to include strategic financial management, consulting, and technological innovation.

Key Findings of the Study:

Economic Contribution: Bookkeeping professionals contribute and facilitate throughout the supply chain over $15.3 billion to Canada's GDP, with a total employment footprint throughout the supply chain of more than 200,000 jobs.

Strategic Value: Many bookkeepers extend their services beyond basic accounting tasks to include strategic advisory services, thereby significantly enhancing their role in business decision-making and financial planning.

Technological Advancement: The adoption of cutting-edge technologies such as AI, cloud computing, and automation tools has revolutionized the bookkeeping landscape, enabling professionals to provide real-time financial insights and more efficient service delivery.

"Bookkeepers are essential to the Canadian economy, but their contribution is often overlooked. This study highlights the significance of bookkeeping professionals, not just in maintaining financial records but also in shaping business strategy, and their role in supporting economic growth in Canada," explained Rick Johal, CEO of CPB Canada. "It is evident that bookkeeping professionals are key players in the accounting industry and are at the forefront of assisting businesses in navigating complex financial landscapes with expertise and foresight."

The report also underscores the socio-economic benefits provided by bookkeeping professionals, including enhancing financial transparency, aiding regulatory compliance, and supporting small businesses during economic downturns, such as the recent COVID-19 pandemic.

Outlook:

The study predicts continued growth in the demand for skilled bookkeeping professionals, particularly as businesses increasingly recognize the need for robust financial strategies and data-driven decision-making in a volatile economic environment.

CPB Canada is committed to using the insights gained from this report to further support the development of the bookkeeping profession, ensuring it continues to adapt and respond to the changing needs of the Canadian business community.

About Certified Professional Bookkeepers of Canada (CPB Canada):

CPB Canada is the largest bookkeeping association in Canada, offering certification, professional development, and advocacy services to its members to enhance their skills and professional standing.

About PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC):

PwC Canada provides industry-focused assurance, advisory, and tax services to public, private, and government clients in all markets.

A full copy of the report can be found at: https://cpbcan.ca/about/research.html.

For more information about the study, please contact:

Rick Johal, CAE, MPA, Chief Executive Officer

Certified Professional Bookkeepers of Canada (CPB Canada)

rick@cpbcan.ca 866-616-4722 ext. 601 www.cpbcan.ca

SOURCE: CPB Canada (Certified Professional Bookkeepers of Canada)

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Brenda Karras, Product Owner Leader - Global Information Systems

Our people making a difference is a series featured throughout Owens Corning's 2023 Sustainability Report.

NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2024 / Born in Brownsville, Texas, U.S., and raised in Mexico until age three, Brenda Karras has always aspired to make a contribution on a larger scale. She's brought that idea to her work here at Owens Corning, both as part of our Global Information Services team and as an early member of the HOLA affinity group. Brenda has been an active participant in our efforts to build an inclusive workforce, helping seek out new bilingual talent for the Customer Solutions team from within her community. Her ability to find connections with others has helped us live our commitment to inclusion and diversity every day.

On the importance of affinity groups in building community

I believe affinity groups have a lot of power to help people feel seen and understood. They create an environment where people can connect with folks who may have walked a similar path and understand the challenges a person may be going through. They also foster camaraderie - through HOLA, I have met some pretty amazing people, some of whom I consider friends even though we've never met in person. Affinity groups can also help move the needle in achieving our inclusion and diversity aspirations. In our first two years, HOLA has focused on creating a network for connection and belonging, building a roadmap that focuses on talent attraction, onboarding, retention, development, and career advancement. We also want to expand to our plants strategically and understand what would help our Latino and Hispanic employees feel supported.

On being one's most authentic self at work

I started a Hispanic Club in high school, and I was active in the Latino Student Union in college. When I joined Owens Corning, though, I unintentionally separated my "Mexican American me" from my "work me." When I became involved with HOLA in the early stages of the group's formation, though, I felt re-energized. It helped me truly understand the meaning of "bringing your whole self to work." The people, cultural sharing, networking, and building a community and support brought back memories. Additionally, being able to find opportunities to connect with the community I grew up in (a mile from world headquarters) felt like I was meshing various parts of my world. That's why being able to recruit local talent for bilingual roles from my church was so special to me. I hope we can partner with neighboring schools more and talk about the opportunities at Owens Corning and that maybe one day those students become future employees of our company, just as I did.

On the benefits of an inclusive workplace

Inclusion and diversity are key components of social sustainability. They show our company's commitment and dedication to creating a positive and inclusive work place and promoting equal opportunities for all. A commitment to inclusion and diversity can also be a factor in the choices employees or potential employees make about whether to join, stay, or leave a company. Seeing Owens Corning include inclusion and diversity as part of our approach to sustainability sends a powerful message about our values and our stance on respecting people from all backgrounds. It makes it public - loud and proud - and you can see how it's being measured and understand the progress being made in an area.





View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Owens Corning on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Owens Corning

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/owens-corning

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: Owens Corning

View the original press release on accesswire.com
The Industry-Leading Motion Platform Company will Present Cutting-Edge Products Like the Award-Winning Dart-Suite Robot Ecosystem and an AI-Powered Bartending Cobot "Mixmaster Moodie"

CHICAGO, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Doosan Robotics Inc. , one of the world's leading collaborative robot (cobot) manufacturers, is poised to transform the robotics landscape at Automate 2024, North America's largest automation showcase, with the industry's latest cobot advancements across various sectors. Doosan Robotics is exhibiting at Automate May 6-9 at McCormick Place booth #850 in Chicago, IL.

With a comprehensive range of cobots and cutting-edge software like Dart-Suite and AI technology, Doosan Robotics is dedicated to revolutionizing motion solutions tailored to human needs. From machine tending to palletizing, welding, and F&B services, the company offers a diverse array of ready-to-sell solutions catered to both domestic and global markets. That is why Doosan Robotics' theme at this year's Automate is "The Motion Platform Company."

On May 6, Doosan Robotics will unveil its latest, never-before-seen industrial cobot which boasts the greatest capabilities of any machine in its category including a 30 kg payload.

Doosan Robotics booth will feature Dart-Suite , a 2024 RBR50* (Robotics Business Review) Innovation Award-winning advanced robot ecosystem designed to redefine the way customers utilize Doosan cobots. The scalable platform elevates cobot capabilities by providing unlimited programmable motions, while ensuring accessibility for all. Dart-Suite fosters a cohesive environment where every component synergizes, empowering users to create, market, download, and activate functions through diverse interfaces. This evolution propels robots from mere static tools to dynamic, flexible collaborators. The Dart-Suite platform has also been honored as a finalist of the 2024 Automate Innovation Awards in the category of Software.

"Our team at Doosan Robotics is honored to return to Automate 2024, the pinnacle event of automation in North America," expressed William Ryu, CEO, Doosan Robotics. "We're committed to transforming the robotics landscape and Automate holds immense strategic significance for us, offering a direct gateway to various industries. Our cobot line's power will be on full display, alongside the customizable functionality and usage that differentiate our technology. We look forward to sharing our innovative solutions and continuing to drive the industry forward."

While at Automate, drinks are on Doosan! The industry-leading, motion-platform company will showcase "Dr. Presso," an unmanned modular cafe equipped with a top-of-the-line coffee machine, and "Mixmaster Moodie," a bartending cobot powered by Microsoft's OpenAI. "Mixmaster Moodie" is coupled with "Tetote," Bridgestone's soft robot hand powered by bendy rubber artificial muscle that employs a pioneering cocktail recommendation system to serve a cocktail based on visual and audio cues. Doosan will also present its Training Kit, a certified training equipment which allows users to practice and experience Doosan's cobot training programs anytime, anywhere.

Doosan Robotics joined forces with prominent global companies, each celebrated for their expertise and dominant presence in the market, to pioneer AI cobot solutions for commercialization. These best-in-class partners in each solution include the Apex Motion Control's Baker-Bot Quad, a first-of-its-kind modular cake decorating system which consists of individual robotic stations including top and side cake icing, decorative borders, top rosettes, and writing messages and drizzling.

Other partnerships include the Paltz De-palletizing System, a robotic depalletizing work cell with vision from BeRobox with CMES; Ellison Technologies' AutoPilot Machine Tending Solution which is a load/unload system designed ideally for CNC Machine Tools for the manufacturing industry; the Cloos ArcBot, a Doosan M1013 cobot arm with integrated Cloos StarT welding pack; Hillside Automation's CNCtender, a Complete Machine Tending solution with software interface on new generation controller; and MARI AARS System which simplifies the deployment, operation, and maintenance of robotic automation systems, marking a groundbreaking advancement in user-friendly AI software and plug-and-play hardware.

Doosan Robotics is driven by a vision to elevate everyday experiences and redefine labor workflows. Their exceptional range of AI cobots is poised to bring about a paradigm shift across various sectors, including manufacturing, logistics, food & beverage, architecture, and service industries. These cutting-edge solutions transcend the constraints of conventional robotics, adeptly maneuvering through intricate scenarios while infusing tasks with enhanced efficiency, safety, and ingenuity. Moreover, the AI system boasts continuous learning capabilities, effortlessly updating its model by autonomously downloading required modules for smooth integration.

Doosan Robotics' exhibit is located at booth #850 at McCormick Place in Chicago, IL from May 6-9, 2024.

For more information on Doosan Robotics' Automate 2024 presence, please contact doosanpr@rcpmk.com.

*For more than a dozen years, the RBR50 Robotics Innovation Awards have recognized robots that promise to positively change how we work and live. WTWH Media's robotics editors select the honorees on the basis of how they address technology and business challenges. The 2024 winners will be celebrated at the inaugural RBR50 Gala at the Robotics Summit & Expo .

ABOUT DOOSAN ROBOTICS

Doosan Robotics is a global leader in collaborative robot solutions, embodying the principle of 'Innovation in every motion, revolutionizing the way we work.' Doosan robots, known for world-class safety and precision, enhance task efficiency across various sectors from manufacturing to service, enabling people to focus on more valuable work. More information about Doosan Robotics is available at https://www.doosanrobotics.com/en/ .

Media Contact

R&CPMK

doosanpr@rcpmk.com

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Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2403399/Doosan_Robotics_Logo.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/doosan-robotics-to-unveil-new-best-in-class-cobot-at-automate-2024-302134140.html
Celonis' market-leading Process Intelligence platform uses process mining, a decade of process knowledge and AI to identify and capture hidden value

Celonis, the global leader in Process Mining, announced today that it has been named a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Process Mining Platforms for the second time since the category's inception last year. Celonis was evaluated and placed in the Leaders' Quadrant, being positioned highest on the Ability to Execute axis and advancing to the furthest spot on the Completeness of Vision axis once again.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240501312728/en/

The 2024 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Process Mining Platforms (Graphic: Business Wire)

"The pace of change keeps accelerating new technologies keep emerging, customer expectations keep rising, and the need for greater efficiency keeps increasing. To succeed, organizations need solutions that help them address all these demands, and most importantly create meaningful value," said Alex Rinke, co-CEO and co-founder of Celonis. "Celonis gives companies a common language for how their business runs and provides the context to enable technologies like AI and automation to become effective. For us, being named a Leader for the second consecutive year in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Process Mining Platforms reinforces our commitment to make processes work for people, companies and the planet. We are proud to receive this recognition and will continue to build the future of process intelligence together with our customers, partners and fellow Celonauts who have embraced our vision and keep pushing process mining to realize its full potential."

"Process mining has become an essential enterprise solution for adapting to an uncertain world and driving transformation at speed and scale," said, Daniel de Rooij, SVP Digital Transformation and CIO Hygiene at Reckitt, a global consumer products company with well-known brands such as Finish dishwasher tablets, Lysol disinfectant, and Nurofen painkillers. "With advancements like object-centric process mining and the Process Intelligence Graph, Celonis' platform provides us with the unique process intelligence that we need to optimize IT operations, deliver value to the business faster, and drive disruptive innovation with emerging technologies like generative AI."

Celonis enables customers to identify and capture hidden value, empower their people with actionable insights, and help them more effectively leverage technologies like AI and automation to optimize their processes. At the core of the Celonis Platform is the Process Intelligence Graph (PI Graph), an extensible digital twin of the business based on a standardized, object-centric data model. This twin is system-agnostic and without bias. The PI Graph adds business context to this process digital twin with out-of-the-box KPI definitions and improvement opportunities, such as how delivery blocks impact on-time delivery rate. Sitting at the heart of the Celonis platform, the PI Graph allows us to create capabilities that embed AI in ready-to-use solutions. For example, the Process Copilot chatbot turns natural language requests into process insights, and the AI-powered Duplicate Checker App helps keep customers from paying invoices twice. Using our Machine Learning (ML) Workbench customers and partners can create their own AI solutions in Celonis or feed data into their existing AI tools using our Intelligence API.

The platform also provides advanced process modeling functionality. In 2023, Celonis acquired Symbio, a provider of AI-driven Business Process Management (BPM) software. The integration of Symbio's capabilities into the Celonis enables customers to not only mine their processes and identify value opportunities, but also design their ideal process using a modern, AI-assisted process modeling solution. Customers can also ensure their processes stay on the straight and narrow with the Process Adherence Manager and track the business impact of their process improvement work with the Transformation Hub.

Notes to editors

The 2024 Gartner Magic Quadrant on Process Mining Platforms is available here.

Find more information on Process Mining and the Celonis Process Intelligence Platform here.

Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Process Mining Platforms, Marc Kerremans, David Sudgen, Nick Duffy, 29 April 2024

GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, and MAGIC QUADRANT is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates 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's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

About Celonis

Since 2011, Celonis has helped thousands of the world's largest and most esteemed companies yield immediate cash impact, radically improve customer experience, and reduce carbon emissions. Its Process Intelligence platform uses industry-leading process mining technology and AI to present companies with a living digital twin of their end-to-end processes. For the first time, everyone in an organization has a common language for how the business runs, visibility into where value is hiding, and the ability to capture it. Celonis is headquartered in Munich, Germany and New York City, USA with more than 20 offices worldwide.

2024 Celonis SE. All rights reserved. Celonis and the Celonis "droplet" logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Celonis SE in Germany and other jurisdictions. All other product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240501312728/en/

Contacts:

press@celonis.com
DALLAS, TX / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2024 / Cognitus today announced the first release of their Aftermarket Industry Solution to empower aftermarket processes across diverse industries with the combined capabilities of SAP S/4HANA Cloud and Fiori technologies.

Cognitus' Industry Solution for Aftermarket Services (CIS-AM), a robust enhancement to SAP's maintenance capabilities, is an automated, efficient, and optimized solution that integrates the latest SAP technologies with Cognitus-specific add-ons and collaborative solutions to optimize even the most complex aftermarket processes. Built on SAP S/4HANA, the solution is mobile & cloud-enabled and ensures that key aftermarket stakeholders gain a comprehensive view of critical processes.

"Cognitus' expansion into new sectors globally is underscored by the first release of our latest aftermarket solution, which adds significant value to our industry-tailored suite," said Pat Sathi, CEO of Cognitus. "As a leading SAP partner, we are committed not only to transforming the business landscape with SAP's capabilities but also to taking them one step further and tailoring solutions to target industry-specific needs with speed, efficiency, and innovation."

CIS-AM is a powerful solution that aims to provide Total Asset Visibility (TAV) across multiple business functions, strategically empowering key stakeholders such as fleet managers, large-scale MRO providers, and field service managers to gain insights at every stage of the asset lifecycle while supporting real-time decision-making through a holistic understanding of asset process chains. To aid each constituent of the MRO Ecosystem (OEMs, operators, maintainers, component manufacturers, etc) Cognitus has developed the following workbenches in SAP S/4HANA: Induction, Repair Planner, Shipping, Contract Management, Contract Flowdown, Shop Floor Supply Chain Reporting, and Customer Portal.

"The Cognitus Aftermarket Solution is a culmination of over 100 SAP Aftermarket and MRO implementations that our design team has been involved with over the last 30 years," said Steve Hampson, Cognitus' Director of Aftermarket Solutions. "The solution addresses key value drivers for customers in the aftermarket industry and enhances their investment in SAP for Aftermarket and MRO."

The first release of Cognitus' CIS-AM solution offers optimized turnaround times, ensuring swift and accurate asset maintenance without compromising quality. It enhances asset optimization through historical data utilization, facilitates seamless SAP integration with Industry 4.0 tools to provide a holistic view with a modern user experience, offers solution implementation flexibility, and actively mitigates disruptions, fostering smoother and more predictable aftermarket processes.

Learn more about the solution here and stay tuned for the latest updates.

About Cognitus

Cognitus combines deep expertise with a passion for innovation to help businesses thrive in today's dynamic market with cutting-edge cloud capabilities. The company's AI-powered solutions for regulatory compliance, data migration, contract lifecycle management, and real-time billing continue to empower its clients across diverse industries to adapt to market changes and maximize value. As an SAP Gold Partner and Co-Innovation Partner, Cognitus rapidly implements SAP S/4HANA, RISE with SAP, and GROW with SAP leveraging the latest SAP technologies, tools, and resources, helping clients gain a competitive edge.

Contact Information

Meghan Demo

Director of Corporate Marketing

mdemo@cognitus.com

+15172429625

SOURCE: COGNITUS

View the original press release on newswire.com.
Redde Northgate Plc - Transaction in Own Shares

PR Newswire

LONDON, United Kingdom, May 02

Transaction in Own Shares

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

2 May 2024

REDDE NORTHGATE PLC

("Redde Northgate" or the "Group" or the "Company")

Transaction in Own Shares

Redde Northgate plc (LSE:REDD) announces that on 2 May 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 : 25,000 Weighted average purchase price paid 390.0 pence per share Highest purchase price paid 390.0 pence per share Lowest purchase price paid 390.0 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 19,014,362 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 227,077,061 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 Purchases - Individual Transactions (as at 2 May 2024)

Number of shares

purchased Transaction price

(GB pence per share) Time of transaction Transaction reference number Venue 25,000 390.0 00069819023TRLO0 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:
Finsbury Growth & Income Trust Plc - Transaction in Own Shares

PR Newswire

LONDON, United Kingdom, May 02

For immediate release

2 May 2024

FINSBURY GROWTH & INCOME TRUST PLC

(the "Company")

MARKET PURCHASE OF COMPANY'S OWN SHARES

The Company announce that it has today purchased 131,907 of its own shares ("Ordinary Shares") at a price of 829.58 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 41,189,924; 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 183,801,379.

The figure of 183,801,379 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
Cummins

NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2024 / TCPL GES, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Cummins Private Limited (TCPL), a 50:50 joint venture of Tata Motors Limited and Cummins Inc. USA, today inaugurated a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility to produce hydrogen-based Internal Combustion Engines for Medium and Heavy Commercial Vehicles and other low to zero emission technology products in India. The inauguration of this facility reaffirms its commitment to power a cleaner and sustainable future for India.

Situated in Jamshedpur and spanning almost seven acres, this facility is equipped with cutting-edge technology and infrastructure, reflecting the commitment of both Tata Motors and Cummins to innovation, manufacturing excellence, and environmental sustainability. The opening of this plant within a year of signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the State of Jharkhand reaffirms the commitment and steady progress that the two organizations have made in advancing their decarbonization strategy.

Speaking on the occasion, Girish Wagh, Executive Director of Tata Motors said "Tata Motors' established legacy of nation-building, innovations, and industry firsts gains further momentum with the opening of this new-age manufacturing facility. The hydrogen-based powertrain aggregates and systems produced here will shape the future of mobility in India, making it smarter and greener. We remain committed to partner our customers to build a better tomorrow by enabling them to progressively adopt emission free and commercially viable solutions for cargo and people mobility."

Speaking on the occasion, Ashwath Ram, Managing Director, Cummins Group in India said, "Cummins has always believed in bringing the right technology that powers the success of our customers at the right time. Our commitment to manufacturing advanced low to zero-emissions technology products that advance decarbonization isn't just a promise; it's a responsibility we embrace and is backed by concrete action. Powered by our global expertise, strategic partnership, and technological capabilities, we are making steady progress on our Destination Zero strategy."

Tata Motors and Cummins have a 30-year strong partnership in India through their joint venture Tata Cummins Private Limited (TCPL). TCPL GES, a subsidiary of TCPL, was formed in March 2023 to collaborate on the design and development of low and zero-emission propulsion technology solutions for commercial vehicles in India. These technologies and solutions will be deployed in a variety of applications and will play a pivotal role in developing sustainable powertrain solutions that will help to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, improve air quality, and support India's net-zero ambitions.

In alignment with PLANET 2050, which is a long-range business strategy with an environmental lens to address climate change, natural resource use, and improving communities, Cummins' dedication to sustainability is evident not only in the products it creates but also in the operations of its manufacturing plants. During the construction of the new facility, sustainable practices were prioritized, including the use of eco-friendly materials, energy-efficient systems, and waste reduction measures.

About Cummins Group in India

Cummins Group in India is a leading provider of integrated power solutions for the industrial and automotive sectors. The Cummins Group operates in India through sixteen legal entities. With a wide-ranging portfolio, the group is engaged in designing, manufacturing, distributing, and servicing diesel and natural gas engines and powertrain-related component products, including filtration, after-treatment, turbochargers, fuel systems, controls systems, air handling systems, transmissions, and electrified power systems. Further, with the recent acquisition of Meritor, Cummins Group has expanded its portfolio in India to include drivetrain, mobility, braking, aftermarket, and electric powertrain solutions for commercial vehicles, and industrial markets. The Cummins Group has a remarkable presence with 22 manufacturing plants, assembly, and distribution facilities and employs over 10,000 employees in India.

About Tata Motors

Part of the USD 128 billion Tata group, Tata Motors Limited (NYSE: TTM; BSE: 500570 and 570001; NSE: TATAMOTORS and TATAMTRDVR), a USD 37 billion organization, is a leading global automobile manufacturer of cars, utility vehicles, pick-ups, trucks and buses, offering an extensive range of integrated, smart and e-mobility solutions. With 'Connecting Aspirations' at the core of its brand promise, Tata Motors is India's market leader in commercial vehicles and amongst the top three in the passenger vehicles market.

Tata Motors strives to bring new products that fire the imagination of GenNext customers, fuelled by state-of-the-art design and R&D centres located in India, UK, US, Italy, and South Korea. With a focus on engineering and tech enabled automotive solutions catering to the future of mobility, the company's innovation efforts are focused to develop pioneering technologies that are sustainable as well as suited to evolving aspirations of the market and the customers. The company is pioneering India's Electric Vehicle (EV) transition and driving the shift towards sustainable mobility solutions by preparing a tailor-made product strategy, leveraging the synergy between the Group companies, and playing an active role liasoning with the Government in developing the policy framework.

With operations in India, the UK, South Korea, Thailand, South Africa and Indonesia, Tata Motors' vehicles are marketed in Africa, Middle East, South & Southeast Asia, Australia, South America, Russia, and other CIS countries. As of March 31, 2022, Tata Motors' operations include 86 consolidated subsidiaries, two joint operations, four joint ventures and 10 equity-accounted associates, including their subsidiaries, in respect of which the company exercises significant influence.

About Cummins Inc.

Cummins Inc., a global power solutions leader, is comprised of five business segments - Components, Engine, Distribution, Power Systems and Accelera by Cummins - supported by our global manufacturing and extensive service and support network, skilled workforce and vast technological expertise. Cummins is committed to its Destination Zero strategy, which is grounded in the company's commitment to sustainability and helping its customers successfully navigate the energy transition with its broad portfolio of products. The products range from advanced diesel, natural gas, electric and hybrid powertrains and powertrain-related components including filtration, aftertreatment, turbochargers, fuel systems, valvetrain technologies, controls systems, air handling systems, automated transmissions, axles, drivelines, brakes, suspension systems, electric power generation systems, batteries, electrified power systems, hydrogen production technologies and fuel cell products. Headquartered in Columbus, Indiana (U.S.), since its founding in 1919, Cummins employs approximately 75,500 people committed to powering a more prosperous world through three global corporate responsibility priorities critical to healthy communities: education, environment and equality of opportunity. Cummins serves its customers online, through a network of company-owned and independent distributor locations, and through thousands of dealer locations worldwide and earned about $735 million on sales of $34.1 billion in 2023. See how Cummins is powering a world that's always on by accessing news releases and more information at https://www.cummins.com/.

Media Contact

Abhilasha Shukla

Communications Leader, Cummins India

abhilasha.shukla@cummins.com

Monica Iyengar (Aggarwal)

+91 9833049690

MIyengar@webershandwick.com





View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Cummins Inc. on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Cummins Inc.

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/cummins-inc

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: Cummins Inc.

View the original press release on accesswire.com
In Illinois, Enbridge gift of 20 acres creates thriving native plants, migrating pollinators and transformational learning for high school students

NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2024 / Can you tell a deer tick from a black-legged tick? What about the lone star tick from the dog tick?

Students from Pontiac Township High School in central Illinois are learning to identify them all, and their research is contributing to regional public health information available on tick-borne diseases.

The tick project is one of many initiatives with impact undertaken by the students. They've also planted 20 acres of native plants, tracked monarch butterfly populations and feeding patterns, and re-established a species of reptile that had been extirpated from the state.

"There are very few kids in the state who are able to do this kind of learning in a non-traditional setting," says Paul Ritter, a science instructor at the Pontiac, IL-based high school.

"And why are we able to do this? Because we have the land."

In 2021, Enbridge donated 20 acres of prairie property to Operation Endangered Species (OES), a program founded in 2011 by Ritter who also serves as the non-profit organization's executive director.

Every year on April 22, the world marks Earth Day, an annual celebration of environmental protection around the globe. At Enbridge, sustainability is central to everything we do, and we also support community sustainability projects that help improve, grow and nurture our environment.

Kickapoo Prairie, named by the students for the Indigenous Tribe that lived longest in the region, is located in Cayuga, IL, just a five-minute drive from the school. It serves as a classroom for multiple disciplines-biology, physics, English, history, math, engineering.

"When I say it's a living laboratory, that's 100% what it is," Ritter explains. "You can look at it as a piece of property, or you can look at it as a changer of lives."

In 2023, the students worked with the school superintendent to design an outdoor learning center at the prairie. Another project in development is a communications tower that will deliver free broadband internet to Pontiac High students, ensuring every student has access to high-speed internet at home to support their learning.

"If we didn't have this property, none of this would have happened," Ritter says. "The reality is, giving the kids the tools to make these things happen is what makes real change take place-not just in this ecosystem, but within themselves. This is what carries them on into the future."

The students' long-term goal, passed down from year to year, is to return the entire 20 acres to their natural prairie habitat. Though Illinois is known as the Prairie State, less than 0.01% of the state's original 21 million acres of prairie remain, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

In 2023, students planted hundreds of thousands of native plant seeds to give nature a helping hand.

In this project and others, Ritter and the students work with the Odawa, Ojibwa and Potawatomi communities, who have lived on the land for thousands of years. Indigenous cultural leaders visit the school and the prairie where everyone works together and shares culture, adding another level of depth and meaning to the restoration work.

Cal Hackler, a science instructor at the high school, says the learning experience the prairie supports "is incomparable to any other experiences they've had from an academic standpoint."

Adds Hackler: "The prairie is the catalyst. When kids come up with ideas, we give them the tools to do it. You can't hold them back. They want to do, and this space lets them do."

One student sent Hackler and Ritter a thank-you letter describing the prairie's impact on her life. She says her self-confidence has increased, and she recognizes that every mistake is a chance to work harder and grow.

Working on the prairie, the student sees what is possible, and what can be created, Hackler says.

"And that is the pinnacle of learning-creating."

Paul Ritter, left, and Cal Hackler look over native plants in bloom on the 20-acre Kickapoo Prairie pollinator plot near Cayuga, IL.

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Enbridge on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: Enbridge

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/enbridge

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: Enbridge

View the original press release on accesswire.com
GreenBank Capital (CSE:GBC)(OTCMKTS:GRNBF)(FRA:2TL) ("GreenBank" or the "Company") is pleased to update its shareholders.

Highlights

CTO lifted.

Income generated.

Staminier update.

Suni Iron Project

GreenBank is pleased to announce significant progress across various operational and financial fronts. Over the past five months, our management team has been dedicated to finalizing the accounts and ensuring all corporate filings are up to date. With these filings now complete and the CTO revoked, we are redirecting our focus towards strategic investments.

During this pivotal period, GreenBank has been actively collaborating with its investee companies to explore and implement income generation strategies. A highlight from this quarter includes the Ubique Minerals (CSE:UBQ) announcement on February 28, 2024, of successful field research results from the Daniels Harbour project. Moving forward, GreenBank continues to evaluate opportunities that could potentially enhance shareholder value through strategic acquisitions and other initiatives. We are committed to building on our current momentum and driving sustainable growth in the interests of our shareholders and stakeholders. The company has been discussing with Green Energy solutions companies that are at Entrepreneurial stage and could fit into the company's current strategy.

Income in the quarter

For the first time, GreenBank has generated income from operating activities in the quarter ending April 30th, with revenues totalling approx. $174,500 (converted to USD 127,500) from consulting and geological services the company made approx. 20% margin. These revenues were earned from transactions with non-related parties and align with the revised strategic direction announced on October 17th, 2023, which follows the guidance of the JV Capital ehf report.

Looking ahead, GreenBank anticipates continued revenue generation through consulting services for both investee companies and third-party clients.

Staminier and Future Fund loan update.

Staminier have been actively engaging with the Future Fund as well as consulting with insolvency experts to achieve the most favourable outcome and maximize the value of Staminier's assets. Following guidance from the Future Fund, Staminier has formally asked for further clarification for the rational regarding the decision process for the rejected extension request.

GreenBank would like to clarify that Staminier's insolvency situation does not impact GreenBank's operations. All financial obligations between the two companies will be resolved through a set-off arrangement. Presently, GreenBank assesses the position solely as a creditor focused on maximizing the asset value within Staminier.

Suni Iron Project

GreenBank has renewed the licenses at the Suni Iron Project and is in discussion and expects to appoint exploration service company and geological service company within the next 30 days for this season's work. The company is also in discussions with potential earn-in JV partners.

For further information, please contact:

Vilhjalmur Thor Vilhjalmsson, CEO and Chairman, GreenBank Capital

Tel: +354 8697296

Email: vilhjalmur@jvcapital.co.uk

About GreenBank

GreenBank is a business-transformation firm, which aims to nurture early stage and growth companies to their full potential. Through modern approaches to the provisions of consultancy services, GreenBank takes a stake in companies it hopes to nurture and gives the opportunity to the founders and executives of those companies to benefit from the years of collective experience of the GreenBank management team.

The team are based in Reykjavik, London and Toronto and work diligently across borders to ensure that businesses in the GreenBank portfolio reach their core objectives. The businesses the Company typically works with are start-ups or early-stage and include mining and mineral exploration companies. From this emergent state, GreenBank aims to quickly implement strong business practices by, where possible and required, deploying operations, communications, data strategy and financial expertise.

Whether a business desires to become a successful private company, list publicly, or is seeking a profitable exit, GreenBank tries to add value at every stage as a strategic partner. GreenBank is listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange, under the symbol "GBC", and on the OTC markets (OTCMKTS: GRNBF) as well as the Frankfurt Boerse (FRA: 2TL).

Forward Looking Information

This news release contains statements that include "forward looking information" as defined in applicable Canadian securities laws, including, but not limited to, statements with respect to GreenBank's investment strategy. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of GreenBank to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors that could affect the outcome include, among others: challenges in identifying and concluding investment transactions with attractive companies on favourable terms, or at all, , future prices and the supply of metals; the results of drilling; inability to raise the money necessary to conclude investment transactions with third-party companies or to incur the expenditures required to retain and advance the Suni project, environmental liabilities (known and unknown); general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; accidents, labour disputes and other risks inherent in business, such as; political instability, terrorism, insurrection or war; delays in obtaining governmental approvals; or failure to obtain regulatory approvals. For a more detailed discussion of such risks and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, refer to GreenBank's filings with Canadian securities regulators available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.

Although GreenBank has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this news release and GreenBank disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws.

SOURCE: GreenBank Capital Inc.

View the original press release on accesswire.com
LONDON, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- ColCap Financial UK Limited (ColCap UK) and Molo Tech Limited (Molo) have successfully completed their first securitisation, 'Molossus BTL 2024-1'.

The securitisation totals 300 million of prime UK buy-to-let mortgage loans in England and Wales. It is a Residential Mortgage-Backed Security (RMBS) transaction.

ColCap is a leading privately-owned, Australian non-bank lender specialising in residential mortgage loans. Founded in 2006, it has a loan portfolio in excess of AUS $14.0 billion. ColCap invested in Molo, an award-winning digital buy-to-let lender, in February 2023 via its UK subsidiary, ColCap UK.

The diversified pool of underlying mortgage assets has generated significant interest and strong investor demand.

The securitisation received a AAA(sf) rating from global credit rating agencies Fitch and S&P Global Ratings respectively. The ratings were for 87.5% of the pool and the senior tranche was priced at 0.95% over SONIA.

Macquarie Bank and Standard Chartered Bank acted as Joint Arrangers and Macquarie Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, and Citigroup acted as Joint Lead Managers.

ColCap UK's Treasurer, Paolo Tanca, commented, "This deal represents a significant milestone for us, showcasing our ability to structure and execute successful RMBS transactions in the UK market. We are excited about the opportunities for future growth and expansion."

Echoing this sentiment, ColCap UK's Executive Director and COO, Esther Morley added "Today's successful RMBS announcement demonstrates growing confidence in the UK property market and in the quality of Molo's buy-to-let portfolio. This strategic move with Molo is the first of many and demonstrates our commitment to innovation. It also marks the beginning of a new chapter for ColCap in the UK market. It sets the stage for further collaborations and growth opportunities, benefiting both our UK operations and our broader global presence, including ColCap Australia."

Commenting on the achievement from Molo's perspective, CEO Matt Kimber, stated, "The success of this RMBS highlights the strength of Molo's mortgage lending capabilities and the credit quality of our originations. It enables us to continue empowering landlords with accessible and innovative lending solutions while reinforcing our position as a leader in the buy-to-let mortgage market."

About ColCap

ColCap is a Sydney-headquartered privately owned leading non-bank lender specialising in residential mortgage loans. ColCap was founded in 2006 and currently has a loan portfolio in excess of AUS $14.0 billion.

ColCap lends in Australia and the UK primarily through:

the Wholesale lending brand Origin Mortgage Management Services, which services Mortgage Managers that offer white-labelled mortgage loans;

the Broker lending brand Granite Home Loans, which offers selected loan products to borrowers utilising aggregators and mortgage brokers;

the award-winning Retail lending brand Homestar Finance, which offers mortgage loans directly to borrowers; and

the digital mortgage lender Molo within the UK market, offering mortgage loans to both UK and non-UK resident borrowers

For further information about ColCap please visit www.colcap.co.uk

About Molo

Molo is an award-winning digital mortgage lender in the UK, established specifically to improve customers' experience in obtaining a mortgage, leveraging technology to deliver simpler and faster online mortgage lending. Since it launched in 2018, Molo has led change in the UK mortgage industry with over 1.8 billion mortgage applications submitted across their digital platform to date.

Molo is backed by ColCap Financial Limited.

For further information about Molo please visit www.molofinance.com .

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2403898/Paolo_Tanka_ColCap.jpg

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Mary Kay Inc., a global beauty brand renowned for its commitment to female empowerment and entrepreneurship, is thrilled to announce that its products will now be sold in Denmark. This strategic move marks a significant milestone in Mary Kay's mission to enrich women's lives across the globe. With this launch, Mary Kay products are now available in all the Scandinavian and Nordic markets in partnership with Lesley Cosmetics, Mary Kay's authorized distributor in Scandinavia.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240502841084/en/

Mary Kay Inc., a global beauty brand renowned for its commitment to female empowerment and entrepreneurship, is thrilled to announce that its products will now be sold in Denmark. Denmark, known for its strong focus on gender equality and women's rights, stands as one of the most egalitarian societies in the world, ranking third in the EU on the Gender Equality Index. (Photo: Mary Kay Inc.)

Denmark, known for its strong focus on gender equality and women's rights, stands as one of the most egalitarian societies in the world, ranking third in the EU on the Gender Equality Index1. The country's demand for innovative opportunities for women is ever-present. The availability of Mary Kay products in the Danish market promises to offer exciting, new prospects for female entrepreneurship and empowerment through its unique business model.

Mary Kay Europe President Tara Eustace expressed her excitement about the introduction of Mary Kay products into a new country. "The expansion into Denmark not only represents an amazing growth strategy in Europe but also reaffirms our commitment to providing women with unparalleled opportunities for empowerment and entrepreneurship. We are excited to partner with Lesley Cosmetics to introduce Danish women to our high-quality products and the unique Mary Kay business opportunity. Together, we look forward to building a strong community of independent beauty consultants in Denmark and supporting them in achieving their goals."

"The essence of Mary Kay's vision has always been to offer women unparalleled opportunities for personal and professional growth," said Carl Henric Wallblom, CEO of Lesley Cosmetics. "I am confident that Danish women will embrace Mary Kay's high-quality skincare and color cosmetics, and more importantly, the chance to achieve their entrepreneurial dreams without compromising their personal and family lives. Mary Kay's visionary business model is more relevant today than ever before, and I'm excited to see its impact on families in Denmark."

The official grand opening in Denmark, attended by 750 guests, was a spectacular and historic evening for Mary Kay, Lesley Cosmetics, and the many women who have eagerly awaited the products and opportunity. Click here to watch the Mary Kay Beauty Beyond Borders video.

Mary Kay's legacy of enriching women's lives for over 60 years continues to inspire and pave the way for future generations. With its cutting-edge skincare and color cosmetics, Mary Kay is set to make a significant impact in Denmark, empowering women to pursue their dreams and achieve success on their own terms.

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).

1 Source: European Institute For Gender Equality (2023). Retrieved from: https://eige.europa.eu/gender-equality-index/2023/country/DK.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240502841084/en/

Contacts:

Mary Kay Inc. Corporate Communications

marykay.com/newsroom

972.687.5332 or media@mkcorp.com
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES.

Coppernico Metals Inc. ("Coppernico" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has signed a non-binding term sheet with a major international mining company ("MinerCo") pursuant to which MinerCo intends to purchase an initial 9.9% shareholding in the Company as part of a private placement financing (the "Offering") with a minimum total gross proceeds of C$15 million, inclusive of MinerCo's participation. MinerCo will be identified at the time of completion of the Offering.

The Company has retained 3L Capital Inc. and Beacon Securities Limited as co-lead agents on behalf of a syndicate of agents to offer equity units ("Units") at a price of C$0.50 per Unit on a best efforts basis. Each Unit will consist of one common share of the Company (a "Share") and one half of a Share purchase warrant (each whole Share purchase warrant, a "Warrant"). Each Warrant will be exercisable to acquire an additional Share at a price of C$0.75 for a period of two years from completion of the Offering (the "Closing"). If the closing price of the Shares on a recognized stock exchange, if and when the Shares are listed, meets or exceeds C$1.25 for 20 out of any 30 consecutive trading days ending at least four months after the Closing, the Company may accelerate the expiry date of the Warrants to a date that is not less than 30 days from the date when such notice is given. If the Company's Shares are not listed on a recognized Canadian stock exchange within 90 days from Closing, investors including MinerCo will receive a bonus of 5% of their subscribed Units in additional Units.

Proceeds from the Offering will be primarily used for drilling of the Sombrero Main target area at the Company's recently drill-permitted flagship Sombrero Project in southern Peru. The Shares and Warrants issued in the Offering will be subject to a statutory hold period of four-months plus one day. MinerCo has agreed to a voluntary twelve-month hold period in connection with its investment and will thereafter provide the Company with a 10 business day right to seek a designated buyer if MinerCo wishes to sell more than 2% of issued shares.

For two years after closing and provided that MinerCo retains at least an 8% shareholding in the Company, MinerCo will have a pre-emptive right to participate in future Coppernico equity financings in an amount necessary to maintain its shareholding percentage subject to customary carve-outs for incentive options and strategic acquisitions in respect of which it will be offered the right to top up once a year at market. During this period MinerCo will also have a right to match any third-party investor that purchases a number of Shares from treasury greater than the number of Shares held by MinerCo. MinerCo will also agree to standstill to a maximum 14.15% (plus any increase if bonus Units are issued) unless and until a third party seeks to acquire control and in certain other stated events.

The Closing is expected to be on or about May 15, 2024 and is subject to execution of a definitive agreement with MinerCo, completing the balance of the minimum Offering and customary Closing deliveries. The Offering size may be increased by up to 40% in which case the value received from MinerCo for the 9.9% investment would correspondingly increase.

The securities of the Company have not been, nor will they 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 or for the account or benefit of any person in the United States, absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities to any U.S. person or in the United States, or in any other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Resales of any Shares or Warrants that may be placed within the United States will be restricted in accordance with applicable laws.

A message from Ivan Bebek, Chairman and CEO of Coppernico

"After dedicating over 8 years to the Sombrero Project, we are excited to announce another key development for Coppernico with the current undertaking of a 9.9% equity stake from a major mining company. The launch of this Offering in conjunction with our recently granted access and drilling rights further validate the significant potential of the Sombrero Project, which represents multiple large-scale copper exploration opportunities. These funds will enable us to list the Company, drill our high-value targets and accelerate our goal to create long-term value for our shareholders and all stakeholders."

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Ivan Bebek

Chair & CEO

For further information, please contact:

Coppernico Metals Inc.

Phone: +1 778 729 0600

Email: info@coppernicometals.com

Website: www.coppernicometals.com

Twitter: @CoppernicoMetal

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/coppernico-metals/

About Coppernico

Coppernico is a mineral exploration company focused on creating value for shareholders and stakeholders through careful project evaluation and exploration excellence in pursuit of the discovery of world-class copper-gold deposits in South America. The Company's management and technical teams have a successful track record of raising capital, discovery and the monetization of exploration successes. The Company, through its Peruvian subsidiary Sombrero Minerales S.A.C., is currently focused on the Main/Nioc area within the Sombrero project in Peru, its flagship project, and is reviewing additional premium projects in South America.

The Sombrero Project is a land package of approximately 102,000 hectares located in the north-western margins of the world-class Andahuaylas-Yauri trend in Peru. It consists of a number of prospective exploration targets characterized by copper-gold skarn and porphyry systems, and precious metal epithermal deposits. The Company is in the final stages of preparing a NI 43-101 technical report which focuses on the Sombrero Main and Nioc target areas.

Coppernico is currently an unlisted public reporting issuer. The Company intends to seek a listing on a recognized stock exchange once it qualifies to do so. For more information, please visit www.coppernicometals.com.

Coppernico Advisors for the MinerCo Transaction

Minvisory Corp. acted as financial advisor to Coppernico. Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP acted as legal counsel.

Cautionary Note

No regulatory organization has approved the contents hereof.

This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "may", "should", "anticipate", "expect", "intend" and similar expressions and include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: the Company's Offering and the likelihood and timing of its completion; plans to spend these proceeds of the Offering; the size of the Offering; the potential acceleration of the Warrants issued in connection with the Offering; the participation of MinerCo in the Offering; the expected use of the rights granted to MinerCo pursuant to the Offering; and receipt of any regulatory or exchange approvals required for the Offering, each of which are matters about which there cannot be any certainty. No assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking statements included in this news release should not be unduly relied upon. These statements speak only as of the date of this news release. In particular, and without limitation, this news release contains forward-looking statements pertaining to the Company's exploration and drill plans and the Company's plans to finance and list the Company's Shares on a recognized stock exchange. Forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's control, which could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those that are disclosed in or implied by such forward-looking statements. Readers should refer to the risks discussed in the Company's continuous disclosure filings with the Canadian Securities Administrators, available at www.sedarplus.com.

SOURCE: Coppernico Metals Inc.

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Offering reduced changeover time while maintaining safety and product quality

Generating cutting-edge therapeutics requires precision, safety, and efficiency from manufacturing equipment. The next generation of oligo manufacturing, the process of producing short sequences of nucleotides (building blocks of DNA or RNA), innovation from Asahi Kasei Bioprocess (AKB), the THESYS ACS ERGO synthesis column, will be on display and demonstrated at Booth 213 at TIDES USA 2024 from May 14th to 17th at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston. This new synthesis column offers drastically reduced changeover time between batches while maintaining user safety and product quality.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240502639431/en/

Concept image of the THESYS ACS ERGO synthesis column. (Photo: Business Wire)

Following the success of AKB's DAC ERGO, a liquid chromatography column, the company has continued advancing column technology with the THESYS ACS ERGO. The THESYS ACS ERGO is designed for oligonucleotide synthesis and includes an operator-friendly design to facilitate a smooth and safe changeover between runs. It provides the same reliable high-performance as AKB's other synthesis columns but is uniquely engineered to reduce inefficiencies between batches with upwards of an hour of time savings as well as projected labor reduction.

The time-saving features of the THESYS ACS ERGO are achieved by eliminating the use of threaded bolts in the changeover and maintenance process, which can be tedious and time-consuming to remove between runs. AKB has ergonomically designed the THESYS ACS ERGO for faster changeover without cost to safety, which improves customer efficiency while maintaining operator safety and product reliability.

"Our new, bolt-free design is unique to the column market and makes unpacking and cleaning far less time-consuming," said Chris Rombach, EVP at Asahi Kasei Bioprocess America (AKBA). "Every feature of the ACS ERGO has been considered, with greater productivity for manufacturers and operator safety as the top priorities."

THESYS ACS includes an innovative I-bar format that makes removing the top of the column more efficient and a unique frame with an integrated gearbox and wheel to facilitate smooth, safe unpacking and cleaning. Furthermore, the column has a minimized footprint to seamlessly integrate into the manufacturing floor.

In addition to its booth at the event, AKB will host a 'Spotlight Presentation' on May 16 at 12:20 p.m. in room 302 about the oligo manufacturing process. Dr. Tom Krebstakies, Sales Manager for Europe and Asia at AKB, will speak about innovations from synthesis through concentration and the applicable equipment considerations for effective technical implementation.

Attendees are invited to visit AKB at Booth 213 to explore new products, witness live demos, and learn more about how AKB's innovations make manufacturing therapeutics easier.

Learn more about how AKB helps oligo process engineers quickly improve throughput, efficiency, and costs.

About Asahi Kasei Bioprocess

The Fluid Management Business Unit of Asahi Kasei Bioprocess is devoted to solving therapeutic product safety, efficiency, and purity challenges within the pharmaceutical and bioprocessing industries. With technology platforms for oligonucleotide synthesis, buffer formulation, chromatography, and filtration, our bioprocess systems, columns, and automation solutions advance GMP manufacturing of critical drug substances around the world. Built with pride, built with quality, built to exceed expectations. "Built for You." For more information, please visit https://fluidmgmt.ak-bio.com.

About Asahi Kasei

The Asahi Kasei Group contributes to life and living for people around the world. Since its foundation in 1922 with ammonia and cellulose fiber business, Asahi Kasei has consistently grown through the proactive transformation of its business portfolio to meet the evolving needs of every age. With more than 48,000 employees worldwide, the company contributes to sustainable society by providing solutions to the world's challenges through its three business sectors of Material, Homes, and Health Care. For more information, visit www.asahi-kasei.com.

Asahi Kasei is also dedicated to sustainability initiatives and is contributing to reaching a carbon neutral society by 2050. To learn more, visit https://www.asahi-kasei.com/sustainability/.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240502639431/en/

Contacts:

North America Contact:

Asahi Kasei America Inc.

Christian OKeefe

christian.okeefe@ak-america.com

Europe Contact:

Asahi Kasei Europe GmbH

Sebastian Schmidt

sebastian.schmidt@asahi-kasei.eu

Asahi Kasei Bioprocess Contact:

Asahi Kasei Bioprocess America, Inc.

Steve Foy

Steve.Foy@ak-bio.com
Rymedi and Precision Genetics, two leading pioneers in healthcare technology solutions, proudly announce their strategic partnership aimed at transforming health outcomes and efficiencies through precision medicine. The collaboration will combine Precision Genetics' PrecisionOp, a personalized means to reduce adverse drug reactions ?and reliance on post-operative opioids for patients undergoing surgery, and Rymedi's block-chain enabled clinical trial and registry platform.?

Rymedi and Precision Genetics, both founded and headquartered in Greenville, SC, have experienced remarkable success with their digital health platforms. Rymedi was recently named one of the 50 fastest growing companies in South Carolina due to its ability to enhance and scale patient and population health data management and workflow solutions. Similarly, Precision Genetics was named the South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA) Company of the Year in 2022 for its exceptional job and revenue growth, demonstrated during the pandemic through COVID-19 testing. Now, with combined efforts, these two companies are poised to improve patient medical outcomes and overall care experience.?

Nate Wilbourne, CEO and Founder of Precision Genetics commented, "We are thrilled to join forces with an innovative team like Rymedi. I see tremendous value and synergy between our efforts, putting us in a unique position to move the needle on health outcomes in this state. By integrating Rymedi's expertise in patient-facing entry points and data analysis with Precision Genetics' genetic testing solutions, we can modernize how we approach patient care, and ultimately transform care delivery for the better."?

Rymedi's clinical trial and registry platform will support Precision Genetics' IRB-approved research study, Prospective Outcomes & Molecular Implementation Support Registry (PROMISRx), to track, analyze and find predictors of medication response for patients in a surgical setting. The registry study will provide genetic information that can be used to tailor drug regimens for patients to reduce risk and optimize recovery after surgery.

David Stefanich, CEO and Founder of Rymedi, and Chair, SCBio Board of Directors, expressed enthusiasm for the partnership, saying, "This partnership represents a pivotal moment in our mission to transform healthcare through data-driven solutions. By combining forces with Precision Genetics, we are positioned to deliver tangible benefits to healthcare providers and patients alike, driving efficiency and efficacy in the delivery of care."?

The collaboration between Rymedi and Precision Genetics underscores?their shared commitment to innovation and scaling digital healthcare.?Together, they are ready to drive meaningful improvements and bridge ecosystems to advance precision health.?

About Precision Genetics?

Headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina, Precision Genetics offers value-based care solutions, powered by a molecular diagnostic platform to drive better patient outcomes while reducing the overall cost of care.?

Precision Genetics is modernizing the standard of care to enable doctors to prescribe medications with precision and safety. Our solutions help provide better patient outcomes and lower overall healthcare costs.?

By combining evidence-based technology and population risk analysis into a comprehensive and actionable solution, we can deliver seamless clinical decision support to foster nothing less than research-based personalized medicine for patients.?

At Precision Genetics, we're ushering in a new, less costly and more efficient standard-of-care. For more information, please visit www.precisiongenetics.com.?

About Rymedi

Founded in 2018?as a software as a service (SAAS) company,?Rymedi?enables life science organizations to improve human health. Rymedi's blockchain enabled patient and population health data management software supports clinical trials and patient registries, clinical diagnostic and toxicology testing devices, clinical lab integrations, and the secure and compliant storage of healthcare data. For more information, please visit our website at www.rymedi.com, or our MassBioEdge program link at www.massbio.org/massbio-edge/?.

Media Contact:

Kristina Loughrey

kristina@klcoms.com

SOURCE: Rymedi

View the original press release on accesswire.com
The "Uzbekistan International Remittance Market Business and Investment Opportunities Analysis by Transaction Value Volume, Inbound and Outbound Transfers to and from Key States, Consumer Demographics Q1 2024" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The international remittance market in Uzbekistan has demonstrated significant growth, with the industry observing a 10.5% increase in the inbound remittance market and an 18.9% increase in the outbound remittance market during 2023. These trends signal a positive trajectory for the market's future, highlighting the increasing relevance of remittances in Uzbekistan's economic landscape.

Market Projections: Inbound and Outbound Transfers

Experts project the market size to maintain a steady growth, with expectations of a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.1% for the inbound market and a CAGR of 12.1% for the outbound market through 2028. These patterns are indicative of the dynamic nature of the remittance sector in Uzbekistan and underscore the importance of understanding consumer demographics and transfer behaviors.

Analysis of Transaction Channels and Consumer Demographics

Up-to-date analysis reflects a diversification in remittance channels, with digital, mobile, and non-digital transactions being closely assessed. Additionally, comprehensive insights into the sender profiles, including age, income, and occupation, as well as the recipients' demographics, provide a nuanced view of the market's landscape.

Strategic Insights for Market Players

The substantial influx of remittances to Uzbekistan has not only positively impacted local economies, but it has also offered a platform for financial institutions to fine-tune their services. Market players can utilize these insights to align their strategies with consumer needs and the evolving digital landscape.

Expansion of Digital Remittance Services

The report also highlights the sharp increase in the adoption of digital technologies for remittances. Financial institutions and fintech companies are positioned to harness this growth by enhancing their digital offerings to meet the increasing consumer demand for convenient and secure transfer methods.

Forecast for Long-Term Market Evolution

With precise market forecasts, the remittance industry stakeholders can plan strategically for the long-term. The analysis provided aims to offer valuable data for businesses and investors to capitalize on emerging trends and to fortify their position in a competitive financial landscape.

The information encapsulated in this analysis will be integral for policy makers, financial institutions, remittance service providers, and investors who seek to engage with the Uzbekistan remittance market and understand its potent impact on the broader economy. End of Press Release.

Key Attributes:

Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 130 Forecast Period 2024 2028 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2024 $22.8 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2028 $30 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 7.1% Regions Covered Uzbekistan

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/j6y7ix

About ResearchAndMarkets.com

ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240502918202/en/

Contacts:

ResearchAndMarkets.com

Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager

press@researchandmarkets.com



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Ottawa, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - May 2, 2024) - It's a historic time in Canada for the oral health of the country's most vulnerable populations. Yesterday, on May 1, many independent dental hygienists began providing treatment for eligible seniors under the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP). Over 1.7 million seniors are enrolled, and more age cohorts will become eligible as the program rolls out over the coming months.

The Canadian Dental Hygienists Association (CDHA) and its 22,000 members applaud the federal government for taking direct action to improve access to oral health care for those who need it most. The participation of large numbers of oral health professionals will be integral to the success of this plan, "but independent dental hygienists will play a particularly critical role in providing the needed preventive oral health care services," says CDHA President Francine Trudeau. Dental hygienists are instrumental in improving access to care for underserved populations, "delivering preventive and therapeutic services in dental hygiene clinics, long-term care facilities, in patients' homes, schools, and via mobile clinics," adds Trudeau. Independent dental hygienists are also able to travel to northern, rural, and remote communities across Canada where access to dental and dental hygiene services is limited or nonexistent.

The plan is not perfect, but it's a good start. CDHA continues to advocate for improvements to coverage for preventive services, adding new services such as oral health education and health promotion strategies, care of oral appliances, and services that will have a direct impact on oral function/pain and quality of life, and increasing frequency limits for scaling and root planing. Our advocacy also includes addressing the disparity between the dental hygiene and dental reimbursement rates for the same service, and ensuring the plan is not an administrative burden for front office staff and does not rely heavily on preauthorization of dental services.

Reimbursement rates are a paramount concern as the CDCP-established fees for dental hygienists practising independently are, on average, 15% lower than the published fees for dental hygiene services provided by a dental hygienist working in a dental clinic. Health Minister Mark Holland has assured CDHA that fee parity will be achieved in future iterations of the plan, but he has yet to establish a firm timeline for this important adjustment.The current reimbursement rates are discriminatory and anti-competitive and must be addressed as soon as possible.

CDHA and the provincial dental hygiene associations feel strongly that dental hygienists have a key role to play in providing essential oral health care under this plan. Sally Lloyd, RDH, BScDH, owner of Lifetime Smiles Dental Hygiene Clinic in Calgary, Alberta, states, "Committed to ensuring all Canadians have access to essential dental care, our team of dedicated hygienists has registered to extend our services to as many individuals as possible. We hear too often that even basic preventative dental healthcare is a luxury and not accessible to all." Guylaine Souligny Theoret, RDH, of Moose Creek Dental Hygiene Clinic in Ontario adds, "Voici ma [premiere] patiente sur le programme dentaire. Super excitant! It went very smoothly! A great program for the general public who otherwise couldn't afford to get their teeth cared for but let's advocate for more units of scaling per year to benefit these clients who often need more preventative services."

CDHA will continue to monitor further developments and actively engage with government and other stakeholders to enhance the CDCP.

About the Canadian Dental Hygienists Association (CDHA):

CDHA is the national voice of dental hygienists in Canada. Representing over 31,000 dental hygienists across the country, CDHA advocates for the advancement and promotion of the dental hygiene profession while maintaining a commitment to the public's oral health. Dental hygiene is the sixth largest regulated health profession in Canada with professionals working in a variety of settings, including independent dental hygiene practice, with people of all ages, addressing issues related to oral health. For more information on oral health, visit dentalhygienecanada.ca. For more information on the work of CDHA, visit cdha.ca.

Media Contact

Angie D'Aoust, Director of Marketing and Communications

613-878-3607

adaoust@cdha.ca

https://linktr.ee/thecdha

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/207790

SOURCE: Canadian Dental Hygienists Association
Sponsored by PRAY.COM in Partnership with Credentialed Research Scientists and Institutions

LOS ANGELES / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2024 / As the No. 1 app for daily prayer, PRAY.COM recently partnered with credentialed researchers to study the benefits of digitally-delivered faith and prayer for mental health and well-being. The published results suggest a positive correlation between app usage and decreased anxiety, stress and depression. This is good news at a time when people are more interconnected digitally than in-person, yet approximately 26% of the U.S. adult population suffers from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.





Pray.com logo

"We are driven by a mission to grow faith and cultivate community. As a result, we believe it is important to conduct research regarding PRAY.COM as a practical, easy-to-use prayer resource to combat the ongoing mental health pandemic," said Founder and CEO Steve Gatena. "We know there is a correlation between prayer and improved mental health and were excited to see positive mental health results with use of the PRAY.COM app. We hope this will encourage the scientific community to further examine the impact spiritual health can have on mental and physical health, an area of research that has been largely overlooked."

Dr. Jennifer Huberty, former Director of Science at Calm, who recently joined PRAY.COM as Fractional Chief Science Advisor, led the company's research efforts in partnership with Dr. Todd Hall, a professor of psychology at Biola University and a faculty affiliate at the Harvard Human Flourishing Program; Dr. Joshua Hook, Associate Professor of Counseling Psychology at the University of North Texas; and Dr. Daryl R. Van Tongeren, Associate Professor of Psychology at Hope College.

"As a Chief Science Officer, I help companies integrate science to provide evidence for their product and enhance innovation and credibility," Huberty said. "PRAY.COM is committed to having a product that improves lives and I am happy to advise the science of their ongoing pursuit."

Three studies were conducted, beginning with a cross-sectional survey of current subscribers of PRAY.COM. The results of this study, as published recently in the Journal of Religion and Health, showed that many individuals engaged with the app not only to grow spiritually, many also reported engaging with the app for mental and physical health concerns. Of those who came to PRAY.COM for a specific health outcome, high levels of significant to extreme improvements were reported, including:

STRESS: 74% of respondents reported significant to extreme improvements

ANXIETY: 69% reported significant to extreme improvements

DEPRESSION: 60% reported significant to extreme improvements

SLEEP: 94% of PRAY.COM subscribers who responded to the scientific survey reported significant to extreme improvements for sleep.

"It is very exciting and long overdue that we have a study that confirms what many in the world already know-the power of prayer-and mobile prayer applications can have a significant impact for mental health and wellness," said Craig DeRoche, CEO of the Family Policy Alliance. "In 2023, with 50,000 taking their own lives in America, we lost more people to suicide than ever before. The crisis is real and growing-especially for those suffering from addiction and behavioral health challenges. As our nation continues to look at all viable options to address this crisis we are very excited about what digital prayer applications, like Pray.com, can do to help so many people like me when they are in crisis, and when they just wish to grow more spiritually."

The second study entailed an assessment of PRAY.COM's impact on moderately to severely stressed adults in an 8-week randomized controlled trial. Those who spent more time on the app reported greater reductions in mental health symptoms than participants who spent less time on the app. More specifically, the number of days spent using the app was related to reductions in stress, anxiety, depression and burnout, as well as increased mindfulness, measured at two months. This study is scheduled to be published in the journal "Spirituality in Clinical Practice" later this month.

A third study related specifically to people who identify with a racial or ethnic minority group, focusing on the feasibility of PRAY.COM as a tool to improve mental health and well-being and to better understand how different racial or ethnic groups interact with and benefit from PRAY.COM. The results were positive suggesting PRAY.COM is feasible and may be a tool to improve mental health symptoms in racial or ethnic groups, as published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research Formative Research earlier this year.

"We are excited to share this foundational research exploring the impact of the faith- and prayer-based digital advancement, PRAY.COM," said research scientist Breanne Laird, MS. "I look forward to continuing our investigation into how engagement with PRAY.COM may positively impact the mental health and well-being of its users."

As the first religious mental health and wellness app to do so, PRAY.COM's purpose in these studies is to drive scientific insight into the impact digitally-delivered faith and prayer has on mental health and to use its findings to raise more awareness of ways to strengthen mental health by practicing the healthy habit of frequent prayer.

About PRAY.COM

Founded in 2016 with a mission to grow faith and cultivate community, PRAY.COM is the world's No. 1 app for daily prayer and Bible-based audio content. Reaching more than 16 million people worldwide through its mobile app and website, PRAY.COM is the easiest way to incorporate prayer into your daily life. PRAY.COM provides encouragement and inspiration through daily devotionals, pastor podcasts and Bedtime Bible Stories. PRAY.COM founders are Steve Gatena, Michael Lynn, Ryan Beck and Matthew Potter. See more at www.PRAY.COM/discover.

Contact Information:

Melany Ethridge

melany@alarryross.com

(214) 912-8934

SOURCE: PRAY.COM

View the original press release on newswire.com.
BROOKFIELD, NEWS, May 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Brookfield Reinsurance (NYSE, TSX: BNRE, BNRE.A) and American Equity Investment Life Holding Company (NYSE: AEL) ("AEL") today announced the completion of Brookfield Reinsurance's acquisition of AEL in a cash and stock transaction valued at $56.50 per AEL share. AEL's leading fixed annuity business bolsters Brookfield Reinsurance's expanding insurance operations and increases its insurance assets under management to over $100 billion.

Jon Bayer, Managing Partner at Brookfield Reinsurance said, "We are excited to welcome AEL to our organization as we continue to grow, diversify and scale our retirement services capabilities. AEL's strong franchise and track record of serving policyholders and distribution partners, coupled with the scale of our existing platform and offerings, will position us well for the next phase of growth."

Brookfield Reinsurance expects to maintain AEL's headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa, and its growth in the fixed annuity business over time should increase jobs in Iowa. Brookfield Reinsurance also looks forward to supporting the greater Des Moines area, including through maintaining AEL's existing charitable contributions and through Brookfield's broader charitable foundation and other charitable initiatives.

Advisors

Barclays served as lead financial advisor to Brookfield Reinsurance and BMO Capital Markets also acted as an advisor to Brookfield Reinsurance on this transaction. Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP served as legal advisor to Brookfield Reinsurance and Debevoise & Plimpton LLP served as Brookfield Reinsurance's insurance legal counsel. Torys LLP served as legal advisor to Brookfield Asset Management.

Ardea Partners and J.P. Morgan served as financial advisors and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP acted as legal advisor to AEL on this transaction.

About Brookfield Reinsurance

Brookfield Reinsurance Ltd. (NYSE; TSX: BNRE, BNRE.A) operates a leading capital solutions business providing insurance and reinsurance services to individuals and institutions. Each class A exchangeable limited voting share and each class A-1 exchangeable non-voting share of Brookfield Reinsurance are exchangeable on a one-for-one basis with a class A limited voting share of Brookfield Corporation. (NYSE/TSX: BN).

For more information, please visit our website at bnre.brookfield.com.

About American Equity Life

American Equity Investment Life Holding Company is a leading provider of fixed rate and fixed index annuity products with over 40,000 independent agents and advisors affiliated with independent market organizations.

Brookfield Contacts:

Media:

Kerrie McHugh

Tel: (212) 618-3469

Email: kerrie.mchugh@brookfield.com (mailto:kerrie.mchugh@brookfield.com)

Investor Relations:

Rachel Powell

Tel: (416) 956-5141

Email: rachel.powell@brookfield.com (mailto:rachel.powell@brookfield.com)



AEL Contacts:

Steven D. Schwartz

Tel: (515) 273-3763

Email: sschwartz@american-equity.com (mailto:sschwartz@american-equity.com)



Cautionary Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Neither Brookfield Reinsurance nor AEL are making any offer or invitation of any kind by communication of this news release and under no circumstance is it to be construed as a prospectus or an advertisement.

This news release and any related oral statements made by our representatives may contain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian provincial securities laws and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian provincial securities laws and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and "safe harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and in any applicable Canadian securities regulations. Forward-looking statements include statements that are predictive in nature, depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, include statements which reflect management's expectations regarding the operations, business, financial condition, expected financial results, performance, prospects, opportunities, priorities, targets, goals, ongoing objectives, strategies and outlook of Brookfield Reinsurance, AEL and Brookfield Reinsurance's other subsidiaries, as well as the outlook for North American and international economies for the current fiscal year and subsequent periods. In particular, statements regarding our plans for the business, including future growth, constitute forward-looking statements. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "expects," "anticipates," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "seeks," "intends," "targets," "projects," "forecasts" or negative versions thereof and other similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as "may," "will," "should," "would" and "could." In particular, the forward-looking statements contained in this news release include statements referring to the future state of the economy or the securities market and expected future deployment of capital and financial earnings.

Although we believe that our anticipated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements and information are based upon reasonable assumptions and expectations, the reader should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond our control, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Brookfield Reinsurance or AEL to differ materially from anticipated future results, performance or achievement expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and information.

Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated or implied by forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: (i) investment returns that are lower than target; (ii) the impact or unanticipated impact of general economic, political and market factors in the countries in which we do business; (iii) the behavior of financial markets, including fluctuations in interest and foreign exchange rates; (iv) global equity and capital markets and the availability of equity and debt financing and refinancing within these markets; (v) strategic actions including dispositions; the ability to complete and effectively integrate acquisitions into existing operations and the ability to attain expected benefits; (vi) changes in accounting policies and methods used to report financial condition (including uncertainties associated with critical accounting assumptions and estimates); (vii) the ability to appropriately manage human capital; (viii) the effect of applying future accounting changes; (ix) business competition; (x) operational and reputational risks; (xi) technological change; (xii) changes in government regulation and legislation within the countries in which we operate; (xiii) governmental investigations; (xiv) litigation; (xv) changes in tax laws; (xvi) ability to collect amounts owed; (xvii) catastrophic events, such as earthquakes, hurricanes and epidemics/pandemics; (xviii) the possible impact of international conflicts and other developments including terrorist acts and cyberterrorism; (xix) the introduction, withdrawal, success and timing of business initiatives and strategies; (xx) the failure of effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal controls over financial reporting and other risks; (xxi) health, safety and environmental risks; (xxii) the maintenance of adequate insurance coverage; (xxiii) the existence of information barriers between certain businesses within our asset management operations; (xxiv) risks specific to our business segments including our real estate, renewable power, infrastructure, private equity, and other alternatives, including credits; and (xxv) factors detailed from time to time in our documents filed with the securities regulators in Canada and the United States.

We caution that the foregoing list of important factors that may affect future results is not exhaustive and other factors could also adversely affect its results. Readers are urged to consider the foregoing risks, as well as other uncertainties, factors and assumptions carefully in evaluating the forward-looking information and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking information. Except as required by law, neither Brookfield Reinsurance nor AEL undertakes any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether written or oral, that may be as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Past performance is not indicative nor a guarantee of future results. There can be no assurance that comparable results will be achieved in the future, that future investments will be similar to the historic investments discussed herein (because of economic conditions, the availability of investment opportunities or otherwise), that targeted returns, diversification or asset allocations will be met or that an investment strategy or investment objectives will be achieved.
Laman Ismayilova

Azerbaijan Culture Minister Adil Karimli has received Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences at UNESCO Gabriela Ramos, who participates in the 6th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue, Azernews reports.

Adil Karimli spoke about Azerbaijan-UNESCO relations at the meeting and noted with pleasure that the organisation was among the traditional partners of the World Intercultural Dialogue Forum held for the sixth time this year within the framework of the Baku Process.

The minister said that the state of Azerbaijan has various ideas regarding the development of the Baku Process global platform and is ready to share them with UNESCO. He underlined that Azerbaijan is interested in cooperation with the organisation in various fields, including the field of artificial intelligence.

Gabriela Ramos expressed her gratitude for the meeting and expressed her satisfaction with her participation in the Forum.

During the conversation, the importance of UNESCO's representation and acting as a partner of the 2024 UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 29) to be held in Azerbaijan this year was emphasised.

At the meeting, opinions were exchanged on other issues of mutual interest.

As a UNESCO member, Azerbaijan has been actively engaged in promoting cultural diversity and heritage preservation.

The country has been constantly participating in UNESCO programs since 1992.

Through its efforts, Azerbaijan plays a significant role in UNESCO's mission to build peace, foster sustainable development, and foster intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture, communication, and information.

In 2003, the parties signed a framework agreement on cooperation in the areas of culture, science, education, and communication, which allowed Azerbaijan to become one of the donors of UNESCO.

The 6th edition of the World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue is underway in Baku under the theme "Dialogue for Peace and Global Security: Cooperation and Interconnectivity" .

This forum, part of the Baku Process initiated by President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev in 2008, is organized in partnership with prominent international entities such as the United Nations Alliance of Civilisations (UNAOC), UNESCO, UN Tourism, and the Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (ICESCO).

The forum aims to explore the critical intersections between dialogue facilitation, cooperative frameworks, leadership efficacy, and the complex dynamics of interconnectedness, all in the service of advancing global peace and security imperatives.

Over three days, a series of plenary sessions and panel discussions bring together a diverse array of stakeholders, including government officials, representatives from international organisations, eminent cultural figures, journalists, civil society actors, and intellectuals from across the globe, to deliberate upon pressing global challenges.
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2024 / Signal Gold Inc. ("Signal Gold" or the "Company") (TSX:SGNL)(OTCQX:SGNLF) is pleased to report its business and financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2024 ("Q1 2024"). The condensed interim consolidated financial statements and management discussion and analysis documents can be found at www.sedarplus.com and the Company's website, www.signalgold.com. All dollar amounts are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted.

"Despite ongoing challenging capital markets for junior mining companies, Signal Gold has made strong progress at the Goldboro Project during the first quarter of 2024. We remain focused on value creation through exciting exploration initiatives to generate new discoveries and increased mineral resources in the Goldboro Gold District, especially at the western extension of the Goldboro Deposit where we recently commenced a 5,000-metre drill program. The Company also continues to advance key Project permits, with consultations with respect to the Fisheries Act Authorization and Schedule 2 Amendment having commenced during the quarter. In parallel, we continue to evaluate potential strategic alternatives to advance the Goldboro Project, with BMO Capital Markets acting as financial advisor, as well actively considering options with respect to the credit facility with Nebari. The Company remains committed to advancing the Goldboro Project to become the next fully permitted, construction ready, gold project in Canada. "

~ Kevin Bullock, President and CEO, Signal Gold Inc.

Highlights for the Period Ended March 31, 2024

Invested $1,033,999 in the Goldboro Project relating to the advancement of project permits, growth exploration, and data compilation to support regional exploration.

Progressed permitting through various monitoring plans and addressing regulator feedback on the Fisheries Act Authorization and Industrial Approval application. The Company entered the Duty to Consult phase for the Fisheries Act Authorization and Schedule 2 Amendment of the Metal and Diamond Mining Effluent Regulations.

Announced the final drill results from its largest ever exploration drill program, conclusively demonstrating continuity of gold mineralization along strike between the western end of the Goldboro Deposit and the historic Dolliver Mountain Gold Mine, bringing the total strike length of known gold mineralization to 3.4 kilometres.

Further consolidated the Goldboro Gold District, increasing its exploration licence area to over 27,200 hectares (~272 km 2 ) surrounding the Goldboro Project, and commenced a 1,250-line kilometre airborne magnetic and VLF electromagnetic survey over land immediately north of, and contiguous with, the Goldboro Deposit.

) surrounding the Goldboro Project, and commenced a 1,250-line kilometre airborne magnetic and VLF electromagnetic survey over land immediately north of, and contiguous with, the Goldboro Deposit. Initiated a 5,000-metre drill program on the western extension of the Goldboro Deposit to follow-up on the 2023 discovery of near-surface, high-grade gold mineralization, as initial geological modelling of drill results indicates the potential to delineate additional open-pit Mineral Resources.

Recorded a net comprehensive loss from continuing operations for the three months ended March 31, 2024 of $2,495,248, or $0.01 per share, compared to a loss of $2,893,048, or $0.01 per share, for the three months ended March 31, 2023, resulting from lower corporate administration expense, a gain on the revaluation of investments, and a higher deferred income tax recovery, partially offset by an increase in finance expense and share-based compensation.

Ended the first quarter of 2024 with a cash balance of $8,059,518 and working capital deficit* of $17,150,515, which reflects the reclassification of the Credit Facility (defined below) to current liabilities.

* Refer to Non-IFRS Measures Section below. Non-IFRS financial measures are not standardized financial measures under the financial reporting framework used to prepare the financial statements and may not be comparable to similar financial measures disclosed by other issuers.

Management Outlook for 2024

Signal Gold remains committed to advancing the Goldboro Project to become the next fully permitted, construction ready, gold project in Canada. The Company's near-term priorities will focus on the creation of value through exploration initiatives to generate new discoveries on our expanded exploration land package in the Goldboro Gold District, by demonstrating the potential for additional mineable resources along strike to the existing Goldboro Deposit, and by working to obtain all remaining key Project permits within the next 12 months.

To support these goals, Signal Gold initiated a process to evaluate potential strategic alternatives to advance the Goldboro Project, with BMO Capital Markets acting as its financial advisor. The Company recognizes that a larger, better capitalized, or cash flow generating company could be better positioned to advance or assist in the advancement of Goldboro over the development timeline. As part of this strategic process, the Company is also actively considering its options with respect to the existing senior secured credit facility with Nebari, which was entered into in February 2023 and under which the Company made an initial draw of US$16,000,000 (the "Credit Facility"). The Credit Facility was amended in November 2023 to extend the interest capitalization period by six months to September 30, 2024.

Consolidated Results Summary**

Financial Position ($) March 31, 2024 December 31, 2023 Cash and cash equivalents 8,059,518 9,851,672 Working capital (deficit)* (17,150,515 ) (4,556,223 ) Total assets 94,278,924 95,331,016 Non-current liabilities 5,437,147 27,980,457



Three months ended Three months ended Financial Results ($) March 31, 2024 March 31, 2023 Corporate administration costs 886,241 1,420,734 Share-based compensation expense 389,022 155,685 Finance expense 1,206,519 730,970 Depreciation 64,050 62,086 Gain on revaluation of investments (239,702 ) - Loss on equity accounted for investments 26,448 7,589 Other expense (income) 256,670 (189,016 ) Loss before tax from continuing operations 2,589,248 2,188,048 Deferred income tax (recovery) expense (94,000 ) 705,000 Loss from continuing operations 2,495,248 2,893,048 Earnings from discontinued operations - (98,210 ) Net loss and comprehensive loss ($) 2,495,248 2,794,838 Net loss per share - basic 0.01 0.01 - From continuing operations 0.01 0.01 - From discontinued operations 0.00 0.00 Net loss per share - fully diluted 0.01 0.01 - From continuing operations 0.01 0.01 - From discontinued operations 0.00 0.00

*Refer to Non-IFRS Measures section below.

**The assets and liabilities of Point Rousse were derecognized from the statement of financial position upon completion of the sale in the August 2023, and the related operating results and cash flows have been presented as discontinued operations in the consolidated statements of loss and cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2023.

Review of the Three Months Ended March 31, 2024

Corporate administration costs in Q1 2024 were $886,241 compared to $1,420,734 in the comparative period of 2023, reflecting the significant reduction in costs implemented by the Company and the sale of the Point Rousse Project in Q3 2023. During the first quarter, the Company focused on marketing and communications, the initiation of a strategic process with a financial advisor, further consolidation of the Goldboro Gold District, and Project permitting. The depreciation charge of $64,050 during Q1 2024 reflects the amortization of the Company's corporate office space.

Finance expense during Q1 2024 was $1,206,519 compared to $730,970 for the first quarter of 2023, primarily due to interest and deferred financing fees associated related to the Credit Facility, which was drawn in February of 2023.

In Q1 2024, the Company recognized a gain on the revaluation of investments of $239,702 relating to its position in Maritime Resources Corp, which was acquired through the sale of the Point Rousse Project in August of 2023. The Company's also reflected a loss on its equity investment in Magna Terra Minerals Inc. of $26,448.

Other expense in Q1 2024 was $256,670, compared to other income of $189,016 in the comparative period of 2023, reflecting a foreign exchange loss of $549,740 relating to the valuation of the Credit Facility (which is denominated in US dollars) and the revaluation of US denominated cash balances, which was partially offset by higher interest income.

Net comprehensive loss from continuing operations for Q1 2024 was $2,495,248, or $0.01 per share, compared to $2,893,048, or $0.01 per share, for the corresponding period of 2023. The decrease in net loss was predominantly related to lower corporate administration costs due to cost reduction initiatives and lower overhead as the Company focuses exclusively on Goldboro after the sale of Point Rousse, which were partially offset by the increase in finance expense.

Financial Position and Cash Flow Analysis

As of March 31, 2024, the Company had a working capital deficit of $17,150,515, which includes a cash balance of $8,059,518 and reflects the reclassification of the Credit Facility from non-current to current liabilities, which matures in February 2025.

(In $) March 31, 2024 Cash and cash equivalents 8,059,518 Other current assets 377,892 Current assets 8,437,410 Trade and other payables 771,925 Current portion of loans and other current liabilities 24,816,000 Current liabilities 25,587,925 Working capital deficit* (17,150,515 )

*Refer to Non-IFRS Measures section below.

The Company's cash flow used in operating activities from continuing operations was $673,497 during the first quarter of 2024, relating predominantly to corporate administration costs and changes to working capital, partially offset by interest income.

The Company invested $1,033,999 during the first quarter at the Goldboro Project, predominantly relating to the advancement of project permits, growth exploration, compilation work to support regional exploration, and soil and geophysical programs over its recently expanded land position in the Goldboro Gold District.

Financing activities in Q1 2024 relate to rental payments for corporate office space and the repayment of an insurance premium loan.

Non-IFRS Measures

Signal Gold has included in this press release certain non-IFRS performance measures as detailed below. In the gold mining industry, these are common performance measures but may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. The Company believes that, in addition to conventional measures prepared in accordance with IFRS, certain investors use this information to evaluate the Company's performance and ability to generate cash flow. Accordingly, it is intended to provide additional information and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS.

Working Capital - Working capital is a common measure of near-term liquidity and is calculated by deducting current liabilities from current assets.

ABOUT SIGNAL GOLD

Signal Gold is advancing the Goldboro Gold Project in Nova Scotia, a significant growth project subject to a positive Feasibility Study which demonstrates an approximately 11-year open pit life of mine with average gold production of 100,000 ounces per annum and an average diluted grade of 2.26 grams per tonne gold. (Please see the 'NI 43-101 Technical Report and Feasibility Study for the Goldboro Gold Project, Eastern Goldfields District, Nova Scotia' on January 11, 2022, for further details). On August 3, 2022, the Goldboro Project received its environmental assessment approval from the Nova Scotia Minister of Environment and Climate Change, a significant regulatory milestone, and the Company has now submitted all key permits including the Industrial Approval, Fisheries Act Authorization and Schedule 2 Amendment, and the Mining and Crown Land Leases. The Goldboro Project has significant potential for further Mineral Resource expansion, particularly towards the west along strike and at depth, and the Company has consolidated 27,200 hectares (~272 km2) of prospective exploration land in the Goldboro Gold District.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" about Signal Gold Inc. under Canadian securities legislation. Except for statements of historical fact relating to the Company, forward-looking information is characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "budget", "target", "schedule", "estimate", "forecast", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate" and other similar words or statements that certain events or conditions "may", "could", "would", "might", or "will" occur or be achieved. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, information with respect to: the Company's ability to raise additional funds; the future price of minerals, particularly gold; the estimation of Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources; conclusions of economic evaluations; the realization of Mineral Reserve estimates; the timing and amount of estimated future production; the estimated future costs of production; estimated capital expenditures; success of exploration activities; mining or processing issues; currency exchange rates; government regulation of mining operations; and environmental and climate change risks. Estimates regarding the anticipated timing, amount and cost of exploration and development activities are based on assumptions underlying Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource estimates and the realization of such estimates. The estimate of Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources and capital and operating costs are based on extensive research of the Company and its third-party consultants. Recent estimates of construction and mining costs, and other factors. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions, assumptions and estimates of management considered reasonable at the date the statements are made and are inherently subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other known and unknown factors that could cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such factors include: the fluctuating price of mineral commodities; the requirement for additional funding for development and exploration; volatility in the market price of the Company's securities; success of exploration, development and permitting activities; the ability of the Company to obtain required licences and permits; risks relating to government regulation and taxation; the Company's relationships with stakeholders; risks relating to title and Indigenous consultation; health, safety and environmental risks and hazards; reclamation estimates and obligations; capital and operating cost estimates; currency exchange rates; uncertainty in the estimation of Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources; the potential of production and cost overruns; risks relating to climate change; limitations on insurance coverage; the prevalence of competition within the mining industry; risks related to the dilution of the Company's securities; risks relating to potential litigation; obligations as a public company; risks related to potential title disputes; risks related to obtaining surface rights; potential conflicts of interests; and cyber-security risks.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT:

Signal Gold Inc. Reseau ProMarket Inc. Kevin Bullock Dany Cenac Robert President and CEO Investor Relations (647) 388-1842 (514) 722-2276 x456 kbullock@signalgold.com Dany.Cenac-Robert@ReseauProMarket.com

SOURCE: Signal Gold Inc.

View the original press release on accesswire.com
The Port of Hueneme is the first US port authority to sign green automotive shipping corridor agreements with ports and terminals in both Japan and South Korea

PORT HUENEME, CA / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2024 / What is a more fitting way to usher in World Trade Week in Southern California than by having the Port of Hueneme complete a series of collaborative discussions, strategic meetings, and site visits during a whirlwind 10-day economic and green corridor trade mission to South Korea and Japan? Commissioners of the Oxnard Harbor District and senior Port of Hueneme leadership visited these two countries to reinforce, reinvigorate, and reimagine trade with key industry leaders and policymakers alike and align on innovation initiatives to green shipping lanes and operations.

"I was especially honored to be a part of this historic trade mission to Japan and South Korea. It is important for the Port of Hueneme to be a bridge to foster robust relationships with two of our most esteemed trading partners," said Celina Zacarias, President of the Oxnard Harbor District.

From Seoul to Pyeongtaek, Ulsan to Busan, and Tokyo to Yokohama, the Port's trade mission was focused on helping existing customers increase their business through the Port of Hueneme by introducing them to the Port's development goals, which seek to further catalyze business with the Port of Hueneme and honor community development and environmental goals as set forth in its strategic plan. The Port of Hueneme and its trading partners embraced cooperation and collaboration regarding environmentally sustainable port development initiatives and automotive logistics with the aim of establishing Green Automotive Shipping Corridors.

The countries of Japan and South Korea are recognized as two of the brightest beacons of innovation, green initiatives and economic prowess, and their partnership with the Port has been instrumental in facilitating a thriving exchange of goods, ideas, environmental stewardship, and culture.

Hyundai GLOVIS HQ: (Left to right) Scott Cornell, CEO of GLOVIS, USA; Mary Anne Rooney, Port of Hueneme Harbor Commissioner; Kyoo Bok Lee, President of Hyundai GLOVIS;Celina Zacarias, President of the Port of Hueneme Board of Harbor Commissioners; Kristin Decas, Port of Hueneme CEO/Port Director; Jason Hodge, Port of Hueneme Secretary.

POH Welcome Reception: (Left to Right Back, back row then front row) Kim Sukwon, Vice President of Global SCM Support Group; Jason Hodge, Port of Hueneme Secretary; Kristin Decas, Port of Hueneme CEO/Port Director; Fiona Ma, California State Treasurer; Mary Anne Rooney, Port of Hueneme Harbor Commissioner; Scott Cornell CEO of GLOVIS, USA; andCelina Zacarias, President of the Port of Hueneme Board of Harbor Commissioners.

California State Treasurer Fiona Ma was a member of the Port delegation. Port of Hueneme commissioners and leadership staff, as well as Treasurer Ma, presented a proclamation to Hyundai Glovis in recognition of the company's commitment of working towards innovation, technology, and environmental sustainability goals. Following this gesture of gratitude, the Port of Hueneme signed a green automotive shipping corridor Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on April 23rd with Wallenius Wilhelmsen Pyeongtaek International Ro-Ro Terminal - a WWL automotive terminal located in the Port of Pyeongtaek, South Korea.

(Left to right front row) Lee, Hongkyoo, Representative Director, PIRT and Celina Zacarias, President of the Port of Hueneme Board of Harbor Commissioners sign the MOU. In attendance: (Left to right back row) Park, Chan-Soo, PIRT Safety & Planning Manager; Austin Yang, Port of Hueneme CFO/CAO; Kristin Decas, Port of Hueneme CEO/Port Director; Mary Anne Rooney, Port of Hueneme Harbor Commissioner; Christina Birdsey, Port of Hueneme COO.

"South Korea ranks as California's fifth largest export partner and the top trading partner with the Port of Hueneme, which is vital for Ventura County," said California State Treasurer Fiona Ma. "Hyundai Glovis is a leading logistics firm that enhances global connectivity. Hyundai Motor Company, the second largest in electric vehicle sales, is ramping up production to support California's ambitious climate targets."



California Governor Gavin Newsom set an ambitious goal requiring all new light passenger vehicles purchased by 2035 to be zero emission. Twenty-three percent of auto imports that come through the Port of Hueneme are electric vehicles. Both Hyundai and Kia's commitment to the production of these vehicles is key to meeting that goal. The major counterpart ports where these vehicles are loaded include Pyeongtaek and Ulsan in South Korea. For its part, many Subaru vehicles discharged at the Port of Hueneme originate in Kawasaki and Yokohama in Japan.



"The partnerships we have with Japan and South Korea will help mutually grow commercial relationships with existing port clients and allow for a dynamic effort to make a difference around the globe with green shipping and development practices," said Kristin Decas, CEO & Port Director for the Port of Hueneme.



While in Yokohama, Japan, members of the Port of Hueneme delegation and the Port of Yokohama celebrated their long-standing partnership by establishing a Memorandum of Understanding to create a Green Automotive Shipping Corridor between both ports. This MOU will help promote cooperation and collaboration regarding environmentally sustainable port development initiatives and automotive logistics at both ports with the aim of transitioning to a zero-emission future. This transition will require more than changing equipment and the energy which makes it move. It will require collaboration across the maritime industry from cargo owners, freight forwarders, ports and carriers to vehicle and engine manufacturers, energy producers, and policymakers alike.

(Left to Right) Mary Anne Rooney, Port of Hueneme Harbor Commissioner; Kristin Decas, Port of Hueneme CEO/Port Director; Celina Zacarias, President of the Port of Hueneme Board of Harbor Commissioners; Yasuhiro Shimbo, Director General, Port of Yokohama; and Shinsuke Ito, President, Yokohama Port Corporation, gather for a photo to celebrate the formal signing of the MOU.

The MOU is a major step to improve the understanding of how these two ports can work together towards powering the world's fifth largest economy through the California spirit of innovation, equity, and leadership.

The Port of Hueneme/Yokohama MOU is the first green automotive shipping corridor MOU signed by a US port authority and builds upon on a green shipping corridor initiative announced by the United States and South Korea at COP27, as well as a Letter of Intent to Support Port Decarbonization and the Development of Green Shipping Corridors between the State of California and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan. The Port of Hueneme is now the first US port authority to sign green automotive shipping corridor agreements with ports and terminals in both Japan and South Korea, whose markets represent a majority of the transpacific automobile trade between the three nations.

About the Port of Hueneme

The Port of Hueneme is one of the most productive and efficient commercial trade gateways for niche cargo on the West Coast. Five locally elected Port Commissioners govern the Port. The Port consistently ranks among the top ten U.S. ports for automobiles and fresh produce. Port operations support the community by bringing $2.8 billion in economic activity and creating 24,997 trade-related jobs. Trade through the Port of Hueneme generates more than $236 million in direct and related state and local taxes, which fund vital community services. In 2017, the Port of Hueneme became the first port in California to become Green Marine certified and was voted the Greenest Port in the U.S. at the Green Shipping Summit. www.portofh.org .

Press Contact

Letitia Austin

laustin@portofh.org

(805) 816-8324

SOURCE: Port of Hueneme

View the original press release on accesswire.com
VANCOUVER, British Columbia and BARCELONA, Spain., May 02, 2024),),) ("RevoluGROUP") today announced CEO and Director, Gavin McMillan, will be stepping down from his positions, effective immediately. Gavin joined the Company in August 2023 and served as CEO for over six months. During his leadership, McMillan has been instrumental in focusing on the continued development of the API-driven Payment-as-a-Service (PaaS) model, which has continued to expand through key white-label partnerships and joint venture agreements and enhancing revenue streams.



In a statement, Bernard Lonis, the Chairman of the Board, acknowledged McMillan's vital contributions and leadership, stating, "We owe a great deal of gratitude to Gavin for his dedication and the continued strong foundation he has helpedtobuildforRevoluGROUP'sfuture. We wish Gavin the best in his future endeavors."

The Board has commenced a comprehensive search process to identify a successor who will lead the Company into its next growth phase and ensure continuity in executing RevoluGROUP's strategic objectives. The search will include internal and external candidates, and the Board aims to complete the process promptly.

AboutRevoluPAY

The Company's flagship Neobanking technology is RevoluPAY, the Appleand Androidmultinational payment app. Conceived entirely in-house, RevoluPAY features proprietary, sector-specific technology of which the resulting source code is the Company's intellectual property. RevoluPAY's built-in features include Remittance Payments, Forex, Retail and Hospitality payments, Real Estate Payments, pay-as-you-go phone top-ups, Gift Cards & Online Credits, Utility Bill payments, Leisure payments, Travel Payments, etc. RevoluPAY is aimed at the worldwide multi-billion dollar Open Banking sector and + $630 billionfamily remittance market. RevoluPAY is operated by the European wholly owned subsidiary RevoluPAY EP S.L located in Barcelona. RevoluPAY is a licensed United States MSB,Canadian FINTRAC, and European PSD2 payment institution 6900under E.U. Directive 2015/2366 with EU Passporting.

AboutRevoluGROUPCanadaInc.

RevoluGROUP Canada Inc. is a multi-asset, multidivisional, publicly traded Canadian Company that controls five wholly owned subsidiarieson four continents. RevoluGROUP deploys advanced technologies in; Banking, Mobile Apps, Money Remittance, Cross-Border Forex Payments, Mobile Phone Top-Ups, EGaming, Healthcare Payments, Esports, Invoice factoring, Online Travel, Vacation Resort, Blockchain Systems, and Fintech app sectors. Click hereto read more.

For further information on RevoluGROUP Canada Inc.), visit the Company's website at www.RevoluGROUP.com.

RevoluGROUPCanada,Inc.

"TheBoard"

RevoluGROUPBoardofDirectors

For further information, contact:

RevoluGROUP Canada Inc.

Telephone: 604-332 5355

Email: info@revolugroup.com

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.

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that Management of the Company expects, are forward-looking statements. Although Management 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 developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if Management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements, include market prices, exploration and development successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Please see the public filings of the Company at www.sedar.comfor further information.
Not for dissemination or distribution in the United States and not for distribution to United States Newswire services

Taranis Resources Inc. ("Taranis" or the "Company") (TSXV:TRO)(OTCQB:TNREF) is pleased to announce efforts that will enable the Company to test for the presence of a porphyry body under the Thor epithermal deposit. This includes the exercise of warrants and terms for a financing that will enable the Company to complete its objectives. Taranis has prepared a geological overview of the 2024 exploration program and it can be found by clicking on the following link: https://www.jjgmining.com/uploads/2/7/0/2/27029932/2024_deep_drilling_v1.pdf

Exercise of Warrants

Taranis recently received $250,000 from the exercise of 1,250,000 share purchase warrants at a price of $0.20 per share. These 1,250,000 shares will be issued shortly.

Financing

Taranis also announces a non-brokered private placement (the "Offering") of up to $1,400,000. The Offering will consist of the sale of:

(a) up to 2,592,592 non-flow-through units (the "NFT Units") at a price of $0.27 per NFT Unit, to raise gross proceeds of up $700,000; and

(b) up to 2,333,333 flow-through units (the "FT Units") at a price of $0.30 per FT Unit, to raise gross proceeds of up to $700,000.

Each NFT Unit will consist of one common share and one common share purchase warrant (a "NFT Warrant"), with each NFT Warrant to entitle the holder to purchase one additional common share at a price of $0.35 per share for a period of 24 months from closing. Each FT Unit will consist of one flow-through common share and one common share purchase warrant (a "FT Warrant"). Each FT Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one additional common share at a price of $0.35 for a period of 24 months from closing.

The proceeds from the sale of the FT Units will be used to incur exploration expenses that qualify as Canadian Exploration Expenses to conduct further exploration at Taranis' Thor property in southeastern British Columbia. The proceeds from the sale of the NFT Units will be used for general working capital purposes.

Finders' fees or brokers' commissions may be paid in accordance with TSX Venture Exchange policy. All securities issued as part of the Offering will be subject to a hold period in Canada of four months and one day from the closing of the Offering. The Offering and the payment of any finders' fees or brokers' commissions are subject to TSX Venture Exchange acceptance.

Taranis anticipates that insiders may subscribe for a portion of the Offering. The participation of insiders in the private placement would constitute a related party transaction, within the meaning of TSX-V Policy 5.9 and Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - "Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions" ("MI 61-101"). Taranis intends to rely on exemptions from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements provided under sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(a) of MI 61-101 on the basis that the fair market value (as determined under MI 61-101) of insider participation in the Offering would not exceed 25% of Taranis's market capitalization.

Outline of 2024 Exploration Activities

Taranis views 2024 as the most impactful in its sixteen-year long exploration of the project. As the knowledge base at Thor has improved, it has become apparent that there are several important targets that exist under the Thor epithermal deposit. Although Taranis has recently updated the Mineral Resource for its epithermal deposit (See Taranis News Release dated February 26, 2024), the Company has been aggressively developing deep targets. The geological thesis is that the Thor epithermal deposit originated from an underlying intrusive. This is commonly seen in many porphyry deposits throughout the world. Drilling and exploration will be focused on three targets, each of which could yield important new mineral discoveries at Thor.

The first of these is an intrusive target measuring 1,000 x 800m that lies underlies the main Thor epithermal deposit. This feature called the 'Elephant' has been outlined through a variety of exploration surveys, including airborne magnetics and magnetotelluric surveys. The intrusive target occurs at the south end of the epithermal deposit and is estimated to lie at a depth of at least 300-400m below the surface. At surface near Broadview, the target is capped by intense lime-green colored phyllic alteration, The phyllic alteration is underlain by a magnetite-quartz altered unit with potassium enrichment. Taranis believes that a dome-shape magnetic-low located under the magnetite-quartz altered unit could be a large, concealed copper-gold bearing intrusive. Alteration patterns such as those observed at Thor are commonly in sediment-hosted copper-gold porphyry deposits such as Elatsite mine in Bulgaria.

The secondary targets are two several-km-long conductive 'Tusks' that wrap around the intrusive target discussed above and are only identified on the MT survey. As the tusk reference implies, these features have a close spatial relationship to the Elephant. The 'North Tusk' is associated with a massive gossan that is located on the North side of Thor's Ridge and has never been explored owing to its depth. Megagossan has ore-grade nickel and cobalt deposited by leaching at surface and overlies a deeply buried conductive feature. Groundwater is interpreted to have leached metals and iron sulfides from this conductive target and these have been transported by groundwater up to surface, forming the gossan. All of the known epithermal deposits at Thor were previously discovered by exploring gossans. The 'South Tusk' appears to be the same type of feature that occurs on the south side of the intrusive target. It is known to have anomalous antimony seeping from the target that is buried 200-250m below the surface.

The third target was discovered late in 2023 and occurs west of the known Thor epithermal deposit. This target is believed to be a continuation of the Thor epithermal deposit and as such is part of the 'Trunk' of the elephant. The up-dip end of the main Thor epithermal deposit has been downfaulted to the west along the Ripper Fault, and it appears that an undiscovered portion of the Thor epithermal deposit occurs downfaulted in this area. Although this was long postulated at Thor, there was no direct evidence to support this theory until a high-grade boulder field (Horton) was found in September of 2023. Exploration efforts in 2024 will seek to discover the source of these high-grade boulders, which occur to the west and up-slope from the known Thor epithermal deposit. Taranis' knowledge of the Thor epithermal deposit has shown that the up-dip edges of the epithermal deposit contain extremely high levels of gold and silver, and this was borne out by boulder sampling in 2023 (See Taranis News Release dated November 6, 2023). This coincides with the high gold grades found in the boulder field in 2023.

About Taranis

Taranis Resources Inc. is a well-positioned exploration company that is exploring and developing its 100%-owned Thor precious-base metal project in British Columbia. Taranis has drilled over 250 drill holes on the project, defining a near-surface epithermal deposit that is over 2 km long. The Company refers to the epithermal trend as the "Trunk," invoking the anatomy of an elephant to portray the connection of the epithermal deposit to the underlying Jumbo and Horton intrusive targets.

Qualified Persons

Exploration activities at Thor were overseen by John Gardiner (P. Geo.), who is a Qualified Person under the meaning of Canadian National Instrument 43-101. John Gardiner, P.Geo. is a principal of John J. Gardiner & Associates, LLC, which operates in British Columbia under Firm Permit Number 1002256.

The technical content in this news release has been reviewed and approved by independent Qualified Person Eugene Puritch, P.Eng., FEC, CET, President of P&E which operates under EGBC Permit to Practice Number 1000275.

For additional information on Taranis or its 100%-owned Thor project in British Columbia, visit www.taranisresources.com

Taranis currently has 94,587,027 shares issued and outstanding (109,262,027 shares on a fully-diluted basis).

TARANIS RESOURCES INC.

Per: John J. Gardiner (P. Geo.),

President and CEO

For further information contact:

John J. Gardiner

681 Conifer Lane

Estes Park, Colorado

80517

Phone: (720) 209-3049

johnjgardiner@earthlink.net

The securities referred to in this news release have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons absent U.S. registration or an applicable exemption from the U.S. registration requirements. This news release does not constitute an offer for the sale of securities, nor a solicitation for offers to buy any securities. Any public offering of securities in the United States must be made by means of a prospectus containing detailed information about the company and management, as well as financial statements.

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS NEWS RELEASE.

This News Release may contain forward looking statements based on assumptions and judgments of management regarding future events or results that may prove to be inaccurate as a result of factors beyond its control, and actual results may differ materially from expected results.

SOURCE: Taranis Resources, Inc.

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has agreed to acquire Soko, a Sao Paulo, Brazil-based creative agency that develops brand stories with deep impact in the industry and in society.

The amount of the deal was not disclosed. The completion of the acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

Soko will become part of creative agency Droga5, enhancing the agencys influence and relevance in Brazil while strengthening the markets creative and brand capabilities within Accenture Song. Sokos team of over 300 employees will join Droga5 Sao Paulo, which opened in 2022.

Founded in 2015 by Felipe Simi, CEO , Soko specializes in brand storytelling that engages audiences organically through proprietary methodologies and metrics. The agency is backed by FLAGCX.

Founded in 2006 by David Droga, Droga5 is headquartered in New York, with offices in London, Dublin, Tokyo and Sao Paulo. From integrated communications and experience innovation to business design, Droga5 builds and sustains influential brands through creativity.

FinSMEs

02/05/2024
Maia Farms, a Vancouver, Canada-based company dedicated to enhancing the global protein supply with mycelium, raised $2.3M in Pre-Seed funding.

The round was led by Joyful Ventures, PIC Group and Koan Capital, with participation from from angel investors within the Creative Destruction Lab. In addition to the equity investment, the company received a grant funding from the Canadian Food Innovation Network, the National Research Council of Canada, The SFU BC Centre for Agritech Innovation, MITACS, and the Canadian Space Agency.

Founded in 2021 by Gavin Schneider, Ashton Ostrander, and Dr. Sean Lacoursire, Maia Farms is a FoodTech company using bioreactor technology to produce mushroom and mycelium-based protein ingredients that improves taste and texture of food products.

The company intends to use the funds to accelerate its research and development activities, scale up operations, and further its reach for its product line, CanPro, a sustainable and accessible protein ingredient made with mushroom and vegetables.

FinSMEs

02/05/2024
Stargate Hydrogen, a Tallinn, Estonia-based company providing green hydrogen solutions, raised 42M in Seed funding.

The round was led by UG Investments and IPCEI, with participation from other investors.

The company intends to use the funds to expand operations and development efforts.

Led by CEO Marko Virkebau, Stargate Hydrogen is an innovator in the field of sustainable energy solutions, dedicated to advancing the production and utilization of green hydrogen through ceramic-based electrolysis technology. Instead of precious metals, the company is using ceramic-based catalyst material that contributes to the reduction in levelized cost of hydrogen. Additionally, Stargate has developed its proprietary stack and system design, using a development approach that considers electrolyzer as a battery system, thereby adopting the learnings from the developmental cycles of lithium-ion batteries over the past 15 years. The IP portfolio of the company covers all the levels of the system, including materials, electrodes, stack and even control systems of the whole plant. The first installations of Stargates electrolyzer technology are already on the field.

In conjunction with the financing, the company announced the appointment of Mr. Taavi Madiberk, the Founder and CEO of Skeleton Technologies, a manufacturer of graphene-based supercapacitors, as Non-Executive Chairman.

FinSMEs

02/05/2024
One of Weinsteins accusers, Jessica Mann, was in the courtroom Wednesday and is prepared to testify again, Assistant District Attorney Nicole Blumberg told the judge read more

Prosecutors asked for a September retrial for Harvey Weinstein during a hearing Wednesday in Manhattan, the disgraced movie moguls first court appearance since his 2020 rape conviction was overturned by an appeals court last week.

One of Weinsteins accusers, Jessica Mann, was in the courtroom Wednesday and is prepared to testify again, Assistant District Attorney Nicole Blumberg told the judge.

The former actor wants everyone to know that the defendant may have power but she has the truth, she said.

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We believe in this case and will be retrying this case, Blumberg added.

Judge Curtis Farber set a May 29 pretrial court date, with the aim of going to trial some time after Labor Day.

Weinstein, wearing a navy blue suit, was seated in a wheelchair and didnt address the court but smiled and shook hands with supporters in the gallery.

The 72-year-old, who has cardiac issues and diabetes, has been in a hospital since his return to the city jail system Friday from an upstate prison.

In court, his attorney, Arthur Aidala, said he has no concern about his clients mental abilities, describing Weinstein as sharp as a tack. As sharp as he ever was.

Aidala said his client wants to prove his innocence: Its a new trial, its a new day and his life is on the line.

In the New York case that is now overturned, Weinstein was convicted of rape in the third degree for an attack on aspiring actor Mann in 2013 and of forcing himself on a TV and film production assistant, Mimi Haley, in 2006. Weinstein had pleaded not guilty and maintained any sexual activity was consensual.

The Associated Press does not generally identify people alleging sexual assault unless they consent to be named, as Haley and Mann have.

Speaking after the hearing, Haleys lawyer, Gloria Allred, said her client still hasnt decided whether she wants to testify at the retrial, noting that doing so at the original trial was traumatizing and painful. Haley was not in court Wednesday, Allred said.

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Weinstein was also convicted in Los Angeles in 2022 of another rape and is still sentenced to 16 years in prison in California. But he remains in custody in New York and will head back to Manhattans Bellevue Hospital, where he is expected to remain, Aidala said.

Hes in constant pain that hes fighting through, the attorney said outside the courthouse, adding that Weinstein has nevertheless been reading avidly behind bars, including a book on Abraham Lincoln and Eleanor Roosevelt.

Harvey Weinstein was used to drinking champagne and eating caviar, and now hes at the commissary paying for potato chips and M&Ms, Aidala said. Hes keeping his chin up, making the best of a horrible situation.

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On Thursday, the New York Court of Appeals vacated his conviction in a 4-3 decision, erasing his 23-year prison sentence, after concluding a trial judge permitted jurors to see and hear too much evidence not directly related to what he was charged with.

The ruling shocked and disappointed women who celebrated historic gains during the era of #MeToo, a movement that ushered in a wave of sexual-misconduct claims in Hollywood and beyond.
MBABANE  We are going to exercise our right to appeal.

Advocate Jacobus Van Vuuren, who represents former Members of Parliament (MPs) Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube, said they were aware of their right to appeal and they would exercise it. This is one of the submissions made by Van Vuuren on behalf of the former MPs, when they were making submissions on sentencing on Tuesday. Judge Mumcy Dlamini will sentence them on a date to be announced by the registrar of the High Court. Van Vuuren said sentencing was the most difficult part of a trial. He pleaded with the court not to focus so much on the crime, but on the accused persons and their circumstances, such as their age, whether they are married, they have children, employment and the reasons for the offences they were convicted of. At this stage, forget about the conviction and focus on the issues of sentence. In doing so, we urge you to reflect dispassionately and focus on the accused persons. They are also citizens at the end of the day. It is a strange and peculiar case. When we are making submissions, we are not attacking the court per se. That we are not going to do. It is a challenge for you. I just want Her Ladyship to know where we are coming from, said the advocate.

Judge Dlamini said: Rest assured on that one. Advocate Van Vuuren told the court that from their standpoint, it was difficult to address the court in a meaningful manner. "We are saying this with great respect, by virtue of the fact that it is difficult for us to address you properly, because you convicted the accused persons both in the main and alternative charges. We are saying this is creating a legal conundrum for us. We do respect you. We have been appearing before you for a long time. We know that we have the right to appeal and we are going to exercise that right. We are saying with great respect, the court committed a grave error there, making it difficult for us to address you pertinently on those issues, said the advocate.



He also submitted that an accused person could not be convicted on both the main and alternative charges. The advocate said it was either one or the other. He pointed out that the Crown did not ask the court to convict on the main charge and its alternative. On that score, the Crown didnt ask the court to convict the accused on the main and alternative counts. It is clear from the section of the law that you go for the main, if not, then the alternative. He said imposing a sentence on the main and two alternative charges was unfair. According to the advocate, they counsel were duty bound to assist the court in coming to a judicious sentence. We are not here to say do what we want. We want to assist you as much as we can do, said Van Vuuren.
The BJP has expelled senior party leader Satish Bhargav for using unparliamentary language and making hate speech during a meeting in J&Ks Poonch. His remarks were directed at certain Pahari leaders, who support the other parties like PDP and NC. But why did the saffron party remove the leader before the EC investigated the matter? read more

BJP Pahari Cell spokesperson Satish Bhargav warned Pahari leaders perceived to be siding with the NC and PDP in the coming elections. Image Courtesy: @News18Kashmir/X

The ongoing Lok Sabha election is Jammu and Kashmirs first significant election following the scrapping of Article 370.

The National Conference (NC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and J&K Apni Party have emerged as the key political parties in the race. Notably, the BJP is not contesting in any of the Kashmir constituencies.

But in the midst of the ongoing election campaign, the BJP has expelled a senior party leader for using unparliamentary language and making hate speech during a meeting in Mendhar town, Poonch district, as per PTI.

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His remarks were directed at certain Pahari leaders seen as supporting the PDP and NC. The PDP has approached the Election Commission (EC) on the issue.

But why did the BJP remove the senior leader before the EC investigated the issue?

Lets take a look.

Satish Bhargavs controversial remarks

Speaking to party workers on Tuesday at Wajid Bashir Tikoos office as a member of the District Development Council, BJP Pahari Cell spokesperson Satish Bhargav warned Pahari leaders perceived to be siding with the NC and PDP in the coming elections, as per The Indian Express.

After reminding Paharis that the BJP-led government had fulfilled its promise to add them to the list of Scheduled Tribes, he remarked, Remember, there will come many occasions when you may be given wounds like the ones we got during 1947, which we have not been able to forget so far.

Bhargavs remarks came a week after senior Pahari leader Murtaza Khan, who had recently quit the PDP, openly backed Mehbooba Mufti, the leader of his former party and an Anantnag-Rajouri contender.

With no candidates of its own in the Kashmir contest, the BJP has asserted that it would back some patriotic parties.

Declaring support for the PDP, Khan said that the BJP should not compel Paharis to vote for any specific party while it wasnt running for office.

The background

Bhargav was referring to activities in the days before Independence when Jammu and Kashmirs ruler Maharaja Hari Singh was yet to decide whether to go with India or Pakistan. At the time, Pakistan sent tribals and troops into J&K, who overran vast areas, looting the properties, especially of Hindus residing there.

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As per the Indian Express, this led to many Hindus rushing for safety to other areas such as Poonch and Rajouri in search of refuge, which led to widespread conflicts and rioting between the local Muslims and Hindus until peace was restored.

There are no hard numbers on the number of people killed and injured on either side.

After a mutiny against Hari Singh over high taxes and the alleged high handedness of the Dogra army was put down, there was more bloodshed in Poonch and Mirpur, where many Sikhs, Muslims, and Hindus were killed, the report claimed. Following the unrest, plenty of Muslims from the area went to Pakistan.

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Ultimately, Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession into the Indian Union on 26 October 1947.

Expulsion

Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief Ravinder Raina ordered the expulsion of Bhargav from the partys primary membership for six years for gross indiscipline and using unparliamentary language and hate speech."

The J&K BJP chief passed the order based on a recommendation by Sunil Sethi, the chairperson of the partys disciplinary committee.

It is highly deplorable and such behaviour by a senior leader is gross indiscipline and cannot be tolerated in a disciplined party like the BJP. It is as such recommended that he should be immediately expelled from the party for six years, Sethi said, according to PTI, adding enquiry is not needed in the matter as his conduct is recorded.

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Reactions

The PDP lodged a complaint with the returning officer for the constituency against the BJP for intimidation tactics to force the people to vote for the Apni Party candidate, the news agency reported.

It has come to our attention that there have been alarming instances of intimidation and threats targeting Pahari Muslims, aimed at influencing their voting choices," PDP leader and former MLC Firdous Tak said in his complaint.

Specifically, it has been reported that representatives of the BJP have been openly making threats towards Pahari Muslims, suggesting that a repetition of the events of 1947 could occur if they fail to vote for the candidate backed by the Sangh Parivar i.e Apni Party, he added in his complaint.

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Tak, who is also a member of the powerful political affairs committee of the party, forwarded the video of Bhargav and said, Such reprehensible tactics not only violate the principles of free and fair elections but also undermine the democratic process by instilling fear and coercion among the voters."

Demanding a thorough investigation into the matter, the PDP leader asked for appropriate measures to guarantee the safety and security of all voters, particularly those who may be vulnerable to such intimidation tactics.

Pahari vote matters

Poonch district is part of the Anantnag-Rajouri parliamentary constituency, where the elections were rescheduled for 25 May by the EC.

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti and National Conference leader Mian Altaf are in a direct contest from the constituency. Prominent among the 19 other candidates in the fray are Mohammad Saleem Parray of the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) and J&K Apni Party leader Zafar Iqbal Khan Manhas.

In Rajouri and Poonch districts, the Pahari population makes up about four lakh of the 7.35 lakh electorate overall, according to Indian Express.

Following delimitation, the district of Poonch and two-thirds of Rajouri are now a part of Anantnag-Rajouri and not the Jammu parliamentary constituency.

The constituencys Kashmir portion has a larger electorate  more than 10.94 lakh  than its Jammu portion.

In the absence of BJP, Pahari leaders have been pledging loyalty to their former parties, with Mufti and the National Conferences well-liked Gujjar leader Mian Altaf leading the race.

With inputs from agencies
Dinesh Pratap Singh who was once considered close to Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, surprised many by switching to the BJP in 2018. He challenged Sonia in Rae Bareli in 2019 but lost by 1.67 lakh votes read more

Dinesh Pratap Singh began his career with the Congress. He first became a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) in 2010 before winning a second term in 2016. He won a third term as MLC in 2022 with the BJP. News18

The BJP has fielded Dinesh Pratap Singh as its candidate from Rae Bareli.

Rae Bareli is the Congress bastion from which Sonia Gandhi has won five straight times. The Congress has not yet announced its candidate for the seat which is set to go to the polls on 20 May.

News18 quoted Singh as saying, I would like to thank PM Modi, Amit shah, JP Nadda and people support. I am not born in Gandhi family and know hard work.not born with silver spoon. Nakli gandhi ki vidai hogi (fake Gandhi will be given a farewell).whoever will come here from Congress will lose..I have fought against Sonia also, PG and RG not important for me.

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The Congress is yet to announce its candidate for the seat which is set to go to the polls on 20 May.

But who is Singh? What do we know about him?

Lets take a closer look:

According to Free Press Journal, Singh hails from the Thakur community. He is a minister, independent charge, in the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh.

Singh took the dive into politics with the Congress. He began his political career as a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) in 2010.

He later won a second term in 2016.

Singh was once considered close to Rahul, Sonia and Priyanka.

But in 2017, Singh was indefinitely suspended from the Congress primary membership for an indefinite period.

This, after he was accused misbehaving with the general secretary of the Rae Bareli Congress committee and other local party leaders.

Singh at the time was given a suspension notice by Rae Bareli District Congress Committee president VK Shukla.

The notice accused Singh of assaulting Manoj Paswan, the then general secretary of the district Congress committee.

It also claimed he had abducted panchayat members who moved a no-confidence motion against his brother Awadhesh, a district panchayat president in Rae Bareli.

Local leaders also accused Singh and his brother Awadhesh of trying to unseat AICC general secretary and Sonia Gandhis constituency representative Kishori Lal Sharma.

Singh had hinted at his strained relationship with Sharma, saying that he and KL Sharma could not coexist in Rae Bareli and in Congress.

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Charges of nepotism were also levelled against Singh.

In 2018, Singh joined the BJP.

Singh and his brother Rakesh quit the party after accusing the party high command of being indifferent to local leaders.

The BJP then fielded Singh from Rae Bareli in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

However, Singh lost the race to Sonia by a margin of 1.67 lakh votes, according to Business Today,

Singh got 367,740 votes with a vote share of 38.36 per cent, as per India TV.

According to Hindustan Times, Singh received the most votes of any BJP candidate in history in Rae Bareli.

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Singh in 2022 became an MLC for the third time by winning with record votes on the BJPs ticket, according to LiveHindustan.com.

All eyes on Congress

All eyes are on now on the Congress regarding the Rae Bareli seat.

With just a day left for the filing of nominations for Phase 5 of the Lok Sabha elections, the suspense continued over the Congress candidates for the Amethi and Rae Bareli constituencies

The Samajwadi Party (SP), which earlier announced a seat-sharing pact with the grand old party in Uttar Pradesh, told Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge that after its supremo Akhilesh Yadavs decision to contest Kannauj, Rahuls entry into the fray along with his sister Priyanka may bring unexpected electoral dividend to the Opposition bloc, sources said.

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Kharge told Sonia Gandhi that the party and he, himself, was in favour of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka contesting the elections (from Amethi and Rae Bareli), the source added.

Will Priyanka and Rahul Gandhi contest from Rae Bareli and Amethi? The suspense continues.

However, adding to the intrigue around the Congress choice of candidates for these two constituencies, sources claimed that even as Rahul and Priyanka appear reluctant to contest Amethi and Rae Bareli, Kharge insisted that at least one of them enter the fray.

At the partys committee meeting recently, the Congress UP unit formally moved a proposal that members of the Gandhi family should contest the Amethi and Raibareli seats and a final decision in the matter was left to Kharge.

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The Congress has not yet put out any official statement on its choice of nominees from Amethi and Rae Bareli, which were considered the partys strongholds until the 2019 elections.

Earlier, Congress leader KL Sharma told ANI, Today, we had a meeting in Amethi and Rae Bareli as the party is still undecided on its choice of candidates from these two constituencies. People expect someone from the Gandhi family to contest (these seats) and I, too, feel the same. Since the last date for filing nominations is May 3 (Friday), we had to rush through the preparations. Hence, two meetings were held today (in Amethi and Rae Bareli).

Addressing reporters on Wednesday, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said, The Central Election Committee (CEC) has empowered our party president Mallikarjun Kharge to take a final call on our candidates for Amethi and Rae Bareli. I expect a formal announcement to be made in the next 24 to 30 hours.

Rahul Gandhi contested the Lok Sabha elections from Keralas Wayanad, where polling took place on Friday in the second phase of the polls.

He had said earlier that he will follow whatever order he gets from his party.

Speculation has been rife that Rahul Gandhi might contest the Lok Sabha polls from Amethi, a seat he represented for three straight terms earlier, and Priyanka Gandhi from Rae Bareli, a seat that was previously held by her mother Sonia.

Both seats are considered bastions of the Gandhi family and the local units of the Congress have demanded that the two scions of the family contest from there.

The Congress on Monday said its Central Election Committee (CEC) has authorised party chief Mallikarjun Kharge to take the decision regarding the seat.

Asked when the candidates for the two seats would be announced and whether Gandhi family members would be fielded from there, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said, The president has been authorised to decide the candidates. Elections are not run in a hidden manner, they are run with all paraphernalia before everyone. You will get to know when the candidates are announced.

In our party, such decisions are not taken by two people in (behind) closed doors, the CEC has put forward its views and with its and the presidents nod, the candidates will be decided, she said.

Rahul won the Amethi seat in three consecutive Lok Sabha elections from 2004. BJP leader Smriti Irani wrested the seat in 2019.

Rahul, who contested from both Amethi and Wayanad in 2019, had won the elections from Wayanad.

The Congress has forged an alliance with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh and is contesting 17 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

The counting of votes for all seven phases of the Lok Sabha polls will be taken up on 4 June.

With inputs from agencies
London will be electing its new mayor today with incumbent Sadiq Khan looking for a third term. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is campaigning in Gujarat as the state is scheduled to go to vote on 7 May. We take a look read more

Sadiq Khan is expected to secure a third term as London mayor. File Image/AP

Today, amidst the London mayoral race where Pakistani-origin Mayor Sadiq Khan faces stiff competition from Conservative candidate Susan Hall, Indian interest is piqued by Delhi-born entrepreneur Tarun Ghulatis candidacy.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address public gatherings in various locations in Gujarat on the same day.

In another development, the Delhi Police has issued a notice to Jharkhand Congress president Rajesh Thakur, summoning him to their office for his alleged involvement in posting an edited video of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

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Additionally, the Election Commission of India has ordered re-polling at a booth in Nandasi village, Rajasthan, under the Ajmer Lok Sabha constituency.

Lets delve deeper into the headlines today:

Its Sadiq Khan vs Tarun Ghulati in London

Sadiq Khan, the Pakistani-origin Mayor of London, is encountering formidable opposition as he seeks a third term. Conservative candidate Susan Hall emerges as his primary contender in the todays polls.

Adding intrigue to the London mayoral race for Indians is Tarun Ghulati, a Delhi-born entrepreneur among the thirteen challengers. Positioned as an Independent candidate, Ghulati has directed his criticism towards both Khan and Hall.

There is a growing belief that the current incumbent [Sadiq Khan] has lost support and another major party contender [Susan Hall] is considered very uninspiring by the voters, said Ghulati.

He said that Susan Hall, the main challenger, was part of the problem because she was on the committee that made the policies that took London years back.

Modi back in Gujarat

Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to deliver speeches at public gatherings in Anand, Wadhwan of Surendranagar, Junagadh, and Jamnagar.

These rallies aim to bolster support for various Lok Sabha constituencies, including Anand, Kheda, Surendranagar, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Junagadh, Porbandar, Amreli, and Jamnagar.

Notably, out of Gujarats 26 Lok Sabha constituencies, 25 are set to vote on 7 May, with the BJPs Mukesh Dalal having already secured victory unopposed in Surat.

Re-polling in Ajmer

On Tuesday, the Election Commission of India issued a directive for re-polling at a single polling booth situated in Nandasi village, within the Ajmer Lok Sabha constituency in Rajasthan, scheduled for 2 May. The initial polling took place in Ajmer during the second phase of Lok Sabha elections on April 26.

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CEO Praveen Gupta announced that re-polling would occur on Thursday, from 7 am to 5 pm at the booth located under polling station No. 195 of the Masuda Assembly segment.

The decision for re-polling stemmed from the misplacement of the 17-A register, in which voters sign, prompting corrective action against the responsible polling officials by the Returning Officer.

Jharkhand Cong chief gets Delhi Police summons

The Delhi Police IFSO/Special Cell has summoned Jharkhand Congress president Rajesh Thakur to appear at the Cells office in Delhi on May 2 in relation to a case involving the dissemination of an edited video of Union Home Minister Amit Shah from INC Jharkhands official X handle.

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Rahul Gandhi 2018 defamation case hearing

The hearing for a 2018 defamation case involving Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and his alleged objectionable remark against Union Home Minister Amit Shah was postponed to May 2 by an MP-MLA court.

The defamation complaint against Gandhi was lodged by BJP leader Vijay Mishra six years ago.

Today in History

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the death of Osama bin Laden in 2011, a pivotal moment in modern geopolitics with far-reaching implications.
China has begun the sea trials of its newest aircraft carrier, Fujian, believed to be the countrys most advanced and biggest. This comes two years after India inducted its first indigenously made aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant. While it will take a while for either carrier to reach its full potential, heres how they stack up read more

China's third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, prepares to set out for maiden sea trials from Shanghai Jiangnan Shipyard in eastern China's Shanghai. AP

China made another splash on 1 May as its newest, largest and most-advanced aircraft carrier, the Fujian, left Shanghais Jiangnan shipyard for its maiden sea trials.

Its assessment is expected to take place in the East China Sea, about 130 kilometres from the Jiangnan Shipyard where the carrier has been under construction for more than six years, according to Shanghais Maritime Safety Administration.

The sea trials will primarily test the reliability and stability of the aircraft carriers propulsion and electrical systems, read an announcement from the state-run Xinhua news agency on Wednesday.

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A South China Morning Post report citing military experts said the trials would take at least another year, with the first phase focusing on power, navigation and communication systems that support the catapult and all-electric integrated power system.

What does the advent of the Fujian on the worlds oceans mean for the balance of naval power? How does it compare to Indias aircraft carrier?

About the Fujian

The Fujian is named after the Fujian province on the southeastern coast of China, facing Taiwan. This third carrier follows Chinas old tradition of naming them after the provinces of Liaoning and Shandong.

Experts note that the naming of the third aircraft carrier after Fujian is strategic and can be seen as a direct message to the self-ruled island of Taiwan and a demonstration of Chinas blue-water naval capabilities.

The Fujian, which follows the Liaoning and Shandong, was first launched in June 2022 and the first built to a domestic design. The Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) plans to have six carriers in total by 2035, which would make it the worlds second largest blue-water navy after the US.

#News Chinas biggest aircraft carrier starts sea trials: Chinas largest and most advanced aircraft carrier has begun sea trials, enabling Beijing to enhance its naval power in the Indo-Pacific region.#China #Fujian #AircraftCarrier #ship https://t.co/GgTPEGjgrx pic.twitter.com/56vx2ANWPt  Graphic News (@GNgraphicnews) May 1, 2024

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Fujian  Chinas jewel in the crown

The Fujian is Chinas most advanced aircraft carrier and was built by China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited. The Fujian is said to be Chinas supercarrier, more advanced than the previous two, which are smaller and use less efficient ski-jump ramps to help aircraft take off.

It is about 1,035 feet long, and displaces about 80,000 tonnes fully loaded. This makes it slightly larger than its predecessors. Among Fujians upgrades is a command island that is slimmer and more refined than those of its predecessors, freeing up space on the flight deck.

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A Chinese national flag flutters near Chinas third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, as it prepares to set out for maiden sea trials from Shanghai Jiangnan Shipyard in eastern Chinas Shanghai. AP

It is also the nations first aircraft carrier to utilise Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALs) for launching aircraft from the deck instead of a ski ramp used by Liaoning and Shandong carriers. Fujian also has a flat-top flight deck for smooth take-offs and landings. In fact, the Fujian has replaced the short takeoff but arrested recovery (STOBAR) system with the catapult-assisted takeoff but arrested recovery (CATOBAR) system, which is used on US aircraft carriers.

EMALS is the newest complete carrier-based launch system, which accelerates aircraft take-off speed. It also enables a carrier to launch a broader variety of aircraft, especially those with heavier payloads.

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Analysts told CNN that Fujians ability to launch larger warplanes carrying higher munitions loads to farther distances will give the carrier a greater combat range than its predecessors in the Chinese fleet, providing the PLAN with so-called blue-water capabilities.

Its important to note that while the Fujian will be more advanced than its Chinese predecessors, it will still be conventionally powered rather than nuclear-powered. However, according to a Telegraph report this one feature wont be of much significance.

In addition to all of this, the Fujian will also have a larger airwing  the number of aircraft it can hold. It is expected to have an airwing of 60 aircraft, including J-35 stealth fighters, Z-20F helicopters, and the KJ-600 airborne early-warning aircraft and even carrier-based drones.

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The Fujian is Chinas most advanced aircraft carrier and was built by China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited. The Fujian is said to be Chinas supercarrier, more advanced than the previous two, which are smaller and use less efficient ski-jump ramps to help aircraft take off. AP

Comparing it to INS Vikrant

Keeping in mind, the rivalry between India and China, New Delhi will be keeping a close watch on the Fujian.

However, it will be interesting to see how Chinas carrier stacks up to Indias newly-inducted indigenously-made INS Vikrant .

INS Vikrant, Indias first indigenously-made aircraft carrier, was inducted into the Navy in 2022 and with that India joined a small club of nations able to build its own such warships.

The INS Vikrant is 262 metre long and 62 metre wide. While this makes it Indias largest , it is smaller than the Fujian which is 316 metre long. Moreover, the total displacement of INS Vikrant is about 45,000 metric tonnes. Compare this to Fujian, which boasts of a total displacement of approximately 80,000 metric tonnes.

The INS Vikrant is crewed by about 160 officers and 1,400 sailors and is powered by four gas turbines capable of generating 88 megawatts of power and of pushing it to a top speed of 28 knots. It can carry about 30 jets and helicopters, and like INS Vikramaditya , it uses a STOBAR system with a ski-jump ramp. According to a Business Insider report, Vikrants initial air wing is expected to be made up of MiG-29Ks, the carrier version of the Russian-made MiG-29.

On the other hand, the Fujians air wing will consist of J-35s and more.

According to an Al Jazeera report, while the INS Vikrant is impressive, it still is a generation behind the design of Chinas Fujian.

As Brian Hart, a fellow with the China Power Project at the CSIS, told CNN, The Fujian will be the most visible symbol of Chinas growing naval power.

The Telegraph also noted that when it came to aircraft carriers, the US continued to hold the edge over the others with its USS Gerald R Ford , with the Fujian being the closest contender. At it stated: At the moment, then, there are two tiers of carrier operators: the US Navy and everyone else.

With inputs from agencies
A study from the Investment Information and Credit Rating Agency (ICRA) showed that India, one of the largest consumers of oil in the world, made huge savings thanks to discounts on Russian crude in the backdrop of the Ukraine war. Indias share of crude imports from Moscow spiked to 36 per cent in the 11 months of the 2024 fiscal year compared to just two per cent in the 2022 fiscal read more

India imports crude oil from Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the UAE as well as liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar through the Strait of Hormuz, which is a narrow sea passage between Oman and Iran. Unsplash / Representative

India has saved billions of dollars this financial year  and did so by importing crude oil from Russia.

So says a study from the Investment Information and Credit Rating Agency (ICRA).

India is one of the biggest consumers of crude oil around the world as well as one of the largest importers.

India imports oil from Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the UAE as well as liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar through the Strait of Hormuz, which is a narrow sea passage between Oman and Iran.

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But how did India save billions of dollars? And why did this happen?

Lets take a closer look:

How did India save billions?

Russia is Indias top supplier of crude oil.

According to The New Indian Express, New Delhis share of crude imports from Russia spiked to 36 per cent in the 11 months of the 2024 fiscal year.

Thats up from just two per cent in the 2022 fiscal.

Meanwhile, oil imports from West Asian nations such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait fell to 23 per cent from 34 per cent.

According to an ICRA report, the imputed unit value of imports from Russia was 16.4 per cent and 15.6 per cent lower than the corresponding levels from West Asia in FY 2023 and 11 months of FY2024, respectively.

The report quoted energy cargo tracker Vortexa as saying New Delhi imported 1.36 million barrels of crude oil per day from Russia in March 2024.

This, compared to 1.27 million barrels per day in February.

New Delhi imported $3.61 billion worth of crude oil from Russia in February 2024 and $4.47 billion in January 2024.

New Delhi imported $2.6 billion worth of crude oil from Saudi Arabia in February, as per data from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

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New Delhi also imported $2.24 billion worth of crude oil from Iraq that month.

It is the discounts on Russian oil that generated huge savings in the oil import bill.

ICRA estimates this to have led to savings in Indias oil import bill amounting to $5.1 billion in FY2023 and $7.9 billion in 11M FY2024, thereby compressing Indias current account deficit (CAD)/GDP ratio by 1522 bps in FY2023-24, the ICRA study states.

And it looks like the trend is set to continue.

New Delhi in April imported more oil from Russia and less from Iraq and Saudi Arabia compared to March, data from trade tracking agencies Kpler and LSEG showed.

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Russia was offering a discount of around $30 per barrel in 2022. Reuters

The imports during April went up by 13 to 17 per cent, the data showed.

Russia remained Indias top oil supplier in April followed by Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

Its oil imports from Iraq declined by 20 to 23 per cent, the data showed.

Why is this happening?

But why is India importing so much crude from Russia?

Because of the heavy discount being offered by Moscow in the backdrop of the Russia-Ukraine war.

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Despite the West sanctioning Moscow, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has stood firm in maintaining its ties with Russia.

The newspaper quoted industry insiders as saying Russia was offering a discount of around $30 per barrel in 2022.

However, that discount has been declining.

In 2024, New Delhi is getting a discount of less than $5 per barrel.

As per New Indian Express, the montly discount is down from around approximately 23% in the April-August period last year to an average of around eight in September-February.

This resulted in a huge decline in savings.

ICRA also said Indias net oil import bill could widen to $101-104 billion in current fiscal from $96.1 billion in 2023-24.

Any escalation in the Iran-Israel conflict could impart an upward pressure on the value of imports, the agency added.

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With Indias oil import dependency expected to remain high, if the discounts on purchases of Russian crude persist at the prevailing low levels, ICRA expects Indias net oil import bill to widen to $101-104 billion in FY2025 from $96.1 billion in FY2024, assuming an average crude oil price of USD 85/bbl in the fiscal, ICRA said.

Additionally, any escalation in the IranIsrael conflict and an associated rise in crude oil prices could impart an upward pressure on the value of net oil imports in the current fiscal year, it added.

According to ICRAs calculations, a $10 per barrel uptick in the average crude oil price for the fiscal pushes up the net oil imports by around $12-13 billion during the year, thereby enlarging the CAD by 0.3 per cent of the GDP.

Accordingly, if the average crude oil price rises to $95 a barrel in FY2025, then the CAD is likely to widen to 1.5 per cent of GDP from our current estimate of 1.2 per cent of GDP for FY 2023-24.

CAD, which is the difference between value of Indias imports and exports, is estimated at 0.8 per cent in 2023-24.

India is more than 85 per cent dependent on imports for its needs of crude oil, which is converted into fuels such as petrol and diesel at refineries.

ICRA said the value of Indias imports of petroleum crude and products declined by 15.2 per cent YoY during April-February of last fiscal, even as volumes rose slightly in this period.

This was supported by the fall in average global crude oil prices as well as savings from stepped up purchases of discounted Russian crude.

Not asked India to cut oil imports

The US in April said is has not asked India to cut Russian oil imports as the goal of sanctions.

It added that the G7-imposed $60 per barrel price cap is to have stable global oil supplies while hitting Moscows revenue.

It is important to us to keep the oil supply on the market. But what we want to do is limit Putins profit from it, Eric Van Nostrand, who is performing the duties of US treasury assistant secretary for economic policy, said in New Delhi, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Van Nostrand said that buyers can purchase Russian oil at deeper discounts outside of the price cap mechanism, if they do not use Western services like insurance and broking, thus limiting Moscows sales avenues.

They (Russia) have to sell oil for less, he said.

The sanctions are intended to limit the options available to Russia to three: sell its oil under the price cap, offer deeper discounts to buyers if they circumvent Western services, or shut its oil wells, Van Nostrand added.

The price cap imposed by the Group of Seven (G7) wealthy nations, the European Union and Australia bans the use of Western maritime services such as insurance, flagging the transportation when tankers carry Russian oil priced at or above $60 a barrel.

Anna Morris, acting assistant secretary for terror financing at the US treasury, said that G7 nations had the option to review the price cap depending on market conditions or other factors.

With inputs from agencies
Columbia University has been at the forefront of the campus protests against Israels war in Gaza. But this isnt the first time the Ivy League university has witnessed such a demonstration. The US institution has a long history of activism, dating as far back as 1968 when students raised their voices against the Vietnam war read more

Pro-Palestinian student protesters wave a Palestinian flag as they gather on the front steps of Hamilton Hall at Columbia University in New York City. Students here have been among the first to embrace the pro-Palestinian campus encampment movement, which has spread to a number of universities across the United States. AFP

Its been over two weeks of protests at United States universities. Thousands of students across various colleges have been protesting Israels war in Gaza, and calling on the administration to divest from the Jewish nation.

At the forefront of these protests across America has been Columbia University , located in New York City. Hundreds of demonstrators have set up a pro-Palestine encampment, demanding for their voices to be heard. In fact, late Tuesday night (30 April), dozens of protestors sieged Hamilton Hall, and unfurled a banner to reveal the buildings new name by protestors:  Hinds Hall  in honour of the six-year-old Hind Rajab, who was killed by Israeli troops in Gaza.

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This led to New York Police Department (NYPD) officials storming the university and arresting more than 100 people for trespassing, criminal mischief, and burglary.

While the visuals of the NYPD officials in riot gear and carrying zip ties were dramatic, its not the first time that the esteemed Ivy League university has had a brush with protests. For many, its drawing out memories of 1968 when police were called to clear protesting students from the campus.

As Columbia University continues its churn of discontent, dissatisfaction and dissent, we go back in time to when it was the epicentre of other agitations.

Columbias 1968 anti-Vietnam protests

Prior to 2024s protests, perhaps, the biggest and most famous protest at Columbia came in 1968. The student rumblings of 1968 started in February, when two black South Carolina State University students, protesting a segregated bowling alley, were shot and killed by state troopers in Orangeburg.

However, it was Columbias protest in April that captured the attention of the nation because of its stature as an Ivy League college situated in the media capital of the world.

On 23 April 1968, Columbia students took over Hamilton Hall  a building which had opened in 1907  to protest Americas role in the Vietnam War and university policies they considered racist  the administrations plan to build a gymnasium in nearby Morningside Park.

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Part of some estimated 300 students at Columbia University are shown milling around Hamilton Hall on the campus in New York. The students are protesting the construction of a gymnasium in a public park and the universitys participation in a defence-related program. A couple of students stand on pedestal of the statue of Alexander Hamilton while others hang a poster of Stokely Carmichael from the balcony of the building along with a Viet Cong flag. File image/AP

Students barricaded themselves inside, preventing the acting dean, Henry S Coleman, from leaving his office for one night. By the next morning, Black students renamed the hall as Malcolm X Liberation College and even asked White students to leave so that their grievances could be heard.

Acceding to their demands, the White students moved their demonstrations to other buildings on the campus. While the Black students demanded that the administration drop its plans for the gymnasium, the others demanded an end to the universitys affiliation with a think tank involved in Pentagon weapons research.

A week later, on 30 April, the police  on the behest of Columbias president  entered the building through underground tunnels and cleared the students. Police officers trampled protesters, hit them with nightsticks and dragged some down concrete steps.

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Student publication Barnard Magazine had then reported that students were punched with brass knuckles, kicked, dragged down concrete steps, thrown to the ground and then stomped upon by the police. More than 700 students were arrested by the NYPD over the course of seven days in April 1968 but a judge dropped criminal trespassing charges for at least 368 of them in October.

New York City plainclothes policemen drop a student protester on the ground after he and others holding a sit-in at Columbia University building are removed, on 30 April, 1968. File image/AP

Juan Gonzalez, a former columnist for the New York Daily News who was one of the Columbia protesters involved in the 1968 demonstrations, told NBCNews: We fought pitched battles with the cops. It was much more violent than what weve seen so far at the demonstrations now.

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But at the end of it all, the protesting students emerged victorious: Columbia disaffiliated from the weapons think tank, the Institute for Defense Analyses, and scrapped the plans for the gym.

Incidentally, the police action against the Columbia demonstrators in 1968 was on the same day  30 April  when NYPD police stormed the university to remove the pro-Palestine demonstrators from Hamilton Hall.

The 85 anti-apartheid protests

Following the 68 demonstrations, came the 1985 protests. In April of that year, around 100-200 students chained up Hamilton Hall, demanding that the university divest from companies that were doing business in South Africa. At the time, civil rights activist Jesse Jackson had said on the steps of Hamilton: America is not always right, but we have the right to protest for the right. When the nation of democracy becomes South Africas number one trading partner, were wrong, this is wrong.

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Aniko Bodroghkozy, a media studies professor at the University of Virginia, who participated in the protest, told TIME: I think students could get in and out but that encampment went on for many, many weeks.

In 1985, around 100-200 students chained up Hamilton Hall, demanding that the university divest from companies that were doing business in South Africa, to protest the Apartheid. File image courtesy: Columbia Spectator

After three long weeks, students led by the multiracial organisation Coalition for a Free South Africa ended their protest with a march into Harlem.

And on 7 October of the same year, Columbia became the first major US university to fully divest from South Africa. Eventually, as VOX reports, 155 universities divested, and in 1986, the US government also bowed to pressure from protesters and enacted a divestment policy.

1996  protests over ethnic studies department

After witnessing a one-day blockade in 1992 to halt Columbias plan to demolish the Audubon Theatre and Ballroom, where Malcolm X was assassinated, the Ivy League university witnessed another demonstration in 1996.

This time, students were demanding the creation of an ethnic studies department. When their pleas went unheard, they went on hunger strike and over 100 protesters occupied Hamilton Hall for four days.

The administration finally relented to their demands and provided space for the Asian and Hispanic studies programmes. Three years later, it also inaugurated the Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Race.

Columbias Mattress protest of 2014

In September 2014, a then 21-year-old Emma Sulkowicz, a Columbia University student, carried her dormitory room mattress everywhere. The reason: two years ago, in 2012, she claimed that she had been raped by a fellow student, Paul Nungesser.

When she went to the police to report her crime, it was reported that the officer she approached was dismissive, stating to Emma and her friend that of all the cases, 90 per cent are bullshit, so I dont believe your friend for a second.

Emma Sulkowicz (L), a senior visual arts student at Columbia University, carries a mattress, with the help of three strangers in protest of the universitys lack of action after she reported being raped during her sophomore year. File image/AFP

Realising that she was not going to get justice, she began to carry a mattress with her everywhere she went on campus until Nungesser left or was expelled from Columbia. She even decided to take it a step further by bringing the mattress to her graduation, despite the university telling students not to bring any large items across the stage.

Her form of protest led to tremendous media coverage and replications of her demonstration at other campuses; students would hold a mattress, pillow or something else representing defiance of sexual assault at their institution.

As Mark Naison, professor of history and African & African American Studies at Fordham University and himself a participant in the 1968 demonstrations, tells the AP: When youre going to Columbia, you know youre going to an institution which has an honoured place in the history of American protest. Whenever there is a movement, you know Columbia is going to be right there.

With inputs from agencies
AAP leader Raghav Chadha had an eye condition, which could have possibly led to blindness. He is currently in London recovering from a major surgery called vitrectomy. We tell you all about it read more

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is facing one of its biggest challenges. Amid the Lok Sabha elections, its main man Arvind Kejriwal is in jail along with other senior leaders. While Sunita, the Delhi CMs wife, is campaigning, one prominent party leader is missing in action  Raghav Chadha.

So where is the young MP? He is currently in London, recovering from a major eye surgery, his fellow party colleague Saurabh Bharadwaj disclosed.

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Bharadwaj told PTI that the 35-year-old Rajya Sabha MP, who is currently on bed rest, underwent an emergency surgery called vitrectomy, which had serious risks, including potential eyesight loss and retina displacement.

Raghav Chadha has undergone a major eye surgery in the UK. It is said that his condition was serious and there was a possibility of blindness. As soon as he gets better, he will come back to India and join us in the election campaigning, Bharadwaj said.

What is a vitrectomy?

A vitrectomy is a surgery to remove the vitreous humour (the vitreous) from the eye. The vitreous humour is a gel-like substance that fills the centre between the lens and the retina, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

Vitreous humour is a gel-like substance that fills the centre between the lens and the retina. Cleveland Clinic

During a vitrectomy, an ophthalmologist makes tiny incisions in the sclera, the white part of the eye, allowing the insertion of specialised instruments. These instruments can cut away and suction out the vitreous humour, enabling the surgeon to access and repair any underlying retinal issues, Dr Siddharth Sain, a senior retina consultant, Sharp Sight Eye Hospitals told The Indian Express.

Who needs to undergo a vitrectomy?

Doctors recommend surgery for serious eye conditions, especially those that can lead to impaired vision or can harm the retina.

As per John Hopkins, undergoing this surgery is the only option when one has problems such as

1. diabetic retinopathy, a condition that can cause vision loss and blindness in people who have diabetes

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2. Retinal detachment, when the retina separates from the back of the eye)

3. Vitreous haemorrhage (blood in the vitreous cavity)

4. Infection inside your eye

5. Severe eye injury

6. A hole in the central part of your retina (macula)

7. A wrinkle in the central part of your retina

8. Issues arising after cataract surgery

While most such surgeries are successful, certain complications can occasionally arise and one should be aware of them.

When does one need to approach a doctor?

As per Cleveland Clinic, one should reach out to doctors if they face severe pain, have signs of infection (including severe swelling or discharge, or have a worsening vision among other symptoms that one feels are concerning.

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One should reach out to doctors if they face severe pain or have signs of infection. Representative image. Pixabay

What are the risks involved in getting a vitrectomy?

The likelihood of risks varies based on age, medical history, and the nature of the eye condition. Some potential risks listed by the American Academy of Ophthalmology include infection, excess bleeding, and. high pressure in the eye, resulting in Glaucoma. There are chances of a torn or detached retina, increased rate of cataract formation or poor vision.

What does the recovery from vitrectomy look like?

As per The Indian Express report quoting Dr Sain, recovery from this surgery varies depending on the individuals health and the complexity of the surgery. Patients can gradually return to daily activities as their eye heals and vision clears, which may take weeks to months.

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Here are some things one needs to be mindful of when recovering  put eye drops for inflammation, infection, and discomfort and avoid strenuous activities to minimise pressure changes. A specific head position may be needed with a gas bubble. Regular follow-up appointments are important.

With inputs from agencies
Union Home Minister Amit Shah also said that the implementation of CAA was delayed due to Covid. And we believe that CAA should be implemented first. That process is going on, he added read more

Once voted to power, BJP will build a border that not even a bird will be able to sneak across, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said.

In an interview with Network18 Group Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi, Shah stressed that infiltration is now happening only in one state - West Bengal.

I want to make a heartfelt appeal to the people of Bengal that make the BJP successful this time. After that, ensure the formation of a BJP government there. We will build such a border that not even a bird will be able to sneak across, Shah said.

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The minister was responding to a question that why the BJP manifesto has no mention of National Register of Citizens (NRC).

In its Sankalp Patra released on April 14, BJP dropped compilation of the NRC from its manifesto which was one of the prominent poll promises in the partys 2019 manifesto.

The 2024 manifesto, however, mentions implementation of the CAA.

Mamata Banerjee sees infiltrators as a vote bank

Slamming Trinamool Congress-led West Bengal government, Shah said: As far as the question of infiltration is concerned, now it is happening only in one state - West Bengal. Because it has the Mamata Banerjee governments blessings.

Thats because Mamata Banerjee sees infiltrators as a vote bank. They do not see infiltration as a national security threat. They think that their vote bank is growing. This is very dangerous thinking not only for Bengal but for the entire country, Shah said.

But why Govt delayed implementation of CAA?

Shah also responded on the delay of implementation of CAA. He said, Look, the implementation of CAA was delayed due to Covid. And we believe that CAA should be implemented first. That process is going on.
Slamming the Congress for opposing the Uniform Civil Code, Amit Shah pointed out that personal laws based on religion should have no place in a secular nation in an interview to Network18 read more

The Union Home Minister also slammed what he claimed to be the vote bank politics of West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee for the infiltration problem in the state Image Courtesy PTI

Asserting that big ticket changes such as the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and repeal of Article 370 by the BJP led NDA government are here to stay, Union Home Minister Amit Shah accused the Opposition of indulging in minority appeasement in a desperate bid to return to power at the Centre.

During an interview with Network18s MD and Group Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi, Amit Shah also expressed the BJPs determination to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) if Narendra Modi wins a third consecutive term as prime minister.

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This is their trick to get the votes of minorities. Neither will they come to power nor will Article 370 come back. Neither will they come to power nor will CAA be repealed. They also know this. But they want to book minority votes by doing minority appeasement. This is the only reason they are spreading these lies," Amit Shah said.

In this interview, I want to tell the people of the country through you that as long as there is even a single MP of Bharatiya Janata Party in Parliament, Article 370 cannot come back, CAA cannot be abolished. Now Article 370 has become history, and CAA has become a reality, he added. They do not know that citizenship is a central subject and the state government has nothing to do with it. Maybe they know but they say this to mislead the minorities. Your appeasement policy will not succeed now because when you do appeasement towards one group, a second one will counterproductively unite on the other side with that awareness. Now it will not succeed.

Slamming the Congress for opposing the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), Amit Shah pointed out that personal laws based on religion should have no place in a secular nation.

Uniform civil code is the mandate of our Constitution, the guiding principles that the Constitution has given us that the legislature and Parliament of the country will have to make efforts at the right time to implement uniform civil code in this country, the senior BJP leader said. I think the right time has come. And we are not saying this today. Before our party was formed, it was in the manifesto that there should not be any religious laws in the country, there should be uniform civil code. If this a secular country, how can there be laws on the basis of religion? There should not be.

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Talking about the implementation process of CAA, Shah said, Applications have started to come in. Scrutiny is happening according to the rules. And I think before the elections, before the last phase, the process of giving citizenship will start.

The Union Home Minister also slammed what he claimed to be the vote bank politics of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee for the infiltration problem in the state.

As far as the question of infiltration is concerned, now it is happening only in one state. West Bengal. Because it has the Mamata Banerjee governments blessings. Thats because she sees infiltrators as a vote bank. They do not see infiltration as a national security threat. They think that their vote bank is growing. This is very dangerous thinking not only for Bengal but for the entire country, Shah said. I want to make a heartfelt appeal to the people of Bengal that make the BJP successful this time. After that, ensure the formation of a BJP government there. We will build such a border that not even a bird will be able to sneak across.
In its latest annual report, the USCIRF has criticised India for alleged violations of religious freedom as well as on certain other issues. read more

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday slammed the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), accusing it of continuously disseminating propaganda about India as part of an annual report.

Responding to the USCIRFs latest report, which criticized India for purported violations of religious freedom, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal termed the organisation as biased with a clear political agenda.

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom is known as a biased organisation with a political agenda. They continue to publish their propaganda on India masquerading as part of an annual report, Jaiswal said.

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We do not expect that the USCIRF will even seek to understand Indias diverse, pluralistic and democratic ethos, he added. Their efforts to interfere in the largest electoral exercise of the world will never succeed, Jaiswal said at his weekly media briefing.

In its latest annual report, the USCIRF has criticised India for alleged violations of religious freedom as well as on certain other issues.

With inputs from PTI.
MBABANE  His Majestys Correctional Services says drastic measures will be taken against convicted former Hosea MP Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza.

This is in relation to Mabuzas behaviour, which they labelled as unprofessional and uncalled for. Mabuza, who has been convicted of contravening the Suppression of Terrorism Act and two murder charges, together with former Ngwempisi MP Mthandeni Dube, was engaged in a scuffle with warders after he refused to leave the courtroom shortly after the adjournment of the matter. Mabuza openly told the warders that he would not just leave the courtroom without meeting his defence team and the people who were in court to give him moral support.

Irons

This was after the bosses had instructed the warders to put Mabuza and Dube in leg irons and leave the courtroom, immediately after Judge Mumcy Dlamini had adjourned the matter and left the courtroom. The instruction did not sit well with Mabuza, who had anticipated to meet his defence team and those who were in court to give him moral support. Mabuza would shout amandla!, as he accused the warders of violating his rights. You cannot rush me; I have the right to meet my defence team and the people who are here to give us moral support. I have not yet been sentenced so; it is within my right to have time with my defence team and emaSwati who are here to give us moral support. I cannot stop fighting for the people to be free, Mabuza said, while facing the team of the warders who were in riot gear. The warders also had their faces covered with balaclavas.

At the time, the warders were moving towards Mabuza and Dube, who had moved to the corner of the accused dock, to meet the defence team. As they approached Mabuza, he pushed the warder who was at the front, stating that he could not just leave the courtroom without seeing his defence team. Worth noting was that Mabuza had not met his defence team, as he was brought later than the stipulated time, raising a concern from Judge Dlamini. As Mabuza wrestled with the warder at the front, the other one at the back tried in vain to snatch him. A scuffle then ensued between Mabuza and the warders. Senior Advocate Myron Dewrence, who was in close proximity with Mabuza, intervened and blocked his client from fighting the warders.

Those who were in court to give Mabuza and Dube moral support shouted umshayelani (why are you beating him), as the advocate blocked his client from fighting the warders. I cannot allow myself to be harassed by you. This is rubbish! It is exactly what you are doing in prison. You did this even this morning. I cannot stop speaking the truth, Mabuza said, while his supporters asked the warders why they had hid their faces. The warder continued to show Mabuza the way. Regarding this brawl, His Majestys Correctional Services Public Relations Officer Superintendent Gugulethu Dlamini said drastic measures would be taken against Mabuza following his conduct, which she said was uncalled for. Dlamini said Mabuza ought to know the procedures. Asked to expand on the procedures, Dlamini said a courtroom was different from prison. She said inmates had no right to interact with people in court, when they had been brought for trial.

She said even lawyers sought permission to talk to their incarcerated clients. Courts are not visiting places, so no inmate can be visited in court. The law is clear in that inmates can only be visited in prison within stipulated hours. Drastic measures will be taken against Mabuza for breaking the law, she reiterated. She added that the Correctional Services will engage Mabuza following the incident.

Professionalism

Dlamini thanked the warders for exhibiting professionalism despite the provocation, while executing their duties. She said there were levels at which issues were dealt with in prison.

Dlamini said Correctional officers considered certain factors when dealing with situations. She made an example about the stage of the trial and the conduct of the accused person as well as the crowd. Dlamini also warned inmates in general against conducting themselves in an unruly fashion that could result in them being charged with other offences. She advised that people should not play to the gallery, to the detriment of the accused persons. She said it was not wise for people to do things that would lead the accused persons into trouble.
Mallikarjun Kharge has given a very dangerous statement related to Lord Ram and Lord Shiv. That statement is given with malicious intent. This is to create animosity between Shiv and Ram devotees, said the Prime Minister while addressing a poll rally in Gujarats Surendranagar read more

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday attacked Mallikarjun Kharge for his remarks on Lord Ram and Lord Shiva, saying that the Congress chief gave the statement with a malicious intent as he wanted to create animosity between the devotees of the two gods.

Kharge, while addressing a poll rally in Chhattisgarh on Wednesday in support of party candidate Shivkumar Dahariya, had said that Shivkumar can compete with Ram because he is Shiva.

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This candidate is Shivkumar Dahariya. His name is Shivkumar - barabar ye Ram ka muqabla kar sakta hai kyunki ye Shiv hai (He can compete with Ram because he is Shiva). I am also Mallikarjun. (Main bhi Shiv hoon), Kharge had said.

Reacting to Kharges remarks at a rally in Gujarats Surendranagar, PM Modi slammed the Congress for trying to discriminate between Hindu faiths.

#WATCH | Gujarat: Addressing a public rally in Surendranagar, PM Modi says, "Congress is trying to discriminate between Hindu faiths. Mallikarjun Kharge has given a very dangerous statement related to Lord Ram and Lord Shiv. That statement is given with malicious intent. This is pic.twitter.com/SFJXyMKAeC  ANI (@ANI) May 2, 2024

Mallikarjun Kharge has given a very dangerous statement related to Lord Ram and Lord Shiv. That statement is given with malicious intent. This is to create animosity between Shiv and Ram devotees, said the Prime Minister.

Even the Mughals could not break thousands of year-old Hindu traditions, how will the Congress do it, he asked.

Referring to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, he said, A month ago, their Shehzada said that he would destroy Shakti We are the worshippers of Shakti Shehzada said that he would destroy Shakti. Can the devotees of Shakti forgive this?.

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Terming the Congress a wrong-delivery party, he said they were asked for Independence, but they got partition, they were supposed to give development but instead, they looted the country.

#WATCH | Gujarat: Addressing a public rally in Surendranagar, PM Modi says, "Congress has always been a wrong-delivery party. They were asked for Independence, but they got partition. They were supposed to give development but instead, they looted the country. The money of the pic.twitter.com/U44GeOZgJG  ANI (@ANI) May 2, 2024

The money of the poor went to the Congress Now they want to steal the ST, SC, OBC, reservation and give it away to Muslims, he added.

Earlier, while addressing a rally in Gujarats Anand, PM Modi launched a fresh attack against the INDI alliance accusing them of dangerous intentions referring to an appeal for vote jihad allegedly by Congress leader Salman Khurshids niece and SP leader Maria Alam Khan.

#WATCH | Anand, Gujarat: On Congress leader Salman Khurshid's niece Maria Alam Khan's statement, PM Modi says, "A leader from the INDI alliance has exposed their strategy in front of the country. The INDI alliance has asked Muslims to go for Vote Jihad. This has come from an pic.twitter.com/C8wNxG17AI  ANI (@ANI) May 2, 2024

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A leader from the INDI alliance has exposed their strategy in front of the country. The INDI alliance has asked Muslims to go for vote jihad. This has come from an educated family, not from a child coming out of a Madrasa. INDI alliance is saying that all Muslims should get together and vote, PM Modi said.

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PM Modi said that the INDI alliance has insulted democracy and the Constitution and also attacked the Congress for not condemning the statement.

They have given their tacit understanding. On one hand, the INDI alliance is trying to divide SC, ST, OBC and general categories, on the other hand, they are raising the slogan of vote jihad. This shows how dangerous their intentions are, he added.

Salman Khurshid and Samajwadi Party leader Maria Alam Khan were booked for the latters alleged speech during a public rally in Uttar Pradeshs Kayamganj on 30 April.

As per the FIR, Maria Alam Khan allegedly asked the minority community to go for vote jihad.

PM Modi is on a two-day Gujarat visit to seek voter support for party candidates ahead of the May 7 polling.

Gujarat, the home state of Modi, has 26 Lok Sabha seats, but voting will take place on only 25 as in one constituency (Surat) the BJP candidate has been elected unopposed.

With inputs from agencies
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said despite low voter turnout in the first two phases of Lok Sabha polls 2024, NDA is on track to winning more than 400 seats read more

BJP does not think that a lower voter turnout in the first two phases of Lok Sabha elections 2024 would affect the partys vision of Abki Baar 400 paar. While less number of people exercising their right to vote so far in the ongoing election is worrying psephologist, Union Minister Amit Shah lists out two reason for the situation.

In an interview to Network18 Group Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi, Shah was asked that despite low voter turnout in the first two phases of Lok Sabha poll, is BJP still on track of winning 370 seats and NDA alliance crossing 400 mark?

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It is absolutely on track. You will see on counting day (June 4), before 12:30 pm, NDA will cross 400, Modi ji will again become Prime Minister, Shah said.

Lok Sabha Polls 2024: Amit Shah shares 2 reasons for low voter turnout

Shah said there are many reasons for the lower turnout but specified on two. They are:

1 - After 12 years, the electoral rolls have been revised.

2 - The second reason is that there is no contest from the other side, which affects the turnout in a way.

The senior BJP minister further said: My partys team and I have done a detailed analysis. We are moving towards the third phase with well over 100 seats from the first two. I dont see any problem in crossing the target of 400.

The third phase of polling will be conducted on May 7.

Lok Sabha election 2024 final voter turnout

The Election Commission of India (ECI), on Tuesday, released the final voter turnout of the first two phases of the Lok Sabha polls.

Phase 1: 66.14 per cent

Phase 2: 66.71 per cent

The turnout was, however, lower than the initial figures the poll body shared after the voting ended on each phase.

After the first phase ended on April 19, when polling was held on 102 seats, the EC said the voter turnout for the phase was around 60 per cent as of 7 pm.

Also Read: Did the Election Commission delay voter turnout data of the first 2 phases?

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Following the second phase of voting on April 26, the poll body gave the tentative figure as 60.96 per cent.

The final voter turnout data was released ECI 11 days after the first phase polling and four days after the second phase.

For the unversed, in 2019, voter turnout in the first phase was recorded at 69.4 per cent and 69.2 per cent in the second phase.
In an interview with Network18 MD and Group Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi, Union Home Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Amit Shah shared insights into the partys strategies, expectations and projections for various states across the country read more

As the political landscape of India is busy with elections, the nation is abuzz with speculations and forecasts. In an interview with Network18 MD and Group Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi, Union Home Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Amit Shah shared insights into the partys strategies, expectations and projections for various states across the country.

The Gujarat math

In Gujarat, a stronghold of the BJP, Shah expressed confidence in securing all 26 seats in the upcoming elections with margins expected to surpass those of the previous elections. Shahs optimism reflects the partys unwavering dominance in the state.

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Certainly, we will get all 26 seats in Gujarat. And the margins will also be higher than in the 2019 elections for all seats. We will win all 26 seats and our margins will also go up, Shah said.

The senior BJP leader also said that although there is some disappointment among the Kshatriyas, he has full faith that everything will be fine.

The Karnataka calculation

Despite recent challenges and alliances, Shah remains steadfast in his belief that the BJP will maintain its position in Karnataka, echoing his confidence in retaining a significant portion of the seats. In 2019, BJP delivered a stellar performance but was defeated in the recent Karnataka Assembly polls.

Karnataka grabbed headlines this week after state MP and grandson of JDS chief and former prime minister HD Deve Gowda was allegedly seen in explicit videos sexually assaulting multiple women. Significantly, the videos surfaced on social media days before the second phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

I have made the stand of the Bharatiya Janata Party clear that the strictest steps should be taken. But Priyanka ji and Rahul ji are saying why steps are not being taken. Perhaps they do not understand the position. The law and order of a state has to be dealt with by the state government. And they are in power there. They have to take the steps, not us, said Shah.

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Giving his expectations from Karnataka, the Union home minister said, One election is yet to be held, but I think that more or less we will keep our position intact.

In the 2019 General Elections, BJP had won 25 seats out of 28.

The Maharashtra permutation

Amid the political turmoil in Maharashtra, Shah emphasized the peoples support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asserting that whoever aligns with Modi will garner votes. He predicted a repeat performance in Maharashtra with the BJP likely to secure a substantial number of seats. In a stranger than fiction scenario in Maharashtra where two parties have split  Shiv Sena and the NCP  with one faction of each with the BJP, the fight is over who is original.

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The people of Maharashtra are with Modiji, whoever is with Modiji will get votes. This election is being fought to decide who becomes the countrys prime minister. There are two sides. One is the NDA under the leadership of Narendra Modi_ji_. And the other is Rahul (Gandhi) Baba, Sharad Pawar, Mamata Didi, Stalin, Tejashwi Yadav, Lalu Yadav, who are heading the INDI Alliance, which has no leader, said Shah.

Drawing a comparison to Prime Minister Modis stainless image, the Union home minister highlighted the INDI Alliances alleged entanglement in corruption scandals and preferring family over people while actually the mandate is to work for the people.

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Now the people of the country have to decide which person to pick. On the one hand is the INDI Alliance responsible for scams and corruption worth Rs 12 lakh crore. On the other hand, there is Narendra Modi who despite being a chief minister and Prime Minister for 23 years has never been accused of corruption of even twenty-five paise. On the one hand, there is a group that goes on vacations as soon as the summers come. Foreign vacations because the heat is very high here. And on the other hand, there is Narendra Modi who did not take leave even on the day of Diwali for 23 years and celebrated Diwali with the soldiers at the border. On the one hand, there are political parties that work for their sons, daughters, nephews, and daughters-in-law, and on the other hand, there is Narendra Modi who works for the poor, the women, the farmers, and the youth of the country, he said.

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Given the context, Shah made it clear it depends on the people to make the right choice.

So, the people of the country have to decide whether they want a person who will protect the nation or those who will put the country at risk for votes. Do they want a person who will develop the economy of the country or those who will sink the economy? The people of the country have decided Rahulji, the people of the country are with Narendra Modi ji, and the party which is with Modi ji will get votes. This election is to make Narendra Modi ji the prime minister, the senior BJP leader said.

The Union home minister exuberated confidence that BJP will win around 41 seats which it had last time in 2019 out of the total 48 seats.

Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, Gujarat and Karnataka, we will repeat the results there, said Shah.

Going north in Uttar Pradesh

Aiming high, Shah envisions a remarkable feat in Uttar Pradesh, suggesting the possibility of winning all 80 seats if circumstances align favourably. This ambitious projection reflects the BJPs determination to strengthen its position in the crucial state.

In Uttar Pradesh, we will increase our seats by five to seven. In Uttar Pradesh, increasing seats means if everything goes well, we can win 80 out of 80, the Union home minister said.

In the 2019 General Elections, BJP had won 62 seats and its ally Apna Dal(S) managed to pocket two seats.

Uttar Pradesh has some big names in fray particularly from the regional Samajwadi Party with party chief Akhilesh Yadav contesting from Kannauj, his wife Dimple from Mainpuri and other family members from Firozabad and Azamgarh among other seats.

I have said its a possibility that we can win 80 out of 80. It is certain that our seats will increase, said Shah.

Commenting on the uncertainty over Congress leaders Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi if they are going to fight the elections from Uttar Pradesh, the Union home minister said the brother-sister duo have lost confidence in themselves.

These people have lost their self-confidence. They dont have the self-confidence to fight even from their ancestral seat. If they didnt want to fight, why have they kept the decision on the seat pending for so long? If they had given it to a worker, at least he could have done some public outreach. This confusion somewhere reflects the lack of self-confidence, Shah said.

Odisha oracle

In Odisha, where the BJP has severed ties with the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Shah highlighted the partys commitment to prioritise the states development while maintaining its cultural integrity. He expressed confidence in the BJPs prospects, anticipating support from the people of Odisha.

In Odisha, we will go up to 16. And in Assam also we will go above 12, it may be 12, the Union home minister said.

Shah also expressed his doubts over the pace of development in the east coast state.

I clearly believe that Odisha is lagging in terms of development. Along with this, the language of Odisha, the culture of Odisha, the fabric of Odisha and its dignity are also being seriously hurt. The Bharatiya Janata Party believes that the culture of any state should not be tampered with. The development of every state should take place by exploiting its maximum potential, which is not happening in Odisha at the moment. That is why we have decided that we will fight separately. I am fully confident that this time the people of Odisha will bless the Bharatiya Janata Party under the leadership of Modi ji, the Union home minister told Network18s Rahul Joshi.

BJP is no waste in West Bengal

In West Bengal, we will win at least 30 seats, Shah said.

In 2019, BJP had won 18 out of 42 seats in state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjees backyard.

Bihar battle

About Bihar, Shah expressed confidence that his party will win a considerable number of seats despite the alliance that is getting formed with RJDs Tejashwi Yadav and others trying to cut some BJP votes.

In the last Lok Sabha polls, BJP had won 22 constituencies out of 40 in the state.

South symphony

Venturing into the southern states, Shah projected a significant presence for the BJP, particularly in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, where the party aims to open its electoral account. He expressed optimism about the BJPs performance in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, citing alliances and strategic campaigning efforts as key factors.

In south, all four states combined, we will be ahead of Congress, he said.

Although the Union home minister refrained from giving any figure in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, he was optimistic of BJP making an electoral debut in the states in terms of winning a seat.

We have fought a very good election and will definitely open our account. But estimating the seats there is a problem because there are very close fights, the Union home minister said.

The senior BJP leader also expected a good performance by the BJP in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

We have an alliance in Andhra Pradesh. We are fighting a very good election. It is just the beginning. We should perform very well in the Lok Sabha polls in Telangana. We could win our highest seats so far from there, Shah said.

The ultimate result

While expressing confidence in retaining strongholds and making inroads into new territories, Shahs projections underscore the BJPs ambitious goals and determination to secure a decisive victory in the upcoming elections. As the political landscape evolves and campaigning intensifies, only time will reveal the accuracy of these projections. Until then, the nation remains captivated by the anticipation and dynamics of the ongoing electoral battle.
Hitting out at Rahul Gandhi over his allegations that the BJP wants to change the Constitution and end reservations, Union Home Minister Amit Shah claimed that the senior Congress leader lies repeatedly on various issues.

We have been in majority for ten years. The people of this country have given Narendra Modi the power to change the Constitution for ten years, Amit Shah told Network18s MD and Group Editor-in-Chief, Rahul Joshi in an exclusive interview.

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What have we done in these ten years? We never tried to end reservation. We used our majority to abrogate Article 370, to end triple talaq, to bring UCC, to change the laws of the British, to bring peace in Kashmir. We have had the right for ten years. Rahul Gandhi has a rule  lie, lie loudly, lie repeatedly. And he is following that rule, Shah said. After Rahul Gandhi took over the command of Congresss politics, he has been consistently bringing down the level of politics in an unprecedented way. You cannot debate in Parliament, they create chaos, boycott, not let people speak, not participate in debates, and then go out and tell the world that injustice is being done to them. What do they think about the people of this country? That the public does not know all this? The people of the country know all these things very well. There should be healthy debate in a democracy.

Accusing the Congress of sacrificing national interest for the sake of electoral success, Shah warned Rahul Gandhi that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to win a third consecutive term in office.

The people of the country have to decide whether they want a person who will protect the nation or those who will put the country at risk for votes. Do they want a person who will develop the economy of the country or those who will sink the economy? The people of the country have decided Rahulji, the people of the country are with Narendra Modi ji, and the party which is with Modi ji will get votes. This election is to make Narendra Modi ji the Prime Minister, the senior BJP leader said.

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Pointing out that terrorism and Naxalism has been a bane for democracy and development in the country over the past several decades, the Union home minister asserted that both these issues will be eliminated in the near future if the BJP-led NDA government secures a third consecutive term at the Centre.

Terrorism and Naxalism had been two major scourges for democracy and development in this country for decades. Narendra Modiji has got us almost 100% freedom from terrorism in ten years and you could say Naxalism has been eliminated by around 95%. Today Naxalism has been completely finished off in the seven states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra. It remains only in four districts of Chhattisgarh, where the Bharatiya Janata Party has now formed the government, and just in the past three months, almost 100 Naxalites have been killed, Shah stated. I am fully confident that after Modiji becomes the Prime Minister for the third time, the country will get rid of Naxalism within one or two years.
SITs lookout notice comes after Revanna said that he would not be able to attend an inquiry since he is not in Bangalore read more

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing former prime minister HD Deve Gowdas grandson Prajwal Revannas sexual abuse case ]issued a lookout notice for the Hassan MP on Thursday, a day after he said that he would not be able to attend an inquiry.

Revanna, who was dismissed by his party Janata Dal (Secular) earlier this week, has been embroiled in a sexual harassment case after a woman who worked in his household accused him of sexually abusing and intimidating her.

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After an FIR was lodged against Revanna on Sunday, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah constituted an SIT team to investigate the allegations against the MP.

The case has drawn the ire of opposition parties who are blaming the Bhartiya Janata Party for turning a blind eye. JD(S) is in alliance with the saffron party in Karnataka.

Where is Revanna?

SITs lookout notice comes after Revanna said that he would not be able to attend an inquiry since he is not in Bangalore.

The MP from Hassanpur is reportedly not in India. He left for Germanys Frankfurt on April 27, a day after the second phase of Lok Sabha elections.

The leader is still believed to be in Germany. He is said to be travelling on his diplomatic passport.

Learning this, Siddaraimaiah wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to direct the Ministry of External Affairs to cancel Revannas diplomatic passport.

Meanwhile, if he fails to appear before the investigative team by a set time frame, he will be arrested by authorities.

What is the case against Revanna?

A video clip, allegedly showing Prajwal Revanna, surfaced on social media, a day after the second phase of Lok Sabha elections concluded on April 26. Fourteen out of 28 seats from Karnataka went to poll in this phase.

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The explicit video was allegedly shot by Revanna and was circulated widely in the Hassan constituency.

Following this, a woman lodged a formal complaint accusing the MP of sexually assaulting her multiple times between 2019 and 2022.

The woman also claimed that Revanna had misbehaved with her daughter and held vulgar conversations with her.

In the complaint, the woman also named Revannas father HD Revanna, saying that he sexually harassed her when his wife was away.
With two chief ministers - Arvind Kejriwal and Hemant Soren - being arrested by ED just before the Lok Sabha Election 2024, the BJP government led by PM Modi has been accused of using the central agencies to intimidate the opposition parties read more

Asserting that the BJP plans to implement the policy of 'One nation, one election', Amit Shah also slammed Rahul Gandhi for blaming EVMs for the electoral woes of the Congress

Hitting out at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over his allegations of a conspiracy to kill him in prison, Union Home Minister Amit Shah reminded the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo that the Tihar Jail comes under his administration.

Look, Tihar Jail comes under the Delhi government, whose Chief Minister is Kejriwal ji. So is he conspiring to kill himself? Amit Shah said in an interview to Network18 Group Editor Rahul Joshi.

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Prisons report straight to the Delhi government, he added.

Last month, addressing an INDIA bloc rally in Jharkhands Ranchi, Delhi CMs wife Sunit Kejriwal claimed the BJP wants to kill her husband in jail.

They want to kill my husband Arvind Kejriwal. His food is under camera observation. He is denied insulin. My husband is a sugar patient who has been on insulin for 12 years; he needs 50 units of insulin daily, Sunita alleged.

She further claimed that Kejriwal was jailed for working for the people Jan Seva and no charges could be proved against him.

With two chief ministers - Arvind Kejriwal and Hemant Soren - being arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) just before the Lok Sabha Election 2024, the BJP government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been accused of using the central agencies to intimidate the opposition parties.

The Supreme Court has also questioned the ED regarding the timing of these arrests. Amit Shah, however, blamed the the opposition leaders for the controversy.

ED will explain that before the Supreme Court. But I want to tell you that they did not appear after many summons. If they had appeared after the first summon, they would have been arrested six months before the elections. Many times summons were sent, but they did not come, Shah said.

Asserting that the BJP plans to implement the policy of One Nation, One Election, Shah also slammed Rahul Gandhi for blaming EVMs for the electoral woes of the Congress.

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I will first clarify one thing: Rahul Gandhi ji does not think about what he says. If we won because of EVM, then why did we lose in Telangana, or in Tamil Nadu? Why have we been losing in Kerala for years? Why did we lose in Himachal and Bengal? Then Rahul Gandhi should say it clearly that even if we [Congress] win in the outcome shown by EVMs, we will not take oath. If they win, they take oath wearing new clothes. When they lose, they blame it on EVMs. What kind of politics is this? When you win, EVM is right. When you lose, EVM is useless. Dont the people of the country understand all this? he said.

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The people of the country understand this, but I am surprised why such a big party does not change the advisor of its leader. I see from a distance. I am surprised. Well, forget it, it is their partys question. One nation, one election is the issue of our manifesto, and we will make every effort to implement it.
The ties between India and Canada came under severe strain following Trudeaus allegations in September last year of a potential involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Nijjar. read more

In the wake of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus recent remarks regarding Khalistani elements in his country, India said on Thursday that these statements once again underscored the political tolerance afforded to separatism, extremism, and violence in Canada.

Addressing the media, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said This not only impacts India-Canada relations but also encourages a climate of violence and criminality in Canada to the detriment of its own citizens, he said when asked about Trudeaus remarks.

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Earlier this week, Canadian PM Trudeau reiterated the governments steadfast commitment to protecting the rights and freedoms of the Sikh community, regardless of the circumstances.

India on Monday summoned the Canadian deputy high commissioner and lodged a strong protest with him over raising of pro-Khalistan slogans at the event in presence of Trudeau and several other leaders.

PM Trudeau has made such remarks earlier as well. His remarks illustrate once again the political space that has been given in Canada to separatism, extremism, and violence,

On the sidelines of the event, the Canadian prime minister also told the media that the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18 last year created a problem and that he cannot ignore it.

Nijjar was a Khalistani separatist and he was wanted in India on various terror charges. It is a problem in our relations with India because we cannot ignore that, Trudeau said on the killing of Nijjar.

The ties between India and Canada came under severe strain following Trudeaus allegations in September last year of a potential involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Nijjar.

New Delhi rejected Trudeaus charges as absurd. Days after Trudeaus allegations, India asked Ottawa to downsize its diplomatic presence in the country to ensure parity.

Subsequently, Canada withdrew 41 diplomats and their family members from India.

India has been asserting that its core issue with Canada remained that of the space given to separatists, terrorists and anti-India elements in that country.

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Following Trudeaus allegations last year, India temporarily suspended issuance of visas to Canadian citizens. The visa services were resumed several weeks later.
The senior BJP leader denied in an interview to Network18 that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is attempting to appease Muslims in the lower strata of society in an effort to garner minority votes read more

The union minister also asserted that the BJP is not using the Ram Mandir issue to attract votes during the ongoing Lok Sabha Election 2024

Hitting out at the opposition parties for not attending the historic Pran Pratishtha ceremony at the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, Union Home Minister Amit Shah claimed that their decision has hurt religious sentiments across the country.

The BJP had sent invites for the Pran Pratishtha ceremony at the Ram Mandir to several political parties, but a host of parties aligned with the opposition INDIA group had declined to attend.

The Samajwadi Party  the principal opposition in Uttar Pradesh  announced that party supremo Akhilesh Yadav will visit the Ram Mandir at a later date along with members of his family. The Congress and members of the Nehru-Gandhi family also stayed away along with the Trinamool Congress and parties based in the southern states.

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Amit Shah asserted that the BJP has created a historic milestone by Inaugurating the Ram Mandir, which was one of the prime promises mentioned in its manifesto. He alleged that the fear of alienating the minority vote bank prompted the opposition to stay away from the event.

The opposition is worried and the whole country is angry with them because when the Ram Mandir was built peacefully, constitutionally, and Pran Pratishtha was happening, they boycotted it. They did not go to the Pran Pratishtha of Lord Ram out of fear of annoying the minorities. That is why the whole country is angry with them, Amit Shah said during an interview with Network18 MD & Group Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi.

The Opposition had questioned the timing of the Ram Mandir ceremony since it was held only a few months ahead of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

The Union minister, however, asserted that the BJP is not using the Ram Mandir issue to attract votes during the ongoing Lok Sabha Election 2024.

We used to get votes in the name of Ram when the temple was not built and we used to say that we will build it. We in fact ended the reason to ask for votes. The opposition is worried and the whole country is angry with them because when the Ram Mandir was built peacefully, constitutionally, and Pran Pratishtha was happening, they boycotted it. They did not go to the Pran Pratishtha of Lord Ram out of fear of annoying the minorities. That is why the whole country is angry with them, Shah said.

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We never said that give us votes because we built the Ram temple. The citizens of the country know that these people had kept the issue hanging for seventy years. Modi ji won the case in five years, did the Bhoomi Pujan, and also did the Pran Pratishtha. And now a grand Ram temple that gladdens the entire country is coming up, he added.

The senior BJP leader also denied that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is attempting to appease Muslims in the lower strata of society in an effort to garner minority votes.

The Prime Minister has not only reached out to the Pasmanda Muslims. He has done it for tribals, Dalits, backward classes, the poor, the farmers, the women and matra shakti, and the youth as well. That is his work, it is his duty. It is the responsibility of the government to bring those who are lagging behind in the race of development to the same level as everyone else. I dont see any contradiction in this, Shah said.
Drawing parallels with the Muslim League, Shah said that Congress emphasis on minority-centric policies mirrored historical approaches in an exclusive interview with Network18, MD & Group-Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi read more

In an exclusive interview with Network18, MD & Group-Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi, BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah provided insights into his partys perspective on the accusations linking the Congress manifesto to symbols like the mangalsutra and associations with the Muslim League.

Exposing political intentions

Shah emphasized the BJPs responsibility in exposing the intentions of political rivals, particularly regarding issues of governance and identity. He highlighted the contrast between the BJPs commitment to the Uniform Civil Code and Congress stance favouring personal laws.

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It is our responsibility to expose the intentions of those who contest elections against us. Tell me, in this era, can any political party talk of personal laws? Will the country run on the basis of Sharia? On the one hand, in our manifesto, in our Sankalp Patra, we talk about bringing a uniform civil code. Congress is saying that it will promote personal laws. The Congress must answer because this is a very important issue, Shah said.

Muslim League association

Drawing parallels with the Muslim League, Shah said that Congress emphasis on minority-centric policies mirrored historical approaches. He questioned the fairness of prioritising minorities in government contracts based solely on religious grounds.

Exactly, it is the imprint of the Muslim League They are saying that for the contracts of the country, they will give priority to minorities. Who is the first lowest, what is the past performance, whether they have the capability to do the work or not, will contracts be decided on the basis of this or on the basis of religion? How do they want to run the country? The people of the country will have to decide. After a long time, Narendra Modi ji has taken the country out of the politics of appeasement. They want to take it back in the same direction again because the Congress does not have the confidence to win, the Union home minister said.

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On 6 April this year, virtually equating the Congress with the Muslim League, Prime Minister Modi said the grand old partys election manifesto reflects the same thought as that of the Muslim League at the time of the freedom movement adding the Congress party, which existed at the time of the freedom movement, has ended decades ago.

Prime Minister Modi noted that many influential figures, like Mahatma Gandhi, were once part of the Congress and pointed out that todays Congress lacks policies and a vision for the nations development during an election rally in Saharanpur. The prime minister further said that the Congress election manifesto reinforces the growing gap between the current Congress and the aspirations of modern India.

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Wealth redistribution and minority rights

In the course of the interview, Shah referred to former prime minister Manmohan Singhs statement, which Prime Minister Modi articulated a few days back, regarding minorities supposed first right to the countrys resources, particularly highlighting Muslims. He expressed concerns about the potential redistribution of wealth among specific groups.

It comes from the statement of the then prime minister of the country, Manmohan Singh, which was a very famous statement that the minorities have the first right to the resources of this country, and among the minorities, particularly Muslims. Now when it comes to distributing wealth, it will be from resources only. The government will distribute it by taking peoples property. And I say that if this is not true, then the Congress party should clarify what this means, the Union home minister said.

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Previously Prime Minister Modi while speaking at a rally in Rajasthans Banswara slammed the Congress partys promise of financial survey and said it seeks to seize the hard-earned wealth of the public and distribute it among infiltrators and those who have more children. While lashing out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhis proposed financial and institutional survey, Prime Minister Modi invoked a statement of his predecessor Manmohan Singh and said the Congress intends to snatch away the wealth of the public and distribute it to those whom Singh said have the first right on the countrys resources: Muslims.

Prime Minister Modi had called the Congress partys proposed survey serious and worrisome.

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Mangalsutra connection

Explaining from where the mangalsutra link emerged, Shah said, Naturally, when the issue of wealth comes, all these things are included.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing a rally in Rajasthan stirred up the mangalsutra row, alleging that married womens mangalsutras wont be safe if the Congress was voted to power.

The Congress, however, reacted sharply with party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra launching a scathing attack on the prime minister for his comments, questioning if such a thing has ever happened in the 50-year rule of the party. The Congress general secretary further added that her mother Sonia Gandhis mangalsutra was sacrificed for the sake of the country, whereas her grandmother, Indira Gandhis, gold was donated during the war in 1962.
In a now declassified internal memo issued by the CIA in 1987, titled India and the Sikh Challenge, the American spy agency had called the Khalistani movement an incipient Sikh insurgency, observing that the (Khalistani) extremists pose a long-term terrorist threat that will prove impossible for New Delhi to stamp out. The heavily redacted paper went on to evaluate that contributions from Sikh temples (sic), profits from narcotics trafficking, and remittances from proextremist overseas Sikhs will probably ensure enough financial support to enable the extremists to continue terrorist activity.

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While some of the CIA assessment has been prophetic, the irony lies elsewhere. It isnt known who wrote the CIA memo that had assessed Sikh extremism as detrimental to American interests in India but the author, if still around, may struggle to contain a smirk while reading Washington Post s latest hitjob on India where Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is referred to as a Sikh activist and a Modi critic. In the same way, Osama bin Laden was perhaps a critic of Barack Obama, or Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar a critic of the Jewish state.

When it comes to the Washington Post, one shouldnt be too surprised, however. It is the same newspaper that had called ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who had detonated a suicide vest in Syria during an American raid, an austere religious scholar at the helm of Islamic State in a headline that was surreptitiously changed after severe backlash and a meme fest. The text of Posts obit still describes the notorious terrorist as an austere religious scholar with wire-frame glasses and no known aptitude for fighting and killing.

It is difficult to even critique Washington Post in good faith given its mastery over spreading disinformation and insidious narratives to suit political or geopolitical agendas. Along with other international media outlets that have a strong liberal bias, such as the New York Times, Time or The Economist, The Washington Post seems to harbour a particular animus towards the democratically elected government at the Centre in India.

In its zeal to act as the cats paw for vested interests, the Post has taken so many hits on its credibility over the years that it prefers to now brazen it out, having lost all claims to objectivity.

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WaPos latest report on the Pannun controversy  where the newspaper strategically leaks the name of the mid-ranking Indian intelligence official linked to the assassination attempt on the Sikh extremist leader even as a high-powered probe is under way in India and a US department of justice (DoJ) trial in New York is poised to begin  is an exercise in manipulation and smear campaign. The malignant hitjob has motivations that are far more sinister than the whitewashing of an ISIS figurehead.

The report, which seeks to implicate high-ranking officials within Prime Minister Narendra Modis inner circle and even casts dark aspersions on the prime minister through unsubstantiated allegations, loaded innuendos and plain disinformation, while admitting that there is no smoking gun to establish any of its claims, seems to be the result of an intra-departmental rivalry in Washington DC and the desire of a certain segment within the American intelligence establishment and the entrenched bureaucracy in Foggy Bottom to cut New Delhi to size, a view that is not necessarily shared by the Joe Biden White House.

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Note that the report itself admits that even in recent days, the Biden administration has taken steps to contain the fallout from the assassination plot. White House officials warned the Modi government this month that The Post was close to publishing an investigation that would reveal new details about the case. It did so without notifying The Post.

The impression that the Post hitjob is the result of one-upmanship within the larger American establishment, where various interest groups are often at play instead of a gigantic, monolithic juggernaut with a singleness of purpose, gets further reinforced if we consider a Hindustan Times report from DC which speaks to officials within the system to posit that the striking feature of this (WaPo) story is not that the US is unhappy. The striking feature is that the White House has been aware of the issue since at least last July, yet the American political leadership maturely decided to compartmentalise the issue from the rest of the relationship.

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Apart from the attempted influence operation, the other startling thing about the so-called report is its timing, coming as it did bang in the middle of Indias general elections when the Modi government is seeking a mandate to stay in power for five more years and is widely tipped to do so. The Post uses a zealous paywall and makes its content available only to bona fide subscribers. Interesting to note that the newspaper took off the paywall and made only this report freely accessible for everyone. The modus operandi is clear. The Post wanted as many readers as possible in India, where its subscriber base is negligibly small, to read the report while they are lining up to cast their votes.

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This amounts to interference in Indian elections by elements of a foreign government, working through a media outlet, to influence the outcome of the polls by shaping the larger political discourse. What better way to float the idea that Modi runs a rogue government at the Centre and is facing international opprobrium for it? It is another matter altogether that even if the impression is one of Indias overreach, that plays very differently on the ground of a postcolonial society that is rising in stature.

Worth noting that apart from the name of the Indian intelligence officer, ostensibly provided to the newspaper by the shadowy forces in the US (the DoJ indictment has referred to the official only as CC-1) who prefer to stay anonymous, the tone and tenor of the report is heavily slanted and liberally sprinkled with rank speculation, specious twaddle and pious sanctimony.

The larger objective is to tarnish the governments image amid a highly competitive political environment  hallmarks of election season in an open democracy  through an adverse narrative that seeks to incriminate key figures within the government such as former R&AW chief Samant Goel, whose tenure ended on June 30, or national security advisor Ajit Doval, who has been singled out for a vicious smear campaign through a torrent of shady insinuations. The Post makes no pretensions about the authenticity of its contentions and instead relies on whispers, equivocation, and obfuscation.

For instance, WaPo says In reports that have been closely held within the American government, US intelligence agencies have assessed that the operation targeting Pannun was approved by the RAW (sic) chief at the time, Samant Goel.

Or, lets take the sentence which states: Higher-ranking RAW officials have also been implicated, according to current and former Western security officials, as part of a sprawling investigation by the CIA, FBI and other agencies that has mapped potential links to Modis inner circle.

In both the allegations, we have nothing to go by except WaPos assertions quoting unnamed sources. The readers are implicitly suggested to place their trust in a media outlet that is not known for inducing trust even among American public (trust in mass media in the US is at a historic low .

The slander campaign against Doval takes altogether different proportions. Indias national security advisor, who enjoys a good working relationship with his American counterpart Jake Sullivan, we are told is under the scanner of American spy agencies (that) have more tentatively assessed that Modis national security adviser was probably aware of RAWs plans to kill Sikh activists, but officials emphasized that no smoking gun proof has emerged.

It is curious that for someone who was involved in a plot that has entire DC in a tizzy, Doval is so chummy with Sullivan that the duo has been instrumental in launching the initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET), one of the most consequential initiatives to have emerged from the US-India strategic partnership .

It doesnt add up.

Also worth noting is how the five-eyes partnership (FVEY), the intelligence network of the Anglosphere (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States), has emerged as one of the key shadowy operatives behind the WaPo hitjob. One of the writers of the Post report, Greg Miller, is an investigative foreign correspondent based in London. This isnt a coincidence. It is believed that a major part of the inputs for the Post story was sourced from British intelligence networks.

Similarly, close on the heels of the Post claiming in its report that R&AW officers in Australia were expelled in 2020 after authorities broke up what Mike Burgess, head of the Australian intelligence service, described as a nest of spies, came a corroboration from an Australian media outlet. The incident of Australian counterintelligence expelling two Indian spies from the country took place four years ago, but the report was resurrected, rehashed, and promptly released on April 30 to act as a force multiplier for the Posts story on India. This, once again, isnt coincidence.

Apart from the potshots at the prime minister and his inner circle the Post report is also guilty of deliberately playing down the Khalistani threat through sanctified terms. The objective is to show that a paranoid Indian state run by a rogue regime is going after critics and dissidents around the world and trying to silence them through transnational repression. Framing the Pannun incident in such terms serves two important purposes for the Post, and those instrumental behind the hitjob.

One, it shows the Modi government as part of an expanding roster of countries employing tactics previously associated with China, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and other repressive regimes who are fueled by factors ranging from surging strains of nationalism and authoritarianism, and two, it puts daylight between Indian and American operations, since the latter is a known and expert practitioner of the black ops art.

If the Khalistani threat is just a matter of freedom of expression, then going after dissident groups invites reputational damage for India, and New Delhis actions cannot even remotely be compared with America that carries out the noble task of taking out dreaded terrorists and sanctifying the world. Americas hands may be bloodstained but its conscience remains clear.

Lest the report triggers a pesky Indian pushback, the Post makes it clear that western officials reject the comparison between Indias attempts and Americas counterterrorism operations. At its core, therefore, the Posts attempt is to reinforce US exceptionalism and reestablish its hegemony as the worlds sole superpower at a time when middle power upstarts are throwing the rulebook at the US and seeking to reshape the structure of world politics.

The US, as the top dog, seeks to reserve for itself the right to keep Americans safe by taking down imminent threats wherever they are citing self defence, including targeted killings of militants or terrorists on foreign soil, and is loathe to extend the priviledge to other actors, certainly not upstarts from the Global South.

For example, as Jonathan Masters observes in Council on Foreign Relations, the White House maintains that the U.S right to self-defense, as laid out in Article 51 of the UN charter, may include the targeted killing of persons such as high-level al-Qaeda leaders who are planning attacks, both in and out of declared theaters of war. The administrations posture includes the prerogative to unilaterally pursue targets in states without prior consent if that country is unwilling or unable to deal effectively with the threatexemplified by the Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

Pannun, the Sikh extremist leader based in New York, designated as a terrorist by India, is a self-confessed threat to India, Indian diplomats, Indian nationals, Indian political leaders and even the seat of Indian democracy  its Parliament.

However, despite Pannuns stated intent to assassinate the prime minister of India, the chief minister of Punjab, NSA Doval and external affairs minister S Jaishankar, despite his chequered history as a vital cog in the Khalistani movement that seeks violent secessionism from India, despite his explicit threats of bombing airplane full of Indian passengers, or warnings to carry out attacks on Indian Parliament Pannun is just a critic of the Modi government.

A solemn editorial by the Washington Post vows that India cannot be allowed to get away without imposition of steep costs. The Posts sanctimonious tone is inconsequential, even amusing, but the larger point remains.

As India rises, seeks to project power, so does its need to secure its interests and the safety and security of its citizens. India will also seek to deal with what New Delhi considers as imminent threats and these perceptions may not match with that of the US despite the close strategic partnership. These are inevitable processes linked to the rise of a middle power that harbours great power aspirations, and inherent tensions with the superpower and its collective network will increasingly come to the fore, more so as India sees itself as a legitimate pole in a multipolar world.

The Pannun incident could have been better handled but India will look to develop its capabilities and ensure its broad-based authority while acting on its own threat perception. The West and its media will have to adjust to the new realities.
Last month, Russia vetoed a UNSC resolution that would have extended the mandate of the presence of the panel by another year read more

As the tensions in the Korean peninsula continue to escalate, South Korea, the United States, Japan and 47 other countries called for efforts to continue objective and independent monitoring of the enforcement of UN Security Council (UNSC) sanctions on North Korea.

The UN panel which was tasked with monitoring the sanction imposed on the hermit nation was disbanded stirring major headlines around the world. The 50 nations released a joint statement on the matter on Thursday, Yonhap reported.

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Last month, Russia vetoed a UNSC resolution that would have extended the mandate of the presence of the panel by another year. Moscows growing ties with Pyongyang have been a matter of concern for many countries since Russia is currently involved in the ravaging war against Ukraine.

What are the countries saying?

The countries called North Koreas advancement of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) and ballistic missiles unlawful.

Given the imperative for all member states to comply with relevant Security Council resolutions, and considering the expiration of the panel, we must now consider how to continue access to this kind of objective, independent analysis in order to address the DPRKs unlawful WMD and ballistic missile advancements, the statement reads.

The remarks were formally delivered by US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield. We look forward to working with all member states to make that possible, she added.

The alliance slams Russia

In their statement, the nation also slammed the Russian Federation for vetoing the extension of the monitoring power. They insisted that the elimination of the panel made it harder for the UN to implement binding Security Council resolutions.

These resolutions address the threat posed by the DPRKs unlawful ballistic missile and WMD programs, which jeopardize international peace and security and put the global nonproliferation regime at risk, the alliance averred.

We reiterate the Security Councils consistent demand that the DPRK comply with its obligations under multiple Security Council resolutions, abandon its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs in a complete, verifiable, and irreversible manner, and engage constructively in diplomacy, they added.

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Whats the alternative?

When asked if the group had an alternative in mind now that the panel is disbanded, Thomas-Greenfield mentioned that the countries are looking into various possibilities.

Were looking at a number of possibilities, and working very, very closely with Japan and Korea to propose ideas for the rest of member states to consider, the US official told reporters after the joint presser, Yonhap reported.

It certainly is something we are working very urgently on doing with all of our colleagues here, she added.

The UN panels mandate has been extended annually since it was first launched in 2009. The UNSC Resolution 1874 was adopted in response to the Norths second nuclear test in May of the same year.

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The now-defunct panel has served as a key institutional platform to oversee sanctions on the North.
Turkey last month imposed trade restrictions on Israel over what it said was Israels refusal to allow Ankara to take part in aid air-drop operations for Gaza and its offensive on the enclave. read more

Turkey has cut off all commercial ties with Israel amid escalating tensions due to the ongoing conflict in Gaza, according to reports from Bloomberg.

Israels foreign minister Israel Katz said on Thursday that Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan was breaking agreements by blocking ports for Israeli imports and exports.

This is how a dictator behaves, disregarding the interests of the Turkish people and businessmen, and ignoring international trade agreements, Foreign Minister posted on X.

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Katz said he instructed the foreign ministry to work to create alternatives for trade with Turkey, focusing on local production and imports from other countries.

The two countries had a trade volume of $6.8 billion in 2023.

The escalating tensions between the two previously close allies are likely to deepen, particularly since the onset of the crisis in Gaza. Following the killing of an estimated 1,136 Israeli citizens and the taking of around 250 people hostage by Hamas terrorists on October 7, Israel has responded by deploying soldiers into Gaza and conducting airstrikes, resulting in the deaths of more than 34,000 individuals, as reported by the Hamas-run health ministry.

Turkey and Israel announced trade barriers on each other Tuesday as relations deteriorated further amid the war in Gaza.

Turkey, a staunch critic of Israels military actions in the territory, last month restricted exports of 54 types of products to Israel with immediate effect. They include aluminum, steel, construction products, jet fuel and chemical fertilizers. In response, Israel said it was preparing a ban on products from Turkey. This move comes amid a deteriorating relationship between the two countries, which had a trade volume of $6.8 billion in 2023.

Asked about Turkeys ongoing trade with Israel despite the harsh rhetoric from Ankara, President Tayyip Erdogan said last month that Turkey no longer continued intense trade with Israel, adding that is done. He did not indicate Ankara had cut off all trade with Israel, however.

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Turkey and Israel had normalized ties by appointing ambassadors to their respective countries in 2022, following years of tensions. Since January, Turkish authorities have detained dozens of people, including private detectives, on suspicion of spying for Israel, mostly on Palestinians living in Turkey.

With inputs from agencies.
Joshua Dean, a former quality auditor at Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems died after losing a battle to a sudden and fast-spreading infection. read more

While Boeing continues to navigate through various controversies, another whistleblower who raised alarm about one of the companys aircraft has passed away.

Joshua Dean, a former quality auditor at Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems died on Tuesday morning after losing a battle to a sudden and fast-spreading infection. Dean was one of the first Whistleblower who alleged that the Spirit leadership had ignored manufacturing defects on the Boeing aircraft 737 MAX.

According to The Seattle Times, the 45-year-old lived in Wichita, where Spirit is based, and had been in good health before contracting a lung infection. Deans aunt Carol Parsons confirmed his death and noted that the whistleblower was in a critical condition for two weeks.

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Spirt shares condolences

Meanwhile, Spirit spokesperson Joe Buccino said that the company is saddened by the sudden loss. Our thoughts are with Josh Deans family. This sudden loss is stunning news here and for his loved ones. Buccino told The Seattle Times.

However, it is important to note that the company fired him in April 2023. The former quality auditor gave a deposition in a Spirit shareholder lawsuit and also filed a safety complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

In the complaint, he alleged serious and gross misconduct by senior quality management of the 737 production line at Spirit. After Dean was fired from the company, he went on to file a complaint against the airliner with the Department of Labour.

He accused Spirit of terminating his contract in retaliation for raising concerns related to aviation safety.

What happened?

Parsons told the media that Dean suddenly fell ill and was hospitalised after he was having trouble breathing. He was eventually intubated and developed pneumonia. The doctors later found that Dean was suffering from a serious bacterial infection.

After his condition started to deteriorate, Dean was airlifted from Wichita to a hospital in Oklahoma City. On Friday his mother posted on Facebook detailing his condition and said that Dean was fighting for his life.

He was heavily sedated and put on dialysis and during his final days, doctors considered amputating both his hands and feet. It was brutal what he went through, Parsons said. Heartbreaking.

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Deans death came just months after another Boeing whistleblower named John Barnett was found dead. The authorities stated that the 62-year-old died from a self-inflicted wound on 9 March.

As per the reports, just days before his demise, Barnett had been giving evidence in a whistleblower lawsuit filed against the Boeing.
The latest remarks from the president came at a time when he is campaigning against his Republican opponent Donald Trumps anti-immigrant stance read more

US President Joe Biden stirred major headlines after he accused Asian economic giants like China, Japan and India of having xenophobic policies towards immigrants.

The American Commander-in-Chief reasoned that this xenophobia is part of the reason why the economies of these nations are stalling.

One of the reasons why our economys growing is because of you and many others. Why? Because we welcome immigrants, the 81-year-old president said at a fundraising event for his 2024 re-election campaign, Reuters reported.

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Why is China stalling so badly economically, why is Japan having trouble, why is Russia, why is India, because theyre xenophobic. They dont want immigrants. Immigrants are what makes us strong, he added.

The proclamation came as Biden kickstarted the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month on Wednesday. Last month, the International Monetary Fund forecasted that both Japan and India would see a growth decelerate in 2024 from the year prior, ranging from 0.9 per cent and 6.8 per cent, respectively.

Bidens remarks against his allies were jabs at Trump

The latest remarks from the president came at a time when he is campaigning against his Republican opponent Donald Trumps anti-immigrant stance.

Immigration has become one of the major issues of the upcoming election, which is expected to be a rematch between Biden and Trump. Biden has time and again stated that legal immigration is an aid to the American economy.

Meanwhile, in his bid to return to the White House, Trump has attacked migrants quite frequently and often used degrading terms against them. During his campaign, the former US President has characterised the migrants as dangerous criminals who are poisoning the blood.

While Biden tries to broaden economic and political relations with countries including Japan and India to counter China and Russia globally, the recent remarks can turn out to be detrimental to Bidens second bid for the White House.

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With inputs from agencies.
Acknowledging the impact of Nijjars killing on India-Canada ties, Canadian PM Trudeau has said that while the two countries should get along, he cannot ignore the problem created with the killing of the Khalistani separatist on Canadian soil in June last year read more

Acknowledging the impact of Hardeep Singh Nijjars killing on India-Canada ties, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that while the two countries should get along, he cannot ignore the problem created with the killing of the Khalistani separatist on Canadian soil in June last year.

According to a Hindustan Times report, in an interview to Punjabi-language media in Toronto, Trudeau said, Canada and India are the worlds two largest democracies, us by size, them by population. And we should be able to get along.

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However, he said Nijjars killing has seen a downward spiral in the relations between the two countries.

Its a problem in our relations with India because we cannot ignore that, said Trudeau.

The interview, which took place on Sunday, was aired by the network Y Media on Wednesday evening.

His comments came after attending a Khalsa Day event in Toronto where there was a significant presence of pro-Khalistan elements, with anti-India banners and separatist flags and he was greeted with secessionist chants at he entered and exited the podium, reported Hindustan Times.

On supporting Khalistan, Trudeau made it clear that Ottawa will not come in the way if things are done peacefully.

You get to support whatever beliefs you have, thats part of what makes Canada a free country, he said.

Regarding Indias concerns over the Vaisakhi parade, Trudeau said Canadas commitment to addressing such concerns seriously but emphasised that political protests are allowed within the country.

Our job is not to crack down on political protest, thats something we allow in Canada," he added.

We will always follow up when our fellow countries have expressed concerns about behaviour, about violence, about criminality. We take them seriously. What we will not do, however, is go after people because theyre saying things that the Indian government doesnt like, things that the Indian government disagrees with, he added.

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Trudeau asserted that Canada always stood very strongly against terrorism, against violence, against intimidation.

Describing India as an important partner, Trudeau said when it comes to people-to-people and business relations as well as cooperation on international issues like climate change, both the countries have been on the same page.

However, Nijjar murder will continue to be a sticking point till the matter is resolved to Canadas satisfaction.

We want to get through this challenging situation but there needs to be accountability, he added.

The ties between India and Canada came under severe strain following following Trudeaus remarks in the House of Commons regarding credible allegations of potential links between Indian agents and Nijjars killing.

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After Trudeaus charge, India had rejected the claims and termed the allegations as absurd and motivated.

Since then Ottawa and New Delhi announced tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats in the wake of Trudeaus allegation.

India also temporarily suspended the issuance of visas to Canadian citizens and asked Ottawa to downsize its diplomatic presence in the country to ensure parity. Canada had withdrawn 41 diplomats and their family members from India.

With inputs from agencies
Over the past four years, Chinas military has significantly ramped up its activities around democratically-governed Taiwan. Beijing views the island as its own territory, a position the government in Taipei strongly rejects. read more

Russia and China are working more closely on military matters, including the possibility of a potential invasion of Taiwan, according to US intelligence officials assessment as reported by Bloomberg. This latest development has accelerated new planning across the government to counteract a potential scenario where the two countries engage in coordinated military actions.

We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldnt, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines was quoted as saying by Bloomberg on Thursday in testimony to Congress.

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China carried out a joint combat readiness patrol near the island for the second time in a week, Taiwans defence ministry said on Thursday. Over the past four years, Chinas military has significantly ramped up its activities around democratically-governed Taiwan. Beijing views the island as its own territory, a position the government in Taipei strongly rejects.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised concerns last week about Chinas support for Russias military, one of the many issues threatening to sour the recent improvement in relations between the worlds biggest economies.

Blinken raised the matter during five-and-a-half hours of talks with Chinas top diplomat Wang Yi in Beijing, the latest high-level contact between the countries that have eased last years acrimony.

China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, has a strong dislike of Lai, believing him a dangerous separatist. Chinas government has rejected his repeated offers of talks, including one made last week.

With inputs from agencies.
Based on Halas travelers list, which was made available online, the corporation may have made at least $58 million last month from the approximately 10,136 adults and 2,910 children who crossed the border using its VIP list read more

Since the start of the conflict, between 80,000 and 100,000 Palestinians are thought to have evacuated Gaza through Egypt, according to Diab Allouh, the Palestinian envoy in Cairo Image Courtesy Reuters

A corporation controlled by a powerful Egyptian billionaire and President Abdel Fattah el-Sisis supporter is profiting almost $2 million every day from Palestinians escaping Israels assault on Gaza.

According to report by Middle East Eye, Ibrahim al-Organi, a business mogul and chairman of the Sinai tribe, owns the company Hala Consulting and Tourism Services, which has been charging Palestinians who pass from Gazas Rafah to Egypt at least $5,000 for adults and $2,500 for minors.

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It is the exclusive provider of transfer services at the Rafah crossing, the sole point of exit from Gaza that is not bordered by Israel, and the only path for Palestinians to leave the coastal enclave.

Based on Halas travelers list, which was made available online, the corporation may have made at least $58 million last month from the approximately 10,136 adults and 2,910 children who crossed the border using its VIP list.

It is anticipated that it earned about twice as much each day in March as it did in April, averaging $2 million per day.

Tuesday appears to have been the biggest day for income for Hala in April, with at least $2.3 million made from Palestinian refugees that day alone.

If the April average holds true, the firm might make well over half a billion dollars by the end of the year from the so-called VIP list of individuals that Hala is transporting across the border between Gaza and Egypt.

The first video of Halas VIP transfer service was captured on February 2.

Prior to February, Palestinians had to pay up to $11,000 for each adult in order to exit Gaza, but Hala eventually monopolized the market and established uniform pricing.

Before the war, Hala charged $350 per person for everyone leaving Gaza through the Rafah border; nevertheless, the cost has soared 14-fold for Palestinians.

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Halas revenues from Palestinians may have been at least $21 million in February, $38.5 million in March, and $58 million in April, according to traveler lists that have been made public since February 2.

Twenty-three lists from February, thirty from March, and thirty from April provide the basis for the count.

These estimates do not account for possible revenues during the first four months of the war, prior to Halas monopolization of the Rafah crossing industry.

Halas profits from the start of the war on October 7 to the end of January are not publicly available.

Since the start of the conflict, between 80,000 and 100,000 Palestinians are thought to have evacuated Gaza through Egypt, according to Diab Allouh, the Palestinian envoy in Cairo.

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There is no known monitoring of the money earned by Hala and other Organi enterprises, and there are no public documents that can be examined to determine how the money is used or who gets to keep it.

Organi was nominated by Sisi to the Sinai Development Authority in January 2022. The Sinai Development Authority is the only state organization that has authority over all building and development projects on the peninsula.

Early in April, people protesting against Organi and his company taking advantage of weak Palestinians were arrested by security agents.

Some have faced charges of spreading fake news and collaborating with a terrorist group as a result of taking part in the demonstrations.
A Japanese government statement confirmed the agreement to move forward with talks. The French presidency said that concluding the reciprocal access agreement would promote interoperability between the two militaries. read more

French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida as he arrives for a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, May 2, 2024.- Reuters

France and Japan will start formal discussions on a reciprocal troop access deal aimed at bolstering military cooperation amidst escalating maritime tensions in the Indo-Pacific region and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

As G7 allies, both nations have conducted numerous joint military exercises in recent years, both bilaterally and within the wider group. Paris has advocated for over a year to commence talks on a reciprocal access agreement (RAA). These agreements establish frameworks to streamline military collaboration, including facilitating the entry of foreign personnel and equipment for the visiting force.

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A Japanese government official said that the leaders agreed to start negotiations as Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and President Emmanuel Macron met in Paris. Given the accumulation of cooperation and (military) exercises, we consider this important, he said.

A statement from the Japanese government confirmed the agreement to proceed with talks on the reciprocal troop access deal. The French presidency highlighted that finalising the RAA would enhance interoperability between the two militaries.

In December 2023, Japan announced its most significant military build-up since World War Two, departing from its post-war pacifism. Japan has already signed RAAs with Australia and the United Kingdom and is in negotiations for a third with the Philippines. Tokyo, which spent approximately two years negotiating the agreement with Australia and one year for the one with Britain, hosts the largest concentration of U.S. forces abroad.

The official said a deal with France could take about a year to conclude. A French diplomatic source said Paris hoped it could be done very quickly.

Japan has sought to strengthen defence ties amid concerns about China, including its pressure on Taiwan, freedom of navigation in the region and trade disputes. It has also backed Ukraine in its war against Russia, saying it is vital to protect the rules-based international order.

We see whats happening in Europe and the Indo-Pacific as inseparable, the government official said.

France has territories in the Indo-Pacific and stations armed forces in the region, where it has sought to develop its presence.

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It wants to underscore how it can play a bigger role in Japans defence industry, as it has in the civilian nuclear power sector, as Kishida adopts a more muscular military policy in the region.

French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu has previously said that Paris was hoping to agree an RAA with Japan.

With inputs from agencies.
The UK Royal Navy in the Red Sea, James Hockenhull, the head of the British armys strategic command, and Secretary of State for Defense Grant Shapps are among the British politicians and organizations targeted read more

Although Iran has denied any direct involvement in the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel, it does support Hamas Image Courtesy Reuters

Sanctions against a number of American and British individuals and organizations for aiding Israel in its conflict with the Palestinian organization Hamas were announced by Iran on Thursday.

Israels worst adversary in the region, the Islamic Republic of Iran, revealed the retaliatory measures in a statement released by its foreign ministry.

According to the report, Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, a former commander of the US Navys Fifth Fleet, and General Bryan P. Fenton, the head of US special operations command, were among the seven Americans targeted by the sanctions.

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The UK Royal Navy in the Red Sea, James Hockenhull, the head of the British armys strategic command, and Secretary of State for Defense Grant Shapps are among the British politicians and organizations targeted.

Additionally, fines were announced for the British companies Elbit Systems, Parker Meggitt, and Rafael UK as well as the American companies Lockheed Martin and Chevron.

The ministry stated that the measures involve blocking of accounts and transactions in the Iranian financial and banking systems, blocking of assets within the jurisdiction of the Islamic Republic of Iran as well as prohibition of visa issuance and entry to the Iranian territory .

It is unknown how these actions will affect the people or organizations, their assets, and their interactions with Iran.

Following an attack on Israel on October 7 by Palestinian Hamas operatives that claimed 1,170 lives, the majority of them civilians, official Israeli numbers indicate that the Gaza Strip became engulfed in conflict.

Although Iran has denied any direct involvement in the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel, it does support Hamas.

The health ministry of the Hamas-run enclave reports that since Israel launched its retaliatory onslaught against Hamas, at least 34,568 individuals in Gaza have died, the most of them women and children.
While Hamas is indicating a negative response to the deal, it is not clear whether Israel will be prepared to demonstrate further flexibility read more

Days after Hamas said that it is studying Israels ceasefire proposal, the group hinted that they might reject the hostage deal which was crafted by the mediators and green-lit by Israeli authorities.

Osama Hamdan, a Hamas official based in Lebanon said that Hamas position on the matter is still negative. Our position on the current negotiating paper is negative," Hamdan told the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Manar TV.

However, Hamas press office subsequently clarified that the negative position does not mean that the negotiation has been stopped. The media wing maintained that theres still back and forth going on over the matter.

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All sides await Hamas response

According to The Times of Israel, the terror group was reportedly slated to submit a response to the proposal on Thursday. The amendment to the recent proposal was crafted by Qatari, Egyptian and American brokers.

While Hamas is indicating a negative response to the deal, it is not clear whether Israel will be prepared to demonstrate further flexibility. Hamas opposition stems from the fact that the ceasefire deal did not go far enough in guaranteeing an end to the war.

However, Israel has refused to commit to ending the operation in Gaza and remained adamant that the war will continue until Hamas is eliminated.

Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that the Israel Defence Force (IDF) will launch a ground assault in Gaza with or without a hostage deal in place.

What Blinken has to say?

During the interview, Hamdan warned that Hamas would walk away from the negotiations if Israel launched its assault on Rafah. Meanwhile, Blinken reiterated Bidens stance on the matter and accused Hamas of preventing the hostage deal coming into force.

Israel has made very important compromises in the proposal thats on the table, demonstrating its desire, willingness to get this agreement done, he said during a press conference while visiting the Ashdod Port.

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Now, as weve been saying, its on Hamas. Hamas has to decide whether it will take this deal and actually advance the situation for the people that it purports to care about in Gaza. There is no time for delay, he added.

The Ashdod Port became a significant place amid the conflict after Israel began using it to transport aid to Gaza last month. However, Blinken also maintained Washingtons opposition to ground operation in Rafah, insisting that the US needs an effective plan from Israel, to ensure that civilians are not harmed.

Israel has yet to provide a solid plan in this regard. There are better ways of dealing with the real ongoing challenge of Hamas that does not involve or require a major military operation in Rafah, the US official averred.
At dusk on Wednesday, when the policemen in tactical gear initially started streaming onto the UCLA campus, there were estimated to be between 300 and 500 police officers inside the camp and another 2,000 outside the barriocades read more

The police action at UCLA happened the day after pro-Palestinian demonstrators in New York City were detained for setting up a tent city on the campus of the Ivy League university and occupying a building at Columbia University Image Courtesy Reuters

Hundreds of police officers armed with batons and shields have stormed the University of California, Los Angeles in an attempt to disperse a pro-Palestinian demonstration camp that was attacked less than twenty-four hours earlier by supporters of Israel.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the police officers wearing helmets proceeded to eliminate various objects, including wood panels, that functioned as barriers to enter the camp.

In order to apprehend those who would not leave, the authorities forced their way onto the campus in the wee hours of the morning, at roughly 3.15 am PDT (3.45 pm IST).

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At dusk on Wednesday, when the policemen in tactical gear initially started streaming onto the UCLA campus, there were estimated to be between 300 and 500 police officers inside the camp and another 2,000 outside the barriocades.

According to reports, police fired flash-bang tupe devices that reverberated around the campus. Shouting push them back and dazzling lights in the polices face, some protestors retaliated.In preparation for the siege, a few of them were spotted wearing respirator masks, hard hats, and goggles the day after the university ruled the campsite illegal.

Police repeatedly ordered protestors to vacate the demonstration area before entering it via loudspeaker announcements.

There was a violent altercation between the residents of the tent city after a group of masked counter-demonstrators unexpectedly attacked it. Before the altercation, in which both sides exchanged blows and drenched each other with pepper spray, the residents of the makeshift protest camp had been mostly calm.

Before authorities were able to restore order, the altercation continued for two or three hours into Wednesday morning. Later, a representative for California Governor Gavin Newsom denounced as unacceptable the limited and delayed campus law enforcement response to the disturbances.

Following the confrontations, the university announced that, with the exception of restricted hours on Thursday and Friday, the almost 52,000-student campuswhich includes graduate and undergraduate studentswould remain closed.

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The police action at UCLA happened the day after pro-Palestinian demonstrators in New York City were detained for setting up a tent city on the campus of the Ivy League university and occupying a building at Columbia University.

The largest wave of US student activity since the 2020 anti-racism marches and demonstrations included the altercations at UCLA and in New York.

In recent days, students have protested or established tent camps at numerous US campuses, asking that schools divest from businesses that support the Israeli government and calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. To put an end to the protests, some schools have called in the police.
At the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meeting, Kamboj expressed hope that the membership of Palestine will be reconsidered in due course and that the regions shot at becoming a permanent UN member will receive support read more

As the war between Israel and Hamas continues to rage, India has reiterated its stance on a two-state solution for Palestinians at the United Nations.

Indias Permanent Representative to the UN Ruchira Kamboj on Wednesday said that India supports Palestinians rights to live freely in an independent country within secured borders with due regard to the security needs of Israel.

At the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meeting, Kamboj expressed hope that the membership of Palestine will be reconsidered in due course and that the regions shot at becoming a permanent UN member will receive support.

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My leadership has repeatedly emphasized that only a Two-State solution, achieved through direct and meaningful negotiations between both sides on final status issues, will deliver an enduring peace, Kamboj said.

The US, last month, vetoed a UNSC resolution calling for Palestinian statehood, drawing the ire of many countries supporting the regions cause.

On this, Kamboj said, While we have noted that Palestines application for membership at the UN was not approved by the Security Council because of the aforesaid veto. I would like to state here at the very outset that in keeping with Indias longstanding position, we hope that this would be reconsidered in due course and that Palestines endeavour to become a member of the UN will get endorsed.

The UN representative also highlighted Indias stance on the ongoing war, noting that it has led to large-scale violence and lead to the deaths of many, especially women and children.

She emphasised that India has strongly condemned the deaths of civilians in the conflict and firmly believes that international law and international humanitarian law must be respected by everyone under all circumstances. She called Hamas terror attacks on Israel on October 7 shocking and stressed that they deserve unequivocal condemnation.

With inputs from agencies
Anticipating the challenges he is likely to encounter, Maldivian foreign minister Moosa Zameer has been trying to build a conducive groundwork ahead of his visit to India read more

For Moosa Zameer, Maldives new foreign minister, the likely visit to India around 10 May will certainly be one of his toughest assignments. He needs to instill confidence in the Indian leadership that the archipelago is still a trustworthy partner of India, especially after its president, Mohamed Muizzu, openly made pro-China overtures in the last few months, denting Males longstanding ties with New Delhi.

While his upcoming visit to India was reported by Times of India, Zameer has been trying to build a conducive groundwork ahead of his visit. On 27 April, 2024, he thanked India for its decision to increase the export of essential supplies to the island nation for the fiscal year 2024-25, amid diplomatic tensions between both countries. The Maldivian foreign minister took to X to express gratitude to India and also referred to his countrys ties with New Delhi as a longstanding friendship'.

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I sincerely thank EAM @DrSJaishankar and the Government of #India for the renewal of the quota to enable #Maldives to import essential commodities from India during the years 2024 and 2025.



This is truly a gesture which signifies the longstanding friendship, and the strong  Moosa Zameer (@MoosaZameer) April 5, 2024

India lifts export curbs on essential commodities to Maldives

Recently, Indias Directorate General of Foreign Trade announced in a notification that exports to Maldives have been authorised under the bilateral trade agreement for the year 2024-25. This decision holds particular significance as it comes amid a diplomatic standoff between the two nations, which was initiated by the Maldives following President Mohamed Muizzus tilt towards China after assuming office last November.

This agreement entails the export of essential commodities from India to Maldives including eggs, potatoes, onions, rice, wheat flour, sugar and lentils. Additionally, India will supply Maldives with stone aggregate and river sand. Previously, the export of these commodities was either restricted or prohibited.

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Strained ties with India

Maldivian President Muizzus open pro-China stance and anti-India approach have posed significant challenges for New Delhi in maintaining friendly relations with Male. From his India Out campaign before the elections to permitting Chinese spy vessels to dock in his country, and even his ministers publicly insulting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and mocking Indians on social media, its been a consistent stream of hostility towards India emanating from the archipelago right under the nose of the highest office in the country.

Previously, Muizzus predecessor Ibrahim Mohamed Solih urged him to adopt a more open approach and engage in dialogue with neighbouring countries to address the financial difficulties facing the Maldives. Solih pointed out that while Maldives owes a substantial debt of MVR 18 billion to China, the amount owed to India is comparatively lower at MVR 8 billion, emphasizing that Indian loans are not the root cause of the financial challenges.

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Since assuming office, Muizzus criticisms of India during and after the presidential election campaign have strained relations between the two nations. He went as far as demanding the complete withdrawal of 88 Indian military personnel stationed at three aviation platforms used for humanitarian and medical evacuations in the Maldives by 10 May.

Despite four months passing since the new government took office, President Muizzu has yet to visit India. Traditionally, the first overseas trip by Maldivian presidents has been to India, but Muizzu broke with tradition by visiting China in January for his inaugural state visit.
The Asante king, also known as Asantehene, is revered as a representation of conventional power and is thought to be endowed with the ghosts of his ancestors. Nonetheless, Ghanas contemporary democracy now includes his realm read more

The 32 pieces were welcomed home by Ghanaians who came to the Manhyia Palace Museum in Kumasi, the capital of the Asante region

A century and fifty years after being taken by British colonists, Asante kingdom artifacts that were looted are now on display in Ghana.

The 32 pieces were welcomed home by Ghanaians who came to the Manhyia Palace Museum in Kumasi, the capital of the Asante region.

This is Asantes day. A day honoring the continent of Black Africa. Our shared spirit has returned, declared Asante King Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.

The things have only been lent to Ghana for a period of three years at this point.

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This loan, however, may be extended.

The artifacts return is a contentious and noteworthy decision.

Loan agreements like this one are viewed as a means of enabling artifacts to return to their countries of origin because national institutions in the UK, such as the V&A and British Museum, are prohibited by law from permanently returning controversial items in their collections.

Some nations vying for ownership of contested artifacts worry such loans could be interpreted as an endorsement of UK ownership.

Many Ghanaians believe the decorations ought to stay in place forever. Nonetheless, this new arrangement allows for an escape from British legal constraints.

African nations have been demanding the return of plundered goods on several occasions, with some even reclaiming possession of priceless historical artifacts in the last few years.

Germany returned more than 1,000 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria in 2022. The German foreign minister described it as a first step toward addressing a dark colonial history at the time.

Not the Ghanaian government, but the Asante king and two British museumsthe Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) and the British Museumare parties to the deal.

The Asante king, also known as Asantehene, is revered as a representation of conventional power and is thought to be endowed with the ghosts of his ancestors. Nonetheless, Ghanas contemporary democracy now includes his realm.

Our dignity is restored, Henry Amankwaatia, a retired police commissioner and proud Asante, told the BBC, over the hum of jubilant drumming.
Several demonstrators staged a sit down in front of the bus before some of them were forcibly removed by officers. It follows health concerns related to migrants being housed on the barge, which has been in use since August last year as an alternative to hotels for housing asylum seekers. read more

Hundreds of protesters thwarted an attempt to relocate asylum seekers from a London hotel to the Bibby Stockholm barge, as the UK government began phased action to crack down on illegal migration.

Police intervened and made arrests as demonstrators blocked the road near a Best Western hotel in Peckham, chanting slogans in support of refugees and opposing their transfer to the Bibby Stockholm barge docked in Portland, Dorset. The Metropolitan Police said several people have been arrested in the Peckham area for public order offenses.

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In a social media statement, UK Home Secretary James Cleverly said that housing migrants in hotels costs the British taxpayer millions of pounds every day. We will not allow this small group of students, posing for social media, to deter us from doing what is right for the British public, he said.

More than 7,500 migrants have arrived in England on small boats from France so far this year. The government says the new law will deter people from making the perilous trip across the Channel. Five people died trying to make the crossing last week.

Many protesters staged a sit-down in front of the bus before some of them were forcibly removed by officers. It follows health concerns related to migrants being housed on the barge, which has been in use since August last year as an alternative to hotels for housing asylum seekers.

The protest came a day after the Home Office announced that the first illegal migrants set to be deported to Rwanda under a new law have been detained following a series of UK-wide operations this week. It said operational teams have been working at pace to safely and swiftly detain individuals in scope for relocation to Rwanda, with more such detentions due to be carried out in the coming weeks.

Our dedicated enforcement teams are working at pace to swiftly detain those who have no right to be here so we can get flights off the ground. This is a complex piece of work, but we remain absolutely committed to operationalising the policy, to stop the boats and break the business model of people smuggling gangs, said Cleverly.

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The Home Office stresses that the Rwanda policy will deter migrants from making perilous journeys across the channel by showing clearly that anyone coming to the UK illegally, could be removed to Africa.

It is vital that operational detail is kept to a minimum, to protect colleagues involved and those being detained, as well as ensuring we can deliver this large-scale operation as quickly as possible, added Home Office Director of Enforcement Eddy Montgomery.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recently made a statement from Downing Street to say that he expects the first deportation flight to take off for Rwanda within 10 to 12 weeks time, after action such as over 2,200 more detention spaces, training of 200 new caseworkers to quickly process claims and preparation of 500 highly trained escorts being completed.

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He said that commercial charters have been booked and an airport has been put on standby, but had insisted that operational details of the action would be kept to a minimum to prevent disruption of his plan to stop the boats of thousands of migrants crossing the English Channel illegally. The topic is a priority issue for the Sunak-led government as it prepares for a general election later this year.

With inputs from agencies.
In response to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the US on Wednesday imposed new sanctions against Moscow on hundreds of firms, countries and people tied to Russias weapons development program. read more

The US has accused Russia of violating the global ban on chemical weapons by using the choking agent chloropicrin against Ukrainian troops and deploying riot control agents as a method of warfare in Ukraine.

The State Department said in a statement issued late Wednesday that Russia has used the chemical weapon chloropicrin against Ukrainian forces in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). It also said that the use of such chemicals is not an isolated incident and is probably driven by Russian forces desire to dislodge Ukrainian forces from fortified positions and achieve tactical gains on the battlefield.

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The accusation, however, was denied by Russia on Thursday. Reacting to charges, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow remained bound by its obligations under the treaty that bans chemical weapons.

Peskov said that such accusations are unfounded and are not supported by anything as always. Russia has been and remains committed to its obligations under international law in this area, he said.

Chloropicrin is a banned choking agent by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), headquartered in The Hague. The OPCW was established to enforce and oversee compliance with the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). Notably, German forces deployed this gas against Allied troops during World War I, marking one of the earliest instances of chemical weapon use in warfare.

In response to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the US on Wednesday imposed new sanctions against Moscow on hundreds of firms, countries and people tied to Russias weapons development program.

The Treasury and State departments have accused over a dozen Chinese firms of aiding Russia in circumventing sanctions and individuals associated with the death of Russian dissident Alexey Navalny.

The sanctions imposed by these departments target various aspects of Russias military-industrial complex, including its chemical weapons programs. Additionally, they focus on entities in third countries that facilitate Russias acquisition of weapons components. These actions come as Russias invasion of Ukraine enters its third year.

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The Treasury Department imposed sanctions on nearly 200 entities, while the State Department designated over 80 individuals and entities. Specifically, the US imposed sanctions on 20 companies based in China and Hong Kong.

This move follows repeated warnings from Washington regarding Chinas assistance to Russias military, notably highlighted during recent visits to China by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Firms in several countries, including China, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Slovakia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates are alleged to have assisted Russia in acquiring technology and equipment from abroad. These penalties are intended to restrict their access to the US financial system and prohibit American citizens from engaging in transactions with them.
On a bright May Day public holiday, lines stretched out of buildings to get into the Trophies of the Russian Army display, which is being held outside a museum commemorating the Soviet Unions 1945 triumph over Nazi Germany read more

Apart from tanks, Moscow displays military equipment manufactured in Turkey, Sweden, Austria, Finland, South Africa, and the Czech Republic, as well as armored vehicles from Australia and Britain that were taken from Ukraine Image Courtesy AP

The Russian military said that an exhibition on Wednesday in Moscow featured Western tanks and military hardware that it had acquired during its invasion of Ukraine, proving that assistance from the West would not prevent it from winning the conflict.

On a bright May Day public holiday, lines stretched out of buildings to get into the Trophies of the Russian Army display, which is being held outside a museum commemorating the Soviet Unions 1945 triumph over Nazi Germany.

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History is repeating itself, the Russian Defence Ministry said in a statement, adding that the Soviet Union had in 1943 also put on a display of captured tanks and hardware, in this case from the German army.

Strength is in the truth. Its always been that way. In 1943 and today. These war trophies reflect our strength. The more of them there are, the stronger we are, the ministry stated, predicting a Russian victory in what it officially calls its special military operation in Ukraine.

No Western military equipment will change the situation on the battlefield, the statement added.

Critics in the West and Ukraine claim that the majority of Russias military equipment is antiquated, and that the countrys victories on the battlefield are the product of heavy fatalities and overwhelming force of numbers. Although the exact number of casualties is unknown, both sides are known to have sustained significant losses.

Days after the United States approved a $61 billion aid package for Kyiv, and after Russia made some quick but gradual territorial gains in eastern Ukraine at a time when Kyivs forces claim they are short on ammunition and manpower, the Moscow display, which features American, German, and French tanks that have been supplied to Ukraine, took place.

Apart from tanks, Moscow displays military equipment manufactured in Turkey, Sweden, Austria, Finland, South Africa, and the Czech Republic, as well as armored vehicles from Australia and Britain that were taken from Ukraine.

The main attraction of the presentation, according to State TVs Channel One, was an American M1 Abrams combat tank that had been taken down by Russian forces in eastern Ukraine with the help of kamikaze drones and guided rockets.
In testimony to the Republican-led House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday, Assistant Defence Secretary for Space policy John Plumb also asserted that China and Russia have militarised space read more

In a significant revelation in an open forum, a high-ranking Pentagon official has said that US believes Russia is preparing to deploy a nuclear weapon in space and Washington is concerned as it has not been able to dissuade them from doing so.

According to the South China Morning Post report, during testimony to the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday, Assistant Defence Secretary for Space Policy John Plumb said that both China and Russia have effectively militarised space.

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Highlighting Russias activities, Plumb expressed apprehension over Moscow developing a anti-satellite capability related to a new satellite carrying a nuclear device that Russia is [also] developing". He said the US is concerned about being unable to convince them otherwise to ultimately fly a nuclear weapon in space, added the report.

Plumb said such an indiscriminate weapon would endanger all satellites and critical global infrastructure such as communication networks, scientific endeavors, meteorological monitoring, agricultural systems, commercial operations, and national security apparatuses pillars upon which we all rely.

He also cautioned that it could render low Earth orbit unusable.

Responding to a lawmakers question of whether that could last a year, South China Morning Post report quoted Plumb as saying, I believe it could.

Asked if the threat was looming, Plumb said it was imminent in the way that we should have to worry about it right now.

Last week, Russia had vetoed a UN Security Council resolution urging nations to halt a potentially perilous nuclear arms competition in outer space, branding it as a dirty spectacle.

The proposed resolution, backed by the US and Japan, aimed to compel all nations to refrain from developing or positioning nuclear weapons or any other mass destructive armaments in space, actions already prohibited under a 1967 global treaty.

Todays veto begs the question: Why? Why, if you are following the rules, would you not support a resolution that reaffirms them? What could you possibly be hiding, The Guardian had quoted US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, as saying after the vote.

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Russias UN Ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, dismissed the resolution as absolutely absurd and overly politicised, arguing that it fell short of adequately prohibiting all forms of weaponry in space.

The Security Council, comprised of 15 members, witnessed a vote with 13 in favor, Russia in opposition, and China abstaining.

Russia and China tabled an amendment urging all nations, particularly those possessing significant space capabilities, to permanently prevent the deployment of weapons in outer space and the potential use of force in that domain.

However, the United States objected to the amendment. Following the vote, Nebenzia questioned, We want a ban on the placement of weapons of any kind in outer space, not just WMDs [weapons of mass destruction]. But you dont want that. And let me ask you that very same question. Why?

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In a statement issued by the White House on 24 April, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said that Moscow would not have vetoed this resolution if Russian President Vladimir Putin truly had no intentions of deploying nuclear weapons in space.

Plumb called the 1960s  when the Soviet Union and the US each conducted a high-altitude nuclear test  a different time when testing was done to learn things. The tests damaged all satellites and rendered those orbits unusable for a time, he added.

Plumb clarified that the outer space treaty does not prohibit weapons in space, but refers to weapons of mass destruction, and asserted that Russia and China have militarised space.

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We can say that Russia is deploying and developing prototype kinetic weapons in space, South China Morning Post quoted him as saying.

We can see that China has developed robotic satellites that are really probably dual use  they can be used for non-military purposes but they can clearly also be used for military purposes like grappling a satellite, he added.

With inputs from agencies
The US and Saudi Arabia would enter into a bilateral defence pact under the proposed plan B. Israel would be offered the normalisation of diplomatic relations with Riyadh in exchange for accepting a two-state solution to the longstanding Israeli-Arab conflict. read more

A series of agreements drafted by the US and Saudi Arabia on security and technology-sharing were initially intended to coincide with a broader peace settlement involving Israel and the Palestinians.

However, due to the absence of a ceasefire in Gaza and staunch opposition from Benjamin Netanyahus Israeli government regarding the establishment of a Palestinian state - coupled with its purported intent to initiate an offensive on Rafah - the Saudis are advocating for a more scaled-back alternative, referred to as plan B which excludes Israel.

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Under this proposed plan B, the US and Saudi Arabia would enter into agreements regarding a bilateral defense pact, US assistance in developing Saudi Arabias civil nuclear energy sector, and enhanced cooperation in fields such as artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies, as per a report from Bloomberg.

As part of this proposal, Israel would be offered the normalization of diplomatic relations with Riyadh in exchange for its acceptance of a two-state solution to the longstanding Israeli-Arab conflict. However, under Riyadhs plan B, the fulfillment of the US-Saudi agreements would not be contingent upon approval from the Netanyahu government.

Firas Maksad, senior director for strategic outreach at the Middle East Institute was quoted by Bloomberg as saying that there should be room for a less-for-less model, so the relationship with the US need not be held hostage to the whims of Israeli politics or Benjamin Netanyahu.

Meanwhile, a Democratic US senator on Wednesday urged President Joe Biden to include strict nonproliferation safeguards in any nuclear power deal with Saudi Arabia that might come as part of a potential normalization of relations agreement brokered by Washington between the kingdom and Israel.

The Biden administration has been talking with Saudi Arabia and Israel on a potential peace agreement since before the Oct. 7 deadly attacks by Hamas on Israel and talks have continued during the Israeli war on the militant group in Gaza.

Such a major regional deal, widely seen as a long-shot even before the Israel-Hamas war, would still face numerous political and diplomatic obstacles, not least the uncertainty over how the Gaza conflict will unfold.

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A pact giving the worlds biggest oil exporter U.S. military protection in exchange for normalisation with Israel would reshape the Middle East by uniting two long-time foes and binding Riyadh to Washington at a time when China is making inroads in the region.

With inputs from agencies.
Manele who served as the foreign minister of the country in the past is known for having a pro-China stance in the past read more

In a secret ballot following a highly intense elections, Solomon Island lawmakers chose Jeremiah Manele as the new Prime Minister of the island nation. Manele who served as the foreign minister of the country in the past is known for having a pro-China stance.

According to Reuters, the voting for the Prime Ministerial post took place on Thursday and was closely watched by Australia, China and the United States.

Manele was nominated by 31 out of 50 members of the national parliament in a secret ballot. The results were eventually announced by Governor General David Vunagi. As per tradition, the Solomon Island lawmaker is expected to be sworn in on Friday.

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The people have spoken, Manele said after the voting. Today we show the world we are better than that - we must respect the democratic process for electing our prime minister, he added.

Solomon Islands diplomatic pivot

The general elections which took place in the country last month came after the countrys prime minister, Manasseh Sogavare, severed the 36-year-old long diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Solomon Islands decision to switch recognition to China eventually drew the nation closer to Beijing.

However, the diplomatic pivot toward Beijing has worried Australia and the United States who are currently countering Chinas influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

The last months national elections failed to deliver a majority to any particular political party. Hence, two camps lobbied to win support from independents ahead of the vote for prime minister.

Maneles closeness with China

During his 5-year tenure as the countrys foreign minister, Manele was consistently supporting Beijing. Last year, he thanked China for funding the nations sporting facilities for the 2023 Pacific Games.

In a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in 2023, Manele expressed admiration for Chinas development achievements and mentioned that he would love to learn from Beijings governance example.

During a conversation with ABC News, ahead of the voting, Manele said that his foreign policy is friends to all and enemies to none.

Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister Antony Albanese congratulated the new PM-elect.

Congratulations to Jeremiah Manele on his election as Prime Minister of Solomon Islands. I look forward to working closely with him. Australia and Solomon Islands are close friends and our futures are connected.   Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) May 2, 2024

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Congratulations to Jeremiah Manele on his election as Prime Minister of Solomon Islands, he wrote on X, formally known as Twitter. I look forward to working closely with him. Australia and the Solomon Islands are close friends and our futures are connected," he added.

The other contender for the prime ministerial post was Solomon Islands Democratic Party leader Matthew Wale, who advocated for promoting investments into national projects.

In a speech at the Solomon Islands National University ahead of the Thursday voting, Wale criticised Sogavares administration. We spent $4 billion building stadiums and we think its expensive to fund free education, he said. Its a question of priority.

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In the past, Wale was also critical of the wide-ranging security and policy pacts signed between Solomon Island and China.

With inputs from agencies.
Taiwans defence ministry said that starting from 4 pm (0800GMT) on Thursday it had detected 15 Chinese military aircraft, including Su-30 fighters, carrying out joint combat readiness patrols with Chinese warships around Taiwan read more

Members of Taiwan's Navy and media onboard a special operation boat with a Taiwanese flag fluttering over it during a drill part of a demonstration for the media, to show combat readiness ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays, on the waters near a military base in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 31 January, 2024. Reuters File

Taiwans defence ministry on Thursday said that China had carried out a joint combat readiness patrol near the island for the second time in a week.

Over the past four years, Chinas military has significantly ramped up its activities around democratically-governed Taiwan. Beijing views the island as its own territory, a position the government in Taipei strongly rejects.

The ministry said that starting from 4 pm (0800GMT) on Thursday it had detected 15 Chinese military aircraft, including Su-30 fighters, carrying out joint combat readiness patrols with Chinese warships around Taiwan.

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Ten of the aircraft crossed the Taiwan Straits median line, or areas nearby, and flew into air space to the islands north, centre and southwest, the ministry said.

The median line used to serve as an unofficial border between Taiwan and China, but Chinese military aircraft now regularly cross it. China says it does not recognise the lines existence.

Chinas defence ministry did not answer calls seeking comment on Thursday, the country being in the middle of its Labour Day holiday.

Taiwan reported a similar Chinese combat patrol on Saturday.

The islands top security official said on Wednesday that Taiwan is on alert for China to carry out military exercises following the inauguration of President-elect Lai Ching-te later this month.

Taiwan National Security Bureau Director-General Tsai Ming-yen said China had begun using unusual new tactics, including staging night time combat patrols.

China has a strong dislike of Lai, believing him a dangerous separatist. Chinas government has rejected his repeated offers of talks, including one made last week.

Lai says only Taiwans people can decide their future.
The bill was sponsored by New York Republican Congressman Mike Lawler and was passed 320-91 votes in favour read more

Officers with the New York Police Department arrest Pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. Source: AP

A day after the New York Police Department (NYPD) officers barged into the Hamilton Hall of Columbia University, the US House of Representatives voted to pass a controversial antisemitism awareness bill.

The bill was sponsored by New York Republican Congressman Mike Lawler and was passed 320-91 votes in favour. The Antisemitism Awareness Act would mandate that when the US Department of Education enforces federal anti-discrimination laws it should consider a border definition of antisemitism which was put forward by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.

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The supporters of the legislation said that it would help the American authorities to combat antisemitism on college campuses. However, opponents called the bill an overreach and insisted that the legislation threatened free speech.

What are the critics saying?

Out of the 91 people who voted against the bill, 70 were Democrats and 21 were Republican voters. With this, the Act will now be tabled at the Senate and will undergo voting.

While introducing the legislation on the House floor, Lawler said that its critical that we crack down on antisemitic hate within our own country, CNN reported.

Im thankful for the bipartisan support of the Antisemitism Awareness Act and for the support from a wide range of Jewish organizations that are standing up, endorsing this legislation, and saying enough is enough, he added.

However, the critics argued that the definition proposed is overly expansive and could lead to censorship issues. The American Civil Liberties Union opposed the bill and called it unnecessary.

Federal law already prohibits antisemitic discrimination and harassment by federally funded entities," the body said in a statement.

[The legislation] is therefore not needed to protect against antisemitic discrimination; instead, it would likely chill the free speech of students on college campuses by incorrectly equating criticism of the Israeli government with antisemitism," it furthered.

Meanwhile, The Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) pointed out the shift in the definition of antisemitism in the US political discourse. Traditionally, antisemitism has meant hostility and prejudice toward Jews because they are Jews  a scourge that has imperilled Jews throughout history, and is a source of resurgent threats to Jews today," FEMP said in a statement after bill was passed in the House.

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In recent years there has been an energetic effort to redefine the term to mean something else. The new definition is explicitly politicised, refocusing the term to encompass not only hatred of Jews but also hostility toward and criticism of the modern state of Israel, the body added.

With inputs from agencies.
Herzogs comments came as hundreds of police and protesters were in a tense stand-off at the University of California, Los Angeles and unrest over Israels war against Hamas in Gaza continued to spread on campuses across the United States. read more

Israels president Isaac Herzog slammed US universities for the campus unrest surrounding Israels conflict in Gaza, alleging that these institutions were contaminated by hatred and anti-Semitism.

In a special broadcast, Herzog conveyed an urgent message of support to Jewish communities, citing a dramatic resurgence in anti-Semitism and instances of hostility and intimidation against Jewish students on campuses across the US.

Herzog also said We see prominent academic institutions, halls of history, culture, and education contaminated by hatred and anti-Semitism fuelled by arrogance and ignorance. We watch in horror as the atrocities of October 7th against Israel are celebrated and justified.

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Herzogs comments came as hundreds of police and protesters were in a tense stand-off at the University of California, Los Angeles and unrest over Israels war against Hamas in Gaza continued to spread on campuses across the United States. Demonstrators have gathered in at least 30 US universities since last month, often erecting tent encampments to protest the soaring death toll in the Gaza Strip.

Israels offensive in Gaza has resulted in the deaths of at least 34,596 people, predominantly women and children, according to the territorys health ministry run by Hamas. This action follows Hamass unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, which led to the deaths of 1,170 individuals, primarily civilians, as per an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israeli authorities state that militants also took approximately 250 hostages, with 129 still held in Gaza, including 34 presumed deceased. The protests against the war have presented a challenge to US university administrators striving to balance free speech rights with allegations of criminal activity, anti-Semitism, and hate speech.

In his statement on Thursday, President Herzog directed his message to our friends on campuses and in Jewish communities across the United States and all over the world. The people of Israel are with you. We hear you. We see the shameless hostility and threats. We feel the insult, the breach of faith and breach of friendship. We share the apprehension and concern, he said.

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In the face of violence, harassment and intimidation, as masked cowards smash windows and barricade doors, as they assault the truth and manipulate history, together we stand strong, he said. As they chant for intifada and genocide, we will work  together  to free our hostages held by Hamas, and fight for civil liberties and our right to believe and belong, for the right to live proudly, peacefully and securely, as Jews, as Israelis  anywhere.

Pointing to Holocaust Memorial Day commemorations next week, the Israeli president said we will speak of the dark times of the past, and we will remember the miracle of our rebirth. Together, we shall overcome, he said. In the face of this terrifying resurgence of anti-Semitism: Do not fear. Stand proud. Stand strong for your freedom.

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With inputs from agencies.
Guanghou, May 2 (UNI) As of 2 p.m. on Thursday, the death toll has risen to 48 after part of an expressway collapsed in south China's Guangdong Province on early Wednesday morning, according to a press conference held in Meizhou City.

DNA of another three people are yet to be identified.

Thirty injured people are receiving hospital treatment, and none of them are in life-threatening condition, according to authorities of Meizhou City.
Kolhapur (Maharashtra), May 2 (UNI) Just days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's bhatakti atma (wandering soul) barb at NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and that too on the Maharashtra leader's home turf, the veteran politician lambasted the PM for being a disgrace on the country's premier post.

Modi on Monday had hit out at Sharad Pawar without taking his name, when he said: There is a bhatakti atma (wandering soul) in Maharashtra. If it does not manage success it spoils others good work. Maharashtra has been a victim of it.

In reply on Thursday addressing a press conference here, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP-SP) chief did not mince words either as he said: "It is not surprising that Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses me as a 'Bhatakti Aatma', because the post of the country's PM has never before been so disgraced as by Modi."

Pawar, 83, who started his political career in the 1950s, and has been four-time Maharashtra CM, besides being part of many governments at the Centre, said he had seen Pt Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and then all the other PMs and heard their speeches at different occasions, but "when Modi used the "atrupta aatma" (insatiable soul) word, I couldn't be less surprised because the position of PM has never been so disgraced by any other prime minister earlier".

Pawar said PM Modi's speeches were not based on facts. "Instead of speaking on basic issues that people are facing, he distracts voters with concocted issues. The PM is satisfied attacking me and Uddhav Thackeray," he said.

Raising doubts about the Election Commission's motive in slowing down the pace of revealing voting percentages of the first two phases, Pawar said there was no need for five-phase voting in Maharashtra. "Except to allow Modi more time to campaign... as those at the Centre are worried," he said.

The NCP (SP) chief also lambasted Modi for attempting to create social tension, by alleging frequently at his rallies that if voted to power, the INDIA bloc would bring reservation based on religion.

"The concept of giving reservation on the basis of religion is not acceptable to us (the Opposition) and if Modi will try to give such reservation, then we all would oppose it," he said.

On Modi's criticism of the INDIA bloc saying if it were voted to power, there will be five prime minister in five years, Pawar reminded that in 1977, when Congress was defeated after agitation by Jayprakash Narayan, similar questions were raised but Morarji Desai was elected as prime minister after discussion by all opposition leaders so there will be no problem for the INDI Aghadi as well.

"We will take a decision after discussing with all alliance parties and this so-called feud of "who will be the PM" is more in the BJP's head than ours," he said.

Pawar also cautioned that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will show its true face to Shiv Sena (Shinde) and NCP(AP) if expected results after the election did not come.

The former Union Agriculture Minister then went on to criticise several decisions of the Central government, like the export of white onion of Gujarat, which he termed as injustice.

On Modi's claim that sugarcane FRP was raised by Rs 300 per tonne, Pawar said he was not aware that Congress led government had given guarantee rates to sugarcane producer farmers, who had then received good rates for sugarcane under that regime.

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New Delhi, May 2 (UNI) Refuting false claims being circulated on WhatsApp regarding the recovery of bombs from some schools in the national capital, the Delhi Police on Thursday urged the public to check the veracity and source of information of such messages.

Delhi Police PRO Suman Nalwa in a social media post said, Fake news in the form of WhatsApp messages regarding recovery of some suspicious objects from some schools is going on.

These messages are totally false. Please check the veracity and source of information behind every such message before believing or forwarding it, Nalwa mentioned.

She also requests everyone to further disseminate information about the false messages to prevent panic among the masses.

Fear descended in almost all schools of Delhi and many in adjoining Noida and Ghaziabad on Wednesday after receipt of an email threatening a terror attack, which was later declared as a hoax by the police and the government.

The email prompted disruption of studies, evacuation and massive searches in the schools.

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There are currently about 400,000 people living with Parkinsons disease in Germany alone. Medications can help with symptoms, but there is no cure. Certain cells responsible for carrying out movements gradually die off, so people with the disease become increasingly limited in their movements and have hand and feet tremors at rest. Getting to the doctors office is a challenge for many patients, and there can be long distances involved, especially in rural areas. As a result, patients might only be seen every six months or even less often. New symptoms often go unrecognized by patients and their loved ones, so the information is not passed along to the treatment team. In the ParkProReakt flagship project, researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology FIT and partners (Philipps-Universitat Marburg, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Praxis fur Neurologie und Psychiatrie Hamburg Walddorfer, AWO Stadtkreis Giessen e. V. and AWO des Landesverband Hamburg e. V., Techniker Krankenkasse, Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen, University of Cologne, Universitat zu Lubeck, LiKe Research GmbH, and Portabiles Healthcare Technologies GmbH) plan to foster ongoing communication between doctors and patients and enable regular checkups. The project partners are investigating whether a digital solution can help improve quality of life for patients with Parkinsons disease. The neurology team at Philipps-Universitat Marburg is coordinating the project, which is slated to run until the end of 2025.

Demand-driven care model with a holistic approach

By developing a web platform and a mobile smartphone app that pairs with an Apple Watch via Bluetooth, the partners plan to establish a proactive, demand-driven, cross-sector care model that follows a holistic approach involving healthcare workers and specialists, who can communicate with each other on the platform. The ultimate goal is to ensure better patient care and ease some of the burden on family caregivers, as using the digital solution will help them assess changes in the course of the disease. The app, which is named Active PD, is used by patients themselves after an initial familiarization phase. The data collected using the app are transmitted to the web platform, which is available to doctors, explains Daniel Wolferts, a scientist at Fraunhofer FIT. Wolferts and his team are responsible for the human-centric design of both systems, among other aspects. They are working to design the user interface to be user-friendly. How do we design an app for Parkinsons patients, and what kind of information do these people want to get? How do we visualize the data in both applications in a user-friendly way for all the different groups concerned, and how do we meet the requirements most effectively? How can we make it so patients can undergo the necessary testing and examinations right on their phone without facing too big a motor challenge? Those are the kinds of questions were working on.

Clinical study with 170 participants

The concept is being validated in clinical studies with 170 patients over a period of six months. One intervention group is to receive the digital solution, while a control group will receive conventional treatment without any added technological tools. The patients are asked to perform standardized Parkinsons-related tests twice a week using the app and the Apple Watch, which captures their movements via sensors. The tests look mainly at their motor skills and overall condition, helping doctors and other providers to better gauge disease-related symptoms and quickly take appropriate action in response. For example, participants are asked to do finger exercises in front of the smartphone camera, tapping their index finger and thumb together as fast as they can several times in a row. An image recognition feature detects the thumb and forefinger and measures the distance between them during the test. Another exercise involves opening and closing a fist several times at a rapid pace. Parkinsons patients have a hard time making these movements quickly and fluidly due to the disease, the researcher explains. In addition, sensors are used to check whether participants are able to hold their hand still for a certain period without trembling  a challenge for people with Parkinsons disease. The tests are accompanied by questions about patient wellbeing so support can also be provided at the emotional level as needed. Three color codes  green, yellow, and red  are used to alert the treating physician if a patients condition worsens dramatically. The app, which is currently in the prototype stage, can also be used to report incidents such as falls. We hope our digital solution will give providers a better window on patients day-to-day lives and have a positive impact on their quality of life. If were successful, we might also ultimately be able to expand the concept to cover other neurological diseases, Wolferts says.
Surfer fatally stabbed in Australia

Sydney, May 2 (UNI) Police in Australia's New South Wales (NSW) launched investigations after a male surfer was fatally stabbed on Thursday.

Around 6.40 a.m. local time, emergency services were called to Ocean Parade in Coffs Harbour following reports of the man being stabbed.

Upon arrival, officers found the victim in his 20s suffering stab wounds to his neck and chest. He was rushed to a hospital but succumbed, the NSW Police Force confirmed in a statement.

NSW police Chief Inspector Detective Guy Flaherty told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that when Coffs-Clarence Police District officers attended to the victim, he appeared fresh out of water as he was wearing a black wetsuit at that time.

Coffs Harbour is a coastal city located in the southwestern state's mid-north, about 540 km north of the state capital Sydney.

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Ulviyya Shahin

On May 2, 2024, the 12th Career Fair was held at ADA University, Azernews reports.

137 institutions were represented at the Career fair held under the slogan "Bridge between talents and career paths". Supported by ABB and the ADA University Foundation, the fair, which began its activities on April 16th, concluded with Career Preparation Week.

Fariz Ismayilzade, Vice-Rector for State, External, and Student Affairs at ADA University, highlighted the opportunities provided to students by the 12th edition of the Career Fair and announced the record number of companies participating this year.

Elkin Nurmammadov, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs at ADA University, emphasised the significant progress made both quantitatively and qualitatively at the Career Fair, noting the existence of various mechanisms for job opportunities between ADA University and employers.

Natiq Haciyev, President of the ADA University Foundation, expressed that the ongoing collaboration between ABB and ADA University over the past 4 years is one of the successful examples of university-private sector relations, stating that these relationships will contribute to increasing the number of students' social projects and their academic development in the future.

Malahat Abdullayeva, director of IBA's Human Resources department, stated that IBA collaborates with many local universities, with ADA University ranking high on the list due to the distinction of its students in education. It's no coincidence that already 50 graduates of ADA University are working at IBA.

During the fair, representatives of the "Big four companies" in Azerbaijan, as well as the Ministries of Energy, Justice, Economy, and Internal Affairs, PASHA Holding, and start-up companies, including banks, tourism, and communication sectors, provided detailed information to fair participants about their activities and career opportunities.

The fair provided an opportunity for ADA University students and graduates to network with potential employers, present their resumes directly to them, and participate in on-site interviews.

Furthermore, during the closing ceremony held today as part of Career Preparation Week, the names of 5 students who passed the special selection organized by companies were announced, and they were offered internship opportunities at those companies.
Ambulance dispatch system successfully handed over to GHA

His Majestys Government of Gibraltar has reported a successful handover of the Ambulance Dispatch System from the Gibraltar Fire and Rescue Service to the Gibraltar Ambulance Service.

For over two decades, the Gibraltar Fire and Rescue Service has successfully managed the Ambulance Dispatch. Despite a number of challenges over the years, their commitment has been exemplary and the GFRS have always ensured continuous service delivery.

The move will now see the introduction of a more modern Ambulance Dispatch system, managed by GHA Dispatchers and Clinicians. This change is aimed at ensuring faster response times, safe transportation, and the delivery of the appropriate level of emergency care to everyone in need.

The new system has 4 groups of calls

 Category 1  Life-threatening calls

 Category 2- Emergency Calls

 Category 3- Urgent calls.

 Category 4 Less Urgent Calls

In situations that are not urgent enough to require a blue-light ambulance, callers will be transferred to a clinician for further guidance. This will ensure that patients who dont need an ambulance but do need another level of assistance are appropriately directed to other services within the healthcare system.

The Minister for Health and Care, the Hon Gemma Arias-Vasquez, said: I am delighted that the Ambulance Dispatch service has now been successfully handed over to the Gibraltar Ambulance Service. This will not only modernise the dispatching of Ambulances but will ensure that the appropriate level of emergency care is received by those who need it. I would like to publicly thank the Gibraltar Fire and Rescue Service, in particular their Fire Control Operators, passed and present, for their work over the last 20 years in managing the Ambulance Dispatch. Thank you and Im sure that the GHA, through its Ambulance Service, will now continue the great work you have been doing on this front for so long.
April 30 USCENTCOM, Royal Jordanian Air Force Conduct Humanitarian Airdrops into Gaza

U.S. Central Command

Press Release | April 30, 2024

USCENTCOM

April 30, 2024

Release Number 20240430 - 01

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TAMPA, Fla. -- U.S. Central Command and the Royal Jordanian Air Force conducted a combined humanitarian assistance airdrop into Northern Gaza on April 30, 2024, at 1:40 p.m. (Gaza time) to provide essential relief to civilians in Gaza affected by the ongoing conflict.

The combined joint operation included U.S. and Jordanian provided food and three C-130 U.S. Air Force aircraft. The U.S. C-130s dropped over 25,000 Meals Ready to Eat (MREs), providing life-saving humanitarian assistance in Northern Gaza. Additionally, more than 13,000 meal equivalents of Jordanian food supplies were also delivered. To date the U.S. has dropped nearly 1140 tons of humanitarian assistance.

The DoD humanitarian airdrops contribute to ongoing U.S. and partner-nation government efforts to alleviate human suffering. These airdrops are part of a sustained effort, and we continue to plan follow-on aerial deliveries.




Transcript: Mayor Adams Briefs Media on Recent Protests at Columbia University With NYPD Commissioner Caban

City of New York

April 30, 2024

Deputy Commissioner Tarik Sheppard, Public Information, Police Department: All right, good evening, everybody. You're about to hear from Mayor Adams, the police commissioner, Caban, and our commissioner for intel, Deputy Commissioner Weiner, on the situation up at Columbia as it stands now. First up will be Mayor Adams.



Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you. Thank you. I have been saying for days, if not weeks now, that what should have been a peaceful protest, it has basically been co-opted by professionals outside agitators. We were extremely cautious about releasing our intel information because our goal was to ensure the safety of our students, the faculty, and without any destruction of property.



We are here today to update New Yorkers about the ongoing situation at Columbia University and our plans to protect students, our staff, and the public. We were well aware, based on a series of observations, that what should have been a peaceful protest that is part of the constitutional rights of Americans has clearly been co-opted, a right which this administration supports and defends to voice your concern. We have also, we'll continue, and we have sounded the alarm numerous times before about external actors who are attempting to hijack this protest.



Tonight, we're here to show you some examples of these external actors who have no  no  affiliation with Columbia University, as well as some of our other educational facilities. They are actively creating serious public safety issues at these protests. Maybe some of the students involved don't understand what they are involved in. We urge those and everyone else violating Columbia's order to leave the area and leave the area now. If you are a parent or guardian of a student, please call your child and urge them to leave the area before the situation escalates in any way. This is for their own safety and for the safety of others. These external actors are obviously not students, and their presence on campus is a violation of Columbia's clearly stated policy.



As the police commissioner and our Deputy Commissioner for Intel and Counterterrorism Rebecca Weiner will detail, you will see why this is of concern to us. This group and the individuals we're going to, one that we're going to show, is an outside agitator with a history of escalating situations and trying to create chaos. It is our belief we are now actively co-opting what should be a peaceful gathering. This is to serve their own agenda. They're not here to promote peace or unity or allow a peaceful displaying of one's voice, but they're here to create discord and divisiveness. That is why I'm urging every student and every protestor to walk away from this situation now and continue your advocacy through other means.



We will always protect the right to protest, but we must balance that right with the right to keep students, the school, and our city safe. We cannot and will not allow what should be a peaceful gathering to turn into a violent spectacle that serves no purpose. We cannot wait till this situation becomes even more serious. This must end now. I'm going to now turn it over to Commissioner Caban.



Police Commissioner Edward Caban: Thank you very much, Mayor Adams, and good evening, everyone. Over the past two weeks or so, this has been a dynamic, evolving situation, and we have been in contact with university officials from the beginning. Again, we are talking about private property, so decisions on what to do on that property are up to the university.



With that being said, what we saw last night and into today is not acceptable. Furthermore, and this is very important, as the mayor has said, we are seeing professional external actors getting involved in these protests, including in the occupation of a university building. These people are not Columbia students. They are not affiliated with the university, and they are working to escalate the situation. We are seeing the tactics changing in a way that's endangering public safety. These once peaceful protests are being exploited by professional outside agitators, and the safety of all students, faculty, and staff are now a concern.



The right to protest and speak your mind is critical to our democracy, and the NYPD's job is to protect that right. We will never tolerate violence, property damage, or disruption of emergency services. As we've said, once the university asks for our help, the NYPD will be there ready to assist them. Finally, to the parents, and I say this as a father of a college student myself, be aware of where your children are. Be aware of what they're involved in. If you don't know, reach out to them. The university and the NYPD are taking this situation seriously. You should be taking this situation seriously, too. Thank you.



Deputy Commissioner Rebecca Weiner, Intelligence and Counterterrorism, Police Department: Good evening, everybody. As the mayor and the police commissioner have just been outlining, we've observed, and you all have as well, a really concerning escalation of activity associated with campus protests broadly, and in particular with Columbia University over the past 24 hours. This escalation presents a real threat to public safety.



I want to make two points. One is to reiterate what the mayor and the police commissioner have mentioned that these protests have been and are being influenced by external actors who are unaffiliated with universities, some of whom have been known to our department and others for many years for their dangerous, disruptive, and at times criminal activity associated with protests for years. This is not about what's happening overseas. It's not about the last seven months. It's about a very different commitment to, at times, violent protest activity as an occupation.



A number of university partners have reported to us in New York and also across the country that significant portions of their protestor populations are unaffiliated with their schools. They haven't got a right to be on campus and this violates university policies. Most importantly, it presents dangers to students and to the whole university communities where it's happening.



Second, we see an escalation in tactics. When we see what we saw last night, I'm going to show you a few examples and they exemplify some of the behavior that we're seeing in a much more holistic way. We think these tactics are a result of guidance that's being given to students from some of these external actors. We see individuals in black bloc attire scaling buildings, breaking into windows, barricades being made out of furniture, or being dragged from the lawn into Hamilton Hall, cameras that have been destroyed. There's only one reason to destroy a camera. It's certainly not something anyone is taught to do in school. De-arresting tactics being encouraged, property destruction, signs being fortified into shields, reports of physical altercations between individuals and other forms of intimidation. This has gone to the next level and we have real cause for concern.



I want to point out that this is an escalation that while it began last night at Columbia, we do expect it to continue beyond one building on one campus, but to other protests, to other universities, potentially to other cities. We are in constant dialogue with Columbia University officials as well as other partners. We are as always fully prepared to respond. We want to reiterate that our priority is and always will be public safety for all.



I'm going to show you what is a two minute video clip. Again, some of this may be a little bit hard to interpret, but it shows us who've been looking at this stuff for quite some time two things. One is the presence of some external folks who are not affiliated with school. The second is the evolution and the change in tactics that we witnessed last night. If we could go ahead and play the video. There's a little bit of sound which I'll try to narrate over.



This is two students who are trying to prevent the hall from being broken into being intimidated by some others, as well as some of the external actors that we have been talking about, making a barrier to be dragged into Hamilton Hall. Here's an example of two individuals breaking into windows. Again, the black bloc attire is something that we've seen in protest activity for quite some time, barricades that are being dragged into Hamilton Hall. Again, people unaffiliated with the school who are assisting in allowing them entry. Some training sessions that are occurring within the encampment itself. That is something that the university has been very clear that only university students are to be allowed within the encampment. These are just some still shots of some of the property destruction that we saw within Hamilton Hall. The windows breaking, the barricading, using furniture to prevent ingress and egress. You can see quite obviously that this is a public safety concern for the students themselves, for the protesters themselves, for anybody else on campus. The broken windows, more barricades, human beings chained together to try to prevent entry into the buildings.



This is far beyond First Amendment protected speech and peaceful protest, which has been a key element of some of these things over the last few months. A lot of people involved, some of them are known to us and others are reported by university officials to be unaffiliated with campus. That is why we are urging people to take this opportunity to leave Hamilton Hall. Just to reiterate that we are here to make things and keep things safe for our city. Thank you.



Deputy Commissioner Sheppard: All right, so we'll make this video available to you immediately after this press conference. For now, we'll take just a few questions on topic only.



Question: If the NYPD were to go to Columbia, what charges would the students face? Does this message to leave Columbia now have time [inaudible]?



Deputy Commissioner Weiner: We are in ongoing dialogue with officials, and of course, stand ready to come in if we are invited in. Of course, some of this activity, we would need to review the specific facts to see what charges might be appropriate. In particular, for folks who are unaffiliated with the university, it certainly looks to be like a trespass situation. Depending on their involvement, and the video will help us understand the full suite of their activity, there may be charges associated with the property destruction and the vandalism as well.

Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry, Operations, Police Department: All right. Good evening. For the individuals that are inside of Hamilton Hall, they will be charged with burglary in the third degree, criminal mischief, and trespassing. For the individuals that are in the encampments outside, they will be charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct.

Question: Could you tell us a little bit more about these people that you're describing? What they've been involved with in the past? Also, what strategies are you and the school using to identify and connect these people who are often hiding their faces with the people you've seen for years? Cameras or other technology? Super comprehensive [inaudible]. This is something we've heard 30 or 40 times, too, of how we know who these people are and what they're responsible for.

Deputy Commissioner Weiner: In some cases, it's just through sheer force of being present at these protests over years, whether it was Occupy Wall Street, the Autonomous Zone in 2020, other protests around the country, Stop Cop City in Atlanta, so individuals who are familiar. In other cases, we rely on partner reporting to say this is individuals that are known to us. This is a collaborative effort. As most of our work is, it involves our officers who do this better than anyone, who have been doing it repeatedly over many months, and in some cases, over many years.

Question: I have two questions. One, could you talk us through some of these conversations that have been going on with university officials. How often are you talking to them? When you talk to them about this, what are they actually saying to you? Because I imagine that this has been communicated. The other question I have is, as far as the people, these professional agitators that you're saying, how many of them, if you had to put a number on them, are in Hamilton right now? How many of them are in that encampment? How many of them are in another place?

Deputy Commissioner Sheppard: All right. Mark, I'll have the police commissioner address the first part of your question, and then I'll have Commissioner Weiner address the second part.

Police Commissioner Caban: Thank you, Mark. I just want to reiterate that we're in constant dialogue with the officials at Columbia University. Right now, there is no timetable. We have no letters from them. We are here ready to assist them whenever they need our help.

Question: So when you show them this, have they said anything to that?

Police Commissioner Caban: Right now, it's just constant dialogue. Right now, they're in contact, or they're in constant dialogue with the students themselves, trying to alleviate the situation. We are here ready to assist them whenever they're ready to ask for our help.

[Crosstalk.]

Deputy Commissioner Sheppard: Hold on. Let Commissioner Weiner address the second part of how many of [inaudible] that Columbia is sending.

Deputy Commissioner Weiner: Our visibility into what's going on is limited by the fact that we're not physically present within the campus. It's hard to answer your question with any degree of specificity. We know the ones we know, but we can't have a full accounting for what's going on and the fact of cameras being disabled further complicates our ability to assess the public safety risks in real time.

Question: At least how many of the ones you know have...

Deputy Commissioner Sheppard: Mark, the commissioner's been pretty thorough with that one, all right?

Question: I have two questions. I know you talked about the timeline, but Columbia has a commencement ceremony coming up on the 15th. Has the university president said that they want that done before that date or on that date? Then I just wanted to ask, those outside agitators at Hamilton Hall, is the NYPD going to deal with them differently than they would the other ones at the encampment?

Deputy Commissioner Sheppard: All right. I'll let Commissioner Daughtry answer the second part of your question. I think what the commissioner just said applies to the first part is that we're in constant contact. But right now we have not received any communication from the university that they want us to take action on that campus.

Deputy Commissioner Daughtry: Just to echo what the commissioner said, we said it a couple of times up here already. As soon as the university reaches out to us, we're more than willing and able to help them. As far as the second part of your question, we're going to treat them just like when we went into NYU, when we went into Columbia the first time. There was no incidents. Our officers went in there and performed admirably, as they were under attack by bottles, chairs, tables. We expect that. However, Police Commissioner Caban's Police Department is ready to take action when needed.

Thank you.

Deputy Commissioner Sheppard: All right. If there's a need to update, we will. Thanks, everybody for right now. All right. Thank you.



###

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Fast-tracking key investments in defence and security and full gender equality in conscription

Danish Ministry of Defence

The Danish Government and a broad majority of the Danish Parliament have decided to further increase defense expenditures in the years 2024-2028 by DKK 35.2 billion in order to fast-track key investments in military capabilities. Moreover, it is decided to strengthen Danish conscription entailing an 11 month service period, up to 7.500 yearly conscripts, and full gender equality.

May 1, 2024

Build-up of the Army's 1st heavy Brigade, acquisition of land-based air defence systems and strengthening of the Navy's anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capabilities. These are some of the initiatives financed by increasing the budget of the current Defence Agreement.

"The security situation in Europe has worsened since we decided the Danish Defence Agreement last summer. Russia is preparing for a long-term war and could pose a potential threat to NATO Allies within a few years. It is vital that we react now, together with our Allies, in order to deter a resurgent Russia. Therefore, we must fast-track investments in key military capabilities," says the Danish Minister of Defence, Troels Lund Poulsen.

It is decided to increase the defense expenditure in the years 2024-2028 by DKK 35.2 billion (approx. 5.1 billion USD) through fiscal easing. Adding to earlier agreements, including military support to Ukraine, Danish Defence expenditures reaches about 2,4 percent in 2024 and the coming years and a minimum of 2 percent throughout the defence agreement 2024-2033.

A total of approx. DKK 95 billion (approx. 13,6 billion USD) in the years 2024-2033 will be used for investments in a range of areas in order to secure the build-up of military capabilities of the Danish Defence and a strengthened model for conscription.

It is decided to build-up the Danish Army's 1st heavy Brigade so that it can be deployed in its entirety within the NATO framework. This includes investments in tanks and infantry fighting vehicles. Other investments include acquisition of land-based air defense systems to improve protection against enemy air threats and strengthening the Navy's anti-submarine warfare capability.

"We also need to increase the number of military personnel. A new model for conscription will help achieve this goal. In the future, we will use conscripts to help staff our military units, for example including the Army's 1st heavy Brigade. We will also introduce full equality of gender in the conscription model," says Troels Lund Poulsen.

A strengthened model for conscription lengthens the conscription period to 11 months of which the first five months consist of basic military training and education. In the following six months, conscripts will conduct basic operational tasks in the Armed Forces combined with continuous training and education. There will be up to 7.500 conscripts yearly.

Moreover, it is decided to introduce full gender equality in conscription. This means that all young Danes declared fit for military service will be treated equally in regards to conscription - regardless of gender. This part of the agreement will be implemented after the next general election.

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May 1, 2024

Transcript

Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh Holds a Press Briefing

DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SABRINA SINGH: All right. Good afternoon, everyone. Afternoon. So just a few things at the top and then happy to dive in and take your questions.

This morning, Secretary Austin departed for Hawaii as the United States continues to deliver on our shared regional vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific, working together with our partners and allies in the region.

Secretary Austin will preside over the U.S. Indo-Pacific change of command between Admiral John Aquilino and Admiral Sam Paparo. I will leave the full accolades to Secretary Austin tomorrow that he will deliver in his remarks, but the department is very grateful to Admiral Aquilino for his decades of service to the U.S. Navy and to the United States.

Also in Hawaii, Secretary Austin will meet bilaterally with Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Marles and Japanese Minister of Defense Kihara. The three leaders will also convene together for a trilateral defense ministerial meeting.

And finally, Philippine Secretary of National Defense Teodoro will join for the second-ever multilateral meeting of defense ministers from Australia, Japan, the Philippines, and the United States. Each meeting will cover a range of important topics on deepening defense and security ties among our nations. And of course, Secretary Austin will meet with service members supporting the Indo-Pacific theater. We will have more on all of these meetings in the days ahead.

Switching theaters, this year marks the 20th anniversary of U.S. Africa Command's premier and largest annual Exercise African Lion. 27 nations alongside NATO will contribute more than 8,000 personnel to participate in African Lion 2024, which takes place in Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, and Tunisia from April 29th through May 31st.

African Lion provides an opportunity to conduct realistic, dynamic, and collaborative readiness training in austere environments. African Lion increases interoperability and strengthens shared defense capabilities and cooperation to counter transnational threats and violent extremist organizations. The exercise is a testament to the dedication participants have to enhancing security and collaboration across the continent.

And staying in the AFRICOM AOR, U.S. Naval Forces Africa, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Africa, and the Ghana Navy are leading the African Maritime Forces Summit and Naval Infantry Leadership Symposium Africa this week in Accra, Ghana.

Military chiefs and governmental leaders from more than 40 countries, including 30 African nations, are participating in a series of panels and focused discussions concerning maritime security and collaboration. These discussions and connections will improve interoperability across domains and continents, strengthening strategic-level relationships to help facilitate better regional cooperation when dealing with maritime threats.

And with that, I'd be happy to take your questions. I'm going to go to the phones first cause we have Lita Baldor joining us virtually, and then we'll come in the room. So Lita?

QUESTION: Thanks, Sabrina. Can you bring us up to date on the construction and ongoing process involving the pier off Gaza? And can you give us any sense when they might start any movement of humanitarian aid to the pier or at least through the inspection process? Thank you.

MS. SINGH: Yep. Thanks, Lita, for the question. So in terms of an update on JLOTS, so as of today, we are over 50 percent complete on setting up the pier. The floating pier  you'll remember there are a few different components to this pier and the JLOTS operation. The floating pier has been completely constructed and set up. The causeway is in progress.

So in terms of a date of delivery, we've said from the beginning early May. We still believe that we're on track to meet that, but I don't have an exact date for you on when humanitarian aid  when we're going to see those first trucks going into Gaza. But as soon as I have that date for you, we are of course going to keep you updated on that.

All right, I'll come in the room. Tom?

QUESTION: Along the lines of the pier, do you have any sense of which country would be driving the trucks along that causeway to the beach? And once the trucks get to the beach, is it the World Food Program that will be distributing the aid?

MS. SINGH: Thanks, Tom, for the question. So in terms of distribution on the ground, it will be the UN that is distributing the aid, but for more on that  for more on that, I would direct you more to the UN to speak to that. Again, they'll be the ones on the ground doing that work.

In terms of the drivers, as we've said, it'll be a third party. Some parties don't necessarily want to be named publicly. I'd let others speak to that. But right now, I can just tell you that it will be a third party and not U.S. forces driving those trucks off the pier.

Anne?

QUESTION: Hi. So a clarification on that  who's going to provide the security for the World Food Program workers? Are  is that clarified that? Is that going to be the Israeli Defense Force?

And then also, the  the Israelis, have they given you any assurance on if they've changed their rules of engagement on  to prevent another strike on aid workers? Are there any assurances that that's not going to happen again, what happened a month ago?

MS. SINGH: So in terms of  I think you're referring to what happened to the World Central Kitchen workers. You know, we have seen the IDF take some steps to prevent something like that from happening. We have also their investigation that we are reviewing ourselves, and that is an interagency effort.

So I don't have more to share with you on where we are in, you know, reading out our sort of assessment of that investigation, but the IDF has shown that they are  they are taking steps to mitigate that from happening again.

As you know, we've also set up a deconfliction cell. So that is very important to ensure that aid workers are given the protective security that they need to move within Gaza to distribute that aid. U.S. forces will not be on the ground, so that is  the IDF will be leading the security efforts on the ground when it also comes to that distribution. Great.

Oren?

QUESTION: At this point, for the U.S. as it's involved in the construction, are U.S. force protection measures in place? Are they enroute or where does that process stand?

MS. SINGH: So as you can appreciate, we of course are  as the Secretary has said many times before, he takes force protection very seriously. So while I won't get into our own force protection, our assets are enroute, they are going to be ready to set up and  stab that Gaza coastline when  that causeway is fully constructed, but I just won't get into those specific force protection measures that we are taking right now.

And as you know, that the IDF has given us our  their assurances that they will be providing security for our forces once that pier and causeway are operational.

QUESTION: You said our assets are enroute. Obviously some are there. Can you detail what is still enroute?

MS. SINGH: I would direct you to CENTCOM to speak more to the assets that are  that are moving. Again, this is involving two different COCOMs, between EUCOM and Central Command, as well as TRANSCOM is providing the assets. So I would direct you to CENTCOM for more specific details on the  where our ships are.

I'm going to go to the phones and then come back in the room. J.J. Green, WTOP? OK. If not, Dan Lamothe, Washington Post?

QUESTION: Hi, Sabrina. Thanks for your time.

(CROSS-TALK)

QUESTION: Sorry about that. Did I miss ...

(CROSS-TALK)

MS. SINGH: ... come back to you. We'll go to J.J. first.

QUESTION: That's fine.

QUESTION: I'm sorry. Russia is trying to take advantage of the gap between approval of the weapons package that's intended for Ukraine and the actual delivery of these weapons. We've seen a number of different attacks in places that are very vulnerable right now, and we've also heard from the Ukrainian military that they know that these weapons are going to make a difference, and Russia knows it.

So can you give us an update on the delivery of weapons and  items that this package would make it  available for them?

MS. SINGH: Thanks, J.J., for the question. As soon as we were able to announce that $1 billion PDA  you've heard the Secretary and the President speak to this  we had pre-positioned some weapons and capabilities. So we were ready to support Ukraine almost immediately when that PDA was announced. So whether it was air defenses, artillery, ammunition, that continues to flow to Ukraine, but it is  was almost pretty immediate on getting into Ukraine.

In terms of getting to the front lines, getting to the units that need them the most, that's really something that Ukraine can speak to more, so I'd direct you to the Ukrainian forces to  really speak to that, but you've seen us flow PDA packages, getting materials into Ukraine, sometimes within hours if not a day or two.

And so that's what we were ready for. And while we did wait for the supplemental and that did take months to get across the finish line, we were certainly able to surge that aid when the President signed out that presidential drawdown package.

And just last week, we announced another longer-term commitment to Ukraine to the tune of $6 billion in USAI. That will take longer to reach Ukraine, but again, that's for the long-term commitment to them, as we have shown time and time again that we are invested in Ukraine's short-term and long-term future.

And with that, I will go to Dan Lamothe, Washington Post.

QUESTION: Thank you. Two loose ends. Looking to see if there's any update with the situation in Niger and the talks that were ongoing?

And then secondly, looking for any kind of update on whether there's been any kind of additional attack or threat either on pier and causeway assets or on the staging facility on the beach? Thanks.

MS. SINGH: Thanks, Dan. In terms of any additional attacks, I'm not tracking any at this moment. I would direct you to the IDF to speak to that, in terms of within the vicinity of where the pier will be set up. But I  at this time, I'm just not tracking anything additional.

In terms of Niger, sort of in the same place that we were last week. The State Department, a representative from USAFRICOM did hold meetings. We are waiting to send our  another delegation to Niger. That delegation has not left but they were  they should be scheduled hopefully to leave this week, and that will be to continue to have those conversations about withdrawing U.S. forces.

But no major updates right now. When there are updates, of course we will provide those.

Yeah, Janne?

QUESTION: Thank you, Sabrina. The Defense Secretary Austin said at a congressional hearing that North Korea has gained confidence due to its close relationship with Russian President Putin, and is concerned about its solidarity with China, Russia, and Iran. What measures will the United States take to prevent military cooperation from these countries?

MS. SINGH: Yeah, Janne, I'd  I don't have much more to add to what the Secretary said in front of Congress yesterday. I think he spoke quite well to this  is that we are concerned  we're certainly concerned about the deepening relationship that the DPRK and Russia have, that  together with Iran, that that is fueling Russia on the battlefield in Ukraine as they continue to wage this illegal war and kill many innocent Ukrainian civilians.

So in terms of what we are doing as the United States, we continue to monitor. The Department of Defense, of course you've seen us strengthen our own relationships with Iraq, within the region. We continue to arm Ukraine with the weapons it needs on the battlefield. And then across the interagency, you've seen from  the Treasury Department announcing more sanctions on whether it be Russia, DPRK, and others.

So I  we certainly take this seriously, and we're continuing to monitor as a department.

QUESTION: Do you have any information about Russia recruiting North Korean mercenaries for war with Ukraine?

MS. SINGH: I don't have any information on that. I haven't seen any reports on that, but that being said, we certainly know that the DPRK is willing to support Russia in  in its fight against Ukraine, and that is one country supporting Russia along with Iran. You have over 50 countries and partners supporting Ukraine in its fight be  and that's, you know, what you saw last week with the Ukraine Defense Contact Group. The Secretary announced additional commitments there.

And so while we see the DPRK supporting Russia's efforts, the United States is always proud to stand tall with Ukraine.

Yeah?

QUESTION: Thank you, Sabrina.

MS. SINGH: Of course.

QUESTION: Yesterday, Chinese Coast Guard have fired water cannon at two Philippine vessels, and which is (inaudible) tension in South China Sea. And tomorrow, Secretary Austin will meet Japan, the Philippine Defense Minister in Hawaii to strengthen commitment to the region. But what does the Pentagon expect Japan to do to maintain security in this region?

MS. SINGH: Well, look, I'm not going to speak on behalf of the Japanese government. I would refer you to them to speak to any actions that they're taking. What you're seeing though tomorrow with the Secretary's meeting between the Philippines, Australia, Japan  it's a second meeting of this type that's being held. So what you're seeing is a deepening of cooperation and security ties, and that's incredibly important in the region.

In terms to what you're referring to, I mean, we have and will continue to be clear with Beijing that these actions by the PRC put Filipino crews in danger, they've caused injuries, they've caused damage, they're a complete disregard and violation of international law.

And so we stand firm with our Philippine  with the Philippines and our commitment to the Mutual Defense Treaty, and we're  and we really are doing historic work with Manila. We're supporting their military modernization, we're coordinating at every level of government.

And so that's something that you're going to see with Secretary Austin tomorrow, yet again another conversation building on the relationship from the past  you know, over the last four years. Great.

I'm going to go to the phones here. We have a few more here. Jeff Schogol, Task & Purpose?

QUESTION: Thank you. Mali claims that it has killed Abu Huzeifa, an ISIS leader who played a role in the October 27 Niger ambush. I'm wondering has Mali provided the Defense Department any information to confirm this, or has the Defense Department been able to independently confirm that this ISIS leader is killed? And do you have any information about what  exactly the role he played in the ambush? Thank you.

MS. SINGH: Thanks, Jeff, for the question. I'm  I'm sorry, I just don't have any information for you on this. You know, I  I've seen  I've seen some of the reports but I just don't have anything to provide on this at this time.

Sam LaGrone, USNI?

QUESTION: Hey, Sabrina. Over the last week or so, we're seeing pretty much a  daily attacks from the Houthis, expanding as far out as the Indian Ocean. In particular, the suspected attack on MSC Orion, it looks like it's  it's pretty far away from kind of the traditional Red Sea areas of attack. Are  are y'all looking to, you know, sort of expand the scope of Prosperity Guardian or any of the other sort of deterrent patrols or protection patrols beyond kind of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden and get into the Indian Ocean? Thanks.

MS. SINGH: Yeah, thanks, Sam, for the question. So I've seen the reports on an attack in the Indian Ocean. I just can't confirm those.

As of right now, Operation Prosperity Guardian is focused on the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the BAM, and working very effectively and efficiently with over 20 different countries. So right now, the mission remains the same. Should the mission change, of course we would update you on that.

But since you gave me the opportunity, I will take it, that the Houthis continue to endanger commercial shipping that goes through that region, continue to put at risk U.S. forces, other countries' forces in the region who want to see commerce continue to flow in a very crucial area in the Middle East.

And so our  our teams in  in the CENTCOM area of responsibility continue to work around the clock defending commercial shipping, protecting our  our forces, and I'll just leave it at that.

Yeah? Coming back in the room. OK, great. Short briefing today. Thanks, everyone.

https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/3762421/

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May 1, 2024

By Mattlew Olay, DOD News

U.S. Africa Command's Largest Annual Exercise Kicks Off in Tunisia

U.S. Africa Command's premiere and largest annual joint and combined exercise, African Lion 2024, got underway Monday in Tunisia, the Pentagon announced during a briefing today.

U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa, will be hosting the exercise across Tunisia, Senegal, Ghana and Morocco; with more than 8,000 personnel from over 27 nations participating through May 31, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters.

"African Lion provides an opportunity to conduct realistic, dynamic and collaborative readiness training in austere environments," said Singh, adding that the exercise increases interoperability, while strengthening shared defense capabilities and cooperation used to counter violent extremist organizations and transnational threats.

"The exercise is a testament to the dedication participants have to enhancing security and collaboration across the continent."

Now in its 20th year, African Lion highlights the U.S. military's commitment to maintaining strong relationships with allies and partners throughout the region, thus embodying the military's partner-led and U.S.-enabled approach to Africa, according to a recent Army release on the exercise.

"We are very grateful for our Tunisian hosts. They continue to demonstrate their professionalism and hospitality," U.S. Army Brig. Gen. John A. LeBlanc, SETAF-AF deputy commanding general, is quoted in the release. "This multinational engagement is designed to prevent conflicts, deter adversary aggression and ensure readiness to respond effectively to any crisis."

During the Tunisia portion of the exercise, African Lion will be focused on developing readiness and interoperability among participating countries through diverse training activities. This includes live-fire exercises; explosive ordnance disposal operations; and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear training, according to the release.

Among the more than 8,000 personnel participating in African Lion, the U.S. military will be represented by service members from three of the nation's six armed forces.

"It's important to highlight the fact that those numbers include members of the Army, Air Force and Marines," LeBlanc is quoted in the release. "I happen to be a New Hampshire National Guardsman myself, and I'm very pleased elements of the U.S. Army Reserve and National Guard have flown all the way to Tunisia for African Lion as well."

Elsewhere in U.S. Africa Command's area of responsibility, Singh announced that U.S. Naval Forces Africa and U.S. Marine Corps Africa are joining with Ghana's navy to lead the African Maritime Forces Summit and Navy Infantry Leadership Symposium Africa in the Ghanaian capital of Accra.

During the summit  which is runs through Thursday and has a theme of "Cooperation at sea: Safeguarding African Maritime Security"  military chiefs and government leaders from more than 40 international ally and partner countries are participating in panel discussions focused on maritime security and collaboration, said Singh.

"These discussions and connections will improve interoperability across domains and continents, strengthening strategic-level relationships to help facilitate better regional cooperation when dealing with maritime threats," she said.

The first event of this kind took place virtually in July of 2021 with more than 16 countries in attendance.

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Zionist positions hit in new Hezbollah missile attacks

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

May 1, 2024

Tehran, IRNA -- The Lebanese Resistance Movement Hezbollah has announced new missile attacks on positions in northern Israeli-occupied territories in response to the regime's acts of aggression against Gaza and Lebanon.

Hezbollah said in a statement on Wednesday that its fighters had launched missiles on several buildings in two locations earlier in the day, adding that the targets were directly hit.

The resistance movement said that the operation was in response to the Israeli regime's attacks on villages in southern Lebanon as well as the ongoing war on Gaza.

Fighting broke out between Hezbollah and the Israeli regime on October 8, a day after Tel Aviv waged its ongoing genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, with the Lebanese resistance movement targeting Israeli areas on and near Lebanon's southern border in support of Palestinians in Gaza.

The fighting has intensified in the past couple of months amid Israeli strikes on villages and towns in southern Lebanon, some of which have resulted in civilian casualties.

Hezbollah has time and again warned Israel that civilians are a red line, and that it will give a crushing response should the regime expand its attacks deeper in Lebanon.

The resistance movement also says that it will continue to fight the Israeli regime until it stops the war on Gaza where nearly 34,570 Palestinians have already been killed, mostly women and children.

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PA envoy: It's now time to recognize state of Palestine

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

May 1, 2024

New York, IRNA -- The Palestinian Authority's Ambassador to the United Nations Riyad Mansour has called on countries, which have not recognized a state of Palestine, to do so now.

"For those who have not yet recognized a State of Palestine, we say there are no grounds for further delay. Those who want to destroy a Palestinian state and with it any chance for peace are not waiting," Mansour said on Wednesday, according to Al Jazeera.

He was speaking at a UN General Assembly (UNGA) session in New York City.

The Palestinian ambassador called on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to review Palestine's demand for full UN membership.

On April 19, the United States vetoed a draft resolution that would have granted Palestine full membership at the UN. Britain and Switzerland abstained, while the remaining 12 Security Council members voted yes.

Currently, Palestine holds an observer status at the UN. An application for full membership requires approval from the UNSC and a two thirds majority in a vote at the General Assembly.

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Israel plans to set up camp to forcefully evacuate Rafah: Report

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

May 1, 2024

Tehran, IRNA -- The Israeli army is planning to set up a new camp in central Gaza to forcefully relocate residents of Rafah and those sheltering in the southern city ahead of a planned invasion.

According to Palestinian Sama news agency, citing the Israeli army radio, the Israeli army intends to create a new camp in the center of the Gaza Strip that will have "greater security".

The location chosen for the new camp is similar to the Al-Mawasi region, where the Israeli army had previously announced its intention to establish a refugee camp at the start of the war.

Under the new plan, the Al-Mawasi region will expand eastward to Khan Yunis and northward close to Deir al-Balah in northern Gaza.

An estimated 1.4 million people  more than half of the entire population of the Gaza Strip  remain crammed in Rafah near Gaza's southern border with Egypt.

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Yemeni official urges aggressors not to play with fire

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

May 1, 2024

Tehran, IRNA -- Amid the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip and in another move to show solidarity with Palestinians, Senior Yemeni official Mohammed Ali al-Houthi has called on the aggressors not to play with fire.

We possess far greater strategic stockpiles of deterrent weapons than you think, much more than you can imagine, in terms of quantity, variety, and quality, al-Houthi has written on his X, formerly Twitter.

The Yemeni official's remarks come after the time of the moment of the Yemeni Armed Forces drone strike on the Cyclades vessel was released.

The spokesman of the Yemeni armed forces announced on Tuesday morning that the country's military targeted two American destroyers and two Israeli ships in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean in a fresh operation in solidarity with Palestinians.

Israel's assault on Gaza, which has martyred at least 34,500 people, according to the territory's Health Ministry, began after Hamas launched a surprise operation dubbed "Al-Aqsa Storm" against the Zionist regime on October 7, 2023.

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Israel submits amended response to Hamas truce proposal: Sources

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

May 1, 2024

Tehran, IRNA -- A delegation of the Zionist regime has reportedly submitted the response to the proposal of the Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas with amendments to Egypt as a mediating member of the negotiations for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Egyptian sources revealed on Wednesday morning about the amended response to the Hamas proposal after an unnamed source told "Al-Arabi Al-Jadid" news site that an Israeli delegation has arrived in Cairo for talks, according to IRNA.

A modified sheet of the new proposal of the Zionist regime, which included some points of view and corrections as call by Hamas was provided to the Cairo government, the sources said, without mentioning the details.

Khalil al-Hayya, the deputy head of Hamas announced on Saturday that the resistance group received the official response of the Zionist enemy to Hamas' April 13th proposal on a ceasefire.

Al-Hayya added that the movement will proceed to assess this proposal, and after the completion of the reviews, Hamas will send its response.

Some media reports say that the negotiations to reach a ceasefire have gained momentum in countries that had been engaged in the talks.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is currently on a regional trip to discuss the ceasefire in Gaza, and after traveling to Saudi Arabia and Jordan, he has entered the occupied territories.

On the other hand, the Emiri of Qatar on Tuesday night had a telephone conversation with the Egyptian president regarding the ceasefire in Gaza.

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Israeli proposal not generous: PIJ official

ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency

Wed / 1 May 2024 / 10:58

The proposal presented to the Resistance in the negotiations is not as generous as the Americans, who are trying to deceive the world, are claiming it to be, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) politburo member Ihsan Ataya told Al Mayadeen on Monday.

Tehran -ISNA- "The proposed offer has major loopholes and malicious plots," Ataya stressed. "The proposal presented is three and a half pages long and talks about details in three stages," he revealed.

Unity has peaked between the PIJ and Hamas, and "therefore we have rejected all proposals that could disrupt Palestinian solidarity," Ataya added.

The aggression on Rafah, the Palestinian official stressed, is linked to the port that the US is attempting to build in Gaza.

"The goal of the port is to turn the crossings into besieged American-Zionist crossings, as Washington is trying to alter the situation for the Palestinians," he said.

According to Ataya, the United States, after changing the geographical status quo in Gaza, wants to end everything related to the Resistance. However, "the Resistance's leadership is aware of the malicious plots being sown by the enemy."

A high-ranking Palestinian resistance official told Al Mayadeen days earlier that the Israeli occupation was forced to make some changes to its latest proposal, which it presented to mediators some time ago.

The Palestinian official explained that these amendments were made after the Israeli regime acknowledged that Hamas and other Resistance factions outright rejected its latest proposal.

The Israeli proposal presented in the negotiations does not reflect a fundamental shift in the position and does not give clear answers on the issue of withdrawal and a comprehensive ceasefire, the official stressed.

The official said Hamas "is still studying the proposal, but there are no high expectations for its acceptance unless fundamental amendments are made to it."

End Item



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Yemeni forces target US warships

ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency

Wed / 1 May 2024 / 10:58

The Yemeni Armed Forces targeted an Israeli ship in the Indian Ocean and other vessels, spokesperson Saree announced.

Tehran -ISNA- The Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) conducted a series of operations in support of the Palestinian people and their Resistance, the spokesperson for the Yemeni military Brigadier General Yahya Saree stated on Tuesday.

In their operations, the Yemeni Unmanned Air Force targeted two United States warships in the Red Sea, Saree revealed.

The YAF's Missile Force, Navy, and Unmanned Air Force launched a joint operation targeting the CYCLADES bulk carrier in the Red Sea, achieving precise hits to the target. The last update for the location of the bulk carrier was made 12 days ago, according to maritime trade concerned sites.

CYCLADES was targeted after breaching the decision imposed by the YAF, barring ships from sailing toward or from Israeli-occupied ports. The ship was heading to the Umm al-Rashrash (Eilat) port on April 21, according to Saree.

The ship's crew changed identification credentials to state that it is heading to a port other than the Eilat port, however, after continued monitoring, the YAF determined the real destination of the ship, warning it against sailing toward Eilat.

The Israeli-affiliated MSC ORION container ship was also targeted by the YAF's Unmanned Air Force in the Indian Ocean.

Earlier on Monday, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) claimed that the US military engaged five drones over the Red Sea.

"Between 1:48 and 2:27 a.m. (Sanaa time) [22:48 - 23:27 GMT], April 28, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) successfully engaged five airborne unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) over the Red Sea. It was determined the UAVs presented an imminent threat to U.S., coalition, and merchant vessels in the region," it wrote on X.

The announcement comes a couple of days after the YAF successfully shot down an American MQ-9 aircraft carrying out hostilities in the airspace of Saada Governorate using an appropriate missile. The Yemeni military media published footage showing the operation.

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A look at the Defence news 22 - 28 April

Netherlands Ministry of Defence

News item | 01-05-2024

HNLMS Tromp sets sail for India from Red Sea

HNLMS Tromp's deployment in the Red Sea has been completed. Since the end of March, the air defence and command frigate had been patrolling the area to protect merchant vessels against Houthi missile and drone attacks.

The ship's sensors, including radar systems, made the air defence and command frigate a valuable asset during this mission, as they enabled the ship to detect attacks early on. The ship thus also contributed to military deterrence. HNLMS Tromp is now on its way to India.

Dutch navy and air force exercise against submarines in Norway

For three weeks, several Dutch naval vessels and one submarine conducted exercises in Norwegian waters with the aim of increasing and broadening their knowledge of anti-submarine warfare. However, the Royal Netherlands Navy did not conduct these exercises alone; three NH90 maritime attack helicopters from Defence Helicopter Command were deployed as well, and there was also support from two maritime patrol aircraft provided by Germany and the United States.

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Terrorist Attack in Herat, Afghanistan

Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Pakistan condemns in the strongest terms yesterday's heinous terrorist attack at a mosque in Herat, Afghanistan, resulting in loss of life and injuries. The people and government of Pakistan extend their heartfelt condolences to the people of Afghanistan. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families in this hour of grief.

Pakistan condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including despicable attacks on places of worship.

Islamabad

01 May 2024

72/2024

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Jeremy Hsu in New Scientist:

An artificial intelligence system has proven it can save lives by warning physicians to check on patients whose heart test results indicate a high risk of dying. In a randomised clinical trial with almost 16,000 patients at two hospitals, the AI reduced overall deaths among high-risk patients by 31 per cent.

This is actually quite extraordinary, says Eric Topol at the Scripps Research Translational Institute in California, who was not involved in the research. Its very rare for any medication to [produce] a 31 per cent reduction in mortality, and then even more rare for a non-drug  this is just monitoring people with AI.

More here.
UN chief calls for Israel-Hamas accord, int'l probe of mass graves in Gaza

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 09:47, May 01, 2024

UNITED NATIONS, April 30 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday called for a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas, and for an international investigation of the newly found mass graves in Gaza.

"I have called consistently for a humanitarian cease-fire, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, and a massive surge in humanitarian aid. Unfortunately, that has not happened -- yet. But negotiations are once again under way," said Guterres.

"For the sake of the people of Gaza, for the sake of the hostages and their families in Israel, and for the sake of the region and the wider world, I strongly encourage the government of Israel and the Hamas leadership to reach now an agreement," he told reporters.

Without such an agreement, the war, with all its consequences both in Gaza and across the region, will worsen exponentially, he warned.

He raised the alarm at a possible Israeli offensive on Rafah.

Recent weeks have seen airstrikes in the Rafah area. A military assault on Rafah would be an unbearable escalation, killing thousands more civilians and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee. It would have a devastating impact on Palestinians in Gaza, with serious repercussions on the occupied West Bank, and across the wider region, warned Guterres.

"All members of the Security Council, and many other governments, have clearly expressed their opposition to such an operation. I appeal for all those with influence over Israel to do everything in their power to prevent it," he said.

More than 1.2 million people are now seeking shelter in Rafah governorate, most of them fleeing the Israeli bombardment that has reportedly killed over 34,000 people. They have very little to eat, hardly any access to medical care, little shelter, and nowhere safe to go, he noted.

Guterres called for an international investigation of the newly found mass graves in Gaza.

"I am deeply alarmed by reports that mass graves have been discovered in several locations in Gaza, including Al Shifa Medical Complex and Nasser Medical Complex. In Nasser alone, over 390 bodies have reportedly been exhumed," he said.

There are competing narratives around several of these mass graves, including serious allegations that some of those buried had been unlawfully killed, he told reporters. "It is imperative that independent international investigators, with forensic expertise, are allowed immediate access to the sites of these mass graves, to establish the precise circumstances under which hundreds of Palestinians lost their lives and were buried, or reburied."

The families of the dead and missing have a right to know what happened. And the world has a right to accountability for any violations of international law that may have taken place, he said.

Hospitals, health workers, patients and all civilians must be protected. The human rights of all must be respected, said Guterres.

Guterres also called for more humanitarian assistance in Gaza.

"In northern Gaza, the most vulnerable -- from sick children to people with disabilities -- are already dying of hunger and disease. We must do everything possible to avert an entirely preventable, human-made famine," he said. "We have seen incremental progress recently. But much more is urgently needed, including the promised opening of two crossing points between Israel and northern Gaza, so that aid can be brought into Gaza from Ashdod port and Jordan."

Under international humanitarian law, civilians must be protected and they must be able to receive the essentials they need to survive, including food, shelter, and health care, he noted.

A major obstacle to distributing aid across Gaza is the lack of security for humanitarians and the people in need. Humanitarian convoys, facilities and personnel, and people in need, must not be targets, he said.

Guterres called on the Israeli authorities to allow and facilitate safe, rapid and unimpeded access for humanitarian aid and humanitarian workers throughout Gaza.

He called for support for the UN relief agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, saying the agency has an irreplaceable and indispensable role in supporting millions of people in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.

Most countries that had suspended contributions to UNRWA following Israel's allegations that a dozen UNRWA staff members participated in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, have resumed their aid. The United Nations is optimistic that other countries will follow suit. But a funding gap remains, he said. "I call on member states, both traditional and new donors, to pledge funds generously to ensure the continuity of the agency's operations."

Guterres reaffirmed the world body's commitment to a two-state solution -- the only sustainable path to peace and security for Israelis, Palestinians, and the wider region.

"The United Nations is totally committed to supporting a pathway to peace, based on an end to the (Israeli) occupation and the establishment of a fully independent, democratic, viable, contiguous, and sovereign Palestinian state, with Gaza as an integral part," he said.

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Iraqi fighters strike 'vital' Israeli target in Syria's occupied Golan

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 01 May 2024 10:58 PM

Iraq's Islamic Resistance has announced striking a "vital" Israeli target in Syria's Tel Aviv-occupied Golan Heights in retaliation for the regime's ongoing war of genocide against the Gaza Strip.

The umbrella anti-terror group announced the development in a statement on the Telegram messaging app on Wednesday.

The attack took place using drones, the group noted, confirming its dedication to continuing its strikes against "the enemy's strongholds."

The coalition has been conducting numerous such strikes against targets belonging to the Israeli regime since last October, when the latter began the genocidal war.

The war, which was launched following al-Aqsa Storm, a retaliatory operation by Gaza's resistance movements, has so far killed at least 34,568 people, most of them women, children, and adolescents. Over 77,700 Palestinians have also been injured in the brutal military onslaught, while thousands of others remain unaccounted for.

On April 20, the Iraqi resistance group had similarly carried out a pro-Palestinian operation against an Israeli target in the occupied Golan.

The anti-terror forces have also been hitting the United States' military bases across the Arab country and neighboring Syria in protest at Washington's unstinting support for the war.

The US provides the Israeli regime with open-handed military and intelligence support. It has also blocked passage of several United Nations Security Council resolutions urging an immediate ceasefire in the military campaign.

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UN committed to peace 'based on end to Israeli occupation'

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 01 May 2024 6:37 PM

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the so-called two-state solution is the only way that can end Israel's occupation of the Palestinian land.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the UN chief reaffirmed the organization's "hope" for a two-state solution, calling it the only long-lasting path to peace.

"The UN is totally committed to supporting a pathway to peace, based on an end to the occupation and the establishment of a fully independent, democratic, viable, contiguous and sovereign Palestinian State, with Gaza as an integral part," the statement read.

During a speech at the UN headquarters in New York, Riyad Mansour, the permanent observer of Palestine to the United Nations, called on the countries that have not recognized a State of Palestine to do so now.

"For those who have not yet recognized a State of Palestine, we say there are no grounds for further delay. Those who want to destroy a Palestinian state and with it any chance for peace are not waiting," Mansour said.

"If you wonder if you are on the right side of history, ask yourselves one question: 'Is what I'm doing advocating freedom and peace or enabling continued oppression and conflict?' You should ask yourself that question."

Barbados and Jamaica are the latest countries to recognize Palestine, joining 140 others.

Mansour has said in the face of Israel's cruel and barbarous campaign in Gaza, UN membership is a priority for the Palestinians.

Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has long ruled out Palestinian statehood.

The United States, Israel's great benefactor, has already blocked all attempts by the Palestinians for full membership.

Palestinians want the resolution of the conflict with Israel based on the so-called two-state solution along the pre-1967 boundaries. But Israeli officials insist on maintaining the occupation of Palestinian territories.

Independent observers say the solution has been used as a "smokescreen" to fake concern for Palestinians' rights while leaving the regime to press ahead with its acts of genocide.

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Turkey to join South Africa's genocide case against Israel at ICJ

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 01 May 2024 5:42 PM

Turkey is seeking to join South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), as it promised to continue to support the Palestinian people in all circumstances.

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan declared Ankara's intention in a joint press conference with Indonesia's Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi in the Turkish capital on Wednesday.

"Upon completion of the legal text of our work, we will submit the declaration of official intervention before the ICJ with the objective of implementing this political decision."

Fidan said, "Coercive measures against Israel are essential."

He criticized the international community for taking no action to stop Israeli hostilities in the besieged Palestinian territory, while "there is hunger in Gaza and civilians are being targeted."

"We are faced with a choice. We will either side with humanity or share the price of crimes." "We will either side with humanity or share the price of crimes."

Israel's genocidal war on Gaza prompted South Africa to file a case against the regime in December 2023. In its application, South Africa said Israel's actions in Gaza were "genocidal in character."

The war has driven around 80% of Gaza's population of 2.3 million from their homes, caused vast destruction in several towns and cities and claimed the lives of more than 34,500 people across the enclave.

Seated in The Hague, the ICJ ruled in January that "there is a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza and the continuing serious harm to civilians since then."

The United Nations' highest court ordered Tel Aviv to take all measures to prevent genocide in Gaza, but stopped short of ordering a ceasefire.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey said at the time that his government was providing documents for the case at the World Court, whose seat is in The Hague.

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Israeli settlers attack Jordanian aid convoys heading to Gaza

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 01 May 2024 4:55 PM

Jordan's Foreign Ministry has said two Jordanian aid convoys carrying food and flour have been attacked by Israeli settlers on their way into the besieged Gaza Strip.

The convoys, one taking the Beit Hanoon crossing and another taking the Karem Abu Salem crossing into Gaza, were targeted by the settlers on Wednesday morning.

The assailants dumped some of their cargo and damaged the trucks.

The Jordanian ministry strongly condemned the assault and held the Israeli authorities fully responsible for the crime.

Jordan News Agency (Petra) reported that the "failure of the Israeli authorities to provide protection" for the convoys undermine the regime's "claims and commitments to allowing aid to enter Gaza."

Israeli settlers have been repeatedly blocking the humanitarian aid trucks heading to Gaza.

The settlers are calling on the regime to prevent the flow of aid supplies to the besieged strip, despite signs of famine across the territory.

People in Gaza are dehydrated and suffering from malnutrition.

The vast majority of humanitarian convoys have been inspected by the Israeli military in order to guarantee that there is no kind of material that can be smuggled into the besieged Palestinian territory.

A senior Hamas official has said any ceasefire in Gaza needs to be permanent. The senior official said reaching a ceasefire deal could not be at any cost.

Meanwhile, Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged that the invasion of the southernmost city of Rafah would go ahead as planned.

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Hamas: Blinken's truce comments aimed at pressuring Palestinian resistance

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 01 May 2024 4:17 PM

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas says its studding a ceasefire proposal from Israel, dismissing pressure from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to accept the "extraordinarily generous" offer.

Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to send Israeli troops into the overpopulated city of Rafah in southern Gaza "with or without" a truce deal. And Blinken is pressuring Hamas to accept a ceasefire.

Following meetings with Israeli leaders, the top US diplomat on Wednesday once again called on Hamas to accept an offer from the Tel Aviv regime that will release Israeli captives and achieve a ceasefire, describing it as "extraordinarily generous."

Blinken is on his seventh regional tour since Israel waged a full-scale war on Gaza in October.

Later in the day, a senior Hamas official, Sami Abu Zuhri, denounced Blinken's remarks since they "contradict reality."

"It is not strange for Blinken, who is known as the foreign minister of Israel, not America, to make such a statement," Abu Zuhri told Reuters.

"Even the Israeli negotiating team admitted Netanyahu was the one who was hindering reaching an agreement," he further said, adding, however, that Hamas was still studying the recent ceasefire offer.

Hamas has already stressed that it will reject any ceasefire offer that does not include stopping the Israel's brutal war against the Gaza Strip. The movement has clearly stated that it seeks a permanent ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian enclave.

Hamas, whose envoys returned from Cairo talks to their base in Qatar, said it would consider a plan for a 40-day ceasefire and the exchange of scores of hostages for larger numbers of Palestinian inmates.

"The occupation's response that we received through mediators is under study, but it is too early to reach a decision regarding it," Abu Zuhri said late last week.

He also said at the time that the movement had "assured the brothers in Egypt and Qatar that it is serious about reaching an agreement, but it will not yield to any American pressure."

Netanyahu says Israel needs to destroy the remaining Hamas formations in Rafah for its own security, with or without a deal with Hamas. Netanyahu has reportedly told Blinken that he would not accept a deal that ends war in Gaza.

Citing to senior American and Israeli officials, Israeli news agency Walla reported that Netanyahu told Blinken that in case Hamas insists on ending the war, the deal will be rejected and the occupying regime will be forced to launch a military offensive in Rafah.

Israel had designated Rafah a "safe zone," but in recent months it has been threatening a full-scale military aggression, leaving the people sheltering there terrified with nowhere to go.

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Israeli settlements in West Bank hinder Palestinian statehood, says British Foreign Secretary

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 01 May 2024 11:09 AM

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron has addressed key issues concerning the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict, emphasizing that the occupying Tel Aviv regime's settlement expansion activities have negatively impacted the viability of a Palestinian state.

Speaking at a session of House of Lords' International Relations and Defense Committee on Tuesday, Cameron said the illegal settlements constructed by Israel in the West Bank were exacerbating the challenges in establishing a Palestinian state.

"It was getting harder because of the settlement-building by Israel in the West Bank, so technically creating the Palestinian state has got harder and we have to think about that," he said, noting that the so-called two-state solution could become an "impossibility" and "considered no longer viable by either side."

" ... It's got harder, but it's not impossible ... recognition is an important part of helping to give the Palestinians a perspective towards statehood, but it doesn't create a state just by everybody recognizing it. You've got to set out the things that actually create a state: a government, its ability to govern ... ," Cameron pointed out.

Tel Aviv has stepped up settlement expansion since December 2022, when Benjamin Netanyahu staged a comeback as prime minister at the head of a cabinet of hard-right and ultra-Orthodox parties.

More than 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East al-Quds.

The international community views the settlements - hundreds of which have been built across the West Bank since Tel Aviv's occupation of the territory in 1967 - as illegal under international law and the Geneva Conventions due to their construction on the occupied territories.

Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future independent state with East al-Quds as its capital.

No peace in West Asia without solution to Palestinian issue

The British foreign secretary further noted that West Asia will never enjoy "long-term peace or security" without "a solution to the Palestinian question."

On the situation in Gaza, where the Israeli military onslaught has killed at least 34,535 Palestinians, Cameron expressed deep concern and sadness over the loss of lives.

"Obviously the whole situation in Gaza is deeply concerning and the loss of life deeply regrettable," he said.

Regarding the resumption of funding to the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Cameron said the United Kingdom awaits the results of ongoing investigations before making any decision.

In late January, the United Kingdom and other major donor parties, such as the US and European Union, pulled their funding for the UN Palestinian refugee agency over claims that the UNRWA staffers were involved in Operation al-Aqsa Storm against Israel in October.

Human rights organization Freedom From Torture and Redress wrote to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on April 5 that the information "upon which the UK government acted, was obtained through torture."

The group called on the prime minister to ensure that "the UK takes no receipt of, and makes no use of intelligence provided by Israel or other authorities where there is a real risk that it has been obtained by torture or other ill-treatment."

They called on Sunak "to publicly repudiate reliance on intelligence material and/or 'confessions' obtained using torture".

"We urge you to urgently call for independent monitors and lawyers to have access to Palestinians in Israeli detention facilities."

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Yemen says its weapons stockpile 'unimaginable' as more European warships depart Red Sea

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 01 May 2024 11:02 AM

A high ranking Yemeni official has warned the United States against any hostile action against the Arab country, saying it possess far greater strategic stockpiles of deterrent weapons that Washington could imagine.

Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a member of Yemen's Supreme Political Council, made the remarks in a post on X on Wednesday, amid reports that the US is preparing a large-scale aerial offensive against Yemen.

"Don't play with fire. Everything you would expect from a strategic stock of Yemeni deterrent weapons, it is much, much more than you can imagine, in terms of quantity, quality and variety," he said.

Houthi's remarks came after the spokesman of Yemeni armed forces announced earlier in the day that the country's army has targeted two American destroyers and two Israeli ships in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean in a fresh operation in solidarity with Palestinians.

Yemen has been a key element of a regional campaign targeting Israeli and US interests, seeking an end to the brutal war on Gaza.

Yemenis have either seized or launched drone and missile attacks on ships linked to the Israeli regime, the US or Britain that have been sailing in regional waters in recent months.

Attacks have also been launched from Yemen on ports controlled by the Israeli regime since October, when Israel started its war on Gaza.

Yemen's ruling Houthi Ansarullah movement has reiterated that attacks on shipping will continue until Israel completely stops its aggression on Gaza.

Meanwhile, a Dutch media said the Yemeni armed forces have progressed in attacking distant targets, after the Yemeni army targeted the MSC Orion container ship in a drone attack in the Indian Ocean.

"It seems that the Yemeni army now has weapons with which it can attack targets in the Indian Ocean," the NOS network said

Portugal-flagged MSC Orion was truck in a drone attack on Monday, (372.8 miles) off the coast of Yemen.

The ship was sailing between the ports of Sines, Portugal, and Salalah, Oman, according to LSEG and other ship-tracking data.

Yemen's Armed Forces have also announced that they have targeted three other ships, a container ship and two US Navy ships in recent days.

Meanwhile, a Dutch warship, which had been in the Red Sea for nearly a month, is sailing towards East Asia.

His Netherlands Majesty's Ship (HNLMS) Tromp is an air-defense and command frigate that has been deployed by the Royal Netherlands Navy, with an objective to provide safe passage to merchant vessels that are passing through the red-sea region.

This was the second warship to depart the Red Sea after EU's "naval mission" failed to confront Yemen.

On Monday, Germany withdrew a warship from the Red Sea following the failure of an EU military mission to confront Yemen's maritime campaign in support of the Gaza Strip.

The frigate had been deployed in the strategic waterway in February as part of the EU naval operation called Aspides ("shield" in ancient Greek) in the face of pro-Palestine operations by the Yemeni armed forces.

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April 30: 'Axis of Resistance' operations against Israeli occupation

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 01 May 2024 9:30 AM



By Press TV Website Staff

Amid Israel's genocidal war on Gaza, which has killed more than 34,500 Palestinians so far, including more than 16,000 children, resistance groups in Palestine and across the region continue their operations against the Tel Aviv regime and its Western backers.

The major operations carried out by the Palestinian and regional resistance groups on Tuesday, April 30, are as follows:

Al-Qassam Brigades' operations on April 30:

Targeted the Israeli military's D9 bulldozer with an Al-Yassin 105 shell in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip.

Al-Quds Brigades' operations on April 30:

Bombed the command and control center of the Israeli military along the supply line of the "Netzarim" axis with mortar shells, achieving direct hits.

Launched a rocket barrage against Israeli soldiers and their military fortifications on the "Netzarim" axis of advance.

Engaged in fierce clashes with Israeli soldiers and targeted their military reinforcements with a barrage of bullets in the Askar axis of the occupied West Bank city of Nablus.

Martyr Omar Al-Qasim Forces' operations on April 30:

Launched several mortar shells at a gathering of Israeli military soldiers and their military vehicles in the Juhr Al-Dik and "Netzarim" axes.

Hezbollah's operations on April 30:

Eastern sector:

At around 14:10 local time, the Israeli military's Merkava tank in the Metulla site was targeted with guided missiles, resulting in casualties.

At around 14:10 local time, Israeli soldiers near the Metulla site were targeted with appropriate weapons, resulting in casualties.

At around 18:00 local time, the Radar site in Lebanon's Shebaa was targeted with a barrage of missiles.

At around 18:00 local time, two Israeli military buildings in the Metulla settlement were targeted with appropriate weapons and destroyed.

Western sector:

At around 00:05 local time, the Israeli military building in the Doviv settlement was targeted with appropriate weapons, resulting in heavy damages.

At around 00:10 local time, the Israeli military building in the Avivim settlement was targeted with appropriate weapons, resulting in heavy damages.

At around 20:17 local time, an Israeli military vehicle at the Jephthah-Ramot Naftali triangle was targeted with guided missiles, resulting in many casualties.

At around 22:25 local time, Israeli soldiers west of the Jal al-Alam site were targeted with artillery shells, resulting in casualties.

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Israel escalates arrest campaign in West Bank as several Palestinians nabbed in raids

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 01 May 2024 8:12 AM

The Israeli military has detained several more Palestinians during incursions in the occupied West Bank, amid a sharp rise in arrest campaigns in the aftermath of the Hamas-led October 7 operation against the occupied territories.

The Israeli forces stormed towns and camps in al-Khalil, Qalqilya, Bethlehem, Jericho, and Nablus, in the early hours of Wednesday, rounding up Palestinians, and destroying and ransacking their houses, while confrontations and clashes also reportedly broke out in several areas between residents and Israeli troopers.

Local media reports said that the Israeli military arrested at least six Palestinians during a raid on the Fawwar refugee camp, south of al-Khalil in the occupied West Bank.

One of the arrested men, Tariq Abu Hammad, had been freed from Israeli detention only days before.

They also raided the town of Bani Naim, east of al-Khalil, and stormed the family home of prisoner Abdul Hamid Abu Jarur, according to reports.

During the storming of the Al-Kasara area in al-Khalil, Israeli forces confiscated Palestinian vehicles, Haifa-based news website Arab48 reported.

Israeli forces also arrested a Palestinian man in the Aqbat Jabr refugee camp south of Jericho.

The occupation forces stormed the al-Shuraim neighborhood in the city of Qalqilya with military vehicles and searched several homes, reports added.

They also carried out search and arrest campaigns in the al-Mansour neighborhood in the village of Azzun, east of Qalqilya.

Israeli soldiers also arrested a young Palestinian man, identified as Abdullah Muayyad Barham, in Qalqilya.

In Nablus, the occupation forces raided the villages of Yatma and Douma. They arrested a young Palestinian man, identified as Khattab Salouda, from Duma after searching his house, vandalizing its contents, and confiscating mobile phones.

Residents also told local media that Israeli drones flew intensely in the sky of the city of Nablus, especially the western region.

Palestine's official news agency WAFA reported on Tuesday that Israeli occupation forces detained at least 10 Palestinians in multiple raids across the occupied West Bank in the cities of Bethlehem, Tulkarm, Jericho, and Ramallah.

According to the Commission of Detainees' Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners Society, a girl was among the detainees in the raids that took place on Tuesday in the occupied cities.

In the shadow of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza which has so far killed more than 34,500 people, record numbers of Palestinian detainees are filling Israeli-run prisons, where they face "systemic abuse" and torture, rights groups report.

According to the Ramallah-based Addameer prisoners' rights group, massive arrest campaigns have almost doubled the number of Palestinians in Israeli prisons from about 5,200 Palestinians lodged in Israeli prisons before October 7.

Currently, 9,500 Palestinians are held illegally in Israeli jails, including 3,660, under the so-called administrative detention without formal charges, for periods ranging from several months to several years.

The detainees also include 200 children, 56 journalists, and 80 women.

However, the figures exclude detainees from Gaza who are held under Israel's illegal policy of "enforced disappearance."

Israel has detained thousands of Palestinians during the ground invasion of Gaza and is still "refusing" to provide any information on their whereabouts, the Palestinian Prisoners Society says.

Rights groups' reports, testimonies from released detainees, video footage and images of torture, and other ill-treatment of the prisoners, including starvation and medical negligence, reveal that Israel is systematically violating the rights of Palestinians in detention centers.

In a fact sheet released on April 17, concurrent with Palestinians Prison Day, the Palestinian Prisoners Society reported that 16 Palestinian detainees have been killed in Israeli detention facilities since October 7, 2023.

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Israel's planned Rafah invasion 'completely unacceptable': European Commission chief

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 01 May 2024 7:00 AM

The president of the European Commission has expressed opposition to Israel's planned ground invasion of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, denouncing the possible imminent attack as "completely unacceptable."

Ursula von der Leyen made the remarks on Tuesday, after Israel said it had approved final plans for the phased invasion of Rafah despite growing international opposition.

It would be "completely unacceptable" for Israel to attack Rafah, she said, adding that the EU Commission would "sit down" with its member states and "act on that" if Israel invaded Rafah.

Von der Leyen also noted, "I'm never drawing red lines, but I think it would be completely unacceptable if (Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu would invade," in response to a question whether attacking Rafah would constitute "a red line" and result in EU sanctions against Israel.

The European Commission chief further described as "unbearable" and "unacceptable" the situation in Rafah, while recalling her visit to the city.

She also reiterated her call for a ceasefire in Gaza and the so-called two-state solution as "the only solution that will bring peace to the region."

On Tuesday, Netanyahu pledged to carry out the planned ground invasion of Rafah, whether or not a ceasefire and a swap deal is reached with the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas.

His remarks came after the Israeli military's chief of staff, Herzi Halevi, said the military had approved final plans for the phased invasion of Rafah as well as the refugee camps in the central part of Gaza in the next 72 hours.

Rafah, situated in the Gaza Strip's closed southern border with Egypt, is home to around 1.5 million Palestinians who have been displaced due to Israel's ongoing genocidal campaign in the besieged territory.

Israel had designated Rafah a "safe zone," but in recent months it has been threatening a full-scale military aggression, leaving the people sheltering there terrified with nowhere to go.

The assault has mounted fears over a new carnage against Palestinians and drawn global condemnations.

Humanitarian catastrophe

Meanwhile, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that Israel would set off a "humanitarian disaster" if it goes ahead with a military assault on Rafah.

"A full scale invasion on Rafah would be a humanitarian catastrophe," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X. "We appeal to Israel not to proceed. We urge all parties to work for a ceasefire and lasting peace."

Israel began its brutal onslaught on October 7 after Hamas carried out a historic operation against the occupying entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

Since then, the regime has killed over 34,500 Palestinians, , including 14,500 children, in Gaza and nearly 490, including 124 children, in the occupied West Bank..

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Beijing sets conditions for possible resumption of talks on Tibet

Government officials will meet only with representatives of the Dalai Lama, says a foreign ministry spokesman.

By Tenzin Pema, Tashi Wangchuk and Yeshi Dawa for RFA Tibetan 2024.05.01 -- The Chinese government says it will only talk with the representatives of the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, while ruling out any scope for "contact" with the India-based Tibetan government in exile.

Beijing called the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), as the government is known, a "separatist" bloc demanding autonomy for Tibet - a line that experts say it has long upheld and signals no change in Beijing's stance towards engaging meaningfully with the Tibetan side since previous talks fell through in 2010.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin, who made the comment on April 27, was reacting to a statement by Sikyong Penpa Tsering, the democratically elected leader of the Central Tibetan Administration, or CTA, about his government engaging in back-channel talks with the Chinese government.

Wang told a press conference there were two main conditions for any "contact or negotiations" on Tibet.

"First, we would only have contact and talks with the personal representative of the 14th Dalai Lama, not the so-called 'Tibetan government-in-exile' or 'Central Tibetan Administration,' he said." The Chinese government will not be dealing with it."

"Second, any contact or talks will only be about the personal future of the 14th Dalai Lama himself, or at most, a handful of people close to him, not the so-called 'high degree of autonomy for Tibet,'" he added.

Following the Chinese government's statement, Tsering said negotiation was the only way forward to resolve the Tibet-China conflict and the CTA would continue appealing to the government and international community to urge the Chinese government to resume dialogue.

Sino-Tibetan dialogue began in 2002 in an effort to consider prospects of "genuine" autonomy for Tibet, as called for by the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, as part of his Middle Way policy.

The approach accepts the formerly independent Himalayan nation's status as a part of China but urges greater cultural and religious freedoms, including strengthened language rights, guaranteed for ethnic minorities under provisions of China's constitution.

"His Holiness the Dalai Lama has said time and again that the Tibet issue is the issue of six million Tibetans and not his personal matter," CTA spokesman Tenzin Lekshay told Radio Free Asia.

"The Central Tibetan Administration's Middle Way Policy seeks genuine, meaningful autonomy for the Tibetan people within the framework of the Chinese constitution and the Regional National Autonomy Law of China," he said.

"Resolving the Sino-Tibet conflict through the Middle Way Approach is mutually beneficial," he added.

False sense of hope

The Sino-Tibetan talks ground to a halt in 2010 without any breakthrough following nine formal rounds of discussion and one informal meeting.

Chinese officials rejected proposals by the Tibetan delegation  which included the Dalai Lama's special envoy Lodi Gyari and senior envoy Kelsang Gyaltsen  in which they called for greater autonomy for Tibet within China.

Both Gyari and Gyaltsen resigned from their posts two years after the talks stalled, citing frustration over the lack of a positive response from the Chinese side.

Reacting to the Chinese government's latest statement on conditions for talks to resolve the conflict, Gyaltsen told RFA that Wang's statement reflected the Chinese government line as usual.

"In fact, I can see that the Chinese government has intensified its tough stance on Tibet and, the statement signals a negative turn as now there is no scope even for a discussion on autonomy," he said.

Wang's statement also appeared to be "an attempt by the Chinese Communist Party, or CCP, to create a false sense of hope among Tibetans and create further differences within the Tibetan communities," he added.

London-based Tibetologist Robert Barnett of London University's School of Oriental and African Studies, echoed Gyaltsen's assessment, noting that the Chinese ministry spokesperson "does not deny that there are back-channel talks."

"Basically, he confirms it. ... That might also explain why it is so aggressive. They want to distract Chinese listeners at least from realizing that they are talking with the Tibetans, perhaps," Barnett told RFA, referring to the two conditions China laid out for talks.

What China was saying in public differed from what Chinese officials were saying behind the scenes, Barnett said.

"It is not credible that the Chinese will only talk about the Dalai Lama's personal situation, as they claim," he said. "They may well refuse to discuss autonomy, but we can be fairly sure that they will be talking about other issues besides the Dalai Lama's personal position and that of his retinue," he said.

Push for 'meaningful' dialogue

Some governments, including those of the United States and European countries, have made repeated calls for the Chinese government to resume talks with the Dalai Lama or Tibetan leaders.

On Tuesday, a U.S. State Department spokesperson told RFA that the U.S. government would work with its allies and partners to encourage China to return, without preconditions, to direct dialogue with the Dalai Lama, his representatives or the democratically elected Tibetan leaders to achieve meaningful autonomy for Tibetans and ensure they can preserve their religion, culture and language.

In April, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee unanimously approved a bipartisan bill urging China to resume negotiations with the Dalai Lama or his representatives, without preconditions, and address the aspirations of Tibetans regarding their historical, cultural, religious and linguistic identity.

"The CCP has oppressed the Tibetan people for 70 years and will not stop until their culture is eliminated," U.S. Rep. Young Kim, a California Republican, told RFA. "The only way that there will be a peaceful resolution is if the voice of the Tibetan people is included in any conversations with the CCP."

The Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act, also known as the Resolve Tibet Act, was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives in February, and now needs to pass the Senate for it to become law.

The bill notes that an obstacle to further dialogue is that the Chinese government continues to impose conditions on substantive dialogue with the Dalai Lama, including "a demand that he say that Tibet has been part of China since ancient times, which the Dalai Lama has refused to do because it is inaccurate."

The European Parliament in December 2023 adopted a resolution in which it repeated its call for the Chinese government to re-engage with the Dalai Lama's representatives to establish genuine autonomy for Tibetans within China.

The resolution also urged Chinese authorities to release the Panchen Lama, Tibet's second most senior Buddhist monk abducted by Chinese authorities in 1995, and refrain from interfering in the designation of the next Dalai Lama.

Additional reporting by Tenzin Dickyi and Dolma Lhamo for RFA Tibetan. Edited by Roseanne Gerin.

Copyright 1998-2024, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content May not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.

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Tibetan political leader meets with French President Macron

It was the first meeting of a Tibetan elected leader with the head of a state of a major Western democratic nation.

By Rigdhen Dolma, Tashi Wangchuk and Tenzin Pema 2024.05.01 -- Just days ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to France, the democratically elected head of the Tibetan government-in-exile met with French President Emmanuel Macron during an award ceremony in Paris.

The visit marked the first meeting of a Tibetan elected leader with the head of a state of a major Western democratic nation.

Sikyong Penpa Tsering, head of Dharamsala, India-based Central Tibetan Administration, met Macron at a ceremony to award the Legion of Honour to former French senator and Tibet supporter Andre Gattolin on April 30 at the Elysee Palace in Paris.

Macron is expected to host Xi next week for dinner at the palace during the Chinese president's first visit to the European Union in five years.

In January, France was among the 21 United Nations member states that raised serious concerns about the human rights situation in Tibet, resulting in 23 recommendations for Beijing during China's fourth Universal Periodic Review. The comprehensive review of the country's human rights record took place at the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, in January.

The Chinese government tightly controls the Tibet Autonomous Region and Tibetan-populated areas of China's western provinces, restricting Tibetans' political activities and peaceful expression of cultural and religious identity.

During the meeting, Tsering presented Macron with a picture of his 2016 meeting with the Dalai Lama, autographed by the Tibetan spiritual leader, and urged him not to forget Tibet, Representative Rigzin Choedon Genkhang of the Office of Tibet in Brussels told Radio Free Asia.

"For me, the fact that he discussed, even if it is a short discussion, with the sikyong, is very important because President Xi Jinping will make an official visit in Paris at the beginning of next week," Gattolin told RFA, while noting the meeting was held in the open before 300 people.

"Now [that] it is public [knowledge] that the French president has met the sikyong, I'm waiting for the reaction from China and to see what will be the consequences during his visit," he said.

Xi is scheduled to visit France, Serbia and Hungary on May 5-10 in an effort to bolster China-EU ties.

His visit to France on May 6-7 takes place amidst the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries and comes on the back of Macron's visit to Beijing in April 2023.

"Exchanges will focus on international crises, first and foremost the war in Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East, trade issues, scientific, cultural and sporting cooperation," the French President's office said in a statement.

The French president met the Dalai Lama in September 2016 when Macron was a candidate for the 2017 presidential elections.

"Macron wanted to meet His Holiness who was in Paris at the time," Gattolin said.

"Nowadays, very often, I ask the French president to take a stronger position on the Tibetan situation, but due to the global international relations and the weight of China, he is very careful and prudent," Gattolin said.

Additional reporting by Tsering Yangdon for RFA Tibetan. Edited by Kalden Lodoe for RFA Tibetan, and by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.

Copyright 1998-2024, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content May not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.

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Vietnam leadership battle heats up after serial sackings narrow the field

Three candidates have emerged in the Communist Party's delicate succession process.

A commentary by Zachary Abuza 2024.05.01 -- The jockeying for leadership in Hanoi is underway - more than 18 months ahead of the Communist Party of Vietnam's 14th Party Congress, which is expected to be held in January 2026.

Under party rules, to be eligible to serve as CPV General Secretary one has to have served two terms on the Politburo. With the forced resignations of Pham Binh Minh, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Vo Van Thuong, and Vuong Dinh Hue since December 2022, that leaves only three candidates as eligible for the top job: Truong Thi Mai, Pham Minh Chinh, and To Lam.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong is in his third term. And while he may view himself as the only person who can rid the party of corruption, his age and health are impediments.

He suffered a stroke prior to the 13th Congress in 2021. Rumors swirled about his death in January. Although he showed up days later at a National Assembly session, the 80-year old ideologue was visibly frail.

With the party having held two planning sessions, one for documents and one for personnel, it's worth looking at the three candidates and evaluating their strengths and weaknesses, including drawbacks that may leave just one man standing.

Capable, experienced Mai

Truong Thi Mai is ranked third on the Politburo, and following National Assembly chief Vuong Dinh Hue's expulsion last week, is expected to become the chairwoman of the legislature. She is the highest-ranked woman in Vietnamese history and has vast experience across party organs and in the National Assembly.

Mai has been a member of the Central Committee since 2006, and was elected to the Politburo at the 12th Congress in 2016.

Mai has vast experience in mass mobilization work, serving in leadership positions in two youth unions, before being promoted to head the Central Committee's Mass Mobilization Commission. For a party that is increasingly seen as being out of touch and losing legitimacy amongst the youth, mobilization work is a priority.

From 2016-2021, Mai served as a member of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, which both leads the legislature and acts in its name when the body is out of session.

At the 13th Party Congress, Mai headed the Central Committee's Organization Commission, ostensibly the CPV's HR department. In any communist system, the keeper of the nomenklatura (name list) is a key position that is responsible for all mid- and senior-level appointments.

Mai was promoted to head the secretariat, which runs the party's day-to-day affairs, in March 2023.

The 66-year old Mai is arguably the most capable and has the broadest based experience of the three candidates. But she's a woman in the male-dominated world of Vietnamese politics. She's also from Quang Binh in central Vietnam - in a party that so far has only selected northerners as general secretaries.

Mai is comparatively clean. Though her family has holdings in the health sector, none of that has been publicly aired.

Having mostly served in party positions, Mai has less exposure to Western leaders, though she sat on Trong's immediate right in the meeting with President Joe Biden last September. Mai also met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and her counterparts in Beijing in April 2023.

Well-traveled Chinh

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, ranked second, is the most recognizable of the senior leadership, regularly meeting with foreign officials and businessmen.

Prior to politics, Chinh had a long career in the police. From 2006-2009, he was the deputy head of the Ministry of Public Security's (MPS) General Intelligence Department, and then briefly the head of the General Department of Logistics and Technology. From 2010-2011, he served as a deputy minister.

Chinh, who hails from the northern province of Thanh Hoa, served as the party secretary of Quang Ninh province from 2011-2015. He was elected to the Politburo at the 12th Congress in 2016, and served as the head of the Central Committee's Organization Commission.

At the 13th Congress, Chinh was selected to be Prime Minister, despite having no national-level economic experience, nor having served as a deputy prime minister. His government was criticized for the mishandling of the onset of new Covid-19 variants and the purchase of vaccines.

Chinh, 65, was embroiled in scandals involving AIC and its CEO, Nguyen Thi Thanh Nhan. AIC was a general trading company whose rise was largely tied to Chinh's promotions.

Nhan has long been rumored to be Chinh's mistress, and was convicted in absentia in January 2023, receiving a 30-year sentence. She also received a 10-year sentence in a second trial bid rigging trial - this time in Quang Ninh - in October. In addition, two other senior officials from Quang Ninh were arrested in late 2023, seen as another attempt to pressure Chinh.

Chinh reportedly submitted a self-criticism to the Politburo. That, and the fact that there was no clear replacement for him, likely saved him. But, in March, the minister of labor was disciplined for a bid-rigging scandal involving AIC. Each AIC case is a Sword of Damocles hanging over Chinh.

While Chinh has overseen a period of economic growth, the country continues to miss its growth targets. Foreign investment has flowed in, but the government has failed to push through important reforms, and there is no shortage of problems - from a banking crisis, to real estate bubble, to energy shortages, to freezes in public spending - that have gone unresolved under his watch.

Despite his shortcomings in administration and economic management, the general secretary position is not an executive function. Chinh could be seen as a compromise candidate, which is his greatest strength.

Policeman Lam

To Lam is a career policeman, having served since graduating from the People's Security Academy in 1979. He is a northerner, from Hung Yen province.

Lam rose through the ranks, and joined the Central Committee at the 11th Congress, the year he became Deputy Minister. He has been the minister of public security, with the rank of general, since joining the Politburo at the 12th Party Congress in 2016. He is ranked fourth.

Given that his entire career was within the secretive MPS, there's much outsiders don't know about him, though most of his postings were in the general security department, the largest within MPS.

In 2016, Lam's predecessor, President Tran Dai Quang, appointed him to head the steering committees on anti-corruption and the Central Highlands, a region that continues to experience unrest from the Montagnard minority. These are two of the most sensitive issues for the CPV leadership.

Lam was almost brought down with his own scandal. In November 2021, after laying a wreath at the grave of Karl Marx while on a trip to London, he was filmed eating $2,000 gold-encrusted steaks at Salt Bae's restaurant in an episode that went viral. Lam has gone after people who publicly mocked him with a vengeance.

Lam kept his job, but found that his best defense was to go on the offense.

He put himself at the disposal of Nguyen Phu Trong's "Blazing Furnace" anti-corruption campaign, and in the process, weaponized corruption investigations to take down his political rivals.

Competent technocrats, Deputy Prime Ministers Vu Duc Dam and Pham Binh Minh fell in late 2022; President Nguyen Xuan Phuc was ousted in February 2023, and Politburo members Tran Tuan Anh, President Vo Van Thuong, and Vuong Dinh Hue were sackedin 2024.

Lam is no cleaner than other politicians. Like others, his family's vast corporate interests derive from his power and position. To date, none of these have been publicly aired.

While he is the guardian of the Communist Party, Lam isn't an ideologue. Diplomats and Western businessmen who have met him describe him as pragmatic.

However, he has led the campaign against dissent, cracked down on civil society organizations, tightened internet controls, and planned the kidnapping of an economic fugitive from Germany.

In many ways, Lam is the least qualified but the most secure. He has something that none of his rivals have: the vast investigative powers of the MPS, which he uses with great dispatch as he strategizes to be the last one standing.

Vietnam's political system is a selectorate, in which higher-ranking bodies select underlings, giving them experience across party, state and provincial positions.

Party loyalty is the most important qualification. The Politburo is always a delicate mix of competing interests, including party versus state, regional and factional. Add in the VCP's own requirement for two-term experience, and the political gene pool is both shallow and small.

Does it matter? The general secretary has no executive function. Unlike China, the presidency and general secretary are separated, so the top party post also has no core diplomatic function.

But, the general secretary is primus inter pares, and sets the party line, and has vast convening and agenda-setting powers. The general secretary's interests, such as the Blazing Furnace campaign, become the party's priorities. Personnel and government policies must conform to party dictates.

While Lam is now the frontrunner to succeed Trong, it's the 180-man CPV Central Committee that will have the last word. The Central Committee has rejected Politburo personnel decisions in the past; and they could change or waive party rules to allow for a general secretary who only has one term experience on the Politburo.

And given the potential for a deadlock, we can never rule out Trong presenting himself as the compromise candidate. After all, if succession is so divisive, then why have succession?

Zachary Abuza is a professor at the National War College in Washington and an adjunct at Georgetown University. The views expressed here are his own and do not reflect the position of the U.S. Department of Defense, the National War College, Georgetown University or Radio Free Asia.

Copyright 1998-2024, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content May not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.

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EU Remains Serbia's Goal, Says Prime Minister-Elect

By RFE/RL's Balkan Service May 01, 2024

Prime minister-elect Milos Vucevic told the Serbian parliament on May 1 that membership in the European Union remains the country's strategic goal but said "burdens" introduced into the membership process "cannot be ignored."

Vucevic, leader of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), said EU expectations are tied to Serbia "humiliating" itself by recognizing Kosovo's independence and joining sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

In a three-hour speech to parliament setting out his government's priorities, Vucevic, who named his cabinet on April 30, said Serbia will maintain its policy of not joining the sanctions.

"There is no doubt that pressures will continue, and probably intensify, but our commitment to stay in the same positions remains," he said.

Serbia "cannot and will not give up its friendship with Russia, whose people we consider fraternal, just as we do with Ukrainians," he said, noting that Serbia has condemned Russia's attack on Ukraine and considers the territorial integrity of Ukraine inviolable.

He described his cabinet as a "government of continuity" of Serbian policies and said Belgrade's foreign policy will be guided by the existing principles of political independence and military neutrality.

Vucevic emphasized the importance of Serbia's partnership with China, saying a trade agreement would open doors to Serbian entrepreneurs.

"Despite conflicting views from many in the West, China represents a friendly state, a partner, and a reliable ally in defending our territorial integrity," he said, adding that he looks forward to Chinese President Xi Jinping's planned visit on May 7-8.

Serbia is also committed to building the best relations with the United States, he said.

"Where there are disagreements, as with Kosovo and Metohija, we will reiterate our position [and] work to make our American partners hear and understand us," Vucevic said, using the Serbian name for its former province.

Vucevic reiterated that Serbia has never questioned the territorial integrity of neighboring Bosnia-Herzegovina, stating Serbia will be a partner for everyone who wants to work on strengthening the Dayton peace accords that ended the Bosnian War and established two entities -- Republika Srpska and the Bosniak-Croat federation -- under a weak central government.

"No one can forbid us from loving the Republika Srpska," he said, referring to the entity dominated by ethnic Serbs. "No one will impose guilt or the stigma of a genocidal people on us," he said in an apparent reference to a proposed UN resolution that would declare July 11 as the International Day of Remembrance for the Genocide.

The genocide near Srebrenica in 1995 of more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys by Bosnian Serb forces has been deemed genocide by various international courts. Serbia has voiced strong opposition to the resolution.

Vucevic also mentioned Serbia's relations with other Balkan countries. There are numerous challenges in Serbia's relations with Croatia, but he said Serbians in Croatia will always be able to rely on their home country, "which will help them not only financially but also culturally and thus prevent their assimilation."

Speaking about relations with Montenegro, he said that throughout history, "no one has been closer to Montenegro than Serbia and there is no reason for it not to be so again," adding that Serbia will not dispute Montenegro's statehood.

The prime minister-designate said that one of the priorities of the new government will be to strengthen the standard of living, and special attention would be paid to pensioners. He also announced that the future government would continue with intensive investments in the Serbian armed forces.

The new government was announced four and a half months after elections in which the SNS won a majority in parliament.

Opposition coalitions Serbia Against Violence and NADA (Hope) have accused the coalition led by the SNS of electoral theft in the December 17 vote, and numerous irregularities were identified by both international and domestic observer missions.

Serbian authorities have repeatedly denied that there were any serious electoral irregularities.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/serbia-government-vucevic- balkans-russia-ukraine/32929470.html

Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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New Serbian Government Maintains Policy Of 'Sitting On Two Chairs' Of East And West

By Nevena Bogdanovic May 01, 2024

BELGRADE -- By appointing two members who are under U.S. sanctions to the new Serbian government, Belgrade has only nurtured its relationship with Moscow, a senior associate with the Berlin-based Council for Democratization Policy told RFE/RL on April 30.

But including the two sanctioned officials to the new government roster "doesn't imply abandoning the policy of sitting on two chairs" -- one in the East and one in the West, said Bodo Weber, who replied to e-mailed questions from RFE/RL after the government was named.

The "two-chair" policy refers to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic's attempt to maintain good relations with the European Union -- which Serbia strives to join -- while keeping close ties to traditional ally Russia, even after the Kremlin's decision to invade Ukraine in February 2022.

Milos Vucevic, leader of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), was tapped last month to form a new government, and on April 30 he announced it will include former intelligence chief Aleksandar Vulin, who has been under U.S. sanctions since July 2023, to the post of deputy prime minister, and Nenad Popovic, another official blacklisted by the United States, as a minister without portfolio.

Vulin was placed on the U.S. sanctions list in July 2023 for allegedly using his position to further Russian and criminal agendas, including arms dealing and drug trafficking.

Popovic, designated in November 2023, used his Russia-based businesses to enrich himself and gain close connections with Kremlin senior leaders, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.

The U.S. State Department told RFE/RL that the United States is "disappointed to see two sanctioned individuals proposed for positions in the new government." The department's e-mailed response to a request for comment added, "Our position on Mr. Vulin and Mr. Popovic is well known. They remain under U.S. sanctions."

Vucevic also named Milica Djurdjevic Stamenkovski, president of the right-wing Zavetnici party, to head the Ministry of Family Care. The Zavetnici party, formerly in opposition, entered into cooperation with the SNS after the December elections, which were marred by widespread allegations of fraud and irregularities.

There also are several new names in the 25-member government, while 13 ministers remain at the helm of the same ministries they led in the previous government.

"There's a recognizable continuation of the trend of greater involvement of party operatives [and] members of the inner circle around Vucic," said Weber, adding that he didn't see any ideological shift in the policy of Vucic's regime in the composition of the new government.

He said Vucic's regime has always relied less on a specific ideology and more on maintaining power, "so the authoritarian mindset behind it, rather than its nationalist ideological heritage, has been and remains more important."

Asked what message the new government sends to the international community, Weber said EU membership has long been more of a means for Vucic to consolidate and maintain power and to strengthen Serbia's international position rather than a serious goal.

At the same time Weber is very critical of the European Union's "appeasement policy" toward Serbia, saying it means Vucic doesn't need to worry about what message his new government sends.

"Since the EU has failed to muster the strength to stop its long-failed appeasement policy toward the authoritarian-autocratic regime in Serbia, what continues is a performance devoid of any substance called Serbia's European integration," he said.

An initiative by Germany and France on the political dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo, a former province of Serbia whose independence Belgrade does not recognize, "was based precisely on that previously proven failed appeasement policy toward Vucic," Weber added. "It has gloriously failed in an unprecedented escalation in northern Kosovo, which Western capitals still aren't willing to acknowledge."

Tensions in ethnic-Serb dominated northern Kosovo have remained high since an incident in September that left an ethnic Albanian Kosovar police officer dead after an encounter with masked commandos allegedly led by a Kosovar Serb politician. Three of the gunmen were also killed.

Weber said Belgrade will never face sanctions for the regime's "direct responsibility for the attack...ensuring that even resorting to massive electoral fraud in the December elections in Belgrade won't provoke a serious reaction from the West."

He added that Vucic apparently had no concerns about a possible strong U.S. reaction to the appointment of two sanctioned ministers.

The policy of imposing sanctions on officials close to the Kremlin remains "entirely disconnected from the general policy of the U.S. administration towards Belgrade."

Weber also criticized the United States as having "taken a leading role in the Western appeasement policy."

However U.S. envoy for the Western Balkans Gabriel Escobar has urged the two sides to resolve their differences. And in March during a visit to Pristina he put pressure on Prime Minister Albin Kurti to reverse a ban on the use of Serbia's dinar in the country's north.

But Weber said it was apparent that nurturing relations with Moscow was considered in forming the government at a time when Vucic feels pressure due to the Council of Europe coming closer to admitting Kosovo and a UN resolution on the genocide in Srebrenica.

"However, this still doesn't mean abandoning the policy of sitting on two chairs," Weber said.

Weber also said Vucevic has the capacity to lead the government and keep the cabinet together based on his status as a member of Vucic's "inner circle" and his position as president of the party.

He added that it will be interesting to see how Vucic relates to the prime minister, noting it won't be as easy to shift blame for negative events onto the government when it's led by the president of the ruling party.

None of this will jeopardize the stability of a regime that currently isn't seriously threatened, "least of all by the West, and it seems, no longer by the opposition," Weber said.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Balkan Service

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/serbia-vucic-vucevic-us- sanctions/32929290.html

Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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U.S. 'Disappointed' Proposed Serbian Government Includes Blacklisted Individuals

By RFE/RL's Balkan Service May 01, 2024

The United States said it was "disappointed" following the announcement that two individuals under U.S. sanctions have been included in the proposed new Serbian cabinet.

"We are disappointed to see two sanctioned individuals proposed for positions in the new government," a U.S. State Department spokesman told RFE/RL in a written statement on May 1.

The two nominees in question are Aleksandar Vulin, who has been proposed as deputy prime minister, and Nenad Popovic, who was tabbed as a minister without portfolio.

"Our position on Mr. Vulin and Mr. Popovic is well known," the State Department spokesman said. "They remain under U.S. sanctions." He added that Washington plays no role in the appointments in the Serbian government.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on May 1 that he is "not happy" with the State Department's position.

"I hope we will have good relations with our American partners," he said. "It is extremely important to have good relations."

Vulin, a former director of Serbia's BIA security agency, was sanctioned by Washington in July 2023 for "corrupt and destabilizing acts that have also facilitated Russia's malign activities in the region."

Popovic, a businessman and former minister without portfolio, was sanctioned in November 2023 for allegedly "operating in or having operated in the electronics sector of the Russian Federation economy."

In March, Vucic asked Defense Minister Milos Vucevic to form a new government after contested parliamentary elections last December.

Vucevic, the leader of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), has been serving as defense minister and deputy prime minister since 2022. The SNS and its coalition partners won a narrow majority of 129 mandates in the 250-seat legislature in the close-fought vote that was marred by allegations of fraud.

Vucevic announced his picks on April 30, saying his cabinet would include the heads of 25 ministries and five ministers without portfolios.

Current Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic has been proposed as interior minister, while Police Minister Bratislav Gasic was selected as defense minister.

Serbia's parliament was set to discuss the formation of the new government on May 1.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/serbia-sanctions-government- ministers-cabinet/32929045.html

Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Israeli Military Announces Preparation for Offensive on Northern Front

Sputnik News

20240501

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Israeli Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi has assessed the security situation in the defense forces' northern command and announced preparation for an offensive on the northern front amid ongoing shelling by Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Wednesday.

"You [commanding officers] are doing an excellent job of operational defense in the north, and we are preparing for an offensive in the north. We are preparing for an offensive in the north. We are taking the difficult event of October 7th, we have recovered, moved forward strongly, and are making a very clear statement about our presence here going forward. The reserve force plays a significant role in this," Halevi was quoted by the IDF as saying.

Hezbollah has been exchanging airstrikes with Israel since October 2023, as the situation in the region deteriorated dramatically after Israel announced a military operation against Palestinian movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The Lebanese Foreign Ministry has said some 100,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in southern Lebanon because of Israel's shelling. Israel has also said that about 80,000 residents of northern Israel have found themselves in a similar situation.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a large-scale rocket attack against Israel and breached the border, attacking both civilian neighborhoods and military bases. Nearly 1,200 people in Israel were killed and some 240 others abducted during the attack. Israel launched retaliatory strikes, ordered a complete blockade of Gaza, and started a ground incursion into the Palestinian enclave with the declared goal of eliminating Hamas fighters and rescuing the hostages. Over 34,400 people have been killed so far by Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip, according to local authorities.

 Sputnik

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Poland to Deploy Weapons Near Russian Border From May 4-6 for NATO Drills

Sputnik News

20240501

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Polish military equipment will be deployed near the Polish-Russian border from May 4-6 in northeastern Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship as part of NATO's Steadfast Defender drills, the Polish Armed Forces General Command said.

"Be especially careful in the near future, as you may encounter numerous military convoys on the route. The culmination of the exercises will take place from May 4-6 in the regions of the West Pomeranian, Pomeranian and Warmian-Masurian voivodeships," the command said on X on Tuesday.



NATO kicked off Steadfast Defender 24 in January. The war games are running through May and include over 90,000 troops from all 32 member states. The second phase of the drills is focused on moving troops across Europe. During the drills, the allies plan to test out a conflict scenario against a "near-peer adversary" in accordance with Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which states that an attack on one ally is considered an attack against the entire NATO and allows for the provision of appropriate assistance.

In January, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told Sputnik that the scale of the 2024 iteration of Steadfast Defender marks the final and irrevocable return of the alliance to Cold War schemes to counter Russia. These exercises are another element of the hybrid war unleashed by the West against Russia, he added.

 Sputnik

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Armenian Parliament Refuses to Discuss Opposition's Draft Statement on Border Delimitation

Sputnik News

20240501

YEREVAN, (Sputnik) - The ruling majority of the Armenian parliament has refused to discuss a draft statement on delimitation and demarcation of the border with Azerbaijan submitted by the opposition "Armenia" faction, a Sputnik correspondent reported.

"27 members of parliament voted in favor of the decision to include the draft statement 'On Demarcation and Delimitation Between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan', authored by the 'Armenia' faction, 51 voted against. No decision was made," Armenian Parliament Vice President Ruben Rubinyan said, presenting the results of the vote.

Artur Khachatryan, a member of the "Armenia" faction, said that according to Armenia's laws, a prime minister is given the right to form only consultative bodies, but a special commission headed by Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan cannot decide where the border runs. Any change of the border should be approved by referendum, he added.

The authors of the draft statement believe that the demarcation of the border should be based on international documents, in particular, the United Nations Charter, the Vienna Convention and the Helsinki Final Act. The demarcation should be based on the border as of September 24, 1993 - the day of Azerbaijan's accession to the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), as well as unblocking of roads and communications while preserving sovereignty, Khachatryan said.

The ruling "Civil Contract" faction, which voted against submitting the draft statement for discussion at the plenary session, said it did not contribute to "the peace process declared by the Armenian government and contradicted the state interests of Armenia."

On April 19, Armenia and Azerbaijan held the eighth meeting of the commissions on border delimitation. The countries agreed on the demarcation of part of the border, which will result in the handover of four villages that had been under Armenian control since the early 1990s. Last Tuesday, the first boundary marker was placed on the border.

The developments, however, sparked protests in Armenia. Since April 20, protesters in Armenia have been blocking highways to Georgia and Iran, demanding to halt the process of delimitation and transfer of border territories to Azerbaijan.

Armenia and Azerbaijan fought several wars over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. The latest spark of hostilities in 2023 resulted in Azerbaijan taking over Nagorno-Karabakh and prompting the breakaway region's Armenian population to almost entirely flee to Armenia. Simultaneously, Baku and Yerevan started border delimitation and stated they were close to concluding a peace treaty.

Azerbaijan has demanded control over a number of formerly Soviet Azerbaijani villages remaining inside the Armenian territory after the collapse of the Soviet Union. In March, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said his government was ready to transfer the villages to Baku to prevent insecurity and avoid new hostilities.

 Sputnik

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Gazans on tenterhooks awaiting news of ceasefire call

1 May 2024 - Amid growing international calls for restraint from Israel in Gaza and reports on Wednesday of further deadly strikes overnight, UN humanitarians underscored the ongoing devastating impact of the war and the need to ensure reliable aid supply lines to people in desperate need in the enclave.

"One-third of all the families who live here have children under five, so many babies, so many kids," said Matthew Hollingworth, UN World Food Programme (WFP) Palestine Country Director, speaking from a school in Deir Al Balah, run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.

"What they need is school, though what they need is more clean water, what they need is more stability. They need a normal life," the veteran aid official insisted, in a video post on X.

Echoing those concerns, UNRWA noted that there have been more than 360 attacks on its facilities since the beginning of the war. In additional to the tens of thousands of victims, vital infrastructure has been impacted, including the agency's water well in Khan Younis city.

Getting the precious water source up and running again will require clearing tonnes of debris which the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) has found to contain "a lot of dangerous materials and shrapnel", said communications officer Louise Wateridge. "Which means that instead of coming in with bulldozer and clearing it, it all needs to be removed piece by piece, safely."

Finding refuge at school

The Al Qastal UNRWA school in the central Gaza Strip is now home to around 2,400 families who have been displaced by nearly seven months of war in Gaza.

"People come from all over the Strip, from Gaza City itself, from Khan Younis next door. From all of the different neighbourhoods where people have been impacted because of the war," Mr. Hollingworth explained, his comments coming amid unconfirmed reports that two children died in an overnight Israeli strike on a house in Rafah, with more killed when an apartment block was hit in Gaza City.

While deep concerns persist about a possible Israeli invasion of Rafah - which UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Tuesday "would be an unbearable escalation" - the WFP official noted that UN aid agencies along with international and local relief partners have worked together successfully to provide lifesaving assistance further north.

In the case of Al Qastal school, recipients assistance includes food and special nutritional supplements for babies and infants to ensure healthy growth, Mr. Hollingworth explained.

Aid access frustration continues

UN aid coordination office OCHA reported that Israeli authorities blocked or excessively delayed the passage of three quarters of all UN-coordinated aid missions to areas requiring coordination across Gaza on Monday.

"One of those missions went to northern Gaza following full coordination with the Israeli authorities, but the team was forced to wait for a combined time of more than nine hours before departing, on the way north, and on the way back to Rafah."

"Such delays put humanitarian missions in jeopardy and humanitarian workers in harm's way, as fighting between Palestinian armed groups and Israeli forces often takes place near checkpoints."

OCHA also reported that when upon returning, the same mission collected the body of a boy who had apparently been killed near the checkpoint.

West Bank demolition update

In a related development and a sign of the worsening tinderbox situation in the wider Middle East, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, published new data from the occupied West Bank, showing that demolition of Palestinian property and displacement continue unabated.

Latest data from OCHA indicated that up to 22 April, more than 380 structures have been demolished in West Bank governorates, uprooting 650 people.

If the destruction continues at this rate, by the end of the year, a record 1,500 properties face being razed, the highest number since OCHA began compiling data in 2009.

Jerusalem governorate saw the highest level of damage, with 80 buildings demolished and 115 people displaced.

Andrea De Domenico, Head of Office for OCHA in the Occupied Palestinian Territory said that since

7 October, Israeli forces have destroyed the homes of 1,765 Palestinians across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

This is more than the number of displaced people in any previous full year.

"Historically, displacement was mostly the result of demolitions due to lack of permits, which are rarely granted to Palestinians. More recently, it is the result of operations carried out by Israeli forces in areas where permits aren't required, such as the refugee camps of Nur Shams, Tulkarm, and Jenin," he said.

New scale of operations

"These operations have involved shoulder-fired projectiles, airstrikes, exchanges of fire, fatalities, and widespread destruction, including homes and essential infrastructure like roads, water, and electricity networks. This is not something we have seen before at this scale."

The implications are vast, he added with families losing access to their livelihoods. Some 43% of those displaced are children.

"We are working hard to address these needs as a matter of priority, but humanitarian support is not the solution. Ultimately, such practices cannot continue", he said.

Toll keeps rising

Latest information from Gazan health authorities indicates that at least 34,568 Palestinians have been killed and 77,765 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since 7 October.

Some 1,250 people were killed in Hamas-led terror attacks on southern Israel that sparked the war, with more than 250 taken hostage. Dozens are still believed to be held captive in the enclave.

New York protest cleared

The development came as hundreds of police officers reportedly cleared a pro-Palestinian protest involving hundreds of people at Columbia University in New York late Tuesday.

At the authorities' behest, police removed demonstrators who had barricaded themselves inside a building on campus, while there were reports of major clashes between rival demonstrators overnight on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles.

Hours earlier, UN rights chief Volker Turk cautioned against any "heavy-handed steps" by some universities in the United States when dealing with Gaza war protests.

The Columbia university president had announced that dialogue with protesters had failed and the institution would not bow to demands to divest itself from Israel.

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Press Conference by Security Council President on Programme of Work for May

Press Conference

Security Council

1 May 2024

The Security Council's programme for May features three major debates, including one on the role of women and youth in maintaining international peace and security, its President told a Headquarters press conference today.

Pedro Comissario Afonso (Mozambique), who holds the 15-member organ's rotating presidency for the month, said that the first of these events will be an open debate on 21 May to discuss the protection of civilians in armed conflict and consider the latest report of the Secretary-General on that matter.

This topic is permanently on the Council agenda, but his country decided to "elevate" it because many conflicts are raging around the world. "Those conflicts are causing extensive damage and deaths of children, women and men," he emphasized.

The second is an open debate on 23 May about strengthening the role of African States in addressing global security and development challenges, he said, stressing: "Africa will always be on top of our priorities." His country wishes to see to what extent African States as an institution can bring about "global goods"  peace, security and development.

The third is on 28 May to discuss the role of women and young people in maintaining peace and security, he said, adding that this debate will be chaired by Mozambique's Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Veronica Nataniel Macamo Dlhovo.

Asked about the outcome documents from the three meetings highlighted, he said that his delegation seeks to adopt a presidential statement on the issue of women and young people. "Adopting a statement in the Council is not easy, not to mention a resolution," he said, expressing his commitment to hold extensive consultations towards that end.

Responding to a question about some urgent topics "missing" from the calendar, he said that there are "open spaces" where meetings on Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan can fit in.

Asked about the Security Council's dominant focus on Africa and the Middle East, he said there is "nothing wrong" discussing these issues, but the problem is the lack of solutions to these problems.

When a correspondent asked how quickly the Council can act in the case of Israel's offensive in Rafah, he said that as the organ's President, he will encourage efforts to have a ceasefire. If a ceasefire ensues, "we will certainly draft a resolution" to strongly support it. If negotiations are not fruitful, the direction is to take measures as the Council did when it adopted resolution 2728 (2024).

Asked if the situation in Sudan warrants a meeting earlier than the scheduled one on 7 May, he said that the Council could try to convene it sooner based on the assessment of the situation.

On his country's membership in the Council for the past year and a half, he said that Mozambique has made a humble contribution to the organ's business. "We are not a great Power, but bring to the table our values of peace," he said, adding: "We want international justice, peace and development."

Turning to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, he said that his country supports all Council resolutions that call for nuclear disarmament of the Korean Peninsula.

Asked to comment on the statement by the President of Portugal that Lisbon should pay the costs of colonization, he spoke in his personal capacity to "strongly support" it. "It means that he is aware of fairness and justice in international relations," he said, adding that taking a position of reparations or condemning the past is "the correct thing to do". Colonialism was wrong and slavery was wrong, he stressed.

On the resumption of the General Assembly emergency special session on 10 May to send the issue of Palestine's full UN membership back to the Council, a correspondent asked if the organ could have a different outcome this time. In response, he said that Palestine, a peace-loving State, qualifies for full UN membership. Mozambique has diplomatic relations with Palestine and Israel, corresponding to a two-State vision.

Asked about the 28 May meeting, he said that women and young people must be the force for the advancement of humanity, particularly in African countries. By putting this topic on the agenda, the international community can be reminded of the important role of women and young people and pay homage to the work they have been doing around the world.

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Explosives clearance enables aid to reach victims of war in Gaza

By Lisa Schlein May 01, 2024

More than 800 mine action leaders attending a U.N.-sponsored conference in Geneva this week are warning of the ongoing dangers from unexploded ordnance and landmines in countries affected by conflict.

A focus of the conference is on the war in Gaza, which the United Nations Mine Action Service, or UNMAS, says "has resulted in explosive ordnance contamination on a scale unprecedented for Gaza."

The agency has been working in Gaza for over a decade providing services to lessen the threat of explosive ordnance to civilians and enable the safe delivery of humanitarian aid.

"After October 7, the program has undergone a rapid evolution. We have become an enabler of the humanitarian response into Gaza," said Charles Mungo Birch, chief of the UNMAS mine action program in the Palestinian territories.

He told journalists Wednesday, "We support humanitarian convoys going north and do explosive hazard assessments of humanitarian sites which allow humanitarian work to continue."

For example, he said that in December, UNMAS Explosive Ordnance Disposal officers accompanied a World Health Organization convoy along a dangerous route to Shifa hospital.

"That convoy evacuated over 30 premature babies, which we returned to southern Gaza, and only one of them died," he said.

UNMAS estimates there are 37 million tons of rubble in Gaza, amounting to 300 kilos (660 pounds) per square meter of surface. This, it says, is more rubble than in Ukraine.

"To put this in perspective, the Ukrainian frontline is 600 miles long and Gaza is 25 miles long," Birch said.

"This rubble is likely heavily contaminated with UXO [unexploded ordnance]. Clearance of this will be further complicated by other hazards in the rubble," he said, noting that about 800,000 tons of asbestos is estimated to be in the rubble.

Paul Heslop, program manager for mine action, UNDP Ukraine, said a significant amount of contamination from UXO is found on both sides of the frontline of that conflict  however, mine clearance experts are unable to access Russian-occupied areas.

"So, we have not had any work on that side of the conflict zone," he said. "There has been an extensive use of all types of munitions by both sides in this conflict. We are seeing a level of contamination that we have not seen in Europe since the Second World War."

UNMAS reports 60 million people around the world are affected by the threat of land mines, leftover ammunition and explosive devices every day. It says the legacy of contamination from these weapons continues decades after a conflict ends, killing and maiming thousands of people.

The agency cites Syria, Yemen, West Africa and the Sahel region, including Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, among the most-contaminated countries in the world.

"Most of the problem in the Sahel is the IUDs, improvised unexploded devices that are homemade, similar to what we have seen in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia," said Heslop, who was involved in projects in the Sahel for the past 10 years.

"Obviously, they are very low-cost and fairly easy to make. So, I think the scourge of the Sahel is the use of IUDs in a fairly indiscriminate way," he said.

UNMAS officials said a mine clearance program the agency ran for many years in Sudan "was incredibly successful." Therefore, they said, it is "very distressing" to see Sudan once again being contaminated by these lethal weapons, many of which now are in urban areas where the current war is raging.

Last year, UNMAS recorded 1,500 victims of explosive ordnance in the Tigray and Afar regions in northern Ethiopia, with men and young boys accounting for 80% of the victims.

Francesca Chiaudani, chief of the UNMAS mine action program in Ethiopia, said casualties are likely to remain high because the agency has received only 2% of the $10 million needed for mine clearance activities.

Another problem, she said, is difficulty in getting accreditation for nongovernmental organizations to conduct surveys and clearance activities in conflict-affected areas.

"At the moment, some limited or clearance activity has been conducted by the Ethiopian national defense forces. But there is no humanitarian clearance happening in the county because of not having authorization for organizations to do so," she said.

However, she said, "Accreditation for international NGOs is currently in process, and we are very hopeful that at least four will be accredited in the next month."

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Blinken meets with Netanyahu in renewed push for Gaza cease-fire

By Nike Ching May 01, 2024

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Wednesday as talks continue in Cairo to resolve details of an elusive bid for a cease-fire in Israel's war with Hamas militants in Gaza.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Blinken "emphasized that it is Hamas that is standing in the way of a cease-fire." The militants so far have refused to accept a plan calling for a several-week halt in nearly seven months of warfare, along with Hamas failing to free hostages it is holding in exchange for the release of Palestinians jailed by Israel.

But even as Blinken blamed Hamas for the lack of a truce, Miller said the top U.S. diplomat told Netanyahu that the U.S. remains opposed to the Israeli leader's call for a ground attack on the southern Gaza town of Rafah, where Israel says it plans to root out four remaining battalions of Hamas fighters.

"We cannot, will not support a major military operation in Rafah, absent an effective plan to make sure that civilians are not harmed and no, we've not seen such a plan," Blinken said at a news conference in Ashdod, Israel. "And at the same time, there are other ways, and in our judgment, better ways of dealing with the real ongoing challenge of Hamas that does not involve or require a major military operation in Rafah."

The U.S., the United Nations and numerous world officials have voiced opposition to an attack on Rafah because more than a million Palestinian refugees are sheltering there, many of them ordered by the Israeli military to flee there from their homes in northern Gaza during the earliest weeks of the war.

Netanyahu says the Rafah offensive is necessary to meet Israel's goal of erasing Hamas control of Gaza, and that it will happen regardless of whether there is a cease-fire and hostage-release deal with Hamas.

Blinken said, "Hamas has to decide whether it will take the deal and actually advance the situation for the people that it purports to care about in Gaza. There is no time for delay. There's no time for further haggling. The deal is there. They should take it."

He said that if Hamas does not agree to the cease-fire, "I think that's further proof that it doesn't care a bit about the Palestinian people."

Cairo has been hosting talks involving U.S., Egyptian and Qatari mediators that have produced the latest cease-fire proposal.

Blinken also placed a continued emphasis on getting more humanitarian aid into Gaza to feed famished Palestinians.

"At the same time, even as we're working with relentless determination to get the cease-fire that brings the hostages home, we also have to be focused on people in Gaza who are suffering in this crossfire of Hamas' making," Blinken said. He said that on Wednesday, for the first time, trucks with humanitarian aid traveled through Erez, a new Israeli entry point into northern Gaza.

The top U.S. diplomat has repeatedly called on Hamas to accept the cease-fire proposal during a trip to the region that included earlier stops in Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

Blinken also met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who said the return of hostages held by Hamas "is and should be the top priority of the international community."

Following the meeting with Herzog, Blinken spoke with demonstrators outside who held signs and chanted slogans calling for the hostages in Gaza to be brought home.

Blinken told the demonstrators he had met with families of the hostages and told them, "Bringing your loved ones home is at the heart of everything we're trying to do."

Hamas is believed to still be holding about 100 hostages, along with the remains of about 30 others, after taking about 250 people hostage in the October 7 attack on Israel in which the militants killed 1,200 people.

Israel's counteroffensive in Gaza has killed more than 34,500 people, about two-thirds of them women and children, according to the health ministry in Gaza. Israel says the death toll includes several thousand Hamas militants it has killed.

Blinken met Tuesday with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and King Abdullah II, before meeting with Sigrid Kaag, U.N. senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza.

Blinken thanked Abdullah for Jordan's leadership in facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid, including joint U.S.-Jordan airdrops that to date have delivered more than 1,000 tons of humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza.

The two leaders discussed joint efforts to expedite the flow of additional urgently needed aid to Gaza from Jordan through land routes. Blinken also commended the king's commitment to economic modernization and vital public sector reforms.

Later Tuesday, Blinken met with Palestinians from Gaza at the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs before meeting with Kaag. Blinken told Kaag he was anxious to hear directly from her, adding, "The entire team is doing extraordinary work to ensure that people in Gaza get the help and support and the assistance they need."

VOA's Cindy Saine contributed to this report.

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French foreign minister in Cairo as part of Israel-Hamas cease-fire push

By VOA News May 01, 2024

French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne arrived in Cairo Wednesday as part of a push to secure a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas.

Sejourne was due to meet with Egyptian officials in the latest stop on a trip that also included visits to Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Cairo has been host to talks involving U.S., Egyptian and Qatari mediators that have produced the latest cease-fire proposal. The proposal calls for a halt in fighting that lasts several weeks, the release of hostages held by Hamas, the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israel and an increase in humanitarian aid for people in Gaza.

Sejourne said after talks Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that France's policy remains that the hostages must be freed, the cease-fire must be signed and de-escalation must take place in Lebanon.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is on a similar mission in the region, holding talks Wednesday with officials in Israel.

Israel's military said Wednesday it carried out airstrikes overnight against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, the latest in months of cross-border attacks between the two sides.

In Gaza, the health ministry said Wednesday at least 33 people were killed during the past day. Israel's counteroffensive in Gaza has killed more than 34,500 people, about two-thirds of them women and children, according to the health ministry.

Israel launched a campaign to eliminate the Hamas militant group after the Hamas attack on Israel in October that killed 1,200 people.

Hamas also took about 250 hostages during the attack, and it is believed to still be holding about 100, along with the remains of 30 or more hostages who have either been killed or otherwise died in the ensuing months.

U.N. officials reiterated their concerns Tuesday about a planned Israeli offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than half of Gaza's population is sheltering.

Netanyahu says the offensive is necessary to meet Israel's goal, and that it will happen whether or not there is a cease-fire and hostage-release deal with Hamas.

"A military assault on Rafah would be an unbearable escalation, killing thousands more civilians and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee," U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters Tuesday.

"I appeal for all those with influence over Israel to do everything in their power to prevent it," he added.

U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths later added his own plea.

"The world has been appealing to the Israeli authorities for weeks to spare Rafah, but a ground operation there is on the immediate horizon," he said in a statement.

"The simplest truth," Griffiths said, "is that a ground operation in Rafah will be nothing short of a tragedy beyond words."

Guterres also said scaling up aid to Gaza is urgent, especially to the north where some people, including children, have begun to die from hunger and disease.

"We must do everything possible to avert an entirely preventable, human-made famine," he said. "We have seen incremental progress recently, but much more is urgently needed  including the promised opening of two crossing points between Israel and northern Gaza, so that aid can be brought into Gaza from Ashdod port and Jordan."

VOA U.N. Correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report. Some material in this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.

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Poll: Western Balkan countries show pro-West trends, but support for EU shrinking

By Garentina Kraja May 01, 2024

The western Balkan countries are starkly split between the West and Russia, with the once-strong support for European Union accession now shrinking, according to a recent poll by the International Republican Institute.

The results of the February-March poll, which the Washington-based research group conducted in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia, comes as the region faces renewed ethnic tensions amid an EU enlargement slowdown and a rise in pro-Russian sentiment.

The poll found that overwhelming majorities in Albania and Kosovo want their countries to pursue an unequivocally pro-European Union and pro-Western course, while only 10 percent of the respondents in Serbia gave the same response.

A majority of the Serbs polled indicated they want Serbia either to maintain ties to Russia or pursue a pro-Russian foreign policy.

The poll found that 39 percent of Bosnians, 36 percent of Montenegrins and 31 percent of North Macedonians support an unequivocally pro-Western course.

"Generally, the pro-Western trend in the region is strong, with a couple of notable exceptions," Paul McCarthy, the International Republican Institute's director for Europe, told Voice of America. ''Serbia goes against the grain of the other five countries in the region; it is more pro-Russian, blames the West for the conflict in Ukraine, has very low approval ratings for joining the European Union."

McCarthy said that the pro-Western tendencies have also softened in Montenegro and North Macedonia, despite their having become NATO members, as well as in Bosnia, where Turkey has replaced the United States as the key ally of Bosnian Muslims.

Serbs also oppose NATO membership: Only 3 percent of the poll's respondents in Serbia said they supported it.

"People are losing patience with the wait to join the European Union. Part of this is also explained by the fact that Ukraine has been invited and other countries, whereas in most cases western Balkans countries have been waiting for over two decades in the line to join the European Union," said McCarthy. "Support for the EU accession is beginning to soften around the edges in those countries where it was very, very strong."

Still, the International Republican Institute's poll found that, with the exception of Serbia, resounding majorities in the five Balkan countries would still vote for joining the EU. In Serbia, 40 percent of the poll's respondents said that they would vote in favor of EU membership, while 34 percent would vote against it and 17 percent would not vote.

McCarthy said anti-EU attitude in Serbia is fostered by its government, which uses media to encourage people to abandon EU membership hopes and "emphasize relationships with foreign authoritarian actors such as Russia and China."

The western Balkans' geopolitical splits were also evident in the poll of respondents' attitudes toward Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The poll found that 43 percent of Serbs, 27 percent of Macedonians and 25 percent of Montenegrins blame the West for the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Majorities of the respondents in Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro and North Macedonia said that Russia's actions in Ukraine are "somewhat" or "completely" unjustified, a view shared by 37 percent of the respondents in Serbia.

Who counts as an ally and who as a foe?

Longstanding disagreements and ethnic disputes continue to cast a shadow over the western Balkans more than three decades after Yugoslavia's disintegration led to bloody wars.

Eighty-three percent of Kosovars view Serbia, which rejects Kosovo's independence, as a threat, while 68 percent of Albanians in Albania view Serbia and Russia as the main danger for their country.

Majorities in Kosovo and Albania view the United States, which is credited for leading the 78-day NATO intervention in 1998-1999 to stop Serbia's ethnic cleansing of Kosovo's Albanian majority, as their countries' key ally.

In Bosnia, Turkey is viewed as the biggest ally and Serbia as the biggest threat, while 34 percent of Macedonians see Serbia as their main ally while viewing Bulgaria, which has blocked Macedonia's EU accession path, as their top foe.

In Montenegro, 32 percent of the International Republican Institute's poll respondents named Serbia as their country's most important ally while 19 percent named the United States as its most important threat. In Serbia, 36 percent of the respondents named the U.S. as the country's main threat and Russia as its key ally.

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Russo-Ukraine War - 01 May 2024 - Day 798

Su M Tu W Th F Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While GlobalSecurity.org takes utmost care to accurately report this news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

On 24 February 2022, Ukraine was suddenly and deliberately attacked by land, naval and air forces of Russia, igniting the largest European war since the Great Patriotic War. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation" (SVO - spetsialnaya voennaya operatsiya) in Ukraine in response to the appeal of the leaders of the "Donbass republics" for help. That attack is a blatant violation of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. Putin stressed that Moscow's goal is the demilitarization and denazification of the country. The military buildup in preceeding months makes it obvious that the unprovoked and dastardly Russian attack was deliberately planned long in advance. During the intervening time, the Russian government had deliberately sought to deceive the world by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.

"To initiate a war of aggression... is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole." [Judgment of the International Military Tribunal]

The UK Ministry of Defence reported that the investigation into the Russian Deputy Defence Minister Timur Ivanov has likely pulled in the more senior First Deputy Defence Minister Ruslan Tsalikov. It has been reported that Tsalikov has been questioned by the FSB in connection with the Ivanov case. Tsalikov has been described as a patron of Ivanov. Tsalikov is likely effectively number three in the Ministry of Defence hierarchy, after Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu and Chief of the General Staff General Valery Gerasimov. Like Ivanov, Tsalikov has long-standing connections with Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu. He worked under Shoygu in the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Situations and followed Shoygu firstly to the Moscow Region Governorship and then in 2012 to the MOD.

There is also a realistic possibility that investigations into Ivanov could also affect Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov with some sources claiming that MOD construction agencies built a house for Siluanov.

Corruption has long been a problem in the Russian MOD. In 2019 Chief Military Prosecutor Valery Petrov said that corruption was "pretty much the root of most of the problems in the state of the rule of law". Corruption was a factor in Russia's poor performance particularly early in the Ukraine conflict, where corruption was blamed for expired ration packs and poor-quality tyres, and fuel embezzlement was also reported.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that during the day of May 1, there were 100x tactical engagements.

Russian forces launched a total of 2x missile and 41x air strikes, 42x MLRS attacks on the positions of Ukrainian troops and various settlements. Unfortunately, the Russian attacks have killed and wounded civilians. Residential apartment blocks and private houses, as well as other infrastructure, got destroyed and damaged.

Volyn and Polissya axes: no significant changes. No signs of formation of an offensive group.

Sivershchyna and Slobozhanshchyna axes: Russia maintains its military presence in the 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 Vodolahy, Yamne (Sumy oblast), Vesele, Kharkiv, Vovchans'k (Kharkiv oblast). More than 30x settlements, including Khrinivka (Chernihiv oblast), Koren'ok, Volfyne, Velyka Berizka, Yunakivka (Sumy oblast), came under Russian artillery and mortar fire.

Kup'yans'k and Lyman axes: the Ukrainian defenders repelled 11x attacks in the vicinities of Ivanivka, Kyslivka, Kotlyarivka, Berestove and Kopanky (Kharkiv oblast), Stel'makhivka (Luhansk oblast). Russian forces fired artillery and mortars at around 10x settlements, including Syn'kivka, Stepova Novoselivka, Kotlyarivka (Kharkiv oblast).

Lyman axis: the Ukrainian Defense Forces repelled 9x attacks in the vicinities of Hrekivka, Nevs'ke, Serebryans'ke forestry (Luhansk oblast), Terny (Donetsk oblast). The Russian adversary launched an air strike in the area of Serebryans'ke forestry. Russian forces fired artillery and mortars at more than 10x settlements, including Makiivka, Nevs'ke (Luhansk oblast), Terny, Yampolivka (Donetsk oblast).

Bakhmut axis: the Ukrainian Defense Forces repelled 14x attacks in the vicinities of Bilohorivka (Luhansk oblast), Verkhn'okam'yans'ke, Spirne, Novyi (Donetsk oblast), where Russian forces attempted to improve its tactical position. The Russian adversary launched an air strike in the vicinity of Dyliivka (Donetsk oblast). More than 10x settlements came under artillery and mortar fire, including Rozdolivka, Kalynivka, Chasiv Yar, Andriivka (Donetsk oblast).

Avdiivka axis: the Ukrainian defenders repelled 33x attacks in the vicinities of Kalynove, Arkhanhel's'ke, Prohres, Ocheretyne, Sokil, Soloviove, Novopokrovs'ke, Semenivka, Umans'ke, Yasnobrodivka, Netailove, Pervomais'ke (Donetsk oblast), where Russian forces, using air strikes, made attempts to dislodge Ukrainian troops from their positions. Russian forces launched an air strike in the vicinity of Zhelanne (Donetsk oblast). Russian forces fired artillery and mortars at around 20x settlements, including Arkhanhel's'ke, Novopokrovs'ke, Umans'ke (Donetsk oblast).

Novopavlivka axis: the Ukrainian Defense Forces continue to hold back Russian forces near Krasnohorivka, Heorhiivka, Novomykhailivka, Vodyane and Urozhaine (Donetsk oblast), where the Russian invaders, with air support, made 17x attempts to breach Ukrainian defense. Russian forces launched an air strike in the vicinity of Kostyantynivka (Donetsk oblast). Russian forces fired artillery and mortars at more than 10x settlements, including Krasnohorivka, Heorhiivka, Paraskoviivka, Kostyantynivka (Donetsk oblast).

Orikhiv axis: Russian forces, using air attacks, launched 2x assaults on positions of Ukrainian defenders in the vicinities of Staromaiors'ke (Donetsk oblast) and Robotyne (Zaporizhzhia oblast). Russian air strikes hit vicinities of Staromaiors'ke (Donetsk oblast) and Lobkove (Zaporizhzhia oblast). Around 15x settlements, including Malynivka, Bilohir'ya, Robotyne, Shcherbaky (Zaporizhzhia oblast), were under Russian artillery and mortar fire.

Kherson axis: Russia does not abandon its intention to dislodge Ukrainian troops from their bridgeheads on the left bank of the Dnipro River. In particular during the day of May 1, the invaders executed 5x unsuccessful assaults on positions of Ukrainian troops in the vicinity of Krynky (Kherson oblast). Russian forces launched air strikes in the vicinities of Ol'hivka, Tyahynka, Veletens'ke (Kherson oblast). The Russian occupiers fired artillery and mortars at around 20 settlements, including Mykolaivka, Ivanivka, Tokarivka (Kherson oblast).

During the day of May 1, the Ukrainian Air Force launched air strikes on 1 command post, 7x concentrations of Russian troops.

The Ukrainian Missile Forces hit 1x UAVs control post, 1x concentration of Russian troops.

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that the units of the Zapad Group of Forces have improved their positions along the front line and defeated AFU 14th, 63rd mechanised, and 57th motorised infantry brigades close to Zagoruykovka (Kharkov region), Yampolovka (Donetsk People's Republic), and Chervonaya Dibrova (Lugansk People's Republic).

The enemy losses were up to 30 soldiers, five motor vehicles, one UK-made155-mm FN-70 howitzer, one 152-mm D-20 gun, and one 122-mm Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system.

The units of the Yug Group of Forces have occupied more advantageous lines and also inflicted fire damage on manpower and hardware of 72nd, 93rd mechanised, 92nd assault, and 46th airmobile brigades of the AFU close to Andreyevka, Kurdyumovka, and Konstantinovka (Donetsk People's Republic).

The enemy losses were up to 400 troops, seven motor vehicles, two 122-mm D-30 howitzers, two Nota and Anklav electronic warfare stations, and one U.S.-made AN/TPQ-50 counter-battery radar station.

The units of the Tsentr Group of Forces have improved their tactical position and defeated formations of 24th, 100th mechanised, and 142nd infantry brigades of the AFU near Leninskoye, Keramik, and Ocheretino (Donetsk People's Republic).

Russian troops have repulsed nine counterattacks by assault groups of 23rd mechanised, 92nd assault, 68th, and 71st jaeger brigades of the AFU close to Novgorodskoye, Solovyovo, Semyonovka, Netailovo, Novokalinovo, Shumy, and Berdychi (Donetsk People's Republic).

The AFU losses were up to 410 servicemen, one tank, one infantry fighting vehicle, one armoured fighting vehicle, three motor vehicles, one Czech-made DANA 2 155-mm self-propelled artillery system, one U.S.-made M102 105-mm light howitzer, one 152-mm Msta-B howitzer, and one 122-mm Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system.

The units of the Vostok Group of Forces have occupied more favourable lines and defeated manpower and hardware of the 72nd Mechanised Brigade of the AFU and the 108th Territorial Defence Brigade close to Lugovskoye (Zaporozhye region) and Staromayorskoye (Donetsk People's Republic).

The enemy losses were up to 110 soldiers, two pickup trucks, one UK-made 155-mm FN-70 howitzer, one 122-mm Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system, and one Bukovel-AD electronic warfare station.

The units of the Dnepr Group of Forces have inflicted a fire defeat on manpower concentration areas of the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade of the AFU and the 35th Marine Brigade close to Kamenskoye (Zaporozhye region), Ivanovka, and Stepovoye (Kherson region).

The enemy losses wer up to 20 troops and one U.S.-made M777 155-mm howitzer.

Operational-Tactical Aviation, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Groups of Forces have hit the headquarters of the AFU Operational Command South, as well as enemy manpower and military hardware in 112 areas.

Air defence facilities have shot down 29 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, five French-made Hammer guided bombs, and one Uragan multiple-launch rocket system launcher.

In total, 593 airplanes and 270 helicopters, 23,648 unmanned aerial vehicles, 509 air defence missile systems, 15,891 tanks and other armoured combat vehicles, 1,275 combat vehicles equipped with MRLS, 9,230 field artillery cannons and mortars, as well as 21,413 units of special military equipment have been destroyed during the special military operation.

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Maryland Guard Joins Homeland Disaster Response Exercise

By 1st Lt. Jasmine Mathews, 29th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment April 30, 2024

FORT CARSON, Colo. -- Over 45 Maryland National Guard Soldiers are providing public affairs and logistics support during the Vibrant Response 24 exercise in Colorado April 19 to May 3.

VR is an annual U.S. Army North, U.S. Northern Command-directed command post exercise planned with the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other federal and state partners.

The training enabled military units to work with federal and state agencies to validate their response to a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear event. U.S. Army North, in coordination with U.S. Northern Command and the Department of Homeland Security, has conducted these annual exercises since 2008.

"The Maryland National Guard proudly supports Army North's VR exercise, enhancing the Department of Defense's readiness for chemical , biological, radiological and nuclear event response," said U.S. Army Col. Bradley Martsching, the commander of Maryland National Guard's 58th Troop Command. "Our logistical and public affairs support to the exercise underscores our capability to assist our active-duty partners in national-level events, showcasing our commitment to seamless collaboration and effective crisis management. This collaboration reinforces the Maryland National Guard's integral role in bolstering national security and readiness."

During the scenario-based training, Soldiers from the Maryland National Guard's 29th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment are providing public affairs support to Joint Task Force-Civil Support. This includes interacting with media role-players, drafting news releases, and engaging on social media simulation platforms. Soldiers from the 58th and 581st Troop Commands processed over 350 participants for Phase 1 of the exercise and provided logistical support to the exercise as Mayor Cell at Fort Carson.

"As a fellow service member in the National Guard, I was really proud to know that an Army National Guard unit was coming here to manage our mayor cell and provide public affairs support," said Maj. Gen. Scott Sherman, commanding general, Task Force 51 and deputy commanding general-support for U.S. Army North.

He said the public affairs assistance was outstanding.

"The public affairs scenario training certainly helped me and my TF-51 senior leaders with media training and realistic press conferences that asked the difficult questions," Sherman said.

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AUKUS countries export licence-free environment takes flight

Issued by Defence Media

1 May 2024

Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States have today released proposed changes to national exemptions to remove export controls between AUKUS partners.

aThese changes are designed to enable defence industry across all three countries to work more seamlessly in a license-free environment, while strengthening collaboration and making it easier to develop advanced scientific, technological and industrial capabilities.

aFor the first time, this would:

a Remove the requirement for approximately 900 export permits, valued at $5 billion (AUD) per year, which would otherwise be required under current export controls from Australia to the US and UK.

for approximately 900 export permits, valued at $5 billion (AUD) per year, which would otherwise be required under current export controls from Australia to the US and UK. Remove the requirement for approximately 200 permits, valued at over $129 million (AUD) per year, required for defence exports from the UK to Australia.

for approximately 200 permits, valued at over $129 million (AUD) per year, required for defence exports from the UK to Australia. Enable licence-free trade for over 70 per cent of defence exports subject to International Traffic in Arms Regulations from the United States to Australia.

for over 70 per cent of defence exports subject to International Traffic in Arms Regulations from the United States to Australia. Enable licence-free trade for over 80 per cent of defence trade subject to Export Administration Regulations from the United States to Australia.

Stakeholders across industry, higher education and research sectors, as well as those from the UK and the US, are invited to provide feedback on the draft arrangements.

Public consultation is now open on the Defence Trade Legislation Amendment Regulations 2024 (DTL Amendment Regulations), which includes amendments to the Defence Trade Controls Regulation 2013 and Customs (Prohibited Exports) Regulations 1958, and will run until 31 May 2024.

aThe UK has also released their open general export licence amendments, alongside the US' amendments to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations for simultaneous consultation.

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China's 3rd aircraft carrier the Fujian begins first sea trial

Global Times

By Liu Xuanzun and Guo Yuandan Published: May 01, 2024 08:45 AM

The Fujian, China's third aircraft carrier, also the first equipped with electromagnetic catapults, on Wednesday started its first sea trial session, a move analysts said will test newly integrated technology and lay a solid foundation for the commissioning of the 80,000 ton-class warship.

Experts said the Fujian can be compared with the most advanced aircraft carriers in the world, and can undoubtably represent the top level of conventionally powered aircraft carriers.

The aircraft carrier Fujian set sail for its first test voyage from a pier at the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai on Wednesday morning, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

China Central Television broadcasted footage of the Fujian leaving the shipyard live on social media.

The official confirmation of the Fujian's maiden voyage came after China's maritime safety administration on Tuesday issued two navigation restriction notices, one stating that a large ship will exit the estuary of the Yangtze River on Wednesday, and another stating that military activities will be commenced in an area in the East China Sea from Wednesday to May 9, which observers said indicates that the Fujian's maiden voyage will likely last until May 9.

Based on the progress of the aircraft carrier construction program, the sea trial will mainly focus on the reliability and stability of the Fujian's subsystems including propulsion and power, Xinhua said.

The first sea trial session of an aircraft carrier usually tests the ship's basic functions, a Chinese military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Wednesday.

In the coming months, the carrier will conduct several sessions of sea trials and test more complicated operational components, including electromagnetic compatibility, weapons systems, as well as takeoffs and landing of aircraft, the expert said.

Given the namesake of East China's Fujian Province and the hull number 18, China's third aircraft carrier was launched at Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai on June 17, 2022.

From that time, the construction work of the Fujian proceeded smoothly according to plan, successfully completed mooring tests and equipment calibrations, granting the carrier the technical conditions for tests out in the sea, Xinhua said.

While the Shandong, China's second aircraft carrier and the first built domestically, took a little more than a year from launch to maiden voyage, it took the Fujian a little less than two years, and this is likely because the Fujian incorporates many new and advanced technologies that require explorations, including the electromagnetic catapults, analysts said.

The longer mooring tests made full preparations for the test voyage, so the Fujian's first sea trial has a very good chance of succeeding, experts said.

Having a full displacement of more than 80,000 tons and equipped with electromagnetic catapults and arresting devices, the Fujian is China's first fully independently designed and built aircraft carrier with catapults, Xinhua reported.

By comparison, China's previous two aircraft carriers, the Liaoning and the Shandong, displace about 60,000 tons each and use ski jump ramps to assist aircraft takeoffs.

Experts noted that the bigger size and displacement enable the Fujian to carry a larger number of aircraft, and the equipment of electromagnetic catapults allows the third carrier to launch aircraft more efficiently, including launching heavier aircraft, launching more types of aircraft, launching fully loaded aircraft, and launching aircraft faster.

According to media reports and analyses, the Fujian is expected to host not only improved versions of J-15 fighter jet, but also new aircraft including the next-generation stealth fighter jet J-35, the fixed-wing early warning aircraft the KJ-600 and the JL-10 advanced trainer jet.

With the start of the sea trial phase, the Fujian is on a solid path toward entering service with the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy, another Chinese military expert who asked not to be named told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Generally speaking, the sea trial phase of an aircraft carrier could last a year or two, but it is hard to predict an exact time table for the Fujian, considering the new technologies used onboard, the expert said.

The PLA Navy and the Chinese shipbuilding industry make decisions based on science and facts, so they will not rush the tests and will eventually finish the carrier to the highest quality possible to make sure it is combat ready, the expert said.

The Fujian will significantly enhance the capabilities of the PLA Navy, and contribute to the safeguard of China's national sovereignty, territorial integrity and development interests amid the deteriorating security environment China is facing, observers said.

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China's amended secrets law sparks fears over widening state powers

Law broadens the definition of what makes a 'secret' while new rules extend state security police powers.

By Jing Wei and Chen Zifei for RFA Mandarin, Lee Heung Yeung for RFA Cantonese 2024.05.01 -- Recent changes to the way the Chinese government will investigate cases involving "state secrets" and sensitive information have sparked concerns that foreign nationals and companies could be a target of a renewed focus on security under ruling Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, analysts told Radio Free Asia.

China's newly revised State Secrets Law, which takes effect on Wednesday, sets higher security requirements for companies and introduces the concept of a "work secret," while a slew of guidelines from the Ministry of State Security gives new powers to state security police to investigate Chinese citizens outside China, and arrest them if they return.

"Everyone is definitely feeling the chilling effect now," U.S.-based current affairs commentator Li Hengqing told RFA Mandarin. "The more the Chinese Communist Party keeps going with this, the more it will discourage foreign businesses and entrepreneurs from investing in China."

"This runs entirely counter to preferential policies that would encourage foreign investment."

The Law on Safeguarding State Secrets was revised and adopted by the National People's Congress Standing Committee on Feb. 27, the latest in a slew of new security legislation to be passed by Beijing in recent months.

The move follows a number of police raids last year on foreign consultancy firms including Mintz Group and Bain & Co, prompting concerns from foreign investors that Beijing's widening national security focus could hurt investor confidence.

Taiwan's government warned its citizens on Tuesday to avoid non-essential travel to China, saying the amended law has "greatly increased the risk of potentially breaking the law."

"The risks for foreign institutions operating and investing in China will also put pressure on non-profit or academic and scientific research exchanges and cooperation," the Taiwanese government's Mainland Affairs Council said, warning that conversations or any collection of information could run afoul of the new law, describing its definition of a "work secret" as vague and unpredictable.

According to the amended law, only the Ministry of State Security and military agencies have the power to decide what constitutes a state secret.

'Everything is seen as a secret'

Xia Ming, a professor of politics at New York's City University, said any foreign company operating in China will need to carry out market research, putting it at risk of violating China's growing body of security legislation.

"The first thing any company investing in China needs to do is carry out market research," Xia told RFA in a recent interview. "But China regards all kinds of data as confidential, because it touches on the political security [of the ruling party]."

"They think that even real economic data can be interpreted in a way that is politically unfavorable to the regime, so everything is seen as a secret," he said.

Li said the ongoing insistence on "national security" under Xi Jinping suggests that the current administration is willing to sacrifice economic growth on the altar of regime stability.

"Everything is done with the stability of the regime in mind," Li said. "They don't admit that this will come at the expense of the economy, but actually they don't care much about that, nor about the welfare of the people."

Xia said none of the recent amendments appear to target those higher up who have access to highly classified documents.

Instead, they are aimed at ordinary people or foreigners who might get hold of sensitive information, he said.

'An invisible expansion of powers'

Independent political commentator Chen Daoyin said the new provisions from the Ministry of State Security massively expand the powers of state security police to dictate the actions of organizations throughout China, if it deems that "national security" is at stake.

"State security agencies will be able to go into other organizations to carry out activities and provide training," Chen said. "If some organizations aren't doing enough to protect national security, they can tell them to do better."

"This is an invisible expansion of the powers of state security agencies ... making their presence felt in all areas," he said.

Exiled human rights lawyer Wu Shaoping agreed.

"State security police can hold the Sword of Damocles and use it to extract confessions from criminal suspects, even if they choose not to talk during interrogation," Wu said.

The effects of the new regulations will also be felt far beyond China's borders, he warned.

"If a Chinese citizen goes abroad and makes comments critical of the Chinese Communist Party, or blows the whistle on some scandal, or leaks information that the Chinese government considers secret, state security police will be able to arrest him if he one day returns to China," Wu said.

"Through these provisions, the Chinese Communist Party is engaging in long-arm law enforcement on foreign soil, and reaching out its tentacles to Chinese living overseas," he said.

Translated by Luisetta Mudie.

Copyright 1998-2024, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content May not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.

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China Geared to Tip Naval Scales as New Super Carrier Hits Sea Trials

Sputnik News

20240501

Svetlana Ekimenko

Images of China's most advanced aircraft carrier yet, the Fujian, were first shown to the public in June 2022. The first to be both designed and built domestically, Fujian is the country's third such warship. The other two are the Shandong, commissioned in 2019, and the Liaoning.

China's much-talked about next-generation warship, the Fujian, has started maiden sea trials.

The first entirely Chinese-designed and built aircraft carrier a the country's third a left its berth at Jiangnan Shipyard on May 1.

The other two such warships of the People's Republic of China are the Shandong, built domestically and commissioned in 2019, and the Liaoning a a Soviet Kuznetsov-class carrier purchased from Ukraine after the break-up of the Soviet Union.

The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) said the Fujian's sea trials would assess the "reliability and stability of the carrier's propulsion and electric power systems." It added that the carrier was among "the most important military hardware" being developed by the country.

China boasts the largest navy in the world by number of ships. However, the US Navy (USN) 'leads the pack' when it comes to carriers, with 11 fleet aircraft carriers and nine aircraft-carrying amphibious assault ships. However, military analysts speculate that China is gearing up to close that gap.

Here is what we know about China's next-generation warship:

The carrier is fully domestically developed and constructed.

Its displacement is over 80,000 metric tons, with a length of approximately 316 meters and hull beam at waterline level of around 39 meters.

The carrier can accommodate 2,000 ship crew and 1,000 aircrew.

It has a flat, straight flight deck equipped with a key feature - electromagnetic catapults and arresting devices.

Its launch and recovery system is called CATOBAR (Catapult Assisted Take-Off But Arrested Recovery).

It has three catapult lanes with blast shields to launch aircraft from the flight deck

The Fujian's propulsion is believed to be based on conventional steam turbines with diesel generators.

Its estimated cruising speed is 30-31 knots (56 km/h).

According to media reports, the Fujian can carry an estimated 60 aircraft, including 40 fighters, such as the J-15, anti-submarine helicopters and airborne early warning and control aircraft.

Could China's Fujian Warship Challenge US Carriers?

All eyes are now on the Fujian regarding how it may stack up against up against the USN's newest carrier, USS Gerald R Ford.

Although the US warship is linger at 333 meters, boasts greater displacement at 100,000 tons and is nuclear-powered as compared to the conventional-powered Fujian, there are several aspects where the Chinese vessel claims to have the edge.

The Fujian's key feature - its three electromagnetic catapults and arresting devices a is on a par with the Ford's. But the Fujian is described as having direct current EM catapults, reportedly more energy efficient and easier to integrate with energy storage devices than the US warship's four alternating-current catapults.

The Chinese vessel may have three integrated separate switches for the catapults, unlike the US carrier. The USS Gerald R Ford cannot disconnect the power supply to just one catapult, meaning all launch operations must be stopped if repairs are needed.

Unlike the Ford, with its two Bechtel A1B nuclear reactors, the Fujian is believed to use an integrated electric propulsion supported by steam generators. This is thought to provide highly versatile power distribution and reduces the ship's overall energy consumption.

The Fujian's multifunctional integrated electronic mast is reportedly ahead of the Ford's traditional configuration; the radar systems of the Chinese warship are more compact and subsumed, with reduced mutual interference between sensors.

The Minimalist design of the Fujian's mast, made of grey composite material on the 'island' command center masks antennas and sensors.

The Fujian could have a more powerful radar than the Ford if the performance of its gallium nitride-equipped air search sensors lives up to expectations.

Two aircraft elevators on the starboard side of the Chinese ship, as opposed to the Ford's three, offer more available deck space.

The new Chinese aircraft carrier's greater combat range is expected to provide the PLAN with "blue-water" capabilities for longer-range maritime area control.

This new capability would come at a time of heightened tensions in the South China Sea, as Beijing is faced with increasing saber-rattling by the US under the pretext of the "China threat" narrative.

As part of the US-led militarization program targeting the region, Washington has been strengthening its Asia-Pacific deployments, relying on allies including Japan, Australia and the Philippines.

Washington's bid to boost its Asia-Pacific clout has repeatedly been condemned by Beijing, which perceives it as US "meddling" in the region.

A Sputnik

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Negative views of China persist in US, report finds

By Liam Scott May 01, 2024

For the fifth year in a row, about eight out of 10 Americans have unfavorable views of China, with many saying limiting Beijing's power is a top priority, according to a public opinion survey released Wednesday.

According to the Washington-based Pew Research Center, 81% of Americans have an unfavorable view of China, including 43% who hold a very unfavorable view of the country.

"Views of China across all Americans remain critical a pretty negative," Pew research associate Christine Huang told VOA.

"China is becoming an increasingly powerful player on the international stage, and so it's important for us to track how Americans and people around the world view China and its actions, and to see how public opinion will shape or not affect foreign policy of countries," Huang added.

Political ideology and age were found to have a distinct impact on people's perception of China.

"Not all Americans see China equally negatively. Some groups stand out for having especially negative views of China," Huang said.

Republicans are far more likely to hold negative views of China than Democrats are, according to Pew. Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are about twice as likely as Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents to hold a very unfavorable view of China and to consider China an enemy of the U.S., the report said.

Conservative Republicans are more likely than moderate or liberal Republicans to hold negative views of China and view Beijing as an enemy. Meanwhile, older people are also more likely to be wary of China, with Americans over the age of 65 tending to hold more unfavorable views of Beijing.

Pew doesn't look into why most Americans have negative views of China, but the study does examine perceptions of Chinese influence, according to Huang.

"Most people in America, for example, think that China's power and influence has gotten stronger in recent years," Huang said. "So there is a connection between the sense that it's becoming more powerful and being more negative towards the country."

Those views are particularly clear when it comes to considering China's economic influence on the United States. More than 80% of Americans think China has at least a fair amount of influence on U.S. economic conditions, the report said.

Of the people who think Beijing has at least some influence on the U.S. economy, 79% think that influence is negative, compared to just 18% who think it's positive, according to Pew.

Something that stood out in this year's study, according to Huang, is American concern over China's territorial disputes. Beijing has laid claim to large swathes of the South China Sea, for instance, despite strong pushback from countries like Vietnam and the Philippines.

About six out of 10 Americans, or 61%, say they are at least somewhat concerned about territorial disputes between China and its neighbors, including 20% who say they are very concerned, the report found.

"Americans are looking beyond just the immediate impact to themselves," Huang said.

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North Korean restaurants violate sanctions, but they make big bucks for Pyongyang

Workers use student visa loopholes to get around sanctions to take jobs as servers and entertainers.

By Chin Min Jai for RFA Korean 2024.05.01 -- The South Korean YouTuber's video shows his visit last April to the Blue Flower, a North Korean restaurant in Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital - one of 70 North Korean restaurants operating worldwide, mostly in Asia.

Collectively, they earn the cash-strapped North Korean government about US$700 million, according to the U.N. Security Council Sanctions Committee on North Korea.

But they violate international sanctions.

All North Korean workers were supposed to have repatriated before the end of 2019, but many have kept working.

The Blue Flower itself was closed several months later - in August 2023 - possibly for violating sanctions, cambodianess.com reported. But many of these restaurants remain open.

In his travels around Southeast Asia, the YouTuber, identified by a pseudonym Lee to protect his identity, told RFA Korean that he discovered several other North Korean restaurants - but staff in Laos and Vietnam refused to let him film the inside of the eateries.

"I spoke with the boss at a North Korean restaurant in Cambodia and he said business was good," said Lee. "Most North Korean restaurants in Southeast Asia that I visited had good business."

The North Korean workers are dispatched overseas to serve customers and entertain them by dancing and singing, and most of the money the restaurants earn is forwarded to Pyongyang.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, tourism to North Korea had dwindled to nearly zero. Only recently, it has restarted for guided tours from Russia.

So the restaurants, which are also found in China and Russia, were perhaps one of the only ways to experience North Korean culture firsthand.

Prior to the pandemic, the restaurants were seemingly struggling, but Lee says the ones he has been visiting were relatively successful.

Northern cuisine

Korean cuisine varies by region, and so it is hard to generalize about how Northern cuisine may differ from that of the South, but connoisseurs can identify differences.

A tour company describes the North Korean varieties as using fewer spices and sauces than varieties in the South, while an escapee who settled in the South and opened a restaurant in Seoul told Voice of America that northern dishes are simpler, made with more traditional cooking methods.

At the Blue Flower, Lee enjoyed eating gamja jjijim, or potato pancake, and kalguksu, or knife-cut noodle soup. Varieties of both dishes exist in South Korea as well.

The Blue Flower served the potato pancake with honey as a dipping sauce, which would be uncommon in the South.

He was also served with a North Korean variety kimchi, most of which aren't as spicy as South Korean varieties, and several kinds of banchan (often translated as "side dishes"). And he washed it down with a cold Taedonggang beer, brewed in North Korea.

"I ate alone on the first floor of the restaurant, but he said that there also held performances on the second floor. So, the second floor was reserved for group events," said Lee.

He said the Blue Flower was different from the North Korean restaurant he visited in Vietnam, which seemed to mimic the South Korean dining experience.

According to Lee, the server at the Blue Flower told him she had been in Cambodia for three years, meaning she arrived in 2021.

With sanctions in effect, her presence at the Blue Flower in 2023 should have been illegal, but North Korea has been known to get around sanctions on its dispatched workers by sending them on tourism or student visas.

Exploiting loopholes

In fact, since early 2019, North Korea has been using the student visa loophole to staff its restaurants in Cambodia, a North Korean restaurant worker who escaped from her employer in Phnom Penh and resettled in South Korea in 2016, told RFA on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

"When I was working, we went out on work visas, but I talked to some friends who were sent out in 2019 and they were all on student visas," said the woman, who is identified with the pseudonym Kim. "They lied to get their visas and that's how they are overseas."

In March 2016, the U.N. Security Council adopted Resolution 2270 on North Korea, prohibiting U.N. member states from doing any business with the North Korean regime.

At that time, China showed an even firmer commitment to implementing sanctions against North Korea than ever before. It refused to renew the visas of North Korean restaurant workers in the country and ordered the closure of North Korean companies.

As a result, some North Korean restaurants closed, and workers packed their bags and returned to North Korea.

The restaurants are still open, however, and Kim says that the sanctions only hurt the livelihood of the workers.

"The sanctions against North Korea did not actually affect the business of overseas North Korean restaurants that much," said Kim. "In 2017, China said it supports sanctions against North Korea and inspected all the goods overseas North Korean workers were bringing back to North Korea. When workers got home, there were missing items, and everything was torn."

Additionally, said Kim, North Korea's way of getting around sanctions was not to send the workers back to North Korea, but to a different country so that they can work more before being discovered and possibly repatriated. They often don't know where they are going up until the moment they depart.

"The process is kept secret, so the workers don't know much about it," she said. "When the restaurant closes, almost everyone takes a plane and heads out to China."

She said the managers of restaurants look for business partners anywhere they can find them, and on a moment's notice, everyone boards a plane and they fly to the next country.

It is an existence that many of the workers dislike, but they have no choice but to comply with their orders.

Marketing curiosity

A North Korean restaurant once located in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, began business after the 2019 sanctions went into effect.

Shin Hyunqwon, who runs a travel agency in Uzbekistan, told RFA that the restaurant thrived, not only through word of mouth from local residents, but also as a hotspot for South Korean tourists.

Five employees dispatched from North Korea escaped in May, June and August 2022, one after another, causing the business to close. Since then, there have been no North Korean restaurants in the capital of Uzbekistan, Shin said.

North Korean restaurants in China and Russia, which have closer relationships with North Korea, have been thriving regardless of sanctions against North Korea.

One reason for that is by catering to South Korean tourists' curiosity about North Korea and providing an opportunity to interact with North Korean staff.

A North Korean restaurateur who operates a restaurant in northeastern China said he had been in the business for decades. It has been an official policy to refuse service to South Koreans, but not all the restaurants comply.

"On the outside, they are all North Korean restaurants, but some of them are jointly operated by North Korea and China," said Park. "In North Korean restaurants where the owner is Chinese and the employees are North Koreans, they accept South Korean customers."

The situation is similar in Russia where South Koreans are banned from entering North Korean restaurants. However, Russia has stricter rules on South Koreans entering the country than China.

Translated by Claire S. Lee and Leejin J. Chung. Edited by Eugene Whong.

Copyright 1998-2016, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content May not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.

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US and EU eye North Korea-Iran military cooperation

By Christy Lee May 01, 2024

The United States and the European Union say they are keeping their eyes on Pyongyang and Tehran for any possible military cooperation between the two as Iran confirms a North Korean delegation's visit to the country.

The U.S. "will use all available tools, including interdiction and sanctions, to address such activities," a State Department spokesperson said in an email to VOA's Korean Service on Friday.

An EU spokesperson on the same day told VOA Korean that it is also "following closely Iran-DPRK relations and their potential cooperation that could indeed be concerning on certain issues if it violates existing U.N. sanctions."

North Korea's official name is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Pyongyang announced through its state-run KCNA that it sent a delegation led by its External Economic Relations Minister Yun Jong Ho to Iran on April 23.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said on Monday that a North Korean delegation visited Tehran last week to discuss bilateral trade, according to Reuters.

But Kanaani dismissed any suspected cooperation on their missile programs, saying it is a "biased speculation" based on "untrue" reports.

The U.S. has accused Pyongyang, Tehran and Beijing of supporting Russia's war against Ukraine.

Tehran has also been involved in conflict with Israel.

Iran attacked Israel on April 13 with more than 300 missiles and drones and said the assault was in retaliation against an Israeli strike on an Iranian consular building in Damascus, Syria. Israel responded by launching a counterstrike into Iran on April 18.

"It certainly is possible and even probable" that Pyongyang and Tehran are cooperating militarily in the current Middle East conflict, just as they have done since the 1980s, said Robert Peters, a research fellow for nuclear deterrence and missile defense at the Heritage Foundation's Allison Center for National Security.

Iran is motivated to acquire missiles from North Korea "given Iran's current approach of laying a siege [around] Israel using missiles supplied to its proxies - Hezbollah, Hamas, and Houthis," Peters said.

Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis are Iran-backed militant groups that base their operations in Lebanon, the Gaza Strip and Yemen, respectively.

Pyongyang's arms sales to Tehran began in the 1980s during Iran's war with Iraq. Their cooperation on missile programs continued since then and expanded.

In January 2016, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned Iranians for traveling to Pyongyang and collaborating on the development of North Korea's 80-ton rocket booster. A few months later, North Korea said it had tested a new rocket engine that had a thrust of 80 tons and would be used in a new space launch vehicle.

North Korea has been accusing Israel of committing "terrorism" against Iran since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

In December, the Israel Defense Forces said North Korean weapons have been turning up in Gaza.

Bruce Bechtol, a former intelligence officer at the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency and now a professor at Angelo University in Texas, said arms transfers between Pyongyang and Tehran are "inevitable" regardless of any meeting between the two last week.

"Some of the weapons that North Korea has sent to Russia have gone to Iran first and then up to the Caspian Sea, and Russia has used those weapons in the Ukraine," said Bechtol, the author of the book "North Korean Military Proliferation in the Middle East and Africa."

He told VOA that Iran's Emad medium-range ballistic missiles used in the attack against Israel earlier in the month were made based on the Shahab-3, which Iran first put into use in 2003. That, in turn, was developed from North Korean NoDong missiles that were sent to Tehran in the 1990s.

Bechtol said Iran's Shahab-3 missiles were developed in a facility that North Korea built for Tehran in the early 2000s. He said Tehran is likely seeking to acquire Pyongyang's Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Joeun Lee contributed to this report.

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India rejects Washington Post report on alleged plot to kill US-based Sikh activist

By Shaikh Azizur Rahman May 01, 2024

A day after The Washington Post named an official of India's spy agency for plotting the killing of a U.S.-based Sikh separatist leader, the Indian government on Tuesday dismissed the media report, calling it an "unwarranted and unsubstantiated" accusation.

The Post report said U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that the plan to hire a hit team to assassinate Sikh activist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun a which was ultimately thwarted by U.S. authorities a was approved by Samant Goel, the chief of the Indian spy agency Research and Analysis Wing, or RAW, at the time.

Vikram Yadav, a RAW officer a who was linked to the killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada in June [2023] a handled the plan to kill Pannun and gave instructions to a hired assassin, said the report a which the Post said was based on interviews with more than three dozen current and former senior security officials in Australia, Britain, Canada, Germany, India and the United States.

"The report in question makes unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations on a serious matter," Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Tuesday in a response to media queries, after the Post report was published.

"There is an ongoing investigation of the high-level committee set up by the government of India to look into the security concerns shared by the U.S. government on networks of organized criminals, terrorists, and others' speculative and irresponsible comments on it are not helpful," he said.

'Credible allegations'

Accusations of RAW involvement in killings on foreign soil first surfaced in September when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada was "actively pursuing credible allegations" that Indian agents were potentially linked to the killing of Nijjar, a Canadian citizen.

Nijjar was shot dead in his car by two masked gunmen outside a Sikh gurdwara (place of worship) in British Columbia. India had designated him a terrorist in 2020.

India promptly rejected Trudeau's allegations as "absurd and motivated" amid mounting tensions between the two countries.

India's foreign minister, S. Jaishankar, said at that time it was "not the government of India's policy" to engage in acts such as the killing of Nijjar.

In November, a senior Biden administration official said the United States had thwarted a plot to kill Sikh separatist leader Pannun while announcing charges against an Indian man accused of orchestrating the attempted murder.

U.S. authorities raised the issue with officials at the highest level in New Delhi, expressing concerns that the Indian government was involved in it, a statement from the White House said November 22.

This past Monday, the White House said that it considered the reported role of the Indian spying agency in the assassination plots in Canada and the U.S. as a "serious matter," with spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre telling reporters, "We're taking that very, very seriously. We're going to continue to raise our concerns."

India has designated Pannun as a terrorist for his alleged involvement in the Sikh separatist movement demanding that an independent state of Khalistan be carved out of India.

'Rogue operatives'

In March, quoting unidentified Indian security officials, the New York-based news agency Bloomberg reported that a "high-level" Indian investigative committee had found some "rogue operatives not authorized by the government" were involved in the alleged plot to kill Pannun.

The committee was set up after the U.S. Department of Justice in November indicted Nikhil Gupta, an Indian gunrunner, on charges of trying to orchestrate the assassination, allegedly on the instructions of a RAW agent. It has not yet made its findings public.

Monday's Post report, headlined "An assassination plot on American soil reveals a darker side of Modi's India," aid Indian RAW operative Yadav's identity and affiliation, which had not previously been reported, provide the "most explicit evidence to date" that the assassination plan "was directed from within the Indian spy service."

According to several current and former U.S. and Indian security officials, RAW agent Yadav forwarded details about Pannun, including his New York address, to the would-be assassins and wrote that the assassination was a "priority now," the Post report said.

As soon as the would-be assassins could confirm that Pannun, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Canada, was home, "it will be a go-ahead from us," the Post quoted Yadav as saying.

Senior Indian officials named in the Post report and accused of being aware of the RAW operation in the United States did not respond to it, the newspaper said.

India dismisses allegations

Although India dismisses the allegations that it tried to assassinate Pannun, it recently indicated that it would pursue terrorists on foreign soil.

On April 5, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh told an Indian TV channel that India knows how to track down terrorists who target the country.

"If any terrorist from our neighboring country tries to create disturbance and indulge in terrorist activities in India, we will give a strong and fitting reply. If he runs away to Pakistan, we will enter that country and kill him there," Singh told the interviewer.

Singh spoke to the channel a day after The Guardian reported that RAW had been behind the killing of around 20 people in Pakistan since 2020.

Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Washington-based Wilson Center, said that India has neither completely denied involvement in the Pannun assassination plot nor outright acknowledged responsibility for the assassinations in Pakistan.

"But certainly, its public messaging has signaled more comfort with being associated with the hits in Pakistan than the alleged plot in the U.S.," Kugelman told VOA. "The plot targeting Pannun happened in the U.S., on the soil of a close partner. So there is some risk for India if its complicity is established."

He added that India would be "perfectly comfortable" to be linked to the hits in Pakistan, "given that Pakistan is a bitter rival and India is always looking to project strength against Pakistan."

"In effect, India's interests are better served being linked to the killings in Pakistan than to the alleged plot in the U.S.," he said.

Editor's note: This article has been updated to clarify Pannun's citizenship status.

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Scheme to Transfer Money to Iran Results in Guilty Pleas

Wednesday, May 1, 2024

For Immediate Release

Office of Public Affairs

Defendants Plead to Conspiring to Violate U.S. Sanctions Against Iran

Muzzamil Zaidi, 40, and Asim Mujtaba Naqvi, 40, both of Houston, Texas, pleaded guilty today for their roles in an illicit scheme to transfer tens of thousands of dollars from the United States to Iran, including for the benefit of Ayatollah Ali Husseini Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

According to court documents, in December 2018, Zaidi received permission to collect khums - a religious tax on wealth - on behalf of several Imams. Between December 2018 and December 2019, Zaidi and Naqvi collected payments of this tax, as well as donations purportedly to help victims of the ongoing civil war in Yemen, from individuals in the United States.

Zaidi and Naqvi arranged for the funds to be exported from the United States to Iran and to be received by the Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran. Zaidi and Naqvi enlisted friends, family members, and other associates to carry the cash out of the United States, in amounts less than $10,000 in order to avoid law enforcement scrutiny. One transfer of dollars to Iran involved a group of 25 travelers going on a religious pilgrimage in Iraq, and the subsequent transport of U.S. dollars hand-carried by those travelers to Iran. Both Zaidi and Naqvi were arrested in Houston on Aug. 18, 2020, as a result of this scheme.

The transfer of money was illegal because the United States has imposed economic sanctions on Iran since 1995. Every year since 1984, the U.S. State Department has named Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism. And on June 24, 2019, the President imposed additional sanctions on the Supreme Leader of Iran that prohibit the provision of funds to, or for the benefit of, the Supreme Leader of Iran.

Zaidi and Naqvi both pleaded guilty to conspiracy and violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) before U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, who scheduled sentencing for Zaidi on Aug. 13 and for Naqvi on Oct. 1.

The FBI Washington Field Office and the FBI Houston Counterterrorism team are investigating the case. FBI Field Offices in Dallas, Chicago, and Detroit provided valuable assistance.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jolie Zimmerman, Erik Kenerson, and Maeghan Mikorski for the District of Columbia, and Trial Attorneys Adam Small and Derek Shugert of the National Security Division's Counterintelligence and Export Control Section and Jennifer Levy of the Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting the case.

Topic: National Security

Components: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

National Security Division (NSD)

USAO - District of Columbia

Press Release Number: 24-554

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130 IAEA inspectors allowed to access sites in Iran: Nuclear chief

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

May 1, 2024

Tehran, IRNA -- Iran's nuclear chief says the Islamic Republic has not banned international oversight of its nuclear program, noting that 130 inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are allowed to conduct inspections in the country.

Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said on Wednesday that IAEA inspections are being carried out within the framework of the Safeguards Agreement.

"This is not a political issue at all and we have proven this repeatedly in the process of our cooperation with the agency," he added.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi is scheduled to visit Iran next week to meet with Eslami and other officials to resolve some of the lingering Safeguards issues the UN nuclear watchdog has with Iran.

Four locations inside Iran have been the subject of dispute, two of which have already been resolved, the nuclear chief explained.

Eslami expressed confidence that the remaining ambiguities will be addressed and that Iran can further strengthen its relations with the IAEA within the framework of the Safeguards Agreement and the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

During his trip to Iran, Grossi will take part in a nuclear energy conference in the central city of Esfahan.

Tensions have grown between Iran and the IAEA since then-US President Donald Trump in 2018 unilaterally withdrew the US from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal and re-imposed tough economic sanctions on the country.

Since then, Iran has scaled back its commitments under the deal, officially called the JCPOA, ramping up its uranium enrichment and restricting the IAEA's inspections of its nuclear sites in line with a parliamentary law adopted in 2020.

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Op. True Promise breaks Zionists' deterrence power

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

May 1, 2024

Tehran, IRNA -- Commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says that the deterrence power of the Zionists has been broken by Operation True Promise launched by the Islamic Republic against the Israeli regime.

Major General Hossein Salami made the comments on Wednesday on the recently taken defensive measure, dubbed Operation True Promise, by Iran in response to the Israeli attack on the country's embassy in Damascus on April 1, in which seven military officials were killed.

The operation manifested the might of the Iranian nation, the commander noted.

The intelligence of the occupying regime was defeated by the Al-Aqsa Storm, a surprise operation launched by Hamas against the Zionist regime on October 7, 2023.

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Iran has right to respond to any Israeli aggression: UN envoy

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 01 May 2024 6:10 PM

Iran tells the United Nations it reserves the right to respond to any act of aggression by Israel, amid tensions following an unprecedented retaliatory military strike by the country that hit targets deep inside the Israeli-occupied territories last month.

Iran's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Amir Saeid Iravani made the announcement in a letter addressed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and to the President of the UN Security Council Vanessa Frazier.

The letter came in response to correspondences submitted by the Israeli regime to the two UN authorities before and after Iran's attacks against the regime on April 13. The operation, dubbed True Promise, came in response to Israel's attack on the Iranian consulate in Syria's Damascus on April 1 which killed senior Iranian military commanders.

Iravani rejected accusations leveled against Iran in the Israeli regime's letters to UN authorities and said that they were mostly aimed at diverting global attentions from Israel's brutal aggression on Gaza where it has killed more than 34,500 people since early October.

The envoy said that Iran's drone and missile attacks against Israel were in the exercise of its inherent right to self-defense as outlined in Article 51 of the UN Charter.

He reiterated that Iran has never initiated a war against Israel and has no intention of doing so in the future.

"However, Iran reserves its inherent right under international law to respond to any use of force or acts of aggression against its sovereignty, territorial integrity and security, and national interests," said Iravani.

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'Repetitive statements' give no extra rights to Kuwait over gas field: Iran

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 01 May 2024 3:40 PM

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kan'ani has once again rejected claims laid by Kuwait to a gas field located in disputed waters in the Persian Gulf, saying issuing "repetitive statements" will give no extra rights to the Arab country over the energy reserve.

Kan'ani made the remarks in a Wednesday statement while reacting to a communiquA issued at the end of a visit by Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Meshaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to Egypt in which claims were raised about the ownership of Arash gas field, which is known in Kuwait as Durra.

He said repeating unilateral and unfounded claims about the gas field by the Kuwaiti side are "a source of pity", adding that those statements will create no extra rights for the Kuwaiti government from a legal standpoint.

"We recommend the authorities of this country to refrain from repeated use of fruitless political and media methods with regards to the legal and technical issue of the Arash joint field," said the spokesman in his statement.

He also called on third party governments, a clear reference to Egypt in this case, to take steps that would boost regional cooperation and multilateral relations.

Kuwait and Saudi Arabia issued a joint statement in March 2022 saying they will jointly develop Arash gas field without Iran's participation.

Iran swiftly reacted to the statement by resuming exploration activities on the field, more than 20 years after they stopped to give way for demarcation talks on maritime borders.

Discovered in 1962, Arash has around 13 trillion cubic feet (nearly 370 billion cubic meters) of natural gas.

Some 23 Iranian hydrocarbon fields lie in border areas and are shared between Iran and adjacent countries, including Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Turkmenistan.

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Trucker Protests Over Fuel Cuts Feed Labor Unrest Sweeping Iran

By RFE/RL's Radio Farda May 01, 2024

A surge of labor unrest, buffeted by widespread protests over sharp cuts to fuel quotas for truck drivers, has swept across Iran as economic hardship and poor living standards wrack the country's workforce.

Several cities and provinces have seen large-scale protests by truck drivers in recent days ahead of the May 1 international labor day holiday, as they vent their anger of a cut in monthly fuel allocations from 3,000 liters to just 500 liters.

The reduction in fuel quotas has increased costs for operators, in turn raising the prices of goods and services for the broader population.

The protests have coincided with other protests by retired workers and in various industrial sectors across the country, which is reeling from the bite of economic sanctions on the economy over Tehran's nuclear program.

In Arak, retired workers voiced their discontent against what they perceive as government mismanagement of the economy, while workers from Pars Paper Mill in Haft Tappeh and retirees in Shush rallied against local officials, demanding accountability and improved living conditions.

Local authorities in several regions, including Dashtyari, have reportedly ignored the protests, leading to increased frustration among the demonstrators.

According to the Free Union of Iranian Workers, the local governor in Dashtyari left his office without engaging with the protesters, exacerbating tensions.

In an attempt to quell dissent ahead of International Workers Day, several labor and social activists in Sanandaj were summoned and interrogated by local intelligence services, rights groups said.

Unrest -- including months of protests by workers -- has rattled Iran in recent years in response to declining living standards, wage arrears, and a lack of welfare support.

Labor Ministry data show Iran's poverty rate doubled in 2021, with one-third of the population living in "extreme poverty." Since then, conditions have failed to improve.

In September 2023, Iran's Misery Index, calculated by the Iranian Statistics Center, rose to 60.4 -- its highest point ever and more than double what it was six years ago. The higher the rating, the worse off people feel.

Labor laws in Iran do not recognize the right of workers to form independent unions.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-truckers-protest-labor- unrest/32929129.html

Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Colombia to cut diplomatic ties with Israel over genocide in Gaza

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 01 May 2024 8:47 PM

Colombia has decided to cut its diplomatic relations with the Israeli regime over the latter's ongoing genocidal war against the Gaza Strip.

President Gustavo Petro, a vocal critic of the brutal military onslaught, announced the decision, addressing a May Day rally in the capital Bogota on Wednesday.

"And we here in front of you, the government of change, the president of the republic informs that tomorrow diplomatic relations" with the Israeli regime "will be cut," he said.

"[We cut diplomatic ties] because of them having...a genocidal president," he added.

At least 34,568 people, most of them women, children, and adolescents, have been killed in the war that was launched on October 7 following al-Aqsa Storm, a retaliatory operation staged by Gaza's resistance groups.

'If Gaza dies, humanity dies'

"I believe that today all of humanity, in the streets, by the millions, agrees with us and we agree with them," Petro said, pointing to the monumental rallies that have been held all over the world in protest at the war since its onset.

"It cannot be, they can't return, the times of genocide, of the extermination of an entire people before our eyes, before our passivity. If Palestine dies, humanity dies and we will not let it die as we will not let humanity die."

Also in October, Petro blasted Yoav Gallant, the Israeli regime's minister for military affairs, for using a language about the people of Gaza that was akin to what the "Nazis said of the Jews." The regime responded by "halting security exports" to the Latin American country.

In February, the Colombian head of state suspended Israeli weapons purchases after a deadly attack by the regime's military against the Gazans, who had gathered to receive humanitarian aid, saying the attack "is called genocide and recalls the Holocaust."

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Secretary Blinken's Call with Israeli Minister Gantz

US Department of State

Readout

Office of the Spokesperson

May 1, 2024

The following is attributable to Spokesperson Matthew Miller:

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke today with Israeli Minister Benny Gantz. Secretary Blinken and Minister Gantz discussed the latest efforts to achieve a ceasefire deal that secures the release of hostages, rapidly increase and sustain levels of humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza, and prevent the conflict from expanding. Secretary Blinken reaffirmed the United States' commitment to Israel's security, including ensuring the events of October 7 are never repeated. He also discussed the United States' ongoing diplomatic work with partners to build durable peace and security for the region.

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Secretary Blinken's Meeting with Israeli President Herzog

US Department of State

Readout

Office of the Spokesperson

May 1, 2024

The below is attributable to Spokesperson Matthew Miller:

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met today with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv. The Secretary reaffirmed the United States' commitment to Israel's security and discussed the latest efforts to achieve a ceasefire that secures the release of hostages. Secretary Blinken and President Herzog also discussed the importance of urgently delivering humanitarian assistance to civilians throughout Gaza, protecting humanitarian workers, and avoiding regional escalation. He reiterated the United States' commitment to establishing lasting peace, security, and stability in the region.

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Myanmar ethnic army secures 2 bases after month-long battle

Township contains one of Rakhine State's two main junta bases.

By RFA Burmese 2024.05.01 -- An ethnic minority insurgent force in Myanmar has captured two strategic positions near the junta's regional military headquarters in Rakhine State, residents told Radio Free Asia on Wednesday.

The Arakan Army (AA), which has gained control of eight townships in Rakhine State from the military following a 2021 coup, seized another two camps on Saturday, they said. The junta positions at Chaung Byu Har hill and Taw Hein Taung Byu Har in Ann township are now under the control of the rebel group, the residents said.

Arakan Army fighters began attacking the two camps on March 24, said one woman in Ann township. The positions are near the headquarters of the Western Regional Command, one of at least a dozen regional commands across the country.

"Casualties among junta troops are high but the exact number is not known. Some say it's about 150," said the woman, who declined to be identified for security reasons.

"But it can be confirmed that those two strategic hills have been seized," she said, adding that hundreds of junta troops were believed to have been stationed at the camps.

RFA tried to contact the junta spokesperson in Rakhine State, Hla Thein for more information but he did not respond. The AA has not released any information about the latest fighting.

Forces opposed to military rule, including various ethnic minority insurgent groups seeking self-determination and pro-democracy activists who took up arms after the 2021 coup, have made significant gains since allied forces launched an offensive in October last year.

A person close to the Arakan Army told RFA that retreating junta troops had fled towards the Western Regional Command headquarters in Ann.

"The battle is continuing," said the source, who also declined to be identified.

The junta had in recent days been sending reinforcements and weapons to beef up defenses at the headquarters, he said.

The Arakan Army has also been attacking the junta's operations command headquarters in Rakhine State's Buthidaung township and captured three outposts there on Tuesday, residents said.

Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan and Mike Firn.

Copyright 1998-2024, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content May not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.

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United States Files Forfeiture Action Against $1.55 Million Aircraft Landing Gear

Wednesday, May 1, 2024

For Immediate Release

Office of Public Affairs

The Justice Department today filed a forfeiture complaint against a set of aircraft landing gear for a Boeing 737-800 that was detained in September 2023 at Miami International Airport by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. The gear was purchased for the benefit of a Kyrgyz Republic-based transhipper of dual-use items servicing the Russian Federation, in violation of U.S. economic sanctions.

According to court documents, the landing gear had been sold in June 2023 by a Florida-based aircraft parts overhauler and reseller for $1.55 million to an intermediary in Istanbul, GQ Solution Elektronik Ekipman Limited Sirketi.

Concurrent with today's action, the State Department announced new sanctions

against entities engaged in Russia's technology sector, including GQ Solution Elektronik Ekipman Limited Sirketi in connection with the company's supplying of electronic components to Russia-based companies.

In July 2023, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated LLC RM Design and Development (RMDD) as a Specially Designated National (SDN) for operating in the electronics sector of the Russian Federation economy. According to OFAC, RMDD was established in March 2022, less than one month following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. OFAC has described RMDD as a "prolific shipper of dual-use goods to Russia, including to firms that have supplied electronics to Russia-based defense companies." As a result of RMDD's designation as an SDN, all property and interests in property of RMDD that are in the United States are blocked.

On July 25, 2023, five days after being designated as an SDN by OFAC, RMDD sent an email asking HML Aviation to "switch [the purchase] fully to our partners GQ Solution." After the email, all mentions of RMDD were scrubbed from invoices for the landing gear.

On Aug. 29, 2023, GQ Solution completed HML Aviation's End Use/End User Certification form. Among the items included in the form are statements that GQ Solution "will not export or re-export U.S. products, technology or software... to any restricted country unless otherwise authorized by the United States Government."

On Sept. 1, 2023, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) alerted the shipper that it had detained the landing gear shipment at the airport in Miami.

This forfeiture action is a product of the U.S. government's coordinated effort to enforce U.S. sanctions and export controls against the Russian Federation following the invasion of Ukraine. The forfeiture complaint detailed here is merely an allegation.

HSI Colorado Springs and the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security are leading the larger investigation into Russian Federation attempts to avoid U.S. sanctions and export controls.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Conor Mulroe and Rick Blaylock Jr. for the District of Columbia and Trial Attorney Sean Heiden of the National Security Division's Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are litigating the case.

This case was coordinated through the Justice Department's Task Force KleptoCapture, an interagency law enforcement task force dedicated to enforcing the sweeping sanctions, export controls, and economic countermeasures that the United States, along with its foreign allies and partners, has imposed in response to Russia's unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine. Announced by the Attorney General on March 2, 2022, and under the leadership of the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, the task force will continue to leverage all of the department's tools and authorities to combat efforts to evade or undermine the collective actions taken by the U.S. government in response to Russian military aggression.

The burden to prove forfeitability in a forfeiture proceeding is upon the government.

Topics: Countering Nation-State Threats

Export Control

National Security

Component: National Security Division (NSD)

Press Release Number: 24-553

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US Senate votes to adopt bill banning Russian uranium imports

Iran Press TV

Wednesday, 01 May 2024 11:04 AM

The United States Senate has passed a bill to prohibit imports of Russian uranium, amid Washington's efforts to tighten restrictions on Moscow's fuel products.

The Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act, approved by the US House of Representatives in December, received unanimous support from senators on Tuesday. It is anticipated that President Joe Biden will sign the legislation into law.

The legislature would become law 90 days after Biden signs the document. Some temporary waivers will, however, be allowed until January 2028.

"America's dangerous reliance on Russian enriched uranium must come to an end a our national security depends on it," Senator Jim Risch, the bill's co-sponsor, said in a statement.

According to the Congress website, the bill specifically "bans unirradiated low-enriched uranium (i.e., uranium that has not been in a reactor) that is produced in Russia or by a Russian entity from being imported into the United States."

"The bill also prohibits the importation of unirradiated low-enriched uranium that has been swapped for the banned uranium or otherwise obtained in a manner designed to circumvent the ban's restrictions," it added.

The decision came as a spokesperson from the National Security Council urged Congress on Monday to impose the ban, emphasizing that it would ensure a "secure nuclear fuel supply chain, independent adversarial influence" for country, its allies, and partners.

In 2022, the US Energy Information Administration reported that approximately 12% of the uranium used by nuclear power plants in the US came from Russia.

"Wyoming has the uranium to replace Russian imports, and we're ready to use it," said US Senator John Barrasso, the top Republican on the Senate Energy Committee, in a statement. Barrasso is from the state of Wyoming.

"Our bipartisan legislation will help defund Russia's war machine, revive American uranium production, and jumpstart investments in America's nuclear fuel supply chain," he added.

After Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022, the US implemented a ban on the importation of Russian oil and also introduced a price limit on certain exports of its own crude oil and oil products.

This comes as Biden signed a foreign aid package last week to allocate billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine in its war with Russia.

The US and Russia remain at odds over a number of issues, including the Ukrainian conflict.

Moscow has warned Kiev's Western allies, particularly the US, that sending weapons to the ex-Soviet country will prolong the conflict.

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New Sanctions Aim To Further Degrade Russia's Ability To Manufacture Weapons

By RFE/RL May 01, 2024

The U.S. Treasury Department on May 1 imposed new sanctions on hundreds of companies and people tied to Russia's weapons development program as part of its continuing effort to limit Russia's ability to access the materials it needs to "prosecute its illegal war against Ukraine."

The department said in a news release that the goal of the sanctions was to "further degrade Russia's ability to sustain its war machine."

The Treasury Department imposed sanctions on nearly 200 targets, while the State Department designated more than 80.

The sanctions aim to limit Russia's military-industrial base, chemical weapons programs, and people and firms in third countries that help Russia acquire weapons components.

They also target more than a dozen Chinese firms accused of helping Russia find workarounds to previously announced sanctions. The new measures also aim to punish individuals tied to the death of Russian opposition politician Aleksei Navalny.

The "Treasury has consistently warned that companies will face significant consequences for providing material support for Russia's war, and the U.S. is imposing them today on almost 300 targets," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.

The actions "will further disrupt and degrade Russia's war efforts by going after its military industrial base and the evasion networks that help supply it," she said in the news release.

Included in the new sanctions announcement are importers of ingredients used to produce gunpowder, rocket propellants, and other explosives. Also included are Russian government entities and people tied to Russia's chemical and biological weapons programs and firms related to Russia's natural gas construction projects.

The Treasury Department's news release said firms in China, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Slovakia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates are accused of helping Russia acquire technology and equipment from abroad.

The State Department sanctions target three people in connection to the death of Navalny, who died in February in a Russian Arctic prison. Russian authorities say he died of natural causes. His followers believe he was killed by the authorities, which the Kremlin denies.

Added to the U.S. sanctions list are the director of the correctional colony in Russia where Navalny was held for the majority of his imprisonment, the head of the solitary confinement detachment, and the head of the medical unit at the Arctic colony where he was imprisoned before his death.

The officials oversaw the cells where Navalny was kept in solitary confinement, the walking yard where he allegedly collapsed and died, and Navalny's health, including in the immediate aftermath of his collapse, the State Department said.

The sanctions freeze any assets the entities and individuals hold in U.S. jurisdiction, block them from using the U.S. financial system, and bar American citizens from dealing with them.

With reporting by AP and Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/sanctions-us-russia-ukraine- weapons/32929491.html

Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Russian Defence Minister inspects Joint Group of Forces

01.05.2024

Russian Minister of Defence General of the Army Sergei Shoigu held a meeting at the headquarters of the Joint Group of Forces, where he heard reports from the commanders on the current situation in the zone of the special military operation and the nature of enemy actions.

During the meeting, the Russian Defence Minister noted that the Groups of Forces continue to carry out tasks in operational areas in accordance with the plan of the special military operation and pointed to the need to further increase the supply of weapons, military hardware, and means of destruction.

'In order to maintain the required pace of the offensive and ensure the build-up of the combat strength of the Groups of Forces for further actions, it is necessary to increase the volume and quality of weapons and military hardware supplied to the troops, first of all, the means of destruction,' said the head of the Russian military department

'The Russian Main Military and Political Directorate bodies are carrying out purposeful work in this direction. State contracts have been concluded with industrial enterprises taking into account their full utilisation and maximum reduction of the production time of weapons and military hardware samples. At the same time, in the process of this work, there are issues that require special attention and urgent solutions, especially in terms of providing the most demanded samples,' stressed General of the Army Sergei Shoigu.

During the meeting, the Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation paid particular attention to improving the efficiency of the work of the repair and recovery units in the areas of combat operations and the rear area of the special military operation.

Sergei Shoigu instructed to take additional measures to reduce the time required to repair engines, units and assemblies of military hardware, as well as to increase the circulating stock of spare parts and components for the operational repair of hardware and weapons.

The Russian Minister of Defence was also presented with the results of the modernisation of standard weapons to improve the effectiveness of the fight against enemy drones and the protection of personnel from FPV drones on the line of contact.

Department for Media Affairs and Information

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U.S. Continues to Degrade Russia's Military-Industrial Base and Target Third-Country Support with Nearly 300 New Sanctions

U.S. Department of the Treasury

May 1, 2024

WASHINGTON -- Today, the Department of the Treasury is taking action to further degrade Russia's ability to sustain its war machine, continuing a multilateral campaign to limit the Kremlin's revenue and access to the materiel it needs to prosecute its illegal war against Ukraine. Today's actions target Russia's military-industrial base and chemical and biological weapons programs as well as companies and individuals in third countries that help Russia acquire key inputs for weapons or defense-related production.

The United States, along with many international partners, is particularly concerned about entities based in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and other third countries that provide critical inputs to Russia's military-industrial base. This support enables Russia to continue its war against Ukraine and poses a significant threat to international security. The almost 300 targets being sanctioned by both Treasury and the Department of State include sanctions on dozens of actors that have enabled Russia to acquire desperately needed technology and equipment from abroad.

"Treasury has consistently warned that companies will face significant consequences for providing material support for Russia's war, and the U.S. is imposing them today on almost 300 targets," said Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen. "Today's actions will further disrupt and degrade Russia's war efforts by going after its military industrial base and the evasion networks that help supply it. Even as we're throwing sand in the gears of Russia's war machine, President Biden's recently-passed National Security Supplemental is providing badly-needed military, economic, and humanitarian support to bolster Ukraine's courageous resistance. Combined, our support for Ukraine and our relentless targeting of Russia's military capacity is giving Ukraine a critical leg-up on the battlefield."

In addition to the nearly 200 targets sanctioned by the Department of the Treasury, the Department of State is imposing sanctions on over 80 entities and individuals that are engaged in sanctions evasion and circumvention or are related to Russia's chemical and biological weapons programs and defense industrial base. The Department of State is also targeting Russia's revenue generation through its future energy, metals, and mining production and sanctioning additional individuals in connection with the death of opposition leader and anticorruption activist Aleksey Navalny. For more information on State actions, see the Department of State Fact Sheet.

The U.S. Department of Justice also filed a forfeiture complaint today against a set of aircraft landing gear for a Boeing 737-800 that was detained in September 2023 at Miami International Airport by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. The gear was purchased for $1.55 million for the benefit of a Kyrgyz Republic-based transhipper of dual-use items servicing the Russian Federation, in violation of U.S. sanctions on LLC RM Design and Development, which was designated by OFAC in July 2022.

SANCTIONS EVASION, CIRCUMVENTION, AND BACKFILL

Treasury is committed to disrupting individuals and entities who help facilitate Russia's acquisition of technology and equipment for its war machine. Treasury and other U.S. government partners have issued extensive guidance and conducted outreach around the world to educate and inform about the risks of doing business with Russia, and Treasury will continue to take unilateral action when necessary to disrupt Russia's military-industrial supply chains, no matter where they are located. Today's action includes nearly 60 targets located in Azerbaijan, Belgium, the PRC, Russia, Slovakia, TArkiye, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), that enable Russia to acquire desperately-needed technology and equipment from abroad.

For more information on these targets, please see Annex 1.

RUSSIA'S MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL BASE

Russia's military-industrial base relies on a vast ecosystem of entities that enable and support the production, maintenance, transportation, and sustainment of materiel used by Russia's military. Today's action takes aim at more than 100 entities operating or that have operated in the technology, defense and related materiel, manufacturing, or transportation sectors of the Russian Federation economy.

For more information on these targets, please see Annex 2.

Foreign financial institutions that conduct or facilitate significant transactions, or provide any service, involving Russia's military-industrial baseaincluding any person designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the technology, defense and related materiel, construction, aerospace, or manufacturing sectors of the Russian Federation economyarun the risk of being sanctioned by OFAC. Russia's military-industrial base may also include individuals and entities that support the sale, supply, or transfer of certain items or classes of items. OFAC has issued Guidance for Foreign Financial Institutions on OFAC Sanctions Authorities Targeting Support to Russia's Military-Industrial Base.

RUSSIA'S ACQUISITION OF EXPLOSIVES PRECURSORS

Russia relies on external suppliers for cotton cellulose and its highly flammable byproduct, nitrocellulose, which are key explosives precursors that Russia needs to keep producing gunpowder, rocket propellants, and other explosives. Today's action targets major Russian importers of cotton cellulose, nitrocellulose, and key inputs to nitrocellulose such as cotton pulp, as well as two PRC-based suppliers sending these substances to Russia.

For more information on these targets, please see Annex 3.

RUSSIA'S CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS PROGRAM PROCUREMENT

Treasury is also targeting three Russia-based entities and two individuals involved in procuring items for military institutes involved in Russia's chemical and biological weapons programs. In coordination, the Department of State is separately designating three Russian government entities associated with Russia's chemical and biological weapons programs and four Russian companies contributing to such entities. These actions are being taken concurrent with the Department of State's imposition of Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 (the CBW Act) sanctions on Russia over its use of the chemical weapon chloropicrin against Ukrainian troops.

For more information on these targets, please see Annex 4.

EXPANSION OF RUSSIA'S NATURAL GAS INFRASTRUCTURE

Guided by commitments made in February by President Biden and G7 leaders to take steps to limit Russia's future energy revenues and impede Russia's development of future energy projects, today Treasury is targeting two Russia-based entities involved in natural gas-related construction projects, Neftegazstroy and Aktsionernoe Obshchestvo Vnipigazdobycha. These entities were designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the construction sector of the Russian Federation economy.

ANNEX 1: SANCTIONS EVASION, CIRCUMVENTION, AND BACKFILL

Russian Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Procurement Network

Tulun International Holding Limited (Tulun International) is a Hong Kong-based procurement intermediary that represented itself as the end-user of, but ultimately resold, Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) boards that were installed in Russian one-way attack unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) used by Russian military forces to attack Ukrainian targets, and shortly thereafter recovered in October and November 2023.

Russia-based Limited Liability Company Ultran Electronic Components (Ultran EK) procures microelectronics, including items that have been recovered from Orlan-10 UAVs used against Ukrainian forces. Ultran EK imported 71 shipments of electronic integrated circuits into Russia between June 8, 2022 and September 26, 2023, including electronic integrated circuits with UAV applications such as field programmable gate arrays.

After Russia's February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Ultran EK began to rely on Hong Kong-based RG Solutions Limited (RG Solutions) for microelectronics. RG Solutions exported 104 shipments of electronic integrated circuits between January 1, 2023 and December 25, 2023, including electronic integrated circuits with UAV applications such as field programmable gate arrays. RG Solutions engaged in wire transfer activity that indicated the trading of electronic components with military applications to Russia. RG Solutions engaged in payments referencing invoices, transport services, microcircuits, compressor spare parts, freight, and contracts.

Hong Kong-based Finder Technology Limited (Finder Technology) exported 293 shipments of electronic integrated circuits between January 3, 2023 and December 29, 2023, including electronic integrated circuits with UAV applications such as field programmable gate arrays. Finder Technology acted as an intermediary for Russia-based Joint Stock Company Compel (Compel) and exported microelectronics to Compel, prior to and following its July 20, 2023 designation by the Department of the Treasury pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the electronics sector of the Russian Federation economy.

PRC-based Juhang Aviation Technology Shenzhen Co, Ltd. (Juhang Aviation) exported 94 shipments of export-controlled items with UAV and other military applications, including items in Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 4 of the Department of Commerce Common High Priority List, to Russia-based TSK Vektor OOO (TSK Vektor) between August 5, 2022 and December 31, 2023. Items exported to TSK Vektor by Juhang Aviation included items for UAV production such as propellers, signal jammers, sensors, and UAV engines. TSK Vektor was designated by the Department of the Treasury pursuant to E.O. 14024 on December 12, 2023, for providing material support to IEMZ Kupol, which produces one-way attack UAVs for the Russian Ministry of Defense and was designated by the U.S. Department of the Treasury pursuant to E.O. 14024 on December 12, 2023 for operating or having operated in the defense and related materiel sector of the Russian Federation economy. Juhang Aviation has also exported dual-use items with UAV and other military applications, such as integrated circuits, to LLC Testkomplekt. LLC Testkomplekt was designated by the Department of the Treasury pursuant to E.O. 14024 on May 19, 2023 for operating or having operated in the electronics sector of the Russian Federation economy.

Tulun International, Ultran EK, RG Solutions, Finder Technology, and Juhang Aviation were designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the defense and related materiel sector of the Russian Federation economy.

Radioavtomatika Procurement Network

The Treasury Department is also designating individuals and entities that are part of the procurement network of Russian defense procurement firm Radioavtomatika LLC (Radioavtomatika) and its front company, Novastream Limited (Novastream), to acquire foreign electronic components that are critical to Russia's war effort. Radioavtomatika was designated by the Department of State pursuant to E.O. 14024 on March 3, 2022 for operating or having operated in the defense and related materiel sector of the Russian Federation economy. Since Radioavtomatika's designation, it has sought to leverage a broad network of intermediaries to acquire foreign electronic components critical to Russia's war effort, including through close coordination with its front company, Novastream. Novastream was designated by the Department of the Treasury pursuant to E.O. 14024 on September 30, 2022 for being owned or controlled by, or for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Radioavtomatika.

Ivan Vladimirovich Seliverstov (Seliverstov) is a Russian businessman who has conducted business with sanctioned companies such as Radioavtomatika. Seliverstov has used his two Russia-based companies, Militechtrade Limited Liability Company (Militechtrade) and Joint Stock Company Militech (JSC Militech) to procure imported microelectronics on behalf of Radioavtomatika.

In support of Radioavtomatika, Seliverstov has collaborated with other Russian defense procurement companies, including Alfa Limited Liability Company (Alfa LLC).

Seliverstov and Alfa LLC were designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Radioavtomatika. Militechtrade and JSC Militech were designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for being owned or controlled by, or for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Seliverstov.

Yegor Igoryevich Mozhayev (Mozhayev) is a Russian national who is employed by Radioavtomatika. Mozhayev handles Radioavtomatika's relationships with multiple suppliers and intermediaries, as well as oversees the company's efforts to acquire advanced electronic components through its global procurement network. Mozhayev is also the owner and general director of Russia-based company Leda Limited Liability Company (Leda).

Mozhayev was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Radioavtomatika. Leda was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for being owned or controlled by, or for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Mozhayev.

Aksioma Limited Liability Company (Aksioma) is a Moscow, Russia-based company founded in May 2017. Aksioma has conducted numerous transactions directly with Radioavtomatika and through Novastream related to the supply of electronic components.

Global Key Limited Liability Company (Global Key) is a St. Petersburg, Russia-based company founded in February 2022. Radioavtomatika has relied on Global Key to fulfill multiple Russian defense contracts.

Bimlogic Limited Liability Company (Bimlogic) is a St. Petersburg, Russia-based company founded in April 2022. Bimlogic has purchased thousands of dollars' worth of U.S.-origin components on behalf of Novastream and has assisted Novastream officials to hide Radioavtomatika's involvement in weapons-related transactions.

Aksioma and Global Key were designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Radioavtomatika. Bimlogic was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Novastream.

PRC and Hong Kong-based technology suppliers

The following PRC-based entities were designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the technology sector of the Russian Federation economy:

Wuhan Global Sensor Technology Co., Ltd. , has provided infrared detectors and other components to Russian companies. Among the companies supplied by Global Sensor Technology was a Russian manufacturer of military optics.

, has provided infrared detectors and other components to Russian companies. Among the companies supplied by Global Sensor Technology was a Russian manufacturer of military optics. Wuhan Tongsheng Technology Co., Ltd. has made numerous shipments of high-priority technology to Russia and, in October 2023, attended a state security technology exposition in Moscow that was hosted with the support of the Russian Ministry of Defense.

has made numerous shipments of high-priority technology to Russia and, in October 2023, attended a state security technology exposition in Moscow that was hosted with the support of the Russian Ministry of Defense. HK Hengbangwei Electronics Limited and Chip Space Electronics Co., Limited are Hong Kong-based companies that have each made hundreds of shipments of foreign-origin microelectronics to Russia, including to U.S.-designated Russian technology company Uniservice Limited Liability Company (Uniservice).

and are Hong Kong-based companies that have each made hundreds of shipments of foreign-origin microelectronics to Russia, including to U.S.-designated Russian technology company Uniservice Limited Liability Company (Uniservice). IPM Limited (IPM) is based in Hong Kong and has shipped hundreds of shipments of foreign-origin microelectronics to U.S.-designated Russian technology company Uniservice, as well as a shipment of machine tool components to Russia. The director of IPM is Austria-based Russian national Sergei Vyacheslavovich Makarov , who is being designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for being or having been a leader, official, senior executive officer, or member of the board of directors of IPM.

(IPM) is based in Hong Kong and has shipped hundreds of shipments of foreign-origin microelectronics to U.S.-designated Russian technology company Uniservice, as well as a shipment of machine tool components to Russia. The director of IPM is Austria-based Russian national , who is being designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for being or having been a leader, official, senior executive officer, or member of the board of directors of IPM. Chengdu Keylink Wireless Technology Co., Ltd is based in the PRC and has shipped communications equipment to Russian companies, including U.S.-designated Limited Liability Company SMT-iLOGIC (SMT-iLOGIC) and Uniservice. SMT-iLOGIC is involved in a large-scale procurement network to obtain foreign-origin technology used to manufacture Orlan drones for the Russian military.

is based in the PRC and has shipped communications equipment to Russian companies, including U.S.-designated Limited Liability Company SMT-iLOGIC (SMT-iLOGIC) and Uniservice. SMT-iLOGIC is involved in a large-scale procurement network to obtain foreign-origin technology used to manufacture Orlan drones for the Russian military. Hong Kong-based Jinmingsheng Technology HK Co Limited has supplied noise-suppressing filters, pressure sensors, and microcontrollers found in Russian missile systems and UAVs to U.S.-designated electronic components supplier LLC Onelek.

PRC Companies Providing Support to Russian Defense Entities

Zhongcheng Heavy Equipment Defense Technology (Shandong) Group Co., Ltd (ZHE) ZHE is a PRC-based defense company that produces and sells weapons, ammunition, unmanned aerial vehicles, and other defense equipment. ZHE was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods in services to or in support of PMC Wagner, a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to E.O. 14024.

(ZHE) ZHE is a PRC-based defense company that produces and sells weapons, ammunition, unmanned aerial vehicles, and other defense equipment. ZHE was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods in services to or in support of PMC Wagner, a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to E.O. 14024. Shvabe Opto-Electronics Co., Ltd (Shvabe Opto) has made thousands of shipments to its parent company, U.S.-sanctioned Joint Stock Company Production Association Ural Optical and Mechanical Plant Named After E.S. Yalamov (JSC PA UOMP), including hundreds of shipments of foreign-origin microelectronics. JSC PA UOMP is a Russian defense entity that develops instruments for Russia's combat aircraft, helicopters, and naval ships. Shvabe Opto was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for being owned or controlled by, or having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, JSC PA UOMP, a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to E.O. 14024. Shvabe Opto was previously added to the U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security's Entity List on October 11, 2023.

Belgium- and TArkiye-based Machine Tool Procurement Networks

Russia-based Sonatec Limited Liability Company (Sonatec) is a developer and supplier of manufacturing solutions and of metalworking equipment and high-precision machine tools that has working relationships with over a dozen Russian defense companies. Belgium-based mechanical products and machine tool supplier Groupe D'Investissement Financier SA (GIF) has delivered machinery and equipment to Sonatec. Sonatec's general director and owner, Ruslan Viktorovich Labin (Ruslan), is the son of Belgium-based GIF owner Viktor Gennadievich Labin (Viktor), an alleged officer of Russia's U.S.-sanctioned Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU). Along with his other son, Roman Viktorovich Labin (Roman), who also individually procures machine tools for Sonatec, Viktor has used TArkiye-based GIF Groupe Dinvestissement Financi Osborne Dis Tic Ltd Sti (GIF Osborne) to send machine tools, polymers, and industrial chemical products to Sonatec.

Sonatec, GIF, Ruslan, Viktor, and Roman were designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the manufacturing sector of the Russian Federation economy. GIF Osborne was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Sonatec.

TArkiye-based Etasis Elektronik Tarti Aletleri Ve Sistemleri Sanayi Ve Ticaret Anonim Sirketi (Etasis) purchases British machine tool equipment and resells it to companies in Russia. Russia-based Vektor Etalon (Vektor) is a Russia-based manufacturing company involved in the repair of machinery and the wholesale of instruments and equipment. Algoritm Tochnosti (Algoritm) is a Russia-based company involved in the wholesale of machine tools as well as the supply and maintenance of equipment. Both Vektor and Algoritm have supplied goods that were ultimately destined for Russian defense-related enterprises. Etasis has made dozens of shipments of machine-related goods to Russia, including to Vektor and U.S.-designated Promoil Limited Liability Company, which supplies goods to Russian defense companies. Etasis, Vektor, and Algoritm were designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the manufacturing sector of the Russian Federation economy.

Hong Kong-, Slovakia-, and UAE-based Electronics Procurement Networks

Russia-based Compliga is a supplier of IT products and equipment and electronics. Compliga has imported at least $180 million worth of electronics from abroad since April 1, 2022, almost exclusively from Hong Kong-based Pixel Devices Limited (Pixel). Pixel, whose primary client is Compliga, has shipped at least $210 million in electronics to Russia since April 1, 2022. Slovakia-based Carovilli Trading SRO (Carovilli) purchases computer equipment and software and resells it to companies in Russia. Over the course of just a few months in 2023, Carovilli sent over 350 shipments of electronics, including electronic modules, printed circuits, and microprocessors, to Compliga.

Compliga, Pixel, and Carovilli were designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the technology sector of the Russian Federation economy.

Russia-based defense contractor Limited Liability Company Spring Elektroniks (Spring Elektroniks) manufactures integrated electronic circuits and other electronic components and fills orders for, among others, U.S.-sanctioned Russian military-industrial firms Radiotekhkomplekt, which supplies electronic components to Russian research institutes and design bureaus, and KBP Instrument Design Bureau, which creates precision-guided weapons, antitank missile systems, tank weapons systems, guided artillery, and air defense systems. UAE-based Albait Al Khaleeje General Trading LLC (Albait), which advertises itself as an auto spare parts wholesale exporter, organizes the import and transit of so-called "sanctioned goods" to Russia through the UAE. Albait has been involved in more than 6,800 shipments to Russian customers, including more than 450 to Spring Elektroniks. Albait has primarily sent Spring Elektroniks soldering and welding machines that are critical to electronics production.

Spring Elektroniks was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the technology sector of the Russian Federation economy. Albait was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the manufacturing sector of the Russian Federation economy.

Kamaz Supply Chain

On June 28, 2022, OFAC designated KAMAZ Publicly Traded Company (KAMAZ), Russia's largest truck manufacturer, one of the world's top 20 heavy duty truck producers, and a supplier of armored vehicles to Russia's military. Today, OFAC is targeting several entities that have continued to help KAMAZ acquire goods and equipment.

The following entities were designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the transportation sector of the Russian Federation economy:

TArkiye-based A Y A Universal Denizcilik Kumanyacilik Liman Hizmetleri Ithalat Ihracat Limited Sirketi shipped parts for diesel internal combustion engines and pumps to KAMAZ.

Russia-based LLC Turbo King is a vehicle parts wholesaler that has imported products for KAMAZ.

is a vehicle parts wholesaler that has imported products for KAMAZ. Russia-based Rostar Research and Production Association Limited Liability Company is a transportation manufacturing and automotive components company that has imported products for KAMAZ.

Russia-Based So-Called "Sanctioned Goods" Procurement Agents

The following Russia-based entities were designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the transportation sector of the Russian Federation economy. All of these companies openly boast of their services to help Russia-based end-users acquire so-called "sanctioned goods."

Artmarine LLC is a freight forwarding and logistics company offering options to import so-called "sanctioned goods" into Russia.

is a freight forwarding and logistics company offering options to import so-called "sanctioned goods" into Russia. Importeks has developed a service for the delivery of so-called "sanctioned goods" to Russia, handling transportation and customs clearance services.

has developed a service for the delivery of so-called "sanctioned goods" to Russia, handling transportation and customs clearance services. Limited Liability Company Eurotransexpedition is a forwarding company that offers the import of so-called "sanctioned goods."

is a forwarding company that offers the import of so-called "sanctioned goods." OOO PV Bridzh (PVB) offers services including the delivery of so-called "sanctioned goods." PVB also offers cargo transportation services to evade sanctions, such as through payment swaps from rubles to euros and alternative routes to Russia through third countries.

(PVB) offers services including the delivery of so-called "sanctioned goods." PVB also offers cargo transportation services to evade sanctions, such as through payment swaps from rubles to euros and alternative routes to Russia through third countries. OOO Standard Line offers the import, export, and reexport of goods to or from Russia through Kazakhstan to circumvent sanctions.

offers the import, export, and reexport of goods to or from Russia through Kazakhstan to circumvent sanctions. OOO Orlan is a logistics operator and international forwarder that has developed a service for the purchase and transportation of so-called "sanctioned goods."

Petrov Procurement Network

Evgenii Stanislavich Petrov (Petrov) is the General Director of U.S.-designated TK Logimeks, a Russia-based cargo shipping company. Petrov has acted as a covert procurement intermediary and has worked to obtain export-controlled foreign-made products on behalf of Russian-end-users. Natallia Butrym (Butrym) is an employee of TK Logimeks who has been involved in facilitating the shipments of goods to Russian end-users. Gonul Export Lojistik Ticaret Ve Sanayi Limited Sirketi (Gonul Export) has sent tool-mounting equipment for lateral machines and appliances for fixing items for turning machines to Russia. Petrov and Butrym have used Gonul Export to procure equipment for Russian end-users. MSO Lojistik Tic Ve Sanayi Ltd Sti (MSO Lojistik) is owned by Petrov, who has used the company for his procurement activity.

Petrov and Butrym were designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the transportation sector of the Russian Federation economy. Gonul Export was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the manufacturing sector of the Russian Federation economy. MSO Lojistik was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for being owned or controlled by, or having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Petrov, a person whose property and interest in property are concurrently proposed to be blocked pursuant to E.O. 14024.

Aliyev Procurement Network

Yevgeni Aliyev is a procurement agent coordinating a network of intermediaries that places orders on behalf of Russian end-users with close ties to the Russian miliary. Aliyev's procurement network includes Lahic Energy Mahdud Masuliyyatli Camiyyati (Lahic Energy), GMM FZE, and GMM Management DMCC (GMM Management). Lahic Energy is an Azerbaijan-based entity that has sought to conduct business on behalf of U.S.-sanctioned Russian technology producers in 2023. GMM FZE and GMM Management are UAE-based entities that sought to conduct business on behalf of U.S. sanctioned Russian technology producers in 2023. Jahangir Yevgenyevich Aliyev (Jahangir Aliyev) is the director of Lahic Energy and is the son of Yevgeni Aliyev.

Yevgeni Aliyev was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the defense and related materiel sector of the Russian Federation economy. Lahic Energy, GMM FZE, GMM Management, and Jahangir Aliyev were designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the technology sector of the Russian Federation economy.

TArkiye-based Electronics Supplier

Alpha Impex Ithalat Ve Ihracat Dis Ticaret Limited Sirketi (Alpha Impex) sent over two million dollars' worth of shipments to Russia-based end-users at the end of 2023, including microcircuits, programable logic devices, and transistors. Alpha Impex has been used by U.S.-designated JSC Academician M.F. Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems (Reshetnev) to procure U.S.-made equipment for use in sensitive military satellites. Reshetnev has described its satellites and their associated systems as vital to Russia's defense capabilities and has supported Russian government space systems that the Russian military uses to perpetrate its war against Ukraine.

Alpha Impex was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the technology sector of the Russian Federation economy.

Leadership of Russia-Based Sanctioned Entities

U.S.-designated Public Joint Stock Company Kremny has supplied Russian military customers with microelectronics and has worked with U.S.-designated companies Elfor TL and Fotoniks Klaud. Yurii Anatolyevich Korzhavin (Korzhavin) is a shareholder of Elfor TL. Lidiya Germanovna Korzhavina (Korzhavina) is a shareholder of Elfor TL. OFAC designated Elfor TL's general director Mikhail Chepurnoi in February 2024. Anzhelika Anatolyevna Litvyakova (Litvyakova) is the General Director and owner of Fotoniks Klaud.

Korzhavin and Korzhavina were designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the transportation sector of the Russian Federation economy. Litvyakova was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the manufacturing sector of the Russian Federation economy.

ANNEX 2: RUSSIA'S MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL BASE AND OTHER SECTORS OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION ECONOMY

The following Russia-based persons were designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the defense and related materiel sector of the Russian Federation economy:

Aktsionernoe Obshchestvo Tsentralnoe Konstruktorskoe Byuro Apparatostroeniya (TSKBA) develops and produces armament and military equipment training devices for the Russian Ministry of Defense. TSKBA also creates radar control systems for precision weapons.

(TSKBA) develops and produces armament and military equipment training devices for the Russian Ministry of Defense. TSKBA also creates radar control systems for precision weapons. Complex Unmanned Solutions Center LTD works with the Russian Ministry of Defense on the development of combat first-person view (FPV) systems.

works with the Russian Ministry of Defense on the development of combat first-person view (FPV) systems. Institute of Applied Physics JSC develops air-launched unguided rockets and projectiles.

develops air-launched unguided rockets and projectiles. Information Telecommunication Technologies Joint Stock Company produces hardware and software for submarines and surface ships.

produces hardware and software for submarines and surface ships. Joint Stock Company Class develops and manufactures armor, ceramic composite shields, shockproof protection systems, and armored fortified structures.

develops and manufactures armor, ceramic composite shields, shockproof protection systems, and armored fortified structures. Joint Stock Company Duks produces aircraft and bomber weapons.

produces aircraft and bomber weapons. JSC Innovation Weapons Technologies develops intelligent automated thermal imaging sights and surveillance systems.

develops intelligent automated thermal imaging sights and surveillance systems. Joint Stock Company Scientific Research Institute of Mechanization of Krasnoarmeysk is involved in the preparation of explosive materials, including technology and equipment for ammunition ordnance.

is involved in the preparation of explosive materials, including technology and equipment for ammunition ordnance. Limited Liability Company Pointer imports rifle sights used by Russian snipers.

imports rifle sights used by Russian snipers. Limited Liability Company Scientific and Production Association Naukasoft engineers navigation, control, and power systems for aircraft and develops systems for weapons development.

engineers navigation, control, and power systems for aircraft and develops systems for weapons development. Limited Liability Company United Lifesaving Technologies makes protective transport packaging and protective cases and containers for weapons and equipment utilized by the Russian military.

makes protective transport packaging and protective cases and containers for weapons and equipment utilized by the Russian military. Lipetskii Mekhanicheskii Zavod manufactures military vehicles, including tactical combat vehicles and armored vehicles.

manufactures military vehicles, including tactical combat vehicles and armored vehicles. OKO Design Bureau develops cheap multifunctional UAVs, including a one-way attack UAV.

develops cheap multifunctional UAVs, including a one-way attack UAV. Open Joint Stock Company Kazan Plant Electropribor is an aviation equipment manufacturer whose partners include U.S.-designated Russian defense companies JSC Russian Helicopters and United Aircraft Corporation.

The following Russia-based persons were designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the manufacturing sector of the Russian Federation economy:

Aktsionernoe Obshchestvo Bolkhovskii Zavod Poluprovodnikovykh Priborov manufactures semiconductor devices, including semiconductor diodes intended for military use.

manufactures semiconductor devices, including semiconductor diodes intended for military use. Aktsionernoe Obshchestvo Construction Bureau Electrical Products XXI Century designs, manufactures, and tests high-technology aviation products.

designs, manufactures, and tests high-technology aviation products. Aktsionernoe Obshchestvo Fryazinskii Zavod Moshchnykh Tranzistorov manufactures semiconductor devices, including special-purpose equipment for use in Russian weapons systems.

manufactures semiconductor devices, including special-purpose equipment for use in Russian weapons systems. Aktsionernoe Obshchestvo Proektno Konstruktorskoe Byuro Rio designs automated communication complexes for Russian naval vessels.

designs automated communication complexes for Russian naval vessels. Aktsionernoe Obshchestvo Pyezo manufactures military and dual-use semiconductors and electronic components.

manufactures military and dual-use semiconductors and electronic components. Aktsionernoe Obshchestvo Zavod Proton develops and produces radioelectronic equipment for military projects.

develops and produces radioelectronic equipment for military projects. Alexander Electric Don manufactures military filtration modules.

manufactures military filtration modules. Alexander Electric Power Supplies is a Russian Ministry of Defense partner that manufactures electric motors, generators, and transformers.

is a Russian Ministry of Defense partner that manufactures electric motors, generators, and transformers. Carbonim Engineering Limited Liability Company manufactures fiberglass, carbon fiberglass, and plastic products.

manufactures fiberglass, carbon fiberglass, and plastic products. Diagnostika M LLC develops and produces technology used for detecting UAVs and various types of explosives.

develops and produces technology used for detecting UAVs and various types of explosives. Federal Research and Production Center Joint Stock Company Research and Production Association Mars manufactures electronics and creates computer systems for the Russian Navy.

manufactures electronics and creates computer systems for the Russian Navy. Intellektualnye Sistemy NN Limited Liability Company manufactures laser optical elements for military applications.

manufactures laser optical elements for military applications. Joint Stock Company Elecond manufactures semiconductor capacitors marketed to the Russian military-industrial base.

manufactures semiconductor capacitors marketed to the Russian military-industrial base. Joint Stock Company Electroavtomatika manufactures command and staff vehicles, power plants, and movable battery stations and chargers for the Russian Ministry of Defense.

manufactures command and staff vehicles, power plants, and movable battery stations and chargers for the Russian Ministry of Defense. Joint Stock Company Jupiter Plant designs and produces optical and optical-electronic devices, precise optical and mechanical components, night vision devices, micro-optics, and aiming sights for the Russian Ministry of Defense.

designs and produces optical and optical-electronic devices, precise optical and mechanical components, night vision devices, micro-optics, and aiming sights for the Russian Ministry of Defense. Joint Stock Company Manel is a manufacturing company that develops micro-arc oxidation technology.

is a manufacturing company that develops micro-arc oxidation technology. Joint Stock Company Memotherm MM manufactures cable fittings including drops, tubes, sleeves, couplings, and seals with military applications.

manufactures cable fittings including drops, tubes, sleeves, couplings, and seals with military applications. Joint Stock Company Research and Production Enterprise Izmeritel develops and produces onboard control and flight data registration units, indication systems for navigation, system control and regulation units for aircraft and helicopters, and control systems for unmanned aircraft.

develops and produces onboard control and flight data registration units, indication systems for navigation, system control and regulation units for aircraft and helicopters, and control systems for unmanned aircraft. Joint Stock Company Special Design Bureau of the Cable Industry manufactures wires and cables for electronic equipment capable of operation in extreme conditions used by Russia's military-industrial base.

manufactures wires and cables for electronic equipment capable of operation in extreme conditions used by Russia's military-industrial base. Joint Stock Company Umirs develops radar protection devices for UAVs.

develops radar protection devices for UAVs. Joint Stock Company Vladimir Plant of Metal Hoses manufactures high-pressure corrugated metal hoses and bellow expansion joints and supplies special-purpose products to the Russian Ministry of Defense.

manufactures high-pressure corrugated metal hoses and bellow expansion joints and supplies special-purpose products to the Russian Ministry of Defense. JSC Biograd produces industrial metal 3D printing machines.

produces industrial metal 3D printing machines. JSC Vladimir Plant of Precision Alloys manufactures high-precision alloys.

manufactures high-precision alloys. Lasercut Limited Liability Company manufactures machine tools and is a partner of Rostec.

manufactures machine tools and is a partner of Rostec. Lassard produces lasers and optomechanical products, and partners with other companies developing engines for military aviation and the Russian Navy.

produces lasers and optomechanical products, and partners with other companies developing engines for military aviation and the Russian Navy. Laticom LTD (Laticom) manufactures metalworking machinery and tools for soldering, brazing, and welding.

(Laticom) manufactures metalworking machinery and tools for soldering, brazing, and welding. Lazerbi develops and manufactures laser equipment for metalworking and machine tools. Lazerbi partners with at least one entity engaged in production for military customers.

develops and manufactures laser equipment for metalworking and machine tools. Lazerbi partners with at least one entity engaged in production for military customers. Limited Liability Company Conferum develops and manufactures industrial cleaning products used by mechanical engineering enterprises, in metallurgy, construction, shipbuilding, and in automotive, aviation, and railway transport.

develops and manufactures industrial cleaning products used by mechanical engineering enterprises, in metallurgy, construction, shipbuilding, and in automotive, aviation, and railway transport. Limited Liability Company Eliars develops and manufactures microwave equipment and produces electronic warfare systems.

develops and manufactures microwave equipment and produces electronic warfare systems. Limited Liability Company Hotu Tent manufactures thermal imaging detection protection products used by the Russian military.

manufactures thermal imaging detection protection products used by the Russian military. Limited Liability Company K.ARMA manufactures products for the modernization of firearms that are used by the Russian military.

manufactures products for the modernization of firearms that are used by the Russian military. Limited Liability Company Laserform manufactures and supplies metalworking and laser equipment to large Russian state-owned conglomerates.

manufactures and supplies metalworking and laser equipment to large Russian state-owned conglomerates. Limited Liability Company Lencabel manufactures flexible power cables for harsh operating conditions, including for use in UAVs and balloons.

manufactures flexible power cables for harsh operating conditions, including for use in UAVs and balloons. Limited Liability Company Newton Technics produces specialized chemicals for cleaning firearms.

produces specialized chemicals for cleaning firearms. Limited Liability Company Quantum Optics develops and produces laser devices and systems for use in harsh conditions, including in UAVs.

develops and produces laser devices and systems for use in harsh conditions, including in UAVs. Limited Liability Company Radioizmereniya produces and supplies radio devices.

produces and supplies radio devices. Limited Liability Company Srednevolzhsky Stankozavod produces ultraprecision lathes and metal-forming machinery.

produces ultraprecision lathes and metal-forming machinery. Limited Liability Company Trading and Production Complex Maximum manufactures drive, lifting, and transport equipment, including gearboxes, gear motors, overhead cranes, cantilever cranes, hoists, and winches.

manufactures drive, lifting, and transport equipment, including gearboxes, gear motors, overhead cranes, cantilever cranes, hoists, and winches. Limited Liability Company Unique Lab produces chemical products with nanotechnological properties, and develops, tests, and produces chemicals for small arms.

produces chemical products with nanotechnological properties, and develops, tests, and produces chemicals for small arms. Limited Liability Company Virsemi develops and produces epoxy material for the semiconductor industry.

develops and produces epoxy material for the semiconductor industry. Limited Liability Company World of Fasteners TD supplies and manufactures fasteners and tools for the construction and manufacturing industries.

supplies and manufactures fasteners and tools for the construction and manufacturing industries. LLC Inno Beton 21 manufactures concrete cloths that are used for the efficient laying of concrete coatings for industrial, military, and road transport construction.

manufactures concrete cloths that are used for the efficient laying of concrete coatings for industrial, military, and road transport construction. LLC Mospress manufactures metal parts, drawing and stamping equipment, and equipment for rotary drawing of parts.

manufactures metal parts, drawing and stamping equipment, and equipment for rotary drawing of parts. LLC Zavod Spetsagregat manufactures multipurpose vehicles, tractor-based machinery, and aircraft maintenance equipment and works with the Russian Ministry of Defense to fulfill state defense orders.

manufactures multipurpose vehicles, tractor-based machinery, and aircraft maintenance equipment and works with the Russian Ministry of Defense to fulfill state defense orders. Magneton Joint Stock Company manufactures electronic components and semiconductors to support Russia's military programs.

manufactures electronic components and semiconductors to support Russia's military programs. Manufacturing Company LTD Lema develops and manufactures radioelectronic products.

develops and manufactures radioelectronic products. Meridian Research and Production Firm JSC researches, develops, and produces ship and vessel systems, including warship integrated combat management systems, ship weapon joint employment systems, and automated helicopter UAV group flight and landing control systems.

researches, develops, and produces ship and vessel systems, including warship integrated combat management systems, ship weapon joint employment systems, and automated helicopter UAV group flight and landing control systems. Metma Metal and Ceramic Materials Plant JSC produces anti-corrosive bearings and bushes made of powder composition materials, and is a supplier for U.S.-designated Russian defense companies Kamaz and JSC Russian Helicopters.

produces anti-corrosive bearings and bushes made of powder composition materials, and is a supplier for U.S.-designated Russian defense companies Kamaz and JSC Russian Helicopters. MMP Irbis designs, develops, and supplies power electronics devices that meet Russian military requirements.

designs, develops, and supplies power electronics devices that meet Russian military requirements. OOO Gikel manufactures printed circuit boards, electronic components, finished electronic modules, and secondary power adapters for military use.

manufactures printed circuit boards, electronic components, finished electronic modules, and secondary power adapters for military use. Otkrytoe Aktsionernoe Obshchestvo Vserossiiskii Nauchno Issledovatelskii Proektno Konstruktorskii i Tekhnologicheskii Institut Kabelnoi Promyshlennosti manufactures wires and cables for electronic equipment and holds a license for producing military equipment.

manufactures wires and cables for electronic equipment and holds a license for producing military equipment. Public Joint Stock Company Avtodizel Yaroslavl Motor Plant manufactures diesel engines, including engines supplied to the Russian Army.

manufactures diesel engines, including engines supplied to the Russian Army. The Group of Companies Electroninvest Joint Stock Company manufactures electronic components and is a partner of the Russian Ministry of Defense.

manufactures electronic components and is a partner of the Russian Ministry of Defense. Treal M Limited Liability Company produces chemicals for cleaning weapons.

produces chemicals for cleaning weapons. Unified Metalworking Center manufactures metal products including hydraulic pneumatic power equipment, pumps and compressors, fluid power equipment, and air and gas compressors.

The following Russia-based persons were designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the technology sector of the Russian Federation economy:

Aktsionernoe Obshchestvo Konstruktorskoe Byuro Farvater develops and designs software and modules for radioelectronic, fiber-optic, and radio-photonic equipment.

develops and designs software and modules for radioelectronic, fiber-optic, and radio-photonic equipment. Inkotekh supplies electronic components, functional units for microwave equipment, and printed circuit boards.

supplies electronic components, functional units for microwave equipment, and printed circuit boards. Nauchno Proizvodstvennaya Firma Dolomant offers custom development and contract electronics manufacturing for niche markets like transportation and security.

offers custom development and contract electronics manufacturing for niche markets like transportation and security. OOO Yupel supplies electronic components.

supplies electronic components. Joint Stock Company IBS IT Services is a Russian information technology company that is the parent company of the IBS group of companies, which has a line of business focused on government programs and has completed a digitalization project for Rostec. Other companies in the IBS group of companies include Limited Liability Company IBS Infinisoft , a software company that creates products to help expand the capabilities of the Government of the Russian Federation; IBS Soft Ltd , a software company; and IBS Expertise , a company involved in the provision of cryptographic solutions.

is a Russian information technology company that is the parent company of the IBS group of companies, which has a line of business focused on government programs and has completed a digitalization project for Rostec. Other companies in the IBS group of companies include , a software company that creates products to help expand the capabilities of the Government of the Russian Federation; , a software company; and , a company involved in the provision of cryptographic solutions. LANIT Incorporated (LANIT) is a Russian information technology company whose customers include the Russian Ministry of Defense and U.S.-designated military-industrial base entities such as Rostec and United Aircraft Corporation.

(LANIT) is a Russian information technology company whose customers include the Russian Ministry of Defense and U.S.-designated military-industrial base entities such as Rostec and United Aircraft Corporation. Obshchestvo S Ogranichennoi Otvetstvennostyu Filakskom develops and implements information technology solutions for government and corporate customers.

develops and implements information technology solutions for government and corporate customers. Obshchestvo S Ogranichennoi Otvetstvennostyu Signum is a computer programming company whose solutions are used by Russian defense enterprises.

is a computer programming company whose solutions are used by Russian defense enterprises. Orion Limited Liability Company helps Russian government organizations modernize their information technology infrastructure, launch digital transformation processes, and implement import substitution projects.

helps Russian government organizations modernize their information technology infrastructure, launch digital transformation processes, and implement import substitution projects. Public Joint Stock Company Astra Group is involved in software development and is the parent company of the developer of an operating system relied on by the Russian military-industrial base and Russian military.

is involved in software development and is the parent company of the developer of an operating system relied on by the Russian military-industrial base and Russian military. Secret Technologies provides advanced information technology and information security services and solutions and serves large state-owned enterprises.

provides advanced information technology and information security services and solutions and serves large state-owned enterprises. Limited Liability Company Skala R is the developer and manufacturer of a modular platform for government information systems.

is the developer and manufacturer of a modular platform for government information systems. CSOFT Development develops specialized software for the management of industrial enterprises, engineering analysis, and industrial construction.

develops specialized software for the management of industrial enterprises, engineering analysis, and industrial construction. JSC Consulting Group Postprocessor implements integrated CAD products.

implements integrated CAD products. Nauchno Inzhenernoe Predpriyatie Informatika provides computer-aided design solutions in mechanical and civil engineering and computer-aided manufacturing software for computer numerical control (CNC) machines.

provides computer-aided design solutions in mechanical and civil engineering and computer-aided manufacturing software for computer numerical control (CNC) machines. Purelogic develops electronics, automation systems, and components for CNC machines.

develops electronics, automation systems, and components for CNC machines. Aladdin RD develops components for information security and data protection infrastructure and advertises its goods to the military-industrial base.

develops components for information security and data protection infrastructure and advertises its goods to the military-industrial base. Alpha M Joint Stock Company Research and Production Complex researches and produces radioelectronic products, including automatic tracking devices for ground, surface, and air targets.

researches and produces radioelectronic products, including automatic tracking devices for ground, surface, and air targets. Arta System Limited develops special IT products for monitoring and managing technological processes and production complexes.

develops special IT products for monitoring and managing technological processes and production complexes. Aviv LLC supplies dual-use printed circuit boards, electronic components, secondary power adaptors, and electronic modules.

supplies dual-use printed circuit boards, electronic components, secondary power adaptors, and electronic modules. Component Logistic Limited Liability Company is a wholesaler of electronic equipment.

is a wholesaler of electronic equipment. Cybersecurity Center LLC develops specialized software and services in the field of cybersecurity, including software products for cyber intelligence and data analytics.

develops specialized software and services in the field of cybersecurity, including software products for cyber intelligence and data analytics. Elar has developed specialized technological systems for the Russian National Guard.

has developed specialized technological systems for the Russian National Guard. Elektronnyi Arkhiv implements advanced solutions for digital transformation and is focused on the development and supply of import-substituting digitization technologies.

implements advanced solutions for digital transformation and is focused on the development and supply of import-substituting digitization technologies. Hardberry Limited Liability Company hold patents for UAV control software and neural network software for object recognition.

hold patents for UAV control software and neural network software for object recognition. IVK Joint Stock Company develops and produces software and hardware for firewall and cryptographic use.

develops and produces software and hardware for firewall and cryptographic use. Joint Stock Company Integral Zapad supplies electronic components.

supplies electronic components. Joint Stock Company Ramec VS is a system integrator that designs, develops, tests, and produces special computer equipment and information security products government use.

is a system integrator that designs, develops, tests, and produces special computer equipment and information security products government use. Joint Stock Company RM Technologies ( RM Technologies ) develops and manufactures digital security and information preservation products. RM Technologies is also involved in the modernization of Russian anti-UAV systems.

( ) develops and manufactures digital security and information preservation products. RM Technologies is also involved in the modernization of Russian anti-UAV systems. Joint Stock Company Sea Project develops software and hardware complexes, electronics, and software and informational support for military facilities.

develops software and hardware complexes, electronics, and software and informational support for military facilities. K Technologies Joint Stock Company offers integrated automated control systems, command centers, and information security systems.

offers integrated automated control systems, command centers, and information security systems. Limited Liability Company MIRP Intellectual Systems specializes in artificial intelligence and has developed software designed for use on specialized UAV on-board computers.

specializes in artificial intelligence and has developed software designed for use on specialized UAV on-board computers. Limited Liability Company Protey Spetstekhnika develops and produces telecommunication systems for the Russian Ministry of Defense.

develops and produces telecommunication systems for the Russian Ministry of Defense. Limited Liability Company Vipaks+ develops and produces intelligent video surveillance systems.

develops and produces intelligent video surveillance systems. Mezhdunarodnyi Klub OpticheskikhInnovatsii focuses on high-tech optical equipment, including high-speed imaging, industrial cameras and vision components, optical measurement systems, and laser sensors.

focuses on high-tech optical equipment, including high-speed imaging, industrial cameras and vision components, optical measurement systems, and laser sensors. Aleksei Vladimirovich Pankrashkin is a director of a Russia-based company supplying laser and LED radiation sources and has served as the General Director and shareholder of U.S.-designated Russian technology company Intech Engineering LTD.

is a director of a Russia-based company supplying laser and LED radiation sources and has served as the General Director and shareholder of U.S.-designated Russian technology company Intech Engineering LTD. Red Dolphin Joint Stock Company develops and manufactures rugged electronics for severe environments, including for military installations.

develops and manufactures rugged electronics for severe environments, including for military installations. Scientific Equipment Group of Companies provides high-tech equipment to industrial enterprises.

provides high-tech equipment to industrial enterprises. Smart Turbo Technology LTD develops custom software, including analytics software products marketed to Russia's military industrial base.

develops custom software, including analytics software products marketed to Russia's military industrial base. Susu Computer Engineering Center provides a full range of engineering services using a combination of computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), and computer-aided engineering (CAE) solutions.

provides a full range of engineering services using a combination of computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), and computer-aided engineering (CAE) solutions. SWD Embedded Systems develops software products, including an artificial intelligence platform and a cartographic system.

The following Russia-based persons were designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the transportation sector of the Russian Federation economy:

FPK Transagency JSC provides railway transportation services for the transportation of military cargo and military equipment.

Limited Liability Company Eastern Trading Transport Company transports military equipment.

Limited Liability Company Reil Trein Service provides railway transportation services for the transportation of military equipment.

ANNEX 3: NITROCELLULOSE

PRC-based Hengshui Heshuo Cellulose Co., Ltd. (Hengshui Heshuo) has shipped large quantities of nitrocellulose to Russian companies. The company also produces nitrocellulose shipped by Hengshui Yuanchem. PRC-based Hengshui Yuanchem Trading Limited (Hengshui Yuanchem) has shipped large quantities of nitrocellulose to Russian companies, including nitrocellulose produced by Hengshui Heshuo. Henshui Heshuo and Hengshui Yuanchem were designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the defense and related materiel sector of the Russian Federation economy.

Russia-based AMS Group LLC (AMS) is a supplier of industrial chemical products, including cotton cellulose. AMS works with Russian defense enterprises such as U.S.-designated Russian explosive and ammunition manufacturer Kazanskii Gosudarstvennyi Kazennyi Porokhovoi Zavod (Kazan Gunpowder Plant). AMS is a major importer of nitrocellulose to Russia, including from east Asia, Europe, and Central Asia. AMS was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the defense and related materiel sector of the Russian Federation economy.

Russia-based Feniks is involved in construction, demolition, and excavation, and is an importer of cotton pulp, a crucial ingredient in nitrocellulose, from Central Asia. Feniks was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the construction sector of the Russian Federation economy.

Russia-based transportation, warehousing, and cargo handling company Khimtreid imports cotton cellulose from Central Asia and has sold it to Russian military factories. Khimtreid was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the transportation sector of the Russian Federation economy.

Russia-based chemical product manufacturer LTD Bina Group (Bina) imports cotton pulp from Central Asia and east Asia and resells it to Russian military companies. Bina was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the manufacturing sector of the Russian Federation economy.

Russia-based chemical and chemical product manufacturer Limited Liability Company Biya Khim (Biya Khim) imports significant quantities of cotton pulp from Central Asia and TArkiye. Biya Khim was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the manufacturing sector of the Russian Federation economy.

Russia-based Limited Liability Company Lenakhim (Lenakhim) operates in the market for the production of chemical reagents. Lenakhim imports cotton pulp and cotton cellulose from Central Asia and TArkiye and sells it to Russian military factories involved in the production of explosives. Lenakhim is one of the main suppliers of the U.S.-designated Kazan Gunpowder Plant. Lenakhim was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the manufacturing sector of the Russian Federation economy.

Russia-based Limited Liability Company Navimaks Group (Navimaks) supplies cotton pulp and other products to Russian defense industry and other Russian manufacturers. Navikmaks imports cotton pulp from Central Asia, Europe, and east Asia. Navimaks was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the manufacturing sector of the Russian Federation economy.

Russia-based electrical, industrial, and ventilation equipment manufacturer Limited Liability Company Yarspetspostavka (Yarspetspostavka) also imports cotton pulp from Central Asia. Yarspetspostavka was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the manufacturing sector of the Russian Federation economy.

Russia-based paper and textile manufacturer Otradnenskaya Paper and Carton Factory Limited Liability Company (OPCF) imports cotton pulp from Central Asia. OPCF was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the manufacturing sector of the Russian Federation economy.

Russia-basedmanufacturing company Print Kolor is among Russia's largest importers of nitrocellulose. Print Kolor was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the manufacturing sector of the Russian Federation economy.

Russia-based mining and quarrying company Proizvodstvenno Kommercheskaya Kompaniya Viva (Viva) imports large quantities of cotton pulp from Central Asia, east Asia, and the Middle East. Viva was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the metals and mining sector of the Russian Federation economy.

Russia-based manufacturing company Limited Liability Company Stroytekhnologiya (Stroytekhnologiya) is among Russia's largest importers of nitrocellulose. Stroytekhnologiya was designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the manufacturing sector of the Russian Federation economy.

ANNEX 4: RUSSIA'S CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS PROGRAM PROCUREMENT

Aktsionernoe Obshchestvo Rau Farm (Rau Farm), with Inteller LLC (Inteller) acting as an intermediary, has procured sensitive laboratory equipment for the benefit of the U.S.-designated 27th Scientific Center. Rau Farm, with Inteller acting as an intermediary, maintained contracts with an entity associated with Russia's chemical and biological weapons program, for the procurement of this equipment for the benefit of the 27th Scientific Center. Rau Farm historically maintained direct government contracts with the U.S.-designated 27th Scientific Center for the procurement of U.S.- and Japanese-origin laboratory equipment and consumables. The 27th Scientific Center has engaged in activities to develop Russia's chemical weapons capabilities, including chemical weapons research and testing activities. Rau Farm was added to the Department of Commerce's Entity List on March 2, 2021, based on its proliferation activities in support of Russia's weapons of mass destruction program.

Rau Farm was designated pursuant to E.O. 13382 for having provided, or attempted to provide, financial, material, technological or other support for, or goods or services in support of, the 27th Scientific Center. Inteller was designated pursuant to E.O. 13382 for having provided, or attempted to provide, financial, material, technological or other support for, or goods or services in support of, Rau Farm. Rau Farm and Inteller were also designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the defense and related materiel sector of the Russian Federation economy.

Andrei Viktorovich Gavryuchenkov (Gavryuchenkov) serves as the General Director of Rau Farm. Gavryuchenkov is responsible for the day-to-day responsibilities of running Rau Farm.

Gavryuchenkov was designated pursuant to E.O. 13382 for having provided, or attempted to provide, financial, material, technological or other support for, or goods or services in support of, Rau Farm. Gavryuchenkov was also designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the defense and related materiel sector of the Russian Federation economy.

Yaroslav Viktorovich Bulygin (Bulygin) serves as the General Director of Inteller. Bulygin is also the 100 percent shareholder of the company. Bulygin is responsible for the day-to-day responsibilities of running Inteller.

Bulygin was designated pursuant to E.O. 13382 for having provided, or attempted to provide, financial, material, technological or other support for, or goods or services in support of, Inteller. Bulygin was also designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the defense and related materiel sector of the Russian Federation economy.

Obshchestvo S Organichennoi Otvetstvennostyu Bio Farm Treid (Bio Farm Treid) is managed by Gavryuchenkov, who incorporated the company in May 2021, soon after the March 2021 listing of Rau Farm on the Department of Commerce's Entity List, in a likely circumvention effort.

Bio Farm Treid was designated pursuant to E.O. 13382 for being owned or controlled by, or acting or purporting to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Gavryuchenkov. Bio Farm Treid was also designated pursuant to E.O. 14024 for being owned or controlled by, or having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly Gavryuchenkov.

SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS

As a result of today's action, all property and interests in property of the persons above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. All transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or blocked persons are prohibited unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or exempt. These prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any blocked person and the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.

In addition, foreign financial institutions that conduct or facilitate significant transactions or provide any service involving Russia's military-industrial base run the risk of being sanctioned by OFAC. Examples of activities that could expose foreign financial institutions to sanctions risk under E.O. 14024, as amended, include maintaining accounts, transferring funds, or providing other financial services (i.e., payment processing, trade finance, insurance) for any persons designated for operating or having operated in the specified sectors, or for any persons, either inside or outside Russia, that support Russia's military-industrial base, including those that operate in the specified sectors of the Russian Federation economy. For additional guidance, please see the December 22, 2023 OFAC Sanctions Advisory as well as OFAC Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) 1146-1157.

The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from OFAC's ability to designate and add persons to the SDN List, but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law. The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behavior. For information concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN List, please refer to OFAC's FAQ 897 here. For detailed information on the process to submit a request for removal from an OFAC sanctions list, please click here.

For identifying information on the individuals and entities sanctioned today, click here.

###

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U.S. to highlight Taiwan's bid prior to WHA assembly: Official

ROC Central News Agency

05/01/2024 01:49 PM

Washington, April 30 (CNA) The United States will soon speak on behalf of Taiwan's bid to take part as an observer at the World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva later this month, a U.S. official said at a Senate subcommittee hearing Tuesday.

"We will speak out again very soon, as we have consistently every year, in support of Taiwan's observership at the WHA," said Daniel J. Kritenbrink, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.

"I think last year we had 22 countries supporting us. I expect that that number will grow this year," Kritenbrink said at the hearing on U.S. policy on Taiwan held by the Senate Subcommittee on East Asia, The Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy.

Taiwan has not been a member of the United Nations since the Republic of China (Taiwan's official name) was expelled from the body in 1971 and its seat was given to the People's Republic of China (PRC), and it therefore cannot take part in U.N. organization events.

It has sought to participate as an observer in forums such as the WHA and also pushed for U.N. membership, but China has argued that under U.N. Resolution 2758, Taiwan was part of China and could not be a separate U.N. member.

Kritenbrink reiterated at the hearing that China's logic is faulty.

"We are pushing back against the PRC's efforts to mischaracterize U.N. General Assembly Resolution 2758, which did not constitute a U.N. institutional position on the ultimate political status of Taiwan," he said.

Kritenbrink said the resolution did not preclude Taiwan's meaningful participation in the U.N. system or in any other multilateral forum, and "did not endorse, is not equivalent to, and does not reflect a consensus for the PRC's 'one China principle.'"

At the hearing, Committee Chairman Ben Cardin quizzed Kritenbrink about the steps the U.S. will take to push for Taiwan's WHA participation.

Kritenbrink said the U.S. will continue to advocate for maintaining and increasing Taiwan's "international space."

"The strategy is, Mr. Chairman, I think you'll see in the coming days that we will again state categorically, publicly, our support for Taiwan's meaningful participation and observership at the WHA, and we will engage diplomatically around the world to get partner support for that effort.

"Taiwan is a very capable health partner. They have been observers in the WHA before. They deserve to be," Kritenbrink said.

He said he also agreed with Cardin's assessment that it was not a coincidence that since President Tsai Ing-wen (ee) was elected in 2016, China has become more aggressive in opposing Taiwan's participation in the WHA and elsewhere.

Taiwan has not been invited to the annual WHA since 2017 because of a virtual freeze in relations after Tsai and her independence-leaning party took power.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Hsueh Jui-yuan (ecza) said in Taipei on April 29 that Taiwan has yet to receive an invitation to attend this year's WHA, which will be held from May 27 to June 1.

(By Flor Wang and Y.C. Chung)

Enditem/ls

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Taiwan travelers cautioned after new state secrets law takes effect in China

ROC Central News Agency

05/01/2024 08:16 PM

Taipei, May 1 (CNA) Taiwanese are reminded of the risks of visiting China following the enactment of an amended state secrets law on Wednesday, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) head Chiu Tai-san () said the same day.

Urging the public to be aware of the risks, Chiu said before a legislative meeting that the MAC will publish relevant precautions to be taken on its website as a reference.

China's amended version of the Law on Guarding State Secrets expands the definition of "state secrets" and the scope of entities responsible for confidentiality, according to an MAC press release.

The law's vague provisions increase uncertainty, which together with the low transparency of rule of law in China means the risk of Taiwanese travelers violating the law has significantly increased, the MAC said.

Meanwhile, as a response to China's recent announcement that it would allow tourists from Fujian province to travel to the Taiwan-controlled Matsu Islands, Chiu said during the legislative committee hearing that the MAC's original plan was to resume visits of Chinese tourists to Kinmen and Matsu Islands simultaneously, without placing restrictions on the provinces from which Chinese tourists originate.

The plan mentioned by Chiu was to resume cross-strait tourism under the "mini-three links," which include direct trade, postal, and transportation services between Kinmen and Matsu in the Republic of China (Taiwan), and the coastal area of China's Fujian province, according to an MAC report submitted to the legislative committee.

Chiu said China should promptly allow its citizens to visit Taiwan, rather than permitting some Chinese tourists to visit certain parts of Taiwan, or permitting Taiwanese tourists to travel to China, but not Chinese tourists to visit Taiwan.

In 2019, 2.71 million Chinese tourists visited Taiwan, 303,000 of whom visited Kinmen and only 6,500 went to Matsu, Chiu noted.

China halted independent travel to Taiwan on Aug. 1, 2019, citing the poor state of cross-Taiwan Strait relations. It then suspended group travel to Taiwan in 2020.

Meanwhile, Taiwan allows its citizens to travel independently to China, but not in tour groups arranged by Taiwanese travel agencies.

During a visit to Beijing by 17 opposition Kuomintang (KMT) lawmakers from April 26-28, Beijing requested the resumption of direct sea routes for passenger ferries between Pingtan County, in Fujian and Taiwan as a condition for Fujian residents to be permitted to take part in group tours to other areas in Taiwan.

Chiu slammed China's measures with condition and regional restrictions, saying, "[The measures] completely do not adhere to the principle of equality that both sides [of the Taiwan Strait] had originally expected."

While KMT lawmaker Chang Chih-lun () described China's announcement of a series of tourism measures as "extending an olive branch" to Taiwan, Chiu responded that "the olive branch probably has thorns," adding that whether the ban on group tours to China will continue will be decided by the new administration.

MAC deputy head Lee Li-jane () said that there was no unequal access based on region or conditions in the past, adding that China's move differs significantly from what was expected and clarifications are needed.

While promising that Fujian residents can definitely travel to Matsu, Lee said that relevant authorities still need time to discuss the matter, without specifying whether a response will be provided before May 20, when President-elect Lai Ching-te () and his new administration take office.

(By Sunny Lai)

Enditem/AW

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Lawmaker urges better protection of Taiwan-Matsu undersea cables

ROC Central News Agency

05/01/2024 06:37 PM

Taipei, May 1 (CNA) A lawmaker on Wednesday urged the government to improve the protection of undersea cables between Taiwan and the Matsu Islands by designating them as critical infrastructure.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hung Sun-han (cc) brought up the issue at a hearing at which National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (eZa) reported on the need to strengthen the country's critical infrastructure.

Hung noted that there have been several incidents of the cables being severed, including two early last year, and he suggested that they may be part of China's "gray zone" activities, given the proximity of the Matsu Islands to China.

Citing an unnamed Washington-based think tank, he speculated that some of the incidents may have been premeditated, and he called on the Office of Homeland Security, an agency under the Executive Yuan, to designate the undersea cables critical infrastructure to offer them better protection.

Tsai replied that it could not be ruled out that the damage to the cables was a deliberate "gray zone" activity by China, and he said the bureau would pass on Hung's suggestion at an upcoming Cabinet meeting.

According to an AP story in April 2023, Chunghwa Telecom data showed that the cables had been cut a total of 27 times in the previous five years, but it did not know from which country the vessels that did the damage hailed from.

Citing similar figures, Tsai said they were severed by fishing vessels, though other reports have cited Chinese sand dredgers and cargo ships among the culprits.

As "unusual" as those incidents seem, an analysis of Chinese fishing boats' routes should be conducted to look for any anomalies before any conclusion can be drawn, Tsai said.

Meanwhile, responding to media queries before the hearing, Tsai said the NSB will keep close tabs on any indications of Chinese military exercises aimed at applying pressure on the incoming administration of President-elect Lai Ching-te (ea).

China customarily holds a series of military drills from June through to November, and the NSB will pay close attention to any attempt at intimidating Taiwan under the pretext of a military drill.

Lai, the chairman of the independence-leaning DPP, will be sworn in as president on May 20.

(By Matt Yu, Wu Su-wei, and Sean Lin)

Enditem/ls



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Fujian moves reflect China's bid to 'localize' Taiwan issue: Expert

ROC Central News Agency

05/01/2024 01:51 PM

Taipei, May 1 (CNA) A recent announcement of 13 measures by Fujian province to benefit Taiwanese showed that Beijing wants to "localize" the Taiwan Strait by asserting Taiwan as a province of China, an expert has said.

During a visit to Beijing from April 26 to 28 by 17 opposition Kuomintang (KMT) lawmakers, Fujian announced measures to benefit Taiwanese, including helping Taiwanese in China handle reimbursements of medical expenses under Taiwan's national health insurance system.

Another of the measures was launching a "Fujian-Matsu City Pass" for residents of the Taiwan-controlled Matsu islands.

Tzeng Wei-feng (), an assistant research fellow in National Chengchi University's Institute of International Relations, said the moves reflected China's efforts to localize the Taiwan Strait and assert Taiwan as a province of China, which only requires coordination between provinces, not between countries.

"I believe these measures will be somewhat appealing to residents of Kinmen and Matsu...but for residents on Taiwan, I think they will have less interest," Tzeng told CNA.

Beijing also announced measures benefiting Taiwan during the KMT delegation's visit, including once again allowing tourists from Fujian to travel to the Matsu Islands, and resuming access to China's market for some of Taiwan's agricultural and fishery products.

Analysts interpreted these measures as a move by Beijing to put pressure on President-elect Lai Ching-te () ahead of his inaugural speech on May 20.

National Taiwan Normal University professor Huang Hsin-hao () said the beneficial measures announced by Beijing can be seen as signals to Lai, which might influence his inaugural speech to "not lean too much toward Taiwan independence."

China's moves were also related to the situation in Taiwan's Legislature where none of the three major parties hold an absolute majority, allowing Beijing some leeway to take a softer approach, said Huang, who specializes in Chinese Communist Party (CCP) politics.

Echoing Huang's views was Chao Chun-shan (), an honorary professor with the Graduate Institute of China Studies at Tamkang University.

Chao said Beijing has put pressure on Lai's incoming administration by actively proposing measures and conveying messages in anticipation of responses.

"Beijing hopes that Lai will provide a more positive and proactive response regarding cross-Taiwan Strait relations in his speech on May 20...and not mention phrases that could easily escalate hostilities between the two sides," Chao said.

In addition, Beijing's actions were intended to demonstrate to the United States its sincerity in improving relations across the Taiwan Strait, especially after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to China from April 24 to 26, he said.

"The U.S. hopes for dialogue between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, and Beijing's current message is that at least in terms of tourism and some other aspects, the two sides can have a discussion," Chao added.

China, however, also sent 12 military aircraft across the median line of the Taiwan Strait on April 27, and many observers wondered why China would conduct that kind of military exercise while the KMT lawmakers were in Beijing.

Tzeng argued that it was part of a two-pronged strategy that has been practiced by the CCP government, which involves different chains of command in China's Taiwan Affairs Office and the People's Liberation Army.

If top CCP leaders, such as Chinese President Xi Jinping (), perceive no substantial progress in cross-strait relations, they are unlikely to exert pressure on the Central Military Commission to cease military exercises around Taiwan, Tzeng said.

(By Sunny Lai)

Enditem/ls





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Taiwan as an Observer at the 77th World Health Assembly

US Department of State

Press Statement

Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State

May 1, 2024

New and existing threats to global health demand broad international cooperation. Beginning May 27, the World Health Organization (WHO) will hold its annual World Health Assembly (WHA) where Member State delegates and health experts from around the world will discuss priorities for advancing global health and global health security. Taiwan participated as an observer to the WHA from 2009 to 2016 without objection but has since been excluded from these meetings.

The United States strongly encourages the WHO to reinstate an invitation to Taiwan to participate as an observer at this year's WHA so the world may once again benefit from Taiwan's expertise and experience. Taiwan's exceptional capabilities and approaches offer considerable value to inform the WHA's deliberations. Time and again, Taiwan has demonstrated a capability and willingness to help address global health crises and support the global health community.

We commend the WHO for taking steps to engage Taiwan more meaningfully in its technical work over the past year and for improving lines of communication. Yet Taiwan's continued exclusion from this preeminent global health forum undermines inclusive global public health cooperation and security, which the world demands - and urgently needs. Inviting Taiwan to observe the WHA is a critically important step toward affirming the WHO's goal of "Health for All."

Our support for Taiwan's meaningful participation in international fora is in line with our one China policy, which is guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the three Joint Communiques, and the Six Assurances.

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Deputy Secretary Campbell's Meetings in the United Kingdom

US Department of State

Readout

Office of the Spokesperson

May 1, 2024

The below is attributable to Spokesperson Matthew Miller:

On May 1, in London, Deputy Secretary of State Kurt M. Campbell held a series of bilateral meetings with Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office counterparts Permanent Under Secretary Sir Philip Barton and the UK AUKUS team, as well as Cabinet Office colleagues National Security Advisor Sir Tim Barrow and Deputy National Security Advisor Sarah Macintosh. They discussed challenges and opportunities in the Indo-Pacific region, as well as next steps to advance the AUKUS security partnership. They reaffirmed the United States' and United Kingdom's continued support for Ukraine, including confronting the PRC's support for Russia's defense-industrial base. They further underscored the need for an immediate release of the hostages held by Hamas and a sustainable ceasefire that allows for a surge of the urgently needed humanitarian assistance to be delivered safely through Gaza.

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Russian Attacks On Towns In Eastern Ukraine Kill At Least 5

By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service and RFE/RL's Russian Service May 01, 2024

Five people were killed on May 1 in separate strikes in eastern Ukraine by Russian forces firing missiles and bombs that hit small towns in the regions of Kharkiv and Donetsk, local officials said.

In the northeastern Kharkiv region bordering Russia, a guided bomb attack killed two civilians, a 38-year-old woman, and her father inside a car, the region's governor said.

On the morning of May 1, "two guided aerial bombs hit the center of the town of Zolochiv," around 15 kilometers from the Russian border, Kharkiv regional Governor Oleh Synyehubov said on national television.

Synyehubov said in addition to the two people killed in the car, another 13 people, including an 11-year-old child, were wounded.

Further east in the Kharkiv region close to the city of Kupyansk, Russian shelling killed a 67-year-old woman in the village of Lelyukivka, Synyehubov added.

In the Donetsk region, two people were killed and six were injured in the small town of Hirnyk, about 15 kilometers from the front line, said regional Governor Vadym Filashkin.

"The Russians attacked the town with Uragans (Hurricanes) this afternoon," Filashkin wrote on Telegram, referring to self-propelled rocket launchers designed in the Soviet Union to deliver cluster munitions.

The two people killed were a 57-year-old woman and a 64-year-old man, he added.

Artillery and drone strikes in Nikopol, located in the center-east of the country, wounded four people, regional Governor Serhiy Lysak said.

Three civilians were reported killed earlier on May 1 in a Russian missile strike against the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odesa, local authorities said.

Regional Governor Oleh Kiper said three others were injured in the overnight attack, which damaged civilian infrastructure.

Russia has repeatedly attacked Odesa in recent days, including on April 29 using an Iskandr missile. Five civilians died in that attack and 23 were injured, officials said.

Meanwhile, an oil refinery in Russia's Ryazan region was damaged by a drone strike early on May 1, the region's governor said in a post on Telegram.

Governor Pavel Malkov wrote that there were no casualties.

Local residents posted videos purportedly showing a large fire and explosions at the refinery.

Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry said a drone had been intercepted over the region, as well as three over the Voronezh region and one over the Kursk region.

Since the beginning of the year, 18 Russian oil refineries have been damaged by drone attacks.

Ukraine has not commented on the majority of the incidents.

With reporting by AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-missiles-odesa-russia- civilians/32928745.html

Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Ukraine's Total Military Casualties in DPR Reaches Up to 920 in Past Day - MoD

Sputnik News

20240501

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Ukrainian armed forces have suffered up to 920 military casualties in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) in the past 24 hours as a result of operations by the southern, central and eastern groupings of the Russian armed forces, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

The central grouping of the Russian armed forces have repelled nine counterattacks in several DPR settlements over the past day, the ministry said.

"[As a result of clashes with the central grouping of the Russian armed forces] the Ukrainian armed forces lost up to 410 military personnel, a tank, an infantry fighting vehicle, an armored combat vehicle, three vehicles [among other military losses," the ministry said in a statement.

The southern grouping of the Russian forces has improved its positions in the DPR, while Kiev has lost up to 400 soldiers.

The eastern grouping has also improved its positions in the DPR, while Kiev has lost up to 110 soldiers, the statement read.

A Sputnik

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Imposing New Measures on Russia for its Full-Scale War and Use of Chemical Weapons Against Ukraine

US Department of State

Fact Sheet

Office of the Spokesperson

May 1, 2024

The United States is today sanctioning more than 280 individuals and entities to impose additional costs on Russia for both its foreign aggression and internal repression.

In this action, the Department of State is imposing sanctions on more than 80 entities and individuals, including those engaged in: development of Russia's future energy, metals, and mining production and export capacity; sanctions evasion and circumvention; and furthering Russia's ability to wage its war against Ukraine.

The Department of State is concurrently delivering to Congress a determination pursuant to the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 (CBW Act) regarding Russia's use of the chemical weapon chloropicrin against Ukrainian troops. Pursuant to the CBW Act, the Department is re-imposing restrictions on foreign military financing, U.S. Government lines of credit, and export licenses for defense articles and national security-sensitive items going to Russia. The Department also is sanctioning three Russian government entities associated with Russia's chemical and biological weapons programs and four Russian companies that have contributed to such entities.

Among these actions, the Department is also sanctioning an additional three individuals in connection with the death of Aleksey Navalny in Russian Penal Colony IK-3.

All targets are being designated pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14024, as amended, which authorizes sanctions with respect to specified harmful foreign activities of the Government of the Russian Federation.

The United States will continue to use the tools at its disposal to disrupt support for Russia's military-industrial base and curtail Russia's use of the international financial system to further its war against Ukraine. We continue to stand in solidarity with Russians striving for a more democratic future and with Ukrainians defending their homeland from Russia's aggression.

CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS ACTIVITIES AND PROCUREMENT

The Department of State has made a determination under the CBW Act that Russia has used the chemical weapon chloropicrin against Ukrainian forces in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). We make this determination in addition to our assessment that Russia has used riot control agents as a method of warfare in Ukraine, also in violation of the CWC. The use of such chemicals is not an isolated incident, and is probably driven by Russian forces' desire to dislodge Ukrainian forces from fortified positions and achieve tactical gains on the battlefield. Russia's ongoing disregard for its obligations to the CWC comes from the same playbook as its operations to poison Aleksey Navalny and Sergei and Yulia Skripal with Novichok nerve agents.

In coordination with the Department of the Treasury, the Department of State is designating three Russian Federation government entities associated with Russia's chemical and biological weapons programs and four Russian companies providing support to such entities. The Department of the Treasury is separately designating three entities and two individuals involved in procuring items for military institutes involved in Russia's chemical and biological weapons programs, pursuant to a separate WMD non-proliferation authority.

Pursuant to section 1(a)(i) of E.O. 14024, the following entities are being designated for operating or having operated in the defense and related materiel sector of the Russian Federation economy:

RADIOLOGICAL, CHEMICAL, AND BIOLOGICAL DEFENSE TROOPS OF THE MINISTRY OF DEFENSE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION (RCB DEFENSE TROOPS) is a specialized Russian military unit responsible for identification of and decontamination from radioactive, chemical and biological hazards. The RCB DEFENSE TROOPS have been involved in the day-to-day operations of Russia's chemical weapons program and also have facilitated the use of the chemical weapon chloropicrin by Russian armed forces against Ukrainian troops.

is a specialized Russian military unit responsible for identification of and decontamination from radioactive, chemical and biological hazards. The RCB DEFENSE TROOPS have been involved in the day-to-day operations of Russia's chemical weapons program and also have facilitated the use of the chemical weapon chloropicrin by Russian armed forces against Ukrainian troops. SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF APPLIED ACOUSTICS (FGUP NIIPA) is a Russian government scientific research institute that carries out research and development of military products and develops methods for the export of dual-use goods and technologies. FGUP NIIPA has been involved in the procurement and inventory of chemicals that could be used in the production of chemical weapons agents.

is a Russian government scientific research institute that carries out research and development of military products and develops methods for the export of dual-use goods and technologies. FGUP NIIPA has been involved in the procurement and inventory of chemicals that could be used in the production of chemical weapons agents. FEDERAL STATE BUDGETARY INSTITUTION 48TH CENTRAL SCIENTIFIC AND RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF THE MINISTRY OF DEFENSE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION (48TH TSNII) is the leading Russian Ministry of Defense scientific research institute responsible for Russian military protection against infectious diseases and biological threats. 48th TSNII and its facilities are associated with the Russian biological weapons program. 48th TSNII and its branches were previously added to the Department of Commerce's Entity List on August 27, 2020, and to the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) Section 231 List of Specified Persons on March 2, 2021.

Pursuant to section 1(a)(i) of E.O. 14024, the following entity is being designated for operating or having operated in the construction sector of the Russian Federation economy:

JOINT STOCK COMPANY RESEARCH AND PRODUCTION ASSOCIATION TRANSCOM (NPO TRANSKOM) is a Russian company that develops and produces wheeled, tracked transport, and containerized communications facilities. NPO TRANSKOM's customers include the Russian Ministry of Defense and other Russian government agencies. NPO TRANSKOM has worked as a contractor for Russian government entities associated with Russia's chemical weapons program. Russian government entities associated with Russia's chemical weapons program also have attempted to use NPO TRANSKOM to procure items to evade U.S. sanctions.

Pursuant to section 1(a)(i) of E.O. 14024, the following entities are being designated for operating or having operated in the technology sector of the Russian Federation economy:

SYSTEMS OF BIOLOGICAL SYNTHESIS LLC (SBS LLC) is a Russian company that supplies laboratory and industrial equipment and chemical reagents. SBS LLC has worked to supply equipment to 48th TSNII. SBS LLC was previously added to the Department of Commerce's Entity List on June 2, 2022.

is a Russian company that supplies laboratory and industrial equipment and chemical reagents. SBS LLC has worked to supply equipment to 48th TSNII. SBS LLC was previously added to the Department of Commerce's Entity List on June 2, 2022. LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY LAB SERVICE (LAB SERVICE) is a Russian company that supplies, maintains, and repairs refurbished chromatography equipment. LAB SERVICE is closely associated with SBS LLC.

is a Russian company that supplies, maintains, and repairs refurbished chromatography equipment. LAB SERVICE is closely associated with SBS LLC. OBSHCHESTVO S OGRANICHENNOI OTVETSTVENNOSTIU TEKHNOLOGICHESKIE SISTEMY I SERVIS (OOO TSS) is a Russian company that supplies laboratory and technological equipment to scientific, educational, and manufacturing entities. OOO TSS has worked as a contractor for 48th TSNII.

DISRUPTING FUTURE ENERGY, METALS, AND MINING PRODUCTION

Further Constraining Russia's Arctic LNG 2 Project

The Department continues to designate entities involved in the development of Russia's future energy production and export capacity. Today, the Department is designating two vessel operators involved in the transport of highly specialized liquefied natural gas (LNG) modules and gravity-based structure (GBS) equipment designed specifically for Russia's Arctic LNG 2 project. The Arctic LNG 2 project has relied on foreign service companies' technology and maritime logistics support, and today's actions are designed to further promote accountability for entities providing material support to LLC ARCTIC LNG 2, the operator of the Arctic LNG 2 project. In addition, the Department is designating two Russian companies providing maritime logistics and construction support for Russian energy projects, including Arctic LNG 2.

These actions follow the Department of State's designation of LLC ARCTIC LNG 2 in November 2023, as well as multiple other entities involved in the development of the Arctic LNG 2 project. These designations have already hampered the project's ability to export energy and resulted in significant increases in the project's construction costs. Today's actions demonstrate the United States' continued resolve to constrain the Arctic LNG 2 project's production and export capacity and limit third-party support to the project.

The Department is designating the following entity pursuant to section 1(a)(i) of E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the marine sector of the Russian Federation economy, and pursuant to section 1(a)(vi)(B) of E.O. 14024 for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of LLC ARCTIC LNG 2, an entity whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to E.O. 14024:

RED BOX ENERGY SERVICES PTE LTD (RED BOX) is a Singapore-based company that has provided LNG module transportation services for LLC ARCTIC LNG 2's Arctic LNG 2 project. RED BOX is the operator and ship manager of the vessels AUDAX and PUGNAX. RED BOX was the operator and ship manager for the vessels when they loaded LNG modules for LLC ARCTIC LNG 2, conducted port calls, and discharged cargo at the Belokamenka LNG Construction Center owned and operated by U.S.-designated LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY NOVATEK MURMANSK. The most recent delivery of LNG modules for the Arctic LNG 2 project by vessels operated by RED BOX occurred in late February 2024, after the designation of LLC ARCTIC LNG 2 and LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY NOVATEK MURMANSK.

The following vessels are being identified as property in which RED BOX has an interest:

AUDAX

PUGNAX

Pursuant to section 1(a)(i) of E.O. 14024, the following entity is being designated for operating or having operated in the marine sector of the Russian Federation economy and pursuant to section 1(a)(vi)(B) of E.O. 14024 for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, LLC ARCTIC LNG 2:

CFU SHIPPING CO LIMITED (CFU SHIPPING) is a Hong Kong-based shipping company that is the ship manager and operator of the HUNTER STAR, a heavy load carrier that delivered the final LNG module for the second production train of the Arctic LNG 2 project.

The following vessels are being identified as property in which CFU SHIPPING has an interest:

HUNTER STAR

NAN FENG ZHI XING

Pursuant to section 1(a)(i) of E.O. 14024, the following entity is being designated for operating or having operated in the marine sector of the Russian Federation economy:

EKO SHIPPING LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY (EKO LLC) conducts shipping and water transport related to the construction of infrastructure facilities in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, including for the Arctic LNG 2 project.

The following nine vessels are being identified as property in which EKO LLC has an interest:

ARCTICA 2

BERING

MYS FLORA

MYS DEZHNEVA

BARENTS

ANDREY OSIPOV

MIKHAIL BRITNEV

MYS SHMIDTA

MANGAZEYA

Pursuant to section 1(a)(i) of E.O. 14024, the following entity is being designated for operating or having operated in the construction sector of the Russian Federation economy:

TRANSSTROY LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY (TRANSSTROY) is a leading construction company operating in the Arctic and northern regions of Russia whose completed projects include work on LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY NOVATEK MURMANSK's Belokamenka Shipyard.

The following vessels are being identified as property in which TRANSSTROY has an interest.

ARCTICA 1

MYS ZHELANIYA

VASILY LANOVOY

Pursuant to section 1(a)(i) of E.O. 14024, the following entity is being designated for operating or having operated in the technology sector of the Russian Federation economy:

MODMER TRADING ULUSLARARASI ITHALAT VE IHRACAT LIMITED SIRKETI (MODMER TRADING) is a TArkiye-based supplier of U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security identified high priority items to Russia-based end users. These high priority items included static converters, connection boxes, sensor bases, and ball valves, which were supplied to LLC ARCTIC LNG 2.

Targeting a Major Russian Coal Company Network

The Department continues to designate entities involved in Russia's metals and mining industry to further constrain Russia's revenue generation and defense industrial base. Today, the Department is designating 12 entities within the Sibanthracite group of companies, one of Russia's largest producers of metallurgical coal.

The Department is designating the following entities pursuant to section 1(a)(i) of E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the metals and mining sector of the Russian Federation economy:

LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY GDK BAIMSKAYA is developing the Baimskaya copper projectaone of the largest undeveloped copper deposits in the world.

is developing the Baimskaya copper projectaone of the largest undeveloped copper deposits in the world. JOINT STOCK COMPANY RUDNIK KARALVEEM is a Russia-based gold mining company.

is a Russia-based gold mining company. LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY RAZREZ KUZNETSKIY YUZHNYY is a Russia-based coal mining company within the Sibanthracite group of companies.

is a Russia-based coal mining company within the Sibanthracite group of companies. LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY RAZREZ MALINOVSKIY is a Russia-based coal mining company within the Sibanthracite group of companies.

is a Russia-based coal mining company within the Sibanthracite group of companies. LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY RAZREZ VOSTOCHNYY is a Russia-based coal mining company within the Sibanthracite group of companies.

is a Russia-based coal mining company within the Sibanthracite group of companies. JOINT STOCK COMPANY RAZREZ KOLYVANSKIY (RAZREZ KOLYVANSKIY) is a Russia-based coal mining company and a main mining asset within the Sibanthracite group of companies.

Pursuant to section 1(a)(vii) of E.O. 14024, the following six entities are being designated for being owned or controlled by, or having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, RAZREZ KOLYVANSKIY. They are all Russia-based subsidiaries of RAZREZ KOLYVANSKIY:

LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY LISTVYANSKIY ENRICHMENT COMPLEX

LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY SOVREMENNYE GORNO TRANSPORTNYE TEKHNOLOGII

LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY RAZREZ VERKHNETESHSKIY

LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY SEVEROMUYSKIY TONNEL 2

LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY SIBANTHRACITE PORT SERVICES

LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY SIBANTHRACITE TEPLOSET

Pursuant to section 1(a)(i) of E.O. 14024, the following entity is being designated for operating or having operated in the management consulting sector of the Russian Federation economy:

LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY MANAGEMENT COMPANY SIBANTHRACITE is a Russia-based management consulting company that manages companies within the Sibanthracite group of companies.

Pursuant to section 1(a)(i) of E.O. 14024, the following entity is being designated for operating or having operated in the manufacturing sector of the Russian Federation economy:

LLC SIBCAPITAL is a Russia-based company that bought the Sibanthracite group of companies' assets.

FURTHER CONSTRAINING RUSSIA'S MILITARY INDUSTRIAL BASE

Continued Pressure on Rosatom



This is the seventh Russia sanctions action that includes designations of State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom (Rosatom) subsidiaries. These targets include Rosatom entities distributing machine tools for the enterprise.

The Department is designating the following entities pursuant to section 1(a)(vii) of E.O. 14024 for being owned or controlled by, or having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the Government of the Russian Federation:

JOINT STOCK COMPANY IPN STANKOSTROENIE is a Rosatom subsidiary responsible for the development and import substitution of machine tools.

is a Rosatom subsidiary responsible for the development and import substitution of machine tools. RUSATOM MACHINE TOOLS JOINT STOCK COMPANY is a Rosatom subsidiary involved in the sale and distribution of machine tools.

Targeting Additional Entities Supporting the Russian Defense Industry

The Department of State is designating the following 20 entities and individuals pursuant to section 1(a)(i) of E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the defense and related materiel sector of the Russian Federation economy:

SERGEY ANATOLYEVICH LUKIN is the General Director of Joint Stock Company Tula Cartridge Works, which was designated by the Department of the Treasury on July 20, 2023.

is the General Director of Joint Stock Company Tula Cartridge Works, which was designated by the Department of the Treasury on July 20, 2023. ALEKSEY GENNADIEVICH DUBONOSOV is the General Director of Tambovskii Porokhovoi Zavod and the former General Director of Aktsionernoe Obshchestvo Ulyanovskii Patronnyi Zavod, which were designated by the Department of the Treasury on July 20, 2023, and September 11, 2023, respectively.

is the General Director of Tambovskii Porokhovoi Zavod and the former General Director of Aktsionernoe Obshchestvo Ulyanovskii Patronnyi Zavod, which were designated by the Department of the Treasury on July 20, 2023, and September 11, 2023, respectively. SERGEY VIKTOROVICH PITIKOV is the General Director of Joint Stock Company Research and Production Corporation Konstruktorskoye Byuro Mashynostroyeniya, which was designated by the Department of State on March 3, 2022.

is the General Director of Joint Stock Company Research and Production Corporation Konstruktorskoye Byuro Mashynostroyeniya, which was designated by the Department of State on March 3, 2022. VALERY MIKHAILOVICH KASHIN is the General Designer of Joint Stock Company Research and Production Corporation Konstruktorskoye Byuro Mashynostroyeniya, which was designated by the Department of State on March 3, 2022.

is the General Designer of Joint Stock Company Research and Production Corporation Konstruktorskoye Byuro Mashynostroyeniya, which was designated by the Department of State on March 3, 2022. VLADIMIR NIKOLAEVICH ROSHCHUPKIN is the Executive Director of NPK URALVAGONZAVOD.

is the Executive Director of NPK URALVAGONZAVOD. JOINT STOCK COMPANY MUROM SPECIAL DESIGN BUREAU is associated with NPK URALVAGONZAVOD and has fulfilled contracts for vehicle simulators and training facilities for the Russian Ministry of Defense.

is associated with NPK URALVAGONZAVOD and has fulfilled contracts for vehicle simulators and training facilities for the Russian Ministry of Defense. JOINT STOCK COMPANY TOMSK ELECTROTECHNICAL PLANT is a subsidiary of NPK URALVAGONZAVOD that manufactures fabricated metal products and electrical equipment for the Russian defense industrial base.

is a subsidiary of NPK URALVAGONZAVOD that manufactures fabricated metal products and electrical equipment for the Russian defense industrial base. BORIS YAKOVLEVICH VOLOGDIN is the General Director of JOINT STOCK COMPANY TOMSK ELECTROTECHNICAL PLANT.

is the General Director of JOINT STOCK COMPANY TOMSK ELECTROTECHNICAL PLANT. JOINT STOCK COMPANY URAL DESIGN BUREAU OF TRANSPORT ENGINEERING is a Russian defense company associated with NPK URALVAGONZAVOD that develops tanks and other combat vehicles for the Russian military.

is a Russian defense company associated with NPK URALVAGONZAVOD that develops tanks and other combat vehicles for the Russian military. ANDREY LEONIDOVICH TERLIKOV is the General Director of JOINT STOCK COMPANY URAL DESIGN BUREAU OF TRANSPORT ENGINEERING.

is the General Director of JOINT STOCK COMPANY URAL DESIGN BUREAU OF TRANSPORT ENGINEERING. JOINT STOCK COMPANY BRYANSK AUTOMOBILE PLANT produces vehicles used as a transport base for Russian military anti-aircraft missile systems and radar technology.

produces vehicles used as a transport base for Russian military anti-aircraft missile systems and radar technology. ALEXEY BORISOVICH SDOBNOV is the Executive Director of JOINT STOCK COMPANY BRYANSK AUTOMOBILE PLANT.

is the Executive Director of JOINT STOCK COMPANY BRYANSK AUTOMOBILE PLANT. RUSSIAN ALL TERRAIN VEHICLES PLASTUN COMPANY produces the Plastun-SN all-terrain vehicle used by the Russian military in Ukraine.

produces the Plastun-SN all-terrain vehicle used by the Russian military in Ukraine. AUTOMOBILE PLANT URAL JOINT STOCK COMPANY (URALAZ) produces military vehicles, including the Ural-4320 and the Typhoon family of armored vehicles used by the Russian military in Ukraine.

produces military vehicles, including the Ural-4320 and the Typhoon family of armored vehicles used by the Russian military in Ukraine. PAVEL ALEXANDROVICH YAKOVLEV is the General Director of URALAZ.

is the General Director of URALAZ. JOINT STOCK COMPANY REMDIZEL produces armored vehicles including the Typhoon, Tornado, and Vystrel families for use by the Russian military.

produces armored vehicles including the Typhoon, Tornado, and Vystrel families for use by the Russian military. VOLGOGRAD MACHINE BUILDING COMPANY LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY is the designer of armored vehicles used by the Russian military.

is the designer of armored vehicles used by the Russian military. JOINT STOCK COMPANY PRODUCTION ENTERPRISE RADAR 2633 was founded by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and conducts repairs of weapons, military equipment, and air defense systems.

was founded by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and conducts repairs of weapons, military equipment, and air defense systems. JOINT STOCK COMPANY 99 PLANT OF AVIATION TECHNOLOGICAL EQUIPMENT repairs on-board equipment of the II-76, II-78, and Tu-22M3 military aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces.

repairs on-board equipment of the II-76, II-78, and Tu-22M3 military aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces. LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY TRADING PRODUCTION COMPANY ARGUS NV develops and produces night vision technology for use by the Russian military.

Targeting Machine Tools and Advanced Manufacturing Entities

The Department continues to take actions to disrupt and degrade Russia's military industrial base and advanced manufacturing capabilities and today is designating entities involved in the manufacturing of weapons, ammunition, and associated materiel as well as in the development and distribution of advanced manufacturing technologies.

The Department of State is designating the following eleven entities and individuals pursuant to section 1(a)(i) of E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the manufacturing sector of the Russian Federation economy:

LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY UNIMATIK is a Russia-based computer numerical control (CNC) machine producer and wholesaler who is supplying Russian defense companies with CNC machines and related parts.

is a Russia-based computer numerical control (CNC) machine producer and wholesaler who is supplying Russian defense companies with CNC machines and related parts. LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY ALTEGRITY is a Russia-based CNC machine wholesaler that is a subsidiary of UNIMATIK.

is a Russia-based CNC machine wholesaler that is a subsidiary of UNIMATIK. LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY VOPLOSHCHENIYE is a Russia-based additive manufacturing company.

is a Russia-based additive manufacturing company. ALEKSEI VIKTOROVICH BREDIKHIN is the General Director of LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY I MACHINE TECHNOLOGY, a Russian metal-cutting machine supplier which the Department of the Treasury designated on November 2, 2023 pursuant to E.O. 14024.

is the General Director of LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY I MACHINE TECHNOLOGY, a Russian metal-cutting machine supplier which the Department of the Treasury designated on November 2, 2023 pursuant to E.O. 14024. SFG BALTIKA is a Russian distributor of European- and Asian-produced high-tech turning lathes and milling, grinding, and electroerosion machines.

is a Russian distributor of European- and Asian-produced high-tech turning lathes and milling, grinding, and electroerosion machines. LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY INTERVESP M is a Russian supplier of various foreign machine producers.

is a Russian supplier of various foreign machine producers. LLC MASHIMPORT supplies foreign-produced industrial equipment to machine-trading companies in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

supplies foreign-produced industrial equipment to machine-trading companies in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. RBH TOOLS LTD is a Russian supplier of machine cutting tools.

is a Russian supplier of machine cutting tools. SILVER TECHNOLOGY LIMITED is a Hong-Kong-based company that has shipped foreign-produced CNC parts valued in the tens of millions of dollars to the Russian CNC distributer OBSHCHESTVO S OGRANICHENNOI OTVETSTVENNOSTYU SFT, which the Department of the Treasury designated on November 2, 2023, pursuant to E.O. 14024.

is a Hong-Kong-based company that has shipped foreign-produced CNC parts valued in the tens of millions of dollars to the Russian CNC distributer OBSHCHESTVO S OGRANICHENNOI OTVETSTVENNOSTYU SFT, which the Department of the Treasury designated on November 2, 2023, pursuant to E.O. 14024. LIMITED TRADE DEVELOPMENT MACHINE GROUP is a Russian supplier of metalworking equipment and electronics.

is a Russian supplier of metalworking equipment and electronics. JOINT STOCK COMPANY URAL SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL COMPLEX is a Russian industrial company that manufactures metalworking and other industrial equipment.

Pursuant to section 1(a)(i) of E.O. 14024, the following entities are being designated for operating or having operated in the technology sector of the Russian Federation economy:

LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY AY GOU 3DE is a Russia-based additive manufacturing company.

is a Russia-based additive manufacturing company. LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY INDIGO 3D is a Russia-based additive manufacturing company.

is a Russia-based additive manufacturing company. LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY SOVREMENNOE OBORUDOVANIE is a Russia-based additive manufacturing company.

COUNTERING SANCTIONS EVASION AND CIRCUMVENTION EFFORTS

The Department continues to disrupt the networks and channels through which Russia attempts to procure technology and equipment from third countries to support its war effort. Specifically, these designations target producers, exporters, and importers of items critical to Russia's defense industrial base, including items on the Common High Priority List (CHPL) identified by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), alongside the EU, UK, and Japan. Entities based in the PRC, Malaysia, the Krygyz Republic, and TArkiye, among other countries, continue to send these items and other key dual-use goods to Russia, including critical components that Russia relies on for its weapons systems. We are particularly concerned by the scale and breadth of such exports from the PRC. Russia has continued to leverage sanctions evasion and circumvention networks to procure aviation and microelectronic components in an effort to sustain its military industrial base and aviation industry through the expropriation of U.S. and European aircraft.

Targeting an Air Carrier Supporting Procurement of Controlled Items

The Department of State continues to designate Russian and third-country entities involved in the procurement of U.S. export-controlled aviation and electronic components. Today's designation of the Russian air carrier, LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY AVIAKOMPANIYA POBEDA (POBEDA), follows previous actions taken by the Department of State to degrade Russian aviation procurement networks.

Pursuant to section 1(a)(i) of E.O. 14024, the following entity is being designated for operating or having operated in the aerospace sector of the Russian Federation economy:

POBEDA is a wholly owned Russian subsidiary of Russian airline Aeroflot. POBEDA operates U.S.- and EU-made aircraft, including those seized by Russia from foreign leasing companies. In March 2023, POBEDA was listed on the Department of Commerce's BIS Export Violations List and, as a result, is heavily reliant on sanctions evasion and procurement networks to obtain G7-origin aircraft parts. In 2023, POBEDA also imported and carried over $1 million dollars of U.S.-origin, BIS-identified components, including from U.S.-designated entities A T S HEAVY EQUIPMENT AND MACHINERY SPARE PARTS TRADING, CRYNOFIST AVIATION FZCO, ALPHA VISIT SHOP DIS TICARET LIMITED, and POLARSTAR LOGISTICS LLC (POLARSTAR). These entities have all previously supplied Russia-based end-users with controlled aviation components. Additionally, POBEDA has operated as a known consignee for the transportation of aircraft parts from India to Russia as recently as January 2024 through its continued cooperation with U.S.-sanctioned entity, Iran-based Mahan Air. POBEDA's continued export control violations and support to sanctions evasion networks have aided and abetted Russia's continued illegal efforts to expropriate Western-origin aircraft and aviation components.

Targeting PRC Entities Supporting Russia's Defense Industrial Base



The Department is designating several People's Republic of China (PRC) entities responsible for developing, and supplying dual-use aerospace, manufacturing, and technology equipment to entities based in Russia. Specifically, these designations target producers and exporters of items critical to Russia's defense-industrial base, some of whom have shipped goods to U.S.-designated entities in Russia.

The Department is designating the following entities pursuant to section 1(a)(i) of E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the technology sector of the Russian Federation economy:

MORNSUN GUANGZHOU SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CO LTD (MORNSUN) is a PRC-based supplier of Tier 1 and Tier 3.A items on the BIS Common High Priority List to Russia-based end users. Items MORNSUN has supplied include electronic integral monolithic circuits. One of the Russia-based companies that received components from MORNSUN was identified as a supplier to a Russia-based entity that specializes in the production and marketing of airborne equipment for military aircraft, such as airborne weapons control radars for Russian fighter aircraft.

is a PRC-based supplier of Tier 1 and Tier 3.A items on the BIS Common High Priority List to Russia-based end users. Items MORNSUN has supplied include electronic integral monolithic circuits. One of the Russia-based companies that received components from MORNSUN was identified as a supplier to a Russia-based entity that specializes in the production and marketing of airborne equipment for military aircraft, such as airborne weapons control radars for Russian fighter aircraft. YANTAI IRAY TECHNOLOGY CO LTD (IRAY) is a PRC-based supplier of Tier 3 and Tier 4 items on the BIS Common High Priority List to Russia-based end-users. Items IRAY supplied to Russian-based end-users include telescopic thermal sights. One of the Russia-based companies that received components from IRAY markets military thermal imagers, including IRAY's products.

Pursuant to section 1(a)(i) of E.O. 14024, the following entity is being designated for operating or having operated in the manufacturing sector of the Russian Federation economy:

ANYANG FORGING PRESS NUMERICAL CONTROL EQUIPMENT CO LTD is a PRC-based company that exported manufacturing components to the U.S.-designated, Russia-based PUBLIC JOINT STOCK COMPANY CHELYABINSK FORGE AND PRESS PLANT in 2023.

Pursuant to section 1(a)(i) of E.O. 14024, the following entity is being designated for operating or having operated in the aerospace sector of the Russian Federation economy:

CHONGQING ZONGSHEN AERO ENGINE MANUFACTURING CO LTD is a PRC-based company that has supplied Russian firms, including the U.S. designated, Russia-based AKTSIONERNOE OBSHCHESTVO TASKOM, with products such as aviation engines.

Other Third-Country Entities Supporting Russia's War Effort

Today, the Department is also designating multiple companies in TArkiye, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Malaysia that have shipped BIS Common High Priority List items to companies based in Russia. Entities and individuals based in Russia, including those affiliated with the Russian Ministry of Defense, continue to establish shell companies and leverage intermediaries in third countries to violate export controls and procure these high priority items. For example, in many of the procurement schemes investigated by the Department of State, Russian nationals have been identified as the owner and director of the Russia-based companies receiving Common High Priority List items. These Russian nationals also act as the directors for the intermediary companies, often transshiping these components from third countries. Today's actions are designed to impose costs on non-Russian entities and individuals facilitating the Russian Federation's procurement of dual-use items, as well as for Russian nationals seeking to exploit the corporate environment of third countries to engage in illicit procurement schemes.

The Department of State is designating the following entities pursuant to section 1(a)(i) of E.O. 14024 for operating or having operated in the technology sector of the Russian Federation economy:

GQ SOLUTION ELEKTRONIK EKIPMAN LIMITED SIRKETI (GQ SOLUTION) is a TArkiye-based entity that has supplied Russia-based companies with electronic components. The Department of Justice has additionally filed a forfeiture complaint against a set of landing gear that was detained in September 2023 at Miami International Airport by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. This landing gear was allegedly being acquired by GQ SOLUTION on behalf of the U.S.-sanctioned entity LLC RM DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT.

is a TArkiye-based entity that has supplied Russia-based companies with electronic components. The Department of Justice has additionally filed a forfeiture complaint against a set of landing gear that was detained in September 2023 at Miami International Airport by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. This landing gear was allegedly being acquired by GQ SOLUTION on behalf of the U.S.-sanctioned entity LLC RM DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT. LSS GLOBAL INSAAT SANAYI VE TICARET LIMITED SIRKETI is a TArkiye-based company that supplied Common High Priority List items to companies based in Russia.

is a TArkiye-based company that supplied Common High Priority List items to companies based in Russia. LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY PROFFLAB (PROFFLAB) is a Kyrgyz Republic-based company that supplied U.S.-origin electronic components to companies based in Russia. In February 2024, PROFFLAB was added to the U.S. Department of Commerce's Entity List for its provision of support to Russia's industrial sector by procuring U.S.-origin machine tools, electronics test equipment, and machine tool spare parts for Russian end-users without required BIS-licenses.

is a Kyrgyz Republic-based company that supplied U.S.-origin electronic components to companies based in Russia. In February 2024, PROFFLAB was added to the U.S. Department of Commerce's Entity List for its provision of support to Russia's industrial sector by procuring U.S.-origin machine tools, electronics test equipment, and machine tool spare parts for Russian end-users without required BIS-licenses. IDA ASANSOR SANAYII VE TICARET LIMITED SIRKETI is a TArkiye-based company that has supplied BIS-identified Common High Priority List items to companies based in Russia.

is a TArkiye-based company that has supplied BIS-identified Common High Priority List items to companies based in Russia. ASAY IC VE DIS TICARET LIMITED SIRKETI is a TArkiye-based company that supplied Common High Priority List items to companies based in Russia, including U.S.-designated, Russia-based company AKTSIONERNOE OBSHCHESTVO TASKOM.

is a TArkiye-based company that supplied Common High Priority List items to companies based in Russia, including U.S.-designated, Russia-based company AKTSIONERNOE OBSHCHESTVO TASKOM. JATRONICS SDN BHD is a Malaysia-based company that has supplied Common High Priority List items to companies based in Russia.

is a Malaysia-based company that has supplied Common High Priority List items to companies based in Russia. UZAY GROUP DIS TICARET LIMITED SIRKETI (UZAY GROUP) is a Turkiye-based supplier of Tier 2 and Tier 3 identified items on the Common High Priority List to Russia-based end users. UZAY GROUP supplied various EU-origin components including circuits and industrial switchboards to Russia-based entities. These components are also subject to EU export controls.

is a Turkiye-based supplier of Tier 2 and Tier 3 identified items on the Common High Priority List to Russia-based end users. UZAY GROUP supplied various EU-origin components including circuits and industrial switchboards to Russia-based entities. These components are also subject to EU export controls. TRO YA LLC is a Kyrgyz Republic-based entity engaged in the shipment of microelectronics for Russia-based end-users, including U.S.-designated, Russia-based company OCEAN ELECTRONICS LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY. In May 2023, TRO YA LLC was listed on the Department of Commerce's Entity List in May 2023 for possible Export Administration Regulation violations.

is a Kyrgyz Republic-based entity engaged in the shipment of microelectronics for Russia-based end-users, including U.S.-designated, Russia-based company OCEAN ELECTRONICS LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY. In May 2023, TRO YA LLC was listed on the Department of Commerce's Entity List in May 2023 for possible Export Administration Regulation violations. EVOL GROUP TR YAZILIM LIMITED (EVOL GROUP) is a TArkiye-based company that has exported Common High Priority List items to Russia-based PTK APRIORI. EVOL GROUP was founded and is owned by a Russian national, who is also the sole shareholder of PTK APRIORI.

is a TArkiye-based company that has exported Common High Priority List items to Russia-based PTK APRIORI. EVOL GROUP was founded and is owned by a Russian national, who is also the sole shareholder of PTK APRIORI. LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY PROIZVODSTVENNO-TORGOVAYA KOMPANIYA APRIORI (PTK APRIORI) is a Russia-based production and trading company that receives Common High Priority List items from EVOL GROUP.

is a Russia-based production and trading company that receives Common High Priority List items from EVOL GROUP. MARTEN EA TRADING INSAAT VE DIS TICARET PAZARLAMA LIMITED SIRKETI (MARTEN EA) is a TArkiye-based company that supplied Common High Priority List items to companies based in Russia.

is a TArkiye-based company that supplied Common High Priority List items to companies based in Russia. BELLUGA IC VE DIS TICARET LIMITED SIRKETI (BELLUGA) is a TArkiye-based company that supplied Common High Priority List items to companies based in Russia.

Pursuant to section 1(a)(i) of E.O. 14024, the following entity is being designated for operating or having operated in the transportation sector of the Russian Federation economy:

LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY SANSARA is a Russia-based transportation services company that received Common High Priority List items from MARTEN EA.

Pursuant to section 1(a)(i) of E.O. 14024, the following entity is being designated for operating or having operated in the aerospace sector of the Russian Federation economy:

NA HAVACILIK VE TEKNIK TICARET LIMITED SIRKETI (NA HAVACILIK) is a Turkiye-based company that has supplied U.S.-origin Common High Priority List items to companies based in Russia.

Pursuant to section 1(a)(i) of E.O. 14024, the following entity is being designated for operating or having operated in the manufacturing sector of the Russian Federation economy:

LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY EMS EKSPERT (EMS EKSPERT) is a Russia-based electronics manufacturing company that receives Common High Priority List items from BELLUGA, which is also being designated today.

PROMOTING ACCOUNTABILITY FOR MALIGN ACTORS

The Department of State is sanctioning three additional individuals in connection with the death of opposition politician and anticorruption activist Aleksey Navalny. These individuals have also been sanctioned by the European Union.

The Department of State is designating the following three individuals pursuant to section 1(a)(iii)(A) of E.O. 14024 for being or having been leaders, officials, senior executive officers, or members of the board of directors of the Government of the Russian Federation:

ALEKSANDR ALEKSANDROVICH MUKHANOV (MUKHANOV) is the Director of the IK-2 correctional colony in Russia where Navalny was held for the majority of his imprisonment. MUKHANOV oversaw a regime of harsh conditions related to Navalny's imprisonment, including disallowing doctors into the colony.

is the Director of the IK-2 correctional colony in Russia where Navalny was held for the majority of his imprisonment. MUKHANOV oversaw a regime of harsh conditions related to Navalny's imprisonment, including disallowing doctors into the colony. YURIY KONOVEEV (KONOVEEV) is the Head of the solitary confinement detachment and the Head of the Department of Educational Work at correctional colony No. 3 (IK-3), where Navalny was imprisoned for two months prior to his death. KONOVEEV oversaw the cells where Navalny was kept in solitary confinement as well as the walking yard where Navalny allegedly collapsed and died.

is the Head of the solitary confinement detachment and the Head of the Department of Educational Work at correctional colony No. 3 (IK-3), where Navalny was imprisoned for two months prior to his death. KONOVEEV oversaw the cells where Navalny was kept in solitary confinement as well as the walking yard where Navalny allegedly collapsed and died. ALEKSEY VASILYEVICH LISYUK (LISYUK) is the Head of the Medical Unit at IK-3. LISYUK was responsible for Navalny's health while imprisoned at IK-3 as well as Navalny's health in the immediate aftermath of his collapse.

SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS

As a result of today's sanctions-related actions, and in accordance with E.O. 14024, as amended, all property and interests in property of the sanctioned persons described above that are in the United States or in possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to the Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Additionally, all individuals or entities that have ownership, either directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked.

All transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons are prohibited unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC or exempt. These prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any blocked person and the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.

The power and integrity of U.S. government sanctions derive not only from the U.S. government's ability to designate and add persons to the SDN List, but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law. The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behavior.

Petitions for removal from the SDN List may be sent to: OFAC.Reconsideration@treasury.gov. Petitioners may also refer to the Department of State's Delisting Guidance page.

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Presidential Office Called on World Artists to Support the Global Peace Summit

President of Ukraine

1 May 2024 - 19:04

The Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak met online with world cultural figures.

The meeting was attended by representatives of Belgium, the United Kingdom, Italy, Ireland, China, the United States, Germany, and TArkiye. Among them were heads of cultural institutions, producers, musicians, artists and actors.

Andriy Yermak thanked them for supporting Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion.

"We have shown the whole world that it is possible not to be afraid, but to be free and to fight for our values: independence, freedom and democracy. The situation remains difficult, the war continues. People are living under missile and Iranian drone attacks. But every day, every night, our people are fighting on the front lines," he said.

The Head of the Presidential Office presented the details of the Peace Formula initiated by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the preparations for the Global Peace Summit to be held in Switzerland in June this year. He called on cultural figures to emphasize the importance of the event for the leaders of their countries and for the whole society.

"We want to live in our beautiful country with internationally recognized borders. I urge you to use all your abilities, your influence, your contacts. It is very important that as many world leaders as possible meet in Switzerland. It will significantly help to prevent Ukrainians from being killed every day and every night, and to ensure that our children are not raised under fire," Andriy Yermak noted.

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Andriy Yermak Held a Conversation with Director of the National Security Office under the President of Korea

President of Ukraine

1 May 2024 - 13:45

On the instructions of the Ukrainian President, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak had a phone call with the new Director of the National Security Office under the President of the Republic of Korea Chang Ho-jin.

The Head of the President's Office spoke about preparations for the inaugural Peace Summit and thanked Korea for its participation in several working groups on the implementation of certain points of the Ukrainian Peace Formula.

"We are counting on the Republic of Korea's assistance in involving a wide range of countries from the Global South in the Peace Summit," emphasized Andriy Yermak.

The parties also coordinated joint actions in the context of upcoming international events, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region.

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Russia breached global chemical weapons ban in Ukraine war, US says

By VOA News May 01, 2024

The United States accused Russia on Wednesday of breaching a global chemical weapons ban by deploying the choking agent chloropicrin against Ukrainian troops.

The State Department also accused Russia of using riot control agents "as a method of warfare" in Ukraine.

"The use of such chemicals is not an isolated incident and is probably driven by Russian forces' desire to dislodge Ukrainian forces from fortified positions and achieve tactical gains on the battlefield," the State Department said in a statement.

Additionally, Russian forces have used grenades loaded with CS and CN gases, according to the Ukrainian military. It said at least 500 Ukrainian soldiers have been treated for exposure to toxic substances, and one was killed by suffocating on tear gas.

The accusation came the same day a Russian ballistic missile attack on the Ukrainian port city of Odesa killed five people, local officials say.

A guided bomb attack killed two civilians, including a 38-year-old woman and her father, Kharkiv regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said. Russian shelling also killed a 67-year-old woman in the Kharkiv region in the village of Lelyukivka.

At least 13 people, including an 11-year-old child, were wounded, the governor said.

He said that "two guided aerial bombs hit the center of the town of Zolochiv" Wednesday morning, about 15 kilometers from the Russian border.

Governor Oleh Kiper said there also was damage to civil infrastructure from the attack, the second deadly round of strikes to hit Odesa in as many days.

Regional Governor Vadym Filashkin posted photos on the Telegram messaging app that showed private houses destroyed by fires and damaged by blast waves. Russian troops used a multiple rocket launcher for the strike, he said in the post.

Russia's defense ministry said Wednesday that it thwarted Ukrainian drone attacks targeting several Russian regions.

The ministry said its air defenses destroyed three drones over the Voronezh region and one drone each over the Belgorod, Kursk and Ryazan regions.

Aleksandr Gusev, the governor of Voronezh, reported that falling debris from a drone damaged a house, but he said there were no injuries.

Kyiv troops are desperately waiting for a delivery of weapons and ammunition that have been delayed for months because of political wrangling in the U.S. Congress.

"We need a significant speed-up of deliveries to strengthen the capabilities of our soldiers tangibly," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday. "It is not Russian air bombs and assault operations that should dominate the front line, but our Ukrainian initiative a our air defense, our artillery, our drones."

Zelenskyy said what Ukraine is "really counting on" is "the promptness of the U.S. deliveries" that should be "felt in the destroyed logistics of the occupiers, in their fear to deploy in any part of the occupied territory ... everywhere where Russia is pushing and where we have to push it back. And also, everywhere where new strike threats may arise."

The U.S. has pledged to speed deliveries after lawmakers approved $61 billion in new aid for Ukraine that had been stalled for months.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.

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Russian missile attack injures 14 in Odesa

By VOA News May 02, 2024

Ukrainian officials said a Russian missile attack injured 14 people Thursday at a postal facility in the southern city of Odesa.

The attack was the third to hit the city this week, including strikes that killed a total of eight people.

Oleh Kiper, the regional governor of Odesa, said the latest attack was another crime committed by Russia against Ukrainian civilians.

Russia has denied targeting civilians during its invasion of Ukraine but has repeatedly struck Ukrainian cities with drones and missiles during more than two years of attacks.

Russian officials reported Ukrainian drone attacks Thursday targeting several regions.

Andrei Klychkov, the governor of the Oryol region, said Russian air defenses intercepted Ukrainian drones over two districts, but that energy infrastructure was damaged and there were power outages in the area.

In Smolensk, the regional governor, Vaisly Anokhin, said the Ukrainian drones tried to attack an energy facility.

Roman Staravoit, the governor in the Kursk region, said Russian forces downed a Ukrainian drone there, but that there was also damage to power lines.

The United States accused Russia Wednesday of breaching a global chemicals ban by deploying the choking agent chloropicrin against Ukrainian troops.

The State Department also accused Russia of using riot control agents "as a method of warfare" in Ukraine.

"The use of such chemicals is not an isolated incident and is probably driven by Russian forces' desire to dislodge Ukrainian forces from fortified positions and achieve tactical gains on the battlefield," the State Department said in a statement.

Additionally, Russian forces have used grenades loaded with CS and CN tear gasses, according to the Ukrainian military. It said at least 500 Ukrainian soldiers have been treated for exposure to toxic substances, and one was killed by suffocating on tear gas.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.

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Dublin, May 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Wi Fi Booster Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast, 2019-2029F" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



Global Wi Fi Booster Market was valued at USD 1.9 Billion in 2023 and is anticipated to project robust growth in the forecast period with a CAGR of 10.7% through 2029

The global Wi-Fi booster market is seeing notable expansion driven by the increasing demand for improved wireless connectivity in both residential and commercial settings. With a growing reliance on wireless networks, consumers and businesses seek solutions to eliminate Wi-Fi dead zones and optimize performance. Wi-Fi boosters, also referred to as range extenders or repeaters, have become essential in addressing this challenge.

Key factors propelling market growth include the widespread adoption of smart devices, rising internet usage, and the growing popularity of bandwidth-intensive applications and streaming services. The surge in remote work, online learning, and telehealth services has underscored the importance of stable Wi-Fi connections, driving demand for these devices.

Advancements in Wi-Fi booster technology, such as mesh networking integration, enhanced design, and simplified installation procedures, have enhanced accessibility and user-friendliness. The market is witnessing heightened competition as manufacturers and providers vie to introduce innovative solutions to meet the evolving needs of a connectivity-driven world. With these drivers in play, the global Wi-Fi booster market is positioned for sustained growth and advancement in the foreseeable future.



Increasing Adoption of Smart Devices



The growing prevalence of smart devices is a significant driver behind the expanding global Wi-Fi booster market. In recent years, there has been an exponential increase in the number of smartphones, tablets, laptops, smart TVs, and IoT devices. This surge in connected devices has put immense pressure on existing Wi-Fi networks, often resulting in reduced signal strength and coverage gaps within homes and businesses. Wi-Fi boosters have become a crucial solution to mitigate these connectivity issues.



Escalating Internet Usage and Bandwidth-Intensive Applications



The global surge in internet usage and the proliferation of bandwidth-intensive applications constitute another significant driver behind the rising Wi-Fi booster market. The advent of high-definition video streaming, online gaming, video conferencing, and other data-hungry applications has placed an increasing strain on Wi-Fi networks. These applications demand not only higher bandwidth but also low-latency and consistent connections, which can be compromised when Wi-Fi signals weaken over distance.



Remote Work and E-Learning



The global transition to remote work and e-learning, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has become a substantial driver of the Wi-Fi booster market. With more people working and learning from home, the importance of a reliable and fast Wi-Fi connection has never been more critical. Many households and individuals have had to adapt to the challenges of multiple simultaneous users, increased video conferencing, and the need for stable connectivity to access work and educational resources. Wi-Fi boosters play a pivotal role in addressing these challenges by extending the reach of Wi-Fi networks and ensuring that remote workers and students have a consistent and reliable internet connection.



Technological Advancements in Wi-Fi Boosters



Technological advancements in Wi-Fi booster products are propelling market growth. Manufacturers are continuously innovating to provide more efficient and user-friendly solutions. One notable development is the integration of mesh networking technology into Wi-Fi boosters. Mesh networks use multiple interconnected nodes to create a single, seamless Wi-Fi network, eliminating the need for manual switching between different access points. Additionally, improvements in design and aesthetics have made Wi-Fi boosters more appealing for consumers, as they can blend seamlessly into home environments.



Increasing Competition and Innovation



The global Wi-Fi booster market is experiencing heightened competition among various manufacturers and service providers. This competition has resulted in increased innovation and a wider range of options for consumers. Manufacturers are continually seeking to differentiate their products by offering new features, such as smartphone apps for easy setup and management, built-in security enhancements, and compatibility with the latest Wi-Fi standards.



Key Market Challenges

Interference and Congestion



One of the key challenges in the global Wi-Fi booster market is the issue of interference and congestion. As the number of connected devices continues to grow, the Wi-Fi spectrum becomes crowded, leading to signal interference and reduced performance. This challenge is particularly prevalent in densely populated areas, office buildings, and public spaces where multiple Wi-Fi networks coexist.

The interference can result in slower speeds, dropped connections, and overall degraded Wi-Fi performance. Wi-Fi boosters need to address this challenge by employing advanced technologies such as beamforming and channel selection algorithms to mitigate interference and optimize signal transmission. Additionally, the use of dual-band or tri-band Wi-Fi boosters can help alleviate congestion by utilizing multiple frequency bands and spreading the network load.



Compatibility and Integration



Another significant challenge in the Wi-Fi booster market is ensuring compatibility and seamless integration with various devices and network setups. Wi-Fi boosters need to be compatible with different Wi-Fi standards (such as 802.11ac, 802.11ax) and support a wide range of devices, including smartphones, tablets, laptops, smart home devices, and IoT devices.

Additionally, they should seamlessly integrate with existing Wi-Fi routers and network configurations. The challenge lies in providing a plug-and-play experience for users, where they can easily set up and configure the Wi-Fi booster without requiring technical expertise. Manufacturers need to ensure that their Wi-Fi boosters are compatible with popular routers and devices, and provide user-friendly setup interfaces and mobile apps for easy installation and management.



Security and Privacy



Security and privacy concerns pose a significant challenge in the Wi-Fi booster market. Wi-Fi boosters extend the range of Wi-Fi networks, which means they can potentially expose the network to unauthorized access and security breaches. Manufacturers need to implement robust security measures, such as encryption protocols (WPA2, WPA3), guest network isolation, and secure firmware updates, to protect users' data and prevent unauthorized access.



User Education and Awareness



A crucial challenge in the Wi-Fi booster market is the lack of user education and awareness. Many users may not be aware of the benefits of Wi-Fi boosters or how to properly set them up and optimize their performance. This can lead to suboptimal usage and dissatisfaction with the product. Manufacturers need to invest in educating users about the advantages of Wi-Fi boosters, providing clear and comprehensive user manuals, and offering customer support to address any queries or issues.



Key Market Trends

Wi-Fi 6 Compatibility and Adoption



One prominent trend in the global Wi-Fi booster market is the increasing compatibility and adoption of Wi-Fi 6 technology. Wi-Fi 6, also known as 802.11ax, represents the latest generation of Wi-Fi standards, offering significantly improved performance, capacity, and efficiency over its predecessors.



Mesh Wi-Fi Systems



Mesh Wi-Fi systems have gained significant traction as a market trend within the Wi-Fi booster industry. Mesh systems consist of multiple interconnected nodes that work together to create a single, seamless Wi-Fi network, eliminating the need for distinct access points. This trend addresses the challenge of maintaining a consistent Wi-Fi signal throughout larger homes and businesses. Mesh systems are highly scalable, allowing users to add additional nodes as needed to expand coverage.



Integration of Smart Home Features



The integration of smart home features into Wi-Fi boosters is another emerging trend in the market. Wi-Fi boosters are becoming more than just signal extenders; they are evolving into central hubs for smart home connectivity. Many modern Wi-Fi boosters now include features such as voice-activated assistants, IoT device control, and built-in security systems. This trend caters to the growing interest in smart homes, where users can manage various connected devices from a single point of control.



Wi-Fi Booster as a Service



The Wi-Fi booster as a service model is gaining ground, especially among internet service providers and telecommunications companies. Rather than selling standalone Wi-Fi boosters, some providers are including them as part of their service packages. This approach simplifies the process for customers by offering an all-in-one solution for internet connectivity, eliminating the need for separate purchases and installations.



Improved Security Features



Enhanced security features within Wi-Fi boosters are becoming a crucial market trend. With the increasing number of connected devices and the growing importance of data privacy and network security, users are seeking Wi-Fi boosters that provide robust protection. Some Wi-Fi boosters now include features like advanced firewall capabilities, automatic security updates, and built-in antivirus protections. These features help safeguard the network from potential threats and provide users with peace of mind.

Key Attributes:

Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 181 Forecast Period 2024 - 2029 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2024 $1.9 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2029 $3.53 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 10.7%

Competitive Landscape



Company Profiles: Detailed analysis of the major companies present in the Global Wi Fi Booster Market.

Netgear Inc.

TP-Link Technologies Co., Ltd.

D-Link Corporation

Belkin International, Inc.

Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

Cisco Systems, Inc.

Arris International plc

CommScope Inc.

Zyxel Group

ASUSTeK Computer Inc.

Report Scope:



Wi Fi Booster Market, By Type:

Indoor

Outdoor

Wi Fi Booster Market, By Services:

Support

Maintenance

Wi Fi Booster Market, By Solution:

Residential

Enterprise

Wi Fi Booster Market, By Region:

North America

United States

Canada

Mexico

Europe

France

United Kingdom

Italy

Germany

Spain

Belgium

Asia-Pacific

China

India

Japan

Australia

South Korea

Indonesia

Vietnam

South America

Brazil

Argentina

Colombia

Chile

Peru

Middle East Africa

South Africa

Saudi Arabia

UAE

Turkey

Israel

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/n476k8

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, May 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Automotive Filters Market by Filters Type (Air, Fuel, Oil, Cabin, Coolant, Brake Dust, Oil Separator, Transmission, Steering, EMI/EMC, Coolant, DPF, GPF, Urea), Vehicle Type, Electric & Hybrid Type, Aftermarket & Region - Forecast to 2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The global automotive filter market is projected to grow from USD 12.9 billion in 2024 to USD 14.6 billion by 2030 at a CAGR of 2.1%.

The global brake dust particle filter market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 24.5%. With increasing stringency in emission norms, the new standards also address particulate emissions from brakes and tires. For instance, Euro 7 regulations include provisions for addressing brake and tire dust emissions by setting limits on brake particle emissions for cars and vans, with specific limits of 7mg/km for Electric Vehicles (EVs) till 2025. Then, further, it should be reduced to 3 mg/km by 2035. Other than EU countries, benchmark EU regulations may also include these dust emissions in later years. This would further drive the demand for these brake and tire dust filters.



Secondly, with growing EV sales, the demand for new filter types like EMI filters and battery coolant filters is projected to increase in the coming years. Regions like China and Europe are aggressively moving towards electrification of vehicles. 22% of passenger cars sold in 2022 by China consisted of EVs and countries such as Norway and Netherlands are rapidly adopting electric vehicles over ICE vehicles. This will result in a growing market demand for EMI and battery coolant filters.





The Gasoline Particulate filters are the largest market in the fuel type segment



The gasoline particulate filter market holds the largest share in the fuel type segment. Countries are shifting from diesel vehicles to gasoline vehicles. For instance, in 2018, over half of all newly registered passenger cars in the EU were powered by petrol (56.7%, up from 50.3% in 2017), with diesel representing 35.9% of the market. In December 2023, the diesel car market in the EU continued its decline, shrinking by 9.1%. This reduction was observed across various significant markets, including three of the largest: Spain ( - 26.5%), France ( - 22.2%), and Italy ( - 19.7%). Meanwhile, the petrol car market in the EU expanded by 5.1%, with notable contributions from significant markets such as Italy (+24.9%) and Germany (+16.1%). The automotive industry also shifted from MPFI (Multiple Point Fuel Injection) to GDI (Gasoline Direct Injection) as GDI engines potentially produce lower emissions of certain pollutants like nitrogen oxides (NOx) due to cooler and more precise combustion.



GDI engines are prone to emit suit; hence, with the growing demand for GDI engines, the newer emission regulations account for gasoline particulate emissions. In accordance with European Emission Standards (Euro 6c), the particulate matter limit for vehicles equipped with Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) engines is set at 0.0045 grams per kilometer (g/km). Under the Euro 7 standard, regulations are established for particles exceeding 10 nanometers (PN10), indicating a broader scope encompassing smaller pollutants and a more comprehensive range of pollutant types. Hence, with growing demand for GDI engines and stringency in emission regulations, the demand for GPF is estimated to increase in passenger cars.



Europe is the second largest market for automotive filters



Europe is the second-largest market for automotive filters due to stringent emission regulations, a large automotive industry, and a vast aftermarket network. The European Union (EU) enforces some of the world's strictest emission regulations for vehicles, such as Euro 6 and the upcoming Euro 7, which will bring mandates for brake dust emission, creating the market for brake dust particle filters. These standards also mandate significant reductions in harmful pollutants like particulate matter (PM), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and hydrocarbons (HC) from vehicle exhaust. Europe is rapidly moving towards the electrification of vehicles; the EU aims to increase the presence of electric vehicles (EVs) from approximately 8 million to 40 million by 2030.



Norway leads with electric vehicles constituting 80% of passenger vehicle sales in 2022, followed by Iceland (41%), Sweden (32%), the Netherlands (24%), and China (22%), rounding out the top countries with the highest proportion of EV sales in Europe. Policy changes and decreasing battery costs will drive the extensive adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), resulting in battery-powered vehicles reaching price parity with internal combustion engine vehicles across all major car markets and segments by 2030. With the growing adoption of EVs, the demand for EMI and battery coolant filters will also rise.



EMI (Electromagnetic Interference) filters are necessary to mitigate the effects of electromagnetic interference on electronic components within battery systems. They help ensure the smooth operation and reliability of electric vehicle (EV) electronics by reducing or eliminating electromagnetic noise that can interfere with sensitive equipment. Battery coolant filters are essential components in EV battery systems to maintain the cleanliness and efficiency of the cooling system. They help prevent contaminants such as dirt, debris, and particles from entering the coolant, which could otherwise lead to clogging, corrosion, and reduced cooling performance.



Research Coverage



The study segments the automotive filters market by volume and value, based on region (Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, and Rest of the World (ROW), By ICE vehicles filter type (air filters, fuel filters, oil filters, cabin filters, brake dust filters, transmission filters, coolant filters, oil separators, urea filters, diesel particulate filters, crankcase ventilation filters, gasoline particulate filters, and steering filters), By media type (cellulose media and synthetic media), By fuel type (Gasoline fuel filters and diesel fuel filters), By material type (particle, activated carbon, and electrostatic), By ICE vehicle type (passenger cars, light commercial vehicles (LCV), trucks, and buses), by electric and hybrid vehicle type (BEV and PHEV), by off-highway equipment type (agricultural tractors and construction equipment) and by aftermarket filter type (air filters, fuel filters, oil filters, cabin filters, coolant filters, and transmission oil filters).



The study also includes an in-depth competitive analysis of the significant automotive filter manufacturers, their company profiles, key observations related to product and business offerings, recent developments, and key market strategies. The key players in the automotive filters market are MANN+HUMMEL (Germany), Donaldson Corporation (US), Robert Bosch GmbH (Germany), Denso Corporation (Japan), Parker Hannifin (US), Sogefi S.p.A (Italy), Cummins Inc. (US), MAHLE GmbH (Germany), Toyota Boshoku (Japan), and AHLSTROM-MUNKSJO (Sweden).

Premium Insights

Rise in Development of Filter Media and Luxury Vehicles to Drive Market

DPF Segment to Hold Largest Market Share During Forecast Period

Cellulose Media Segment to Dominate Market During Forecast Period

Activated Carbon Filters to Register Highest CAGR During Forecast Period

Gasoline Segment to Hold Dominant Market Share During Forecast Period

Passenger Car Segment to Command Largest Market Share During Forecast Period

BEV Segment to Hold Larger Market Share During Forecast Period

Cooling Air Particle Segment to Record Fastest CAGR During Forecast Period

Aftermarket Demand for Oil Filters to be Highest During Forecast Period

Agricultural Tractor to be Larger Segment of Off-Highway Vehicle Filters Market During Forecast Period

Transmission Oil Segment to Lead Off-Highway Vehicle Filters Market During Forecast Period

Asia-Pacific to Lead Automotive Filters Market in 2024

Market Dynamics

Drivers Increasing Number of Stringent Emission Regulations and Fuel Economy Norms Growing Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Sales Replacement Demand Created by Increasing Vehicle Parc and Miles Driven

Restraints Use of Washable/Non-Replaceable Filters to Restrain Aftermarket Demand Decreasing Sales of Oil and Fuel Filters

Opportunities Advancements in Filtration Media Technology

Challenges Availability of Local Products to Hinder Demand for OE Filters Fluctuating Raw Material Costs



Case Study Analysis

Donaldson Company, Inc.'s Solution to Ninatrans

Mann+Hummel Developed Air Filters for Clean Air

Donaldson Company, Inc. Developed Clean Solution Filters for Transaxle's Transmission Systems

Donaldson Powercore 4X4 Addressed 'Dusted Engines' Issue in Toyota Land Cruiser 200 Series

Key Attributes

Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 383 Forecast Period 2024-2030 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2024 $12.9 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2030 $14.6 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 2.1% Regions Covered Global

Companies Featured

Mann+Hummel

Donaldson Company, Inc.

Robert Bosch GmbH

Mahle GmbH

Sogefi SpA

DENSO Corporation

Ahlstrom

Toyota Boshoku Corporation

Parker Hannifin

Cummins Inc.

ADR Group

Lucas Tvs Limited

Hengst SE

K&N Engineering, Inc.

ACDelco

Dale Filter Systems

Freudenberg Group

Valeo

Filtran LLC

Fildex Filters

APC Filtration

A.L. Filter

Ibiden Co. Ltd.

UFI Filters

Alco Filters

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Attachment
MONTREAL, May 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aya Gold & Silver Inc. (TSX: AYA; OTCQX: AYASF) (Aya or the Corporation) is pleased to announce high-grade silver drill results from its at-depth drill exploration program at the Zgounder Silver Mine in the Kingdom of Morocco.

Key Highlights



(all intersections are in core lengths)

In the Central Zone from the 1,950m level: hole ZG-SF-24-107 intercepted 1,459 grams per tonne (g/t) silver (Ag) over 5.5 meters (m), including 3,086 g/t Ag over 2.5m

In the Western Zone from the 2,000m level: hole DZG-SF-24-018 intercepted 902 g/t Ag over 11.0m, including 1,453 g/t Ag over 6.5m hole DZG-SF-24-025 intercepted 1,548 g/t Ag over 4.0m, including 5,794 g/t Ag over 1.0m

In the Eastern Zone from the 2,075m level: hole T28-24-2075-122 intercepted 1,458 g/t Ag over 9.6m, including 2,804 g/t Ag over 4.8m hole T28-24-2075-123 intercepted 2,055 g/t Ag over 4.8m, including 3,924 g/t Ag over 2.4m

In the Central Zone from the 1,950m level: hole YAKD-24-1950-015 intercepted 465 g/t Ag over 20.4m, including 1,393 g/t Ag over 3.6m

Exploration holes near the granite contact: ZG-SF-23-076 intercepted 594 g/t Ag over 3.0m ZG-SF-24-096 intercepted 780 g/t Ag over 2.0m ZG-SF-24-102 intercepted 524 g/t Ag over 3.0m ZG-SF-24-110 intercepted 375 g/t Ag over 7.5m and 1,108 g/t Ag over 1.5m ZG-SF-24-115 intercepted 1,177 g/t Ag over 1.5m



9,900m of the 2024 underground exploration program drilled year to date



Todays high-grade drill results including holes DZG-SF-24-018 and DZG-SF-24-025 continue to confirm high-grade continuity of silver mineralization at Zgounder, said Benoit La Salle, President & CEO. Furthermore, we are pleased with the new silver rich intercepts near the granite contact, demonstrating strong resource potential at depth at Zgounder. We currently have four underground rigs turning and expect more significant drill results in the coming months.

Included in this release are results for 176 holes, which include 52 underground Diamond Drill Holes (DDH), 8 surface DDH, 100 T28 and 16 YAK holes (T28 and YAK: percussion drilling using an air-compressed hammer). For a full summary of todays results, refer to Appendix 1.

Table 1  Significant Intercepts from Drilling at Zgounder (core lengths)

HOLE ID

From To Ag

(g/t) Length

(m)* Ag x width Underground DDH ZG-SF-23-076 288.0 291.0 594 3.0 1,782 ZG-SF-24-096 264.0 266.0 780 2.0 1,560 ZG-SF-24-102 124.0 127.0 524 3.0 1,572 ZG-SF-24-107 100.0 105.5 1,459 5.5 8,022 Including 100.0 102.5 3,086 2.5 7,714 ZG-SF-24-108 67.7 70.7 1,292 3.0 3,876 ZG-SF-24-110 82.0 89.5 375 7.5 2,816 Including 86.5 87.5 2,112 1.0 2,112 ZG-SF-24-110 93.5 95.0 1,108 1.5 1,662 ZG-SF-24-115 164.0 165.5 1,177 1.5 1,766 DZG-SF-24-016 0.0 33.5 180 33.5 6,018 Including 28.5 31.5 607 3.0 1,820 DZG-SF-24-017 63.0 67.0 442 4.0 1,769 DZG-SF-24-018 10.5 21.5 902 11.0 9,924 Including 14.0 20.5 1,453 6.5 9,442 DZG-SF-24-021 1.0 5.0 953 4.0 3,810 Including 2.0 3.5 2,296 1.5 3,444 DZG-SF-24-025 28.5 32.5 1,548 4.0 6,190 Including 31.5 32.5 5,794 1.0 5,794 DZG-SF-24-029 28.5 37.5 184 9.0 1,656 DZG-SF-24-037 61.0 67.0 635 6.0 3,810 Underground T28 TD28-24-1950-032 0.0 4.8 972 4.8 4,664 TD28-24-1975-073 10.8 14.4 1,008 3.6 3,629 TD28-24-1975-075 13.2 15.6 662 2.4 1,588 TD28-24-2075-122 0.0 9.6 1,458 9.6 14,000 Including 0.0 4.8 2,804 4.8 13,458 TD28-24-2075-123 0.0 4.8 2,055 4.8 9,864 Including 0.0 2.4 3,924 2.4 9,418 Underground YAK YAKD-24-1950-005 28.8 33.6 345 4.8 1,656 YAKD-24-1950-013 25.2 31.2 365 6.0 2,192 YAKD-24-1950-014 34.8 45.6 416 10.8 4,496 Including 37.2 39.6 1,212 2.4 2,909 YAKD-24-1950-015 28.8 49.2 465 20.4 9,478 Including 33.6 37.2 1,393 3.6 5,014 YAKD-24-1950-021 30.0 34.8 337 4.8 1,618



Figure 1: Location of Drill Results at Zgounder

Quality Assurance

For core drilling, all individual samples represent approximately one meter in length of core, which is halved. Half of the core is kept on site for reference, and its counterpart is sent for preparation and assaying to African Laboratory for Mining and Environment (Afrilab) in Marrakech, Morocco. All samples are analyzed for silver, copper, iron, lead, and zinc using Aqua regia and finished by atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). Samples grading above 200 g/t Ag are reanalyzed using fire assaying.

For definition drilling using T28 drilling equipment, all individual samples represent 1.2m in length. Samples are assayed at either the Zgounder Mine laboratory or at Afrilab. At Afrilab, all samples are analyzed for silver, copper, iron, lead, and zinc using Aqua regia and finished by AAS. Samples grading above 200 g/t Ag are reanalyzed using fire assaying. At ZMSM, all samples are analyzed for silver only using Aqua regia and finished by AAS. Rigorous quality controls (QaQc) are applied at both locations.

David Lalonde, B.Sc. P. Geo, Head of Exploration, is Aya Gold & Silvers Qualified Person and has reviewed this press release for accuracy and compliance with National Instrument 43-101.

Q1-2024 Results and Conference Call

The Corporation will release its Q1-2024 financial and operational results on May 15, 2024 before market-open.

Management will host a conference call on the same day, Wednesday, May 15, 2024, at 10 am EDT to discuss the results.

Webcast link: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/krs2wcnf/

Instructions for obtaining conference call dial-in numbers:

All parties must register on the link below to participate in the conference call. Register by clicking https://register.vevent.com/register/BIdb50bb18cbe144dba57e964fae5acbb6 and completing the online registration form. Once registered, you will receive the dial-in numbers and PIN number for input at the time of the call.



The live webcast will be archived and will be available for replay. Presentation slides that will accompany the conference call will also be posted on Ayas website.

About Aya Gold & Silver Inc.

Aya Gold & Silver Inc. is a rapidly growing, Canada-based silver producer with operations in the Kingdom of Morocco.

The only TSX-listed pure silver mining company, Aya operates the high-grade Zgounder Silver Mine and is exploring its properties along the prospective South-Atlas Fault, several of which have hosted past-producing mines and historical resources. Ayas Moroccan mining assets are complemented by its Tijirit Gold Project in Mauritania, which is being advanced to feasibility.

Ayas management team has been focused on maximising shareholder value by anchoring sustainability at the heart of its operations, governance, and financial growth plans.

For additional information, please visit Ayas website at www.ayagoldsilver.com.

Or contact

Benoit La Salle, FCPA, MBA

President & CEO

Benoit.lasalle@ayagoldsilver.com

Alex Ball

VP, Corporate Development & IR

alex.ball@ayagoldsilver.com



Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain statements that constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws (forward-looking statements), which reflects managements expectations regarding Ayas future growth and business prospects (including the timing and development of new deposits and the success of exploration activities) and other opportunities. Wherever possible, words such as validate, confirm, potential, expect, continue, objective, expand, ,and similar expressions or statements that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might, will, or are likely to be taken, occur or be achieved, have been used to identify such forward-looking information. Specific forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements and information with respect to the exploration and development potential of Zgounder in particular the nature of the deposit as it hits the granite and the continuation of down-plunge extensions, the conversion of Inferred Mineral Resources into Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources and future opportunities for enhancing development at Zgounder including the possible expansion of the mineral resource at depth. Although the forward-looking information contained in this press release reflect managements current beliefs based upon information currently available to management and based upon what management believes to be reasonable assumptions, Aya cannot be certain that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking information. Such forward-looking statements are based upon assumptions, opinions and analysis made by management in light of its experience, current conditions, and its expectations of future developments that management believe to be reasonable and relevant but that may prove to be incorrect. These assumptions include, among other things, the ability to obtain any requisite governmental approvals, obtaining regulatory permits for on-site work, importing goods and machinery and employment permits, the accuracy of Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource Estimates (including, but not limited to, ore tonnage and ore grade estimates), the price of silver, the price of gold, exchange rates, fuel and energy costs, future economic conditions, anticipated future estimates of free cash flow, and courses of action. Aya cautions you not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements.

The risks and uncertainties that may affect forward-looking statements include, among others: the inherent risks involved in exploration and development of mineral properties, including government approvals and permitting, changes in economic conditions, changes in the worldwide price of silver gold and other key inputs, changes in mine plans (including, but not limited to, throughput and recoveries being affected by metallurgical characteristics) and other factors, such as project execution delays, many of which are beyond the control of Aya, as well as other risks and uncertainties which are more fully described in Ayas 2023 Annual Information Form dated March 28, 2024, and in other filings of Aya with securities and regulatory authorities which are available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. Aya does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements should assumptions related to these plans, estimates, projections, beliefs, and opinions change. Nothing in this document should be construed as either an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy or sell Aya securities. All references to Aya include its subsidiaries unless the context requires otherwise.

Appendix 1 - Mineral Intercepts from Drilling at Zgounder (core lengths)

HOLE ID From

To Ag

(g/t) Length

(m)* Ag x width Underground DDH ZG-SF-23-076 288.0 291.0 594 3.0 1,782 ZG-SF-24-091 204.0 205.5 200 1.5 300 ZG-SF-24-091 214.5 216.0 192 1.5 288 ZG-SF-24-091 246.0 247.0 82 1.0 82 ZG-SF-24-091 251.5 253.0 152 1.5 228 ZG-SF-24-096 219.0 220.0 136 1.0 136 ZG-SF-24-096 264.0 266.0 780 2.0 1,560 ZG-SF-24-097 72.0 78.5 188 6.5 1,222 ZG-SF-24-098 36.0 37.5 76 1.5 114 ZG-SF-24-098 102.0 102.5 1,004 0.5 502 ZG-SF-24-100 109.0 110.5 576 1.5 864 ZG-SF-24-100 130.5 133.5 338 3.0 1,014 ZG-SF-24-101 57.5 62.0 186 4.5 835 ZG-SF-24-101 67.5 69.0 93 1.5 139 ZG-SF-24-102 124.0 127.0 524 3.0 1,572 ZG-SF-24-107 100.0 105.5 1,459 5.5 8,022 Including 100.0 102.5 3,086 2.5 7,714 ZG-SF-24-107 109.5 111.0 484 1.5 726 ZG-SF-24-108 67.7 70.7 1,292 3.0 3,876 ZG-SF-24-110 82.0 89.5 375 7.5 2,816 Including 86.5 87.5 2,112 1.0 2,112 ZG-SF-24-110 93.5 95.0 1,108 1.5 1,662 ZG-SF-24-115 164.0 165.5 1,177 1.5 1,766 ZG-SF-24-115 190.0 191.5 184 1.5 276 DZG-SF-24-011 50.0 52.5 398 2.5 994 DZG-SF-24-014 40.5 42.0 104 1.5 156 DZG-SF-24-014 46.5 49.5 98 3.0 294 DZG-SF-24-014 58.5 61.0 131 2.5 328 DZG-SF-24-016 0.0 33.5 180 33.5 6,018 Including 28.5 31.5 607 3.0 1,820 DZG-SF-24-017 57.0 59.0 98 2.0 196 DZG-SF-24-017 63.0 67.0 442 4.0 1,769 Including 63.0 64.5 917 1.5 1,376 DZG-SF-24-018 1.0 4.0 491 3.0 1,472 DZG-SF-24-018 10.5 21.5 902 11.0 9,924 Including 14.0 20.5 1,453 6.5 9,442 DZG-SF-24-019 0.0 4.0 284 4.0 1,136 DZG-SF-24-019 14.0 20.0 127 6.0 762 DZG-SF-24-021 1.0 5.0 953 4.0 3,810 Including 2.0 3.5 2,296 1.5 3,444 DZG-SF-24-021 12.0 13.0 168 1.0 168 DZG-SF-24-022 31.0 32.5 100 1.5 150 DZG-SF-24-022 34.0 38.5 116 4.5 522 DZG-SF-24-022 41.5 43.0 84 1.5 126 DZG-SF-24-023 45.5 46.5 528 1.0 528 DZG-SF-24-023 60.5 61.5 88 1.0 88 DZG-SF-24-024 36.0 37.5 176 1.5 264 DZG-SF-24-024 48.0 49.5 84 1.5 126 DZG-SF-24-025 6.0 7.5 124 1.5 186 DZG-SF-24-025 28.5 32.5 1,548 4.0 6,190 Including 31.5 32.5 5,794 1.0 5,794 DZG-SF-24-025 41.5 47.5 85 6.0 507 DZG-SF-24-026 22.5 24.0 100 1.5 150 DZG-SF-24-027 16.5 17.5 120 1.0 120 DZG-SF-24-027 32.5 35.5 86 3.0 258 DZG-SF-24-027 47.5 49.0 224 1.5 336 DZG-SF-24-028 37.0 38.5 96 1.5 144 DZG-SF-24-029 28.5 37.5 184 9.0 1,656 DZG-SF-24-031 48.0 49.0 96 1.0 96 DZG-SF-24-033 0.0 3.0 277 3.0 832 DZG-SF-24-033 14.5 16.0 84 1.5 126 DZG-SF-24-033 19.0 22.0 128 3.0 384 DZG-SF-24-034 14.5 15.5 132 1.0 132 DZG-SF-24-034 83.0 84.0 120 1.0 120 DZG-SF-24-037 61.0 67.0 635 6.0 3,810 DZG-SF-24-037 73.0 74.5 128 1.5 192 DZG-SF-24-039 0.0 1.0 908 1.0 908 DZG-SF-24-039 7.0 8.5 148 1.5 222 DZG-SF-24-039 14.5 16.0 84 1.5 126 DZG-SF-24-039 20.0 21.0 144 1.0 144 DZG-SF-24-039 39.0 40.5 644 1.5 966 DZG-SF-24-040 84.0 85.0 92 1.0 92 DZG-SF-24-040 89.0 90.5 164 1.5 246 DZG-SF-24-041 79.0 80.0 264 1.0 264 Underground T28 TD28-24-1950-032 0.0 4.8 972 4.8 4,664 TD28-24-1950-032 22.8 24.0 473 1.2 568 TD28-24-1975-046 3.6 4.8 154 1.2 185 TD28-24-1975-048 6.0 8.4 91 2.4 218 TD28-24-1975-048 22.8 25.2 349 2.4 838 TD28-24-1975-049 3.6 7.2 236 3.6 851 TD28-24-1975-049 20.4 21.6 93 1.2 112 TD28-24-1975-050 16.8 18.0 205 1.2 246 TD28-24-1975-073 10.8 14.4 1,008 3.6 3,629 TD28-24-1975-075 13.2 15.6 662 2.4 1,588 TD28-24-1975-077 14.4 19.2 178 4.8 854 TD28-24-1975-081 15.6 16.8 430 1.2 516 TD28-24-1975-087 7.2 8.4 87 1.2 104 TD28-24-2000-059 4.8 6.0 269 1.2 323 TD28-24-2000-061 0.0 2.4 106 2.4 253 TD28-24-2000-068 10.8 14.4 143 3.6 516 TD28-24-2000-068 21.6 24.0 98 2.4 234 TD28-24-2000-070 0.0 4.8 154 4.8 737 TD28-24-2075-120 0.0 4.8 224 4.8 1,073 TD28-24-2075-122 0.0 9.6 1,458 9.6 14,000 Including 0.0 4.8 2,804 4.8 13,458 TD28-24-2075-123 0.0 4.8 2,055 4.8 9,864 Including 0.0 2.4 3,924 2.4 9,418 TD28-24-2075-124 0.0 2.4 238 2.4 570 TD28-24-2075-125 1.2 2.4 85 1.2 102 TD28-24-2100-099 6.0 8.4 229 2.4 548 TD28-24-2100-110 0.0 2.4 342 2.4 820 Underground YAK YAKD-24-1950-005 28.8 33.6 345 4.8 1,656 Including 28.8 30.0 1,140 1.2 1,368 YAKD-24-1950-005 40.8 42.0 146 1.2 175 YAKD-24-1950-006 27.6 31.2 154 3.6 553 YAKD-24-1950-006 40.8 42.0 104 1.2 125 YAKD-24-1950-007 44.4 46.8 242 2.4 581 YAKD-24-1950-008 10.8 18.0 152 7.2 1,096 YAKD-24-1950-012 38.4 42.0 407 3.6 1,464 YAKD-24-1950-013 25.2 31.2 365 6.0 2,192 YAKD-24-1950-014 26.4 28.8 259 2.4 620 YAKD-24-1950-014 34.8 45.6 416 10.8 4,496 Including 37.2 39.6 1,212 2.4 2,909 YAKD-24-1950-015 13.2 14.4 110 1.2 132 YAKD-24-1950-015 28.8 49.2 465 20.4 9,478 Including 33.6 37.2 1,393 3.6 5,014 YAKD-24-1950-021 30.0 34.8 337 4.8 1,618 YAKD-24-1950-021 42.0 43.2 80 1.2 96 YAKD-24-1950-021 44.4 45.6 137 1.2 164 YAKD-24-1950-022 16.8 18.0 76 1.2 91 YAKD-24-1950-022 20.4 21.6 93 1.2 112 YAKD-24-1950-023 24.0 25.2 142 1.2 170 YAKD-24-1950-024 27.6 32.4 298 4.8 1,428

1 Holes were drilled at various angles; true widths are not known at this time.

2 All assay results are above the cut-off grade of 75 g/t Ag

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/330f681c-6453-405c-a1cb-fe1b172f86a6
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- West Red Lake Gold Mines Ltd. (West Red Lake Gold or WRLG or the Company) (TSXV: WRLG) (OTCQB: WRLGF) is pleased to report on progress of its ongoing Madsen mill cleanup and gold recovery program (the Gold Recovery Program) at its 100% owned Madsen Mine located in the Red Lake Gold District of Northwestern Ontario, Canada.

The Company carried out a preliminary phase of the Gold Recovery Program in late 2023 that recovered 415 troy ounces (oz) of gold (Au) with proceeds of approximately $750,000.

Based on the significant amount of gold recovered during the initial investigation, a second and more comprehensive phase of the Gold Recovery Program was initiated in early 2024 with a focus on the ball mills and the semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) mills. The SAG mills are the primary or first stage grinder for material entering the mill, which is then followed by the secondary ball mills. Photographs of sample material being recovered from the mills are below in Figures 1 and 2.

It is anticipated that the Company may recover at least 2,500 oz Au from the clean up.

As part of the second phase of the Gold Recovery Program, the Company has engaged a firm in February 2024 which specializes in gold mill cleanup and recovery. The Gold Recovery Program is expected to be completed by the end of May 2024.

Shane Williams, President & CEO, stated, Less than a year after acquiring the Madsen Mine, we are already seeing real value being uncovered from this asset. Our immediate focus has been recovering gold throughout the Madsen processing plant with our second cleanup program nearing completion. With gold prices over US$2,300/oz, this material could be a potential one-off source of cash flow during 2024.

It was known that the previous operator had reconciliation issues between the mined ore and the milled ore at the Madsen Mine.

After finding substantial gold locked up in the circuits during the preliminary phase of the Gold Recovery Program, the Company launched a thorough technical investigation of the mill and mill workings to understand the degree to which this contributed to the previous operators reconciliation issues.

In certain locations on site, installation errors had created sizeable gold traps, resulting in a notable amount of gold remaining in these physical gold traps instead of making it through the mill. Gold was found physically trapped in ill-fitting liners in the ball mill, in the SAG mills and in uncleaned filters, all of which certainly would have impacted the previous operators reconciliation issues.

The WRLG Madsen Mine team is making adjustments to the mill workings and processes to ensure that similar loss will not be repeated.

The Company looks forward to reporting the total amount of gold recovered on completion of the Gold Recovery Program.





FIGURE 1. Photograph of sample concentrate material with coarse visible gold collected as part of the cleanup program.





FIGURE 2. Photograph of material to be processed from the mill cleanup program.

QUALITY ASSURANCE/QUALITY CONTROL

The Madsen Mine deposit presently hosts a National Instrument 43-101  Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101) Indicated resource of 1.65 million ounces (Moz) of gold grading 7.4 g/t Au and an Inferred resource of 0.37 Moz of gold grading 6.3 g/t Au. Mineral resources are estimated at a cut-off grade of 3.38 g/t Au and a gold price of US1,800/oz. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Please refer to the technical report entitled Independent NI 43-101 Technical Report and Updated Mineral Resource Estimate for the PureGold Mine, Canada, prepared by SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc. and dated June 16, 2023, and amended April 24, 2024 (the Madsen Report). The Madsen Resource Estimate has an effective date of December 31, 2021 and excludes depletion of mining activity during the period from January 1, 2022 to the mine closure on October 24, 2022 as it has been deemed immaterial and not relevant for the purpose of the Madsen Report. A full copy of the Madsen Report is available on the Companys website and on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca .

The technical information presented in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Will Robinson, P.Geo., Vice President of Exploration for West Red Lake Gold and the Qualified Person for exploration at the West Red Lake Project, as defined by NI 43-101.

ABOUT WEST RED LAKE GOLD MINES

West Red Lake Gold Mines Ltd. is a mineral exploration company that is publicly traded and focused on advancing and developing its flagship Madsen Gold Mine and the associated 47 km2 highly prospective land package in the Red Lake district of Ontario. The highly productive Red Lake Gold District of Northwest Ontario, Canada has yielded over 30 million ounces of gold from high-grade zones and hosts some of the world's richest gold deposits. WRLG also holds the wholly owned Rowan Property in Red Lake, with an expansive property position covering 31 km2 including three past producing gold mines - Rowan, Mount Jamie, and Red Summit.

ON BEHALF OF WEST RED LAKE GOLD MINES LTD.

Shane Williams

Shane Williams

President & Chief Executive Officer

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Freddie Leigh

Tel: (604) 609-6132

Email: investors@westredlakegold.com or visit the Companys website at https://www.westredlakegold.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 INFORMATION

Certain statements contained in this news release may constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information generally can be identified by words such as anticipate, expect, estimate, forecast, planned, and similar expressions suggesting future outcomes or events. Forward-looking information is based on current expectations of management; however, it is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking information in this news release and include without limitation, statements relating to the potential of the Madsen Mine and Rowan; any untapped growth potential in the Madsen deposit or the Rowan deposit; the results of further cleanup and recovery at the Madsen Mine; the Companys intention to establish additional drilling platforms; and the Companys future objectives and plans. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

Forwardlooking information involve numerous risks and uncertainties and actual results might differ materially from results suggested in any forward-looking information. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, market volatility; the state of the financial markets for the Companys securities; fluctuations in commodity prices; timing and results of the cleanup and recovery at the Madsen Mine; and changes in the Companys business plans. Forward-looking information is based on a number of key expectations and assumptions, including without limitation, that the Company will continue with its stated business objectives and its ability to raise additional capital to proceed. Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. Additional information about risks and uncertainties is contained in the Companys managements discussion and analysis for the year ended November 30, 2023, and the Companys annual information form for the year ended November 30, 2023, copies of which are available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.

The forward-looking information contained herein is expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement. Forward-looking information reflects management's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to the Company. The forward-looking information is made as of the date of this news release and the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise such information to reflect new events or circumstances, except as may be required by applicable law.

For more information on the Company, investors should review the Companys continuous disclosure filings that are available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca .

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9349c16e-4e22-40cd-bf7b-8e1d8aca76a5

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f071c632-b34a-4754-a792-15b608eb6cce

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/90c9c994-1324-4636-be21-307c0d17a0b9
Dublin, May 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Cardiovascular Ultrasound Systems - Global Strategic Business Report" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The global market for Cardiovascular Ultrasound Systems estimated at US$1.4 Billion in the year 2023, is projected to reach a revised size of US$2 Billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 4.6% over the analysis period 2023-2030. Stress Echocardiogram, one of the segments analyzed in the report, is expected to record 5.3% CAGR and reach US$936.5 Million by the end of the analysis period. Growth in the Transthoracic Echocardiogram segment is estimated at 3.6% CAGR for the next 8-year period.

The cardiac ultrasound systems market is experiencing growth propelled by the rising prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and related mortality rates globally. This trend is particularly notable in developing economies where cardiovascular disease prevalence is increasing rapidly, creating significant growth potential for the market. The aging global population, especially those aged 60 and above, further contributes to the favorable outlook for cardiac ultrasound systems, with statistics indicating a rising trend in this demographic across various geographic regions. Innovations and advancements, such as the integration of AI technology and the emergence of strain echocardiography, are beginning to reshape the landscape of the cardiac ultrasound systems market, indicating promising developments in the field.





The Cardiovascular Ultrasound Systems market in the U.S. is estimated at US$423.3 Million in the year 2023. China, the world's second largest economy, is forecast to reach a projected market size of US$357.6 Million by the year 2030 trailing a CAGR of 4.2% over the analysis period 2023 to 2030. Among the other noteworthy geographic markets are Japan and Canada, each forecast to grow at 4.1% and 3.7% respectively over the 2023-2030 period. Within Europe, Germany is forecast to grow at approximately 3.4% CAGR.

Report Features

Full access to influencer engagement stats

Access to digital archives & research platform. The proprietary platform is fully enabled to unlock creativity and market knowledge of domain experts worldwide in a cohesive and collaborative manner. The state-of-art tools bring world class market perspectives while protecting participants` privacy and identity. Numbers, statistics and market narrative in the report are based on fully curated insights shared by domain experts and influencers in this space.

Opportunity to engage with interactive questionnaires that come with real-time data simulator tools & bespoke report generation capabilities

Full client access to peer collaborative and interactive platform for cross-enterprise smart exchange of ideas

Complimentary report updates for one year

Competitor coverage with global market shares of major players

Player market presence analysis (Strong/Active/Niche/Trivial) across multiple geographies

Access to curated YouTube video transcripts of domain experts/influencer interviews, podcasts, press statements and event keynotes

Select Competitors (Total 13 Featured)

Chison Medical Imaging Co. Ltd.

Esaote SpA

FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation

GE Healthcare

Hitachi Medical Corporation

Mindray Medical International Ltd.

Philips Healthcare

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.

Siemens Healthineers

Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation

Key Attributes

Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 182 Forecast Period 2023-2030 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2023 $1.4 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2030 $2 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 4.6% Regions Covered Global

Key Topics Covered



I. METHODOLOGY



II. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY



1. MARKET OVERVIEW

Influencer Market Insights

World Market Trajectories

Cardiovascular Ultrasound System Market: Prelude

Cardiovascular Ultrasound Systems - Global Key Competitors Percentage Market Share in 2022 (E)

Competitive Market Presence - Strong/Active/Niche/Trivial for Players Worldwide in 2022 (E)

Global Economic Update

2. FOCUS ON SELECT PLAYERS



3. MARKET TRENDS & DRIVERS

Rising Prevalence of Cardiovascular Diseases and Related Mortality Rates Fuel Growth in the Cardiac Ultrasound Systems Market

Leading Causes of Mortality Worldwide: Number of Deaths in Millions by Cause for 2016

Leading Causes of Mortality in Low Income Countries: Number of Deaths in Millions by Cause for 2016

Leading Causes of Mortality in High Income Countries: Number of Deaths in Millions by Cause for 2016

Global Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery Market: Revenues in US$ Billion for the Years 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2023

Global Cardiac Surgery Market: Breakdown of Revenues by Region for 2019

Aging Global Population at High Risk of Cardiac Illnesses Present Favorable Outlook for Cardiac Ultrasound Systems Market

Global 60+ Population by Gender and Geographic Region for the Years 2015, 2020, 2025, 2030, 2035 and 2040

Top Countries with Highest Proportion of 60+ Population for the Years 1980, 2019 and 2050

Portable Cardiology Ultrasound Systems Market: An Overview

As Cardiovascular Disease Prevalence Increases at a Strong Rate in Developing Economies, Growth Potential Exists for Cardiac Ultrasound Systems Market

Innovations & Advancements

AI Technology Begins to Influence Cardiac Ultrasound Systems Market

Strain Echocardiography to Transform Cardiac Ultrasound Market

Product Overview

Cardiac Ultrasound/Echocardiogram

Cardiovascular Ultrasound System

Types of Echocardiograms

4. GLOBAL MARKET PERSPECTIVE

III. MARKET ANALYSIS



IV. COMPETITION



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/zh5mdr

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
ZERO SUGAR: fastest growing energy drink segment in Quebec 1 and the US 2 as more consumers seek low-calorie, sugar-free energy drinks.



METABOLISM BOOST: EGCG and catechins, a form of green tea polyphenols, are clinically studied for their potent antioxidant effects and metabolism boosting when combined with caffeine. This metabolism boost helps burn more calories and convert energy faster to support active lifestyles and improved physical performance.

Initial launch in retail stores in Quebec and online in Canada, on Amazon and on www.guruenergy.com .

GURU Zero Wild Berry will also be featured in activations supporting Jay Du Temples FIN Canadian tour from May 4 to July 19.

MONTREAL, May 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GURU Organic Energy Corp. (TSX: GURU) (GURU or the Company), Canadas leading organic energy drink brand1, today announced the official launch of its new ZERO SUGAR category, starting with its mesmerizing GURU Zero Wild Berry.

Carl Goyette, President and CEO of GURU stated: With the new GURU Zero line, we're targeting a new, fast-growing trend of consumers who are looking for energy drinks that can boost their metabolism without compromise: ZERO SUGAR, ZERO SUCRALOSE, ZERO ASPARTAME AND ZERO ARTIFICIAL INGREDIENTS. Through our leading-edge R&D capabilities, GURU has once again hit the mark with another great tasting natural energy drink with a new functionality that supports active lifestyles and improved physical performance.

This initial launch of GURU Zero to Quebec retailers and Canadian online platforms will be supported by a comprehensive marketing campaign, which will include in-store promotions and activations, combined with high-impact in-store displays, all supported by a strategy of digital media placements, social media content and influencers, as well as special events.

GURU Zero Wild Berry

GURU Zero Wild Berry is made from a unique blend of natural ingredients that help BOOST METABOLISM.

WILD ON TASTE, ZERO ON SUGAR: With zero sugar, zero artificial flavors and the rich taste of wild berries, consumers can let their awakened energy run wild with absolutely zero regrets.

NATURAL ENERGY THAT LASTS: GURU Zero is packed with 140 mg of natural caffeine.

METABOLISM BOOST: The combination of caffeine, EGCG and catechins, a form of green tea polyphenols, has been clinically studied to boost metabolism, help burn more calories and convert energy faster to support active lifestyles and improved physical performance.

GURU Zero is a major R&D breakthrough for us, said Luc Martin-Privat, PharmD, GURU's Brewmaster and Vice President of R&D and Innovation. After years of dedicated research, we are proud to present this premium organic sugar-free energy drink with metabolism-boosting functionalities and unparalleled taste. We've triumphed in harnessing our unique zero-sugar formula to deliver a taste sensation that we believe will delight every palate. We're also working on adding more delicious flavors to complete this new zero sugar product line.

About GURU Products

GURU energy drinks are made from a short list of plant-based active ingredients, including natural caffeine, with zero sucralose and zero aspartame. These carefully sourced ingredients are crafted into unique blends that push your body to go further and your mind to be sharper.

About GURU Organic Energy

GURU Organic Energy Corp. (TSX: GURU) is a dynamic, fast-growing beverage company that launched the worlds first natural, plant-based energy drink in 1999. The Company markets organic energy drinks in Canada and the United States through an estimated distribution network of about 25,000 points of sale, and through www.guruenergy.com and Amazon. GURU has built an inspiring brand with a clean list of organic ingredients, including natural caffeine, with zero sucralose and zero aspartame, which offer consumers Good Energy that never comes at the expense of their health. The Company is committed to achieving its mission of cleaning the energy drink industry in Canada and the United States. For more information, go to www.guruenergy.com or follow us @guruenergydrink on Instagram, @guruenergy on Facebook and @guruenergydrink on TikTok.

1 Nielsen: 52-week period ended January 27, 2024, All Channels, Canada vs. the same period a year ago.

2 SPINS data: 52-week period ended December 2, 2023.

For further information, please contact:

GURU Organic Energy

Investors

Carl Goyette, President and CEO

Ingy Sarraf, Chief Financial Officer

514-845-4878

investors@guruenergy.com

Media

Lyla Radmanovich

PELICAN PR

514-845-8763

media@rppelican.ca Francois Kalos francois.kalos@guruenergy.com

Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Such forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, information with respect to the Companys objectives and the strategies to achieve these objectives, as well as information with respect to managements beliefs, plans, expectations, anticipations, estimates and intentions. This forward-looking information is identified by the use of terms and phrases such as may, would, should, could, expect, intend, estimate, anticipate, plan, believe or continue, the negative of these terms and similar terminology, including references to assumptions, although not all forward-looking information contains these terms and phrases. Forward-looking information is provided for the purposes of assisting the reader in understanding the Company and its business, operations, prospects and risks at a point in time in the context of historical and possible future developments and therefore the reader is cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. Forward-looking information is based upon a number of assumptions and is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond managements control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those that are disclosed in or implied by such forward-looking information. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following risk factors, which are discussed in greater detail under the RISK FACTORS section of the annual information form for the year ended October 31, 2023: management of growth; reliance on key personnel; reliance on key customers; changes in consumer preferences; significant changes in government regulation; criticism of energy drink products and/or the energy drink market; economic downturn and continued uncertainty in the financial markets and other adverse changes in general economic or political conditions, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and geopolitical developments, global inflationary pressure or other major macroeconomic phenomena; global or regional catastrophic events; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; inflation; revenues derived entirely from energy drinks; increased competition; relationships with co-packers and distributors and/or their ability to manufacture and/or distribute GURUs products; seasonality; relationships with existing customers; changing retail landscape; increases in costs and/or shortages of raw materials and/or ingredients and/or fuel and/or costs of co-packing; failure to accurately estimate demand for its products; history of negative cash flow and no assurance of continued profitability or positive EBITDA; repurchase of common shares; intellectual property rights; maintenance of brand image or product quality; retention of the full-time services of senior management; climate change; litigation; information technology systems; fluctuation of quarterly operating results; risks associated with the PepsiCo distribution agreement; accounting treatment of the PepsiCo Warrants; conflicts of interest; consolidation of retailers, wholesalers and distributors and key players dominant position; compliance with data privacy and personal data protection laws; management of new product launches; review of regulations on advertising claims, as well as those other risks factors identified in other public materials, including those filed with Canadian securities regulatory authorities from time to time and which are available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to management or that management currently deems to be immaterial could also cause actual results to differ materially from those that are disclosed in or implied by such forward-looking information. Although the forward-looking information contained herein is based upon what management believes are reasonable assumptions as at the date they were made, investors are cautioned against placing undue reliance on these statements since actual results may vary from the forward-looking information. Certain assumptions were made in preparing the forward-looking information concerning availability of capital resources, business performance, market conditions, and customer demand. Consequently, all of the forward-looking information contained herein is qualified by the foregoing cautionary statements, and there can be no guarantee that the results or developments that management anticipates will be realized or, even if substantially realized, that they will have the expected consequences or effects on the business, financial condition, or results of operation. Unless otherwise noted or the context otherwise indicates, the forward-looking information contained herein is provided as of the date hereof, and management does not undertake to update or amend such forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable law.

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/fc305c88-ffa0-4e44-b175-bdbf718ca76d

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/24fc743f-5e96-4527-8fc4-30020bf08593
Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company  Masdar has signed a deal with Bapco Energies of Bahrain to jointly explore the development and investment in wind projects in the kingdom with a capacity of up to 2 gigawatts (GW).

Marking a strategic entry into the Bahrain market for the UAEs clean energy champion, the agreement for near-shore and offshore wind farms is Masdars first project of its kind in the region.

At up to 2GW, this clean energy collaboration will support Bahrain to accelerate the decarbonisation of critical industrial sectors and open avenues to develop new markets. Bahrain aims to reduce emissions by 30% by 2035 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2060, as outlined in its National Energy Strategy.

Track record

Masdar Chief Executive Officer, Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, said: As a global clean energy pioneer, Masdar will utilise its well-established expertise and track record in delivering wind energy projects globally, both onshore and offshore. It is a privilege to be supporting Bahrain to achieve its net zero ambitions and power a more sustainable future.

Bapco Energies Group Chief Executive Officer, Mark Thomas, said: Today marks a significant milestone in Bapco Energies pathway towards sustainable energy development. Our partnership with Masdar demonstrates our commitment towards diversifying Bahrains energy mix to include cleaner energy sources, underscoring our role as leaders in renewable energy development. This strategic collaboration signifies a bold step towards realising the ambitions outlined in Bahrains National Energy Strategy, propelling us closer to our net-zero goals. Together, we will pave the way for a more sustainable and resilient future for generations to come.

Masdar has developed a number of landmark wind projects across the world, including the 400MW Dumat Al Jandal wind farm, the largest in the Middle East and the first in Saudi Arabia, the 630MW London Array offshore wind project in the UK which powers half a million British homes and the 103.5MW UAE Wind Programme, which utilises innovative technology to capture low wind speeds at utility scale.

Masdar is aiming for a renewable energy portfolio capacity of 100GW by 2030, as well as supporting the target set out in The UAE Consensus to triple global renewables capacity by the end of this decade, and aims to be a leading producer of green hydrogen by the same year.--TradeArabia News Service
NORCROSS, Ga., May 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CoreCard Corporation (NYSE: CCRD) (CoreCard or the Company), the leading provider of innovative credit technology solutions and processing services to the financial technology and services market, announced today its financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2024.



"Overall revenue of $13.1 million in the first quarter was in-line with our expectations, reflecting continued year-over-year growth in processing and maintenance of 13%, which was offset by lower professional services revenue, primarily driven by our largest customer, said Leland Strange, CEO of CoreCard. "We continue to see encouraging results from the ongoing investment in our platform and processing capabilities, and we continue to onboard new customers that value the features and functionality offered by the CoreCard platform.

Financial Highlights for the three months ended March 31, 2024

Total revenues in the three-month period ended March 31, 2024, was $13.1 million compared to $14.8 million in the comparable period in 2023.

In the following table, revenue is disaggregated by type of revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2024, and 2023:

Three Months Ended March 31, (in thousands) 2024 2023 License $ -- $ -- Professional services 5,826 8,341 Processing and maintenance 6,152 5,430 Third party 1,098 985 Total $ 13,076 $ 14,756

Income from operations was $0.5 million for the first quarter compared to income from operations of $1.8 million in the comparable prior year quarter.

Net income was $0.4 million for the first quarter compared to net income of $1.3 million in the comparable prior year quarter.

Earnings per diluted share was $0.05 for the first quarter compared to $0.15 in the comparable prior year quarter.

Adjusted earnings per diluted share was $0.07 for the first quarter compared to $0.15 in the comparable prior year quarter.

Adjusted EBITDA was $1.7 million for the first quarter compared to $3.5 million in the comparable prior year quarter.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable financial results as determined in accordance with GAAP are included at the end of this press release following the accompanying financial data. For a description of these non-GAAP financial measures, including the reasons management uses each measure, please see the section of the tables titled "Information Regarding Non-GAAP Financial Measures".

Investor Conference Call

The company is holding an investor conference call today, May 2, 2024, at 11 A.M. Eastern Time. Interested investors are invited to attend the conference call by accessing the webcast at https://www.webcast-eqs.com/corecard050224/en or by dialing 1-877-407-0890. As part of the conference call CoreCard will be conducting a question-and-answer session where participants are invited to email their questions to questions@corecard.com prior to the call. A transcript of the call will be posted on the companys website at investors.corecard.com as soon as available after the call.

The company will file its Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2024, with the Securities and Exchange Commission today. For additional information about reported results, investors will be able to access the Form 10-Q on the companys website at investors.corecard.com or on the SEC website, www.sec.gov .

About CoreCard

CoreCard Corporation (NYSE: CCRD) provides the gold standard card issuing platform built for the future of global transactions in an embedded digital world. Dedicated to continual technological innovation in the ever-evolving payments industry backed by decades of deep expertise in credit card offerings, CoreCard helps customers conceptualize, implement, and manage all aspects of their issuing card programs. Keenly focused on steady, sustainable growth, CoreCard has earned the trust of some of the largest companies and financial institutions in the world, providing truly real-time transactions via their proven, reliable platform operating on private on-premise and leading cloud technology infrastructure.

Forward-Looking Statements

The forward-looking statements in this press release are made under the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Companys actual results could differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements because of various risks and uncertainties including those listed in Item 1A of the Companys Annual Report on Form 10-K and in the Companys other filings and reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All of the risks and uncertainties are beyond the ability of the Company to control, and in many cases, the Company cannot predict the risks and uncertainties that could cause its actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements. When used in this press release, the words believes, plans, expects, will, intends, continue, outlook, progressing, and anticipates and similar expressions as they relate to the Company or its management are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, the Company is not obligated to publicly release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect the events or circumstances after the date of this press release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

CoreCard Corporation

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(unaudited, in thousands, except share and per share amounts) Three Months Ended March 31,

2024 2023 Revenue Services $13,076 $14,756 Products -- -- Total net revenue 13,076 14,756 Cost of revenue Services 9,500 9,804 Products -- -- Total cost of revenue 9,500 9,804 Expenses Marketing 114 69 General and administrative 1,427 1,549 Development 1,508 1,514 Income from operations 527 1,820 Investment income (loss) (204 ) (241 ) Other income, net 256 90 Income before income taxes 579 1,669 Income taxes 149 413 Net income $430 $1,256 Earnings per share: Basic $0.05 $0.15 Diluted $0.05 $0.15 Basic weighted average common shares outstanding 8,236,135 8,502,735 Diluted weighted average common shares outstanding 8,247,788 8,531,541





CoreCard Corporation

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(in thousands, except share and per share amounts) As of March 31, 2024 December 31, 2023 ASSETS (unaudited) (audited) Current assets: Cash $24,056 $26,918 Marketable securities 5,305 5,230 Accounts receivable, net 8,189 7,536 Other current assets 5,173 4,805 Total current assets 42,723 44,489 Investments 3,823 4,062 Property and equipment, at cost less accumulated depreciation 11,688 11,319 Other long-term assets 3,857 3,956 Total assets $62,091 $63,826 LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS EQUITY Current liabilities: Accounts payable $1,925 $1,557 Deferred revenue, current portion 1,635 2,310 Accrued payroll 1,556 2,172 Accrued expenses 1,167 971 Other current liabilities 2,778 2,530 Total current liabilities 9,061 9,540 Noncurrent liabilities: Deferred revenue, net of current portion 186 265 Long-term lease obligation 899 1,121 Other long-term liabilities 295 196 Total noncurrent liabilities 1,380 1,582 Stockholders equity: Common stock, $0.01 par value: Authorized shares - 20,000,000; Issued shares  9,016,140 at March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023 respectively; Outstanding shares  8,160,758 and 8,295,408 at March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively 90 90 Additional paid-in capital 16,781 16,621 Treasury stock, 855,382 and 720,732 shares at March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively, at cost (22,006 ) (20,359 ) Accumulated other comprehensive income 35 32 Accumulated income 56,750 56,320 Total stockholders equity 51,650 52,704 Total liabilities and stockholders equity $62,091 $63,826

For further information, call

Matt White, 770-564-5504 or

email to matt@corecard.com

Reconciliation of GAAP to NON-GAAP Measures

Information Regarding Non-GAAP Measures

In addition to the financial measures prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (GAAP), this press release contains certain non-GAAP financial measures. CoreCard considers Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted earnings per diluted share (Adjusted EPS) as supplemental measures of the companys performance that is not required by, nor presented in accordance with GAAP.

We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income (loss) adjusted to exclude depreciation and amortization; share-based compensation expense; income tax expense (benefit); investment income (loss); and other income (expense), net. We believe that Adjusted EBITDA is an important measure of operating performance because it allows management and our board of directors to evaluate and compare our core operating results from period to period.

We define Adjusted EPS as diluted earnings per share adjusted to exclude the impact of share-based compensation expenses. We believe that Adjusted EPS is an important measure of operating performance because it allows management and our board of directors to evaluate and compare our core operating results from period to period.

Adjusted EPS and Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered in isolation, or construed as an alternative to net income, or any other performance measures derived in accordance with GAAP, or as an alternative to cash flow from operating activities or as a measure of the company's liquidity. In addition, other companies may calculate Adjusted EPS and Adjusted EBITDA differently than CoreCard, which limits its usefulness in comparing CoreCards financial results with those of other companies.

The following table shows CoreCards GAAP results reconciled to non-GAAP results included in this release:

Three Months Ended

March 31,

(in thousands) 2024

2023

GAAP net income $ 430 $ 1,256 Share-based compensation 160 - Income tax benefit (40 ) - Adjusted net income $ 550 $ 1,256 Adjusted EPS $ 0.07 $ 0.15 Weighted-average shares 8,248 8,532




Subsurface LIVE 2024, New York, NY, May 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dremio, the unified lakehouse platform for self-service analytics and AI, and STACKIT, the premier data-sovereign cloud provider in Europe and part of the IT organization within Schwarz Group, today announced a strategic partnership that provides European organizations with the first fully managed, cloud-based modern lakehouse offering capable of meeting todays stringent data residency requirements. Unveiled at Dremios annual conference, Subsurface LIVE, this collaboration marks a significant milestone in STACKIT's mission to expand its expertise and product range in data and AI, further solidifying its position as a trailblazer in digital sovereignty across the continent of Europe.

Data residency requirements are the legal and regulatory stipulations that dictate where a company's data must physically reside. This means that physical servers hosting a business's data need to be located within a specified country or region to comply with local laws. With this partnership, STACKIT not only embraces open standards like Apache Iceberg, but also reaffirms its commitment to empowering customers with data sovereignty and freedom from vendor lock-in. By leveraging Dremio's unified lakehouse platform, STACKIT is set to revolutionize data management by enabling organizations to transition seamlessly from traditional data lakes to high-performance and agile data lakehouses.

Our approach to data sovereignty hinges on leveraging open standards to facilitate seamless integration with applications spanning various business domains. Dremio serves as a solid foundation for this endeavor due to its emphasis on open formats such as Apache Iceberg, said Walter Wolf, Board Member of Schwarz IT.

Key benefits of the STACKIT-Dremio partnership include:

Lower Total Cost of Ownership: Customers can expect up to an 80% reduction in costs associated with analytics and AI projects thanks to Dremio's efficient data processing capabilities.

Faster Time to Market for Analytics and AI: With Dremio, analytics and AI projects will see a significant boost in productivity enabling organizations to complete projects 5-10x faster than conventional methods.

Improved Discoverability and Governance via Iceberg Data Catalog: Leveraging Git-inspired versioning, Dremio provides a robust data catalog solution that supports data integrity, governance, and traceability throughout the entire data lifecycle.

Flexibility and Scalability: With the ability to run on any infrastructure, Dremio offers unparalleled flexibility and scalability allowing customers to adapt to changing business needs seamlessly.

With its open lakehouse architecture, Dremio allows users to access and process data independently on the STACKIT Platform through a data lakehouse service that ensures data protection and promotes data sovereignty. Together, the two companies enable businesses to derive valuable insights from sensitive data while adhering to the highest standards of data privacy and security. Thanks to the partnership, STACKIT customers can expect a significant cost reduction, flexible and consumption-based billing options, and overall affordability in their data residency and sovereignty efforts.

"The collaboration between Dremio and STACKIT not only empowers organizations with the freedom to scale their data operations seamlessly but also ensures they can derive actionable insights from their data without constraints, no matter where the data resides. By leveraging Dremio's cloud-native architecture and STACKIT's commitment to digital sovereignty, customers can unlock the full potential of their data while maintaining control and flexibility in their cloud strategy," said Andreas Vogels, Central Europe Lead at Dremio.

The partnership between STACKIT and Dremio represents a significant step forward in driving innovation, data sovereignty, and digital leadership in Europe. Customers can look forward to accessing the new data lake house service via a private preview, with support from STACKIT's Data and AI Consulting team to guide them through the initial steps. To learn more, attend the session here , or visit here .

About Dremio

Dremio is the unified lakehouse platform for self-service analytics and AI, serving hundreds of global enterprises, including Maersk, Amazon, Regeneron, NetApp, and S&P Global. Customers rely on Dremio for cloud, hybrid, and on-premises lakehouses to power their data mesh, data warehouse migration, data virtualization, and unified data access use cases. Based on open source technologies, including Apache Iceberg and Apache Arrow, Dremio provides an open lakehouse architecture enabling the fastest time to insight and platform flexibility at a fraction of the cost. To learn more visit www.dremio.com or follow the company on Linkedin or X .

About STACKIT

STACKIT is Schwarz Group's cloud and colocation provider. External partners and customers in the DACH region can also rely on the cloud services that Schwarz Group companies have been benefiting from for years when it comes to digital transformation. With a technical infrastructure located exclusively in Germany and Austria, STACKIT offers data sovereignty that goes far beyond the market standard. Headquartered in Neckarsulm the team is paving the way to an independent Europe - digital, leading. STACKIT belongs to the IT and digital division of Schwarz Group, Schwarz Digits. To learn more visit https://www.stackit.de/en/ or follow the company on Linkedin .

###

Media Contact For Dremio:

Chris McCoin or Richard Smith

McCoin & Smith Communications Inc.

508-429-5988 (Chris) or 978-618-4492 (Rick)

chris@mccoinsmith.com or rick@mccoinsmith.com
Conqueror seized this special anniversary as an opportunity to recognize founding members with an Awards Ceremony and to present its new web app, its new website and cutting-edge digital services

Bali, 2nd May 2024: Conquerors networking and conference event, from the 21st to the 23rd of April, came to a successful close last Wednesday. Conqueror Freight Network hosted professional leaders from the freight forwarding industry to discuss the global logistics environment, the industry challenges and growth and the technological trends in freight forwarding.

The meeting that took place at the Intercontinental Bali Resort in Bali, Indonesia was attended by more than 120 freight forwarders from over 60 countries, facilitating their companys increase, expansion and networking. In order to mark the 10th edition of Conquerors in-person conference, they presented an award honoring longstanding members who have been integral to the network since its inception, making invaluable contributions to its expansion.

During the conference, Conqueror introduced several cutting-edge digital solutions, including a new web app, redesigned website, and advanced digital services aimed at enhancing member experiences and streamlining operations. This initiative underscores Conqueror's role as a leader in embracing technology for the benefit of its global network of freight forwarders.

The one-to-one meetings meticulously arranged over the course of two days, enabled participants to spotlight their businesses, explore future collaboration prospects, and secure promising ventures. The launch of Conqueror's new web app, redesigned website, and strategic partnerships with industry leaders such as Container xChange and Redkik mark key milestones in the network's journey toward digital transformation. These initiatives empower Conqueror's agents with enhanced tools and resources to navigate the complexities of modern freight forwarding.

During the conference, Conqueror introduced several cutting-edge digital solutions, including a new web app, redesigned website and new features added to the networks online quoting platform FreightViewer aimed at enhancing member experiences and streamlining operations. This initiative underscores Conqueror's role as a leader in embracing technology for the benefit of its global network of freight forwarders.

"On the occasion of the 10th Anniversary of Conquerors Annual Meetings, our aim was to organize a very special event. This is why we organized an awards ceremony to express our appreciation for the trust our founding members have shown in us over the last 13 years. Likewise, our gathering in Bali provided a platform for delegates to solidify existing partnerships, showcase expertise, and cultivate trust among fellow members. This camaraderie will undoubtedly catalyze collaborative projects within our network, remarked Antonio Torres, President, and Founder of Conqueror Freight Network.

In a seamless continuation of last year's success, Conquerors innovative web application once again enhanced the experience for the delegates. Additionally, Andrea Martin, Conquerors FreightViewer Coordinator, led informative FreightViewer Workshops where network members were briefed on the latest enhancements to the network's exclusive Transport Management System (TMS) and instructed on maximizing the utility of these new features.

Beyond professional engagements, attendees immersed themselves in Balis rich culture through a captivating Group Tour to visit Taman Ayun and Tanah Lots temples, fostering deeper connections with prospective partners. The business meeting reached a crescendo at the Gala Dinner, where members bonded over food, drinks, and live music.

For further information kindly contact:

Maria Serrano, PR & Event Coordinator

Tel. +34 91 494 58 76

mserrano@conquerornetwork.com

www. conquerornetwork.com



The Conqueror Freight Network is the largest exclusive network of Independent Freight Forwarders in the world represented in 258 cities and 134 countries. The Conqueror Freight Network (CQR) brings together carefully-selected freight forwarders in each major city who cooperate reciprocally and securely to expand their businesses, reduce costs and risks, and compete on more equal terms against the largest international companies

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Braemar Board has Presided Over Massive Wealth Destruction and Value Transfer to Monty Bennett



Recommends Shareholders Elect Blackwells Highly Qualified Candidates to Serve All Shareholders

Visit www.NoMoreMonty.com and Follow Blackwells Campaign on Twitter, @nomoremonty, and Instagram, @no_more_monty

NEW YORK, May 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Blackwells Capital LLC (Blackwells), a shareholder of Braemar Hotels & Resorts Inc. (Braemar or the Company) (NYSE: BHR) in connection with its nomination of four highly qualified candidatesJennifer M. Hill, Betsy L. McCoy, Steven J. Pully and Michael Cricenti (collectively, the Blackwells Nominees)for election to the board of directors of Braemar (the Board) at the Companys 2024 annual meeting of shareholders (the 2024 Annual Meeting) to be held on July 30, 2024, released a letter to its fellow Braemar shareholders.

In its letter, Blackwells outlines the overwhelming case for change at the Board including:

The destruction of value;

The Companys advisory agreement (the Advisory Agreement) with Ashford Hospitality Advisors LLC (together with Ashford, Inc., Ashford), which we believe is extortionary; and

The termination fee payable to Ashford and Mr. Monty Bennett.



Jason Aintabi, Chief Investment Officer of Blackwells, said:

We invite our fellow shareholders to review our letter and join us in taking action to elect a Board who will act in the best interests of all shareholders, not just Ashford and Mr. Monty Bennett. We believe that Mr. Bennett knows there may be sufficient grounds to terminate the Advisory Agreement for cause, and caution shareholders to remain on high alert for any further self-serving actions that Ashford will take to extract value under this agreement at the expense of shareholders.

We encourage shareholders to review Blackwells materials, the details of its engagement with the Company, information about Blackwells nominees, and other important information at www.NoMoreMonty.com.

Shareholders are also invited to follow Blackwells campaign on Twitter, @nomoremonty, and Instagram, @no_more_monty.

About Blackwells Capital

Blackwells Capital was founded in 2016 by Jason Aintabi, its Chief Investment Officer. Since that time, it has made investments in public securities, engaging with management and boards, both publicly and privately, to help unlock value for stakeholders, including shareholders, employees and communities. Throughout their careers, Blackwells principals have invested globally on behalf of leading public and private equity firms and have held operating roles and served on the boards of media, energy, technology, insurance and real estate enterprises. For more information, please visit www.blackwellscap.com.

Contacts

Shareholders

MacKenzie Partners, Inc.

Toll Free: +1 (800) 322-2885

proxy@mackenziepartners.com

Media

Gagnier Communications

Dan Gagnier & Riyaz Lalani

646-569-5897

blackwells@gagnierfc.com

IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Blackwells, Blackwells Onshore I LLC, Jason Aintabi, Michael Cricenti, Jennifer M. Hill, Betsy L. McCoy and Steven J. Pully (collectively, the Participants) are participants in the solicitation of proxies from the shareholders of the Corporation for the 2024 Annual Meeting. On April 3, 2024, the Participants filed with the SEC their definitive proxy statement and accompanying WHITE proxy card in connection with their solicitation of proxies from the shareholders of the Corporation.

ALL SHAREHOLDERS OF THE CORPORATION ARE ADVISED TO READ THE DEFINITIVE PROXY STATEMENT, THE ACCOMPANYING WHITE UNIVERSAL PROXY CARD AND OTHER DOCUMENTS RELATED TO THE SOLICITATION OF PROXIES BY THE PARTICIPANTS, AS THEY CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION, INCLUDING ADDITIONAL INFORMATION RELATED TO THE PARTICIPANTS AND THEIR DIRECT OR INDIRECT INTERESTS IN THE CORPORATION, BY SECURITY HOLDINGS OR OTHERWISE.

The definitive proxy statement and an accompanying WHITE universal proxy card will be furnished to some or all of the Corporations shareholders and are, along with other relevant documents, available at no charge on the SECs website at http://www.sec.gov/. In addition, the Participants will provide copies of the definitive proxy statement without charge, upon request. Requests for copies should be directed to Blackwells.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, May 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- KFSH&RC tops the healthcare sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, recognizing it as the most valuable healthcare brand in these regions for the second year. According to the 2024 Brand Finance reports, it placed 9th in Saudi Arabia and 28th in the Middle East. Additionally, KFSH&RC stands out as the only hospital worldwide to be ranked among its country's top ten most valuable brands.

The Brand Finance Report shows that KFSH&RC brand value increased by 31%, exceeding 5.6 billion Saudi Riyals, equivalent to USD 1.5 billion. This increase is the result of the hospital's unwavering commitment to incorporating the latest medical technologies and treatments and providing specialized medical care that adheres to the latest international standards.

Reflecting on KFSH&RCs global recognition, Mr. Muhannad Kadi, the Chief Corporate Communications & Marketing Officer, commented, This accomplishment underscores the hospitals dedication to achieving the highest quality standards and providing outstanding healthcare, as well as the significant value it delivers to its beneficiaries. He emphasized that the hospitals position among the top ten most valuable brands in Saudi Arabia not only highlights its effectiveness but also the positive impact of the ongoing transformations within the Kingdoms healthcare sector.

Over the past year, KFSH&RC has achieved several notable milestones that have significantly contributed to its brand strength and reputation. These include conducting four ground-breaking experiments in space medicine, performing the World's first fully robotic liver transplant, and launching a rapid whole genome sequencing analysis service available to all beneficiaries. Furthermore, KFSH&RC celebrated the successful treatment of 100 T-cell lymphoblastic leukemia patients, a testament to our advanced medical capabilities and dedication to patient care.

In line with Saudi Vision 2030 and its transformation programs, initiated by His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince and Prime Ministerwhich aim to enhance the Kingdom's global position and establish it as a healthcare hubKFSH&RC has been ranked as the top Academic Medical Centre in the Middle East and Africa. It also secured the 20th spot globally for two consecutive years, 2023 and 2024, according to Brand Finance's Global Top 250 Hospitals report. Additionally, it has been ranked among the top 250 Best Hospitals in the World by Newsweek Magazine.
Davenport, Iowa, May 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Spring weather and warming temps signal the beginning of trauma season, a time of year when emergency room doctors and emergency medical services (EMS) providers expect an increase in trauma and injuries that follows a seasonal pattern. Warm weather correlates to an increase in outdoor activities such as mountain biking, use of all-terrain vehicles, rock climbing, and more. This comes with a corresponding increase in patients who require immediate medical attention due to accidents, injuries, and other emergencies.

Many of these patients suffer from severe bleeding and rely on blood transfusions to survive. ImpactLife is now looking to increase appointment schedules to meet this demand and save lives. To find an ImpactLife Donor Center location or mobile blood drive, call (800) 747-5401, schedule online at www.bloodcenter.org or via the ImpactLife mobile app (www.bloodcenter.org/app).

Dr. Doug Soltys, a trauma surgeon with SSM Health Saint Marys Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin, says he expects to see more patients injured in outdoor activities this time of year. And actually we see more in the first few months as opposed to the end of summer. I think people are just excited to be back outside and maybe act a little bit more crazily than they should, says Dr. Soltys, adding that blood transfusions are essential for helping save lives of injured patients in the ER.

Usually with traumatic accidents, were concerned about bleeding. If people come in and theyve lost a lot of blood, we give one liter of fluid and then immediately start going in to blood products, says Dr. Soltys. Weve learned we get better outcomes and patients do better if they immediately receive blood products upon reaching the trauma bay. (Video interview: learn about trauma season and Massive Transfusion Protocol.)

Warm weather also coincides with more gunshot wounds and other interpersonal violence. According to the American College of Surgeons, hemorrhage is the most common cause of death within the first hour of arrival to a trauma center and more than 80% of deaths in the operating room and nearly 50% of deaths in the first 24 hours after injury are due to severe blood loss. (U.S. Blood Donation Statistics and Public Messaging Guide, Americas Blood Centers.)

Trauma season underscores the importance of maintaining a strong and stable blood supply at all times of year. To thank donors who give blood at this time of year, ImpactLife is providing all presenting donors with a voucher to redeem for their choice of an electronic gift card, bonus points to use in the ImpactLife Donor Rewards Store, or an equivalent value donation to Best Friends Animal Society through the blood centers Good Giving program.

ImpactLife Donor Rewards (through May 31)

Whole blood donation (Donor Centers and mobile blood drives) $20 gift card, $20 donation OR 1,000 points

(Donor Centers and mobile blood drives) Double red and plasma only donations $25 gift card, $25 donation OR 1,500 points

Platelet donations (donors who have given platelets 2+ times previously with ImpactLife) $25 gift card, $25 donation OR 1,500 points

(donors who have given platelets 2+ times previously with ImpactLife) Platelet donations (donors first or second attempt to ever give platelets with ImpactLife) $50 gift card, $50 donation OR 3,000 points

(donors first or second attempt to ever give platelets with ImpactLife)

About ImpactLife

ImpactLife is a nonprofit community organization providing blood products and services to more than 120 hospitals and emergency medical service providers in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, and Wisconsin, as well as researchers and resource sharing partners across the country. ImpactLife operates 23 Donor Centers and holds approximately 5000 mobile blood drives annually to provide blood components needed for patient transfusions at hospitals throughout our region and beyond.

For more information on blood inventories and donor promotions, see www.bloodcenter.org and find us @impactlifeblood on Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn.

-end-

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RALEIGH, N.C., May 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In a special presentation, the Board of Directors of State Employees Credit Union (SECU) honored Financial Services Manager Rose Skinner for 50 years of SECU service. Skinner is the first employee in the cooperatives history to reach this incredible career milestone. Nearly 100 Credit Union employees and volunteers gave Skinner a standing ovation as SECU Board Chair Mona Moon presented her with a framed Board Resolution acknowledging her many contributions and her tremendous dedication to SECU members and the organization.



Rose Skinner has spent her entire career serving in Greenville, building strong relationships with our members, while training and mentoring many employees across the state, said Moon. She leads with a servants heart and is a shining example of the credit union philosophy of People Helping People. The SECU Board of Directors expresses our heartfelt appreciation and gratitude for her positive and profound impact throughout her 50 and counting years of service.

Earlier this year, co-workers surprised Skinner with a 50-year anniversary party. She was celebrated by friends, family, and current and former SECU employees who spoke about Skinners love for people and the example she sets for others with her top-notch member service. The group echoed the words she lives by, Do what you love, and love what you do!

About SECU

A not-for-profit financial cooperative owned by its members, and federally insured by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), SECU has been providing employees of the state of North Carolina and their families with consumer financial services for over 86 years. SECU is the second largest credit union in the United States with $54 billion in assets. It serves nearly 2.8 million members through 275 branch offices, 1,100 ATMs, Member Services Support via phone, www.ncsecu.org, and the SECU Mobile App.

Contact: Sandra Jones, Communications, sandra.jones@ncsecu.org

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/bb405948-5159-449e-858d-d861810846da




Dublin, May 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Farm Equipment Rental Market Report by Equipment Type (Tractors, Harvesters, Sprayers, Balers, and Others), Drive (Four-Wheel-Drive, Two-Wheel-Drive), Power Output (<30 HP, 31-70 HP, 71-130 HP, 131-250 HP, >250 HP), and Region 2024-2032" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The global farm equipment rental market size reached US$ 55.4 Billion in 2023 and is projected to reach US$ 85.9 Billion by 2032, exhibiting a growth rate (CAGR) of 5% during 2023-2032.



Farm equipment rental represents a business model and agreement that involves selling, renting, and leasing various agricultural tangible tools and self-propelling equipment to licensed customers at inexpensive rates for a specific duration. It includes tractors, harvesting machines, mower conditioners, tillage systems, rotary tillers, fertilizers, and herbicides as standard components. To attain these products, a rental contract with specified conditions and regulations is signed by both parties.

Farm equipment rental helps minimize overhead charges by relinquishing upfront investments, reduces unwarranted maintenance costs, and provides access to advanced agricultural machines. Apart from this, farm equipment rental offers high-performance tools on a contractual basis, allows product testing, improves agriculture procedures, and enables instrument usage in short-term projects to satisfy temporary farming needs. Consequently, the service is used in plowing, cultivating, sowing, and fertilizing applications.



Farm Equipment Rental Market Trends:



The increasing trend of mechanization in the agricultural sector and the growing need for renting various self-propelled machines to mitigate financial constraints and burdens from farmers are primarily driving the market growth. In line with this, the shifting consumer inclination toward renting farm equipment over purchasing several machines to gain profits by excluding maintenance costs and promoting better crop harvesting is acting as another growth-inducing factor.

Moreover, the escalating requirement for staple crops due to fueling food scarcity has prompted governments to provide subsidiaries and advanced farming equipment at cost-effective prices, which is propelling the market growth. Additionally, the advent of high horsepower (HP) tractors for farming in dry soil conditions and the availability of harvesting, pest control, planting, and spraying fertilizers and insecticides are impelling the market growth. Apart from this, significant enhancements in the agricultural sector, the large-scale uptake of rental equipment in crop cleaning and threshing activities, and the shortage of skilled labor are positively stimulating the market growth.

Competitive Landscape:



The competitive landscape of the industry has also been examined along with the profiles of the key players being AGCO Corporation, Deere & Company, Escorts Limited, Flaman Group of Companies, Friesen Sales & Rentals, Messick Farm Equipment Inc., Pacific Ag Rentals, Pacific Tractor & Implement, Premier Equipment Ltd., The Pape Group Inc., Titan Machinery Inc. and Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited. Kindly, note that this only represents a partial list of companies, and the complete list has been provided in the report.



Key Questions Answered in This Report

What was the size of the global farm equipment rental market in 2023?

What is the expected growth rate of the global farm equipment rental market during 2024-2032?

What are the key factors driving the global farm equipment rental market?

What has been the impact of COVID-19 on the global farm equipment rental market?

What is the breakup of the global farm equipment rental market based on the equipment type?

What is the breakup of the global farm equipment rental market based on the drive?

What is the breakup of the global farm equipment rental market based on the power output?

What are the key regions in the global farm equipment rental market?

Who are the key players/companies in the global farm equipment rental market?

Key Attributes:





Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 144 Forecast Period 2023 - 2032 Estimated Market Value (US$) in 2023 US$55.4 Billion Forecasted Market Value (US$) by 2032 US$85.9 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 5.0% Regions Covered Global

Key Market Segmentation:



The report provides an analysis of the key trends in each sub-segment of the global farm equipment rental market report, along with forecasts at the global, regional and country level from 2024-2032. The report has categorized the market based on equipment type, drive and power output.



Breakup by Equipment Type:

Tractors

Harvesters

Sprayers

Balers

Others

Breakup by Drive:

Four-Wheel-Drive

Two-Wheel-Drive

Breakup by Power Output:

< 30 HP

31-70 HP

71-130 HP

131-250 HP

>250 HP

Companies Featured

AGCO Corporation

Deere & Company

Escorts Limited

Flaman Group of Companies

Friesen Sales & Rentals

Messick Farm Equipment Inc.

Pacific Ag Rentals

Pacific Tractor & Implement

Premier Equipment Ltd.

The Pape Group Inc.

Titan Machinery Inc

Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited.

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/oext3m

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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MAPLE GROVE, Minn., May 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TopLine Financial Credit Union and Anoka Hennepin Credit Union, both Twin Cities-based member-owned financial services cooperatives, jointly announce a plan for a proposed merger where Anoka Hennepin Credit Union members would join the TopLine family of members. Both credit unions Board of Directors, Chief Executive Officers and leadership teams collectively support the merger as it provides opportunity to serve a broader community with the ability to provide financial services access to more consumers.



The proposed merger between and TopLine Financial Credit Union and Anoka Hennepin Credit Union has received preliminary approval by state regulator, the Minnesota Department of Commerce, and federal regulator, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), pending Anoka Hennepin Credit Unions membership vote. Notification and official ballots will be sent to all Anoka Hennepin Credit Union members, who will ultimately vote on the merger in a Special Members Meeting to be held the end of June. If members vote to approve, then formal approval will be granted by state and federal regulators, with an anticipated legal merger effective the summer of 2024.

Both credit unions are financially sound, with strong capital ratios over 9%. The proposed merger will result in an even stronger credit union with a greater capital base for growth, expanded market share, and an increase in economies of scale that will lower operating costs leading to overall benefits to credit union member-owners, such as competitive rates, free services, advanced technology and additional community philanthropy efforts.

If approved, the combined credit union will be $1.1 billion in assets and operate under the TopLine Financial Credit Union and Anoka Hennepin Credit Union, a division of TopLine Financial Credit Union, for one-year from effective merger date, and thereafter will roll under the TopLine Financial Credit Union brand. Together, they will combine their boards and management teams, and all 180 employees will be retained to serve nearly 70,000 members from 11 branch locations in 15 counties across the metro and northern suburbs of Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Mick Olson, current President and CEO of TopLine, will serve as President and CEO of TopLine Financial Credit Union. Jeff Claussen, current President and CEO of Anoka Hennepin Credit Union, will serve as President and CEO of Anoka Hennepin Credit Union, a division of TopLine Financial Credit Union until his retirement. Thereafter, Mick Olson will serve as President and CEO for the continuing credit union.

By combining our resources and financial strength, Anoka Hennepin members will come to experience more value, such as access to additional products and services, like mortgage and small business services, along with an expanded branch network, said Jeff Claussen, the current President and CEO of Anoka Hennepin Credit Union. Our common focus on member advocacy, preserving a strong member-focused culture and passion to help more consumers achieve their financial dreams will continue to be a key driver.

Culturally, Anoka Hennepin and TopLine share similar membership histories comprised of serving employees of the education and telecommunications sectors, with both being state-chartered credit unions that focus on financial inclusion and access, said Mick Olson, TopLine President and CEO. Our shared vision and passion of helping members financially succeed and supporting the betterment of communities will remain a core commitment, driven by our comparable values and purpose of supporting financial well-being for all.

More information about the pending merger can be found on both Anoka Hennepin and TopLine websites.

TopLine Financial Credit Union, a Twin Cities-based credit union, is Minnesotas 11th largest credit union, with assets of over $830 million and serves over 51,000 members. Established in 1935, the not-for-profit financial cooperative offers a complete line of financial services from its five branch locations  in Bloomington, Brooklyn Park, Maple Grove, Plymouth and in St. Pauls Como Park  as well as by phone, mobile app and online at www.TopLinecu.com. Membership is available to anyone who lives, works, worships, attends school or volunteers in Anoka, Carver, Chisago, Dakota, Hennepin, Isanti, Ramsey, Scott, Sherburne, Washington and Wright counties in Minnesota and their immediate family members. Visit us on our Facebook or Instagram. To learn more about the credit unions foundation, visit www.TopLinecu.com/Foundation.

Anoka Hennepin Credit Union, has assets of over $280 million and serves over 18,500 members from five branch locationsChamplin, Circle Pines, Coon Rapids, Forest Lake, and St. Francis  as well as by phone, video chat, mobile app and online at www.ahcu.coop. Membership is available to anyone who lives, works, worships, attends school or volunteers in Anoka, Benton, Chisago, Hennepin, Isanti, Kanabec, Mille Lacs, Pine, Ramsey, Sherburne, Washington counties in Minnesota and their immediate family members, as well as employees and retirees of Anoka Hennepin School District #11, Anoka Technical College, Federal Premium Ammunition, Hoffman Enclosures, Inc., GRACO, Inc., and their subsidiaries. Visit us on our Facebook or Instagram. To learn more about the credit unions foundation, visit www.ahcu.coop/ahcu-spirit-foundation.

CONTACTS: Vicki Roscoe Erickson Nicole Hesley SVP & Chief Marketing Officer VP Marketing & Business Development TopLine Financial Credit Union Anoka Hennepin Credit Union verickson@toplinecu.com | 763.391.0872 nicole.hesley@ahcu.coop | 763.253.2785

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e0ced5cc-9041-4ab0-b367-86e5d26a511a


Los Angeles, CA , May 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Thumzup Media Corporation (Thumzup or the Company) (OTCQB: TZUP) is thrilled to announce it will exhibit and support the Westside Classics Car Club Cinco de Mayo Fiesta in Venice Beach, CA on May 5, 2024, from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM PT. Presented in collaboration with the Venice Recreation Center, the event welcomes community members and car enthusiasts to celebrate the beauty and history of classic cars against the backdrop of iconic Venice Beach scenery.



Thumzup is committed to empowering our communitys local creative minds and go-getters, and were excited to witness their success, commented Robert Steele, Chief Executive Officer of Thumzup. We want Venice residents to know theres an opportunity to earn money by promoting many local businesses that they love, all while soaking up the amazing energy of this vibrant event.

The Thumzup mobile app, available for download in the App Store and Google Play, incentivizes virtually everyone to become social media advocates for the brands they enjoy by paying them cash for approved posts.

Westside Classics Car Club Cinco de Mayo Fiesta

1800 Ocean Front Walk

Venice, CA. 90291

May 5, 2024

9:00 AM to 4:00 PM PT

For more information, please visit https://www.thumzupmedia.com .

About Thumzup

Thumzup Media Corporation (Thumzup) is democratizing the multi-billion dollar social media branding and marketing industry. Its flagship product, the Thumzup platform, utilizes a robust programmatic advertiser dashboard coupled with a consumer-facing App to enable individuals to get paid cash for posting about participating advertisers on major social media outlets through the Thumzup App. The easy-to-use dashboard allows advertisers to programmatically customize their campaigns. Cash payments are made to App users/creators through PayPal and other digital payment systems.

Thumzup was featured on CBS News Los Angeles and is a publicly traded company (OTCQB stock ticker: TZUP). For more information, please visit https://www.thumzupmedia.com .

Legal Disclaimer

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These include, without limitation, statements about its potential growth, impacts on the advertising industry, plans for potential uplisting, and planned expansion. These statements are identified by the use of the words "could," "believe," "anticipate," "intend," "estimate," "expect," "may," "continue," "predict," "potential," "project" and similar expressions that are intended to identify forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Although we believe that our plans, objectives, expectations and intentions reflected in or suggested by the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that these plans, objectives, expectations or intentions will be achieved. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical experience and present expectations or projections. Actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements and the trading price for our common stock may fluctuate significantly. Forward-looking statements also are affected by the risk factors described in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date on which the statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

Contact Info

investors@thumzupmedia.com

800-403-6150

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OTTAWA, May 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Representatives of the Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims (the Association), the Iranian Justice Collective (IJC), and other Iranian-Canadian community organizations will meet with Members of Parliament (MPs), Ministers, and Senators on May 6th and 7th, 2024 at Parliament Hill.



The purpose of the meetings is to discuss issues of concern to the Iranian-Canadian community, including the following topics:

The Iranian Regimes foreign interference in Canada: As IJC has been granted standing to testify at the policy phase of the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference, the organizations will urge government to give Iran the same level of considerations as China and Russia.

As IJC has been granted standing to testify at the policy phase of the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference, the organizations will urge government to give Iran the same level of considerations as China and Russia. Human rights defenders resettlement: Request that government heed the call of the UNs independent Fact-Finding Mission on Iran (FFMI) to grant asylum and humanitarian visas to Iranian refugees and help provide much needed medical treatment to those in need of such care.

Request that government heed the call of the UNs independent Fact-Finding Mission on Iran (FFMI) to grant asylum and humanitarian visas to Iranian refugees and help provide much needed medical treatment to those in need of such care. Legal Cases for Flight PS752: Ask that Canada steadfastly follow through with the cases before the International Court of Justice and International Civil Aviation Organization, and further support the Associations pursuit of justice by assisting with the case before the International Criminal Court. Organizations will also renew their demand for a criminal investigation into Flight PS752 to be opened by the RCMP.

Ask that Canada steadfastly follow through with the cases before the International Court of Justice and International Civil Aviation Organization, and further support the Associations pursuit of justice by assisting with the case before the International Criminal Court. Organizations will also renew their demand for a criminal investigation into Flight PS752 to be opened by the RCMP. Listing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization: The IRGC is the perpetrator of the shooting down of Flight PS752 and various human rights abuses, many mounting to crimes against humanity per the UNs FFMI report. As such, organizations will continue demands that the IRGC be listed as a terrorist organization in Canada.

The IRGC is the perpetrator of the shooting down of Flight PS752 and various human rights abuses, many mounting to crimes against humanity per the UNs FFMI report. As such, organizations will continue demands that the IRGC be listed as a terrorist organization in Canada. Expand Canadas sanctions to include Irans Revolutionary Courts: Ask that government expand Canadas list of sanctions to include Islamic Revolutionary Courts judges, prosecutors, and personnel, specifically in the wake of continuous and increasing attacks on dissidents, as exemplified by dissident rapper Toomaj Salehis recent death sentence.



This event is organization-based and the result of collaboration and networking between independent, non-partisan organizations. It will not promote individuals, political parties or figures.

For media inquiries, please contact:

info@ijcollective.com
Denver, Colorado, May 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --



In a striking affirmation of the transformative power of Python in finance, Jason Strimpel, founder of PyQuant News, has been prominently featured on MSN. This feature underscores Strimpels advocacy for Python in quant finance, algorithmic trading, and market data analysis. His forward-thinking approach and practical applications of Python demonstrate its efficacy in enhancing data-driven decisions and streamlining workflows in finance.



Python is setting the new standard for efficiency and innovation in the industry.

Python Overtakes Excel: The New Standard in Finance

In MSN, Strimpel highlights the adoption of Python as a primary tool over Excel demonstrates a significant shift. His insights reveal Python's critical role in reshaping financial processes and decision-making.



Python's appeal in finance is largely due to its simplicity, extensive libraries, and robust community making it an ideal choice for diverse financial applications. Strimpel illustrates Pythons value by contrasting it with his experience of MATLABs cost barriers and Excels limitation in quant finance applications like simulation, optimization, and backtesting.

Comprehensive Libraries Enhancing Financial Operations

With over 200,000 pre-built libraries, Python enables finance professionals to efficiently manage data, develop models, and automate workflows. Strimpel notes that Pythons comprehensive tools, including pandas and NumPy, simplify handling extensive datasets, while PyTorch and Alphalens enhance machine learning capabilities and portfolio analysis. Libraries like RiskFolio allow portfolio managers to build state-of-the-art portfolios with machine learning.



None of this is possible in Excel.



The demand for Python expertise in the finance industry has surged, with eFinancialCareers reporting that 39% of hedge fund job postings in 2022 sought Python skills. Strimpel points out the lucrative opportunities this presents. Excel is now table stakes while Python expertise has significantly outpaced the demand for Excel and VBA skills in the financial job market.

Accessibility and Learning Curve

Strimpel advocates for Pythons gentle learning curve, which makes it accessible even to those with basic Excel skills, facilitating an easier transition to more advanced data manipulation and analysis tasks.



As a general-purpose language, Pythons versatility is underscored by its application across various financial activities, from corporate finance models to algorithmic trading. Its ability to support a cohesive workflow across different tasks makes it indispensable for finance professionals.

Python at the Forefront of the GenAI Revolution

Python's integration with GenAI technologies places it at the forefront of the industry, enabling groundbreaking advancements in data analysis and decision-making. Strimpel exemplifies this with his development of a GenAI-based investment advisor, a news sentiment analyzer, and an agent to query options data.



This showcases Python's capability to handle complex, innovative projects.

The Imperative to Adopt Python

The open-source nature of Python fosters a community-oriented environment that promotes innovation and continuous learning which is beneficial for newcomers.



Strimpels discussion culminates in a strong call to action for finance professionals: Embrace Python to stay relevant and lead in the future of financial. His editorial serves as a compelling argument for the necessity of upskilling in Python to harness the opportunities presented by the relentless pace of technology.



Investing in Python skills is not merely a technical upgrade, it is an essential strategy for those aiming to excel in the rapidly evolving finance sector.



The future is Python, and the time to adapt is now.





Contact:

Company: PyQuant News, LLC

Name: Jason Strimpel

Email: jason@pyquantnews.com

Website: https://pyquantnews.com




Charleston, SC, May 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- After embarking on a spiritual journey several years ago, medium Anna Lyon experienced an awakening. Aided by psychics, fellow mediums, shamans and witches, Lyon uncovered extraordinary memories of her past lives. Having experienced a spiritual renaissance, she now finds joy in helping others view their existence from a spiritual perspective. Believing humans exist for the purpose of learning and teaching each other through reincarnation, Lyon aims to help others discover their own portal to past life memories through her new book. I want readers to see themselves as eternal beings who live many lifetimes in order to grow in love and understanding, Lyon says.

In Past Life Memories, Lyon invites readers to return to the source of humanity. Sharing excerpts from personal journals kept over a seven-year period, Lyon relates her experiences from other lives, from crossing paths with Saint Kevin in Irelands Glendalough valley in the middle ages to assisting Lady Catherine Campbell in poisoning her violent husband on the Isle of Mull in Scotland in the 16th century. Throughout her journey, Lyon noticed a common theme emerge from her various lives  one that still rings true in her current existence. Through these memories, I was able to see that I have always been a healer with a strong connection to the spiritual world, Lyon says. And now, I truly understand my souls purpose.

Past Life Memories is available for purchase on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com.

About the Author:

Anna Lyon is a psychic medium and tarot reader. She enjoys teaching others how to read tarot cards in relation to mediumship and past lifetimes. A wife, mother and grandmother, she lives in Detroit. For more information on the author and her work, please visit her on Facebook.

Media Contact:

Anna Lyon

Anna.lyon1@gmail.com

Available for interviews: Author, Anna Lyon

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ful.Health Partners with Blackwell Captive Solutions to Deliver Innovative Cost-Containment Solutions, Featuring CirrusMD's Physician-Led Care, Ensuring Payers Benefit from Enhanced Savings and Superior Healthcare.

CHICAGO and DENVER, May 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CirrusMD, creator of the Physician-first Care & Guidance virtual care model, is reshaping healthcare delivery by enabling care that is instantly accessible, always informed, and directly connected to the patients longitudinal health record. In a groundbreaking collaboration with ful. Health, CirrusMD's renowned virtual care services are now available to self-funded groups, marking a significant leap forward in healthcare accessibility and affordability.

CirrusMD's Physician-first Care & Guidance model, which connects users to a doctor in less than 60 seconds, 24/7/365, not only enhances efficiency but also supports early diagnosis and treatment, ultimately improving health outcomes and reducing healthcare costs. This model also helps to address issues stemming from the scarcity of physicians in the U.S., by empowering CirrusMD physicians with a smart, proprietary platform for scalable care that enhances the quality, continuity, and efficiency of care.

Dr. Bernie Saks, Founder and CEO of ful.Health, commends CirrusMD's model, stating, "CirrusMD represents the epitome of the right model for virtual care, seamlessly integrating technology with compassionate, physician-led guidance. Their innovative approach aligns perfectly with our mission to transform how plans use and pay for healthcare. Partnering with Blackwell Captive Solutions further strengthens our commitment to delivering cost containment solutions that improve members health and financial well-being.

In this transformative partnership, Blackwell Captive Solutions, a respected leader in the self-funded industry, serves as the channel partner, facilitating access to CirrusMD's virtual care services. Kari L. Niblack, President of Blackwell Captive Solutions, emphasizes the importance of physician-guided care, stating, "CirrusMD's unwavering commitment to on-demand, transparent, proactive care not only enhances patient outcomes, but also ensures sustainable cost management for healthcare stakeholders. We are thrilled to partner with ful.Health to deliver CirrusMD's virtual care."

Jamie Hall, President & CEO of CirrusMD, highlights the significance of a human-centered design approach, stating, "To realize virtual care's full potential, we need to integrate it seamlessly into healthcare. This model supports expanded Primary Care, delivering high-quality, empathetic, and accessible care for patients, efficiency for providers, and savings for plan sponsors."

This collaboration among CirrusMD, ful.Health, and Blackwell Captive Solutions promises improved patient outcomes, cost savings, and enhanced accessibility to quality care. Together, these industry disruptors are spearheading an important transformation in healthcare delivery, making physician-led virtual care a reality for everyone.

About ful.Health

ful.Health is a leading provider of comprehensive healthcare navigation solutions, dedicated to empowering individuals to make informed decisions about their healthcare options. Through innovative technology, data-driven insights, and personalized guidance, ful.Health enables plan members to navigate healthcare choices efficiently, saving time and money while improving health outcomes. With a mission to transform the healthcare experience, ful.Health offers a user-friendly platform that integrates all the tools members need to learn, shop, and save on healthcare in one convenient app. From telehealth services and cost comparison tools to curated educational resources, ful. Health is committed to delivering a seamless and empowering healthcare navigation experience for all. Learn more at ful-health.com .

About Blackwell Captive Solutions

Blackwell Captive Solutions is a leading provider of innovative solutions in the captive insurance industry. With a commitment to delivering tailored risk management strategies and cost-effective insurance solutions, Blackwell Captive Solutions empowers businesses to take control of their insurance needs and optimize their risk financing strategies. Leveraging deep industry expertise and a client-centric approach, Blackwell Captive Solutions collaborates closely with clients to design and implement customized captive insurance programs that align with their unique risk profiles and business objectives. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Blackwell Captive Solutions serves a diverse portfolio of clients across various industries, offering comprehensive services in captive formation, management, and consulting. Learn more at BlackwellCaptive.com .

About CirrusMD
Clifton, NJ, May 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Accident victims may underestimate the extent of their injuries or damage until the adrenaline subsides. During this critical time, it is crucial for all parties involved to handle the situation carefully. This can significantly influence their case and their ability to seek settlement later on. Brach Eichler Injury Lawyers has witnessed numerous instances in which victims' actions in these crucial moments affected their outcomes. Therefore, the lawyers are offering key advice to help more victims improve their chances of a favorable outcome.

Explaining the key situations where accident victims need legal aid to understand their case and improve their chances, the lead Clifton accident injury lawyer at the law firm, Edward P. Capozzi, highlighted some of the situations. These include involvement in any type of motor or car accident, experiencing a slip, trip, or fall accident on another persons property, and being injured at the workplace. In each of these scenarios, legal aid can provide clarity, guidance, and advocacy to ensure victims recover losses and receive the justice they deserve.

Detailing each of these scenarios, Brach Eichler Injury Lawyers emphasized the diverse nature of motor vehicle or car accidents, ranging from minor to catastrophic. Regardless of severity, victims often face health, emotional, and financial impact, necessitating legal skills to navigate. The lawyer underscored the risk of missed opportunities for settlement when victims lack an understanding of their rights or fail to effectively advocate for financial recovery. With tailored legal guidance, victims can maximize their chances of securing fair settlement for their losses.

The lead injury lawyer also noted that victims of slip, trip, and fall accidents, particularly those occurring on others' premises, have the right to pursue insurance claims for settlement. Additionally, injury victims can benefit from the law firm's complimentary consultation services, which provide insight into their legal options and how case specifics influence outcomes.

The New Jersey injury lawyer underscored the importance of seeking early legal assistance, highlighting that accident cases typically have a statute of limitations within which claims must be filed. The personal injury attorney emphasized the potential challenges posed by insurance companies, which may be reluctant to offer settlements that do not fully cover clients losses. By seeking legal intervention promptly, accident victims can position themselves strategically to pursue rightful claim and improve their prospects for a favorable outcome, whether through negotiation or litigation.

About Brach Eichler Injury Lawyers

Brach Eichler Injury Lawyers is focused on providing reliable legal representation to accident victims. The personal injury lawyers have represented countless injury victims in cases relating to motor accidents, slip and fall accidents, bicycle accidents, wrongful deaths, and more.

*Attorney advertising. Results may vary depending on the particular case or legal circumstances

Media Contact:

Company Name: Brach Eichler Injury Lawyers

Contact Person: Edward P. Capozzi

Phone: (973) 577-5574

Address: 481 Highland Ave

City: Clifton

State: NJ

Postal Code: 07011

Country: US

Website: https://www.njlawresults.com/passaic-county/clifton-personal-injury-attorneys/


AUSTIN, Texas, May 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Boom & Bucket, a leading digital dealer in the used heavy equipment market, is proud to announce the launch of its new heavy equipment taxonomy system. This cutting-edge framework, which began development in 2022, is now fully integrated into the Boom & Bucket platform, offering unprecedented precision in equipment classification.



A Modern Solution to Equipment Classification

The new taxonomy system leverages the latest in digital technology to classify heavy equipment based on the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) and Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes. This alignment with recognized industry standards ensures that Boom & Bucket customers can more easily find and categorize equipment relevant to their specific industry needs.

"One of the initial challenges we identified at Boom & Bucket was the absence of a standardized taxonomy in the heavy equipment industry, which hindered easy information exchange across platforms," said Samir Shah, Co-Founder and Head of Product at Boom & Bucket. "This new taxonomy is fundamental for advancing the industry, especially as more equipment integrates with sophisticated fleet management systems and APIs."

Features and Benefits of the New Taxonomy

Enhanced Search Functionality: Users can navigate through a well-organized digital catalog of equipment, filtered by precise industry codes.

API Accessibility: Developers and tech-savvy users can integrate this taxonomy into their systems, making it a versatile tool for a variety of applications.

Real-World Applications: From construction and agriculture to more specialized fields like mining and forestry, this taxonomy provides a comprehensive guide to the heavy equipment market.



Commitment to Open-Access and Industry Collaboration

Boom & Bucket proudly announces its commitment to an open-access taxonomy system, supported by the Open Equipment Taxonomy Alliancea coalition of leading players in the equipment software industry, including Boom and Bucket, Procore, Frenter, Quipli, Tenna, and Gearflow. This taxonomy will be freely available for download, use, and integration by all industry stakeholders. This open-access initiative is designed to standardize data and enhance interoperability across the construction equipment software landscape.

Our open-access approach ensures that the taxonomy weve built and collaborated with other industry leaders can be used by anyone, promoting widespread adoption and innovation, said JT Bruch, Head of Engineering at Boom & Bucket. By facilitating easier data exchange and integration, we are setting new standards in how industry information is shared and utilized, driving forward the digital transformation of the heavy equipment market.

Future Enhancements and Community Involvement

As part of its commitment to continuous improvement, Boom & Bucket invites feedback from its users to refine and expand the taxonomy further. We are dedicated to evolving this system based on the needs of our community and the changing dynamics of the market, added Taizoon Miyajiwala, Senior Staff Engineer at Boom & Bucket.

About Boom & Bucket

Boom and Bucket is on a mission to build the most trusted buying and selling experience for used equipment. Sellers enjoy effective, effortless sales backed by modern insights and world-class market data. Buyers get a unique blend of warranties, inspections, financing, and shipping that makes buying used equipment fast and reliable, all of which is backed by our 5-star customer service team. With a commitment to transparency, no hidden costs, and nationwide shipping within 7 days, Boom and Bucket is raising the bar for used equipment sales across the globe. For more information visit www.boomandbucket.com/resources/taxonomy .

Contact:

Anna Wondany

701 Brazos St., Suite 300

Austin, Texas 78701

Email: anna@boomandbucket.com

Phone: (888)-417-3477

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9fa660d4-cb81-41f2-806a-23b9f6100981
LANSING, Mich., May 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Statewide, 238 Michigan residents have graduated from the first 2024 cohort of the Hospitality Training Institute of Michigans Business Management course. This 12-week course taught students business and leadership skills that will help them establish a lifelong career and become leaders in Michigans hospitality industry.

Below is a breakdown of graduates from across the state:

15 graduates from Ann Arbor

10 graduates from Downtown Detroit

44 graduates from Grand Rapids

14 graduates from Flint/Saginaw

24 graduates from Frankenmuth

19 graduates from Gaylord

13 graduates from Kalamazoo

28 graduates from Lansing

11 graduates from Macomb/St. Clair

7 graduates from Marquette

12 graduates from Muskegon

14 graduates from Oakland County

21 graduates from Traverse City

6 graduates from Wayne County

We are incredibly proud of every person who graduated this quarter and the support from Michigan restaurant and lodging employers who supported their employees through this program, said Justin Winslow, president of the Hospitality Institute of Michigan. These students have worked hard to hone their skills so that they can not only further their career in the industry, but to better serve customers, clients and the team they work with.

Upon graduation, participants earned nationally recognized certifications including ServSafe Manager certifications, national Hospitality Supervisor certifications, as well as unconscious bias, mental health and sexual harassment trainings and more. Previously, HTIM piloted this program to about 100 students and with the support of the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Development, expanded the program to reach additional Michiganders looking for a rewarding and high-paying career.

The HTIM course gave me the tools I needed to re-evaluate our hospitality department and inspired me to strengthen our organization with the knowledge I gained, said Victoria Churchill, hospitality manager at Woldumar Nature Center. And most of all I loved getting to connect with others who had similar goals to me in the industry. It was insightful, inspiring and overall, a wonderful opportunity to grow as professionals in the hospitality industry.

More than 450,000 Michiganders work in the restaurant and lodging industry  making this industry the states second largest private employer. As an integral part of Michigans economy, the HTIM program provides an avenue for employees to grow and develop in hospitality, building a stronger workforce here in Michigan. HTIM will continue to offer this $2,500 course for free to the first 2,000 registrants, in addition to providing a $500 stipend to every successful graduate.

Interested students and employers are encouraged to register for future classes or find more information about the HTIM Hospitality Business Management course at HTIM.com/stepup.

###

About the Hospitality Training Institute of Michigan

The Hospitality Training Institute of Michigan (HTIM) provides individuals with the quality training to advance their skill sets, grow operational knowledge, and expand attributes necessary for advanced careers in the hospitality industry. Learn more at HTIM.com.
MILWAUKEE, May 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Artisan Partners is pleased to announce the successful final close of the Artisan Dislocation Opportunities Fund. The Fund secured over $160 million in commitments, surpassing the teams initial fundraising target.



Managed by Bryan Krug and the Credit team, Artisan Dislocation Opportunities Fund is an opportunistic credit fund in a private, drawdown structure that seeks to capture highly attractive risk-adjusted returns by investing in dislocated performing, stressed and special situations corporate credit. The structure of the Fund allows the Credit team to put new capital to work quickly and efficiently in both public and private securities if and when credit markets dislocate.

This also marks the fourth strategy launched by the Credit team since Bryan joined Artisan Partners in 2013. The enthusiasm around this strategyboth internally and externallyis a testament to the teams deep fundamental credit expertise, proven leadership, time-tested philosophy and process and strong track record.

Artisan Partners President Jason Gottlieb commented, We congratulate Bryan and the Credit team for establishing a credit platform with broad degrees of freedom and capabilities. Looking ahead, we believe the Credit team is just getting started.

The Fund is now closed to investors.

About Artisan Partners

Artisan Partners, adviser to Artisan Partners Funds, Inc., is a global investment management firm that provides a broad range of high value-added investment strategies in growing asset classes to sophisticated clients around the world. Since 1994, the firm has been committed to attracting experienced, disciplined investment professionals to manage client assets. Artisan Partners autonomous investment teams oversee a diverse range of investment strategies across multiple asset classes. Strategies are offered through various investment vehicles to accommodate a broad range of client mandates.

This announcement is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, nor an offer to sell or a solicitation to purchase any investment or service. Artisan Partners is not registered, authorised or eligible for an exemption from registration in all jurisdictions. Therefore, services described herein may not be available in certain jurisdictions.

Investment Risks: An investment in any fund is speculative and entails substantial risks, including the fact that such an investment would be illiquid and be subject to significant restrictions on transferability. No market is expected to develop for interests in any fund. An investor in a fund could lose all or a substantial amount of his or her investment. Returns generated from an investment in a fund may not adequately compensate investors for the business and financial risks assumed. While a fund is subject to market risks common to other types of investments, including market volatility, the fund employs certain trading techniques, such as the use of leverage and other speculative investment practices that may increase the risk of investment loss. The products and strategies in which the fund invests may involve above-average risk. Financial instruments and investment opportunities discussed or referenced herein may not be suitable for all investors, and potential investors must make an independent assessment of the appropriateness of any transaction in light of their own objectives and circumstances, including the possible risk and benefits of entering into such a transaction. Investments will rise and fall with market fluctuations and investor capital is at risk. Investors investing in strategies denominated in non-local currency should be aware of the risk of currency exchange fluctuations that may cause a loss of principal.

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership (APLP) is an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Artisan Partners UK LLP (APUK) is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and is a registered investment adviser with the SEC. APEL Financial Distribution Services Limited (AP Europe) is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. In certain jurisdictions, securities products are offered through Artisan Partners Distributors LLC (APDLLC), member FINRA, a wholly owned broker/dealer subsidiary of Artisan Partners Holdings LP. APLP, which serves as the investment manager to the Fund, is wholly owned by Artisan Partners Holdings LP, and as a result is under common control with APDLLC. This material is only intended for investors which meet qualifications as institutional investors as defined in the applicable jurisdiction. This material is not for use by retail investors and may not be reproduced or distributed without Artisan Partners permission.

This material is only intended for investors which meet qualifications as institutional investors as defined in the applicable jurisdiction where this material is received, which includes only Professional Clients or Eligible Counterparties as defined by the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) where this material is issued by APUK or AP Europe.

In the United Kingdom, issued by Artisan Partners UK LLP, 25 St. Jamess St., Floor 10, London SW1A 1HA, registered in England and Wales (LLP No. OC351201). Registered office: Phoenix House, Floor 4, Station Hill, Reading Berkshire RG1 1NB. In Ireland, issued by Artisan Partners Europe, Fitzwilliam Hall, Fitzwilliam Pl, Ste. 202, Dublin 2, D02 T292. Registered office: 70 Sir John Rogersons Quay, Dublin 2, D02 R296 (Company No. 637966).

 2024 Artisan Partners. All rights reserved.

Press Inquiries

Eileen Kwei

800.399.1770

eileen.kwei@artisanpartners.com
Chantilly, Virginia, United States, May 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cape Fox Mountain Point, LLC, is pleased to announce that Ronnie Weeks has joined the Cape Fox Team as the new Director of the Civil Construction Division. Ronnie brings almost 40 years of experience in both government and commercial markets. His vast experience encompasses civil, utility, and environmental construction expertise. CFC looks forward to working closely with Ronnie as we expand our construction and engineering services.

Ronnie came to Cape Fox Mountain Point previously having been the Director of Operations for SES Civil Engineering, Inc. and Vice President of MRW Construction Services Unlimited, Inc. Ronnie's expertise as a Director of Operations and Construction Manager has given him the experience in coordinating and managing multiple trades and complex completion schedules and a thorough understanding of design plans and specifications for multi-discipline projects. Ronnie's extensive experience makes him stand out as an expert in the construction field and a remarkable new asset for Cape Fox Mountain Point.

As the Director of the Civil Construction Division, Ronnie will expand our coverage of services within the Southeast area of the United States. He will focus on developing and growing our construction capabilities and strengthening our services. With his extensive industry experience, he and his team will champion the Cape Fox Federal Contracting Group (FCG) mission of providing high-quality services, value-driven solutions, and specialized construction services that address all aspects of the design-to-build lifecycle.

Cape Fox FCG Senior Vice President of Construction Jason Brown commented, "I am very excited to welcome Ronnie Weeks to our growing Cape Fox Construction family. Ronnie is an industry leader in providing civil infrastructure solutions to Federal clients with exceptional attention to quality and safety. He brings a high level of integrity and innovation to our leadership team, and we look forward to his development of our Civil infrastructure team moving forward."

Ronnie looks forward to growing the construction services and customers, saying, "I have been very blessed in my life and recently had many choices. It's wonderful to have choices in life but even better to have a choice to join someone you believe in. I thought a lot about this opportunity and I'm excited that all the leaders at Cape Fox have decided to trust in me. I know with my experience and background with government clients I will not let them down in our future growth of the Civil division or anything else we decide to tackle."

Cape Fox Mountain Point is delighted to work with Ronnie to further develop our construction capabilities and continue to deliver high-quality solutions.

For additional information, email Heather Kaiser at hkaiser@capefoxss.com or call (703) 749-3045.



About Cape Fox Corporation



Cape Fox Corporation (CFC) was formed as part of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) of 1971. Cape Fox Corporation is the Alaska Native Corporation for the village of Saxman.

Today, Cape Fox Corporation is comprised of a family of businesses divided between two distinct groups: The Federal Contracting Group and The Commercial (Tourism) Group. Collectively, CFC and its subsidiaries specialize in tourism, information technology and cybersecurity; professional services; health care services; marketing; training services, and logistical services.

Visit Cape Fox Corporation to learn more.

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NEW YORK, May 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Block, Inc. (Block or the Company) (NYSE: SQ). Such investors are advised to contact Danielle Peyton at newaction@pomlaw.com or 646-581-9980, ext. 7980.





The investigation concerns whether Block 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 May 1, 2024, NBC News published an article reporting that [f]ederal prosecutors are digging into internal practices at Block . . . discussing with a former employee alleged widespread and yearslong compliance lapses at the companys two main units, Square and Cash App, citing two people with direct knowledge of the contacts. The article reported that the former employee provided prosecutors from the Southern District of New York documents that they say show that insufficient information is collected from Square and Cash App customers to assess their risks, that Square processed thousands of transactions involving countries subject to economic sanctions and that Block processed multiple cryptocurrency transactions for terrorist groups.

On this news, Blocks stock price fell $6.16 per share, or 8.44%, to close at $66.84 per share on May 1, 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.
ARAWA, Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, May 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Island Passage Development Canada Limited (IPDC or the Company) announces the commencement of a mineral exploration program by its PNG subsidiary, Island Passage Development Limited (IPD) on the EL02 exploration license in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea. IPDC, in partnership with Isina Resource Holdings Limited (IRHL), a customary landowner company, are jointly exploring the 261 square km mineral property located in south central Bougainville in the Crown Prince Range, nine kilometres along strike to the southeast from the historic Panguna copper gold mine.



This marks the rst undertaking of a large-scale mineral exploration program on Bougainville outside the special mining lease held by Bougainville Copper Ltd (Rio Tinto  CRA) since 1965. The new exploration program is also historic because EL02, which is held by IRHL, was the rst valid license for metals exploration on Bougainville issued under the Autonomous Bougainville Governments 2015 Mining Act.

Steven Topesi, Director of IRHL and Chairman of the Central Veterans Association comments, "We the Kongara (EL02) people on Bougainville have always said no to claims on our mineral resources by outsiders. From these mountains we lead the struggle for the return of our stolen rights from Colonial claims. Now, as the recognised owners of our minerals, we are proud to be the rst landowner company to invite an outside partner, Island Passage, to join with us to explore and develop what we have.

The Company initiated the exploration program in March with a plan for several months of systematic stream sediment and panned concentrate sampling to blanket the northwest trending prospective corridor on the license. The team on the ground is led by several Indonesian geologists who are experienced on the island and specialised in porphyry copper geology and exploration in similar terrains and climate from around the Ring of Fire. The Companys geologists are supported by a team of over 30 Bougainvilleans who have undergone eld operations training.

Prior to the commencement of the sampling campaign, an advance team from IRHL began building social awareness of the upcoming exploration with customary landowners and neighbors. In dozens of meetings all over the license area, the team conveyed the details of the plan and put logistical support in place. The overall eort is being coordinated by IPDC co-founder Lindsay Semple from Arawa, where IPD and IRHL are based.

The current campaign is expected to continue through to July, after which results will be compiled and a phase two follow up campaign will be initiated.

Donald McInnes, Co-Founder and CEO of IPDC, commented on the signicance of the return of systematic exploration to Bougainville, For 17 years beginning in 1972, Bougainville was host to one of the worlds largest copper-gold mines. Today, the world is chasing new supplies of critical and precious metals, and demand is driving gold and copper to new highs. Island Passage Development is committed to working with the customary landowners of Bougainville through an innovative partnership to reassess the mineral potential of Bougainville and to provide a sustainable future under the new mining law that is ahead of its time.





History

The Island of Bougainville is one of the most prospective and under-explored porphyry copper terranes in the world. Since the closure of the world-class Panguna Mine in 1989, the development of Bougainvilles mining industry has been frozen, except for the rise of small-scale artisanal alluvial mining.

The Bougainville Mining Act (2015) is modern mining legislation that contains the following provision that is unique among the worlds mining laws, Section 8 of the 2015 Act states;

8. Property in Minerals  customary land

All minerals existing on, in or below the surface of land in Bougainville are the property of the owners of the customary land.

This decree, through Section 8 of the Act, puts the mineral resource owning landowners at the table with their development partners, not as mere bystanders. By unambiguously empowering the customary landowners the Act acknowledges direct ownership of the resources, requires participation and sets the stage for accomplishment. It is an antidote to the adversarial mining regimes that currently plague the world.

Under the provisions of the Bougainville Peace Agreement, the Bougainville Mining Act is administered by the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG), independent of Papua New Guinea and its separate mining act.

EL02 is one of only two valid exploration licenses on Bougainville and the only one under active exploration.

A Long Term Eort

This program is the result of an 18 year-long intensive eort started in 2005 with an initiative by Lindsay Semple. The eort brought together the Paramount Chiefs, the ABG, and other leaders to understand the terms and conditions that would create a viable path for resumption of mining activity after the trauma of The Conict, an eight year long civil war sparked by mining that led to the deaths of over 15,000 people. The eort and investment only made sense in light of the generally accepted vast mineral potential of Bougainville and the islands need for infrastructure and economic development.

IPDC has entered into a comprehensive earn-in agreement with IRHL (the licence holder) to earn up to a 70% interest in the project assets. Once vested through its investment in the exploration of the mineral resources on the license, IPDC and IRHL will proceed to develop the projects and assets together.

Current Mining Activity

Virtually unknown until 2007, today the island has alluvial gold production of approximately 35,000 ounces per annum  largely by Boungainvilleans at the village and community scale. New gold occurrences are being discovered on a regular basis and worked sporadically by the village artisanal miners.

Government Policies towards Mining

The Autonomous Bougainville Government has made several material statements about the future prosperity of Bougainville being linked to the reemergence of a modern sustainable mining industry.

In June of 2023, the Autonomous Bougainville Government published a 50 year vision document called One People, One Nation, One Vision.

In it can be found the following;

Goal: By 2052, Bougainville will have built a modern, diversied, and sustainable economy based initially on mining and thereafter on agriculture, shing, forestry and tourism with a thriving private sector and prolic economic opportunities for all our people.

Economic potential: Bougainville is blessed with valuable natural resources, including one of the worlds most vital commodities  extractive resources in the eld of copper and gold. The development of the Bougainvilles mining sector can help to secure the foundations of a sustainable and vibrant economy. The revenue from the sector can be invested in education and health services for families and in helping farmers to increase their productivity so that our agriculture sector becomes a leading driver of private sector jobs. This revenue can also help to fund the infrastructure necessary to build a diversied economy and transform Bougainville into a modern nation.

Extracted from BOUGAINVILLE long trm VISION 2052 (abg.gov.pg)

About Isina Resource Holdings Ltd. IRHL was founded in 2009 with the directors drawn from the chiefs of the nine major clans and their subclans in south Central Bougainville. As the custodians of their customary clan-owned land, the forty -three directors represent the customary landowner families. In an exercise of sovereignty over their mineral rights, they applied for and were granted EL02 over their lands. The license boundary is situated 9 km SE of the Panguna open pit along the Crown Prince Range, and extends a further 26 km to the SE. The tenement contains wholly within it the area known as P.A.7B which was one of the seven BCL (Rio Tinto) exploration tenements that it held surrounding Panguna.

About Island Passage Development Canada Ltd . A private Canadian company purpose built in 2022 to facilitate the nance, technical, commercial, and business development expertise that will be necessary to drive exploration and development on Bougainville. The Company is founded on the principle of responsible resource development in partnership with indigenous and customary landowners, and its leadership has a long track record of success on multiple such ventures.

About Island Passage Development Ltd . The PNG company is 100% owned by IPDC to bring exploration nance and technical capacity from Canada to Bougainville to carry out exploration on EL02.

For further information please go to islandpassage.ca

Or email Donald McInnes, CEO at donald@islandpassage.ca

Or follow IPDC on Facebook at (3) Island Passage Development | Facebook





The IPDC team in camp at the end of a field day.

Images accompanying this announcement are available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a08142de-6c28-46d6-ac14-a3b095245d2e

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d2b1d793-08fd-4c5c-8770-640f829e21f0




LOS ANGELES, May 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Investors can contact the law firm at no cost to learn more about recovering their losses

The Portnoy Law Firm advises agilon health, inc. (NYSE: AGL). investors that a lawsuit was filed on behalf of investors that purchased agilon securities between April 15, 2021 and February 27, 2024, inclusive (the Class Period).

Investors are encouraged to contact attorney Lesley F. Portnoy , by phone 310-692-8883 or email : lesley@portnoylaw.com, to discuss their legal rights, or click here to join the case via www.portnoylaw.com . The Portnoy Law Firm can provide a complimentary case evaluation and discuss investors options for pursuing claims to recover their losses.

The lawsuit claims that during the class period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements and failed to disclose that: (1) they exaggerated the Company's insight into utilization trends and medical costs; (2) they did not reveal the increased medical expenses Agilon had faced prior to and during the class period, which resulted from higher healthcare use by MA patients; (3) they inaccurately claimed that their incurred-but-not-reported reserve was sufficient; (4) they provided false and misleading assertions regarding the effectiveness of their business model; (5) they issued excessively positive financial projections; and (6) they presented risk disclosures that were materially misleading as they depicted adverse facts that had already occurred as mere potential risks.

Please visit our website to review more information and submit your transaction information.

The Portnoy Law Firm represents investors in pursuing claims caused by corporate wrongdoing. The Firms founding partner has recovered over $5.5 billion for aggrieved investors. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

Lesley F. Portnoy, Esq.

Admitted CA and NY Bar

lesley@portnoylaw.com

310-692-8883

www.portnoylaw.com

Attorney Advertising
perth, May 02, 2024 - perseus mining appoints additional independent non-executive director to its board

Perth, Western Australia/May 2, 2024/Perseus Mining Ltd. (ASX/TSX:PRU) (Perseus or the Company) is pleased to advise that Mr Rick Menell has agreed to join the Board of Perseus in the role of non-executive, independent Director and will take up this position with immediate effect.

Rick is an eminent South African citizen whose business career has spanned over 40 years and has involved senior leadership roles in a range of major African based resources companies.

Trained originally as an exploration geologist at Cambridge and Stanford universities, Rick worked as a geologist in Canada, USA and South Africa before spending time as an investment banker for the mining industry in New York and Australia with JP Morgan. After a period as an executive director for Delta Gold in Australia, working on new gold mines in Australia and gold and platinum projects in Zimbabwe, he returned to South Africa in 1991 and rejoined the mining industry there as finance director for diversified mining company Anglovaal Mining.

Rick led Anglovaal Mining from 1996 as CEO and then Executive Chairman until 2004. During this time, he managed the restructuring, transformation and modernisation of the group, including major investments in new platinum, gold, manganese, chrome, iron ore, coal and nickel mines in South Africa, new ferrochrome and ferromanganese smelters in South Africa, and investments in copper and cobalt mining, smelting and refining in Zambia. This work continued when he merged Anglovaal with Patrice Motsepe's ARM to form African Rainbow Minerals, where he remained Deputy Chairman, and also CEO of subsidiary Teal Mining and Exploration Inc, until he left the group in 2008.

Up to 2011, Rick also served as President of the SA Minerals Council, Chairman of Tourism SA, Chairman of Bateman Engineering, Deputy Chairman of Harmony Gold and of Associated Manganese Mines, and a director of Standard Bank Group, Telkom South Africa and Mutual & Federal Insurance. He has been a director of the World Gold Council, senior advisor to the WTO, the IOM and a Mining Council member for the World Economic Forum. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society (London), and of the SAIMM and the AusIMM.

In 2011, Rick joined Credit Suisse investment banking group as a Senior Advisor, working on transactions in all sectors, and throughout sub-Saharan Africa, leaving the group on its merger with UBS in 2023. He has retained an active involvement in leadership in the mining and mining supplies industries, retiring recently as Deputy Chairman of Gold Fields Ltd and as Senior Independent Director of the Weir Group (UK). He remains an Independent Non-Executive Director at Sibanye-Stillwater Limited, a precious and energy-transition metals mining company listed in Johannesburg and New York, having served for several years as Lead Independent Director.

Rick has also been active throughout his career in the nonprofit-sector, serving on numerous boards including the Business Trust, the NBI, BLSA and the CDE, all in South Africa. He is founding Co-Chairman of City Year South Africa youth service organisation, a trustee of the Foundation at the University of the Western Cape and a member of the Advisory Board of the African Leadership Academy. His activities focus on secondary, tertiary and post tertiary education and on active citizenship such as the SA Solidarity Fund, where he served as a full-time volunteer executive in a team dealing with health and humanitarian consequences of the COVID pandemic. He headed a funding effort that has raised approximately US$250 million in support of urgent programmes for everyone in need, both citizens and non-citizens.

He has been involved in the founding and funding of a similar new initiative in 2023: the Resource Mobilization Fund. This has been set up at the request of the South African President to engage the private sector to assist in dealing with the enormous national challenges of power and water supply, failing transport infrastructure and eroding rule of law through public-private partnerships.

Perseus's Chairman and CEO Jeff Quartermaine said:

"On behalf of the Board of Perseus, I am extremely pleased to welcome Rick Menell to the Board of our company. Rick is a very high calibre individual whose diverse work and life experiences will bring new perspectives that will be invaluable in helping Perseus reach its full potential.

His deep understanding of the people and the mining industry on the African continent is perfectly suited to joining the leadership team of a growing, African focussed company like Perseus, that has ambitions to become a leader of the gold mining industry on the continent."

This market announcement was authorised for release by the Board of Directors of Perseus Mining Ltd..

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Jeff Quartermaine

Executive Chairman & CEO

jeff.quartermaine@perseusmining.com Stephen Forman

Investor Relations

+61 484 036 681

stephen.forman@perseusmining.com Nathan Ryan

Media

+61 420 582 887

nathan.ryan@nwrcommunications.com.au REGISTERED OFFICE:



Level 2

437 Roberts Road

Subiaco WA 6008



Telephone: +61 8 6144 1700

ABN: 27 106 808 986

WWW.PERSEUSMINING.COM
Vancouver, May 2, 2024 - CDN Maverick Capital Corp. (CSE: CDN) (OTCQB: AXVEF) (FSE: A117RU) ("Maverick" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the successful expansion of its lithium prospects in James Bay; adding an additional 110,000 hectares to its portfolio.

Additional Purchase Agreement with Shawn Ryan

Maverick has entered into an additional purchase agreement with Shawn Ryan, to increase its James Bay area land package with exploration potential for lithium and other high-value minerals including the Poncheville Lithium Prospects in south-central Quebec. The agreement, entered into effective April 17, 2024, allows Maverick to expand its portfolio by adding 2,251 mining claims, equal to approximately 110,000 hectares, for an acquisition cost of $160,000 CAD. This expansion brings Maverick's total land package in the James Bay area to 150,000 hectares of highly prospective ground.

Simon Studer, Interim CEO and COO, explains: "With this strategic consolidation in James Bay, which was practically at-cost, Maverick now controls two contiguous, road-accessible claim blocks, situated 60 miles north of Matagami, covering 150,000 hectares. This area holds potential for several high-value minerals and metals including lithium. As we look forward to a productive summer, the technical team led by Raul Sanabria, P.Geo., will reassess the results from our maiden prospecting program undertaken in 2023 with desktop studies and data research. Results from a wide-spaced first-pass traverse prospecting field program detected above background anomalous Lithium and other related elements. Our team is eager to convert the Poncheville Lithium prospects into solid exploration assets in the next exploration seasons."





Figure 1

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/4568/207740_223b72fa54636b45_001full.jpg

Completion of Northwind Lake Property Acquisition

Maverick is excited to further announce the completion of the Northwind Lake Property acquisition agreement dated June 21, 2023. Following the final payment of $50,000 CAD, Maverick has now acquired outright ownership of a valuable exploration prospect, located in the Electric Avenue Lithium District, one of Ontario's most advanced lithium exploration areas. Positioned just 10km north-northwest of the high-grade PAK Lithium deposit, this acquisition marks significant added value in our portfolio strategy.





Figure 2

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/4568/207740_223b72fa54636b45_002full.jpg

Maverick hires In Good Standing Corporation for Land Management Services

Maverick has hired In Good Standing Corporation, an Ontario-based land management service provider specializing in the mining and exploration industries, to manage the company's expanding portfolio of Canadian assets. Simon Studer, Interim CEO, comments: "Beyond ensuring optimal regulatory and operational compliance across our jurisdictions, our work with In Good Standing also introduces sophisticated asset monitoring. By leveraging geomatics and other IT-based expert systems, we aim to refine our exploration strategies and navigate the regulatory landscape more effectively, ensuring top-tier protection of our investments."

About CDN Maverick Capital Corp.:

CDN Maverick Capital Corp. is a diversified exploration Company, with a core focus on critical minerals in North and South America.

Jame Bay Quebec: Poncheville Lithium Project

Lithium pegmatite prospect spanning over 150,000 hectares across the Poncheville and Chabinoche properties and Extensions

Electric Avenue Ontario: Northwind Lake Lithium Property

7,040 hectares in the "Electric Avenue", an emerging lithium pegmatite exploration camp in the Red Lake area of Ontario, near to Frontier Lithium's PAK Lithium Project



Rainbow Canyon Nevada:

The Company also owns the Rainbow Canyon Gold Project in Nevada

Investments

1. Holds 1,044,385 shares of NOAL Lithium Brines Inc., a lithium company actively working in the Lithium Triangle and drilling it's maiden resource in the area.

2. Holds over 1.6M shares in Noram Lithium Corp.; a lithium clay sands exploration and development Issuer located in Clayton Valley Nevada with a significant lithium resource known as the Zeus project. Noram is working towards a Prefeasibility Study.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Sandy MacDougall

Founder, Chairman, and Director

sandyjmacdougall@gmail.com

C: 778.999.2159

Simon Studer

President, Interim CEO, and Director

simondavidstuder@gmail.com

Phone: +41-44-485-2484

FOLLOW US:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/cdnmaverickcorp

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CDNMaverickCorp

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cdnmaverick

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cdnmaverickcorp

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@cdnmaverickcorp

This news release contains projections and forward - looking information that involve various risks and uncertainties regarding future events. Such forward-looking information can include without limitation statements based on current expectations involving a number of risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance of the Company. The following are important factors that could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements; the uncertainty of future profitability; and the uncertainty of access to additional capital. These risks and uncertainties could cause actual results and the Company's plans and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information. Actual results and future events could differ materially from anticipated in such information. These and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking information are based on estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and expressed qualified in their entirety by this notice. The Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking information should circumstance or management's estimates or opinions change.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange ("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.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/207740
Vancouver, May 2, 2024 - Inflection Resources Ltd. (CSE:AUCU) / (OTC:AUCUF) / (FSE:5VJ) (the "Company" or "Inflection") is pleased to provide an update on its ongoing exploration program in New South Wales, Australia conducted under an exploration agreement (the "Exploration Agreement") with and fully funded by AngloGold Ashanti Australia Limited ("AngloGold") announced on June 14, 2023.

Summary Highlights:

AngloGold has elected to designate Inflection's Duck Creek Exploration License (EL-8965) as a Phase II Project as defined in the Exploration Agreement.

Phase I of the Exploration Agreement, which is drill testing the portfolio of regional targets, is ongoing and an amendment to the Exploration Agreement has been made to accommodate the early election of a Phase II project. AngloGold still retains the right to designate four additional projects in addition to Duck Creek upon completion of Phase I.

The Duck Creek Phase II exploration program will initially comprise approximately eight deep holes testing a variety of step-out and geophysical targets, including those defined by the recently completed geophysical survey announced on April 8, 2024. The Company expects drilling to commence in June.

AngloGold has requested that Inflection operate the Duck Creek Phase II exploration program for a 10% management fee, although it retains the right to take over as project manager at any time.

One pre-existing and two recently acquired exploration licenses comprising of multiple geophysical targets have been incorporated into Phase I of the Exploration Agreement.

Alistair Waddell, Inflection's President and CEO, states: "The early designation of Duck Creek as a Phase II Project enables the Company to fast-track Duck Creek with additional capital and drilling on multiple high priority target areas. Also, importantly, the Phase I regional program will continue to test the portfolio of targets under the original budgeted program. The excellent partnership with AngloGold continues to develop and we look forward to getting the drills turning again at Duck Creek".

Phase II Duck Creek Exploration Program:

AngloGold has elected to designate the Company's Duck Creek Exploration License as a Phase II Project as part of the Exploration Agreement announced on June 14, 2023.

Phase I of the Exploration Agreement which is designed to drill test the portfolio of regional targets is ongoing and an amendment to the Exploration Agreement has been made to accommodate the early election of a Phase II project. AngloGold still retains the right to designate four additional projects in addition to Duck Creek upon completion of Phase I.

As part of Phase II at Duck Creek, AngloGold retains the right to earn an initial 51% interest in the project by investing AUD$7,000,000 in exploration expenditures (Figure 1). Upon completion of Phase II, AngloGold retains the additional right, as part of a Phase III program, to earn up to a 65% interest by investing a further AUD $20,000,000 in expenditures. Upon completion of Phase III, AngloGold retains the right to earn up to a 75% interest by completing a pre-feasibility study with a minimum two-million-ounce gold or copper-gold equivalent resource (Measured & Indicated category) and ceding a 2% or 1% net smelter return ("NSR") royalty to Inflection.

The Duck Creek Phase II exploration program will initially comprise approximately eight deep holes testing a variety of step-out and geophysical targets announced on April 8, 2024. The geophysical targets are mostly located in the vicinity of earlier drilling which returned alteration, monzonite intrusions and geochemistry typical to that seen near alkalic porphyry-related copper-gold mineralization. The Company anticipates starting this drilling in June which Inflection will operate for a 10% management fee.

AngloGold's minimum expenditure commitment of AUD$6M under the initial Phase I exploration program has now been reached, and AngloGold has informed the Company that it intends to complete the Phase I program.



Click Image To View Full Size

Figure 1: Table outlining the principal financial terms of the AngloGold Exploration Agreement. PFS is Pre-Feasibility Study.

Exploration Licenses Incorporated into Phase I of the AngloGold Exploration Agreement:

Three additional exploration licenses, each comprising multiple target areas, have been incorporated into the Exploration Agreement and are planned to be tested as part of the Phase I exploration program. The Longstowe (EL 9622), Walgett (EL 9643) and Moonagee (EL 8730) projects all contain large drill targets identified by applying the knowledge learned from the ongoing Phase I drilling in conjunction with analysis of regional airborne geophysical datasets.

Longstowe: The recently acquired Longstowe Exploration License located north of the Macquarie target covers several distinct magnetic highs interpreted to represent possible multiple intrusions at depth, where earlier drilling returned highly anomalous geochemistry and hydrothermal alteration typical of that found in proximity to alkalic porphyry systems.

Walgett: The recently acquired Walgett Exploration License covers several large features of interest identified in the airborne magnetics and regional gravity survey. These complex aeromagnetic and gravity features suggest intrusions at depth, which may possibly extend the Macquarie Arc trend into another previously un-explored area of New South Wales.

Moonagee: The Moonagee Exploration License covers a district magnetic high and was previously excluded from the AngloGold Agreement. The ongoing interpretation of the Macquarie Arc has highlighted the Moonagee magnetic high as a priority target to be drill tested as part of the Phase I program.

Figure 2: Map showing the location of the Duck Creek, Longstowe, Walgett and Moonagee Exploration Licenses.

Ongoing Phase I Drill Program:

The Company continues to drill test the portfolio of targets as part of the Phase I exploration program and is currently scheduled to drill Canonba, Canonba North, Longstowe, Crooked Creek, Nyngan and Moonagee over the coming weeks.

AngloGold Exploration Agreement Terms:

The Phase I work programs noted above form part of the AngloGold Ashanti Exploration Alliance where AngloGold is sole funding up to AUD$10,000,000 on exploration expenditures across a wide range of different intrusion-related exploration targets. Inflection is operating Phases I and II and is receiving a 10% management fee for doing so. Phase II provides AngloGold the right to designate up to five individual projects where it may potentially earn up to a 75% interest in each by completing various milestones. See Inflection news release dated June 14, 2023 for further details.

Qualified Person and Sampling Quality Control:

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Carl Swensson (FAusIMM), a "Qualified Person" ("QP") as defined in National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

Drilling is being conducted using a truck-mounted multi-purpose drill rig. Mud rotary drilling is utilised to drill through the cover sequence before transitioning to diamond drilling using NQ sized core at the unconformity. Core is logged at the Company's field office, photographed and marked before being cut to the Company's specified sample intervals. Half core samples are placed in bags with internationally certified blanks and standards inserted. Samples are dispatched to ALS Laboratories in Orange NSW, an accredited analytical laboratory meeting ISO/IEC 17025:2005 and ISO 9001:2015. Samples are prepared by crushing and grinding via ALS methods CRU-21 and PUL-32 respectively. The pulps are then assayed for 48 elements via ALS method ME-MS61 using a 25g sample after a four acid near total digest with an ICP-MS finish. Gold is assayed by fire assay using ALS method Au-AA23 using a 30g sample charge and AAS finish. Laboratory standards and QA-QC are monitored by the Company. Coarse rejects from the sample preparation are subjected to spectral analysis.

About Inflection's NSW Projects:

The Company is systematically exploring for large copper-gold deposits in the northern interpreted extension of the Macquarie Arc, part of the Lachlan Fold Belt in New South Wales. The Macquarie Arc is Australia's premier porphyry copper-gold province host to Newmont's Cadia deposits, Evolution Mining's Cowal and Northparkes deposits plus numerous exploration prospects including Boda, the discovery made by Alkane Resources.

The Company uses cost-effective mud-rotary drilling to cut through unmineralized post-mineral sedimentary cover before transitioning to diamond core drilling once the prospective basement is reached. It is well documented that mineralized bodies elsewhere in the belt, in particular porphyry and intrusive related systems have large district-scale alteration and geochemical halos or footprints surrounding them. The Company typically completes a series of short diamond drill holes into the basement bedrock with multiple data points gained from alteration and mineral geochemistry which is then used to vector additional deeper holes. This is a proven exploration methodology in the covered segments of the Macquarie Arc having been directly responsible for the discovery of the Northparkes and Cowal deposits.

About Inflection Resources Ltd. Inflection is a technically driven copper-gold focused mineral exploration company listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol "AUCU", on the OTCQB under the symbol "AUCUF" and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol "5FJ", with projects in New South Wales, Australia. For more information, please visit the Company website at www.inflectionresources.com.

Inflection is part of the NewQuest Capital Group which is an entrepreneurial, discovery-driven investment group that builds value through the incubation and financing of early-stage mineral exploration projects globally. Further information about NewQuest can be found at www.nqcapitalgroup.com

On behalf of the Board of Directors

Alistair Waddell

President and CEO

alistair@inflectionresources.com

For further information, please contact:

Brennan Zerb

Investor Relations Manager

+1 (778) 867-5016

bzerb@inflectionresources.com

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, amount of drilling, receipt of the maximum amount of available grant funding, anticipated content, commencement and cost of exploration programs in respect of the Company's projects and mineral properties, AngloGold's anticipated funding of the Minimum Commitment and timing thereof, 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, statements as to the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, including the Company's exploration plans. the proposed expenditures for exploration work thereon, the ability of the Company to obtain sufficient financing to fund its business activities and plans, delays in obtaining governmental and regulatory approvals (including of the Canadian Securities Exchange), permits or financing, changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting mining operations, the Company's 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 Company's prospectus dated June 12, 2020 and other filings of the Company with the Canadian Securities Authorities, copies of which can be found under the Company's 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.

Copyright (c) 2024 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.
Ottawa, May 02, 2024 - Stria Lithium Inc. (TSXV:SRA) (OTC:SRCAF) ("Stria" or the "Company") is excited to announce the launch of its latest exploration initiative at recently acquired project Jeremiah, situated just 18 km from Sayona's North American Lithium operation-the largest source of hard rock lithium production in North America.

Building on promising preliminary data, Stria Lithium's current focus involves comprehensive stripping and channel sampling of exposed pegmatite outcrops. This effort follows initial findings from chip samples that demonstrated a lithium content of 0.54% (Li20). These activities are expected to yield critical data on the occurrences of spodumene and the potential of this favourable setting to host lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT) pegmatites.

Dean Hanisch, Stria's CEO, stated, "A fortunate development at Jeremiah is the recent forestry harvesting of the land by local authorities, which has significantly simplified project access and reduced the cost of the necessary stripping processes to expose Li-bearing host rocks. This not only speeds up the preparatory work but also minimizes environmental impact, aligning with Stria's commitment to sustainable and responsible exploration practices".

The Jeremiah project is strategically positioned where the fertile LaMotte batholith intersects the volcanic host rocks, a geological setting similar to other productive sites in the vicinity. The Company has successfully secured all necessary permits from landholders and public authorities for the upcoming operations.

Stria has contracted local experts to carry out the fieldwork, which is anticipated to conclude within seven days. Samples collected during this phase will be promptly sent to laboratories for assay, with results expected to guide further exploration and development strategies based on their analysis.

Stria Lithium capitalized on the recent market dip to acquire a promising property only 18 km away from Canada's sole North American lithium producer/concentrator, aligning with the Company's strategy to identify ore bodies near existing or developing mines to facilitate ore sales or liquidity events without requiring capital expenditure. This venture represents a significant step forward in Stria Lithium's mission to capitalize on the growing demand for North American lithium, essential for renewable energy technologies and electric vehicles.



Click Image To View Full Size

The location of Project Jeremiah in relation to lithium producing mines and deposits in the Abitibi region of Quebec.



About Stria Lithium

Stria Lithium (TSX-V: SRA) is an emerging resource exploration company developing Canadian lithium reserves to meet legislated demand for electric vehicles and their rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. The Company is committed to growth through responsible and efficient exploration and development of its mining assets.

Stria's Central Pontax Lithium Project covers 36 square kilometres, including 8 km of strike along the prospective Chambois Greenstone Belt. The region, known as the Canadian "Lithium Triangle," is one of only a few known sources of lithium available for hard rock mining in North America. Stria's Pontax Central Project Joint Venture with Cygnus Metals now has a maiden JORC-compliant inferred mineral resource estimate (MRE) of 10.1Mt at 1.04% Li2O based on the central area of the known mineralisation.

This JORC estimate establishes Pontax Central as a significant occurrence in the emerging James Bay lithium region. Cygnus Metals, being an ASX issuer, adhered to Australian JORC Code 2012 guidelines, meaning that such mineral resource estimate is not necessarily compliant with CIM and National Instrument NI 43-101 standards and the Company is not considering them as such at this time.

Cygnus Metals is committed to fully funding and managing the current two-stage exploration and drilling program to a maximum of $10 million at Stria's Pontax property and will also pay Stria up to $6 million in cash. In return, Cygnus may acquire up to a 70% interest in the property. Cygnus has fulfilled its stage 1 requirements within the agreement and has now earned its 51% interest in the property.

Stria's other significant project, Pontax II covers 55 square kilometres, approximately 25 km to the west-south-west of Pontax Central and is located adjacent to the Billy-Diamond paved highway. Stria has added to this project by recently acquiring 24 claims, for 1276.5 hectares that are strategically located northeast of Stria's Pontax II claims. Pontax II claims are in highly active prospective zones, situated to the west southwest of Stria/Cygnus lithium discovery and situated to the west of the Patriot Battery Metals (PMET.V) Pontax project, and south of Brunswick Exploration (BRW.V). Stria's Pontax properties are both situated close to an industrial powerline and a major paved highway, about 310 km north of the North American rail network that leads to the industrial heartland. Stria Lithium previously reported highly anomalous tantalum oxide grain counts in till samples up to 797 grains, the highest count ever recorded by the laboratory. The anomalies were evaluated in Autumn 2023, and final results are expected in coming weeks.

Stria's newest project, Jeremiah, resides within the Abitibi region of Quebec. The Jeremiah project consists of 12 titles for a total 683 hectares. Stria's successful 100% optioning of the property was driven by a recently discovered spodumene-bearing pegmatite, considered a genuine LCT pegmatite, reported in outcrop in the centre of the property, which returned 0.54% Li2O (2500 ppm Li) from a grab sample.

The property is conveniently located near the village of St-Mathieu d'Harricana, and easily accessible through private forestry roads. Three more claims, isolated between 5 and 8 km to the west are also included in the land package.

Project Jeremiah is strategically located at the periphery of the LaMotte Batholith, straddling its northern contact with the Deguisier mafic volcanic formation and the sediments of the Caste Formation. The LaMotte Batholith, and its sister intrusion the LaCorne Batholith, are considered to be related to the source of the lithium pegmatite currently mined by Sayona Mining at their North American Lithium Mine, 22 km east of Jeremiah, as well as at their Authier project, 11 km to the southwest. All the numerous lithium occurrences in this area are located at the fringe of these intrusives, where the last differentiated magmas, such as lithium pegmatite, are injected. The Project Jeremiah properties surface rights are fortunately held with private landholders and a municipality, with who courteous and constructive relations were established.

As momentum builds for the green energy revolution and the shift to electric vehicles, governments in Canada and the U.S. are aggressively supporting the North American lithium industry, presenting the industry and its investors with a rare, if not unprecedented, opportunity for growth and prosperity well into the next decade and beyond.

Stria is committed to exceeding the industry's environmental, social and governance standards. A critical part of that commitment is forging meaningful, enduring and mutually beneficial relationships with local communities and stake-holders, and engaging openly and respectfully as neighbours and collaborators in this exciting project that has the potential to create lasting jobs and prosperity.

The scientific and technical content disclosed herein was reviewed and approved by Rejean Girard, P.Geo and president of IOS Services Geoscientifiques Inc, a qualified person as defined under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

Reference:

JORC Mineral Resource Estimate of Pontax Project, James Bay Quebec, Brian Wolfe; Duncan Grieve, August 14, 2023.

For more information about Stria Lithium and the Pontax Lithium project, please visit https://strialithium.com

Follow us on:

Twitter @StriaLithium

Instagram @strialithium

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/strialithium

LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/company/stria-lithium/

For more information on Stria Lithium Inc., please contact:

Dean Hanisch

CEO Stria Lithium

dhanisch@strialithium.com

+1(613) 612-6060

Investors Relations, Stria Lithium Inc.

ir@strialithium.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the accuracy or adequacy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Except for statements of historical fact, this news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. We cannot guarantee future results, performance or achievements. Consequently, there is no representation that the actual results achieved will be the same, in whole or in part, as those set out in the forward-looking information.

Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking information. Please refer to the risk factors disclosed under our profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned that this list of risk factors should not be construed as exhaustive.

The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. We undertake no duty to update any of the forward-looking information to conform such information to actual results or to changes in our expectations except as otherwise required by applicable securities legislation. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

Copyright (c) 2024 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.
Steiner sues Haas, not ruling out F1 return

Days after failing to rule out a return to F1 team leadership, it emerges that sacked former Haas boss Gunther Steiner is suing the small American team.

Gunther Steiner, United States GP 2024

 Haas

Reports suggest the popular 59-year-old, who remains in the Formula 1 paddock as a television pundit and ambassador for the Miami GP, is seeking unpaid commissions and breach of contract.

The lawsuit, filed in North Carolina - where Haas has its US base - also accuses the team of cashing in on Steiner's popularity by continuing to sell merchandise featuring his likeness without compensating him.

After years of accepting the benefits of Mr. Steiner's reputation, experience and deep connections within the sport, Haas F1 cannot withhold from Mr. Steiner the benefits he has earned, the lawsuit reads, specifically making mention of Steiner's memorable appearances in Drive To Survive.

This (Netflix) exposure was extremely valuable to the upstart racing team, particularly as it looked for additional revenue streams to support itself in the notoriously expensive Formula 1 environment, the lawsuit added.

Monetary figures and other details were redacted at Steiner's lawyers' request.

Just days ago, Steiner told F1's official website that he is not ruling out a return to team management even if there is no urgency .

I'm always open to a good project, he said. "What is a good project? I can't define it - but they always come up.

Staying around gives me ideas. I'm very lucky I'm under no pressure. And it means I can enjoy a lot more time with my family.

(GMM)
US congress members accuse F1 of cartel-like behaviour

A group of US congress members are challenging Formula 1's decision to lock Andretti-Cadillac out of the sport.

Chinese GP 2024

 Aston Martin Racing

While the FIA green-lit American racing icon Michael Andretti's bid to field an eleventh team, the Liberty Media-owned F1 commercial rights holders said no.

Andretti, however, says preparations for a 2026 debut continue at pace , with that work now backed by a bipartisan group of 12 lawmakers.

Michael Andretti's father Mario, the legendary 1978 world champion, fronted the media outside the US Capitol with John James, a representative for Michigan's 10th congressional district.

And the other eleventh congressmen joined him in signing a letter to Liberty Media outlining their concerns with the apparent anti-competitive actions that could prevent two American companies, Andretti Global and General Motors, from producing and competing in Formula 1 .

NBC News reported: They invoked the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 and sought answers for the rationale for rejecting the team, including whether it is designed to unfairly protect the European teams from competition in the US, where the fan base has grown dramatically.

Mario Andretti, meanwhile, told reporters: "We're ready with everything that's needed. Give us a green light and let us do our thing.

Our team, Andretti Global, is part of every major racing discipline in the world. Formula 1 is the one that's left. And we want to be part of that.

Congressman James described Liberty Media's behaviour as cartel-like .

From the outside looking in, one can ask 'Is this a money grab?' Is Formula 1 kicking the can down the road for a different agreement, so that they can go from $200 million to $1 billion dollars extracted from Andretti-Cadillac? he said.

James said he hopes the situation can be resolved, But if not, we will have our questions answered. And those who are seeking to take advantage will be held accountable.

Andretti officials are tipped to meet with their F1 counterparts this weekend at the Miami GP.

Andretti Global said in a statement: "We are grateful to the bipartisan members of Congress for their support in challenging this anti-competitive behaviour.

It is our hope that this can be resolved swiftly so that Andretti-Cadillac can take its rightfully approved place on the grid in 2026.

(GMM)
Recently, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized its Clean Power Plan 2.0 regulations, including issuing a suite of final rules that would cut down on coal production. Wyoming leaders and lawmakers reacted strongly to the new rules, expressing their anger and their intent to fight against the regulations.

On April 25, the EPA released the final rules, explaining in a press release that the purpose of the new regulations is to "reduce pollution from fossil fuel-fired power plants in order to protect all communities from pollution and improve public health without disrupting the delivery of reliable electricity."

The new plan from the EPA would repeal the Trump administration's Affordable Clean Energy Rule and enact new standards on new and modified fossil-fuel power generation sources (including natural gas) and existing fossil-fuel power generation sources (including coal and gas plants).

One of the rules states that existing coal-fired power plants that plan to be in operation beyond 2040 must sequester 90% of their carbon emissions. According to a press release from the office of Governor Mark Gordon, these rules mean that Wyoming coal fired units are given three choices. They either have to shut down by January 2032; convert to natural gas co-firing by 2030, with a forced shutdown by January 1, 2039; or install C02 capture facilities by 2032.

"It is clear the only goal envisioned by these rules released by the Environmental Protection Agency today is the end of coal communities in Wyoming," Governor Gordon said in a statement released April 25. "EPA has weaponized the fear of climate change into a crushing set of rules that will result in an unreliable electric grid, unaffordable electricity, and thousands of lost jobs. This Administration has turned its back on the very industries and states that have made our country strong."

Governor Gordon called the rule a "travesty" and "environmental extortion," saying that their effects could be "devastating."

"These rules will not only significantly increase the cost of dispatchable electricity, they seriously threaten the reliability of the electric grid and endanger the domestic economy and security," Gordon said.

The governor also expressed his determination to challenge the rules in court.

Other Wyoming representatives at the state and national level also issued statements responding to and lambasting the EPA announcement.

"What the EPA conveniently ignored when announcing its latest attack on America's legacy industries is how these shortsighted rules will devastate reliable and affordable energy and deepen the energy poverty crisis in our nation," Rep. Harriet Hageman said. "I am both appalled and unsurprised that the Biden Administration continues to vilify our reliable energy producers and I call on the EPA to immediately rescind these destructive rules that benefit radical climate activists at the expense of the American people."

"President Biden's Green New Deal inspired rules appear designed to force the closure of Wyoming power plants with no plan to replace the energy currently being produced," said Sen. Lummis (R-WY). "This attack on Wyoming energy undermines our way of life by jeopardizing jobs and revenue for our state and local governments. Forcing the closure of gas and coal-fired plants that account for 60% of electricity generated across the country, while increasing demand by 30% through an electric vehicle mandate is not only unrealistic but dangerous. I will be working with my colleagues to overturn this disastrous set of regulations and protect Wyoming energy workers who power this country."

"This onslaught of overreaching and outrageous climate rules will shut down power plants and increase energy costs for families across the country," Sen. John Barrasso said. "Americans deserve clean air, clear rules and reliable electricity. Punishing regulations make this impossible. Republicans will work to stop them and fight for solutions that protect our air and water and allow our economy to grow."

"The EPA's new rules are a deliberate attack on Wyoming's fossil fuel economy and the small businesses dependent on Wyoming coal and natural gas," Secretary Gray said in a statement. "In the strongest possible terms, I condemn the EPA's final rules and the weaponization of the federal government against our state and our small businesses in the name of the radical climate cult agenda."

The Wyoming Mining Association also weighed in on the EPA's new rules, expressing frustration and concern over the effects the rules could have.

WMA Executive Director Travis Deti called the plan "ill-intentioned and legally questionable," and said the announcement was "a real belly kick to Wyoming." Deti noted that Wyoming is the nation's leading coal producer, and a drop in production would mean a loss of jobs and revenue.

"This effort from the Biden Administration is like hunting a unicorn, which doesn't really exist, without any regard for what might be trampled during the pursuit," Deti said. "The new EPA rules will do irreparable harm and constitute a clear and real threat to our state."
Several Wyoming residents were recently sentenced in the U.S. Attorney's Office for a variety of offenses.

Child Pornography

Ricky Lee Smith, 55, of Laramie, was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison for possession of child pornography. According to court documents, On Jun. 25, 2023, law enforcement received a CyberTip from a provider of cloud-based services regarding the user of a Verizon phone with a Wyoming number that traced back to Smith, who is a registered sex offender. Investigators served a search warrant at Smith's residence and found over 750 images of child pornography on Smith's phone. Smith was indicted in November 2023 and pleaded guilty in January 2024. U.S. District Court Judge Alan B. Johnson imposed the sentence on Apr. 24. This crime was investigated by the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mackenzie R. Morrison.

Drug Trafficking

Michael E. Trujillo, II, 28, of Cheyenne, was sentenced to 41 months' imprisonment for possession with intent to distribute fentanyl. According to court documents, on Sep. 26, 2023, the Cheyenne Police Department conducted a traffic stop on Trujillo's vehicle for speeding. During the traffic stop a certified narcotics canine alerted to the presence of drugs. Officers searched the vehicle and Trujillo's person and found approximately 33 grams of suspected fentanyl pills, seven grams of methamphetamine, and approximately three grams of cocaine. Trujillo was indicted in November 2023, and pleaded guilty in January 2024. U.S. District Court Judge Alan B. Johnson imposed the sentence on Apr. 24. This crime was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Forwood.

Firearms Offenses

Eric Lamario Mitchell, 41, of Cheyenne, was sentenced to 60 months' imprisonment for being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Charles Michael Carsten, 35, of Cheyenne, was sentenced to 63 months' imprisonment for being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.
As home to about 38% of the planet's remaining greater sage grouse - far more than any other state or province - and the architect of key conservation measures, Wyoming has a lot to gain or lose from upcoming changes to the complex, multi-agency matrix of rules and regulations governing management of the imperiled bird and its habitat.

Those stakes were top of mind Wednesday evening for Natrona County rancher Doug Cooper and others who attended a BLM information session on the agency's recently released draft management plan for sage grouse habitat.

"When you say 'conservation,' it sounds wonderful," Cooper said. "But I'm not sure 'conservation' is going to mean just that when we get down on the ground."

Similar questions bubbled up for the dozen residents trying to make sense of the latest developments in what has been a whipsaw of approaches between Republican and Democratic administrations. Does the pending plan account for sage grouse predation from ravens and magpies? Is livestock grazing considered a harmful practice that might come under new restrictions in sage grouse habitats? And how might restrictions on federal lands impact grazing and oil and gas development on adjacent private property?

Not only is the bird's future at stake, but it serves as an indicator for 350 other species that rely on a sprawling sage-steppe ecosystem that also supports rural economies in Wyoming and throughout much of the West. If the sage grouse is in peril, so are myriad other species and rural economies, according to proponents. The future of the species and its habitat also has major implications for the oil and gas industry, which frequently targets minerals underlying the sage grouse's habitat in Wyoming.

The agency is soliciting public comments through June 13 on its draft environmental impact statement. After weighing that input, the BLM will issue a final rule for how it will manage sage grouse habitat in 10 western states, including the species' stronghold in Wyoming.

"It is extremely important to get your guys' feedback and ideas on how this plan can be improved," BLM Wyoming Sage Grouse Coordinator Matt Holloran said.

Holloran, a wildlife biologist who has led myriad sage grouse studies, explained that the draft plan includes several aspects of the agency's 2015 and 2019 plans while incorporating new scientific data and accounting for mounting pressures on the bird's habitat from climate change, invasive plant species and wildfire.

The draft plan includes six alternative approaches, ranging from very stringent conservation measures to no change in current management. The BLM's "preferred" option is Alternative 5, which mostly aligns with Wyoming's own evolving management strategies implemented by executive order under recent governors.

That alignment with state policy has likely contributed to stakeholders across the spectrum in Wyoming expressing cautious, but caveated, optimism since the BLM published the draft plan in March.

Sage grouse conservation in Wyoming

The BLM manages 18 million surface acres and about 43 million acres of subsurface minerals in Wyoming. Although the agency does not manage wildlife, it does manage wildlife habitats, giving it an outsized influence on the state's bedrock energy, recreation, wildlife and agriculture industries.

When conservation groups in the early 2000s sounded alarms about declining sage grouse populations, state leaders sprung into action fearing economy-endangering federal action, including a potential listing under the Endangered Species Act. Wyoming has earned accolades since for being the first state to voluntarily take on greater sage grouse protections - both a proactive drive for conservation and in defense of ongoing agriculture and oil and gas development.

In some instances, the state's protections go further than the federal government's, including a maximum 5% disturbance threshold for industrial activity in sage grouse "core areas." So far, Wyoming is the only western state with a disturbance threshold that also takes wildfire impacts into account.

How the 5% calculation is made, however, is important. Some critics have alleged that some core area boundaries are simply made larger to allow for more disturbance.

So far, the BLM management strategies align with Wyoming's, which are prescribed in its sage grouse core areas plan and overseen by the Sage-Grouse Implementation Team.

Following Wyoming's lead, the BLM proposes to maintain livestock grazing within core areas - mostly considered an insignificant impact and, in some cases, beneficial to sage grouse, according to state and federal documents. Although the BLM's preferred alternative doesn't include major changes to grazing, it does further define poor grazing practices that would be restricted in sage grouse management areas, according to local BLM officials.

Stakeholder responses

Oil and gas industry officials in Wyoming have tentatively expressed hope for a workable federal approach to conserving sage grouse and its habitat. Notably, the BLM's preferred alternative does not include new leasing restrictions for oil and gas.

Conservation groups, however, want the BLM to include the use of a special wildlife habitat designation - Areas of Critical Environmental Concern - which would prohibit industrial activities. They point to a 2021 U.S. Geological Survey study that shows sage grouse populations have declined 80% throughout the West since 1965, and that even with recent conservation measures the species' population is still expected to decline.

Responding to a question Wednesday, the BLM's Holloran said the agency takes the species' cyclical population into account. "What you see is those lows keep getting lower and the highs are not as high," he said.

The Petroleum Association of Wyoming says it will push back against calls to include stringent habitat designations such as Areas of Critical Environmental Concern.

"Alternative 5 is the best option presented, but there is still work to be done," PAW Vice President Ryan McConnaughey told WyoFile via email. "We appreciate the BLM's willingness to take a measured approach and will work through the comment process to share our concerns."

Reached for comment, Gov. Mark Gordon's office referred to earlier statements regarding the BLM's draft plan.

"While more analysis of this is needed," Gordon said in March, "the first pass shows the BLM picked a preferred alternative that will allow for detailed comments that specifically [address] Wyoming's concerns, including that the preferred alternative does not propose Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) on top of our state identified core areas."

WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy.
Ryan Pasborg was recently awarded the Carnegie Medal, the nation's highest civilian honor for heroism, for his heroic efforts rescuing a Green River family from a house fire.

Pasborg stopped to assist the Wadsworth family on Feb. 2, 2022 when he smelled smoke and realized their house was on fire. He entered the burning home and pulled out Stephanie Wadsworth and her then four-year-old son, Weston.

"Ryan's actions epitomize the first rule of the Wyoming Code, the Code of the West, to 'Live each day with courage,'" Governor Gordon said.

Pasborg is one of the first Wyomingites to be recognized by the Pittsburgh-based Carnegie Hero Fund, according to a press release from the Governor's office. Established by Andrew Carnegie in 1904, The Hero Fund has awarded the Carnegie Medal to over 10,422 individuals in recognition of their outstanding heroism, defined by the Commission as acts of lifesaving done at extraordinary risk to the rescuer.
At Penny, all of the seating is at a communal bar. Photo: Hugo Yu

Wine bars are taking over the city, naturally  keeping pace with the natural-wine boom and as a matter of course. Theres no imported trend New York will not digest and then supercharge. The diminutive bars a vin of Paris, where you get a splash of better-than-ever local plonk and a little saucer of saucisson sec, are urban treasures where you can expect grumpy service (in English, at least) and indulge existentialist fantasies. But the influential neowine bars that began cropping up in New York  Estela in 2013 and the Four Horsemen and Wildair, which followed in 2015  were really wine restaurants, not in the sense of the old Montrachet, with its groaning cellar and white-tablecloth cuisine, but reservation-requiring, full-menu-offering, ambitious renovations of the grubby-casual original. In tweaking the formula, they have scrubbed off some of the grit that ennobled the form. Todays New York wine bars, groused Aaron Ayscough, a Paris-based wine writer, feel like seated indie-rock shows held inside fancy theaters. Admittedly, he added, I still enjoy those.

So do I. My favorite of the new guard is Penny on E. 10th Street, an all-counter-seating outgrowth of Claud, chef Joshua Pinsky and co-owner Chase Sinzers popular wine bistro that opened in 2022. (Claud is named for Sinzers mother, Penny for Pinskys grandfather.) Light where Claud is dark, Penny occupies a second-floor space directly above, getting all the benefits that altitude and a larger glass frontage can provide. It serves only seafood, and a long marbled bar faces the days haul: ice-bedded piles of oysters, clams, and lobsters like something out of a 17th-century still life. (On at least one occasion, a dommed lobster has tried to make an unsuccessful run for it.)

Unlike Claud, Penny is primarily for walk-ins, and at the moment, it is open only on weeknights. All of that helps defuse some of the pressure of new-opening hysteria and plants its flag firmly in wine-bar casual. The food, however, is distinguished by the kind of careful attention that simplicity requires. You can safely ignore the Instagram bait, a $49 beggars purse of creme fraiche and fried onions topped with a gray-green pyramid of caviar, which has a good claim to being New Yorks -latest most expensive single bite. The moneys better spent on one of Pennys ice box raw-bar assortments, precious at $36 for a standard and $98 for a bounty but also preciously prepared: One night, alone at the bar, I watched Pinsky, a burly giant with dangling open ear gauges, dust individual clams with a paintbrush.

An ice box at Penny. Photo: Hugo Yu

Raw seafood loves Champagne, and Penny, whose list is overseen by Sinzer and Ellis Srubas-Giammanco (who trained at one of the citys other great wine restaurants, Chambers), offers around 50 by the bottle plus other bubbles, like Domaine de Sulauzes Super Modeste from Provence, which tastes of lime candy and will run you only $15 a glass.

I was even more taken with Pennys cooked dishes, any of them restaurant ready. The typical octopus-and-potato appetizer was recast as tentacles on a smoky, paprika-stained cloud of whipped potatoes, which hid nuggets of pickled daikon. An oyster pan roast that looked deceptively thin beneath its flaky biscuit turned out to pack a fantastic wallop of the sea. The usual fish joints token meat dish is here a Dover sole, its ribs protruding like a Frenched rack of lamb, with upturned mushroom caps and melting little tabs of bone marrow, meaty enough for the most evangelical carnivore. Paired with a 2016 bottle of Fumey-Chatelain Savagnin from Arbois  like a glass of salted marzipan  it was a treat.

The dim is darker and the din is louder on the West Side at Demo, from chef Quang Q Nguyen and beverage director Jacob Nass, both vets of Wildair. Demo, named for nearby Father Demo Square, has some insouciance built in thanks to a separated front barroom. The real action is in the L-shaped dining room at the back, where a handsome, bearded Frenchman will come by to go over some precisions (pronounced pre-siz-ee-ons a la francaise) of the menu, explaining that the sauce gribiche on the rare mackerel is essentially egg salad, or to offer a sip of Sardinian pet-nat.

Go to enough wine bars and you will notice that their menus tend to overlap. Here, as elsewhere, is a bit of crudo (raw scallop in gremolata), a tartare (beef with cured yolk and potato chips), a plate of marinated squid. The swings get bigger but dont always hit. Demos dressed-to-impress shellfish is a crab casino served on a scallop shell, which could have used more bread-crumb crisp. The mains are steak, grilled over charcoal, and an $84 lobster au poivre, whose meat and sauce fight each other at every bite. (I preferred Pennys simply prepared butter-and-tarragon lobster, which was $72 and had the bonus of being significantly larger.)

Still, the room rolls with the tipsy ease that a nice cult-producer Burgenland rose (Christian Tschidas Birdscape, crunchy and cranberried) can provide, and you may be tempted, in your cups, to forgive slips and stumbles. Its vibe-y in here, one of my guests declared mid-dinner as we noticed two diners  had they arrived together or not?  making out lustily at the bar. Hope they didnt eat that crab thing, said another guest. Or the squid thing.

Top Pick Penny 90 E. 10th St., nr. Third Ave.; penny-nyc.com

Demo 34 Carmine St., nr. Bleecker St.; demowestvillage.com
Huawei quietly unveiled its Pura 70 series smartphones across international markets, opening a new chapter for its flagship lineup. The series includes the Pura 70, Pura 70 Pro, and Pura 70 Ultra with new camera systems, updated aesthetics, and obviously a new name.

Notably absent from the lineup is the Pura 70 Pro+, which will remain exclusive to the Chinese market.

All three Pura 70 models feature the new Kirin 9010 chipset, manufactured on the 7nm process by SMIC (except the vanilla Pura 70, which runs on the Kirin 9000S1). While Huawei has not officially confirmed any specifics regarding the chipset's capabilities, it is expected to offer improved CPU performance and enhanced AI features.

The Pura 70 series is already available in China, and their specs sheets are already well-known. Their standout feature remains the rear camera setup, housed within a distinctive triangular island.

The Huawei Pura 70 features a 50 MP main camera with a variable aperture of f/1.4  f/4.0, a 12 MP periscope telephoto lens offering 5x optical zoom, and a 13 MP ultra-wide camera.

The Pura 70 Pro retains the 50 MP main camera but upgrades the telephoto lens to a 48 MP sensor offering 3.5x optical zoom. Additionally, the ultra-wide camera features a 12.5 MP sensor.

The star of the lineup, the Huawei Pura 70 Ultra, boasts a 1 sensor and a retractable lens. The pop-up mechanism allows the sensor to capture as much light as possible without compromising the device's slim profile. The variable aperture ranges from f/1.6 to f/4.0, offering exceptional low-light performance.

The telephoto camera maintains its 3.5x optical zoom but now features a 50 MP sensor with an f/2.1 aperture and theoretically endless autofocus. The ultra-wide camera boasts a 40 MP sensor.

All three smartphones feature a single 13 MP selfie camera, as Huawei believes the Pura series users do not require additional cameras and sensors for facial recognition.



Huawei Pura 70 Ultra features a 1-inch retractable main sensor with variable aperture

While Huawei launched the Pura 70 series with Harmony OS 4.2 in China, the global version ships with EMUI 14.2. The devices boast several smart features, including AI Gesture Control, powered by generative AI technology.

Notably, the international versions of these smartphones will not support Beidou Satellite Calling and Messaging, a feature exclusive to the Chinese market.



Huawei Pura 70  Pura 70 Pro  Pura 70 Ultra

The Huawei Pura 70 is available with 12 GB RAM and 256 GB storage in White or Black colors for 999. The Pura 70 Pro offers the same color options with twice the storage for 1,199.

The Pura 70 Ultra is available in three colors, each featuring a faux leather back: Green, Black, and Brown. It comes with 16 GB RAM and 512 GB storage, priced at 1,499.

Pre-orders for all three models are already available in select European countries, with regular sales scheduled to begin on May 22.

Source 1  Source 2  Source 3
The Huawei Pura 70 series has now been released globally, two weeks after its debut in China. We were invited to Huawei's headquarters in Shenzhen, where we had the opportunity to get hands-on experience with these exciting new devices.

Huawei Pura 70 Ultra, Pura 70 Pro+, Pura 70 Pro, Pura 70

While the Huawei P series has traditionally focused on photography, the new Pura series, derived from "Purity," promises to deliver "unseen wonders with bold imaginations" and to "lead the fashion sense" with its unique style. The cameras are arranged in a triangle formation, called "Forward Symbol Design". Here are our initial impressions, focusing specifically on the Pro model and its China-exclusive sibling, the Pro+.

Huawei Pura 70 Pro+

Huawei has positioned the Pura 70 Pro as a middle ground between the reasonably priced Pura 70 and the camera powerhouse, the Pura 70 Ultra. It combines features from both models, offering a compelling option for those seeking an exceptional camera experience without breaking the bank.

Both the Pro and Pro+ models share the same sleek design as the Pura 70 Ultra, down to the smallest detail. With its 6.8 LTPO OLED display boasting 2,500 nits peak brightness and 2nd Gen Kunlun Glass, you can expect a top-tier viewing experience.

The Pura 70 Pro+ model, however, stands out with its exclusive features, including satellite communication with two different satellites  Beidou and Tiantong. This model will be limited to the domestic market, as these features are incompatible overseas.

Additionally, the Pro+ offers designer back panels and extra RAM, although these features were not deemed essential for the international audience.

The Huawei Pura 70 Pro is simply stunning, especially in its striking Purple color, which, sadly, is not coming to Europe. Thanks to its curved sides, handling the phone is comfortable and secure. Despite the sizable camera island, the phone feels well-balanced and becomes even easier to hold when paired with a stylish case.

Running on the latest EMUI 14.2 software, which is essentially HarmonyOS 4.2 without the domestic bloatware, the Pura 70 series promises a streamlined user experience. While Huawei has not confirmed whether it will standardize its user interface branding across markets, our brief interaction with the software suggests a seamless and intuitive experience. Since it is exactly the same as the other Pura 70 devices, you'll be able to read more details once we are ready with the review of the Pura 70 Ultra.

Unfortunately, due to extreme weather conditions during our visit - Southeast China was experiencing its worst monsoon season in a century - we were unable to test the camera extensively outdoors. Therefore, we cannot provide an objective opinion on its performance. However, we do have a short hands-on review with Pura 70 Ultra camera samples, some of which are from the company's latest R&D Center in Dongguan, built in the style of small European towns.

Huawei is offering the Pura 70 Pro in White and Black. Price is set at 1,199, and some countries in Europe can already pre-order the phone, with regular sales scheduled to begin on May 22.
Today is a big day for the latest version of Samsung's Android skin. Before this point, the One UI 6.1 update was already installed on almost 9 million devices, but the number is sure to shoot up in the next few weeks.

That is because today Samsung unleashed a barrage of One UI 6.1 updates. The new version of the skin is now rolling out to the Galaxy S22 family, the Galaxy S21 series, the Galaxy Z Flip4, the Galaxy Z Flip3, the Galaxy Z Fold4, and the Galaxy Z Fold3.

That's a lot of devices, but there is one caveat: so far, the rollout seems to be confined to South Korea. That said, note that it doesn't usually take very long for Samsung's updates to spread across the world, so if you own one of the many aforementioned devices, One UI 6.1 should be on its way to you sooner, rather than later.

The cherry on top of the cake is the fact that, while we were expecting the Galaxy S22 series, the Fold4, and Flip4 to receive the Galaxy AI features that debuted with the Galaxy S24 family in January, it now seems like even the Galaxy S21 models, the Flip3, and Fold3 are receiving at least a subset of those.

This is great news of course and it means that Samsung's goal of having over 100 million devices with Galaxy AI on them by the end of the year seems quite achievable indeed (when you factor in the upcoming launches of the Galaxy Z Fold6 and Z Flip6, as well as all of the Galaxy S24 series devices already out there in the wild).

The Galaxy S21 lineup is only getting support for Circle to Search, but that's not nothing, and it's probably the best advertised feature of the entire Galaxy AI pack. The Flip3 is in the same boat, but the Fold3 surprisingly is also getting AI-generated wallpapers, webpage summarization, notes summarization, auto templates in Samsung Notes, live language translation, image editing suggestions, generative AI-powered editing, Interpreter Mode, and voice transcription in Voice Recorder.

The Galaxy S22 series, the Fold4 and Flip4 are receiving all of the Galaxy AI features of course, even though whether this would happen was up in the air for a while a few months back. Samsung chose to do the right thing in the end.

Source (in Korean)
The Poco F6 we've been hearing about for some time now has been certified by Thailand's NBTC, moving it a step closer to launch.

The Poco F6 is listed on the Thai certifying authority's website with model code 24069PC21G, corroborating previous rumors. The unannounced Redmi Note 13 Turbo for China has model designation 24069RA21C, suggesting the Poco F6 will be a rebadged Redmi Note 13 Turbo for the international markets. The Poco F5 was also a version of the Redmi Note 12 Turbo.

While Poco hasn't revealed anything about the F6 yet, leaks and rumors claim the smartphone will come with the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 SoC, 50MP primary camera, 8MP ultrawide camera, and 20MP selfie camera. It will pack a 1,220p resolution display and a 5,000 mAh battery with 90W charging support.

Poco F5

The Poco F6 Pro has also bagged NBTC certification. It has model code 23113RKC6G and is expected to be a rebranded Redmi K70 for the global markets.

Source (in Thai)
This file photo from 2022 shows the Tiyan area where the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations National Weather Service Forecast Office in Guam is located.
Sen. Joe S. San Agustin introduced a bill that proposes a stable funding source for the Judiciary, equivalent to 5.25% of the projected government of Guams general fund available for appropriation.

A consistent funding for operations will fortify the independence of Guams judiciary, San Agustin said in introducing Bill 292-37.

The 5.25% allocation, he said, aims to shield the Judiciary from budgetary constraints and political fluctuations, thereby enabling it to fulfill its duties effectively and impartially.

San Agustin introduced Bill 292-37 a day before Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Torres Jr. delivered his 2024 State of the Judiciary Address at the Legislature.

The proposed continuous appropriation to the Unified Judiciary of Guam, as recommended by Public Auditor Benjamin J.F. Cruz, is a significant step towards ensuring fairness, impartiality, and efficiency within Guams legal system, the senator said.

San Agustin emphasized the critical role of an independent judiciary in upholding democracy and safeguarding individual rights.

He cited concerns that the American Bar Association raised regarding the global threat to judicial independence, and stressed the importance of protecting Guams judiciary from political pressures and influences.

The bills co-sponsors are Vice Speaker Tina Muna Barnes, Sens. Frank Blas Jr., Dwayne San Nicolas, Christopher M. Duenas, Roy Quinata, Amanda Shelton, and William Parkinson.

San Agustin expressed confidence in the bills prospects, noting its bipartisan support. He thanked the bills cosponsors for their support in upholding the principles of justice, fairness, and accountability.

The bill, if enacted into law in the next few months, takes effect at the start of fiscal 2025 on Oct. 1, 2024.




Haiti - News : Zapping...





The PNH controls access to the Varreux Terminal

On Wednesday, the police announced the resumption of access control to the Varreux oil terminal. Resumption of operations planned for this Thursday, May 2nd, 2024. Armored vehicles of the National Police of Haiti (PNH) are in front of the terminal and should remain in position. The ship "Mt Sea Lavie" carrying 200,000 barrels is expected to dock around 10:00 a.m. to unload its cargo...



Agriculture : USAID supports 6 universities

The American University of Les Cayes (AUC) is one of six universities supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID-Haiti) to advance the agricultural sector. Through this partnership, farmers are trained in the application of modern agricultural techniques to improve productivity. The agricultural technology parks https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40061-haiti-agriculture-launch-of-the-3rd-agricultural-technology-park-in-the-north.html established as part of this partnership also collaborate with other research institutions to help farmers better understand and manage agricultural systems to adapt to climate change while increasing yields.



PATU supports the development of Haitian Taekwondo

Tuesday April 30, 2024, Grand Master Ostin Frenel, https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-39914-icihaiti-taekwondomaster-ostin-fresnel-first-haitian-to-reach-grade-2.html President of the Haitian Taekwondo Federation, took part on Zoom in the General Assembly of the "Pan American Taekwondo Union" (PATU). An opportunity to expose the realities of Taekwondo in Haiti. The General Assembly, through its President Juan Manuel Lopez Delgado, took note and congratulated Grand Master Ostin Frenel for the resilience of Haitian Taekwondo, promising to continue to support the development of Taekwondo in Haiti.



The OAS congratulates the appointment of the President of the CPT

"We congratulate today's appointment of the President of the Presidential Council, a crucial step in the implementation of Haiti's national political accord. The transparent and rule-compliant appointment of a Prime Minister, as well as the rapid formation of a new government, are vital for the stability of the country. It is essential to maintain momentum, to support the deployment of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission by the United Nations Security Council and to open a credible path to Haiti's democratic renewal,  Luis Almagro Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS).



May 1st : Greetings from outgoing PM Patrick Boisvert

"On this May 1sy, 2024 marking Agriculture and Labor Day where our country is going through such a difficult stage in its history, the outgoing Prime Minister Michel Patrick Boisvert has a special thought for our farmers, workers, employers and industrialists. In this moment of acute crisis, he takes the opportunity to salute their courage, their determination, their capacities for perseverance and resilience, while inviting them to continue working for the interests of our beloved Haiti. Happy Agriculture and Labor Day to our compatriots here and elsewhere !"



CPT : Comments from Martine Moise

"At the point where we find ourselves today, it was almost clear that this is the crossroads that they wanted to drag us to. We noted the installation of a council of 9 members at the head of the country. We have noted that all these steps were taken behind the backs of the majority, behind the backs of the Haitian people, the main victims. Such steps have never produced results. May this new Council find the formula for social justice in favor of the People who have suffered for too long ! Would it also be wise to remind the members of the council that the last elected President, whose role they claim to play, was cowardly assassinated in his home, in the exercise of his functions and that he is still awaiting Justice," declared the former First Lady of Haiti Martine Moise.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















The proposal would reduce the number of entrance examinations from roughly 120 to 9 and enable people to apply to several academic fields and universities through a single examination as soon as in the spring of 2025.

UNIVERSITIES are divided over a proposal that would dramatically overhaul university entrance examinations in Finland, reports Helsingin Sanomat.

Helsingin Sanomat on 25 April wrote that the over month-long comment period for the proposal had drawn feedback from 48 private individuals and organisation representatives a day before the deadline. About half of the them gauged that the proposed system would be functional as such or functional with minor tweaks, and the other half that the system would be dysfunctional.

Some 400 university staff, mostly from the fields of humanities and social sciences, have also argued in a petition that a reform with such a profound impact on the nature of university education should not be rushed.

Arto Laitinen, a professor of philosophy at Tampere University, echoed the concern in an interview with the newspaper, calling for a timeout on what would signal a significant change in dozens of fields and degree programmes at universities in Finland.

A transition as significant as this should be both controlled and justified. It requires a proper discussion about the principles, and it shouldnt be rushed, he said.

Today, entrance exams to many programmes in the fields of humanities and social sciences make use of materials and essay assignments in order to assess the skills of applicants more deeply than multiple-choice questions. Universities have also developed joint nationwide exams to certain fields, with trials in history and social sciences taking place this spring.

Shouldnt we first see what we can learn from these? asked Laitinen.

Hanna Kuusela, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Jyvaskyla, argued to Helsingin Sanomat that the reform would reduce the diversity and undermine university education in Finland.

The ease argument is undeniably appealing, but the ease of applying isnt necessarily beneficial also to applicants in the long term, she said, elaborating that field-specific entrance provide applicants a better understanding of what is to come.

An exam that provides access to sociology and law or communication would inevitably be very generic.

If an applicants gets in with an exam like this, they may be surprised to find out what the studies really entail, cautioned Kuusela. Is there a risk that a terribly high number of young people end up in wrong fields because the exam is so generic or general?

Critics have also drawn attention to the proposed contents of the joint exams: the proposal indicates that the exams would consist almost entirely of multiple-choice, matching and fill-in-the-blank questions.

While such exams are widely used in natural sciences, students in humanities and social sciences require solid reading and writing skills, reminded Kuusela. Not testing for such skills in the entrance exam, she added, could both result in surprises later in studies and demotivate students to develop such skills before university.

If you can get even into university without having to know how to read and write, how does it motivate you to invest in the skills in high school?

Finnish universities have previously published new scoring guidelines for certificate-based selection, placing greater emphasis on mother tongue, said Laitinen. The guidelines are to be implemented in the spring of 2026.

Itd be contradictory and undesirable to introduce another model that assigns no value to the ability to generate text, he viewed.

Marja Sutela, the chairperson of the Rectors Council of Finnish Universities (Unifi), told Helsingin Sanomat that carrying out the entrance exam reform as soon as next year has been deemed realistic because universities have collaborated on student selection for some time in many academic fields.

We have good experiences in economics, education and technology, she said.

She also clarified that essay questions and maths questions could be part of entrance exams also in future. Its rather a question of using machine scoring to check the exams quickly enough, said Sutela.

Representatives from different academic fields will start preparing the contents and question types of the entrance exams in more detail in the autumn, according to her. A proposal on the entrance exam system is to be submitted by early June.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT
According to the app's data, covering the period from 2018 to 2023, prices for various medical and dental services have shown notable changes.

Kela , Finland's social insurance institution, has launched a new publicly accessible online application that allows users to compare median prices of private healthcare services across the country. The app reveals that while the cost of certain services has significantly increased, there are substantial regional disparities in pricing.

For instance, the median price for a pediatric specialist consultation has increased from 106 euros in 2018 to 119 euros in 2023 nationally. Similarly, visits to a general practitioner have risen from 70 euros to 84 euros, and specialist consultations in general medicine have jumped from 81 euros to 93 euros.

Despite these increases, Mikko Nurminen, a special researcher at Kela, notes that the overall price hike in private medical services over the past five years has been relatively moderate. However, he emphasizes the importance of closely monitoring these trends, especially in light of recent increases in Kela reimbursements.

Interestingly, the data indicates that dental services have become slightly more affordable on a national scale, with only minor fluctuations in median prices.

One critical aspect highlighted by the app is the significant variance in prices between different regions. For example, the median cost for a specialist consultation in general medicine in 2023 was 78 euros in Central Uusimaa, compared to 130 euros in Kainuu, showcasing a stark contrast in pricing across Finland.

Nurminen suggests that these regional differences can be partly attributed to the availability of specialists in different wellness areas, with services being generally less accessible outside major urban centers.

The app does not include additional fees charged by private healthcare providers, which Nurminen points out could lead to higher actual costs than those reported. He remarks, "Unfortunately, private health services do not report their service fee levels to us. Therefore, the prices we have may not fully reflect the total cost, as providers may shift costs to these service fees."

This new tool by Kela aims to provide transparency in healthcare pricing and assist consumers, media, and policymakers in understanding the landscape of private healthcare costs in Finland.

HT
The company previously supplying prepaid payment cards to the Finnish Prison and Probation Service and the Finnish Immigration Service, known as PFS, has been placed into liquidation, causing disruptions in the management of funds normally allocated to card holders. The liquidation, which was ordered by a court on February 13, 2024, has prompted both government agencies to secure alternative suppliers and negotiate the return of unclaimed funds to their rightful owners.

Prior to its closure, PFS issued cards were extensively used by prisoners and clients of the Finnish Immigration Service to receive various types of allowances, wages, and other payments. However, with the contracts expiring and all old cards being deactivated by November 30, 2023, any remaining balances on these cards have been left in limbo.

Interpath Ireland has been appointed as the liquidator to oversee the dissolution of PFS and the orderly distribution of remaining assets. Under the European Communities Electronic Money Regulations of 2011, the funds still held on these prepaid cards are protected, ensuring that card holders will eventually receive their money, though the process has been delayed.

Both the Finnish Immigration Service and the Prison and Probation Service are actively working with the liquidator to facilitate the transfer of leftover funds to cardholders' new accounts. This process has been more complex than anticipated, leading to unavoidable delays.

The Finnish Immigration Service has committed to reaching out to affected clients to provide necessary assistance and guide them through the transition to new payment cards. Meanwhile, the Prison and Probation Service has already taken steps to ensure that all payments to prisoners have been secured with the new card provider.

The situation highlights the challenges and vulnerabilities associated with prepaid card services and underscores the importance of rigorous oversight and backup plans in governmental financial transactions. As negotiations continue, both services are prioritizing the swift resolution of these issues to minimize impact on card holders relying on these funds for their daily needs.

HT
Maker Faire Rome , the celebrated festival of innovation, has officially opened its calls for participants for the 2024 edition, scheduled to take place from October 25th to 27th at the Gazometro Ostiense. Organized by the Rome Chamber of Commerce, this event stands as a dynamic showcase connecting innovators from various sectors such as digital manufacturing, robotics, AI, agritech, and more.

The festival invites makers, educational institutions, and research bodies to submit their projects and ideas through three distinct calls: Call for Makers, Call for Schools, and Call for Universities and Research Institutes. Each call aims to gather a diverse array of participants to present their groundbreaking work and educational programs to a global audience.

Call for Makers: Open to individual inventors, teams, startups, and creative enterprises worldwide, this call offers the chance to secure a free space at the event. Participants will have the opportunity to display their innovations, engage in talks, or perform in public. Proposals are due by June 3rd, with more information available on the event's official website.

Call for Schools: In partnership with the Ministry of Education and Merit, Maker Faire Rome continues to spotlight the creativity and innovation of secondary school students across the European Union. Selected projects will receive free exhibition space, either physical or virtual, at the event. This participation also counts towards the students' Cross-curricular Competence Paths and Orientation (PCTO). Schools must submit their projects by the June 3rd deadline.

Call for Universities and Research Institutes: This call targets higher education and research institutions, providing a platform to showcase cutting-edge research and development. Participants can opt for a free bare area or a pre-furnished stand at a nominal cost. Submissions close on June 3rd.

Lorenzo Tagliavanti, President of the Rome Chamber of Commerce, emphasized the inclusive nature of Maker Faire Rome, stating, "Maker Faire Rome is an inclusive fair, where technology is accessible to everyone, not just specialists. This spirit has been with us since the first edition and has remained intact over the years. We look forward to the innovative ideas and projects that drive digital and sustainable transformation."

Luciano Mocci, President of Innova Camera, highlighted the global impact of the event, saying, "For more than a decade, our event has connected people, thoughts, opinions, knowledge, and skills from all over the globe, creating ever stronger and indissoluble bonds through a universal language: that of innovation."

As the event prepares to unfold at the historic Gazometro Ostiense, Maker Faire Rome 2024 is set to once again highlight the best of global innovation and educational prowess, making it a key event for technology enthusiasts and innovators around the world.

HT
Lapsley 'honored and humbled' to receive high honor from his alma mater

Henderson County Commissioner William G. "Bill" Lapsley was honored by the University of Wyoming College of Engineering and Physical Sciences with the 2024 Distinguished Engineer Award at the colleges awards banquet on Saturday.

A 1970 civil engineering graduate of the university, Lapsley began his 54-year career as a junior engineer at the Los Angeles County Flood Control District. After the record-breaking earthquake in 1971, he was selected by the districts chief engineer to join a team of engineers to investigate the stability of the districts 14 large flood-control dams.

In 1973 he obtained his professional engineers license then moved with his family to Hendersonville a year later to join the Hendersonville Water and Sewer Department as the director. He founded his own firm, William G. Lapsley & Associates, in 1985. The firm became a prominent engineering consultant for local government, private land developers and industrial clients throughout Western North Carolina. After selling the business in 2014, Lapsley was elected to the Henderson County Board of Commissioners, where he's serving his third term.

I am indeed honored and humbled to receive this achievement award from my alma mater," Lapsley told the audience in Laramie, Wyoming, on Saturday night. "To be selected is a tribute to the professors and staff that afforded me the educational opportunities over 58 years ago to excel in my chosen profession.
A school in Henley has been presented with a flag to mark the schools commitment to sustainable development.

Gillotts School in Henley now flies the green Eco-Schools flag outside of its entrance in recognition of its ongoing environmental education work.

The Eco-Schools Green Flag Award is an internationally recognised symbol for environmental excellence and is part of a scheme run by Keep Britain Tidy to encourage environmental action.

To become an Eco-School the secondary school in Gillotts Lane was required to demonstrate it had a framework in place to facilitate long-term improvement of sustainable development practices within the school as well as the education of such work.

The school's student-led eco committee which has been working towards obtaining the award since last May has chosen three pathways to improve on and lower the schools carbon footprint.

This year the students have chosen: biodiversity on the school's grounds, global citizen and energy awareness.

Alison Michael who coordinates the schools Eco Committee said it was great to see the students hard work being recognised.

Mrs Michael who teaches Chemistry said: It's a great way to give schools an incentive and acknowledge all the changes they are making.

"[The students] were very pleased because they have worked so hard and it's a big commitment. I think it's an amazing scheme.

This year it's been a little harder getting people engaged outside of the committee and getting more people on board, but the students are working really hard and it's great to show the school is interested in it.

As part of teh award the Eco Committee is required to meet every term to work on a long-term action plan for the school.

Mrs Michael said: They have chosen the school grounds, which we are very proud of but are not brilliant for nature and there is more we could do.

They are also focussing on being global citizens and how our lifestyles affect others around the globe particularly to do with fair trade. I thought its quite mature that they know that our life here comes at a cost to others.

And finally, energy awareness. We have gas here and the students said in winter they can see it bellowing steam. They have collected data from the school site team and want to look into complete replacing it.

As part of the award the schools eco committee had to engage other students and staff members in sustainable development practices.

Mrs Michael said: As part of it we have to involve other students and we have been encouraging people to grow thing. Last year it was tomato plants and this year it has been calendulas which are a great pollinator.

Anyone can grow plants. The eco club has planted lots of lavender as well.

Mrs Michael said that the school was looking forward to big green week in June and the schools eco committee would be surveying how many students travel to school on bike, on foot or in electric vehicles.

To find out more about the award go to: www.eco-schools.org.uk

ENDS

2404464-7: Alison Michael and Headteacher Catherine Darnton with the flag which flies by the schools entrance.
Today, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), announced the 2024 State Opioid Response (SOR) and Tribal Opioid Response (TOR) Notices of Funding Opportunity, providing up to $1.48 billion to states, territories, and the District of Columbia and $63 million to Tribes to address the overdose crisis in fiscal year 2024. This funding is a critical investment in the President Bidens Unity Agenda for the nation, and supports evidence-based, holistic practices that address the overdose crisis, including prevention, harm reduction, treatment such as the use of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), naloxone and other opioid overdose reversal medications, and recovery supports.

State and Tribal Opioid Response grants provide essential support in the fight against the overdose crisis, said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. This funding is aligned with the HHS Overdose Prevention Strategy and allows states and Tribes to build critical infrastructure and increase capacity in ways that fit their unique needs. The Administration is committed to bolstering the implementation of evidence-based practices that save lives.

Under President Bidens Unity Agenda, we have made historic investments to expand access to life-saving treatments, services, and overdose reversal medications across the nation, said White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Director Dr. Rahul Gupta. These State and Tribal Opioid Response grants will support critical local efforts in our whole-of-society response to address the overdose epidemic and save lives.

President Biden made it a top priority of his Unity Agenda to ensure states, Tribes and territories have the tools and evidence-based strategies needed to beat the overdose crisis, said Deputy Secretary Andrea Palm. At HHS, we believe there should be no wrong door for people who are seeking support and care to manage their behavioral health challenges, including when it comes to getting treatment for substance use disorder.

The State and Tribal Opioid Response funding are some of SAMHSAs largest grants and will continue expanding access to care for those in the greatest need and in the most overlooked communities, said Miriam E. Delphin-Rittmon, Ph.D., HHS Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use and the leader of SAMHSA. These grants enable states, territories, and Tribal entities to fund programs that support the continuum of prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery for millions of people. Thanks to this funding, many more lives will be saved.

The 2024 SOR funding opportunity includes initiatives to:

Build on opioid overdose reversal medication (naloxone and nalmefene) saturation efforts, ensuring these medications are in the hands of those most likely to witness an overdose.

Increase the focus on the full continuum of prevention, harm reduction, treatment, and recovery support services for transitional aged youth and young adults (ages 16-25).

Expand access to MOUD in correctional settings.

Emphasize the provision of services using a whole-person approach, taking into account an individuals physical and mental health needs and their social supports.

SOR awards will help states and territories build on successes from previous grants. From 2018 to 2023, SOR recipients have reported:

Over 550,000 overdose reversals

About 9.8 million naloxone kits and 7 million fentanyl test strips distributed

Over 1.2 million people received treatment services and over 600,000 people received MOUD, including buprenorphine, methadone, and injectable extended-release naltrexone.

At their six month follow up, 78% of people who received treatment through SOR reported they did not use illicit drugs.

TOR awards will also help Tribal communities continue to build on successes since 2018, including:

Providing treatment and recovery support to over 11,000 people

Distributing almost 50,000 naloxone kits and 37,000 fentanyl test strips

Furnishing prevention resources to over 78,000 people.

In order to help recipients better plan and implement overdose response activities, SOR awards will be extended from two to three years, and TOR awards will be extended from two to five years.

Over the past three years, under President Bidens leadership, the Biden-Harris Administration has made historic investments, taken unprecedented action, and removed decades-long barriers to substance use disorder treatment and overdose reversal medication to help address the overdose epidemic and save lives.

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. To learn how to get support for mental health, drug or alcohol issues, visit FindSupport.gov. If you are ready to locate a treatment facility or provider, you can go directly to FindTreatment.gov or call 800-662-HELP (4357).

Reporters with questions should send inquiries to media@samhsa.hhs.gov.
Emaar Hospitality Group has announced the official opening of its key five-star property Palace Dubai Creek Harbour, that will cater to both leisure and business travellers.

Situated on the shoreline of the Dubai Creek, this five-star hotel offers unhindered waterfront views and showcases a glittering cityscape that unveils the Dubai Skyline from a new perspective.

According to Emaar, the Palace Dubai Creek Harbours interiors, shaped with palatial grandeur and adorned with Arabesque decor, feature exquisite heritage art pieces and contemporary architecture.

The Arrival Plaza is a spectacle, welcoming guests with a glorious first impression and a delicate touch of Arabian charm, it said.

It will boast 122 rooms, offering an enchanting experience for families. Guests can choose from a variety of options, including the Deluxe Room King, Deluxe Room Twin, Deluxe Partial Canal View King, Deluxe Partial Canal View Twin, Deluxe Canal View King, Deluxe Canal View Twin, Executive Suite, and Presidential Suite, each tailored to meet the diverse needs of the esteemed guests, it stated.

Mark Kirby, Head of Emaar Hospitality Group said: "I am honoured to lead a team dedicated to curating extraordinary moments and providing guests with an unparalleled blend of modern elegance and Arabian charm."

"Our commitment is to create a haven where every stay is a unique and unforgettable experience, reflecting the opulence and warmth that defines the heart of Dubai. Welcome to a world where luxury meets tranquility, and every detail is crafted to perfection," he stated.

The dining scene at Palace Dubai Creek Harbour includes the highly anticipated Fai Lounge, a dynamic space adjacent to the infinity pool, explained Kirby.

This new concept serves as a vibrant pool lounge during the day, transforming into a trendy evening venue. Guests can also indulge in Levantine and Arabian delicacies at familiar restaurants such as Ewaan and Al Bayt, designed to be the year-round destination of choice with lavish indoor spaces and al fresco terraces, said the official.

Other key amenities at the property include a 24/7 fitness centre, a colourful Qix Club for children, a Boardroom, and a Business Centre, catering to both leisure and business travellers. The spa offers a haven of calm, turning every moment into a rejuvenating journey with invigorating treatments, he added.

To commemorate the launch, the hotel is giving a 30% off on its rates and a complimentary breakfast as a special offer to those customers who book their stay by May 31.

It is located within the Dubai Creek Harbour, an ultra-modern waterfront neighbourhood along the historic Dubai Creek, connected to the citys main roads by three bridges.

With 700,000 sqm of parks and open spaces, 66,113 sqm of cultural space, pedestrian-friendly streets, and a stunning promenade, the area is a testament to modern urban planning.

"Guests can immerse themselves in the majestic ambiance of the hotel, taking advantage of the incredible rooftop infinity pool, spa, and luxurious rooms with spacious private balconies, the finest furnishings, and exclusive design elements infused with modern Arabian flair," remarked Kirby.

With panoramic city and canal views, Palace Dubai Creek Harbour ensures a one-of-a-kind experience fusing classic sophistication with ultra-modern opulence, he added.-TradeArabia News Service


Thursday May 2, 2024







President William Ruto with late Chief of Defence Forces Francis Ogolla (right) and Vice chief of Defence Forces Lt General Charles Kahariri on March 9, 2024. Image: FILE



Kenyan President William Ruto on Thursday named Charles Muriu Kahariri as defense chief after the death of his predecessor in a helicopter crash.



He replaces Francis Omondi Ogolla who was among 10 military officers killed when their chopper went down in a remote area of northwestern Kenya on April 18.





A former Kenya Navy deputy commander, Kahariri joined the Kenya Defense Forces in April 1987, rising through the ranks during his illustrious career spanning over three decades, according to a defense ministry profile.The married father of three was involved in Kenyas cross-border incursion into Somalia in 2011 to flush out Al-Shabaab insurgents.The offensive followed the abduction of four foreigners, including two Spanish aid workers, from a giant refugee camp near the border.Kahariri served as the maritime component commander during that military campaign codenamed Operation Linda Nchi -- Protect the Country in Swahili.The graduate of the US Naval War College was the task force commander of the operation that captured the Al-Shabaab bastion of Kismayo, a key port which served as a commercial hub for the extremists.The promotion of Kahariri to the defense chief post and the rank of general was among several appointments announced by Ruto.He also named Major General Fatuma Gaiti Ahmed as commander of the Kenya Air Force, the first woman in the nations history to hold the position.She replaces John Mugaravai Omenda who was promoted to Vice Chief of the Defense Forces and the rank of lieutenant general.Major General Paul Owuor Otieno was also named commander of the navy.Under Kenyan military regulations, there is only one four-star general at any given time, with the president -- a civilian -- being a five-star general as the commander-in-chief.
On October 12th, five days after Hamas terror attack, as United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Israel, he asserted  You may be strong enough on your own to defend yourself. But as long as America exists, you will never, ever have to.

Over six months later, on his 7th visit to the Middle East since Blinken met Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel and reiterated the United States clear position on Rafah class="manualbacklink" target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/01/world/middleeast/blinken-hamas-israel-gaza-cease-fire.html">implying that Washington remained strongly opposed to a major Israeli assault on the South Gazan city where thousands of Palestinians have sought refuge from Israeli bombing in the North.

Between October 2023 and April 2024, more than 34,000 have been killed by Israeli operations in Gaza. Evidently, the US position has long shifted  now focusing on limiting the Israeli offensive, negotiating a hostage/prisoner swap and a ceasefire, and re-establishing those structures which will bring enduring stability to the region and yield economic benefits, rather than temporary solutions.

Key to this effort, are the regional powerhouses which are inextricably tied to both the immediate objective of a ceasefire as well as the long-term effort for a stable Middle East. However, compared to Blinkens last visit in March, the circumstances have changed not in nature, but in scale.

Changes in context  Qatar and Israel

Between Blinkens last visit in March and now, a ceasefire deal has not only remained elusive (with Hamas continuing to hold over 100 Israeli hostages), but prospects have taken a harder hit. The positions of regional negotiators (including Qatar and Egypt as the chief mediators) have since become strained.

On one hand, on April 17th, the Qatari Prime Minister Al Thani stated that the narrow political interests of some parties had necessitated Qatar to undertake a full evaluation of this role". This arguably referred to Netanyahu criticising Qatar earlier for continuing to host senior Hamas leaders, even as acting as mediator.

However, Doha arguably holds more cards than it wishes to show  CNNs Nadeen Ebrahim recently argued that Doha is unlikely to back out as a negotiator anytime soon, with its expressions of protest arguably intended to be a reminder of its invaluable position. In fact, it is the unparalleled access that Qatar offers to Hamas negotiators that makes Doha an inextricable player  especially for Washington.

Notably, Qatar not only houses Hamas political office but also the Al Udeid Airbase  the largest American military facility in the Middle East (with about 10,000 troops) for which Doha and Washington quietly renewed their agreement for an additional 10 years, in early January.

While Qatar dithered momentarily, Washington kept up its correspondence with Egypt to double down on a ceasefire deal  with Hamas publicly acknowledging Egypts role in messengering the latest proposal, and Biden talking directly to President Al-Sisi on April 29th.

On the other hand, Israels position has grown more intransigent. On March 26, just days after an unprecedented UNSC vote in favour of a ceasefire, Israel withdrew its negotiating team from Doha, after it blamed Hamas for rejecting an earlier deal. Hamas demand for a permanent ceasefire directly flies in the face of Israels stated goals of eliminating the group completely, with Tel Aviv potentially acquiescing only to a temporary truce with a hostage/prisoner swap.

However, just as Washington is pushing against a Rafah operation, Netanyahus hard-right colleagues (crucial to his government holding together) are vociferously advocating for the impending operation. Netanyahu himself has reverted to the rhetoric of total victory.

On May 1, Netanyahu vowed afresh to storm Rafah  We will enter Rafah and we will eliminate the Hamas battalions there  with or without a deal, in order to achieve total victory."

An old buy-in, with new terms

While the US continues to support Egyptian and Qatari efforts, despite the lack of progress, it is also focused on a greater role for Saudi Arabia to ensure both long-term regional stability as well as post-war reconstruction in Gaza. For Washington, it is imperative to increase incentives for Riyadh to normalise ties with Israel  the prospects of which were high prior to October 7, but have since been far-flung due to Israels increasingly unpopular war in Gaza.

Hence, Blinkens Riyadh visit yielded another significant development - both American and Saudi officials announced that fresh security and defence pacts (with or without mutual defence assistance) between the two states were nearing completion in exchange for normalisation.

However, both Blinken as well as the Saudi foreign minister linked the potential agreements to both calm in Gaza and a credible pathway to a Palestinian state. Evidently, the space to exploit the pre-October 7 high-water mark in contemporary Arab-Israeli ties due to the Abraham Accords is still vital and Washington cannot let its momentum drastically wither.

Arguably, Riyadh learnt from the Abraham Accords that side-stepping the Palestinian question would leave the door open for violent disruptors  jeopardizing even larger plans such as the India Middle East Europe Economic Corridor.

Pushing for at least a rough plan for Palestinian statehood would allow Riyadh to be more secure in its normalisation with Israel, with the US-Saudi defence pact as a cherry on top. Note that while Saudi Arabia and UAE had secured a deal with Washington for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) systems in 2022, Riyadh secured new sub-contracts with Lockheed Martin to manufacture parts of the THAAD system, as recently as February 2024.

With the Saudis positioned as such, the road ahead that Washington desires arguably looks like this - a temporary truce with a hostage/prisoner swap; lobbying for a permanent ceasefire with the remainder of hostages released; Saudi-Israel normalization; an all-stakeholder roadmap for a Palestinian state.

For these immediate expectations, the potential spoilers in the US calculus are almost all Israeli - an invasion of (not precision strikes on) Rafah; a rejection of a permanent ceasefire; a rejection of a two-state framework. In any case, Washington has indicated clearly enough that Israels aim of completely eliminating Hamas through kinetic measures, is largely unattainable.

In March, the White House explicitly stated that Israel lacks a coherent and sustainable strategy in Gaza. This is even as Iran remains the most potent detractor in the region  increasing Washingtons rationale to consolidate Arab support, especially when Arab capitals have made fresh peace with Tehran.

Essentially then, the US is pushing Israel towards a ceasefire and against major offensives like the Rafah plan because (and not despite) it is an ally and Washington can positively influence Israels actions far more than it can influence the actions of other disruptors such as Iran.

The incentives-not-coercion approach is what drives continuing US military aid to Israel even as Washingtons political support to Israels war dwindles. Moreover, while the US continues to press Hamas to accept a deal, evident in Blinkens statement on Wednesday, phrases such as the time (for a ceasefire) is now, also indicate Washingtons desire for a quick deal, to Israel  even as Netanyahu continues to push the other way.

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.
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Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday approached the Delhi high court, two days after he was denied bail by a special court in separate cases against him in connection with alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy 2021-22. The high court agreed to hear the matter on Friday. (HT Photo)

The plea was mentioned by advocate Rajat Bharadwaj before a bench of acting chief justice Manmohan and justice Manmeet PS Arora.

This is a bail application by the MLA. The urgency is ongoing elections, Bharadwaj said.

Considering the submissions, the court agreed to hear the matter on Friday.

Also Read: Delhi court castigates Manish Sisodia for delaying excise trial

On Tuesday, the city court, while denying him bail in the case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had ruled that Sisodia individually and along with other accused, contributed to the delay in court proceedings related to the Delhi excise policy.

In his second bail application moved in January, the former deputy CM had highlighted the delay in the trials commencement, despite assurances from ED that it will conclude within 6-8 months.

It is apparent that the applicant (Sisodia) individually, and along with different accused have been filing one or the other application/making oral submissions frequently, some of them frivolous, that too on a piecemeal basis, apparently as a concerted effort for accomplishing the shared purpose of causing delay in the matter, the judge said in the order on Tuesday, which was made available on Wednesday.

Rejecting Sisodias reasoning that he was entitled to seek bail by the top courts October 30, 2023 order in case the trial is protracted and proceeds at a snails pace in the next three months, special judge Kaveri Baweja judge remarked that the consistent advancement of the case, despite attempts to impede it, did not warrant the label of a snails pace.

In the backdrop of the above discussion and the factual position which emerges from the court record, the plea of the applicant that the proceedings have been delayed or protracted or that the case is proceedings at a snails pace are rejected. The so-called delay caused in progression of the case is also clearly on account of reasons attributable to the applicant, the court said.

CBI arrested Sisodia on February 26, 2023, stating that it had recovered several incriminating evidence, in the case, and to conduct a fair investigation, his custody was required.

Sisodia was later sent to Tihar Jail by Delhis Rouse Avenue Court, from where he was arrested by ED which is carrying out a separate probe into the policy in connection with alleged money laundering on March 9, 2023.
Schools in Delhi-NCR have reopened on Thursday amid tight security a day after at least 254 schools in and around Delhi had received bomb threat mails, police said. According to Delhi Police, they received over 131 calls from Delhi schools. (PTI photo)

Police said security around schools have been tightened as a safety precaution.

There was pandemonium across schools in Delhi-NCR after they received a threat mail from an unknown sender on email following which schools had to be evacuated and searched while in others, students were sent back to their respective homes.

According to Delhi Police, they received over 131 calls from Delhi schools while some calls were also received from Noida.

Also Read: Panic grips schools in Delhi over bomb hoax

Later on Wednesday afternoon, Delhi Police confirmed the bomb threat mail turned out to be a hoax.

Senior officials said it was found to be a hoax. However, police will deploy additional force outside schools.

A senior police officer, who refused to be named, said, This is a confidence-building measure from our end. We want to ensure all the children and their families feel safe at schools. There is nothing to worry about. We are working day and night to ensure safety of everyone

The officer added that most of the schools in Delhi are open and only a few have shut another day as an additional measure of precaution.

Few schools will be shut. They will have online classes, said the officer.

The special cell wing of Delhi Police is investigating the case adding that they have found a Russian IP address behind the mail and are trying to trace it.

The mail could have been sent from anywhere in India or abroad. The accused is yet to be identified, said another investigator.

Delhi Police spokesperson Suman Nalwa on Thursday shared two audio clips where unknown persons are heard taking names of schools and saying that a bomb was indeed found there.

Some audio messages are being pushed on WhatsApp and other chat groups that some suspicious objects were found in some schools. These messages are false and have no truth in them. I request all to please convey further that these are false messages, said Nalwa.
The Calcutta high court on Thursday directed the West Bengal government to deploy more officers and cooperate with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in its probe into allegations of land grabbing raised by farmers at Sandeshkhali in Bengals North 24 Parganas district, said lawyers who attended a hearing on the CBIs interim report on the court-monitored investigation. The case will now be heard in June. (Calcutta HC official website)

The division bench of chief justice T S Sivagnanam also asked the CBI to send its female officers to Sandeshkhali to instill confidence among women who have raised allegations of sexual assault against a few local Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders who are now in custody.

In its interim report, which the division bench wanted to remain confidential in the interest of investigation, the CBI mentioned that it was not being able to properly probe the complaints of land grabbing as state officials were not cooperating, the court said.

Also Read: Supreme Court questions Bengal plea against CBI probe in Sandeshkhali

The court also allowed the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to be a party in the Sandeshkhali case since it had sent inquiry teams to the spot.

On April 10, the division bench of chief justice Sivagnanam and justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya ordered CBI to probe all offences raised by Sandeshkhali residents since February.

The bench was hearing a suo motu motion on these alleged offences and petitions seeking transfer of investigation from the local police to CBI.

On April 10, the court ordered the North 24 Parganas district administration to install security cameras and street lights at Sandeshkhali in 15 days.

On Thursday, the court asked the district administration to act on its order and submit a report when the case is heard again in June.

On Monday, the Supreme Court adjourned the hearing on the Bengal governments petition challenging the high courts April 10 order till July.

It goes without saying that CBI shall have the power to require any person, organisation, government authority, police authorities, quasigovernmental authorities, NGOs, public spirited persons and others who may be genuinely interested in the matter to furnish information on such point or matters, as in its opinion may be useful for, or relevant to the subject matter, said the high courts April 10 order.

This court shall monitor the entire investigation and shall pass further orders after the reports as directed above are filed by CBI, the order said.

The main accused, TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan, and two TMC-run zilla parishad members, Uttam Sardar and Shibu Hazra, have been arrested by the state police and handed over to federal agencies as ordered by the high court.

Shahjahan was on the run for 55 days before being arrested on February 28 after the high court intervened. He was arrested for allegedly masterminding an attack on an Enforcement Directorate (ED) team that raided his home on January 5 in connection with a public distribution system (PDS) case.

The high court, which earlier ordered CBI to probe the alleged attack on the ED officers, expanded the agencys area of investigation on April 10 by including charges of extortion, land grabbing and sexual exploitation.

Sandeshkhali residents, who rose against the TMC in February, alleged that their lands were used to run salt water fisheries, making the soil unfit for cultivation.
The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday ended the suspense on Uttar Pradeshs Kaiserganj and Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seats, which have been under intense public and media scrutiny for different reasons, barely 36-hours ahead of the close of nominations, dropping its controversial but heavyweight sitting MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh while settling for his 33-year-old son Karan Bhushan. BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh with his son Karan Bhushan. (FILE PHOTO)

The party also reposed faith in Uttar Pradesh minister Dinesh Pratap Singh, who had reduced the then Congress chief Sonia Gandhis winning margin in 2019, in Rae Bareli. The Congress is yet to name its candidate for the seat though there the buzz is that a Gandhi family member could contest the family pocket borough.

At Brij Bhushans Gonda home, supporters had started distributing sweets and as soon as the BJP made the decision official, sloganeering in support of Brij Bhushan and his son began.

The suspense on Kaiserganj was all the more as the Samajwadi Party had also tactically held back declaring its candidate on the seat, giving rise to speculation that the states main opposition party was looking to accommodate the politically influential Brij Bhushan, despite him being accused by some of countrys top wrestlers of misusing his authority as Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief, a post he doesnt hold now for the first time since 2012.

A chargesheet was filed against six-time MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh under Sections 354, 354D and 345A of the Indian Penal Code for stalking and sexual harassment on June 15.

Yes, my son has got the ticket, Brij Bhushan told the media in Kaiserganj, where this news had spread even before the BJP officially confirmed it.

Kya karein, dabdaba toh hai, woh toh Bhagwan ka diya hua hai (what can I do, the clout and political heft is God-gifted), he said when local media persons asked him if the ticket for his son meant that he would continue to wield his clout.

I thank the party. I am not bigger than it, Brij Bhushan said in a subsequent reaction to the media.

His son Karan Bhushan told the media, I am thankful to the party for giving me an opportunity to serve the masses.

Even before BJP made the decision to pass the Kaiserganj baton from the father to the son, a viral video of Karan Bhushan seeking his fathers blessings had been interpreted as confirmation in the region that the ticket would stay in Brij Bhushans family.

This is the second time when Brij Bhushans a family member would be contesting instead of him. The first time was in 1996 when his wife Ketaki had contested and won the seat as Brij Bhushan wasnt named a candidate since he was accused of sheltering terrorists, a charge from which he was subsequently exonerated. There is a sense that given his political heft in the region, his close association with the Ram temple movement as well as his bonding with the main opposition Samajwadi Party, the BJP could have found it difficult to ignore Brij Bhushans claim on the seat but he ultimately seemed to have agreed on a compromise that his younger son be named on the seat. His elder son Prateek is already the sitting BJP MLA from the Gonda (Sadar) assembly constituency.

Even as the delay in naming Kaiserganj had led to intense speculation, Brij Bhushan had remained apparently unmoved amid all the media scrutiny and continued to campaign.

There was never any doubt as to who would contest from here. Now, this is official that Kaiserganj is going to stay with the family as the baton is rightly getting passed from the father to son, said Dharmendra Singh, a Brij Bhushan loyalist in Kaiserganj. The Bahujan Samaj Party named its candidate, Narendra Pandey, on the seat earlier in the day while the Congress-backed Samajwadi Party candidate is still awaited.
LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav addressed his first election rally in support of his cousin, Aditya Yadav, in Budaun on Thursday. SP chief seeks votes for cousin Aditya Yadav (HT photo)

Seeking votes for Aditya, Akhilesh said, The BJP has lost ground in the first and second phases of the Lok Sabha polls and is unnerved now.

Aditya Yadav, son of SP national general secretary Shivpal Yadav, is the latest among the Yadav family members who has jumped into the poll fray as he is contesting his first elections from the Budaun Lok Sabha constituency.

In the backdrop of intensified attacks by the BJP on the Samajwadi Party for fielding five Yadav family members in the elections and charging it with dynastic politics, Akhilesh Yadav counter-attacked the BJP and said, This is the family of those who struggle. Our family is oneand the family is PDA (backwards, Dalits, and minorities).

Akhilesh said that the BJP was determined to undermine the Constitution and was a corrupt political party, engaging in unprecedented extortion for fundraising. He said that over the past decade, the BJP had consistently misled and betrayed the people through deceitful practices. The escalating prices had become a crisis.

The BJP is not providing MSP to the farmers, but if the INDIA bloc government comes to power, it will not only ensure MSP for their crops but also implement a farm loan waiver, he said.

Since the BJP government came to power, one lakh farmers have committed suicide. The BJP must clarify whether it prioritised the interests of farmers or those of industrialists, he said. He further added that over 10 examination question papers have been leaked so far...The BJP used to say 400 paar but now they will only hear 400 haar.

Meanwhile, Shivpal, also addressing the rally, said, Now that Netaji (the SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav) is no more, if he were here, all challenges would have been vanquished. Its time now that you find Netaji in Akhilesh and confront all challenges.

Akhilesh Yadav held a rally in Aonla in support of party candidate Neeraj Yadav.
The Congress has stepped up preparations to make the filing of nomination papers for the Rae Bareli and Amethi Lok Sabha seats on Friday a big event amid persisting uncertainty over the partys candidates for the two seats, once considered the partys bastions in Uttar Pradesh. All eyes are set on the Congresss announcement of candidates for Rae Bareli and Amethi. (FILE PHOTO)

All eyes are set on the Congresss announcement of candidates even as the BJP has decided to field Uttar Pradesh minister Dinesh Pratap Singh from Rae Bareli. Singh had contested the 2019 poll too as the BJP candidate from Rae Bareli.

The BJP has already nominated Union minister and Amethi MP Smriti Irani from the Amethi Lok Sabha seat.

Both Amethi and Rae Bareli go to polls in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections on May 20 and the nominations close on Friday.

Senior Congress leader KL Sharma, who worked as Sonia Gandhis Lok Sabha representative in the past, held meetings with party workers at the party offices in Rae Bareli and Amethi. He asked the party workers to prepare for the nomination day.

ALSO READ | Suspense continues as Congress yet to name LS candidates for Amethi, Rae Bareli

We have already requested that both Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi should contest the poll from the two seats. We are preparing, hoping that the party will field them, said Sharma.

A Congress legal team, which arrived in Rae Bareli on Wednesday, visited Amethi, too, on Thursday and gave final touches to the preparations. All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary (incharge UP) Avinash Pandey will also be in Amethi on Friday to hold a coordination meeting with the Samajwadi Party leaders.

There are also indications that the party is planning road shows/processions at both places and flowers are being arranged for the big events.

Yes, we have obtained permission for a road show. We have called workers to the Congress Central office in Rae Bareli at 9.30am and made all the arrangements and ordered flowers for the big event hoping a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family (Priyanka Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi) will file the nomination papers, Rae Bareli District Congress Committee president Pankaj Tiwari said.

ALSO READ | BJP announces candidate for Raebareli; it's UP minister Dinesh Pratap Singh

Similarly, Amethi District Congress Committee president Pradeep Singhal said, We have called our workers to the party office at Gauriganj to proceed for the nomination thereafter. We are getting ready for the road show and arranging flowers and garlands for the big event.

We are ready with the barat (marriage procession) and waiting for the bridegroom (candidates) to arrive at both the places, a senior Congress leader said in Amethi.

Rae Bareli and Amethi seats are traditional seats of the Congress. So, the party leaders are not willing to take any chances. The delay reflects poorly on the organisational skills of the party, even if strategic, said Professor SK Dwivedi, former head of the department of political science, Lucknow University.

As the Nehru-Gandhi family has remained connected with both Rae Bareli and Amethi Lok Sabha seats for years, the local people, too, are keenly watching the developments here. Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi won Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat for the first time in 1967. Her husband Feroze Gandhi won the election from Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat in 1957. Indira Gandhi won the seat again in 1971 though she lost to Raj Narain in 1977. She wrested the seat in the 1980 Lok Sabha elections. Sonia Gandhi, who won her first Lok Sabha election from Amethi in 1999, shifted to Rae Bareli in 2004 and won. She also won the seat in 2006 (bypoll), 2009, 2014 and 2019. She has now taken Rajya Sabha route via Rajasthan. Speculation has been rife since then that either Priyanka Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi will contest the 2024 poll from Rae Bareli.

Amethis connection with the Congresss first family, however, can be traced back to 1977 when Indira Gandhis younger son Sanjay Gandhi unsuccessfully contested the election from the seat. Sanjay Gandhi, however, won the seat in 1980. Rajiv Gandhi won the seat in the 1981 bypoll held after Sanjays death in 1980.

After he became Prime Minister following Indira Gandhis assassination, Rajiv Gandhi won the seat again in the 1984 Lok Sabha election defeating Maneka Gandhi. He retained the seat in 1989 though his party lost power at the Centre. He again won in 1991. The polling in Amethi was held before his assassination on May 21, 1991. In the 1991 by-election caused by his death, Captain Satish Sharma (Congress) won the seat.

After Sonia Gandhis decision to shift to Rae Bareli, Rahul Gandhi won the Amethi seat in 2004, 2009, and 2014. Rahul Gandhi, however, lost the poll to Union minister Smriti Irani in 2019.
LUCKNOW As part of an initiative to boost voter participation in the Lok Sabha elections, the district administration has decided to partner with local schools to send pre-drafted messages to parents, encouraging them to vote. This innovative approach, disclosed by divisional commissioner Roshan Jacob during the HT Spotlight  Election 2024 programme organized by Hindustan Times at its office on Wednesday, seeks to leverage the influence of students on their parents to enhance democratic engagement. As an incentive to schools, the district administration plans to introduce a rolling trophy for an institution that successfully motivates the highest number of parents to vote. (Pic for representation)

Jacob directed the district administration to create messages that would be sent to parents through schools, fostering a sense of civic responsibility and boosting voter turnout. Last time, the voting percentage in Lucknow was around 54.7%, We believe that children can play a pivotal role in influencing their parents to participate in the democratic process and increase this voting percentage, said Jacob during the meeting.

By involving schools, we aim to instill the importance of voting in the younger generation while encouraging their parents to exercise their franchise, added the divisional commissioner.

As an incentive to schools, the district administration plans to introduce a rolling trophy for an institution that successfully motivates the highest number of parents to vote. This competition, according to Jacob, is designed to create healthy rivalry among schools, ultimately leading to a higher voter turnout. Furthermore, schools are encouraged to offer rewards to students who actively promote voting, whether by convincing their parents and neighbours to vote or by being registered voters themselves.

As part of a regular campaign to further facilitate voter participation, the district administration will organise voter ID camps at local colleges, allowing eligible students to obtain their voter ID cards. This initiative ensures that students are prepared to participate in the elections once they reach the eligible age. Additionally, colleges are encouraged to adopt specific areas and voting booths, focusing on increasing voter turnout in those locations.

Lucknow is a city of thinkers; people know how to uphold democratic institutions, and we should respect every voter who participates in the electoral process. Every vote is important, said Jacob.

The district administration has arranged for volunteers to assist voters, providing support to those who might find it challenging to vote, especially in the heat. Special arrangements have been made for pregnant women and senior citizens over 85 years old, who can register on the Saksham app to vote from their homes. Additionally, the Voter Helpline app and a booth location app developed by the district administration will help voters locate their booths and check if their names appear on the voters list.

The state capital has around 21 lakh voters, of which 10 lakh are women. We must encourage more women to come out and vote in large numbers, Jacob said.

She said, The collaborative approach between schools, colleges, and the district administration would help in ensuring a robust voter turnout. By engaging the younger generation and offering targeted support to those in need, Lucknow aims to set a new standard for democratic participation.
LUCKNOW: The changing demographic profile of the Mohanlalganj Lok Sabha constituency (which is reserved for Schedule Caste), has also altered the dynamics of its voters over the past decade. The increased voter turnout in the last two Lok Sabha elections has contributed to the BJP winning the seat consecutively. For representation (Sourced)

The Mohanlalganj Lok Sabha constituency comprises three Scheduled Caste reserved assembly seats, including Mohanlalganj and Malihabad in Lucknow district, and Siddhauli assembly seat in Sitapur, as well as two general seats, Sarojini Nagar and Bakshi Ka Talab (BKT) in Lucknow. The urban and floating voters of Sarojini Nagar and BKT assembly segments have consistently played a crucial role in determining the outcome of Lok Sabha elections, and this trend is expected to continue in the 2024 polls as well.

Till 2007 assembly polls, Lucknow district had eight assembly seatsMohanlalganj, Mahona, Malihabad, Lucknow East, Lucknow West, Lucknow Central, Lucknow Cantt, and Sarojini Nagar. However, the Election Commission carved out two new assembly segments, Lucknow North and Bakshi Ka Talab (BKT), in 2009 and scrapped the Mahona seat. During this process, many urban areas such as Gomti Nagar Extension, Janakipuram Extension, Chinhat, and Gudamba were added to BKT. Similarly, several urban areas of Lucknow Cantt were added to the Sarojini Nagar assembly segment.

Since the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the Sarojini Nagar assembly segment has seen an increase of 84,473 voters mainly urban voters, including 5,711 first-time voters, while the BKT assembly segment added 71,492 voters, including 6,903 first-time voters aged between 18 and 19. In contrast, the three rural assembly seatsMalihabad, Mohanlalganj, and Siddhaulisaw increases of 28,698, 19,968, and 18,454 voters, respectively, including 4,023, 4,014, and 4,631 first-time voters.

Comparatively, Sarojini Nagar and BKT together added 1,55,965 voters, which is at least 88,845 more voters than the combined additions in Malihabad, Mohanlalganj, and Siddhauli (67,120).

Although the BJP secured victories in all five seats in the 2022 assembly elections, the party holds an advantage in the Sarojini Nagar and BKT assembly segments due to the large number of general and backward caste voters, said Deepak Kannaujiya, a political expert from the region.

He emphasised, Sarojini Nagar and BKT, with their significant populations of new and migrated residents, mainly from eastern UP, will once again play a crucial role in determining the outcome of the Mohanlalganj Lok Sabha polling on May 20.

Kannaujiya said that BJP candidate Kaushal Kishore secured victories in 2014 and 2019, defeating BSP candidate RK Chaudhary and SP-BSP alliance candidate CL Verma, respectively. However, his winning margin decreased from 1.46 lakh to 90,204 from 2014 to 2019, indicating a tougher challenge for him to secure a third consecutive win.

In the 2024 election, RK Chaudhary returns to the fray against Kaushal Kishore as the SP candidate of the INDI alliance, while Rajesh Kumar is contesting on the BSP ticket. RK Chaudhary had also contested the Lok Sabha polls in Mohanlalganj in 2019 on a Congress ticket but secured only 60,069 votes and finished third.

Another political analyst Jai Prakash Singh said Dalit voters (38.7%) including 21 % Pasi and 14.5% Jatav voters played a crucial role in Mohanlalganj Lok Sabha seat. With Mohanlalganj Lok Sabha constituency having large share of Pasi caste, all major parties, fields Pasi candidates from here, Singh explained.

He further elaborated that the three rural assembly segments of Malihabad, Mohanlalganj, and Siddhauli are SC reserved assembly segments and have historically been Dalit-dominated. However, votes in all three assembly segments are distributed almost equally among the three major candidates, all from the Pasi community. On the other hand, the urban and semi-urban segments of Sarojini Nagar and BKT emerge as decisive factors, with a significant portion of 16.6% upper-caste voters, including Brahmins (8.3%), Kshatriyas (7.3%), and Kayasthas (1%), concentrated in these areas.

In the previous Lok Sabha election, the BJP candidate secured 49.27% (3,19,429 votes) from Sarojini Nagar and BKT, while the SP-BSP alliance candidate received 93,603 less votes to the winner, proving decisive as the latter won with a margin of 90,229 votes.
While political pugilism in other parts of the nation has centred on leaked sex tapes and inheritance tax, in Mumbai, the brawl, at least pro tempore, is over the coastal road. And everyone wants a piece of the tarmac. A section of the coastal road that links Marine Drive and Worli. (File Photo)

On the one hand, Aaditya Thackeray, leader of the Shiv Sena UBT, has lashed out at the BJP, claiming that the project was solely the work of Shiv Sena UBT president Uddhav Thackeray. Every other faction is claiming the avenue is of their own making.

The squabbling takes root in a post on X - specifically, one labelled T 4999, posted by an actor whose proclivity for sequentially numbering his tweets is matched only by the looming presence he has on the industry - Amitabh Bachchan. It reads: "Oh! Boy!! went to work.. after Sea Link on to Coastal Road and Tunnel underground.. JVPD, Juhu to Marine Drive, 30 mins." This prompted many BJP supporters to assert that the project was only made possible by the BJP and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis.

Pedestrian reality, however, has it that the Mumbai Coastal Road project was constructed by the BMC, which was under the control of the Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray until 2022. The ground-breaking ceremony was performed by Uddhav Thackeray, while the inauguration of the partially completed coastal road was done by CM Eknath Shinde just before the implementation of the code of conduct.

Uddhav's Sena seized the moment. Taking to X, Aaditya expressed his amusement at the BJP Maharashtra taking credit for the coastal road. He wrote, "The coastal road is a project that BJP has absolutely nothing to do with, apart from delaying the permission from the union environment ministry for two years. The coastal road was announced and implemented by Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray through BMC. The BMC is desperate for credit and, as always, for works not done by itself."

Thackeray Jr also criticised the delays in the project, saying, "The coastal road was partially opened, and it's a joke of how delayed it is. Had the MVA been in government, we would have completed the work by December 2023 without cost escalation." He noted that the work was scheduled to have finished last year but isn't half done by mid-2024, with the deadline being pushed ahead each month. He asserted that Mumbaikars know it was Uddhav Thackeray who made this project happen, sharing pictures of the ground-breaking ceremony.

A former engineer who worked on the coastal road project added to the mix, saying the project was really the brainchild of then-CM Prithviraj Chavan and was later pushed by both the BJP and Shiv Sena. He said that while the Shiv Sena pushed the project in BMC, the BJP secured permissions from the centre.

BJP Leader and MLC Prasad Lad countered, "It was only BJP which got permission. BMC was only implementing. These Thackerays did not come out of Matoshree 1 and 2. They must come for debate at Shivaji Park, and I will expose them. Doing bhoomipoojan [groundbreaking ceremony] does not mean completing the project."

City BJP chief Ashish Shelar piped in, "The coastal road project was being discussed for many years. The permissions were obtained by the Devendra Fadnavis government. The state allowed BMC to be the implementing agency. In fact, during MVA rule, substandard material was being used, and I raised objections."

Meanwhile, Devendra Fadnavis stuck to the straight and narrow lane. He thanked Amitabh Bachchan for sharing his travel story and buttressed it with boilerplate: "Mumbai is upgrading, we are constantly working on creating a time-saving travel experience for Mumbaikars."
Shripad Naik, 71, Union minister of state (MoS) for ports, shipping & waterways and tourism, aims to replicate his electoral luck as he tries to win the North Goa Lok Sabha constituency (formerly Panaji Lok Sabha seat) for the sixth successive term. From 1999, his electoral ascent began when he emerged victorious from the North Goa LS seat. (Shripad Naik | Facebook)

A seasoned politician, Naik had contested his first elections in 1991 as a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate for the south Goa parliamentary constituency unsuccessfully.

From 1999, his electoral ascent began when he emerged victorious from the North Goa LS seat.

His closest election was in 2009 when he defeated Congress candidate Jitendra Deshprabhu by more than 6,000 votes.

This time around, the five-time MP seems confident of his chances.

I have been getting a good, positive response. People can see the work done by the Narendra Modi government. I expect that I will be voted in by an even greater margin this time, Naik said as he traverses through the narrow lanes of the residential areas of Goas capital Panaji with senior BJP leaders amid slogans praising Prime Minister Modi.

Despite setbacks of losing his wife to a road accident and surviving a severe bout of Covid himself, Naik has come a long way.

Into his sixth campaign as an MP candidate, Naik has been touring the constituency banking largely only the BJPs strength of organisation that includes the local MLA as well as councillors and local panchayat members.

Also Read: Goa BJP candidates Shripad Naik, Pallavi Dempo file nominations

The North Goa parliamentary constituency was a bastion of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) for as long as it was the pre-eminent force in Goas political scene and alternated between the MGP and Congress towards the latter years until Naiks emergence in 1999.

With the MGP vote base  consisting mainly of the Hindu Bahujan Samaj -- a numerically superior force of historically marginalised Hindu lower castes that Naik also belongs to, shifting to the BJP with the decline of the regional party -- the seat has emerged a BJP bastion since then.

For most of Naiks career, it was Manohar Parrikar, who controlled the Goa BJP as its prominent leader while the former took a backseat.

Shripad Naik represents a clean candidate with an unblemished record. However, despite being one of the founding members of the Goa BJP, he has largely been a silent spectator over political happenings in the state. He has never made known his stance on issues in the state be it those affected by the Mopa airport, relief for those affected by the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) regulation or the national highway expansion. These are issues to be resolved at the central level and have definitely impacted locals, said Swapnesh Sherlekar, an activist, when speaking about Naiks tenure of 25 years as an MP.

Naik faces questions

At a meeting held in Mulgao village, which falls within the mining block, residents are asking for accountability from Naik.

We asked him about the issues faced by the villagers of Mulgao, part of whose village falls within the mining lease. We are seeking exclusion of our village and temple from the lease. In response, he asked us to write to him to address our grievances. We told him that we had already written to him, but our request was ignored, Sherlekar, a resident of Mulgao, said.

Naik, however, highlights his achievements during his tenure as an MP.

The people have seen the centrally funded projects that I have brought during my tenure, be it the AYUSH Hospital, the Mopa airport and others. The Centre has spent nearly 36,000 crore in Goa during the last decade alone, Naik said.

I have had the opportunity to be an MP for five terms thanks to the love the people have shown me, he added.

Opposition disagrees

The opposition, however, feels Naik has done nothing for the state despite having been an MP for five terms.

Compare my 18-month tenure as MP and minister and compare his 25 years. I dont want to ridicule anyone, but he has failed to raise even a single issue concerning Goa in Parliament, Congress candidate for North Goa Ramakant Khalap said.

Naik had defeated Khalap in 1999 to win for the first time from the seat by a margin of 36,000 votes.

Khalap then a member of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, a regional front, who is now in his late 70s, was five-time MLA representing the Mandrem constituency between 1974-1994 and later between 1999-2002 and one time MP from North Goa representing the seat between 1996-1998.

He was the Union minister of law in the United Front government under Deve Gowda and IK Gujral.

I have been an MLA, an opposition leader, a deputy CM, an MP, and the Union law minister. I have raised several issues regarding the state in Parliament, Khalap said.

North Goa is going to polls in third phase of polling on May 7 with the other parliamentary constituency, South Goa which will see a political battle between BJPs Pallavi Srinivas Dempo and Captain Viriato Fernandes of the Congress.

The BJP had won both the Goa Lok Sabha seats in 2019.
Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) leader and Jamui MP Chirag Paswan and BJP MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy filed their nominations for Hajipur and Saran parliamentary seats, respectively, on Thursday, the penultimate day of filing papers for the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections to be held on May 20. BJPs Rajiv Pratap Rudy files his nomination for the Saran Lok Sabha seat on Thursday. (HT photo)

Hajipur and Saran are important for the NDA among the five parliamentary seats, including Sitamarhi, Madhubani and Muzaffarpur, in the state that are going to vote in the fifth phase.

Saran is under spotlight as RJD supremos Lalu Prasads younger daughter Rohini Acharya is making her electoral debut from the parliamentary constituency.

Hajipur assumes importance after Paswan entered the fray to cement his position as the true heir to his late father Ram Vilas Paswans legacy. The younger Paswan won the turf war against his estranged uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras, elbowing him out in the run-up to parliamentary polls for an NDA ticket from Hajipur, his fathers pocket borough.

The BJP, which had initially thrown its weight behind Paras, the incumbent MP from Hajipur who was also rewarded with the cabinet berth, decided to back Paswan.

The 41-year-old leader, who has shifted base from Jamui, which he represented for two consecutive terms in the Lok Sabha, was greeted by massive crowds in Hajipur where he also held an impressive roadshow.

Despite getting an invite from Paswan, Paras did not join his nephew in the nomination fanfare on Thursday.

I invited my uncle and wanted him to come for my nomination, but he cited some preoccupation, Paswan, who was accompanied by his mother Reena Paswan, told News 18 TV channel.

I am terribly missing my father. This is the first time when I will have to file nomination papers with him not around. He was there to bless me both in 2014 and 2019, Paswan told reporters.

In a display of strength and solidarity, both Paswan and Rudy were accompanied by Union ministers Nityanand Rai and Rajnath Singh, respectively, as the duo filed their nomination papers to the respective returning officers of the two parliamentary seats. Bihars deputy chief minister Samrat Choudhary also accompanied Paswan.

Later, speaking at a public rally at Saran, defence minister Rajnath Singh hit out at the Congress, when he said the party was fooling people in the name of religion-based reservation, which the Constitution did not permit.

I want to ask the parties promising religion-based reservation, why are you fooling people? I want to ask the Congress and RJD that if you have courage then do not do politics by throwing dust in the eyes of the public, do politics by looking the people in their eyes, the ANI quoted Rajnath Singh as saying in Saran.

Attacking the Rashtriya Janata Dal, he asked people especially the young voters to make a promise that they wont allow the return of Lalten Yug (veiled jibe at RJDs party symbol) in Bihar.

People who are accused of corruption are going to the public and requesting for votes. Sometimes they bring the Charwaha Yug, sometimes Lalten Yug. Only people of Bihar can bring the change by voting for NDA candidates, the ANI said quoting the defence minister.

Campaigning for Rudy, Singh said that the former was a trained pilot and would blow all opposition away.

He also attacked Congress over the issue of inheritance tax.

Rudy, in his speech, attacked Acharya for claiming herself to be Chapra ki beti (daughter of Chapra).

This is the nomination document of Rashtriya Janata Dal candidate (Rohini Acharya), the one who calls herself Chapras daughter. What is her address, has anyone seen it? She lives in Patna and claims that she is a daughter of Chapra... My party workers and I believe that a person who is not a resident of Chapra has no right to seek votes here, the PTI quoted Rudy as saying.
Police commissioner Amitesh Kumar, on Wednesday, issued orders to parade criminals at police stations across the city. Zende explained hardened criminals being summoned to the police stations is a public declaration of the city polices continued commitment to maintaining citizens safety and security. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

Amol Zende, deputy commissioner of police (crime), said that the parade of the criminals who have been booked for rioting, spreading terror, gathering illegal mobs, and possessing illegal weapons took place at all police stations.

Notices were summoned, and all the criminals were questioned. These criminals were warned not to cause any kind of nuisance or illegal activity. Also, a strict warning was given to come whenever called for inquiry or attendance, he said.

Zende explained hardened criminals being summoned to the police stations is a public declaration of the city polices continued commitment to maintaining citizens safety and security.

Kumar during his address to the crime branch and top officials of the police had explained about strictly implementing the strategy to parade arrested gangsters through neighbourhoods where they once unleashed which according to him would help instil a sense of security among citizens and curb the rising crime graph in the city.
A second petition challenging the amendment to the Right to Education (RTE) Act made by the state government has been filed in the Bombay High Court (HC). The petition states that the state governments amendment to the RTE Act has taken away the childrens right to education, and demands that admission to 25% reserved seats under RTE be given even in unaided schools. As per the gazette notification dated February 9, 2024, the state government has amended the admission process for 25% reserved seats under RTE. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

Sharad Javadekar, working president of Akhil Bharatiya Samajwadi Shikshan Sabha, said, This public interest litigation (PIL)  filed by Akhil Bharatiya Samajwadi Adhyapak Sabha Pune and Movement for Peoples Justice Pune and Nagpur  has been consolidated in the Bombay HC, and will be heard on May 8. In this petition, our first demand is for a stay order and the second demand is to completely withdraw the gazette notice of February 9, 2024 and apply the provision of 25% admission to unaided schools as before.

With due respect to the court, we hold that the decision of the court has not taken into account the rationale behind Article 12 1C. The union ministry of education in its note on the explanation of the provisions of the childs Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 has stated that children from diverse backgrounds learn together. Hence, their abilities will be developed to the maximum extent. Previously, the words equal school and neighbourhood school were used, Javadekar further said adding that it is now called inclusive education.

As per the gazette notification dated February 9, 2024, the state government has amended the admission process for 25% reserved seats under RTE. Akhil Bharatiya Samajwadi Shikshan Sabha has filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in Bombay HC challenging the same and the Bombay HC has filed a petition in this regard on April 25. Three parents namely Shivaji Talware from Pune; and Rahul Bansod and Sandeep Patil from Bhosari are also petitioners along with Akhil Bharatiya Samajwadi Adhyapak Sabha.

Bansod said, The role of 25% reservation under RTE is consistent with the value concepts of the Constitution like fraternity, social justice and equal opportunity. It is not only the government schools but also the non-government funded schools that have the responsibility to provide good quality education to marginalised, backward and underprivileged children.
After Prime Minister Narendra Modis public rally, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will address a public meeting at AISSMS ground near RTO on Friday as part of campaigning for four Maha Vikas Aghadi candidates Ravindra Dhangekar (Pune), Supriya Sule (Baramati), Amol Kolhe (Shirur) and Sanjog Waghere (Maval). As Rahul Gandhi had interacted with youth in his visit to the city during the last polls, the partys local unit demanded a public rally or road show this year. (HT FILE)

However, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) chief Sharad Pawar will not be part of the rally as he has already scheduled campaigning in other places. MVA leaders said other leaders from the alliance will attend the public rally.

Sharad Pawar may not likely join the rally along with Rahul Gandhi as he has planned to visit other places for campaigning with few days left for polling, said Congress leader Mohan Joshi.

Congress city unit president Arvind Shinde said, Preparations have been made and we expect huge public response to Rahul Gandhis visit.

During his city visit on April 29, Modi had called Rahul Gandhi shehzada (prince) and indirectly referred to Sharad Pawar as bhatakti aatma (wandering soul).

Later, Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray hit out at the prime minister at a public rally in Pune on April 30.

As Rahul Gandhi had interacted with youth in his visit to the city during the last polls, the partys local unit demanded a public rally or road show this year. After Rahuls city visit, the party had invited Priyanka Gandhi for a road show.
The Kerala government on Thursday ordered the closure of all educational institutions including professional colleges till May 6 and instructed police, fire force and military units to avoid drills and parades during day time as part of measures to tackle the extreme heat conditions in the state. The Kerala government on Thursday ordered the closure of all educational institutions including professional colleges till May 6 and instructed police, fire force and military units to avoid drills and parades during day time.(Representative Image)

A meeting of the state disaster management authority under the leadership of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was held on Thursday in Thiruvananthapuram to evaluate the situation in the state in the backdrop of the declaration of a 'heat wave' in several districts by the IMD and reporting of illnesses and deaths connected to rising temperatures.

The district collectors briefed the chief minister about the situation in their respective jurisdictions and the measures they are implementing to tackle the heat conditions.

The chief minister asked the public to avoid direct exposure to sunlight between 11 am and 3 pm. Workers in construction, agriculture, roadside shops, fishing and related sectors must organise their work hours as per the earlier direction.

For school students, vacation classes must be avoided between 11 am and 3 pm. Shops and establishments with tin and asbestos roofs must be shut during these hours. Fire audits must be conducted in shops, market establishments and waste treatment centres where the possibility of fire due to heat is high.

At the meeting, the CM asked all local bodies to gear up for pre-monsoon cleanliness drives and checking of drainage systems to ensure the flow of water. Spillways and sluice gates of dams and reservoirs must be checked and all obstructions removed.
Oshi no Ko is a popular Seinen manga written by Aka Akasaka and illustrated by Mengo Yokoyari. It was first serialised in Shueisha's Weekly Young Jump in 2020. Since then, it has amassed a huge fanbase. As the previous chapter added more spice to the exciting plot with a new twist, the anticipation for Chapter 148 is brewing among fans. Here's when it drops and all you need to know: Oshi no Ko is currently on a break due to Golden Week in Japan.

Oshi no Ko Chapter 148 release date and time

Chapter 148 is scheduled to be released on Thursday, May 9, at 12 am JST. However as the exact time varies across different regions, you can check out the schedule according to your time zone below.

Time Zone Time Date Day PT 7 am May 8 Wednesday CT 9 am May 8 Wednesday ET 10 am May 8 Wednesday GMT 3 pm May 8 Wednesday ACST 12:30 am May 9 Thursday

Where to read Oshi no Ko Chapter 148?

Fans can read the upcoming chapter online on official sources like Shueisha's MANGA Plus service. However, it is important to note that only the first three and the latest three chapters are free to read. If you wish to read the entire series, you must opt for a premium membership. You can access Oshi no Ko on both the platform's website and application.

What to expect from Oshi no Ko Chapter 148?

While no spoilers have landed on social media as of yet, Oshi no Ko chapter 148 is likely to feature some gripping scenes. As Ruby is done with her part in the film, the series is getting closer to The End of the Play. The previous chapter, titled Wish, has already set the stage for a possible confrontation between Ruby and Hikaru. Fans also saw the Akane dramatically saving Ruby from her father. This only means that fans must be prepared for unexpected endings.
Artists from Universal Music Group, which include Drake, Adele, Bad Bunny and Billie Eilish, will be returning to TikTok as the two parties have struck a new licensing agreement following an approximately three-month long dispute. HT Image

The two sides said Thursday that they are now working expeditiously to return music by artists represented by Universal Music Group and songwriters represented by Universal Music Publishing Group to TikTok in due course.

Taylor Swift, whose recently released album, The Tortured Poets Department, has hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, had some of her songs make a return to TikTok last month, but the details of how that exactly happened are unclear, according to Variety.

UMG said in January that it had not agreed to terms of a new deal with TikTok, and planned to stop licensing content from the artists it represents on the social media platform that is owned by ByteDance, as well as TikTok Music services.

At the time, UMG had been pressing TikTok on three issues: appropriate compensation for our artists and songwriters, protecting human artists from the harmful effects of AI, and online safety for TikToks users.

TikTok pushed back against the claims by UMG, saying that it had reached artist-first agreements with every other label and publisher.

On Thursday the two sides announced that their new agreement would give significant benefits to UMGs global stable of artists, songwriters and labels and would return their music to TikTok.

Music is an integral part of the TikTok ecosystem and we are pleased to have found a path forward with Universal Music Group," TikTok CEO Shou Chew said in a statement. "We are committed to working together to drive value, discovery and promotion for all of UMGs amazing artists and songwriters, and deepen their ability to grow, connect and engage with the TikTok community.

Part of the new deal includes UMG and TikTok working together to find new monetization opportunities. They will also will work together on campaigns supporting UMGs artists across genres and territories globally.

In addition, the companies will put their combined efforts toward ensuring that AI development across the music industry will protect human artistry and payments for artists and songwriters. TikTok will also work with UMG to remove unauthorized AI-generated music from the platform, as well as on tools to improve artist and songwriter attribution.

TikTok plans to continue investing in building artist-centric tools that will help UMG artists realize their potential on the platform. Some tools include Add to Music App, enhanced data and analytics, and integrated ticketing capabilities.

Were gratified to renew our relationship with TikTok predicated on significant advancements in commercial and marketing opportunities as well as protections provided to our industry-leading roster on their platform, Michael Nash, chief digital officer and executive vice president, Universal Music Group, said in a statement.

While TikTok has settled its dispute with UMG, the future of the platform remains uncertain. Last month President Joe Biden signed legislation requiring TikTok parent ByteDance to sell to an approved buyer within a year or to shut down. Its not clear whether that law will survive an expected legal challenge or that ByteDance would agree to sell.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Remember the heady days of Bennifer 2.0? Fans dont talk about it anymore. For days now, Ben Afflecks glum look during every JLO outing has been catching the internets attention. One can only wonder why he always appears unhappy at every sighting while others debate if he simply dislikes the paparazzi. Sources close to the A-list couple are whispering that the honeymoon phase is well and truly over, replaced by the realities of married life. A recent report also suggests that the couples marriage is facing 'adjustment' issues. Whats the truth? TOPSHOT - US actress Jennifer Lopez (R) and US actor Ben Affleck attend Amazon's "This is Me... Now: A Love Story" premiere at the Dolby theatre in Hollywood, California, February 13, 2024. (Photo by Robyn BECK / AFP)(AFP)

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez's marriage hits rough patch?

"She wants constant affirmation from him that shes loved and adored," an insider told Life and Style, highlighting how Bennifer's love story 2.0 is going completely off script. The Gigli co-stars, who dated back in 2002, called off their engagement only to reunite two decades later and give their love story a second chance by getting married.

Affleck, currently shooting Accountant 2 in L.A., and J.Lo, 54, pursuing her career in NYC, are experiencing their first long separation in a while "and theyre both dealing with it in different ways," the insider added.

Also read: Victoria Beckham shares PDA-filled Birthday wish for David; 'Love us getting old together'

Bennifer faces trouble in paradise

As per insider accounts, while Ben Affleck is feeling relaxed while shooting for his project's sequel, Jennifer Lopez is reportedly not receiving the attention she desires from him, leading Ben to become defensive and moody when questioned. Close friends have also hinted at cracks appearing in their marriage. Together, JLo and Ben share five children. "The honeymoon is definitely over," adds the source. The feeling is that if they want to stay married, both of them need to make some adjustments in their behaviour.

The couple, who share five children together, can often be seen captured by paparazzi cameras, sometimes showing public displays of affection and other times appearing distant. A few reports also suggest that Lopez's popularity has dropped recently, with some blaming Ben Affleck's "miserable face" for this. However, many close friends of the couple refute these claims, stating that while Lopez loves the camera and red carpet time, Ben dislikes it, which may explain his "gloomy face," but otherwise, the couple is very happy.

Also read: Meghan Markle films Netflix show on a controversial cannabis farm with an intense stench: Report

Jennifer Lopezs declining popularity

Insiders reveal that JLo's recent career setbacks may be causing friction in their paradise. Her 2024 album titled "This Is Me... Now: A Love Story and biopic, The Greatest Love Story Ever Told did not meet expectations. Additionally, media attention on her past relationship with music producer Sean "Diddy" Combs, who is currently facing sexual misconduct charges also made a lot of noise.

She lives in a world of make-believe and people arent buying the act anymore. Theyre labeling her a phony and narcissist and someone whos tone-deaf to the real world around he. another source told the outlet.
Actor Vishwak Sen will play a gangster in his upcoming film Gangs of Godavari, he revealed in a recent interview. He also spoke to The Times of India about his character, giving up his trademark Telangana dialect for an Andhra one and more in the chat. (Also Read: Jr NTR attends Tillu Square screening, Siddhu Jonnalagadda hints at big surprise coming soon) Vishwak Sen gave up his Telangana dialect for an Andhra one in Gangs of Godavari.

Vishwak on his role

Vishwak revealed that his character in Gangs of Godavari is a member of the tribal community who undergoes a significant transformation. He starts as a petty thief, but his journey takes him to the realm of politics. He said, I play Lankala Rathna, a member of the tribal community who transforms from a petty thief to a powerful gangster and politician. This is the best role I've played in my career. I like to push the envelope and experiment with my characters. He also told the publication he underwent dialect training to perfect his accent in the film, giving up his trademark Telangana accent for a West Godavari one.

Gangs of Godavari teaser

The makers recently released a teaser that saw Vishwak in a new avatar. The actor, who usually plays urban roles, can be seen in a rustic avatar. The teaser shows Vishwaks character somehow making enemies out of many of people. In it he says, Nenu manchodno cheddodino naaku teliyadu.. kani manchodni anna chedda peru oddu, (I dont know if Im a good person or a bad one, but I dont want the bad reputation of being a good person) describing himself and the world he lives in. Directed by Krishna Chaitanya and produced by Naga Vamsi, the film's music is by Yuvan Shankar Raja.

Upcoming work

Vishwak was recently seen in Vidyadhar Kagitas crowd-funded film Gaami, which saw him play an amnesiac, haphophobic aghora with a dark past. Apart from Gangs of Godavari, he will also star in Mechanic Rocky, Cult and Laila.

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Gurucharan, who essayed the role of Roshan Singh Sodhi on the popular show, was supposed to catch a flight from Delhi to Mumbai, but that never happened. He has not returned home since then. His last traced location was Delhi, and his phone has been switched off ever since.

Investigation is on

According to a source, the investigation is in full swing, and everyone associated with Gurucharan is cooperating with the investigation in all capacity.

There have been several reports suggesting different things about Gurucharans life, from him facing financial crunch to him getting married soon. Now, a team has reached Mumbai from Delhi to investigate the missing case, and put the missing pieces of the case together, says a source in the know-how. (Read: Missing Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah actor Gurucharan Singh was soon to get married, faced financial crunch: Report)

The source continues, People involved with the case since the initial stage, cast of Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah, his friends and family members are being questioned. This is to ascertain his state of mind, and see if they are missing something which can be important in the investigation. They are even making phone calls to check about the case, and their association with Gurucharan. Everyone so far has been really supportive.

About the case

Gurucharan has been missing since April 22 from Delhi Airport. His father has filed a missing case at Palam Police Station in Delhi. Earlier, as per NDTV, Delhi Police's initial investigation into the case revealed that he was soon to get married and faced financial struggles. It was also found that Gurucharan withdrew 7,000 from an ATM in Delhi. (Read: Missing 'Taarak Mehta' Actor Gurucharan Singh Was Soon To Get Married, Faced Financial Crunch: Sources)

His last known location, on April 24, was traced to be Palam, a few kilometres away from his home. The police also monitored CCTV footage around his home in Delhi to trace the route he took to the airport. (Read: Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah producer Asit Modi reveals if missing actor Gurucharan Singh was paid his dues)

TV industry shocked by the incident

Gurucharan going missing has shocked the industry to its core, with television bodies also getting involved. It is believed that Cine and TV Artistes Association's (CINTAA) Amit Behl has also been informed about the matter.

Everyone in the industry are in shock. It is true that CINTAA has been informed about the case, but there has not been a major development in that sense. There is no idea about where he has gone or what has happened to him yet. Everyone is waiting and watching, says a source on conditional anonymity.

Meanwhile, recently, Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmahs producer Asit Kumar Modi also reacted to the news, and praised Gurucharan. He also claimed that all his dues were cleared.

Gurucharan, who became a household name for his comic timing in Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah, bid adieu to the show in 2020. In an interview in the past, he had also said that he was approached for Bigg Boss OTT.
Whether it was Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol frolicking in Switzerlands Alps, Kangana Ranaut on her self-exploratory journey in Amsterdam, or the time Deepika Padukone and Ranbir Kapoor met and fell in love on a tiny French island of Corsica, and many more such Bollywood films have fueled the Indian dream of the Euro trip. And the coveted Schengen visa is the gateway to fulfil the dreams. However, the probability of getting rejected is also pretty high. Travelling to the EU is now much easier for Indians(Adobe)

Travel website MakeMyTrips recent India Travel Trends Report found that 25% of Indians have taken more than three trips per year since 2019, with some of the emerging international destinations including Tbilisi, Georgia. Other top destinations for long-haul flights include London along with Toronto and New York.

Indians are beginning to travel more over the last few years (Shutterstock)

Schengen visa, now made easy

So, recently, in order to foster stronger relations with India, the European Union (EU) introduced a few welcomed changes to their visa process. EU ambassador Herve Delphin took to X on Monday (April 22) to announce that Travel to Europe made easy!

The Schengen visa (( 7,111 for adults, 3,555 (40) for kids aged 6 to 12 and while children under six years are free) gives you access to the EU which includes 29 European countries. They are Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

With the new visa cascade regime, Indians with an established travel history, if the passport validity allows are at an advantage. They can access long-term, multi-entry visas, which will streamline travel plans for those venturing into the Schengen area.

According to the European Commission, a Schengen visa is an entry permit for a short visit. It can allow you temporary entry of up to 90 days in any 180-day period This visa can be obtained in two forms - a single-entry visa, which allows a person to enter the Schengen area once, or a multiple-entry visa, which grants several visits to different areas as long as its valid.

So what is cascade visa?

Indians can be issued Schengen visas valid for two to five years. Once a person has applied for and used two visas within the previous three years, they can get a two-year visa, followed by one thats valid for five years, subject to passport validity. These visas are not purpose-bound and dont allow you to work in any of the EU countries.

Travelling to the EU is now much easier for Indians(Adobe)

According to a statement by the European Commission (European Delegation to India and Bhutan), these visa holders can enjoy travel rights equivalent to visa-free nationals aka citizens. Travel in the Schengen area and enjoy short stays for a maximum of 90 days in 180 days per year and 900 days over five years, although not consecutively. The system is designed to reward frequent travellers with progressively longer visas. Another benefit is that Indians can also visit over 37 countries outside of the Schengen area, visa-free.

Previously, Schengen visas were tiresome due to their short validity, unlike US visas, which gave visitors a year. It also required multiple applications, which included a lot of paperwork for those who were frequent travellers. Also, earlier, there was no standard policy for the states to issue long-term visas. Some followed a quicker process, while others took anywhere from a month to two.

How long does it take to get the visa?

Previously, the time it took to obtain a visa was depended on the place you wanted to visit in the EU. While some countries completed their process in around 15 days, other embassies can take upto 30 to 60 days to process a visa.

Travellers has to submit their visa application to the Consulate at least 15 days before their journey. However, it cannot be submitted earlier than six months before the date you intended to travel.

Travel agencies on the new rules

Rajeev Kale - President & Country Head, Holidays, MICE, Visa - Thomas Cook (India) Limited, says, While the appeal of exceptional/exclusive locales is undeniable, the fundamental shift is the new-age Indian consumers increasing desire to invest in themselves, against traditional options like gold, real estate, and luxury goods. So, travel experiences are moving to the top of the Indian consumer's consideration set. We are also seeing an uptick in the cohort of young India's millennials. Europe continues to be a favourite for Indian travellers and consumers are displaying increased spending appetite as our data reflects an uptick of over 60% for premium/luxe destinations. According to their data, there is an increase in demand, over 35%, for Scandic countries like Finland with Iceland and inclusions of husky safaris, stays in a glass igloo or traditional log cabins which have spectacular views of the Northern Lights.

The Indian traveller is discerning, seeking offbeat destinations and keen to explore locales in-depth. Destinations in the EU like Bulgaria and Romania have emerged [as a new favourite for travellers] after their entry into the Schengen visa, explains Daniel Dsouza, President and Country Head  Holidays, SOTC Travel. He goes on to add that searches for these regions have seen an increase of 25-30%.

Bulgaria and Romania now part of visa-free Schengen zone

After a 13-year effort, Bulgaria and Romania are now a part of Europe's Schengen area, as of March 2024. It will facilitate seamless air and sea travel, eliminating the need for border checks within the Schengen zone. With this move, tourists flying into these countries wont need a separate visa and can use their Schengen visas. Those travelling by road will need additional documentation.
West Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose has been accused of molesting a woman, several Trinamool leaders claimed on Thursday. West Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose. (File)(HT_PRINT)

In a post on X, Trinamool MP Sagarika Ghose claimed that a woman had alleged that she was molested by Bose when she went to meet the Governor at the Raj Bhavan.

How utterly APPALLING and HORRIFYING. Ahead of PM Narendra Modi's visit to Kolkata who is supposed to stay overnight at Raj Bhavan, a woman has alleged that she was molested while she went to meet the Governor at Raj Bhavan today, Ghose posted on X.

The complainant has been taken to the Hare Street police station for filing a complaint. The woman has accused the Governor of molesting her. Shocking and disgraceful, she added.

On his part, Bose termed the accused as part of an engineered narrative and said that he won't be cowed down.

He also alleged that people want to gain electoral benefits by maligning his image.

Truth shall triumph. I refuse to be cowed down by engineered narratives. If anybody wants some election benefits by maligning me, God bless them. But they can not stop my fight against corruption and violence in Bengal - Governor, Bose was quoted as saying by ANI.

Earlier, news agency PTI reported that owing to the prime minister's visit, West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose cut short his personal visit to his home state Kerala to return to the city.

Modi will embark on a two-day visit to West Bengal starting Thursday, during which he is scheduled to address several election rallies.

The PM is scheduled to arrive in Kolkata on Thursday evening and spend the night at Raj Bhavan.

He is scheduled to address election rallies in support of party candidates in Krishnanagar, Bardhaman Purba and Bolpur Lok Sabha constituencies on Friday, according to PTI.
New Delhi, The Delhi High Court granted bail on Thursday to three men in a case relating to the killing of Intelligence Bureau staffer Ankit Sharma during the February 2020 northeast Delhi riots, saying during the pendency of trial, bail is the rule while jail is an exception. 2020 Delhi riots: HC grants bail to 3 accused in IB staffer Ankit Sharma's murder case

The high court gave the relief to accused Shoaib Alam, Gulfam and Javed, noting that they have been in custody for four years and the trial in the case is not likely to conclude any time soon.

"Though a long period of incarceration alone may not be a sufficient reason to grant bail to an accused in a case which is punishable with death or life imprisonment, however, it would weigh with the court while considering a balance to be struck between the interest of the prosecution or society and the rights of the accused guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.

"It is to be remembered that pending trial, bail is the rule while jail is an exception. Also, the purpose of keeping an accused in jail during the trial is to ensure that he faces trial, does not abscond and, if found guilty, is available to serve his sentence. The purpose is not to punish the accused," Justice Navin Chawla said.

The court, however, denied bail to the fourth accused, Nazim, saying important public witnesses are yet to be examined by the prosecution and there is a likelihood that if released on bail, he may influence or threaten them.

"Though it may be true that in the present case, the trial may take a long period to conclude, however, that alone cannot be a ground to release the applicant on bail where he is charged with a heinous and grave crime," it said.

The court said Nazim has not been able to make out a case for being released on bail at this stage. It said it is conscious of the fact that some other co-accused are being granted bail, however, each case has to be determined on its own facts and the evidence brought forward against each of the accused persons.

The prosecution contended that Nazim is a declared "bad character" of the Dayalpur police station and has 12 FIRs against him.

According to the prosecution, on February 26, 2020, complainant Ravinder Kumar informed the Dayalpur police station that his son Ankit Sharma, who was posted in the IB, was missing since the day before.

The complainant later came to know from locals that a person was killed and the body thrown into the Khajuri Khas nala from the masjid of Chand Bagh pulia.

The prosecution alleged that Sharma's body was found from the Khajuri Khas nala and it had 51 injuries.

Former Aam Aadmi Party councillor Tahir Hussain is one of the accused in the case.

According to the prosecution, the four accused were part of a violent mob that killed Sharma and was involved in rioting and arson.

Communal clashes broke out in northeast Delhi on February 24, 2020, after violence between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control, leaving at least 53 people dead and scores injured.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
NEW DELHI: China is expected to send a new ambassador to India this month after keeping the crucial post in New Delhi vacant for almost 18 months, with veteran diplomat Xu Feihong tipped for the appointment, people familiar with the matter said. Xu Feihong, assistant minister of foreign affairs, served as Chinas envoy to Afghanistan during 2011-2013 and to Romania during 2015-2019. (Chinese Embassy in Romania)

The Chinese embassy has been without an envoy since October 2022, the longest such gap in ambassadorial postings since 1976, reflecting the current downslide in relations because of the military standoff on the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

The people cited above said on condition of anonymity that the new Chinese ambassador could be in his post before the conclusion of the Indian elections in early June. The posting could happen as early as mid-May, two persons said.

There has been no official word in this regard from the Chinese or Indian side. Experts have described the absence of a Chinese ambassador in New Delhi as a missing link in the channels of communications at a time when bilateral ties are at a low ebb.

Xu, aged about 60, is a member of the Chinese Communist Partys committee of the foreign ministry and an assistant minister of foreign affairs. He served as Chinas envoy to Afghanistan during 2011-2013 and to Romania during 2015-2019. He has also done diplomatic assignments in Finland, South Korea, New Zealand and the UK and is not seen as an India hand.

The last Chinese ambassador, Sun Weidong, completed his term on October 26, 2022, and was appointed one of Chinas three vice foreign ministers. Since then, President Xi Jinping has appointed new envoys to Japan and the US, but there was no word whether the post in India would be filled.

The Chinese leadership has been insisting that the military standoff, which has taken bilateral relations to the worst low since the 1962 border war, should be put in its appropriate place in the overall relationship while the two sides work on enhancing ties in areas such as trade and investment.

This has been roundly rejected by the Indian side, with external affairs minister S Jaishankar maintaining that bilateral relations wont be normal until peace and tranquillity is restored on the border. He has also accused the Chinese side of damaging relations by violating agreements and protocols for managament of the border.

Last year, Xi skipped the G20 Summit hosted by India, instead sending Premier Li Qiang to represent China. It is widely believed a lack of confirmation from the Chinese side about Xis participation in the SCO Summit in July 2023 was a key reason for the meeting being held virtually.

The last time there was a gap of a year or more in the posting of a Chinese ambassador in India was in 1976. Between the border war of 1962 and the normalisation of relations in 1976, the embassy was headed by either a charge daffaires or a first secretary (for a brief period in 1972). Following Sun Weidongs departure, the embassy has been headed by charge daffaires Ma Jia.

The Chinese envoys post in India, along with those in Japan, the US and the UK, is among the most coveted postings for Chinese diplomats since the ambassador in New Delhi is considered at par with the rank of vice foreign minister. Both Sun Weidong and his predecessor in New Delhi, Luo Zhaohui, became vice foreign ministers.
PATNA: Weeks after she ignited a controversy with her claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would end up behind bars if the Opposition INDIA bloc came to power at the centre, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Misa Bharti on Wednesday mounted a fresh attack on PM Modi, 73, over the Agnipath scheme. RJD MP Misa Bharti, who is contesting from Patliputra Lok Sabha seat. (X/MisaBharti)

The country has given him (PM Modi) two terms. He is 75 years old. What has he done for the youth? They brought the Agnineer recruitment scheme under which the inducted youths would retire in four years and sit at home while the old, 75-year-old Prime Minister, is seeking another term. But the PM should know, the people are not fools. They will give a befitting reply, Bharti said on Wednesday at an election meeting in Paliganj, 50km from Patna, according to a widely-circulated video clip of her speech.

People between 17-and-a-half and 21 are eligible to apply for a four-year tenure under the Agnipath scheme which started in 2022 and was described by the government as a game changer for the armed forces. It allows 25% of the recruits to be granted regular service, and is the only recruitment scheme for people below officer rank.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) responded angrily to Misa Bhartis remarks, saying she shouldnt cross a line. Bihar BJP spokesperson Arvind Singh asked Misa Bharti to desist from making disrespectful comments about the prime minister. Senior BJP leader Syed Shahnawaj Hussain said she should be careful about what she says.

Misa Bharti, the eldest daughter of RJD founder Lalu Prasad Yadav, is contesting from the Patliputra seat, which she had unsuccessfully contested in 2014 and 2019 parliamentary polls and lost to BJPs Ram Kripal Yadav, a former protege of her father.

Bharti also criticised PM Modis track record over the last 10 years, saying only big capitalists have gained in the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) rule.

Congress spokesperson Gyanranjan defended Misa Bhartis fresh remarks, saying it was true that PM Modi in his two terms as PM hadnt fulfilled the tall promises made by the BJP such as increasing the minimum support price or generating employment. PM Modi does push lies and tries to divert from real issues, he said.

Bharti walked into controversy last month after she declared that PM Modi and BJP leaders would go to jail if the Oppositions INDIA bloc came to power, a remark that triggered a strong backlash from the BJP. She later backtracked, accusing the media of twisting her statement. I had said when our government comes to power, we will conduct an investigation about any discrepancies and punish those accused, she said.
Dhubri: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday travelled to Dhubri Lok sabha seat in western Assam to campaign for the ally Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) candidate, just a month after he declared that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did not want to win the Dhubri seat and that he would never go there to seek votes. Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma campaigns in Dhubri district for the Lok Sabha polls (Twitter Photo)

Sarma addressed three public meetings at Gauripur, Bilasipara and Golakganj, three of the 11 assembly seats under the Dhubri Lok Sabha constituency.

I see a wave of enthusiasm among people in favour of AGP and BJP in parts of Dhubri where we didnt have any presence earlier. People have realised that Ajmals (sitting MP Badruddin Ajmal) time in Dhubri is over, and they dont need Rakibul (Congress candidate Rakibul Hussain), Sarma told an election meeting in Golakganj, one of the three that he addressed in the constituency on Thursday.

AGP, a constituent of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in Assam, is contesting from Dhubri, one of Assams three Muslim-majority Lok Sabha seats, and Barpeta as part of the alliance.

The BJP is contesting in 11 out of 14 seats in Assam, while its ally AGP is contesting in two seats  Barpeta and Dhubri. One seat has gone to United Peoples Party Liberal. Dhubri is scheduled to vote in the third phase of the ongoing general elections on May 7.

Also Read: Assam CM Himanta Sarma says No benefit in voting for Congress, explains why

13 candidates in the fray in the seat with over 2.6 million voters, but the contest is a triangular one among All India United Democratic Fronts (AIUDF) Badruddin Ajmal, Congresss Rakibul Hussain, a MLA from Nagaon district and AGPs Islam, a former MLA.

The Dhubri Lok Sabha seat has been an AIUDF bastion since the 2009 general elections when Ajmal was first elected as an MP. He has been re-elected from the seat three times since.

Sarma had last year claimed that the BJP does not want votes from Miyas for the next 10 years till the community discards practices like child marriages, sends girls to schools and stays away from fundamentalism.

Miya is a pejorative term used for Bengali-speaking Muslims in Assam who migrated from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). According to the 2011 census, 34.22% of the states population or 10.68 million comprises Muslims. Most are Bengali-speaking Muslims or Miyas.

When elections come, I will request them (Miyas) not to vote for us. Vote for us if you follow family planning, stop child marriage and shed fundamentalism. To complete this it will take 10 years. We will seek their votes after 10 years, Sarma had said in October last year.

Congress candidate Hussain hit out at Assam CM over his campaign in Dhubri saying that Sarma took this stance after the first phase of polling on April 19 when he realised that people from other communities did not vote for BJP.

Also Read: Mafia raj in Assam under BJP, Himanta most corrupt leader: Priyanka Gandhi

Now he is campaigning in Dhubri to ensure Ajmal wins again as both, the BJP and AIUDF have a deal and support each other. But he cant fool the voters, who know about his antics, Hussain said.

AIUDF, which has a large support base among Bengali-speaking Muslims, stated that people from the community will not be influenced by Sarmas change of stance as they are aware of the eviction drives targeting them and bulldozing of houses and madrasas by the present state government.

The CM who used to boast that he doesnt need Miyas votes is now desperately seeking their votes. But try as he might, people from the minority community are ready to give the present government a befitting reply this time, said AIUDF general secretary Siddique Ali Thakuria in a statement.

There were 10 assembly constituencies of three districts under Dhubri Lok Sabha seat before last years delimitation exercise, which saw massive redrawing of boundaries of the states 126 assembly and 14 parliamentary seats. The region now has 11 assembly seats with four new ones added, and three old ones removed, spread across five districts.

Delimitation has also increased the number of voters in Dhubri significantly. In 2019, the constituency had 18,58,566 voters. But it has now jumped to 26,43,403, a 42% increase in 5 years.
New Delhi: India on Thursday dismissed a report by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) that expressed concern over religious freedom in the country, saying the panel was indulging in propaganda and attempting to interfere in the general election. MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal (Twitter Photo)

The USCIRF, an independent, bipartisan US federal government agency that issues an annual report on religious freedom around the world, said in its report for 2024 that it continues to have ongoing concerns about India, where it has seen backsliding.

It reiterated its recommendation that the US state department declare India a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) in the context of religious freedom.

The USCIRF is known as a biased organisation with a political agenda. They continue to publish their propaganda on India masquerading as part of an annual report, external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a regular media briefing when asked about the report released on Wednesday.

We really have no expectation that USCIRF will even seek to understand Indias diverse, pluralistic and democratic ethos. Their efforts to interfere in the largest electoral exercise of the world will never succeed, he said.

Also Read: Passport only revoked on courts order, says MEA after Siddaramaiah request

New Delhi has often bristled at the reports of organisations such as the USCIRF and accused them of being biased against India. It has always rejected such reports in recent years.

The USCIRF, in its latest report, noted that the US state department had not designated India as a CPC in 2023 despite the commissions recommendations and the state departments reporting on particularly severe religious freedom violations in the country. It recommended that the state department should designate Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, India, Nigeria and Vietnam as CPCs.

The report contended that religious freedom conditions in India continued to deteriorate during 2023, and the government reinforced discriminatory nationalist policies and failed to address communal violence disproportionately affecting Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, Jews, and Adivasis.

The report alleged that the enforcement of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, Citizenship Amendment Act and anti-conversion laws resulted in the arbitrary detention, monitoring and targeting of religious minorities.

According to the report, NGOs reported 687 incidents of violence against Christians in 2023, more than 500 churches and two synagogues were destroyed and more than 70,000 people were displaced during clashes in Manipur in June 2023.

The USCIRF further recommended that the US should condition financial assistance and arms sales to India on improved religious freedom conditions.
BJD leader VK Pandian, who is a close aide of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, has expressed confidence that his party will sweep the assembly polls in the state and get more seats compared to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. BJD leader V Karthikeyan Pandian (PTI)

In an exclusive interview with ANI, Pandian targeted the BJP and said if the party declares its CM candidate in the state against Naveen Patnaik, the BJD's victory will be much larger and the opposition party will not cross single digits.

"I will tell you two scenarios...BJD, under Naveen Babu, is going to sweep the assembly elections and we will get more seats in Lok Sabha elections as well. In case the BJP comes out with a CM face...the victory will be much larger. They will not cross single digit (in the number of MLAs)," he said.

He was asked if a historic sixth term can be expected for Naveen Patnaik as Chief Minister in the assembly polls.

ALSO READ | BJDs Naveen Patnaik files nomination from two Odisha assembly seats

Odisha will go for simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly polls. Lok Sabha and assembly polls in the state will be held in four phases on May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1. Naveen Patnaik is seeking to steer the party for a sixth straight term in office in the assembly polls. The votes will be counted on June 4.

During the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, BJD under the leadership of Naveen Patnaik won 12 of the 21 seats. The Congress won eight seats and Congress got one seat.

The BJD swept the Odisha assembly polls in 2019, winning 112 seats. BJP won 23 seats and Congress nine seats.

Pandian said Congress used to be the main challenger of BJD as an opposition party more than a decade back.

"They (Congress) are in a very sad state of affairs and in many places, BJP is locally fixing with them. There are two Parliamentary constituencies where they are having a fixing - Sambalpur and Bhubaneswar...I am putting it on record, I am saying with all conviction," Pandian said.

Answering a query about Rahul Gandhi's allegations of BJD and BJP working together, Pandian said that BJD maintains a level of decency in political discourse and it does not mean that it is collaborating with the party in opposition.

"He (Rahul Gandhi) specifically used the word 'marriage'. He is a bachelor, he should not be giving advice on marriage and relationships. In political discourse, the Chief Minister's idea is, his commitment or value system is that one should not cross that decency, that is the value system he has...That doesn't mean that we are collaborating with the opposite party against whom we are fighting the elections," Pandian said.

ALSO READ | VK Pandian, Naveen Patnaiks trusted aide, is BJDs star campaigner in Odisha

During his visit to Odisha last month, Rahul Gandhi had accused BJD of being in partnership with the BJP.

"They are in a marital relationship," he said, adding that it can be called marriage or partnership, but the two parties "are together".

Asked if it can be assumed that he is the political heir to Naveen Patnaik, Pandian, who is also 5T chairman in the state, said that he will be successor in the party leaders values.

"No, I will be the heir, the successor to all his values as I have always stood. His integrity, his commitment, his hard work, his absolute thinking about empowering the people of Odisha - that is what I would succeed him as. My identity in Odisha is "he works for Naveen Patnaik and he delivers." That is the identity which I cherish. The love and affection that I get from people is because of that identity," he said.

On the "outsider" tag for him by some BJP leaders, Pandian asked what is an outsider for an Indian citizen.

"Who is an outsider? BJP, a national party, who talks about One Nation, nationalism...Who is an outsider, let them explain it first. What is an outsider for an Indian citizen? If they explain it, then maybe we will be able to answer it," he said.

Asked if there was bitter political rivalry between BJD and BJP after earlier speculations of alliance between the two parties Pandian said "there is nothing bitter".

"The CM and the PM have a lot of respect for each other. They both wanted to have talks like true statesmen in the larger interest. It didn't happen. But this is election time, so they will tell something and we have to counter it," he said.
New Delhi: The Election Commission of India on Thursday ordered the transfer of senior bureaucrat Sujata Karthikeyan, secretary of Odishas Mission Shakti department, to a non-public dealing department with immediate effect. Election Commission of India (Representative Photo)

The orders were issued within hours of the Bharatiya Janata Party accusing the bureaucrat, wife of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader VK Pandian, of misusing her position to mobilise women attached with self-help groups for electoral gains for the Biju Janata Dal. To be sure, ECI has not commented on the transfer order.

Mission Shakti was launched on March 8, 2001 by chief minister Naveen Patnaik with the objective of strengthening the womens empowerment process through womens self-help groups.

In its representation, the BJP demanded that Karthikeyan should not be given any responsibility till the assembly election and the Lok Sabha polls are over as she was indulging in open, blatant and gross, misuse of authority, government machinery and manpower for influencing voters through SVEEP for electoral gains of BJD.

Also Read: BJDs Naveen Patnaik files nomination from two Odisha assembly seats

SVEEP is the flagship programme of the Election Commission of India for voter education, spreading voter awareness and promoting voter literacy in the country.

A delegation led by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar, Rajya Sabha lawmaker Sudhanshu Trivedi and senior party leader Om Pathak in their submission to the poll panel alleged that Pandian, who also served as the Private Secretary to CM Patnaik for over a decade, wields considerable influence within the states administration.

The BJP and the BJD are locked in a tight battle in Odisha, where elections to pick a new assembly are being held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls.

The party has now alleged that Pandian, through his wife, would use his administrative experience to influence elections.

In November 2023, after taking voluntary retirement from IAS, Pandian joined the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) party. He was subsequently appointed as the chairman of the states flagship programme- 5T transformational initiatives with the rank of a cabinet minister...His proximity to the Chief Minister as well as the BJD cannot be over-emphasised, the petition says.

Targeting Karthikeyan, the BJP has said, It is extremely unfortunate that the serving IAS officer has given a go-bye to professionalism and is actively indulging as an agent of the BJD because of the influence of her husband on her.

Claiming she should have proceeded on leave and disassociated herself from anything to do with public dealing during the elections, the BJP alleged that the official has been influencing voters.

It has been brought to our attention by our party workers that the Department of Mission Shakti is being grossly misused by the ruling dispensation of the State i.e. Biju Janata Dal, to influence the voters to vote for Biju Janata Dal in the 2024 Parliamentary and Legislative Assembly Elections. It is important to point out that the Department of Mission Shakti, as part of its charter of duty, promotes various Women Self Help Groups (SHGs). Further, the Department provides gainful activities to the SHGs by providing credit, market linkage and other financial benefits with a budget running into thousands of crores, BJPs petition further reads.

It added, that the functionaries of the Department of Mission Shakti have been compelling and coercing these SHGs, with the threat of stopping the Government financial benefits, and thus making them propagate and influence the voters to vote for Biju Janata Dal...

Elections in Odisha will be held in four phases starting from May 13 till June 1. The results will be announced on June 4.

The BJP, which won eight Lok Sabha seats in 2019 has set its eyes on doubling the number in the state that sends 21 lawmakers to Parliament.
That the BJP is losing its majority is a foregone conclusion, according to Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who also claimed that things are tremendously positive for the Congress-led opposition INDIA bloc. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor. (File Photo/PTI)

I would say that right now, it looks increasingly likely that the BJP-NDA government will lose its majority. The BJP losing its majority seems to be a foregone conclusion. 190 seats (102 in phase 1 on April 19, 88 on April 26) have voted so far, and what I am picking up from my sources, it is tremendously positive for our side. We are not suggesting that there is an overwhelming wave but there certainly isn't one for the government, Tharoor told PTI in an exclusive interview.

He added: All indications are that this is really an uphill struggle for the BJP and things are not going the government's way.

The former Union minister also mocked the ruling party's slogan of 400 paar, calling it a joke, and said that going past 300 is impossible and even 200 may be a challenge.

He also asked why a young man, who voted for the BJP in 2014 because he was promised a job, would still vote for it 10 years later, when he still does not have a job.

When all the economists are saying that 80% of India's population has seen a decline in its income in the last 10 years, why should that 80% vote for the BJP that has put them in that predicament? Tharoor argued.

Also Read | Voters unlikely to get swayed by hollow chest-thumping: Shashi Tharoor

On his own chances from the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala  he made his electoral debut from the seat in 2009 and scored victories in 2014 and 2019 as well  the Congress leader predicted a very comfortable win.

Tharoor's principal challenger from Thiruvananthapuram is Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar of the BJP. All 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala polled on April 26, the second of the seven-phase general elections.

(With PTI inputs)
Congress leader Rashid Alvi slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP over former Pakistan minister Fawad Chaudhry's 'Rahul Gandhi on fire' praise remark, saying that the latter made the remark under pressure so that the BJP can benefit from such statements in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. BJP said Congress's 'rishta' with Pakistan is clear now that a former Pakistani minister praised Rahul Gandhi's speech. (File)

Follow Elections 2024 LIVE updates

Alvi claimed that Chaudhry was pressured by the Shehbaz Sharif government, which has good ties with the prime minister. The statement praising the Congress leader was made so that PM Modi could exploit it and benefit in the ongoing polls, Alvi added.

"...The statement by Fawad Chaudhry is done under pressure by Nawaz Sharif and his brother's government. PM Modi has very good relations with Nawaz Sharif. This statement has come so that our Prime Minister can exploit it. BJP has relations (with Pakistan). Manmohan Singh, Rahul Gandhi, or Sonia Gandhi never went to Pakistan...The people who want to take benefit from his (Fawad Chaudhry) statement have pressurized him..." he said to news agency ANI.

Earlier today, PM Modi took a veiled dig at Rahul Gandhi over Chaudhary's praise, saying that Pakistani leaders want to make Shehzada of Congress India's prime minister.

Also Read: PM Narendra Modi's dig at Rahul Gandhi: Pakistan is crying, wants to make shehzada

Look at the coincidence today the Congress is getting weak in India... Now, Pakistani leaders are praying for the Congress. Pakistan is eager to make the prince the prime minister, and we already know that the Congress is a fan of Pakistan. This partnership between Pakistan and Congress has now been completely exposed, PM Modi said while addressing a rally in Gujarat's Anand.

What's the row?

A political slugfest was triggered after former Pakistan minister praised the Wayanad MP for targeting the saffron camp over the Ram Mandir consecration ceremony.

In the video that the Pakistani leader shared, Gandhi was speaking about Ayodhya's Ram Mandir inauguration and asking whether there were any poor people invited to the occasion. Coming under fire for supporting Rahul Gandhi, the Pakistani leader added: 'Because I oppose extremists and hate mongers be it in Pak or India or elsewhere...."

Also Read: Why Pak leader praising Rahul Gandhi: BJP questions Fawad Chaudhry's X post

The BJP attacked the Congress over the post. n a post on X, Amit Malviya, BJP's IT cell head, said, "Ch Fawad Hussain, who served in the Imran Khan cabinet, as Minister for Information and Broadcasting, is promoting Rahul Gandhi. Is the Congress planning to contest election in Pakistan?"
The hoax bomb threat sent to over 300 schools in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) was meant to disturb public order in the city and create mass panic, said the FIR registered by Delhi Police, which on Thursday approached the Interpols Moscow wing and sought details of the sender of the mass email who used a Russian domain code, said officials aware of the matter. Chaos engulfed Delhi on Wednesday morning, as school after school dialled the police and reported that it had received bomb threats over email. (Hindustan Times)

It appears the emails [that were] used to send the threats were made with the conspiratorial intention of creating mass panic and to disturb public order in the national capital, said the FIR registered by Delhi Polices anti-terror unit.

An officer involved in the probe said all the emails were sent from a single ID.

All the information we have has been sent to the National Central Bureau in Moscow through Interpol. We have asked for details of the registrant such as name, address contact details, alternate email IDs, and complete ID logs, said the officer. The Moscow NCB is the Interpols Russian wing.

ALSO READ | Bomb scare in Delhi-NCR schools: Waking nightmare for parents!



Meanwhile, the scale of the hoax threat, sent to 288 schools in Delhi, four in Noida, six in Gurugram and three in Ghaziabad, has also prompted the Union home ministry and central agencies to assist the city police in its investigation as well as prod Interpol to release details of the perpetrator, said two senior officers involved in the probe.

Chaos engulfed Delhi on Wednesday morning, as school after school dialled the police and reported that it had received bomb threats over email. Institutions were forced to evacuate thousands of students midway through classes, as security forces launched sweeping checks in campuses across the length and breadth of the Capital.

The threats were all sent from a mail.ru domain  which is based out of Russia, but can be accessed from any location  that was also used to previously send a bomb threat to The Indian School in Sadiq Nagar on April 12 last year.

Central intelligences have also activated their channels in Russia and other international networks to ask the Russia-based email service provider to assist our probe, said one of the officers, who asked not to be named.

ALSO READ | After hoax bomb threat, Delhi government issues advisory to schools

Though the international crime investigation agency declined to reveal the senders identity in the April 12 case last year, despite a request from Delhi Police, senior officers said they expect Interpol to respond positively this time because of the magnitude of the threat.

It was not an isolated incident (unlike the previous instance). We are expecting a response from Russia soon, the officer said.

Mail.ru is the email service provided by the Russian company VK, similar to how Gmail or Outlook are email services provided by Google and Microsoft. Just as with Gmail and Outlook, anybody, anywhere in the world can set up a Mail.ru account and use it to send and receive emails. It does not mean that the email originated in Russia.

To be sure, investigators have said the sender likely used a virtual private network (VPN) to mask their IP address, rendering it extremely challenging for law enforcement agencies to trace down a persons location.

The FIR, a copy of which HT has seen, was registered under sections 505 (2) (statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred, or ill will between classes), 507 (criminal intimidation by an anonymous communication) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, on the statement of inspector Brij Mohan, who was on duty at the central police control room (CPCR) as a flurry of calls reporting bomb threats flooded the phone lines.

During my duty hours, 125 bomb threat calls were received from different schools at ERSS (emergency response support system)  112 from 5.47 hours (am) to 14.13 hours (2.13pm), Mohan said in his statement.

The investigation was on Wednesday evening handed over to the counter intelligence unit (CIU) of the Delhi Police special cell, though a raft of agencies will be involved in the multi-pronged probe.

Meanwhile on Thursday, district-level police teams visited all the schools that had received threats and collected hash values of the emails.

A hash value is a unique numeric code that corresponds to a particular piece of data. Essentially a digital fingerprint, a hash value allows enforcement agencies to authenticate the veracity of digital information and ascertain that it hasnt been tampered with.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is not under control of the Union of India, the central government told the Supreme Court on Thursday, while raising preliminary objections on a lawsuit filed by West Bengal on the agency continuing with its probe in several cases without seeking the state's prior approval. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) logo (PTI)

The Union of India has not registered any case, the CBI has. The agency is not under the control of the Union, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, said to a bench of Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta.

West Bengal has moved an original suit against the Centre in the Supreme Court under Article 131 of the Constitution. The Trinamool government there stated in its suit that despite that the state revoking general consent to the federal agency to probe cases in West Bengal, the CBI has continued to file FIRs and proceed with investigations.

Article 131, which deals with the apex court's jurisdiction in a dispute between the central and one or more state governments, is sacred and its misuse must not be allowed, Solicitor General Mehta submitted before the two-judge bench.

Also Read: Supreme Court halts probe by CBI into Bengal recruitment scam

Article 131 is one of the most sacred jurisdictions conferred upon the Supreme Court. This provision cannot be allowed to be misused or abused, he said.

On November 16, 2018, West Bengal withdrew the CBI's general consent to conduct a probe or carry out raids in the state. It is among several non-BJP states where the country's top investigation agency now requires the concerned government's permission or directions from a court of law, for its activities.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which runs the government at the Centre, has been repeatedly accused of misusing central agencies against the opposition, a charge it has consistently refuted.

The CBI, on its part, has faced allegations of functioning under "political influence," irrespective of the political party in office at the Centre. In 2013, the Supreme Court went to the extent of calling the agency a caged parrot. The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was in office at the time.

(With PTI inputs)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday accused the pre-2014 Congress-led government of doing scams across land, water and sky. While addressing a public meeting in Gujarat's Surendranagar, PM Modi reminded the people of scams like the 2G scam, coal scam, Commonwealth Games scam which happened when Congress was in power. Having slammed the Congress party, PM Modi asked the people if they had heard of any scam in last 10 years of his government. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (REUTERS)

"10 years ago, our country was ashamed of scams worth lakhs of crores. There was not a single day when news of scams did not make headlines. Congress committed scams across land, water and sky. In such dire situation, you sent me there (at the Centre). You tell me, don't you feel proud of this son of yours? Have you heard any news of any scam in these 10 years?" said PM Modi.

On Thursday, PM Modi addressed poll rallies in Gujarat's Anand and Surendranagar. Later in the day, he will hold public meetings in Gujarat's Junagadh and Jamnagar.

ALSO READ| Why is comedian Shyam Rangeela contesting against PM Modi from Varanasi Lok Sabha seat?

In the poll rally at Anand, PM Modi took a dig at the Congress party over Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, a former minister in Pakistan, praising Rahul Gandhi. The Prime Minister claimed that Pakistani leaders were praying to see Rahul become the next PM.

"Pakistan is crying because Congress is dying here. You all must have learnt that Pakistani leaders are now praying for Congress. Pakistan is eager to make 'shehzada' (referring to Rahul Gandhi) the next PM. This is not surprising because we already know that Congress is Pakistan's 'murid' (follower)," said PM Modi as quoted by news agency PTI.

ALSO READ| PM Narendra Modis photo removed from Covid vaccine certificates; health ministry officials respond

"The partnership between Pakistan and Congress has now been exposed completely. It shows that the country's enemies want a weak government in India, not a strong one...A weak government which was there at the time of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack. They want a corrupt government which was there before 2014. But Modi's strong government neither bows down nor does it stop," he added.

Notably, Modi government is trying to secure a third consecutive term at the Centre with a majority win in the Lok Sabha election 2024. PM Modi's party BJP and its allies are targeting to get a decisive mandate by winning more than 400 Lok Sabha seats.
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday took a veiled jibe at Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi over her "washing machine" remark against the CM, saying that the grand old party has even a bigger and high-voltage machine through which Arvind Kejriwal, who is currently under judicial custody in a money laundering case, and whom they had previously accused of corruption, suddenly became a nice person. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma during a rally for Lok Sabha elections(PTI)

Also Read: Mafia raj in Assam under BJP, Himanta most corrupt leader: Priyanka Gandhi

"They have a bigger washing machine; Arvind Kejriwal was washed through which washing machine? ask Priyanka Gandhi. Earlier, they (Congress) were saying that Arvind Kejriwal looted money through liquor (Delhi excise policy case), and now they are saying he (Arvind Kejriwal) is a nice person. Now tell me which high-voltage washing machine they have?" news agency ANI quoted Sarma as saying.

Sarma's remarks came a day after Priyanka Gandhi, while addressing a public meeting in Assam's Dhubri, said the BJP "developed" a washing machine in which Sarma was put first.

Also Read: Assam CM campaigns in Muslim-majority Dhubri

She said there were big allegations against the Assam CM when he was with Congress, but he got himself "cleaned" in the "BJP washing machine" after switching sides.

"There is 'mafia raj' in Assam. There were serious charges against your CM when he was in the Congress party. As soon as he switched to BJP, all charges against him were washed off. BJP has developed a washing machine where corrupt people are put. Your CM was the first one in this regard," she said.

Also Read: Congress party worker arrested in Assam for Amit Shah fake video: Police

Elections 2024:

The third phase of polls in four Lok Sabha seats in Assam - Guwahati, Barpeta, Kokrajhar and Dhubri will be held on May 7. 47 candidates are in the fray in the third phase of polls and more than 81 lakh voters will exercise their franchise.
A day after bomb threats were issued to multiple schools in Delhi-NCR, the police has requested the citizens not to follow any false messages or fake news being circulated on WhatsApp. Delhi school bomb threat news: Police and fire department personnel outside Mother Mary's School at Mayur Vihar, in New Delhi on Wednesday.( (PTI Photo/Ravi Choudhary) )

Some audio messages are being pushed on WhatsApp and other chat groups that some suspicious objects were found in some schools. These messages are false and have no truth in them. I request all to please convey further that these are false messages, the police said, as quoted by news agency ANI.

Around a hundred schools in Delhi-NCR received an email regarding a bomb threats on Wednesday, causing panic among parents and the mass evacuation of students. Mother Mary's School in Mayur Vihar, Delhi Public School in Dwarka, Sanskriti School in Chanakyapuri, Delhi Public School at Vasant Kunj, Amity School in Saket and Delhi Public School (DPS) in Noida Sector 30 were among the first schools to receive bomb threats via email.

However, the threat was declared a hoax after the police did not find anything objectionable during the searches.

Following this, the Union home ministry had also issued a statement, urging people not to panic. There is no need to panic. The mail appears to be a hoax. Delhi Police and security agencies are taking necessary steps as per protocol, the statement read.

Bomb threat mail sent using Russian domain

According to the preliminary investigation, the initial email originated from the @sawariim@mail.ru domain, which appears to be associated with a Russian website. However, the police said the user may have bounced the email off a series of IDs to keep their own IP (internet protocol) address hidden.

Its likely the IP addresses may be associated with a VPN and establishing the persons connectivity will be a challenge. We will seek Interpols help by sending it a Demi Official (DO) letter, seeking the details of the person who signed up for the email address, the officials said.

Meanwhile, the Delhi police said that they are suspecting a deeper conspiracy in the case. In view of this, the police have registered a case of criminal conspiracy, anonymous communication and other charges under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Information Technology (IT) Act.

(With inputs from ANI)
Chaya Sarkar, 36, moved into a school building in 2022 when residents of Samserganj in West Bengals Murshidabad lost their homes and land district to erosion. We have nowhere to go now, she said as she sat on the floor of a corridor on the ground floor of the two-storey building and made bidis. Erosion has been among the key issues in the region ahead of Lok Sabha elections. (HT PHOTO )

The school building shelters around 35 families and their belongings. We have only two rooms out of the eight in the school. While classes are held in one room, the teachers use the other. We have around 100 students in classes five to eight. Some of the students stopped coming after the building was turned into a relief camp. Classes have to be managed accordingly. We cannot accommodate every student in one room. While some attend the classes, others play, said Brajeshwar Halder, a teacher.

Erosion along the Ganga and Padma rivers eats up hundreds of acres of fertile land in the districts of Malda, Murshidabad, and Nadia, forcing thousands of people to shift further.

Debi Mondal Saha, 26, said her father-in-law shifted houses at least twice in the last two decades. My husband had to shift once. The last time in 2023 we almost lost our daughter. She had gone to toilet at night. It was around 9pm when a portion of the house collapsed. Luckily my husband reacted promptly, said Saha.

The state government estimates the erosion has hit around 400 square km along the Ganga-Padma river system across three districts. Around 2800 hectares of fertile land have been lost. The damage to public and private properties is estimated to be around 1000 crore in the last 15 years.

Erosion has been among the key issues ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in Malda North, Malda South, Jangipur, Murshidabad, Berhampore, Krishnanagar, and Ranaghat on May 7 and May 13.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who wrote two letters in 2022 seeking Prime Minister Narendra Modis intervention in dealing with the situation, said flood management is a responsibility of the Union government but it has not done anything. We have already spent 150 crore and another 100 crore has been sanctioned. Work is going on. We have to draw up a plan, Banerjee said at an election rally in Murshidabads Jangipur on April 19.

Banerjee visited Samserganj in May 2023 ahead of the panchayat polls and distributed land deeds to those who lost their houses and land. In January, Banerjee urged the erosion-hit families to move away from the river banks and assured them that the government would provide them land at safer places.

Sreerupa Mitra Chaudhury, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Malda South, called the prevention of erosion and rehabilitation of the affected families her top priorities. Even the people of Malda South know that if they send me to the Lok Sabha, I will raise the issue in the Parliament and bring from the Centre what is needed for them, she said.

The four erosion-hit Lok Sabha constituencies of Malda North, Malda South, Jangipur, and Murshidabad have been Congress bastions. The Congress retained Malda South while Trinamool Congress (TMC) wrested Jangipur and Murshidabad Lok Sabha seats in 2019. The BJP won the Malda North seat.

Khalilur Rahaman, the TMC member of Parliament (TMC) from Jangipur who hopes to retain the seat, said even his ancestral house in Dhuliyan is threatened by the erosion. I raised the issue multiple times in the Lok Sabha.

Dhananjoy Ghosh, BJPs candidate from Jangipur, said people know that only their government will be able to solve the problem. The Modi government has been releasing funds but the TMC MP and MLAs [members of assembly] in Malda and Murshidabad failed to utilise them.

The voters remain sceptical. Deep Chand Sarkar, 70, who lives in a room at the Pratapganj Primary School, said promises are made before every election. Political parties and media come to us and take our pictures. Once the elections are over they vanish.

Chaya Sarkar said the affected families were given land deeds before the panchayat polls but in the middle of nowhere. There was no electricity and no water connection. How can we go there? We do not even have the money to build a house. Another election has come and we are still living in the same school with two to three families crammed in one classroom. Even if you shoot us, we have nowhere to go.
Bhubaneshwar: Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday filed nominations for the Kantabanji assembly constituency under the Bolangir parliamentary constituency in the states western region. The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) had earlier declared that the chief minister would contest from a second seat. Odisha CM and BJD president Naveen Patnaik files his nomination papers from the Kantabanji Assembly seat (Twitter/@ANI)

The BJD chief had on Tuesday filed a nomination from his traditional assembly constituency of Hinjili in Ganjam district.

On Thursday, he arrived at a temporary helipad in Titlagarh town, where he filed his nomination for the Kantabanji assembly constituency. Patnaik was accompanied by his trusted aide VK Pandian, senior BJD leader A U Singhdeo and Titlagarh MLA Tukuni Sahu.

Assembly and Lok Sabha elections will be held simultaneously in Odisha in four phases, starting from phase 1 on May 13, phase 2 on May 20, phase 3 on May 25 and the final [hase on June 1. The results will be announced on June 4.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in Odisha, the BJD emerged as the dominant party, securing 20 out of the 21 seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won a single seat.

Also Read: Naveen Patnaik files nomination from Hinjili Assembly constituency

However, in the 2019 elections, the BJDs seat count was reduced to 12, while the BJP made significant gains, winning eight seats.

Amid rising acceptance of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in western Odisha and its success in the 2017 panchayat polls, Patnaiks strategy of taking the fight to the opposition camp paid dividends as BJD stemmed the rise of BJP in a region where it has been traditionally strong.

A Congress stronghold, Kantabanji saw Congress victory in the 2019 elections while the BJD came in third. BJP finished second. Western Odisha districts have five Lok Sabha seats and 33 assembly constituencies and the BJD strategists believe Patnaik entering the fray will change the political discourse in the area and keep the growth of BJP in check.

Meanwhile, Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan also filed his nomination from the Sambalpur Lok Sabha constituency. Pradhan filed his paper before the Sambalpur district collector accompanied by BJP leaders.

Before filing his nomination papers, Pradhan visited Samaleswari Temple to seek the blessings of the presiding deity and later headed to a huge rally to file nomination papers along with BJP Sambalpur MLA Candidate Jaynarayan Mishra and BJP Rengali MLA Candidate Nauri Nayak.

Pradhan is up against BJDs Pranab Prakash Das, who is the organisational secretary of the regional party. The seat would go to polls on May 25.

Last week, speaking to The Hindustan Times, Pradhan said his party would win all the 21 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Our party would also form the government in Odisha. In the last 24 years, Naveen Patnaik has fooled and failed the Odia people. His credibility is at the lowest this time.

Pradhan is contesting elections after a gap of 15 years. He had last contested elections in 2009 after the BJP-BJD alliance had ended. He lost the assembly poll that year contesting from the Pallahara seat.
NEW DELHI: India on Thursday rejected fresh assertions by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about the involvement of Indian government agents in the killing of pro-Khalistan activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, saying his remarks reflect the political space given in Canada to separatism and extremism. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, May 1 (AP)

Trudeau said at an interaction with the media on the margins of the Khalsa Day Parade in Toronto on April 28 that the killing of Nijjar last year was a real problem for the rules-based order and Canadas relations with India.

Asked about the allegations at a regular media briefing, external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said: Prime Minister Trudeau has made those remarks earlier as well, its nothing new. His remarks, to us, illustrate once again the kind of political space that has been given in Canada to separatism, extremism and people who practice violence.

He added, This not only impacts India-Canada relations but also encourages a climate of violence and criminality in Canada to the detriment of its citizens.

On Monday, the external affairs ministry summoned Canadas deputy high commissioner Stewart Wheeler to register a strong protest against the shouting of pro-Khalistan slogans in the presence of Trudeau and other political leaders at the Khalsa Day Parade.

The event had banners in support of Khalistan and depicting Indias leaders as the killers of Nijjar, who had been declared a terrorist by New Delhi.

India-Canada relations hit an all-time low last September after Trudeau alleged there was a potential link between Indian government agents and the killing of Nijjar, who was gunned down outside a gurdwara in Surrey in June 2023.

During the media interaction, footage of which was aired by Canadas Omni News, Trudeau said there are credible reasons to believe that Indian government agents were involved in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil. This, he said is a real problem for the rules-based order and the principles of free open democracies and sovereignty that we stand for, and its also a problem in our relations with India.

Canadas intelligence and police agencies have done very good and rigorous work in their investigation into Nijjars killing and when the probe is concluded, there will be some very, very clear things that everyone around the world, including in India, will see as to responsibilities and involvement, Trudeau said.

Talking about pro-Khalistan protests in Canada, Trudeau said he understood the concerns of the Indian government about disagreeing with positions taken by Canadian citizens. We are a free country, we allow for that freedom of expression and freedom to protest but we continue to make sure...that laws are obeyed, that violence is not encouraged or allowed, he said.

However, Trudeau also said Canada and India should be able to get along but maintained that he cannot ignore the problem created with the killing of Nijjar.

Canada and India are the worlds two largest democracies, us by size, them by population. And we should be able to get along, Trudeau told the media soon after he addressed the Khalsa Day event, where he was greeted with shouts of Khalistan Zindabad from some elements in the crowd.

Amid the strong protest by India over the pro-Khalistan slogans at the event, Trudeau maintained: We will always follow up when our fellow countries have expressed concerns about behaviour, about violence, about criminality. We take them seriously. What we will not do, however, is go after people because theyre saying things that the Indian government doesnt like, things that the Indian government disagrees with.

He asserted that Canada always stood very strongly against terrorism, against violence, against intimidation.

Trudeau described India as an important partner when it comes to people-to-people and business relations, as well as cooperation on international issues such as the climate crisis, but said Nijjars killing will continue to be a sticking point till the matter is resolved to Canadas satisfaction.

We want to get through this challenging situation but there needs to be accountability, he said.
Voting in all 25 Lok Sabha constituencies in Rajasthan has concluded in the first two phases. The Congress, the main opposition party in the state, is optimistic about a substantial breakthrough in this general election after a decade. Former chief minister of Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot engaged in an extensive discussion with Prabhash Jha, the editor of Live Hindustan. Ashok Gehlot delved into the electoral prospects of the Congress and its future strategies, and addressed the alleged discord with Sachin Pilot, among other topics. Follow full coverage of our Lok Sabha elections here. Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot shows his ink-marked finger after casting a vote at a polling station during the second phase of the Lok Sabha Polls, in Jodhpur.(ANI)

Here are the key excerpts from the interview:

Current atmosphere for Congress in Rajasthan

Ashok Gehlot expressed optimism about the political environment favouring the Congress. He also claimed that Congress had ceased the BJP's claims of crossing 400 seats after the first phase of voting. Gehlot criticised the BJP's attempt to link the Congress manifesto with the Muslim League, terming it baseless. He accused the BJP of indirectly trying to polarise the election, which he believes did not resonate well with the electorate.

Impact of BJP's election narrative

Ashok Gehlot dismissed any adverse effects on the Congress due to the BJP's narratives, contending that such accusations have actually piqued people's interest in reading the Congress manifesto, which he deems historic. He emphasised the constructive feedback garnered during Rahul Gandhi's two rallies and highlighted various state government schemes incorporated in the Congress's 25 guarantees.

Also Read | Lok Sabha polls 2024: Rajasthan sees low youth voter turnout compared to 2019

Comparison of guarantees by Congress and Modi

Reviewing the promises made by PM Narendra Modi in 2014, Ashok Gehlot highlighted that several assurances, including the return of black money and the commitment to double farmers' incomes, remain unfulfilled. He believes these unmet assurances have bolstered public trust in the promises made by Congress. Ashok Gehlot observed that the public sentiment is shifting in favour of the Congress, suggesting that even reaching 250 seats would be a notable accomplishment for the BJP, contrary to their assertions of surpassing 400 seats.

Internal party dynamics and coalition talks

Ashok Gehlot refrained from commenting on internal party dynamics or coalition strategies, citing his involvement in the decision-making committee. He stressed the significance of presenting a unified front during the elections to prevent any perception of internal discord.

Electoral prospects in Rajasthan

Expressing confidence in the outcome, Ashok Gehlot forecasted that the Congress would secure seats in double digits, surpassing previous weak performances. He abstained from making specific predictions, indicating that the true picture would unfold only after all votes are counted.

Relationship with Sachin Pilot

Speaking on the tensions with his junior colleague Sachin Pilot, Ashok Gehlot described it as a distinct chapter, unsuitable for party discourse, particularly amid the ongoing elections. He underscored the significance of unity and collaborative endeavours in the election campaign for the betterment of the party and the country.

Accusations and government surveillance controversies

Ashok Gehlot has denied any association or awareness of the phone surveillance allegations directed at his office, asserting that no such activities occurred during his tenure. He advocated addressing such allegations through legal channels rather than engaging in public discourse.

Vaibhav Gehlot's candidacy and future plans

While discussing his son Vaibhav Gehlot's political journey, Ashok Gehlot dismissed any allegations of nepotism, emphasising his non-interference in governmental affairs. He defended the strategic decision behind Vaibhav initially contesting from Jodhpur and then Jalore, reflecting on the challenging political choices made for the party's advancement.
The Karnataka High Court has refused to grant anticipatory bail to a police inspector and Deputy Superintendent of Police, who are among the accused in the Bitcoin scam case. Karnataka HC denies anticipatory bail to police officials in Bitcoin scam case

Also Read - Gowda family tree: Exploring 3 generations of HD Deve Gowda family amid Prajwal Revanna sexual harassment case

The bail petitions of inspector Chandradhara S R and Deputy Superintendent of Police Shridhar K Pujar, who are accused number three and five respectively in the case were earlier rejected by a sessions court.

Justice Rajendra Badamikar, delivering the verdict, highlighted concerns about potential manipulation of records and destruction of evidence, given the positions held by the petitioners. He emphasised that the allegations included attempts to destroy evidence, making their bail petitions devoid of merit. Special Public Prosecutor B N Jagadeesha, representing the Crime Investigation Department, argued that the accused officers were involved in facilitating illegal activities, including the transfer of funds and Bitcoins.

The CID also contended that the officers colluded with other accused individuals to destroy evidence and evade legal consequences. The court observed that the actions of the petitioners indicated an attempt to tamper with evidence and assist accused individuals for unlawful gain. It noted instances where the officers allegedly provided illegal substances to detainees and facilitated illegal transactions. In light of the evidence presented, the court rejected the bail petitions, affirming the seriousness of the allegations and the need for further investigation into the Bitcoin scam case. The Bitcoin scam had surfaced during the previous BJP regime in 2021, and the Congress then in the opposition had accused the government of trying to cover up the scandal as it involved big names. The prime suspect, Srikrishna Ramesh alias Sriki, was accused of hacking the state government's e-procurement site and siphoning off over 11.5 crore. There were also charges of cryptocurrency theft, drug peddling and cyber fraud relating to the case.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Trinamool Congress leader Kunal Ghosh on Thursday claimed that Mamata Banerjee-led party was aware of the West Bengal school recruitment scam even before the 2021 assembly elections. Former MP Kunal Ghosh (PTI)

Kunal Ghosh's statement comes a day after the TMC removed him from the post of party state general secretary, shortly after he shared a stage with Bharatiya Janata Party Lok Sabha candidate Tapas Roy and praised him.

Speaking to a Bengali news channel ABP Ananda, Kunal Ghosh, who was considered close to TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, said, The party was well aware of the fact that large-scale corruption and extortion in lieu of jobs was taking place in the school education department. The party was aware of it even before the 2021 assembly polls."

The TMC leader added that it was due to this information about large-scale corruption that TMC leader Partha Chatterjee was shifted to the industry department from the education ministry after the party returned to power for the third consecutive term in 2021.

The school recruitment scam relates to bribes ranging from 5 lakh to 15 lakh, which were allegedly collected by the ruling TMC leaders for teachers who failed the selection tests.

Several TMC leaders, including TMC MLAs Manik Bhattacharya and Jiban Krishna Saha, were arrested by the CBI for their alleged involvement in the scam. However, the party has maintained that it was unaware of the scam till the arrest of Partha Chatterjee in 2022.

Last week, the Calcutta high court declared the recruitment process of the State Level Selection Test-2016 (SLST) in West Bengal government-sponsored and aided schools as null and void, ordering the cancellation of all appointments made through it. Following this, around 26,000 people lost their jobs.

Kunal Ghosh's removal from party post

On Wednesday, the TMC removed Kunal Ghosh from the post of state general secretary due to his recent statements that did not align with the party. According to some party leaders, the action against Kunal Ghosh was taken because he made some comments in public against two Lok Sabha MPs and candidates- famous actor Deepak Adhikari, who represents Ghatal, and Sudip Bandopadhyay from the Kolkata North seat.

Recently, Mr. Kunal Ghosh has been expressing views that do not align with those of the party. It is important to clarify that these are his personal opinions and should not be attributed to the party. Only statements issued from AITC headquarters should be considered the official position of the party, TMC MP Derek OBrien said in a statement.

He added, Mr. Ghosh was previously relieved from his role as party spokesperson. Now, he has been removed from the position of General Secretary of the state organization. We urge all media outlets not to conflate his views with those of the party, as doing so may necessitate legal action.

(With inputs from agencies)
Imphal: The first phase of deportation of illegal immigrants from Myanmar has been completed in Manipur on Thursday with 38 immigrants exiting the country via Moreh, state chief minister N Biren Singh said. Immigrants exiting the country via Moreh (Twitter Photo)

Moreh is a border town located about 110 km south of Imphal in Manipurs Tengnoupal district which borders Myanmar.

The chief minister took to X to share the information with photographs of the formal deportation of illegal immigrants. Without any discrimination, we have completed the first phase of deportation of illegal immigrants from Myanmar with 38 more immigrants leaving Manipur, India today through Moreh. A total of 77 illegal immigrants have been deported in the first phase, he wrote.

Singh informed that one Indian national was also brought back from Myanmar during the handover ceremony.

The State Government is continuing the identification of illegal immigrants and at the same time biometric data are being recorded. Lets keep our borders and country secure, he added.

CM Singh had last month highlighted the report on the unnatural growth of 996 new villages with illegal immigration population while mentioning how it posed a threat to the indigenous people and national security.

Highlighting the issue, Singh wrote on X, Will anyone accept the unnatural growth of new villages and population, causing massive changes to the demography in their own state or country due to the influx of illegal immigrants?

Were confronting a serious issue within our nation, especially in Manipur, where several new villages have emerged due to a massive influx of illegal immigrants from Myanmar since 2006 till date. During this period, massive forest cover have been destroyed to establish settlements as well as carry out poppy plantations, he wrote.

In the last state assembly session, Singh while responding to a a question by opposition Congress MLA Th Lokeshwor, informed that 6,746 illegal Myanmarese were detected in the state from May 3 last year till February 27 this year.
Imphal/Churachandpur , Monthly dates in Mizoram or maybe Assam if at all, single parenting and the constant fear of abandonment. For Manipur's Meitei-Kuki couples forced to live apart in community enclaves, this is how life has been since ethnic clashes broke out in the state last May. Manipur one year on: Meitei-Kuki couples forced to live apart, contemplate uncertain tomorrow

As crisis continues in the polarised state, where the Meitis are concentrated in Imphal Valley and the Kukis have moved to the hills around, inter-tribe couples are facing the cruel blunt of a conflict that has claimed more than 200 lives and displaced many thousands since May 3, 2023.

If a mother gets to see her children maybe once a month, there is a father who hasnt seen his daughter since she was born. And then there is the constant fear of family bonds being strained perhaps to breaking point with a wife wondering if her husband will abandon her and a couple contemplating what lies ahead for them as a unit. The future stretches uncertain.

Irene Haokip, for instance, is a Kuki who moved to Imphal after she got married. One year on, the 42-year-old has moved to Churachandpur, a Kuki dominated area, to be with her family while her husband and their children, a five-year-old son and a three-year-old daughter, stay on in Imphal.

"My husband used to work as a construction contractor. I met him when a neighbour's house in Bishnupur was getting constructed. We fell in love and he would come to the area to meet me often. We got married in 2018 and have two children," Haokip told PTI.

Bishnupur is between Meitei dominated Imphal and Kuki dominated Churachandpur. It earlier housed people from both communities and is now considered a buffer zone.

"My husband sent me to my parents' home last year fearing for my safety in the valley when clashes broke out. There has been no going back since. The children are with him because we fear that they might not be safe in Churachandpur since they are Meitei children," Haokip added.

She meets her family once a month in neighbouring Mizoram, travelling 15 hours each way.

"He brings the children there too. Many other couples also do that. We meet once a month and come back to our respective houses. My children miss me but it feels like a choice between being alive and mothers' love."

As Manipuris count their losses, many say that this was not always so. Meitei-Kuki marriages were not uncommon and never a source of societal trouble with the two communities mingling easily. It changed on May 3 when trouble broke out after after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe status.

A month later, Laishram Singh, a Kuki, became a father.

He wanted to be the best father when he got to know about his wife's pregnancy in 2022. They were expecting their first child in June and were shopping for clothes and toys.

But destiny had other plans.

Singh moved to the hills where Kukis live and his wife Achanba, a Meitei, stayed back. She had lost her parents five years ago and had to move to a relief camp in Imphal Valley in May last year where she gave birth to a girl in June.

Eleven months later, Singh hasnt yet met his daughter.

Achanba worries the distance might just end her marriage.

"I have a husband but I am still forced to live life as a single mother... he calls me sometimes and I send him pictures but the communication is gradually dropping. I fear that if this goes on for long, his family might pressure him into marrying a Kuki girl and he will abandon me. This also causes us to fight.

"I am not a widow, I am not a divorcee...I don't know what kind of separation is this," Achanba added helplessly.

Nirmala, a Kuki, who ran a shop in all women market Ima Keithel till last year, now lives in the hills and has no stable means of livelihood. She also fears being abandoned.

Her husband, a Meitei, who lives with their son and his parents in Sugnu area in Meitei dominated Imphal, initially used to send her money but has stopped.

"We have been married for 15 years. My shop was a good contributor to our household income that has stopped now. Here I live with my brother and sister-in-law and take up odd jobs but there is no stable income. I feel like I am a burden on them..if this continues I will have to move to a relief camp," 45-year-old Nirmala told PTI.

Others such as Pema Dimpu and her Kuki husband say they are constantly discussing whether they should move to another state. Dimpu, a Meitei, stays in Imphal Valley while her husband has gone to the hills.

"That seems to be the only way out now that we move somewhere else and start a new life. It has been a year and there is no peace in sight... no idea when we can coexist like before without the threat of life constantly looming over us," Dimpu said.

The hill state has witnessed sporadic, sometime intense, ethnic clashes since May 3 last year between the majority Meitei community and the Kukis.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said that the case involving Prajwal Revanna, the member of Parliament from Karnatakas Hassan, is not just a mere sex scandal but of mass rape. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.(Congress-X)

He also criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for forging an alliance with the Janata Dal (Secular) [JD(S)] and seeking votes for a mass rapist. Follow full coverage of the Lok Sabha elections here.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking votes for a 'mass rapist'. Prajwal Revanna raped hundreds of women and made their obscene videos, Gandhi said during a poll rally in Karnataka's Shivmogga. And Narendra Modi, from a packed stage, supports that rapist and says: If you vote for this rapist, it will help me.

He also accused the prime minister of helping Revanna, former prime minister HD Deve Gowda's grandson, escape India.

Even when Prajwal Revanna raped hundreds of women, PM Modi did not stop him from going to Germany," Gandhi said. PM Modi has all the machinery, yet he allowed the mass rapist to go to Germany, This is 'Modi's guarantee'. Whether it's a corrupt leader or a mass rapist, the BJP will protect him.

Prajwal Revanna, the sitting MP from Hassan and the grandson of former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, has been accused of being in purported sex tapes. Thousands of pen drives allegedly containing his sexual assault videos were circulated in Hassan, the Lok Sabha constituency from where he is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-JD (S) candidate.

Most of the tapes were allegedly recorded by Prajwal in his house and office. Initially, the Gowda family and the BJP termed the tapes as doctored to malign the image of the family in elections but later, HD Kumaraswamy distanced himself from the tapes saying the police was investigating the case.

Also Read | Sexual abuse case: Revanna seeks one week to join SIT probe in Bengaluru

The Karnataka government has constituted a special investigation team (SIT) to investigate the allegations. Prajwal Revanna claims that the videos were doctored, and left for Frankfurt on the day the Karnataka Police constituted the SIT. He is said to be travelling abroad on his diplomatic passport.

On Tuesday, Revanna was suspended by the party. A lookout circular at all immigration points across India has also been issued against Prajwal Revanna.
AHMEDABAD: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday stepped up his attack on the Congress, saying Pakistan wants the opposition party to return to power and Rahul Gandhi as the next prime minister. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses during a public meeting ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, in Anand on Thursday. (ANI)

PM Modis comments, made in the course of an election rally in Gujarats Anand on Thursday, came a day after Ch Fawad Hussain, former Pakistani minister in the previous Imran Khan government, reposted a video of Rahul Gandhi on X, formerly Twitter, and applauded his speech.

Pakistan is crying because the Congress is dying here. Pakistani leaders are praying for Congress, they want shehzada (referring to Rahul Gandhi) as the next prime minister. It is not a surprise for weve long known Congress to be Pakistans mureed (disciple). This revelation exposes the partnership between Pakistan and Congress. Its evident that the countrys enemies desire a weak Indian government, not a strong one, PM Modi said in Anand.

The partnership between Pakistan and Congress has now been exposed completely. It shows that the countrys enemies want a weak government in India, not a strong one...A weak government which was there at the time of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack. They want a corrupt government which was there before 2014. But Modis strong government neither bows down nor does it stop, the PM added.

PM Modi said his government had punctured tyres of Pakistans terror and the country that had been exporting terror was now struggling to import atta (flour).

After Anand, PM Modi was scheduled to address three more rallies in Surendranagar, Junagadh and Jamnagar districts, covering 10 Lok Sabha seats.

Gujarat will vote in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections on May 7.

PM Modi also took on the Opposition bloc over Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Maria Alam Khans appeal at a Farrukhabad meeting on Monday to do vote jihad, asserting that vote jehad is necessary for the minority community.

Together do vote jehad  with intelligence, without being sentimental and with silence, she said in the presence of her uncle, Congress leader Salman Khurshid.

Now, the INDI alliance calls for vote jihad. We have so far heard about love jihad and land Jihad. This (vote jihad) is said by a person who belonged to an educated Muslim family, not by someone who studied in a madrasa. I hope you all know what the meaning of jihad is. This is an insult to democracy and not a single Congress leader has condemned it, he said.

PM Modi also accused the Congress of planning to amend the Constitution to provide reservations to Muslims and dared the Congress to rebut him.
Days after vaccine manufacturer AstraZeneca admitted that its Covid-19 vaccine can cause a rare side-effect TTS (Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome), parents of a woman, who was administered Covishield, the vaccine's Indian variant, have decided to move court against Serum Institute of India (SII), the Pune-based firm that developed and manufactured Covishield in the country. AstraZeneca has said that due to the same vaccine, blood clotting takes place and it can lead to a lowered platelete count. (Reuters/File)

Also Read: Lawyer files plea in Supreme Court for probe into side effects of Covishield

The victim, Karunya, died in July 2021 after taking the shot, India Today reported. The national committee set up by the Union government, however, concluded that the evidence to link her demise with the vaccine was insufficient.

In light of the latest revelations, Venugopalan Govindan, the victim's father, will now filed a writ petition seeking compensation, and the appointment of an independent medical board to inquire into his daughter's death.

The admission by AstraZeneca, a British-Swedish firm, comes too late and in the aftermath of so many lives lost, Govindan said.

Both AstraZeneca and Serum Institute should have stopped the vaccine's manufacture and supply when 15 European countries either suspended or age-limited these due to deaths from blood clots that happened in March 2021, within a couple of months of the rollout of the vaccine itself, he told The Economic Times.

Govindan also vowed to file more cases if sufficient remedies were not obtained from the present case.

For the sake of justice, we will file fresh cases against the perpetrators because of whom the deaths of our children ensued, he stated.

AstraZeneca's side-effect admission came in response to a lawsuit that the company is facing in the UK. The lawsuit was initiated by Jamie Scott, who suffered a permanent brain injury after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine in April 2021.
Ahmedabad, People are smart and will respond to the BJPs move to put A national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal behind bars through their votes, his wife Sunita Kejriwal said here on Thursday. People will respond to Delhi CMs arrest through votes: Sunita Kejriwal

She arrived at Ahmedabad airport before heading to election rallies for candidates of the Aam Aadmi Party in Bharuch and Bhavnagar Lok Sabha constituencies in Gujarat.

They have put Arvind Kejriwal forcefully behind bars during elections so that his voice doesn't reach the people. But the people are very smart and they will respond with their votes," she told media persons at the airport.

Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case related to the Delhi governments now-scrapped excise policy. He is currently lodged in the Tihar jail in the national capital under judicial custody.

As Rajya Sabha member Sandeep Pathak, who accompanied her on the election tour, targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his remarks that he wont allow reservation to Muslims in the name of religion.

I would like to ask the prime minister why he remembers all these things before the elections. Why don't you ask for votes on the strength of your work? I think the prime minister is the biggest friend of Pakistan, he said.

Addressing an election rally at Gujarat's Anand earlier in the day, PM Modi dubbed the Congress a "disciple" of Pakistan and said the neighbouring country was eager to make the 'shehzada' of the grand old party the next PM of India.

People are mature enough and they now seek schools, hospitals and better things in life, said Pathak.

He claimed that people are with the A which has fielded candidates on two out of the state's 26 seats as part of the opposition INDIA bloc's seat-sharing agreement.

Of the Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat, Surat has gone to the BJP's Mukesh Dalal won uncontested due to the rejection of the nomination of Congress candidates and the withdrawal by others in the fray.

Even in the assembly elections, people showered their love on Kejriwal, looking at his work in Delhi. The people of Gujarat will shatter the BJPs overconfidence. People will respond through votes for how Kejriwal was jailed through injustice and tyranny, he said.

On Surats BJP candidate winning the election uncontested, Pathak said that the ruling party was indulging in politics by dividing the country and community and insulting others.

This amounts to stealing the publics rights and starting a tradition that is very bad for the country and the people, he said.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is scheduled to address three election rallies in West Bengal on Friday, arrived in state capital Kolkata on Thursday evening, an official said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a public meeting(PTI)

Modi went straight to the Raj Bhavan from the airport, he said, adding, the PM will stay the night at the governor house.

ALSO READ | Sandeshkhali storm will sweep through Bengal, says PM Modi

The prime minister is scheduled to address public meetings in Krishnanagar, Purba Bardhaman and Bolpur Lok Sabha constituencies on Friday.

"PM Modi reached the Raj Bhavan around 10.20 pm. Security arrangements have been tightened around the governor house and other parts of the city," the official told PTI.

The PM was welcomed by Governor C V Ananda Bose at the Raj Bhavan.
While addressing a public rally in Gujarat's Jamnagar on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed that the Congress party was contesting the Lok Sabha election 2024 with two strategies. He said the Congress' first strategy is to divide the society based on caste. And the second strategy is to unite their vote bank through politics of appeasement. He further accused the Congress party of wanting to change the Constitution and snatch away reservation from SCs, STs, and OBCs and give it away to Muslims based on religion. Prime Minister Narendra Modi (ANI)

"Congress is contesting these elections on two strategies. First, dividing society based on caste. Second, uniting their vote bank through politics of appeasement... Congress is now giving its all to its main motive in these elections. Congress wants to take away reservation from SC, ST, and OBC and give it away to Muslims based on religion, by changing the Constitution," said PM Modi.

ALSO READ| Pakistan wants Congress to win, says PM Modi in Gujarat poll pitch

During his speech at the rally, PM Modi said that he had given three challenges to the Congress party but didn't receive a reply. Quoting his challenges to the Congress party, first he asked if the party would not change the Constitution and give reservations to Muslims based on religion. As his second challenge, he asked Congress to give it in writing that they would not compromise with the rights of the SC, ST, and OBC by giving away their share of the reservation to Muslims. As his third challenge, PM Modi asked Congress party to give in writing that their state governments and their leaders would not run a hidden agenda to give reservations to Muslims.

At the election rally in Jamnagar, PM Modi also accused that the Congress leaders had tried to save terrorist Kasab and other culprits after the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai.

"Congress leaders came forward to save terrorist Kasab and others after the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai. Books were written to save such terrorists and Congress leaders released those books," said PM Modi.

Notably, voting in the third phase of the Lok Sabha election 2024 will be held on May 7. The elections are being held in seven phases. In the first phase, voting was done for election of MPs in 102 constituencies. Meanwhile, in the second phase, 89 Lok Sabha seats were in contention on April 26.
Narendra Modi in Gujarat's Anand news: Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a veiled dig at Rahul Gandhi on Thursday, days after former Pakistani minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain praised the Congress leader, claiming that Pakistani leaders want to make shehzada of Congress India's prime minister. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses an election rally.(REUTERS file)

Addressing an election rally in Gujarat's Anand, Narendra Modi said, Congress is dying here and Pakistanis are crying Pakistani leaders want to make 'shehzada' of Congress India's prime minister."

Modi also alleged that the Congress is a "mureed" (follower) of Pakistan.

Look at the coincidence, today the Congress is getting weak in India... Now, Pakistani leaders are praying for the Congress. Pakistan is eager to make the prince the prime minister and we already know that the Congress is a fan of Pakistan. This partnership between Pakistan and Congress has now been completely exposed, Modi.

Chaudhry Fawad Hussain had shared a video featuring Rahul Gandhi, where the Congress leader is targetting the Bharatiya Janata Party and Prime Minister Modi.

In the video shared by the former Pakistan minister, the Congress leader can be be heard attacking the BJP government over the invitees at Ram Mandir's Pran Pratishtha ceremony.

The edited video shows Rahul Gandhi speaking about the Ram Mandir's inauguration, charging the BJP government of sidelining the interests of the poor and youth.

On Wednesday, the BJP attacked the Congress over Chaudhry Fawad Hussain's post. In a post on X, Amit Malviya, BJP's IT cell head, said, "Ch Fawad Hussain, who served in the Imran Khan cabinet, as Minister for Information and Broadcasting, is promoting Rahul Gandhi. Is the Congress planning to contest election in Pakistan?"

"From a manifesto, that has imprints of the Muslim league to a ringing endorsement, from across the border, Congresss dalliance with Pakistan cant get more obvious," Amit Malviya added.

"Congress Shahzade are dancing around with the Constitution on their foreheads. But for 75 years, this did not apply to all parts of Hindustan. The Constitution was not applicable in Kashmir, where Article 370 was like a wall that we demolished," Modi added at the Anand rally.

Modi also claimed that Pakistan's terrorism has become deflated. The country that used to export terrorism is now wandering around for flour.

It's my guarantee that I will work 24x7 to make India a developed country by 2047 In 10 years, we gave tap water connections to 14 crore houses, while the Congress gave it to just three crore houses in 60 years the prime minister said.
Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday said that the first citizenship will be issued under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA before the last phase of the election. Union Home Minister and BJP leader Amit Shah.(PTI)

Applications have started to come in. Scrutiny is happening according to the rules," Shah told News18 in an interview. "And I think before the elections, before the last phase, the process of giving citizenship will start. Follow full coverage of the Lok Sabha elections.

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Central government in March implemented the CAA, which paves the way for citizenship to undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who entered India before December 31, 2014. The development came four years after Parliament passed the law in December 2019.

The notification of the Act triggered criticism from Opposition leaders, who claimed that the notified rules were unconstitutional, discriminatory and violative of the secular principle of citizenship enshrined in the Constitution.

During Thursday's interview, Shah expressed confidence in achieving NDAs goal of crossing 400 seats in the Lok Sabha elections.

You will see on counting day (June 4, 2024), before 12.30 pm, NDA will cross 400, Modi ji will again become Prime MinisterMy partys team and I have done a detailed analysis. We are moving towards the third phase with well over 100 seats from the first two. I don't see any problem in crossing the target of 400," the home minister told News 18.

On Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's arrest

In his interview, Amit Shah also spoke about the arrest of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with the liquor policy case and former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren in a money laundering case.

Also Read | Why did you skip ED summons, SC asks Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal

They did not appear after many summonses. If they had appeared [before the agency] after the first summons, they would have been arrested six months before the elections. Many times, summonses were sent, but they did not come, Amit Shah told News18.

On low voter turnout in first two phases

On the low voter turnout in the first two phases of the Lok Sabha polls, Shah said: There are many reasons for the lower turnout. After twelve years, the electoral rolls have been revised. The second reason is that there is no contest from the other side, which affects the turnout in a way.

More than 10 days after Phase 1 and four days after Phase 2 of polling for the ongoing general elections, the Election Commission of India (EC) released the final voter turnout figures for the two rounds on April 30.

While Phase 1 saw a turnout of 66.14%, for Phase 2, it was 66.7%, a drop of just under 4 percentage points for the first phase and under 3 percentage points for the second phase compared to the 2019 elections.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is training its guns at Congress not just over the grand old partys suggestions on wealth redistribution and imposing inheritance tax, but also the simmering topic of reservation for Muslims. Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a rally in Gujarat on Wednesday said the Congress should put on record its stand on quotas for Muslims. Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an election campaign rally on Wednesday. (Reuters Photo)

While the Congress and other opposition parties have accused the BJP of seeking a brute majority of over 400 lawmakers in Parliament to shore up numbers with an intent to change the Constitution and revisit caste-based reservations, the BJP has responded by bringing up reservation based on religion.

The Prime Minister said the Congress party and its prince, referring to Rahul Gandhi, should give in writing that they will never offer reservations based on religion and should pledge not to tamper with the Constitution.

PM Modi also accused the opposition of spreading canards that the BJP wants to curtail the existing reservation for SC, ST and OBCs.

The Congress responded by referring to an article published in 1949 in the RSS-linked magazine, The Organiser, which said the Constitution had ignored legal texts such as the Manusmriti. Gandhi also urged all Congress candidates to carry a copy of the Constitution with them by filing nomination papers and during public meetings.

As far as the wealth redistribution matter is concerned, senior Congress leaders are now intensifying their outreach through social media to deny PM Modis claims that their manifesto talks about taking peoples money and jewellery. Congress is doubling down on the issue of wealth redistribution, an issue that is widely resonating on the ground.

Raebareli

All eyes are on the announcement of candidates for Raebareli. Both the Congress and the BJP are yet to name their contestants from the seat, which is considered a bastion of the Gandhi family.

Union home minister Amit Shah in an interview to a television channel said the BJPs Raebareli unit has decided that it will announce the candidate only after the Congress does. He also said the party has three options and as soon as the Congress announces its candidate from Raebareli, the BJP will also declare.

The BJP has already named Smriti Irani as its candidate from Amethi, while the Congress is expected to announce it shortly. Taking a potshot at the delay in the announcement by the Congress, Shah said, They are looking for the candidate who can lose elections...

In 2019, Irani defeated Rahul Gandhi to win the Amethi seat.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has slammed the Congress party for dividing the society in the name of caste and uniting its vote bank through appeasement, saying that Rahul Gandhi has struck a deal in Kerala's Wayanad to give Muslims reservations if he is voted as an MP. Prime Minister Narendra Modi(X/ @BJP4India)

"... The media should ask a question. Has a deal been struck in Wayanad, promising Muslims to give reservations in favour of making Rahul Gandhi win the seat of Wayanad?" he said in an interview with TV9 Bharatvarsh.

Follow Elections 2024 LIVE Updates

PM Modi also hit out at the Congress over their allegations on the saffron camp on altering the constitution if voted to power, saying that it's the grand old party that has used the Constitution for acquiring power and vote bank politics.

"Congress is spreading lies claiming that the BJP will change the Constitution of India. If you look at the history of Congress, you'd see they don't believe in the sanctity of the Constitution... " he said.

Poll campaign in 2014 vs now:

While talking about the campaigning in 2014 elections versus now, the prime minister said that earlier, the BJP-led NDA was fighting against a coalition from the ruling party, which had all the government sources but they were striving to secure their seats. People relied on Narendra Modi's development model and had expectations. But in the 2019 polls, those expectations turned into trust because of Modi's hard work and performance, and that trust has now turned into a 'guarantee'.

Also Read: Congress committed scams across land, water and sky: PM Narendra Modi

PM Modi on Congress manifesto:

The prime minister further dubbed the Congress' manifesto as that of Muslim League saying that the hidden agenda of the grand old party is clear that is to divide society in the name of caste and the second is to unite its vote bank through appeasement. The Congress is trying to take away reservations of SCs, STs and OBCs and give these benefits to Muslims, he claimed.

PM Modi on West Bengal:

PM Modi also spoke about his vision for West Bengal and said, "If the country has to develop, West Bengal is one of the states that can take the country ahead."

While hitting out at the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress state government, PM Modi said the TMC and the communists had done a lot of damage to the culture of West Bengal, whose contribution to Indian history and tradition is significant.

Also Read: Pakistan wants Congress to win, says PM Modi in Gujarat poll pitch

He further alleged that the TMC government in the state is not ready to listen to the pain of women, and that's why the BJP has made common woman, a candidate. "We gave a ticket to Rekha Patra, an ordinary woman from West Bengal. The TMC govt is not even ready to listen to the pain of women. Nari Shakti will give a befitting reply to the oppression going on in Bengal by a woman on Nari Shakti..." he said.

Elections 2024:

Ten states and two Union territories, with 94 constituencies, are voting in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections 2024 on May 7. The states in the fray are Goa, Gujarat, Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh.

Also Read: PM Narendra Modi claims Congress contesting Lok Sabha elections 2024 with two strategies, they are

Gujarat, Karnataka and Goa will be under the spotlight as all Lok Sabha seats here go to polls on May 7.
New Delhi: A day after over 250 schools in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) received bomb threat emails that triggered scare of an unprecedented scale, the Delhi Police have approached the National Central Bureau (NCB) in Moscow, Russia to provide them with details of the person who created the email account with the country domain (.ru) to send the hoax bomb threats. More than 250 schools in Delhi and NCR, received bomb threat emails, on Wednesday morning (PTI Photo)

According to the police, the suspect created an email ID sawariim@mail.ru after registering with a private email service provider that offered other facilities and used a virtual private network (VPN) to shroud their identity. It was the only email address used, to send the hoax bomb email to all the schools early Wednesday morning.

The 281-word long email said there are many explosive devices in the school.

Also Read: Panic grips schools in Delhi over bomb hoax

Mail.ru is the email service provided by the Russian company VK, similar to how Gmail or Outlook are email services provided by Google and Microsoft, respectively. VPNs allow users to mask their IP addresses online.

We have collected details of the emails from all the schools and examined them. All emails were sent by the same origin one by one to the schools. No other email IDs were used. All information has been sent to NCB Russia through Interpol. We have asked for details of the registrant such as name, address contact details, alternate email IDs, and complete ID Logs. We are awaiting their reply, said a senior police officer associated with the case.

More than 250 schools in Delhi and NCR, received bomb threat emails, on Wednesday morning following which a large-scale panic was triggered among the school authorities, students and their parents, as thousands of them thronged the schools soon after they learnt about the bomb threats through various media platforms.

Also Read: Schools reopen in Delhi-NCR amid tight security day after bomb threat mails

The unscheduled arrival of parents at schools in their vehicles, cabs and autos caused traffic snarls on roads around. Bomb detection team, bomb disposal squad, sniffer dogs and officials of the fire brigade were rushed to the schools in Delhi and NCR. Several schools were closed as a precaution and students were sent home immediately.

A case of criminal conspiracy and criminal intimidation was registered by the Delhi Police special cell, the anti-terror unit of the city police, under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Information Technology (IT) Act.

Multiple teams of the special cells counterintelligence unit (CIU) and Intelligence Fusion Strategic Operations (IFSO) have been roped in to carry out the probe.

Initial probe revealed that the country domain (.ru) of the email ID used to send hoax bomb threats was also used for a similar email sent to a private school in the city last year and the suspect likely used a VPN to shroud their identity, police officers said, and added that they suspect a deeper conspiracy behind the mass hoax threat emails.

The ministry of home affairs has assured that there is no need to panic as the bomb threat appears to be a hoax call, with police and security agencies taking necessary measures.

Meanwhile, lieutenant governor LG Saxena has directed the Delhi police chief to provide a comprehensive report and ensure thorough searches to identify perpetrators and prevent security lapses.

Between November 2022 and May 2023, three schools in Delhi received at least five hoax threat emails. Two schools received two such emails each, while the third school received one email.
BENGALURU: A 22-year-old engineering student flying on an IndiGo flight from Kolkata was booked on charges that he removed the cover on the emergency door of the aircraft minutes before the plane was to land, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday. An Indigo aircraft prepares to take off at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru on April 12 (AFP FILE)

The student, Kaushik Karan, was formally placed under arrest by the Bengaluru International Airport Police and released on bail. He has been booked under Section 336 of the Indian Penal Code relating to any act that endangers the life or personal safety of others. He can be sentenced to a maximum of three months in prison if convicted.

Police said the incident took place on April 29 on board IndiGo flight 6E-6314, which departed from Kolkata at 8:15pm. According to a complaint filed by the airline, Karan, a resident of West Bengals Bankura district, was allotted seat number 18E but requested a change. He was finally assigned seat number 18F, next to the emergency exit door.

According to the complaint, Karan allegedly removed the cover over the handle of the emergency door on the starboard side, or the right side, of the aircraft. This flap covers the handle and protects it from being unintentionally operated. A Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) official said the cabin crew immediately intervened and ensured the aircrafts safety.

Karan was handed over to the IndiGo security personnel and CISF officials by the cabin crew. He was transferred to the custody of the police at Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru past midnight. IndiGo staffer Mohammad Umar lodged a formal complaint with the KIA police.

Followed by the complaint of Indigo staff, airport police registered a case under Section 336 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) 1860, which pertains to endangering the life or personal safety of others through rash or negligent acts North-east deputy commissioner of police Lakshmi Prasad said.
Shyam Rangeela was an internet sensation because of his mimicry act of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It was 2017 when the internet discovered him and his videos went viral. Seven years down the line, he put himself forward as a candidate against Narendra Modi from Varanasi. In a video, he provided a detailed explanation of why he wanted to contest the election as an independent candidate. But this is not his debut in politics; the comedian joined the Aam Aadmi Party Rajasthan in 2022. Comedian Shyam Rangeela will be contesting Lok Sabha election from Varanasi against PM Narendra Modi.

10 things to know about Shyam Rangeela

1. Shyam Rangeela is from Rajasthan. He was born in Rajasthan's Hanumangarh in 1994.

2. Coming from a farming background, Shyam Rangeela always aspired to be a comedian and he started living his dream as his initiation videos went viral.

3. His real name is Shyam Sundar. He took part in the Great Indian Laughter Challenge show in 2017 but was ousted from the show for mimicking Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi.

Lok Sabha election 2024: Full coverage

4. The video which was never aired got leaked and went viral. At that time, Rangeela was criticised for 'abusing' Modi but he said he was a Modi fan.

5. With his popularity rising, he got calls from many shows but his script or act was not being approved at the last moment, he said earlier describing his comedy career.

6. In 2022, Shyam Rangeela joined the Aam Aadmi Party in Rajasthan. Without any post in the party, he was allowed to work for the party independently.

7. Shyam Rangeela runs a YouTube channel which has 924k subscribers. The videos are mostly of his stand-up performances.

8. On his YouTube channel, he runs a show named 'Dhang ki baat' mimicking Narendra Modi.

9. Recently, the comedian asked his followers whether he should contest from Varanasi independently.

10. On May 1, he announced that he would contest from Varanasi. He said what happened in Surat should not happen in Varanasi and someone's name should be there on the EVM and hence he decided to enter the contest.
The sex tape row involving HD Deve Gowda's grandson Prajwal Revanna took a new twist as Prajwal's former driver Karthik shared a video statement.JD(S) earlier alleged that Karthik leaked the videos in question to the Congress though Karthik said he only gave the videos and pictures to BJP leader Devaraje Gowda. Amid reports that Karthik was missing, former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy claimed Karthik was in Malaysia and asked who sent him there. Prajwal Revanna travelled to Germany on a diplomatic passport without needing visa.

"The driver's video statement was released...where is he, Karthik? From where it was done (video statement) and released? Why was the video hurriedly made and given to news channels? Who gave it? He is in Malaysia," Kumaraswamy said.

Prajwal Revanna sex tape row: Here are the latest updates
An employee at the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata on Thursday accused West Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose of molestation, an allegation that the latter denied even as the matter sparked a massive political storm that coincided with Prime Minister Narendra Modis arrival at the governors residence as part of his two-day visit to the state. An employee at the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata on Thursday accused West Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose of molestation. (PTI)

While the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) said it is shameful that Bose has maligned his post and has used it to torture a woman, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said the governor can never commit such a crime.

According to a police officer aware of the details, the woman, a contractual staffer at the Raj Bhavan, alleged that the governor molested her at least twice at his chamber since April 24.

The woman came crying to the police outpost on the Raj Bhavan premises on Thursday evening, saying that the governor molested her after calling her to his chamber on the pretext of offering her a permanent job. The woman said she was first molested on April 24. She said she took her supervisor along on Thursday when the governor wanted to meet her but Bose asked the supervisor to leave before molesting her again, the officer said, seeking anonymity.

ALSO READ | EC advises West Bengal governor to not visit Cooch Behar during silence period

A second police officer, who also did not wish to be named, said: A female officer from Lalbazar was sent to the outpost to take the woman to Hare Street police station where several IPS officers rushed in view of the gravity of the complaint. The woman submitted a written complaint. She said that she was appointed as a temporary employee of Raj Bhavan in June 2019. She said she was staying at the staff quarters on the premises since her family does not live in Kolkata.

No first information report (FIR) was registered till the time of filing this report.

Police officers at the headquarters at Lalbazar said top IPS officers held a meeting on seeking legal opinion since Article 361 of the Constitution does not allow any criminal or civil case to be filed against a governor and the President.

In a statement, Bose denied the allegations. Truth shall triumph. I refuse to be cowed down by engineered narratives. If anybody wants some election benefits by maligning me, God Bless them. But they cannot stop my fight against corruption and violence in Bengal., he said.

The allegations created a stir as Modi arrived at the Raj Bhavan as part of his visit to the state. He is scheduled to address three rallies for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections in the state on Friday.

Authorities at the Raj Bhavan also banned the entry of police for conducting any investigation. Honble Governor banned entry of police into Raj Bhavan premises in the guise of conducting unauthorised, illegitimate, sham and motivated investigation to placate political bosses during elections, the governors house said in a separate statement.

ALSO READ | Sandeshkhali situation highly reprehensible, says West Bengal governor

The Raj Bhavan also banned the entry of state minister Chandrima Bhattacharya in all three governors residences in Kolkata, Darjeeling and Barrackpore and announced to skip events attended by her, triggering a sharp reaction from the TMC leader.

Raj Bhavans are not personal properties of any individual. The governor may choose not to meet me but he cannot ban my entry. And, I am not too keen to invite him to my events, Bhattacharya said.

It is appalling and shocking to see such an incident. This is the same governor who had reached out to Sandeshkhali to talk about womens rights and Nari Shakti, West Bengal women and child development minister Shashi Panja said, referring to allegations of crimes against women by TMC leaders in Sandeshkhali in the states North 24 Parganas district.

This is shameful that the governor sought undue advantages on the pretext of giving her a permanent job. We want Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will be addressing rallies in Bengal tomorrow, to react on this issue, she added.

Hitting back, former Bengal BJP chief Tathagata Roy, who served as governor in Meghalaya, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh, said: I know this governor from the time when he was an IAS officer. Personally, I think he can never commit such a crime. Moreover, a governor cannot be charged under criminal and civil laws according to Article 361. The TMC missed that point while pulling this trick to divert attention from molestation of women by its leaders in Sandeshkhali and the various scams in which its leaders are accused.
An undesirable aspect of the family law system in India, long overdue for reform, has at last reached the Supreme Court for redress. A Muslim woman from Kerala has approached the Court seeking relief that she should have the legal freedom to opt out of her personal law and be governed by the countrys secular laws.

The family law currently in force in the country is a hotchpotch of religious and secular laws. All religion-based personal laws except those of Muslims are codified  their law has so far been subjected only to sporadic reforms. By availing the provisions of the Special Marriage Act 1954 the parties intending to get married can abandon their personal law on the subject, but those who are not married  or do not want to get married (a group that is fast growing)  have no choice but to be governed by the personal law of the community into which they were born. This is a loophole in the system of the country that needs to be plugged.

As regards the Special Marriage Act, we have had a law bearing this name since 1872 offering the option of a civil marriage. But to avail of its provisions, both parties had to formally abandon their religion. The Hindu Code Bill, moved into the central legislature in 1946, contained a chapter on civil marriages as an alternative to religious marriages. It was later felt that the facility to opt for a civil marriage should be available to all communities. The chapter was then taken out of the Bill, redrafted, and enacted as the new Special Marriage Act of 1954. It is an enabling law and does not compulsorily apply to any person. The general impression that it is meant only to facilitate inter-religious marriage is not correct. The Act is available both for intra-religious and interfaith marriages. In no case are the parties required to abandon religion, nor for one party to convert to the others faith if they belong to different communities. A couple already married under their personal law can also change its nature to a civil marriage by registering it under the Act.

The old Special Marriage Act 1872 laid down that all those married under it would in matters of inheritance and wills be governed by the Indian Succession Act 1865 (later merged into the new consolidating Indian Succession Act of 1925). This provision was retained in the new Special Marriage Act 1954 until 1976. By an amendment made in that year it was laid down that if the parties to a civil marriage are Hindu, Buddhist, Jain or Sikh, they would be governed by the Hindu Succession Act 1956. For all others, the law remained unchanged.

The civil court laws of India enacted in the 19th century directed the courts to prefer local custom over personal laws. As this legal proposition deprived Muslim women of their inheritance rights, the community demanded a law mandating the application of their personal law in all family matters. Hence, the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act was enacted in 1937 directing the courts to apply Muslim law to Muslim parties notwithstanding any custom to the contrary. Strangely, it provided for compulsory application of the Muslim law of inheritance in all cases but in the matter of wills to only those who filed a declaration that they so wanted. Even with such a declaration, due to the non-obstante clause cited above, they would be governed by custom, if any, and not by the Indian Succession Act 1925. The said Act has an elaborate chapter on wills (Part VI) but declares at the outset that it will not apply to Muslims (Section 58).

In the matter of wills, Muslim law imposes multiple restrictions on all property owners. Under the various schools of Muslim law, no one can make a will of more than a third of his or her heritable property. A will contravening this rule would be void to the extent of the excess of over one-third unless the testators legal heirs approve it after his or her death. Under all Sunni schools, a person cannot also bequeath any property (not even one-third) to a would-be heir (one who will get a share in the testators property after his or her death). So, a will in favour of the wife or a daughter will be void and ineffective (unless the other heirs agree to it). However, this restriction is not mandated under Shia law.

Neither of these limitations on making a will is mentioned in the Quran. Whatever might have been the considerations for imposing such restrictions when Muslim lawmakers of the time had done so over a millennium ago, these are clearly unreasonable in this day and age. All property owners should have unrestricted freedom to bequeath their property, or part thereof, to whoever they like. Any reform of the law to this effect in India will not go against any tenet of the Quran  the basic source of Muslim religion and law.

In a report written for the 18th Law Commission of India as its member, I had recommended, inter alia, two legal reforms relevant to the matter under comment. The first of these was that the amendment of the Special Marriage Act 1954 made in this respect in 1976, referred to here, be undone and all persons availing its provisions be governed in matters of inheritance and wills by the Indian Succession Act of 1925. My second recommendation was that a provision should be made in the said Act of 1925 for a voluntary declaration to be made by all persons, married or unmarried, that they want to be governed by this Act and not by their personal law in all matters of inheritance and wills.

The relief sought by the Kerala woman from the Supreme Court is genuine and fair. I hope the court, while deciding her case, will facilitate this much-needed reform, which will be very much in keeping with the times.

Tahir Mahmood is professor of law and former member, Law Commission of India. The views expressed are personal
China is set to launch its lunar probe Chang'e-6 on Friday, aiming to collect samples from the far side of the moon. This mission will mark the first-ever attempt to gather samples from this region of the moon, said China National Space Administration (CNSA). Pakistani payload will also be mounted on Chang'e 6 orbiter(ISTIslamabad)

The Chinese mission will also carry Pakistan's miniature satellite ICUBE-QAMAR cubesat.

Developed by the team at the Institute of Space Technology (IST), in collaboration with Shanghai University SJTU and SUPARCO, with this lunar mission Pakistan's aims to make a progress in space exploration.

Pakistan moon mission launch timings

According to the Islamabad-based Institute of Space Technology, the launch will be on Friday at 12:50pm PKT, which is at 1:20pm as per Indian time.

Preparations for the mission are advancing at the Wenchang Space launch site in south China's Hainan Province. The Long March-5 Y8 carrier rocket will soon undergo refuelling with propellant, CNSA announced on Wednesday.

ALSO READ- Scientists find evidence of hidden water ice on Moon: About 5-8 times larger

What is Chang'e 6 mission?

 Chang'e 6 mission's primary objective is to gather samples from the far side of the moon.

 The spacecraft consists of an orbiter, lander, ascender, and re-entry module.

 It aims to land in the South Pole-Aitken Basin to collect dust and rock samples.

 This mission could offer crucial insights into the composition and characteristics of the lunar region.

 Foreign equipment totalling 10 kilograms will accompany the mission.

 Scientific instruments from France, Italy, and the European Space Agency will be part of the payload.

 The Pakistani payload will also be mounted on the orbiter.

ALSO READ- Hundreds of glacial lakes expanding in Himalayan region, flags ISRO

India's moonshot- Chandrayaan-3

India has already achieved the launch of Chandrayaan 3, becoming the first country to soft land near the lunar south pole.

The mission featured the Pragyan rover, which operated alongside China's Chang'e 4 mission's rover on the far side of the moon.

ALSO READ- Why Chandrayaan-3 lift-off was delayed by 4 seconds? Close approach risk, reveals ISRO new report

After completing the planned 10 Earth days of lunar exploration, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) activated sleep mode in the system.
Thailand politician Prapaporn Choeiwadkoh was caught by her husband having an affair with their adopted 24-year-old son, who is a monk. A video of the scandal has gone viral on social media platforms in China, post which the politician was suspended from public office. After catching his politician wife and monk son naked in bed, the man made a video which has been going viral on social media. (Representational image)

Choeiwadkoh and her husband Ti adopted monk Phra Maha from a temple last year after the politician felt sorry for him, reported the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

According to Daily Mail, Ti, who was already suspicious of his wifes growing closeness with their monk son, came home early after Choeiwadkoh didnt answer her calls. He drove for more than five hours, from Bangkok to Sukhothai, to catch his Democrat Party wife naked in bed with Maha.

I was so angry when I found them together, I feel so betrayed. I had brought her gold and given her many gifts, Daily Mail reported Ti as saying.

I became suspicious when nobody opened the door: Ti

After the couple adopted Maha as their son, the growing closeness between the two started bothering Ti.

I even saw her go into a monks cabin when the curtains were closed. I knocked on the door for a long time, but nobody answered, Daily Mail further quoted Ti.

When she came out, I was suspicious, but she said she had been praying with the monk, he added.

Monk seduced my wife: Ti

Talking about the monk who has denounced his monkhood and is on the run now, Ti said that he seduced his wife. With regards to this boy, I think that he tricked my wife and seduced her, he further said.

How did the man feel after finding his wife naked in bed with adopted his son?

When Ti found the two in bed, he started filming them. He also pulled off the bedsheet to reveal that the two were naked and asked them, Are you two happy?

After the incident, the man, as per SCMP, said, I was furious when I found them together. I felt so betrayed. I had bought her gold and given her many gifts.

Didn't have sex then, says the politician

In response to the now-viral video, the politician told local media houses, We didnt have sex then. Nothing happened, its not what it looks like in the video. He had some problems, so we were just talking together, and then we were going to shower.
As temperatures soar across the country, people are resorting to ice creams to beat the heat. In Mumbai, a resident went to a whole new level by ordering over 300 ice creams in just 45 days. Yes, you read that right! According to a report by Swiggy, the demand for ice creams has surged by 16% compared to the last year. (Representative image)

Swiggy, in its latest report, also revealed that the demand for ice creams has surged by 16% compared to the previous year as the country grapples with rising temperatures. Among the frozen delights, chocolate remains the most popular flavour, closely trailed by the summer fruit - mango. Other flavours that have secured a spot in the top league include tender coconut, almond, and timeless classic vanilla.

While Mumbai placed the highest orders of fruit-based ice creams, Hyderabad preferred ice creams loaded with nuts.

Between March 1 and April 15, over 6.9 lakh ice cream orders were placed on Swiggy from 7 pm to midnight, and around 4.6 lakh orders were placed from 11 am to 4 pm.

Bengaluru, which is currently facing a heatwave, is enjoying ice cream for breakfast. A total of 80,000 ice creams were ordered from 7 am to 11 am during the said time period, and Bengaluru topped the list.

The report also celebrates the diverse preferences of ice cream lovers, with tubs being the preferred choice over a single scoop. The favourites include chocolate, mango, tender coconut and sitaphal, catering to a wide range of tastes.

Additionally, health freaks ordered vegan and guilt-free ice creams amid the scorching heat, with a 70% increase seen compared to last year.

The report also revealed the famous ice cream parlours, with NIC Ice Creams topping the popularity chart across India. In top metro cities, Naturals Ice Cream saw a high number of orders in Mumbai and Bengaluru, while Cream Stone Ice Cream tops the charts in Hyderabad.
Christopher Gregor, 31, appeared in court for allegedly murdering his son Corey Micciolo in 2021. He faces life in prison if convicted. During the trial, the Superior Court in Ocean City was shown security footage where Gregor was seen forcing Corey to run on a treadmill after the child fell many times due to the speed of the exercise machine. On March 20, 2021, Gregor and his son were spotted entering the Atlantic Heights Clubhouse fitness centre, where the child was immediately placed on the treadmill and began running, according to a video acquired by CourtTV.com. Snapshot of the father and Corey at the fitness center. (CourtTV.com)

The footage shows Gregor stepping up to the treadmill to increase the speed and inclination. The abrupt adjustments were too much for the boy's legs, forcing him to fall and slide. Gregor then grabbed his kid and hurled him back onto the treadmill, causing the child's knees to bend backwards. The youngster gets back on, but falls off again and continues to battle to stay on the machine, prompting the father to reduce both the pace and inclination, reported The New York Post.

According to the US Sun, Bre Micciolo, mother of Corey reported his injuries to child protective authorities just days before he died. Additionally, she asked Gregor to take Corey to the doctor. Court TV claims that during the doctor's visit, Corey stated that his father pushed him to run on the treadmill owing to weight worries. (Also Read: Indian student living in New Jersey fatally shoots grandparents, uncle at home in horrifying triple murder)

According to Court TV, the next day, Gregor brought Corey to the hospital after he awoke from a nap stumbling, slurring his words, and experiencing nausea. Corey had a seizure during a CT scan, prompting medical personnel to attempt life-saving procedures that were ultimately futile . An initial autopsy revealed that Corey died as a result of blunt force trauma, heart and liver contusions, acute inflammation, and sepsis. Gregor was arrested in July 2021 on child negligence allegations.
The internet is divided after a widely shared video showed students from Galgotias University refusing to answer questions regarding the purpose of their demonstration against Congress. When an Aaj Tak reporter reached the protest and started questioning the students and their understanding of the protest, many of them were unable to explain it to the reporter. In fact, some people even struggled to read what was written on their placards. The interview by the Aaj Tak reporter has sparked outrage, with social media users criticising the Galgotias University students for their misunderstanding and lack of knowledge. Aaj Tak reporter in conversation with a student at the protest.

Many people have shared their thoughts and opinions on this protest staged by the university students. (Also Read: Student bodies hold protests on campuses in Delhi University and Jamia)

Here's the video of the students with the Aaj Tak reporter:

Here's how social media reacted:

Following the circulation of videos on social media, a wave of concern swept across many individuals questioning the appropriateness of allowing students who lack knowledge to engage in such activities. Many also shed light upon the fact that one Galgotias University was trying to spread "propaganda" but failed to do so because of their own students.
Toronto: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that India and his country should get along but he cannot ignore the problem created with the killing of pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18 last year. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visits the Waneskuwin Heritage Park in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. (REUTERS)

In an interaction with Punjabi-language media in Toronto, Trudeau said, Canada and India are the worlds two largest democracies, us by size, them by population. And we should be able to get along.

The interaction, which took place on Sunday, was aired by the network Y Media on Wednesday evening. Referring to the Nijjar killing, Trudeau said, Its a problem in our relations with India because we cannot ignore that.

The interaction took place soon after Trudeau addressed a Khalsa Day event in Toronto where there was a significant presence of pro-Khalistan elements, with anti-India banners and separatist flags and he was greeted with secessionist chants at he entered and exited the podium.

However, Trudeau made it clear supporting Khalistan, if done peacefully, will not be prevented by Ottawa. He said, You get to support whatever beliefs you have, thats part of what makes Canada a free country.

Our job is not to crack down on political protest, thats something we allow in Canada, he added.

India has already lodged a protest over the Sunday Vaisakhi parade and Canadas Deputy High Commissioner was also called in by the Ministry of External Affairs in this regard on Monday.

However, the status quo is likely to persist, as Trudeau said, We will always follow up when our fellow countries have expressed concerns about behaviour, about violence, about criminality. We take them seriously. What we will not do, however, is go after people because theyre saying things that the Indian government doesnt like, things that the Indian government disagrees with.

Trudeau asserted that Canada always stood very strongly against terrorism, against violence, against intimidation.

Trudeau described India as an important partner when it came to people-to-people and business relations as well as cooperation on international issues like climate change, but the Nijjar murder will continue to be a sticking point till the matter is resolved to Canadas satisfaction. He said, We want to get through this challenging situation but there needs to be accountability.

Relations between the two countries touched a nadir in September after Trudeaus statement in the House of Commons that there were credible allegations of a potential link between Indian agents and Nijjars killing.
Toronto: Canadian law enforcement has issued a countrywide arrest warrant for an Indo-Canadian teenager allegedly involved in extortion and drive-by shootings, even as the fugitive is believed to have fled to India. Mugshot of Arjun Sahnan, for whom a Canada-wide arrest warrant has been issued. (Credit: Edmonton Police Service)

In a release, the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) identified him as Arjun Sahnan, 19. They linked him to three drive-by shootings, two in the capital of Alberta and the third in Winnipeg, the capital of the neighbouring province of Manitoba.

The incidents occurred on December 21, December 24 and December 29 last year. With regard to the first two instances, EPS said, In both the Edmonton and Winnipeg shootings, the homeowner was extorted for money and threatened prior to the shooting. No one was injured in either shooting.

As for the third, in Edmontons Sherwood Park locality, the release stated, The homeowner received no threats prior to the shooting, and investigators believe the shooter accidentally targeted the wrong house.

Through ballistic analysis, police have determined that the same gun was used in all three drive-by shootings and Sahnan is alleged to be responsible for the shootings.

EPS Firearms Investigation Unit or FIU have determined that Sahnan fled to India, leaving on a flight that he had booked prior to committing the Winnipeg and Sherwood Park shootings.

Police have sought information from the public related to Sahnans whereabouts and also released surveillance image of a second suspect connected to the Winnipeg shooting.

Interestingly, in a release from the EPS on January 3, it had stated that Sahnan was arrested on five firearms-related charges during a December 30, 2023 vehicle stop that occurred in the area of 17 Street and 49 Avenue.

He has since been released, it added.

The extortion series is being investigated by EPS under its Project Gaslight.

Multiple incidents of extortion have also been reported from British Columbia, particularly in the suburbs of Vancouver, as well as the Greater Toronto Area.
Dubai weather Updates: A heavy downpour lashed the United Arab Emirates (UAE) following which an orange alert was issued on Thursday. A lightning storm with high winds swept across the oil-rich monarchy overnight, with more than 50 millimetres (two inches) of rain falling before 8:00 am in some areas, the National Center of Meteorology said....Read More

The fresh spell forced the closure of schools and many offices across the country, while as many as 13 flights were cancelled, and five were diverted from Dubai International Airport, the world's busiest by international passenger traffic.

On Thursday, little traffic was seen on Dubai's normally heaving, six-lane highways, and cars were abandoned on flooded roads near the sprawling Ibn Battuta mall.

However, according to UAE's National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority, the weather conditions are expected to be less severe than the recent downpour, that resulted in severe floods.

Earlier in mid-April, a record 259.5 mm of rain lashed the parts of Dubai, leaving four people dead, blocking major roads for days and forcing the cancellation of more than 2,000 flights.
Syria's defence ministry on Friday said eight soldiers had been injured in Israeli air strikes near Damascus. Israel rarely comments on individual strikes but has repeatedly said it will not allow its arch-enemy Iran to expand its presence in Syria.(AFP)

On Thursday night, "the Israeli enemy launched air strikes from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting a site near Damascus... injuring eight soldiers," the ministry said in a statement.

Israel rarely comments on individual strikes but has repeatedly said it will not allow its arch-enemy Iran to expand its presence in Syria.

ALSO READ | Israel's strike on Iran embassy in Syria kills 2 generals, Tehran vows harsh response: 10 points

The Israeli military has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria since the outbreak of a civil war in its northern neighbour in 2011, mainly targeting army positions and Iran-backed fighters.

But the strikes increased after Israel's war with Iran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip began on October 7.

On April 19, Israeli strikes targeted a Syrian army position in the country's south, Syria's government and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said, as US media reported Israel had hit Iran.

Overnight on April 13, Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles against Israel in an unprecedented attack that came in retaliation for a deadly strike -- widely blamed on Israel -- on Tehran's consulate in Damascus.

Israels Furious Retaliation After Golan Heights Attack, Strikes Iran-Backed Group In Syria | VIDEO

Syria's war has killed more than half a million people and displaced millions more since it erupted in March 2011 with the repression of anti-government protests.
If the Israel-Hamas war stopped today, it would still take until 2040 to rebuild all the homes that have been destroyed in nearly seven months of Israel's bombardment and ground offensives in the territory, according to United Nations estimates released Thursday. A Palestinian man fixes tin sheets used for temporary sheltering on a road lined with destroyed buildings in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on May 2, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Hamas movement. (AFP)

The United States has pressured Israel to increase aid deliveries during the war, and on Wednesday, Israel reopened a border crossing with hard-hit northern Gaza Strip for the first time since it was damaged at the start of the war.

Meanwhile, on his seventh visit since the latest war between Israel and Hamas broke out in October, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken pressed for a cease-fire deal. The proposed truce would free hostages held by Hamas in exchange for a halt to the fighting and the delivery of much needed food, medicine and water into Gaza. Palestinian prisoners are also expected to be released as part of the deal.

ALSO READ| Joe Biden remains tight-lipped as Gaza protesters clash with cops on college campuses

On October 7, Palestinian militants launched an unprecedented attack into southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people  mostly civilians  and abducting around 250 hostages. Israel says militants still hold around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others.

The death toll in Gaza is more than 34,500 Palestinians, according to local health officials, as the territory faces a humanitarian catastrophe. The war has driven around 80 per cent of Gaza's population of 2.3 million from their homes, caused vast destruction in several towns and cities and pushed northern Gaza to the brink of famine.

Currently:

 Nonstop Mideast coverage of the Israel-Hamas war pauses for protests and police action at US schools.

 Colombia's president says the country will break diplomatic relations with Israel over the war in Gaza.

 The Biden administration is weighing measures to help Palestinians bring family from the region.

 Blinken presses Hamas to seal cease-fire with Israel, saying the time is now for a deal.

Here's the latest:

HEALTH MINISTRY ADDS 28 PEOPLE TO THE ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR DEATH TOLL IN GAZA

The Gaza Health Ministry said Thursday the bodies of 28 people killed by Israeli strikes were brought to local hospitals over the past 24 hours. Hospitals also received 51 wounded, it said in its daily report.

That brings the overall Palestinian death toll from the Israel-Hamas war to at least 34,596, the ministry said, and 77,816 wounded. The Health Ministry does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its tallies, but says that women and children make up around two-thirds of those killed.

The Israeli military says it has killed some 13,000 militants, without providing evidence to back up the claim.

FIGHTING IN GAZA HAS DESTROYED OVER 3,70,000 HOMES AND WILL TAKE UNTIL AT LEAST 2040 TO REPAIR, UN REPORT SAYS

If the war in Gaza stopped today, it would still take until 2040 to rebuild all the homes that have been destroyed in nearly seven months of Israel's bombardment and ground offensives in the territory, according to United Nations estimates released Thursday.

Every additional day that this war continues is exacting huge and compounding costs to Gazans and all Palestinians, said United Nations Development Programme Administrator Achim Steiner.

At least 3,70,000 housing units in Gaza have been damaged, including 79,000 destroyed completely, according to the new report by the UNDP and the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, which details how Israel's assault, launched after Hamas' October 7 attack, has devastated the economy of the Palestinian territories, and how the impact will increase the longer the conflict goes on.

After previous Israel-Hamas conflicts, housing was rebuilt at a rate of 992 units year. Even if Israel allows a five-fold increase of construction material to enter Gaza, it would take until 2040 to rebuild the destroyed houses, without repairing the damaged ones, the report said.

In Gaza, the Israeli offensive has virtually shut down the economy, which contracted 81 per cent in the last quarter of 2023. The report said the productive basis of the economy has been destroyed, with sectors experienced losses of more than 90 per cent.

Gaza, home to some 2.3 million Palestinians, has been under blockade by Israel and Egypt since Hamas' 2007 takeover, putting tight controls on what enters and exits the territory. Even before the war, it faced hyper-unemployment of 45 per cent, reaching nearly 63 per cent among younger workers. Since the war began, it lost some 2,01,000 jobs.

The war has also impacted the West Bank, where for months Israel has imposed restrictions on movement. In 2024, the entire Palestinian economy  including both Gaza and the West Bank  has so far contracted 25.8 per cent, and if the war continues the loss will reach 29 per cent by July, equivalent to USD 7.6 billion, the report said.

HAMAS PRAISES COLOMBIA'S DECISION TO BREAK RELATIONS WITH ISRAEL

The militant Palestinian group Hamas has praised the announcement of Colombia's president Gustavo that his government will break relations with Israel, saying such a move is a recognition of the suffering of Palestinian people.

In its statement Thursday, Hamas called on leaders of Latin America to cut their countries' diplomatic relations with Israel, which it described as a rogue and Fascist entity that is continuing its crimes against our people.

Historically, Colombia was one of Israel's closest partners in Latin America. But relations between the two nations cooled since Gustavo Petro was elected as Colombia's first leftist president in 2022.

Petro announced his government will break diplomatic relations with Israel effective Thursday, describing Israel's siege of Gaza as genocide. He previously suspended purchases of weapons from Israel and compared that country's actions in Gaza to those of Nazi Germany. Hamas said it valued Petro's stance highly.

Weeks after the October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel that sparked the current war in Gaza and killed some 1,200 people, Petro recalled Colombia's ambassador to Israel as he criticized the country's military offensive.
Renewed eruptions of grey smoke continued from Indonesia's Ruang volcano, pelting the region with volcanic debris and triggering another round of evacuations from Tagulandang island. Evacuees board an Indonesian naval vessel on Tagulandang Island in Sitaro, North Sulawesi as Mount Ruang volcano spews smoke in the background. (AFP)

Also Read: Indonesia's Ruang volcano erupts again, alert status at highest

Ruang volcano which erupted on Tuesday, spewed fresh lava and more hot clouds that prompted authorities to evacuate over 12,000 people from the Tagulandang island and ordered flight cancellations and airport closures, reported news agency Reuters.

After the fresh eruptions, the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG), issued the highest level alert, warning that a tsunami could be triggered by volcanic material collapsing into the ocean. It has also urged the island residents to stay at least 7 km (4 miles) from the volcanos crater.

Also Read: Chinese woman, 31, falls into Indonesian volcano while trying to pose for photos, dies

As per the footage shared by the National Search and Rescue Agency, residents from about a hundred villages have been evacuated on a navy ship, while several hundred others are waiting to be rescued.

Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said that around 11,000 to 12,000 people living within a 7-kilometre vicinity would be taken to government shelters. "Personnel of Manado Search and Rescue Agency are evacuating 109 Tagulandang residents to Munte port, while hundreds are still waiting in Minanga port to be evacuated," the agency said in a statement as reported by Reuters.

Mount Ruang, which had earlier erupted in mid-April, disrupted over 200 flights on April 18 and 19 and affecting tens of thousands of passengers. Tuesday's eruption peppered several villages with ash, grit and rocks. It also forced closures of at least seven airports in the vicinity, including the Sam Ratulangi International Airport that serves Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi province, and nearby schools have also been shut to protect children from volcanic ash.

Also Read: This amazing volcano is raining gold dust on Earth - 80 gms a day worth $6000

Mount Ruang, a 725-meter (2,400-foot) volcano on Ruang island, North Sulawesi, is among about 130 active volcanoes in Indonesia. The archipelagic nation is prone to volcanic eruptions and earthquakes because of its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire", an area of high seismic activity where multiple tectonic plates meet.

(With inputs from agencies)
In a tit-for-tat move, the Iranian Foreign Minister has announced sanctions on more than two dozen American and British individuals and entities for supporting Israel in its 'terrorist acts' and 'human rights violations' against the Palestinian people, Iranian state news agency, IRNA reported on Thursday. Graphic content / Palestinians walk amid the rubble of destroyed buildings in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza(AFP)

Escalating tensions with Israel and the West, Iran has put sanctions against six American companies including The Lockheed Martin Corporation, General Dynamics, Skydio Engineering Company, Chevron Corporation and Kharon Company.

This comes after the UK, US and Canada imposed fresh sanctions on Iran following its attack on Israel earlier this month.

According to a statement by the Foreign Ministry on Thursday, the blacklisted individuals and entities have also helped the Israeli regime in its acts against regional and international peace. "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in conformity with the "Law on Countering the Violation of Human Rights and Adventurous and Terrorist Activities of the United States in the Region" (2017), particularly, Articles 4 and 5, identifies and imposes sanctions as set forth in the abovementioned Act on the following persons and institutions in connection with their support and financing of the Zionist regime of Israel's terrorist acts, glorification and supporting terrorism and gross violations of human rights against the Palestinian people, and in particular, the people of the Gaza strip," Ministry said in a statement, IRNA reported.

Tehran also put sanctions on seven American individuals for allegedly supporting Israel in its heinous acts against the Palestinians especially in the Gaza Strip.

This includes executive vice president and chief legal officer to Donald Trump and the Trump Organization and his advisor on Israel, Jason Greenblatt, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, Michael Rubin, policy director of United against Nuclear Iran, Jason Brodsky, founder and president of FDD, Clifford D. May, United States Army general, Bryan P. Fenton, Commander, US Naval Forces Central Command, Brad Cooper and CEO of RTX Corporation, Gregory J. Hayes.

Additionally, Iran also put sanctions against the UK individuals and entities "for deliberate support and facilitation of the Israel Zionist regime's actions, including committing terrorist acts against regional and international peace and security, systematic violation of human rights, warmongering, use of heavy weaponry and prohibited weapons against civilian, blocked, displacement of the Palestinian people, expansion of illegal settlement in occupied territory and continuation of occupation."

Entities that were put on the sanction list include Royal Air Force Akrotiri in Cyprus, UK Royal Navy in Red Sea HMC Diamond, Elbit Systems, Parker Meggitt and UK Rafael, according to the Iranian Ministry statement published by IRNA.

Individuals include UK's Secretary of State for Defense, Grant Shapps, Commander of the British Army Strategic Command, James Hockenhull, Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Sharon Nesmith, Assistant Chief of the General Staff, Paul Raymond Griffiths, Director of Defense Intelligence of British Army, Adrian Bird, Commander of UK Royal navy in Red Sea HMC Richmond, Richard Kemp, Commander of Royal Air Force Akrotiri, Simon Cloke and Commander of UK Royal navy in Red Sea HMC Diamond, Peter Ivans, according to the official statement.

Following the Iranian Foreign Ministry orders "all relevant national institutions of the Islamic Republic of Iran, consistent with the regulations adopted by the related authorities, will take appropriate measures, which are blocking of accounts and transactions in the Iranian financial and banking systems, blocking of assets within the jurisdiction of the Islamic Republic of Iran as well as prohibition of visa issuance and entry to the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran, for effective implementation of the above-mentioned sanctions."

Iran's tensions with the West escalated after Iran launched an unprecedented attack on Israel in response to an attack on its consulate in Syria.

On April 26, United States imposed sanctions on over a dozen entities, eight individuals and vessels that have facilitated illicit trade and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) transfer on behalf of the Iranian military.

"The United States is today imposing sanctions on 16 entities and eight individuals, as well as identifying as blocked property five vessels and one aircraft, that have facilitated illicit trade and the sale of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in support of Iran's Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL) and the regime's UAV development and procurement," the US State Department said in a release.

Moreover, the UK and Canada are imposing sanctions targeting several entities and individuals involved in Iran's UAV procurement and other military-related activities, respectively.

Sahara Thunder has been identified as the key front company for MODAFL's illicit financing and a central player in Iran's design, development, manufacture, and sale of thousands of UAVs.

Several countries in the Middle East closed their airspace a few hours before Iran launched a standoff attack against Israel around midnight on 13 April. Iran's attack sent around 170 drones, over 30 cruise missiles, and more than 120 ballistic missiles toward Israel.

Earlier, in response to Iran's unprecedented mass drone and missile strike on Israel, the United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on the actors involved in Tehran's unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) program, including suppliers and customers, the White House said in an official statement.

The sanctions target leaders and entities connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Iran's Defence Ministry and many of the Iranian government's missile and drone programs.
NATO on Thursday condemned Russian "malign activities" on its territory, saying actions like disinformation, sabotage, violence and cyber interference threatened the alliance's security. A flag with the logo of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)(AFP)

The incidents "are part of an intensifying campaign of activities" Russia is carrying out across the Euro-Atlantic area and NATO allies "express their deep concern over Russia's hybrid actions, which constitute a threat to allied security", NATO said in a statement.

Authorities in the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Britain have recently investigated and charged people in connection with "hostile state activity".

ALSO READ | Zelensky Reveals 'Ukraine Must Defeat Russia To Join NATO' As Putin's Men Advance At Frontline

NATO said allies would work together to deter and defend against the hybrid actions and that they would remain steadfast in supporting Ukraine as it struggles to fend off Russia's invasion, now in its third year.

Last month, a 20-year-old British man was charged with masterminding an arson plot against a Ukrainian-linked target in London. Moscow's ambassador Andrey Kelin dismissed claims of links to Russia as "absurd" and "unfounded".

In late March, Czech authorities said they had busted a Moscow-financed network that spread Russian propaganda and wielded influence across Europe, including in the European Parliament.
New Zealand is seriously concerned by Chinas increased interest in the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said. New Zealand's foreign minister Winston Peters(Reuters)

China has a long-standing presence in the Pacific, but we are seriously concerned by increased engagement in Pacific security sectors, Peters said in a speech to the New Zealand China Council Friday in Wellington. We do not want to see developments that destabilize the institutions and arrangements that have long underpinned our regions security.

New Zealands new center-right government, which took office late last year, is seeking to deepen its ties with like-minded western nations such as Australia, the US and UK amid concerns about Beijings growing ambitions in the Pacific. In doing so it runs the risk of antagonizing China, its biggest trading partner.

New Zealand, Australia and the US were shocked when the Solomon Islands announced in early 2022 that it had signed a security agreement with Beijing. Wellington is now exploring joining Pillar Two of the Aukus security pact between Australia, the US and UK, and has said it is also working on a new partnership with NATO.

ALSO READ | China and the Pacific Step Up

Peters acknowledged China as a vital economic partner and noted the rebound in Chinese tourists and students to New Zealand now underway. But he said New Zealand will continue to share its concerns with China.

Sometimes we do this in private, but there are also times when we communicate openly with the public and the international community about our concerns, he said. This is an important part of our commitment to speaking openly and transparently about the foreign policy issues and challenges that affect New Zealanders.

Human rights was one such issue, he said. Cyber-attacks and interference efforts intended to influence, disrupt, or subvert New Zealands national interests was another.

These are deeply concerning and completely unacceptable, Peters said. We remain vigilant to all such threats.

Peters said New Zealand is also concerned to see stability tested in the South China Sea and growing tensions and hardening rhetoric across the Taiwan Strait.

ALSO READ | India-NZ interests in Indo-Pacific converging; bilateral ties growing: Envoy David Pine

With great power comes great responsibility, so we think that China has a responsibility to play a constructive role to address international security challenges, encourage de-escalation, and ease tensions, such as in ongoing conflicts between Russia and Ukraine, and Israel and Hamas, he said. Now, we believe, is a time where China leadership and diplomacy would materially help to ease global tensions.

Peters said New Zealand will continue to align and work with partners where this helps advance its common interests, all the while being steadfast in our independent assessment of our national interests.
One person was killed and 20 others were injured in twin landmine blasts that shook Thaikedar Naddi in the Duki district of Balochistan, reported ARY News. One person was killed and 20 others were injured in twin landmine blasts that shook Thaikedar Naddi in the Duki district of Balochistan, reported ARY News.

The first explosion occurred when a truck hit a landmine, followed by a second blast as people gathered at the scene, according to the details.

The police officials said that both landmine blasts resulted in the killing of one citizen.

Meanwhile, the injured are being shifted to nearby hospitals for medical treatment, ARY News reported.

Last month, a policeman was killed while 20 individuals sustained injuries in a blast near a mosque situated on Kuchlak Road in Quetta.

ALSO READ| Six security personnel, 12 militants killed in separate incidents in Pakistans Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan

According to the rescue sources, 12 people were injured, including five security personnel.

Later, the injured were rushed to nearby medical facilities for further treatment.

Moreover, the law enforcement agencies cordoned off the incident site and initiated an investigation into the incident to determine the nature and cause of the explosion, reported ARY News.

Notably, the province has been witnessing a rise in terrorism activities lately.

Earlier in February, at least 12 people were killed and 25 injured in a blast outside a political party's office in Balochistan's Pishin region.

In another incident, at least 12 people were killed and several injured in a blast that occurred near the JUI-F election office in Balochistan's Qila Saifullah, as reported by ARY News.

In February, the Human rights group Amnesty International expressed concern over the "lethal and targeted violence" in Balochistan.
The Prince and Princess of Wales X account shared a beaming photo of Princess Charlotte on Thursday, May 2, on her 9th birthday. Happy 9th Birthday, Princess Charlotte! the photo is captioned. Thank you for all of the kind messages today. The photo credit is given to Kate Middleton. Kate, William marked daughter Princess Charlotte's birthday with a sweet photo (@KensingtonRoyal/X)

Recent royal photos

The Waleses recently also marked Prince Louis birthday with a photo. Kate clicked the picture, as she did Charlottes, and it was uploaded to the same X account with the caption, Happy 6th Birthday, Prince Louis! Thank you for all the kind wishes today.

The Waleses typically share an image of their children ahead of their birthdays, but they have now been breaking the tradition. After no photo of Louis was shared before his birthday, a royal commentator praised the Princess of Wales for a "very good change of mind.

Royal commentator Angela Levin said, according to GB News, "They changed their mind. They weren't going to do it, and then they thought they wanted to thank the public. We love her children. It's very nice that she did change her mind because I think there would have been a lot of worry and awful rumours if she hadn't. So it was a very good change of mind and it was done her way by herself taking the picture and good luck to her."

Mail on Sunday Editor-at-Large Charlotte Griffiths also suggested that Kate clicking and posting a new photo of Louis is a sign she is getting better.

William and Kate also marked 13 years of marriage on April 29 with an unseen photo from their wedding day. 13 years ago today!" the photo was captioned. The black-and-white portrait showed the couple posing together, all smiles. The bride held a bouquet made mainly of lily of the valley, known to be Queen Elizabeths favourite flower. Kate donned the Queens Cartier Halo Tiara.
Russia has been quietly shipping refined petroleum to North Korea at levels that appear to violate a cap imposed by the United Nations Security Council, the White House said on Thursday, suggesting new sanctions could result. Russia has been quietly shipping refined petroleum to North Korea at levels that appear to violate a cap imposed by the United Nations Security Council, the White House said on Thursday(Bloomberg)

The disclosure came on the first day after a U.N. panel of experts monitoring enforcement of longstanding U.N. sanctions against North Korea for its nuclear weapons and missile programs was disbanded after a Russian veto.

"At the same time that Moscow vetoed the panel's mandate renewal, Russia has been shipping refined petroleum from Port Vostochny to the DPRK (North Korea)," White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.

Under U.N. sanctions, Pyongyang is limited to importing 500,000 barrels of refined products a year. The Russian and North Korean U.N. missions in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the U.S. accusation.

ALSO READ| North Korea will build overwhelming military power, says Kim Jong Un's sister

Kirby said that in March alone, Russia shipped more than 165,000 barrels of refined petroleum to North Korea and that given the close proximity of Russian and North Korean commercial ports, Russia could sustain these shipments indefinitely.

Russia blocked the annual renewal of the U.N. sanctions monitors in late March in what a U.S. official described as a calculated move by Moscow to hides its own violations of UN Security Council resolutions.

Kirby said the United States will continue to impose sanctions "against those working to facilitate arms and refined petroleum transfers between Russia and the DPRK." North Korea is formally known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"We have previously worked to coordinate autonomous sanctions designations with our partners  including Australia, the European Union, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, and the United Kingdom  and we will continue to do so," he said.

The U.S. and South Korea in March launched a task force aimed at preventing North Korea from procuring illicit oil.

The U.S. and others have also accused North Korea of transferring weapons to Russia for use against Ukraine, which it invaded in February 2022. Both Moscow and Pyongyang deny the accusations, but vowed last year to deepen military relations.

The debris from a missile that landed in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Jan. 2 was from a North Korean Hwasong-11 series ballistic missile, U.N. sanctions monitors told a Security Council committee in a report seen by Reuters on Monday.
After hundreds of arrests across American universities tensions have escalated further. Students are refusing to capitulate and end stir over Israel's military actions in Gaza, with incidents of arrests in New York and clashes in California. Protesters supporting Palestinians in Gaza walk at an encampment at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), as the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas continues, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., May 1, 2024.(REUTERS)

282 arrested at premiere colleges in New York

In New York City, the NYPD recorded approximately 282 arrests at Columbia University and the City College of New York from Tuesday night to Wednesday morning. This crackdown coincided with the clearance of students who had occupied Columbia University's Hamilton Hall since April 30.

Once a symbol of activism during South Africa's anti-apartheid struggle, Hamilton Hall was dubbed "Hind's Hall" in memory of six-year-old Hind Rajab, tragically killed with her family by Israeli forces in Gaza.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has claimed many of those behind the protest were "outside agitators" who had no association with the university. Young protesters are being influenced by those who are professionals at radicalizing our children, Adams said.

Student journalist Meghnad Bose who witnessed the police intervention firsthand told ANI, "I saw firsthand how the police dispersed those protests, arrested them and sometimes got pretty aggressive in making sure the protesters went away."

Deputy Commissioner of Operations for the NYPD, Kaz Daughtry, emphasized Columbia University's request for police assistance in reclaiming their campus, stating that the police were "dispersing the unlawful encampment and persons barricaded inside of university buildings and restoring order."

Meanwhile, at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), tensions soared as pro-Israel counter-protesters clashed with pro-Palestine demonstrators. Witnesses reported attempts to dismantle the pro-Palestine encampment, leading to violence with objects being hurled and sticks wielded.

In response to escalating violence at UCLA, the Los Angeles Police Department intervened at the university's request, addressing multiple incidents of aggression within the encampment.

Despite the turmoil, pro-Palestine demonstrators at UCLA remained steadfast, with reporter Rob Reynolds highlighting their resilience amid adversity.

Why are students protesting at US universities?

The surge in protests across US campuses followed heightened tensions after Hamas' attack on southern Israel on October 7 and the extended Israeli military campaign in Gaza, resulting in significant Palestinian casualties.

These recent protests gained momentum nearly two weeks prior, sparked by criticism of Columbia University President Minouche Shafik's testimony before a US congressional committee. Critics accused Shafik of prioritizing lawmakers' interests over those of the university's students.

Protesters demanded divestment from Israel and companies associated with the conflict, criticizing administrators for exploiting public safety concerns and weaponizing accusations of anti-Semitism to suppress dissent.

Arrests extended beyond New York, with 14 protesters detained at Tulane University in New Orleans, alongside arrests at the University of South Florida and the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

In Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass denounced the violence at UCLA as abhorrent and inexcusable. New York City Mayor Eric Adams defended the police crackdown, attributing the protests at Columbia University to individuals unaffiliated with the institution.
Former quality auditor at Boeing supplier, Spirit AeroSystems, and famous whistleblower Joshua Dean has died after being infected with a sudden, intensified lung infection. Spirit AeroSystems whistleblower Joshua Dean succumbs to intensified lung infection. REUTERS/Nick Oxford/File Photo(REUTERS)

The 45-year-old lived in Wichita, Kan., where Spirit is headquartered.

His aunt, Carol Parsons, is the one who confirmed his death, after he spent two weeks in a critical condition.

Josh's mother earlier shared updates on Facebook, saying he was fighting for his life and had even suffered a stroke, per The Seattle Times.

ALSO READ| Cops claim Boeing whistleblower, John Barnett's, death was 'self-inflicted but his lawyer cries foul

Spirit spokesperson Joe Buccino shared condolences: Our thoughts are with Josh Deans family. This sudden loss is stunning news here and for his loved ones.

In 2019, it was Josh who had the ball rolling by claiming that the 737 MAX series had been ignored in the case of crucial manufacturing defects by the Spirit leadership.

He testified in a shareholder lawsuit that was initiated against Spirit and lodged a complaint with the FAA. The Spirit fired him in April 2023, which then initiated the Department of Labor to charge Boeing for aviation safety concerns.

ALSO READ| A look at series of Boeing mishaps as whistleblower John Barnett's death sparks public outcry

Parson narrated that the whistleblower went through a downfall from hospitalization with breathing difficulties to ending up with an infectious lung condition and MRSA. However, the doctors had done all they could, including ECMO and dialysis, but his state was getting worse inevitably, and amputation was considered one of the options.

Parsons said, It was brutal what he went through, and Heartbreaking.

Barnett had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound

Another Boeing whistleblower, John Mitch Barnett, was found dead in March. Barnetts apparent suicide has spurred speculation.

Local police reported that he had a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Brian Knowles, Josh's lawyer, expressed, Whistleblowers are needed. They bring to light wrongdoing and corruption in the interests of society. It takes a lot of courage to stand up.

Its a difficult set of circumstances. Our thoughts now are with Johns family and Joshs family.

The Wichita native was a mechanical engineer, who identified severe defects in MAX production, including issues with the aft pressure bulkhead and tail fin fittings. He flagged the issue to FAA investigations.

After I was fired, Spirit AeroSystems [initially] did nothing to inform the FAA, and the public, he wrote in the FAA complaint.

ALSO READ| John Barnett death: Family says Boeing's hostile work environment led to suicide, He was suffering from PTSD

FAA replied, The investigation determined that your allegations were appropriately addressed under an FAA-approved safety program.

However, due to the privacy provisions of those programs, specific details cannot be released.

Following his termination, Josh briefly worked at Boeing Wichita before moving to another company.
Both anti and pro-Israeli protesters came together at University of Alabama on Wednesday, May 1, chanting fu** Joe Biden. A video posted by Maven Navarro, the editor-in-chief of University of Alabama's student-run publication The Crimson White, shows the two groups chanting together even as they are separated by roped barriers. Both anti and pro-Israeli demonstrators curse Joe Biden at University of Alabama (@MavenNavarro1/X)

Protest at University of Alabama

On Wednesday, May 1, a group of students at the University of Alabama gathered on campus to protest in solidarity with the people of Palestine. The protest was led by student organisers and the UA Leftist Collective. They reportedly protested the University's relationship with the Department of Defense and defense contractor Lockheed Martin.

"As students of the University of Alabama, we can no longer stand by in silent complicity as our institution funds a state-sponsored massacre of Palestinians," organisers said in a news release, according to WVTM 13.

"A 2022 audit revealed that the Board of the University of Alabama received $10.4 million that year in funding from the Department of Defense," the release added. "UA also has a very close relationship with Lockheed Martin, a defense contractor that has supplied Israel with fighter jets, Hellfire missiles, and other weapons that are currently being used to slaughter Palestinians. In 2018, UA received $15 million in stock from Marillyn Hewson, the then-CEO of Lockheed. UA is listed as a partner university of the company, and it allows Lockheed to hold recruiting events on campus."

Several students gathered at the university's Student Center Plaza, holding signs and chanting. "Both sides should be able to agree on a ceasefire," student Connor Todd said. "The killing needs to stop. Right now, there's not room for that type of dialogue between these two sides. They're partitioned and they're yelling at each other so I would say there is room but it's not exactly going to happen right here."
Kaitlan Collins, a CNN host and anchor, decried GOP Senator J.D. Vance over hypocrisy on Gaza protests on college campuses nationwide. During a live interview on Wednesday, Collins clashed with Vance, who is known for his pro-Trump stance, on the ex-President's immunity claim. When Collins, 32, queried the 39-year-old Republican over the Jan. 6 riots, he decried her for bringing up the subject, blaming the mainstream media for its obsession with the Capitol Attack. Kaitlan Collins clashes with J.D. Vance on CNN segment The Source(CNN)

CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins calls out Senator J.D. Vance over campus protests hypocrisy

During CNN's segment, The Source, Collins asked Vance about his views on pro-Palestine campus protests and the safety of students. My view on this is that Israels our ally, that we should support them, but you cant police people for being anti-Israel or pro-Israel. You can police people for violating the law, and we have seen some of that with some of these protests, he said.

However, Collins countered with, Okay. So you agree that people who break in and vandalize the building should be prosecuted? The senator agreed, saying, Exactly. She then brought up the subject of the Jan. 6 riots, highlighting how he supported pro-Trump rioters at the time.

Im just checking because you did help raise money for people who did so on January 6, which was impeding an official proceeding, breaking into a building that they werent allowed to be in and vandalizing the Capitol, she said.

However, Vance fumed at the subject and criticised her for bringing it up. I would disagree that its a media double standard, Collins countered before moving on to Trump's immunity claims amid the ongoing criminal trial in New York City. Do you share the view that presidents are basically above the law? She asked as they got into a lengthy, heated discussion.

Look, Kaitlan, I think we need to be careful about imputing words into the presidents attorneys that they didnt actually say, he reminded Collins, who said, He agreed with it.

What the presidents attorney said, Kaitlan, to be clear, is that there is a checks and balances, he said, adding, The presidents attorneys are saying that the constitutional checks and balances system system in our Constitution. However, Collins interjected with, Let me stop you right there.
I-95, the primary north-south highway along the East Coast, was shut down as a result of a fiery accident involving a car, a tractor-trailer, and a tanker truck carrying 8,500 gallons (about 32,000 litres) of gasoline. A gasoline truck that was travelling on I-95 erupted in flames in a horrific explosion, causing massive damage and forcing a complete closure of the highway in both directions. The fire, which sent flames and black smoke billowing into the air, destroyed the truck and damaged nearby properties. Connecticut highway in flames: Gasoline truck explosion causes major damage, closes I-95

Gas truck explodes on I-95 in Connecticut

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont assured that no major injuries or fatalities have been reported. However, the massive fire has wreaked havoc on traffic. Firefighters raced to the scene to put out the flames and assess the damage from the crash, which shut down the highway and raised questions about safety and the potential effects on the surrounding.

Also read: Stanford University alerts FBI about disturbing photo of Hamas-clad individual amid anti-Israel protests

The alert issued warning to drivers, passengers, truckers, and anyone else who uses the route on a daily basis to take a detour and look for an alternate route. If possible, travelers were urged to stay home while the fire was being contained. Text alerts were sent to people in Connecticut and New York, and U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has been notified of the situation.

I know what an incredible inconvenience this is for people and all I can ask you to do is stay away from that area as best you can, Connecticut Gov said in a statement, reported by AP. The traffic jams are horrendous.

Connecticut highway collision

Social media is now flooded with videos from the incident, as dozens of onlookers captured the harrowing scene on their cameras. The collision happened around 5:30 in the morning, News 8 Connecticut reported. The overpass was damaged in Thursday's crash, but according to Connecticut Department of Transportation Chief Engineer Scott Hill, it appears to be "stable and safe."

Also read: Columbia chaos: Wife of terrorist Sami Al-Arian spotted at protest site after outside agitators claim

"Gasoline can really heat up and heat the bridge up and cause the steel to deform," said Hill, stressing that the police investigation needs to be completed before the state can fully assess the damage. "Once we figure out everything thats associated with the safety of the traveling public and what we can and cant do, well provide more updates to you," he added to the statement.
Donald Trump has hailed the New York Police Department for successfully rounding up hundreds of anti-Israel protesters at New Yorks City College and Columbia University. New York was under siege last night, the former president said at a campaign rally in Wisconsin. He called the protesters raging lunatics and Hamas sympathizers. Donald Trump hails NYPD for dramatic Columbia University arrests (Photo by Alex Wroblewski / AFP)(AFP)

But the police came in and in exactly two hours everything was over, Trump said of the NYPDs response to protesters, according to New York Post. These demonstrators had erected an encampment on the CUNY campus, and also took over an academic building at Columbia illegally.

It was a beautiful thing to watch. New Yorks finest, Trump said.

Describing the chaotic scene, Trump said, You saw them go up and ladders, breaking the windows and getting in  and thats dangerous because you dont know whats on the other side of that window.

And they went in  they knocked it out  and they were incredible. They did a great job, he added.

The NYPD raided the two campuses and arrested around 300 protesters. The cops reportedly entered the campus after receiving a notice from Columbia authorising them to take action. Students were escorted off campus, some with their hands zip tied behind their backs and loaded on to law enforcement buses.

What did Columbia say?

Confirming that it reached out to police to take action, Columbia said in a statement, according to The Guardian, A little after 9 p.m. this evening, the NYPD arrived on campus at the Universitys request. This decision was made to restore safety and order to our community.

After the University learned overnight that Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalized, and blockaded, we were left with no choice. Columbia public safety personnel were forced out of the building, and a member of our facilities team was threatened. We will not risk the safety of our community or the potential for further escalation, the statement added. We made the decision, early in the morning, that this was a law enforcement matter, and that the NYPD were best positioned to determine and execute an appropriate response.
While 2024 US presidential elections will most likely witness a potential rematch between incumbent Joe Biden and GOP leader Donald Trump, the former President has revealed his plans in case he loses the White House race to the Democrat. On being asked if Biden defeats him a second straight time in November, Trump said: If everythings honest, Ill gladly accept the results. I dont change on that. If its not, you have to fight for the right of the country.(REUTERS)

After addressing a rally in Waukesha, Wisconsin, amidst his ongoing hush money trial, Trump spoke to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about concerns over the election's integrity.

Notably, the GOP leader campaigned in Wisconsin on a day off from his hush-money trial.

On being asked if Biden defeats him a second straight time in November, Trump said: If everythings honest, Ill gladly accept the results. I dont change on that. If its not, you have to fight for the right of the country.

Trump's remarks hinted that he will contest any outcome in which he is not the winner. His comments resembled his denial of the 2020 election claims, which he made in order to challenge Biden. On January 6, a crowd stormed the Capitol in protest of the election's certification, sparked by allegations of electoral fraud.

If you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore, the ex-US president warned the crowd on January 6.

Also Read: Donald Trump allowed to attend Barron's graduation after 'whining' about missing Melania's birthday

Trump repeats a lie about winning Wisconsin in 2020

During his Wednesday interview, Trump reiterated a lie, claiming that he had actually won Wisconsin in 2020.

Trump said, If you go back and look at all of the things that had been found out, it showed that I won the election in Wisconsin, adding that It also showed I won the election in other locations.

In 2020, Biden defeated Trump in Wisconsin by a narrow margin, receiving 1,630,866 votes to his 1,610,184. However, Trump emerged victorious in the 2016 elections.

Earlier this week, Trump also appeared in an interview with Time magazine and asserted that if he wins the presidential race, there won't be any political violence, but if we don't win, you know, it depends.

A look at Trump rallies amid break from hush money trial

Trump blasted Biden, the presiding judges, and the criminal and civil cases against him during his rallies in Wisconsin and Michigan.

These were the former president's first campaign rallies since the start of the hush money trial in New York.

He is charged with 34 counts of fabricating business documents to conceal hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels to stay quiet about Trump's extra-marital affair with her.
Indian-born Judge Amit Mehta, who immigrated to the United States with his family at the age of one, is playing a pivotal role in the high-stakes antitrust legal battle against Google. With a background steeped in legal expertise and a commitment to public service, Judge Mehta brings a wealth of experience to the courtroom. As the Google antitrust trial nears its conclusion, legal experts remain uncertain about Judge Mehta's eventual ruling.

Who is Judge Amit Mehta?

Graduating with honors from Georgetown University and the University of Virginia School of Law, Judge Mehta embarked on a career that spanned both public defense and private litigation. He spent five years as a public defender, representing individuals who couldn't afford legal counsel, before returning to private practice. His varied experiences, including his tenure as a partner at Zuckerman Spaeder, equipped him with a deep understanding of both criminal and civil law.

In 2014, Judge Mehta was appointed as a federal judge, a position that would soon thrust him into the national spotlight. Assigned randomly to the Google antitrust case in October 2020, Judge Mehta found himself at the center of one of the most significant legal battles against a tech giant since the Microsoft antitrust suit in the 1990s.

Throughout the trial, Judge Mehta has exhibited a keen intellect and a knack for injecting humor into the courtroom proceedings. Despite the gravity of the case, he has lightened the atmosphere with occasional jokes, earning praise from those in attendance.

The importance of Google's Anti-trust verdict

With closing arguments scheduled for Thursday and Friday, Judge Mehta is on the verge of delivering a landmark ruling that could shape the future of antitrust enforcement in the United States.

The case, brought forth by the Justice Department and a coalition of state attorneys general, alleges that Google unlawfully maintained a monopoly in internet search by engaging in anti-competitive practices.

What are the charges against Google

Google has been accused by the Justice Department and a coalition of state attorneys general, that the tech giant engaged in illegal practices to maintain its dominance in internet search. At the heart of the case lies Google's alleged payments of billions of dollars to secure its position as the default search engine on devices such as Apple and Samsung smartphones. Google argues that these payments were made to enhance consumer experience, while the government contends they were aimed at stifling competition.

Judge Mehta's ruling is expected to have far-reaching implications, setting a precedent for future antitrust cases against major tech companies like Amazon, Apple, and Meta. Throughout the trial, Judge Mehta has demonstrated a commitment to transparency, albeit with some initial missteps regarding access to court documents.

As the trial nears its conclusion, legal experts remain uncertain about Judge Mehta's eventual ruling. However, they emphasize his meticulous approach to evidence and adherence to legal precedents, suggesting that his decision will be thoroughly grounded in the facts presented during the trial.
Gypsy Rose Blanchard is back on social media, showing off her glam look in a TikTok post days after she decided to delete all social media platforms. The 32-year-old recently travelled to Los Angeles to promote a Lifetime series soon to be released  Gypsy Rose: Life After Lock Up. Gypsy Rose Blanchard shows off her blonde hair transformation and rhinoplasty (Gypsy Rose Blanchard/TikTok)

The new post on TikTok features Blanchards blonde hair transformation. She also showed off her recent rhinoplasty. She is seen donning a bright red blazer.

Another photo shows Blanchard posing with Alexis Oakley, her makeup artist. Her matching blazer and skort set is visible. Taylor Swifts Midnights track Bejeweled plays in the background. The post is captioned, Thank you @alexis oakley for the glam up.

(Gypsy Rose Blanchard/TikTok)

Before sharing her transformation, Blanchard shared another TikTok video where she was seen flaunting a hot pink midi bodycon dress with a couple of cutouts. She posed on a pier and looked up at the sky. Sabrina Carpenters hit Espresso can be heard playing in the background.

Gypsy Rose Blanchard reconciles with former fiance

Meanwhile, Blanchard is back with her former fiance Ken Urker after splitting from her husband of less than two years, Ryan Anderson. "After reconnecting earlier this month, we realized that our love for each other is simply undeniable, and life is too short to not take a chance," Blanchard told TMZ. "We have a history that made for the perfect foundation for a new beginning. We are together and in a wonderful place in our relationship. We know it is going to be a long road ahead but are excited for the future."

At the time of her divorce with Anderson, Blanchard wrote on Facebook, People have been asking what is going on in my life. Unfortunately my husband and I are going through a separation and I moved in with my parents home down the bayou. She filed for divorce after requesting a restraining order against Anderson.
Two seasoned NASA astronauts -- Indian-origin Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore -- are all set to make their way to space in Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, the first-ever spaceflight with humans set to launch next week. Butch Wilmore, 61, and Sunita Williams, 58, will fly to the space station for around a week in a bid "to test the Starliner spacecraft and its subsystems before NASA certifies the transportation system for rotational missions to the orbiting laboratory for the agency's Commercial Crew Program."(NASA)

According to NASA, the launch of United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and Boeing Starliner spacecraft is scheduled for 10:34 pm EDT Monday, May 6, from Florida's Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.



This historic liftoff will place the two atop the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket. There are a number of Starliner experiments scheduled over the next week, including a quick visit to the International Space Station (ISS).

Wilmore, 61, and Williams, 58, will fly to the space station for around a week in a bid "to test the Starliner spacecraft and its subsystems before NASA certifies the transportation system for rotational missions to the orbiting laboratory for the agency's Commercial Crew Program."

The duo said that they will be able to evaluate the spacecraft during its first crewed launch because of their experience as test pilots with the US Navy.

Both the veteran astronauts are known for NASA's space shuttle and Russia's Soyuz spacecraft programs and they have logged at least 11,000 hours of flight time, the majority of which was in high-performance aircraft. They have trained and supported other astronauts for decades, and completed lengthy stints as long-duration astronauts on previous ISS trips.

Starliner is scheduled to dock at the station's Harmony module's forward-facing port on Wednesday, May 8, at 12:48 am.

Also Read: How NASA scientists save Voyager 1, the farthest artificial object from Earth?

Sunita Williams to serve as mission pilot

William, who will pilot the mission, spoke to media personnel during a press conference that was aired live from NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

It almost feels unreal, she said, adding that We feel very safe and very comfortable when this spacecraft flies. This is where were supposed to be.

Williams' excitement is an outcome of having waited in line for a position on a commercial crew flight for almost ten years. In 2015, she was initially assigned to the relevant NASA program due to her experience in spacecraft development. Later in 2022, she was assigned to the Crew Flight Test (CFT) mission.

Butch Wilmore opens up about the mission

Wilmore was first chosen as a backup for the mission and has been in the program queue since at least 2019. In October 2020, he was transferred to the CFT prime crew, Space.com reported.

On being asked about using his piloting experience to the development of Starliner, Commander Barry "Butch" Wilmore said: That background of understanding test acquisition was required to certify various components ... [and] the vital importance of making sure that in an integrated fashion, everything works as planned. That's been invaluable for the process."

I don't think either one of us ever dreamed that we'd be associated with the first flight of a brand-new spacecraft, he said while expressing his joy ahead of the launch.

Know about the mission and what NASA has to say

Calling it a crucial milestone for NASA and Commercial Crew Program, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson asserted, We work to restore America's human spaceflight capabilities.

We're excited to see Starliner's first crewed flight test and look forward to a successful mission, he added.

Starliner spacecraft, which features a crew capsule that can complete up to 10 flights, has room for up to seven astronauts. Boeing's human spaceflight capabilities have advanced significantly with the vehicle's launch on the Atlas V rocket.

The successful completion of this mission will bring the Starliner one step closer to regularly delivering personnel to and from the ISS, therefore strengthening the United States' autonomy in space travel. This will also benefit SpaceX.

Following their arrival in the Florida spaceport on April 25, Wilmore and Williams have been placed under quarantine inside the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building.

They will stay at the orbiting laboratory for around seven days. The crew capsule will land in the southwestern United States, using an airbag and a parachute.
Tech mogul and Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, has been labelled a jew hater for voicing his support for the anti-Israel protesters who had occupied a building at Columbia University and criticizing the forceful eviction by law enforcement. Twitter Founder Jack Dorsey is facing backlash over posts supporting anti-Israel protesters.

What are Jack Dorsey's views on anti-Israel protests?

Dorsey shared posts critical of NYPD's handling of the situation, particularly focusing on the arrests made after protesters were removed from the building. Left-leaning podcaster Kyle Kulinsky's comparison of the Columbia protesters to those rallying against past wars received Dorsey's approval, with him commenting "Yes" in agreement.

Expressing concern over the NYPD's use of heavy machinery during the eviction, Dorsey commented with a post highlighting the militarization of local police forces and echoed sentiments, this has been all over the country for over a decade.

Dorsey's X feed features reposts of comments denouncing the police response, including remarks from journalist Simon Ateba, who described the US as "turning into a police state." He also liked a comment from journalist Caitlin Johnstone, sarcastically critiquing the hypothetical scenario if Trump had won the 2020 election.

While serving as CEO of fintech giant Square, Dorsey's activism on social and political issues continues to be evident, drawing attention to contentious events like the Columbia University protests.

An X User Laura Loomer said,  Go to hell Jew hater! Dorsey: Biggest Piece of shit on this planet is now simping for HAMAS. I told you he loved Islamic terrorists when I handcuffed myself to the front door of Twitter and asked why a Jew was banned when he let Islamic terrorists have accounts.

Manhattan Mingle stated on X, To think this man owned Twitter during an election cycle is frightening. Another wondered, "ack Dorsey has spoken in favor of the protestors. Could he and Zuckerburg also be funding this ?

However, a user with @spaghettiboyx69 as handle wondered,  Jack Dorsey made a little hint at who really runs the US (Jws). And now a federal investigation is being launched on his companies. Hmmm 
President Joe Biden is staying mum about student protests and police crackdowns as Republicans try to turn campus unrest over the war in Gaza into a campaign cudgel against Democrats. US President Joe Biden delivers remarks in the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington, US. (Reuters)

Tension at colleges and universities has been building for days as some demonstrators refuse to remove encampments and administrators turn to law enforcement to clear them by force, leading to clashes that have seized attention from politicians and the media.

But Biden's last public comment came more than a week ago, when he condemned antisemitic protests and those who dont understand whats going on with the Palestinians.

The White House, which has been peppered with questions by reporters, has gone only slightly further than the president. On Wednesday, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden is monitoring the situation closely," and she said some demonstrations had stepped over a line that separated free speech from unlawful behavior.

Forcibly taking over a building," such as what happened at Columbia University in New York, "is not peaceful," she said. "Its just not.

Biden has never been much for protesting. His career in elected office began as a county official when he was only 28 years old, and hes always espoused the political importance of compromise over zealousness.

As college campuses convulsed with anger over the Vietnam War in 1968, Biden was in law school at Syracuse University.

Im not big on flak jackets and tie-dyed shirts, he said years later. You know, thats not me.

Despite the White House's criticism and Biden's refusal to heed protesters' demands to cut off U.S. support for Israel, Republicans blame Democrats for the disorder and have used it as a backdrop for press conferences.

We need the president of the United States to speak to the issue and say this is wrong," House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said on Tuesday. "Whats happening on college campuses right now is wrong.

Johnson visited Columbia with other members of his caucus last week. House Republicans sparred with protesters while speaking to the media at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.

Former President Donald Trump, his party's presumptive nominee, also criticized Biden in an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News.

Biden has to do something, he said. Biden is supposed to be the voice of our country, and its certainly not much of a voice. Its a voice that nobodys heard.

He repeated his criticisms on Wednesday during a campaign event in Waukesha, Wisconsin.

The radical extremists and far-left agitators are terrorizing college campuses, as you possibly noticed," Trump said. And Bidens nowhere to be found. He hasnt said anything."

Kate Berner, who served as deputy communications director for Bidens campaign in 2020, said Republicans already tried the same tactic four years ago during protests over George Floyds murder by a police officer.

People rejected that, she said. They saw that it was just fearmongering. They saw that it wasnt based in reality.

Apart from condemning antisemitism, the White House has been reluctant to directly engage on the issue.

Jean-Pierre repeatedly deflected questions during a briefing on Monday.

Asked whether protesters should be disciplined by their schools, she said universities and colleges make their own decisions and "were not going to weigh in from here.

Pressed on whether police should be called in, she said that's up to the colleges and universities.

When quizzed about administrators rescheduling graduation ceremonies, she said that is a decision that they have to decide" and that is on them.

Biden will make his own visit to a college campus on May 19 when he's scheduled to deliver the commencement address at Morehouse University in Atlanta.
Krispy Kreme is back with another exciting offer for its loyal customers. On Monday, the American doughnut company unveiled its most generous rewards program yet. In a statement, the coffeehouse chain announced its decision to give out daily freebies to celebrate its latest program. As part of its newest offering, Krispy Kreme is handing out a dozen free glazed doughnuts to both new and existing reward members. Here's all you need to know about the deal. Krispy Kreme has announced its latest and 'most generous' Rewards Program(Krispy Kreme)

How to get free dozen donuts at Krispy Kreme?

Current reward members will receive freebies only on Tuesday, April 30, while new members who sign up between April 30 and May 11 will be eligible to score 12 free doughnuts. In addition to the free dozen doughnuts, members will also receive a dozen days of deals like free coffee and doughnuts through May 11.

Sweet member perks include-

one free doughnut for signing up a sweet birthday gift 2x points on anniversary exclusive app offers

Dave Skena, Global Chief Brand Officer for Krispy Kreme, said, While other brands seem to be making it harder on loyalty members, were making Krispy Kreme Rewards easier and even more generous.

We take a lot of pride in being generous to all our guests, and thats not changing. By becoming a Krispy Kreme Rewards member, youll experience even more sweetness, Skena added.

What is the new rewards program?

According to the Krispy Kreme statement, Rewards members will now earn 10 points for every $1 spent, and points can be redeemed for more items, including single, 3-pack, 6-pack and dozen doughnuts, as well as coffees and hot chocolate.

Rewards members will enjoy additional exclusive and personalized perks, including a free sweet treat on their birthday, opportunities to try limited-time products for free, and double points celebrating their anniversary month, the statement adds.
Latest text revelations between Michael Cohen and Keith Davidson on the hush money trial raise questions about whether Donald Trump cheated on his wife, Melania Trump. US president Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump and son Barron at the White House in Washington, DC on January 1, 2018.(AFP Photo)

Davidson ended up on the stand, riling over his act in facilitating the hush money paid to the former porn star Stormy Daniels.

Trump, who was charged with around 34 felony crimes for falsifying the business records to hide the situation related to Stormy Daniels, attended the trial, where prosecutors turned their spotlight to another Playboy model, Karen McDougal, claiming an affair.

The prosecutors asserted that the exchange of a wire transfer of $130,000 from Cohen to Davidson was one of the payments for the flight of Stormy Daniels as an attempt to defend the president. According to them, Trump illegally reimbursed Cohen and then called it lamented as a legal expense in the books.

Prosecutors contended that Trump tried to get Daniels to quiet in order to protect the integrity of his presidential campaign.

ALSO READ| Law firm defending Donald Trump seeks to withdraw from a yearslong case due to

Trump's hush money trial reveals expletive-laden texts

Davidson colluded with National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard and Trump's former attorney, Michael Cohen, in efforts to sell their stories.

Prosecutors presented a series of text messages wherein Davidson informed Howard of having a blockbuster Trump story. Howard expressed eagerness to pay Davidson more than ANYONE for it, hinting, You know why

Davidson stated it could be the final nail in the coffin for Trump's campaign.

Days later, Howard pressed, Did [Trump] cheat on Melania? to which Davidson initially responded, I really can't say yet.

Davidson admitted to knowing the details but was not prepared to discuss the details at this point. To which Howard texted back, Trump is f***er, and added, Wave the white flag. It's over people.

Davidson testified to a meeting involving himself, Howard, and McDougal, where McDougal purportedly detailed her alleged affair with Trump, where Howard could make an offer.

Connecting you both in regard to that business opportunity, Howard wrote. Spoke to the client this AM and they're confirmed to proceed with the opportunity. Thanks. Dylan.

ALSO READ| Watch Nancy Pelosi slam MSNBC anchor Katy Tur for being a Donald Trump apologist

By July 22, 2016, Davidson urged Howard to involve Michael Cohen, Trump's fixer at the time, in the dealings. Following the closure of the deal regarding McDougal's story, Davidson engaged with Cohen regarding Stormy Daniels' story, spurred by the fallout from the infamous Access Hollywood tape.

By October 2017, Davidson and Cohen reached an agreement, albeit with repeated delays in payment from Cohen, whom Davidson suspected Cohen was just trying to kick the can until the election.

Cohen eventually said, I'll just do it myself, though Davidson's assumption was it was actually funded by Trump.

Where is Melania?

These coincide with a period of noticeable absence from the public eye for Melania.

Trump himself acknowledged his wife's birthday while entering the courtroom, saying, It would be nice to be with her, but I'm in a courthouse for a rigged trial.
According to a recent development in campus encampment, the majority of individuals arrested during anti-Israel protests at Columbia University and City College were found to be non-students. This comes just a day after Mayor Eric Adams showed concerns over outside agitators influencing the crowd. In a separate report, the total number of arrests made in the ongoing chaos has now topped 2000. FILE - As light rain falls, New York City police officers take people into custody near the Columbia University campus in New York, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, after a building taken over by protesters earlier in the day was cleared, along with a tent encampment. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, File)(AP)

Columbia University arrests tops 282

Over two hundred and eighty-two people were arrested at Columbia University on Tuesday amid protests over the Israel-Palestine crisis. Students and faculty took over Hamilton Hall while police suspected outside agitators of aiding and abetting the crowd. According to law enforcement sources, of the total number of arrests made during the massive NYPD operation, 134 had no ties to either school.

What was given to me by my team, a preliminary review of the numbers, just the beginning process of analyzing, but it appears, though, that over 40% of those who participated in Columbia and CUNY were not from the school and they were outsiders, Mayor Adams gave a statement to media, a report by Post.

Total campus arrests in anti-Israel protests exceed 2000

According to a report by the Associated Press, more than 2,000 people have been arrested in protests on more than 35 campuses across the US amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine. Over the past weeks, there has been massive unrest at prestigious Ivy League and leading schools in America, where students and faculty have gathered in support of Palestine, urging colleges to divest from Israel. On Thursday morning, police in riot gear confronted anti-Israel demonstrators at UCLA, leading to several arrests and the removal of the demonstrators' camp shortly after 3:00 a.m.

Also read: Columbia chaos: Wife of terrorist Sami Al-Arian spotted at protest site after outside agitators claim

President Biden addresses anti-Israel protest

On Thursday, President Joe Biden addressed the ongoing situation on college campuses. While he defended the "right to protest," he also emphasised that "order must prevail" in light of the significant unrest across the country. It is against the law when violence occurs. Destroying property is not a peaceful protest, its against the law. Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations, none of this is a peaceful protest, the President said. Threatening people, intimidating people, instilling fear in people is not peaceful protest, it is against the law.

Also read: Joe Biden addresses anti-Israel protest across US campuses, avers 'dissent must never lead to disorder'
In a world of tough competition, it's undoubtedly not easy for an individual to grab a job opportunity despite having skills and talent. Knowing about the scenario, there are some people who are coming up with unique ways to impress the employers. Recently, a CEO took to social media to heap praises on a job applicant from New York for his unique internship application. Taking to X, Matthew Parkhurst, CEO of Antimetal, shared a story of a job seeker named David, who took an extra effort rather than just mailing in his application.(X@mprkhrst)

David wins CEO's praise as he submits his resume with pizza and a note

Taking to X on Wednesday, Matthew Parkhurst, CEO of Antimetal, shared a story of a job seeker named David, who took an extra effort rather than just mailing in his application. He visited the office and submitted his resume along with a pizza and a hand-written note. He conveyed his desire to become an engineering intern for the team and jokingly admitted that the pizza was a bribe to persuade the hiring team to look at his portfolio.

Hey Antimetal team, congrats on the recent launch. Inspired by Antimetals brief stint as slices as a service company, please enjoy this pizza. Ive also brought a copy of my resume as an application for the engineering intern position," the applicant wrote in his note.

Im super excited by the opportunity and am driven to do what it takes. PS: This is basically a bribe for you to go to my site. P.P.S. Ive made a small PR to fix some links in your docs, the note added.

After being impressed by David's initiative, Parkhurst lauded him for making his application stand out with an unconventional approach, adding that he is 100% getting an interview.

Another internship application - came to our office and dropped off a pizza with his resume Even pushed a PR to fix 2 links in our docs prior. 100% getting an interview, Parkhurst wrote on X, sharing the image of pizza, note and David's resume.

Also Read: French chefs break Guinness World Record with 1,001 Cheese variety pizza

Netizens hail Davids unique approach

Not just the company's CEO, even social media users were impressed by David's unique way for hunting a job interview, with some saying that he deserves a job.

Reacting to the post which has garnered over 445K views, one user wrote: "Nah this is not an interview this is an automatic job offer".

Parkhurst reacted to the comment, saying, "Theres more to filter on than just effort."

"You can always tell the likelihood a start-up will succeed by the quality of the interns," another user added.

"Im more impressed that they made sure to make their letter very clear and readable," a third chimed in, while the fourth wrote, "The fact he can write with pen and paper says a lot."

Meanwhile, one user wondered if offering pizza to a firm can help an applicant get a job. "Pizza? Instant hire".
New York authorities have successfully repatriated 30 stolen antiquities to Cambodia and Indonesia. The smuggled Shiva Triad(Manhattan District Attorney)

The artefacts, worth around $3 million, were involved in illicit trade facilitated by a network of American dealers and traffickers.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced the return of these cultural treasures.

We are continuing to investigate the wide-ranging trafficking networks that continue to target Southeast Asian antiquities. While we have made significant progress and have dismantled several prominent networks, there is clearly still much more work to do. These repatriation ceremonies show our continued commitment to protecting cultural heritage and returning stolen antiquities back home, Bragg said.

The returned collection includes 27 artefacts from Cambodias capital, Phnom Penh, and three from Indonesias Jakarta.

Among these are a bronze idol of the Hindu god Shiva, known as the Shiva Triad, which was illicitly removed from Cambodia, and a stone bas-relief depicting two royal figures from the Majapahit empire, dating back to the 13th-16th century, which was stolen from Indonesia.

ALSO READ| US cops shoot dead Wisconsin student outside school premises

Cambodia royal ambassador Keo Chhea said, Todays ceremony isnt just about returning lost treasures; its a renewal of commitment between nations to safeguard the soul of our shared heritage. This commitment, built on robust cooperation, is what makes today significant.

Cambodia and the United States are setting a global standard for protecting and repatriating cultural heritage. Through this united effort, we ensure the preservation of our collective past for future generations.

Who is the Indian-American smuggler?

Subhash Kapoor, an Indian-American art dealer, and Nancy Wiener, an American dealer, were specifically named by Bragg for their roles in the trafficking of these items.

Kapoor, who has been under investigation by U.S. justice authorities for over a decade in an operation named Hidden Idol, was arrested in Germany in 2011. He was extradited to India, where he faced trial and was sentenced in November 2022 to 13 years in prison for his crimes.

Despite Kapoors denial of the charges against him, the investigation into the broader network of antiquities trafficking continues.

ALSO READ| CNN's Kaitlan Collins grills GOP Sen. J.D. Vance over campus protests, Trump's immunity claim

Wiener, who was sentenced in 2021 for her involvement in the trafficking of stolen art, had attempted to sell the bronze Shiva. However, she later donated it to the Denver Museum of Art in Colorado in 2007. This piece was among those seized by New York courts in 2023.

Under Braggs watch, to date, nearly 1,200 items from over 25 countries, valued at more than $250 million, have been retrieved.
Over the past few days, local and country police forces have arrested hundreds of students during protests against the Israel-Hamas war across several US colleges and university campuses. Protesters are taken into custody as law enforcement dismantle an encampment by pro-Palestinian students at the University of Texas at Dallas' Chess Plaza on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Richardson. More than a dozen protesters were arrested. (Juan Figueroa/The Dallas Morning News via AP)(AP)

From April 18, to date, more than 1,500 students have been arrested in over 30 colleges across the country per CNNs calculated analysis.

Universities, including the University of California(UCLA), have cancelled classes at the main graduation ceremony, moved to remote classes, and prospected restrictions on campuses.

ALSO READ| After 282 arrests across US universities students refuse to capitulate, NYC mayor says those arrested are outsiders

Pro-Palestinian protests intensify across US campuses

Here are the 10 critical updates on where things stand now:

The University of California, Los Angeles, became a focal point of conflict when a pro-Palestinian protest escalated into violence, resulting in 15 injuries and hospitalization. UCLA cancelled several classes and opted for remote classes.

The New York Police Department (NYPD) has been actively arresting protesters, with incidents at Fordham University, Columbia University, and the City College of New York, totalling over 300 arrests. Police are staying at the campus.

On Wednesday, New York City officers finally managed to clear out a tent encampment at Fordham University.

The University of Wisconsin at Madison reported the arrest of 34 individuals, including several professors, during an anti-Gaza war protest that also left four officers injured.

Seventeen demonstrators were arrested for criminal trespassing at the University of Texas campus in Dallas.



ALSO READ| Columbia chaos: Wife of terrorist Sami Al-Arian spotted at protest site after outside agitators claim

Columbia chaos: Wife of terrorist Sami Al-Arian spotted at protest site after outside agitators claim Following Tuesday nights protests, 24 individuals, predominantly students, were taken into custody by the police at Northern Arizona University.

Students at Portland State University were still barricaded inside the library, trying to prolong the power-in and power-out situation they found themselves in two days earlier. The uni cancelled the classes for Wednesday.

The protests have led to the cancellation of commencements, a shift to remote classes, and restricted campus access, affecting the academic calendar.

Columbia University professors have rallied behind the student protesters, condemning the polices actions on campus. Professor Rashid Khalidi criticized the school leaders for their approach to handling the protests, stating they will go down in infamy.

Institutions like Brown and Northwestern have addressed protester demands by agreeing to consider divestment from companies engaged with Israel, showing a willingness to engage with student concerns.

UCLA vice-chancellor Mary Osako said she was sickened by the acts of violence.

ALSO READ| House passes Antisemitism Awareness Act to broaden definition of antisemitism amid campus protests

Louis Charbonneau, United Nations Director, said, There have been troubling reports of antisemitic incidents in and around Columbia Universitys campus.

Allegations of antisemitic acts and speech by individuals, as well as acts of Islamophobia and other forms of discrimination, should be investigated and addressed on the merits in a case-by-case basis, through fair and transparent processes.
With the Middle East spearheading some of the most ambitious infrastructure projects in the world, including the $500 billion NEOM city project, the upcoming International Geotechnical Innovation Conference (IGIC 2024) in Jeddah is set to attract over 400 delegates, including more than 30 industry-leading speakers.

To be held from May 6 to 7, the IGIC 2024 aims to foster the Middle East & Gulf regions ambitious growth plans, where tall buildings and skyscrapers form the core of its vision.

The conference aims to discuss best practices in optimizing the geotechnical aspects central to improving the design and construction of deep foundations, ground improvement and underground infrastructures, to enable safe, cost-effective and sustainable structures, said the organisers.

As a premier gathering in the field of geotechnical engineering, IGIC 2024 will feature two intensive workshops, eight keynote presentations, over ten insightful sessions, and five plus comprehensive case studies, making it an essential forum for professionals seeking to delve into the future of geotechnical engineering.

The forum further discusses the latest case studies from the regions biggest construction projects, recent metro projects, bridges, tunnels and city development works and delves into core areas including innovative soil improvement and deep foundation solutions, soil structure interactions, AI and advanced technology solutions in geotechnics.

The Chairman of IGIC 2024 Technical Advisory Committee Dr. Marwan Alzaylaie, Senior Manager of Geotechnical Engineering at the Dubai Development Authority said: "We are on the brink of a transformative era in geotechnical engineering. The International Geotechnical Innovation Conference offers a unique platform to exchange innovative ideas and advanced methodologies that can dramatically improve the effectiveness and sustainability of foundation projects."

"It's an opportunity for the global community to align on best practices and pioneering technologies that will define the future of our industry," he added.

The conference features a series of keynote presentation from world-renowned professionals in geotechnical engineering. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Rolf Katzenbach from the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany, will share insights on innovative foundation technologies for the foundation of high-rise buildings.

Prof. Robert Liang from the University of Dayton, USA, will discuss advancing data-driven site characterization techniques in the age of Artificial Intelligence. Additionally, Dr. Rod Eddies of Fugro will bridge the gap between academic research and practical applications, emphasizing solutions to common industry challenges.

The expertise extends with Prof. Jie Han from the University of Kansas, USA, known for his work on geosynthetics and reinforced soil systems, and Prof. Deepankar Choudhury from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, an expert in earthquake geotechnical engineering.

According to the organisers, IGIC 2024 will not only serve as a hub for knowledge exchange but also feature an exhibition showcasing cutting-edge technologies and solutions in geotechnical engineering.

This gathering is a must-attend for engineers, project owners, development authorities, and academics aiming to stay at the forefront of industry advancements.

Strategic partners of the event include International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE), International Geosynthetics Society and Geo-Institute, Deep Foundation Institute, Society of Engineers  UAE among other prestigious institutions globally.

A major global event, IGIC 2024 has the backing of leading solution providers in geotechnical engineering such as Fugro, Gulf Consult, Geoharbour, and Soil Improvement Contracting Company among plethora of other contractors, equipment and service providers, ensuring a rich collaboration of ideas and innovations.-TradeArabia News Service
Law enforcement officers have reportedly pushed into the University of California, Los Angeles encampment site, going through Royce Hall, in an attempt to control the anti-Israel demonstrations. CNN reported that members of law enforcement also appeared to fire rubber bullets. Police push into UCLA campus, detain dozens on pro-Palestinian protesters (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)(AP)

California Highway Patrol officers on Thursday, May 2, detained dozens of protesters who were trying to reinforce the barricade while cops in protective gear attempted to break it. Detained protesters were taken to buses staged in a parking lot by police.

Officials initially tore down the barricades outside the UCLA encampment. Officers from the California Highway Patrols special operations unit were seen in police riot gear with helmets, gas masks, zip ties. Before entering the campus, they were seen getting their batons ready. Some protesters were seen kneeling down, their arms zip-tied behind their backs while being arrested.

What is UCLA saying?

UCLA previously issued a safety alert asking students to avoid Dickson Plaza, the area where the pro-Palestinian demonstrators had set up an encampment. Police have ordered an evacuation of Dickson Plaza due to an unlawful assembly. DO NOT re-enter the area of Dickson Plaza & follow the direction of public safety personnel, the alert stated, adding that UCLA has declared the encampment and all unauthorized tents and structures in Dickson Plaza to be unlawful.

If you fail to leave and remain present in the encampment or unauthorized tents or structures in Dickson Plaza, regardless of your purpose for remaining, you will be in violation of the law and those who choose to remain could face sanctions. For students, those sanctions could include disciplinary measures such as interim suspension that, after proper due process through the student conduct process, could lead to dismissal. Faculty disciplinary actions would be handled through Senate judiciary committees and Academic Affairs and Personnel, and staff employee disciplinary actions would be handled through Human Resources. Please leave the area immediately, the alert added.
After King Charles resumed his royal duties this week, Queen Camilla revealed that she had been "trying to hold" the monarch back amid his ongoing cancer treatment. Britain's King Charles III and Britain's Queen Camilla arrive to visit the University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre in London on April 30, 2024. Charles is making his first official public appearance since being diagnosed with cancer, after doctors said they were "very encouraged" by the progress of his treatment. (AFP)

Speaking to Chairman of In Kind Direct Teresa Tideman, the Queen stressed on King's dedication towards his work and said he was thrilled to resume his duties on Tuesday.

On being asked about Charles's feelings over the past few months, she said: I've been trying to hold him back.

The 75-year-old monarch returned to work after doctors declared progress in his health following his cancer diagnosis in February.

As Charles has been an advocate of Macmillan Cancer Support at University College Hospital for more than 20 years, he first visited a treatment facility in London on Tuesday. The Queen accompanied the King as she serves as head of the cancer support organisation Maggie's. During their visit, the royal duo met with patients and personnel at the oncology center.

According to royal experts, King is expected to increase awareness about the importance of early diagnosis of cancer after his return to the royal duties.

King Charles gives powerful message

King Charles III, who has always considered Kate Middleton a priceless gem of the royal family and once called her his cherished daughter-in-law, sent a poignant letter to those diagnosed with cancer, including Catherine. The Princess of Wales,42, is undergoing preventative chemotherapy.

In a joint statement, the royal family and Macmillan Cancer gave a message to friends and colleagues resuming the work after a cancer diagnosis "As His Majesty The King returns to public-facing duties, we know many people with cancer will understand that choosing to return to work can be a complex decision and can mean very different things to different people."

Also Read: Will Prince Harry ditch much-awaited reunion with King Charles due to toxic Meghan Markle?

Its important to understand some people may still be going through treatment and are still dealing with its side effects. They may require adjustments at work, the statement read, adding that resuming work can help people to get back into a routine and reconnect with their colleagues and friends.

Earlier, Buckingham Palace in a message to Princess Kate and other cancer patients, stated: "Wishing the very best to all those continuing cancer treatment on their path to recovery."

As Kate recovers from her cancer treatment, royal experts believe the King's message must be motivating for the future Queen to make a strong comeback to her royal duties.
Multiple alarming situations have been transpiring at prominent American universities, and Stanford University is no exception. Following the uproar that ensued at Columbia University, where the anti-Israel protestors took over Hamilton Hall, Stanford University officials have alerted the FBI about an unsettling photograph of a person donning a green headband, typically associated with Hamas terrorists, on campus premises. Like many other universities, Stanford officials are constantly dealing with encampments in the White Plaza area of the Northern California college. Protesters reinforce the barricades set up against one of the doors of Royce Hall as police started clearing a pro-Palestinian encampment on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in Los Angeles, California, early on May 2, 2024. Hundreds of police tore down protest barricades and began arresting students early Thursday at the University of California, Los Angeles - the latest flashpoint in an eruption of protest on US campuses over Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza. (Photo by ETIENNE LAURENT / AFP)(AFP)

Stanford University reports photo of Hamas-Clad individual

Amid reports of outside agitators heavily involved in America's student protests advocating for 'free Palestine' and 'divesting from Israel' during the ongoing Gaza conflict, school administrators were alarmed when they came across a photo of an individual wearing a green headband, with their face covered by a mask and glasses. This discovery led the administrators to immediately send these photos to the FBI.

Protestors on these campuses have masked their faces to avoid being identified. Police officials have said that they are on their way to track down and arrest protesters who are not members of the campus. We have received many expressions of concern about a photo circulating on social media of an individual on White Plaza who appeared to be wearing a green headband similar to those worn by members of Hamas," the school released a statement on Wednesday, report via Fox News.

Also read: Harvey Weinstein appears in court handcuffed, wearing new suit; to face retrial after rape conviction overturned

We find this deeply disturbing, as Hamas is designated a terrorist organization by the United States government. We have not been able to identify the individual but have forwarded the photo to the FBI." The statement further stresses Hamas's involvement in the protest.

Stanford to take disciplinary action against protesters

As the matter continues to escalate, Stanford's President and Provost on Monday released a letter warning disciplinary action against those violating campus rules. In response, protest organizers criticized Stanford's handling, claiming unfair treatment of Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, and anti-Zionist Jewish students.

Meanwhile, a letter issued to Stanford on Monday urged the authorities to take a stronger stand against antisemitic behaviour, citing actions taken by other universities like Columbia. A letter signed by over 28,000 people, including Jewish students, called for actions and referenced a photo sent to the FBI in connection with the protests according to the news outlet.

Also read: Columbia chaos: Wife of terrorist Sami Al-Arian spotted at protest site after outside agitators claim

Terrorist Sami Al-Arians wife spotted at Columbia Campus

Earlier, convicted terrorist Sami Al-Arian's wife, Nahla, was seen camping at one of the Ivy League campuses, and photos of her went viral on social media. Additionally, the former college professor, convicted of terrorism-related charges, proudly mentioned his wife's presence at the campus encampment where an anti-Israel protest is underway.
In a harrowing incident at a Wisconsin middle school, police shot and killed a student outside Mount Horeb Middle School on Wednesday. The officers were responding to reports of someone with a weapon. People gather at a site designated for parent and student reunifications following a report of a armed person outside Mount Horeb Middle School in Mount Horeb, Wis., Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)(AP)

State Attorney General Josh Kaul provided the first law enforcement briefing on the matter stating after the reports school children were sent home and hours long lockdown was in place during the incident.

Despite initial reports of an active shooter, authorities clarified that the student, identified as a juvenile male, was "neutralized" outside the school premises and never gained entry. Kaul emphasized that no one else was harmed in the incident, and investigations are ongoing to ascertain the details surrounding the shooting.

Also Read: Goldy Brar not killed: US police on rumours of Sidhu Moosewala murder suspect

The lockdown of local schools ensued for hours as police remained on the scene, maintaining a cautious approach. Meanwhile, anxious parents endured an agonizing wait for updates, with children recounting scenes of chaos and fear within the school premises.

For 12-year-old Max Kelly and his classmates, the routine practice session in the school gym quickly turned into a frenzied escape upon hearing gunshots. Their teacher's swift action guided them to safety, seeking refuge in a nearby convenience store until reunited with their families.

Also Read: Over 1500 protesters arrested across 30 US campuses in 1 month: 10 pt update

The Mount Horeb Area School District utilized social media platforms to keep the community informed, assuring that the immediate threat was neutralized and no additional suspects were reported within the school. However, the traumatic experience left parents grappling with the grim reality that school safety is no longer a guarantee.

As law enforcement continued their investigations, parents like Shannon Hurd and Stacy Smith anxiously awaited the safe return of their children, grappling with the shock and disbelief of the incident unfolding in their close-knit community.

Superintendent Steve Salerno underscored the importance of recent security upgrades in averting a potential catastrophe, highlighting the vigilance of students in reporting suspicious activity. The incident serves as a stark reminder of the pervasive threat of violence that educators and families confront in today's society.

Mount Horeb, known for its quaint charm as the "troll capital of the world," now grapples with the aftermath of a tragedy that shattered its peaceful facade, leaving a community in mourning and seeking solace amidst uncertainty.
The Antisemitism Awareness Act has passed through the US House of Representatives to broaden the definition of antisemitism in the national discourse amid the unrest at campuses. U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) speaks during a press conference outside of Columbia University on April 22, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by David Dee Delgado / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)(Getty Images via AFP)

Led by Representatives Mike Lawler and Josh Gottheimer and backed by a bipartisan coalition, the bill garnered a 320-91 vote in favour.

In every generation, the Jewish people have been scapegoated, harassed, evicted from their homeland and murdered, Lawler said.

ALSO READ| House passes Antisemitism Awareness Act to broaden definition of antisemitism amid campus protests

About Antisemitism Awareness Act

The Antisemitism Awareness Act which was unanimously endorsed by both parties in October last year has gained even more importance after the deadly Hamas attack that has triggered reports of antisemitism across US universities. The Act requires the Department of Education to adopt the definition of antisemitism given in the resolution on the Holocaust.

Antisemitism definition says, it is a certain perception of Jews which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. It goes on to define examples of antisemitism and some of the heated rhetoric hard on college campuses of late would be included.

The new definition will incorporate denying the Jewish self-determination to their ancestral homeland of Israel."

Under the new act colleges that fail to protect Jewish students could face civil rights enforcement.

ALSO READ| Over 1500 protesters arrested across 30 US campuses in just a month. Here are 10 points where things stand now

However, some Democratic lawmakers, including Rep. Jerry Nadler, raised objections to the bill, expressing concerns that it could stifle constitutionally-protected free speech that includes criticism of Israel

ALSO READ| After 282 arrests across US universities students refuse to capitulate, NYC mayor says those arrested are outsiders

Nadler, who is Jewish, highlighted the bill's potential bias towards a singular definition of antisemitism, stating it could chill legitimate discourse.

The antisemitism has spurred in light of the situations on almost 30 campuses with shots related to the case of the Gaza region.
Amidst widespread wave of pro-Palestine protests in American universities, an Iranian professor called anti-Israel demonstrators our people, claiming that they would support Iran in its war with the United States. Before going back to Iran, Foad Izadi earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Houston, and completed his PhD at Louisiana State University.(X)

In an interview with Iranian state TV station IRIB Ofogh on April 26, Tehran University Professor Foad Izadi said, These are our [American students] are people. And if tensions between America and Iran rise tomorrow or the day after, these are the people who will have to take to the streets to support Iran.

According to Izadi, Iran could witness more damage than Lebanon, where Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah has caused mayhem for nearly 10 years.

"Personally, I think that the potential to repeat in the US what Iran did in Lebanon is much higher," he asserted, claiming, "Our Hezbollah-style groups in America are much larger than what we have in Lebanon."

Calling the US the Great Satan, he said it is our main enemy, but we have hope in these areas.

He went on to say that America's support for the Zionist regime will gradually decline, stressing that it might not stop completely, but its diminishing is important.

The University of Tehran professor further credited Iran for keeping the Palestinian idea alive. We are watching the demonstrations, he added.

Also Read: Over 1500 protesters arrested across 30 US campuses in just a month. Here are 10 points where things stand now

Iran offers free tuition to US students expelled for participating in anti-Israel protest

After the Iranian professor called protesting US students "our people", one of the institutions at the Islamic State has come out to offer them free tuition.

Mohammad Moazzeni, the president of Shiraz University, which is situated in Fars' southern area, gave the scholarship offer. He appeared on a state-run television and talked about the recent wave of protests that have rocked American college campuses.

Students and even professors who have been expelled or threatened with expulsion can continue their studies at Shiraz University and I think that other universities in Shiraz, as well as Fars Province, are also prepared, Moazzeni said.

Who is Foad Izadi?

Before going back to Iran, Izadi earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Houston, and completed his PhD at Louisiana State University.

He completed a "research project examining the recent US public diplomacy objectives and methods in Iran" during his externship at the USC Center on Public Diplomacy, according to Daily Mail.

He was honored with an award at Houston for his paper A Discourse Analysis of American Newspaper Editorials: The Case of Iran's Nuclear Program.

Izadi regularly shares pictures and videos of protests taking place at American universities. He has expressed his staunch support for the protesters, blasting police and the Biden administration.

After the US Congress passed a bill providing Israel with billions of dollars in military aid, he wrote in a post on April 20, The child-killing Prime Minister of the Zionist regime: Financial support for Israel is defense of Western civilization.

It really is the same. The end of western civilization is the same crime that you see in Gaza.

Iran's offer to students protesting at US universities coincides with the NYPD's large operation to arrest over 280 anti-Israel protestors at campuses of Columbia University and City of New York, which Mayor Eric Adams attributed to "outside agitators" seeking to radicalize students.
Joshua Dean, a Boeing whistleblower who accused the world's largest aerospace company's supplier of ignoring defects in the manufacturing of the 737 MAX, died due to a sudden illness, according to his family members. Joshua Dean was an ex-employee of Spirit AeroSystems, aircraft manufacturer that produces crucial components, such as the fuselage for Boeing.(Facebook/Carol Dean Parsons)

He was declared dead on Tuesday, May 30, nearly two months after the shocking death of Boeing whistleblower John Barnett. The 62-year-old Barnett was found dead due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound, as per South Carolina authorities.

Who was Joshua Dean?

Joshua Dean was an ex-employee of Spirit AeroSystems, aircraft manufacturer that produces crucial components, such as the fuselage for Boeing. According to him, he was fired in retaliation for pointing out the company's inadequate standards at its manufacturing facility in Wichita, Kansas.

He started working at Spirit in 2019 after completing his graduation in mechanical engineering. However, he lost his job in 2020 due to COVID-related layoffs. Luckily, he got back his job the following year as Spirit hired him as a quality auditor.

The 45-year-old was a resident of Wichita, Kansas, where Spirit is located.

Dean's aunt Carol Parsol said that he unexpectedly got unwell and was taken to a hospital after experiencing respiratory difficulties two weeks ago.

He contracted MRSA, a serious bacterial infection, and pneumonia. He required continuous intubation during his hospital stay in Oklahoma City.

According to reports, his health declined rapidly and he was placed on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine, a kind of life support. He was also on dialysis and given a lot of medication.

Dean's mother posted on social media that a CT scan revealed he may have had a stroke while he was "fighting for his life" in the hospital.

Calling his death heartbreaking, Dean's aunt said: It was brutal what he went through.

Meanwhile, his attorney Brian Knowles termed his demise as a loss to the aviation community and the flying public," adding that he always stood up for what he felt was right and voiced concerns over safety and quality issues.

Aviation companies should encourage and incentivise those that do raise these concerns. Otherwise, safety and quality are truly not these companies top priorities, Knowles told Al Jazeera.

Also Read: A look at series of Boeing mishaps as whistleblower John Barnett's death sparks public outcry

What did he accuse Boeing of?

Dean claimed to have discovered a significant production flaw in Spirit-built 737 MAX parts during an examination in 2022. He even brought up the issue with the highest levels of management, but alleged that nobody paid attention to the problem.

He was fired in April 2023 on accusation of failing to identify another issue that resulted in a delivery halt for the company.

A few months after his departure, Spirit discovered a significant problem with the way 737 MAXs were manufactured. This was the same issue that Dean had originally brought to the firm's attention prior to his dismissal.

Dean then launched a safety complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration, alleging a manufacturing fault that Spirit had initially concealed to the FAA.

After I was fired, Spirit AeroSystems [initially] did nothing to inform the FAA, and the public, about their knowledge of the aft pressure bulkhead defects", he wrote in his complaint.

In response to a lawsuit filed by Spirit stockholders, Dean claimed that the Kansas plant had "excessive" flaws.

He also lodged an aviation whistleblower case with the Department of Labor, claiming wrongful firing and "gross misconduct of senior level Spirit AeroSystems Quality Managers", reported The Seattle Times.

Speaking to NPR in January, he said: "I think they were sending out a message to anybody else. If you are too loud, we will silence you."

A Spirit representative told NPR that the accusations levelled against the company are being contested in court and that they vehemently dismiss these allegations.

On learning about Dean's death, Spirit spokesperson Joe Buccino in a condolences message said: "Our thoughts are with Josh Deans family. This sudden loss is stunning news here and for his loved ones."

Spirit AeroSystems came under fire since it emerged that the company manufactured the door panel that burst off a 737 MAX 9 in midair in January.

Concerns over safety standards at Boeing have been raised in the wake of several tragedies, including the near-disaster involving Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, which is currently the focus of many investigations.
Tensions are boiling over at college campuses across the country as police move in to break up protest encampments, clear out occupied buildings, and make arrests. The demonstrations have turned violent at some schools, with clashes erupting between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli demonstrators. Law enforcement officers take position before entering the pro-Palestinian protest encampment at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), as the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas continues(REUTERS)

At campuses from New York to Dallas and Washington, DC, demonstrators are demanding schools sever financial ties to Israel and grant amnesty to students for rule breaking, among other goals. The showdowns have sparked recriminations and support from politicians, faculty and billionaire donors.

With commencement quickly approaching, the pressure on administrators is on. Their strategies have varied from heavy handed to hands-off. Heres a look at the latest developments at several institutions across the country.

Fordham University: On Wednesday morning, dozens of protesters pushed their way into the Lincoln Center campus and set up tents. After repeated warnings, the NYPD arrested 15 people for trespassing and cleared out the encampment.

California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt: Police arrested about 35 people, including students and professors, who had taken over two buildings. The school on Wednesday announced the campus will remain closed through at least the end of the semester and that a modified graduation ceremony will be held at an off-campus location.

University of California at Los Angeles: UCLA suspended classes on Wednesday after early morning unrest at a pro-Palestinian encampment, according to the Los Angeles Times. The newspaper said a group of counter-demonstrators tried to tear down the barricades surrounding the protest area. Pro-Palestinian protesters later used pepper spray on those demonstrators, it said.

City College of New York: The college is moving to remote learning, after New York police descended on the campus late Tuesday night, clearing an encampment and arresting more than 160 people.

Columbia University: Police officers entered the campus Tuesday, breaking up an escalating protest and arresting more than 100 demonstrators, some of whom had barricaded themselves in a building. Columbia President Minouche Shafik said she asked police to maintain a campus presence through at least May 17, two days after graduation.

Tufts University: After the school issued a no trespass order to students at an encampment, President Sunil Kumar was scheduled to meet with protesters on Wednesday, the Tufts Daily newspaper reported.

Yale University: On Tuesday morning, officers from Yale and New Haven evacuated the pro-Palestine protest site at Campus Cross, according to Yale Daily News. Police were able to clear the encampment without arrests, though protesters vowed to return.

Brown University: Protesters at the Ivy League school agreed to dismantle their encampment after striking a deal that allows them to present their divestment proposal to the universitys governing body. The administration agreed that protesting students wont be subject to suspension or expulsion.

Princeton University: Thirteen people were arrested on Monday after hundreds of students took over a university building and erected barricades. Protesters surrounded the bus carrying the arrested students until they were released.

George Washington University: One week into the campus demonstrations, lawmaker visited the site, including House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, who said Congress will do everything in its power to restore law and order.

University of Texas - Dallas: More than a dozen protesters were arrested on Wednesday afternoon after law enforcement broke up an encampment that pro-Palestinian students set up in the early morning hours, where hundreds of people had gathered, according to the Dallas Morning News.

Harvard University: Administrators havent sought to clear out an encampment on Harvard Yard, instead threatening sanctions and restricting access, according to the Harvard Crimson. Final exams initially scheduled for Harvard Hall are being relocated outside Harvard Yard.
In an ideal world, bad ideas would fade into irrelevance. In Britains ruling Conservative Party, they have a good chance of becoming official policy. Divorce the countrys largest trading partner ? Sure. Send asylum-seekers to Africa? Lets do it. Now there is momentum behind another scheme: leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

The ECHR is a set of individual rights and freedoms that Britain was the first country to sign up to after the Second World War. For chunks of the Tory party, the ECHR has long been an irritant; now it is an affront. In 2022 the court that enforces it blocked flights deporting asylum-seekers to Rwanda; this week Parliament passed a through-the-looking-glass law designating Rwanda a safe country and allowing ministers to ignore similar injunctions. Rishi Sunak, the prime minister, warned that no foreign court would stop the Rwanda scheme from getting off the ground. Leaving the ECHR will almost certainly be a litmus test for leadership candidates if Mr Sunak is turfed out at the next election.

For more on Britons voting intentions, see our poll tracker, updated daily

The court, based in Strasbourg, is almost certain to be contentious. Laws based on rights lend themselves to wide-ranging judgments that can stray into politics. In April it ruled that Switzerlands failure to combat climate change had violated the right to privacy and family life of a group of elderly women. The right to privacy was cited in an influential ECHR ruling in 2002 that let a British trans woman change her birth certificate. The court is also opaque; until recently, judges could issue emergency injunctions without being named.

But none of this adds up to a compelling argument for walking out of the ECHR. First, on the narrow issue of asylum, the judges in Strasbourg were backed up by Britains highest domestic court, which said last year that Rwanda was unsafe. That judgment was based on a myriad of international agreements and laws (indeed, a fairer target for Tory ire may be the Geneva Convention, which tells countries who should be granted asylum). The problem of illegal migration into Britain is compounded by domestic dysfunction. The country grants a higher proportion of asylum requests than either France or Germany and takes so long to process them that many asylum-seekers can disappear into the crowds in the meantime. The ECHR is a useful scapegoat for a complex problem.

Second, the costs of leaving are clearer than the benefits. Withdrawal from the ECHR would bear no comparison with Brexit in terms of its impact, but it would suck up time and energy for little obvious reward. Adherence to the convention is sewn into the Good Friday Agreement, the deal struck in 1998 to end 30 years of sectarian strife in Northern Ireland, and into the post-Brexit trade agreement with the European Union. It would also send another bad signal about Britain to the wider world. It is axiomatic that international obligations impose constraints on national governments. A mid-size, open economy whose appeal rests on the rule of law does not want a reputation for resiling from agreements it does not much like.

That is especially true when reform is an optionthe third argument for staying in. The court can be pragmatic: recent changes to the rules about judges anonymity, along with much tougher criteria for issuing emergency injunctions, owed much to pressure from Britain. The Swiss climate judgment was less sweeping than it might seem. The court can also be reformed. Since 1951 its members have agreed on 16 amending protocols; one was introduced by Britain in 2013 and underlined that national authorities are often better placed to make decisions. Tory hardliners seem wholly uninterested in changing things from within.

Given its commanding lead in the polls, the position of the Labour Party matters more in the short term than that of the Tory Partyand Labour has no plans to quit the ECHR if it wins the election. But the trajectory of the Conservatives, one of Britains two big parties, is not some minor detail. If leaving the ECHR becomes the Tories settled position, it will show that quixotic pursuits matter more to them than the countrys pressing problems. And another bad idea will be further advanced on the path to becoming policy.



 2023, The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on www.economist.com




The NYPD has issued a public warning amid a crime spike in New York's iconic Central Park.

In an update shared on the NYPD X account, law enforcement revealed a 350% increase in reported robberies thus far in comparison to the same period last year.

Most of the robberies occur during the evening and usually target electronics, including phones and expensive headphones, said NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey.

Grand larcenies have also skyrocketed, with 12 reported incidents in the first four months of this year versus eight reported in the first four months of last year.

"This is one of the most iconic locations in NYC; it's heavily used; all types of events happen here; and with that, we have an obligation to make sure the community knows what's going on. This helps us increase public safety," added Maddrey.

Police have ramped up patrols in Central Park and are working diligently with the community to help spread awareness.

In a collective effort to mitigate crime, they've also extended deployment out of the park, utilizing four area precincts in addition to the Central Park Precinct.

"We're using all resources available in the NYPD to address this. We've increased camera surveillance. We're also utilizing our auxiliaries on weekends to address the condition here in the park," Assistant Chief Ruel Stephenson, Manhattan North's commanding officer, said.

"Rest assured, all potential park-goers should feel safe using the park."

Officials announced an arrest was made early Tuesday, where a Bronx man was charged in an alleged sexually motivated robbery on April 25, reported NBC New York.

Cops also continue to look for three men on scooters who they claim stole two phones from a tourist after showing a handgun with a laser.

The trio is believed to be responsible for at least nine more incidents in northern Queens, while similar thefts have been reported throughout Manhattan North and South.

Park-goers are advised to stay vigilant and to contact the Central Park Precinct for help.
The family of Elijah Vue is pleading for his mother to remain in police custody as the search for the missing 3-year-old continues to drag on more than two months after he was last seen alive.

Katrina Baur, 31, has been charged with child neglect in connection with Elijah's mysterious Feb. 20 disappearance, according to authorities.

She pleaded not guilty.

Baur allegedly told investigators she dropped her son off at 39-year-old boyfriend Jesse Vang's apartment on Feb. 12 because she wanted the toddler to "be a man," WBAY-TV previously reported, citing the criminal complaint. She claimed she hadn't seen her son since.

Baur alleged Vang "was the enforcer of rules in the relationship, and that was the reason for sending [Elijah] to stay" with him. She said she planned to pick Elijah up on Feb. 23.

On Feb. 20, Vang called police to report him missing.

"Until we find out where Elijah is or what happened to Elijah, her whereabouts and availability needs to be known at all times," Elijah's uncle, Orson Vue, said during Baur's bond hearing Tuesday, WGBA-TV reported. "There truly is a concern from everyone, especially our family, that she will be a flight risk."

"She is the mother of Elijah and is the main reason for all of this that has happened. Katrina needs to be found fully accountable for a lack of care for Elijah," Orson testified, according to The Independent.

"She has allowed Elijah to suffer abuse and neglect. Seeing her baby all bruised up and not doing anything to help him, instead taking a picture and then deleting it is absolutely disgusting," he continued.

Baur's defense attorney, Ann Larson, asked the judge to reduce her client's $15,000 bond to a signature bond, which would allow for Elijah's mother to be freed until her next court date. The judge denied the motion and remanded Baur back to jail.

She is due back in court May 28.

Vang also remains in custody on similar charges.
The New York Police Department threatened to arrest several members of the Columbia Journalism School faculty - including Dean Jelani Cobb - while they sheltered in the university's Pulitzer Hall, as police raided Hamilton Hall and arrested individuals occupying the academic building.

The NYPD's threat to arrest was first reported by Columbia student journalists, who were reporting on the police raid for the student radio station WKCR.

The students alleged that they received an email from the university administration, advising that they shelter in place at 8:18 p.m. but were given no guidance on where to go. Though they were Columbia students, they did not live on campus and were unable to access dormitories in which they did not reside.

The NYPD entered the Columbia campus at the request of university President Minouche Shafik, who asked that law enforcement remain until May 17 - two days after the university's scheduled commencement date. This was in response to protestors - at least some of whom are Columbia students, threatened with expulsion - allegedly sneaking into Hamilton Hall after hours and taking control of the building.

"Protesters chose to escalate to an alarming and untenable situation - including by vandalizing property, breaking doors and windows, blockading entrances and forcing our facilities and public safety workers out" university spokesperson Ben Chang said in a Tuesday evening statement.

"We are responding appropriately as we have long made clear we would. The safety of our community, especially our students, remains our top priority."

By 10:26 p.m., the WCKR reporters were sheltering inside Pulitzer Hall with members of the journalism school faculty - including Cobb, a staff writer for the New Yorker. The Columbia students allege that the police told them if they exited the building they would be arrested. This was confirmed by journalism school employees.

"Dean Jelani Cobb was in Pulitzer Hall, supporting the free practice of journalism, when the NYPD entered campus," Cobb's Chief of Staff Daniel Rivero told HNGN in an email.

"Many of our students who have been reporting on the campus protests were also in the building, under the watchful guidance of Columbia Journalism School faculty. Dean Cobb and the faculty were instructed by the police to remain inside Pulitzer Hall during their operation or face the possibility of arrest."

The Columbia student journalists alleged that they were never directly told that police would be on their campus. Rather they were instructed to shelter in place and subsequently received an email with an attached letter from Shafik to the NYPD.

"The events on campus last night have left us no choice," Shafik wrote in the letter to Michael Gerber, the NYPD's Deputy Commissioner of Legal Matters.

"With the support of the University's Trustees, I have determined that the building occupation, the encampments, and related disruptions pose a clear and present danger to persons, property, and the substantial functioning of the University and require the use of emergency authority to protect persons and property."

Discord between the Columbia student activists and the university administration has raged for two weeks - since students first erected the Gaza Solidarity Encampment on the university grounds. The student protestors are calling for divestment from Israel, transparency into the college's finances and amnesty for all students involved in the activist groups.

The politics of the encampment have been subject to intense scrutiny from the beginning - there were Jewish activists involved in occupying the lawn and participating in associated activist groups. Students and faculty members even celebrated a Passover Seder inside the encampment.

Some, however, allege that the activism has led to a spike in on-campus antisemitism - with at least one rabbi associated with the university urging Jewish students to return home. Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine and its members have made repeated public statements asserting that Jewish students are a welcome part of their movement and that their issues are with the Israeli government and the university's administration.

The Columbia campus - which was already restricted to people with university IDs and others let on campus on a case-by-case basis - is now solely open to students who reside in one of the seven on-campus dorms and staff members performing essential functions. The only point of entry on campus is the 116th Street and Amsterdam gate - while other gates will remain locked, according to the Columbia website.
Kansas police encountered a grisly scene after responding to a frantic 911 call from a mother being attacked by her son, police records have revealed.



Robert Fapp, 38, of Topeka, Kansas, stabbed his father 57 times before attempting to turn the knife on his mother, Katherine Fapp, who rushed to call 911 to explain to the dispatcher that her son was repeatedly stabbing his father, according to an affidavit obtained by KSNT.

The affidavit also revealed that when police arrived on the scene on April 19, they found Katherine Fapp bleeding profusely on her front porch. Upon entering the home, they discovered her son, Robert Fapp, straddling his father, Ross Fapp, in an upstairs bedroom.

Robert was on top of his father as both struggled for control over the knife. Police stated Ross' hands were wrapped around the knife's blade as Robert continued to push the knife further into his father's chest, KSNT reported.

Once restrained, police took him into custody, while Ross and Katherine were rushed to a nearby hospital to treat their injuries. Ross succumbed to his wounds a short while later. Medical staff confirmed that he had been stabbed a total of 57 times.

When questioned about what led to the horrific incident, Katherine told investigators she was painting in an office when her husband burst into the room shouting, "He's trying to stab me!"

Robert met his mother at the doorway, where he immediately attacked her with the knife, puncturing one of her lungs.

As Ross tried to jump between his son and wife, Robert then turned his attention back to his father.

The Shawnee County District Attorney charged Fapp with multiple charges, including murder in the first degree, premeditation, and attempted murder in the first degree, premeditation.
As part of a plea agreement, a Virginia man has pleaded guilty to two violent transit crimes in which he assaulted a GRTC bus driver before shooting and killing another man on a GRTC bus a month later.

Dexter Superville, 25, was sentenced to 50 years in prison on Tuesday; however, the Commonwealth approved suspending 20 of those years upon accepting the plea deal.

Prosecutors allege Superville attacked the GRTC bus driver, Wayne Harvell, on October 11, 2021, near Gilpin Court in Richmond, Virginia.

Police in Richmond initially charged Superville with a misdemeanor simple assault offense for assaulting Harvell and was then later released that same month, according to WTVR.

However, on November 9, he shot and killed 23-year-old Jonathan Contreras, who was riding a GRTC bus at Southside Plaza.

A CBS investigative reporter spoke with Harvell's wife, Kimberly, who reached out to the news station for help after GRTC denied her husband's workers' compensation claim.

Two months after broadcasting their report, a judge presiding over Harvell's appeal ruled in his favor.

"That was a fight for his life, so I wouldn't consider it misdemeanor assault. We've seen the video; this fight goes on for 10-15 minutes."

He's been kicked in the head violently several times; that goes beyond a misdemeanor; that's deadly intent when you kick someone in the head," declared Harvell's lawyers.

The couple is said to be pleased with the outcome, expressed their condolences to the Contreas family, and stated they will continue to pray for them.

Richmond Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Shannon Kohler also voiced similar sentiments, mentioning,

"We are pleased with the outcome and very happy for the family of Mr. Contreras and for Mr. Harvell to be able to put this behind them."
A Pennsylvania woman says that she "needs help" after her hoarding problem escalated to the point that debris has spilled out of her home and over the fences that separate her property from her neighbors.

Janice Stemler, who resides in the Pittsburgh suburb of Plum Borough, told reporters that it's "understandable" that her neighbors are frustrated with the piles of furniture, broken televisions and carpets that fill her front yard.

"They don't like the view," she told KDKA. "It's not good for the neighborhood, which is understandable."



Stemler says that she intends to resell the items on her property, but others in the area characterize the objects as garbage that is creating a health hazard and attracting rats.

"It's an eyesore. Disgusting to look at. I keep the front blinds of my home closed," neighbor Debbie Wilson told KDKA.

Plum's Mayor, Harry Schlagel, also visited the property, and said that from the town's end, nothing can really be done.

"We are stuck," Shalgel said to KDKA, "We are frustrated. We want to help her and the community, but we can't. We don't have any jurisdiction to go out there and just take her property. "
A couple from Kansas City is fighting to save their newborn twins, who were born with a rare genetic disease that would cost the family millions of dollars to treat.

Doctors diagnosed Eli and Easton, who were born on Easter Sunday, with Spinal Muscular Atrophy after a few days of routine testing.

New parents Amanda and Austin Reed told KCTV-TV that the doctor sat them down and told them that some very concerning lab results came back on both of their boys: Spinal Muscular Atrophy.

"It's just been a nightmare, an absolute nightmare," Amanda Reed said.

Muscle weakness brought on by the genetic disorder SMA can impair a child's ability to sit up, walk, crawl, and regulate their head movements.

According to KidsHealth.org, severe SMA can hinder the muscles used for breathing and swallowing.

Life expectancy can be one to two years without treatment. However, a medication known as Zolgensma may be able to save the babies' lives.

However, a staggering $2.1 million is needed for a one-dose IV medication treatment. Both boys need it so that means the family needs $4.2 milliion becaus the family's insurance plan doesn't cover the drug.

"These infants that receive that IV infusion, Zolgensma, before their symptoms start," Reed said. "Our boys' symptoms haven't started yet, studies show they're living up to normal lives."

Kecia Van Hoft, Reed's stepsister, created a GoFundMe page to raise money to save her newborn nephews. More than $365,000 had been donated by Thursday.
On Wednesday, Nvidia (NVDA) stock fell after rival AI chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) disappointed investors with its halfhearted guidance. After quarterly AMD and Skyworks Solutions (SWKS) reports, semiconductor stocks took a bath overall.

AMD met Wall Street's first-quarter profits target late Tuesday, although sales were slightly below expectations. The company's revenue forecast for the current quarter aligned with projections, although Wall Street had expected a bigger boost from its MI300 AI accelerator business.

AMD increased its revenue goal for the MI300 in 2024 from $3.5 billion to "at least $4 billion." However, Wall Street was hoping for fresh estimates for the product, estimated to be worth between $4.5 billion and $5 billion.

Some optimistic forecasts were targeting a goal of over $6 billion in MI300 sales this year.

Following AMD's Q1 release, at least 12 Wall Street analysts lowered their price targets for the company's shares. AMD's shares fell 8.9% on the stock market today, closing at 144.27. The stock of Nvidia fell 3.9% to 830.41.

Evercore ISI analyst Mark Lipacis said that concerns about MI300 sales are "overdone."

In a client note, Lipacis said that their investment thesis is that the AI chip market will grow to an $80 billion market over the next five years and that AMD will capture up to 20% of that market. He noted they did not hear anything on the (AMD) call that moved them away from that thesis.

Amidst semiconductor stocks, Skyworks, a manufacturer of wireless chips, posted a modest beat for the March quarter but gave significantly lower guidance for the June quarter. Skyworks is heavily exposed to the declining smartphone market.

Skyworks' stock fell 15.3% on Wednesday, closing at 90.30.

Meanwhile, there was a 3.5% decline in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, or SOX. The top 30 semiconductor stocks traded in the US are included in the SOX.
On Wednesday, the US State Department accused Russia of having used a chemical weapon against Ukrainian forces, which violates the Chemical Weapons Convention, while also announcing new sanctions against Moscow.

The sanctions are to penalize companies that assist Moscow in obtaining weaponry for its ongoing war with Ukraine. The sanctions also target Russian government agencies and companies involved in the country's efforts to develop chemical and biological weapons.

In a recently released factsheet, the State Department said that Russia also used riot control agents (tear gas) as a method of warfare in Ukraine, which is also in violation of the CWC, in addition to the chemical agent chloropicrin.

The department also claimed that the use of such chemicals is not an isolated incident and is likely driven by Russian forces' desire to dislodge Ukrainian forces from fortified positions and achieve tactical gains on the battlefield.

Meanwhile, the US Treasury Department unveiled sweeping sanctions to destroy Russia's industrial and military capabilities.

These sanctions include over 300 Russian, Chinese, and other national firms that are said to have supported President Vladimir Putin's invasion.

Despite Russia's declaration that it no longer has a military chemical arsenal, demands for transparency on the alleged use of hazardous weapons are mounting.

The US National Institute of Health reported that pesticides and military agents use chloropicrin, which is hazardous if inhaled.

"Today's actions will further disrupt and degrade Russia's war efforts by going after its military-industrial base and the evasion networks that help supply it," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement.

Furthermore, a week after US President Joe Biden signed a long-delayed bill to give Ukraine new funding as its military fights to repel Russian advances, Kyiv was also hit with allegations and penalties.
On Wednesday, Qualcomm (QCOM.O) unveiled a new tab that projects quarterly sales and adjusted profit will surpass Wall Street projections and is fueled by the introduction of more expensive chips in Android smartphones that are equipped with artificial intelligence features.

According to Qualcomm, consumers have started to shift toward more expensive gadgets supporting AI chatbots after a smartphone slump last year.

In after-hours trading, Qualcomm's stock increased by 4%.

The company said sales to Chinese smartphone manufacturers increased by 40% in the first half of the fiscal year, indicating a recovery in that market.

Chief Executive Cristiano Amon told analysts on a conference call that AI is driving a lot of silicon content in those devices because of the expected computational capability to run those models.

He claimed that users want to buy a more capable phone that can run AI.

Huawei Technologies Co., which debuted a flagship 5G smartphone last year using its chip manufactured by subsidiary HiSilicon, has competed with Qualcomm.

However, IDC analyst Phil Solis said that a broader trend toward more competent smartphones benefits Qualcomm more than Huawei's rivals, which is detrimental to the San Diego, California-based company.

Solis noted that the Chinese smartphone market is recovering and shifting to premium phones. While HiSilicon takes the share of flagship Huawei phones, the market is growing, especially where Qualcomm gets most of its revenue.

According to LSEG data, Qualcomm surpassed analyst predictions of $9.05 billion and $2.17 per share by forecasting third-quarter sales and adjusted profit with midpoints of $9.2 billion and $2.25 per share.

Furthermore, LSEG data shows that Qualcomm's revenue and adjusted profit for its fiscal second quarter ended on March 24 were $9.39 billion and $2.44 per share, respectively, above expert projections of $9.34 billion and $2.32.

Qualcomm wants to capitalize on user demand by updating handsets to run AI chatbots directly on the device rather than sending them to a data center.
Australia's former foreign minister and New South Wales premier, Bob Carr, announced that he plans to sue New Zealand's deputy prime minister, Winston Peters, for allegations about Carr's closeness to China as discussion about Aukus heats up.

On Thursday morning, Peters called Carr "nothing more than a Chinese puppet" on the national radio RNZ.

Carr voiced his disapproval of the agreement during an April visit to Wellington, calling it "bullshit" and praising New Zealand's foreign policy for not being as "gullible to the Americans" as Australia's.

Peters said New Zealand was still "a long way" away from joining pillar two in an address to parliament on Wednesday night, partly because it had not yet received an invitation.

He responded to Carr's criticism on Thursday morning with a series of interviews in which he was asked about it and then launched an extraordinary broadside.

"What on earth does he think he's doing walking into our country and telling us what to do?" Peters told RNZ. He added that they would no more do that in Australia than he should do here.

Carr declared that these remarks were "entirely defamatory" and that he would be pursuing legal action in a statement provided to the Post.

In a statement to the Guardian, Peter's office said that Carr has threatened to sue and that the minister would address questions if he receives formal notification of such action.

Speaking with Carr at the Labour-aligned, anti-Aukus conference in April, former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark told RNZ that Peters had "seriously defamed" Carr.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins has urged the prime minister, Christopher Luxon, to remove Peters. Hipkins told the press that his allegations against Carr, a senior and well-respected politician, were unacceptable.
Los Angeles police began dismantling plywood barriers around an encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters at UCLA early Thursday morning, following an outburst of violence when counterprotesters faced off with demonstrators on campus earlier this week, according to reports.

The police action followed announcements beginning Wednesday evening that protesters would be arrested if they did not disperse, the Daily Bruin, the school newspaper reported Thursday morning.

"You risk serious injury," an officer said on a loudspeaker, the report said.

The sound of helicopters hovering overhead mixed with the pop of flash-bangs on campus in the early morning hours as police outfitted in riot gear and carrying zip ties began moving in on the hundreds of protesters that remained on campus, the Associated Press reported.

Officers began tearing apart the makeshift barrier of plywood, wooden pallets, metal fences and trash dumpsters. Other officers began tearing down tents and canopies, as protesters held up umbrellas as shields, the AP reported.

Some of the protesters began chanting "LAPD, KKK, IDF, you're all the same," the Daily Bruin reported, referring to the Israel Defense Forces. Others called out to "Free Palestine."

Dozens of protesters were detained, their wrists tied with zip ties.

Groups of pro-Israeli protesters clashed with pro-Palestinian groups on the Los Angeles campus Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.

The dismantling of the encampment at UCLA comes just days after New York City police officers cleared protesters from Columbia University after they barricaded themselves in a school building on the Ivy League campus.
Parents described terrifying moments after a 14-year-old student armed with a gun showed up at their Wisconsin school.

Mount Horeb Police shot and killed the boy outside of Mount Horeb Middle School Wednesday after receiving a report of someone with a weapon.

For panicked kids and terrified parents, there were anxious moments as the violence unfolded.

Children hid in closets, afraid to communicate on phones, the Associated Press reported. Some students even fled the school gym on in-line skates.

Max Kelly, 12, said they had been practicing staking when the shots rang out. He said they skated to a street, got out of the skates and ran to a nearby store to hide in a bathroom.

Parent Melissa Alvarado described the scary moments her daughter experienced.

"All the teachers were telling the children, they were yelling, telling all the kids to run to the other side of the school and then about a half hour later she called and said they were barricading doors," Alvarado told WMTV-TV.

Authorities said the shooter was "neutralized" outside the school.

Brittany Rodriguez, a parent of four, said her son called her after hearing shots.

"To get a call when you're at work from your babies crying, saying there's a shooting going on and we're scared, and you're 30 minutes away from them," Rodriguez said.

The mother of a 12-year-old girl at the school said she heard all the sirens going off from her nearby home.

"it's one of those gut-wrenching feelings you never want to experience as a parent," Alyssa Kopsczynski said.

State Attorney General Josh Kaul told reporters Wednesday evening no one else was harmed and that an investigation is ongoing.

"This incident took place outdoors. The subject in this case never gained entry," he said.
WNBA star blamed a "mental lapse" for her bringing cannabis oil cartridges in her luggage, a "mistake" that led to her spending nearly 10 months in a Russian prison.

Griner, 33, was arrested at Sheremetyevo International Airport outside Moscow on Feb. 17, 2022, for having the cannabis vaping cartridges, which are illegal in Russia, in her suitcase and was sentenced to nine years in prison.

"I could just visualize everything I worked so hard for just crumbling and going away," Griner told Robin Roberts in an interview that aired Wednesday evening on ABC's "20/20."

The two-time Olympic gold medalist who plays for the Phoenix Mercury said she was awakened late on the morning she was to travel to Russia during the WNBA's off-season and was in "panic mode."

"My packing at that moment was just throwing all my stuff in there and zipping it up and saying, 'OK, I'm ready,'" Griner said on the program.

She said she was devastated when she realized that she had forgotten the cartridges in her luggage after security asked to search her bags at the airport.

"I'm just like, 'Oh, my God.' Like, 'How did I - how did I make this mistake?'" Griner said.

"I could just visualize everything I worked so hard for just crumbling and going away," she added.

Roberts asked Griner about how some people were skeptical that she could have left the cartridges in her bags: "How did you not know?"

"It's just so easy to have a mental lapse," Griner said, noting that she had "no intention" of breaking the law.

"Granted, my mental lapse was on a more grand scale. But it doesn't take away from how that can happen," she added.

Griner was sentenced to nine years in prison on Aug. 4, 2022, and was sent to a prison in Mordovia, where she was put to work cutting fabric for Russian military uniforms.

"Really cold," Griner said of the conditions at the prison. "It's a work camp. You go there to work ... there's no rest."

She was released in December 2022 as part of a prisoner swap between Moscow and Washington, exchanging her for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who is known as the "Merchant of Death."
Hundreds of pieces of military equipment, including bullets, grenades and some anti-tank weapons were pilfered from a Colombian army base, and among the missiles stolen was a new rocket that Colombia had just unveiled last year, according to reports.

President Gustavo Petro said in a statement Tuesday that the ammunition and weapons could have been delivered to armed groups in Colombia or sold on the international black market to criminal groups like those operating in Haiti.



Among the hardware taken from the bases were two Rafael Spike ER anti-tank missiles and 37 Nimrod missiles, both of which are made in Israel, accordig to Colombia Reports. The Colombian Army first unveiled the Spike anti-tank missiles it acquired for the first time in February 2023, according to Janes.com, which reports on defense and security issues.

The missiles can be mounted on Humvees, giving them added mobility and added range.

"The only way to explain these missing items is that there are networks made up of people within the armed forces who are involved in the illegal arms trade," Petro said, according to the Associated Press, adding that an investigation is underway and an inspection of the bases would continue to "separate the armed forces from any type of criminal organization.

Petro on Wednesday also said he will cut diplomatic ties with Israel because of the war in Gaza against Hamas, accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of carrying out a campaign of genocide.

The Colombian Army "understands that it must strengthen the Spike LR anti-tank systems (with a 4 km range) with Spike ER anti-tank missiles (with an 8 km range) to counter possible armoured incursions from neighbouring countries, which have Main Battle Tanks, platforms that currently do not exist in Colombia," Janes.com reported in March 2023, citing military documents.
Tom Morello, the guitarist for rock band Rage Against the Machine, joined student protesters at the Cal State Northridge demonstration for Palestine, coincidentally where the band performed its first public show at the university in 1991.

Morello, both guitarist and activist, shared a post on Instagram where he can be seen posing for a photo with the students, fists held up high and wrapped around his guitar.

MAY DAY 2024. Rocking Palestine protest at Cal State Northridge today, site of RATMs 1st ever show. pic.twitter.com/imi6rGCaOn  Tom Morello (@tmorello) May 2, 2024

"HAPPY MAY DAY 2024,"

"Day 1: Cal State Northridge Palestine protest. RATM's 1st show ever was here in 1991, and it was an honor to play for the students today in the name of justice, human rights, peace, and liberation for all."

Morello posted his show of solidarity on X with the same photograph.

"MAY DAY 2024. Rocking Palestine protest at Cal State Northridge today, site of RATM's 1st ever show."

The artist has always fused music and political activism through the band's successful career. Several of the band's songs address issues facing us today.

When asked by the Los Angeles Times why activism in music matters, he simply said,

"Dangerous times demand dangerous songs," and 'there has never been a successful social movement in this country that has not had a great soundtrack.

Morello has also repeatedly raised the alarm about the spike in anti-Semitism in the United States since October 7, doubling down when he tweeted,

"Important to remember the horrific war crimes in Gaza aren't being done by "the Jews" but rather by a particular murderous right-wing Israeli administration."

"Many brave Jews in Israel & abroad condemn the slaughter. Our fight is against oppression. No room for antisemitism," he wrote.

Protests have emerged on college campuses nationwide as students pressure universities to divest from Israeli businesses and for the federal government to cease its support for Israel's military actions amid the barrage in the Gaza Strip.
President Joe Biden addressed the pro-Palestinian protests that have roiled college campuses across the nation during a short address from the White House on Thursday morning.

He said that peaceful protests are an American right but "order must prevail."

"We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent," Biden said.

"The American people are heard. In fact, peaceful protest is in the best tradition of how Americans respond to consequential issues. But, but neither are we a lawless country."

Biden said protesters should not be creating chaos and anti-Semitism would not be tolerated.

He went on to say, "Violent protest is not protected."

On the way out of the room a reporter asked if the National Gaurd should intervene.

Biden said, "No."

He also said also said the protests will not change his policies toward Israel.

Tensions have been building for days as college administrators have turned to law enforcement to clear encampments and building takeovers, like one at Columbia University in New York City.

Los Angeles police began dismantling plywood barriers around an encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters at UCLA early Thursday morning, following an outburst of violence when counterprotesters faced off with demonstrators on campus earlier this week
An Arizona father will spend at least 8 years behind bars after pleading guilty to a murder-for-hire scheme, admitting that he tried to have his ex-wife killed because he believed that she would not raise their children on "the right path."

Ali Joseph, 44, finalized his divorce from his wife and the mother of his daughters in February 2021. More than a year later, in May 2022, he spoke with an individual he believed could put him in contact with a hit man because he did not want to share custody with his former spouse.

"Joseph revealed that he was unwilling to share custody of his children with the victim because he believed her to be an 'apostate' who would not raise his children on 'the right path,'" the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona wrote in a statement.

In actuality, the individual Joseph spoke with a confidential human source for the FBI. The source subsequently put Joseph in contact with an undercover FBI employee, posing as a hit man.

A Maricopa County Superior Court judge issued a ruling that gave Joseph and his ex joint custody of their children, just one day before he contacted the man he believed to be a hit man and said he'd made a decision, the Arizona Republic reported.

"Joseph offered to pay the 'hitman' $3,000 to disguise himself as a homeless person who would attempt to rob and violently attack the victim as she left her workplace," the U.S. Attorney's Office said. He gave the fake hit man a $1000 advance, photographs of his ex-wife and documents with identifying information, according to court records.

"He wanted the 'hitman' to stab the victim in the neck to ensure she would not survive the attack, and asked the [source] to notify him when the murder was completed by sending him a funny photo or short video," the U.S. Attorney's office said.

Joseph pleaded guilty to use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder for hire, in December 2023. United States District Judge Diane J. Humetewa sentenced Joseph to 102 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
The man accused in the fatal shooting of Chicago police officer Luis Huesca last month was taken into custody using handcuffs belonging to the fallen officer, according to reports.

Xavier Tate, 22, was nabbed in Glendale Heights, a suburb of Chicago, Wednesday night by Chicago police and the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force.

Tate was taken from an apartment building with his hands pinned behind his back by department-issued handcuffs belonging to Huesca, NBC 5 Chicago reported.

He is accused of shooting Huesca, 30, a six-year veteran of the force, on April 21 with a 40-caliber handgun.

The officer had just finished a shift and was headed home in uniform when the shooting happened.

Huesca's Toyota SUV was taken but later recovered, the report said.

The officer's pistol was recovered last Friday during a raid at a home of Tate's relative, Caschaus Tate, who police say tossed the weapon over a fence as officers closed in on him, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Newly released video shows "God's Misfits" grandma Tifany Adams shopping with her grandkids days after she allegedly killed their mom.

Four days after the alleged murder, surveillance video from a store self-checkout kiosk captured Adams and her grandkids on a seemingly conventional shopping trip, according to NewsNation. As Adams paid for their items, one of the kids appeared to playfully wave at the camera before grabbing a bag of groceries from her grandmother.

This is the full surveillance video of Tiffany Adams and her grandchildren four days after she is accused of murdering Kansas moms Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley. pic.twitter.com/XfkWJTHZid  Brian Entin (@BrianEntin) May 2, 2024

Adams, 54; her boyfriend Tad Cullum, 43; Cora Twombly, 44; her husband Cole Twombly, 50; and Paul Grice, 31; have each been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and kidnapping, and a single count of conspiracy to commit murder, in connection with the deaths of Veronica Butler, 27; and Jillian Kelley, 39, according to authorities.

Adams is the paternal grandmother to Butler's two young children and had custody of them.

Butler and Kelley disappeared on March 30 during a drive from Hugoton, Kansas, to Eva, Oklahoma, authorities said. The pair were on the way to pick up Butler's children from their alleged would-be murderer.

The women's abandoned vehicle  with evidence of foul play  was later found on the side of a bloodied highway, according to authorities.

Butler and Kelley's bodies were discovered last month buried in a hay-covered hole on a property rented out by Cullum, two weeks after they vanished.

Authorities allege a child custody battle between Butler and her ex motivated the suspects to kill.
The Los Angeles Police Department swept through the University of California Los Angeles' pro-Palestine Encampment early Thursday morning, more than 100 students and faculty members and clearing the protest site of activists.

While the protestors have been cleared from UCLA's Dickson Plaza, the remnants of their activism remain, in the form of graffiti slogans and posters, on the university's Royce Hall.

Royce Hall was left covered in graffiti after police cleared the encampment. Phrases painted on the walls included "Divest from genocide" and "Free Gaza." pic.twitter.com/tK1ZzVt7Te  Daily Bruin (@dailybruin) May 2, 2024

"Free Gaza," read one message, written once in black spray paint over a door and twice in red on adjacent pillars. "F--- Israel" and "F--- the IDF" were also spray painted onto the university building. Students involved with pro-Palestinian activism also deliberately blocked the doors with tents, cardboard and garbage bins, to barricade police out of the area, a source connected to UCLA told HNGN.

The police raid on the encampment followed an intense day on the university's picturesque California campus. UCLA classes were canceled Wednesday and police helicopters lingered above the university, after 200 counter-protestors stormed the encampment overnight, ripping away wooden pallets and metal barricades. Individuals could also be seen throwing fireworks towards the encampment, in footage shared to social media by the UCLA student newspaper.

Los Angeles police began dismantling plywood barriers around an encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters at UCLA early Thursday morning, following announcements that activists would be arrested if they did not disperse. Officers began tearing apart the makeshift barrier of plywood, wooden pallets, metal fences and trash dumpsters. Other officers began tearing down tents and canopies, as protesters held up umbrellas as shields.

Defacing property with graffiti is illegal under California state law. Individuals convicted of vandalism can face fines, jail time or both, depending on the extent of the damage. In Arizona, three pro-Israel activists were recently charged with multiple felonies after they allegedly engaged in vandalism by keying pro-Palestinian activists' cars.
A 14-year-old boy killed in a samurai sword attack as he walked to school Tuesday in London was unaware of warnings that he was in danger because he was wearing headphones, according to a report.

A neighbor of Daniel Anjorin said the man wielding the sword had initially confronted her before turning his sights on the teenager, the Independent reported on Thursday.

"We were shouting and waving towards Daniel as he came out. He had his headphones in so he wouldn't hear us. It just happened right before our eyes, it was horrible," Auiste Dabasinskaite said.

Marcus Ardiuni Monzo, 36, has been charged with Daniel's death and appeared in court Thursday morning, the Guardian reported.

"It's horrible isn't it, poor boy, I feel really bad for his family," Dabasinskaite said. "As my next-door neighbor, we used to say hello and wave at each other in the mornings when he left for school."

She said people have been coming from all over and putting flowers near Daniel's home.

"They're really supportive, we've got a great community here, we never expected something like this to happen," she said.

Another neighbor said Daniel's family was stunned by the gruesome slaying.

"Yesterday, I spoke to the father and he was shocked," the neighbor told a British news agency, the Independent reported. "He had tears.

The woman, who saw the attack unfold from her window, said an ambulance was on the scene quickly, but the man with the sword kept them at bay.

"The ambulance was here on time, they tried to help but it was just because of him that they couldn't help," she said, adding: "He was trying to attack them with the sword."

Monzo has been charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of grievous bodily harm, aggravated burglary and possession of a bladed article, the Guardian said.

The attack left four people injured, including two police officers.

Prosecutors said the violent rampage began when Monzo crashed a van into a fence around 7 a.m. Tuesday and hit a man.

He jumped out of the van and slashed the man in the neck. He then broke into a nearby home and terrorized a man, woman and their four-year-old daughter, cutting the father in the neck and arm.

Prosecutors said Monzo then attacked Daniel, who fell to the ground.

As police officers cared for the teen, Monzo turned on them with the sword before he was subdued.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog has addressed the pro-Palestine encampments that have spread throughout college campuses across the United States, claiming the movement is a "resurgence of antisemitism," while people across north and central Gaza have expressed gratitude to the students protesting the war in Gaza.

The president addressed those in the Jewish community feeling victimized by the demonstrations.

"In the face of violence, harassment, and intimidation, as masked cowards smash windows and barricade doors, assault the truth, and manipulate history, together, we stand strong," Herzog said in a video posted to X.

To our sisters and brothers around the world: The people of Israel hear you. The people of Israel stand with you. Do not fear. Stand strong. Together we will overcome.



Watch my special message to Jewish communities and supporters of Israel all around the world. pic.twitter.com/ahRyfZ44VH    Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) May 2, 2024

"To our sisters and brothers around the world: The people of Israel hear you. The people of Israel stand with you. Do not fear. Stand strong. Together we will overcome," he continued.

Meanwhile, doctors, nurses, and medical staff stood in front of Al Aqsa Hospital in the town of Deir al-Balah and held signs that read, "United against genocide" and "The killing of children must stop."

Dr. Saad Abu Sharban told CNN he was "over the moon" at the images of protesters because it meant "that around the world there are human beings who know what is happening here in the Gaza Strip right now."

Refugee camps in the Palestinian enclave also expressed support for the students. Children could be seen with signs and banners referencing the American universities participating in pro-Palestinian demonstrations, writing, "Thanks for your solidarity!"

The public admiration from those in Gaza comes on the heels of heightening contention in the United States over the campus demonstrations, which are demanding an end to Israel's destructive onslaught in the besieged territory.

Critics have raised concern, voicing that some demonstrations have crossed the line into anti-Semitism, as Israel believes the protests are being manipulated by "outside agitators" and calling for the expulsion of students.

More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks launched in response to the Hamas attack that left 1,2000 Israelis dead.
A Suburban Philadelphia priest is accused of stealing more than $40,000 from his parish to play online games like Candy Crush and Pokemon.

Father Lawrence Kozak is accused of stealing from St. Thomas More Parish in Pottstown.

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia told the Catholic News Agency that a financial review "resulted in certain expenses and expenditure levels utilizing parish funds being questioned," the archdiocese said and "referred the matter to law enforcement."

Police arrested Kozak late last month on felony theft charges.

According to parish records, nearly 2,200 transactions were related to a category of spending identified as "gaming."

When interviewed by police Kozak allegedly said he "didn't realize when he went past the balance on his Apple Card [that] the charges were kicked over to the parish card."

The criminal complaint reviewed by the Philadelphia Inquirer said the priest told officers, "There's no excuse except that he wasn't paying attention and should have been."

Kozak said it was possible he had used the church credit cards accidentally because he was not "a details guy," the affidavit said.

But the business manager told investigators she believed Kozak knew the parish card was being used for his gaming and said she had previously warned him about the practice.

He is on administrative leave from the church during the investigation.
Turkey's president blasted American authorities for their "cruelty" in cracking down on pro-Palestinian protests at schools across the country, saying the demonsrators are "protesting the massacre" in Gaza, according to a report.

Protests against Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza have spread across the United States, prompting the police to clamp down on protests at Columbia University in New York City and at UCLA.

"Conscientious students and academics including anti-Zionist Jews at some prestigious American universities are protesting the massacre (in Gaza)," Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in Turkey's capital Ankara, Reuters reported.

"These people are being subjected to violence, cruelty, suffering, and even torture for saying the massacre has to stop," he said, noting that university staff were being "sacked and lynched" for supporting the protesters.

"The limits of Western democracy are drawn by Israel's interests," the leader of Turkey, a NATO ally to the U.S., said. "Whatever infringes on Israel's interests is anti-democratic, antisemitic for them."

In the past couple of days, police dismantled encampments at UCLA, Columbia and other schools as Jewish students say they fear for their safety on campus amid the protests.

President Joe Biden, addressing the turmoil in a White House speech Thursday, denounced hate speech but backed the right to protest.

"We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent," Biden said.

"The American people are heard. In fact, peaceful protest is in the best tradition of how Americans respond to consequential issues. But, but neither are we a lawless country."
More than 2,000 activists have been arrested on college campuses across the United States, according to a report, in the weeks since the New York Police Department first forcefully cleared a pro-Palestinian encampment at Columbia University on April 18.

The Los Angeles Police Department raided the Palestine Solidarity Encampment at the University of California Los Angeles, in the early hours of Thursday morning, arresting at least 200 students and faculty members in the process.

Similar clashes between law enforcement and activists have unfolded across the nation - from private liberal arts colleges to massive state universities - prompting criticism from First Amendment advocates and pro-Palestinian activists.



According to a tally done by the Associated Press, over 2,000 people have been arrested across the country in connection to campus protests and encampments.

"Mass arresting protestors - many of whom are themselves Jewish - does nothing to quell the very real threat of antisemitism. Officials must not conflate support for Palestinian lives and criticism of Israel with antisemitism," the New York Civil Liberties Union wrote, on April 23, in response to the NYPD initial Columbia arrests.

"NYU, Columbia, and all schools have a responsibility to keep students protected from violence and discrimination - as well as from censorship. Calling the NYPD on their own students and squashing their nonviolent advocacy does nothing to keep students safer."

There have been confirmed arrests at more than 40 colleges and universities, according to a New York Times analysis. Columbia, UCLA, the University of Texas Austin, the City College of New York and Emerson College all saw more than 100 individuals detained at pro-Palestine events.

"[The police] kept being like, 'this is your last chance. If you are here you will be arrested.' But they didn't start saying things like that until after they had already started grabbing and dragging people out," an Emerson student told WBZ-TV.

"It was not so much a last chance of not being arrested more so, a last chance of not being brutalized. There were people getting thrown down to the ground, arms put behind their back [and] dragged away."

The union that represents academic workers in the University of California system threatened to strike on Wednesday, partially in response to the administration's decision to involve the LAPD in student protests.

"Management has employed police violence or allowed violence to be used against students, faculty and academic workers exercising their right to free speech, the executive board of UAW 4811 wrote, in an email obtained by HNGN. "The use and sanction of violent force to curtail peaceful protest is an attack on free speech and the right to demand change, and the university must sit down with students, unions and campus organizations to negotiate, rather than escalate."

President Joe Biden addressed the campus upheaval, on Thursday, during an impromptu speech at the White House.

"We've often faced moments like this because we are a big, diverse, free-thinking and freedom-loving nation," the president said. "In moments like this, there are always those who rush in to score political points. But this isn't a moment for politics. It's a moment for clarity."

"So, let me be clear. Violent protest is not protected, peaceful protest is."
Former President Donald Trump says he may not accept the 2024 election results in Wisconsin, a key swing state, in his race against President Joe Biden, reiterating a similar move from 2021.

In a new interview, Trump, currently on trial in New York while he is also campaigning for a return to the White House, declared that if he doesn't consider the result of November's election legitimate, "you have to fight for the right of the country."

"If everything's honest, I will absolutely accept the results," he said in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Wednesday.

Trump has not ruled out the likelihood of political violence surrounding the election but revealed "it depends on the fairness" of the process, as reported by Reuters.

The former president continues to stand by his unfounded claim that he had actually won the State of Wisconsin by 21,000 votes in 2020 against Biden and that the election was smeared by fraud.

In an unsuccessful attempt, Trump tried to disqualify almost 240,000 ballots cast for Biden in the previous election.

While his rematch with Biden later this year is expected to be neck-and-neck, he won Wisconsin over Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Trump organized rallies on Wednesday in key battleground states, Wisconsin and Michigan, despite the overhelming felony charges he's facing as his trial play outs in a New York courtroom.

"I'd be doing a disservice to the country if I said otherwise," Trump stated.

"But no, I expect an honest election, and we expect to win, maybe very big," he added.
London's highly anticipated lifestyle hotel, designed and filled with artworks by Signature Artist D*Face is now open.

art'otel, the contemporary lifestyle hotel brand part of the Radisson family of brands, is pleased to announce art'otel London Hoxton officially opened its doors on 24th April 2024. Offering a one-of-a-kind hotel experience, the hotel fuses art, design and hospitality to add to London's ever-evolving, popular Hoxton and Shoreditch neighbourhoods.

The hotel is located in the heart of bustling Shoreditch, close to Old Street Underground station, with easy access to the City, Liverpool Street Station, the new Elizabeth Line, and all the capital's major airports.

Signature Artist D*Face takes centre stage of the hotel's concept and design, and the opening is one of 2024's hottest and boldest. This is the second UK opening for the art'otel brand, following the spectacular opening of art'otel London Battersea Power Station in February 2023.

art'otel London Hoxton features 357 art-inspired guest bedrooms and suites all with unique skyline views. There are 48 luxury suites, perfect for those seeking a larger space to explore London from, and for families, including an awe-inspiring 196m D*Face Masterpiece Suite.

On the ground and first floor, guests can visit The Brush, an all-day Grand Cafe, Lounge & Cocktail Bar featuring the very best European signature dishes and cocktails, with its own outdoor terrace. A destination restaurant will launch later in the year on the 25th floor with outdoor terraces taking advantage of the dazzling 360 panorama across the capital. Within the hotel, there will be a number of flexible event spaces on the 24th floor launching later in the summer, showcasing jaw-dropping views across the City, ideal for hosting up to 300 guests. The spaces will have capacity to showcase a variety of events - from talks to presentations and fashion shows. Uniquely, the hotel will also have a plush and state-of-the-art 60 seat auditorium, perfect for public movie screenings and product launches; all of this ensures a truly memorable art'otel experience and opens the space to a diverse and eclectic range of visitors.

The hotel features standout leisure facilities, opening with an indoor swimming pool, sauna, steam room and gym. A spectacular skyline gym on the 26th floor will follow in the summer as well as a luxury spa with four treatment rooms; showcasing products and treatments from Proverb a unique menu of treatments will leave guests feeling truly revitalised in the most soothing of settings. Using only vegan, organic and natural ingredients such as proteins, antioxidants and enzymes, Proverb products are formulated for lab proven results. Spa treatments range from massages to facials, nail treatments and full body experiences, all with a playful art'otel twist.

Cultural and artistic events from the hotel's art'beat programme featuring art, music, fashion, and wellness are at the very heart of the art'otel guest experience, with opportunities for both up and coming and established artists to create and exhibit works on site. art'otel London Hoxton offers a source of endless inspiration, ensuring every inch of this new lifestyle hotel will leave guests feeling truly exhilarated and inspired.

To showcase the art'beat programme, the property features an immersive 135m art gallery that plays host to exclusive works from Signature Artist D*Face and other local and emerging artists, as well as revolving curated exhibitions throughout the year. Guests of the hotel, as well as members of the public, are able to discover the exhibition space too - adding to Hoxton's rich and cultural arts scene.

art'otel London Hoxton is brought to life by D*Face, recognised as one of the most prolific contemporary urban artists of his generation. Having spread his signature style worldwide, with well over 100 murals, a host of solo exhibitions, and major collaborations, D*Face has come full circle, returning to where it all started for him, in London's iconic East End. In collaboration with Eyal Shoan of award-winning interior design studio Digital Space, D*Face will feature works in all bedrooms and public spaces, curating everything from original large-scale sculptures and murals to bespoke details.

Perhaps one of the most iconic features of the exterior, alongside its two Banksy original artworks on public display, is its magnificent cogwheel design. Thought up by the creative architects at Squire & Partners, they have created a statement exterior that lends itself to the explosion of colours, artworks and creativity that envelop guests as they enter the front doors.

To book and find out more, visit the art'otel London Hoxton page.

Hotel website
John Halliday has been promoted at The Ritz-Carlton Ras Al Khaimah, Al Hamra Beach and is now hotel manager.

With a background spanning over 28 years in the hospitality sector, Halliday brings a wealth of experience and a proven history of success to his latest position.

Halliday has garnered expertise across various prestigious hotel groups, including renowned establishments such as Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort by Anantara and Desert Palm Dubai, as well as a range of luxury hotel and resort brands across the UAE, Oman, and the UK.

Joining The Ritz-Carlton Ras Al Khaimah, Al Hamra Beach in January 2023 as the director of operations, Halliday consistently exhibited exceptional leadership and operational acumen. In his prior role, he oversaw 32 private pool and beach villas, alongside all operational departments.

Recognised for his emphasis on leadership, team cultivation, and strategic business ventures, Halliday aims to spearhead growth and operational excellence in his new role. His commitment to enhancing guest experiences and cultivating a culture of excellence seamlessly aligns with The Ritz-Carlton's dedication to delivering unparalleled luxury and service.
The Chairman of The Lux Collective ("TLC") global luxury hospitality group, Arnaud Lagesse, has announced the appointment of Olivier Chavy as its next Chief Executive Officer.

Hailing from France, Olivier Chavy will be responsible for the overall strategic direction and performance of The Lux Collective whilst pursuing its expansion in high potential markets. Olivier will work alongside the board of directors, key executives, general managers and staff of the resorts, to innovate and craft distinctive experiences that will further set the iconic hotel group apart.

Chairman Arnaud Lagesse expressed honour in welcoming Olivier, highlighting his dynamic leadership and vast experience with prestigious groups, including Travel+Leisure, Movenpick and Hilton.

''After a rigorous selection exercise, the board is proud to announce the appointment of Olivier Chavy. We are confident that Olivier's experience in the travel and hospitality business coupled with his over 30-year track record in business transformation will strengthen and guide TLC towards its future strategy. His mandate will be to continue to ride on the wave of success of TLC and grow our different brands in the various key markets, whilst curating new brand experiences and bringing to life our culture of exceptional service,'' stated Arnaud Lagesse.

The Chairman thanked Paul Jones who will be departing TLC in June 2024, following a 14-year tenure as CEO. "Paul's unwavering commitment to delivering unparalleled guest experiences and market share leadership had a pivotal role in reaffirming TLC as a globally recognised luxury hospitality brand. He leaves a great legacy and I wish to thank him personally for the sustained growth in Mauritius and internationally."

The new CEO will leverage the board of directors' support during this transition period. "I am honoured to join the team of this distinguished group, especially at such an exciting time. The Lux Collective, an award-winning Mauritian homegrown brand, is globally acclaimed for its exceptional service. My familiarity with TLC's presence in the diverse markets, from Mauritius, the Maldives, and China to upcoming destinations of Vietnam and the UAE will be advantageous. Whilst I look forward to rediscover these regions, my priority will be on collaborating closely with the team members, recognising their vital contribution to TLC's future success and beyond," noted Olivier Chavy.
Minor Hotels, a global hotel owner and operator with more than 540 properties in 56 countries, is set to intensify its presence in the dynamic Indian hospitality market, targeting 50 new openings within the next decade.

The group will focus its strategy on the upper-upscale and luxury hotel segments, where it expects strong interest from owners in its well-established Anantara, Avani, and NH Collection brands.

For Anantara Hotels & Resorts, the group is building on core brand differentiators by targeting opportunities in Ayurvedic wellness retreats, wilderness lodges, and historical palaces. It also believes Avani Hotels & Resorts is well positioned to fill a significant gap in the lifestyle hotel space across India, while NH Collection Hotels & Resorts will prove attractive for upper-upscale conversion opportunities.

Minor Hotels has also identified strong potential for the upscale NH Hotels & Resorts, particularly in rapidly developing tier two cities and airport locations.

Eyeing hotel management contracts and with an emphasis on greenfield developments, Minor Hotels will look to identify opportunities in up-and-coming locations, continuing a strategy of destination creation that has been the foundation of the group's 46-year history.

Amir Golbarg, SVP for Middle East, Africa and India for Minor Hotels, said: We are bullish on the potential of India, and have already been overwhelmed with owner interest, but are proceeding with a 'partnerships over properties' approach. It means we are being very selective in the hotels that we add to our portfolio, with our focus on cultivating meaningful alliances with partners who align with our values and vision. Minor's strength has always been in our ability to think globally while acting locally, meaning we are well versed at adapting our standards and operations to suit the unique characteristics of each market we operate in  a trait we believe will give us a strong advantage in India.

Minor Hotels has been present in the India market since 2017, when it launched Oaks Bodhgaya in the northeast Indian state of Bihar. But the group will mark a significant milestone later this year with the opening of Anantara Jaipur Hotel, the debut of its flagship luxury brand in India.

To support this expansion, Minor Hotels has opened a new office in Bengaluru, underscoring its commitment to long-term presence in the Indian market. The group recently appointed Vijay Krishnan as Vice President of Operations for India, overseeing a growing team on the ground. By establishing a permanent strategic presence in Bengaluru, Minor Hotels has positioned itself at the forefront of emerging opportunities in southern India, anticipating significant growth potential in the region.

Dillip Rajakarier, CEO of Minor Hotels and Group CEO of its parent company Minor International (SET:MINT), said: We believe in India. We believe in its potential as a world-class inbound destination. And we believe in the enormous opportunities that lie in its surging domestic market. It's why we have made substantial investments in establishing our operations there, and will continue to invest there to realise our growth ambitions. With our extensive experience in managing world-class hotels in emerging destinations, coupled with the strong recognition of our existing hotel brands within the Indian market, we are confident in our ability to play a significant role in India's ongoing tourism success story.

Minor Hotels brands have already built strong recognition amongst Indian travellers. For Anantara in particular, India is one of the fastest-growing international source markets, with annual room night production across its Asia and Middle East properties growing 72% in 2023 versus 2022. That trend has continued to date in 2024, with Q1 figures up 36% on last year.

Minor Hotels is also a member of GHA DISCOVERY, the world's largest alliance of independent hotel brands. Revenue generated by GHA hotels in India hit a record US$68 million in 2023, with GHA loyalty members in India also topping 500,000 for the first time, a 21% year-on-year increase. Indian members also spent more at GHA hotels last year than ever before, generating a record US$60 million in hotel revenues, up 46% year-on-year.

According to research from GHA, its Indian members are planning on average four leisure trips, three staycations and five business trips in 2024, with the top three destinations being Europe, Thailand and Maldives. Minor Hotels is one of the largest players in each of those markets, with more than 300 properties in Europe, 25 in Thailand and seven in Maldives.

Minor Hotels' growth strategy in India is part of an ambitious global expansion plan for the Bangkok-based group, which is targeting to add more than 200 hotels in the next three years.
An effective partnership between the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is crucial, as research shows that finance and marketing are intrinsically linked. Therefore, aligning marketing initiatives with the broader financial strategy leads to better performance. CMOs are tasked with deploying budgets in ways that they believe will maximize business growth through strategic marketing efforts. Simultaneously, CFOs are responsible for overseeing the company's financial health, ensuring budgets are allocated wisely and costs are controlled to safeguard and enhance the organization's financial standing.

Historically, the different perspectives of CMOs and CFOs have led to tension. However, today's complex economic landscape requires them to collaborate closely, bridging their viewpoints to navigate uncertainties effectively. By fostering a partnership based on shared goals, data-driven insights, and open communication, CMOs and CFOs can work together to make informed decisions on areas such a resource allocation and campaigns to achieve optimal return on investment (ROI) and drive the organization forward. This article explores why close CMO-CFO alignment matters, strategies to overcome challenges, and key takeaways to strengthen this crucial C-Suite relationship.

Why the CMO-CFO relationship matters at the C-suite level

At the C-suite level, the CFO plays a vital role in strategic financial planning, directly influencing the budget allocation for marketing. The CMO's ability to execute strategic marketing initiatives, leverage data analytics, and scale marketing efforts is contingent on the CFO's support and financial investment. Without this collaboration, implementing broad-reaching marketing strategies and deploying resources effectively becomes challenging.

Marketing, when executed strategically, significantly impacts revenue growth, customer acquisition, and loyaltyareas of critical importance to the CFO. The synergy between CMOs and CFOs in understanding and leveraging marketing investments can lead to enhanced profitability and operational efficiency. It is essential for these executives to collaborate on defining the value of marketing investments in terms that resonate across the C-suite, linking marketing strategies directly to financial outcomes and business growth.

In todays uncertain economic environment, aligning marketing plans with financial realities and guardrails is more important than ever. CFOs are keen on ensuring that marketing expenditures are not only optimized but also clearly connected to tangible business results. CMOs, for their part, strive to justify the necessary budgets to achieve growth targets through impactful marketing strategies.

By collaborating around factual data, shared goals and success metrics, marketing and finance leaders can work in tandem to make optimized, analytics-driven decisions on resource allocation. This enables them to maximize marketing ROI while exercising fiscal prudence.

According to an EY survey, 81% of finance professionals and 88% of those in marketing agree that marketing investments become more effective as a direct result of stronger collaboration between the two functions, indicating this alignment is increasingly valued by both roles.

Challenges in the CMO-CFO dynamic

While collaboration between CMOs and CFOs is increasingly valued in theory, practically bridging their different mindsets and strategic priorities poses inherent challenges that can hamper alignment if not addressed proactively. These challenges are magnified at the C-suite level, where decisions impact the entire organization:

Strategic alignment on investment vs. cost management

At the executive level, CFOs are inherently risk-averse, emphasizing cost efficiency and ROI across all investments. CMOs, with a focus on growth and market expansion, advocate for investments in brand and digital innovation, sometimes with longer-term paybacks. This fundamental difference in approach can lead to strategic friction, making it essential for C-suite discussions to balance investment in growth with financial prudence.

Disconnect in metrics and definitions of success

A key challenge at the leadership level is aligning on performance metrics that encapsulate both financial health and marketing effectiveness. CMOs champion metrics that demonstrate marketing's direct impact on business growth, such as customer lifetime value and brand equity. CFOs, however, measure success through financial outcomes like profit margins and shareholder value. Establishing common ground requires high-level discussions to agree on a balanced scorecard that reflects both marketing contributions and financial performance.

Language and terminology barriers

The divergence in language between finance and marketing can lead to misunderstandings at the executive table. CMOs speak in terms of customer engagement, conversion rates, and brand sentiment, while CFOs focus on financial ratios, cash flow, and cost structures. Bridging this gap necessitates a commitment from both parties to demystify jargon and foster a culture of clear, accessible communication.

Cultural barriers

The cultural divide between finance and marketing departments can be pronounced, with finance traditionally valuing precision and predictability and marketing driven by creativity and innovation. At the leadership level, fostering a culture that embraces both perspectives is crucial for driving organizational change and innovation. This involves championing cross-departmental initiatives that encourage creative risk-taking within financial guardrails.

Bridging these gaps starts with intentional collaboration to agree on shared definitions of success, commit to using common language, and taking time to appreciate each other's distinct personalities and priorities. With concerted effort, mutual understanding and effective partnership is achievable.

Brand building and customer service may not be in CFOs traditional job description, but as CFOs expand their role in setting strategy and driving its execution, it is paramount that they understand their organizations brand and become brand champions themselves. Pete Shimer, CFO for Deloitte LLP

Addressing C-suite Challenges Through Strategic Collaboration

To overcome these challenges, CMOs and CFOs must engage in strategic collaboration, recognizing that their joint leadership is vital for steering the company towards sustained growth and resilience. Strategies include:

Joint Strategic Planning: Involving both CMOs and CFOs in strategic planning sessions ensures that marketing strategies are aligned with financial objectives from the outset.

Involving both CMOs and CFOs in strategic planning sessions ensures that marketing strategies are aligned with financial objectives from the outset. High-Level Communication: Regular C-suite dialogues facilitate understanding of each department's contributions to strategic goals, enhancing mutual respect and collaboration.

Regular C-suite dialogues facilitate understanding of each department's contributions to strategic goals, enhancing mutual respect and collaboration. Education and Advocacy: Both CMOs and CFOs should take active roles in educating their peers on the strategic importance of their functions, highlighting how marketing investments drive financial outcomes and vice versa.

Both CMOs and CFOs should take active roles in educating their peers on the strategic importance of their functions, highlighting how marketing investments drive financial outcomes and vice versa. Shared Success Metrics: Developing a set of shared KPIs that capture both marketing effectiveness and financial health can help to quantify the impact of marketing strategies in financial terms.

By addressing these strategic challenges through close collaboration and mutual understanding, CMOs and CFOs can enhance their contribution to the organization's strategic goals, leading to better-informed decisions, optimized investments, and a competitive edge in the market.

Strategies to improve the CMO-CFO dynamic

Strategic alignment and shared leadership

For CMOs and CFOs, aligning on financial and marketing strategies from a leadership perspective is paramount. This entails joint strategic planning, shared accountability for financial outcomes, and a unified approach to measuring marketing ROI. High-level discussions should focus on how marketing strategies align with the companys financial goals and long-term vision, ensuring both departments contribute to the company's strategic direction.

Leadership in decision-making

CMOs and CFOs must lead their teams by example, demonstrating the importance of cross-departmental collaboration. By jointly making decisions on significant investments, resource allocations, and strategic initiatives, they set a precedent for cooperation across the organization. High-level decisions on market expansion, product launches, and customer acquisition strategies require both marketing creativity and financial rigor, showcasing the need for their united leadership.

Involve both roles in planning processes

Rather than creating plans in isolation, CMOs and CFOs should actively collaborate during annual budgeting, planning, and forecasting processes. Jointly building financial models, growth projections, and performance blueprints ensures alignment on priorities, resource needs, and goals upfront. Regular check-ins to review progress maintain transparency on what's working well versus challenged areas that require additional discussion.

Expert Advice

Julia Vargiu, founder and CEO of Sydney-based consultancy New Business Methodology, prescribes zero-based budgeting (ZBB) as one way for marketing and finance to achieve better understanding.

With zero-based budgeting, you start from a zero-dollar figure every year, and you have to use facts and figures to build the case for every dollar that marketing gets, she told CMO by Adobe. Just because you had $10 million last year doesnt mean you get it again. This makes marketers commercially savvy, and it helps persuade CFOs and CEOs to invest in innovative new initiatives.

Identify shared goals and metrics

Clearly defining 5-6 overarching key performance indicators tied to mutual objectives like revenue growth, customer acquisition costs, pipeline conversions, and customer lifetime value enables both marketing and finance leaders to assess impact and success consistently. Taking time to directly connect marketing activities, campaigns, and programs to downstream financial returns and outcomes provides a shared measurement framework.

Use consistent terminology

Proactively creating a glossary of definitions for important marketing, financial, and business terminology, requesting meeting prep packets to explain key acronyms, and committing to use understandable language between both teams dramatically improves comprehension. Never assume broad knowledge of niche terms.

Building a data-driven culture

A crucial aspect of CMO-CFO collaboration is the establishment of a data-driven culture within the C-suite. This involves leveraging data analytics making informed decisions, setting KPIs that reflect both financial and marketing goals, and using insights from data to guide strategic discussions. Leadership in adopting a data-centric approach enables both departments to evaluate the effectiveness of marketing strategies in real-time, adjust plans accordingly, and report on progress with a shared language that resonates with stakeholders.

Communicate marketings value and impact

Marketing leaders play an influential role in educating peers, executives, and the entire organization on marketings value and impact on corporate results. Quantifying how innovative campaigns, experiences, and platforms drive customer acquisition, satisfaction, retention, and advocacy over time is key.

It is essential that CFOs be absolutely passionate around understanding, building and maintaining ones brand with customers and clients, and then being able to put all of that in the context of daily communications and interactions. CFOs who cultivate a passion for the brand and for alignment with the brand strategy can make a difference at the highest levels of their organization. Pete Shimer, CFO for Deloitte LLP

Foster open communication and understanding

Proactively building rapport through regular status meetings, empathy exercises to walk in each others shoes, and expressing mutual respect and appreciation for both finance and marketing roles fosters effective collaboration. Healthy debate grounded in data-driven perspectives also fuels growth.

Elevating C-suite collaboration  Tips for CFOs and CMOs

Collaboration between the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) must transcend traditional role boundaries to focus on steering strategic direction and achieving overarching organizational goals. And its not merely about aligning on budgetary allocations or marketing strategies; it's about jointly shaping the company's future. As the strategic architects of growth and stability within their organizations, CMOs and CFOs must:

Value interdependency: Have a deep understanding of how marketing and financial strategies intertwine to propel the business forward.

Develop a shared Vision: The partnership necessitates a shared leadership vision that embraces risk while anchoring decisions in data-driven insights to foster resilience and agility.

Practice co-creation: Their unique perspectives and expertise must be valued and utilized to co-create strategies that balance ambitious growth objectives with financial health.

Fix dual-focus objectives: High-level decisions such as entering new markets, launching innovative products, or adopting cutting-edge technologies must be made with a dual focus on enhancing customer value and ensuring robust financial returns.

These collaborative approaches not only amplify the impact of each department but also solidify the role of the C-suite as a catalyst for transformative change, ensuring the organization remains competitive and relevant in an ever-evolving global marketplace.

Key takeaways on strengthening the CMO-CFO partnership

In today's constantly evolving digital landscape, close partnership and alignment between CMOs and CFOs is more imperative than ever for corporate success. While their different perspectives can present challenges, proactive steps towards establishing shared goals, mutual understanding, and strategic alignment can lead to more informed and effective decision-making. Regular high-level communication, commitment to understanding each others domains, and a shared vision for the companys success are fundamental.

By focusing on strategic collaboration, CMOs and CFOs can optimize marketing investments, drive sustainable growth, and lead their organizations to achieve competitive advantages in the marketplace. The future of successful companies lies in the hands of C-suite executives who embrace each other's strengths, learn from one another, and navigate the complexities of todays business environment together.
NORTH BETHESDA, Md.  During its 68th Annual Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada, Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH), one of the world's largest lodging franchisors, announced the relaunch of Park Inn by Radisson. As part of the strategy with Choice's acquisition of Radisson Hotels Americas in 2022, Park Inn by Radisson is being strategically repositioned into the premium value conversion space. Park Inn by Radisson will deliver on an unmet need tailored to the growing demographic of younger, value-conscious travelers.

The relaunch of Park Inn by Radisson into the premium value conversion space underscores our commitment to delivering an unparalleled guest experience, inspired by the simplicity and vibrant energy of parks, said Cathy Hartman, vice president, brand strategy, Choice Hotels. The brand has been built around a promise to brighten up every stay with a refreshing blend of color, connectivity, and convenience.

Park Inn by Radisson will cater to a new generation of experience-centered travelers in a way that's affordable for guests and simple for owners to deliver. Park Inn by Radisson will offer guests the 'brighter basics' through:

Bright welcome with pops of color and friendly service

welcome with pops of color and friendly service Clean, crisp white bedding and 100% smoke-free hotels

crisp white bedding and 100% smoke-free hotels Connected with fast Wi-Fi and plenty of places to charge devices

with fast Wi-Fi and plenty of places to charge devices Convenient grab & go breakfast items with fresh hot coffee to start the day

Park Inn by Radisson presents an exciting opportunity for our current and future hotel owners to tap into Choice's best-in-class conversion capabilities, proprietary tools, and dedicated support needed to thrive in this competitive landscape, said Tom Nee, senior vice president, foundation development, Choice Hotels. We have already awarded our first contract for the relaunched brand in San Antonio, Texas, and interest in joining the brand is very high. We believe there is meaningful runway for this brand, with the potential to expand domestically in the next several years.

With Radisson Hotels Americas now part of the Choice Hotels family of brands, the company offers best-in-class franchisee support and full access to Choice's powerful global reservation channels, leading to improved digital traffic, bookings, and lowered OTA fees.

Similar to Park Inn by Radisson's four open domestic properties, the relaunched brand will continue to participate in Choice Privileges, the award-winning rewards program where members earn points on eligible charges during their stay which can be redeemed for reward nights at more than 7,000 Choice-branded hotels. Members can also earn points through two co-brand credit cards  the Choice Privileges Select Mastercard and Choice Privileges Mastercard. Both offer cardholders more ways to accelerate the amount of Choice Privileges points they earn while staying at participating Choice Hotels and on everyday spending including for gas, groceries and home goods.

For more information about Park Inn by Radisson, as well as Choice Hotels development opportunities, visit www.choicehotelsdevelopment.com/park-inn/.

About Choice Hotels

Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH) is one of the largest lodging franchisors in the world. The challenger in upscale and a leader in midscale and extended stay, Choice has over 7,500 hotels, representing more than 630,000 rooms, in 46 countries and territories. A diverse portfolio of 22 brands that range from full-service upper upscale properties to midscale, extended stay and economy enables Choice to meet travelers' needs in more places and for more occasions while driving more value for franchise owners and shareholders. The award-winning Choice Privileges rewards program and co-brand credit card options provide members with a fast and easy way to earn reward nights and personalized perks. For more information, visit www.choicehotels.com.

 2024 Choice Hotels International, Inc. All Rights Reserved

SOURCE Choice Hotels International, Inc.
Loyalty Program is the Third Most Important Factor when Choosing a Hotel



When selecting a hotel, almost all members want reassurance that their hotel is of good quality (97% say thats most important) and in a convenient location (92%). Loyalty program benefits (90%) are nearly as essential, followed by customer service (88%).

Global Hotel Alliance (GHA), the worlds largest alliance of independent hotel brands, is celebrating its 20th anniversary by launching a new report revealing the perceptions, preferences and priorities of todays travellers, leveraging the database of its global loyalty program  GHA DISCOVERY  which launched in 2010.

The What Travellers Want Most From Loyalty Programs report is based on Q1 2024 research conducted by GHA in collaboration with Bond Brand Loyalty, which covered a thorough review of the loyalty landscape and the key trends shaping it, and surveyed 5,662 GHA DISCOVERY members, most of which are active in other major loyalty programs.

For GHA, an alliance of 40 brands with more than 800 hotels in 100 countries, marking two decades of success, the report gives its program a health check, exploring how members value its offering versus competitor programs and asking what further enhancements they would like to see, with variances by membership tier and across markets also identified.

The reports key findings include:

Quality counts

When selecting a hotel, almost all members want reassurance that their hotel is of good quality (97% say thats most important) and in a convenient location (92%). Loyalty program benefits (90%) are nearly as essential, followed by customer service (88%).

Perk up

Members seek a program that provides consistent access to perks and benefits (60% of those surveyed), followed by the number of hotels and locations in the program (57%) and ease of earning/redeeming rewards (50%).

Upgrades reign

Almost three-quarters (70%) of respondents say room upgrades are the program benefit most important to them. They are also hungry for complimentary breakfast during their stays  the second most important benefit and a new perk GHA DISCOVERY is rolling out at select brands in 2024.

Decidedly D$

Members prefer DISCOVERY Dollars to traditional points, saying they are easier to understand and redeem  with D$1 = US$1 and put toward the bill at any hotel in the program, to use against room, dining or spa expenses, as well as toward curated experiences. Looking ahead they are interested in expanded options to earn and spend the rewards, such as through partnerships with restaurants and airlines.



A love for luxury

GHA DISCOVERY continues to own the perception of luxury in the hotel loyalty space, with four in five members viewing it as a luxury program and half considering it more unique than other hotel loyalty programs. Members in the UK, India, Thailand, China and the UAE are most likely to view GHA DISCOVERY as a luxurious proposition.



Top trends by market

Members in Singapore, Thailand and China say access to benefits and perks are most important when selecting a loyalty program, while those in Spain, India, the US, Australia and Germany are more interested in the number of hotels and locations available.

In China, the perception of a programs generosity is far more important than in other markets (35% versus 21%). In contrast, generosity is the least valued by members in India, where instead they seek programs that make them feel valued and important (45% versus 36%) while having higher expectations for customer service (32% versus 22%).



In celebrating two decades of GHAs success, our latest report confirms what our members value most and its clear that quality of accommodation, room upgrades, transparent rewards, and seamless experiences are paramount, said GHAs Executive Vice President Strategy, Kristi Gole.



Since launching in 2010, GHA DISCOVERY has grown to over 26 million members, who generated $2.3 billion in revenue and 10 million room nights in 2023. Recent milestones include:

A reimagination with the launch of DISCOVERY Dollars (D$) in 2021

NH Hotel Group joining the alliance in 2022, enhancing the GHA offering with 350 properties in 30 countries across three brands

The 2023 launch of Green Collection, empowering members to make conscious travel choices

GHA has diversified its loyalty offering with two new partnerships too, joining forces with ultra-luxury cruise line Regent Seven Seas Cruises in 2023 to reward cruisers with D$ and status, and vacation rental platform Plum Guide in March this year, rewarding members who book one of 38,000 remarkable vacation homes.



Please find the direct link to the full report here.
It's Still a Seller's Market, But Don't Get Greedy

In response to the post-pandemic demand surge and faced with constricted inventory due to labor shortages, rising supply costs, and other challenges, hoteliers pushed their prices back to pre-pandemic levels in record time. It was understandable that hoteliers would push rate - a hotel's goal is to maximize revenue and profit, and they had a lot of missed opportunity to make up for. People were so happy to be traveling again that they paid.

Sources predict that hotels' pricing power will remain strong. However, we don't need a pandemic recovery to fall into the trap of overpricing. Why do we do this?

Misjudging demand & customer profile

I was at a select-service hotel in a second-tier city when the Grand Prix was announced. The CVB predicted unprecedented demand, and we revenue managers jumped on this opportunity to grow ADR. We put out non-refundable Super Bowl prices with 3-night minimums.

Our demand dried up. As we waited for the promised wave of demand to arrive, we realized we had misjudged the market's profile. Firstly, our city is a drive-in market; guests don't stay for three nights for special events. Also, we didn't consider the demographics of our target guests. We were offering Monte Carlo prices to a NASCAR crowd. Of course nobody was booking.



Mistaking inventory shortages for demand increases

The downtown convention hotel I worked at had a repeat group over Thanksgiving weekend. They consumed more than 80% of our inventory - it was a hotel dream in a city where people leave during the holiday. With a special holiday discount in place, we achieved over 90% occupancy during my first two years there.

A new general manager arrived during my third year. Not having the history with is weekend that we did, he did not understand why we discounted our remaining inventory. He reasoned that we were down to our last rooms, and low supply meant high prices. He insisted despite our objections, and rates rose to just above our normal weekday rates.

Rooms stopped selling, and we needed to revert to our original holiday pricing. Why did the laws of supply and demand fail us? Because travelers didn't care that we had limited availability. It was Thanksgiving weekend in a city where people wanted to leave; the fact that we were running low on rooms didn't make people want them more.

Assuming that past demand will repeat

Consider the same hotel for Labor Day weekend. Just like Thanksgiving, people left the city rather than came to it. In 2012, we were chosen as the location for a new concert festival with some very popular headliners. As soon as the concert was announced, rooms began to book. We couldn't raise our rates fast enough. It was beautiful.

The concert returned with similarly high demand the next year, and we took full advantage of the opportunity. Again, it was beautiful.

In 2014, we expected the same level of demand to repeat, but we were wrong. The festival's newness waned, and the weekend looked more like 2011 than the previous two years. Not having anticipated this when setting our pricing strategy, we priced as we had in 2013 and 2014. We were selling special event prices in a market that had reverted to normal holiday-weekend low demand. Labor Day weekend 2014 was not beautiful.

Testing how much the market will bear

I worked with a select-service hotel in a beach destination. As the only one with oceanfront rooms, we could charge whatever we wanted during the summer. We ran 98% occupancy from mid-June to mid-August, so we pushed the rateand we pushed it some more.

Curious about the impact of these prices on guest satisfaction, I performed an experiment. We were tracking our TripAdvisor ratings at the time, so I compared that data to our rates. There was an almost perfect negative correlation between the two. When our price went up, our rating went down. Why?

Higher prices meant higher guest expectations. While this was a lovely hotel with excellent staff and a prime location, it was still a mid-tier product in a mid-tier market. Regardless of product quality, you can't price a Toyota like a Rolls Royce. Just because people will pay the rate doesn't mean you should charge it.

Getting Greedy

While with a downtown, full-service hotel, a visit from a global icon was announced. Prices shot up, and at my hotel, we landed on an $800, six-night, non-refundable rate. (I was the lone dissenter to this strategy. Not only did I doubt anyone would book in, I knew that we couldn't deliver $800 service.) To my colleague's surprise, people didn't line up to book with us.

I moved to a different hotel within the brand shortly before the visit and still had access to the reservations system. Out of self-righteous curiosity, I watched it closely to see what happened. As bookings go, not much. Just three people booked the $800 special rate.

Internally, a lot happened. The price dropped steadily, and eventually all restrictions were lifted. As the visit drew nearer, rates at all hotels hit rock bottom. But it was too late. The hotel's occupancy was abysmal, and the desperate attempt to make up for the loss resulted in an equally tragic ADR.

Don't get greedy

Adjusting prices in response to changing conditions is an integral part of revenue management, and the author does not imply that we should stop doing it. But keep these cautionary tales in mind the next time you want to push your rate just a little bit more. Because when we get greedy, we either end up with unhappy guests or empty rooms or both. And nobody wants that.

Lynn Zwibak is the Founder and President of Zwibak Revenue Management, which provides revenue management training to non-revenue managers. Her mission is to educate the hotel industry on revenue management principles so that hotels can be more profitable. She is the author of the Study Guide and Exam for HSMAIs Certified Revenue Management Analysist designation, a professor of Revenue Management at Virginia Tech University, and a member of the Kennedy Training Network. Email her at: lynn@zwibak.com or visit www.zwibak.com
Mr. Vishal Singh with Ms. Suma Venkatesh of IHCL

Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), India's largest hospitality company, today announced the signing of a hotel in Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh. The Greenfield project will be branded a Gateway hotel.

Speaking on the occasion, Suma Venkatesh, Executive Vice President - Real Estate & Development, IHCL, said, "This signing is in line with our recent announcement about the launch of the re-imagined Gateway brand. Sarnath holds immense significance as a sacred pilgrimage site for Buddhists worldwide, making it an ideal location for expanding our presence in spiritual destinations. We are delighted to partner with Raj Hotels for this venture."

Gateway Sarnath is poised to become the city's largest hotel, offering 160 well-appointed rooms. It will feature an all-day diner, a bar and recreational facilities including a gymnasium and a swimming pool. With over 6,500 sq. ft. of a spacious banquet hall complemented by meeting rooms, the hotel will be an ideal choice for social as well as corporate events.

Mr. Vishal Singh, Chairman, Raj Hotels (a unit of Raj Complex) said, "We are excited to partner with IHCL, India's leading hospitality company to introduce the first branded hotel in Sarnath. This will elevate the city's hospitality landscape."

Sarnath is globally one of the four most important places of pilgrimage for Buddhists and an important part of the famed Buddhist circuit in Uttar Pradesh. It is believed that Gautam Buddha taught his first sermon here after attaining enlightenment.

With the addition of this hotel, IHCL will have 24 hotels in Uttar Pradesh under Taj, SeleQtions,Vivanta and Ginger brands including 11 under development.

Mr Vishal Singh Chanchal is a Member of the Legislative Council from the Ghazipur constituency in Uttar Pradesh. He owns a large car dealership and has interests in real estate.
art'otel London Hoxton

art\'otel London Hoxton

art\'otel London Hoxton

artotel, the contemporary lifestyle hotel brand part of the Radisson family of brands, announced artotel London Hoxton officially opened its doors on 24th April 2024.

The hotel is located in the heart of Shoreditch, close to Old Street Underground station, with easy access to the City, Liverpool Street Station, the new Elizabeth Line, and all the capital's major airports.

Signature Artist D*Face takes centre stage of the hotels concept and design, and the opening is one of 2024s hottest and boldest. This is the second UK opening for the artotel brand, following the spectacular opening of artotel London Battersea Power Station in February 2023.

artotel London Hoxton features 357 art-inspired guest bedrooms and suites all with unique skyline views. There are 48 luxury suites, perfect for those seeking a larger space to explore London from, and for families, including an awe-inspiring 196m D*Face Masterpiece Suite.

On the ground and first floor, guests can visit The Brush, an all-day Grand Cafe, Lounge & Cocktail Bar featuring the very best European signature dishes and cocktails, with its own outdoor terrace. A destination restaurant will launch later in the year on the 25th floor with outdoor terraces taking advantage of the dazzling 360 panorama across the capital. Within the hotel, there will be a number of flexible event spaces on the 24th floor launching later in the summer, showcasing jaw-dropping views across the City, ideal for hosting up to 300 guests. The spaces will have capacity to showcase a variety of events - from talks to presentations and fashion shows. Uniquely, the hotel will also have a plush and state-of-the-art 60 seat auditorium, perfect for public movie screenings and product launches; all of this ensures a truly memorable artotel experience and opens the space to a diverse and eclectic range of visitors.

The hotel features standout leisure facilities, opening with an indoor swimming pool, sauna, steam room and gym. A spectacular skyline gym on the 26th floor will follow in the summer as well as a luxury spa with four treatment rooms; showcasing products and treatments from Proverb a unique menu of treatments will leave guests feeling truly revitalised in the most soothing of settings. Using only vegan, organic and natural ingredients such as proteins, antioxidants and enzymes, Proverb products are formulated for lab proven results. Spa treatments range from massages to facials, nail treatments and full body experiences, all with a playful artotel twist.

Cultural and artistic events from the hotels artbeat programme featuring art, music, fashion, and wellness are at the very heart of the artotel guest experience, with opportunities for both up and coming and established artists to create and exhibit works on site. artotel London Hoxton offers a source of endless inspiration, ensuring every inch of this new lifestyle hotel will leave guests feeling truly exhilarated and inspired.

To showcase the artbeat programme, the property features an immersive 135m art gallery that plays host to exclusive works from Signature Artist D*Face and other local and emerging artists, as well as revolving curated exhibitions throughout the year. Guests of the hotel, as well as members of the public, are able to discover the exhibition space too - adding to Hoxtons rich and cultural arts scene.

artotel London Hoxton is brought to life by D*Face, recognised as one of the most prolific contemporary urban artists of his generation. Having spread his signature style worldwide, with well over 100 murals, a host of solo exhibitions, and major collaborations, D*Face has come full circle, returning to where it all started for him, in London's iconic East End. In collaboration with Eyal Shoan of award-winning interior design studio Digital Space, D*Face will feature works in all bedrooms and public spaces, curating everything from original large-scale sculptures and murals to bespoke details.

Perhaps one of the most iconic features of the exterior, alongside its two Banksy original artworks on public display, is its magnificent cogwheel design. Thought up by the creative architects at Squire & Partners, they have created a statement exterior that lends itself to the explosion of colours, artworks and creativity that envelop guests as they enter the front doors.
410 Room Marriott Dual Branded New Orleans Marriott Courtyard and Springhill Suites Hotels Sold for $73 Million



First Major Hotel Sale in the Market Since Early 2023 Signals Rebound of Hotel Market Sales

Len Wormser, Senior Vice President and Scott Stephens, Senior Principal and Chief Operating Officer of Hospitality Real Estate Consultants (HREC), together with Cushman Wakefield Commercial Real Estate Services, announced the sale of the 410 room Marriott dual branded New Orleans Courtyard and Spring Hill Suites Hotels located near the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center/Arts and Warehouse District of the Central Business District. The purchase price was $73 million.

Robert J. Guidry along with Guidry Land Partners and Orlando businessman David Bansmer purchased the properties. These AAA located hotels were sold unencumbered by management and fee simple. InterMountain Management has been selected as the new management company, they also operate the buyer's 19 story 232 room Residence Inn on St Charles Avenue.

"Clearly I am very bullish on New Orleans as with this purchase we now own three hotels with 642 rooms in this city and no doubt in my mind we will add to the portfolio over time", said Guidry. He went on to say, "this city simply has more to offer visitors than any other in our country".

"This transaction represents the first hotel of any significance sold in the New Orleans CBD French Quarter market in the last 16 months," said Wormser, the Louisiana broker of record. "It was a pleasure working with both the seller and buyer, and HREC looks forward to future transactions with both in the City, and elsewhere, stated Wormer.

"Moreover, the New Orleans lodging market is and will experience significant positive tailwinds in 2024-26 anchored by a full convention calendar 2024-2026, highlighted by the Taylor Swift three night concert in October 2024 and Superbowl returning to the city for the 11th time in February 2025," said Wormser.

"These events coupled with over 120 recurring events and festivals each weekend in NOLA, will increase revenue for the hotel NOLA market double digits 2024-2026 compared to 2023."

Wormser representing HREC is the most active Hotel Investment Advisor in the New Orleans and Southeast U.S. market. Throughout his career Wormser and HREC has sold and/or developed over $550 million in closed Lodging transactions (approx. 4,500 rooms) representing approximately 25% of the core New Orleans market. including recent sales of the 220 room Bourbon Orleans at a price of $90 million, and the 309 room New Orleans Airport Hilton located in Jefferson Parish for $53 million.
MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) today announced the publication of its 2023 Social Impact and Sustainability Report. The report details the Company's continuing and steadfast commitment to its Social Impact and Sustainability principles of embracing humanity and protecting the planet and building a legacy for generations to come. The report also highlights strategies, programs and performance focused on creating a more sustainable future and making a positive impact on the lives of employees, guests and communities.

"Our legacy is grounded in being visionaries and working together to achieve the ambitious goals we set as a business," said Bill Hornbuckle, CEO and President of MGM Resorts. "In 2023, we were able to make a positive impact on several social and environmental causes in the communities where we operate and leverage innovative technologies to better support sustainable cities."

Highlights and accomplishments outlined in the report include:

The commendable giving and volunteering efforts of MGM Resorts employees, with more than 82,000 volunteer hours donated and more than $20 million in collective grants and charitable contributions to hundreds of nonprofit organizations.

The Company's use of innovative technologies for advancing water stewardship through collaboration with the Southern Nevada Water Authority, WaterStart and the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Recognition from the U.S. Department of Energy for achieving energy savings goals as a partner in the Better Buildings Challenge.

The celebration of 20 years of Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in the Atlantic City community with investment in local nonprofit organizations that provide workforce development opportunities.

Stories of how MGM Resorts recognizes, celebrates and engages employees through mentorship, networking and professional development opportunities.

"Our people are the foundation of our company and its enduring heritage and culture," said Jyoti Chopra, Chief People, Inclusion and Sustainability Officer. "It is through the steadfast commitment of our teams at all our properties and locations that we have been able to make great strides in environmental sustainability, philanthropy and diversity, equity and inclusion in 2023."

In 2019, MGM Resorts developed a bold social impact plan called "Focused on What Matters: Embracing Humanity and Protecting the Planet," which included concrete long-term goals to guide the company's commitment to social impact and sustainability. The framework for these goals aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and is centered on three pillars: fostering diversity, equity and inclusion, philanthropy and community engagement, and environmental sustainability.
How to be your own music publisher

Heres everything music publishers do when music is released, and how you can do it all yourself to keep sole ownership of your work.

by Randi Zimmerman of Symphonic Blog

Self publishing your music comes with a lot of benefits. You dont have to share your copyrights with anyone, you arent bound to any publishing deals and you get ultimate control over where your work is used and how. Keep in mind, self publishing isnt for everyone. You need to be able to commit significant time and effort to doing everything a publisher would usually do and more. But if this is something that youre ready to take on, heres how to do it right.

How To Self Publish Your Music

Lets Talk Basics

Self publishing your songs means you take on the role of both the artist and the publisher. Being a self-published writer ultimately means that you hold all the rights to your Intellectual Property (IP), which means you would be in full control of how your compositions are used and would receive all royalties associated with your share of your compositions.

This is awesome, but these perks come with a little extra work. If youre still interested, heres what youll need to do to self publish your songs

Step 1: Make Sure Your Music Hasnt Been Published Yet

If youve worked with a distributor before, you may have opted in for publishing services without even realizing it. For example, our publishing administration services are very popular with our own clients. Before you do anything, definitely make sure this doesnt apply to you.

Step 2: Register with a PRO

In order for you to receive the royalties youre rightfully owed, your songs need to be properly registered with a Performing Rights Organization like ASCAP, SESAC or BMI. PROs rely on the information you provide to determine who they need to pay and how much.

Start setting up your company by going to either www.ascap.com or www.bmi.com to obtain/fill out an application.

If you are a songwriter and have not yet affiliated, make sure to only do so with only one of these, not all of them.

To ensure you do everything right, check out this post to make sure you dont miss anything.



Sharpen your skills

What Are Marketing Drivers And Why Do I Need Them?

How SoundCloud Royalties Work Through Symphonic

10 Things Every Artist Should Have In Their EPK

How to Trademark Your Artist Name



Step 3: Sign Up with the MLC

The Mechanical Licensing Collective maintains the worlds most thorough database of music composition copyrights and their owners. They collect mechanical royalties from digital music streaming services and transmit those royalties to copyright holders based on the ownership claims.

Signing up with them ensures that you get all the royalties that are rightfully owed to you. Youll need to Connect to Collect and become a Member of the MLC in order to collect the digital audio mechanical royalties owed to you. // Click here to get started with that process and learn more about it.

Step 4: Time to Promote

Once youve completed those steps, you can finally start getting your publishers share on top of the writers share. Now is the time where the duties of a publisher fall onto you.

Typically, your publisher would be the one networking, seeking out sync deals for TV and film, registering copyrights, negotiating licenses, and more. When you self publish, its all on you.

In Conclusion

Self-publishing typically just entails registering with a PRO to be able to manage and publish your own compositions, but it doesnt have to end there. If you want to go even further, become a publisher and start your own publishing company! In the meantime, we hope this helped.

As always, you got this. 

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Taylor Swifts fan frenzy flywheel: A look into Superfan culture [MIDiA]

Taylor Swifts ability to move mountains with her following leaves us with a genius marketing system that builds true and loyal fanbases.

by Kriss Thakrar of MIDiA



A new Taylor Swift album is almost guaranteed to start a fan frenzy  the question is, what form will it take? Breaking Spotify records is a given, but digital consumption is not enough to satiate super fandom. Superfans crave a reason to swarm, and that is exactly what they did around The Black Dog  a small South London pub.

The Black Dog has long been an unassuming pub in Vauxhall, London. Now it is a Mecca for Swifties flocking to the spot after it was mentioned in one of her songs. In an era of fan frenzies, Taylor Swift has mastered them. How does Swift activate her fan community so well, and send the fan frenzy flywheel spinning?

Active digital triggers

Music is mostly streamed passively in the background. But, for superfans, music is an active experience. As such, we do not see super fandom as white noise. To build super fandom, fans need something to grab their active attention.

Taylor Swifts proficient ability to grab attention has enabled her to build an audience that wants to dive deeper because she provides the content that allows them to  for example, her albums often feature easter eggs for fans to explore.

Whether it is easter eggs or other forms of active consumption such as participating in viral trends and challenges or co-creating with fans, artists must turn digital music consumption into an active experience.

IRL drivers

Digital engagement can foster connections between fans and artists but does not substitute real-world engagement. The soaring growth of the live music sector is a testament to this with virtual concerts yet to take off in the same manner.

FEATURED REPORT

Music subscriber market shares Q3 2023New momentum

This report presents MIDiAs music subscriber market shares report and various MIDiA consumer surveys. All music subscriber data in this report refers to third quarters of each respective year. NumbersFind out more

Fans want community and connection with their favourite artists and with each other. If active digital engagement is the spark of super fandom, the real world is the fire in which it is forged. And, to create real-world experiences, we need more physical places of significance.

Taylor Swift fans are not gravitating towards The Black Dog because of a random London pub TikTok challenge. Rather, it provides proximity to a moment in Taylor Swifts life that was significant enough for her to sing about. However, simply bridging digital and real-life experiences is not enough. Fans need greater incentives to become fan activists.

Incentives to share

Showing up in a place of significance with other fans is typically enough incentive to share. However, super fandom is accompanied by a never-ending appetite for more. Hence why The Black Dog is looking to explore Swift-inspired burgers, beers, and other products that bring the Swift essence to the location.

The exclusivity of access to products and experiences in the real world contrasts with the ubiquity and abundance of the digital world. This is why it is the perfect content for fans to express themselves on digital platforms.

When superfans start sharing their access to something exclusive in the real world, it has a snowball effect that creates fear of missing out and feeds the frenzy. Once this catalyst has been triggered, we are in a position to turn fans into fanatics.

Community priming

The period of heightened interest will inevitably end, but the memories of the experience will endure. Fans will begin to long for the sense of community and connection they experienced and this is where artists, labels, and streaming services can add the most value.

It is hard to cultivate a fan frenzy, you can only sow the seeds. However, when it occurs it is a precious and scarce experience that can lay the foundation for even bigger fan movements in the future. To reap these rewards fans need recognition for their engagement, whether through rewards such as digital badges or access to exclusive fan communities.

The key here is creating a digital space that consolidates fan relationships organically but allows artists and their teams to capture the first-party data of their superfans. Once this space exists, it only takes the smallest trigger to create a new wave of fan hysteria.

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The city is making plans to reopen the pool at the YMCA and offer limited programming this summer.

North Adams Hopes to Transform Y Into Community Recreation Center



Mayor Jennifer Macksey updates members of the former YMCA on the status of the roof project and plans for reopening. NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  The city has plans to keep the former YMCA as a community center.

"The city of North Adams is very committed to having a recreation center not only for our youth but our young at heart," Mayor Jennifer Macksey said to the applause of some 50 or more YMCA members on Wednesday. "So we are really working hard and making sure we can have all those touch points."

The mayor said the city will run some programming over the summer until an operator can be found to take over the facility. It will also need a new name.

"The YMCA, as you know, has departed from our facilities and will not return to our facility in the form that we had," she said to the crowd in Council Chambers. "And that's been mostly a decision on their part. The city of North Adams wanted to really keep our relationship with the Y, certainly, but they wanted to be a Y without borders, and we're going a different direction."

The pool was closed in March 2023 after the roof failed a structural inspection. Kyle Lamb, owner of Geary Builders, the contractor on the roof project, said the condition of the laminated beams was far worse than expected.

"When we first went into the Y to do an inspection, we certainly found a lot more than we anticipated. The beams were actually rotted themselves on the bottom where they have to sit on the walls structurally," he said. "The beams actually, from the weight of snow and other things, actually crushed themselves eight to 11 inches. They were actually falling apart. ...

"One good snowstorm, one good storm and bad things definitely could've happened."

The entire roof system had to be jacked up, the beams repaired and restructured on steel brackets on both sides of the building and the roof restored. The ductwork was also in poor shape and new materials are expected to arrive shortly for installation. The contractor estimated about three weeks to complete the project.

The mayor said a deep cleaning and a building needs assessment will follow. The pool and the humidity issues in the pool room are being assessed by Commissioner of Public Works Timothy Lescarbeau, though the pool itself appears to be in good shape, she said.

"We understand that the humidity and the dampness eats away at the beams," said Macksey. "We really want to focus on preserving what we've done."

At least one locker room will have to be rebuilt, some accessibility changes made and other repairs made within the building.

"We had a tenant in there that we thought was doing more than what they really were and once they pulled out and we were able to look around to see what was done or what wasn't," the mayor said. "We're quite frankly a little bit shocked. ...

"The hope  I spent a lot of time in that building  is that we're going to be able to get it sanitary and then we'll be able to provide access to the pool."

The key will be getting the project completed, the pool cleaned and hiring lifeguards. The city has reached out to the Boys and Girls Club in Pittsfield for some training.

The YMCA was built on Brayton hill after its downtown building fell victim to urban renewal; it was attached to the new Brayton School in the early 1990s when the city took over the building. The Northern Berkshire Y and its successor, Berkshire Family YMCA, had been leasing the structure.

Macksey said the pool is the heart of the facility but there will be spin off programs like aerobics or pickleball. She anticipates it being open five days a week, Tuesday through Saturday. Was that enough, she asked the members?

"It's five days more than I'm swimming now," said one woman to applause.

A number of attendees offered advice or information on hours of operation, fund raising needs and what the Y had offered, and asked about what they could expect and when. Others queried the mayor about fees but she said that will depend on programming.

The goal is to have the pool open in another month or so (this will depend on hiring staff) and some fitness equipment installed in the front room where the daycare had been. Long-term goals are to open the downstairs and resume daycare operations.

Attendees were asked to fill out a survey on what activities they want, what they liked and disliked about the Y and what hours it should be open.

"We'll gather all the information and we'll start putting numbers to programs," the mayor said after the meeting. "But we're prepared to start this up for the first three months and hopefully turn it over to what I call an operator or a tenant or something, but the city is very committed to making this work."

Seed money will come from the city's American Rescue Plan Act funds, grant funding and fund raising. Some existing staff will begin the cleaning but a professional outfit may need to be called in, the mayor said.

"The pool itself is in good shape. But the building itself needs some TLC," she said.

In speaking to the former Y members, the mayor asked for ideas and volunteers.

"You are the people who are going to make this work," Macksey said. "We're not going to be able to satisfy everyone but we'll try really really hard."
Williams College students participate in a protest encampment over Gaza on Wednesday.

Williams College Students Start Encampment over Gaza

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.  Several dozen student protesters Wednesday began an encampment at the heart of Williams College's campus to amplify their demands that the school divest from companies with ties to Israels military campaign in Gaza.

The move follows months of protests on campus, at the Field Park rotary and in town hall from students and other residents concerned about indiscriminate bombing that has reportedly killed more than 30,000 Palestinians since Israel began its response to the Oct. 7 terrorist attack by the Gaza-based Hamas terrorist group.

It also mimics similar encampments on college campuses around this country, most notably at places like New Yorks Columbia University, where student protests led to the occupation of an administration building and, ultimately, the arrest of nearly 300 protesters.

At about 1 p.m. on Wednesday, students sang protest songs and listened to speakers on the Williams Quad, surrounded by a ring of tents set up in the wee hours of the morning.

On Monday, Williams College President Maud Mandel sent a campus-wide message reminding students of the colleges policies on demonstrations and noting that encampments, in and of themselves do not violate any college rule.

On Wednesday afternoon, senior Hannah Bae and sophomore Deena Iqbal of the local chapter of the group Students for Justice in Palestine, said that they were aware of the colleges policies and that the encampment was not violating them.

The pair said the students planned to sleep in the tents, and they put no timeline on the protest.

We came out here at 4 a.m., Iqbal said. Well be here indefinitely in order to put as much pressure as we can on the administration.

We are currently complying with the colleges policies [on demonstrations].

Neither said they anticipated a need to occupy nearby Hopkins Hall, home to, among other things, Mandels offices.

Weve seen across other campuses, within institutional bounds, protesters being arrested, Bae said. Things do get escalated in ways that are unpredictable.

Were following the regulations. But protest is an act that is inherently counter-institutional.

The pair said the students mounted a protest last month tied to a quarterly meeting of Mandels bosses, the college trustees. And Students for Justice in Palestine is working with a faculty-staff-student-alumni committee at the college on the issue of divestment.

Weve been working through the Advisory Committee on Shareholder Responsibility, Bae said. Another [college] group were working with, Jews for Justice, called for the ACSR to convene.

A flier circulated at the encampment by the two student groups explained why divestment by the college matters.

Divestment is a tactic that places economic pressure on corporations through targeting and depleting their profits, the flier reads. In the case of Palestine, the national movement for divestment targets weapons manufacturers and, more broadly, corporations in business with the state of Israel and, thus, upholding Israels settler-colonialism and apartheid regime.

As revealed in a meeting with President Mandel in fall 2023, the colleges endowment is, in part, funding weapons manufacturing and, thus, funding genocide. As long as the amount of money invested in death and destruction is not zero, the complicity of the college in the ongoing crisis is not zero. 

Organizers of the encampment had a daylong series of events planned for attendees, including a student-led teach-in at 7 p.m.

At 12:30, there was a song-writing/song-sharing event, where speakers noted that the first day of the encampment coincides with International Workers Day, marked each year on May Day.

The speakers pointed to a tie between the struggles of workers around the world for economic justice with the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza.

All oppression is interconnected, one speaker said. Liberation anywhere is a step toward liberation everywhere.

The location of the encampment, meanwhile, coincides with the spot where Williams plans to hold its commencement on June 2.

Bae, a graduating senior, declined to speculate on whether the protest still would be ongoing when the college needs to set up for the event. But she indicated that the choice of the central quad is coincidental.

Well have to see, Bae said of the timing. Other groups on other campuses have been strategic about where they set up their encampment. We are here because this is a central place on campus.
NAMIBC Kicks Off Mental Health Awareness Month

PITTSFIELD, Mass. In honor of May's Mental Health Awareness Month (MHAM), the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Berkshire County (NAMIBC) and advocates across the country, are raising awareness of mental illness and supporting individuals in their mental health journey.

This year, NAMI Berkshire County is helping emphasize the importance of normalizing mental health care by hosting a fundraising and awareness event: NAMIWalks Berkshire County at 5pm on May 3 in collaboration with First Fridays at Five.

"It is essential to foster an open and safe environment for sharing stories, and during Mental Health Awareness Month, we are calling on mental health advocates across the country to come together and address the stigma around mental health by providing testimonies and offering support," explains Melissa Helm, Executive Director of NAMI Berkshire County. "NAMIWalks Berkshire County encourages everyone to prioritize and talk about their mental well-being without feeling guilty or ashamed; because mental health affects each and every one of us."

The non-profit encourages all Berkshire County residents to register for NAMIWalks Berkshire County online at namiwalks.org/berkshirecounty. The event is free to attend, however, anyone who raises over $100 in support of the nonprofit's mission to provide free mental health support, education and advocacy to anyone in the Berkshires, will receive an official 2024 NAMIWalks t-shirt.

"It takes a village to ensure the continued success of our mission, and we're grateful to have one of the best here in the Berkshires. Thank you to Downtown Pittsfield Inc. and First Fridays at Five for partnering with us to make this event possible; and thank you to our event sponsors: Center for Motivation and Change Berkshires, Berkshire Health Systems, The Brien Center, Greylock Federal Credit Union, Lenco Armored Vehicles, Brown and Brown Insurance, Mountain One, Miraval Berkshires, Massachusetts Behavioral Health Helpline, Teton Management and Cintas,' Helm continues.

Check-in for NAMIWalks Berkshire County will begin at 5pm with the opening ceremony taking place on the First Fridays at Five main stage at 6pm with the walk directly following. Participants will walk from the main stage at Park Square up North Street towards the hospital, around Berkshire Medical Center, and back down North Street to the Main Stage.

NAMI Berkshire County is pleased to offer additional Mental Health Awareness Month events throughout May:

Thursday, May 2: Live rendition of Every Brilliant Thing at Miraval Berkshires at 7pm. Tickets on sale at namibc.org/EBT.

Friday, May 3: NAMI Walks Berkshire County at First Fridays at Five, namiwalks.org/berkshirecounty.

Friday, May 3: Live rendition of Every Brilliant Thing at Hotel on North at 7pm. Tickets on sale at namibc.org/EBT.

Wednesday, May 15: Benefit Bingo at Hot Plate in Pittsfield.

Tuesday, May 21: Dine to Donate at the Locker Room in Lee.

The non-profit also highlights upcoming MHAM events being held by their community partners, such as:

May 11: Love of T Foundation's May-nia Comedy Show at Dorothy's.

May 26: The Brien Center's Community Conversations at Lenox Library.

For more information on Mental Health Awareness Month and to download materials like social media content and graphics, visit nami.org/MentalHealthMonth.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness of Berkshire County is a local affiliate of the nation's largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to improving the lives of individuals and families affected by mental illness. NAMI BC offers information about mental illness conditions, symptoms and treatment at www.namibc.org or through the NAMI HelpLine at 800-950-NAMI (6264).

Learn more and get involved: namibc.org and @namiberkshire on Instagram.
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Alfred Molina fought tears as he reflected on disappointing his father by choosing an acting career in an emotional new interview.

The BAFTA-nominated actor, 70, is best known for his performances in films such as Boogie Nights and Frida and his villainous turn as Doctor Octopus in Sam Raimis Spider-Man 2.

He was born in London to two immigrant parents: his Spanish father was a waiter while his Italian mother worked as a cleaner.

Speaking to Vanity Fair, Molina recalled: When I was very young, my dad got me a job as a waiter in the restaurant where he was working.

If I say so myself, I was a good waiter to the point where the management offered me the chance to do a two-week management training course.

I turned it down because I got an acting job. My father says, This acting job, how much are they paying you? I said, Im getting union wage, so 15 a week.

Alfred Molina in New York in 2024 ( Getty Images )

Molina explained that the management job at the restaurant would have paid twice that, leading his father to ask: Wait a minute. Youre making 30 or 35 here. Then you go to making 15?

I said, Yeah. He looked at me and he had the look on his face that you reserve for the mad and the lost.

He stared at me like he didnt recognize me. The only thing I could say to him was, This is what I love, Dad. He never quite got it. I did disappoint my dad. Yeah. If my dad had lived a little longer, he hopefully would have realized I hadnt wasted my time.

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After fighting back tears, Molina added that he and his father never spoke about his burgeoning career in the arts.

He wasnt phoning me up saying, So what are you up to? Whats going on? We didnt have that kind of relationship.

When he passed away, I went to Spain for the funeral and I was with his widow and she drags out this suitcase and its full of clippings and photos and bits from magazines and letters from people that wrote to him saying they saw me. He kept all this stuff, but he never talked about it.

My step mom said, Do you want any of this? I couldnt handle it. I said no. Ive always tried with my kids All you can do is tell them how brilliant you are. Thats all you need to do.

In 2022, Molina told The Independent that his first agent advised him to change his name from Alfredo to Alfred because otherwise: Youll be playing Spanish waiters all your life.

That really did sting, because my dad was Spanish, and my dad was a waiter, recalled Molina. And I can remember being really kind of it pissed me off.
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Kristen Stewart is set to team up with Oscar Isaac for the new vampire thriller Flesh of the Gods.

Stewart, 34, made her name in the wildy-popular vampire romance Twilight and its sequels, which she starred in from 2008 to 2012.

Isaac, 45, is known for playing Poe Dameron in the Star Wars sequel trilogy (2015-2019), Moon Knight in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Llewyn Davis in Inside Llewyn Davis.

The new film, from Italian-Canadian director Panos Cosmatos, is said to follow a married couple, Raoul (Isaac) and Alex (Stewart), who descend each evening from their luxury skyscraper condo and head into an electric nighttime realm of 1980s Los Angeles.

Eventually they cross paths with a mysterious and enigmatic woman and her hard-partying cabal, and Raoul and Alex find themselves seduced into a glamorous, surrealistic world of hedonism, thrills, and violence.

Cosmatos is best known for his 2018 film Mandy, a hallucinatory horror starring Nicolas Cage. In a three-star review,The Independents Geoffrey McNab described the film as a primal revenge drama that's inventive, funny and very macabre and wrote: This isnt a story that builds up into an orgy of violence and bloodletting. It starts in a frenzy, continues in a frenzy and ends in one too.

open image in gallery Kristen Stewart (left) and Oscar Isaac ( Getty )

In a statement, the director said of his new project: Like Los Angeles itself Flesh of the Gods inhabits the liminal realm between fantasy and nightmare. Both propulsive and hypnotic, Flesh will take you on a hot rod joy ride deep into the glittering heart of hell.

The screenplay was written by Andrew Kevin Walker, best known for David Finchers 1995 crime thriller Se7en.

Dont Look Up director Adam McKay is among the films producers, and he added in a statement: We think its wildly commercial and wildly artful. Our ambitions are to make a movie that ripples through popular culture, fashion, music, and film.

Shooting is expected to begin later this year.

Stewarts most recent film, Love Lies Bleeding, arrives in cinemas this week.

In a four-star review, The Independents chief film critic Clarisse Loughrey wrote: The feeling that permeates it all is desperate frustration  specifically, a womans yearning for the kind of power that could finally even the odds.

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Stewart is brilliant here, in a way that adds Love Lies Bleeding to her own, expanding catalogue of desire on screen, from her wholesome romcom Happiest Season to the giddy perversions of David Cronenbergs Crimes of the Future.
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Kathy Burke has explained she was recently left really angry with TV hosts Ant and Dec.

The actor, whose credits include Gimme Gimme Gimme and Kevin & Perry Go Large, spoke out against Saturday Night Takeaway presenting duo Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly while reflecting on the latest series of ITV reality series Im a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, which aired in December 2023.

Speaking on her podcast, Burke expressed disappointment with the pair for not speaking up when ITV enlisted Nigel Farage to be a contestant on the reality series  a decision that led Burke and many viewers to boycott the show.

Burkes latest guest on her podcast Where Theres a Will, Theres a Wake was comedian Seann Walsh, who appeared alongside the former Ukip and Brexit Party leader on Im a Celebrity. Burke told him: I didnt watch this years because of Farage being in it.

When Walsh replied, Good for you, Burke added: Well, it was a step too far. I just thought, you f***ing arseholes. And I was really angry with Ant and Dec. Theyre Irish descent, man!

She continued: And also, I think it was really unfair on the rest of you, on the other contestants.

During Farages time on the show, he clashed with First Dates star Freid Sirieix, who grew infuriated with the former following a chat about the environment. Sirieix also confronted Farage over what he described as a shameful 2016 Brexit poster depicting a line of desperate refugees trying to reach Europe under the headline Breaking Point.

Walsh, who said he had never been petrified of anything more in my life before going into Im a Celebrity, said he felt odd when his campmates, including Farage, would talk about really big moral stuff as it shouldnt be on a light evening show that the kids are watching.

Burke then asked Walsh if he was relieved to think he might not be the most hated person on the show, the comedian said: Thats it. All Im thinking is I hope I dont get out of this and its like the last time. But actually, I had a lovely experience and really enjoyed it.

open image in gallery Kathy Burke says she was really angry with Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly ( Getty Images / Shutterstock )

The last time Walsh was referring to was his controversial appearance on Strictly Come Dancing in 2018, which resulted in a scandal. Walsh was caught kissing his professional dance partner Katya Jones on a night out in London, and the pair issued an apology, calling it a drunken mistake.
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Following critical acclaim, a coveted Michelin star and a simmering feud with Gordon Ramsay, MasterChef judge Marcus Wareing has revealed why, after 35 years, hes finally getting out of the kitchen.

The 53-year-old hung up his apron at the celebrated Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley Hotel, in Knightsbridge, London, last year and now says he has no plans to go back.

I dont need to open another restaurant. Ive done a lot. Since the age of 25, Ive been dealing with chefs and rotas and suppliers and bills and accounts and HR and customers and complaints.

Its been fabulous. But do I want to do it for ever? No chance. I dont want to continue on the same boring path. I wanted a change in my life and to do different things, he told The Times.

Father-of-three Wareing, who has long been embroiled in a feud with former business partner Gordon Ramsay, has previously said hed always wanted to be in his shoes.

But despite his admiration for his former boss and mentor, the northerner who moved to London to make his start was unable to reach the same heights  including an elusive second and third Michelin star, achieved by both Ramsay and before that Marco Pierre White.

I cant be in his shoes  theyre too big. I knew I couldnt fill them and I think I had another ambition and I had another goal. So I had to try, he told the MailOnline at the time about his venture into working independently.

open image in gallery Wareing has quit the restaurant industry after 35 years ( BBC/Shine TV )

He added that there was only one chef thats conquered global cookery, TV and holding top accolades here in this country. And thats Gordon.

Wareing had started out as Ramsays understudy at various restaurants including Aubergine and had been dubbed his protege.

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A legal battle over the name of restaurant Petrus which both wanted to keep but Ramsay eventually won, led to a rift between the pair with Wareing saying: If I never speak to that guy again for the rest of my life, it wouldnt bother me one bit.

Wareing has been a judge on BBC series MasterChef: The Professionals since 2014, a spin-off of the original MasterChef series. The show sees working chefs compete to be Champion after a series of cooking heats.

open image in gallery ( Getty Images )

The news of the chefs permanent departure from the industry comes three years after he closed another restaurant Gilbert Scott in 2021.

He added that his TV work had come in the way of operating his businesses and was conscious of how his staff looked at him.

I was missing out because I wasnt there. Id go into the restaurant, and I felt that the staff were looking at me like: where have you been?

In addition to being busy, Wareing suggested that the fine dining experience had become dull for him with finnicky food preparation and high prices for dinners.

Theyre quiet. We use water baths; tweezers to put food on plates. No one chops anything anymore. No one sautes anything.

He estimated that he would have to charge a 600 for a standard dinner for two people at his restaurant were it still open.

Who goes out and has 600 for two for a meal? he questioned.

But the star appears content with his new path, grateful he is not forced to continue for financial reasons.

Ive chosen a new path, he said. Im free of my professional kitchen to do the things that I want to do. A lot of chefs have to carry on cooking to the end because they need to pay their bills.

He credited Ramsay with doing a lot for my career and revealed that the hot-headed TV personality had sent him a gift with a personal message.

He sent me a beautiful book not that long ago from his restaurant group that I really was appreciative of and he wrote a fabulous message in it. And so whatever happens in the past its water under the bridge. Weve all moved on.

His revelation comes just days after fellow MasterChef judge, Monica Galetti, announced the closure of her restaurant, Mere. Named after Galettis mother, Mere specialised in South Pacific and French cuisines, and was described as an elegant and contemporary restaurant, offering a relaxed yet refined dining experience.

The Independent has contacted representatives for Wareing and Ramsay.
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At least 48 people are now confirmed dead from a highway collapse in southern China that sent cars tumbling down a slope.

The Meizhou city government said 23 vehicles rolled into a pit after a 59-foot-long section of the highway gave way at about 2am (local time) on Wednesday in Guangdong province due to torrential rain.

Three other people were unidentified, pending DNA testing, the city government said in a statement on Thursday afternoon. It wasnt immediately clear if they had died, which would bring the death toll to 51.

Thirty people suffered injuries but none of them life-threatening, the authorities had previously said.

The ground beneath the highway appeared to have caved in, along with a section of the road above it, causing vehicles to roll down a slope.

Witnesses said they heard a loud noise and saw a wide hole open up behind them after driving past the section just before it collapsed. The landslide reportedly began under two lanes of an expressway that ran along the side of a hill.

Rescuers working at the site of a collapsed road section of the Meizhou-Dabu Expressway in Meizhou ( AP )

We stopped and got out of the car to check and had no idea the road had collapsed, a witness told Guizhou China.

The search operation was underway despite tough weather conditions, city mayor Mayor Wang Hui said. All the victims have been identified as Chinese nationals, he added.

Video and photos in local media showed smoke and fire at the scene, with highway guardrails slanting down into the flames. A pile of blackened cars could be seen on the slope leading down from the highway.

Authorities pressed more than 500 rescuers from the police and other emergency departments into action as the expressway was sealed from traffic in both directions. The provincial government has mobilised elite specialised forces and gone all out to carry out... search and rescue, it said.

However, the search operation was hampered by the incessant rain and gravel sliding down the slope. The disaster left a curving earth-coloured gash in the otherwise verdant forest landscape.

Because some of the vehicles involved caught fire, the difficulty of the rescue operation has increased, said Wen Yongdeng, the Communist Party secretary for the Meizhou emergency management bureau.

At least 36 dead in Chinas highway collapse ( CNS/AFP via Getty Images )

Most of the vehicles got buried in the soil after falling down the slope, he said, adding that the prolonged heavy rainfall has saturated soil in the area, making it prone to secondary disasters during the rescue process.

The collapse trapped over 20 vehicles, involving 54 people, on the highway, Xinhua reported.

Guangdong, a densely populated province home to 127 million people, has seen record rainfall and flooding in the past two weeks, forcing more than 110,000 people to relocate.

A tornado killed five people in Guangzhou, the provincial capital, last weekend.

Locals were seen wading through knee-deep water, retrieving whatever belongings they could from their damaged properties.

Buses and helicopters ferried to safety all the residents of the township of Jiangwan in the Shaoguan region as a new round of floods arrived, the reports said, citing local authorities.

I have never seen such heavy rain in my life, nor have people older than me, said Jiang, a 72-year-old resident who gave only his surname, according to state-run China Daily.

The government warned of possible further disasters with the province bracing for intensified bouts of downpour throughout May.

"Multiparty discussions and evaluations indicate that strong convection and heavy precipitation may increase in China in May," the Emergency Management Ministry said.
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The US engages with the Taliban when it serves its national interest, a State Department official said as Afghanistans de facto rulers continue to seek legitimacy from the international community.

Active conversations with the Taliban allow the US not only to protect its interests but also support the Afghan people living under the fundamentalist regime, State Departments principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said.

...let me just say that when it comes to our engagements with the Taliban, we engage when it is in the United States interest to do so. This is the best way to not just protect US national interests but also support the Afghan people, he said.

Washingtons engagement allows us to speak directly with the Taliban, and its an opportunity for us to continue to press for the immediate and unconditional release of US nationals in Afghanistan, including those who we have determined to be wrongfully detained, Mr Patel said.

He was answering a question from a reporter on Americas engagement with Kabul despite rising terrorism in Afghanistan and the continuing ban on education of girls and women.

Well also use those opportunities to directly talk about the Talibans commitments to counterterrorism, and of course, as always, human rights is also on the agenda, Mr Patel told reporters.

The Taliban are pariahs on the global stage, largely because of their restrictions on women and girls. The war-hit nations economy is struggling and its infrastructure is poor in the absence of a functional government.

The group seized power in 2021 amid the chaotic withdrawal of US and Nato forces after two decades of war. Their ban on education of women and girls has triggered widespread condemnation and deepened their international isolation.

The Taliban have barred women from education beyond sixth grade, most jobs and public spaces like parks. They have implemented corporal punishment and public executions, practices seen during their first period of rule in the late 1990s. The economy is now in decline and Afghans are experiencing drought, hunger, and displacement on a massive scale.
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The Philippines summoned a Chinese envoy in Manila to protest Beijings use of a water cannon that damaged a Filipino vessel in the disputed waters of the South China Sea.

The Philippines Foreign Ministry said it protested the harassment, ramming, swarming, shadowing and blocking of its vessel by the China Coast Guard and Chinese maritime militia.

Describing the use of water cannons and tactics as dangerous manoeuvres and aggressive actions, Manila called on the Chinese boats to leave the waters immediately.

The Philippines demanded that the Chinese vessels leave Bajo de Masinloc and its vicinity immediately, it added.

It marked the 20th protest by the Philippines against Chinese actions in the sea this year and one of 153 under the Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jrs administration as the encounters between the two armies became more frequent and serious.

The latest incident happened on Tuesday in Scarborough Shoal, referred to as Huangyan Island in China and is also known as Bajo de Masinloc inside Manilas exclusive economic zone.

A dramatic video shared by the Philippine Coast Guard showed two larger Chinese vessels encircling the Philippine ship and firing water cannons.

The Philippines Coast Guard said four China Coast Guard vessels and six Chinese Maritime Militia vessels were involved in the incident that badly damaged the vessel. It mangled the railings, smashed the awning in the stern, and damaged the electronic system and canopy.

Commodore Jay Tarriela, Philippines Coast Guards spokesperson on South China Sea matters, said their Chinese counterparts have elevated tensions after it directly used water cannon against one of its vessels for the first time.

open image in gallery This frame grab from handout video footage taken and released on April 30, 2024 by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) shows the Philippine Coast Guard ship BRP Bagacay being hit by water cannon from Chinese coast guard vessels near the chinese-controlled Scarborough shoal in disputed waters of the South China Sea ( Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)/AFP )

"It just goes to show that Goliath is becoming more Goliath. They dont hesitate to use brute force to violate international law," Mr Tarriela told a briefing.

China has significantly raised the pressure of its water cannons which have caused heavy damage to the ships, he said.

A spokesperson at Chinas embassy in Manila said Scarborough shoal, which it calls Huangyan Dao, "has always been Chinas territory" and urged the Philippines to "stop making infringement and provocations at once and not to challenge Chinas resolve to defend our sovereignty".

However, no country has sovereignty over the Scarborough Shoal, a prime fishing patch close to major shipping lanes that is used by several countries.

The shoal falls inside the Philippines exclusive economic zone and has been a constant source of flashpoint between it and China.
Bayer, a leading global life sciences company, and Huma Therapeutics Limited, a leading global digital health company, have announced the launch of their innovative heart health screening tool in Saudi Arabia.

This marks the first global launch since the Bayer Aspirin Heart Health Risk Assessment went live in the US in 2023, and is aimed at supporting key objectives of the Vision 2030 national strategy for Saudi Arabia.

The Bayer Aspirin Heart Health Risk Assessment is a digital-only tool that rapidly evaluates an individual's risk for developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) over the next decade, without the need for invasive blood tests and blood pressure measurement.

Good predictive ability

Huma developed the algorithm by leveraging 15+ years of longitudinal data from over 500,000 individuals from the UK Biobank Dataset. Clinical validation of the algorithm in the European Society of Cardiology found that the Heart Health Risk Assessment had very good predictive ability when compared to the standard of care.

The launch of the Heart Risk Assessment in Saudi Arabia aligns with the countrys Vision 2030 healthcare sector transformation strategy, which has made the reduction of the clinical and economic burden of cardiovascular disease a national priority.

Cardiovascular diseases, like stroke and heart failure, are among the leading causes of death in Saudi Arabia, and the Vision 2030 strategies aim to reduce the disease burden through prevention.

Bayer has set a similar intention, through the companys mission of Health for All, Hunger for None and long heritage in heart health to create comprehensive initiatives around cardiovascular disease prevention, advancing access to life-saving solutions for all. This launch in Saudi Arabia is an early step in the companys long-term, global plan.

Additional healthcare initiatives

In addition to the Heart Health Risk Assessment, Huma and Bayer are separately supporting additional healthcare initiatives in Saudi Arabia in support of Vision 2030. Huma has recently launched a diabetes care pathway within the Seha Virtual Hospital, an ambitious and innovative telemedicine platform launched by the Saudi Ministry of Health in order to expand care access and improve care delivery as part of the Vision 2030 objectives.

Bayer has committed to screening 1,000,000 citizens who might be at risk to develop cardiovascular disease as part of the Protect Your Heart campaign in partnership with the Saudi Ministry of Health.

The launch of the Heart Health Risk Assessment tool also aligns with the recently introduced Biotechnology Strategy of Saudi Arabia. This strategy aims to leverage advanced technologies, such as digital health tools, to improve healthcare outcomes and foster innovation in the country's healthcare sector.

Digital-first healthcare

Dan Vahdat, CEO and Founder of Huma, said: Saudi Arabia is fast becoming a world leader in digital-first healthcare. Having recently achieved Saudi FDA Class C regulatory clearance for our disease-agnostic, configurable Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) platform, Huma is well-positioned to support the ambitious healthcare transformation put forward by the Ministry of Health as part of Vision 2030.

We are proud to be supporting heart health at scale with the launch of the Heart Health Risk Assessment and we look forward to further collaborations with the Ministry of Health as part of our commitment to fostering a healthier future for the people of Saudi Arabia.

Mohamed Galal, Vice President of Middle East and Pakistan at Bayer, said: "Cardiovascular diseases pose a significant burden globally, and the Middle East is no exception. Bayer is dedicated to working in collaboration with governments and key partners to address this challenge and improve the quality of life for the people of the Middle East. Our partnership with Huma to expand the Heart Health Risk Assessment tool to Saudi Arabia underscores our commitment to leveraging digital health solutions for preventive care. By enhancing access to heart health screening and promoting early detection, we aim to contribute to the efforts of Vision 2030 in reducing the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and ensuring a healthier future for the region.

Key step

Maged ElShazly, Bayers Managing Director & Country Commercial Lead Consumer Health in Saudi Arabia, commented: "Our collaboration with Huma is a testament to Bayer's commitment to advancing digital health solutions that can make a real difference in people's lives. The launch of the Heart Health Risk Assessment tool in Saudi Arabia is a significant step towards achieving the goals of the Vision 2030 strategy.

We are proud to be part of this initiative that prioritises prevention and early detection of cardiovascular diseases, which are among the leading causes of death in the country. We look forward to continuing our work with Huma and the Saudi Ministry of Health to further support the health and wellbeing of the Saudi population."

Beyond Saudi Arabia, Bayer and Huma plan to bring the Heart Health Risk Assessment to Latin America next year.--TradeArabia News Service
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Hundreds of thousands of fish have died in a reservoir in Vietnam due to dwindling water levels amid a searing heatwave in the region that has broken records and shut down schools.

The dead fish blanketed the entire view of the 300-hectare Song May reservoir in Dong Nai province this week with barely any water visible.

At least 200 tonnes of fish may have perished in the last few days, local media reported.

The region has been grappling with intense heat, much like the rest of Southeast and South Asia, with no rainfall in weeks.

Local media reports blamed the searing temperatures and mismanagement of the dam for the mass die off.

The water levels in the reservoir had been going down in recent weeks. Reservoir management discharged water to try to save crops downstream earlier but their efforts were in vain.

The firm in charge of managing the lake started dredging in early 2024, planning to release extra water into the reservoir for the fish and to clear sediment and debris.

However, as temperatures continued to soar, the company decided to release the water that had been dredged from the reservoir into the downstream area instead of returning it to the reservoir, leading to the water level going down, according to the Tuoi Tre newspaper.

As a result, fish died en masse, the newspaper reported.

Residents say the smell from the reservoir after the mass die-off has been overwhelming.

Our life has been turned upside down over the past 10 days because of the smell, a local resident in Trang Bom district, who identified himself only as Nghia, told AFP.

Pictures depict the grim aftermath, with residents navigating through the reservoirs murky waters amidst a sea of dead fish.

A fisherman collects dead fish caused by renovation works and the ongoing hot weather conditions from a reservoir in southern Vietnams Dong Nai province ( AFP via Getty Images )

In Dong Nai province alone, temperatures soared to a blistering 40C, breaking records set over two decades ago.

Southeast and South Asian nations are going through a historic heatwave with scorching conditions prompting emergency measures across the region.

Thousands of records are being brutalized all over Asia, which is by far the most extreme event in world climatic history, weather historian Maximiliano Herrera wrote on X.

Neighbouring Cambodia grappled with similar challenges as temperatures threaten to reach a staggering 43C, prompting prime minister Hun Manet to order precautionary measures, including potential school closures and water shortage contingency plans.

In Thailand, the situation is no less dire, with electricity usage surging to unprecedented levels as temperatures in Udon Thani province skyrocketed to over 44C.

In the Philippines, the remains of a 300-year-old ancient town which was submerged under water have been visible for days as water levels went down in a dam.

The scorching conditions have forced authorities to implement measures to safeguard public health, including adjusting school schedules to minimise exposure to the sweltering midday heat. The Philippines has moved schools online while Bangladesh has shut down classes.

Meanwhile, in India, at least nine deaths have been reported due to suspected heat strokes amid the ongoing national elections.

International organisations warned 2024 could be brutally hot and break the record of last year which has been hottest on record so far.
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When Ademola Adesina founded a startup to provide solar and battery-based power subscription packages to individuals and businesses in Nigeria in 2015, it was a lot harder to raise money than it is today.

Climate tech was new in Africa, the continent was a fledgling destination for venture capital money, there were fewer funders to approach and less money was available, he said.

It took him a year of running around and scouring his networks to raise his first amount  just under $1 million  from VC firms and other sources. Everything was a learning experience, he said.

But the ecosystem has since changed, and Adesinas Rensource Energy has raised about $30 million over the years, mostly from VC firms.

Funding for climate tech startups in Africa from the private sector is growing, with businesses raising more than $3.4 billion since 2019. But theres still a long way to go, with the continent requiring $277 billion annually to meet its climate goals for 2030.

Experts say to unlock financing and fill this gap, African countries need to address risks like currency instability that they say reduce investor appetite, while investors need to expand their scope of interest to more climate sectors like flood protection, disaster management and heat management, and to use diverse funding methods.

Still, the investment numbers for the climate tech sector  which includes businesses in renewable energy, carbon removal, land restoration and water and waste management  are compelling: Last year, climate tech startups on the continent raised $1.04 billion, a 9% increase from the previous year and triple what they raised in 2019, according to the funding database Africa: The Big Deal. That was despite a decline in the amount of money raised by all startups in total on the continent last year.

That matters because climate tech requires experimentation, and VC firms that provide money to nascent businesses are playing an essential role by giving climate tech startups risk capital, said Adesina. In the climate space, a lot of things are uncertain, he said.

The money raised by climate tech startups last year was more than a third of all funds raised by startups in Africa in 2023, placing climate tech second to fintech, a more mature sector.

Venture capital is typically given to businesses with substantial risk but great long-term growth potential. Startups use it to expand into new markets and to get products and services on the market.

Venture capitalists can take risks that other people cannot take, because our business model is designed to have failures, said Brian Odhiambo, a Lagos-based partner at Novastar Ventures, an Africa-focused investor. Not everything has to succeed. But some will, and those that do will succeed in a massive way.

That was the case for Adetayo Bamiduro, co-founder of Metro Africa Xpress, which makes electric two- and three-wheelers and electric vehicle infrastructure in Nigeria and has raised just under $100 million since it was founded in 2015.

Adetayo said venture capitalists are playing a catalytic role that is extremely essential.

We all know that in order to really decarbonize our economies, investments have to be made. And its not trivial investment, he said.

The funds can also bridge the gap between traditional and non-traditional sectors, said Kidus Asfaw, co-founder and CEO of Kubik, a startup that turns difficult-to-recycle plastic waste into durable, low-carbon building material. His company, which operates in Kenya and Ethiopia, has raised around $4.6 million since it was launched in 2021.

He cites waste management and construction as examples of traditional sectors that can connect with startups like his.

Theres so much innovation in these spaces that can transform them over time, he said. VCs are accelerating that pathway to transforming them.

Besides venture capital, other investments by private equity firms, syndicates, venture builders, grant providers and other financial institutions are actively financing climate initiatives on the continent.

But private sector financing in general lags far behind that of public financing, which includes funds from governments, multilaterals and development finance institutions.

From 2019 to 2020, private sector financing represented only 14% of all of Africas climate finance, according to a report by the Climate Policy Initiative, much lower than in regions such as East Asia and Pacific at 39%, and Latin America and the Caribbean at 49%.

The low contribution in Africa is attributed to the investors putting money in areas theyre more familiar with, like renewable energy technology, with less funding coming in for more diverse initiatives, said Sandy Okoth, a capital market specialist for green finance at FSD Africa, one of the commissioners of the CPI study.

The private sector feels this (renewable energy technology) is a more mature space, he said. They understand the funding models.

Technology for adapting to climate change, on the other hand, is more complex, he said.

One startup working in renewable energy is the Johannesburg-based Wetility, which last year secured funding of $48 million  mostly from private equity  to expand its operations.

The startup provides solar panels for homes and businesses and a digital management system that allows users to remotely manage power usage, as it tries to solve the problems of energy access and reliability in southern Africa.

Private sector financing in African climate is still rather low, said founder and CEO Vincent Maposa. But theres visible growth. And I believe that over the next decade or so, youll start to see those shifts.

Investors are also starting to understand the economic benefits of adapting to climate change and solutions as they have returns on investment, said Hetal Patel, Nairobi-based director of investments at Mercy Corps Ventures, an early-stage VC fund focused on startups building solutions for climate adaptation and financial resilience.

Were starting to build a very strong business case for adaptation investors and make sure that private capital flows start coming in, he said.

Maelis Carraro, managing partner at Catalyst Fund, a Nairobi-based VC fund and accelerator that funds climate adaptation solutions, urged more diverse funding, such as that which blends private and public sector funding. The role of public financing, she said, should be to de-risk the private sector and attract more private sector capital into financing climate initiatives.

Were not gonna go far enough with just the public funding, she said. We need the private sector and the public sector to work together to unlock more financing. And in particular looking beyond just a few industries where the innovation is writ large.

__

The Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
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NATO countries say they are deeply concerned by a campaign of hybrid activities on the military alliance's soil they attribute to Russia, and which they say constitute a threat to their security.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday in a message posted on the social media platform X that actions including disinformation, sabotage, acts of violence and cyber and electronic interference will not deter us from supporting Ukraine.

There was no immediate reaction from Russian authorities on Stoltenberg's statement.

Earlier this year, a U.K.-based think tank said Russia was rebuilding its capacity to destabilize European countries, posing a strategic threat to NATO as its members focus on the war in Ukraine.

NATO Allies are deeply concerned about recent malign activities on Allied territory, including those resulting in the investigation and charging of multiple individuals in connection with hostile state activity affecting Czechia, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and the United Kingdom, the North Atlantic Council, the principal political decision-making body within NATO, said.

NATO allies condemned Russias behavior and called on the country to uphold its international obligations.

These incidents are part of an intensifying campaign of activities which Russia continues to carry out across the Euro-Atlantic area, including on Alliance territory and through proxies, the statement read.

___

Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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Archaeologists have reconstructed the human-like face of a Neanderthal woman who lived 75,000 years ago in a cave where the extinct species may have conducted unique funerary rituals.

Bone fragments of the Neanderthal woman, named Shanidar Z, were first unearthed in 2018 from a cave in Iraqi Kurdistan where her people may have repeatedly returned to lay their dead to rest.

Studies since the 1950s have shown that the Neanderthals buried their dead in the cave and carried out funerary rituals, such as laying them to rest on a bed of flowers.

In fact, evidence gathered from this cave site first suggested that the Neanderthals were far more sophisticated than the primitive creatures many had assumed them to be based on the stocky frame and ape-like brow associated with this archaic species of human.

Although Neanderthal people, who are thought to have died out 40,000 years ago, had skulls quite different from those of humans, the rebuilt face of this Neanderthal woman  thought to have been in her forties when she died  shows that their appearance was human-like.

The findings are revealed in a new documentary, Secrets of the Neanderthals, produced by the BBC and released on Netflix worldwide.

Neanderthal skulls have huge brow ridges and lack chins, with a projecting midface that results in more prominent noses, said Dr Emma Pomeroy, from Cambridge Universitys archaeology department. But the recreated face suggests those differences were not so stark in life.

She continued: Its perhaps easier to see how interbreeding occurred between our species, to the extent that almost everyone alive today still has Neanderthal DNA.

The recreated head of Neanderthal woman Shanidar Z ( Jamie Simonds )

The womans remains, including a skull flattened to around 2cm thick, are some of the best-preserved Neanderthal fossils found this century, researchers said.

Her head is thought to have been crushed, possibly by rockfall, soon after her death, likely after her brain decomposed but before her skull filled with dirt.

After carefully exposing the remains, including her skeleton almost to the waist, Cambridge researchers used a glue-like consolidant to strengthen the bones and surrounding sediment.

They removed Shanidar Z in small foil-wrapped blocks from under 7.5 metres of soil and rock within the heart of the flower funeral cave.

They then pieced together more than 200 pieces of her skull to return it to its original shape, including her upper and lower jaws.

Its like a high-stakes 3D jigsaw puzzle. A single block can take over a fortnight to process, said Dr Pomeroy, who features in the new documentary.

The researchers surface-scanned the reconstructed skull and 3D-printed it, further adding layers of fabricated muscle and skin to reveal her face.

The skull of Shanidar Z, which was used to reconstruct her face in a Cambridge University lab ( Jamie Simonds )

Analysis from the dig suggests that Shanidar Z was laid to rest in a gully formed by running water, which had been further hollowed out by hand to accommodate her body.

She had been leant against the side, with her left hand curled under her head, and a rock had been placed behind her head.

The womans skeleton is the fifth to be found in a cluster of bodies buried at a similar time in the same location, behind a two-metre-tall vertical rock at the centre of the cave.

The entrance to Shanidar Cave in the Zagros mountains of northern Iraq ( Graeme Barker )

The researchers also found traces of charred food, including carbonised pieces of wild seeds and nuts in the soil around the body cluster, suggesting that the Neanderthals may have prepared food in the presence of their dead.

The body of Shanidar Z was within arms reach of living individuals cooking with fire and eating. For these Neanderthals, there does not appear to be that clear separation between life and death, Dr Pomeroy said.

Our discoveries show that the Shanidar Neanderthals may have been thinking about death and its aftermath in ways not so very different from their closest evolutionary cousins, ourselves, said archaeologist Graeme Barker, who led the excavations at the cave.

The cave may have served as a landmark for the Neanderthals as it appears to have been a unique site for repeated burials, the researchers said.

We can see that Neanderthals are coming back to one particular spot to bury their dead. This could be decades or even thousands of years apart, Dr Pomeroy said. Is it just a coincidence, or is it intentional, and if so what brings them back?
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A teenager has been charged with three counts of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm after three people were injured at a secondary school in Sheffield, South Yorkshire Police said.

The 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was arrested on Wednesday morning following reports of an incident involving a sharp object at Birley Academy.

Assistant Chief Constable Dan Thorpe said a child suffered minor injuries but did not require hospital treatment.

He added that two adults, both women in their 20s, were also injured, one from a sharp object believed to be broken glass.

The teenager has also been charged with possession of a blade or sharply pointed article on a school premises, and has been remanded in custody.

He is due to appear before Sheffield Magistrates Court on Friday.

Birley Academy Headtacher Victoria Hall thanked staff after the incident for prioritising the safety  of all our students.

I just wanted to thank all of our students and staff who helped manage the situation this morning, and our staff who prioritised the safety and wellbeing of all of our students, she said in a statement.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan sai in a post on X, formerly Twitter, she said: Were in touch with the school and my thoughts are with those injured and all the school community affected by this frightening situation.

Birley Academy is a secondary school with around 1,100 pupils.
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A man who ran a lucrative extreme body modification website sharing gruesome footage of castrations and amputations had a freezer filled with trophy body parts, a court heard.

Marius Gustavsons Eunuch maker pay-per-view website shared footage of people undergoing dangerous, unnecessary and life-changing surgeries carried out in peoples homes  including male genitals being removed.

The Old Bailey heard the extreme body modification enterprise operated on an unprecedented scale with a staggering 22,841 registered users and raked in almost 300,000 before it was shut down.

Ringleader Gustavson was involved in up to 30 procedures between 2017 and 2021 before he was arrested.

The 46-year-old, of Haringey, north London, has previously admitted charges including conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm.

He appeared for sentence alongside six other men who had all admitted their part in the lucrative scheme.

Among them were Peter Wates, a retired former member of the Royal Society of Chemists, and Janus Atkin who had been completing a veterinary course, the court heard.

The charges relate to 13 victims who are being safeguarded by specialist detectives.

Caroline Carberry KC, prosecuting, told the Old Bailey the men were involved in a lucrative business in the dangerous, unnecessary and life-changing surgeries carried out by non-medically qualified individuals  the nature and scale of which is without precedent.

All of these individuals were active in the extreme body modification or mutilation scene and the consensual or mutilation of male genitalia, she added.

Procedures were filmed with increasing professionalism and made available on the website set up by Gustavson, which also advertised services including male castration and penis removal.

It is a remarkable feature of this case that the website was operating in plain sight  not on the dark web  accessible to anyone who stumbled upon it and had the inclination and means to pay to view the gruesome footage, she said.

Shocking images shown to the court revealed Gustavsons freezer filled with body parts stored in plastic bags and takeaway containers.

It wasnt unusual for the excised genitalia to be kept by some of these defendants, she told the hearing.

Police officers also discovered Gustavsons own penis in a drawer at his home following his arrest in 2021  almost four years after it had been amputated.

Gustavson wasnt the only defendant to keep trophies from his surgeries, she added.

Ms Carberry KC said the group used a wide variety of tools for their procedures including clamps used for animal castration.

She told the court that during a facetime call with a man in Sweden, Gustavson told him to maim himself by cutting off his testicles with a knife.

Gustavson told him: You know what to do come on, just push it.

Three days later, Gustavson encouraged him to cut off his penis, the court was told.

Ten men were arrested after police raids in London, Scotland and South Wales.

Gustavson pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit grievous bodily harm, five counts of grievous bodily harm with intent, one count of making an indecent photograph of a child, one count of distributing an indecent photograph of a child and possession of criminal property contrary to Section 329(1) of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

Ion Ciucur, 30, of Gretna, Scotland; Wates, 66, of Purley, Surrey; Stefan Scharf, 61, of no fixed address; David Carruthers 61; Atkin, 38; and Ashley Williams, 32, all of Newport, Gwent, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit grievous bodily harm.

The sentencing hearing will conclude on Friday.
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A man has appeared in court charged with the murder of 14-year-old schoolboy Daniel Anjorin following a samurai sword attack in east London.

Marcus Monzo, 36, appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court on Thursday, having also been charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of grievous bodily harm, aggravated burglary and possession of a bladed article.

Wearing a grey tracksuit, he appeared with four prison officers and spoke to confirm his name.

Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring remanded Monzo, of Newham, east London, in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on Tuesday if a hearing is not available on Friday.

Tributes have been pouring in for 14-year-old Daniel Anjorin who was stabbed to death on his way to school in Hainault on Tuesday ( PA Wire )

The 36-year-old was charged by the Metropolitan Police on Wednesday evening following the attack in Hainault the previous day.

Monzo is accused of crashing a van into a fence in Laing Close just before 7am and then attacking two people with a sword.

He is then accused of running up behind Daniel, 14, who was walking to school, and slashing his neck, before stabbing him in the chest as he lay on the ground.

A police van arriving in court ahead of the defendants appearance ( Elizabeth Cook/PA Wire )

Police arrived and tried to help the teenager, when it is alleged that Monzo appeared from a bush and officers chased him.

The court was told that he jumped out at a female officer and attacked her with the sword while she was on the ground.

Tributes to the teenager have been pouring in, with his family describing him as a wonderful child who was well-loved and hard-working. No family should have to go through what we are experiencing today, they told Sky News.

Flowers placed at the scene in Hainault, east London, where 14-year-old Daniel Anjorin, was killed in a sword attack on Tuesday ( Samuel Montgomery/PA Wire )

Staff and pupils at Daniels school Bancrofts, an independent school in Woodford Green, said they have been left in profound shock and sorrow at his heartbreaking death. They praised him as an amazing young man and a true scholar, adding: His positive nature and gentle character will leave a lasting impact on us.

The school was also hit by tragedy last summer when former pupil Grace OMalley-Kumar was stabbed to death in Nottingham as she tried to save her friend Barnaby Webber from knife attacker Valdo Calocane.
 Close Marcus Monzo arrives at court charged with murder of schoolboy Daniel Anjorin in Hainault

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More than 115,000 has so far been raised for the family of Daniel Anjorin after the 14-year-old was killed in a samurai sword attack on a suburban east London street while on his way to school.

In less than two days, roughly 6,000 people have donated to the fundraiser, which was set up by a close friend of the schoolboys brother on Tuesday, the day of the horrific incident in Hainault.

The GoFundMe page pays tribute to Daniel in its message, describing him as a very loved boy in the local community who was always full of happiness and joy and very much loved by everybody he came across.

Meanwhile, a hero injured in the sword attack has spoken for the first time since the incident as he recovers in hospital, thanking those who saved his own life.

Henry De Los Rios Polania, 35, an IT engineer from Hainault, has shared a photo on social media from his hospital bed. He was described as a hero for protecting his family from the assailant.

On Thursday, Marcus Monzo, 36, of Newham, appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court charged with Daniels murder.
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Police are investigating a social media post by Laurence Fox, in which he shared an upskirt photograph of a female TV presenter.

The actor-turned-Reclaim Party politician posted a paparazzi photograph of television personality Narinder Kaur  which was reportedly removed from photo agency archives when upskirting became a criminal offence  in a post on X/Twitter on Tuesday. The post remained on the site until Thursday when it was deleted.

Laurence Fox arriving at the Royal Courts of Justice during the trial last year (PA) ( PA Wire )

The Metropolitan Police told the Independent it had been made aware of a post on social media regarding an up-skirting offence and was carrying out inquiries.

Responding to criticisms of his post, Fox suggested he had shared the unsolicited picture because Ms Kaur had mocked right-wing commentator Leilani Dowding for her page three days.

She can go cry victim all she wants. Its not my fault she forgot to put her pants on, the whining cry bully hypocrite, he said.

Ms Kaur, 51, regularly appears as a guest on programmes including Good Morning Britain, after rising to fame on Big Brother series two, where she came in ninth place.

Before the tweet had been removed, she claimed it had been reported to X hundreds of times by users.

Writing on the social network on Thursday morning she told her followers: This is now a police matter. I know people are saying not to feel embarrassed and mortified but I am. Im so incredibly upset that people are looking at my privates and laughing. Its unimaginably mortifying.

A friend of Ms Kaur told the Daily Mirror: The fact that a standing politician like Laurence Fox would stoop to such lows is completely disgusting.

Narinder has always been vocal about issues she cares about and while shes endured horrendous backlash before, she never expected to become the target of such vicious attacks.

Its appalling that more high-profile figures, who Narinder regularly works with, havent spoken out in support of Narinder. But the truth is, theyre scared.

Fox was last week ordered to pay 180,000 in damages in a libel case involving two people he falsely claimed were paedophiles.

The actor was fired from GB News after being suspended in October following a misogynistic on-air rant about journalist Ava Evans.

The Independent has contacted Fox for comment.
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Up to a further 192,000 has been granted by the Home Office for the Scotland Yard investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

The confirmation of the latest annual funding for Operation Grange was revealed in a parliamentary written answer by Home Office minister Lord Sharpe of Epsom. He also said that as of March this year, the Metropolitan Police had spent 13.2 million investigating the high-profile case.

It comes as the McCann family mark the 17th anniversary of Madeleines disappearance on May 3. This month is also her 21st birthday.

Madeleine vanished in 2007 while on holiday with her parents in Praia da Luz, Portugal, after they left the then three-year-old and her younger twin siblings asleep in their apartment while they went out to dinner with friends.

Responding to a parliamentary written question by Conservative peer Lord Black of Brentwood, Lord Sharpe said: For the year 2024-25 the Home Office has agreed to provide up to 192,000 to the Metropolitan Police Service through special grant funding for Operation Grange, the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

At March 31 2024, the total cost of the investigation was 13.2 million. Operation Granges special grant budget currently funds a team of three police officers and one member of police staff, all of whom operate on a part-time basis.

Special grant funding is reviewed annually by the Home Office. The department also liaises regularly with the Operation Grange investigation team to assess progress and challenge the use of funds as necessary.

Kate and Gerry McCann will mark the 17th anniversary of their daughters disappearance ( PA Archive )

The prime suspect in Madeleines disappearance is currently on trial in Germany charged with unrelated sex offences, allegedly committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.

The 47-year-old German, only known as Christian B because of the countrys strict privacy laws, spent many years in Portugal  including in Praia da Luz around the time of Madeleines disappearance.

He is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence in Germany for the rape of an elderly woman at her home in the resort town in 2005.

He had denied all the charges against him and any involvement in Madeleines disappearance.
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A 26-year-old police officer has pleaded guilty to terror offences after he shared messages on WhatsApp in support of Hamas just weeks after militants stormed into Israel on 7 October, killing around 1,200 people.

Mohammed Adil, who is currently suspended from his role as a West Yorkshire constable, shared two images in support of Hamas, which is a proscribed terrorist group in the UK.

Adil pleaded guilty in Westminster Magistrates Court to two counts of publishing an image in support of a proscribed organization in violation of the Terrorism Act.

The messages Adil shared on his WhatsApp stories in October and November last year show a Hamas fighter wearing a Hamas headband, the court heard.

The image posted on 31 October had writing on it saying: Today is the time for the Palestinian people to rise, set their paths straight and establish an independent Palestinian state.

It was said to be a quote from the leader of Hamass military wing, Mohammed Deif.

The image on 4 November had another message on it, saying: We will hold accountable all those who occupied our lands and Allah will hold accountable all those who remained silent against this occupation and oppression.

The second quote was said to be from Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for the Al-Qassam brigade - which is Hamass military wing.

He shared the images just weeks after the 7 October attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw another 250 being taken hostage.

Two of Adil's colleagues reported to their superior officers that they had viewed images posted by Adil on his WhatsApp stories which caused them "concern", the prosecution said.

Adil had 1,092 contacts on his WhatsApp at the time who would have been able to access the images for 24 hours, prosecutor Bridget Fitzpatrick told the court.

Adil was arrested on 6 November and had his mobile seized. He answered no comment to all questions during his interview.

Adil, from the Wibsey area of Bradford, who spoke to confirm his name, date of birth, address and to make his pleas, was given conditional bail and the case was adjourned for a pre-sentence report to be prepared.

He will be sentenced on June 4 at the same court.

Chief magistrate Paul Goldspring said: "I accept that at the time of the offending you were of good character.

"The Crown has conceded you didn't put the pictures on WhatsApp against the public at large."

Mr Goldspring added the matters are "very serious" and said at this stage he is not persuaded he can "rule out custody".

Adil, who is based in Calderdale, is currently suspended.
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Violent crime involving children has become almost epidemic in scale, a former childrens commissioner for England has warned as she accused the government of failing to show the urgency needed to tackle the issue.

Anne Longfield CBE, now chair of the Commission on Young Lives, said that barely a week passes without a violent incident and that more work needs to be done to educate young people on the dangers of carrying knives.

Her comments came after three people were injured with a sharp object at a secondary school in Sheffield. A 17-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder following the incident at Birley Academy. Two teachers were injured in a stabbing at a Welsh school last week.

Barely a week goes by now without some terrible headlines of children being involved in some kind of extreme violence or, all too often, tragedy, often involving knife crime, Ms Longfield told the BBCs World at One programme.

It is something that, I think, has become almost epidemic in scale. For every one of those people, its a tragedy in their lives - in their family lives and of course the community. The startling thing, I think, is that government hasnt yet responded to the scale or urgency needed.

Former childrens commissioner for England Anne Longfield ( PA Media )

She added: Its 18 months ago now that the National Audit Office said that there wasnt a plan for vulnerable children - to prevent them - coming to harm. And until thats in place then a lot of the very good activity thats taking place gets slightly lost.

About four in 10 homicides in the UK involve a knife or sharp instrument. And there is particular concern about knife crime involving young people in in cities. In London, 21 teenagers were killed in 2023, 18 of whom were stabbed to death.

Overall, crimes involving a knife or sharp are on the up. Office for National Statistics data published last week showed were 49,489 of these types of offences recorded by police between January 2023 and December 2023 - a seven per cent increase on the previous year.

When asked what action she would like to see from government to tackle youth knife crime, Ms Longfield added: To see this as the emergency it is. So from the top - provide the leadership across all the engines of government to work together to prevent these tragedies happening.

Two teachers at Ysgol Dyffryn Aman in Ammandfordwere attacked at the end of the morning breakon 24 April ( Robert Melen/Shutterstock )

I do believe they are preventable. That means having more mentors, more youth workers, places to go for young people that are safe and also have supportive adults around them.It means looking carefully for those children who are struggling in school and putting the kind of support in place that means they dont get excluded.

And it means tackling, as well, the whole education and support for young people to be able to understand the dangers of carrying knives.

Education union leaders have also called for action. Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, the largest education union in the UK, said: Government needs to recognise the scale of the problem and adopt a public health approach to tackling youth violence as did Scotland in the 90s.

This should also include urgent reinvesting in the youth services and centres that young people once relied upon.

In January the government introduced a plan to ban zombie-style knives and machetes, which have been used in multiple attacks.

Ministers have insisted the government is committed to tackling knife crime.

A government spokesperson said: Nothing is more important than the safety of children, and our thoughts are with all those affected by the shocking incident in Sheffield today.

To tackle the root causes of violence, we are funding 20 Violence Reduction Units across England and Wales which have reached over 271,000 vulnerable young people in their fourth year of funding alone, through early intervention programmes to help protect them from serious violence.

Weve also providing 200 million over ten years to establish the Youth Endowment Fund to improve knowledge about what works to tackle serious violence and were investing over 50 million for specialist support in mainstream and alternative provision schools in areas where serious violence most impacts children.
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The BBC has launched a legal process over claims that one of its investigative reporters in Northern Ireland was spied on by police.

The broadcaster said its lawyers had written to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal about the alleged surveillance of former BBC reporter Vincent Kearney, who made a 2011 documentary probing the independence of Northern Irelands police watchdog.

Mr Kearney's Spotlight programme The Whistleblower and the Watchdog looked into allegations that the police ombudsmans independence had been compromised and that complaints of collusion lacked proper investigation.

After the programme was broadcast, the then-ombudsman Al Hutchinson denied that his investigations lacked independence but announced his resignation.

Mr Kearney said he was determined to find out what happened and believed that the Police Service of Northern Ireland could have been attempting to identify his sources.

He is currently the Northern Editor at RTE.

A BBC spokesperson said: We have instructed lawyers to write to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal about the alleged PSNI surveillance of telephone data linked to the work of Vincent Kearney during his employment with the BBC.

We think that serious issues of public interest are involved, including in relation to the adverse effects that surveillance may have on journalistic investigations and freedoms.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland told The Independent: As legal proceedings are ongoing it would be inappropriate to comment.

The allegations emerged from another case that is under examination by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal. It concerns allegations that two other investigative reporters working in Northern Ireland have been subject to unlawful covert surveillance by police.

Barry McCaffrey and Trevor Birney were controversially arrested in 2018 as part of a police investigation into the alleged leak of a confidential document that appeared in a documentary they made on a Troubles massacre.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland later unreservedly apologised for how the men had been treated and agreed to pay 875,000 in damages to the journalists and the film company behind the documentary.

In 2019, Mr Birney and Mr McCaffrey lodged a complaint with the tribunal asking it to establish whether there had been any unlawful surveillance of them.

The tribunal is also investigating two other instances of police surveillance against Mr McCaffrey in 2013 and 2011. It sat for a brief hearing in February and is due to resume its work later in the year.

Journalists must be free to carry out their work without fear that the police may secretly try to identify sources and I am determined to find out what happened," Mr Kearney said in a statement.

Last month, the police service delivered a report on the surveillance of journalists and lawyers to its oversight body, the Northern Ireland Policing Board.

The document on surveillance practices will not be made public.

Additional reporting by agencies
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Boris Johnson fell foul of legislation he introduced himself as prime minister when he was reportedly turned away from a polling station after failing to take photographic identification.

Mr Johnson, who quit as PM after three years in 2022, had been trying to cast his vote in the local elections in South Oxfordshire, according to Sky News.

But polling station staff had to turn the former Conservative Party leader away because he could not produce any ID, Sky said.

Showing a document with a photo identifying the voter has been compulsory since the Elections Act 2022 took effect a year ago.

For live coverage of the local elections, and the results, follow our live blog by clicking here

Elections are taking place in 107 local authorities across the country, with 2,636 seats up for grabs.

A spokesperson for Mr Johnson did not deny he had failed to bring ID. But it is understood the ex-PM did bring some identification later on Thursday and was able to vote for the Conservatives.

In 2021, the then prime minister and Tory leader said: What we want to do is protect democracy, the transparency and the integrity of the electoral process. And I dont think its unreasonable to ask first-time voters to produce some evidence of identity.

In 2019, Johnson did not need ID to vote but this time he apparently forgot about his own law ( Getty Images )

Voters arriving at polling stations are now required to show a form of photo identification, such as a passport, driving licence or blue badge.

Other forms of identity that will be accepted include biometric residence permits, defence identity cards, and national identity cards issued by the European Union, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein.

Under Mr Johnsons legislation, ministers argued the change was required to reduce electoral fraud.

Separately on Thursday, a Tory MP begged local members in his constituency for help after he was caught short without voter ID .

Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murty canvass, and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria cast their votes ( Conservative Party/PA )

Tom Hunt, MP for Ipswich, asked local members to act as his emergency proxy after he found that he had no appropriate ID to vote in the local council elections.

At the same time, a former British army soldier said he was turned away from a local polling station because his veterans ID was not accepted.

Adam Diver, 46, who served for 27 years, said he was left gutted after being told it was not on the list of valid identification for voters.

Minister for veterans affairs Johnny Mercer apologised and promised on social media that a veterans ID card would be on the list for the next election.

A Downing Street spokesperson said: It is our intention for the new veteran card, which was rolled out in January, to be added to the official list.

The government is consulting on adding the card to the list of acceptable voter ID, which already includes armed forces identity cards.

A police and crime commissioner for the Thames Valley is being selected in the seat of South Oxfordshire.

Voters in England and Wales have been selecting new police and crime commissioners for their regions.

Elections have also been taking place for the mayor of London, London assembly members and 10 other mayors outside the capital.

And a by-election is taking place in Blackpool South following the resignation of former Conservative MP Scott Benton.

The Independent has tried to contact Mr Johnsons team for comment.
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Deadly swords that can take lives and intimidate are too easy to buy, campaigners are warning following the killing of a 14-year-old schoolboy in east London.

Patrick Green, chief executive of knife crime charity the Ben Kinsella Trust, said he was horrified by the death of Daniel Anjorin, who died in a sword attack near his home in Hainault on Tuesday.

There are plenty of other agricultural tools available that can do a similar job to something like a machete, he told The Independent.

But certainly swords, other than for ceremonial reasons, dont seem to serve any purpose to the wider public other than to take lives and intimidate.

His comments came as police named Daniel as the 14-year-old who was attacked during the incident that also saw four others injured.

Daniel Anjorin was killed by a man who went on a rampage wielding a sword (Metropolitan Police/PA) ( PA Wire )

The boy attended the same private school as Nottingham stabbing victim Grace OMalley-Kumar, a medical student who was stabbed to death trying to save her friend after a knifeman went on a rampage in the city.

Bancrofts School in Woodford Green, which said it was devastated by his killing, paid tribute to him as a true scholar, demonstrating commendable dedication to his academic pursuits, adding: His positive nature and gentle character will leave a lasting impact on us.

The schools flag was today flying at half-mast.

On Wednesday night, Metropolitan Police charged Marcus Aurelio Arduini Monzo, of Newham, with the murder of Daniel.

The 36-year-old was also charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of grievous bodily harm, aggravated burglary and possession of a bladed article. He will appear at Barkingside Magistrates Court on Thursday.

In January, the government introduced plans to ban zombie-style knives and machetes, which have been used in multiple attacks, but stopped short of including swords.

We wanted swords to be included in the ban on zombie knives but the minister for crime and policing didnt share our view on that, Mr Green added.

Swords are not included in plans to ban zombie knives ( Getty Images )

So when I saw what happened yesterday my immediate feeling was these sorts of weapons have got to be included in the ban.

I dont know what evidence the government needs, but I think yesterdays events show that these weapons are used on our streets and have been used on our streets and continue to be used on our streets - we need to respond to that.

The Ben Kinsella Trust educates young people on the dangers of knife crime and aims to help them to make positive choices to stay safe.

It holds workshops that follow the journey of both the victim and the offender through a series of unique and immersive experiences to show young people how choices and consequences are intrinsically linked.

The trust was set up by the family of Ben Kinsella, a student who was stabbed to death in Islington, north London, on 29 June 2008 in a horrific act of senseless violence.

Ben Kinsella ( PA )

Campaigners are warning that it is too easy for people intent on causing harm to purchase knives, particularly on wild west online market places.

The only verification needed to buy a knife from most shops online is a debit or credit card.

Mr Green has called for more stringent checks.

He said: We would like to see better age verification online, which is a bit of a wild west in terms of retail purchases.

We want to see much stronger processes in place - they should match what happens on the high street.

He added: Social media companies need to step into this space too because they have a responsibility - because their platforms are being used to sell and advertise these knives.

Couriers, too, need to strengthen up their processes on shipping knives.

The government says it is committed to tackling knife crime. Its ban on zombie-style knives and machetes will come into force in September.

In January, Home Secretary James Cleverly said: We must stop these dangerous knives ending up on our streets and in the hands of criminals. We cannot let them be sold to children, and we must give young people a way out of violence.
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Migrants say they are being driven to attempt channel crossings by increased aggression from French police  funded by Britain  who force them to move on from their camps every 48 hours.

Refugees living in makeshift camps in Dunkirk said police were dispersing them every two days, and that every 10-12 weeks police in riot gear destroy their whole camp.

A record 711 people crossed the Channel in small boats on Wednesday  the busiest day of the year so far, in a blow to Rishi Sunaks plan to dissuade migrants from making the dangerous journey to Britain.

One Afghan refugee told The Independent how the constant destruction by police of camps was making him and others increasingly desperate to reach the UK. He said: I have to go to the UK because France is not accepting us. The worst is that every few weeks the police are coming and destroying our tents and blankets everything, and then we just have nothing in the rain.

I just want to work and have a safe life. We want a peaceful life, we hope we can have that in the UK because we do not have it here. Why this endless torture of ripping apart our tents every few weeks?

Charity workers explained that they had seen an increase in police aggression in the past six months, which they said was forcing migrants to make more risky attempts at Channel crossings.

Mr Sunak announced in March 2023 that Britain would give France 500m over three years to fund French border guards, as well as video surveillance cameras, drones and night-vision binoculars. This kit is being used by police officers on the beaches when they try to force migrants away from small boats at night. Migrants reported police slashing boats to stop them launching, or flying helicopters and drones low to the ground to scare them away.

France agreed to the regular use of drones to monitor crossing attempts for the first time in January after home secretary James Cleverly met with French interior minister Gerald Darmanin. Mr Cleverly praised French law enforcement efforts on the border, saying the results are impressive, and Mr Darmanin said the two countries would deepen their cooperation.

Despite an increased police presence on the beaches, small boat arrivals to the UK are up compared to the same time a year ago. There were 6,265 small boat arrivals between 1 January and 21 April this year, compared to 5,049 in the same period in 2023  an increase of 24 per cent.

Migrants wander around a makeshift camp near Calais on 23 April. ( AFP via Getty Images )

Mr Sunak said on Thursday that the number of people coming across the Channel was unacceptable, but insisted that the start of flights to Rwanda would provide the effective deterrent.

He acknowledged the high numbers coming to Britain in recent weeks, but said crossings in the past year are still lower than a spike in 2022.

Another Afghan refugee, Shafiullah, 30, said the police pressure in the camps was driving his desire to get to the UK as soon as possible. I have been in the jungle three months and 15 times I have tried to get a boat to the UK, he said. He said tear gas was being used against migrants on the beaches when they tried to cross the Channel, and that police would race refugees to boats to puncture them so they cannot launch.

Migrants told The Independent they were having to walk for four to eight hours during the night to get to beaches where they were attempting to get on dinghies for the UK.

Last month, five died, including a seven-year-old girl, after setting off from Wimereux beach, which is a 16-hour walk from Dunkirk. Another recent death of a seven-year-old girl in March occurred in Watten, 20 miles away from Calais.

Chris McSherry, 29, operations coordinator at charity Care4Calais, said: Because of the increased policing of this, its affecting where people are going from. People still do cross from Sangatte, cross from Calais, but we are also seeing people go further. Weve heard of people crossing from Belgium. When the young girl passed away in March, that was in Watten, which is 25 kilometres inland. So people are having to find other methods, other ways of where to go from. A lot of that is down to the policing operation.

People are pushed to take much longer journeys that are more dangerous. When people are unsuccessful in their journeys, were seeing much more dangerous situations from that. People are coming back with burns from the fuel, people who are coming back with severe hypothermia or severe sun exposure because theyve been out for hours.

Data from the Missing Migrants Project show 14 people have already died in the Channel this year, compared to 21 people for the whole of 2023.

Migrants are trying riskier and longer routes to the UK as French police up their presence on the beaches ( AFP via Getty Images )

A joint investigation by The Observer, Lighthouse Reports, Le Monde and Der Spiegel recently found French police had started forcing small boats to turn around in the water and using tactics such as puncturing them.

Local authorities have also limited the work of aid organisations in the area, closing down the main site from which they would distribute food in Dunkirk only two weeks ago and surrounding the area with a metal fence.

A Home Office spokesperson said: The unacceptable number of people who continue to cross the Channel demonstrates exactly why we must get flights to Rwanda off the ground as soon as possible.

We continue to work closely with French police who are facing increasing violence and disruption on their beaches as they work tirelessly to prevent these dangerous, illegal and unnecessary journeys.

We remain committed to building on the successes that saw arrivals drop by more than a third last year, including tougher legislation and agreements with international partners, in order to save lives and stop the boats.

The prefectures for northern France and Pas de Calais have been contacted for comment.
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Shell has reported better-than-forecast profits of 6.1bn but sparked a fresh row over its commitment to climate change targets and investing in renewable energy.

The oil and gas giants underlying earnings for the first three months of 2024 were 6.1 billion, down a year earlier from 7.7 billion, however the result was better than forecast and 6 per cent higher than earnings in the previous quarter.

The FTSE 100 firm also lavished its shareholders with a 2.8 billion in share buybacks, on top of the 2.8 billion that it completed in the first three months of 2023.

Chief executive Wael Sawan said: Shell delivered another quarter of strong operational and financial performance, demonstrating our continued focus on delivering more value with less emissions.

We continue to deliver on our Capital Markets Day targets, giving us the confidence to commence another 3.5 billion US dollar buyback programme for the next three months.

However the figures prompted a fierce response from environmental groups and think-tanks who questioned the firms committment to its green policies.

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) think tank said the figures showed just 329 million was spent on renewables in the first quarter and criticised the multi-billion pound payouts to shareholders.

Dr George Dibb, associate director at IPPR, said:It is crystal clear that left to its own devices, Shell cant be trusted to drive the green transition.

He added: Its time for the government to step in and introduce a share buyback tax, so the UK has the funds to deliver a large programme of green investment.

A member of Shell staff on the Bonga offshore oil Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel off the coast of the Niger Delta in Nigeria ( AP )

Shell said its total spend on lower carbon solutions across the whole of its business is far higher, at 4.5bn last year. It added it is investing an additional 8bn-12bn between 2023 and the end of 2025 in low-carbon energy solutions.

Greenpeace urged governments around the world to back a climate changes tax and pointed out that meetings were occurring on Thursday between climate leaders on how best to mitigate damage.

Charlie Kronick, senior climate advisor at Greenpeace UK, said: On a day where climate leaders are negotiating in Abu Dhabi how to help the worlds poorest meet the skyrocketing costs of climate loss and damage, Shell continues to bank billions from flogging the fuels that are driving the crisis. With countries experiencing the worst impacts of climate change among those least responsible for it, the case for making polluters pay for the damage their industry is causing could not be clearer.

Innovative proposals like a climate damages tax could unlock hundreds of billions in funding for those at the sharp end of the climate crisis while accelerating a rapid, just transition away from fossil fuels around the world. We need our leaders to find their backbone and finally hold Shell and the rest of the industry to account for their reckless hunt for ever higher profits.

Alexander Kirk, Fossil Fuel Campaigner at Global Witness, said: Shell continuing to rake in huge sums of money shows us that huge polluter profits were not a one-off but are the twisted reality of an energy system that benefits climate-wrecking companies to the cost of everyone else.

Companies like Shell saw record profits while the energy crisis dragged millions of families into poverty through unaffordable energy bills. Meanwhile fossil fuel giants fought hard against paying more tax.

This is the sad irony of the global energy system in which those causing chaos are the ones getting rich. This spiral wont stop until we make the urgent switch to a fairer renewable energy system that puts both people and planet first.

The profit figures come ahead of what is expected to be a challenging annual general meeting on May 21, with a group of major investors in Shell calling for the group to take further action on emissions and climate change.

The investors  led by activist shareholder Follow This  have filed a resolution ahead of the AGM urging the company to align its greenhouse gas emissions targets with the Paris Agreement.

This article was amended on the day of publication. It previously quoted the IPPR as saying that Shells marketing budget was bigger than its renewables budget, but the institute retracted that claim following an objection from Shell regarding definitions of different segments of its business.
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Rules that failed to reveal David Camerons WhatsApp lobbying of ministers on behalf of disgraced financier Lex Greensill should be reformed, an influential group of MPs have said.

At the height of the Covid pandemic the foreign secretary and his staff sent 45 emails, texts, and messages about Greensill, including nine WhatsApps to the then chancellor Rishi Sunak.

The contact from Lord Cameron, then a former prime minister who had been out of office for almost half a decade, emerged only after Greensill Capital collapsed in 2021.

They showed he wrote to one senior official during the pandemic that he hoped to see you with Rishis (sic) for an elbow bump or foot tap. Love Dc.

He also texted Michael Gove, when Boris Johnson was isolating with Covid symptoms, saying: I know you are manically busy  and doing a great job, by the way (this is bloody hard and I think the team is coping extremely well. But do you have a moment for a word? I am on this number and v free. All good wishes Dc.

Tory MP David Jones, the acting chair of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, said: Increasingly, lobbying activity is undertaken on instant messaging channels such as WhatsApp and this is an area which we think needs greater transparency, to bring it in line with reporting of face-to-face meetings held with ministers, in order to increase public confidence in the democratic process.

WhatApps should be subject to the same disclosure regime as face-to-face meetings  which must be reported, according to the committee. They should also be blocked on official devices if no transparency regime that can command public confidence has been implemented, the MPs recommend.

Applying those rules would likely have required the disclosure of Greensill Capital's interactions with ministers and officials, their inquiry found.

Their report also calls for all special adviser meetings to be disclosed.

Cameron had been out of office for almost a decade when he lobbied ministers ( Getty )

At the moment they only have to list those with senior media figures, which the MPs say is anomalous and one which undermines public confidence in the integrity of the lobbying process.

The committee also calls for disclosures to be made monthly instead of quarterly, warning that information may be several months old by the time it is released.

During their inquiry, the group heard concerns about missing information, including ministers meetings with companies that were announced on social media but were not included in the transparency releases.

Mr Jones added: Lobbying in Whitehall is recognised as a key feature of our democracy, but the current legislation and transparency regime does not ensure that the public is fully informed about influences being brought to bear on policy formulation, across government and non-government parties alike.

A government spokesperson said: As you would expect, modern government will use a variety of communication channels, but we have clear guidance in place on the use of electronic communications, including WhatsApp.

We updated this guidance in March 2023 for WhatsApp, to reiterate that all relevant information must be recorded through official channels. Both the High Court and the Court of Appeal have been clear on the lawfulness of this approach.

We also committed in our revised transparency guidance, published in December, to stricter standards to ensure transparency returns and publications contain relevant and instructive information.
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While a donkey may have been spotted at one polling station, it was our furry canine friends who once again stole the show on election day.

Scores of dogs, of all breeds, shapes and sizes, have been pictured outside polling stations waiting patiently while their masters cast their ballots in the locals.

Dogs at polling stations started as a trend on what was then known as Twitter but has become somewhat of an institution over the years, with democracy-loving pooches up and down the country posing for pictures on the big day.

Here are some of our favourites from local elections in 2024:

Cinna, an 8-year-old rescue dog from Greece ( Yui Mok/PA Wire )

Cinna, an 8-year-old rescue dog from Greece, is pictured above arriving with owners to a polling station at St Albans Church, south London.

Voters in the capital are choosing London assembly members as well as a mayor. Counting for the mayoral contest begins on Saturday and the result should become clear by the afternoon.

Labours incumbent mayor Sadiq Khan faces off against the Conservative candidate Susan Hall, both of whom were pictured casting their ballots earlier. You can view a full list of candidates running the election here.

This dog was having democracy for dinner, according to its owner.

Elections are taking place in 107 local authorities across the country, with 2,636 seats up for grabs.

Some 10 other mayors are being elected outside London 10 on Thursday.

There is also a by-election taking place in Blackpool South following the resignation of former Conservative MP Scott Benton. Voters in England and Wales will also choose new police and crime commissioners.

This fella may look a bit shy and nervous but there is no questioning his commitment to democracy.

George, aged 18, has witnessed a bagful of prime ministers - not to mention councillors - come and go over the years and continues to accompany his owner to the polling station.

Larry, on the other hand, appears to have had enough of democracy for the day and was unable to hide his boredom at a polling station.

Maybe he got tired of waiting after his owner, who perhaps had to dash back home to get their ID, having forgotten it like Boris Johnson.

According to Sky News, the former prime minister, was turned away from a polling station in South Oxfordshire, falling foul of the very law he introduced while in No 10.

A spokesman for Mr Johnson did not deny he had failed to bring ID, but added he still voted on Thursday.
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Kate Forbes has announced she will not be standing as the next leader of the Scottish National Party, following days of speculation.

The former Scottish cabinet minister has ruled herself out of the leadership contest just hours after her colleague and former deputy SNP leader John Swinney announced his intention to stand.

In a tweet thread posted on social media site X, Ms Forbes said: I have listened very carefully to the vision @JohnSwinney set out this morning for Scotland. I welcomed, and embrace, his commitment to ensure internal respect for robust and divergent debate in the party, which is the lifeblood of any democratic institution like the SNP.

She added: I can therefore today announce that I will not be seeking nomination as the next SNP leader.

Mr Swinney announced his intention to stand for election as leader of the Scottish National Party.

Announcing his decision during a press conference, the MSP and former deputy first minister of Scotland said: I intend to stand for election as leader of the Scottish National Party.

I want to build on the work of the SNP government to create a modern, diverse, dynamic Scotland. That will ensure opportunity for all of our citizens.

Mr Swinney also said he wants Ms Forbes to be part of his new government team, describing her as an intelligent, creative person who has much to contribute.

It had been widely anticipated that the former cabinet minister would run again after she narrowly missed out at the previous leadership contest to Humza Yousaf.

Kate Forbes has announced she will run not for SNP leader ( PA Wire )

Ms Forbes is a devout Christian and has come under scrutiny for her views on gender, same-sex relationships and reproductive rights.

It is now widely expected that Mr Swinney could become the leader of the SNP unopposed.

Westminster leader of the SNP Stephen Flynn backed Mr Swinneys leadership bid. In a post on social media site X, he said: The unifying statement of intent from John Swinney this morning could not have been more impressive. Precisely what the party, but more importantly the public, needed to hear. A man who speaks to all of Scotland, he will lead us to a brighter future.

Mr Swinneys announcement follows the resignation of former leader Humza Yousaf earlier in the week, who stepped aside following a decision to collapse a power-sharing agreement with the Scottish Greens.

John Swinney seems almost certain to be Scotlands next first minister ( PA Wire )

The leadership hopeful said that if elected, his goals as first minister will come straight from the centre-left tradition: The pursuit of economic growth, and social justice. Economic growth, not for its own sake, but to support the services and the society we all want to see.

He added that his message was crisp and simple: I am stepping forward to bring the SNP together. I want to unite the SNP and unite Scotland for independence. I invite everyone in the SNP and in our country who wants to join me in that journey to do so now.
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Voters in England are heading to the polls to cast their ballots in local elections viewed as the final big test of public opinion before the general election.

Elections are taking place in 107 local authorities across the country, with 2,636 seats up for grabs. Voters will also choose the mayor of London , London assembly members and 10 other mayors outside the capital.

There is also a by-election taking place in Blackpool South following the resignation of former Conservative MP Scott Benton. Voters in England and Wales will also choose new police and crime commissioners.

Polling stations close at 10pm and some of the results will start to trickle in overnight, with others being declared throughout Friday and over the weekend.

What is an exit poll?

An exit poll is a survey of voters that asks them what party or politician they voted for in an election.

The surveys are carried out by data companies and are usually commissioned by media organisations.

At UK general elections, exit polls are used to predict how many seats each party has won and the percentage of votes they have secured.

Exit polls have been used at UK general elections for at least three decades and are becoming more accurate as the methodologies used to produce them improve,

At the 2019 general election, an exit poll for the BBC predicted that the Conservatives would get 386 MPs while Labour would get 191.

In the end, the Tories won 365 seats versus Labours 202.

2019 general election exit poll ( PA )

Is there an exit poll for the 2024 local elections?

No - there is no exit poll in local elections. Those interested in the results will have to wait until they are announced.

The first results from Thursdays elections will trickle in overnight, with the others to follow through Friday and into Saturday and Sunday.

However, a clearer picture of the results - and what they mean nationally for each party - will start to develop on Friday afternoon, when around one-third of councils will have declared.

The BBC will on Friday use the result to produce its projected national share, which models each partys percentage vote share based on 800 council wards. This is then used to project how many seats each party would get at a general election.

While the local elections are a good gauge of public opinion, analysts warn that the results should not be over-analysed because voters tend to be motivated more by local issues than they might otherwise be at a general election.

What time are the results in?

Around a third of councils are due to declare overnight: including Bolton, Hartlepool, Southend-on-Sea, Thurrock and Redditch in Worcestershire.

The result of the Blackpool South by-election is likely to be declared halfway through the night.

Three police & crime commissioner (PCC) results are also due, for Avon & Somerset, Cumbria and Lincolnshire.

Follow this link for a fuller list of estimated result times for the elections.
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There are a number of misleading websites using London election candidate names which redirect to the Russian government website, The Independent has found.

Experts have warned it is impossible to tell who is behind these spoof websites as targeted candidates have expressed their outrage.

The Independent has found six different misleading websites in candidate names which lead to an English language version of the official Russian government website.

Liberal Democrat candidate Rob Blackie and Reform UK candidate Howard Cox have been targeted.

There were also three website URLs impersonating Social Democrat Party candidate Amy Gallagher.

It is unknown who is behind the purchase of the domains or if there are further domains that use London mayoral candidate names.

Two websites impersonating candidate Brian Rose also redirect to the Torys Susan Hall campaign site.

Stuart Fuller, chief commercial officer of Com Laude, a domain name management company, told The Independent: Though it is impossible to tell who exactly is behind these websites, it is unlikely to be Russian Government interference.

Most cybersquatting is driven by financial gain  as there are so many relevant domains for candidates to own, such as .uk and .london, it is very difficult for campaign managers to pre-emptively buy them all before a candidate stands.

This creates the opportunity for malicious parties to cause substantial reputational damage, critical for the outcomes of elections, in a bid to sell these domains on to candidates for profit.

Domains can be registered and put to use in a matter of minutes and most candidates dont trademark their names, making them ideal targets for this kind of cybercrime.

Liberal Democrat candidate Rob Blackie has been targeted by the hoax ( Andrew King/Rob Blackie )

Lib Dem candidate Mr Blackie, told The Independent he found it amusing that URLs in his name were redirecting to the Kremlin website because in 2022 founded a website dedicated to bringing independent news to people across Russia.

I am prepared for cyber attacks and smears from the Russian dictatorship, he added.

Mr Fuller added it was difficult to outline the impact of the spoofs on the election, but cybersquatting can lead to extensive reputational damage for candidates and potentially influence the outcome of an election.

Candidates also have little power to have the websites removed unless the domain names are being used in a libellous or abusive way, according to Mr Fuller.

The Independent also found a website impersonating Sadiq Khan which redirected to an anti-Ulez blog.

Reform UK candidate Howard Cox ( Getty Images )

Waqas Ejaz, a disinformation expert at the University of Oxford, warned people to pay attention, be critical and skeptical of anything seen on social media, particularly if the information prompts users to take action.

Look for the cues, i.e., who posted this information? Is he reliable, identifiable, and have made enough information about him public? These small steps already can prove very helpful, he told The Independent.

He added it is unlikely to be The Kremlin because Russian disinformation campaigns are usually discreet, which is not the case with the spoof websites.

Brian Rose, the independent candidate, whose spoof website directed users to the Ms Halls official campaign site has called on the Electoral Commission to take urgent action.

Website impersonating Brian Rose directs users to Susan Halls official campaign site ( Solent News & Photo Agency )

Mr Rose said: This is an outrageous scam, hijacking my personal name and brand, and pointing potential supporters towards the Tory campaign website.

Yet the rules around electoral interference dont even appear to address this issue.

Online is the new frontline for political battles but the law has failed to keep up  the Electoral Commission must act, and act urgently.

Its too late to deal with the fake London election websites, but there is a general election looming and there is clearly a threat to the integrity of that process from digital piracy of this sort.

A Reform UK spokesperson said: "It's flattering that people are seeking to imitate our fantastic mayoral candidate Howard Cox and it is clearly a reflection of how well Reform is doing in the polls.

"We are making efforts to have the spoof website shut down.

"For those who want to visit Howard's real website, the address is cox4london.uk."

The Convervative Party did not respond when approached for comment.
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Voters across England and Wales took to the polls on Thursday for the latest round of local elections. Early results indicate strong results for Labour, as the Tories suffer massive losses. Alongside thousands of councillors, several metro mayors are to be elected  including the high-profile Mayor of London.

Incumbent Sadiq Khan is hoping to secure a third term for Labour as he fights off Conservative candidate Susan Hall. They are amongst 11 candidates in total, including the controversial right-wing Reform UK partys Jeremy Cox.

Mr Khan has sought to focus on his succcesses when on the campaign trail. These include an expansion to existing rail and bus lines, as well as frozen fares for Londoners.

Follow our live coverage of the elections by clicking here

The London mayor has also pledged policies which aim to tackle the ongoing cost of living crisis and housing issues many in the capital are facing. Amongst these are free school meals for all children, and 40,000 new council homes.

His competition has aimed to draw the dividing lines in different places. High on the agenda of most candidates is a change or scrap to Mr Khans Ulez expansion, which continues to provoke intense reactions.

Alongside challenges to his record on knife crime and changes to the electoral system, Thursdays mayoral election is likely to be the Labour mayors most difficult  something he has admitted himself.

Here everything you need to know about the three big issues that have shaped Londons mayoral election:

The debate around ULEZ rages on (as Reform UK takes advantage)

People during an anti-Ulez protest in Trafalgar Square (Stefan Rousseau/PA) ( PA Wire )

Londons Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) is an area within the city inside which a 12.50 daily charge is made to anyone driving a non-compliant vehicle. It was expanded by Mr Khan in August 2023 to cover all London boroughs  sparking fierce and ongoing backlash.

The Ulez is designed to improve air quality in the capital and, although studies vary, it is generally considered by experts to be a continuing success. The mayors office claims that the policy reduced harmful pollution levels by around half in its first year, while more conservative research suggests a 15 to 20 per cent reduction.

However, critics have called the new expansion a cost-raising exercise that is unlikely to significantly improve Londons air quality further, but will introduce a poorly-timed new fee to some living inside the M25 amid the ongoing cost of living crisis.

The issue has become a strong division amongst voters in London, and was a focal point during Julys Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election (triggered by Boris Johnsons resignation). Leading up to the election, the area saw vocal campaigning against the expansion, with some Ulez cameras in the area vandalised or even torn down.

Susan Hall, the Conservative London Mayoral Candidate, speaking to protesters during an anti-Ulez protest in Trafalgar Square ( Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire )

Although the policy is devolved to a regional level, and so not within the power of central government to undo, Conservative candidate Steve Tuckwells criticism of the policy has been linked to his narrow victory.

We won it on the fact that it was a referendum on Ulez, Mr Tuckwell told Sky News after his election.

The mayors office continues to push back on the issue. His office has strained to point out that 85 per cent of cars within outer London are already Ulez compliant, and in September ruled out ever introducing a rumoured pay-per-mile system.

But in the run-up to the mayoral election, the issue remains contentious as ever.

In her campaign pledges, Conservative mayoral candidate Susan Hall has said she would scrap the Ulez expansion as a first priority, and ensure a pay-per-mile charge is never introduced  despite Mr Khans insistence he has no plans for one.

Meanwhile Reform UKs Jeremy Cox has gone even further, claiming he would scrap the entire policy, inner London included, and even refund all the Ulez fees collected since Augusts expansion.

Reform UK London Mayoral Candidate Howard Cox at an anti-Ulez protest in Trafalgar Square ( PA )

The motorist campaigner has also said he will remove Londons low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs), which filter traffic away from certain areas to improve air quality and pedestrian safety.

They have become another London resident talking point, creating divisions along the same lines as the Ulez debate. Critics say that LTNs  some of which have been in place for decades  only create higher traffic on diversion routes, to the dismay of commuters and residents.

However, a recent government-backed review found that LTNs generally work well and are popular. And because they are devolved to council level, it is not within the Mayors power to remove them directly.

Knife crime in the capital is rising  but its not so simple

Sadiq Khan inspects new police recruits, 2020 ( PA )

In the run-up to the election, many of the mayors opponents have accused him of not effectively tackling the issue of knife crime in the capital, and argue that cases are soaring.

It is true that cases of knife crime in London have risen since Mr Khans was elected in 2016. From 2015 to 2023, cases recorded by the Met have doubled, increasing from 9,743 to 14,577.

The year ending December 2019 saw the most serious knife-related crimes, at 15,462, with a sharp decline during the Covid pandemic. This has been steadily increasing in recent years.

Prime minister Rishi Sunak recently criticised the mayors record on crime, saying London under Mr Khan was the only place in the country not to meet its police recruitment targets, which he called the reality of Labour in power.

The mayor has pushed back against this criticism, arguing that he is contending with decades of Conservative austerity.

We have been trying to fill the massive hole left by government cuts by investing in young people, youth clubs, after-school clubs and mentoring, he said.

New research by the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) backs his position, finding that closures of 70 per cent of Londons police stations since 2010 led to an 11 per cent increase in murders and assaults in nearby neighbourhoods.

And although it remains one of the top four regions with high rates of knife crime in England, London did not have the highest in 2023. Last year, the capitals rate of knife-related offences per 100,000 people was 137, coming second to the West Midlands rate of 167. The average in England is 89.

Theres been TWO big changes to the voting system

Voters must now bring photo ID on polling day ( Getty Images )

The government passed the Elections Act in 2022, bringing in some major changes to the electoral system in the UK. It has majorly changed the way votes are counted in Londons mayoral elections.

In previous years, voters selected their first and second choice candidate in a system known as the Supplementary Vote. This meant that if their first choice candidate was eliminated and neither of the top two candidates received over 50 per cent of the vote, their second choice would then be counted (if it was for one of the top two candidates).

Voters will now only select one candidate under the new First Past the Post voting system  the same that we use for general elections. It means that whoever gets the most votes wins.

In both his 2016 and 2021 victories, Mr Khan was elected in the second round, having failed to secure 50 per cent of first choice votes. However, he still would have won both times under the new system, as he secured more votes than his second-place opponents.

Voters in England and Wales go to the polls on May 2 (PA) ( PA Wire )

Another key change to come from the Elections Act are the controversial new voter ID laws, which means voters must now bring photographic identification to the polling station on election day.

Passports, driving licences and the new voter authority certificate are amongst the accepted forms of ID. The government says the new laws are designed to crack down on election fraud. However, critics point out cases of this in the UK are rare, and that laws may disproportionately affect marginalised communities ability to vote.

Mr Khan has expressed his concerns about the new changes, saying the Conservative party made them to make it more likely their candidate will win.

The mayor called on Lib Dem and Green voters who gave him their second choice vote last time to vote for him alone this time, arguing that the margins will now be tighter.
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Tarun Ghulati, an independent candidate running for London mayor, has pledged to reduce council tax and introduce rent controls in the capital.

Mr Ghulati is a businessman and investment banker who describes himself as a proud Hindu and takes pride in his roots having spent many years in India.

I am determined to do whatever it takes to ensure that London, my chosen home for 20 years, retains its place as the leading Global City and that all Londoners feel safe, secure and empowered with opportunities for growth, he said.

This position, however, masks the fact that around 2.2 million Londoners continue to live in poverty.

This is why improving wellbeing and living standards are critical for me. I strongly believe much more needs to be done for the low- and middle-income households across London.

I am passionate about reinvigorating optimism and pride for these families and believe this can be achieved through my proposals to level up across the city.

Mr Ghulati says he will ensure there is more visible community policing by hiring more officers and and reopening police stations across London.

This includes a focus on crimes against women and girls.

He has pledged to scrap Ulez and Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs), and will also remove all 20mph speed limits.

On housing, Mr Ghulati said he will introduce rent controls and ensure that new developments include a certain percentage of affordable housing units.

He would also reduce council tax, and subsidise construction costs for affordable housing developments, whilst keeping the free school meals policy introduced by Sadiq Khan.

Mr Ghulatis main manifesto pledges include:

Ensure London retains its place as the leading global city and that all Londoners feel safe, secure and empowered with opportunities for growth

Improve wellbeing and living standards

Unwavering support for entrepreneurship

Rekindle the spirit, pride, and vibrancy of every Londoner

Do away with barriers for growth and ensure the safety of all its citizens

Encourage the free flow of ideas and policies without party ideology and bias

Ensure London becomes the first choice for investment to ensure safety and prosperity for all

You can read Tarun Ghulatis full manifesto here.

Voters can cast their ballot in person on 2 May, by post or by proxy. Find your nearest polling station here .

Everyone will need to show photo ID at polling stations before they vote.

The results will be announced at City Hall on Saturday 4 May.
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Support for the Conservatives is now lower than it was under failed prime minister Liz Truss, despite Rishi Sunaks hopes of the greatest comeback in political history.

Despite a flurry of government announcements in recent days, on everything from Rwanda flights to defence spending and welfare, a new poll has the party on just 18 per cent.

The YouGov survey, completed on Wednesday, puts Labour on 44 per cent, Nigel Farages Reform UK on 15 per cent and the Lib Dems on 10 per cent, with the Greens at 8 per cent and the SNP 2 per cent.

The polling firm said the result meant that the Tory share of the vote was now lower than under Liz Truss, when it sank to 19 per cent. The party is also only three points ahead of Reform, which will heighten Tory fears the party could take enough votes to hand seats to Labour.

When Mr Sunak replaced her as prime minister, the move was designed to steady the ship and improve his partys fortunes.

But the latest poll will add to his woes, after what has been widely seen as one of Mr Sunaks best weeks in No 10, as voters go to the polls in local and metro mayor elections, the results of which could decide his premiership.

Failure to hold mayoralties in Tees Valley and West Midlands are expected to bolster rebel Tory moves to try to oust him from office.

On Monday he urged Conservative Party faithful to take part in the greatest comeback in political history in the elections, an admission of the uphill battle he faces.

Rishi Sunak ( AP )

Forecasts suggest the Tories could lose up to half of the council seats they are defending, around 500, and chancellor Jeremy Hunt has said the party expects to suffer "significant losses".

Most of the seats were last contested in 2021, at the peak of Boris Johnson's vaccine bounce after Covid-19 jabs were rolled out.

As the main parties seek to manage expectations, Mr Hunt said governments can get "punished" in local votes.

He told Sky News' Politics Hub: "Tony Blair easily lost those amounts of councillors. And, you know, David Cameron lost hundreds of councillors in the run up to the 2015 general election.

"So, you know, we are expecting to see significant losses. That often happens in local elections.

"But what we say to people is, look, this may be a moment when you want to express a view about the national picture but actually the local services you depend on will be decided by how you vote."

Meanwhile Labour said the system for election mayors favoured incumbents, although Sir Keir Starmer added that he was "hopeful" his party would win the West Midlands.

The YouGov poll also found that just 43 per cent of those who backed the Tories at the last general election say they intend to do so now. Fewer than one in three , 31 percent , of over-65s intend to vote Conservative and Tory support among Leave voters is now at same level as Labours.

Ms Truss infamously lasted less than six weeks in office, before she was ousted by her own MPs.

She had initially secured the job by beating Mr Sunak in the Tory leadership contest.

But he was hastily drafted in to take over after her disastrous mini budget was blamed for increasing mortgage rates , hastening the demise of her beleaguered administration.
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Rishi Sunak is facing a make-or-break 48 hours as some Tory MPs plot to engineer his downfall even as the local election results in England are still being counted.

The chances of the prime minister facing a vote of no confidence from his MPs were heightened on Thursday when the latest YouGov poll revealed the party is even less popular under his leadership than during the calamitous premiership of Liz Truss.

According to the survey, taken on 30 April and 1 May, the Conservatives are down to just 18 per cent  26 points behind Labour on 44 per cent and a mere three points ahead of Reform UK on 15 per cent.

If this were repeated in a general election, the Tories would be reduced to 32 seats with Sir Keir Starmer holding a majority of 388, according to prediction site Electoral Calculus.

There was further bad news from a Techne UK poll of 1,632 voters, partly taken during polling day, which put Labour on 44 per cent and the Tories on 22 per cent. The survey data revealed that only 43 per cent of those who backed the Tories in the 2019 election would do so at the next general election.

Rishi Sunaks Conservative Party is forecast to suffer heavy losses in Thursdays local elections ( PA Wire )

The results heightened the nerves of Conservative MPs as two days of counting began.

One Tory MP told The Independent that a move against Sunak is likely if either West Midlands mayor Andy Street or Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen lose their jobs.

If both lose, it is almost certain the 52 letters needed to trigger a leadership vote will be sent to Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, the former minister said.

This claim was echoed by former chancellor George Osborne on his Political Currency podcast.

If Andy Street loses in the West Midlands, that's pretty bad ...[but] If Ben Houchen loses it will be armageddon  because at that point, people will say, We are absolutely headed now for a massive landslide defeat, Mr Osborne said.

Tory Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen goes to vote ( Getty )

However, Tory MPs have privately made it clear that the two mayors are not the only benchmark for Mr Sunaks survival. Some will act if more than 500 of the 985 Conservative council seats being defended are lost, while others are looking at a potential wipeout of the 29 Tory police and crime commissioners around England.

Conservative MPs have also been wound up by former colleague Lee Anderson, who defected to Reform after being suspended for Islamophobic remarks about London mayor Sadiq Khan.

With many Tory voters apparently staying at home or turning to Reform, Mr Anderson said: The gap is closing. And the lines on the graph are only travelling in one direction.

The most likely faction to try to remove Mr Sunak will come from the partys right, who could turn to former home secretary Suella Braverman or former home office minister Robert Jenrick.

But it has been claimed that the more moderate Penny Mordaunt has been in discussions over being installed as a replacement to Mr Sunak to take the party into a general election.

One Mordaunt supporter told The Independent: Penny is the only one who can limit the damage. She is popular in the country and not a mad right-winger. If we move further to the right and try to ape Nigel Farage, the party will be finished.

There is some optimism in Tory headquarters (CCHQ), with YouGov putting Lord Houchen as a clear winner on 51 per cent to 44 per cent against Labours Chris McEwan. But it is on a knife-edge in the West Midlands, with Mr Street only two points ahead of Labours Richard Parker by 41 per cent to 39 per cent.

London mayor Sadiq Khan takes his dog with him to vote ( EPA )

Any hopes of a miracle win in London appear to be fading for the Conservatives, with Mr Khan (47 per cent) well ahead of his Tory rival Susan Hall (25 per cent).

However, Mr Khan has briefed the Labour shadow cabinet that he could face a shock defeat because 900,000 voters in London do not have the ID needed at polling stations. He is also concerned about the introduction of first-past-the-post for the mayoral races, a low turnout and a backlash against his expansion of the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) to outer London.

One shadow cabinet member said: It should be a straightforward win for Sadiq but there are reasons to feel nervous, especially with voter ID.

Meanwhile, the Blackpool South by-election has already been written off as a Tory defeat. However, Conservative MPs are waiting to see whether the party comes third to Reform in a seat they won in 2019.

Penny Mordaunt is said to be positioning herself as a potential replacement for Rishi Sunak ( EPA )

A backbencher said: Losing is one thing. Everyone expects it. But if we come third to Reform, that will really raise serious questions.

And even with victory in the mayoral races, Mr Sunaks position is under question after Lord Houchen told The Independent that people who say they will vote for him have warned they will not vote Conservative in a general election, splitting between supporting Reform or staying at home.

Results for most of the council elections and the Tees Valley mayor race are expected on Friday while the West Midlands and London mayor votes will be counted on Saturday.
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A Tory MP has begged local members in his constituency for help after he was caught short without voter ID ahead of local elections.

Tom Hunt, MP for Ipswich asked local members to act as his emergency proxy after he found that he had no appropriate ID to vote in the local council elections.

In a screenshot of a Whatsapp conversation, published by ITV political correspondent Harry Horton, Mr Hunt is seen asking for help from members following a bit of drama, adding: Turns out I have no appropriate ID to vote tomorrow.

He is then seen asking for help from Tory members: However. There is an emergency proxy option if you lose your ID. Deadline tomorrow. Who would like to do the honours?

Mr Hunt is the first MP to publicly fall foul of new controversial Voter ID rules which means people must provide a valid form of ID in order to cast their vote at the ballot box.

The Electoral Commission warned that the new regulations could make it harder for people to vote, while London mayor Sadiq Khan warned the introduction of ID requirements is designed to rig the next election by stopping younger and historically marginalised people from voting.

Research has found that groups most likely to be affected by the new voter ID rules are more likely to back Labour.

Now, the screengrab shows the outspoken Tory MP is one of many likely to be affected by the new constrictions and has needed to resort to an emergency proxy to cast his vote. In certain circumstances, where you have an emergency that means you cant vote in person, you can apply for an emergency proxy. Emergency proxy applications can be made up to 5pm on polling day.

Tom Hunt, Conservative MP for Ipswich, has found himself without valid ID ahead of local elections ( PA Media )

Elections are taking place in 107 local authorities across the country today, with 2,636 seats up for grabs. Voters will also choose the mayor of London, London assembly members and 10 other mayors outside the capital.

Forecasts say the Tories could lose up to half the 1,000 or so council seats they are defending and rebels opposed to Rishi Sunaks premiership have warned they would move against him if the results were poor.

But voter campaign groups remain concerned that the new voter ID rules could heavily impact turnout and vote shares a new research by Unlock Democracy shows that barely a tenth of voters who lack photo ID have applied for the Governments free form of identification ahead of next weeks local election.

Polling closes at 10pm tonight with the results expected to trickle in from the early hours of Friday morning until Sunday afternoon.

Mr Hunt has been approached for comment.
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A former British Army soldier has said he had been turned away from a local polling station because of his veterans ID.

Adam Diver, 46, who served for 27 years, was left gutted after learning a Veteran ID is not on the list of valid identification for voters.

Voters have been required to bring photographic identification for certain elections in the UK since May 2023.

This came after parliament passed the Elections Act in April 2022.

Voter ID is now required at by-elections and recall petitions, general elections, local elections and referendums in England.

In a post on X, Mr Diver said: Im not one for complaining but I am gutted!

I spent 27 years in the Army and today I was going to vote in my local elections.

I was sadly turned away at the door as my Veteran ID was not allowed as formal ID. I will be fighting for this special ID to be more formal.

Veterans Minister Johnny Mercer has since apologised for Mr Divers ordeal, and pledged to have the rules changed.

Johnny Mercer (James Manning/PA) ( PA Wire )

I am sorry about this. The legislation on acceptable forms of ID came out before the veterans ID cards started coming out in January this year. I will do all I can to change it before the next one, Mercer tweeted.

A spokesperson for the prime minister said it is the governments intention got the new Veteran Card to be added to the official list.

Critics of the voter ID rules have pointed out that cases of electoral fraud are rare in the UK, and personation even more so. Latest data from the Electoral Commission shows that, between 2018 and 2022, only 11 of the 1,386 alleged cases of electoral fraud resulted in convictions.

There are also concerns that voter ID laws can disproportionately affect marginalised communities ability to vote.

Labours Shadow Veterans Minister, Steve McCabe said: Veterans turned away from polling stations because they cant use their veterans ID card to vote is a testament to how the Tories like to talk up their support for our forces but are failing to deliver.

Despite what Johnny Mercer says, the Government has had years to make sure former service personnel could have used their Veterans ID to vote.

It seems the Minister is trying to pull the wool over veterans eyes yet again.

Multiple problems have emerged with photo voter ID in recent elections. Every legitimate voter should be able to vote in our democracy. Ministers are required to hold a comprehensive review into this discredited policy and there must be no more dither and delay.

A government spokesperson said: Our intention is for the new Veteran Card, which was rolled out in January 2024, to be added to the official list of recognised identification  and we are already consulting on this. Defence Identity cards for serving Armed Forces members are already accepted.

The introduction of the requirement to show photographic identification for voting in person across Great Britain is in line with longstanding arrangements in Northern Ireland and elsewhere, and has been recommended by international election watchdogs, including the Electoral Commission.

The vast majority of voters in the polling station - 99.75% - cast their vote successfully at the local elections in England in May 2023, and we are confident that they will be able to do so at these polls.
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Banned from campus. Shoved to the street. Sleeping in classrooms. Trapped in a makeshift newsroom. Twenty-six hour days. Meeting deadlines for full-time jobs, and then for school publications. Going back to class. Repeat. Columbia University student journalists have found the biggest story of their lives right outside Pulitzer Hall.

Fifty six years to the day that New York City Police Department officers violently removed anti-Vietnam War protesters from Hamilton Hall, the world was watching as dozens of heavily armed and armoured NYPD riot police stormed Columbias campus to arrest more than 100 people on Tuesday night.

Members of the press  from local newspapers to national broadcasters  were blocked from campus, denying a full public accounting of the citys militarized response to Gaza solidarity protesters and a disturbing show of force authorised by university administrators against their students.

Columbias student journalists, however, were there, on the ground, broadcasting to radio, photographing, shooting video, and writing it all down, just as they have been during their immersive coverage of student encampments that captured international attention.

I have a full-time job. I have full-time school. Ive been on campus every single day for the last few days. I havent slept, Columbia Journalism School graduate student Fahima Degia told The Independent. I was on campus the majority of the time, especially because when campus went on lockdown as we left, we could not come back.

We were like, We need to capture this, we need to document this, and I think that was just really getting to the bread and butter of what journalism is, said fellow Journalism school graduate student Shayeza Walid.

A late-night sweep from NYPD officers in riot gear, with sound cannon vehicles and busses intended for hundreds of arrested protesters, arrived roughly 24 hours after dozens of protesters occupied Hamilton Hall and barricaded the doors. Banners reading Hinds Hall draped from windows of the occupied building, referencing Hind Rajab, a six-year-old Palestinian girl in Gaza killed by Israeli military.

And the only way to know what was going on was to listen to those on campus. Demand for live broadcasts from student-run radio WKCR FM crashed its website where student journalists delivered real-time, on-the-ground reporting, including questioning the institutions claim that activists involved were outsiders. Protesters across campus and at other encampments across the country were tuned in.

Reporters at The Columbia Daily Spectator, the universitys student newspaper, and student journalists sending dispatches to other outlets are giving readers the best up-close look at whats happening on their campus.

We are the ones on the ground. I know people that have slept there probably a week. People are exhausted, but theyre doing amazing work, Columbia Journalism School student Emily Byrski told The Independent.

I was very much running straight towards the cops last night and ready to get in the center of it, she said. It felt very, like, OK, Im exhausted. Im pushing myself. Im stressed and overwhelmed, but all of its worth it. It feels like a historic moment to be able to document.

A protester at Columbia University listens to a WKCR live stream as NYPD enter campus on 30 April. ( Richard Hall/The Independent )

Reporters were correcting mainstream media and network news reports in real time while fielding requests for their own work and sources.

A lot of us feel frustrated when were told by news companies or big media outlets like, Hey, can you give me a source that youve been talking to and help me out? Degia told The Independent. Its so hard to build trust with sources in the encampment because a lot of them are scared for their safety and their identity being revealed because on school campus people are being doxxed.

Columbia students established their latest protest encampment in mid-April to demand that the university divest from companies that help fund Israels war in Gaza, which has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children. As Columbia students erected tents across the campus, and refused to be removed, the media flocked to interview them.

Im grateful for the student journalists who are doing more slow journalism, because theyve had people during press hours just shove a camera in their face, said Columbia Journalism School graudate student Angelica Ang, who wrote and photographed portraits of demonstrators for New York news outlet Hell Gate.

And they felt that the narrative was being misconstrued in mainstream media. So I think to me, it was very important to get  unfiltered voices of what they actually were trying to achieve, she said.

I think we get frustrated and we feel taken advantage of in a way because media companies just message us for our sources that weve been trying to build instead of helping support our work and give us opportunities to get published, Degia said.

Pro-Palestinian students lock arms, sing and chant as they braced for New York Police Department officers to raid campus on 30 April. ( AP )

Student journalists were thrust into a chaotic dynamic to report on their classmates, about their universitys decision to send in the police, from a centre sharing a namesake with the Pulitzer Prize, with coverage that could very well earn them one.

A host on WKCR appeared to acknowledge that situation on Tuesday night, telling listeners that Columbia supposedly cares enough about journalism to have a journalism program while the police the university allowed on campus threatened students with arrest if they left the Journalism school.

Hours before hundreds of officers entered campus, students received a warning about heightened activity with a command to shelter in place.

Student journalists phones were blowing up with updates in group chats and with messages from their professors.

That heightened activity message doesnt really mean anything. But obviously all of us knew that NYPD were coming, Walid said. We were getting pictures of NYPD cars lining up on Amsterdam [Avenue], 30-40 cars  We knew that they were gonna come in and at that point, we were just preparing to cover it.

The campus was closed off. Deans and professors had to convince police to let their journalism students into their buildings.

And that is just very surreal to me, because the only way that were going to get these stories right is if were there, Byrski told The Independent.

Professors made sure we had signs all over us. The cops knew who we were. They didnt let us past a certain point after they started entering campus. They pushed everyone back, she said.

Student journalists were just trying to take pictures, videos, audio, just trying to document whats going on, and they were prohibited, Degia said.

Pushed and pushed and pushed  they just kept pushing us and making sure of that and following us until we would leave the premises, she told The Independent.

One of her classmates was knocked to the ground while photographing an arrest.

They were like, Get off the street, get off the street, get off the street! and then the protesters who were getting arrested were like, Shes just press! she said. He was kind of getting aggressive with her, so I went to go comfort her and hug her  Shes just doing her job.

A surge of 200 officers entered campus, a comical amount compared to what was left of the encampment and the small group inside Hamilton Hall, Walid said.

Obviously only the ones who were in front of Hamilton making the human picket line or inside were the ones who were going to get arrested, she said. The tents were empty.  When the police came in  they were just like, you know, kicking the tents. They found nothing. And we captured that on photo and we were writing that down and I was reporting it.

NYPD officers in riot gear break into a Columbia University building where pro-Palestinian students were barricaded inside on 30 April. ( AFP via Getty Images )

Inside Pulitzer Hall, where the Brown Institute for Media Innovation was turned into a makeshift newsroom, reporters were kind of awestruck, she said.

Ive never seen so much police in my life  And also the police didnt even know what to do because there was so many of them. It was clearly a disproportionate amount that came in that even they were kind of just standing there, Walid said.

In a statement to students, Columbia Journalism School dean Jelani Cobb applauded students who had been out reporting: We believe that journalists have a fundamental right to cover the news. Your efforts turned those sentiments into reality. You told the stories the global public deserved to hear. You helped the School to meet its mission.

One professor told a student journalist for the Spectator that their reporting will serve as a final paper: Youre earning an A. Just take care of yourself and your friends.

By the time the encampment was cleared, and the rain had stopped, there was this weird realization that theres not gonna be any remnants or archives of what was here, and the only things we have are any of the photographs that were taken, or any of the things weve written up, Walid said. And that was really disheartening to think about.

It just makes me more passionate about covering things that matter, making sure that Im the first person on the scene to get the real facts and details about whats going on, Degia told The Independent. And making sure the voices that arent heard and seen are heard and seen.
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A Florida man was arrested after an argument between him and his sister escalated to the point he started to hurl fried chicken at his sibling during their spat in their home.

Khanye Edrayieze Medley, 20, was taken into custody on Monday by Clearwater Police on a domestic battery charge, jail records show after he allegedly launched a piece of chicken at his sisters back the previous afternoon.

Mr Medley, who lives with his sister at their Clearwater residence, is claimed to have gotten into a verbal altercation with his sibling, an arrest affidavit obtained by The Smoking Gun stated.

While the siblings were exchanging words, Mr Medley allegedly grabbed a bag of chicken from the victim and began hurling the chicken at her.

The chicken was from a place called Churches, possibly meaning Churchs Texas Chicken, which has a location down the road from their residence, the affidavit hastened to add.

One piece of the fried chicken struck the victim in the back and left debris of food on her shoulders, the affidavit claims.

While officers were interviewing Mr Medley, he admitted to throwing two pieces of fried chicken at his sister, one of which hit her.

When asked at what motivated him to start throwing the chicken at her, Mr Medley claimed he did it because he had not eaten and did not want the piece of chicken the victim offered him, so he became upset.

The 20-year-old was released from Pinellas County Jail the following day on recognizance.

This is not the first time this week that food has been used in a battery case in Pinellas County, as another man was arrested on Thursday after he flung pasta with sauce at another driver during a road rage incident.

Nolan Goins, 46, was arrested on a misdemeanour of simple battery after he allegedly got caught up in a road rage incident over glaring headlights.

While the traffic was still moving, Mr Goins purportedly threw pasta with sauce from his passenger side, hurling the food out of his open window, and hitting another person who was driving at the time, the affidavit said.

While the driver was hit on his arm, legs and torso, the pasta did not leave any injuries.

Mr Goins was later found with the same food stains on the right sleeve of his shirt, the arrest records said.

He was taken into custody at the Pinellas County Jail but was released the next day on a $1,000 bond.

The Independent has contacted the Pinellas County Sheriffs Office for further information.
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An American man is facing up to 12 years in a Caribbean jail for accidentally taking ammunition onto an island resort, a mistake that has triggered an internal TSA investigation in the US.

Ryan Watson was returning from his 40th birthday vacation on 12 April when he was detained by police in the British territory of Turks and Caicos. Airport security found several large bullets from a hunting rifle in his carry-on luggage.

The penalty for travelling to Turks and Caicos with a firearm, ammunition, or other weapon can result in a minimum prison sentence of twelve 12 years, which is now what Mr Watson faces.

He must remain on the Caribbean island until trial in June - while his wife, Valerie Watson, flew home to Oklahoma to be with their children, Ellie, seven, and Van, nine. Mr Watson fears that his potential jail will cost him seeing his children grow up.

Ive never wanted something so badly in my life as badly as I want to see them, he told The Independent on a joint phone call with his wife.

Its so hard to think about not being able to be there for all the life moments that theyve got coming up, you know, birthdays and sporting events teaching my son how to drive, taking my daughter to the dance, you know? [Id] better not have to miss her walking down the aisle.

Ryan and Valerie Watson, pictured arriving in Turks and Caicos last month, were stopped by airport security on their way home from birthday celebrations in Turks & Caicos after hunting ammunition was found in their luggage ( Valerie Watson )

I try not to let my mind go there.

Carrying ammunition on flights in carry-on luggage is prohibited, but may be transported in checked baggage, according to the TSA website.

The agency states that firearm magazines and ammunition clips, whether loaded or empty, must be securely boxed or included within a hard-sided case containing an unloaded firearm.

However, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms warns travellers on its website that Declaring a weapon in your checked luggage with an airline carrier does not grant you permission to bring the weapon into other countries. It is the responsibility of the traveler to research local laws and complete all necessary forms prior to travel.

And they note that Many countries in the Caribbean do not allow possession of firearms or ammunition unless you have a local permit and, if arrested while traveling, the United States Embassy will not be able to secure your release.

The TSA acknowledged that the four rounds of ammunition had not been picked up at the Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma, where the Watsons had flown out from, and said that it was conducting an internal investigation into the oversight.

TSA is here to protect our transportation security systems, and an oversight occurred that the agency is addressing internally, a TSA spokesperson said in a statement shared with The Independent.

We encourage passengers to start packing with an empty bag, and when traveling internationally, to be cognizant of local laws. TSA did not provide further information about how the ammunition had been missed during Mr Watsons security screening.

Ms Watson said that she currently does not feel that it would be safe for her or the couples children to return to Turks and Caicos.

I feel like theres a lot of attention on him.Im still in touch with him and text messaging him making sure hes okay, you know, and I just dont feel safe. I dont think Ryan feels safe with me and the kids coming there right now, she said.

Mr Watson said: We mean that in the most soft-hearted way possible. Were not saying that to bash the island but like, if were being extremely honest, I dont feel safe with them here. My number one job as a husband and a father is to protect them. And I want to mitigate any risk. Our goal is to get me home with my kids and just find the quickest resolution possible.

Charges against Valerie Watson, pictured, were later dropped and she was permitted to return home to her children in Oklahoma ( NBC News )

On TSAs announcement that they would be investigating the incident, he added: Im glad to hear they are taking action because its important that this avoidable situation doesnt happen to any other Americans or other tourists.

Airport security in Turks and Caicos found several rounds of 6.5 Creedmoor specialist hunting ammunition in Mr Watsons bag. Mr Watson has said that the bullets in his bag had been left over from a previous hunting trip and that the rounds, which cost about $3 each, are not the typical type used in violent crimes.

Ive said this a bunch of times, that that is such a specific round that I would be willing to make a large wager that theres not a rifle that can fire that round within 1,000 miles of here. It takes a very specific rifle to fire that, he said.

Initially, both Mr Watson and his wife were arrested but the charges against her were later dropped.

Since posting the $15,000 bail, Mr Watson has been living in an Airbnb on the island with his parents and another man, Bryan Hagerich.

Mr Hagerich faces similar charges of possessing ammunition and is due to appear in court on Thursday. Mr Watson said that, due to the similarity of the cases, he feels like is also going on trial on Thursday.

Were gonna be in that courtroom supporting him as best we can, he said. My mom has adopted him as one of her own.

Mr Watson is out on bail because a Turks and Caicos islander who owns a restaurant put his business up as collateral, or surety, for him, a necessary requirement on those the courts consider a potential flight risk.

The Watsons pictured during their April vacation in Turks and Caicos. Ms Watson was released by authorities on the island, but her husband must remain there until his trial in June ( Valerie Watson )

Mr Watson said the man who put up his asset was a local restaurant owner who was a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend.

We never met the person before, he said. Somebody made a phone call They said, Hey, theres some Americans that are in a nightmarish situation. Would you be willing to help?

So he had us out. We went to his restaurant, we sat down with them, complete strangers, and within 20 minutes, he stood up, shook my hand and said Man, Im gonna do it. Im gonna help you out.

Ms Watson added that the US embassy in Turks and Caicos hasnt really been able to do a whole lot but that he had been in touch with Oklahoma state representatives, including having a personal phone call with Senator James Lankford/

Everybody [is] working around the clock for us to try and get letters, character reference letters, and different things to try to help us, she said.

A GoFundMe page started by friends and family has now reached almost $220,000 as of Wednesday Its hard not to get emotional, Mr Watson said.
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Elon Musk hosted an anti-Joe Biden dinner party last month with a guest list featuring some of the worlds wealthiest and most powerful people.

The elite gathering was co-hosted by entrepreneur and investor David Sacks at his mansion in the Hollywood Hills in April, Puck first reported. The dinner party conversation largely revolved around how to raise money to defeat Democrats, a source told the outlet.

The gathering was branded anti-Biden by Puck but was not specifically in support of former president and presumed Republican nominee, Donald Trump. In fact, Mr Sacks said that Mr Trumps actions on January 6 disqualified himself from being a candidate at a national level again on a January 2021 podcast.

The guest list reportedly included Peter Thiel, Rupert Murdoch, Michael Milken, and Travis Kalanick.

Elon Musk arrives at an event in Los Angeles in April. He also reportedly hosted an anti-Biden dinner party in the city last month ( 2024 Invision )

Immigration was a hot topic at the dinner, Puck reported.

Mr Musk, the worlds second richest person, has shown a growing interest in politics in recent years, and is often seen in the company of world leaders. He has publicly shared an array of political views on his social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

Mr Musk has yet to endorse a candidate in the US presidential election this November. The billionaire said in March that he didnt plan on donating to campaigns for either Mr Biden or Mr Trump.

However, the SpaceX founder said he voted for Mr Biden in 2020. In January, he posted on his social media network, X: I cannot see myself voting for Biden this time.

He has openly criticized Mr Bidens immigration policy, and called for the impeachment of Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for deliberately breaking the law and massively increasing illegal immigration beyond all historical precedent.

He is also an outspoken advocate for free speech on X, and expressed his discontent with Anthony Fauci, the presidents former chief medical advisor, posting:My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci.

Mr Musk has also been critical of Mr Trump. The Tesla billionaire stepped down from his roles on Mr Trumps presidential advisory councils in June 2017 after the US withdrew from the Paris climate accord.

In July 2022, Mr Trump blasted the billionaire as a bulls*** artist, prompting Mr Musk to respond: I dont hate the man, but its time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset.

Other guests at the dinner were at one point closely aligned with Mr Trump.

Michael Milken, a financier who Mr Trump pardoned, was in attendance along with Steven Mnuchin, the Trump administrations treasury secretary.

Rounding out the party was media mogul Rupert Murdoch, former chair of News Corp which owns Fox News; former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, one-time member of Trumps economic advisory council; and PayPal co-founder and 2016 Trump supporter Peter Thiel.

The Independent has contacted representatives for Mr Musk, Mr Sack, Mr Thiel, Mr Murdoch, Mr Milken, and Mr Kalanick for comment.
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Californias favourite fast food chains have been raising their prices after a divisive state law was passed last year raising their workers minimum wage to $20 an hour.

Enacted on 1 April, a new California law signed by Democratic governor Gavin Newsom last September made it mandatory for fast food chains to pay their employees at least $20 per hour.

Fast food workers in California now have one of the highest minimum wages in the country after the wage was increased, despite already having one of the highest  $15.50 per hour  in the United States before the law took effect.

While workers have won more money for their paycheques, this has had a knock-on effect on the prices that restaurant patrons now have to pay to buy their favourite fast food of choice.

Whether it is burritos, burgers, chicken or fries, customers who visit Californian fast-food chains may have to splurge a little extra on their lunch.

Prices at Chick-fil-A, Dominos, McDonalds, Burger King, Pizza Hut and Jack in the Box, among other restaurants, have seen an increase in Californian prices since September, according to data from market research firm Datassential, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Chipotle also told World that their chain has implemented a statewide price increase after the legislation was put in place.

In an investor call on Wednesday, it was revealed that prices in nearly 500 California Chipotle restaurants climbed from six per cent to seven per cent during the first week of April, the WSJ said.

Chick-fil-A has raised its prices by 10.6 per cent ( Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved )

The state isnt making it easy, Chipotle chief executive Brian Niccol told the outlet.

Prices at fast food eateries have increased by 10 per cent overall, outpacing all other states, the firm found after analysing thousands of US restaurants across 70 large chains.

Between mid-February and mid-April, Chick-fil-A raised its prices by 10.6 per cent, Starbucks raised them by 7.8 per cent, Shake Shack by 7.7 per cent, Chipotle by 6.9 per cent and Taco Bell by 4.1 per cent, according to Gordon Haskett Research Advisors.

Some chains preempted this price hike before the legislation came into effect, such as the restaurant El Pollo Loco, which has the majority of its US chains within California.

Michaela Mendelsohn, the CEO of Pollo West Corporation, told ABCs Good Morning America that they preempted their price raises to test the waters in February and saw a three per cent decline in transactions.

Its become really clear to us that our customers are [experiencing] sticker shock and price fatigue, Ms Mendelsohn told the show.

We quickly shifted from being profitable to losing money on April 1, the CEO said. Were in a tough position right now where were pretty much having to accept the fact that were making no money for a while until we figure this out.

Chipotles chief executive Brian Niccol said that the state isnt making it easy after California upped minimum wages for fast food employees ( Joe Raedle/Getty Images )

To cut costs, the restaurant had to reduce hours by more than 10 per cent, simplify menus and implement automated ordering kiosks.

The law has also affected how consumers choose to spend. The Golden State already had some of the highest fast food prices in the country before the rise, market research firm Revenue Management Solutions says, but now customers are having to fork out even more of their money to buy fast food.

Consumers told The WSJ that they now swap their favourite meals for cheaper or independent restaurants or have limited their visits to fast food chains altogether.

However, for fast food workers, this law was a chance for extra financial security for themselves and their families in the state.

In California, most fast food workers are over 18 and the main providers for their families, according to Enrique Lopezlira, director of the University of California-Berkeley Labor Centers Low Wage Work Program, the Associated Press reports.

At the time the law was signed, Mr Newsom was flanked by a group of cheering workers and labour leaders after he upped the wage of more than half a million fast food workers in the state.

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, the governor said in September.
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President Joe Biden, who heads to Wilmington, North Carolina Thursday to talk about the economy, is detouring to Charlotte to meet with the families of law enforcement officers shot to death on the job  just a week after he sat down with the grieving relatives of two cops killed in Upstate New York.

The visit is expected to take place with little fanfare behind closed doors, as the White House aims to respect the privacy of grieving families and avoid the appearance of using their grief for political purposes. The meeting was expected at the airport, an option meant to be the least taxing for local law enforcement still reeling from the deaths but who would have a hand in securing the president's trip.

Once again, Biden will seek to be an empathetic leader for a community reeling from gun violence, while also calling for stricter rules around firearms and better funding for law enforcement on the front lines.

Four officers were killed earlier this week in North Carolina, when a wanted man opened fire on a joint agency task force that had come to arrest him on a warrant for possession of a firearm as an ex-felon, and fleeing to elude capture. They were: Sam Poloche and William Elliott of the North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections; Charlotte-Mecklenburg Officer Joshua Eyer; and Deputy U.S. Marshal Thomas Weeks.

Four other officers were wounded in the gunfire; the suspect was killed. An AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, a 40-caliber handgun and ammunition were found at the scene.

An AR-15 is among the weapons most often used in mass shootings, and it's the type of gun Biden is talking about when he says the U.S. should ban  assault weapons. Congress passed the most comprehensive gun safety legislation in decades in 2022, after a horrific school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. But it didn't go far enough, Biden often says.

And as he campaigns for the 2024 election, Biden has made curbing gun violence a major campaign platform, elusive to Democrats even during the Obama era, as he fends off attacks from Republican challenger Donald Trump that he is soft on crime and anti-police.

Biden said this week in a statement after the North Carolina killings that the U.S. must "do more to protect our law enforcement officers. That means funding them  so they have the resources they need to do their jobs and keep us safe.

The violence came just about two weeks after another fatal shooting of law enforcement officers in Syracuse, New York; Lieutenant Michael Hoosock and Officer Michael Jensen were killed while looking for a driver who fled a traffic stop. After his speech, Biden met with relatives of both of the officers families.

Biden had already been scheduled to come to Syracuse to celebrate Micron Technologys plans to build a campus of computer chip factories, but the local police union said officers were still coming to terms with the deaths and werent happy with the presidents trip and had hoped he would delay.

On Thursday, Biden will also travel on to Wilmington, where he's announcing his administration is providing states an additional $3 billion to replace lead pipes across the country, building on $5.8 billion in federal funds for water infrastructure projects around the country announced in February.

Money for the pipe replacement comes from one of the administrations key legislative victories, the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law that Biden signed in 2021. The infrastructure law includes over $50 billion to upgrade Americas water infrastructure.

Its far past time to get the lead out once and for all, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan said Wednesday. This is a matter of public health, a matter of environmental justice, and a matter of basic human rights."

Biden and his administration are committed to using all tools available "to achieve a 100% lead-free future for all Americans," Regan told reporters at a White House briefing. Every single day we are one step closer to a future where no child has to suffer from the lasting effects of lead exposure.

The new round of funding will help pay for projects nationwide as Biden seeks to replace all lead pipes in the country.

EPA estimates that North Carolina has 370,000 lead pipes, and $76 million will go to replace them statewide. Biden also will meet with faculty and students at a Wilmington school that replaced a water fountain with high levels of lead with funding from the law.

___

Associated Press writers Zeke Miller, Matthew Daly and Josh Boak contributed to this story.
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An Emory University economics professor has been charged with battery after it appeared she was forcefully arrested during a pro-Palestinian protest on campus.

A CNN video caught the moment that a woman, believed to be Caroline Fohlin, was detained by Georgia police last Thursday. She was wrestled on the ground after trying to question law enforcement who were arresting protestors.

CNN reported that at least two professors were detained by Atlanta police - Emory University economics professor Caroline Fohlin and Noelle McAfee, chair of the philosophy department, but the outlet did not confirm if it was Ms Fohlin in the video.

DeKalb County jail records show that a person named Caroline Fohlin was arrested on Thursday by the Emory University Police Department and released the following day.

She has been booked on charges including simple battery against a police officer.

A woman, believed to be Caroline Fohlin, was restrained by police officers during pro-Palestine protests at Emory University last Thursday ( CNN )

Emory University is one of many US campuses where pro-Palestinian protests and encampments have taken place in recent weeks.

At the Georgia college, protestors had set up multiple tents on the campus lawns, leading to 28 people being arrested. Some 20 are Emory community members, the universitys vice president for public safety Cheryl Elliot said in a statement.

The university also said that several dozen protestors, who trespassed onto campus and set up tents, were not members of our community and were activists attempting to disrupt our university as our students finish classes and prepare for finals.

Some members of the Emory community later joined the initial group, spokesperson Laura Diamond said, adding that multiple police warnings for the crowd to disperse were ignored.

In the CNN footage, a woman approaches police officers as they were taking one protester to the ground and restraining the individuals head on the floor.

What are you doing? the woman appears to ask.

Georgia State Patrol officers detain a protester at Emory University during the pro-Palestinian protest Thursday ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved )

She leaned down to the person being restrained, but one officer ran up to her and grabbed her wrists.

Get on the f****** ground now, he yelled, pulling her away from the person. Get on the ground, I said.

The officer then forcefully brings the woman to the ground, while she can be heard shouting Oh my god.

Ow, my head, you just hit my head on the concrete, the woman appears to say while another officer comes over to help restrain her.

The officers bring her hands behind her back and secures them with zip ties.

I am a professor! I am a professor of economics, the woman shouts.

I reacted impulsively, I apologise. Please remove the handcuffs, she continues.

Other videos have emerged from the protest at Emory including one video showing police using a Taser on a Black man who was being restrained by three officers on the ground. Witnesses also reported police firing a type of non-lethal projectile into the crowd.

The Atlanta Police Department said in a statement that its officers were met with violence when they were securing the campus.

Gregory L. Fenves, the president of Emory University, said he was saddened by what took place at the campus.

I also know that some of the videos are shocking, and I am horrified that members of our community had to experience and witness such interactions, he wrote in a statement.

The fact that members of our community were arrested upsets me even more and is something that I take very seriously. To the best of our ability, we are working with law enforcement agencies to assist detained community members and expedite their release.

Caroline Fohlin could not be reached on Monday. The Independent has contacted Emory University and the Emory Police Department for identification of the woman, and for comment.
 Close President Joe Biden insists order must prevail as police shut down college Gaza protests

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Police have arrested dozens of pro-Palestinian students as protests against Israels war in Gaza continued across universities over the weekend.

At least 25 protesters were arrested as police cleared an encampment at the University of Virginia, the university said in a statement.

Dozens of people were arrested for criminal trespass outside the Art Institute of Chicago at a demonstration after the institute called in police to remove protesters.

Meanwhile, students carried flags and banners during the University of Michigans commencement ceremony after the NYPD revealed on Friday morning that a police officer with the departments Emergency Service Unit unintentionally fired his gun while trying to access a locked office at Columbia University.

The bullet hit a wall inside the office. No one was injured.

On Thursday morning, hundreds of police officers dismantled a pro-Palestinian protest camp at the University of California at Los Angeles and arrested more than 130 demonstrators.

Live TV footage showed protesters under arrest, kneeling on the ground, their hands bound behind their backs with zip ties. Loud explosions were heard during the clash from flash-bang charges, or stun grenades, fired by police.

President Joe Biden also denounced protests that turned violent on college campuses on Thursday.
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A heartbreaking video shows the moment a confused puppy chases the fleeing car of its cold-hearted owners after they dumped her on the grounds of a California mobile home park.

Priscilla Garvey, the assistant manager of the Country Living Mobile Home Park in Fresno, says she was crushed when two people abandoned the adorable puppy there on Thursday.

The horrifying scene was caught on the parks surveillance footage. In it, the people can be seen driving onto the facilitys grounds, leaving the puppy in the parking lot and taking off.

Undeterred, the German Shepherd mix puppy, which Ms Garvey has named Bear, chased after the vehicle until it exited the mobile home. When the car was no longer visible, the puppy, appearing confused, walked around and then sat in the middle of the road.

The situation left Ms Garvey in disbelief.

I was really sad that someone could just abandon a puppy, Ms Garvey said. She was so energetic and so sweet that it just broke my heart that someone could just take this puppy somewhere and just go.

The woman walked out of her office and brought the puppy inside before calling Fresno Animal Center to pick up the dog. Both she and her boss briefly thought about taking the puppy home but ultimately decided against it.

While some of the facilitys residents expressed interest in keeping the dog, the puppy is likely to outgrow the facilitys weight restrictions.

TikTok screengrab ( TikTok screengrab )

An officer later picked up the puppy, which is now available for adoption. A spokesperson for the city declined to name the rescue due to privacy concerns.

The Fresno Police Department is currently investigating the incident, Rudy Pina, an animal resource officer told Nexstars KSEE/KGPE. Abandoning a puppy is a misdemeanour offence in California.

Even so, the officer said that the department routinely handles reports of abandoned pets.

Unfortunately, our animal control department responds to animal abandonment calls every single week in the city of Fresno.
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The US has tested a futuristic manta-ray style underwater drone that could one day be used for long-distance missions around the world.

The Manta Ray prototype uncrewed underwater vehicle (UUV) completed full-scale testing off the coast of Southern California over the last three months.

It was funded by the US Department of Defenses Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) programme, and built by defence company Northrop Grumman.

Once developed, it will demonstrate a new class of long-range, payload-capable UUVs ready for operation across seas and oceans, according to Darpa.

It moves through the water using efficient, buoyancy-driven gliding and could reduce the need for as much human involvement in underwater missions.

The US has tested a futuristic manta-ray style underwater drone ( Northrop Grumman )

Darpa programme manager for Manta Ray Dr Kyle Woerner said: Our successful, full-scale Manta Ray testing validates the vehicles readiness to advance toward real-world operations after being rapidly assembled in the field from modular subsections.

The combination of cross-country modular transportation, in-field assembly, and subsequent deployment demonstrates a first-of-kind capability for an extra-large UUV.

Northrop Grumman said the prototype was built in Maryland before being shipped in sections to its test location in California.

The demonstrated ease of shipping and assembly supports the possibility of rapid deployment throughout the world without crowding valuable pier space at naval facilities.

The prototype was built in Maryland before being shipped in subsections to its test location in California ( Northrop Grumman )

Shipping the vehicle directly to its intended area of operation conserves energy that the vehicle would otherwise expend during transit, added Dr Woerner.

Darpa said it is engaging with the US Navy on the next steps for testing and transition of the technology. UUVs have existed since the 1950s.

Also known as uncrewed underwater vehicles and underwater drones, they are submersible vehicles that can operate underwater without a human occupant.

In September 2021, researchers at a Chinese university developed a manta ray shaped UUV with the purpose of collecting information around the contested Paracel Islands.
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The Arizona state senate has voted to repeal an 1864 abortion ban, and while the governor is set to sign the repeal, the near-total ban could remain in effect into the autumn.

The Civil War-era ban went into effect last month after a ruling from the state Supreme Court. The ban only allows abortions to save the life of the mother.

Two Republicans joined with the Democrats to vote for the bill repealing the ban, with the legislation passing by 16-14. The state House voted to repeal the ban last week.

A spokesperson for Governor Katie Hobbs told 12News that the bills signing will not take place on Wednesday. Shes expected to sign it in the coming days.

The territorial-era abortion ban was put in place during the Civil War  decades before Arizona became a state in 1912. It carries a felony punishment of two to five years behind bars for anyone conducting an abortion.

The ban will likely still go into effect in late June, according to Democratic Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes.

People walk to the Senate gallery to watch the proceedings, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, at the Capitol in Phoenix ( AP )

After the repeal has been signed by Ms Hobbs, it wont go into effect until 90 days after the end of the current legislative session. The session doesnt have a specific end date, but it typically ends between late June and July, meaning that the ban could remain in effect into the autumn.

But Ms Mayes told NPR earlier this month that the ban wont be enforced while it is in effect.

The ban went into effect for a short period after the US Supreme Court reversed Roe v Wade in the summer of 2022 before it was blocked in the courts.

On 9 April, it was brought back by the Arizona state Supreme Court in a ruling that prompted nationwide attention and rebuke from abortion rights advocates.

After the expected repeal, Arizona is set to go back to a 15-week abortion ban, with voters possibly set to vote on enshrining abortion rights in the state constitution in November, according to The Washington Post.

Anti-abortion supporters stand outside at the Capitol, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Phoenix. ( AP )

In October, 59 per cent of Arizonans said in a New York Times/Siena College poll that abortion should be mostly or always legal while 34 per cent said it should be mostly or always illegal.

Republicans have slim majorities in both the state House and the state Senate. They have faced increasing pressure to repeal the ban from within their own party, from figures such as former President Donald Trump and Senate candidate Kari Lake.

Many Republicans see abortion as a losing issue, as polling shows that conservatives are out of step with the US population at large. The 15-week ban was seen by some in the party as a more palatable option.

Angela Florez, the President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona, said in a statement: With todays long-overdue victory, lawmakers stood with the overwhelming majority of Arizonans who support abortion access.

Abortion is essential health care, and this Civil War-era law had no place dictating our reproductive freedom, she said, but added that The reality is that Arizonans will still be living under a restrictive 15-week abortion ban.

Arizona is an important state both in the upcoming presidential race and in the race for congressional control. President Joe Biden won Arizona by less than 11,000 votes in 2020, becoming the first Democrat to win the state on the presidential level since Bill Clinton in 1996.
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Joe Biden has claimed Asian allies Japan and Indias xenophobic policies towards immigrants were causing their economies to stall.

One of the reasons why our economys growing is because of you and many others. Why? Because we welcome immigrants, Mr Biden said at a Washington fundraising event for his 2024 re-election campaign.

"Why is China stalling so badly economically, why is Japan having trouble, why is Russia, why is India, because theyre xenophobic. They dont want immigrants. Immigrants are what makes us strong," he said, kickstarting the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month on Wednesday.

Mr Biden met Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida in Washington last month where the two unveiled plans for military cooperation and projects ranging from missiles to moon landings and strengthening their alliance with an eye on countering China and Russia.

The meeting marked a significant boost to the bilateral relations between Washington and Tokyo, bringing the World War II enemies into the closest collaboration they have had since they became allies decades ago.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to guests during a rally on 1 May 2024 in Waukesha, Wisconsin. A recent poll has Trump and President Joe Biden currently tied in the state ( Getty Images )

The latest remarks from the president against his key allies India and Japan in Asia come at a time when he is campaigning against Republican opponent Donald Trumps anti-immigrant stance.

At the same time, Mr Biden is also working to court broad economic and political relations with both nations against rivals China and Russia globally.

Immigration is swiftly becoming a central issue in the November 2024 presidential campaign, which is widely expected to be a Biden-Trump rematch, and each man is seeking to use the border problems to his own political advantage. Mr Biden is batting for legal immigration to aid the American economy.

However, on the economic front, each country is set to see its growth decelerate in 2024 from the year prior, the International Monetary Fund said in its forecast last month.

The deceleration will range from 0.9 per cent in highly developed Japan to 6.8 per cent in emerging India.

President Joe Biden speaks before a screening of the series "American Born Chinese" in the East Room of the White House in Washington, in celebration of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, 8 May 2023 in this file photo ( Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. )

At the same time, the US will grow at 2.7 per cent, slightly brisker than its 2.5 per cent rate last year. The better-than-expected performance has been partly credited to an expanding labour force which has seen a push from migrants, according to economists monitoring the post-pandemic trends.

In his bid to return to the White House, Mr Trump has attacked migrants in often-degrading terms, characterizing them as dangerous criminals who are poisoning the blood of America and frequently invoking falsehoods about migration.

Mr Trump has vowed to finish building a border wall and to launch the largest domestic deportation operation in American history.
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On Thursday, President Biden made his way to Wilmington, North Carolina, also making a stop in Charlotte to visit the families of police officers killed in the line of duty. Bidens trip comes shortly after Vice President Kamala Harris visited Charlotte last month. In fact, both have made multiple journeys down to North Carolina this year.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the vice president visited Jacksonville, Florida on the day that the states six-week abortion ban came into effect. Harris, as Inside Washington has written before, can zero in on abortion rights in ways that Biden, an 81-year-old Catholic man, cannot. And indeed, Harris delivered some scorching lines against Florida Republicans, saying extremist Republican lawmakers who voted in the ban either dont know how a womans body works, or simply dont care.

The president continues to poll badly, even in states that he won in 2020 such as Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Nevada. So why the focus on tough-to-win states like North Carolina and Florida?

Florida has become a Republican citadel in the past decade, with its governor Ron DeSantis winning re-election by almost 20 points in 2022. Thats a far cry from when Barack Obama and Biden won it twice and when it had Democratic Senators like Bill Nelson and the late Bob Graham.

And North Carolina has proven even more elusive than Florida. After Barack Obama pulled off a miracle in 2008 and became the first Democrat since Jimmy Carter in 1976 to win the state, its taken a hard-right turn. Mitt Romney won North Carolina in 2012, Donald Trump won it twice, and Democrats have not won any of the four Senate races since 2008.

But Democrats think that the fallout from the 2022 Dobbs v Jackson decision that overturned abortion rights may well have put both states in play.

Florida is by far the tougher climb. The state barely voted for Trump in 2016. But increased migration from retirees seeking the states warm weather and zero income taxes, combined with an influx of migrants from countries with socialist governments like Venezuela and the rightward shift of the existing Hispanic population, has turned Florida into a laboratory for right-wing politics.

Nevertheless, Nikki Fried, the Florida Democratic Party chairwoman, told my colleague John Bowden that she and other Democrats believe the draconian abortion ban, as well as a ballot initiative to enshrine abortion rights in the state, can turn everything around. Specifically, she said she would focus on the three As: affordability, accountability and abortion while campaigning this year.

Democrats have already had some success: they flipped the mayorship of Jacksonville last year, which is no mean feat.

Biden and the party feel they have a better shot in North Carolina. In recent years, as my colleague Ariana Baio reported, North Carolina has seen an influx of people move to the state. But unlike in Florida, North Carolina has seen mostly college-educated young professionals move in  mostly to the Charlotte area or the Research Triangle, which includes Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill and many of the states elite universities. These are the types who typically vote Democratic.

Like in Florida, Democrats are banking on abortion rights turning the state from Wolf Pack Red to Tar Heel blue. When I spoke to the states governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat who won both times Trump was on the ballot, he noted how he fears that Republicans might go further than the states 12-week abortion ban.

There's an effective ban in the entire southeast now that we have the Florida situation, and obviously North Carolina has a 12-week ban, but it's very burdensome on women because of the requirement of an in-person appointment before you can get the healthcare that you need, he told me at the time.

Democrats also hope that Mark Robinson  the Republican nominee for governor who has peddled in notoriously xenophobic rhetoric  might not only help Democrat Josh Stein win the governorship but help carry Biden over the finish line in a buzzer-beater worthy of March Madness.

Yet, Democrats are not oblivious, even if they are optimistic.

I'm not gonna say [abortion] is going to flip the state because there's going be a lot of Republicans who vote for [the ballot initiative to enshrine abortion rights] too, Representative Maxwell Frost, the progressive Gen-Z Democrat from Florida told me.

Senator Marco Rubio outright dismissed the efforts from Harris and others to turn Florida blue.

I think some of the problems [are] wildly exaggerated, but it's part of a very heated debate around the country, he told me. [Harris is] running for office, and I think this is going to give them an advantage but they're going to lose Florida by a lot.

Senator Ted Budd of North Carolina said he was sure North Carolina would stay red.

Hes wasted the last three and a half years and hes going to waste a trip to North Carolina, he told me, when I asked about Bidens trip to the state this week.

Republicans may say that they are sure Biden and Harris arent a threat in North Carolina and Florida. But the fact that Democrats see a clear opportunity means their opponents may be forced to spend campaign funds in defense, whether they like it or not.
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Watch as Joe Biden speaks from the White House on Thursday 2 May.

Escalating campus protests are forcing the US president to walk a careful line of denouncing antisemitism while supporting young Americans right to protest and trying to limit longer-term political damage.

As violent police crackdowns and counter-protests greet spreading demonstrations across campuses, Mr Biden faces sharp criticism of his Israel policy from both the left and right.

Students at dozens of schools have rallied or camped out in recent days to oppose Israels war in Gaza, demanding institutions stop doing business with companies that support the war.

Protests over the war, and Mr Bidens strong support for Israel, have dogged the president since late last year and divided his Democratic Party.

On Wednesday, 57 Democrats in Congress asked the president to withhold aid to Israel in an attempt to stop a planned assault in Rafah.

Senior aides, meanwhile, privately dismiss the idea that the protests or their supporters could cost Mr Biden the White House at the presidential election in November.
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Joe Biden on Thursday condemned the unrest and violence that has disrupted college campuses over the last week, while stressing the importance of the right of Americans to protest peacefully in support of the Palestinians treatment during Israels ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza.

President Biden said peaceful protest is in the best tradition of how Americans respond to consequential issues because the US is not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent.

He said the images of police clashing with protesters put the fundamental American principles of free speech and the rule of law to the test, as he pointed out the importance of maintaining the latter principle to allow the former.

US president Joe Biden speaks about the ongoing student protests at US universities amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, during brief remarks in the Roosevelt Room at the White House on 2 May ( Reuters/Nathan Howard )

Peaceful protest is in the best tradition of how Americans respond to consequential issues, but neither are we a lawless country. Were a civil society, and order must prevail, he said.

Mr Biden also condemned actors who are using the campus unrest and protests to score political points and called the protests a moment for clarity.

Let me be clear ... violent protest is not protected, peaceful protest is, he said.

Destroying property is not a peaceful protest  its against the law. Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations. None of this is a peaceful protest; threatening people, intimidating people, instilling fear in people is not peaceful protest. Its against the law.

The president also stressed that while dissent remains essential to democracy, it must never lead to disorder or denying the rights of others.

Its basically a matter of fairness. Its a matter of whats right. Theres the right to protest, but not the right to cause chaos. People have the right to get an education, the right to get a degree, the right to walk across the campus safely without fear of being attacked, he said.

Mr Bidens remarks came just hours after police in Los Angeles were met with hurled projectiles while clearing an encampment on the UCLA campus.

Officers muscled their way into a central plaza of the university on Wednesday evening before forcing their way into the anti-war encampment at around 3.15am, tearing down barricades and arresting occupants who refused to leave.

Live TV footage showed about six protesters under arrest, kneeling on the ground, their hands bound behind their backs with zip ties, as dozens of loud explosions were heard during the clash from flash-bang charges, or stun grenades, fired by police.

The UCLA chancellor Gene Block said in a statement that a group of instigators had perpetrated the previous nights attack, but he did not provide details about the crowd or why the administration and school police did not act sooner.

The clash between protesters and police in California occurred less than a day after New York Police Department officers forcibly removed protesters from the Columbia University administration building in a scene that came nearly 56 years to the day after police cleared a similar occupation by students angry over the Vietnam war.

A statement issued by the university read in part: The NYPD arrived on campus at the universitys request. This decision was made to restore safety and order to our community.

We regret that protesters have chosen to escalate the situation through their actions. After the university learned overnight that Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalised, and blockaded, we were left with no choice. Columbia public safety personnel were forced out of the building, and a member of our facilities team was threatened. We will not risk the safety of our community or the potential for further escalation.

The president had not been expected to address the matter of the protests or the violence that occurred overnight, and White House officials had previously described the protests and police response as matters for state or local law enforcement.

But Republicans have seized on Mr Bidens apparent reluctance to weigh in by casting it as tacit approval of the worst elements of the pro-Palestinian protesters, some of whom have spouted openly antisemitic rhetoric and have intimidated students and passers-by whom they deemed to be Jewish or zionists.

Police break up an encampment on the UCLA campus on Thursday ( AP )

Mr Biden condemned the antisemitism demonstrated by some of the protesters, saying there is no place for hate speech or violence of any kind on any campus in America.

Whether it's antisemitism, Islamophobia, or discrimination against Arab Americans or Palestinian Americans, its simply wrong. Theres no place for racism in America. Its all wrong, its un-American, he said.

I understand people have strong feelings and deep convictions in America. We respect the right and protect the right for them to express that. But it doesnt mean anything goes. It needs to be done without violence, without distraction, without hating and within the law, he added.

While prominent GOP figures  including former president Donald Trump, Mr Bidens likely 2024 election opponent  have called for the use of force, including by the military, to remove the protesters from campuses, the president declined to endorse calls for such violent actions, replying No when asked if the National Guard should be used to disperse the protests.

He also told reporters that the protests havent pushed him to reconsider his support for the Israeli government, even as discontent with the ongoing war has appeared to cost him support in states in which he will need to defeat Mr Trump in the November election.
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Donald Trump has claimed that the US is heading for its own October 7 style attack, in a fiercely anti-immigration campaign speech at a rally in Wisconsin on his day off from court.

The former president, speaking in the battleground state on Wednesday, told supporters that President Joe Biden was planning to bring massive numbers of Gazan people from the Middle East to towns across the nation.

He said that Mr Biden was determined to create the conditions of an attack, similar to that which occurred in Israel last year, which has since sparked a vicious and ongoing conflict.

On October 7 2023 militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in Southern Israel, abducting around 250 hostages. Israel says the militants are still holding around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others.

More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed so far in the conflict, according to local health officials, with around 80 per cent of Gazas population of 2.3 million driven from their homes.

The former president told supporters in Wisconsin that the Biden adminstration was planning to bring massive numbers of people from the Middle East to towns across America ( AP )

During the rally, Mr Trump claimed that thousands of refugees from the Middle East, including Gaza, would soon be brought to the US.

It should be no surprise that in addition to the millions and millions of people invading our country from the border, crooked Joe is now reportedly planning  this is wonderful news for young people in Wisconsin  to bring massive numbers of Gazans from the Middle East to your American towns, your towns and villages, he told supporters

Your towns and villages will now be accepting people from Gaza. Lots of people from Gaza and various other places, Yemen, lots of other places.

Joe Biden seems determined to create the conditions for an October 7 style attack right here in America. Its gonna happen with all of these people coming in from the southern border.

It comes after reports that the Biden administration is considering bringing certain Palestinians to the US as refugees, in order to offer a permanent safe haven to some of those fleeing the embattled territory.

According to internal federal government documents obtained by CBS News, several federal US agencies have discussed the practicality of different options to resettle Palestinians from Gaza who have immediate family members who are US citizens or permanent residents.

At a campaign rally in Wisconsin on Wednesday Mr Trump railed against all forms of immigration ( AP )

The White House has not commented publicly on such plans.

In Wisconsin on Wednesday, Mr Trump continued to rail against all forms of immigration, telling crowds Were a country thats so troubled and that a thing like that could happen, they will be impossible to vet and as a result of chain migration the numbers will quickly explode beyond your control.

Its going to be out of control because under chain migration, they can bring everybody they ever touched.

He added: Under no circumstances shall we bring thousands of refugees from Hamas-controlled terrorist epicenters like Gaza to America. We just cant do it.

You know we also have to run our country. And its nice to be nice, its nice to be good. But weve got to run our country.
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Donald Trump has hit back at reports that he has dozed off during his high-profile criminal trial in New York, claiming that at times he simply closes his beautiful blue eyes.

The former president insisted that, while his eyes may be closed on occasion, he is listening intensely and taking it ALL in! in a self-complimentary social media post on Truth Social on Wednesday.

It comes following several reports from journalists inside the courtroom, including a reporter from The Independent, present throughout proceedings, that Mr Trump fell asleep during the first day of his historic trial in Manhattan  which is now in its third week.

The alleged slumber was also captured in a court sketch of the weary former president, which showed him with his eyes closed and his head tilted to the side.

Contrary to the FAKE NEWS MEDIA, I dont fall asleep during the Crooked DAs Witch Hunt, especially not today. I simply close my beautiful blue eyes, sometimes, listen intensely, and take it ALL in!!! Mr Trump wrote on 2 May.

His furious denial echoes that of his campaign, who previously blasted the claims in a statement to The Independent as 100% Fake News coming from journalists who werent even in the courtroom.

Despite this, the observations quickly prompted an onslaught of nicknames and jokes on social media, including the moniker Sleepy Don and Don Snoreleone.

The former refers to Mr Trumps penchant for referring to his political rival President Joe Biden as Sleepy Joe on the campaign trail. The latter is a reference to fictional mafia boss Don Corleone in the hit film series The Godfather.

Several US late-night TV hosts have also ridiculed the former presidents apparent inability to keep his eyes open during proceedings.

He was sharp, focused  and he fell asleep again, The Late Show host Stephen Colbert said in response to the courtroom sketch.

A previous courtroom sketch appeared to show Mr Trump dozing off during proceedings in Manhattan ( REUTERS )

Comedian Jimmy Fallon, host of The Tonight Show suggested that Mr Trump wears a shock collar to keep him awake. In an effort to stop Trump from falling asleep in court, his lawyers have been giving him a number of different devices, he said.

So far, the only thing that can keep him awake is an iPad playing Bluey.

Fallon then cut to a spoof commercial for a Trump Shock Collar, which the ad described as: The worlds first human shock collar disguised as a red neck tie!

Mr Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in a bid to cover up hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. He allegedly paid Ms Daniels $130,000 in exchange for her silence over a 2006 affair, though he pleaded not guilty to all charges.

It is the first-ever criminal trial of a sitting or former president.
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South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham revealed on Wednesday that his phone was in the possession of the FBI after a scam caller impersonating Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer contacted him.

Graham made the announcement at the Hill and Valley Summit, a gathering of lawmakers, defence contractors, venture capitalists and others connected to the national security sphere, where it was first reported by The Washington Times.

The gathering is a rare island of bipartisanship around a common value: defence and warmaking. This years gathering was attended by Republicans including Graham as well as Democrats including Schumer himself. Former President Donald Trump also spoke to attendees via phone.

A spokeswoman for Graham, Taylor Reidy, confirmed toThe Independent on Thursday that the Sergeant at Arms is investigating a possible hack of Senator Grahams phone, but did not elaborate on whether the device had been taken by the FBI. A spokesperson for the FBI declined to comment.

Graham has known Schumer for many years and has been involved in many a negotiation with the Democratic Senate leader. During the Trump administration, Graham was somewhat of a go-between connecting the Republican president to Senate Democratic leadership, as he retained personal relationships across the aisle even as he and his party drifted further to the right.

Biden calls Lindsey Graham a 'personal disappointment'

Now, he plays a different role: his fealty to Donald Trump (even after January 6) has caused a widely-reported splintering of his relationship with Joe Biden and the Biden family. In 2015 the South Carolina Senator famously choked up describing the personal tragedies endured by then-Vice President Biden, calling him as good a man as God ever created, but he has since fallen out of favor with his former friends.

During the 2020 presidential race, Dr Jill Biden was asked by CNNs John Berman about her familys relationship with Graham. Her response conveyed a deep disappointment in the senators rightward turn and embrace of Trumpian political tactics.

I dont know what happened to Lindsey. And we used to be great friends [with him] and friends with John McCain, she said in that interview. I mean, we traveled together with the [Senate] Foreign Relations Committee. Weve had dinner, you know. And now hes changed.

Senator Lindsey Graham is pictured staring at his phone during congressional votes to pass foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. The FBI recently seized his phone as part of the agencys investigation. ( Getty Images )

Despite this, the two found themselves on the same side in 2021 when the president worked with both Democrats and Republicans in the upper chamber to ink a deal on a bipartisan infrastructure package. Graham would go on to vote for the legislation while his fellow South Carolinean, Senator Tim Scott, voted against it.
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MAGA Republican Rep Lauren Boebert was heckled by protesters with chants of Beetlejuice as she visited the campus of George Washington University on Wednesday.

In September, the lawmaker was infamously kicked out of a performance of the musical Beetlejuice in Denver after loudly singing along, vaping, and appearing to get intimate with her date.

After initially denying any bad behaviour, she later apologised citing her recent divorce.

On Wednesday, Ms Boebert visited the college campus in Washington DC along with fellow Republican representatives James Comer, Byron Donalds, and Anna Paulina Luna. The visit comes at a time when protests are spreading across US colleges, as students call on universities to divest from ties to Israel due to its ongoing war on Gaza.

As the group of Republicans arrived, chants of Beetlejuice could be heard.

At one point, Ms Boebert was seen trying to pull down a Palestinian flag.

This is America and that s*** needs to come down, she told students.

Rep Lauren Boebert speaks at the campus of GW University in Washington DC ( Screenshot / CNN )

So this is what the students here at GW University are facing each and every day. Their learning activities are being disrupted, their finals are being disrupted, Ms Boebert told the assembled press and surrounding protesters.

The law school students are the only ones permitted on campus during finals and their learning and studying time has been completely disrupted by this 2024 Summer of Love.

She went on to claim that several Jewish students had approached her saying they fear for their lives.

Seven students have been suspended for trespassing and it's time that [DC] Mayor [Muriel] Bowser gets aggressive in keeping safety here on this campus and the surrounding perimeter, she added before she was drowned out by chants of free Palestine.

Ive seen signs here today saying queer and trans folks for a liberated Palestine, gays for Gaza, from the river to the sea Palestine will be free, Chinese for Palestine, followed by all cops are bastards  this is not only disgusting..., she continued before the chants took over once more.

Ms Boebert went on to say that almost every single person in the so-called liberated zone would be eviscerated by the very terrorists you're standing here supporting.

She accused faculty of being involved in the protests and called on the university and the mayor to take forceful action against the protesters or risk losing their federal funding.

Last week, House Speaker Mike Johnson was also heckled during a visit to Columbia University in New York, where he called for university President Minouche Shafik to resign amid protests on campus.

On Tuesday night, police in riot gear entered Columbia University and took down a student encampment, arresting dozens of protesters who had barricaded themselves inside Hamilton Hall.

The following night, hundreds of police officers then dismantled a protest camp at the University of California at Los Angeles.

Protests are also taking place across other campuses all across the US, with New Hampshire police disassembling tents at Dartmouth College and Oregon officers entering the campus of Portland State University as school officials attempted to stop the library occupation that began on Monday.

The Independent has contacted the office of Ms Boebert for comment.
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The attorney who negotiated Stormy Daniels $130,000 hush money payment with Michael Cohen thought Donald Trumps then-attorney was going to kill himself after learning he had been left out of a job in the White House after the 2016 presidential election.

In his second day of testimony in the former presidents hush money trial in Manhattan on Thursday, Keith Davidson told jurors that Cohen was distraught by mid-December 2016.

I thought he was going to kill himself, Mr Davidson said.

Earlier, Mr Davidson told the court that Cohen had voiced disbelief that Mr Trump was not offering him a role in his administration, after he allegedly helped him win the election by suppressing negative stories about his alleged affairs with women.

Jesus Christ, can you believe Im not going to Washington? Mr Davidson recalled Cohen saying.

Ive saved that guys ass so many times you dont even know. That guys not even paying the $130,000 back.

Mr Davidson testified that Cohen had believed he would be in the running to serve as Mr Trumps White House chief of staff or US attorney general.

Text messages and emails shown in court between Mr Davidson and Cohen through 2016 and into the first two years of the Trump administration detailed negotiations that would keep the adult film stars story of an alleged affair with Mr Trump out of the press during his campaign.

That transaction is at the centre of the criminal case against the former president, who is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records for allegedly reimbursing Cohen the $130,000 payments and labelling them as legal expenses.

A courtroom sketch depicts Donald Trump and Justice Juan Merchan watching testimony from Keith Davidson in criminal court in Manhattan on 2 May ( REUTERS )

Two days of questioning from Manhattan prosecutors put Mr Davidson on the spot to confirm that he believes Mr Trump was funding Cohen to pay off Ms Daniels  and that his sophisticated and deceptive technically true statements were intended to obscure the truth.

But cross-examination from Mr Trumps defence attorney Emil Bove appeared to try to undermine his credibility by strongly suggesting that Mr Davidson was extorting people on behalf of his clients, running through a string of high-profile tabloid incidents in the 2010s.

Mr Bove repeatedly asked whether Mr Davidson extracted money from celebrities embroiled in high-profile tabloid stories at the time.

We asserted that there was tortious activity committed and there were valid settlements executed, Mr Davidson said.

Look, were both lawyers, Mr Bove fired back. Im not here to play lawyer games with you.

I am giving you truthful answers, sir, Mr Davidson said. If youre not here to play legal games, then dont say extract.

Donald Trump arrives in court in Manhattan for his hush money trial on 2 May ( via REUTERS )

In January 2018, two days before The Wall Street Journal published details of the so-called hush money scheme involving Ms Daniels, Cohen sent a message to Mr Davidson to write a strong denial, according to messages shown in court.

Asked by Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass what Cohen meant by denial, Mr Davidson said: Everything.

Including the sexual encounter with Donald Trump? Mr Steinglass asked.

Yes, Mr Davidson said.

Ms Daniels statement  which Mr Trump recently shared on his Truth Social as supposed evidence intended to exonerate him of wrongdoing in this case  denied allegations of a sexual and/or romantic affair and stated that her involvement with Donald Trump was limited to a few public appearances and nothing more.

The hush money payments are completely false, the statement said.

Mr Davidson, who wrote the statement, told the court it was still technically true.

I think that this is a tactic that is oftentimes used in the oftentimes cat and mouse interactions between publicists, attorneys and the press, and an extremely strict reading of this denial would technically be true, he testified on Thursday.

A courtroom sketch depicts Donald Trump looking at social media posts about him during his gag order hearing on 2 May ( REUTERS )

I dont think anyone had ever alleged that any interaction between she and Donald Trump is romantic, he said.

As for the sexual part of that statement, that falls under the and/or, he said.

A subsequent statement from 30 January 2018  which Mr Davidson also claimed was technically true  said that Ms Daniels was not denying the affair because I was paid hush money as has been reported in overseas owned tabloids but because it never happened.

I dont think anyone had ever alleged there was a relationship, Mr Davidson said in his testimony. I believe a relationship is an ongoing interaction.

In his testimony earlier this week, Mr Davidson told the court that he assumed that the money wired by Cohen to his client was coming from Mr Trump, or from some corporate affiliation thereof.

But, in February 2018, Cohen demanded a statement from Mr Davidsons client to send to then-CNN host Chris Cuomo that explicitly stated that the money came only from Cohen.

I think he was under some fire and wanted some validation or corroboration, Mr Davidson said on Thursday.

He also claimed that Cohen threatened to sue him many times

He can be a very aggressive guy, aggressive in his pursuits to protect his client, and he would oftentimes make legal threats  bankrupt her and rain legal hell on her. Dont f*** with us. You dont know who youre f****** with. Things like that, he said.

He wanted her to deny her story to protect his client.
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Stormy Daniels disgraced former attorney Michael Avenatti fired back at testimony from Keith Davidson in the hush money trial of former President Donald Trump.

Mr Davidson is the attorney who negotiated Ms Daniels $130,000 payment from former Trump fixer-turned-witness for the prosecution Michael Cohen which is at the centre of the trial.

Mr Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records after he reimbursed Cohen for the payment. The reimbursement was later logged as legal expenses. The prosecution argues that the payment in the lead-up to the 2016 election was tantamount to election interference, making the false records a felony.

On Thursday, the Trump legal team brought up an April 2018 conversation between Mr Davidson and Cohen regarding a CNN interview in which he said that he didnt give any indication that the money was coming from Mr Trump.

On a recording of the conversation, Mr Davidson says he was asked whether Cohen needed authority from Donald Trump to make that payment and I said no, it was never discussed.

Mr Davidson said it was about completing a deal between two consenting adults, or that my client wanted and that his entity wanted [it]. Thats it.

Avenatti arrives at a federal court in Manhattan for his criminal trial in January 2022 ( AFP via Getty Images )

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass noted that at the time of that April 2018 conversation with Cohen, Ms Daniels was being represented by Avenatti  who was suing both of them.

Mr Davidson said on Thursday that Avenatti was trying to drive a wedge between him and Ms Daniels.

Keith Davidson is lying, Avenatti wrote on X on Thursday. After I confronted her [with] her own text [messages], Daniels admitted to me in early 2019 that she [and] Davidson had extorted Trump in [October] 2016  it was a shakedown. This was one of the many reasons I fired her as a client in [February] 2019.

Avenatti has said he has been in contact with Mr Trumps legal team and is willing to testify. Hes currently serving a prison sentence for attempting to extort Nike and for embezzling settlement funds from several other clients.

Avenatti with Stormy Daniels in 2018 ( AFP via Getty Images )

Mr Davidson said he recalled discussing leverage in connection to Ms Daniels case in the context of the election and what her manager Gina Rodriguezs boyfriend had said.

I wouldnt be the least bit surprised if he comes out and says, You know what, Stormy Daniels, she wanted this money more than you can ever imagine, he said on one of the recordings played in court. I remember hearing her on the phone saying, You f****** Keith Davidson, you better settle this god damn story  because if he loses this election, and hes going to lose, we lose all f****** leverage and this case is worth zero.
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The judge presiding over Donald Trumps hush money trial fired back at his attorneys attempts to dodge punishment for his comments about the jury  remarks that appear likely to violate a gag order that blocks him from public attacks on witnesses and jurors.

In a contempt hearing on Thursday morning, the former presidents legal team tried to blame at least some of Mr Trumps potential violations on Michael Cohen, arguing his former attorney and the potential star witness in the case has made multiple and repeated attacks on his credibility and campaign.

Pulling up several social media posts from Cohen, Mr Trumps attorney argued that he is inviting and almost daring Trump to respond to everything hes saying.

Throughout the hearing, New York Justice Juan Merchan appeared unconvinced by the defences arguments and grew increasingly frustrated with Mr Trumps attorney Todd Blanche.

At one point, when Mr Blanche claimed that the trial is political persecution and a political trial in a jurisdiction that is politically biased against the former president, Judge Merchan cut him off.

Did he violate the gag order? Thats what I want to know, he said. He spoke about the jury, right? And he said the jury was 95 per cent Democrats and the jury had been rushed through, and the implication that this was not a fair jury?

Earlier this month, while awaiting the judges decision on whether to impose sanctions on previous gag order breaches, Manhattan prosecutors accused Mr Trump of violating the order four more times within just three days of the trials first week  including statements that were made right outside the courts doors and a statement that took aim at the jury that is now seated across from him.

Donald Trump speaks to reporters in a Manhattan criminal courthouse on 2 May. ( POOL/AFP via Getty Images )

On Tuesday, he was fined $9,000 for nine other violations and threatened with jail time if he continues to break the gag order.

Prosecutors are now asking the judge to fine him $1,000 for each of the four new alleged violations.

One of those alleged violations took place on 22 April during a nearly nine-minute rant in the court hallway, when Mr Trump said his former lawyer and trial witness Cohen wasnt very good in a lot of ways in terms of representation and that Cohen got caught lying, pure lying during Mr Trumps civil fraud trial down the street.

Judge Merchan noted on Thursday that, when Mr Trump walks over to reporters at the courthouse to deliver several minutes-long press conferences, it wasnt the press who went to him. He went to the press.

Youre telling me the scrutiny is outrageous. Nobody is telling your client where to stand that day, Judge Merchan told Mr Trumps legal team.

Judge, said Mr Blanche, briefly pausing. I agree with that.

Mr Trump also went off on Cohen during an 11-minute interview with a Pennsylvania TV station that aired on 23 April.

Michael Cohen is a convicted liar and hes got no credibility whatsoever, he said.

Assistant District Attorney Christopher Conroy brought up that moment in court on Thursday, telling the judge: This is the most critical time, the time the proceeding has to be protected.

Mr Blanche responded by claiming that Mr Trump cant just say no comment repeatedly.

Claiming Cohen is almost daring his former client to fire back at his comments, Mr Blanche showed the judge several of Cohens social media posts.

In one post, Cohen told Mr Trump: Keep messing with me Donald and I wont send any money to your commissary.

Former US president Donald Trump watches as lawyer Keith Davidson takes the stand ( REUTERS )

Another post showed an image of Mr Trump in an orange superhero suit with the caption Super Victim.

Mr Blanche also quoted a post from Cohen calling Mr Trump Von Sh**zInPantz, an interview with Politico in which he called Mr Trump a liar, and Cohens nightly TikTok videos discussing the case and Mr Trumps campaign.

This is not a man that needs protection from a gag order, Mr Blanche said of Cohen.

Mr Blanche also tried to claim that the gag order means Mr Trump cant respond to attacks from President Joe Biden as they go head-to-head in the race for the White House. He pointed to Mr Bidens comments on stage at the White House Correspondents Dinner.

Donald has had a few tough days lately, you might call it stormy weather, the president said.

Judge Merchan brushed off the defences argument, saying that there is nothing in the gag order that says he cant respond to Mr Biden.

One of the other alleged violations raised by prosecutors involved Mr Trumps interview with far-right network Real Americans Voice.

During that interview, Mr Trump said the jury was picked so fast  95 per cent Democrats.

The areas mostly all Democrat. You think of it as a  just a purely Democrat area. Its a very unfair situation that I can tell you, he said.

He made those comments after the jury was selected  and after the judge admonished Mr Trump in court for audibly commenting about a juror and gesticulating towards her.

Donald Trump sits in a criminal courtroom in Manhattan on 2 May ( via REUTERS )

I wont tolerate it. I will not have any jurors intimidated in this courtroom, the judge said on 16 April. I want to make that crystal clear.

The fourth alleged violation came on 23 April when, just hours before former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker resumed his trial testimony, Mr Trump said that David has beenvery nice and a nice guy.

The defendant knows what hes doing. The defendant talks about the testifying witness, says nice things and does it in front of the camera, Mr Conroy told the judge on Thursday.

Its deliberate and calculated, he added. Pecker, be nice. Anyone else hearing this, I have a platform.  [The statements are] deliberate shots across the bow to anyone who will come into this courtroom to talk about the defendant and talk about what he did.

At his rallies in Wisconsin and Michigan on Wednesday, Mr Trump appeared to avoid violating the gag order but took shots at the judge, who, along with prosecutors, is fair game. The gag blocks him from speaking out about witnesses, jurors, court staff and their families.

In Wisconsin, he called Judge Merchan crooked and conflicted.

Ive got to do two of these things a day. You know why? Because Im in New York all the time with the Biden trial, Mr Trump said in Michigan, repeating a baseless conspiracy that Mr Biden is directing his criminal cases.

Its a fake trial. They do it to try and take your powers away, try and take your candidate away.

So far, the former president has been fined $24,000 for violating trial gag orders in his criminal case and in his civil fraud trial, where Justice Arthur Engoron imposed $15,000 in penalties for Mr Trumps statements about his court staff. Mr Trumps attorney Alina Habba cut a check to the court on her clients behalf.
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Donald Trump has claimed that London is unrecognisable because it has opened its doors to jihad in a bizarre rally speech.

The former president ranted about pro-Palestine college protests and the idea of letting Palestinian refugees into the country from war-torn Gaza, before declaring that he would never let America become unrecognisable as he claims London and Paris have become.

Weve seen what happened when Europe opened their doors to jihad, he told his supporters at the event. Look at Paris, look at London - theyre no longer recognisable, he said offering no evidence whatsover for his wild statements.

His remarks came while speaking at a campaign rally in Wisconsin on Wednesday afternoon while on a break from court proceedings for his criminal hush money trial in New York.

And Im going get myself into a lot of trouble with the folks in Paris and the folks in London, but you know what, thats the fact, Trump continued. They are no longer recognisable, and we cant let that happen to our country.

We have incredible culture, tradition - nothing wrong with their culture, their tradition - we cant let that happen here, and Ill never let it happen to the United States of America.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan and his wife Saadiya arrive with their dog Luna to cast their vote in the London mayoral election on Thursday ( Getty Images )

The former president and current London mayor Sadiq Khan have often criticised each other over the years, fuelled at one point by Mr Khans office giving anti-Trump activists permission to fly a blimp of Trump as a crying baby in a nappy during a protest in 2018. During Trumps state visit to the UK that year, he said that Mr Khan had done a very bad job on terrorism.

Responding to Trumps latest comments Mr Khan told the Daily Mail as voting in Londons mayoral election took place on Thursday that today is an opportunity to show Donald Trump... that London will always choose hope over fear and unity over division.

Trump brought up the European cities at his rally after he took aim at the administration of President Joe Biden for reportedly weighing up measures they could possibly take to welcome Palestinians who already have relatives living in the United States into the country.

Donald Trump speaks to supporter at a Wisconsin MAGA rally on Wednesday, telling the crowd London and Paris have opened their doors to jihad ( Getty Images )

"Your towns and villages will now be accepting people from Gaza and various other places," Trump said, with the crowd responding with a chorus of boos. Under no circumstances shall we bring thousands of refugees."

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Wednesday that the administration is constantly evaluating policy proposals to try and support Palestinians who have American citizen family members, but have no further details on how the procedures may work.

More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed amid the war in Gaza, according to health officials in the besiged strip, after Israel launched a bombing campaign and ground assaults in the wake of the brutal Hamas attack inside Israel on 7 October. Around 1,200 people were killed in that attack, with another 250 people taken hostage.

The situation in Gaza has sparked pro-Palestine protests on college campuses across the US. Trump also touched on the college demonstrations, referring to protestors as raging lunatics and Hamas sympathizers and lashed out at MrBiden for not stepping in.

To every college president, I say remove the encampments immediately, he said in Wisconsin.

Vanquish the radicals and take back our campuses for all of the normal students who want a safe place from which to learn.

It is thought that more than 1,000 people have been arrested across US universities.
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Donald Trump made the most of the latest Wednesday recess in his New York hush money trial by returning to the campaign trail to address rally crowds in two key battleground states: Wisconsin and Michigan.

The Republican presidential candidate and criminal defendant has complained loudly about Judge Juan Merchans requirement that he spend four days a week at Manhattan Criminal Court, where he stands accused of falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to the adult film star Stormy Daniels in October 2016 to ensure her silence about a sexual encounter she alleges they had a decade earlier.

But with the judge granting a midweek break so long as the trial continues to make progress, Mr Trump was free to hit the road. He began his day in Waukesha, Wisconsin, before relocating to Freeland, Michigan, in the afternoon to address his supporters ahead of Novembers election.

While he did just about manage not to make any further breaches of the gag order imposed on him by Judge Merchan, Mr Trump did complain: Ive got to do two of these things a day. You know why? Because Im in New York all the time with the Biden trial.

Its a fake trial. They do it to try and take your powers away, try and take your candidate away.

Here is a look at what else he had to say during his twin addresses, which largely saw him play the hits, weaving in his customary allotment of insults to rivals, grievances, misinformation and apocalyptic forecasts.

Trump admits Secret Service order on January 6

Perhaps the headline revelation of the day was the former presidents admission that he did order his US Secret Service detail to take him to the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, backing up the testimony offered to Congress by former Mark Meadows aide Cassidy Hutchinson.

Mr Trump recounted the story in Wisconsin but mocked Ms Hutchinsons contention that he had lunged at the agents when his demand was rejected on safety grounds, allegedly in an attempt to grab the steering wheel of their vehicle.

Remember the person that said I attacked a Secret Service agent in the front of the car? Its not my deal. Im a lover, not a fighter, he said.

I dont think our country is going to survive

Mr Trump is no stranger to scaremongering and has frequently predicted disaster for America should he fail to win Novembers election.

Despite a steadily improving economy under his successor as the US continues its bounceback from the Covid-19 pandemic, the Republican has persistently painted a doom-laden picture of the country in the three years since he left the White House in disgrace, arguing baselessly that Russias invasion of Ukraine and Hamass assault on Israel would never have happened if he had remained in power.

His tone on the subject recalls his notorious remarks to his supporters in the moments before the Capitol riot: If you dont fight like hell, youre not going to have a country any more.

Biden determined to create conditions for attack on US

Another shocking claim by Mr Trump saw him attempt to cynically capitalise on the explosion of angry demonstrations on American college campuses over the war in Gaza to suggest that President Joe Biden is wilfully presiding over a descent into lawlessness in America through his support for Israels military retaliation against Hamas.

Public absolutely thrilled he enabled the overturning of Roe vs Wade

The former president has in the past happily taken the credit for stacking the US Supreme Court benches with conservative justices, which ultimately enabled the overturning of the historic abortion ruling, but is currently trying to avoid committing himself to an issue so divisive among voters.

Mr Trump told Time magazine earlier this week that a federal abortion ban was unlikely ever to reach the Resolute desk in the Oval Office and that the issue was better left up to the states to decide.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Waukesha, Wisconsin, on 1 May 2024 ( AP )

Speaking in Waukesha, he claimed that people are absolutely thrilled about the upending of Roe vs Wade, without specifying who he was talking about, before suggesting in Freeland, without evidence: Every legal scholar wanted this to be done. Most Democrats wanted it. Liberals wanted it.

He also praised the justices for their wisdom and courage, a timely tribute given that they currently hold the fate of his presidential immunity defence against criminal prosecution in their hands.

Claims Bidens impressive job numbers are inflated

The US blew past expectations to add 303,000 jobs in March, leaving even Fox Business correspondents to stand back in wonder, and Mr Trump offered no basis for his claim that the figures were inaccurate.

Given that he was fined almost half a billion dollars in February by a New York judge after being found liable for fraudulently inflating the value of Trump Organization assets, you might have assumed this was an area he would be inclined to steer clear of.

Again, he insists he has never met E Jean Carroll

Another unwise attack Mr Trump launched into was to again insist in Michigan that he had never met the retired Elle magazine columnist who he has been found liable for sexually assaulting in a department store dressing room and then defaming by denying it, a stance that cost him $83.3m in damages earlier this year.

London and Paris opened their doors to jihad

Mr Trump seldom ventures abroad and has not been to the UK or France since leaving the White House but, nevertheless, blamed the victims of Isis terror attacks on London Bridge and the Bataclan for the atrocities, insinuating they had only themselves to blame for being too soft on Islamist fundamentalism.

No, I will not defend you

As part of the greatest hits package, Mr Trump reprised his possibly fabricated anecdote about an unnamed head of state of a Nato country that asked him whether the US would continue to defend his nation even if it was behind on its defence spending commitments to the alliance.

Mr Trump first recounted the tale at a South Carolina rally in mid-February and created an international outcry for treating the military collective like a protection racket.

There will be gaffes

Mr Trump, who enjoys accusing President Biden of blunders, made several gaffes of his own across his two speeches, mispronouncing the words infrastructure and big, struggling with a teleprompter and also wandering off into a bizarre rant about domestic appliances.
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Donald Trump will be a headline speaker at the 2024 Libertarian National Convention, the nominating contest for one of the USs highest-performing non-major political parties.

The surprise announcement made by the conventions organizers on Wednesday pointed to one major issue of the 2024 race. Both Democrats and Republicans fear that third-party candidates could tilt the scales in favor of the other candidate this November.

The Libertarian partys convention is set for later this month in Washington, DC. A Twitter post from the organization indicated that Trumps address will take place on May 25. Should he go through with the plans, Trump would become the first major-party candidate in modern history to speak at a convention run by a party other than the Democratic or Republican parties.

Libertarians are some of the most independent and thoughtful thinkers in our country, and I am honored to join them in Washington, DC, later this month, Trump said in a statement shared by the party on Twitter. We must all work together to help advance freedom and liberty for every American, and a second Trump administration will achieve that goal. I look forward to speaking at the Libertarian event, which will be attended by many of my great friends.

He added: We all have to remember that our goal is to defeat the worst president in the history of the United States, BY FAR, Crooked Joe Biden.

His address may cause further consternations for the Libertarians themselves, who have grappled with a pro-Trump and rightward shift that not everyone in the party is happy about.

In 2020, the Libertarian candidate Jo Jorgensen wrote in an op-ed for The Independent that Libertarians welcome free trade and open immigration, and encourage peace and diplomacy in foreign affairs, adding that he wanted to unite Americans behind the cause of personal responsibility and individual liberty. He said that he wanted to improve the healthcare system and take an stance that would stop the US invading other countries.

However, in 2023, the partys chairwoman rushed to the former presidents defence after he was criminally charged for his attempts to stop the peaceful transfer of power and the certification of Joe Bidens 2020 election victory.

Trump wont receive the Libertarian partys nomination for president, as three candidates are running for that slot: Dr Charles Ballay, Lars Mapstead and Mike ter Maat. Those three candidates held a debate in April.

But this is a crucial year for Trump to court Libertarian voters regardless, as polls indicate that Americans are flirting with voting third-party in numbers not seen in decades. A recent CNN national poll showed Robert F Kennedy Jr winning 16 per cent in a vote in a matchup between Joe Biden and Donald Trump which also factored in third-party candidates Kennedy, Dr Jill Stein and Dr Cornel West.

Kennedy has been quietly backed by pro-Trump figures including Steve Bannon, Mr Trumps former chief White House strategist. But now some figures in Trumpworld reportedly fear that Kennedy may pick up more disaffected voters who otherwise could have ended up voting for the former president.

Previous reporting indicated that Kennedy was flirting with a run for the Libertarian nomination, but he put that speculation to bed in April after claiming that he would be able to attain ballot access without the partys help.

"We're not gonna have any problems getting on the ballot ourselves so we won't be running Libertarian," he told ABC News.

His spokesman later added to The Hill: Mr Kennedy has many areas of alignment with the Libertarian party, including a strong stance on civil liberties and keeping the country out of foreign wars. Mr Kennedy, however, is not contemplating joining the Libertarian ticket. He is running as an independent candidate and will be on the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
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Late-night host Jimmy Fallon has suggested that Donald Trump wears a shock collar following reports that he has repeatedly fallen asleep during his New York hush money trial.

In an effort to stop Trump from falling asleep in court, his lawyers have been giving him a number of different devices, the comedian said during his opening monologue on the Tonight Show on Wednesday.

So far, the only thing that can keep him awake is an iPad playing Bluey.

Mr Fallon continued: His lawyers are running out of ideas to keep him awake, they even hired a kindergarten teacher to keep him awake by standing at the front of the court saying, Eyes on me, eyes on you.

The comic then cut to a spoof commercial for a Trump Shock Collar, which the ad described as: The worlds first human shock collar disguised as a red neck tie!

The promo pledged that the device would work as well on the campaign trail as it does in court, cutting to a number of clips of the Republican presidential candidate misspeaking and emitting odd groans during his public appearances, as though he were being electrocuted.

The products tagline? Stay woke!

The commander-in-chief turned criminal defendant has been spotted multiple times with his eyes closed during his trial, where he is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels in order to ensure her silence about an alleged 2006 affair, in the lead-up to the 2016 election.

Jimmy Fallon mocks Donald Trump in the opening monologue to The Tonight Show on Wednesday 1 May 2024 ( The Tonight Show/YouTube )

Mr Trump is expected to attend Manhattan Criminal Court each day of the legal proceedings and has complained bitterly that it is keeping him away from the campaign trail.

The defendants repeated gripes about the case and its participants has already forced the presiding Judge Juan Merchan to issue Mr Trump with a gag order and then fine him $9,000 for breaching it in nine separate social media posts and campaign messages complaining about the case.

Judge Merchan is due to rule on four further alleged breaches raised by the prosecution and has warned Mr Trump that he could face jail time if he continues to violate the order.

Reports that Mr Trump has been asleep at the bench in court is particularly embarrassing given his nickname for President Joe Biden: Sleepy Joe.

The president recently hit back at his rival, calling him Sleepy Don at Saturdays White House Correspondents Association dinner.
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Prosecutors for the Manhattan District Attorneys office closed out the week at Donald Trumps criminal hush money trial with testimony from a major witness  former Trump aide Hope Hicks.

As one of the closest advisers to the former president, Ms Hicks was present at key moments during the 2016 campaign and for the first year of Mr Trumps administration.

As press secretary to the king of self-promotion, she worked closely with him as election day neared in 2016 just as the Access Hollywood tape and Karen McDougal affair allegations rocked the campaign.

In approximately three hours of testimony, she gave jurors firsthand insight into Trumpworld during a tumultuous few weeks on the campaign trail  giving a strong suggestion that her former boss was involved in payment to Stormy Daniels.

Here are the key takeaways from the day in court:

Trump walks back Thursdays claim gag order stops him from testifying

On Thursday as he left the courtroom and delivered his usual diatribe to the assembled media, Mr Trump claimed that because of the gag order imposed by Judge Juan Merchan, he was prohibited from testifying in his own defence.

That was totally untrue.

On Friday morning, on the way into court, he walked back that statement when asked whether the gag order would stop him from testifying.

No. It wont stop me from testifying. The gag order is not for testifying. It stops me from talking about people and responding when they say things about me, the former president said, presumably having been corrected by his legal team overnight.

Once in the courtroom, Judge Merchan began by clarifying the extent of the gag order for Mr Trump in person.

Merchan, diplomatically, said there may be a misunderstanding regarding the order restriction extrajudicial statements.

I want to stress Mr Trump that you have an absolute right to testify in trial, he said. That is a constitutional right that cannot be denied  in any way.  It is a fundamental right that cannot be infringed upon.

The gag order restricting extrajudicial statements does not prevent you from testifying in any way  or limit or minimise what you say from the witness stand, the judge added that it does not apply to statements made from the witness stand.

Donald Trump in court for his criminal trial on 3 May 2024 ( Getty Images )

Hope Hicks takes the stand

In a trial full of highly anticipated witnesses and with no published list of in what order they will appear  to protect them from being attacked online by the defendant  the appearance of Ms Hicks made narrative sense given the way the prosecution was laying out its case.

Ms Hicks was allegedly part of at least 10 telephone conversations with Mr Trump and Cohen regarding the hush money payments and alleged reimbursements.

Admitting with a laugh that she was really nervous, Ms Hicks began by explaining how she started working with the Trump family straight out of college and then the Trump Organization full-time in October 2014, transitioning over to the 2016 presidential campaign team.

Everybody who works there in some sense reports to Mr Trump  Its a big successful company but its really run like a small family business in some ways, she testified, explaining that by June 2015 she was speaking with the then-candidate every day and eventually became his press secretary  reporting directly to him and travelling alongside him.

Hope Hicks, a former top aide to ex-President Donald Trump, testifies during his criminal trial before Justice Juan Merchan on 3 May 2024 ( REUTERS )

Hicks recalls impact of Access Hollywood tape on campaign

Ms Hicks testified that she found out about the infamous Access Hollywood tape of Mr Trump making remarks about allegedly sexually assaulting women on the afternoon of 7 October 2016  just a month before the election.

She received an email from The Washington Post asking for comment while in her office on the 14th floor of Trump Tower and quickly forwarded the email to other campaign leadership, marking it urgent.

I was concerned. Very concerned, she told the court. I was concerned about the contents of the email, concerned about the lack of time to respond, concerned that we had a transcript and not a tape. There was a lot at play.

Ms Hicks recalled huddling with other campaign staff and Mr Trump while they worked out a response and that the then-candidate was upset.

She recalled being a little stunned and realised that it was a damaging development that would dominate the news cycle for days. An apology video statement from Mr Trump did little to quell the storm.

It was intense. Dominated coverage for I would say 36 hours leading up to the debate. At the time, I got the email  we were anticipating a Category 4 hurricane making landfall somewhere on the east coast and I dont think anyone remembers where that hurricane made landfall.

Hope Hicks walks from Marine One prior to boarding Air Force One as she departs Washington with then-President Donald Trump on 23 October 2020 ( REUTERS )

Hicks says Trump tried to hide news of Karen McDougal affair from Melania

Even closer to the election, Ms Hicks was contacted by The Wall Street Journal regarding a report that a woman named Karen McDougal has a story about Mr Trump purchased by The National Enquirer, which then never published it. The reporter wanted to know if the campaign knew anything about it.

Ms Hicks told the court she looped in Mr Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushner to try and buy them some more time through his relationship with the WSJ owner Rupert Murdoch. David Pecker at the Enquirer claimed the payment to Ms McDougal was for fitness columns and magazine covers.

Another denial was prepared and she and Cohen were in constant contact as the story was published.

Relative to some of the other stories we dealt with  it just didnt get a lot of traction, she recalled.

Mr Trump was concerned about the story and Melania Trump finding out, Ms Hicks testified.He was concerned how it would be viewed by his wife, and he wanted me to make sure that the newspapers werent delivered to their residence that morning.

After possibly denting Trumps defence, Hicks cries on stand

Under questioning by prosecution attorney Matthew Colangelo, Ms Hicks testified that Mr Trump told her that Cohen made the Stormy Daniels hush money payment on his own.

The former president told her: Michael felt like it was his job to protect him and that he did it in the kindness of his own heart and he didnt tell anyone about it.

Mr Trump also said it was better to do it when he did rather than have it come out before the election.

Ms Hicks was asked whether the idea that Cohen wouldve made a $130,00 payment out of the kindness of his own heart was consistent with what she knew about him.

Id say that would be out of character for Michael, she replied.

Judge Juan Merchan overruled objections from the defence team to the line of questioning.

Asked to elaborate, Ms Hicks said: I didnt know Michael to be an especially charitable person or a selfless person. [He was] the kind of person who seeks credit.

By implication, the former Trump aide appeared to make the prosecutions case against her former boss easier  that Cohen would not have acted alone and instead worked on behalf of Mr Trump, and that action was purposefully taken before the election.

As cross-examination by defence lawyer Emil Bove began Ms Hicks started to cry on the witness stand with a break being called so that she might compose herself.

Hope Hicks cried during her testimony at Donald Trumps first criminal trial ( REUTERS )

Cohen was a fixer but only because he first broke it, says Hicks

On her return to the stand, Ms Hicks was very critical of Cohen and characterised him as an outsider in Trumpworld often going rogue.

She testified that he was not part of the campaign, but would try to insert himself in certain moments.

He wasnt supposed to be in the campaign in any official capacity, she told the court.

Further, she added: He liked to call himself a fixer or Mr Fix It. But it was only because he first broke it.

Hicks paints favourable view of Trump and his family

In addition to her damning assessment of Cohen  a key witness for the prosecution  Bove also pushed softball questions to build up a better image of the defendant Trump while treating her more like a witness for the defence.

Ms Hicks spoke about her work and relationship with her then-boss and gave the impression that damage control over destructive stories was part of the job.

Moreover, ultimately Mr Trump cared about his family  an echo of lead defence attorney Todd Blanches portrait of him as a consummate family man in the opening statements.

Ms Hicks also changed up how she spoke of him, referring to him as the president, as the defence team said they would at the start of the trial.

President Trump really values Ms Trumps opinion, she said of her former boss and his wife. She doesnt weigh in all the time but when she does its really meaningful to him and he really respects what she has to say.

She was concerned about what the perception of this would be, and Mr Trump didnt want anyone in his family to be hurt or embarrassed, she testified. He wanted them to be proud of him.

Ms Hickss cross-examination concluded the week.

The trial resumes on Monday 6 May at 9.30am.
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Former president Donald Trump has once again refused to commit to blanketly accepting the election results if he doesnt win the 2024 presidential election as he faces multiple indictments related to alleged 2020 election interference.

After holding a rally in Wisconsin, Mr Trump told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, If everythings honest, Id gladly accept the results, Mr Trump said. If its not, you have to fight for the right of the country.

But if everythings honest, which we anticipate it will be  a lot of changes have been made over the last few years  but if everythings honest, I will absolutely accept the results, the former president said.

If you go back and look at all of the things that had been found out, it showed that I won the election in Wisconsin, Mr Trump told the outlet. It also showed I won the election in other locations.

The presumptive GOP nominee said he would let it be known if he believed something was awry in the 2024 election. Id be doing a disservice to the country if I said otherwise, he added. But no, I expect an honest election and we expect to win maybe very big.

Mr Trump declines to commit to accepting the November election results after a Wisconsin rally ( AP )

Mr Trumps comments on Wednesday echoed what he said earlier this year.

Speaking at a rally in Ohio in March, Now, if I dont get elected, its going to be a bloodbath for the whole  thats gonna be the least of it.

This isnt the first time he has refused to accept the results of a presidential election.

At the final televised debate before the 2016 election, after he was asked if he would accept the results, he replied: I will look at it at the time, what Ive seen is so bad.

These remarks potentially served as a preview to the 2020 election. The former president was found to be the central cause of the mob that stormed the Capitol building on January 6, 2021, the day that the election results were being certified, according to the January 6 House Select Committee.

Mr Trumps interview on Wednesday also comes as he stands criminal trial in Manhattan related to election interference.

He is accused of 34 counts of falsifying business records related to so-called hush money payments paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election in exchange for her silence over an alleged affair with Mr Trump 10 years prior.

The former president also faces federal charges and criminal charges in Georgia related to 2020 election interference.

On Wednesday, Mr Trump insisted that he wanted people that vote to cast an honest ballot. I want the ballots to be counted honestly. I dont want people going to legislatures and getting things not approved and then doing it anyway.

Just last week, 18 people in Arizona were indicted over a fake electors scheme. The list of those indicted includes Trump allies, such as his former personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and his once chief-of-staff Mark Meadows, although their names have been redacted until they are served, the Arizona attorney general said.

Separately, last month, Mr Trump himself was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in a fake electors scheme in Michigan by a state investigator.
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Lawmakers of Solomon Islands have elected a China-friendly candidate as the prime minister in a sign of Beijings extending reach across the Pacific.

Jeremiah Manele, the former foreign minister of the islands, has already pledged to continue the international policy focused on building closer ties with China.

Mr Manale won the vote in a 31-18 count, beating his opponent Matthew Wale in the 50-seat parliament, governor general Sir David Vunagi announced outside parliament house.

In his first address after being elected as PM, Mr Manele said the people have spoken and called for calm in the face of potential post-election violence.

"Today we show the world we are better than that  we must respect the democratic process for electing our prime minister," he said.

Mr Manale will succeed another pro-Chinese leader, Manasseh Sogavare, a vocal critic of the West who endorsed him following his own lacklustre performance in the April elections.

Mr Manale was the foreign minister in 2019 when the Pacific island switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese Navy gaining a foothold in the region.

On Monday, he said he would keep the "same foreign policy basis  friends to all and enemies to none".

Solomon Islands' newly elected Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele (L) and Governor-General David Vunagi come out of Parliament House ( AFP via Getty Images )

Security in capital Honiara was beefed up as newly elected lawmakers arrived at parliament on Thursday to vote in a secret ballot.

The elections were closely watched by the US, Australia and China amid the intense tussle for geopolitical clout in the region.

Analysts said they expect the newly elected PM would be more diplomatic in his approach than his predecessor and be less confrontational to western partners.

Lowy Institute research fellow Mihai Sora, a former Australian diplomat in the Solomon Islands, said Mr Manele has "a strong track record of working well with all international partners", compared to Mr Sogavare who was "a polarising figure".

Australian National Universitys Pacific expert Graeme Smith said Mr Manele was capable and "a big change in style" for the Solomon Islands.

Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese congratulated Mr Manale and said he looked forward to working with him.

"Australia and Solomon Islands are close friends and our futures are connected," he wrote on social media platform X.

Chinas embassy said in a Facebook post it looked forward to "working with you to develop China-Solomon Islands relations and deliver more benefits to our peoples".

In April, a national election concluded without granting a majority to any political party and the two camps actively sought to garner support from independents before the prime ministerial vote.

Mr Sogavare withdrew from the contest to make way for Mr Manele after failing to get enough seats and instead formed a new coalition to support the former diplomat.

The 2019 election of Mr Sogavare triggered riots in the capital city of Honiara due to legal uncertainties regarding his eligibility for the PM position. Subsequently, more severe riots erupted in Honiara in November 2021 following the survival of Mr Sogavares leadership against a no-confidence motion initiated by Mr Wale, leading to incidents of arson and looting.

Additional reporting by agencies
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The US has sanctioned nearly 300 companies and individuals from China, Russia, and several other countries for allegedly supporting Russias defence industry and helping it evade American sanctions over the war in Ukraine.

The US Department of the Treasury said on Wednesday that it had imposed sanctions on nearly 200 entities and the State Department on more than 80 to degrade Russias ability to sustain its war machine in Ukraine.

The sanctioned entities, located in Azerbaijan, Belgium, China, Russia, Turkey, the UAE and Slovakia, have allegedly enabled Russia to "acquire desperately needed technology and equipment from abroad.

The sanctions came after treasury secretary Janet Yellen and secretary of state Antony Blinken made trips to China to sound alarm over what they described as Beijings commercial support for Russias defence industry that has helped Moscow sustain its war in Ukraine.

Among the Chinese companies implicated are Finder Technology, headquartered in Hong Kong, which is alleged to have exported 293 consignments of drone components and electronics to Russia, the Treasury Department announced.

Juhang Aviation Technology Shenzhen Co is accused of supplying Russia with drone propellers, signal jammers, sensors and engines. Zhongcheng Heavy Equipment Defense Technology Group Co Ltd is accused of providing equipment to the paramilitary Wagner Group.

"Treasury has consistently warned that companies will face significant consequences for providing material support for Russias war and the US is imposing them today on almost 300 targets," Ms Yellen said.

For the first time, the Department of Treasury sanctioned importers of cotton cellulose and nitrocellulose which serve as the main precursors that Russia needs to produce gunpowder, rocket propellants and other explosives.

Ms Yellen claimed that the new sanctions combined with Americas additional funding for Ukraine will provide Kyiv with a critical leg-up on the battlefield.

Ukrainian workers install anti-tank dragon teeth as they construct new defensive positions in Kharkiv region ( AP )

Ms Yellen had warned during her visit to Beijing on 8 April that corporations or individuals facilitating transactions for dual-use goods to Russias defence industrial base will expose them to the risk of US sanctions.

The Department of State imposed sanctions on four Chinese companies that it accused of supporting Russias defence industry, including by shipping critical components to Russian entities sanctioned by the US, as well as companies in Turkey, Kyrgyzstan and Malaysia that it accused of shipping high priority items to Moscow.

A Ukrainian soldier instals a national flag on a grassed area at the Independence square in Kyiv ( AP )

It also expanded sanctions to target Russias ability to ship liquefied natural gas, or LNG, one of the countrys top exports. It designated a vessel operator based in Singapore and another in Hong Kong for working with Russias Arctic LNG 2 project.

The department also targeted subsidiaries of Russias state nuclear power company, Rosatom, as well as 12 entities within the Sibanthracite group of companies, one of Russias largest producers of metallurgical coal.

Popular budget airline Pobeda, a subsidiary of Russian airline Aeroflot, was also sanctioned.

Sanctions imposed last month by the US on Arctic LNG 2 reportedly compelled Novatek, Russias leading LNG producer, to halt production at the project due to a lack of tankers available to transport the fuel.

The State Department also sanctioned three persons allegedly linked to the death in prison of the Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny.

The Russian foreign ministry hasnt commented on the development yet.

Russian ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov told Tass news agency that Russia and the Russians cannot be intimidated by such decisions.

The new American sanctions against Russia only serve to further doubts about Washingtons ability to play a constructive role in the worlds affairs, Mr Antonov added.

Local officials do not realize that these illegitimate tricks only scare other states away. In fact, they fertilize doubts about the constructiveness of Americas current role in the world, he said.

The Chinese embassy in Washington said Beijing oversees the export of dual-use materials in accordance with laws and regulations, adding that normal trade and economic interactions between China and Russia are in line with World Trade Organization rules and market principles.

The Chinese side firmly opposes the USAs illegal unilateral sanctions, Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the embassy, said.
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The Independent is publishing a four-article series into the rampant abuses and possible war crimes committed during Russias full scale invasion against Ukrainians with disabilities - among the most vulnerable of all in the bloody conflict.

Hailed by the UNs former special rapporteur on rights of persons with disabilities as an important step in a wider debate on the topic, the 18-month special investigation reveals that hundreds of disabled Ukrainians, including children, are feared to have been forcibly removed to Russian-held territory and into Russia itself.

In many instances, people have been held incommunicado, in squalid conditions and even forced into adopting Russian passports in order to secure treatment or care.

The fate of the vast majority of the 500 people The Independent tracked remains unknown, but there is evidence that some of the children may have been sent to re-education camps to learn Russian language, culture and the Kremlins version of history.

The series delves into the desperate plight of at least 2.7 million disabled people who live in Ukraine and have been disproportionately impacted by Putins war, according to the United Nations which says it is gravely concerned about the community.

Members of the Vostok SOS team help a woman with limited mobility to get on an evacuation train in Pokrovsk, Donetsk region ( AFP via Getty Images )

Among the horrific crimes we document are groups of disabled people being used by Russian soldiers as human shields and deprived of food and critical medicine in frontline areas.

The research also exposes life on the frontline for people with disabilities. It zeroes in on the failings of Ukraines outdated care system, inherited from the Soviet Union, which relies on systematic institutionalisation from childhood - where conditions are described by UN and EU experts as appalling.

The series hopes to spark a paradigm shift in attitudes towards people with disabilities across all conflicts - where international law and protections appear to be failing the most vulnerable.

Gerard Quinn, the UNs special rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities until November, who has extensively worked on Ukraine, said the series paints a damning picture of the vulnerabilities that people with disabilities face in Ukraine war and reveals the unique risks faced by them.

This series paints a damning picture of the heightened vulnerability of civilians with disabilities Gerard Quinn, former UN special rapporteur

This series opens our eyes to the raw human experience of war to persons with disabilities in the Ukraine conflict. It reveals the unique risks faced by persons with disabilities, he said.

Although technically covered by the 4th Geneva Convention on civilian protection, the adequate protection of persons with disabilities in conflict has been woefully neglected throughout the world.

He added that readers will be shocked to learn that the draft UN treaty on crimes against humanity fails even to mention civilians with disabilities who, as the war in the Ukraine shows, are the victims of violations of the laws of war as well as victims of crimes against humanity.

He said of the Independents investigation: In the name of common humanity this invisibility must be reversed and this series marks an important step in that wider debate.

Feature: We were told we were going on a trip to the seaside  but we were kidnapped by Russia
 Close Drone footage shows devastation in Ukrainian city after Russian artillery pounding

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Russia has pushed Ukraine onto the back foot on the battlefield as Kyiv grapples with shortages of troops and ammunition.

Outnumbered Ukrainian soldiers are being forced to pull back, one village after another, as intense fighting roils the countryside surrounding Avdiivka nearly three months after the strategic city fell to Russia.

Ukrainian forces are now racing to build more defensive fortifications at places along the around 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line.

The sting for Ukraine is sharpened after Russia launched an exhibition on Wednesday which proudly displays over 30 captured military vehicles from Ukraine, including US and UK-made, since the invasion began.

The exhibition was unveiled on Russias International Workers Day and will be open for a month for visitors.

It comes as a Russian ballistic missile struck a postal depot in the Ukrainian port of Odesa late on Wednesday, injuring 14 people and triggering a large fire, regional governor Oleh Kiper said.

Pictures and a video posted online showed flames and billowing clouds of smoke engulfing buildings and firefighters training their hoses on areas still ablaze. Most of the loading area appeared to have been reduced to a shell.
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Used as human shields, starved or deprived of medicines, tortured, abducted, disappeared. These are the potential crimes that have been committed against people with disabilities since Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, according to a new 18-month investigation by The Independent.

That doesnt even cover what those close to the frontline face with no way of getting to shelter or accessing food and water, under some of the most ferocious bombardments of our time.

As Maksym  a Ukrainian man with a disability who was disappeared into Russia early on in the war  told me, those with disabilities are the last to be remembered and the first to be left behind.

This is not just true of Russias invasion of Ukraine, this is true across all conflicts in the world. People with disabilities are disproportionately impacted by violence and similarly disproportionately ignored.

We must and can do more to protect those who are the most vulnerable. There should be a paradigm shift now in actions and how we use international law - and maybe even the wording of international law.

Although technically covered by the 4th Geneva Convention on civilian protection in war, experts say adequate protection of persons with disabilities in conflict has been woefully neglected throughout the world. Take the draft articles for a treaty on crimes against humanity which the United Nations is deliberating right now. It fails to even mention people with disabilities who, as the war in the Ukraine shows, are clearly repeatedly victimised. This is despite the darkest of historical precedents, such as the Nazis T4 project to kill those deemed incurably ill, physically or mentally disabled.

Ukrainians with disabilities kidnapped into Russia, from The Independents Bel Trew

In many ways the problems in Ukraine  like many places across the world  start with a lack of data.

The official number of people registered with disabilities in Ukraine is 2.7 million but the United Nations estimates the true number to be more than double that.

Tens of thousands are in institutions across the country where conditions have been described by United Nations experts appalling. The epidemic of boarding houses, orphanages and residential homes is a devastating holdover from the Soviet Union where no support was given to families. Instead, they were encouraged to institutionalise their children with intellectual, physical and psychosocial disabilities.

Many have lived their entire lives in these institutions often with little contact with their families, as one advisor to the Ukrainian ministry of health told me effectively social orphans.

The fighting has left many near the frontlines along and with no help ( REUTERS )

Disability rights activists  both in Ukraine and abroad  say there are no reliable statistics of exactly how many people are in those facilities or how many facilities there are.

This means when people with disabilities go missing, many of them cant even be counted let alone found, Maksym told me.

They are also easily targeted by Russians, according to Dr Gerard Quinn, the former UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of those with disabilities, as they are corralled into one space and so easily forcibly moved en masse.

Before war broke out, Ukraine was in the middle of unfurling a slew of reforms to create a barrier free accessible country that didnt rely on these facilities. But that was halted by the conflict. It may remain on hold.

It meant by the time Russian tanks rolled into Ukrainian land, Ukrainian rights groups  like Fight For Right  said there was also a woeful lack of evacuation plans for the many thousands of people in these facilities were in a uniquely vulnerable position. They ended up being engulfed by front lines and then occupation.

This leaves them especially vulnerable to the Russia authorities who have publicly boasted about clearing out entire institutions and taking them to Crimea or Russia as emergency evacuations. The Independent has spoken to families still trying to find their loved ones.

Maksym - who was in a Kherson institution for people aged between 19 and 90 years old - found himself among 180 deported against his will to Russia in October 2022. He was able to get to safety because he had access to a mobile phone and enlisted the help of a Ukrainian NGO, Help to Leave, to evacuate him from Russia. He said he feared most for the elderly who may not have family looking for them or the means to get to safety themselves.

A lack of data means this apparent concerted effort by Russia to move people with disabilities - including children - into occupied territory or Russia, has largely passed the world undocumented and unnoticed. The details of many of these evacuations show that people like Maksym were taken by force, lied to or coerced and often kept incommunicado - leaving families back in Ukraine frantically searching.

Russias childrens commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova posted a picture to Telegram in October 2022 of her visit to Ukrainian toddlers in occupied Crimea, who had been in Kherson ( Telegram / Maria Lvova-Belova )

Within this we have also tracked a worrying trend of people with disabilities, including children and the elderly, being pressured into accepting a Russian passport often in exchange for medical support. This is a trend Ukrainians think is part of trying to force a demographic change in occupied parts of the country through Russification, a wider strategy of annexation.

But all these issues are not specific to this conflict.

Armed conflict is ableist, just as it is sexed and gendered, to quote Janet E. Lord, a human rights lawyer, senior research fellow at the Harvard Law School Project on Disability and former advisor and expert to the UN.

And we need to fully recognise that.

The UN took a good step in 2019 introducing a landmark resolution at the Security Council which for the first time expressed that all parties to armed conflict must take measures, in accordance with applicable international law obligations to protect civilians, including those with disabilities.

But we need to do more. There is, for example, a gap in war crimes evidence gathering and prosecutions specifically focused on individuals with disabilities, as noted by William Pons, former senior legal advisor to the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities.

In Ukraine there has been a huge national and international effort to document the forcible transfer and deportation of children  which has resulted in an International Criminal Court warrant against Putin and his childrens commissioner. The Ukrainian authorities tell me they know of at least 19,500 children who have been removed by Russia.

But no one can tell me how many of these children have disabilities or how many were specifically taken from institutions for people with disabilities. And there are no such efforts - that I can find - to specifically document how many adults with disabilities have been taken, despite their obvious vulnerabilities.

This will only become more important as we have a new generation of people with life-alternating injuries and impairments - unofficial estimates say there could be well over 20,000 new amputees in the country from this war.

Ukraine has vowed to make important changes, including not rebuilding institutions that have been destroyed and to reconstruct cities to make them accessible.

We need to help the Ukrainians authorities do this and to investigate crimes committed against people with disabilities. We need to fundamentally change our attitude and actions across the world.

Feature: We were told we were going on a trip to the seaside  but we were kidnapped by Russia
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Russia is advancing along multiple parts of the eastern frontline in Ukraine but local defenders are so far holding against the Kremlins bigger and better-equipped forces, Ukrainian military officials say.

As a recently-passed $61 billion (49bn) US weapons package arrives in stages in Ukraine following six months of delay, Russian forces are looking to capitalise on a current manpower and artillery advantage to take further territory before the foreign aid diminishes their edge. It comes after Ukrainian military chief Oleksandr Srysky admitted over the weekend that the situation on the frontline has worsened.

Nazar Voloshyn, a spokesperson for Ukrainian strategic command in the east of the country, said on Thursday that Russian forces have amassed tens of thousands of troops in recent weeks in the eastern region of Donetsk, as part of a bid to push in twp areas, including the city of Chasiv Yar and the town of Ocheretyne.

Mr Voloshyn said on national television: "The enemy is trying to seize the strategic initiative and breach our defence.

"The enemy is actively attacking along the entire front line, and in several directions they have achieved certain tactical advances. The situation is changing dynamically."

This photo taken from a drone video provided by Ukraine Patrol Police, shows devastation in Chasiv Yar, an eastern Ukrainian city Russia is assaulting ( AP )

Ukrainian servicemen ride on an armored personnel carrier (APC) in a field near Chasiv Yar, Donetsk region ( AFP via Getty Images )

Ukraines difficulties have been deepening for months as the military waited for vital new military aid from the US.

Russian forces took the city of Avdiivka in Donetsk in mid-February after a decade of fighting in that area. Since then, they have taken 11 towns to the north and northwest of the city, according to Ukrainian war tracker DeepState.

Ukrainian soldiers and analysts warned then that the advances were probable given poor primary defensive fortifications; they warn now that similar issues could lead to further Russian gains nearby, though they say more is being done to remedy the problem.

In Chasiv Yar, a small city with a prewar population of 12,000, roughly 50 miles north of Avdiivka, Russian forces are dropping more than 30 powerful glide bombs a day, according to a spokesperson for the 26th Artillery Brigade deployed in the city. They have also amassed more than 25,000 soldiers for an attack on the city, which sits on high ground and is a natural launching point for further attacks in Donetsk.

Both sides are currently battling for control over two villages downhill of the citys flanks, with Russian troops so far unable to enter Chasiv Yar.

But while they took nearly a year to advance less than four miles from nearby Bakhmut to the edge of Chasiv Yar, they pushed nearly five miles in the last fortnight to capture the village of Ocheretyne nearby.

Tatarigami, a Ukrainian war tracker with close ties to the military, warns that Russian forces may now look to launch a multi-echelon double-pincer move from Chasiv Yar in the north of Donetsk and Ocheretyne further south to encircle the Ukrainian troops fighting in that bulge in the frontline.

The Donetsk and nearby Luhansk provinces together make up the Donbas, an expansive industrial region bordering Russia that President Vladimir Putin identified as a focus from the wars outset and where Moscow-backed separatists have fought since 2014.

Ukrainian forces are now racing to build more defensive fortifications along the around 600-mile front line.

Overall, thanks to ground-level efforts driven by the personal initiative of brigade officers, soldiers, and sergeants, along with the arrival of Western aid and stabilisation measures that we cant disclose, the situation may improve, wrote Tatarigami.

But, they added: Ukraine can slow down and even stop the Russian advance, but not without losing several settlements.

In Ukrainian-held city of Odesa away from the frontline, meanwhile, Russia launched its third attack in a week, firing ballistic missiles at the southern Ukrainian port city and injuring 14 people, local officials and emergency services said.

Long-range strikes have been a feature of Europes biggest conflict since World War II, which mostly has focused on attrition. Kyiv officials have pleaded for more air defence systems from Ukraines Western partners, but they have been slow in coming.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that Russia had launched more than 300 missiles of various types, almost 300 Shahed-drones, and more than 3,200 guided aerial bombs at Ukraine in April alone.

Odesa, a key export hub for millions of tons of Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea, has been repeatedly targeted by Russia. Thursday is the 10th anniversary of clashes in the city between pro- and anti-Russia demonstrators that left 48 people dead.
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On a freezing cold November morning, Russian officials turned up at the institution where Maksym lived and told everyone there they were going on a trip to the seaside.

President Vladimir Putins bloody invasion had been raging for months and the town in the southern Kherson region where Maksym called home had been swallowed up by Russian troops.

Unlike millions of non-disabled Ukrainians, he could not flee the violence and bloodshed on his own.

Unable to use his legs from birth, he had spent his whole life in this Ukrainian facility for people with disabilities. And at the age of 33, he was living alongside 180 other people aged between 19 and 90 who also needed constant care.

When the Russians told him they were going to be moved, none of them had a choice. Far from a trip to the sea, the whole group was being vanished into Russia.

Anyone who objected was locked in their room. And they were all prevented from speaking to family before being put on a train across the border.

While most of the group went one way, for some reason Maksym was separated from everyone he knew and sent 220 miles (360km) to the coastal Russian town of Anapa. There he was placed in a hospital-style institution. His wheelchair went missing in transit.

The Kherson region has faced regular bombardment from Russian forces ( AP )

We kept asking, where are we going? But everyone lied to us. We were terrified because I didnt know where we would be taken, we didnt know what was going to happen next, Maksym said with desperation in his voice.

We couldnt do anything.

After four harrowing months alone in Russia he successfully escaped, using a mobile phone he had hidden in his trousers from officials.

Enlisting the help of a Ukrainian charity, he was secretly smuggled out, escaping the Russian police by instigating a clandestine meeting at a nearby corner store.

Speaking from a European country we have chosen not to name, he said he only now realises he had been subject to a war crime: I had to hide my phone because they were also confiscating the phones of people who had asked to go to Ukraine.

We cannot protect ourselves  we have been forgotten. I feel like the world has forgotten us.

How can you make any decision to help when there are soldiers with guns?

Just a few weeks before, in a different facility also in occupied south Ukraine, Russian officials had also turned up with talk of a trip to the seaside.

This time they had entered an institution housing 500 Ukrainian women with intellectual and physical disabilities  among them was Inna, 46 who has Down syndrome and, like Maksym, had lived in the facility all her life.

The Independents Bel Trew on Ukrainians with disabilities kidnapped into Russia

Armed men escorted a total of 54 women into buses, the nurses later told The Independent.

How can you make any decision to help when there are soldiers with guns? asked Lyubov Anatoliivna, who worked at the facility at the time.

All the staff could do was make sure the women were calm and let them go: most of them were not capable of understanding what was happening to them.

Eighteen months later Inna is still missing, according to her parents who are still desperately trying to find her.

We have tried everything, we dont know what to do, her father Volodymyr, 73 says, as his wife weeps in the background.

Maksym and Inna are among at least 500 Ukrainians with disabilities  including children  that have likely been forcibly removed to Russian-held territory and Russia, according to an 18-month investigation by The Independent. The whereabouts of many of those we have documented remain unknown: of the people taken from Makysms facility, only 10 people have reappeared. None has been located from Innas.

Russia denies committing any crimes in Ukraine and has promoted the movement of people as legal evacuations. But evidence uncovered by The Independent points to the forcible transfer and deportation of civilians, which is a war crime and a possible crime against humanity.

The 500 missing people only include the cases we were able to verify independently; Ukrainian officials have said they believe the true number could be in the thousands.

The cases  which took place between October 2022 and the summer of 2023  were verified through interviews with those who were illegally taken, family members of those who remain missing, staff members of the institutions targeted and charities trying to locate missing people. The Independent also tracked official Russian Telegram groups of the occupation administration that have boasted of the programmes to move hundreds of people from institutions. We used open-source tools  like satellite imagery  to confirm alleged locations.

In many instances, the people taken were misled or lied to about what was happening, they were held incommunicado in squalid conditions and forced into adopting Russian passports in order to secure treatment or care. There are credible reports that the children with disabilities among them have been sent to re-education camps where they are given pro-Russian lessons with revised history and language books.

Russia is trying to erase the Ukrainian identity  Ukraine commissioner for Human Rights

Dr Gerard Quinn, who was the UN special rapporteur on the rights of people with disabilities until November and who authored multiple reports on Ukraine, says people in these institutions in Ukraine were especially vulnerable, as Russian soldiers saw them as easy targets.

You have highly vulnerable people who are congregated in concentrated settings. They dont necessarily have a natural constituency to raise an outcry. And so they were being deliberately targeted because they were such easy pickings, he tells The Independent.

The targeting of people with disabilities, Ukrainian officials argue, is part of a broader and coordinated Russian effort to annihilate the Ukrainian identity and could amount to genocide.

Russia is trying to erase the Ukrainian identity. We must recognise all of this as the crime of genocide, Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraines commissioner for Human Rights, says.

Putin is creating a new so-called Russia. Only one language: Russian. All people must have one passport: Russian. They must vote only for one president of Russia.

Mr Lubinets office says it has repeatedly appealed to Russia, the United Nations and international organisations for hard numbers about those with disabilities illegally taken to Russia but has failed to get a response.

It has specifically asked about the fate of those in special needs institutions in the carpet-bombed city of Mariupol, now occupied by Russia. We know all of them were transported away but we do not know where, he adds grimly.

The Russian city of Anapa, where Maksym was taken ( Getty )

People with disabilities in institutions are among the most vulnerable to being forcibly removed by Russia, as they are separated from their guardians and are easy to move en masse, says Mykola Kuleba founder of Save Ukraine. His organisation has made global headlines for retrieving more than 240 Ukrainian children forcibly taken to Russia. Among them are children with disabilities who are part of 500 missing that The Independent has been tracking for the last 18 months.

Think of it like ethnic cleansing, Mr Kuleba continues.

It is Russian policy to take as many as they can to Russia because they want to destroy Ukrainian identity. Putin has implied this himself, he added.

I think that Russia is targeting people with disabilities as they cannot protect themselves  Maksym

The concern is so high that Ukraine has now enlisted the help of foreign states like Qatar to try to retrieve those taken illegally to Russia. In January, Doha helped negotiate the return of 11 children. Two of the youngest, aged just five and six, were living in a care home for children with disabilities at the start of the war and were taken during the offensive to a facility in Russian-controlled Crimea.

In total, Ukraine estimates as many as 19,000 children  among those hundreds of minors with disabilities  have been taken to Russia, an action which Ukraines first lady Olena Zelenska told The Independent was one of the most heinous crimes in the war.

But so far the government-level mechanisms in place focus only on children taken to Russia or Russian-occupied territory. Adults with disabilities like Maksym have to find a way out on their own, despite the fact they are in many cases just as  or are even more  vulnerable.

Maksym says he was only able to escape to safety because he managed to hold on to his mobile phone and secretly reached out to a Ukrainian NGO for help via encrypted messaging apps. He was repeatedly pressured to take a Russian passport and was told if he did not, he risked losing his medical support. This is forced passportisation, another disturbing trend The Independent has tracked.

Ukrainian servicemen of the 126th Separate Territorial Defence Brigade fire a D-30 howitzer towards Russian troops at a position on a front line in Kherson region ( Reuters )

And so he thinks the Russians were deliberately moving people with disabilities  who cannot resist or evacuate by themselves  because they are easy targets to change the demographics of southern Ukraine.

They want to show there are more Ukrainians supporting Russia than there truly are. They want to publicly say, look how many Ukrainians are coming to Russia and taking Russian passports, he says.

I think that Russia is targeting people with disabilities as they cannot protect themselves, they cannot push back, they have to follow, he adds.

This investigation is part of a series unveiling the plight of the at least 2.7 million people with disabilities who live in Ukraine and have been disproportionately impacted by President Putins full-scale invasion, according to the United Nations which has said it is gravely concerned about the community.

Among the horrific crimes we documented were groups of people with disabilities being used by Russian soldiers as human shields, and being deprived of food and medicine in frontline areas which, in one case, resulted in 12 deaths.

The research has also exposed the failings of Ukraines outdated care system, inherited from the Soviet Union and reliant on systematic institutionalisation often from childhood. Conditions have been described as appalling by United Nations experts and EU reports.

The Independents investigation shows a lack of cohesive evacuation plans in place for these facilities when Russian tanks rolled through Ukrainian territory. There is also a lack of data. There are believed to be at least 42,000 people in institutions across hundreds of institutions but the Ukrainian disability charity Fight For Rights tells The Independent it believes the true number is far higher as there are no confirmed statistics.

A disabled woman waits for help to carry her water during an aid supply distribution in the centre of Kherson ( AFP/Getty )

We reached out to the Ukrainian authorities several times over the last 18 months for the number of people in institutions but have yet to receive a concrete reply. No one knows how many living in these facilities are missing.

Dr Quinn says across all the research he oversaw, the reports came to the unsurprising conclusion that people with disabilities in conflict are invisible.

They are just not given consideration, he says, adding that investigations like this proved needed to be a paradigm shift in attitudes towards people with disabilities across all conflicts.

Jonas Ruskus, the former vice chair of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities who authored the UNs main report on the issue agrees.

We have a lack of data because usually persons with disabilities are left behind or forgotten.

The nurses told us the Russians came and asked them who wanted to go to the sea  Voloydymr

The last time Voloydmyr, 73 spoke to his daughter Inna was July 2022. It was nearly five months after Russians had swept through the southern region of Kherson, where she lived in an institution for women with intellectual disabilities.

In the brief phone call Inna, 46, reassured her parents everything was fine, she was not sick.

As always, she said she missed us, and she really wanted to come home, her father adds, with desperation ringing through his voice.

Inna was placed in an institution in Komyshany as a child like so many people living with disabilities under the Soviet Union, when there was no support for caregivers and families. Before the invasion, her parents would travel to Komyshany to visit and take her out for weekends.

But then Russian tanks rolled in.

There was no structure in place to quickly evacuate the 500 or so women aged between 19 and 90 living in the boarding complex.

Russias appointed administration in the occupied south of Ukraine shares images of people with disabilities they have removed from institutions in Kherson ( Telegram )

We still had contact with her until the summer of 2022, she would check in with us but then mobile networks were cut and we lost contact, her father continues.

The family lived in a total information blackout until November, after Russian forces retreated from the region of Kherson where the home was located. The parents rushed to recently liberated areas in a desperate attempt to find their daughter.

They learned that Inna and dozens of other women she lived with had disappeared.

The nurses told us the Russians came to the hospital and asked them which of them wanted to go to the sea, he says as his wife cries quietly in the background.

There had been trips to the Ukrainian seaside before the war, so Voloydmyr assumes they thought they would be brought back.

They were deceived, he adds with a pause.

He says that the families of the women were not informed of the trip and that his daughter is being held incommunicado.

They took all their documents with them but almost no belongings. Thank God we had a photocopy of her passport, he adds.

Lyubov Anatoliivna, a nurse who worked at the boarding house and remained there under the eight-month period of occupation, told The Independent that the staff were powerless to stop what happened. She said a Russian official came to the boarding house and informed them of the plan. The next day, armed men turned up.

How can you make any decision to help when there are soldiers with guns? she asks.

The women were taken away under the pretext of evacuation. In all, 54 women, aged 30 to 50, were taken.

She explains that most of the women who agreed were not capable of fully understanding such a complex vital decision about their lives. All the nurses could do was put their mobile phones in their pockets as they were boarded onto yellow buses and tell them to call them when they got there.

The girls called a few days later, and said they had arrived, everything is fine and that they are being fed. But then the connection was cut off. That is the last we heard, the nurse adds.

Evacuation of civilians without consent is permitted as an exception in the Fourth Geneva Convention if it is for the safety of the population or for military reasons like clearing a combat zone. There were hostilities in this area as Ukraine and Russia wrestled over Moscow-occupied land.

But if the sole incentive was humanitarian evacuation, everyone within the institution should have been removed. It also does not explain why Russia has stopped the women from communicating with their family members or why they still appear to be hiding their location.

Ms Anatoliivna says the director of the institution, who approved the decision, had been cooperating with the Russian soldiers from the start and disappeared shortly after Ukrainian forces took back control of the town in November.

Volodymyr says he and his wife lodged a criminal case with Ukraines top prosecutors and in their investigation managed to trace their daughter to an institution in Krasnoperekopsk, in Russian-occupied Crimea. They enlisted the help of Ukrainian investigative journalist Hanna Mamonova, who says she managed to call the institution briefly and speak to Inna a year ago. But since then communications were again cut.

Its harder to bring these women back than the soldiers as they dont have prisoner of war status and they technically signed an agreement to go there, Ms Mamonova tells The Independent.

Russias appointed administration in the occupied south of Ukraine shares images of people with disabilities they have removed from institutions in Kherson ( Telegram )

They are also not children, so that makes it really hard too.

She says this has meant the family have failed to get help from the Red Cross who exclusively work with PoWs. Ukrainian rights groups also havent had any success because of the ages of the women: they are effectively consenting adults.

The Ukrainian prosecutor told me that in the near future, they will announce charges against those who took the women to Crimea. I hope this will help somehow, Ms Mamonova adds, describing the situation for the families as endless cruelty.

I constantly tell everyone about these women and ask if we can return them to Ukraine. But currently, no one can.

Volodymyr, who continues to live under heavy Russian shelling in Ukrainian-held areas of Kherson, says he has no way of retrieving Inna. He is afraid to call the facility in Crimea, her last known location, in case the Russian authorities take her deeper into Russian-held territory or to Russia itself.

The situation has not changed in any way, there is no news. Its hard, very hard for my wife, he adds, his voice cracking.

We are very worried, its hard to explain how worried we are.

Soldiers turned up and began confiscating the phones and laptops of the children  Oleksander

On the same day unknown Russian officials walked into Innas institution with tantalising promises of a seaside trip, another institution in the Kherson region was being cleared out.

It was 20 October 2022. This time, some 17km east, across the Dnipro River in a town called Oleshky. The Russians had already installed their head of the childrens boarding school for children with special needs as soon as they rolled into town.

At least 82 children, aged between four and 18 were registered as living there. They too had been unable to evacuate when Russia occupied their town.

A few days before, Russian doctors came and selected children they said were being taken to recover their health in sanatoriums, explains Oleksander Glybka. He is a disabled Ukrainian man who once lived in the institution himself and was secretly in touch with staffers working there.

Soldiers turned up and began confiscating the phones and laptops of the children and the workers in the institutions. They banned my friend, who worked there, from leaving the building as he refused to be deported, he says.

At the beginning, they just took children who could walk by themselves.

Then they came back for more.

The children were taken in buses and distributed between a psychiatric hospital in Simferopol, the second largest city in Russian-occupied Crimea as well as an institution in the Black Sea town of Skadovsk, which is also Russian-occupied, Glybka says. This fact was later confirmed by Zelenskys chief of staff Andrii Yermak in a post on his official account on the messaging group Telegram.

Conditions in both places were terrible for children with physical disabilities, according to rights groups who have been trying to free them. International Humanitarian Law and the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities require that specific protection and attention be given to persons with disabilities, meaning that Russia is obligated to make sure the conditions of the places where they move people to are suitable.

Glybka knows for sure that 16 children were removed in October 2022 but Ukrainian officials say that Russia has refused to provide them with a full list  which again would be a violation of the international laws on the rights of children.

A child being evacuated from Oleshky orphanage taken from the Telegram feed of Maria Lvova-Belova, Putins commissioner for childrens rights ( Telegram )

And then on 12 November, Maria Lvova-Belova, Russias commissioner for childrens rights, posted on Telegram that in total, 52 children, including those with serious disabilities, from the Oleshky institution had been evacuated to Crimea. She said the situation on the front line had become too dangerous for the children to remain.

There is no further mention of the Oleshky children or their final whereabouts. The Russian official later posts about fundraising for supplies for other kindergartens in the Oleshky district where children have remained, raising questions about why only certain orphanages were emptied if it was a so-called humanitarian evacuation. In other posts, Ms Lvova-Belova discusses the adoption of Ukrainian children. Ms Lvova-Belova  and President Putin  are wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of forcible transfer and deportation of children.

The Independent knows of only two boys who were successfully found and returned from the Oleshky group: a severely autistic teenager called Sasha, and Nikita, who was just nine when he was taken. Both boys were located and rescued with the help of Save Ukraine after months of gruelling work. Separately, the boys relatives had to take treacherous journeys through enemy territory with cover stories to bring them home.

Save Ukraine spokesperson Olha Erokhina tells The Independent the group is particularly concerned about Russias use of forced adoption of the children who were taken as well as the use of re-education and brainwashing camps.

We consider this to be a genocide of Ukrainians because they want to make them Russian, Ms Erokhina, tells The Independent.

We saw the school library textbooks they were given about Russian history and Russian language, other subjects... its brainwashing.

We took people for a comfortable life  Russian officials

Russia does not hide this on its expansive social media networks where it regularly boasts about the transfers and deportations of people with disabilities.

On 6 November 2022, the Telegram page of the Russian-appointed occupying administration in Kherson boasted that it had evacuated a further 400 people living in the Hola Prystan and Kakhovka boarding houses for the elderly, infirm and disabled again in south Ukraine.

The posts say they were first by ambulances taken to Crimea and then onto the Russian towns of Rostov and Voronezh  some 750km away  for a comfortable life. The Independent was unable to trace what happened to these people.

Four days later, posts revealed all those living at a psychoneurological boarding house in Kherson had been sent for treatment in Stavropol in southwest Russia, again around 750km east in a different direction.

Both these actions could constitute the war crime of deportation.

In the video accompanying this post, dozens of people can be seen boarding buses. Among them are 14 from the Dnipro psychoneurological boarding house, the Russian-appointed Kherson administration added in a later post.

Ukrainian media had previously reported that a total of 98 people were removed from this institution which is located in occupied Nova-Khokhlova, including staff members, and forcibly dragged them onto the buses.

There are more posts of evacuations taking place in December 2022 and April 2023.

Again, The Independent has been unable to trace what had happened to these people. There are concerns they too have vanished.

The cases we have dealt with, no one is told they are going to Russia or that they are going indefinitely, says Nelli Isaieva from Helping to Leave, a Ukrainian NGO initially founded to help civilians leave temporarily occupied areas of Ukraine. As the war dragged on, it switched to helping Ukrainians who had been deported to Russia as well.

A child being evacuated from Oleshky orphanage taken from Maria Lvova-Belovas official Telegram ( Telegram )

It helped retrieve Maksym, and seven others from the same institution but who had been taken to Voronezh.

The people we helped were not told they were going to Russia, they were told they were going to Crimea only for the winter time. They were promised they could return, but no one was going to be taken back.

We are easy targets, we cannot protect ourselves  Maksym

After being separated from everyone on the train out of Ukraine, Maksym eventually found himself placed in a facility that looked like a hospital in Anapa, along the Russian seaside. No one explained to him what happened to the others, or why he had been separated. He was too afraid to ask too many questions.

He described the sprawling facility as a kind of makeshift refugee camp for Ukrainians, guarded by Russian security officers. He was living among an estimated 3,000 Ukrainians all from the occupied Kherson region of Ukraine  some who wanted to be there, some who secretly did not.

There was no true freedom of movement. The authorities held everyones documents. He was not placed on the ground floor and his wheelchair went missing on the journey to Russia. With restricted mobility, it was often physically impossible for him to leave the building.

Alone, separated from the only people he knew, and lacking his travel documents, Maksym felt trapped and scared.

Like Inna, Maksym was just three years old when his family placed him in an orphanage which was a standard practice under the then Soviet Union for those with disabilities. At 19, he had graduated to the institution in the town in Kherson where he was still living when the Russians arrived. He has had little contact with his family: he recalls texting his mother who is based in occupied Crimea at the start of the invasion, saying he was scared and needed help.

She said, Better stay there everything will be OK and that was it, he adds.

And so, when he was taken to Anapa in Russia, it took him a month to pluck up the courage to instigate his escape. He had a friend in Ukraine who told him about Helping to Leave. He texted the groups emergencies page on an encrypted messaging app.

During the first attempt to evacuate him, the Russian authorities barred Maksym from leaving, saying he had not warned them in advance or secured permission from the police to leave.

At that point, they were offering people Russian passports and even threatening people, he continues.

I kept promising them, Yes, I will take the Russian passport but continued stalling. Eventually, I said I was going to a little corner store nearby and never came back.

In early April, Helping to Leave managed to secure a suitable vehicle to pick him up from that store. He had a long journey north, first to Krasnodar, then on to the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, a border city with Ukraine where he waited a week until the organisation could sort out his onward journey.

He was eventually taken to a European country where he is now safe. He is one of the lucky few. Most cannot arrange their own escape.

Iryna Fedorovych from the Fight for Right disabilities rights group in Ukraine says she is concerned that the Ukrainian government and international community are not doing enough to track down people with disabilities and to help them return.

There is no known and transparent work of the government on returning people, there is not even information for relatives on how to report someone is missing. There do not appear to be reports of forcible displacement of the institutions, she tells The Independent.

For adults with disabilities, who have lived all their lives in institutions, it is almost impossible for them to return by themselves. The government needs to at least track all these people and be public about this and do something.

This is particularly imperative if Russia is making a point of focusing on these institutions.

Maksym says he is particularly worried as people with disabilities are easy targets.

We cannot protect ourselves, he continues, adding that he worries every day about the elderly who also lived in his institution, who will not have phones or the ability to arrange a rescue like he did. He is particularly concerned by those in the latter stages of their lives who may not have family looking for them or friends who can help.

He says he now understands he was the subject of a war crime and worries that the crimes committed against Ukrainians with disabilities are not being tracked with the level of care as other crimes.

There has been global publicity about the abduction of children into Russia and, of course, the ICC arrest warrant.

But who is looking for those with disabilities, he asks.

People with disabilities get less attention than the children but many are just as vulnerable, he adds with a deep pause.

We have been forgotten. I feel like the world has forgotten us.

Comment: Its horrifying whats happened to Ukrainians with disabilities during Russias war  we cannot abandon them

Tomorrow: how the tragic death of one man held by Russian forces shows the true horror of Putins invasion
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Ray Goforth had rarely seen one of Boeings experienced flight simulator instructors lose their cool.

It was around 2013, and the American aerospace giant was preparing to close down the simulator facility at its historic home near Seattle and move those machines more than 2,700 miles across the country to Miami. That meant laying off the small crew of veteran instructors  who, it just so happened, had recently joined the labor union SPEEA.

But one instructor, named Willy, was worried about more than his job. He knew that Boeings own engineers would frequently drive over from their offices nearby to test out the quirks of aircraft they were building. Without such easy access, what future problems might be missed?

"These pilots are super calm under pressure," recalls SPEEAs executive director Ray Goforth, who sat in on the negotiations, in an interview with The Independent.

"But [Willy] lost his temper, which was very surprising, and he yelled at them: I dont know how, I dont know why, but the decisions youre making are going to end with a smoking hole in the ground."

That conversation came back to Goforths mind in 2019, when Boeing was forced to suspend production of its 737 Max airliner after two crashes in which flawed manoeuvring software overrode pilots input and ploughed their planes into the Earth, killing a total of 348 people.

"Willy was right," Goforth remembers thinking. "When you start throwing that experience away, you dont know what youre breaking."

open image in gallery A bouquet of flowers is left at the site of the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max crash ( Getty Images )

Today Boeing is mired in the deepest crisis in its history after a string of serious safety failures that have horrified passengers, grounded numerous planes, and cost tens of billions of dollars.

Once considered the jewel of American manufacturing prowess, the company is under close scrutiny by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and has been forced to eject several executives, including its CEO Dave Calhoun.

In January, an Alaska Airlines flight narrowly avoided disaster when a door plug  that is, a metal panel that replaces an optional exit door  suddenly blew out at 16,000 feet. Though no one was killed, a preliminary investigation found that the door plug appeared to be missing four key bolts.

And on Wednesday, the US Senate will hear testimony from a trio of experts who recently audited Boeings safety culture, as well as a whistleblower who claims that it punished him for reporting his concerns.

To be clear, Boeings simulator layoffs didnt cause those fatal 737 Max crashes. Yet critics say that decision was symptomatic of a corporate culture that has badly degraded the quality of Boeings aircraft through a 20-year regime of cost-cutting and cover-ups.

The cult of shareholder value

The story of Boeings long decline begins with an idea: that the purpose of a corporation is to maximize "shareholder value".

Today this idea is orthodoxy throughout the business world. But in 1970, when the neoclassical economist Milton Friedman declared that increasing profits was a companys "one and only social responsibility", it was considered radical.

The idea gained traction, and by the late Nineties, Americas boardrooms were dominated by the cult of shareholder value. Buccaneering executives such as longtime General Electric chief Jack Welch  known as "Neutron Jack" for his habit of firing the worst ten per cent of his managers every year  were lionized for their relentless focus on delivering dividends to investors (though Welch has since disputed that "shareholder value" was ever his main goal).

"The way a well-run company works is that people and technologies come first; customers are made happy by that; and that ultimately shows up in the share price," says Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace consultant who has been sounding alarms about Boeings corporate strategy for many years. "But the way GE was run [under Welch] was: No, no, you dont need any of that. Its just about the share price."

That, according to multiple journalists who have covered Boeings history in depth, is what the company began to embrace after its 1997 merger with a struggling rival aerospace company called McDonnell Douglas.

Driven by the deregulation of the US airline market under presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, which had eroded their formerly cosy position, Boeings executives were keen to absorb the cost-cutting culture of their longtime rival.

And so it was the smaller firm that ended up dominating its buyer, with McDonnell Douglas executives put in charge of the new merged company. "The joke at Boeing was: McDonnell Douglas used Boeings money to buy Boeing," says Aboulafia.

For Stan Sorscher, a veteran Boeing engineer and later labor union SPEEA staffer who dealt often with company managers and employees, the difference was palpable. For decades Boeing had been led by engineers like him, who respected expertise and were focused on quality above all else.

After the merger, he tells The Independent, executives increasingly disregarded the engineers perspectives, demanding that they work backwards from ill-informed corporate mandates delivered from on high by professional managers with little aviation experience.

open image in gallery A handout picture showing the Alaska Airlines Boeing investigation after a door plug blew out at 16,000ft ( NTSB/AFP via Getty Images )

Aboulafia reserves particular scorn for Jim McNerney, Boeings CEO between 2005 and 2015, who reportedly saw technical experience as overrated and frequently troublesome. Under him and his successors, Aboulafia contends that Boeing became "a one-size fits all corporate culture focused on cutting costs and nothing else", so indifferent to quality that it "made McDonnell Douglas seem like Apple."

Meanwhile, Boeing diverted vast sums of cash away from its core business and towards investors. It drastically increased the dividends it paid out for each share, while spending billions of dollars per year on buying back its own stock in order to prop up the price.

According to an analysis by Marie Christine Duggan, an economics professor at Keene College in New Hampshire, the proportion of Boeings free cash flow spent on dividends and buybacks rose from around 23 per cent in 1990 to 66 per cent by 2017. Meanwhile, the proportion spent on new machines and equipment plummeted.

In short, Duggan tells The Independent, Boeings real product had become its share price.

To both Duggan and Aboulafia, this was an audacious piece of corporate siphoning  and not one that could be sustained. If these massive payouts were only made possible by slashing investment in new airplanes, how long would it be until the money ran out?

Indeed, when McNerney stepped down in 2015, Aboulafia warned that Boeing would one day pay a "high price" for his short-termist leadership.

"Ultimately the competitiveness of a jetliner producer depends upon its suppliers and its workforce. Theres nothing else, when you think about it," says Aboulafia now.

"So if you treat both like disposable commodities  if you regard them as something to be broken, [and] squeezed for costs no matter the consequences  then theres going to be trouble down the road."

Outsourcing and alleged union-busting

The first major test of this new management approach was the 787 Dreamliner.

After announcing the aircraft in 2003, Boeings leaders gave engineers a stark challenge: build it for less than 40 per cent of what the Boeing 777 had cost more than a decade beforehand.

To accomplish this, McNerney and his predecessor Harry Stonecipher decided to outsource many of the Dreamliners individual components to other companies, relinquishing some control over design and production in the hope of externalizing the costs of developing and building new aircraft.

That approach might work well for other industries, whose products are less complex and tend to kill fewer people when they fail. For Boeing, it resulted in a plane delivered three years behind schedule and a reported $9bn over-budget, which had to be grounded less than two years after its 2011 debut due to a series of electrical fires caused by malfunctioning batteries.

"It was, I think, without question the worst airplane program in the history of the industry," says Sorscher, who had spent years trying to persuade bosses and financial analysts that Boeings new regime wouldnt work.

To his surprise, however, Boeings bosses were not deterred by these failures. Instead, they doubled down.

In 2011, for example, after Boeings suppliers started enjoying better profit margins than Boeing itself, McNerney demanded that they cut their prices by as much as 15 per cent  an initiative innocuously titled Partnering for Success ("Orwell would have a field day with this s**t," Aboulafia says). Those who refused would be put on a "no-fly list" and barred from further business with Boeing.

The company broke with nearly a century of tradition and said it would assemble its new 787 Dreamliner at a new, non-unionized factory in South Carolina. US labor officials sued the company, alleging that the move was an act of retaliation for past strikes  only to withdraw that accusation in 2011 as part of a settlement.

It was, says Ray Goforth, as if a "poison" was spreading through the company. Experienced test pilots were laid off and replaced by less experienced contractors. Its technical support center, which provides live help to airlines experiencing trouble with Boeing craft, was gutted and re-established in Los Angeles. Even the "field service representatives" embedded at major airports were outsourced, Goforth claims.

Soon, safety problems began to pile up.

In 2014, an Al Jazeera reporter with a hidden camera recorded Dreamliner workers claiming that some of their colleagues were clocking in high on "coke and painkillers and weed". Asked if they would fly on the planes they were building, 10 out of 15 workers said no.

open image in gallery Former Boeing CEO David Calhoun is mobbed by reporters after speaking at the US Senate ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved )

In 2019, a New York Times investigation found evidence that tools and other random debris  such as loose bolts, metal shavings, pieces of packaging, and even a ladder  were "routinely" left inside of planes, and sometimes inside the engines.

John Barnett, a veteran Boeing quality manager at the Charleston plant, would later testify he had found more than 400 inadequate parts missing from their designated cage, suggesting they had actually been installed into planes illegally and without documentation.

Throughout 2019, 2020, and 2021, the company was repeatedly forced to delay Dreamliner deliveries and spend billions on extra inspections and fixes due to newly-discovered flaws. One airline, Qatar Airways, even refused to accept any Dreamliners not built in Washington state.

Similar problems allegedly plagued the 737 Max program.

Ed Pierson, a former senior manager at Boeing, would later testify to the US House of Representatives that 737 Max workers were overworked and exhausted by excessive overtime, and that he had warned Boeing this could cause safety problems  to no avail.

When Pierson asked his superior to temporarily shut down the plant to address his concerns, the superior allegedly responded: "We cant do that. I cant do that."

Similar issues have since surfaced at Spirit, where the Alaska Airlines plane with the malfunctioning door plug was originally built.

"We have planes all over the world that have issues that nobody has found because of the pressure Spirit has put on employees to get the job done so fast," a local union leader told The Wall Street Journal.

All of this, Goforth argues, also drove away experienced employees and robbed the company of expertise, degrading its ability to notice problems before they became crises.

Shooting the messenger

Some time in the late noughties or early 2010s, Stan Sorscher was attempting to persuade a Boeing executive that the Dreamliner program had serious problems. Managers, Sorscher warned the executive, were not aware of how bad things had become because their employees felt afraid to raise concerns. One worker had voiced doubts about the capabilities of a supplier, only to be rebuffed by their boss.

Immediately the executives assistant jumped up and said: "Whats the name of that supervisor?"

It was, Sorscher alleges, a vivid example of one of Boeings biggest problems: a tendency to "shoot the messenger".

"They could never anticipate anything, and they were always caught flat-footed by some terrible problem that many people in the workplace knew would happen but nobody would say anything about it," Sorscher says. "And that happened over and over and over and over and over again."

In Washington state, most workers were unionized and therefore protected from direct retaliation. Even so, Goforth claims that they often came under "tremendous pressure" not to escalate issues to upper management.

"The phrase thats used with Boeing culture is Thats a career-limiting decision. People understand that if they push too hard on something, theyll find themselves maybe on the layoff list next time theres an economic downturn," he says.

"Boeing has an ethics line, which I never discourage people from using because I dont want someone to turn around and sue the union. But most people who have tried reporting through ethics have had an extremely negative experience, and they never do it again."

In Charleston and elsewhere, the punishments for speaking up were allegedly far harsher. Multiple workers told The New York Times that they were punished for reporting problems, while another told Al Jazeera that he was targeted for insisting on proper documentation.

John Barnett  a 30-year Boeing employee known to friends as Swampy due to his Louisiana roots  was allegedly reprimanded for "using email to express process violations", and said in his whistleblower complaint that he had been repeatedly harassed, humiliated, and demoted for raising concerns (which Boeing denied).

Barnett was found dead inside his truck in a hotel parking lot from a gunshot wound to the head on March 9. He had been giving evidence in a whistleblower lawsuit against Boeing in the days before his death. Coroners ruled the death a suicide and Boeing said it was saddened to hear of his passing. But Barnetts family told CBS News that they hold Boeing partially responsible for his death, stating that the pressure he was put under after making his whistleblower complaint led to a pronounced decline in his mental state.

An FAA audit would later find dozens of issues in the Max production process.

open image in gallery A worker walks past a Boeing 737-MAX under construction ( REUTERS )

Last week, another whistleblower named Sam Salehpour alleged that Boeing had taken "shortcuts" to speed up its production of Dreamliners and Boeing 777s, leading to potential structural flaws. He too said the company had punished him for saying this internally, excluding him from meetings and moving him into a new division.

Boeing declined to comment on that specific claim, saying only that "retaliation is strictly prohibited" at the company. It denied Salehpours claims about plane production, calling them "inaccurate" and saying it was confident in both models.

To Sorscher and Goforth, it seemed that all the old mechanisms that were meant to catch errors were being disassembled piece by piece. The old Boeing culture regarded every little step of the process as a potential weak link; the new one seemed to regard them as potential redundancies to be streamlined.

"Everyone who works at Boeing puts their own families on these airplanes," says Goforth. "I genuinely believe that nobody at the company said This might kill people, but were going to do it. Its a thousand little decisions  Do we really need to do it this way? Maybe we can shorten this?  that accumulate into danger."

Investigations ultimately traced the two 737 Max crashes to a complex cocktail of questionable decisions, made in pursuit of Boeings bottom line. Executives had been unexpectedly bounced into committing to the Max as they scrambled to retain a major customer, resulting in an unwieldy design with a danger of stalling during certain standard test manoeuvres.

A system called MCAS was meant to compensate for this by automatically pushing the nose downward if it sensed a stall. But a series of unanticipated problems during testing led designers to progressively boost the systems power while making it more vulnerable to accidental activation.

And, because Boeing had already promised airlines that the Max would require no extra training compared to the 737, it didnt tell pilots that MCAS even existed  while allegedly rejecting safety features that could have stopped it from malfunctioning.

Hence, the pilots on board Lion Air Flight 610 had no idea what was happening when a broken sensor caused MCAS to activate 26 times in a row. The pilots on Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 had read a Boeing bulletin revealing the systems existence, but had no practical experience trying to countermand it when it sent them into a dive.

We are all complicit

None of this happened in a vacuum. For years, following orders from the Republican-controlled Congress of 2003, the FAA allowed Boeing and other companies to "self-certify" their aircraft.

This was necessary, one former official said, because the agency did not have enough inspectors to actually scrutinize them in detail anyway.

Indeed, the FAA signed off on Boeings training guidelines for the 737 Max, which did not mention MCAS. It allowed Boeing to handle most of the testing to certify the Max, and allegedly never properly reviewed Boeings safety documents.

Meanwhile, many senior politicians supported Boeing in its strategy. Nikki Haley, then the governor of South Carolina, publicly opposed unionization efforts among Boeing workers in her state and was later appointed to its board of directors.

Lindsey Graham, the long-serving South Carolina senator, sharply criticised the Obama administrations lawsuit over the North Charleston plant.

For Marie Duggan, the roots of the problem extend even further. The fact that Boeing was incentivized to shower shareholders with benefits while squeezing quality was no accident, she says; that is just how we have allowed financial markets to work.

She cites in particular the legalization of stock buybacks in 1982 under Ronald Reagan, which she believes should be reversed. The problem, though, is that doing this now could cause millions of peoples pensions to drop in value.

"In the USA we are all complicit in wanting the stock market to go up," she says. "And that is particularly true because the social security system does not provide an adequate income to live on for retirement."

She also floats the idea that the US federal government could take a share of ownership in Boeing, just as the European aviation giant Airbus is partly owned by the governments of France, Germany, and Spain.

The Max crashes, and the Alaska Airlines door plug blowout, have pushed the FAA to crack down. Mandatory groundings and inspections of Boeing models have steadily increased, and in February the agency gave Boeing 90 days to come up with a new quality control plan or have its production capped at "unsustainable" levels.

Ironically, however, it may be Boeings customers who have made the biggest difference. "Airline leaders have been frustrated to say the least, and in many respects aghast, at what is going on," John Strickland, a UK-based aviation industry consultant who visited Boeings production line in 2019, tells The Independent.

He cites figures such as Sir Tim Clark, president of Emirates, who said in February that Boeing was in the "last chance saloon", and Michael OLeary, boss of the Irish budget airline Ryanair, who demanded in 2022 that Boeing "get their s**t together".

open image in gallery An exterior shot of the Boeing company headquarters in Arlington ( Getty Images )

Indeed, Aboulafia credits pressure from airlines with forcing Boeings chief executive David Calhoun to announce his departure at the end of this year.

"If Boeing is saved, itll be saved by a revolt of the market," he says. "You look at what has forced this management change  was it investors seeking returns? Bizarrely, it wasnt. Was it the Pentagon and the US government? Hell no. Ultimately it was the customers saying Yeah, no, enough."

The problem is that airlines cannot simply switch away if Boeing fails to deliver. Its only real competitor is Airbus, whose order book is full for years to come, and the incredibly long timescale of plane manufacturing and ordering means any such change wouldnt happen for up to a decade.

In the meantime, full FAA certification of Boeings latest plane  a new version of the 777X  is at least two years late, while hundreds of 737 Maxes churned out during the 2019 groundings are still sitting in a Washington airfield, waiting to be fixed.

In response to questions from The Independent, a spokesperson for Boeing said it had embarked on a comprehensive program of inspections and safety improvements, including stopping its 737 assembly plant for a day to hold an all-hands safety meeting. In 2019 it set up a confidential reporting channel for employees called Speak Up.

The spokesperson declined to make any Boeing executives available for interview, but pointed to a speech last month by chief financial officer Brian West, who said: "For years, we prioritized the movement of the airplane through the factory over getting it done right, and thats got to change."

Ray Goforth is skeptical: "Ive seen nothing that convinces me the leadership of the company has learned a single lesson. Theyre saying lots of nice words now, but I havent seen anything of substance."

He alleges that, among other things, Boeing is resisting the union SPEEAs demands for a new safety reporting process.

A Boeing spokesperson declined to give details about its position in those negotiations, saying only that the company has offered SPEEA "the same agreement" that it signed with another union.

"We believe it will make a difference in ensuring product safety," the spokesperson said. "This tri-party agreement is modelled after the longstanding and proven Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) which is used in the airlines and elsewhere in Boeing."

Ultimately, Strickland argues, it is Boeings own workers that the company needs to convince, just as much as their customers and passengers.

"Ive been on the factory floor, and seen all the signs they have up about quality and pride in production," he says. "But you could understand if some of the workforce are thinking: Why should we believe it?"

A Boeing spokesperson said: Since January 5th, weve been working to ensure that our employees understand that speaking up about concerns, errors, mistakes and changes that could affect the safety of our products is the single best action that every employee at Boeing can take to improve safety and quality. We are also taking action to ensure our managers understand their role in creating Positive Safety Culture and making sure their employees feel safe to report issues and trust that leaders are listening and taking action. Were also making changes that will simplify and streamline the Speak Up process to ensure it is efficient and thorough in identifying and addressing potential product safety issues.
Joe Biden has said that freedom of speech and the rule of law must be respected in protests at college campuses over the war in Gaza.

The US president spoke from the White House on Thursday 2 May, where he condemned the unrest and violence that has disrupted campuses in recent days.

We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people and squash dissent, Mr Biden said.

But neither are we a lawless country. Were a civil society. And order must prevail.

The president added that peaceful protest is in the best tradition of how Americans respond to consequential issues.
Gaza protesters and police faced off at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, on Wednesday, 1 May, in similar scenes seen at other universities across the US this week.

Scuffles broke out between demonstrators and officers, with local media reporting multiple arrests as protesters gathered at the college throughout the evening.

Dozens of US universities have seen student rallies and encampments being set up expressing opposition to Israel's war in Gaza and demanding schools divest from companies that support Israel's government.

Similar protests have spread to the UK.
Police used water cannons, tear gas and pepper spray against protesters in Georgias capital of Tbilisi on Wednesday night (1 May).

Tens of thousands took to the streets as the countrys parliament moved closer to adopting a controversial law that critics fear will stifle media freedom and endanger their European Union membership bid.

Protesters have denounced the bill as the Russian law because neighbouring Russia uses similar legislation to stigmatise independent news media and organisations critical of the Kremlin.

The law would require media and noncommercial organisations to register as pursuing the interests of a foreign power, if they receive more than 20 per cent of funding from abroad.
Sir Keir Starmer has denied reports he would retain the Rwanda scheme if elected.

The Labour leader told Sky News he does not believe in the scheme and criticised Rishi Sunaks government for losing control of the borders.

I dont think it will work, I know we have to stop the boats and I want to get going with our plan on day one, Sir Keir said.

Im absolutely determined to tackle this problem, because the government has lost control of the borders. What Im not going to do is flog a dead horse.
Dramatic footage shows the moment a woman was rescued from her submerged car after crashing into a ditch in Indiana.

Hamilton County Sheriffs Office (HCSO) shared a video from the incident on Tuesday 30 April.

According to the authorities, officials were initially unable to extract the victim from her vehicle as the windows were underwater.

The quick-thinking rescuers removed their personal safety equipment and entered the water to save the woman.

A winch was used to angle the vehicle upward so a window was lifted out of the water, which was smashed to free the driver.

She was transported to a hospital in Indianapolis for treatment, while HCSO praised the rescuers for their teamwork and quick brainstorming.
NYPD officers tore down tents inside a Fordham University building on Wednesday, 1 May, as they cleared a Gaza protester encampment.

Police escorted demonstrators away from the Lincoln Center campus.

NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry said "individuals who refused to disperse from the unlawful encampment... [were placed] under arrest."

Fordham University requested NYPD assistance, she added.

It came amid similar action staged at other universities across the US; police arrested more than 130 demonstrators early Thursday at UCLA.

Pro-Palestine encampment protests have also spread to the UK.
Vice President Kamala Harris hit out at Republican extremists who dont know or who dont care how a womans body works during a powerful speech on US abortion restrictions.

Ms harris claimed former president Donald Trump and his allies are responsible for endangering womens live during a heated speech in Florida on Wednesday (1 May).

Her visit was coordinated to occur the same day Florida saw a six-week ban on abortion take effect.

Passed by a Republican state legislature and signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis last year, the ban puts Floridas restrictions on reproduction in line with many other states across the Deep South.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria arrived at a polling station to cast their votes in the local and London Mayoral elections today.

Voters head to the polls on Thursday (2 May) in a series of local elections seen as the final test of public opinion before Rishi Sunak goes to the country later this year.

A total of 11 mayoral contests are also taking place, including for the London mayoralty between frontrunners, Labour incumbent Sadiq Khan and Tory challenger Susan Hall.

Sir Keir arrived to vote in his Holborn and St Pancras constituency early on Thursday.
Labour MP Bell Ribeiro clashed with former Sainsburys CEO Justin King over supermarket profits.

The pair appeared on ITVs Peston show on Wednesday to discuss UK supermarkets.

Ms Ribeiro said: I heard earlier supermarkets are profitable because they provide good service, that is not right. Supermarkets are profitable because they sell food and essentials and we need said food and essentials.

Mr King replied: We are going to disagree completely on that. I profoundly believe that the profit motive is the best way to run a business.

The world comes to the UK to look at our supermarkets.
A police van arrived at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday, 2 May, where Marcus Aurelio Arduini Monzo is appearing charged with the murder of 14-year-old Daniel Anjorin in Hainault.

The teenager died on Tuesday as he walked to school.

The 36-year-old dual Spanish-Brazilian national, of Newham, will appear in court having been charged with murder, two counts of attempted murder, two counts of grievous bodily harm, aggravated burglary, and possession of a bladed article, the Metropolitan Police said.

Monzo is accused of crashing a van into a fence and then attacking two members of the public with a sword.

It is alleged he then killed Daniel before seriously injuring two police officers.
A driver steered straight into an overflowing creek as she moved through a flooded car park in Texas, dramatic footage shared to Twitter/X on Thursday, 2 May shows.

Ryan Star filmed a woman heading into a body of water in the Crystal Park Plaza parking lot in College Station.

"Watched this poor girl drive into the creek right behind our building... Good news is she's ok. This is why you always turn around, don't drown," he said.

The National Weather Service in Houston issued a flood watch on Thursday, warning of scattered to widespread showers, with periods of heavy rainfall that could result in street flooding and rises along small streams and rivers.
As the calendar turned from April to May, police marched onto the campuses of two major universities, one on each coast of the United States, and dispersed hundreds of students. At Columbia University in New York City, the students  protesting in support of Palestinians in Gaza  mostly went peacefully, and their occupation of the historic Hamilton Hall, if not their campus encampment, came to an end. It was another story at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where violent scuffles broke out, first between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel groups among the students themselves, and then with the police.

To many Americans  and not just Americans  these protests and the manner of their dispersal, by serried ranks of super-confident cops, represented a lot more than a here today, gone tomorrow news story. They brought back memories and invited parallels with the now legendary student protests of the late 1960s and early 1970s. To make the point, many media outlets  mainly in the US, but in Europe, too  interspersed the brightly coloured mobile phone footage from today with grainy black-and-white clips from then.

Even those who are too young to remember, let alone to have taken part in those protests  the vast majority of Americans  will have imbibed something of what happened then from their parents and grandparents, as from photo-histories proudly displayed by the universities concerned. The campus protests and occupations of more than 50 years ago were glory days, seen by participants then and historians now as righteous challenges to the misuse of state power  the war in Vietnam and the draft  and to the entrenched social injustice that consigned Black Americans to the status of second-class citizens.

Those protests had their own heroes and martyrs: the four students killed by the National Guard at Ohios Kent State University in 1970, in circumstances that remain disputed to this day. Nor, in university quarters, does it take much to ignite the memories, real and folk, of a country that seemed to many at the time to be on the brink of more widespread disorder. What is more, the scale of todays largely pro-Palestinian protests, expressed in marches, sit-ins, tent encampments and the occupation of academic buildings right across the United States, may indeed come closest to what the US experienced back then.

To some, the fierce disagreements about what constitutes free speech, the #MeToo movement, Trumpism, and a whole lot else that makes up the so-called culture wars, are all evidence that the United States is in the grip of the same dangerously febrile political and philosophical forces as it was then. The next step, so the script might go, could be violence  the largely unspoken context of the US box-office success Civil War, just released in the UK.

Before todays US student demonstrators definitively claim the mantle of the Vietnam and civil rights protesters of half a century ago, however, it is worth asking how many parallels there really are. And here, the answer  as supplied by some of those who really were there (and remember that they were there)  is not many. As one of those too young to be there, but with relatives who were, I would agree.

One key difference, so far at least, is headcount. Although the television footage makes todays demonstrations look huge, the actual numbers involved are still small in comparison with the massive social and academic unrest of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Another is the willingness, of some institutions at least, to call in the police. Universities in general and US universities in particular pride themselves on essentially policing themselves. The president of Columbia, Minouche Shafik  who, incidentally, only took over the job in 2022, after five years heading the London School of Economics and, before that, a stint as deputy governor of the Bank of England  called in the police on day two of the first encampment springing up, citing what she called a clear and present danger to the substantial functioning of the university.

She also appeared to have little compunction about threatening protestors with suspension or expulsion. What is more, at Columbia  though less so, it would appear, at UCLA  most of the students went quietly, although they resumed their encampment. Such disciplinary threats would largely have been futile in the earlier protests, as many campuses were in a state of open revolt.

Perhaps the greatest difference, however, is that the 1960s protests concerned issues that affected the students directly, relating to the policies and social fabric of their own country. There were the rights and mostly wrongs of the Vietnam war, the draft, and the lack of basic civil rights for many Black Americans. The issues were both distinct and related, and contributed to a veritable surge of protest that was also generational, with older children pitted against their parents.

Very little of that translates to today. It is hard to see the plight of Palestinians in Gaza as a direct concern for US and other students. Their protests can be seen at best as altruistic, and emblematic of an internationalised world, where instant communications and social media encourage people to associate themselves with causes beyond their borders. Does this make it more or less laudable that students may be putting their futures on the line for the sake of a cause that is only theirs in the sense that it can be seen as universal?

I will leave that question hanging, beyond observing that, until the 7 October attacks, I had attended events where almost no one under 40 had shown particular knowledge of or interest in the Palestinian cause; the name Yasser Arafat meant almost nothing. As for the international threat from PLO terrorism, you would be hard put to find anyone of student age, beyond those with a Palestinian or wider Middle Eastern background, who knew anything about it.

Nor has that necessarily changed. What people across the Western world have locked onto is what is happening to Palestinians now, and their cause has become, in a way, an injustice that stands for many. The difficulty facing not just US institutions is that this cause clashes with the deeply held claim of Jews to their own security and their own state.

A conflict in the Middle East, transmitted around the world in real time, replicates itself elsewhere in clashes on campus (as at UCLA) and elsewhere, with charges of antisemitism  sometimes warranted, sometimes not. The student body, like public opinion more broadly, may be divided, presenting big dilemmas to administrators, teachers and law enforcement alike.

If the parallels between then and now are less than they might appear, so too are any parallels that might be drawn between their respective results  although the balance of achievement might be reversed. After all, what did the student protests of 1968 really achieve?

They may have helped, but they did not, by themselves, end the Vietnam war, which had its own denouement on the ground. Nor did they force the resignation of Richard Nixon, which was largely his own doing. Student engagement might have bolstered the civil rights movement, but the marches and achievements would probably have happened without them. With hindsight, the student revolts look more like the symptoms of profound social change rather than its cause.

The current protests may be seen in the same way, as symptom rather than cause, of a big change in US opinion. In recent months, Joe Biden has gradually adjusted US policy on Gaza to the point of openly criticising Israel, and it is hard to see that he would have done that just to please critics abroad.

Viewed in retrospect, the campus protests of 2024 may be seen as the harbinger of a historic shift in US policy in the Middle East. It would be explained partly by real-time information about the war in Gaza, partly by the growing, albeit still small number of Muslims in the US, partly by a decline in the influence of the American Israel lobby.

It is a change that can be seen as both generational and philosophical  and one in which ferment on campus may have helped to lead the way.
The Greedy Eagle is situated on the corner of Glasthule Road and Adelaide Street in Glasthule village

Loyola Group, the hospitality business, has sold The Greedy Eagle gastro pub in the heart of Glasthule village, in south Dublin, for around 4m to Donegal businessman Paddy Doherty. Mr Doherty is the founder of Electro Automation Group which provides tolling services at Dublin Port Tunnel and is best known for its Easytrip road-tolling services.

Commenting on the off-market sale, pub property specialist John Ryan of BDM Property explained that it came about after an unsolicited approach from the purchaser.

Mr Doherty had been impressed with the refurbishment which Loyola undertook and as the premises was in turnkey condition it obviated the need to undertake further work and eliminated the need for consequential delays.

Loyola Group, whose directors include Stephen Cooney, Brian OMalley and former Leinster rugby player Eoin OMalley, also operate several other popular bars including The Bath and The Old Spot on Bath Avenue, The Lep Inn in Leopardstown and The Landmark on Wexford Street, Dublin 2.

The group also operates a number of venues in Portugal including The Bold Octupus in Quinta Do Lago.

The Greedy Eagle is situated on the corner of Glasthule Road and Adelaide Street in Glasthule village, one of south Dublins most affluent and sought after coastal suburbs situated between Dun Laoghaire, Sandycove and Dalkey.

Because of its attractive coastal location and road and Dart service connectivity, this area has become a busy residential suburb and also attracts day-trippers at weekends.

In 2017 the premises, then known as The Eagle House and Rasam Restaurant, was offered for sale as an investment for 1.8m. That would have generated net rental income of 201,000 which would have equated to a gross initial yield of 11.16pc. Loyola bought it for an undisclosed sum.

At the time the pub was let on a short lease and after Covid struck the bar tenant moved out and Loyola undertook the extensive refurbishment to provide a high-quality lounge bar, restaurant and catering facilities and operated these on the 382 sqm ground floor.

The first floor extends to about 252 sqm and is occupied by Rasam Restaurant on a long-term lease and its operations are not affected by the sale.

Outside and to the rear of the property there is a smoking area and car parking for about 24 cars.
AIB shareholders have approved an off-market purchase of ordinary shares from the Finance Minister at an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) called by the bank today.

Earlier this year, AIB and Finance Minister Michael McGrath agreed to a deal that would see AIB buy over 1bn of shares from the State as the Government continues to reduce its stake in the bank.

The Irish States shareholding in the bank currently stands at 37.99pc, meaning it had the biggest vote on the proposed transaction. It will now drop to 32.9pc.

Today's News in 90 seconds - 2nd May 2024

The State is set to receive 1bn from this transaction, as well as dividends of 273m which are due to be paid by AIB in May.

In response to questions from shareholders, group company secretary Conor Gouldson said the move would repay the States support during the financial crisis and advance the return to private ownership.

AIB also faced a number of challenges from shareholders at the meeting, while property losses also dating back to the financial crisis were behind a protest held outside the companys Dublin city HQ.

The protest, which was made up of around 60 people, was organised by investors in the controversial Belfry funds.

AIB sold a series of speculative investments in UK commercial properties, known as the Belfry funds, between 2002 and 2006.

Belfry Investment Fund 1 realised a significant return of around 250pc but the five later funds generated losses due to the global financial crisis and the downturn in the property market.

The failure of the funds to make returns left investors suffering significant losses, with around 2,500 customers investing in the funds at the time.

It is understood that AIB set aside 233m to compensate investors, with repayments of 207m made to date. Review outcomes and payments have been communicated to 99.8pc of investors after a case-by-case review launched in 2021, the bank said.

"Weve come here this morning to highlight the inconsistencies and unfairness of the banks approach to dealing with Belfry five and six, Peter Ryan, head of debt advisory at CKS Finance, a small Dublin-based advisory firm, said outside the companys head office.

"We know theres been between 25pc and 30pc of investors in Belfry five and six that have been refunded, he said, adding many of those impacted feel there is no consistency and logic to the compensation.

These guys are here for the long run and they want to make sure theyre treated fairly like their co-investors were, he said.

In response to a related shareholder question inside the meeting, Mr Gouldson said that the documentation was very clear on the high-risk nature of Belfry five and six.

Upon review, we found we did not make the level of risk involved in investment sufficiently clear in Belfry funds two to four, he said.

Brendan Burgess, a consumer advocate and founder of the consumer forum askaboutmoney.com, also called on the banks board to join him in wearing a black armband to remember those impacted by the tracker mortgage scandal.

"Id like for you to join me in wearing black armbands to remember the damage that youve done because Im really concerned that you will progress over the next few years and you will forget about this very important issue, he said. Its not a legacy issue for the people who were affected by it...while people are still on the board who did not shout stop.

In response, chairman Jim Pettigrew said the bank had apologised for the stress it caused on a number of occasions.

He said the bank is now focused on walking the talk, with the board passionate about putting the customer first.
The Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) has partnered with music recognition technology company Audoo to improve public performance royalty distributions in Ireland.

Audoo, which is backed by Elton John and Abbas Bjorn Ulvaeus, was founded in 2018 and focuses on accurate public performance royalties. Its audio meter and insights platform record where and when music is played in order to allow creators to receive compensation for the use of their music.

The companys Audio Meter will now be introduced on a trial basis in a number of cafes, bars, restaurants and retail locations across the country. The technology will recognise background music being played and will share the data back to IMRO.

IMRO said the move will help improve the existing reporting measures used by the group.

The organisations mission focuses on improving the distribution efficiency of music royalties for its 25,000 members. This cohort includes songwriters and composers, as well as music publishers.

Audoo said its device is focused solely on tracking the music playing in a location and is GDPR compliant. The plug-in technology also has no language processing abilities.

The rollout will commence in a number of urban areas across the country, with hopes to introduce the technology in all types of businesses in the future.

We continuously invest in new technologies and services to ensure faster and more accurate royalty payments, providing the best service to our members, IMRO chief commercial officer Sean Donegan said.

This partnership with Audoo adds another layer to our advanced technological tools and music usage data, ensuring our distributions are as precise as they can be, he added.

Audoo founder Ryan Edwards said that the new partnership is a pivotal moment in the evolution of public performance royalties, offering benefits to creators, performers, rights holders, and licensees.

Seeing the success of what our technology can do for other markets, were very excited to stand alongside global leaders such as IMRO and support the fair distribution of royalties for artists, Mr Edwards added.

Audoos meters are now operating in more than 10 countries across four continents. The business is headquartered in London.
Microsoft has inked a long-term corporate power-purchase agreement that is supported by the newly-commissioned 30MW Lenalea windfarm near Letterkenny in Co Donegal.

The agreement is between Microsoft and SSE Renewables, and FuturEnergy Ireland. FuturEnergy is a joint venture between Coillte and the ESB. SSE Renewables jointly developed the Lenalea project with FuturEnergy.

This agreement is the first long-term corporate power purchase agreement to be jointly entered into by SSE Renewables and FuturEnergy. FuturEnergy has a goal of having 1GW of renewable energy sites operational by 2030.

Under the terms of the corporate power purchase agreement, electricity generated at the Donegal facility will contribute towards Microsofts aim of powering its data centres only with renewable energy by 2025.

The latest deal comes after Microsoft signed 900MW of renewable energy power purchase agreements in 2022. Of that capacity, more than 216MW of onshore wind and solar energy projects have already been commissioned, with an additional 250MW of projects slated to reach commercial operation this year.

At Microsoft, we are committed to playing our part in supporting the decarbonisation of energy grids in markets in which we operate data centres, said Eoin Doherty, vice president, EMEA regional leader, Microsoft Cloud Operations + Innovation.

The deal with Microsoft will also provide for a Community Benefit Fund of approximately 150,000 per year.

Mary Lynch, portfolio director at FuturEnergy Ireland, said the Lenalea windfarm is the first of seven projects the venture will deliver in partnership with SSE Renewables.

She added that collaborations and partnerships are critical if Ireland is to meet its climate action goals.

Tanaiste Micheal Martin will open Irelands annual Offshore Wind Conference on Thursday.

Hundreds of delegates from the Irish and global offshore wind industry expect to hear details of the new sites identified by the Government for development off the south coast, as well as the draft terms and conditions for Irelands second offshore wind auction which is due to take place before the end of the year. Ireland has a target of generating 80pc of its energy requirements from renewable sources by 2030. The International Energy Agency said earlier this year that data centres will consume almost a third of Irelands total electricity by 2026. In 2022, they consumed 18pc of Irelands metered electricity, according to the Central Statistics Office. Thats up from 5pc in 2015.


A senior executive with a pharmaceutical company has brought a High Court challenge over a disciplinary process initiated after he was alleged to have harassed a junior female colleague after a Christmas party.

Sean Brennan, a senior vice-president and global head of product quality and surveillance at Takeda Pharmaceuticals International, strongly rejects all of the allegations against him.

Mr Brennan is the subject of an internal disciplinary process over allegations including that he harassed a female colleague in the aftermath of the firms Christmas party at a Dublin hotel last December.

He claims he was investigated by his employer following allegations that on the night of the Christmas party, he engaged in inappropriate touching of a junior female colleague.

It is also alleged that he made unwanted sexual advances towards her, firstly at a private hotel room and later at an informal after-party at another private hotel room, when the party had ended.

In the days after the alleged incidents, Mr Brennan claims, an internal investigation was commenced by the defendant.

Mr Brennan, of Aubrey Manor, Rathcoole, Co Dublin, claims that process is flawed on several grounds, including that he was refused the opportunity to cross-examine his accuser and other witnesses who provided evidence against him.

A final report by the investigators was provided to Mr Brennan. It concluded that he had behaved in an inappropriate manner, which he claims amounts to a finding that he had engaged in harassment.

Mr Brennan denies those claims and says the investigators have acted outside of their jurisdiction in making findings against him, and that the report appears to be an attempt to influence the disciplinary panel.

The investigators had no right to make findings of fact against him, and findings should be made independently of the investigators, he claims. The events complained of took place at a location not paid for by the employer and was not at a work-social event, he says.

Mr Brennan says the findings against him by the investigators are demonstrably unfair, patently illogical, unreasonable and contrary to common sense.

He claims that arising out of the findings contained in the investigation report, he is due before a disciplinary panel on Friday, May 3, which will decide on what action, if any, to take if he is found to have breached his employers code of conduct.

Mr Brennan has been warned that he may be dismissed from his employment.

Represented by Ian FitzHarris BL and Mark Harty SC, Mr Brennan claims the investigation into the allegations has been at all times in fundamental and serious breach of fair procedures, constitutional and natural justice.

He fears that any finding against him will have an adverse impact on his reputation. He has never been the subject of a disciplinary process before, he says.

Mr Brennan has worked for the company since 2010.

Following a direction from his employer last December, he has been working from home. The court heard that in correspondence, the employer denies any impropriety or unfairness has occurred in the probe.

On Thursday, Mr Justice Mark Sanfey granted Mr Brennan, on an ex-parte (one side only represented) basis, a temporary injunction restraining the company from continuing with the disciplinary process.

The judge, who noted a lot of work appeared to have been put into the process by the defendant, said that he expected the employer to robustly defend the process when the matter returns before the court.

However, he was satisfied that the plaintiffs claim that the process is flawed is arguable, and given the serious consequences for Mr Brennans employment, was satisfied to grant a temporary injunction.

The matter was adjourned for a week.
Trump saw that Ireland stepped up: former American Chamber CEO says White House return by the ex-president is no economic threat

Mark Redmond believes the solid business links between the two countries are built to stand the test of time

Mark Redmond. Picture Conor McCabe Photography.

John Burns Thu 2 May 2024 at 03:30

How worried should Ireland be about a second Trump presidency, of the Donald returning to the White House for another bout of making America great again, and America First. Not worried at all, if you listen to Mark Redmond, who is well placed to make a call on this, having just done a decade as CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland.
The objector wanted to see the brewery built in a different part of Kildare that he believed needed a boost

A CGI rendering of the proposed site for Diageo's new brewery in Littleconnell, Newbridge, Co Kildare. Photo: Diageo

The way is now clear for drinks giant Diageo to build its planned 200m brewery for Newbridge, Co Kildare.

This follows the sole objector to the brewery, John Lynch, withdrawing his High Court challenge seeking to quash An Bord Pleanalas December green light for the project.

The farmer and undertaker has withdrawn his proceedings after mediation talks with Guinness producer, Diageo. Mr Lynchs opposition against the Newbridge brewery was based on his belief that it should instead be built in Athy due to environmental and job concerns for Athy.

Plans were first lodged for the brewery in July 2022 and a spokeswoman for Diageo said yesterday: After a process of mediation, we are pleased to have resolved all matters with Mr Lynch, who has now withdrawn his court proceedings.

With immediate effect, we are happy to move forward with our plans to build Irelands first carbon-neutral brewery and see Diageos 200m investment come to life supporting Irish jobs, trade, sustainability, and the local community.

The objector wanted to see the brewery built in a different part of Kildare that he believed needed a boost

The spokeswoman added: As part of the mediation process, Diageo has agreed to consider Athy as a possible location for future developments.

In an interview, Mr Lynch said: Diageo has my best wishes to build the brewery in Newbridge, even though I will believe to my dying day that it should be built in Athy.

He said: This was the first time that I ever objected to anything in my life and I am 74 years of age, but I felt so strongly that it should have been built in Athy which is the malting barley capital of Ireland.

If you ask me today, the brewery should still be in Athy.

I tried as hard I could and I pushed it as hard as I could to get Diageo to build the brewery in Athy but I personally could not push it any further. My only motive in objecting to the Newbridge brewery was to try to create employment in Athy and bring prosperity to Athy.

Mr Lynch said that he was never in the High Court but I felt the only way to bring future employment into Athy was to try to make a deal with them. Mr Lynch said that he has signed up to a confidentiality agreement.

The new brewery for Littleconnell will provide a major jobs boost to the area, providing up to 1,000 jobs during the 20-month construction period and creating a further 70 jobs when operational. The new facility, which will operate 24 hours a day 365 days a year, is to brew lagers and ales.
H5N1 virus has until now rarely been found in cows

Cows graze in a field at a dairy farm on April 26, 2024 in Petaluma, California. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is ordering dairy producers to test cows that produce milk for infections from highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI H5N1) before the animals are transported to a different state following the discovery of the virus in samples of pasteurized milk taken by the Food and Drug Administration. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

There is a risk that the H5N1 bird flu virus, present in many wild birds, may infect cows in countries beyond the United States as they migrate, a World Health Organization official said on Tuesday.

U.S. officials are seeking to verify the safety of milk and meat after confirming the H5N1 virus in 34 dairy cattle herds in nine states since late March, and in one person in Texas.

"With the virus carried around the world by migratory birds, certainly there is a risk for cows in other countries to be getting infected," Wenqing Zhang, head of WHO's Global Influenza Programme, said at a news briefing in Geneva.

The virus is widespread among wild birds in the United States and sometimes infects poultry and even outdoor cats, but up until now, has been rare in cows.

Zhang reiterated that the U.N. agency deems the overall public health risk posed by the virus to be low but urged vigilance, especially among farm workers.

While the virus is not thought to be able to spread through milk, Zhang repeated long-standing WHO advice to only consume pasteurised milk.

Asked to evaluate U.S. transparency on the outbreak so far, Zhang said the global body had received regular updates and praised a decision to share the virus' genetic sequence early.

"I do think the collaboration with U.S. CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and the information we've received so far enables us to monitor the situation and to update the preparedness measures," she said.

Reuters
The family of late sports broadcaster Paudie Palmer have criticised "offensive" suggestions that he was somehow to blame for the collision that led to his death.

The Palmer family gave victim impact statements before Cork Circuit Criminal Court where Bohdan Bezverkhyi (33), a native of Ukraine but with an address at Rigsdale House in Ballinhassig, Co Cork, was sentenced for dangerous driving causing the death of Mr Palmer (65).
Appointments at night and weekend designed to greatly reduce backlog

There is a limit to the number of fillings dentists can provide under the medical card scheme. Photo: PA

Private and public dentists are offering to hold evening and weekend clinics in a bid to ease the crisis facing medical card patients who are finding it difficult to get treatment.

There are only 810 dentists listed as participating in the scheme countrywide, with just 600 of those active.

The Irish Dental Association (IDA) has proposed an interim emergency scheme under which HSE dental clinics would be opened at night and weekends, allowing public and private dentists to treat medical card patients caught in a backlog, the Oireachtas Health Committee was told yesterday.

The organisations chief executive Fintan Hourihan said it is awaiting a response from the HSE.

Asked if it is considering the proposal, a spokesperson for the HSE said: The HSE welcomes the proposal and will discuss the initiative, which may enable additional short-term dental access to be provided to medical card holders.

The feasibility and initiation of such an initiative will require consultation and planning, the timeline for which is not available at present.

Mr Hourihan said that in 2014, there were 1,600 dentists signed up to treat medical card holders, but many have dropped out of providing the service and the situation has descended into chaos.

There was a small rise in numbers of treatments provided after increased payments were made to dentists last year, but barely one in four dentists participates in this scheme and the number of patients seen is 35pc less than in 2014, he added.

Mr Hourihan said dentists are using their private income to subsidise the scheme, and unlike GPs they get no subsidies towards operating costs.

However, he said economics alone are not the issue.

Under the scheme, dentists get around 50pc to 60pc of what they would receive from a private fee.

Dentists are frustrated by the limited care they can provide to medical card holders, as there is a limit on the number of fillings they can provide under the scheme.

It is a disincentive to dentists who do not want to have to resort to extractions as the only treatment left.

It is like a patient going to a GP and being told the only treatment they can provide is amputation, Mr Hourihan said.

The dentists want a new scheme to be drawn up and are available for talks with the Department of Health.

Dr Caroline Robins, a dentist in Carlow, said: Just because the patient has a medical card, my hands are tied behind my back. It is so demoralising.

Dr Will Rymer, a dentist in Tipperary, said young dentists have no desire to work in the scheme because of the restrictions put on them.

You are constantly firefighting and not getting to practise your profession, he said. Patients are falling between the cracks. They do not have people to advocate for them.

The IDA said successive year-on-year polls showed over 90pc of members want to see a state scheme to assist access for lower-income groups to dental care.
Up to 100 asylum-seekers outside IPAS office on Mount St told no accommodation availableGovernment launches drive to buy and rent empty properties to house asylum-seekersWorking nursing homes, student accommodation and social housing will not be consideredTaoiseach insists no gardai will be sent to the Border after Sunak demands urgent clarificationTent city cleared on Dublins Mount StreetAsylum applicants left to wander the streets last night after being turned away at International Protection OfficeAontu leader Peadar Toibin labels plan to buy or rent more properties as seriously ill advised.

The Government has launched a drive to buy or rent empty properties from landlords, developers and builders to help house record numbers of asylum-seekers.

The Department of Integration is looking for buildings that either need extensive renovation or are in usable condition. A tender for expressions of interest has been put out. Currently working nursing homes, student accommodation, housing earmarked for social housing or accommodation planned for use by other arms of Government will not be considered. The properties offered must have over 150 bed spaces.

It comes as up to 100 asylum-seekers who gathered outside the International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) office on Mount Street in Dublin have been told there is no accommodation available for them today. They were given details of homeless services.

Letters issued to International Protection applicants say: "Due to the accommodation shortage within IPAS no further offers of accommodation can be made at this time

The letter says that their details have been taken and any offer of accommodation will be made by email where appropriate. RTE reported that gardai told the men they must disperse. The office is now closed.

A major operation was undertaken in Dublin yesterday to move hundreds of asylum-seekers who had been sleeping in a large encampment of tents around the IPAS centre.

An asylum-seeker from Pakistan, who has a disability, told the Irish Independent he has nowhere to go tonight.

Yesterday I came here but I still dont have accommodation and food, he said.

Because I have a disability, I fear more about myself now. He said they know nothing and dont know whats happening.

"We still do not have any idea where we are going tonight, he added.

Salim Dkhlalaa said he arrived in Ireland in February.

Today I came down to get a blue card (Temporary Residence Certificate).

Salim, who lost his wallet two days ago, said he also has nowhere to go.

Letters were circulated to those gathered on Mount Street today

Another man outside the IPAS office said he had been living in the tents on Mount Street for four months.

They moved the tents. I have nowhere to sleep, he added.

Meanwhile, the Department of Integration has put out a tender to builders, developers, landlords and property owners for vacant housing which could be turned into asylum seeker accommodation. The tender was formally issued earlier this week.

Buildings which are planned, with full planning permission but are not built will be considered; as well as those which need renovations and those in turnkey condition are listed in the tender.

Among the requirements listed as desirable but are not mandatory include self catering; space for shop; space for ancillary services which may be medical or education; office space; indoor space for recreation; outdoor space for gardens, playgrounds, or basketball courts; as well as parking and spaces for buses or delivery trucks.

The tender also says the buildings can be in a populated area or with easy access to nearest populated area via public transport. They also may have easy access to shops and GPs either by foot or public transport. These are not listed as mandatory criteria.

Builders, developers and property owners have until the end of April 2025 to to put forward their expressions of interest.

A government source acknowledged there were very severe challenges in accommodating men seeking international protection.

The new tender reads: The department is seeking expressions of interest from property owners, private developers and building contractors who are interested in selling or leasing: existing properties/buildings in turnkey condition; existing properties that require upgrading/refurbishment/renovation.

All properties acquired through this expression-of-interest process will be to provide accommodation for international protection (IP) applicants and must be on the terms of vacant possession.

Aontu leader Peadar Toibin labelled the plan to buy or rent more properties as seriously ill advised.

The State is the biggest hoarder of empty homes in the country. This government is completely and utterly incompetent when it comes to housing and accommodation, he said.

The move comes at a time of unprecedented demand for homes on the private market amid a shortage of supply for buyers. The Government is also considering cutting social welfare rates for all Ukrainians who are here already.

There are only 1,184 permanent State-owned beds for international protection applicants.

The Government wants to increase this to 13,000 under long-term plans to accommodate asylum-seekers.

Currently, there are more than 20,800 beds for asylum-seekers in emergency accommodation and an additional 6,173 permanent beds, both on a commercial basis.

Separately, it has emerged that gardai will arrest asylum-seekers who return to pitch tents in the city centre, but only if they commit a criminal offence such as trespass or a public order offence.

Arrests will be made when there is a legal basis for it  there was two arrests made yesterday, for example, a source said.

The big issue in the Dublin 2 area where the tents were located were criminal complaints of trespassing in relation to public and private entities  any complaint made to An Garda Siochana will be fully investigated.

Early yesterday, the operation got under way on Mount Street to move up to 200 asylum-seekers to facilities at Citywest and Crooksling.

A total of 60 international protection applicants were transported last night from Crooksling, Co Dublin, to the Co Wicklow site at River Lodge, also known as Trudder House, in Newtownmountkennedy.

The HSE-owned site has been the scene of protests in recent weeks after local people opposed plans to house asylum-seekers there.

Government sources said gardai would be asked to ensure camps do not return to the city.

New asylum-seekers began arriving at the International Protection Office (IPO) on Mount Street after lunchtime yesterday, just hours after the controversial tent city around it had been dismantled.

A group of about 50 asylum applicants remained in a holding area at the entrance to the office by the time it closed at 6pm yesterday, and scuffles broke out as some of them could then not board a bus to take them to accommodation.

They were told there was no accommodation for the night, that the office was closed and they could come back in the morning.

Among them was 30-year-old Imran Nasir from Afghanistan, who told the Irish Independent he had been sleeping in a tent on Mount Street, but after spending a night on a friends couch he arrived on Wednesday morning to find his tent had been taken away.

My tent is gone so I will have to wander the streets. I might go to the park and sleep there, he said.

Taoiseach Simon Harris has said the situation on Mount Street had become completely unacceptable.

He thanked the state agencies involved in the removal of the tent city.

In a statement, he said: The international protection applicants have been taken to safe shelter with appropriate sanitary facilities, hot food, a clean place to eat, access to medical help and a bus link to Dublin city centre.

The laws of our land must always be upheld, and we cannot have unsafe and illegal encampments in our cities or towns.

Separately, UK prime minister Rishi Sunak urged the Irish Government not to send gardai into border areas amid a row over asylum-seekers crossing from the North into the Republic.

Mr Sunak said Dublin must uphold its promises to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland and avoid setting up checkpoints to prevent asylum-seekers entering the country.

Diplomatic tensions between London and Dublin increased in recent days after Justice Minister Helen McEntee claimed there had been an upsurge in asylum-seekers crossing the Border following the passing of the UKs Safety of Rwanda Act.

Answering questions in the House of Commons, Mr Sunak said ministers were seeking urgent clarification that there will be no disruption or police checkpoints at or near the Border and that there must not be cherry-picking of important international agreements.

The Taoiseach later confirmed no gardai would be sent to border areas.

Asked whether the UK government had sought clarification from Dublin that there would be no police checkpoints at the Border, Mr Harris said: I have no idea, but of course there wont be."

The UKs Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris later yesterday held a phone call with Tanaiste Micheal Martin during which the Tanaiste reiterated that no gardai were being sent to the Border.

In a statement following the constructive call, Mr Heaton-Harris said: The Tanaiste confirmed that there will be no deployment of officers from An Garda Siochana (Irish police) to the Northern Ireland/Ireland border and that the Irish Government shared a steadfast commitment to securing the external border of the Common Travel Area.

Another focal point of the diplomatic row centred on Dublin passing emergency legislation to deem the UK as a safe country for the return of asylum seekers.

Both governments have acknowledged the existence of an operational agreement which provides for the reciprocal return of asylum seekers between the UK and Ireland, but Downing Street has said it contains no legal obligations to accept them.

In a softening of language, the statement from the Northern Ireland Office on Wednesday concluded: The Secretary of State reiterated that the UK will not accept any readmissions or returns arrangements that are not in our interest.

Sinn Fein housing spokesperson Eoin O Broin said a better stream of emergency temporary accommodation is also required to deal with the large numbers of international protection applicants who are currently without housing.

People should not be sleeping on the streets, he told RTE Radio Ones Morning Ireland on Thursday. The concerns many people have is that the Government doesnt have an actual plan to provide a particular State-led provision of good quality, temporary accommodation and therefore theyre flailing about.

Mr O Broin said engagement with local communities is crucial and those concerns around a coherent plan are the core of the issues, though there are some bad faith actors or people on the far-right who are agitating.

Nobody choses to sleep in a tent. If we had a proper, functioning international protection system where people were treated in a fair, efficient and enforced manner, we wouldnt have ever had those kinds of scenes, he said.

He said the solution to the situation on Mount Street is to provide an adequate accommodation response where applicants can stay while their application is being assessed.

What I want is the Government to get their act together and not say things which are clearly for the public optics, Mr O Broin added.
West coast holds key to generating up to 100 times our power needs

There have been objections to offshore wind farms  however floating farms could avoid this, when they are viable

Environment Minister Eamon Ryan rubbished claims by Fianna Fail senator Lisa Chambers that he is failing to capitalise on our wind resources

Environment Minister Eamon Ryan has criticised politicians making false promises about pushing offshore wind farms out of the publics sight.

Floating wind farms could be positioned so far out to sea that their electricity generating turbines would not be visible from shore.

They could also open up the west coasts deep seas to a wind energy bonanza, whereas all but one of six offshore wind farms currently under development are located on the shallower east coast, where they can be drilled into the seabed.

The minister warned, however, that floating wind farm technology was not sufficiently developed to cope with conditions in Irish waters.

I would love to see floating offshore wind deployable today because thats really our big opportunity, he said.

But Im sorry I have to inform some of our colleagues in government that its not technically available or viable today.

Mr Ryan was responding to criticisms from Fianna Fail senator and European Parliament election candidate Lisa Chambers, who accused him of ignoring the wind potential off the coast of her western constituency and refusing to develop floating turbines.

I could be dishonest with the Irish people and go out and give false promises, but thats not helping anyone, he said. What was said is not true, its not accurate, its not informed.

The nearest examples of floating wind farms are off Scotland, but they are small and operate in wave heights of 10 metres, Mr Ryan said.

We have 18-metre wave height and limited safe shipping days off the west coast. We need the technology to evolve further. Thats the major players in the industry saying that, he said.

Mr Ryan spoke ahead of a gathering of industry today for the start of a two-day Wind Energy Ireland (WEI) conference.

WEI is calling for clarity on Irelands plans for developing wind energy projects in deeper waters.

It comes as six fixed-bottom offshore wind farms, five on the east coast and one off Galway, prepare to seek planning permission this summer.

Some opposition is building in local communities over the proximity of the 300-metre-high turbines to the shoreline in areas of importance to tourism and nature.

WEI chief executive Noel Cunniffe said it was critical that those projects proceed, but added: We can make Ireland a world leader in floating wind energy.

We need clarity from the Government on their plans for a floating wind energy demonstrator project. How big will it be? Where will it be located? How will it connect to the electricity grid? Our members are eager to get to work.

A report published yesterday by Mr Ryan addressed some of those questions.

The Future Framework for Offshore Renewable Energy strategy says if all the wind available in Irish waters was captured  a highly hypothetical scenario  it could generate 597 gigawatts (GW) of electricity, more than 100 times the electricity used by the entire country.

It commits to a more realistic aim of generating 20GW by 2040 and 37GW by 2050.

Even at that output, Ireland could become an electricity exporter, selling power abroad via the two existing interconnectors, two currently under development and up to six more proposed.

Most of it would come from the seas off the west coast where wind speeds are highest and most consistent, but where water depth is much greater.

Two new floating wind demonstrator sites will be developed off the south and west coasts, while an existing site off Co Mayo will get continuing support.

The strategy also commits to developing Designated Maritime Area Plans (DMAPs) in the seas off the south and west coasts specifically for floating wind generation.

Irelands first DMAP for fixed-bottom wind will be published tomorrow before going to public consultation with the aim of having it approved by the Oireachtas by summer.

DMAPs will specify where offshore wind companies can seek sites to propose and develop projects.

The six projects due to go to planning this summer are on sites that developers chose, leading to criticisms they were picked chiefly for commercial convenience.

Under the DMAP system, large areas are surveyed to narrow down the sites that interfere least with fishing grounds, shipping lanes, underwater cabling, sensitive habitats and local amenity.

Work on the south and west DMAPs is expected to get under way in the coming year.

Mr Ryan said the aim was to be ready to accept floating wind projects when the technology made them feasible.

Korea, Japan and the US were beginning to invest in floating technology to harness the winds off their deep-sea coasts, and this would bring advances that Ireland would be able to benefit from.

Its going to come, but its in the 10 to 20-year horizon, Mr Ryan said.
Migrants have hit out at the high cost of living in Ireland, as the Department of Justice charges 300 for a residency card with no reduction on renewal each year.

The State collected over 71 million from issuing of migrant registration cards in 2023, the highest ever recorded, and an increase of one-third (18 million) in a single year.

Every year thousands of people from outside the EU and their family members face a registration fee for living here.

The Irish Residence Permit (IRP) card costs 300 for everyone aged of 18, yet it only costs the State around 20 to produce and deliver each card.

Now cardholders are complaining that the fee is the same for first registration and renewal  as if people legally here are being held to ransom.

Lijie Shao, spokesperson for the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland  which has launched a Fair Fees Campaign  said Minister for Justice Helen McEntee told us last June that the card fee would be reviewed by March 2024.

Now we are in May and still paying this exorbitant fee. Its having a huge negative impact on peoples lives, she said.

This fee doubled in 2012 as an austerity measure and has not been reduced since. It is set much higher than similar fees in other European countries  such as 16 in Greece, 20 in Austria, up to 22 in Spain and 42 in Switzerland.

The fee has generated 318 million for the Exchequer in the last decade, in which time it only cost 22 million to process and deliver the cards.

Today's News in 90 seconds - 2nd May 2024

Kareshma Sookharry, originally from Mauritius, who works as a catering assistant said: It is always hard for me as a single mother to find any extra money for the IRP card.

There were times when we have to go without basics just to have money to pay the fee. I pay monthly rent of 1,300 on top of bills, food, childcare, medical expenses while also supporting my parents. The IRP card fees always leave us in a big hole financially, she said.

Neil Bruton of the MRCI said: The issuing of an IRP card is a simple and inexpensive procedure just like renewing a passport.

A standard 10-year passport costs 75 and a driving licence costs 55 for first time and renewal and lasts 10 years. Yet the price of an IRP card is much higher and is charged every year.

He added: Reducing these fees is the right thing to do and will show that Ireland values students, workers and families who make their home here and contribute so much to our society.
A large number of arrests are expected in relation to last weeks violent protests at a building that now houses 60 asylum-seekers in Newtownmountkennedy, Co Wicklow.

The investigation into the incidents and associated activities across the country is considered policing priority number one, garda sources said.

A senior officer in the Eastern Region, who holds the rank of superintendent, has been appointed to oversee the investigation, which involves studying hundreds of hours of social media and CCTV footage.

Four people have been charged following the public disorder incident, but sources said the real instigators of the violence are yet to be brought before the courts.

Gardai remove 200 asylum seekers from Mount Street on coaches

These are individuals that travelled sometimes in taxis from locations in Dublin such as Tallaght, Coolock and Clondalkin. They incited local people, many of whom were genuine protesters in this matter, a source said.

This case is for now being run at a local level, but it is envisaged that the expertise of the Special Detective Unit may be required in due course.

It is understood the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (Gsoc) is also monitoring what happened in Co Wicklow last week.

At least two Dublin-based individuals with alleged links to the far right have already been identified, while tensions remain high in the Co Wicklow town.

Apart from a large-scale public-order deployment, the Irish Independent can reveal that the number of regular gardai deployed in Newtownmountkennedy has been doubled from two to four, with plans for another four officers in the coming weeks.

This is all about making the public safe  a policing plan is in place in respect of all parts of this situation, a source said.

The latest development comes after asylum-seekers who had been living in small flimsy tents on Mount Street in Dublin city were moved to more secure tented accommodation at Citywest and Crooksling.

Some of the asylum-seekers who had been at Crooksling are now at River Lodge, also known as Trudder House, in Newtownmountkennedy.

There is accommodation at the property for up to 40 more people, and community gardai on the ground are attempting to reassure local residents on the matter.
Perimenopausal women have a 40pc higher risk of depression, a new study has shown.

The research is an analysis of seven previous international studies involving more than 9,000 women and was undertaken by academics from the University College London.

As a result, the founder of Irelands first menopause-dedicated clinics has called for free midlife health checks for women.

Women usually go through perimenopause three to five years before the onset of menopause.

During that time, they might experience symptoms such as low mood, anxiety, low self-esteem, hot flushes, heart palpitations and weight gain.

The research has revealed that women during perimenopause were at a significantly higher risk for depressive symptoms and diagnoses.

This risk is set to be 40pc higher than premenopausal women.

It is due to the fall-off in oestrogen that women experience during menopause that might trigger new symptoms or worsen pre-existing depressive symptoms, experts suggest.

Founder and the chair of the Menopause Hub, Loretta Dignam, said: This study confirms what we have known from our own research and through our qualified staff at our clinics.

"Many women won't go to a doctor for a routine check-up if they are not showing any symptoms of menopause and many women don't realise that depression can be a serious symptom, she added.

The Menopause Hub is Irelands first dedicated clinic for treating menopausal and perimenopausal symptoms.

It has five clinics located in Mount Merrion, South Dublin, Santry, North Dublin and Ballincollig in Co Cork.

All clinics of the Menopause Hub have treated more than 10,000 women since their opening five years ago.

Ms Dignam is now calling on the Government to introduce free midlife health checks for all perimenopausal women, aiming to diagnose any issues at an early stage.

She said that women tend to put feelings of sadness or anger down to daily stresses.

"When menopausal women were asked by the Menopause Hub what is the best thing that could be provided for them by the Government, 86pc of our 3,000 respondents said they would like a free midlife health check, Ms Dignam added.

These health checks could also detect many other perimenopausal symptoms, such as joint pain and concentration lapses through blood tests, and provide an opportunity for women to discuss their feelings with their GP.
Taoiseach Simon Harris got the backing of his parliamentary party tonight in his spat with British prime minister Rishi Sunak.

But there was an attack on the Minister for Justice at the Fianna Fail parliamentary party meeting  and a call for her to appear before it.

Cork East TD James OConnor said he had serious concerns about the performance of Helen McEntee, labelling as disastrous her performance at the Justice committee last week.

A serious conversation had to be had about her handling of law and order and Roderic OGormans role in the Department of Integration, he said.

Tanaiste Micheal Martin has played down internal Government tensions and is supportive of ministers from other parties.

But Mr Martin was told that Ms McEntee and Mr OGorman should both come before the Fianna Fail parliamentary party to answer questions and hear the concerns of backbench TDs.

Such guest appearances have become a feature of this Dail, although they are still uncommon.

Gardai remove 200 asylum seekers from Mount Street on coaches

At the Fianna Fail meeting, the Tanaiste said the amending legislation agreed this week would allow the return people to the UK under post-Brexit arrangements on the Common Travel Area (CTA).

He acknowledged that communication and engagement must improve on all fronts on the migrant issue.

Mr Martin said he wants to see a Covid-style response. Numbers of people claiming asylum have increased considerably over the past 18 to 24 months, and this has created significant challenges for the State, he said.

Political slogans or promises like we have seen  an apparent reference to Mr Sunak  wont solve the issue, the Tanaiste said.

Further cooperation on an international level and working with our EU partners is the only solution, he said.

The enhancement to the EU screening systems will help process applications faster, which is one of the keyways deal with the situation, he said.

Mr OConnor was supported by Senator Lisa Chambers, who is running in the West in the Euro elections.

There was also said to be audible support in the room.

Fine Gael party chairman Alan Farrell, meanwhile, confirmed the backing of members for the leader, who was reassured it would blow over.

Mr Harris said he was not being drawn into British politics, noting again that local elections are being held across the UK on Thursday.

The Taoiseach also told the parliamentary party meeting that the 268 people removed from the makeshift camp in Mount Street, Dublin, would not be coming back.

The Fine Gael leader said he was pleased with the multi-agency operation in Mount St and added there were serious humanitarian concerns with what had been going on beside the International Protection Office.

There were suggestions that it was a form of intimidation of officials and thereby an attempt to influence the entire Government.

Former Taoiseach and party leader Leo Varadkar did not attend the parliamentary party for the first time. The exchanges on migration and the international row over border crossings was said to be subdued, with Mr Harris winning praise for the co-ordinated Mount Street operation, which was said to have the support of the public.

A Fianna Fail source said: There were a few digs at McEntee and Roderic.

A Fine Gael source said some had stressed the need to be firm and fair with migrants, with a suggestion that we have been fair and we have to be firm.

But Paschal Donohoe, Minister for Public Enterprise, reminded members that migrants were contributing substantially to the economy, and were it not for them, a lot of jobs would be unfilled in our society.

Ms McEntee spoke to the Fine Gael meeting but her contribution was low-key and lasted less than a minute.

Mr Harris separately said good work is underway, outside of the Budgetary he will chair a meeting on Thursday to ensure further action on road safety.

On University Hospital Limerick, the Fine Gael meeting heard that an experienced team is now in place to work on patient flow for coming weeks following public outrage over the death of Aoife Johnston.
Department of Justice officials warned that UK plans to deport asylum-seekers to Rwanda were likely to make migrants think twice and look at other options like Ireland.

In a briefing on deportation, Minister Helen McEntee was told that while Britains Rwanda policy was mired in legal actions, it was still likely to have a knock-on effect for other states.

It said it could make Ireland seem like an attractive alternative or as a stepping stone to later getting back into the UK permanently.

The briefing, which was prepared in 2022 as the department considered an end to a Covid-19 moratorium on deportations, said UK policy on migration would inevitably affect Ireland.

It said: The first transfer of refugees from the UK to Rwanda has yet to succeed. It is currently mired in legal actions.

While it remains to be seen how successful the UKs much-criticised attempt to outsource its immigrant processing to Rwanda will be in reality, [it could be that the chance] of being removed to that state would cause migrants to the UK to think twice and seek alternatives.

The briefing said if the UK was successful in reducing or deterring arrivals, neighbouring states would feel the impact. Ireland may ultimately be seen as an attractive alternative, or a stepping stone to the UK via eventual Irish citizenship and the Common Travel Area at a later date. Such behaviour would not be new, said the briefing.

The warnings about the Rwanda plan emerge as Justice Minister Helen McEntee said last week that at least 80pc of migrants were crossing the Border from Northern Ireland amid a diplomatic row with the UK over immigration.

The briefing also discussed the complexity of carrying out deportations, even in cases which involved serious criminality. It said the only enforced removals that took place during the pandemic were ones where an individual was deemed to carry an unacceptable risk to public safety.

However, these had been few and far between, and even still could be stopped by a person making a late application for international protection.

Officials wrote: 

It is not desirable from a public-safety perspective that individuals with serious criminal records or other offences considered suitable for deportation, should remain at liberty in this State for prolonged periods while the State deals with potentially vexatious applications.

It also cited difficulties in getting certain countries to accept deportees back.

This stemmed from pandemic-related issues, dysfunctional administrative capabilities and outright unwillingness to co-operate.

The moratorium on removals had also created another problem where deportation orders signed prior to the Covid-19 pandemic might no longer be as robust and be subject to legal challenge. The fact is that peoples circumstances change, and someone considered suitable for deportation three years ago may now, for example, be married to an Irish citizen or have Irish-born children.

There were also questions over whether some of the people subject to older deportation orders were even here any more. Ireland is not in a position to ascertain who has left the State as it has no exit controls, said the briefing.

The Department of Justice was contacted for a response.
Some of the tents that were put up for migrants in the Mount Street area of Dublin. Photo: Steve Humphreys

New supports for unaccompanied migrant children are being finalised by the Government.

There are 114 asylum seeker children who are separated from their parents and guardians, according to latest figures provided to the Cabinet sub-committee on Migration on Thursday.

Most of these are aged over 17.

A further 108 Ukrainian refugee children are also unaccompanied.

However, there are issues in accommodating children who reach the age of 18 due to a lack of beds for asylum seekers and those who reach the age of 18 and need to move out into the private rental market.

The Government is working on a new model of support for unaccompanied minors, it is understood.

Tusla, the child and family agency, has had to make urgent arrangements with unregulated providers to house migrant children as asylum seeker and refugee numbers increased in recent months.

Hiqa also found a number of issues at IPAS centres, including failures to ensure Garda staff were vetted and that safeguarding policies were in place.

Accommodation providers have now submitted compliance plans to improve their services so they are compliant with national standards.

There were over 66,700 Ukrainian refugees in State accommodation at the end of April.

There are over 28,700 asylum seekers housed by the State, including 6,000 who have been granted leave to remain but remain in international protection housing due to a shortage of properties to rent.

Over 1,700 adult single men seeking asylum are currently awaiting an offer of accommodation from the State.

Over 33,000 migrants have sought asylum since 2022.

This is greater than the total number of applications received over the previous eight years, which was nearly 23,400.

Since the start of this year, 6,826 international protection applications have come in which is the highest number on record for such a period.

If the high numbers were to continue, record numbers of asylum seekers would be seeking protection in the State over the rest of the year.
High Court ruling means international applicants arriving from UK could be sent back to country of originHelen McEntee tells meeting fast processing times for safe countries has reduced number of people coming to Ireland by 50pc

A significant number of Nigerian asylum-seekers face being sent back to Nigeria due to the ongoing row with the UK, Justice Minister Helen McEntee has told a Cabinet sub-committee.

A senior government source said Ms McEntee told the meeting there has been an increase in the number of Nigerians coming to Ireland from the UK.

The minister said Nigerian international protection applicants now face being sent back to Nigeria, once their cases are heard by international protection officials, due to the recent High Court case which raised questions about returning asylum seekers to the UK.

Ms McEntees comments follow a diplomatic row over comments she made about at least 80pc of asylum-seekers arriving in Ireland from the UK across the Border.

UK prime minister Rishi Sunak said his government will not accept asylum seekers being returned from Ireland unless other parts of the EU accept returning migrants from his country.

The Minister told the meeting the fast processing times for safe countries has reduced the numbers of people coming to Ireland from those countries by 50pc.

Minister McEntee said Georgia was added to the safe countries list when it had the highest number of applicants. Its now not in the top ten.

The meeting also heard legislation the cabinet approved to close the legal loophole following the high court ruling the UK was not a safe country would be passed through the House by June.

A High Court case recently ruled in favour of asylum-seekers who wanted to be prevent being returned to the UK as the country was not safe due to the forthcoming policy of sending unsuccessful international applicants to Rwanda.

Minister McEntee is drafting legislation with Attorney General Rossa Fanning to ensure migrants can be returned to the UK under a post-Brexit deal agreed by both governments.

However, Mr Sunak has insisted his government is under no legal obligation to accept asylum seekers from Ireland even if they have status in the UK.

Ms McEntee told the Cabinet sub-committee that asylum seekers who are being processed through the fast-track system, which includes Nigerians even though it is not designated safe country, will be processed shortly and may be returned to their country origin, if their international protection application is rejected.

The Government recently decided to fast-track applications from countries with the majority of people arriving even if their home states are deemed unsafe. At present, the highest volume of asylum-seekers are from Nigeria.

The expedited process, which mostly deals with applicants from safe countries, means cases are decided on within three months and asylum-seekers are allowed stay or given deportation orders.

Asylum-seekers can appeal but the majority of decisions are upheld.

The Cabinet Sub Committee on Migration also decided extra resources will be made available to assist communities where asylum-seekers are being accommodated.

A senior official will also be appointed to the Department of Integration to coordinate the accommodation of migrants with communities. The Government is also working on a campaign to tackle disinformation.

The committee met after gardai and other state agencies moved to clear a migrant encampment from outside the International Protection Office (IPO) on Mount Street in Dublin.

The Government is grappling with the immigration crisis which escalated in the last week following Ms McEntees comments about the Northern Ireland border.

On Wednesday, the Fianna Fail parliamentary party meeting heard calls from James OConnor for the minister to address a meet and outline what she is doing to address the on going crisis.
THE Tanaiste has dismissed the Daily Telegraph as "the right-wing Tory press" after it claimed on its front page this morning that gardai were being sent to the border to tackle immigration.

Micheal Martin was told by Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon that the Government's recent "chaos" on migration was "a PR boon to the Tory party in their election campaign". He added: "You couldn't make it up."

The Tanaiste, referring to today's local elections in the UK, replied: "We'll see by the end of the night, whether it's been a PR boon or not."

The Conservatives are predicted to lose hundreds of seats in councils across Britain in today's poll, with a UK general election also looming this year.

Mr Gannon said Mr Martin had told his parliamentary party on Wednesday night communication and engagement on migration needed to improve "on all fronts.

It was incredible that Mr Martin had acknowledge it "this far into the chaos", Mr Gannon said. "Every couple of months you've promised that you will improve communications, Mr Gannon said.

"It's very hard to communicate a plan for migration that you very clearly don't have."

Mr Gannon asked when "this shambolic Government" was going to get its act together and put a proper plan in place for migration.

Mr Martin replied: "You couldn't make it up - a left-wing deputy like yourself, invoking the right-wing Tory press to attack the Irish Government.

"And you're taking the Telegraph seriously? There is obviously no-one [from An Garda Siochana] at any border.

"There are no checkpoints at the border. But I remember actually a former British prime minister, in my time as Taoiseach when there were blazing headlines across the British press saying: 'The frigates are going to France.'"

Mr Martin appeared to be referring to Boris Johnson, a one-time Daily Telegraph columnist who now writes for the Daily Mail.

Mr Martin told Mr Gannon that such headlines "made me stand back and just reflect a bit".

He told the Social Democrats TD: "Don't get taken in by the Telegraph, Deputy."

More than 700 migrants arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel in a single day  a new record for the year so far.

The UKs Home Office said 711 people made the journey in 14 boats on Wednesday, suggesting an average of 51 people per boat.

It takes the provisional total for the number of arrivals this year so far to 8,278.

Channel crossings had already hit a new record high for the first four months of a calendar year, and the latest figures show they have now jumped 34pc on 2023 when 6,192 were recorded and are up 19% on the total at this stage in 2022 (6,945).

Today's News in 90 seconds - 2nd May 2024

Last year 29,437 migrants arrived in the UK, down 36pc on a record 45,774 arrivals in 2022.

Since the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act became law after receiving Royal Assent on Thursday last week, 1,611 migrants have made the journey in 32 boats.

The figures come as the UKs National Crime Agency (NCA) said a third man had been charged with an immigration offence after five migrants died trying to cross the Channel last week and was due to appear in court.

Britains controversial plan to send asylum seekers for processing in Rwanda was signed into law last week. The first migrants have been detained with the intention of putting them on flights by July, which British prime minister Rishi Sunak says is already acting as a deterrent.

A major political row has developed between the Irish and British governments, after claims from Irish ministers that 80pc of asylum seekers arriving in the Republic were now travelling via Northern Ireland, and the UK insisting it would not accept them back.

The Taoiseach has also insisted gardai would not be sent to police border areas, which could threaten pledges to avoid a hard border, although 100 are being redeployed to frontline immigration duties.
Sinn Feins Johnny Guirke criticised Irish Water in relation to delays with Meath estate in the Dail

Uisce Eireann has rejected claims that it is delaying 26 purchasers from moving into their new homes after Sinn Fein TD Johnny Guirke accused the organisation of being incompetent.

Meath-west TD Johnny Guirke told the Dail how many of the families now have nowhere to live after giving up their tenancies in private rental homes because they were informed the houses in the Johnstown Demesne estate in Enfield would be ready to move into last August.

However, the development by Westin Homes has been hit with consistent delays.

The Irish Independent reported in March how Coonan Property, the estate agent handling the sale, told the buyers there have been delays connecting the water supply.

Uisce Eireann said it is not responsible for any delay in this process of connecting this development.

Mr Guirke told the Dail that Meath County Council said it has been waiting weeks for documentation from Uisce Eireann which is delaying an application for a road opening licence.

He said the council is waiting on a risk assessment, a road traffic management plan and a method statement from Uisce Eireann.

Almost two weeks later, they have not sorted this out with Meath County Council, he told the Dail.

I have to say, they are one of the most incompetent departments I have ever dealt with and they are a joke in a housing crisis. Can I ask that the department intervene to sort out this mess as soon as possible and let them know the effect their incompetence is having on families.

Pure joke, he added.

However, Uisce Eireann has responded to say it has stepped in to resolve the matter by applying for the necessary permits to complete the public aide works that in this instance should have been completed by the developer.

Uisce Eireanns contractor commenced works on the public side wastewater connection today, the spokesperson added.

Some people who bought three-bed houses in the estate paid deposits of 38,500 and are now having to fork out thousands more in rental costs while waiting for the houses to be ready.

Others are coming to the end of their rental agreements and cannot find anywhere else to live - including couples with babies due to be born in the coming weeks.

The development comprises two-, three- and four-bedroom homes that are A-rated.

Buyers say they are growing frustrated by the lack of information. Uisce Eireann said it has engaged extensively with this developer and will continue to support the developer to progress the delivery of the wastewater connection works.

Westin Homes and Coonan Property were contacted for comment.
Research on the wellbeing, happiness and life satisfaction, particularly among older teenage girls has been described as "deeply troubling".

It follows a study by University of Galway into the health behaviours of children and adolescents in Ireland.

It found 54pc of 10 to 17 year-old girls report high life satisfaction, compared to 69pc of boys. Some 22pc of girls and 33pc of boys report feeling very happy with their lives.

Overall, 20pc of children report feeling lonely most of the time or always in the past 12 months.

Girls, older children and children from lower social class groups are more likely to report feeling lonely most of the time in the last year.

Commenting on the findings, Aoife Gavin, senior researcher at the Health Promotion Research Centre, and lead author of the report said: Findings concerning wellbeing, happiness and life satisfaction, particularly among older teenage girls are deeply troubling.

"While the impact of Covid-19 can be seen to exacerbate these challenges, its crucial to recognise that this trend existed pre-pandemic.

"This is now a longstanding issue requiring immediate attention and while further research is underway to understand these findings, interventions are imperative to reverse this concerning trajectory and to ensure the wellbeing of our youth."

Some 18pc of children have gone to school or bed hungry because there was not enough food in the house, slightly down from 19pc in 2018.

One in four 15 to 17 year-olds report ever having sex and 48pc said they used a condom the last time they had intercourse, down from 62pc in 2018.

Professor Colette Kelly, Director of the Health Promotion Research Centre at University of Galway, said "these insights provide a critical understanding of children's health behaviours during a time of unprecedented challenges.

"Overall, the findings underscore the need for targeted interventions and supports to ensure the well-being of Ireland's youth, for example there are indications of a positive shift in healthy eating, yet far too many children go hungry at times," she said.

"One concerning trend is that children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds consistently report more negative health outcomes. This highlights the urgent need to address health disparities and to ensure equitable access to resources for all children.

Dr Andras Kolto, Senior Postdoctoral Researcher at the Health Promotion Research Centre at University of Galway, added: The decline in condom use, and overall contraception use among adolescents is alarming.

"With only 48pc reporting condom use at the last sexual intercourse, and a notable increase in those using no contraception, urgent action is needed to address relationships and sexuality education in schools, to enhance education for young people and increase access to resources, such as sexual health services for our youth.

Professor Kelly added that "this data is not merely numbers  it is the foundation upon which effective policy and society changes are built.

"Without robust data and thorough analysis, we cannot hope to enact meaningful improvements in the lives of children in Ireland. Our ambition remains clear: to collect data that informs evidence-based recommendations, driving positive policy changes that will enhance the well-being of future generations, she said.
I am writing to express my deep concern regarding the recent comments made by British prime minister Rishi Sunak regarding the effectiveness of the Rwanda project and its implications for migration to the Republic.

Mr Sunaks assertion that the influx of migrants to Ireland is proof of the effectiveness of his threats of deportation is not just insensitive, it is fundamentally flawed and flies in the face of decent neighbourliness.

While it is undeniable that a fair and robust immigration system is necessary, it is equally crucial to acknowledge the contributions migrants make to our society. Migrants play a vital role in shaping our communities and enriching our nation.

Tensions surrounding immigration are exacerbated by underlying issues such as housing shortages, infrastructure deficiencies and lack of investment resulting from government policies over the years. These issues need to be addressed comprehensively to create a more inclusive and equitable society.

Further, the suggestion of sending or encouraging illegal migrants from Britain to the north of Ireland, where they could potentially cross the Border unchecked, is deeply concerning. Immediate measures, such as implementing checks at Northern Irelands airports, are necessary. Additionally, discussions about strengthening national borders must consider the possibility of reunifying Ireland, which could provide a more sustainable solution.

Mr Sunaks comments serve only to highlight the urgency of these conversations. While there may be financial implications associated with reunification, it is becoming increasingly apparent that we cannot afford to ignore the issue. Reunification mighty ultimately be the most viable path forward.

It is imperative that we approach these complex issues with empathy, compassion and a commitment to human rights.

Killian Brennan, Malahide Road, Dublin 17

Hate-speech legislation is just the secular equivalent of our old blasphemy laws

One had hoped that after the shot across the bows delivered by the people in the recent referendums, the establishment might think twice about forcing more of its woke agenda down our throats.

However, it appears the Government is pushing ahead with so-called hate-speech laws. Perhaps because it doesnt have to get the publics approval via a referendum, it is hoping to sneak it through by default

Hate-speech laws are essentially the secular equivalent of the old blasphemy laws, with the exception that the liberal enforcers of the former are considerably more intolerant and unforgiving than their religious equivalents. Secularists do not do confession or absolution.

As the very wise social commentator GK Chesterton once observed: If men will not be governed by the 10 commandments, they shall be governed by the 10,000 commandments.

So, expect more and more ludicrous cases before our courts, which will have the unenviable task of arbitrating on this nonsense. Essentially, a cranks charter.

Eric Conway, Navan, Co Meath

Maybe we should all fret if reasonable behaviour is coming under threat

Bernie Linnane maintains there is no need to fear the proposed hate- speech law that is passing through Leinster House (No need to fret over hate-speech laws, Scotland proves they work just fine, Letters, April 30).

Citing the brouhaha surrounding JK Rowlings testing of the law there, Ms Linnane says: No ones right to be boorish, ill-mannered, gratuitously offensive or insulting was denied. Quite.

But perhaps the Scots were erring on the side of caution, fearing a backlash.

In any event, since we in Ireland seem to tolerate such behaviour as mentioned above, it may be reasonable argument, reasoned response and rational behaviour that suffers under such a law.

Perhaps there is a need for your columnists, your contributors and, dare I say, your letter page correspondents to fret after all. Time will tell.

Peter Declan OHalloran, Belturbet, Co Cavan

Overstating Irelands contribution to climate change causes anxiety

Martina Devlin makes the oft-stated but ill-informed claim that Ireland is a significant contributor to climate change with its high agriculture and greenhouse gas emissions, and as a consequence our hands are far from clean as drivers of migration (Ireland has an unpaid debt to migrants who are hit hardest by climate change, Irish Independent, April 26).

She states that by failing to respond fast enough to climate shock we are responsible for altered weather patterns, causing droughts, flooding, hurricanes and wildfires, laying waste to crops and destroying livestock, thus hindering peoples attempts to earn a living.

To put Irelands contribution to climate change in context, however, requires a little knowledge of our history and, more importantly, the scientific facts.

Ireland missed out on the industrial revolution thanks to British malign policies over the centuries, which meant that, unlike the major polluters, we have little or no historical footprint in terms of global warming.

After independence, we were gifted a basket-case economy that lasted well up to the 1990s when our economy and population began to grow. One of the benefits is that many of our industries today are relatively clean and environmentally responsible.

In terms of scientific data, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the foremost authority on climate matters, and the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) state that Irelands contribution to global warming is a minuscule 0.11pc of the global total.

Ms Devlin refers to Irelands high agriculture emissions as contributors, again without specifying the quantities.

Agricultural emissions are about 35pc of Irelands overall emissions, which equates to a mere 0.0366pc of global emissions.

Perusal of the world map shows that Irelands land area is about 0.0566pc of the global territorial mass, a mere speck in the ocean, unlike the vast land masses of the big polluters such as the EU, US, China, Russia, India, Brazil and Australia, among others.

Ireland has a moral obligation to help those countries in most need, mainly through our heroic NGOs working in the most deprived and dangerous regions of the world.

Ireland also contributes through aid and other contributions as part of the EU, but rhetoric conflating our responsibility with the G7 and G20 countries causes undue anxiety.

John Leahy, Wilton Road, Cork
Brookfield Asset Management today (May 2) announced that it has reached an agreement with Gulf Islamic Investments (GII), a leading Shariah-compliant global alternative investment company, to acquire a controlling stake in its logistics real estate platform.

The transaction is being completed through one of Brookfield's private real estate funds, said the New York-based company in a statement.

The portfolio, comprising 1.5 million sq ft of warehouses in the UAE, marks Brookfields foray into the logistics sector in the region. The firm plans to invest and scale the platform overtime through the acquisition and development of high-quality logistics real estate assets, it stated.

Established in 2014 with over $4.5 billion of assets under its management, GII has been actively investing in logistics real estate assets since 2018.

More recently, it has focused on acquiring, aggregating, repurposing, and developing facilities for leading transport and e-commerce companies in the GCC states.

Jad Ellawn, Managing Partner, Head of Middle East, Brookfield said: "Our on-the-ground approach to investment and our global relationships have helped us build a portfolio of marquee assets across real estate, infrastructure, and financial services in the region."

"Given the continued e-commerce and consumption-led growth in the region, we believe there will be exciting opportunities, to leverage our global expertise and provide solutions to our partners in the Middle East," he stated.

Mohammed Alhassan and Pankaj Gupta, GIIs co-founders and co-CEOs, said: "Our partnership with Brookfield enables us to expand our operations further through investments and acquisitions in the GCC."

"Due to increasing interconnectivity, the region is witnessing enhanced integration of the Gulf economies, leading to a surge in demand for logistics assets," they stated.

Brookfield, along with its partners, owns and operates 3 million sq ft of commercial real estate in the region, including ICD Brookfield Place, the region's premier lifestyle and business address. The US groups logistics fully integrated portfolio spans over 80 million sq ft across five continents.-TradeArabia News Service
Three of the new born baby ring-tailed lemurs in Fota Wildlife Park, Cork. Picture: Darragh Kane

Fota Wildlife Park is celebrating the recent arrival of five endangered ring-tailed lemur babies to the free-range troop.

The birth of the lemurs marks a significant milestone for Fota Wildlife Park, with four females, Quinta, Aqua, Brida, and Dolly (known as DC), giving birth to the five youngsters.

Merlot, a four-year-old lemur who joined Fota Wildlife Park from Parc Zoo du Reynou, France, in 2022, is the father of all the newborns, expanding the free-range group of ring-tailed Lemurs to a total of fourteen members.

Lemurs hail from the island of Madagascar.

Ring-tailed lemurs are currently classified as endangered.

Recent reports suggest that there has been a 95% reduction in the wild population of ring-tailed lemurs since 1990, with 3000 Ring-tailed lemur remaining in the wild.

Fota Wildlife Park lead ranger Teresa Power said the birth of the five babies is a momentous occasion. "We are thrilled to witness the successful reproduction within our lemur group. This is a momentous occasion. Ring-tailed lemurs are synonymous with Fota Wildlife Park, and have been present since we opened the gates over 40 years ago. They are a free-roaming species so they dont have a specific habitat and can go where they please around the Palm Walk Islands, she said.

One of the unique aspects of the park is our free ranging animals, such as wallabies and kangaroos, said Ms Power. Our visitors delight in seeing many of these species crossing their path. Our ring-tailed lemurs are not only an iconic species but also a testament to the importance of conservation efforts. The island of Madagascar is the only place that lemurs are native to.

Its losing a staggering amount of biodiversity through human encroachment on the native landscape. We hope that these births will help educate the general public about the enormous threat to Madagascan biodiversity, she added.

The first of the new baby lemurs in Fota commenced on Friday, March 22 when three-year-old DC gave birth.

Two days later she was followed by eight-year-old Aqua who welcomed twins making DC an aunt as well as a mother.

Subsequently, seven-year-old Brida delivered her baby on Monday, March 25, and most recently, on the evening of April 9, ten-year-old Quinta gave birth.

Ms Power said: As the babies continue to bond closely with their mothers, their genders remain undetermined until they are old enough to be carefully health-checked. Visitors can catch glimpses of the free-range troop as they explore Palm Walk.

Fota Wildlife Park have invited the public to help name the five babies.

For a chance to name the new baby lemurs, and to be in with a chance to win one of five conservation annual passes, see fotawildlife.ie.
The Irish revolutionary leader left the umbrella behind him in a Dublin Pub

Left to Right Mr John Merivale and Museum Manager Jamie Murphy on the occasion of the donation of Michael Collins Umbrella to The Michael Collins Museum in Clonakilty. The umbrella was left behind following one of his visits to Devlins Pub on Parnell Street, Dublin and has since been safeguarded by the Merivale/Devlin family. Photo Dermot Sullivan.

An umbrella previously owned by Irish revolutionary leader Michael Collins has been added to the collection of a museum dedicated to him in Clonakilty.

The umbrella, which has recently been added to the Michael Collins House Museum collection, was left behind following one of the IRA mans visits to Devlins Pub on Parnell Street in Dublin and has been safeguarded by the Devlin family ever since then.

It was the familys wish to have the artefact put on public display at the Clonakilty museum and the umbrella was presented to the facility on long-term loan by John Merivale, husband of the late Jocelyn Merivale, who was the granddaughter of Liam Devlin, proprietor of Devlins Pub and a trusted intelligence officer during the War of Independence.

The silk mechanical umbrella is tightly wound and held in a telescopic faux wood cover that doubles as a walking cane, an item which has become synonymous with Michael Collins as several different canes of his have come to prominence in recent years.

Though rarely photographed with a cane, it is thought that Collins may have used a cane as part of his disguise of a normal businessman about town. It is also an item he seems to have favoured as a gift with many of the canes appearing to have origins as gifts to people close to him.

Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr Frank OFlynn, said that artefacts such as the umbrella gives the public a little more insight into the history of the revolutionary hero.

I want to thank the Devlin family for preserving this piece of Irish history and urge the public to visit the Michael Collins House to learn more about our history and the fight for Irish Independence, Mayor OFlynn said.

The museum holds an incredible collection of artefacts connected to the man himself and the revolutionary period, including personal items, letters, items of clothing, uniforms, weapons, militaria, commemorative pieces and more.

Chief Executive of Cork County Council, Valerie OSullivan, said that Michael Collins Museum House, run by the council, is now entering its ninth season in operation and it welcomes up to 30,000 visitors annually, generating 5 million for the local economy since opening.

Michael Collins House Museum opens Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm. For more information visit www.michaelcollinshouse.ie or phone 023-8858676.
The cat that got the cream with Sully and Mary Claire in their home in Churchtown.

Mary Claire pictured in their restored kitchen in the Parson's House in Churchtown.

When husband and wife Shane Sully OSullivan, who hails from Charleville, and Mary Claire, from Ballyhea, were refused planning permission to build a house they began looking around the area to buy a property.

It was then they came upon the Parsons House in Churchtown, which was then up for sale.

They bought the 19th Century limestone building which had been idle for a long number of years and was in a derelict state. The house at number one George Street in the village had once been the home of the village parson, Rev. Lucius George, after whom, reputedly, the street is named.

Churchtown is the village which was rejuvenated by local native Gerry Murphy, who transformed it from a place with a declining population and derelict buildings in 1997 when he established the Churchtown Village Renewal Trust.

He set about transforming it into a vibrant, bustling village with a house building programme, which has resulted in a present population of over 1,000 people.

Churchtown is also well known for its interests in the equine industry, being the former home of the world-famous owner, breeder and trainer Vincent OBrien.

The nearby Bruhenny graveyard is also the burial place of the film star Oliver Reed, who died in 1999 during the filming of the The Gladiator.

Shane (Sully) who is a qualified carpenter and runs his own Top Knotch Company, and Mary Claire, having bought the building in 2022 for 136,000, decided to restore the house to its former glory and set about gutting the interior.

Sully and Mary Claire recall sitting on the floor among the rubble, eating chips from the nearby chipper, during this back breaking work.

They retained the original stonework and the five timber sash windows that look on to street of the village.

They completely gutted the upstairs section, installed vaulted ceilings, new floors, and underfloor heating, extended the living space by breaking through a back wall, which extended the house to 2,000 square feet. They installed new flooring, spray foam insulation, and an air to water heating system.

This was all done by themselves and with the help of family members and friends, including Mary Claires mother, Augusta, who did the very impressive wallpapering.

They retained as much of the original stonework as possible, and the only outside expertise employed was with the electrics and the plumbing, and in restoring the sash windows and shutters.

Around the same time, the Animo Television Company were filming another series of their top-rated series The Great House Revival which is presented by architect Hugh Wallace.

They contacted Sully and Mary Claire enquiring if they were interested in being part of the series, and the couple agreed to take part. This entailed the TV crew being on-site once a month to film the progress on the project.

In between, Sully and Mary Claire went on their deferred honeymoon trip which was to the Galapagos Island off the coast of Ecuador in South America.

The end result of their labours was a magnificently restored three-bedroom, three bathrooms, living room, spacious kitchen, a snug sitting room, and a downstairs toilet, all for a total cost of 225,000.

They also qualified for the vacant homes grant, which was a great help with the financial aspect of their restoration project, which they completed in 18 months.

Their appearance on the Great House Revival programme throughout the series have made Sully and Mary Claire celebrities, and they now have an Instagram following of 15,000 followers, and three cats, one of whom strayed into the building in the early stages of the restoration, and is now part of the family.

We extend to Sully and Mary Claire every good wish and happiness in their new home in Churchtown and hope they integrate rapidly in their new community.
Rosie Connolly Quinn and her husband Paul Quinn pictured with Prof Arnie Hill, Chairman of Breast Cancer Ireland, at the unveiling of a special commemorative plaque in Beaumont Breast Centre

Rosie Connolly Quinn, co-founder of the 4TH ARQ brand, wearing the limited-edition pink fleece which helped raise 100,000 for Breast Cancer Ireland. Pic: Anthony Woods

Rosie Connolly has raised 100,000 for Breast Cancer Ireland (BCI) through the sale of a limited-edition fleece.

The money raised by the entrepreneur and co-founder of the 4th ARQ brand will help fund a brand new state of the art Faxitron breast imaging machine at Beaumont Breast Centre.

The pink fleece was made specifically to raise funds for the high-definition imaging machine, which allows surgeons to check in real time that they have successfully removed all cancerous cells.

The machine also guides surgeons to remove only the required amount of tissue with a safe zone, thereby conserving natural breast tissue.

Were absolutely blown away by the sheer generosity of the many people who donated and purchased our limited-edition Breast Cancer Ireland half-zip, Rosie said.

Its because of their generosity that we were able to raise such a significant amount for such a meaningful cause. Ill never be able to express my unwavering gratitude and it really means more to me than I can ever express.

Its incredible to know that the amount raised will contribute to the purchase of a new state of the art Faxitron Breast Imagine machine, ultimately helping thousands of patients in their fight against breast cancer.

I truly believe in the power of collaboration, so we were honoured to partner with BCI to raise funds for such a vital cause.

This collaboration was a true testament to our belief here at 4TH ARQ in using our platform for good and being able to make a tangible difference in the lives of so many.

Rosie Connolly Quinn and her husband Paul Quinn pictured with Prof Arnie Hill, Chairman of Breast Cancer Ireland, at the unveiling of a special commemorative plaque in Beaumont Breast Centre

Ms Connolly previously spoke about how she panicked after finding two lumps, due to her mothers own history with breast cancer.

The businesswoman said it was a very scary time as she waited for the all clear, thinking about chemo and how she could lose her hair.

I had two lumps that I found over the years. Id to go in and get them checked. With my mums history, it was a really scary time, she told the Irish Independent.

As much as you try to tell yourself to remain calm, when youre in that situation, its very scary. I thought about chemo and how I was going to lose my hair, but I was fine.

Its scary to check yourself for breast cancer because youre almost afraid of finding something, ignorance is bliss. But its important to check and check early.

When my mum had breast cancer, it was hard. My mum is my world, I lost my dad when I was 18, even more so, I leaned on her.

Shes the pillar and the strength of our family. Her being sick was very scary. Once you hear the word cancer, your brain goes to the worst-case scenario.

From seeing my mums journey, her message is more of hope and how much you can get your life back if you catch it early enough.

Shes living her life to the fullest, shes doing so well. With the right funding and research, theres so many survivors now and they go on to live a full and healthy life, she added.
Success for Irish Cuckoo Tracking Project as Cuach KP lands in Killarney National Park

The journey undertaken by the Cuckoo Cuach KP who is the first to successfully make the 9,000km journey home for the summer months.

The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) has confirmed that Cuach KP, one of the first Irish cuckoos to be tagged as part of a Cuckoo Tracking Project, has landed home in Killarney National Park. Photo by Valerie O'Sullivan.

The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) has confirmed that Cuach KP, one of the first Irish cuckoos to be tagged as part of a Cuckoo Tracking Project, has landed home in Killarney National Park after a winter spent in the rainforests of the Congo Basin in Central Africa.

Cuach KP, along with two other Irish cuckoos, was tagged in Killarney National Park in May 2023. He is the first to successfully make the 9,000km journey home for the summer months.

On arrival into Ireland this week, KP made a short stop in Fermoy before making his way back to Derrycunihy, in Killarney National Park, the place where he was originally tagged before his release.

While the cuckoo has been well-studied during the breeding season, very little is known about the routes they take once they head off on migration or where in Africa they spend the winter months.

The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) has confirmed that Cuach KP, one of the first Irish cuckoos to be tagged as part of a Cuckoo Tracking Project, has landed home in Killarney National Park. Photo by Valerie O'Sullivan.

The Cuckoo Tracking Project was set up by the NPWS together with the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) last year to better understand their migration patterns and the habitat pressures on the cuckoo population. The birds were given names and fitted with satellite tags so that their movements could be tracked.

Over the course of Cuach KP 's extraordinary 9000km journey to and from the Kingdom, he covered two continents and several countries.

The return of Cuach KP has been welcomed including by Minister of State for Nature, Heritage and Electoral Reform Malcolm Noonan.

The return of Cuach KP is real success story for this project, and the partnership between the NPWS and the British Trust for Ornithology. Projects like this really helps us to learn more about precious birds such as the cuckoo and how we can all keep them safe.

Divisional Manager at Killarney National Park Eamonn Meskell said it is great to see him return home.

Were delighted that Cuach KP has found his way home to Killarney during the first year of this monitoring project. Cuckoos are such an intriguing bird and one that we associate with the arrival of summer. All of us at Killarney National Park are now hoping that the two other birds tagged as part of this project will follow and join him here over the coming days.

Sam Bayley, NPWS Conservation Ranger, who set up the Project in conjunction with BTO said:

Satellite tagging gives us a clear picture of the cuckoos journey for the first time, to Africa and back to Ireland. KPs journey was a round trip of nearly 9000km ending with an epic sea crossing from northern Spain direct to Ireland across the Bay of Biscay. Big sea crossings haven't been recorded in cuckoos in Europe before, so thats a really interesting twist.

The journey undertaken by the Cuckoo Cuach KP who is the first to successfully make the 9,000km journey home for the summer months.

Reports from the satellite tagging system indicate that that other cuckoos from the project are also on their way. Cuach Torc is currently in the vicinity of Brittany. Cuach Cores was the last of the three to leave. The latest reports suggest that Cores left Algeria yesterday and is already making quick progress towards Ireland.

Cuckoos, or Cuach as gaelige, are a summer migrant to Ireland. Adult birds are resident here from April to early July, having spent the winter on the African continent. They are a unique bird in Ireland as they lay their eggs in other birds nests and have no involvement in raising their young.

Across Ireland, the cuckoo has seen a 27% reduction in breeding distribution between the first national census, Bird Atlas (1968-1972), and the most recent Bird Atlas (2007-2011).
Announcement comes days after the Department of Integration said it was assessing the buildings suitability.

The owners of Edenburn House on the outskirts of Tralee have said the property is not being considered for Ukrainian refugees, despite a statement from the Department of Integration saying it was being assessed as part of the Emergency Refurbishment (Ukraine) Project.

In a statement issued by McQuinn Property Services for the proprietor on Thursday morning, it said current speculation is inaccurate and its position is the same as January when it announced that luxury apartments were being refurbished for the open market.

Kerry TDs were informed via email by the Department on April 29 stating that it was reviewing the Ballymacelligott building with the possibility of accommodating war-torn Ukrainian refugees.

In a statement to The Kerryman on Wednesday, the Department of Integration confirmed the property had been offered to provide accommodation for Ukrainians and is currently being assessed as part of the Emergency Refurbishment (Ukraine) Project.

Moreover, this assessment would determine whether the property might be suitable for Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection (BOTPs) accommodation following conversion/refurbishment works.

Residents near Edenburn House initially become concerned when refurbishment works started towards the end of 2023. McQuinn Property stated in January that it was working with the owner of Edenburn House with a view to bringing two, three, and four-bedroom apartments to the open market for letting.

Cllr Jackie Healy-Rae voiced his disapproval at the Department for not contacting the four local councillors representing the Castleisland-Corca Dhuibhne MD regarding its latest statement.

Meanwhile, north Kerry local election candidate Michelle Keane had arranged for a peaceful protest at Edenburn House on Sunday, which is now cancelled. She called the protest: Save our Community of Ballymacelligott.

Edenburn House, which dates to the 1700s, functioned as a tuberculosis hospital between the 1930s and 1960s before it was transformed into a nursing home. It closed in 1988.
Visually impaired Kerry runner aint stopping yet as he celebrates 20-year milestone

Ross took up running 20 years ago this month and it changed his life

Ross with his sight-guide, Siobhan Kearney, during a parkrun.

Stephen Fernane Kerryman Thu 2 May 2024 at 14:28

Kerry man Ross Daniel Gallagher is celebrating 20 years as a runner this month in the best way possible: by going for a run.
A temporary no-fly zone will be in place in Emo, Co Laois. Photo: Google Maps

A small village in Co Laois is set to be temporarily declared a no-fly zone as a rocket is due to be launched.

The Irish Aviation Authority has filed a temporary restriction on the flying of unauthorised aircraft for two days in the vicinity of Emo, in Co Laois.

This restriction on the flying of aircrafts, drones and rockets in Emo has been put in place to facilitate a rocket launch by the European Space Education Resource Office (ESERO) in Ireland.

The launch has been described by Irish Aviation Authority as a planned small civilian rocket launch.

The Temporary Restricted Area (TRA) will be in effect from 9am to 6pm Universal Time or from 10am until 7pm Irish Time on Thursday May 2 and Friday May 3.

The Temporary Restricted Area (TRA) is within the purple and white circle marked on the map. Photo: Irish Aviation Authority on X

Unmanned Aircraft Systems, including rockets, are not permitted to operate within the TRA without written permission from the Flight Operations Department of the Irish Aviation Authority.

An Unmanned Aircraft System operated in breach of TRA restrictions may be seized by Gardai as evidence for potential prosecution.

Today's News in 90 seconds - 2nd May 2024

However, state aircraft, aircraft of the Irish Coastguard Service and HEMS Operators employed on an operational mission are exempt from the restriction.

The Irish Aviation Authority confirmed that the lateral limits of the TRA are a circle radius of 1NM centred on 53 06' 33.6996 N, 007 11' 43.0728 W, while the vertical limits are SFC to 1500 feet AMSL.
A new advisory body to help make climate action fair to all people in all parts of the country is to be set up later this year.

The Just Transition Commission will have representatives of business, workers, farming, the environment, and community and voluntary groups.

Recruitment will begin shortly with the aim of the commission holding its first meeting in in the autumn.

The initiative is a follow-on from the work of the commissioner for just transition in the Midlands, Kieran Mulvey.

Mr Mulvey was appointed in the wake of Bord na Monas decision to transition away from fossil fuels, close the peat-fired power stations and end commercial peat extraction across Offaly, Westmeath and surrounding areas.

He was tasked with recommending supports for those who lost their jobs and interventions to help generate replacement employment.

Mr Mulvey was then tasked with chairing a committee to consider the need for a permanent just transition body for the entire country.

His final report, accepted by the Government this week, says a Just Transition Commission is needed.

He noted that the Government already had the Climate Change Advisory Council but said its role was to advise on what the government should do whereas a Just Transition Commission would advise on how it should be done.

He said there was still some ambiguity around the meaning of just transition and recommended that a single definition be adopted.

It would say: A Just Transition to a climate neutral Ireland will build a better future for all and ensure no-one is left behind.

Through investment in services, infrastructure and social protection, people and communities that may be affected by this transition will be supported in a manner that is inclusive, equitable and fair.

Mr Mulvey warned that the transition to climate neutrality would be challenging, requiring continuous, consistent commitment over several decades and multiple government terms.

He said its initial work should focus on analysing the potential impacts of climate action measures on all sectors of the countrys workforce.

The initiative comes amid unrest particularly in the agricultural sector over proposed measures to cut greenhouse gas emissions from livestock and land drainage.

Other sectors also face potentially significant cost and operational impacts from the switch away from fossil fuels, including heavy industries and private transport operators.

Minister for the Environment and Climate Action, Eamon Ryan, welcomed Cabinets approval for establishing a permanent commission.

A just transition is the fastest way to a green transition, and the only way that guarantees that we bring everybody with us as we move to a climate-neutral economy, he said.

The Commission will be the public voice of a Just Transition. It will work to anticipate and inform long-term climate policy by focusing on the potential impacts, risks and opportunities arising from the climate transition for different sectors of the economy and society, in particular those at most risk of being left behind.

We have to be innovative and flexible in the way we approach this transition, ensuring that it works from the bottom up.
Voices of Gorey will kick off Irish singer-songwriter Eimear Crehans upcoming concert at the Gorey Little Theatre on Wednesday, May 17 with several well-known songs before joining Eimear at the end of the night to sing some of her original songs with her.

Eimear is about to embark on her national tour, Gra Mor. Musical Director of the choir, Emma Hughes got in touch with Eimear to compliment her music recently and as both women are involved with choirs their conversation quickly snowballed. Within a few days, Eimear had booked a a tour date in Gorey Little Theatre and Voices of Gorey were set to support her on the night.

"Its so amazing to be involved with a professional production especially with a band. Its going to be very enjoyable, said Voices of Gorey PRO, Edain Byrne.

The womens choir which started in January, 2024 now has over 100 women who gather on Monday evenings. They practice a variety of genres each week. Its so much fun. Everyone thoroughly enjoys it and so many people have said to Emma and to ourselves that in a way, it has changed their lives."

Ive always wanted to join a choir and its very hard to get into one. So many people went to the information night and the majority of people that went actually stayed to join it. Emma didnt want people to come to the choir to audition for it. She just wanted to include everyone and for everyone to have fun and thats what it is. Its all about feeling included, leaving your troubles at the door and having a laugh with everyone, said Edain.

This is the Voices Of Goreys first professional performance but it wont be the last as theyre also performing at Ashdown Park Hotel on Saturday, June 29.

Tickets for the concert at the Gorey Little Theatre are 20 and can be bought at eventbrite.ie.

Voices of Gorey will be accepting new members from September, 2024. Anyone interested in getting involved can contact them on Facebook or email them at voicesofgorey@gmail.com.
Many heartfelt tributes have been paid to well-known former Wexford politician, Michael DArcy from Annagh, Gorey who has passed away at the age of 90.

Michael was the beloved husband of Marie and loving father of Jude, Liam, Michael and the late Shirley and brother of Peggy, Emily, Nora, Frank and the late Jim.

A staunch Fine Gael man, Michael had a long and prolific career in politics and was a member of Dail Eireann, Seanad Eireann, Wexford County Council and Gorey Town Council.

Former politician and Irish broadcaster Ivan Yates served in the Oireachtas with Michael DArcy for nearly 20 years and always found him to be a very committed and hard-working public representative.

"He always worked in the best interest of the people of Wexford, the farmers of Wexford in particular. He was always passionately loyal to Fine Gael. He really soldiered with Lorcan Allen and the Esmondes for many years back in the day. He led the charge for Fine Gael having one seat to having three seats in the constituency and he deserves enormous credit for that.

Ivan remembers Michael having a passion for politics and public service. He certainly leaves behind him a legacy in Wexford of many development projects. As Minister and TD, he was always looking to pioneer projects and trying to promote economic development in the private and public sector, I remember the meat factory in Camolin and the mushroom factory in Gorey.

I always found him to be a politician to his fingertips, he loved it, he loved the people side of it and he never took himself too seriously. He was a team-player and a very genuine guy, said Ivan.

Fine Gael TD Paul Kehoe worked with Michael for years and remembers that he was hugely respected by the people of County Wexford.

"What got me was, he was hugely respected by his fellow TDs and Senators in Fine Gael, right across county lines. He delivered and worked tirelessly for the people of County Wexford, he immersed himself in politics, not only himself but also the DArcy family for many years.

"The fruits of his labours can be seen right across north county Wexford, he was a public servant to his fingernails, the constituent came first and thats the way it was. He never forgot the Fine Gael organisation, he was always very committed and he never let the party down, said Paul.

Senator Malcolm Byrne had the privilege of serving with Michael on the the old Gorey Town Council and remembers him to have had a deep passion for his community and for politics.

"You might have a disagreement with him at a meeting but it was never personal and after the meeting, he would always chat and talk and stay on good terms. My deepest sympathies to his wife, Marie, his children and grandchildren and to his extended family.

Councillor Joe Sullivan said he knew Michael for 40 years and said he was an exceptional politician.

"He was a man that made an enormous contribution to the Wexford constituency and particularly the north Wexford area of Gorey. He went through all the roles of politics from Councillor, Senator, TD and to Junior Ministry level.

"In that time, he worked very hard for it for the people of Wexford and indeed of Ireland. He was an excellent politician and had a huge grasp of the issues affecting the people, said Cllr Sullivan.

Cllr Fionntan O Suilleabhain also extended his condolences to Marie, Michael, Jude and Liam at this sad time. He grew up up the road from the D'Arcys and shared the same desk as Michael Junior in Ballythomas National School and his late father Pat, also went to school with Michael Senior.

"Mick was one of the longest serving public representatives in Ireland and did considerable good. He achieved a lot for his parish and the Gorey District in general. Ar dheis De go raibh a anam dilis."

The impact Michael has had throughout his life on his local community as well as the wider area of Wexford was evident on RIP.ie as many mourners paid tribute to him.

One mourner wrote: It was with great sadness that we learned of the passing of Michael. Simply put, Michael served his people, his local area, his county and his country with great distinction and total commitment. Our deepest sympathies go out to Michael's wife, children, grandchildren and extended family on this very sad occasion. R.I.P. Michael, you certainly did your bit.

Another mourner wrote: Its with sadness I read of Michaels death. I had the privilege as did my father Pat Joe to serve with him in the Dail, he was such a hardworking, honourable, caring and decent man whom worked tirelessly for his county and country.

He was much loved, and did so much for his town and for the wider county over a long career. On a personal level, whenever we met in Gorey or Courtown, we always had time for a chat. He always kept his ear to the ground and always had great insight into the political and social issues of the day."

Michael was born on March 7, 1934 and began his career in politics in 1958, when he was co-opted to his Wexford County Council seat, following the death of his father Timothy DArcy.

Michael served in this seat for the next 15 years and then went on to serve as a TD and Minister of State in several governments. In 1981, he was appointed Minister of State for Agriculture and Minister of State at the Department of Fisheries and Forestry and at the Department of the Gaeltacht in 1982.

He was dismissed in February 1986 but then regained his seat in the Dail three years later. In 1992, he was elected to the 20th Seanad on the Agricultural Panel.

He returned to the Dail in 1997 and remained there for the next five years. In 1999, he was elected to Gorey Town Council for the first time and was elected Chairman of Gorey Town Council in 2012.

The following year, he was re-elected to the position and chaired the last ever meeting of Gorey Town Council in May 2014 at the Market House.

His son Michael also entered politics and also served as a TD and Senator during his political career.

Michael Senior passed away surrounded by his family, in the care of nurses and staff at Oakfield Nursing Home, Courtown.

He is deeply regretted by his wife, sons, daughter, brother, sisters, grandchildren Alex, Aoife, Ashley, Bill, Siobhan, Marie, Judith, Paddy, Catherine, Luke and Alyssa, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nephews, nieces, extended family, relatives, neighbours and a wide circle of friends.

His funeral mass will take place at 11a.m. on Friday, May 3 at St. Peter and Paul's Church Kilanerin.
Oiled birds, dead and alive, have been discovered on beaches stretching from Arklow in Wicklow to Carnsore Point in Wexford.

Authorities are scrambling to find the source of an apparent oil spill which appears to be causing major issues for wildlife along the Wexford and Wicklow coast in the past 24 hours.

The Irish Coast Guard is investigating the source of the spill, while Bird Watch Ireland is reporting that the coastline is likely to see many more oiled birds in the coming days.

Bird Watch Ireland and Oiled Wildlife Response Network have been fielding numerous reports of birds beaching themselves in the past 24 hours in an area stretching from Greystones down to Carnsore Point in south Wexford.

It is understood that one live guillemot and three dead birds that appear oiled have been discovered on Curracloe Beach in Wexford in the past 24 hours, where walkers and joggers reported oil or tar on their shoes when leaving the beach yesterday (Wednesday) evening.

A resident in Greystones said she managed to rescue two guillemots from the north beach on Wednesday evening, which she said were both "heavily oiled" and added that at least 12 were struggling on the rocks between the north and south beach. She described their plight as tragic, as the birds are using their beaks to try to purge the oil from their wings, only to end up ingesting the toxins.

Members of the Kildare Wildlife Rescue are combing the north beach area in Greystones this afternoon, aiming to rescue more of the distressed birds.

Despite this, a spokesperson for the Department of Transport said that at present there is no indication of any pollution in the waters adjacent to the east coast or on the shoreline. However, they stated that local authorities had been informed and an investigation is under way.

Earlier, a resident in Bray posted on social media that, having walked Bray beach and the harbour area, they noticed "no trace of oil, or on any of the swans" in the Bray harbour swan sanctuary.

In Wexford, numerous local representatives and members of the public contacted the Environment Section of Wexford County Council this morning and they confirmed that they are liaising with the National Parks and Wildlife Service in relation to some kind of oil spill.

The extent of the problem is currently unclear, but all the relevant authorities are currently liaising to try and quickly ascertain its source.

"Wexford County Council has received some reports today of traces of oil washing up on beaches and possible oil deposits on some wildlife on the Wicklow and Wexford coastline, a statement from the local authority said.

The Council Environment Staff, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the Coastguard and other relevant agencies are actively monitoring the situation. Members of the public are asked to report any sightings of oil deposits on Wexford Beaches or any evidence of traces of oil on Wildlife to customerservice@wexfordcoco.ie or on 053 9196000.

Labour councillor for Wexford George Lawlor spoke with senior officials at Wexford County Council and was assured theyre doing all they can to react and get to the bottom of the issue.

"The Wexford Coastline is particularly vulnerable to this type of thing, he said. We have 100km of soft coastline, which makes us very susceptible to things like this.

"The extent of the issue hasnt yet been revealed, but this is something that could have a huge environmental impact and also you can only imagine the impact that something like this could have on Wexfords vital tourism industry as summer season approaches.

Today's News in 90 seconds - 2nd May 2024

Similarly, Wicklow Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore was extremely concerned, noting that oiled birds had been spotted on Newcastle Beach, The Murrough, Arklow and Greystones in Wicklow, as well as beaches in Wexford and Dublin.

"I am shocked to learn of this incident, which is being closely monitored by Birdwatch Ireland and the Oiled Wildlife Response Network, Deputy Whitmore said.

I want to acknowledge the efforts of Kildare Wildlife Rescue, who are leading the care and rehabilitation of any birds found covered in oil.

This situation represents an unacceptable threat to our already vulnerable seabird population. The Government must offer every necessary support to the organisations tasked with rescuing, cleaning and rehabilitating the affected birds.

Ultimately, a coordinated national strategy to respond to incidents of this nature is needed, which should include voluntary organisations as well as State bodies such as the National Parks and Wildlife Service."

Deputy Whitmore is also pushing for the source of the oil spill to be definitively identified.

It is vital that the source of the oil is identified as soon as possible, with those found responsible held fully accountable," she said.

While the investigation continues, the public is being urged avoid handling any oiled birds that they come across, because the oil may be highly carcinogenic.

Instead, they are asked to report any evidence of oil spill to local authorities and the Coast Guard and report any oiled birds to Kildare Wildlife Rescue.
Sometimes all it takes is an encouraging voice to put a young person on a path which can alter their lives.

That was the hope of Sinn Fein local election hopeful Lorraine Smyth, who recently paid a visit to the Loreto Secondary School to promote the uptake of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) courses as a career path.

A Digital Solutions Manager in the HSE, Lorraine was awarded the Network Wexford Business Woman of the Year for her work in the field and was able to provide some insight and answer questions from students who may be thinking of a career in a traditionally male-dominated field.

I wanted the students to see working in the HSE could be interesting and exciting, Lorraine said. I presented some of the projects I had worked on from Covid-killing robots to Prescription Drown Delivery Pilot Projects. I showed the students how we managed the logistics behind testing for Covid Nationally and showed them how the digital systems improved tracking and modelling of cases during the pandemic.

Health technology will change how we live in the future. I hope I made an impression on the students, I would like to see more women take up STEM courses.

Ms Smyth noted that STEM courses tend to lead to higher paying jobs and should thus be a priority for Wexford, a county which previously recorded the fifth lowest average wage in Ireland.

If we want to encourage young people to stay in Wexford we need more STEM course in the new SETU (South East Technological University), she said.

With STEM courses comes foreign direct investment and higher paid jobs, so it is important we provide these courses in the new university on the Wexford campus. We need to have a strategy around this.

"Growth areas like Cyber Security and Data Protection and AI are the areas that will also provide employment in the future. We need to plan for this and encourage students into this area. It is very important to me that Wexford is a leader in this area and attracts these high paying positions.
An Garda Siochana has announced that Arklow will be one of nine locations around the country to host new static speed safety cameras, which are expected to be fully operational by the end of 2024.

The new Wicklow speed camera will be located on the busy R772 road, with the remaining eight cameras on the N59 (Galway), N25 (Waterford), N14 (Donegal), N80 (Carlow), Dublin (Dolphins Barn), N17 (Mayo), N22 (Cork) and N69 (Limerick).

Highlighting that static-speed safety cameras have been proven internationally to reduce speeding, a Garda spokesperson noted that the locations of the new cameras were selected based on fatal and serious injury collision data from the last seven years, speed data, as well as feedback from stakeholders.

Site visits and partnership engagement are ongoing to progress the engineering for the installation of the cameras and road users will be advised of the location of static speed safety cameras through road signage.

The nine static speed cameras are being funded from the Garda budget at a cost of approximately 2.4 million over the next 18 months.

These cameras will join the average speed cameras for the N3 (Butlers Bridge), N5 (Swinford), and N2 (Slane), which are expected to be operational in early Q4 2024. There are also 55 safety cameras currently operated via GoSafe vans - this will increase to 58 in the coming weeks.

In addition, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has requested that Assistant Commissioner Roads Policing develop a business case for the introduction of a further 100 static speed cameras.

Assistant Commissioner Roads Policing and Community Engagement Paula Hilman, said: Static speed safety cameras have been proven in other countries to be highly effective in changing driver behaviour and reducing speed, which is a key contributor to road deaths.

"Speed cameras slow drivers down. The lower speeds people drive at, the lower the number of road deaths.
The number of claims relating to accidents caused by uninsured or untraced vehicles grew by 10pc in Wicklow last year, according to new figures published by the Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland (MIBI).

This was slightly below the 11pc rise in claims recorded on a national basis.

There were a total of 34 such claims in Wicklow in 2023, up from the 31 that were submitted in 2022. Nationally, the MIBI received a total of 1,927 claims across the country. This represented 187 additional claims from the 1,740 they received in 2022.

Reacting to the growth in claims the MIBI said it reaffirms the importance of the new law enforcement system to clamp down on uninsured driving.

Since signing a data sharing agreement last November, the MIBI is now providing the insurance details for three million vehicles using Irish roads on a daily basis to An Garda Siochana. This means that the gardai can now check the insurance status of any vehicle by scanning its registration plate.

Speaking about the level of claims received in 2023, David Fitzgerald, CEO of the MIBI said: This jump in claims due to accidents caused by uninsured vehicles in Wicklow should be a cause of concern for every law abiding motorist in the county. It is illegal to drive without valid motor insurance, yet as these figures show there are still a significant number of people who are willingly flouting the law.

Every one of the uninsured motorists behind these claims is effectively putting their hands in the pockets of law abiding motorists in Wicklow and around the country and taking their money. As they broke the law and drove without insurance cover, it becomes the responsibility of the MIBI to handle the compensation associated with these claims.

"We are a not-for-profit organisation so our funding comes indirectly from drivers who pay their motor insurance. Essentially these uninsured drivers took millions of euro from the rest of us last year and added 30 to 35 to the average motor insurance policy.

Speaking about their new data-sharing with gardai, he added: Were on record saying our expectation is that this will be a gamechanger for law enforcement in dealing with the scourge of uninsured driving. We hope that as this new weapon begins to bite, it wont be long before the number of uninsured claims we receive also begins to fall for Wicklow and all around the country.
Our beauty writer has some skin saviours to help with issues such as bum acne and bumpy skin

In a world full of beauty filters and influencers, it would be easy to assume that youre the only one with a weird thing happening to the skin on your body. From a distance, everyones skin looks perfect, but up close and personal, when you can examine every inch of it in the mirror, there are plenty of abnormalities to discover.

From bumpy skin via keratosis pilaris, to bum acne, or the sexily named boils, these things simply happen. Theyre not much fun though, and as such, you may feel totally alone with them. Today, lets face some of them head on.

Ceraves SA Smoothing Cleanser, 15, millies.ie

Keratosis pilaris is an incredibly common condition which causes small bumps to appear on the upper arms, legs or bum. Theyre harmless, but annoying if you want the smooth, silky skin of a baby seal, as I do. Fortunately, they can be minimised with acid exfoliants like salicylic acid.

CeraVes SA Smoothing Cleanser (15 via millies.ie) can be used on the face or body, and fortunately is competitively priced so you can keep it in the shower and use it all over. The range also includes an SA Smoothing cream (14.25 via cobhpharmacy.ie), and these two products combined can make a real difference when it comes to bumpy skin.

Ceraves SA Smoothing Cleanser, 15, millies.ie

Bum acne is an affliction many experience, so if you do too, do not feel ashamed! This issue is usually caused by the inflammation of hair follicles, also known as folliculitis. The products mentioned above can help with this, as can similar products which contain physical exfoliants like First Aid Beautys KP Bump Eraser Body Scrub (11.95 via cloud10beauty.com).

First Aid Beautys KP Bump Eraser Body Scrub, 11.95, cloud10beauty.com

Dermalogicas Clear Start Clarifying Body Spray (27 via boots.ie) was originally designed with back acne in mind, but its suitable for any hard to reach area and contains acne-fighting salicylic acid which is effective in keeping the pores unclogged.

Dermalogicas Clear Start Clarifying Body Spray, 27, boots.ie

Using an antibacterial soap a couple of times a week can help too. Nilaqua Skin Cleansing Foam with Antibacterial Properties (8.99 via boots.ie) is used in many hospitals to ward off bacteria and viruses, and can be used outside the shower to make sure any area is clean and fresh. You simply massage it into the skin and then wipe off after 30 seconds to a minute.

Nilaqua Skin Cleansing Foam with Antibacterial Properties, 8.99, boots.ie

Another issue people sometimes feel uncomfortable talking about is managing folds of skin which sometimes occur on the body. These can become irritated and sometimes result in a condition called intertrigo. Basically the fold creates an environment which is ideal for the growth of yeast and bacteria which can lead to pain and discomfort.

Megababes Body Dust Top-to-Toe Powder, from 9.25, beautybay.com

Keeping the area clean and dry is the best way to avoid these situations, so again, antibacterial soap is really helpful. Powders like Megababes Body Dust Top-to-Toe Powder (from 9.25 via beautybay.com) or Boots Medicated Powder (4.49 via boots.ie) can assist in reducing moisture in the area too. If you do get chafing or irritation, nappy rash cream with zinc can be incredibly effective in speeding up the healing process. Caldease Zinc Oxide Ointment (4.55 via rocheschemist.ie), for example.

Caldease Zinc Oxide Ointment, 4.55, rocheschemist.ie

Whatever it is thats going on with your body, take comfort in the fact that you are almost certainly not the only person to experience it. Dont be afraid to seek out help and solutions from health or medical professionals. You dont need to suffer alone because youre embarrassed. Bodies are just bodies, and the experts are there to help.

Lost in translation

Its hard to keep up with all the treatments available today, so lets get clear on at least one of them. Mesotherapy places micro-injections of enzymes, vitamins, plant extracts and hormones into the middle layer (mesoderm) of the skin. Using very fine needles, this technique stimulates collagen and elastin production which can restore plumpness to the surface of the skin. This is a cumulative treatment, meaning its recommended you do a series of treatments over an extended time period. Results are subtle but noticeable.

Ultrasuns Face Sun Protection SPF 50 Face and Scalp Mist, 23, boots.ie

Something old...

Ultrasun is a Swiss sun protection brand founded 30 years ago by a chemist whose brother had experienced skin cancer. After learning from that experience, he became determined to develop a range of products which would ensure that the right sun protection was available for everyone, no matter their skin type, age or tone. Ultrasun products are hypo-allergenic, meaning theyre suitable for children and babies and people with sensitive skin.

They are also non-comedogenic which mean they prevent the onset of sun allergies or prickly heat (relevant to some as we head into holiday season), and highly water-resistant. Im a fan, in general, but today I want to focus on Ultrasuns Face Sun Protection SPF 50 Face and Scalp Mist (23 via boots.ie). This is ideal for topping up protection throughout the day, and works on top or under makeup. Pop it in your handbag and youll never be without sun protection.

Daily Prevention Protect and Refresh Mist SPF 30, 53.50, imageskincare.ie

... Something new

I originally came to know Image Skincare thanks to countless Irish women telling me their SPF was their holy grail. Once I tried it, I could see why. It was great. When I heard that theyd revamped and renamed the product as well as expanding the range, I was excited and a little bit scared. Now that Ive tried them, I know there was nothing to be afraid of because the products are great. The new name for the range is Daily Prevention as Image emphasise the need for SPF every single day, even if the sun isnt out.

Aside from the anti-aging impact of using SPF every day, it also protects you from skin cancer, which is a very real risk. Yes, even in Ireland. One of the new products is Daily Prevention Protect and Refresh Mist SPF 30 (53.50 via imageskincare.ie). The price is a little intense, but this dry-oil spray is a dream for topping up your protection, even over makeup. It also contains an antioxidant-rich blend of vitamins A, C and E, meaning your skin will also get a boost of moisture.
With limited options in stores and online shopping bringing its own challenges in ascertaining fit and feel, finding denim thats comfy and stylish can be a nuisance

Shopping for jeans can be an unpleasant experience at any size, but its particularly challenging if you fall outside the industry-standard straight size market. Most brands stock a limited range in stores, with their larger sizes sold exclusively online, if they offer extended sizing at all.

The high street is notorious for inconsistency in sizing, so look out for more detailed measurements to get a clearer picture of the fit.

Its just a number at the end of the day, says Irena Drezi, a curve model and influencer (@irenadrezi). Dont squeeze yourself into a smaller size just for the sake of wearing a smaller size. You need your jeans to fit you properly.

When trying jeans on, sit down in them  if theyre a tiny bit too tight, thats fine, the waistband will loosen over time but if you cant even breathe, you should think about sizing up. You can always get something thats too big altered to your body; if its too small, its too small.

Today's News in 90 seconds - 2nd May 2024

Jeans with stretch can provide a more comfortable fit that moves with your body, standing or seated. Definitely check the elastane percentage  anything 4pc and above should be fine, Irena advises.

And while product pages typically feature models of smaller size, she suggests heading to TikTok or Instagram for a better idea of how jeans would suit different bodies. I usually search the product name and find some sort of review or photo of how they look on a curvier body, she says.

To help take the pain out of denim shopping, we asked Irish fashion insiders for their favourite plus-size jeans to suit all budgets.

Skinny jeans

TH Flex Como high-rise skinny jeans, 99.90, Tommy Hilfiger

TH Flex Como high-rise skinny jeans, 99.90, Tommy Hilfiger

On the higher end, Irena likes the TH Flex range, which includes skinny-fit options that are stretchy but still feel like a proper jean. Made with 20pc recycled cotton, these jeans are sold up to W36 in three lengths, or EU sizes 48-54 in one length under the Curve line.

Buy it here: Tommy Hilfiger

Calvin Klein high-rise skinny jeans, 70 reduced from 115, very.ie

Calvin Klein high-rise skinny jeans, 70 reduced from 115, very.ie

Beauty editor Mary-Jane ORegan (@glamityjane) hails Calvin Klein as the best premium brand for plus-size denim. This style is available up to W44 and currently marked down. Theyd be my dressier ones, I like skinny jeans and heels, she says. These are higher quality and they do tend to wash well.

Buy it here: Very.ie

River Islands Kaia jeans, 48, very.ie

River Islands Kaia jeans, 48, very.ie

On a lower budget, fashion blogger Denise Culleton (@denisecurvyblog_) recommends the Kaia jeans, available up to size 18. For comfort and sizing, theyre the ones that I love the most, she says. I would definitely consider these to be true to size. These have a slight bit of stretch and because they come up so high-waisted, theyre very comfortable. Ive washed them a good few times and they still look brand new.

Buy it here: Very.ie

Sophia high rise skinny jeans, 39.99, Vero Moda

Sophia high rise skinny jeans, 39.99, Vero Moda

Vero Moda is a great brand for plus-size clothing, says Denise, who has a couple of pairs of its jeans, including the Sophia, which caters up to W54. Theyre a really good size and they come up over the belly button so you feel like youre pulled in a little bit, she explains. They would be my go-to daytime jeans because theyre so comfortable.

Buy it here: Vero Moda

Jeggings

High waisted jeggings, 25, M&S

High waisted jeggings, 25, M&S

M&Ss denim-leggings hybrid is available up to size 22 in 10 shades, and in petite and long sizes too. They come up over my tummy and they cinch in at the waist a bit so theyre comfortable, Mary-Jane explains. They look great under tunic tops because theres no button protruding out of them.

Buy it here: M&S

Mid rise full length jean, 119, freddy.ie

Mid rise full length jean, 119, freddy.ie

For a luxury option, Irena likes the shaping styles from Italian brand Freddy Jeans. They have a curvy section made specifically for curvier bodies, she says of the brand, which caters up to size 18. They are definitely the stretchiest pair I own, theyre almost like a jegging and theyre super comfy.

Curve model Jessica Borza (@jessicaborzacurvymodel) is also a fan. Freddy Jeans offers styles suitable for all shapes and sizes, with comfort and shape, she says. The style that I tend to go for are stretch jeans. They offer flexibility, so you can feel good and look good at the same time.

Buy it here: Freddy.ie

Straight

Harper cigarette smart jeans, 57, M&S

Harper cigarette smart jeans, 57, M&S

Curve model and blogger Louise OReilly (@stylemecurvy) calls these jeans a game-changer for those up to size 22. Theyre my top recommendation for anyone who struggles to get a right fit, or who might describe themselves as a more awkward body type  a flat bum, or wide calves where nothing seems to work, she explains. Theyve the perfect amount of elastane that moves with your body without going baggy. They hug your bum and work seamlessly regardless of leg shape or size.

Buy it here: M&S

Curve Love mid rise 90s straight jeans, 80, abercrombie.com

Curve Love mid rise 90s straight jeans, 80, abercrombie.com

Louises other top pick is the Curve Love collection from Abercrombie, available up to W37 in five lengths. Whilst most curve body shapes would have been traumatised by Abercrombie and their tiny sizing years ago, theyve really come up leaps and bounds catering for a lot more size offerings, particularly with their Curve Love Jeans range, Louise explains.

Buy it here: Abercrombie

Ribcage straight ankle jeans, 120, Levis

Ribcage straight ankle jeans, 120, Levis

Jessica advises seeking out brands known for quality materials and craftsmanship, like Levis for greater durability. The American staples plus-size collection includes many of its bestselling styles, such as the Ribcage jeans, in sizes 14-24.

Buy it here: Levis

Boyfriend

Washed black boyfriend jeans, 42, prettylittlething.ie

Washed black boyfriend jeans, 42, prettylittlething.ie

Having big thighs can be a problem here because a baggy jean ends up looking like a bootcut jean on me because its not loose enough on my thighs, Irena explains.

These jeans are, she says, the only ones I found that fit my thighs perfectly so that its still loose, sold in standard sizes up to 16 with a Plus range offering up to size 30. They have zero stretch but they fit incredibly, Irena adds. I have yet to find a baggy pair from a high street shop that actually fits right.

Buy it here: Pretty Little Thing
Princess Charlotte, taken by the Princess of Wales to mark her ninth birthday (The Prince and Princess of Wales/Kensington Palace)

Britains royal family has released a picture of Princess Charlotte to mark her ninth birthday.

The Prince and Princess of Wales daughter has been pictured casually posing outside next to a clematis plant with pink petals, in the image taken by Kate.
May Day display reveals captured military hardware from war

Visitors take photos of a captured US-made M1A1 Abrams tank which is seen on display in Moscow yesterday. Photo: AP

Western tanks and military hardware captured by Russian forces in Ukraine went on display in Moscow yesterday at an exhibition the Russian military said showed Western help would not stop it winning the war.

Long queues of people formed on what was a sunny May Day public holiday at the entrance to the exhibition, entitled Trophies of the Russian Army, which is being held outside a museum celebrating the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.
Israel ignores Blinkens plea as it vows to push ahead with offensive in Rafah

Netanyahu unmoved by threat of losing US support over attack on city

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is determined to push ahead with the move, despite the potential for disaster on the civilian population. Photo: Getty

Humeyra Pamuk Thu 2 May 2024 at 03:30







US secretary of state Antony Blinken said yesterday he has still not seen a plan for Israels planned offensive on the southern Gaza city of Rafah that would protect civilians, repeating that Washington could not support such an assault.
Police had never seen that many in one place  more than 100 raccoons besiege house of woman who was feeding them
Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters remained behind barricades on the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus on Thursday, despite police orders to leave.

Huge numbers of police began arriving on Wednesday afternoon, and empty buses were parked near UCLA to take away protesters who do not comply with the order.
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.
New Delhi Reviews Trade Agreements with Key Asian Partners

Indias main trading partners in Asia are members of the ASEAN bloc, Japan, and South Korea. However, India faces a trade deficit in each of these relationships, importing more than it exports. The economic ties between India and these East Asian nations have not reached their full potential despite the substantial scale of their economies and populations.

India has developed a comprehensive and strategic approach that integrates diplomacy, economics, and culture in its involvement with East Asian countries. The Act East Policy, introduced in 2014, aims to bolster economic and strategic relations with nations in Southeast Asia and East Asia.

In April 2024, high-ranking officials from India and South Korea discussed advancements in disarmament and non-proliferation concerning nuclear, chemical, and biological domains. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced that the India-Republic of Korea Consultations on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation took place in Seoul.

It is reported that during the meeting, the two sides delved into developments in disarmament and non-proliferation fields, encompassing nuclear, chemical, and biological domains. In regard to non-proliferation issues, the two nations held discussions on outer space security concerns, conventional weapons, including artificial intelligence (AI) in military contexts, and multilateral export control regimes.

On April 24, 2024, top officials from India and Japan engaged in discussions regarding developments in disarmament and non-proliferation related to nuclear, chemical, and biological domains. The 10th round of India-Japan Consultations on Disarmament, Non-Proliferation, and Export Control took place in Tokyo.

India exports country-wise (East Asia) Value (in US$) Year Brunei 68.81 million 2022 Cambodia 227.35 million 2022 Indonesia 9.87 billion 2022 Laos 16.90 million 2022 Malayasia 7.19 billion 2022 Myanmar 765.16 million 2022 Philippines 2.16 billion 2022 Singapore 11.83 billion 2022 Thailand 6.04 billion 2022 Vietnam 5.88 billion 2022 South Korea 7.50 billion 2022 Japan 5.70 billion 2022

Data Source: Trading Economics

Find Business Support Build Your Asia Business with Turnkey Market Entry and Cross-Regional Support According to a recent report by the economic think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), an analysis of Indias three major Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with ASEAN, South Korea, and Japansigned between 2010 and 2011reveals a significant increase in Indias merchandise trade deficit with these partners compared to its global trade deficit. The report also highlights that Indias exports to these FTA partners have seen slower growth compared to its imports.

Indias trade ties with South Korea

India and South Korea are set to commence another series of talks to enhance their Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in May-June, following the completion of the 10th round of discussions earlier this year. As per media reports, India wants to secure increased market opportunities in South Korea for its key exports, such as rice, steel, and shrimp, as well as for sectors like healthcare and information technology (IT).

Back in 2009, the two countries signed the CEPA in Seoul with the aim of enhancing economic ties and streamlining trade. This agreement, which was the result of over three years of negotiations spanning 12 rounds, officially took effect in 2010.

Despite consistent efforts to strengthen bilateral trade relations, Indias exports to South Korea have lagged its exports. According to data from the Ministry of Commerce and Industries, for the calendar year (CY) 2023, Indias exports to South Korea amounted to US$6.286 billion, marking a 16.61 percent decrease annually, while imports from South Korea reached US$21.361 billion, showing a 3.19 percent annual increase.

In the upcoming rounds of discussions, India is looking to narrow this trade gap.

South Korea, a key US ally in the Asia-Pacific region, has improved relations with India in recent years, marking their 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties in 2023.

At the end of the 2023 G20 summit in New Delhi, India and South Korea signed agreements to cooperate in the supply chains and military industries, as well as in space exploration.

India-Japan trade ties

In a media report published in April 2024, there is a likelihood of India revisiting its 2011 FTA with Japan in May, aiming to mitigate the trade imbalance with Tokyo.

According to data from the Commerce Ministry, Indias imports from Japan totaled US$17.506 billion in CY23, while exports to Japan amounted to US$5.084 billion. Since 2010-11, Japans exports to India have doubled from US$8.62 billion, whereas Indias exports to Japan have remained relatively stagnant.

Japans Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Indias Prime Minister Modi announced in March 2022 that they intended to bring US$32 billion in public and private investment and financing from Japan to India over the course of the following five years, in order to fund relevant public and commercial projects that would be of mutual interest.

India is presently involved in active trade discussions with a number of nations and groupings, such as the UK, the EU, Canada, Oman, and countries that are party to the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF). Market access, adherence to labor and environmental regulations, and roll-back of tariff and non-tariff barriers are the main points of contention in the FTA negotiations. FTAs, which provide both economic and geo-strategic benefits, have emerged as the cornerstone of Indias foreign trade policy. Yet, in all these trade negotiations, New Delhi is holding steady ground on prioritizing Indias expectations and opportunities for domestic industry players.

Trade and financial collaboration are at the center of Indias relationship with Japan. According to a survey conducted by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, Japan views India as the most suitable foreign investment destination for the second year in a row.

The objective of the JBIC survey was to grasp the current situation, challenges, and outlook for overseas business development by Japanese manufacturing companies with a track record in overseas business operations. In the FY2023 survey, in addition to the regular themes of overseas business performance, business prospects for medium-term, and promising countries/regions, [the JBIC] also surveyed Japanese manufacturers perceptions of the shape of supply chains under fragmented global economy, impact of global price hikes on business development, and issues in sustainability in business development. The survey was conducted by sending questionnaires to 987 companies in July 2023, and the completed questionnaires were returned through September 2023. A total of 534 companies returned valid responses, putting the response rate at 54.1 percent. In the ranking of promising countries, India maintains the top position, far ahead of the others. The U.S. and China dropped in the rankings, with Vietnam in second place for the first time. Source: FY2023 JBIC Survey (35th) Report on Overseas Business Operations by Japanese Manufacturing Companies

Reviewing Indias trade relationship with ASEAN

During the 20th ASEAN-India Economic Ministers meeting on August 21, 2023, in Semarang, Indonesia, ministers from member countries assessed the bilateral trade and investment ties between India and ASEAN. They agreed to work towards strengthening this economic partnership to yield significant advantages for both parties.

According to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, bilateral trade between India and ASEAN amounted to US$131.5 billion in 2022-23, representing 11.3 percent of Indias global trade during that period.

Indian imports country-wise (East Asia) Value (in US$) Year Brunei 317.25 million 2022 Cambodia 120.43 million 2022 Indonesia 28.67 billion 2022 Laos 57.53 million 2022 Malayasia 13.54 billion 2022 Myanmar 1.03 billion 2022 Philippines 896.45 million 2022 Singapore 24.42 billion 2022 Thailand 11.25 billion 2022 Vietnam 9.00 billion 2022 South Korea 20.72 billion 2022 Japan 15.75 billion 2022

Data Source: Trading Economics

Indias current FTA agreement predominantly benefits ASEAN nations, leading to an imbalance that has irked New Delhi as it grapples with a widening trade deficit. Although exports from ASEAN nations have surged, imports into India from these countries have grown even more rapidly. The ongoing FTA review seeks to rectify this imbalance by considering concessions while also safeguarding Indian industries.

Outlook

Southeast Asia and East Asia represent some of the worlds fastest-growing regions, whose markets offer highly favorable environments for manufacturing, transporting, and sourcing of completed goods. This makes them indispensable players in the global economy.

With their location, sizable population, and rapidly growing economies, the ASEAN bloc in particular, has gained importance for Indias sourcing needs. South Korea and Japan, too, have played key roles in Indias burgeoning manufacturing sector and infrastructure modernization.

Now, New Delhi wants its commercial and trade engagement with these regions to be on more equal footing. For one, India doesnt wants its FTAs with these countries to be misused by third countries like China, and second, India seeks greater market access to benefit its export-oriented industries.

Ongoing FTA reviews will involve discussions regarding flexibility in determining product origin through product-specific rules (PSRs), improving market access for Indian products, reducing non-tariff barriers, and implementing value-added requirements for incoming shipments.

With inputs from Melissa Cyrill.
L-R: Bank of Namibia Governor Johannes !Gawaxab and NPCI International CEO Ritesh Shukla

Mumbai: NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), the international arm of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), has signed an agreement with the Bank of Namibia (BoN) to support them in developing an instant payment system like Unified Payment Interface (UPI) for Namibia.

This collaboration marks a strategic leap towards strengthening Namibias financial infrastructure and fostering inclusive economic growth.

By leveraging technology and experiences from Indias UPI, the partnership seeks to help Namibia modernize its financial ecosystem.

This includes improving accessibility, affordability, connectivity with both domestic and international payment networks, and interoperability.

This strategic partnership aims to enhance digital financial services and bolster real-time Person-to-Person (P2P) and Merchant payment transactions (P2M) in the African nation.

The robust security features inherent in the UPI platform not only promise to instill confidence among users and stakeholders but also ensure scalability for future technological advancements and market demands.

Through this collaboration, BoN will gain access to best-in-class technology and insights from NIPL, enabling the creation of a similar platform in Namibia for the digital welfare of its citizens.

Governor of the Bank of Namibia Johannes !Gawaxab said, Our objective is to enhance accessibility and affordability for underserved populations, achieve full interoperability of payment instruments by 2025, modernize the financial sector, and ensure a secure and efficient National Payment System.

This endeavour, aligned with the Bank's Strategic Plan and NPS Vision and Strategy 2025, deliberately employs a central bank-led approach to minimize infrastructure costs for financial institutions, thereby ensuring the sustainability and affordability of instant payment solutions for end users.

This system aims to connect individuals, businesses, and government entities across Namibia, including the payment of social grants, enabling more efficient economic interactions and supporting the growth of digital entrepreneurship, he added.

Speaking on the partnership, NPCI International CEO Ritesh Shukla said, We are proud to join hands with the Bank of Namibia to enable the deployment of a UPI-like real-time payments system in Namibia for the Digital Public Good of its citizens. We are excited about this partnership, which will enable Namibian citizens to transact instantly leveraging technology and experiences from India's UPI.

By enabling this technology, the country will gain sovereignty in the digital payments landscape and stand to benefit from enhanced payment interoperability and improved financial access for underserved populations. This will also ensure scalability and adaptability to embrace future technological advancements and market demands, thereby propelling economic prosperity in the region.

Once live, the platform will facilitate digital transactions in Namibia, driving financial inclusion and reducing cash dependency by catering to underserved populations.

This collaborative effort seeks to offer essential and affordable financial services to all, with a particular focus on rural and informal sectors.
Image Credit: video grab

Anand (Gujarat): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched a vailed attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and said Pakistan was desperate to make 'Shehzada' Indias prime minister.

While addressing an election rally in Gujarat's Anand, Modi also described the Congress party as a 'mureed' (follower) of Pakistan.

"The Congress is languishing here and Pakistanis are shedding tears," the Prime Minister said.

"Pakistan leaders want to make 'Shehzada' of Congress India's prime minister," he added, taking a dig at Rahul Gandhi.

The Prime Minister's comments follow Pakistans former minister in Imran Khan's cabinet in Pakistan Chaudhry Fawad Hussains admiration for Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday.

The ex-Pakistani minister shared a video on X showing Rahul Gandhi criticizing the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Further denouncing the Congress party, PM Modi stated during the rally, "The nation witnessed Congress's governance for 60 years, and BJP's 'seva-kaal' for 10 years. Under Congress's 60-year rule, approximately 60 per cent of the rural population lacked access to toilets. BJP achieved this in just 10 years."

Prime Minister Modi also alleged that the Congress aims to amend India's Constitution to extend reservations for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC) to Muslims.

He stated, "I dare the Congress to give in writing that they will not amend the Constitution to grant reservations based on religion."

Enumerating the BJP's accomplishments, PM Modi highlighted, "Over the last 10 years, we have provided tap water connections to 14 crore households, whereas the Congress managed to do so for only 3 crore households in 60 years."

Modi said that his sole aim is to make India a developed nation by 2047 and work tirelessly to achieve this objective.

"I have been dedicated to serving Gujarat for numerous years. In 2014, you put your faith in me with the responsibility to serve the nation. During my tenure in Gujarat, our guiding principle was that the state's progress contributes to the advancement of the entire nation. I hold just one aspiration: by the time we commemorate our 100 years of Independence in 2047, India should stand as a developed nation," declared the Prime Minister.

"I assure you that I will tirelessly work around the clock to realize the vision of a developed India by 2047," PM Modi affirmed.
Photo courtesy: Facebook/Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi/IBNS: The suspense over Congress candidates in Amethi and Raebareli has been picked up with Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra being given a few more hours to make their decision, media reports said.

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge met Rahul earlier in the evening and as per reports by NDTV, he suggested that he and his sister contest from the two prestigious seats in Uttar Pradesh.

However, the final decision was left to them given their "knowledge of the ground reality".

They are expected to convey their decision to him by tonight. Friday is the last date for filing the nomination from these seats which go into voting in the fifth phase.

According to reports, Kharge has suggested to Gandhi that the siblings not contesting from the two seats, considered their family bastions for decades, would send a wrong message, not just to party workers but to the Opposition, the ruling coalition and the voters.

The ramifications will be felt in Uttar Pradesh and the rest of the country.

Amid protests by party workers outside the Amethi Congress office over the announcement of the candidate's name, the central leadership handed Kharge the responsibility of choosing the same, after which he met with Rahul Gandhi in Karnataka.

Uttar Pradesh, which has 80 Lok Sabha seats, has been ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) since 2017.

In the last consecutive general elections, the BJP had swept the polls in Uttar Pradesh, the north Indian state.

According to reports, Rahul Gandhi may be interested in contesting from Amethi for a comeback from the seat. A victory would mean that he might have to surrender the Kerala seat, which sent him to the Lok Sabha in 2019.

His sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is expected to step into her mother's shoes in Raebareli.
Photo courtesy: X/ @BengalGovernor

Kolkata/IBNS: A female staff working with Kolkata's Raj Bhavan has levelled serious allegations of molestation against West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose on Thursday, media reports said.

She has also filed a complaint with Hare Street Police Station stating that she has been allegedly molested by the Governor twice.

However, with the Governor enjoying legal immunity provided by the Constitution of India, the police are looking into the complaint and the allegations but may not be able to take any action against him.

The incident comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's arrival at the Raj Bhavan for an overnight stay before he starts his election campaign in Bengal on Friday.

Meanwhile, reacting to the allegations, the Raj Bhavan has quoted the Governor as saying that the entire incident is a conspiracy to malign his image.

As per local television, the Governor in his press statement said the conspiracy was hatched to prevent him from raising his voice against the irregularities and corruption issues in Bengal including the Sandeshkhali incident.

However, he made it clear that nothing can stop him from standing up for justice.

Truth shall triumph. I refuse to be cowed down by engineered narratives. If anybody wants some election benefits by maligning me, God Bless them. But they cannot stop my fight against corruption and violence in Bengal.  Raj Bhavan Kolkata (@BengalGovernor) May 2, 2024

The ruling Trinamool Congress wasted no time in cashing in on the issue amid their everlasting tussle with the Governor.

TMC MP Sagarika Ghose said molestation charges against the Bengal Governor "puts the prestige of the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata at stake".

"BIG. Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose accused of molesting a woman. How utterly APPALLING and HORRIFYING. Ahead of @narendramodivisit to Kolkata who is supposed to stay overnight at Raj Bhavan, a woman has alleged that she was molested while she went to meet the Governor at Raj Bhavan today. The complainant has been taken to the Hare Street police station for filing a complaint. The woman has accused the Governor of molesting her. Shocking and disgraceful."

Molestation charges against Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose puts the prestige of the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata at stake. PM @narendramodi is scheduled to arrive in Kolkata today and stay overnight at the Raj Bhavan. Will Modi ask CV Ananda Bose for an explanation? pic.twitter.com/LFN8Rdemys  Sagarika Ghose (@sagarikaghose) May 2, 2024



CV Ananda Bose is a 1977 batch (retired) IAS officer and he was appointed as the West Bengal Governor and has been serving as one since November 23, 2022.
Image courtesy: Facebook/Embassy of India in Myanmar

Naypyidaw (Myanmar)/IBNS: Indian Ambassador to Myanmar, Abhay Thakur, on Tuesday met Myanmar Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Than Swe, in Naypyidaw and discussed the various aspects of the multifaceted relations between two nations, reports said.

During the meeting, the Indian envoy also presented a copy of his credentials to Myanmar's Deputy PM.

Last month, Abhay Thakur was appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Myanmar, according to a press release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs, India-Myanmar relations are rooted in shared historical, ethnic, cultural and religious ties.

India and Myanmar share a long land border of over 1600 km and a maritime boundary in the Bay of Bengal.
Photo courtesy: File photo from Twitter/TheJusticeDept

Washington/IBNS: The United States Justice Department has apprehended two Chinese nationals suspected of conspiring to export US technology to bolster Chinas military capabilities, according to media reports quoting the US Department of Justice.

According to a press release by the US Department of Justice, Han Li (44) and Lin Chen (64) stand charged with multiple counts, including conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), for their alleged attempt to export a machine crucial for processing silicon microchips.

The defendants could face penalties of up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine for conspiracy to violate the IEEPA, and up to five years in prison plus a $250,000 fine for false electronic export information activities, with an additional penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for smuggling, according to a report by The Register.

The final sentence will be determined by a federal district court judge, reports Khabarhub.com.

US Attorney for the Northern District of California, Ismail Ramsey, emphasized the significance of enforcing export laws to safeguard national security, stating, The export restrictions at issue in this case were put in place to prevent the illicit procurement of commodities and technologies for unauthorized military end use in the Peoples Republic of China, Khabarhub.com reported.

Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Departments National Security Division, Matthew Olson, revealed that the defendants aimed to sidestep export controls to obtain US semiconductors for shipment to a Chinese company, as reported by The Epoch Times.

Robert Tripp, FBI Special Agent in Charge, reiterated the agencys commitment to thwarting the illegal export of US technology to China, labeling it a top priority, according to a Khabarhub.com report.

We will aggressively pursue anyone who violates export control laws designed to protect our national and economic security, Tripp assured.

This incident is part of a larger pattern. China has previously made numerous attempts to unlawfully acquire US technology.

China faces recurrent accusations from the US and other global leaders of orchestrating state-sponsored economic and industrial espionage, as well as intellectual property theft, contravening international trade agreements, as reported by Khabarhub.com.

In January of the previous year, an FBI official, as cited by BBC, highlighted Chinas concerted efforts to target American ingenuity with the aim of undermining its global leadership position.

Despite allegations, the Chinese government consistently denies engaging in coercion, maintaining that its acquisition of technology often occurs through joint venture agreements with foreign companies seeking access to the Chinese market, as reported by BBC.

According to CBS News, intelligence leaders from the US, Canada, UK, Australia, and New Zealandcollectively known as the Five Eyeshave cautioned that Chinas theft of intellectual property, particularly in technology such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), poses a significant threat to Western nations.

CBS News further noted that while countries spying on each other is not unprecedented, the scope and methods of Chinas espionage have raised concerns among intelligence leaders.

Intellectual property theft played a role in the US-China trade war, according to Khabarhub.com.

In 2019, the University of California, Santa Barbara, filed lawsuits against major retailers including Walmart, Amazon, IKEA, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Target for selling Chinese-made light bulbs utilizing unlawfully acquired patented US technology, as reported by Forbes.

In 2020, Huawei, a Chinese multinational digital communications technology conglomerate, faced indictments for an alleged decade-long operation to steal US trade secrets, as per France24.

A report titled An Unfair Advantage: Confronting Organized Intellectual Property Theft published by ASIS International revealed that the FBI had over 1,000 cases of intellectual property theft involving individuals associated with China open in 2020.

CBS News, quoting FBI Director Christopher Wray, reported that the FBI initiates a new Chinese counterintelligence investigation every 12 hours.

Additionally, an article from the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) highlighted that 80 percent of the US Department of Justices economic espionage cases involve the Peoples Republic of China (PRC), reports Khabarhub.com.
Photo courtesy: Videograb of protests at UCLA

Los Angeles/IBNS: Police have arrested pro-Palestinian protesters on college campuses across the US overnight, mostly from the University of California in Los Angeles, where chaos broke out as officers in riot gear surged against a crowd of demonstrators.

The situation turned violent as police removed barricades and began dismantling demonstrators fortified encampment at UCLA after hundreds of protesters defied orders to leave.

The protesters formed human chains as police fired flash bangs to break up the crowds.

At least 132 people were arrested at UCLA, Sgt. Alejandro Rubio of the California Highway Patrol was quoted as saying by the AP.

Rubio said the arrestees were lodged at the county jails complex near downtown Los Angeles. UCLA police will determine what if any charges to seek.

Numerous workers entered the former encampment site Thursday morning and began an extensive cleanup as tents and trash were dumped across campus sidewalks and lawns. Some buildings were covered in graffiti.

Meanwhile, pro-Israel protests are also taking place at George Washington University in Washington, DC.

A group of pro-Israel protesters, including relatives of hostages held by Hamas and students from other local universities have gathered in a small yard on the George Washington campus, giving speeches and chanting bring them home."

So far, the protests at the George Washington University campus have been peaceful, with law enforcement positioned near them closely watching.

In another instance, Portland police officers in riot gear were in a standoff with protesters outside Portland State University's library on Thursday.

The standoff came as authorities worked to clear pro-Palestinian protesters from the premises.

The Portland Police Bureau made at least two arrests early this morning. A CNN crew on the ground witnessed officers take at least five people into custody.

Senate leaders in both parties are seeking an agreement from their rank-and-file members to process the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which passed the House Wednesday, according to a Senate leadership aide.

The bill would mandate that when the Department of Education enforces federal anti-discrimination laws it uses a definition of antisemitism put forward by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.

Supporters of the legislation say it will help combat antisemitism on college campuses, but opponents say it overreaches and threatens to chill free speech.

While it passed on a broad bipartisan vote 320-91, no votes from each party indicate that it would be difficult to get a unanimous consent agreement in the Senate.
Baahubali Crown Of Blood OTT Release: The animated series "Baahubali: Crown of Blood," from S.S. Rajamouli, the acclaimed director of "RRR," is set to make its debut on OTT. Created by Rajamouli and Sharad Devarajan and produced in collaboration with Graphic India and Arka Mediaworks, the series promises to expand the "Baahubali" universe, which first captured global attention through its blockbuster film installments. Building on the immense success of the "Baahubali" films, which grossed over $370 million worldwide, "Crown of Blood" delves into the earlier adventures of characters Baahubali and Bhallaladeva. Unlike in the films, where they were adversaries, this series sees them joining forces to defend the kingdom of Mahishmati and its throne from the enigmatic warlord, Raktadeva.

Also read: SS Rajamouli Experiences Earthquake In Japan, Son Karthikeya Shares Details On Social Media



When To Watch Baahubali: Crown Of Blood?

Baahubali: Crown Of Blood will stream online starting May 17.

When the people of Mahishmati chant his name, no force in the universe can stop him from returning.



Baahubali: Crown of Blood, an animated series trailer, arrives soon! pic.twitter.com/fDJ5FZy6ld  rajamouli ss (@ssrajamouli) April 30, 2024

Where To Watch Baaahubali: Crown Of Blood?

Baahubali: Crown Of Blood will be streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.

Scene From Baahubali: Crown Of Blood/X

The original films, presented in Telugu and Tamil, along with several dubbed versions, starred South Indian luminaries like Prabhas, Rana Daggubati, Ramya Krishnan, Anushka Shetty, and Tamannaah Bhatia. While the new animated series will not feature these actors reprising their roles in voice, it will maintain the spirit and high stakes of the original narratives.

This series follows two seasons of the animated "Baahubali: The Lost Legends," which previously aired on Amazon Prime Video in 2017 and 2018. With "Crown of Blood," Disney+ Hotstar continues its strategy of enriching its content offerings with high-quality animation aimed at adult viewers.

Fans of the original movies will discover more about Baahubali and Bhallaladeva and enjoy the impressive and exciting storytelling linked to S.S. Rajamouli.



Make sure to watch Disney+ Hotstar on May 17 to see the first episode of "Baahubali: Crown of Blood" and get back into the magnificent world of Mahishmati.

For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment.


Hollywood actor Tom Felton best known for playing the role of Draco Malfoy in Harry Potter series is all set to star in Scam 1992 fame Hansal Mehta's upcoming and highly anticipated series Gandhi. The web series also stars Mehta's lucky mascot Pratik Gandhi who was recently seen alongside Vidya Balan in Do Aur Do Pyaar.

Tom Felton to share screen space with Pratik Gandhi

X

It is said that Tom Felton will essay the role of Josiah Oldfield, who was Gandhi's close friend during his time study in London. Pratik on the other hand is playing the titular role of Mahatma Gandhi in the web series.

Tom Felton is excited to join the cast of Hansal Mehta's Gandhi

Felton is quite excited about the project. In a statement, he said, "Im excited to be part of the journey of telling the story of Gandhis early years in London. It's an important aspect of history that hasnt been told on screen before, and to be working with Hansal and Pratik is an honour and pleasure."

Sharing his excitement about the project, Hansal Mehta said, "Working with an exceptionally talented cast has been nothing but a privilege. The casting of some exceptional international actors to our ensemble is even more exciting as we prepare to take our labour of love to audiences worldwide. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhis story, particularly his more formative years spent in London and South Africa, is a story for our times, an untouched but fertile tale of a young man who goes on a voyage of self-discovery, not knowing the impact hed have on history and on our collective consciousness. I feel truly honoured to have gotten the opportunity to bring this epic tale to life."

Besides Felton, the cast also features international stars including Libby Mai, Molly Wright, Ralph Adeniyi, James Murray, Lindon Alexander, Jonno Davies, Simon Lennon and amongst others.

The release date of Hansal Mehta's Gandhi has not been announced as of yet.

For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment.
In a groundbreaking move, hundreds of thousands of dairy farmers in Gujarat are set to receive an incentive of Rs 1 per litre for casting their votes in the upcoming Lok Sabha election. According to a report by TOI, farmers will need to display the indelible ink mark on their index fingers to claim the incentive.

Shutterstock| Representational Image

To boost voter turnout on May 7, when polling for 25 out of 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat will occur during the third phase of the general elections, the indigenous dairy giant Amul has introduced this policy. The Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), representing 36 lakh registered dairy farmers across the state, has taken the decision to provide this incentive.



Also Read: Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Fortune Teller Predicts Winner, Gets Arrested For Illegal Captivity Of Parrot

Valamji Humbal, Vice Chairman of GCMMF, stated to TOI that the federation's board members have unanimously agreed to offer the incentive to all registered dairy farmers in the state. Most of these farmers, predominantly women, are associated with 18,565 village dairy co-operative societies, collectively pouring around 3 crore litres of milk daily.



In an effort to raise awareness among voters in urban Gujarat, India's largest FMCG brand has already commenced printing the slogan 'Chunav Ka Parv, Desh Ka Garv' (Festival of Elections, Pride of the Nation) on milk pouches distributed to consumers daily.

Also Read: Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Doctor's Swift CPR Saves Bengaluru Woman Suffering Cardiac Arrest At Polling Booth

Humbal, who also heads Sarhad Dairy based in Kutch, mentioned, "Traditionally, we have been encouraging voting through messages printed on our milk pouches. It is an exercise that we have been carrying out ahead of all the elections. But this time, we have decided to encourage voting. It is for the first time that we are providing such incentive."

Representational image

He further added that a directive regarding the decision has been circulated to all member unions. The incentive, to be deposited directly into the accounts of milk pourers, will be calculated based on the quantity of milk they supply to village-level milk societies.



"For instance, a dairy farmer who pours a litre of milk will earn Rs 1 more. A dairy farmer who pours 20 litres will earn Rs 20 more, which will be deposited in his or her account apart from the milk procurement price that is paid to them," explained Humbal.

Reuters| Representational Image

Reports indicate that the impact of this decision will be particularly significant in the milk shed areas of major dairies in Gujarat, including Banaskantha's Banas Dairy, Sabarkantha's Sabar Dairy, Mehsana's Doodhsagar Dairy, and Anand's Amul Dairy.



For more news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.
Weeks after the unprecedented rains and floods, Dubai and the rest of the UAE are gearing up for another spell of downpours on Thursday and Friday. Heavy rains and thunderstorms hit Abu Dhabi and Dubai early on Thursday morning and an amber alert has been issued across the country. With unstable weather predicted for the next couple of days, authorities have issued warnings to locals and tourists.

Dubai Police issue safety warning

The Dubai Police on Wednesday issued a public safety warning this evening due to expected unstable weather conditions.

TWITTER

"Please stay away from the beaches and do not sail, avoid valley areas, torrential rains, and low places, and exercise caution while driving vehicles," the alert read.

Advisory for flyers

The Dubai Airport along with FlyDubai and Emirates have also issued advisories for passengers related to inclement weather, asking them to gear up for delays due to rain and traffic.

REUTERS

"To avoid potential delays due to road congestion, we recommend guests utilise smart apps for real-time traffic updates and alternative routes and consider using the Dubai Metro to get to DXB Terminals 1 and 3, a Dubai Airports spokesperson said.

"If youre travelling to Dubai International Airport, you may experience road delays. We recommend adding extra travel time to reach the airport and using Dubai Metro where possible, Emirates airlines spokesperson said.

Work from home for employees

On Wednesday, the Dubai Government announced the activation of remote work for employees across all its entities on Thursday, and Friday.

Woke up to Insane winds at 2:30 am in the morning its starting stay dafe guys#dubai #rains pic.twitter.com/tccRQQAsub  Girish Nair (@imgirishnair) May 1, 2024

The announcement applies to all government employees in Dubai, except for roles that need on-site presence at the workplace.

The Dubai Government also advised private sector companies to apply the remote work model on the said days.

REUTERS

Floods in UAE

On April 16, the UAE was hit by record rains that brought parts of the country to a standstill, heavily flooding some neighbourhoods, including in Dubai and northern cities.

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There's no stopping when it comes to matters of love, and leading by example is a 70-year-old man from Sweetwater, Texas, in the U.S. According to reports, "lonely" Al Gilberti spends a sizeable Rs 33,000 a week on a 20-foot billboard ad looking for a partner for "marriage and karaoke." And, much to his delight Gilberti has already received 400 phone calls and 50 emails. Here's all you need to know.

70-year-old Al Gilberti from Texas, U.S., is a man on a mission | Image: SWNS

Who is the man renting a giant 20-ft billboard looking for a partner?

remains optimistic about finding the partner of his dreams | Image: SWNS

Also read: Video Shows '90s Birthday Party Plate With Pineapple Cake & Samosas



70-year-old Al Gilberti from Texas, U.S., is a man on a mission - he is looking for a partner he can enjoy marital bliss and karaoke with. Divorced with one child, Gilberti claims most of the calls he gets are from people only interested in how much money he has. Nevertheless, he remains optimistic about finding the partner of his dreams.

He is looking for these three qualities in his future partner: loyalty, honesty, and sincerity, which he considers 'non-negotiable,' according to a New York Times report. Not just that, he's even happy to relocate anywhere in the United States as long as the match fits. And if it means finding his soulmate, he's willing to move as far away as the United Kingdom.



What does the billboard say?

Gilberti has already received 400 phone calls and 50 emails | Image: SWNS

Also read: IPL 2024: MS Dhoni Fan Dumps Girlfriend 'Because She Doesnt Have 7 Letters In Her Name'



The billboard ad reads, Lonely Male Can Relocate Sweetwater and Seeks Female Marriage Minded, Enjoys Karaoke, alongside an image of Gilberti.



Talking about the ad, Gilberti told NYT: The latest one went up on April 2nd and Ive gotten over 400 calls and maybe 40 or 50 emails in just over two weeks. I have the calls redirected to a friends phone."



Its been more enquiries from people that are looking to gain something from me  which I get, Id probably do the same! People were enquiring thinking I was someone rich to help with their bills," he revealed.

He admitted: I just want someone loyal, I want someone honest about themselves and someone sincere, thats going to be coming into something they really want to be in.



What do you think of this? Hit us up in the comments section and let us know.

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An entrepreneur in the United States provided content for meme-makers with his LinkedIn post about his alleged learnings on "B2B sales" after proposing to his girlfriend over the weekend. Bryan Shankman, the proprietor of a California-based company that organizes sales calls with qualified leads, used LinkedIn to share a photo of himself proposing to his girlfriend.

Man learnt B2B sales lesson after proposing to his girlfriend

The romantic seashore proposal photo was accompanied by a lengthy statement | Image: LinkedIn

The romantic seashore proposal photo was accompanied by a lengthy statement detailing what the proposal had taught him about B2B (business-to-business) sales.



"Like a well-run sales cycle, key milestones must be met throughout the relationship to ensure a Closed Won status at the end," Shankman wrote, and proceeded to write seven more points in the post.

(Also read: Why Ghazal Alagh's Post On Working During Pregnancy Has Sparked A Debate On LinkedIn)

Business "learnings" from his partnership included language like prospecting, discovery, demo, pricing, negotiations, objection resolution, and close. He expanded on each of the seven points.

Internet wasn't impressed by the analysis | Image: Unsplash

"After the deal is closed, there is a lot of work to do. The journey continues with planning and constant communications to ensure ongoing satisfaction," the entrepreneur wrote.



Internet says 'LinkedIn can't be real'

Shankman's LinkedIn observations, which have gone viral, sparked a rush of jokes, memes, and satirical perspectives across the internet as well as in the comments part of the post.

"You're lucky that you're the owner. If you were on my team I would fire you for the following reasons," a LinkedIn user commented and proceeded to list three humorous reasons.

(Also read: Techie Urgently Hiring Wife With 'Zero Experience' On LinkedIn To 'Join His Life')

"I am sure your soon-to-be wife is super pleased that you treated her like a sales prospect. Good luck," another user said. "I'm gonna need to see the onboarding and expansion plans, next," wrote a woman on LinkedIn.

Check the viral post here.

What do you think about this? Tell us in the comments.

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Edelweiss Mutual Fund CEO Radhika Gupta maintains an active presence on social media, frequently offering insights into her personal life to engage with her followers. Recently, she took to her Instagram to share a heartwarming moment which captured her two-year-old son accompanying her at a work event.

In her now viral post, she also shared her two cents on work-life balance and captioned it as beautiful chaos.

What Is The Video About?

In a video shared by Shark Tank India Season 3 judge, she can be seen addressing an audience at a Zerodha event in Bengaluru while her son, Remy, attempted to approach her on stage. Within moments, someone assisted Remy and brought him to his mother. Gupta promptly seated him on her lap and resumed

I am probably asked about work life balance at every forum and stage. And I always say the best way to describe it is beautiful chaos. And this is what beautiful chaos looks like. When you go to Bangalore for a working weekend and have to take the kiddo along. And just as you are ready to start speaking Baby Shark looks upto the stage and makes his move. Because the person on stage is not CEO or Shark, but first Mama and always Mama, she wrote.

The Internet Is Bowled Over By The Way She Handled The Situation

Gupta's post gained significant traction, eliciting numerous heartwarming responses from both her followers and other Instagram users.

One user wrote, "You are an inspiration".

Another user remarked, "Ma'am, you are setting a new example on how organizations/people should realize that post-kids, women become even more responsible and reliable. They never miss out on managing things well or, let's say, even great."

A third one said, Hope companies understand that especially a mom cannot deattach herself from kids the background noises at times should be ignored.

Radhika Gupta/instagram

In a separate post, Gupta shared glimpses of her time in Bengaluru along with her son Remy.

"Namma Bengaluru rocks. A weekend with Baby Shark mixing work and park trips and snuggles. I know everyone whines about the traffic and now the warm weather. but I love the huge open spaces, the feeling of 'Im going to do something big' in the air, and mostly the incredible warmth of the folks here." she wrote.
Google layoffs: The CEO of a technology company fired hundreds of employees via a phone call or Zoom call. The tech world, already facing upheavals in the last two years, is set to continue its challenges in 2024. After already laying off its entire Python team last week, Google parent Alphabet is laying off more employees in its latest round of layoffs.

According to CNBC, Google has undertaken a substantial reorganisation within its "Core" teams, leading to the redundancy of more than 200 employees and the transfer of certain roles to India and Mexico.

The Core Unit and Its Responsibilities

Google's Core unit is responsible for building the technical foundation for the company's flagship products and ensuring users' online safety. This unit includes important technical functions such as information technology, Python development, technical infrastructure, security, app platforms, and various engineering roles.

Google Layoffs | X.com

Impact on Engineering Roles

A significant number of layoffs, approximately 50 positions, affected engineering roles primarily based in Sunnyvale, California. However, many of these positions will be recreated in Mexico and India, according to internal documents seen by CNBC.

According to CNBC's report, Asim Husain, Vice President of Google Developer Ecosystem, informed his team about the layoffs via email, citing it as the largest planned reduction for his team in the current year. He stressed the company's aim to maintain a global presence while expanding in high-growth workforce locations.

ALSO READ: Best Money Practices To Survive Layoffs In These Uncertain Times

Company-Wide Restructuring Efforts

Alphabet, Google's parent company, has been implementing workforce reductions since early last year due to a downturn in the online advertising market. This restructuring includes layoffs across various departments, with a recent focus on relocating roles to lower-cost regions like Bangalore and Mexico City.

Financial Performance Amidst Restructuring

Despite the layoffs, Alphabet reported impressive first-quarter revenue growth and announced its inaugural dividend and a substantial buyback program, indicating strong financial performance amidst the restructuring efforts.

The teams affected by the reorganization have played crucial roles in Google's developer tools, which are being streamlined as the company integrates more artificial intelligence into its products.

ALSO READ: Elon Musk's Tesla Layoffs: World's Largest EV Maker Likely To Cut Over 14,000 Jobs

Preparation for Google I/O Conference

With the Google I/O developer conference approaching, the company is preparing to unveil new developer products and tools. This includes advancements in generative AI, highlighted by the recent rebranding of its chatbot to Gemini.

The reorganization also impacts the governance and protected data group, crucial in navigating regulatory challenges, particularly concerning AI developments. This includes compliance with the European Union's Digital Markets Act, aimed at addressing anti-competitive practices in the tech industry.

Google's executives, including Pankaj Rohatgi and Evan Kotsovinos, have emphasized the need for agility in response to regulatory scrutiny and competition, signaling a shift in the company's operating environment.

Company Response and Support for Employees

Google confirmed the reorganization and layoffs, assuring affected employees of opportunities to apply for open roles within the company and access outplacement services. The company remains committed to investing in its key priorities while optimizing efficiency and resource alignment, as per the CNBC report.

ALSO READ: Amid Tech Layoffs, These Industries Are Likely To Remain Recession-Proof In 2024

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Alphabet, Google's parent company, reportedly disbursed a hefty $20 billion(Rs 1.6 Lakh Crore) to Apple in 2022 to secure its position as the default search engine on Apple's Safari web browser, as per Bloomberg.



This substantial sum marks a significant increase from the approximately $15 billion (Rs 1.2 Lakh Crore) Google paid in 2021, according to documents disclosed as part of the US Department of Justice's antitrust lawsuit against Google.

apple

How much money has Google paid Apple over the years?

As Google navigates through an antitrust case examining its agreement with Apple and its implications for monopolizing the online search market, recent reports highlight a notable escalation in the payments made by Google to Apple. In 2021, the figure stood at $15 billion, signaling a significant uptick in recent years. This surge underscores Google's determination to uphold its default status with its search engine, shedding light on the competitive dynamics and strategic imperatives shaping the digital landscape.

apple

Does Apple provide users with the option to switch their search engine?

Apple allows users to choose their preferred search engine on all its devices, although Google Search is the default option in Safari on iPhones, iPads, and Macs. Alternative choices like Bing and DuckDuckGo are also available to users.

Have other companies tried to negotiate agreements with Apple?

While companies like Microsoft have sought to negotiate comparable agreements with Apple, such attempts have reportedly not been successful. Previous reports indicated Microsoft's interest in pitching Bing to Apple, although no agreement materialized. Conversely, there are suggestions that Apple might be engaging in discussions with Google regarding the integration of Gemini AI into its devices.
No work is big or small. Each job is an opportunity to learn something new, and Feng Yuan exemplifies this. After a 22-year tenure at Microsoft, he transitioned to pursue a new career path as a goose farmer. A recent social media sensation has ignited widespread interest as users share the remarkable journey of Feng Yuan, a former Microsoft employee who made an unconventional career shift to become a goose farmer.

The news, initially posted by user Smarika Malviya, highlights Yuan's transition from a 22-year tenure at Microsoft to pursuing his passion for farming.

Microsoft engineer takes up goose farming as a new career

Feng Yuan's viral journey from a 22-year tenure at Microsoft to becoming a goose farmer has captured the attention of social media. Initially shared by user Smarika Malviya, Yuan's career shift reflects a quest for personal fulfillment. Despite facing dismissal due to "low performance," Yuan's dedication to his work and transition to farming have earned admiration and curiosity from social media users.

Feng Yuan Microsoft Engineer turns Goose Farmer | Freepik

ALSO READ: Explained: Why Did The Godrej Family Split Their 127-Year Business Empire?



The Viral Journey of Feng Yuan

According to Yuan's LinkedIn profile, he originates from Washington, United States, and boasts a diverse professional background. Prior to his tenure at Microsoft, he held a position as a professor at Nanjing University in China for nearly four years. Following that, he served as a senior software engineer at Hewlett-Packard for eight years. Yuan later joined Microsoft, where he worked for over two decades, occupying significant roles such as Principal Performance Architect and Principal Software Development Engineer.

In a candid LinkedIn post approximately ten months ago, Yuan announced his departure from Microsoft, citing "low performance" as the reason for his dismissal. Despite this setback, he expressed pride in his contributions at Microsoft and gratitude for the support he received. Yuan's decision to embark on a new journey in goose farming reflects his desire for a fresh chapter in life, where he can dedicate more time to his family and pursue his passion for farming.

Feng Yuan's Career

Before working at Microsoft, Feng Yuan spent over 7 years as a senior software developer at Hawleet, a software-based company. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Nanjing University and a Bachelor's degree in Electronics from Shanghai University.

Transitioning from a successful career in the tech industry to becoming a goose farmer is a bold move for Feng Yuan. While the reasons behind this change aren't fully known, his journey shows that there's more to fulfillment than following traditional career paths.

Feng Yuan's viral story reactions

Feng Yuan's story has sparked various responses on social media. Many admire his bravery in pursuing his passion, while others appreciate his readiness to embrace change and seek happiness beyond corporate life. Some speculate about his reasons for the shift, prompting discussions on work-life balance and finding personal fulfilment.

Feng Yuan's tale is a source of inspiration for resilience and adaptability. Leaving behind years of tech industry service, he shows that it's never too late to pursue happiness. As his story spreads online, it encourages others to consider the value of chasing their dreams and redefining success on their own terms.

ALSO READ: From Hectic Jobs To High Seas: UK Couple Leaves Jobs To Sail Out Life On Yacht With Children

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Rampur Signature Reserve Single Malt Whisky has caught everyone's attention in the Indian spirits market by becoming the only whisky to have a huge price tag of Rs 5 lakh per bottle at Hyderabad Duty-Free. Let's take a look at what makes this super expensive whisky so special and its importance in Indian craftsmanship.



India's Most Expensive Whisky:

Crafted with great care, Rampur Signature Reserve has become very popular with its exclusive release of only 400 bottles. Surprisingly, there are only two bottles left for sale, showing how rare and prestigious this amazing whisky is.

A Tribute to Indian Heritage:

Abhishek Khaitan, the managing director of Radico Khaitan, feels proud to present Rampur Signature Reserve as more than just a whisky. He said, "We are excited to announce that the last two bottles of Rampur Signature Reserve, out of the 400 bottles made, are available only at Hyderabad duty-free. This is not just about whisky but also about the tradition and heritage of India. We invite enthusiasts, collectors, and travelers to try the exceptional quality of Radico Khaitans products."

Adding More Spirits to the Collection:

Rampur Signature Reserve

Apart from the famous Rampur Signature Reserve, Radico Khaitan also offers a variety of premium spirits at Hyderabad duty-free. This collection includes Rampur Asava Indian Single Malt Whisky, Rampur Double Cask Indian Single Malt Whisky, Jaisalmer Indian Craft Gin and Gold edition, and Royal Ranthambore Heritage Collection Whisky.



A Long-Standing Tradition:

Radico Khaitan Limited, previously known as Rampur Distillery Company, has been around since 1943 and is one of the oldest and largest producers of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL). By introducing its own brands in 1998, such as the popular 8PM Whisky, Radico Khaitan has built a wide range of brands, making it a leader in the industry.

Recognition Around the World:

Outside India, Radico Khaitan is a major exporter of alcoholic beverages, with its brands being sold in over 102 countries. This global presence shows the company's commitment to providing top-quality spirits that are loved by people all over the world.

To celebrate Rampur Distillery's 75th anniversary, Radico Khaitan launched a special version of Rampur Indian single malt whisky worldwide. Crafted with great care, Rampur Signature Reserve is aged in American Standard Oak Barrels, braving the varied climates of India. It's one of the oldest malts in India.

The company selected four special casks, which were then moved to selected PX Sherry Butts from Jerez, Spain, for the final ageing phase. Each bottle in this limited edition has its own number and bears the signatures of Dr. Lalit Khaitan, Chairman, and the Rampur Master Maker, making it unique and exclusive.

By presenting Rampur Signature Reserve as the top luxury whisky in India, Radico Khaitan continues to set high standards of craftsmanship and excellence in the spirits industry.

Which Indian whisky awarded the world's best single malt?

In 2023, Indri Whisky, a smooth and smoky single malt from India, received the prestigious Best in Show, Double Gold award at the Whiskies of the World Awards. This accolade, beating numerous Scotches, Bourbons, and other top malts, solidifies its status as a standout in the industry. Produced by Piccadilly Distilleries, this peated whisky is matured in wine casks for an extended period, resulting in a flavour profile rich with notes of chocolate, fruit, and nuts.

What sets Indri Whisky apart is its unique identity in a market dominated by American bourbons and Scottish single malts. Proudly homegrown, Piccadilly Distilleries recently introduced the Diwali Collector's Edition 2023, further cementing its place in the hearts of whisky enthusiasts. Known for its commitment to excellence, from cask to bottle, the brand reflects India's growing preference for smoky and oaky flavours, establishing itself as one of the foremost names in the industry.

Recent reports indicate that Indri Whisky is not only receiving accolades but also experiencing rapid growth. Within just two years of its launch, the brand surpassed the 1 lakh mark in sales and has seen a remarkable 500% increase in business, making it the fastest-growing single malt whisky in the world.

Also Read: Exploring Salman Khan's Luxurious Dubai House And Multimillion-Dollar Net Worth

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World's Richest Prisoner: 47-year-old Changpeng Zhao, the founder and former CEO of the worlds largest cryptocurrency exchange, 'Binance', has been sentenced to four months in prison for pleading guilty to breaching US anti-money laundering and sanctions laws last year. According to reports he was failed to prevent cybercriminals and terrorist groups from trading freely on Binance. As the founder of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, he was previously one of the most influential figures in the crypto industry. This marks the second instance of a prominent crypto boss being incarcerated, following Sam Bankman-Fried of FTX.



How Changpeng Zhao become the richest prisoner

According to the Telegraph, Changpeng Zhao, the founder of Binance who was once the most powerful crypto industry figure, has been declared the wealthiest prisoner globally after receiving a four-month jail term in Seattle. This verdict came after his admission of violating US anti-money laundering and sanctions laws in the previous year. Despite prosecutors seeking a three-year sentence, the court considered Zhao's positive track record, resulting in a shorter term. With an estimated net worth of $43 billion (Rs 3.5 lakh crore) from Binance, Zhao's imprisonment marks a significant development.



Changpeng Zhao, the founder of Binance | Photo: Reuters

With this verdict, Zhao emerges as the wealthiest individual ever to face imprisonment, both in the US and potentially worldwide, following FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried. Unlike Bankman-Fried, Zhao's $43 billion in assets remain unaffected by the sentence. Furthermore, the ongoing crypto market surge is poised to further bolster his wealth during his incarceration. Despite stepping down as Binance's CEO in 2023, Zhao retains a substantial 90% stake in the world's largest crypto exchange. Given his influence through close associates on the board, Zhao's impact on the company persists.



Also Read: Meet India's 55th Richest Man, Zoho CEO Sridhar

Founded in 2017, Binance swiftly dominated the cryptocurrency trading landscape, catapulting its founder and CEO, Changpeng Zhao, into billionaire status. Offering various crypto exchange services globally, Binance faced setbacks when crypto markets crashed and regulatory scrutiny intensified. Recently, Zhao's conviction follows the sentencing of Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of the now-defunct FTX exchange, to 25 years for a massive fraud scheme. Bankman-Fried was found guilty of misappropriating billions in customer funds for high-risk investments.

Comparing Sentences: Zhao vs. Bankman-Fried

US District Judge Richard Jones in Seattle delivered a shorter sentence than the three years sought by prosecutors. It was also below the maximum 1-1/2 years recommended by federal guidelines.

Also Read: From Binance's Zhao To FTX's Sam Bankman: Crypto Kings Who Resigned After Being Humbled By Law

Comparatively, Zhao's sentence was lighter than Sam Bankman-Fried's 25-year imprisonment in March. Bankman-Fried faced charges of embezzling $8 billion (Apprpx Rs 66,000 crore) from FTX customers, leading to the exchange's bankruptcy. He has appealed his conviction.

Prosecutors expressed satisfaction with Zhao's sentence, the outcome of years-long investigations. Living in the UAE, Zhao is beyond US jurisdiction.

Epic Day

US Attorney Tessa Gorman described the verdict as "an epic day," emphasizing the importance of incarceration in the case, US Attorney said, "This was an epic day. Incarceration was critical in this case and were pleased with the result.

Also Read: Trouble For Cristiano Ronaldo As He Faces $1 Billion Lawsuit In Connection With Binance NFTs

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As spring breathes new life into the city, Athens plays host to a series of events. Organized by the Municipality of Athens, the This is Athens City

Festival wil run through June 2. Some key events include:

De Profundis at the Ancient Agora (May 2nd): The De Profundis string ensemble presents the medieval hymn Stabat Mater (Dolorosa)  a poignant reflection on the Virgin Marys sorrow during the Passion Week, as she mourns Jesus at the foot of the Cross.

In the Embrace of the Castle: Reconstructing Byzantine Athens Fragmented Mosaic (May 2nd): Starting at the statue of General Makrygiannis, archaeologist Lila Patsiadou will guide participants through a stunning Byzantine mosaic on Holy Thursday, weaving through the natural environment, the semi-ruined ancient Walls, Monuments, and ruins of antiquity, the Sacred Rock of the Acropolis with the Panagia Atheniotissa, and the neighborhoods with Byzantine churches.

Cine-city-graphy at the National Gallery - Alexandros Soutsos Museum (May 2nd): A cinematic glimpse into the citys life during the '50s, '60s, and '70s. The educational program aims to encourage children (aged 6-12) to engage with visual arts and cinema as distinct yet conversing fields of modern visual culture.

The Journey of the Serenade from the Ionian Islands to Athens, a musical stroll with serenades in the alleys of Plaka (May 6th): The Karaviotis brothers, modern-day troubadours, will navigate the charming streets of Plaka, presenting a unique musical event with emblematic serenades.

Menta Live with Nina Mazani at Thiseio (May 7th): The talented artist Nina Mazani sings and dances on the pedestrian street (opposite the exit of the Thiseio electric station), participating in a special, energetic concert organized in collaboration with Menta 88 FM radio station.

Seeds Live (jazz concert) at the Kanellopoulos Museum terrace (May 8th): Brothers Michalis and Christos Kalkanis join forces in a dynamic live performance where the acoustic hues of the double bass, clarinet, and piano blend with electronic sounds.

Chors Live at the Stoa of Attalos (May 8th): The female vocal ensemble Chors, under the artistic direction of Marina Satti, presents a dynamic polyphonic program where renowned choral adaptations of traditional melodies from all corners of Hellenism intertwine with new transcriptions of folk songs, specially arranged for the ensemble by distinguished contemporary composers.

   iefimerida.gr
Tourism revenues soared to 20.6 billion euros in 2023, marking a significant 16.5 percent rise from the previous year, according to the Bank of Greece.

The stunning growth is attributed to an 11.6 percent rise in receipts from European travellers, totaling 11.169 billion euros and accounting for 54.2 percent of the total receipts.

What is more, an 18.3 percent increase was reported in receipts from non-EU countries,

amounting to 8.6 billion euros

The report said a total of 30.08 million foreigners visited Greece in 2023, up from 29.875 million in 2022.

Specifically,the report show that most visitors arrived by land, recording a 34.9 percent rise in traffic at border stations. Air travel also saw a significant uptick, with a 12.7 percent rise in airport arrivals and departures.

A total of 54.4 percent of the travellers originated from within the EU, as other foreign travellers accounted for 36.3 percent.

In 2023, travel from the EU rose by 15.6 percent compared to 2022. This increase was driven by an 11.3 percent rise in travel from Eurozone countries, which saw 12.9 million travellers, and a 24.7 percent increase from EU27 countries outside the Eurozone, with 6.7 million travellers, the report said.

Germany and Italy were among the countries showing notable increases in travel to Greece, with German travel up by 9.5 percent to 4.7 million travellers and Italian travel up by 30.4 percent to 1.8423 million travellers. French travel to Greece also increased by 4.2 percent, reaching 1.8 million travellers.

Lastly, travel from other countries increased by 20.8 percent, totaling 13 million travellers. The United Kingdom showed a modest 2.4% increase, with 4.5 million travellers, while travel from the USA surged by 29.2 percent to 1.4 million travellers, according to the Bank of Greece report

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Five pedestrians, including three children, have been seriously injured after a speeding car veered off course, crashing into them outside a toy store in Athens.

Eyewitness reports indicate that the incident occurred near a Jumbo chain store, where a car collided with two

adults and three minors. The impact of the crash was heard throughout the area, leaving onlookers in shock.

Authorities said one of the children pulled out of the crash suffered serious injuries. She remains in critical condition after being transported her and the other minors to a state pediatrics hospital. The adults were rushed to the Erythros Hospital for treatment.

The tragic crash has given rise to debate about safety measures in place on one of Athens busiest thoroughfares. The investigation into the cause of the accident is ongoing, with officials urging witnesses to come forward with any information that could shed light on the events leading up to the collision.

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Former Kogi Senator, Dino Melaye, has dubbed Davido the top music personality in Nigerias music industry.

He expressed his thoughts during a critical moment in Davidos ongoing feud with his rival, Wizkid.

It should be noted that on Monday April 29, Wizkid and Davido engaged in a fierce social media war on X.

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In a recent development, Melaye claimed that Davido is unquestionably the leader of the Nigerian music industry and the most commercially successful worldwide.

READ MORE: No Fuel, Afrobeat Is In WW3 And Bobrisky In Prison  BBNaija Vee Iye Bemoans Nigerias Woes

On his X handle on Wednesday, he wrote: Davido is undoubtedly the 001 in the Nigerian music industry and undoubtedly the most patronised globally.

SEE POST:
Operatives of the Federal Capital Territory Police Command have arrested two female suspects, identified as Kulu Dogonyaro and Elizabeth Ojah for child trafficking.

According to FCT Police Commands spokesperson, Josephine Adeh, in a statement made available to newsmen on Thursday, disclosed that the suspects were attempting to evade arrest by security officers, in Sokoto.

Adeh said: The operatives of the FCT police command, on April 27, 2024, at about 8:00 p.m., arrested two female suspects, Kulu Dogonyaro and Elizabeth Ojah, in connection with the trafficking of five children.

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READ MORE: FCT Police Nab Car Snatchers, Recover Fake $300,000 (Pictures)

The suspects who attempted to escape arrest from Sokoto police operatives were intercepted and arrested by FCT police operatives at Kagini junction, Abuja, while suspiciously conveying five (5) children into the Federal Capital Territory.

The FCT police command, in the spirit of oneness, have now handed the suspects and victims over to the Sokoto state police command for further investigation and onward prosecution.


Olufemi Ajadi Oguntoyinbo, chieftain of New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to approve N200,000 as the minimum wage for workers.

The 2023 governorship candidate of the NNPP in Ogun State noted that the current minimum wage cannot sustain the workers.

He disclosed this in a statement made available to newsmen on Wednesday while felicitating with workers on the occasion of this years Workers Day.

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Callihg on the state Governors across the country to make workers welfare their priority, he maintained that without adequate contribution of workers, no nation can reach its desired standard.

READ ALSO: Forcing Nigerians To Pay Higher For Non-Existent Electricity Unethical  NLC, TUC Demand Tariff Hike Reversal

As a friend of the Labour, I share in your joy and wish you a successful celebration devoid of violence and rancour.

I also use this occasion to reiterate my call to our President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to approve a minimum wage of N200,000 for our workforce.

The reality of today has shown us that the current minimum wage cannot sustain the least workers in the country, he said.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), on Wednesday, asked the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and power sector operators, to reverse the increase in electricity tariff within a week.

The organised labour made the demand in a joint speech by Joe Ajaero, President of NLC, and Fetus Osifo, TUCs President, to mark the 2024 Workers Day in Abuja.

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The NERC had approved an increase in electricity tariff for customers under the Band A classification on April 3.

The commission said customers under the category receive 20 hours of electricity supply daily and would begin to pay N225 per kilowatt (kW)  up from N66.

The sudden hike has since been criticised by the House of Representatives and other stakeholders who have asked the NERC to suspend the implementation of the new tariff.

Reacting, the duo who expressed dissatisfaction over the epileptic power situation in the country, added that it is affecting economic growth.

Any nation incapable of effectively and efficiently managing its energy resources must face certain ruin, they said

READ ALSO: Workers Day: Life Miserable Under Tinubu, Peoples Welfare Should Come First  NLC, TUC

One of the pivotal factors constraining our nation is our glaring incompetence in managing this sector for the collective welfare of our citizens.

Power, regardless of its source, remains paramount in kick-starting any economy, while oil and gas are indispensable for robust energy success in every country, the statement read.

According to the unions, it is absolutely critical for the government to collaborate with the people to establish frameworks that ensure energy works for all Nigerians.

The labour bodies said the plight of the power sector remains unchanged for more than a decade after privatisation.

The reasons are glaringly evident. As long as those who sold the companies remain the buyers, Nigerians will continue to face formidable challenges in the power sector.

It is unethical to force Nigerians to pay higher tariffs for non-existent electricity.

Estimated billing is an extortion and daylight robbery against Nigerians, the leaders said.


The Nigerian Police Force (NPF) has informed of the successful return to normalcy of Ile-Epo community in the Abule Egba area of Lagos State following clashes between youths and hoodlums.

According to reports, the fight started in the market situated in the area on Wednesday night and continued till Thursday morning.

Some shops were set on fire, some goods were destroyed in the process as the hoodlums clashed in the Ile-Epo area.

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In the latest development on Thursday afternoon, the police, led by Divisional Police Officer of Oke-Odo, noted they that responded to reports of the unrest.

Over 50 suspects linked to the clashes were apprehended, and the shanties they occupied were demolished, effectively dislodging them from their illicit activities.

Over fifty suspects have so far been arrested while the shanties they occupied have been destroyed, effectively dislodging them, the statement signed by the Lagos Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, read.

READ ALSO: Zamfara Govt Still Pays Civil Servants N7,000, Teachers N8,000 As Minimum Wage  NLC Laments

However, during the operation to dismantle the shanties, law enforcement officers stumbled upon a hidden drug den that had been operating in plain sight.

The discovery shed light on the extent of criminal activities in the area and raised concerns about the prevalence of drug-related issues.

The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, CP Adegoke Fayoade, has directed the prompt prosecution of the arrested hoodlums and has equally warned that the Command would decisively deal with anyone found breaching the peace, in accordance with the law, the statement added.

The Assistant Commissioner of Police, Operations, Area Commander Alagbado and other Divisional Police Officers under the Area Command are currently on ground to forestall further breakdown of law and order.
Operatives of the Nasarawa State Police Command have apprehended three individuals impersonating officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in the Nasarawa Local Government Area (LGA).

According to a statement issued by the Police Public Relations Officer, Ramhan Nansel, on Wednesday, the suspects recently carried out a robbery attack near the Federal Polytechnic in the Nasarawa LGA, stealing valuables and abducting a National Diploma student.

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The police spokesperson noted that the suspects had been causing unrest in the area.

Nansel said: On 17/04/2024 at about 1545hrs, a distress call was received that four individuals posing as EFCC personnel, using a Toyota Corolla, Green in colour with registration number Abuja YAB 509 TT robbed some students of the Federal Polytechnic Nasarawa at Samakwe Lodge behind Government College, Nasarawa LGA and abducted one Adudu Kingsley, an ND II Student of the same Polytechnic.

Reacting to the unsavoury development, police operatives gave the suspects a hot chase and a roadblock was mounted at Laminga junction to stop the suspects from escaping with the victim, but they hit the barrier and fled.

Furthermore, police operatives at Anguwan Madugu were contacted to mount another roadblock, which the suspects sighted from a distance; abandoned their operational vehicle, and the abducted student, and fled.

READ ALSO: No Fuel, Afrobeat Is In WW3 And Bobrisky In Prison  BBNaija Vee Iye Bemoans Nigerias Woes

According to him, one of the suspects was caught and beaten by a mob before the arrival of the police, while others fled.

The suspect was, however, rescued from the mob by the police and rushed to Primary Health Care, Laminga, where he died during medical treatment.

The operational vehicle of the suspects was recovered and taken to the station, where a search was conducted and two identification cards identifying the fleeing members of the syndicate were recovered.

A follow-up investigation into the case led to the arrest of three other members of the gang, namely: Hyelda Aliyu Ibrahim, Henry Patrick Okwu and Shuaibu Abubakar (the operational driver of the syndicate), all males of Custom Quarters and Up Market area of Masaka where one iPhone 12 Promax, Huawei and one Tecno Spark 5 earlier robbed from some of their victims and fake EFCC ID cards were recovered from them as exhibits.

The suspects have confessed to being the syndicate responsible for robbing and terrorising student areas in Keffi and Nasarawa LGA. Efforts are ongoing to arrest one identified suspect who is at large. Also, victims of their nefarious activities have come forward and identified the suspects, he added.

Nansel stated that the Commissioner of Police, Umar Nadada, ordered the transfer of the case to the State Criminal Investigation Department in Lafia.

He asserted that Nadada assured that they would be charged to court for prosecution upon the conclusion of investigations.
Sola Sobowale, a veteran Nollywood actress, has shed light on the rumours surrounding her purported arrest for drug trafficking in Saudi Arabia.

The 58-year-old actress claimed that when she left Nigeria for the United Kingdom, many bad things were stated about her, including allegations that she had been assassinated in the Gulf country.

Sobowale made these remarks during a live conversation on the Teju Baby Face Show on Tuesday.

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God has compensated me because there were so many things written about me when I left the shores of Nigeria  so many negative things, Sobowale said.

She, however, said the negative reports did not bother her, saying, So far Im at peace with God, then Im good.

Remember, when I was in the UK doing my thing, they wrote a lot of things in Nigerian newspapers  from grace to grass.

She also described how her identity was dragged in the mud after reports surfaced that she was selling meals in a London restaurant run by her elder sister, Kike Oyelami.

So, I go there anytime Im off work. I make eba, pound yam and help my sister to serve food. They saw me. They wrote Sola Sobowale now sells eba, she chuckled.

The Ondo State-born veteran, known for her variety in film roles, also revealed that some people claimed she worked as a cleaner in a London restaurant.

She explained that she was not offended by the comments, despite the fact that she formerly owned a restaurant in Nigeria called Solas Kitchen before embarking on a career in acting.

However, the worst deception, according to the actress, was when certain tabloids said she was assassinated in Saudi Arabia for drug trafficking.

She said sarcastically, They killed me in Saudi Arabia that I carried cocaine. They got me arrested and there, they amputated my leg, my hand, and I said to them that Im a star in Nigeria. And because of that, I said they should kill me and they did.

The actress, who played in the Kemi Adetiba-directed film King of Boys, stated that when she landed in Nigeria, she discredited the narrative, adding that she had no idea where Saudi Arabia was on the globe.

Sobowale also stressed the importance of parents making time to attend to their childrens needs, recalling how her parents cared for her and her brothers.

READ MORE: Don Jazzy Is JayZ Of Nigerian Music; Drop Hit And Stop Chasing Clout  BBNaija Doyin Slams Wizkid

She praised her parents positive legacy with influencing her strong position on providing excellent training to her children.

The veteran actress affirmed that she gave up her career for her children, saying, I gave it up. I didnt even think of getting anything back, noting that a time would come when shed have to care for her children.

Watch the interview below
The operatives of the Ogun State Police Command have arrested a 30-year-old actor, identified as Praise for an alleged abduction and defilement of a 14-year-old girl.

The suspect was arrested in Mowe area of Obafemi Owode Local government area of the state, on Wednesday.

It was gathered that the commands Public Relations Officer, SP Omolola Odutola, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday, in a statement while addresing newsmen.

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The statement partly read: The Divisional Police Officer of Mowe Division has arrested one actor, Praise, a 30 year old m for alleged defilement of a 14-year-old f.

The arrest came following a report on the 1st of May at about 1405 hours from the grandparents of the teenager that their granddaughter got missing since the 27th of April 2024.

READ MORE: Nollywood Actor Reportedly Shot By Ogun Police Officer, Battles For Life

The grandparents of the abducted teenager also alleged the suspect of having unlawful carnal knowledge of their granddaughter, who, under careful observation, was discovered to have been bleeding profusely.

Medical forms have been issued for examination and treatment in a government hospital for more credible evidence.

However, the case will be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for discreet investigation.

No child in Ogun State should be subjected to such inhumane treatment, sexual assault, and sexual abuse.
No fewer than that two students of Audu Bako College of Agriculture, Makoda, reportedly drowned while attempting to cross the Thomas Dam in a boat, in Kano state.

Confirming the horrible incident in a statement made available to newsmen on Wednesday, the Public Relations Officer, of the State Fire Service, Saminu Abdullahi, disclosed that the victims were identified as Abubakar Sanusi, 22, and Salisu Ado, 21.

The PRO added that their third colleague, Ibrahim, 21, was rescued alive and currently receiving medical attention at Dambatta General Hospital.

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The statement reads: On Tuesday 30th April 2024, State Fire Department located in Danbatta local government area received an emergency call at about 15:06 hour from Comrade Ibrahim Muhammad who informed us about the incident.

REAF MORE: Woman Jumps Into River From Moving Boat In Lagos

Our officers arrived at the scene of incident at about 15:27 hrs. When they arrived, they found three students of Audu Bako College of Agric in Makoda local government who boarded a boat with the intention of crossing, but the boat sank with them.

By Gods intervention, the boat driver managed to save one of the students named Ibrahim of about 21-year-old and rescued him alive.


The Zamfara State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has slammed the State government for paying teachers N8,000 as minimum wage.

NLCs Chairman in Zamfara, Sani Halliru, made this known when he addressed thousands of civil servants, who converged on J.B. Secretariat, Gusau on Wednesday to celebrate Workers Day.

Halliru explained that the NLC had made frantic efforts to persuade the state government to review the salary of primary school teachers but appeals fell on deaf ears.

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Local government Workers are far behind, in the whole of Nigeria only in Zamfara state local government workers received N7,000 monthly salary.

READ ALSO: Workers Day: Some Borno Pensioners Still Earn N4,000 Monthly  NLC

Despite the pressure mounted on both the past and present administrations, our colleagues at the primary school level are still collecting N8,000 as monthly salary, he said.

He further urged the State Governor, Dauda Lawal to implement the national minimum wage of N30,000 for school teachers, who have been working hard despite their meager salaries.

Reacting, Lawal praised the states civil servants for their dedication and hard work, assuring that his administration prioritizes their welfare.

I will not promise you what I cannot sustain but I am assuring you that I will surprise you, he said to the workers.
Staff of South Jersey's Alice Paul Institute and members of its Girls Leadership Council attend the April 25 performance of "Suffs," a musical based on Alice Paul and her suffrigist comrades' fight for women's right to vote. Front Row (L to R) Sophia St. John, Lindsey Catlett, Kennedy Dancy Middle Row (L to R) Cora Schmidt, Lydia Smith, Morgan Hann, Salmah Khalil Back Row (L to R) Molly Gonzalez, Quincy Wansel Read more

Last Thursday, Lenape High School senior Morgan Hann, 18, and a bunch of her friends hopped on a train for a big theater night on Broadway.

But it wasnt just any musical, and Hann and her friends werent just any girls.

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They went to see Suffs, a musical based on South Jerseys own Alice Paul, a leader in the fight for womens right to vote. And for the friends  all members of Mount Laurels Alice Paul Institutes Girls Leadership Council  this wasnt just a night of fun. It was a rallying cry.

I feel like a lot of people are going to be talking about the musical and what it means, Hann said. Like with Hamilton. No one really cared about Hamilton outside the history books. Then you had all these people talking about him. I feel once people hear about Suffs, more people are going to start talking about Alice Paul and the others and their work, and start demanding change.

That was always the hope for Suffs, an ensemble musical written and starring Shaina Taub that premiered at Manhattans Public Theater in 2022 and came to Broadway April 18. Yesterday, it garnered six Tony nominations  including best new musical and best book of a musical.

By telling suffrage stories, I hope to inspire the next generation to dig up the hidden histories of our country and to take action themselves for progress and equality, said Taub during Suffs Public Theater run.

Many of the characters in Suffs are unknown to most Americans, even though their work on the passage of the 19th Amendment laid the foundation for other changes to come.

Bringing Suffs story to Broadway may change that, said Rachael Glashan Rupisan, executive director of the Alice Paul Institute.

Being able to share Alices story on this platform enables more people to understand that women have made really effective change in our country, Rupisan said.

Paul, a Burlington County Quaker whose historic Mount Laurel family homestead houses her namesake institute, was a determined political strategist whose gutsy moves included leading the first-ever protests in front of the White House. As Suffs shows, she was incarcerated for her activism and force fed while behind bars.

I think this will help people understand that was maybe the most militant period of feminist history, said Molly Gonzales, the Paul Institutes advocacy manager.

Paul died at 92 in a Moorestown nursing home and is buried in Cinnaminson. That she didnt live to see the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment was a disappointment she took to her grave.

But the ERA has now been ratified by the necessary 38 states. Activists around the country like members of the Young Feminist Party and supporters in Congress ERA Caucus are working to make it a law, said Gonzales. That includes the Alice Paul Institute, which provides information about the ERA on its website.

After last Thursdays performance, the institute was one of the sponsors of ERA Night, a program at the theater that included a panel discussion with second-wave feminism leader and journalist Gloria Steinem.

It was so wonderful to hear Gloria Steinem speak, said Lydia Smith, 17, of Moorestown. We had an unexpected opportunity to meet her before the musical, which was absolutely amazing. It was such an honor.

In their monthly meetings, the Girls Leadership Council members discuss issues facing women in the country and the world. Over the past two years, theyve tackled period poverty, creating and stocking a feminine hygiene products pantry at the Cherry Hill Library.

Theyve already seen a difference in their period pantry, said Quincy Wansel, institute youth program coordinator. Thats one library in one town, but its helped over 300 community members. That makes them feel great, and it should. Even if it helps just one person, thats making a difference in the world.

Being at Suffs made the young theatergoers feel they were already part of something bigger than themselves, especially as their fellow audience members cheered the suffragists, booed the men who stood in their way, and laughed at the plays jokes.

There were definitely key moments in the play that I really felt inspired by. I got goose bumps, said Salmah Khalil, 18, who started a feminists club at her school, Cherry Hill West. Specifically when they were going on that march on Washington. It was very inspiring because its not as recognized, but there was major change because of that. It was almost like I was in the march when I was watching it happen.

Kennedy Dancy, 17, of Mount Laurel said she enjoyed seeing so many men in the audience enjoying the play.

Just seeing men in that theater really moved me and made me think about my own future with my own kids, she said. If I had a male [child], I would absolutely want him to see this.

And like the Alice Paul character in Suffs, these girls said they see more fight in their futures given recent events like the reversal of Roe v. Wade and persistent problems of gender inequality. The prospect didnt seem to daunt them.

It kind of makes me want to fight more, said Cora Schmidt, 18, of Moorestown. It makes me excited because I love having those conversations and bringing those more difficult topics to people. Its a good way for people to acknowledge theres still struggles for women in this country.

Lindsey Catlett, 18, of Mount Laurel seems to view the future as a certain suffragist had.

I think theres still more fighting, a lot more work to be done because theres still the gender wage gap and theres still a lot of other issues in the world, she said. Like they say in the show, its not going to be done and most people are not going to live long enough to see it. I think thats true. That doesnt mean you should stop.

Suffs runs through Sept. 1 at New York Citys Music Box Theatre. https://suffsmusical.com/tickets/
Joshua Gamble was sentenced to state prison during a hearing Wednesday at the Bucks County Justice Center. Read more

A New Jersey man who helped his brother lure an acquaintance to his death in a robbery disguised as a marijuana deal and then tried to hide his body in a wooded area along a rural road in Upper Bucks County has been sentenced to 5 to 10 years in state prison.

Joshua Gamble, 20, fought back tears as he expressed his regret and apologized to the family of Kevin Rosero, 26, who was stabbed 28 times by Gambles older brother, Anthony, in June 2021 over $400.

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Gamble told them he idolized his older brother and followed his every move.

Im truly sorry for my brothers actions, and mine, as well, Gamble said Wednesday as he awaited sentencing by Bucks County Court Judge Jeffrey L. Finley. I wasnt strong enough to tell my brother no, and thats on me.

Gamble pleaded guilty to robbery, conspiracy, abuse of a corpse, and other crimes in 2022 in exchange for an agreement in which prosecutors dropped the murder charge he faced.

He told Finley that he had grown up in a loving, religious household, but had followed his older brother into marijuana use, slacking in school, and spending time with bad influences.

Anthony Gamble, 22, admitted he stabbed Rosero during a robbery in Somerset, N.J. He and his younger brother then drove Roseros body to Richland Township, and attempted to discard it in a wooded area, but were spotted by a Pennsylvania state trooper who mistook their parked cars as a sign of a motorist in distress.

The two later said they stole $400 from Rosero, whom they had known for years, and had targeted him while desperate for money and marijuana.

The older Gamble is serving a 25- to 55-year sentence in state prison after pleading guilty in October to third-degree murder and conspiracy to commit robbery.

In handing down Joshua Gambles sentence Wednesday, Finley said he took into account the mans admission to the crime, which came at a time when Gambles older brother was pushing to go to trial. But, Gamble said Wednesday, he knew he had a duty to tell the truth.

I knew Kevins family needed closure, Gamble said. And I knew at the end of the day, I was the only one who could give it to him.

Still, Finley said, Gambles actions were brutal and caused permanent damage to the lives of everyone affected by them.

I realize Joshua did not take the life of Kevin Rosero. But that doesnt take away from his own conduct, Finley said. This was a senseless act of greed that has destroyed the Rosero family and so seriously impacted the Gamble family.

Prosecutors said when they found Roseros body in the woods, he had been stabbed in his head, neck, and arms. One of two cars police found on the side of the road, an Audi A5, had its interior covered in blood. A large, bloody knife had been stashed on the floor of the cars passenger side.

The brothers had driven the Audi, as well as a second car registered to their father, from Somerset, stopping at a 7-Eleven near the crime scene to buy work gloves and disinfectant wipes. An analysis of Anthony Gambles phone showed he had searched for 7 eleven, junk yards near me, and can soap wash off fingerprints.

During Wednesdays proceeding, Roseros parents described how he, their only child, had combined his sense of ambition with a passion for helping others. At the time of his death, he was studying to become an immigration lawyer and had been an active community organizer.

We didnt just lose Kevin, but everyone he couldve helped lost that opportunity, too, said Roseros father, Marcelo.

Roseros mother, Cecilia Tirado, said she never imagined her son would ever endure such animalistic abuse, torture and pain. Since his death, she said, she struggles with anxiety, depression and insomnia, especially at the thought that he was discarded like trash.

No day has been the same since he was robbed and left to die by the two brothers, who only thought of their greed, she said.
The historical marker honoring of jazz trumpeter Edward Lee Morgan is at the corner of 52nd and Chancellor Streets, outside of the now-defunct Aqua Lounge jazz club, in Philadelphia. Read more

In October 1971, trumpeter Lee Morgan made what turned out to be his final hometown appearance, leading his band at the Aqua Lounge, a club on the stretch of 52nd Street in West Philly then known as Black Main Street. To celebrate International Jazz Day on Tuesday, members of the Philadelphia jazz community and local leaders gathered on the same site  now the African Cultural Art Forum  to unveil a historical marker commemorating Morgans accomplishments.

Among the crowd was fellow trumpeter Andy Aaron, now 87, who had caught the tail end of Morgans set following a gig with his own band, the Mean Machine, a few blocks away. I knew Lee from before he went to New York, he recalled. It was always fascinating to watch him. You had to really see him to see the intensity.

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Aaron ended up giving Morgan and his companion, Helen Moore, a ride back to Germantown that night. No one in the car could have known that Morgan would be dead four months later, shot by Moore at New Yorks East Village club Slugs Saloon. That tragic death has long eclipsed Morgans life, which began in the Tioga neighborhood and rose to musical heights during his too-brief 33 years.

The marker is one attempt to right that balance. Its familiar gold text on blue background cites accomplishments like playing with Art Blakey and John Coltrane, and releasing the soul-jazz classic The Sidewinder.

Twenty-five miles to the northeast, in Feasterville, another marker stands in remembrance of Morgans life and death: the grave marker shared by the jazz legend and his father, Otto Morgan. In White Chapel Memorial Park, a battered white trumpet sitting atop the simple headstone makes the site relatively easy to find, despite the nearly knee-high grass and rutted driveway leading to it. The grave has long been listed on site maps and the location was never lost. But in 2021, when local fan Tommy Maguire went to pay his respects, the gravesite wasnt visible.

I didnt know much about Lee Morgan, to be honest, recalled Maguire. Hed delved deep into the trumpeters work during the pandemic, after seeing the 2016 documentary I Called Him Morgan.

Then at some point in the middle of all that obsession, I read that he was buried somewhere in Philadelphia.

Maguire works as the manager of the graphics team for a credit card company but, with his shock of gray hair, he could be mistaken for a middle-aged rocker. He mentions his bazillion vinyl records with the obsessives slight eye-roll, and seems to have a penchant for seeking out his favorites final resting places and other related sites.

A recent trip to London invited a search for T. Rex front man Marc Bolans former flat, and a current passion project is trying to remedy the lack of a headstone for bop pianist Bud Powell at Willow Groves Fairview Cemetery.

Maguires first visit to White Chapel Memorial Park was simply to pay his respects. So were the two follow-ups, each one ending in frustration when he failed to see the grave where it should have been. On his fourth visit, in late December 2021 with his family in tow, he enlisted the help of groundskeeper Calwin Tracey.

Im sure he wasnt real pleased to have to take this weird guy and his kids to find this trumpet players grave, Maguire reflected with a laugh. He was a man of few words but we followed him, and he suddenly got completely perplexed. He looked at me and said, Its here. Its right here. And I said, But its not.

Tracey returned with a long crowbar, which he plunged into the ground on the spot  and was rewarded with a metallic clang. Remarkably, uncovering the marker took almost half an hour of digging to remove the foot-or-so of ground that had swallowed the headstone.

 READ MORE: Pa.s historical markers help teach Black history. Dont let culture wars interfere

It needs to be fixed up. And [add] a bench here so people could see it, Tracey said to Inquirer photographer Tom Gralish. I wish they could do something.

The crowd that thronged 52nd Street on Tuesday included members of Morgans family, local jazz musicians, promoters, historians, educators, and longtime fans, many of them clutching well-worn copies of the trumpeters Blue Note LPs and sporting T-shirts reproducing their iconic covers. Proclamations were read from Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, Gov. Josh Shapiro, Sen. Bob Casey, and other local politicians, and a brief appreciation was offered by saxophonist Billy Harper, who had been a member of Morgans band that night at the Aqua Lounge.

After the ceremony, Harper squinted up at the building, attempting to conjure a memory of its former incarnation after five decades and countless venues. I feel lifted up, he remarked on the occasion.

The marker, and the recent induction of Morgans 1963 album, The Sidewinder, into the National Recording Registry, can be credited to historic preservationist Faye Anderson, founder of the website All That Philly Jazz. Fanning herself from the intense sun on Tuesday afternoon, Anderson sounded relieved to finally see the sign in place. It feels great, she said. My goal was to change the conversation from how Lee Morgan died to how he lived.

Update: This story has been updated to clarify that the grave of Lee Morgan was never lost, but simply covered over.
Trimbach Riesling, Alsace, France

$24.99

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12.5% alcohol

PLCB Item #6625

Sale price through June 2, regularly $26.99

Are you looking for a ferociously dry white wine that will make your palate sit up and take notice? One whose piercing scent and lingering finish will shine a spotlight on your food and make (almost) anything you serve taste better than it did a moment before? Look no further than this spectacular, bone-dry riesling from one of the very best vintners of Alsace in northern France.

In the United States, riesling is often pigeonholed as a sweet wine  particularly when it comes in the tall, fluted bottles associated with German wines. This happens in part because so few other grapes can make sweet wines as well as riesling can, but this has led American wine drinkers to overlook and undervalue dry Rieslings. This is an injustice of the highest order since riesling is by any measure one of the top five wine grapes of all time and most of its very finest wines are not at all sweet, as with this classic example.

Alsace is a small region of northeastern France that is home to the city of Strasbourg and famous for its cool-climate wines. Bounded by the Rhine river to the east, which serves as the modern frontier between France and Germany, and the Vosges mountains to the west that separate Alsace from neighboring Lorraine, the region has been hotly contested territory for over 500 years, changing hands many times, which explains the regions blend of German and French cultural heritage. Vintners in Alsace cultivate a similar palette of wine grapes as those found in Germany, like riesling, but get more ripeness in their warmer, drier zone. They also bring a distinctively French approach to their winemaking that prioritizes food-flattering traits over succulence on first sip. In the case of this example, the result is a midweight white wine of laser-like intensity and a near crystalline sharpness and resonance on the palate, that makes the mouth water instantly and needs salty foods to taste its best. Its stony minerality of scent and flavors of tart apples and white tea will please fans of white Burgundy and albarino, but is likely to prove disappointing for anyone looking for a simplistic, sweet-tart tipple.

Also available at:

Berkley Fine Wine & Spirits in Clarksboro, $18.97

www.berkleyfinewine.com/
Three Main Line Health hospitals, including Riddle Hospital in Media, have gotten A ratings from the Leapfrog Group for the past four years. Read more

Fewer than half of the hospitals in the Philadelphia area earned top marks for safety this week from the Leapfrog Group, a hospital rating organization.

Leapfrogs spring 2024 report gave letter grades for safety to some 3,000 hospitals nationally, including 49 in the Philadelphia region, which includes the citys Pennsylvania suburbs, South Jersey, and Wilmington, Del. Specialty hospitals, such as Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia and St. Christophers Hospital for Children, were not graded.

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The organization bases its grades on more than 30 indicators from the federal government and its own survey of hospitals. Analysts look at rates of preventable errors and infections; how well hospitals follow procedures, such as handwashing, known to improve patient outcomes; and whether they have adequate staffing, among other factors. The data capture hospital safety measures from 2020 through March 2023.

Critics have questioned the value of such ratings, because hospitals sometimes receive conflicting ratings, and some argue that the ratings organization doesnt adequately account for some hospitals caring for a greater portion of patients who have complex medical problems and may be at greater risk for complications.

Overall, 41% of hospitals in the Philadelphia region earned an A in the grades that Leapfrog releases twice a year. Here are the latest local highlights:

Twenty hospitals received an A rating. Seven of them have gotten straight As for the past four years: Bryn Mawr Hospital, Paoli Hospital, and Riddle Hospital (all three owned by Main Line Health); Doylestown Hospital; Holy Redeemer Hospital; and Jefferson Washington Township Hospital in New Jersey. Four hospitals were downgraded from an A to a C rating since last springs ratings: Cooper University Hospital in New Jersey; Jefferson Frankford and Jefferson Torresdale (both owned by Jefferson Health); and Pennsylvania Hospital. Roxborough Memorial Hospital had the greatest improvement. Leapfrog gave the Philadelphia community hospital an A rating, up from a C this time last year. Crozer-Chester Medical Center and Taylor Hospital both received a D, the lowest rating among hospitals in the region. The two Delaware County hospitals, owned by Crozer Health, have received Ds or Cs from Leapfrog for the past four years.

 READ MORE: Piles of biohazard bags, delayed medications: inspection reports find ongoing problems at Crozer-Chester

Lehigh Valley leads the nation

New this spring, Leapfrog rated metro areas for their overall hospital safety and ranked the top 25 regions with the greatest portion of A-rated hospitals.

The Lehigh Valley region took top honors with nearly 73% of hospitals in the region that includes Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton, and parts of New Jersey receiving an A grade.

The Harrisburg-Carlisle metro area tied for 13th, with 53% of hospitals receiving an A.

Philadelphia, with 41% of hospitals receiving an A rating, didnt make Leapfrogs list of top 25 metropolitan areas for hospital safety.

Check out our interactive chart to see how your Philly-area hospital stacks up. Find a full breakdown of each hospitals score on Leapfrogs website.
Katherine Asplundh  of the billionaire Pennsylvania family  offered to pay an Instagram user by the same name for their social media handle. When they declined, things soured and went viral. Read more

First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the new Instagram handle to reflect a newlyweds freshly updated last name. So what happens when its already taken?

Katherine Asplundh, formerly Driscoll  an influencer on TikTok and Instagram  married Cabot Asplundh of the prominent Pennsylvania billionaire tree service family over the weekend at a ceremony and reception in Palm Beach, Fla. She posted professional photos from the event  as one does. By Tuesday, Asplundh attempted to take the next digital rite of passage: swapping her Instagram handle from @katherinedrisc to @katherineasplundh.

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But the username was already taken. What she did next prompted her to go unintentionally viral.

In a series of direct messages posted online and later reviewed by The Inquirer, Asplundh reached out to the other Katherine Asplundh, who goes by Kate on Instagram and uses the handle, @katherineasplundh.

I was wondering if I could purchase your username from you? Asplundh wrote. [I] just got married and this is my new name!

Kate responded, Hi congrats! Thats my name too.

Now, their private direct message spat has hit public channels, raising questions over who is entitled to an Instagram handle  and how much digital real estate is worth.

Personal branding on social media is important to content creators and online personalities  from both a sentimental and monetary standpoint. However, the space for social-centric branding is limited and becoming so scarce that people are beginning to take matters into their own hands, offering backdoor deals, a practice Instagram says could result in an account getting banned.

How much is an Instagram handle worth, anyway?

The value of an Instagram handle varies, depending on whos asking and its desirability.

Over the years, brands have bought such handles as @coffee (now owned by the restaurant review company Infatuation) and @dogs (owned by Bark Box) from everyday users for tens of thousands of dollars. And everyday users will intentionally scoop up handles they think could prove lucrative, a similar practice to website domain squatting.

When it comes to the methods to acquire an already used Instagram handle, the rules and strategies are murky, at best.

According to Instagram, users are strictly forbidden from buying, selling, or transferring any aspect of your account (including your username). But that hasnt stopped people from trying. As documented by Vox, an entire economy of buyers, sellers, agents, and pro flippers exists within the platform and on dedicated online marketplaces worldwide.

In theory, the social media handles are supposed to be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. Its part of why parents began claiming social handles for their newborn children ASAP. And the battles can get ugly.

But in some cases, celebrities have used their star power to supersede the rules. In 2019, Kevin Keiley of West Sussex said Prince Harry and Meghan Markle took his @sussexroyal handle of three years. Instagram defended the reassignment, saying Keileys account was inactive.

In her DMs, Asplundh alleged that Kates account was basically dormant because of its low number of followers and posts. Kate said she uses the account as a secondary archival account.

You also dont have to use your real name on Instagram, according to the platforms terms of service. But you do have to keep your account up-to-date with personal information and cant impersonate others.

An exchange gone sour

In Kates case, she said she initially considered giving up her handle to Asplundh for free. But she claims Asplundhs attitude threw her off.

In their back-and-forth Tuesday, Kate expressed concern that selling her username would get her banned from the platform.

Asplundh rebutted that she had purchased usernames in the past and celebrities do it all the time.

Then, the newlywed started questioning the legitimacy of Kates legal name, at one point requesting Kate to send proof that its her real name.

I actually dont believe that your name is Katherine Asplundh, she wrote. The family I just married into is the only Asplundh family in the U.S. Kate insisted her name was real and that she didnt owe Asplundh anything.

The Inquirer reached out to both parties for comment. Kate verified the Instagram correspondence between her and Asplundh to The Inquirer (providing a screen recording of herself opening the Instagram messaging tab and scrolling through the exchange). Asplundh did not respond as of publication time.

I was open to giving her my username, Kate told The Inquirer. I just didnt want to sell it because that would get me banned. After I replied to her, her messages came off snarky so I told myself, OK, this isnt worth it.

She replied to Asplundh: Im sorry we share the same name but just because you got married doesnt mean you can have my username.

Asplundh said in the direct messages that she reported Kate for impersonating her. Kate said she reported Asplundh for harassment and attempting to buy an account. Kate blocked Asplundh on Instagram.

The Katherines were at a digital impasse. Thats when things went public.

Who are the Asplundhs?

In the United States, Asplundh appears to be an uncommon name. (Kate told Asplundh in the DM exchange that she isnt American, but declined to elaborate to The Inquirer.)

The Asplundh family of Willow Grove founded Asplundh Tree Expert, the 109th-biggest private company in the United States and the eighth-largest in Pennsylvania with $5.4 billion in revenue and more than 34,000 employees.

Notably, celebrity surgeon and former Senate candidate Mehmet Oz is part of the Asplundh family by marriage: His wife, Lisas, grandfather cofounded Asplundh Tree Expert in 1928 with his two brothers.

Katherine Asplundh married into the family by making things official with Cabot Asplundh, the grandson of Carl Asplundh Jr. The couple first met in Prague while Katherine was studying abroad and connected over growing up at the Jersey Shore, according to their wedding website. He proposed in Mantoloking, N.J., after two years together.

A private exchange becomes internet fodder

Kate  who says her name is Katherine J. Asplundh but declined to provide specifics or show a form of ID to The Inquirer, citing privacy concerns  said she didnt know who Asplundh was until Googling her. When she saw other posts about Asplundh on the popular subreddit, r/NYCinfluencersnark, a Reddit page where members discuss and often criticize influencers, she opted to post screenshots of their exchange there.

The whole thing just seemed silly and ridiculous to me. I thought theyd have a laugh and that would be it, Kate told The Inquirer.

But the post devolved from a quick laugh into a barrage of hundreds of comments and thousands of upvotes, discussing who was wrong, picking apart Asplundhs character, and users plotting out their next moves.

Asplundhs wedding photos on her Instagram page were suddenly spammed by comments siding both with and against her.

Team other Katherine, one user wrote on one of Asplundhs posts. Hope you never get that handle, said another. You deserved the username, girlie, said a third. By Wednesday morning, Asplundh made her Instagram account  which has about 12,000 followers  private. Hours later, she reversed this, returning her profile to public visibility, but with comments limited. At one point Kate pleaded with Redditors not to bully Asplundh. I think shes got the message, she wrote.

Following the typical life cycle of irrelevant internet drama, the debacle made its way to other social media platforms, including X (formerly Twitter), where a tweet about the exchange has been viewed more than seven million times, Instagram, and TikTok, where a video explaining the saga was seen nearly two million times.

For now, Kate and Asplundhs respective Instagram handles remain unchanged.

But this fight isnt about two women with the same name (allegedly). That part will be forgotten as the next line of normal gossip comes along. At its core, the Katherines argument fixates on the priceless value of digital real estate in an age heavily dependent on personal branding and social media presence.
The Schuylkill River and Manayunk Canal overflowed on to Main Street in Manayunk as heavy rain from the remnants of Hurricane Ida flooded the Philadelphia region in September 2021. Read more

A Montgomery County woman defrauded federal disaster authorities out of more than $1.5 million designated for aiding victims of Hurricane Idas destructive 2021 path through the Philadelphia region, federal authorities said this week.

Jasmine Williams, 33, of Plymouth Meeting, advertised her services on social media, offering to help people fill out fraudulent applications for federal aid, prosecutors said in an indictment unsealed Monday. In exchange, they said, she charged a fee of one-half of any proceeds issued.

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Investigators believe that, in all, dozens of people across the country received aid money to which they were not entitled as a result of Williams efforts.

She now faces 32 felony counts including wire and mail fraud as well as fraud in connection with a major disaster. Each of those crimes is punishable by up to 30 years in prison should Williams be convicted.

She was released on a $50,000 recognizance bond after a brief appearance before a federal magistrate judge Monday afternoon. Williams attorney, Guy Sciolla, did not return requests for comment Tuesday.

Ida, which hit Louisiana as a Category 4 hurricane, ranks among one of the most devastating Atlantic storms to ever hit the United States, causing 86 deaths and about $36 billion in damage, according to federal storm statistics.

And though it had been downgraded by the time its remnants swept through the Philadelphia region in September 2021, it spawned several tornadoes, caused millions in property damage, and flooded city neighborhoods and the Vine Street Expressway.

 READ MORE: Dont let us die down here: A look back at Hurricane Idas devastation of the Philly area

Its impact left 81 homes destroyed and 500 with major damage  particularly in hardest-hit Strawberry Mansion, according to a City of Philadelphia tally. In all, nearly 11,000 properties reported verified losses totaling about $41 million.

Williams launched her scheme, prosecutors said, shortly after President Joe Biden issued a major disaster declaration for the region, freeing up funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to go toward storm relief. By October of that year, she was advertising her fraudulent services on social media and had already attracted a number of clients, prosecutors said.

She assisted them in filling out relief applications for properties they did not own or that were not damaged and drafted fake leases, letters from landlords, utility bills, earning statements, and home repair estimates to help them pass through FEMAs screening process, according to court filings.

In some cases, authorities say, she even participated in three-way calls between FEMA representatives and the applicants to vouch for the false statements made in their filings.

The plan proved to be successful, netting FEMA checks of as much as $21,000 for some of those she helped guide through the process.

Though authorities did not provide an exact number of fraudulent relief applications theyd linked to Williams, the charges unsealed against her Monday were linked to roughly 14 different applicants.

A trial date has not yet been set in her case.
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Officer uses bolt cutters to remove wire ties and metal ties from barricades around the Gaza Solidarity Encampment at University of Pennsylvania Wednesday. Read more

Images of police swarming college campuses, amid violent skirmishes between protesters and counterprotesters, are playing out on televisions across America:

Police took back control Tuesday night of a building that protesters had occupied at Columbia University. UCLA canceled classes amid turmoil. Protesters clashed with police at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

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But at the University of Pennsylvania, where a pro-Palestinian encampment on the College Green is completing day seven, its been almost a game of cat and mouse, with the administration and protesters at a stalemate and every move being analyzed as a potential development.

 READ MORE: Penn says it will pursue disciplinary action against encamped pro-Palestinian protesters

When eight Philadelphia Police Department and Penn officers around noon Wednesday began loosening the barricades, set up by the university to enclose the encampment, protesters anticipated more action could be coming. Members of the Gaza Solidarity Encampment began cheering and banging on empty Deer Park water jugs to commemorate making it seven days.

But hours passed  and nothing.

We dont have to do stupid, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said during a visit to the encampment Wednesday. What we should be doing here is upholding our tradition of being a welcoming, inviting city, where people say things, even if other people dont like them, because they have a right to say it in the United States and where protesters also have an obligation to remain nonviolent and to engage in speech.

Penn mum on plans, demands, commencement

Penn administration was mum about its plans for handling the encampment, which has remained at about 60 members since last week, or whether it had set a deadline for the camp to come down, as interim President J. Larry Jameson had called for last week. The university spokesperson declined comment on those questions or whether the board of trustees was involved in the decision-making.

There have been petitions and calls from faculty groups to let the encampment stand and to remove the threat of discipline from student and faculty protesters; Penn said earlier this week that it had initiated disciplinary processes involving some protesters.

And on Thursday morning, a group describing itself as a coalition of concerned Penn students, faculty, alumni and staff plan to deliver a petition with more than 1,800 signatures to Jamesons office, calling for Penn to remove the encampment.

We have circulated a petition ... calling upon President Jameson to honor his word, when he said in a recent email that the encampment must be removed, the group said in a media announcement. He has yet to do this.

Republican Dave McCormick, who is challenging U.S. Sen. Bob Casey for his seat, also spoke out against the encampment during a visit.

The authorities need to act with clarity and moral courage and break up these cities and discipline the kids that are violating the rules, he said.

Protesters, some of whom met with Jameson on Tuesday night, said university officials expressed concern about looming final exams, due to start on Tuesday and run through May 14, and the proximity of the encampment to the library. Its also unclear how Penn will handle commencement, scheduled for May 20 at Franklin Field, if the encampment is still up.

Penn has not commented on the meeting or responded to a question about commencement. The university has relocated a senior class celebration scheduled to take place on the College Green on Thursday morning to Shoemaker Green, according to the Daily Pennsylvanian, the student newspaper.

The university also has been worried about the potential for outsiders to cause safety risks, which was elevated again on Wednesday. A man wearing a green polo shirt and black pants sprayed tents in the encampment with liquid from a pesticide can. Officers with Penns Department of Public Safety said the man was not affiliated with the university. Officers are testing the substance and asked encampment members to avoid the area where the liquid was sprayed.

Earlier in the week, a 70-year-old man wearing a large knife in his belt came to a Passover Seder held at the encampment. The man, who was not affiliated with the encampment or protest, was charged with having cutting instruments in streets or public places.

The only leverage we have

The meeting between Jameson and protesters resulted in a stalemate, Philly Palestine Coalition member and encampment spokesperson Nneka Azuka told The Inquirer on Wednesday morning.

Jameson told organizers that university administrators would not negotiate unless the encampment was taken down, Azuka said. But the encampment is the only leverage we have.

Meanwhile, student organizers said they will not negotiate further unless a series of new demands are met, including the university committing to not sending police inside the encampment, withdrawing a demand to end it and withdrawing disciplinary notices to participants.

A Penn faculty group said the university is violating its own guidelines for open expression by attempting to discipline students for participating in the encampment.

It was wholly inappropriate for the Committee on Open Expression to distribute threats on behalf of the administration, the Penn chapter of the American Association of University Professors wrote in a statement, referring to fliers that were passed out, saying students must furnish their Penn IDs when asked.

And asserting that students must show IDs is a violation, too, the group said.

The guidelines establish that in the case of demonstrations that do not violate the guidelines  and this demonstration does not  participants have a right to privacy and their presence shall not be reported, the faculty group said.

On Monday, the university issued anticipatory guidance, according to the Daily Pennsylvanian, giving it the power to check IDs as a safety measure  which the faculty group also called out as specious grounds.

We are witnessing an Orwellian situation, the group said. ... A body of the central administration with unilateral power to interpret and enforce guidelines that are supposed to protect the right to protest  is attempting to shut down a nonviolent protest that is in compliance with the guidelines. It is doing so by fabricating nonexistent rules and claiming that they are part of the guidelines ... and who can tell them otherwise?

Penn declined to comment on the AAUP letter.
The Queen Lane Water Treatment Plant in East Falls, which will hold an open house, tour, and career fair on Saturday. Read more

Want to visit the Queen Lane Water Treatment Plant in East Falls?

The Philadelphia Water Department is having an open house, tour, and career fair at its Queen Lane facility from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. this Saturday, at 3565 Fox St. Visitors must register for the event and bring a government-issued identification.

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The plant treats about 70 million gallons of water a day, according to Philly Watersheds. It uses water from the Schuylkill that is treated to become drinking water. The tour is pretty much booked up, but people can take part in watching demonstrations and leave resumes.

Its always fascinating how interested people are in learning what goes on behind the curtains of this whole campus that does the work to transform the water into clean water, said Brian Rademaekers, a water department spokesperson.

Part of the demonstration on Saturday will show how mussels clean water by filtering it, and removing tiny particles that help clear the water of pollutants, sediment, and excess nutrients.

 READ MORE: These Philly high school kids are trying to clean up the Schuylkill. With mussels.

In addition to having a chance to learn about the water system, Rademaekers said there will also be a career fair where people can drop off resumes for jobs. However, there will be no job interviews.

The Water Department is looking for people in a variety of fields: graduate civil and environmental engineers, machinery and equipment mechanics, HVAC mechanics, machinists, roofers, plumbers, laborers, helpers, and more.

Rademaekers said it also hires young people through PowerCorpsPHL, which says on its website that it engages un- and under-employed 18- to 30-year-olds in an immersive, paid 4- to 24-month experience that results in connection to living wage jobs in clean energy, green infrastructure, and community-based careers.

 READ MORE: Queen Lane water plant is slated for rebuilding; East Falls group wants a promise it wont look like a prison

Coincidentally, this open house is being held during the same week that the East Falls Community Council held a neighborhood happy hour on Wednesday evening to discuss long-term plans to demolish and reconstruct the plant, which was built in 1895.

Paul Elia, a member of the EFCC, said there was a good turnout. More residents signed a petition asking the city for a binding agreement of protections when it rebuilds the treatment plant. They want to make sure there is no barbed-wire fencing, glaring lights that shine into homes, noisy generators, and parking lots without adequate landscaping and screening.

Rademaekers said visitors to the plant will also learn more about the citys water revitalization plan, which is a plan for upgrading the water infrastructure at facilities around the city.

We have six different treatment plants, three for drinking water and three for wastewater, Rademaekers said. The department tries to have open houses at its water facilities at least twice a year, he said. The last open house was at the Belmont Treatment Plant in West Philadelphia, near City Avenue.
A Philadelphia police officer fatally shot a cane corso that was part of a pack of four dogs attacking a man Wednesday morning in the citys Mantua section, police said.

The officer, who was not identified, was on patrol in a department vehicle about 10:15 a.m. when a civilian pointed out that there were dogs running loose nearby, police said.

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At the intersection of Fairmount Avenue and Union Street, the officer saw a 53-year-old man being attacked by the four dogs, including a cane corso and three pit bulls, police said. The officer activated his siren in an attempt to scare off the dogs, but that failed.

The officer got out of his vehicle and shot the cane corso, police said. The attack stopped and medics took the victim to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where he was listed in stable condition.

Police did not say whether they found the owner of the dogs or whether they knew why the dogs were running loose.

The officer, who was not injured, was placed on administrative duty while the shooting was being reviewed by Internal Affairs and Officer-Involved Shooting Investigations, the department said.

Video posted on social media shows a police cruiser stopped at an intersection with its siren activated while four dogs are running loose. The cane corso, which can weigh more than 100 pounds, is twice the size of the pit bulls. The other dogs could have been smaller because they were possibly much younger.

The dogs run to the man, who is standing at the corner, and knock him to the ground. At least two civilians are seen trying to intervene. The officer gets out of his vehicle with his gun drawn. Someone can be heard apparently yelling for the officer to shoot the dogs.

A few seconds pass and then he fires once at the cane corso, which doesnt stop the attack, then fires three more times. The attack stops and the cane corso runs off and then collapses.
Maya Sosnov, a law clerk for Judge Theodore McKee, works the probation station at a reentry simulation event hosted by the Philadelphia Bar Foundation. Participants were given a wallet with a new identity in it, replicating the challenges a person coming home after being incarcerated might face. Read more

You have just been released from prison after being incarcerated for several years. How do you start a new life?

Your first impulse might be to try getting a job or finding an apartment. But before you can build any of those foundational pieces, you realize your Social Security card and birth certificate are long gone; those werent necessary to sell drugs or for other illegal activity, but they are now. You still owe fines and fees to the court, which can get you reincarcerated if you dont pay.

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And how are you going to eat?

There is a dizzying number of potential pitfalls with reentry for inmates coming out of state and federal prisons. The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections found that nearly two-thirds of the 20,000 people released from state prisons in 2016 were rearrested or reincarcerated within three years. Of that group, 75% of them did so within the first 16 months after their release.

Some people close to Philadelphias reentry process are working to change that high recidivism rate. On Tuesday evening, the Philadelphia Bar Foundation, Philadelphia Bar Association and the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania hosted a reentry simulation for legal professionals and reentry advocates seeking a deeper understanding of what it is like to come home from prison.

Im hoping that people, in walking in the shoes of a reentering citizen, understand fully all the barriers to reentry, said U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Romero.

Since 2007, the U.S. Attorneys Office, the Federal Defenders Office, and the U.S. Probation Office have worked together on a supervised release reentry program, called Supervision to Aid Reentry (STAR), or otherwise known as Reentry Court, which is intended for people with middle to high risk of recidivism. Regularly conducting these reentry simulations with various organizations is a key component to the U.S. Attorneys Offices work on reentry.

 READ MORE: The R.E.V. is ready to provide reentry support services on the go

Whether its housing, its getting an ID, whether its figuring out your daily budget for the week and putting food on the table ... it is something where if they dont figure it out and the stress builds up and the stress builds up ... reentering citizens might go out and do something desperate, Romero said.

A name, a wallet and no ID

At the start of the simulation, each person was given a name and a wallet.

Inside the wallet was an information sheet with details about the reentering person they would be portraying. It described such things as how many years they were in prison and the crimes they were charged with, what their living situation was like immediately after leaving prison, or whether they owed additional money for child support or restitution. Each wallet also held other items such as different amounts of cash, forms of identification, and a card representing personal items they could pawn, if necessary.

 READ MORE: That pressure is being released now: A newly expanded law is helping people seal their felony records and start fresh

Then, the clock started. The simulation was divided into four 15-minute blocks, each meant to represent a week in the first month of reentry. The goal by the end of the month was to fulfill a list of financial and legal tasks, all while staying out of jail and making sure to buy food each week.

Fourteen stations around the room represented different institutions that a reentering person might interact with: social services, probation, court, a career center, a homeless shelter, among others. If a person needed to earn a GED, participants could fill out a word search puzzle. By design, the exercise was frantic.

Bianca van Heydoorn, executive director of the Youth Sentencing & Reentry Project, quickly realized that as Jaquay, she needed another form of ID before she could even apply for a job or donate blood for cash. She joined a long line at the identification station, which took up most of her first week out of prison. Most of the simulation participants had to do the same, a measure to represent the frustrating bureaucracy involved in reentry.

At her meeting with her probation officer, van Heydoorn handed over some of her cash for a mandated drug test. Van Heydoorn flipped over a card on the table at random to see her test result  shed failed. By week three, Jaquay was back in jail.

Theodore McKee, judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, met the same fate while role-playing as Beatrice. It wasnt a surprise to McKee; hes gotten to know people whove struggled with reentry during his years on the bench.

Its not easy to stay out, he said. The obstacles are everywhere and they are constant.

With the pressure mounting to pay rent and fines as the weeks ticked by, some decided that it was time to take a risk. At the chance station, people could pick a card representing an illegal activity such as robbing a bank or selling drugs, and flip it over to see whether their desperation paid off. At one point, the volunteer overseeing the station said that three-quarters of the people who took a chance had been sent to jail.

I see how easy it is to give up and go back to what you know, said Selina Carrera, a teacher at the Philadelphia Juvenile Justice Services Center.

After the simulation ended, van Heydoorn said she felt vindicated about her advocacy work on behalf of incarcerated and reentering young people. She explained how even though much of the focus on reentry work is working against recidivism, the simulation showed how much a person could still be going through even if avoiding reincarceration.

You could stay out of jail and still be struggling, she said.

That seemed fun, but it aint fun

Aslam Ashari, 63, experienced the simulation differently than others. Hes been through the real thing.

That seemed fun, but it aint fun, he said in a panel discussion following the simulation.

It aint nothing compared to coming home and you aint got nothing ... youre starting over again.

Ashari is a graduate of the STAR program after spending 11 years in federal prison. He was born and raised in North Philly, but now lives in Chestnut Hill. He said that he ended up in prison because he lost patience and didnt believe in himself enough to create the kind of life he wanted to live without illegal means.

As he was released in 2021, his parole officer mentioned the STAR program as a possibility; Ashari was skeptical at first, but was willing to give it a try. STAR helped him get his IDs, housing, job training and enrollment in an entrepreneurship course at the University of Pennsylvania. Now he works for Resources for Human Development, a human services nonprofit.

Today, Ashari is full of the self-confidence that he once lacked.

I aint going back in there. Thats over with. Im too smart for that, he told The Inquirer.

He aims to start his own nonprofit one day, which will focus on leadership and workforce development. Until then, hes enjoying the new life hes building.

Each day I go to work, Im out there helping somebody, he said.
Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey shoots the game-tying three pointer against the Knicks to put Game 5 into overtime on Tuesday night. Read more

Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter

Happy Thursday. Expect sun and temps in the high 80s (yes, again).

The Sixers earned their right to play Game 6 tonight thanks in large part to one player. Even the most casual of fans can find something to cheer in our top story about Tyrese Maxeys odds-defying last-minute baskets in Tuesdays playoff game.

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And the suburban side of City Avenue is set to triple its apartment count, transforming the office and retail hub. Planners are trying to make it more amenable to residents who want to rely less on their cars.

Heres what you need to know today.

 Julie Zeglen (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.

Whether you follow the Sixers religiously, call yourself a fair-weather fan, or wish they would get this series over with so we can all get on with our lives  youve gotta admit, theyre giving us some great playoff storylines.

The most prominent right now: The Sixers were really not supposed to get this far in the first round. But in the final moments of Tuesday nights would-be elimination game against the New York Knicks, guard Tyrese Maxey beat improbable odds by scoring seven points in 17 seconds, tying it up at the buzzer and ultimately pulling out a 112-106 win in overtime.

How improbable? With 28 seconds of regulation to go, the Sixers had a 0.7% chance of winning. Check out The Inquirers quick, interactive breakdown of the win that almost wasnt.

And as we await Game 6 at the Wells Fargo Center tonight, catch up on these also-fun stories:

 Sixers owners are partnering with Fanatics Michael Rubin to distribute 2,000 tickets for Philly fans to attend, after Knicks fans overran our last home game.

 The team is extending Bricken 4 Chicken to the full game for the rest of the playoff run, since the enthusiasm the free chicken promo sparked in the Sixers play-in game jolted them to a win.

 The NBAs Most Improved Player just keeps getting better and better. Columnist David Murphy connects Maxeys end-of-game run to a 90s legend.

Think City Avenue, and you might imagine traffic, office towers, and strip malls. Great, if you love sitting in your car.

But those in charge of planning along the border between Philadelphia and Lower Merion Township are working to boost walkability and connectivity as the suburban stretch sees more residential development. More than 2,500 housing units have been recently built or are in the works.

Were looking at promoting the principles of new urbanism and encouraging a more mixed-use environment, Lower Merions senior planner told The Inquirer.

Where does retail fit into these plans for change? What other amenities are on the way? Who is choosing to live along City Avenue? Commercial real estate reporter Jake Blumgart explains.

What you should know today

 Trivia time

A new masters program at Philadelphias only Ivy League school aims to prep students for jobs that we cant yet imagine. What is the programs focus?

A) Robotics

B) Biocomputing

C) Artificial intelligence

D) Economics

Think you know? Check your answer.

What we're...

 Reserving: Dinner at Vetri to celebrate the restaurants 25th anniversary.

 Partying with: Phillys reggaeton party for women, Jefatona.

 Crossing (soon): Two 200-year-old Wissahickon Creek bridges that will be reconstructed with federal funding.

 Unscramble the anagram

Student loans will be canceled for those who attended this system of now-closed for-profit colleges that were the center of fraud allegations. Philadelphias campus closed in 2018.

Hint:   (Psst, both words of the answer are plural!)

RUSTIEST TITANS

Email us if you know the answer. Well select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Charlene Wiltshire, who solved Wednesdays anagram: Broad Street Run. Phillys annual 10-mile race  the largest in the country  returns May 5.

Photo of the day

Ashley is filling in tomorrow, but Ill be back in your inbox on Sunday. Til then, Philly.

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.
Administrators at Harriton High School last month removed stickers reading "Free Palestine" from an art display in the lobby. The move smacks of the kind of censorship that could ultimately eliminate the possibility of constructive dialogue in schools, Jonathan Zimmerman writes. Read more

Late last year, the Lower Merion School District removed two articles about Israel/Palestine from a student newspaper. According to district officials, the articles had upset members of the community.

But all meaningful expression upsets someone. And the district is continuing to censor it, which is the most upsetting thing of all.

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Witness the episode last month at Harriton High School in Lower Merion, where a student affixed Free Palestine stickers to an artwork they had produced for a display in the school lobby. Other students reported the stickers to school administrators, who promptly removed them.

We can all imagine symbols and phrases  say, a swastika or a racial slur  that the school ought to prohibit. Indeed, Lower Merion bars students from distributing materials that incite discrimination based on race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation.

Did the Free Palestine stickers incite discrimination against Jews? Not according to the Anti-Defamation League, Americas foremost organization for fighting anti-Jewish sentiment and behavior.

As Harriton principal Scott Weinstein wrote in a letter to parents, the ADL told the school that it did not deem the Free Palestine stickers antisemitic. Lower Merion superintendent Steven Yanni confirmed that the district reviewed all relevant facts and decided that the sticker incident did not constitute an act of antisemitism.

So why were the stickers removed? According to Weinstein, they violated Lower Merions policy requiring anything posted in schools to receive prior approval from school administrators. He also quoted a second district policy, which says that students have the responsibility to be aware of the feelings and opinions of others. The stickers, Weinstein added, sparked hurt and fear among some of our Jewish students and their allies.

So lets try a little thought experiment. Suppose the Harriton student had put We Stand With Israel stickers on their artwork. Would the school have moved so quickly to remove them, because they caused hurt and fear among Palestinian students and their allies?

I doubt it. If you echo the majority viewpoint in American schools, your speech is protected. And if you dont, you get censored.

Thats what happened in Edina, Minn., where two Somali-American girls were suspended for three days for chanting From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free during a student walkout. According to a local representative of the Jewish Community Relations Council, the slogan is hurtful.

Im Jewish, and I agree with him. A part of my family has lived in Israel since the 1930s, before it became a nation-state. I regard the river-to-the-sea phrase as a demand to remove Jews from the region. And yes, that hurts.

But I also know that Palestinians have been hurt by remarks and rallies in support of Israel, which has killed roughly 30,000 people in Gaza since Oct. 7. If you censor one form of hurtful speech, youll have to censor the other. And eventually, we wont be able to talk at all.

If you censor one form of hurtful speech, youll have to censor the other. And eventually, we wont be able to talk at all.

Were close to that point already. The student who tipped me off about the Harriton episode asked me to keep their identity secret, which speaks volumes in and of itself: Put simply, our young people are afraid to speak. And that cant be good for their education as future citizens, who should be deliberating the big questions of their day.

Theoretically, at least, the Lower Merion School District endorses that same goal. The school, as a diverse center of learning, invites the open exposure and exchange of ideas and issues to and by students, its policy declares. It is therefore the right of any student to question, examine and debate any issue relating to the world community or the functions and proposals of the school.

The controversy over the Free Palestine stickers relates both to the world and to the school, of course. So it also represents a great opportunity for the district to put its policy into practice, if it can summon the courage to do so.

What if Harriton convened an assembly, where representatives of the Muslim and Jewish communities debated whether the Free Palestine stickers should be allowed in the school? And then teachers continued the dialogue in their classrooms, so everyone had the opportunity to engage in it?

Watching the angry exchanges about Israel/Palestine on our college campuses over the past few weeks, Ive been struck by our inability to communicate across our differences. College might be too late to teach that skill. We should start when students are younger, so they get the practice they need.

Ive got my own views on the Harriton stickers  they should have been protected  but Id be eager to hear other ones. And debating the issue would give everyone at the school a vital lesson about democracy, which requires us to grapple with upsetting  and, sometimes, hurtful  ideas.

The biggest question is whether we have enough faith in our students  and in ourselves  to make that happen.
Isha Isa, an EMT with the New York City Fire Department, shares a meal with Waheedah Salaam, a retired Temple nurse, and her grandkids Anum Salaam, 7, and Ari Salaam, 5, of North Philadelphia, during the Philadelphia Masjid community event at the Clara Muhammad Square on April 27. Read more

On Saturday morning, I told my husband I was heading to the park. Be careful, he told me.

His concern wasnt totally ungrounded. I was heading to Clara Muhammad Square in the 4700 block of Lancaster Avenue in West Philadelphia, the site of a shooting that took place only weeks ago. At what was meant to be a joyous occasion  an afternoon celebration of the end of the Ramadan fast  at least 30 shots rang out in a crowd of hundreds of people, leaving three injured.

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Police arrested one adult and four juveniles; all will be charged as adults.

The incident has shaken Philadelphias Muslim community  a population of roughly 300,000  and created psychic scars that will take a long time to heal.

Last Saturday was meant to help the community start that long walk to recovery. The Philadelphia Masjid, across from Clara Muhammad Square, hosted a community day replete with food, vendors, and counseling services.

To anyone driving past, the event might look like any of the community gatherings that make Philly such a great place in the summer. But I was taken aback by all the yellow police tape circling Clara Muhammad Square. It reminded me of that awful day.

As I approached the area, someone walked over and asked me to open my bag so he could inspect it for a weapon. Members of the Philadelphia Police Department stood guard around the park and masjid.

Once inside the cordoned off area, I steered clear of the black-clad security personnel carrying automatic rifles and wearing body armor roaming the grounds. Inside the mosque itself, there was even more heavy security, with male members stationed at the door and others gathered in a room off to the side watching multiple security camera screens.

Yet even with all of the law enforcement on display, it was a happy affair.

I watched elementary school children participate in an old-fashioned potato sack race. There were pony and horseback rides. Vendors set up on sidewalks sold jewelry, crocheted hats, henna tattoo services, and homemade cheesecake. People lined up at the Fish Jawn and Siddiqs Water Ice food trucks. Politicians shook hands.

At one point, when I was walking around the masjid, I wandered into a room set aside for healing. Female participants gathered their chairs in a circle and talked about their pain  not just from the awful day of the shooting, but from previous traumas, as well. When it was my turn to introduce myself, I shared how I had felt drawn to be there with them. I noticed a few smiles and nods.

Before long, a call to prayer sounded over the loud speaker and silence fell over the room. When it was finished, the group leader resumed right where wed left off, processing all that had happened on April 10 so people could move forward.

Thats really what the community day event was all about: reclaiming the park and masjid as a safe space. When you came here, it was safe grounds, Farida Boyer, the events organizer, told me. This is not a space where incidents like that happened.

I was happy to see how much members took that mission to heart. It wasnt always easy. It was chilly out. The incident was still fresh in peoples minds. While I was in the group session, I listened as a participant described how her 9-year-old had been so traumatized by the shooting that he refuses to return to Clara Muhammad Square, and says he never wants to go to another Eid al-Fitr gathering again.

Thats unfortunate, because returning to the scene of a traumatic experience can be healing, Zakia Williams, a cofounder of the Philadelphia nonprofit Black Men Heal, told me.

A lot of people think that if they avoid the thing that reminds them of the trauma that they experienced, its helping but its just reinforcing the fear, explained Williams. By facing what has been avoided, you can decrease the symptoms of the PTSD just by learning that [the traumatic event] was something that happened that one day, and is now over.

She praised the masjid for hosting the community event, pointing out members had stood strong, letting the community know that we are here for you as Muslims, as Christians, as people from West Philly and that were going to take back the narrative that this is an unsafe place to be.

I stayed longer than I had planned. I left feeling reassured that the community was doing the right thing by reminding themselves  and everyone else  that one awful event didnt define it. Because of that, it will remain a place of refuge where people can find still comfort and love.
Vice President Kamala Harris visits William Cramp Elementary School in Philadelphia in April. She is scheduled to return to the state May 8 to talk about reproductive rights. Read more

Vice President Kamala Harris will visit Montgomery County next week to talk about womens reproductive rights, as she and President Joe Biden continue to make the issue a centerpiece of their reelection campaign.

Harris will be in Montgomery County on Wednesday. It will be her third trip to the state this year and the 13th visit since she was sworn in as vice president. Biden was last in Philadelphia on April 18, capping a three-day tour around the state with a visit to North Philadelphia.

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No other place outside of Washington and Bidens home state of Delaware has hosted the president more frequently over the last two years.

Increasingly, polling shows that Bidens path to reelection may require him to hold on to the Blue Wall states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, where former President Donald Trump leads Biden narrowly. His campaign travel has concentrated heavily on those three states.

Harris has been traveling across the country, highlighting threats to womens reproductive rights. She was in Jacksonville, Fla., on Wednesday, when the states six-week abortion ban took effect. The campaign in recent days has highlighted comments Trump made about abortion in a recent Time magazine article, in which he was asked about punishing women who seek abortions and said such decisions should be left up to the states.

Just this week in an interview he said states have the right to monitor pregnant women to enforce these bans, and states have the right to punish pregnant women for seeking out abortion care, Harris said in Jacksonville. She went on to blame Trump, who has bragged about appointing the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, for extreme abortion bans across the country.

Across our nation, we witness a full-on assault, state by state, on reproductive freedom and understand whos to blame. Former President Donald Trump did this.

Trump, who has also made recent trips to Pennsylvania, will hold a rally in Wildwood on May 11.
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker walks along Kensington Avenue with Managing Director Adam Thiel on Thursday, April 11, 2024. Thiel announced plans for an expanded shelter facility this week. Read more

Mayor Cherelle L. Parkers administration said Thursday it has expanded capacity at a homeless shelter in Fairmount and can serve people with addiction, a move officials said is part of a broader effort to improve the citys offerings for people with substance use disorder.

Managing Director Adam K. Thiel made that announcement during a news conference Thursday, a day after The Inquirer reported the administration and addiction service providers were preparing to accept new clients on a city-run campus at 2100 W. Girard Ave.

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News of the expanded site comes as the Parker administration has made cleaning up Kensingtons open-air drug market a key priority and days before the city is expected to clear several blocks in that neighborhood where people are living on the street. As part of the cleanup, city policy is to offer shelter to people camping in the area.

Questions remained Thursday, including where else the city is looking to expand treatment capacity, how much money it will cost, and how much space is ultimately needed to meet the demand for drug treatment and shelter.

Sources involved in the planning of the Fairmount site, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the plan publicly, said the revamped facility would be a triage center, a concept administration officials have previously described as part of its goal to end open-air drug markets, including in Kensington. Officials have said they are still developing how a triage center would function or the exact services it would offer, including whether such a site would involve law enforcement.

After The Inquirer reported Wednesday that the Fairmount site would be a triage center, a spokesperson for Parkers administration said it is a wellness center. On Thursday, Thiel rejected that characterization, too, saying that the city is merely adding beds to an existing shelter site with plans to connect more drug users with treatment.

That is the goal of the comprehensive wellness ecosystem that we are building with health care, Thiel said, with taking care of our fellow Philadelphians as the primary lens that we are using to build this.

In March, Parker unveiled her first budget proposal, which seeks to borrow $100 million to establish triage and wellness facilities across the city  and Thiel in late March said the first such facility could be open within weeks.

News of the citys program at the Fairmount site caught some City Council members and other officials off-guard following months of heated debate about how the citys drug treatment infrastructure could absorb potentially hundreds of people who live in Kensington.

 READ MORE: Mayor Parkers plan to remove the presence of drug users from Kensington raises new questions

Councilmember Jeffery Young Jr., whose district includes the site on Girard, said in a statement he has been concerned about the lack of transparency from the Parker administration on the proposed plan for triage centers to combat the addiction crisis in Kensington.

He added that he opposes any such site at that location without undergoing a thorough review and discussion with the community to address potential implications.

The administration cast the project as an expansion of already existing services. Home to the former Philadelphia nursing home that closed in 2022, Thiel said the site has also housed homeless clients for a decade.

He said renovations began in April to add more beds to the facility and increase capacity for more substance abuse treatment services where people could come voluntarily to get help  similar to how officials previously described the triage model.

Thiel said the Fairmount facility is not a medical facility and would not offer inpatient treatment at this time, though he added that could change in the future. Addressing concerns from residents in Fairmount, he said recent renovations have already helped stabilize the Girard Avenue campus and that dialogue was ongoing with neighbors.

As we are building this system, we are meeting the needs of the people that we are going to be taking care of and the communities and the neighbors surrounding these facilities, Thiel said, adding that existing city-run facilities are operating with minimal complaints.

In its search to expand treatment and housing options, Thiel said the city has been examining a number of publicly and privately owned facilities as well as vacant and unused buildings.

The long-term goal is to build a citywide treatment ecosystem that will be the first of its kind in the United States.
When I think of City Avenue, traffic and shopping come to mind.

But local planners want to transform the retail and office center into something more residential.

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Most of the apartment buildings along City Avenue are on the Philadelphia side. But Lower Merion has had a bunch of residential development on its side in recent years. And policymakers want more homes built.

Keep scrolling for that story and to see how the mayors key housing production goal for Philadelphia has changed, learn about warranties for something not covered by home insurance, and peek inside a Bryn Mawr home with a kids cave.

Did you create an area of your home specifically for your kids? For a chance to be featured in my newsletter, email me.

 Michaelle Bond

If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.

If youve been over to City Avenue to shop or eat recently, you might have seen the fences that have gone up at the site of the former Lord & Taylors department store.

After the company went bankrupt and closed stores across the country, the City Avenue property owner decided to put apartments on the site.

Plans are underway to bring 217 homes and a smaller retail space to 121 E. City Ave.

Other owners of nearby properties also want to bring more homes to the area. One planned development would have 272 and another would have 425.

Lower Merion is set to triple its number of apartments on City Avenue.

One word can make all the difference in a campaign promise. Especially when youre talking about housing and that word is affordable.

On the campaign trail in a crowded field of candidates running to be the Democratic nominee for mayor last year, now-Mayor Cherelle L. Parker repeatedly promised to build 30,000 units of affordable housing in Philadelphia.

What exactly affordable means is a squishy subject and can get you different answers based on which politicians, developers, and residents you talk to. But as housing costs get more expensive, its clear that homes have become unaffordable for more Philadelphians.

Whats less clear is the evolution of Parkers campaign promise. Sometime after winning the Democratic primary, she shifted to describing it as a goal to build or repair 30,000 homes of any kind.

My colleagues Sean Collins Walsh and Jake Blumgart lay out what you need to know about the mayors housing goal, including what will count toward it and how the administration plans to achieve it.

The latest news to pay attention to

We all know there are lots of scams out there waiting to get us if we let our guard down. So its natural that homeowners might feel suspicious if they see fliers trying to sell them underground plumbing warranties.

But the Philadelphia Water Department recommends plumbing protection, especially if you live in an older home. Philly homeowners are responsible for the pipes that run from their homes to their streets water and sewer mains.

Water line repairs and replacement can be really expensive, and these pipes arent covered by most home insurance policies.

But just because these warranties arent scams doesnt mean theyre for everybody.

Heres what Philly homeowners should consider when it comes to water and sewage line warranties.

In 2021, Sandra Choi Roderick and Matthew Gantz found an 8,000-square-foot, six-bedroom house in Bryn Mawr that they saw as the perfect home to blend their two families, including six kids who are now between the ages of 17 and 23.

The couple modernized the home, which was built in 1981, and completely renovated the solarium and basement.

I love a good solarium or sunroom. This one has windows on every wall and a big skylight. Its got cozy seating and a two-level bar. And the couples children use it as a hangout spot.

Another one is in the basement, where the kids cave is. It features an 80-inch television with surround-sound and a snack and candy bar.

The basement also has some adult treats. A glass-enclosed wine cellar stores the familys large collection of bottles that have special meaning.

Take a peek inside the home, see the special features outside, and learn how the couple turned the home into their blended families retreat.

 Trivia time

North Wildwood was once the largest beach in New Jersey. But its been severely eroded. After a nearly two-year fight with the state, the Shore town will soon get emergency beach replenishment.

Question: To fight erosion, North Wildwood has spent millions of dollars in recent years to import sand from which other Shore town?

A) Wildwood

B) Stone Harbor

C) Cape May

D) Sea Isle City

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.

Shout out to Josh M., Rosemary C., and Lars W. for recognizing that last weeks quiz featured a colorful photo of the roller-skating rink at Dilworth Park.

Lars told me that before the birth of the park, the entire plaza felt foreboding and inhospitable and I always did my best to walk briskly through the plaza to get to my destination or to the subway. How nice the plaza has been replaced with the park! What a difference. So inviting, engaging, and pleasant.

 Your home experience

Last week, I asked whether you have a piece of art in your home that you really love. One reader responded with artwork she created.

Linda H. is a mosaic artist and native of the Oxford Circle neighborhood who just moved from Washington state to Chester County to be near family. She said she plans to put her piece above bookcases in the living area of her home.

Its about putting on masks, but I like the story to be created by the viewer, so I cant say more about it. It will remain a mystery until the next set of eyes glance upon it. I am in love with magic realism, and any weirdly juxtaposed images appeal to me.

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.

This newsletter has been updated to correct the relative size of the increase in apartments set to come to City Avenue in Lower Merion.
Becky Selengut at the University District Farmers Market in Seattle. MUST CREDIT: Eli Lu for The Washington Post Read more

SEATTLE - Misshapen, patchy, and frankly blobby, the celeriac drew Becky Selengut like a gray-green magnet.

The table at the University District Farmers Market was heaped with oriole-orange carrots and slim young leeks, but the chef reached past them to the celery roots scabby skin. Taking two plastic googly eyes kept at hand for such occasions, she pressed them onto the tuber. It suddenly looked like a friendly snowman.

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Its hard to be intimidated by celeriac  or rutabaga, radicchio, eggplant, or okra  when its wiggling googly eyes at you. Youre going to laugh, said Selengut, who began pasting eyes on produce while teaching a Misunderstood Vegetables cooking class and writing a related new cookbook.

Laughing is second nature for Selengut, a tall, sharp, and very funny New Jersey native who inexplicably hated tomatoes in her childhood. Working in fine-dining restaurants after graduating from Seattle Culinary Academy, Selengut was often the only woman on her shifts, a gay woman facing annoying questions about her qualifications from male counterparts. I tried to be one of the guys, and I eventually used humor to get in with these guys, and I ended up loving them like a band of brothers, depending who was there.

She moved on to working as a private chef and teaching, podcasting, and improv comedy and writing cookbooks. In her words, shes made a career from taking the unapproachable and breaking it down for the novice.

For misunderstood vegetables, that means disarming cooks into opening their minds  along with their veggie dips, pot pies, and pasta sauces.

Which vegetables are misunderstood?

In Selenguts years of asking students that question, it means any vegetable they would walk past in the grocery store without ever thinking to buy. At an individual level, that decision depends on students cultures and backgrounds. Mostly. (Nobody understands rutabaga, apparently.)

Other candidates for the misunderstood title are vegetables that people disliked the one time they tried them because they were poorly prepared, or vegetables where only a single preparation comes to mind. (Think tomatillos  most students hit a dead end after salsa.)

Selengut has plenty of practical advice on all those categories: For those who revile beets as metallic dirtballs, for instance, she suggests adding flavors that offset their sweet-soil earthiness. Just like you wouldnt want a margarita that had no lime juice, you have to have that balance, she said.

She pairs beets with acidic ingredients, creaminess, and crunch, as with a brilliant magenta hummus blending roasted beets with tahini, garbanzo beans, and lemon juice, garnished with fragrant, crunchy pistachio dukkah.

Its not always that simple, because food is about context as well as flavor. My misunderstood vegetables may not be yours, Selengut said. Indian students tend to appreciate eggplants, native Italians generally recognize radicchio, because theyre common in those respective cuisines. Textures are an issue for many American cooks; as Fuchsia Dunlop stresses when writing about Chinese food, Western palates typically reject textures that are popular in Chinese dishes. (Dunlop calls out sliminess and slitheriness.)

Slime is a turnoff for many diners trying out okra  but again, context is all. Southerners often know that its mucilaginous texture can benefit stews and gumbos by adding thickness and body, or they know how to cook it in ways that eliminate the goo. Add in its complicated history: Ships carrying enslaved Africans brought okra to America; it is a storied food that cannot be separated from the complex and brutal way it arrived on our shores, Selengut wrote.

Understanding like that begets more understanding, and Selengut started realizing an important corollary: Human empathy and vegetable empathy arent so far apart.

Its human nature to put people in categories, to other them, to say that theyre ugly, to say that they dont know anyone like that or they wouldnt want to know anyone like that, she said.

If a student found nettles horrible and hate-worthy because they were stung by the wild greens on a springtime hike, for instance, Selengut might show them how blanching deactivates the stingers. Theyre the most delicious thing when blended into pesto or mixed with potatoes into a vibrant nettle colcannon, she said. Haters transform into evangelists.

How is that any different, she asked, from someone meeting someone whos gay for the first time and realizing my God, theyre actually funny and theyre lovely and theyre wonderful?

Here are a few common vegetables Selengut singles out as being misunderstood, with her suggestions on how to increase your understanding:

Radicchio

Radicchio, revered in Italy, is typically misunderstood in the United States because it cant typically be munched on its own like romaine lettuce or arugula. It requires some advance preparation, Selengut said, particularly for super tasters who might react to it more negatively.

Yes, its very bitter. So how do you use that bitterness? Selengut said. Think of it like bitters, and what do bitters in a cocktail do? They create depth.

- Radicchio is a member of the chicory family and has several varieties. If youre looking for a milder version, try yellow-green Castelfranco over the more common red Chioggia.

- Fruit or a balsamic glaze helps balance its flavors, as do creamy ingredients.

- Submerge thin ribbons of radicchio in water for 30 minutes to tame its bitterness.

- Grill or roast it to add sweetness and complexity  but dont burn it, which would add more bitter notes!

Eggplant

While some people love eggplant, many others see it as a slug making love to a worm on my dinner plate, Selengut wrote. The slug-seers, to her mind, have fallen victim to improper cooking techniques.

Eggplant to me is the fish of the vegetable world, Selengut mused while at the farmers market. It has a window of perfect doneness. Go too far and it gets snotty, pull back too soon and its cottony-dry.

- Eggplants have such different sizes, varieties, and other variables that its hard to provide cooking times. Look instead for visual signs of doneness  when theyre caramelized, aromatic, tender, and almost wet-looking in the middle without any white or light patches of undercooked flesh.

- Different varieties have somewhat different qualities: Italian eggplants are denser and a bit more flavorful than the larger and more common black globe eggplants, while long and slight Japanese eggplants cook quickly, and small, green Thai eggplants are better cooked lightly.

- Due to their high water content, give eggplants plenty of room as they cook.

- For the same reason, cook them under high enough heat to evaporate moisture quickly so they cook rather than steaming.

Rutabaga

Selengut calls rutabaga the superfood nobody is talking about, perhaps the most ignored and undervalued vegetable in the produce department. Its inexpensive, super-rich in vitamin C and also full of fiber, potassium, and other nutrients.

Look for firm, smooth-skinned roots that feel heavy for their size.

- Use a sharp chefs knife to peel them before use.

- Store for up to two months in cool areas.

- Rutabagas take longer to cook than other root vegetables; bake or boil for 10 minutes separately before adding them to a mixed group.

- Swap them out for some of the potatoes in mashed potatoes or gnocchi for more flavor and nutrition.

Okra

Okra wins the rueful prize as the most misunderstood vegetable of all, to Selenguts eyes  historically, culturally, and culinarily. She gained practical insights into it by learning to use the mucus for good and not evil  and some deeper appreciation by studying its history and speaking with such experts as culinary historian Jessica B. Harris. (Harris herself has called okra the Rodney Dangerfield of vegetables for the lack of respect it gets.)

I can learn to appreciate something culinarily when I learn something historically. Things taste better when I get the context, Selengut said.

- Choose smooth, brightly colored pods with no brown spots.

- Use as soon as possible  dont let the pods get soft or brown.

- Dont wash okra pods until you are ready to use them, and dry them well after washing.

- Most of the commonly recommended methods for reducing okras gelatinous texture  cooking whole, soaking in vinegar, drying overnight  dont have the desired effect. What does work, Selengut says, is cooking with high heat, allowing plenty of air circulation around the pods, and cooking with acidity.

- Looking for an okra substitute? Try cactus paddles.
That is where Im finding that we have to consistently pursue parties to achieve an outcome that is in line with client expectations, he said. Im not surprised that clients are relying on us much more for this process when, as a society, were able to order products online and have them delivered, sometimes the same day.
The growth plan which Charles has outlined and the opportunity to work with such an accomplished and well-respected team is exciting, compelling, and ultimately too good to pass up. I am delighted to join the Canopius Reinsurance Senior team at this formative time for the business and look forward to this exciting new challenge, DeCouto said.
Looking at the growth of the business, Libront affirmed his belief that it is only thanks to its great team of people that the reinsurance brokerage has been able to create and maintain its reputation for ceaselessly seeking out new solutions for placing some of the largest and most difficult reinsurance projects in international markets.
At Ascot, we continue to both recruit and develop top-tier talent who have the specialized expertise to meet the ever-evolving needs of our clients. Erins promotion to lead the US excess casualty team is representative of our commitment to both our employees and our clients, he said.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled that Nationwide Property and Casualty is not obligated to defend its homeowner insureds against a wrongful death claim for emotional and mental distress brought by a mother whose son died from a drug overdose in their home.

The high court reversed a lower court because the Nationwide insurance policy only covers bodily injury and the policy explicitly excludes emotional distress from the definition of bodily injury.

The mother sought damages for emotional and mental distress under Pennsylvanias Wrongful Death Act. She also sought damages in a survival action for her sons pain and suffering prior to his death. Nationwide denied the claims, noting the mother did not suffer a bodily injury and also that the policy contained a controlled substance exclusion.

According to the facts of the case, one night in 2018, the mothers son stayed over at the home of Nationwides insureds with their son, while his parents were away. The next day, first responders discovered her son dead in the home. The coroner determined that his cause of death was the use of heroin, fentanyl, and benzodiazepines.

The mothers lawsuit asserted that the insureds breached a duty of care owed to all invitees by entrusting their son with their home when they knew or should have known that he used and distributed narcotics. She alleged that the insureds son permitted access to and use of controlled substances and that but for their grant of access to the controlled substances her son would not have died. She also maintained that the harm was foreseeable.

The trial court sided with the homeowners over Nationwide, finding that the allegations brought by the mother involve negligence for entrusting the insureds home to their son and alleged breach of duty of care to an invitee, allegations that the court said are distinct from injuries resulting from the use or delivery of controlled substances. The trial court concluded that the negligence claims were not excluded and fell within the policys coverage and thus Nationwide must provide a defense.

Nationwide appealed the trial courts refusal to apply the controlled substances exclusion to the Superior Court. The Superior Court panel also sided with the homeowners, albeit on different grounds.

The Superior Court recognized that Nationwides single ground for appeal emanated from the trial courts refusal to apply the controlled substances exclusion since the decedent was alleged to have died solely from the use of the drugs. However, in framing its analysis, the Superior Court broadly stated the substantive issue was whether Nationwide had a duty to defend the parents in the underlying action.

Regarding the controlled substances liability exclusion, the Superior Court stated that the policy excludes personal liability coverage for bodily injury resulting from the use of controlled substances. The court noted that the policy defines bodily injury as bodily harm, including resulting care, sickness or disease, loss of service or death. It said that Nationwide would have no obligation to pay out for such damages if  the parents are ultimately found liable for them. Correspondingly, Nationwide would then have no duty to defend with respect to those damages under the survival action.

However, when it came to the wrongful death claim, the Superior Court said the policy was not limited to bodily injury and that there was potentially a claim for other types of damages rooted in emotional distress, mental distress or injury, or any similar injury, none of which would be the direct result of bodily harm. Because these types of damages do not fall under the policys bodily injury definition, the Superior Court panel determined that the policys controlled substance exclusion, which excludes coverage for bodily injury resulting from the use of controlled substances, did not apply to those damages.

The Superior Court went on to hold that the controlled substances exclusion applied to the survival action in its entirety and it also excluded the wrongful death action except to damages for emotional and mental distress. For those damages, Nationwide still had a duty to its insureds. Nationwide again appealed.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Middle District, took the appeal on whether the Superior Court incorrectly ruled that emotional distress damages are covered under an insurance policy providing liability coverage only for bodily injury, where the policy explicitly excludes emotional distress from the definition of bodily injury.

The Supreme Court reversed the Superior Court and sided with Nationwide.

The Superior Court had based its conclusion that Nationwide had a duty to defend on the wrongful death claim for emotional and mental distress it found embedded in the wrongful death action. According to the Supreme Court, the Superior Court erred in its determination that Nationwide was potentially required to pay out for the mothers emotional and mental distress damages in the wrongful death action even though it recognized that she did not suffer a bodily injury. That conclusion by the Superior Court was contrary to the unambiguous provisions of the policy and erroneous as a matter of law because emotional and mental distress is not a bodily injury. The court noted that the insurance policy explicitly excludes emotional distress from the definition of bodily injury.

A bodily injury, by definition under the policy, does not include emotional distress or similar injury unless the direct result of bodily harm, the high court declared.

The high court said the Superior Courts erroneous theory was contingent upon its preliminary holding that the controlled substances exclusion applied to the damages sought for the sons overdose death.

Attorney John Ewell, with Cozen OConnor, wrote recently that some jurisdictions consider the Insurance Services Office (ISO)-form definition of bodily injury to be ambiguous and this has prompted many insurers to expressly require a physical component.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court accepted solely for the limited purposes of its analysis that damages for emotional and mental injuries are recoverable in a wrongful death action. However, the Supreme Court noted that it has never addressed whether mental and emotional distress injuries to surviving family members are compensable under the states current wrongful death act and it did not going do so in this ruling.

Topics Liability Pennsylvania
The city of Newark is asking a federal court to dismiss negligence and wrongful death claims against it by the families of two firefighters who died last July while battling a fire on a cargo ship,

The city maintains that the families claims should be handled under workers compensation, not under maritime or tort law.

The two Newark Fire Department captains, Augusto Acabou and Wayne Brooks, died while fighting a fire on the Italian cargo ship Grande Costa dAvorio in Port Newark.

The firefighters families have sued the ship owner and operator Grimaldi Deep Sea, the firms loading automobiles onto the ship, the port authorities of New York and New Jersey, and others, as well as the city of Newark and its fire department. Their suit alleging negligence and wrongful death seeks $50 million in damages and a jury trial.

The families accuse the city and fire officials of being negligent, careless and reckless in their operation, maintenance and control of the fire department in failing to properly train and equip firefighters to suppress fires on board ocean-going ships. They also maintain that the ship was unreasonably dangerous and unseaworthy.

Grimaldi Deep Sea is seeking to be exonerated or have its liability limited in accordance with federal maritime law. It claims the fire was not its fault. The families argue that the owner knew that the ship was unseaworthy and thus does not qualify for protection under the federal maritime law.

Two New Jersey Firefighters Died Battling Fire on Cargo Ship Carrying 5,000 Cars

The city, a third party defendant in the families lawsuit, is also looking to limit its liability by insisting that the deaths of the firefighters who were employees of the city be covered under the fire departments workers compensation.

[I]t is the Citys position that workers compensation is the sole legal remedy as and against the City because the Plaintiffs decedents were firefighters who died in the line-of-duty. These firefighters were not engaged in a maritime trade. They were not members of the ships crew, or stevedores, or longshoremen. Their response to this ship fire was only a de minimis connection to maritime activity, Gary S. Lipshutz, assistant counsel for the city of Newark law department, wrote in a letter summarizing Newarks position that was filed with the federal district court on April 30.

Mayday Call From Burning Cargo Ship Prompted Doomed Rescue Effort

The city argues that while lawsuits for workplace injuries and deaths may be allowed where there is intentional wrongdoing by the employer, there is nothing in the complaint to suggest that the city knew that the firefighters were substantially certain to suffer injury or death in fighting this fire. The city cites a 2001 court ruling involving a Newark firefighters death that upheld the workers compensation bar despite allegations of a lack of specialized training similar to those asserted by the Brooks and Acabou families.

According to the city, there is also no meaningful conflict between maritime law and New Jerseys workers compensation law.

Families Blame Faulty Vehicle for Ship Fire That Killed Two New Jersey Firefighters

In other words, there is no preemption of the Workers Compensation Act, the citys letter states.

As part of the investigation into the tragedy, the Coast Guard, in conjunction with the National Transportation Safety Board, held public hearings beginning in January and ending in March. A final report has not yet been issued.

However, an investigation by NJ Advance Media based on interviews, incident reports and radio communications has raised questions about the fire departments ability to handle a major emergency on the waterfront. It concluded that the states largest city was unprepared to fight a major fire at one of the nations largest ports.

The families of the two firefighters have claimed that the fire was caused by a malfunctioning vehicle used to load cargo onto the ship. It took almost a week to extinguish the fire completely.

Firefighters said they found five to seven vehicles already on fire when they reached the 10th floor of the cargo ship. They were unable to find their colleagues Brooks and Acabou right away. When rescuers found them, they were already dead, according to the fire chief.

Photo: In this image taken from video, smoke rises from a cargo ship early Thursday, July 6, 2023, in the port of Newark, New Jersey. Two firefighters were killed battling the blaze that began when cars caught fire deep inside the ship carrying 5,000 cars at the port, Newarks fire chief said. (WABC-TV via AP)

Topics Workers' Compensation Talent Trucking New Jersey
Executive Summary: With instances of violent unrest rising across the globe in recent years, property all-risk insurance programs bore significant losses. One reason is that sublimits for strikes, riots and civil commotion included on the programs were occurrence sublimits. The programs did not have an aggregate limit that would have prevented the sublimits from simply reinstating each time they were exhausted, observes Aspen Crisis Management Underwriter George Barratt.

Here, he also calls attention to the circumstances giving rise to elevated SRCC risks.

Senior insurance and reinsurance leaders are increasingly concerned about the aggregation risks associated with strikes, riots and civil commotion (SRCC)a growing threat in countries across the globe.

Over the past five years, there have been many instances of violent unrest across the globe, such as Chile and Hong Kong in 2019; the United States in 2020; South Africa in 2021; Ecuador and Peru in 2022; France in 2023. And there is a risk that there could be more violence ahead given the fact that there will be 76 elections in countries across the globe this year, which need to be considered by insurers as well as political leaders.

The vastness, severity and increasing frequency of these SRCC events focused attention on the next potential site of unrest. SRCC now ranks among insureds top concerns when considering their global exposures.

Global Election Super-Cycle Raises Risk of Political Violence, Large Insurance Losses

During last years Rendez-Vous de Septembre in Monte Carlo, a critical topic of discussion was on aggregation risks associated with SRCC events. C-suite leaders attending voiced concerns over its increasing frequency and intensity, as well as discussed whether SRCC coverage should be placed solely within the specialist, standalone war, terrorism and political violence market, as opposed to still being offered within property all-risk programs.

Recent evidence of property all-risk programs bearing the brunt of SRCC occurrences can be found in both the Chile 2019 unrest as well as the 2020 unrest in the US, where SRCC coverage was provided as a sublimit/extension to the broader property coverage on an unaggregated basis.

With the wording and time element associated with the coverage proving crucial, insurers and reinsurers found that the 72-hours occurrence provision for this coverage kept reinstating and offering unlimited sideways cover. Considering that both events lasted multiple months, the final claims costs were significantly higher than if the coverage had been provided on an aggregated basis, ensuring tighter controls needed to be made on potential accumulation across multiple policies with exposure in the affected territory.

A similar picture emerged after the France riots in the summer of 2023, raising the following questions:

Should SRCC coverage remain covered within property all-risk programs? Are they being appropriately aggregated? Should they be placed within the specialist war, terrorism and political violence market that focuses solely on these risk events and aggregates the associated perils?

The continued geographical spread and scale of mass protests has been seen more recently in the form of pro-Palestine protests in cities across the globe. London, in particular, has had protests the size of which havent been seen since the war in Iraq. These protests serve as a reminder of the ability of local populations to swiftly mobilize en masse behind a common cause or grievance.

Following such examples of violent unrest within the past five years, there is a responsibility on the insurance community to adequately plan and prepare for the rising intensity and frequency of SRCC events. Further, it is critical that this coverage not only sits within the specialist market but is aggregated appropriately to ensure that re/insurers are not caught off guard.

There is a responsibility on the insurance community to adequately plan and prepare for the rising intensity and frequency of SRCC events. Further, it is critical that this coverage not only sits within the specialist market but is aggregated appropriately.

To understand why SRCC events are becoming a more common and destructive occurrence, a review of the motivating factors behind them is required. Spotting these markers in advance can prove to be a useful bellwether as to whether unrest in a given territory is likely to occur.

For example, understanding common grievances among local populations and the use of social media in proliferating the size and scale of protests and unrest can provide a useful guide to spotting potential future SRCC events. A discussion of these two factors follows here.

Shared Grievances

Longstanding social pressures have played a central role behind local populations resorting to violent unrest in recent years. Inequality, poverty, unemployment, corruption, police brutality, state/government overreach and the high cost of living have either individually or collectively played a part in the uptick of SRCC incidents.

Territories that recently experienced violent unrest have typically been a tinderbox filled with underlying social grievances that only required one decision or action to provide the necessary spark to ignite those collective underlying frustrations.

Chile in 2019 saw unrest initially over a rate hike in metro fares before dissatisfaction over the general cost of living and inequality in Chilean society took hold, leading to three months of widespread looting and property damage.

Police brutality and excessive use of force in the US (2020) and France (2023) were the catalysts that resulted in some of the worst levels of unrest and damage the two nations have experienced in recent memory.

In South Africa, the imprisonment of former President Jacob Zuma for contempt of court led to initial unrest in Zumas home province of KwaZula-Natal (KZN) in 2021. However, the situation rapidly deteriorated when opportunists, wracked by extreme poverty and unemployment exacerbated by both the pandemic and continued government corruption, seized the opportunity with widespread looting in KZN and Gauteng across eight violent days that shook the territory to its core.

As the unrest finally subsided and order was restored by security forces following each of these episodes, industrywide estimated SRCC losses for Chile and South Africa were each $3 billion, $2.7 billion for the US, and $778 million for France.

Social Media

The power of social media as a tool for information sharing, as well as its utilization in mobilizing popular protests movements, was first championed during the Arab Spring in 2011 to a powerful effect. It continues to remain a formidable force, in not just the mobilization of local populations during unrest but in the sharing of incendiary images and videos of injustices carried out by local security forces that often foment the unrest in the first instance.

For evidence of the power and influence of social media in inducing recent unrest, one only needs to look to the events in the US in 2020 and France in 2023. The murder of George Floyd by a police officer on the street in Minneapolis and the shooting of Nahel M in Paris during a traffic stop, also by a police officer, were both captured by bystanders on camera before being disseminated online within minutes.

In both nations, where distrust of local law enforcement and evidence of police brutality is regarded by many citizens as commonplace, the sharing of such violent and distressing images has led to nationwide unrest.

In the age of smartphones, ordinary citizens can easily document and share images and videos on social media of perceived or indisputable injustices that stoke dissent among local populations as well as organize timings and locations for protests to take place. In the years ahead, social media can expect to continue to play as powerful a role as it did in both the US and France.

Preparing for Possible SRCC Events

Both South Africa and the US are holding elections in 2024.

In South Africa, polls currently predict that the ruling ANC vote share will drop below 50% for the first time since they came to power in 1994. With the strong possibility of a coalition government approaching, the country is potentially heading for new, unchartered waters.

As for the US, there is a genuine prospect of a second Trump term as he looks likely to be the Republicans presumptive nominee. With the violent assault on the Capitol that culminated the end of his first term still etched in the collective psyche of many Americans, it is understandable that there is concern of potential repeat violence should Trump again be on the ballot.

With more than half the global population4.2 billion peoplevoting in 76 elections in 2024, the risk of further SRCC events in the build-up or aftermath is another point of consideration for those with interests in the territories involved. It is timely that questions are increasingly asked as to whether adequate coverage is in place to protect an insureds interests against potential unrest in the near future.

This article first was published in Insurance Journals sister publication, Carrier Management.

Related:

Topics Underwriting
A Portuguese-flagged container ship came under attack by a drone in the far reaches of the Arabian Sea, corresponding with a claim by Yemens Houthi rebels that they assaulted the ship there, authorities said Tuesday.

The attack on the MSC Orion, occurring some 600 kilometers (375 miles) off the coast of Yemen, appeared to be the first confirmed deep-sea assault claimed by the Houthis since they began targeting ships in November. It suggests the Houthis  or potentially their main benefactor Iran  may have the ability to strike into the distances of the Indian Ocean as the rebels previously threatened in their ongoing campaign over Israels war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The attack happened last Friday, according to the Joint Maritime Information Center, which operates as part of the U.S.-led Combined Maritime Forces in the Mideast. After the attack, the crew discovered debris apparently from a drone on board, the center said.

Yemens Houthis Attack Four Ships in Indian Ocean, Red Sea

The ship sustained only minor damage and all crew on board are safe, the center said. Ship-tracking satellite data analyzed by The Associated Press put the container ship, bound for Salalah, Oman, in the area of the attack on Saturday.

The MSC Orion has been associated with London-based Zodiac Maritime, which is part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofers Zodiac Group. It was operating on behalf of the Mediterranean Shipping Co., a Naples, Italy-based firm. Zodiac referred questions to MSC, which did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

The Joint Maritime Information Center assesses that MSC Orion was likely targeted due to (its) perceived Israeli affiliation, the center said in a report.

Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a military spokesman for Yemens Houthi rebels, claimed the attack on the Orion early Tuesday. He did not explain why it took the rebels days to acknowledge the attack.

The attack immediately raised questions about how the Houthis could have carried out an assault hundreds of kilometers (miles) from the shores of Yemen on a moving target. Their primary area of attack so far has been in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait that connect the two waterways key for international trade. Those are close to Yemens shoreline  unlike the site of the MSC Orion attack.

The Houthis are not known to operate an expeditionary naval fleet, nor do they have access to satellites or other sophisticated means of controlling long-distance drones.

Iran, which has been supplying the Shiite rebels in their yearslong war in Yemen, has been assessed by the West and experts to have been behind at least one complex attack claimed by the Houthis  the 2019 attack on Saudi Arabias oil fields that temporarily halved the kingdoms energy production. Iran also routinely operates military vessels in the Arabian Sea and just seized the Portuguese-flagged MSC Aries and its crew just before its unprecedented drone-and-missile attack on Israel on April 13.

Iranian state media uniformly reported the Houthis claim of carrying out the attack on the Orion. Irans mission to the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment.

The Houthis say their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden are aimed at pressuring Israel to end its war against Hamas in Gaza, which has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians there. The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking some 250 others hostage.

The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping, seized one vessel and sunk another since November, according to the U.S. Maritime Administration. Shipping through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden has declined because of the threat.

Ship Sunk by Houthis Threatens Red Sea Environment, Yemen Govt, US Military Say

Houthi attacks had dropped in recent weeks as the rebels were targeted by a U.S.-led airstrike campaign in Yemen.

Buy the rebels have renewed their attacks in the past week. On Tuesday, the rebels released footage of their drone attack on the Cyclades, a Malta-flagged, Greece-owned bulk carrier, the day before. The footage appeared to show a Samad-style bomb-carrying drone with two new antennae, a type believed to have been supplied to the Houthis by Iran, being used in the attack. The Houthis called it a Shihab drone, a new name for their drone fleet.

The Houthis on Saturday also claimed they shot down another of the U.S. militarys MQ-9 Reaper drones, airing footage of parts that corresponded to known pieces of the unmanned aircraft. The U.S. military acknowledged the drone crashed, but said an investigation was ongoing.

The U.S. militarys Central Command separately said it destroyed a Houthi drone boat on Tuesday.

Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Acrisure, the Grand Rapids, Michigan-based insurance broker and fintech specialist, announced it has acquired Scottish insurance broker, WH&R McCartney.

Based in Motherwell and led by Graeme Robb and Alan Kirkwood, WH&R McCartney is a general commercial SME insurance broker operating since 1932.

Yvonne McKnight, Acrisure managing partner, will join the board of WH&R McCartney whilst continuing to run Glasgow-based Affinity Brokers Ltd., which, in 2023, was Acrisures first acquisition in Scotland.

Robb and Kirkwood will both play key roles in the new management team. Both of WH&R McCartneys offices in Glasgow and Motherwell will continue to trade with all existing staff remaining in place.

Scott Meechan, founder and managing director of Affinity, will focus on the growth of Affinitys embedded insurance offering, which enables customers to purchase coverage at the point of sale, in-store and online.

Establishing a Scottish platform has been a priority for Affinity following their acquisition in early 2023. While they continue to demonstrate their commitment to Scotland and to the strong expertise that exists in the country, Affinity have realised the value of being a part of a global organisation and the resources this provides, commented Mark McIlquham, president of Acrisure UK Retail.

With a strong track record in the Scottish market, the acquisition of WH&R McCartney represents the formation of Acrisures Scotland platform and marks the beginning of our growth strategy in this region, McIlquham added.

Robb, director at WH&R McCartney, said: This partnership is an exciting step for WH&R McCartney. Acrisures global reach and outstanding reputation combined with Affinitys and our own local market knowledge will allow us to become the Scottish broker of choice for clients of any shape and size.

In the last nine years, Acrisure has grown in revenue from $38 million to more than $4 billion and now employs over 17,000 colleagues in 22 countries.

Source: Acrisure

Topics Mergers & Acquisitions Agencies
This edition of International People Moves details appointments at global specialty re/insurers Canopius and MS Amlin.

A summary of these new hires follows here.

Canopius Hires CUO and CFO in Bermuda From Validus and AXA XL

Canopius, the global specialty re/insurer, announced it has strengthened its senior leadership team in Bermuda with the appointment of Jesse DeCouto as chief underwriting officer and Tonia Morgan as chief financial Officer of Canopius Reinsurance Ltd.

Morgan takes up her new role on July 1, succeeding Teresa Gallant, while DeCouto joins on Sept. 1, in a newly created role.

DeCouto joins the business as chief underwriting officer in Bermuda. Starting his career as a pricing actuary in 2000, he brings nearly 25 years of experience in the industry and was most recently global chief underwriting officer for Validus Reinsurance. DeCouto will also serve as Canopius global product leader for Reinsurance, overseeing the governance, performance and standards of reinsurance underwriting teams across the business.

Morgan brings over two decades of finance experience in the global reinsurance industry. She joins Canopius from AXA XL, where she was CFO of Bermuda Reinsurance. Morgans strong technical knowledge of US GAAP, the Bermuda regulatory environment, insurance linked securities, and re/insurance makes her perfectly suited to this role.

These are the latest in a series of senior hires at Canopius Reinsurance. Charles Cooper joined the business as CEO and global head of Reinsurance in September 2023, with the initial goal of developing the reinsurers Bermuda platform to expand its reach and scope in the market. As part of this, Brenton Slade joined as head of ILS in November. The business is now expanding the team with key hires with the depth of experience to execute its strategy and help build meaningful capacity among a targeted group of customers.

Both DeCouto and Morgan will report to Charles Cooper, CEO, Canopius Reinsurance Ltd. and Global Head of Reinsurance.

London-based Canopius has underwriting operations in Australia, Bermuda, Singapore, the UK and 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.

***

MS Amlin Taps HDIs Healy as Head of Property & Crisis Management Claims

MS Amlin, the global Lloyds re/insurer, announced the appointment of Catherine Healy as head of Property & Crisis Management Claims.

Healy will be responsible for the management and oversight of claims for commercial property, property binders, transportation, crisis management. A member of MS Amlins claims leadership team, she will be based in London and report to Clare Constable, chief claims officer.

With more than two decades of Lloyds and London market experience, Healy has a strong track-record of managing delegated authority accounts and complex claims in several jurisdictions, including the UK, North America, South America, Europe and Australia. She has experience across multiple lines of business including property, casualty, crisis response and accident & health.

Healy joins from HDI Global Specialty, where she was delegated authority claims manager responsible for the delegated authority claims portfolio which included property, casualty, cyber, and A&H.

Prior to this, she was claims manager for Specialty Programs at Brit Global Speciality before joining Accelerant Insurance Ltd. in 2019 where she was a claims manager for property and liability accounts.

MS Amlin Underwriting Ltd. is part of the global insurance group MS&AD, with operations in the Lloyds of London, Middle East and Asia markets.

Topics Claims Property Mississippi AXA XL
WESTMORELAND, Kan. (AP)  One person died Tuesday when a tornado ripped through the small city of Westmoreland in northeastern Kansas, destroying houses, RVs and outbuildings, authorities said.

Pottawatomie County officials said on Facebook that a tornado struck the city of about 700 people Tuesday evening, destroying 22 homes, three RVs and five outbuildings and damaging another 13 homes and one commercial building. First responders were conducting grid searches in Westmoreland to survey damage and to look for people who may have been injured.

A Pottawatomie County spokesperson confirmed the single fatality in a news release sent to media. The name of the person who died was being withheld pending family notification.

Three people also were reported injured, but none of them were critical, the county spokesperson said in a follow-up statement.

Westmoreland is about 45 miles (72 kilometers) northwest of Topeka and is the Pottawatomie County seat.

Images posted to social media showed a tornado on the ground in Westmoreland, as well as damaged homes, uprooted trees and a flipped semi.

The county spokesperson said the entire city was without power Tuesday night and county offices were running on emergency generators. The Red Cross set up a shelter at the local high school about 6 miles (10 kilometers) from town.

Tuesdays storms came just two days after tornadoes tore through Oklahoma on Sunday, killing four people and injuring at least 100. On Friday, tornadoes twisted through Nebraska and Iowa, demolishing homes and businesses and leaving one person dead.

Photo: A formation of Mammatus clouds fills the sky over Wichita on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. Mammatus clouds usually form on the back side of severe thunderstorms. The sculpture is the 44-foot-tall Keeper of the Plains, by Blackbear Bosin. (Travis Heying/The Wichita Eagle via AP)

Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Windstorm Kansas
The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday took the unusual step of striking down a 2022 voter-approved constitutional amendment that required Kansas City to spend a larger percentage of its money on the police department, and ordered that the issue go back before voters in November.

The ruling overturns a ballot measure approved by 63% of voters in November 2022. It required the city to spend 25% of general revenue on police, up from the previous 20% requirement.

Democratic Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas filed suit in 2023, alleging that voters were misled because the ballot language used false financial estimates in the fiscal note summary.

The lawsuit stated that Kansas City leaders had informed state officials prior to the November 2022 election that the ballot measure would cost the city nearly $39 million and require cuts in other services. But the fiscal note summary stated that local governmental entities estimate no additional costs or savings related to this proposal.

State Supreme Court Judge Paul C. Wilson wrote that the ruling wasnt about whether Kansas City adequately funds its police.

Instead, the only issue in this case is whether the auditors fiscal note summary  the very last thing each and every voter saw before voting yes or no on Amendment No. 4  fairly and accurately summarized the auditors fiscal note , Wilson wrote. This Court concludes it did not and, therefore, orders a new election on this question to be conducted as part of the statewide general election on November 5, 2024.

Lucas responded on X by stating that the court sided with what is fair and just: the people of Kansas Citys voices should not be ignored in conversations about our own safety,. This is an important decision standing up for the rights of cities and their people.

Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, who is running for governor, wrote on X that while Lucas went to Court to defund the police, I will never stop fighting to ensure the KC police are funded.

Former Missouri Supreme Court Judge Michael Wolff said the ruling was unusual. But Wolff said that state statutes have no provisions allowing interested parties to see the wording of the fiscal note summary prior to an election.

The only time you can do it is in a post-election challenge, Wolff said. So either you have no remedy at all or you have the remedy that the court gave them.

Kansas City is the only city in Missouri  and one of the largest cities in the U.S. - that does not have local control of its police department. Instead, a state board oversees the departments operations, including its budget.

State lawmakers passed a law earlier in 2022 to require the budget increase but feared it would violate the state constitutions unfunded mandate provision. The ballot measure was meant to resolve any potential conflict.

Republican leaders and Kansas City officials have sparred over police funding in recent years. In 2021, Lucas and other city leaders unsuccessfully sought to divert a portion of the police departments budget to social service and crime prevention programs. GOP lawmakers in Jefferson City said the effort was a move to defund the police in a city with a high rate of violent crime.

Kansas City leaders maintained that raising the percentage of funding for police wouldnt improve public safety. In 2023, the year after the amendment passed, Kansas City had a record number of homicides.

Photo: Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas in 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Mergers & Acquisitions Trends Law Enforcement Kansas Missouri
Data analytics firm Verisk beat estimates for first-quarter profit on Wednesday, driven by strong demand for its products used by property and casualty (P&C) insurers to assess underwriting risks.

WHY ITS IMPORTANT

P&C insurers earnings have been hit by higher catastrophe losses in recent years due to extreme weather events around the world, prompting them to spend more on analytics that help determine policy risks.

Global insured losses from natural catastrophes in the first quarter were estimated to be $20 billion, heavily driven by storm activity in the United States, according to a report by reinsurance broker Gallagher Re.

CONTEXT

Verisk now caters primarily to the insurance industry after divesting its specialized markets and financial services businesses in March 2022 and April 2022, respectively.

Catastrophe risk modeling offered by the company assesses the likelihood and severity of loss from both natural catastrophes such as earthquakes, hurricanes and floods, as well as man-made disasters globally.

BY THE NUMBERS

On an adjusted basis, Verisk earned $1.63 per share in the first quarter, beating analysts estimates of $1.53, according to LSEG data.

The companys consolidated revenue rose 8% to $704 million.

Underwriting revenue increased 8.2%, while claims revenue climbed 7.6% on a reported basis.

MARKET REACTION

The analytics providers shares rose 5% in light premarket trading. The stock has fallen nearly 9% so far this year, underperforming a 5.6% gain in the benchmark S&P 500 index .SPX.

Topics Profit Loss
Private flood insurer Neptune Flood reported it has acquired Charles River Data, a Boston-based data science consulting group. According to Neptune, the strategic move will bolster its underwriting system through advanced data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence capabilities.

Charles River Data was founded by data scientists from Google and BCG GAMMA to offer custom data science solutions on a project-level or ongoing basis. Its team members have worked on geo-analytics, financial modeling, statistical and causal analysis, image recognition, natural language processing, personalized marketing, optimization and other machine learning tools.

This acquisition aligns perfectly with our commitment to leveraging the best technology to revolutionize insurance, said Trevor Burgess, CEO of Neptune Flood.

Mike Dezube, CEO of Charles River Data, spent eight years as a data scientist at Google before co-founding Charles River Data with Gleb Drobkov, most recently a consultant at BCG X. Dezube will join as Neptunes chief data science officer and Drobkov as Neptunes chief strategy officer.

Our expertise in data science aligns seamlessly with Neptunes vision of accuracy and efficiency in underwriting flood risk, and together, we will bring the industry forward setting new standards as we go, Dezube said.

Florida-based Neptune, one of the largest digital-based flood insurance companies in the U.S., is an alternative to the federal governments National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Neptune offers private flood insurance for residential, commercial, and condominium properties throughout the country. Its on-demand platform allows agents and customers to quote and bind a policy in minutes.

In October 2021, Neptune acquired Jumpstart, a parametric insurance company, adding parametric earthquake to its portfolio.

Last October, the firm boasted of surpassing $200 million of premium in force, bringing it to more than 5% of the NFIPs size.

Topics Mergers & Acquisitions InsurTech Flood Data Driven Artificial Intelligence
American International Group Inc. (AIG) reported profit above analysts estimates in the first quarter as lower-than-expected catastrophe losses contributed to strong underwriting results.

Adjusted earnings for the quarter were $1.2 billion, or $1.77 a share, up from $1.63 a share in the same period a year earlier, the New York-based company said in a statement Wednesday. The average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was $1.67.

The general insurance unit reported an underwriting profit of $596 million, a 19% year-over-year increase. Catastrophe-related charges were $106 million, about half what analysts expected.

Underwriting profit increased 67% after accounting for the sale of two subsidiaries, the company said.

General Insurance had another quarter of impressive commercial lines profitability benefiting from continued strong underwriting performance and low levels of catastrophe losses as we continue to manage volatility in our results, Chief Executive Officer Peter Zaffino said in the statement.

The unit had a combined ratio of 89.8, meaning the business spent about 90 cents covering losses for every premium dollar brought in. Analysts expected a ratio of 91.3. Net premiums written for general insurance were $4.5 billion, shy of the $4.9 billion average estimate.

The life and retirement unit had adjusted pretax income of $991 million, up 12% from the year-ago quarter. Reducing AIGs stake in the Corebridge life and retirement business, which the company is in the process of spinning off, remains a top priority in 2024, Zaffino said in the release.

The company bought back $1.7 billion of common shares in the quarter. The board of directors on Tuesday authorized a dividend of $0.40 per common share, an 11% increase from previous quarterly payments, according to the statement.

The companys shares rose 2.4% to $77.65 at 4:22 p.m. in late New York trading. They were up 12% year-to-date as of the close of regular trading.

Copyright 2024 Bloomberg.

Topics Catastrophe Profit Loss AIG
From the Rio Grande to the Outer Banks, sea levels are rising faster than most other parts of the world, blocking the outflow of rivers and streams and causing inland flooding that would not have been seen just a few years ago.

Thats the conclusion of an analysis by The Washington Post and a University of South Alabama professor, published last week. The study found that flooding in many low-lying areas across the coastal Southeastern U.S. will worsen as seas rise. But it pointed out that it doesnt take record-breaking rain events to flood large areas  even relatively moderate rainfall has nowhere to go when higher seas and unusually high tides are present.

Higher seas are now turbocharging flash floods, damaging homes, autos and businesses and human lives, the newspaper reported.

The authors looked at data from the National Weather Service, combined with tide gauges and satellite data, to show that sea levels along the Southeast coast, including the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic coasts, have risen at twice the global rate. In some areas, ocean levels have risen three to four times faster in the last 13 years than they had in the previous 30.

In Dauphin Island, Alabama, on the Gulf, the water rose about a tenth of an inch per year from 1967 to 2009. Since 2010, the seas have climbed almost 7 inches, or almost half an inch per year, the analysis showed. A 2023 flood in nearby Fowl River showed how a modest rain event collided with higher Gulf waters, spreading out into residential neighborhoods and causing heavy flooding.

Scientists are not certain why the coastal region is seeing faster ocean rise than other regions. But some have theorized that ocean currents are moving warmer water deep into the Gulf. Warm water expands, causing seas to climb.

The report was published one day before the Alabama Department of Insurance urged residents to purchase flood insurance before another flood event strikes.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency says just an inch of water can cause more than $25,000 worth of damage. Without a flood policy, you would have to pay for repairs and replacements on your own, the department noted.

FEMAs flood cost tool shows estimated damage as waters rise. At 48 inches, less than what some Fowl River residents experienced last summer, damage to a home can top $103,000.

Photo: Floodwaters after a thunderstorm on April 10, 2024, in New Orleans. (Chris Granger/The New Orleans Advocate via AP)

Topics Flood Alabama
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP)  Florida, perhaps the most vulnerable state to sea-level rise and extreme weather, is on the verge of repealing whats left of a 16-year-old law that lists climate change as a priority when making energy policy decisions. Instead, the state would make energy affordability and availability its main focus.

A bill waiting to be signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis would strip the term climate change from much of state law and reverse a policy then-Gov. Charlie Crist championed as he built a reputation for being a rare Republican fighting to promote green energy over fossil fuels.

While Florida is distinct for having an enormous coastline and being flat  Miamis average elevation is roughly 6 to 7 feet (2 meters) above sea level  the chairman of House Infrastructure Strategies Committee said it also has unique challenges and the climate change language in law makes meeting them more difficult.

Were protecting consumers, were protecting consumer pricing, were protecting them with great reliability and were protecting to make sure we dont have a lack of energy security in our state. Thats where were moving as far as our policies, said Republican Rep. Bobby Payne.

But critics say now is not the time to go backwards when it comes to climate change policy, including Crist, who is now a Democrat who last served in the U.S. House.

Its disappointing to see a continuing lurch in the wrong direction, particularly when Florida, with our coastline, is probably the most vulnerable to rising sea levels, I mean if we dont address it, whos going to? Crist said. It breaks my heart.

In 2008, the bill to address climate change and promote renewable energy passed unanimously in both legislative chambers. Crist signed the bill with fanfare at an international climate change conference he hosted with guests such as then-California Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

But Payne said the Crist-era law makes it more difficult for the state to be more flexible in meeting its energy needs.

When he invited Arnold Schwarzenegger to Miami for the environmental summit, that was a good indication that his ideologies collide with the publics from the perspective of reliability and cost, Payne said.

After Crist left office in 2011, Gov. Rick Scott, now a U.S. senator, gutted much of what Crist enacted. This years bill repeals whats left of it. The bill passed the Legislature with Republican support and Democratic opposition. It was sent to DeSantis on Friday and he has until May 15 to take action. His office didnt respond to multiple emails asking his position on it.

Payne, who spent nearly four decades in the power industry before retiring, said he isnt convinced that humanitys energy consumption is destroying the planet. He also notes three-quarters of the states energy is provided by natural gas, leaving it vulnerable to market fluctuations.

The enormous energy legislation he shepherded through the Legislature prevents local governments from enacting some energy policy restrictions and de-emphasizes clean energy by banning wind energy turbines or facilities off or within a mile (less than 2 kilometers) of the coast.

It eliminates requirements that government agencies hold conferences and meetings in hotels certified by the states environmental agency as green lodging and that government agencies make fuel efficiency the top priority in buying new vehicles.

Brooke Alexander-Gross of Sierra Clubs Florida chapter said that stripping climate change from state law wont make the problem go away, but she isnt optimistic that DeSantis will veto the bill.

Having that language there really encourages a lot of people to take a look at what climate change actually is and its disappointing to see a governor in a state like ours strip that language, which is really just a way for him and his administration to ignore everything thats going on, she said.

Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Florida Climate Change
Kent Bo Fridolfsson, 67, of Benicia, California, pleaded guilty to six charges of insurance fraud and grand theft after a joint investigation with the California Department of Insurance, Solano County District Attorneys Office and the Employment Development Department reportedly revealed he underreported payroll by nearly $1 million to save on workers compensation insurance and taxes.

Fridolfsson was placed on formal probation, ordered to pay more than $725,000 in restitution, and ordered to surrender his contractors license.

The joint investigation began after one of Fridolfssons employees reportedly sustained a work-related injury and contacted State Compensation Insurance Fund, which provided insurance coverage to Fridolfssons business. Fridolfsson was the former president and owner of the construction company Diversified Specialists and had been a licensed contractor in California since 1986.

Fridolfsson had insurance coverage with State Fund from 2010 to 2021 and was required to report payroll during each policy period. From 2010 to 2019, Fridolfsson reported zero payroll to State Fund. In January 2019, one of his employees contacted State Fund after sustaining a work-related injury. After being contacted by State Fund, the Contractors State License Board conducted a site inspection of Fridolfssons business and interviewed a number of his employees.

The joint investigation reportedly found that Fridolfsson underreported his payroll by $989,823. The failure to report employee payroll resulted in the illegal reduction of workers comp insurance premiums, leading to roughly $382,104 in premium owed to State Fund. The underreported payroll also resulted in an unpaid payroll tax to EDD of roughly $347,520.

Fridolfsson was convicted on April 5. The case was prosecuted by the Solano County District Attorneys Office.

Topics California Fraud Contractors
The Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI), represented by the Sharjah Exports Development Centre (SEDC), will embark on a trade mission to India on May 5, as part of its commitment to support and facilitate the exploration of investment opportunities available for both sides, a report said.

The mission, scheduled from May 5-10, will look for prospects for promoting cooperation and coordination between the business communities of Sharjah and India, to increase momentum in fostering communication between investors in both countries and boost Sharjahs industrial and commercial exports, Emirates News Agency, WAM, said.

Abdullah Sultan Al Owais, Chairman of SCCI, will lead the delegation, which will be accompanied by several officials from the chamber, including Waleed Abdul Rahman Bukhatir, Second Vice Chairman of the SCCIs Board of Directors, and Ziyad Mohmoud Khairalla, Board Member and Honorary Treasurer at the SCCI among others.

The missions agenda is packed with a series of meetings with entrepreneurs and businessmen in both Chennai and Mumbai, in addition to site visits to key establishments and companies representing the local business community.

The delegation will also organise business forums and symposiums that will bring together investors, officials, and business leaders from various chambers of commerce and industry.

Al Shamsi stressed that the chamber's trade mission to India underscores its commitment to boosting the economic and commercial relations between Sharjah and the South Asian country.

The chamber also seeks to showcase the diverse opportunities that continually encourage Indian companies to invest in the emirate, including the facilitations and supportive governmental initiatives the SCCI offers for foreign investors, and its capacity to connect the business community in Sharjah with its Indian counterpart, he added.

Al Muhairi affirmed that Sharjah and India's strong economic partnership is an important example of beneficial and productive cooperation.

He added that the economic and trade collaboration between the two sides is witnessing significant growth, which can be attributed to the trade missions spearheaded by the chamber through the centre. This highlights the chambers commitment to enhancing its cooperation and building sustainable partnerships with the Indian business community.

The SCCI incorporates the Indian Business and Professional Council with an estimated 18,500 Indian companies currently operating in the emirate, according to its members, reflecting the ongoing efforts of Sharjahs business sectors to attract new Indian investments.
New Mexico labor announced a legal settlement that resolves longstanding accusations of unpaid wages against a restaurant business in northwestern New Mexico.

The Workforce Solutions Department said in a news release that 505 Burgers Farmington LLC has agreed to pay out $100,000 to resolve claims by two former employees that they received only a small portion of the wages they were due for more than 3,000 hours of work, including overtime.

The settlement resolves a complaint originally filed in 2017 by Francisco and Sandra Olivas with the state labor relations division that wound its way through an administrative investigation before going to trial in 2022. The New Mexico Court of Appeals rejected a challenge by the employer before a final settlement was reached.

505 Burgers owner Morgan Newsom declined to comment on the settlement.

Workforce Solutions Secretary Sarita Nair said her agency strives to provide education and training to businesses to ensure employees are paid fairly.

But when prevention does not work, our capable team will pursue these cases for workers, no matter how long it takes, she said in a statement.

New Mexico workplace regulators have struggled in the past to keep pace with complaints of alleged wage theft linked to enforcement of the states minimum wage law.

The state labor relations division said it collected more than $689,000 during the 12-month period ending in June 2023 for New Mexico workers claiming underpayment or nonpayment of wages. Most of the complaints have raised allegations of unpaid overtime, failure to pay minimum wage and an employer withholding a final paycheck.

Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Fraud Mexico New Mexico
New Mexico has reached a record settlement with a company over air pollution violations at natural gas gathering sites in the Permian Basin.

The $24.5 million agreement with Ameredev announced this week is the largest settlement the state Environment Department has ever reached for a civil oil and gas violation. It stems from the flaring of billions of cubic feet of natural gas that the company had extracted over an 18-month period but wasnt able to transport to downstream processors.

Environment Secretary James Kenney said in an interview that the flared gas would have been enough to have supplied nearly 17,000 homes for a year.

Its completely the opposite of the way its supposed to work, Kenney said. Had they not wasted New Mexicos resources, they could have put that gas to use.

The flaring, or burning off of the gas, resulted in more than 7.6 million pounds of excess emissions that included hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and other gases that state regulators said are known to cause respiratory issues and contribute to climate change.

Ameredev in a statement issued Monday said it was pleased to have solved what is described as a legacy issue and that the states Air Quality Bureau was unaware of any ongoing compliance problems at the companys facilities.

This is an issue we take very seriously, the company stated. Over the last four years, Ameredev has not experienced any flaring-related excess emissions events thanks to our significant  and ongoing  investments in various advanced technologies and operational enhancements.

While operators can vent or flare natural gas during emergencies or equipment failures, New Mexico in 2021 adopted rules to prohibit routine venting and flaring and set a 2026 deadline for the companies to capture 98% of their gas. The rules also require the regular tracking and reporting of emissions.

Ameredev said it was capturing more than 98% of its gas when the new venting and flaring rules were adopted, and the annual capture rate has been above 98% ever since.

A study published in March in the journal Nature calculated that American oil and natural gas wells, pipelines and compressors were spewing more greenhouse gases than the government thought, causing $9.3 billion in yearly climate damage. The authors said it is a fixable problem, as about half of the emissions come from just 1% of oil and gas sites.

Under the settlement, Ameredev agreed to do an independent audit of its operations in New Mexico to ensure compliance with emission requirements. It must also submit monthly reports on actual emission rates and propose a plan for weekly inspections for a two-year period or install leak and repair monitoring equipment.

Kenney said it was a citizen complaint that first alerted state regulators to Ameredevs flaring.

The Environment Department currently is investigating numerous other potential pollution violations around the basin, and Kenney said it was likely more penalties could result.

With a 50% average compliance rate with the air quality regulations by the oil and gas industry, he said, we have an obligation to continue to go and ensure compliance and hold polluters accountable.

Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Mexico New Mexico
The General Electric Co. (GE) is one of the oldest industrial conglomerates in the U.S. It was founded by Thomas Edison in 1892, under the name Edison General Electric Company. By 2000, it had become the nation's largest company, with a market capitalization of over $600 billion.

GE has been a leading innovator throughout its history. Starting with Edison's first commercially-viable incandescent lamp, the company's earliest products included light bulbs, an electric locomotive, X-ray machines, and an electric stove.

But GE produces more than just electrical machinery, and the company was once a major player in the world of banking, plastics, computers, and even television broadcasting. Today, GE's holdings span the sectors of renewable energy, aviation, and healthcare. The company has been winding down in recent years through spinoffs and divestments, and recently split into three separate public companies in April 2024.

In the fiscal year that ended Dec. 31, 2023, the company posted net earnings attributable to its common shareholders of $8.8 billion, or $7.98 per share, on revenue of $68 billion. The company's market cap was $175 billion, as of the close of trading on April 30, 2024.

Below, we look at five of GE's major business segments from the end of 2023 and how they've changed in 2024.



Key Takeaways The General Electric Co. (GE) is one of the oldest and largest industrial conglomerates in the U.S. It was founded by Thomas Edison in 1892.

Originally a manufacturer of electrical equipment, GE later branched out into diverse areas including aviation, computers, plastics, banking, and even television broadcasting.

GE Research has been responsible for major innovations such as the first American jet engine, the first commercial nuclear powerplant, and the first synthetic diamonds.

Over the past decades, GE has sold or spun off most of its subsidiaries in order to reduce significant levels of debt.

In 2024, GE completed a three-way split into GE Aerospace, GE Vernova, and GE Healthcare.

GE Aerospace

Revenue (FY 2023): $31.8 billion

Profit (FY 2023): $6.1 billion

GE has been a leader in developing aviation technology. The company built the first U.S. jet engine, the I-A, in 1941. In 1949, GE developed the J47, which would become the most-produced jet engine in history.

Today, GE Aerospace designs and manufactures commercial and military aircraft engines, engine components, and electric power and mechanical aircraft systems. The unit also offers aftermarket services to support its products. Following the spinoffs of GE's renewable energy and healthcare units, GE is now solely focused on its aviation operations. This division, its biggest revenue generator, will be tied to its ticker (GE).



GE is also an old hand in the entertainment business. In 1926, one of GE's subsidiaries launched the National Broadcasting Corporation, better known today as NBC.

GE Power (now GE Vernova)

Revenue (FY 2023): $17.7 billion

Profit (FY 2023): $1.4 billion

Even before founding General Electric, Thomas Edison had already created the first electrical grid in 1882. His company played a pivotal role in developing the technology to generate and distribute energy.

Over the following decades, GE continued to lead in energy innovation, introducing the first commercial nuclear reactor in 1957. More recently, the company offered gas and steam turbines that use fossil fuels or nuclear power to produce electricity. Today, the GE Power segment was combined with GE Renewable Energy and GE Digital to form a new energy unit, GE Vernova (GEV) following a spinoff in March 2024.

GE Renewable Energy (now GE Vernova)

Revenue (FY 2023): $15.1 billion

Profit (FY 2023): -$1.4 billion

In addition to power and energy resources, the company develops and operates alternative forms of energy. GE Renewable Energy, which was a major GE business segment as of 2023, had over 400 gigawatts of installed capacity worldwide. GE is the largest producer of wind turbines in America, and the company's wind and gas generators produce roughly 30% of the global share of electricity.

As mentioned above, the company combined GE Power, GE Renewable Energy, and its GE Digital business, which provides software that helps companies to analyze and optimize their operations, into GE Vernova in early 2024.

GE Healthcare

Revenue (FY 2023): $19.6 billion

Profit (FY 2023): $7.9 billion

GE has been a healthcare innovator almost since its founding. As early as 1896, the company was building electrical equipment for the production of X-ray machines.

Today, GE Healthcare comprises one of the company's primary business segments. The company specializes in medical imaging, patient monitoring and diagnostics, drug discovery, and more. It operates in more than 160 countries and employs about 51,000 people worldwide.

GE spun off its healthcare unit into a separate public company in early 2023 while still retaining a 19.9% stake. The newly-formed company focuses on precision health, an approach to healthcare that accounts for patients' unique genetic, behavioral, and environmental characteristics. It currently operates under the ticker (GEHC).

GE Capital

GE was once a major player in the banking and insurance industries, with half a trillion of total assets and over 35,000 employees worldwide in 2012. In fact, Money Magazine applauded GE Capital Bank for having the best savings account in the U.S. in 2013.

Starting in 2015, the company began to sell off most of its banking and finance arms. Over the following two years, further consolidation took place as additional business units were folded into other GE business arms, such as healthcare or aviation.

However, there are still a few remnants of GE's financial empire, including GE Energy Services and GE Credit Union. However, revenues from GE Capital are no longer tallied as a separate business segment and were reported under "Corporate" in 2023.



GE Capital suffered heavily in the 2008 Great Recession, due to its overexposure to commercial real estate and subprime lending. These losses prompted the company to shed most of its financial operations.

What Companies Does General Electric Own? As of 2024, General Electric split into three distinct companies: GE Aerospace, GE Vernova, and GE Healthcare. GE Aerospace operates under its original ticker, (GE), while its energy unit GE Verona debuted as (GEV). GE Healthcare trades under the ticker (GEHC).

What Has GE Sold Off? Following the 2008 financial crisis, GE was forced to sell off many of its peripheral businesses to other companies. GE Plastics was sold to Saudi Arabia in 2007; GE Transportation was sold to Wabtec; GE Appliances was sold to Haier, and most of the company's financial operations were sold to Wells Fargo and other banks. The company also sold its last stake in NBCUniversal to Comcast in 2014.

Is General Electric Owned By China? No. In 2016 General Electric sold GE Appliances to Haier Group, a Chinese conglomerate based in Qingdao. This sale was misreported on social media platforms as a direct purchase of GE by China.

Does GE Still Own GE Capital? Although GE still owns the GE Capital name, it has sold most of its banking and finance operations to other companies. CEO Jeff Immelt announced in 2015 that the company would sell $200 billion of GE Capital's assets, except for those parts used to fund the core operations of aviation, energy, and healthcare. The last division of GE Capital, GE Energy Financial Services, recently became a part of GE Vernova.

The Bottom Line

General Electric was once the largest conglomerate in the United States, and the name GE is still nearly synonymous with American entrepreneurship and ingenuity. However, the company has shrunk in recent decades, as company leaders have spun off or sold many of the company's subsidiaries. After a three-way split in 2024, GE will become solely focused on the aviation industry following the spinoff of the company's healthcare and energy divisions.
Renewable energy industry body reiterated concern about planning backlogs as six offshore wind developments are set to begin the process this summer.

The development of offshore wind projects has been mired by backlogs in the planning system which is set to come under further pressure as the first new offshore wind farms for a generation will begin the process before the end of June.

We are still worried that An Bord Pleanala, the National Parks & Wildlife Services and key environmental stakeholders are not ready for the six offshore wind energy planning applications which will be on their desks shortly, said Wind Energy Ireland chief executive Noel Cunniffe.

He added that the planning system needs to be adequate resources and skilled staff to get these projects delivered by the end of the decade. Mr Cunniffe maintains some optimism as well as caution though as he said the planning system is being reformed and the electricity grid is being strengthened. Mr Cunniffe made his comments ahead of the two day Annual Offshore Conference, where his organisation also called for concrete plans for the development of floating wind energy in Irelands deeper waters.

In the meantime, stakeholders in Irelands wind sector have their eyes firmly set on the detail underpinning the upcoming second auction for offshore wind energy generation projects.

The auction is set to take place towards the end of 2024.

The State currently targets around 20 gigawatt (GW) of offshore wind capacity operating by 2040.

Elsewhere in the energy sector, Bord na Mona announced Amazon Web Services (AWS) will become the first business to join its Eco Energy Park in the Midlands, subject to regulatory and planning consent.

The Eco Energy Park is set to deliver wind and solar power to support grid stability when required, as well as developing new electricity grid connections.
A Co Louth oyster business, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, is set on increasing its exports to Europe.

Already producing 2.5 tonnes annually  the equivalent of 2.5m oysters  the Carlingford Oyster Company has invested more than half a million euro in new production facilities, with support from Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM).

The business invested 535,000 in upgrading its facilities with the support of a 142,000 grant under the Brexit Sustainable Aquaculture Growth Scheme recommended by the Seafood Taskforce, and implemented by BIM.

It takes more than three years for Carlingford Oysters to reach maturity. Picture: Terry McDonagh

The business was founded by Dutchman Peter Louet Feisser, who sailed into Carlingford Lough on a wooden yacht with his wife Anne in the late 1960s. While the visit was intended to be short, part of an epic journey around the world, the couple were mesmerised by the areas natural beauty and the rugged Louth coastline  and never left.

After spending a few years in the area, Peter chanced to hear an item on BBC Radio 4 about oyster growing, and in 1974 the Carlingford Oyster Company was born.

Now aged 86 and officially retired, Peter can still be found working in the lough at low tide with his son Kian.

Oyster farming is very labour intensive and the investment was designed to make the company more competitive, and to secure the livelihoods of our team and my family," said Kian, who now runs the award-winning family business with his wife Mary.

'The investment was designed to make the company more competitive and to secure the livelihoods of our team and my family,' says Kian Louet Feisser. Picture: Terry McDonagh

The premises were built in 1992 and it was a big open space and we really needed to upgrade. The work included extending our production facility, adding equipment to help us segregate and grade oysters, and improvements in the dispatch areas.

Modernising our working environment has supported us meeting the evolving requirements of food-safety inspections, and the expectations of our customers when visiting our premises.

In addition, the company added new depuration tanks with cutting-edge water-skimming technology to mitigate the risk of Norovirus.

All of these machines have helped us not only improve efficiency and working conditions, but they have also helped improve the quality of our oysters and therefore our customer satisfaction," he said.

At its peak last summer, the business employed 30 local people, something Kian is very proud about. Sales to the UK represent about 60% of total sales, with approximately 20% of sales in Ireland.

He is currently focusing on sales in mainland Europe with support from BIM and Bord Bia.

It takes more than three years for Carlingford Oysters to reach maturity.

They are rich in protein and low in fat, with exceptionally high levels of trace elements such as iodine, iron, selenium, copper, and zinc.

"Taking advantage of the perfect growing conditions available in the lough, Carlingford Oysters are as natural and pure as food can be.

It was one of the first farms to grow gigas oysters, the frilly Pacific variety that has become popular across Ireland, but was a novel idea at the time.
Shell reported first-quarter profit of $7.7bn (7.2bn), exceeding expectations as disruption to Red Sea shipping and Russian refining boosted oil trading and liquefied natural gas production rose.

The company said it will buy back a further $3.5bn of its shares over the next three months, at a similar rate to the previous quarter. Its dividend remained unchanged.

Shell's cash flow rose by 6% from the previous quarter to $13.3bn reflecting strong operational performance, particularly in its liquefied natural gas division, which together with trading helped to offset a decline in natural gas prices that weighed on earnings of rivals including Exxon Mobil and Chevron last week.

"Shell delivered another quarter of strong operational and financial performance, demonstrating our continued focus on delivering more value with less emissions," chief executive Wael Sawan said.

Analysts had expected first-quarter adjusted earnings of $6.46bn, against $9.65bn a year earlier. The company had posted $7.3bn in the fourth quarter of 2023, boosted by strong LNG trading results.

Shell's shares were little changed on the day but have risen 12% since the start of the year.

Shell's chemicals and products divisions, which include refining and oil trading, registered a more than threefold rise in adjusted earnings from the previous quarter to $2.8bn.

Refined oil product trading was boosted by disruptions to shipping in the Red Sea as well as outages at Russian refineries because of Ukrainian drone attacks in recent months, finance chief Sinead Gorman told reporters.

Shell also timed refinery maintenance for the last quarter of 2023 while most of its peers opted for the first quarter of the year, giving Shell a further advantage in supplying oil products such as gasoline and diesel, Ms Gorman said.

"Shell has beaten expectations by a reasonable margin, despite the impact of lower gas prices during the first quarter. Earnings are up, costs have fallen, and the oil and gas major has brought debt down too  all in all, its a solid set of numbers," said Stuart Lamont, investment manager at RBC Brewin Dolphin.

Ms Sawan later told analysts that although Shell's shares were trading below "fair market value at the moment", the London-listed company was not actively looking at switching its listing to New York as some companies have done.

Mr Sawan's efforts to cut costs and focus the company on its most profitable operations have boosted the oil giant's shares.

Carbon reduction target

In March, Shell weakened a 2030 carbon reduction target and scrapped a 2035 objective, citing expectations for strong gas demand and uncertainty in the energy transition even as it affirmed a plan to cut emissions to net zero by 2050.

Shareholders will vote later this month on Shell's strategy as well as a shareholder resolution calling on the company to tighten climate targets.

Earnings at Shell's flagship LNG trading business were 7% below the previous quarter, when it had bumper trading results, but they still beat expectations.

Shell's LNG production rose in the quarter by 7% from the previous three months to 7.58 million metric tons while sales dropped by 7% to 16.87 million tons.

The growth was driven by higher output from the giant Prelude floating LNG facility off the western coast of Australia.

The company's overall oil and gas production rose by 3% in the quarter to 2.91 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Reuters
The organisers of Guinness Cork Jazz Festival have confirmed that Kamasi Washington and his band will play at the 2024 festival. Arguably the biggest star in the contemporary jazz scene, the Californian will be making his first visit to Cork for a late night show at the citys Opera House on Friday, October 25.

The addition of Washington to the lineup of the 2024 event is quite a coup for organisers who had already announced another American giant of the genre, vocalist Gregory Porter, for the bank holiday weekend. Other announcements for the line-up will be made later this month, with tickets for the Washington concert likely going on sale in late May.
16 companies competed for the coveted trophy at Meitheal Maras Interfirm Dragon Boat Challenge. Two 40-foot-long colourful dragon boats sprinted against each other over a distance of 250m, racing from opposite the previously iconic R&H Hall to Corks Lapps Quay. The event was organised by Meitheal Mara to raise money for their community boatyard.
The decision to drop plans for a new dental school in Cork is profoundly worrying at a time of shortages across the dental profession, the Irish Dental Association has warned.

Currently, Cork University Dental School shares a campus with Cork University Hospital.

In 2019, UCC was granted planning permission for a five-storey building in Curraheen, but the Irish Examiner reported in February the plan has been dropped.

Addressing the Oireachtas Health Committee, Irish Dental Association CEO Fintan Hourihan expressed significant concerns in the context of adult medical card holders unable to access dental care and at least 100,000 children missing out on school screenings.

The decision to cancel the building of a new dental school in Cork is profoundly worrying, he warned.

We believe that, with some smart thinking and collaboration between the relevant Government departments, UCC and the HSE a funding solution should be possible.

"This would not only allow a badly needed dental school to be built on a greenfield site, but also allow expansion of the capacity in Cork University Hospital  on whose campus the current dental school is located.

The Cork school is one of only two in the country with plans for a third recently announced.

Irish Dental Association president-elect Dr Will Rymer said it is challenging for schools to train more dentists.

If you wanted to expand the number of English graduates, you can just put more people on rows of seats. In dentistry, there is quite a lot of equipment needed

And that takes up a considerable amount of space which I know, particularly in Cork, is really lacking.

The committee was also warned someone convicted of sexual assault practiced as a dentist in Ireland, but the Irish Dental Council was unable to take action on this.

Registrar David O Flynn said he was unable to take effective action in 12 serious incidents due to limits in the Dental Act 1985 including around unregistered dentists.

This group also included a person who repeatedly failed to diagnose a severe infection in a young child, and a person who had been erased [from a register] in two other European countries, he said.

The Irish Dental Council received notifications on around 40 dentists who had sanctions applied in other countries, but he could not act as they were already on the Irish register.

He was also aware of a dentist working from a portable building, which poses serious infection control risks.

He said a tattooist came to them worried about how her dentist was sterilising instruments.

She had valid concerns, he said, but then explained: She wanted the council to inspect, and she was incredulous that we had no powers to enter or inspect a dental practice.

The committee also heard there is no register of dental practices or way to hold practice owners who are not dentists to account.
The Ukrainian national whose dangerous driving caused the death of GAA broadcaster Paudie Palmer hurt the family even more by blaming the deceased for it.

Victim impact evidence was presented at the sentencing hearing on Thursday where Judge Jonathan Dunphy imposed a six-year jail term on Bohdan Bezverkhyi for dangerous driving causing the death of Mr Palmer.

The late Mr Palmers brother, John  on behalf of brothers, Denis, Richie and himself  said: Every aspect of this horrific road traffic accident is very difficult to deal with, and what makes it even worse (if thats possible) is the fact that the guilty party drove away from the scene of the accident leaving our brother fatally injured in his overturned car on an embankment.

"The guilty party admitted to his mother and friends in text messages that he had 'left the scene of traffic accident drunk'. Its very clear to us from transcripts of the guilty partys text messages, that he was only concerned about himself and demonstrates no concern whatsoever for our poor brother Paudie.

There are so many upsetting aspects to this horrid moment in our life  the guilty party went through a stop sign, causing Paudies car to spin and collide with the embankment, admitted in text messages that he was drunk, drove away from the scene of the accident and then refused to plead guilty to the charge of dangerous driving causing death.

Claire Palmer-Panagiodis, daughter of the late Paudie Palmer (right) at Cork Circuit Criminal Court with family solicitor Diarmuid O'Shea after she delivered her victim impact statement in court. Picture: Dan Linehan

When the Summer season kicked in, Paudie was on the airwaves where we would all tune in to listen to his magic commentary on big games. He had the ability to turn a bad game into a good game... We will never hear that magic commentary again.

The late Mr Palmers daughter, Clare, said on behalf of the family including her mother Colette and sister Emily, on Thursday: Moments before this accident, after spending his first and last Christmas with his first grandchild, Lucas, he left our home to meet a work colleague for a simple coffee and a catch-up.

"He shared his usual morning moment with my mother with a big wave goodbye and a cheeky smile. He was struck by a vehicle that then left the scene only 500 metres from our family house, never to return alive again.

Our father was the cornerstone of our family  our mentor, supporter and guiding star. His wisdom shaped who we are as adults. His death has left a void in our identities and lives. As a result of Dads sudden and horrific departure, our family dynamics have shifted significantly.

I got married to my own best friend and now husband Nicolas several weeks ago having postponed last years date following those heartbreaking few months before. Not having your father walk you down the aisle, which is every girls dream, was simply heartbreaking.

Having to place my fathers buttonhole of flowers on his grave instead of my mother pinning it to his suit was utterly distressing, on a day that should have been the happiest day in our familys lives.

Our mother has had to forcefully put on a brave face to tell us all well be okay while shes struggling so deeply herself.

The family found the trial (and the previous trial that ended suddenly at the eleventh hour when a juror investigated the scene on a lone visit to the crash scene) hard to take.

To hear our father being blamed for this incident was very offensive. A man who had only the respect of every single person he came in contact with. Not just the county but the entire country grieved when they heard the news of Dads tragic passing  a pillar of society, the voice of Cork.

To hear our father being blamed for this accident is hurtful and even at this late stage, if the accused man had shown any sign of remorse and could at least realise the effect his actions have had  obviously on our father, but on the rest of us for the remainder of our lives  it would be some comfort. But this remorse has never been seen.

We are immensely grateful to the first responders and passersby who were present at the scene of the accident. Your effort to help our father will never be forgotten.

To all in Bandon garda station, particularly Manus ODonnell and Michelle OConnor, who have guided us through such a difficult time and continue to do so. To all in Cork University Hospital, especially the staff in the A&E and ICU, whose dedication and care go unnoticed until one faces such a tragedy.

To the whole community of Innishannon and indeed the country, your messages of condolences and constant letters on how Dad impacted your daily lives have been of huge comfort and continue to be.

All of Dads colleagues at St. Brogans, Bandon, C103 and 96FM, The Evening Echo, The Bandon Opinion and Valley Rovers  not to forget his colleagues at The Celtic Cross Hotel  your support has been so thoughtful and cherished, and we know you all are grieving a significant loss as well.

As we navigate through this tumultuous period, my hope is for justice to be served today, not only as a legal necessity but as a crucial step in our healing process.

Judge Jonathan Dunphy will impose sentence on Bohdan Bezverkhyi (pictured) later in the afternoon or tomorrow. File picture: Dan Linehan

Detective Garda Manus ODonnell went through the circumstances of the incident whereby the accused drove on to the road from a minor road guided by a stop sign and caused the death of Mr Palmer, and then driving away from the scene.

The detective also described the accused video-recording himself the previous day driving the BMW that he bought two weeks earlier at speeds in excess of 200 kilometres per hour at Curraheen, county Cork.

33-year-old Bohdan Bezverkhyi, of Rigsdale House, Rigsdale, Ballinhassig, county Cork, pleaded not guilty to the charge of dangerous driving causing the death of Mr Palmer at Dunkereen Cross, Innishannon, Co Cork, on December 29, 2022.

Mr Palmer was fatally injured as his car ended up overturned on an embankment at the junction near his home, having been in a collision with the defendant's car which was then driven from the scene.

The seven women and five men who deliberated for approximately five hours returned to Cork Circuit Criminal Court on April 18 with their unanimous guilty verdict on what was the seventh day of the trial.
A student who punched, struck, kicked and stamped on another man 250 times in a 20-minute attack in the centre of Cork City was jailed for four years on Thursday.

Judge Jonathan Dunphy recalled that the video recording which was played in the course of evidence was so violent that most people in the courtroom were forced to look away from the screens when it was played at the sentencing hearing at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

Judge Dunphy said it was nothing short of a miracle that the injuries were not life-threatening. 22-year-old Darragh McLoughlin of 23 Richmond Hill, Cork, was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison with the last two-and-a-half years suspended.

The judge recalled from a section of video played in court lasting just over a minute  using the victims own phone also carrying audio of the violence: He instructs him to put his hands down so that he can kick him in the skull unprotected. I counted 14 kicks to the head in that.

"He can be seen stripping some clothing off the injured party. He leaves (momentarily) and returns to continue the assault.

Animalistic behaviour

More than 50 of the blows consisted of kicks in the face. The total number of blows, strikes, stamps or kicks totalled 250, prosecution barrister Emmet Boyle said of the 20-minute period of CCTV of the incident.

The judge said it appeared to start with a calm conversation and interaction between the parties before becoming a brief physical altercation outside the nightclub.

The defendant believed his phone had been stolen and there was some history of bad blood between them as the defendant had been assaulted a year earlier by a group associated with the injured party.

The victim suffered multiple fractures of the right eye socket, fractures of nasal bones and was left with double vision and what was described as an ongoing deformity.

The defendant later accepted when shown CCTV of the attack that he had engaged in animalistic behaviour.

During a 77-second video-recording made by the assailant with the victims phone, the man on the ground with a bloody face is heard groaning and a voice is heard saying: Look at you  youre an embarrassment. The assailant also removed the injured partys trousers and shoes.

Darragh McLoughlin admitted assault causing serious harm to a man at Paul Street, Cork, on October 18, 2022, as well as robbing his iPhone 7  the whole incident starting some distance away at 1.15am on that date outside the Secret Garden nightclub at Reardens.

Victim impact statement

In his victim impact statement, read by Detective Garda Joe Crowley, he said it was undoubtedly the worst day of his life and he was still trying to fill in the gaps in his memory of what happened. He still has nightmares and flashbacks.

He found it extremely frightening to see the condition of his face in hospital: I still dont fully recognise myself.

He said that it affected him mentally and physically from waking up each morning until he goes to sleep at night and that it would affect him every day of his life. He said it had also deeply affected his family.

Defence senior counsel Tom Creed said there had been some history between the parties. He said the accused had been on anti-depressant medication that night following a suicide attempt the previous night and that unfortunately he combined alcohol with medication.

The senior counsel said there were extensive character references which painted a different picture of the defendant, including one which stated that the defendant was consumed by guilt and was deeply remorseful. He brought 10,000 compensation to court for the injured party.
A woman who claims she ended up with multiple wound infections following surgery to remove silicone breast implants in 2015 has sued in the High Court.

Communications manager Roisin Milmoe (42) told the court that after the 7,000 surgery, one of her breasts began to leak blood and she had to be brought back to theatre hours later for a second operation.

She said she continued to have nightmares for months afterwards.

"I would wake up screaming and shouting. It was very harrowing for me. I was affected by it for months," she told Ms Justice Denise Brett.

Answering her counsel Aidan Walsh SC, appearing with David McGrath SC, Ms Milmoe said she has significant scarring on her breasts, which is visible nine years after the operation.

Roisin Milmoe, from Dundrum, Dublin, has sued cosmetic surgeon Labros Chatzis, with an address at Baggot Street Lower, Dublin, who carried out the surgery, and Sheldon Investments Limited, trading as River Medical Group, with registered offices at Pleasants Street, Dublin  and which operated the River Medical Group at Baggot St Lower  over her care afterwards.

It is claimed that in October 2015, Ms Milmoe attended the River Medical Group clinic and came under the care of the plastic surgeon.

The surgery, a bilateral breast implant removal combined with bilateral breast mastopexy, was carried out on November 7, 2015, at a Waterford theatre.

Ms Milmoe has alleged she developed multiple post-operative infections requiring several courses of antibiotics.

She claimed there was an alleged failure to treat her appropriately or with appropriate skill and there was an alleged failure to take any or any appropriate steps concerning probable infection or to prescribe any or proper antibiotics to prevent infection in time or at all.

'Delayed healing'

It is further claimed she was allegedly caused to have delayed healing and there was an alleged failure to properly assess the risk of infection.

It is also claimed that during a post-operative check at the River Medical Group clinic a week after the surgery, she was examined by a nurse and a decision was taken to have her seen by a GP.

All of the claims are denied by both defendants and Sheldon Investments, trading as River Medical Group, also denies that it provided the implant removal to Ms Milmoe.

Ms Milmoe, who was giving evidence on the first day of her action, said she had received the implants in Turkey in 2007 and had been very happy with them but after a car accident they were too heavy and she opted to have them removed.

After the three-hour-long surgery in 2015, she felt very sick and her left breast was bleeding "covering the sheets". She said she was in agony and after the weekend operation, she was discharged home on Monday and was given one painkiller.

She said she was genuinely traumatised and in the second week had gaping wounds opening" as her breasts were not healing.

She told the court that after her operation she expected to have access to somebody who cared but was ignored.

She said River Medical had told her there would be a 24/7 aftercare service, but she said "they did not do it.

After the operation, she said she had to go on courses of antibiotics and is now left with a fold on the nipple of her right breast, as well as scarring in her breast area.

She said she was in pain, and it felt like chronic pain.

You can still see the scarring nine years later, she told the judge.

The case continues.
One of the first cuckoos to be tagged as part of a tracking project has landed home at Killarney National Park after a winter spent in the rainforests of the Congo Basin in Central Africa.

Cuach KP is the first of three Irish cuckoos to successfully make the 9,000km journey home for the summer months.

He was tagged alongside two other Irish cuckoos in Killarney National Park back in May 2023.

On his arrival into Ireland on Monday, KP made a short stop in Fermoy in Co Cork before making his way back to Derrycunihy in Killarney National Park.

While the cuckoo has been well-studied during the breeding season, very little is known about the routes they take once they head off on migration, or where in Africa they spent the winter months.

Hoping to solve the intriguing natural mysteries of the cuckoo is Sam Bayley, Conservation Ranger at National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and Project lead with the Irish Cuckoo Tracking Project. Photo: Valerie O'Sullivan

But the Cuckoo Tracking Project, an initiative by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), was set up last year to better understand their migration patterns.

The birds were given names and fitted with satellite tags so that their movements could be tracked.

Over the course of Cuach KP's extraordinary 9,000km journey to and from the Kingdom, he covered two continents and several countries, as he travelled as far as the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Over the course of Cuach KP's extraordinary 9,000km journey to and from the Kingdom, he covered two continents and several countries, as he travelled as far as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Photo: Valerie O'Sullivan

According to NPWS conservation ranger, Sam Bayley, KPs journey ended with an epic sea crossing all the way from northern Spain direct to Ireland across the Bay of Biscay.

Big sea crossings havent been recorded in cuckoos in Europe before, so thats a really interesting twist, Ms Bayley said.

Mr Bayley, who set up the project in conjunction with the British Trust for Ornithology, says that satellite tagging gives us a clear picture of the cuckoos journey for the first time, to Africa and back to Ireland.

The latest reports from the satellite tagging system also indicate that the other two cuckoos from the project are also on their way.

The Irish Cuckoo Tracking Project used local place names to label the cuckoos after the areas they were tagged, such as Cuach Torc and Cuach Cores. Photo: Valerie OSullivan

Cuach Torc is currently in the vicinity of Brittany, and Cuach Cores, who was the last of the three birds to leave, left Algeria on Wednesday, and is already making quick progress towards Ireland.

Minister of State for Nature, Malcolm Noonan, said: The return of Cuach KP is a real success story for this project. Projects like this really help us to learn more about precious birds such as the cuckoo and how we can all keep them safe.

Meanwhile, Divisional Manager at Killarney National Park, Eamonn Meskell, said everyone is now hoping that the two other birds tagged as part of this project will follow and join him here over the coming days.

Were working with @_BTO to track the migration patterns of Irish Cuckoos. One of them - Cuach KP has just landed home at Killarney National Park - to the spot where he was ringed last year! Heres our Conservation Ranger @SamBayley2 with the update.. pic.twitter.com/vx7LHbDacU  National Parks and Wildlife Service (@NPWSIreland) May 2, 2024

Cuckoos, or Cuach in Irish, are a summer migrant to Ireland. Adult birds are resident here from April to early July, having spent the winter in Africa.

Cuckoos are known to lay their eggs in other birds nests and have no involvement in raising their young.

Across Ireland, the cuckoo has seen a 27% reduction in breeding distribution between the first national census, Bird Atlas (1968-1972), and the most recent Bird Atlas (2007-2011).
Last year I wrote here about etiquette. Manners. The way to treat people, and the very specific challenge of behaving appropriately in certain social settings in Cork.

This was partly motivated by a clever piece in New York magazine which outlined exhaustive strictures on how to behave in New York society. Or societies.

Some of those rules are worth considering.

(A random example: Is it ever acceptable to talk to a stranger on an elevator? If there are six or fewer people on the elevator, no. However, if the group is larger than six, you have achieved an Elevator Humor Quorum and someone must make a remark about the elevators lack of size or speed in order to relieve the tension created by standing in a tiny space with six or more strangers.)

Others may not really apply to life on Leeside. From memory The Cut featured a detailed analysis of how to address Robert De Niro if one met him on the streets of Manhattan, for instance: Bobby was not considered appropriate, though that will hardly give us pause in the English Market any time soon. The Cork equivalent would be how precisely to salute Cillian Murphy, though its difficult to imagine any Cork native searching for a bespoke introduction. Outside close friends and family Cillian, how are things boy etc. sounds about right.

But social interactions need to be governed by some kind of framework, logical or not. Thats a basic necessity of modern life. In Ireland as a whole, there have rarely been as many of us together on the island at the same time  bumping into each other, queuing behind each other, massing here and dispersing there, swarming, swimming, supping, surging.

Everywhere you go there are plenty of people, and where you have plenty of people you need some kind of structure or else mere anarchy is let loose upon the world.

To illustrate: in a Cork shopping precinct recently I ducked into a coffee spot for a refreshing cuppa, but within a minute I had ducked back out, notably unrefreshed.

In the cafe there were three people at various points enjoying the 21st-century boon that is a smartphone with functional speakers and decent WiFi; everyone else was enduring the 21st-century cruelty that is the smartphone user who disdains the use of earphones.

God bless the various engineers and audio specialists who came up with the particular migraine-inducing tinniness synonymous with a smartphone at medium distance. Maybe the sound was better for the three beauties in the cafe, who were enjoying what sounded like a) a Transformers film b) a lengthy discussion of someone elses private life, and c) a hoarse man gargling carburetors, respectively.

What struck me was not so much that none of the other patrons  me included  spoke up to condemn what was going on. Nor did the staff had any interest in doing anything similar.

The sheer solipsism of the three over-sharers, their entitlement, the assumption that the entire location was theirs and theirs alone  that was my takeaway.

But when I mentioned this to one of the inhabitants of my house, she shrugged.

You could have asked them to turn off the sound or to put on earphones, but youd have to make that request directly, and you have to do that because theres no point in saying to them that theyre being inconsiderate. For them to stop theyd need to be shamed into doing the right thing, and shame just dont exist any more.

Doesnt it? Did shame go the way of the three-in-one and Mary Roses in the Queens Old Castle without me noticing?

Shame is a strange notion in twenty-first-century Ireland. It would be difficult to measure its decline. You could try a graph showing the extent to which phrases such as I was ashamed of my life have given way to I had nothing to be ashamed of, but the real reason can be found in your pocket or handbag.

The scouring candour of our moment  the way people like to share details about their lives with perfect strangers  would have been stunning thirty years ago. Not now. Matters which would once have been barely whispered aloud in privacy at home are now broadcast in live and living colour on social media, thanks to the smartphone.

Amazement at this development is not a covert plea for a return to repression. There was a time we had too much shame. We were exporting the stuff, we had so much of it. A shame surplus. Shame lakes. Shame mountains: the Shamealayas, if you will, thanks to the influence of the Church.

Those associations linger, particularly when it comes to matters intimate. There was a reason film director Steve McQueen picked the title he did for his movie about sex addiction. He called it Shame because he didnt want a smouldering Frenchman or beach-blond Californian in the lead: he went for a lad from Killarney on the basis that no one would be more convincing than an Irishman when it came to shame about one of lifes natural functions.

That titles wrong, though. A better word would be guilt rather than shame because shame has a wider application in society.

And wider benefits, apparently. In a piece for Vox Joseph Burgo wrote: According to recent studies in evolutionary science, human beings developed the ability to feel shame because it helped promote social cohesion.

Our inherited repertoire of emotions, including shame, evolved over the long millennia when we lived in small tribes, when our survival depended heavily on close cooperation and adherence to tribal expectations for behaviour.

Members who violated the rules would be shunned and shamed; fear of that painful experience encouraged members to obey the rules and work together for the good of the tribe.

As the lead researcher in one study explained, the function of pain is to prevent us from damaging our own tissue. The function of shame is to prevent us from damaging our social relationships, or to motivate us to repair them.

This is plausible, certainly. My pals in the coffee shop arent endangering the tribe with their rudeness, though its certainly damaging social relationships if you cant hear yourself think when youre out in public.

As an organising principle in society shame could be helpful, particularly if it doesnt coagulate into guilt, but Im inclined to agree that its time has passed in our society: that shame is no longer a functioning element in our arrangements.

The smartphone sharers are a good example of this absence because shame needs to be self-generated. Were all post-shame now  post-shame, post-guilt, post-recrimination  so even if you think you can shame someone, you cant. Your erstwhile target only feels shame if theyre willing to accept that theyre in the wrong and are causing discomfort to others.

And what tribe in Cork, or anywhere else for that matter, is willing to accept that?
Though a second Donald Trump presidency is not a foregone conclusion, Nato members are gearing up to Trump-proof the organisation and reviewing their defence strategies.

Natos concerns about Trumps re-election were heightened by his flippant comment in February that he would encourage Russia to do whatever it wanted, if certain countries didnt pay up, defying Natos principle that an attack on one constituted an attack on all.

Trumps comments represent a seismic departure from US foreign policy. No US president has made these types of threats before about its commitment to Nato, and this has forced Europe to prepare to deal with Russian aggression without US support.

Ahead of Natos 75th anniversary summit in Washington DC in July, this has become so concerning that one of the major parties in the European parliament, the European Peoples Party, has called on Europe to build its own nuclear umbrella without the US.

Of course, this is all coming to a head at a time when the West is facing the biggest threat to its security since the Second World War, making the discussions about Natos nuclear shield more salient.

Although Russia is unlikely to use nuclear weapons in this conflict in Ukraine, some experts are warning that assuming that Natos current nuclear deterrence is sufficient is foolhardy.

Putin has made it clear that Russia is prepared and willing to use nuclear weapons, if necessary. Putin may believe that a limited use of nuclear weapons would not escalate the war enough to involve the US, making it more likely that Russia could dip into its nuclear arsenal in its next conflict to gain a huge advantage (or possibly at a later stage in the current one).

The logic of nuclear deterrence assumes that all actors are rational, have full information and can use that information to predict what others will do.

Putin has shown that he is a risk-taker with poor military intelligence, leading to massive miscalculations, particularly if Nato remains complacent.

Putin may also assume that the US under Trump would be mostly preoccupied with domestic political opponents, giving Russia the chance to push ahead and do whatever it wants. Recently leaked documents from Russian military files have shown that its threshold for using nuclear weapons is surprisingly low, particularly if conventional methods arent working.

With two of the biggest superpowers being led by wildcards, Putin, and potentially Trump, Nato members are rethinking their nuclear strategy. Both the UK and France have nuclear capabilities, and this provides an independent nuclear deterrence.

However, Natos deterrence relies mostly on US nuclear weapons deployed in Europe  of which there are about 100 non-strategic warheads (down from 7,500 in the 1980s) deployed in five Nato countries  Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey. By comparison, Russia has around 6,000 nuclear weapons  which constitutes the worlds largest arsenal  and can launch these weapons from land, sea and air.

Russian nuclear weapons are deployed across dozens of military bases in Russia, with some tactical nuclear weapons recently moved to Belarus.

Most concerning may be Russias confirmation in 2018 that it has nuclear-capable Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad  the Russian enclave between Poland and Lithuania.

Even though Russias nuclear modernisation drive has not been a huge success, the Kremlin has used the threat of nuclear weapons to temper the Wests response to Russian aggression.

European vulnerability

Though the conflict in Ukraine has made the issue of nuclear deterrence more urgent, this is not the first time European powers have voiced concerns about their own vulnerabilities. In 2020, French president Emmanuel Macron raised the alarm about the USs commitment to Nato and offered to make Frances nuclear deterrence the centre of European defence strategy.

At the time, Nato secretary-general Jens Soltenberg dismissed this suggestion, claiming that it made more strategic sense to rely on the USs nuclear umbrella.

France and the UK are far behind Russia. France has around 290 nuclear warheads, which can be deployed at short notice, from both air and sea.

The UK decided in 2021 to increase the number of nuclear weapons to 225, with the goal of reaching 260 warheads by 2025.

Unlike Europe, the US does have a huge stockpile of nuclear weapons, just below Russias  at 5,244, and this includes nuclear-armed submarines, long-range bombers and inter-continental missiles. It has also been flying B-52 strategic bombers close to the Russian border in the Gulf of Finland, as a show of force to the Russians.

But a Trump presidency may give Putin the impression that he is unlikely to face any consequences for his actions from the US, which has been at the heart of Natos current nuclear deterrence plan. This would put more pressure on Europe to demonstrate its resolve.

Poland, for one, has made clear that it is ready and able to host nuclear weapons, while the Baltic states have upped their own military spending. Close to Kaliningrad, the Baltics have important energy and telecommunications infrastructure, making the area particularly vulnerable.

While some experts argue to increase Natos nuclear capabilities and sharing programmes, others claim that Natos most significant source of deterrence comes from political unity and its advanced conventional forces.

Increasing nuclear weapons capabilities may make Russia feel more threatened, and more likely to take risks. A related view is that the war in Ukraine has proven that there is no effective nuclear deterrent. The existence of tactical nuclear weapons (of which Russia has 2,000), which are smaller and more precise, increases the likelihood that they will be used by virtue of being smaller.

Whatever course of action carries enormous risks and potential devastation. And its important to highlight that the nuclear weapon launched in Hiroshima in 1945 was a small nuclear weapon  and it still had the power to kill 140,000 people with generations later still suffering from diseases.

Modern nuclear weapons are 3,000 times more powerful. This makes it all the most critical to come up with a coherent and effective nuclear strategy that can prevent them from being used at all.

Natasha Lindstaedt is Professor of Department of Government at the University of Essex. This article featured on The Conversation, a news analysis and comment website written by academic experts
LONG before the Wild Atlantic Way became the money-spinning behemoth that we now know it as, the pretty fishing village of Baltimore knew how to pull a crowd.

No Failte Ireland advertising was necessary because of the power of word of mouth. The word was that Baltimore had it all: incredible vistas, a spectacular coastline, and, as one British writer controversially put it one of the best and safest sailing grounds for small boats in the British Isles.

Baltimore Harbour Picture: Denis Scannell

This last attribute proved particularly attractive to the owners of Four Winds, who bought their detached Baltimore holiday home 41 years ago.

We were looking for a holiday home and we drove down to Baltimore and theres just something about the road into the village. As we drove in, I thought oh this is the place, the owner says.

They viewed just two properties and chose Four Winds because of its breathtaking views, down over sparkling Baltimore Harbour and across towards the myriad islands and rocky islets of Carberys Hundred Isles.

When you are in the sun lounge, its the view that you are looking at, its gorgeous, the owner says.

Her seven children learned to navigate that harbour from a young age, through Baltimores popular summer sailing courses, for which demand has never waned.

We were a big family and we spent our summers in Baltimore and all of the kids learned to sail, the owner says.

Pretty Baltimore village Picture: Eddie O'Hare

The Von Trapp-size family wasnt easy to accommodate so the owners knocked a badly built extension at Four Winds and hired Bowen Construction to build the replacement.

First impressions of the house are misleading. From the front, it looks like a standard bungalow with a large front porch, but it drops down to the rear, to a lower level, which houses three bedrooms and a bathroom.

Four Winds, Baltimore, Co Cork

At entry level, accommodation is spread over a wide area and includes three more bedrooms (including main with en suite) a bathroom, a sitting room, a galley kitchen, a living/dining room and, the piece de resistance, an outdoor sun deck, which frequently seats 15 people to eat, the owner says.

The panorama from the deck is magnificent, extending to Mount Gabriel in the distance. The same view is available to whoever gets the main bedroom, which has sliding door access to the deck. The largest room, and the best indoor spot to enjoy the views, is the large living/dining room, which also has access to the 43 sq m sun deck.

While the views sold Four Winds to its current owners, they also loved its proximity to the village.

Its just a three or four minute walk, so you never had to worry about the kids walking home at night, the owner says.

Her extended family spends a lot of time in Baltimore now and two sons have their own holiday homes locally.

Maeve McCarthy of Charles McCarthy Auctioneers, who is selling Four Winds, expects interest from Cork, Dublin and overseas - someone who wants their kids to have the same Baltimore experiences that they had.

The guide price for the 204 sq m homey with attached 15 sq m garage and parking out front is 985,000.

Ms McCarthy points out that the garage will come in handy for families looking to store kayaks and other sailing equipment. She adds that its a multigenerational home, suitable all year round or as a bolthole.

Baltimore, a hub of hospitality with great pubs and restaurants, including two-Michelin-star Dede at the Custom House, is about an 80 minute drive from Cork Airport.

VERDICT: Expect to pay top dollar for the view, the location, and a generous amount of accommodation.
Solomon Islands lawmakers elected former foreign minister Jeremiah Manele as prime minister on Thursday in a development that suggests the South Pacific island nation will maintain close ties with China.

Mr Manele used his first speech as leader to promise to govern with integrity and to put his nations interests first.

I will discharge my duties diligently and with integrity. I will at all times put the interests of our people and country above all other interests, Mr Manele said in a speech outside the National Parliament of Solomon Islands.

Mr Manele won 31 votes in a secret ballot of 49 lawmakers who won general elections on April 17, governor general David Vunagi said, while Matthew Wale, who led the opposition in the previous parliament, received the remaining 18.

Manasseh Sogavare had hoped to become the first Solomons prime minister to maintain power in consecutive four-year terms (Australian Broadcasting Corporation via AP)

The withdrawal of pro-Beijing former prime minister Manasseh Sogavare from the contest to make way for Mr Manele as their partys candidate indicated the country could follow a similar direction.

Mr Sogavare had hoped to become the first Solomons prime minister to maintain power in consecutive four-year terms following the election.

During his previous term, Chinas influence increased more in the Solomons than anywhere else in the South Pacific.

Mr Sogavare switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region.

In his speech, Mr Manele also urged against any post-election violence.

Past prime ministers elections have been met with the act of violence and destruction. Our economy and livelihoods have suffered because of this violence, Mr Manele said.

However, today we show the world that we are better than that. We must respect and uphold the democratic process of electing our prime minister and set an example for our children and their children, he added.

Mr Sogavares election in 2019 sparked riots in the capital Honiara over legal questions hanging over his eligibility to become prime minister.

More serious riots resulted in arson and looting in Honiara in November 2021 after his leadership survived a no-confidence motion moved by Mr Wale.

Riots following the 2006 election, which were fuelled by allegations of Chinese interference and resentment against Chinese business people, led to then-prime minister Snyder Rinis resignation after a week in office and Mr Sogavare taking power. It was the second of Mr Sogavares four stints as prime minister.

Meg Keen, the director of the Pacific Islands programme for Lowy Institute, a Sydney-based international policy think tank, said Mr Manele will be a less fiery and combative leader for the West to manage but he will continue to pursue close relations with China.

She said: As the former foreign minister he helped broker the security deal with China that panicked the West. But he is also a seasoned diplomat with experience at the UN and in western countries  hes no stranger to western engagement.

She said Mr Sogavare had pulled out of the race because his partys loss of several lawmakers at the election was evidence that voters wanted change.
Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters remain behind barricades on the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus despite police orders to leave.

Officers are poised to move in on their fortified encampment ringed by an even larger crowd, including supporters who locked arms as well as curious onlookers.

Huge numbers of police began arriving on Wednesday afternoon, and empty buses were parked near UCLA to take away protesters who do not comply with the order.

Campus operations will be limited tomorrow and Friday. Please continue to avoid campus and the Royce Quad area. Per Academic Senate guidance on instruction, all in-person classes are authorized and required to pivot to remote tomorrow and Friday. https://t.co/MNiqJ7bu67  UCLA (@UCLA) May 2, 2024

The tense stand-off came one night after violence instigated by counter-protesters erupted in the same place.

A small city sprang up inside the barricaded encampment, full of hundreds of people and tents on the campus quad.

Some protesters said Muslim prayers as the sun set over the campus, while others chanted were not leaving, or passed out goggles and surgical masks.

They wore helmets and headscarves, and discussed the best ways to handle pepper spray or tear gas as someone sang over a megaphone.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators watch police activity behind a barricade on the UCLA campus (AP)

A few constructed homemade shields out of plywood in case they clashed with police forming skirmish lines elsewhere on the campus. For rubber bullets, who wants a shield? a protester called out.

Meanwhile, a large crowd of students, alumni and neighbours gathered on campus steps outside the tents, sitting as they listened and applauded various speakers and joined in pro-Palestinian chants.

A group of students holding signs and wearing T-shirts in support of Israel and Jewish people demonstrated nearby.

The crowd continued to grow as the night wore on as more and more officers poured onto campus.

The law enforcement presence and continued warnings stood in contrast to the scene that unfolded the night before, when counter-demonstrators attacked the pro-Palestinian encampment, throwing traffic cones, releasing pepper spray and tearing down barriers.

Police have ordered protesters to leave (AP)

Fighting continued for several hours before police stepped in, though no arrests were made. At least 15 protesters suffered injuries, and the tepid response by authorities drew criticism from political leaders as well as Muslim students and advocacy groups.

Elsewhere, police in New Hampshire made arrests and took down tents at Dartmouth College and officers in Oregon came onto the campus at Portland State University as school officials sought to end the occupation of the library that started on Monday.

The chaotic scenes at UCLA came just hours after New York police burst into a building occupied by anti-war protesters at Columbia University on Tuesday night, breaking up a demonstration that had paralysed the school.

An Associated Press tally counted at least 38 times since April 18 where arrests were made at campus protests across the US. More than 1,600 people have been arrested at 30 institutions.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators gather on the UCLA campus (AP)

UCLA chancellor Gene Block said in a statement that a group of instigators perpetrated the previous nights attack, but he did not provide details about the crowd or why the administration and school police did not act sooner.

However one feels about the encampment, this attack on our students, faculty and community members was utterly unacceptable, he said. It has shaken our campus to its core.

The nationwide campus demonstrations began at Columbia on April 17 to protest Israels offensive in Gaza, which followed Hamas launching a deadly attack on southern Israel on October 7. Militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took roughly 250 hostages. Vowing to stamp out Hamas, Israel has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to health officials there.

Israel and its supporters have branded the university protests antisemitic, while Israels critics say it uses those allegations to silence opposition.
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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.
05/02/2024

Jacksonville State University has long been known as a university dedicated to helping first-generation students fulfill their dreams of attaining a college degree. The faculty and staff on the Friendliest Campus in the South take pride in helping these students blaze a trail, providing mentorship and encouragement. But the university is also providing substantial financial support to this special population of students.

In Fall 2023, 92% of Jax State students who identified themselves as the first in their families to pursue a four-year degree received a scholarship to support their education. With financial burdens often serving as the main barrier preventing a first-generation student from meeting their goals, the university is committed to alleviating this burden.

We understand that affordability is a major factor for our first-generation students and families when choosing a college and our scholarships are just one way that Jax State is providing support for these students and families, said Jessica Wiggins, associate vice president for enrollment management.

In 2023, the Center for First-generation Student Success invited Jax State to join its First Scholars Network due to the university's commitment to improving experiences and advancing success for first-generation college students. An initiative of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators and The Suder Foundation, the program is dedicated to effectively and equitably driving first-generation student success across education, career and life.

As a member of the First Scholars Network, Jax State is implementing a plan to improve its support programs for first-generation students, focused on the following goals:

Establish a method for collecting information about first-generation students and their needs and experiences Develop a branded marketing initiative to inform the campus community of the programs and services developed for first-generation students Develop communities of first-generation students to foster a sense of belonging and support Develop intentional programs and activities to support the needs of first-generation students Identify first-generation faculty, staff and supporters and provide opportunities for education, engagement and mentorship Create a guide for first-generation student to demystify collegiate lingo and explain the intricacies of campus life Establish an endowed scholarship for first-generation students

"Nationwide data shows that financial burdens are the primary reason first-generation students leave their college or university, said Josh Robinson, Jax State dean of students. We want to change this narrative at the Friendliest Campus in the South! At least one in three students at Jax State is a first-generation college student. Our goal is to help ease some of the financial stress first-generation students may experience so they can focus on their educational journey."

Want to make a difference in the lives of first-generation students at Jax State? Text FIRSTGEN to 91999 to give today!
New York (Special to Informed Comment)  Earlier this week Columbia University started suspending the students who refused to leave the encampment they built to protest Columbias support of Israels war against Palestinians. The students had responded by occupying Hamilton Hall, mirroring the action that initiated the 1968 protests against the Vietnam War which ended a week later on 30 April when 1000 students were arrested in a bloody confrontation with NY police.

This week, the police moved in again, arresting the student protesters. (They were all students, with no outsiders.)

I was one of the people arrested in the Math Building in 1968. I am cheering on the students who are calling Columbia to account for its support of the US/Israeli war machine. Sadly, Ive heard a lot of people distance themselves from todays actions by focusing on differences between then and now.

Duh . . . the world is vastly changed. . . and many books and PhD theses will be written to explore and understand those differences . . . but for me, there is something fundamental which connects our actions in 1968 and those of the students today  Taking a Stand Against Injustice, in solidarity with oppressed people on the other side of the world and in our own backyard.

MSNBC Video: Students were crying in despair: Columbia professor slams school calling NYPD

The important dividing line isnt between 1968 and 2024. Rather its between those who refuse to take sides and those who understand that in times of war, there is no defensible middle ground. At the end of the day, the liberal position which finds fault with both the Zionist and Palestinian positions is a function of privilege and fundamentally ends up supporting the status quo.

To the students who had been Hamilton Hall at Columbia and to the young people all over the world who are taking action . . . THANK YOU. I promise to do everything I can to marshall support for your courageous efforts on behalf of the Palestinian people

Bob Stein was at Columbia University in 1967 and came down from Harvard in 1968 to be with protesting friends at the Math Building. He was arrested when the police barged in soon thereafter.
( Tomdispatch.com )  Hes a funny little chap: a sharp dresser with a sleek grey jacket, a white waistcoat, red shorts, and a small grey crest for a hat. With his shiny black eyes and stubby black beak, hes quite the looker. Like the chihuahua of the bird world, the tufted titmouse has no idea hes tiny. He swaggers right up to the feeder, shouldering bigger birds out of the way.

A few weeks ago, I wouldnt have known a tufted titmouse from a downy woodpecker. (We have those, too, along with red-bellied woodpeckers, who really should have been named for their bright orange mohawks). This spring I decided to get to know my feathered neighbors with whom Im sharing an island off Cape Cod, Massachusetts. So I turned up last Saturday for a Birding 101 class, where I learned, among other things, how to make binoculars work effectively while still wearing glasses.

At Birding 101, I met around 15 birders (and proto-birders like me) whose ages skewed towards my (ancient!) end of the scale. Not all were old, however, or white; we were a motley bunch. Among us was a man my age with such acute and educated hearing that he (like many birders) identified species by call as we walked. I asked him if, when he hears a bird he knows, he also sees it in his mind.

Its funny you should ask, he responded. I once spent almost a year in a hospital, being treated for cancer. I lost every sense but my hearing and got used to listening instead of looking. So, yes, I see them when I hear them.

Human-Bird Connections

Im not expecting to convince everyone who reads this to grab a pair of binoculars and start scanning the treetops, but its worth thinking a bit about those tiny dinosaurs and their connections to us human beings. They have a surprising range of abilities, from using tools and solving complicated puzzles to exhibiting variations in regional cultures. My bird-listening friend was telling me about how the song sparrows in Maine begin their trills with the same four notes as the ones here in Cape Cod, but what follows is completely different, as if theyre speaking another dialect. Some birds cooperate with humans by hunting with us. Others, like Alex, the world-famous grey parrot, have learned to decode words in our language, recognize shapes and colors, and even count as high as six. (If youd like to know more, take a look at The Bird Way by Jennifer Ackerman.)

We owe a lot to birds. Many of us eat them, or at least their eggs. In fact, the more I know about chickens, in particular, the harder it becomes to countenance the way theyre farmed in this country, whether for their meat or their eggs. Most chickens destined for dinner plates are raised by farmers contracted to big chicken brands like Tyson or super-stores like Walmart and Costco. They live surrounded by their own feces and, as the New York Timess Nicholas Kristof has written, over the last half-century, theyve been bred to grow extremely fast and unnaturally large (more than four times as big as the average broiler in 1957):

The chickens grow enormous breasts, because thats the meat consumers want, so the birds legs sometimes splay or collapse. Some topple onto their backs and then cant get up. Others spend so much time on their bellies that they sometimes suffer angry, bloody rashes called ammonia burns; these are a poultry version of bed sores.

Those factory farms threaten not only chickens but many mammals, including humans, because they provide an incubation site for bird flus that can cross the species barrier.

Birding in Gaza

Many of us, myself included a few times a year, do eat birds, but an extraordinary number of people all over the world are also beguiled and delighted by them in their wild state. People deeper into bird culture than I am make a distinction between birdwatchers  anyone who pays a bit of attention to birds and can perhaps identify a few local species like the handsome rock dove, better known as a pigeon  and birders, people who devote time (and often money) to the practice, who may travel to see particular birds, and who most likely maintain a birding life list of every species theyve spotted.

Mandy and Lara Sirdah of Gaza City are birders. Those twin sisters, now in their late forties, started photographing birds in their backyard almost a decade ago. They began posting their pictures on social media, eventually visiting marshlands and other sites of vibrant bird activity in the Gaza Strip. Theyre not trained biologists, but their work documenting the birds of Gaza was crucial to the publication of that territorys first bird checklist in 2023.

If it werent for the Israeli occupation  and now the full-scale war that has killed more than 34,000 people, 72% of them women and children, and damaged or destroyed 62% of all housing  Gaza would be ideal for birding. Like much of the Middle East, the territory lies under one of the worlds great flyways for millions of migrating birds. Its Mediterranean coast attracts shorebirds. Wadi Gaza, a river-fed ravine and floodplain that snakes its way across the middle of Gaza, is home to more than 100 bird species, as well as rare amphibians and other riparian creatures. In other words, that strip of land is a birders paradise.

Or it would be a paradise, except that, as the Daily Beast reported a year ago (long before the current war began):

Being a bird-watcher in Gaza means facing endless restrictions. Israel controls Gazas territorial waters, airspace, and the movement of people and goods, except at the border with Egypt. Most Palestinians who grew up in Gaza since the closure imposed in 2007, when Hamas seized control from the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority, have never left the 25-by-7-mile strip.

Gazan birders encounter other barriers, as well. Even if they can afford to buy binoculars or cameras with telephoto lenses, the Israeli government views such equipment as having dual use potential (that is, possibly serving military as well as civilian purposes) and so makes those items very difficult to acquire. It took the Sirdahs, for example, five months of wrangling and various permission documents simply to get their birding equipment into Gaza.

Getting equipment in was hard enough, but getting out of Gaza, for any reason, has become nearly impossible for its Palestinian residents. Along with most of its 2.3 million inhabitants, the sisters simply couldnt leave the territory, even before the present nightmare, to attend birding conferences, visit exhibitions of their photography, or receive awards for their work. They were imprisoned on a strip of land thats about the size of the island in Massachusetts where Ive been watching birds lately. When I try to imagine life in Gaza today, I sometimes think about what it would be like to shove a couple of million people into this tiny place, chase them with bombs and missiles from one end of it to the other, and then start all over again, as Israel seems to be about to do in the southern Gazan city of Rafah with its million-plus refugees.

Wiping Out Knowledge, and Knowledge Workers

The Sirdahs collaborated on their bird checklist project with Abdel Fattah Rabou, a much-honored professor of environmental studies at the Islamic University of Gaza. Rabou himself has devoted many years to the study and conservation of birds and other wildlife in Gaza. The Islamic University of Gaza was one of the first institutional targets of the current war. It was bombed by the Israeli Defense Forces on October 11, 2023. Since then, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the project of wiping out Gazas extensive repositories of knowledge and sites of learning has essentially been completed:

The destruction of Gazas universities began with the bombing of the Islamic University in the first week of the war and continued with airstrikes on Al-Azhar University on November 4. Since then, all of Gazas academic institutions have been destroyed, as well as many schools, libraries, archives, and other educational institutions.

Indeed, the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights has observed that with more than 80% of schools in Gaza damaged or destroyed, it may be reasonable to ask if there is an intentional effort to comprehensively destroy the Palestinian education system, an action known as scholasticide, U.N. experts report:

After six months of military assault, more than 5,479 students, 261 teachers and 95 university professors have been killed in Gaza, and over 7,819 students and 756 teachers have been injured  with numbers growing each day. At least 60 percent of educational facilities, including 13 public libraries, have been damaged or destroyed and at least 625,000 students have no access to education. Another 195 heritage sites, 227 mosques and three churches have also been damaged or destroyed, including the Central Archives of Gaza, containing 150 years of history. Israa University, the last remaining university in Gaza, was demolished by the Israeli military on 17 January 2024.

I wanted to know whether Professor Rabou was among those 95 university faculty killed so far in the Gaza war, so I did what those of us with Internet access do these days: I googled him and found his Facebook page. He is, it turns out, still living and still posting, most recently about the desperate conditions  illness, pollution, sewage rash  experienced by refugees in temporary shelter centers near him. A few days earlier, hed uploaded a more personal photograph: a plastic bag of white stuff, inscribed with blue Arabic lettering. The first drop of rain, he wrote, Alhamdulillah [thank God], the first bag of flour enters my house in months as a help.

The Sirdah twins, too, still remain alive, and they continue to post on their Instagram account.

Along with scholasticide, Gaza is living through an ecocide, a vastly sped-up version of the one our species seems hell-bent on spreading across the planet. As the Guardian reports, Gaza has lost almost half its tree cover and farmland, with much of the latter reduced to packed earth. And the news only gets worse: [S]oil and groundwater have been contaminated by munitions and toxins; the sea is choked with sewage and waste; the air polluted by smoke and particulate matter. Gaza has become, and could remain for years to come, essentially unlivable. And yet millions of people must try to live there. At what point, one wonders, do the -cides  scholastic-, eco-, and the rest  add up to genocide?

Birds of Gaza

Gazas wild birds arent the only birds in Gaza. Caged songbirds can evidently still be bought in markets and some of Rafahs desperate inhabitants seek them out, hoping their music will mask the sounds of war. Voice of America recounts the story of a woman evacuee from northern Gaza who, halfway through her journey south, realized that shed left her birds behind. She returned to rescue her caged avian friends, displaying a deep and tender affection for her winged companions. However, Professor Rabou is less sanguine about the practice. As a people under occupation, he says, we shouldnt put birds in cages.

Birds of Gaza also happens to be the name of an international art project created to remember the individual children killed in the war. The premise is simple: children around the world choose a specific child who has died and draw, paint, or fabricate a bird in his or her honor. Participants can choose from, God help us, a database of over 6,500 children who have died in Gaza since last October, then upload photos of their creations to the Birds of Gaza website. From Great Britain to South Africa to Japan, children have been doing just that.

Did you know that Gaza  well, Palestine  even has a national bird? The Palestine sunbird is a gorgeous creature, crowned in iridescent green and blue, and sporting a curved beak perfect for extracting nectar from plants. The West Bank Palestinian artist Khaled Jarrar designed a postage stamp celebrating the sunbird. This bird is a symbol of freedom and movement, he says. It can fly anywhere.

Birding for a Better World

Back in the United States, the Feminist Bird Club (with chapters across North America and Europe) is committed to making birding accessible to everyone, especially people who may not have had safe access to the outdoors in the past. There is no reason why we cant celebrate birds and support our most cherished beliefs in equity and justice at the same time, they say. For us, its not either/or. Last year they published Birding for a Better World, a book about how people can genuinely connect with beings  avian and human  whose lives are very different from theirs. They sponsor a monthly virtual Birders for Palestine action hour, in which participants can learn what they can do to support the people of Palestine, including their birders.

As I watch a scrum of brilliant yellow goldfinches scrabbling for a perch on the bird feeder in my yard, knowing that, on this beautiful little island, Im about as safe as a person can be, I think about the horrors going on half a world away, paid for, at least in part, with my taxes. Indeed, Congress just approved billions more dollars in direct military aid for Israel, even as the State Department released its 2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. As the Jerusalem Post reports, in the section on Israel, the report documents more than a dozen types of human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary detention, conflict-related sexual violence or punishment, and the punishment of family members for alleged offenses by a relative.

Somehow, its cheering to imagine that, in spite of everything, there are still a few people birding in a devastated Gaza.

Copyright 2024 Rebecca Gordon

Via Tomdispatch.com
Thunder Bay, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - May 2, 2024) - Benton Resources Inc. (TSXV: BEX) ("Benton" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into two separate agreements to acquire a 100% interest in six strategic mineral licences (the "Property") encompassing 52 claim units that are adjacent to or within Benton's current claim block at the Great Burnt Copper-Gold Project located in Newfoundland. Portions of the newly acquired Property host interesting geophysical and geological targets that will be subject to investigation and exploration in the coming months. Additionally, the acquisition of the Property is viewed to be strategic in nature should future development require supporting infrastructure at the Great Burnt Copper-Gold project. The Property was optioned from Stephen Stockley Agriculture and Fabrication Inc. and its partners Stephen Stockley, Dylan Oram and Penny Boulos (collectively "SSAF") (40 mineral claims in four licenses) and an individual prospector, Mervin Quinlan ("Quinlan") (12 mineral claims in two licenses). Benton is very pleased to add this strategic land position as it prepares to commence its aggressive exploration season, including its Phase 3 diamond drilling program.

Terms - SSAF Option Agreement

The Company has the option to acquire a 100% interest in four licenses from SSAF by making payments and incurring expenditures as follows:

Pay to SSAF $10,000 upon signing the agreement and issue 100,000 common shares of the Company upon receipt of regulatory approval (the "Effective Date");

Pay to SSAF $10,000 and issue 100,000 common shares of the Company on the first anniversary of the Effective Date;

Pay to SSAF $10,000 and issue 100,000 common shares of the Company on the second anniversary of the Effective Date;

Pay to SSAF $10,000 and issue 100,000 common shares of the Company on the third anniversary of the Effective Date; and

Complete $100,000 in exploration expenditures on the licenses on or before the third anniversary of the Effective Date.

The SSAF licences will be subject to the grant of a 2% Net Smelter Return Royalty ("NSR") in favour of SSAF in which one-half (1%) of can be purchased by the Company by paying SSAF $1 million. The Company retains the right to elect to expedite the above payments and expenditures.

Angie Stockley, President of SSAF Inc. and President of the NL Minerals Collective, stated: "We are excited to extend our partnership with Benton Resources, reinforcing our joint commitment to uncovering the vast potential of Newfoundland's mineral resources. Benton's consistent high-grade copper findings and expanded exploration efforts at the Great Burnt Project promise to bring substantial benefits to stakeholders and the local community alike. As Benton builds on their proven track record of responsible development and impressive new findings, we look forward to the momentum they are helping drive for the future of mining in Central Newfoundland".

Terms - Quinlan Purchase Agreement

The Company has agreed to acquire a 100% interest in two licenses from Quinlan with terms set out as follows:

Pay to Quinlan $12,000 upon signing the agreement; and

Issue 100,000 common shares of the Company to Quinlan upon receipt of regulatory approval.

The Quinlan licences will be subject to the grant of a 2% NSR in favour of Quinlan in which one-half (1%) of can be purchased by the Company by paying Quinlan $1 million.

Great Burnt Copper-Gold Project

Benton is currently acquiring a 70% interest in the Great Burnt Project from Spruce Ridge Resources Inc. ("Spruce Ridge") by completing $2.5 million in exploration expenditures which is expected to be completed in the coming months. Upon completion of this expenditure milestone, Benton and Spruce Ridge will form a 70%-30% participating interest joint-venture with Benton being the operator.

To date, Benton has delineated exceptional exploration targets at the Great Burnt Project with drilling from 2016, 2018 and 2020 by Spruce Ridge, as well as recent drilling from 2023 and 2024 by Benton returning excellent results with selective highlights including:

GB-16-08 : 7.50 m of 9.45% Cu, including 3.00 m of 19.30% Cu

GB-16-09 : 5.75 m of 6.68% Cu, including 1.50 m of 11.70% Cu

GB-18-05 : 20.94 m of 6.21% Cu, including 6.98 m of 10.71% Cu

GB-18-06 : 9.97 m of 7.45% Cu, including 5.03 m of 11.42% Cu

GB-20-05 : 27.20 m of 8.06% Cu, including 7.75 m of 16.88% Cu

GB-20-20 : 22.75 m of 6.89% Cu, including 12.55 m of 10.59% Cu

GB-23-02 : 13.00 m of 8.31% Cu, incl 3.00 m of 12.80% Cu

GB-23-04 : 26.87 m of 7.18% Cu, incl 11.16 m of 10.28% Cu

GB-23-07 : 12.30 m of 7.20% Cu, incl 7.00 m 10.60% Cu

GB-23-12 : 25.42 m of 5.51% Cu, incl 1.00 m of 8.77% Cu, 82.00g/t Ag, 4.43g/t Au

GB-23-15 : 22.59 m of 5.03% Cu, incl 0.50 m of 20.00% Cu

GB-23-16 : 13.67 m of 5.80% Cu, incl 1.00 m of 20.60% Cu

GB-23-18 : 8.17 m of 4.22% Cu, incl 7.05 m of 4.11% Cu

GB-23-21 : 24.00 m of 5.81% Cu, incl 7.00 m of 11.47% Cu

GB-23-22 : 21.68 m of 3.59% Cu, incl 2.00 m of 15.3% Cu

GB-24-33 : 20.92 m of 2.26% Cu, incl 4.70 m 3.71% Cu

GB-24-32 : 11.29 m of 3.10% Cu, incl 2.82 m of 9.88% Cu

GB-24-37: 16.10 m of 2.23% Cu, incl 4.50 m of 7.25% Cu

Exploration at the South Pond Zone has identified potential for both copper and gold along several kilometres of strike. Highlights of the 2021 Spruce Ridge drill program include:

SP-21-01 : 1.69 g/t Au over 51.00 m, including 3.19g/t Au over 11.00 m, within 10 m of surface

SP-21-03 : 2.36 g/t Au over 15.00 m, including 11.33g/t Au over 1.00 m

SP-21-08 : 1.75 g/t Au over 21.20 m, including 2.82g/t Au over 10.20 m

SP-21-11 : 1.34 g/t Au over 17.60 m, including 2.48g/t Au over 4.20 m

SP-21-14 : 2.06 g/t Au over 21.00 m

SP-21-16: 1.72 g/t Au over 10.00 m

Note that widths quoted above are true core length, true widths are estimated at approximately 70% of core lengths.

Finally, further to the Company's January 19, 2024 news release, the Company wishes to provide further information and clarification regarding its agreement with Grove Corporate Services ("Grove"). Grove has been engaged to provide IR Services including, but not limited to, being the first point of contact for shareholder enquiries, investor email distribution, news release editing, set up and dissemination, and social media management. The Company further confirms that it has an arm's-length relationship with Grove and that Grove does not have any interest, directly or indirectly, in the Company, or any right or intent to acquire such an interest.

QA/QC Protocols

Core and rock samples, including standards, blanks and duplicates, are submitted to Eastern Analytical Ltd., Springdale, Newfoundland for preparation and analysis. All samples were acquired by saw-cut (channels/drill core) with one-half submitted for assay and one-half retained for reference, or hand (rocks) and delivered, by Benton personnel, in sealed bags, to the Springdale lab of Eastern Analytical, which is an accredited assay lab that conforms to the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025. Samples are analysed using Eastern's Au (Fire assay) @ 30g + ICP-34 method that delivers a 35-element package utilizing a 200mg subsample totally dissolved in four acids and analysed by ICP-OES analytical technique. Overlimits are analysed with Eastern's atomic absorption method, using a 0.200g to 2.00g of sample, digested with three acids. All reported assays are uncut. Eastern Analytical Ltd. achieved ISO 17025 accreditation in February 2014 (for more details on the scope of accreditation visit the CALA website).

QP

Stephen House (P.Geo.), Vice President of Exploration for Benton Resources Inc., the 'Qualified Person' under National Instrument 43-101, has approved the scientific and technical disclosure in this news release and prepared or supervised its preparation.

About Benton Resources Inc.

Benton Resources is a well-financed mineral exploration company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol BEX. Benton has a diversified, highly prospective property portfolio and holds large equity positions in other mining companies that are advancing high-quality assets. Whenever possible, BEX retains net smelter return (NSR) royalties with potential long-term cash flow.

Benton is focused on advancing its high-grade Copper-Gold Great Burnt Project in central Newfoundland, which has a Mineral Resource estimate of 667,000 tonnes @ 3.21% Cu Indicated and 482,000 @ 2.35% Cu Inferred. The Project has an excellent geological setting covering 25km of strike and boasts six known Cu-Au-Ag zones over 15km that are all open for expansion. Further potential for discovery is excellent given the extensive number of untested geophysical targets and Cu-Au soil anomalies. Phase 1 and 2 drill programs returned impressive results including 25.42 m of 5.51% Cu, including 9.78 m of 8.31% Cu, and 1.00 m of 12.70% Cu.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Benton Resources Inc.,

"Stephen Stares"

Stephen Stares, President

Parties interested in seeking more information about properties available for option can contact Mr. Stares at the number below.

For further information, please contact:

Stephen Stares, President & CEO

Phone: 807-474-9020

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Iryna Zheliasko, Investor Relations

Phone: 647-249-9298 ext. 322

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Website: www.bentonresources.ca

Twitter: @BentonResources

Facebook: @BentonResourcesBEX

THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements relate to information that is based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements."

Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis and on acceptable terms; risks related to the outcome of legal proceedings; political and regulatory risks associated with mining and exploration; risks related to the maintenance of stock exchange listings; risks related to environmental regulation and liability; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities or the completion of feasibility studies; the uncertainty of profitability; risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; results of prefeasibility and feasibility studies, and the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; risks related to gold price and other commodity price fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to the Company's prospects, properties and business detailed elsewhere in the Company's disclosure record. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations or projections.
DENVER / May 02, 2024 / Business Wire / Vista Gold Corp. (NYSE American and TSX: VGZ) (Vista or the Company) today announced its unaudited financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2024, with cash totaling $11.9 million at quarter-end. All dollar amounts in this press release are in U.S. dollars.

Frederick H. Earnest, President and CEO of Vista, said, Our focus in 2024 is on strengthening our balance sheet, advancing evaluations of an initially smaller-scale Mt Todd project with the option for subsequent staged expansion, continuing our work with CIBC Capital Markets to maximize shareholder value, and successfully executing our health, safety, and environmental initiatives.

During the first quarter, we received the second payment under the recent royalty agreement in the amount of $7 million and look forward to receiving the final payment of $10 million to further strengthen our balance sheet. We updated the Mt Todd feasibility study to include first quarter 2024 quotes for material capital and operating costs, the current outlook for long-term gold price and foreign exchange rates, and the previously announced royalty. The study demonstrated project economics approximately the same or slightly better than reported two years ago. We also commenced a drilling program targeting shallow gold resources at the north end of the Batman deposit which is expected to add near-surface (i.e. low stripping ratio) gold resources, benefiting the mine production schedule and project cash flows in early years of production, and published our inaugural environmental, social, and governance report.

Mr. Earnest concluded, We will continue to prioritize the efficient use of our cash and the execution of our corporate strategy to create long-term value for our shareholders.

Summary of Financial Results

Vista reported a consolidated net loss of $1.1 million, or $0.01 per common share, for the quarter ended March 31, 2024, compared to a consolidated net loss of $2.0 million, or $0.02 per common share for the quarter ended March 31, 2023.

Cash and cash equivalents totaled $11.9 million at March 31, 2024, compared to $6.1 million at December 31, 2023. The Company continued to have no debt.

Management Conference Call

Managements conference call to review financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2024 and to discuss corporate and project activities is scheduled for May 7, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. MDT (4:00 p.m. EDT).

Participant Toll Free: +1 (800) 717-1738

Participant International: +1 (289) 514-5100

Conference ID: 88438

This call will be archived and available at www.vistagold.com after May 7, 2024. An audio replay will also be available through May 21, 2024 by calling toll-free in North America +1 (888) 660-6264 or +1 (289) 819-1325 using passcode 88438#.

If you are unable to access the audio or phone-in on the day of the conference call, please email your questions to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

About Vista Gold Corp.

Vista is a gold project developer. The Companys flagship asset is Mt Todd, located in the mining friendly jurisdiction of Northern Territory, Australia. Situated approximately 250 km southeast of Darwin, Mt Todd is one of the largest development stage opportunities in Australia and demonstrates compelling economics. All major environmental and operating permits necessary to initiate development of Mt Todd are in place.

Mt Todd benefits from its location in a leading mining jurisdiction and offers opportunities to add value through growth of mineral reserves, alternative development strategies, and other de-risking activities.

For further information about Vista or Mt Todd, please contact Pamela Solly, Vice President of Investor Relations, at (720) 981-1185 or visit the Companys website at www.vistagold.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this news release that address activities, events or developments that we expect or anticipate will or may occur in the future, including such things as our focus in 2024 is on strengthening our balance sheet, advancing evaluations of an initially smaller-scale Mt Todd project with the option for subsequent staged expansion, continuing our work with CIBC Capital Markets to maximize shareholder value, and successfully executing our health, safety, and environmental initiatives; our belief that we will receive the final payment of $10 million under the recent royalty agreement and that this payment will further strengthen our balance sheet; our belief that the updated feasibility study includes first quarter 2024 quotes for material capital and operating costs, the current outlook for long-term gold price and foreign exchange rates, and the previously announced royalty; our belief that the feasibility study demonstrates project economics approximately the same or slightly better than reported two years ago; our expectation that the drilling program targeting shallow gold resources at the north end of the Batman deposit will add near-surface (i.e. low stripping ratio) gold resources, benefiting the mine production schedule and project cash flows in early years of production; we will continue to prioritize the efficient use of our cash and the execution of our corporate strategy to create long-term value for our shareholders; statements regarding Mt Todd being one of the largest development stage opportunities in Australia and demonstrating compelling economics; our belief that Mt Todd benefits from its location in a leading mining jurisdiction; and our belief that Mt Todd offers opportunities to add value through growth of mineral reserves, alternative development strategies, and other de-risking activities are forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. The material factors and assumptions used to develop the forward-looking statements and forward-looking information contained in this news release include the following: our forecasts and expected cash flows; our projected capital and operating costs; our expectations regarding mining and metallurgical recoveries; mine life and production rates; that laws or regulations impacting mine development or mining activities will remain consistent; our approved business plans, our mineral resource and reserve estimates and results of preliminary economic assessments; preliminary feasibility studies and feasibility studies on our projects, if any; our experience with regulators; political and social support of the mining industry in Australia; our experience and knowledge of the Australian mining industry and our expectations of economic conditions and the price of gold. When used in this news release, the words optimistic, potential, indicate, expect, intend, hopes, believe, may, will, if, anticipate and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Such factors include, among others, uncertainty of resource and reserve estimates, uncertainty as to the Companys future operating costs and ability to raise capital; risks relating to cost increases for capital and operating costs; risks of shortages and fluctuating costs of equipment or supplies; risks relating to fluctuations in the price of gold; the inherently hazardous nature of mining-related activities; potential effects on our operations of environmental regulations in the countries in which it operates; risks due to legal proceedings; risks relating to political and economic instability in certain countries in which it operates; uncertainty as to the results of bulk metallurgical test work; and uncertainty as to completion of critical milestones for Mt Todd; as well as those factors discussed under the headings Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements and Risk Factors in the Companys latest Annual Report on Form 10-K as filed in March 2024, and other documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Canadian securities regulatory authorities. Although we have attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements and forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information; whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Kelowna, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 1, 2024) - F3 Uranium Corp. (TSXV: FUU) (OTCQB: FUUFF) ("F3 Uranium" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement with Red Cloud Securities Inc., as lead underwriter and sole bookrunner, on behalf of a syndicate of underwriters (collectively, the "Underwriters"), pursuant to which the Underwriters have agreed to purchase for resale 13,392,857 flow-through units of the Company (each, a "FT Unit") at a price of C$0.56 per FT Unit (the "Offering Price") on a "bought deal" basis in a private placement for gross proceeds of C$7,500,000 (the "Underwritten Offering").

Each FT Unit will consist of one common share of the Company (each, a "Common Share") to be issued as a "flow-through share" within the meaning of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (each, a "FT Share") and one half of one Common Share purchase warrant (each whole warrant, a "Warrant"). Each whole Warrant shall entitle the holder to purchase one Common Share at a price of C$0.56 at any time on or before that date which is 24 months after the Closing Date (as defined below).

The Company will grant to the Underwriters an option, exercisable up to 48 hours prior to the Closing Date, to purchase for resale up to an additional 2,008,929 FT Units at the Offering Price for additional gross proceeds of up to C$1,125,000 (the "Over-Allotment Option", and together with the Underwritten Offering, the "Offering").

The Company will have the right to include a list of subscribers to purchase up to 892,857 FT Units at the Offering Price for gross proceeds of up to C$500,000 under the Offering (the "President's List"). The President's List will be allocated under the Over-Allotment Option and, for greater certainty, all purchasers under the Over-Allotment Option will receive FT Units on the terms of the Offering and subject to certain resale restrictions as described below.

A total of 8,928,571 FT Units under the Underwritten Offering, representing gross proceeds of up to C$4,999,999.20, will be offered by way of the "listed issuer financing" exemption under Part 5A under National Instrument 45-106 - Prospectus Exemptions ("NI 45-106") in all the provinces of Canada with the exception of Quebec (the "Selling Jurisdictions"). The Common Shares issuable pursuant to the sale of these FT Units are expected to be immediately freely tradeable under applicable Canadian securities legislation if sold to purchasers resident in Canada. The remaining FT Units to be sold under the Offering, including the FT Units sold under the Over-Allotment Option and President's List, will be offered by way of the "accredited investor" and "minimum amount investment" exemptions under NI 45-106 in the Selling Jurisdictions. The Common Shares issuable from the sale of such FT Units will be subject to a restricted period in Canada ending on the date that is four months plus one day following the closing of the Offering as defined in Subsection 2.5(2) of Multilateral Instrument 45-102 - Resale of Securities.

The Offering is expected to close on May 23, 2024 (the "Closing Date"). The Company will pay to the Underwriters a cash commission of 5.5% of the gross proceeds raised in respect of the Offering (the "Underwriters' Commission"). In addition, the Company will issue to the Underwriters warrants of the Company (each warrant, a "Broker Warrant"), exercisable for a period of 24 months following the Closing Date, to acquire in aggregate that number of Common Shares which is equal to 5.5% of the number of FT Units sold under the Offering at an exercise price equal to C$0.56 per Common Share. All FT Units sold to purchasers under the President's List will be subject to a reduced Underwriters' Commission of 2.75% and that number of Broker Warrants equal to 2.75% of the number of FT Units sold to purchasers under the President's List.

The proceeds of the Offering will be used by the Company to fund exploration of the Company's projects in the Athabasca Basin.

There is an offering document related to the Offering that will be accessed under the Company's profile at www.sedarplus.ca and at the Company's website at www.f3uranium.com. Prospective investors should read this offering document before making an investment decision.

About F3 Uranium Corp.

F3 Uranium is a uranium project generator and exploration company, focusing on projects in the Athabasca Basin, home to some of the world's largest high grade uranium discovery. F3 Uranium currently has 18 projects in the Athabasca Basin. Several of F3's projects are near large uranium discoveries including Triple R, Arrow and Hurricane.

The TSX Venture Exchange and the Canadian Securities Exchange have not reviewed, approved or disapproved the contents of this press release, and do not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

F3 Uranium Corp.

750-1620 Dickson Avenue

Kelowna, BC V1Y9Y2

Contact Information

Investor Relations

Telephone: 778 484 8030

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

"Dev Randhawa"

Dev Randhawa, CEO

Cautionary Statement: F3 Uranium Corp.

This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities laws, which is based upon the Company's current internal expectations, estimates, projections, assumptions and beliefs. The forward-looking information included in this press release are made only as of the date of this press release. Such forward-looking statements and forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, statements concerning the Company's expectations with respect to the Offering; the use of proceeds of the Offering; completion of the Offering and the date of such completion. Forward-looking statements or forward-looking information relate to future events and future performance and include statements regarding the expectations and beliefs of management based on information currently available to the Company. Such forward-looking statements and forward-looking information often, but not always, can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "potential", "is expected", "anticipated", "is targeted", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or the negatives thereof or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved.

Forward-looking statements or forward-looking information are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, including, without limitation, risks and uncertainties relating to: general business and economic conditions; regulatory approval for the Offering; completion of the Offering; changes in commodity prices; the supply and demand for, deliveries of, and the level and volatility of the price of uranium and other metals; changes in project parameters as exploration plans continue to be refined; costs of exploration including labour and equipment costs; risks and uncertainties related to the ability to obtain or maintain necessary licenses, permits or surface rights; changes in credit market conditions and conditions in financial markets generally; the ability to procure equipment and operating supplies in sufficient quantities and on a timely basis; the availability of qualified employees and contractors; the impact of value of the Canadian dollar and U.S. dollar, foreign exchange rates on costs and financial results; market competition; exploration results not being consistent with the Company's expectations; changes in taxation rates or policies; technical difficulties in connection with mining activities; changes in environmental regulation; environmental compliance issues; other risks of the mining industry; and risks related to the effects of COVID-19. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that could cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. For more information on the Company and the risks and challenges of its business, investors should review the Company's annual filings that are available at www.sedarplus.ca. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made as of the date of this press release and F3 Uranium Corp. disclaim 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.
TORONTO, May 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Revival Gold Inc. (TSXV: RVG, OTCQX: RVLGF) (Revival Gold or the Company) is pleased to announce the successful completion of its previously announced brokered private placement for gross proceeds of $7,167,464 (the Offering). The Offering was co-led by Paradigm Capital Inc. and BMO Capital Markets, on behalf of a syndicate of agents, which included Beacon Securities Limited (the Agents).

The Offering was completed in connection with the proposed acquisition by the Company of all the issued and outstanding shares of Ensign Minerals Inc. (Ensign) pursuant to a three-cornered amalgamation (the Transaction) between the Company, Ensign, and Revival Gold Amalgamation Corp. (Revival Subco), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company. Shareholders of Ensign overwhelmingly approved the Transaction at a meeting of shareholders held on May 1, 2024. Closing of the Transaction is expected to occur within the next couple of weeks and is subject to the satisfaction of certain terms and conditions. Please see the Companys press release dated April 10, 2024, for further information on the Transaction. The Transaction remains subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions and the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (the TSXV)

Under the Offering, 22,398,325 subscription receipts of Revival Subco (the Subscription Receipts) were sold by Revival Subco at a price of $0.32 per Subscription Receipt (the Issue Price). Each Subscription Receipt represents the right of a holder to receive, upon satisfaction or waiver of the Escrow Release Conditions (as defined below), without payment of additional consideration, one common share of Revival Subco (a Revival Subco Share) and one-half of one Revival Subco common share purchase warrant (each whole such warrant, a Revival Subco Warrant), in accordance with the terms and conditions of a subscription receipt agreement entered into among the Company, Revival Subco and Marrelli Trust Company Limited (the Subscription Receipt Agent) dated May 2, 2024 (the Subscription Receipt Agreement). Pursuant to the terms of the Transaction, the Offering and the Subscription Receipt Agreement, each Revival Subco Share issued under the Offering will be exchanged for one common share of the Company (a Revival Share), and each Revival Subco Warrant will be exchanged for one Revival Share purchase warrant (a "Revival Warrant"). Each Revival Warrant will be exercisable by the holder thereof for one Revival Share (each, a Revival Warrant Share) at an exercise price of C$0.45 per Revival Warrant Share for a period of thirty-six (36) months following the satisfaction or waiver of the Escrow Release Conditions, subject to adjustments in certain events.

The net proceeds of the Offering are expected to be used by the Company, following completion of the Transaction, to complete a Preliminary Economic Assessment on Ensigns Mercur Project, advance permitting preparations on the Companys Beartrack-Arnett Project (Beartrack-Arnett), continue exploration for high-grade material at Beartrack-Arnett, and for working capital and general corporate purposes.

As consideration for their services, the Agents are entitled to receive: (i) a cash commission of $430,047; and (ii) 1,343,900 non-transferable compensation warrants (the Compensation Warrants). Each Compensation Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Revival Subco Share at the Issue Price for a period of twenty-four (24) months from the satisfaction of the Escrow Release Conditions. 50% of the Agents aggregate cash commission and corporate finance fee, and the Compensation Warrants, were paid and issued, respectively, to the Agents upon closing of the Offering, with the remainder to be paid to the Agents upon satisfaction or waiver of the Escrow Release Conditions.

The net proceeds from the sale of the Subscription Receipts (the Escrowed Funds), net of 50% of the aggregate cash commission and the Agents expenses have been deposited in escrow and will be held by the Subscription Receipt Agent pending the satisfaction or waiver of the Escrow Release Conditions.

The escrow release conditions for the Offering (the Escrow Release Conditions) are as follows:

Written confirmation from Revival Gold and Revival Subco of the completion or irrevocable waiver or satisfaction of all conditions precedent to the Transaction (except such conditions that can only be satisfied at the effective time of the Transaction);

The receipt of all required regulatory, and shareholder approvals, as applicable, for the Transaction and the Offering, including the conditional approval of the listing of the Revival Shares to be issued in connection with the Offering on the TSXV;

Written confirmation to the Agents from each of the Company and Ensign that all conditions of the Transaction have been satisfied or waived, other than release of the Escrowed Funds, and that the Transaction shall be completed forthwith upon release of the Escrowed Funds;

The distribution of the Revival Shares following the satisfaction of the Escrow Release Conditions being exempt from applicable Canadian prospectus and registration requirements of applicable securities laws and not subject to any hold or restricted period;

The Company, Revival Subco and Ensign shall not be in breach or default of any of its covenants or obligations under the Subscription Receipt Agreement or the agency agreement dated May 2, 2024 entered into among Revival, Revival Subco, Ensign and the Agents (the Agency Agreement), except (in the case of the Agency Agreement only) for those breaches or defaults that have been waived by the Agents and all conditions set out in the Agency Agreement shall have been fulfilled; and

Revival Gold, Revival Subco, Ensign, and the lead agent (on its own behalf and on behalf of the Agents) having delivered a joint notice to the Subscription Receipt Agent confirming that the conditions set forth have been satisfied or waived (to the extent such waiver is permitted).

In the event that the Escrow Release Conditions are not satisfied on or before the date which is 75 days following the closing of the Offering, or if prior to such time, the Company advises the lead agent or announces to the public that it does not intend to or will be unable to satisfy the Escrow Release Conditions or that the Transaction has been terminated or abandoned, the net escrowed proceeds under the Offering (plus any interest accrued thereon) will be returned to the holders of the Subscription Receipts on a pro-rata basis and the Subscription Receipts will be cancelled without any further action on the part of the holders. To the extent that the escrowed proceeds are not sufficient to refund the aggregate issue price paid to the holders of the Subscription Receipts, the Company will be responsible and liable to contribute such amounts as are necessary to satisfy any shortfall.

The Subscription Receipts are subject to a hold period of four months and one day from the date of issuance. The Revival Shares and Revival Warrants to be issued upon the conversion of Subscription Receipts and closing of the Transaction will not be subject to a hold period under applicable Canadian securities laws.

Certain insiders of the Company, namely Hugh Agro, Robert Chausse, Wayne Hubert, Michael Mansfield, Maura Lendon and Tim Warman (together, the Insiders) subscribed to the Offering for an aggregate of 1,402,950 Subscription Receipts. This issuance of Subscription Receipts to the Insiders constitutes a related party transaction as such term is defined under Multilateral Instrument 61-101  Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions (MI 61-101). The Company is relying on an exemption from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements provided under MI 61-101 pursuant to section 5.5(a) and section 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101, on the basis that the participation in the Offering by Insiders does not exceed 25% of the fair market value of the Companys market capitalization. The Subscription Receipts issued to the Insiders, and the Revival Shares and Revival Warrants issuable thereunder, will be subject to a hold period of four months and one day in accordance with the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange (the TSXV). The Offering remains subject to certain conditions including but not limited to the approval of the TSXV, satisfaction of the Escrow Release Conditions, completion of the Transaction and other conditions in the Subscription Receipt Agreement.

The Company also announces that it proposes to issue Revival Shares as part of the payment to MPA Morrison Park Advisors Inc. (MPA) in connection with their provision of financial advisory services including delivery of a fairness opinion to the Companys Board of Directors in relation to the Transaction and ancillary matters (the Services). The Company entered into a financial advisory services agreement with MPA on February 2, 2024 (the MPA Agreement) pursuant to which the Company agreed to pay MPA a cash fee to perform the Services (the Fee), payable upon the successful completion of the Transaction. Pursuant to the MPA Agreement, Revival may elect to pay a portion of the Fee, equal to $250,000, in Revival Shares. Accordingly, upon completion of the Transaction, Revival expects to issue to MPA that number of Revival Shares equal to $250,000 based on the closing price of the Revival Shares on the TSXV on the trading day immediately prior to the date the Transaction closes.

The securities offered pursuant to the Offering have not been, nor will they be, registered under the U.S. Securities Act and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. United States and U.S. person are as defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act.

About Revival Gold Inc.

Revival Gold is a growth-focused gold exploration and development company. The Company is advancing the Beartrack-Arnett Gold Project located in Idaho, USA.

Beartrack-Arnett is the largest past-producing gold mine in Idaho. The Project benefits from extensive existing infrastructure and is the subject of a recent Preliminary Feasibility Study for the potential restart of open pit heap leach gold production operations.

Since reassembling the Beartrack-Arnett land position in 2017, Revival Gold has made one of the largest new discoveries of gold in the United States in the past decade. The mineralized trend at Beartrack extends for over five kilometers and is open on strike and at depth. Mineralization at Arnett is open in all directions.

Additional disclosure including the Companys financial statements, technical reports, news releases and other information can be obtained at www.revival-gold.com or on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.

For further information, please contact:

Hugh Agro, President or CEO or Lisa Ross, CFO

Telephone: (416) 366-4100 or Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Ensign Minerals Inc.

Ensign is a private company existing under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) and focused on exploring for precious metals within the Mercur District, Utah, USA. Ensign controls approximately 6,255 hectares in the district where the known mineralization occurs on primarily privately held patented claims. Ensigns property holdings include Mercur, West Mercur, South Mercur and North Mercur.

Cautionary Statement

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

This press release includes certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation and forward-looking statements within the meaning of U.S. securities legislation (collectively forward-looking statements). Forward-looking statements are not comprised of historical facts. Forward-looking statements include estimates and statements that describe the Companys future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that the Company or management expects a stated condition or result to occur. Forward-looking statements may be identified by such terms as believes, anticipates, expects, estimates, may, could, would, will, or plan. Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Although these statements are based on information currently available to the Company, the Company provides no assurance that actual results will meet managements expectations. Risks, uncertainties, and other factors involved with forward-looking statements could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Standard Uranium Ltd. (Standard Uranium or the Company) (TSX-V: STND) (OTCQB: STTDF) (Frankfurt: FWB:9SU) has determined, given the current strength in the global uranium sector, and uraniums increasing importance as a green energy source, the timing is right to return to drill its flagship Davidson River project (the Project).

To advance the Project, the board of directors has resolved to proceed with a non-brokered private placement to raise gross proceeds of up to C$3,000,000 (the Offering), conditional upon the completion of the continuation of the Company into the Province of British Columbia (the Continuation) and a consolidation of the outstanding share capital of the Company on a one-for-five basis (the Consolidation).

The Offering will consist of any combination of units of the Company (each, a Unit) at a price of C$0.25 per Unit, and charity flow-through units of the Company (each, a CFT Unit, and collectively with the Units, the Offered Securities) at a price of C$0.38 per CFT Unit. Each Unit will consist of one post-Consolidation common share of the Company (each a Unit Share) and one-half of one common share purchase warrant (each whole warrant, a Warrant). Each CFT Unit will consist of one post-Consolidation common share of the Company to be issued as a charity flow-through share within the meaning of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (each, a CFT Share) and one-half of one Warrant. Each whole Warrant shall entitle the holder to purchase one post-Consolidation common share of the Company (each, a Warrant Share) at a price of C$0.38 at any time on or before that date which is twenty-four months after the closing date of the Offering.

The net proceeds raised from the Offering will be used for the exploration of the Company's Davidson River Project and for working capital purposes. Proceeds from the sale of CFT Shares will be used to incur Canadian exploration expenses as defined in subsection 66.1(6) of the Income Tax Act and flow through mining expenditures as defined in subsection 127(9) of the Income Tax Act. Such proceeds will be renounced to the purchasers of CFT Shares with an effective date not later than December 31, 2024, in the aggregate amount of not less than the total amount of gross proceeds raised from the issue of the CFT Shares.

Red Cloud Securities Inc. has agreed to act as a finder for the Company in connection with the Offering. The Company will pay finders fees to eligible parties who have assisted in introducing subscribers to the Offering. All securities issued in connection with the Offering will have a hold period of four months and one day from the closing date. Completion of the Offering, Continuation and Consolidation remain subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. Completion of the Offering is contingent on completion of the Continuation and the Consolidation.

Continuation

As approved by shareholders at the annual general and special meeting (the Meeting) held on March 26, 2024, the Company intends to continue its corporate existence from the Canada Business Corporations Act to the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia). The Continuation is intended to reduce operating costs and better align the jurisdiction of incorporation with the location of management and the head office of the Company.

The Continuation will not result in the formation of a new legal entity, nor will it affect the continuity of the Company or result in any change its operational activities or assets. For further information regarding the Continuation, and a comparison of the provisions of the Canada Business Corporations Act and the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia), readers are encouraged to review the management information circular prepared by the Company in connection with the Meeting, a copy of which is available under the profile for the Company on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca).

Share Consolidation

In connection with the Offering, the Company intends to complete the Consolidation to increase flexibility and competitiveness in the market, and to make the Companys securities more attractive to a wider audience of potential investors.

As a result of the Consolidation, the Companys currently issued and outstanding 230,649,292 common shares will be reduced to approximately 46,129,859 common shares prior to completion of the Offering. No fractional common shares will be issued as a result of the Consolidation. Instead, any fractional common shares will be rounded down to the nearest whole number of common shares. In accordance with the Articles of the Company adopted in connection with the Continuation, the Consolidation does not require approval of the shareholders of the Company.

The Company will issue a news release providing further details regarding the Consolidation once the effective date for the Consolidation is determined.

This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the Offered Securities, nor shall there be any sale of the Offered Securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. The Offered Securities being offered will not be, and have not been, 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, a U.S. person.

Davidson River Drill Program

In 2023, the Company expanded its flagship Davidson River Project (Davidson River) in the southwest corner of the Basin to cover more than 37,700 hectares (Figure 1). Standard Uranium plans to follow up on prospective drilling results from previous programs and test brand new high-priority targets located within the new southeast claim blocks that are akin to the neighboring JR Zone discovery (Figure 2).

Drilling in H2 2024 will comprise a follow-up campaign on Davidson River, located in the southwestern uranium district of the Athabasca Basin.

The summer 2022 program revealed the best intersections of prospective alteration and structure to date along the Bronco and Thunderbird trends, including wide graphitic structural zones on Bronco and oxidized alteration on Thunderbird, in addition to elevated radioactivity 1 and dravite alteration (Figure 2).

and dravite alteration (Figure 2). 2024 drilling will follow up on the most prospective basement structures and alteration zones intersected to date and begin testing new target areas within recently staked claim blocks, incorporating new cutting-edge targeting vectors.

Data-driven machine learning techniques will contribute to drill targeting at Davidson River through anomaly detection and mapping of electromagnetic (EM) data, in addition to anomaly matching based on known world-class uranium deposits in the area including the Arrow and Triple-R uranium deposits. The machine learning techniques will also be applied to the Companys internal drilling and geochemical databases.

Additional geophysical surveys over high-priority areas are being considered to add more data layers into the Companys targeting strategy on the Project.

More than 70 kilometres of graphitic conductors provide discovery potential at Davidson River, with massive blue-sky potential to host a world-class high-grade2 uranium deposit.

Figure 1. Overview of the Southwest Athabasca Uranium District highlighting Standard Uraniums flagship Davidson River project and regional geological relationships to known high-grade uranium deposits.

Figure 2. Overview of the Davidson River Project highlighting conductive corridors, interpreted faults, and prospective results intersected to date with first vertical derivative magnetics in the background.

1 The Company considers radioactivity readings greater than 300 counts per second (cps) to be anomalous.

2 The Company considers uranium mineralization with concentrations greater than 1.0 wt% U 3 O 8 to be high-grade.

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed, verified, and approved by Sean Hillacre, P.Geo., President and VP Exploration of the Company and a qualified person as defined in NI 43-101.

About Standard Uranium (TSX-V: STND)

We find the fuel to power a clean energy future

Standard Uranium is a uranium exploration company and emerging project generator poised for discovery in the worlds richest uranium district. The Company holds interest in over 209,867 acres (84,930 hectares) in the world-class Athabasca Basin in Saskatchewan, Canada. Since its establishment, Standard Uranium has focused on the identification, acquisition, and exploration of Athabasca-style uranium targets with a view to discovery and future development.

Standard Uranium has successfully completed four joint venture earn in partnerships on their Sun Dog, Canary, Atlantic and Ascent projects totaling over $31M in work commitments over the next three years from 2024-2027.

Standard Uraniums Davidson River Project, in the southwest part of the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan, comprises ten mineral claims over 30,737 hectares. Davidson River is highly prospective for basement-hosted uranium deposits due to its location along trend from recent high-grade uranium discoveries. However, owing to the large project size with multiple targets, it remains broadly under-tested by drilling. Recent intersections of wide, structurally deformed and strongly altered shear zones provide significant confidence in the exploration model and future success is expected.

Standard Uraniums eight eastern Athabasca projects comprise thirty mineral claims over 32,838 hectares. The eastern basin projects are highly prospective for unconformity related and/or basement hosted uranium deposits based on historical uranium occurrences, recently identified geophysical anomalies, and location along trend from several high-grade uranium discoveries.

Standard Uranium's Sun Dog project, in the northwest part of the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan, is comprised of nine mineral claims over 19,603 hectares. The Sun Dog project is highly prospective for basement and unconformity hosted uranium deposits yet remains largely untested by sufficient drilling despite its location proximal to uranium discoveries in the area.

For further information contact:

Jon Bey, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman

Suite 918, 1030 West Georgia Street

Vancouver, British Columbia, V6E 2Y3

Tel: 1 (306) 850-6699

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements or forward-looking information (collectively, forward-looking statements) within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as of the date of this news release. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding: the timing and content of upcoming work programs; geological interpretations; timing of the Companys exploration programs; the completion of the Offering, the Continuation and the Consolidation; and estimates of market conditions.

Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements contained herein. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Certain important factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are highlighted in the Risks and Uncertainties in the Companys management discussion and analysis for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2023.

Forward-looking statements are 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 Companys 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: that the transaction with the Optionee will proceed as planned; the completion of the Continuation and the Consolidation; the future price of uranium; anticipated costs and the Companys ability to raise additional capital if and when necessary, including the size and completion of the Offering; volatility in the market price of the Companys securities; future sales of the Companys securities; the Companys ability to carry on exploration and development activities; the success of exploration, development and operations activities; the timing and results of drilling programs; the discovery of mineral resources on the Companys mineral properties; the costs of operating and exploration expenditures; the presence of laws and regulations that may impose restrictions on mining; employee relations; relationships with and claims by local communities and indigenous populations; availability of increasing costs associated with mining inputs and labour; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development (including the risks of obtaining necessary licenses, permits and approvals from government authorities); uncertainties related to title to mineral properties; assessments by taxation authorities; fluctuations in general macroeconomic conditions.

The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Any forward-looking statements and the assumptions made with respect thereto are made as of the date of this news release and, accordingly, are subject to change after such date. The Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable securities laws. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

Neither the TSX-V nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX-V) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 2, 2024) - AVANTI GOLD CORP. (CSE: AGC) (FSE: X370) (the "Company") is pleased to announce it has entered into a share exchange agreement (the "Exchange Agreement"), dated May 1, 2023 with MTM Ltd. ("MTM"), a privately held arms-length company established under the laws of the Republic of Seychelles, and each of the shareholders of MTM. Pursuant to the terms of the Exchange Agreement, the Company proposes to acquire (the "Transaction") all the outstanding share capital of MTM.

MTM, with a local partner, holds the rights to gold prospecting licenses in the Magisterial District of Molopo. The license rights cover an area of approximately 90 hectares ("ha"), located in the highly prospective Kraaipan Granite-Greenstone Belt terrain which extends 400 kilometers ("km") from southern Botswana into Northwest Province South Africa. The Transaction will expand the Company's portfolio an with asset in the highly prospective, unexplored Kraaipan Greenstone Belt, located in Africa's premier mining jurisdiction, Botswana.

Transaction Summary

Pursuant to the terms of the Exchange Agreement, the Company proposes to acquire all of the issued and outstanding share capital of MTM in consideration for the issuance of an aggregate of 29,000,000 common shares (the "Consideration Shares"). All of the Consideration Shares will be subject to restrictions on resale for a period of five months following issuance, in addition to any restrictions imposed by applicable securities laws.

The Company is at arm's length from MTM, and each of its shareholders. The Transaction will not constitute a fundamental change for the Company and will not result in a change of control of the Company (within the meaning of applicable securities laws and the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange). No finder's fee is payable in connection with completion of the Transaction.

Completion of the Transaction remains subject to receipt of any required regulatory approvals, and delivery of customary closing documents.

About Avanti Gold Corp.

Avanti Gold Corp. is a mineral exploration company working on a Tier-1 gold opportunity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo ("DRC"), located in the Fizi territory of South Kivu province, in the DRC. The Misisi Gold Project is located 250 kilometres south of Bukavu, the provincial capital of the South Kivu Province, in the DRC. The Project is comprised of three contiguous 30-year mining leases, valid until 2045, covering 133 square kilometres of prospective exploration ground along the 55-kilometre-long Kibara Gold Belt. The Kibara Belt is a well-known metallogenic province and hosts a number of other deposits including the Twangiza (5.1 Moz oz Au, source: S&P Global) and Namoya (1.9 Moz, source: S&P Global) gold mines.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

AVANTI GOLD CORP.

Colin Porter, Chief Executive Officer

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Office: +1 (604) 908-1679

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange (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.

This news release may contain certain "Forward-Looking Statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When or if used in this news release, the words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "target, "plan", "forecast", "may", "schedule" and similar words or expressions identify forward-looking statements or information. Such statements represent the Company's current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social risks, contingencies and uncertainties. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. 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.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - May 2, 2024) - American Eagle Gold Corp. (TSXV: AE) ("American Eagle" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has upsized its previously announced private placementto up to 7,884,615 charity flow-through common shares of the Company (the "Charity FT Shares") at a price of C$1.04 per Charity FT Share (the "Offering Price") for aggregate gross proceeds of up to C$8,200,000 (the "Offering").

Proceeds from the Offering will be used for exploration work at the Company's NAK project located in the Babine Copper-Gold Porphyry district in central British Columbia. The final drill hole of the 2023 exploration season yielded 302 metres of 1.09% within 606 m of 0.74% Copper Equivalent starting from 98 metres downhole. The Company plans to step out from this drill hole to begin the 2024 drill season, set to begin this month.

The Charity FT Shares will qualify as "flow-through shares" (within the meaning of subsection 66(15) of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the "Tax Act"). An amount equal to the gross proceeds from the issuance of the Charity FT Shares will be used to incur eligible resource exploration expenses which will qualify as (i) "Canadian exploration expenses" (as defined in the Tax Act), and (ii) as "flow-through critical mineral mining expenditures" (as defined in subsection 127(9) of the Tax Act) (collectively, the "Qualifying Expenditures"). Qualifying Expenditures in an aggregate amount not less than the gross proceeds raised from the issue of the Charity FT Shares will be incurred (or deemed to be incurred) by the Company on or before December 31, 2025 and will be renounced by the Company to the initial purchasers of the Charity FT Shares with an effective date no later than December 31, 2024.

The Offering is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary regulatory and other approvals including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

The Charity FT Shares are being offered for sale to purchasers resident in Canada pursuant to the listed issuer financing exemption under Part 5A of NI 45-106 (the "Listed Issuer Financing Exemption"). The common shares of the Company issuable from the sale of these LIFE securities are expected to be immediately freely tradeable under applicable Canadian securities legislation if sold to purchasers resident in Canada. There is an amended offering document relating to the Offering that can be accessed under the Company's profile at www.sedarplus.ca and at www.americaneaglegold.ca. Prospective investors should read this amended offering document before making an investment decision.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to or for the account or benefit of a U.S. person (as defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act) unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

It is not anticipated that any new insiders will be created, nor that any change of control will occur, as a result of the Offering.

Details of NAK's 2024 Drill Program:

The 2024 drill program will integrate the Company's growing understanding of the relationship between the emplacement of multi-phase Eocene dikes and sills with reactive and permeable host rocks to form the extensive Nak mineralized system. The company is developing models for geology, mineralization, alteration, and structure for the system, which will form the basis for its ongoing planning. The expanded 2024 drill program, currently planned for 15,000 metres, will aim to link, better define, and expand upon the historical North and South zones, which the Company showed in its 2022 and 2023 drill programs to extend to considerable depths (close to 950 m below surface) along a strike length of 750 m and across a width of 400 m. Intercepts from 2023 include 900 m of 0.50% Copper Equivalent from surface in the North zone (Link to NAK23-12 News Release) and 302 metres of 1.09% within 606 m of 0.74% Copper Equivalent starting from 98 metres downhole in the South Zone (Link to NAK23-17 News Release).

Click Here to View the 2024 Drill Plan at NAK

Click Here to View 2024 Drill Plan Webinar Hosted by Geologists Charlie Greig and Neil Prowse

About American Eagle's NAK Project

The NAK Project lies within the Babine copper-gold porphyry district of central British Columbia. It has excellent infrastructure through all-season roads and is close to the towns of Smithers, Houston, and Burns Lake, B.C., which lie along a major rail line and Provincial Highway 16. Historical drilling and geophysical, geological, and geochemical work at NAK, which began in the 1960's, tested only to shallow depths. Still, the work revealed a very large near-surface copper-gold system that measures over 1.5 km x 1.5 km. Drilling completed in 2022 and 2023 by American Eagle has returned significant intervals of high-grade copper-gold mineralization that lie beyond the extent of historical drilling, indicating that several zones of near-surface and deeper mineralization, locally with considerably higher grades, exist within the broader NAK property mineralizing system.

For the latest videos from American Eagle, Ore Group, and all things mining, subscribe to our YouTube Chanel: youtube.com/@theoregroup

About American Eagle Gold Corp.

American Eagle is focused on exploring its NAK copper-gold porphyry project in west-central British Columbia, Canada.

Anthony Moreau, Chief Executive Officer

416.644.1567

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

www.americaneaglegold.ca

Q.P. Statement

Mark Bradley, B.Sc., M.Sc., P.Geo., a Certified Professional Geologist and 'qualified person' for the purposes of Canada's National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Properties, has verified and approved the information contained in this news release.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information in this press release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding whether the Company will be able to complete the Offering as anticipated, the receipt of regulatory approval, including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange, to complete the Offering, the intended use of proceeds and intended drill program or its anticipated results at the Company's NAK project, the ability of the Company to make the qualifying expenditures as anticipated by management, and other matters ancillary or incidental to the foregoing. This information is based on current expectations that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual results might differ materially from those suggested in forward-looking statements. American Eagle Gold Corp. assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those reflected in the forward looking-statements unless and until required by securities laws applicable to American Eagle Gold Corp. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties is contained in filings by American Eagle Gold Corp. with Canadian securities regulators, which filings are available under American Eagle Gold Corp. profile at www.sedarplus.ca.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the TSX Venture Exchange policies) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 2, 2024) - Midnight Sun Mining Corp. (TSXV: MMA) is pleased to announce that due to significant investor demand, the Company has increased the maximum gross proceeds of its previously announced non-brokered private placement (the "Offering") from $3,300,000 to $4,400,000. Under the revised Offering, the Company intends to sell up to 20,000,000 units of the Company (the "Unit") at a price of $0.22 per Unit.

Each Unit will consist of one common share of the Company ("Common Share") and one Common Share purchase warrant ("Warrant"). Each Warrant will entitle the holder thereof to purchase one Common Share for a period of 36 months following the closing date of the Offering at an exercise price of $0.33 per share. The Company intends to close the Offering as soon as practicable.

The net proceeds of this offering will be used by the Company to fund exploration work on its Zambian mineral properties as well as general working capital.

Red Cloud Securities Inc. is acting as a finder in connection with the Offering.

The Offering, including the future issuance of the Common Shares and Warrants, is subject to the final approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. All securities issued will be subject to a hold period of four months and one day pursuant to applicable securities laws.

About Midnight Sun

Midnight Sun is focused on exploring our flagship Solwezi Project, located in Zambia. Situated in the heart of the Zambia-Congo Copperbelt, the second largest copper producing region in the world, our property is vast and highly prospective. Our Solwezi Project is surrounded by world-class producing copper mines, including Africa's largest copper mining complex right next door, First Quantum's Kansanshi Mine. Led by an experienced geological team with multiple discoveries and mines around the world to their credit, Midnight Sun intends to find and develop Zambia's next generational copper deposit.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF MIDNIGHT SUN MINING CORP.

Al Fabbro

President & CEO

For Further Information Contact:

Adrian O'Brien

Director of Marketing and Communications

Tel: +1 604 809 6890

Em: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS NEWS RELEASE.

These securities being offered have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the benefit of, U.S. persons (as defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act) absent U.S. registration or an applicable exemption from the U.S. registration requirements. This release does not constitute an offer for sale of securities in the United States.

This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements." All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, the expected completion of the Offering, and the expected use of proceeds are forward-looking statements. 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 developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include, changes in market conditions, unsuccessful exploration results, changes in commodity price, unanticipated changes in key management personnel and general economic conditions. Mining exploration and development is an inherently risky business. Accordingly the actual events may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking statements. These and other factors should be considered carefully and readers should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by the Company or on its behalf, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
VANCOUVER, BC, May 2, 2024 /CNW/ - Sandstorm Gold Ltd. ("Sandstorm Gold Royalties", "Sandstorm" or the "Company") (NYSE: SAND) (TSX: SSL) has released its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024 (all figures in U.S. dollars).

First Quarter Highlights

Revenue of $42.8 million (Q1 2023  $44.0 million );

of (Q1 2023  ); Attributable gold equivalent ounces 1 of 20,316 ounces (Q1 2023  28,368 ounces);

of 20,316 ounces (Q1 2023  28,368 ounces); Cash flows from operating activities, excluding changes in non-cash working capital 1 of $32.9 million (Q1 2023  $42.7 million , which included a $10 million , one-time contractual payment from the Company's Mt. Hamilton royalty);

of (Q1 2023  , which included a , one-time contractual payment from the Company's Mt. royalty); Record cash operating margins 1 of $1,782 per attributable gold equivalent ounce (Q1 2023  $1,652 per ounce).

of per attributable gold equivalent ounce (Q1 2023  per ounce). Balance sheet and capital allocation update: The Company has continued to focus on de-levering its balance sheet and made $20 million in net repayments on its revolving credit facility during the first quarter. Subsequent to quarter end, the Company announced the sale of select non-core, non-precious metals assets for $21.0 million in cash as well as the renewal of its Normal Course Issuer Bid. Sale of select non-core, non-precious metals assets: In May, the Company announced it had signed a definitive purchase agreement with Evolve Strategic Element Royalties Ltd. to sell a package of royalties (including Highland Valley Copper, Seymour Lake , and any future royalty proceeds exceeding $10 million from Copper Mountain) (the "Evolve Transaction") for cash consideration of $21.0 million . The Evolve Transaction is expected to close within the second quarter of 2024. Upon completion of the Evolve Transaction, Sandstorm will have completed the sale of over $50 million of non-core royalty and equity investments since the third quarter of 2023, which includes cash consideration of approximately $40 million . While further monetization of the Company's investment portfolio is possible, subject to market conditions, the Company does not intend to monetize further royalty or stream assets. For further details about the Evolve Transaction, see the Company's press release dated May 2, 2024 . Renewal of Normal Course Issuer Bid: In conjunction with accelerated deleveraging driven by recent non-core asset sales and the current commodity price environment, Sandstorm announced in May that the Board of Directors has approved the use of the renewed Normal Course Issuer Bid, which allows the Company to purchase up to 20 million of its common shares from time to time when management believes the common shares are undervalued by the market.

The Company has continued to focus on de-levering its balance sheet and made in net repayments on its revolving credit facility during the first quarter. Subsequent to quarter end, the Company announced the sale of select non-core, non-precious metals assets for in cash as well as the renewal of its Normal Course Issuer Bid.

Outlook

Based on the Company's existing streams and royalties, attributable gold equivalent ounces for 2024 are forecasted to be between 75,000 and 90,000 ounces. The Company's production forecast is expected to reach approximately 125,000 attributable gold equivalent ounces within the next five years.

Financial Results

For the three months ended March 31, 2024, the Company realized quarterly revenue of $42.8 million compared with $44.0 million for the comparable period in 2023. The change in revenue is largely attributable to a 12% decrease in attributable gold equivalent ounces sold, excluding attributable ounces related to contractual payments, partially offset by a 10% increase in the average realized selling price of gold.

Cash flows from operating activities were $32.4 million and the Company realized a net loss of $3.9 million, compared with $39.9 million in cash flows from operating activities and net income of $15.6 million for the comparable period in 2023. The change is due to a combination of factors including a $10.0 million decrease in other income related to a one-time contractual payment from the Company's Mt. Hamilton royalty received during the three months ended March 31, 2023, and a $9.2 million increase in losses recognized on the revaluation of the Company's investments driven by the changes in the fair value of investments in debentures.

Streams & Royalties

Of the gold equivalent ounces sold by the Company during the first quarter of 2024, approximately 13% were attributable to mines located in Canada, 15% from the rest of North America, 46% from South America, and 26% from other countries.

THREE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31, 2024 Revenue

(in millions) Gold Equivalent

Ounces Canada $ 5.5 2,652 North America excl. Canada $ 6.4 3,103 South America $ 19.7 9,122 Other $ 11.2 5,439 Total $ 42.8 20,316

Canada

Streams and royalties on Canadian mines contributed approximately the same number of gold equivalent ounces to Sandstorm when compared to the first quarter of 2023. An increase in gold equivalent ounces sold from the Black Fox mine in Ontario was partially offset by a decrease in gold equivalent ounces received and sold from the CEZinc smelter in Quebec and a decrease in royalty revenue attributable to the Diavik mine in Northwest Territories. Gold equivalent ounces from Canadian mines are expected to accelerate in the latter half of 2024 with the ramp-up of deliveries from the Company's Greenstone stream.

North America Excluding Canada

Gold equivalent ounces sold from operations located within North America, but outside of Canada, contributed 65% less gold equivalent ounces when compared to the first quarter of 2023. The change was primarily driven by a decrease in gold equivalent ounces attributable to a one-time contractual payment related to the Mt. Hamilton royalty that was received in the first quarter 2023 as well as a decrease in the number of gold equivalent ounces received and sold from the Santa Elena mine in Mexico where, as expected, production has transitioned to deposits not covered under Sandstorm's royalty claim. The decrease was partially offset by an increase in gold equivalent ounces sold from the Relief Canyon mine in Nevada, due to the timing of sales, and an increase in royalty revenue from the Cosala mine in Mexico.

South America

Operations in South America contributed 34% less gold equivalent ounces sold when compared to the first quarter of 2023. The change was driven by a decrease in royalty revenue attributable to the Antamina mine in Peru following the partial disposition of the royalty to Horizon Copper Corp. in the second quarter of 2023, which reduced the Company's royalty entitlement, as well as a one-time adjustment to the asset retirement obligation at the Antamina mine to reflect updates related to a recently approved mine plan and other working capital adjustments. The change was also due to a decrease in revenue attributable to the Cerro Moro silver stream primarily due to grade sequencing at the mine, as well as a decrease in the average realized selling price of silver during the three months ended March 31, 2024, compared to the equivalent period in 2023. The decrease was partially offset by an increase in revenue related to the Caserones mine in Chile, primarily due to the timing of sales.

Other

Streams and royalties on mines in other countries contributed 88% more gold equivalent ounces sold when compared to the first quarter of 2023. This change was driven by an increase in attributable gold equivalent ounces sold from the Bonikro mine in Cote d'Ivoire, partially due to the timing of sales, as well as an increase in royalty revenue attributable to the Ivrindi royalty in Turkiye.

Webcast & Conference Call Details

A conference call will be held on Friday, May 3, 2024 starting at 8:30am PDT to further discuss the first quarter results. To participate in the conference call, use the following dial-in numbers and conference ID, or join the webcast using the link below:

International: (+1) 416-764-8688

North American Toll-Free: (+1) 888-390-0546

Conference ID: 45071219

Webcast URL: https://app.webinar.net/8rgZJmKlkYo

Note 1 Sandstorm has included certain performance measures in this press release that do not have any standardized meaning prescribed by International Financial Reporting Standards Accounting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board ("IFRS Accounting Standards" or "IFRS") including, (i) total sales, royalties, and income from other interests, (ii) attributable gold equivalent ounce, (iii) average cash cost per attributable gold equivalent ounce, (iv) cash operating margin, and (v) cash flows from operating activities excluding changes in non-cash working capital. (i) Total sales, royalties and income from other interests is a non-IFRS financial measure and is calculated by taking total revenue which includes sales and royalty revenue, and adding contractual income relating to royalties, streams and other interests excluding gains and losses on dispositions. The Company presents Total Sales, Royalties and Income from other interests as it believes that certain investors use this information to evaluate the Company's performance and ability to generate cash flow in comparison to other streaming and royalty companies in the precious metals mining industry. (ii) Attributable gold equivalent ounce is a non-IFRS financial ratio that uses total sales, royalties, and income from other interests as a component. Attributable gold equivalent ounce is calculated by dividing the Company's total sales, royalties, and income from other interests, less revenue attributable to non-controlling shareholders for the period, by the average realized gold price per ounce from the Company's gold streams for the same respective period. The Company presents Attributable Gold Equivalent ounce as it believes that certain investors use this information to evaluate the Company's performance in comparison to other streaming and royalty companies in the precious metals mining industry that present results on a similar basis. (iii) Average cash cost per attributable gold equivalent ounce is calculated by dividing the Company's cost of sales, excluding depletion by the number of attributable gold equivalent ounces. The Company presents average cash cost per Attributable Gold Equivalent ounce as it believes that certain investors use this information to evaluate the Company's performance and ability to generate cash flow in comparison to other streaming and royalty companies in the precious metals mining industry who present results on a similar basis. (iv) Cash operating margin is calculated by subtracting the average cash cost per attributable gold equivalent ounce from the average realized gold price per ounce from the Company's gold streams. The Company presents cash operating margin as it believes that certain investors use this information to evaluate the Company's performance and ability to generate cash flow in comparison to other streaming and royalty companies in the precious metals mining industry that present results on a similar basis. (v) Cash flows from operating activities excluding changes in non-cash working capital is a non-IFRS financial measure that is calculated by adding back the decrease or subtracting the increase in changes in non-cash working capital to or from cash provided by (used in) operating activities. The Company presents cash flows from operating activities excluding changes in non-cash working capital as it believes that certain investors use this information to evaluate the Company's performance in comparison to other streaming and royalty companies in the precious metals mining industry that present results on a similar basis. Refer to pages 3133 of the Company's MD&A for the quarter ended March 31, 2024, which is available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca, for a numerical reconciliation of the non-IFRS financial measures described above. The presentation of these non-IFRS financial measures is intended to provide additional information and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. Other companies may calculate these non-IFRS financial measures differently.

Contact Information

For more information about Sandstorm Gold Royalties, please visit our website at www.sandstormgold.com or email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

ABOUT SANDSTORM GOLD ROYALTIES

Sandstorm is a precious metals-focused royalty company that provides upfront financing to mining companies and receives the right to a percentage of production from a mine, for the life of the mine. Sandstorm holds a portfolio of approximately 240 royalties, of which 40 of the underlying mines are producing. Sandstorm plans to grow and diversify its low cost production profile through the acquisition of additional gold royalties. For more information visit: www.sandstormgold.com.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS TO U.S. SECURITYHOLDERS

The financial information included or incorporated by reference in this press release or the documents referenced herein has been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, which differs from US generally accepted accounting principles ("US GAAP") in certain material respects, and thus are not directly comparable to financial statements prepared in accordance with US GAAP.

This press release and the documents incorporated by reference herein, as applicable, have been prepared in accordance with Canadian standards for the reporting of mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates, which differ from the previous and current standards of the United States securities laws. In particular, and without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the terms "mineral reserve", "proven mineral reserve", "probable mineral reserve", "inferred mineral resources,", "indicated mineral resources," "measured mineral resources" and "mineral resources" used or referenced herein and the documents incorporated by reference herein, as applicable, are Canadian mineral disclosure terms as defined in accordance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101  Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (the "CIM")  CIM Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, adopted by the CIM Council, as amended (the "CIM Definition Standards").

For United States reporting purposes, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") has adopted amendments to its disclosure rules (the "SEC Modernization Rules") to modernize the mining property disclosure requirements for issuers whose securities are registered with the SEC under the Exchange Act, which became effective February 25, 2019. The SEC Modernization Rules more closely align the SEC's disclosure requirements and policies for mining properties with current industry and global regulatory practices and standards, including NI 43-101, and replace the historical property disclosure requirements for mining registrants that were included in SEC Industry Guide 7. Issuers were required to comply with the SEC Modernization Rules in their first fiscal year beginning on or after January 1, 2021. As a foreign private issuer that is eligible to file reports with the SEC pursuant to the multi-jurisdictional disclosure system, the Corporation is not required to provide disclosure on its mineral properties under the SEC Modernization Rules and will continue to provide disclosure under NI 43-101 and the CIM Definition Standards. Accordingly, mineral reserve and mineral resource information contained or incorporated by reference herein may not be comparable to similar information disclosed by United States companies subject to the United States federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.

As a result of the adoption of the SEC Modernization Rules, the SEC now recognizes estimates of "measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" and "inferred mineral resources." In addition, the SEC has amended its definitions of "proven mineral reserves" and "probable mineral reserves" to be "substantially similar" to the corresponding CIM Definition Standards that are required under NI 43-101. While the SEC will now recognize "measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" and "inferred mineral resources", U.S. investors should not assume that all or any part of the mineralization in these categories will be converted into a higher category of mineral resources or into mineral reserves without further work and analysis. Mineralization described using these terms has a greater amount of uncertainty as to its existence and feasibility than mineralization that has been characterized as reserves. Accordingly, U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any measured mineral resources, indicated mineral resources, or inferred mineral resources that the Company reports are or will be economically or legally mineable without further work and analysis. Further, "inferred mineral resources" have a greater amount of uncertainty and as to whether they can be mined legally or economically. Therefore, U.S. investors are also cautioned not to assume that all or any part of inferred mineral resources will be upgraded to a higher category without further work and analysis. Under Canadian securities laws, estimates of "inferred mineral resources" may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies, except in rare cases. While the above terms are "substantially similar" to CIM Definitions, there are differences in the definitions under the SEC Modernization Rules and the CIM Definition Standards. Accordingly, there is no assurance any mineral reserves or mineral resources that the Company may report as "proven mineral reserves", "probable mineral reserves", "measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" and "inferred mineral resources" under NI 43-101 would be the same had the Company prepared the reserve or resource estimates under the standards adopted under the SEC Modernization Rules or under the prior standards of SEC Industry Guide 7.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This press release contains "forward-looking statements", within the meaning of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation, concerning the business, operations and financial performance and condition of Sandstorm Gold Royalties. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to the expectation that the Evolve Transaction will close; statements with respect to Sandstorm's proposed NCIB and the number of Common Shares that may be purchased under the NCIB; statements regarding the Company's intention to monetize further royalty or stream assets; the future price of gold, silver, copper, iron ore and other metals, the estimation of mineral reserves and resources, realization of mineral reserve estimates, and the timing and amount of estimated future production. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "continue", "plans", or similar terminology.

Forward-looking statements are made based upon certain assumptions and other important factors that, if untrue, could cause the actual results, performances or achievements of Sandstorm Gold Royalties to be materially different from future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and the environment in which Sandstorm Gold Royalties will operate in the future, including the receipt of all required approvals, the price of gold and copper and anticipated costs. Certain important factors that could cause actual results, performances or achievements to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, amongst others, failure to receive necessary approvals, changes in business plans and strategies, market conditions, share price, best use of available cash, gold and other commodity price volatility, discrepancies between actual and estimated production, mineral reserves and resources and metallurgical recoveries, mining operational and development risks relating to the parties which produce the gold or other commodity the Company will purchase, regulatory restrictions, activities by governmental authorities (including changes in taxation), currency fluctuations, the global economic climate, dilution, share price volatility and competition.

Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: the impact of general business and economic conditions, the absence of control over mining operations from which the Company will purchase gold, other commodities or receive royalties from, and risks related to those mining operations, including risks related to international operations, government and environmental regulation, actual results of current exploration activities, conclusions of economic evaluations and changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, risks in the marketability of minerals, fluctuations in the price of gold and other commodities, fluctuation in foreign exchange rates and interest rates, stock market volatility, as well as those factors discussed in the section entitled "Risks to Sandstorm" in the Company's annual report for the financial year ended December 31, 2023 and the section entitled "Risk Factors" contained in the Company's annual information form dated March 27, 2024 available at www.sedarplus.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that are contained or incorporated by reference, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
TORONTO, May 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Treasury Metals Inc. (TSX: TML; OTCQX: TSRMF) (Treasury or TML) and Blackwolf Copper and Gold Ltd. (TSXV:BWCG; OTCQB: BWCGF) (Blackwolf or BWCG) are pleased to announce that they have entered into a definitive arrangement agreement dated May 1, 2024 (the Agreement) to combine the two companies to advance the Goliath Gold Complex Project (GGC Project) in Ontario towards production with a strengthened leadership, balance sheet and capital markets team (the Transaction). The combined companys Niblack Copper-Gold development project in Alaska and other exploration properties also represent promising upside projects for future growth.

Transaction Highlights:

Potential Near-Term Gold Production: Based on a prefeasibility study conducted in February 2023, the GGC Project is poised for production with a forecasted 13-year mine life. It anticipates producing 109,000 ounces of gold annually at a cash cost 1 of US$892 per ounce and an All-in Sustaining Cost (AISC) 1 of US$1,037 per ounce during the first nine years. The prefeasibility study projected a net present value (NPV) of $493 million at a 5% discount rate, and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 33.5% based on a gold price of US$1,950 per ounce. The project benefits from readily available world class infrastructure and has secured a Federal Environmental Assessment approval. The final feasibility study and permitting processes are currently underway.

of US$892 per ounce and an All-in Sustaining Cost (AISC) of US$1,037 per ounce during the first nine years. The prefeasibility study projected a net present value (NPV) of $493 million at a 5% discount rate, and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 33.5% based on a gold price of US$1,950 per ounce. The project benefits from readily available world class infrastructure and has secured a Federal Environmental Assessment approval. The final feasibility study and permitting processes are currently underway. Strong Financial Position: The balance sheet will be fortified with a combined cash position of more than C$10 million, plus a proposed concurrent minimum C$4 million flow-through financing.

Enhanced Capital Markets Focus: New capital markets strategy to be led by cornerstone investor Frank Giustra complements significant expertise in mine permitting, construction, operations, and exploration to create value for shareholders.

Renewed Exploration Commitment: Exploration efforts are expected to be intensified within the Dryden, Ontario district, focusing on expanding the current resource area. An experienced team will oversee these efforts, aiming to simultaneously advance development and exploration, maximizing dual-track value realization.

Growth and Consolidation Strategy: The companies are actively pursuing a proactive strategy to assess and undertake strategic acquisitions, aiming to accelerate growth and strengthen its industry position.

Pursuant to the Transaction, Treasury will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Blackwolf. Under the terms of the Agreement, each BWCG share will be exchanged for 0.607 of a TML share. Upon completion of the Transaction, existing TML and BWCG shareholders will own approximately 68.3% and 31.7% of TML respectively (after closing of the transactions described below and prior to the completion of the minimum C$4 million concurrent financing, which is further described below).

Jeremy Wyeth, President & CEO of Treasury, and expected CEO of the combined company, commented: This combination represents a positive evolution for Treasury. With the sponsorship of mining and capital markets leader, Frank Giustra, we will undertake a corporate strategy that continues the advanced-stage development of the GGC Project, and introduces a more aggressive exploration strategy across the new portfolio and sets the stage for heightened strategic corporate activity.

Morgan Lekstrom, CEO of Blackwolf, and expected President of the combined company, commented: This is a tremendous win-win opportunity for Blackwolf and Treasury shareholders. Treasury has done an incredible job of advancing the GGC Project through the start of engineering and permitting, and we are optimistic that it can evolve into a major Canadian gold camp. The combined financial strength and asset portfolio gives us the capital to move into a new stage of growth in a rising gold market. I look forward to working closely with the management team and shareholders, to help the company gain the recognition it deserves.

Frank Giustra, Blackwolfs largest shareholder and expected largest shareholder of the combined company, stated: This is a strong transaction for Blackwolf and Treasury shareholders that puts the company on the path of a buy and build strategy that I have implemented many times. We see the GGC Project as buildable and expandable on a district scale. I look forward to continuing to be a supportive shareholder and am excited to join the team as a Strategic Advisor.

Transaction Terms

Pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Agreement, the holders of the issued and outstanding shares of Blackwolf will receive 0.607 of a Treasury share for each one Blackwolf share held (the Exchange Ratio). Blackwolf options that are outstanding at the time of completion of the Transaction shall be exchanged for fully vested replacement options exercisable to acquire Treasury shares as adjusted to reflect the Exchange Ratio on substantially the same terms and conditions, and outstanding warrants of Blackwolf will become exercisable, based on the Exchange Ratio, to purchase Treasury shares on substantially the same terms and conditions. The Transaction will be completed pursuant to a court-approved plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia). The Transaction will require approval of at least: (i) 66% of the votes cast by Blackwolf shareholders; (ii) 66% of the votes cast by Blackwolf shareholders and option holders, voting as a single class; and (iii) a simple majority of the votes cast by Blackwolf shareholders, excluding the votes cast by certain persons in accordance with Multilateral Instrument 61-101 Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions. The issuance of shares by Treasury as consideration pursuant to the Transaction is also subject to approval by at least a majority of the votes cast by Treasury shareholders in accordance with TSX requirements. In addition to securityholder and court approvals, the Transaction is subject to applicable regulatory approvals including the TSX and TSX Venture approvals, the completion of the concurrent financing and the satisfaction of certain other closing conditions customary in transactions of this nature.

Senior officers and directors of Blackwolf, along with Frank Giustra, collectively holding approximately 19.13% of the Blackwolf shares outstanding, have entered into voting support agreements pursuant to which they have agreed, among other things, to vote their Blackwolf shares and options in favour of the Transaction. Senior officers and directors of Treasury and certain shareholders collectively holding approximately 37.03% of the Treasury shares outstanding, have entered into voting support agreements pursuant to which they have agreed, among other things, to vote their Treasury shares in favour of the Transaction.

The Agreement contains customary reciprocal deal-protection provisions including non-solicitation covenants and a right to match any superior proposal as defined in the Agreement. Under certain circumstances, Treasury or Blackwolf would be entitled to a termination fee of C$500,000.

Complete details of the Transaction will be included in management information circulars to be delivered to both Treasury and Blackwolf securityholders in the coming weeks. It is anticipated that closing of the Transaction, subject to satisfying all necessary conditions and receipt of all required approvals, will take place in Q3 2024.

None of the securities to be issued pursuant to the Transaction have been or will be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the U.S. Securities Act), or any state securities laws, and any securities issuable in the Transaction are anticipated to be issued in reliance upon available exemptions from such registration requirements pursuant to Section 3(a)(10) of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable exemptions under state securities laws. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities.

Concurrent Financing

In connection with the Transaction, Treasury proposes to complete a non-brokered private placement consisting of a minimum of approximately 17,391,304 flow-through units (FT Units) in the capital of Treasury at a price of $0.23 per FT Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of a minimum of $4 million (the Concurrent Financing). Each FT Unit will consist of one common share that will be issued as flow-through shares within the meaning of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (an FT Share) and one common share purchase warrant (a Warrant) of Treasury. Each Warrant will be exercisable at a price of $0.35 for a period of 36 months following the closing of the Concurrent Financing. Frank Giustra will be the lead subscriber to the Concurrent Financing and will be a significant shareholder post closing of the Transaction.

It is expected that the gross proceeds from the sale of the FT Shares will be used by the Company to incur eligible Canadian exploration expenses that will qualify as flow-through mining expenditures (as such terms are defined in the Income Tax Act (Canada)) and eligible Ontario exploration expenditures as defined in subsection 103(4) of the Taxation Act, 2007 (Ontario) (the Qualifying Expenditures) related to Treasurys Ontario mineral projects. All Qualifying Expenditures will be renounced in favour of the subscribers of the FT Shares effective no later than December 31, 2024.

The proceeds of the Concurrent Financing will be used to advance the GGC Project and select exploration programs across the exploration portfolio of Treasury.

The Concurrent Financing is being conducted in all of the provinces and territories of Canada pursuant to applicable prospectus exemptions. Completion of the Concurrent Financing is subject to obtaining the required TSX approvals and satisfaction of customary closing conditions. The FT Shares and Warrants to be issued in connection with the Concurrent Financing, will be subject to a statutory four-month and one day hold period from the closing date.

The securities to be offered in the Concurrent Financing have not been, and will not be, registered under the U.S. Securities Act or any U.S. state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, United States persons absent registration or any applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable U.S. state securities laws. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities in the United States, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

Amendment to Sprott Royalty Agreement

Sprott Resources Streaming and Royalty Corp (Sprott Streaming) and Treasury have agreed to modify the terms of the agreement dated April 11, 2022, whereby Sprott Streaming will forego receiving the quarterly minimum payments under the terms of the agreement for the next four quarterly payments. In exchange, the quarterly minimum payment will increase to US$675,000 and the last date of payment will be the earlier of the declaration of commercial production, or January 11, 2028. Previously, the terms were for minimum payments of US$500,000 on a quarterly basis to the earlier of commercial production, or December 31, 2027.

Board of Directors & Management of Combined Company

The combined companys board of directors (the New Board) will be led by Jim Gowans as Chair and will be comprised of five board members nominated by Treasury and four board members nominated by Blackwolf.

Reporting to the New Board, the combined company will be managed by Jeremy Wyeth as CEO & Director, Morgan Lekstrom as President & Director, and Orin Baranowsky as Chief Financial Officer.

Mr. Wyeth, President and Chief Executive Officer of Treasury since December 2020, was previously Operations Director at Wood Canada Ltd. and an operational executive of De Beers, where he led the development, construction, commissioning and ramp-up of the Victor Diamond Mine in Northern Ontario. He has held various senior management positions, including with Excellon Resources and Anglo American, and served on the boards of Vector Resources Inc., DRA Americas Inc., DRA Brazil and the Ontario Mining Association and is a member of the Board of Treasury.

Mr. Lekstrom, CEO and Director of BWCG since June 2023, has over 17 years of mining and industry experience in progressively senior roles from executive management, project management, operations, and engineering management. Most recently, he was President & CEO of Silver Hammer Mining Corp. and a co-founder of a publicly-traded uranium company. Mr. Lekstrom has an established track record of delivering successes across numerous projects, capital raises and defining of strategic direction for multiple companies. He had senior technical roles at Freeport McMorans Grasberg site in Indonesia and Rio Tintos Oyu Tolgoi Project in Mongolia, and he co-led the design, construction and commissioning of a new steel grinding media plant for Arrium (Moly-corp) in Canada and Peru. He played an integral role in the development and revival of Golden Star Resources Prestea underground mine in Ghana, West Africa.

Mr. Baranowsky, Chief Financial Officer of Treasury since March 2021, has more than 25 years of finance and capital markets experience. Previously, he was the Chief Financial Officer for Blue Thunder Mining Inc. and Chief Financial Officer of Stornoway Diamond Corporation, where he was instrumental in helping raise more than $1 billion for the construction of the Renard Diamond Mine in northern Quebec. He holds an Honours Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Wilfrid Laurier University, is a member of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario and is a CFA Charterholder.

Proposed Consolidation

The combined company also intends to complete a consolidation of its outstanding shares on the basis of one post-consolidation share for every four pre-consolidation shares following the completion of the Transaction and Concurrent Financing.

Recommendations by the Board of Directors and Fairness Opinions

The Agreement has been unanimously approved by the Board of Directors of each of Treasury and Blackwolf after consultation with their respective financial and legal advisors and receipt of the unanimous recommendation from their respective special committee of Board of Directors. Both Boards of Directors unanimously recommend that their respective securityholders vote in favour of the Transaction.

The Board of Directors of Treasury has received a fairness opinion from RwE Growth Partners, Inc. to the effect that, based upon and subject to the assumptions, limitations, and qualifications stated in such opinion, the consideration to be paid by Treasury pursuant to the Transaction is fair, from a financial point of view, to Treasury.

The Board of Directors of Blackwolf has received a fairness opinion from Evans & Evans, Inc. to the effect that, based upon and subject to the assumptions, limitations, and qualifications stated in such opinion, the consideration to be received by Blackwolf shareholders pursuant to the Transaction is fair, from a financial point of view, to Blackwolf shareholders.

Advisors and Counsel

Haywood Securities Inc. is acting as financial advisor to Treasury. Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP is acting as Treasurys legal counsel.

DuMoulin Black LLP is acting as legal counsel to Blackwolf and Fiore Management and Advisory Corp. has acted as advisor to Blackwolf in connection with the Transaction and will receive a 2% advisory fee payable in shares. Evans & Evans provided a fairness opinion to Blackwolfs Special Committee and Board of Directors that the Transaction is fair from a financial point of view to the shareholders of Blackwolf subject to the assumptions, limitations and qualifications set out in such fairness opinion.

For more information about Blackwolf and TML, please refer to each companys profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca

Niblack Camp Purchase Agreement

Blackwolf announces it has entered into a purchase and sale agreement (the Purchase and Sale Agreement) with Matrix Camps and Logistics, Inc. (Matrix) and Niblack Project LLC (Niblack), the Companys wholly owned subsidiary. Pursuant to the Purchase and Sale Agreement, the parties agrees to release each other from all prior claims under the camp support and rental agreed dated July 20, 2021 between Matrix and Niblack (the Prior Agreement) and Niblack shall purchase the camp assets at the Companys Niblack project from Matrix Aviation Solutions Inc. in exchange for (i) Matrix retaining a US$100,000 deposit paid to Matrix pursuant to the Prior Agreement; and (ii) issuing to Matrix 9,300,000 Blackwolf shares. The Company has also agreed to grant to Matrix a three year exclusivity right to provide camp services at the Companys Niblack project, provided that such services are provided at market rates. In addition to the statutory hold period, 50% the Blackwolf shares issued to Matrix pursuant to the Purchase and Sale Agreement shall be subject to a contractual resale restriction and shall not be sold or otherwise disposed of for a period of one (1) year following the issuance of such Blackwolf shares. The Purchase and Sale Agreement and the issuance of Blackwolf shares to Matrix remain subject to TSXV approval.

Niblack Teck Agreement

Blackwolfs Niblack Copper-Gold project was acquired pursuant to an option agreement (the Niblack Option Agreement) with Teck Resources Limited and Teck Co, LLC (together, Teck) dated August 15, 2006, as amended on January 18, 2012. Pursuant to the Niblack Option Agreement, Blackwolf is obligated to pay $1,250,000 in cash to Teck upon certain change of control and other events. Blackwolf and Teck have entered into an addendum to the Niblack Option Agreement to permit Blackwolf to satisfy this payment by issuing to Teck, immediately prior to closing of the Transaction, the number of Blackwolf shares that is calculated by dividing $1,250,000 by the 20-day volume-weighted average price (VWAP) of the Blackwolf shares on the TSXV following the date of this release, subject to TSXV approval. The addendum automatically terminates if the Transaction is terminated.

Termination of Harry Option Agreement

Following the most recent exploration work on the Harry Property, Blackwolf has opted to not continue with the required payment to maintain the option and as a result the Harry Property Option Agreement has been terminated.

Technical Disclosure and Qualified Persons

Adam Larsen, B.Sc., P. Geo., Director of Exploration of Treasury, is a qualified person within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101) and has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this news release on behalf of Treasury. Mr. Larsen has verified the data disclosed in this news release and no limitations were imposed on his verifications process.

About Treasury Metals Inc.

Treasury Metals Inc. is a gold-focused company with assets in Canada. Treasurys Goliath Gold Complex (which includes the Goliath, Goldlund and Miller deposits) is located in Northwestern Ontario. The deposits benefit substantially from excellent access to the Trans-Canada Highway, related power and rail infrastructure and close proximity to several communities including Dryden, Ontario. For information on the Goliath Gold Complex, please refer to the technical report, prepared in accordance with NI 43101, entitled Goliath Gold Complex  NI 43101 Technical Report and Prefeasibility Study and dated March 27, 2023 with an effective date of February 22, 2023, led by independent consultants Ausenco Engineering Canada Inc. The technical report is available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca, on the OTCQX at www.otcmarkets.com and on the Company website at www.treasurymetals.com.

The Company also owns several other projects throughout Canada, including the Weebigee-Sandy Lake Gold Project JV, and grassroots gold exploration property Gold Rock. Treasury is committed to inclusive, informed and meaningful dialogue with regional communities and Indigenous Nations throughout the life of all our Projects and on all aspects, including creating sustainable economic opportunities, providing safe workplaces, enhancing of social value, and promoting community well-being. For further details about Treasury, please visit the Companys website at www.treasurymetals.com.

About Blackwolf Copper and Gold Ltd.

Blackwolfs founding vision is to be an industry leader in transparency, inclusion, and innovation. Guided by our Vision and through collaboration with local and Indigenous communities and stakeholders, Blackwolf builds shareholder value through our technical expertise in mineral exploration, engineering and permitting. The Company holds a 100% interest in the high-grade Niblack copper-gold-zinc-silver VMS project, located adjacent to tidewater in southeast Alaska. In addition, the Company holds a 100% interest in five Hyder Area gold-silver and base metal properties in southeast Alaska. For more information on Blackwolf, please visit the Companys website at www.blackwolfcopperandgold.com.

Contact:

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release includes certain forward-looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively, forward-looking statements) within the meaning of Canadian and United States securities legislation that is based on expectations, estimates, projections and interpretations as at the date of this news release. Any statement that involves predictions, expectations, interpretations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often, but not always, using phrases such as expects, or does not expect, is expected, interpreted, managements view, anticipates or does not anticipate, plans, budget, scheduled, forecasts, estimates, potential, feasibility, believes or intends or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results may or could, would, might or will be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking information and are intended to identify forward-looking information.

Since forward-looking information address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. These include, but are not limited to, expected timing and completion of the Transaction; the strengths, characteristics and expected benefits and synergies of the Transaction; receipt of court approval; approval of the Transaction by Blackwolf securityholders and Treasury shareholders; obtaining TSX and TSXV acceptance to complete the Transaction; the anticipated timing of the securityholder meetings of Treasury and Blackwolf to vote on the Transaction and the related management information circular; the expected delisting of Blackwolf shares from the TSXV; the composition of the post-Transaction board and management team of the combined company; completion of the proposed consolidation; expectations regarding the potential benefits and synergies of the Transaction and the ability of the combined company to successfully achieve business objectives, including integrating the companies or the effects of unexpected costs, liabilities or delays; obtaining TSXV acceptance to issue Blackwolf shares to Teck and Matrix Aviation Solutions Inc.; completion of the purchase of the camp assets from Matrix; expectations relating to future exploration, development and production activities; expectations relating to costs; expectations regarding financial strength, free cash flow generation, trading liquidity, and capital markets profile; expectations regarding future exploration and development, growth potential for Treasurys and Blackwolfs operations; availability of the exemption under Section 3(a)(10) of the U.S. Securities Act to the securities issuable in the Transaction; the companies assessments of, and expectations for, future business activities and operating performance; expectations regarding the completion of the Concurrent Financing on substantially the same terms set out herein or at all, exploration and production for precious metals; delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures; the uncertainty of mineral resource, production and cost estimates; health, safety and environmental risks; worldwide demand for gold and base metals; gold price and other commodity price and exchange rate fluctuations; environmental risks; competition; incorrect assessment of the value of acquisitions; ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources; and changes in legislation, including but not limited to tax laws, royalties and environmental regulations. Actual results, performance or achievement could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, the forward-looking information and, accordingly, no assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking information will transpire or occur, or if any of them do so, what benefits may be derived therefrom and accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking information.

Cautionary Note to United States Investors

Each of Treasury and Blackwolf is subject to the reporting requirements of applicable Canadian securities laws, and as a result, reports information regarding mineral properties, mineralization and estimates of Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources in accordance with Canadian reporting requirements, which are governed by NI 43-101. As such, the information included in this news release concerning mineral properties, mineralization and estimates of Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources may not be comparable to similar information disclosed by U.S. public companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements of U.S. regulators. Historical results or prefeasibility models presented herein are not guarantees or expectations of future performance.

1 Cash cost and AISC are non-GAAP financial measures and have no standardized meaning under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and may not be comparable to similar measures used by other issuers. As the GGC Project is not in production, TML does not have historical non-GAAP financial measures nor historical comparable measures under IFRS, and therefore the foregoing prospective non-GAAP financial measures may not be reconciled to the nearest comparable measures under IFRS. See Non-IFRS Measures in Treasurys managements discussion and analysis for the year ended December 31, 2023 for further details.
Israel's president on Wednesday urged allies to reject efforts to use the International Criminal Court against his country over its war in Gaza, warning of a threat to democracies everywhere.

In a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Tel Aviv, President Isaac Herzog stressed the strength of Israel's legal system and respect for the rule of law and decried an ICC investigation into Israel's conduct in the Palestinian territory.

"Trying to use the International Criminal Court against Israel, which is fighting terror, is a clear and present danger to democracies and to free peace-loving nations who pursue the norms of international law," he told journalists.

"I call upon all our allies and friends to object and reject any such efforts."

His comments came amid reports that Israeli officials fear the tribunal based in The Hague could soon issue arrest warrants.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly raised the issue with US President Joe Biden in a call at the weekend.

Netanyahu insisted late Tuesday on Telegram that "no decision, neither at The Hague nor anywhere else, will in any way harm our determination to achieve all the war goals".

"The purpose of this step, if it is carried out, is to threaten the leaders and soldiers of the State of Israel, essentially to paralyse the State of Israel's ability to defend itself," he said.

"Israel expects the leaders of the free world to come out firmly against this scandalous step."

The United States said Monday it opposed the ICC's investigation.

"We've been really clear about the ICC investigation, that we don't support it, we don't believe that they have the jurisdiction," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told a briefing.

The war started after Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 34,568 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

Palestinian militants also took some 250 hostages on October 7. Israel estimates 129 remain in Gaza, including 34 believed to be dead.
Families of victims of Northern Ireland's "Troubles" protested in Belfast Wednesday against a new UK law that halts coroner's inquests into crimes from the era and grants immunity to past combatants.

A total of 36 inquests involving the deaths of 74 people during the Troubles will not go ahead after the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023 came into force.

Relatives of those who lost their lives said at the demonstration outside the UK government's representative office in Northern Ireland that it extinguished any remaining hopes of justice for their loved ones.

Demonstrators held up a coffin emblazoned with "Justice" and placards reading "Legacy families have a right to an inquest", "Bill of Shame" and "RIP rule of law".

"It's a very dark day for the families and for justice," said Suzanne Kerr, whose grandfather John Kerr was shot dead by British soldiers in Belfast 1971.

Decades later, the Brown family is still waiting for information about what actually happened.

"The message today is clear, we are not giving up, shame on this British Conservative government," Kerr, 39, told AFP.

- Legal challenges -

Ministers say the bill is aimed at drawing a line under the period known as the Troubles, the three decades of unrest in which more than 3,500 people were killed.

Notably, it will halt inquests, civil cases and criminal prosecutions for crimes related to the conflict and grant conditional immunity to former combatants on all sides.

Opponents say its essence is to protect British army and security force veterans who served in Northern Ireland, as well as paramilitaries.

Critics include victims' rights groups, all political parties in Northern Ireland, the United Nations and the EU's Council of Europe.

The law is also the subject of legal challenge in courts in Belfast and Europe.

Amnesty International denounced the new law as "a cliff edge for truth, justice, and accountability for victims of the Northern Ireland conflict" and a "dangerous international precedent".

Earlier this week an international panel of experts led by the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights said it would harm Britain's reputation abroad and could provide authoritarian regimes around the world with a model for similar laws.

Ciaran MacAirt, from victims' rights group Time for Truth, developed that idea in comments to reporters.

"Britain is a serial human-rights abuser, but this blatant attack on our human rights would embarrass tin-pot dictators in the so-called Third World," he said.

"Britain wants to bury its war crimes in Ireland and protect its killers." He called for the new law to be repealed.

From Wednesday, responsibility for all inquiries regarding the Troubles are transferred to a new investigative body, the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR).

At the protest, victims' families said they had little faith that the ICRIR would conduct open and effective probes.
President Gustavo Petro said Wednesday Colombia will sever diplomatic ties with Israel, whose government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he described as "genocidal" in its war in Gaza.

"Tomorrow (Thursday) diplomatic relations with the state of Israel will be severed... for having a government, for having a president that is genocidal," Petro, a harsh critic of the devastating war against Hamas, told a May Day rally in Bogota.

Netanyahu is Israel's head of government, while the country's president -- a role which is largely ceremonial -- is Isaac Herzog.

The war in Gaza broke out after the unprecedented Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7. That assault resulted in the deaths of some 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli figures.

Hamas militants also took about 250 hostages, 129 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 Israel says are presumed dead.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 34,568 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

On Wednesday, Petro told thousands of supporters that the world cannot accept "genocide, the extermination of an entire people."

"If Palestine dies, humanity dies," he said to loud applause from the crowd, some of whom flew pro-Palestinian banners.

Israel responded by describing Petro as "anti-Semitic and hateful," saying his stance amounted to handing a reward to Hamas.

"The Colombian president has promised to reward Hamas murderers and rapists -- and today he delivered," Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on X.

"History will remember that Gustavo Petro decided to stand by the most despicable monsters humanity has known, who burned babies, murdered children, raped women and kidnapped innocent civilians," Katz added.

Hamas, for its part, hailed the move as a "victory."

"We greatly appreciate the position of Colombian President Gustavo Petro... which we consider a victory for the sacrifices of our people and their just cause," the Islamist group said in a statement, urging other Latin American countries to follow suit.

The Confederation of Jewish Communities of Colombia issued a statement mindful of the "brotherly" relations the country has had with Israel dating back to 1953.

It urged the ties "be maintained, leaving open channels of dialogue" for "the good of both peoples."

Colombia has joined Bolivia, Belize and South Africa in severing or suspending ties with Israel. Several other countries have recalled diplomats.

- 'Fueling anti-Semitism' -

In October, days after the start of the war, Israel announced it was "halting security exports" to Colombia after Petro accused Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant of using language about the people of Gaza similar to what the "Nazis said of the Jews."

Israel at the time accused Petro of "expressing support for the atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists, fueling anti-Semitism," and summoned Colombia's ambassador.

Bogota subsequently demanded that Israel's envoy leave the South American country.

Petro, Colombia's first leftist president, has also asserted that "democratic peoples cannot allow Nazism to reestablish itself in international politics."

In February, he suspended Israeli weapons purchases after dozens of people died in a scramble for food aid in the war-torn Gaza Strip -- an event he said was "called genocide and recalls the Holocaust."

Colombia's armed forces, engaged in a decades-long conflict with leftist guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries and drug cartels, use Israeli-made weapons and aircraft.

The country has a history of strong diplomatic and military relations with Israel and the United States.

Petro had come out in support of Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who also drew the ire of Israel by saying its Gaza campaign "isn't a war, it's a genocide."

Colombia and Brazil supported South Africa's complaint against Israel to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, alleging the assault on the besieged Palestinian territory amounted to a breach of the Genocide Convention.

Colombian May Day demonstrator Sandra Gutierrez, a 38-year-old teacher, welcomed her president's announcement.

"One cannot be an accomplice of the murderers," she told AFP on Plaza Bolivar square.
President Gustavo Petro said Wednesday that Colombia will sever diplomatic ties with Israel, whose leader he described as "genocidal" in its war in Gaza.

"Tomorrow (Thursday) diplomatic relations with the state of Israel will be severed... for having a genocidal president," Petro told a May Day rally in Bogota -- referring to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Petro has been a harsh critic of the assault on Gaza that followed an unprecedented Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, resulting in the deaths of some 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli figures.

Hamas militants also took about 250 hostages, 129 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 Israel says are presumed dead.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 34,568 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

On Wednesday, Petro told thousands of supporters that the world cannot accept "genocide, the extermination of an entire people."

"If Palestine dies, humanity dies," he said to loud applause from the crowd, some of whom flew pro-Palestinian banners.

Israel responded by describing Petro as "anti-Semitic and hateful" and saying his stance amounted to handing a reward to Hamas.

"The Colombian president has promised to reward Hamas murderers and rapists -- and today he delivered," Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on X.

"History will remember that Gustavo Petro decided to stand by the most despicable monsters humanity has known, who burned babies, murdered children, raped women and kidnapped innocent civilians," Katz added.

- 'Fueling anti-Semitism' -

In October, days after the start of the war, Israel announced it was "halting security exports" to Colombia after Petro accused Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant of using language about the people of Gaza similar to what the "Nazis said of the Jews."

Israel at the time accused Petro of "expressing support for the atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists, fueling anti-Semitism," and summoned Colombia's ambassador.

Bogota subsequently demanded that Israel's envoy leave the South American country.

Petro, Colombia's first leftist president, has also asserted that "democratic peoples cannot allow Nazism to reestablish itself in international politics."

In February, he suspended Israeli weapons purchases after dozens of people died in a scramble for food aid in the war-torn Palestinian territory -- an event he said was "called genocide and recalls the Holocaust."

Colombia's armed forces, engaged in a decades-long conflict with leftist guerrillas, rightwing paramilitaries and drug cartels, use Israeli-made weapons and aircraft.

The country has a history of strong diplomatic and military relations with Israel and the United States.

Petro had come out in support of Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who also drew the ire of Israel by saying its Gaza campaign "isn't a war, it's a genocide."

Colombia and Brazil supported South Africa's complaint against Israel to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, alleging the Gaza assault amounted to a breach of the Genocide Convention.

Colombian May Day demonstrator Sandra Gutierrez, a 38-year-old teacher, welcomed her president's announcement Wednesday.

"One cannot be an accomplice of the murderers," she told AFP on the Plaza Bolivar square.
Britain on Wednesday called on Russia to release jailed Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza for "urgent medical treatment".

Kara-Murza, one of the most prominent opponents of President Vladimir Putin, last year was sentenced to 25 years in prison -- the longest known punishment for a Russian dissident in recent times.

The dual British-Russian national was charged with "treason" after using a speech in the United States to say Russia had committed "war crimes" against Ukraine.

The 42-year-old suffers from serious health problems, which his wife Evgenia and lawyers say are due to two poisoning attempts orchestrated by Russia's FSB security service in 2015 and 2017.

"Imprisoned on politically motivated charges by the Russian authorities, Mr Kara-Murza is being persecuted for opposing Russia's invasion of Ukraine," Nusrat Ghani, Britain's minister of state for industry and economic security, said in a statement.

"The prison conditions are threatening his life. His health is declining," she said after speaking with Evgenia Kara-Murza.

"Russia must release him immediately on humanitarian grounds for urgent medical treatment."

Fears have grown over Kara-Murza's fate following the death of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny in an Arctic prison colony in February.

Evgenia Kara-Murza told reporters in Geneva in March that the poisoning attempts had left her husband with a serious condition called polyneuropathy, which can lead to paralysis.

It figures on the list of medical conditions that should prevent incarceration under Russian law, she said.
US-backed Kurdish authorities in Syria Thursday denied claims by Amnesty International which accused them of torturing suspected jihadists and their dependents detained in the country's northeast.

Camps and prisons run by Kurdish authorities still hold more than 56,000 detainees with alleged or perceived links to the Islamic State group, five years after the jihadists were ousted from their last territory in Syria.

They include jihadist suspects locked up in prisons, as well as the wives and children of IS fighters who are held in the Al-Hol and Roj internment camps.

Amnesty secretary general Agnes Callamard said in an April report that Kurdish authorities "have committed the war crimes of torture and cruel treatment, and likely committed the war crime of murder".

The Kurdish semi-autonomous administration in northeastern Syria flatly rejected that.

"With regards to allegations of systematic torture and killing, the Autonomous Administration respects its obligations to prevent the violation of its laws, which prohibit such illegal acts, and adheres to international law," it said in a statement.

Any such crimes that may have been perpetrated are "individual acts", it said, asking Amnesty to provide it with any evidence of wrongdoing by its security forces and affiliates "to hold perpetrators to account".

"We are open to cooperating with Amnesty International regarding its proposed recommendations, which require concerted regional and international efforts," it added.

The vast majority of residents at Al-Hol and Roj are women and children living in dire conditions.

Al-Hol is the largest internment camp in northeastern Syria, with more than 43,000 detainees from 47 countries, many of them family members of IS fighters.

The Kurdish authorities said they have "repeatedly called on the international community to fulfil their responsibilities" and help them "meet the needs in camps and detention facilities, which require huge financial resources that the Autonomous Administration does not have".
Sandwiched between three maroon-uniformed prison warders at the countrys International Crimes Division sitting in Gulu, northern Uganda  after being driven from Ugandas Maximum Security Prison of Luzira, near Kampala  Thomas Kwoyelo appeared composed, attentive and confident, often correcting his Luo language translator. His defence plea was written in his native language. He followed the work of his legal team paragraph by paragraph, seeming organized and coherent. This contrasted with previous appearances, during which he was less confident, absent-minded and less attentive.

The court sessions started at 10am local time before a panel of four judges led by Michael Elubu. Ugandan criminal lawyer Caleb Alaka and three others attorneys formed his defence team. Prosecution is led by William Byansi, alongside two other attorneys. Victims are represented by three lawyers led by Robert Mackay.

Kwoyelos defence submission was heard before presentation of his defence witnesses, who will be cross-examined by the prosecution in court. Earlier this year, the prosecution presented the charges against him. First and only Lords Resistance Army (LRA) commander to be tried by a Ugandan court, Kwoyelo faces 78 charges, including murder, pillage, cruel treatment, violence to life, outrages against the dignity of humanity, torture, rape, enslavement, imprisonment, kidnap with intent to murder, and aggravated robbery.

The LRA had its own rules

A court clerk started to recount a previous testimony by Kwoyelo on the administration of the LRA led by the elusive Joseph Kony, himself under an International Criminal Court warrant. The LRA had its own rules, the court quoted him as saying, and he nodded in affirmation.

They handed young girls to mothers (within the LRA) who had young children, to act as babysitters. Orders (within the LRA Command) on how the abducted young girls were to be distributed to families would come from Joseph Kony himself, Kwoyelo added. The young abducted girls were to carry bags of the mothers of little children.

Their duties were not limited to babysitting. They could also be trained in matters of the military, as in the bush a fight could erupt at any time, Kwoyelo said of the abducted young girls. Whenever a fight erupted in the bush, it was not only men who would fight but women would also join, so the women would act as wives and as soldiers.

Sexual enslavement: not me

The court clerk cited two prosecution witnesses who testified that Kwoyelo superintended abductions and sexual slavery by LRA commanders. But Kwoyelo denied this. It was not my responsibility, since I was in charge of the sick bay. I had no responsibility in abducting or distributing young girls, Kwoyelo told the court.

At that time, I was a junior officer, so it was not my responsibility to give out any person, he said in response to testimony on a 1996 incident of sexual enslavement in which he was allegedly involved. These two witnesses, I dont know them. I note here one of them was abducted in 1997, the other one according to records was abducted in the year 1996. These witnesses were assigned to the homes of the commanders, Kwoyelo said.

It was only in 1999 that Kony gave him orders to collect all the women and girls whose husbands had died in battle in Uganda and take them to Sudan. So, when I arrived in Sudan, I went and handed over all those widows to Joseph Kony. When I handed over all those women to Joseph Kony, he went and anointed them by dipping them in the river and shaving their hair, Kwoyelo recounted.

After anointing and shaving their hair, he (Kony) directed that for between six and nine months, nobody should engage them or woo them, and whoever did the contrary would face a firing squad, the court clerk cited him saying in an earlier testimony.

Kwoyelo nodded his head in approval. Its true, me as Kwoyelo, after these widows were anointed I was able to get one in the year 2000. Amongst those I married, God blessed me. I was able to get children with them. Thats why even when I have been before this court, those women brought the children here, and they shared with me some of the problems they have. The biggest challenge these women shared with me is that the children are in schools and me as a father am not there to help out with school fees, Kwoyelo explained.

I dont deny that I was with these girls as my wives, he said. These girls were abducted young but they had become women. And in case I acted in error, I ask this court to be kind to me, he pleaded. If I am released, I will be able to go back and prepare for the welfare of my children. I also extend this request to the parents of these girls who became my wives, he said in an apparent request for mercy from the parents of abducted girls.

I could not take decisions

In his own way, during this long week of hearing, Kwoyelo tried to answer the long list of other accusations he is facing.

On murder: I was in charge of the sickbay (of the LRA), giving treatment to the wounded and nowhere in the battle zone. Kony said he was supposed to have executed me alongside Vincent Otti (his deputy) but his spirits told him the reports that I was planning to defect with Otti were not true.

On pillaging: LRA worked under a command and from the time I joined I worked under that command and our leader was Joseph Kony. In military where I was conscripted unwillingly, by force, I could not take decisions. I had to follow orders, deviations on those orders it was death and I had to obey.

The former LRA insisted several times: My work was to look after the sick and get them medicines. The witnesses that have testified against me are liars. Their testimonies before this court should be examined carefully as their claims are not consistent. We worked under a command and all was to be directed by Kony, not for an individual commander to decide.

Court should be alive to the fact that some people they claim I killed are alive, and would be called to testify. At no time did I kill anyone, he said.

Request to the President

If possible, I would like to ask this court to send a request to the President who is in charge of this country. Because of abductions by Konys LRA, I also suffered like many others. I plead to the government to release me. Because right from the time I was abducted, I have never enjoyed freedom, never enjoyed peace, it has been a tough kind of life for me.

I would appreciate, if the opportunity is availed to me, if I can meet the President of this country face to face, the defendant continued. He is also a soldier, and I feel there are things I would be able to advise him regarding the military.

I also extend my gratitude to the registrar of this court, because she started demonstrating to me how I should be living a decent life out there. The way I am dressed in a suit is the way I must conduct myself when I am out there, he added, pointing his finger outside the courthouse.

This is where I conclude my testimony before this court, Kwoyelo said. He then picked his written testimony and reading glasses up from the table and took a long breath. That is the end of the testimony of the accused, his lawyer Alaka said calmly.

According to Kwoyelo's lawyer, Henry Evans Ocheng, 48 witnesses will be called for his defense, including some of his alleged victims, members of his family and former rebel fighters, some of whom are currently under witness protection. The first of them gave evidence yesterday, 1 May.
"Blood Free" Episode 7 showcased the collaboration of Han Hyo Joo and Ju Ji Hoon as they tried to find the person behind the attack.

Despite them keeping things undisclosed, the suspect managed to get hold of the bodyguards' whereabouts, and he seemed to know the next step for BF Group.

Helmed by Park Cheol Han of "Grid," and penned by Lee Soo Yeon of the hit series "Stranger," the Disney+ suspense-thriller series depicts the story of CEO Yoon Ja Yoo (Han Hyo Joo), who owns the genetic engineering company called BF Group that produces artificially cultured meat, which she plans on introducing to the market in 2025.

Due to the drastic change that she wants to introduce, the public and other officials are against it. This is the reason she hired her bodyguard, Woo Chae Woon (Ju Ji Hoon), a former military officer.

However, behind his work with BF Group, his loyalty lies with the former president.

'Blood Free' Episode 7 Recap: Woo Chae Woon Desperate to Find the Spy Who Killed Kim Ho Seung

Episode 7 continued with the death of the conglomerate bodyguard, Kim Ho Seung. Because Woo Chae Woon was found at the scene, he was arrested by the police.

However, in hopes of finding the real culprit, he tried to resist the authorities.

He then discovered the special ability that he had recently acquired because of the mutation. The police were baffled by Chae Woon's strength, which seemed out of the ordinary.

The information also reached the prime minister, who became very interested in the effects of mutation.

With this, Woo Chae Woon's arrest was handled by the prime minister, who initially thought that it was Yoon Ja Yoo. He was invited by the official to his office, where Seon Woo Jae wanted to know the details behind his newly acquired strength.

However, the conversation resulted in an assault on the Prime Minister ended up getting hurt.

As for the spy behind the attack, CEO Yoon, with the help of On San and their system, was able to find out the person behind it, but they still needed to figure out who among them was the spy.

In the last scene, Woo Chae Woon mentioned Ms. Jung Hae Deun's name as the only person who knew the schedule at the time.

Here, the group interrogated her, but Jung Hae Deun insisted that she had nothing to do with it, per the instructions of Dorson's Seonu Geun.

However, Woo Chae Woon was losing his patience and was desperate to give justice to his colleague by getting significant information from Ms. Jung.

For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news, keep your tabs open here at KDramaStars.

KDramaStars owns this article

Written by Geca Flores
"The Atypical Family" stars greeted the media and fans during its press conference ahead of the drama's premiere.

Lead stars Jang Ki Yong and Chun Woo Hee are joined by co-stars Claudia Kim, Park So Yi, and director Jo Hyun Taek during the event.

When asked about his K-drama comeback since returning to civilian life, Jang Ki Yong shared his honest thoughts about his new role.

Jang Ki Yong Dishes on His First Father Role in 'The Atypical Family'

Jang Ki Yong admitted that playing his first father role at 31 was quite challenging.

In a report, the actor confessed that playing Bok Gwi Hoo was "not easy," especially since his character is raising a teenage daughter, played by child actress Park So Yi.

"I focused on expressing the character of Returning Joo well without being trapped in the character of a father."

With his new role, the South Korean heartthrob hoped that this transformation would get a positive response from the public.

For his K-drama comeback, Jang Ki Yong plays Bok Gwi Joo, who belongs to a family with supernatural abilities. Described as a "depressed time traveler," he used to work as a firefighter with a positive outlook on life. However, things change after he gets involved in an incident.

Unfortunately, since his family has lost its powers, Gwi Joo's ability to travel into the past and present has vanished.

Park So Yi's Working Relationship With Jang Ki Yong

In the upcoming K-drama, Bok Gwi Joo also has a daughter named Bok Yi Na, played by Park So Yi. During "The Atypical Family" press conference, the child actress dishes on what it's like to work with several top stars, including Jang Ki Yong.

According to the actress, she gets compliments that she looks like her on-screen father.

"I felt good when people told me that I resembled Jang Ki Yong."

In addition to this, she expressed what the actor was like behind the camera.

"He treated me kindly and was like a real father."

Like Park So Yi, "The Atypical Family" director has a ton of good things to say about Jang Ki Yong.

Director Jo Hyun Tak expressed his gratitude to the actor for accepting the role of Bok Gwi Joo.

According to him, Jang Ki Yong is perfect for the role since he is looking for someone who "could express the confused and immature side of the character and at the same time try to be a good father."

"The Atypical Family" release is set to hit the small screen on May 4 at 10:30 p.m. KST.

Viewers could watch the latest episode every Saturday and Sunday via JTBC.

IN CASE YOU MISSED : Jang Ki Yong Wows Fans With 'The Atypical Family' Transformation- What To Expect From the Show

For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news, keep your tabs open here at KDramaStars.

KDramaStars owns this article

Written by Geca Flores
Mental Health and Addictions Minister Ya'ara Saks says the decision about whether to recriminalize drug use in British Columbia needs to be made urgently, but she's still waiting for more information from the province before making a call. Saks rises during during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Monday, April 29, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick




Thursday, May 2, 2024 - A lady who went missing for almost a week after leaving home following a domestic dispute has been found murdered.

Nuru Akbar left her matrimonial home in Kibwezi at night after she had a quarrel with her husband.

She didnt carry anything when she left home last week.

She was found murdered a few days ago and her body doused with acid.

Detectives have arrested her husband as investigations into her mysterious disappearance and brutal murder continue.

A friend took to social media to mourn her and revealed that she had confided in him that she was going through a lot.

I was there any time you needed somebody to confide in, in case of a tough situation; however, I regret I wasn't available at your last hour of bye bye to the cruel world, when imaginably you were in dire need of a helping hand/rescue.

The news about your mysterious disappearance and now death tears me apart, very devastating and sad to say. Coming to terms with your demise is a whole nightmare.

I pray that justice for your sacred life will prevail. I have lost a good true friend, he posted.









The Kenyan DAILY POST.




Thursday, May 2, 2024 - A man is in police custody in connection with armed robberies in Muranga County.

The suspected thug has been terrorizing residents of Mukuyu and Mumbi areas, as well as Muranga Town.

Police raided his house after getting intelligence reports and recovered some of the stolen items and crude weapons he used during his robbery missions.

He was taken to Muranga police station and is expected to be arraigned in court.

See photos of the suspected thug.

























The Kenyan DAILY POST.




Thursday, May 2, 2024 - Following a complaint by a Georgian national who lost over USD 6 million to fake gold racketeers who duped him into a 161,000kg gold deal, one suspect has been arrested at a home within Utawala's Githunguri area and cash in fake USD and fake gold nuggets found therein confiscated.

Frederick Thuranira M'mburi was arrested last night by the Operations Support detectives, in a house where about 23,600 notes (100 denomination) in fake US currency stuffed in two traveling bags and a steel box were found.

Also seized were the fake gold nuggets in eight green canvas bags weighing approximately 10kg each.

In the multi-million fake gold scam, the merchant of Georgia was reported to have traded tonnes of gold bars with a Ghanaian partner through a letter of administration before the High Court of Justice in Ghana, thereafter spending USD 6,090,500 on movement of the consignment from Ghana to Kenya, documentation and storage services.

However, preliminary investigations by OSU detectives reveal that the victim was duped from the word 'Go' by a well-organized ring of scammers whose names and machinations are not new to court records and that no such amounts of real or fake gold were ever transported to Kenya from Ghana.

Further established is that scammers in countries believed to mine gold are conspiring with local and foreign accomplices stationed in Kenya's capital (Nairobi) to fleece clueless merchants, it is a strategic transit route for the precious metal from most African countries to UAE and other countries.

The Kenyan DAILY POST.
Thursday, May 2, 2024 - The Ministry of Defence, spent a whopping Ksh38 million to clean windows and cabros at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) to host President William Rutos event.

According to a report filed by Parliament, the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) took over the renovation works after the government terminated the contract of the first firm.

In the process, the Aden Duale-led Ministry spent Ksh28,690,968 on cleaning cabros and Ksh10,000,000 on cleaning facade windows.

These expenditures shocked the Mbeere North Constituency MP Geoffrey Ruku who labelled them as outright theft.

"I can see you have indicated here that you have used Kshs. 28 Million in cleaning cabros and Kshs. 10 Million in cleaning windows, this is outright theft, we have a responsibility as Kenyans to use taxpayers' money prudently," Ruku stated as quoted by Parliament.

In a quick retort, Patrick Mariru, the PS of the Ministry of Defence insisted that the taxpayers' money was accounted for during the renovation process.

"I have a responsibility as a PS and as a Kenyan to make sure that the taxpayer's money is used prudently and accounted to the last penny, " said the PS.

During the meeting with the Departmental Committee on Tourism and Wildlife, chaired by Maara Constituency MP Kareke Mbiuki, James Mwaura the KICC CEO, informed the Committee that the initial renovation estimate was Ksh400 million, with 50 per cent payment disbursed to the first contractor.

However, the contract was terminated, and the Ministry of Defence subsequently took over, quoting a renovation cost of Ksh1.9 billion in their bill of quantities (BQs).

Patrick Mariru shed light on the genesis of these renovations, attributing them to an emergency call for preparations to host the 4th Africa Climate Summit in September 2023.

KICC was chosen as the venue but required significant upgrades to meet international standards.

The Kenyan DAILY POST




Thursday, May 2, 2024 - The Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) specialised unit commonly known as the Rangers has killed six Al Shabaab terrorists in Lamu County.

The six were killed in an operation executed by the KDF brigade in Lamu County and among the six was one foreign fighter.

KDF in a statement on Monday said it launched a targeted operation at 1:00 pm local time (1000 GMT) against an active Al Shabaab camp in Kumba, about 10 kilometers west of Pandanguo, near the vast Boni forest where the insurgents hide.

"The operation successfully neutralized six members of Al Shabaab, including a foreign national, and resulted in the confiscation of significant logistical supplies," KDF stated.

According to the statement, the raid was staged following intelligence reports that the group was planning an attack in the area.

The KDF said some of the terrorists managed to escape and advised the public to remain vigilant as the operation may lead to increased activities by the group, especially as the number of injured terrorists is reportedly high.

This is good news for the country since Al Shabaab attacks have increased in the last six months and several Kenyans have paid the ultimate price.

The Kenyan DAILY POST




Thursday, May 2, 2024 - Controversial lawyer and barrister, Miguna Miguna, has applauded Kenya Parliament after it approved a motion to impeach Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi.

The motion to impeach Linturi was brought by Bumula Member of Parliament, Jack Wamboka.

The first time lawmaker accuses Linturi of gross violations of the constitution, incompetence, and engaging in corruption deals, the recent being the multi-billion fake fertilizer scandal.

On Thursday, Speaker of the National Assembly, Moses Wetangula, directed the House to form a special committee that will look into Wambokas censure motion.

Speaking about the looming impeachment of Linturi, Miguna Miguna said his impeachment is good for democracy, the rule of law, accountability and for President William Ruto and his United Democratic Alliance(UDA) brigade to show Kenyans that impunity has no place in its administration.

The impeachment of Mithika Linturi is good for democracy, the rule of law, accountability and for the @UDAKenyato show Kenyans that impunity has no place in its administration., Miguna wrote on his X ( formerly Twitter)

The Kenyan DAILY POST




Thursday, May 2, 2024 - Agriculture Cabinet Secretary, Mithika Linturi has suffered a big blow after Members of Parliament endorsed a report by a special committee that recommended the sacking of the CS over the fake fertilizer scandal.

A total of 149 members voted in favour while 36 rejected it. Three of the members abstained.

In todays special debate, a third of the 349 members were required to vote for it to move to the next level.

This translates to 116 members. The 11-member select committee will comprise six from the majority side which is Kenya Kwanza, four from the minority side, and one from the Jubilee party.

In his ruling, Speaker of the National Assembly Moses Wetangula ordered the parliamentary teams to nominate the names by 1:45 pm.

"I direct that the names must be submitted to me not later than 1.45 pm," he ordered.

The House business committee will then be required to bring a motion to the House for consideration of the names.

The motion to impeach Linturi was tabled by Bumula Member of Parliament Jack Wamboka

The MP accuses Linturi of gross violations of the constitution, engaging in acts of corruption, and being behind the fake fertilizer scandal.

The Kenyan DAILY POST




Thursday, May 2, 2024  Trans Nzoia County Governor George Natembeya has lambasted Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, saying he is a clueless man who lacks ambition.

Speaking on Sunday, Natembeya said the Luhya community has been lagging behind because of men like Musalia and Speaker of the National Assembly Moses Wetangula, whom he claimed lack vision and ambition.

Mudavadi became a Cabinet Minister in the late dictator Daniel Arap Moi's Government when he was 33 years old.

Natembeya said it is a very big shame for Mudavad, who is now 63 years old, to lack the ambition to go forward like Ruto, who is now the President and the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces.

"There is poverty nationwide. However, within the Luhya community, our poverty is largely attributed to the two long-standing government leaders, each with four decades of tenure.

When Ruto was in high school, Musalia Mudavadi was a minister in the late former president Daniel Moi's government.

It's been years and now Ruto, who was in high school, has employed Mudavadi as his cabinet secretary.

That is our problem and is the reason why we are asking them to step down," Natembeya said.

The Kenyan DAILY POST




Thursday, May 2, 2024 - Pope Francis has expressed his concern about the flooding situation in Kenya

In the statement issued through his official platforms, the Pope stated that he was spiritually close to the people of Kenya and was praying for Kenyans.

He also stated that he and the rest of the world would stand in solidarity with the country supporting Kenyans through prayer.

Further, the Pope took notice of the disastrous effects of the floods that had ravaged the country claiming lives and destroying property.

I am spiritually close to the people of Kenya at this time when a severe flood has claimed many lives and destroyed vast areas.

Let us pray together for all those who suffer the effects of this natural disaster, read the statement.

Pope Francis statement follows the tragedy in Mai Mahiu that claimed more than 70 individuals after a blocked tunnel burst.

The disaster, the largest to have occurred following the heavy rains pounding the country, is said to have wiped out a whole village on Monday morning.

Additionally, the floods that have continued ravaging the country have swept away individuals in different incidences.

The Kenyan DAILY POST




Thursday, May 2, 2024 - The United States Congress has made a formal request to Kenyas President William Ruto to address it during his planned visit to the White House late this month.

Ruto is expected to tour the House on the Hill on May 23 in an invitation made by US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden.

In a letter dated Tuesday, April 30, House Foreign Affairs Committee Member Gregory Meeks and Committee Chairman Michael McCaul asked United States Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson to have Ruto address a joint session of Congress.

"We are writing to respectfully request that you extend a formal invitation to the President of the Republic of Kenya, His Excellency William Samoei Ruto, to address a joint session of Congress on his official visit to the United States.

President Ruto would be the first Kenyan head of state to address a joint session of Congress and the first African head of state to address Congress since former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, eighteen years ago.

Such an invitation would underscore the importance of the U.S. - Kenya relationship and send a valuable signal to the people of Africa," read the letter in part.

The Kenyan DAILY POST
Recent data from global research companies indicates a bright future for the GCC hospitality industry, with insights from Deloitte and STR demonstrating sustained growth as tourism continues to be a key priority for regional governments.

The upcoming edition of Arabian Travel Market (ATM), a premier global event in travel and tourism, will serve as a pivotal gathering for hospitality stakeholders when it takes place from May 6 to 9 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

According to Deloitte, Dubai is leading the regional hospitality markets with a strong outlook for 2024. The city now offers more hotel rooms than major capitals such as London, New York City and Bangkok, and as of this month, Dubai has a hotel room capacity of over 150,000.

Data from the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) shows that the city welcomed 17.15 million overnight visitors during 2023, with the average length of stay also increasing. According to Deloitte, occupancy peaked at 88% in February.

Elsewhere in the region, STR figures show that Riyadh is leading the way in terms of hotel supply growth, offering an additional 28,465 rooms, a 134% increase. Meanwhile, Doha has doubled its hotel inventory over the past decade, with a current supply of 39,968 rooms.

As the hospitality landscape in the GCC region continues to evolve, the data paints a compelling picture of growth and opportunity. ATM 2024 will feature a wide range of hospitality brands from around the world, and we are pleased to report that there has been a 21% increase in exhibition space dedicated to hotel brands this year, demonstrating strong interest and demand, said Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director ME, Arabian Travel Market.

Curtis added: IHG Resorts is the official hotel partner for ATM 2024, and this year's edition is set to welcome back some of the most respected brands in the hospitality industry, including Four Seasons Hotels, Rosewood Hotels and Resorts, and the Shangri-La Group. It's worth noting that the number of hospitality brands showcased at ATM has increased by 12% with a good selection of well-known international and regional brands. With so many world-class brands in attendance across all categories of luxury, upper-midscale and midscale, ATM 2024 promises an enriching experience for all attending.

Several new European hotel brands, including Ethno Belek in Turkey and Buff Medical Resort in Germany, will exhibit at ATM for the first time. European Voyages, which specialises in tours, transfers, and private jets, will also mark its debut appearance. There has been a notable surge in exhibitor participation from Italy and Turkey, reflecting a growing interest from these regions in reaching the lucrative Middle East tourism market.

Attendees at ATM 2024 will learn the latest trends from hospitality industry leaders during a series of summits and panel discussions throughout the course of the week. These include the 'Frameworks for Tourism Investment' session, which will mark the beginning of the highly-anticipated ATM Market Insights Summit.

Presented by Guy Hutchinson, President, Middle East and Africa, Hilton; Basmah Al-Mayman, Regional Director Middle East, UNWTO; and Jan Gerrit Koechling, Partner Dubai, UAE of Roland Berger, this session will take place on the events main stage, the Global Stage. Attendees can expect to gain invaluable insights on how to cater to new markets, maintain market share and identify new business opportunities.

Elsewhere, the 'Trends Shaping the Future of Hospitality in the Middle East' session will officially open ATMs new Future Stage, formerly the Travel Tech Stage. Providing key updates on the hospitality industry, upcoming trends and current challenges facing the sector, the session will feature senior regional representatives from IHG Hotels & Resorts, Marriot International, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, Rotana Hotel Management Corporation PJSC and Banyan Tree Dubai along with hospitality experts from Mastercard and Silkhaus.

As the Middle East continues its impressive strides forward in the global tourism landscape, IHG Hotels & Resorts is honoured and proud to be a strategic partner to multiple governments, tourism investors, industry stakeholders, and our customers across the region. As the official Hotel Partner of the Arabian Travel Market 2024, we look forward to engaging with industry leaders, peers and colleagues. ATM remains an unrivalled platform for dialogue, debate, networking, and knowledge-sharing as the regional industrys legacy travel trade event, said Haitham Mattar, Managing Director, India, Middle East & Africa, IHG.

The 31st edition of Arabian Travel Market (ATM) will focus on the theme: Empowering Innovation: Transforming Travel Through Entrepreneurship. This years event will feature a wide portfolio of exhibitors from the fields of aviation, accommodation, hospitality, attractions, technology and more, ATM 2024 will explore how innovators in the travel and tourism space are working to attract greater levels of funding to further increase the sectors overall contribution to global GDP.

Held in conjunction with Dubai World Trade Centre, ATM 2024s strategic partners include the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET), Destination Partner; Emirates, Official Airline Partner; IHG Hotels & Resorts, Official Hotel Partner, Al Rais Travel, Official DMC Partner. STA is the Global Travel Partner for ATM 2024. TradeArabia News Service




Thursday, May 2, 2024- Rwanda's President Paul Kagame has sent condolences to President William Ruto and Kenyans following the devastating effects of the ongoing mass flooding in Nairobi and other parts of the country.

In a heartfelt message shared on social media on Thursday, Kagame expressed solidarity with Kenya during this challenging time.

He conveyed his sympathies for the families who have been displaced and for the lives lost as a result of the floods.

"My sincere condolences to you my brother, President@WilliamsRuto and the people of Kenya, for the families displaced and the lives lost in the ongoing mass flooding in Nairobi and other parts of the country.

"Rwanda stands in solidarity with you and the country in this difficult time," Kagame wrote on X.

President Kagame's message of support comes as a gesture of solidarity between the two East African nations.

The flooding, which has affected various regions in Kenya, including the capital city Nairobi, has caused significant disruption and damage to infrastructure, homes, and livelihoods. Thousands of families have been forced to evacuate their homes, seeking refuge in temporary shelters.

Updating the nation on flood-related casualties on Wednesday, Government spokesman Isaac Mwaura revealed a sobering increase in fatalities, with 10 more lives lost in the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 179.

Additionally, 20 individuals are reported missing, while 125 people have been injured and are receiving medical attention.

The Kenyan DAILY POST




Thursday, May 2, 2024 - The Kenya Red Cross on Wednesday mounted a search for tourists marooned in camps at Maasai Mara following heavy rains that left them trapped in the area.

A chopper was deployed to evacuate the tourists after the nearby Talek River broke its banks, causing the floods to maroon 14 tourist camps.

The Kenya Red Cross said it rescued 36 people by air and 25 others by land.

Kenyans on X have called out the Kenya Red Cross for abandoning poor Kenyans marooned by floods and at the same time deploying a chopper to save the lives of mzungu tourists.

Where were these choppers when people were stranded and marooned by floods?

"How is it that we can afford the best for foreigners, careless and give the bare minimum to ordinary Kenyans?, a Kenyan on X posed.

















Watch videos of the rescue operation.

More pics and videos from Mara rescue mission. Media is allowed to steal and use them. pic.twitter.com/nymxNPcLnW  Cyprian, Is Nyakundi (@C_NyaKundiH) May 1, 2024

The Kenyan DAILY POST.




Thursday, May 2, 2024  Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi almost escaped an impeachment thanks to his estranged wife.

Aldai MP Marianne Kitany became the subject of discussion in Parliament today as MPs debated on the impeachment against Linturi.

Owen Baya, the Kilifi North MP wanted the motion dismissed since Kitany, Linturi's ex-wife, was one of the MPs who had appended their signatures to the motion.

According to Baya, the mere fact that Kitany and Linturi were embroiled in a bitter fallout was an indicator of a conflict of interest.

"Standing Order 90 extensively relies on matters that are about the member who signs as Number 15 (Marrianne Kitany) on the list," Baya stated during the proceedings.

"Honourable Speaker, interest should have been declared that the MP signing should have in this case declared interest in this because it refers to a personal relationship to the member and we either amend the list or declare that the list presented be expunged and this motion falls on its face."

Baya also presented two other arguments for the motion filed by Bumula MP Jack Wamboka to be thrown out.

First, the lawmaker pointed out that some of the cases mentioned in the impeachment motion were active cases in court, and discussing the matters in Parliament would be subjudice.

Second, Baya claimed that the evidence presented against Linturi was pure speculation derived from electronic media reports, contravening National Assembly Standing Orders.

National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula read the two charges tabled against the CS; Gross violation of the Constitution and gross misconduct.

When the motion was put to vote, 149 MPs voted to impeach Linturi against 36 MPs. 3 abstained.

The Kenyan DAILY POST






Wednesday, May 1, 2024 - Supermodel and TV personality, Tyra Banks has revealed that she had her first alcoholic drink to celebrate her 50th birthday.

In an interview with People, the model said she wanted to try new things and also wanted to be her most authentic self as she celebrated her big milestone birthday which was in December.

She said she spent her special day enjoying a seaplane adventure with her mom and best friend in Australia, where they enjoyed a meal and an alcoholic beverage.

Describing how she felt, Tyra said the booze left her underwhelmed. She added It wasnt worth it. I was like, This is nasty!

Tyra famously has chosen to live a sober lifestyle, having previously avoided drugs and alcohol throughout her career and even now at age 50, it seems she's continuing on that path.

Now, Tyra did once say she tried a little taste of alcohol when she was 12 but she hasn't touched a drop of it until now.

On what it feels like turning 50, she said;

I thought I would have little glasses and just have a quilt on my lap and watch soap operas all day. I was wrong. What my life is like now is totally different than what I thought. I'm poppin'. I am not insecure about myself. It feels real good.

The American supermodel now lives in Australia, where she works and lives with her boyfriend Louis Belanger-Martin and son York Banks Asla, who she welcomed via surrogacy in 2016.




Thursday, May 2, 2024 - The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacist and Dentist Union (KMPDU) has vowed it will never be intimidated to go back to work with the current arrangement.

This comes even as President William Ruto has called on the doctors to call off the strike and go back to work, saying his government will not give in to their demands to increase salaries.

In a statement yesterday, KMPDU Chairman Dr. Adbi Mwachi said they will continue with the doctors strike, which is in its second month, until President William Rutos government implements the 2027 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

According to Mwachi, the government has been focused on misplaced priorities which have relegated the lives of Kenyans to the sidelines while leaders chase after selfish gains.

"On this Labour Day, as we stand in solidarity and reflect on the value of our work, we find ourselves amidst a tough situation.

"The struggle and sacrifices made by doctors in this ongoing industrial action, now in its second month, are undeniable.

"The government's misplaced priorities have relegated the lives of Kenyans to the sidelines while leaders chase after selfish gains," Mwachi stated.

He noted that the strike is a deep-rooted desire for transparency and justice, which he said will continue until what he termed as deception by the government is done away with.

"It's a painful truth that deception has crept into the fabric of our society.

"As we take a stand, let it be known that our actions reflect a deep-rooted desire for transparency and justice.

"The sacrifices made by our top leaders underscore our commitment to this cause.

"We have given our sweat and tears and are prepared to give even more, including our blood, if necessary, to rectify this deception," he added.

The Kenyan DAILY POST






Wednesday, May 1, 2024 - A Brazilian woman who wheeled her dead uncle into a bank to obtain a loan in his name is now being investigated for manslaughter over his death.

Erika de Souza, 42, was aware that her Paulo Braga, 68, had died when she attempted to withdraw $3,250 from the bank on April 16, the Rio de Janeiro Civil Police said in a report filed with the state Public Ministry on Tuesday, April 30.

'She knew this fact (of death), as he is (in the video) with his head down and without any movement, however, right before entering, she holds him by the neck so that he has his head up, simulating a person alive,' Civil Police chief Fabio Souza said in his findings, which were obtained by TV Globo.

De Souza, a mother-of-six, is being held in pretrial detention and is facing vilification of a corpse and attempted theft through fraud charges.

Surveillance video cameras showed Braga being removed from a ride share app car in the mall parking lot and de Souza later wheeling Braga through the mall while he sat motionless in the wheelchair.

The security camera footage also captured de Souza standing next to Braga and then walking away to the restroom.

A bank employee was then seen leaving her seat and approaching Braga to support his head it fell backward, not knowing that he was already dead. De Souza returned with a cup of water for her uncle and tried to give it to him.

In the viral video recorded by one of the bank workers de Souza was seen bizarrely telling Braga, 'Uncle, are you listening? You need to sign,' as she placed a pen near his right hand.

At one point, de Souza told the teller, 'He doesn't say anything, that's just how he is,' and turned to her uncle and mentioned that she was going to take him to the hospital if he wasn't feeling well.

The bankers were worried about de Souza's behavior and called the police. Paramedics were dispatched to the bank and tried to revive Braga.

Investigators found that Braga had already been dead for about two hours because there were cadaver marks visible on his head.

'There is no doubt that Erika knew about Paulo's death, but, as it was her last chance to withdraw the money from the loan, she entered the bank with the corpse, simulated for several minutes that he was alive, even pretending to give water, took the pen and held his hand close to the hand of Paulo's corpse,' Souza said.

'However, as the bank employees did not disperse their attention, he was unable to sign.'

Souza report also indicated that de Souza had set up her own bank account to get the money from Braga and that she also went to the bank by herself to withdraw the loan money.

The loan had already been approved but the funds were not withdrawn because Braga had been hospitalized for a week and was not discharged until April 15, the day before he died.

Souza's statement stressed that Braga was already dead when de Souza took him to the bank.

'Inside the branch, she continues with this simulation while waiting for assistance, as she remains holding her neck and when she lets go, his head "falls" backwards, which is impossible to happen to a living person,' Souza said.

So, she holds it again and pretends to be talking, but she lets go of her neck once again and her head falls down again, holding her back.

De Souza's son, Lucas Nunes, revealed she has been under medication and had tried to commit suicide on several occasions.

In 2023, a psychiatrist requested that she be hospitalized because she had become too dependent on sedatives and hypnotics.

'She has been going through difficult times. She has been experiencing disorders,' Nunes said. 'She has psychological and psychiatric support.'

The family claimed that Braga had requested the loan on March 25. He intended to use the money to repair the home where he lived with de Souza and three of her children.

'My mother raised six children. And she never needed to steal or deceive anyone to do so,' Nunes added.

'My mother guided her children towards life, and she guided them very well, teaching us the path of studies, the path of what is correct.'
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khaskhabar.com : , 02  2024 12:25 PM
Shane MacGowans widow Victoria Mary Clarke has said the late musicians rifle from the 1916 Easter Rising is missing and has most likely been stolen.

The Pogues frontman died in November 2023 aged 65 shortly after he was discharged from St Vincents Hospital in Dublin, ahead of his 66th birthday on Christmas Day.

His wife said the missing LeeEnfield rifle was historically significant as it was used during the Irish rebellion against the British government.

It was on Easter Monday 1916 that the insurgents seized the General Post Office (GPO) in Dublin and a proclamation was read out heralding the start of the insurrection against British rule.

On X, Clarke wrote: Shanes 1916 rifle has gone missing, most likely been stolen.

Shanes 1916 rifle has gone missing, most likely been stolen. It was a birthday gift to @ShaneMacGowan from a dear musician friend and it was used in the GPO so it was historically significant. It was a Lienfield 303 and it has H Munn etched on it pic.twitter.com/iWJQiTji0L  @victoriamary (@Victoriamary) May 1, 2024

It was a birthday gift to @ShaneMacGowan from a dear musician friend and it was used in the GPO so it was historically significant.

MacGowan led The Pogues who became a household name after the release of their festive hit Fairytale Of New York in 1987.

Following his death, Clarke told the Brendan OConnor Show on RTE Radio that she thought she was going to die after learning MacGowan was coming to the end of his life.

Discussing his last days, she said she had been giving him health drinks and trying alternative therapists, hypnotists and physios to try to help him.

She added: He was putting up a really strong fight. He was trying very hard to breathe.

He wasnt ready to give up. He wasnt ready to stop fighting  but his body did it for him.
Abbi Henderson (17) from Thomastown in County Kilkenny has won the award for 'Best Comedy' at this years Fresh Film Festival.

Also celebrating are Oonagh Waldron and Cathal Anderson, who won 'Best Screenplay'.

The awards are organised by Fresh International Film Festival, in collaboration with RTE and Screen Ireland.

Founded in 1997 as the Irish Schools Video Competition, Fresh Film was originally a schools competition for secondary students.

It has since grown into a year round organisation with a focus on national and international filmmakers spanning the primary and secondary age groups.

Abbis entry, Chog, unfolds as a ten minute comedic horror, weaving a tale of a dog-sitter and a murderous miniature Schnauzer.

The protagonist Beth is also played by Abbi, and Chog the dog is played by the late Logan Henderson.

Abbi crafts a narrative teetering between amusement and dread.

An eerie ambiance sets the tone marked by rustling trees, Chogs low growls, and foreboding music.

Despite the ominous premise, Abbi infuses the storyline with humour with overly dramatic reactions and tongue-in-cheek props.

Abbis gift for directing shines through her cinematic shots, thoughtful pacing, attention to detail, and witty script-writing.

Abbi attends Presentation Secondary in Kilkenny and is currently in 6th year.

She joined Young Irish Filmmakers (YIFM) in 2022 and has loved every minute of being a part of it.

Since a young age, she has been crystal clear about her dream - to become a film director.

As she embarks on her journey this year, marked by her film debut, first film award, and the beginning of her college education, shes poised to turn her dreams into reality.

Chog can be viewed on Fresh Films YouTube channel.
Winston Peters in Radio NZ referred to former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr (who is an opponent of AUKUS) as being very close to China (but more bluntly and significantly).

Bob Carr has threatened defamation and this has led to Hysterical Hipkins to demand Winston Peters be sacked.

Possibly HH should have read this article by the Australian Review that details the relationship between Carr and China. One extract:

he institutional origins of Carrs China-whatever approach can be found in the history of ACRI. In 2014 a prominent Chinese businessman in Sydney made a significant donation to UTS to establish a new China institute. The same donor subsequently boasted in public that he personally selected Carrto run the operation. Carr emerged as Australias most prominent and vocal public advocate for Xi Jinpings China.

Another article elaborates:

Unlike other university-based think tanks, such as the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, ACRI has never produced an annual report nor does it publicly disclose its budget and financial expenditures. The university now claims to fully fund the institute; yet the Bank of China, the China Construction Bank, Yuhu Group, and other Chinese companies are listed as Chairmans Council Members under a description of how ACRI is funded. Who is paying for the transmission of Chinas voice in Australia? Is it UTS, the All-China Journalist Association, Xinhua or even the Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party? Because ACRI hasnt disclosed any of its finances, we dont know who is paying for the trips it organises.

I would be very very surprised of Carr actually sues, and Hipkins looks very foolish for backing Carr against NZs Foreign Minister.

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Rep. Mike Lawler leaves a meeting of the House Republican Conference at the Capitol Hill Club on April 30. The House is expected to vote Wednesday on the bipartisan Antisemitism Awareness Act.
The town of Morris is still recovering tonight from two EF-1 tornadoes that swept through Saturday night. This is not the first time a tornado hit this community. It is something people living there said they are all too familiar with. Kevin Gibson, he went through both tornadoes that hit nearly 40 years apart, to the day.
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Min Hee Jin has reportedly accused HYBE Labels of distorting public opinion.

Read more to learn further details.

Min Hee Jin Retaliates To HYBE's Claims Of Devised Termination of NewJeans' Exclusive Contracts

On May 2, Korean news outlets reported that Min Hee Jin, CEO of ADOR, had called for NewJeans' early contract termination in January 2024.

It was disclosed that the request went through unconventional procedures, as the ADOR CEO reportedly took matters into her own hands instead of a meeting between directors.

Industry insiders claimed that Min Hee Jin had submitted HYBE an edited version of a contract involving shareholders in February. Afterwards, HYBE suspected that Min Hee Jin was planning a coup on the company and take over its management rights.

However, ADOR then revealed that Min Hee Jin filed the request to launch a new label.

"Earlier on January 25, 2024, CEO Min Hee Jin attended a face-to-face meeting with HYBE CEO Park Ji-won," it shared. "During the meeting, Min Hee Jin raised concerns over the exclusive rights to sign contracts, which pertains to external contractors and exclusive ones."

ADOR also countered the multi-label's claims of the early termination of NewJeans' contract. The agency stated how this gesture highlighted HYBE's "distortion" of the truth and public opinion by engaging in media play.

"This shows once again that HYBE is distorting and splicing the truth to alter public opinion," ADOR commented. "If HYBE plans to continue to make the negotiations about the shareholder contracts public, we firmly believe that it's best to resume the discussions with us."

Min Hee Jin Declines HYBE's Call For Board of Directors Meeting

In other news, Korean media reported that Min Hee Jin had refused HYBE's call for a meeting between the company's board of directors.

Outlets stated that the ADOR CEO had declined for two reasons. Min Hee Jin shared that the first reason was because HYBE's request to replace ADOR's CEO and board of directors was illegal and outside the multi-label's legal boundaries.

"We have decided not to convene a meeting with the board since the rights to a convention of audited board of directors are limited within an audit's scope," Min Hee Jin shared. "Their request to call for this kind of meeting was illegal."

Sources also state that in the case of cancellation, HYBE had filed a request from the court on April 25, which will initiate an emergency meeting between shareholders. The multi-label also released a brief statement regarding Min Hee Jin's refusal.

"Under the articles of association, the auditor has the authority to audit the performances of directors and the right to convene a meeting with the board," HYBE commented. "Therefore, the company cannot understand why Min Hee Jin refused to comply."

Moreover, on April 25, HYBE released an official statement disclosing an interim report about its audit on ADOR. The company also shared its plans to formally accuse Min Hee Jin, alongside suspected accomplices, of breach of trust.

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: Min Hee Jin Reveals Frustration After HYBE Casted Sakura & Kim Chaewon

KpopStarz owns this article

Written by Israel Monte
The K-pop scene is abuzz with controversy as ILLIT's latest track "Lucky Girl Syndrome" faces accusations of plagiarism.

The song, featured in ILLIT's debut EP album 'Super Real Me', has drawn comparisons to "Favorite Liar", a 2016 release by American pop rock band The Wrecks.

Online Community Erupts: Netizens Express Shock and Disbelief

Netizens took to the online community board theqoo to voice their opinions, with many expressing shock at the striking similarities between the two tracks.

Comments such as:

"It's quite similar,"

"It's way too similar,"

"I'm shocked that it sounds the same to my ears,"

"I heard this is okay, but this really won't work."

"Still, you don't want to hear the sound of an imitation group??"

"Not really... not similar..."

"It's okay, but I guess this will be okay too."

"It's a plagiarism group."

"Sounds like shit...?"

"It's a common style, but it's very similar."

"I don't think it's the same. No water riding. Rather, other groups are more similar to Repugs."

"This song couldn't have been released without the original song. There's really no originality. This place only brings out the aggro every time."

IN CASE YOU MISSED THIS: Difference in Investments ILLIT Received Compared to NewJeans Draws Attention

Listen and Decide: Clip Comparing the Controversial Tracks

A clip comparing "Lucky Girl Syndrome" and "Favorite Liar" has circulated online, prompting listeners to make their own judgments on the alleged similarities. The controversy continues to unfold as fans and music enthusiasts weigh in on the issue.

Recently, ILLIT, HYBE's youngest group, faces heightened criticism regarding their live performance skills following their debut with "Magnetic" and subsequent wins on music shows.

The scrutiny peaked after their encore performance on SBS MTV's "The Show," where some criticized their vocals as unstable and shaky. Online reactions varied, with some attributing the issues to debut nerves while others called for improvement.

Despite the criticism, ILLIT continued to secure victories on music shows, presenting opportunities for growth. However, as expectations rise, especially regarding vocal stability, the group faces the challenge of improving while under intense scrutiny.

Some members have received praise for their live vocals, but overall, the group faces persistent critique. Additionally, recent allegations of AI-generated content in teaser trailers have added to the controversy surrounding the group's debut. Despite criticism, supporters urge patience and emphasize the members' journey.

watch the full video here.



What are your thoughts on this controversy? Share your opinions in the comments below.

YOU MIGHT BE ALSO INTERESTED IN: Difference in Investments ILLIT Received Compared to NewJeans Draws Attention

For more K-Pop news and updates, keep your tabs open here at KpopStarz.

KpopStarz owns this article.

Written by Cassidy Jones.
State Attorney General Liz Murrill holds a news conference Monday to announce the filing of a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education on changes to Title IX rules.
HT Syndication

New Delhi [India], May 2: Celebrated author Kamini Puri released her latest novel, The Red Munia, at a launch event today, on Saturday, April 27th, 2024, at the India Habitat Centre, Juniper Hall, Lodhi Road, New Delhi. The book launch was followed by lunch.

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The Red Munia is a coming-of-age story that follows Laila, a young woman who journeys from her idyllic childhood in Punjab to adulthood in Bombay and London. The novel explores themes of family, love, and loss against the backdrop of a changing India.

Esteemed guests including leading photographer Raghu Rai, best selling author Karan Puri, Mia Lakra of Spitsvilla fame, Swati Mitra, Sanjay Khanna and many leading book & Lifestyle influencers were present at the event.

Also Read | Uttarakhand: Engineering Student Dies After Being Hit by Train While Filming Reel on Railway Track in Roorkee, Body Cut to Pieces in Horrifying Accident.

The event was graced by the presence of Professor Dinesh Singh, a highly distinguished scholar and Padma Shri awardee, as the Chief Guest. Where Mr. Singh quoted, 'Kamini Puri's writing style reminds of Arundhati Roy's writings' "Kamini's writing is gentile and gentle. She says what she has to say. Her last chapter reminded me of Buniyaad's last episode. Manohar shyam joshi's writing."

About the Book

Laila spends an enviable childhood in Kapurthala, Punjab, where she lives with her parents, grandmother, and younger sister Dia, in a luxurious Haveli. Horse riding, royal-style picnics, house parties with games like Scrabble, Hide and Seek, and climbing trees are a way of life for Laila, which she enjoys with Dia and her friend Maya. Sensitive as she is, Laila grapples with her father's concerns about the political unrest in India leading up to British rule.

At eighteen, Laila leaves home for Bombay to pursue journalism and hone her writing skills. In Bombay, she sets her sights on a childhood dream: to meet the Queen of England! Life in London brings a whirlwind of new experiences. Determined to meet the Queen, Laila encounters Jai, a man unlike anyone she's ever met. Jai introduces her to a new perspective on life and, most importantly, to love. She falls deeply in love, but can their bond survive the challenges that come their way?

About the Author

Kamini comes to fiction, holding a magical quill weaving encounters which are smooth in transition, not only of acceptance amongst the readers, but also conveying a faithful sense of events,recollected by her, partly through her upbringing and mainly through her passion to record historical facts, embroidered in a telling literary style which at times is racy and at others like lilting on calm waters. With her background of Masters in Psychology, combined with her education in a Convent, she understands the human predicaments. And to boot, her style of writing leaves the reader with a lurking quest in his mind, which makes the present work a page-turner.

Kamini's love for travel has taken her across most parts of the world. Observing various cultures and delving into lifestyles of different people make the world an immensely intriguing place for her. Kamini had her first tryst with creativity, running her own fashion studio for a considerable number of years.

The author presently runs an NGO that seeks to work for empowerment of women, education of children and comfortable enrichment of lives of senior citizens. Kamini lives in New Delhi. Her engagements run at a relaxed pace; her days are full with travel, reading, music, social causes and above all, writing, which comes naturally to her in any and every day of her life.

(ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by HT Syndication. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Rajkot (Gujarat) [India], May 2 (ANI): In a big boost to the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, as many as 45 royal families have extended their support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The members of the royal families gathered in Rajkot. 15-16 royal family members were present, while the others extended their letter of support for PM Modi.

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Thakor Saheb of Rajkot Mandhata, Sinhji Jadeja, said that the members have gathered to discuss about the nation's interest.

"It is undoubtedly a clear picture that the Rajput community and the former rulers have closely been associated with PM Narendra Modi. All the rulers are here because of PM Narendra Modi's vision. His tech-savvy approach to take all mediums to take India to next level of development," Sinhji Jadeja told ANI.

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His statement comes amid ongoing protests by Kshatriyas or Rajputs in Gujarat against Union Minister Parshottam Rupala's controversial remarks against them.

On March 22, during an election campaign speech in Rajkot in Gujarat, Union Minister and Rajkot BJP candidate Parshottam Rupala triggered controversy when he praised the Dalits at the expense of the Kshatriyas or Rajputs.

Commenting on British rule, Rupala said, "Even kings and royals bowed down to the British, started family bonds with them, broke bread with them, and even married their daughters to them but this Rukhi Samaj (a Dalit community) did not budge. I salute them for their fortitude and strength. It is this strength that has kept Sanatana Dharma alive...Jai Bhim!" His reference to roti-beti vyavahar (breaking bread and entering into marital relations) caused anger that neither he nor the party anticipated in a State where the BJP enjoys near-complete dominance.

Speaking to ANI, Sinhji Jadeja said, "Today the ex-rulers of Saurashtra, Kachchh and Gujarat have gathered here to ponder over the nation's interest at large, and how India in the international arena can keep its head held high."

He appreciated the development in the country in the last 10 years and hailed PM Modi as a 'global leader'.

"He is now a global leader, and it is without doubt that we give our fullest support to PM Modi," he added.

Notably, Gujarat, the home state of both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, is a citadel of the BJP with the party winning all 26 seats in the last two general elections.

The state will vote for 25 out of 26 parliamentary seats in the Lok Sabha elections on May 7.

On the remaining constituency of Surat, BJP candidate Mukesh Dalal was elected 'unopposed' after the nomination papers of the Congress party's candidate Nilesh Kumbhani were rejected, as his three proposers claimed in an affidavit to the district election officer they had not signed his nomination form. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Bhubaneswar, May 2 (PTI) The BJP on Thursday announced candidates for six more assembly seats in Odisha, including its state unit vice president Dr Purnachandra Mohapatra.

Mohapatra, a doctor by profession, has been nominated from the Barabati-Cuttack assembly segment where Kendrapara MP and actor-turned-politician Anubhav Mohanty, who defected from BJD, was also in the race for the BJP ticket, party sources said.

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Mohapatra's name was also in the discussion for BJP nominee for the Cuttack Lok Sabha seat.

With the sixth list of candidates, the party announced its nominees for 146 seats for elections to the 147-member assembly in the state.

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The party is yet to announce its nominee for Nilagiri in Balasore district.

Prakash Ranabijuli has been named as the BJP candidate from the Begunia assembly segment and Umesh C Jena from the Bari assembly seat.

Former BJD MLA and ex-minister Debasish Nayak, who was once close to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and joined the BJP after being denied a ticket in two previous elections, was in the race for a saffron camp ticket in Bari, the sources said.

The BJP fielded Sudhanshu Nayak from the Bhandaripokhari seat, while Ashish Patra and Dr Sambhunath Rout will contest from Bhogarai and Ghasipura assembly segments respectively, an official release issued by the party said.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Celebrating the historic order for 150 A321neo and 80 A350 Family aircraft placed in December 2023, Turkiyes flag carrier Turkish Airlines, Airbus and Rolls-Royce came together at Turkish Airlines headquarters in Istanbul.

Present were the Turkish Minister of Trade Prof Omer Bolat, Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacr, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloglu, and Deputy Minister of National Defence Bilal Durdal, representatives of top Turkish aerospace companies as well as the British Consul General, and undersecretaries of France and Spain.

The celebration also marked the unveiling of the Strategic Turkiye Enhanced Programme (STEP), which was created by Airbus, Turkish Airlines and aerospace companies in Turkiye to further develop the Turkish aerospace industry in line with Turkish Airlines long-term strategic growth plan and create exponential economic value over the next 15 years.

The recent aircraft order position Turkish Airlines as the worlds largest operator of Rolls-Royces Trent XWB engine.

In line with the partnership with Rolls-Royce, the manufacturer is exploring the implementation of a number of industrial initiatives in Turkiye, including the potential establishment of a competitive Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) capability and further supply chain sourcing.

Commenting on the STEP and the partnership with Rolls-Royce Turkish Airlines Chairman of the Board and the Executive Committee, Prof. Ahmet Bolat stated: We are glad about the launch of the Strategic Turkiye Enhanced Programme with Airbus, which is a testament to our deepening collaboration with the aircraft manufacturer.

Given the rapid advancements in technology, today marks the commencement of our efforts to help cultivate Turkish aviation companies into prospective suppliers, aligning closely with Airbus strategic objectives and their newly identified business domains.

We are also delighted to further strengthen our relationship with Rolls-Royce. By joining forces with the manufacturing giants, we underscore our commitment to both excellence and the further development of Turkiye's aerospace capabilities.

With the significant cooperation between three valuable companies, Turkish Airlines will continue to leverage advanced technologies and collaborative strategies to enhance our operational efficiencies and contribute to continuing our sustainable growth while reinforcing our leading role on the global aviation stage.

Guillaume Faury, Airbus CEO, said: We thank Turkish Airlines for their trust and we are honoured to both support their growth as one of the worlds elite airlines and develop our partnership with Turkiye through the new STEP programme we are unveiling today.

The programme will provide the framework for Airbus to further broaden its collaboration with Turkiye and support Turkish Airlines growth ambitions, with a particular focus on supply chain development, skills and sustainability.

Tufan Erginbilgic, Rolls-Royce CEO, said: Turkiye is a strategically important market for Rolls-Royce across our business. We are very pleased with the confidence that Turkish Airlines has placed in our Trent XWB engines.

We now look forward to working with Turkish Airlines and our partners to use our extensive aerospace engineering experience to benefit the Turkish economy, grow the countrys skills base and expand its role in the energy transition. I am personally very energised by the strengthening relationship between our great company, Turkish Airlines and the Republic of Turkiye.

Turkiye has been an integral part of Airbus supply chain for over 20 years, and today every Airbus commercial aircraft from the A220 to the A350 includes Turkish supplied parts. Directly and indirectly over 3,500 Turkish aeronautical jobs are supported by Airbus.

At the end of 2023, the accumulated total amount invested by Airbus in Turkiye has exceeded US$4 billion. In addition, the 20-year collaboration has established a wealth of expertise, technological advancements and a highly skilled workforce in Turkiyes aerospace sector.

These initiatives aim to further develop the Turkish aerospace industry in accordance with Turkish Airlines growth ambition as well as Turkiyes aim to develop a robust aerospace industry, a statement said.  TradeArabia News Service
New Delhi, May 2 (PTI) The BJP on Thursday lodged a complaint with the Election Commission against the Congress, alleging that it is trying to create an "atmosphere of tension" in society and spreading lies that the Constitution will be changed.

Opposition parties have been alleging that the BJP is seeking more than 400 seats in the Lok Sabha elections as it wants to change the Constitution and end quotas for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes.

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Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi and party leader Om Pathak approached the commission with the complaint, in which the party also accused opposition INDIA bloc parties, including the Congress, of uploading and sharing deepfake videos.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been attacking members of the bloc over a doctored video of Union Home Minister Amit Shah's speech going viral on social media.

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The Delhi Police on Sunday had registered an FIR after the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), which is under the home ministry, filed a complaint in the doctored video case. It has, since then, summoned 22 people, including Congress leader and Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Jharkhand Congress chief Rajesh Thakur.

"The Congress and other opposition parties are continuously spreading lies about individuals, policies and the constitutional system. Efforts are being made to create an atmosphere of tension in society. We brought to the notice of the Election Commission (EC) more than 15 such instances," Trivedi told reporters after meeting officials of the poll panel here.

In a bid to create hurdles in the conduct of a free and fair elections, this is being done by the Congress and its allies in an "organised manner", he alleged.

"The Congress is making such statements and its allies repeat them. And, then their social media (units) spread the same lies, confusions and deepfake (videos) in an unlawful manner among the people," Trivedi said.

He said the poll panel gave a patient hearing to the BJP delegation and assured it of taking appropriate action.

Talking to reporters, Chandrasekhar said, "In the last two phases of the elections, Congress has consistently depended on a series of political lies that has emerged from as high as Rahul Gandhi to many of its leaders".

The Congress is pursuing a political strategy based on lies and distortion of facts. It is misleading the people by making them believe in its lies such as the BJP will change the Constitution if it wins the elections, he said.

"The BJP delegation met the Election Commission and alerted it to the challenge that this will pose to free and fair conduct of polls," Chandrasekhar said.

The EC should look into these issues at the earliest to ensure that elections are conducted freely and fairly and that people are not mislead by the Congress' "politics of lies", he said.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, May 2 (PTI) The CBI is not under the "control" of the Union and the government can't supervise either the registration of offence by the agency or its investigation, the Centre told the Supreme Court on Thursday.

The Centre's submission assumes significance as the opposition parties have been accusing the government of misusing central probe agencies like the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to target its rivals.

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The Centre raised preliminary objections before a bench of justices B R Gavai and Sandeep Mehta on the maintainability of a lawsuit filed by the West Bengal government which alleged that the CBI is going ahead with its investigation without securing the prerequisite nod from the state.

However, the West Bengal government countered the Centre's submission and said once a foothold is given to the CBI in a state, the ED enters and this has huge ramification on the polity of the country.

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The West Bengal government has filed an original suit in the apex court against the Centre under Article 131 of the Constitution, alleging that the CBI has been filing FIRs and proceeding with its investigation, despite the state having withdrawn the general consent to the federal agency to probe cases within its territorial jurisdiction.

Article 131 deals with the Supreme Court's original jurisdiction in a dispute between the Centre and one or more states.

During the hearing on Thursday, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, told the bench that Article 131 is "one of the most sacred" jurisdiction conferred upon the apex court and can't be allowed to be misused or abused.

He said the cases referred to in the state's suit have not been filed by the Union of India.

"The Union of India has not registered any case. CBI has done," Mehta said, adding that state has arrayed the Union of India represented by secretary of the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) as party in the suit.

"CBI is not under the control of Union of India," he said.

The solicitor general said that cases referred to in the suit include those which were ordered to be registered by the Calcutta High Court.

"The supervision (of CBI) is not with the Union of India. I (Centre) can't supervise either registration of the offence, I can't supervise the investigation and I can't supervise how it would lead to either a closure or a charge sheet or conviction or acquittal," said Mehta, who also referred to the provisions of the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, 1946.

He said the suit filed by the West Bengal was not maintainable because there was no cause of action against the Union of India.

"This (Article 131) is a very sacred jurisdiction and therefore, the principles which would govern entertaining of the suit or dismissing the suit on the ground of maintainability etc. will have to be examined more rigorously considering that this is a very sacrosanct provision and can't be allowed to be abused or misused," he said.

Mehta said the similar issue and same question is already pending adjudication before the apex court in a special leave petition (SLP) and this fact has been suppressed by the state in the suit.

"This is a suit filed before the highest court of the country and my submission as a constitutional proposition is going to be that the suppression of fact must led to dismissal of the suit only on that ground...," he said.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who appeared for West Bengal, said the CBI is not a statutory authority and it is an investigating agency.

"Why can't it be considered to be a statutory authority," the bench asked.

Sibal said, "It (CBI) is an investigating arm of the government."

He referred to the provisions of the DSPE Act, including section 4 which deals with superintendence and administration of special police establishment.

"In the administrative structure of the Union of India, the supervision of the police establishment is with the Department of Personnel and Training," he said.

Sibal said when a question is asked in Parliament about the CBI, it is the minister of state for DoPT who answers it.

Referring to section 6 of the DSPE Act, which deals with consent of state government to exercise of powers and jurisdiction, he said once the state has withdrawn its consent, the CBI can't enter the state and investigate.

"I am saying under the federal structure of this country, once a state has withdrawn consent, no investigating agency can enter into it. This does not apply, for example under the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act)," he said.

"What is happening is, you give a foot hold to the CBI in the state, the ED enters. Because then there is a predicate offence and the whole exercise is meant for that, to allow the ED to enter. Then the ED starts investigating in the state and this has huge ramification on the polity of this country," Sibal said.

The arguments in the matter remained inconclusive and would continue on May 8.

On November 16, 2018, the West Bengal government withdrew the "general consent" accorded to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to conduct a probe or carry out raids in the state.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India], May 2 (ANI): The Enforcement Directorate has arrested a former special secretary of the food department, Manoj Soni, in connection with its probe into the alleged Rs 175 crore rice milling scam in Chhattisgarh, the agency said on Wednesday.

"ED, Raipur has arrested Manoj Soni, the then MD MARKFED, one of the prime accused in the Custom Rice Milling Scam of Chhattisgarh on April 30," the ED said.

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https://twitter.com/dir_ed/status/1785646015787524287

Soni, at present special secretary, mantralaya, was arrested from the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) office, where he had been summoned for questioning in connection with the rice scam case registered by ACB/EOW.

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Soni was taken into custody and produced before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Raipur where the agency will seek his custody for interrogation.

The federal agency had last year said in a statement that Rs 175 crore bribes were generated through this alleged scam for the "benefit of higher powers".

"...in this process, corruption was done on a large scale and money was collected on the basis of per quintal. Various government officials misused their position and colluded with the rice millers and received undue benefits, causing financial loss to the government," it said.

The agency has earlier said in a statement that its case stems from a complaint filed by the Income Tax Department before a court in Raipur.

In its complaint, the IT department had alleged that the office bearers of the Chhattisgarh rice millers association "colluded" with officers of the state marketing federation Ltd (MARKFED) and "hatched a conspiracy to misuse the special incentive where Rs 40 per quintal of paddy was paid by the state government to rice millers for custom milling of rice". (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi [India], May 2 (ANI): The Delhi High Court on Thursday refused to entertain a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that sought direction for the Central Government to constitute a Legal Education Commission modelled after the Medical Education Commission, comprising of retired Judge, law professors, and lawyers, to ascertain the feasibility of a four-year Bachelor of Law Course like the existing B. Tech Course.

The bench of Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora said that it is not the domain of the courts to design the courses and that authorities concerned are continuously reviewing it.

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As the court was inclined to dismiss the PIL, petitioner said that he would withdraw the plea.

Petitioner Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, a practising lawyer and BJP leader sought directions to the Bar Council of India to constitute an expert committee of Retired Judge(s), jurists and educationists to examine the coherence of a five year Bachelors of Law Course with New Education Policy 2020. Direct the Expert Committee to prepare a report on the essentiality of a BA, BBA, B.Com before B.Law, which is also a Graduation Course, stated the plea.

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Plea further stated that the New Education Policy 2020 promotes four year graduation courses but BCI has neither reviewed the five year BA-LLB nor started the four year B. Law till date.

B. Tech through IIT's takes four years of non-superfluous education and that too in a specified field of Engineering whereas BA-LLB or BBA-LLB through the NLU's and various other affiliated colleges consumes five years of student's precious life while providing knowledge of Arts/Commerce, an unrelated and superfluous stream. Hence, the existing 05 years Course is manifestly arbitrary and irrational.

The lengthy and exorbitant course is disincentivising students from pursuing law. The extraordinary and poor students are rather pursuing engineering or civil services or other courses. BA and LLB or BBA and LLB are both graduation courses and thus there is no need for both in a student's career. Annual fees of as five year course are comparatively greater than that of a four year course, the plea stated.

Earlier, there was a three year B.Law Course after Class 12. Former Law Minister Late Ram Jethmalani started practicing Law at the age of 17 years and legend of the Bar Late Fali Nariman at the age of 21 years, plea added.

Today, the total lifespan has decreased from 100 to 80 years, and the voting age has been reduced from 21 to 18 years. People are maturing earlier with respect to their age. A four-year law course will be better equipped for the young generation.

The present five year B.Law has been designed for extracting money and the most egregious part is that such dirty work is being done in the name of education. A five-year course is no benchmark for judging the legal expertise of any student, plea read. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Chandigarh, May 2 (PTI) BJP nominee and industrialist Naveen Jindal, who is contesting from Haryana's Kurukshetra Lok Sabha seat, on Thursday filed his nomination papers and declared his and his wife Shallu's movable and immovable assets at about Rs 1,000 crore.

Jindal (54), who filed his nomination before the returning officer in Kurukshetra, also declared that neither he nor his wife owned any vehicle.

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Jindal, who is the chairman of Jindal Steel and Power Limited, was accompanied by Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini when he went to file his nomination papers.

An MBA from the University of Texas at Dallas in the US, Jindal declared that he and his wife own gold and other jewellery valued at over Rs 40 crore.

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In his poll affidavit, Jindal declared his movable assets at Rs 88,673.68 lakh (nearly Rs 886 crore) and that of his wife at Rs 11,461.75 lakh (nearly Rs 114 crore).

The BJP candidate also holds agriculture land in Dadri in Uttar Pradesh measuring 1.628 hectares and non-agriculture land in Dadri measuring 5,058 square feet.

He has declared his movable assets at nearly Rs 11 crore and total liabilities to the tune of Rs 6.94 crore. He declared his total income amounting to Rs 74.83 crore for the financial year 2022-23.

Jindal, who switched over from Congress to the BJP in March, was the MP from Kurukshetra between 2004 and 2014.

Jindal declared that he had not been convicted of any criminal offence.

The opposition has targeted him on charges related to the alleged coal scam.

Reacting to accusations, Jindal had told reporters in Kurukshetra, "...I think the truth is before you all. It has been more than 10 years. One can level allegations against anyone, but I know people have trust in me and I have faith in the judiciary. And in the end, it will become clear to all that I have done nothing wrong".

From Kurukshetra, Jindal faces INLD's Abhay Singh Chautala and Aam Aadmi Party's Sushil Gupta, among others.

AAP, a constituent of the opposition's INDIA bloc, is contesting the Kurukshetra seat while the remaining nine are being contested by the Congress.

The nomination process for the 10 Lok Sabha constituencies in Haryana, for which polling will be held on May 25, began on Monday.

The deadline for filing nominations is May 6. The scrutiny of nominations will be done on May 7, and candidates can withdraw their nominations until May 9.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Medininagar (Jharkhand), May 2 (PTI) Posters, allegedly put up by Maoists, were noticed in parts of the Palamu Lok Sabha constituency in Jharkhand, asking people to boycott the parliamentary elections, police said on Thursday.

The posters were spotted on the wall of an Anganwadi centre in Haidernagar, a senior officer said.

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Voting in Palamu is scheduled on May 13.

"We have received information about the objectionable posters, allegedly put up by Maoists, in Haidernagar under the Palamu constituency. A police team reached the spot and removed such posters," Sub-Divisional Police Officer (Hussainabad) Mukesh Kumar told PTI.

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Such posters asking people to boycott the upcoming polls were also spotted in Baraiwa area.

An investigation is underway and no one has been arrested so far, the SDPO said.

The poll boycott call, suspectedly given by banned CPI (Maoists), created panic among a section of people in Haidernagar.

In the 2019 elections, Maoists blew up a BJP office in Harihargunj in the district.

The district police and paramilitary forces have jointly launched a massive campaign against the left-wing extremists in Haidernagar, Mohamnadgunj, Hussainabad and Pandu police station limits of the district, another officer said.

Earlier, CPI (Maoists) had given the poll boycott call in extremist-hit Singhbhum.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, May 2 (PTI) The Delhi Police has told a court here that NewsClick founder and editor-in-chief Prabir Purkayastha infused funds from China into India to stoke and sustain the 2020 Delhi riots, carry out disinformation campaign on Covid-19, stoke the farmer's protest and indulge in outright terror funding in Kashmir.

Police made the allegations in its charge sheet filed before Additional Sessions Judge Hardeep Kaur, who took cognisance of it on Tuesday.

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The charge sheet alleged that Purkayastha used to give salaries to many employees of activist Teesta Setalvad. It said the role of another activist Gautam Navlakha's role in the present case was under probe.

The final report alleged that Navlakha has been a shareholder of the NewsClick and his role has also emerged in the testimonies of the protected witnesses as being one of the conduits for the finance and supplies of arms and ammunition for a banned Naxal outfit.

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The charge sheet cited the statement made by NewsClick human resource (HR) head and accused-turned-approver, Amit Chakravarty, claiming that Purkayastha used to give salaries to many employees of Setalvad "as FCRA of Teesta got stopped due to some litigation".

"Teesta was funded with the directions that she would spend the money to spread communal agenda and disharmony in society through her NGO Sabrang, her husband and others. Payments were made to her husband, daughter, son, and other staff members," the statement said.

The statement claimed that Purkayastha used to receive illegal funds from different companies owned by Neville Roy Singham, a US national of Sri Lankan descent, who, "for the last one decade at least, has been vigorously peddling the Maoist thought, apparently at the behest of his paymasters who, at this stage, by way of deduction, can be referred to as being either China-sponsored or a part of the Chinese Deep State. Several protected witnesses have categorically deposed to this effect also".

It alleged that out of the funds received from Singham, Purkayastha gave Rs 36 lakh to a person with the direction to give it further to Sharjeel Imam for inciting the Delhi riots of 2020.

"Some amount from the funds was also given to SFI activist Anusha Paul and Pawan Kulkarni to instigate protestors and create violence during CAA NRC protests," it alleged.

In the meantime, Covid spread and Singham directed Purkayastha to start a campaign by writing articles so that the people avoid taking "Indian Vaccine". Consequently many people will die, discontent against the government will grow and a situation of civil war may arise, it alleged.

"Thereafter, the farmer agitation started and Purkayastha also provided funds to support the farmer's agitation so that roads get blocked by farmers and essential service could be disrupted which would results in violence and anarchy in Delhi NCR," the charge sheet added.

It further added that Purkayastha also formed a Kashmir Cell headed by his son, Pratik Purkayastha, to create revolt in Kashmir. Illegal foreign funds were also being given in small amounts to the anti-national elements after the abrogation of Article 370.

The judge on Tuesday fixed May 31 for arguments on framing of charges in the matter.

The court had in January allowed Chakravarty to turn approver in the case.

The judge had pardoned Chakravarty, arrested in the case, on his application that claimed he had material information which he was willing to disclose to Delhi police, which is investigating the matter.

The Special Cell of Delhi Police had arrested Chakravarty and Purkayastha on October 3 last year. They are currently in judicial custody.

According to the FIR, a large amount of funds to the news portal allegedly came from China to "disrupt the sovereignty of India" and cause disaffection against the country.

It also alleged Purkayastha conspired with a group -- People's Alliance for Democracy and Secularism (PADS) -- to sabotage the electoral process during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Raids were conducted at 88 locations in Delhi and seven in other states on October 3 against the suspects named in the FIR and those that surfaced in the analysis of data, police said.

Around 300 electronic gadgets were also seized from the offices of NewsClick and the residences of the journalists who were examined.

Following the raids, 46 individuals, including nine female journalists, were questioned by the Special Cell.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Agartala, May 2: A 16-year-old girl in Tripura's Sepahijala district was allegedly raped multiple times by two men whom she met on social media, police said on Thursday. The girl became friends with the duo through Facebook and Instagram in March, they said.

She went to the house of one of the accused at a remote village of the district on April 27 when she was allegedly raped by them again, said Sheuli Das, the officer-in-charge of the Bishalgarh women's police station. She returned home the next morning, the officer said. Mumbai Woman Drugged and Raped: Case Registered After 21-Year-Old Girl Alleges Sexual Assault by Instagram Friend.

Sensing something was amiss with the girl, her parents asked her. "On this, she told her mother about the sequence of events," Das said. A police complaint was filed on Tuesday and one of the two accused was arrested, police said. Mumbai Woman Drugged and Raped: Case Registered After 21-Year-Old Girl Alleges Sexual Assault by Instagram Friend.

"We have arrested the prime accused. He was sent to judicial custody for two weeks by a court on Wednesday. We are trying to arrest the other accused," Das said.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, May 2 (PTI) Days after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made some comments relating to Khalistani elements in his country, India on Thursday said the remarks once again illustrated the political space given in Canada to separatism, extremism, and violence.

On Sunday, Trudeau addressed a Khalsa Day event in Toronto that was attended by some pro-Khalistan people.

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Trudeau, referring to activities by pro-Khalistani elements, reportedly told media on the sideline of the event that "our job is not to crack down on political protest".

"PM Trudeau has made such remarks earlier as well. His remarks illustrate once again the political space that has been given in Canada to separatism, extremism, and violence," external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at his weekly media briefing.

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"This not only impacts India-Canada relations but also encourages a climate of violence and criminality in Canada to the detriment of its own citizens," he said when asked about Trudeau's remarks.

India on Monday summoned the Canadian deputy high commissioner and lodged a strong protest with him over raising of pro-'Khalistan' slogans at the event in presence of Trudeau and several other leaders.

On the sidelines of the event, the Canadian prime minister also told the media that the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18 last year created "a problem" and that he cannot ignore it.

Nijjar was a Khalistani separatist and he was wanted in India on various terror charges.

"It is a problem in our relations with India because we cannot ignore that," Trudeau said on the killing of Nijjar.

The ties between India and Canada came under severe strain following Trudeau's allegations in September last year of a "potential" involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Nijjar.

New Delhi rejected Trudeau's charges as "absurd".

Days after Trudeau's allegations, India asked Ottawa to downsize its diplomatic presence in the country to ensure parity.

Subsequently, Canada withdrew 41 diplomats and their family members from India.

India has been asserting that its "core issue" with Canada remained that of the space given to separatists, terrorists and anti-India elements in that country.

Following Trudeau's allegations last year, India temporarily suspended issuance of visas to Canadian citizens.

The visa services were resumed several weeks later.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Giridih (Jharkhand), May 2 (PTI) Kalpana Soren, wife of former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, on Thursday said her husband's arrest was unexpected and it triggered a shock in the JMM and the family.

In an exclusive interview with PTI, Kalpana said it is not in the DNA of tribals to bow and Hemant would emerge stronger.

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"We have full faith in the judiciary and we are waiting for Hemant to come out on bail and campaign for the Lok Sabha polls. He is innocent and has been trapped in a pre-planned conspiracy by the BJP-led government at the Centre," she said.

Kalpana, who has emerged as a new face of the party, alleged that the BJP "is a tyrannical force that is hell-bent to oppress the opposition."

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"How will the Constitution be saved when you are arresting opposition leaders who are working for the poor, tribals and dalits. They (BJP) only tell lies. The saffron party's 400+ slogan has pushed the temperature here above 400 degrees. People of Jharkhand are seething in anger against the BJP government and will throw out this tyrannical force which is looting its mineral resources," she added.

On her husband languishing in jail for over 90 days, Kalpana said, "My question is why all Enforcement Directorate (ED) action takes place only in opposition-ruled states."

"I am not happy with the way all constitutional institutions are operating today... why do they act only in opposition-ruled states? And if they take any action in BJP-ruled states, it is stopped immediately. In the case of Hemant Soren, there is no evidence, no fact, it is purely a part of conspiracy," the JMM leader and party candidate for Gandey assembly seat said.

"I meet Hemant in jail once a week, but that one meeting is enough to boost my morale and strength. This (election) is a battle through which we have to take Jharkhand forward," she added.

Kalpana, 48, who is credited with infusing a new vigour into Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) rank and file after Hemant's arrest earlier this year, said politics has never been her choice but circumstances thrust her into it.

"The situation changed drastically after January 31 when my husband was arrested by the ED. After that, party workers and leaders urged me to come forward. On seeing their love for their leader, I thought it was my moral responsibility to fill the gap till Hemant returned," he said.

Kalpana filed her nomination as the JMM candidate for Gandey assembly bypoll on April 29. Voting for the seat is scheduled on May 20 along with the parliamentary elections in the state.

The seat in Giridih district fell vacant following the resignation of JMM MLA Sarfaraz Ahmad.

On alleged rift in the family, Kalpana said, "There is full unity. Hemant's brother was there during my nomination for Gandey bypoll on April 29."

On her sister-in-law Sita Soren quitting the party, Kalpana said, "It was her decision to part ways with JMM and my best wishes are always with her."

"I will fight against injustice and dictatorial forces as bowing is not in tribal DNA. I will follow my husband's footsteps. He chose to court imprisonment rather than compromise his values. I am his better-half and will see to it that tyrannical forces get a befitting reply," Kalpana said.

"My husband's arrest by the ED was politically motivated and part of a plan to coerce him to join the BJP. His arrest is part of a plan by the central government to browbeat, intimidate and humiliate him but they will get a befitting reply in the elections," she said.

"I think BJP has taken the contract to spread lies. This 'jumlebaz' government only knows how to tell lies. When they won the polls in 2014, they made big promises but forgot them all and didn't care to think about Jharkhand," she added.

Kalpana, a homemaker with MTech and MBA qualifications, completed her school education from Baripada in Odisha's Mayurbhanj district, and obtained her engineering and MBA degrees in Bhubaneswar.

Her political journey began at the 51st foundation day celebration of the JMM here on March 4, when she claimed that a conspiracy had been orchestrated by her opponents ever since the Hemant Soren-led coalition government came to power in 2019.

Hemant Soren was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam on January 31.

Speculations regarding Kalpana's candidacy arose following the resignation of Ahmad in December, with the BJP claiming it was to facilitate her candidature in case the ED issued summonses to her husband.

Hemant Soren had, however, then dismissed rumours of Kalpana contesting from Gandey, calling it BJP's fabrication.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, May 2 (PTI) Adani Electricity Mumbai Ltd on Thursday signed an agreement to acquire 100 per cent stake in Pointleap Projects Pvt Ltd (PPPL) for a consideration of Rs 13.15 crore.

Adani Electricity Mumbai Limited (AEML) is a subsidiary of Adani Energy Solutions Ltd (AESL).

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"AEML today executed Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) with Windson Projects LLP (WPLLP) for acquiring 100 per cent equity shares of PPPL," AESL said in a regulatory filing.

The acquisition is expected to be completed within 4-5 working days from the execution date of SPA, it said.

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New Delhi, May 2 (PTI) Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL) on Thursday said it has secured USD 400 million finance from a consortium of five international banks for its under construction solar projects of 750 MW in Gujarat and Rajasthan.

These projects are expected to come online from November 2024 onwards, a company statement said.

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One of the projects is being developed in Rajasthan with 500 MW capacity and has a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI).

The second one, with 250 MW capacity, is a standalone merchant power project being implemented at the world's largest RE cluster in Khavda, Gujarat.

Also Read | Maharashtra Day 2024 Date, History and Significance: Know All About Maharashtra Din, the Day That Marks the Formation of the State of Maharashtra.

The consortium of lenders includes Cooperative Rabobank U.A., DBS Bank Ltd, Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A., MUFG Bank, Ltd., and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.

AGEL has 10,934 MW operational portfolio, largest in India, delivering reliable, affordable, and clean power to the national grid. AGEL's operational portfolio consists of 7,393 MW solar, 1,401 MW wind and 2,140 MW wind-solar hybrid capacity.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Islamabad [Pakistan], May 2 (ANI): The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has expressed displeasure over the conduct of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa during the Supreme Court proceedings on the issue of meddling by intelligence agencies in judicial affairs, Pakistan-based Dawn reported. PTI central information secretary Raoof Hasan said that the entire judiciary was on one side while the CJP was on the other.

While addressing a press conference, Raoof Hasan reiterated demand of the party led by the incarcerated former Prime Minister of the country that a full court hear the matter on a daily basis. However, the CJP should disassociate himself from the bench.

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Raoof Hasan said meddling in the judicial affairs was a very serious issue but a "spectacle was staged in the apex court" the other day. He said six judges of the high court wrote a letter to the CJP to raise the meddling issue at the Supreme Judicial Council. However, he referred it to the executive and Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif was asked to form a commission to investigate it.

PTI central information secretary said that Shehbaz Sharif and operatives of intelligence agencies were among those implicated in the matter. He stressed that giving responsibility to an implicated person to form the commission and appoint its head to look into the matter was in itself "a crime".

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Hasan believed the practice could not be stopped if punitive actions were not taken against those meddling in judicial affairs. He said the CJP has said that there was no meddling in the judiciary. However, even the common man knew of this, Dawn reported.

He said that the letter written by judges and the high court's responses were nothing less than an "indictment" and the chief justice should have proceeded with the matter according to the constitution.

He accused the Chief Justice of Pakistan of adopting a different approach as all judges were on the same page but "he was fighting against the entire judiciary." Hasan further said judges should take tangible and practical measures to erect a firewall against meddling in judicial affairs. However, nobody could judge as to which side the incumbent CJP was standing on despite the Peshawar and Lahore high courts' suggestions on the matter.

Raoof Hasan also slammed the Punjab government for using force against the protesting farmers who were being forced to sell wheat at a price less than the production cost, according to Dawn report. He recalled that the PTI-led government had taken several initiatives to make Pakistan a welfare state. However, a 'conspiracy' was made to topple his government, Dawn reported.

Speaking at the same press conference, PTI core committee member Advocate Abuzar Salman Niazi said that no one would compromise on judicial independence if the judicial process was sabotaged and it would directly affect an individual's right to access justice.

Niazi said judicial overview kept a check on the executive to ensure it does not breach the constitution. He criticised several petitions filed by the PTI, including those related to May 9 had not been fixed for hearing till date, Dawn reported.

Apart from this, he said there were reports about a move to fix CJP's tenure for which a constitutional amendment was needed. Abuzar Salman Niazi further said that PTI's petition regarding reserved seats was being delayed so that the ruling coalition that had the majority in parliament to amend the constitution. He said keeping in view the situation, how the PTI could expect justice from the CJP. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Tehran [Iran], May 2 (ANI): In a tit-for-tat move, the Iranian Foreign Minister has announced sanctions on more than two dozen American and British individuals and entities for supporting Israel in its 'terrorist acts' and 'human rights violations' against the Palestinian people, Iranian state news agency, IRNA reported on Thursday.

Escalating tensions with Israel and the West, Iran has put sanctions against six American companies including The Lockheed Martin Corporation, General Dynamics, Skydio Engineering Company, Chevron Corporation and Kharon Company.

Also Read | World Press Freedom Day 2024 Date, History and Significance: A Day To Remind Us of the Importance and the Fundamental Principles of Press Freedom.

This comes after the UK, US and Canada imposed fresh sanctions on Iran following its attack on Israel earlier this month.

According to a statement by the Foreign Ministry on Thursday, the blacklisted individuals and entities have also helped the Israeli regime in its acts against regional and international peace. "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in conformity with the "Law on Countering the Violation of Human Rights and Adventurous and Terrorist Activities of the United States in the Region" (2017), particularly, Articles 4 and 5, identifies and imposes sanctions as set forth in the abovementioned Act on the following persons and institutions in connection with their support and financing of the Zionist regime of Israel's terrorist acts, glorification and supporting terrorism and gross violations of human rights against the Palestinian people, and in particular, the people of the Gaza strip," Ministry said in a statement, IRNA reported.

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Tehran also put sanctions on seven American individuals for allegedly supporting Israel in its heinous acts against the Palestinians especially in the Gaza Strip.

This includes executive vice president and chief legal officer to Donald Trump and the Trump Organization and his advisor on Israel, Jason Greenblatt, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, Michael Rubin, policy director of United against Nuclear Iran, Jason Brodsky, founder and president of FDD, Clifford D. May, United States Army general, Bryan P. Fenton, Commander, US Naval Forces Central Command, Brad Cooper and CEO of RTX Corporation, Gregory J. Hayes.

Additionally, Iran also put sanctions against the UK individuals and entities "for deliberate support and facilitation of the Israel Zionist regime's actions, including committing terrorist acts against regional and international peace and security, systematic violation of human rights, warmongering, use of heavy weaponry and prohibited weapons against civilian, blocked, displacement of the Palestinian people, expansion of illegal settlement in occupied territory and continuation of occupation."

Entities that were put on the sanction list include Royal Air Force Akrotiri in Cyprus, UK Royal Navy in Red Sea HMC Diamond, Elbit Systems, Parker Meggitt and UK Rafael, according to the Iranian Ministry statement published by IRNA.

Individuals include UK's Secretary of State for Defense, Grant Shapps, Commander of the British Army Strategic Command, James Hockenhull, Deputy Chief of the General Staff, Sharon Nesmith, Assistant Chief of the General Staff, Paul Raymond Griffiths, Director of Defense Intelligence of British Army, Adrian Bird, Commander of UK Royal navy in Red Sea HMC Richmond, Richard Kemp, Commander of Royal Air Force Akrotiri, Simon Cloke and Commander of UK Royal navy in Red Sea HMC Diamond, Peter Ivans, according to the official statement.

Following the Iranian Foreign Ministry orders "all relevant national institutions of the Islamic Republic of Iran, consistent with the regulations adopted by the related authorities, will take appropriate measures, which are blocking of accounts and transactions in the Iranian financial and banking systems, blocking of assets within the jurisdiction of the Islamic Republic of Iran as well as prohibition of visa issuance and entry to the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran, for effective implementation of the above-mentioned sanctions."

Iran's tensions with the West escalated after Iran launched an unprecedented attack on Israel in response to an attack on its consulate in Syria.

On April 26, United States imposed sanctions on over a dozen entities, eight individuals and vessels that have facilitated illicit trade and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) transfer on behalf of the Iranian military.

"The United States is today imposing sanctions on 16 entities and eight individuals, as well as identifying as blocked property five vessels and one aircraft, that have facilitated illicit trade and the sale of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in support of Iran's Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL) and the regime's UAV development and procurement," the US State Department said in a release.

Moreover, the UK and Canada are imposing sanctions targeting several entities and individuals involved in Iran's UAV procurement and other military-related activities, respectively.

Sahara Thunder has been identified as the key front company for MODAFL's illicit financing and a central player in Iran's design, development, manufacture, and sale of thousands of UAVs.

Several countries in the Middle East closed their airspace a few hours before Iran launched a standoff attack against Israel around midnight on 13 April. Iran's attack sent around 170 drones, over 30 cruise missiles, and more than 120 ballistic missiles toward Israel.

Earlier, in response to Iran's unprecedented mass drone and missile strike on Israel, the United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on the actors involved in Tehran's unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) program, including suppliers and customers, the White House said in an official statement.

The sanctions target leaders and entities connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Iran's Defence Ministry and many of the Iranian government's missile and drone programs. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Tokyo, May 2 (AP) Japanese investigators have determined that a collision during a nighttime drill caused the deadly crash last month of two Japanese navy SH-60K Seahawk helicopters, the country's defence minister said Thursday.

That is according to preliminary flight data analysis, said Defense Minister Minoru Kihara, adding that what exactly led to the collision is still being investigated.

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Kihara ruled out mechanical failure of the SH-60K Seahawks from the Maritime Self Defense Force and announced that the exercises, which were halted following the crash, would resume on Friday.

The two SH-60K reconnaissance helicopters carrying a total of eight crew lost contact late on April 20 during nighttime training east of the island of Torishima in the Pacific Ocean, about 600 kilometers south of the capital, Tokyo.

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One of the total of eight crew on the two helicopters was found in the waters and later pronounced dead, and the search for the seven missing, as well as the aircrafts' fuselages, has continued since then.

The seabed at the crash site is about 5.5 kilometers deep and the recovery is considered a challenge. A navy oceanographic ship JS Syounan has been deployed since late April in the search.

Kihara said that a preliminary examination of the flight data recorders determined a collision caused the crash. The helicopters' flight data showed a rapid and huge impact simultaneously at the same location, an evidence of the collision, he said.

There was no indication of any malfunction in the aircrafts' mechanics.

The two helicopters were believed to have come too close during what was a drill on anti-submarine warfare, involving multiple helicopters hovering and lowering sonars into the water. Some media reports have said an anti-collision alarm system was not used, possibly due to training for harsh environment.

Kihara said SH-60K and its earlier variation would resume exercises on Friday but only for solo flights. More than 70 of the twin-engine, multi-mission helicopters developed by Sikorsky have been modified and produced in Japan by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

Japan is accelerating its military buildup under a new security strategy adopted in 2022, fortifying its defences on southwestern Japanese islands in the Pacific and East China Sea to counter threats from China's increasingly assertive military.

Japan has in recent years also rapidly expanded its own naval exercises and joint drills with the United States and other partners.

We cannot let our guard down even for a moment," Kihara said, adding that a resumption of the exercises was necessary to keep up the skills of the crews.

This type of helicopters has had a number of accidents during nighttime training flights, including a fatal crash in 2017 and a collision off the southern island of Amami Oshima in 2021, when no injuries were reported. (AP)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Moscow [Russia], May 2 (ANI): Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has issued directives to ramp up weapons production for the war in Ukraine, following the recent approval of a delayed multibillion-dollar military aid package for the Ukrainian government by the United States, Al Jazeera reported.

In a meeting with Russia's top military officials on Wednesday, Shoigu emphasised the imperative to enhance the volume, quality, and speed of arms production. He also instructed for the repair of units stationed on the front lines in Ukraine's eastern and southern regions to enhance their operational effectiveness, the Ministry of Defence said on the Telegram messaging app.

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"To maintain the required pace of the offensive ... it is necessary to increase the volume and quality of weapons and military equipment supplied to the troops, primarily weapons," Shoigu said.

While Russian forces are advancing at strategic points along the 1,000 km front line, concerns have been raised within Russian circles regarding the potential escalation of the conflict due to increased US support, according to Al Jazeera.

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Ukraine's armed forces are facing critical shortages of ammunition, leading them to strategically withdraw from several villages in the country's east due to being outnumbered.

Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskii, the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, cautioned on Sunday about the risk of further territorial loss if Western allies fail to promptly deliver weaponry.

Russia has seized control of approximately half a dozen villages in the Donetsk region while consolidating its positions in the Kharkiv region.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg acknowledged shortcomings in the delivery of promised support to Ukraine by alliance members, attributing these delays to significant repercussions on the battlefield.

"Serious delays in support have meant serious consequences on the battlefield," Stoltenberg remarked during a news conference in Kyiv on Monday alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

On April 24, US President Joe Biden authorized over USD 61 billion in military aid for Ukraine, encompassing artillery, rocket systems, antitank munitions, and ammunition.

Zelenskyy noted the arrival of vital US weaponry in Ukraine in limited quantities but emphasized the urgency for expedited deliveries in light of advancing Russian forces.

The Russian military launched an attack on the command headquarters of Ukraine's southern military grouping situated in the port city of Odesa, according to the defence ministry. Details regarding the strike were not provided.

Ukrainian prosecutors reported damage to residential buildings and civilian infrastructure in Odesa resulting from an overnight strike, while the southern military command indicated impacts on administrative, residential, medical, and educational facilities, Al Jazeera reported. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
It said four militants were killed, and 67 individuals -- 32 civilians and 35 security personnel -- were injured in the attacks. In comparison, March saw 56 militant attacks, resulting in 77 fatalities and 67 injuries.
Former National Security Agency (NSA) employee Jareh Sebastian Dalke, 32, received a 21-year federal prison sentence for attempted espionage.

The saga unfolded when Dalke, heavily burdened by debt, sought financial relief by attempting to sell classified national security information to a presumed Russian agent, only to find himself ensnared in an FBI sting operation.

Dalke, a former information systems security designer at the NSA, found himself drowning in student loans and credit card debt totaling nearly $84,000, USA Today reports.

Motivated by financial desperation and disillusionment with US foreign policy, Dalke engaged in correspondence with an individual he believed to be a Russian agent.

In August 2022, he sought $85,000 in exchange for sensitive national security information, claiming it would benefit Russia.

READ NEXT: Former NSA Worker in Colorado Caught Trying to Sell Classified Documents to Russia

Undercover Operation Unveiled

Unbeknownst to Jareh Sebastian Dalke, his supposed Russian contact was an undercover FBI agent.

In a meticulously planned sting operation, former NSA agent Jareh Sebastian Dalke's attempts to sell classified information were intercepted by law enforcement.

He was arrested moments after transferring additional classified files to the covert agent in September 2022.

Facing the weight of his actions, Dalke pleaded guilty to espionage charges in October.

At his sentencing, US District Judge Raymond Moore delivered a scathing rebuke, condemning Dalke's actions as tantamount to treason.

"This was blatant. It was brazen and, in my mind, it was deliberate. It was a betrayal, and it was as close to treasonous as you can get," Moore stated.

Despite arguments for leniency citing personal struggles, including a traumatic brain injury and childhood trauma, the judge imposed a 21-year prison term, underscoring the severity of Dalke's betrayal of trust.

National Security Agency's Response

Established in 1952, the NSA leads US government efforts in cryptology and national security.

However, the agency declined to comment on Dalke's case, according to the New York Times.

The incident underscores the critical importance of safeguarding classified information and the ongoing efforts to mitigate insider threats within sensitive government agencies.

Former NSA agent Jareh Sebastian Dalke's case highlights the complexities of espionage and the diverse motivations behind such actions.

While financial desperation played a significant role in Dalke's decision-making, broader issues, such as disillusionment with government policies, also contributed.

Former FBI and Department of Homeland Security official Javed Ali emphasized the varied motivations observed in espionage cases, ranging from financial gain to ideological discontent, Fox News noted.

Every espionage attempt prompts a reassessment of security protocols to prevent future breaches.

While no system can guarantee absolute immunity from insider threats, ongoing vigilance and employee trust remain paramount.

As law enforcement continues to adapt to evolving threats, the Dalke case serves as a sobering reminder of the constant vigilance required to safeguard national security.

Dalke's misguided attempt at espionage serves as a cautionary tale, underscoring the enduring need for robust security measures and unwavering commitment to defending the nation's secrets.

READ MORE: Coroner Determines Colorado Cyclist's Disappearance Resulted from Homicide

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Ross Key

WATCH: Former NSA employee sentenced to nearly 22 years in prison - From NBC News
In a big victory for abortion advocates, the Republican-held Arizona State Senate has repealed the controversial 1864 abortion ban that totally bans any form of abortion unless the mother's life is in danger.

The law was reinstated after an Arizona State Supreme Court Decision that itself came after the US Supreme overturned Roe V. Wade. The State Supreme Court decision sparked massive outcry all over the United States, so much so that even conservatives were against it. However, several Republican politicians still flip-flopped on the 1864 Arizona ban, such as Kari Lake.

The Arizona repeal's passing was considered to be bipartisan, with two State Senate Republicans, Shawnna Bolick and TJ Shope, sided with all 14 Democrats. However, the decision was still passed in a narrow margin in the Republican-majority Senate, according to NBC News.

Because those who wanted the repeal had the majority, the Democrats managed to overcome the hurdles that the more anti-abortion Republicans placed and quickly moved to vote on the matter. It passed narrowly, but Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, is expected to sign the repeal bill into law as soon as it gets to her table, which is as early as Wednesday night.

"Would Arizona's pre-Roe law have allowed me this medical procedure even though at the time my life was not in danger?" said Republican Senator Bolick who sided with the Democrats on the repeal. She had her own experience with one of the procedures banned by the law and was forced to have a dilation and curettage procedure during the first trimester of a non-viable pregnancy she experienced.

"Having a 'D and C' in my first trimester because the baby wasn't viable was very tough," she added. She also stated that she heard several emotional stories of women who experienced major complications during pregnancy and like her, also needed care that would have been restricted by the Civil War Era 1964 abortion law.

READ MORE: Kari Lake Loses Again as US Supreme Court Junks Her Lawsuit Over Electronic Voting Machines

Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs Vows To Sign Bill Repealing 1864 Abortion Law

Meanwhile, Democratic Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs has been very vocal about wanting to sign the bill into law, and she has been telling reporters that she wants to sign the bill "quickly," according to CNN.

"While this repeal is essential for protecting women's lives, it is just the beginning of our fight to protect reproductive healthcare in Arizona," she said in a statement.

What Happens After Arizona's 1864 Abortion Bill is Repealed?

Should the 1864 Arizona Abortion Law be repealed by the Arizona governor, this would mean that the 2022 statute banning the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy would be reinstated as the state's prevailing abortion law, according to the Associated Press.

However, the repeal would not take effect until 90 days after the end of the legislative session. This means that nearly all abortions are still deemed illegal in Arizona until June or July.

READ MORE: Arizona: Man Hired by Donald Trump and Kari Lake To Find Voter Fraud Admits He Found Nothing

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Arizona State Senate votes to repeal 19th century abortion ban - News 4 Tucson KVOA-TV
Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced on Wednesday his decision to sever diplomatic relations with Israel, citing the nation's actions in Gaza as the primary reason.

Addressing supporters in Bogota on International Worker's Day, Petro condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as "genocidal," promising to perform against what he saw as unacceptable aggression in Gaza.

Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz swiftly condemned Petro's announcement, labeling the Colombian president as "antisemitic" and accused him of siding with Hamas, the governing authority in Gaza.

Katz's remarks underscored the deepening divide between the two nations, despite assertions that bilateral relations would remain unaffected by Petro's decision, Reuters reports.

Meanwhile, Hamas expressed gratitude for Petro's stance, viewing it as a validation of their struggle against Israeli aggression.

South Africa has previously accused Israel of genocide, a charge vehemently denied by Israeli authorities.

The International Court of Justice has intervened, ordering Israel to take measures to prevent further bloodshed in Gaza.

READ NEXT: Colombia Protests Petro's Reform

Colombia's Shift in Policy

Gustavo Petro's move marks a significant departure from Colombia's previous stance on Israel, according to CNN.

Historically, Colombia maintained close ties with Israel, even being the largest overseas user of Israeli-made Kfir jet fighters.

However, under Petro's leadership, Colombia has adopted a more critical approach, aligning itself with other Latin American nations that have severed or suspended relations with Israel over its actions in Gaza.

Petro, a left-wing leader who rose to power in 2022, has been a vocal critic of Israel since the onset of the Gaza conflict.

His decision to sever diplomatic ties comes after months of escalating tensions and public sparring between Colombian and Israeli officials.

Colombia's condemnation of Israel's actions in Gaza is rooted in concerns over human rights violations and the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the region.

With more than 34,500 Palestinians killed and countless others displaced, the situation in Gaza remains dire, Aljazeera noted.

"Colombia's ultimate goal in this endeavor is to ensure the urgent and fullest possible protection for Palestinians in Gaza, in particular such vulnerable populations as women, children, persons with disabilities and the elderly," the Columbian government stated.

Petro's decision reflects Colombia's commitment to upholding international law and protecting vulnerable populations in conflict zones.

Regional and International Responses

Colombia's decision to sever diplomatic ties with Israel aligns with similar actions taken by other Western Hemisphere nations, including Belize and Bolivia.

Cuba and Venezuela have also severed ties with Israel in the past, signaling a broader trend of shifting alliances in the region, The Hill noted.

Despite criticism from some quarters, Petro's popularity has been on the rise domestically, indicating growing support for his administration's stance on international issues.

While Gustavo Petro's decision may have diplomatic repercussions, it underscores Colombia's commitment to defending human rights and standing up against injustice on the global stage.

READ MORE: Haiti's Transitional Government Names Fritz Belizaire as New Prime Minister

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Ross Key

WATCH: "Apologise & Leave" Colombia Blasts Israeli Envoy's "Rudeness" | Israel Suspends Arms Exports | Gaza - From CRUX
It looks like New York will have another high-profile trial, this time not involving Donald Trump but another man who was also found liable for sexual assault, Harvey Weinstein. After his 2020 New York rape conviction was tossed out, the disgraced former Hollywood executive will be facing a retrial sometime in September.

As for Harvey Weinstein himself, he was back in court in Manhattan on Wednesday while being pushed around in a wheelchair and wearing a blue suit and tie. This is his first public appearance since being hospitalized late last month.

As for the hearing that the wheelchair-bound former Hollywood producer attended, it included discussions of evidence, scheduling, and other matters, Weinstein's attorney, Arthur Aidala said in a statement.

As for the prosecution, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is also busy prosecuting former President Donald Trump, has vowed that he will have the case retired and his team is determined to do so as well.

According to The Guardian, the case now hinges on whether or not all of those accusing Weinstein of sexual assault would be willing to testify again as they would have to relive their harrowing experience with the man who was regarded as one of Hollywood's most powerful men all over again.

One of these women, Mimi Haley, has stated that she was still considering whether she would testify at any retrial. She previously worked as a production assistant for "Project Runway" and accused Weinstein of sexually assaulting her in 2006.

However, another Weinstein accuser, Jessica Mann, has said that she is more than willing to testify again, and she was even in court on Wednesday.

READ MORE: Harvey Weinstein, Convicted Sex Offender, Hospitalized After New York Conviction Was Overturned

Prosecutors Seeking September Retrial for Harvey Weinstein's New York Rape Cases

Meanwhile, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his prosecutors are vying for a September 2024 trial date, just after Labor Day. Judge Curtis Farber set a May 29 pretrial court date and this might decide when the Harvey Weinstein pretrial's exact date might happen.

Meanwhile, Aidala, who represents Weinstein, also believes that the trial could begin at any time after Labor Day. He told the Associated Press that he wants to prove his client's innocence and added, "It's a new trial, it's a new day and his life is on the line."

The Weinstein attorney also talked about his client's condition as he was recently hospitalized, saying, "He's in constant pain that he's fighting through."

Why Was the Harvey Weinstein Conviction Overturned and Why Is a Retrial Needed?

The New York Court of Appeals has ruled that the previous judge who oversaw the previous New York Weinstein case "erroneously admitted testimony of uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes."

However, BBC noted that the decision was passed on a narrow vote of 4 to 3. Still, the Appeals Court panel found that the judge made the error by letting Weinstein be cross-examined in a way that portrayed him in a "highly prejudicial" light. The panel then decided that "The remedy for these egregious errors is a new trial."

READ NEXT: Alleged Mexico City Serial Killer Miguel Cortes Kept Women's Bones in His Room, Prosecutors Downplay Case

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Harvey Weinstein to return to court after NY rape conviction overturned
A grim incident unfolded on Wednesday as a 14-year-old suspect was fatally shot by police outside Mount Horeb Middle School in Wisconsin.

The tragic event occurred following reports of an active shooter, prompting a swift and coordinated response from law enforcement and school officials, ABC News reports.

According to sources, the suspect, a male Wisconsin teen in the Mount Horeb Area School District, approached Mount Horeb Middle School wielding what appeared to be a long gun.

Responding to reports of an individual with a weapon outside the school, officers from the Mount Horeb Police Department confronted the suspect, ultimately resorting to deadly force.

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul confirmed the use of deadly force during a press briefing, noting that the suspect was prevented from breaching the school's entryway.

Despite the confrontation, no injuries were reported among students and staff, thanks to the prompt response of law enforcement.

READ NEXT: Additional Human Remains Discovered in Lake Michigan, Wisconsin

Limited Details Amid Ongoing Investigation

Details surrounding the incident remain limited as investigations by the Wisconsin Department of Justice's Division of Criminal Investigation continue.

Kaul refrained from disclosing specific information, citing the ongoing nature of the investigation, according to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Kaul suggested that the school's physical security likely deterred the student from gaining entry.

However, he assured the public that law enforcement is diligently working to unravel the entirety of the incident.

The Mount Horeb community has been shaken by the events, with residents expressing shock and concern for the safety of their children.

Parents anxiously awaited updates as their children remained on lockdown inside the school while local businesses provided refuge for students during the ordeal.

In a statement, State Superintendent Dr. Jill Underly conveyed her heartfelt sorrow for the anxiety and trauma inflicted upon students, school staff, and the community at large.

Dane County Executive Joe Parisi echoed these sentiments, emphasizing the need for unity and support as the community grapples with the aftermath of the Wisconsin shooting.

Efforts to Heal and Rebuild

As the community comes together to heal, officials from the Village of Mount Horeb and the Mount Horeb Area Chamber of Commerce extended their gratitude to first responders and local businesses for their swift action and support during the crisis.

They emphasized the resilience of the community and pledged to stand together in the face of adversity, Channel 3000 noted.

In the wake of this tragic incident, Mount Horeb School District Superintendent Steve Salerno commended the school staff for their unwavering dedication to student safety.

He reiterated the importance of proactive safety measures and emphasized the need for continued vigilance in safeguarding educational environments.

As investigations into the Wisconsin shooting continue, the community remains united in its commitment to supporting one another and fostering healing in the aftermath of this devastating event.

READ MORE: Ex-NSA Agent Faces 21 Years for Selling US Secrets to Russia

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Ross Key

WATCH: Wisconsin middle school locked down overactive shooter outside building - From ABC News
Prince William recently shared a rare Kate Middleton health update about his wife amid her ongoing battle with cancer.

During a visit to James' Place Newcastle in England on Tuesday, the Prince of Wales graciously responded to inquiries about his family's well-being, offering reassurance to concerned well-wishers, Fox News reports.

Prince William's visit to northeast England marked his third day of royal duties since Princess Kate announced her cancer diagnosis on March 22.

Despite the challenging circumstances, the prince remained committed to his public engagements, including visits to the 2022 Earth shot Prize finalist Low Carbon Materials and mental health organization James' Place.

Princess Kate, in a heartfelt self-written video message, revealed her ongoing chemotherapy treatment following post-operative tests related to her January abdominal surgery.

The timing of her announcement, strategically aligned with her children's Easter break, allowed the family valuable private time together.

READ NEXT: Security Breach Allegedly Includes Kate Middleton's Medical Records

Family Focus Amid Royal Engagements

Throughout his engagements, Prince William expressed gratitude for the overwhelming support extended to Princess Kate and King Charles during their cancer treatments.

He graciously accepted well-wishes and thoughtful gestures, including cards and gifts, from volunteers and well-wishers, People noted.

During a mental health-focused visit to St. Michael's Church of England High School, Prince William received thoughtful gifts for his wife, symbolizing positivity and strength amid adversity.

The royal engagements coincided with significant family milestones, including Prince Louis' 6th birthday and the couple's 13th wedding anniversary.

The Prince of Wales's visit to northeast England elicited warm responses from well-wishers, reflecting the community's support for the royal family during challenging times.

Despite the health challenges faced by Princess Kate and King Charles, the family remains resilient, supported by a network of well-wishers and medical professionals.

Princess Kate Middleton's Brave Battle

Princess Kate's cancer diagnosis, announced in late March, prompted an outpouring of support from well-wishers worldwide.

In a video message, she expressed gratitude for the support and praised her medical team for their care during her treatment.

"I wanted to take the opportunity to thank you personally for all the wonderful messages of support and for your understanding whilst I've been recovering from surgery," stated Kate in a video published by Kensington Palace. "It has been an incredibly tough couple of months for our entire family. But I've had a fantastic medical team who've taken great care of me, for which I'm so grateful.

In January, the Princess of Wales underwent major abdominal surgery in London.

Initially believed to be non-cancerous, the surgery was successful.

However, post-operation tests revealed the presence of cancer, according to USA Today.

The announcement underscored the royal family's vulnerability amid personal health challenges.

In response to the public's support, Kensington Palace expressed gratitude on behalf of Prince William and Princess Kate, acknowledging the kindness and well-wishes extended from across the Commonwealth and around the world.

Despite the uncertainty and challenges ahead, the royal family remains united in their resolve to navigate Princess Kate's cancer battle with grace and resilience, supported by the unwavering support of well-wishers and medical professionals alike.

READ MORE: Prince Harry Attends Invictus Games Amid Royal Family's Controversial Absence

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Ross Key

WATCH: Prince William Gives Update On Kate Middleton Amid Cancer Diagnosis - From Access Hollywood
Marjorie Taylor Greene vowed to force a vote to Oust Speaker Mike Johnson next week. However, in a move to prevent further chaos, Democrats have vowed to bail him out.

"I think every member of Congress needs to take that vote and let the chips fall where they may and so next week, I am going to be calling this motion to vacate. Absolutely, calling it," she told reporters in a news conference outside the Capitol. This announcement puts weeks of speculation about whether or not she would actually try to remove the Republican House Speaker from office.

The move would bring more pressure on Johnson and a major showdown between Greene and her fellow far-right House Republicans against moderates and probably even the Democrats as her moves once again threaten to cripple Congress.

Meanwhile, Speaker Johnson, who like Greene is also considered a MAGA Republican, stood defiant, releasing a statement after the Georgia congresswoman's press conference, saying, "This motion is wrong for the Republican Conference, wrong for the institution, and wrong for the country."

CNN noted that Greene may be defying Donald Trump as she moves to oust the MAGA speaker. Trump has defended Johnson but Greene claims that she is doing this for the former president's agenda.

"I'm the biggest supporter of President Trump," she told reporters when asked if she is defying her dear leader. "I fight for his agenda every single day, and that's why I'm fighting here against my own Republican conference."

Greene was also asked if she would try again should she fail in the vote next week, and she just answered, "I haven't made a decision on that yet."

Democrats May Come to Mike Johnson's Aid in Feud With Marjorie Taylor Greene

When Matt Gaetz ousted Kevin McCarthy, the entire US government was affected by the chaos in the House. To prevent that chaos from happening again, Democrats are signaling that they might help the embattled MAGA speaker out.

READ MORE: Kevin McCarthy Says He Is Not Speaker of the House Anymore Because Matt Gaetz 'Slept With a 17-Year-Old'

House Democratic leadership also reacted to Greene's announcement, saying that her motion to vacate "will not succeed," and added that "From the very beginning of this Congress, House Democrats have put people over politics and found bipartisan common ground with traditional Republicans in order to deliver real results. At the same time, House Democrats have aggressively pushed back against MAGA extremism. We will continue to do just that."

This triggered Greene, who stated that Mike Johnson was not capable of doing that job. He has proven it over and over again. Now we have (Democratic House Minority Leader) Hakeem Jeffries coming out over and over again, embracing Mike Johnson with a warm hug and a big, wet sloppy kiss."

Republican Lawmaker Blasts Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz, Other Far-Right Republicans

Several Republicans have now come out to slam their Republican colleagues, including Texas Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales, who called them "some real scumbags" during an interview on CNN.

Gonzalez is one of the many House Republicans who came to Johnson's defense. He blasted the far-right wing of the party, including Greene and Arizona Republican Paul Gosar, who are among the loudest voices in trying to oust the embattled Republican speaker. He also slammed Gaetz, who was accused of ousting former Speaker Kevin McCarthy because the then-Speaker allowed a House Ethics investigation against Gaetz to be pushed through. Gaetz is accused of sex trafficking and having sex with a minor.

"It's my absolute honor to be in Congress, but I serve with some real scumbags," Gonzalez told CNN. "Matt Gaetz, he paid minors to have sex with him at drug parties. Rep. Bob Good (R-VA) endorsed my opponent, a known neo-Nazi. These people used to walk around in white hoods at night. Now they're walking around with white hoods in the daytime."

READ MORE: Republican Infighting Continues as House GOP Blames Marjorie Taylor Greene for Lack of Border Wins, Call Her an 'Idiot'

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: House Speaker Mike Johnson faces potential ousting attempt led by Marjorie Taylor Greene - ABC News
What is a financial power of attorney?

A financial power of attorney document, also known as a durable power of attorney, is a legal document that allows you to appoint someone to manage your financial affairs. A financial power of attorney is an important part of any estate plan.



A financial power of attorney is typically used when the person who created it can no longer manage their affairs. This is generally due to a medical issue, aging, a disability, or simply being away for an extended period of time.

Who is involved with a financial power of attorney?
Pennsylvania State Police troopers assigned to the Lehigh Valley region gathered Thursday for a somber ceremony recognizing their comrades who died in the line of duty.

The memorial ceremony at Troop M headquarters in Bethlehem was among events held by the state police across Pennsylvania.

At Department Headquarters, 1800 Elmerton Ave. in Harrisburg, the name of the 104th Pennsylvania State Police member lost in the line of duty was added to the state police Memorial Wall: Trooper Jacques Jay F. Rougeau Jr. was shot to death June 17 in Juniata County, as authorities searched for a man who had shot and wounded another trooper in Juniatas Mifflintown. The gunman also was killed.

Gov. Josh Shapiro addresses a memorial ceremony Thursday, May 2, 2024, at Pennsylvania State Police Department Headquarters in Harrisburg, honoring Trooper Jacques Rougeau and 103 other troopers who died in the line of duty.Commonwealth Media Services (PAcast)

Our fallen troopers make the ultimate sacrifice for Pennsylvania  and while today we gather and honor their life in service, we must also reaffirm every day that we never, ever forget, Gov. Josh Shapiro said in a statement following the Harrisburg observance, where he spoke. The men and women of the Pennsylvania State Police go to work every single day to protect and serve our communities. My Administration is committed to ensuring our troopers and their families have the help and support they deserve from every corner of our Commonwealth.

Rougeau was assigned to Troop G, Lewistown Station. He had enlisted in June 2020 as a member of the 160th cadet class and served nearly three years with the state police. He was 29 years old.

Col. Christopher Paris, commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police, speaks at a memorial ceremony Thursday, May 2, 2024, at state police Department Headquarters in Harrisburg, honoring Trooper Jacques Rougeau and 103 other troopers who died in the line of duty.Commonwealth Media Services (PAcast)

I am humbled and honored to pay tribute to Trooper Jacques Rougeau Jr. and the 103 other members of the Pennsylvania State Police who have made the ultimate sacrifice, stated Col. Christopher Paris, commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police. Their dedication and service will always be remembered.

Thursdays services, including in Bethlehem, included a moment of silence, rifle salute and reading of the names of all members who died in the line of duty. Troop M covers Lehigh, Northampton and Bucks counties.

The events also marked the 119th anniversary of the Pennsylvania State Police, the first uniformed police organization of its kind in the United States. Senate Bill 278 signed by Gov. Samuel Pennypacker on May 2, 1905, created the statewide force.

Starting with just 228 men, the department has grown to an authorized complement of 4,841 enlisted women and men supported by more than 1,700 civilian employees. It is the nations 10th-largest police agency.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com.

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.
An investigation led to the execution of a search warrant Wednesday morning at an Upper Macungie home where authorities said they found weapons of mass destruction, multiple drugs and cash, as well as made an arrest.

Agents with the Pennsylvania Attorney Generals Offices Bureau of Narcotics Investigation and Gun Control just after 11:30 a.m. Wednesday raided the Cricklewood Cove home. It came shortly after 56-year-old homeowner, Ronald Lee Erney, returned and was taken into custody, court records state.

The search led to the seizure of 800 grams of methamphetamine; 793 fentanyl pills; and 283 grams of cocaine, as well as packaging and distributing materials, authorities said. Agents also recovered multiple components to craft improvised explosive devices, as well as three rifles and nine pistols, according to court records.

Agents additionally obtained a warrant to search Erneys Cadillac. That search turned up another 14 grams of methamphetamine; about 3.5 grams of cocaine; 72 fentanyl pills; a cellphone and semi-automatic pistol, authorities said. Agents found $1,400 in cash and a cellphone on Erney, as well as $1,800 more in cash in his home and another $2,000 in cash is his car, court records state.

Erney, of the 1900 block of Cricklewood Cove, is charged with three counts felony possession with intent to deliver drugs; felony firearms possession; felony unlawful possession of weapons of mass destruction; four counts misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance; and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.

He allegedly admitted to investigators to owning all the items found in the search and to selling drugs out of his home.

Erney was arraigned Wednesday before District Judge Tom Clair Creighton, who set bail at $250,000. In lieu of bail, he was taken to the Lehigh County jail. Court records do not indicate any attorney information yet for Erney.

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Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com.
By Rebecca Oyler

How would you feel if youre told which type of car you have to buy? Or you step into the grocery store and see bare shelves and less choice in the products you buy?

Or you arent able to get a critical medical supply your child needs right way? Unfortunately, this may be the reality in the future, given EPAs two recent bombshell rules mandating an aggressive transition to electric vehicles (EVs) for both cars and heavy-duty trucks by 2032.

These new rules fly in the face of consumers and ignore the reality of U.S. supply chains that rely on motor vehicles every day. As Pennsylvanias transportation industry continues to thrive, New EV emissions rule risks harming our economy and hardworking middle-class families in very tangible ways.

The final rule on passenger vehicles and pickup trucks calls for over two-thirds of them to be electric or hybrid by 2032, ultimately causing mayhem across the US auto industry and American supply lines.

New electric truck mandates just deepen the impending catastrophe. EPAs rule for trucks requires between 25% and 40% of medium-size and long-haul trucks to be zero-emissions by 2032. Concerns about range, charging infrastructure, power grid reliability, battery weight, safety, and cost are significant.

This isnt to say electric trucks dont have a role in the trucking industry, but a forced transition of this scale will have immediate and long-term consequences on supply chains. American Trucking Associations (ATA) President and CEO Chris Spear said it best, The trucking industry is fully committed to the road to zero emissions, but the path to get there must be paved with commonsense.

Pennsylvania is a trucking state. The industry is integral to our economy, employing over 340,000 people. In fact, total trucking industry wages in 2022 exceeded $19.1 billion, with 87.9% of Pennsylvanian communities depending exclusively on trucks to move critical goods. Most trucking companies are small businesses, raising concerns about their ability to compete, with the cost of electric trucks roughly three times as much as a new clean diesel truck.

It was reported in January that major highways that traverse our state like I-76 and I-80 are not yet ready for the EV change due to inadequate charging infrastructure. Though federal funding is building out chargers in the state now, these chargers are made for cars, not trucks.

Pennsylvania already has a critical shortage of parking spaces for trucks that its trying to address. Building out massive electric infrastructure to provide charging stations for large trucks where truckers need to stop will cost billions of dollars. Estimates for the electric infrastructure nationwide stand at $1 trillion.

Whats especially frustrating is the lack of recognition of how far technology has come with emissions in the past few decades. In fact, a single truck in 1988 had the same emissions as an entire fleet of 60 trucks today. As older vehicles continue to be replaced over time with newer, cleaner ones, emissions will naturally continue to reduce.

Ultimately, this unnecessary and expensive rule will spell disaster for the trucking industry. It will drive up prices for every good consumers buy, have unpredictable and extreme impacts throughout the supply chains, and make it harder for truckers to earn a stable middle-class income.

Thankfully, Pennsylvanian leaders have realized this, with Sen. John Fetterman criticizing the EV mandate and standing up for consumers and workers whose livelihoods rely on critical infrastructure and supply chains fueled by fossil fuel-powered vehicles. With the current incredibly small market share and enormous cost barrier for EVs, EPA tailpipe emissions mandates are not good policy for Pennsylvanians.

It is time for U.S. Sens. Bob Casey to join Fetterman and stand against the Biden Administration, joining Pennsylvania truckers and consumers who cannot afford these fast-paced aggressive changes.

Rebecca Oyler serves as President and CEO of the Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association, a statewide professional association advocating for the trucking industry.
Pennsylvania is the only state where live pigeons are regularly used for target shooting, animal rights advocates say, and legislation that passed a state House committee Monday could put an end to the centuries-old practice.

House Bill 2139, sponsored by Rep. Perry Warren (D-Bucks), passed with a 16-8 vote in the House Judiciary Committee to the cheers of dozens of Humane Society of the United States members gathered for the organizations lobbying event.

Although activists were successful more than a quarter century ago in shutting down what had been billed as the worlds largest pigeon shoot each Labor Day in Hegins, Schuylkill County, pigeon shoots still happen in at least one location in Pennsylvania, state Rep. Melissa Schusterman (D-Chester) said.

What we see in public polls is overwhelmingly that Pennsylvanians, like those here in this room, support ending live pigeon shoots, Schusterman, chairperson of the Legislatures bicameral Animal Protection Caucus, said during Mondays Judiciary Committee meeting.

They are a misrepresentation of the long tradition of hunting in this Commonwealth, Schusterman said. True hunters know that pigeon shoots have nothing to do with hunting and damage the reputation of the sport of hunting.

State Rep. Rob Kauffman (R-Franklin) said he could not support the bill out of concern that it could be a slippery slope that could affect the rights of sportsmen. Eight Republican members of the committee followed Kauffmans lead in opposing the bill. Reps. Jim Rigby (R-Cambria) and Stephenie Scialabba (R-Butler) voted in favor of the bill while Rep. Tim Bonner (R-Mercer) did not vote.

The Philadelphia Gun Club in Bensalem, Bucks County, holds about a dozen live pigeon shoots each year, Humane Society Senior Vice President Heidi Prescott said. Before the pandemic, several organizations around the state held similar events using live pigeons as targets and the Humane Society hopes to prevent a resurgence, Prescott said.

More and more hunters are willing to speak out against it because of the image it gives hunting, Prescott said.

In a live pigeon shoot, specially bred pigeons are released from boxes or launched by hand for shooters who try to down the birds with shotguns. Those who oppose the practice say the birds that arent killed immediately are often left to succumb to their injuries, to predators or to infection, dehydration or starvation.

Using live pigeons for shoots is legal in Pennsylvania, although it is illegal to kill or trap homing pigeons.

Under the legislation, which now goes to the full House for a vote, it would be a summary offense for a person to organize or permit a premises to be used for a contest in which live pigeons are used as targets for amusement or a test of marksmanship.

The bill would not prevent fair chase hunting or the training of dogs for hunting and does not affect 2nd Amendment rights, an analysis of the bill prepared by judiciary committee staff found.

Lawmakers have tried unsuccessfully to pass legislation to ban live pigeon shoots since 1987, Prescott said. A Senate bill introduced by former Sen. Pat Browne (R-Lehigh) passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2011, but never received a vote in the full Senate.

Fifteen states have laws that specifically prohibit keeping live birds to be used as targets or prohibit killing a bird. Courts or a state attorney general have held that pigeon shooting is illegal under existing anti-cruelty laws and 22 states have anti-cruelty laws that would bar pigeon shooting but have never been tested in court according to the Humane Society.
Portlaoise based company, Dunmasc Genetics Limited, has been nominated to represent Laois at the 24th National Enterprise Awards which will be held in the Round Room at the Mansion House, Dublin on May 23.

Founded in 2014 by Laois native Stephen Dowling, the company has established itself as a leader in the training, sales, and service of germinal products in Ireland.

Dunmasc Genetics has gained a strong market share in Ireland and has expanded into the international market over the last three years, and currently employs nine full-time employees. The company has customers in 23 countries across various continents.

Dunmasc Genetics has availed of various LEO supports which has enabled the growth and development of the business over the years. In recent times, they have completed a 6-month intensive Export Development Programme and has received a Trading Online Voucher to further develop their online presence.

Speaking about the Awards, Evelyn Reddin, Head of Enterprise said I would like to congratulate Stephen and his team on their achievements to-date and wish them all the best in the next stage of the competition. The National Enterprise Awards is an opportunity to highlight the contribution small businesses make to the local economy and Laois is proud to be represented by Dunmasc Genetics Ltd at these Awards.

Dunmasc Genetics Ltd will now be competing against 30 other finalists from every local authority area for a share of the 35,000 winners prize fund as national judging gets underway. Categories this year include Best Export Business, Best Start-Up and Innovation, along with One to Watch and a Sustainability / Green award in addition to eight regional awards.
Laois County Council has received over 80,000 in funding from the Department of Rural and Community Development to support their community functions.



The funding of 82,206.54 will in particular support the work of the Local Community Development Committees (LCDCs) through Additional Staff Resource (ASR) payments.



The allocation of additional funding arises from a comprehensive review of the work of the LCDCs. The review found that since their creation, the LCDCs have been performing an ever expanding range of functions and there was a clearly evidenced need for continued funding to support them in delivering upon their core work. ASR funding has been provided annually to the local authorities since 2017 as a contribution towards their community functions, and in particular the staffing of the LCDCs.

Minister OBrien said: "The Department of Rural and Community Development has a clear, people-centred, mission: To promote rural and community development and to support vibrant, inclusive and sustainable communities throughout Ireland. I am pleased to be able to provide additional funding of almost 1m to assist the community function of all 31 Local Authorities nationwide supporting this mission and supporting rural and community development throughout the country."
A Laois animal charity is appealing for the public's help in securing a storage unit for food donations.



Laois SPCA supports dogs and cats in need within the community.



Taking to social media to ask for help the organisation said: "Over the years, thanks to your incredible generosity, we've been able to make a significant impact. However, we've encountered a new challenge that we need your help with.



"We are currently looking for a metal storage unit (ideal size 20 ft) to enable us to safely store any food donations that we receive. We have a very small budget and we would be grateful if you could let us know if you have anything suitable that we could use?



"The unit does not need to be in a perfect condition as we have a team of dedicated volunteers who are willing to restore it for us. By providing us with a storage unit, you'll be directly contributing to our ability to continue serving those in need in our community.



"Your generosity will make a tangible difference to the lives of the animals in our care. If you have a storage unit that may be suitable, please reach out to us at lspcarescue@gmail.com.



"Thank you for your continued support and for helping us keep all the furry bellies full and happy. Together, we can make a difference!"
Several asylum seekers have been refused accommodation at a major centre in Dublin following the dismantling of a makeshift migrant camp in the city centre, it is understood.

It comes after just under 290 people were removed from an encampment outside the International Protection Office (IPO) on Mount Street during a multi-agency operation on Wednesday.

In recent months, migrants have been sleeping rough beside the IPO as the state struggles to source enough accommodation for people seeking asylum.

On Wednesday, the Government said it had moved the camping asylum seekers to international protection facilities at the Citywest hotel and at a site at Crooksling in Co Dublin.

However, a spokesperson later said that a number of other asylum seekers  who the Government believe were staying at locations other than Mount Street  sought accommodation at Citywest but were refused.

In a statement, officials said the centre is now at capacity and added: Their details have been taken and they will be offered accommodation as it becomes available.

Taoiseach Simon Harris, who previously compared the scenes outside the IPO to a shantytown, thanked the agencies involved in the large operation to clear the tents and relocate the migrants by saying they had done very excellent work.

Speaking in Dublin, he said: It was an important day in terms of a humanitarian response to the unacceptable situation people in tents found themselves in on Mount Street.

It was also an important day for the laws of our land, because this is a country that does have laws, and, as Taoiseach, I expect those laws to be enforced.

He added: You cant have a scenario where in a very ad hoc fashion these kind of tented villages are nearly allowed to develop.

The operation doesnt end now and I will expect all of the agency partners to continue to work together to respond and, at what is a difficult, challenging time, to meet the humanitarian needs of people, but also to enforce and uphold the laws of this country.

The Government said 186 of the international protection applicants from outside the IPO took up accommodation at Citywest while 99 were moved to a site in Crooksling.

However, the Government Press Office said in a statement that it understood some applicants did not take up a place at their assigned centre.

It added that it could not provide a timeline on when more appropriate accommodation would become available as it said securing a sufficient number of beds remains a significant challenge.

It said barriers had been installed to prevent any further placement of tents around the International Protection Office.

The operation to move the makeshift camp that began early on Wednesday morning came amid increasing diplomatic tensions between the UK and Ireland after the Irish Government expressed concern about an upsurge of asylum seekers entering the country via the land border from Northern Ireland.

Council workers, some dressed in white overalls, were involved in clean-up efforts to remove the tents and wash down the camp area in and around Mount Street.

In a statement, the Government said that the people seeking international protection had been moved safely to the two sites.

A statement said: The Crooksling site has robust, weather-proof tents.

It has toilets and showers; health services; indoor areas where food is provided; facilities to charge phones and personal devices; access to transport to and from Dublin City Centre; and 24-hour onsite security.

While in Crooksling accommodation, residents will receive the same supports as at other locations.

This includes access to medical care via the HSE social inclusion outreach teams and medical card provision; Ipas customer services team clinics; onsite support from the providers staff; and psycho-social and integration support from NGO (non-government organisation) partners.

Asylum seekers congregated in groups waiting with their luggage as buses and taxis arrived to take them to another site where basic facilities will be offered.

Mount Street was cordoned off during the operation, with a large number of gardai present.

A similar operation to remove tents from the area was undertaken in March, but another makeshift encampment soon built up again.

Irish Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik said the encampment was inhumane and unsustainable.

She said the situation demonstrated a failure of Government policy on migrant accommodation.

The conditions on Mount Street for the 200 men who were forced to sleep here in tents had become inhumane and unsustainable, she told the PA news agency.

And I did yesterday in the Dail, and indeed on previous occasions, call on the Taoiseach and the Government to address the situation and to find appropriate safe and secure accommodation for the men who are in the tents.

Im glad to see that that has been done.

I will be pressing now to ensure that the accommodation is safe and secure and that its appropriate, so that we dont see this sort of build-up of people living in such desperately unsanitary and unhealthy conditions again on Mount Street or, indeed, anywhere else.

Noel Wardick, from Dublin City Community Cooperative, an organisation that has been providing support to the asylum seekers sleeping rough, said it was vital that the alternative accommodation was appropriate.

He said that was the key failure of the last removal operation in March.

The jury is out from the point of view we dont know where the men are going, he said.

And we dont know the conditions on the site.

So we would expect that the State has provided sufficient sanitation, water, hygiene, and blankets, warm accommodation.

However, that wasnt the case on March 16 when they last dismantled the site in a very shambolic, ham-fisted and chaotic manner.

So lets hope all those lessons were learned and the men are in a vastly improved situation.
Students from Portlaoise Youthreach Ridge Road have been named runners up in a short film competition.



Students Paul OShea and Aoife Hayes submitted a TikTok that aims to show that mens mental health matters to the Frame of Mind short film competition run in partnership with Fis Eireann/Screen Ireland.

Speaking about their entry the students said: "There is often a stigma attached to men who cry or show their emotions, and our aim through this TikTok is to combat this stigma and to show that it is ok for men to not be ok and it is ok to show their emotions.



The Portlaoise students were awarded a prize at a special screening in the Irish Film Institute on 30 April.

Held annually, Frame of Mind is an initiative of Walk in My Shoes, the flagship awareness-raising campaign of St Patricks Mental Health Services, that uses the mediums of short film and photography to help to promote positive mental health and reduce stigma around mental health difficulties. Some 81 students from nine counties across Ireland were shortlisted in this years competition, which was open to secondary schools, special education schools, Youthreach centres and Further Education and Training (FET) centres.



Desiree Finnegan, Chief Executive of Fis Eireann/Screen Ireland, said: "Screen Ireland is delighted to support the 10th anniversary of the Walk in My Shoes Frame of Mind competition. This year's initiative has been a fantastic opportunity for students to develop and showcase their skills in filmmaking and storytelling on screen, helping raise mental health awareness. Our sincere congratulations to all of the students and schools that participated, and to the shortlisted and winning films."

You can watch the videos online here.
Protected structure status is being sought for one building in Newbridge.

Kildare County Council (KCC) was told about the request at the latest Kildare-Newbridge Municipal District meeting, which was held on Wednesday, April 17 last.

Fine Gael councillor Peggy O'Dwyer asked KCC: "Can the council confirm at what stage the listing of the former Reading and Recreational Officers Quarter's with Bord Na Mona ownership is at, under the Record of Protected Structures?"

KCC told Cllr O'Dwyer regarding her question: "A Planning Authority may add or delete a structure from its Record of Protected Structures (RPS) through either a review or variation of its development plan as set out in Section 12 of the Act or under prescribed procedures laid out under Section 55 of the Planning and Development Act, 2000 (as amended).

"Both of the above are statutory processes which require a Planning Authority to determine the special interest of the structure under one or more of the following: architectural; historical; archaeological; artistic; cultural; scientific; technical; social."

Fine Gael Cllr Peggy O'Dwyer (File photograph).

KCC continued: "A Planning Authority, through a detailed assessment of individual structures, must

decide whether a structure is worthy of inclusion in the RPS by identifying the characteristics of special interest which would merit its inclusion.

"As with all statutory processes, these are subject to challenge through the courts.

"Given that the RPS was recently reviewed as part of the broader two-year review of the Kildare County Development Plan 2023-2029, there are currently no proposals to add (or delete) structures to the RPS," KCC concluded.

It was also heard that KCC would seek further clarification for Cllr O'Dwyer in relation to the issue.

BACKGROUND

The building was originally constructed as a reading and recreation building for the British Army in about 1880, and two detached dining rooms were added in 1912.

The barracks were later handed over to the National Army on 16 May 1922, and in 1924, the barracks were closed, and it became the responsibility of the Board of Works.

In the 1940s, the reading and recreation rooms were converted into offices for Bord na Monas Civil Engineering section and a clinic for the Medical Officer.

In 1990, the buildings became Bord na Monas new Peat Research Centre and was formally opened on 24 May 1990.
An Taisce is delighted to wrap up the 25th anniversary of National Spring Clean, which saw over 5,400 Spring Clean events take place throughout the country over the past month.

Every April, the National Spring Clean encourages communities from across Ireland to roll up their sleeves, tackle litter in local areas, and reap the benefits of a litter-free environment.

This year, 5,430 groups registered to carry out clean-ups throughout the country, with over 500,000 volunteers participating in organised clean-ups, collecting an estimated 2,725 tonnes of litter.

This brings the total amount of rubbish collected over the campaign's past 25 years to more than 50,200 tonnes.

Approximately 50 clean-ups were registered, with over 800 volunteers joining the campaign in Leitrim.

Among them, Carrick-on-Shannon Tidy Towns hosted a series of clean-up events as part of Spring Clean 2024.

Many volunteers, including local business owners, joined the campaign to ensure the town was completely litter-free, including participants from Brady Insurance and An Poitin Still Pub. The group hosted several clean-ups between March and April, in addition to planting, weeding, and building biodiversity beds in Linear Park.

Lauren Turley (7), Tara King (7), Anna King (6), Lauren Carney (6) and Adam King (4) also hosted an event as part of the National Spring Clean in Carrick on Shannon. The five children had their clean-up in Attyrory, removing six bags of litter in over two hours.

The main litter items they found were bags of dog waste, a phone, a nappy, and vapes, in addition to many other bits and pieces.

"Everyone is very proud of the children's effort, and the place looks amazing. They now all want to join Carrick on Shannon Tidy Towns on their Sunday's litter pick," said Jennifer Logan, a local community representative.

This year, some 35% of all waste collected was recycled, thanks to recyclable waste bags provided to groups and individuals who register, while removing litter from our natural environment has helped tackle biodiversity loss.

Minister of State at the Environment, Climate and Communications, Ossian Smyth TD, said: "Over the past 25 years, An Taisce's National Spring Clean campaign has been a huge success. I am delighted to see another year of positive engagement and community impact. It is fantastic to see the pride individuals take in their local communities."

National Spring Clean Chairperson Emlyn Cullen added: "This year marked an important year for An Taisce as we celebrated 25 years of the National Spring Clean, and we are so proud to have collected over 2,725 tonnes of litter. Thanks to the huge effort of our dedicated volunteers, over 50,200 tonnes of litter has been collected over the past 25 years. I'd like to thank all the individuals and groups who came out in droves to help support this campaign."
Sligo Leitrim TD Marian Harkin invited Taoiseach Simon Harris to co-operate in making Dromahair a template for how asylum seekers are accommodated in villages and communities.

Speaking tin the Dail Deputy Harkin said, Taoiseach, you will have already received an invitation to visit Dromahair to meet the local community regarding the decision to locate 155 international protection applicants in the only hotel, not just in Dromahair, but in the whole of North Leitrim. This is despite your new policy of not choosing the last hotel in any town to host asylum seekers.

For context Taoiseach, the arrival of 155 international protection applicants in Dromahair would equate, pro rata, to the arrival of about 77,000 in Dublin city. However, I believe there is an opportunity, if there was engagement with the community around numbers, services and resources, for Dromahair to be a template for how it is done properly.

We are told there is consultation, but in reality we know the drill - communities are told what is happening, when it is happening and they have no input into the decision. From here on, however, things could be different if you were to meet local community representatives and elected representatives.

The Taoiseach agreed that engaging with the community and giving people information is a constructive way to get things right in relation to the asylum issue. He also said it is his understanding that that it is likely the hotel in Dromahair will be used for families.

I believe we can do better, Taoiseach, if we put the community at the center of the process, Deputy Harkin concluded.
Fota Wildlife Park is urging members of the public to suggest names for five endangered Ring-tailed lemur babies which were born recently

The birth of the lemurs marks a significant milestone for Fota Wildlife Park in east Cork, with four females, Quinta, Aqua, Brida, and Dolly (known as DC), giving birth to the five youngsters.

Merlot, a four-year-old lemur who joined Fota Wildlife Park from Parc Zoo du Reynou, France, in 2022, is the father of all the newborns, expanding the free-range group of Ring-tailed Lemurs to a total of fourteen members.

Lemurs are endemic to the island of Madagascar and Ring-tailed lemurs are currently classified as endangered with recent reports suggesting that there has been a 95% reduction in the wild population of Ring-tailed lemurs since 1990, with 3000 Ring-tailed lemur remaining in the wild.

"This is a momentous occasion for us," said the lead ranger, Teresa Power. "As a relatively new breeding group, we are thrilled to witness the successful reproduction within our lemur group, signifying their adaptation and settlement into their habitat here at Fota. Ring-tailed lemurs are synonymous with Fota Wildlife Park, and have been present since we opened the gates over 40 years ago.

"They are a free-roaming species so they dont have a specific habitat and can go where they please around the Palm Walk Islands. One of the unique aspects of the park is our free ranging animals, such as wallabies and kangaroos, and our visitors delight in seeing many of these species crossing their path."

"Our Ring-Tailed lemurs are not only an iconic species but also a testament to the importance of conservation efforts," Teresa continued.

"The Island of Madagascar is the only place on earth that lemurs are native to, and its losing a staggering amount of biodiversity through human encroachment on the native landscape. Madagascar has lost 90% of its forest cover in the last 200 years. This has resulted in 80% of its animal and plant life being in danger of extinction. We hope that these births will help educate the general public about the enormous threat to Madagascan biodiversity.

The birth journey commenced on March 22 when three-year-old DC gave birth, followed by Aqua, aged eight, who welcomed twins on March 24, making DC an aunt as well as a mother.

Subsequently, seven-year-old Brida delivered her baby on March 25th, and most recently, on the evening of April 9th, ten-year-old Quinta gave birth.

Commenting following the public announcement of the arrivals: Teresa Power said: As the babies continue to nurse and bond closely with their mothers, their genders remain undetermined until they are old enough to be carefully health-checked by our animal care team and weighed. Visitors can catch glimpses of the free-range troop as they explore Palm Walk, indulging in fresh leaves and buds, or seeking shelter in their purpose-built house within the Madagascan village. The lemurs' playful antics, including jockey-style rides on their mothers' backs, are entertaining our visitors and primate team alike!

The Ring-tailed lemur troop is an amalgamation of two resident lemurs and four new females from Wildlands Adventure Zoo in the Netherlands. Fota Wildlife Park has a history of breeding Ring-tailed lemurs since 1984 and many of their young have travelled to other wildlife parks and zoos across the globe as part of international endangered breeding programmes.

For more information and to submit suggested names, see fotawildlife.ie.
An Irish cuckoo has flown 9000km from Africa to Ireland after spending winter in the rainforests of Central Africa.

The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) has confirmed that Cuach KP, one of the first Irish cuckoos to be tagged as part of a Cuckoo Tracking Project, has landed home in Killarney National Park.

Cuach KP, along with two other Irish cuckoos, was tagged in Killarney National Park in May 2023 and is the first to successfully make the long journey home for the summer months.

On arrival into Ireland on Monday, KP made a short stop in Fermoy before making his way to Derrycunihy in Killarney National Park, the place where he was originally tagged before his release.

While the cuckoo has been well-studied during the breeding season, very little is known about the routes they take once they head off on migration or where in Africa they spend the winter months.

The Cuckoo Tracking Project was set up by the NPWS together with the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) last year to better understand their migration patterns and the habitat pressures on the cuckoo population.

The birds were given names and fitted with satellite tags so that their movements could be tracked.

Cuach KP travelled an extraordinary 9000km to and from the Kingdom, covering two continents and several countries.

After wintering in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cuach KP was tracked in Morocco, Cameroon, Ghana and the Ivory Coast, before flying northwards from the Western Sahara, where it was tagged south-west of Marrakesh before heading for Kerry.

Minister of State for Nature, Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan, said, "The return of Cuach KP is real success story for this project, and the partnership between the NPWS and the British Trust for Ornithology. Projects like this really helps us to learn more about precious birds such as the cuckoo and how we can all keep them safe.

Divisional Manager at Killarney National Park, Eamonn Meskell, said, "Were delighted that Cuach KP has found his way home to Killarney during the first year of this monitoring project. Cuckoos are such an intriguing bird and one that we associate with the arrival of summer.

"All of us at Killarney National Park are now hoping that the two other birds tagged as part of this project will follow and join him here over the coming days.

NPWS Conservation Ranger, Sam Bayley, who set up the project in conjunction with BTO, said, "Satellite tagging gives us a clear picture of the cuckoo's journey for the first time, to Africa and back to Ireland.

"KP's journey was a round trip of nearly 9000km ending with an epic sea crossing from northern Spain direct to Ireland across the Bay of Biscay.

"Big sea crossings haven't been recorded in cuckoos in Europe before, so thats a really interesting twist."

Reports from the satellite tagging system indicate that other cuckoos from the project are also on their way.

Cuach Torc is currently in the vicinity of Brittany; he had settled near the Salonga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and later flew over 2,000km west to Ghana, and has since began flying North via Casablanca in Morocco.

Cuach Cores was the last of the three to leave.

He remained in the South of France for several months before flying South as far as the Congo Basin in the DRC.

The bird migrated west through Cameroon, and has been tracked north-west across Nigeria and Lagos en route to Ireland, where he is already making quick progress.

Cuckoos, or Cuach as gaelige, are a summer migrant to Ireland and are a unique bird in Ireland; they lay their eggs in other birds' nests and have no involvement in raising their young.

Adult birds are resident here from April to early July.

Across Ireland, the cuckoo has seen a 27% reduction in breeding distribution between the first national census, Bird Atlas (1968-1972), and the most recent Bird Atlas (2007-2011).
Forcing the Irish education systems equality of opportunity on Northern Irelands middle class nationalists and unionists in a united Ireland would be very unpopular, an economist has claimed.

John FitzGerald, adjunct professor at Trinity College Dublin, has said Northern Irelands educational system does not offer equality of opportunity to children from different backgrounds, with particularly damaging effects for working-class children.

He told the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement that if Northern Ireland was to reform its education system, it would reduce the cost of a unification.

Prof FitzGerald published a report last month which estimated that the reunification of Ireland would cost around 20 billion euro a year for two decades.

The findings were published by the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA).

The report took into account the current level of funding Northern Ireland receives from the British Government, as well as the share of UK national debt it presumed the province would carry into a united Ireland.

Prof FitzGerald, who co-authored the report with Edgar Morgenroth, a professor of economics at DCU Business School, spoke to the committee about Northern Irelands educational system.

If you think about this huge problem with the education system in Northern Ireland, we on this island, the ethos is one of equality of opportunity, whether youre from a poor agriculture background or a working-class background, you should have an equal opportunity, Prof FitzGerald said.

If you unify and the educational system has not been reformed in Northern Ireland, do you immediately force the Irish system on Northern Ireland, which I know will be very unpopular with middle class nationalists as well as unionists-background people.

Or do you leave it there where theres an ethos that doesnt believe in equality of opportunity, and doesnt look after kids from disadvantaged backgrounds in Northern Ireland?

You really need to do that and have that in place before you unify because for the Republic to say youre going to have to accept our ethos of equality of opportunity if you want to join us, thats going to be a difficult sell.

Thats why I think it is vital that Northern Ireland reforms itself first.

Prof FitzGerald also said he estimated that to raise Northern Ireland welfare rates and public sector pay rates to the levels in Ireland, would cost around another 5% of national income.

Commentary on our report has quite rightly highlighted the fact that the subvention to the North is only one element of the major economic changes on this island that would result from unification, he added.

There would be a wide range of other factors, some of them positive and many of them negative. These have not yet been seriously examined.

Fine Gael TD Fergus ODowd asked if they considered whether a significant contribution to reunification would come from the European Union, the UK or the US.

Prof FitzGerald said: Its very hard to see a large enough contribution from Europe to make a difference given that Ireland will still be one of the richest countries in Europe.

To expect the rest of Europe to subsidise Ireland when we have chosen to unify is unlikely but its possible.

In terms of the UK, they could be very generous, but if theyre very generous with Ireland, it has major implications in terms of Scotland.

We dont know for certain. We just think its unlikely.

Prof Morgenroth said the cost of reunification could end up being higher, as the report did not include one-off costs such as changing road signs.

Unification itself would lead to additional costs and there are a huge range of them. Some of them probably quite minor, others probably quite large, he added.

They ultimately end up on the practical side of things and we see this currently with Brexit. There were costs associated with Brexit that nobody anticipated and unification, because youre trying to unify two systems, its very, very similar only in the other direction.

He also told the committee that the report just talks about cost.

We dont talk about the value of what might arise and thats a really important thing, he added.

Our paper and our work is trying to stimulate some discussions about how we how unification could be done most efficiently and best for the people rather than saying we should or shouldnt do it.

Sinn Fein TD Rose Conway-Walsh was critical of last months report.

It was difficult to understand how such strong conclusions were given and explicitly, considering the narrow focus of the work that you have done, she said.

I think its just important that you dont have too many nuances. Obviously, you have to have certain assumptions in any paper, but the assumption just seems to go towards a headline of 20 billion euro.

Prof FitzGerald also told Fianna Fails Brendan Smith about the issues of students and graduates leaving Northern Ireland to study and work in Great Britain.

Kids who leaves school with A-levels go to England, they dont come to the Republic to university, predominantly. They go to England, not Scotland and two-thirds of them dont come back, Prof FitzGerald said.

They are predominantly from the Unionist community and they dont go back to Northern Ireland. Its a huge potential asset.
Cenovus reports voting results of annual meeting of shareholders





CALGARY, Alberta, May 01, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cenovus Energy Inc. (TSX: CVE) (NYSE: CVE) held its annual meeting of shareholders on May 1, 2024. Each matter voted on is described in greater detail in the Corporation's 2024 Management Information Circular dated March 6, 2024.



Shareholders voted as follows on the matters before the meeting:

Appointment of Auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Chartered Professional Accountants, was reappointed as auditor of the Corporation.

Votes for Votes withheld Number Percent Number Percent 1,488,986,088 99.65 5,218,342 0.35

Election of Directors Each of the following thirteen nominees proposed by management were elected directors of the Corporation:

Nominee Votes for Votes against Number Percent Number Percent Stephen E. Bradley 1,457,070,734 99.83 2,503,482 0.17 Keith M. Casey 1,453,207,929 99.56 6,366,286 0.44 Michael J. Crothers 1,455,760,732 99.74 3,813,485 0.26 James D. Girgulis 1,081,360,201 74.09 378,214,014 25.91 Jane E. Kinney 1,451,313,033 99.43 8,254,047 0.57 Eva L. Kwok 1,397,978,373 95.78 61,587,456 4.22 Melanie A. Little 1,456,542,516 99.79 3,022,565 0.21 Richard J. Marcogliese 1,445,438,842 99.03 14,135,274 0.97 Jonathan M. McKenzie 1,457,327,836 99.85 2,246,379 0.15 Claude Mongeau 1,377,177,335 94.35 82,394,644 5.65 Alexander J. Pourbaix 1,426,261,125 97.72 33,312,853 2.28 Frank J. Sixt 1,173,365,475 80.39 286,208,403 19.61 Rhonda I. Zygocki 1,395,277,673 95.60 64,287,348 4.40

Cenovus welcomes Stephen E. Bradley to the Board of Directors. Mr. Bradley is a Director of CK Asset Holdings Limited, a publicly traded global property investment, development, management and utility infrastructure company, and Power Asset Holdings Limited, a publicly traded global energy investment company.

Cenovus would like to extend its sincere thanks and best wishes to Hal Kvisle and Wayne Shaw, who decided not to stand for re-election. Mr. Kvisle had been a Director of Cenovus since 2018 and Mr. Shaw joined the Board following the Husky transaction in 2021.

Non-Binding Advisory Vote on the Corporation's Approach to Executive Compensation An advisory resolution was passed to accept the Corporation's approach to executive compensation.

Votes for Votes against Number Percent Number Percent 1,427,463,152 97.80 32,183,535 2.20

Shareholder Rights Plan A resolution was passed to amend and reconfirm the Corporation's shareholder rights plan.

Votes for Votes against Number Percent Number Percent 1,409,329,267 96.55 50,316,622 3.45

Cenovus Energy Inc.

Cenovus Energy Inc. is an integrated energy company with oil and natural gas production operations in Canada and the Asia Pacific region, and upgrading, refining and marketing operations in Canada and the United States. The company is focused on managing its assets in a safe, innovative and cost-efficient manner, integrating environmental, social and governance considerations into its business plans. Cenovus common shares and warrants are listed on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges, and the company's preferred shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. For more information, visit cenovus.com.

Find Cenovus on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Instagram.

Cenovus contacts

Investors Media Investor Relations general line

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1 may 2024 at 19:25

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Sustainable Swimwear Market to Reach $16.2 Billion Globally by 2032 at 7.7% CAGR: Allied Market Research





WILMINGTON, Del., May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The rising demand from the fashion industry and the growing awareness of environmental impact are projected to drive the global sustainable swimwear market's growth during the forecast period. The North America region is predicted to witness prominent growth by 2032.

Allied Market Research has recently published a report, titled, "Sustainable Swimwear Market Size, Share, Competitive Landscape and Trend Analysis Report by Material Type, By End User, By Application, By Distribution Channel: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2032." According to the report, the global sustainable swimwear market size was valued at $7.8 billion in 2022, and is projected to reach $16.2 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 7.7% from 2023 to 2032.

Download Sample Pages of Research Overview: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/A323341

Prime Determinants of Growth

The growing awareness of environmental impact, rising demand from the fashion industry, and the regulations & policies promoting sustainability are the factors expected to drive the growth of the global sustainable swimwear market in the forecast period from 2023 to 2032. However, the high costs and supply chain complexities may restrict market growth in the coming future. On the contrary, advancements in swimwear technology and the rising demand for eco-friendly products are expected to offer remunerative opportunities for the expansion of the sustainable swimwear market during the forecast period.

Report Coverage & Details:

Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 2023?2032 Base Year 2022 Market Size in 2022 $7.8 billion Market Size in 2032 $16.2 billion CAGR 7.7 % No. of Pages in Report 320 Segments covered Material Type, Application, Distribution Channel, End User, and Region Drivers Increasing awareness of environmental impact Regulations and policies promoting sustainability Growing demand from the fashion industry Opportunities Technological advancements in eco-friendly fabrics Growing demand for eco-friendly products Restraints Higher costs compared to conventional options



Procure Complete Report (320 Pages PDF with Insights, Charts, Tables, and Figures): https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/checkout-final/ca20419f3302fbca9037403ac7791101

Material Type: Repreve Sub-segment to be the Most Dominant During the Forecast Period

The repreve sub-segment accounted for the largest global sustainable swimwear market share of 48.4% in 2022 and is expected to hold major share and rise at the highest CAGR of 8.1% during the forecast period. This significant growth is mainly due to increasing consumer preference for sustainability prompting the demand for eco-friendly alternatives like repreve, which utilizes recycled materials, resonating with environmentally conscious consumers. In addition, repreve's performance attributes, including water-repellency, strength, resilience, stretchiness, and lightweight properties, cater to the demands of activewear, appealing to athletes and fitness enthusiasts seeking both sustainability and functionality in their clothing.

Application: Leisure Sub-segment to Flourish Immensely During the Forecast Period

The leisure sub-segment held the largest market share of 61.3% in 2022 and is predicted to grow at the highest CAGR of 8.0% during the forecast period. This growth is majorly owing to the popularity of sustainable swimwear for leisure activities due to its comfort, durability, and style, essential for extended wear during beach outings, pool parties, and water sports. Its versatility and performance make it suitable for various leisure activities, offering comfort, support, and freedom of movement, whether lounging, playing sports, or exploring aquatic environments.

Distribution Channel: Offline Sub-segment to Hold Major Market Share by 2032

The offline sub-segment accounted for the largest global sustainable swimwear market share of 58.7% in 2022 and is expected to hold major share by 2032. This significant growth is mainly because retail giants like REI and Nordstrom stock sustainable swimwear brands in their physical stores, offering customers the opportunity for hands-on experience, ensuring proper fit and quality. Besides, specialty stores provide a curated selection of sustainable swimwear options in dedicated environments, fostering community engagement and education around eco-friendly fashion practices, driving consumer interest and adoption of sustainable swimwear.

End User: Women Sub-segment to Witness Robust Growth During the Forecast Period

The women sub-segment held the largest market share of 65.5% in 2022 and is predicted to continue to hold major share and rise at the highest CAGR of 7.9% during the forecast period. Women tend to purchase swimwear more frequently due to fashion trends, body image, and social expectations. With a wide range of options catering to diverse preferences and body shapes, women can express individuality and feel confident. Additionally, the creative variety in women's swimwear styles, from bikinis to swim dresses, offers further choices for personal style and modesty, contributing to its popularity.

Region: North America Market to Hold Major Share by 2032

The North America sustainable swimwear market accounted for the largest share of 31.7% in 2022 and is predicted to continue to dominate in terms of market share by 2032. This growth is mainly owing to the growing awareness and demand for eco-friendly fashion among consumers, fueled by increasing environmental consciousness. Additionally, North America boasts a vibrant fashion industry fostering innovation, promoting sustainable swimwear brands like Summersalt and Outerknown. These brands prioritize sustainability, utilizing recycled materials and responsible production methods, appealing to eco-conscious consumers in the region.

Want to Access the Statistical Data and Graphs, Key Players' Strategies: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/A323341

Leading Players in the Sustainable Swimwear Market:

SUMMERSALT

Youswim Limited

Vitamin A

REY SWIMWEAR

TomboyX

Reformation

Andie Swim

Boden US

Patagonia, Inc.

Londre Bodywear

The report provides a detailed analysis of the key players of the global sustainable swimwear market. These players are employing various strategies including launching new products, entering collaborations, expanding operations, forming joint ventures, and signing agreements, all aimed at boosting their market share and securing their competitive position across different regions. The report is valuable in highlighting business performance, operating segments, product portfolio, and strategic moves of market players to showcase the competitive scenario.

Country wise Reports We Have in this Industry:

About Us:

Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Wilmington, Delaware. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.

Pawan Kumar, the CEO of Allied Market Research, is leading the organization toward providing high-quality data and insights. We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.

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SOURCE Allied Market Research

2 may 2024 at 07:12

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Grid Battery Exploration Team Reports its MT Geophysics Survey Results on the Clayton Valley Lithium Project





Grid Battery Metals Inc. (the "Company" or "Grid") (TSXV:CELL)(OTCQB:EVKRF)(FRA:NMK2) is pleased announce the results of the initial exploration program, a Magnetotelluric (MT) geophysics survey performed by the KLM Geoscience ("KLM"). The geophysics survey was overseen by Grid's Qualified Professional, Mr. Steven McMillin P.G.

MT survey profiles

The MT survey is a preferred method for identifying strata that may contain lithium brine evidenced by low resistivity (high conductivity) signatures, structures that potentially focus brine, and basin floor geometry.

Mr. Steven McMillin P.G. comments "The MT survey was completed over eleven profiles. The results were plotted in horizontal slices at 250m, 500m and 750m with bedrock depths that range from 216 to 406 m within the Grid claims. A major northeast fault interpreted from gravity bisects the claim block and is best apparent in the 500m slice even though the slice is below the basin floor. This suggests that the fault may be a fluid conduit at depth The fault is less apparent in the strong near-surface anomaly in the 250m slice that may reflect a spread of fluids within the basin sediments away from the fault. The 750m depth slice is likely below the basin floor and conductivity is mostly focused near the basin bounding faults".

Mr. Steven McMillin continues "We plan to complete an infill sample program on the southern half of the property claims on 125 m centers. Results will be incorporated with available surface geology, previous drilling, and previous geophysics into a 3D Leapfrog model. This model will provide a good framework to assist locating future exploration and drilling."

MT Geophysical Survey Results

Grid's Clayton Valley Lithium Project

Tim Fernback, Grid President & CEO comments "Clayton Valley Nevada is home to North America's only lithium brine producer (Albemarle Corporation's Silver Peak Mine) and our property is immediately to the west of their lithium property and production facility. Recently, Century Lithium (our nearby neighbour to the east of Albermarle) has just released their Positive Feasibility Study (April 29, 2024) with Measured and Indicated resources totaling 1,207.33 million tonnes (Mt) at an average grade of 957 parts per million (ppm) lithium (Li) containing 1.155 Mt of Li or 6.148 Mt of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE), a 40 year mine life and an after-tax NPV 8 of $3.01 billion. With the MT survey that has just been completed, together with the results of the planned detailed soil sampling program in the southern area of our Clayton Valley claim block, these results will allow us to determine next steps for our exploration programs later in the year."

It should be noted that results from any adjacent property(s) are not an indication of what may be found on the Company's property(s).

About KLM Geoscience LLC

KLM (https://www.klmgeoscience.com/) is an industry leading, Nevada-based geophysical exploration company. Established in 2014, KLM specializes in a wide array of geophysical methods. Using state of the art equipment, KLM's services include induced polarization (IP), natural-source magnetotellurics (MT, AMT), controlled-source audio-frequency magnetotellurics (CSAMT), passive seismic and magnetic potential field surveys. With a head office location in Nevada, this allows KLM to rapidly mobilize and begin work at a moment's notice throughout the Western United States and beyond. KLM has been a preferred vendor for Grid and its management team for many years.

Qualified Person

Mr. Steven McMillin, P.G. is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has approved the technical information contained within this news release.

About Grid Battery Metals Inc.

Grid Battery Metals Inc. is a Canadian based exploration company whose primary listing is on the TSX Venture Exchange. The Company's maintains a focus on exploration for high value battery metals required for the electric vehicle (EV) market. www.gridbatterymetals.com.

About Texas Springs Property

The Company owns a 100% interest in the Texas Spring Property which consists of mineral lode claims located in Elko County, Nevada. The Property is in the Granite Range southeast of Jackpot, Nevada, about 73 km north-northeast of Wells, Nevada. The target is a lithium clay deposit in volcanic tuff and tuffaceous sediments of the Humbolt Formation. A Phase 1 exploration program at the Texas Springs Property (Fall 2023) yielded results with average lithium grades of 2010 ppm, applying a 1,000 ppm cut-off, and up to 5,610 ppm Lithium.

The Texas Spring property adjoins the southern border of the Nevada North Lithium Project - owned by Surge Battery Metals Inc. ("Surge") (TSXV: NILI, OTC: NILIF) and comprised of 725 mineral claims. Surge's first round of drilling identified strongly mineralized lithium bearing clays. The average lithium content within all near surface clay zones intersected in the 2022 drilling program, applying a 1000 ppm cut-off, was 3254 ppm. (Press release March 29, 2023). More recent results have shown higher grade lithium up to 8070 ppm on this property after initial drilling (Press release September 12, 2023). Our exploration results are on-trend with these results.

About Clayton Valley Lithium Project

The Company owns a 100% interest in 113 lithium lode and placer claims covering over 640 hectares in Clayton Valley. Clayton Valley is a down-dropped closed basin formed by the Miocene age Great Basin extension and is still active due to movement along the Walker Lane structural zone. As a result, the basin has preserved multiple layers of lithium bearing volcanic ash, resulting from multiple eruptive events over the past 6 million years including eruptions from the 700,000-year-old Long Valley Caldera system and related events. These ash layers are thought to contribute to the lithium brines extracted by Albemarle and are also likely involved in the formation of the exposed lithium rich clay deposits on the east side of Clayton Valley.

Volt Canyon Lithium Property

The Company owns a 100% interest in 80 placer claims covering approximately 635 hectares of alluvial sediments and clays located 122 km northeast of Tonopah, Nevada.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

"Tim Fernback"

Tim Fernback, President & CEO

Contact Information:

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 604- 428-5690

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 forward-looking statements which include, but are not limited to, comments that involve future events and conditions, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Except for statements of historical facts, comments that address resource potential, upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt and security of mineral property titles, availability of funds, and others are forward-looking. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may vary materially from those statements. General business conditions are factors that could cause actual results to vary materially from forward-looking statements. It should be noted that results from any adjacent property(s) are not an indication of what may be found on the Company's property(s).

SOURCE: Grid Battery Metals Inc.

2 may 2024 at 07:30

View the original press release on accesswire.comNews published onand distributed by:
Ora and Singapore Eye Research Institute Unveil Groundbreaking Partnership to Propel Ophthalmology Innovation Globally





Ora, Inc., the foremost global ophthalmology contract research organization (CRO), today announced a strategic, exclusive partnership with the Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI), a world-renowned institution for cutting-edge eye research and ophthalmic preclinical studies.

This exclusive partnership marks a significant milestone in the ophthalmology research industry by combining the unparalleled clinical development expertise of Ora with the cutting-edge preclinical study capabilities of SERI. Aimed at providing early-stage innovators around the world with comprehensive research support, this partnership is set to revolutionize the development of new ophthalmic therapies.

SERI is a leading research institute provider of non-clinical ophthalmic animal studies, specializing in the development and use of translatable ocular animal models in a variety of small and large animal species to evaluate drug and device therapies for ocular diseases. With a reputation for excellence and a commitment to scientific rigor and ethical preclinical operations, SERI will collaborate with Ora's biopharmaceutical and device clients to accelerate the development of therapeutic candidates across a range of ocular-specific therapeutic areas.

Key benefits of the partnership include:

Comprehensive Preclinical Services: SERI brings a wealth of experience and state-of-the-art resources to ensure that every aspect of preclinical evaluation is conducted with precision and thoroughness, reinforcing Ora's delivery of top-tier, ethically-minded research in the field.

Unmatched Breadth of Models: SERI boasts an unparalleled array of non-GLP systemic safety, toxicity, ocular safety, pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, and efficacy models, spanning both anterior and posterior segments of the eye, which are not readily available from other CROs. This ensures Ora clients have access to a tailored selection of models that best suit the specific requirements of their ophthalmic research endeavors.

Reduced Timelines: The partnership with SERI facilitates the efficient evaluation of potential therapeutic candidates for eye disorders, with expedited access to world class expertise and capabilities for preclinical evaluations.

Quality Assurance: With AALAC accreditation, SERI adheres rigorously to the highest quality and ethical standards of industry best-practices. This commitment ensures that every preclinical study conducted under the partnership meets the pinnacle of reliability, reproducibility, and ethical preclinical operations. Ora and SERI both prioritize the assurance of data integrity, reinforcing the credibility and trustworthiness of the preclinical research conducted.

Expanded Capacity: The partnership with SERI serves as a catalyst for Ora's expansion of research offerings, granting clients access to an even broader range of services to support their ophthalmic drug development programs along with a heightened level of expertise and resources.

"SERI's outstanding reputation and their proficiency in conducting preclinical studies led by Associate Professor Veluchamy A. Barathi align perfectly with the mission of Ora," said Stuart Abelson, chairman and CEO of Ora, Inc. "By combining our strengths, we are poised to accelerate the development of innovative therapies at all stages, furthering SERI's mission as a global center of excellence. We are stepping into a new era of preclinical excellence, ready to tackle the next frontier of ophthalmic innovation."

Professor Jodhbir Mehta, MD, executive director of SERI and deputy chief executive officer (Research), SNEC, said, "We are excited to embark on this pivotal partnership with Ora. This collaboration propels us toward realizing SERI's vision of becoming an international center of excellence in eye and vision research. Our SERI scientists rank among the top 2% globally in ophthalmology, and our unprecedented impact factor in scientific publications showcase our commitment to advancing eye care. By seamlessly integrating our expertise with Ora's, we aim to provide unmatched preclinical capabilities, accelerating the development of innovative ophthalmic therapies and reinforcing our position as leaders in translating basic science to clinical applications for sight-threatening disorders."

Leading the partnership and collaboration for Ora will be Buffie Kerstetter, director of preclinical partnerships, as a tenured preclinical business development advocate for Ora's valued sponsors with 30 years of experience in the preclinical industry. For more information about this partnership, please contact Buffie Kerstetter at [email protected] or Ravi Chandran at [email protected]

About Ora Inc.

Ora is the world's leading full-service ophthalmic drug and device development firm with offices in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Asia. For over 45 years, we have proudly helped our clients earn more than 85 product approvals. We support a wide array of organizations, from start-ups to global pharmaceutical and device companies, to efficiently bring their new products from concept to market. Ora's pre-clinical and clinical models, unique methodologies, and global regulatory strategies have been refined and proven across thousands of global projects. We bring together the world's most extensive and experienced team of ophthalmic experts, R&D professionals, and management executives to maximize the value of new product initiatives. For more information, please visit www.oraclinical.com and follow us on LinkedIn. Ora and Ora Logo are registered trademarks of Ora, Inc.

About Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI)

Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI) is Singapore's premier national research institute for ophthalmic and vision research and is part of the SingHealth Cluster, one of the 3 healthcare clusters in Singapore.

Renowned for its cutting-edge work in the realms of eye disease and visual science, SERI's research spans basic, clinical, and translational efforts involving experts in ophthalmology, molecular biology, genetics, bioengineering, AI, epidemiology, and population health.

SERI has grown from a founding team of five in 1997 to an integrated organization of more than 240 staff, encompassing clinician scientists, scientists, research fellows, PhD students and support staff. This makes SERI one of the largest research institutes in the Asia Pacific region, publishing an impressive array of more than 5000 scientific papers.

SERI undertakes vision research in collaboration with local clinical ophthalmic centers and biomedical research institutions, as well as major eye centers and research institutes throughout the world. One of the key strengths of SERI is its multidisciplinary, collaborative approach to research that has led to breakthroughs in understanding and treating eye diseases, resulting in innovative diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.

SERI's close proximity to Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC), its clinical arm, facilitates the seamless translation of basic research findings into clinical practice, ensuring rapid availability of the latest treatments and technologies to patients.

SERI aims to be at the forefront of ophthalmic research, translating this knowledge into enhanced patient care, especially in regions where the burden of eye diseases is high.

For more information, please visit www.snec.com.sg/research-innovation and follow us on LinkedIn.

2 may 2024 at 08:45

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28 Leading Brands Unveil Exclusive Discounts for National Nurses Week





In an ongoing effort to honor the critical contributions of healthcare professionals, SheerID, the global leader in identity verification for commerce, has once again partnered with 28 leading brands to provide exclusive discounts during National Nurses Week. This initiative reflects a growing trend among companies to recognize and reward the invaluable service of healthcare workers.

"SheerID is delighted to continue our partnerships with brands that understand the importance of these frontline healthcare professionals," expressed Sai Koppala, CMO of SheerID. "Offering these exclusive deals is a testament to the brands' recognition of the vital service nurses provide as well as a commitment to the health and well-being of our communities."

Exclusive Deals for Nurses

Healthcare workers can look forward to exciting new offers across various sectors including apparel, travel, wellness, technology and more. Leveraging the SheerID Verification Platform, these offers are instantly accessible and securely verified. No account or membership signup is necessary.

Outdoor and Travel

Burton Snowboards : Nurses can score up to 50% off select softgoods and up to 40% select hardgoods. Offer ends 5/31, exclusions apply.

Nurses can score up to 50% off select softgoods and up to 40% select hardgoods. Offer ends 5/31, exclusions apply. CheapCaribbean Vacations : Join our ER&R Club for $150 off your next vacation, PLUS enter our heroes month giveaway for a chance to win a 3-night stay at any participating RIU Hotel & Resort.

Join our ER&R Club for $150 off your next vacation, PLUS enter our heroes month giveaway for a chance to win a 3-night stay at any participating RIU Hotel & Resort. Holland America Line : Your dedication inspires us, and we'd like to say thanks. Choose from more than 500 itineraries and receive an Onboard Credit of $100 per stateroom when you book a new cruise with Holland America Line.

Your dedication inspires us, and we'd like to say thanks. Choose from more than 500 itineraries and receive an Onboard Credit of $100 per stateroom when you book a new cruise with Holland America Line. Ikon Pass: Licensed nurses, enrolled college students, plus active duty & retired military personnel in North America

Beauty and Cosmetics

Aveda : Health Care Heroes enjoy 20% off high-performance, 100% vegan hair, skin and body care at Aveda!

Health Care Heroes enjoy 20% off high-performance, 100% vegan hair, skin and body care at Aveda! Clinique : BECAUSE WE APPRECIATE YOU. Receive 20% off your next purchase, exclusively on Clinique.com. Cannot be combined with any other promo code or layered onto existing discounts. Excludes gift sets and travel sizes.

BECAUSE WE APPRECIATE YOU. Receive 20% off your next purchase, exclusively on Clinique.com. Cannot be combined with any other promo code or layered onto existing discounts. Excludes gift sets and travel sizes. MAC Cosmetics : MAC Cosmetics offers 15% off to Medical Professionals for any online orders. Exclusions apply.

MAC Cosmetics offers 15% off to Medical Professionals for any online orders. Exclusions apply. tarte cosmetics: tarte cosmetics honors healthcare heroes with an exclusive 40% discount on all products on tarte.com, year-round. This includes our best-selling viral faves such maracuja juicy lip, tartelette XL tubing mascara, and shape tape concealer ? from America's #1 concealer brand. It's our way of saying thank you for the essential work healthcare professionals do every single day.

Home and Improvement

Ashley Furniture : Nurses can enjoy 5% off the entire purchase.

Nurses can enjoy 5% off the entire purchase. Kitchenaid : Healthcare workers enjoy 15% off most products.

Healthcare workers enjoy 15% off most products. Maytag : Healthcare workers enjoy 15% off most products.

Healthcare workers enjoy 15% off most products. Purple : Nurses and medical professionals can enjoy an additional 10% off their purchase at Purple.

: Nurses and medical professionals can enjoy an additional 10% off their purchase at Purple. Whirlpool: Healthcare workers enjoy 15% off most products.

Fashion and Apparel

Boden : Nurses can enjoy 25% off $150 between May 6th - 10th.

Nurses can enjoy 25% off $150 between May 6th - 10th. Bonobos : In honor of Critical Care Recognition Month, we've decided to up our usual 20% off discount to 25% off for a limited time. Thank you for everything you do.

In honor of Critical Care Recognition Month, we've decided to up our usual 20% off discount to 25% off for a limited time. Thank you for everything you do. Helly Hansen : Your constant courage, dedication and service are essential to our safety and well-being. In appreciation, we are proud to offer you the opportunity to become a member of our Healthcare Professional Discount Program and receive 20% off when shopping at HellyHansen.com.

Your constant courage, dedication and service are essential to our safety and well-being. In appreciation, we are proud to offer you the opportunity to become a member of our Healthcare Professional Discount Program and receive 20% off when shopping at HellyHansen.com. J.Crew : Nurses, get 15% off purchases at jcrew.com when you verify online.

Nurses, get 15% off purchases at jcrew.com when you verify online. J.Crew Factory : Health-care workers and first responders receive an extra 15% off their purchase at J.Crew Factory.

Health-care workers and first responders receive an extra 15% off their purchase at J.Crew Factory. L.L. Bean : Nurses receive 10% Off their purchase at L.L. Bean!

: Nurses receive 10% Off their purchase at L.L. Bean! The North Face, a VF Company : Beginning May 6th, we are proud to offer all eligible nurses in the U.S. a 20% discount on The North Face for Nurse Appreciation Week. Exclusions Apply. Exclusions Apply.

: Beginning May 6th, we are proud to offer all eligible nurses in the U.S. a 20% discount on The North Face for Nurse Appreciation Week. Exclusions Apply. Exclusions Apply. Steve Madden : Medical Professionals can enjoy 25% off their order on stevemadden.com.

Medical Professionals can enjoy 25% off their order on stevemadden.com. UGG : Nurses, medical professionals, and first responders: enjoy 10% off full-priced styles from UGG.

Nurses, medical professionals, and first responders: enjoy 10% off full-priced styles from UGG. vineyard vines : To our healthcare heroes, THANK YOU FOR DOING WHAT YOU DO. In honor of Nurse appreciation week, enjoy 20% off your order at vineyard vines and 15% off everyday. *some exclusions apply

: To our healthcare heroes, THANK YOU FOR DOING WHAT YOU DO. In honor of Nurse appreciation week, enjoy 20% off your order at vineyard vines and 15% off everyday. *some exclusions apply VIVAIA: We appreciate the hard work that nurses do. They can visit vivaia.com to enjoy an exclusive 20% off discount.

Education and Learning

Codecademy : Nurses and healthcare workers in the US, UK, and Canada are eligible for 50% off on annual Pro and Plus memberships. Develop the skills and experience to build your career in tech.

Nurses and healthcare workers in the US, UK, and Canada are eligible for 50% off on annual Pro and Plus memberships. Develop the skills and experience to build your career in tech. edX: Nurses can save up to 20% on edX Programs and Executive Education Courses. Certain restrictions apply.

Children's Products

Dorel Juvenile : Nurses and Healthcare Professionals can enjoy 25% off their entire purchase of Maxi-Cosi, Safety 1st, Tiny Love, and Cosco Kids baby products at shop.doreljuvenile.com

Nurses and Healthcare Professionals can enjoy 25% off their entire purchase of Maxi-Cosi, Safety 1st, Tiny Love, and Cosco Kids baby products at shop.doreljuvenile.com Evenflo: Medical professionals can enjoy an increased discount of 25% sitewide on Evenflo.com May 5 through May 11.

Make sure to check out all the exclusive SheerID Medical Professionals Deals here.

About SheerID

SheerID is the global leader in identity verification for commerce. With SheerID, brands identify and acquire customers from highly valued consumer communities ? such as the military, students, teachers, and first responders ? with personalized offers through loyalty programs, digital wallets, and more, that are gated by instant verification from the largest set of authoritative data worldwide. SheerID verifies more than 2.5 billion people via 200,000 authoritative data sources to increase sales while mitigating fraud, provides global insights from hundreds of the world's leading brands, and never shares or sells customer data. As a result, the world's biggest brands ? including Amazon, Home Depot, Spotify, and T-Mobile ? rely on SheerID as their identity verification partner. Founded in 2011, SheerID is backed by Fortson VC, Brighton Park Capital, Centana Growth Partners, Voyager Capital, and CVC Growth Partners.

SheerID is ISO Certified and is a member of the MACH Alliance, the group of independent technology companies dedicated to advocating for open, best-of-breed technology ecosystems. In 2023, SheerID ranked among the highest-scoring businesses on Inc. Magazine's Annual List of Best Workplaces. For more information, please visit SheerID or follow us on X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, Facebook, and TikTok.

2 may 2024 at 09:10

News published onand distributed by:
1Password Launches Industry's First Extended Access Management Solution to Secure the Modern Workforce





1Password, a leader in identity security, today announced the launch of 1Password Extended Access Management, a new solution that enables businesses to secure every sign-in to every application from every device. This launch further extends 1Password's multi-product offering into zero trust, establishing the company as the emerging leader in a new security category that fills critical gaps between identity and access management (IAM) and mobile device management (MDM). The company also achieved a new milestone, surpassing 150,000 business customers, adding Alteryx, Atari, Bench Accounting, Frontiers, the Golden State Warriors, Hitachi Solutions America, Momentive, Stripe, Wish, and more to its customer roster.

The nature of work has fundamentally changed. Hybrid and remote work are now the norm, and the frequency of access to business applications from personal devices will only continue to increase. One in three employees (34%) use unapproved apps and tools to boost productivity, and as shadow IT has become the norm, 79% of security pros don't feel their security protections are adequate.

"Security tools haven't kept pace with the modern work environment, leaving security and IT teams without the ability to prevent sensitive data from flowing into unmanaged applications or block compromised devices from accessing critical applications," said Jeff Shiner, CEO of 1Password. "Businesses everywhere are facing the Access Trust Gap, a measure of the percentage of total sign-ins that aren't trusted. The greater the gap, the greater the risk of a data breach. 1Password Extended Access Management provides security and IT teams with a way to secure every sign-in to every application ? managed or unmanaged ? from every device."

Extended Access Management is a new category of security software that closes the Access Trust Gap in the identity and access management landscape. The first comprehensive solution to provide end users with a seamless authentication experience across all applications and devices, 1Password Extended Access Management enables organizations to better secure themselves, realize significant productivity gains and cost savings, and empower employees to be proactive about compliance and remediation. The solution extends the reach of IAM and MDM investments to the unmanaged applications and devices that today's tools cannot see. 1Password Extended Access Management secures access to all the places sensitive business data goes, giving companies the ability to manage:

Unsanctioned and unmanaged apps and websites (shadow IT) not secured behind single sign-on (SSO)

Unmanaged devices unprotected by mobile device management (MDM) or outside its scope altogether (BYOD)

1Password Extended Access Management includes six key components to ensure that every identity is authentic, every application sign-in is secure, and every device is healthy:

Device trust ? secures devices by monitoring device health in real-time to identify and remediate device compliance issues before permitting access, even for bring-your-own devices and contractors.

? secures devices by monitoring device health in real-time to identify and remediate device compliance issues before permitting access, even for bring-your-own devices and contractors. User identity (available in beta in fall 2024) ? secures the workforce by managing the entire lifecycle of end-user identity from provisioning user access to offboarding.

(available in beta in fall 2024) ? secures the workforce by managing the entire lifecycle of end-user identity from provisioning user access to offboarding. Application visibility (available in beta in fall 2024) ? secures all applications by providing IT and security teams visibility into the use of unmanaged applications, including shadow IT, in their businesses, enabling them to take newly discovered applications from unseen to managed.

(available in beta in fall 2024) ? secures all applications by providing IT and security teams visibility into the use of unmanaged applications, including shadow IT, in their businesses, enabling them to take newly discovered applications from unseen to managed. Enterprise password management ? securely stores and shares credentials and sensitive information ? from logins and SSH keys to credit cards ? with 1Password's award-winning enterprise password manager.

? securely stores and shares credentials and sensitive information ? from logins and SSH keys to credit cards ? with 1Password's award-winning enterprise password manager. Universal sign-on ? extends single sign-on (SSO) to every application and website to reduce risk and secure every authentication, no matter how users sign in.

? extends single sign-on (SSO) to every application and website to reduce risk and secure every authentication, no matter how users sign in. Contextual access management ? applies policies to block access to apps on unhealthy devices and guide end users through self-remediation to regain access quickly.

"1Password Extended Access Management enables us to further secure our workforce for how we work today, across managed and unmanaged applications," said Henry Praw, Chief Information Security Officer at OpenTable. "The solution's integration capabilities and ease of use enable us to navigate the complexities of modern work, from enabling employees to securely sign in across devices to ensuring device health and applying policy to allow only trusted devices to access applications and systems."

According to Nayara Sangiorgio, Associate Principal Analyst, IAM, at Gartner, "Gartner recommends enterprises implement a workforce password management tool to augment the coverage of single sign-on (SSO) deployments and facilitate access to apps that do not support federated standards."*

"As businesses increasingly face the challenge of employees using personal devices and unmanaged applications, the risk of data breaches is rising. Identity and Access Management (IAM) is an important component of implementing enterprise security; that implementation requires a great way to manage passwords. Enterprise Password Manager (EPM) is a good way to empower users with the tools to implement good password hygiene," said Frank Dickson, IDC's Group Vice President for Security.

To learn more about 1Password Extended Access Management, visit https://blog.1password.com/introducing-extended-access-management.

About 1Password

Trusted by over 150,000 businesses and millions of consumers, 1Password offers identity security and access management solutions built for the way people work and live today. 1Password is on a mission to eliminate the conflict between security and productivity while securing every sign-in for every app on every device. As the provider of the most-used enterprise password manager, 1Password continues to innovate on its strong foundation to offer security solutions relied upon by companies of all sizes, including Associated Press, Salesforce, GitLab, Under Armour, and Intercom.

*Gartner, Innovation Insight: Workforce Password Management Tools, March 2024.

GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved.

2 may 2024 at 09:15

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CST Industries Celebrates 75 Years of Premier Water Storage in Canada





KANSAS CITY, Mo., May 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CST Industries, the global leader in storage solutions, is celebrating its 75th year of operations in Canada and providing clean water to Canadians across the country. As the largest dome and storage tank manufacturer in the world, CST has supplied more than 1000 industry-leading water storage solutions across Canada since 1949. To mark this milestone, the manufacturer will introduce one of two new authorized dealers at the Ontario Water For The Future Conference and Trade Show this May. As the only authorized dealers in the country, Aquastore Canada East and Aurora Design Group have decades of experience working with CST products to provide access to reliable water storage solutions needed for the growth of communities coast to coast.



"Over 75 years, we've had the privilege of providing Canadian municipalities, water authorities and engineers with premier storage solutions that support vital housing and infrastructure developments," said Jeff Mueller, President and CEO of CST Industries. "Water storage is a fundamental building block when it comes to the growth of Canadian communities and our dedicated dealers are an important part of our commitment to excellence for many more decades to come."

Last year, CST officially partnered with two new authorized dealers to strengthen its Canadian network. Aquastore Canada East and Aurora Design Group service Eastern and Western Canada respectively, and are the only licensed, bonded and insured providers of CST's exclusive Aquastore solutions. With over 45+ years of combined experience building CST product offerings, both dealers have an extensive knowledge of the needs in the Canadian market and the history of storage solutions built to date. The dealers also provide authentic maintenance solutions and parts that are essential for the longevity and reliability of water storage needs in Canada.

"Like myself, many of our team members have worked with CST products our entire careers and we're honored to continue bringing high-quality water storage solutions to Canada," said Luke Barton, Vice President of Operations of Aquastore Canada East. "It's partnerships like these that enable us to provide localized expertise here at home while leveraging the well-established global resources that drive the standards for the safe and reliable storage of liquids across the world."

As an esteemed legacy brand, the iconic Aquastore storage tanks use glass-fused-to-steel technology that goes beyond industry standards for its dependable performance and minimal maintenance costs. Certified building crews oversee high-quality control measures that are implemented from the factory through to the installation and testing of each tank.

To learn more, visit cstindustries.com or find CST Industries and its partners at the Ontario Water For The Future Conference and Trade Show this May 5 - 7, 2024.

About CST

CST Industries is the largest dome and storage tank manufacturer in the world. CST's global network includes manufacturing facilities and technical design centers across North America, Europe, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam which are complemented by a network of global sales offices. With over 130 years of industry experience, CST is dedicated to delivering high-quality solutions to customers worldwide. CST has installed more than 400,000 storage tanks and 40,000 covers across 125 countries throughout the world.

About Aquastore Canada East

Ontario Office

643 Railroad St. Suite 200

Mount Brydges, ON, N0L 1W0

226-970-5853

New Brunswick Office

109 J R's Lane

Browns Yard, NB, E4T 1W3

506-850-1434

About Aurora Design Group

310-2030 Marine Dr.

North Vancouver, BC, V7P 1V7

+1.604.644.4934

For media inquires, please contact Amber Ciolfe [email protected]

2 may 2024 at 12:45

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Mary Kay Inc. Announces Expansion Into Denmark, Strengthening Its Commitment to Women's Empowerment in Scandinavia





Mary Kay Inc., a global beauty brand renowned for its commitment to female empowerment and entrepreneurship, is thrilled to announce that its products will now be sold in Denmark. This strategic move marks a significant milestone in Mary Kay's mission to enrich women's lives across the globe. With this launch, Mary Kay products are now available in all the Scandinavian and Nordic markets in partnership with Lesley Cosmetics, Mary Kay's authorized distributor in Scandinavia.

Denmark, known for its strong focus on gender equality and women's rights, stands as one of the most egalitarian societies in the world, ranking third in the EU on the Gender Equality Index1. The country's demand for innovative opportunities for women is ever-present. The availability of Mary Kay products in the Danish market promises to offer exciting, new prospects for female entrepreneurship and empowerment through its unique business model.

Mary Kay Europe President Tara Eustace expressed her excitement about the introduction of Mary Kay products into a new country. "The expansion into Denmark not only represents an amazing growth strategy in Europe but also reaffirms our commitment to providing women with unparalleled opportunities for empowerment and entrepreneurship. We are excited to partner with Lesley Cosmetics to introduce Danish women to our high-quality products and the unique Mary Kay business opportunity. Together, we look forward to building a strong community of independent beauty consultants in Denmark and supporting them in achieving their goals."

"The essence of Mary Kay's vision has always been to offer women unparalleled opportunities for personal and professional growth," said Carl Henric Wallblom, CEO of Lesley Cosmetics. "I am confident that Danish women will embrace Mary Kay's high-quality skincare and color cosmetics, and more importantly, the chance to achieve their entrepreneurial dreams without compromising their personal and family lives. Mary Kay's visionary business model is more relevant today than ever before, and I'm excited to see its impact on families in Denmark."

The official grand opening in Denmark, attended by 750 guests, was a spectacular and historic evening for Mary Kay, Lesley Cosmetics, and the many women who have eagerly awaited the products and opportunity. Click here to watch the Mary Kay Beauty Beyond Borders video.

Mary Kay's legacy of enriching women's lives for over 60 years continues to inspire and pave the way for future generations. With its cutting-edge skincare and color cosmetics, Mary Kay is set to make a significant impact in Denmark, empowering women to pursue their dreams and achieve success on their own terms.

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).

1 Source: European Institute For Gender Equality (2023). Retrieved from: https://eige.europa.eu/gender-equality-index/2023/country/DK.

2 may 2024 at 13:10

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France will "fight" to keep oil and gas giant TotalEnergies from shifting its main stock market listing to New York, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Thursday, May 2. "I'm here to make sure that doesn't happen," Le Maire told news channel BFM. "Is the overriding interest of the nation to keep Total's headquarters in France and its main stock market listing in France? Yes, and so I will fight for that," he added.

TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne told Bloomberg last week he was thinking about moving the listing across the Atlantic, as North American institutional investors come close to making up a majority of shareholders. He said Europe's reticence at his strategy of continuing to invest in fossil fuels to finance a transition to lower-carbon forms of energy was one reason for the potential move.

Read more Subscribers only TotalEnergies makes its biggest profit ever

"We need Total. I've had the opportunity several times to say how much of an advantage it is for France to have a major oil company like Total" domiciled on its soil, Le Maire said Thursday. He recalled that the group had set a ceiling of two euros ($2.14) per liter on petrol when energy prices soared in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "The best way" to meet TotalEnergies' financing needs would be to finally move forward with a long-discussed harmonization of capital markets across the European Union, Le Maire added.

President Emmanuel Macron called for the same thing last week in a landmark European policy speech, saying it would be the best way to direct Europeans' massive savings pot into financing for the continent's green and digital transitions. TotalEnergies shares already trade in London and New York with secondary listings.

Its North American institutional shareholder base held 48 percent of the stock in 2023, compared with just 34 percent for Europe when counting out Britain  inverting the proportions seen a decade ago. Around 78% of the group's shares are held by institutional investors.

Read more Subscribers only TotalEnergies faces criminal charges for 'failing to fight' climate disaster and 'manslaughter'
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz welcomes French President Emmanuel Macron at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany March 15, 2024. ANNEGRET HILSE / REUTERS

Emmanuel Macron will make a state visit to Germany in May, the German presidency said Thursday, May 2, the first trip of its kind by a French president in 24 years. The state visit was originally scheduled for last July, but was postponed because of riots in France.

Although Macron travels regularly to Berlin for dialogue with Chancellor Olaf Scholz, a state visit is handled at a higher protocol level, usually involving more pomp and ceremony. An invitation for such a trip can only be extended by a nation's serving head of state. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will receive Macron in Berlin at his official residence Schloss Bellevue on May 26.

Read more Subscribers only On Ukraine, France and Germany can't agree to speak with one voice

In Berlin, the French leader will join commemoration ceremonies marking the foundation of post-war West Germany and the end of Communist rule in East Germany. The pair will also travel to the east German city Dresden and Muenster in the west, visiting sites where the two countries cooperate on technological innovations or security.

"Both presidents will celebrate European integration at all stops" of the three-day tour, said the German presidency's statement. Macron's three-day trip will be the first state visit by a French president in Germany since 2000, when Jacques Chirac traveled to Berlin.

Opinion Subscribers only 'Germany and France are drawing two completely different conclusions from the war in Ukraine'
Demonstrators sit on the ground as they hold a rally to protest against a bill on "foreign agents" in Tbilisi, Georgia, May 2, 2024. IRAKLI GEDENIDZE / REUTERS

UN rights chief Volker Turk on Thursday, May 2, called on Georgia's government to withdraw a controversial "foreign agent" bill going through parliament and expressed concern at police violence against protesters. His statement came a day after Georgia's parliament passed the draft law on a second reading and following another night of protests against the bill, which critics say is a bid to silence dissent.

If adopted, the law would require that any independent NGO and media organization receiving more than 20% of its funding from abroad register as an "organization pursuing the interests of a foreign power."

Read more Subscribers only Georgians face repression after anti-Western rhetoric from authorities

"I urge Georgian authorities to withdraw this draft law, and to engage in dialogue, including with civil society and media organizations," said Turk. "Labelling NGOs and media outlets receiving foreign funding as 'organizations acting in the interest of a foreign power' poses serious threats to the rights to freedom of expression and association."

Turk said he was "concerned by reports of unnecessary and disproportionate use of force" by law enforcement against protesters and the media, urging an investigation into allegations of mistreatment during protests or in detention. Those arrested "arbitrarily for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly must be released immediately" and charges against them dropped, he added.

Tear gas and arrests

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Georgia again on Thursday to protest against the bill. The Black Sea Caucasus nation has been gripped by mass anti-government protests since April 9, after the ruling Georgian Dream party reintroduced the bill that critics see as repressive.

Unlike previous demonstrations in the capital Tbilisi, Thursday's protests took place in two different locations: the traditional one in front of parliament, but also on Heroes Square, home to a monument dedicated to fallen Georgian soldiers. Police fired tear gas and arrested several protesters who had blocked the main road leading to Heroes Square.

Demonstrators in front of the parliament then headed to the square, shouting "No to Russia!" and holding up placards of Georgia Dream MPs they branded as "traitors." "We are all together to show the Kremlin's puppets that we will not accept the government that goes against the Georgian people's wishes," said protester Giorgi Loladze, 27, from Kutaisi, Georgia's third-largest city.
French actress Judith Godreche speaks during the 49th Cesar Award ceremony in Paris, Friday, February 23, 2024. MICHEL EULER / AP

The French Parliament on Thursday, May 2, agreed to create a commission of inquiry to investigate sexual and gender-based violence in cinema and other cultural sectors after several recent allegations. The Assemblee Nationale, or lower house, unanimously agreed to set up the commission demanded by actor Judith Godreche in a speech to the upper house, the Senat, in February.

The 52-year-old actor and director has become a key figure in France's MeToo movement since accusing directors Benoit Jacquot and Jacques Doillon of sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager. Both have denied the allegations. All 52 lawmakers present for the vote approved the creation of the commission, watched by Godreche, who was present in the public gallery in the chamber.

Read more Subscribers only 'It's the story of a kidnapped child': Actress Judith Godreche accuses director Benoit Jacquot of rape

"It's time to stop laying out the red carpet for abusers," said Greens lawmaker Francesca Pasquini. The new commission is to look into "the condition of minors in the various sectors of cinema, television, theatre, fashion and advertising", as well as that of adults working in them, it said.

On the basis of Godreche's proposal, a parliamentary commission on culture decided to extend the scope of the inquiry to also include other cultural sectors. It is to "identify the mechanisms and failings that allow these potential abuses and violences," "establish responsibilities" and make recommendations.

Read more Subscribers only Cinema's devastating obsession with girls and young women

The parliament vote comes a day after actor Isild Le Besco, 41, said in an autobiography she was also "raped" by Jacquot during a relationship that started when she was 16 but was not ready to press charges.

Godreche, by contrast, has filed a legal complaint against the prominent arthouse director, over alleged abuse that occurred during a relationship that began when she was 14 and he was 25 years her senior. She has also formally accused Doillon of abusing her as a 15-year-old actress in a film he directed.

Read more Subscribers only Three actresses accuse director Jacques Doillon of rape, sexual assault and harassment
Turkish and international activists shout slogans during a protest in solidarity with Palestinians, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Istanbul, Turkey, April 27, 2024. DILARA SENKAYA / REUTERS

Turkey on Thursday, May 2, suspended all imports and exports to Israel citing the country's ongoing military action in Gaza and vowed to continue to impose other measures until the Israeli government allows the flow of humanitarian aid to the region.

A Turkish Trade Ministry statement said, "export and import transactions in relation to Israel have been stopped, covering all products."

Turkish officials would coordinate with Palestinian authorities to ensure that Palestinians are not affected by the suspension of imports and exports, the ministry said.

The ministry described the step as the "second phase" of measures against Israel, adding that other steps would follow until Israel "allows an uninterrupted and sufficient flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza."

Last month, Turkey  a staunch critic of Israel's military actions  announced that it was restricting exports of 54 types of products to Israel, including aluminum, steel, construction products and chemical fertilizers. Israel responded by also announcing trade barriers.

Earlier on Thursday, Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz accused Turkey of blocking Israeli imports and exports from Turkish ports. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan "is breaking agreements by blocking ports for Israeli imports and exports," Katz wrote on the social platform X.

Katz said he had instructed officials to "immediately engage with all relevant parties in the government to create alternatives for trade with Turkey, focusing on local production and imports from other countries."

Erdogan's government, which suffered major setbacks in local elections in March, is faced with intense pressure at home to halt trade with Israel. Critics accuse the government of engaging in double standards by leveling strong accusations against Israel while pressing ahead with commercial relations.

Read more Subscribers only Turkey's Erdogan is no longer mediator in Israel-Hamas war

Turkey recognized Israel in 1949. Under Erdogan, tensions have ebbed and flowed between the countries. The Turkish leader stepped up his criticism of Israel following its military offensive in Gaza, accusing it of carrying out war crimes and genocide. He has described the Hamas militant group, considered a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union, as freedom fighters.

This week, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Turkey had decided to join the legal case filed by South Africa against Israel at the International Court of Justice and would soon submit a formal request to intervene in the case.

Read more Subscribers only Israel-Hamas war: South Africa filed International Court of Justice request at the first signs of famine in Gaza
NEW TRAFFIC calming measures have seen ramps installed at pedestrian crossings, in a bid to slow down vehicles through Charleville.

In the past decade, there have been eight fatal collisions in the town, where pedestrians have lost their lives, with the most recent within a short walk of a pedestrian crossing.

There are five pedestrian crossings on the towns main street from the north to the south of the town.

The town sees a huge volume of traffic and is particularly busy between 8am and 10am and from 4pm until 6pm.

Fianna Fail Councillor Ian Doyle told The Limerick Leader that 15,000 vehicles pass through the town every day, and 25% of those are HGVs.

He acknowledged that while the ramps at the crossings will slow traffic down, without a ring road, they wont take away the traffic.

Cllr Doyle said the ramps will make vehicles abide by the speed limit.

Ramps have now been installed on three out of the five crossings, and the remaining ones are being installed.

Ramps will make the pedestrian crossings more recognisable, Cllr Doyle said.

Another pedestrian crossing for the junction of Broad Street with the main street is now ready to go to Part 8 planning and could take up to 10 weeks to complete.

Cllr Doyle said; It will create a stoppage point for cars and lorries - people are crossing there anyway.

The Charleville councillor thanked Minister Jack Chambers for his work in securing 50,000 for a survey on the possibility of a ring road.

A ring road is definitely needed, he said.

A public meeting was held at the end of January, organised by Charleville Community Forum.

The members believe that the infrastructure of the town has been disregarded by Cork County Council and that safety measures wont remove HGVs from the main street.

The forum members believe the ring road is vital and that it will relieve traffic congestion.

According to Cork County Council, substantial progress has been made on the pedestrian crossings at the graveyard, Aldi, Bank of Ireland and SuperValu.

READ MORE: Historic Limerick hospital on sale for 12.5 million

The raised table tops are to encourage motorists to maintain a lower speed when travelling through the town via the Main Street.

As part of the plans, existing pedestrian crossing lights will also be replaced.

There are plans to relocate the Centra pedestrian crossing so that it's closer to Broad Street.

The purpose of this is to provide improved accessibility for pedestrians who wish to cross the Main Street at this location, a council spokesperson told the Limerick Leader.

Works between the New Line Junction and Smiths Lane are also planned.
A FOURTEENTH candidate has declared she will seek election to become Limerick's first executive mayor.

Caitriona Ni Chathain, a secondary school teacher and trade union activist based on the city's southside, will represent the Socialist Party in the vote which will take place on Friday, June 7.

She says she has decided to run for the office after she was impacted by the housing crisis.

"Last year I was served a no-fault eviction notice after I queried an unlawful rent increase with the RTB. Without a car and no availability of affordable housing, I was facing the possibility of not being able to get to work and teach. It is enraging to experience how greed can impact the lives of workers and those we serve. Its really important that we recognise and fight the real enemy, as the late Sinead OConnor would have said. Its the super-rich and their representatives in Fianna Fail and Fine Gael who have caused the housing crisis. We must unite and fight for homes for all, rather than fight amongst ourselves over the crumbs they leave to us," she said.

READ MORE: Almost 2,000 patients left on trolleys at UHL during April

Ms Ni Chathain will launch her campaign with a rally at the Absolute Hotel in the city centre on Thursday, May 9, at 7pm, alongside former Socialist TD Ruth Coppinger.

She said: "Caitriona is a teacher and trade union activist as well as a prominent organiser over many years with the Rosa socialist feminist movement. So far there has been a lot of corporate talk about how to use the mayoral office to sell Limerick to investors."

Ms Coppinger added that if elected, the Socialist candidate for mayor will refuse to draw down the full salary the office-holder will be due - 150,000 a year.

"Rather than view the city as a product to be sold, we need to put on the agenda what kind of Limerick we need for those who live here," she added.

Ms Coppinger has invited activists and the public to speak about how they would like Limerick to look at the rally which wuill launch Ms Ni Chathain's campaign.
A 38-YEAR-OLD Limerick man has died in a two-vehicle road traffic collision in Canada, which claimed the lives of two people.

A spokesperson for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) told Limerick Live that officers attended the scene of the incident on Tuesday, April 30 at around 6pm.

The deceased, understood to be from Limerick city, was travelling on Highway 22 in the Municipal District of Ranchland, which is in southwest Alberta.

They said road and weather conditions at the time may have been a factor amid reports of an unexpected downpour of snow.

The driver of the southbound vehicle, a 38-year-old male resident of Calgary, was declared deceased at the scene. Two occupants of the northbound vehicle were transported to a Calgary hospital in serious condition.

The female passenger, a 72-year-old resident of Calgary, succumbed to her injuries in hospital. The male driver was seriously injured, said the RCMP spokesperson.

An RCMP collision reconstructionist attended the scene and the investigation continues.

The spokesperson, on behalf of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, expressed their condolences to the family and friends of both deceased and the injured male.

READ MORE: Huge show of support as star Limerick hurler Peter Casey undergoes surgery in Santry

The RCMP spokesperson confirmed the 38-year-old deceased man was an Irish national. Limerick Live has learned he is originally from Limerick city.

A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs said it is aware of the case and is providing consular assistance.

As with all consular cases, the department does not comment on the details of any specific case, said the spokesperson.

It is understood the deceased was a popular and skilled tradesman who has been living and working in Canada for over a decade.
Parents across Ireland have been urged to be aware that they can claim Rent Tax Credits for rooms their children are renting in college, that the parents are paying for, even if receipts were never provided.

Minister for Finance Michael McGrath appealed to parents to apply for the relief that could be a much needed cash boost for families.

The credit was originally brought in in 2022 but has since widened in Budget 2024 to help ease the cost of living for parents who are paying massive rates for accommodation for their children attending college.

Parents can avail of this welcomed credit as long as they can provide as much information as possible to Revenue.

Speaking in the Dail, Minister McGrath said:

"In Finance Act 2023, the eligibility of the credit was extended to parents who pay for their student children's rental accommodation in the case of rent-a-room accommodation or digs.

"This amendments will apply to the years of assessment 2024 and 2025 and retrospectively to the years of assessment 2022 and 2023.

"In circumstances where receipts in respect of a rent-a-room tenancy are not available, an individual can still claim the Rent Tax Credit and should be in a position to provide as much information as possible to Revenue about their rental arrangement when making a claim."

What you need to provide to Revenue:

The amount of rent paid in total

The address o the property

Name of the landlord

Date the tenant began the lease

If the child returns home at the weekends and during holidays, parents can still claim the tax credit.

If the student pays the rent themselves, they can claim the tax credit in their own name, however, the student must be under an agreed tenancy with the landlord and also registered with the Rental Tenancies Board (RTB).

If the student is living in Student Specific Accommodation provided by their college or another private investigation, this must be registered or the tax relief cannot be claimed.

For any claims relating to the 2022 and 2023 assessment year click here.

Claims for the 2024 can be made once the student or parent have already paid 2,500 in rent this year.
The head of the European Investment Bank Group was visiting various projects in Dublin that have been supported by 1.6 billion euro funding on Thursday.

The groups president Nadia Calvino said the money had been spent on climate infrastructure, schools and healthcare, with the EIB providing an unprecedented 1.6 billion euro backing for transformational investment across Ireland last year.

The funding had helped companies expand and create skilled jobs, enabled homeowners to cut energy bills, increased renewable energy generation and supported the development of the new Cork University Business School (CUBS).

 Very good meeting with @IRLDeptFinance Minister @mmcgrathtd. The @EIB Groups relationship with Ireland is special: a record financing last year, +80% for climate action, a focus on #housing, education and innovation. Pioneering projects that can be scaled up for the EU. pic.twitter.com/I6i7UW2Pt4  Nadia Calvino (@NadiaCalvino) May 2, 2024

It also represented the largest backing for new investment in Ireland by the EIB since the first operation in 1973.

Ms Calvino also held meetings with Minister for Finance Minister Michael McGrath and Taoiseach Simon Harris in the capital.

The funding was said to have helped cut homeowners energy bills, increase housing, improve education and scale-up solar and wind energy, as well as healthcare, clean tech and startup companies benefiting from private equity and venture capital financing.

Mr McGrath said: Im delighted to hear that last year in 2023, the EIB Group made record level of financing of 1.6 billion for investment.

The EIB Group is a key partner to ensure that Ireland benefits from high-impact investment that unlocks opportunities, improves services and delivers a more sustainable future.

I particularly welcome the record investment in 2023, which demonstrates the EIB Groups ongoing strong engagement here.

It is also a significant vote of confidence in Ireland.

 Very good meeting with Taoiseach @SimonHarrisTD. Our @EIB  #Ireland partnership supports priority investments with real impact on the ground. Were putting Europes capital to work for citizens, businesses, competitiveness and strategic autonomy. pic.twitter.com/pm2lq043zL  Nadia Calvino (@NadiaCalvino) May 2, 2024

EIB Group-backed investment in renewable energy, education, housing, and innovation across Ireland will not only create jobs but also accelerate our transition to a low-carbon economy and enhance Irelands competitiveness on the global stage.

Ms Calvino said she would visit a number of projects that had received funding, including a social housing area in Dublin on Friday.

This is a unique initiative and it is really delivering clear results. Around 80% of this investment are climate related. They support climate action, they support the green transition, and they are delivering results on the ground, she said.

This is about how to reduce energy bills for Irish families, how to support companies growing, how to improve our interconnectors and make the energy transition a success.

How to improve education in a country that is growing and its such a young country, investing in future generations.

Im delighted to be here in Dublin to see some of the projects at close hand: homes for families in north Dublin and student accommodation and support for innovation at Irish universities.

Today, I have also had the opportunity to discuss with the Taoiseach and ministers at the Ireland-EIB Financing Group how we can deepen our partnership even further to identify and back priority investment for the country.
Abbey Tauchen |

Five Lincoln University of Missouri students  Yessnia Austin-Dixon from Jefferson City, Missouri, Cassandra Fierro from Mexico, Missouri, Malachi Holliman from Kansas City, Missouri, Cheyene Koetting from Eugene, Missouri, and Keilen Watts from St. Louis, Missouri  were inducted into the Omega Pi chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the International English Honor Society, on April 23 in Pawley Theatre in MLK Hall.

The students were nominated by a faculty member and received membership invitations due to their exceptional academic achievements in English language and literature and their overall scholarly excellence. They were welcomed into the Sigma Tau Delta family by the chapter's faculty advisor, Professor Eli Burrell, and DeAni Blake-Britton, chapter president and Midwest region associate student representative for Sigma Tau Delta.

"It's always such a joy to see Lincoln's students inducted into the International English Honor Society, Burrell says. This year, our inductees' studies reach across multiple disciplines. Two of them are majoring in agriculture with minors in English creative writing, one of them is a wellness major with a minor in English creative writing, one is a psychology major minoring in English creative writing and one is studying English education. We love to see students from all these different areas excel in English as well. We should see the students inducted this year as terrific examples for the rest of our student body: They are curious, imaginative, industrious, compassionate and truly care about constructing a better world around them. English helps them build that."

Sigma Tau Delta was founded in 1924 at Dakota Wesleyan University. With over 770 active chapters, more than 1,400 faculty advisors and approximately 7,500 members inducted annually, Sigma Tau Delta also recognizes the accomplishments of professional writers who have contributed to the fields of language and literature. The society aims to recognize high achievement in English language and literature while fostering cultural stimulation and promoting interest in literature and language.

The induction ceremony coincided with the LU Spring Reading Series, providing an opportunity for faculty, staff and fellow students to celebrate the inductees' academic achievements. Refreshments were provided for the student inductees and their guests, fostering an atmosphere of camaraderie and celebration.
New Delhi: Adani New Industries Ltd, which was selected for a pilot on indigenous technology-based electrolyzer production under the National Green Hydrogen Mission, is looking to set up a cumulative capacity of 5 GW electrolyzer manufacturing with an investment of up to $3 billion, according to two people aware of the matter.

The company, which plans to set up the initial 2 GW capacity by FY25, would manufacture indigenous alkaline electrolyzers, under the government's Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition (SIGHT) scheme of the hydrogen mission.

Adani New would initially set up about 198.5 MW capacity and receive an incentive of up to 293.78 crore from the government under the scheme.

The government, under the SIGHT scheme, gives alkaline electrolyzer manufacturers incentives for five years till FY30. Companies need to set up facilities within two years after receiving the letter of award under the plan.

Alkaline electrolyzers are used for producing green hydrogen and are said to result in lower expenses compared to other commonly used technologies, including proton exchange membrane.

After the pilot project is successfully executed, the company plans to initially set up 2 GW capacity for commercial operations, which would then be ramped up to a minimum of 5 GW," said one of the persons cited above.

Another person with knowledge of the developments said electrolyzer manufacturing cost for per kilowatt (kw) capacity stands at around $600, and the group would have to invest around $3 billion for the 5 GW capacity.

Queries sent to Adani New Industries Ltd remained unanswered till press time.

The company has also tied up with electrolyzer technology providers Cavendish Renewable Technology (Australia) and Hydep (Italy) for the alkaline-based technology. It is also working on anion exchange membrane (AEM) technologies, wherein prototypes are being prepared.

In a presentation in March, Adani New Industries had said that among the three technologies being tried and tested, the alkaline-based and AEB-based technologies are the most preferred.

The second person mentioned above noted that the company is now zeroing in on alkaline-based technology.

According to the March presentation, a 5 MW size electrolyzer pilot based on alkaline technology is already underway. The company plans to set up its manufacturing facility by 2025 and is also looking at developing the supply chain required for achieving 90% indigenization of electrolyzers.

The push towards indigenous electrolyzer capacity comes in the backdrop of the company's plans to expand footprint in the green hydrogen space.

India consumes about 6 million tonne of grey hydrogen per annum, across fertilizer, refining, steel and methanol, which can be replaced with green hydrogen.

However, a key requirement is that the cost of its production needs to come down. The expenditure of manufacturing electrolyzers forms a major part of cost of green hydrogen production, making both private players and the government push for scaling up domestic electrolyzer production.

Grey hydrogen is produced from polluting resources such as natural gas and methane, while green hydrogen is produced from renewable energy sources from wind and solar.

Under the National Green Hydrogen Mission, the government aims to have a capacity of 5 million metric tonne of annual green hydrogen production with a capacity of 60-100 GW of electrolyzer manufacturing.

Several other private companies have ventured into this nascent space hoping to ride on the market potential for green hydrogen.

Reliance Industries is investing about $10 billion in its new energy ecosystem including green hydrogen. The company is developing a giga complex in Jamnagar, Gujarat with five giga factories for photovoltaic panels, fuel cell system, green hydrogen, energy storage and power electronics. Its arm Reliance Electrolyzer Manufacturing Ltd has also been selected under the SIGHT scheme to develop electrolyzers.

Other companies in the space include Avaada GreenH2 Private Ltd, ACME Cleantech Solutions, and Greenko Zero.

Shares of Adani Green were trading 0.8% lower at 1,783.20 on the National Stock Exchange in early trade on Thursday in a largely positive market.
Between 2021 and 2023 two parts of the drugmaking business were in contrasting states of health. An index of American big pharma rose by a third, outperforming the broader stockmarket thanks to robust sales of blockbuster drugs. One made up of smaller biotechnology companies sank by roughly as much, weighed down by rising interest rates and dissipating pandemic-era euphoria for all things medical. Unlisted biotech startups have, like most young firms, struggled to attract capital. Last year they drew just $17bn in investments, down from $37bn two years earlier. Fewer went public and more went bust.

This year the giants are still going strong. On April 30th Eli Lilly, maker of a hit weight-loss treatment, delivered another dose of strong quarterly results. On May 2nd Novo Nordisk, a Danish rival with its own anti-obesity drug, is expected to do the same. Together the two are worth $1.2trn, up from $350bn three years ago. But biotechs vitals, too, are improving. That is good news for investors, patients and the pharmaceutical industry as a whole.

In the first three months of 2024 investors injected $5.1bn into biotech startups, the most in seven quarters. Eight firms have launched initial public offerings (IPOs) since January, raising a combined $1.5bn, compared with $2.5bn for all firms that went public in 2023. Another nine have sold themselves to larger drugmakers for $1bn or morethe busiest start to a year in a decade. In February Novartis, a Swiss titan, said it intended to buy MorphoSys, a German cancer specialist, for $2.9bn. The following month AstraZeneca, a British-Swedish giant, acquired two biotech firms for over $3bn. IQVIA, a research firm, expects $180bn-200bn in biotech and pharma deals this year, up from $85bn in 2022.

One reason for the revival is the painful triage of the past two years. Many firms with bleak prospects were eliminated; the number of biotech bankruptcies in 2023 was the highest in a decade. Those that remain are sturdier on average. Their more down-to-earth valuations also make them more appealing takeover targets for cash-rich big pharma. Fifteen of the worlds largest drugmakers have a collective $800bn at their disposal for mergers and acquisitions (M&A), IQVIA calculates.

They are eager to put this money to use, especially as many of their lucrative patents are about to expire. In 2028 branded drugs with combined annual sales of $100bn will lose intellectual-property protection, reckons Evaluate, a data-provider, putting this at risk from cheap generic alternatives (see chart 1). The equivalent figure averaged $33bn over the past decade. At the same time, finding new cures is getting harder. Jack Scannell, boss of Etheros Pharmaceuticals, a biotech firm, has analysed large drugmakers research and development (R&D) budgets and regulatory approvals. He finds that in the 1960s $1bn in R&D (at 2008 prices) resulted in around ten new drug approvals. Nowadays that same $1bn doesnt get you even one (see chart 2).

Big pharmas response has been to focus on marketing and distribution, and outsource much of the innovating to the biotech sector. In 2023, 57% of all new drugs approved in America originated at small companies, up from 40% eight years earlier. The upstarts are responsible for more than three in four new clinical trials in the early stages and two in three late-stage ones (see chart 3). Kasim Kutay, chief executive of Novo Holdings, which owns a controlling stake in Novo Nordisk and interests in other health-care firms of all sizes, believes that nimbler biotech firms singular focus on a particular disease area may give them better odds of success in drug development compared with sprawling big pharma.

Those odds may improve further thanks to artificial intelligence (AI). Drugmakers have toyed with machine learning for years. BCG, a consultancy, has identified about 200 firms founded in the past decade that use algorithms to find promising molecules. Many have little to show for it. BenevolentAI and Exscientia, two buzzy startups from Britain, recently reported disappointing results from clinical trials for their AI-discovered drugs (to treat eczema and cancer, respectively).

However, recent rapid advances in AI raise hopes that it can make R&D more productive, for real this time. Christopher Meier of BCG predicts a wave of AI-based drugs. In January Isomorphic Labs, a startup spun off from Googles AI lab, signed deals with Eli Lilly and Novartis worth nearly $3bn to use its platform to discover small-molecule therapies. In April Xaira, an AI-drug discovery startup, raised $1bn, one of the largest funding rounds in biotech history. Insilico, another hot AI-based startup, says that its software identified a new drug target and designed a molecule fit for human trials in only 18 months and at a cost of $2.7m.

That is a pittance compared with the billions big pharma spends these days on a portfolio of drugs, only one in ten of which tends to get approved. If AI can reduce the failure rate even by a few percentage points, it could have a huge financial impact, says Pratap Khedkar, boss of ZS, a health-technology consultancy. That would be salutary for the biotech firms, big pharma and plenty of patients, too.

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Mumbai: Reclusive Godrej billionaire Rishad Kaikhushru Naoroji has decided to gift most of his shares in group companies to nephews and nieces, an executive aware of the development said, in a rare instance of corporate India's super-rich leaving his wealth to relatives.

Naoroji, 72, is a third-generation member of the Godrej business family and a cousin of Adi, Nadir and Jamshyd Godrej, and Smita Godrej Crishna.

Naoroji owns shares in four of the five listed Godrej companiesGodrej Agrovet, Godrej Consumer, Godrej Properties and Godrej Industries -totalling about 7,050 crore as on 1 May. He also owns stakes in unlisted companies across the group.

His shares will be transferred to the two branches of the family, proportionate to their realigned holding in these companies, according to the executive mentioned above.

Naoroji's gift comes on the back of family members agreeing to divide the business among themselves and the 127-year-old group making it official on Tuesday.

Son of Kaikhushru and Dosabai, Naoroji is an avid conservationist, who has stayed away from actively managing the Godrej group businesses. An only son to his parents and the youngest in his generation, he has no direct descendants.

One of the wealthiest Indians, Naoroji owns stakes across group companies that will form part of the now bifurcated Godrej Enterprises Group and Godrej Industries Group.

An email seeking comments from Naoroji sent on Wednesday remained unanswered till press time.

An unorthodox billionaireForbes estimates his net worth at $3.8 billionNaoroji left the day-to-day management of the Godrej business to his cousins. Instead, he spent his years in nature, following his passion for birds of prey.

After graduating from Mumbais HR College of Commerce and Economics, Naoroji moved to studying and photographing raptors across the world and contributing to their conservation.

Also read: Godrej group could see birth of another property developer

In 2006, he authored a book called Birds of Prey of the Indian Subcontinent that covers about 70 species of raptors. In 2011, he founded the Raptor Research and Conservation Foundation in Mumbai.

A member of the Parsi community, Naoroji has described himself in the past as an atheist. He has remained unmarried, and has reportedly said he does not believe in the institution of marriage.

The transfer of Naorojis shareholdings to his kin comes at a time when the wider Godrej group is bifurcating along family lines to align with their differing visions for the conglomerate.

Families of siblings Jamshyd Godrej and Smita Godrej Crishna will take control of Godrej Enterprises Group, which will include unlisted Godrej and Boyce. The company has interests in aerospace, aviation, defence, engines and motors, construction, furniture, and software and IT, among other things. It also controls the Godrej familys land parcel in the Vikhroli suburb of Mumbai that is estimated to span 3,000 acres.

Nyrika Holkar, the daughter of Crishna, will be the fourth-generation business leader of this faction and will succeed uncle Jamshyd Godrej.

Families of brothers Nadir and Adi Godrej will form Godrej Industries Group (GIG) that will be chaired by Nadir. He is to be succeeded by nephew Pirojsha Godrej in August 2026.
Alphabet Inc's subsidiary Google sacked around 200 employees from its core team and relocated some of the jobs overseas to cut costs as part of a restructuring process. At least 50 roles were eliminated from engineering team based at its headquarters in California.

Now, the tech giant is expected to hire replacement workers for positions in India and Mexico, CNBC reported citing internal documents.

The "core" team at Google, which develops the "technical foundation behind the company's flagship products" along with the user safety online and its global IT infrastructure, was the target of the internal job cuts, announced a day before Google's first-quarter earnings report.

What Google officials said? In an email, Google Developer Ecosystem's vice president Asim Husain announced the layoffs last week and told employees this was the biggest workforce reduction from his team this year, the documents show.

We intend to maintain our current global footprint while also expanding in high-growth global workforce locations so that we can operate closer to our partners and developer communities, Husain wrote in the email, CNBC reported.

A Google spokesperson said workers impacted by layoffs will be able to apply for other open roles at the company. Google has provided outplacement services and severance offerings, as per requirements.

Were simplifying our structures to give employees more opportunity to work on our most innovative and important advances and our biggest company priorities, while reducing bureaucracy and layers, a Google spokesperson told The New York Post.

Alphabet has been reducing its workforce since early 2023, when the company announced its plan to cut roughly 12,000 positions, or 6% of its workforce, due to a decline in the online ad market revenues.
Paytm Money, the wholly-owned subsidiary of One97 Communications, has appointed Rakesh Singh as the new CEO after Varun Sridhar resigned from the role, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Sridhar, former head of Paytm Money Ltd, will transition to Chief Executive Officer of Paytm Services Private Limited, focusing on the distribution of mutual funds and wealth management products.

"Stepping into the role of CEO at Paytm Money Ltd is both an honour and a responsibility. As we aim to scale and position ourselves among the top brokers in India, our focus will be on ramping up acquisition and delivering stable, innovative products at a low-cost, transparent price. Focusing on growing an already profitable operation with full compliance to SEBI regulations will be a top priority. I am eager to build on the solid foundation laid by the team, and my focus will be on Paytm Money's growth, " said Rakesh Singh, the newly appointed CEO of Paytm Money.

Also Read | Adani Enterprises Q4 Results: Net profit drops 38% to  451 crore, revenue rises marginally to  29,180 crore Before joining Paytm Money, Singh, a veteran in the banking industry with over 18 years of experience--held the same position at Fisdom, a discount brokerage firm, for over five years.

Also Read | Cognizant lowers revenue outlook for 2024 after slow March quarter Sridhar has been the Paytm Money CEO since 2020. Under his leadership, the company turned profitable in the financial year 2023 and reported a 42 crore net profit while its revenue almost doubled to 131 crore.

Also Read | Titan Q4 results tomorrow: Net profit likely to rise 8% YoY; jewellery segment to aid revenue growth Our focus on payments and lending is stronger than ever, and I will work with the seasoned leaders that we have in each of our businesses to execute our plans," Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder and CEO - Paytm said.

"I welcome Rakesh to Paytm Wealth business where we are committed to build world class technology led wealth offerings to young Indians, he added.

Earlier this year, Paytm Money welcomed Vipul Mewada as a senior executive. Mewada, formerly with ICICI Securities as a deputy CFO, assumed the role in February.
Mumbai: Ending a nearly seven-month deadlock, a clutch of key lenders to billionaire Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Ltd has decided to endorse the demerger of the groups flagship, two persons directly aware of the development confirmed.

The proposed demerger of Vedanta Ltd into six separate listed companies has been delayed over the distribution of $7 billion of debt that the company owes to creditors in India, between the demerged companies.

We feel (the demerger) will reduce burden and benefit the company, creditors and other stakeholders," said the first person cited above on condition of anonymity. It will also enhance the headroom to leverage, if required, for each of the demerged verticals, and speed up the groups renewed growth plans."

So far, two large private sector banks have accorded their in-principle approvals and another large state-owned bank is likely to greenlight the proposal soon," said the second person, a banker to Vedanta, who also requested to not be named.

Vedanta's consortium of lenders, led by State Bank of India (SBI), includes Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Canara Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Yes Bank, Union Bank of India, IDFC First Bank, Bank of Maharashtra and Kotak Mahindra Bank, according to ratings agency Crisil.

Over the past year, debt has been the central point of all key business decisions for the London-headquartered metals, mining and energy conglomerate Vedanta Resources, the parent of Mumbai-headquartered Vedanta Ltd.

The bankers now seem to be seeing merit in the proposal" to split the company into six separate listed entities, the two persons said.

The banker cited above, who is a part of the consortium of Vedantas lenders, said SBI Capital Markets (SBI Caps) has sent the banks a draft version of its report on the proposed Vedanta demerger. The creditors had appointed SBI Caps in March to assess issues such as distribution of debt and the possible impact on lenders following the demerger.

While the contents of SBI Caps report could not be immediately ascertained, the banker said that lenders now feel it is in their best interests to allow the merger.

The demerger of Vedanta, which commands a market capitalization of 1.5 trillion, will be one of the biggest in the listed space. The demerger of Jio Financial Services from Reliance Industries Ltd., which was completed last year, is the largest.

Emails sent to Vedanta, consortium leader SBI, and to SBI Caps remained unanswered till press time.

The process of approval

Vedanta will have to send a no-objection certificate from the lenders to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for the market regulators mandatory clearance. Following Sebi's approval, the demerger proposal will be put up before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

The final decision on whether to approve or disapprove of the demerger will be decided by the consortium through voting after it is convened by the NCLT (National Company Law Tribunal," said the banker.

For the demerger to go through, a formal approval by majority vote of the consortium of lenders will be compulsory.

Vedanta is planning to close all the required formal approval processes for the demerger within the first week of June, with an aim to complete the demerger within the next 6-9 months," said the first person.

Once the final approval for the demergerone of the biggest in the listed spaceis granted, Vedanta's group companies may seek fresh lines of credit from their current creditors to obtain growth capital for each vertical, the first person added.

Demerger and debt

In September, Vedanta Ltd had announced the demerger of its metals, power, aluminium, and oil and gas businesses to unlock value.

The exercise will create six independent verticalsVedanta Aluminium, Vedanta Oil & Gas, Vedanta Power, Vedanta Steel and Ferrous Materials, Vedanta Base Metals and Vedanta Ltd.

Mint had earlier reported that lenders were concerned about the lack of clarity on how their debt will be split among the various business units following the mining behemoths proposed demerger, citing two bankers aware of the discussions.

Ajay Agarwal, president (finance), Vedanta Ltd, had said in an earnings call on 25 April that all the debt will get allocated across each of the demerged entities in the ratio of the assets in which the asset gets allocated amongst the six different demerged entities.

To address lenders concern over debt appropriation, Agarwal had said, We have apportioned the debt across the six entities. And based on this formula, we have gone to the lenders for the specific approval."

Besides the demerger, the group has been making several attempts to deleverage its balance sheet. At the parent level, in Vedanta Resources Ltd., apart from deleveraging in the current fiscal, sometime in January, Vedanta went for debt restructuring.

The parent needs $1-1.1 billion in the current fiscal to take care of the liabilities, out of which about $620 million is required in the first quarter.

Also Read: A quiet Godrej billionaire gifts all riches to relatives

In its recent earnings call, Vedanta said it is allocating and committing $1.9 billion capex in the current fiscal (FY25), with the largest commitment of $800 million going into power and artificial intelligence.

A fortnight ago, the group said it would raise 2,500 crore by issuing non-convertible debentures (NCDs) through private placements.

Vedanta Ltds net debt stood at 56,338 crore as on 31 March, said the company while announcing its annual financials last week.

Crisil Ratings on 22 March continued its rating watch" on the bank facilities and debt instruments of Vedanta Ltd with developing implications.

As per Crisil, the developing watch continues to factor in the corporate announcement by Vedanta that it will demerge its aluminium, oil and gas, power, base metal (zinc international and copper business) and iron and steel businesses into separate standalone listed entities.

However, the deal will need requisite approvals, including from shareholders and lenders, and could take three-four quarters for completion. Also, clarity on allocation of assets and liabilities across entities under the proposed structure, along with group or parent support philosophy for each entity, is yet to emerge," Crisil Ratings said.

Typically, a demerger, which entails the separation of businesses of a conglomerate into two or more entities, is proposed to improve operations.

Also Read: Vedanta targets $7.5 bn in earnings in 2 years, deleverage group by $3 bn
MUMBAI : KVS Manians abrupt exit from Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd a week after the central banks knuckle-rap and barely two months after he was elevated as joint managing director may have derailed the lenders carefully scripted restructuring.

Kotak Mahindra Bank informed the stock exchanges late Tuesday that it had accepted Manians resignation with immediate effect, stating that he had stepped down to pursue other opportunities in the financial services sector".

It appears, however, that Manian, 62, who has spent nearly three decades at the bank and had been in consideration for the top role, may not have anticipated having to leave immediately.

Manians exit comes at a time when Kotak Mahindra Bank is scrambling to get its credit card operations back on its feet following the Reserve Bank of Indias censure and just as the lender was settling in under its chief, Ashok Vaswani.

On Tuesday, the banks board held a 30-minute meeting on Manians exit following which it accepted his resignation with immediate effect, according to its stock exchange notification. The board is expected to meet in four days to consider the lenders fourth-quarter and full-year financial results.

There has been speculation that Manian had concerns about his new role at Kotak Mahindra Bank, and that he was in the running to lead another lender. His resignation at this moment, however, has come as a shock to banking industry insiders, especially as the Reserve Bank of India hasnt confirmed his name for another position, say people familiar with the developments.

Manian did not respond to calls and text messages from Mint. Kotak Mahindra Bank did not reply to emailed queries.

A quick transition

Manian in his resignation letter indicates he was willing to serve a notice period. Im happy to help and facilitate the transition in a manner that you feel comfortable with. Accordingly, do let me know the date by which I can be relieved," Manian said in the letter, available as part of the banks regulatory filing.

Last week, RBI barred Kotak Mahindra Bank from onboarding new customers through its website or mobile app, and restricted it from issuing fresh credit cards citing serious deficiencies" in its technology system.

While RBIs action may not have had a bearing on Manians exit, Kotak Mahindra Bank has announced a new reporting structure, its second since February.

The wholesale, commercial and private bank businesses, which Manian was heading, will now directly report to the banks new managing director and chief executive Ashok Vaswani.

The asset reconstruction division will report to deputy managing director Shanti Ekambaram, who will also oversee the investment banking and institutional equities businesses. Ekambaram, who also has about 30 years at the bank, was named deputy managing director in February as part of a restructuring under Vaswani, who took charge on 1 January.

A loyalists exit

For Manian, founder Uday Kotaks trusted aide and long-term loyalist, an exit from Kotak Mahindra Bank may have been in the works for sometime, according to media reports.

NDTV Profit reported in February that Manian was being considered, among others, for the CEOs position at Federal Bank once incumbent Shyam Srinivasan steps down in September. The two other names likely to be considered are Federal Banks executive directors Shalini Warrier and Harsh Dugar.

That said, Federal Bank is yet to officially send the names of potential candidates for its CEO role to RBI, according to a banker who spoke on condition of anonymity. Typically, the regulator takes 2-3 months to approve a candidate.

Unless Manian has received an informal assurance from the bank or RBI, it doesn't make sense for him to resign so soon," said a Kotak Mahindra Bank executive.

Another banker said the news of Manian's sudden exit from Kotak Mahindra Bank has come as a shock.

Manian was not happy being No:2, and he believes he could work for some more time. Asking somebody like Manian to leave immediately is not akin to Kotak's culture; it is similar to a foreign bank," said this banker. That said, the board must have thought from a governance perspective that it is better to ask him to leave if he is joining competition."

Manian was also in the running for Axis Bank CEO in 2019. Clearly, he had aspirations to become a CEO," said another banker who has worked with Manian. It was after that that Uday made him a whole-time board member."

In February, shortly after taking charge, Vaswani announced a leadership reshuffle, elevating Manian as joint managing director and Ekambaram as deputy managing director. This was seen as a move to arrest senior management attrition following the resignation of Uday Kotak last year.

Uday Kotak had stepped down in September, four months before the end of his term, because of the central banks regulation capping the tenure of a private sector bank's MD and CEO at 15 years.

Manian initially had been considered the frontrunner to replace Uday Kotak as the CEO. The RBI, however, decided to go with Vaswani, a global banker with experience at Barclays Plc in the UK and Citigroup in the Asia-Pacific region.
Electric vehicle (EV) giant Tesla Inc. has filed a lawsuit in the Delhi High Court against Gurgaon-based battery seller Tesla Power India Pvt. Ltd for infringing on its trademark, 'Tesla'.

The Delhi High Court issued a notice on Thursday in response to Tesla Inc.'s plea and restrained Tesla Power from publishing any promotional advertisements featuring EV products with a similar Tesla trademark.

The court also instructed Tesla Power to file its replies in response to the allegations and adjourned the case until 22 July.

During the hearing, Tesla Inc. argued that Tesla Power's use of the trademark in India was causing confusion among consumers and potentially harming its business interests. It claimed that Tesla Power not only shares a similar trademark name but also advertises as an EV company in newspapers.

Also read: Teslas India entry on ice: Musk yet to firm up plans for India Tesla Inc. stated that consumers are mistakenly purchasing Tesla Power batteries assuming they are associated with Tesla Inc. and registering complaints with them.

Tesla Inc. counsel sought urgent action against Tesla Power's use of the Tesla trademark, citing potential damage to their brand and ongoing business activities in India.

However, the court criticized Tesla Inc. saying it had not shown any urgency, especially considering that it has been in communication with Tesla Power since 2020 over the trademark dispute.

According to the court, Tesla Power has been operating for four years and deserves the opportunity to present its case; they cannot be shut down abruptly.

In response, Tesla Power argued that it is not manufacturing EV batteries but rather selling lead acid batteries used in conventional vehicles and inverters.

The company representative present in court stated that it has no plans to enter the EV market and clarified that the advertisement featuring the Tesla trademark was related to another company, e-Ashwa, with whom Tesla Power has a strategic partnership to sell branded products.

According to the company representative, Tesla Power has been in business since 2020 and has 1 million customers in India.

Also read: Elon Musk shows why India cant take China-plus-one narrative for granted Recently, Tesla chief executive eElon Musk postponed his much-anticipated visit to India citing prior commitments to Tesla.

Media reports suggest that Tesla is considering a significant investment of nearly $30 billion in India over the next five years, including the establishment of a manufacturing plant and battery ecosystem.

On 15 March, the Indian government introduced a new electric vehicle (EV) policy. This move is expected to help Tesla get started in India. As part of this policy, the government will lower taxes on certain electric vehicles.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleged on Thursday that "Congress wants to change India's Constitution to give reservation of SC, ST, and OBC communities to Muslims."

Addressing a rally in Gujarat, he targeted the Congress party in an attempt to woo voters amid the Lok Sabha Elections 2024.

Hitting out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, PM Modi said, "Congress is dying here and Pakistanis are crying; Pakistan leaders want to make 'shehzada' of Congress India's prime minister".

Modi also challenged Congress to give in writing that it won't give a backdoor quota to Muslims.

I challenge Congress to give in writing that it won't give backdoor quota to Muslims in states where the party and its allies are in power, Modi said.

The Prime Minister is in Gujarat for two days, campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections ahead of the Phase-3 polling scheduled on May 7.

He is scheduled to address four poll rallies  in Anand, Surendranagar, Junagadh, and Jamnagar districts  covering 10 Lok Sabha seats.

Gujarat, the home state of Modi, has 26 Lok Sabha seats, but voting will take place on only 25 as one constituency (Surat) has had the BJP candidate elected unopposed.

Referring to the UPA rule as 'shaasankaal' (reign) and the current NDA rule as 'sevakaal' (service period), PM Modi accused Congress of trying to divide the country.

"These days, the 'shehzaade' of Congress are dancing keeping the Constitution on their heads. But, Congress should answer me why the Constitution, which you are dancing with on your forehead today, was not implemented in all parts of India for 75 years. Today Modi is realising Sardar Saheb's dream of uniting the country. Whereas Congress is busy dividing the country, Congress wants to create fights in society. Because of Congress, there were various kinds of tamperings with the Constitution of the country for decades.

"The country has seen the rule of Congress for 60 years. Now the country has also seen 10 years of service of BJP. That was the reign, this is the service period," Modi added.

Modi in Gujarat  5 quotes We had heard about 'love jihad' and 'land jihad', but an INDI alliance leader has now called for vote jihad".

Congress wants to change India's Constitution to give reservation of SC, ST and OBC communities to Muslims.

Today, India is being seen as a peacemaker in the world.

Some powers in the world want a weak government to be at the helm in India.

In 10 years, we gave tap water connections to 14 crore houses, while Cong gave it to just 3 crore houses in 60 years. Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has accused the Modi government of "clandestinely snatching away" reservation from Dalits, tribals and backward classes by "blindly" implementing privatisation.

In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi said the mantra of Narendra Modi's campaign to remove reservation is -- 'na rahega baans, na bajegi bansuri', meaning neither there will be government jobs nor any reservation will be available.

"The BJP government is clandestinely snatching away reservation from Dalits, tribals and backward classes by eliminating government jobs through 'blind privatisation'," the former Congress chief said.

In 2013, there were 14 lakh permanent posts in the public sector, which by 2023 stood at 8.4 lakh, he said.
The suspense over candidatures of Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi from the Amethi and Rae Bareli constituencies in Uttar Pradesh is likely to end today, May 2. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on Wednesday the decision would be announced in the next 24-40 hours.

Amethi and Raebareli will go to the polls in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections 2024 on May 20. The last day for filing nominations for the seats in the fifth phase is May 3, but Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to address a poll rally in Pune tomorrow.

Sources said Rahul and Priyanka are unwilling to contest the Lok Sabha elections either from Amethi or Rae Bareli. However, efforts are still on to convince at least one of the Gandhi siblings to fight general elections from two seats in Uttar Pradesh.

Some media reports suggested that the absence of Nehru-Gandhi family members in the Uttar Pradesh elections as contestants would send a negative political message to people across the nation.

Within the Congress, there is also a belief that if Rahul Gandhi wins in both Wayanad and Amethi, he would have to give up one of the seats, which might annoy the electorate.

Amethi-Rae Bareli seats The Congress has always won Rae Bareli and Amethi from 1999 to 2019 Lok Sabha elections. However, Rahul Gandhi lost Amethi to Union Minister Smriti Irani in 2019. On the other hand, Sonia Gandhi has chosen not to run for Lok Sabha in 2024, despite her consistent victories from Rae Bareli.

However, Rahul Gandhi has already contested the Lok Sabha 2024 from Wayanad, a seat he had easily won in 2019. On April 26, polling was held in Wayanad.

The Congress is contesting Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh in alliance with the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party. The Congress has been allocated 17 of the 80 seats from UP. Samajwadi Party, the leading partner of the INDIA bloc, and other allies will contest the other seats.
NARVA, EstoniaThe city council of Narva sits just a few steps from the border crossing with Russia, on a square named after Russian Emperor Peter the Great. Almost everyone here in Estonias third-largest city speaks Russian as a mother tongue, and one out of three residents hold Russian rather than Estonian citizenship.

Back in 1993, before the Baltic country joined the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Moscow-backed Narva council members organized a referendum on regional autonomy," a byword for alignment with Russia. Estonia rejected the vote, in which residents backed the proposal with a turnout of 54%, as a grave threat to its independence and territorial integrity.

That separatist fervor has dissipated for now, at least in the open, but the danger from Russia hasnt. The once bustling border bridge over the Narva River has been closed to vehicles since February, part of the rapidly deteriorating relationship between the two countries. Antitank concrete pyramids are arrayed on the span where locals used to routinely drive to fill up with cheaper Russian gas. At the Estonian border checkpoint for pedestrian traffic, notices ask people walking in from Russia to share information about security threats to Estonian statehood.

Months after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly described Narva, a city of 53,000 people, as historically Russian land. His government has since issued an arrest warrant for Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas for her governments orders to remove monuments to Soviet troops. She is the only foreign leader known to be on the Kremlins wanted list.

Though few expect Russia to strike Estonia militarily in the immediate future, the U.S. and European governments are increasingly concerned that Putin plans to test Western resolve by challenging members of NATO, particularly the three Baltic states that had been ruled from Moscow, if he succeeds in ending the war in Ukraine on favorable terms.

We know that Russia is aggressive. Its like a murderer: It has the intent and the means, it just needs an opportunity," said Tomas Jermalavicius, head of studies at the International Centre for Defence and Security, a think tank in Estonias capital, Tallinn.

Such concern was a key reason House Speaker Mike Johnson, defying resistance among fellow Republicans, pushed through the $60 billion aid package for Ukraine. Vladimir Putin would continue to march through Europe if he were allowed," Johnson said, explaining his support for the funding, which, after a Senate endorsement, was signed into law by President Biden last week.

Putin has dismissed warnings of a potential Russian attack on NATO members like Estonia as complete nonsense." In early 2022, the Kremlin used similar language to ridicule American warnings that Russia planned to invade Ukraine.

The threats are not potential or theoretical," said Jonatan Vseviov, secretary-general of Estonias Foreign Ministry. Russia has made no secret of what its goals in this war are. It is to control all of Ukraine and to fundamentally reshape European security architecture by creating a sort of buffer zone on its western borders, in the process destroying NATO and the European Union as effective security organizations."

From investments in the military to diplomatic and intelligence efforts, Estonianand other Balticofficials say they are working to meet the looming challenge. We are not next because we always prepare to avoid being next," said Maj. Gen. Ilmar Tamm, commander of the Estonian Defense League, a paramilitary organization that would supplement the regular military in case of war and that has increased its recruitment and readiness levels since the invasion of Ukraine. Its not just a response to Russia but a logical preparation for what we need to do anyway."

On its own, Estonia, home to just 1.4 million peoplenearly one-third of them Russian speakersis hardly a match for the Russian military. If there is a war here, it wont be like in Ukraine because we are such a tiny country. Our entire population is smaller than the Russian military," said Narva Mayor Jaan Toots. NATO would have to defend us."

Ground troops from other NATO members, including the U.S., have been deployed in the Baltics since 2017 and reinforced after the invasion of Ukraine. Numbering some 5,000 service members in total, they are far too few to resist a full-scale military thrust.

Places such as Narva and the surrounding countryside of eastern Estonia are among the most obvious targets for a Russian probe, as are the Suwalki corridor" between Poland and Lithuania, and the Russian-speaking areas of eastern Latvia, Western officials say.

As Putin compared himself to Peter the Great in June 2022, saying that both rulers were on a mission to regain historic Russian lands, he specifically mentioned Narva, the site of two major battles between Russia and Sweden in the early 18th century. In his autobiography, he also claimed that his father had been betrayed to the Nazis by Estonian villagers during World War II.

The rise of isolationist voices in the U.S., including former President Donald Trumps remarks that he would invite Russia to invade European allies who dont pay enough for NATO protection, has already eroded the alliances deterrence, warned Anton Hofreiter, head of the European Union affairs committee in the German Bundestag.

I am concerned that because of unclear signaling from the West, we may mislead Putin into thinking that he can attack without too harsh a consequence," Hofreiter said. Say, he would attack Narva and say the next day its now part of Russia and is under a Russian nuclear umbrella, and what will you do now?"

Estonia has already sustained a series of Russian cyberattacks that aimed to cripple its infrastructure, and Russian GPS jamming in recent days caused two Finnair flights to abort landing in Tartu airport and turn around. The Finnish company said Monday that it is suspending services to Tartu.

Some of the most severe ones followed political events, such as Estonias decision to remove Soviet war memorials or the Estonian parliament declaring Russia a terrorist state in late 2022, said Gert Auvaart, director of Estonias National Cyber Security Center.

Cyberattacks are part of the diplomatic toolbox for the Kremlin," he said. They want to send a strong signal that they can disrupt and to show that Western societies are unable to keep their people safe and secure."

Estonias domestic intelligence service said in February that it had arrested 10 people who had been recruited by Moscow to foment low-level unrest, including attacks on cars of the current interior minister and a prominent journalist. It provided no further details.

They have already made the next step, not only a cyberattack but also a physical attack," said Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur.

When it comes to a more conventional military threat, Pevkur estimated that it would take Russia two or three years to rebuild its forces to seriously challenge NATO. In the coming months, in the foreseeable future, so long as the Ukrainian war is ongoing, I do not see that Putin is ready to open a second front," he said. It would be catastrophic for him."

Pevkur briefly interrupted an interview because Russian warplanes, once again, had to be intercepted as they flew into Estonias airspace.

Estonia and Latvia, unlike Lithuania, didnt grant automatic citizenship to all their residents when they restored independence in 1991. That left hundreds of thousands of Russian speakers who had come from the rest of the Soviet Union after World War II, and their descendants, with a choice of remaining stateless noncitizens," opting for Russian passports or having to pass language exams to qualify for naturalization.

Residents regardless of citizenship can vote in local electionsa right that Estonias government is now moving to remove for holders of Russian and Belarusian nationality, alongside a switch from Russian to Estonian language education in cities such as Narva.

Unlike in the 1990s, when pro-Russian separatist politics posed a serious threat, Estonias prosperity as a member of the EU makes any unrest unappealing even to the most pro-Putin residents, said Katri Raik, who served as mayor of Narva until last September and is a former interior minister.

While Russian intelligence could find some homeless Oleg who spends his time drinking beer and manipulate him via Facebook and TikTok," the pool of such potential collaborators is small, she said. There is no fifth column here," Raik said. People are not dumb, and they know where life is better, here or in Russia."

Still, more than three decades into independence, Estonian citizens make up less than half of Narvas population. While overt displays of Russian nationalism, such as black and orange St. Georges ribbons, and support for the invasion of Ukraine are outlawed in Estonia, the sympathies of many in town are clearly with Putin.

Its a state within a state in Narva, though few are willing to admit it," said Maria Smorzhevskihh-Smirnova, director of the Narva Museum who was pilloried on local social media and by some city council members for an exhibition that compared the destruction of historical Narva by Soviet troops in 1944 to the flattening of Ukrainian cities by Russia in the past two years.

Hardly anyone from Narvas original Estonian population returned to the citys ruins after World War II, and a new city of Soviet apartment blocks was erected in its stead by settlers from Russia.

When the building of an independent Estonian state began, people in Narva had this different sensibility: Russians have always lived here, why do we need to learn Estonian, the border with Russia is open and right here, why do we even have to bother?" Smorzhevskihh-Smirnova said.

A Ukrainian refugee who moved to Narva after the invasion said he has made a rule not to discuss politics with locals because so many of them support Putin. Though Estonia has barred Russian TV channels from its cable network, proximity to Russia means that Russian broadcastersand their propagandaare readily accessible to local residents. Very few locals are willing to be interviewed, because openly supporting Putin can violate Estonian law, while criticizing the Russian regime could create problems across the border.

Nadezhda Shibello, 60, who came to Narva from Siberia when she was 20 years old and still has many relatives in Russia, said she now suffers from nightmares about imminent war.

Our people keep saying that Putin will come here. I dont think so, but if something happens, if there is a provocation from the Estonian side, of course he wont remain silent, there will be a reply," she said as she walked from a shopping trip to Russia. To be honest, I am so uneasy. Estonia is so small, one bang and it is all gone."

Write to Yaroslav Trofimov at yaroslav.trofimov@wsj.com
India's food safety regulator has ordered nationwide testing and inspections at all companies making spice mixes, Reuters reported on Thursday. The move by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India comes at a time when the countrys popular spice brands are under scrutiny for quality-related concerns after Hong Kong and Singapore banned certain readymade spices from MDH and Everestconsidered household names in India for spicing up our daily food palette.

The development is not good news for the worlds largest spice producer and consumer. India exported spices worth $4.2 billion last fiscal, a 12.3% on-year growth. China, the US, the United Arab Emirates, and Thailand were among the top export destinations for Indian spices. Spices command close to 10% share in Indias agriculture exports basket.

Yet, the segmentand Indias broader food exports segmenthas been dogged by quality concerns for long now. Indias food exports to the US had the most pathogen-related violations with 5,115 food products being rejected by the US between 2002 and 2019, accounting for 22.9% of overall import refusals, according to official US data. These violations were primarily from contamination of salmonella, a harmful bacterium that can make a person sick.

In the last year alone, the European Union, known for its strict food quality standards, rejected 141 food consignments originating from India based on risk factors, shows a Mint analysis of the EU regulatory data. Consignments related to herbs and spices (40), nuts (37), fruits and spices (21) and bakery products (20) were among the top violators and the Netherlands, Sweden, France and Italy were among the top countries that rejected these shipments. Several products were also found contaminated with ethylene oxide, a cancer-causing substance that is in the middle of the current controversy.

Meanwhile, the Spices Board, which falls under the commerce ministry and is responsible for testing and certification of export consignments of select spices (chilli, chilli products and turmeric), remains short-staffed. Over a third of the sanctioned staff strength (379) remains vacant and the number of quality testing labs remain too few compared to the vast expanse of exports.
The third season of the widely acclaimed series, Panchayat, is all set for its OTT release on May 28. The last two seasons the TVF series were a major hit as the lead character of the series Abhishek Tripathi received massive positive response from the audience. The lead role of the show has been played by Jitendra Kumar, popularly known as Jeetu Bhaia.

The Panchayat 3 release date was announced by Amazon Prime Video in a post on Instagram. You moved the laukis, we announced the rewards.

The Panchayat web series revolves around the story of a village in Phulera district, where the lead character struggles to fit in with the people. The web series' creative satires are another feature which makes Panchayat widely recommended web series to watch.

Panchayat 3 release date finally revealed after suspense Prime Video revealed the release date of the TVF web series after building suspense for nearly three days. Before revealing the launch date, Prime Video engaged Panchayat fans in an online activity. Fans were asked to pluck virtual laukies to uncover the release date. The online activity continued for three days after which movie makers finally revealed Panchayat 3 OTT release date on Thursday.

Several social media users expressed their happiness on the announcement of Panchayat 3 release date after keeping the audience engage in lauki suspense for three days.

Finally the release date of S3 is here... Feels like a dream, commented one user on the post.

Finally date revealed after too much cringe promotion, wrote another user on Instagram post.

About Panchayat web series The web series star Jitendra Kumar, Neena Gupta, Raghubir Yadav, Faisal Malik, Chandan Roy, and Sanvikaa in lead roles. The web series has been created by the Viral Fever and is written by Chandan Kumar. Amazon Prime Video kept the buzz around the next season of the web series alive by frequently sharing the glimpses from the sets of "Panchayat 3."
For long, companies focussed on mass-market products such as powder detergents, shampoos and soaps aimed at millions of middle-income households. The focus is changing, as the focus shifts to premium products and new categories unavailable in India yet.

Last week, Nestle India said it is set to launch its premium Nespresso coffees and machines in India, citing a surge" in in-home coffee consumption. The company said India is one of its fastest-growing coffee markets.

Today, premium products account for 12-13% of the companys salesNestle expects this number to touch 15-16% in the medium term and 20% in the long term, said Suresh Narayanan, chairman and managing director, Nestle India said. Nestle has identified premiumization as one of the growth engines that will accelerate its India business, the company had said earlier.

Also read: FMCG cos expect plentiful rains, new govt to drive consumption: Nestle India CMD

New categories

Emerging categories such as premium coffee, health science, nutrition and pet care will drive Nestle's premium play in India. The company is now present across all these categories in India, apart from selling mass-market brands such as Maggi and KitKat.

The market outlook is that quite clearly, premiumization is here to stay. The bottom end of the pyramid is also doing relatively well... I think brands have to fight for mindspace because of the bandwidth of choice between organized players, regions regional competition, and D2C (direct to consumer) has become wider," Narayanan told reporters earlier this week.

More companies are now chasing such consumers, and it is easy to understand why.

A recent report by venture fund Elevation Capital said Indias top five million households, comprising 2% of the population, spend approximately $40 billion every year in discretionary purchases. Over the next decade, this pool will expand to $100 billion as their incomes grow, it said. The report specifically pointed out pet care and premium healthcare as categories that are likely to benefit from this surge in consumption.

Sun-care and hair serums

Meanwhile, Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) is rapidly entering new premium categories such as sun-care and hair serums. Indias largest consumer goods maker is also looking at premium spaces within foods. The company will "premiumize more" across the board, as it chases greater growth in India.

Premium products accounted for 33% of HUL's product mix in FY22, up from 22% in FY12.

That's where we are investing further. Most of our market development bets are also in the premium space. It's roughly growing at two times above average (portfolio)," Rohit Jawa, CEO and managing director, HUL, said in an interview with Mint last week.

Jawa said a new India is emerging, prompting companies like HUL to serve them better.

"Most of our funding is going towards new segments and more premium areas because that's where the growth is. That already shows you how we are pivoting towards a different portfolio and channels," he said.

Also read: HUL: Is another weak quarter a cause of panic for investors?

Ayurvedic products

Citing the example of its ayurvedic brand Indulekha, Jawa said the brand could enter new categories while tapping into demand for premium ayurvedic products.

We're looking at other categories that the brand can go into. It's a very strong brand, with clinical and therapeutic credibility. We intend to basically make that the main focus of our ayurveda thrust, because it has an opportunity to build a premium ayurvedic, therapeutic segment," he said.

In March, Mint had reported that HUL is set to significantly" grow its premium beauty business and accelerate premiumization across its existing personal care brands such as Tresemme and Lakme.

Premium global beauty brands are also chasing growth in India. In its third quarter earnings call in February, beauty retailer Nykaa had said its premium business comprising of over 250 beauty brands is growing at about a 50% CAGR over the past three years. Roughly about a third of its gross merchandise value or GMV comes from what it defines as premium and prestige beauty brands. In the December quarter, the retailer introduced several pricey brands such as Urban Decay, Dr. Barbara Strum and Cera Ve.
Tata Chemicals Ltds dismal performance in FY24 may keep the stock well below its lifetime high of 1,349 apiece seen on 7 March when there were reports on potential value unlocking of its 3% stake in Tata Sons.

Tata Chemicals' Ebitda per tonne for soda ash and related basic chemicals in India fell 30% year-on-year in FY24 and 10% for North America.

The company earned than 75% of last years Ebitda from its Indian and North American plants engaged in soda ash manufacturing. This excludes the Ebitda attributable to Rallis India, the companys subsidiary with nearly 55% holding, as it is engaged in seeds and agrochemicals business and thus, valued separately.

The operations in the UK and Africa do not contribute anything substantial. In fact, Tata Chemicals has recognized a write-down of 963 crore for its UK operations owing to the erosion in value.

Adjusted for the value of Rallis stake, the enterprise value (EV) for Tata Chemicals, which is market capitalization plus net debt, comes to 30,000 crore. Based on FY24 Ebitda, the EV/Ebitda multiple comes to 12x.

For calculating the enterprise value, or EV, the market value of Tata Chemicals' holding in group companies, mainly Titan worth about 3,500 crore has not been considered as liquid investments as it seems more of a strategic nature.

Now, for all commodity companies, while deciding whether the valuation multiple is on the higher side or lower, it is crucial to determine at what stage of the cycle is the underlying commodity price in terms of peak or trough.

As such, buying at a high multiple at the trough of the cycle does not hurt as the margin of safety is high. But it is risky to buy at peak commodity prices even at a lower multiple as valuations can quickly expand later when price realization drops causing profit to collapse.

Soda ash prices are certainly not at their peak with imported soda ash prices plummeting to $219 per tonne last month from $373 in April 2023. So, any rebound in prices could bring down Tata Chemicals double-digit valuation multiple.

As volume is the only controllable variable for growth, the company is keen to continue expanding capacity. After the ongoing expansion of 185,000 tonnes comes on stream from Q2FY25 for Indian operations, Tata Chemicals is looking to grow capacity by another 30% with capex of 2,000 crore over FY25-FY28. North America will also see expansion of 4 lakh tonnes.

Also Read: Indian Oil Corp faces a slippery slope after weak Q4 results

Post FY24 results, most brokerage houses have kept their target price for Tata Chemicals at least 10% lower than the current market price of 1,099. However, the stock price had not corrected even after weak Q3FY24 results as investors hope soda ash prices are nearing the bottom.
The Godrej familys decision to split the 127-year-old conglomerate could potentially unlock the valuations of its holding companiesof Godrej Industries Ltd and Godrej Capital, in particularbut investors would do well to wait for the fineprint to manifest.

The restructuring of the group, announced late Tuesday, will result in two entities: Godrej Enterprises Group and Godrej Industries Group.

While Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd will be owned by the families of siblings Jamshyd Godrej and Smita Crishna, operating within the Godrej Enterprises Group, the families of brothers Nadir and Adir Godrej will inherit five listed companiesGodrej Industries Ltd, Godrej Properties Ltd, Godrej Agrovet Ltd, Godrej Consumer Products Ltd, and Astec Lifesciencesunder Godrej Industries Group.

As at the end of March, Godrej Industries held a 23.7% stake in Godrej Consumer Products, 47.3% in Godrej Properties, and 64.88% in Godrej Agrovet. Godrej Agrovet, in turn, owns a 64.76% stake in Astec Lifesciences as a promoter. The combined valuation of these five listed companies is 2.4 trillion.

Historically, valuations of group companies have typically increased following such a split, given the clear alignment of powers and a transparent shareholding pattern, said Sachin Jain, head of investments at family office Sukvi Ventures.

With ownership well-defined, the direction of business becomes clearer, board resolutions can be passed unanimously, and stakeholders know which vision to pursue, he added.

Personally, I have been steadily accumulating shares of family-owned holding companies like Tata Investment Corporation, Bengal and Assam Company, Tube Investments, Mahindra and Mahindra, Godrej Industries, and Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation. These firms consistently trade at a discount of 50-70% compared to the value of the companies they hold," Jain said.

He explained that buying stakes in holding companies offers the potential for value-unlocking if they decide to demerge their investments or reduce or sell stakes in their subsidiaries.

He, however, acknowledged the risk that a demerger may take long or not occur at all. Nonetheless, he said that as the market value of the investments rises, the value of the holding companies would also increase.

A point in case is Godrej Industries, which holds stakes in the other four listed companies; it's currently trading at a discount of more than 50%.

A sizeable parcel

All said, the Godrej family is one of the largest landowners in Mumbai, with about 3,400 acres under its belt, including a single land parcel of 3,000 acres at Vikhroli.

Godrej & Boyce, which is the owner-developer, and Godrej Properties, which is the development manager, have agreed to maintain their memorandums of understanding for developing this land parcel.

While the MoUs are expected to be honored, the split has the potential to affect the value of Godrej Properties, according to Rupesh Sankhe, an analyst at Elara Securities (India).

He suggested keeping an eye on whether the unlisted land bank, under another promoter, chooses to go public separately in the future, as this could significantly impact the role of minority shareholders.

Also read: Godrej group could see birth of another property developer

Which group will control how much land post the split will be something that the capital markets will await. If Adi Godrejs group gets a majority of the land parcel, it will boost the value of Godrej Properties," said Jain of Sukvi Ventures.

An open offer

The Godrej family arrived at an amicable split after a settlement was signed between the two factions after talks for at least two years so the split may be largely neutral for stock prices of the listed entities except to the extent open offers are triggered due to the split," said Dhiraj Relli, managing director and chief executive, HDFC Securities Ltd.

Due to the realignment resulting from the family settlement agreement, an open offer will be extended to the public shareholders of Astec Lifesciences.

Since the listed stocks did not have an overhang of this split, Relli believes no major move can be expected in their stock prices. Instead, he expects their performance to be driven mainly by their quarterly results.

Over the past year, shares of Godrej Industries, Godrej Properties, Godrej Agrovet, and Godrej Consumer Products have risen in the range of 24-113%, whereas that of Astec Lifesciences has dropped by about 4%.

A capital factor

Another aspect investors should monitor is Godrej Capital, the holding entity for Godrej Housing Finance and non-banking lender Godrej Finance.

Godrej Industries has been focused on increasing stakes in the entity since quite some time now, and post the allocations, the group will seek to unlock significant value through the listing of Godrej Capital," said Nirav Karkera, head of research at investment platform Fisdom.

Even so, some market experts believe an immediate listing of Godrej Capital might be challenging as the company is yet to become profitable. They expect that once that happens and the company becomes self-sufficient for its capital needs, Godrej Industries may reduce its stake in Godrej Capital and pursue a stock market listing.
Insider trading, the act of trading securities based on non-public information, has been a major concern for regulators around the world. It not only undermines market integrity but also raises questions about fairness and equality in the marketplace. To address this issue, various measures have been taken by regulators, including the introduction of the dematerialized (Demat) account system.

While the concept of insider trading is often associated with corporate insiders such as executives and directors, it can also involve individuals who have access to confidential information through their roles in various capacities within a company.

In the digital age of investing, where transactions are often executed through demat accounts, the potential for insider trading takes on new dimensions. In this article, we will delve into the implications of insider trading for investors.

What is a demat account? A demat account is a digital platform that enables investors to hold their securities electronically, eliminating the need for physical certificates. This system offers numerous advantages, including secure storage, seamless transferability, and swift transaction settlements.

Moreover, beyond its conventional benefits, the demat account infrastructure serves as a mechanism for curbing insider trading practices.

Understanding insider trading Insider trading refers to the buying or selling of a publicly traded company's stock by someone who has non-public, material information about that stock. This information could include details about the company's financial performance, pending mergers or acquisitions, regulatory approvals, or other significant developments that could affect the stock's price.

Insider trading is illegal because it undermines the fairness and integrity of the financial markets. It gives insiders, such as company executives, employees, or individuals with privileged access to confidential information, an unfair advantage over other investors. By trading based on non-public information, insiders can potentially profit at the expense of uninformed investors.

Also Read: Demat Account: 10 crucial things beginners should keep in mind

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is responsible for enforcing insider trading laws in India and imposing penalties on violators. Regulation 4 of the SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015, establishes guidelines for the "Code of Fair Disclosure."

This regulation is designed to promote transparency and fairness in information disclosure by listed companies and other entities. Its goal is to prevent insider trading and safeguard the interests of investors by ensuring equal access to material information.

Implications Participating in insider trading, whether knowingly or unknowingly, can have serious implications for demat account holders in India. Here are some key points to consider:

Legal Ramifications: Engaging in insider trading violates securities laws in India, particularly the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Act, 1992, and the SEBI (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015. Demat account holders found guilty of insider trading may face civil penalties, criminal charges, and fines.

SEBI Regulations: SEBI strictly regulates insider trading activities to maintain market integrity and protect investors' interests. Demat account holders are required to adhere to SEBI's guidelines on insider trading, which include prohibitions on trading based on unpublished price-sensitive information (UPSI) and mandatory disclosures of trades by insiders.

Loss of Reputation: Engaging in insider trading tarnished the reputation of demat account holders and undermines their credibility as ethical market participants. This can have long-lasting consequences on their professional reputation and relationships with peers, clients, and regulatory authorities.

Suspension or Revocation of Trading Privileges: SEBI has the authority to suspend or revoke the trading privileges of demat account holders found guilty of insider trading. This can severely limit their ability to participate in the securities market and may have far-reaching implications for their investment portfolios and financial well-being.

Furthermore, demat account holders should exercise caution when receiving tips or recommendations from sources claiming to have insider information. Acting on such information, even unwittingly, can still result in legal consequences.

To maintain the integrity of the financial markets and safeguard their own interests, investors should adhere to ethical trading practices and refrain from engaging in activities that could compromise their reputation or legal standing.

FAQs What constitutes insider trading in the context of demat accounts? Insider trading involves buying or selling securities based on material, non-public information. In the context of demat accounts, it refers to unauthorised trading by individuals who have access to such information due to their position or relationship with the company.

How do insider trading regulations affect demat account holders? Demat account holders must adhere to insider trading regulations to maintain market integrity and fairness. Engaging in insider trading can lead to severe penalties, including fines, imprisonment, and restrictions on trading activities.

What are the consequences of participating in insider trading for demat account holders? Demat account holders found guilty of insider trading may face legal action from regulatory authorities such as the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Penalties may include monetary fines, disgorgement of profits, suspension of trading privileges, and reputational damage.

How can demat account holders ensure compliance with insider trading regulations? Demat account holders can ensure compliance by refraining from trading on material non-public information and following strict disclosure requirements. They should also avoid sharing confidential information and report any suspicious activities to regulatory authorities.
As an investor, the virtue of patience is probably the most important trait in times like these, when uncertainties and volatilities characterise the market. It is a way people earn additional money throughout a decade or over several decades, which would be more than just holding their money in a savings account. Despite the fact that investing in the markets carries more risk than keeping money in savings, there can be a tremendously large long-term return.

One of the most important factors for individual investors in the midst of market volatility is to be calm, because in most cases, many investors are concerned because of falling stock prices and disappointing news. The age-old wisdom is right: it is preferable to concentrate on a certain time in the market rather than attempt to time it.

In the current business environment, most retail investors prefer to keep their investments even during market downturns, which is an indication that they are adopting long-term investment methods. According to the World Economic Forum, in 2021, retail investors owned 52% of global assets, which is predicted to grow to more than 61% by 2030.

Heres a look at the ten essential tips for retail investors to maximise their investment potential and achieve their financial goals:

Defining clear investment objectives First and foremost, retail investors need to create specific investment goals. Whether it is saving for retirement, purchasing a home, or funding higher education, goals driven by measurements and the accuracy of the outcomes keep the investors focused. By learning the time lengths of each goal, you can adapt your investment strategies, choosing options that match your goals and risk tolerance.

Fostering trust Transparency is one of the things retail investors care about the most. They seek a solid comprehension of a company's overall financial performance, growth possibilities, and quality of management. To attract retail investors, businesses need to ensure that they provide comprehensive, detailed information about their operations, financial status, and plans. Apart from this, it is essential to communicate regularly with the investors. Regular communication channels like newsletters, webinars, and social media updates not only cultivate trust but also make certain that investors are always engaged and informed.

Assessing investment potential Thorough financial analysis is vital for retail investors considering real estate ventures. Before making any commitments, it's essential to delve into factors like cash flow, ROI, and other critical metrics. Evaluating property taxes, insurance, maintenance expenses, and potential rental income is crucial. By conducting a detailed assessment, investors can confidently determine whether a property aligns with their financial goals.

Cultivating a strong network For retail investors, developing a network is crucial. It is essential to make connections with financial advisors, fellow investors, and other experts in the industry to broaden your base of knowledge. Be open to attending seminars, joining investment clubs, and interacting online as a way of networking. Furthermore, working together with experienced professionals makes you offer valuable information, potential investment deals, and support on your investment journey.

Interpreting market volatility For retail investors, it is crucial to comprehend market risk. With so many possibilities for investing, it's critical to bridge awareness gaps about products to prevent poor decisions. Furthermore, to reduce possible losses, investors must match their investment goals with their risk tolerance.

Embracing technology in investing Technology is breaking the barrier for retail investors. The use of online portals, professional data analytics tools, and investment software has paved the way for them. These tools not only provide relevant information, but also help in the automation of tasks and increase the overall efficiency of operations, helping investors make educated decisions and create higher returns in a highly digitised environment.

Turning mistakes into lessons For retail investors, making mistakes is a necessary part of the learning process. Welcome these errors as priceless educational experiences. Give your previous experiences some thought, consider what can be done better, and modify your approach accordingly. In addition, you can seek advice from experienced mentors who can provide you with support and insights, enabling you to confidently and resiliently overcome the challenges of the investing path.

Streamlining investments The investment process appears complicated to most investors. To increase the number of participants, organisations have to emphasise simplicity. User-friendly platforms, interfaces, and educational resources are the first keys to providing such services.

Leveraging social proof and testimonials Investors in retail usually try to get information from the failure or success of others before they make any decision. Businesses can thus strengthen their credibility and attract more investors by presenting success stories and testimonials of clients who are happy with their service. Thus, by socialising the positive investment experiences of investors and asking them to provide feedback on social media and review platforms, the trust and buzz among potential investors would be amplified.

Emphasising long-term potential and value Retail investors prioritise sustainable growth and value. To captivate them, emphasise your company's potential for long-term success, competitive advantages, and resilience to market shifts. Sharing success stories, future initiatives, and financial forecasts can highlight your firm's enduring potential, appealing to investors seeking to build wealth steadily over time.

Empowering retail investors By following these ten essential tips, retail investors can navigate the complexities of the investment landscape with confidence. From setting clear objectives to embracing technology and learning from mistakes, these strategies empower investors to achieve their financial goals and build long-term wealth.
Delhi-NCR schools recorded thin attendance on Thursday, May 2, a day after as many as 200 schools in the national capital received bomb threats via emails.

On Wednesday early morning, educational institutions across Delhi-NCR received emails threatening that a bomb has been placed in the campus premises. This turned out to be a hoax, but triggered panic among parents and students. Many schools sent messages early in the morning to parents not to send their wards to school while others suspended classes and urged parents to pick their wards from the school.

Also read: Delhi schools bomb scare: Cops suspect joint conspiracy by China, ISI; FIR registered Meanwhile, on Thursday, schools reopened but many students did not come as parents were apprehensive after the bomb scare. Low attendance was reported even in schools where the threat was not received, PTI reported.

School managements across the national capital revisited their evacuation plans for such emergencies.

Also read: Bomb threat in Delhi schools Highlights: Delhi Police's Special Cell registers FIR; probes ISI, China angle How principals of Delhi-NCR schools reacted? Jyoti Arora, the Principal of Mount Abu School, told PTI that she revisited the school's evacuation plan for each floor and also wrote to disaster management authorities to conduct mock drills and awareness programmes. She admitted there was a dip in attendance than usual on May 2, and requested parents to observe their wards and understand the need to provide counselling to kids.



She said, "I wrote an email to parents telling them to counsel their children and in case they need help from school counsellors, they are also available. I also requested parents to assess their reaction in case of such situations," reported PTI.

When news of the bomb threat spread, some parents had rushed to the school and were frantically insisting that they need to take their children from the school out of turn. I told them, I have 2,700 children to take care of, PTI quoted her as saying.

Principal of ITL Public School in Dwarka, Sudha Acharya said, Our attendance today has dropped to 85 per cent from an average of about 95 to 97 per cent daily. Certainly parents are still scarred and anxious about the safety of their children.  She said the school management had assured parents on Wednesday itself that there is no need to worry. We didn't get anything on our official email ID." She noted that many parents were scarred and anxious about the safety of their children, despite the fact that the school did not receive the email threat. Also read: Bomb scare: Nearly 100 Delhi-NCR schools get bomb threats, students evacuated; search on Anita Khosla, Principal of G D Goenka Public School, Dwarka, said, There has been a 10-15 per cent drop in attendance due to the hoax threat compared to the usual strength every day. Parents should understand panicking would not help anyone. We need mutual cooperation to walk out of this situation.
Gabon is meeting with fixed-income investors this week as a rout fueled by fiscal and political risks rocks the central African nations bond market.

The junta-led country is holding meetings in New York Thursday to provide a credit update, with Citigroup Inc. coordinating logistics, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because theyre not authorized to speak about it.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Economy and Participations said Gabon hired Citi to organize the meetings, without providing additional details. Its unclear if the talks will lead to a debt offer.

Gabons dollar notes have handed investors a 5.5% loss this quarter, ranking as one of the worst-performing names across emerging markets over the period, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Yields on the OPEC members February 2031 notes reached the highest in more than five months on Wednesday before easing slightly on Thursday.

Tellimer Ltd. downgraded Gabons 2031 bonds to a sell on May 2.

Recommendations from a national consultation to suspend up to 200 political parties could undermine an earlier timeline to return the country to democracy, Jamie Fallon, a London-based analyst at Tellimer Ltd., wrote in a note to clients. This could damage international support, making bilateral and multilateral funding a more distant prospect, Fallon said.

Following one month of talks, Gabons political parties, civil society, labor unions, religious heads and minority groups proposed to the military leadership to suspend all legally recognized political parties, pending the establishment of new rules governing their functioning, Agence France-Presse reported April 30. The current time table sets elections for August 2025, following the 2023 coup.

Theres greater default risk on Gabons 2025 eurobonds amid fiscal underperformance and a narrowing window for International Monetary Fund funding, said Fallon.
West Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose has been accused of molesting a woman, Trinamool Congress MP Sagarika Ghose claimed on Thursday. This comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's stay at Raj Bhavan in Kolkata on Thursday night.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Ghose said a woman has alleged that she was molested while she went to meet the Governor at Raj Bhavan today.

BIG. Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose accused of molesting a woman. How utterly APPALLING and HORRIFYING. Ahead of @narendramodi visit to Kolkata who is supposed to stay overnight at Raj Bhavan, a woman has alleged that she was molested while she went to meet the Governor at Raj Bhavan today," the post read.

Also read: Sudden jump is worrying: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee raises concerns over EC's revised poll figures The MP also claimed that the complainant was taken to the Hare Street police station to file a complaint.

"The woman has accused the Governor of molesting her. Shocking and disgraceful, she added.

Also read: 'Views didn't align with..' says TMC while removing Kunal Ghosh as Bengal general secretary According to news agency PTI, citing BJP sources, Bose had cut short his personal visit to his home state Kerala to return to Kolkata owing to the prime minister's visit.

PM Modi is scheduled to address election rallies in support of party candidates in Krishnanagar, Bardhaman Purba and Bolpur Lok Sabha constituencies on Friday.

In late April, the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata moved the Election Commission of India, urging it to identify and take strong action against officials in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of West Bengal who may have "leaked names of gangsters and goons" to political parties.
The Modi government on Thursday told the Supreme Court that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was not under its control. The Centre responded to a lawsuit filed by the West Bengal government on the agency going ahead with its probe in several cases without the prerequisite nod from the state.

Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress Party (TMC), which governs West Bengal, filed an original suit in the apex court against the Centre under Article 131 of the Constitution, alleging that the CBI has been filing FIRs and proceeding with its investigation, despite the state having withdrawn the general consent to the federal agency to probe cases within its territorial jurisdiction.

Article 131 deals with the Supreme Court's original jurisdiction in a dispute between the Centre and states.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, told a bench of Justices B R Gavai and Sandeep Mehta said, "The Union of India has not registered any case. CBI has registered it," and added, "CBI is not under the control of the Union of India".

On November 16, 2018, the West Bengal government withdrew the "general consent" accorded to the CBI to conduct a probe or carry out raids in the state.

The Supreme Court adjourned the hearing on the West Bengal government's plea challenging the Calcutta High Court order directing a CBI investigation into allegations of land grabbing and sexual assault in Sandeshkhali, till July.

West Bengal government moved the Supreme Court to challenge the Calcutta High Court's April 10 order for a CBI investigation into allegations of land grabbing and sexual assault in Sandeshkhali.
India's Kerala state has closed all schools and colleges until Monday due to scorching temperatures, urging people in the coastal region to limit exposure to the sun and take care to prevent wildfires.

With most parts of India reeling from high temperatures, the weather department has forecast an unusually high number of heatwave days for April to June, as the country stages a general election that has seen a low voter turnout.

Also Read | Govt says Prajwal Revanna travelled to Germany without political clearance Heatwaves are rare in Kerala and data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) shows that the state recorded five heatwave days in April.

Referring to the current El Nino weather pattern, the IMD said on Wednesday that El Nino years typically have more heating, with hot and dry weather in Asia and heavier rains in parts of the Americas.

Fewer thunderstorms and an anti-cyclonic circulation near India's southeastern coast were causing heatwaves, the IMD said.

Also Read | BJP drops Brij Bhushan Singh, fields his son Karan Bhushan Singh from Kaiserganj Kerala's state government on Thursday directed people to minimize exposure to the sun and urged authorities to monitor situations to avoid fires. With several districts issuing heatwave warnings, the government asked all educational institutions to be shut till Monday.

Heatwaves have forced school closures in parts of Asia and North Africa too, widening learning gaps between developing nations in the tropics and developed countries, experts told Reuters.

Also Read | India says Shaksgam Valley is our territory over China's construction activity Local media reported that at least two people died earlier this week in Kerala, but authorities are yet to confirm if their death was due to extreme heat.

On Thursday, temperature in state capital Thiruvananthapuram touched 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) but the IMD said it felt like 46 (115) due to high humidity.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday slammed the Congress over party president Mallikarjun Kharge's remark on Lord Ram and Lord Shiva, and accused the grand-old party of insulting the Sanatan tradition of India.



Addressing a poll rally in Chhattisgarh on Wednesday in support of party candidate Shivkumar Dahariya, Kharge said: "This candidate is Shivkumar Dahariya. His name is Shivkumar - 'barabar ye Ram ka muqabla kar sakta hai kyunki ye Shiv hai' (He can compete with Ram because he is Shiva). I am also Mallikarjun. (Main bhi Shiv hoon)," ANI reported.

Reacting to Kharge's remark, Yogi Adityanath said that Ram and Shiva are not different."Lord Ram himself worshipped Lord Shiva. Both complement each other."

Stating that the true face of Congress is coming to the fore, the UP Chief Minister added, "It is the tendency of the Congress to insult the Sanatan tradition of India, to defame it, to play with the faith of India and the Congress President is saying the same thing in his speeches. This statement of his is extremely condemnable," Yogi told ANI.

Yogi also charged Congress of venting its frustration by mocking Sanatan Dharma. "By picking such sensitive issues during the elections, Congress is trying to insult India's faith."

Earlier on Tuesday, speaking at a campaign rally for BJP candidate Ram Satpute in Maharashtra's Solapur Lok Sabha constituency, Yogi accused Congress of coining the term "Hindu terrorism".

"These are the same Congress people who cast doubts over the existence of Lord Ram, and these are the same people who coined the term Hindu terrorism to insult Hindus."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's photo has been removed from COVID-19 vaccination certificates issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Together, India will defeat COVID-19, the CoWIN certificates had long borne images of PM Modi, along with the caption. Now, the quote remains with an attribution to the Prime Minister on the certificates.

A social media user, Sandeep Manudhane, pointed this out on X, formerly Twitter, and shared a picture of the Covid-19 vaccine certificate. Modi ji no more visible on Covid Vaccine certificates. Just downloaded to check - yes, his pic is gone, he wrote.

Sandeep attributed the removal of PM Modi's picture to the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). Ministry of Health and Family Welfare officials told The Print that the image was removed according to the Election Commission of India's (ECI) directions, as the MCC is in place during the ongoing seven-phase Lok Sabha 2024 elections.

Notably, this is not the first time Modi's photo has been removed from Covid-19 vaccine certificates. In 2022, The Print reported that on the ECI's directions, the Prime Minister's picture was removed in poll-bound states, including Goa, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh.

Many users on X speculated that the most recent admission regarding Covishielda product made by the Serum Institute of India (SII) under license from AstraZenecawas the reason behind the alteration in the immunization certificate. However, it turned out to be the Model Code of Conduct.

Netizens react Another social media user, Santosh Iyer, also said the same, Yes, you are correct. I checked and find that Modi's photo is no longer visible on the covid vaccination certificates ! Ha!Ha!Ha! [sic].

It is because MCC. If he comes back to power again you will find his photo [sic], one more person commented.

Sir, expect you to not mislead people. This has nothing to do with what you are hinting at. It is due to model code of conduct and ECI guidelines. In all poll bound states the photo was removed even[sic], the fourth user reacted.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Thursday, issued a lookout notice against JD(S) Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna, grandson of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, who is embroiled in a sexual abuse case.

Deccan Herald, quoting sources, reported that Prajwal will likely face detention as soon as he enters the country and reports at the immigration points since the lookout circular was issued.

After the Karnataka government formed the SIT to probe the matter, on April 27, Prajwal, sensing the impending police case and arrest, fled the country, reportedly to Germany, on the same day.

On Tuesday, April 30, the SIT had issued summons to Prajwal and his father, HD Revanna, to appear before them for questioning.

Reacting to the summons, Prajwal took to X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday, to say that he was not in Bengaluru and that the truth will prevail. He posted, As I am not in Bangalore to attend the enquiry, I have communicated to C.I.D Bangalore through my Advocate. Truth will prevail soon.

Karnataka deputy CM DK Shivakumar on Thursday urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to visit Hassan district and meet the victims of the alleged sexual abuse case. I appeal to Amit Shah to visit Hassan and meet the victims. Your party only has given a letter, identify them and please meet them, Shivakumar told ANI in Kalaburagi.

Shah had earlier blamed the Congress government in Karnataka for not acting immediately. He asked Priyanka Gandhi to question the state's CM and Deputy CM rather than the BJP in this matter.

On Wednesday, while addressing a public gathering in Hubballi, Shah asserted that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would never support atrocities against women.

Prajwal is seeking re-election to Lok Sabha from Hassan on a JD(S) ticket.

Cancel Prajwal Revanna's diplomatic passport, says Siddaramaiah Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah, in a letter on Wednesday to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urged him to take swift action and cancel Prajwal Revanna's diplomatic passport to ensure the absconding MP returns to India.
On Thursday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi claimed that the mantra of Narendra Modi's campaign to remove reservations meant that there would be no government jobs or reservations.

The Congress MP from Wayanad wrote in Hindi in a post on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter. Rahul Gandhi said the mantra of Narendra Modi's campaign to remove reservations is - na rahega baans, na bajegi bansuri, meaning there will be no government jobs and no reservations.

Gandhi also claimed that the BJP government is secretly snatching away reservations from Dalits, tribals, and backward classes through 'blind privatisation' by eliminating government jobs.

By ruining top PSUs like BSNL, SAIL, BHEL, etc., nearly 6 lakh permanent jobs were eliminated from the public sector alonethese are the very posts that would have received the benefit of reservation, Gandhi further said in the post.

The Congress leader further stated that Congress guaranteed they would strengthen the public sector by filling 30 lakh vacant government posts.

Meanwhile, Modi attacked the Congress party while addressing a public rally in Gujarat's Anand on Thursday, dubbing the party a disciple of Pakistan.

Look at the coincidence today, Congress is getting weak in India. The funny thing is that here Congress is dying, and there Pakistan is crying, ANI quoted Modi as saying.

Modi further said that Pakistani leaders are praying for the Congress.

Pakistan is eager to make the prince the Prime Minister, and we already know that Congress is a fan of Pakistan. This partnership between Pakistan and Congress has now been completely exposed.

Modi also challenged Congress to give in writing that it will not change the Constitution to provide reservation on the basis of religion.
A day after an accused in the case related to the firing outside Bollywood actor Salman Khan's residence died by suicide in police lock-up, a top Shiv Sena (UBT) leader hinted at a conspiracy behind it, and wondered if there was a politician or top officer was involved.

Anuj Thapan (32) allegedly hanged himself with a bedsheet in the toilet on the first-floor lock-up located in the crime branch's building inside the police commissioner's office compound in Mumbai, on Wednesday.

"One of the two accused who opened fire outside Salman Khan's house died in the lockup of Mumbai Police's Crime Branch. It is said that he died by suicide. Is it also possible that some politician is involved in this, some big police officer is involved," Sena (UBT) leader Anand Dubey was quoted as saying by ANI.

Dubey also questioned how such an incident can it happen when the Mumbai Police's lock-up is so safe.

"There are CCTV cameras, there are so many officers...This is a big conspiracy," Dubey claimed.

The Sena leader said the party will appeal to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to take this matter seriously. "It should be investigated immediately."

Meanwhile, Sena leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut said that if an accused dies in the lock-up in the Salman Khan case, then Maharashtra Home Ministry, Home Minister and Commissioner are responsible.

"Why will we demand an investigation into this? When the government changes then a probe will take place, ANI quoted Raut as saying.

On Wednesday, when the officials realised that Thapan was inside the toilet for a long time, they forced-open the door and found him hanging. Officials said that he was taken to state-run Gokuldas Tejpal hospital, where he died during treatment.

On April 14, two shooters had opened fire outside Salman Khan's resident in Bandra.

Thapan, who was accused of supplying weapons to the shooter  Sagar Pal and Vicky Gupta -- was arrested along with his co-accused Sonu Kumar Bishnoi from Fazilka in Punjab.

According to ANI, Anuj's family has demanded that his post-mortem be conducted outside Mumbai.
Two people were injured after three-four miscreants opened fire at Gram Panchayat office in Domjur of West Bengal's Howrah on Thursday.

"Panchayat Pradhan was present at the office at the time of the firing and he ducked under the table to protect himself," DCP South Biswajit Mahato was quoted by ANI as saying.
Two new reports have emerged about Indias clandestine operations abroad. A report in the Washington Post named the RAW officer allegedly responsible for handling an operation to assassinate pro-Khalistan figure Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in the US last year. Then Australias ABC News revealed that RAW agents were expelled from that country for espionage in 2020.

Mint takes a closer look at these revelations and their effect on India.

What happened?

Earlier this week the Washington Post published a report providing new details on the Pannun assassination attempt in 2023. Citing unnamed security officials, the report said Vikram Yadav, a RAW official, was responsible for handling the operation to assassinate the Sikh separatist leader on US soil.

It said several US government agencies believe that senior officials including former RAW chief Samant Goel and incumbent National Security Adviser Ajit Doval had knowledge of the operation.

Just days later, Australias ABC News reported that RAW officials were expelled from that country for espionage in 2020.

How have various countries reacted to the reports?

India swiftly rejected the Washington Post report. The report in question makes unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations on a serious matter," said Randhir Jaiswal, official spokesperson for the ministry of external affairs.

The US government has said little on the matter. "We continue to expect accountability from the government of India based on the results of the Indian inquiry committee's work, and we are regularly working with them and enquiring for additional updates," said a State Department spokesperson.

The Australian government said it does not to comment on intelligence matters.

How has all this affected India?

These reports have revealed details about Indians security agencies that New Delhi would have rather have dealt with behind closed doors. According to some, these reports about Indian espionage, particularly assassination plots, have led to a curtailed access for Indian intelligence agencies in a number of Western nations.

While the Pannun controversy has damaged some of the optics surrounding Indias relationship with America, both countries have expressed their desire to continue strong cooperation. The same is true for Australia.

What happens now?

The Post report said the high-level committee set up by the Indian government to investigate the matter has made little progress. A team of US government officials also met Indian officials recently to discuss the matter. For its part, India has regularly said that investigations are ongoing.
Accused of killing his 6-year-old son, the New Jersey father forced the child to run on a treadmill because he was too fat.

31-year-old Christopher Gregor is on trial for allegedly murdering his son Corey Micciolo in 2021. He faces life in prison if convicted.

During the trial, the Ocean City court was shown a CCTV video of Gregor forcing Corey to run on a treadmill despite him falling off the machine multiple times due to the exercise machines excessive speed and inclination.

On 20 March 2021, the father-son duo were seen entering the Atlantic Heights Clubhouse fitness centre, according to a video obtained by CourtTV.com.

Gregor was allegedly biting his son in the head while forcing him to run on the speeding treadmill.

In the video, Corey is seen trying to get back on the machine but falls again and continues to struggle. Eventually, the father decreased both the speed and incline.

Also read: Meanwhile in Pakistan: Man kills friend for taking a bite of his girlfriend's burger Days before her sons death, Bre Micciolo reported the boys injuries to the New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency, according to the US Sun.

She had also requested Gregor to take their son to see a doctor.

While at the appointment, Corey told the doctors that his father made him run on the treadmill because he was too fat, the media outlet reported.

Also read: Ghaziabad man kills wife after fight, lives with body for days, then asks neighbours to call cops The very next day, Corey was rushed to the hospital because he was slurring his words, stumbling, and experiencing nausea and shortness of breath, according to Court TV. During a CT scan, Corey had a seizure and died.

The autopsy report said he died from blunt force injuries with cardiac and liver contusions with acute inflammation and sepsis.

The video went viral online as X users expressed how angry it made them.

"The saddest part is, Corey wasn't even "fat"; he looked like a normal 6 year old. How heartbreaking that she had to witness her son's final moments," an X user said.

Also read: Gaming addict son kills mother for insurance money to pay debt Heart wrenching for a mother watching her son die. #Viralvideo shows how accused killer dad forcing 6-year-old son to run on treadmill because he was TOO FAT. How can a father be so cruel, another added.
A 42-year-old man in Thailand's Chiang Mai has been booked for killing and eating his pet dog in a fit of rage after the dog bit his 7-year-old nephew. The incident was caught on CCTV camera.

The man, identified as Songwut Chuathong, was booked on Watchdog Thailand Foundation (WDT) complaint on May 1. The foundation, in its complaint, said that the man killed his 10-year-old pet dog Mon on April 29.

WDT told the Sankampaeng Police Station that a local of the area alerted them about the incident and submitted a CCTV footage as evidence.

Also read: Karnataka HC quashes Centre's order banning 23 'dangerous' dog breeds, calls for expert consultation In the CCTV video, Songwut, in an act of animal cruelty, is seen tying a rope around the dog's neck while also dragging it to a tree. He then hangs Mon, the pet dog, from the tree till it he dead.

He then put the dead dog in a sack and left the scene.

According to the visuals from the CCTV, the pet dog was killed in front of the 7-year-old nephew.

Also read: 12-year-old girl dies by suicide after losing pet dog; mother says, 'She stopped eating after...' According to the Thaiger report, Songwut was arrested on Wednesday afternoon. He also admitted to the killing of the pet dog, but had initially refused to tell where or how he disposed off the body of Mon.

On further interrogation, the report said, the 42-year-old revealed that he ate the dog and shared some of its meat with a friend named Roj. On searching his home, Police found the left over dog meat in the fridge.

Songwut said he killed the pet dog "in anger" after it bit his 7-year-old nephew, who he said is an "exceptional child". He also believed that he would not be legally charged for killing on because "it was his dog".

Also read: Rajasthan news: Man beaten to death by neighbours after dispute over dog He also revealed that he had given away his pet dog Mon to a nearby relative as he was unable to provide for him.
A professor at the John Hopkins University, Dipali Mukhopadhyay, on Thursday wrote to the President of Columbia University requesting to revoke her affiliation with the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies over the treatment of students protesting against ongoing violence in Gaza.

Arrests have continued on campuses around the US as police dismantle camps of students protesting Israels war in Gaza. At UCLA, officers removed barricades and moved in on hundreds of protesters who defied orders to leave, scuffling with protesters and detaining some.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Mukhopadhyay shared a screenshot of her email to the President of Columbia University in which she wrote: As a former member of the faculty, I write to request that my current affiliation with the university be removed.

She served as Assistant and Associate Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia from 2012 to 2020.

Also read: After Columbia, now University of Texas warns students amid pro-Palestine protests In the email, Mukhopadhyay said that she remained a proud affiliate of the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies until this day".

She said she watched with horror as the college administration responded with incompetence and inhumanity to peaceful student protest against genocidal violence ongoing in Gaza.

Also read: Pro-Palestine student protests: NYPD enters Columbia University, arrests dozens as they refuse to leave I have watched my former colleagues and dear friends on the faculty beseech you to change course. Instead, you invited the NYPD into my former home, transforming a sanctuary of learning into a site of terror and brutality, her email read.

As a teacher and a scholar, Mukhopadhyay said, she can no longer justify her association with the institution so long as you are at the helm.

Also read: US campus protests: After Columbia, police arrests over 280 demonstrators from UCLA, netizens ask 'Where is security' She expressed her solidarity with those students, staff, and faculty at Columbia - and around the world - who continue to strive on behalf of academic freedom and non-violent free expression.
Emirates, the worlds largest international airline, has returned to Phnom Penh (Cambodian capital) with a daily scheduled flight via Singapore. The resumption expands Emirates Far East network to 21 points, and Singapore operations to four daily flights.

The newly added service from Singapore was commemorated in the airlines dedicated Airport Lounge with a cake-cutting ceremony in the presence of His Excellency Jamal Abdulla Mohammed Bin Abdulwahab AlSuwaidi, UAE Ambassador to Singapore, Vy. Samdy, First secretary Cambodia Embassy in Singapore and Steven Ler, President of the National Association of Travel Agents Singapore (NATAS).

The ceremony was led by Nabil Sultan, Emirates Executive Vice President, Passenger Sales and Country Management and Orhan Abbas, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Far East, for Emirates as well as Rashid Al Fajeer, Emirates Area Manager Singapore.

Operated by a three class Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, the airlines flight EK348 arrived in Phnom Penh International Airport on May 1 and was welcomed with a traditional Cambodian dance performance. The senior Emirates delegation, accompanied by international media, was received by Dr Mao Havannall, Minister in Charge of the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation, and Cyril Girot, Chief Executive Officer, Cambodia Airports.

Nabil Sultan said: Cambodias rich cultural heritage and growing economy make it an attractive destination for leisure and business travel. Were excited for this unique gateway to once again join our already extensive Far East network.

Through the linked services between Singapore and Phnom Penh, were also able to support the trade and business movements between the two regional hubs and facilitate the convenient shipment of imports and exports between Singapore, Cambodia and the UAE, as well as other markets in our global network.

We thank the local authorities in Cambodia for their support in facilitating the return of our operations to Phnom Penh, and look forward to offering a world-class travel experience for customers, and driving more visitors into both Singapore and Cambodia.

Cyril Girot said: Phnom Penh International Airport rebuilds its international route network as Emirates reconnects with the Kingdoms capital city. This is great news for passengers who will have more access to inbound and outbound travel options, further improving their journey experience.  TradeArabia News Service
Under mounting political pressure, U.S. President Joe Biden broke his silence on campus unrest over the war in Gaza on Thursday, saying Americans have the right to demonstrate but not to unleash violence.

"There is a right to protest, but not a right to cause chaos," Biden said in remarks at the White House.

With television images of campus unrest that have swept the country in recent days playing out on news networks, Biden has faced criticism of his handling of the situation. He had been leaving it largely up to his spokespersons to comment.

Also read: Professor wants to end Columbia University affiliation over Gaza protests, 'I can no longer...' The Democratic president, seeking re-election in November, has walked a careful line of denouncing antisemitism while supporting young Americans' right to protest and trying to limit longer-term political damage.

Biden said both sides had a point, that peaceful dissent was critical to a democracy but that violence would not be tolerated.

"Destroying property is not a peaceful protest. It's against the law. Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancelling of classes and graduations -none of this is a peaceful protest," he said.

Also read: Joe Biden blames xenophobia for China, India's economic troubles: They dont want' Biden said the United States was not an authoritarian nation that silences critics but that "order must prevail."

"Dissent is essential to democracy but dissent must never lead to disorder or denying the rights of others so students can't finish the semester and college education," he said.

Biden, asked whether state governors should call in National Guard troops to restore order if necessary, replied "no."

In response to a reporter's question, Biden said the campus protests had not forced him to reconsider his policies in the Middle East.
Xenophobia from China to Japan and India is stopping their growth, US President Joe Biden argued that migration has been good for the US economy. The remarks came while addressing the Washington fundraising event for his 2024 re-elections campaign and marking the start of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

One of the reasons why our economy's growing is because of you and many others. Why? Because we welcome immigrants," Biden said as quoted by newswire Reuters.

Why is China stalling so badly economically, why is Japan having trouble, why is Russia, why is India, because they're xenophobic. They don't want immigrants. Immigrants are what makes us strong, the US President said.

Last month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted that each country would see its growth decelerate in 2024 from the previous year, ranging from 0.9% in highly developed Japan to 6.8% in emerging India.

They predicted that the US would increase by 2.7%, which is a little faster growth rate than the 2.5% recorded the previous year. Many economists attributed better-than-expected performance to immigrants increasing the size of the labor force in the nation.

Before 2024 US presidential elections scheduled in November this year, many American voters now rank concern over irregular migration as their top concern.

Biden, who has denounced the anti-immigrant rhetoric of his Republican opponent Donald Trump, has pushed to cultivate wide-ranging political and economic ties with nations like Japan and India in an effort to fight China and Russia on a global scale.

The number of foreigners resident in Japan rose to a record high of 3.4 million in December 2023, up 10% on the previous year and representing about 2.7% of the population of about 124 million, as per Bloomberg reports.

A survey by Japans Asahi newspaper published last month found 62% of respondents said more foreign workers should be accepted, compared with 44% in a similar poll in 2018.
New Know-Your-Customer (KYC) regulations effective from 1 April have sent many investors into a tizzy, as they find their accounts locked for failing to meet yet another demand by authorities for verifiable data to establish their identities. Yes, we had a fresh round of KYC compliance. Under revised rules, holders of securities regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had to validate their email IDs in addition to phone and Aadhaar numbers, the latter duly linked with PAN cards issued for taxation. Past KYC okays obtained with utility bills or bank documents were left invalid by this exercise. As the number of people affected by the lock-out is substantial, this is large-scale disruption.

According to a joint release by Indias five KYC registration agencies (KRAs), as many as 12% of the over 108 million investor accounts under Sebis oversight have been put on hold." These can no longer be operated by investors, as their KYC data was found to have gaps. As a result, they can neither invest further at these windows, nor withdraw funds for any exigency. Even if it is temporary, its harsh. By and large, we can assume these are their own reservesassets acquired with hard-earned and tax-paid moneythat they have been barred from. That too, with less than fair notice, as the high lockout proportion indicates. So many accounts cannot all be fraudulent, surely.

With scarce information on what exactly went wrong, locked-out investors have fumbled around to figure out how to rectify the situation. To be sure, KYC rules are necessary. Equity and mutual fund (MF) holdings must not end up in the wrong hands. Fake accounts need to be nabbed and asset fraud stamped out. Our digital identity system, which hosts biometric details, is designed to aid this endeavour.

To the extent tax authorities need to check tax evasion, the PAN link could be justified too. But coercive action of this sort is best avoided. Rather than a shuttering, even if done only after repeated deadline extensions, a gentle policy nudge may have achieved the purpose. Accounts that lack a KYC update could have been slapped with an extra fee, for example, the payment call of which would have shaken asset holders into action. This would especially have been of help to elderly investors, many of whom are neither tech-savvy nor attuned to regulatory shifts and find it difficult to keep up with frequent resets of the maze that online validation is.

Given the puzzle that KYC can be for so many of us, a better approach would be for the onus to be shared more widely. Not just KRAs, which have helplines, even companies should make a greater effort to ensure law-abiding investors do not get barred from their holdings just for KYC neglect. In the case of MF investors, for instance, fund houses should take it upon themselves to see that peoples folios are compliant.

Similarly, publicly listed companies should display the grace to keep all their shareholders in the loop of changes that have a bearing on their ownership status, guide them on what exactly is needed, and work with them to get the requisite updates done. These guidance efforts need to go well beyond the mass despatch of confusing and perfunctory messages that are dense with jargon. Regardless of how tiny the stakes of investors in these companies are, they happen to be part-owners, after all, and deserve the courtesy of a proper heads-upvia personal engagement over the phone, if it comes to that. Asset ownership must not be taken lightly.
Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Jailed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's wife, Sunita Kejriwal, has started campaigning for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidates in Gujarat ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

Addressing an election campaign rally on Thursday, Sunita questioned, that "if investigations go on for 10 years, will they keep him (Arvind Kejriwal) in jail for 10 years?

At a rally in Bhavnagar, Gujarat, Sunita Kejriwal said that her husband, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, has been forcefully jailed for the last 40 days.

It's clearly a dictatorship. He is well-read, patriotic and truthful person. For the sake of social service, he left his job and went to the slums to work for them. When we got married, he asked me just one question, I want to do social service, won't you have any issue with that? Sunita Kejriwal said.

AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case related to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy. Kejriwal is currently lodged in the Tihar jail in the national capital under judicial custody.

Sunita Kejriwal arrived at Ahmedabad airport on Thursday before heading to election rallies for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidates in the Bharuch and Bhavnagar Lok Sabha constituencies in Gujarat.

They (BJP) have put Arvind Kejriwal forcefully behind bars during elections so that his voice doesn't reach the people. But the people are very smart, and they will respond with their votes, she told media persons at the airport.

Sunita Kejriwal has taken the reins of the AAP's Lok Sabha campaign in the absence of her husband, lodged in Tihar jail in connection with a money laundering case.

Recently, she held road shows in East Delhi and West Delhi Lok Sabha seats, where AAP has fielded its candidates.

The party also said she is scheduled to campaign for AAP in Punjab and Haryana.
Comedian Shyam Rangeela, known for his videos of mimicking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has said he will contest the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 against the Prime Minister from the Varanasi seat.

The Varanasi parliamentary constituency in Uttar Pradesh will vote in the seventh polling phase of Lok Sabha election 2024 on June 1. The results will be declared on June 4.

Rangeela announced his candidature from Varanasi for the Lok Sabha 2024 on social media on Wednesday, May 1.

Modi, who won this seat twice in 2014 and 2019, is expected to file his nomination from Varanasi on May 13.

Who is Shyam Rangeela? Born and brought up in Rajasthans Hanumangarh, Rangeela studied animation. Rangeela is known for his mimicry skills, especially of political figures. He was seen as a comedian in The Great Indian Laughter Challenge on TV.

Twenty-nine-year-old Rangeela shot to fame for the first time in 2017 when his mimicry act of PM Modi became widely popular on social media. Since then, Rangeela has been making videos mimicking the PM's speeches and interviews.

Apart from Modi, Rangeela has also made mimicry videos of other political figures such as Rahul Gandhi. For quite sometime now, Rangeela has been critical of PM Modi and his policies, as evident by his videos. In fact, the video announcing his candidacy, had some portions where Rangeela is heard mimicking PM Modi's voice.

Once a Modi 'Bhakt' In his election announcement video on May 1, Rangeela cited the BJPs unopposed victory in the Surat constituency and the controversy in the Chandigarh mayoral polls.

I feel like it shouldnt be that there is no other candidate to vote for. Even if one person wants to vote against a candidate, he or she has that right. Someones name should be on the EVM, he said in his video posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Rangeela first forayed into politics when he joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in 2002. However, later, he decided to work independently, saying that he is his own master.

In one of the interviews, Rangeela had recounted his journey from being a supporter of PM Modi to a disillusioned critic, citing restrictions imposed on his comedic work as a turning point.

I was a bhakt (fan) even till 2016-17, but then restrictions were imposed on me, he said in an interview with The Indian Express.

Other candidates With Modi in the fray, the contest for the Varanasi seat becomes symbolic. The Congress has fielded its Uttar Pradesh unit chief, Ajay Rai, from Varanasi. Rai finished third in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Fourteen parliamentary seats of Karnataka are among 94 constituencies going to polls nationwide in the third phase of Lok Sabha Elections 2024 on May 7. Karnataka sends 28 members to the Lok Sabha. Fourteen seats of the state voted in the second phase on April 26.

Karnataka is crucial for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress, and the regional player Janata Dal (Secular).

For the BJP, the contest in the state matters, as its the only state in the South where it has gained a dominant presence after winning 25 of the 28 seats in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. It is also key for the BJPs Mission South, as the party has failed to make inroads in southern states other than Karnataka and Telangana.

Karnataka is also pivotal for a surging Congress, especially after the grand old party registered a victory by bagging 135 of 224 seats in the state assembly elections last year.

The 14 seats in north Karnataka voting on May 7 include Chikkodi, Belgaum, Bagalkot, Bijapur, Gulbarga, Raichur, Bidar, Koppal, Bellary, Haveri, Dharwad, Uttara Kannada, Davangere and Shimoga

Survival battle for JD(S) And for the Janata Dal(S), the biggest loser in 2023 state polls, the stakes remain even higher considering the partys existential crisis. The stakes are high for the BJP ally considering its dismal performance in last year's assembly elections. JD (S) won just 19 seats. Perhaps the party has allied with BJP to gain the lost ground in the state.

The three Lok Sabha seats that the JD(S) is contesting as part of its alliance went to the polls in the phase 3 on April 26. Among these was the Hassan seat, which JD(S) leader Prajwal Revanna, facing sexual abuse allegations, won in 2019. In fact, Hassan was the only Lok Sabha seat that the JD(S) won in 2019 general elections. However, the JD (S) was in alliance with the Congress party in 2019.

The next round of elections is in North Karnataka where the JD(S) does not draw much support. So, I think it will have minimal visibility in that sense. Unless the SIT probe comes out with significantly concrete evidence, I think the BJP will be able to dismiss it as morphed. Had it blown up the way it has now, just before the polls (April 26), then it would have had a different impact in Southern Karnataka, political analyst Sandeep Shastri was quoted as saying by News18.

On the day of polling on April 16, former Prime Minister and JD(S) chief HD Deve Gowda exuded confidence that the BJP-JDS alliance would secure victory on all 14 seats of the state that voted in the first phase on that day.

Prajwal Revanna sexual abuse impact Alliance partners BJP and the JD(S) found themselves in a spot days ahead of the May 7 polls after the sexual abuse episode involving Prajwal Revanna, who is also the grandson of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda.

Though JD(S) has no significant presence in the 14 seats of north Karnataka headed to polls on May 7, the scandal is expected to have a bearing on the prospects of the BJP-JD(S) alliance due to its impact on partys image. The JD(S) and the BJP have, however, distanced themselves from Prajwal. The party has suspended him, and the BJP is saying it wont stand with him, either.

On May 1, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said his party would not stand with those who commit atrocities against women. Shah, speaking for the first time after the scandal, hit out at Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM D K Shivakumar, asking why no action was initiated against Prajwal before the elections were over in the Vokkaliga belt, in the first phase.

Shah was referring to 14 seats of South Karnataka that went to polls on April 26. These 14 seats comprised areas in Vokkaliga-dominated Old Mysore and the coastal seats of the state.
While addressing election campaign rallies in Gujarat, the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) stronghold, on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on the "shahi parivar" Congress and its "shehzada" Rahul Gandhi. PM Modi addressed back-to-back rallies in Anand, Junagarh and Jamnagar.

Here are 10 virulent attacks by PM Modi on the Congress and its leader Rahul Gandhi during Gujarat rallies:

1. PM Modi said the Congress is dying here in India and there, Pakistan is crying. He said, "You all might have known by now that Pakistan political leaders are praying for the Congress. "Shehzade ko Pradhan mantri banana ke liye ab Pakistan utaawla hai (Pakistan is now eager to make the prince prime minister of India)."

"The partnership between the Congress and Pakistan has been fully exposed...The enemies of the nation want a weak government in India...they want a corrupt government which was before 2014...Modi's strong government neither bows down nor stops," he added.

PM Modi's statement came after a former Pakistan minister Ch Fawad Hussain tweeted a video of Rahul Gandhi and captioned the post as: Rahul on fire...

2. In the Anand district of Gujarat, PM Modi challenged the Congress and Rahul Gandhi. "I challenge the prince of the grand family (Rahul Gandhi) and the entire Congress ecosystem...The Congress and its members must give it in writing that they will not give reservations to Muslims based on religion after changing the Constitution, they will not divide the nation.

"They must give this guarantee that they won't snatch away the rights and loot the SC [Scheduled Caste], ST [Scheduled Tribe] and OBCs [Other Backward Classes]," PM Modi said.

Targeting the Congress over its vote-bank politics, PM Modi further said, "They must give this guarantee in writing that the Congress won't do the dirty vote-bank politics in the states ruled by the Congress and its allies'; that they won't cut the OBC's quota to give reservation to the Muslim through a backdoor."

"Shehzaade himmat ho to aajao... I know the Congress won't accept my challenges," PM Modi added.

3. PM Modi said INDIA bloc leaders are appealing to Muslim voters to do "vote jihad". He said, Now, the INDI Alliance has asked Muslims to do vote jihad. The INDI alliance clearly says that all Muslims should vote unitedly. By talking about vote jihad in the celebration of democracy, they have insulted democracy and the Constitution. This talk of vote jihad also furthers Congress' policy of appeasement.

4. PM Modi accused the Congress and its chief, Mallikarjun Kharge, of saying that they wanted to defeat Lord Ram. "The Congress is not contesting elections for democracy; for the Congress, this election is a fight against Lord Shri Ram," PM Modi said.

This game has been played to divide the Hindu society. They want to create a fight between Ram bhakts and Shiv bhakts. Our traditions that have been going on for thousands of years... those traditions which even the Mughals could not break, now the Congress wants to break them, PM Modi said.

5. PM Modi further added, They (Congress) have written in their manifesto that now in all the government tenders, a quota will be fixed for Muslims. Now reservation on the basis of religion will be introduced in government contracts also.

6. PM Modi also accused the Congress of "tampering with the Constitution of the country for decades". He said, These days, the 'shehzada' of the Congress is dancing with the Constitution on his head. But, the Congress should answer me why the Constitution, which you are dancing with on your head today, was not implemented in all parts of India for 75 years.

"Before the arrival of Modi, there were 2 constitutions and 2 flags in this country. The prince's party Congress and his family members did not allow the Constitution to be implemented in the country. The Constitution of India was not applicable in Kashmir. Article 370 was sitting like a wall. This son from Sardar Patel's land abrogated Article 370 and paid tribute to Sardar Saheb," PM Modi added.

7. In another attack on the Congress, PM Modi said, The weak Congress government used to give dossiers to the masters of terror. But, Modi's strong government kills terrorists by entering their homes. He said ,"We now hunt them (terrorists) in their own homes [ghar me ghus kar marte hai]."

8. PM Modi accused the Congress of spreading fake news. "Today, the Congress has become a fake factory i.e. a factory of fake goods. Mohabbat ki dukaan bolkar Congress aaj jhooth ka saman kyun bech rhi hai? (Why is the Congress selling lies by calling itself a shop of love)," PM Modi said.

Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, have been accusing the BJP and PM Modi of spreading hatred. In their reaction, the Congress came up with the slogan "Nafart ke bazaar me mohabbat ki dukaan".

9. The Prime Minister said, The Congress never understood that there is a tribal society in our country too. For so many years, the Congress did not even create a separate ministry for tribals. The BJP government created a separate ministry and a separate budget for tribals.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, alleging that Modi's speeches are devoid of facts and reality. Speaking in Marathi during an event in Maharashtra's Kolhapur, Pawar remarked, "I have never seen a prime minister earlier whose speeches were not based on facts and reality. He is not satisfied unless he talks about Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar.

Pawar further accused PM Modi of neglecting the fundamental issues faced by the people and instead diverting attention from real concerns. "PM Modi doesn't talk about the basic issues that people face and diverts their attention.

He questioned the decision to conduct the Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra over five phases in 2024, caliming that it allowed Modi ample opportunity for campaigning in the state.

Wondering why Maharashtra was voting in five phases in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Pawar asked, "It is because Modi can campaign here as much as possible...Those in power are worried."

Sharad Pawar alleged that PM Modi's frequent remark that if voted to power, the INDIA bloc would bring reservation based on religion, was an attempt to create social tension. "We have never said this. This is Modi's creation," Pawar was quoted by PTI as saying.

"PM Modi has also been speaking about redistribution of wealth and inheritance tax, which does not have any mention in the Congress manifesto," Sharad Pawar added.

Sharad Pawar had earlier criticized PM Modi by likening him to Russian president Vladimir Putin. ...We fear that a new Putin is in the making in India, Pawar had said.

I saw the operations of around every Prime Minister including Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, including Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Narasimha Rao, and Manmohan Singh. They wanted to create a new India, but the current PM just offers criticism.

While campaigning in Maharashtra, PM Modi targeted Sharad Pawar, saying, "There is a 'bhatakti atma' (wandering soul) in Maharashtra. If it does not manage success, it spoils others good work. Maharashtra has been a victim of it."

In an interview with News 18 on April 29, PM Modi had said that the "trouble in Sharad Pawar's house is their family dispute. Should the daughter get the reins or the nephew?"

Pawar's NCP (SP) is contesting 10 out of 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra as part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance with Shiv Sena (UBT), which is fighting on 21 seats and Congress 17 seats.
TOKYOLast year, China native Tomo Hayashi, the owner of a metals-trading firm, moved to Tokyo. He quickly adopted a Japanese name, spent the equivalent of about $650,000 on a luxury waterfront condo and, in March, brought his family to join him.

The 45-year-old, whose two boys just started in a Japanese elementary school, is one of the many wealthy Chinese driving a boom in high-end Tokyo properties and reshaping the city.

Frustrations with Beijings autocratic political system, which flared during abrupt pandemic-era lockdowns and have only grown since then, have helped drive the wave, according to real-estate agents and others watching the exodus. Chinas economic slowdown and its struggling stock market are also motivating wealthy people to leave the country, they say.

Hayashi, who like many Chinese buyers avoids discussing politics back home, said the move to Tokyo was a challenge. But we like Japanfood, culture, education and safety," he said.

Japan isnt the only haven for Chinese people seeking a plan B. The U.S., Canada and Singapore are among the countries drawing Chinese migrants, while Hong Kong residents often head to the U.K.

But Japanese cities that are just a few hours flight from China are a leading choice for better-off Chinese people. Japans real-estate prices are low for foreigners thanks to the weak yen and it is fairly easy for them to purchase property. And the Japanese writing system uses Chinese characters in part, so new arrivals can more easily find their way around.

A report last June by Henley & Partners that tracks worldwide migration trends estimated that a net total of 13,500 high-net-worth Chinese people would migrate overseas during the year, making China the biggest worldwide loser in that category.

Japan had about 822,000 Chinese residents as of the end of last year, up 60,000 from the previous year in the biggest jump in recent years.

Tokyo real-estate broker Osamu Orihara, a naturalized Japanese citizen who was born in China, said his revenue has tripled or quadrupled compared with 2019 before the pandemic, driven in large part by Chinese buyers.

What is different from the past is there are more who want to get a long-term visa," Orihara said.

About one-third of the condos on the floor of the 48-story building where Hayashi lives are owned by individuals with Chinese names or companies whose representatives have Chinese names, according to real-estate records. People in the neighborhood next to Tokyo Bay, a forest of high-rise condominiums, say the typical building has a quarter or more Chinese residents.

Hayashi said a Chinese friend recommended the building. He described the price for the 650-square-foot, two-bedroom unit as reasonable compared with Hong Kong, where he briefly lived after leaving his hometown of Shenzhen, China, and he said the value has already gone up by some 10% to 15%.

The average price for new apartments in central Tokyo was up nearly 40% last year to the equivalent of about $740,000, according to industry figures. The rise was influenced by a flood of new properties appealing to affluent Chinese buyers who are concerned about a steep slump in their own market, market watchers say.

Brokers said Chinese buyers were also eager to buy resort properties. On the northern island of Hokkaido, a town named Furano that is near ski slopes saw residential land prices rise 28% last year, the fastest rate nationwide. Hideyuki Ishii, a local broker, said wealthy Chinese from the mainland, Hong Kong and Singapore were looking for vacation homes.

A red tsunami is coming with the Chinese flag in tow," he said.

Chinese people who want to move to Japan and buy an apartment or house generally face two challenges: getting their money into Japan and getting a visa.

China restricts how much its residents can take out of the country, but many Chinese buyers own companies with international operations or have overseas investments. Orihara, the broker, said his clients usually have a bank account in Hong Kong or Singapore from which they can wire money.

One exception, he said, was a client who bought a $190,000 property and mobilized friends and relatives to carry cash little by little over a few months.

As for the visa, people who invest the equivalent of at least $32,000 in a Japanese business that has a permanent office and two or more employees can get a business-management visa.

Other Chinese obtain a visa for what Japan describes as high-level specialists in business, technology or academia. The number of Chinese with the technology versionsoftware engineers and the likerose 30% between 2019 and 2023 to more than 10,000. Holders can apply for permanent residency in Japan in as little as one year under a point system that favors those with high salaries and advanced degrees.

Tokyo visa consultant Wang Yun, who is originally from China, said most of his clients were Chinese, often business owners or corporate executives in their late 30s to 50s from big cities such as Shanghai or Beijing.

Once settled, many Chinese opt to use a Japanese name, including on legal records in Japan. Some turn to Japanese readings of their names Chinese characters, while others pick an entirely new name.

In addition to convenience when dealing with Japanese people, using a Japanese name allows people of Chinese origin to keep a lower profile back home, where they typically still have family. That may be helpful because Chinese authorities tend to frown on the trend of people moving out with their assets.

Popular Chinese social-media platforms such as Weibo, Little Red Book and WeChat buzz with talk of purchasing real estate in Japan. There is some censorship: Citing government regulations, Weibo blocks searches using a hashtag that translates as Chinese investors are flooding into Tokyo to buy houses," though users can search for that subject without the hashtag symbol.

Satoyoshi Mizugami, another broker in Tokyo with roots in China, said he hoped to triple his staff to 300 people in five years to handle all the new business from Chinese buyers. A new office building is under construction to accommodate them, he said.

One of Mizugamis clients is a 42-year-old Chinese man who was educated in the U.K. and started a restaurant business in China and the U.S. He had been living in China since the pandemic and, when he decided to leave, chose Japan because he thought the business environment was better than that of the U.S. Last year, he bought an apartment in central Tokyo, using the money from selling his U.S. business.

This buyer said he was opening a food-trading business in Japan and applying for a visa to move to Japan with his Chinese-American wife and their 4-year-old son.

On a recent morning in Tokyo, Hayashi, the buyer of the waterfront condominium, was busy helping his boys, 9 and 7, learn Japanese and English online and watching them play outside. His wife had briefly returned to China to see their 15-year-old daughter, who is staying to finish high school there.

Hayashi said he intended to stick with Japan for the long haul. He said one attraction was the high level of medical care, which he expects would be valuable when he gets older. He was careful to note that he has been paying Japanese taxes since last year. As a holder of a high-level specialist visa, he said Id like to get permanent residency in four or five years."

Write to Miho Inada at miho.inada@wsj.com
Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Union Home Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Shah on Thursday said that on June 4, the day the Lok Sabha poll votes will be counted, the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will cross the majority mark in 400 seats by 12.30 pm. Shah's statements emphasised the BJP's Lok Sabha elections slogan  'Aab ki paar, 400 paar'.

In an interview with News18, Amit Shah claimed that the BJP under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership would repeat its 2019 Lok Sabha election performance in Maharashtra, Delhi, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, and Gujarat.

During the interview, Shah also said that in West Bengal, the BJP will win "at least 30 seats', where the saffron party is taking on the Trinamool Congress (TMC) led by its supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

On BJP's struggle in South India Acknowledging a close fight in the southern states of Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh, Amit Shah claimed that the BJP would open accounts in Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. Shah also stated that the BJP would be ahead of the Congress in all four southern states combined.

On low voter turnout in Lok Sabha Elections 2024 In the interview, Amit Shah attributed the reduced voter turnout to what he described as the "incompetence" of the Opposition. Additionally, he pointed to the revision of electoral rolls after 12 years as a contributing factor to the decline in voter participation.

On EVM manipulation allegations by Rahul Gandhi The Union home minister categorically rejected Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's electronic voting machine tampering allegations. Questioning the argument, Shah asked why the BJP could not win in Tamil Nadu or faced defeat in Telangana if the tampering allegations were true.

When you win, EVM is right. When you lose, EVM is useless. Amit Shah jibed at Rahul Gandhi.

Shah also accused the Congress of suppressing the Mandal Commission report, terming the grand old party anti-backward class. "Rahul Gandhi has a rule  lie, lie loudly, lie repeatedly. And he is following that rule, Amit Shah said.

On Arvind Kejriwal's arrest The home minister defended the timing of Arvind Kejriwal's and Hemant Soren's arrests by stating that they would have been held six months before the elections if they had appeared after the initial summonses. He highlighted that despite multiple summonses, they failed to comply with the directives, leading to their eventual arrest.

On allegations made by Sunita Kejriwal that there was a conspiracy to kill Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in jail, Amit Shah told News18 that Tihar jail, where Kejriwal is lodged, comes under the jurisdiction of the Delhi government and not the Union Home Ministry.

"Look, Tihar Jail comes under the Delhi government, whose Chief Minister is Kejriwal ji. So is he conspiring to kill himself," Shah told News18.
Earth has received a laser transmission from "deep space", said the American space agency NASA. The transmission which originated from a record-breaking 140 million miles away, came from NASA's 2023 spacecraft "Psyche".

NASA, in October last year, launched a space mission to send a spacecraft towards the asteroid 'Psyche 16'.

'Psyche 16' is believed to be primarily composed of metal, a rarity in the solar system. It is said to be located in the asteroid belt between the planets Mars and Jupiter.

Also read: What's in for skygazers in May? NASA shares tips to spot Mars, Saturn, Mercury, meteor showers, etc The spacecraft 'Psyche' has been named after the asteroid it is trying to explore. The other mission this robotic explorer is on is to test laser communications between deep space and the Earth.

Equipped with the Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) system, the 'Psyche' aims to make laser communication possible across vast distances in space, promising much faster connections than current methods.

Although Psyche primarily uses radio frequency communication, its optical communications technology proved successful in transmitting information and engineering data directly from the spacecraft back to Earth.

Also read: NASA launches solar-powered spacecraft; All you need to know about this space mission This represents a significant milestone for the project by showing how optical communications can interface with a spacecrafts radio frequency comms system, Meera Srinivasan, the projects operations lead at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, said in a statement.

Srinivasan explained that NASA downlinked about 10 minutes of duplicated spacecraft data during a pass on April 8.

She said the duplicated data was transmitted via laser communications. In contrast, the original Psyche data was sent to ground control using standard radio-frequency communications channels on NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN).

Also read: NASAs Voyager 1 sends first message in 5 months after space scientists restore technical glitch; details here 'The objective was to assess if laser communications could perform as effectively, if not better, than traditional methods," she added.

NASA's optical communications demonstration has proven it can transmit test data at a maximum rate of 267 Mbps using the flight laser transceiver's near-infrared downlink laser, which is similar to broadband internet speeds.
Idaho Gov. Brad Little used Lewiston School Districts new high school campus as a backdrop to highlight his success in getting the state Legislature to fund some of his top education priorities.

Little held a news conference Wednesday at the A. Neil DeAtley Career Technical Education Center at the high school, where he fielded questions from student journalists and other members of the media. Lewiston School District Superintendent Lance Hansen introduced Little as a friend of education.

Hes invested millions of dollars in early childhood literacy, and that I can tell you, has paid dividends in the Lewiston School District and around the state, Hansen said. And he also sees the other end where he developed opportunities for (Idaho Launch) to get our students into high-demand jobs.

Funding for the Launch program, a Little priority, was approved by lawmakers in the recent legislative session. It makes up to $8,000 available to Idaho kids looking to pursue training in high-demand fields at Idaho colleges, universities and career technical training schools.

Little said hed been laser-focused on getting the legislation approved. Combined with other programs that help high school students start advanced training before graduation, he said it will make Idaho more attractive to young people.

Its going to make it to where I know kids are going to have the best opportunity to stay here in Idaho and to have a successful career here in Idaho, he said.

Legislators also passed a bill that will help the states school districts upgrade or replace dilapidated school buildings. He said the Lewiston School District will have access to as much as $19 million over the next decade.

I put, this year, ($1.5 billion) into a fund thats going to be available for either modernization or new buildings, he said.

Whether its maintenance, whether its a new school, whether its writing down bonds  fill in the blanks  the state never put money into facilities before and now we are.
A 38-year-old Clarkston man was sentenced to 13 years in federal prison for responding to an ad to have sex with two minor girls.

David E. Curry was sentenced at Yakima on Wednesday on two counts of attempted enticement of a minor by Chief U.S. District Judge Stanley Bastian after being convicted in a trial Dec. 6.

Curry was also sentenced to 10 years of supervised release, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorneys Office Eastern District of Washington.

According to the news release, court documents and information from the trial and sentencing showed that Curry responded to an online ad placed by a woman claiming to be the mother of two daughters, ages 11 and 13, and was looking for a man to have sex with the children.

The ad was actually placed by an undercover officer as part of a sting operation conducted by Washington State Patrol, assisted by Yakima and Union Gap, Wash., police and Homeland Security Investigations.

Curry traveled to a home in Yakima from Kennewick to have sex with the two minor girls and was arrested. He had condoms and flavored lubricant with him.

Curry was initially charged in Yakima County Superior Court with attempted first-degree rape of a child and second-degree attempted rape of a child.

He was released on bail, and afterward a Homeland Security Investigations Task Force officer responded to an online ad placed by Curry. An undercover officer claimed to be a 13-year-old girl and Curry engaged the officer in sexual talk, requested nude photos and arranged to meet in person.
The U.S. House approved four bills focused on natural resources and land management Tuesday, promoting a Republican message of dissatisfaction with the Biden administrations approach to conservation.

The four bills would force the withdrawal of a recent Bureau of Land Management rule that would allow leases for conservation, remove mining restrictions near Minnesotas Boundary Waters, delist the gray wolf from the Endangered Species Act and block federal bans on lead ammunition.

The bills passed with few members of each party crossing the aisle.

They are unlikely to become law  or even receive a vote in the Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate  but their passage is an election-year message that Republicans support extractive industries in rural communities and oppose what they describe as an overreaching environmental agenda.

Whether its the new BLM rule that fundamentally threatens the Western way of life, or the decision to lock up enormous deposits of increasingly scarce minerals, its clear Biden and his bureaucrats have no interest in properly stewarding our federal lands or listening to local stakeholders, House Natural Resources Chairperson Bruce Westerman, an Arkansas Republican, said in a statement following the votes.

Democrats blasted the bills, saying they were ideological rather than practical.

The entire House schedule this week misses the mark, California Democrat Jared Huffman said. It elevates right-wing ideology over the actual needs of the American people.

Huffman managed Democratic speakers during much of Tuesdays floor debate in place of House Natural Resources ranking Democrat Raul Grijalva of Arizona, who announced a cancer diagnosis last month.

Biden has signaled strong opposition to the bills.

U.S. House vote on BLM rule

The House voted 212-202 to pass Utah Republican John Curtis bill to withdraw the recent BLM rule. Democrats Henry Cuellar of Texas, Jared Golden of Maine and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington voted yes, along with all Republicans except for Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania.

The rule creates a new type of lease for conservation, putting it on the same level as extractive industries like mining, energy development and livestock grazing.

Republicans have vocally opposed it since it was first proposed last year, saying it upends the agencys decades-long multiple-use framework.

BLM lands should be reserved for productive uses, several House Republicans said Tuesday.

Conservation is not a use, Westerman said on the House floor Tuesday. Its a value and an outcome that can be generated by the uses that are already in place on BLM lands.

Democrats said the rule did not block any other use, but simply elevated conservation, which they said was an important consideration.

The rule will protect clean water, clean air and wildlife habitat, Colorado Democrat Joe Neguse said. Itll promote the restoration of degraded landscapes. It will ensure that decisions are based on the best available science and collaboration with tribal, local and rural communities.

But here is what the bill does not do, he added. It does not disallow or preclude any one of the multiple uses that the chairman referenced during the opening of this particular debate.

Minnesotas Boundary Waters

The House passed, 212-203, a bill to rescind an administration ban on mining operations near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota. Golden and Perez voted in favor along with all Republicans.

Pete Stauber, the representative from the area who introduced the measure, said it would promote the economy of the mineral-rich region.

Stauber, a Republican who chairs a mining subcommittee, criticized the Biden administrations approach to extractive industries. Boosting domestic mining would give U.S. policymakers more control over environmental and labor protections than importing critical minerals from overseas.

Bidens mining policy of anywhere but America, any worker but American must be stopped, Stauber said. We can find these minerals domestically under the best labor and environmental standards in the world. We know this all too well in Northern Minnesota, where mining is our past, our present and our future.
Six months ago, Tiffany Triplett had a dream that she lost two of her sons. In May, that nightmare became reality when two of her sons were shot and killed in this breezeway at the Bayberry Apartments.
Funding has been approved for a substantial retrofit of Longford County Clinic. The health facility on St Joseph's Campus on Dublin Road hosts a range of services including radiology, dental and orthodontic treatments.

Fianna Fail Councillor Uruemu Adejinmi, said that following consultations with the Health Service Executive commitments have been made for a capital investment plan.



The Longford County Clinic on St Josephs Care Campus provides a unique multidisciplinary clinical setting serving the growing population of Longford and the surrounding areas.

I have been working on a project the last number of weeks with the county manager of the primary care services in Longford and the project involved the upgrade of the outpatients department and then the introduction of healthcare services, Cllr Adejinmi said.



The Longford County Clinic also provides ophthalmology services, weekly RHM OPD clinics by visiting RHM Consultants Paediatric, gynae and surgical clinics.

There is a GP diagnostic radiology service located in the clinic, and the recently refurbished X-Ray department supports the GP Treatment Unit (minor injury) by providing early diagnosis helping to reduce hospital referrals.

The Fianna Fail councillor said the location is essential: The funding application for the upgrade of the outpatients department was approved. This means there will be an upgrade to the facility which includes the dental section, the eye section and then we'll be looking at additional services coming to the premises.



Cllr Adejinmi explained where the funds will go: The building requires an extensive retrofit of the existing building structure to bring the building up to standard and improve environmental efficiencies.



The upgrade will reduce the need for people to attend hospital, help reduce waiting lists and improve access to care. It will see services developed in a more person-centred way, close to home and within the service users community.

Cllr Adejinmi concluded: I am delighted that a funding application has been approved by the HSE for the retrofit of the existing Longford County Clinic building. Chronic disease cardiac services are expected to be in place by the end of April with the design team in place in 2025 once funding is received.

The refurbished building will continue to accommodate existing services and will also increase Enhanced Community Care services by providing additional bookable clinical space that can be used by all clinicians including Adult Speech & Language, Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapys Womens Health services.
Crime

By Chris Boyle Published: May 02 2024

Michael DeAngelo was driving 120 mph and high on fentanyl and cocaine when he crashed, killing a father and three children.

Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced that a Lindenhurst man pleaded guilty today to Aggravated Vehicular Homicide for an August 2023 East Massapequa crash in which he killed a father and three children and injured two other teenagers.

Michael DeAngelo, 33, pleaded guilty today before Judge Robert Schwartz to Aggravated Vehicular Homicide (a B felony); four counts of Manslaughter in the Second Degree (a C felony); Aggravated Vehicular Assault (a C felony); Assault in the Second Degree (a D violent felony); Assault in the Third Degree (an A misdemeanor); and Driving While Ability Impaired by the Combined Influence of Drugs as a Felony (an E felony).

DeAngelo has two prior convictions for Operating a Motor Vehicle While Under the Influence of Alcohol or Drugs. Due to these prior convictions, the defendant was charged with felony Driving While Ability Impaired by the Combined Influence of Drugs.

The defendant is due back in court for sentencing on June 28, 2024. He is expected to be sentenced to 7-21 years in prison. The NCDA recommended the maximum sentence of 8-1/3 to 25 years in prison.

Michael DeAngelo is one of the most staggeringly reckless defendants I have ever known. Just days before he rocketed his vehicle into Patrice Huntley and his children on Sunrise Highway, DeAngelo was arrested for alleged possession of crack cocaine and separately ran from authorities after being administered Narcan for an apparent overdose, said DA Donnelly. Three days after fleeing from officers, he got behind the wheel of his car, high on a dangerous cocktail of fentanyl and cocaine, pushed the accelerator to 120 miles per hour, and ended the lives of a former Marine and three beautiful children on their way to get ice cream. No sentence will ever be enough to ease the pain of this heartbroken family, their friends, and their community. How many more hearts must break before people learn that drugged driving destroys lives?

DA Donnelly said that, according to the indictment and investigation, on August 6, 2023, at approximately 7:15 p.m., 60-year-old Patrice Huntley was stopped at a traffic light in his 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe on Sunrise Highway at Unqua Road in East Massapequa.

Defendant DeAngelo, impaired by both fentanyl and cocaine, drove his 2023 Hyundai Kona directly into multiple vehicles stopped at the light. Huntleys vehicle was struck with such force that the SUV was pushed through the intersection and spun around so that it was facing oncoming traffic. DeAngelos vehicle went airborne and landed upside down.

According to the event data recorder inside the Kona, the defendant was driving approximately 120 miles per hour and did not brake until less than a half second before the impact. The defendant struck the victims at approximately 95 miles per hour.

Huntley, a Marine veteran, was celebrating a recent job offer and had taken five members of his family out for ice cream.

As a result of the crash, Patrice Huntley, his 10-year-old son Jeremiah Huntley, and his 13-year-old daughter Hannah Huntley were killed and pronounced deceased that same night.

Huntleys 18-year-old stepdaughter and six-year-old step-granddaughter, Chantel Solomon, suffered catastrophic injuries. His 14-year-old son was also hurt in the crash.

Six-year-old Chantel Solomon succumbed to her injuries six days later on August 12, 2023.

DeAngelo was observed to have signs of drug use, including track marks on his arm and hands, and needles and a pipe were discovered in and around his vehicle.

The defendant was transported to Nassau University Medical Center with injuries and was arrested by members of the Nassau County Police Departments Homicide Squad in the hospital on August 11, 2023.
Local News

By Chris Boyle Published: May 02 2024

JFK High School junior Jayda Levine was congratulated for her leadership and advocacy for greater accessibility and inclusivity in our community.

In observance of April as Autism Acceptance Month in America, Nassau County Legislator Seth I. Koslow (D  Merrick) joined his colleagues in congratulating JFK High School junior Jayda Levine on Monday, April 16 for her leadership and advocacy for greater accessibility and inclusivity in our community. Legislator Koslow joined with Nassau County Legislator Michael Giangregorio (R  Merrick), who is the father of an adult son living with autism, in honoring Levine.

As part of her Kennedy High School leadership program, Levine spearheaded an event called ASD on Ice at the Newbridge Arena, which was designed to provide children on the autism spectrum with a safe, comforting setting to skate. She also raised thousands for Eden IIs Genesis Programs, a not-for-profit organization that provides services for individuals living with autism.
IDF soldiers prepare tanks for the next phase of operations in Gaza. (IDF)

Two Israel Defense Forces divisions are preparing for the next phase of combat and operations in Gaza, the IDF said on April 30. The divisions are completing preparations as Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on April 30 that the country would proceed with an offensive to defeat Hamas in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Hamas uses Rafah to control aid entering Gaza and is suspected of having tunnels under the city where it holds weapons, hostages and has up to four battalions of fighters.

The IDF put out an extensive statement about preparing the 98th and 162nd Israeli army divisions for the next step in Gaza. The IDF statement appears to be messaging prior to the potential battle. It was also released by the IDFs Arabic language spokesperson to strengthen local messaging.

Preparations for the next phase in Gaza come as Israel continues to face threats on other fronts. In Lebanon, Hezbollah launched anti-tank missiles toward Mount Dov along the border with Israel overnight between April 29 and April 30. No injuries or damage was reported. The IDF struck the sources of fire, the IDF said. Later, the IDF struck Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in the areas of Kfarkela and Khiam in southern Lebanon.

In Gaza, the IDF carried out airstrikes on operational tunnel shafts, an anti-tank missile launch post and terror infrastructure from which a launch toward the city of Sderot was identified yesterday, the IDF said. The launch was carried out by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, according to a statement from the group posted in pro-Iranian media like Al-Mayadeen. In addition and for the first time in over one month, rockets were fired toward Ashdod but landed in the sea. Ashdod is also home to a major port where aid is transported from Cyprus via Israel to Gaza. It is not clear if the launches were intended to show that terrorists can still threaten off-shore areas like the pier the US is building off the coast of Gaza.

The 162nd Division and the 98th Division are operating to strengthen their readiness for continued combat in the Gaza Strip. The divisions have been enhancing readiness and holding situational assessments, and conducted learning sessions to drawn lessons from the combat so far, the IDF said on April 30. The 98th division was the unit that cleared Khan Younis in southern Gaza of terrorists in operations since December 2023. The rapid advance by the division under the command of Brig Dan Goldfus was key to defeating one of Hamas largest brigades in Gaza. Khan Younis is the hometown of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, and Hamas invested heavily in tunnels there. The 98th division used rapid maneuver in commandos to cut down on the need for heavy airstrikes in the area. It moved so fast that the IDF resupplied it by air in December.

The 162nd division was used by the IDF to control northern Gaza since operations began in October. Its 401st armored brigade led the charge down the Gaza coast and linked up with IDF units that stormed the Gaza port. The 162nd and 98th therefore have the most experience with fighting and served the longest in Gaza. By contrast, the other major division the IDF used in Gaza, the 36th, was sent north in January. Its 7th armored brigade remained behind with the 98th to give the 98th an armored component.

The IDF now says the two large units, comprising thousands of men and women, have completed the processes of combat procedures and approval of plans for continued combat in the Gaza Strip. The headquarters of the divisions and the brigades, and the reservists held professional learning days at all operational levels, and conducted command discussions about the continuation of their mission. Furthermore, command level exercises were conducted to learn lessons and improve effectiveness on the battlefield.

The IDF is enhancing the armored vehicles of the units, although the IDF did not specify how. Israeli armored vehicles such as the Merkava IV tanks and Namer APCs have the Trophy active protection system and reactive armor on them. This enables them to neutralize most threats, such as RPGs and anti-tank missiles. Israels D-9 armored bulldozers used by combat engineers and the new Eitan APCs used by the Nahal brigade are also supposed to have various new protection systems. Other new systems and technology, which the IDF has not yet revealed, are being incorporated onto the vehicles, including the counter-drone metal nets above the turrets, which solders refer to as a pergola, using the ironic term for an Israeli awning that provides shade. Tank commanders have previously told FDDs Long War Journal that the addition of these counter-drone improvisations were up to the local commanders. However, other technology is being rolled out by the IDFs Technology and Maintenance teams of the Technological and Logistics Directorate, the IDF said in its April 30 statement.

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).
Earlier today, Saraya al-Ashtar, an Iranian-backed Shia militia in the island Kingdom of Bahrain, claimed its men launched a drone attack against the Israeli city of Eilat last week.

The claim cannot be independently verified as no open-source evidence of a drone strike taking place in Eilat last week was reported.

And despite no evidence of this attack actually taking place, it nevertheless marks the first claimed operation by the militia since at least December 2017 according to data kept by FDDs Long War Journal on militia attacks in Bahrain.

In its statement, Saraya al-Ashtar claimed that it targeted the headquarters of the company responsible for land transportation in the Zionist entity (Trucknet) in the city of Umm Al-Rashrash (Eilat) in occupied Palestine in a suicide drone strike.

For reference, Trucknet, an Israeli transport company, signed an agreement to transfer oil between Israel and Arab countries earlier this year.

It continued by saying the alleged drone strike was in support of the Palestinian cause and in support of our people of resistance in Gaza.

Saraya al-Ashtar, a US-designated terrorist organization for its terrorist attacks in Bahrain and relationship with Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has long threatened attacks on Israel, Zionists, and Jews more broadly.

For instance, in Feb. 2019, al-Ashtar openly threatened attacks against Israeli targets in Bahrain. Speaking in a video, a spokesman for the group denounced the Khalifa regimes openness to the Zionists and added that the Zionist presence is a legitimate target on the island.

Other IRGC-backed Shia militia in Bahrain have also directly threatened Israel in the past. Just two days after the Hamas-led invasion of Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Saraya Waad Allah praised the violence and called for additional attacks on Israelis and Jews, including in Bahrain itself.

Prior to this, in 2020, it stated it created a dedicated sub-unit to target Israeli interests in Bahrain. It also took credit for threats against an Israeli delegation meeting with Bahraini officials in 2019.

Saraya al-Mokhtar, another US-designated terrorist group for its ties to the IRGC, has also threatened Israelis and Jews in Bahrain.

Despite all the talk, however, no Iranian-backed militia has actually carried through with these threats.

Though dubious, Saraya al-Ashtars claim does nevertheless represent the first time these militias have tried to signal the Bahraini contingent of Irans so-called Axis of Resistance is actively taking part in the ongoing conflict with Israel.

Joe Truzman is an editor and senior research analyst at FDD's Long War Journal focused primarily on Palestinian armed groups and non-state actors in the Middle East.
SANAA, YEMEN  APRIL 05: Protestors lift Yemeni and Palestinian flags, Houthi anti-US and Israeli emblems, and guns during a rally marking International Jerusalem Day on April 5, 2024, in Sanaa, Yemen. (Photo by Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images)

On Apr. 29, Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen launched several attacks targeting commercial and military ships. A statement on the official spokespersons Telegram says, The Yemeni armed forces carried out military operations against hostile warships in the Red Sea, including targeting two American warships, using a number of drones. Meanwhile, the naval forces, rocket force, and UAVs conducted a joint operation targeting the ship (Cyclades) in the Red Sea. They further claimed another drone attack on an Israeli ship (MSC Orion) in the Indian Ocean.

Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists fired three anti-ship ballistic missiles and three UAVs from Yemen into the Red Sea towards MV Cyclades, a Malta-flagged, Greece-owned vessel, said U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM). The Houthis released a drone video documenting the assault on the MV Cyclades. It is worth noting that such releases are rare for the Houthis; they have only shared one other video, which was when they hijacked the Galaxy Leader on Nov. 19.

Additionally, CENTCOM noted that it successfully engaged and destroyed one Houthi launched UAV on a flight path towards USS Philippine Sea and USS Laboon in the Red Sea. No damage or injuries were reported during the offensive.

Since Nov. 19, over one month after the eruption of the war in Gaza, the Houthis targeted more than 100 ships in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea with drones and missiles, according to their leader Abdul Malek al-Houthi. He claimed that the targeted ships were linked to Israel or heading towards its ports. These strikes forced commercial companies to shift to longer and more costly routes around Africa. In response, since Jan. 11, the United States and Britain have led a coalition and launched airstrikes against the Iran-backed group. As a result, the Houthis have threatened to expand their operations to include American and British warships.

The American-British airstrikes on Houthi positions in Yemen decreased by 386 percent in April compared to March. In April, the United States conducted 14 airstrikes targeting Houthi positions, 12 of which were in the Hodeidah Governorate and two in Taiz. In contrast, the United States and the United Kingdom carried out 68 airstrikes targeting Houthi sites in March across four governorates: Hodeidah (46 airstrikes), Sanaa (9 airstrikes), Saada (9 airstrikes), and Hajjah (3 airstrikes).

The ongoing military engagements undertaken by the coalition led by the United States and the United Kingdom against the Houthis, coupled with their naval deployments, signify a concerted effort to mitigate threats in the area. However, recent incidents involving attacks on ships in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean reveal that the group is undeterred. Despite the sustained military actions, the Houthis have continued their aggression and explicit threats to broaden their operational range to target more ships. Moreover, the attempted assaults targeting American destroyers in the area highlight the inability to deter the Houthis, coinciding with a noticeable reduction in the frequency of strikes executed by the U.S.-U.K. coalition against the Iran-backed group.

The Houthis threat to the stability of the region in general and to maritime security is on the rise, and Iran plays a significant role in emboldening the group. Nasr al-Din Amer, the deputy media secretary for the Houthis, revealed their readiness and commitment to assist Iran or its allies in the region in the event of the conflict escalating into a comprehensive regional war. He affirmed their dedication to defending their allies in the resistance axis. He further stated, When it comes to those we ally with, such as Iran and other parties in the resistance axis, we will indeed stand firmly and resolutely by their side.

Houthi officials have made overt declarations of hostility towards the United States, outlining their strategic aim to strike American interests throughout the region. These potential targets encompass U.S. military installations in Djibouti, Eritrea, or Somalia, although the precise extent of the Houthis capacity for such operations remains uncertain. While these threats may sometimes ring hollow, the escalating frequency of assaults on ships, coupled with explicit threats against American naval assets, necessitates a reevaluation of the American-British airstrikes efficacy.

Ahmad Sharawi is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies focused on Iranian intervention in Arab affairs and the levant.
IDF combat soldiers next to a Merkava tank. Israeli combat units have seen increased recruitment among men and women since the war began. (IDF)

Almost seven months into the war in Gaza, Israelis are flocking to combat units in the Israeli Defense Forces at higher than expected numbers. The IDF published data on April 30 reflecting the percentage of recruits for various units in the army over the last two months. The data showed that men and women in Israel were seeking higher than expected recruitment to combat units, a choice which requires them to meet certain standards of fitness and complete other tests depending on the unit.

The womens recruitment data for March and April was especially striking, showing that the artillery corps received 195% of the female recruits that it had sought. This would mean for every woman the corps expected to recruit, two were seeking the position. The IDF did not present precise numbers or reveal whether the corps would induct the additional women. Many combat units are not open to women in the IDF, even though more than 90% of units and roles in the IDF are open to women. Recent years have seen strides for women in combat, including a series of new border protection units that are coed as well as the first attempts to integrate women into tanks with all-female crews.

Women-led tank crews played a key role on October 7, driving tanks from an Egyptian border post to confront hundreds of terrorists on the Gaza border. Women in the artillery serve in various positions, including in the Sky Rider unit which uses Skylark drones to aid the 215th artillery brigade in targeting. In September 2023, the IDF also opened two commando units, the Yahalom combat engineers and 699 helicopter rescue unit, to female recruits to try out the intense training required.

The wave of women joining combat units began after the war started in October 2023. December 2023 recruitment data showed units receiving more than 100% of the number of female recruits it had aimed for. The March and April data confirms the trend, illustrating how women are flocking to the combat units and combat adjacent units that are open to them.

In 2023, a total of 62% of IDF recruits were men, reflecting the fact that women have more exemptions for army service. However, motivation to serve in combat units had declined among Israeli men before the war. In December 2022, only 66% of male recruits said they wanted to serve in combat roles. That trend appears to have been reversed due to the war. Among the units that saw the highest number of additional men seeking recruitment compared to what was expected were the combat engineers, artillery and the Nahal, Givati, Golani and Kfir infantry brigades. The armored corps also saw a 130% increase over its numbers from March 2023. The armored corps will need the additional men because it is currently expanding the number of regular army tank companies it has, adding a regular army company to each battalion in the coming years. The process has already begun with three new companies being trained. This wont alter the number of tanks in the battalion, because in the past the battalions had two regular companies and a reserve company, meaning around 36 tanks per battalion. It will essentially mean the three regular armored brigades of the IDF, the 7th, 188th and 401st, will now have access to more regular army soldiers, rather than relying on reservists to fill out the ranks. The IDF has a number of reserve armored brigade units.

Overall, the numbers show that almost every combat unit is receiving over 100% of the number of men it had been seeking and planned to receive, and the numbers among women joining are even higher. In January, Israeli media reported that the IDF was seeking an additional 7,000 soldiers, apparently above the numbers it estimated it would recruit. This comes as the IDF has also suffered the loss of 608 soldiers with more than 3,000 wounded.

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).
YEREVAN, 2 MAY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 2 May, USD exchange rate down by 0.37 drams to 387.63 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 1.29 drams to 414.92 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.06 drams to 4.22 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 1.51 drams to 485.04 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price down by 416.59 drams to 28693.25 drams. Silver price down by 11.54 drams to 330.01 drams.
Manchester, VT (05254)

Today

Partly cloudy skies early then becoming cloudy with periods of rain late. Low 36F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early then becoming cloudy with periods of rain late. Low 36F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%.
YEREVAN, MAY 2, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan on May 2 had a telephone conversation with Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba.

According to the readout issued by the foreign ministry of the Republic of Armenia, the interlocutors discussed issues related to the agenda of bilateral relations and political dialogue.

According to the source, the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Ukraine also addressed regional issues.

Emphasizing the efforts to achieve lasting peace and stability in the South Caucasus, Ararat Mirzoyan highlighted the unconditional respect for the principle of territorial integrity in the process of border delimitation, which includes regulating relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Foreign Minister underscored the importance of commitment to the Alma-Ata Declaration and the positions expressed by international partners, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
The general election is still months away, but Democratic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren holds a commanding lead in Massachusetts nationally watched, and still developing, U.S. Senate race.

Warren, whos seeking a third term on Capitol Hill, leads her eventual Republican challenger 52.8% to 32.8% in the most recent Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll.

Nearly 9 in 10 respondents to the poll (86%) said they were undecided in the race for the Republicans Senate nomination, even as at least two, well-funded candidates have emerged.

The poll, released April 26, includes the opinions of 500 Bay State voters likely to participate in the 2024 election. It had a margin of error of 4.4%, according to the Boston Globe.

Last month, Quincy City Council President Ian Cain, launched his bid for the GOP Senate nod.

In a two-minute introductory video, Cain, 41, positioned himself as an independent voice and pragmatic alternative to Warren, who will [get] s**t done and [fight] for us.

With his entrance into the race, the 41-year-old tech executive, and the only Black and openly gay candidate, joins a competitive GOP field that also includes attorney and crypto aficionado

John Deaton, 56, of Swansea.

Deaton had 4% support in the poll, compared to Cains 2%. The other GOP hopefuls, Robert Antonellis and Aaron Packard, polled at 4% and 1% respectively.

Despite that widespread uncertainty, nearly two-thirds of GOP respondents (64.6%) said they planned to vote in this years Republican primary.

Whoever emerges from the Republican primary faces an uphill fight to unseat Warren, an entrenched and well-funded incumbent.

Warren had $4.4 million on hand as of the end of March, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Deaton had $1.2 million on hand, with $1 million of that total coming from a loan to his own campaign, records showed.

A clear majority of respondents (53%) to a Morning Consult poll released earlier this week said they approved of Warren, with 36% who said they disapproved.

Warrens negatives were slightly higher than the Bay States other Democratic U.S. senator, Ed Markey, who had a 53%-27% approval rating in the same canvass.

And while the race for the White House might be a dead heat between Democratic President Joe Biden and former Republican President Donald Trump on the national level, theres no such confusion in Massachusetts.

Biden leads the twice-impeached, four-times indicted Trump 51%-22% in the poll.

And theres no home-state love for independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who trails at 7.8%, according to the poll.
President Joe Biden on Thursday addressed the pro-Palestinian protests that have spread to college campuses across the nation, saying he supported students right to free speech but that protests must not violate the rule of law.

The nationwide campus demonstrations began at Columbia on April 17 to protest Israels offensive in Gaza, which followed Hamas launching a deadly attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7.

Militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took roughly 250 hostages. Vowing to stamp out Hamas, Israel has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the Health Ministry there, which does not distinguish between civilian and combatant deaths.

Biden on Thursday said dissent is essential but that it must not lead to disorder.

Theres the right to protest but not the right to cause chaos, he said, adding he understood people have strong feelings about the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

But, Biden said, that doesnt mean anything goes.

Israel and its supporters have branded the university protests antisemitic, while Israels critics say it uses those allegations to silence opposition.

Although some protesters have been caught on camera making antisemitic remarks or violent threats, organizers of the protests, some of whom are Jewish, say it is a peaceful movement aimed at defending Palestinian rights and protesting the war.

Biden did not directly deem the protests antisemitic but did say there should be no place on any campus, anywhere in America, for antisemitism or racism of any kind.

He pledged to always defend free speech and stand up for the rule of law.

Biden said he did not believe the National Guard should intervene to help clear the protests, and that the protests had not made him reconsider any policy positions in the region.

Tensions have been building for days as demonstrators refuse to remove campus encampments and administrators turn to police to clear them by force, leading to clashes that have seized attention from politicians and the media.

Bidens remarks, occurring shortly before he left the White House for a trip to North Carolina, came after days of silence about the protests. Republicans have tried to turn the scenes of unrest into a campaign cudgel, and Biden said he rejected efforts to use the situation to score political points.

This isnt a moment for politics, he said. Its a moment for clarity.

Bidens last previous public comment on the protests came more than a week ago, when he condemned antisemitic protests and those who dont understand whats going on with the Palestinians.

The White House, which has been peppered with questions by reporters, had gone only slightly further than the president. On Wednesday, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden is monitoring the situation closely, and she said some demonstrations had stepped over a line that separated free speech from unlawful behavior.

Forcibly taking over a building, such as what happened at Columbia University in New York, is not peaceful, she said. Its just not.

Biden has never been much for protesting. His career in elected office began as a county official when he was only 28 years old, and hes always espoused the political importance of compromise over zealousness.

As college campuses convulsed with anger over the Vietnam War in 1968, Biden was in law school at Syracuse University.

Im not big on flak jackets and tie-dyed shirts, he said years later. You know, thats not me.

Despite the White Houses criticism and Bidens refusal to heed protesters demands to cut off U.S. support for Israel, Republicans blame Democrats for the disorder and have used it as a backdrop for press conferences.

We need the president of the United States to speak to the issue and say this is wrong, House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said on Tuesday. Whats happening on college campuses right now is wrong.

Johnson visited Columbia with other members of his caucus last week. House Republicans sparred with protesters while speaking to the media at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.

Former President Donald Trump, his partys presumptive nominee, also criticized Biden in an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News.

Biden has to do something, he said. Biden is supposed to be the voice of our country, and its certainly not much of a voice. Its a voice that nobodys heard.

He repeated his criticisms on Wednesday during a campaign event in Waukesha, Wisconsin.

The radical extremists and far-left agitators are terrorizing college campuses, as you possibly noticed, Trump said. And Bidens nowhere to be found. He hasnt said anything.

Kate Berner, who served as deputy communications director for Bidens campaign in 2020, said Republicans already tried the same tactic four years ago during protests over George Floyds murder by a police officer.

People rejected that, she said. They saw that it was just fearmongering. They saw that it wasnt based in reality.

Apart from condemning antisemitism, the White House has been reluctant to directly engage on the issue.

Jean-Pierre repeatedly deflected questions during a briefing on Monday.

Asked whether protesters should be disciplined by their schools, she said universities and colleges make their own decisions and were not going to weigh in from here.

Pressed on whether police should be called in, she said thats up to the colleges and universities.

When quizzed about administrators rescheduling graduation ceremonies, she said that is a decision that they have to decide and that is on them.

Biden will make his own visit to a college campus on May 19 when hes scheduled to deliver the commencement address at Morehouse University in Atlanta.
An office manager who worked at a medical practice in Brookline was charged in connection with embezzling $650,000 from the business for over several years, Acting United States Attorney Joshua Levys office announced Wednesday.

Kathleen Libby, 40, of Brookline, was charged with one count of wire fraud, Levys office said in a statement.

Charging documents suggest Libby stole from the medical practice several different ways, including via the transfer of funds from the practice to a personal PayPal account she set up and called Medline Surgical Supplies, Levys office said. She created the false impression that transfers from the medical practice to the PayPal account were expenses the medical practice had incurred for supplies, Levys office continued.

Libby also used the practices bank account to make payments toward purchases she made to several retailers, including Louis Vuitton, Bloomingdales, Best Buy, Target and travel websites, Levys office said. Charging documents suggest she placed two of her relatives on the practices payroll and used company credit cards for her own personal benefit, according to the statement.

The charge of wire fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater.
Nearly 150 Emerson College parents on Thursday sent a letter calling for President Jay Bernhardts resignation, a decision one parent said was motivated by a sense that administrators and Bernhardt in particular had consistently failed to meet the needs of students before and after the arrests of more than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters last week.

Megan Howard, one of the organizers of the petition, and the first parent to sign on, told MassLive that her student was at the encampment set up at Emerson on the morning of April 25, when Boston Police descended on student protesters and began taking them into custody. She said her student was not arrested, but watched as things turned violent.

The experience was pretty traumatic, Howard said.

Feeling powerless, Howard said she and other parents looked for a way to make their voices heard. The first signature recorded in support of the call for Bernhardts resignation was Howards, on April 29.

We are paying tuition and we are still involved, we are still a stakeholder very much so in the college, and... a lot of us were really let down by what we saw happen. It did not seem consistent with the values and our understanding of Emerson as a college, Howard said Thursday afternoon.

In the petition, the parents said they no longer had confidence in Bernhardts ability to keep students safe, communicate openly and transparently with the Emerson community, and lead a unified campus.

The petition adds to the growing public pressure on Bernhardt and other college administrators, though Emersons Board of Trustees said it remains confident in President Bernhardts leadership and unequivocally supports his presidency.

Howard said she has not seen any response from officials at the college.

In the wake of the arrests, Bernhardt failed to be open, transparent and genuinely available, Howard said.

I just think theres a lot of things that they could have done before we got to the point of police beating up students in an alley, she said. That is the serious failure here.

Emerson students on Wednesday afternoon held a rally on Boston Common and later marched to the building where Bernhardts office is located, plastering its windows with sticky notes with messages like horrified, disturbed, angry and deal with students fairly!!!
Nearly 150 Emerson College parents in a letter sent to senior leaders at the college Thursday morning backed a call for President Jay Bernhardts resignation made by the schools student government association last week, after the arrest of more than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters at an encampment on the schools downtown Boston campus.

In the petition, which garnered 149 signatures, the parents wrote that they support the student government resolution due to extensive failures of ... Bernhardts leadership. The parents said they no longer had confidence in Bernhardts ability to keep students safe, communicate openly and transparently with the Emerson community, and lead a unified campus, after the violent arrest of 118 pro-Palestinian proters in the Boylston Place alleyway last week.

The petition adds to the growing public pressure on Bernhardt and other college administrators, though Emersons Board of Trustees said it remains confident in President Bernhardts leadership and unequivocally supports his presidency.

Bernhardt, who was formally inaugurated into the post in March, was hired to be a transformational leader who could bring us together in difficult times, the board said.

At Emerson, students lambasted Bernhardt during a town hall on Monday, the schools student newspaper, The Berkeley Beacon, reported. There, more than 100 people spoke and close to 100 sent email statements.

Show us action. Show us anything. You have already failed us, said a student speaker during the town hall, according to The Beacon. But if you cannot respect us enough to concede to our demands and resign, then prove yourself. We are waiting. We are watching, history is watching, history will remember where you stand.

Emerson students on Wednesday afternoon held a rally on Boston Common and later marched to the building where Bernhardts office is located, plastering its windows with post-it notes with messages like horrified, disturbed, angry and deal with students fairly!!!

Tent encampments of protesters calling on universities to stop doing business with Israel or companies that support the war in Gaza have spread across the country in a significant student movement. The ensuing police crackdowns echoed actions decades ago against a much larger protest movement protesting the Vietnam War.

There have been confrontations with law enforcement and more than 1,000 arrests. In rare instances, university officials and protest leaders struck agreements to restrict the disruption to campus life and upcoming commencement ceremonies.

The nationwide campus protests began at Columbia in response to Israels offensive in Gaza after Hamas launched a deadly attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7. Militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took roughly 250 hostages. Vowing to stamp out Hamas, Israel has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the Health Ministry there.

As cease-fire negotiations appeared to gain steam, it wasnt clear whether those talks would lead to an easing of protests.

Israel and its supporters have branded the university protests as antisemitic, while Israels critics say it uses those allegations to silence opposition. Although some protesters have been caught on camera making antisemitic remarks or violent threats, organizers of the protests, some of whom are Jewish, say it is a peaceful movement aimed at defending Palestinian rights and protesting the war.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
In the latest of what seems like an endless series of closures on the MBTA, the Red Line will shutter between its JFK/UMass and Park Street stations beginning Thursday as the beleaguered transit agency continues its Track Improvement Plan to eliminate slow zones.

Shuttle buses will replace service between the two stations until May 10, and the MBTA will offer shuttles serving the Ashmont spur of the line, which runs through Dorchester into Mattapan, beginning at 8:30 p.m. Shuttle service to Ashmont ends on May 9, according to the MBTA.

While this certainly amounts to a headache for many travelers, the T is offering free Commuter Rail rides between Braintree, Quincy Center, JFK/UMass, and South Station during the shutdown, giving commuters a way to avoid the shuttles.

During the shutdown, service at other Red Line stations will be less frequent, with Alewife trains headed to Cambridge arriving every 11-12 minutes and trains running to Braintree and Ashmont arriving every 13-15 minutes. Riders can expect even longer waits on the weekends, the T warned.

Brief shutdowns on other branches of the Red Line will follow after May 10. On May 11 and May 12, shuttles will replace service between Broadway and North Quincy, and a week later, on May 18 and 19, shuttles will replace service between Broadway and Braintree.

During those periods, shuttles will also replace Commuter Rail service between South Station and Braintree.

To get around on those dates, riders can either take a shuttle replacing the Red Line service or a Commuter Rail shuttle between South Station and Braintree as an alternative express service, the MBTA said.

And thats not all.

On May 4, Green Line service will skip the Magoun Square station in Somerville. Riders trying to get to Magoun Square will instead have to rely on Route 80 and 88 bus service, which begins at Lechmere in Cambridge.

Later this month, the Orange Line will have service disruptions of its own.

Beginning on May 17 around 8:45 p.m., service will be suspended between Wellington in Medford and North Station. No trains will run between the two stations on May 18 and May 19. Service between the two stations will then end around 8:45 p.m. between May 20 and May 24.

The MBTA will run shuttles to replace service, and Bus Route 137 will be free during the closure beginning May 18.

Then, beginning on May 28, service will be suspended between Wellington and Back Bay until June 6. Free shuttle buses will make all stops between Wellington and North Station. Riders trying to get into downtown Boston are encouraged to ride the Green Line during that period instead.
(3:21 p.m. update: This story was updated to include testimony from Canton firefighter Katie McLaughlin.)

Defendant Karen Read appears on April 29, 2024, during opening statements of Read's murder trial in the death of John O'Keefe on Jan. 29, 2022. (Photo by Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff)Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff

A Canton firefighter took the stand on Thursday in the trial of Karen Read, the Mansfield woman charged in the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend John OKeefe, and said he heard her say I hit him, I hit him. Oh my God, I hit him.

Alan Jackson, Reads defense attorney, questioned Lt. Anthony Flematti of the Canton Fire Department, a first responder who did chest compressions in an attempt to save OKeefes life, about why those statements were not included in his report of the incident.

Read, 44, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of OKeefe who was found on the snow-covered front lawn of 34 Fairview Road in Canton just before sunrise on Jan. 29, 2022.

OKeefes body was found cold to the touch the morning of a snowstorm at about 6:10.

Thursday marked the third day of testimony, as Flematti answered questions from Adam Lally, an assistant district attorney for Norfolk County, about his actions and observations that morning.

When Lally asked Flematti about his conversation with Read, the Canton firefighter said he had no luck getting much information but that he received a repeated answer.

The only response that I was personally given was just, I hit him, I hit him. Oh my god, I hit him, Flematti told Lally.

Lally asked Flematti why he told the hospital staff that OKeefe may have been hit by a car.

It was due to the proximity of the patient to the roadway and the vagueness of the statement, Flematti said. So proximity to the roadway and the fact that she stated I hit him. The red flag of him being underdressed and people dont just lie down in the snow in a blizzard.

Under cross-examination, Jackson pounced on the testimony and questioned why those statements Flematti attributed to Read did not appear in his official report of the incident nor in a police interview days later.

Flematti said he never told police investigators about Reads I hit him statements but that he told hospital staff on Jan. 29, 2022, that OKeefe may have been hit by a car based on Reads statements of I hit him.

Flematti said he did not tell police during an interview nine days later after the incident. But he said he told doctors and nurses at Good Samaritan Hospital in Brockton after they arrived with OKeefe.

Flametti also said correct when Jackson pointed out that its nowhere written in his incident reports.

I recall telling the doctors and nurses that there is a question that the patient was hit by a vehicle or we dont know, Flematti said. I left it open-ended to the staff of the hospital that these are both possibilities about what happened to the patient.

Youre aware that none of the [medical books at Good Samaritan] have that statement? Yannetti asked, to which Flametti said, Im not aware.

Canton firefighters found OKeefe buried in about four to six inches of snow that morning, according to Flemattis testimony. His arms, legs and jaw were able to be moved and they began to employ life-saving measures such as chest compressions and CPR.

Paramedics transferred into the ambulance to warm him up, Flematti said, since they initially decided that there was some viability left to revive OKeefe.

Reads trial continued Thursday morning with testimony from Matthew Kelly, another member of the Canton Fire Department.

When asked by another of Reads attorneys, David Yannetti, Kelly stated that he never heard Read say I hit him.

He only remembered Read saying, Hes dead, hes [expletive] dead.

Canton firefighter Katie McLaughlin testified on Thursday about her observations and what she heard Read say on the morning of Jan. 29, 2022.

She seemed very upset, McLaughlin told Lally. She was just visibly distraught.

McLaughlin said she was able to learn OKeefes name and date of birth from Read, but that she was moving around the scene and she asked her, Had there been any significant trauma that happened before this?

McLaughlin said that Read responded with I hit him repeatedly.

A nearby police officer asked, You what? according to McLaughlin, and Read repeated I hit him one more time.

McLaughlin said she heard the police officer call for Sgt. Sean Goode, a Canton police officer at the scene.

McLaughlin was the ambulance driver that morning so she went to the vehicle once she saw police getting involved, she said.

It was said in the presence of the police officers so I felt like that information was appropriately transferred, McLaughlin said. I just felt, based on her demeanor, I dont think it wouldve been productive for me to continue to ask her questions at that point.

The trial is expected to last six to eight weeks.

Opening statements began on Monday when Yannetti told jurors Read had been framed and revealed text messages from lead investigator Proctor.

Reads defense team in court has said other people are responsible for OKeefes killing and the presiding judge has allowed them to pursue a third-party culprit defense at trial  but did not allow them to present it during opening statements.

Defense attorneys said previously that three men in the Canton house on the night of OKeefes death had a motive and the means to attack him.

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.
Australia is the only continent free of a deadly new strain of avian influenza, but how would it respond if the virus breached our borders?

Chicken, egg and dairy farms around the globe have been rocked by the spread of a highly pathogenic avian influenza. Remarkably Oceania (Australia and New Zealand) have yet to be hit by the new HPAI (H5N1) strain.

In the United Kingdom, the virus has impacted the supply of free range eggs for two years, and in the United States the price of a dozen eggs has risen 16 per cent since January as a result of a bird flu outbreak.

It's not just eggs that are affected, fast food staples loved by many Aussies have been impacted overseas. Last year KFC closed stores across the tiny nation of Lesotho after neighbouring South Africa was overrun with the virus.

And during an outbreak of avian flu in the early 2000s, some of KFC's outlets in Vietnam switched to serving fish instead of chicken, while in the US, the fast-food retailer put stickers on buckets to try and reassure customers its meat was safe.

Key facts about the bird flu outbreak

Over 90 million farmed birds have been affected in the US

In 2022 100,000 wild birds in Peru died, 4,000 sea lions in Chile

Previous outbreaks in Australia have impacted poultry, but not wild birds

The US gov has spent over US$1 billion compensating farmers for losses

Since the most recent outbreak, millions of chickens have been slaughtered in the US to reduce the spread of infection. And for the first time, dairy cows were being struck down with the disease. Luckily the disease doesn't have high mortality rate in humans  infected farmers in Texas have only reported mild symptoms like conjunctivitis.

Store bought milk and yogurt have been assessed as probably safe if it's pasteurised. That's despite one in five dairy samples testing positive to the virus.

In Australia, the Department of Agriculture (DAFF) website states it remains "safe to eat" eggs, meat and poultry products when they are "properly cooked", but it warns freezing them would not kill the virus if it infected livestock here.

Related: Grave fears deadly bird flu to rip through millions of penguins

Are people safe from avian flu in Australia?

To understand the risk of HPAI in Australia, Yahoo News spoke with Professor Peter Collignon, an infectious diseases expert at Australian National University and Canberra Hospital.

When it comes to the potential impact of HPAI on Australia, his advice has remained largely unchanged over the last 15 months. We can have some concern. But we do not need to panic or get unduly worried, he said this week.

Over the last 20 years, around 900 people have become infected with the H5N1 strain of avian influenza and 460 have died. Although the virus devastated populations of other mammals including sea lions and minks, the human infection rate remains lower than some experts first feared.

This virus has been floating around in one form or another since the 1990s and it hasn't caused the pandemic that everybody was worried about, Collignon said.

Hypothesising, on what the next pandemic will be, he doesnt think it will be H5N1. We're more likely to end up with a problem with H11, or H13, or something that will hit us a bit like Covid.

Is Australia's milk supply at risk?

Previous outbreaks of less pathogenic strains of avian influenza in Australia's farms have not significantly disrupted grocery supplies. Collignon thinks there could be some impact if HPAI breaches our borders, but he adds, "We're not going to starve".

He believes it would mainly affect chickens, and he doubts cattle are at a high risk because unlike the United States, it's illegal to feed poultry litter such as faeces and spilled feed to cattle.

"I worry about the feeding practices in the US. What we don't want to do is be feeding, excreta of ducks or chickens to cows, particularly if they may have been sick," he said.

Professor Collignon thinks it unlikely that Australian dairy will be impacted by the virus. Source: Getty (File)

Research and development corporation Dairy Australias industry analyst Eliza Redfern said because the outbreak in the US had been fairly localised there has been minimal market disruption to milk supply. Based on this, there is not enough information to generalise and forecast potential implications to the broader global and Australian context, she said.

Its veterinarian Dr Zoe Vogels thinks the likelihood of avian flu affecting cattle in Australia at the moment is extremely low.

However, while the extent of HPAI in US dairy cattle is still being investigated it is thought to have crossed over from wild migratory birds through contamination of feed/water by dead birds or infective faeces, and so the outbreak provides a timely reminder for both farmers and the public to keep an eye on the health of their local wildlife, and to report anything unusual, she said.

Australia's Department of Agriculture (DAFF) told Yahoo it believes dairy exported from the United States is safe for consumption.

DAFF is confident in the effectiveness of controls the United States Department of Agriculture has in place to ensure that only milk sourced from healthy animals is used in the production of goods for human consumption for export to Australia, it told Yahoo.

Will my supply of KFC be affected?

When it comes to the risk the virus could pose to Australia's chicken meat supply, specific details are harder to come by.

Yahoo News reached out to KFCs publicist in Australia as well as Craveable Brands which owns Red Rooster and Chargrill Charlies and asked if they are confident they could continue to supply chicken if the virus was to be detected in Australia. Neither acknowledged repeated requests for comment.

Poultry Hub Australia which aims to foster effective communication between researchers and farmers is yet to respond to an interview request.

The Australian Chicken Meat Federation declined to be interviewed and instead issued a short statement attributable to its CEO Dr Mary Wu stating the country has well practised and nationally agreed procedures in responding to avian flu.

"The Australian chicken meat industry remains highly vigilant to the risk of HPAI incursion, and has extensively and proactively prepared for many years in strong biosecurity and animal health management practices to protect the commercial flock," she said.

Australia's supply of chicken meat has not been dramatically impacted by other strains of the virus. Source: Getty (File)

What happens if avian flu reaches Australia?

Should an Australian farmer suspect avian flu has infected their livestock, they are required to lock their gates and notify government. Vets would then assess the animals and if they test positive this would result in the the slaughter of at-risk and sick animals, and increased biosecurity restrictions around farms.

DAFF told Yahoo last week it was closely monitoring outbreaks overseas and that the US government is supplying it with updates of whats believed to be the first known detections of this type in cattle and goats.

In a statement DAFF said it was coordinating "national activities" to improve HPAI awareness and preparedness.

There are nationally agreed cost-sharing arrangements in place to respond to disease outbreaks in the agriculture sector. And since 1997, Australia has successfully eradicated five outbreaks of avian influenza, although none were the H5N1 strain.

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A Springfield man who Massachusetts State Police say dragged a Lawrence police officer while fleeing the site of a shooting was arrested and will face charges for avoiding and struggling with Massachusetts State Police troopers attempting to place him in custody.

Police charged Junior Arias Lara, 31, with failure to stop for police, resisting arrest, and unlicensed operation. Arias Lara will also face charges in connection with an early morning shooting near Fitz Street in Lawrence on Monday, but it was not immediately clear Thursday morning what those charges were.

On Monday, a Lawrence police officer stopped a car believed to be involved in the shooting and was dragged a short distance when the vehicle, which State Police say Aria Lara was driving, fled. A description of the vehicle was sent to State Police patrols in the area, and a trooper began searching for it, the agency said in a statement.

The trooper located the vehicle, a white Honda, shortly after 3 a.m. as it was taking the ramp from I-93 south to I-495 south. The trooper stopped the car, at which point Arias Lara fled on foot into a nearby swamp, according to the statement.

Arias Lara was contained after the trooper and a sergeant on the scene chased after him, State Police said. The trooper ordered him to keep his hands visible, but Arias Lara repeatedly ignored his orders, dropping his hands and reaching into his waistband. As the trooper approached Arias Lara to arrest him, he began to struggle with the trooper and again tried to flea, according to the statement

The trooper utilized controlling techniques and took Arias Lara to the ground, and the man continued to struggle and hide his hands, officials said. The trooper used defensive tactics to subdue the man, handcuffed him, and placed him into custody.

Arias Lara was transferred to Lawrence Police, where charges were filed against him in connection with the shooting and the traffic stop where he is accused of dragging the officer.
The states highest court on Thursday upheld a lower court decision to impose a buffer zone around the Dedham courthouse while Karen Read, the Mansfield woman charged in the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend John OKeefe, is on trial, one of the most high-profile and highly watched cases in the state in years.

Norfolk County prosecutors moved to create a 500-foot buffer zone around the courthouse, barring signs, clothing, or buttons bearing anything related to Reads trial. They argued that the presence of protesters around the courthouse could jeopardize the fairness of the trial. Three petitioners filed motions opposing the buffer zone, saying it violated their freedom of speech. Ultimately, presiding Superior Court Judge Beverly Cannone set the buffer zone at 200 feet.

In her order, Cannone noted in other proceedings protestors have shouted at witnesses, confronted family members of the victim, and have taken to displaying materials which may or may not be introduced into evidence during trial. Cannone also expressed concerns about witness intimidation.

The Supreme Judicial Court found that the buffer zone does indeed impose some restriction on speech but noted that such a restriction was not inherently problematic or unconstitutional.

Justices found that the buffer zone was equally restrictive of speech on both sides of the case, saying that the fact that all of the protests outside the courthouse had been in favor of Read did not have any bearing on the establishment of the buffer in the first place. Any protest in favor of prosecutors would be subject to the exact same restrictions, they noted.

The buffer zone does not preclude the petitioners, or anyone else, from engaging in the same forms of protest they have previously done; it simply constrains them from doing so within a limited zone tied to courthouse property, the decision reads.

The decision credits Cannone with striking a balance between Reads right to a fair trial and the right of protesters to freedom of speech.

Reads trial was in its third day of testimony Thursday and was set to resume Friday. Her trial is expected to last six to eight weeks, MassLive reported.
Pro-Palestinian student activists at Massachusetts schools say Brown University reaching an agreement with student protesters there shows the power of protest and could serve as a model for the end of their activism.

The agreement at Brown includes a commitment to invite five students to meet with the schools governing body in May to make the case for divestment of the universitys endowment from companies enabling and profiting from the genocide in Gaza.

Brown President Christina H. Paxson also committed to asking the schools Advisory Committee on University Resources Management to make a recommendation on divestment to be brought before the corporation at its October meeting.

Students, including the organization Brown Divest Coalition, hailed the announcement as a victory in a social media post.

To Amina Adeyola, an activist at Emerson College, it was exciting to see the power of protest and the resistance of students.

Our demands across the country are clear: divestment and call for a ceasefire, she said in a text message to MassLive Thursday.

Another student, Francesca Riccio-Ackerman, a PhD student at MIT aiding the group Scientists against Genocide Encampent, or SAGE, which organized the pro-Palestinian encampment on the schools campus, said she hoped Brown and other schools, like Northwestern, where agreements were reached, could be a model.

It was tremendous that... their student activists were able to influence their university... about the importance of what they were advocating for, she told MassLive Wednesday. Not just students, but also faculty and staff that felt that this was a very pressing moral issue that is intertwined with our academic and professional work and our careers.

We have a right to dictate what that work is that we do at these universities, she said.

Browns agreement does not necessarily commit the university to divestment, just that the school will take a vote come October on whether or not to do so, essentially representing a compromise between university leaders and protesters.

To Riccio-Ackerman though, organizers at MIT have already met the school in the middle by asking just that it no longer accepts funding for research projects from the Israeli military.

Still, for its part, MIT has said cutting research ties with the Israeli military would violate academic freedom.

We could have followed how other universities and their encampments are going about it with a broader ask that would be more difficult for the university to deliver on, Riccio-Ackerman said. This is already very actionable and achievable.

Seeing agreements be reached gave Riccio-Ackerman hope for a domino effect across Massachusetts.

Some people have yet to understand how important this movement is historically, she said.

Maya, a Northeastern University student activist who declined to provide her last name, said the agreement reached between activists at Brown and university officials shows our protests are working.

There cant be business as usual as genocide is occurring and people will continue to put pressure on these institutions until they agree to meet demands, she said.

But, she noted the agreement at Brown still leaves at least five months when the university will maintain financial ties to Israel.

The genocide is happening now and complicit institutions need to be held accountable now, she said.
The states Department of Environmental Protection will dedicate new funding to nearly double the number of PurpleAir sensors being deployed in communities to detect fine particulate matter.

The plan is to distribute 202 sensors in this round of investment, in addition to 248 given out in 2021.

Readings from the softball-sized PurpleAir sensors will supplement data provided by 24 permanent air monitoring stations located around the state that test for pollutants such as ozone, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide and fine particulate matter.

Also called PM2.5, particulate matter is a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets so small they can be inhaled and enter the bloodstream, contributing to asthma and other respiratory and cardiopulmonary illnesses.

Through the states Particulate Matter Air Sensor Grant Program, the PurpleAir sensors  which are installed by municipalities, community-based organizations and nonprofits, schools, and tribal communities at no cost  can provide data on a more granular level.

Citizen scientists can also purchase and install their own, feeding data in real-time to an interactive map that compiles readings from across the state.

At any given moment, the map shows where PM2.5 levels in the state are elevated and what risks may be associated with that elevation.

We want to be able to look at communities, particularly environmental justice communities, to make sure that we are not seeing hotspots or neighborhoods that are adversely affected by air pollution sources, Christine Kirby, the assistant commissioner of MassDEPs Bureau of Air and Waste, said. So getting the equipment out into the hands of people in communities and community groups allows us to do that.

Environmental justice communities are defined by state law as U.S. Census block groups that meet one or more of the following criteria: the annual median household income is 65% or less of the statewide median, 40% or more of residents are minorities, or 25% or more are foreign-born or lack English language proficiency.

Historically, these neighborhoods have been disproportionately and systemically exposed to environmental hazards such as air pollution, contaminated sites, and climate change impacts.

The PurpleAir sensors empower communities to play a role in monitoring their air quality at a hyper-local level, MassDEP officials said. And the data can result in action.

Last summer, for example, when smog from the unprecedented Canadian wildfires descended on Massachusetts, PurpleAir sensors across the state were critical in informing MassDEPs air quality alerts and messaging, Kirby said.

The city of Chelsea, which has experienced longstanding pollution from highway traffic and Logan Airport, partnered with MassDEP based on PurpleAir sensor readings.

Eventually, the state and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency set up a permanent air quality monitoring station in the city.

On an even more granular level, Glenn Keith, director of the Bureau of Air and Wastes Air and Climate Program, recalled a time when an outdoor wood boiler was causing pollution in a neighborhood.

A nearby resident had a PurpleAir sensor, and working with the town, they were able to resolve the issue.

It increases general awareness, Keith said. People may not even think about whats in the air they breathe.

The state agency has hired three full-time people dedicated to community-based air quality monitoring. The ongoing initiative will also include an upcoming pilot program  a partnership with two or three communities to deploy advanced technology, specifically black carbon, and multi-pollutant air sensors, in or near environmental justice populations.

Forty black carbon sensors will characterize diesel emissions in areas that experience high levels of truck traffic, while 50 multi-pollutant air sensors will measure fine particulate matter, carbon monoxide, ozone, and nitrogen dioxide.
The Raynham Police Department has released the names of the two officers who shot and killed 35-year-old Stephen Maclean on Tuesday during a confrontation in which authorities say he pointed a gun at an officer.

The two officers  Sgt. Frank Pacheco and Officer Jennifer Lang  are on administrative leave until an investigation into the shooting by the Bristol County District Attorneys Office is completed, per Raynham Police Department policy, the department said in a press release Wednesday. Both are 12-year veterans of the department.

Maclean died Tuesday afternoon after officers came to his King Philip Street apartment at the request of his girlfriend, who said he was acting belligerent and aggressive, according to the Bristol County District Attorneys Office. As soon as Maclean opened the door, he raised a loaded weapon, leading Lang and Pacheco to shoot him.

Newly-released police body camera video shows the confrontation from three angles  each from a different officers point of video. The footage matches authorities account of the events.

The officers rushed to Macleans aid after he was shot, but he was declared dead after being taken to Morton Hospital in Taunton, the Bristol County District Attorneys Office said previously.

Macleans girlfriend called Raynham police early Tuesday afternoon to report that he was acting erratically after being fired from his job that morning for coming to work while intoxicated, the district attorneys office said. He was arrested the day before on witness intimidation and disorderly conduct charges related to an assault case in which his girlfriend was the defendant.

Probation officers had wanted Maclean held following his arrest Monday because it violated his probation conditions in a case in which he was charged with operating under the influence, the district attorneys office said. But during his arraignment in Taunton District Court, he was released on his own personal recognizance.
The Onset father of a toddler who overdosed on methadone was indicted in connection with his sons death, Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruzs office announced Wednesday.

A Plymouth County grand jury returned an indictment for Donald Humes, 32, with one count of manslaughter and two counts of reckless endangerment of a child, Cruzs office said in a statement.

At around 4:34 p.m. on April 24, 2022, Humes called 911 and told Wareham police that his son, Cameron, 2, was unresponsive and not breathing, Cruzs office said. First responders arrived at the Waban Avenue home and treated Cameron.

He was taken to Tobey Hospital, but Cameron was pronounced dead, Cruzs office said.

Wareham police contacted the Massachusetts State Police Detective Unit assigned to Cruzs office, and the investigation commenced. The Chief Medical Examiners Office determined Cameron died from acute methadone intoxication.

Humes will be arraigned in Brockton Superior Court at a later date.
A 25-year-old man who was the subject of what Boston police dubbed an extensive fugitive investigation in connection with a shooting in Dorchester last September that left five people hurt, including a young autistic girl, was arrested Wednesday.

Micah Ennis was located at 33 Ellingwood St. in Roxbury, and was arrested as he attempted to flee from the rear of the building, Boston Police said in a statement. Ennis was wanted on a warrant issued out of Suffolk Superior Court charging him with five counts of armed assault with intent to murder, and a single charge of unlawful possession of a firearm.

Ennis will be arraigned on the charges in Suffolk Superior Court on Thursday, police said.

The shooting took place on Sept. 17, 2023, in the Franklin Field Projects in Dorchester, according to the statement.

Another man, Gianni Johnson, of Dorchester, was arrested in connection with the shooting in October 2023.

In all, five people were wounded in the shooting, leaving a child with life-threatening injuries.

Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said the shooting should serve as a uniting force for the city against violence.

The brutality of sending bullets flying where people were gathered and children were playing should shock and outrage all of us and should unite us  and I mean all of us, from every community and every sector and every level of society  against the glut of illegal guns in our city and the people so willing to use them. We need to recognize and treat gun violence as a societal epidemic, Hayden said in a statement. How else can we describe a brother and sister shot while playing outside their home on a warm late-summer evening?
Pro-Palestinian student protesters met with officials at MIT and Tufts this week as encampments at both schools remained despite mounting pressure from university leaders that they be removed.

At Tufts, a university spokesman said President Sunil Kumar met with protest leaders in the spirit of exploring every path possible for a peaceful and voluntary resolution and a successful Commencement for our graduates and their loved ones. Earlier this week, Tufts issued no-trespass orders to protesters at the encampment on its academic quad.

And, at MIT, Francesca Riccio-Ackerman, a PhD student at the university, told MassLive that there have been ongoing negotiations with student leaders at SAGE  Scientists against Genocide Encampment  the organization that established the encampment more than a week ago. While Riccio-Ackerman said she was not on the negotiating committee, she said organizers were continuing the conversation with university officials about meeting their demands.

The chief demand for the MIT organizers is that the university stop receiving funding from the Israeli military for research projects.

On Instagram Wednesday, the MIT Coalition Against Apartheid said MIT had stalled negotiations and was refusing to cut ties with Israel. A timeline posted by the group shows that students rejected a proposal from university officials to have conversations with committees at an unknown future date on Monday.

MIT President Sally Kornbluth said on Saturday that the encampment needs to end soon and protesters were in direct violation of university policies. In the video Saturday, Kornbluth said the university has been forced to redirect hundreds of staff hours to ensure the safety of the encampment and expressed concern about doing so going forward.

A spokesperson for MIT told MassLive Thursday that university leaders had been meeting and talking with students, faculty, and staff on an ongoing basis. But, the spokesperson, Kimberly Allen, said students involved in the protest have rejected any avenues for ending the encampment other than MIT agreeing to their original demand, which would be in violation of academic freedom.

Efforts to resolve the situation continue, Allen said.

A sign calling attention to the conflict in Gaza rests against a tent, Thursday, April 25, 2024, at an encampment of tents on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus, in Cambridge, Mass. Students at MIT set up the encampment of tents on the campus to protest what they said was MIT's failure to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and to cut ties to Israel's military. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)AP

The negotiations at both schools come as some others, including Brown University in Rhode Island, have reached agreements with protesters and avoided police action that has led to hundreds of arrests at other schools, including Dartmouth College and the University of New Hampshire on Wednesday.

The Associated Press tallied at least 38 times since April 18 where arrests were made at campus protests across the U.S. More than 1,600 people have been arrested at 30 schools.

The nationwide campus demonstrations began at Columbia on April 17 to protest Israels offensive in Gaza, which followed Hamas launching a deadly attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7. Militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took roughly 250 hostages. Vowing to stamp out Hamas, Israel has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the Health Ministry there.

Israel and its supporters have branded the university protests antisemitic, while Israels critics say it uses those allegations to silence opposition. Although some protesters have been caught on camera making antisemitic remarks or violent threats, organizers of the protests, some of whom are Jewish, say it is a peaceful movement aimed at defending Palestinian rights and protesting the war.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
One facet of a supplemental budget bill that Gov. Maura Healey signed into law earlier this week was whether or not to-go cocktails would be made a permanent thing at Massachusetts restaurants.

On Tuesday, those adult sippy cups became permanent as a key provision in the supplemental budget bill. While the bill makes the sale of to-go cocktails, a once-temporary practice established during the COVID-19 pandemic, this bill also limits what some restaurants can sell.

Restaurants can no longer sell 192 ounces of beer and two bottles of wine for off-premise consumption, according to the funding bill. Up to 64 ounces of mixed drinks can be sold under this law.

The practice of selling to-go cocktails has become legally allowed in 27 states and the District of Columbia, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States in a statement about Healeys signing.

Massachusetts consumers, restaurants and bars can all toast to the fact that cocktails to-go are here to stay, Andy Deloney, senior vice president and head of state public policy at the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, said in the statement. During the pandemic, cocktails to-go were a critical source of revenue for many businesses, and now, the increased convenience and stability they offer is permanent. We applaud the legislature and Gov. Healey for supporting Massachusetts businesses and consumers by making cocktails to-go permanent.

Six states, including California, New York and Vermont, have enacted laws that allow cocktails to-go on a temporary basis, while more states are considering similar legislation, according to the Distilled Spirits Councils statement.

The deal could have been a compromise between the Massachusetts Restaurant Association and the Massachusetts Package Stores Association, according to Boston.com. The Massachusetts Restaurant Association wanted to-go drinks to stay and that they helped restaurants survive COVID-19 lockdowns.

Meanwhile, the Massachusetts Package Stores Association said the bill would affect business at liquor stores like the ban on flavored tobacco and on mini liquor bottle bans in select towns, Boston.com reported.

Executive Director Robert Mellion told the news website that it was unfair to allow restaurants to sell alcohol for on-premise and off-premise consumption, while liquor stores were only allowed to do off-premise consumption.

If it was just about a Mai Tai, it would just be one drink, not 64 ounces and 192 ounces of beer and two bottles of wine, Mellion added.

In April, the House voted 117-36 and the Senate 29-9 to approve a supplemental funding bill steering $251 million more for the states emergency shelter system, according to State House News Service. The bill also kept expanded outdoor dining, Politicos Massachusetts Playbook reported.

It came as one of the biggest surprises in the supplemental accord thatd been designed for emergency shelter system aid, the outlet reported, which is expected to cost well over $900 million a year for the next two years.

The temporary, COVID-era allowances expired on April 1.
The woman arrested Wednesday night after a man was found dead in a Leominster home was a 28-year-old who shot her boyfriend during a domestic dispute, according to authorities and court documents.

The Worcester County District Attorneys Office confirmed to MassLive that the two people involved in the incident were Leominster resident Jami Parker and 53-year-old Jeffrey Carr. Parker is facing charges of armed assault with intent to murder and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury.

Parker called 911 around 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday to report that shed had a domestic dispute with her boyfriend at her Main Street home and that it had resulted in a shooting, according to the criminal complaint in the case. She requested an ambulance for Carr.

When first-responders got to the home, they found Carr on the kitchen floor with a single gunshot wound to the head, according to the complaint. He was declared dead shortly after, and Parker was arrested at the home.

After interviewing Parker and listening to her 911 call, investigators determined that the couple had gotten into an argument. During the argument, Parker is believed to have grabbed a gun from her bedroom and shot Carr, according to the complaint.

Parker pleaded not guilty during her arraignment in Leominster District Court on Thursday and was ordered held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing on Monday, according to court documents.

Parkers lawyer, John Roemer, doubted the strength of the district attorneys case during a phone call with MassLive Thursday. He indicated that prosecutors would have a difficult time proving that Parker was not acting in self-defense.

At the hearing today, the Commonwealth provided no evidence  just allegations, he said.

Carr was charged by Leominster police twice in 2023 after Parker accused him of violence, but the charges were later dropped at her request, The Telegram & Gazette reported.

In one case, Parker accused Carr of hitting her while she was driving after she asked him not to smoke in the car because she was pregnant, according to the newspaper. She told officers hed berated her after drinking all day, and the officers who questioned him noticed he smelled of alcohol.

Parker obtained a restraining order against Carr after this incident, but it later expired, The Telegram & Gazette reported.

In the other case, Parker accused Carr of throwing glass Christmas ornaments at her while he was drunk, according to the newspaper. She was not harmed during the incident, but he refused to leave the house.

Parker is a sergeant in the National Guard and has no criminal record, Roemer told The Telegram & Gazette. The National Guard did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday afternoon.
Authorties are investigating how Toongabbie Creek in Sydney's west turned a striking shade of blue.

Toongabbie Creek, which flows through Western Sydney, has turned a bright shade of blue with locals wondering why. Source: Facebook

Locals have raised concerns after a popular waterway suddenly turned a striking shade of aqua, leading some to believe a "dye" or "chemical spill" could be to blame for the unusual sight.

Residents in Sydney's west first spotted parts of Toongabbie Creek  wedged between Parramatta and Blacktown council areas  turning various shades of teal and bright blue earlier this week with an investigation reportedly underway to find the cause.

Photos and videos shared online by locals show the extraordinary difference in colour. However, the sudden change of hue is cause for concern according to residents who have described it as "awful," particularly since the creek is home to various animals.

Authorities are investigating why various parts of the waterway is now a different shade of teal or aqua. Source: Facebook

"It's almost like a dye of some sort," speculated one person on Facebook. Others feared a "chemical spill" might be to blame.

Murray Sayle from Local Bushcare said normally you can see the bottom, but the creek was suddenly aqua blue. It's understood only parts of the creek have changed colours, most notably where it's joined by two others at Old Toongabbie, a suburb between Parramatta and Blacktown.

"There's something causing it and we'd like to know what and who has caused that problem," local John Hibbard told 9News on Thursday.

Investigations underway to solve bright blue phenomenon

Councillor Georgina Valjak from the City of Parramatta said investigations "tracked the source of pollution to a location in the Blacktown LGA"  the neighbouring area. However its cause is still unknown.

"Our Council has notified Blacktown City Council which is actively investigating the matter with the assistance of the EPA," she said. "City of Parramatta Council takes the health of our waterways seriously and we will continue to keep residents updated."

Locals grew concerned and raised the alarm on Facebook before alerting authorities. Source: Facebook

The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) confirmed it was alerted to the discolouration of Toongabbie Creek by the community.

"Our officers inspected onsite yesterday (Thursday) and we are working with Blacktown City Council to investigate the source of the incident," a spokesperson said. "We understand Council has sent water samples for analysis and the results are a few days away."

Yahoo News Australia has also contacted Blacktown City Council for comment.

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A woman was arrested in connection with a man found dead inside a Leominster home on Wednesday, Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early Jr.s office announced.

At around 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Leominster police and Massachusetts State Police were called to a home on Main Street, Earlys office said in a statement released Thursday.

The man was found dead and a woman who was at the home was arrested, Earlys office said.

The woman faces charges and is expected to be arraigned in Leominster District Court on Thursday.

Earlys office did not release the names of the man or woman due to it being a domestic case.
The next phase in the fight over half-dozen major and pressing policy proposals kicked off Wednesday with a common feature on Beacon Hill: Lawmakers recommending that the Legislature not take action.

A special committee tasked with overseeing the House and Senates biennial analysis of ballot questions concluded none of the measures warrant legislative approval, potentially clearing the way for voters to make decisions on major policies affecting high school graduation requirements, gig economy workers, legislative oversight and more.

The eight-member panel filed reports Wednesday recommending each of the 10 drafted questions -- representing six different topics -- ought not to be approved.

Their rationales varied, from arguing that a measure subjecting the Legislature to new scrutiny by the state auditor would supplant lawmakers accountability to voters to suggesting theres insufficient evidence about the impacts of increasing the minimum wage that businesses must pay tipped employees.

All six Democrats and two Republicans on the committee agreed to suggest no action on questions that would offer access to psychedelic substances, declare app-based drivers to be independent contractors while potentially extending them some benefits, and increase the minimum wage that businesses must pay tipped employees.

Sen. Jason Lewis, D-Winchester, did not join the majority on questions to allow drivers for platforms like Uber and Lyft to unionize -- a proposal similar to a bill he filed -- and eliminate the use of MCAS as a graduation requirement.

Republicans Rep. David Vieira of Falmouth, and Sen. Ryan Fattman of Sutton, disagreed with the majority recommendation that the Legislature should not enact an Auditor Diana DiZoglio-backed measure explicitly subjecting the House and Senate to scrutiny by her office.

The initiative petitions address complex issues in the Commonwealth and for the reasons detailed in the Reports, the Committee does not recommend any of the petitions be enacted by the Legislature at this time, Rep. Alice Peisch and Sen. Cindy Friedman, the special committees chairs, said in a joint statement. We appreciate the time, energy, and passion of all who took the time to participate in this part of the democratic process.

Organizers behind the campaigns are eyeing the ballot as a way to force action on tense, impactful issues where lawmakers have hesitated to act or outright oppose the proposals.

The committees majority reports collectively signal that the representatives and senators who spent 20-plus hours listening to testimony about ballot questions over the course of five public hearings are mostly comfortable leaving the final decisions to voters, although theres still time for compromise bills to be crafted that might satisfy proponents of planned ballot questions.

In some areas, lawmakers hinted at an interest in taking action outside possible enactment of the ballot questions as drafted.

The report about the tipped minimum wage proposal suggested the Legislature would be well-served to work with the Attorney General to support enhanced prevention of wage theft, sexual harassment, and assault in tipped wage industries.

But the majority reports laid out no current plans to push for legislative alternatives or compromise, and the lack of enactment by an end-of-Tuesday deadline allows initiative petition supporters to begin gathering the final 12,429 voter signatures they need.

A spokesperson for Secretary of State William Galvin said some campaigns have already picked up new petitions to collect more signatures.

Beacon Hill still could intervene and broker some kind of deal to avert voters from getting the final say on one or more measures, as they did with the 2018 grand bargain law.

Any action of that sort would likely need to occur before July 3, the date by which campaigns must submit certified signatures to Galvins office to lock in a spot on the Nov. 5 ballot.

Every member of the committee except for Lewis, who co-chairs the Education Committee, took a clear stance against one question that would eliminate the use of MCAS exams as a high school graduation requirement.

Supporters, led by the Massachusetts Teachers Association, argue that the high-stakes tests put too much pressure on students and fail to capture performance as well as more individualized classroom exams.

But most lawmakers on the panel found that argument unconvincing.

Simply eliminating the uniform graduation requirement, which will allow students to graduate who do not meet basic standards, with no standardized and consistent benchmark in place to ensure those standards are met, will not improve student outcomes and runs the risk of exacerbating inconsistencies and inequities in instruction and learning across districts, they wrote.

Lewis, who declined to take an up or down stance on the MCAS and driver unionization reports, said he hopes lawmakers can secure an agreement on both fronts.

Productive discussions between legislators and stakeholders on this initiative petition are currently ongoing, he said in a statement about MCAS graduation requirements. I am hopeful that a legislative compromise can be reached that would resolve this matter in a manner that is satisfactory to all parties.

John Schneider, chair of the Committee To Preserve Educational Standards For K-12 Students, which is fighting against the teacher union-backed measure, praised the committee for declining to recommend its passage.

The ballot question would undermine our childrens chances for future success, Schneider said in a statement. Eliminating the only statewide standard Massachusetts has for high school graduation would allow each of the states 300-plus school districts to devise their own graduation standards, leading to unequal evaluations of student readiness for college and careers and wider inequities in student achievement and opportunities.

MTA President Max Page and Vice President Deb McCarthy reacted to the legislative report by mostly recounting their case for decoupling MCAS exams from graduation requirements, arguing that it removes the negative aspects of having the standardized test used as a graduation requirement, while keeping the MCAS exams as diagnostic tools.

The panel mostly agreed that lawmakers should not take action on a set of intertwined questions dealing with rights and benefits for drivers on platforms such as Uber and Lyft.

One union-backed question would let those drivers collectively bargain with the companies.

While lawmakers -- who often pitch themselves as union allies -- wrote that they see merit to the subject, they ultimately recommended the Legislature not approve the measure because significant questions remain over how it slots into the broader landscape.

Another proposal funded by gig economy power players Uber, Lyft, Instacart and DoorDash that would declare drivers to be independent contractors, not employees, is also on track to reach the ballot.

Meanwhile, a trial is set to begin this month in a nearly four-year-old state lawsuit against Uber and Lyft alleging they violate labor laws by treating drivers as contractors.

The special committee unanimously agreed not to recommend passage of any of the five versions of the company-backed contractor question, some of which also extend additional benefits to drivers.

The committee feels that any action on this subject must strike a balance between existing employee rights and protection, and the need to ensure that TNCs can continue to operate, which they maintain would not be possible if Drivers were not classified as independent contractors, lawmakers wrote.

Particularly salient is the petitioners assertion that the drivers will lose flexibility if the Companies are not able to lawfully classify them as independent contractors. Drivers who testified before the Committee focused on the importance of flexibility and the benefit of being able to work whenever they choose, they continued. However, proponents did not provide an answer as to why work-hours flexibility would be impossible to provide regardless of employment status. Massachusetts law currently does not limit the flexibility that employers can offer to their employees.

A spokesperson for the campaign said Wednesday that supporters will collect signatures on all five versions of the question to keep options open given a pending eligibility challenge that the Supreme Judicial Court will hear next week.

The spokesperson added that organizers plan to file only one question for the final ballot.

Massachusetts AFL-CIO President Chrissy Lynch commended lawmakers for their recommended non-action on the company-backed question, and called for them instead to take up legislation her group supports that would enshrine employee status for drivers.

Organized labor groups are not united on the best approach. Other unions including 32BJ SEIU and the International Association of Machinists are supporting the driver-unionization ballot question that similarly failed to win legislative support.

Roxana Rivera, assistant to the president of 32BJ SEIU, criticized the committee for call[ing] for inaction while billion-dollar app companies continue exploiting Massachusetts drivers. She said organizers are prepared to put the measure before voters.

Lawmakers aimed some of their most pointed initiative-petition commentary at the question pushed by Auditor DiZoglio, a Democrat who previously served in both branches and clashed with legislative leaders during her tenure.

DiZoglio has been trying to subject the notoriously opaque House and Senate to an audit by her office, but top Democrats have refused, arguing that she is overstepping her authority.

Attorney General Andrea Campbell declined to give legal support to the first-term auditor. That left a ballot question explicitly empowering the auditors office as effectively DiZoglios last hope.

Democrats on the special committee wrote in their report that DiZoglio lacks the objectivity required to audit the Legislature in accordance with the Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards, saying she has regularly cited perceived political mistreatment in the Legislature in public commentary.

They also contended that allowing an independent state office in the executive branch to scrutinize the Legislature would take accountability powers away from voters.

In a representative democracy, power rests with the constituents who elect their Representatives and Senators and hold them accountable, committee members wrote. Rather than achieve its stated goals, the proposed the [sic] Initiative Petition would limit the power of the voters who elect Members of the Legislature by expanding the powers of the Executive Branch; essentially, the Auditor would supplant the people for herself in holding the Legislature accountable.

Most voters will have no electoral choices other than incumbents representatives and senators because so few lawmakers face challengers.

Some Republicans have supported DiZoglios effort to shine a spotlight on the Legislature, where decisions are regularly made behind closed doors and bills emerge for votes with mere hours or minutes for review.

Fattman called the move by Democrats to leave the ballot question untouched politically tone deaf. He forecast that the measure will likely pass, wind up in court, and then judges will tell lawmakers the best framework to implement.

The Legislature had it within its authority to come up with a compromise, say lets do this, make it constitutional, institute transparency like the Legislature wants, but not get in the way of our responsibilities, our core functions, Fattman told the News Service. I think thats a reasonable response. We could have had manifest destiny, created our own ability to audit, taken the political issue out of it, and yet we didnt do that.

Republicans did not file their own minority report, but Fattman said he would explore the option with Vieira.

Legislative leaders this session created a special committee to review ballot questions, rather than distributing each measure to the existing panel that most closely covers its subject area.

House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka said at the time the new group would be especially equipped to tackle the unique challenges presented by the legal and policy intricacies of the questions this year.

One byproduct of the move is that the work was concentrated in the hands of high-ranking deputies -- Peisch serves as assistant majority leader in the House, while Friedman is vice chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee -- rather than spread more diffusely among multiple committee chairs who are further out in the leadership orbit.

The reports not only serve as an explanation of how lawmakers who participated in the review feel about each proposal. They will also become part of the Legislatures messaging to voters likely to be tasked with the final decision.

Under the state Constitution, each of the legislative reports must be included in an information pamphlet the secretary of states office publishes before the election summarizing the ballot questions and cases for and against their passage.
U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss had one message for Jewish and Israeli students at Harvard University as they look to finish out the school year amidst ongoing protests by their pro-Palestinian classmates:

They are not alone, Auchincloss, who is Jewish, and a Harvard alum, told reporters Thursday shortly after he met with members of Harvards Hillel, a Jewish student organization.

In that conversation, students repeatedly raised complaints about harassment about disparate treatment about a hostile learning environment, Auchincloss said during an impromptu news conference on Harvard Square. And those complaints go down a black hole of bureaucracy never to be heard from again, so that the students now have given up on trying.

Meanwhile, a pro-Palestinian encampment constructed in Harvard Yard has continued despite being in direct violation of university policies, MassLive previously reported.

Harvard has repeatedly communicated that participation in activities that do not comply with policies will result in disciplinary measures, the spokesman said, adding that the university would not discuss potential disciplinary measures for individual students.

More than 30 student protesters were facing discipline from the school, according to the Harvard Crimson, the universitys student newspaper. Those students were called to appear before Harvards Administrative Board, which is responsible for enforcement of the schools policies, MassLive reported Wednesday.

Last month, a student organization, the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee, announced on social media that it had been suspended by the university after being placed on an illegitimate and retroactive probation.

The Hillel group has said it was profoundly outraged by what it describes as efforts to boycott and demonize Israel, by the universitys Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions Movement, which has called on western institutions to cut ties with Israel, the Harvard Crimson reported.

Speaking to reporters Thursday, Auchincloss chastised Harvard officials, whom he said had let the protest movement continue unchecked, while other institutions, such as Boston College, Dartmouth College, and Princeton University, have seen more mannered student rallies.

These are universities that have long, proud traditions of free and open expression and debate that have platformed diverse points of view on Middle Eastern politics, and yet have not allowed the student body to take over their campus[es], and ... create a hostile learning environment for a subset of that student body, particularly Jewish and Israeli students, Auchincloss said.

Auchincloss called on university officials to regulate their time, place, and manner rules to prevent these encampments from creating a hostile learning environment for Jewish and Israeli students.

He also called on them to get into compliance with Title VI, of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in programs or activities that receive federal money.

I think all of [the] Harvard Corporation is going to be accountable for their violations of Title VI, Auchincloss said of the universitys governing body.

And he said he also wants the university to reengineer and re-architect a culture here at Harvard that embraces viewpoint diversity ... where people can actually express ideas in a way that is respectful and that does not instead create a monoculture.

Sophiya Shakti, a student at UMass Boston, who is of Jewish descent, talks about her experiences with pro-Palestinian protests during an interview outside the Harvard Coop in Cambridge, Mass., on Thursday, May 2, 2024 (MassLive photo by John L. Micek).John L. Micek

Sophiya Shakti, a student at UMass Boston, who is of Jewish descent, looked on as Auchincloss offered his remarks.

Shakti, who said shed taken courses through Harvards extension program, told MassLive shed been saddened by the protests, and what she believes is a rise in antisemitism on campuses.

I am deeply saddened, I am disturbed. I think that antisemitism is on the rise, she said. I know people say anti-Zionism is not the same as antisemitism. Its completely OK to criticize the Israeli government. I think the war is absolutely terrible. I think we should see the humanity on both sides. But whats happening right now, its just absolute insanity.
This story has been updated with additional comments.

Two Boston civil rights attorneys are calling on the Springfield School Committee to restart a superintendent search, citing questions about whether the process has been open and fair.

The selection of a superintendent for one of the most diverse school districts in the Commonwealth is too important to be rushed forward amidst significant community concerns about fairness and equity in the process, the attorneys, who work with Lawyers for Civil Rights Boston, said in a letter to the committee made public Thursday.
SOUTHWICK  A Boston law firm has filed a federal civil rights complaint against the Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional School District and Southwick Regional School on behalf of Skyla Lopez, a Black eighth grade student and victim of an online mock slave auction.

The complaint from Lawyers for Civil Rights Boston filed with the U.S. Department of Educations Office of Civil Rights alleges the district failed to meaningfully address a monthslong campaign that included repeated use of the N-word, racist bullying and harassment targeting Skyla.
SPRINGFIELD  Donald Mars, now 75, admitted in court Thursday that as a 17-year-old Chicopee Comprehensive High School student, he killed a 10-year-old girl on the shore of the Westfield River in West Springfield nearly 58 years ago.

The gulity plea to a charge of involuntary manslaughter  entered by an enfeebled man who shuffled into court and could barely speak  drew to a close decades of dogged investigating by generations of Chicopee and West Springfield police. And it brought some closure to Betty Lou Zukowskis surviving cousins, who joined Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni at an afternoon news conference.
Authorities continue to investigate wayward bullets that struck Belchertown homes within the last 11 months, and interviews are ongoing with members of a local gun club, according to an update Wednesday evening by Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivans Office.

Stray bullets have struck homes on Mountain View Drive, a street along the Belchertown and Granby town line, and about a mile east of the Granby Bow and Gun Club in instances dating back to June 2023, according to the district attorneys office.

Most recently, an errant bullet hit a residence on Mountain View Drive on March 29 and shattered a sliding glass door, according to district attorney spokesperson Laurie Loisel. Nobody was injured in the incident, Loisel said.
HOLYOKE  Ashton Conroy, the son of Holyoke Police Officer Crystal Conroy, is courageously battling acute myeloid leukemia.

From Friday through Sunday, White Hut in Holyoke will donate 15% of all in-store and online sales to support Ashtons medical treatments at Boston Childrens Hospital.
With Pride Month about a month away, members of Worcesters LGBTQ+ community are set to officially launch Pride Worcester 2024 on Thursday at the Electric Haze Hookah Bar.

Pride Worcester is a collaborative effort between organizations and members of the Greater Worcester LGBTQ+ community. The collaboration features events scheduled through June to September In celebration of LGTBQ+ culture, businesses and history in the area. The collaboration and events officially begin in June, formally recognized as Pride Month.

Katherine Aguilar, the director of community outreach, diversity and inclusion for Pride Worcester, told MassLive the launch event at Electric Haze at 26 Millbury St. will run from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and will provide information for vendors and performers who wish to participate in events. Aguilar said there will also be karaoke and a drag performance after the launch from 9 p.m. to 11:45 p.m. for those 21 years old and older.

We did this last year and it worked out really well, Aguilar said. Its almost like a town hall meeting and we welcome it. Its how we find out how people can get more involved.

Some of the events to be held by Pride Worcester, according to Aguilar, include a picnic at Green Hill Park in June, the Pride Worcester pageant and the annual movie screening. She said the most anticipated event this year is the Pride Worcester festival, which will be held on Saturday, Sept. 7, from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., per Pride Worcesters website.

Aguilar told MassLive that most towns and cities in Massachusetts hold their Pride parades and festivals during June to celebrate Pride Month. Worcester is different, however, in that the city holds its festival in the fall. According to Aguilar, this decision is made so young people who identify as LGBTQ+ can attend the celebration, as many are returning home to Worcester after summer vacation or are settling into their dorms on college campuses.

We are the last pride festival and we market it that way, Aguilar said. We start in June and we do something every week.

Aguilar said more than 8,000 people attended the pride festival last year  an attendance that is expected to be broken at this years festival. Aguilar estimates that up to 12,000 people are expected to attend Worcesters festival this year and 250 vendors on site. Aguilar told MassLive this years pride festival will be the largest one in Worcesters history.

We are really trying to expand our footprint, they said. We are really excited. Its going to be more big and more queer than ever.
A FIANNA Fail councillor has accused the Minister of Education of going missing and needs to 'step up to the mark' and resolve the dispute between her department and Holy Trinity NS in Westport.

Members of the Westport/Belmullet Municipal District have called on Minister of Education Norma Foley to meet them and a delegation from Holy Trinity National School to retry and resolve the impasse regarding the use of the Scoil Phadraig NS site on Altamount Street.

The site had been earmarked as the location for the new Church of Ireland National School building but the Department of Education has offered it to local Sacred Heart Secondary School to use on a temporary basis.

Westport councillor Brendan Mulroy criticised his party colleague, Minister Foley for not returning his calls to discuss what has happened to Holy Trinity and accused her of going missing.

Cllr Brendan Mulroy has accused the Minister of Education of going missing

Minister Norma Foley has gone missing on this issue. I have contacted her on two occasions and she has not got back to me, he told the monthly meeting of the Westport/Belmullet Municipal District.

Cllr Mulroy said that Holy Trinity has got a 'fair aul kicking' by the Department of Education in recent years and urged the Minister to meet them.

We are a month out from elections and we are all busy canvassing but I will be saying we write to her and ring her office to ask her to meet a delegation from this council along with Holy Trinity even at this late stage.

Does she not realise the history of this county and this town and what it means to Holy Trinity and the people who went to Holy Trinity. They are a minority school and minority religion in this town.

It is shocking and there are bigger things at play here than just a primary school. I think the Government and Norma Foley need to step up to the mark. Holy Trinity will not be kicked around on my watch, Cllr Mulroy said.

His proposal to meet with the Minister was supported by the other Westport councillors with Fine Gael councillor Peter Flynn stating that Holy Trinity deserves answers.

It is so frustrating to watch what has happened over the last number of months and it is not fair on either school particularly on Holy Trinity. I think a delegation may be the only option in getting face to face with the Minister and demanding answers, he said.
The massive sunfish first appeared on Sunday and measures close to three metres wide.

Locals flocked to a South Australian beach after a giant sunfish washed up onto the sand. Source: Facebook/Youtube

Curious residents have flocked to the shores of an Aussie beach after a mysterious and giant discovery was made on the sand, with locals describing the scenes as both "amazing" and "sad.

Photos and videos taken at Petrel Cove in South Australia show what some believed was a "big boulder" or oversized rock. But it's the carcass of a giant sunfish, the South Australia Museum confirmed to Yahoo News Australia.

It's not the first time Aussies have been wowed by the mysterious beaching of the giant disc-shaped creature. In November last year, the bodies of two elusive sunfish were mysteriously found dead within days of each other on a 70km stretch of Australias coastline, leaving one leading expert "lost for words".

Locals amazed by 'giant' sunfish discovery

Local woman Dani Brown said she'd heard about the stranded sunfish and headed down to Petrel Cove at Encounter Bay to check it out. "It was pretty cool to see, this is the first time I've seen one," she told Yahoo.

Sunfish are known to grow up to four metres wide. According to locals, this particular one measured roughly 2.7 metres. A photo shows Brown nestled beside it for scale.

The sunfish, measuring about 2.7 metres in diameter, on the beach with Dani Brown in the background.

People responding on social media, where photos have been shared, thought it was "sad to see" while others were in awe of the sight of the huge sea creature.

"Wow! Pretty unusual sighting," said one. "Amazing," another said, asking "I wonder how prolific they are?" "Beautiful gentle creatures," said a third.

The South Australian Museum confirmed the fish is "almost certainly a bump-head sunfish, mola alexandrini" and while sunfish are found worldwide, this particular species "is the one most often encountered in South Australia.

"You can tell it's a bump-head sunfish rather than one of the other two types (Mola tecta, the hoodwinker sunfish and Mola mola, the ocean sunfish) because of the prominent chin you can see in the photo. The other two species don't have that," they said.

Cause of sunfish death unknown

It's not known how the sunfish died, with Brown suggesting it's been there since Sunday. Danish marine biologist Dr Marianne Nyegaard previously told Yahoo it's almost impossible to determine what kills them.

"Stranded sunfish typically appear to have been healthy with no obvious cause of death, or impairment to explain why they ended up on the beach," she said.

She believes it's possible they sometimes "fall onto land" in the same way humans "fall into the ocean". However the science on this is not settled.

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A SINN Fein election candidate has accused the Government of abandoning and letting down the 'most vulnerable in our community' by not addressing the home care sector.

Rosaleen Lally, a Sinn Fein candidate in the Belmullet Local Electoral Area (LEA) is calling on the HSE to urgently address the staffing issues in the Home Care sector in the North Mayo region.

I have been out on the doorsteps across the Belmullet LEA over the past number of weeks and a recurring issue Im hearing in the constituency is the lack of availability of home help hours and staff.

I have spoken to some very elderly members of the community who have been assisted with home care packages but due to shortage of staff, have not received the service, I have also spoken to individuals who have been left without a service as their regular home carer is off sick or on annual leave.

Many of these individuals have little or no family support and are in their late 80s, living alone. This is not good enough. Fine Gael and Fianna Fail are failing older people and their families. There is now a crisis in homecare, which has been brewing for many years, she said.

Ms Lally, who is currently the National Access Programme Manager with the Irish Wheelchair Association, claimed that poor rates of pay and travel allowance is pushing workers out of this service, leaving family carers and neighbours to carry the burden.

Homecare failures are pushing older people into hospitals and nursing homes when they should be cared for in their own home. Sinn Fein in power would prioritise a homecare service which would reduce the length of hospital stays and reduce the risk of hospitalisation, which would reduce pressures on our emergency departments and reduce delayed discharges, the Belmullet native said.

She added that Sinn Feins policy on Health care states that we will direct the HSE to develop greater capacity and to reduce reliance on the private sector while also addressing recruitment and retention problems in home care.

Sinn Fein have pledged to invest 25 million in their health policy to retain the full allocation of home support hours and provide for the living wage and travel expenses for home support workers.

If elected to Mayo County Council in June, I will work with Rose Conway Walsh TD and David Cullinane TD Sinn Fein spokesperson for Health to ensure that our elderly are given the dignity and support they deserve, she concluded.
The Chief Executive of Mayo County Council was branded a 'Scrooge' and 'Dr No' and accused of running the local authority's finances like the Troika when they were in Ireland.

The manner in which Mayo County Council was being run was criticised by two Westport councillors who claimed that the current system of local government was not delivering for the people.

Fine Gael councillor Peter Flynn told the monthly meeting of Westport/Belmullet Municipal District that the local authority was understaffed, underfunded and under-resourced and it was impacting on the delivery of services for people living in the county.

He claimed that council staff hands were tied in what they can do and it was because the Chief Executive, Kevin Kelly was imposing rules on spending similar to when 'the whole country was bust and the troika were in here'.

Look at the money coming into this country with exchequer funding surpluses but here we have Mayo County Council playing like it is 2010 when the country was on its knees. I have talked to councillors beyond Mayo and nobody is feeling the pain that we are feeling right now.

Something seriously is rotten in the state of Denmark the way Mayo County Council is right now in terms of its finances. We are operating at 2010 rules when the Troika was in this country and it is just not right.

Dr No is now the title of our Chief Executive and that is a sad indictment of where we are as an organisation. I take no pleasure in saying that but it is not fair to councillors, to staff and it is certainly not fair to the people of Mayo. It cannot be continued, he told the meeting.

Fellow Westport-based councillor Christy Hyland said that the Local Government Reform Act 2014 which abolished the town councils is not working for local people. He claimed that a European committee compared the local government system in Ireland to Hungary and Moldova and it was time for changes to be made.

It is my view we would be better off here if we had a borough council like they have around Europe and funding raised here and stays here. Run it like the town council who were a rating authority with funding raised in the town staying in the town, he said.

He said that Mr Kelly is a lovely man but is also a Scrooge who will spend nothing and it is the councillor's who get the blame.

There are people out there who want to be councillors who don't understand at all. They will do the devil and all when elected but I would urge them to study the reform of local government in 2014 and what we had prior to 2014. They might learn a few things rather than making wishful promises to people they cannot keep. Our hands are tied with the local government reform of 2014 and we must comply with it, the Independent councillor said.
Three MACE stores in county Mayo were honoured at the recent MACE Excellence Awards.

Delaneys MACE Castlebar, Delaneys MACE Charlestown, and Fallons MACE Ballinrobe were recognised for achieving exceptional standards in retailing at the event hosted by BWG Foods, as well as owners and operators of the MACE brand in Ireland.

The awards, held in association with Solution Management Associates (SMA), are only awarded to MACE stores that pass an intensive year-long inspection, including three unannounced audits, visits from mystery shoppers and a BWG-led compliance audit for every store as part of the qualifying criteria.

Keith Crawford, MACE Sales Director, congratulated the winners, and said: The MACE Excellence Awards recognise those who, through their commitment to outstanding retail standards and customer service, continue to set the benchmark for the brand and marketplace overall. Increasingly high standards are undoubtedly contributing to the continued success of MACE.

Mr Crawford called the efforts of the three Mayo stores outstanding, and said their recognition is very well-deserved.

MACE is the longest serving convenience brand in Ireland, serving local communities for more than 60 years.

Operated by independent retailers, the network includes local community stores as well as forecourt shopping, with over 160 MACE stores located around the country.
EVIDENCE of a fish kill at one of the most popular amenities in Claremorris have led for calls for Irish Water (Uisce Eireann) to be disbanded.

Councillors from the Claremorris-Swinford Muncipal District area have expressed concern after the appearance of sewage in the Clare Lake.

Members of the municipal district council have voted to outline their concerns in writing to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The pollution in the lake is believed to have arisen from an overflow tank near the lake.

Local councillor Tom Connolly called for Mayo County Council and the Environmental Protection Agency to take action against Irish Water in light of the issue, which he said had been going on long, long time.

Cllr Connolly produced photos of dead fish near the lake from Claremorris Chamber of Commerce, who attached them in an email demanding urgent action.

Claremorris Chamber has been actively engaged in lobbying Irish Water to take action to upgrade the overflow tanks and due to recent rain fall the situation has dramatically deteriorated, read the email from Chamber of Commerce.

Expressing his concern, Cllr Connolly called for action to be taken against Irish Water over the issue.

This is their problem. If a farmer did this hed be prosecuted, he said.

Clare Lake and McMahon Park is one of the most scenic beauty spots in Claremorris and a lot of work has been done there on a voluntary basis. Thousands of people walk around that lake every single year.

Cllr Richard Finn, who is a member of the Clare Lake/McMahon Park Committee, said the situation had been report to the area engineer on many occasions.

If it was a famer, or it was any private individual, theyd be locked up at this stage, and if they werent locked up theyd be out of business or theyd be fined severely, said Cllr Finn.

The Independent councillor demanded to know who was responsible, saying that very little and been done to follow up with the culprits.

The general public genuinely report it to local councillors, local councillors get onto Irish Water, they get onto the environmental section, they get onto Mayo County Council. Between the three, no one seems to know whos in charge of the place and nobody wants to know whos in charge, said Cllr Finn.

Its about time now that something was done in relation to this. Its one of the best parks in the country and has to be treated as such and not be treated the way its being treated.

The shoreline at Clare Lake in Claremorris

Cllr Connolly and Cllr Finns concerns were echoed by other members of the municipal district council.

Cllr Damien Ryan (Fianna Fail) called for Irish Water to be disbanded and suggested that Mayo County Councils environmental section should prepare a report to be sent to the EPA on the matter.

Cllr Patsy OBrien (Independent) said that Irish Water had no respect for anybody, adding, I think if they keep going the way theyre going theyll be disbanded, because they are not fit to do their business.

Several councillors compared the situation to the conditions faced by farmers who were subject to environmental inspections and were charged bills for multiple water meters.

Cllr Gerry Murray, Cathaoirleach of Claremorris-Swinford Municipal District, said that Irish Water wasnt working and called for local authorities to be given back responsibility for the water network.

A motion was then passed calling on Mayo County Council to write to the EPA on the matter.

In a statement issued to The Mayo News, Irish Water said that it is currently Uisce Eireann is carrying out investigations and putting plans in place to reduce overflows at Clare Lake in Claremorris.

We are committed to safeguarding public health and protecting the environment in all our activities and we will continue to proactively liaise with Inland Fisheries Ireland and the Environmental Protection Agency in relation to all these matters, an Uisce Eireann spokesperson said.
Bianca Unwin has been advocating against gendered violence ever since her sister Katie Haley was killed by her male partner in 2018.

Bianca Unwin (right) has been advocating against gendered violence since her sister Katie Haley (left) was killed by her male partner. Source: Supplied

The sister of a woman who was murdered by her partner is calling out the commonly held mentality about gendered violence in Australia, saying it is shifting focus away from the real issue.

Bianca Unwin has been advocating against gendered violence since her sister Katie Haley, 29, was murdered by her male partner in her Melbourne home in 2018. She constantly comes up against varying degrees of the same argument  people suggesting victims need to do more to protect themselves, rather than putting blame and responsibility on those committing the crime.

Recently she was questioned why men are being blamed for the number of women being killed by partners when "women choose [to date] these men". "If you don't want to be murdered then don't date the dirtbag," the man wrote online.

Putting the 'onus back on women' is dangerous

Unwin pushed back against those blaming the woman, not the offender, when domestic violence occurs. There are no tools available to offer women insight into their partner's past, despite advocates pushing for a violent offenders registry for years. Many women also find themselves in dangerous situations with partners who have not previously committed crimes, like in the case of her sister, so Unwin questions how women are supposed to "magically" know.

"A woman will be attacked while running and it's her fault for having headphones in," she told Yahoo News. "Or in domestic violence cases, it's her fault for not leaving, when statistically the most dangerous time for a woman is when they are leaving... women are damned if they do, damned if they don't,"

"They are putting that onus back on women, laying blame, rather than focusing on the perpetrator and condemning their actions."

Government's $925m plan has traces of victim blaming, Unwin says

Anthony Albanese announced on Wednesday the federal government's $925 million Leaving Violence Program to combat the issue which includes financial aid of up to $5,000 for women escaping a violent or abusive relationship, as well as a crackdown on misogynistic social media content and deepfake pornography.

However, Unwin believes subtle 'onus on women' messaging is present in the plan, which subsequently trickles down to the mentality of the public.

"For example, the Leaving Violence program that they're initiating, why is it that the person who isn't doing the wrong thing has to leave their home and potentially face homelessness?" she asked. "Why do they have to be displaced? Why aren't we removing the offender? It's allowing them to stay in the comfort of their own home and not suffer repercussions."

"It's the kind of phrasing which is being conveyed to broader society... government can lead by showing that we are not victim blaming, that we instead are holding perpetrators to account."

Three changes advocate wants government to make

There are three things Unwin believes the government could enact to significantly combat gendered violence in the country, with all three putting focus on the offenders.

The first is a violent offenders registry, meaning any individual who has committed an offence would be included in a database which the public can search. This would make perpetrators accountable for their actions and give women a tool to make informed decisions.

"I don't know any women that would look up a name and say that there is a history of domestic violence or multiple violent offences against other people, and actively want to be in a relationship [with them]," she said.

Bianca Unwin said putting onus onto women is pushing accountability away from offenders and instead blames victims. Source: TikTok

She also called for ankle monitors to be implemented, meaning individuals who have breached an apprehended violence order (AVO) or are on bail from gendered violence offences would wear one, allowing authorities to track perpetrators.

The third is an educational program to be mandated in schools which would teach all school children about gendered violence, signs of it in a relationship and the consequences associated.

"We want to discourage it [gendered violence] from being the normal. And we want to stamp it out."

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
by Tanya Gazdik , April 30, 2024

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has reportedly dismissed more than 500 employees from the automakers Supercharger network team, as well as additional employees from the new vehicle development program.

Between the repeated layoffs and disinvestment in new products and chargingat a time when its network figures to be under more stress than ever beforeit seems Tesla is preparing for much worse than a temporary EV market downturn," notes The Drive.

Those who were cut include Rebecca Tinucci, senior director of EV charging (overseeing the Supercharger program) and Daniel Ho, director for new vehicles and new product introduction.

Everyone under both executives, which total around 500 people in charging alone, is also reportedly being shown the door, per The Drive. The public policy team formerly headed by departed exec Rohan Patel is also reportedly being dismissed.

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The layoffs were initiated by Musk in an email to senior managers, reports The Information.

Musk is reportedly trying to counterbalance Tesla's sales slumps with "hard-core" job cuts.

Many of those let go posted on social media about the unceremonious dismissal, according toThe New York Times.

Musk has let our entire charging org go, William Navarro Jameson, a senior manager at Teslas charging operation, said on X. What this means for the charging network, NACS, and all the exciting work we were doing across the industry, I dont yet know.

Lane Chaplin, another former Tesla employee, posted about the layoff on LinkedIn.

If you would have told me a month ago that Tesla was a company that would notify people, some with 10-plus years of experience, who helped build the company to what it is today with nothing more than a Dear Employee email in middle of the night, I would have said youre nuts, Chaplin wrote.

The layoffs come two weeks after Tesla said it was firing 14,000 people worldwide. Tesla shares closed about 5% lower on Tuesday afternoon, though they are still up around 13% since Thursday.

The charging network is regarded as a key element in Teslas dominant position in the electric vehicle market, per The New York Times. There were hardly any fast chargers when the company began selling the Model S, its first sedan, in 2012. Tesla built its own network of more than 2,600 fast chargers in the United States. They are often the only chargers in many regions.
by Fern Siegel , May 2, 2024

Grand Marnier, the French liqueur, wants this Cinco de Mayo to have added kick.

Its new digital content series The Rouge Room touts the virtues of Grand Encounters, beginning with Grand Marnier's unique blend of cognac and orange liqueur. Ahead of the May 5 celebration, which recalls Mexicos victory over the Second French Empire, the brand produced another encounter  with hip-hop artist 2 Chainz.

That blend of cognac and orange is pure magic. Its a whole vibe upgrade for your margarita and drink style, said Chainz.

Team Epiphany produced the creative.

The series acts as an ongoing visual space. Different collaborators will be invited to participate.

The campaign runs through September on Grand Marniers U.S. Instagram and Facebook channels and digitally with various CTV partners.

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Teaming up with 2 Chainz for the launch of "The Rouge Room" series allows us to forge deeper connections with consumers seeking new ways to savor and sip Grand Marnier, said Andrea Sengara, vice president of marketing for Campari America. "This series invites consumers to reimagine their cocktail experience.

In addition, the brands Encounters on Road event series will be present at the 2024 Roots Picnic, a summer festival held June 1-2 festivals in Philadelphia.

Last year, Christophe Prat, Campari Groups French icons managing director, told The Spirits Business the company is aiming to make Grand Marnier a "destination drink, meaning a drink where Grand Marnier is the main component and not just an ingredient."

The Grand Margarita is the brand's leading drink, "but there are many other cocktails that Grand Marnier elevates that consumers still need to discover," said Prat. "For example, the Grand Cosmopolitan and the Grand Sidecar."

"The Rouge Room" is accessible at@grandmarnierusa.
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, May 1, 2024

An Amherst University professor on Wednesday sought a court order that would prevent Meta Platforms from suing over a tool designed to enable him to study the impact of Facebook's algorithms on users' health.

The tool, Unfollow Everything 2.0, is a downloadable extension that would allow Facebook users to automatically unfollow friends, groups and pages, and then decide which people or groups to manually follow again.

People who download the tool would be able to opt in to Professor Ethan Zuckerman's proposed study -- which is designed to collect anonymized data in order to study how Facebook's news feed affects users' well-being and behavior.

Zuckerman's attorneys with the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University allege in a complaint filed Wednesday that he hasn't yet released Unfollow Everything 2.0 because Meta previously threatened legal action over an earlier version issued in 2021 by developer Louis Barclay.

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Professor Zuckerman is unwilling to subject himself and his team to the risk of legal action, his counsel alleges in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

He is seeking a declaratory judgment that the tool doesn't violate Facebook's terms of service or anti-hacking laws, and an order prohibiting Meta from suing over the tool.

His complaint includes a claim that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act immunizes him from a lawsuit by Meta. That law has a provision protecting providers of interactive computer services from liability for offering technology that restricts objectionable material.

The purpose of the tool is to allow users who find the news feed objectionable, or who find the specific sequencing of posts within their news feed objectionable, to effectively turn off the feed, his complaint alleges.

The complaint notes that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals previously said Section 230's protections for services that block objectionable material prevented defunct adware company Zango from suing Kaspersky Lab over its anti-adware programs.

Meta previously prevailed on a key legal issue in a battle with analytics company BrandTotal over its downloadable extension -- which collected data from Facebook users who opted in, and who received compensation. U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Spero in San Francisco said in that case that BrandTotal violated Meta's terms of service by using automated means to collect information about consumers.

BrandTotal ultimately settled the dispute.

Unlike Zuckerman, BrandTotal didn't argue that its extension blocked objectionable material, and was therefore protected by Section 230.

Meta hasn't yet responded to MediaPost's request for comment.
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, May 1, 2024

TikTok is urging a federal appellate court to uphold a trial judge's order prohibiting Montana from enforcing a law that would ban the app in the state.

The TikTok ban violates the First Amendment because it shuts down a popular platform for speech used by TikTok Inc. and several hundred thousand Montanans to express themselves and communicate, the company writes in papers filed this week with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The company's papers concern only the ban enacted in Montana.

TikTok separately faces the prospect of a national ban in a year unless it's sold by China-based parent company ByteDance. TikTok is expected to separately challenge the potential country-wide ban.

Montana's law would have prohibited app stores from offering TikTok to users in Montana. The measure, signed last year and originally slated to take effect January 1, 2024, also would have prohibited people from using TikTok in the state (with some exceptions, including for law enforcement).

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The law provided for sanctions starting at $10,000 per violation against TikTok and mobile app marketplaces, but wouldn't have penalized consumers.

Montana lawmakers who passed the bill (SB419) expressed concerns that ByteDance shares data about U.S. users with the Chinese government. The legislature also also accused TikTok of failing to remove dangerous content that allegedly encourages young users to engage in risky activity, such as throwing objects at moving automobiles, inducing unconsciousness through oxygen deprivation, and cooking chicken in NyQuil.

TikTok and a coalition of users challenged the ban, arguing it's unconstitutional for several reasons including that it violated the First Amendment by shutting down a platform that people used to communicate with each other.

TikTok also said there was no evidence the app had been used for espionage on behalf of a foreign government.

U.S. District Court Judge Donald Molloy in Missoula halted the law last year, ruling that it likely violates the First Amendment and represents an unconstitutional attempt to regulate interstate commerce.

He said in a written opinion that the law wasn't narrowly tailored to either preventing China from accessing data about U.S. residents, or protecting minors from accessing dangerous material.

It is well-established that other social media companies, such as Meta, collect similar data as TikTok, and sell that data to undisclosed third parties, which harms consumers, he wrote, adding that foreign adversaries could also obtain consumers' personal information through other means.

Molloy also said the bill wouldn't reasonably prevent minors from accessing dangerous content.

Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen recently asked the 9th Circuit to reverse Molloy's ruling and allow the ban to go into effect, arguing that the law represents a valid attempt to prevent the Chinese government from obtaining people's data.

The statute is a common sense consumer protection regulation designed to eliminate the threat of a known bad actor obtaining and misusing Montanans data, he argued in a written appeal.

TikTok disputes the characterization of the law as a consumer protection measure, but also says the ban is unconstitutional regardless of how it's characterized.

All state laws that regulate speech must face First Amendment scrutiny -- even those meant to protect consumers, the company argues. The TikTok ban is no different.

The company also argues that the law wrongly singles out TikTok, when other companies collect data that could end up in the hands of foreign governments.

Knudsen is expected to respond to TikTok's arguments later this month.
by Teresa Buyikian , May 1, 2024

No one can argue that healthcare professionals haven't gone above and beyond these last few difficult years, especially during the pandemic. And all that hard work and dedication hasnt been lost on Chipotle.

Today the chain announced it would award 100,000 healthcare workers with free burrito e-cards. The cards total over $1 million worth of free Chipotle food.

In honor of National Nurses Week, beginning May 6, through May 10, healthcare workers can sign up to win one of the e-cards at the chains microsite at https://healthcare.chipotle.com. At-random entrants will be selected to receive an email in order to verify their healthcare employment status via ID.me, after which they will receive the e-card. Winners will be contacted directly during the week of May 13.

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"Healthcare professionals have overcome countless challenges in the past several years, continuing to show up and selflessly serve our communities," said Chris Brandt, Chipotle chief brand officer in a release. "We're proud to continue to support these dedicated individuals and want to express our gratitude with a fresh and convenient meal."

Customers can also contribute to medical workers themselves through the purchase of the new Healthcare Heroes E-Gift Card, of which Chipotle will match 10% of purchases to donate to the American Nurses Foundation. The e-card is available at https://www.chipotle.com/nurses-gift through the end of Nurses Week on May 12.

Additionally, customers ordering online and on the Chipotle app can round up their change on their bill to support the American Nurses Foundation also through the end of Nurses Week. The American Nurses Foundation is the nonprofit division of the American Nurses Association, which aims to achieve a healthy world through the power of nursing, per the release.

Over the years Chipotle has given away more than $5 million worth of free food to healthcare workers.
  Trusted Source

Ongoing avian influenza outbreaks in animals pose risk to humans



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Factsheet on A(H5N1)



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A majority of bird flu human infections have been linked to direct contact with infected or ill birds, or their feces, particularly in domestic environments such as wet markets in Asia or backyard farming. #birdflu #mutation #virus #medindia

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What is Avian Flu?

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What Are the Symptoms of Avian Flu?

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Bird Flu (Avian Influenza)



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Possibility of Avian Flu to Transmit to Humans?

Ongoing avian influenza outbreaks in animals pose risk to humans - (https://www.who.int/news/item/12-07-2023-ongoing-avian-influenza-outbreaks-in-animals-pose-risk-to-humans) Factsheet on A(H5N1) - (https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/zoonotic-influenza/facts/factsheet-h5n1) Bird Flu (Avian Influenza) - (https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22401-bird-flu)

The avian influenza A (H5N1) virus, commonly known as bird flu, has been a recurring issue in poultry farms worldwide, with reports of outbreaks in different parts of India as well ().Health experts stated on Monday, April 29, 2024, that although there is currently no documented evidence of continuous transmission of bird flu from humans to humans, the recent mutations of the virus indicate a potential proximity to humans.Wild birds migrating have introduced the virus to poultry farms. Nevertheless, over the past few years, this strain of bird flu, H5N1 , has transitioned to mammals.The H5N1 virus claimed the lives of a significant number of birds in 2023, and also infected otters, sea lions, foxes, dolphins, and seals. Furthermore, it has recently spread to various cattle farms in the United States. In an alarming discovery, health officials in the US detected traces of bird virus in pasteurized milk sold in stores, with approximately 20 percent of initial test samples across the country containing these fragments.Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, co-chairman of the Indian Medical Associations National Covid-19 Task Force, told IANS, This shows that the H5N1 bird flu virus has now adapted for circulating among mammals. It is now able to easily spread from mammal to mammal, rather than having to jump each time from bird to mammal. This shows the virus has made suitable adaptations already. And bird flu virus has moved one step closer to humans,"He further emphasized, there is no record to date of sustained human-to-human transmission. This can only occur if the virus makes more adaptations by mutating. The concern now is the virus has found a new host among cattle, which is always in contact with man," (). Avian influenza , also called Bird Flu or Avian Flu, is a viral infection. It is caused by influenza strains that typically affect wild birds. These strains can also lead to outbreaks in commercial or backyard poultry, and occasionally in other animals.The strain Influenza A(H5N1) is the predominant cause of infecting humans.Avian influenza can lead to respiratory issues in birds like nasal discharge, coughing, and sneezing, as well as symptoms such as diarrhea , lethargy, reduced egg laying, or even sudden death ().In humans, avian flu can lead to symptoms resembling those of influenza, including fever, cough, sore throat , runny nose, and muscle pain. Occasionally, individuals may experience diarrhea and vomiting, and in rare cases, seizures may occur.Last week in Ranchi, Jharkhand, the occurrence of bird flu, a prevalent issue in India, sparked worries about human infections. As a precautionary measure, two doctors and six staff members from the Regional Poultry Farm in Hotwar were placed under quarantine for two days. Nevertheless, the throat swab samples taken from them on April 27 and sent for testing yielded negative results.As per information provided by the World Health Organisation, there have been 873 documented cases of human infection with influenza A (H5N1) and 458 fatalities reported internationally from 2003 to 2023 across 21 countries. Nevertheless, there has been no evidence of continuous human-to-human transmission so far.A biologist, Vinod Scaria, told IANS, Human infection due to avian influenza happens only with close contact with infected animals. Although the risk for human infection is rare, such occurrences come with a high mortality rate,"Dr. Jayadevan said The high mortality rate is because "humans have no prior immune memory for this particular type of influenza virus,".The World Health Organization (WHO) affirms that based on the existing epidemiological and virological evidence, there is no indication that current avian influenza viruses have gained the capability of consistent human-to-human transmission. Nevertheless, the recent incident of transmission to cattle, which allegedly impacted one individual, has brought up new apprehensions.According to genomic analysis, it appears that the spread of this particular strain among the cattle has been occurring without detection for several months, starting from either December or January.Dr. Jayadevan told IANS,The World Health Organization recommends thatScaria told IANS, "Appropriate personal protection while handling infected birds/dead birds or excreta is very important and awareness of this among the public is important,".To become infected, a significant quantity of the virus must come into contact with a person's eyes, nose, or mouth. It is important to note that consuming thoroughly cooked poultry or eggs does not lead to contracting bird flu. It is important to be updated regarding bird flu and implement essential measures to reduce the chances of transmission.Source-Medindia
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Z-Clubs mission and purpose of helping women and children in the community takes different turns every year. Service work done by Z-Members is selected based on need, making change, improving lives for others and advocacy.

The 2023-24 school year warranted celebrating Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports Day in two different elementary schools. In the fall, Z-Club members spent the day at Genesee Elementary School for its PBIS Day. Behind the scenes, Z-Club spent countless hours preparing activities and crafts for each grade level. Some of the activities included: reading stories in conjunction with extension activities, making fun crafts, participating in escape room games, and making a gratitude tree. During all of the aforementioned activities, Z-Club members are exposed to working with younger children, mentoring them, collaborating with their peers and learning valuable life lessons. The day was such a hit with students and staff that Z-Club was asked to join Seward Elementary School for its PBIS Day in the spring!

It is not too often that Z-Club will repeat service work. However, when special organizations impact large amounts of children and high school students are moved by the impact of strong collaboration, they are requested to be repeated!

One of the most fun, past community service projects that the Auburn High School Z-Club completed was building beds for children who do not have any. This partnership was through the nonprofit organization Sleep in Heavenly Peace. All Z-Members were able to participate either through donating bedding or the more enjoyable part, actually building the beds in a workshop! This offered students a choice of different activities to choose from, such as sanding the wood, drilling holes and nails, staining, assembling and then actually delivering the beds. This was the second year that Z-Club helped and will continue to do so because of how greatly it impacts the local community, plus doing that type of work makes them feel unified in making change.

In continuing with its high standards for excellence amongst members, Z-Club will be looking forward to completing its Zonta International service project at the end of the school year. In preparation of that initiative, the Auburn High School Z-Club hosts a pancake breakfast at the local Applebee's restaurant to raise funds for the Zonta International project. Working with hometown businesses is an honor, and their generosity is never taken for granted. During this event, students volunteer to wait on and serve customers, bus tables, clear dishes, meet and greet customers, and make coffee. The pancake breakfast is a great way for Z-Members families to get together and for the public to come and support the work that the club does! It also allows students to do a different type of work, which in turn, gives them a greater appreciation of restaurant workers.

However, no school year is complete for Z-Members without participation in various service work activities that are beyond the required school, community and Zonta International projects. For example, for the last several years, the Z-Club has partnered with the Salvation Army in preparing Thanksgiving meals, helped Community Action Programs Cayuga/Seneca with the Christmas Elf initiative, partnered with Auburn Zonta Club to raise money at the Lake Avenue garage sale, gifted treat boxes to all female staff at Auburn High for International Womens Day, and donated footwear to Joeys Wish, just to name a few things.

The Auburn High School Z-Club is always excited to dedicate its time to worthy causes, and it is only getting more creative in coming up with ways to truly make a difference in as many lives as possible!
The Army said Thursday it is suspending its controversial program that promotes noncommissioned officers before they attend an academy.

The service will suspend the temporary promotions starting in June in one of the most significant changes to its promotion system in recent years, it said in an announcement. The Army will also realign required noncommissioned officer schools, moving each requirement up a rank.

The move comes as the Army grapples with how it promotes its noncommissioned officers, or NCOs. In 2016, it set a standard for completion of those academies before promotion, but soldiers have long struggled to attend the schools, either due to deployments or shortages in open seats.

Read Next: Marine Corps Says Half of Barracks Had Issues, Though Only 118 Marines Moved, After Worldwide Inspection

"This effort requires active engagement across all echelons, and leaders will need to do their best to ensure soldiers are given the time and opportunity to attend all phases of [schooling]," Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Weimer said in a memo to the force.

The realignment in the schools means promotion to staff sergeant requires graduation from the Basic Leader Course, or BLC. Previously, that was a requirement for promotion to sergeant, which now doesn't require schooling.

However, promotion to sergeant major will still require the Sergeants Major Course.

Here are the new schooling requirements:

Promotion to sergeant -- No schooling required

Promotion to staff sergeant -- Requires Basic Leader Course

Promotion to sergeant first class -- Requires Advanced Leader Course

Promotion to master sergeant -- Requires Senior Leader Course

Soldiers recommended for promotion to sergeant who have completed the Basic Leader Course and to staff sergeant who have completed the Advanced Leader Course, or ALC, will be awarded 150 promotion points.

Temporary promotions started in 2022 as the Army struggled to get soldiers into NCO academies with an enormous backlog inflamed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Army has promoted 112,000 NCOs since December 2021, about half of whom were temporary promotions, according to service data.

Previously, soldiers needed schooling for each NCO rank to get promoted. But temporary promotions allowed those troops to get a new rank under the proviso that they attend the relevant school within a year of their promotion, or revert back to their old rank.

The National Guard and reserve have a particularly difficult time with those schools, which can last a month or longer, as part-time troops juggle college or civilian careers. Those service components will put out separate guidance, according to an Army press release.

Meanwhile, Army leaders still want the schools to serve as a centralized checkpoint for NCOs to learn the service's standards, whether that be simple tasks such as marching or learning key policies on military justice, sexual assault prevention, and writing award recommendations.

Instructors for those courses have reported to Military.com that they often teach outdated policy, partly because changing the curriculum is arduous and involves cutting red tape, and the courses generally struggle to keep pace with service doctrine.

In other cases, some instructors interviewed have said they are generally unqualified to teach material the Army has placed a greater importance on, such as nutrition, and that the NCO academies rarely bring in subject-matter experts.

Those efforts run parallel with an overall goal of professionalizing the NCO corps, which has slowly placed a greater emphasis on civilian education such as college and soft skills. Still, Army planners are looking to add more ground combat skills to the schooling, including land navigation at the Basic Leader Course.

Related: Army Has Temporarily Promoted 52,000 Soldiers, But Over 10,000 Still Haven't Completed Required Schooling
WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden on Thursday rejected calls from student protesters to change his approach to the war in Gaza while insisting that order must prevail as college campuses across the country face a wave of violence, outrage and fear.

Dissent is essential for democracy, Biden said at the White House. But dissent must never lead to disorder.

The Democratic president broke days of silence on the protests with his remarks, which followed mounting criticism from Republicans who have tried to turn scenes of unrest into a campaign cudgel. By focusing on a law-and-order message while defending the right to free speech, Biden is grasping for a middle ground on an intensely divisive issue in the middle of his reelection campaign.

He largely sidestepped protesters' demands, which have included ending U.S. support for Israeli military operations. Asked after his remarks whether the demonstrations would prompt him to consider changing course, Biden responded with a simple no.

Biden said that he did not want the National Guard to be deployed to campuses. Some Republicans have called for sending in troops, an idea with a fraught history. Four students were shot and killed at Kent State University by members of the Ohio National Guard during protests over the Vietnam War in 1970.

Tensions on college campuses have been building for days as demonstrators refuse to remove encampments and administrators turn to police to clear them by force, leading to clashes that have seized widespread attention.

Biden said he rejected efforts to use the situation to score political points," calling the situation a moment for clarity.

There's the right to protest, but not the right to cause chaos, Biden said shortly before leaving the White House for a trip to North Carolina. People have the right to get an education, the right to get a degree, the right to walk across campus safely without fear of being attacked.

Biden's last previous public comment on the demonstrations came more than a week ago, when he condemned antisemitic protests and those who dont understand whats going on with the Palestinians.

The White House, which has been peppered with questions by reporters, had gone only slightly further than the president. On Wednesday, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Biden was monitoring the situation closely" and that some demonstrations had stepped over a line that separated free speech from unlawful behavior.

Forcibly taking over a building," such as what happened at Columbia University in New York, "is not peaceful," she said. "Its just not.

Bidens new remarks echoed his approach after the murder of George Floyd by a police officer four years ago, a politically volatile situation in the middle of his campaign against then-President Donald Trump.

I want to make it absolutely clear rioting is not protesting, looting is not protesting, Biden said then in remarks that his team turned into an advertisement. Its lawlessness, plain and simple, and those that do it should be prosecuted.

Biden has never been much for protests of any kind. His career in elected office began as a county official when he was only 28 years old, and hes always espoused the political importance of compromise.

As college campuses convulsed with anger over the Vietnam War in 1968, Biden was in law school at Syracuse University.

Im not big on flak jackets and tie-dyed shirts, he said years later. You know, thats not me.

Despite the White House criticism of violent college protests and Biden's refusal to heed demands to cut off U.S. support for Israel, Republicans blame Democrats for the disorder and have used it as a backdrop for press conferences.

We need the president of the United States to speak to the issue and say this is wrong," House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said on Tuesday. "Whats happening on college campuses right now is wrong.

Johnson visited Columbia University with other members of his caucus last week. House Republicans sparred verbally with protesters while speaking to the media at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.

Trump, who is running for another term as president, also criticized Biden in an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News.

Biden has to do something, he said. Biden is supposed to be the voice of our country, and its certainly not much of a voice. Its a voice that nobodys heard.

He repeated his criticisms on Wednesday during a campaign event in Waukesha, Wisconsin.

The radical extremists and far-left agitators are terrorizing college campuses, as you possibly noticed," Trump said. And Bidens nowhere to be found. He hasnt said anything."

Kate Berner, who served as deputy communications director for Bidens campaign in 2020, said Republicans already had tried the same tactic during protests over Floyd's murder.

People rejected that, she said. They saw that it was just fearmongering. They saw that it wasnt based in reality.

Apart from condemning antisemitism, the White House has been reluctant to directly engage on the issue.

Jean-Pierre repeatedly deflected questions during a briefing on Monday.

Asked whether protesters should be disciplined by their schools, she said universities and colleges make their own decisions and "were not going to weigh in from here.

Pressed on whether police should be called in, she said that's up to the colleges and universities.

Asked on Thursday why Biden chose to speak on the matter after police had arrested protesters at the University of California, Los Angeles and at universities in New York City, Jean-Pierre stressed instead the importance of any protests being nonviolent.

Weve been very consistent here, she said. Americans have the right to peacefully protest as long as its within the law and violence is not protected.

Biden will make his own visit to a college campus on May 19 when hes scheduled to deliver the commencement address at Morehouse University in Atlanta.

Associated Press writer Adriana Gomez Licon in Miami and AP writer Colleen Long and White House Correspondent Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.
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...
ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- A judge declared a mistrial Thursday after a jury said it was deadlocked and could not reach a verdict in the trial of a military contractor accused of contributing to the abuse of detainees at the Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq two decades ago.

The mistrial came in the jury's eighth day of deliberations.

The eight-member civil jury in Alexandria deadlocked on accusations the civilian interrogators who were supplied to the U.S. Army at Abu Ghraib in 2003 and 2004 had conspired with soldiers there to abuse detainees as a means of "softening them up" for questioning.

The trial was the first time a U.S. jury heard claims brought by Abu Ghraib survivors in the 20 years since photos of detainee mistreatment -- accompanied by smiling U.S. soldiers inflicting the abuse -- shocked the world during the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

Reston, Virginia-based CACI had argued that it wasn't complicit in the detainees' abuse. It said that its employees had little to any interaction with the three plaintiffs in the case and that any liability for their mistreatment belonged to the government, not CACI.

The jury sent out a note Wednesday afternoon saying it was deadlocked, and indicating in particular that it was hung up on a legal principle known as the "borrowed Servants" doctrine.

The plaintiffs can seek a retrial.

Asked if they would do so, Baher Azmy with the Center for Constitutional Rights, one of their lawyers, said: "The work we put into this case is a fraction of what they endured as survivors of the horrors of Abu Ghraib, and we want to honor their courage."

During the trial that began April 15, lawyers for the three plaintiffs argued that CACI was liable for their mistreatment even if they couldn't prove that CACI's interrogators were the ones who directly inflicted the abuse.

They argued that the interrogators had entered into a conspiracy with the military police who inflicted the abuse by instructing soldiers to "soften up" detainees for questioning.

The evidence included reports from two retired Army generals, who documented the abuse and concluded that multiple CACI interrogators were complicit in the abuse.

Those reports concluded that one of the interrogators, Steven Stefanowicz, lied to investigators about his conduct, and that he likely instructed soldiers to mistreat detainees and used dogs to intimidate detainees during interrogations.

Stefanowicz testified for CACI at trial through a recorded video deposition and denied mistreating detainees.

CACI officials initially had serious doubts about his ability to work as an interrogator, according to evidence introduced at trial. An email sent by CACI official Tom Howard before the company sent interrogators to Iraq described Stefanowicz as a "NO-GO for filling an interrogator position."

CACI initially sent Stefanowicz over to Iraq not as an interrogator but as a screener, but he testified that the Army -- desperately short of interrogators at a prison with a rapidly expanding population -- promoted him to interrogator within a day of his arrival.

Trial evidence showed that CACI defended the work of another of its interrogators, Dan Johnson, even after the Army sought his dismissal when photos of the Abu Ghraib abuse became public, and one of the photos showed Johnson questioning a detainee in a crouched position that Army investigators determined to be an unauthorized stress position.
A Chinese, state-sponsored hacking group has embedded itself in critical U.S. infrastructure and is waiting to "foment terror" and "societal panic" through cyberattacks -- an effort that military leaders said Tuesday persists undeterred.

Volt Typhoon, according to U.S. law enforcement and military officials, is a Chinese-backed campaign designed to infiltrate software systems, lurking undetected in them to conduct attacks on communications, energy, transportation and emergency services at a "time and place" of its choosing.

The threat has been publicly recognized by U.S. government officials in recent years, but a new urgency about thwarting the campaign has come to the forefront, including a warning this week from the Marine Corps general who heads the U.S. Cyber Command unit tracking the Chinese incursions.

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"We've seen this actor -- China -- grow in scope, scale and sophistication," Maj. Gen. Lorna Mahlock, the commander of the Cyber National Mission Force, a joint unit that deploys globally to track and "neuter" -- as she put it -- enemy capabilities, said Tuesday.

"We've also seen that they're undeterred," she said.

Two weeks ago, FBI Director Chris Wray said that Volt Typhoon is waiting "for just the right moment to deal a devastating blow" to the U.S. He also said that it has successfully infiltrated American infrastructure.

Recent reports from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA, said that the infiltrations have affected information technology, or IT, systems in the U.S. and its territories, including Guam.

"Volt Typhoon's choice of targets and pattern of behavior is not consistent with traditional cyber espionage or intelligence gathering operations," a CISA report from February said. "And the U.S. authoring agencies assess with high confidence that Volt Typhoon actors are pre-positioning themselves on IT networks to enable lateral movement" into operational technology systems.

This week, Mahlock echoed those concerns, adding that the greater cyber community should take these threats seriously and consider her warnings as a "call to action" to better defend against this threat.

She and experts have warned that Volt Typhoon is tied to the Chinese government, something that the Chinese Communist Party has denied. An expert that Military.com spoke to said that, while the exact nature of the relationship is not publicly known, China's government would likely have a "firm grip" on the group's activities, to include providing Volt Typhoon resources to help it lurk in American systems.

"They've been able to launch themselves in dated routers and ... comparatively low-tech tools and instruments," Bill Drexel, a fellow for the technology and national security program at the Center for a New American Security think tank, told Military.com on Wednesday.

"Those are like sleeper cell attacks," he said, adding that the shadowy and nascent aspect of that infiltration might act as a "beachhead to be able to launch larger attacks when the time comes," which could also affect emergency communication systems and interrupt a response in the event of an attack.

The time frame for Volt Typhoon becoming active appears unclear, which is part of the challenge in thwarting it.

Officials and reports have said the campaign has already infiltrated infrastructure, but when an attack would occur -- or if it would be in conjunction with a larger, conventional campaign -- is publicly unknown.

Officials such as Mahlock said that this threat not only could attack infrastructure, but individuals as well -- a prescient reminder of the need for individual cybersecurity in the military. Drexel said that defenses against attacks like that are largely "unsexy."

"Many of the vulnerabilities come from data and systems or an updated software," he said. So-called "living off the land" techniques allow hackers to nest themselves in legitimate software but exploit it for what officials called "illegitimate" purposes, such as attacks on infrastructure.

Mahlock's team employs a combination of what she called "blocking and tackling" -- offensive and defensive techniques, many of which are classified -- as ways to thwart a threat such as Volt Typhoon.

"We find the adversaries doing work forward deployed, and we neuter their capabilities before they can detonate those payloads inside the United States," she said.

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The top leader of the Navy announced Thursday that the service's future amphibious ship, a landing helicopter assault vessel, will be named the USS Helmand Province after an intense, yearslong campaign that characterized some of the deadliest fighting during the war in Afghanistan.

Speaking at the Modern Day Marine exposition in Washington, D.C., Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro described the name for the new America-class ship as "in keeping with naval tradition of naming our Navy's amphibious assault ships after U.S. Marine Corps battles."

"I am honored to announce today that the future LHA-10 will be named the USS Helmand Province, recognizing the bravery and sacrifices of our Marines and our sailors who fought for almost 20 years in the mountains of Afghanistan," Del Toro said.

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Helmand province, situated in southern Afghanistan and long considered a Taliban stronghold by the U.S.-led coalition that invaded the country following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, was the focus of a major military campaign led by roughly 10,000 British troops and 20,000 U.S. Marines from 2009 to 2014, many of whom arrived during President Barack Obama's 2010 troop surge into the country.

More than 350 Marines were killed during those five years of fierce combat in Helmand, with "thousands" more wounded, according to a 2014 Defense Department press release marking the end of the campaign there. In particular, 29 Marines and Navy corpsmen assigned to 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, were killed during their seven-month tour in Helmand's Sangin district, establishing it as one of the bloodiest battlegrounds of the conflict.

In his first major public speaking engagement since returning to duty in March following a cardiac incident in late October, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Eric Smith -- who fought in Helmand in 2011 as the commander of Regimental Combat Team 8 -- told the assembled audience at Modern Day Marine that the province "holds a unique place in the hearts of this generation of Marines."

"From 2009 to 2014, this region was the center of efforts to give stability and security to a troubled land," Smith said. "Helmand province, as many of you know  was not just any theater of war. It was the heart of the opium trade, a Taliban stronghold, and the terrain is rugged and formidable as any. And yet, our Marines and sailors and allies and partners showed what it means to be the tip of the spear."

Smith cited the heroism and valor of several Marines in Helmand to prove his point: Cpl. Kyle Carpenter, who received the Medal of Honor for jumping on a grenade to shield his fellow Marines from the blast; Sgt. Christopher Farias, who received the Navy Cross for disregarding his own injuries during an ambush and exposing himself to enemy fire to repel the assault and cover the evacuation of other casualties; and Cpl. Clifford Wooldridge, who received the Navy Cross and exemplified "undaunted courage under fire" in the face of a Taliban ambush.

Wooldridge "led his fire team to flank the enemy, killing several Taliban fighters at close range, at one point grabbing an enemy fighter's own weapon and beating him to death with it," Smith said.

"That's what Marines do," he said as the crowd, which was made up of current and former Marines, whooped and called out "oo-rah."

The USS Helmand Province will be the second Navy warship named for a Marine Corps campaign from the Global War on Terror. In 2022, Del Toro announced that the future LHA-9 would be called the USS Fallujah in tribute to the First and Second Battles of Fallujah in 2004 during the Iraq War, where Marines experienced their most grueling urban combat since the Vietnam War.

Trish Smith, the commandant's wife, will serve as the sponsor of the ship, Del Toro said.

"A ship sponsor plays a critical role throughout the life of a warship, serving as the bond between the ship, her crew and the nation that they serve," he said. "And I have no doubt that Trish will serve admirably in this role, supporting the Marines and sailors of USS Helmand Province, wherever they may sail around the globe."

Last year, the Navy contracted shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries for $130 million to build the ship, USNI News first reported. It will be the third Flight II America-class amphibious assault ship after the Fallujah and the USS Bougainville, the latter of which was christened in December.

Like the rest of Afghanistan, Helmand province has been controlled by the Taliban since the U.S. military withdrawal from the country in 2021.

Related: The Navy's Naming of its Newest Destroyer Is the Latest Attempt to Honor a Forgotten Black WWII Hero
Tricare beneficiaries in the West Region can expect to have access to a list of network health providers before Nov. 2 and any appointments made this year for after the first of the year will be honored, according to the Defense Health Agency.

TriWest Healthcare Alliance is set to assume management of the Tricare West Region on Jan. 1, affecting roughly 4.5 million beneficiaries in 26 states, including six states currently in the East Region.

According to Defense Health Agency spokesman Peter Graves, TriWest will publish its T-5 West Region Provider Directory online sometime before Nov. 2, and beneficiaries will be able to review it to determine whether their current providers will remain in the Tricare network.

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Graves said it's also likely that providers who have established relationships with their patients will "individually notify beneficiaries if they will remain in the Tricare network" under the next-generation contract, known as T-5.

The Defense Department awarded the new Tricare contracts to TriWest in the expanded West Region and Humana Military in the East Region in December 2022, prompting a series of bid protests and a lawsuit from Health Net Federal Services, the company that currently manages the West Region contract.

The T-5 contracts shift six East Region states to the West Region, including Arkansas, Illinois, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas and Wisconsin. The contracts also promise to offer greater provider network flexibility, improved response times and transfer of specialty care referrals during a permanent change of station move.

Patients have contacted Military.com with concerns over how the change will affect their medical care. Retired Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jim Buehler said that he has appointments scheduled months out for cardiac care and pain management and worried whether his referrals and appointments would be honored when Wisconsin, where he lives, switches regions.

"I've reached out to Tricare East, Tricare West (both the current and future contract holder), and DHA Tricare Admin to find out. ... Nobody I have spoken with seems to be able to address my concern," Buehler wrote in an email. "The doctors I have scheduled book out 6 to 8 months and, if I need new referrals, I will most assuredly lose at least one of my appointments."

Graves said that all appointments scheduled before Dec. 31 for dates after Jan. 1 "will be honored and remain scheduled."

"For beneficiaries living in one of the states that's going from the East Region to the West Region, DHA and Tricare regional contractors have a variety of communications planned throughout the year to explain how the transition will occur and any action they need to take so their Tricare benefits continue seamlessly," Graves said.

A spokesperson for Health Net Federal Services said the company is "fully committed to providing exceptional health care" to patients through the end of the year and has a number of communications campaigns planned with beneficiaries to ensure a good transition.

"Our role and the activities involved in transitioning from T2017 to T-5 are carefully accounted for as part of contracted transition plans, and we will continue to make sure our transition-out activities run smoothly," the company said in a statement.

TriWest did not respond to a request for comment.

Graves encouraged beneficiaries to check the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System, or DEERS, to make sure all beneficiary information is correct.

"This will help ensure they don't miss important communications regarding their Tricare benefit," he said.

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A top lawmaker is demanding answers on whether veterans' private health information was stolen in a cyberattack earlier this year after the company that was hacked acknowledged that a "substantial proportion of people in America" may have had sensitive information taken.

In a letter to UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty that was publicly released Thursday, House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost, R-Ill., demanded the company be more cooperative with the Department of Veterans Affairs and immediately tell the VA whether any veterans' information was stolen in the attack on subsidiary Change Healthcare, or CHC.

"If you are unwilling to do so, I ask that you provide me with a written explanation of why you believe it is in the best interest of veterans or otherwise defensible for CHC to withhold the attestations," Bost added. "The nation is watching."

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In February, Change Healthcare, one of the largest prescription and insurance claims processors in the U.S., was targeted by a ransomware attack that shut down its network. The hack disrupted vast swaths of the health care sector and left pharmacies nationwide scrambling to fill prescriptions manually, including at military health care providers and the VA.

It wasn't until April that military pharmacies said their operations had returned to normal.

The attack has been attributed to a transnational hacking group known as BlackCat/ALPHV, which itself has reportedly claimed to have stolen six terabytes of patient data in the hack.

Last week, UnitedHealth Group, which owns Change Healthcare, acknowledged that "a substantial proportion of people in America" may have had protected health information or personally identifiable information exposed in the hack, though the company stressed it has no evidence doctors' charts or full medical histories are among the stolen data.

"Given the ongoing nature and complexity of the data review, it is likely to take several months of continued analysis before enough information will be available to identify and notify impacted customers and individuals," the company said in a news release.

The hack and UnitedHealth's response have garnered considerable scrutiny in Congress. Witty was called to testify before two congressional panels on Wednesday, where he revealed initial estimates are that about one-third of Americans could have had data compromised in the attack and that hackers entered the system through one server that lacked multifactor authentication.

Multifactor authentication is a basic cybersecurity measure on most computer systems these days that requires users to verify their identity beyond just entering a password, often by entering a code that's emailed or texted.

At a news conference last week, VA Secretary Denis McDonough said that, while the department had "no confirmation" yet that veterans' data was stolen in the hack, it was proactively reaching out to 15 million veterans and family members to alert them about the issue and provide ways to protect themselves from identity theft and fraud. The department also set up a website with information on how veterans can protect themselves.

In a letter to Bost last month, the VA also expressed frustration at UnitedHealth's lack of cooperation with the department.

"On March 28, 2024, CHC informed VA that impact attestations were available, but that CHC would provide those attestations to all customers at a later date," Kurt DelBene, the VA's under secretary for information and technology, wrote in the April 8 letter, a copy of which was obtained by Military.com. "CHC did not provide VA a time frame when we would receive impact attestations. This is indefensible."

DelBene added that "VA remains concerned that we have not received information about what, if any, information was taken in the attack on CHC nor received a timeline when we can expect any such information."

In his letter to Witty, Bost said he finds Change Healthcare's response to the VA "impossible to understand."

"While nearly every institution is the target of cyberattacks, your company's reticence seems to be impeding VA from fully understanding and recovering from this incident," he wrote.

Bost's letter was sent April 18, but the committee did not publicly release it until after the panel had a conversation with UnitedHealth that "did not change our assessment of the situation," a committee spokesperson told Military.com.

A spokesperson for UnitedHealth did not immediately respond to Military.com's request for comment Thursday on the letter or the hack's effect on veterans.

UnitedHealth is offering two years of free credit monitoring services for anyone worried their personal information may be compromised. More information on signing up for the credit monitoring is available here.

Related: Military Pharmacies Return to Full Operation Following Breach by Transnational Hacking Group
The Red Sox have sent reliever Joely Rodriguez outright to Triple-A Worcester, tweets MassLives Chris Cotillo. Boston had designated the left-hander for assignment over the weekend.

Rodriguez signed a minor league deal with the Sox over the offseason. Boston carried him on the Opening Day roster to keep him from opting out and retesting free agency. That didnt work as the team hoped, as he surrendered 12 runs (eight earned) over 11 innings. Rodriguez ran an 11:2 strikeout-to-walk ratio and induced grounders on over 55% of batted balls, but the Red Sox clearly werent overly bullish on his chance to get back on track.

It is the second straight season in which Rodriguez struggled over an 11-inning stint for Boston. Oblique, shoulder and hip injuries kept him to just 11 appearances a year ago. Rodriguez also allowed eight earned runs in that season, which came on the heels of a $2MM major league free agent deal. He divided the 2021-22 seasons between the Rangers and the two New York franchises, combining for a 4.56 ERA across 107 appearances.

Rodriguez has the requisite three years of major league service to decline an outright assignment, but he has not crossed the five-year threshold necessary to retain his salary if he does so. If Rodriguez accepts the assignment, hell join Lucas Luetge as a veteran non-roster southpaw in Worcester. Boston has Brennan Bernardino and Cam Booser in the big league bullpen. They acquired Bailey Horn from the White Sox earlier this week. Hes on the 40-man but was immediately optioned to Worcester and hasnt yet pitched in the big leagues.
Healthcare workers can get free access to a pair of Michigan family destinations later this month.

Sea Life Aquarium and the Legoland Discovery Center in Auburn Hills are offering free entry to healthcare professionals from May 5 to May 19. The offer doesnt include Saturdays.

The offer coincides with Nurses Week, which is May 6-12, and Hospital Week, which is May 12-18. Friends and family who visit with healthcare workers will receive a 25% discount. Tickets must be booked online, and a health care employee ID or recent paystub is required at check-in.

Sea Life Michigan is a 26,000-square-foot aquarium. It is the 7th Sea Life location in the United States, and the 42nd in the world. It features 1,500 creatures, including sharks, stingrays, jellyfish, rescued green sea turtles and, most recently, two Epaulette sharks named Rosie and Riveter.

LEGOland is described as the ultimate indoor LEGO playground where families with children aged 3 to 10 can enjoy a world of creativity, color and building fun. It features Detroit-area landmarks made from millions of LEGO bricks, themed rides, 4D cinema and hands-on building areas.
Before Wells College publicly announced it will close at the end of the spring semester, the Aurora-based institution followed state Education Department protocol by notifying the agency of its closure.

JP O'Hare, a state Education Department spokesperson, told The Citizen that Wells College notified the department of its closure over the weekend. While that fulfills the first step of a process outlined by the state Education Department, it also shows how quickly the college reached the decision to cease operations after 156 years.

Citing a lack of revenue, Wells College officials announced the closure on Monday  the beginning of the final week of classes at the small liberal arts institution. The sudden development has angered students, many of whom need to find a new school to continue their studies. Alumni and community leaders were stunned by the news. Nearly 200 employees will lose their jobs.

According to students who attended a meeting with Wells College President Jonathan Gibralter and members of the college's board of trustees, the decision to close was made Thursday, April 25  less than a month before commencement.

The state Education Department has established a closure protocol for colleges and universities. According to those guidelines, there are several steps for schools to complete, including notifying the deputy commissioner for higher education in writing and copying the director of the Office of College and University Evaluation.

Following notification, the institutions must provide information about the staff who will oversee the closure, have a written plan for an "orderly closure" and discuss pathways for enrolled students to complete their degrees.

Although there are unanswered questions about Wells' closure, including what will happen with the campus and other property in Aurora, the college has announced "teach-out" agreements with Manhattanville University and other institutions, including Le Moyne College in the Syracuse area. These partnerships will allow students to transfer to those schools and continue their education.

The state Education Department has a website with information about college closures  Wells was added this week  that includes details about the teach-out agreements and how students can obtain their transcripts.

"NYSED takes proactive steps to assist colleges and students during college closure transitions and stands ready to work closely with the college in order to minimize the impact on students and identify pathways for graduation in the event of a closure," O'Hare said.
ANN ARBOR, MI - Booksweet is for sale as its owners search for someone new to continue its legacy in Ann Arbor.

Owners Shaun Manning and Truly Render shared in a social media post on Wednesday, May 1, that they are selling the indie bookshop at 1729 Plymouth Road to someone who is interested in a turnkey or full asset purchase of the business.

This is not a decision weve taken lightly, the post stated. Booksweet is so much more than a shop.

The bookshop owners noted personal reasons were behind the decision to end their time with Booksweet. Manning had no further comment to add when MLive/The Ann Arbor News reached out.

As many of you have likely experienced at some point in your lives, sometimes the needs of your family evolve in ways that dont quite fit your career, the post stated. We love the shop deeply and we love our family even more. In fact, we love it all so much that we know when its time to pass the torch.

Manning and Render opened Booksweet in August 2021 after taking over the space from its previous owners, Peter and Megan Blackshear, who ran Bookbound in that location.

Since then, Booksweet has become a spot for readers to check out books and other events near the University of Michigans North Campus.

The owners mentioned in the post that they are eager to provide full training, introductions and comprehensive transition support to the next owner who does decide to take over the shop.

The shop is so ready for you. The community is so ready for you. Its your time to shineand we cant wait to see what happens next, the post stated.

Moving forward, Booksweet will be open from noon to 8 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. Although the decision wasnt easy, the owners wrote that running Booksweet has been the honor and privilege of a lifetime.

We cant thank you enough for all the support youve given us as we nurtured Booksweet into being. And were hoping that youll continue to support the shop, our family, and each other as we lean into the next chapter together, the owners wrote on their website.

Anyone interested in taking over Booksweet should reach out via email to shaun@shopbooksweet.com.

Want more Ann Arbor-area news? Bookmark the local Ann Arbor news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Ann Arbor daily newsletter.
FLINT, MI -- A Flint native and former senior advisor to former Gov. Rick Snyder has filed a notice of his intent to sue the state for malicious prosecution related to the Flint water crisis, saying hes suffered damages of $2.8 million.

Attorneys for Richard Baird filed the notice in the State Court of Claims, a statewide, limited jurisdiction court that hears and determines all civil actions filed against the state of Michigan and its agencies.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI  Charter Communications plans to close a call center at 335 Walker Ave. NW in Walker in late June, a move that will eliminate 240 jobs.

The company made the announcement to the state of Michigan in a WARN Notice, which mandates advance notice of mass layoffs.

This action is expected to be permanent, Charter said in its letter to the state. The entire facility will be closed as a result of this action. As a result of this action, we anticipate that 240 employees will be separated at the Facility commencing on June 28, 2024.

A spokesperson for the company said in a statement that the work being done at the Walker call center will be moved to other locations in the U.S.

As part of our ongoing work to serve customers more efficiently, we are transitioning the work done at our Walker call center to other U.S based centers, effective June 29, 2024, the statement said. These positions will be transitioned into other centers at that time. Affected employees are welcome to apply for any role with the company for which they are qualified.

Numerous positions at the call center will be affected by the closure, including a manager, supervisor, human resources workers, technical specialists. The biggest chunk of workers impacted are 207 residential retention representatives.

Want more Grand Rapids-area news? Bookmark the local Grand Rapids news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Grand Rapids daily newsletter.

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HOLLAND, MI  If youre one of the thousands planning to flock to this years Tulip Time Festival, give yourself some extra travel time as an ongoing road project is sure to cause some delays.

The festivals 95th installment kicks off on Saturday, May 4, in Holland. For those making a trip to the west side of the state, plan for construction.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI  A man was convicted of sex trafficking and other charges involving a teen he met at a Grand Rapids park.

Terrence Clay, 39, of Kent County, was convicted of sex trafficking a child, sexual exploitation of a child and distribution of child pornography after a three-day jury trial in U.S. District Court in Lansing.

He will be sentenced Sept. 17 by Judge Hala Jarbou. He faces up to life in prison.

Clay met the then-16-year-old in early October 2022 at a Grand Rapids park after she ran away from a Kentwood treatment center. He had sex with her multiple times before he ordered her to have sex with others for money, federal prosecutors said.

He had her make a panhandling sign that offered sex acts at specific prices, prosecutors said. He also obtained nude photos of the teen and advertised her online.

When police found her in a library, she was taken to an Upper Peninsula foster home. She told police about Clay.

Clay picked her up without the foster parents being aware, prosecutors said. Police had put a GPS tracking device on his vehicle.

The Mackinac Bridge Authority spotted the vehicle crossing the bridge south and contacted police.

Cheboygan County sheriffs deputies stopped the car. The girl was under a blanket in the back seat. Clay initially denied knowing the girl.

She yelled, He knows who I am, he has been sex trafficking me for weeks, according to a trial brief.

After the verdict, U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said in a statement: Treating his victim like nothing more than property, Terrence Clay repeatedly ordered a minor to sell herself for sex.

He said that multiple police agencies, social-service providers and others will continue our efforts to end the scourge of human trafficking.

Kent County Sheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young said: It is not lost on us the impact these horrible crimes have on victims and our overall community.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Constance Turnbull prosecuted the case.

Among agencies involved in the investigation were Kent County Sheriffs Office, FBI, Kentwood Police Department, Forsythe Police Department, Cheboygan County Sheriffs Office, Tuscarora Township Police Department and Michigan State Police.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood in West Michigan, including resources for children and parents, go to www.justice.gov/usao-wdmi/project-safe-childhood
JACKSON COUNTY, MI  A parole absconder with a warrant for failing to show up to court in Oakland County was arrested in Jackson County when a resident reported suspicious activity in Norvell Township.

Police were called at 9:54 a.m. April 18, to the area of Bettis Road near Ladd Road in Norvell Township for a report of two suspicious men in the area, the Jackson County Sheriffs Office reported on Monday, April 29. The sheriffs office did not elaborate on what the men were doing that was suspicious and did not respond this week to questions.

Deputies located the men and discovered one was a parole absconder wanted by the Michigan Department of Corrections and also wanted by Oakland County law enforcement for failing to appear in court for another criminal case, police said.

Police searched the man after arresting him and found he was carrying suspected heroin and methamphetamine as well as a ski mask and a CO2 pistol, police said. The other man was released.

Although the investigation is ongoing, investigators believe the two men are responsible for several thefts that recently occurred in the area, police said.

The sheriffs office expressed appreciation for the caller who reported the suspicious activity and encouraged others to do the same if they observe anything suspicious.

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KALAMAZOO, MI  Dimis Greek House has quietly opened its doors in downtown Kalamazoo inside what was formerly the JungleBird restaurant, 155 W. Michigan Ave.

While Dimis has been open a few weeks, its gearing up for its grand opening on May 9.

The turnaround was swift, as the space was rebranded away from the Caribbean theme of JungleBird into a Greek restaurant. The location was closed for a little more than three weeks as new consultants and brothers Dimitris and Ilias Korakianitis led the rebranding.

The transition happened really quickly, and I was kind of weary of it, originally, General Manager Falyn Johnson said. But as soon as we got to try the food, all of us just felt strongly that we need to get the door open.

A look inside Dimis Greek House ahead of the grand opening on Thursday, May 9, 2024. Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com

One of the biggest transitions from JungleBird to Dimis was not just the menu itself, but the kitchen.

JungleBird had a Caribbean, South American menu, but none of the chefs were from those areas, Johnson said. The chefs learned from books and YouTube videos on how to prepare those dishes, she said.

I think the big difference here is that Greek chefs came and taught us how to do it, Johnson said. That training is really important. You can read a recipe all day long, but there can be technique that youve never learned and thats cultural.

There were definitely moments on the JungleBird menu that were really excellent, but there were inconsistencies. And with such a huge restaurant, its got to be consistent all the time. So that was a big part of our downfall, I think.

Dimis aims to be more agile than JungleBird, too.

The price point is more approachable than JungleBirds price point was, which was not approachable, Johnson said. And Id like to see everyone in here. I think its family friendly and I can see businessmen and women having meetings  but the same goes for girls night out.

Johnson believes that where JungleBird ran, Dimis will be able to fly  starting with a consistently delicious menu of Greek cuisine.

The Dimis Greek House menu and design is Canadian-Greek, with one other location already thriving in London, Ontario.

A highlight of the new menu is the chicken souvlaki. Its so juicy, its hard to believe its white meat, Johnson said.

The most fun menu item is the traditional Greek dish of saganaki  a range of Greek cheeses fried in a cast iron pan and lit on fire at the table with a shot of ouzo (a Greek liquor).

Thats when everyone yells Opa! Johnson said.

At the grand opening on May 9, Dimis will offer complimentary saganaki.

Besides the saganaki ($15), menu items include garlic shrimp ($18), octopus ($19), spanakopita ($16), a Greek salad ($15), various pita handhelds (chicken, lamb and haloumi, each $16), pastas ($20 to $21), lamb chops ($28 to $38), salmon ($24) and more.

A look at the menu at Dimis Greek House. The Greek House will celebrate its grand opening on Thursday, May 9, 2024 (Photos provided by Dimis Greek House).Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com

Visually, Johnson describes the new look of the restaurant as a blank slate.

There are two bars, including a wooden long top on the first floor, lit warmly to highlight several Greek wines.

Soon, Dimis plans to start a happy hour on Wednesdays, highlighting the four red and white Greek wines on the menu.

I think a lot of people havent had Greek wine. You know, I think about French wines, California wine and Italian wine, Johnson said. Greek wine is great. We just arent really talking about it yet.

The happy hour will offer two glasses for $15.

The second bar is on the smaller, more intimate second floor, overlooking the entire restaurant.

The theme of the restaurant maybe doesnt matter as much because its just a beautiful space ... no matter how you dress it up. The windows and the tall ceilings and that wood wall is never going anywhere, Johnson said  referencing a wall that remained from the JungleBird remodel.

A look inside Dimis Greek House ahead of the grand opening on Thursday, May 9, 2024. Devin Anderson-Torrez | MLive.com

Despite the new look and new energy, the restaurant has familiar faces. Johnson took over JungleBird in summer 2023 and has remained in the same position at Dimis.

Much of the staff has remained as well, a promise made by the new consultants to Johnson.

Like JungleBird, Dimis Greek House is owned by PlazaCorp.

Restaurateur Mark Sellers, who started HopCat and various other restaurants, came up with the concept of JungleBird, but pulled out of the concept about six months ago.

After a year and a half, the location needed something and someone different to drive the brand.

Dimitris is definitely a front-of-the-house guy. He loves wine, cocktails and service, Johnson said. Ilias is a Cordon Bleu-trained chef. So he was in the back of the house and top dog for all his restaurants ... Theyre great to work with for sure.

Dimis is open seven days a week from 4 p.m. to business, which is usually around 10 p.m.

A week after the grand opening, the location will also start serving lunches from Thursday to Sunday.

May 28 will be the first night of Dimis trivia nights. On June 9, Dimis will host Michigan Drag Brunch.

The restaurant is open to book private events, such as weddings and parties, and is hosting a Mothers Day prime rib buffet.

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TITTABAWASSEE TOWNSHIP, MI  During a campaign rally here, Donald Trump was critical of American border security policies, complained about his ongoing criminal trial, revisited 2020 election claims, and discussed his plans to support Michigan manufacturing jobs.

Largely, though, the Republican presidential candidates 75-minute address involved political attacks against his opponent in the 2024 election, President Joe Biden.

Everythings bad, Trump said. The people are going to find crooked Joe Biden guilty of destroying our country.

Thousands of people attended the rally Wednesday, May 1, at MBS International Airport, where Trump returned after hosting a political event there during his 2020 campaign.

This time, the crowd listened as Trump at times portrayed a potential second term for Biden in almost-apocalyptic terms.

I will prevent Word War III, Trump said. Im the only one. We will have peace through strength. Thats what we will have.

He said, under his presidency, Michigan would serve as a manufacturer of a military defense dome that would protect the United States from enemy attacks. He compared it to the iron dome defense system operated by Israel as a protection against missile strikes from neighboring nations.

We are going to build the great iron dome, Trump said, and its going to be made right here.

Ghost of elections past

Trump repeated false, disproven claims the 2020 election was rigged, including in Michigan, where Biden defeated Trump four years ago.

We are going to make sure what happened in 2020 is never going to happen again, Trump said. Well make sure your ballot is secured. Well watch the radical left Democrats like hawks because  I dont like saying this  they cheat like hell.

Trump called on the crowd to ensure his return to the White House.

Everything he touches turns to shit, Trump said of Biden.

He told the crowd, we are the only ones who can stop him.

Trumps endorsement extended beyond his own campaign. He also championed Mike Rogers, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate who spoke briefly at the rally.

Courtroom contempt

Wednesday represented an off-day in court proceedings for Trump who, since early April, has attended a criminal trial in Manhattan. He is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records as part of a scheme to bury stories that he feared could hurt his 2016 campaign.

Trump at the mid-Michigan rally was critical of the charges, calling it a fake trial in a kangaroo courtroom with a corrupt judge.

Trumps arrival in mid-Michigan came one day after he was held in contempt of court and fined $9,000 for repeatedly violating a gag order that barred him from making public statements about witnesses, jurors and some others connected to his New York hush money case.

If he violates the gag order again, New York Judge Juan M. Merchan warned the former president, Trump could be jailed.

What youre witnessing in New York is not a legal proceeding, Trump told the crowd. Its an unlawful exercise, and very stupid and very evil politics. But heres the good news: Its driven the poll numbers higher than weve ever had before.

Driving policy home

Trump warned the Michigan crowd their cars were all going to be made in China under Bidens leadership.

Biden-nomics is flat-out warfare on the American people, Trump said. If Trump wins, the middle class wins, Michigan wins, and America wins. Thats whats going to happen.

Trump was critical of an insane electric vehicle mandate, referring to the Biden administrations policies aimed at increasing sales and production of electric and hybrid vehicles.

Isnt it crazy? He wants everyone to have an electric vehicle, Trump said. Theres a problem: Theyre very expensive and they dont go far.

Trump called his opponent the worst president in history.

Trump also lobbed political attacks toward Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat.

The former president reminded the audience about now-expired, pandemic-era public health policies that Whitmer said were aimed at protecting the spread of COVID-19 after it arrived in the state in March 2020.

You have a terrible governor, Trump told the crowd Wednesday. I hope you know that. Remember COVID? The only one who had any rights was the governors husband.

These are not people we want

Trump addressed another Michigan-specific headline when he talked about national border security issues.

Here in Michigan, your state is being torn up by migrant crime, he said.

Trump echoed a talking point he raised last month at a campaign event in Grand Rapids, where Grand Rapids resident Ruby Garcia was slain allegedly by a Mexican citizen living in the U.S. illegally. Trump on Wednesday referenced the incident before claiming his administration would better target crime from people crossing borders into the U.S.

On day one, we will begin the largest domestic deportation operation in American history, Trump said, inciting cheers from the audience. Theyre coming in by the millions. That means traffickers. That means drug dealers. These are people coming out of prison, out of insane asylums. These are not people we want.

Stagecraft

Trump landed at MBS International Airport via his private jet, nicknamed Trump Force One, when the wheels touched down at 5:31 p.m.

The airport broadcast the Boeing 757s approach on large video screens with a sound system that blared the theme song for Top Gun, followed by the explicit version of Kid Rocks American Bad Ass.

The crowd cheered when Trump  wearing his signature Make America Great Again hat and suit-and-tie attire  exited the plane at 5:51 p.m. and stepped onto the stage.

His address at times veered into humor involving his surroundings. While the weather was sunny and warm Wednesday, a steady wind measuring about 25 miles per hour kept Trumps red tie flapping against the gusts.

By the way, its windy as hell, Trump said. Man. Can you imagine if Biden was up here, with the teleprompters? If I blow off the stage, Ill be right back. I promise.

He also paused his policy-based talking points when attendees chanted his last name on more than one occasion.

What a crowd, Trump responded once.

He exited the stage at 7:05 p.m., and his jets wheels lifted from MBS International Airports runway at 7:31 p.m.

Trumps visit to mid-Michigan represented his second political rally of the day. Earlier in the afternoon, he addressed another crowd in Waukesha, Wisconsin.

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UPDATE: Everythings bad, Trump tells Michigan rally, offering policy solutions

TITTABAWASSEE TOWNSHIP, MI  Donna Eiden doesnt always remember what variety of breakfast food she empties into the big, blue, empty boxes with the Trump Cereal brand accompanying an image of the former president, but she knows it always catches eyes at his political rallies.

And she would know what catches eyes at Trump rallies. The Philadelphia native has driven her camper-turned-Trump-merchandise station to more than 100 of these events in 42 states since the Republican candidate first pursued the nations top political post.

She and her RV were present Wednesday, May 1, for a rally at MBS International Airport in Tittabawassee Township, where thousands of people gathered to hear Trump pitch a second four-year term in the White House during an address scheduled for 6 p.m.

Decked out heavy in Trump-supporting attire, she and many people in the crowd appeared already sold on the ex-presidents pitch. Some of them waited hours in a sprawling line to gain entrance to the mid-Michigan hangar where Trump was due to appear.

He keeps saying the same stuff  for peace, Eiden said, explaining why Trump receives such fervent adoration from his base of supporters. Peace in the world. Thats really it.

Despite Trumps status as a polarizing, divisive political figure, few  if any  opponents appeared present at the rally in the hours leading up to Trumps scheduled appearance.

Instead, it was a scene largely featuring a sea of people wearing red hats emblazoned with Make America Great Again, the former presidents signature campaign slogan.

Organizers began preparing the venues setup earlier this week. By the evening before the rally, a corner of the airport was set up with vendors  including Eidens RV  ready to sell Trump-branded items. Above those columns of sales stations, the wind whipped dozens of flags featuring a variety of messages expressing support for the GOP candidate and his policies.

Trump 2024, one message read. Others:

Women For Trump. God, Guns and Guts Made America: Lets Keep All Three.

One flag showed Trumps head on the body of what appeared to be the action movie character, Rambo, holding a bazooka. Trump: No Man, No Woman, No Commie Can Stump Him, that one read.

In a parking lot outside the hangar, one supporter amped up a trucks stereo system, sending its sound booming across the crowd still waiting to enter the hangar. The playlist was almost exclusively songs expressing support for Trump. One of the tunes was set to the rhythm of Billy Idols Mony Mony, with some substantial lyrical deviation from the original 1982 Billboard hit.

I love you Trump, Trump, Trump, ooooh; I love you Trump, Trump, Trump, ooooh, the chorus repeated.

For Rob Marley, a Clinton Township resident, the MBS International Airport event was his first Trump rally since attending the then-presidents political gatherings in 2020.

While initially skeptical of Trump when the then-reality TV game show host first announced his candidacy eight years ago, Marley said he gravitated to the candidate by the time he voted for Trump in November 2016.

Hes proven himself so far, in my book, Marley said. Ive been voting for him ever since, and Ill be at the polls again in 2024, this year, for sure.

Marley and other attendees shuffled single-file through Secret Service checkpoints and metal detector gates before entering the hangar. Once they entered the hangar, they were moved to a series of bleachers  clad in American flags as well as red, white and blue-striped banners  just outside the hangars airplane-sized door.

As the afternoon progressed, attendees faced the sun as temperatures hovered above 70 degrees. Some grasped their hats, protecting them against a steady wind measuring about 25 miles per hour.

Non-modified pop music played, including Whitney Houstons I Wanna Dance With Somebody, Survivors Eye of the Tiger and Luke Combs Forever After All.

At about 4 p.m., a series of state political figures began addressing the crowd on mic, echoing talking points common to Trump and his surrogates.

Pete Hoekstra, chairman of the Michigan Republic Party, was the first speaker.

Thank you for coming here and supporting the next president, Hoekstra told the crowd. We need to make sure our votes are counted fairly. When we have election integrity, we will win. On Nov. 6, we will send a clear message  not only to America, but also to the rest of the world  that America is back.

When Hoekstra criticized Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer  a Democrat and vocal opponent of Trump  the crowd booed in unison. Then Hoekstra led them in a Christian prayer.

Other GOP figures spoke, too, including Tudor Dixon, the failed GOP candidate for Michigan governor in 2022; Mike Rogers, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Michigan this year; and Matt Hall, the state House minority leader from Kalamazoo.

Help is on the way, Hall repeated to the crowd. Were going to win with Donald Trump in Michigan.

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Law & Order: SVU and Law & Order: OC air Thursday, May 2, from 9-11 p.m. ET on NBC. It is an off week for Law & Order. You can watch each new episode for free with trials from Fubo and DIRECTV Stream. They are also available for next-day streaming on Peacock.

About the shows:

This popular franchise, made up of Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Organized Crime, follows prosecutors and two NYPD units. Join investigators working in the New York City justice system in their professional and personal lives. Watch the shows back-to-back tonight, May 2, starting at 9/8c on NBC.

These are the episode details for tonight, per NBCs schedule:

Law & Order: SVU at 9/8c

A runaway bride calls the SVU for help on her wedding day.

Law & Order: OC at 10/9c

The team discovers the identity of their top target.

Where to watch:







Law & Order: SVU cast:









Law & Order: OC cast:
CANBERRAAs part of its efforts to combat gender-based violence against women, the government of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced funding to test age verification for pornography websites in a pilot program. This move came after Albanese and the national cabinet ruled in 2023 that mandatory age verification was not yet an option.

It is worth emphasizing that this is a trial period of age assurance technology. AUS $6.5 million was appropriated for a pilot of age assurance to test the technology's effectiveness.

"The pilot will identify available age assurance products and assess their efficacy, including in relation to privacy and security," said Michelle Rowland, minister for communications, during a press conference in Sydney on May 1. "The outcomes of this pilot will support the eSafety Commissioners' ongoing regulatory work to implement codes or standards under the Online Safety Act to reduce children's exposure to inappropriate content, and that includes online pornography."

The pilot program is presented as a building block on the online safety roadmap mandated by the 2021 Online Safety Act. AVN reported in 2023 that Australia opted not to legislate the requirement that all pornography websites in the country's digital space verify the age of their users without feedback from all stakeholdersespecially all private sector entities.

Rowland added that feedback from private sector entities will inform a code of conduct and industry-wide standards for online safety and age-appropriate design.

"ESafety is already well engaged in discussions with representatives of all eight sections of the online industry in Australia, including Digi and Comms Alliance, about the scope and outcomes relevant to the next phase of mandatory industry codes," she said. "The eSafety Commissioner sees benefits in having the trial run in parallel with the codes development process, which eSafety expects to conclude as soon as possible."

Peter Dutton, leader of the opposition in the Australian Parliament, announced in November his support for mandatory age verification laws for access to adult websites.

AVN reported on eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant being tasked with enforcing the Online Safety Act of 2021the focal point of a "roadmap for age verification" adopted by the Aussie governmentthrough reasonable steps that won't comprise users' privacy and information security, and with input from industry stakeholders on a code for online safety.
A clump of thunderstorms is erupting over Lake Michigan, northern Illinois, northern Indiana and southwest Lower Michigan. These thunderstorms could have severe weather associated with them.

Here is the always updated radar showing an explosion of thunderstorms over Lake Michigan in the five oclock hour.

Here is the radar forecast, which is the best visualization for you to see where the strong storms track.

Radar forecast from 5 p.m. today to 8 a.m. Friday.NOAA

It looks like a stormy evening and overnight is shaping up for southwest Lower Michigan. The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) has southwest Lower Michigan in an area of a small chance of damaging wind gusts. Here is the current SPC severe wind gust forecast.

Severe wind gust chance is ranked at a low five percent tonight and Friday morning.SPC

As the thunderstorms move into southwest Lower from Illinois, Muskegon, Holland, the Grand Rapids area, Kalamazoo, Saugatuck and Benton Harbor could have a burst of severe storms. The result could be a brief 60 mph wind gust and a brief period of one-inch diameter hail.

A larger look shows this evenings thunderstorms lose their punch as they move into eastern Lower Michigan overnight.

Radar forecast from 5 p.m. today to 8 a.m. Friday.NOAA

With showers all around Michigan Friday morning the rain should kill off any instability needed for severe thunderstorms. Friday should just have showers and light thundershowers.

For southwest Lower Michigan you may have a couple of rounds of noise with thunder and wind tonight as these thunderstorms roll through your area. Take cover inside your home as these thunderstorms roll through.
LOS ANGELESThe California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement has ruled in favor of adult performer Nicole Doshi in a contract dispute filed against defunct talent agency Motley Models and former agency owner Dave Rock.

Casey Raymond, the hearing officer, ordered all contracts and arrangements between Motley, Rock and Doshi to be voided and terminated.

Rock and Motley are ordered to reimburse Doshi $25,875 in commissions paid to the agency, $10,850 for booking fees and added interest, $16,208 in attorney fees, and $261.24 in other costs. The ruling was ordered on April 30, 2024.

Doshi was in an exclusive contract with Motley Models but later accused Rock of violating the contract. At issue was a dispute over booking fees that Doshis attorney alleged were not approved parts of the contract and violated the Talent Agency Act.

Attorney Allan B. Gelbard of Encino represented Doshi and provided a copy of the final decision to AVN.

The Labor Commission has now taken a definitive stance on the booking fees issue, finding them unlawful and a conflict of interest (as weve argued for years), Gelbard told AVN. "Agents also can't use non-approved additions to their approved artists' contracts. Its a very performer-protective decision, which the Talent Agency Act clearly requires.

The Talent Agency Act governs every component of an agency contract, regardless of the type of performer.

The act also includes provisions to grant talent recourse to file contract complaints with the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, which is also referred to as the Labor Commissioners Office.

Attorney Richard Freeman represented Motley. In a phone call, he told AVN that he strenuously disagrees with the hearing officer's decision and determination.

One of the linchpins of the decision is with regard to the booking fees that have historically been charged and collected by the talent agents, and for which there has been great inconsistency from the labor commissioner's office in how to treat those, Freeman said. There has been no judicial determination on the validity of the booking fees, it's all been internal decisions from the Labor Commissioner's Office."

AVN reached out to attorney Michael Fattorosi for an outside party perspective.

After reviewing the decision document, Fattorosi explained: "I have always felt that agents charging booking fees to producers or 'double-dipping' was a conflict of interest and in violation [of the law]. This case provides further clarity in that regard. Agents in California will now have to review their talent contracts to ensure that going forward they will not be in violation.

Peter Warren contributed to this story.
LONDONOfcom, the United Kingdom's communications regulator, today announced an investigation into London-based Fenix International Limited, the parent company of OnlyFans.com. Citing the Online Safety Act's age verification requirements, Ofcom said that Fenix may have failed to meet the regulatory burden to prevent minors from viewing age-restricted content.

"[W]e have grounds to suspect the platform did not implement its age verification measures in such a way as to sufficiently protect under-18s from pornographic material," Ofcom said in a press statement. According to the agency, Fenix provided submissions covering the platform's rollout of age verification protocols after an official request from Ofcom officials.

However, Ofcom said it is investigating whether "OnlyFans failed to comply with its duties to provide complete and accurate information in response to these statutory requests."

An enforcement bulletin published by Ofcom today notes that "[t]he available evidence suggests that the information provided by OnlyFans in response ... may not have been complete and accurate and that the age assurance measures it had taken may not have been implemented in such a way as to protect under-18s from restricted material."

Ofcom expects to conclude its investigation by August 2024. Under the Online Safety Act, Ofcom was empowered to enforce age verification requirements for all web platforms that are based in the United Kingdom or have a large user base. OnlyFans is one of the largest premium social networks in the world, with millions of users and over 2 million content creators.

Age verification provider Yoti publishes marketing collateral featuring OnlyFans as a corporate customer of its age assurance products. A 2023 case study published on Yoti's corporate website featured comments by Fenix-OnlyFans chief executive officer Keily Blair touting the company's protocol to overhaul online child safety on the internet.

"Ensuring our users are over 18 is a priority for OnlyFans and an important element of protecting our community," Blair said in the case study. "We work with Yoti because their market-leading age assurance technology provides the right balance between accurately assessing users ages and respecting their privacy.
NEVADADuring the month of May, Madam Bella Cummins, proprietor of the legal brothel Bella's Hacienda Ranch, is offering half-priced services to adult virgin males over the age of 21 to foster sexual wellness. Cummins will honor the discount for any virgin man who presents a letter from his psychiatrist, psychologist, or licensed therapist stating that the virgin experiences distress due to his sexual situation. This initiative aims to alleviate the anxiety-inducing condition of adult virginity and raise awareness about the stigmatizing issue.

Said Cummins, "Adult virginity is far more common than most people might expect. According to surveys conducted within the past ten years, over half of adults aged 18 to 24 and 18 percent of those aged 25 to 29 are still virgins. That means nearly six million people in the U.S. aged 25 to 29 are adult virgins. If even half of them are not virgins by choice, we have literally millions of adults, many of them being men, struggling to have their first sexual encounter. Thats a veritable epidemic of adult virginity."

Cummins added, "The stress and anxiety adult virgins suffer as a result of their inability to manifest their first sexual encounter can be significant and debilitating. In my 38 years as a brothel owner, Ive seen thousands of adult virgins enter my establishment dejected and despairing. In today's world, where more and more men are raised in a culture dominated by apps and socially isolating technology, navigating social situations becomes increasingly challenging for them. It's crucial to provide a safe and private environment where virgin men can receive guidance through their first sexual experience and enjoy a pressure-free setting that will help prepare them for a healthy sexual future. My licensed brothel offers precisely such an environment."

Cummins understands that there is no medical way to physically prove that a man is a virgin, so she is asking that the virgins mental health professional provide a letter validating the gentlemans troubled condition. Cummins brothel prioritizes client privacy and maintains strict discretion in its operations.

Cummins also noted that, in a legal brothel, adult virgins dont have to worry about contracting sexually transmitted diseases because the courtesans operating out of Bellas Hacienda are tested weekly for gonorrhea and chlamydia, and monthly for HIV and syphilis. Condoms are also mandatory for all sexual acts. These legal safeguards ensure that all customers can enjoy a worry-free and healthy experience.

Cummins concluded, "The safest place for an adult virgin to experience sex for the first time is in the stress-free environment of a legal brothel, where compassionate and nonjudgmental sex workers offer empathy and intimacy to individuals who may require an intermediary step before integrating into the sexually active community. Its my hope that this offer helps many more men enjoy an untroubled and memorable sexual debut."

Since the early 1970s, Nevada has been the only state in the U.S. to legalize prostitution in the form of licensed and regulated brothels.

Cummins also founded the Onesta Foundation, a nonprofit organization with a mission to support Nevada sex workers and advocate for prostitution legalization throughout the United States. More on the Onesta Foundation can be found here onestafoundation.org.
Photo credit: The Stephen A. Smith Show

Stephen A. Smith bet on himself, knowing the success of his podcast and production company is the best path to the money and relevancy he seeks.

Smith was profiled by Ben Strauss in The Washington Post this week. Inside the feature, ESPNs foremost personality discussed his desire to be even more relevant than he already is, and earn even more money than he already does. To advance those aspirations, Smith launched his podcast Know Mercy in 2022, rebranding it as The Stephen A. Smith Show and moving it into a new state of the art television studio last year, that he built.

According to the WAPO feature, Smith spent more than $1.5 million of his own money here, renting the space and buying equipment to build a studio for his podcast and YouTube show. Launching the show though his production company, Mr. SAS Productions, Smiths podcast requires a staff of 15 employees who work to produce three episodes a week from his New Jersey studio.

Earlier this year, Smith spoke about the investment he made in his podcast during an appearance on The Howard Stern Show. Stern noted Smith previously called him to discuss the new TV studio he was building with his own money.

That takes some balls. How much money does it cost? Stern asked. That looks like a state of the art television studio and you put up your own money.

Close to $2 million, Smith answered, prompting Stern to ask whether people advised him to find someone else who was willing to put up the money instead of making that massive investment himself.

Yeah, Smith told Stern during the January interview. For me personally, it was just very, very important to me to establish a level of independence And for me to have my own studio, to be able to build and make the kind of investment in myself, it was a statement per se, just in my mind, that Im moving on up and I have future aspirations that extend far beyond the corridors of ESPN and I wanted to send that message and I wanted the world to know that.

The profile by Strauss furthered those aspirations, writing Smiths goal is More audience, more clout, more money, citing his frequent appearances on cable news networks as examples of growing his brand. A brand that Smith hopes will remain on ESPN when his contract expires next year, but only if theyre willing to make him the networks highest-paid talent.

You look at my contemporaries and their ratings compared to my ratings, Smith said in response to Strauss asking about his desire to be ESPNs highest-paid personality. Why ask me when everything  metrically, analytically  says that I should be?

[The Washington Post]
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A view of Chinese carmaker BYD's assembly line of new energy vehicles in Zhengzhou, Henan province. [Photo/Xinhua]

Global Times-US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen recently reiterated in an interview with Reuters the "overcapacity" in China, claiming that the so-called overcapacity in China is not only a problem faced by the US, but also by Europe, Japan, India and Mexico. This kind of rhetoric has been popular in the US for some time, with American politicians and public opinion repeatedly hyping up the concept, accusing China of dumping green products such as new energy vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaic products overseas at low prices, and portraying this situation as a "global threat." However, discerning individuals can see that this is not a very clever tactic of politicization and pan-securitized, but instead revealing some real situations in the development of the world's green industry and high-quality production capacity.

It is well known that overcapacity is relative to the demand. From a global perspective, there is actually no overcapacity in the green industry. The reason why the green industry is thriving lies in the breakthrough in related technologies. Technological breakthroughs often ignite emerging industries, manifested by strong market demand for new products. According to the International Energy Agency, the global demand for new energy vehicles in 2030 will reach 45 million units, which is 4.5 times that of 2022, and at the same time, the global demand for new photovoltaic installations will reach 820 gigawatts, which is about 4 times that of 2022. It's clear that the new energy industry is booming, with huge market potential yet to be tapped. Green production capacity development has just started, far from saturation, so where is the "overcapacity" coming from?

Some people in the US are hyping up the so-called overcapacity in China with the real purpose of suppressing the development of China's emerging industries and of maintaining its long-standing monopoly position in the global industrial chain through unfair means. Yellen attributed the bankruptcy of US' solar companies to Chinese suppliers lowering prices in the interview. Although the attribution was wrong, it also exposed the real intention. It is not difficult to see that the so-called overcapacity rhetoric in China's new energy industry is nothing more than a copy of the "America First." In the eyes of the US, the rapid development of China's green industry challenges the strength and status of the US, and China's competitiveness is "translated" into a "security threat" to the world (the US). It can be seen that the excess is not China's production capacity, but US' anxiety.

In fact, facing the insufficient and unbalanced development of high-quality green production capacity in the world, China is taking a path of win-win cooperation - "Appreciate the values of others as do to one's own, and the world will become a harmonious whole." While actively developing its domestic green industry, China is also actively engaging in practical cross-border cooperation in high-quality production capacity, providing international public goods, helping developing countries accelerate the process of industrialization, and promoting the efficient, clean, and diversified transformation of energy.

Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, said that "China's provision of services and support to other countries has significantly improved the accessibility of clean energy technologies and reduced the global cost of using green technologies." China's green development not only benefits consumers but also enables developing countries to benefit from cooperation with China in production capacity, especially by promoting energy freedom for low-income populations in developing countries.

In contrast, the US could have worked together with China to jointly seize the opportunities brought by the development of the green industry and address the challenges of insufficient demand for high-quality production capacity. Regrettably, the US chose to wave the "big stick" at China, viewing China's new energy industry with a zero-sum game mentality and attributing real problems to the wrong causes. Currently, the main reason for the insufficient development of the world's green industry and the uneven distribution of high-quality production capacity is the asynchronous development and application of green technology in various countries, inconsistent capabilities, and uncoordinated interests, yet the US deliberately uses the "China threat" to explain everything, trying to solve problems by containing China. However, it is the smearing and suppression of China by the US that hinders the transnational diffusion of technology and the global flow of production capacity. The answer to who is the initiator of the global production capacity problem is clear.

With a shortage of high-quality production capacity, the world needs more cooperation. Taking wind power as an example, by 2023, the global new wind turbine installed capacity will reach 117 gigawatts, a 50 percent increase year-on-year, with the main contribution coming from China. The US, on the other hand, has encountered bottlenecks due to inadequate government policy support, insufficient investment in the supply chain, and difficulties in project implementation. However, even as China grows rapidly, there is a huge gap in global wind power, especially offshore wind power. The goal of actions by various countries should be to jointly improve competitiveness, reduce costs of technology, logistics, labor, raw materials, and transportation through supply chain cooperation, rather than baselessly accusing and shifting contradictions to countries with advantageous production capacity, and, more importantly, not bind new energy industries with protectionism and weaken the global capacity to address climate change.

Of course, no matter how the US smears China, the green industry is always the trend of world economic development, and it is also the key choice for humanity to address the challenge of climate change. Shifting contradictions, smearing and suppressing, and decoupling will only lead to a "lose-lose" situation.

Green industries and high-quality production capacity should not become a battlefield of the zero-sum game. Hyping up "China's new energy overcapacity" is not only detrimental to the transformation and upgrading of domestic industries, but also does not help alleviate international production capacity conflicts. In this sense, the voices and forces behind the hype of "China's new energy overcapacity" are the ones creating problems, as well as the real threats to the world.
 [  ]  2024-05-01 20:21:50 .

This is a very hard one to me. If I do of this song I probably will fail most. Still I made a few blanks to fill. Try if you have time to spare. Don't be frustrated in case by the Scottish English, like me, enjoy the music nonetheless. It should not be easy even to native English speakers of non Scottish culture. Here is the story : " The song is about 2 imprisoned soldiers in England, one was to be beheaded, the other was sent back to Scotland as a free man. This is why the song goes, "you take the high road and I'll take the low", the low road is what we call being dead sometimes. The high road is over the hills. Then the next line is "and I'll be in Scotland before you" meaning he's going to be in heaven/Scotland. Its about the battle of Culloden in the 1700s. We sing it at weddings, funerals and any chance we can at parties. It's to let the English and the rest of the world know that we will always be free as long as we have Scotland in our hearts." The Bonnie banks of Loch Lomond-------Ella Roberts

By (1) bonnie banks and by (1) bonnie braes

Where the sun shines bright on Loch Lomond

Where me and my true love will never meet again

On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond

O you take the high road, and I'll take the low road

And I'll be in Scotland (2)(3)

But me and my true love will never meet again

On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond

'Twas there that we parted, in yon shady glen

On the steep, steep side of Ben Lomond

Where in soft purple hue, the hieland hills we view

And the moon coming out in the gloaming

O you take the high road, and I'll take the low road

And I'll be in Scotland (2) (3)

But me and my true love will never meet again

On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond

The wee bird sing and the wildflowers spring

And in sunshine the waters are sleeping

But the broken heart it (4), (5) second spring again

Though the woeful may cease from their grieving

O you take the high road, and I'll take the low road

And I'll be in Scotland (2)(3)

But me and my true love will never meet again

On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond In case searching new words in this song, checking their Scottish meaning. Here is Peter Hollens' Acapella rendition. Enjoy one more time. Peter's version comes with lyrics caption
The young actors from the Acting Up program at the Beatrice Community Players will be taking the stage this weekend performing Einsteins Brains.

Associate Artistic Director Noelle McVicar said the play is a sci-fi-inspired production.

Its about the worlds worst pizza delivery boy who makes his most important delivery of Einsteins brains ... when a mad scientist tasks him and his talking dog, Swamp Thing, with transporting the German genius brain to a college in Berkeley where it can properly studied.

The Acting Up program is made up of approximately 28 youths between fifth and eighth grades.

A lot of the characters are made up from their imagination. The kids had to get really creative, she said.

Isaiah Bigley is playing Einsteins brain. He said he had fun being involved in the play.

Swamp Thing is played by Moonshine Kaufman.

Im a talking dog, she said. Ive had fun with the character.

Kadence Clark plays Otto  the pizza delivery boy.

This is my first main role, she said. Its been fun.

The summer youth program is for youth 8-16. They will be doing Cats Youth Actors Edition. Rehearsals will be at the end of May with the play being held in July.

Tickets are available for Einsteins Brains for $15 at beatricecommunityplayers.com. It will be performed on Frida and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The Sunday performance will be a matinee at 2 p.m.
A woman killed after a hit-and-run crash in Billings on Tuesday has been identified, but authorities are still searching for the vehicle suspected of hitting her.

Faye Violet Faith Enick, 55, died of blunt impact injuries, Yellowstone County Deputy Coroner Rich Hoffman told the Gazette on Thursday. Montana Highway Patrol has been assigned to investigate the fatality and is asking the public for assistance in finding a maroon Dodge Durango suspected of hitting Enick.

Enick was walking on Haugen Street late Tuesday night near Yellowstone County Detention Facility when a vehicle traveling west on King Avenue East struck her, according to preliminary details release by MHP. After the collision, the driver of the vehicle turned around and drove away toward Sugar Avenue. Emergency crews transported Enick to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead.

While troopers investigating the crash have yet to identify a suspect, speeding and intoxication are suspected to be contributing factors.

Roughly 12 hours after the crash, MHP announced via social media the make and model of the SUV suspected to have killed Enick. Troopers are looking for an early 2000s maroon Dodge Durango that has a black grill and damage to its front end. Anyone with information regarding the suspected Dodge Durango or Tuesdays fatal crash can reach MHPs communications center at 406-841-7022.

Prior to Tuesday, there were five fatalities across Montana over the weekend. At least 50 people have died on the states roads so far in 2024, five of them pedestrians. Deaths related to auto crashes are slightly up this year when compared to fatalities in the state at around this same time in 2023.

Last month, Yellowstone County prosecutors filed criminal charges against a woman accused of fatally striking a pedestrian near Laurel. Amber Dawn Walter allegedly hit Kassi McColley while at the wheel of an SUV in late January 2024. McColley's body was found days later to the east of Laurel near Interstate 90.
A list of mass killings in the United States this year View Photo

The latest mass killing in the U.S. happened Saturday in Birmingham, Alabama, where four people were killed and more than a dozen injured outside a nightspot in what police described as a targeted hit by multiple shooters.

It was the countrys 31st mass killing this year, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.

The Birmingham shooting occurred on the sidewalk and street outside Hush, a lounge in the Five Points South district. Police Chief Scott Thurmond said authorities believe the shooting targeted one of the people who was killed, possibly in a murder-for-hire. A vehicle pulled up and multiple shooters got out and began firing, then fled, he said. Investigators were trying to determine whether anyone fired back, creating crossfire.

At least 135 people have died this year in mass killings, which are defined as incidents in which four or more people die within a 24-hour period, not including the killer  the same definition used by the FBI.

Last year ended with 217 deaths from 42 mass killings in the U.S., making 2023 one of the deadliest years on record.

Here is a look at other U.S. mass killings this year:

WINDER, GEORGIA: Sept. 4

Two students and two teachers were killed at Apalachee High School northeast of Atlanta, and another teacher and eight other students were injured. A 14-year-old student has been charged as an adult with murder. Authorities also charged his father with involuntary manslaughter, second-degree murder and cruelty to children, saying he gave his son access to the rifle used in the shootings.

FOREST PARK, ILLINOIS: Sept. 2

Four people sleeping on a Chicago-area train were fatally shot on Labor Day morning. Police were called to a Chicago Transit Authority station just outside the city. A 30-year-old man was arrested. The victims were a woman and three men. A motive wasnt immediately disclosed.

IRONDEQUOIT, NEW YORK.: Aug. 31

Four people were found dead after firefighters extinguished multiple blazes at a home in upstate New York, though authorities said they likely were killed by something else. Firefighters found the bodies of two adults, a 2-year-old boy and a 4-year-old girl.

SYOSSET, NEW YORK: Aug. 25

Police said a man distraught that he was being forced to move from his late mothers home shot and killed four family members before taking his own life. The shooting occurred three days after his mothers funeral.

DALTON, GEORGIA: Aug. 24

Four males, ages 17 to 21, were shot to death at a park. A teenager was charged with murder in what police said was a robbery that turned violent. Multiple weapons were involved.

PLANT CITY, FLORIDA: July 31

Police said an intentional fire killed four people near Tampa. A 25-year-old man who lived in the house was charged with murder while engaged in arson. Three dogs also died.

NEW YORK CITY: July 19

A grandmother, a mother and her two children, ages 5 and 4, were fatally stabbed at an apartment in Brooklyn. A 24-year-old man who knew the four was arrested.

WEST BLOCTON, ALABAMA: July 18

A man was charged with killing his wife and four children, ages 2 to 9, in a rural community in Bibb County. The man didnt say anything about a motive when taken into custody. Even seasoned officers told me it is the worst thing theyve ever seen, Sheriff Jody Wade said.

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA: July 13

The victims were shot at a nightclub. One man died on a sidewalk while two women were killed inside the club. Another man was pronounced dead at a hospital. Investigators believed some shots were fired from outside the club.

ALAMEDA, CALIFORNIA: July 10

Police arrested a man in the shootings of his wife, two children and his wifes parents in the San Francisco Bay area. The mans father-in-law went to a neighbor for help and spoke to police before he died.

FLORENCE, KENTUCKY: July 6

A birthday party turned deadly in the wee hours when four people were shot. The 21-year-old suspected gunman crashed his car in a ditch during a police chase and was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot.

NORTH LAS VEGAS, NEVADA: June 24

A 48-year-old man barred from possessing guns because of a criminal record killed himself after fatally shooting five people, police said. The violence began after the man had an argument with a former girlfriend. The victims at the apartment complex included a neighbor who tried to help and the neighbors mother and grandmother.

FORDYCE, ARKANSAS: June 21

A 44-year-old man shot people in the parking lot before shooting more inside the Mad Butcher grocery store, killing four. Police said he did not appear to have a connection to the victims. The shooting occurred in the middle of the day in Fordyce, about 65 miles (105 kilometers) south of Little Rock.

HUDSON, FLORIDA: June 12

A landlord was accused of killing a family of four and burning their bodies. The two children were ages 6 and 5. The family was reported missing by relatives. Police say a backyard fire pit was smoldering when they searched the property in Pasco County.

MARION, IOWA: June 5

Police said a metal pipe was used to kill four people in an outbuilding of a rural home near Cedar Rapids.

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA: April 29

Four officers were shot in the deadliest attack on U.S. law enforcement since 2016. They were killed when a task force of officers from different agencies tried to capture a 39-year-old man for illegally possessing a firearm and fleeing to elude in a different county.

YUKON, OKLAHOMA: April 22

A 10-year-old boy awoke to find his parents and three brothers dead in their home near Oklahoma City, all fatally shot by his father, police said. Authorities believe the 42-year-old man killed his wife and three sons  ages 18, 14 and 12  then turned the gun on himself. Police said they did not immediately know why the fourth child was spared or have a motive for the shootings.

ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS: March 27

A frenzied stabbing and beating rampage left four people dead in a matter of minutes and at least seven people injured. Authorities said a 22-year-old man was charged. Police didnt immediately know his motive. Rockfords mayor said the victims were 63, 23, 49 and 15.

IRELAND, WEST VIRGINIA: March 11

The bodies of four people, ages 3 months to 90 years, were found inside the remains of a burning home. A fifth person with an apparent gunshot wound was discovered dead behind a chicken coop nearby, authorities said. A 45-year-old male suspect was found dead by suicide about 110 miles (180 kilometers) away, parked in a vehicle outside his relatives home. Authorities did not immediately share details about a motive.

HONOLULU, HAWAII: March 10

Authorities said a woman and three children ages 10, 12 and 17 were fatally stabbed in a Manoa home. The womans husband was also found dead. Police said a preliminary investigation shows the husband fatally stabbed his wife and children. Authorities did not immediately share a motive. Police said the five deaths mark the states worst mass killing since 1999. They said there was no history of domestic calls to the residence.

KING CITY, CALIFORNIA: March 3

Police said three men with dark masks got out of a silver Kia and opened fire at an outdoor party in central California, killing three men and a woman and wounding seven others. The shooting happened on a street with modest homes facing a commercial district in King City, close to Pinnacles National Park.

FERGUSON, MISSOURI: Feb. 19

Authorities said a 39-year-old woman intentionally set a fire at home to kill herself and her four children, ages 2, 5, 9 and 9. Investigators believe the mother set fire to a mattress, and left a note saying she intended to kill herself and her children, police said. Responding firefighters found the home engulfed in flames. Neighbors tried to save the family, but the fire was too intense.

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA: Feb. 16

Officials said four men were killed in a drive-by shooting. Dozens of shots were fired outside a Birmingham home, police said. People were standing outside a house as they got their cars washed when someone drove by and opened fire. No arrests were immediately reported.

HUNTINGTON PARK, CALIFORNIA: Feb. 11

Shootings over several hours left four people dead: a man in Bell, a man in a Los Angeles shopping center parking lot, a 14-year-old boy in Cudahy, and a homeless man in Huntington Park, authorities said. At least one other juvenile was wounded. Two suspected gang members were arrested in connection with the shootings, authorities said.

EAST LANSDOWNE, PENNSYLVANIA: Feb. 7

Six sets of human remains were recovered from the ashes of a fire that destroyed a home near Philadelphia, according to the county district attorneys office. Authorities suspect those who died  including three children  were killed by a 43-year-old male relative who also died after shooting and wounding two police officers, the office said. A motive was not immediately identified.

EL MIRAGE, CALIFORNIA: Jan. 23

Authorities found the bodies of six men in the Mojave Desert outside the sparsely populated community of El Mirage after someone called 911 and said he had been shot, according to sheriffs officials. The men were likely shot to death in a dispute over marijuana, authorities said. The bodies were found about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Los Angeles in an area known for illegal cannabis operations. Five men were arrested and charged with murder.

JOLIET, ILLINOIS: Jan. 21

Authorities said a 23-year-old man shot eight people  including seven of his relatives  and injuring a ninth person in a Chicago suburb. He fatally shot himself later during a confrontation with law enforcement in Texas. Authorities believe he was trying to reach Mexico. Police said the victims included his mother, siblings, aunt, uncle and two men he might not have known. They were found in two homes, outside an apartment building and on a residential street.

TINLEY PARK, ILLINOIS: Jan. 21

A 63-year-old man in suburban Chicago killed his wife and three adult daughters a domestic-related shooting, police said. The man allegedly shot the four family members  ages 53, 24 and two 25-year-old twins  after an argument at their home. He was charged with four counts of first-degree murder.

RICHMOND, TEXAS: Jan. 13

A 46-year-old man fatally shot his estranged wife and three other relatives, including his 8-year-old niece, at a home in suburban Houston before killing himself, authorities said. Authorities said the man had told his estranged wife that he wanted to reunite but she refused. In addition to killing his niece and estranged wife, he also killed her brother and sister, ages 43 and 46.

REEDLEY, CALIFORNIA: Jan. 6

A 17-year-old boy was charged with killing four members of a neighboring family in central California. He lived next door to the victims  ages 81, 61, 44 and 43  in Reedley, a small town near Fresno. Three bodies were found in their backyard, including one buried in a shallow grave, while another was found in the detached garage of the teenagers home, police said.

___

This story has been updated to correct that the shooting in Winder, Georgia, was the 30th mass killing this year, not the 29th.

By The Associated Press
A JEALOUS man, who could not handle the breakdown of his relationship with his lover, and killed her in front of her two children, has been jailed for a minimum of 27 years.

Obert Moyo stabbed Perseverance Ncube (35) in the chest in Dukesgate Grove in Little Hulton, Salford, England, in the early hours of November 10 last year.

Police said Moyo broke into her home following a campaign of stalking and her children, aged 10 and 12, tried to fight him off.

The 46-year-old admitted to murder and was handed what appears to be a life sentence at Manchesters Minshull Street Crown Court.

Moyo, of Pennington Road, Bolton, had denied the killing but changed his plea to guilty on the first day of his trial.

The court heard the pair had been in a relationship, but Moyo stalked Ms Ncube, known as Percy, for months after she ended it.

Moyo first broke into the home and attacked her in her bedroom but her two children dragged him off her.

He then chased her down the street and stabbed her in the chest.

Prosecutor Eloise Marshall KC told the court her children could be heard in the background of the 999 call, with one of them praying for their mothers life.

Moyo fled the scene before he was arrested in Bolton later the same day, said Miss Marshall.

In a victim personal statement, Ms Ncubes son said: Me and my sister have been robbed of our mother and our whole life.

Every day with a burning pain, I miss her, I miss being able to hug her. I miss being able to talk to her.

Mum I miss you and I will always love you.

Her daughter told Moyo that he had ruined her whole life, adding: You have stolen my mum from me.

I really thought that you were a father to me but you are not I hate you.

Sentencing Moyo to a life jail term, Judge Patrick Field KC told him his crime had been premeditated, brutal and wicked. BBC/H-Metro.

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Antidote du jour (via):

Bonus antidote (desert dog). I hope this works; may take a clickthrough:

Tilford the turtle video

Desert dog writes: May Day surprise! Tilford the turtle comes out for a feeding for the 19th year. Its springtime in Missouri and he came for a snack after a long winter sleep.

See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here.
Yves here. Thomas Neuburger continues his series on how the CIA evolved into its current form.

By Thomas Neuburger. Originally published at Gods Spies

John Kennedy and Allen Dulles (Bettmann/Corbis)

culture (noun): the way of life, especially the general customs and beliefs, of a particular group of people at a particular time

Cambridge Dictionary

It is inconceivable that a secret intelligence arm of the government has to comply with all the overt orders of government.

James Angleton, CIA Deputy Director for Operation (19541975) to the Church Committee

This is the second piece in our series, Does the CIA still do that? The first is here.

Today we start to look at what the CIA was at its start, something quite different from what it was founded to be. To understand this distinction though  what it was supposed to be versus what it is  we need to first understand the concept of culture as it applies to groups.

The Culture of a Society

The rules within which most social groups operate are rarely coded, rarely written down. And when they are written down, how we do things here is always the better description of behavior, of the rule, than anything put on paper.

For example, the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution says:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

And yet thats not how we do things here.

What we do now is allow the government to gather as much of our online and digital effects (property) as it can, for no reason except that these effects exist, and search them at will whenever the government chooses.

In that sense, the written Fourth Amendment has been repealed by what we permit in practice  by the culture, in other words.

The First Amendment, especially in its establishment of religion and freedom of speech restrictions, has suffered the same fate. To take the simplest example, the practice of establishing free speech zones  by which protesters are kept far from presidential eyes and ears  turns freedom of speech on its head. A practice that started with Bush II has become universal. Now, its just what we do.



The term culture is often used in archaeology to designate what can be deduced about how people lived by what they left behind. The Natufian culture, for example, flourished in the Levant about 15,000 years ago. Part of what they regularly did was build dwellings and cultivate food. Cultures can spread from one group to another as this motor-mouth YouTuber explains.

Location of the study sites and Neanderthal cultures: Mousterian of Acheulean Tradition, MTA, Keilmessergruppen, KMG, and transitional  Mousterian with Bifacial Tools, MBT (Karen Ruebens). Source: Sci News

And of course, like language, culture always evolves. Consider the difference between modern French spelling versus pronunciation. At one point the spelling, which was frozen under Louis XIV, represented the speech.

The Culture of the CIA

What does the CIA do? Thats an interesting question. Heres what they say they do, from the CIA website:

What does the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) do? The Central Intelligence Agencys primary mission is to collect, evaluate, analyze, and disseminate foreign intelligence to assist the president and senior US government policymakers in making decisions relating to the national security. CIA does not make policy; it is an independent source of foreign intelligence information for those who do. CIA may also engage in covert action at the presidents direction in accordance with applicable law.

Torture and the CIA

Note the downplaying of covert action in the description above. Yet this occurred throughout the Bush-Cheney years:
Yves here. While this post contains a lot of persuasive anecdata, as in Thom Hartmann pointing out many cases where dire poverty did not lead to crimes against property, his focus on inequality as the main driver, while persuasive, is still a tad simplistic.

First, Hartmann ignores addicts, which in America exist at all levels of income, even if more prevalent among the poor. Junkies will famously do anything to get their next fix.

Second, and more important, Hartmann apparently does not consider white collar crime to be crime. What is his theory of SBF, who came from an extremely privileged background and had snagged a job at a hedge fund, as in he was on track to be comfortably rich? Or the Sacklers, who were wealthy enough to give a building to Harvard in the 1970s? Why was their already mighty affluent status not good enough? Or partners at McKinsey who seem to think anything goes as long as it generates more fees? Walking a bit down memory lane, what about Enron and the many early 2000s big companies like Worldcom whose executives were found guilty of securities fraud?

By Thom Hartmann , a talk-show host and the author of The Hidden History of Neoliberalism and more than 30+ other books in print. He is a writing fellow at the Independent Media Instituteand his writings are archived at hartmannreport.com. Produced by Economy for All, a project of the Independent Media Institute

In the midst of all of his trials, in a moment pregnant with irony, Donald Trump recently claimed that if he was reelected he would seize direct control of Washington, DC because, he said, crime there was out of control.

Were going to federalize it, Trump told attendees to a Las Vegas rally. Were gonna have the toughest law enforcement in the country. Were not going to have any more crime and its going to look beautiful.

As usual, Trump doesnt know what hes talking about.

Most people think crime (particularly property crime) is caused by poverty, like the poor people portrayed in Les Miserables stealing food for their children. But Louis XVIs policies created poverty in France while massively increasing his own wealth and that of his friends.

(Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, himself born into poverty, accusedthe French king of crimes and extravagancies that led to the French Revolution in a response to George Washingtons question of his cabinet about whether America should remain neutral in the conflict.)

Yes, the French poor were poor, but during that time the rich got vastly richer. There was poverty, and even periodic famines in France, but (outside of stealing food) that wasnt what was driving crime and ultimately the 18th century French revolution: it was inequality.

Hold that thought. Because our entire popular understanding of the cause of much crimeenough to tipping point a society into crisisis usually wrong.

Ive seen this dynamic at work in multiple countries, often among very, very poor people and even in the midst of famines.

In late November 1980 I went into Uganda at the tail end of the Tanzanian invasion that overthrew Idi Amin. As Amin fled to Saudi Arabia where he was feted with a palace for himself and his wives by the Saudi government, his soldiers went on a killing and looting rampage, particularly in the northern region against the Karamojong people.

In one large region, they killed most all the men and boys older than toddlers and raped the women; by the time we got there the region was filled with thousands of starving women and babies (my contemporaneous diary of that trip is here). Skeletal adults and big-bellied children moaned in pain from starvation as they died before our eyes.

Thursday of that week the special on NPRs All Things Considered show was an 18-minute conversation between Sanford Ungar and me (on a satellite phone from Uganda) as I was describing the famine we were trying to address, with hundreds of people dying every day, live on the radio as Americans were sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner.

And yet, in the midst of all that, there was no crime; people formed community.

I worked in Bogota, Colombia a year or so later in one of that citys massive barrios built on hillsides out of cardboard and scrap wood with streams of raw sewage running to an open sewer in the valley below. I worked in the Klong Toey slum of Bangkok where the Duang Prateep Foundation was putting in non-flammable sidewalks and organizing regular trash removal because the giant Japanese corporation that owned the swamp the slum was built over kept hiring local organized crime families to burn out and kill the slum-dwellers.

When I was in The Philippines in 1985, Father Ben Carreon, an activist priest and the author of a popular column for the Manila Times, took me to one of that citys massive garbage dumps. The smell was awful, the air thick with insects, as mountains of rotted garbage stretched off into the distance.

We stood in the hot afternoon sun, and Father Ben said, Look carefully at the piles of garbage. I squinted in the bright light, looking at the distant piles, and noticed something. Theyre moving! I said. No, its children on them that are moving, he said. Thousands of them. Their families live all around here, and the children spend their days scavenging for garbage that their families can sell or eat.

People in Uganda were dying of famine in Mbale and across the Karamoja region, and hunger stalked the big city of Kampala, but there was little crime because the rich people had all left the country. Instead, there was a shared sense of solidarity; while poor people did prey on each other, it was more the exception than the rule and entire communities would rise up against thieves.

I found the same thing working in the slums of Thailand, Peru, India, Colombia, South Sudan and other countries; the biggest crime I personally experienced was having my wallet and pocket computer stolen on a flight from South Sudan to Kenya while I was asleep. Truly poor people dont buy airplane tickets.

Poverty doesnt cause the societal disintegration that leads to most crime, it turns out: inequality does. And America is now, far and away, the most unequal developed country in the entire world.

While billionaires who pay less in federal income tax rates than you do blast themselves into space on giant penis-shaped rockets, the majority of Americans are struggling to get by. I say the majority because a decade ago the number of Americans who could call themselves middle class slipped below 50 percent for the first time since the Eisenhower era.

Last November, I mentioned that wed experienced an attempted break-in. Our neighborhoods burglar wasnt hungry; she was young, healthy, and well-fed, as was the small dog she walked to blend into the community. America is not experiencing a surge of crimes related to starvation-level survival, even among our homeless communities.

So how does inequality provoke criminality? The research on the topic is pretty exhaustive, albeit poorly publicized, and the simplest explanation is among the most easily understood: humans are wired to rebel against unfairness. Unfairness thus destroys social trust.

Walk into a preschool class and give one child a pile of cookies while giving everybody else only one each and see what happens. In fact, its not just humans; this holds true across all mammalian species from rats to dogs to apes.

As research across 33 nations published in Oxfords European Journal of Public Health found, inequality devastates social trust among people, opening the door to antisocial crime, including violent crime (although you could argue that stealing is also a form of interpersonal violence provoked by inequality).

Were social animals and evolution has fine-tuned that socialization instinctnecessary for survival in a hostile worldso well that in virtually ever pre-literate and/or pre-agricultural society in the world (and there are still many left) the number one way to gain status in most such societies is to give things away.

In North America, thats the origin of the Native America Potlatch, a feast where everybody brings food and shares as much as they can. (The first Thanksgiving of lore was probably an east-coast variation on the Potlatch.)

In fact, as I learned in Uganda working through that famine, the more people have their backs to the wall, the more they become cooperative and concerned with each other. Look at the people making it through the many climate-driven natural disasters were experiencing these days: community forming and re-forming, rather than looting, is the norm.

Shared hardshipeven collectively facing deathfosters community. Read the stories from Holocaust survivors or listen to the stories coming out of Ukraine today.

This isnt to romanticize poverty; its tough, and crime is a problem in barrios and slums around the world. But crime isnt sweeping the cities of Europe, Japan, South Korea or Taiwan the way it is American cities because in those countries the very wealthy are appropriately taxed and therefore average people are still well within the parameters of the middle class.

Their social contract is largely intact. (There are exceptions, and they produce a criminal political classfascistsas were seeing right now in Sweden and Italy in response to those countries taking in more refugees than they can reasonably assimilate, but thats a separate argument for another day.)

Research published in the Oxford Economic Papers found that not only does inequality cause increases in crime (including violent crime), but the main variable is peoples perception of inequality: When the morbidly rich are conspicuous in their consumption, crime explodes faster than when theyre discreet.

Using variation within US states over time, we document a robust association between the distribution of conspicuous consumption and violent crime, authors Daniel and Joan Hicks noted.

A study published in The Review of Economics and Statistics (Harvard/MIT) came to the same conclusion: inequality causes crime, not just poverty.

The World Economic Forum published a paper that looked at the relationship between inequality and crime in Mexico:

Our key finding is that, in fact, municipalities with lower inequality saw lower rates of crime. In other words, while the overall national data reveals an apparent paradox; broken down by smaller geographical regions, the paradox does not hold  less economic disparity does lead to less crime.

A study of 148,000 people across 142 countries found a similar association all over the world. The Economist magazine titled their review of it:

The StarkRelationship Between Income Inequality and Crime.

Research published by the Equality Trust in the UK, which studies the impacts of economic and social inequality, found:

Small permanent decreases in inequality  such as reducing inequality from the level found in Spain to that in Canada  would reduce homicides by 20% and lead to a 23% long-term reduction in robberies.

Inequality causes crime because it destroys social trust, the core fabric of any society. It essentially makes us crazy. Without social trust, empathy and shared values weaken and culture begins to disintegrate.

We see examples of this across the Third World in countries that have been essentially raped by their morbidly rich ruling class for decades. We think the problem is poverty, but really its the capture of government by corrupt oligarchs who are stealing everything thats not nailed down.

Beyond a certain pointwhich we have long passed since the introduction of neoliberal Reaganomicsinequality becomes an actual poison to society itself.

Inequality, it turns out, is whats driving much American crime while actively tearing our nation apart.

Which brings us to the GOP. The Republican Party is so committed to making morbidly rich people even richer (and keeping them that way) that former Republican Senator Rob Portman once bragged that the GOP wouldnt go along with funding a bipartisan infrastructure bill because it let the IRS hire more auditors to catch rich tax cheats. Seriously.

Thats their position and they held to it through the vote. Theyre still complaining: Republican Senator Ron Johnson recently warned that the IRSs jackbooted thugs are coming for average Americans at the request of President Biden.

Republican Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming told Axios that:

spending $40 billion to super-size the IRS is very concerning.  Law-abiding Americans deserve better from their government than an army of bureaucrats snooping through their bank statements.

Republican Senator Ted Cruz said:

Throwing billions more taxpayer dollars at the IRS will only hurt Americans struggling to recover after waves of devastating lockdowns.  Instead of increasing funding for the IRS, we should abolish the damn place.

Republican tax policies, starting with Reaganomics in the 1980s (and continuing to this very day) have both gutted the American working class and exploded inequality in this nation, all while making a few hundred thousand Americans obscenely rich.

Weve even exceeded the worse inequality gap wed ever seen in 1929 at the tail end of the Roaring 20s and the beginning of the Republican Great Depression (yes, they called it that until the early 1950s).

If we want to get crime under control and restore social cohesion to our society, we must tackle inequality. And that means to tax the morbidly rich who today typically pay less than 3 percent of their income in income taxes.

For most of the 20th century the top tax rate on income over around $5 million a year in todays dollars was between 74 percent and 91 percent. The result was that CEOs only took 20 or 30 times as much as their average employees and typically lived in the same communities as their workers.

Todays CEOs make hundreds to thousands of times what their workers make (depending on the industry) and live in 30-room mansions with servants quarters, yachts, and private jets.

Three men now own more wealth than the bottom half of Americans. This is a prescription for social and cultural disaster, and were seeing just that played out today right in front of us.

Donald Trump ran for president in 2016 saying he was going to raise taxes on the rich so much that his friends would refuse to talk to him. He said he was going to bring our factories back home from China and Mexico and restore the bargaining power of unions. He said he was going to give everybody in America health insurance better than Obamacare at a lower cost.

He ranand wonon rebalancing wealth in this country. He was lying, of course, as Trump always does, but that experience should show how ready Americans are to leave behind Reaganomics and see billionaires once again pay the kind of tax rates that existed before the neoliberal Reagan Revolution.

Americans dont know the actual statistics, but most people know in their gut that something is terribly wrong in this country.

And now that the Supreme Court has legalized political bribery with their Citizens United decision, the morbidly rich are using their pocket change to further corrupt our political system to keep things the way they are by pouring billions into the campaigns of friendly politicians.

Community policing and a variety of other solutions are important, but if we dont address the core problem of inequality in our society, theyre merely band-aids on the cancer of this social crisis.

If were serious about reducing crime in America, its time to reduce inequality by taxing the rich and our nations largest corporations, the majority of which pay virtually nothing in income taxes.
Dead in the water. Chances look increasingly grim. Less than optimistic. On the ropes. Stuck in neutral  if not dead. Defeat.

The local news reports that contain the above quotes about Gov. Bill Lees school voucher program have all focused on one thing: the fate of the school voucher program that has been the capstone of Lees governmental platform. The Tennessean, the Nashville Scene, Tennessee Lookout and WPLN News are the authors of the above quotes, but they all point to the same issue: Lee has been unable to get this ball across the finish line.

What struck me most about this issue was not that the school voucher program was stuck in neutral. It was the fact that our second-term GOP governor, with his GOP supermajority in the Tennessee General Assembly, our two GOP U.S. senators, a GOP-led congressional delegation and the entire fleet of far-right super PACs have been unable to get Lees pet legislation passed.

It should have been a slam-dunk in such a scenario. What does it say about our governor that he was unable to get this legislation through both chambers during his second term in office? He has been championing the belief that siphoning public tax dollars away from public schools would benefit our schools ever since he first started on the campaign trail, but it has become quite clear that the general public and our elected officials are wary of this issue  preferring instead to endlessly debate without calling for a vote or even moving the legislation out of committee before the session came to an end last week.

Gov. Lee Admits Defeat on Universal Voucher Legislation Lees pitch created a divide among Republican legislators and faced widespread criticism from school leaders

Simply put, Lee backed the wrong horse in this race. With so many other necessary and challenging issues to address at the state level, why would Lee prioritize such a highly controversial, unproven and risky policy initiative like school vouchers? It doesnt make sense. Why not work to improve existing public schools, adolescent mental health or community programs to support families and parents struggling to make ends meet? Does a family whose income is 500 percent higher than the income of a family at the federal poverty level honestly need $7,000 so their children can get a coupon for private school? That is what the legislation under debate had been offering.

What has happened to Lees plans to fight Tennessees opioid epidemic? What is the latest legislation to support rural Tennesseans? What happened to criminal justice reform? What about gun safety measures? Increase in availability and economic infrastructure to encourage trade schools and technical and vocational programs? Weve heard precious little about these policy initiatives. It seems the noise of school vouchers has grown so loud that it has silenced progress on anything else.

Out of all the news stories and opinion pieces on school vouchers that have been published in recent days, I think The Tennesseans David Plazas said it well in a recent editorial: Admit it: Tennessee Senate and House are at odds on school vouchers. Its time to move on. If the Republican super majority in the Tennessee General Assembly cannot agree on the governors signature legislation, that spells trouble.

It certainly did spell trouble. Clearly it spells trouble for the fate of school vouchers. But does it also spell trouble for Lees future attempts to push through far-right partisan legislation? Lets hope so.

Bill Freeman

Bill Freeman is the owner of FW Publishing, the publishing company that produces the Nashville Scene, Nfocus, the Nashville Post and The News.
Blinken attempts to bully China over its support of Russias actions in Ukraine

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has wrapped up his three-day visit to China which included a high-level meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. The meeting was part of Blinken's effort to address the complex and increasingly strained relationship between the United States and China, especially when it came to Washington and Beijing's stances regarding the Russian special military operation in Ukraine

During the discussions, both sides acknowledged the importance of avoiding further deterioration in relations.

Xi reiterated China's longstanding position that Beijing and Washington should strive to be partners rather than adversaries, emphasizing the potential for both countries to develop and prosper concurrently. He stressed the need for mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation as guiding principles for future interactions between the two nations.

In response, Blinken underscored the significance of China's economic growth while also expressing concerns about the fairness of trade practices and the potential impact on American workers and firms, focusing on China's "excessive production" as a particular area of concern.

China allegedly supplying Russia with components for armaments

In addition to economic issues, Blinken also raised concerns about China's alleged support of Russia's actions in Ukraine. He suggested that Russia's military efforts would be significantly hampered without China's backing, particularly in terms of critical "dual-use" technologies supplied by China to the Russian defense industry.

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.

"I reiterate our serious concern about the PRC [People's Republic of China] providing components that are powering Russia's brutal war of aggression against Ukraine," said Blinken at a press conference. "China is the top supplier of machine tools, microelectronics, nitrocellulose, which is critical to making munitions and rocket propellants, and other dual-use items that Moscow is using to ramp up its defense industrial base."

In a firm warning, Blinken cautioned that the U.S. is prepared to take punitive measures against China if it continues to support Russia in this manner amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. He specifically mentioned the possibility of imposing additional sanctions targeting the very dual-use goods and technologies China exports to Russia that Washington believes helps Moscow in its conflict with Kyiv. Some of these sensitive items include semiconductors, machine tools, chemical precursors, ball bearings and optical systems.

Following Blinken's remarks, China's Foreign Ministry issued a response, criticizing the secretary's comments as unfair and unwarranted. The ministry accused Blinken of unjustly targeting normal trade and economic relations between Russia and China, dismissing his allegations as hypocritical and irresponsible.

Beijing has maintained its "no limits" partnership with Moscow. But the communist government did reiterate that it has not provided weaponry to any party, adding that it is "not a producer of or party involved in the Ukraine crisis." (Related: Russia, China discussing plans to "double counteract" U.S.-led alliance of Western nations.)

This exchange of statements highlights the deepening tensions and growing mistrust between the two global powers.

Learn the latest news coming out of Beijing at CommunistChina.news.

Watch this clip from "Reports on China" with host Andy Boreham as he discusses how Blinken's recent visit to China may have spread the perception that the U.S. is on the decline.

This video is from the Cynthia's Pursuit of Truth channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Hungary backs China's PEACE PROPOSAL to end Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Western sanctions against Russia causing more copper production to move to China, concentrating control over this critical metal in Chinese hands.

Russia claims to have seized the initiative in Ukraine with significant territorial gains.

Ukraine now buying CHINESE DRONES because the American-made versions are unreliable.

Chinese renminbi replacing the U.S. dollar as most traded currency in Russia's foreign exchange market.

Sources include:

ZeroHedge.com

Reuters.com

Brighteon.com
Just in: Explosive allegations that the CIA is operating Ukrainian online anti-Trump troll farms to influence American voters and the 2024 election

If youve spent any time online, youve probably stumbled upon those fervent pro-Ukraine accounts that go by the name NAFO and sport cute little animated animal photos as their avatars.

(Article republished from Revolver.news)

As a matter of fact, disgraced former Congressman Adam Cry Baby Kinzinger is a proud fella of this NAFO online movement. Mr. NAFO! Adam Kinzinger has quite the reputation for spreading loads of fake news and pro-Ukraine propaganda. Remember when he got totally punked and fell for that hilariously phony Ghost of Kiev meme?

The memes that followed and mocked Kinzinger were pure gold.

Well, all laughs aside, it seems there may be more to this group of NAFO misfits than just a bunch of societal dropkicks cheering for corrupt Ukraine. A whistleblower has come forward, alleging that whats really happening is a massive troll farm operation owned and operated by the CIA to influence American voters and the 2024 election. It doesnt seem so far-fetched, does it? Not in todays politically weaponized America. Were starting to look and feel more like North Korea every single day.

Let freedom ring!

The explosive, yet-to-be-confirmed allegations are as follows.

I Meme Therefore I am:

???BREAKING: CIA Operates Troll Farms in Kyiv to Influence American Voters and To Assure Bidens 2024 Win. A former employee of one of the Kyiv troll factories owned by the head of Zelenskys office, Andriy Yermak, spoke about how the interference in the upcoming American elections is taking place in Ukraine with the help of the CIA. According to the source, the purpose of the interference is to ensure Bidens victory over Trump. A former employee showed a video taken inside a troll factory, as well as several photos, guidelines and a list of accounts that trolls use to influence the American voters. Long story short we were asked to do everything to prevent Donald Trump from winning the elections. So basically, this topic was added to our main lines of work. Since then, each of us had to post at least 3 to 5 posts daily posing as the Americas and Europeans, criticizing Donald Trump and praising Biden. The Americans have even organized a few lectures for us to get a better understanding of American politics, the American mindset the main social and political issues. Then we were occupied with the topics for the job which sounded like this: 1.Unlike Trump, Biden is a smart and experienced politician. 2. Unlike Trump, Biden will never betray NATO partners. Trump will alienate our partners. 3. Biden will not abandon Ukraine. Biden will protect democracy, while Trump is Putins puppet. I honestly tried to convince myself its Okay since Biden is clearly a better option for Ukraine, but it was just too much for me One thing is to work for the best interests of my country, but interfering in US politics is a whole other thing.

???BREAKING: CIA Operates Troll Farms in Kyiv to Influence American Voters and To Assure Bidens 2024 Win. A former employee of one of the Kyiv troll factories owned by the head of Zelenskys office, Andriy Yermak, spoke about how the interference in the upcoming American pic.twitter.com/BsmgUTj8vr  I Meme Therefore I Am ?? (@ImMeme0) April 25, 2024

This is a pro-Ukraine activist account that is mentioned in the video. I Meme Therefore I Am goes on to say that the owners location says Nevada but her posts suggest the speaker is talking from outside the United States directly to Americans. Its a bit of a head-scratcher, isnt it?

This account was also mentioned in the video. Noticed that the owners location says Nevada but his posts says I think I understand why you guys always show up late to the World Wars now, suggesting the speaker talking from outside to Americans. pic.twitter.com/gi50vGUnOY  I Meme Therefore I Am ?? (@ImMeme0) April 25, 2024

Did she intentionally use Area 51 Nevada as some kind of internet joke, or was it just a case of some low-level, unsavvy CIA agent getting stuck with the lamest job on the planet and accidentally using their real location? We may never know for sure. One thing that is glaringly obvious to anyone is that this is some seriously blatant propaganda-posting. Kim Jong-Un would be proud.

In addition, I Meme Therefore I Am revealed that these reported trolls are also posting extreme anti-Trump propaganda as well.

Here are some posts one of the trolls: pic.twitter.com/AWKQRuU5eu  I Meme Therefore I Am ?? (@ImMeme0) April 25, 2024

Take a look:

Its a bit sad, isnt it? Even with professional US government assistance, these lefties still cant meme. However, if this turns out to be true, it would mean that American taxpayers are footing the bill to help Ukraine meddle in another US election. It really makes you wonder if 2016 was the only election in recent memory that wasnt tampered with, which might explain why the Deep State is so pissed off. How dare the American people choose their own leader? Outrageous!

Read more at: Revolver.news
Elon Musk shuts down Teslas profitable Supercharger team in latest round of layoffs

Elon Musk has shut down Tesla's division that runs the Supercharger business in the latest round of layoffs that is expected to reduce the electric vehicle manufacturing giant's workforce by more than 10 percent

The shutdown of the Supercharger division includes the dismissal of two senior executives and several hundred other staffers amid an ongoing restructuring process that will end with over 14,000 Tesla employees laid off. The restructuring was brought about by a sharp downturn in the EV market and a directive by Musk to make the company "lean, innovative and hungry." (Related: Tesla plans to lay off 10% of workforce after dismal quarterly sales.)

The shutdown of the Supercharger business was announced on Monday, April 29, when Musk circulated an internal announcement that Senior Director of Charging Infrastructure Rebecca Tinucci and Director of Vehicle Programs and New Product Introduction Daniel Ho would be leaving the company along with their entire teams. The Supercharger team alone was made up of about 500 people.

Tesla's Supercharger system is among the largest EV charging networks in the world, and the convenience associated with the Superchargers is one of the reasons why Tesla maintained a commanding lead over rival carmakers for so long. This is why the division's shuttering came as a surprise. Tesla's EV charging network has 50,000 sites globally, including 15,000 in North America. The scale of the company's charging infrastructure is unrivaled and it is clear that the team is very profitable.

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.

"Hopefully, these actions are making it clear that we need to be absolutely hardcore about headcount and cost reduction," Musk wrote in the internal memo, which was leaked and first reported on by tech industry-focused business publication The Information. "While some exec staff are taking this seriously, most are not yet doing so."

"[Any manager] who retains more than three people who don't obviously pass the excellent, necessary and trustworthy test [should resign]," he added.

Tinucci and Ho are not the only long-standing Musk executives to leave this year. Former Vice President for Public Policy and Business Development Rohan Patel resigned in the middle of April, and his entire unit was let go soon after.

Senior Vice President for Powertrain and Energy Engineering Drew Baglino resigned at around the same time. His division was responsible for the development of batteries, motors and energy products. Vice President of Investor Relations Martin Viecha recently announced that he would be stepping down in May.

Even Tesla staff were reportedly surprised by the decision to lay off the Supercharger division. Will Jameson, a now-former member of the team, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that Musk "has let our entire charging org go." When asked by an X user why the entire division was let go, Jameson replied, "Your guess is as good as mine."

Another employee of the division, George Bahadue, took to LinkedIn to confirm his dismissal and express his grievances.

"What this means for the charging network, NACS, and all the exciting work we were doing across the industry, I don't yet know," he said. "What a wild ride it has been."

Customers, corporate partners shocked to hear about Supercharger division's shutdown

Supercharger operations are expected to continue. Musk himself has confirmed that Supercharger sites that are under construction would be finished and "some" new locations would also be constructed.

However, the shutdown of the Supercharger division raises questions over the future of the charging business. Musk has attempted to allay fears by posting on X that the Supercharger network will continue to grow "just at a slower pace for new locations."

"More focus on 100 percent uptime and expansion of existing locations," he added.

The shutdown of Musk's Supercharger business has left customers in the dark about where to quickly charge up their Teslas. EV charging remains a sore point for the entire industry, with numerous surveys showing that many consumers remain anxious about the state of EV charging in the United States. Industry experts have theorized that more reliable charging could significantly improve EV adoption. The Supercharger team's shutdown has now called into question the future of EV charging infrastructure expansion.

Tesla's corporate partners were also surprised. The company recently signed deals with several rival automakers  including Ford, General Motors, Rivian and even global automakers like Volkswagen and Stellantis  that will get these corporations to adopt Tesla's charging standard for their electric vehicles, now known as the North American Charging Standard. The decision allows car owners to go to EV charging stations of different carmakers to charge their EVs, regardless of brand. Tesla's rivals have announced that their plans to allow Tesla owners to plug into their respective networks will not change.

Andres Pinter, co-CEO of Bullet EV Charging Solutions, which supplies the network, said: "As contractors for the Supercharger network, my team woke up to a sharp kick in the pants this morning."

"Tesla has already been awarded money under the federal government's NEVI program," said Pinter, referring to the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure formula program that provides funding for states to award contracts for the expansion of EV charging networks. "There's no way Mr. Musk would walk away from effectively free money. It may be possible Mr. Musk will reconstitute the EV charger team in a bigger, badder, more Muskian way."

Speculation is rife among industry analysts, with the leading theory being that Musk wanted to disband the existing Supercharger division to build a leaner and less expensive team to run charging operations.

Other analysts have taken a dim view of the matter and believe that Musk is cutting the Supercharger division in a bid to also downsize the Supercharger network so Tesla can conserve cash for other projects with more growth potential. Such a move would inevitably lead to another company taking over as the leader in EV charging in the U.S. and the world.

Other analysts are even suggesting that Musk might be interested in selling Tesla's Supercharger network  a decision that could prove to be very profitable for both Musk and Tesla shareholders. Rival U.S. charging networks have struggled with reliability problems and do not have the scale or prime locations Tesla has locked in. Grabbing a chunk of Tesla's network could solve a lot of their problems.

Learn more about the billionaire Elon Musk and his business ventures, including Tesla, at ElonMuskWatch.com.

Watch this clip showing how Tesla charging stations emit massive amounts of EMF radiation.

This video is from the HaloRockTM channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Tesla halts Cybertruck deliveries following customer concerns about potentially fatal flaw in accelerator pedal.

U.S. government to probe Tesla after receiving 2,400 complaints of drivers LOSING STEERING CONTROL.

Australia refuses to issue safety certification for 2024 Tesla Model 3 due to lack of proper car seats for children.

Tesla Drivers in NYC grapple with long waiting times due to lack of fast charging stations for EVs.

Car rental company SIXT drops Tesla EVs from its fleet due to poor resale value, high repair costs.

Sources include:

Reuters.com

TechCrunch.com

FT.com

TheVerge.com

Brighteon.com
Brooklyn amateur gunsmith found GUILTY of 13 illegal weapons charges in anti-Second Amendment ruling

A Brooklyn man has been found guilty of 13 weapons charges after being arrested and charged in 2022 for building his own firearms.

Dexter Taylor, a 52-year-old New York City native and a software engineer, became fascinated with gunsmithing and weapons sciences and began building his firearms during the onset of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic lockdowns.

He ended up building multiple firearms, including six AR-style rifles and nine Glock-style pistols. Since then, he has taken up gunsmithing as a dedicated hobby that he plans to turn into a business.

"I found out that you can actually legally buy a receiver and you can machine that receiver to completion, and you buy your parts and you put them together and you've got a pistol or a rifle. And once I saw that I was hooked. I was like, 'This is the coolest thing ever. This is the most cool thing you could possibly do in your machine shop,'" Taylor said in an interview before his conviction.

However, when a joint Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and New York Police Department task force discovered he was legally buying parts from different companies, they opened up an investigation that led to a Special Weapons and Tactics raid on his home and his subsequent arrest.

After being arrested and charged in 2022 for building his own firearms, the jury found Taylor guilty of second-degree criminal possession of a loaded weapon, four counts of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, five counts of criminal possession of a firearm, second-degree criminal possession of five or more firearms, unlawful possession of pistol ammunition violation of certificate of registration prohibition on unfinished frames or receivers.

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 verdict, delivered on April 16, saw Taylor found guilty on most counts, with sentencing scheduled for May 13. Taylor is expected to face a prison term of between 10 and 18 years.

Judge says Second Amendment does not exist in NYC courtroom

Vinoo Varghese, the defense attorney representing Taylor, detailed a contentious narrative of bias against the defendant.

According to Varghese, Judge Abena Darkeh repeatedly disrupted his opening statement and hindered his efforts to establish Taylor's defense. The judge explicitly instructed the defense to refrain from invoking the Second Amendment because it has no relevance in the New York City courtroom.

"Do not bring the Second Amendment into this courtroom. It doesnt exist here. So you can't argue Second Amendment. This is New York," Varghese said, recounting Darkehh's words. "She rejected these arguments and went out of her way to limit me." (Related: RFK Jr. is pro-Second Amendment, pro-First Amendment, anti-war and pro-border security.)

Moreover, Varghese stated that there were attempts to portray Taylor as a dangerous individual involved in illicit firearms manufacturing in his basement. In turn, the prosecution did not allow Taylor's family to show support in the courtroom, nor did they allow his neighbors, who knew about the hobby, to testify on his behalf. Varghese described the prosecutors opening statement:

"He opens up, and he says that Mr. Taylor had a parade of horror. He was building this horrible place. When they saw this horror that he was making under the noses of his neighbors because all of those guns intended to hit their targets, basically implying that he was going to do some harm with these things," Varghese said.

Varghese repeatedly countered the narrative, but the judge interrupted him throughout the trial to shut down the argument. This led the jury to believe they must convict despite arguments for jury nullification.

"I actually argued that jury nullification is allowed because there is some law from the High Court of New York that talks about lawyers who made jury nullification arguments. And basically, they said that judges shouldnt encourage it, but they cant prevent it. I actually made a pitch directly to Judge Darkeh to allow me to argue during nullification. She, of course, rejected that. She basically said, 'You must vote guilty' without saying 'you must vote guilty.'"

Learn more about the assault on gun rights in America at Guns.news.

Watch this clip from "Greg Kelly Reports" on Newsmax explaining how more guns, not fewer, is the actual answer to gun violence.

This video is from the News Clips channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Gov. Newsom of California wants to SCRAP the Second Amendment by pushing new 28th Amendment.

RIGGED: Gun Violence Archive designates non-violent incidents as gun violence.

CDC suppresses data on self-defense gun use after private meeting with GUN CONTROL advocates.

Gun rights group sues New Mexico Gov. Michelle Grisham for declaring a gun violence public emergency.

Supreme Court to review challenge to Illinois semi-automatic gun ban.

Sources include:

LawEnforcementToday.com

RedState.com

Brighteon.com
Buckingham Palace: King Charles III set to resume royal duties

The United Kingdom's King Charles III is reportedly ready to return to his royal duties just under three months after he was diagnosed with cancer

After going on a hiatus in early February to prioritize his treatment and recovery from an undisclosed type of cancer diagnosis, Charles, 75, is poised to recommence some of his public duties this week. Buckingham Palace made the announcement of his return on Friday, April 26. (Related: King Charles III's cancer diagnosis likely to force him out of the public eye for the foreseeable future.)

In a symbolic gesture, the monarch kickstarted his return to public royal life by visiting a cancer treatment facility on Tuesday, April 23. Buckingham Palace has also announced the king's calendar for the next few months, including a slew of notable engagements, such as acting as a host for a state visit by the emperor and empress of Japan in June.

The palace conveyed optimism regarding the king's progress, indicating that his medical team is "very encouraged," although the duration of his treatment remains uncertain, and specifics regarding his treatment regimen were not disclosed.

Despite his health challenges, King Charles will maintain his responsibilities, including governmental reviews and regular meetings with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, as has been the case since his diagnosis was disclosed on February 5.

"As the first anniversary of the coronation approaches, their majesties remain deeply grateful for the many kindnesses and good wishes they have received from around the world throughout the joys and challenges of the past year," the palace remarked in a statement.

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.

The return of King Charles is reportedly anticipated to alleviate the strain on other members of the royal family, who have shouldered additional responsibilities during his absence.

The king's absence was compounded by similar illness-related absences from Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, and Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.

Amidst the king's cost-cutting initiatives and the Harry and Meghan's decision to withdraw from royal duties, there has been a noticeable reduction in the number of available members of the royal family to fulfill the myriad engagements typically associated with modern royal life in the United Kingdom.

King Charles wants to maintain the British monarchy's relevance in 21st century

Charles' re-emergence presents an opportunity for him to rejuvenate his reign, characterized by aspirations of modernization and outreach to diverse demographics to solidify the British monarchy's relevance in the 21st century.

The monarch's challenges include fortifying connections with the Commonwealth and the 14 independent nations where the British monarch serves as head of state, a task fraught with historical sensitivities.

The significance of Charles' return extends beyond the resumption of duties; it serves as a way for Buckingham Palace to quell further speculation regarding his health  an essential factor in maintaining public confidence in the monarchy, according to royal historian George Gross, founder of the British Coronations Project at King's College London.

I think there is that feeling that its very difficult to have a functioning monarchy with the head of state away for any considerable length of time. And this felt like a long time,' said the royal historian.

Buckingham Palace stressed that the king's engagements would be adapted to mitigate risks to his recovery, with a cautious approach to scheduling his attendance at events. Notably, his summer commitments will be evaluated closer to the time of each event, considering medical advice and his health status.

Despite the adjustments, reports indicate that Charles' return is awaited mostly positively by the British public, partly owing to his openness regarding his health challenges, which has also prompted increased awareness and health consultations for cancer among the populace, as noted by Gross.

"The monarch has seen that he can do good by discussing health and raising the awareness of cancer. I think that thats at the top end of this. And thats a very special thing when a head of state can do good. Thats immense."

Watch the following v video and learn what the media wont tell you about King Charles III.

This video is from the sarnews channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

King Charles III has entrusted his health to a royal doctor who supports HOMEOPATHIC MEDICINE.

King Charles III diagnosed with enlarged prostate, hospital treatment starts soon.

King Charles III announces TOTAL BAN on cigarette smoking in U.K.  is it because the nicotine in tobacco helps protect against COVID?

Pro-Russian cyber group hacks British royal family website after King Charles III voiced support for Ukraine.

Royal family's 175-year hunting lease in Scotland estate comes to an end.

Sources include:

JustTheNews.com

APNews.com

Brighteon.com
Pep talk on a dark day

You realize, dont you, that whats going on in our country is the collapse not just of an empire, or an economy, but a comprehensive paradigm of human progress. The hallmark of post-war life in Western Civ was supposed to be a return to sanity after the mid-twentieth century fugue of mass psychotic violence. The wish for just and rational order was not entirely pretense. But that was then. Now that we are going medieval on ourselves, the not-so-ironic result will be our literally going medieval, sinking back into a pre-modern existence of darkness, superstition, and penury, grubbing for a mere subsistence in the shadow of scuffling hobgoblins, our achievements lost and forgotten.

(Article republished from Kunstler.com)

Whats most appalling is that our governing apparatus is visibly willing that to happen. When Barack Obama warned America to not underestimate Joe Bidens ability to fuck things up, was that some kind of joke? After all, it was Mr. Obama and his fellow blobsters  the cabal of Intel spooks, covert Marxist bureaucrats, lawfare ninjas, globalist megalomaniacs, post-liberal think tankers, weapons grifters, degenerate billionaires, and assorted mentally-ill camp followers  who inflicted Joe Biden on the body politic. And then ran him on the country like some demon algorithm designed to wreck the USA as fast as possible.

The source of anguish in all that is the struggle to understand why they would want that to happen. What debauched sense of history would drive anyone to such lunatic desperation? Its a cliche now to say that the Democratic Party has turned its traditional moral scaffold upside down and inside out. It acts against the kitchen table interests of the working and middle classes. Its against civil liberties. It demands mental obedience to patently insane policy. Its avid for war, no matter how cruelly pointless. Its deliberately stirring up racial hatred. It despises personal privacy. It feeds a rogue bureaucracy that has become a veritable Moloch, an all-devouring malevolent deity. And now, rather suddenly, it aligns itself with a faction that seeks to exterminate the Jews.

And how did the opposition to that epic divergence into bad faith turn so flabby? How did the Republican Party roll over and wheeze so feebly while the FBI ran amok swatting grandmothers in dawn raids, and the US attorney general made justice a whore, and a Republican Congress allowed the Frankenstein agency of Homeland Security to flood the country with its enemies and give them gobs of operational cash? If Mr. Trump was unappetizing to them as a leader, why were they unable to produce an alternative figure of standing and stature at least equally resolute? They look like traitors and cowards.

For the moment, the country lies mired, inert, and demoralized in the face of in those terrible mysteries. But events are still tending and the hidden hand of emergence still operates backstage, preparing surprises for us. You are necessarily aware that the center did not hold. Its even hard to locate where the center used to be with the action so heavy on the far-out margins. Youre watching drag queens importune young children to shove all the Jews into the sea. And the kids are sitting next to their mommies. What happened to the mommies brains that permits them to think this spectacle is okay? How will the mommies ever get their minds right?

In some quarters, a great rage is building. Not a few resent the overthrow of common sense, common law, and common decency. You better believe they will be aiming to do something about it. They will stand up for their dignity, their culture, their history. Virtue isnt dead; its just broke down on a lonely highway waiting to hitch a ride back to where the lights are still on. Dont forget that this really is the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Meanwhile, prepare for action. Its obvious that the enemies of the people dont intend to rest. They are going to try to play out this string to the last move because otherwise a lot of them will be going to jail, or might even hang for their wickedness. Once they turned criminal, there was no turning back. They have dishonored themselves and theyre trying to dishonor their country.

Its true nonetheless that were moving into a new disposition of the human project. Its going to be smaller and leaner, and not nearly as complex as the tottering Rube Goldberg apparatus were currently trapped in. We dont know yet what the shape and texture of that America is going to be. As the sage Yogi Berra observed, our whole future is ahead of us. If youre not among the insane, have faith. Well get there and everything is going to be all right.

Read more at: Kunstler.com
Russia warns of expanding military buffer zone if Ukraine acquires U.S. long-range missiles

Following Ukraine's anticipated acquisition of Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) tactical ballistic missiles from the United States, the Kremlin announced on April 24 that it is contemplating pushing Ukrainian forces back even further to expand its buffer zone and protect itself against the advanced, longer-range missiles.

This response comes as the White House prepares a new military aid package, after Congress approved a long-awaited aid bill, which is expected to include the ATACMS missiles that are capable of reaching targets at distances of up to 300 kilometers (186 miles).

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the imminent arrival of the long-range missiles and expressed gratitude to Washington for its support. This development could potentially empower Ukrainian forces to target areas deeper within territories held by Russian forces, including the Russian-annexed region of Crimea. (Related: Ukraine now buying CHINESE DRONES because the American-made versions are unreliable.)

ATACMS are truck-mounted tactical ballistic missiles capable of reaching speeds of Mach 3, which surpass the capabilities of British and French cruise missiles currently in the arsenal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

In response to inquiries regarding the implications of these advanced missile systems, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated Russia's stance on the necessity of a buffer zone to safeguard its annexed territories from Ukrainian strikes.

Last year, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov asserted that any provision of longer-range Western weapons to Kyiv would prompt Russian forces to push Ukrainian troops further back from Russian borders.

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.

Additionally, U.S. officials suggested that while delivery specifics might remain undisclosed, conditions would likely prevent Ukraine from utilizing these missiles to target locations within Russia itself.

The latest U.S. military aid package, valued at $1 billion, represents the initial allocation from the newly sanctioned bill, underscoring the ongoing international involvement and intricate dynamics of the Ukraine conflict.

U.S. quietly delivering long-range missiles to Ukraine

Earlier this month, the Biden administration quietly delivered long-range missiles to Ukraine, marking a significant shift in U.S. policy towards supporting Ukraine's defense capabilities.

The decision to provide these missiles came after months of deliberation and was initially withheld due to concerns about readiness and the potential for escalating tensions with Russia.

Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Garron Garn revealed in a press conference that President Joe Biden approved the transfer of ATACMS missiles back in February.

These missiles were then discreetly included in a $300 million aid package announced on March 12 and subsequently sent to Ukraine.

The decision to keep the transfer undisclosed was made to maintain operational security, aligning with Ukraine's request for discretion.

The Biden administration had initially resisted providing long-range missiles to Ukraine, citing concerns about readiness and the potential for further provocation of Russia.

However, after addressing these concerns by purchasing more ATACMS missiles and bolstering military stocks, the administration proceeded with the transfer.

Biden's directive followed Russia's procurement and use of North Korean ballistic missiles against Ukraine and attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, prompting the U.S. to fulfill a warning to Russia that it would provide Ukraine with longer-range missiles if Moscow used similar military tech on Ukraine.

The delivery of long-range missiles to Ukraine signifies a strategic decision by the Biden administration to bolster Ukraine's defense capabilities amid ongoing tensions with Russia.

These missiles are expected to provide Ukraine with enhanced firepower and the ability to target deeper behind Russian lines, thus strengthening its position in the conflict.

Watch this episode of "The New Atlas" discussing why the latest arms package for Ukraine will not help it win the conflict.

This video is from the channel The Prisoner on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Ukraine now buying CHINESE DRONES because the American-made versions are unreliable.

Ukraine uses French-made bomb equipped with laser guiding technology against Russia.

Ukraine running out of air defense missiles, giving Russia a FREE PASS to Kyiv.

Sources include:

YourNews.com

CNN.com

Brighteon.com
Shocking connection now confirmed between AUTISM and COVID VACCINES

At one time, it was pure conspiracy theory to claim that the holy grail of medicine, "vaccines," were the cause of autism, a neurological and developmental disorder that begins after birth, develops during the first few years of life, and often persists for decades, if not forever. Back in the 1990s, when autism rates skyrocketed, Big Pharma couldn't blame "Long Covid," the excuse they use for nearly every health disorder these days.

The 1990s is when the CDC tripled the number of childhood vaccines, and it was the tell-tale sign that vaccines were in fact the direct link to millions of cases of autism, as the rates jumped from 1 in 10,000 children to 1 in every 68, and mostly males. So what ingredients in vaccines were leading to this horrific disorder, and how are the Fauci gene therapy injections (Covid spike protein jabs) connected to this atrocity that incapacitates the central nervous system and debilitates the brain?

Mercury is known to cross the blood-brain barrier, just like the toxic, virus-mimicking spike proteins from mRNA "vaccines"

Did you know that aluminum in vaccines (listed as aluminum phosphate) assists mercury (listed as thimerosal) in many vaccines, including multi-dose flu shots, in crossing the blood-brain barrier? The old adage spewed by medical doctors that there isn't enough mercury in vaccines to do any damage to the human body is a farce, just like the doctors today who regurgitate the lie that spike proteins remain at the site of injection, even though the vascular system spreads them throughout the organs, including the brain, much like the way cancer catapults when it reaches the lymph nodes (lymphoma).

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.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder, not a birth defect, so there is a cause that's NOT genetic. Western Medicine "theory" is always apt to blame most health problems on genetics so that their patients will falsely believe there is no cure, only treatment. This ensures "patients for life," who keep coming back for more medications, more diagnostic testing, more surgeries and lots more spending. Even most dentists still use mercury in dental fillings for cavities, even though the science is settled that ANY amount of mercury is highly toxic to humans. Let that sink in for a minute.

Mercury is the most toxic non-radioactive element on earth. Did you know that there are 25 mcg in one average flu vaccine, and the EPA safety limit is 5 micrograms? That means that children who are vaccinated simultaneously with multiple vaccines can receive over 10 times the safety limit of mercury in one day. Have you heard that Big Pharma is now combining the Covid jab with the flu shot and other vaccinations? It's true. Follow the bouncing ASD ball.

Because autism can be exacerbated by a compromised and weakened immune system, and by inflammation (especially of the brain), the Covid-19 so-called "vaccines" are catapulting cognitive impairment for children, including those who already suffer from similar health catastrophes. In fact, just since the Covid jab rollout, the Netherlands' healthcare system discovered a 24% increase in doctor visits for concentration and memory problems in vaccinated people.

Now, the CDC highly recommends getting the deadly spike protein gene therapy injections in combination with mercury-loaded flu shots and RSV (respiratory virus) vaccines at the same time. It's the all-in-one super-sized, super-toxic jab. What could possibly go wrong? Realize that there is ZERO clinical data showing these three vaccines are safe to get at the same time, but the highly corrupt CDC says go for it.

Autistic kids and those suffering Spike Protein Syndrome are usually "patients for life" for Big Pharma, raking in millions for the Western Medicine Industrial Complex

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) includes a broad range of neurological injuries from vaccines, affecting cognitive development and social relationship behavior. Elevated aluminum and mercury concentrations from the multi-dose flu shots are often found in the brain, like with seniors suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Now scientists and medical professionals are recognizing rapid decline in elderly folks following their Covid-19 mRNA vaccinations, though, of course, Big Pharma discredits those findings.

Spike proteins are crossing the blood-brain barrier, and the immune system is instructed to attack these seemingly foreign, virus-mimicking nano-particles. In other words, the gene-therapy Fauci-Flu jabs are literally causing the human immune system to attack and incapacitate its own brain.

Short term and long term brain damage is now the case for children and seniors who are piling one vaccine upon another, having millions of spike prions circulating throughout their vascular system, along with hundreds of other deadly ingredients that are woven into the "vaccine" formulas in laboratories around the world. Add the spike protein death stabs to the long, long list of mandatory jabs the CDC (Centers for Disease Continuance) highly recommend (enforce with the threat of no daycare, no school, no job, no proper hospital care).

Take a look at the horrifying list of CDC-recommended toxic jabs that include injecting infected monkey kidney cells, genetically modified bacteria, deadly pig virus strains (circovirus), mercury (thimerosal), aluminum (to help the mercury infect the brain), human abortion cells, MSG, formaldehyde and so much more. Follow the bouncing ball, and you can easily see the Covid jab and autism connection. Here is just part of a long list summarizing many of the researched effects confirming this:

Immune "activating" events repeatedly correlated with the increased likelihood of autism and other neurological developmental disorders. The vaccine industry loves to conjure up a hyper-immune reaction to their toxins so parents think their children are building immunity to all these viruses (many of which are crafted in labs like Wuhan). Massive increase in inflammatory cytokines in the blood. Inflammation in the brain, recognized in most autistic children, and linked to the aluminum mixed with the measles virus component of the MMR jab. Live measles viruses found in immune cells of autistic children with inflammatory bowel disorders. Pathologic alterations in the gut microbiome which in turn fuels a dysfunctional immune response, including gastrointestinal tract issues. Elevated mercury exposures and trouble detoxifying mercury, lead, aluminum and other heavy metal toxins (adding to brain inflammation).

Shocking connection revealed between autism and Covid vaccines

Now the world is witnessing behavioral changes in adults who are vaccinated for Covid-19. The spike proteins are causing anxiety, circulation issues, chronic inflammation, panic attacks, heart attacks, vaccidents (vaccine-induced accidents) and overall confusion. Strange rubbery white clots are being found in the blood vessels of deceased Covid-vaxxed humans, which may explain all of these behavioral and cognitive dysfunctions and sudden "unexplainable" deaths among even the healthiest humans alive, including professional athletes, healthy teenagers and children, military members and pilots.

Cell Danger Response (CDR) is a condition where cells are threatened by something in their environment, like toxic spike proteins that have traveled away from the site of injection and invaded vital organs. Once CDR is triggered, the body goes through an inflammatory phase (CDR1), which is followed by a regenerative phase (CDR2), and then it's supposed to resume normal function after that in the CDR3 phase. However, many humans suffering Spike Protein Syndrome and Autism never escape CDR phases 1 and 2, leading to chronic illnesses that most physicians write off or simply can't figure out (especially since they are never allowed to point the finger at vaccines).

In this modern age of medicine, more than HALF of all children are now suffering from severe allergies, autoimmune dysfunction and chronic illnesses caused by the CDC's overwhelming vaccine blitzkrieg, and now the most experimental, deadly onslaught of millions of spike prions created inside the body by mRNA "technology." Thanks a lot Dr. Fauci.

Bookmark Vaccines.news to your favorite independent websites for updates on Long-Vax-Syndrome and Full-Spectrum Autism that are both sweeping the nation and the world as you read this.

Sources for this article include:

Pandemic.news

GatewayPundit.com

MidwesternDoctor.com

Truthwiki.org
Texas goes full militant police state to silence critics of Israel

Speaking up on behalf of the innocent Palestinians being slaughtered by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in Gaza is an "antisemitic" act, according to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott who says that all of the students and faculty members at The University of Texas at Austin who are exercising their First Amendment rights in this way "belong in jail."

On X, Abbott fumed about the protests after sending in Texas State Troopers, Stasi style, to deal with the pro-Palestinian contingent at UT that is outraged over Israel's behavior in Gaza under the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"Arrests being made right now & will continue until the crowd disperses," Abbott, a tried-and-true neocon Zionist who plays the part of a Republican, wrote on Elon Musk's social media platform.

"These protesters belong in jail. Antisemitism will not be tolerated in Texas. Period. Students joining in hate-filled, antisemitic protests at any public college or university in Texas should be expelled."

Arrests being made right now & will continue until the crowd disperses. These protesters belong in jail. Antisemitism will not be tolerated in Texas. Period. Students joining in hate-filled, antisemitic protests at any public college or university in Texas should be expelled. https://t.co/XhLlQdvUl0  Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) April 24, 2024

(Related: Did you see what Texas State Troopers did to a Fox News cameraman who was filming the protests at UT?)

Austin police have long collaborated with Israel

Believe it or not, the Austin Police Department, which locals defunded in part back in 2020, has close ties to Israel. The department collaborates with an Israel lobbying group called ADL and trains alongside Israeli occupation forces on how to engage in "counterterrorism."

What this means in laymen's terms is that, with the help of Israel and its police state protocols for handling free speech, Austin police have learned how to sidestep the First Amendment and dub everyone who exercises free speech of which politicians disapprove as "terrorists."

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.

This is how law enforcement in Texas is now treating anyone who speaks out against Israel's genocide in Gaza: by assaulting and arresting them to intimidate and bring about silence.

Austin PD has a long track record of collaboration with Israel lobby outfit ADL and training with Israeli occupation forces, supposedly to learn counterterrorism, but in reality to gain experience crushing popular protests against genocide. https://t.co/mFa8GCLcXH pic.twitter.com/qQ3WFA0dTI  Dan Cohen (@dancohen3000) April 25, 2024

"This all lines up with the agenda of the mother of harlots, the fake Jews and their fanatical religious beliefs," one commenter wrote about all this, referencing Revelation 2:9 and Revelation 3:9 in the Holy Scriptures, as well as citing 1932 quotes from Jewish Talmudic scholar Dr. Michael Higger, who described a future brave new Jewish world.

"This all aligns with their teachings from the Babylonian Talmud and the Zohar teachings of Kabbalah. There will be NO tolerating of speaking out against the synagogue of Satan. All who do will be silenced, some forever. This is no joke. IF they continue, things will get much worse in the near future."

"My Commanding Officer orders me to keep preaching the Truth, and that I shall do," responded a Christian who follows the teaching of Jesus Christ. "I do not fear these devils who can only kill my body. Maranatha!"

"Now you know why I will never vote again," wrote another. "Somehow, we have in this nation an autocratic government that not only supports genocide but will drain the Treasury to ... arm and equip the war criminals conducting it. There is one establishment party with two names who only support the globalists that own them."

The latest news about Zionism can be found at Prophecy.news.

Sources for this article include:

InformationLiberation.com

NaturalNews.com

BlueLetterBible.org

BlueLetterBible.org
Trump meets with DeSantis in quest for donors, calls for protests to be shut down one day later

How to get donors 101.

(Article by Chris Menahan republished from InformationLiberation.com)

From Bloomberg, "Trump Meets DeSantis Seeking to Tap Ex-Rival's Donor Connections":

Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis met on Sunday to discuss the possibility of tapping DeSantis' donor network, according to a person familiar with the matter. [...] Reaching into DeSantis' donor pipeline could shore up funds for the presumptive Republican nominee as Trump faces a cash drain from the legal costs of his array of court cases. At the same time, President Joe Biden's campaign widened its fundraising lead over Trump in March, raising more than $90 million. As of April 21, Trump had just $6.8 million in the accounts he's been using to fund his lawyers. That could drive him to tap funds from other sources to cover upcoming bills and bankroll his campaign.

The Trump-DeSantis meeting was arranged by pro-Israel investor Steve Witkoff.

One day after the meeting, Trump called for pro-Palestine protests to be shut down in an all-caps post on Truth Social.

"STOP THE PROTESTS NOW!!!" Trump said.

Trump wrote in a follow-up post:

"I am very happy to have the full and enthusiastic support of Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida. We had a great meeting yesterday, arranged by mutual friend Steve Witkoff, at his beautiful Shell Bay Club in Hollywood, Florida. The conversation mostly concerned how we would work closely together to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. Also discussed was the future of Florida, which is FANTASTIC! I greatly appreciate Ron's support in taking back our Country from the Worst President in the History of the United States. November 5th is a BIG DAY!!!

Witkoff had a fundraiser for Trump planned at the Grand Prix in Miami but it was shut down for violating the Miami Grand Prix's suite licensing agreement:

As a reminder, DeSantis torpedoed his own campaign by passing hate speech laws to silence criticism of Israel on behalf of his Israel-First megadonors.

Both Republicans and Democrats are in a mad dash scramble to raise money from Israel-First donors by pushing hate speech laws to outlaw criticism of Israel.

Sputnik reported last week that US Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) saw a 1,413% increase in AIPAC donations after sponsoring the "America Last" bill to ban TikTok, sanction Iran and give Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan $95 billion in aid.

Reuters reported in 2021 that Israel-First billionaire donors now hold more sway in Washington than corporations.

Read more at: InformationLiberation.com
A secret German war plan reveals U.S. soldiers will soon be deployed on the front lines to fight Russia

United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, during his recent visit to Berlin, remarked that European nations must follow Britain in strengthening their defense spending to guarantee the Unites States' continued commitment to NATO.

Incidentally, a secret war readiness plan of Germany has been partially revealed. It was disclosed to German newspaper FAZ by armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany Lt Gen Andre Bodemann that their army chiefs are drawing up plans on how they would feed thousands of U.S. soldiers and refuel their tanks as they moved towards NATO's eastern front.

During the interview, the Bundeswehr senior official said the army was putting together a new, long-term security plan with emphasis on civil defense. Most of the planning details are a state secret, but he revealed that part of the planning process involves logistics for feeding huge numbers of American soldiers, with the main input from civilians.

"If, for example, a US division moved towards the east, thousands of tanks, thousands of soldiers, then they would need to be fed and the tanks refueled or possibly repaired," he told FAZ. "The Bundeswehr's logistics would probably be tied up with our soldiers on the front. That means we would need the maximum input from the civilian service. The convoy would get fuel from petrol stations or civilian vehicles the Red Cross would provide medical care and food from a civilian caterer. This would be the classic case.'

It has been reported that Germany is trying to make itself "kriegstuchtigteit," or "war ready," in the face of a potential armed conflict with Russia within the next five years.

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.

Bodemann did not elaborate on which eastern front Germany would be defending, NATO officials are increasingly concerned about Vladimir Putin launching an incursion on NATO's eastern flank if his forces eventually claim victory in Ukraine.

The war readiness plan came out following a statement from Gen Carsten Breuer, the head of the German armed forces, that he had "no doubt" Germany could repel a Russian assault on the eastern flank.

"Rather, in my role as the chief of defense, it is paramount to achieving the readiness of Germany's armed forces within the next five years. We call this kriegstuchtigkeit, or being ready, capable and willing to fight. We are on the right track," Breuer said in February. (Related: Is Germany plotting to unleash WWIII by bombing Russias Crimean Bridge?)

Poland's Donald Tusk slams EU for all talk no action support for Kyiv

For Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk, European Union leaders' views on aid to Ukraine obviously lack implementation.

"If all the words that were said in the last years here in Brussels about common defense could be changed into bullets and rocket launchers," Tusk said on X, formerly Twitter, following the European Council meeting on April 17. "Europe would have become the strongest power in the world. And the safest place."

Last month, Tusk warned that the war in Europe is not a joke. For the first time since 1945, war in Europe is becoming real again: we might currently be sliding into a prewar era. He admitted that in this first international interview since taking office as Polish prime minister, he is worried about the escalating threats coming from Russia. "We are living in the most critical moment since the end of the Second World War," he added.

Military officials stated that the Ukrainian army faced a shortage of artillery shells and scaled back some operations due to a lack of assistance from the West. Critics commented that despite the strong rhetoric, the EU summit was not able to resolve to urgently supply Ukraine with air defense assets and expedite military support.

Ukraine's Lt. Gen. Ivan Havryliuk told the BBC in December 2023 that Ukraine is increasing its production of kamikaze drones to compensate for the shortage of artillery ammunition.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Feb, 17 that the Ukrainian Armed Forces withdrew from Avdiivka, Donetsk Oblast. He said that the decision was made to avoid encirclement and to save the lives and health of the soldiers. Ammunition shortage partly influenced the loss of positions, Syrskyi added.

Moreover, UK intelligence reported that as of March 2024, the situation in the conflict zone remains unstable, particularly due to personnel and ammunition shortages, limiting the ability of Ukrainian forces to hold positions.

Check out WWIII.news to stay updated on the ongoing war with Ukraine and Russia and learn more about the involvement of other members of the bloc.

Sources for this article include:

Telegraph.co.uk

SG.News.Yahoo.com

BBC.com
OBEY: World Economic Forum white paper claims 98% of central banks are in the process of adopting CBDCs

The World Economic Forum has been fixated on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) lately, and as usual, theyre manipulating facts to garner support for their latest attempt to control people.

This time, theyve released a white paper making the claim that 98% of all central banks are currently pursuing their own CBDCs.

They may want people to believe this, but just two countries have officially launched CBDCs so far  Nigeria and Zimbabwe  while just a handful have made it past the proof of concept stage.

Moreover, a number of countries have scrapped their CBDC projects, such as Finland, Denmark, the Philippines, Ecuador and Kenya. Countries that are currently in the pilot stage, however, include India, Russia and China.

In the paper, entitled Modernizing Financial Markets With Wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency, they sing the praises of these currencies, applauding their ability to streamline cross-border transactions.

The paper claims: CeBM is ideal for systemically important transactions despite the emergence of alternative payment instrumentsWholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC) is a form of CeBM that could unlock new economic models and integration points that are not possible today.

However, given the World Economic Forums globalist agenda, their real interest in pushing these currencies and making it seem like everyone wants to adopt them is because they could pave the way for a future global currency model  and, by extension, the removal of physical securities and money known as dematerialization that they are so eager to implement.

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 paper also refers to a unified ledger, which is a term they use to describe a fully centralized digital currency system that would be under the control of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

It's all about controlling the masses

CBDCs would effectively render all transactions traceable, and therefore easily intercepted by banks and governments. This means all trade and revenue would be monitored, and people would not be able to circumvent it by using physical cash the way they can right now. With every cent that people spend and earn being tracked (not to mention taxed), and cleared through the agency running the CBDC, governments could veto transactions with ease.

There are a lot of ways this could be used to control the masses and keep everyone in line with their globalist agenda, from blocking people from filling up their cars gas tank if theyve used too many fossil fuels to blocking purchases of ammunition. They wont need to deplatform people for speaking out about topics that go against government narratives, like COVID-19 vaccine injuries; they can just fine them or freeze their accounts.

Bureaucrats would be able to punish people instantly for whatever reason they see fit, much like the social credit system used in China to punish people who dont behave or think in the way the Chinese Communist Party wants them to.

Make no mistake about it: CBDCs pose a huge threat to our freedom, and even if the WEF is exaggerating their popularity right now, it wont be long before they become a very real possibility. While the globalists may not have been able to control us as much as theyd hoped with climate change scaremongering and COVID-19 vaccine mandates, CBDCs could prove to be their best chance yet to achieve global domination.

Sources for this article include:

Technocracy.news

ZeroHedge.com
Your globalist bank is an active enemy combatant plotting against you in a financial civil war and political purge

Part of the Biden regimes plan to save democracy includes a full-on collaboration with financial institutions to spy on and target their political opposition . Congressional Republicans are currently investigating at least 13 financial institutions that have colluded with the federal government to surveil Americans who show indications of extremism. These surveillance operations violate the 4th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, targeting Americans with no warrant and no due process, under nefarious pretenses.

This federal government unconstitutional collaboration with financial institutions began in the lead-up to and the aftermath of the January 6, 2021 false flag operation at the U.S. Capitol, which ensnared innocent Americans who were questioning the legitimacy of the 2020 electoral process and its results.

Feds working with banks to surveil, profile, convict Bidens political opposition

Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) chair of the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government is leading the investigation into these high crimes and misdemeanors. The banks suspect in this investigation include the following: Bank of America, Chase, U.S. Bank, Wells Fargo, Citi Bank, Truist, Charles Schwab, HSBC, MUFG, PayPal, Santander, Standard Chartered and Western Union.

According to the investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) were weaponized and colluded with financial institutions to go after pro-gun and religious Trump supporters in the wake of January 6, 2021.

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 governments unconstitutional operation seeks to silence and intimidate Americans for their religious and political views. The banks spied on private transactions. Searches that include the terms MAGA and TRUMP were flagged. If an individual purchased a Bible, they were also flagged for extremism. FinCEN even suggested that banks review transactions at sporting and recreational supplies stores such as Cabela's, Dick's Sporting Goods and Bass Pro Shops in order to detect customers who might be extremists.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the U.S. Treasury distributed the surveillance instructions. Officials at the U.S. Treasury circulated a memo instructing financial institutions how to spot indicators of extremism around January 6, 2021. These indicators included individuals who made travel plans to Washington D.C. or individuals who purchased religious texts. When testifying before lawmakers in February, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen played dumb about the surveillance instructions and the spying operation.

This kind of warrant-less financial surveillance raises serious concerns about the federal government's respect for Americans' privacy and fundamental civil liberties, Jim Jordan wrote in a letter to Treasury Sec. Janet Yellen.

Suspicious Activity Report used as political weapon against hundreds of innocent Americans

During the hearings, Peter Sullivan, the FBIs former financial sector liaison, admitted that the FBI and FinCEN provided the banks with thresholds for which a suspicious activity report should raise. The banks spied on consumers transaction history, looking for keywords and purchases.

By January 17, 2021, the FBI and FinCEN had already received private data on 211 individuals who were targeted by Bank of America in a Suspicious Activity Report. When these reports were further investigated, there was no allegation of federal criminal conduct. When Bank of America was requested to send over any weapons-related transactions, only four of the 211 cases qualified, prompting criminal background queries.

Then, the FBI deployed federal agents to investigate these four individuals, which led to a number of leads on additional persons of interest. These leads were eventually pulled from the investigation, according to then-Section Chief of the FBI's Domestic Terrorism Operations Selection Steve Jensen. It was determined that the leads lacked allegations of federal criminal conduct. In other words, these Americans were innocent and were being unconstitutionally profiled and harassed by a rogue federal government and surveillance apparatus.

The Biden regime spied on, profiled and targeted Americans in an attempt to suppress their political and religious views. By conscripting the FBI, the Biden regime displayed nefarious intent to intimidate and charge innocent individuals with crimes that they did not commit. In an attempt to suppress and eradicate their political opposition, its more clear than ever that the Biden regime is a communist regime, and this surveillance operation is reminiscent of Stalins Great Purge in the Soviet Union in the 1930s.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

Britannica.com

FinCen.gov

DailyMail.co.uk
Zelenskys legitimacy will soon be questioned  Kremlin

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky will not be able to remain in office indefinitely, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview published on Sunday. He will have to somehow exonerate himself in the eyes of his fellow citizens and other nations in order to maintain his grip on power, the Russian official told journalist Pavel Zarubin.

(Article republished from RT.com)

A presidential election was scheduled to take place in Ukraine on March 31. Zelensky canceled it along with all other elections in December 2023, citing martial law and the conflict with Russia. He also announced at the time that no new elections for either president or parliament will be held as long as martial law remains in force. The move essentially extended his mandate indefinitely.

I believe Zelenskys fate is sealed, Peskov said. A moment will come soon when many people, including those inside Ukraine, will question his legitimacy.

According to the Kremlin spokesman, the Ukrainian presidents term in office will have to be called into question anyway from a legal point of view, referring to him as a very peculiar president of a very peculiar regime that does not spare its citizens and throws  thousands and thousands of people into the crucible of war.

This is a tragedy for the people, for the country, he added.

A survey carried out by Ukrainian pollster SOCIS in early March showed that Zelensky would have secured only 23.7% in the first round and no more than 32.5% in the second if he had faced the former top Ukrainian commander, General Valery Zaluzhny. The president would have lost to the general, who was dismissed by him in February, the data indicated.

In early April, German newspaper Tagesspiegel reported that public support for the authoritarian president was falling in Ukraine. His approval ratings have recently sunk to 61%, down from 80% recorded early on in the conflict between Moscow and Kiev, it said, citing opinion polls by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology.

In March, leading Kiev news outlet Ukrainskaya Pravda (UP) claimed, citing MPs, that Zelensky virtually stripped the national legislature of its powers and established personal rule. We have a unique situation in Ukraine: one person decides everything, one lawmaker told the paper at the time, referring to the president.

Around the same time, an MP from Zelenskys own party openly suggested that Ukraine needs a dictatorship to survive, adding that the president makes most of the decisions anyway.

Read more at: RT.com
Palestinian Civil Defense: Disease will spread from the 10,000 decomposing bodies buried under the rubble in Gaza

In a statement released on Tuesday, April 30, the Palestinian Civil Defense warned that the possibility of the spread of disease from the decomposing bodies buried under the rubble is inevitable in the Gaza Strip this summer.

According to the release, high temperatures this hot season will likely increase the threat of an epidemic, as heat accelerates the decomposition of corpses. "The General Directorate of Civil Defense renews its appeal to all relevant parties, led by the United Nations and the World Health Organization to urgently intervene," the statement reads. It also indicated that it is important to "allow the entry of heavy equipment necessary to enable our crews to save the lives of those wounded by the ongoing Israeli bombing, as well as to extract the bodies of the martyrs that are decomposing under the rubble and are causing a health disaster for the population."

To date, there are an estimated 10,000 Palestinians buried under the debris of buildings flattened by the violent and untargeted Israeli strikes in the enclave. The majority of those killed and buried are children and women. The civil defense further lamented that it would take two to three years to recover all the bodies unless digging equipment, which has been destroyed by Israel, is urgently replaced and allowed into the war-ravaged strip.

Moreover, rescuers were only able to reach previously declared inaccessible areas on April 7, after Israeli troops pulled out from Gaza's populated areas. Using basic tools, they recovered some decomposed corpses from under the debris of buildings earlier this week. They were also able to recover more than 700 bodies found in mass graves at al-Shifa Hospital and Nasser Hospital. (Related: More than 13,000 people are missing in Gaza as bodies pile up beneath the rubble.)

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.

Apart from the constant targeting of Israeli troops, the basic tools would not suffice for them to dig deeper into the wreckage. They would need heavy digging machinery. "Civil defense crews in the northern Gaza governorate embarked on these efforts, with the support of residents and volunteers using available simple hand tools," the rescuers said. "In light of the lack of heavy equipment such as bulldozers and excavators, these efforts will remain insufficient and will not meet the minimum requirements necessary to recover the bodies of thousands of martyrs."

Meanwhile, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza released an update as of Wednesday that at least 34,568 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory during almost seven months of war between Israel and the militant, political group Hamas. Also, 77,765 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war broke out when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7. Also, at least 67 civil defense members have been killed.

The widespread destruction of infrastructure and roads is complicating rescue efforts. The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) estimates there are 37 million tons of ruins in Gaza left by the intense Israeli attacks on residential buildings for seven months. It could take 14 years to safely clear the debris, according to Pehr Lodhammar, a senior officer from the UNMAS. "All I can say is that at least 10 percent of the ammunition that is being fired potentially fails to functionWith 100 trucks were talking about 14 years of work, so thats 14 years with about 750,000 workdays  person workdays  to remove the debris," Lodhammar said earlier this week.

Gaza filled with more potential "toxic war debris" than Ukraine

The head of UN demining operations for the narrow Palestinian territory said Wednesday that the beleaguered enclave is filled with more war debris and rubble than Ukraine. Said ruins are potentially also filled with possible toxic substances such as asbestos.

"Gaza has more rubble than Ukraine, and to put that in perspective, the Ukrainian front line is 600 miles (nearly 1,000 kilometers) long, and Gaza is 25 miles long," said Mungo Birch, head of the UNMAS program in the Palestinian territories. But the volume of rubble is not the only problem. Birch added that the debris is likely heavily contaminated with unexploded ordnance or UXO, but its clearance will be further complicated by other hazards in the rubble. "There's estimated to be over 800,000 tons of asbestos, for instance, alone in the Gaza rubble," he said. The cancer-causing mineral used in construction requires special precautions when handling.

Birch said he hoped UNMAS, which works to mitigate the threats posed by all types of explosive ordnance, would become the coordination body for mine action in Gaza. It has secured $5 million of funding but needs a further $40 million to continue its work in Gaza over the next 12 months. However, "the sector as a whole will need hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars over multiple years to make Gaza safe again for the population," Birch added.

Check out WWIII.news for more stories related to the continuing conflict between Israel and Palestine.

Sources for this article include:

MiddleEastEye.net

Barrons.com

English.Alarabiya.net
Arizona GOP issues resolution declaring COVID-19 jabs biological weapons and calling for a ban

The Republican Party of Arizona has just passed a ban the jab resolution declaring COVID-19 vaccines to be biological and technological weapons. They are also calling on the governor to ban the shots and seize existing vials so a forensic analysis can be conducted on their contents. The resolution passed with 95.62% of the votes.

The resolution points out that clinical data from vaccine maker Pfizer revealed 1,223 deaths, along with 158,000 adverse incidents, 42,000 adverse cases and roughly 1,000 side effects associated with the jabs, and many vaccinated individuals have suffered permanent disability, illness and even death as a result.

They add that strong and credible evidence from Sweden exists that COVID mRNA shots alter human DNA, and government agencies, media and tech companies, and other corporations have committed enormous fraud by claiming COVID injections are safe and effective.

The groundbreaking resolution was proposed by a prominent figure in the Arizona Republican Party, Dan Schultz, and not surprisingly, it has generated its fair share of controversy. Nevertheless, it is a strong sign of the growing skepticism when it comes to the efficacy and safety of these vaccines as we learn more about their makeup and their effects on the human body.

Proponents of the resolution are taking the same stance as the many Americans who refused to get the vaccines, pointing out that they have not been subjected to sufficient testing and there is no way of knowing what their long-term effects could be. However, we do know their short-term effects and they are enough to make many people want nothing to do with the jabs.

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.

It is also telling that the resolution calls for the vaccine vials to undergo a forensic analysis to determine their contents. This move is likely a reaction to the fact that we now know Pfizer withheld information about the makeup of the jabs from authorities, including potential DNA contamination.

This is something that Health Canada sent numerous requests for clarification to Pfizer about after learning that they failed to disclose information about DNA sequences in their product. The Canadian drug regulator asked them to supply data regarding the size of the DNA fragments in the vaccine amid concerns about the possibility of genomic integration.

Florida Department of Health has also called for vaccine use to be halted

The resolution also cited the Florida Department of Health, which has called for the use of the vaccine to be discontinued. Earlier this year, Floridas state surgeon general, Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo, sent a letter to the FDA commissioner and the director of the CDC expressing his reservations about nucleic acid contaminants in the mRNA vaccines that are currently available, especially when it comes to the previously undisclosed presence of Simian Virus 40 promoter/enhancer DNA, which poses a higher risk of DNA integration into human cells, and the presence of lipid nanoparticle complexes, which have the potential to deliver contaminant DNA into human cells. He vowed to continue assessing the research into the risks of the vaccines and keep the residents of his state updated.

So far, 10 republican county parties in Florida have passed similar resolutions declaring the vaccines biological and technological weapons and calling on their governor to ban the distribution of the jabs.

Not surprisingly, the mainstream media has not been covering this story and the overwhelming support it attracted among the party in Arizona. Pretending like the jabs are perfectly safe and failing to report on credible evidence to the contrary has been their modus operandi from the start, placing countless people at risk who got vaccinated without being fully informed of the potential side effects.

Sources for this article include:

Twitter.com

ChesterMTam.Substack.com

FloridaHealth.gov
British Home Office fails to locate over 3,500 asylum seekers slated for deportation to Rwanda

realinvestigationsThe Home Office of the United Kingdom is currently unable to locate more than 3,500 asylum seekers out of over 5,700 illegal immigrants slated for removal to Rwanda under the British government's deportation law.

Initially devised by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson in April 2022, the legislation, known as the "Safety of Rwanda Bill," intends to deter irregular migration into the U.K., particularly immigrants traveling across the English Channel on illegal and dangerous small boats or inflatable dinghies from France, arranged by criminal gangs.

In 2022, Rwanda and the U.K. signed a migration agreement under the Safety of Rwanda Bill that would allow the British government to deport undocumented migrants and asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing, asylum and resettlement. (Related: U.K. and Italy agree to finance the repatriation of migrants attempting to reach Europe.)

But the first deportation flight, originally scheduled for June 2022, was blocked by a last-minute injunction from the European Court of Human Rights. Subsequently, the U.K. government was compelled to renegotiate the migration agreement after the U.K. Supreme Court raised concerns regarding the safety of asylum seekers under the initial scheme.

Nearly two years later, the British parliament finally passed the final version of the Rwanda deportation bill in April 2024. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the first deportation flights from the U.K. to Rwanda could begin in 10 to 12 weeks. Sunak added that there would be multiple flights per month through the summer and beyond.

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.

However, several reports reveal that only 2,145 migrants have been accounted for and are complying with British government reporting requirements. The whereabouts of the remaining 3,557 asylum seekers remain unknown to authorities following the announcement that the British Home Office would mass detain illegal immigrants across the U.K. on April 29, weeks ahead of schedule, for their deportation to Rwanda.

British government denies losing track of Rwanda deportees

According to the deportation law, individuals lacking permission to remain in the U.K. should only be detained if they are about to depart soon. Consequently, the majority of those who have crossed the English Channel are provided accommodation by the Home Office. They receive a phone for communication with officials and are instructed to check in at one of 13 immigration offices or the nearest police station. However, there's some flexibility in these rules.

The Home Office's immigration reporting guidelines specify that asylum seekers without clear timelines for a final decision only need to report in person every three months. Those potentially subject to relocation to Rwanda are typically required to report every two weeks, although this requirement is not fixed.

This reason allows other U.K. officials to defend the government following the statement of the Home Office.

A spokesperson for the prime minister refuted claims of the Home Office's inability to locate the missing asylum seekers.

"The Home Office continues to have a wide range of tools to maintain contact with them, those include face-to-face and digital reporting, and of course, many individuals are residing in Home Office accommodation. The Home Office remains confident of their whereabouts," the spokesperson said.

Similarly, British Health Secretary Victoria Atkins assured the public that law enforcement would employ various measures to locate and remove asylum seekers who fail to report as required.

"Law enforcement has a variety of measures to find people, they will be found and they will be removed. We want the message to go out loud and clear that if somebody doesn't report as they should do, they shouldn't think that they'll get away with it," Atkins said.

Visit Migrants.news for more stories about illegal migrants.

Watch Dutch citizen Frank Krischick warns people against visiting the Netherlands.

This video is from the Frank Krischick channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

'Death trap': UK starts housing illegal migrants in controversial barge 'Bibby Stockholm', as it surfaces government spends 7M per day on asylum seekers in hotels.

All those migrants the globalists let into Europe are protesting FOR PALESTINE, prompting Henry Kissinger to declare: "Too many foreigners!"

British government may require illegal migrants to wear electronic tags as immigration detention centers run out of space.

European border agency Frontex confirms: 92% of illegal migrants arriving in EU are fighting-age MEN.

Heavy rains compel hundreds of illegal migrants to try to FORCE their way across border into Brownsville, Texas.

Sources include:

InfoWars.com

Reuters.com

BBC.com

Brighteon.com
ICC prosecutors interview hospital staff in Gaza to gather evidence of Israeli war crimes

As part of their investigation into the alleged war crimes of the Benjamin Netanyahu regime in Israel, the International Criminal Court (ICC) is holding meetings with Al-Shifa and Al-Nasser, Gaza's two largest hospitals.

As we have been reporting, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) repeatedly targeted Al-Shifa and Al-Nasser with bombings, claiming terrorists are hiding out inside the facilities alongside patients. ICC prosecutors are taking the time to listen to testimony from hospital staff about what they say has been happening.

On April 29, two unnamed sources reportedly told Reuters more about these latest developments. One of them revealed that the IDF's operations in and around both hospitals could officially become an ICC investigation all on its own.

The ICC prosecutor's office is not commenting yet on the operational aspect of its current investigation because it says doing so could put the safety of witnesses and victims at risk of retaliation by Israel and its supporters.

Just to be clear, the ICC is investigating both sides of the conflict as part of a neutral effort to get to the bottom of what is actually happening versus what the mostly Zionist-controlled media claims is happening.

(Related: Did you know that Israel Defense Forces [IDF] are tricking Palestinian refugees into Gaza "safe" zones where they then proceed to bomb them to death?)

The IDF holocaust in Gaza

You may recall from our earlier reporting that Al-Shifa hospital was invaded by the Israeli army last November. Israeli troops evacuated hospital staff at gunpoint before turning the entire facility into a forced detention center.

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.

Israel attacked Al-Shifa a second time on March 18, killing hundreds of people as part of a two-week military operation.

In February, IDF stormed Khan Yunis' Al-Nasser hospital, killing several people, including patients. This prompted Palestinian rescue workers to call for urgent probes and international intervention after hundreds of bodies, many of them so mangled that they are now unidentifiable, were found in mass graves near both hospitals.

"Some of the bodies found showed signs of torture and execution," reported The Cradle. "Other bodies had missing organs. Among the corpses found at the mass graves were those of children and elderly persons."

This is the type of sick, inhumane stuff we were all taught about in the history books concerning the so-called Holocaust during World War II. Ironically, what Israel is doing to the people of Gaza is like a Holocaust 2.0, complete with executions, mass graves and forced detention.

What the ICC has uncovered so far is enough that its investigators are reportedly planning to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and numerous other alleged war criminals, including Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

According to reports, Netanyahu is freaking out about the possibility that he will be tried and prosecuted for committing crimes against humanity. He is petitioning his puppets in Washington, D.C., to do something to shield him from having to face justice.

A bipartisan coalition of both Republican and Democrat lawmakers is threatening "retaliation" against the ICC if it proceeds with trying to hold Netanyahu, Gallant and the rest accountable for their war crimes.

"Legislation to that effect is already in the works," said U.S. officials to Axios on April 29.

"This is Vietnam all over again," one commenter wrote, offering an expanded perspective. "They justify the murder of innocent people while they demonize the people protesting their war crimes."

Another wrote that the local Gestapo, i.e., Zionist-controlled police forces, are doing their part as well to shield war criminals from public scrutiny.

What Israel is doing is the opposite of what Jesus would do. Learn more at Evil.news.

Sources for this article include:

TheCradle.co

NaturalNews.com
U.S. finds 5 Israeli military units GUILTY of human rights violations, decides to do NOTHING

The Biden administration has no plans to impose sanctions or even restrict military aid to West Jerusalem, even after identifying that at least five Israeli military units committed gross human rights violations before the onset of the Israel-Hamas war.

On April 29, State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel announced that five Israeli military units were allegedly involved in extrajudicial killings, torture and rape, mostly against Palestinians, perpetrated by Israeli border police in the West Bank before the war began in Gaza.

But despite all this, the Biden administration currently has no plans to impose sanctions or restrict military aid to Israel.

Patel even claimed that the Israeli units already conducted "remediation" in the cases of four of the units in compliance with Leahy Law, a U.S. law that prohibits the Department of State and Department of Defense from providing military assistance to foreign security force units that violate human rights with impunity.

"Four of these units have effectively remediated these violations, which is what we expect partners to do," Patel said. However, he declined to identify the units, give details of the abuse or even provide information on the measures the Israeli government had taken against them.

Meanwhile, the fifth unit, identified by the media as Netzah Yehuda, a battalion formed in 1999 to accommodate ultra-Orthodox Jews and other religious nationalists in the Israeli army, was found to be involved in the death of a 78-year-old Palestinian-American man named Omar Assad, who suffered a heart attack after being detained, bound and gagged at a West Bank checkpoint in 2022. Netzah Yehuda was transferred to the Golan Heights from the West Bank that same year. To date, there has not been effective remediation for the unit.

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.

According to Patel, discussions are still ongoing regarding the fifth unit. "We are engaging with them in a process, and we will make an ultimate decision when it comes to that unit when that process is complete."

Biden bends to pressure from Israeli government

The Biden administration has come under scrutiny for bending to pressure from the Israeli government to hold off on any punitive measures against the units.

Issa Amro, a prominent Palestinian human rights activist who lives in the West Bank city of Hebron, said he was "disappointed" but not surprised with the decision. He even accused the U.S. of "not doing concrete actions to reduce violence to a minimum and to make peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis." (Related: Human rights group wants Israeli attacks on Gaza hospitals "investigated as war crimes.")

The comment was in response to the criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the impending actions of the U.S.

"At a time when our soldiers are fighting the monsters of terror, the intention to impose a sanction on a unit in the IDF is the height of absurdity and a moral low. The government headed by me will act by all means against these moves," Netanyahu posted on X, formerly Twitter.

But the Biden administration remains in denial of their unfair and preferential treatment of Israel.

"Each of these situations is different, and we have to do our best to collect the facts and follow the facts and that's what we're doing," said Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a press briefing on April 29.

Learn more about Israel's attacks against Palestinian civilians at Genocide.news.

Watch this report from Press TV discussing the extent of the destruction and human casualties in Gaza.

This video is from Cynthia's Pursuit of Truth channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

UN Human Rights Council passes resolution calling for suspension of arms sales to Israel.

Israel is weaponizing FAMINE while destroying food system in Gaza, says UN human rights expert.

Palestinian human rights organizations sue Biden for "complicity" in Israel's "genocide" in Gaza.

Human rights group condemns escalating Israeli attacks against UN-run schools and refugee camps.

Biden condemns antisemitism, claims to be a Zionist as he professes continued military support for Israel.

Sources include:

RT.com

TheGuardian.com

MSN.com 1

MSN.com 2
Missouri Senate passes nations most comprehensive sound money legislation to the chagrin of private central bankers

We have some great news to share with you out of Missouri where the state Senate just voted to pass Senate Bill 735, also known as the Constitutional Money Act, to establish a sound money system in the Show-Me State.

Described by Citizens for Sound Money (@4SoundMoney on X) as "the most comprehensive sound money bill in the country," SB 735 lays new groundwork for the use of gold and silver as legal tender in the United States.

The bill's summary states that its purpose is to modify and create new provisions relating to the sole purpose of regulating the use of gold and silver. Specifically, SB 735 exempts all bullion and investment coin purchases from income taxation.

"SB 735 additionally exempts from state income tax the portion of capital gain on the sale or exchange of gold and silver specie that are otherwise included in the taxpayer's federal adjusted gross income," explains Act for Missouri.

(Related: In case you missed it, the Health Ranger recently conducted experiments on Goldbacks, another form of sound money, determining that they all contain at least the amount of embedded gold as claimed.)

Every state needs sound money

The Constitutional Money Act is hardly perfect, nor is it complete in terms of establishing a much-needed sound money alternative to Federal Reserve Notes (FRN), which are lent by the private Federal Reserve banking cartel to the United States Treasury with interest.

The national debt is as high as it is, and now rising exponentially, precisely because the current fiat "money" system is the opposite of sound. It is a racket that enriches a select few at the top of the pyramid, all at the expense of everyone at the bottom of the pyramid.

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.

"SB 735 creates the 'Constitutional Money Act' and declares that specie legal tender and electronic currency, as those terms are defined in the act, shall be accepted as payment for all public debts and may be received as payment for all private debts contracted for in the state of Missouri, in the discretion of the receiving entity," reads Section 408.010 of the bill.

"The Director of the Department of Revenue is required to promulgate rules on the methods of acceptance of specie legal tender as payment for any debt, tax, fee, or obligation owed. Costs incurred in the course of verification of the weight and purity of any specie during any such transaction shall be borne by the receiving entity."

Where the Constitutional Money Act is lacking is in its handling of FRNs, which are not explicitly prohibited for use as legal tender. Had the legislation prohibited the use of FRNs, Missouri would be well on its way to freeing itself entirely from the shackles of the private Federal Reserve.

"The bill still allows payment in Federal Reserve Notes which is illegal per Article 1 Section 10," tweeted "mike x" (@ratsmachine) on X. "The state must move to end the illegal occupation by the Federal Reserve Bank."

Citizens for Sound Money responded to this by stating that no individual state can ban federal legal tender, which at the current time is FRNs.

"The states however can execute their constitutional right to make gold and silver legal tender per Article I Section X Clause I of the Constitution."

Banks in Missouri are unaffected by the bill's passage, unless they choose to start accepting gold and silver in addition to FRNs.

"This is way more comprehensive than the Texas bill," Citizens for Sound Money further noted about Missouri's sound money legislation. "Texas only has a state depository; they don't have anything else, unfortunately. But we are working with our partners at @economicwarroom (Economic War Room) to get it done in Texas."

More related news can be found at DollarDemise.com.

Sources for this article include:

Twitter.com

Act4Mo.org

NaturalNews.com
Trump challenges Biden to a DEBATE anywhere, anytime, anyplace

Former President Donald Trump has challenged incumbent President Joe Biden to a debate after the latter said he was "happy to debate" the presumptive Republican nominee.

Trump issued the challenge on April 26 via a Truth Social post: "Crooked Joe Biden just announced that he's willing to debate. Everyone knows he doesn't really mean it, but in case he does  I [say] anywhere, anytime, anyplace  an old expression used by fighters."

The real estate mogul suggested several dates  the evening of April 29, the evening of April 30 or the evening of May 1. The latter coincides with his campaign rally in Michigan, "a state that [Biden] is in the process of destroying with his [electric vehicle] mandate."

Trump also mentioned that he was still in New York City "stuck in one of the many court cases that [Biden] instigated." The former president denounced the lawfare against him as "election interference against a political opponent" and "a continuing witch hunt."

"It's the only way he thinks he can win. In fact, let's do the debate at the Courthouse tonight  on national television. I'll wait around," Trump continued, taking a swipe at the incumbent. The former president addressed the New York State Supreme Court Building by its former name  the New York County Courthouse  in his post.

Trump's challenge came as a response to Biden's interview with radio host Howard Stern earlier that day. "I don't know if you're going to debate your opponent," said the shock jock. Biden responded: "I am, somewhere, I don't know when. I'm happy to debate him." (Related: Dems running cover for Biden's cognitive decline as Pelosi claims "There shouldnt be any" Trump-Biden debates.)

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.

"Trump makes fun of me," the Democratic president continued. "He's the kind of guy in the neighborhood you wish you could've gotten in the neighborhood and meet head-to-head."

Trump campaign: The people deserve to hear from both candidates before voting begins

Trump wasn't the only one who reacted to Biden's remarks on "The Howard Stern Show." The Trump campaign echoed the former president's remarks of "anytime, anywhere, anyplace" in a separate Truth Social post. Chris LaCivita, co-manager for the Trump campaign, posted a mere four words: "OK, let's set it up."

But this wasn't the first instance Trump challenged the incumbent to a debate. The former president issued a challenge to Biden after former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley dropped out of the Republican primary race in March.

"It is important for the good of the country that Joe Biden and I debate issues that are so vital to America and the American people," Trump said at the time. "Therefore, I am calling for debates anytime, anywhere, anyplace."

"The debates can be run by the corrupt DNC [Democratic National Committee] or their subsidiary, the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD). I look forward to receiving a response. Thank you for your attention to this matter."

According to a report by Newsweek, the CPD purportedly refused to grant the Trump campaign's request to hold general election debates earlier than usual. This led LaCivita and campaign co-manager Susie Wiles to denounce the decision as "unacceptable."

"The [CPD's] schedule does not begin until after millions of Americans will have already cast their ballots," the two said in a statement emailed to Newsweek. "This is unacceptable, and by refusing to move up the debates, they are doing a grave disservice to the people who deserve to hear from both candidates before voting begins."

The two added that the Trump campaign was "committed to making" its preferred debate schedule happen, "with or without the [CPD]." They also extended "an invitation to every television network in America that wishes to host a debate."

"[Former] President Trump has stated he will debate Joe Biden anytime, anywhere, anyplace  and Biden himself just agreed to debate. We once again call on Biden's team to work with us to set up one as soon as possible. The American people deserve it."

Watch Republican National Committee Co-Chair Lara Trump urging his father-in-law Donald and Joe Biden to debate each other face-to-face in the clip below.

This video is from the GalacticStorm channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

GOP presidential primary debate: No one came out to challenge Trump's dominance.

Trump will NOT attend any Republican primary debates, but dominates the field anyway.

Fox News anchors are BEGGING Trump to attend the channel's upcoming Republican primary debate.

CONFIRMED: Biden wore a wire with an earpiece at the first debate, so Trump must ask at the beginning of the next, "Are you wired right now?"

Sources include:

ThePostMillennial.com 1

ThePostMillennial.com 2

MSN.com

Brighteon.com
Zakharova: Washingtons call for Moscow to join peace talks DETACHED FROM REALITY

Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), has dubbed Washington's call for Moscow to join peace talks as something "detached from reality."

She made this remark on April 29, saying American politicians "live in a wonderland." Zakharova pointed to Moscow's respect for international law in promoting the now-defunct Minsk Agreements. The agreements signed in 2014 and 2015 in the Belarusian capital sought to resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict by granting special status to the Donetsk and Luhansk republics in western Ukraine.

The MFA spokeswoman asserted that Kyiv and its Western allies never intended to implement the agreements. She added that former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former French President Francois Hollande had admitted to using the agreements to buy time to strengthen Ukraine's military.

Zakharova also highlighted Moscow's willingness to engage in peace talks in 2022, during the early months of the Russia-Ukraine war. While the talks held in the Turkish city of Istanbul initially showed progress, they later collapsed due to the alleged meddling of former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The British leader purportedly advised Kyiv to continue fighting. (Related: Boris Johnson has meltdown after being exposed for sabotaging Ukraine peace deal.)

The spokeswoman's remarks followed comments by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressing hope that Russian President Vladimir Putin would recognize Western support for Ukraine. He added that Moscow's purported plans to dismantle Ukraine had failed. Moreover, Blinken urged the Russian leader to engage in sincere negotiations in line with international principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence.

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.

But according to Russia Today, Blinken's proposal is based on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's peace formula. Moscow subsequently rejected the clauses it deemed unacceptable, which include the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory.

Zakharova ultimately criticized the White House's approach, noting that everything seemed to be in disarray. "Everything has gone haywire in the White House," she said.

Putin still open for peace talks, but on Russia's terms

While Moscow remains open to negotiations, a decree by Zelensky in the fall of 2022 prohibits talks with the current leadership in Moscow. The edict followed the decision of four former Ukrainian regions to join Russia.

Back in March, Putin sat down for an interview where he reiterated his stance on negotiations to end the Russia-Ukraine war. Despite calls from pro-diplomacy voices in the West, Putin made it clear that he was not yet prepared to engage in negotiations due to Kyivs uncertain battlefield prospects.

According to reports, Putin emphasized that Russia could secure further advances by continuing the war, indicating a reluctance to negotiate at this time. But a closer look at Putin's full statement reveals a more nuanced perspective.

"For us to hold negotiations now just because they are running out of ammunition would be ridiculous," he said at the time. "Nevertheless, we are open to a serious discussion, and we are eager to resolve all conflicts, especially this one, by peaceful means."

This suggests that while Putin acknowledges the current situation, he remains open to dialogue and a peaceful resolution to the conflict. Despite this, he emphasized more stringent conditions for peace talks adopted last year. This includes Russia's refusal to give up the four regions it officially annexed in September 2022.

Putin made it clear that any negotiations must be based on the realities on the ground, rather than wishful thinking or unrealistic expectations. However, some media outlets and commentators have seized on selective quotes from Putin's interview, portraying his remarks as a rejection of negotiations altogether. This has led to misinterpretations and misrepresentations of Putin's position, fueling speculation and misinformation about the prospects for peace in Ukraine.

While challenges remain, Putin's indication of openness to negotiations provides a glimmer of hope for a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

Watch this video of Russian forces liberating the village of Novomihailovka after expelling Ukrainian troops.

This video is from The Prisoner channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Trump: COMPROMISE with Russia could have helped Ukraine avoid war.

Russia claims to have seized the initiative in Ukraine with significant territorial gains.

Russia warns: Fresh aid package for Ukraine will lead to more Ukrainian casualties.

Putin reportedly willing to end war with Ukraine, sit down for PEACE TALKS.

Sources include:

RT.com

ResponsibleStatecraft.org

Brighteon.com
The Republican-majority US House of Representatives approved a bill that would abolish the gray wolf's nationwide protection as an endangered species.

Removal Of Protection

The right-wing firebrand from Colorado, Representative Lauren Boebert, is the bill's sponsor. It passed narrowly (209-205) along party lines and is now headed to the Senate.

The White House declared on Monday that it was vehemently opposed to the bill, implying that President Joe Biden would veto it should it come to his desk.

The bill came amidst national discussion over the wolves' future. Farmers and hunters in the country argue that the wolf population is steady and have long lamented wolf assaults on livestock and game. They seek permission to kill the animals in a lawful manner.

Gray wolves were designated as a protected species in the 1970s after they came dangerously close to extinction in the continental United States. However, in October 2020, former President Donald Trump revoked this protection.

A federal judge reinstated these protections in February 2022, but not before the lack of protection caused terrible losses-in Wisconsin, for instance, almost 200 were slain during a 72-hour hunting frenzy.

Read Also: Federal Court Restores Protection to Gray Wolves as Threatened Species Across US

Lawmakers Debate

Republicans contended that since wolves have evidently returned, lifting protections ought to be hailed as a triumph for conservation.

Democrats said that assistance for the species is still needed. They warned that hunters will drive wolves back to the verge of extinction if protections are removed.

"Passing this bill would simply call the wolves recovered, but that does not make it so," said Representative Jared Huffman, a Democrat from California.

Opponents view the apex predators as a danger to ranchers' livelihoods, while supporters regard them as the embodiment of the wild spirit of the American wilderness.

Before European colonists launched eradication campaigns that lasted into the 20th century and nearly drove them out, outside of their Alaskan stronghold, a quarter of a million wolves formerly roamed from coast to coast.

A Wolf Conservation Center analysis of wildlife agency data indicated that in 2022, there were approximately 8,000 animals in the lower 48 states.

Activists claim that recovery is still uncertain.

"If our elected leaders truly want to see this species fully recovered and properly delisted from the Endangered Species Act, they will vote no on this bill and allow wolves to continue their comeback story guided by the best available science," said Robert Dewey of Defenders of Wildlife, one of more than 100 organizations that condemned the bill.

Last December, the European Commission recommended that wolves' protection status be reduced from "strictly" to "protected."

The hunting and farming industries applauded this proposal, but conservationists are adamantly against it.

Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said in September that wolf groups constituted a serious danger "potentially also for humans." She was accused of being an alarmist. She is well-known for having lost a family pony to a wolf attack last year.

Furthermore, the Commission came under fire for providing interested parties with less than three weeks to reply to a request for information on the current populations of wolves, which served as some of the basis for the current plan.

Related Article: EU Proposes to Downgrade Wolves Protection Status to 'Protected' as Their Population Doubles in Europe
Reports revealed that thousands of fish died in southern Vietnam due to challenging heatwaves in the country, impacting the country's reservoirs and lakes. The lack of rain is also blamed.

Southeast Asia has suffered from extreme weather events, including brutal heatwaves. In Vietnam, residents have struggled against rising temperatures and heat waves. Scorching temperatures forced the closure of schools in parts of Asia due to potential heat-related health concerns, particularly for communities without heating systems.

A recent Nature World News (NWN) report suggested that climate change could exacerbate the problem of heat, increasing heat-related health concerns, and El Nino can have dual effects. Many marine animals are sensitive to temperature fluctuations, and most of them could be vulnerable to death or health decline.

Fish Die-Off and Heatwaves in Vietnam

The latest news report shows the mass die-off of fish in Vietnam, which was blamed on scorching heat or heat waves in the country. The death was reported in a reservoir in southern Vietnam in Dong Nai province.

Portions of Vietnam, in southern and central areas, have experienced challenging heat. In addition to heat waves, the lack of rain has exacerbated the situation for reservoirs.

Reports reveal that the low water levels significantly affected the fish in reservoirs. The decline in water levels can also impact the water sources for crops in the region. As a result, due to mass fish die-off, officials will investigate the incident and remove the dead fish. Research explains that marine heatwaves, including harmful algal blooms (HAB), poor water quality, disease outbreaks, and illegal fishing practices, are among the killers of fish.

Understanding the potential deaths of fish and other marine creatures is essential for conservation and mitigation efforts amidst the growing threats of climate change, extreme weather events, and temperature fluctuations.

Mass deaths can be devastating for fisheries and likely cause prices to soar, potentially impacting the country's food security. As climate change intensifies, continued monitoring is crucial to save species from decline.

Also Read: Asia Is Heating Up Faster Than The Global Average, UN Report Says

Asia heat and climate change

According to a report, the United Nations (UN) warned of the impacts of climate change and rising temperatures in Asia. The forecast warns that Asia is heating up faster, noting the unprecedented heatwaves in April and May in Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam.

In 2023, marine heat waves were recorded in oceans such as the Arctic Ocean. Surface temperatures increased in the Arabian Sea, Laptev Sea, and southern Kara Sea.

Additionally, the report highlights the effects of climate change on storms and flooding. Rounds of heavy rain can lead to significant flooding, which is disastrous for people in low-lying or flood-prone areas.

Related Article: Philippines, Asia Pacific Most Vulnerable To Climate Hazards,Study Reveals; Expect Severe Thunderstorms

For more similar, don't forget to follow Nature World News
As the world grapples with the escalating challenges of climate change, a new threat looms on the horizon, one that could have homeowners and city planners on high alert. Invasive termite species, known for their voracious appetite for wood, are expanding their territories, and our urban landscapes could be their next target.

Invasion in the Concrete Jungle

A recent study published in the journal Neobiota by researchers Edouard Duquesne and Professor Denis Fournier from the Universite libre de Bruxelles has unveiled a concerning trend.

With rising temperatures and shifting climate patterns, cities across the globe, from tropical regions like Miami and Jakarta to temperate zones such as Paris and Tokyo, are at an increased risk of termite invasions.

These wood-consuming insects are not just a nuisance; they are a destructive force. The economic impact is staggering, with invasive termites already costing over $40 billion annually

The study's findings suggest that as our planet warms, the likelihood of termites dining in our homes becomes a reality for most cities.

The Pathway to Proliferation

The spread of invasive termites is facilitated by the interconnectedness of our modern world. Urbanization, with its dense populations and bustling trade networks, provides fertile ground for these pests to thrive.

The global movement of goods, including wooden furniture and other cellulose-rich materials, offers termites a ticket to travel across continents.

A single termite colony, nestled within a piece of wood, could clandestinely journey from one corner of the world to another, establishing new colonies and expanding their reach.

The researchers highlight a scenario where termites could potentially be transported via private vessels to international events, such as the Cannes Film Festival, only to find a new home in a different country.

Combating the Creeping Invaders

The research underscores the need for a paradigm shift in how we model and manage invasive species. Incorporating variables such as trade, transport, and population density into our strategies is crucial for understanding and mitigating the spread of termites.

Policymakers and citizens must take swift action. Cities, irrespective of their climate zone, need to implement strict termite control measures to protect their infrastructure.

The study encourages the use of technology, like AI-assisted apps, to empower residents to detect and report termite sightings, turning them into active participants in safeguarding their environment.

Also Raed: Aging Termites Carry Suicide Backpacks to Defend from Invaders

The Economic Impact: Assessing the Damage

The economic ramifications of termite invasions are profound. Homeowners face the potential for significant property damage, which can lead to costly repairs and decreased property values.

Insurance companies may see a rise in claims related to termite damage, affecting premiums and coverage options. The construction industry must also adapt, incorporating termite-resistant materials and building techniques to mitigate future risks.

The Ecological Consequences: Beyond the Urban Sphere

While the focus is often on the urban impact, the ecological consequences of invasive termites extend beyond city limits. These termites can disrupt local ecosystems, outcompeting native species and altering soil composition.

The balance of natural habitats is at stake, with potential effects on plant diversity, wildlife populations, and overall ecosystem health.

The Global Response: International Cooperation and Research

Addressing the threat of invasive termites requires international cooperation. Countries must share research, best practices, and technological advancements to combat the spread effectively.

Ongoing research is essential to develop new methods of prevention, detection, and eradication that can be implemented globally.

The study on invasive termites presents a clear message: the threat is real, and it is growing. It calls for unified action from individuals, communities, governments, and international bodies to address this challenge head-on.

Through collaboration and innovation, we can protect our urban environments and natural ecosystems from the silent but significant threat of termites.

Related article: Chimpanzees Go Fishing for Termites in the Dry Season, Study Finds
Pangaea Ultima, a new supercontinent to form in the future, is expected to cause a potential mass extinction event that will wipe out most living organisms on Earth, including humans.

According to scientists, the geological event will take place 250 million years after the planet's land masses or continents, including the Americas, Africa, Antarctica, and Australia, piece together again.

Climate projections in the future continent estimates that temperatures will be extremely hot, mainly due to the massive chunk of terrestrial environment and other factors. Because of this, humans will potentially have a low survival rate, according to experts. However, the collision of Earth's continents will not happen overnight, since shifting tectonic plates move slowly each year.

Pangaea Ultima

In a 2023 study published in the journal Nature Geoscience, researchers found that the new supercontinent, Pangaea Ultima, will result in the extinction of up to 92% species on Earth as the majority of the planet could be inhabitable, especially for mammals. The future landmass could be dominated by volcanoes and an extremely hot environment, based on future models.

The research paper highlights that mammals have dominated Earth for approximately 55 million years, for reasons including their adaptations to warming and cooling events during the Cenozoic. It added that while all life will eventually perish due to solar radiation several billion of years from now, Earth could become inhospitable for our mammal descendants sooner than previously thought.

The emerging Pangaea Ultima is set to form along the equator and drastically change the global ecosystem, but evidence shows that the supercontinent will not kill all life. However, it can be uninhabitable for mammals. Earth witnessed its last supercontinent, called Pangaea, which broke apart about 200 million years ago and its fragments became the continents that we know today.

Also Read: Is This What Earth's Future Continent Would Look Like?

Will Earth Become Extinct?

There are various 'projected' scenarios of how life on Earth could become extinct in the future, ranging from asteroid strikes to floodings due to sea level rise. Whether mass extinction events are caused by natural or anthropogenic factors, it is clear that climate change driven by human-induced greenhouse gas emissions is taking its toll on the environment, according to the study.

Now, evidence suggests that mammals could be the first victims of rising temperatures, especially in Pangaea Ultima. Citing previous research, the international scientists involved in the study suggest that even before the formation of Pangaea Ultima itself, current global warming could increase temperatures beyond terrestrial mammalian physiological limits.

Other scientific literature and reports from experts in recent years have also shown that other animal classes or groups are at risk from the global temperature rise. According to the United Nations, every degree of warming is also increasing the risk of species extinction, in the context of climate change. While the future supercontinent of Pangaea Ultima is not related to climate change, it is clear that global warming is deadly for animals, especially mammals.

Related Article: New Supercontinent "Amasia" Will Form in 200 Million Years, Pacific Ocean Will Close -Simulation Shows
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In a recent study published in The Lancet Regional Health Europe, researchers investigated the use of fecal testing and colonoscopies for colorectal cancer (CRC) screening.

They also examined factors influencing their use based on unique screening program characteristics in European countries.

Study: Utilization of colorectal cancer screening tests across European countries: a cross-sectional analysis of the European health interview survey 20182020. Image Credit: Jo Panuwat D/Shutterstock.com

Background

CRC screening tests in European nations over the past 20 years have lowered incidence and death rates. Previous research conducted by the current study's researchers revealed that the fraction of the general public updated on these screening procedures varied greatly among European nations, ranging between 6.0% and 71%.

Younger individuals who hadn't visited health professionals in a while and were at higher risk owing to lifestyle variables showed a lower likelihood of undergoing screening tests.

With an expansion in population-level colorectal cancer screening programs across Europe, it is critical to review screening data from recent years to determine screening test usage.

About the study

In the present study, researchers evaluated colonoscopy and fecal test use based on data from the third EHIS wave and investigated characteristics related to utilization in European nations.

The researchers analyzed the 2018-2020 EHIS data to assess the use of a fecal test [fecal immunochemical test (FIT) or guaiac-based fecal occult blood test (gFOBT)] in the previous two years or a colonoscopy in the prior ten years among individuals aged 50 to 74 years, depending on the screening test type in every country.

After removing respondents from France, whose microdata were unavailable for our study, proxy interviews, and respondents outside the appropriate age range, the study included 129,750 participants.

After deleting missing data and age categories not included in screening programs, 117,095, 124,326, and 122,707 respondents were analyzed using the Andersen behavioral model to determine the use of fecal tests, colonoscopies, and either test.

The EHIS modules collected data on socioeconomic, demographic, healthcare usage, and health-related characteristics. The healthy lifestyle score (HLS) was calculated based on smoking behaviors, physical activity, body mass index (BMI), and alcohol use.

The study used multivariate logistic regressions to determine the odds ratios (OR) for analysis.

The EHIS-3 data collection divided countries based on fecal test utilization as those with fully implemented nationwide fecal test programs, partially implemented programs, opportunistic programs that offer fecal testing, and only small-scale pilot programs or no fecal test programs.

They classified colonoscopy use in Europe into four categories: countries having fully implemented programs using fecal tests, partially implemented programs, countries offering colonoscopies as an alternative CRC screening modality, countries with no program, small-scale organized programs, or opportunistic programs with fecal tests.

Results

The researchers analyzed data about 129,750 individuals residing in 29 European nations, including 1,511 Icelanders and 11,755 Germans. Unit responses varied between 22% and 88%.

Either test use was highest in nations having completely rolled-out fecal test programs [between 38% (867 out of 2,379) in Croatia and 75% (2,321 out of 3,085) in Denmark] as well as among nations offering colonoscopy rather than conventional screening [between 26% (854 out of 3,329) in Greece and 75% (1,192 out of 1,760) in Luxembourg].

The researchers found that nations with no or limited-scale screening programs had the lowest utilization of either test (6.3% in Bulgaria and 34% in Latvia). Younger individuals aged 50 to 59 years without partners showed lower odds of undergoing CRC screening than elders.

Individuals without secondary education were 21%-40% less likely to use either test than those educated till tertiary level (ORs 0.60.8). Households with at least three individuals showed lower odds of CRC screening (ORs ranged between 0.8 in nations with completely rolled-out screening programs and 0.9 in those having partially rolled-out programs).

Furthermore, lower HLS values (less healthy lifestyles) were related to less screening. Individuals who had not seen a doctor for 12 months showed a significantly lower likelihood of taking CRC tests (ORs 0.5 to 0.6).

Rural residents showed decreased colonoscopy usage (ORs 0.8 to 0.9) than their urban counterparts, but those who assessed their health as below good showed a higher likelihood of undergoing colonoscopy (ORs 1.2 to 1.3).

Conclusion

The study found discrepancies in fecal testing and colonoscopy use in average-risk Europeans aged 50 to 74 years. Despite advances in colorectal cancer screening, a few European countries have updated eligible populations on screening tests.

Organized screening programs using fecal testing have the highest usage, although with significant variations. The study underscores the need to solve the screening paradox, in which individuals with unhealthy lifestyle habits and the highest colorectal cancer risk underutilize screening.

Countries with partially implemented programs have lower use rates due to demographic differences. Countries that provide fecal testing and colonoscopies have observed rising demand, notably for colonoscopies.
Families of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities say Gov. Gavin Newsom is reneging on a scheduled raise for the workers who care for their loved ones, and advocates warn of potential lawsuits if disability services become harder to get.

Citing California's budget deficit, the Democratic governor wants to save around $613 million in state funds by delaying pay increases for a year for about 150,000 disability care workers. The state will forgo an additional $408 million in Medicaid reimbursements, reducing funding by over $1 billion.

Some lawmakers say this decision will increase staff turnover and vacancies, leaving thousands of children and adults with disabilities without critical services at home and in residential facilities. Disability advocates warn it could violate the Lanterman Act, California's landmark law that says the state must provide services and resources to people with disabilities and their families.

Newsom is "breaking a promise," said Felisa Strickland, 60, who has been searching for more than a year for a day program for her 23-year-old daughter, Lily, who has autism and cerebral palsy. "Its creating a lot of physical and mental health problems for people, and its a lot of undue stress on aging parent caregivers like myself."

Disability care workers, known as direct support professionals, provide daily, hands-on caregiving to help children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, such as autism, cerebral palsy, and epilepsy, remain independent and integrated into their communities.

In California, more than 400,000 people with disabilities need accommodation, and this population, along with seniors, is increasing. It's not clear how big the worker shortage is because the state hasn't released workforce data. As the demand for these workers grows generally, experts predict a shortage of between 600,000 and 3.2 million direct care workers by 2030.

Advocates say California pays most providers from $16 to $20 an hour, which meets the state's minimum wage but falls short of what some economists consider a living wage. In 2021, the state committed to raising wages after identifying a $1.8 billion gap between the rates received by nonprofits that contract with the state to provide care and the rates deemed adequate.

Thus far, the state has provided around half that total, most of which has gone to raising wages and benefits. Workers had been expecting one more increase, of $2-$4 an hour, in July, until Newsom proposed a delay.

Also, nonprofits say California has made it harder to compete for workers after raising wages in other service and health industries. Newsom approved a $20 minimum wage for fast-food workers that went into effect in April and he struck a deal last year with unions and hospitals to begin raising health care workers' wages to a minimum of $25 an hour.

Ricardo Zegri said Taco Bell would pay him more than the $19 an hour he makes as a disability care worker in a supervisory position.

"Every paycheck, its a discussion at home about what bills we need to prioritize and whether its time to start looking for work that pays more," said Zegri, who works a second job as a musician in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Newsom wants to preserve key health initiatives, including the state expansion of Medi-Cal to low-income immigrants regardless of legal status, and CalAIM, an ambitious $12 billion experiment to transform Medi-Cal into both a health insurer and a social services provider. However, the rate delay for providing disability care is the largest savings in the Health and Human Services budget as Newsom and legislative leaders look to cuts, delays, and shifts in funding to close a deficit estimated between $38 billion and $73 billion.

Dozens of legislators from both parties are asking Newsom and legislative leaders to preserve the increase. Assembly member Stephanie Nguyen, a Democrat from Elk Grove, signed a letter supporting the raise. Although lawmakers are negotiating with the administration, she said reversing the decision to delay the pay boost is unlikely. Everybody "has to take a hit somewhere," Nguyen said.

Krystyne McComb, a spokesperson for the Department of Developmental Services, said even though the state would lose federal matching funds this year, it would resume drawing funds when the state reinstates the plan in 2025.

The department did not respond to questions about how it plans to retain workers and fill vacancies.

Newsom's proposal risks a collapse of the disability service system, which would violate the Lanterman Act and make the state vulnerable to lawsuits, said Jordan Lindsey, executive director of the Arc of California, a statewide disability rights advocacy organization.

Families say the state has already fallen short on services they need. Strickland quit her job to care for Lily, the Santa Barbara mother said. "It's not reasonable to expect someone to care for somebody else 24 hours a day, seven days a week," she said.

Lily graduated from high school and in 2022 completed a program that prepares youth with disabilities to transition into adult life. She had been looking forward to joining a day program to make new friends but has yet to find a spot. And due to a shortage of workers, Lily receives only four hours a week at home with a provider, who is paid around $16 an hour.

When Lily hangs out with the provider, her demeanor changes to the happy person she used to be, Strickland said.

"The system is already in crisis," she said. "There are tons and tons of people that are sitting at home because theres nowhere for them to go."
Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) have identified an innovation in stem cell therapy to regenerate neural cells in the brain after cardiac arrest in an animal model. The study led by Xiaofeng Jia, BM, MS, PhD, FCCM, Professor of Neurosurgery, found that the application of modified sugar molecules on human neural stem cells improved the likelihood of the therapy's success. The application of these sugar molecules both enhanced the stem cells' proliferation and their transition into neurons to help repair critical connections in the brain. The finding could eventually lead to improved recoPastevery of patients with cardiac-arrest induced brain injuries.

The pivotal study was funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R01NS125232, R01NS110387), and featured on the April Vol. 34 No.17 front cover of Advanced Functional Materials Journal.

Brain injury is the most common consequence of cardiac arrest, due to the impaired blood flow and oxygen to the brain. About 70 percent of the nearly 7 million people who suffer from cardiac arrest each year experience a long-term brain injury that leads to permanent disability.

The potential of stem cell therapy to address neurological dysfunction has long been fraught with challenges due to the harsh in vivo microenvironment of the brain; this results in poor stem cell retention and integration at the site of injuries.

Recent advances in manipulating a cell's complex carbohydrate structure through metabolic glycoengineering, has enabled UMSOM researchers to explore the efficacy of a modified sugar molecule, known as the TProp sugar analog, to help stem cells remain more viable in the brain.

All cells in a person's body are enveloped in sugar molecules called 'glycans'. Through our previous research, we were able to find that these sugar molecules are vital to cell function. Glycoengineering has enabled us to further enhance stem cell viability so they may provide therapeutic effects for cardiac-arrest-induced brain injuries. This is a very important step forward in regenerative medicine for patients." Dr. Xiaofeng Jia, BM, MS, PhD, FCCM, Professor of Neurosurgery

In the study, researchers examined the efficacy in a rat model and compared the effects of "naive" human neural stem cells to neural stem cells that were pretreated with the "TProp" sugar analog. The study found that stem cells pretreated with TProp, substantially improved brain function and reduced anxiety and depression-associated behaviors through various behavioral tests.

The treatment also activated the related inflammatory Wnt/-catenin signaling pathway, which regulates critical aspects of cell function. This upregulated pathway by TProp promotes the transition of stem cells into neurons, the nerve cells responsible for sending and receiving signals from the brain.

The TProp-pretreated group also demonstrated improved synaptic plasticity, the ability of neurons to modify the strength of their connections, and reduced neuroinflammation in the central nervous system, providing a superior ability to regenerate and recover from damaged brain functions.

The results indicate that glycoengineered stem cells have the potential to promote the growth of new connections among surviving or regenerated neurons, leading to regenerated circuits in the brain.

"This innovative research has been an important proof of concept study suggesting that stem cells could be used to regenerate neural connections in the brain of patients who suffer a devasting injury after cardiac arrest", said Dean Mark T. Gladwin, MD, who is the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor and Dean, UMSOM, and Vice President for Medical Affairs, University of Maryland, Baltimore. "Next steps for this translational application include determining the optimal delivery route and timing of metabolically glycoengineered stem cell therapy, as well as systemic evaluation on large animals before this can move into clinical studies."

UMSOM faculty and postdoc co-authors of the paper include: Jian Du, PhD, Xiao Liu, MD, MS, Subash Marasini, PhD, Zhuoran Wang, MD, PhD, and Xiaofeng Jia, MD, MS, PhD, FCCM.

Faculty from the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Translational Cell and Tissue Engineering Center at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine also contributed to this research.
The host

Julie Rovner KFF Health News @jrovner

Julie Rovner is chief Washington correspondent and host of KFF Health News' weekly health policy news podcast, "What the Health?" A noted expert on health policy issues, Julie is the author of the critically praised reference book "Health Care Politics and Policy A to Z," now in its third edition.

The national abortion landscape was shaken again this week as Florida's six-week abortion ban took effect. That leaves North Carolina and Virginia as the lone Southern states where abortion remains widely available. Clinics in those states already were overflowing with patients from across the region.

Meanwhile, in a wide-ranging interview with Time magazine, former President Donald Trump took credit for appointing the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, but he steadfastly refused to say what he might do on the abortion issue if he is returned to office.

This week's panelists are Julie Rovner of KFF Health News, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Rachana Pradhan of KFF Health News.

Panelists

Sarah Karlin-Smith Pink Sheet @SarahKarlin

Alice Miranda Ollstein Politico @AliceOllstein

Rachana Pradhan KFF Health News @rachanadpradhan

Among the takeaways from this week's episode:

Florida's new, six-week abortion ban is a big deal for the entire South, as the state had been an abortion haven for patients as other states cut access to the procedure. Some clinics in North Carolina and southern Virginia are considering expansions to their waiting and recovery rooms to accommodate patients who now must travel there for care. This also means, though, that those traveling patients could make waits even longer for local patients, including many who rely on the clinics for non-abortion services.

Passage of a bill to repeal Arizona's near-total abortion ban nonetheless leaves the state's patients and providers with plenty of uncertainty  including whether the ban will temporarily take effect anyway. Plus, voters in Arizona, as well as those in Florida, will have an opportunity in November to weigh in on whether the procedure should be available in their state.

The FDA's decision that laboratory-developed tests must be subject to the same regulatory scrutiny as medical devices comes as the tests have become more prevalent  and as concerns have grown amid high-profile examples of problems occurring because they evaded federal review. (See: Theranos.) There's a reasonable chance the FDA will be sued over whether it has the authority to make these changes without congressional action.

Also, the Biden administration has quietly decided to shelve a potential ban on menthol cigarettes. The issue raised tensions over its links between health and criminal justice, and it ultimately appears to have run into electoral-year headwinds that prompted the administration to put it aside rather than risk alienating Black voters.

In drug news, the Federal Trade Commission is challenging what it sees as "junk" patents that make it tougher for generics to come to market, and another court ruling delivers bad news for the pharmaceutical industry's fight against Medicare drug negotiations.

Plus, for "extra credit" the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week that they think you should read, too:

Julie Rovner: ProPublica's "A Doctor at Cigna Said Her Bosses Pressured Her To Review Patients' Cases Too Quickly. Cigna Threatened To Fire Her," by Patrick Rucker, The Capitol Forum, and David Armstrong, ProPublica.

Alice Miranda Ollstein: The Associated Press' "Dozens of Deaths Reveal Risks of Injecting Sedatives Into People Restrained by Police," by Ryan J. Foley, Carla K. Johnson, and Shelby Lum.

Sarah Karlin-Smith: The Atlantic's "America's Infectious-Disease Barometer Is Off," by Katherine J. Wu.

Rachana Pradhan: The Wall Street Journal's "Millions of American Kids Are Caregivers Now: 'The Hardest Part Is That I'm Only 17," by Clare Ansberry.

Also mentioned on this week's podcast:

Credits

Francis Ying Audio producer

Emmarie Huetteman Editor
A simple blood test could allow doctors to determine whether a person may be at higher risk for stroke or cognitive decline during their lifetime, according to a new UCLA Health study.

The study, published in the journal Stroke, found that measuring concentrations of a network of inflammatory molecules in the blood could allow doctors to calculate a risk score for susceptibility for cerebral small vessel disease  a common cause of stroke and a contributor to cognitive decline found especially among the elderly.

Currently, the only way to determine a person's risk for cerebral vascular diseases has been to use a combination of imaging such as an MRI scan, family history, demographic variables and other risk factor evaluations, said study lead author Dr. Jason Hinman of the UCLA Comprehensive Stroke and Center and the Mary S. Easton Center for Alzheimer's Research and Care at UCLA. In clinical practice, neurologists may only find a patient is at risk after they have had a stroke or a cerebral event that warns of one, Hinman said.

The new study found that by measuring the concentrations of this network of inflammatory molecules in the blood of patients who have not had a cerebrovascular event, medical providers may be able to quantitatively assess a person's risk for cerebral small vessel disease and future stroke.

The same way one uses cholesterol tests to evaluate one's future risk for heart attack, we don't have such a thing to estimate future risk for stroke. I believe we can do that by something as simple as a blood test which in theory can enable broader access to the best level of care and not lock it behind advanced imaging studies and specialist evaluations." Dr. Jason Hinman of the UCLA Comprehensive Stroke and Center and the Mary S. Easton Center for Alzheimer's Research and Care at UCLA

The study focused on a biologically-connected network of inflammatory molecules known as the interleukin-18, or IL-18, network, which includes proteins and signaling molecules used to fight various infections.

Past studies have linked individual molecules in the IL-18 network to cerebral small vessel disease and stroke risk. However, the concentration of these individual molecules can fluctuate in response to other ailments such as the flu or autoimmune disorders, making them unreliable predictors of stroke risk at an individual level, Hinman said.

In 2020, University of California researchers including Hinman found that six molecules in the IL-18 network were associated with the presence of vascular brain injuries during MRI scans.

Building off these findings, Hinman sought to determine in this latest publication whether IL-18 network could be used to assess a person's susceptibility to stroke risk or cognitive decline.

To test this, the researchers used health data from a generations-long study known as the Framingham Heart Study. This study has tracked the medical history of thousands of residents in the city of Framingham, Massachusetts, throughout their lives since launching in 1948. Blood samples taken from participants had been tested for five of the six molecules later identified as being in the IL-18 network.

By using the blood samples and medical histories of the Framingham participants, Hinman and his coauthor were able to create a mathematical model that generates a risk score based on the concentrations of the IL-18 network molecules. Of the more than 2,200 Framingham residents included in Hinman's study, those whose risk scores were in the top 25% had an 84% chance of having a stroke during their lifetime. Overall, elevated risk scores were associated with a 51% increased risk of stroke and resulted in diagnostic prediction compared to existing risk assessment tools.

What remains unclear and requires further study is how or if a person's risk score can be modified or reduced, Hinman said.

"The real challenge is in the primary care space. Are you at risk before you have an event?" Hinman said. "That's what we're all interested in doing is preventing a stroke before it even happens."
Sphere Fluidics, a leading provider of innovative microfluidics-based solutions for single-cell analysis and isolation, today announced the appointment of Dale Levitzke as CEO with immediate effect, as Dr. Frank F. Craig, current CEO and co-founder, announces his retirement.

Dale Levitzke. Image Credit: Sphere Fluidics

Dale joins Sphere Fluidics with over 25 years experience in the life science tools, biopharma, and biotechnology industries, where he has built a strong track record in successfully driving innovation, commercial growth, and IPO strategies. In his role as CEO, Dale will shape Sphere Fluidics future commercial business and progress the Companys continued global expansion strategy to reach new customers and create value for shareholders.

Throughout his career, Dale has focused on supporting early-stage and VC-backed pioneering tools companies and steering them towards global market success. Before joining Sphere Fluidics, he was Senior VP of Global Sales and Support at Vizgen and in this role established a global commercial infrastructure and rapidly scaled the Companys operations. Prior to this, as VP Worldwide Sales and Marketing at Dropworks Inc., Dales contributions were instrumental in developing an integrated Digital Droplet PCR platform, and his strategic leadership culminated in the Company's acquisition by Bio-Rad for $125 million. He has also held key senior positions leading commercial expansion at NanoString Technologies, Illumina Inc., and Helixis Inc. Dale holds a BSc (Hons) in Molecular Biology and Genetics from La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia.

Dr. Frank F. Craig co-founded Sphere Fluidics, alongside Professor Chris Abell and Professor Wilhelm Huck, before becoming CEO in 2010. In this time, he has led the commercialization of novel products and R&D services that leverage the Companys proprietary picodroplet technology, and uniquely established it within the life science tools industry to address a growing portfolio of markets, including biologics discovery, cell therapy and synthetic biology. Sphere Fluidics has a proven track record of over 400 international customers, including collaborations with seven of the worlds Top 10 pharma companies, over 40 million in investment (from prestigious angel and VC funds), and a portfolio of 135 international patents. The Company has been well positioned to drive this next phase of commercial development forward.

Sphere Fluidics picodroplet technology and microfluidics platforms are transforming single cell analysis and isolation capabilities, bringing new possibilities to biopharmaceutical research and development. Id like to thank Frank for his commitment to growing a company that prides itself on delivering high-quality products and services to its customers. I look forward to joining the team to continue to lead and drive its ambitious plans for commercial growth, international expansion, and eventual exit." Dale Levitzke, Incoming CEO, Sphere Fluidics

Dr. Frank F. Craig, departing CEO, Sphere Fluidics, commented: It has been a privilege to serve as CEO of Sphere Fluidics for over 14 years and I am delighted to pass the baton onto Dale as he takes over as CEO. His experience of driving innovation and commercial success will be pivotal to advancing Sphere Fluidics ambitious strategic vision and plans for commercial growth.
UCL academics will co-lead Prostate Cancer UK's new 42m screening trial, which aims to find the best way to screen men for prostate cancer and double the number of lives saved.

The TRANSFORM trial has also been backed by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and Movember, who have committed 17.5 million towards the trial between them.

Among the six research leads are Professors Mark Emberton and Caroline Moore from the UCL Division of Surgery & Interventional Science, who will work with co-leads from Imperial College London and Queen Mary University of London, as well as 16 co-applicants from across the UK.

TRANSFORM will begin recruitment of hundreds of thousands of men from across the UK in 2025. It is hoped the first results will be available in as little as three years' time.

Previous trials using prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests and biopsy to screen for prostate cancer have shown that it is possible to prevent between 8% and 20% of prostate cancer deaths, depending on how regularly men are screened.

We learned from our previous attempts at prostate cancer early detection that the tools we had available to us were very blunt. Though they were the only tools we had at the time and better than nothing. Today we have a different set of tools, including the ability to 'see' the cancer by virtue of MRI scans. This puts us in a position to determine what combination of tests work best to identify which men are at risk of cancers, which if left alone, would impact on their quantity and quality of life." Professor Mark Emberton, Dean of UCL Faculty of Medical Sciences

TRANSFORM will test new approaches that have the potential to more than double this impact and reduce prostate cancer deaths by up to 40%. With over 12,000 prostate cancer deaths in the UK alone annually, this could mean thousands of men saved each year and many thousands more worldwide.

Dr Matthew Hobbs, Director of Research at Prostate Cancer UK, said: "Prostate cancer is the most common cancer without a screening program and it's about time we changed that.

"We know that earlier diagnosis saves lives, but previous trials haven't been able to prove that enough men would be saved using PSA tests alone, while they did show that these old screening methods caused significant unnecessary harm to men. We must now prove that there are better ways to find aggressive prostate cancer that will save even more lives while causing less harm.

"That's why I'm so delighted and proud to announce TRANSFORM. This is the research that will get us there. It's the biggest research investment we've ever made - but by putting this money in now, we expect to double the number of men that could be saved by screening, while at the same time reducing any harm caused.

"This could save thousands of men's lives every year in the UK alone. But it won't just be the UK - this trial could change practice globally - so we're into tens of thousands of men saved each year. This is a pivotal moment in the history of prostate cancer research and we're proud to be leading the way, and to be supporting some of the best researchers in the world to make it happen."

Prostate Cancer UK worked in consultation with the National Screening Committee and NIHR to make sure the trial will provide the evidence needed to revolutionize prostate cancer diagnosis. It will compare multiple methods of screening, and compare these against how men are tested now, to find the safest, most accurate and cost-effective way to screen men for prostate cancer.

The massive scale of the trial will also enable the team to create a biobank of samples, images and data at a scale never seen before in prostate cancer. This will be available to all cancer researchers and is predicted to spur a wave of new discoveries and provide a platform to prove the accuracy of the next generation of diagnostics.

Crucially, the trial has been designed flexibly and will be able to incorporate promising new testing methods at any stage of the process.

In the first stage of the trial, which will include 12,500 men, the researchers will compare four potential screening options, including PSA blood tests, faster versions of MRI scans and genetic testing to identify those at higher risk.

These new approaches will be compared to the current NHS diagnostic process to show which methods perform best and should therefore be taken forward into the second, larger stage of the trial.

The first stage will take three years to complete and will produce important results about the benefits and harms of the current diagnostic tests used in the NHS today. Those early results could start to impact the way men are tested for prostate cancer at that point.

In the second stage of the trial, the researchers will test the most promising option or options in a much bigger group of up to 300,000 men to provide the definitive evidence for the best way to screen men for prostate cancer.

The team will follow participants over at least 10 years to track how these screening approaches impact the number of lives saved, overall quality of life, as well as how many men might experience harms associated with potentially unnecessary biopsies and treatment.

Professor Moore said: "TRANSFORM is designed to reach those at highest risk, including those in communities that have been under-represented in previous studies. This will include black men, and those living in areas with higher rates of late diagnosis of prostate cancer. UCL is delighted to be part of the team who will deliver this study."

Samuel Nelson, 64, from Essex, was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2017. As a Black man he was at higher risk of the disease and has a strong history of prostate cancer in his family. He also has three sons, who will be at greater risk in the future.

He said: "I have three sons who will be at higher risk. It would be wonderful to know there was a process to check them regularly.

"For me, getting a screening programme is so important. Black men are twice as likely to get prostate cancer. My dad died of prostate cancer, my uncle had it too and because it's in the family, me, my four brothers and my three sons all have an even higher risk.

"When I learned this, I started being regularly tested and that's how I was diagnosed. But I wouldn't have known - I had no symptoms. And so many men don't know about prostate cancer, so catching it in time for them to be cured is often down to luck. It would be wonderful to know there was a process to check my sons regularly and that they'd be reminded with an email or a message. I don't want it to be down to luck for them."

One in four Black men will develop prostate cancer - double the risk of other men. To make sure the trial provides definitive evidence that will reduce their risk of dying from the disease Prostate Cancer UK will ensure that at least one in 10 of the men who are invited to participate in the trial are Black men and the charity will be working with the team to ensure this target is met. This is vital as previous trials have not included enough Black men to adequately demonstrate the harms and benefits of screening for these men - despite their significantly higher risk.

Prostate Cancer UK's work with the National Screening Committee made it clear that to have maximum impact the men recruited into the trial must represent those who would eventually be invited into a screening programme. Therefore, the team will make the trial as accessible as possible, recruiting through GPs across the whole UK, and across the wide age group that can be expected to be screened for prostate cancer. Men will be invited from next year, although it will not be possible to volunteer.
Western Railway (WR) is set to stretch its sixth line all the way to Kandivli by June 2024, bringing the promise of more local train services.

Originally planned to reach Borivali by June, this project faced obstacles in acquiring land.

A railway official mentioned, As per our schedule, the 4.5km Goregaon-Kandivli stretch will be operational by June. If we sort out land issues on time, we aim to extend it to Borivali by November 2024. The inauguration of a 9km-long segment between Khar and Goregaon happened in November 2023, as reported by TOI.

An official shared, Weve completed a major bridge and eight out of 12 minor bridges. The remaining four should be done in the coming weeks.

Progress stands at 70 percent for signalling and telecommunications work and 40 percent for overhead electricals.

This sixth line, part of the Mumbai Urban Transportation Project (MUTP) II B, intends to separate mail/express and suburban trains. Costing about Rs 918 crore, its completion between Khar and Borivali is anticipated to boost suburban train capacity by 20 percent on the Western Railway.

While the fifth line was opened between Borivali and Santacruz in 2002 and Mumbai Central and Mahim in 1993, the Mahim to Santacruz stretch remained unfinished due to land scarcity.

Called the Suburban Train Avoidance (STA) line, the fifth line facilitates two-way travel for long-distance trains from Mumbai Central and Bandra Terminus. The sixth line project, part of MUTP-II, has faced significant delays.

Initially priced at Rs 5,300 crore, costs have now reached Rs 8,087 crore. MUTP-II encompasses various initiatives, including extending the Harbour Line to Goregaon, adding a sixth line from Borivali to Mumbai Central, Parel Terminus, and constructing the fifth and sixth lines between Parel and Kurla and Bandra.
In a recent reorganisation move, Google has begun laying off approximately 200 employees from its Core group, as reported by CNBC. The restructuring also involves the transfer of some roles to India and Mexico.

Also Read: Over 70,000 Tech Employees Worldwide Lost Jobs In FY24: Report

Googles Core unit is tasked with constructing the technical framework underpinning its flagship products and safeguarding users online security. This division encompasses crucial technical departments such as information technology, the Python developer team, technical infrastructure, security foundation, app platforms, core developers, and a range of engineering positions.

Positions To Move To India and Mexico

At least a minimum of 50 engineering positions were cut at Googles Sunnyvale, California offices. Internal documents obtained by CNBC indicate that several Core teams intend to fill equivalent positions in Mexico and India.

The Core layoffs also include the governance and protected data group, which will play a pivotal role in addressing regulatory hurdles confronting the company, especially amid increasing scrutiny from lawmakers worldwide regarding advancements in AI. The European Unions Digital Markets Act, implemented in March, seeks to curb anti-competitive behaviours within the tech industry.

Google Layoffs Python Team

Earlier this week, Google initiated layoffs within its Python, Dart, Flutter, and other teams. The precise count of job reductions remains undisclosed. As weve stated, we are responsibly investing in our companys foremost priorities and the substantial opportunities that lie ahead, Google spokesperson Alex Garcia-Kummert told TechCrunch.

Since early last year, Googles parent company Alphabet has been reducing its workforce, initially announcing intentions to cut around 12,000 jobs, equivalent to 6% of its staff, in response to a decline in the online advertising market. Despite a recent resurgence in digital advertising over the past few quarters, Alphabet has persisted with downsizing efforts, resulting in layoffs across various divisions this year.

The search giants latest decision follows closely on the heels of its first-quarter earnings report released last week.

Amidst its swiftest growth rate since early 2022 and bolstering profit margins, the company is implementing its latest round of cuts. Alphabet, Googles parent company, disclosed a remarkable 15% surge in first-quarter revenue compared to the previous year. Additionally, it unveiled its inaugural dividend payout and a substantial $70 billion buyback program just last week.
ICICI Bank on Thursday denied a news portals report that the lenders MD & CEO Sandeep Bakhshi is planning to resign. ICICI Bank on Thursday said the information is figment of imagination and therefore, completely baseless and misleading.

We would like to categorically deny the information published in the article regarding ICICI Banks MD allegedly expressing willingness to leave his position due to personal reasons. This information is figment of imagination and therefore, completely baseless and misleading. It appears that this rumour is being spread with an ulterior motive and malicious intent in order to harm the Bank and its stakeholders, ICICI Bank said in a statement.

An article in The Morning Context, citing sources, reported that Bakhshi had expressed his desire to step down from his position as MD and CEO of ICICI Bank. He has some personal emergency. That is why he wants to step down. The central bank suggested that he work remotely if the need arises, and requested him not to step down, said the news portal.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had in September last year approved to extend Bakhshis tenure by three years. This re-appointment, announced by the banks board in October 2022, was subsequently endorsed by shareholders during the annual general meeting.

Shares of ICICI Bank on Thursday fell by Rs 16.05 or 1.39 per cent to Rs 1,136 apiece on the BSE during the day at 1:09 pm.
Petrol and Diesel Prices On May 2, 2024: On May 2, government oil companies have released new petrol and diesel prices across the country. Fuel prices are announced every day at 6 am. According to this, petrol and diesel prices have increased in some states today. While in some states petrol and diesel have also become cheaper. At the same time, today the petrol and diesel prices are stable in many states of the country.

Before the Lok Sabha elections 2024, petrol and diesel prices were reduced by Rs 2 on March 14, 2024.

New petrol and diesel rates are released every day at 6 am in the country. Oil companies have released new prices of petrol and diesel for 25 April. According to the information, there has been no change in petrol and diesel prices in the countrys metros even on 25 April. Let us know what are the fuel prices in the metros.

Petrol Diesel Price Today In India (Check city-wise rate list below)

Mumbai Petrol & Diesel Price

As of May 2, the price of petrol in Mumbai continued to exceed the Rs 100 mark, reaching Rs 104.21 per litre, while diesel was priced at Rs 92.15 per litre.

Delhi Diesel Price Today

As of May 2, the cost of diesel is priced at Rs 87.62 per litre.

Delhi Petrol Price Today

As of May 2, the cost of petrol in Delhi is Rs 94.72 per litre.

Check city-wise petrol and diesel prices on May 2:

City Petrol Price (Rs/litre) Diesel Price (Rs/litre) Chennai 100.75 92.34 Kolkata 103.94 90.76 Noida 94.83 87.96 Lucknow 94.65 87.76 Bengaluru 99.84 85.93 Hyderabad 107.41 95.65 Jaipur 104.88 90.36 Trivandrum 107.56 96.43 Bhubaneswar 101.06 92.64

Petrol and diesel are cheaper in these states including Bihar

If we talk at the state level, petrol and diesel have become cheaper in Bihar today. Here petrol price has come down by 12 paise to Rs 107.00 per litre and diesel (Diesel Price in Bihar) has come down by 17 paise to Rs 93.72 per litre. Apart from this, petrol and diesel have also become cheaper in Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand today.

On the other hand, petrol and diesel prices have increased in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Telangana, Tripura and UP.

Know the price of petrol and diesel through SMS

You can also find out the latest rates of petrol and diesel in your city through SMS. If you are a customer of Indian Oil, then you will have to write RSP along with the city code and send it to 9224992249. If you are a customer of BPCL, then you can get information about the new price of petrol and diesel by writing RSP and sending it to 9223112222. Whereas, if you are a customer of HPCL, then you can find out the price of petrol and diesel by writing HP Price and sending it to 9222201122.
Stocks To Watch On May 2: Equity markets witnessed selling pressure on Tuesday amid mixed global cues ahead of the US Fed outcome. In todays trade, shares of Adani Wilmar, Adani Enterprises, Jindal Stainless, Adani Ports, Kotak Bank, and Wipro among others will be in focus due to various developments and quarterly earnings.

Results on May 2: Coal India, Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, Ajanta Pharma, Blue Dart Express, Blue Star, Ceat, CIE Automotive India, Coforge, Dabur India, Federal Bank, JBM Auto, RailTel Corporation of India, Ramkrishna Forgings, South Indian Bank, Ugro Capital, and Voltamp Transformers will release March FY24 quarter earnings on May 2.

Adani Total Gas: The city gas distribution company has reported net profit of Rs 168 crore for the March FY24 quarter, growing 71.5 percent over the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year, backed by strong operating numbers due to the lower cost of natural gas. Revenue from operations (excluding excise duty) grew by 4.7 percent on-year to Rs 1,167 crore for the quarter, with sales volume increasing 20 percent YoY.

Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services: Raul Rebello assumed charge as Managing Director and CEO of the company with effect from April 30. Ramesh Iyer was superannuated from the position of Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of the company with effect from April 29.

Rail Vikas Nigam: The state-owned railway company has emerged as the lowest bidder for a project worth Rs 390.97 crore from Eastern Railway. The company will construct the Sitarampur bye pass line under the Asansol division of Eastern Railway.

Godrej Group stocks: The Godrej family has reached an agreement to split the conglomerate into two branches, with Adi and brother Nadir keeping the listed entities while cousin Jamshyd gets the control of unlisted companies and the land bank, as per the pact shared with the stock exchanges on April 30. The agreement submitted to the exchanges addresses issues of Royalty, Brand Usage and Land Bank development.

Wipro: The technology services and consulting company has received a contract from Nokia to overhaul its employee service desk and provide seamless, real-time IT support to a global network of employees. The Wipro team will build a bespoke AI-powered, cloud-based solution for Nokias workforce, which comprises around 86,700 users globally in 130 countries of operation.

JSW Energy: Aditya Agarwal has resigned as Executive Vice President, Renewables, of the company due to personal reasons, with effect from May 1.

Adani Wilmar: The Adani Group company has recorded net profit at Rs 156.75 crore for the March FY24 quarter, growing 67.5 percent over a year-ago period despite weak topline and other income, driven by strong operating numbers. Revenue from operations fell 4.6 percent year over year to Rs 13,238 crore for the quarter.

Coal India: The countrys largest coal mining company has registered coal production at 61.8 million metric tons for April 2024, increasing 7.3 percent from 57.6 million metric tons in the same month of the of the previous fiscal. The offtake during the same period rose by 3.2 percent to 64.3 million metric tons from 62.3 million metric tons.

Adani Energy Solutions: The Adani Group company has reported consolidated net profit of Rs 381.3 crore for the March FY24 quarter, falling 13.3 percent compared to the year-ago period, partly impacted by a weak operating margin. Revenue from operations grew by 40.2 percent year-on-year to Rs 4,706.9 crore for the quarter.

TVS Motor Company: The two-and-three-wheeler maker has reported total sales of 3.83 lakh units for April 2024, growing 25 percent over the corresponding period of the of the previous fiscal year, with total 2-wheeler sales rising 27 percent to 3.74 lakh units and electric vehicle sales increasing 179.5 percent to 17,403 units during the same period. Exports grew by 12 percent to 80,508 units. However, total 3-wheeler sales dropped 21.1 percent YoY to 9,023 units for the month.

Maruti Suzuki India: The countrys largest car maker has reported 4.7 percent on-year growth in total sales at 1,68,089 units in April month, with domestic sales growing 1.65 percent to 1,45,929 units and exports climbing 30.6 percent to 22,160 units during the same period. Total production for the month increased by 17 percent year-on-year to 1,69,751 units.

Eicher Motors: Royal Enfield sales increased by 12 percent on-year to 81,870 units during April, with international business recording 60.6 percent on-year growth at 6,832 units. Meanwhile, total VECV sales fell 18.1 percent to 5,377 units during the same period.

Tata Motors: The Tata Group company recorded total sales of 77,521 units for April, increasing 11.4 percent over the year-ago period, with domestic sales rising 12 percent to 76,399 units during the same period. Total commercial vehicle sales jumped 31 percent year-on-year to 29,538 units, and passenger vehicle sales rose 2 percent YoY to 47,983 units for the month.

Ambuja Cements: The cement company recorded net profit of Rs 532.3 crore for the quarter ended March FY24, growing 5.9 percent over a year-ago period, partly impacted by weak operating numbers. Revenue from operations grew by 12.3 percent year over year to Rs 4,780.3 crore for the quarter, with sales volume increasing from 8.1 million metric tons to 9.5 million metric tons during the same period.

Jindal Stainless: The leading stainless steel manufacturer is going to buy a 100 percent stake in Sulawesi Nickel Processing Industries Holdings Pte Ltd (SNPIHPL), Singapore, for Rs 715 crore. SNPIHPL will form a joint venture by acquiring a 49 percent equity stake in an Indonesian-based operating company with an annual production capacity of 1.2 million metric tons. Further, the company will invest up to Rs 3,350 crore towards downstream capacity expansion at the Jajpur plant and upgrading infrastructural facilities. It will acquire a 54 percent equity stake in Chromeni Steels (CSPL) through the acquisition of a 100 percent equity stake in Evergreat International Investment Pte Ltd., Singapore (EIPL). Post-acquisition, CSPL will become a step-down subsidiary of the company.

Nirlon: ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund bought 33,78,744 equity shares (equivalent to 3.7 percent of total paid-up) in the company at an average price of Rs 430 per share, amounting to Rs 145.3 crore, via open market transactions. However, foreign portfolio investor Albula Investment Fund sold 30 lakh shares (equivalent to 3.3 percent of paid-up equity) at the same price. As of March 2024, Albula held a 6.14 percent stake in Nirlon.

Havells India: The home appliance company recorded net profit of Rs 449 crore for the quarter ended March FY24, rising 24.1 percent over the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year, with strong topline and operating numbers. Revenue from operations grew by 12 percent year over year to Rs 5,434.3 crore for the quarter. The board has recommended a final dividend of Rs. 6 per share.

Federal Bank: KVS Manian, who resigned as Joint Managing Director of Kotak Mahindra Bank, is likely to be headed to Federal Bank, reports CNBC-TV18, quoting sources. The term of Shyam Srinivsasan as CEO of Federal Bank is scheduled to end in September 2024.

Kotak Mahindra Bank: Krishnan Venkat Subramanian (KVS Manian) has resigned as Joint Managing Director of the bank to pursue other opportunities in financial services. Manian ceased to be a director and key managerial personnel of the bank.

Indus Towers: The tower infrastructure services provider has recorded 32.4 percent on-year growth in consolidated net profit at Rs 1,853.1 crore for the quarter ended March FY24, backed by strong operating margin performance. Revenue from operations grew by 6.5 percent year-on-year to Rs 7,193.2 crore for the quarter, with towers increasing by 14 percent to 2.19 lakh units. EBITDA in Q4 FY24 increased by 19 percent to Rs 4,103 crore, with a margin expansion of 600 bps at 57 percent compared to the year-ago period.
Indian telecom carrier Vodafone Idea is in talks with lenders to avail loans worth 150 billion rupees ($1.80 billion) over the next two years, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The company has reached out to state-run lenders State Bank of India (SBI), Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank and some privately-held banks, the report said.

Bloomberg News did not mention the names of the private lenders.

SBI may take the lead of a consortium of lenders and the funds could be disbursed in tranches, the report said, adding that discussions are continuing and the details could change.

Vodafone Idea, SBI, Bank of Baroda and Punjab National Bank did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

In February, the debt-saddled telecom carrier unveiled plans to raise more than $5 billion to roll out 5G network service and expand 4G coverage, in an attempt to turn around its fortunes and catch up with its rivals Bharti Airtel and Reliance Industries telecom arm Reliance Jio.

Last month, its follow-on share sale  Indias largest  garnered bids 6.36 times the shares on offer.
If you wish to join the Air Force, Navy or Army and want to serve the nation, then let us tell you that the first step is a written exam of NDA and CDS, followed by the SSB interview, which is considered among the toughest and most important exams in India. It often becomes difficult for the student to clear it because of English.

While talking to Local18, Wing Commander and Army Psychologist Sushil Vajpayee said that the SSB (Service Selection Board) interview, conducted after clearing the written exams for NDA (National Defence Academy) and CDS (Combined Defence Services) is among the toughest interviews which evaluate not just the candidates knowledge but also their behaviour, mentality, and overall personality including the way of speaking, standing and sitting.

Wing Commander Sushil Vajpayee shed light on the importance of English in the SSB interview. He said that the interview is conducted in English only because it has a different effect when the students answer or do group discussions but its not a strict requirement for selection. Candidates should know enough English to understand and respond to questions and discussions.

Vajpayee added that many times Hindi medium children lose their confidence after going for the interview. When some students there speak good English, then the Hindi medium students already think that they are rejected but it does not happen.

He emphasised that students preparing for NDA and CDS should focus on improving their English, especially if its very weak. Academies where students prepare for these exams often provide support to enhance their English. He also advised students to communicate with their teachers about their language concerns, so they could receive the necessary attention and guidance.

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducts the Combined Defence Services (CDS) and National Defence Academy (NDA) exams.

The candidates who clear the written exams are eligible to apply for the SSB interview. The SSB interview round is a five-day process and consists of multiple rounds of group discussion, psychological testing and in-person interviews to evaluate a candidates mental ability, skills and ability to think.

Stay updated with live coverage of WBBSE Madhyamik Result 2024 on our website. Get Direct link And Pass Percentage Here. Stay ahead with all the exam results updates on News18 Website.
The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE) class 10 results have been published today, May 2. The Madhyamik Pariksha results will be published on wbbse.wb.gov.in, and wbresults.nic.in. The Madhyamik Exam 2024, which was held from February 2 to February 12, saw 8.76 lakh students from West Bengal participate in the class 10 exams. A total of 86.31% of the 9 lakh students have passed the exams this year.

West Bengal Madhyamik Result 2024 Live Updates

Lets check how to access and download the WB 10th mark sheets online, via SMS and DigiLocker app:

WB Madhyamik Result 2024: How to Check Online?

To check the results of WBBSE 10th, students should follow these steps:

Step 1: Visit the wbresults.nic.in or wbsse.wb.gov.in website.

Step 1: Click on the homepage to find the Class 10th results section.

Step 1: Log in using your roll number and date of birth.

Step 1: The results will be displayed on the screen.

Step 1: Download the soft copy of the results for reference.

All the students are advised to collect the hard copy of the marksheet and certificate from their schools after they check the results online.

WB Madhyamik Result 2024: Check via SMS

Students can also use the SMS service to check their West Bengal Class 10 results 2024. To receive their results via text message, students can simply type WB followed by their roll number and submit it to 5676750. Following the results announcement, they will get a response that includes details on their scores.

WB Madhyamik Result 2024: Check via DigiLocker

Step 1: Install the Digilocker app on your phone from Google Play or Apple App Store. Additionally, you may go to digilocker.gov.in, the official website.

Step 2: Register with your mobile number, name, date of birth, email address, and Aadhar number.

Step 3: Enter your password now and hit the submit button.

Step 4: Log in with your official credentials and required details.

Step 5: Click on the WBBSE under the education option.

Step 6: Choose the option Madhyamik/10th test result 2024.

Step 7: Enter your Aadhaar Card number, and the results will appear on your screen.

This year the Madhyamik Exams were conducted under strict rules. More police personnel were deployed to guard the exam centres. Earlier this year, the education board also decided to use QR codes on the question papers to prevent the questions from getting leaked. Each question paper had a unique QR code that could identify the student who received the paper in the first place. Multiple CCTV cameras were implanted to secure the exam centres even more.

Last year, the overall pass percentage stood at 86.15 per cent. Across 2,675 exam centres statewide, a total of 6,82,321 students appeared for the Madhyamik Exam this year. Out of these, 5,65,428 students successfully passed the exam.

Stay updated with live coverage of WBBSE Madhyamik Result 2024 on our website. Get Direct link Here. Stay ahead with all the exam results updates on News18 Website.
WB Madhyamik Result 2024: How Kolkata Fares in Exam? Every year, not enough students from Kolkata make it to the merit list. In 2018, there were 56 names in the top ten, out of which only two were from Kolkata. In 2022, out of 114 on the merit list, there was only 1 from Kolkata. In 2023, Kolkatas name was not on the merit list. Among the 118 students from 16 districts in the top ten merit list, there was no student from Kolkata. This time too, Kolkata has disappointed. Only one student got a place on the merit list from Kolkata. The first place in the secondary examination has been grabbed by a student from Cooch Behar, second place from Purulia district, and third from South Dinajpur, Birbhum, and South 24 Parganas.

WB Madhyamik Result 2024: Number of Students Students appeared  9,12,598 Students passed  7,65,252

WB Madhyamik Result 2024: Full Merit List Here Rank 1  Chandrachur Sen, a student of Ramgola High School, Cooch Behar topped the exam with 693 marks or 99%. Rank 2  Samyapriya Guru of II Purulia District School with 692 marks. Rank 3  Udayan Prasad (Balurghat High School) from South Dinajpur, Pushpita Basuri from Birbhum and Nairit Ranjan Pal from South 24 Parganas (Narendrapur Ramakrishna Mission) Rank 4  Hooghly student Tapjyoti Mandal stood fourth with 690 marks. Rank 5  Arghydeep Basak, Paruldanga Nasratpur High School, East Burdwan Rank 6  Krishanu Saha of Balurghat High School, South Dinajpur, Mohammad Saharuddin Ali of Malda, Mohampur HSSB High School, Kausthav Sahu of West Medinipur. Student of Medinipur Collegiate School, Olive Gayen from Narendrapur Ramakrishna Mission School. Rank 7  Asif Kamal, a student of Mathabhanga High School in Cooch Behar, Arpita Ghosh, student of Balurghat Girls High School, Balurghat Girls High School, Dakshin Dinajpur, Satyada de Balurghat High School. Sarojini Devi Shishu Mandir, Birbhum Artrik Sh Supam Kumar Roy, Gnandeep Vidyapeeth High School, East Medinipur, Kausthav Mall, Vivekananda Mission Ashram High School, East Medinipur. Alekhya Maiti, South 24 Parganas Narendrapur Ramakrishna Mission. Indrani Chakraborty from East Burdwan, Burdwan Vidyarthi Bhavan Girls. Devjyoti Bhattacharya, Burdwan Municipal High School. Rank 8  Tanuka Pal from Paschim Midnipur, Midnipur Mission Girls School Nadia, Riddhi Mallick, Krishnanagar Collegiate School Rank 9  Raunak Ghosh from Dakshin Dinajpur, Balurghat High School Rank 10  Shubrakanti Jana, a student of Narendrapur.

West Bengal Uccha Madhyamik Result 2024 Date and Time The WBCHSE Class 12 Result 2024 date and time have been officially announced by the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education (WBCHSE). Students who took the West Bengal Higher Secondary Examination 2024 can download their WB class 12th result 2024 on May 8. This years class 12 exam was administered from February 16 to February 29 by the West Bengal board. According to the official notification, WBCHSE will hold a press conference on May 8 at 1 p.m. to present the Class 12 HS results. Students can check their West Bengal board exam results for Class 12 starting at 3 pm on the official website, wbchse.wb.gov.inread more

How to Check West Bengal Madhyamik Result 2024 Without Internet? Check through SMS: Step 1: Open the SMS application on your phone and type WB 10 roll number. Step 2: Send the message to 56070 or 56263 Step 3: The WBBSE result 2024 will send the detailed result to the same mobile number.

West Bengal Madhyamik Result 2024: Three Students in Rank 3 Udayan Prasad (Balurghat High School) from South Dinajpur, Pushpita Basuri from Birbhum and Nanit Ranjan Pal from South 24 Parganas (Narendrapur Ramakrishna Mission) secured the third place in WB 10th results 2024read more

West Bengal Madhyamik Result 2024: Direct Link at wbresults.nic.in

West Bengal Madhyamik Result 2024 LINK ACTIVE!

WB Madhyamik Result Did Not Cross 90% Mark This Time Either After 80 days, the result of this years West Bengal Board or WBBSE Madhyamik has been announced. The exam started on February 2 and ended on February 12. 9,23,013 students took the secondary examination this year. Among them, the number of male students is 4,05,994 and the number of female students is 5,170,19. However, like the last few years, this year too the pass rate did not cross the 90 per cent mark. 765252 candidates, or 86.31 per cent have passed the exam. In 2023, the number of candidates who took the exam was 6,82,321. Out of this 5,65,428 passed. The pass rate was 86.15 per cent...read more

West Bengal Madhyamik Result 2024: WBBSE Website Not Opening? Alternate Method to Check Marks via SMS Step 1: Open the SMS application on your phone and type WB 10 roll number. Step 2: Send the message to 56070 or 56263 Step 3: The WBBSE will send the detailed result to the same mobile number. via DigiLocker Step 1: Download the Digilocker app on your phone from Google Playstore or Apple App store. You can also visit the official website of digilocker.gov.in. Step 2: Sign up using your mobile number, name, date of birth, mobile number, email id, and Aadhar number Step 3: Now, create a password and click on submit. Step 4: Login using your required information Step 5: Now, click on the WBBSE under the education tab Step 6: Select the option of Madhyamik/10th exam result 2024 Step 7: Input your Aadhaar Card number and the result will appear on your screen

West Bengal Madhyamik Result 2024: Students Appeared 9,23,013 students took the Madhyamik examination this year. Among them, the number of male students is 4,05,994 and the number of female students is 5,170,19.

West Bengal Madhyamik Result 2024 Link Anytime Soon: Where to Check?  wbresults.nic.in  wbbse.wb.gov.in

West Bengal Madhyamik Result 2024: Almost 60 Students in Top 10 57 candidates have secured a place in the top ten. In the merit list, 8 people are from South 24 Parganas, 7 people from South Dinajpur, 7 people from East Burdwan, 7 people from East Medinipur, 4 from Bankura, 4 from Malda, West Medinipur 4 people, Nadia 2 people, Jhargram 1, Kolkata 1, Birbhum 3 people, North 24 Parganas 2 people, North Dinajpur 1 person are in this list.

West Bengal Madhyamik Result 2024: Cooch Behar Student Tops Exam  Chandrachur Sen, a student of Ramgola High School, Cooch Behar has secured the first rank in the WB Madhyamik exam 2024. His score is 693. He got 99% marks.  Samyapriya Guru of Purulia District School has scored 692 and secured rank 2.  Udayan Prasad (Balurghat High School) from South Dinajpur, Pushpita Basuri from Birbhum and Nanit Ranjan Pal from South 24 Parganas (Narendrapur Ramakrishna Mission) secured rank third.

West Bengal Madhyamik Result 2024: Steps to Check via DigiLocker Step 1: Download the Digilocker app on your phone from Google Playstore or Apple App store. You can also visit the official website of digilocker.gov.in. Step 2: Sign up using your mobile number, name, date of birth, mobile number, email id, and Aadhar number Step 3: Now, create a password and click on submit. Step 4: Login using your required information Step 5: Now, click on the WBBSE under the education tab Step 6: Select the option of Madhyamik/10th exam result 2024 Step 7: Input your Aadhaar Card number and the result will appear on your screen

West Bengal Madhyamik Result 2024: Kalimpong Outperforms East Midnapore As Best Performing District 2024 results: Kalimpong: 96.2% East Midnapore: 95.4% Kolkata: 91.6% 2023 results: East Medinipur: 96.81% Kalimpong: 94.13% Kolkata: 93.75%

West Bengal Madhyamik Result 2024: Link to be Activated Soon The WB Madhyamik 2024 examination results are out. However, the result link will be available on the website from 9:45 am. A total of 86.31 per cent of the students have passed. According to the Board of Secondary Education, Madhyamik results can be checked at wbbse.wb.gov.in and wbresults.nic.in as well as several private websites. Schools will receive marksheets from various camp offices on Thursday at 10 am.

West Bengal Madhyamik Result 2024: Direct Link  wbresults.nic.in  wbbse.wb.gov.in

West Bengal Madhyamik Result 2024: Pass Percentage Almost Same as Last Year 2024- 86.31% 2023- 86.15% 2022- 86.60% 2021- 100% 2020- 86.34% 2019- 88.87%
Home Minister Amit Shah has said that the low voter turnout in the first two phases of Lok Sabha Election 2024 does not affect the NDAs mission 400 paar and that they were well on track to achieve that. In an exclusive interview with Network18 Group Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi, Shah said that the no competition and outdated electoral rolls were among the reasons for a low voter turnout.

When asked whether 400 paar for NDA and 370 for BJP was on track despite a low voter turnout, Shah said, It is absolutely on track. You will see on counting day, before 12.30 pm, NDA will cross 400, Modi ji will again become Prime Minister.

My partys team and I have done a detailed analysis. We are moving towards the third phase with well over 100 seats from the first two. I dont see any problem in crossing the target of 400, he added.

Listing reasons for low voting, Shah said it was because of the revision of electoral rolls after twelve years and no contest from the other side.

Past 10 Years Will be Written in Golden Letters

The Home Minister and BJP candidate from Gandhinagar also listed the BJPs achievements over the past ten years stating that this decade will be written in golden letters. He added how the Narendra Modi government could boast of terror-free India, bringing down Naxalism, taking the economy to new heights, Article 370 abrogation in Jammu and Kashmir and Ram Mandir inauguration as its achievements over the past ten years.

Narendra Modiji has got us almost 100% freedom from terrorism in ten years and you could say Naxalism has been eliminated by around 95%. Today Naxalism has been completely finished off in the seven states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra, Shah said.

Speaking about how the Modi government pulled the Indian economy out of shambles, Shah said, In just 10 years, Narendra Modiji has brought about a sea change. The share market is skyrocketing. Even after selling by FIIs, Indian mutual funds have bolstered the market. The balance sheets of all the banks have become very healthy.

The country was number 11 in the list of economies, now it is fifth. Be it village or city, forest or desert, coast or city, work is being done for the development of infrastructure everywhere, he added.

Shah concluded the response to the question on BJPs achievements by saying, Whether it is higher education, new economic policy, or Ram Janmabhoomi, ending Article 370 sections, triple talaq, bringing UCC or fundamental changes in the criminal laws of the country, these 10 years will be written about in golden letters in every field. People are also feeling that a pandemic like corona could be fought off so effectively only because of the work of Narendra Modi.

Watch the full interview on CNN-News18 at 9pm on Thursday.

Check Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Schedule, Key Candidates And Constituencies At News18 Website.
The Agra Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 80 parliamentary constituencies in Uttar Pradesh. This seat is reserved for candidates from the Scheduled Castes and comprises part of Agra district and part of Etah district. The Agra (SC) Lok Sabha constituency includes five Assembly segments, all of which are currently held by the BJP  Etmadpur, Agra Cantt (SC), Agra South, Agra North, Jalesar (SC). The constituency will vote in the third phase of general elections on May 7, 2024.

Sitting MP  Satyapal Singh Baghel (BJP)

Candidates  Satyapal Singh Baghel (BJP), Suresh Chandra Kardam (SP), Pooja Amrohi (BSP)

Political dynamics

BJP: The BJP has been winning the Agra (SC) seat on the trot since 2009. In the 2019 elections, it had replaced the 2009 and 2014 winner Ram Shankar Katheria with Satyapal Singh Baghel as its candidate. Katheria was moved to the Etawah seat from where he had won.

The BJP has been winning the Agra (SC) seat on the trot since 2009. In the 2019 elections, it had replaced the 2009 and 2014 winner Ram Shankar Katheria with Satyapal Singh Baghel as its candidate. Katheria was moved to the Etawah seat from where he had won. This time, the BJP has again fielded its sitting MP Satyapal Singh Baghel from the Agra (SC) seat. SP Singh Baghel is a prominent OBC leader and five-time MP from Uttar Pradesh.

He currently serves as the Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare in the Narendra Modi cabinet. Baghel had started his political innings under the guidance of Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav.

As a police sub-inspector, Baghel had served in the security of then chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav. He quit the police force in 1996 to become an associate professor in military science after doing PhD.

A party-hopper, 64-year-old Baghel was a member of the Lok Sabha in 1998, 1999 and 2004 as a Samajwadi Party MP, representing the Jalesar seat in UP.

After three terms as an MP, Baghel was denied a ticket from Firozabad in 2009 and was eventually suspended from the SP.

He then unsuccessfully contested two Lok Sabha elections as a Bahujan Samaj Party candidate. In 2014, Baghel was elected to the Rajya Sabha as a BSP nominee.

He jumped once ship once more, this time joining the BJP. He became president of the BJP OBC Morcha in 2015.

In the 2017 state elections, he became an MLA from Tundla. He joined the Yogi Adityanath government as a cabinet minister from 2017 till 2019 when he successfully fought the Lok Sabha election from reserved Agra seat.

In July 2021, Baghel entered the Union Council of Ministers for the first time as MoS in the law ministry.

In May last year, hours after shifting Kiren Rijiju from the law ministry, the Centre moved Baghel to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The move was necessitated after Arjun Ram Meghwal was made the Minister of State with Independent charge of the Ministry of Law and Justice. According to convention, a ministry headed by a Minister of State with independent charge does not have a deputy.

In April 2022, an MP-MLA court acquitted SP Singh Baghel and 60 others in a 2014 case related to post-poll violence in Firozabad.

In the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Baghel unsuccessfully contested against Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Singh Yadav from the Karhal Assembly constituency.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Baghel had defeated nearest rival, Manoj Kumar Soni of the BSP, by more than 2.10 lakh votes.

Stoking a controversy in May last year, Baghel had claimed that tolerant Muslims can be counted on fingers and it too was a tactic to lead a public life wearing a mask as it leads to vice-president, governor or vice-chancellor posts.

He had alleged that the real face of such so-called intellectuals from the community is revealed after they complete their term in office or retire.

The saffron party has to do at least as well in these elections as the last time in Uttar Pradesh to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modis target of winning 370 seats in the new Parliament.

PM Modis candidature from Varanasi has a major impact on other UP constituencies as well.

The new Ram Temple in Ayodhya strengthens the partys Hindutva plank, a factor it can bank on for Hindu consolidation in seats like Agra.

The BJP will cash in on the perception that the Yogi Adityanath government has zero tolerance towards crime.

Development of infrastructure, particularly highways and airports, in recent years improves the BJPs prospects.

Samajwadi Party: The Samajwadi Party has not been able to win the Agra (SC) seat since actor-politician Raj Babbar won the Lok Sabha constituency on SP tickets in 1999 and 2004 general elections.

The Samajwadi Party has not been able to win the Agra (SC) seat since actor-politician Raj Babbar won the Lok Sabha constituency on SP tickets in 1999 and 2004 general elections. The party has nominated Suresh Chand Kardam to take on former SP leader and sitting MP Satyapal Singh Baghel in Agra.

Kardam, a former BSP leader, is a shoe businessman who belongs to the Jatav community which is a dominant factor in Agra.

He is expected to pose a serious challenge to the Bahujan Samaj Party since Jatavs are BSPs traditional vote bank.

Kardam had unsuccessfully contested mayoral elections for the BSP from Agra in 2000.

The SP is contesting the polls in an alliance with the Congress this time, with the grand old party attempting to regain its lost ground in Uttar Pradesh.

Among the factors working for the SP is its strong base in the OBC and Muslim communities.

The Yadav family, too, appears to have buried its differences in recent years and has put forward a united front.

The party, however, faces the accusation of being partial to Muslims and harbouring criminals within its ranks.

Its recently forged alliance with the Congress could help avoid splitting of votes, particularly within the Muslim community, in several western UP constituencies like Agra.

BSP: The Bahujan Samaj Party has never been able to win this constituency since its formation in 1984 despite it being a Jatav-dominated seat.

The Bahujan Samaj Party has never been able to win this constituency since its formation in 1984 despite it being a Jatav-dominated seat. In the past three elections, its candidates have had to contend with being the first runners-up.

In the quest for a maiden win in Agra, the BSP has given the ticket to 52-year-old Pooja Amrohi, the daughter of veteran Congress leader Satya Behan.

Behan is former Rajya Sabha MP and vice-chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes.

Pooja Amrohi is a graduate of the prestigious Lady Shri Ram College in Delhi.

Her grandfather-in-law, the late Prabhati Ram, was the first Dalit corporator of Independent India from Amritsar.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BSP contested the polls along with the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD).

This time, Mayawati jolted the INDIA bloc by declaring that the BSP would contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections on its own. The Congress had been seeking to rope in the BSP in the opposition grouping.

Mayawatis decision also dashed any hopes of uniting all non-BJP forces to put up a strong opposition against the BJP and opened the gates for a third force in the key Hindi heartland state of Uttar Pradesh.

The BSP supremo, however, hasnt ruled out a post-poll alliance.

She recently taunted the SP for fielding Hindus in Muslim-dominated constituencies and Muslims on seats where Hindus dominate.

She has also urged Muslim voters not to split their votes, saying if the community votes for the Congress, then the BJP will get the benefit.

Despite a bad showing in the past few elections, the party enjoys an enviable support base among Dalit voters.

The BSP, however, relies heavily on Mayawati as its leader, with virtually no second rung of leadership.

Dismal performance in the 2022 Assembly elections, its dwindling presence in Parliament and the state legislature has also demoralised party workers.

Depending on its performance, the BSP has a chance of striking a post-poll understanding with the winning party or coalition.

Jatav factor: Agra has a substantial population of Jatavs, the Dalit subcaste to which BSP chief Mayawati belongs.

Agra has a substantial population of Jatavs, the Dalit subcaste to which BSP chief Mayawati belongs. It is also referred to as the Dalit capital due to the substantial presence of the community.

Sitting MP and BJP candidate SP Singh Baghel faces the challenge of preventing a division of Dalit votes in his constituency so that he can retain the seat.

However, he is also banking on the BJPs Hindu votes to compensate the depletion of Dalit votes, if any.

The BJP had won 14 of the 17 reserved seats of Uttar Pradesh, including Agra, in 2019, while one seat went to its ally Apna Dal(S). The BSP could manage to win only two reserved seats  Lalganj and Nagina.

The Scheduled Caste or Dalit vote, which is around 21% of the electorate in UP, is broadly divided into Jatavs (11.7%), Pasi (3.3%), Valmiki (3.15%), Gonds, Dhanuks, Khatiks (1.2%) and others (1.6%).

It is only the Jatav vote bank that continues to back the BSP, while other Dalit caste groups have shifted loyalties to other parties, including the BJP.

The main reason for the Dalit disillusionment with the BSP is the fact that Mayawati has completely alienated herself from the grassroots cadres and has not even allowed a second rung leadership to emerge within the party.

Interestingly, the BJP has been consciously reaching out to non-Jatav Dalits, non-Yadav OBCs and upper castes that have ensured its stupendous victory in the last four polls in Uttar Pradesh, including the 2017 and 2022 Assembly polls.

BJPs Dalit leaders are holding small meetings in Dalit-dominated areas without any pomp and show. They list the welfare schemes launched by the Centre and state for weaker sections and convince them to support the BJP.

Muslim votes: In 2019, the BJP had got the benefit of a split in Muslim votes in some seats of western UP, and its candidates registered wins from Agra, Muzaffarnagar, Kairana, Meerut, Bulandshahr, Baghpat and Aligarh Lok Sabha seats.

In 2019, the BJP had got the benefit of a split in Muslim votes in some seats of western UP, and its candidates registered wins from Agra, Muzaffarnagar, Kairana, Meerut, Bulandshahr, Baghpat and Aligarh Lok Sabha seats. In the changed circumstances of 2024, the biggest concern for the SP-Congress alliance will be to prevent the scattering of Muslim votes because its victory on many Muslim-dominated seats can be possible only if the Muslim votes are united in its favour.

This time the biggest challenge for the Samajwadi Party is to keep the Muslim voters united in its favour.

A major reason for this is that since 2019, the SP has not been as vocal on Muslim-related issues as was expected from it.

The BJP, too, is looking to tap into Muslim voters. UP BJP minority morcha president Kunwar Basit has claimed that the party received about 10% votes of the Muslim community in 2019.

This time the target is to increase it to 15%, especially the Pasmanda Muslims, who have benefited the most from government schemes.

99-Election Man: 78-year-old Hasnuram Ambedkari Dharti Pakad first contested in state elections in 1985, but after 98 electoral defeats, he is gearing up to contest 2024 general elections.

78-year-old Hasnuram Ambedkari Dharti Pakad first contested in state elections in 1985, but after 98 electoral defeats, he is gearing up to contest 2024 general elections. This time also I am sure that I will be defeated on both seats. But, my aim is to contest for the 100th time, and after that, I will not contest any election, says Ambedakri, who earns his living as MNREGA worker.

Ambedkari, who hails from Kheragarh tehsil of Agra district, fought his first election as an Independent in March 1985 against the Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) candidate from Kheragarh constituency of Agra district.

His journey of consistently contesting elections as an Independent and losing has even got him the Hindi sobriquet of Dharti Pakad given to such candidates after the famous Kaka Joginder Singh Dharti Pakad, who had unsuccessfully contested over 300 elections  even the presidential polls.

Key constituency issues

Taj Mahal controversies: Certain historians and Hindu groups claim that the Taj Mahal was once a Shiva temple called Tejo Mahalaya.

Certain historians and Hindu groups claim that the Taj Mahal was once a Shiva temple called Tejo Mahalaya. In October 2022, the Supreme Court had rejected a petition to open the sealed doors of the Taj Mahal, calling it publicity interest litigation.

The petition, filed by Rajneesh Singh, BJP media in-charge in Ayodhya, had sought to examine the 22 locked rooms of the Taj Mahal for Hindu idols.

The petition had also sought to set aside certain provisions of the Ancient and Historical Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Declaration of National Importance) Act, 1951 and the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.

In February this year, a fresh petition was filed in an Agra court asking for the monument to be declared as Tejo Mahalaya.

It also sought a stop on all Islamic activities at the Taj Mahal.

The fresh petition has been filed by advocate Ajay Pratap Singh, a patron of the Shree Bhagwan Shree Tejo Mahadev.

In February 2022, police had stopped members of right-wing outfits from entering the Taj Mahal premises and reciting Hanuman Chalisa there as a mark of protest over the hijab row in Karnataka.

Agra High Court Bench: There is a demand for a bench of the Allahabad High Court in Agra due to the inconvenience faced by litigants from other regions. The NCR planning committee recommends setting up a High Court bench in Agra to attract investments. Some say that corporate and capital investments in Noida have gone to other states because of the easier accessibility of justice in corporate affairs. Every few months, lawyers holds demonstrations demanding a High Court Bench in western Uttar Pradesh. The lawyers say that the Lahore High Court is closer to the cities of western Uttar Pradesh, including Agra, Meerut, and Saharnpur, than the states main high court at Allahabad.

There is a demand for a bench of the Allahabad High Court in Agra due to the inconvenience faced by litigants from other regions. The NCR planning committee recommends setting up a High Court bench in Agra to attract investments. Some say that corporate and capital investments in Noida have gone to other states because of the easier accessibility of justice in corporate affairs. Every few months, lawyers holds demonstrations demanding a High Court Bench in western Uttar Pradesh. The lawyers say that the Lahore High Court is closer to the cities of western Uttar Pradesh, including Agra, Meerut, and Saharnpur, than the states main high court at Allahabad. Water shortage: Agra is reportedly facing an acute water crisis due to a sudden disruption in the supply of water from the Ganga. The disruption is through a crucial 140 km pipeline from a canal in Palda in Bulandshahr district. The authorities postponed the total shutdown of the water supply until after the festivals of Eid and Ramnavmi for technical reasons.

Agra is reportedly facing an acute water crisis due to a sudden disruption in the supply of water from the Ganga. The disruption is through a crucial 140 km pipeline from a canal in Palda in Bulandshahr district. The authorities postponed the total shutdown of the water supply until after the festivals of Eid and Ramnavmi for technical reasons. The water crisis is alarming as the temperature soars due to heatwave in the city. The demand rises and the supply fails to meet the increasing requirement, primarily due to neglect of Yamuna.

Yamuna pollution: The National Green Tribunal has formed a committee to obtain a factual report on the pollution of the Yamuna river in Agra. According to a petition filed before the green tribunal, a huge number of aquatic animals, including fish, died in the past few years while the river had turned into a nala (drain) near the Taj Mahal.

The National Green Tribunal has formed a committee to obtain a factual report on the pollution of the Yamuna river in Agra. According to a petition filed before the green tribunal, a huge number of aquatic animals, including fish, died in the past few years while the river had turned into a nala (drain) near the Taj Mahal. The riverbed has risen due to non-undertaking of the requisite desilting and dredging activities and there is high faecal coliform contamination in the river the petition said.

Annual Urs at Taj Mahal: A right wing organisation has filed a petition in an Agra court seeking prohibitory injunction against the observation of the Urs at Taj Mahal. The petitioner, Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha, has also challenged free entry inside the Taj for Urs.

A right wing organisation has filed a petition in an Agra court seeking prohibitory injunction against the observation of the Urs at Taj Mahal. The petitioner, Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha, has also challenged free entry inside the Taj for Urs. The three-day Urs is observed to mark the death of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, who got the Taj Mahal constructed in 1653 on the banks of Yamuna in Agra.

ABHM spokesperson Sanjay Jat contended that the body had filed the petition on the basis of an RTI which revealed that neither the Mughals, nor the British allowed Urs to take place inside the Taj.

The three-day Urs sees the rituals of chadar poshi, sandal, gusul, kul and others.

On the last day of the Urs, a chadar 1,880-metre-long or more is offered.

Potato processing unit: Farmers in Agra have been waiting for a potato processing unit ever since Narendra Modi, the BJPs prime ministerial candidate, spoke about the need for one in 2013.

Farmers in Agra have been waiting for a potato processing unit ever since Narendra Modi, the BJPs prime ministerial candidate, spoke about the need for one in 2013. Agra is famous for its superior quality potato which is supplied to several states of India. Potato is grown on 72,000 hectares in Agra district which currently has 270 cold storage units with a capacity of 25 lakh metric tonnes.

According to reports, Agra farmers say setting up a vodka distillery can solve many of their farmers by not only generating employment but also ensuring that the potato supply of the region has buyers.

Crimes against women: A spate of rape cases involving minors recently have brought into question womens safety and the safety of children in the tourism hub.

A spate of rape cases involving minors recently have brought into question womens safety and the safety of children in the tourism hub. On April 9, a six-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted by a Class 4 student. The victim was said to be critical in hospital and police had to reportedly deploy extra force to ensure law and order was maintained as the victim and the accused belonged to different communities.

On March 19, two men were arrested for allegedling gang-raping a 13-year-old girl and confining her to a hotel room in Agra.

On March 18, an 18-year-old girl was reported to have been raped by a male friend and two of his acquaintances in Sikandra police station area of Agra.

Ram Mandir: Eyeing Hindu consolidation in Muslim-dominated western UP, the BJP has been hoping to reap the electoral dividend of constructing the Ram Temple at the Ram Janmabhoomi in UPs Ayodhya as it has been promising in multiple manifestos.

Eyeing Hindu consolidation in Muslim-dominated western UP, the BJP has been hoping to reap the electoral dividend of constructing the Ram Temple at the Ram Janmabhoomi in UPs Ayodhya as it has been promising in multiple manifestos. It is also reminding voters that the Congress snubbed the consecration ceremony of the temple in January, pegging it as an insult of Lord Ram himself.

Uniform Civil Code: After abolishing special status for J&K in 2019 and constructing the Ram Temple in Ayodhya this January, the BJP has turned its attention to its third legacy election promise  a Uniform Civil Code.

After abolishing special status for J&K in 2019 and constructing the Ram Temple in Ayodhya this January, the BJP has turned its attention to its third legacy election promise  a Uniform Civil Code. In April last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself made a strong pitch for UCC, saying the Constitution also mentions of having equal rights for all citizens.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah too recently reminded voters of PM Modis guarantee to bring uniform civil code in the country on the same lines as Uttarakhand.

In April 2022, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya had revealed that the Yogi Adityanath government is thinking seriously in the direction of implementing a Uniform Civil Code in the state.

During the Assembly election campaign in 2022, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, too, had also spoken in favour of one law for the entire country and had said the matter would be taken up at the right time.

With neighbouring Uttarakhand implementing one in March this year, the prospect of a UCC for Uttar Pradesh has become a factor in Lok Sabha elections, especially in constituencies with significant Muslim population.

The issue of the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code does not enjoy the Opposition support besides that of Muslim bodies.

Voter demographics

Social composition

SC  21.09%

ST  0.16%

Religious composition

Buddhist  0.11%

Christian  0.22%

Jain  0.46%

Muslim  9.1%

Sikh  0.23%

Literacy rate

60.43%

Major infra projects in Agra

New Agra Urban Centre: The Uttar Pradesh government is planning to develop a new city, called New Agra Urban Centre, near Agra along the Yamuna Expressway. The city will cover 10,500 hectares, which is about half the size of Noida, and is expected to be located around 150km from the Noida airport in Jewar. The Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YXPA) is leading the project and has invited consultants to create a 10-year master plan. The city will focus on tourism, manufacturing-related units, and residential centers.

The Uttar Pradesh government is planning to develop a new city, called New Agra Urban Centre, near Agra along the Yamuna Expressway. The city will cover 10,500 hectares, which is about half the size of Noida, and is expected to be located around 150km from the Noida airport in Jewar. The Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YXPA) is leading the project and has invited consultants to create a 10-year master plan. The city will focus on tourism, manufacturing-related units, and residential centers. Agra airport projects: In September last year, the Uttar Pradesh government cleared a Rs 123 crore proposal for land acquisition to expand the Agra airport and upgrade it to international category. As per reports, the expansion plan will involve acquisition of 92.50 acres of land in Abhaypura, Balhera, and Dhanauli. The plan also includes building a 30,000 sq km terminal equipped with nine bays to accommodate nine Airbus A321 aircraft, the extension of the present runways, and other airport facilities. The new terminal is expected to be built in the next 36 months.

In September last year, the Uttar Pradesh government cleared a Rs 123 crore proposal for land acquisition to expand the Agra airport and upgrade it to international category. As per reports, the expansion plan will involve acquisition of 92.50 acres of land in Abhaypura, Balhera, and Dhanauli. The plan also includes building a 30,000 sq km terminal equipped with nine bays to accommodate nine Airbus A321 aircraft, the extension of the present runways, and other airport facilities. The new terminal is expected to be built in the next 36 months. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is building a new civil enclave at Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Airport in Agra. The project is being undertaken under the Gati Shakti Mission to increase tourist inflow to the city. The new civil enclave will include a 30,000 sq m civil terminal building with four aerobridges, 32 check-in counters, and three baggage claim belts. The airport will also be expanded to accommodate nine narrow-body aircraft.

Agra Metro: The priority corridor of Agra Metro was inaugurated virtually by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 6 and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath took the inaugural train ride from the Taj Mahal station to Taj Mahal East station.

The priority corridor of Agra Metro was inaugurated virtually by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 6 and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath took the inaugural train ride from the Taj Mahal station to Taj Mahal East station. Metro services on the 6-km corridor were available for commuters with stops at Taj Mahal East station, Captain Shubham Gupta station, Fatehabad Road station, Taj Mahal station and Mankameshwar Temple station.

The priority corridor has three elevated and three underground stations.

CM Adityanath had appreciated the Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation (UPMRC) for timely completion of the first phase of Agra Metro, and said it has become operational nine months ahead of schedule.

Prime Minister Modi had laid the foundation stone of the metro on December 7, 2020 and it was completed in 23 months.

Vande Bharat trains: With the Hazrat Nizamuddin-Khajuraho Vande Bharat in March this year, Agra has two Vande Bharat routes servicing the city.

With the Hazrat Nizamuddin-Khajuraho Vande Bharat in March this year, Agra has two Vande Bharat routes servicing the city. The Hazrat Nizamuddin-Khajuraho Vande Bharat Express makes six stops, including Agra Cantt.

The train operates on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Earlier, the Bhopal-New Delhi Vande Bharat Express was the only one reaching Agra Cantt.

Soon, the first ever Vande Bharat sleeper trains will run between Agra and Gorakhpur with the North Eastern Railway preparing a detailed plan. As per reports, the train may have a stop at Tundla railway station and would run six days a week. The train would likely take 13 hours from Agra Fort to Gorakhpur.

Gangajal Project: In 2019, Prime Minister Modi had dedicated to the nation, Gangajal project, which will provide Agra with better and more assured water supply, at an estimated cost of Rs 2,880 crore. Gangajal project aims to bring 140 cusecs of Ganga water to Agra. This will help meet the drinking water demands in the city.

In 2019, Prime Minister Modi had dedicated to the nation, Gangajal project, which will provide Agra with better and more assured water supply, at an estimated cost of Rs 2,880 crore. Gangajal project aims to bring 140 cusecs of Ganga water to Agra. This will help meet the drinking water demands in the city. Smart City project: The Agra Smart City Project includes the development of a heritage walk, which has been completed and is currently undergoing operations and maintenance. The project also involves connecting private cameras that focus on the outside to the Smart Citys control room.

The Agra Smart City Project includes the development of a heritage walk, which has been completed and is currently undergoing operations and maintenance. The project also involves connecting private cameras that focus on the outside to the Smart Citys control room. In August 2023, PTI reported that Agra was ranked third in the governments Smart City contest, after Indore and Surat. In September 2023, Drishti IAS reported that Agra was chosen as the third best smart city in the country.

Agra-Gwalior Greenfield Expressway: This is a six-lane, 88.4 km expressway that will connect Agra and Gwalior. The expressway will begin at the inner ring road in Devri village of Agra district and end at Susera village in Gwalior. It is expected to reduce travel time between the two cities from 23 hours to just one hour.

This is a six-lane, 88.4 km expressway that will connect Agra and Gwalior. The expressway will begin at the inner ring road in Devri village of Agra district and end at Susera village in Gwalior. It is expected to reduce travel time between the two cities from 23 hours to just one hour. The expressway will be constructed at a height with 23 meter high walls on its sides to prevent stray animals from entering. It will have 47 culverts, four small and five big bridges, a rail overbridge, two flyovers, and the biggest bridge on the Chambal River.

The expressway is being constructed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) under the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) project model.

The estimated cost for the expressway is Rs 2497.84 crore, with each kilometer costing approximately Rs 25.80 crore. The stretch between Agra and Dholpur is anticipated to cost Rs 972 crore.

Check Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Schedule, Key Candidates And Constituencies At News18 Website.
Aligarh Lok Sabha constituency is one of 80 parliamentary constituencies in Uttar Pradesh. This is a General category seat and comprises part of Aligarh district. There are five Assembly segments that fall under the Aligarh Lok Sabha constituency, all held by the BJP at present  Khair (SC), Barauli, Atrauli, Koil, and Aligarh. The constituency voted in the second phase of general elections on April 26, 2024.

Sitting MP  Satish Kumar Gautam (BJP)

Candidates  Satish Kumar Gautam (BJP), Brijendra Singh (Samajwadi Party)

Political dynamics

BJP: Gunning for a hat-trick in Aligarh is sitting BJP MP Satish Kumar Gautam who has been given the party ticket again.

Gunning for a hat-trick in Aligarh is sitting BJP MP Satish Kumar Gautam who has been given the party ticket again. In 2014, Gautam had wrested the seat from the BSP, beating its candidate Arvind Kumar Singh by over 2 lakh votes.

In 2019, he saw off strong anti-incumbency and anger from traders to win a second consecutive term.

Gautam had then defeated Ajeet Baliyan of the BSP and Bijendra Singh of the Congress to retain his seat.

The BJP MP is no stranger to controversies. In 2018, he was at the centre of a raging row over Muhammad Ali Jinnahs portrait at the distinguished Aligarh Muslim University.

In May of that year, Satish Gautam had demanded that the portrait of Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, be removed from AMU student union office where it had been up for decades. Violent protests had ensued.

The saffron party has to do at least as well in these elections as the last time in Uttar Pradesh to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modis target of winning 370 seats in the new Parliament.

PM Modis candidature from Varanasi has a major impact on other UP constituencies as well.

The new Ram Temple in Ayodhya strengthens the partys Hindutva plank, a factor it can bank on for Hindu consolidation in Muslim-dominated seats like Aligarh.

The BJP will cash in on the perception that the Yogi Adityanath government has zero tolerance towards crime.

Development of infrastructure, particularly highways and airports, in recent years improves the BJPs prospects.

Samajwadi Party: The Samajwadi Party has nominated Bijendra Singh from Aligarh to challenge sitting BJP MP Satish Gautam.

The Samajwadi Party has nominated Bijendra Singh from Aligarh to challenge sitting BJP MP Satish Gautam. The SP and the Congress are contesting the polls as part of the INDIA bloc this time, with the grand old party attempting to regain its lost ground in Uttar Pradesh.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the alliance of the Bahujan Samaj Party, Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal had achieved considerable success in the Muslim-dominated seats. However, the political equations have completely changed this time with the BSP flying solo and the RLD aligning with the BJP.

Among the factors working for the SP is its strong base in the OBC and Muslim communities.

The Yadav family, too, appears to have buried its differences in recent years and has put forward a united front.

The party, however, faces the accusation of being partial to Muslims and harbouring criminals within its ranks.

Its recently forged alliance with the Congress could help avoid splitting of votes, particularly within the Muslim community, in several western UP constituencies like Aligarh.

BSP: The Mayawati-led party has decided to contest the general elections alone this time.

The Mayawati-led party has decided to contest the general elections alone this time. From Aligarh, it has fielded Hitendra Kumar alias Bunty Upadhyay.

Bunty Upadhyay was the partys second choice for the seat. It had first fielded Gufran Noor from the constituency but the former AIMIM leader suffered a heart attack on March 31 and was taken out of the race.

Despite a bad showing in the past few elections, the party enjoys an enviable support base among Dalit voters.

The BSP, however, relies heavily on Mayawati as its leader, with virtually no second rung of leadership.

Dismal performance in the 2022 Assembly elections, its dwindling presence in Parliament and the state legislature has also demoralised party workers.

Depending on its performance, the BSP has a chance of striking a post-poll understanding with the winning party or coalition.

Caste and community factors: Brahmins, Vaishya and Chatriya together make up over 7 lakh of the 18 lakh-plus voters in Aligarh.

Brahmins, Vaishya and Chatriya together make up over 7 lakh of the 18 lakh-plus voters in Aligarh. BJP candidate Satish Kumar Gautam has a strong Brahmin voter base in the constituency.

There are over 3.5 lakh Muslims voters in Aligarh, while Jat, Yadav and Lodi account for over 4 lakh.

Around 3.50 lakh voters belong to SC/ST communities.

Muslim votes: Muslim voters constitute over 19% of the electoral population in Aligarh, a lock-making hub in western Uttar Pradesh.

Muslim voters constitute over 19% of the electoral population in Aligarh, a lock-making hub in western Uttar Pradesh. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP got the benefit of a split in Muslim votes in some seats of western UP, and its candidates registered wins in Aligarh, Muzaffarnagar, Kairana, Meerut, Bulandshahr, and Baghpat seats.

In the changed circumstances, the biggest concern for the SP-Congress alliance will be to prevent the scattering of Muslim votes because its victory on many Muslim-dominated seats can be possible only if the Muslim votes are united in its favour.

That could be a challenge for the SP since it has not been seen as vocal on Muslim-related issues as was expected from it.

BSP, meanwhile, has fielded Muslim candidates on every seat, where the Dalit voters are in good numbers after the Muslims.

Samajwadi Party spokesperson Fakhrul Hasan claims that Muslim voters are still standing strongly with his party.

He maintains that in the 2019 elections, the BSP had benefited from the Muslim votes of SP due to which it was successful in winning 10 seats.

He points out that there was no alliance between the two parties in the 2022 Assembly elections and the SP had won many Muslim-dominated seats in western Uttar Pradesh by defeating the BSP. Hence, it is not right to say that Muslim voters are getting disillusioned with the SP, he adds.

The BJP has not put up any Muslim candidate this time in western UP while the SP and BSP have fielded several Muslims.

Quirky Independent candidate: Independent candidate from Aligarh, Pandit Keshav Dev, decided to make the most of what the Election Commission has allotted to him as the poll symbol  a pair of slippers.

Independent candidate from Aligarh, Pandit Keshav Dev, decided to make the most of what the Election Commission has allotted to him as the poll symbol  a pair of slippers. Aiming to build recall among the people, Dev was seen sporting a garland of seven slippers around his neck during campaigning.

Key constituency issues

AMU minority status: The issue of Aligarh Muslim Universitys minority status has been caught in a legal maze for the last several decades.

The issue of Aligarh Muslim Universitys minority status has been caught in a legal maze for the last several decades. The top court had on February 12, 2019 referred to a seven-judge bench the contentious issue. A similar reference was also made in 1981.

A five-judge constitution bench had in the S Azeez Basha versus Union of India case in 1967 held that since AMU was a central university, it cannot be considered a minority institution.

However, the fabled institution got back its minority status when Parliament passed the AMU (Amendment) Act in 1981.

In January 2006, the Allahabad High Court struck down the provision of the 1981 law by which the university was accorded the minority status.

The Congress-led UPA government at the Centre moved in appeal against the Allahabad High Court order. The university also filed a separate petition against it.

The NDA government spearheaded by the BJP told the Supreme Court in 2016 that it will withdraw the appeal filed by the erstwhile UPA dispensation.

It had cited the apex courts 1967 judgement in the Basha case to claim that AMU was not a minority institution since it was a central university funded by the government.

On February 1 this year, the Supreme Court reserved its verdict after days of heated debate.

Communal tensions: Aligarh is considered to be a communally sensitive district, especially when it comes to student politics at the AMU.

Aligarh is considered to be a communally sensitive district, especially when it comes to student politics at the AMU. In March this year, a section of Aligarh Muslim University students boycotted classes over a row around Holi celebration on campus.

AMU spokesman Omar Peerzada told PTI that a false narrative was being spread by some misguided elements that AMU authorities prevented holding of Holi celebrations on the campus.

Adit Pratap Singh, the student who had sought permission for holding a special Holi Milan, said he was confronted by some radical elements over his Holi celebration request.

CAA: In a big pre-poll move, the rules for the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 were notified in March, four years after the contentious law was passed by Parliament to fast-track citizenship for undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014.

In a big pre-poll move, the rules for the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 were notified in March, four years after the contentious law was passed by Parliament to fast-track citizenship for undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014. The CAA is a huge factor in Muslim-dominated constituencies across western Uttar Pradesh, including Aligarh.

Top central government ministers and senior BJP leaders have been reiterating during campaigning that no Muslim living in India will lose their citizenship.

BJP ministers and leaders have accused the opposition parties of creating confusion in the community about the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

Ram Mandir: Eyeing Hindu consolidation in Muslim-dominated western UP, the BJP has been hoping to reap the electoral dividend of constructing the Ram Temple at the Ram Janmabhoomi in UPs Ayodhya as it has been promising in multiple manifestos.

Eyeing Hindu consolidation in Muslim-dominated western UP, the BJP has been hoping to reap the electoral dividend of constructing the Ram Temple at the Ram Janmabhoomi in UPs Ayodhya as it has been promising in multiple manifestos. It is also reminding voters that the Congress snubbed the consecration ceremony of the temple in January, pegging it as an insult of Lord Ram himself.

Uniform Civil Code: After abolishing special status for J&K in 2019 and constructing the Ram Temple in Ayodhya this January, the BJP has turned its attention to its third legacy election promise  a Uniform Civil Code.

After abolishing special status for J&K in 2019 and constructing the Ram Temple in Ayodhya this January, the BJP has turned its attention to its third legacy election promise  a Uniform Civil Code. In April last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself made a strong pitch for UCC, saying the Constitution also mentions of having equal rights for all citizens.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah too recently reminded voters of PM Modis guarantee to bring uniform civil code in the country on the same lines as Uttarakhand.

In April 2022, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya had revealed that the Yogi Adityanath government is thinking seriously in the direction of implementing a Uniform Civil Code in the state.

During the Assembly election campaign in 2022, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, too, had also spoken in favour of one law for the entire country and had said the matter would be taken up at the right time.

With neighbouring Uttarakhand implementing one in March this year, the prospect of a UCC for Uttar Pradesh has become a factor in Lok Sabha elections, especially in minority-dominated constituencies.

The issue of the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code does not enjoy the Opposition support besides that of Muslim bodies.

Statehood for Western UP: BSP supremo Mayawati has said her party will take concrete steps to make western Uttar Pradesh a separate state if voted to power at the Centre.

Voter demographics

Social composition

SC  20.6%

ST  0%

Religious composition

Buddhist  0.07%

Christian  0.21%

Jain  0.08%

Muslim  19.85%

Sikh  0.16%

Literacy rate

56.96%

Major infra projects in Aligarh

Aligarh Smart City Limited: The Aligarh Smart City Limited (ASCL), a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for Aligarh Smart City Project, has been incorporated under the Indian Companies Act, 2013. The focus is on sustainable and inclusive development and the idea is to look at compact areas, create a replicable model which will act like a light house to other aspiring cities. Aligarh is one of the 13 Smart Cities identified in Uttar Pradesh out of 100 in India.

The Aligarh Smart City Limited (ASCL), a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for Aligarh Smart City Project, has been incorporated under the Indian Companies Act, 2013. The focus is on sustainable and inclusive development and the idea is to look at compact areas, create a replicable model which will act like a light house to other aspiring cities. Aligarh is one of the 13 Smart Cities identified in Uttar Pradesh out of 100 in India. Aligarh Airport: On March 10 this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Aligarh airport along with airports in Azamgarh, Shravasti, and Chitrakoot.

On March 10 this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Aligarh airport along with airports in Azamgarh, Shravasti, and Chitrakoot. The Aligarh Dhanipur Airport reportedly spans 69.28 acres, with a terminal building covering 1250 square meters.

The project is estimated to cost Rs 29.40 crore.

BJPs Aligarh unit had appealed for the airport to be named after party veteran Kalyan Singh who had died in August 2021.

Expansion of Noida Airport Project Area: In October 2023, the Uttar Pradesh government announced that the Noida International Airport project area will be expanded by 1,200 hectares, extending the airports boundary to the Aligarh district.

In October 2023, the Uttar Pradesh government announced that the Noida International Airport project area will be expanded by 1,200 hectares, extending the airports boundary to the Aligarh district. The land between the airport area and Aligarhs Logistics Park will be acquired from six villages  Ahmadpur Choroli, Mangaroli, Sadullapur, Bhavokra, Alabalpur, and Dyouar.

Ghaziabad-Aligarh Expressway: In May last year, the Ghaziabad-Aligarh Expressway made history by laying of bituminous concrete over a distance of 100 lane kilometres in an unprecedented time of 100 hours.

In May last year, the Ghaziabad-Aligarh Expressway made history by laying of bituminous concrete over a distance of 100 lane kilometres in an unprecedented time of 100 hours. The Ghaziabad-Aligarh section of NH34, spanning 118km, plays a vital role as a transportation link between the densely populated regions of Ghaziabad and Aligarh.

The project traverses various towns and cities in Uttar Pradesh, including Dadri, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Sikandrabad, Bulandshahr, and Khurja.

It serves as a critical trade route, facilitating the movement of goods and contributing to regional economic development by connecting industrial areas, agricultural regions, and educational institutions.

The innovative green technology involves utilizing 90% of the milled material, which amounts to nearly 20 lakh square meters of road surface.

Consequently, the consumption of virgin materials is been reduced to a mere 10 per cent.

Kanpur-Aligarh Four-Lane Highway: The four-lane highway linking Aligarh with Kannauj is part of the 284-kilometer GT Road (NH-91) project from Kanpur-IIT gate to Aligarh. The project aims to reduce the travel time between Delhi and Kanpur by around 90km. The work began in 2019. The project is divided into five sections, with the fourth section running from Naviganj in Mainpuri to Mitrasen in Kannauj. The construction of this road will improve traffic between Naviganj, Kannauj, Mitrasenpur, and Delhi. It will also boost economic development in Kannauj and the surrounding areas, and provide easier transport for farmers to Chhibramau and Naviganj Mandi.

The four-lane highway linking Aligarh with Kannauj is part of the 284-kilometer GT Road (NH-91) project from Kanpur-IIT gate to Aligarh. The project aims to reduce the travel time between Delhi and Kanpur by around 90km. The work began in 2019. The project is divided into five sections, with the fourth section running from Naviganj in Mainpuri to Mitrasen in Kannauj. The construction of this road will improve traffic between Naviganj, Kannauj, Mitrasenpur, and Delhi. It will also boost economic development in Kannauj and the surrounding areas, and provide easier transport for farmers to Chhibramau and Naviganj Mandi. Aligarh-Palwal Highway: This is a national highway that connects three states and the Uttar Pradesh border to Delhi-NCR. The highways two-lane bridge over the Yamuna River was built during the British rule. The road and highways ministry is working on a project to widen the Aligarh-Palwal section of NH-334D to improve connectivity between the two districts. The project aims to benefit traffic to the Jewar Airport and provide better connectivity with the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has also floated a tender for four-laning the Aligarh Palwal section from Km.0.00 (starting from the junction of Nh-34 Aligarh).

This is a national highway that connects three states and the Uttar Pradesh border to Delhi-NCR. The highways two-lane bridge over the Yamuna River was built during the British rule. The road and highways ministry is working on a project to widen the Aligarh-Palwal section of NH-334D to improve connectivity between the two districts. The project aims to benefit traffic to the Jewar Airport and provide better connectivity with the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has also floated a tender for four-laning the Aligarh Palwal section from Km.0.00 (starting from the junction of Nh-34 Aligarh). Aligarh-Harduaganj Flyover: On March 25, 2020, the Union Cabinet had approved the construction of a 22-kilometer railway flyover between Aligarh and Harduaganj in Uttar Pradesh. The project is expected to be completed by 20242025 at a cost of over Rs 1,285 crore. The flyover will pass through 20 villages and require the acquisition of 114 hectares of land.

On March 25, 2020, the Union Cabinet had approved the construction of a 22-kilometer railway flyover between Aligarh and Harduaganj in Uttar Pradesh. The project is expected to be completed by 20242025 at a cost of over Rs 1,285 crore. The flyover will pass through 20 villages and require the acquisition of 114 hectares of land. Vande Bharat: The special high-speed trains rolled into Aligarh in December last year when Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the Vande Bharat Express trains between Varanasi and New Delhi.

The special high-speed trains rolled into Aligarh in December last year when Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the Vande Bharat Express trains between Varanasi and New Delhi. The train was touted to have superior passenger amenities, a GPS-based passenger information system, bio-vacuum toilets with touch-free conveniences, diffused LED lights, charging points beneath every seat, concealed roller blinds, and individual touch-based reading lights.

The train also has better heat ventilation and air-conditioning.

The intelligent AC system comes with a UV lamp that helps in germ-free supply of air and adjusts the cooling according to the climate conditions/occupancy, Northern Railways said.

Among the stops between New and Varanasi are Aligarh, Prayagraj, Kanpur Central, Itawa, and Tundla.

Check Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Schedule, Key Candidates And Constituencies At News18 Website.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will open its account in both Kerala and Tamil Nadu, Union Home Minister Amit Shah asserted in an exclusive interview with Network18, saying the party would be ahead of Congress in all four states combined in the South.

In South, all four states combined, we will be ahead of Congress. We have fought a very good election and will definitely open our account in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. But estimating the seats there is a problem because there are very close fights, Shah said in response to a question by Network18 Group Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi.

The home minister, when asked about Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, said the BJP had an alliance in Andhra. We are fighting a very good election. It is just the beginning, he said. On Telangana, Shah said: We should perform very well in the Lok Sabha polls in Telangana. We could win our highest seats so far from there.

The BJP has been focusing on the South for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi holding several rallies in the states.

In an interview with Kerala-based Mathrubhumi newspaper recently, the prime minister countered views that the BJP lacks a presence in the South, saying, This narrative suits the perspective of a few political analysts, but the facts tell a different story. When asked if South India was a difficult terrain in the last election, he replied, Your question is not factually correct. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP was the single largest party in Southern India.

You may also know that three of our party presidents have come from South India. In 1984, when we were reduced to only two seats, one of them was from Southern India. Thus, the BJP has a very close link with the South. Looking at the present, I have been traveling across Southern India, and the response wherever I have gone has been phenomenal. I am confident that South India will bless the BJP in record numbers this time, PM Modi added.

Even before the schedule was announced by the Election Commission of India, PM Modi had chosen the southern states to launch his campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections on March 15.

The road to power in Delhi may go through Uttar Pradesh, but the road this time to NDA 400 Paar will go through South India. We aim to win 50-60 seats for the NDA in the five southern states this time. It is this that will propel the NDA beyond 400 seats, a senior BJP leader and Union Minister had told News18, explaining the Prime Ministers campaign push in South India.

Watch Union Home Minister Amit Shahs full interview on CNN-News18 at 9pm.

Check Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Schedule, Key Candidates And Constituencies At News18 Website.
Union Home Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Shah, in an exclusive interview with Network18 Group Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi, rubbished the claims of Delhi Chief Minister (CM) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwals wife, Sunita, that there was a conspiracy to kill him in jail. He said the Tihar jail, where Kejriwal is lodged, comes under the Delhi government, whose CM is Kejriwal.

Look, Tihar Jail comes under the Delhi government, whose Chief Minister is Kejriwal ji. So is he conspiring to kill himself, asked Shah.

When further questioned about claims that the DG Prisons reports to Delhi Police, Shah said, Not at all. Prisons report straight to the Delhi government.

When asked about the Centres role in it, he said, No question at all.

When asked about the Supreme Courts questioning of the timing of the arrest of Kejriwal by Enforcement Directorate, Shah said, ED will explain that before the Supreme Court. If they had appeared [before the agency] after the first summons, they would have been arrested six months before the elections. Many times summonses were sent, but they did not come.

Kejriwal, who has been in judicial custody since April 1 and will remain there till May 7, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on March 21, after the Delhi High Court refused to grant him protection from coercive action by the ED. He was arrested under stringent sections of the PMLA for his alleged involvement in money laundering linked to the now scrapped Delhi Excise policy. His party has been claiming that the arrest was illegal and that he was not being given adequate medical attention in jail.

Justice Sanjiv Khanna of the Supreme Court asked on Tuesday: Liberty is very exceedingly important, you cant deny that. The last question is with regard to the timing of the arrest, which they have pointed out, the timing of the arrest, soon before the general elections.

Watch the full interview on CNN-News18 at 9pm on Thursday.

Check Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Schedule, Key Candidates And Constituencies At News18 Website.
Union Home Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Shah, in an exclusive interview with Network18 Group Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi, said the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) cannot be abolished and the process of granting citizenship will start this month.

When asked about the stance of Opposition leaders such as Mamata Banerjee and Chidambaram on not allowing the implementation of CAA, Shah said, This is their trick to get the votes of minorities. Neither will they come to power nor will Article 370 come back. Neither will they come to power nor will CAA be repealed. They also know this. But they want to book minority votes by doing minority appeasement. This is the only reason they are spreading these lies.

He further added: In this interview, I want to tell the people of the country through you that as long as there is even a single MP of Bharatiya Janata Party in Parliament, Article 370 cannot come back, CAA cannot be abolished. Now Article 370 has become history, and CAA has become a reality.

Elaborating on the implementation, Shah said, Applications have started to come in. Scrutiny is happening according to the rules. And I think before the elections, before the last phase, the process of giving citizenship will start.

The Centre on March 11 notified the rules for the CAA, a move that came just days ahead of the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) for the Lok Sabha elections. The Central government passed the CAA in Parliament in 2019. The purpose of this bill is to give Indian citizenship to refugees of six communities (Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists and Parsis), who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. It had led to protest over the exclusion of Muslims.

The CAA was an integral part of the BJPs manifesto for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. While the Opposition has been questioning the exclusion of Muslims, the Centre has said that the law does not deprive anyone of citizenship nor does it grant citizenship to anyone. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had also clarified that the law does not take away any Indians citizenship, irrespective of their religion. Also, India does not have any pact to repatriate Muslim migrants back to their countries. It had said the CAA has nothing to do with the present 18 crore Indian Muslims, who have equal rights like their Hindu counterparts.

Watch the full interview on CNN-News18 at 9pm on Thursday.

Check Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Schedule, Key Candidates And Constituencies At News18 Website.
The BJP on Thursday lodged a complaint with the Election Commission against the Congress, alleging it is trying to create an atmosphere of tension in the society and spreading lies that the Constitution will be changed.

The opposition parties have been alleging that the BJP is seeking more than 400 seats in the Lok Sabha elections as it wants to change the Constitution and end quotas for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes.

Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi and party leader Om Pathak approached the commission with the complaint in which the BJP also accused the opposition INDIA bloc parties, including the Congress, of uploading and sharing deepfake videos.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been attacking members of the INDIA bloc over a doctored video of Union Home Minister Amit Shahs speech going viral on social media.

The Delhi Police had on Sunday registered an FIR after the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), which is under the home ministry, filed a complaint in the doctored video case. It has, since then, summoned 22 people, including Congress leader and Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Jharkhand Congress chief Rajesh Thakur.

The Congress and other opposition parties are continuously spreading lies about individuals, policies and the constitutional system. Efforts are being made to create an atmosphere of tension in the society. We brought to the notice of the Election Commission (EC) more than 15 such instances, Trivedi told reporters after meeting the officials of the poll panel here.

In a bid to create hurdles in the conduct of a free and fair elections, this is being done by the Congress and its allies in an organised manner, he alleged.

The Congress is making such statements and its allies repeat them. And then their social media (units) spread the same lies, confusions and deepfake (videos) in an unlawful manner among the people, Trivedi said.

He said the poll panel gave a patient hearing to the BJP delegation and assured it of taking appropriate action.

Talking to reporters, Chandrasekhar said, In the last two phases of the elections, the Congress has consistently depended on a series of political lies that has emerged from as high as Rahul Gandhi to many of its leaders. The Congress is pursuing a political strategy based on lies and distortion of facts. It is misleading the people by making them believe in its lies such as the BJP will change the Constitution if it wins the elections, he said.

The BJP delegation met the Election Commission and alerted it to the challenge that this will pose to free and fair conduct of polls, Chandrasekhar said.

The EC should look into these issues at the earliest to ensure that elections are conducted freely and fairly and that people are not mislead by the Congress politics of lies, he said.

In its memorandum to the Election Commission, the ruling BJP referred to the speeches of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and the leaders of the other opposition parties when they claimed that the saffron party will change the Constitution and scrap reservation if voted to power.

It urged the poll panel to take a comprehensive view of the design and pattern of the Congress misleading campaigns and propaganda and take an effective action against it to ensure a fair play in the election.

Direct Rahul Gandhi to tender an unconditional public apology to the nation and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making false allegationsDirect registration of an FIR against Rahul Gandhi under stringent provisions of law, the BJP demanded.

An unending tirade against the BJP is going on unchecked despite many earlier representations to the Election Commission in this regard, the party added.

Check Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Schedule, Key Candidates And Constituencies At News18 Website.
Kalaburagi, a reserved Lok Sabha constituency, has become the most talked-about seat in Karnataka and one of the hottest in the country amid the ongoing elections. It was seen as a bastion of the Congress for years, but after the partys veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge lost the 2019 Lok Sabha election from this seat, the political arithmetic changed. This time Kalaburagi, or Gulbarga, is again under the spotlight because it is not Congress president Kharge but his son-in-law Radhakrishna Doddamani in the fray. He will be taking on Bharatiya Janata Partys Umesh G Jadhav.

Kalaburagi is Kharges home turf and he has won 14 out of 17 elections from this district. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also started his campaigning in Karnataka from Kalaburagi this time unlike in 2019, emphasising the importance of this north Karnataka seat.

Congress candidate Radhakrishna Doddamani told News18, I am one hundred per cent confident that I will win this seat back and I am all set to carry forward the legacy of Mallikarjun Kharge. The party workers are all enthusiastically working too.

60-year-old Doddamani is a businessman, educationist, and someone who has worked for the Congress on the ground for decades, especially in Kalaburagi for Mallikarjun Kharge. This is the first time that he will be facing an election.

He also attacked incumbent BJP MP Umesh Jadhav who has been nominated again.

Doddamani said, People are speaking about his failures. As an MP, he has done nothing great and brought nothing great for the people of Kalaburagi. If the people of Kalaburagi provide me an opportunity to serve them then I want to focus on the development works as Kalaburagi has a long way to go there.

On being asked whether he was forced to enter the fray because Mallikarjun Kharge lost in 2019 and wasnt keen on trying again, Doddamani denied this. No, it is not true. He has a responsibility to take care of the whole party. And he had no time for it; so he had all the right to say no, he said.

The Congress presidents son Priyank Kharge, who is a Karnataka cabinet minister, is spending a significant amount of time in Kalaburagi to campaign for his brother-in-law and party. Speaking to News18, Priyank said, After being in public life for 50 years, Mallikarjun Kharge had the right to refuse. He has a bigger responsibility to keep the INDIA bloc together and so Radhakrishna Doddamani was the choice of the party. He was working for the party in the shadows for 30 years and someone who knows the partys workings, leaders, and public well in Kalaburagi.

When asked why Kalaburagi is still facing challenges when it comes to development, even though the people gave repeated opportunities to Mallikarjun Kharge, Priyank said there was historical backwardness in this area. We got independence one year later than the rest of India. We were not part of Karnataka until recently. We were under the Nizam of Hyderabad who didnt focus on development. We were underdeveloped then. We didnt have progressive kingdoms like the Mysore kingdom. It is a historical imbalance that had to be set right. We got Article 371J, which was done by Mallikarjun Kharge. BJP knows it all well. LK Advani rejected this Article when he was deputy Prime Minister. Also, the BJP never had a representative in the cabinet from Kalburagi, he said.

The BJP has been attacking Mallikarjun Kharge over the issue of dynastic politics. Priyank said, It is funny, but their party leaders should put questions about dynastic politics to their senior leader BS Yediyurappa. The BJP should get a DNA testing done.

On whether he is confident of the party winning this seat back from the BJP, Priyank Kharge said that one loss doesnt make it a weak bastion. PM Modi, Amit Shah, and other BJP leaders dislike Mallikarjun Kharge, so all their energy is focused here. This time not just Kalaburagi but Congress will win all 28 seats, he said.

Check Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Schedule, Key Candidates And Constituencies At News18 Website.
Muslims are not her vote bank, corruption is, said actor-politician Mithun Chakraborty, reacting to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjees comments against him. Chakraborty, who is now a star campaigner of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Bengal, said that joining the states ruling Trinamool Congress was the greatest mistake" of his life. In an exclusive interaction, the 73-year-old actor, who was recently honoured with the Padma Bhushan, opened up about his entry into politics, and why he quit TMC and joined the BJP.

Chakraborty has committed to the party that he would campaign for all 42 of its Lok Sabha candidates in the state and will travel across all constituencies in West Bengal. Despite an extreme heatwave across districts, his roadshows are drawing crowds from across party lines in rural Bengal.

Calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat his inspirations, the Bollywood veteran said, Heat is too much. It is very hot, and sometimes my legs are trembling. But if everyone wants something from the party, who will look after the party? I am someone who wants to do everything possible for the party and let them enjoy themselves. I want to work. I am motivated by two people  one is PM Modi ji and another is Mohan Bhagwat ji. I follow them, I have seen their sacrifices. They dont want to take anything, they just want to give. They love their country so much that they do not want to take anything back. They inspire me. People should not think that they have not offered me anything. They did. They offered me big things, but I said no to those proposals. I do not want anything, I am working for them."

Joining Trinamool was a blunder

Chakraborty was earlier seen in the state as a Left sympathiser who was friends with senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) leaders. However, he was never an official member of CPI(M). Years later, he joined the Trinamool Congress and was nominated as a Rajya Sabha member.

I was officially a Chhatra Parishad (Congress student wing) candidate in college. I won a nine-corner election in college, but since then I had never been active in politics. I was never a member of CPI(M), I was friends with their senior leaders. I officially joined Trinamool and became a member," he said, adding that the decision was a blunder. I committed the greatest mistake by joining Trinamool. I was told something else before joining and I saw something else happening after I joined. Then I realised that it was a big mistake, a blunder."

Chakraborty then spoke about how he was drawn towards the BJP. The BJPs outlook is very big. Their first thing is country. Every political party is into playing to the gallery, everybody is into gimmicks. But the ultimate goal has to be the interest of the country. The BJP is the biggest party across the globe," he told News18.

Chakraborty was conferred with the Padma Bhushan recently and met the PM a few days back. I sought an appointment and I got this immediately. It was a one-on-one meeting. There were discussions about politics and some personal stuff. But I cannot divulge the details of the meeting," he said.

Hurt that I was called gaddar

With Chakraborty holding at least two roadshows daily in support of the BJP candidates across districts, chief minister Mamata Banerjee sharpened her attack against him. Calling him another gaddar (traitor)" of Bengal in a public meeting, the TMC chairperson said that she took him in and nominated him as a Rajya Sabha member, but she was deceived.

She did not congratulate me for the national recognition and I dont want her to congratulate me. But about the personal attack, when she called me another gaddar of Bengal, I got hurt," said Chakraborty. I do not target anyone, I dont go for personal attacks. I do not take the partys name and not even the candidates name. I just talk about my partys policies and what they want to do. I do not want to show anyone in a bad light. But she has the habit of doing that. Since she abuses people, all her people do that. They follow," he said. I am also someones son, and I too have a family. How can she call names like that? The way she speaks, no chief minister does. She speaks filth and then she calls it a slip of the tongue. But how many times can that happen? I also want to call her gaddari of Bengal."

Will not spare her now

The actor also took a dig at the chief minister for corruption allegations against her government. Her frustration has reached its peak. She is seeing a crowd, and she is feeling insecure, which is not normal. But now I will also not spare her. I will react to all her abuses. She is a queen of lies. She is deceiving the poor people of Bengal. This is the difference. When I joined her party, she used to think about Bengal. Now she has become power hungry," he said. Muslim brothers and sisters are not her vote bank; corruption is her vote bank. If she wants, she can finish all these corrupt practices in a day. But she does not want that. She shields the corrupt. But, she cant end this, because she will be out if corruption is out."

The BJP rose from three seats to 77 in the West Bengal assembly because of the Mamata regimes corruption, he said. But what about the corruption that the party indulged in during the polling at the booths? Our hands are tied as our party does not want such malpractices to happen."

Check Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Schedule, Key Candidates And Constituencies At News18 Website.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday took a sharp jibe at Congress MP Rahul Gandhi for flashing the Constitution of India and claiming that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will throw away the Constitution if it comes to power again.

While addressing an election rally in Gujarats Ananda, PM Modi said, These days, the prince of Congress is dancing with the Constitution on his head. But, Congress should answer me that why the Constitution, which you are dancing with on your head today, was not implemented in all parts of India for 75 years?

Citing the abrogation of Article 370, Modi said, Before Modi became the Prime Minister, there were two constitutions and two flags in this country. The princes party Congress and his family members did not allow the Constitution to be implemented in the country. The Constitution of India was not applicable in Kashmir. Article 370 was sitting like a wall. This son from Sardar Patels land removed Article 370 and paid tribute to Sardar Saheb.

Attacking the Congress over minority appeasement, PM Modi threw three challenges at the party. I give three challenges to Congress and their chatte batte. Give written guarantee to the country that they will not give reservation to Muslims by changing Constitution and will not divide the country. You will not take away the reservation rights of SC/ST, give this in written. Congress should give guarantee in written that states where Congress government is present, they will not cut OBC quota and will not give it to Muslims. I challenge the prince  Come forward if you have the courage, dancing with Constitution on your head will not work, PM Modi said.

Three challenges to Congress. pic.twitter.com/Yq21nXwKsm Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 2, 2024

Now INDI alliance is asking for Vote Jihad, and this came from an educated Muslim family, from a senior Congress member. You all know what jihad means and against whom Jihad is done. They have insulted democracy and our Constitution. Congress has given their silent consent to this statement. This shows their appeasement politics, Modi added.

On Tuesday, addressing a rally in Madhya Pradesh, Rahul Gandhi, while holding a copy of the Constitution, had said that if the BJP returns to power at the Centre, it will tear apart and throw away the Constitution which granted rights to the poor, Dalits, scheduled tribes and other backward classes.

Check Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Schedule, Key Candidates And Constituencies At News18 Website.
Dinesh Pratap Singh, though a well-known face in Uttar Pradesh politics, is little known in the rest of India. But, the BJP has now given him the responsibility to snatch away Gandhi turf Raebareli  a seat consecutively held by the family with Sonia Gandhi as the incumbent MP.

The saffron party announced Singhs candidature on Thursday, with less than 24 hours left for the deadline to file nominations for the Lok Sabha elections. But, who is he?

A former Congress MLC, Singh jumped ship in 2018. He was elected as a member of the state legislative council thrice in 2010, 2016 and 2022; but, this time from the BJP. After he was declared as the candidate for Raebareli, he said: I have even fought against four-time MP Sonia Gandhi, so Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are not important to me. Whichever Gandhi comes to Raebareli, they will lose.

His confidence does not stem from nothing. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Sonia Gandhis victory margin was at least 3.5 lakh votes. But, in the 2019 polls, when Singh stood against her, her margin was nearly halved to just 1.67 lakh votes.

Dinesh Pratap Singh was credited for this feat and the BJPs top leadership had their eye on 2024, as they plan to repeat an Amethi of 2019 in Raebareli. Smriti Irani, who similarly shrank senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhis margin during her first shot in 2014; she went on to become a giant killer, defeating the Gandhi scion in his own turf in 2019.

Influential son of the soil

Singh is a son of the soil, a fact that puts added worry to the Congress that has been toying with the idea of fielding either Rahul Gandhi or Priyanka Gandhi from the seat. The party, however, has been unable to name anyone so far.

Panchavati dominates the politics of Raebareli. In fact, Singhs residence is called Panchavati.

He is a resident of the Gunawar Kamangalpur village, and his family has substantial dominance in the politics of Raebareli. So much so, that from block chief and district panchayat president to MLCs and MLAs, all have chosen to stay at Singhs house, whenever necessary.

During his stint in the Congress, he had a lot of say in the politics of Raebareli-Amethi, given his proximity to Sonia Gandhi and the trust she reposed in him that made the party make him MLC twice.

Minister in Yogi 2.0, donated crores for Ram Mandir

After his performance against Sonia in 2019, there was a buzz in the state about his decreasing influence in the BJP. But, the saffron party made him an MLC and a minister during Yogi Adityanaths second tenure, hinting that its eyes were trained on Raebareli in 2024, with or without Sonia.

At present, he is serving as a minister of state (independent charge) for horticulture, agriculture marketing, agriculture foreign trade and agriculture export department in the UP government.

In 2021, as the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya was in full swing, Singh made a generous donation of a whopping Rs 1.21 crore to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra for the construction of the temple. He made headlines at the time, and this did not go unnoticed by the BJP leadership, said sources.

Challenging the Gandhi legacy

Rabareli, a seat occupied for four consecutive terms by former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, fell vacant after she chose to go to Parliament through the Rajya Sabha this time. While the Congress has not announced candidates for either Amethi or Raebareli, party president Mallikarjun Kharge in a recent interview said there is a surprise in store for both seats.

Before Sonia, former PM Indira Gandhi had won from Raebareli thrice. The seat also elected her husband Feroze Gandhi twice in 1952 and 1957 while it was also held by Arun Nehru briefly in the 1980s.

Check Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Schedule, Key Candidates And Constituencies At News18 Website.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday said her father inherited not wealth but martyrdom from his mother, former prime minister late Indira Gandhi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had alleged last week that Rajiv Gandhi abolished inheritance tax after coming to power so that the wealth he had inherited from his mother would not be taxed. My father did not inherit wealth, he inherited martyrdom from his mother, Priyanka Gandhi said at an election rally here.

At a rally in Morena last week, Modi had said that earlier, half of a deceased persons wealth went to the government by law. There was talk then that Indira ji had willed her wealth in her son Rajiv Gandhis name. To save the money going to the government (after her death), then PM Rajiv Gandhi abolished the inheritance tax, he said.

Congress had refuted the claim.Priyanka, meanwhile, dared Modi to construct shelters for stray cattle in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. PM Narendra Modi has said today, beware, if you have two buffaloes, the Congress will steal one of them, she said, referring to Modis pitch that the opposition party was planning to reintroduce inheritance tax and take away peoples property. I throw a challenge to Modi ji; collect stray cattle in UP and MP, and put them in `gaushala (cow shelters), the Congress leader said.

Solve the problem of stray cattle. Build cowsheds, strengthen them, like the previous Congress government in Chhattisgarh did, she added. The gaushalas in Chhattisgarh provided women with income, and the government also bought cow dung from them, Gandhi said. Unemployment rate in the country was at a 45-year high and government recruitment examinations were being hit by paper leaks while the Modi government was also closing available employment avenues, the Congress leader claimed.Loans of Rs 16 lakh crore of 20 to 22 businessmen have been waived by the Modi government, she alleged. Under the Modi government, the poor have become poorer in the last ten years, Gandhi claimed.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will go to the public seeking a third term with its track record in eliminating terrorism and Naxalism from the country, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said in an exclusive interview with Network18.

Terrorism and Naxalism had been two major scourges for democracy and development in this country for decades. Narendra Modi-ji has got us almost 100 per cent freedom from terrorism in 10 years and you could say Naxalism has been eliminated by around 95 per cent, he said.

Sharing statistics of Indias fight against the Red menace, Shah said: Today, Naxalism has been completely finished off in the seven states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra. It remains only in four districts of Chhattisgarh, where the Bharatiya Janata Party has now formed the government, and just in the past three months, almost 100 Naxalites have been killed. I am fully confident that after Modi-ji becomes the prime minister for the third time, the country will get rid of Naxalism within one or two years.

CNN-News18 had reported earlier that in January this year, at a security review meeting in Chhattisgarh, Shah told top officials of the security grid-intelligence gathering that a detailed roadmap for anti-Maoist operations must be drawn by all stakeholders with immediate effect. He gave the security grid three years to clear the remaining pockets of Chhattisgarh of Maoists.

A day after 29 Naxalites were killed in one of the largest operations by security forces in Chhattisgarhs Kanker area last month, the Union home minister said the Centres campaign against Naxalism and terrorism gained momentum in Chhattisgarh after the formation of the BJP government in the state.

After the formation of the government, in a period of about 3 months, more than 80 Naxalites have been killed in Chhattisgarh, more than 125 have been arrested and more than 150 Naxalites have surrendered. I have full confidence that it will continue in future also and within a very short time, under the leadership of Modi ji, we will uproot Naxalism from the country, Shah told news agency ANI.

Watch Union Home Minister Amit Shahs full interview on CNN-News18 at 9pm.

Check Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Schedule, Key Candidates And Constituencies At News18 Website.
The Hubballi city is dotted with posters of Neha Hiremath, the 23-year-old college student who was brutally stabbed to death in broad daylight by her former classmate, Fayaz Khondunaik on April 18. The slain girls posters are a standing example of how the city has been shocked by the incident and hopes to get justice not just for her parents, but also for Neha.

Tall posters saying Justice to Neha Niranjan Hiremath show the young girl in a traditional blue saree and a couple of posters in casual clothing to portray how free-spirited she was, were seen along the way as News18 visited her home.

Though the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in Karnataka has set up an SIT to probe Nehas murder, the issue has become a political stand-off between the BJP and the Congress with the Lok Sabha election 2024 underway.

My daughter has made a huge sacrifice. We are hoping that this sacrifice was not in vain. We have requested all the leaders across political parties who visit our home and pay respects to Neha to fulfil our three demands. The first one being setting up an SIT, second a fast-track court so that justice is given to us within 120 days and finally we appeal for a law to be made in Nehas name against such atrocities against women by anti-social elements who snuff out lives. Just like the Nirbhaya law, let there be one for Neha as well, said Niranjanayya Hiremath to News18 as his voice quivered taking his daughters name.

Niranjanayya, a local Congress corporator, has not had time to grieve his only daughters death as he has been hosting political leaders, well-wishers and media personnel since the day of the incident. He even set up a pandal (tent) just outside his home so that people dont have to stand in this sweltering heat, said Parashuram, a local laundry businessman working close to Nehas residence.

Union home minister Amit Shah met with Nehas parents during his visit to Hubballi to participate in a public campaign for the BJP Lok Sabha candidate, Prahlad Joshi, at the citys Nehru grounds. Nehas father told Shah that he was unhappy with the pace of the investigation and sought the Centres intervention to hasten the process. He also told the HM that the CID officials visited the family only after two weeks of the incident.

I have given a memorandum apprising Amit Shah ji of the case and he offered to launch thorough CBI enquiry into the case, said the father after the meeting.

Nehas mother Geeta repeatedly emphasised that all she wants is justice for her daughter, whose innocent life ended by one brutal act. She gathered strength from her son to speak but managed to say a few words. She constantly gazed at the floor while she spoke as a huge photograph of her daughter in the house stood as a constant reminder of Neha.

She takes one look and the rips her heart and ours too. The accused must hang to death, nothing else can bring solace to us, said a family friend who asked not to be named.

Hours before this meeting, Niranjanayya had a meeting with Karnataka state minister Dinesh Gundu Rao who visited their home and paid his respects to Neha. Rao said that Niranjanayya had made a few suggestions and demands which are being seriously looked into and a final call would be taken after deliberating with the Chief Minister.

No other girl should go through this. The accused in this case was arrested immediately, but we must ensure that there is a deterrent so that such unfortunate incidents do not occur again, Rao told News18.

The issue resonated even in PM Narendra Modis public address on April 28 in Belagavi. Blaming the Congress for its appeasement politics, the PM said that the ruling party in Karnataka has been encouraging a mindset that is dangerous for the state and the country.

In this Congress rule, our daughters are not safe. In a college in Hubballi, a daughter was stabbed and killed in broad daylight. People involved in such activities have no fear. Her family is tensed, and this is a result of Congress policies. What was Nehas fault? This is a government hungry for vote banks and it cannot protect you, PM Modi said.

In the neighbouring Belagavi Lok Sabha seat, where former Karnataka CM and BJP leader Jagdish Shettar is contesting, the Neha case has been coming up as part of the poll pitch.

We have not made it a political issue. Congress partys policy is the appeasement of minorities. It is this support that the Congress gives that has given an accused like Fayaz the guts to brutally attack and murder young Neha Hiremath in broad daylight. This was nothing but love jihad. He brainwashed her, marrying her and converting her into Islam, isnt it not a case of Love Jihad? This is 100 percent so. On many occasions, the Congress has supported Fayaz and this as caused law and order issues. An awareness I begin generated amongst people on this, there is an undercurrent now in this region. So BJP is not making it an issue, but it is the people who are debating it, said Shettar as he spoke to News18.

Around 170 km away from Hubballi, Anjali Nimbalkar, Congress Lok Sabha candidate from the coastal seat of Uttar Kannada, also spoke on the subject. She emphasised on how the accused was arrested within 24 hours, but also how the Congress government has zero-tolerance to such incidents or attacks on women. It is a sad incident and we should ensure that such criminals are taken off the street. Justice will be delivered by the law to Neha as the case has been taken on priority by the government, efforts will be made to keep such people off the streets and women are safe in Karnataka, she said.

Will Neha Murder Case Affect Voting?

The Neha case has now become an issue that people think will also affect how their votes will swing. Locals told News18 that the issue has certainly titled the scales in favour of Union Minister and BJPs Hubli-Dharwad LS candidate Prahlad Joshi, who faced an undercurrent of anti-incumbency in the initial stages of the election campaign.

Neha is like a daughter or sister in every home now. We will think about her when we vote. I want to ask the Siddaramaiah government , you speak for guarantees, where is your guarantee that a woman can walk freely without fear? Its not free bus service or power, but the safety of women that is of prime importance, said Meghna Hiremath, an IT professional from Huballi.

Vikas Patil, who travelled from Bengaluru to Hubballi to vote in the third phase in Karnataka also felt that the Neha issue has become not just a political debate, but one that voters are considering before pressing the buttons on the EVMs.

It certainly is going be a factor in this election. This has become a political issue and the BJP is also gaining ground because the ruling Congress has not been able to do anything about Nehas case, he said.

As News18 left Nehas home, her mother Geeta softly said, Think of Neha as your sister. Do ensure our voice is heard amongst all those who can give her justice. We cannot have our daughter back, all we want is that another Neha should never face the same fate.

Find Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Schedule, Key Candidates And Constituencies At News18 Website.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said that the Neha Hiremath murder in Karnataka was indeed a case of Love Jihad. In an exclusive interview with Network18 Group Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi, Shah lashed out at the Congress for calling it a private matter.

They said that (private matter) for their minority vote bank. Tell me one thing. Should any girl get security on the college campus or not? This is how a murder happens and by calling it a personal matter, you are trying to cover up a societal evil. And just for vote bank politics, Shah said.

He also brought in the Bengaluru cafe blast, attacking the Congress for calling it a cylinder blast. They even mistake bomb blasts for gas cylinder blasts. When NIA investigates, it uncovers the truth. There were no bomb blasts in Bengaluru for 10 years. Their government came, the SDPI supported it, and now bomb blasts have started happening. How low will they go because of their vote bank politics? The security of the country, the security of Bengaluru, the security of Karnataka, all this has been neglected by the Congress party, the Home Minister said.

On Tuesday, BJP leader and former Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar had also called the Neha murder a case of Love Jihad. The Congress partys policy is the appeasement of minorities. It is this support that the Congress gives that has given an accused like Fayaz the guts to brutally attack and murder young Neha Hiremath in broad daylight. This was nothing but Love Jihad. He brainwashed her, married her, and converted her into Islam, isnt it a case of Love Jihad, Shettar questioned.

He added, This is 100 percent so. On many occasions, the Congress has supported Fayaz, and this has caused law and order issues. Awareness is being generated among people on this, and there is an undercurrent now in this region. So BJP is not making it an issue, but it is the people who are debating it.

Neha, 21, was stabbed to death allegedly by her former classmate, Fayaz Khodunaik on April 18 on the campus of KLE Technological University in Hubballi Dharwad.

Watch the full interview on CNN-News18 at 9pm on Thursday.

Check Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Schedule, Key Candidates And Constituencies At News18 Website.
Pakistans army chief General Syed Asim Munir has spoken up on the Kashmir issue again. While recalling the 2019 India-Pakistan situation, he emphasised that his country will continue to provide moral, political, diplomatic support for Kashmir and Kashmiris.

The Indian occupation is illegal, he said and added that the silence of the world over Kashmir is deafening.

Top Indian government sources said the remarks were important, not because the Pakistan army chief was speaking on Kashmir, but because he was speaking in the middle of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

After the West, Pakistan is trying to take up the Kashmir issue and he knows in this democratic electoral process, Kashmir is also participating, said an official. Kashmiris know where to go and such speeches will not impact India.

At the Iran-Pakistan summit last week, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked President Ebrahim Raisi and the people of Iran in his media statement for raising your voice for Kashmir.

Pakistan and Iran agreed that the Kashmir issue should be resolved through peaceful means based on the will of the people of the region, said a joint statement issued by the two countries after Raisis maiden visit on April 24.

Find Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Schedule, Key Candidates And Constituencies At News18 Website.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday attacked Rahul Gandhi, suggesting that his party will get such a drubbing in election that he will have to take out a Congress Dhoondho Yatra after June 4.

Addressing an election rally in Bareilly, Shah alleged that Rahul, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and SPs Akhilesh Yadav did not attend the Ram Temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya fearing this may alienate their vote bank.

The shehzade (prince) of ghamandia INDI Alliance started his election campaign with Bharat Jodo Yatra but on June 4 (counting day), it will end with a Congress Dhoondho Yatra, Shah said.

In the first two phases, Congress is nowhere, while Narendra Modi has made a century and taken a lead in the 400 race (race to 400 seats), he said.

He said that this election is for ending terrorism and Naxalism and making India the third major economy globally. Shah hit out at the INDIA bloc partner Samajwadi Party, saying it indulges in dynastic politics, for its president Akhilesh Yadav has given tickets to five members of his family in the current election.

He said that while Akhilesh is contesting from Kannauj and his wife Dimple Yadav is in fray from Mainpuri, Akshay Yadav, Aditya Yadav, and Dharmendra Yadav, all three his family members, are contenders from Firozabad, Budaun, and Azamgarh. Had he given a ticket to some Yadav youths, it would have been better, he said.

Shah said that for the past 70 years, Congress had been stalling the Ram Temple construction, a task the BJP finished. When you made Modi PM for the second time, within five years, we won the case, did the groundbreaking, and performed the consecration ceremony of the temple on January 22. Samajwadi Party chief Akhliesh Yadav, Dimple, Rahul and Priyanka, all were invited by the temple trust but they did not attend the consecration ceremony because of the fear of their vote bank, Shah said. You all know who their vote bank is, he added.

On revoking Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, he said, Congress president asks what do people of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have to do with Kashmir. He doesnt know that for Kashmir, every child of Bareilly can sacrifice his life In Kashmir, our tricolour is flying with pride.

On the surgical strike after Pulwama attack, Shah said that under the past Congress governments, there was no reprisal for such acts and anyone could enter the country and do bomb blasts. We did a surgical strike inside Pakistan to get rid of terrorists.

Shah claimed that Uttar Pradesh was riven with communal riots till 2017, when Yogi Adityanath came to power, made it riot-free, and stopped residents exodus from western UP.

In Yogis regime, it is the hooligans who are migrating, he said. In Samajwadi Partys UP, factories forged country-made pistols, but now they manufacture tanks and missiles that will be fired on Pakistan, he said.

Claiming that the Oppositions INDIA bloc is torn with internal differences, he said, Akhilesh wants to become a chief minister. Sonia ji wants his son (Rahul Gandhi) to become the prime minister. Those who are working to make their family members PM and CM, can they think of the poors welfare?

In Budaun, Shah referred to renovation and other work done on religious places by the Modi government. Be it Mahakal ka darbar, Kedarnath Dham, Badrinath Dham or covering with gold of Somnath temple, Modi made places of faith more energetic. Will SP, BSP and Congress do that? Shah said.

Referring to Akhilesh and Rahul, he said when he stood up in Parliament to introduce the bill to abolish Article 370, do ladke stood against it and claimed the bill will lead to bloodshed in the valley.

No one has the courage to pelt a stone there. At Lal Chowk, where no one could go a Krishna Janmashtami procession was taken out, Shah said on the post-Article 370 Kashmir. He said that the Congress government did not have courage to counter terrorism due to fear of erosion of its vote bank.

Rahuls grandmother (Indira Gandhi) gave the slogan of Garibi Hatao but did nothing to see that it happens on the ground, he alleged.

He said Rahul and Akhilesh called COVID vaccine Modi ki vaccine and did politics on it when the country was battling a pandemic. Akhilesh himself went in the night and took the vaccine with Dimple Bhabhi, he said. Bareilly and Budaun will go to poll in the third phase on May 7.

Check Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Schedule, Key Candidates And Constituencies At News18 Website.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals wife Sunita Kejriwal took part in roadshows for Aam Aadmi Partys candidates in Gujarat on Thursday, appealing people to cast their vote to save the country which is heading towards dictatorship.

People will respond to her husbands arrest in an alleged corruption case through the ballot box, she said, campaigning in Bharuch and Bhavnagar Lok Sabha constituencies.

They have put Delhi Chief Minister and my husband Arvind Kejriwal in jail for the last 40 days. In Gujarat, they had put Chaitar Vasava and his wife in jail. No court has pronounced him (Kejriwal) guilty. They are saying investigation is on; if the investigation continues for ten years, will they keep him in jail for ten years? she said, speaking during the roadshow at Botad town in Bhavnagar constituency.

Earlier, a person would be sent to jail if he was found guilty by a court. Now, they have started a new system, so long as the investigation continues, the case continues, the person will be kept in jail. This is clear high-handedness, dictatorship, Sunita Kejriwal said.

Her husband is an IIT-educated man who had been a commissioner of Income Tax, but he left the job to serve society, she said. During his anti-corruption agitations, he fasted for 12-15 days many times even though doctors had forbade him to fast because of diabetes, Sunita said, claiming that Kejriwal was not given insulin in the prison initially, due to which his sugar level went over 300.

After much difficulty he was given insulin by taking permission from the court, she said. One can say that despotism in the country was reaching its peak, but Kejriwal was not someone who would bend easily, Sunita said.

Kejriwal ji is a true son of India. Today I, the daughter of Mother India, request you to save this country which is heading towards dictatorship. Save this country, save democracy, she appealed.

AAPs Bharuch candidate Chaitar Vasava and Bhavnagar candidate Umesh Makwana accompanied her in their respective constituencies, while the partys Rajya Sabha member Sandeep Pathak was present in both the roadshows.

Earlier, talking to reporters at the Ahmedabad airport, Sunita Kejriwal said people were smart, and will respond through votes to her husbands imprisonment.

They (BJP) have put Arvind Kejriwal behind bars during elections, so that his voice can not reach the people. The people are very smart and will respond through their votes, she said.

Pathak targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his remark that he will not allow reservations in the name of religion. Why he remembers all these things before the elections? Why dont you ask for votes on the strength of your work? I think the prime minister is the biggest friend of Pakistan, he said, adding that people have become mature and they seek schools, hospitals and better things in life.

Earlier in the day, addressing an election rally at Gujarats Anand, Modi dubbed the Congress a disciple of Pakistan and said the neighbouring country was eager to make the shehzada of the grand old party the next PM of India.

AAP has fielded candidates on two out of the states 26 seats as part of INDIA blocs seat sharing agreement.

Check Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Schedule, Key Candidates And Constituencies At News18 Website.
Tonk-Sawai Madhopur is one of the 25 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state of Rajasthan. This is a general category seat which was formed in 2008 under a delimitation exercise. The constituency has eight assembly segments spread across the Sawai Madhopur and Tonk districts. While Gangapur, Bamanwas (ST), Sawai Madhopur and Khandar (SC) lie in Sawai Madhopur, Malpura, Niwai (SC) Tonk and Deoli-Uniara lie in Tonk.

The current MP is Sukhbir Singh Jaunapuria of the BJP, who has been elected since 2004. He was preceded by Nato Narain Meena of Congress (2009). The candidates in the fray for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections are Jaunapuria and Harish Chandra Meena (Congress). The constituency will go to polls in phase 2 on April 26, 2024, and results will be declared on June 4.

Political Dynamics

Close Contest: Its a close two-way contest between the BJP and the Congress in Tonk-Sawai Madhopur  a seat dominated by the Gurjar-Meena divide. In the 2023 assembly elections, both parties bagged four seats each, while the Congress registered a total vote share of 42.9 per cent, slightly higher than the BJPs 42.3 per cent.

Its a close two-way contest between the BJP and the Congress in Tonk-Sawai Madhopur  a seat dominated by the Gurjar-Meena divide. In the 2023 assembly elections, both parties bagged four seats each, while the Congress registered a total vote share of 42.9 per cent, slightly higher than the BJPs 42.3 per cent. Where BJP Stands: The BJP has nominated sitting MP Sukhbir Singh Jaunapuria has its candidate. Jaunapuria is contesting for a third consecutive term in the constituency and is one of the few who have not been denied a ticket by the party. In 2014, in the midst of a Modi wave, he defeated the Congress star candidate Mohammed Azharuddin by over 1.35 lakh votes and a vote share of 44.44 per cent. In 2019, his lead narrowed to 1.11 lakh votes against former MP and Union minister Namo Narain Meena of the Congress.

The BJP has nominated sitting MP Sukhbir Singh Jaunapuria has its candidate. Jaunapuria is contesting for a third consecutive term in the constituency and is one of the few who have not been denied a ticket by the party. In 2014, in the midst of a Modi wave, he defeated the Congress star candidate Mohammed Azharuddin by over 1.35 lakh votes and a vote share of 44.44 per cent. In 2019, his lead narrowed to 1.11 lakh votes against former MP and Union minister Namo Narain Meena of the Congress. Jaunapuria SWOT Analysis: A Gurjar from Haryana, Jaunapuria has become a popular leader in the constituency and is known for his connection with the public and lavish spending on election campaigns. However, he is seen by many as an outsider. Jaunapuria is a native of Haryana who is accused of spending only a few months every year in the constituency. To address this, he has made efforts to spend more time in the constituency and relate with the people. He has also actively engaged with the community in various social initiatives. Besides offering financial assistance to cowsheds across the entire Lok Sabha constituency, the MP has been personally funding an initiative called MP Rasoi for the past eight years, providing meals for the underprivileged. This effort has garnered praise from Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself. Furthermore, the MP has reportedly rented a residence in Tonk and remains consistently involved with the public. The leader is also facing strong anti-incumbency as locals remain dissatisfied with the pace of development in the area, especially the failure to establish rail connectivity in Tonk. In February this year, the government announced the earmarking of Rs 100 crore for an Ajmer-Tonk-Chauth railway project which Jaunapuria has raised in his campaign as a promise by the Modi government.

A Gurjar from Haryana, Jaunapuria has become a popular leader in the constituency and is known for his connection with the public and lavish spending on election campaigns. However, he is seen by many as an outsider. Jaunapuria is a native of Haryana who is accused of spending only a few months every year in the constituency. To address this, he has made efforts to spend more time in the constituency and relate with the people. He has also actively engaged with the community in various social initiatives. Besides offering financial assistance to cowsheds across the entire Lok Sabha constituency, the MP has been personally funding an initiative called MP Rasoi for the past eight years, providing meals for the underprivileged. This effort has garnered praise from Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself. Furthermore, the MP has reportedly rented a residence in Tonk and remains consistently involved with the public. The leader is also facing strong anti-incumbency as locals remain dissatisfied with the pace of development in the area, especially the failure to establish rail connectivity in Tonk. In February this year, the government announced the earmarking of Rs 100 crore for an Ajmer-Tonk-Chauth railway project which Jaunapuria has raised in his campaign as a promise by the Modi government. Modi Factor and Hindutva: The candidate is also expected to benefit from the Modi factor and the fact that the state is now under a BJP government. Locals believe that a double-engine government may cater to their demands without political hindrances. These key demands include rail infrastructure in Tonk and the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP) which the party has shown progress on ahead of the elections. Welfare schemes initiated by the Modi government have also found popularity here. Schemes like Ayushman Bharat, Ujjwala, Awas Yojana, free ration for the poor and so on, have been implemented to a considerable extent. The partys Hindutva politics also resonates with certain sections of the electorate and the widespread approval and celebration of the Ram Mandir construction is expected to favour PM Modi. Ultimately, the Modi wave, though not as powerful as 2019, is a formidable force in the region.

The candidate is also expected to benefit from the Modi factor and the fact that the state is now under a BJP government. Locals believe that a double-engine government may cater to their demands without political hindrances. These key demands include rail infrastructure in Tonk and the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP) which the party has shown progress on ahead of the elections. Welfare schemes initiated by the Modi government have also found popularity here. Schemes like Ayushman Bharat, Ujjwala, Awas Yojana, free ration for the poor and so on, have been implemented to a considerable extent. The partys Hindutva politics also resonates with certain sections of the electorate and the widespread approval and celebration of the Ram Mandir construction is expected to favour PM Modi. Ultimately, the Modi wave, though not as powerful as 2019, is a formidable force in the region. Other Factors in Favour: Seats of Sawai Madhopur, Khandar, Malpura and Niwai are expected to lean strongly towards the BJP, with local MLAs mobilising support. This seat is dominated by Meena and Gurjar voters, who comprise roughly 13 per cent and 12.15 per cent of the vote respectively and are key deciding factors in the seat. As a Gurjar, Jaunapuria has considerable sway among Gurjar voters who are expected to split between the two parties.

Seats of Sawai Madhopur, Khandar, Malpura and Niwai are expected to lean strongly towards the BJP, with local MLAs mobilising support. This seat is dominated by Meena and Gurjar voters, who comprise roughly 13 per cent and 12.15 per cent of the vote respectively and are key deciding factors in the seat. As a Gurjar, Jaunapuria has considerable sway among Gurjar voters who are expected to split between the two parties. Kirodi Lal Meena Factor: The BJP has considerable equity among Meena voters owing to the Kirodi Lal Meena factor which is prevalent here. Meena was recently elected from the Sawai Madhopur assembly constituency by a large margin. He is a prominent Meena face in the state. He is a two-time Lok Sabha MP, one-time Rajya Sabha MP, five-time MLA and is currently serving as a cabinet minister in the Rajasthan government. Meena plays a key role in attracting voters from the Meena community. Bairwa voters also form a significant chunk of SC votes here, and with two MLAs from the Bairwa community, the BJP is expected to pull most of their vote. Other members of the 20.5 per cent SC community are also expected to lean towards the BJP. The RLP leader who contested in Niwai last year and managed to pull over 20,000 votes in a three-way contest has also joined the BJP.

Challenges

BJPs Path: The BJP is facing a slew of challenges in the constituency. While anti-incumbency against the sitting MP is an obvious problem, the Congress has fielded a former BJP leader and strong local candidate from the Meena community, who is also from Gurjar-favourite Sachin Pilot camp against the BJPs outsider Gurjar candidate. If the Congress manages to secure the bulk of the Gurjar and Meena vote, then in combination with the Muslim vote bank, the party may manage to snatch the seat from the BJP. Moreover, the Modi factor, while still strong, is not as potent in comparison to previous elections of 2014 and 2019. This means that the election in Tonk-Sawai Madhopur could be a very close one and if a BJP win is indeed on the cards, the winning margin is expected to narrow down sharply.

The BJP is facing a slew of challenges in the constituency. While anti-incumbency against the sitting MP is an obvious problem, the Congress has fielded a former BJP leader and strong local candidate from the Meena community, who is also from Gurjar-favourite Sachin Pilot camp against the BJPs outsider Gurjar candidate. If the Congress manages to secure the bulk of the Gurjar and Meena vote, then in combination with the Muslim vote bank, the party may manage to snatch the seat from the BJP. Moreover, the Modi factor, while still strong, is not as potent in comparison to previous elections of 2014 and 2019. This means that the election in Tonk-Sawai Madhopur could be a very close one and if a BJP win is indeed on the cards, the winning margin is expected to narrow down sharply. Where Congress Stands: The Congress has fielded Harish Chandra Meena, former BJP MP from Dausa and brother of former Congress MP and union minister Namo Narain Meena, from this constituency of Tonk-Sawai Madhopur. Meena joined the Congress in 2020 after being miffed about being denied a ticket in 2019. Meena is a local MLA from the Deoli-Uniara seat which he won in 2023 with a margin of over 19,000 votes. A retired IPS officer of 1976 batch and former Director General of Police (DGP) of Rajasthan, Harish Chandra Meena is a formidable Meena face, with tremendous sway in the community. Meena is also a loyalist and close aide of Sachin Pilot, whom Gurjars traditionally lean towards. Pilot is currently the MLA from Tonk.

The Congress has fielded Harish Chandra Meena, former BJP MP from Dausa and brother of former Congress MP and union minister Namo Narain Meena, from this constituency of Tonk-Sawai Madhopur. Meena joined the Congress in 2020 after being miffed about being denied a ticket in 2019. Meena is a local MLA from the Deoli-Uniara seat which he won in 2023 with a margin of over 19,000 votes. A retired IPS officer of 1976 batch and former Director General of Police (DGP) of Rajasthan, Harish Chandra Meena is a formidable Meena face, with tremendous sway in the community. Meena is also a loyalist and close aide of Sachin Pilot, whom Gurjars traditionally lean towards. Pilot is currently the MLA from Tonk. Congress Conundrum: Anti-incumbency is a major factor that the Congress seeks to cash in on here. Muslim voters form 12.5 per cent of the vote and are expected to vote in bulk for the Congress. The Gurjar vote bank may split and the Congress could pull a considerable part of the vote, owing to the Sachin Pilot factor emanating from Tonk. A predominant chunk of Meena voters could favour the Congress too owing to a formidable Meena candidate. Alliance with Hanuman Beniwals RLP will help the Congress pull Jat votes in the region. In 2023, the RLP had a total vote share of about 3 per cent here. However, infighting in the Congress state unit between the Pilot and Gehlot camps is visible here, as Meena enjoys the campaign support mostly of the Pilot camp. The lack of a charismatic national alternative to PM Modi makes this election difficult for Harish Meena.

Key Issues

Poor Local Road Infrastructure in Tonk: Villagers in Dhani Devganj in Tonk district, struggling with muddy roads every rainy season, are firm in their demand for the construction of a paved pucca road, stating that they will not vote on April 26 unless this is fulfilled. This stance has caused concern for the administration as they fear a potential boycott of voting. Officials explain that the road in question is not documented in government records, making it challenging to obtain approval for construction. However, villagers question this, citing the recent sanction of Rs 37 lakh for a gravel road under MNREGA, despite its absence from government records. Their boycott call has put the administration in a spot.

Villagers in Dhani Devganj in Tonk district, struggling with muddy roads every rainy season, are firm in their demand for the construction of a paved pucca road, stating that they will not vote on April 26 unless this is fulfilled. This stance has caused concern for the administration as they fear a potential boycott of voting. Officials explain that the road in question is not documented in government records, making it challenging to obtain approval for construction. However, villagers question this, citing the recent sanction of Rs 37 lakh for a gravel road under MNREGA, despite its absence from government records. Their boycott call has put the administration in a spot. Poor Railway Infrastructure: The district is not connected by rail. Every election, locals demand a railway station and proper rail connectivity. In the recent railway budget, the government has allocated a sum of over Rs 100 crore to establish a direct rail link between Ajmer and Tonk. This is a major election issue for voters this year as well.

The district is not connected by rail. Every election, locals demand a railway station and proper rail connectivity. In the recent railway budget, the government has allocated a sum of over Rs 100 crore to establish a direct rail link between Ajmer and Tonk. This is a major election issue for voters this year as well. ERCP: The ERCP, a massive project costing over Rs 40,000 crore, aims to enhance irrigation and drinking water facilities across approximately two lakh hectares in 13 districts of Rajasthan, including Jhalawar, Baran, Kota, Bundi, Sawai Madhopur, Karauli, Dhaulpur, Bharatpur, Dause, Alwar, Jaipur, and Ajmer in eastern Rajasthan. It was conceptualised by the Vasundhara Raje government in the state but was stalled amid differences between the New Delhi and the Gehlot government. Finally, after coming to power again, the Union and state governments have expedited work on the project, including a tripartite MOU with Madhya Pradesh, announcing that 90 per cent of the expenses will be paid by the Centre. The people hope that this project comes into fruition soon as drinking water and irrigation facilities remain a key demand.

The ERCP, a massive project costing over Rs 40,000 crore, aims to enhance irrigation and drinking water facilities across approximately two lakh hectares in 13 districts of Rajasthan, including Jhalawar, Baran, Kota, Bundi, Sawai Madhopur, Karauli, Dhaulpur, Bharatpur, Dause, Alwar, Jaipur, and Ajmer in eastern Rajasthan. It was conceptualised by the Vasundhara Raje government in the state but was stalled amid differences between the New Delhi and the Gehlot government. Finally, after coming to power again, the Union and state governments have expedited work on the project, including a tripartite MOU with Madhya Pradesh, announcing that 90 per cent of the expenses will be paid by the Centre. The people hope that this project comes into fruition soon as drinking water and irrigation facilities remain a key demand. Gravel Mafia: Indiscriminate mining of gravel along the river banks is reportedly taking place in the Khandar area, which is restricted for mining owing to environmental reasons. Locals point to a purported political-bureaucratic-industrial nexus which is ensuring that gravel mining continues here. The BJP often raises the issue against the former Congress government. BJPs Kirodi Lal Meena, Sukhbir Jaunapuria and other BJP leaders accuse the Congress of making money off the gravel mafia.

Indiscriminate mining of gravel along the river banks is reportedly taking place in the Khandar area, which is restricted for mining owing to environmental reasons. Locals point to a purported political-bureaucratic-industrial nexus which is ensuring that gravel mining continues here. The BJP often raises the issue against the former Congress government. BJPs Kirodi Lal Meena, Sukhbir Jaunapuria and other BJP leaders accuse the Congress of making money off the gravel mafia. Farmers issues: Apart from water crisis, farmers demands include higher MSP, better crop insurance, debt waiver and more fertiliser subsidies. Moreover, while Sawai Madhopur is famous for its guavas, in recent years, farmers have faced significant losses due to insect infestations affecting their guava crops. These pests penetrate the guavas, leading to reduced yields and plant damage. Despite employing different insecticides and pesticides, farmers have struggled to find a lasting solution to this issue. Additionally, traders purchase guavas from farmers at low prices and sell them at higher rates, exacerbating the farmers financial challenges. Moreover, insufficient rainfall has further compounded the decrease in guava production.

Apart from water crisis, farmers demands include higher MSP, better crop insurance, debt waiver and more fertiliser subsidies. Moreover, while Sawai Madhopur is famous for its guavas, in recent years, farmers have faced significant losses due to insect infestations affecting their guava crops. These pests penetrate the guavas, leading to reduced yields and plant damage. Despite employing different insecticides and pesticides, farmers have struggled to find a lasting solution to this issue. Additionally, traders purchase guavas from farmers at low prices and sell them at higher rates, exacerbating the farmers financial challenges. Moreover, insufficient rainfall has further compounded the decrease in guava production. Lack of industries: People demand that more factories related to fruit juices and other guava-related products can be established here to create jobs for locals and improve revenues for farmers too. This region does not have any major industries to boost employment. This leads to migration to nearby districts which adds to the peoples woes.

People demand that more factories related to fruit juices and other guava-related products can be established here to create jobs for locals and improve revenues for farmers too. This region does not have any major industries to boost employment. This leads to migration to nearby districts which adds to the peoples woes. ST Status for Gurjars: The demand for ST status, though not as pronounced this time, has been long pending and is opposed by the Meena community. The underlying caste conflict between the Meena and Gurjar communities escalated during the Gurjar agitation for reservation, seeking Scheduled Tribe status, and the subsequent resistance from the Meenas to share their quota, which occurred between 2006 and 2007.

The demand for ST status, though not as pronounced this time, has been long pending and is opposed by the Meena community. The underlying caste conflict between the Meena and Gurjar communities escalated during the Gurjar agitation for reservation, seeking Scheduled Tribe status, and the subsequent resistance from the Meenas to share their quota, which occurred between 2006 and 2007. Agnipath Scheme: The region is also opposed to the Agnipath scheme as permanent recruitment in the army is a dream for many youths here. Recently, Sachin Pilot launched an attack on the Modi government on this issue, saying that the Centre had betrayed the youth by implementing the Agnipath scheme.

Voter Demographics (2011 Census)

Total Voters (2019): 1934874

Urban Voters: 21.2%

Rural Voters: 78.8%

Literacy Rate: 54.14%

Social Composition:

SC: 20.5%

ST: 16.9%

Religious Composition:

Hindu: 86%

Muslim: 12.5%

Jain: 0.8%

Infrastructure

Railways: This region is partially connected through rail and is in dire need of enhanced connectivity. The BJP of late has made some major announcements to cater to peoples demands.vTonk had a longstanding dream of a railway station in the district which will finally be fulfilled after the Union Railways Ministry approved over Rs 100 crore for the establishment of the Ajmer-Tonk-Chauth ka Barwada Railway Project. The doubling of the Jaipur-Sawai Madhopur railway line, linking Rajasthans capital with the renowned wildlife sanctuary of Ranthambhore, is scheduled to be completed by the fiscal year 2026-27. The project, with an estimated cost of Rs 1,268.57 crore, will cover a distance of 152.77 km. As part of the Amrit Bharat programme, a railway underpass will be erected at Kherda in Sawai Madhopur along the Sawai Madhopur-Jaipur railway line, at an estimated cost of approximately Rs 5 crore. The virtual foundation stone laying ceremony was conducted by the prime minister. This will address a serious problem of traffic jams that ensued here. Sawai Madhopur has received a railway bypass valued at Rs 252 crore, reflecting significant development initiatives underway in the region.

This region is partially connected through rail and is in dire need of enhanced connectivity. The BJP of late has made some major announcements to cater to peoples demands.vTonk had a longstanding dream of a railway station in the district which will finally be fulfilled after the Union Railways Ministry approved over Rs 100 crore for the establishment of the Ajmer-Tonk-Chauth ka Barwada Railway Project. The doubling of the Jaipur-Sawai Madhopur railway line, linking Rajasthans capital with the renowned wildlife sanctuary of Ranthambhore, is scheduled to be completed by the fiscal year 2026-27. The project, with an estimated cost of Rs 1,268.57 crore, will cover a distance of 152.77 km. As part of the Amrit Bharat programme, a railway underpass will be erected at Kherda in Sawai Madhopur along the Sawai Madhopur-Jaipur railway line, at an estimated cost of approximately Rs 5 crore. The virtual foundation stone laying ceremony was conducted by the prime minister. This will address a serious problem of traffic jams that ensued here. Sawai Madhopur has received a railway bypass valued at Rs 252 crore, reflecting significant development initiatives underway in the region. Highway connectivity: To enhance highway infrastructure, PM Modi inaugurated several national highway projects valued at over Rs 5,000 crore in February. These initiatives aim to enhance connectivity across Tonk, Sawai Madhopur, Kota, Udaipur, Boondi, Ajmer, Bhilwara, and Chittorgarh. Furthermore, these roads will facilitate improved connectivity with Delhi, Haryana, Gujarat, and Maharashtra. Tonk and Sawai Madhopur will also be connected with the Delhi-Mumbai-Expressway which is currently under development. Last year, PM Modi laid the foundation stone of a medical college in Sawai Madhopur, again catering to a long-standing demand of the people in the area. Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma has recently announced plans to boost industrial development in the state, unveiling the operation of at least six small industrial areas. These include the Shriram-Janaki Industrial Region in Kunj Biharipura, Jaipur, Sattasar-Bikaner, Balariya-Sawai Madhopur, Jatav-Sawai Madhopur, and Ramsar-Barmer, with expectations for them to become operational soon.

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Student arrests at the Columbia University over the Israel-Gaza war sparked off similar agitations in other US campuses, evoking images of demonstrations that had taken place in the Ivy League college in the past.

The universitys decision to call in police led to a raid on the occupied Hamilton Hall, with the arrest of more than 100 students.

Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg said during a press conference on Wednesday that 280 arrests had been made at Columbia and City University of New York campuses. Bragg declined to comment on how many of those arrested were students and how many were outsiders, as mentioned in The Guardian.

When youre going to Columbia, you know youre going to an institution which has an honored place in the history of American protest, said Mark Naison, professor of history and African & African American Studies at Fordham University, who himself participated in the 1968 demonstrations, as quoted by news agency Associated Press. Whenever there is a movement, you know Columbia is going to be right there.

The students are protesting the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza that has led to deaths of more than 34,000 people, mostly innocent civilians. The war began with Israel responding to the brutal attack by Hamas on its citizens on October 7, last year. Students are demanding that their universities divest from companies supporting Israels government and show greater transparency in their finances.

Student Protests in Columbia Over Years

Vietnam War: In 1968, Hamilton Hall was the first of five buildings to be taken over by students protesting against the war. Demonstrators barricaded themselves and prevented the acting dean from leaving his office. On April 30, police officers cracked down on protesters, entering the building through underground tunnels and forcefully clearing the students. More than 700 people were arrested, at least 148 were injured as some were hit with sticks. The protests resulted in the university cutting ties with Pentagon institute doing research for the Vietnam War.

Anti-war Protests: In 1972, protests took place on the campus when Richard Nixon administration expanded the US militarys bombing campaign in Vietnam. Demonstrators stormed into a closed meeting of the Columbia University Senate, forcing its suspension, after the management had summoned the police to take action against peaceful rallies. Police in riot gear entered the campus to evict the demonstrators.

Anti-Apartheid Protests: In 1985, the protest began with seven students gathering at the Hamilton House, which transformed into a mass movement that lasted for 21 days. About one-third of universitys endowments were invested in firms doing business in South Africa. Five months after the protests in October, Columbia became the first university to fully divest from South Africa.

One-Day Blockade: Students blocked Hamilton House to stop Columbias plan to demolish a theatre where Malcolm X, one of the most important Black figures during the civil rights movement, was assassinated in 1965. The theatre was being converted into a modern biomedical research complex. Amid the calls for the theatre to be preserved, only a part of the historical venue was be demolished. Three students were suspended while 45 others faced disciplinary action.

Ethnic Studies Department: In 1996, nearly 100 protesters occupied Hamilton Hall for four days to demand the creation of ethnic studies department at Columbia. Three years later, the university inaugurated the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race.

Why Universities are Breeding Ground for Political Activism

The university is the center of teaching and learning where people are taught in classes, or out of classes, to question things, said Richard Cohen, a professor of social studies and history at New York University, as quoted by Vox.com.

Not specific to America, student protests on campuses are common across the world as universities are hubs of political activity and young people are often at the forefront of the social movements.

Though the circumstances of political protests were different, but the story is familiar  young people want change.

Alex Morey, the director of campus rights advocacy for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, encourages universities to remain neutral during unrest and not to call in authorities unless a demonstration turns violent, as mentioned in a USA Today report.

Peaceful protest is a hallmark of a healthy speech climate on American college campuses and it has been for decades  whether its the Berkeley free speech movement, or students protesting the Vietnam War era or civil rights, Morey said, as quoted by USA Today.
A Hindu marriage is not just song and dance, it is valid after customary ritual saptapadi (seven rounds) is performed by a couple in front of agni (fire), the Supreme Court has said recently. A marriage is not a commercial transaction. It is a solemn foundational event celebrated so as to establish a relationship between a man and a woman who acquire the status of a husband and wife for an evolving family in future which is a basic unit of Indian society.

The top court said the ceremonies under the Hindu Marriage Act purify and transform the spiritual being of an individual, thus the priest should perform the rituals with utmost sincerity.

A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Augustine George Masih said a Hindu marriage is a samskara and a sacrament which has to be accorded its status as an institution of great value in Indian society.

The court gave the ruling during a divorce proceeding.

What was the Case?

The court was hearing a divorce petition of a woman who wanted the transfer of proceedings from Bihar to Jharkhand. The couple, both trained commercial pilots, were engaged to be married in March 2021. They claimed to have solemnized their marriage in July 2021 after obtaining a marriage certificate from Vadik Jankalyan Samiti (registered). Based on this certificate, they obtained a Certificate of Registration of Marriage under the Uttar Pradesh Marriage Registration Rule, 2017.

After filing the transfer plea, the couple applied for a divorce asking the top court to declare their marriage certificate void under Article 142 of the Constitution. The article deals with enforcement of decrees and orders of the apex court to do complete justice in any matter pending before it.

Marriage Laws in India

The Supreme Court had in 2021 uploaded a verdict that India recognises a plural legal system, wherein different religious communities are permitted to be governed by different personal laws.  but personal laws must meet the test of constitutional validity and constitutional morality, in as much as, they cannot be violative of Articles 14, 15,21 of the Constitution, it added.

While in Hindu law, marriage is a sacrament, in Christian law, divorce continues to be stigmatised; in Muslim law, marriage is a contract and Parsi law registration of marriage is central to the ritual of marriage, it said.

Hindu Marriage Act: The Act clearly states that one of the conditions for a Hindu marriage is that neither party has a spouse living at the time of the marriage. Section 7 of the Hindu Marriage Act lists ceremonies of a Hindu marriage, which have to be complied with for validity of the marriage. And if it is not done, then the marriage is not deemed valid in the eye of law. It says a Hindu marriage may not be solemnised in accordance with the customary rites and ceremonies of either party thereto. Section 495 addresses a situation wherein former marriage is concealed from the person with whom subsequent marriage is contracted. In this case, the person might be sentenced to imprisonment up to ten years. A fine might also be imposed.

Muslim Personal Law Application Act 1937: Muslims have the right to marry four times. However, the SC in a 2018 case held that though the personal law of Muslims permitted having as many as four wives it could not be said that having more than one wife is a part of religion. Neither is it made obligatory by religion nor is it a matter of freedom of conscience. Writ petitions have been filed earlier, seeking to declare Muslim Personal Law which allows polygamy as void as offending Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution.

Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936: Every Parsi  who during the lifetime of his or her wife or husband, whether a Parsi or not, contracts a marriage without having been lawfully divorced from such wife or husband, or without his or her marriage with such wife or husband having legally been declared null and void or dissolved  shall be subject to the penalties provided in sections 494 and 495 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860) for the offence of marrying again during the lifetime of a husband or wife, the Act says.

SC on Ceremonies Under Hindu Marriage Act

According to Section 7 of the Hindu Marriage Act, the word solemnised means that unless the ceremonies are performed, the marriage is not considered to be solemnised or valid.

Section 7(2) states in case the ceremony includes saptapadi (where bride and groom jointly take seven steps) the marriage is said to be solemnised on the completion of the seventh step.

Section 8 of the law deals with the registration of Hindu marriages and issuance of certificates, with states empowered to make rules relating to the issuance of certificates. However, a couple wishing to get their marriage registered must show proof of having been married.

The proofs such as photographs and certificate need to establish that both parties are Hindu and that the marriage was done in accordance with the law. In this case, the couple obtained a certificate from Vadik Jankalyan Samiti, stating that the marriage had been performed.

The court held that even if a marriage certificate is issued in the absence of the ceremony, the marriage will not be solemnised under the Hindu law.

According to the judgment, even if a certificate is issued stating that the couple had undergone marriage it would not give legitimacy to the marriage unless the customary ceremonies are performed. The registration of a marriage under Section 8 of the Act is only to confirm that the parties have undergone a valid marriage ceremony in accordance with Section 7 of the Act, the judgment said.

On Vedic ceremonies, the judgment said monogamy is the only legally approved form of relationship between a husband and a wife. The Hindu Marriage Act discards polyandry and polygamy and all other such types of relationship.

Noting that a marriage is sacred, the court said a Hindu marriage facilitates procreation, consolidates the unit of family and solidifies the spirit of fraternity within the communities. A Hindu marriage is a samskara and a sacrament which has to be accorded its status as an institution 15 of great value in Indian society, the judgment read.
The Godrej family announced on April 30 splitting the 127-year-old group into two entities  Godrej Enterprises and Godrej Industries  and decided to restructure its conglomerate, which spans from soaps, appliances and real estate.

With Adi Godrej (82) and his brother Nadir (73) keeping Godrej Industries that has five listed firms, their cousins, Jamshyd Godrej (75) and Smita Godrej Crishna (74), will get unlisted Godrej & Boyce and its affiliates as well as a land, including prime property in Mumbai.

The Godrej family in a statement has termed the split due to ownership realignment of the shareholdings in the Godrej companies.

The realignment has been arrived at in a respectful and mindful way to maintain harmony and to better align ownership in acknowledgement of the differing visions of the Godrej family members, it said.

Who Gets What?

Godrej Enterprises Group (GEG) which comprises of Godrej & Boyce (G&B) and its affiliates will be controlled by Jamshyd Godrej acting as Chairperson and Managing Director, Nyrika Holkar, who will act as Executive Director, and their immediate families.

Godrej Industries Group (GIG), which includes listed companies, Godrej Industries, Godrej Consumer Products, Godrej Properties, Godrej Agrovet and Astec Lifesciences will be headed by Nadir Godrej as Chairperson and controlled by Adi Godrej, Nadir, and their immediate families.

What the Split Means for Godrej Stocks?

Most Godrej group stocks have performed well thus far in calendar year 2024 (CY24). Godrej Properties has been the top performer with a near 32% rise in CY24, followed by Godrej Industries (up 29%), Astec Lifesciences (17%) and Godrej Consumer Products (8%), shows ACE Equity data.

Godrej Agrovet (down 2.3%) has been the only loser. Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex moved up a tad over 3% during this period, shows data.

Ambareesh Baliga, an independent market analyst, said, as quoted by Business Standard, Compared to some of the other family separations, the split in the assets of Godrej was done in a very dignified manner with nothing discussed among the family members coming out in public domain. Any family separation takes a decent amount of mindshare of the members. To that extent, the decisions have been reached and there is clarity on who controls what company in the Godrej fold. The focus will now turn back fully to the businesses they handle.

Analysts anticipate no immediate impact on the stock prices of listed entities, as the development was already factored into the market. The potential benefits for Godrej Properties, if it undertakes the development of land in Mumbais Vikhroli, owned by Godrej and Boyce, according to The Economic Times report.

What It Means for Investors

According to legal experts, quoted in a report in The Economic Times, the split will allow each group to be better off financially, and the stakeholders and their listed companies will get a better value that is normally the rationale for a split.

The split will also improve valuations, and each one will be able to operate on his own and come up with a consensus decision so that there is no difference of opinion, which usually helps in the long run.

The realignment of the conglomerate will be executed after obtaining regulatory approvals.

History of Godrej Empire

Godrej was founded by Ardeshir Godrej and his brother in 1897. Ardeshir had no sons and the company went to Pirojsha who had four children  Sohrab, Dosa, Naval and Burjor. Sohrab had no children, while Dosa had a child named Rishad. However, over time, the groups leadership has gone to Burjors descendants  Adi and Nadir, and Navals offsprings Jamshyd and Smita.

It started as a locks business after failed ventures into hand-fashioned medical devices. Over the years, the group entered multiple other sectors, such as chemicals, furniture, security solutions, real estate, home and personal care, general engineering, power and energy, aerospace, heavy engineering, intra-logistics, infrastructure, food and agriculture products, information technology and financial services, as per a Mint report.

The Godrejs are among the biggest landlords in Mumbai, holding about 3,400 acres, including a 3,000-acre parcel in the suburb of Vikhroli. The group has a significant presence in Asia, Africa and Latin America through its Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), the Mint report noted.

Under the current structure, Nyrika Holkar, acting as the Executive Director of GEG, and Pirojsha Godrej acting as Executive Vice Chairperson of GIG, and poised to succeed Nadir as Chairperson in August 2026 have emerged as the next generation leader.

About Vikhroli Land Row

Adis grandfather Pirojsha had purchased 3,000 acres in Mumbai from the British during World War II and subsequently bought 400 acres more, taking the total to 3,400 acres. Over 3,000 acres is in Vikhroli suburb, and the rest lies in Bhandup and Nahur. Of this, almost 2,000 acres are mangroves and PTI reported Adi said in 2013 that he did not wish to develop said parts because a lot of mangroves in the western city had been encroached on. This leaves around 1,000 acres of land that can be developed.

Two years before Adis declaration, Godrej Properties (now under Adi) had entered into an agreement with Godrej & Boyce (now under Jamshyd) to develop the Vikhroli land.

It was reported that Godrej Properties would act as the development manager and be responsible for the conceptualisation, design, sales, and marketing of future development on the G&B-owned land in Vikhroli. For its services, Godrej Properties was to receive 10% of the total revenue generated from this development.

After the split, Godrej and Boyce and Godrej Properties said in a statement that both would continue their MOUs executed from time to time to develop Vikhroli land as and when G&B desires to develop the same.
India on Thursday blasted the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for attempting to interfere in its electoral exercise and continuing to indulge in propaganda against the country, masquerading as part of an annual report.

In an unusually sharp reaction to the USCIRFs latest report that has criticised India for alleged violations of religious freedom, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the organisation is known to be a biased entity with a political agenda.

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom is known as a biased organisation with a political agenda. They continue to publish their propaganda on India masquerading as part of an annual report, Jaiswal said. We really have no expectation that the USCIRF will even seek to understand Indias diverse, pluralistic and democratic ethos, he added. Their efforts to interfere in the largest electoral exercise of the world will never succeed, Jaiswal said at his weekly media briefing.

In its latest annual report, the USCIRF has criticised India for alleged violations of religious freedom. It has also renewed its recommendation to the US state department to declare India as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) in view of the alleged violations of religious freedom. In its annual report, the USCIRF has said religious freedom in India continues to deteriorate and that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre has reinforced discriminatory nationalist policies.

It has also alleged that a continued enforcement of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and anti-conversion and cow-slaughter laws has resulted in arbitrary detention, monitoring and targeting of religious minorities and those advocating on their behalf.

Both news media and nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) reporting on religious minorities were subjected to strict monitoring under FCRA regulations, the report has said. In February 2023, Indias Ministry of Home Affairs suspended the FCRA licence of the Centre for Policy Research, an NGO dedicated to reporting on social issues and state capacity, including discrimination against religious and ethnic minorities, it has said.

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The opposition Congress on Wednesday alleged that the BJP government at the centre did not follow the guidelines of the World Health Organisation (WHO), and demanded that the relatives of those who died due to heart attack or similar reasons after taking the Covishield vaccine against coronavirus should be paid compensation.

Doctors associated with the Gujarat BJP, however, said a study by an expert panel in the state had established that there was no direct link between COVID-19 vaccines and blood clotting which can lead to heart attacks.

British pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca recently admitted in a UK court that its vaccine, sold as Covishield in India, can cause TTS, a rare side effect related to blood clotting. In India, AstraZeneca partnered with Serum Institute of India (SII) to produce the vaccine.

Gujarat Congress president and Rajya Sabha member Shaktisinh Gohil sought to know why data was not collected despite WHOs advisory.Since the world did not have time to analyse the side-effects of vaccines at that time, WHO had said countries should keep a record of side-effects. Other countries followed this advisory and kept records, he said.

But, in our country, no such data was collected, Gohil claimed. The senior Congress leader alleged that many young and healthy people suddenly died due to heart attack or brain stroke in Gujarat and elsewhere.

So why does the BJP government not follow WHOs guidelines? Why no extra care about the side-effects of vaccines was taken and why no data was collected? Our government did not care about peoples health, he said.

The Congress leader also said that the Central Research Institute (CRI), a government-run institute having expertise in developing and producing vaccines, has a much higher vaccine production capacity than private firms, and asked why it was not chosen over the latter.

This is criminal negligence. Rahul Gandhi had asked why the price of vaccines was high. So how much these companies donated to the BJP? These companies should disclose it and give it back. The government should use that money to give compensation to the kin of those who died due to the vaccine, Gohil added.

Dr Dharmendra Gajjar, convener of the Gujarat BJPs Doctors Cell, refuted Gohils claims. Congress is spreading myths. ICMR had published a report in November 2023 and declared that vaccines do not lead to clotting. AstraZeneca has also said the chances of clotting are 0.004 per cent, which is very low. Every vaccine has its own side effects. But, we also keep in mind the risk vs benefit ratio, he said.

An expert panel constituted by the Gujarat government examined 3,000 individuals and came to the conclusion that clotting was caused mainly due to smoking, diabetes, lifestyle or even due to contraceptive pills, Dr Gajjar said, adding that even herpes vaccines can cause complications, but doctors recommend it because of its benefits in fighting the disease.

It was not right to politicise the issue after more than three years, he added.

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A day after more than 100 schools in Delhi-NCR got threat emails about explosives, Delhi police commissioner Sanjay Arora on Thursday received a similar letter in his official email ID about a bomb planted in a school in the Nangloi area. A 12-year-old boy, who allegedly used a newly created ID and name, was detained.

According to sources, the email was sent around 10 am stating: 2:18 me bomb fatega dekhte jaa hamare allah ka order hai. The sender further said a bomb will explode at a school near Nangloi railway station at the mentioned time.

After the police received the email, they began tracing its details and location, and also informed the central government. Sources said the email was also sent to other top offices of the Delhi government.

It was later discovered that a 12-year-old boy had sent the email, creating an email ID under another name for the purpose. The police detained the juvenile and are further investigating the matter. Sources said the minor used a new SIM card to evade investigation agencies and used a Muslim name, though he is not Muslim.

A joint interrogation will be conducted by other central agencies to ascertain the reason why threat emails were sent to the top cop and other government offices. Delhi Police public relations officer Suman Nalwa said she is not aware of the email, while a message sent to the police commissioner remained unanswered.

On Wednesday (May 1), the ministry of home affairs dismissed the bomb threat as a hoax and advised the public not to panic. At least 131 schools in Delhi-NCR received identical threats, leading to mass evacuations and extensive searches as panicked parents rushed to pick up their children.

There is no need to panic. The emails appear to be a hoax. The Delhi Police and security agencies are taking necessary steps as per protocol, said a home ministry spokesperson.

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The anti-terror unit of Delhi Police, which is probing the bomb threat email sent to over 130 schools in the Delhi-NCR region, has contacted the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) for information on the senders IP address from Russian agencies.

The Delhi Police, via the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the nodal agency for Interpol in India, wrote to the international organisation that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime control. The counterintelligence unit of the special cell suggested the dark web was used to send the emails.

They also said it was likely that the emails of the schools were also accessed through the dark web.

Delhi Polices initial probe hinted at a deeper conspiracy by a terror group during the Lok Sabha elections, officials said on Wednesday. A case has been registered under relevant sections of law for offences like conspiracy and threat by the Special Cell and a dedicated team formed to conduct the investigation, an official said.

The matter is related to national security. It needs a deeper probe, the official said. In a scare of unprecedented scale, over 130 schools in the Delhi-NCR area received an identical bomb threat by email early Wednesday, triggering mass evacuations and searches as panic-stricken parents rushed to pick up their children.

The threat was declared a hoax as nothing objectionable was found during searches, the police said. According to the police officer, the email ID from which the threat was sent is sawariim@mail.ru. Sawarim is an Arabic word extensively used by the terror outfit Islamic State (IS) in their propaganda videos over the past several years, the official said.

Kill them wherever you meet and drive them out of the places from which they drove you. There are many explosive devices in the school, reads the identical email sent to all schools. The officer said that the email also contained aayate (verses) of the holy Quran.

The investigators are looking into the timing angle too as the country is in the midst of Lok Sabha elections, he said. The main agenda of sending such threat emails in bulk is to create panic and wage a cyber war by some terror group, an officer, who did not wish to be named, said.

The domain of email ID sawariim@mail.ru has been traced to Russia and is suspected to have been formed with the help of the dark web, which is an encrypted online content that allows individuals to hide their identity and location from others, he said. After the threat received by the schools on Wednesday, buildings were evacuated and students were sent back home. The Delhi Police said they received the calls from 131 schools in Delhi.

Another police officer said, The culprits must have watched past instances where students had sent such bomb threat emails to their schools as a prank. We are looking into that angle also. The Special Cell will also investigate the case of a bomb threat to Delhis Chaha Nehru Hospital received through an email on Tuesday, police said.

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A 14-year-old girl received 17 stitches on her face after she was allegedly attacked by her classmate with a blade in New Delhis Gulabi Bagh area.

The incident, came to light on Wednesday, when the Delhi Police took suo moto cognizance of a purported video  showing the girl with injuries on her face  that started doing the rounds on social media and launched an investigation.

The teens family is also demanding strict action against the students involved in the incident.

Earlier, a senior police officer had said, Initially, we got to know that a scuffle broke out between a few girls of a government school outside is premises and one of them hit another girl with some sharp-edged thing.

However, in her statement, the victim said that she and her classmates were having lunch when some girls snatched one of their friends tiffin box and fled. My friend asked them to return it, but they started abusing us, she said.

The victim then stepped in to pacify the tense situation, but a verbal tiff broke out between them, leading to the classmate attacking her with a blade.

The 14-year-olds family has alleged that no one came forward to help their daughter after the incident. My daughter received 17 stitches on her face. Her health condition is still serious. After the attack, no one even helped her to take her to hospital, the girls mother said.

The victim is a Class 9 student and her elder sister said, When a fight broke out between her friends, she was trying to pacify everyone. But she was attacked. Police must take strict action against them.

Police officials noted that since all the persons seen in the video are juveniles, therefore actions have been taken against them under the Juveniles Justice Act.

Earlier this year, a Class 8 student received severe injuries after a fellow student allegedly attacked him with a sharp object inside the classroom of a school in Maharashtras Sangli district.

Preliminary probe had revealed that the incident was the fallout of a previous dispute between the two classmates. The accused boy had carried a sharp object, presumably a small knife, in his school bag.

The victim received severe injuries on his necks and hands, officials had said.

(With PTI inputs)

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Amid global scrutiny surrounding AstraZenecas coronavirus jab due to rare side effects, Bharat Biotech on Thursday released a statement about the indigenous Covaxin saying it is safe and devoid of any side effects.

The company issued a press release in public interest, confidently asserting its safety and absence of any side effects, including Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS)  a rare side effect associated with AstraZenecas vaccine sold under the brand name Covishield in India. According to the press release, Covaxin  Indias first indigenous Covid-19 vaccine  was developed with a single-minded focus on safety first, followed by efficacy.

The vaccine maker said all the studies and safety follow-up activities have demonstrated an excellent safety record, without any vaccine-associated incidents of blood clots, thrombocytopenia, TTS, vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT), pericarditis, myocarditis, etc.

Calling themselves seasoned innovators and product developers, the press release said Bharat Biotechs team was well aware that while the efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines may be short-lived, the impact on patient safety could last a lifetime.

Hence safety is the primary focus for all our vaccines, it said.

Bharat Biotech released the statement after AstraZeneca admitted in a legal document submitted to the high court in London in February that its vaccine may lead to TTS in very rare cases.

Covaxin was the only Covid-19 vaccine in the government of Indias Covid-19 immunisation programme to have conducted efficacy trials in India, the company said, while adding that the vaccine was evaluated in more than 27,000 subjects as part of its licensure process.

The company further said it was licensed under restricted use in clinical trial mode, where detailed safety reporting was carried out for several hundred thousand subjects. The press release has also listed its safety profile.

Safety of Covaxin was also evaluated by the ministry of health. Ongoing safety monitoring (pharmacovigilance) was continued throughout the product life cycle of Covaxin, the press release said.

Covaxin is an inactivated virus-based coronavirus vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Institute of Virology (NIV). It gained emergency use authorisation in India in January 2021 along with Serum Institute of Indias Covishield, allowing for its deployment in the vaccination drive during the pandemic.

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West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose said on Thursday that he refused to be cowed down by engineered narratives and that no one could stop his fight against violence and corruption in the state, remarks that came after local media reports that a woman had accused him of harassment.

The woman, who identified herself as a temporary worker at the Raj Bhavan, went to a police station with her complaint, according to the website of Bengals leading daily, the Anandabazar Patrika. The development prompted the eastern states ruling Trinamool Congress to launch a tirade against the governor in the middle of the Lok Sabha elections.

Truth shall triumph. I refuse to be cowed down by engineered narratives. If anybody wants election benefits by maligning me, God bless them. But they cannot stop my fight against corruption and violence in Bengal, a post from Raj Bhavan Kolkatas X account said on Thursday night.

Truth shall triumph. I refuse to be cowed down by engineered narratives. If anybody wants some election benefits by maligning me, God Bless them. But they cannot stop my fight against corruption and violence in Bengal. Raj Bhavan Kolkata (@BengalGovernor) May 2, 2024

Following the development, the Raj Bhavan banned the entry of state police personnel and TMC Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya, who responded to the charges against the Governor. The Governor also spoke to the attorney general regarding the matter.

The Trinamool Congress Mahila Wing has organised a protest rally from Moulali to Dorina crossing on Friday from 4 pm.

The TMC, which has had several run-ins with Bose in the past, called the allegations against the Governor appalling and unthinkable. The sanctity of Raj Bhavan, a symbol of our constitutionality, has been tarnished, it said on X, while several of its prominent leaders targeted Bose from their social media accounts for what they called molestation charges.

Former Meghalaya Governor Tathagata Roy said that the President and Governors have constitutional protection against criminal proceedings during their term in office under Article 361.

I cant recall such an allegation in the past. I cant say what will happen if the matter reaches court, the Anandabazar Patrika quoted him as saying. He did not rule out a conspiracy to divert attention from several corruption cases and Sandeshkhali, where women accused local TMC leaders of land grab and sexual harassment.

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In a tragic incident, a 26-year-old woman died on Monday after doctors performed a C-Section on her under the flashlight of mobile phones in Mumbais Sion Hospital. The woman died a few hours after the doctors delivered a dead boy, weighing around 4 kg.

Following the incident, Mumbais civic body, BMC, swung into the action and formed a a 10-member committee to probe the matter. The committee also included doctors from state-run JJ Hospital.

The deceased woman has been identified as Saheedunnissa Ansari, a resident of Bhandup, a locality in Mumbai.

Meanwhile, the womans relatives mobilised protests outside the hospital on Tuesday and Wednesday. The womans relatives have also alleged that the healthcare facility of the hospital did not have the necessary equipment for emergency like oxygen cylinders.

According to Times of India, the doctors had to perform a C-section on her under the torchlight of mobile phones due to frequent power cuts in the city on Monday.

However, the BMC executive health officer admitted that there were some

issues with the generator at the healthcare facility due to which the doctors had to take such a decision. She further informed that the woman had postpartum

hemorrhage (PPH) due to which she suffered severe vaginal bleeding after childbirth.

PPH cannot be predicted, The BMC official said, adding Saheedunnissa also had convulsions before being shifted. Notably, PPH is one of the leading causes of maternal mortality in India.

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A 17-year-old girl from Maharashtras Palghar district reportedly became friendly with a 23-year-old man from another religion and engaged in a sexual relationship. The teenagers life began taking a tragic turn when her parents got to know about her pregnancy. She was impregnated again and her newborns were sold off.

According to a report in Times of India, the girl filed a police complaint alleging that she was impregnated twice by two different men and that her parents, along with a school principal, two women doctors, a social worker, a lawyer, and several others conspired to sell one of her newborns.

At least 16 people, including the teenagers parents, have been booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Juvenile Justice Act for rape and selling a child.

The report quoted the teenager telling the police that after her sexual relationship with the 23-year-old man in 2021, her parents discovered her pregnancy during the second trimester. They sought assistance from the school principal and social worker.

The girl, a class 7 dropout, was then taken to a private hospital for regular check-ups and delivery. She also mentioned that during pregnancy, her parents took her to a location in Mumbai, where an advocate had them sign some documents, TOI stated.

On September 24, 2021, she gave birth to a girl, who was handed over to the social worker the following day. The teenager was warned not to speak about the delivery, the publication mentioned.

TOI further stated that six months after the delivery, she managed to contact the childs father, who claimed to have paid Rs 4 lakh to the social worker. He expressed his desire to marry her, but was warned by the mediators to stay away.

According to the publication, the teenager alleged that her parents and an uncle received Rs 1.5 lakh each, while the social worker and some other people shared the remaining Rs 1 lakh. When she confronted her parents, they sent her to her grandmothers place, where her family arranged a marriage with a 23-year-old man.

The couple engaged in a sexual relationship, resulting in another pregnancy. The man, however, learned about the teens first pregnancy and child. He then refused to marry her.

The teenager returned to her parents home and met an acquaintance, who helped her deliver her second baby, a boy, in his native town in Amravati on March 21, the report stated, adding that the acquaintance has also been booked for not informing the police about a minors sexual assault.

The teenager claimed that her parents were pressuring her to sell the baby, prompting her to leave home and seek help from another social worker to file a police complaint. Police are investigating the whereabouts of the baby girl who was allegedly sold, and also are looking for the advocate who had prepared the child sale agreement, TOI stated.

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A lookout notice was issued against incumbent JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Hassan sex scandal, sources said on Thursday.

The development has come after the father-son duo failed to appear before the SIT, which was constituted by Chief Minister Siddharamaiah-led Karnataka government to investigate the sexual abuse allegations against the Hassan MP.

The panel issued the notice after it had rejected Prajwal Revannas request to allow him 7 days to appear for an inquiry.

Also Read | Prajwal Revanna Fled Using Diplomatic Passport? What Are the Rules For MPs? Who Can Revoke Travel Documents?

Reports suggest that since the circular was issued, Prajwal will likely be detained as soon in the sex scandal case as soon as he enters the country and reports at the immigration points.

Meanwhile, Revanna, who is facing an inquiry over the alleged sexual abuse of several women, has denied all allegations against him and said in a social media post that the truth will prevail soon.

The MP, who left the country as soon as the election to his constituency ended, has also sought seven days to appear before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the Karnataka government to inquire into the huge cache of about 3,000 explicit videos and photos allegedly about him, which have gone viral on social media.

Amit Shah on Hassan Sex Scandal Case

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said the Congress government in Karnataka knew about the obscene video allegations against suspended JD-S leader Prajwal Revanna for months but allowed him to flee as it wanted the voting for Lok Sabha polls in Vokkaliga-dominated areas in the state to conclude.

Also Read | Truth Will Prevail: Prajwal Revanna Says Not In Bengaluru To Join Probe, CM Wants His Passport Cancelled

Whose government is it in Karnataka? Congress partys. Law and order is their responsibility. They knew about it for months. But they didnt nab him until the Vokkaliga voting concluded. They let him flee. Karnataka CM, HM, and Deputy CM are responsible for it, Shah said in an interview with news agency ANI.

Karnataka Govt on Prajwal Revanna Inquiry

Karnataka Home Minister G Parmeshwar on Thursday said that MP Prajwal Revanna cannot dodge or step back from the investigation and will have to appear before the SIT.

The moment it was learnt that he is out of the country, a lookout notice has been issued. His details have been issued. His lawyers have sought 7 days from SIT but. But there is no provision to give time. The SIT will take all the necessary actions to arrest him. If there are provisions then 6 days might be given but he will have to appear. He cant step back. The statements of victims have been recorded. Yesterday one more victim has given a complaint, Parmeshwar said.

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The Hindu side in the Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah dispute on Thursday told the Allahabad High Court that the temple is a protected monument and it should be governed under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.

The counsel for the Hindu side, Hari Shankar Jain, also submitted that the provisions of Places of Worship Act will not apply in the case.

The submissions were made during the hearing of a plea challenging the suit seeking removal of the Shahi Idgah mosque adjacent to the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple in Mathura. The matter is being heard by Justice Mayank Kumar Jain on the plea moved by the Muslim side regarding the maintainability of the suit. Jain also said the fundamental right to worship can not be curtailed by law of limitation, and that the deity and devotees both have the right to be heard.

The matter will be heard next on May 7. The Muslim side in the case would present its arguments after completion of arguments of the Hindu side.

On Wednesday, the Hindu side submitted in the high court that the deity was not a party in the claimed compromise between the two sides in 1968 or in the court decree passed in 1974. The counsel for the Hindu side had also said that the claimed compromise was made by Sri Krishna Janmasthan Seva Sansthan, which was not empowered to enter into any such pact.

The object of the Sansthan was only to manage day-to-day activities of the temple and had no right to enter into such compromise, the Hindu side argued. During the earlier hearing, advocate Taslima Aziz Ahmadi, appearing for the Muslim side, had submitted before the court that the suit is barred by limitation.

As per Ahmadi, the parties had entered into a compromise on October 12, 1968. She had said the compromise had been confirmed in a civil suit decided in 1974. The limitation to challenge a compromise is three years but the suit has been filed in 2020 and thus the present suit is barred by limitation, she had argued.

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A 16-year-old girl in Tripuras Sepahijala district was allegedly raped multiple times by two men whom she met on social media, police said on Thursday. The girl became friends with the duo through Facebook and Instagram in March, they said.

She went to the house of one of the accused at a remote village of the district on April 27 when she was allegedly raped by them again, said Sheuli Das, the officer-in-charge of the Bishalgarh womens police station. She returned home the next morning, the officer said.

Sensing something was amiss with the girl, her parents asked her. On this, she told her mother about the sequence of events, Das said.

A police complaint was filed on Tuesday and one of the two accused was arrested, police said. We have arrested the prime accused. He was sent to judicial custody for two weeks by a court on Wednesday. We are trying to arrest the other accused, Das said.

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A 25-year-old woman allegedly killed herself and her five-year-old son by jumping in front of a train here on Wednesday, police said. The deceased have been identified as Rashmi and Aryan, they said. She jumped before a passenger train near the Bharthana railway station.

SHO Government Railway Police (GRP) Sailesh Nigam said, It seems that the woman was troubled over domestic issues. The matter is being investigated. The bodies have been sent for postmortem, he added.
Live-in relationships have been around for a long time in India. There is still confusion regarding this setup among people. Not only is the public confused, but couples in a live-in relationship are also unaware of many things. Did you know that there are a few laws related to live-in relationships? The live-in relationship concept is not recognised as a legal union in India, but the Supreme Court has said that it is not a criminal offence or illegal. Since the introduction of the Uniform Civil Code in Uttarakhand, things have turned upside down. This makes it a major milestone in bringing clarity to live-in relationships. When this law comes into effect, those in a live-in relationship will have to register it within a month. This legal recognition ensures the protection of individual rights. This trend, which is in line with the evolving social norms, confirms the need for a legal framework that accommodates new relationship models.

Apart from the rule published in the state of Uttarakhand, people in a live-in relationship have certain rights and protections under the law. For example, children born in a live-in relationship were previously considered illegitimate in the society. Due to a Supreme Court verdict, children born out of a live-in relationship were also given a legal share in the property.

Live-in relationships were reportedly declared valid for the first time after the Supreme Court verdict of 1978. This living setup is legally recognised based on factors like the consent of both the parties involved in the relationship, willpower and attainment of legal marriageable age. People who have lived as a couple for a certain period are also treated as married.

As far as womens rights are concerned, any man who fails to provide adequate maintenance to a woman can be prosecuted under the Criminal Procedure Code. Under the Women and Domestic Violence Act, of 2005, women in live-in relationships are granted certain economic rights. The Maharashtra government recommended in October 2008 that a woman who has been in a relationship with a man for a few years should be given the status of a wife.

The Justice Malimad Committee set up by the Supreme Court ruled that a man and a woman should be treated as husband and wife, even if they live in a live-in relationship for a reasonable period to ensure the safety of women.

In a case dated September 16, 2009, Cr PC Under Section 125 of the Act, the judgement held that a woman need not enter into a formal marriage for her maintenance. The case also held that a woman who has completed 21 years of age has the right to live with a man without marrying him because she is of legal age. A man and a woman who can live in a live-in relationship for a reasonable period will be considered as husband and wife.
Being Indias priciest and most luxurious whisky to be sold for Rs 5 lakh per bottle, Rampur Signature Reserve Single Malt Whisky has reached a significant milestone. Part of Radico Khaitans prestigious Rampur brand, this ultra-luxury offering embodies the highest level of Indian whisky expertise and exclusivity. There are now just two bottles left in an edition of 400, which is proof of the extraordinary calibre of Indian single malt whiskies.

A very luxurious version of Rampur Indian single malt whisky was released onto the global market by Radico Khaitan to celebrate the distillerys 75th anniversary. Carefully crafted to ensure every last detail, Rampur Signature Reserve is aged in American Standard Oak Barrels for a long time, exposing it to the rigours of Indias several climates. Its among the oldest malts made in India. Four unique casks were hand-selected by the Master Blender and then placed in carefully selected PX Sherry Butts from Jerez, Spain, for the last stage of maturation. An outstanding example of Indian whisky artistry, Rampur Signature Reserve stands out for its commitment to accuracy and quality. This limited-edition collection features bottles that are individually numbered and personally signed by the Rampur Master Maker and Chairman, Dr. Lalit Khaitan, to further enhance their rarity.

Rampurs Indian Single Malt Whisky collection offers a diverse price range to suit every enthusiast. Beginning with the Double Gold winner at the San Francisco World Wine & Spirits Awards, Rampur Select at Rs 14,000 per bottle in 2016, it includes the now sold-out PX Sherry variant at Rs 12,000 per bottle and the approachable Rampur Double Cask at Rs 8,500 per bottle in 2018. Leading the range is the prestigious Signature Reserve, priced at Rs 5,00,000 per bottle, launched in 2018. Accompanying it is the Rampur Asava, honoured as the Best World Whisky at the 2023 John Barleycorn Awards, New York, priced at Rs 10,000 per bottle since 2019. Travel Retail exclusive, Rampur Trigun at Rs 17,000 per bottle and the Rampur Jugalbandhi series starting at Rs 40,000 per bottle demonstrate Rampurs commitment to innovation and diversity in Indian single malt whisky.

Mr. Abhishek Khaitan, Managing Director of Radico Khaitan, expressed his excitement about this milestone, stating, We are thrilled to announce that the last two bottles of Rampur Signature Reserve, out of the 400 bottles produced, are available exclusively at Hyderabad duty-free. This represents not just a whisky, but a legacy of Indian craftsmanship and heritage, inviting enthusiasts, collectors, and travellers to experience the unmatched quality of Radico Khaitans offerings.

Apart from the opulent Rampur Signature Reserve, Radico Khaitan has selected an extensive assortment of high-quality spirits that are duty-free in Hyderabad. The renowned Jaisalmer Indian Craft Gin and Gold edition, the regal Royal Ranthambore Heritage Collection Whisky, the rich and sophisticated Rampur Double Cask Indian Single Malt Whisky, and the distinguished Rampur Asava Indian Single Malt Whisky are all included in this portfolio.
Marathi actress Gayatri Datar rose to fame with her hit TV serial, Tula Pahate Re, which aired on Zee Marathi. She was seen opposite actor Subodh Bhave in this romantic story revolving around rebirth. Gayatri is now looking forward to her acting stint in another show titled Abir Gulal, which is set to premiere on Colors Marathi. The channel has unveiled the promo of this show on Instagram. The clip shows Gayatri playing the role of Shubhra. As depicted in the promo, Gayatris character will be a woman who wishes to live life on her terms. She doesnt like the interference of someone, when her concerned father brings an umbrella to protect her from rain. Actress Payal Jadhav will play a girl with an exactly different demeanour from Shubhra. Payals character is shown enduring discrimination from her father due to her skin tone. The release date of this serial has not been revealed yet.

Social media users lauded the promo, but one of them wrote that the premise of this serial looks strikingly similar to the Marathi serial Rang Maza Vegla. An official remake of the Malayalam TV series Karuthamuthu, Rang Maza Vegla revolves around the story of a girl named Deepa. Deepa is shown enduring discrimination based on her dark skin tone.

Gayatris fans were eager to know about the sequel to Tula Pahate Re. This is also because of her and actor Subodhs wonderful on-screen chemistry in the show, despite their massive age gap. To the utter disappointment of viewers, there will be no second instalment of the show.

In the recent Ask Me Anything session on Instagram, Gayatri Datar cleared the much-impending query. She hinted about something new regarding work to her fans. A fan asked her whether she was trying to talk about Tula Pahate Re 2. Gayatri answered No. This has ended all the rumours regarding the second part of serial.
Bollywood actor Gulshan Grover revealed he watched Heeramandi with one of the series leading stars, Manisha Koirala. The Netflix series, which marked Sanjay Leela Bhansalis web series debut, released on Wednesday and Manisha played the role of a badass courtesan, Mallikajaan. Gulshan along with his family watched the series with Manisha and cheered her on. He shared a picture and a video in which the family was cheering for her.

Watched #Heeramandi at my dear friend Manisha Koiralas @mkoirala home with friends. Manisha you are FABULOUS & a BADGIRL ! Son Sanjay & me wishing super success to everyone, Gulshan wrote. He was joined by Saudagar actor Vivek Mushran.

Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar stars Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Richa Chadha, Sharmin Sehgal and Sanjeeda Sheikh as tawaifs. The series also stars Fardeen Khan, Taha Shah Badussha, Shekhar Suman, and Adhyayan Suman in the roles of the Nawabs.

The series is set in a time when courtesans reigned as monarchs. Through the stories of courtesans and their clients, set against the turbulent backdrop of the Indian Independence struggle in the 1940s, the series investigates the cultural reality of the namesake area of Heera Mandi.

News18 Showsha gave the series 4.5 stars and praised Manisha in the review. Manisha Koirala returns to the screen and essays the unyielding and authoritative Mallikajaan with a lot of finesse and heart. Shes easily the scene-stealer and to watch her revelling in a grey character after playing an array of vulnerable woman is a treat to the eyes.

The review also praised Sonakshi Sinha. She is stunning, shrewd and sardonic. And she fears no one. She single-handedly fights a battle to win justice for her late mother and has no qualms about walking on the path of vices for the same. At the end, the women are all so much more than just tawaifs. Ambition is their eternal companion and they use their beauty as a weapon to lure men into their beds and when the right time comes, render them powerless.
Dont look for Daniel Radcliffe and J.K. Rowling to reunite any time soon. Radcliffe found fame as a child actor starring as Harry Potter in the film franchise based on Rowlings wildly successful book series.

But the pair have split when it comes to trans rights. In a recently published interview with The Atlantic, Radcliffe talked about Rowlings past comments that have been perceived by many as anti-trans.

It makes me really sad ultimately because I do look at the person that I met, the times that we met, and the books that she wrote, and the world that she created, and all of that is to me so deeply empathic, he said, adding that he and Rowling have not been in contact in the past few years.

In 2020, Rowling posted a series of tweets in response to an article which used the phrase people who menstruate and has stated her view that the aspects of the trans movement are undermining womens rights.

CNN has reached out to representatives for Rowling for comment.

Radcliffe released a statement via The Trevor Project shortly after Rowlings posts in 2020.

Transgender women are women, he wrote in his statement. Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people and goes against all advice given by professional health care associations who have far more expertise on this subject matter than either [Rowling] or I.

Radcliffe and his Harry Potter co-stars Emma Watson and Rupert Grint have individually expressed their support for the trans community, something the British media in particular has grabbed ahold of in terms of the cast members being at odds with the woman whose books helped give them careers.

Theres a version of Are these three kids ungrateful brats? that people have always wanted to write, and they were finally able to, he told the Atlantic. So, good for them, I guess.

But while he notes that obviously Harry Potter would not have happened without Rowling and consequently nothing in my life would have probably happened the way it is without that person, he added, But that doesnt mean that you owe the things you truly believe to someone else for your entire life.

Rowling recently posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) about a report whose findings she touted as confirmation of her views. A follower noted that they were just waiting for Dan and Emma to give you a very public apology.

Rowling responded, Not safe, Im afraid. She characterized the trio as celebs who cosied up to a movement intent on eroding womens hard-won rights.

I will continue to support the rights of all LGBTQ people, and have no further comment than that, Radcliffe told the Atlantic in response.
Actor Krishna Mukherjee recently talked about a tough time she faced while working on Dangal TVs show Shubh Shagun. She accused producer Kundan Singh of letting the team lock her up on set and not paying her properly. In an interview with Indianexpress.com, Krishna explained more about how she and other actors were treated. She even mentioned another incident where Kundan allegedly locked up another actor on a Balaji set.

Krishna clarified that she wasnt personally locked in the makeup room by Kundan, but by the production staff. She said theres no need for her to lie and that many others can back up her story. She also mentioned filing a complaint about it. Krishna said, I never said he locked me in the makeup room, it was the production people. He is just cooking up stories because he has nothing to say right now. Also by mistake Aly said that I was shooting in Madh. I used to shoot in Famous Studios in Goregaon and this all happened there. I have a lot of people who can come ahead and speak on this. I have even registered the FIR there. I dont have to lie about anything.

The actor said that while Kundan seemed nice at first, she started having doubts in October when she filed a complaint. His attitude changed, and he avoided looking at her. Kundan is a very smart guy. He fooled us by saying beta beta, but I realised this in October itself when I filed that FIR that this money will not come. His behaviour had changed, the way he used to look at me was very different. Even Swati Thanawala from the production house had emailed me that she would take responsibility and that I should resume shooting. She made sure that those two people who locked me in the room, Prabhat and Sameer Qazi, did not come back on our sets again. Prabhat was the EP of the show, and Sameer was the HOP of the show. When they locked me, they said that Kundan had done this on a Balaji set once when he was the EP or HOP, but it is impossible for him to do something like this on a Balaji set. The atmosphere was really bad, every time we had to fight for our pay cheques.

Continuing her story, Krishna Mukherjee shared that she was locked up on set twice, and Kundan Singh made a sexist comment to her. She explained, When they locked me, Pearl Greys assistant Asma held my hand and said I will not shoot, but they said, Aise kaise shoot nahi karegi, kapde badal aur shoot kar. Yeh yahan se jaaegi nahi. (How will she not shoot? Change your clothes and shoot, else you wont go from here). But Asma took me down, and I was so scared because they kept chasing me. That time I didnt know that Kundans room was just below me. He was there and knew everything. He was the one who told them to do this. They locked me twice, once Shezada Dhami opened the door for me. The second time when Asma rescued me, they threatened me saying that they would see how my car left the premises. They are like proper gundas (goons). They were banging my door so hard, I had called the cops. The girl who helped me change took me to the washroom. When I returned and tried to open the door, he had locked me already. I had already worked for 12 hours and didnt want to work extra because I was not paid. Shehzada had packed up by then, and he was equally pissed because he was not getting paid. I was getting married so I told Kundan that I needed the money. That night when I left, Shehzada was coming from the stairs, that time, Kundan, Sameer, and Prabhat all three were standing there and Kundan told me, Ladki hai na, isliye yeh sab kar rahi hai aur bach gayi. (Just because you are a girl you are doing this and getting away with it).
Manoj Bajpayee had an eventful 2023 with two back-to-back films Gulmohar and Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai, which equally went on to garner praises owing to his dedication for craft and finesse in acting. The actor followed it up with the Netflix series Killer Soup and Silence 2: The Night Owl Shootout Bar. While Bajpayee is a skilled actor, his co-stars from the film revealed in a recent interaction that he is a culinary expert too.

During that conversation, Prachi Desai revealed, Manoj Sir makes amazing curry, and on the set, while we were shooting, he cooked for everyone. That day was very hotlike scorching hotbut he was outside cooking for us and making amazing food, and oh my god, that was so yum.

Manoj Bajpayee, reflecting on his cooking journey with the Killer Soup team, has previously shared with ANI, I ventured into cooking around 5 years ago, and it has become a true passion for me. I would often watch YouTube videos to explore new recipes. The crew seemed to thoroughly enjoy it, especially during our shoots in Munnar and Kerala. I made it a point to cook and present a new dish every week during those three months. It provided a refreshing pause from the intensity of our scenes, allowing me to revel in the joy of experimenting with diverse flavors and dishes. It evolved into a tradition for us, fostering a sense of camaraderie over meals and contributing to a relaxed atmosphere on set.

Konkana Sensharama, his co-star, also praised Manojs culinary talents, saying, Manoj is quite the chef; his Bihari mutton is simply delicious. Beyond the scenes and scripts, our shoot experience transformed into shared moments around food. It felt like one of those secret ingredients that added fun and togetherness to the Killer Soup set.

Manoj Bajpayee was recently honoured at the Tagore Centre at the Indian Embassy, Berlin for competing for 30 years in Bollywood. In the event, the selection of Bajpayees film The Fable for the prestigious Berlin International Film Festival was also acknowledged.

Next up for the actor is Bhaiyya Ji. The upcoming film will reunite the power duo of Manoj and director Apoorv Singh Karki. They previously collaborated on the film Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai. It premiered on Zee 5. Bajpayees most anticipated project is, however, season 3 of The Family Man.
Rakhi Sawants best friend, Rajshree More has lashed out at the actress amid her legal battle with Adil Khan Durrani. In a recent interview, Rajshree called Rakhi tamashewali (drama queen) and argued that she loves to create controversies.

Rakhi industry se hai. Uska kaam hai entertain karna. Songs karna. Woh media mein rehti hai. Usko toh maze aate hai controversy karne mein. (Rakhi is a part of this industry. It is her job to entertain people. She stays in the media. She loves to create controversies), Rajshree told Times Now.

Rakhis best friend further lashed out at the actress former husband, Adil Khan Durran and mocked him for doing nothing in his life. I have been doing business for the last 12 years. I have three studios. I have something to do in life. Adil Khan Durrani does not have anything to do in life. Voh toh kuch bhi nahi hai. Sirf Rakhi ka ex-husband hai. Iske alawa tumraha kya astitva hai (He does not do anything. He is just Rakhis husband. What is his existence?), she added.

This comes at a time when Rakhi Sawant is also involved in a legal battle with Adil Khan Durrani. Over the last one year, the two have levelled several allegations against each other. It all started in February 2023 after Rakhi accused Adil of being involved in extramarital affairs. Adil was also picked up from Rakhis residence and arrested on February 7, 2023. He was released after spending five months in jail.

Rakhi Sawant has also been booked for offences under Sections 500, 504 and 34, pertaining to defamation and complicity in criminal intent respectively of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) along with Section 67(A) of the Information and Technology Act (IT Act) for electronically disseminating sexually explicit material.

Meanwhile, in a recent interview, Rakhi made some explosive claims against Adil and went on to call him a rapist. claimed, He is a criminal. He is a rapist. He marries women and acquires their properties. Theres a guy in Pakistan whom Adil sells these videos to. Hes made my nude video too, she told Times Now.

The Bigg Boss fame further said that she is scared for Adils new wife, Somi. I pray for that lady. If she has any properties, Adil is also going to snatch that as well. Usko maar dega (He will kill her). He will definitely do something. I can assure you that she will also be seen in Oshiwara police station soon, Rakhi added.
Gina Mele was shocked and disappointed when she heard that State Supreme Court Judge Mark Grisanti would remain on the bench following a state Commission on Judicial Conduct review of a physical altercation between her, her husband Joseph, Grisanti and his wife, Maria.

Commission censures Judge Mark Grisanti for shoving Buffalo cop handcuffing his wife The state Commission on Judicial Conduct said acting State Supreme Court Judge Mark J. Grisanti exhibited exceptionally poor judgement during the incident and fell far short of holding up the standards of behavior expected from a judge.

The longtime neighbor to the Grisantis, who made a complaint to the commission after the Grisantis were not charged by Buffalo police, despite the judge shoving an officer during the June 2020 incident, said that the decision Tuesday to censure Grisanti but allow him to remain a judge calls into question the fairness in our justice system.

I have really lost faith in the judicial system, Mele said. I feel as if video doesnt lie, and the video was pretty clear.

During the incident, much of which was captured on video from police body cameras and the Meles personal security camera, the Grisantis and Meles got into a physical altercation on the Meles front lawn that also involved Gina Meles sister, who Gina Mele said had driven in from New Jersey to help care for their ailing father.

After police arrived, Grisanti was captured on video swearing at and making threats to police officers, invoking the names of powerful people, including Mayor Byron Brown and family members who work for the Buffalo Police Department, and shoving an officer after Maria was handcuffed and wrestled to the ground.

Bodycam video shows Judge Grisanti shove cop during neighbor dispute The police body camera footage sheds light on a highly publicized brawl that erupted on the night of June 22 on Duluth Avenue in North Buffalo.

Hey, you arrest my (expletive) wife, youre gonna be sorry, Grisanti screamed at an officer. If you dont get the cuffs off her right now, youre gonna have a problem.

Grisanti and his wife were handcuffed, but not charged, a decision by Buffalo police that drew scrutiny amid accusations of preferential treatment for the former state senator and sitting State Supreme Court judge.

Grisanti did not respond Wednesday to an email from a Buffalo News reporter seeking his comment.

Mele said that the commissions decision is offensive to her as a member of the working class, who, she believes, would have been arrested and charged had she shoved an officer.

She and Joseph Mele, a retired teachers aide and city Department of Public Works employee, dont have the influence that the Grisantis have because of the judges position, she added.

Hearing focuses on Judge Mark J. Grisantis conduct during 2020 fracas with police The state Commission on Judicial Conduct is hearing testimony from witnesses and viewing video evidence from a June 22, 2020, confrontation with Buffalo police officers outside Grisantis North Buffalo home.

This just sends a very wrong message, Mele said. A very wrong message that people in powerful positions can act and do what they want and they get a slap on the hand.

One of the members of the commission who voted to remove Grisanti from the bench, Nina Moore, agrees.

The average citizen that commits multiple offenses against a police officer would be sitting in a jail cell awaiting trial, instead of sitting on the bench of a courtroom overseeing trials, Moore, a professor of political science at Colgate University, wrote in her dissenting opinion.

Moore was among four commission members who voted to remove Grisanti from the bench. But in a 6 to 4 vote, the commission opted for censure, a decision that will see Grisanti continue in his position, which comes with a $232,600 annual salary, though with potential limits on the cases he is eligible to hear for the next two years.

The Meles and Grisantis have a long-standing feud, dating back to at least 2014, Mele said.

After 3 years, no conclusion to state's probe of Judge Mark Grisanti More than three years and seven months after acting State Supreme Court Judge Mark Grisanti got into a noisy dispute with his North Buffalo neighbors and some police officers, the state agency that investigates the behavior of judges has taken no public action on his case.

The Meles bought the house across the street from the judge and his wife in the citys North Park neighborhood in 2000.

The June 22, 2020, incident started after the Grisantis accused Gina Meles sister of parking her vehicle in front of the Grisantis driveway.

But police determined that the vehicle was parked legally and did not obstruct the driveway, according to the commissions report.

As a judge, what gives you the right to get upset when people are parked? Mele said.

The Meles also accused Maria Grisanti of biting Joseph Mele during their altercation. Police took photos of the wound, which were submitted as evidence to the commission.

Mele said the bite caused her husband, a cancer survivor who suffers from lupus, to go to the Kenmore Mercy emergency room on the advice of his primary care physician, who worried the bite might cause an infection. Joseph Mele was in the hospital for hours during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, a cause of stress for the family.

DA eyeing incident over parked car involving State Supreme Court judge An altercation in North Buffalo that seems to have started over a parked car and involved a judge has drawn the attention of the DA's Office.

Mele said there have been no further incidents with the Grisantis since the 2020 fight. But she and Joseph live with the stress of knowing that if there are other incidents, they are not confident that they will be treated fairly by the legal system, and the Grisantis may get preferential treatment.

Hes got a lot of connections to a lot of powerful people, Mele said. You know, that I feel like, once again, did we get a fair chance at this?

The commission majoritys decision to censure Grisanti cited his impeccable record as a lawyer and judge, also noting personal issues including death and illness in his family and the general stress caused by the Covid-19 pandemic at the time of the incident as factors leading up to the fight.

Terrence M. Connors, Grisantis attorney, told The Buffalo News he was pleased with the commissions ruling.

Todays decision concludes that, on balance, Justice Grisantis conduct during a two-hour period of one day, compared to his excellent record as a judge, does not warrant removal from the bench, Connors said.
Hours after Anuj Thapan, one of the accused in the Bollywood actor Salman Khan house firing case, died by suicide on Wednesday, his brother claimed that he was murdered by the Mumbai Police in custody. He further demanded that his post-mortem should be conducted outside Mumbai.

Abhishek Thapan, the brother of the deceased accused, said that Anuj was not the kind of person who would commit suicide and demanded justice.

Anuj was taken by Mumbai Police from Sangrur 6-7 days ago. Today, we received a call that Anuj had committed suicide. He was not the kind who could have committed suicide. He was murdered by the police. We want justice. He worked as a truck helper, Abhishek Thapan was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

#WATCH | Anuj Thapan, the accused in Salman Khan residence attack case, passed away after he attempted suicide in custody today, say Mumbai Police.The accused's brother Abhishek Thapan, a resident of Sukhchain village in Punjab's Abohar, says, "Anuj was taken by Mumbai Police pic.twitter.com/VpFGJ4PyQw  ANI (@ANI) May 1, 2024

The Sarpanch of the deceaseds native village, Manoj Godara also raised a suspicion over Anujs death and accused the police of murdering him. This case is suspicious from the beginning. They were two brothers, one sister and one mother. They dont have a father. Anuj used to work as a helper to a truck driver. He was taken by Mumbai Police without informing the Panchayat. Even, the

family was only informed 1-2 days later. We all know how much security is there in police custody.

On one side is superstar Salman Khan and on the other side are the labourers. Under pressure, they have killed him and framed it as a suicide, he added.

Accused in Salman Khan House Firing Case Dies By Suicide

Anuj Thapan was arrested from Punjabs Sangrur on April 26 and was lodged in a crime branch lock-up at Mumbai police headquarters. Thapan was arrested along with Sonu Kumar Bishnoi for allegedly supplying weapons to shooters Sagar Pal and Vicky Gupta, who were already arrested, according to the police.

On Wednesday, he was found hanging inside the lock-up using a bedsheet. He was rushed to hospital, where he was declared dead during the treatment.

Find Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Schedule, Key Candidates And Constituencies At News18 Website.
TV actor Gurucharan Singh, who is best known for playing Roshan Singh Sodhi in Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah, has been missing for more than 10 days now. Police have registered a case of kidnapping based on a complaint filed by Gurucharans father and several teams have been formed to trace him. Now, News18 Showsha has exclusively learnt that the actor may have planned his own disappearance.

Police sources in Delhi told us, He left his phone in the Palam area. We are trying to find but it only makes it more difficult for us to trace Gurucharan Singh, because this means that the phone is not with the actor. In the CCTV footage we recovered that he was seen moving from one e-rickshaw to another. Looks like, he had planned everything and has moved out of Delhi.

When Was Gurucharan Singh Last Seen?

For the unversed, Gurucharan Singh was last seen on April 22. His father filed a missing complaint four days later which stated, My son Gurucharan Singh, Age: 50 years, had left at 8:30 am on 22nd April to go to Mumbai. He went to the airport to catch a flight. He didnt reach Mumbai, neither has he returned home and his phone is not reachable. He is mentally stable and we had been searching for him but now he has been missing.

How Is Gurucharan Singh Related To TMKOC?

In Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah, Gurcharan Singh played the role of Roshan Singh Sodhi  a fun-loving man who is always in party mode and never shies away from expressing his love for his wife. He was one of the most popular characters on the show, and also a founding cast member. Gurcharan, however, left the show in 2013 only to return next year due to public demand. After his exit in 2020, he was replaced by actor Balwinder Singh Suri.

So far, several of Gurucharans TMKOC co-stars including Jennifer Mistry, Samay Shah and Mandar Chandwadkar have expressed concern over his disappearance, hoping him to return home soon. Recently, the shows producer Asit Kumarr Modi also reacted to the news and called it painful and shocking.
Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmaahs Sodhi, formally known as Gurucharan Singh, has been missing for over 10 days now. As police searches for the actor, reports about his alleged marriage plans and financial troubles made headlines. In 2020, after Guruchand quit TMKOC, there were reports claiming he had not received his dues. While his family addressed the claims about his alleged wedding plans, TMKOC creator Asit Modi opened up about the reports of non-payment. He said that it wasnt the case at the time but the show was suffering due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

It was nothing like that. That was Covid time, and it was stressful for all of us. The shootings had stopped. Even we didnt know if the show would continue or not. The world was changing around us. Now its back to normal routine. That was a difficult moment for all of us, he told Times Now.

Speaking about the actor, Asit added, He had left TMKOC during Covid, but we always had good relations even after that Gurucharan always used to meet me with a smile. His disappearance is very shocking, I dont know why this has happened. The investigation is on, though, so I am sure something good will turn up. I pray to God that he is safe and he picks up his calls.

Meanwhile, his family addressed the rumours of his marriage plans in an interview with Indianexpress.com. They admitted they didnt know anything about Gurucharan having plans to get married. They also mentioned they didnt know where these reports were coming from.

The actors father told the police that Gurucharan Singh wasnt troubled mentally, which adds to the mystery of his disappearance. On Sunday, the Delhi Police Special Cell visited Gurucharans home to investigate where he might have gone before he went missing.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan, a beloved celebrity duo, became a couple in April 2007. In an old interview on Famously Filmfare, Aishwarya spoke about Abhisheks impromptu proposal and their roka ceremony.

During a conversation with Filmfare, Aishwarya Rai reminisced about the moments following Abhishek Bachchans proposal. She described the experience as a whirlwind. Reflecting on their rushed roka ceremony, Aishwarya mentioned her lack of familiarity with the custom, stating, I didnt know there was something called roka. Were South Indians. Suddenly there was a call from their house to ours, We are coming! and my dad was out of town.

Abhishek says, I cant stop them, were on our way this evening, were coming to your place. So this roka is happening with a call to my father who is out of town, mum is here, we are here and theyve arrived all emotional. Then it was like Okay, lets go home. I was like, Is this an engagement?

The day after, Aishwarya found herself on Ashutosh Gowarikars set dressed in bridal attire, filming for Khwaja Mere Khwaja for the movie Jodha Akhbar. She recalled the surreal experience and how both the director and her co-star Hrithik Roshan were thrilled to hear about her engagement.

Last month, Aishwarya Rai shared a photo with hubby Abhishek and daughter Aaradhya Bachchan. This left Aishwarya and Abhisheks fans pleasantly surprised. In the pictures, Aishwarya sported a beige dress and bold red lipstick, while keeping her stunning hair down. Aaradhya leaned on her mother, sporting her beautiful smile, as Abhishek joined in from behind. It was a perfect family moment after her long absence from social media.

Not long back, Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan joined the Bachchan family at the Holika Dahan puja in Mumbai. The Bachchan family members  Abhishek, Aishwarya, Shweta Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Amitabh Bachchan and Navya Naveli Nanda  were seen at Amitabhs Mumbai bungalow, offering prayers on the eve of Holi.

Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai dated for a brief period of time before getting married in April 2007. They welcomed their daughter Aaradhya Bachchan in November 2011. Abhishek and Aishwarya have starred together in multiple movies such as Dhoom 2 (2006), Guru (2007) and Raavan (2010), among others.
On April 19, 2024, Chinese President Xi Jinping unveiled the new Information Support Force (ISF) in the Bayi Building. In addition to giving the ISF the military flag, Jinping gave a speech. The Central Military Commission (CMC), the Peoples Liberation Armys highest decision-making body, is directly in charge of the recently established ISF. ISF is an upgraded or modified Strategic Support Force (SSF) version. The SSF was set up by the January 1, 2016, announcements of the National Defence Modernization Programme and the reforms in the PLAs current armed forces formations. The SSF supervises the PLAs space and cyber capabilities.

Xi Jinping undertook his more extensive national defence modernisation programme in 2015 by establishing the SSF, which is now the ISF. Since then, the PLA has undergone operational and structural changes. By 2027, the PLA will celebrate the anniversary of its creation, and it has announced its centenary goals and outcomes. The 14th Five-Year Plan (20212026) of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) was revealed by the state council with a particular emphasis on military modernisation.

Modern Warfare and Logic of Information Intelligence

In modern warfare, autonomous networks with software-defined communications capabilities are made possible by current digital and electronic networks. Massive quantities of data are needed to bleed down to the core intelligence, and in the PRC, that entailed maintaining a robust and independent body beneath the top decision-making body. To facilitate collaborative intelligence gathering by other military forces units and intelligence organisations, such as the Ministry of State Security and the Ministry of Public Security, the command under the highest body (CMC) will offer universal application. This is an attempt to obtain faster, best intelligence to respond to the enemy more quickly, either before, during, or after the war.

This newly created units specific objectives and operational know-how still need to be unveiled. However, Xi Jinping and other officials, such as Li Wei, the political commissar, and Bi Yi, the commander of the ISF, have laid out the forces fundamental goals and operational capabilities in their speeches. The director and spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defenses Information Bureau contended in the press conference that the PLA now has a new system of services and arms under the leadership and command of the CMC.

There are four arms: the Joint Logistic Support Force, the Cyberspace Force, the Information Support Force, and the Aerospace Force. There are also four services: the army, navy, air force, and rocket force.

Further, at the press conference; emphasis was placed on modernising Chinas national defence. The reason for building this new institution within the armed forces structures is to build a strong military, and a strategic step to establish a new system of services and arms and improve the modern military force structure with Chinese characteristics. The Information Support Force is a brand-new strategic arm of the PLA and a key underpinning of coordinated development and application of the network information system. It plays an important role and promotes high-quality development and the ability to fight and win in modern warfare.

Xi emphasised that the information support force, according to Xinhua, will play a pivotal role in enhancing the Chinese militarys superior advancement and competitiveness in contemporary conflict. Xi said that the force should integrate deeply into the joint operation system of the Chinese military, carry out information support operations precisely and effectively, and facilitate military operations in various directions and fields. In addition, he called for creating a network information system that satisfies the needs of contemporary fighting, incorporates traits of the Chinese military, and expedites the development of integrated combat capabilities.

Which factors are behind this change in direction? The long-term objectives of the armed forces restructuring that started in late 2015 and early 2016 are to challenge the dominant position of the current military powers. Since then, the globe has witnessed two biggest battles, including regional and large nations like Israel and Russia. When it comes to determining the armies operational capability in both conflicts and wars, intelligence has been the most critical factor. Since then, there have been significant changes to the fighting in both regions. Consequently, given the PRCs determination to seize Taiwan as soon as possible, the Chinese leadership has acknowledged that it needs to rearrange its critical war capabilities.

Conclusion

In summary, since Xi took the leadership position, restructuring Chinas armed forces has remoulded and modified its existing war-fighting units. Old structures were either destroyed or altered, or Xi created new units in what the CPC has called a new era. The diversified interests and more comprehensive outlook have allowed their leadership to take bold steps in making the PLA a world-class army that could fight and win the war. The creation of the ISF can contribute to its larger share since war is a multi-front activity, and intelligence gathering is one of the topmost priorities of modern armies. The ultimate aim of this institution is to apply Sun Tzus maxim winning a war without fighting a war.

The author is a PhD candidate in the Chinese division of the Centre for East Asian Studies (CEAS), Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views.
A new electoral promotion video shows Congress dynast Rahul Gandhi as a brilliant chess mind. It is meant as an allegory for his supposed political astuteness.

In the video, he says: One of the most interesting things about chess is once you start getting slightly better at it, the opponents pieces actually start operating almost like your ownand then very often, a very powerful piece for the opponent, is actually working for you.

Rahul Gandhis lines would be tantalisingly prescient, only if they were not so wet with irony.

The Nehru-Gandhi family scion has long and consistently operated as the BJPs unwitting but widely acknowledged asset. Even in this general election, he has decided to concede no exception.

Each day he fumbles and stumbles and loudly grumbles. For a man born into one of the worlds most powerful political dynasties, he has disarmingly retained his political naivety at 53.

While it is impossible to count his minor self-goals, at least seven blunders in the run-up to and during this election stand out.

First, it took the Congress four-and-a-half years after the last Lok Sabha drubbing in 2019 to start working on an alliance  the awkwardly abbreviated and punctuated I.N.D.I.A.

Indias best-known political consultant Prashant Kishor wondered aloud in an interview about what took the Congress and the rest of the Opposition so long to come together.

And if they did, why did they not lock themselves up and put their heads together for at least a couple of days and come out with some solutions and a strategy? What took so long to come, however, swiftly unravelled with the personal ambitions of leaders like Mamata Banerjee, Nitish Kumar, and Rahul Gandhi himself.

Rahuls second blunder was going after Indias big business, in particular the Adani and the Ambani group. Like his Rafale deal campaign in 2019 which crashed not with a bomb but with Rahuls grovelling apology in the Supreme Court, these reckless attacks have backfired too.

The Adani group got a clean chit from SEBI and the Supreme Court, Congresss own state governments asked and got investments from it, and his socialist fear-mongering did not even impress the poor in todays India who have tasted at least small doses of new prosperity and aspire for more.

Third is his obsession with a caste census and OBC reservation, caring little that PM Narendra Modi himself is an OBC and plays that game like a master. Rahul had probably been inspired by the idea of dividing the BJPs solid and growing Hindu vote on caste lines, a trick straight out of the British colonisers playbook.

Modi let him play. The PM launched no counterattack initially, emboldening Rahul to go harder and harder on caste.

The Congress obliged with its fourth and fifth blunders: A manifesto reinforcing the naked minoritism that the party has long been accused of, and Rahul Gandhi grandly announcing wealth redistribution if the Congress comes to power.

One of Rahuls closest advisors, Sam Pitroda, topped it up by suggesting an inheritance tax whereby the State can grab up to 55 per cent of ones wealth.

This was like bowling an in-form Virat Kohli successive full tosses.

Modi first dispatched the Muslim League manifesto out of the park for cheering for hijab in schools and personal laws.

He then linked the caste census, wealth redistribution and inheritance tax to the Congresss intent of taking away a share of reservation from SC, ST and OBC and giving it to Muslims. He invoked Manmohan Singhs historic self-goal in which the then PM had said that minorities, particularly the Muslim community, have the first right to the nations resources.

Sensing that Rahul was trying to polarise the Muslims to vote en bloc, Modi in one stroke polarised the majority, put fear in the minds of the backward castes, and told women that even their mangalsutra or holy matrimonial thread could be taken away and redistributed among minorities if the Congress comes to power.

The Congress then executed its sixth blunder. It circulated a deep fake in which Amit Shah is heard saying that the BJP would scrap all reservations.

This gave the BJP a chance to aggressively discredit the entire Congress social campaign as fake and full of lies. It has been arresting those who circulated the video and expose the Congress further.

Also, it is doubling down on its claim that the Congress wants to rob SC, ST, and OBC of their quota to appease Muslims.

And finally, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra have still not filed their nominations from Amethi and Rae Bareli, which once used to be Nehru-Gandhi family bastions. There are a few more hours left to the May 3 deadline to file nominations, but the sheer delay and dithering has done enough damage.

It has sent a jarring message to the cadre across India that the siblings do not have the courage to fight even in what used to be their backyard in north India after Rahuls humiliating defeat to Smriti Irani in 2019.

They have already hung the label of confused on themselves in large font. In case they do not fight from Amethi and Rae Bareli, the confused would change to coward.

It would be as good as conceding defeat.

Abhijit Majumder is a senior journalist. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views.
In his new book 2024: India in Free Fall (HarperCollins India), suspended Congress leader Sanjay Jha has revealed that most party dissenters who had formed G-23, had genuine and personal affection for Rahul Gandhi but the Gandhi scions inaccessibility gave them migraine.

G-23, a group of Congress rebels, was a curious mix of former union ministers, AICC office bearers and other notables. In August 2020, they had shot a missive to Sonia Gandhi, complaining about Rahuls style of function. The group had asked for internal elections and an organisational overhaul. Many leading lights of G-23 namely Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kapil Sibal, Jitin Prasada, R P N Singh, Milind Deora and Ashok Chavan subsequently left the party.

Jha, a former AICC spokesman, was suspended from the Congress in July 2020 after a critical takedown of his party in a newspaper article that had accused the grand old party of drifting far from its democratic and liberal values. Jha fancies himself as a Congress party ideologue.

According to Jha, G-23 was not a congregation of international leaders huddled in a swanky getaway in the Swiss Alps confabulating on climate change in a post-Trump world order. Neither was it a ragtag gang of disgruntled old men plotting a midnight putsch. In fact, it was an assemblage of twenty-three passionate politicians with gargantuan self-respect for the political party they represented, Jha wrote in 2024 India in Free Fall where he argues that, politically, India appears to be in a state of free fall.

G-23, in Jhas view, were a thoughtful lot, a committed bunch of Congressmen, ideologically Nehruvian, who were appalled that the Congress had become so lazy and listless that it was quite literally giving the country on a platter to the BJP, which was smashing it to smithereens. Everyone would genuinely express their personal affection for Rahul privately; it was his inaccessibility that gave most a migraine. Although petty grovelers would taunt G-23 as BJP agents or desktop leaders, the truth was otherwise. I often hosted Zoom call meetings with many of them and we would talk for hours on how to fix what seemed like a terminal disintegration. Jha, however, offers no explanation why many of these worthies who were ideologically Nehruvian chose BJP as their political destination.

Jha questions Rahul Gandhis sardonic dig at his erstwhile colleague Jyotiraditya Scindia when the former Congress president called him a backbencher in the BJP. Jha doubts Rahuls claim that had Scindia stayed on in the Congress, he would have become chief minister of Madhya Pradesh and asks Rahul if someone from the Congress had assured Scindia of that. Rahuls tardy observation was an exhibition of his leadership misses. Instead of exhibiting schadenfreude at the perceptible discomfiture of the Nawab of Gwalior in the BJP, the more fundamental question remained unaddressed: why did Scindia prefer the alleged mortification of being maltreated by the BJP over remaining and stagnating in the Congress, his first port of call? Why did Rahul allow Scindia, who was his Lok Sabha compatriot, to leave at all? If apparently, Scindia could walk into the sprawling 12, Tughlaq Lane bungalow anytime because they were close chums, how come Rahul never sensed that his buddy was upset at being sidelined?

These questions are relevant even now but go without answers.

Jha questions Rahuls communication skills describing it as a communication paralysis in Rahuls handling of Congress generals. He cites the example of Sachin Pilot, another popular Young Turk who had almost left the Congress in July 2020. After a serious drubbing in two Lok Sabha elections, losing Scindia and the state of Madhya Pradesh (reclaimed after fifteen long years from Shivraj Singh Chouhan of the BJP), Congress nearly blew away the desert state [Rajasthan], which would have been nothing short of kamikaze. The party allowed itself to slip down a quicksand but seemed unable to understand the threat of extinction. Maybe there was something Rahul and his cabal knew that ordinary mortals dont.

Jha leaves us guessing without answering these important and searching questions himself.

The writer is a Visiting Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation. A well-known political analyst, he has written several books, including 24 Akbar Road and Sonia: A Biography. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views.
October 08, 2024, 09:58 AM IST | Episode 147

Telangana minister Konda Surekha blamed KT Rama Rao for the divorce of actors Naga Chaitanya and Samantha Ruth Prabhu, triggering a storm of criticism from the Telugu film industry as well as the Opposition. Given the marriage of stardom and politics in the south, to what extent can the two be kept separate?
An investigation into a bomb threat on St. Patricks Day at Buffalo General Medical Center has led to charges against a Corfu man, Acting Erie County District Attorney Michael J. Keane announced.

Lordseth Phoenix, 31, has been arraigned before Buffalo City Court Judge Shannon M. Heneghan on charges of second-degree falsely reporting an incident, a Class E felony, and making a threat of mass harm, a Class B misdemeanor.

Phoenix was arrested April 9 after investigators identified him as a suspect. He was released on his own recognizance pending a felony hearing on May 28. If convicted, he faces a maximum of four years in prison.

Prosecutors said that the threat was made in a phone call to 911 about 5:15 a.m. on March 17. The caller said that an explosive device would be placed in a parking garage at the hospital. The facility was subsequently searched by hospital security officers and Buffalo police.

- Dale Anderson
Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee on Wednesday accused West Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury of being an agent of the BJP and held him responsible for obstructing the formation of the opposition INDIA bloc in the state.

Addressing an election rally in support of party candidate Prasun Banerjee, the TMC leader highlighted Chowdhurys alleged speech in Jangipur on Tuesday, wherein the Bengal Congress chief was reportedly heard suggesting that voting for the BJP is better than voting for the Trinamool.

The purported video showed Chowdhury, the sitting MP and candidate from Baharampur, addressing a public meeting and saying its better to vote for the BJP than to vote for the TMC. Banerjee expressed disbelief that a Congressman would advocate for the saffron party, stating that Chowdhurys actions were aiding the BJPs cause.

We all wanted the INDIA bloc to happen in Bengal. But Chowdhury prevented it to strengthen the hands of the BJP, the TMC general secretary said.

He highlighted the contradiction between Chowdhurys actions and the united front presented by senior Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi alongside Mamata Banerjee.

Banerjee urged residents of Maldaha Uttar Lok Sabha constituency to refrain from voting for the Congress, warning that doing so could result in cross-voting that ultimately benefits the BJP.

Last time (2019) you voted for the Congress, it actually helped the BJP. Do not fall prey to the trap laid by the Congress, he said.

Banerjee referred to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanaths speeches during his visit to the state on Tuesday, noting that the UP CM did not say anything against Chowdhury.

Yesterday, the UP CM did not say a single word against Chowdhury. What is the reason? Because they are cousins, he said.

Banerjee also questioned why the Congress West Bengal president was silent when the Centre had stopped releasing funds for the poor of the state.

Chowdhury did not utter a single line for the people of the state whose money was not released by the central government. He never joined us during our protest in New Delhi. They have only strengthened the hands of the BJP Do not cast a single vote for these agents of the BJP, he said.

Check Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Schedule, Key Candidates And Constituencies At News18 Website.
Google was inaccessible for millions on Wednesday evening across the globe. The search engine from Google was not available which suggests the company faced a major outage. We were able to confirm the development via Downdetector which saw a big spike in reports from people in the United States, UK, Australia and countries like India as well.

Google Search Not Working: What Users Said

The Google outage on Wednesday indicates people were facing issues trying to open the website, which is the search engine. Some people were also unable to use Google Drive which didnt seem like a widespread issue. The reported spike occurred around 8:00 PM IST in India, while those in countries like the US noticed the outage early in the morning. In India, the outage report was coming from cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai among others.

Many affected people shared the update via a post on X and some even prayed that Google never comes back in action.

The company has not confirmed or shared any details about the outage but we expect to hear something from Google on this front, at least a post on X talking about the issue in the next few hours. At the time of writing, Google was working fine and we didnt face any issues accessing the search engine or Google Drive.

Having said that, Google is a core part of millions and outages like these can leave them in a spot, so it is vital that people dont rely on one service for all their needs to prevent any major lapses if incidents like these happen in the near future.
Microsoft has invested billions into its big AI project which includes the reported $10 billion funding into OpenAI. We never understood its strategy and the reason for its heavy lifting in the AI arena. But latest reports give us a very good idea about its plans and how Microsoft was very worried about Googles AI efforts and how it could be left behind in the AI race without these investments.

The internal email titled Thoughts on OpenAI on June 12, 2019 was shared between Microsofts Satya Nadella, his CTO Kevin Scott and Bill Gates, as per the report here. The letter points out Microsofts worry about being slow with its focus in terms of machine learning scale.

Initially, Scott was eager to see where the AI evolution goes and how quickly but soon he started to get worried about the work done by OpenAI and Google DeepMind division. The Microsoft CTO was impressed with the demo videos of Google DeepMind AlphaGo showing its worth and capability.

Google had a clear advantage over Microsoft with its renewed AI focus a few years ago. But fast-forward to 2022, and you can see the tide shifting in the favour of Satya Nadella and Co. Its reported investment in OpenAI has catapulted its growth, enabling products like Bing, Edge and Copilot have a slight edge over Googles Gemini AI that is now available in Gmail, Docs, Android and more.

The OpenAI partnership has gone through regulator probes, wherein Microsoft was allegedly running the operations of the Sam Altman-run company. We still dont know who or how the OpenAI partnership came to fruition.

Bill Gates seemingly had a role in making the deal happen but the bigger challenge for Nadella would have been to get Microsoft and its shareholders to sanction over $10 billion into the AI company. So, the company has gone from being worried about Googles plans to take a clear lead in the race and has a lot more to offer in the near future.
countries for a short period. However, in recent years, many Indian tourists have been denied the Schengen visa. In 2022, India had the second-highest number of Schengen visa rejections, just marginally behind Algeria which saw the highest number of rejections. The refusal of a Schengen visa has foiled travel plans for many Indians. Mayank Sharma, a bank executive, is one of those. On April 30, Sharma took to X and shared that he lost Rs 3.5 lakhs in flight and hotel bookings after his Schengen visa was denied.

Sharma said that his visa request was denied two days after he was scheduled to fly out of India for a seven-day holiday in Greece. He mentioned that his visa rejection letter came in standard format which said that theyre not sure if Ill come back. Sharma said that he was shocked that the embassy made this conclusion even though he had enough proof to show that he has enough money to support his seven-day travel and return to India. He wrote, Honestly I am shocked and still not able to digest that theres a corner in world out of my reach.

Letter was in standard format which said that they're not sure if I'll come back, whereas I am working as Business Head@Unity SFB with SA balance in 7 figures. Honestly I am shocked and still not able to digest that there's a corner in world out of my reach. Mayank Sharma (@TheMayanks) May 1, 2024

An X user described the denial of a Schengen visa as criminal behaviour by the European visa authorities.

This is criminal behaviour by the European visa authorities. https://t.co/P2tY327mdV Alaska la gelaska (@AmolKu1karni) May 1, 2024

An X user wrote that chances of getting Schengen visa denials are high from April to June because most tourists apply for the visa during these three months, which might put a strain on the EU embassies.

Every year April May June is extremely busy period for the Schengen visas in india. I had a problem in even getting a slot last May. Many embassies now return the application if the journey is scheduled in less than 20 days. U have the opportunity to apply as early as 6 months. prans (@prans96) May 1, 2024

Many people also suggested that one should always have travel insurance that has a 100 per cent refund for flights and accommodation, in case the Schengen visa gets denied at the last moment.

There is visa insurance available now on Indian OTA, they will provide 100% refunds for flights if the visa does not go through. Vaghani Hitesh (@VaghaniHitesh) May 1, 2024

Someone suggested that one should always have refundable bookings when they are planning foreign travel so that they dont lose money in case there is an issue with the visa or last-minute change in the itinerary.

Take help of Agents who do refundable bookings and help you get the visa and once you have got it then you can change the whole itenary basis your requirement and cost impact is little. But planning is advance is critical. Big Big ordeal this!!! Soham Bhattacharya (@SohamBhatt92332) May 1, 2024

The Schengen visa application fee for Indian citizens aged 12 and above with an ordinary passport is 80 or Rs 7,000. Usually, a Schengen visa takes about 15 days to get processed. This special visa allows one to stay in the Schengen area for a maximum of 90 days within a 180-day period.
Exactly 13 years back, on this very day, the world witnessed a historic event: the demise of al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden, taken down by a top-secret operation executed by the US militarys Special Operations unit in the quiet city of Abbottabad, Pakistan. What adds a fascinating twist to this tale is the unwitting involvement of one of Abbottabads own residents, an IT consultant living next door to Bin Laden himself, who inadvertently provided live updates of the operation as it unfolded on his social media handle, @ReallyVirtual.

Sohaib Athar, a tech freelancer and a graduate of Preston University, skyrocketed to fame when his real-time posts (previously known as tweets) served as the worlds initial clue to the unfolding US mission against Bin Laden. It all began on May 2, 2011, when US soldiers raided a compound in Abbottabad and caught Osama Bin Laden. The noise of helicopters woke everyone up, including Athar. Roused from sleep by the noise, he couldnt resist sharing his surprise at the unusual occurrence.

Also Read: Man Recalls Lucky 9/11 Escape After Colleagues Advise, Fires Her Later Over Bad Performance

Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1 AM (is a rare event), read Athars first post, followed by a tongue-in-cheek remark: Go away helicopter  before I take out my giant swatter.

Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1AM (is a rare event). Sohaib Athar (@ReallyVirtual) May 1, 2011

Little did Athar know that his tweets would coincide with the precise moment when Bin Laden met his end, just eleven minutes after his initial post. Bin Laden, responsible for terror attacks in the name of jihad, was finally brought down by the US special forces.

Athars own awakening to the event came with a loud bang, signalling to him that something significant was unfolding. A huge window shaking bang here in Abbottabad Cantt. I hope its not the start of something nasty. he shared.

A huge window shaking bang here in Abbottabad Cantt. I hope its not the start of something nasty :-S Sohaib Athar (@ReallyVirtual) May 1, 2011

Speculating on the origins of the helicopters, Athar even entertained the idea that they might be Taliban-operated, and he mentioned hearing reports of a helicopter crash near Abbottabads Bilal Town area  a crash later confirmed by the CIA.

The abbottabad helicopter/UFO was shot down near the Bilal Town area, and theres report of a flash. People saying it could be a drone. Sohaib Athar (@ReallyVirtual) May 1, 2011

Meanwhile, it wasnt until morning dawned that he pieced together the puzzle, realising he had inadvertently documented the capture and demise of Osama Bin Laden. Uh oh, now Im the guy who live blogged the Osama raid without knowing it, Athar humorously realised.

I apologize for reporting the operation unwittingly/unknowingly  had I known about it, I would have tweeted about it wittingly I swear. Sohaib Athar (@ReallyVirtual) May 2, 2011

Since then, Sohaib Athar, the accidental journalist, has his name forever linked with the historic events that unfolded in the darkness of that Abbottabad night.
The Kerala tourism department has embarked on an innovative initiative by taking Gods Own Country to foreign shores through bus branding. Double-decker buses in London have been adorned with stunning visuals of Kerala, showcasing scenes from its picturesque backwaters. This creative venture aims to boost state tourism, particularly as the summer holidays approach. A viral video capturing the double bus branding has garnered significant attention on social media platforms.

An Instagram user shared his excitement after spotting a vibrant London with advertisements that promote Kerala tourism. As the video plays, the user shows the complete look of the bus with scenes from the backwaters. With the logo of Kerala Tourism added to the bus, one can also see pictures of Alappuzhas houseboat, snake boat races and the water bodies stuck all over it. A hashtag on one side of the bus reads, #TravelForGood.

Social media users also reacted to the video, sharing amazement. One of them wrote, Wow, the whole of Alappuzha is in the vehicle, while another one commented, Alappuzha, Kuttanad supremacy everywhere.

People recognise India through Kerala, proud of it, a comment read. A user praised the advertising tactics and wrote, Brilliant placements, hats off to Kerala tourism marketing team.

The video has collected over four million views. Kerala Tourism Minister P A Mohamed Riyas also shared a video of the bus branding from London and wrote, Kerala tourisms new campaign method. Our Alappuzha and house boat in London buses. New campaign ideas that can be implemented in foreign countries will be informed in the comment box.

People praised the state tourism departments effort towards promoting Kerala tourism on foreign soil. Notably, this is not the first time that such an initiative has been taken. Earlier in 2018, around five big London double-decker buses with visuals from Kerala were run across the city. The experiment was carried out with the iconic red buses, catching the attention of the commuters and the general public in London. Prior to that, the department successfully branded Kerala on taxis across London, Birmingham and Glasgow.
Singapore Airlines has been ordered to compensate an Indian couple with more than $2,040 (approximately Rs 1.70 Lakh) due to Mental Agony they faced when their business class seats malfunctioned during a flight. Ravi Gupta, a police chief from Telangana and his wife Anjali Gupta were traveling from Hyderabad to Australia via Singapore. Despite paying Rs 66,750 each for business class seats, they discovered that the automatic recline function was not operational. Instead, they were only able to recline the seats manually and were forced to stay awake throughout the five hour long journey. As a compensation, the airlines offered them 10,000 flyer miles points each, but the couple refused their deal and decided to sue Singapore Airlines, claiming they were treated like economy class passengers.

Interestingly, the Hyderabad court ruled in the couples favour and asked the airline to reimburse Rs 48,750 each, plus 12% interest from May 23, 2023, until settlement. Anjali and Ravi also received additional compensations of Rs 1 lakh for mental agony and physical discomfort, along with Rs 10, 000 to cover the complaint expenses.

Singapore Airlines in a statement told The Independent, SIA can confirm that while the automatic recline function on Mr and Mrs Guptas seats was faulty, the manual recline function was working on their flight from Hyderabad to Singapore. There were no issues on their connecting flight from Singapore to Perth. The flight duration from Hyderabad to Singapore is typically around four hours.

As it was a full flight, SIA staff unfortunately could not reseat the customers elsewhere in the Business Class cabin. Our crew proactively checked in on these customers regularly and offered to manually recline the seat when needed. We apologise to Mr and Mrs Gupta for the inconvenience caused by this mechanical issue, the airlines added.

In 2023, Brodie Chapman, a 20 year old, took legal action against Emirates, claiming his business class seat was in an unacceptable condition. He alleged that despite paying $2,166 (approximately Rs 1.80 Lakh) for his flight from Oslo to Dubai, he came across numerous issues. According to Chapman, the seat was damaged, didnt recline properly, he even found socks stuffed beside his seat and one of the screens was malfunctioning. He expressed disappointment, stating that he chose Emirates for its luxury and comfort, but felt cheated when the actual experience was poor. As per Daily Mail, Emirates offered him 20,000 air miles. However, Chapman took legal action in a British small claims court and asked for $3,300 (approximately Rs 2 Lakh).
In the UK, the pest control chiefs are warning the citizens that seagulls could kill them this spring with their toxic poop. According to the Daily Star portal, Paul Blackhurst, chief of the UKs Rentokil pest control company, has warned the public and businesses to be cautious in the coming weeks.

He warned that heavy gull activity is expected countrywide and that their droppings contain deadly E.coli and Salmonella. E. coli (Escherichia coli), is a bacteria commonly living in your intestines. Salmonella infection (salmonellosis) is a common bacterial disease that impacts the intestinal tract. This can lead to the spread of infection through surface contamination or inhaling bacteria from dried droppings, Blackhurst said.

Blackhurst particularly warned the people living in the coastal urban areas. He said that the increased gull activity at this time can lead to potential interactions between the public and these birds.

According to the pest control company chief, seagulls can become extremely aggressive during nesting season. This nesting season lasts between late spring and early summer, as these birds protect their nests and search for food for their offspring. Blackhurst said that the nests and roosting sites of birds also attract many pests such as bird mites, textile beetles and fleas. Bird mites, also called chicken mites, are pests that live on the skin of some birds.

Therefore, Blackhurst said that gulls at a home or business premises can bring about infestations from other unwanted visitors. Blackhursts company installs bird spikes and netting to protect properties from seagulls and a bird-scaring gadget.

Meanwhile, as reported by the Daily Star, refuse collectors (people whose job is to empty peoples dustbins and take the rubbish away) have been mocked. They have been ridiculed for fixing skirts onto bins to beat raiding seagulls. The skirts were added to stop pesky birds rifling through rubbish in a seaside town. However, these ideas have been termed ridiculous and an absolute joke by locals.

A shopkeeper named David Marsden claimed that the material used to make the designer flaps for dustbins was dirty. The shopkeeper added that he would not have objected to this arrangement had the workers used clean plastic.
A Russian missile attack shocked the residents of Odesa, Ukraine, which left five dead and over 23 injured. Disturbing footage shows flames coming from the iconic structures of the Kivalov mansion, also known as the Harry Potter castle for its resemblance with the movies famous castle. Ukrainian officials claim that an Iskander ballistic missile and cluster munitions were used for the devastation. Due to the attack, nearly 20 residential buildings and major infrastructure were damaged, as reported by CNN. Among the injured is former MP Serhiy Kivalov, who resides in the castle. Reportedly, the use of cluster munitions is banned under the Convention on Cluster Munitions, still, Russians used the deadly weapon.

According to Ukraines Prosecutor General, Andriy Kostin, metal and missile remains were found scattered within a 1.5 km radius of the attack location. As per the investigation, he also stated that the Russian military intentionally used cluster munitions to cause major harm. Kostin revealed that among the 30 individuals injured in the assault, two were children and one was a pregnant woman.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by BBC News (@bbcnews)

Reacting to the attack, a user criticising Russia wrote, Whats the strategic benefit of hitting such a castle? Whats next, Disneyland?

Another shared, Stop funding the war and let it end.

An individual suggested, They should please end the war. There is no way Ukraine will win. Why continue fighting at all.

I feel bad for both innocent Ukrainians and Russians who caught up into this political mess, a comment read.

Another wrote, During WWII, many historic buildings were spared by bombing. Russia doesnt care about history other than their own.

One more added, Someone has to stop Putin.

Andriy Kostin provided a chilling glimpse of the attack, as numerous bombs detonated in the area close to the Harry Potter castle. Sharing the post, the Prosecutor General wrote, Russia cynically disregards all norms of international humanitarian law. Yesterday evening, in the enemys insidious attack on Odesa, five people were killed and over 30 injured. The strike was carried out with an Iskander ballistic missile equipped with a cluster munition. This is an indiscriminate weapon, the use of which can lead to significant civilian casualties. The investigation has grounds to believe that Russian Armed Forces officers decided to use this particular weapon deliberately to kill as many Ukrainian civilians as possible.

Russian officials claimed that they used six Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) supplied by the United States, all of which were stopped by air defences. On the other hand, Ukrainian officials have not yet stated the explosion.
The feeling of motherhood is a special one and many experience it multiple times, choosing to have more than one child. Kristina Ozturk, the wife of a wealthy Turkish individual, stands out in this regard. Despite being only 26 years old, she has already become the mother of 22 children via surrogacy. Originally from Russia, Kristina, along with her millionaire businessman husband, 57-year old Galip, welcomed 21 surrogate babies into their lives between March 2020 and July 2021. Despite this remarkable number, Kristina expresses her desire for even more children.

Kristinas eldest child, an eight-year-old daughter named Victoria, was born naturally from a previous relationship. Despite facing criticism for what some perceive as buying babies, this mother from Georgia remains steadfast in her decision to expand her family. Kristina has openly expressed her ambition to have even more children, aiming to reach a three-digit figure.

Her plans face challenges as her Turkish businessman husband was imprisoned in 2023 on charges of money laundering and document falsification. Fortunately, Kristina is supported by a team of 16 live-in nannies to assist her while her husband serves an eight-year sentence behind bars.

Kristina first met Galip in a club in Moscow, Russia and started a relationship in spite of the 31 year age difference between them. They started living in a lavish three-story mansion in Batumi, Georgia. In February last year, Kristina had paid Rs 1 crore 43 lakh to the surrogates.

Kristina has also authored a book titled Babys Diary, in which she shares her journey as a mother of so many children. She reflects that while much has been written about parenting, every day parents seek valuable insights from her to provide the best for their children.

Kristinas unconventional path in parenting hasnt been without challenges. She revealed an incident where one of the surrogate mothers expressed a desire to keep a baby after giving birth. As the babys genetic makeup consisted of Kristina and her husbands DNA, the child rightfully belonged to them.

Although Kristina has openly discussed her aspiration for at least 105 children, she now intends to hold off on further steps toward that goal until her existing children are older. While she hasnt dismissed the possibility of becoming pregnant herself again, she acknowledges the impracticality of doing so with a household full of young children.
A witness in the ongoing federal investigation into alleged drug- and sex-trafficking at Pharaohs Gentlemens Club  who faces a charge of stealing government funds  will be released to an inpatient drug treatment center when a bed becomes available.

Phlycia Hunt, 33, a former exotic dancer at the Cheektowaga strip club, testified in the just-concluded bribery and corruption trial of former Drug Enforcement Administration agent Joseph Bongiovanni. And she was expected to testify when Peter Gerace Jr., the owner of the club, goes on trial.

Hunt completed a rehabilitation program after her May 4, 2023, arrest for possessing small amounts of controlled substances, and she continued to provide pertinent information related to the Pharaohs investigation, according to a court filing that federal prosecutors filed last week.

Judge allows prosecutors to interview Bongiovanni juror Prosecutors received permission Monday to interview a member of the jury that delivered a partial verdict in the bribery and corruption trial of former Drug Enforcement Administration agent Joseph Bongiovanni.

Because of threats against various federal witnesses in the case, the federal government made arrangements to pay for safe and secure housing for Hunt upon her release last year from the inpatient rehabilitation facility. Starting in December, the government provided $1,200 on a monthly basis for the express purpose of paying rent at a safe, privately owned location known to the FBI, according to the court filing.

The government provided the money to a relative of Hunts to cover her rent for December, January and February. In March, the FBI provided the money to Hunt directly, and she used the money to pay that months rent.

But for April, even though Hunt sent a text message to a federal agent that contained an image of a rental payment receipt, bearing her signature and that of the landlord, the landlord told the FBI that he did not receive the $1,200 rent payment for April.

Hunt was charged with theft of government money, and shes now in jail.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Cooper and defense lawyer Carla J. Benz told U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah J. McCarthy on Wednesday that they agree Hunt needs treatment. But Cooper asked the judge to order Hunt to wear a location monitoring device. The treatment center will not allow her into the program if shes wearing the ankle monitor.

She is not safe if she is in a jail facility, Benz told the judge, noting that publicly available court records identify her as a cooperating witness.

But if Hunt leaves the facility without permission, where she is not safe, is to leave her to her own devices on the street, Cooper countered.

Probation officials told the judge a bed at the center is likely to become available next week, but no other centers indicated they have availability.

First and foremost, her need is to get substance abuse treatment as soon as possible, McCarthy said, who ordered her to be released directly to the treatment center without location monitoring when a bed becomes available. The judge said he wants to know when her treatment ends so he set further release conditions.

Hunt dated Gerace on and off over the 10 years she worked at the strip club.

In her testimony at the Bongiovanni trial, she said the first time she used cocaine was when she was invited to Geraces home. She said she got drugs mostly from Gerace, and she became addicted. When asked at the trial how often she used cocaine, she said on most days I worked at the club.

She testified at the trial she had been sober since May 2023. When Hunt was arrested, she was withdrawing from fentanyl, Benz said.

McCarthy urged Hunt, for your sake, to get control of her drug problem.

You cant disappear again, the judge told her.
Former Boeing supplier whistleblower who raised concerns about manufacturing defects on the 737 MAX, has died at the age of 45. Dean, previously a quality auditor at Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems, died after battling a sudden and fast-spreading infection, The Seattle Times reported.

Joshua Dean, known as Josh lived in Wichita, Kansas, where Spirit AeroSystems is headquartered. Dean was one of the first whistleblowers to allege Spirit leadership had ignored manufacturing defects on the 737 MAX, according to US daily. Despite being in good health and known for his healthy lifestyle, he fell critically ill and spent two weeks in critical condition before succumbing to his illness, according to his aunt, Carol Parsons.

His demise comes after a tumultuous period following his termination by Spirit AeroSystems in April 2023. Dean had filed a complaint with the US Department of Labour, alleging his dismissal was in response to raising concerns about aviation safety. Before his tragic death, he had given a deposition in a Spirit shareholder lawsuit, detailing allegations of serious misconduct by senior quality management on the 737 production line.

Deans health declined rapidly after he was admitted to the hospital with breathing difficulties. He was diagnosed with pneumonia and a serious bacterial infection known as MRSA. Despite medical interventions, including being placed on an ECMO machine, his condition continued to worsen. He was eventually airlifted to a hospital in Oklahoma City, where he remained in critical condition until his passing.

READ MORE: Former Boeing Worker Who Raised Safety Concerns Found Dead With Self-Inflicted Wound

The circumstances surrounding Deans death are similar to those of another Boeing whistleblower, John Mitch Barnett, who was found dead in an apparent suicide in March. Barnett, who was giving depositions regarding quality lapses at Boeings Charleston facility, had also faced retaliation allegations.

Boeing has been dealing with heightened regulatory scrutiny and other fallout from a midair blowout of a cabin panel door plug on a nearly new 737 MAX 9 in January. The planemaker is carrying the burden of multiple sequential crises from deadly crashes of two 737 MAX jets to the deep slump in travel during the pandemic.

(With agency inputs)
Allan Lichtman, a distinguished professor of history at American University in Washington, who has gained fame for accurately predicting 9 out of the last 10 US presidential elections believes President Joe Biden has an edge in the 2024 election, even though current polls suggest hes behind former President Donald Trump.

Using his 13 Keys to the White House method, Lichtman has successfully forecasted the winner of nearly every US presidential election since 1984.

Lichtman, often referred to as the Nostradamus of US presidential elections, asserts that its too early to determine the likely outcome of the 2024 race between Biden and Trump, but emphasises that several factors would need to go wrong for one candidate to lose.

Lichtmans prediction system evaluates the strength and performance of the White House party. If a candidate loses six of these Keys, Lichtman suggests they are likely to lose the election.

I have not made a final prediction yet but I do have a model for 13 keys to the White House which have been correct since 1984 Right now a lot would have to go wrong for Joe Biden to lose this election. Hes at the moment down by just two keys, Lichtman told NDTV in an interview.

What are the 13 Keys to the White House method?

The 13 Keys to the White House method evaluates the strength and performance of the incumbent party to predict the outcome of US presidential elections. Heres a breakdown of the 13 keys:
Stanford University officials have submitted a photo of an unidentified person on campus wearing a green headband worn by Hamas members to the US security agency as the school struggles to reign in pro-Palestinian protesters on college campuses across the country.

We have received many expressions of concern about a photo circulating on social media of an individual on White Plaza who appeared to be wearing a green headband similar to those worn by members of Hamas, the prestigious US school said in a Wednesday statement. We find this deeply disturbing, as Hamas is designated a terrorist organization by the United States government. We have not been able to identify the individual but have forwarded the photo to the FBI.

Pro-Palestinian Protests

Scores of students at Stanford have created an encampment in the White Plaza portion of the northern California college campus to protest Israels military offensive in the Gaza Strip, according to the New York Post. Other universities have seen mass arrests as well as clashes between anti-Israel and pro-Israel supporters. The University of California, Los Angeles canceled classes on Wednesday after protesters at dueling rallies fought one another overnight.

Stanford President Richard Saller in a Monday message said the student encampment violates policies that prohibit overnight camping on campus. The university has submitted the names of students caught violating campus policies to the Office of Community Standards (OCS) for disciplinary proceedings, they said. Protest organisers have decried the universitys response to the student protests.

Harder stance on antisemitic

Stanford is actively discriminating against Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, and anti-Zionist Jewish students using their internal disciplinary process, the protestors said in a social media post on Instagram. A letter dated April 29 to school administrators called on Stanford to take a harder stance on antisemitic behavior by following the lead of other schools like Columbia University to remove the protesters. Other colleges across the country have begun arresting and disciplining malicious student and non-student agitators, setting an important precedent, the letter said.

We, Jews and non-Jews alike, call on Stanford to follow suit. The letter, authoured by Jewish students on campus and signed by more than 28,000 people, linked to the photo sent to the FBI. Individuals dressed openly as members of a terrorist organisation is unacceptable and must be dealt with swiftly and harshly, the authors wrote. Not doing so sets a dangerous standard, as no citizen should have to worry about distinguishing between individuals merely dressed as terrorists and true terrorists who seek to deal us serious bodily harm.
Former US President Donald Trump remains defiant and refuses to commit to accepting the results of the 2024 election if he loses to his Democratic rival and current President Joe Biden. In an interview with The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Wednesday, the 77-year-old reiterated his claims of election fraud, saying that he would only accept the results if he deemed the election to be fair.

Trumps remarks come amid ongoing scrutiny over his allegations that the 2020 election was stolen from him. He, along with a group of Republicans, has consistently used these claims to undermine the legitimacy of Bidens win. During the interview, Trump said, If everythings honest, Ill gladly accept the results. If its not, you have to fight for the right of the country. The former Republican president, who is running for a return to the White House, rallied supporters in Wisconsin and Michigan, among the most hotly contested states in his expected rematch with Democrat Biden in November.

Trump: If we dont win this election, I dont think our country is going to survive. I will say it, and Ive never said that publicly. pic.twitter.com/MbkREu1VBd Acyn (@Acyn) May 1, 2024

If we dont win

The former president has made similar statements about 2020 polls in the past, which further sow doubts about the integrity of the electoral process in the country. Trump also addressed questions about political violence during an interview with Time magazine. When asked about the possibility of losing the 2024 election, Trump responded, if we dont win, you know, it depends. It always depends on the fairness of an election.

This refusal to commit to accepting election results is consistent with Trumps past behaviour. Throughout his presidency and beyond, he has repeatedly cast doubt on the validity of election outcomes. Trumps persistent claims of election fraud have been at the center of his efforts to overturn his loss to Biden in 2020. These claims culminated in the violent storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021, by a mob of his supporters.

Trump now faces numerous felony charges in connection with these events. Despite facing legal challenges and criticism from both sides of the political aisle, Trump shows no signs of backing down. He continues to promote claims about the 2020 election and has vowed to fight for what he perceives as the right of the country. Trump, who is the first former US president to face criminal charges, regularly claims that his indictments  three for alleged cheating in elections and one for hoarding classified documents  are being orchestrated as part of a political witch hunt, but never offers any evidence.
A horrifying footage has emerged of a man in the US facing murder charges for the death of his six-year-old son in 2021. The clip shows him forcing the child to run on a treadmill because he believed the boy was too fat.

Tragically, Corey Micciolo, the child, died from multiple injuries on April 2, 2021, which authorities describe as chronic abuse.

In the footage, which was played during a court proceeding on Tuesday, the father can be seen increasing the treadmills speed to unbearable levels and forcing the child to get back up after falling five times.

The CCTV footage shows the father, Christopher J. Gregor, and son inside a gym in New Jersey, with Gregor hovering over the boys shoulder as he runs on a treadmill. The video shows Gregor clicking a button to increase the machines speed. As the machine accelerates, Corey struggles to keep up and falls off the back, sustaining bruises.

NEW: Mother breaks down in court as she watches her sons father abuse her child by making him run on the treadmill because he was too fat.New Jersey father Christopher Gregor is accused of killing his 6-year-old son Corey Micciolo. New footage shows the boy repeatedly face pic.twitter.com/aVKknkOGd5  Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 1, 2024

Despite this, Gregor lifts him by his shirt and forces him back onto the machine without reducing its speed. In one disturbing clip, Gregor appears to bite his sons head. This sequence repeats four more times before Gregor finally slows the machine down. However, the damage to Coreys body had already been inflicted, with bruises visible externally and internally.

Coreys mother, Bre Micciolo, who reportedly shared custody with Gregor, noticed bruises on her sons body days before his death, allegedly from the treadmill incident. Concerned for Coreys safety, she feared for his life and reported the boys injuries to the New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency, The Sun reported.

Following the complaint, a caseworker requested the mother to bring her son to the doctor on April 1. During the visit, Corey disclosed that Gregor allegedly instructed him to run on the treadmill because he was too fat. However, the young boy passed away the next day.

The prosecutors revealed the treadmill incident led to bruising on the boys body. According to Coreys autopsy performed on April 3, 2021, the report concluded that the cause of death was due to blunt force injuries, along with cardiac and liver contusions, acute inflammation, and sepsis.

Christopher J. Gregor, 31, is currently on trial for child endangerment and murder charges. If convicted, he may face life imprisonment.
Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir on Thursday said the military was well aware of its constitutional limits and expected others to uphold the Constitution, amid allegations of the powerful armys involvement in politics and interference by the intelligence agencies in the working of the judiciary.

The general, who was the chief guest at a passing out parade, said that those who flout the clear restrictions imposed on freedom of expression in the Constitution cannot point fingers at others. We are well aware of our constitutional limits and expect others to uphold the Constitution, Gen Munir said while addressing the Pakistan Air Forces passing out parade at the Asghar Khan Academy in Risalpur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Article 19 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan clearly defines the limits of freedom of speech and expression of opinion, he said. His remarks came two days after Pakistans Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa said that pushing the judiciary towards taking a certain action was akin to interference in the judicial process.

The top judge was referring to a letter written by six Islamabad High Court (IHC) judges on March 25, alleging interference of agencies in their matters. The apex court took suo motu notice of the letter and later several bar councils also filed petitions and they were made parties to the case. The powerful army, which has ruled Pakistan for more than half of its 75-plus years of existence, has hitherto wielded considerable power in matters of security and foreign policy. However, the military has denied meddling in the countrys politics.

Gen Munir lauded the PAF for patrolling the airspace in all kinds of difficulties, terming the shooting down of an Indian fighter jet in February 2019 as a great example of the same. You are the centre of our hopes, the guardian of the skies and the guarantors of regional unity, the army chief told the cadets.

Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman shot down the Pakistani F-16 jet during an aerial combat before his MiG 21 Bison aircraft was hit on February 27, 2019. He was captured by the Pakistani Army and later released on the night of March 1. Without naming any country, Gen Munir highlighted that the arms race posed a risk of disturbing the regions balance of power.

Specific technologies, including artificial intelligence, robotics and quantum computing, are changing the use of air power as well as expanding its scope, he noted. Gen Munir also pledged Pakistans moral, political and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people.
India on Thursday slammed the Canadian government for giving political space to separatist and extremist elements in the country, days after it held a Khalistan event attended by Justin Trudeau.

This rebuke comes after Trudeau said the problem created by the killing of pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar cant be ignored. He made these remarks during a media interaction in Toronto on Sunday, on the sidelines of a Khalistan event attended by him.

Khalistan slogans raised

You would have seen our press release that we made when we summoned the Canadian Deputy High Commissioner regarding an event that was attended by PM Trudeau where Khalistan slogans were raised. The other media engagement, that you are referring to, took place on the sidelines of this event, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said during a press conference.

#WATCH | On Canadian PM Justin Trudeaus remarks on the killing of Khalistani Hardeep Singh Nijjar, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal says, You would have seen our press release that we made when we summoned the Canadian Deputy High Commissioner regarding an event that was pic.twitter.com/8y6hW3tvb4 ANI (@ANI) May 2, 2024

PM Trudeau has made those remarks earlier as well. So, it is nothing new. His remarks illustrate once again the kind of political space that has been given in Canada to separatism, extremism, and violence. This not only impacts India-Canada relations but also encourages a climate of violence and criminality in Canada to the detriment of its citizens, he added.

India-Canada ties soured after Trudeau last September said that Ottawa was actively pursuing credible allegations that Indian agents were potentially linked to the June killing of Nijjar. Strongly rejecting the accusations, New Delhi on several occasions asked Ottawa to furnish solid proof.

Deep concern

On Monday, India summoned the Canadian Deputy High Commissioner and conveyed its strong protest after separatist slogans were raised during an event in Toronto. Pro-Khalistan chants filled the air during a Khalsa parade where Trudeau addressed the attendees on the occasion of Khalsa Day. Opposition leader Pierre Poilievre and Jagmeet Singh of the New Democratic Party (NDP) also attended the rally. In the MEA statement, India expressed deep concern over such actions, highlighting the political space in Canada for separatism and extremism.

The Government of Indias deep concern and strong protest was conveyed at such disturbing actions being allowed to continue unchecked at the event. This illustrates once again the political space that has been given in Canada to separatism, extremism and violence. Their continued expressions not only impact India-Canada relations but also encourage a climate of violence and criminality in Canada to the detriment of its own citizens, it added.

Find Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Schedule, Key Candidates And Constituencies At News18 Website.
The police have increased their presence on US college campuses on Wednesday after forcibly forcibly clearing away some long-running protests against Israels conflict in Gaza.

At the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), many police cars patrolled after clashes erupted overnight when counter-protesters attacked pro-Palestinian students. Classes were cancelled for the day, and UCLA Chancellor Gene Block promised an investigation that could result in arrests or expulsions.

Block condemned the violence against pro-Palestinian demonstrators, calling it shocking and blaming it on a group of instigators.

I dont think we should have a heavy police force on campus, said 22-year-old UCLA student Mark Torre, speaking to AFP while observing the situation from behind metal barriers. But more and more, day by day, I think its a necessary evil, to at least keep safety on campus.

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) stated on Thursday that no arrests were made at UCLA, and confirmed that they did not use force on protesters.

The Los Angeles Police Department, along with other local law-enforcement agencies will remain in the area to ensure public safety until the situation is resolved, a release by the LAPD read.

Over 300 arrest made at Columbia, CUNY

While at Columbia University in New York City, which has been at the epicentre of the protests, police remained vigilant after dispersing demonstrations late Tuesday.

Following the overnight clearing of protesters, some students criticised the rough and aggressive tactics employed by officers.

We were assaulted, brutally arrested. And I was held for up to six hours before being released, pretty banged up, got stomped on, got cut up, a City University of New York (CUNY) student said.

New York City Police Commissioner Edward Caban said at a news conference on Wednesday that about 300 arrests were made at Columbia and CUNY.

The clashes at UCLA and in New York were part of the largest surge of student activism in the US since the anti-racism rallies and marches of 2020.

White House Reacts

The White House affirmed its support for Americans right to protest, stating that only a small percentage of students are causing disruption on US campuses amid demonstrations against the Gaza war.

We believe its a small number of students who are causing this disruption, and if theyre going to protest, Americans have the right to do it in a peaceful way within the law, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told the media on Wednesday.

In the past few weeks, at least 30 universities across the United States have rallied or established tent encampments demanding a ceasefire in Gaza, as well as divestment from Israel and companies associated with the Israeli government and its army. The protests call for colleges and universities to cut financial ties with Israel due to the Israel-Hamas war.

Here are the latest developments from the pro-Palestine protests across US university campuses.

Police took down a protest camp at the University of Texas on Wednesday, arresting over a dozen people.

Police detained several people at Fordham University in New York and cleared an encampment that had been set up inside a school building.

The University of Texas Dallas witnessed police removing an encampment and arresting at least 17 people for criminal trespass, according to the school.

(With inputs from agencies)
India on Thursday dismissed media reports about the expulsion of two Indian spies from Australia as speculative and reaffirmed strong ties with the fellow democracy with which it shares an expansive relationship.

We really have no comments to make on those reports. We see them as speculative reports and we have no comments to make on them, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, in response to a question, during a press conference.

With Australia, we have a strategic partnership. We have a strong and vibrant relationship with that country. We are partners in the Quad and we have a large diaspora there. Its a very expansive relationship with Australia and we want to build on it, he said when asked about the current state of ties between the two countries.

#WATCH | On ANIs question about Australian media reports about two Indian spies expelled from Australia for trying to steal secrets in 2020, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal says, We really have no comments to make on those reports. We see them as speculative reports and we pic.twitter.com/bYB5KbHtR9 ANI (@ANI) May 2, 2024

Good relationship with India

As reports emerged regarding the expulsion of Indian spies, a senior government minister in the country on Wednesday assured the bilateral ties with India are good and had improved in recent years. I dont want to get into those kinds of operational issues in any way, Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers said during a television interview when he was asked about these reports.

Weve got a good relationship with India and with other countries in the region, its an important economic relationship, its become closer in recent years as a consequence of efforts on both sides, and thats a good thing, Chalmers said. After The Washington Post emerged this week, India on Tuesday said this report made unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations on a serious matter.

Our response to media queries on a story in The Washington Post:https://t.co/ifYYng7CT3 pic.twitter.com/LEIso6euN6 Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) April 30, 2024

Unwarranted and unsubstantiated

In an earlier statement, the MEA had said, The report in question makes unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations on a serious matter. There is an ongoing investigation of the High-Level Committee set up by the Government of India to look into the security concerns shared by the US government on networks of organised criminals, terrorists and others. Speculative and irresponsible comments on it are not helpful.

Australian media reported on Tuesday that the country had expelled two Indian spies in 2020 for allegedly trying to steal secrets about sensitive defence projects and airport security. While The Australian and The Sydney Morning Herald said two Indian spies were booted out, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) did not mention any number. The reports came a day after The Washington Post named an Indian RAW official for allegedly plotting to assassinate Sikh extremist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil last year.

Find Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Schedule, Key Candidates And Constituencies At News18 Website.
For five days, the shouts of student protesters and supporters rang out from Northwestern University's Deering Meadow as they joined demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war unfolding on college campuses nationwide. But the meadow on the suburban Chicago campus fell silent hours after student organizers and the school announced an agreement late Monday to curb protest activity in return for the reestablishment of an advisory committee on university investments and other commitments, per the AP . By Tuesday, only two unoccupied tents remained, surrounded by abandoned folding chairs, cases of bottled water, and other supplies.

By quickly defusing the protests in Evanston and avoiding the longer standoffs that happened on other campuses, the agreement at Northwestern offered an example of successful negotiations between demonstrators and administrators. Brown University announced a similar deal on Tuesday, while administrators at Johns Hopkins University focused talks on limiting protests to daytime hours. Still, the arrangement drew dissent from both sides, the AP reports. Some who are protesting the war in Gaza condemned the Northwestern agreement as a failure to stick to the original demands of student organizers. Some supporters of Israel said the deal represented "cowardly" capitulation to protesters.

The American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League Midwest criticized the university, saying the deal "succumbed to the demands of a mob" and did little to make Jewish students on campus feel more secure. The pact also prevents people without ties to Northwestern from participating, according to copies made public. The agreement lets protests continue through June 1 but bars all tents except one for aid supplies. Northwestern said the terms include penalties for students who fail to comply, including suspension. At some universities, police have made arrests; elsewhere, campus leaders have sought to negotiate while allowing protests to continue. "This agreement represents a sustainable and de-escalated path forward, and enhances the safety of all members of the Northwestern community while providing space for free expression that complies with University rules and policies," said a statement from administrators.

(More 2024 campus protests stories.)
A Pennsylvania man who credits an alligator named Wally for helping relieve his depression for nearly a decade says he's searching for the reptile after it went missing during a vacation to the coast of Georgia. Joie Henney has thousands of social media users following his pages devoted to Wally, the cold-blooded companion that he calls his emotional support alligator . He has posted photos and videos online of people petting the 5 1/2-foot alligator like a dog or hugging it like a teddy bear. Wally's popularity soared to new heights last year when the gator was denied entry to a Philadelphia Phillies game. Now Henney says he's distraught after Wally vanished while accompanying him on an April vacation in Brunswick, Georgia, a port city 70 miles south of Savannah, per the AP . He said he suspects someone stole Wally from the fenced outdoor enclosure where Wally spent the night on April 21.

In social media posts, Henney said pranksters left Wally outside the home of someone who called authorities, resulting in his alligator being trapped and released into the wild. "We need all the help we can get to bring my baby back," Henney said in a tearful video posted on TikTok. "Please, we need your help." The man from Jonestown, Pennsylvania, has previously said he obtained Wally in 2015 after the alligator was rescued in Florida at the age of 14 months. Henney told the Philadelphia Inquirer in 2019 that Wally helped alleviate his depression following the deaths of several close friends. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources confirmed that someone in the Brunswick area reported a nuisance alligator on April 21the day Henney said Wally went missingand that a licensed trapper was dispatched to capture it.

The agency said in a statement that the gator was "released in a remote location," but it stressed it doesn't know if the reptile was Wally. It's illegal in Georgia for people to keep alligators without a special license or permit, and the state's DNR says it doesn't grant permits for pet gators. Pennsylvania has no state law against owning alligators, though it's illegal for owners to release them into the wild, per its Fish and Boat Commission. In areas where people can legally own alligators, it's possible for them to be considered emotional support animals, says Colorado State University psychologist Lori Kogan. Unlike service animals that help people with disabilities such as blindness or PTSD, emotional support animals have no special training, she notes. More here.

(More alligator stories.)
Some Kansas lawmakers see a chance to lure Kansas City's two biggest professional sports teams across the Missouri border. But an effort to help the Super Bowl champion Chiefs and Major League Baseball's Royals finance new stadiums in Kansas fizzed over concerns about how it might look to taxpayers. Members of the Republican-controlled Legislature pushed a bill Tuesday that would have allowed Kansas officials to authorize at least $1 billion in bonds to cover the entire cost of building each new stadium, paying the debt off with tax revenues generated in the area over 30 years. But GOP leaders didn't bring it up for a vote before lawmakers adjourned their annual session early Wednesday, the AP reports.

Some opponents derided the plan as corporate welfare. Other lawmakers were receptive but didn't want to pass the proposal until the Legislature approved a broad package of tax cuts for their constituents that Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly would signwhich didn't happen, either. Legislators' work on a plan began in earnest behind the scenes after voters on the Missouri side of the Kansas City metropolitan area decisively refused this month to extend a sales tax used to keep up the complex housing the Chiefs' Arrowhead Stadium and the Royals' Kauffman Stadium for more than 50 years. On Tuesday, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson told KSHB-TV that his administration would do everything it can to keep the Chiefs and Royals in his state.

The bill's biggest champion, Kansas House Commerce Committee Chair Sean Tarwater, a Kansas City-area Republican, said supporters want to give the teams another option should they contemplate leaving Kansas City, which he said would be devastating to both states. "We need them to stay in the metroplex," he said. The idea isn't dead yet. Lawmakers expect Kelly to call a special session of the Legislature to try to get lawmakers to pass a tax plan that she'll accept, and they could consider the stadium financing proposal then. "We just need a little time on itwe'll be OK," said Senate President Ty Masterson, a Wichita Republican. "We're serious about trying to incentivize the Chiefs to come our direction."

(More Kansas stories.)
About 16 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested Wednesday evening at the University at Buffalo North Campus in Amherst after they ignored an order to disperse by dusk, the university reported in a statement late Wednesday night.

The statement noted that those arrested included UB students and "other individuals not affiliated with the University at Buffalo."

The statement added that "a few individuals attempted to resist arrest, and two officers were assaulted."

The arrests occurred as campus police pushed protesters from a lawn in front of Hochstetter Hall to the opposite side of a roadway and into a parking lot. The protesters linked arms as police moved in.

Police put those who were arrested into a university bus. Officers and the remaining protesters had left the scene by 9 p.m.

More details about the arrests will be provided Thursday, the UB statement said. UB Police were assisted by State Police, Erie County sheriff's deputies and Amherst Police, according to the statement.

About 50 protesters with signs and flags had stood outside Hochstetter Hall demanding that UB divest all of its financial holdings in companies that they say are complicit in human rights abuses.

The protest began with a march on campus organized by Students for Justice in Palestine. After the march, the university demanded that the students remove five tents that were placed on the lawn at Hochstetter Hall.

Protesters removed the tents after they were advised by staff from Student Life and UB Police that the tents were in violation of UB and SUNY policy. Protesters also were told to disperse by dusk and that they are not allowed to have any overnight assemblies on campus.

"The university recognizes and respects students right to protest," UB said in a statement to the press. "It is our expectation that protests occur lawfully in public spaces, and protestors will not disrupt or prevent the orderly conduct of classes, lectures, events and meetings."

The statement noted that picketing and other forms of peaceful demonstration are permitted but must follow UB's policy on picketing and assembling. The policy prohibits indoor and outdoor encampments.
This story has been updated with new developments. After hours of threatening arrests over loudspeakers, police began breaking up a pro-Palestinian protest encampment on the UCLA campus before dawn on Thursday. The AP reports that the sound of flash-bangs could be heard as hundreds of officers moved in and started taking down barricades and tents. Hours later, the encampment had been cleared. Authorities said more than 130 arrests were made, NBC Los Angeles reports. The New York Times describes the scene as a "field of ruin," with debris including sleeping bags and pizza boxes strewn around. Some officers could be seen posing for photos with protest signs.

As the police presence on campus steadily grew Wednesday night, a faculty member told the Daily Bruin student newspaper that professors in the encampment planned to be arrested alongside students. Outnumbered LAPD officers retreated after an earlier effort to enter the encampment, KABC reports. At around 3am local time, after police issued warnings for protesters to disperse, the university told students to stay away from Dickson Plaza, the site of the encampment, CNN reports. "The University of California Los Angeles has declared the encampment and all unauthorized tents and structures in Dickson Plaza to be unlawful," a safety alert stated.

The AP notes that the massive police presence on campus Wednesday contrasted strongly with the previous night, when pro-Israel counterprotesters attacked the encampment; it took hours for police to bring the situation under control. Officials including UC President Michael V. Drake are calling for an investigation, the Los Angeles Times reports. "The limited and delayed campus law enforcement response at UCLA last night was unacceptableand it demands answers," a spokesperson for Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday. As officers moved to clear the encampment, chants from protesters included: "Where were you last night?" (More 2024 campus protests stories.)
A whistleblower who alleged Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems ignored manufacturing defects on the 737 Max died Tuesday of an infection following two weeks in critical condition, a relative tells the Seattle Times . Josh Dean, 45, was acting as a quality auditor at Spirit in October 2022 when he said he found mechanics had improperly drilled holes in the aft pressure bulkhead of the Max. He said management failed to respond. He was fired the following April when he was found to have missed a manufacturing flaw in fittings that attach the vertical tail fin to the fuselage. Months later, Spirit claimed to have discovered the improper holes in the bulkhead, per the Times, and Dean complained to the FAA.

He alleged "serious and gross misconduct by senior quality management of the 737 production line." He also complained to the Department of Labor, alleging he was fired in retaliation for raising aviation safety concerns, and gave a deposition in a Spirit shareholder lawsuit. He started having trouble breathing two weeks ago and visited a hospital, an aunt tells the Times. She says he was intubated, developed pneumonia, and then developed MRSA, a serious infection caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. He was moved from a hospital in Wichita, Kansas, where he lived, to Oklahoma City, but his condition deteriorated. Just before he died, doctors had been considering whether to amputate his hands and feet, per the Times.

"Our thoughts are with Josh Dean's family," says Spirit spokesperson Joe Buccino. "This sudden loss is stunning news here and for his loved ones." In November, the FAA notified Dean that its investigation "determined that your allegations were appropriately addressed under an FAA-approved safety program. However, due to the privacy provisions of those programs, specific details cannot be released." In February, Dean told NPR that his firing sent the message, "We will silence you." He was represented by the same law firm as Boeing whistleblower John Barnett, who died of an apparent suicide in March while giving depositions about Boeing's alleged retaliation against him for his complaints about quality concerns. (Barnett's mother blames Boeing for his death.)
Nicholas Kristof has criticized Israel's conduct in Gaza as well as President Biden's support for the war, and thus "my heart's with the cause" of campus protesters, he writes in a New York Times op-ed. However, he worries that the protestsparticularly the vandalism and reports of violencewill only distract from what's happening in Gaza rather than actually help Gazans. He draws a parallel with the Vietnam War protests of the 1960s, which he argues helped prolong the war rather than shorten it because of the political after-effects. As for the protesters' goal of divestment, he doesn't think that would hurt Israel and would instead only shrink college endowments and possibly result in tuition hikes.
A judge declared a mistrial Thursday after a Virginia jury said it was deadlocked and could not reach a verdict in the trial of a military contractor accused of contributing to the abuse of detainees at the Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq two decades ago. The mistrial came in the jury's eighth day of deliberations. The deliberations went far longer than the trial itself, the AP reports. The eight-member civil jury in Alexandria deadlocked on accusations the civilian interrogators supplied to the US Army at Abu Ghraib in 2003 and 2004 had conspired with soldiers to abuse detainees as a means of "softening them up" for questioning.

The trial was the first time a US jury heard claims brought by Abu Ghraib survivors in the 20 years since photos of detainee mistreatmentaccompanied by smiling American soldiers inflicting the abuseshocked the world during the US occupation of Iraq. Reston, Virginia-based CACI had argued that it wasn't complicit in the detainees' abuse. It said that its employees had minimal interaction with the three plaintiffs and that any liability for their mistreatment belonged to the government. Multiple jurors told the AP that a majority of the jury sided with the plaintiffs. The jury sent out a note Wednesday saying it was deadlocked, indicating in particular that it was hung up on a legal principle known as the "borrowed servants" doctrine.

CACI has argued it shouldn't be liable for any misdeeds by its employees if they were under the direction of the Army. The two sides argued about the scope of the doctrine. The jurors who spoke to AP said there was conflicting evidence about whether CACI retained control of its employees while they were in Abu Ghraib. The plaintiffs can seek a retrial. One of their lawyers, Baher Azmy with the Center for Constitutional Rights, suggested they will: "The work we put in to this case is a fraction of what they endured as survivors of the horrors of Abu Ghraib, and we want to honor their courage." CACI's lawyers declined comment.

(More Abu Ghraib stories.)
Kensington Palace appears to be reclaiming some of the control and narrative by only posting to social accounts on the day, aware that any lack of honesty or sense of inauthenticity will spark all sorts of conspiracy theories like it did last time.

It's been a difficult start to 2024 for Britain's royal family. Kate has been away from her public duties since Christmas and is currently undergoing treatment for cancer.

Princess Charlotte was last seen in public during the British royal family's traditional Christmas Day walk to church on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk. The nine-year-old was also seen earlier in December alongside her parents and siblings at her mother annual carol concert at Westminster Abbey in London.

At a visit to a school in the UK's West Midlands last week, Charlotte's father Prince William shared her favorite joke with students of St Michael's Church of England High School - a "knock knock" gag involving an interrupting cow.

Charlotte is third in line to the throne, after her father and older brother Prince George. And while she may be one of the younger members of the family, her mom revealed in 2017 that she is "the one in charge."

Royal-watchers may remember a clip of Charlotte at her grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II's state funeral in 2022, where she appeared to be reminding her elder brother George to bow as the late monarch's coffin passed them at Wellington Arch. She was also spotted at a previous Trooping the Colour parade in London stopping her younger brother, Prince Louis, from waving perhaps a little too enthusiastically to the crowds as their carriage drove by.

Meanwhile, the little royal won hearts last year with her regal twinning with her mother when the pair attended King Charles' coronation. For her grandfather's big day, Charlotte wore a mini-me version of her mom's ivory silk dress and silver headpiece.

Charlotte is the first British princess who wasn't overtaken in the line of succession by a younger brother. That's because her grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, changed the rules with the Succession to the Crown Act of 2013 so that all royal children born after 2011 would have an equal right to the throne regardless of gender.

Two years later, Charlotte Elizabeth Diana was born on May 2, 2015 at St. Mary's Hospital in west London. The change meant that did not lose her position in the line of succession after Prince Louis was born in 2018.
Rescue teams are searching in the waters off the coast of Northland's Taiharuru on Thursday for two missing fishermen.

The men were fishing from rocks on Wednesday and were due home in Whangarei by 11pm, according to police.

"At this stage the last known contact with these two men was at approximately 4pm on Wednesday, " police said in a statement.

The Police Air Support Unit, Eagle helicopter, Coastguard and volunteers assisted with search efforts in the early hours of Thursday before being stood down at 5am. Police Search and Rescue was due to resume efforts at first light.

"Family and friends of the men are understandably concerned, and we are keeping them updated on progress," police said.

"Anyone who might have seen these two men fishing yesterday evening or have information that will assist our efforts is asked to contact police.

"You can contact 105 quoting the file number 240502/6352."

Newshub
RNZ has removed the comments from the interview online after Carr, who was Australia's foreign minister from 2012 to 2013, told RNZ he considered the remarks to be "entirely defamatory" and would commence legal action.

A spokesperson for Peters told RNZ the minister would respond if he received formal notification of any such action. The prime minister's office has been contacted for comment.

Speaking to media in Auckland, Labour leader Chris Hipkins said Peters' allegations were "totally unacceptable" and "well outside his brief".

"He's embarrassed the country. He's created legal risk to the New Zealand government."

Hipkins said Prime Minister Christopher Luxon must show some leadership and stand Peters down from the role immediately.

"Winston Peters has abused his office as minister of foreign affairs, and this now becomes a problem for the prime minister.

"Winston Peters cannot execute his duties as foreign affairs minister while he has this hanging over him."

Peters was being interviewed on Morning Report about a major foreign policy speech he delivered in Wellington on Wednesday night where he laid out New Zealand's position on AUKUS.

Hipkins told reporters he was pleased with the "overall thrust" of Peters' speech compared to recent comments he made while visiting the US.

"I welcome him stepping back a little bit from his previous 'rush-headlong-into-signing-up-for-AUKUS'," Hipkins said. "That is a good thing."

Hipkins said the government needed to be very clear with New Zealanders about what AUKUS Pillar 2 involved.

Last month, Carr travelled to New Zealand to take part in a panel discussion on AUKUS, after Labour's foreign affairs spokesperson David Parker organised a debate at Parliament.

Former Labour Prime Minister Helen Clark was also on the panel, and has been highly critical of AUKUS and what she believes is the Coalition government moving closer to traditional allies, in particular the United States.

Clark told Morning Report on Thursday she had contacted Carr after she heard Peters' comments, which she also described as defamatory.

RNZ
Inside the House of Parliament, Labour MP David Parker asked Peters if he "stands by his criticisms of the critics of AUKUS including his statement about honourable Bob Carr that 'he is nothing more than a Chinese puppet'?"

Peters responded: "Yes".

"Particularly those comments that highlighted the fact that critics don't know what they don't know regarding the strategic challenges that New Zealand faces."

He went on to hit out at critics who call AUKUS a military alliance, as Pillar 2, which the Government was exploring, as it is actually a technology-sharing mechanism.

Peters also said he was "late to the party" in regards to Carr, referring to a 2018 opinion article by the Australian Financial Review titled "How Bob Carr became China's pawn".

Peters then moved on to call out Labour's opposition to AUKUS, given the Party initiated discussions around Pillar 2.

Both Peters and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon have confirmed the Government's stance on AUKUS has not changed from the previous government's position.

Labour's opinion surrounding AUKUS changed, with the Party hosting an anti-AUKUS summit in April where critics, including Carr, spoke about the dangers of AUKUS.

"The critics were silent like lambs ever since October 2021 when that member's government started considering New Zealand's involvement with AUKUS. The same Labour Government that sanctioned officials to initiate discussions with AUKUS partners in 2023 but now act like Lions following the change of Government."
Education Minister Erica Stanford announced the pre-Budget policy, which was one of National's election campaign promises, at Auckland's Manurewa West Primary School on Thursday.

"Structured Literacy is about getting back to basics and teaching children to read by using sounds and phonics to understand words," Stanford said.

Structured literacy is an approach that explicitly teaches systematic word identification and decoding strategies, teaching phonics, syllable patterns, vocabulary, and writing structure.

Paddy Gower Has Issues revealed in May 2023 that a structured literacy approach has shown substantially better results for tamariki learning to read and write in English.

According to Stanford, Recent data shows that just 56 percent of Year 8 students are at the expected level for reading, and just 35 percent for writing.

"A number of schools in New Zealand are already teaching structured literacy and have experienced significant improvements in student achievement. I want all children to have this opportunity," Stanford said.

She said structured literacy is a crucial part of how the Government plans to reach its target of getting 80 percent of Year 8 students to curriculum level by 2030.

The rollout includes a $67 million commitment as part of Budget 2024 to support:

Professional development on structured literacy for teachers

Books and resources for schools and teachers

Introducing phonics checks to assess student progression

Additional support for students that need it.

"Structured literacy goes hand-in-hand with our requirement for schools to teach an hour a day of reading, writing and maths, as well as implementing a curriculum that is rich in knowledge and clear about what students should be learning and when," Stanford said.

"Today's funding announcement ensures teachers will receive the training, support and resources they need to deliver this."

Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti has previously hit out at the Government's plan, saying politicians should stay out of education policy decisions.

"It's soul destroying. We have had that before. We had that with National Standards and it was absolutely soul destroying," Tinetti said.
But not before a lone protester caught his eye. He asked the woman, who held an anti-AUKUS sign, to sit down. She refused and security carried her out and forced her into the rain.

"I wasn't shouting or speaking loudly," she told Newshub afterwards.

New Zealand's been exploring Pillar 2 of AUKUS - which is about advanced technologies - but Peters said we've not even received the necessary invite. He's also irked by what he believes is Labour's changing tune.

"Pillar 2 discussions were initiated by Labour," he said.

David Parker, Labour's foreign affairs spokesperson, said Labour had been investigating AUKUS, but Peters had been "very pro-AUKUS in his language".

Peters also said the Government was "disquieted by any potential breakdown in foreign policy bipartisanship".

Peters took his cracks at AUKUS opponents even further on Wednesday morning with comments about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr on RNZ that Labour's David Parker later repeated in the House.

"His statement about Honourable Bob Carr that quotes, he is nothing more than a Chinese puppet," Parker said in the House.

Peters later in response said: "I refer to an article in the Australian Financial Review dated November 8, 2018 that anticipated my remarks. It says 'how Bob Carr became China's pawn'".

Carr was at Parliament for Labour's anti-AUKUS event last month and was asked if he was blind to China's threat.

"I have criticised China for militarising artificial structures in the South China Sea. I believe extincition of legal autonomy for Hong Kong was wrong," he said.

Carr's office told Newshub Winston Peters' remarks on RNZ were defamatory. The former Australian politician has told RNZ he intends to take legal action but Peters has pointed out that others have threatened to take him to court before - and not followed through.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins said: "It is embarrassing for New Zealand. It shows Winston Peters has abused his office as Minister of Foreign Affairs. This now becomes a problem for Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. He should stand Winston Peters down immediately."

But Luxon said: "They're not comments I would make. They are comments in the rough and tumble of politics. He is doing an exceptional job."

Carr later said in a statement to Newshub that Peters was "trying to sell New Zealanders a reversal of their non-nuclear principles".

"This is a 30-year policy that has been supported by both sides of New Zealand politics," he said.

"Members of his own party harbour doubts about such a big shift. Certainly the New Zealand Labour Opposition does, which is why I was proud to accept an invitation to their forum in Parliament House on April 18 with Helen Clark, distinguished former Prime Minister and UN diplomat."

The Prime Minister has previously said New Zealand's nuclear-free stance was "non-negotiable".
Winston Peters has been sent a formal letter from former Australia Foreign Minister Bob Carr threatening defamation action.

It follows comments Peters made about Carr's relationship with China in a radio interview

Peters office has confirmed it has received the letter from Carr's lawyers.

In the letter, sighted by Newshub, Peters is told his statements were "false and defamatory".

"We place you on notice that we are now in the process of instructing New Zealand lawyers to advise in relation to the immediate commencement in New Zealand of defamation proceedings against you," the letter said. "We are instructed that on 2 May 2024 at about 7:10am you made a number of false and defamatory statements on Radio NZ about our client."

"The Statements are indefensibly defamatory of our client and have no basis in fact. In that regard, our client has never had any business relationship with any Chinese entity, nor has he ever served on the Board of any Chinese company.

"Further, he has never acted as an adviser or consultant to any Chinese company, nor has he ever been in receipt of any income from any Chinese shareholding or investment consultancy.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

The Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications, His Excellency Mohammed bin Thamer Al Kaabi, provided comprehensive answers to MP Jalal Kadhems inquiries regarding land transportation enterprises, covering cargo and tourism sectors.

Al Kaabi revealed that the global tourism transport sector is served by 17 companies, while the international passenger transportation domain is comprised of 19 firms.

Notably, the kingdom boasts a robust network including 170 domestic cargo transport entities and 142 international cargo operators.

Within Bahrains borders, 24 do mestic transportation companies stitch together the local travel tapestry. Taxis, minibuses, and shared rides crisscross the island, threading neighbourhoods, markets, and cultural landmarks.

Dedication

The Minister affirmed the Ministrys dedication to rigorous regulatory standards in the issuance of land transportation licenses.

These regulations are devised with the utmost precision to assure the safety, efficacy, and calibre of services proffered by transportation establishments.

The stipulations include:

 Designated Yard Mandate: It is incumbent upon businesses to possess a designated yard, a sanctuary for their operational exertions.

This yard must provide ample space to station the fleet of vehicles in harmony with the regulations pertinent to the designated area.

 Minimum Vehicle Quota: Transportation companies must adhere to the minimum number of vehicles specified by the regulations applicable to their area.

Moreover, Al Kaabi affirmed the concerted endeavours afoot with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries to forge a harmonised executive statute for land transportation, thereby unifying the legislative fabric across the GCC territories.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

The Bahrain Brain Battle 2024, hosted by Grand Master G.S. Pradeep, recognized by the Limca Book of World Records as the only Reverse Quiz Master, concluded successfully at the prestigious Golden Eagle Health Club on Friday, April 26, 2024. The thrilling quiz competition was designed for school children.

The event saw enthusiastic participation from numerous schools across the region, showcasing Bahrains young talents intellectual prowess and competitive spirit.

The quiz competition, meticulously curated to challenge and inspire young minds, served as a platform for fostering knowledge and camaraderie.

After an intense battle of wits, the deserving winners  Pranav and Pournami from Bahrain Indian School, first runner-up Advait and Brent from Indian School Bahrain, and second runner-up Saketh and Narayanan from New Millennium School  emerged victorious, demonstrating exceptional cognitive abilities and a keen thirst for learning.

In recognition of their outstanding performance, the winning team was honored with a prestigious prize of $1,111. Organizers at AMAZING EVENTS expressed delight at witnessing the remarkable talent and dedication of the participating students.

They emphasized the importance of such initiatives in nurturing Bahrains youths intellectual growth and confidence, laying the foundation for future success and innovation.

The Bahrain Brain Battle 2024 celebrated academic excellence and highlighted the power of education in shaping bright futures.

Initiatives

As this years event concludes, anticipation grows for the continued success of similar initiatives in the future.

Amazing Events, a leading promoter of educational and cultural events, is committed to inspiring and empowering individuals to reach their full potential.

With a focus on innovation and excellence, Amazing Events strives to create impactful experiences that enrich lives and communities.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company (Mumtalakat), the sovereign wealth fund of the Kingdom of Bahrain, expressed its appreciation to employees across its portfolio companies on the occasion of International Labour Day.

Mumtalakat commended their ongoing efforts aimed at achieving development and prosperity by optimising portfolio performance and enhancing efficiency to maximise sustainable, long-term returns.

Moreover, Mumtalakat reaffirmed its commitment to realise the vision and goals of the Kingdom of Bahrain in line with the Kingdoms comprehensive development strategy led by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, and the effective government policies and plans spearheaded by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister.

Shaikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Chief Executive Officer of Mumtalakat said: In celebration of International Labour Day, I would like to extend my sincere appreciation and gratitude to the employees of Mumtalakat and its wider portfolio companies operating in diverse economic sectors.

Their consistent efforts as Team Bahrain contribute to the advancement and prosperity of the national economy and are instrumental in the progression towards greater accomplishments and growth for the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Marwa Al Saad, the Managing Director of Human Capital at Mumtalakat, emphasised the significant role played by the employees of Mumtalakat and its portfolio companies in the nations development and growth and their contributions that are invaluable in building the economy.

Al Saad also praised the creativity, excellence, and efficiency of Bahraini workforce across different industries, highlighting the importance of nurturing young leaders and fostering a productive work environment that encourages high performance and excellence.
Joyburst Founder and CEO Brad Woodgate expressed his excitement collaborating with Inside Out 2, noting "this Disney and Pixar collaboration goes a long way to achieving our continuous growth for the Joyburst brand. I am thrilled in our mission to deliver joy throughout North America and can't wait for what comes next."

Joyburst Renew is packaged in shelf-stable Tetra Prisma Aseptic 500 ml Edge cartons, ensuring they taste great and can be stored safely for months without refrigeration, helping to prevent food waste. Further, Tetra Pak cartons are recyclable and made primarily from renewable plant-based materials.

Disney and Pixar's Inside Out 2 is set to release exclusively in theatres on June 14, 2024.

The star-studded cast includes Amy Poehler as Joy, Phyllis Smith as Sadness, Lewis Black as Anger, Tony Hale as Fear, Liza Lapira as Disgust, Maya Hawke as Anxiety, Ayo Edebiri as Envy, Paul Walter Hauser as Embarrassment and Adele Exharchopoulos as Ennui. The dynamic ensemble promises to deliver a captivating narrative that explores the complexities of emotions, making Inside Out 2 a must-watch for audiences of all ages.

"We are honoured to be part of Disney and Pixar's Inside Out 2, especially with their iconic character Joy, which is the essence of what Joyburst creates in every sip," continued Woodgate. "This collaboration represents a unique opportunity for Joyburst to contribute to the emotional journey of audiences worldwide, creating unforgettable moments alongside iconic characters."

For more information on this collaboration please contact: [email protected] or head to https://joyburst.ca/

About Joyburst:

Joyburst is a "better for you" beverage company launched in 2021, with a mission of "SPREADING JOY WITH EVERY SIP". Joyburst launched through a nationally televised Super Bowl commercial and has aggressively grown its product offerings Its current line-up of beverages consist of energy drinks, mocktails, hydration beverages using electrolytes, multivitamins and lion's mane. Joyburst has quickly become one of the fastest growing beverage companies in North America and its products are now available in over 27 countries including Mexico, Taiwan, Spain, UAE, China etc. Learn more at: www.joyburst.com.

About Tetra Pak:

Tetra Pak is a world-leading food processing and packaging solutions company. Working closely with our customers and suppliers, we provide safe, innovative and environmentally sound products that each day meet the needs of hundreds of millions of people in more than 160 countries. With over 25,000 employees around the world, we believe in responsible industry leadership and a sustainable approach to business.

Our promise, "PROTECTS WHAT'S GOOD," reflects our commitment to making food safe and available everywhere.

About Disney and Pixar's Inside Out 2:

Disney and Pixar's "Inside Out 2" returns to the mind of newly minted teenager Riley just as headquarters is undergoing a sudden demolition to make room for something entirely unexpected: new Emotions! Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust, who've long been running a successful operation by all accounts, aren't sure how to feel when Anxiety shows up. And it looks like she's not alone. Maya Hawke lends her voice to Anxiety, alongside Amy Poehler as the voice of Joy. The voice cast also includes Lewis Black, Phyllis Smith, Tony Hale, Liza Lapira, Ayo Edebiri, Adele Exarchopoulos, Paul Walter Hauser, Kensington Tallman, Lilimar, Diane Lane, Kyle MacLachlan, Sumayyah Nuriddin-Green, Grace Lu and Yvette Nicole Brown. Directed by Kelsey Mann and produced by Mark Nielsen with a screenplay by Meg LeFauve and Dave Holstein, "Inside Out 2" features a score by Andrea Datzman. The all-new feature film releases only in theatres June 14, 2024.

Walt Disney Studios Canada:

Facebook: @WaltDisneyStudiosCanada

X: @DisneyStudiosCA

Instagram: @disneystudioscanada

YouTube: @WaltDisneyStudiosCanada

Joyburst:

Instagram

TikTok

Facebook

Tetra Pak:

Facebook

YouTube

Instagram

Hashtag:

#InsideOut2

#TetraPak

#RecycleCartons

For all press inquiries, please contact:

NKPR

Jessica Mallett

Account Director

[email protected]

Elise Magliocchetti

Account Manager

[email protected]

SOURCE NKPR
The evening will be attended by around a thousand people at Arsenal Contemporary Art in just a few weeks' time, and will feature a magical performance by Cur de Pirate, echoing a key piece in the Musee's repertoire: the video work A Lot of Sorrow. This piece is the result of a collaboration between Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson and American band The National, who performed Sorrow 105 times in an unforgettable 6-hour uninterrupted performance in 2013. A partnership with Bravo Musique will bring this stunning performance by Cur de Pirate to life. In addition, Naomi , a multi-disciplinary artist who beautifully blends her dancing and singing talents, will also be performing. Her Caribbean summer sounds, tinged with pop, RnB, and house influences, are sure to draw everyone to the dance floor. A number of local DJs will also be on hand to deliver an electrifying experience, including L'Isle, Nana Zen, Kiari, Marica, and Prince Charli.

AN EXCEPTIONAL AUCTION

Collectors and contemporary art enthusiasts are invited to consult this year's auction catalog, featuring over 28 works to be auctioned online for the benefit of contributing artists and La Fondation du MAC. Bidding begins on May 7 at 9 a.m. and ends at midnight on the evening of the event, during which the works will be on display. Presented by EY, with honorary patron Simon Beaulieu (EY), the auction spotlights the creations of emerging and professional Canadian artists. Carefully selected by event auction curator Erika Del Vecchio, the works reflect a diversity of mediums and genres.

For seasoned and novice collectors alike, the wide range of available value options will satisfy all aspirations. The majority of the funds raised will be donated to La Fondation du MAC, with a third distributed to participating artists.

"By participating in the auction, not only are you supporting the artists and the MAC, you're also supporting the cultural community as a whole. Each bid is much more than a simple financial gesture; it's a declaration of your commitment to art," says Anne Lebel, Executive Director of La Fondation du Mac.

ART FOR THE BENEFIT OF SOCIETY

The Printemps du MAC auction celebrates the essential role of art and artists in our society as visionaries, witnesses to our times, and catalysts of cultural innovation. In this spirit, 28 talented artists have been selected: Abbas Akhavan, Alexa Kumiko Hatanaka, Anne-Renee Hotte, Antoine Lussier, Claire Milbrath, Dou Wei, Edward Maloney, Emilie Grace Lavoie, Fatine-Violette Sabiri, Florence Viau, Jeremy Le Chatelier, Lorna Bauer, Malik McKoy, Margot Klingender, Marie-Eve Lecavalier, Matthew Shlian, Nadege Grebmeier Forget, Orise Jacques Durocher, Phyllis Lambert, Pierre Dorion, Roxanne Doucet, Sarah Pupo, Secretion Feline, Stephane La Rue, Studio Rat, Wally Dion, William Sabourin, and Yann Pocreau. Through painting, sculpture, and design, these artists have pushed the boundaries of visual arts to leave an undeniable mark on the Canadian cultural scene.

"I invite you to imagine living with one of these works. To contemplate it here and, above all, to come and see it at the event and consider it at home, so that it becomes your very own icon," Erika Del Vecchio, Curator of the MAC Spring Auction.

PURCHASING ARTWORK

Both non-participants and those planning to attend Les Printemps du MAC can take part in the auction online from May 7 until midnight on May 17, 2024.

Offering invaluable support to artists, the MAC, and the broader cultural community, this auction benefits greatly from the essential support of EY, its official presenter, as well as various partners such as Artys Transit, Photosynthese, and SHOP Encadrements. Simon Beaulieu, Honorary Patron and Managing Partner, Financial Sector Advisory Services, EY Canada, is thrilled by this wonderful opportunity for artists to showcase their talent and celebrate their success:

"Your generosity plays an essential role in supporting our artists. This is why I warmly invite you to actively participate in this auction and bid on the works that resonate with you."

ICONS ON THE RED CARPET

Renowned for its eccentric and festive crowd, which each year includes philanthropists, art lovers, artists, comedians, musicians, public figures, politicians, and, of course, content creators, Les Printemps du Mac is committed to pairing some of these distinguished guests with local designers for this year's event.

A dozen public figures will walk the red carpet on May 17, wearing bespoke pieces designed by icons such as Eliza Faulkner, Marie Saint Pierre, Markantoine Lynch-Boisvert (MRKNTN), Vincent La Kuach, Catherine Prefontaine, Lucas Stowe, Geni Hill, Noemiah, Jessy Colluci ,and Julia Beauparlant. Keep an eye on the social platforms of Catherine Brunet, Julie-Anne Ho, Catherine St-Laurent, Lolitta Dandoy, Marina Bastarache and Lou-Pascal Tremblay, Gisele Lullaby, Anachnid, Naomi, and Lucas Stowe for a look at the designs of the fabulous outfits created for the occasion!

ABOUT LES PRINTEMPS DU MAC 2024

Les Printemps du MAC is a major annual charity event devoted to introducing newcomers to the MAC . Over 1,000 philanthropists gather each year to celebrate contemporary art from here and abroad in support of the MAC . The visual identity for this 2024 event was designed by Baillat Studio, while the photo shoot, overseen by Baillat Studio, is the work of photographer Lian Benoit and talent from Humankind and Folio.

The evening's production will be nothing short of spectacular, courtesy of RAISONNABLE, and supported by the Printemps du MAC committee. This committee is co-chaired by Allison Forbes (Founder and President, Raisonnable) and Charles LeMay (Director, External Communications / Public Relations, Sphere Media), and includes a number of volunteer members who contribute their time and energy to ensure the event's success. And let's not forget the generous involvement of this year's honorary co-presidents, Claudia Girard (KPMG) and Alexandre Reise Filteau (Le Groupe Reise | RBC Dominion valeurs mobilieres).

ABOUT THE MAC FOUNDATION

The mission of the Fondation du Musee d'art contemporain is to support the museum in its various activities, including collection development, exhibition production, promotion, and educational programs. Its mandate is to solicit funds from companies and individuals interested in the dissemination and conservation of contemporary Quebec, Canadian, and international art. The foundation thus contributes to the development of the collection of Canada's first major institution devoted entirely to contemporary art: the Musee d'art contemporain de Montreal.

ABOUT THE MUSEE D'ART CONTEMPORAIN DE MONTREAL

For sixty years, the Musee d'art contemporain de Montreal has been bringing together local and international artists, their works, and diverse audiences, championing art as an essential part of life in Montreal and Quebec. The MAC 's head office, located in the heart of the Quartier des spectacles, is set to benefit from a major architectural overhaul. In the meantime, the MAC has temporarily relocated its operations to Place Ville Marie, a landmark in Montreal's business district. From December 1, 2021, and for the duration of the expansion and refurbishment work, the museum will continue to engage the public with temporary exhibitions highlighting exceptional artists and showcasing a wide variety of practices. In addition to two major exhibitions per year, the MAC at PVM will continue to offer public programs as well as a host of educational services and community outreach activities.

Find Les Printemps du MAC on Facebook & Instagram

#printempsMAC

SOURCE Musee d'art contemporain de Montreal

Fondation du Musee d'art contemporain de Montreal, Information : 514 847-6251 / [email protected]; Source: BROUILLARD, [email protected], 418 682-6111
Another Gaza solidarity encampment has been set up at a New Jersey university, this time on the Rutgers-Newark campus.

The pro-Palestinian protest began Wednesday at 11 a.m. with a rally outside the universitys Center for Law and Justice building, according to the Newark Solidarity Coalition, a community group overseeing the encampment. Approximately 30 to 40 people slept overnight in tents at the encampment between University Avenue and Washington Street.

The encampment is the second on a Rutgers University campus. Students on Rutgers Universitys New Brunswick campus set up an encampment earlier this week as students on college campuses across the nation protest the Israel-Hamas war and call on their schools to divest from companies with ties to Israel.

Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway gave protesters on the New Brunswick campus until 4 p.m. Thursday to remove their tents after the group called for professors to call of final exams. But, the president did not extend the deadline to protesters on the Newark campus.

MORE: Rutgers orders pro-Palestinian protesters to end encampment or face police

Rutgers-Newark Senior Vice Chancellor Peter Englot arrived at the Newark encampment Thursday afternoon to speak with members of the coalitions negotiations team.

Similar to the protest at Rutgers-New Brunswick campus, the coalition at Rutgers-Newark said their goal is to have the university divest from companies profiting from the Israel-Hamas war. But, Rutgers-Newark protesters said they also want the divested funds to go back into the local community.

The Rutgers-Newark protesters said they were demonstrating for several other Newark-related issues, including more resources for free public housing, legal services for low-income residents and free health care for city residents.

MORE: Rutgers postpones morning finals due to pro-Palestinian protests, encampment

The wave of protest actions taking place on college campuses across the nation, now including Rutgers-Newark, is rooted in pain, Rutgers-Newark Chancellor Nancy Cantor said in a message to faculty and students Wednesday.

Rutgers-Newark is a place that points with pride to its own history of protest having shaped us into one of the nations most diverse universities and the anchor institution in Newark that we are today, joining with many partners to advance racial equity and equitable growth, Cantor said.

Final exams continued at Rutgers-Newark Thursday despite the encampment. Finals scheduled before noon Thursday were postponed on Rutgers College Avenue campus in New Brunswick after protesters held a 7 a.m. demonstration calling on professors to cancel final exams.

Even as we move fully into final exams recognizing how important it is for us all to avoid disruptions for our students in this culminating phase of their year of hard work, we will continue to safeguard peaceful protest as a fundamental aspect of our institutional identity, Cantor said.

The protesters at Rutgers-Newark said their demands include: establishing a community land trust dedicated to providing free public housing; providing monetary support for grassroots organizations; offering legal services through Rutgers Law School to Newark residents earning less than $60,000 annually as a single family household; and providing free health care services to all Newark residents through the universitys medical and dental schools.

Additionally, the protesters are demanding free tuition and forgiveness of all student loan, medical and dental debt for Newark residents. Protesters also demanded other schools with Newark campuses  including New Jersey Institute of Technology, Essex County College and Seton Hall University  make similar changes.

The Newark protesters also wants Rutgers University to cease all military recruitment activities on its campuses and influence the city of Newark to do the same.

This has been incredibly peaceful. People here are committed to a kind of ethos, safety and mutual respect, Frank Edwards, an assistant professor in the School of Criminal Justice at Rutgers-Newark, said of the encampment.

One counter protester with an American flag was seen taping up posters with U.S. flags and Israeli flags near the encampment Thursday afternoon before he was escorted from the area by campus police. Rutgers officials did not immediately respond to requests for additional information.

Edwards said there were a few confrontations with outsiders who showed up during the first night of the encampment, but since then the protest has been relatively quiet.

We havent had any negative interactions with law enforcement yet, said Edwards, who serves as president of the campus faculty union.

On Thursday morning, a protester at the encampment was holding a microphone on the sidewalk near Washington Street, reading off a list of names of Palestinians killed in Gaza. Many protesters were still sleeping in the tents or leaving to take final exams.

Some cars passing by the encampment honked in support. One person walked by on Thursday morning and shouted, No one cares about your protest.

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Jackie Roman may be reached at jroman@njadvancemedia.com.
One of Disneys most popular childrens shows had an episode completely wiped from streaming services  until now.

The massively-popular Australian-based cartoon Bluey had an episode banned from Disney+ although it was already aired in Australia and the United Kingdom. The outlawed episode has now been uploaded to Blueys official YouTube channel.

In the episode, named Dad Baby, Bluey pretends his father Bandit is pregnant with the already-born baby of the family, Bingo.

Bingo is strapped into Bandits front-facing baby carrier to imitate a pregnant stomach.

The seven-minute episode follows the Heeler family through a pregnancy craving eating scene, an attempted exercise scene, and a labor scene in which the familys neighbor aids the delivery process.

Disney never disclosed a reason for blocking Dad Baby from its streaming app although many believe it was due to the male pregnancy portrayal. It is still unavailable to be watched in the app.

The episode was uploaded to Youtube Wednesday and has amassed more than 800,000 views since.

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Last April, College Achieve Public Schools, known as CAPS, marked its 10-year anniversary with a ritzy celebration at The Chateau Grande in East Brunswick.

The gathering at the ornate French-American style banquet center, set among 15 pastoral acres, was to toast a burgeoning charter school network that over a decade had swelled to nine schools and nearly 3,200 students across Plainfield, Paterson, Asbury Park and Neptune.
A New Jersey grand jury has indicted a man and woman from New York on murder charges for allegedly robbing and killing a man in Atlantic City in one of the towns first homicides of the year.

Howard Griswold, 24, of Baldwinsville, and Melissa Tikarem, 28, of Manlius, were indicted in Atlantic County Superior Court on Thursday, about two months after they were arrested in the Syracuse area and returned to New Jersey.

Prosecutors say Griswold and Tikarem robbed and killed 32-year-old Atlantic City resident Christian Hunter, who was shot at least twice after walking away from his home one winter evening. He was pronounced dead at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Atlantic City.

Attorneys for Griswold and Tikarem couldnt immediately be reached for comment following Thursdays indictment.

Police found Hunter wounded on a sidewalk in the 100 block of North Virginia Avenue on Jan. 20 around 7:20 p.m.

His pockets were turned inside out with his cell phone missing. Griswold later answered a call from one of Hunters friends who dialed the phone after the killing, prosecutors said.

An ensuing investigation tracked Griswold and Tikarem driving in a sedan parked at Resorts Casino Hotel, about a mile from the shooting scene, authorities said.

Police learned Griswold was a guest staying at a room at the casino hotel reserved by Tikarem, prosecutors said.

Hunter, prosecutors said, was captured on video walking away from his house. Two gunshots were heard on the footage, followed by the sedan leaving the area.

The killing was one of several in Atlantic City in January, inciting outrage from local officials who coordinated a stronger police presence in areas of town battered by the violence.

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Eric Conklin may be reached at econklin@njadvancemedia.com.
Sincere condolences to the families of two hard-working members of our community who were senselessly gunned down on Saturday  Abu Saleh Mohammod Yousuf and Babul Meah. The killings have prompted fear and frustration in a community that feels unheard.

Yousuf was a father of two with his wife expecting a third child any day, and Meah had a wife and seven children.

Buffalo Police arrested a suspect, Dale Cummings, whose age and address were unknown. Cummings was arraigned Monday afternoon in Buffalo City Court on a felony charge of criminal possession of a weapon.

Police are still sorting the horrible tragedy.

Yousuf and Meah were handymen whose lives ended when they went to work Saturday afternoon at 148 Zenner St. Police have said the house was believed to be empty and that they were shot by a person inside, mostly likely a squatter.

None of this information has quelled the strong emotions emanating from the Bengali community. It is clear that whatever happens as justice takes its course, city leaders must address the concerns of a community that does not feel seen, heard or respected.

Hundreds of Bengali men who gathered Sunday at the Buffalo Muslim Center in Broadway Fillmore to demand justice made clear how damaged the relationship stands between that population and the system. It is the same system that works to protect all members of every community. Or should.

Mayor Byron W. Brown stated that there was no indication that the men who were at the house doing work were targeted, ending with  It could have been the postal worker, the cable person, the gas company, the electric company.

The mayor might be correct, but that still feels like cold comfort to those who chanted, We want justice!

A small, angry crowd outside the mosque cited their concerns: slow police response times when crimes take place, and feeling not seen or respected, as reported in The News.

Some also wanted a police car outside the homes of the two surviving families for protection. The commissioner said he did not believe that measure was necessary.

There are still many unknowns, but this tragic event should lead to a productive conversation between elected leaders and the community. Bangladeshi families living in Broadway Fillmore number 1,000 since their migration, mainly from New York City, began in the early 2000s.

While these two mens deaths are believed to be the second and third homicides of Bengalis here, everyone  including the mayor, city leaders and police  agrees that one death is too many. This community deserves to be heard and seen.

Whats your opinion? Send it to us at lettertoeditor@buffnews.com. Letters should be a maximum of 300 words and must convey an opinion. The column does not print poetry, announcements of community events or thank you letters. A writer or household may appear only once every 30 days. All letters are subject to fact-checking and editing.
As I was observing the pro-Palestinian demonstration in Princeton on Tuesday, I saw something a bit unusual. It was a guy wearing shirt that read Jews say cease fire.

I wondered what Jews he was talking about. All of my Jewish friends and acquaintances want Israel to continue fighting until Hamas is rendered incapable of another attack like that of Oct. 7.
Gov. Phil Murphy on Wednesday endorsed an effort to allow people with criminal histories to serve on courtroom juries in New Jersey, arguing state law wrongly prohibits those who have paid their debt to society from performing a fundamental civic duty.

So tonight, I am publicly announcing my support for legislation that will restore the right to serve on juries to formerly incarcerated individuals in New Jersey, Murphy said during a gala for the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice.

The Newark nonprofit has been urging state lawmakers for years to change the law, arguing it disproportionately affects Black and hispanic New Jerseyans who served sentences during the U.S. war on drugs.
Some $377,000  and counting.

The frat brothers at the University of North Carolina are hauling in major cash after a GoFundMe was set up for them to hold up the American flag and prevent protesters against the Israel-Hamas war from hoisting the Palestinian flag.

Commie losers across the country have invaded college campuses to make dumb demands of weak University Administrators, the GoFundMe reads. Help us raise funds to throw this frat the party they deserve, a party worth of the boat-shoed Broleteriat who did their country proud.

A student protest movement has washed over the country since police first tried to end an encampment at Columbia University in New York nearly two weeks ago. But while there have been fiery rhetoric and tumultuous arrests on high-profile campuses from New York to Los Angeles, millions of students across the country have continued with their daily routines of working their way through school, socializing and studying for exams.

A GoFundMe page set up for the Pi Kappa Phi members for keeping the U.S. flag off the ground amid a counter protest at the UNC-Chapel Hill campus.GoFundMe

The protests are demonstrating wide differences among Americans in 2024, even for groups that have tended to unite during divisive times such as the 1960s.

The confrontation at UNC-Chapel Hill campus happened on Tuesday.

The GoFundMe for Pi Kappa Phi fraternity is set up on behalf of Susan Ralston, a former special assistant to George W. Bush and a deputy to Karl Rove.

An update to the page read: Go Fund has dispatched a member of their team to work closely with us and ensure your donations do as God intended -- to show these guys enough fireworks to blow their Oakley aviators straight off their faces.

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.
Just days after former President Donald Trump was fined $9,000 for repeatedly violating a gag order in his New York criminal trial, prosecutors are again asking to slap Trump with fines for four more alleged violations.

Prosecutors arent seeking to punish Trump for violations by putting him behind bars  yet.

NEW: Manhattan DA prosecutor Chris Conroy asks Judge Merchan to impose on TRUMP the max $1,000 for 4 more alleged violations of gag order, Guardian reporter Hugo Lowell posted to X. Conroy: To minimize disruptions to this proceeding, we are not yet seeking jail.

NEW: Manhattan DA prosecutor Chris Conroy asks Judge Merchan to impose on TRUMP the max $1,000 for 4 more alleged violations of gag order.



Conroy: "To minimize disruptions to this proceeding, we are not yet seeking jail."  Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) May 2, 2024

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records as part of an alleged effort to keep salacious  and, he says, bogus  stories about his sex life from emerging during his 2016 campaign. On Monday, Trump called the case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg a scam and witch hunt.

The charges center on $130,000 in payments that Trumps company made to his then-lawyer, Michael Cohen. He paid that sum on Trumps behalf to keep porn actor Stormy Daniels from going public with her claims of a sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier. Trump has denied the sexual encounter ever happened.

Prosecutors say the payments to Cohen were falsely logged as legal fees. Prosecutors have described it as part of a scheme to bury damaging stories Trump feared could help his opponent in the 2016 race, particularly as Trumps reputation was suffering at the time from comments he had made about women.

Trump has acknowledged reimbursing Cohen for the payment and that it was designed to stop Daniels from going public about the alleged encounter. But Trump has previously said it had nothing to do with the campaign.

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.
The second of two brothers involved in the robbery and brutal killing of a New Jersey man in Pennsylvania in 2021 was sentenced to prison Wednesday, authorities said.

Joshua David Gamble, 20, of Somerset, was handed a 5 to 10 year state prison sentence after pleading guilty in 2022 to robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, theft, tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and abuse of a corpse, according to a release from the Bucks County District Attorneys Office.

Gamble and his brother, Anthony Joel Gamble, 22, of Somerset, were accused of robbing and killing 26-year-old Kevin Rosero, also of Somerset, during a botched robbery of $400 in June 2021 in Richland Township, Pennsylvania, the office said.

Pennsylvania State Troopers caught the brothers in the act of hiding Roseros body just after midnight on June 17 in a wooded area of East Pumping Station Road in town, investigators said.

Rosero was stabbed 28 times in the face, neck, upper torso, and upper extremities, and a large, bloodied knife was found at the scene, along with sanitizing wipes and coated work gloves that the Gambles used to try to clean the scene, officials said.

Joshua Gamble was found on the ground near one vehicle, wearing gloves and with blood on his shoes and key fob, an affidavit said. Anthony Gamble was found in the woods nearby, with blood on his shirt and shoes. He also had work gloves in his pocket.

Anthony Gamble was sentenced last year to 25 to 55 years in state prison after pleading guilty to third-degree murder and criminal conspiracy to commit robbery, authorities said.

Joshua Gamble must also serve four years of probation for the senseless act of greed that destroyed the Rosero family and seriously impacted the Gamble family, Judge Jeffrey Finley said in court.

Rosero was a Rutgers University graduate who had dreams of becoming an immigration attorney, the office said. His college mentor described him in court as a beacon of light to all who he came into contact with. His presence provided love, light, and warmth.

Roseros mother and father both provided impact statements, which were read in court by Deputy District Attorney Monica Furber and Bucks County Detective Tim Perkins.

We were robbed of so many moments, his father said in the statement.

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Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com.
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Why Palestinians can count on American students but not Arab allies to protest

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Maya Gebeily

CAIRO/BEIRUT (Reuters) -Palestinians may be gratified to see American university campuses erupt in outrage over Israel's offensive in Gaza, but some in the embattled enclave are also wondering why no similar protests have hit the Arab countries they long viewed as allies.

Demonstrations have rocked U.S. universities this week, with confrontations between students, counter protesters and police, but while there have been some protests in Arab states, they have not been nearly as large or as vociferous.

"We follow the protests on social media every day with admiration but also with sadness. We are sad that those protests are not happening also in Arab and Muslim countries," said Ahmed Rezik, 44, a father of five sheltering in Rafah in Gaza's south.

"Thank you students in solidarity with Gaza. Your message has reached us. Thank you students of Columbia. Thank you students," was scrawled across a tent in Rafah, where more than a million people are sheltering from Israel's offensive.

Reasons for the comparative quiet on Arab campuses and streets may range from a fear of angering autocratic governments to political differences with Hamas and its Iranian backers or doubts that any protests could impact state policy.

American students at elite universities may face arrest or expulsion from their schools, but harsher consequences could await Arab citizens protesting without state authorisation.

And U.S. students may feel more motivation to protest as their own government backs and arms Israel, while even those Arab countries that have full diplomatic relations with it have been strongly critical of its military campaign.

When asked about the conflict, Arabs from Morocco to Iraq have consistently voiced fury at Israel's actions and solidarity with Gaza's embattled inhabitants, leading to muted Ramadan celebrations across the region last month.

Some rallies to support Palestinians have erupted, notably in Yemen where the Houthis have joined the conflict with strikes on shipping in the Red Sea.

And Arabs around the region have also shown their horror at the war and support for their fellow Arabs in Gaza on social media, even if they have not taken to the streets.

But whatever the reason for the lack of public protests, some people in Gaza are now drawing unfavourable comparisons between the tumult in the United States and the public reaction they can see in other Arab countries.

"I ask Arab students to do what the Americans have done. They should have done more for us than the Americans," said Suha al-Kafarna, displaced by the war from home in northern Gaza.

PUBLIC OPINION

In Egypt, which made peace with Israel in 1979 and where President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has largely outlawed public protests, the authorities fear that demonstrations against Israel could later turn against the government in Cairo.

At state-sanctioned protests over the war in October, some demonstrators veered off the agreed route and chanted anti-government slogans, prompting arrests.

"One cannot see the lack of large public protests against the war and the muted reaction on the Egyptian street in isolation from a broader context of crackdown on all forms of public protest and assembly," said Hossam Bahgat, head of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights.

At the American University in Cairo security forces are less likely to intervene on campus and there have been some protests. But a student activist there who requested anonymity said they could still face consequences for demonstrating.

"Being arrested here is nothing like being arrested in the U.S. It's completely different," he said, adding that there was "the factor of fear" preventing many from taking to the streets.

In Lebanon, where success in studies has become even more personally important to many young people after years of political and economic crises that have shrunk their shot at future prosperity, that calculation is even tougher.

Several students Reuters approached at campus protests in Beirut declined to be interviewed, saying they feared repercussions from university authorities.

The complex histories of Lebanon and other Arab states such as Jordan that host many Palestinian refugees also play into the question of public protests.

In Lebanon, some people blame Palestinians for triggering the 1975-90 civil war. Others fear any overt displays of support for Palestinians might be hijacked by the Iran-backed Hezbollah, which has been trading fire with Israel since the start of the Gaza conflict.

"The Arab world is not reacting like Columbia or Brown (U.S. universities) because they don't have the luxury to do so," said Makram Rabah, a history professor at the American University of Beirut.

Besides, he added, with public opinion already largely backing the Palestinian cause it was not clear what protests there would achieve.

"The dynamics of power and the way you change public perception are just different in the Arab world compared to the U.S.," he said.

For Tamara Rasamny, a Lebanese-American arrested and suspended for participating in a sit-in at Columbia a month before getting her degree, that reality has come home hard.

She was meant to deliver a speech at her graduation, and thought about whether it would have been more powerful to send a message there or through her possible arrest.

"And then I thought, my speech is literally about being brave, courageous and speaking up  so I thought if I'm not even listening to my own words, who am I to say anything? That was my logic, and it was worth it," she told Reuters from New York.

Rasamny said she knew it might not have been possible to express herself this way had she been at home in Lebanon.

"I feel in Lebanon it would be more frustrating to watch what's unfolding because there hasn't really been an outlet to do much about it - like take to the streets," she said.

(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi and Nafisa Eltahir in Cairo, Maya Gebeily in Beirut, Mohammed Salem in Gaza, Maher Nazeh in Baghdad and Aidan Lewis in London; Writing by Angus McDowall; Editing by Ros Russell and Diane Craft)
The Louisiana Leaders of Tomorrow give the Pledge of Allegiance during 57th Governor inauguration on the steps of the State Capitol on Jan. 7 in Baton Rouge. Delegates rewriting the state constitution wouldnt touch the $75,000 homestead exemption or state funding for K-12 schools under a deal Gov. Jeff Landry and House legislative leaders reached Wednesday.
The staff at the Indiana Department of Child Services is left "heartbroken" over news that a 10-year-old Porter County boy died late last week while in foster care, according to Deputy Director of Communications Brian Heinemann.

"DCS works with stakeholders and partners across the state to investigate the death of a child any time there is suspected abuse or neglect and will take the appropriate action," he said.

The Porter County Sheriff's Department said it is investigating Saturday's death of Dakota Levi Stevens after officers responded to a Liberty Township home Thursday for a medical emergency involving the child.

The department has not released details about that medical emergency, but officials have said the the child was flown to Memorial Hospital in South Bend where he later died.

The cause and manner of death are pending autopsy results, according to the St. Joseph County Coroner's Office.

Calumet Township resident George Stevens, who said he is the child's grandfather, told The Times that Dakota and the boy's sister had been taken away from his late son and their mother four or five years ago by the department of child services due to concerns about the children's welfare. The boy lived with his aunt for a period of time before winding up in foster care.

Valpo AT&T employee accused of costly scam involving AirPods He was caught carrying out the alleged transactions on video surveillance, police said.

Heinemann said in a statement sought by The Times that DCS foster parents must complete intensive training and education.

"Licensure is reexamined each year to ensure the foster family continues to meet DCS requirements, including additional training each year to maintain this license," he said.

"DCS policy also addresses termination of licensure, which includes circumstances where a foster parent or member of the household has been substantiated for abuse or neglect," according to Heinemann."

Texas pair nabbed on toll road with bricks of drugs, cops say LAPORTE  A traffic stop along the local stretch of the Indiana Toll Road resulted in the discovery of a large amount of illegal drugs and the

Stevens said he has heard several different rumors concerning Dakota's death, including stories of abuse.

As the family prepares to lay the boy to rest, he just wants answers on what happened to Dakota.

"I don't know the truth about it yet," Stevens said, "probably never will."

Stevens is not the only one concerned about the boy's experience in foster care and his death. A social media campaign is underway under the heading #JUSTICEFORDAKOTA.
WASHINGTON  Month after month, as American diplomats pushed for the release of Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan from Russian prisons, they received the same, infuriating answer: If you want both prisoners, we want Vadim Krasikov as part of the deal.

Mr. Krasikov is an assassin who murdered a Chechen fighter in a park in Berlin in broad daylight in 2019, a brazen killing that the German authorities say was committed at the behest of Russias intelligence services. Convicted and sentenced to life in prison in Germany, Mr. Krasikov was not in U.S. custody to be traded to Russia.

It was, the Americans thought, hardly a viable request for a swap that would include Ms. Griner, a W.N.B.A. star, and Mr. Whelan, a former U.S. Marine, who were being detained on what Biden administration officials considered trumped-up charges. American officials felt out their German counterparts to see if they might agree and were hardly surprised when Berlin refused to release what they considered a cold killer. Trying to be creative, the Americans even explored some sort of three-way deal that would give the Germans something in return, but that did not go anywhere, either.

Privately, some of the administrations diplomats concluded that the insistence on freeing Mr. Krasikov was a stalling tactic by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, who they believed was determined not to deliver any kind of political victory to President Biden before the midterm elections in the United States last month. Others believed the Russians were serious and saw it as a face-saving way for Moscows security services to give up Mr. Whelan, whom they convicted of espionage despite flat denials from Washington that he was a spy.
Two New York Philharmonic players sued the orchestra on Wednesday, saying they had been wrongfully suspended after a recent magazine article revived allegations of misconduct against them.

The players, Matthew Muckey and Liang Wang, filed separate lawsuits in Federal District Court in Manhattan. The men claimed that the Philharmonic had removed them without cause and in violation of an arbitrators ruling, which had ordered the orchestra to reinstate them in 2020 after an earlier attempt to fire them.

The players also sued their union, Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians, accusing the organization of failing to provide them fair representation.

The Philharmonic, which recently said it would commission an outside investigation into the orchestras culture in response to the uproar over the article, said that it could not comment on active litigation. Local 802 declined to comment.
NPR declined to comment, but Ms. Maher may have a scheduling conflict. According to an agenda of NPRs upcoming board of directors meeting, Ms. Maher is scheduled to convene with NPRs board all day on May 8.

NPR has been scrutinized by conservatives in recent weeks after the publication of an essay by Uri Berliner, a former senior editor at the network, who said that the network had allowed progressive politics to affect its coverage of major stories. Mr. Berliner, who has since resigned, cited the networks coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic, the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and Hunter Bidens laptop as examples of bias.

Mr. Berliners essay has generated vociferous pushback from many employees at NPR, who say that many of his points were factually inaccurate. Tony Cavin, NPRs managing editor for standards, has said the networks coverage of Hunter Bidens laptop, the Covid-19 pandemic and the investigation into Russian collusion by Robert S. Mueller III, a special counsel, hewed closely to responsible coverage by other mainstream news organizations.

Ms. Maher, who joined the network this year, has personally been targeted by conservative activists who have combed through her social media history and resurfaced posts that promoted progressive causes and critiqued former President Donald J. Trump. In one post, from 2018, Ms. Maher called Mr. Trump a racist; another from 2020 showed her wearing a hat with the logo of the Biden campaign.

NPR has said that Ms. Maher, the former chief executive of Wikimedia, wasnt working in news at the time she made the posts, and added that she was exercising her First Amendment right to free expression.
Manhattan prosecutors on Wednesday said they planned to retry Harvey Weinstein on sex crimes charges after his recently overturned conviction and could be ready to do so as soon as this fall.

It was a strong case in 2020, Nicole Blumberg, an assistant district attorney, said, adding: It remains a strong case in 2024.

Mr. Weinstein, 72, the disgraced former Hollywood producer, appeared in Manhattan Supreme Court before Justice Curtis Farber on Wednesday, the first time he had been in court since his 2020 conviction was overturned last week.

Dressed in a dark suit and white shirt, Mr. Weinstein smiled and waved at his legal team as he was pushed into the courtroom in a wheelchair. His lawyer in New York, Arthur Aidala, sat beside him at the defense table, while his lawyer in California, Jennifer Bonjean, sat in the rows behind him. In court, Mr. Aidala said that his client wasnt healthy physically but was sharp as a tack mentally.
Well, I basically agreed with President Bidens remarks today about the campus protests. Which, come to think of it, is probably a bad sign for him.

There was nothing particularly contentious or surprising about the mini-speech. It boiled down to: Peaceful protests, good. Chaos, intimidation and violence, bad.

This is more or less the position several colleges have been spotlighting in recent weeks. It is, admittedly, a bit simplistic, inviting questions about when civil disobedience becomes unacceptably disruptive and at what point uncomfortable speech tips over into threatening. Still, its a decent foundation for schools trying to muddle through this mess.

That said, it seems unlikely Bidens words will impress much of anyone, and certainly no one already worked up about the situation. Plenty of young people, upset by his policies in Gaza and further upset by the rough response to protesters by some colleges, are likely to see it as a weak dodge.
Former President Donald J. Trump told The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Wednesday that he would not commit to accepting the results of the 2024 election, as he again repeated his lies that the 2020 election was stolen from him.

If everythings honest, Ill gladly accept the results. I dont change on that, Mr. Trump said, according to The Journal Sentinel. If its not, you have to fight for the right of the country.

In an interview with Time magazine published on Tuesday, he also dismissed questions about political violence in November by suggesting that his victory was inevitable.

When pressed about what might happen should he lose, he said, if we dont win, you know, it depends. It always depends on the fairness of an election.
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken delivered twin messages to Hamas and Israel on Wednesday, pressing Hamas to accept a cease-fire proposal while at the same time urging Israeli leaders to put off a major ground invasion into the thickly populated southern Gaza city of Rafah.

On the last day of a Middle East trip, his seventh visit to the region since the war began in October, Mr. Blinken tried to turn up the pressure on Hamas.

We are determined to get a cease-fire that brings the hostages home and to get it now, and the only reason that that wouldnt be achieved is because of Hamas, Mr. Blinken said at the start of a meeting in Tel Aviv with Isaac Herzog, the president of Israel. There is a proposal on the table, and as weve said: No delays, no excuses. The time is now.

The proposed agreement calls for the release of 33 hostages in the initial stage of a cease-fire, and would lead to the release of Palestinian prisoners being held in Israel.
To parse the different regional roller skating styles in metro Atlanta rinks, watch the traffic patterns.

Sparkles Family Fun Center in Smyrna, Ga. on a recent Thursday night offered a case study: Locals skating in the hometown style churned the floors edge, punctuating their synced steps with hand claps that rose from the shoulder. Skaters in the New York-New Jersey-style bobbed steadily and pivoted in tight circles at the center of the crowded rink. A critical mass of skaters doing Chicagos brand of fluid, James Brown-inspired footwork, or JB skating, carved a jet stream between the crowds.

It was the warm-up party for the Jivebiscuit Skate Family Reunion, one of the longest-running national gatherings of Black roller skaters. The 17-year-old event, held in February, is one of several annual parties that have made Atlanta a skating hub, bolstered by a steady, decades-long influx of Black residents from other cities.
The art world is not traditionally friendly to newcomers. Thats why, for its inaugural edition, the art fair Esther put out a welcome mat. Literally.

The newest addition to Frieze Week is taking over the New York Estonian House, a Beaux-Arts townhouse at 243 East 34th Street, through May 4. In a nod to what visitors can expect from the congenial event, the artist August Krogan-Roley, the husband of the fairs co-founder Margot Samel, assembled a colorful doormat with the fairs name and installed it out front.

Esther is part of a growing contingent of alternative art fairs, including Basel Social Club in Switzerland and Supper Club in Hong Kong, born out of a desire among dealers to collaborate rather than compete. While galleries participating in corporate events like Frieze or Art Basel shell out tens of thousands of dollars to rent a space the size of a small New York bedroom, exhibitors at Esther paid just $1,500 each  and there is nary a booth in sight.
The European Court of Human Rights on Thursday upheld Italys right to confiscate a contested ancient Greek statue on display in the J. Paul Getty Museum in California. It ruled that in trying to recover the artifact, the Italian authorities had acted with the purpose of recovering an unlawfully exported piece of cultural heritage.

The ruling rejected the appeal of the J. Paul Getty Trust, which had asked the European Court of Human Rights to weigh in on the case after Italys highest court in 2018 ruled that the Getty had to return the statue to Italy.

In a statement on Thursday, the Getty said it believed its nearly 50-year possession of the bronze was appropriate, ethical and consistent with American and international law and that if necessary, it would continue to defend its possession of the statue in all relevant courts.

The Getty identifies the life-size bronze sculpture, which dates between the second or third century B.C., as a Victorious Youth. But in Italy, it is known as the Athlete of Fano, for the small seaside town on the Adriatic off whose waters Italian fishermen discovered the statue in 1964.
In one of the oldest buildings in South Street Seaport in New York, more than 100 artworks by 61 artists using textiles inventively have taken over a former mercantile warehouse and its unused machinery.

The Golden Thread: A Fiber Art Exhibition, on view through May 12 in tandem with multiple art events around the city, is organized by Karin Bravin and John Post Lee. The married partners run the Chelsea gallery BravinLee programs and saw an opportunity to repurpose the 1790s red-brick building, 207 Front Street, which had been vacant for a year and a half since its longtime tenant, a TV production company, left.

The bells went off in my head, said Bravin, who imagined an explosion of billowing gossamer fabric hanging from the chunky exposed wooden beams after touring the building operated by her friend Ivan Wolpert, principal of Seaport Associates L.P.
Doskow is the dumps official photographer in residence. All 10 artists in this exhibition have been in residence at sanitation departments in Philadelphia, San Francisco, New York and Portland, Ore., in the last 25 years. The show features a holy relic of the municipal trash art genre, Mierle Laderman Ukeless personalized nylon coat from the New York Department of Sanitation, where she inaugurated the first such residency in the late 1970s.

This show takes the waste management conversation beyond sewage treatment and the war on rats. Brian Hutsebouts Rebuilt bundles a copper ring, air hoses and paper cones into an autumnal spray. With Quiet, Mike Suri presents an intricate cross-section of a crushed steel muffler. The inlays studding Hilary Pfeifers burnished salvage-wood assemblages are rounds cut from colored pencils.
At gallery dinners, William Palley is generally the youngest guest in attendance  or at least one of the youngest.

There is a real need for a next generation, Palley said in a recent interview.

Indeed, given a 10 percent decline in the art market  from $30.2 billion in 2022 to $27.2 billion in 2023  and general concern about the long-term financial health of museums, questions have become urgent regarding the next generation of art collectors and donors.

Finding new buyers and expanding their geographical reach was in the top five concerns (and in their top five priorities for the previous four years) for dealers, according to the Art Market Report 2024, with some expressing the need to revive their collector base with younger buyers as some of their established collectors reached older ages and had slowed their active collecting.

Time was when the tradition of art collecting and museum patronage was reliably passed down through generations. Many museums have young donor committees to develop new supporters. But collecting habits have changed, along with philanthropy patterns. With the largest intergenerational wealth transfer in history underway, the competition for attention and dollars has intensified.
Some spoilers follow.

Baby Reindeer, Netflixs absorbing, claustrophobic seven-episode thriller, has been an unexpected global hit  a success made even more surprising given its intense themes. It is far and away the most-watched show on Netflix, according to the streamers publicly released numbers, dwarfing every other show on the platform.

The mini-series follows the character of Donny Dunn, a bartender and floundering comedian trying to navigate the fog of trauma and cobble together a sense of self while being mercilessly stalked and tormented by a woman named Martha, with whom he maintains a codependent connection, despite the harassment. The title refers to one of Marthas many nicknames for Donny.

Heres whats real about Baby Reindeer, and what viewers seem most curious about.

Yes, That Is the Real Guy

Baby Reindeer is the work of Richard Gadd, 34, who plays Donny, a slightly fictionalized version of himself. And if you were wondering how a regular guy could be such a confident, complex actor, its because he is a seasoned, award-winning performer who parlayed his autobiographical one-man show, titled Baby Reindeer, into the series, for which he wrote every episode.

But once upon a time, he was the self-loathing performer we see depicted. Baby Reindeer takes meta storytelling to new levels.
Police converge on U.S. campus protests

Police officers arrived on college campuses across the U.S., and scores of pro-Palestinian demonstrators who had erected encampments and seized buildings were arrested.

Officers last night ordered protesters to leave their encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles, or face arrest. A stream of students left the encampment after the warning, but hundreds remained inside, putting on helmets, masks and goggles as dozens of officers waited nearby.

The night before, violent clashes erupted when a group of about 200 counterprotesters stormed the encampment, pepper-spraying protesters and trying to demolish barricades. The two groups fought until officers quieted the unrest around 3:30 in the morning.

In New York City, police officers in riot gear arrested demonstrators at Fordham Universitys Manhattan campus, the third university in the city, after Columbia and the City College of New York, to face mass arrests in 24 hours.
The Federal Trade Commission on Thursday approved Exxon Mobils acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources as long as Exxon excludes Pioneers chief executive from its board.

The $60 billion deal between the two Texas companies, which may become final as early as this week, would produce the dominant oil and gas producer in the Permian Basin, the countrys largest oil field, which is in Texas and New Mexico. Exxons purchase of Pioneer is one of several large mergers and acquisitions in the oil and gas industry in recent years.

The F.T.C. accused Pioneers chief executive, Scott Sheffield, of colluding with officers of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies to control global oil production and prices.

Mr. Sheffields past conduct makes it crystal clear that he should be nowhere near Exxons boardroom, Kyle Mach, deputy director of the commissions Bureau of Competition, said in a statement. American consumers shouldnt pay unfair prices at the pump simply to pad a corporate executives pocketbook.
The residents of Maracacume, an impoverished town on the edge of the Amazon rainforest, are mystified by the company that recently bought the biggest ranch in the region. How can it possibly make money by planting trees, which executives say theyll never cut down, on pastureland where cattle have been grazing for decades?

We are killing pasture that a lot of farmers need, said Josias Araujo, a former cowboy who now works in reforestation, as he stood on a patch of soil he was helping to fertilize. Its all strange.

The new company, which is also Mr. Araujos new employer, is a forest restoration business called Re.green. Its aim, along with a handful of other companies, is to create a whole new industry that can make standing trees, which store planet-warming carbon, more lucrative than the worlds biggest driver of deforestation: cattle ranching.
Flying is just about the most polluting thing many of us do.

According to Google Flights, a nonstop flight from New York to San Francisco produces, on average, more carbon dioxide per economy class passenger than a person living in Cameroon does in a year, as my colleague Hiroko Tabuchi wrote recently.

This week the Biden administration announced new moves to make aviation cleaner, proposing guidelines for how fuel producers can qualify for tax credits as part of a program to increase production of more sustainable jet fuel, my colleagues Max Bearak and Dionne Searcey wrote.

The guidelines are not yet final, but what caught my attention is that they allow corn-based ethanol to be part of the answer. Among experts, ethanol can be divisive and its environmental benefits are fiercely debated, even two decades after the U.S. started mixing it with gasoline.

Today, I want to lay out why the aviation industry generates so much pollution and explain the debate over ethanol.
In Greece, the most common filling for striftopites is cheese, often feta mixed with another type.

Credit... Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
The twangy guitar picking begins and the crowd cheers. Its time for Love Story, the ninth song on Taylor Swifts Eras tour set list. Onstage, Ms. Swift strums her guitar and sings a modified Romeo and Juliet story, one with a happy ending that closes with Romeo on bended knee and Juliet picking out a wedding dress.

Its a Swift classic that has taken on a new and literal meaning during the Eras tour, where some fans have used the musical moment to underscore their own love stories with meticulously planned marriage proposals right there in the stadium while Ms. Swift performs.

Megan Voo and Justin Chong are two such fans. The couple, who live in Melbourne, Australia, and met as architecture students at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in 2017, got engaged during one of Ms. Swifts shows in their hometown earlier this year.
Robert B. Oxnam, an eminent China scholar who learned through psychotherapy that his years of erratic behavior could be explained by the torment of having multiple personalities, died on April 18 at his home in Greenport, N.Y., on the North Fork of Long Island. He was 81.

His wife, Vishakha Desai, said the cause was complications of Alzheimers disease.

In the 1ate 1980s, Dr. Oxnam was president of the Asia Society, a television commentator and an accomplished sailor. His psyche, however, was exceedingly frail. He had myriad problems, including intermittent rages, bulimia, memory blackouts and depression. But it was for excessive drinking that he first sought treatment, from Dr. Jeffery Smith, a psychiatrist.

The first personality to emerge in that therapy was Tommy, an angry boy, followed by others, like Bobby, an impish teenager, and Baby, who revealed what appeared to have been abuse when Dr. Oxnam was very young.

In his 2005 book, A Fractured Mind: My Life With Multiple Personality Disorder, Dr. Oxnam recalled the session when Tommy first spoke to Dr. Smith. All that Dr. Oxnam could remember from the 50-minute session, he wrote, was telling the psychiatrist that he didnt think the therapy was working for him. But Dr. Smith told him that he had been speaking to Tommy all that time.
If Anita Pallenberg was, in the words of her obituary in The New York Times in 2017, best known for her relationships with members of the Rolling Stones, the documentary Catching Fire, directed by Alexis Bloom and Svetlana Zill, shifts the focus to Pallenberg herself: the model, actress and life force who embodied a certain image of 60s freedom.

Made in collaboration with Pallenbergs son Marlon Richards, Catching Fire is a redemptive portrait that nevertheless plays like a downer. Pallenbergs story involves an unremitting cascade of drugs, addiction, volatile relationships and parenting tragedy, along with a 1979 incident in which a 17-year-old shot himself at her home, possibly playing Russian roulette. No excess is too excessive for this film, until its time to chronicle the later (and admittedly less sensational) period when Pallenberg calmed the turbulence surrounding her. To that, the doc devotes 10 minutes.
Late in Evil Does Not Exist, a man who lives in a rural hamlet an easy drive from Tokyo cuts right to the movies haunting urgency. Hes talking to two representatives of a company thats planning to build a resort in the area that will cover a deer trail. When one suggests that maybe the deer will go elsewhere, the local man asks, Where would they go? Its a seemingly simple question that distills this soulful movies searching exploration of individualism, community and the devastating costs of reducing nature to a commodity.

Evil Does Not Exist is the latest from the Japanese filmmaker Ryusuke Hamaguchi, whos best known for his sublime drama Drive My Car. This new movie is more modestly scaled than that one (its also far shorter) and more outward-directed, yet similar in sensibility and its discreet touch. It traces what happens when two Tokyo outsiders descend on a pastoral area where the spring water is so pure a local noodle shop uses it in its food preparation. The reps company intends to build a so-called glamping resort where tourists can comfortably experience the areas natural beauty, a wildness that their very patronage will help destroy.

The story unfolds gradually over a series of days, though perhaps weeks, and takes place largely in and around the hamlet. There, the local man, Takumi (Hitoshi Omika), a self-described jack-of-all trades, lives with his daughter, Hana (Ryo Nishikawa), in a house nestled amid mature trees. Together, they like to walk in the woods as she guesses whether that tree is a pine and this one a larch, while he carefully warns her away from sharp thorns. A photograph on their piano of Hana in the arms of a woman suggests why melancholy seems to envelop both child and father, although much about their past life remains obscure.

Hamaguchi eases into the story, letting its particulars surface gradually as Eiko Ishibashis plaintive, progressively elegiac score works into your system. The companys plans for a glamping site give the movie its narrative through line as well as dramatic friction, which first emerges during a meeting between residents and the company reps, Mayuzumi (Ayaka Shibutani) and her brash counterpart, Takahashi (Ryuji Kosaka). The company  its absurd name is Playmode  wants to take advantage of Covid subsidies for its new venture. During the meeting, it emerges that the sites septic tank wont be large enough to accommodate the number of guests; the locals rightly worry that the waste will flow into the river.
Slow, a relationship drama from Lithuania with a delicate touch, offers an understanding of intimacy that is rare in romance movies.

Elena (Greta Grineviciute), a contemporary dancer, meets Dovydas (Kestutis Cicenas), a sign language interpreter, at a class for deaf adolescents  she teaches the steps and he translates her instructions for the students. After the first session, the two 30-somethings begin a modest flirtation that inches toward the physical, but Dovydas pulls out a wild card when Elena invites him to her room: He is asexual.

The second feature by Marija Kavtaradze, Slow takes this difference as its point of departure. What does a relationship look like when you factor out the sex? Its clear that Elena has a hard time accepting Dovydas as he is, a frustration that links back to her childhood self-esteem issues.
Bedridden and anguished, the writer Flannery OConnor is visited by a priest (Liam Neeson in a cameo) in Wildcat, starring Maya Hawke. Tormented by spiritual agony and the systemic lupus that would kill her at 39, OConnor, a lifelong Catholic, beseeches him: I long for grace, she cries. I see it, I know its there, but I cant touch it.

Theres the seed of a good film in this scene, but the filmmakers cant quite latch onto it. These intriguing wisps of ideas  about OConnors struggle with faith and purpose  never coalesce into a coherent portrait in the movie (directed by Maya Hawkes father, Ethan), which is presented as being based on OConnors short stories.
Over the last week, Fabiola, a sophomore at Columbia, joined an encampment on her universitys quad, risked suspension and disrupted campus life, all in an effort to draw attention to the Palestinian cause.

She describes stopping Israels deadly siege of Gaza as a moral duty  an urgent imperative around which she has reoriented her life.

But as she participated in one of the most visible protests on the planet last week, Fabiola decided to hold one very important thing back: her identity. Thinking of her international student visa, she stretched a black surgical mask over her face, and declined to share her full name.

It was no one-off. On campuses from New England to Southern California, students leading one of the largest protest movements in decades have increasingly strapped on face masks and checkered Palestinian kaffiyehs in a polarizing bid to protect their anonymity even as they demand universities and governments be held to account.
Hudson Yards  the $30 billion planned neighborhood with office towers and luxury apartments  has become a success story, at least as far as leasing the offices is concerned. That very success has brought into focus the widening gap between the citys few high-end office buildings and the rest of the office market in Manhattan, which is hurting. I asked Matthew Haag, who writes about commercial real estate, to explain why Hudson Yards appears to be doing so well.

Hudson Yards was deserted during the pandemic and looked like a bust as far as real estate was concerned. Now its flourishing. What happened?
When Senator Robert Menendez was charged last year with participating in a complex bribery scheme, news headlines highlighted a peculiar detail: Investigators had discovered more than $480,000 in cash and 13 bars of gold during a June 2022 search of his house in New Jersey.

Days later, the senator offered an explanation for the cash, saying he routinely withdrew large sums of money from his savings account, a custom he said he had learned from his Cuban immigrant parents.

Now, Mr. Menendezs lawyers have gone further, asserting that the habit was rooted in deep psychological trauma tied to his fathers suicide nearly 50 years ago and a family history of confiscated property in Cuba.

They want a psychiatrist who has evaluated Mr. Menendez, 70, to testify at the senators federal corruption trial about what they have described as traumatic experiences in his past associated with cash and finances.
Its the criminal trial of Donald J. Trump. And yet, a spectator who attended proceedings this week could have been forgiven some confusion.

Because it is not the former president who has come in for sustained criticism from witnesses. It is his former fixer, Michael D. Cohen, who paid the hush money at the heart of the case.

The prosecutions witnesses have called Mr. Cohen  expected to testify himself before the trial ends  a jerk, sort of a pants-on-fire type of guy, and someone reminiscent of a jumpy animated dog from the childrens movie Up.

He was a challenging client, Mr. Cohens former banker said. I didnt particularly like dealing with him, a lawyer testified.
A woman in New York who was using TikTok to sell unauthorized weight-loss drugs, including products labeled Ozempic, is facing charges of smuggling and receiving and distributing misbranded drugs, federal prosecutors said.

The arrest on Wednesday of Isis Navarro Reyes, 36, who also went by Beraly Navarro and, according to prosecutors, was not licensed to administer medication, followed an investigation that involved an undercover officer. Late last year, the officer sent a message to a cellphone number listed by her at the end of a TikTok video.

In the video, Ms. Reyes, of Shirley, N.Y., on Long Island, showed her viewers how to inject what she claimed was Ozempic and shared her experience using the drug.

In January, after exchanging messages with Ms. Reyes, the officer asked to buy some Ozempic, a drug for diabetes that has become popular for weight loss. The undercover officer sent a digital payment of $375 to a Zelle account in Ms. Reyess name and, without having shown evidence of a prescription, received a package containing the product labeled Ozempic, according to the U.S. attorneys office for the Southern District of New York.
A major lawsuit challenging racial segregation in New York Citys public schools was allowed to move forward on Thursday, raising the potential that it will bring landmark changes to admissions at selective schools in the nations largest school system.

Starting as early as kindergarten, city students are sorted into two different academic tracks in which they take either general elementary school classes or specialized gifted and talented classes. Children in the latter track are often funneled into selective middle and high schools.

The suit argues that many Black and Latino students face systematic exclusion from the gifted and selective pipelines, which blocks them from prime educational opportunities and denies their right to a sound education under the State Constitution.

The case, if successful, could ultimately force fundamental changes to admissions policies at hundreds of selective schools, one of the most divisive education issues in New York and around the country.
A former police officer in Brewster, N.Y., was sentenced to 36 months in prison on Thursday for protecting two Queens-based sex-trafficking and prostitution businesses in exchange for free sexual services that were sometimes performed at a police station.

The former officer, Wayne Peiffer, 51, worked for the Village of Brewster Police Department and had faced up to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act extortion and conspiracy to commit bribery in Brooklyn federal court in April 2022.

The defendant is rightly punished with a prison sentence for disgracing his badge, violating the public trust in the community he was sworn to serve, and facilitating the victimization of vulnerable women, all for his own self-satisfaction, Breon Peace, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement.

Mr. Peiffers lawyer, Susan G. Kellman, had asked the court for leniency and to allow her client to serve time from his home, where he has been in detention since his arrest. In her request, Ms. Kellman said Mr. Peiffer felt deep remorse for his actions. Ms. Kellman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
Keith Davidson, the former lawyer for the porn star Stormy Daniels, faced a blistering cross-examination on Thursday in the criminal trial of Donald J. Trump, with defense lawyers casting him as a serial extortionist of celebrities.

The judge, Juan M. Merchan, also heard arguments about additional violations of a gag order by Mr. Trump, just days after he held the former president in contempt and fined him $9,000 for nine other violations. Justice Merchan has threatened jail time if the violations continue, but did not rule on four new allegations on Thursday.

Mr. Trump, 77, is charged with falsifying 34 business records, including checks and invoices, to hide a $130,000 payment to Ms. Daniels, who says she and Mr. Trump had a tryst in 2006 while he was married.

Mr. Trump, the first American president to face prosecution, has denied the felony charges, and having had sex with Ms. Daniels. He could face probation or prison if convicted.
Two voices reverberated in the courtroom. The first was loud, deep and unctuous, the second was casual  until money came up. They were discussing a deal made during the 2016 presidential campaign to silence a woman who claimed to have had an extramarital affair with the Republican candidate.

The first voice on the recording belonged to Michael D. Cohen, a former personal lawyer and fixer for Donald J. Trump. The second was the candidate himself, Mr. Trump, who on Thursday sat mutely as jurors heard his words.

The Manhattan district attorneys office used the tape, surreptitiously made by Mr. Cohen, to bring the trials two main characters together for the first time. The recording vividly captured how Mr. Cohen reported details of a key transaction to his then boss.

On it, Mr. Cohen discusses a hush-money deal that the parent company of The National Enquirer made on Mr. Trumps behalf with the former Playboy model Karen McDougal, as well as the question of how to deal with the financing  that is, repaying  the supermarket tabloids publisher, David Pecker.
On a day off from court, Donald J. Trump on Wednesday flew to Michigan and Wisconsin for campaign rallies in front of thousands of supporters. On Thursday, he returned to a Lower Manhattan courthouse, where a single supporter stood outside waving a Trump 2024 flag.

I dont feel lonely because my heart is with Trump, said the flag-holder, Lily Qi, 62, of Wilmington, Del., as she stood in the park across from the New York City Criminal Court.

She had ridden a train to New York City and is staying with friends, saying that she could not afford a hotel room on her office-cleaner salary. Born and raised in China, Ms. Qi said she had attended a dozen Trump rallies.

At around 9 a.m. on Thursday, she stood alone at Collect Pond Park but was soon joined by two demonstrators in T-shirts featuring a cartoon of Mr. Trump in jail. They are troublemakers, she said.
Sarah Wildman: Im Sarah Wildman, a staff editor and writer for Times Opinion.

Newsreel: (Protest chants)

Campus protests and rallies have been percolating since Oct. 8, but in the past week, something shifted.

Newsreel: New York City police used force last night to zip-tie the hands of dozens of student protests and hauled them away in buses. Newsreel: Protests against Israels assault on Gaza have rocked campuses from coast to coast over the past week. Newsreel: The ongoing demonstrations have stirred debate about the line between free speech for the protesters and open harassment of Jewish students.

Sarah Wildman: It seems on and off campus, the idea of what kind of protest should and should not be allowed is an open question. So I wanted to talk to my colleague David French. He recently wrote about this dilemma and what universities should be doing.

David is an opinion columnist. Hes a lawyer who spent most of his career defending free speech and religious freedom. Hes defended countless protesters, and he has been the subject of protest himself.
To the Editor:

Re Universities Choose Different Ways to End Unrest (news article, May 2):

The rigid dialogue on American college campuses about the Israel-Hamas war has been fruitless.

One side argues that Palestine should be freed from Israels tyranny, when clearly the real tyranny is from Palestinian terrorist leaders whose pointless insistence on the destruction of Israel is why Palestinians dont live in peace.

The other side absolves Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli government of any wrongdoing. This is absurd, as Mr. Netanyahu failed to protect his people, and in doing so was compelled to wage a war that has killed countless innocent Gazans.

My encouragement to the college protesters on both sides is to stop doing easy things like setting up encampments and chanting slogans at each other. Instead, join together to do the hard work of trying to find a sustainable solution to peace in the Middle East.

Leave blind partisanship to politicians, and use your intelligence, energy and creativity to be the generation that solves the problem.
Pretty much every presidential election includes a smattering of third-party and independent candidates  minor players who have slim to no chance of winning but who can seriously damage the electoral chances of the major-party nominees. This year, with so many Americans unhappy about a rematch between President Biden and Donald Trump, alternative contenders are enjoying a moment, with one candidate in particular earning a surprising amount of support: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

A scion of Americas most famous political family, Mr. Kennedy is polling in the low double digits. With his quirky political brand, it is hard to know who his candidacy would wind up hurting more in November, Mr. Biden or Mr. Trump. But Team Biden is taking no chances: The Democratic National Committee has a war room up and running aimed at handling third-party threats such as Mr. Kennedy. One of the most senior members of this effort is Lis Smith, the veteran communications guru best known for helping soup up Pete Buttigiegs 2020 presidential run.

Ms. Smith is handling the public-facing effort to take down Mr. Kennedy and his kind. She and I had a phone chat recently about what this will take, and how she is feeling about this crazy election landscape. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Michelle Cottle: You are a senior member of the Biden campaigns war room targeting third-party candidates  which sounds pretty ominous. But what exactly does this entail?
My originalist heart is troubled.

In the opening moments of Donald Trumps argument for presidential immunity, Justice Clarence Thomas pressed Trumps lawyer John Sauer to state the source for his sweeping argument that presidents are absolutely immune from criminal prosecution for official acts in office. Sauers response virtually ends his argument (or ought to). The source of the immunity, he said, is principally rooted in the executive vesting clause of Article II, Section 1.

Here is the full text of the executive vesting clause: The executive power shall be vested in a president of the United States of America. Thats it. Thats the whole thing. Theres no follow-on clause that says, Therefore, the president is immune from prosecution for his official acts as president. If thats the textual hook for Trumps argument, then its deficiencies should be plain.

But the justices spent more time in the hourslong oral argument last week discussing the consequences of its potential ruling than they spent on the text and structure of the Constitution. Yet a faithful originalist inquiry would settle the case, quickly, against Trump.

The Supreme Court defined the question before it quite simply: Whether and if so to what extent does a former president enjoy presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for conduct alleged to involve official acts during his tenure in office. The answer, applying any form of reasonable originalist analysis, is almost never and certainly not in Trumps case. But to understand why, its important to dig into what originalism actually is.
Donald Trump is often denounced in terms that suggest he poses an existential threat to the American political tradition. He is a fascist, a Russian agent, an aspiring caudillo: something foreign and menacing. To his critics, the four criminal indictments he faces are further evidence that he is a danger to democracy.

Mr. Trump and his associates may seem to welcome this characterization. He celebrates himself (inaccurately, as it happens) as a man who has been investigated more than Billy the Kid, Jesse James and Al Capone combined. He has praised James as a great bank robber and urged his fans to watch the 1932 film Scarface, based on Capones career. Donald Trump Jr. sells T-shirts that display his fathers mug shot with the words Wanted  for president.

For Mr. Trumps detractors, such an open embrace of lawlessness confirms the danger he presents. But this understanding of his newfound criminal persona, a persona his legal opponents have helped to thrust upon him, overlooks something important: Mr. Trump may pose a threat to our political system as it now exists, but it is a threat animated by a democratic spirit. It is the threat of the outlaw hero, a figure of defiance with deep roots in American culture who exposes the injustices and hypocrisies of a corrupt system.

The outlaws in whose image Mr. Trump styles himself gained fame in the United States because they seemed to embody freedom and spontaneity, along with mistrust of authority and indifference to polite convention. They appealed to democratic impulses, however perversely. As the folklorist Stephen Knight has observed, the core values of the figure of the good outlaw are liberty and equality. These outlaws were lawless, yes, but in the name of a higher law. It is no coincidence that Mr. Trump recently described himself as the public enemy of a rogue regime.
Our universe might be chock-full of cosmic wonder, but you can only observe a fraction of astronomical phenomena with your naked eye. Meteor showers, natural fireworks that streak brightly across the night sky, are one of them.

The latest observable meteor shower will be the Eta Aquarids, which have been active since April 19 and are forecast to continue until May 28. They reach their peak May 4 to 5, or Saturday night into Sunday morning.

The Eta Aquarid meteor shower is known for its fast fireballs, which occur as Earth passes through the rubble left by Halleys Comet.

Sometimes spelled Eta Aquariid, this shower is most easily seen from the southern tropics. But a lower rate of meteors will also be visible in the Northern Hemisphere close to sunrise. With the moon just a thin sliver in the sky, viewers could witness a strong show this year.
Scientists observed a wild male orangutan repeatedly rubbing chewed-up leaves of a medicinal plant on a facial wound in a forest reserve in Indonesia.

It was the first known observation of a wild animal using a plant to treat a wound, and adds to evidence that humans are not alone in using plants for medicinal purposes.

The male orangutan, Rakus, lives in the Gunung Leuser National Park on the island of Sumatra and is thought to be around 35 years old. For years researchers have followed orangutans like him on his travels through the forest, threading his way through the canopy in search of fruits to eat.

Scientists within the Suaq Balimbing research area of the park first noticed a wound on his face on June 25, 2022, when they saw his self-medication behavior begin.
EAU CLAIRE  Sarah Martin and Skyler Ramsey stood in Chippewa Valley Technical Colleges new dental simulation lab recently  overhearing the oohs and ahhs of the crowd that gathered.

This (simulation lab) will be really beneficial for the new first-year students coming in because that first semester is where youre learning all your hand skills and instrumentation, said Martin, 24, a CVTC dental hygiene student from Humbird. Its a dedicated space that will give students more time to work on their hand skills.

Dental manikins have been Pam Entorfs dream for years. Entorf, the colleges dental assistant and hygienist instructor and program director, and Myra Reuter, executive dean of Allied Health and emergency services, made CVTCs case for the sim lab to the Delta Dental of Wisconsin Foundation Board of Directors in July 2023. Shortly thereafter, the women were informed CVTC was awarded a grant to construct the Delta Dental of Wisconsin Dental Simulation Lab.

On April 25, Entorf, Reuter and Shannon Semmerling, Delta Dental of Wisconsin director of philanthropy and public benefit, rolled out the green dental floss-like ribbon to cut during the open house event for CVTC supporters.

The lab was created in a large classroom, formerly a computer lab, at the colleges Health Education Center and is already providing students with a consistent learning experience. It is the first of its kind in the Wisconsin Technical College System.

Were training the workforce of the future, Entorf said. Having the ability of simulation doubles the students chair time and their ability to master the skills.

Reuter said the new lab provides both dental programs the ability to accept additional students, dental manikins and more realistic practice.

The lab consists of 15 training stations with room to grow to 20. The college expects to graduate an additional 10 assisting students and five hygiene students each year.

Martin, the second-semester student, said she moved up six spots on the waiting list and was able to enter the program earlier than anticipated because of the new lab.

Its really important to have those extra seats, she said.

The CVTC Dental Clinic also sees patients, and the sim lab will increase productivity in the clinic so more patients can be seen. The simulation opportunity is expected to increase care to low-income dental patients seen in CVTCs clinic by 10%.

More seats for students also means more graduates. Thats music to dentists ears.

A poll in 2022 by the American Dental Association showed nearly 40% of dentists were trying to recruit hygienists. Of those, 95% said it was extremely difficult or very difficult to hire someone. In the 20 largest U.S. cities, the ADAs polling showed only half of the hygienist positions reported as filled.

Entorf said the new manikins will be portable, and she plans to take them to high schools to pique the curiosity of students in hopes they might choose the profession.

Ramsey, the 20-year-old hygiene student from Ashland, said the lab is incredibly beneficial for students who enter the program and dont have a background in dental.

Its less intimidating than being in the clinic, which is where we were for our first semester, she said. Now when first-semester students come in, theyre more in a classroom setting where they can learn their hand skills before going into the clinic.
Whats Hate Reads? a patron at The River, a bar on Bayard Street in Manhattans Chinatown, asked early on Wednesday evening. She and a friend had no idea they had wandered into the beginning of a party.

It was perhaps the perfect question to kick off the evenings event: a reading to celebrate the limited run of Hate Reads, a pop-up newsletter within a newsletter and the brainchild of Delia Cai, a writer for Vanity Fair. (Hate Reads was published as a limited-run on Ms. Cais regular newsletter, Deez Links, which she publishes on Substack, the sponsor of the evenings fete.)

In a call back to the juicy blogging style of a bygone era (2010), contributing writers anonymously wrote essays railing against their least favorite things. They hated on things like Taylor Swifts outfits, goldendoodles, media parties and, in a meta-commentary, the Hate Reads themselves. Some of the essays, particularly one about the state of mens wear, went moderately viral in certain online circles.

Chipper Substack employees roamed the bar with a roll of stick-on name tags and a Sharpie, encouraging people to label themselves not only with their names but with something they hated. Natural wines, roommates eating your groceries, loud chewing and cops were spotted on chests throughout the evening.
Here is an inconvenient truth. For all the noise made by activists, journalists, politicians and even celebrities about the clothing industry destroying the planet, shoppers arent listening.

The information is out there if they want it. Google can produce more than 88 million search results on why fashion is bad for the environment, but the world remains in a state of cognitive dissonance, fueled by its voracious appetite for disposable trends. Global apparel consumption, currently at 62 million tons per year, is by some estimates projected to reach 102 million tons annually by 2030.

One problem, say many industry observers, is that much of the messaging about fashion and sustainability can be too boring, too preachy and too easy to ignore. So is it possible to change the way we talk about it?

This week, the outdoor apparel brand Patagonia released a quirky new film that reflects the companys efforts to reset the conversation. The Shitthropocene, a 45-minute documentary directed by David Garrett Byars, is a trippy mock anthropological view of humanitys consumption habits from our cave-dwelling ancestors through the trendsetting aristocratic court of Louis XIV, creepy fairgrounds, fishing waders with leaky crotches, mindless digital advertising and pretty much everything in between. It will be shown in Patagonia stores across the United States in coming months.
It might not come as a surprise that Vanessa Williams, in the music video for her new single, Legs (Keep Dancing), can be seen showing off her legs.

Some may remember her showing off a lot more in a 1984 issue of Penthouse, that, after being published, led Ms. Williams to become the first Miss America forced to give up her crown, a decision that the pageants leaders have since apologized for.

Her legs in the Legs music video, unlike in the Penthouse photos, are for the most part clothed. Moschino shorts and fishnets, a spangly gold bodysuit and a pink feathered outfit are among the many items Ms. Williams, 61, wears while moving  mostly dancing  between locations that include a white-walled studio, a dimly lit limousine and a nightclub.

For certain viewers, Ms. Williamss colorful wardrobe in the video might evoke other aspects of her career as an actress and singer, say, her past role as fashion editor Wilhelmina Slater in the TV show Ugly Betty, or her upcoming role as Miranda Priestly, the Anna-Wintour-inspired fashion editor, in the musical adaptation of The Devil Wears Prada, arriving in Londons West End later this year.
The biggest U.S. challenge so far to the vast power of todays tech giants is nearing its conclusion.

Starting Thursday, lawyers for the Justice Department, state attorneys general and Google delivered their final arguments in a yearslong case  U.S. et al. v. Google  over whether the tech giant broke federal antitrust laws to maintain its online search dominance. Arguments are scheduled to conclude Friday.

The government claims that Google competed unfairly when it paid Apple and other companies billions of dollars to automatically handle searches on smartphones and web browsers. Google insists that consumers use its search engine because it is the best product.

In the coming weeks or months, the judge who has overseen the trial in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Amit P. Mehta, will deliver a ruling that could change the way Google does business or even break up the company  or absolve the tech giant completely. Many antitrust experts expect he will land somewhere in the middle, ruling only some of Googles tactics out of bounds.
The judge overseeing a landmark U.S. antitrust challenge to Google tried to poke holes in both sides cases during closing arguments Thursday as he weighed a ruling that could reshape the technology industry.

Judge Amit P. Mehta was presiding over the first day of closing arguments in the most consequential tech antitrust case since the U.S. government sued Microsoft in the late 1990s. The Justice Department has sued Google, accusing it of illegally shoring up a monopoly in online search. Google has denied the claims.

On Thursday, Judge Mehta questioned the governments argument that Googles dominance had hurt the quality of the experience for searching for information online. But he also pushed Google to defend its central argument that it isnt a monopoly because consumers use other companies like Amazon to search for shopping items and TikTok to search for music clips.

Certainly I dont think the average person would say, Google and Amazon are the same thing, Judge Mehta said.
Lempicka, a new musical about an artistically and sexually adventurous painter, announced Thursday evening that it would close on May 19, just a month after opening.

This is the first show to fall after this years Tony nominations were announced on Tuesday. Lempicka scored three nods  for the actresses Eden Espinosa and Amber Iman, as well as for scenic design  but was shut out of the best musical category. It really needed a boost, because its grosses have been anemic  last week it grossed $288,102, which is unsustainably low for a Broadway musical.

The musical, which has been in development for years, had productions at the Williamstown Theater Festival and the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego before arriving on Broadway during a crush of openings this spring; it began previews March 19 and opened April 14.

The show, which explores the life of the 20th-century painter Tamara de Lempicka, was written by Carson Kreitzer and Matt Gould and directed by Rachel Chavkin. Reviews were mixed to negative.
Mia Farrow and Patti LuPone, longtime friends, had no intention of returning to Broadway until a script about two women sharing a house caught their eye.

The play, called The Roommate, was written by Jen Silverman, and had a 2017 run, with a different cast, at the Williamstown Theater Festival, where the New York Times critic Jesse Green called it a kind of chemistry experiment. Can two women of utterly different temperaments and backgrounds help each other? Can they help each other too much?

Farrow, 79, and LuPone, 75, met in 1979 while working on Broadway  Farrow in Romantic Comedy and LuPone in Evita  and then they were reconnected via a mutual friendship with Stephen Sondheim. (Farrow and LuPone both have houses in western Connecticut, as did Sondheim.)

Farrow, in a telephone interview, said she had been sent the script for The Roommate and was intrigued. And she said she wanted to work with LuPone.
The gray Bay Bridge, the regions workhorse bridge connecting San Francisco with Oakland, has never gotten as much acclaim as its splashy red neighbor to the northwest. But lately, its been even more muted than usual.

For the past 14 months, the bridges Bay Lights art installation  25,000 LEDs that twinkled across 300 cables on the western span of the bridge  has been turned off.

Now, fans of the 1.8-mile stretch of sparkle can rejoice. The team behind the installation says it will be coming back with nearly twice as many lights. The target date is next March.

I feel like theres a hole in the night sky, said Ben Davis, the founder of Illuminate, the San Francisco public arts nonprofit behind Bay Lights. Its going to feel so good when we bring them back.
After firing about 10,000 mortar rounds during four years of training, one soldier who joined the Army with near-perfect scores on the military aptitude test was struggling to read or do basic math.

Another soldier started having unexplained fits in which his internal sense of time would suddenly come unmoored, sending everything around him whirling in fast-forward.

A third, Sgt. Michael Devaul, drove home from a day of mortar training in such a daze that he pulled into a driveway, only to realize that he was not at his house but at his parents house an hour away. He had no idea how he got there.

Guys are getting destroyed, said Sergeant Devaul, who has fired mortars in the Missouri National Guard for more than 10 years. Heads pounding, not being able to think straight or walk straight. You go to the medic. They say you are just dehydrated, drink water.
The captain of a dive boat that caught fire off the coast of Southern California in 2019, killing all 33 of its passengers and a crew member, was sentenced on Thursday to four years in prison after a lengthy hearing that included emotional testimony from relatives of the victims.

A federal jury in November found the captain, Jerry Nehl Boylan, guilty of misconduct or neglect of ship officer, a crime also known as seamans manslaughter.

Mr. Boylan, 70, of Santa Barbara, Calif., was the captain of the Conception, a commercial scuba diving vessel, when a fire broke out in the early hours of Sept. 2, 2019, while the ship was anchored near Santa Cruz Island, according to prosecutors.

Mr. Boylan and four other crew members were able to escape the fire, but the 33 passengers, who were sleeping below deck, died, prosecutors said. One crew member also was killed. Prosecutors said Mr. Boylan failed to try to save them.
Follow our live updates on the campus protests.

Discontent was simmering on Indiana Universitys flagship campus long before the first tent went up in Dunn Meadow, the vast green space beside the student union in Bloomington.

Earlier in the academic year, faculty members and graduate students voted no confidence in the university president. The cancellation of a Palestinian artists exhibition and the suspension of a pro-Palestinian student organizations faculty sponsor drew backlash. Some in the Jewish community said they felt increasingly unsafe.

But it was only in the last week, as a national wave of pro-Palestinian encampments reached Indiana, that a year defined by tension erupted into crisis. What came next  the arrests, the dueling accusations of police brutality and hate speech, the blurring of calls for divestment from Israel with those seeking the removal of university leaders  was a one-campus microcosm of how thoroughly the camps had rocked American higher education, and of how uncertain the path forward had become.

We should put all political problems aside and get rid of this administration that has failed all of us, said Ahmad Jeddeeni, the president of Indianas Graduate and Professional Student Government, who said he had friends on both sides of the protests. These guys are not able to lead in crisis, he said of the universitys top leaders. These guys made the crisis, actually.
Peggy Mellon Hitchcock, the energetic scion of a storied wealthy family who funded Timothy Learys psychedelic adventures  and famously helped him find the spot to do so, at her brothers estate in Millbrook, N.Y.  died on April 9 at her home in Tucson, Ariz. She was 90.

The cause was a stroke, said her daughter Sophia Bowart. Ms. Hitchcock had been suffering from endometrial cancer.

Timothy Leary hadnt yet been thrown out of Harvard for his experiments with psychedelic drugs when he met Ms. Hitchcock one weekend at the apartment of Maynard Ferguson, the jazz trumpeter and bandleader, in the Riverdale section of the Bronx.

Pretty Peggy Hitchcock was an international jet-setter, Mr. Leary wrote in his 1983 autobiography, Flashbacks, renowned as the colorful patroness of the livelier arts and confidante of jazz musicians, racecar drivers, writers, movie stars. Stylish, and with a wry sense of humor, Peggy was considered the most innovative and artistic of the Andrew Mellon family  that is, the family of the Pittsburgh industrialist who was secretary of the Treasury under three presidents.
A former Pennsylvania nurse who admitted that she administered excessive doses of insulin to nearly two dozen patients, 17 of whom died, was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday after pleading guilty to murder and other charges.

The former nurse, Heather Pressdee, 41, administered high doses of insulin to 22 patients at five rehabilitation centers across Pennsylvania between 2020 and 2023, prosecutors said. The patients she was accused of mistreating ranged in age from 43 to 104.

Ms. Pressdee was initially charged in May 2023 with killing two nursing home patients and injuring a third. But in November, the state attorney generals office came forward with additional charges after prosecutors said Ms. Pressdee admitted to trying to kill a total of 19 patients.

According to the attorney generals office, first-degree murder charges were filed against Ms. Pressdee only in cases where physical evidence was available. Attempted-murder charges were filed, it said, in cases where the victims either survived the excessive dosage of insulin, or the cause of death could not be determined.
As Democrats confront a presidential race against a resurgent and resilient Donald J. Trump as well as a brutally challenging Senate map, they believe they have an increasingly powerful political weapon: ballot measures to protect abortion rights.

Two crucial presidential and Senate battlegrounds, Arizona and Nevada, are expected to put such measures directly before voters. So are other states with top Senate races, including Maryland and potentially Montana. And abortion rights measures are set or could appear on ballots in states like New York, Florida and Nebraska, where competitive contests could help determine whether Democrats win back the House.

Hopeful Democrats  and worried Republicans  are acutely aware that in all seven states where abortion has been put directly to voters since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the abortion rights side has won, in both red states like Ohio and Kansas as well as swing states like Michigan. Those measures have sometimes fueled surges in liberal turnout that have lifted Democratic candidates to victory, as well.

So in every state where an abortion measure is already on the 2024 ballot or could yet appear, Democratic candidates, state parties and allied groups are campaigning furiously alongside the ballot initiatives, running ads, helping pour money behind them and bringing up the measures in speech after speech.
A bipartisan push in Congress to enact a law cracking down on antisemitic speech on college campuses has prompted a backlash from far-right lawmakers and activists, who argue it could outlaw Christian biblical teachings.

The House passed the legislation, called the Antisemitism Awareness Act, overwhelmingly on Wednesday, and Senate leaders in both parties were working behind the scenes on Thursday to determine whether it would have enough backing to come to a vote in that chamber.

House Republicans rolled the bill out this week as part of their efforts to condemn the pro-Palestinian protests that have surged at university campuses across the country, and to put a political squeeze on Democrats, who they have accused of tolerating antisemitism to please their liberal base.

But in trying to use the issue as a political cudgel against the left, Republicans also called attention to a rift on the right. Some G.O.P. members said they firmly believe that Jews killed Jesus Christ, and argued that the bill  which includes such claims in its definition of antisemitism  would outlaw parts of the Bible.
For months, President Biden has been under pressure to prove he can be tough at the border. But at a campaign reception on Wednesday night, he also tried to voice his commitment to Americas long history of immigration.

He did so by taking a swipe at two of Americas partners, saying that Japan and India are struggling economically because theyre xenophobic. He said the two democratic countries, along with China and Russia, dont want immigrants.

Immigrants are what makes us strong, the president told the crowd of supporters. Not a joke. Thats not hyperbole, because we have an influx of workers who want to be here and want to contribute.

The comments have the potential to be a diplomatic irritant for the administration, which has spent years courting the governments of both Japan and India as part of the presidents strategy to counter Chinese aggression in the region. Japan and India are two of the five allies Mr. Biden has hosted with state dinners at the White House since taking office.
President Biden traveled on Thursday to North Carolina, a possible swing state in the fall election, to promote his efforts to replace toxic lead pipes as part of his administrations program to expand and upgrade the nations network of roads, airports and other critical infrastructure.

During a stop in Wilmington, the president announced $3 billion in new spending drawn from the bipartisan infrastructure law that he pushed through Congress in 2021, one of the signature legislative achievements he hopes to use to show voters that he can be effective despite political polarization.

Until the United States of America, God love us, deals with this, how can we say were a leading nation in the world? he told a crowd of supporters at the Wilmington Convention Center. For Gods sake, were better than this.

Mr. Biden has committed to replacing all lead pipes across the nation within a decade. Lead exposure can affect brain development in children, damage kidneys and interfere with the production of red blood cells that carry oxygen. The administration estimates that more than nine million homes, schools, day care centers and businesses still receive water through lead pipes, particularly in communities of marginalized people.
During the first two weeks of testimony in Donald Trumps criminal trial, the defense has often turned to three Ds to counter the prosecutions arguments: denial, downplaying and deflecting responsibility.

As the case heats up, though, Trumps legal team has increasingly gone on the offensive, confronting prosecution witnesses head-on  a strategy that was on full display today, during a rugged cross-examination of Keith Davidson, a Los Angeles lawyer who represented Stormy Daniels.

Daniels, a porn star, was paid $130,000 by Trumps fixer, Michael Cohen, in 2016 to ensure her silence about a single-night sexual encounter with Trump in 2006.

In two days of testimony, Davidson offered a vivid description of the deal to cover up Danielss story and another hush-money arrangement involving Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who said she had a 10-month affair with Trump in 2006 and 2007. McDougals story was never published, part of a pattern of catch-and-kill: the supermarket tabloid practice of buying up negative stories and then burying them.
Update: Schools were closed and evacuation orders were in place as the Houston area braced for more flooding on Friday.

Mandatory evacuations were underway in parts of Southeast Texas on Thursday evening after heavy rains continued to unleash major flooding, adding to a deluge in an area that had received up to a foot of rain on Sunday.

Officials issued a disaster declaration in Harris County where the San Jacinto River on the outskirts of Houston was swelling to levels that could keep people stranded for days, according to the county government. Judge Lina Hidalgo, the countys chief leader, urged people in several neighborhoods near the east fork of the river to evacuate before nightfall.

What were going to see tonight and into the weekend will not be Hurricane Harvey, Judge Hidalgo said, referring to the storm that caused devastation in 2017, in a statement. But were going to see significant impacts.

Earlier in the day, crews had rescued eight people and 30 animals in high-water areas, according to Judge Hidalgo.
Follow our live coverage of the college protests at U.C.L.A. and other universities.

As protesters chanted and sprayed fire extinguishers at them, police officers moved in on the pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles, in the early hours of Thursday, tearing down its barricades, arresting dozens of people and clearing out the tents that had dominated the center of campus for days.

The chaotic scenes were part of a tense, hourslong back-and-forth between protesters and police that had been building after violent clashes a day earlier  involving counterprotesters who attacked the encampment  prompted administrators to call in law enforcement.

On Wednesday night, the authorities issued a warning to pro-Palestinian demonstrators: Leave the encampment outside Royce Hall or face arrest.
On Thursday morning, the campus at the University of California, Los Angeles, reflected the aftermath of a protest in defeat. Littered across the lawn was a mass of trampled tents, sleeping bags, pizza boxes, blankets and poles.

Just hours earlier, as protesters chanted and sprayed fire extinguishers, police officers in riot gear tore down the pro-Palestinian encampment that had dominated a well-known quad at the university for a week.

About 200 people were arrested and booked after a standoff with the authorities, according to Nicole Nishida, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department. Most were charged with misdemeanors such as unlawful assembly, she said, and the majority had been released by midmorning.

About 300 protesters left voluntarily, according to the university.

Students and faculty have been left struggling to comprehend their universitys response during two days of disorder that disrupted a campus that had supported free speech as long as things remained peaceful.
At least 29 people have been killed and 60 are missing after heavy rains drenched southern Brazil, prompting a state government to send rescue helicopters in search of stranded residents, the authorities said on Thursday.

The torrential rains that poured over the state of Rio Grande do Sul in recent days were well above normal for this time of year, according to experts.

In the last four days of April, the state received about 70 percent of the precipitation it typically records for the entire month, according to National Institute of Meteorology data analyzed by The New York Times.

The rains swelled rivers across the states low-lying central valley region, flooding towns, causing a bridge to collapse, blocking roads and setting off mudslides. One town, Canudos do Vale, was left isolated with no electricity or communication. In the town of Candelaria, residents awaited rescue helicopters on the roofs of their flooded homes.
Voters in England and Wales will cast ballots for mayors, council members and police commissioners on Thursday. And while the elections will, of course, focus on local issues like garbage collection and public safety, this vote is expected to have broader significance.

Why does this election matter?

Local elections, by their nature, are about who leads communities and ensures the delivery of certain public services. But many analysts believe the results of these elections will also serve as an important bellwether of general public opinion across England and of whether Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks beleaguered Conservative Party has a chance of retaining power in a general election expected this fall.

The Conservatives face a fierce challenge from the opposition Labour Party, led by Keir Starmer.

The Conservatives won a third successive general election in 2019, but the accumulated discontent of 14 years in power  a period that included several changes of prime minister and political scandals  is weighing heavily: Labour has sustained double-digit leads in national opinion polls for more than a year.

About one-third of Englands council seats are being contested on Thursday, and 11 mayoral seats in major English metro areas, home to about a third of Britains population, are also up for election.
Just days after Scotlands first minister, Humza Yousaf, announced his resignation, one of his partys most experienced politicians, John Swinney, emerged on Thursday as his likely successor after the most prominent potential challenger pulled out of the race.

Mr. Swinney, 60, is a former leader of Mr. Yousafs Scottish National Party, and presents himself as the unity candidate for a party that has been in a state of crisis since the departure last year of the previous first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, once one of Britains most popular politicians.

That crisis reached a new level of urgency this week when Mr. Yousaf terminated a coalition agreement with another party that campaigns for Scottish independence, the Scottish Greens, only to find himself facing two confidence votes he risked losing. On Monday, he said he would step down as soon as a replacement was chosen.

For much of the past year, the S.N.P. has been enduring the fallout of a police investigation into the handling of funds it raised for a future referendum campaign.
The United States has accused Russia of using chemical weapons, including poison gas, as a method of warfare against Ukrainian forces, in violation of a global ban on the use of such weapons.

The State Department said in a statement on Wednesday that Russia had used chloropicrin, a choking agent widely used during World War I, as well as tear gas, against Ukrainian troops. The use of these gases in warfare is banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention, an arms control treaty ratified by more than 150 countries, including Russia.

The use of such chemicals is not an isolated incident and is probably driven by Russian forces desire to dislodge Ukrainian forces from fortified positions and achieve tactical gains on the battlefield, the State Department said. Russia has been slowly but steadily pushing through Ukrainian defenses in the east this year, capturing several towns and villages.

The State Department also said that the United States would impose sanctions on three state entities linked to Russias chemical and biological weapons programs and four companies that supported them.
Rebuilding all the homes destroyed by Israels military offensive in the Gaza Strip could take until the next century if the pace of reconstruction were to match what it was after wars there in 2014 and 2021, according to a United Nations report released on Thursday.

Citing data from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the U.N. report said that as of April 15, some 370,000 homes in Gaza had been damaged, 79,000 of which have been destroyed. If those destroyed homes were rebuilt at the same pace as they were after the two previous wars  an average of 992 per year  it would take 80 years, according to projections in the report from the United Nations Development Program and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia.

The report detailed the wars socioeconomic impact on the Palestinian population and said the level of destruction in Gaza is such that the required assistance to rebuild would be on a scale not seen since 1948 to replace public infrastructure, including schools and hospitals.

The report said that even if Israel were to allow five times as much construction material into Gaza after this war as it did after the war in 2021  the most optimistic scenario  rebuilding all of the destroyed homes would still take until 2040. That projection does not account for the time it would take to repair the hundreds of thousands of homes that were damaged but not destroyed.

The cost of rebuilding Gaza is increasing exponentially each day the fighting continues, Abdallah Al Dardari, the director of the U.N.D.P.s regional bureau for Arab states, speaking over a video call from Amman, Jordan, said at a news conference on Thursday.

Mr. Al Dardari said that before some sort of normalcy can be established for Palestinians in Gaza, an estimated 37 million tons of debris must be cleared to allow for the construction of temporary shelters and, eventually, the rebuilding of homes.

The report also found that the unemployment rate for Palestinians across the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza surged to roughly 46 percent from about 26 percent after six months of war.

Over those six months, poverty rates in the Palestinian territories more than doubled, to an estimated 57.2 percent from 26.7 percent. That means 1.67 million Palestinians were pushed into poverty after the war began, the report said. Its estimates were based on a poverty line of $6.85 a day.

The effects of the war on Palestinians both in and out of Gaza will be felt for years, the report said.
A Hamas leader said Thursday that the group would soon send a delegation to Cairo to complete ongoing discussions on a cease-fire deal for the war in the Gaza Strip, raising hopes of progress in the stalled efforts for a truce.

The latest cease-fire proposal, which has been forcefully pushed by the Biden administration in recent days, comes after nearly seven devastating months of war. The deal would include a weekslong temporary truce  the exact duration is unclear  and the release of hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian prisoners in Israel. It would also allow the return of civilians to the largely depopulated northern part of Gaza, and enable increased delivery of aid to the territory.

Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamass political wing, said the group was studying the latest proposal from Israel, which includes some Israeli concessions, with a positive spirit. A Hamas delegation will go to Egypt soon to seek a deal that realizes our peoples demands and ends the aggression, according to a statement by the group.
Nearing the end of a whirlwind Middle East trip this week, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken finished meetings with the Israeli president and relatives of American hostages held by Hamas, left his beachside hotel in Tel Aviv and shook hands with protesters gathered outside.

He looked them in the eye and said there was a new hostages-for-cease-fire deal on the table that Hamas should take.

Bringing your loved ones home is at the heart of everything were trying to do, and we will not rest until everyone  man, woman, soldier, civilian, young, old  is back home, he said.

That public show of empathy with frustrated protesters is something that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has avoided since the war began in October. And, lately, he has focused his recent public comments on an imminent ground offensive  an invasion of the city of Rafah in southern Gaza with or without a cease-fire deal, as the Israeli leader put it on Tuesday.
Donald J. Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records, charges that are linked to his role in a hush-money payment made to a porn star.

Credit... Dave Sanders for The New York Times
Where Protesters on U.S. Campuses Have Been Arrested or Detained

Police officers and university administrators have clashed with pro-Palestinian protesters on dozens of college campuses in recent weeks, arresting students, removing encampments and threatening academic consequences. More than 3,100 people have been arrested or detained on campuses across the country.

Campus protests where arrests and detainments have taken place since April 18 Circles sized by number of arrests Ariz.

State 72 Cal Poly Humboldt 60 C.C.N.Y. 173 Columbia 217 Emerson 118 Emory 28 Fordham 15 Indiana

Univ. 57 Ohio

State 38 New Paltz 132 Tulane 26 U.C.L.A. 271 U.C.S.D. 64 U.C.S.C. 124 U.N.C. Chapel Hill 36 Auraria

Campus 40 U. Mass. 130 Univ. of

New Mexico 16 U.S.C. 93 U.T. Austin 136 Virginia

Tech 82 Wash. U. 100 Portland State 37 Ala. Alaska Ariz. Ark. Calif. Colo. Del. Fla. Ga. Hawaii Idaho Ill. Ind. Iowa Kan. Ky. La. Maine Md. Mass. Mich. Minn. Miss. Mo. Mont. Neb. Nev. N.H. N.J. N.M. N.Y. N.C. N.D. Ohio Okla. Ore. Pa. S.C. S.D. Tenn. Texas Utah Vt. Va. Wash. W.Va. Wis. Wyo. Ariz.

State 72 Cal Poly Humboldt 60 C.C.N.Y. 173 Columbia 217 Emerson 118 Emory 28 Fordham 15 Indiana

Univ. 57 Ohio

State 38 New Paltz 132 Tulane 26 U.C.L.A. 271 U.C.S.D. 64 U.C.S.C. 124 U.N.C. Chapel Hill 36 Auraria

Campus 40 U. Mass. 130 Univ. of

New Mexico 16 U.S.C. 93 U.T. Austin 136 Virginia

Tech 82 Wash. U. 100 Portland State 37 Ala. Alaska Ariz. Ark. Calif. Colo. Del. Fla. Ga. Hawaii Idaho Ill. Ind. Iowa Kan. Ky. La. Maine Md. Mass. Mich. Minn. Miss. Mo. Mont. Neb. Nev. N.H. N.J. N.M. N.Y. N.C. N.D. Ohio Okla. Ore. Pa. S.C. S.D. Tenn. Texas Utah Vt. Va. Wash. W.Va. Wis. Wyo.

The fresh wave of student activism against the war in Gaza was sparked by the arrests of at least 108 protesters at Columbia University on April 18, after administrators appeared before Congress and promised a crackdown. Since then, tensions between protesters, universities and the police have risen, prompting law enforcement to take action in some of Americas largest cities.
A day after police broke up an illegal campsite on campus, UW-Madison administrators have pledged not to have police intervene in the rebuilt pro-Palestine encampment on Library Mall until school officials and protest leadership meet on Friday

The promise followed an initial meeting Thursday morning between UW-Madison leaders including Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin and other university leaders with protest organizers, including Students for Justice in Palestine at Bascom Hall, the campus administrative offices.

"Students and faculty began by condemning the police brutality used on students and faculty, and faculty shared their own experiences with police inflicting violence on them," a protest organizer who declined to be identified told the group Thursday. "Then we started discussing our demands. Students, faculty and administration in the room agreed to another meeting within the next 24 hours, and the chancellor guarantees that there will be no police action from now until that meeting."

The announcement was met from cheers from the crowd of a few dozen people on Library Mall, many of whom broke out umbrellas and plastic raincoats amid the steady drizzle.

UW-Madison spokespeople confirmed the protester organizers' account of the meeting and said the dialogue is ongoing. Mnookin was joined at the meeting Thursday by Provost Charles Isbell, Chief Diversity Officer LaVar Charleston and Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Lori Reesor.

Outside Bascom Hall, faculty and staff held banners voicing their support for the student protesters as they met with the administration.

Protesters have had six demands of the university leadership, including divestment from companies and organizations that support Israel, ending an exchange student fellowship with an Israeli university and ending study-abroad programs in Israel.

Previously, the administration said university leaders would meet with protesters once the encampment, which is against university policy and state law, was dismantled. Thursday's meeting appear to have reset the relationship between administration and protesters somewhat after dozens of officers from several law enforcement agencies attempted to dismantle the encampment early Wednesday morning. Tents started reappearing on the mall hours later, and by Thursday morning there were 28, nearly as many as were torn down the day before.

Police also arrested 34 protesters, with some protesters and officers reporting injuries from the ensuing chaos.

In an open letter to Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett Thursday, nine Dane County Board supervisors expressed their disappointment about the Sheriff's Office's participation in the Wednesday raid. The signatories include Heidi Wegleitner, Jay Brower, April Kigeya, Kierstin Huelsemann, Henry Fries, Tommy Rylander, Rick Rose, Yogesh Chawla and Michele Doolan.

"The utilization of county resources in support of any such action constitutes a failure of our leadership and is an inappropriate use of public monies," the letter said. "We are hopeful for your cooperation as we evaluate the role of your office in responding to political demonstrations and requests for mutual aid from other law enforcement agencies."
A young Moscow resident was recently fined and prosecuted by police for dyeing his hair yellow and blue, the colors of the Ukrainian flag.

On the night of April 27, Stanislav Netesov was attacked by unknown assailants at a bus stop in the center of Moscow as he was returning from work. He had his phone stolen and a tooth knocked out, but when he went to the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Tverskoy district the next day to report the crime he was shocked to learn that, instead of providing him assistance, the authorities were more interested in the color of his hair. Netesov had his hair dyed yellow, blue, and green which the police considered a symbol of Ukraine and an offense to the Russian army, which is punishable by law.

Speaking with OVD-Info, Stanislav Netesov said that police drew up a report on him for his crime, took his fingerprints, and handed him a summons to the military registration and enlistment office, declaring that they would force him to kiss his native soil in the trenches.

Russian courts recognize any statements considered anti-war as discrediting the army, a crime punishable with a fine of up to 50,000 rubles ($543), and up to five years in prison for repeated offenses. According to  Vestka , 8,628 protocols were issued under the Code of Administrative Offenses article on discrediting the army between 2022 and 2023 in Russia.

Last summer, a court in Penza fined pensioner Nikolai Gutsenovich 100 thousand rubles for discrediting the Russian army by liking social media posts in which the actions of the Russian military were characterized in a negative way. These posts were displayed on his page on the social network and were viewable by an indefinite number of people.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is looking for a firm to produce PSAs and compelling PR messaging in support of its Ready Campaign emergency preparedness effort.

The goal of the Ready Campaign is to provide compelling emergency preparedness information to affect immediate and lasting cultural and behavioral change in individuals and communities across the nationwide," according to the RFI.

FEMA's Office of External Affairs is looking for a firm to spread preparedness messages in support of the Ready Campaign in all 210 national media markets.

Target markets are the general public and specified segmented audiences (e.g., Latino, Black, older adults, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders).

The selected firm will develop and produce national Public Service Announcement campaigns. It will leverage existing relationships to secure sustained donated media of approximately $35 million per year and no less than $15 millionnot inclusive of earned media values.

FEMA's goal is to achieve approximately 300,000 placements (not including digital placements) and 2B in donated media impressions, as defined by the number of people who have viewed the campaign.

The selected communications partner also will promote the launch of National Preparedness Month in September via PR and social media tactics.

Responses are due May 10.

Read the RFI (PDF).
A survey from Matter Communications found that nearly all healthcare marketers (94.4 percent) are currently working with a PR/marketing agency, with a sizeable majority (63.5 percent) planning to either increase or maintain their current investment this year. In addition, most of the healthcare marketers who said they dont currently work with an agency said they did have plans to hire one this year (77 percent). When it comes to what those holdouts are looking for, the biggest draw was a firm that could offer PR, integrated marketing and creative services (cited by 38.7 percent of respondents). Perhaps not surprisingly, just about every healthcare marketer surveyed (98.4 percent) is also relying on AI in their work, with 46.6 percent often using AI tools for their marketing/communications programs, 38.4 sometimes using them and 13.4 percent saying they rarely use them but plan to increase their use in 2024. As healthcare complexities evolve, marketing leaders are leaning on agency partners with specific industry expertise to drive strategic marketing and communications programs across diverse channels  all under one roof. The results of this survey underpin the value that an experienced agency brings to the activation of multichannel programs, said Matter Health SVP Paul Berthiaume.

PAN Communications launches a new website and branding. The move is meant to reaffirm the companys commitment to meeting client and employee needs for a strategic, creative partner that understands their growth goals. PANs new messaging also drops the use of Communications colloquially from the brands name. The brand refresh comes ahead of PANs upcoming 30th anniversary. When you look at whats going on in the world of marketing and PR, brands and their leadership teams want to work with partners that are fresh, nimble and full of energy  partners that can connect the dots between brand awareness, demand acquisition and growth, said PAN CMO Mark Nardone. The look and feel of our website and brand refresh speak to these attributes by being harmonized yet modern and provocative. Were showcasing our agencys personality today, both from a PAN people perspective and from the vantage point of the clients we represent.

Elzaan Rohde

Semaphore Communications of Cape Town, South Africa comes on board as a member of IPREX. Semaphore, a B2B PR agency specializing in the tech sector, works with clients in the fintech, paytech, security, mobile messaging, ecommerce, renewables and advisory space. Its clients include Forrester South Africa, Network International, Entersekt, iiDENTIFii, Global Kinetic, Sprout Performance Partners and Engaged Business Turnaround. Under the direction of founder Elzaan Rohde, the agency promotes its clients through strategic counsel, messaging, media and analyst relations, social media, content creation, executive positioning and thought leadership. The African continent is strategically important for the IPREX network, said IPREX global president and founder Ann-Marie OSullivan, who noted that Semaphores impressive portfolio of media relations work and technology expertise across South Africa is a compelling addition to the IPREX fold.

Dave Nobs

LAVIDGE managing director of growth & development Dave Nobs joins the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication Endowment Board of Trustees. Based at Arizona State University, the school offers professional programs including digital media, broadcast news, sports reporting, media innovation, public relations, digital marketing And Spanish-language news. Trustees advise the dean, support students through mentorship and internship and career opportunities, and philanthropically support the schools priority funding needs. They also help spearhead the schools signature fundraising event, the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism. Because of Daves leadership role at LAVIDGE, I have no doubt that his participation will enhance the board and impact the school in numerous ways, said Cronkite School dean and professor Dr. Battinto L. Batts Jr. Before joining LAVIDGE, Nobs was managing director of Ruder Finn and executive vice president/general manager of both Weber Shandwick and Rogers & Cowan.
Democrats may sound like a broken record but bashing Big Oil sure makes them feel good.

They were in downright giddy moods on April 30 following the release in what seems like the 19th report outlining how Big Oil knew all about the role that fossil fuels played in driving the climate crisis into a civilizational emergency.

Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin made the observation that Big Oil has always prioritized its bottom line and chosen low-road PR tactics over a high-road commitment to addressing the crisis.

That sounds about right.

The Report claims that Big Oils outright denial of climate change has evolved into a green-seeming cover for its ongoing covert operationa campaign of deception, disinformation, and doublespeak waged using dark money, phony front groups, false economics, and relentless exertion of political influenceto block climate progress.

The three-year probe found that ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP America, Shell USA, American Petroleum Institute and the US Chamber of Commerce worked for decades to undermine public understanding in climate change.

Nothing new there.

The Reports name neatly sums things up. It is called Denial, Disinformation, and Doublespeak: Big Oils Evolving Efforts to Avoid Accountability for Climate Change.

PR people should give it a read.

Wingnut Marjorie Taylor Greene justified her vote against the Antisemitism Awareness Act by sputtering antisemitic nonsense. Go figure.

After tweeting that antisemitism is wrong, she posted that she couldnt vote the AAA because it could convict Christians of antisemitism for believing the Gospel that Jesus was handed over to Herod to be crucified by the Jews.

Not so fast, MTG. The Gospel that Im familiar with holds the Roman governor Pontius Pilate responsible for the death of Jesus.

The US Holocaust Memorial Museum would call MTG to task. It says blaming Jews for the death of Christ has been used to whitewash antisemitism for more than two thousand years. Et tu, MTG.

The Congresswoman, a self-described cradle Catholic who was married in the Church but stopped going to Mass following reports of sexual abuse scandals, must be aware that the Second Vatican Council in 1965 determined there is no basis in scripture for the belief that the Jewish people were responsible for Jesus death.

Greene is set to move on to her next PR disaster, which will be her no-shot chance to boot House Speaker Mike Johnson set for next week.

MTG is losing her mojo.

United in worry about election news. There is one thing that Americans agree on in these highly politically polarized times.

People living in urban, suburban and rural communities are worried about misinformation in election news, according to a survey from the Media Insight Project, a collaboration of the American Press Institute and the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

More than half (53 percent) of adults are either extremely or very concerned about new organizations reporting inaccurate or unverified information.

Only 14 percent have a great deal of confidence in election-related news from national sources, and 11 percent trust local outlets.

People also feel that the media are at least partly responsible for the divisiveness that exists in the country.

About half (48 percent) of the survey respondents predict that the media will excessively focus on divisions or controversies in their coverage of the 2024 elections.

You can bet one of the major candidates will be spouting about fake news in an effort to undermine any critical coverage of him.
Tullamore based Councillor Tony McCormack has voiced his profound disappointment regarding the allocation of funding from the Just Transition Fund for the Midlands region.

The announcement, made by Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan, revealed an allocation of 18 million, of which Offaly received a mere fraction.

Offaly submitted a comprehensive range of 17 projects, totalling 8 million, aimed at fostering development within the region. These projects spanned initiatives ranging from the establishment of enterprise hubs to job creation services, renewable energy centre, community engagement programs, and training centres. However, only two of these projects were successful, receiving a total allocation of 544,000.

"While I extend my congratulations to the successful projects, Film Offaly and Kilcormac Development Association, I cannot ignore the profound disappointment felt by the people of Offaly," stated Cllr McCormack. Offaly, having historically contributed significantly to the countrys energy sector and economy, has suffered the most job losses. The heart of our towns and villages, have been left decimated.

Cllr McCormack emphasized the pivotal role played by Deputy Barry Cowan and Cllr Eamon Dooley in securing Ireland's inclusion in the Just Transition Fund for coal regions across Europe. "This fund represents an opportunity for revitalization and economic rejuvenation for counties like Offaly," he added.

Expressing concern over the lack of consistency across the decision-making process, Cllr McCormack highlighted the fact that the consultants tasked with the initial review of project submissions were not included in the final decision making process.

Cllr McCormack did not mince words when addressing what he perceives as a pattern of neglect toward Offaly by Minister Eamon Ryan and the Green Party. "From withdrawing the link road for the N52 to this paltry allocation, it seems Offaly has fallen out of favour," he lamented. "The disregard for our county is disgraceful."

As Offaly faces the challenges of transitioning to a sustainable future, Cllr McCormack said he remains steadfast in his commitment to advocating for the needs and interests of the community.
BORD na Mona and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) for Derrinlough Wind Farm as part of a strategic collaboration that will see AWS become the first business to join the Bord na Mona Eco Energy Park in the Midlands, subject to regulatory and planning consent.

In line with the announcement, Bord na Mona is investing significantly in this first Eco Energy Park to deliver wind and solar power, flexible generation to support grid resiliency when required, as well as developing new electricity grid connections. This Eco Energy Park is the first of its kind in Ireland and will allow Bord na Mona to support large-scale industrial growth and development in Ireland, enhancing the national grid. The parks will co-locate large companies like AWS, with a range of renewable energy technologies, helping them to deliver low-carbon growth in their operations, whilst contributing to associated enterprise, community initiatives, local amenities, and the local natural environment.

The collaboration is set to create a pathway for AWS to develop data centres in the Midlands powered by wind and solar energy, in line with Governments Principles for Sustainable Data Centre Development. As part of this agreement, AWS will also invest in up to 800MW of new renewable energy projects in Ireland, with the announcement marking AWSs first 105MW power purchase agreement (PPA) with Bord na Mona for Derrinlough Wind Farm, located in Co Offaly. This additional PPA will further support Amazons commitment to match all electricity powering of its operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025 - five years ahead of their original target of 2030.

This strategic collaboration between Bord na Mona and AWS has the potential to deliver wider economic benefits for the Midlands, with hundreds of construction jobs to be created during the construction phase alone, and a significant multi annual Community Benefit Fund to provide support to local projects and groups.

Launched in 2021, Bord na Monas Eco Energy Park offering is transforming approximately 3,000ha across Bord na Monas landbank in the coming years, and will be designed to enhance Irelands security of energy supply, supporting the delivery of several of the States climate, renewable energy and enterprise objectives. Each Park will generate sufficient renewable energy to power a number of sectors that play an important role in Irelands social and economic development, such as, Manufacturing, Pharmaceutical, Agrifood, ICT, Transport, Green Hydrogen derived E-Fuels and Logistics. Bord na Monas Eco Energy Parks will not only help these industries to pursue low-carbon growth of their operations but will also significantly contribute to and support associated enterprise, community initiatives, local amenities, and the local natural environment.

This announcement marks yet another important milestone in Bord na Monas significant transition to become one of the leading renewable energy companies in the country and is an acceleration of a key element of Bord na Monas 5GW renewable energy infrastructure pipeline, in support of delivering against Irelands 2030 climate action targets.

Speaking on the announcement of this significant collaboration, Tom Donnellan, Chief Executive of Bord na Mona said, We are delighted to be working with Amazon Web Services at our first Bord na Mona Eco Energy Park. As one of Irelands leading renewable energy providers we are committed to delivering innovative and sustainable ways for leading businesses across a range of sectors to decarbonise their operations.

We are investing significantly in our Eco Energy Park offering in the Midlands, which will provide associated benefits for the area that will positively impact employment, the environment, infrastructure, communities, and local businesses. We can co-locate these large companies with our renewable energy assets to offer a sustainable pathway to grid capacity that is backed up with Flexible Technology power as required.

This is just the beginning, and we look forward to welcoming Amazon Web Services and other leading organisations from sectors like manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and ICT among others to join the Bord na Mona Eco Energy Park in the coming years.

Lindsay McQuade, Director of Energy, EMEA, Amazon Web Services (AWS), said: Transitioning to carbon-free energy sources is one of the most impactful ways to lower carbon emissions, and is part of our Climate Pledge commitment to reach net zero carbon across our operations by 2040. As part of our commitment to reach net-zero carbon, were on a path to match all of the electricity powering our operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025five years ahead of our original target of 2030.

This collaboration with Bord na Mona will help us to continue to decarbonise our operations whilst creating economic opportunities and supporting Ireland's climate goals. We look forward to working closely with Bord na Mona to seek out opportunities to expand in the Midlands.

Michael Lohan IDA said: We very much welcome the creation of Bord na Monas Eco Energy Hub in the Midlands and this new collaboration with Amazon Web Services. Todays announcement underlines the importance of such partnerships to enable shared ambition of growth, decarbonisation and innovation.

Speaking on the announcement, Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan TD said, The strategic collaboration announced between Bord na Mona and Amazon Web Services serves as an example for how energy providers and large energy users can work together to greatly reduce carbon emissions. Sectors including manufacturing, pharmaceutical, agrifood and ICT all play an important role in Irelands economy and driving economic growth into the future.

Projects like Bord na Monas Eco Energy Park will be crucial in making these sectors of our economy sustainable in the long term, by co-locating renewable energy generation assets with large energy users. This announcement marks an important step in decarbonising large energy users in Ireland and is going to play a key role in helping Ireland to meet its carbon reduction targets for 2030 and achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
Olga Gongora, owner of Olga's Shop at 1118 B St. in Schuyler, said opening in March 2023, that opening her own business was a dream come true.

A little over a year later, that's even more accurate as she is now able to pursue her passion of owning a restaurant and cafe in the back of her shop. Specializing in coffee and breakfast food, specifically Guatemalan, she's excited to finally have the restaurant she's wanted for years.

"From the beginning this was originally supposed to open as a coffee shop, but since it had more requirements and needed more, it ended up as a clothing shop while I was working on getting everything for a certified kitchen," Gongora said, translated from Spanish.

She currently offers espresso, Guatemalan and Colombian coffee as well as pastries and Guatemalan breakfast foods. She's still working out a menu, but, as an example, said she has foods like fried plantains, beans and pastries.

"There's a lot of Hispanic food and I wanted to introduce a little bit of Guatemalan, where I'm from," Gongora said. "It's different, Mexico focuses a lot on certain sauces and spices and Guatemalan focuses on different sauces and spices."

She also opened up a space in the back of the shop as a seating area for those who choose to come in and have breakfast or, in the future, ice cream. Ideally, she wants people to enjoy the new space and feel relaxed in the food area. Having experience in foodservice, working at a taqueria in Guatemala, she said, her family have told her she has good hands for cooking. So far, she added, her clients seem to agree as more and more follow the smell of coffee to the back of her shop.

"There are people, original clients, who also come back here for this now. I feel like this is also bringing different customers to our store," Gongora said. "I've also had Americans come in and have a cup of coffee because they saw us on Facebook."

As the shop has run well and the new food area has seen similar success, Gongora said she wants to eventually expand the food and coffee area. In the approximately one week since opening, she's gotten attention even from out of state, which is encouraging to her and the business's future.

"I had my first client two days ago, he was here and he ordered and took a seat in the back. I like to get to know our customers, and he told me that he was form Iowa and he comes here (Schuyler) a lot to do different business. He saw on Facebook that we had this new coffee space and dropped by," Gongora said.

Audra Jedlicka, executive director of the Schuyler Area Chamber of Commerce said the chamber is excited for Olga and the addition to her shop.

"Her new cafe is much needed in downtown Schuyler as we really don't have a coffee shop down here. It's a great attribute," Jedlicka said.

City Administrator Will De Roos, who works just down the street, said the addition brings something downtown has needed for a while.

"It's a great little intimate setting, I know she has specialty coffee and that little room off the main business. it's something downtown hasn't been provided with until Olga's came down and brought a little spot for coffee," De Roos said. "We do have Scooter's, which is big enough for the whole town, but Olga's brings that to downtown."
Pragmatic Play and Betsson Group unveil a custom-designed Live Casino studio, enhancing player engagement with tailored Blackjack and Roulette experiences.

Pragmatic Play, a top-tier content provider in the iGaming sector, has fortified its alliance with Betsson Group by launching an exclusive Live Casino studio. This collaboration introduces a series of personalized Blackjack and Roulette tables explicitly designed for Betsson's audience.

A Customized Gaming Venue

Pragmatic Play has recently broadened its collaboration with Betsson Group, establishing an exclusively dedicated Live Casino studio. This venture enriches Betsson's offering with premium, tailor-made Blackjack and Roulette tables. These nine custom tables are built to provide players with a Betsson-centric experience, featuring popular aspects such as multiplayer capabilities, live chat, and bet-back options.

Tailored Features and Design

The studio includes eight unique Blackjack tables and one Roulette table; each broadcasting live from a facility specifically constructed to meet Betsson's detailed specifications. This level of customization is part of Pragmatic Play's Smart Studio approach, allowing operators to personalize live casino titles and create distinct environments that reflect their brand identity.

Strategic Collaboration and Feedback

Irina Cornides, Pragmatic Play's COO, expressed enthusiasm about the partnership, noting, "Delivering a dedicated studio for Betsson represents a significant achievement for our Live Casino offerings. We are thrilled to provide an environment that wholly resonates with the Betsson brand."

Chellyanne Cassar, Live Casino Manager at Betsson Group, commented on the collaboration: "Working with Pragmatic Play to launch a studio tailored to our needs has been fantastic. The new Blackjack and Roulette tables not only elevate our brand presence but also enhance our commitment to offering superior gaming experiences."

Expanding Pragmatic Play's Portfolio

Pragmatic Play continues to be one of the leaders in the gaming industry by producing up to eight new slot titles monthly, alongside its Live Casino and Bingo products, all accessible through a single API. This approach underscores the provider's dedication to delivering a comprehensive, multi-product portfolio that caters to a diverse range of player preferences and market demands.

About Pragmatic Play

Based in Gibraltar, Pragmatic Play is a forefront supplier in the iGaming industry, offering a vast array of player-favorite games across highly regulated markets globally. With a commitment to innovation, Pragmatic Play ensures its product offerings, including slots, live casino, bingo, and more, are available in multiple languages and currencies, providing seamless gaming experiences to users worldwide.


Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

(Image by Wikipedia (commons.wikimedia.org), Author: Maxlovestoswim) Details Source DMCA





By Bob Gaydos

Once upon a time, in an America in which politicians discussed, debated, argued and compromised in order to pass laws for the betterment of the nation, a man named Robert F. Kennedy ran for president.

He had previously served as attorney general of the country and was a key adviser to the president, who happened to be his brother, John F. Kennedy.

President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 and his brother, commonly called Bobby, eventually moved from Massachusetts (where his younger brother, Ted, would serve as senator for 47 years) to New York, where he was elected senator. Bobby served New York from 1965 to 1968, when he, too, ran for president.

Life being sometimes cruelly unpredictable, Bobby Kennedy was also assassinated, being shot to death in a hotel kitchen while campaigning in California in 1968.

Today, in an America in which one of the two major political parties has abandoned negotiation for fear, threats, lies and violence, Kennedy's son, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., trading on the family name and legacy, is running for president.

Not as a Democrat, like his father and uncles, but as an independent candidate. Unfortunately, this apple has fallen far from the family tree. So far, in fact, that every member of his family has endorsed Democrat Joe Biden for president and encouraged Americans not to vote for RFK Jr.

When I decided to write about Kennedy's third-party candidacy, it was mostly because I was angry that he would likely take votes away from Biden, since many Americans, while pridefully long on opinions, are woefully short on actual information. I thought, they'll see the Kennedy name, think progressive Democrat, and figure, what the heck, he's a lot younger than Joe.

Yeah, but he's more like Donald Trump and the Republican Party, which has abandoned all traditional American political principles. A lot more like Trump, in fact.

Kennedy is a conspiracy theorist. An anti-vaccine activist. He says he'll put the country on Blockchain currency if elected president. He threw the environmental group largely responsible for reclaiming the Hudson River, not far from me, into turmoil when he decided he wanted to take it over.

And he's definitely anti-Democrat. In fact, Kennedy's New York campaign manager specifically said Junior was running as an independent, knowing full well he has no chance of winning, in order to take votes away from Biden.

But guess what? Life being, as I said, unpredictable, those annoying polls, which keep popping up with dubious information, have apparently started showing Kennedy taking more votes away from Trump than from Biden.

Maybe it's the same theory: What the heck, he's just as nutty and he's a lot younger than Trump.

For what it's worth, Trump never got more votes than his opponent and he truly cannot afford to lose votes to a third-party candidate. Much more so than Biden, So Republicans are worried about Bobby Junior, too.

I don't know and I really don't think the pollsters know. I do know that no third-party candidate is going to get elected president and that Americans who are familiar with history and cherish democracy have a duty to educate others who are familiar only with the name, Robert F. Kennedy. Names can be deceiving.

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Duluth, Minnesota (OpEdNews) May 2, 2024: My favorite scholar is my former teacher at Saint Louis University, the American Jesuit Renaissance specialist and cultural historian and pioneering media ecology theorist Walter J. Ong (1912-2003; Ph.D. in English, Harvard University, 1955). In my adult life (I turned 80 recently), I have devoted an enormous amount of time and energy to writing about Ong's mature work from the early 1950s onward.

For example, I have written about his account of our contemporary secondary oral culture in my essay "Secondary Orality and Consciousness Today" in the anthology Media, Consciousness, and Culture: Explorations of Walter Ong's Thought, edited by Bruce E. Gronbeck, Thomas J. Farrell, and Paul A. Soukup (Sage Publishing, 1991, pp. 194-209).

Now, I recently learned about Hartmut Rosa's 2019 book Resonance: A Sociology of Our Relationship to the World, translated from the German by James C. Wagner (Polity; orig. German ed., 2016).

For Prof. Dr. Hartmut Rosa (born in 1965; Ph.D., Humboldt University of Berlin, 1997; with a dissertation on the political philosophy of Charles Taylor), his 2019 book Resonance is a follow up to his 2013 book Social Acceleration: A New Theory of Modernity, translated by Jonathan Trejo-Mathys (Columbia University Press).

In Rosa's "References" in his book Resonance (pp. 504-528), he lists seven works by Taylor (p. 526). According to the "Index" (pp. 529-554 at 552), Rosa discusses Taylor on pages 20, 33-34, 88, 111, 115-117, 126, 133-138, 188, 198, 365, 391-392, and 413.

Now, what Rosa and others refer to as modernity emerged in our Western cultural history after the Gutenberg printing press emerged in Europe in the mid-1450s. Ong discusses the emergence of the Gutenberg printing press in his massively researched 1958 book Ramus, Method, and the Decay of Dialogue: From the Art of Discourse to the Art of Reason (Harvard University Press). The French Renaissance logician and educational reformer and Protestant martyr Peter Ramus (1515-1572) was a prolific and influential writer in his day.

Ong's massively researched 1958 book is his pioneering study of the print culture that emerged in our Western cultural history after the Gutenberg printing press emerged in Europe in the mid-1450s.

Othe pioneering studies of print culture in our Western cultural history include the following four books:

(1) Richard D. Altick's The English common Reader: A Social History of the Mass Reading Public, 1800-1900 (University of Chicago Press, 1957);

(2) Lucien Febvre and Henri-Jean Martin's The Coming of the Book: The Impact of Printing, 1450-1800, translated by David Gerard; edited by Geoffrey Nowell-Smith and David Wootton (Verso, 1976; orig. French ed., 1958);

(3) Jurgen Habermas' The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: an Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society, translated by Thomas Burger with the assistance of Frederick Lawrence (MIT Press, 1991; orig. German ed., 1962);

(4) Marshall McLuhan's The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic Man (University of Toronto Press, 1962; for specific page references to McLuhan's discussion of Ong's publications about Ramus and Ramist logic, see the "Bibliographic Index" [pp. 286-287]).

Now, in the opening of Rosa's 2019 book Resonance, he says, "If acceleration is the problem, then resonance may well be the solution. This is the most concise formulation of the central thesis of this book, and it signals two important fundamental insights. First, the solution is not deceleration. . . . Second, if deceleration is not the solution, this also means that the problem must be defined more precisely. Modern societies [in the western world] are characterized by systematic changes in temporal structures for which acceleration may serve as a blanket term. I defined acceleration in my previous book, Social Acceleration, as growth in quantity per unit of time, which makes clear that we are dealing here with comprehensive processes of increase" (p. 1; his italics).

Rosa then goes on to discuss "the three great crises of the present day: [1] the environmental crisis, [2] the crisis of democracy, and [3] the psychological crisis (as manifested, for example, in ever-growing rates of burnout). The first indicates a disturbance in the relationship between human beings and our non-human environment or nature; the second a disturbance in our relationship to the social world; and the third a pathological disorder in our subjective relation to the self" (p. 2). Comprehensive, eh?

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Netanyahu and Student Protests

Donn M. Kurtz II

The anti-Israeli sentiments, and sometimes antisemitism, being expressed by American college students can be attributed in large part to Benjamin Netanyahu and his policies.

Having come to office a second time in 2009, he has been the face of Israeli politics for more than 15 years. The vast majority of undergraduates are under 25 years old which means that Netanyahu has been in power since they were in elementary school. Netanyahu's Israel is the only Israel they know.

If they know anything about this part of the world that knowledge was accumulated in the last few months. In all probability the Gaza war was their first serious exposure to Palestinian-Israeli politics. That is not unusual.

When I was teaching Middle Eastern politics most of my students began the semester knowing little or nothing about the region. That's why they were taking the class. I expected to teach students who could not find Israel on a map. My expectation was usually accurate.

For student protesters Netanyahu's Israel is the country having inflicted more than 30,000 deaths on the people of an occupied territory because terrorists killed one tenth that number of Israelis. From their perspective, protesting is the only just option.

Donn M. Kurtz II, PhD, is a retired professor of political science at the University of Louisiana. He resides in Knoxville, TN.
The Iron Sharpens Iron Business Network has launched in Southwest Florida. The membership organization exists to drive customer referrals, social media visibility, brand exposure and business profits. Small businesses and upstarts can come together within the grass roots network and feel comfortable, not intimidated, wherever they are on their growth journey. Membership levels can be reviewed and setup at ironsharpensironbn.com. Members of the network will have access to online educational 
Cool box from Karl Knauer The vegan "Your Choice" ice pralines from the young start-up "PlantUp" are not just a treat for the taste buds, but also for the eyes and sense of touch. This is because Carina Schmidt and Peter Ottillinger, who founded the young start-up in 2021, focus on 100% naturalness both in the organic ingredients of the handmade ice cream creations and in the choice of packaging material. 
Fifteen or more parked police cars were badly damaged in a fire at a training facility early Thursday morning, the Portland Police Bureau said. The bureau said an arsonist set the fire, but it did not announce any arrests.

Portland Fire & Rescue arrived at the scene in the 14900 block of Northeast Airport Way at about 2 a.m. Thursday to find at least 15 vehicles in a fenced training area were burning, the police bureau said. Firefighters quickly doused the fire, which did not damage the building on the property.

Photographs provided by the police bureau show police cars in flames, including one next to a large propane tank. Fire investigators are investigating the blaze as suspected arson fires, police said.

One of the police cars damaged in an early-morning fire in a bureau parking lot. Police suspect arson.Portland Police Bureau

Police said the burned cars were used for training.

Police ask anyone who has information about the fires to contact Det. Meredith Hopper at Meredith.Hopper@police.portlandoregon.gov or call Portland Fire & Rescues tip line: 503-823-3473.

-- The Oregonian/OregonLive; dperry@oregonian.com
The 2024 Jeopardy Masters tournament began Wednesday, with the six contestants competing in a pair of games that started the process of determining who will be the ultimate champ, and win the grand prize of $500,000.

(No cable or satellite? You can stream Jeopardy Masters via Fubo, which offers a free trial.)

Northwest fans may have had a special rooting interest, since one of the players in the 2024 tournament is Yogesh Raut, a cognitive and behavioral scientist from Vancouver, Washington.

Other players in the thee-week competition are Matt Amodio, Victoria Groce, James Holzhauer, Mattea Roach and Amy Schneider.

Game on  Which matchup are you excited to see? The newest season of #JeopardyMasters premieres TONIGHT at 8/7c on ABC and Stream on Hulu. pic.twitter.com/q4VrWj5fgs  Jeopardy! (@Jeopardy) May 1, 2024

The tournament is structured so that each hour-long episode will feature two games, with three masters competing in each game. The winner of each game scores three points, the runner-up receives one, and the third-place finisher gets zero points. The players who accumulate the most match points will advance to the finals.

In Wednesdays first game, Roach, a writer and podcast host from Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Amodio, a quantitative researcher from New York; and Groce, a writer and television personality from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, competed.

The winner of the first game was Groce, with Roach finishing second, and Amodio finishing third.

The second game was a match-up between Holzhauer, who the Jeopardy! website calls a self-described final boss of Jeopardy!; Raut; and Schneider, a writer from Oakland, California.

Raut, whose victory in the 2024 Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions earned him a spot in Jeopardy Masters, delivered a strong, confident performance. Though Holzhauer is know for being a dominant player, thanks to his aggressive style and wide-ranging knowledge, Raut an early lead and was in the lead when it came time for Final Jeopardy.

Going in, Rauts total was 26,395; Holzhauers was 10,200; and Schneiders was 7,000.

The category was World Heritage Sites, and the clue was: This entire capital is a world heritage site linked to the history of the military and charitable order of St. John of Jerusalem.

Schneider had the correct response, which was, What is Valletta?, the capital of Malta. Schneider wagered zero, which left her total at 7,000. Holazhauer also had the correct answer, and his wager of 3,010 took his total up to 13,210. Raut also had the right answer, though he also bet zero, leaving his total at 26,395, which made him the winner.

The Jeopardy Masters leaderboard shows Groce and Raut with 3 points each; Holzahauer and Roach at 2 points each; and Amodio and Schneider at zero points each.

Jeopardy Masters continues with the next two games, at 8 p.m. Monday, May 6 on ABC.
A lawyer and Air Force veteran and a marketing consultant and former Keizer city councilor are vying for the Republican nomination to represent Oregons 4th Congressional District in the May 21 primary.

Monique DeSpain has no previous elected experience, though shes worked in recent years as a lawyer for Salem area Rep. Kevin Mannix, a prominent state Republican. Amy Ryan Courser spent four years on the Keizer City Council and ran twice for her partys nomination to represent the 5th and 6th Congressional districts. She secured the nomination in 2020, but lost in the general election to the incumbent, Kurt Schrader.

Oregons 4th Congressional District was redrawn in 2021, and today is home to more than 800,000 people in seven counties and runs from northern California to north of Lincoln City. It includes much of the southwest coast, and its voter base favors Democrats: Unaffiliated voters make up 36% of registered voters compared to 32% for Democrats and 23% for Republicans, according to the secretary of state. Still, it is among several dozen congressional seats now held by Democrats that are targeted by the National Republican Congressional Committee and GOP groups, who hope to expand the Republican majority in the U.S. House. Both candidates hope to replace incumbent Rep. Val Hoyle, a first-term congressional member who is running unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Hoyle, former labor commissioner, is facing scrutiny over her relationship with the troubled founders of a cannabis company thats under federal investigation. The company, La Mota, owes millions in state and federal taxes, and the founders are being investigated by federal regulators over their ties to former Secretary of State Shemia Fagan, who worked as a private consultant for them while her office conducted an audit of state cannabis regulations.

Heres a look at the Republican contenders:

Monique DeSpain

DeSpain spent 30 years in the Air Force and Oregon Air National Guard, mostly as an attorney with the Judge Advocate Generals Corps, which provides legal advice to the Army and defends Army personnel in legal matters. She retired as a colonel in 2019, and for the last few years, has worked as a lawyer in Mannixs law firm and for his policy and advocacy nonprofit Common Sense for Oregon.

Monique DeSpain Party: Republican Age: 60 Residence: Eugene Education: Bachelors degree in psychology, University of Utah, 1986; masters degree in administration, Central Michigan University, 1993; law degree, Willamette University, 1998 Current occupation: Lawyer Prior elected experience: None Family status: Single, two kids Fundraising: $212,543 as of March 31, 2024 Cash on hand: $125,343 as of March 31, 2024

DeSpain helped Mannix sue former Oregon Gov. Kate Brown over her use of clemency powers to release nearly 1,000 people from prison early during the COVID-19 pandemic. A circuit court judge in Marion County halted the release, but the Oregon Court of Appeals overturned the ruling and affirmed Browns power to commute sentences.

She got involved in local politics following her retirement from the military and the onset of the pandemic, she said.

It kind of slowed us all down. It scared a lot of us. And thats when I became involved with supporting Lane County Republicans, just as a volunteer. I just literally went in there to connect with other conservative voices where we werent constrained to a mask, she said.

Her two twin sons  who she raised as a single mom and who she credits with imploring her to run  had just graduated from the University of Oregon. She said she was concerned they were entering a world with less opportunity than she had at their age.

She served as a precinct committee person for the Lane County Republicans, and she volunteered to door knock and campaign on behalf of local Republican candidates and conservative school board candidates. She said some in the party asked her to run for the 4th Congressional District.

I really, honestly, would rather have supported a good, prepared candidate that could win and could be effective when they are in office, she said. There just wasnt, and still isnt, anyone else standing up for this race against Val Hoyle.

If elected, DeSpain said her primary focus would be investing in public safety, including police and border security. She said her other priorities include lowering inflation, increasing housing nationwide and improving government transparency and accountability around taxes and spending.

These Congress people are interviewing committee members and people who come in to testify  this is something Ive been doing for years  and I know how to keep going until the person answers the question. And thats how you get to the truth, and I believe progress begins with the truth, she said.

DeSpain previously told the Capital Chronicle that she agreed with the U.S. Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which for nearly 50 years federally protected the right to an abortion. Since it was overturned in 2022, state politicians have been left to decide whether residents can access legal abortions. DeSpain said the decision should remain with states and that she would not support a nationwide ban on abortion or efforts to codify Roe v. Wade in Congress. Oregon has among the least restrictions on abortion access nationwide, something thats not likely to change with a Democratic majority in the state House.

In the U.S. House, Republicans now hold a slight lead. DeSpain said she would use her skills as a lawyer if she were elected to craft policy.

Im adept at negotiating, at identifying common interests and getting things done through mediation and being a good investigator, she said.

Her biggest donations came from members of CPI Holdings, a group of companies involved in electronics research, design and manufacturing, who gave a combined $13,200, according to Open Secrets. Shes also received $10,000 each from Value in Electing Women PAC, which supports Republican women candidates, and employees of C2Squared, Inc., a Portland technology services company.

Amy Ryan Courser

Business consultant, podcaster and former Keizer City Councilor Amy Ryan Courser is running for a third time for her partys nomination to represent Oregon in Congress.

Amy Ryan Courser Party: Republican Age: 55 Residence: Salem area Education: Business and marketing certificate, Trend Business College, 1991 Current occupation: Self-employed marketing strategist and consultant; hosts the Amy Across America Podcast Prior elected experience: Keizer city councilor, 2014-19 Family status: Married, two kids Fundraising: $23,970 as of March 31, 2024 Cash on hand: $4,394 as of March 31, 2024

She secured the nomination to represent the states 5th District in 2020, but lost to Schrader by nearly 7%. In 2022, she lost the Republican primary in the 6th Congressional District to Republican businessman Mike Erickson. He lost to the current 6th District Rep. Andrea Salinas, a Democrat.

Ryan Courser said shes succeeded at securing votes in the past in three of the seven counties that currently make up parts of the 4th District, and she sees the incumbent Democrat, Hoyle as vulnerable with the current federal investigation of La Mota.

When we looked at the data and voting history, and looked at the current congresswoman holding the seat, I felt it was a good decision to run, she said.

She describes herself as a business and marketing strategist and was, for years, a consultant for contestants in global beauty pageants, according to her website. Her LinkedIn profile shows that more recently, she worked as a consultant for a Florida-based modeling and talent agency.

She created and hosts a podcast offering commentary on current politics. Its called Amy Across America, a nod to the recreational vehicle she and her husband live and travel in, taking it across the state and country, she said. She often focuses on American exceptionalism, a belief that the U.S. is distinctive and unique, and her belief that we are on a slippery slope to Marxism, her website said.

She said her four years on Keizer City Council provide good training to be a congressional representative.

From emergency management issues to law enforcement to budgeting, Ive worked really hard in my community to represent these issues at the city and county level, she said.

Her priorities would be increasing border security, lowering inflation and government accountability, she said.

We have a lot of programs and bureaucracies that are not held accountable, she said.

Shes also interested in changing the foster care system.

I was a foster kid and I know what a disaster our system is, she said. We need someone federally who can be involved with the kids in state programs and manage the federal budget to support programs, she said.

Ryan Courser, who is endorsed by the anti-abortion group Oregon Right to Life, did not answer a question about whether she would support a federal abortion ban, but said she agreed with the Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe V. Wade and to leave state politicians to decide whether residents have access to legal abortions.

Ryan Coursers biggest donations were a combined $2,000 from members of Associates International, a Delaware-based marketing firm, according to Open Secrets, and a total of $2,000 from employees of Servo Group, a national mechanical services company with an office in Eugene.

-- Alex Baumhardt, Oregon Capital Chronicle; abaumhardt@oregoncapitalchronicle.com

The Oregon Capital Chronicle is a nonprofit newsroom that focuses on Oregon state government, politics and policy.
For the first time in more than a decade, Oregons justice department is getting a new leader.

Democrats and Republicans will pick their nominees for state attorney general during the May 21 primary, setting up what could be a competitive race in November to replace retiring Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, who has been in office since 2012.
Amid strong public backlash, Gov. Tina Kotek announced Wednesday that she will not create an Office of the First Spouse for her wife, Aimee Kotek Wilson.

But what exactly Kotek Wilsons role will look like moving forward is unclear. For now, Kotek said her wifes duties will be limited to making ceremonial appearances and listening to groups of Oregonians who request to be heard.

Kotek said she is waiting for guidance from the Oregon Government Ethics Commission to help her better define the longer term role that her wife will have.

Her comments come after more than five weeks of uncertainty and controversy over the first ladys growing role. That confusion has jarred the governors office and undermined public confidence in Kotek.

I take responsibility for not being more thoughtful in my approach to exploring the role of the first spouse, Kotek said in a statement addressed to Oregonians. I am sorry for the way this conversation between my office and you has started.

Kotek Wilson will not have a chief of staff or directly oversee any employees aside from those assigned to her for official duties, Kotek said. However, Meliah Masiba  who Kotek brought on temporarily last month to explore creating the Office of the First Spouse  will continue in her role.

Masibas job description shows she has extensive responsibilities tied to Kotek Wilson similar to those of a chief of staff, including managing the first ladys initiatives, coordinating public engagement efforts and joining Kotek Wilson at state and national events. Emails released by the governors office last week show that Masiba, who makes $144,000 annually, was referred to as the first ladys chief of staff in documents announcing her transition from the Department of Administrative Services to the governors office.

Kotek said Yasmin Solorio, who has served as the first ladys scheduler since last year, will shift to another role in the governors office.

Between now and when we learn more from (the ethics commission), the first lady will continue to accompany me and attend events representing the governors office, such as tribal visits and ceremonial events, and she will listen to Oregonians about the issues most impacting them, especially in the area of mental health and addiction, Kotek said.

Kotek Wilson holds a masters degree in social work, has lived experience with substance use disorder and mental illness and has a profound commitment to standing up for the most vulnerable among us, Kotek said in a statement.

Koteks efforts to move quickly this spring to elevate her wifes role led to the departure in March of Chief of Staff Andrea Cooper, Deputy Chief of Staff Lindsey OBrien and Special Adviser Abby Tibbs, sources close to those employees have said. Cooper and Tibbs have moved into other roles, while OBrien is on medical leave.

Two additional staffers in the governors office  Deputy General Counsel Lindsey Burrows and Communications Director An Do  have since resigned.

Kotek said the exodus of the staffers will not significantly affect her ability to work on her agenda. Were continuing to work hard, she said. If you want to look at my calendar, I havent missed a beat.

Emails and other public records that the governors office released last week in response to requests from The Oregonian/OregonLive and other news outlets shed light on Kotek Wilsons longstanding significant role in her wifes administration and the growing concern expressed by Koteks top staffers as the governor pushed to create an Office of the First Spouse.

A spokesperson for Kotek said in March that Kotek Wilson had participated in several of the governors weekly behavioral health meetings. But the records released last week show that Kotek Wilson played a deeper and more widespread role in the office for months.

In a Jan. 17 email, Kotek told Cooper and Tibbs that she had been thinking about our behavioral health work for the year and strategizing with the first lady.

Kotek Wilson has participated in numerous meetings with public health directors and outside officials and groups since Kotek took office last year, and she helped interview candidates to serve as Koteks behavioral health initiative director, her calendar shows. When Kotek hired Juliana Wallace for that role, Kotek Wilson met weekly with Wallace for about a month, records show.

The records show growing tension this spring as Kotek accelerated efforts to create an Office of the First Spouse, despite her top staffers concerns. Cooper, Tibbs, OBrien and then-Deputy Chief of Staff Chris Warner reviewed a proposed job description for the first lady in early February and suggested to Kotek that she hire a facilitator to work through next steps, records show. Kotek did not hire a facilitator.

On Feb. 18, Kotek sent her executive team an agenda for a meeting the next day that included establishing protocols for the first ladys work. In response, Tibbs told Cooper and Warner in an email that she hoped Kotek would provide them clarity about the governors reaction to the proposed job description and a legal memo produced by an attorney in the governors office. The governors office declined to make public the legal memo.

Kotek did not seek an opinion from the state ethics commission about her interest in creating the office until early April, after the departure of the three top staffers. At the time, she told reporters she hadnt yet consulted the commission because we werent sure what questions we needed to ask. We are now expediting that because of the public interest.

The ethics commission is currently investigating complaints filed against Kotek over the first ladys role and has said it cant give the governor guidance until after it resolves those complaints. The commission next meets in June.

On Wednesday afternoon, Kotek told reporters she believes she has been open about her wifes role in recent months. I do think Ive been transparent, she said. I do think were trying to say, We dont know, and were trying to figure out the safeguards.

Kotek said in a statement that she is considering how Oregon can emulate other states that rely on the time and talent of a first spouse who has no financial interest or benefit in state government.

Nearly a dozen other states have offices for first spouses, but There is no road map in Oregon for defining the role of a first spouse, who is a public official under Oregon law, Kotek said.

She said her office is currently creating a First Spouse Manual to spell out policies and procedures related to that role, including protocols for addressing any staff concerns or complaints. Kotek said her wife mostly works from home, but will continue to have an 8 foot by 8 foot office space inside the governors office.

 Carlos Fuentes covers state politics and government. Reach him at 503-221-5386 or cfuentes@oregonian.com.

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The Portland Timbers and Portland Thorns will host a charity match to benefit environmental nonprofits.

The Green is Gold mixed-teams match at Providence Park will raise funds and awareness for nonprofits The Nature Conservancy and Keep Oregon Green.

The June 26 event is free to the public, with fans encouraged to make a donation to the benefitting organizations.

One of the proudest moments of my time here was the PTFC for Peace fundraiser we put on for Ukraine in 2022, Timbers owner Merritt Paulson said in a statement. Players and fans asked that we do it again and I am so pleased we were able to make it happen with the partnership with the Thorns organization.

The PTFC for Peace charity fundraiser attracted nearly 17,000 fans and raised more than $600,000 for UNICEF relief efforts in Ukraine.

Kickoff for the Green is Gold match is scheduled for 7 p.m.
The Oregon Court of Appeals has upheld a Washington County ordinance barring the sale of flavored tobacco products, in a ruling that could have ramifications for a similar ban in Multnomah County.

Wednesdays ruling reversed a 2022 decision from Washington County Circuit Judge Andrew Erwin, who said the county had the power to regulate how sales are made but that only the state had the authority to ban products completely.
My job at OU Daily often made me emotional, but crying in the newsroom was never something I was willing to do. My ego is much too large.

Nonetheless, my eyes welled with tears one day in November (just as they are as Im writing this) as I sat in Seth Princes office, consulting OU Dailys newsroom adviser and OU Student Media director about one of the biggest decisions Ive ever made.

Latest news videos

I was set to receive a job offer from The Oklahoman, and the paper wanted me to start Jan. 2.

This meant Id miss what wouldve been my final semester at OU Daily where Id complete my student journalist career as the news outlets news managing editor.

Part of me wanted to decline The Oklahomans offer.

It didnt feel right to give up a giant part of my college career early.

It was also because during my time at OU Daily, we became the main source of news for many Normanites, especially regarding city affairs, and I was passionate about this.

However, the logical part of me understood that the whole purpose of my time at the Daily was to prepare me for this exact moment  the job offer  and I was prepared.

OU Daily creates thoughtful, careful reporters

I spent three and a half years at the Daily serving as a news reporter, senior news reporter, news editor and news managing editor.

It was incredibly difficult.

Of course, todays 24-hour journalism model is demanding, but keeping up with it wasnt the hardest part about the Daily.

What kept me up at night were discussions and decisions thatd shape the integrity of OUs independent student newspaper and its reporters.

I spent countless hours in the newsroom in conversations about what we should or shouldnt report on and how we referred to certain identity groups, conflicts and consequential issues that affected our audience.

Examples include language in coverage regarding the attacks on the 2SLGBTQ+ community by the state Legislature and context surrounding local, state and international affairs.

We consulted our peers in the newsroom, advisers outside of it and professional journalists on these topics.

Our ultimate goal was to do no harm.

No decision was made without consideration from every angle my colleagues could find.

This intentional and thoughtful process creates journalists who care deeply about how their reporting affects the community theyre serving. It produces reporters who strive to have nuanced understandings of systems that impact their audience.

These long conversations about language, style and precedent were tough and uncomfortable, but journalists and media consumers are better for it.

Im better for it.

A campus bigger than my hometown

When I first came to OU, I couldnt imagine Id soon spend hours alongside my peers discussing the best ways to communicate with an audience of tens of thousands of people.

I was raised in Clinton, a small, rural town in western Oklahoma, and campus felt bigger than my hometown.

On campus, I saw OU Dailys racks of newspapers filled with stories about campus and local affairs from student journalists.

I knew thats what I wanted to do as soon as I picked up a paper, but I didnt have any experience other than the essays I wrote in high school.

But, Silas Bales, my now-best friend, encouraged me to reach out to the news editor. So, I did.

The editor took a chance on me, and I was soon writing stories, interviewing state politicians and breaking OU news.

If you ask Silas, he made me. And, to an extent, hes right. Without him, I wouldnt be writing this column.

Without the Daily, I wouldnt have made such incredible friends, like Silas, Jillian Martin and Kaly Phan, and of course, the greatest mentor, Seth.

My promise to the OU Daily

OU Daily granted me a space to grow not only as a journalist, but also as a person. It taught me integrity, mindfulness and how to listen to others.

The OU Daily instills in its reporters the importance of earning trust. Every story, decision and guideline is considered multiple times, and the consequences are carefully calculated.

The news outlet aims to serve OU and the broader Norman community, and it treats its audience with thoughtfulness and intention.

These are values that every student journalist at the OU Daily leaves with, and I promise to uphold them in my professional career.

Im proud to have come from OU Daily, and I hope to make the paper proud in my future endeavors. Ill miss the newsroom, campus and the immeasurable knowledge they gave me more than I can put into words.

Thank you, OU Daily.

Alexia Aston is a journalism graduate with a political science minor. Alexia served as news intern, senior news reporter, news editor and news managing editor during her time at the Daily. She interned at the Tulsa World and The Oklahoman, and she currently works at The Oklahoman as a breaking, trending, service journalism reporter.

Read some of Alexia's work:

This story was edited by Anusha Fathepure, Peggy Dodd and Ismael Lele. Mary Ann Livingood and Natalie Armour copy edited this story.
Larissa Schultz is the only Democrat seeking to be elected as the District 23 representative to the Nebraska Legislature in 2024, and she hopes to be selected by voters to represent rural living and issues in Lincoln.

During a candidate forum hosted on Wednesday, April 17, at Cedar Bluffs High School, Schultz was one of six candidates to introduce themselves to about 100 voters and talk about the issues they believe are important.

"I always begin by expressing my gratitude. I am deeply grateful to the students who put this together and grateful to the school district for putting this together. I am grateful to all of you for taking the time to be here tonight," Schultz said to the audience. "I work for a food nonprofit in Omaha and have lived in Saunders County for about 20 years. I am also a market gardner, I am a beekeeper and I am an events manager. I am just a regular working person, and I understand the challenges people are facing when they are trying to source housing, food and childcare."

Schultz also told the attendees at the forum that she wants to ensure all residents have safe, healthy drinking water, that people have access to nutritious food and, "making sure people who live outside the city can get to the doctor without driving an unreasonable distance."

"I am running for legislature because I believe voters deserve a real choice," she added.

According to a campaign flier Schultz handed out to voters before and after the forum, she has three top priorities if elected: "food access for all Nebraskans; Healthcare access for rural Nebraskans; and clean water for all Nebraskans."

"I want a unicameral that serves all Nebraskans, not just a select few. If elected, I will work to ensure that everyone in Nebraska has access to safe drinking water, fresh fruit and vegetables, medical freedom, affordable healthcare and high quality public schools," she states in one flier. "I am a small business owner, yoga instructor, beekeeper and events manager. I am the chair of the Saunders County Democratic Party and president of the Nebraska Young Democrats."

Schultz is running against five other candidates in District 23, and will be on the ballot for the Tuesday, May 14, primary.
Bamako, Mali (PANA) - One of the armed groups that had been fomenting terrorist attacks against the Malian army and civilian populations in various parts of Mali for years surrendered to the Malian Armed Forces (FAMAs) on 28 April at Aguelhoc in the Kidal region in the far north of the country, the General Staff of the Armed Forces announced in a statement on Thursday
A heartwarming moment was currently captured by an Australian mom who shared a touching video of her son encountering hearing for the first time after undergoing cochlear implant surgery.

Son's Priceless Reaction Upon Hearing for First Time

In the video shared on Facebook, Tessa McKenna's son Nate responds as his cochlear implants are adjusted, bursting into a sweet smile upon hearing his parents' voices for the first time post-procedure.

McKenna addresses Nate, asking if he can hear her before adding a jingle. Nate's cheerful response is apparent as he turns towards his mother, beaming and reaching out to kiss her hand.

Illustustraing Nate as tough, strong, and brave, McKenna describes in her post that Nate's hearing had depreciated to the point where hearing aids were no longer efficient, resulting in them to choose for cochlear implants.

Cochlear implants work by transmitting sound signals precisely to the hearing nerve, bypassing the need to augment sounds like common hearing aids.

McKenna conveyed pride in her 3-year-old son, highlighting his determined spirit and cheerful personality.

This heartfelt moment emphasizes the transformative influence of cochlear implants in giving individuals a newfound sense of hearing and the probability to fully engage with the world around them.

McKenna, who also shared the video through Storyful, conveyed her and her husband Ty McKenna's immense pride in their 3-year-old, emphasizing his constant energy and playful nature, which they find captivating.

11-Year-Old Boy Born Deaf Was Able to Hear for the First Time

Aissam Dam, an 11-year-old boy, was born deaf and grew up in silence, communicating with a self-invented sign language and receiving no formal education in his impoverished Moroccan community.

However, after his family relocated to Spain last year, a hearing specialist suggested a groundbreaking option: Aissam might qualify for a clinical trial using gene therapy to potentially restore his hearing.

On October 4, Aissam became the first person in the United States to undergo gene therapy for congenital deafness at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. The success of the treatment introduced him to a world of sound he had never known.

Aissam's deafness stems from a unique form caused by a mutation in the otoferlin gene, influencing around 200,000 people worldwide.

The gene therapy aims to take over the mutated gene with a functional one, possibly allowing hope for other forms of inborn deafness as well.

While the therapy's success is a breakthrough in the field of gene therapy, finding appropriate candidates for the trial posed difficulties.

Some within the Deaf community view deafness not as a condition necessitating treatment but as a cultural identity.

Additionally, cochlear implants, the standard intervention for otoferlin deafness, are often received in infancy, making older children like Aissam rare candidates for the trial.

Aissam's journey from a silent world in Morocco to the possibility of hearing in Spain reflects both the complexities and promises of groundbreaking medical advancements.
A bounce house mishap in Arizona has left a 2-year-old kid succumbed to its fatal injuries while another toddler is recovering in the hospital.

A 2-year-old boy lost his life after a strong wind gust hit the bounce house he, along with other kids are playing in which also injured a couple of kids.

Bounce House Mishap in Arizona

The wind gust incident unfolded around 5 p.m. near Casa Grande, a city situated approximately 50 miles south of Phoenix, according to a statement from the Pinal County Sheriff's Office.

Several children were enjoying playtime in the bounce house when a sudden and powerful gust of wind lifted it into the adjacent area, the sheriff's office detailed.

Unfortunately, the 2-year-old child was rushed to the hospital but did not survive. Another child sustained injuries that, fortunately, were not deemed life-threatening.

Authorities have characterized the incident as a tragic accident, expressing condolences to the affected family. The parents of the deceased child, Karl and Cristy, were identified through a verified GoFundMe page.

Karl serves as a firefighter in Phoenix, and their lost son was named Bodhi, as per the fundraising webpage. The couple is anticipating the arrival of their second child in late May, as noted on the GoFundMe page.

The GoFundMe initiative described the profound grief Karl and Cristy are experiencing, compounded by the impending birth of their new child. Despite efforts to contact them via the fundraising platform on Tuesday afternoon, no response was received.

A spokesperson from the Phoenix fire department confirmed their connection with Karl and Cristy, highlighting the department's commitment to supporting them through this challenging period.

The department expressed deep sorrow over the tragic loss and emphasized their solidarity as a supportive fire service community.

The statement adds, "The fire service prides itself on being one big family. Our membership and our department are doing everything we can to support Karl and Cristy during this difficult time."

Safety Precautions in Bounce Houses

A 2022 report by the American Meteorological Society highlighted the dangers associated with bounce houses, revealing over two dozen fatalities and nearly 500 injuries from 2000 to 2021. The study emphasized that these inflatable structures pose significant risks when subjected to dragging, tipping over, or being lifted by winds.

Dr. Terri Cappello, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon at Shriners Children's Hospital, advised caution, recommending children to jump rather than flip to reduce injury risks. She stressed the importance of adult supervision, echoing the sentiments of Gary A Smith from The Ohio State University, who urged immediate evacuation if a bounce house loses air.

Thomas E. Gill, an Earth system scientist at The University of Texas at El Paso, described bounce houses as highly buoyant, akin to giant balloons.

The study, led by John A. Knox from the University of Georgia, highlighted that bounce house mishaps result in about 10,000 emergency room visits annually, citing common injuries like fractures, concussions, and suffocation due to collapsing or overcrowding.

Gill emphasized the need for careful monitoring not only of bounce house occupants but also of weather conditions, as these inflatable structures require secure anchoring and continuous supervision to ensure safety during play.
In a concerning incident, a 3-year-old child in Florida suffered an accidental gunshot wound to the foot, reportedly after discovering a firearm owned by his mother, Stephanie Jerez, who serves as a Miami-Dade County school police officer.

Following this incident, Jerez faces charges of child neglect with significant physical harm, as confirmed by authorities in Homestead. Notably, the firearm involved was identified as a personal one, distinct from Jerez's official service weapon.

Florida Toddler Shoots Himself

Homestead police officers responded to a distress call at a residence, about 40 miles southwest of Miami, after a report of a child with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

According to officials, the incident occurred while the mother was engaged in food preparation. The child received immediate medical attention at a local hospital and was later transferred to a regional facility for continued care, where his condition was reported as stable.

Following an investigation into the circumstances, the mother, identified as a Miami-Dade County school police officer, was arrested on charges of child neglect with significant physical harm.

During a search of the mother's residence, detectives uncovered a recently discharged firearm and the officer's service radio on the kitchen counter in plain sight. Notably, there was no secure gun case or holster present in the vicinity, as detailed in a police report.

In response to the incident, Homestead police emphasized their commitment to child safety, urging gun owners to prioritize firearm security and educate themselves and their families on proper gun handling and storage practices.

Authorities said in a statement, "The Homestead Police Department takes cases involving child endangerment very seriously, and we are committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of all children in our community."

Self-inflicted Gunshot From Child Neglect

The mother will be held in suspension until the Homestead police complete their investigation, as stated by Miami-Dade County Public Schools.

Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) has acknowledged an incident unrelated to school involving a Miami-Dade Schools Police officer that took place during the weekend.

The statement reads, "Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) is aware of a non-school related incident involving a Miami-Dade Schools Police officer that occurred over the weekend."

The officer has been arrested by the Homestead Police Department and relieved of duty by the Miami-Dade Schools Police Department until the investigation concludes, according to the school district.

As per inmate records, the boy's mother is currently detained at Miami-Dade Corrections without a specified bond.

Miami-Dade County Public Schools stated that Jerez has been relieved of her duties pending the investigation's outcome.

Jerez made an appearance in court on Monday, where a judge set her bond at $5,000 and imposed restrictions on her possession and use of firearms and ammunition unless it's for work purposes, as reported by the station.

Robert C. Buschel, her attorney, said that his client is recovering well and argued against further punitive measures, labeling the incident as a tragedy.

As all the details emerge about the circumstances of the shooting, leading to charges against the mother, and a call for firearm safety education.
Birth order pertains to the order in which a child is born compared to their siblings, such as whether they are the eldest, middle, or youngest.

How Does Birth Order Shape or Affect Personality?

Psychologists delve into how birth order affects development, behavior, and personality traits, with some proof recommending its role in shaping certain aspects of traits.

Alfred Adler, an Austrian psychiatrist, suggests that birth sequence affects growth and personality, affected by Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis.

According to Adler, firstborns tend to build up a sense of responsibility, middle children seek attention, and lastborns display adventurous and rebellious traits. Adler also introduced the "family constellation" concept, highlighting family dynamics in individual development.

Firstborns often receive more attention initially but may face pressure when younger siblings arrive. They are typically described as leaders, high achievers, and responsible.

Middle children often become peacemakers due to mediating conflicts and may seek attention outside the family.

Lastborns, perceived as spoiled, are outgoing and fun-loving but may feel overshadowed.

Only children, akin to firstborns, enjoy undivided attention but may lack sibling interaction.

The Order in Which Children Are Born into a Family

Firstborn

Firstborns, as the initial child in the family, typically experience a blend of instinct and experimentation in their upbringing.

This often results in parents adopting a meticulous approach, being highly attentive, enforcing strict rules, and becoming overly concerned about details.

Consequently, firstborns may develop a perfectionist streak, continuously striving to meet parental expectations.

These eldest children often revel in their parents' presence, exhibiting traits akin to miniature adults. They are commonly characterized as reliable, conscientious, structured, cautious, controlling, and high achievers.

Enjoying undivided attention before the arrival of siblings, firstborns tend to excel academically and financially compared to their brothers and sisters.

However, success for firstborns can come with pressure, leading to type-A personalities with an intense fear of failure and a rigid approach to life.

They may feel burdened by responsibilities at home, which can make them quick to take charge and occasionally bossy. Moreover, they may struggle with adaptability and fear of stepping out of their comfort zone.

Middle Child

Middle children, born after the arrival of an elder sibling and before a younger one, often adopt a people-pleasing attitude due to receiving less attention from parents.

This position in the family hierarchy can lead to feelings of being overlooked and identity confusion. To compensate, middle children tend to thrive on friendships, possess a large social circle, and act as peacemakers within the family.

Middleborns are typically agreeable and adaptable, having learned to negotiate and compromise from a young age. They forge strong bonds with friends and are less dependent on family ties.

However, they may feel neglected and struggle with feelings of not being valued or recognized.

Youngest Child

Youngest children, benefiting from their parents' relaxed method of parenting, often signify a carefree and outgoing behavior. Enjoying a more relaxed upbringing, they tend to be fun-loving, outgoing, and attention-seeking.

However, they may also establish manipulative tendencies and struggle with feelings of unimportance compared to their older siblings.

Only Child

Only children, devoid of siblings, receive undivided attention and resources from their parents throughout their lives. This unique position often leads to maturity beyond their years, perfectionism, diligence, and leadership qualities.

Birth order can affect relationships, communication styles, and roles within them. However, these effects can be influenced by other factors like personality and parenting styles.

While birth order theory is popular, evidence suggests its impact on development is minimal, with various factors shaping individual outcomes.

Understanding birth order's influence can provide insight into one's personality but is only part of the developmental picture.
On Wednesday, the Arizona Senate chose to repeal the state's 1864 abortion ban, which was set to become valid in a matter of weeks.

Arizona Senate Repeals Abortion Ban Dating Back to 1864

The ban overlooked a narrow margin of 16-14 and is expected to be instantly signed into law by Governor Katie Hobbs, a Democrat. Remarkably, two Republican senators disregard their party's stance to support the abolition.

The bill had formerly been certified by the Arizona House, with numerous Republicans siding with Democrats to progress it to the Senate.

Senator Eva Burch, a Democrat, highlighted the necessity to overturn what she alleged was a flawed law, specifically one rooted in a time when women lacked voting rights.

However, Republican Senator Wendy Rogers contested that maintaining the 1864 ban aligned with Arizona's conservative principles, affirming that life initiates at conception and that the law's original intent was accurate then and remains so now.

The dispute over this Civil War-era abortion constraint mirrors the continuous national discourse encompassing reproductive rights, especially since the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 decision to delegate abortion regulations to individual states.

With Arizona being an important battleground, Democrats aim to influence the stance of MAGA Arizona Republicans in their bid to take control of the state legislature during the forthcoming elections.

Rogers recognized the political gamble inherent in her stance but highlights prioritized what she believes is morally right. Despite the repeal, abortion constraints continue in Arizona, including a law passed in 2022 banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Arizona Democrats remain steadfast in their efforts to restore abortion rights, with plans to introduce a ballot measure for voter consideration in November.

Revoking the Stringent Ban Aims to Enhance Abortion Rights

In a vote of 16-14, the bill passed with the support of two Republican senators, T.J. Shope and Shawnna Bolick, who aligned with the minority Democrats despite vocal opposition from the GOP.

Before her vote, Bolick shared her personal experiences with difficult pregnancies, including a miscarriage, expressing a generally anti-abortion stance. However, she sided with Democrats, suggesting that repealing the strict ban might impact support for a Democratic-led ballot initiative in November aimed at expanding abortion access.

Meanwhile, Republican State Senator Jake Hoffman criticized colleagues who voted against the party's stance, condemning what he viewed as a betrayal of Republican principles.

Democrats, who had been advocating for the ban's repeal in recent weeks, celebrated the legislative victory, considering it a significant milestone.

State Representative Stephanie Stahl Hamilton highlighted the relief felt by Arizonans who would no longer be subject to what she described as a brutal and outdated law.

State Senator Anna Hernandez echoed this sentiment, criticizing the unwavering stance of Republican leadership in Arizona and emphasizing the fight for abortion rights as an illumination of their alleged corruption.

The repeal legislation now awaits the signature of Governor Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, who expressed eagerness to promptly sign it into law.

Hobbs also indicated her intention to request the courts to consider legislative intent from the repeal and potentially delay the implementation of the 1864 ban.

In addition, she urged Arizonans to voice their opinions, especially regarding a pending pro-abortion access ballot measure in November, highlighting the state's significance in national politics and the motivating force of abortion-related issues for voters.

Hobbs also criticized what she viewed as insincere positions taken by some anti-abortion conservatives, including former President Trump, accusing them of political opportunism following the Dobbs decision and subsequent celebrations.
Prince William, previously evasive about inquiries regarding his wife Kate Middleton amidst the uproar over her whereabouts and cancer disclosure, is now starting to address some questions.

Prince William Provides Family Update

During a public appearance on Tuesday, the 41-year-old Prince engaged with fans during a walkabout at James' Place in Newcastle.

In footage posted on Instagram by the fan account WalesVideos, one woman queried about the well-being of his wife and children. "We're all doing well, thank you," replied William. When pressed further about Catherine, he reiterated, "We're all doing well."

This outing marked William's third day of public engagements since Middleton's cancer announcement. He visited the mental health organization James' Place in Newcastle and the 2022 Earthshot Prize Finalist Low Carbon Materials.

On March 22, Middleton shocked the world by revealing she was undergoing "preventative chemotherapy" for an undisclosed form of cancer discovered during abdominal surgery. She emphasized that both she and William have been diligently managing the situation for the sake of their young family.

Despite the lack of details about her cancer type, Middleton assured she is "well and getting stronger every day" and praised Prince William as a pillar of support.

Middleton's health update followed a period of absence from public view since January, sparking widespread speculation. In response, Prince William temporarily stepped back from duties to support his wife.

However, he has since resumed royal engagements, including a charity event in Sunbury-on-Thames, England, in mid-April. During his recent engagement, two women adorned with Union Jack flags inquired about Middleton and their three children: Prince George, aged 10, Princess Charlotte, aged 8, and Prince Louis, aged 6.

Kate Middleton Temporarily Steps Back from Public Royal Duties

Kate requested privacy for her family and announced she would be taking a break from public royal duties. The palace stated she would resume official duties upon clearance from her medical team.

William also paused his public duties after Kate's announcement. He returned to work on April 18, visiting the nonprofit organization Surplus to Supper, where he received well-wishes for Kate and his father, King Charles III, who also received a cancer diagnosis this year.

Middleton had been absent from public view since Christmas Day, leading to intense speculation about her whereabouts as only obscured or edited images surfaced.

William had previously taken time off to support his wife, and they reportedly spent at least three weeks together with their children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, at the Sandringham Estate during the Easter holiday.

On April 29, the couple celebrated their 13th wedding anniversary by sharing a previously unseen photo captured by Millie Pilkington.

Additionally, Tuesday marked King Charles III's return to public engagements following his cancer diagnosis in February. His first official visit was to a cancer treatment center in London, emphasizing the importance of early cancer detection and showcasing the vital research at the University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre.
Authorities intensify their search for a missing 6-year-old girl presumed dead after falling into Michigan's Flint River, just a day after a 7-year-old boy with special needs tragically drowned in the same waters.

Find Missing 6-Year-Old Girl

Tragedy struck Michigan's Flint River over the weekend as a 7-year-old child drowned, and authorities are now searching for a second child presumed dead after falling into the river the following day.

The initial incident involved a 7-year-old boy with special needs who wandered away and tragically drowned in the Flint River on Saturday, according to Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson's statement.

The subsequent day saw another heartbreaking event when a 6-year-old girl wandered off and was later spotted in the river, as confirmed by the sheriff on Wednesday afternoon. Notably, there was an earlier, erroneous age announcement by the sheriff's office regarding the girl.

Sheriff Swanson expressed the sobering reality of consecutive child drownings within a 24-hour timeframe along the same river but in different parts of the city, both resulting in fatalities. This somber sentiment was echoed by Flint Fire Chief Theron Wiggins, who conveyed deep sorrow over the loss of the 7-year-old child on Saturday.

Wiggins also took the opportunity to caution the community about the dangers of playing near the Flint River, citing hidden debris and strong currents as significant risks. He urged families to prioritize safety, especially with the warmer weather beckoning outdoor activities in Flint's natural resources and parks.

Michigan's Flint River Drownings

Swanson recounted the events involving the 6-year-old girl, who was accompanied by a 9-year-old, as they wandered away from home around 5:15 p.m. on Sunday.

Describing the river's terrain, he explained the 40-degree angled cement banks extending about 30 feet into the water, where both children slid into the river. Fortunately, the 9-year-old managed to climb out, but the focus remains on locating the missing 6-year-old.

Upon initial observation by authorities, the river's swift flow of five to eight miles per hour and murky appearance presented challenges. Subsequently, as search efforts intensified, it became evident that the situation had shifted from a rescue to a recovery operation.

In response, a substantial team of 75 to 100 personnel and volunteers per day, including specialized dive teams from southeastern Michigan counties, has been deployed.

Swanson highlighted the use of advanced technology and strategic measures, such as lowering the river level by 18 inches through the closure of two upstream dams, to aid in the search.

Highlighting the river's inherent dangers, including hidden hazards like trees and strong currents, Swanson emphasized the complexity of the search operation.

He noted the presence of water under the riverbanks, creating areas where a body could come to rest, further complicating recovery efforts. And added, "one of our sergeants actually saw the victim yesterday, distant with a little pink shirt, so we knew that this was the starting point."

In a candid Facebook video, Swanson reflected on the emotional weight of facing two drownings in a single weekend. He urged viewers to cherish their loved ones, underscoring the importance of family bonds in times of tragedy.
In Wisconsin, law enforcement officers responded to a critical incident outside a middle school on a late Wednesday morning.

According to state attorney general Josh Kaul, the armed individual, identified as a student within the Mount Horeb School District, was fatally shot by officers before reaching the school premises.

Wisconsin's Most Recent Middle School Shooting

Kaul addressed concerns about potential ongoing threats following the incident, emphasizing that public safety is a top priority.

Despite the ongoing investigation, he assured the public that there is currently no known threat to safety and pledged to provide updates if any new risks emerge.

The shooting by an armed student, which occurred approximately 20 miles west of Madison, prompted immediate action from law enforcement.

Superintendent Dr. Steve Salerno confirmed that the threat had been neutralized outside the school, with officers ensuring the safety of all students within.

Kaul explained that officers responded to reports of an armed individual outside the middle school and used deadly force to eliminate the danger.

Fortunately, no students or school staff were harmed during the incident. The reunification process for parents and students continued, with the district offering support to those in need.

Specific details about the student and the weapon involved were withheld due to the ongoing nature of the investigation.

Mount Horeb School District announced that schools would be open the following day, providing support to students and staff as needed.

Salerno expressed optimism about resuming normal activities soon, praising the collaboration between the district and law enforcement in ensuring the safety of everyone involved.

Salerno said, "We'll have a decision on that some point here in the near future. But at this point, we are ready to roll up our sleeves and work shoulder to shoulder with our amazing law enforcement, first responders who came to help support and protect our young people."

Community Support and Safety Measures

The Wisconsin Department of Justice will spearhead the investigation, police response, with added support from the agency's Office of School Safety.

Ensuring student and staff safety remains the top priority, as emphasized by Kaul. He extended gratitude to the parents and community members of Mount Horeb for their patience during the safety measures taken.

Salerno echoed Kaul's sentiments, praising the dedication of the school staff and the supportive community.

Salerno complimented, "amazing staff that have rallied in support of our beautiful children. And the community, that envelops and holds their children and their schools in high esteem."

He expressed sympathy for all affected by the day's events and offered prayers for their well-being.

Kaul advised parents and caregivers to foster a sense of security by providing reassurance and a safe space for questions and expressions of feelings. He also recommended limiting exposure to distressing media coverage.

Encouraging proactive involvement, Kaul urged individuals to reach out to local school staff with any specific concerns about their children's safety.

He emphasized that preventing school violence is a collective responsibility and urged reporting any suspicions regarding potential threats.
King James (the sixth of Scotland and first of England) not long crowned, planned a conference he set for November, 1603. They were to discuss sundry matters involving the relatively new church of which he was now head. While the ball started rolling when Henry VIII wanted a divorce, it really only took its broad shape under his younger daughters reign. James elder cousin and predecessor.

However, due to an outbreak of plague the Hampton Court Conference in fact met in February, 1604. The king and his counselors dealt with some complaints from the Puritan element of the church, matters of who should officiate at baptisms (clergy only, thank you), and ecclesiastical discipline. In general he wanted to put his own imprint on the church Elizabeth largely created out of the ruin following Henry, Edward VI, and Mary.

This meeting also led to the king commissioning a new translation of the Bible.

This was a momentous occasion. And, Ive mentioned it several times in the past. Much of what follows is based in that, but with the fulness of time and changes in who I am, revisited, and rewritten.

It really is such a cultural and spiritual marker it deserves revisiting.

A team consisting of forty-six clergy of the Church of England, and one lay communicant, Sir Henry Savile were selected and set to work. They were organized into six committees, and worked at both universities and Westminster Abbey. Richard Bancroft, then Archbishop of Canterbury served as chief overseer for the project.

The new bible was to look to previous translations, the Tyndale Bible, the Coverdale Bible, Matthews Bible, the Great Bible, and the Geneva Bible. Scholars have also felt some influences from the Taverners Bible and the New Testament part of the DouayRheims Bible.

The translators were also all scholars and highly competent in the languages of the Bible, and while mindful of the previous translations, as well as certain guidelines from the court, saw themselves as pursuing the best translation that was possible. And pretty much everyone since agrees that they achieved their goal of producing a scholarly and (generally) nonpartisan Bible.

Finally, on the 2nd of May, 1611, THE HOLY BIBLE, Conteyning the Old Tetament, AND THE NEW: Newly Tranlated out of the Originall tongues: & with the former Tranlations diligently compared and reuied, by his Maiesties peciall Comandement was published by the Kings Printer.

Within a few years it would come to be called the King James Version of the Bible. And by those ignorant of its origins, as well as on occasion for those not in the habit of reading closely, the St James Version. It would remain the English language Bible well into the twentieth century. While not the primary version used in most churches nor in seminaries today, it remains much beloved. And parts, such as the psalms remain the preferred readings in times of distress for many people. For an interesting minority it is the only real version of the Bible., what God had intended.

Even beyond its theological and ecclesiastical importance the King James Version was quickly acknowledged as a major literary accomplishment of early modern English. Really counted only with Shakespeare. And, really, in front of him, as well. Its publication helped set the language we know today. It has been called the most influential version of the most influential book in what for a while yet has been the most influential language in the world.

An English speaker unfamiliar with the King James Bible has lost something enormously important. Like a Greek unfamiliar with the Iliad or a Roman who had never read Virgil. I learned to read out of a large illustrated King James Bible resting on my grandmothers lap. It gave me cadences and tropes, not to mention vocabulary that occupy my thinking and my writing to this day. More even than Shakespeare.

My theology has shifted and turned over the many years. It is mostly rooted in core Mahayana Buddhist thinking, infused with a broadly skeptical and naturalistic sense of the way things are. But my life cant be contained by that alone. I dream. And my dreams are all populated from the readings and interpretations of that wondrous large book in my imagination forever sitting on my grandmothers lap.

My dreams are populated by those figures out of the ancient near east captured in that book. Some are completely mythical, near as anyone can tell, like Abraham and Sarah and Moses and Miriam. And some have historical bones upon which myth has been layered like Jesus and the Marys. And. I know their stories. Their stories inform my own life and give it the color and shade of our common humanity. In some true ways they are as much a part of my thinking and who I am as my deepest analysis, as my core disposition.

Were not just apes with good thumbs, although we are apes with thumbs, we also have mouths that speak and, my, the stories we can tell. Those stories are the stuff of our dreams.

And. Dreams matter. I repeat. Dreams matter.

I have long since noticed the actual dreams, the dreams generated in the night, certainly those I have, tend to be the engine racing, either reflective of the general anxiety of the human condition, or just noise reflecting the events of the previous day. Noticing it is a rare dream that conveys more information about my interior life, about my life beneath the waves of my sea of being, Ive long since lost interest in tracking them.

Thats why when friends recount their dreams, all too often we find we must avert our eyes. It is all rather obvious. And, slightly embarrassing.

Recently, I was asked by an old friend what I thought of dreams. What I said is that ninety-eight percent of dreams reflect nervous energy attached to events, frequently from the previous day.

The other two percent are messages from the gods. Or, the God, the great dream God, the wondrous dreaming God.

Sometimes, in those dreams, that two percent of our dreams, theres an invitation. For the dreamer. For the hearer. And in my life, they are often, maybe even mostly clothed in the stories and actions out of the book, the King James version of the book. It has been said by people whove rejected literalisms of several sorts that the Bible contains everything necessary to salvation. I believe that. In the dream time, out of the dream time, I know that.

And then. Actually, at some point does it really matter if it is your dream or mine?

In that two percent, God and who you and I are, are present. We are a dreaming God.

Of course, the trick is to tell which is the ninety-eight percent, and which is God unveiled
This March, in response to Texass age-verification law being upheld, the ultra-popular PornHub and numerous other adult sites operated by parent company Aylo went dark in the state. Replacing the NSFW videos youd normally expect to see, a message decrying government overreach and proposed compromises has been posted.

Its a similar chain of events to what happened last year when Utah enacted a law requiring websites to verify the ages of users.

Editors note: Updated May 2, 2024 with new information about Supreme Courts refusal to hear the case against governmental overreach.

Pornhubs official statement to those trying to access its content in Texas. No further comment about how I obtained this screenshot. Pornhubs official statement to those trying to access its content in Texas. No further comment about how I obtained this screenshot. Sam Singleton Pornhubs official statement to those trying to access its content in Texas. No further comment about how I obtained this screenshot. Sam Singleton Sam Singleton

And as with Utah, Texass actions prompted an increased interest in virtual private networks, or VPNs. Google searches for VPN immediately skyrocketed in Texas as folks looked to circumvent the ban. I checked Google Trends myself and, yep, Texas now shows 100 percent interest for VPN.

A screenshot of Google Trends on March 14, 2024 showing VPN search interest in Texas at 100. A screenshot of Google Trends on March 14, 2024 showing VPN search interest in Texas at 100. Sam Singleton A screenshot of Google Trends on March 14, 2024 showing VPN search interest in Texas at 100. Sam Singleton Sam Singleton

Now, to add further dismay to the NSFW crowd, the Supreme Court refused to hear a case in April brought by the Free Speech Coalition, a pornography industry trade group. The Coalition, as well as several other companies, petitioned the Court on the grounds of free speech. Unfortunately, the justices turned down the request, further cementing the governments commitment to abstinencewhoops, I meant safety.

We might not be experts on law, but we sure know VPNs here at PCWorld! While we would never encourage circumventing any laws, if youre a resident of Texas who just so happens to be looking for a VPN for totally legal reasons, here are some especially choice picks, culled from our roundup of the best VPN services.

Happy surfing, yall! (But not too happy).

ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN Read our review Best Prices Today:

ExpressVPN is our best overall pick for VPNs and for good reason. Youll get a ton of features for your money including wide-device support, ad- and tracker-blocking, and plenty of servers located both domestically and internationally to choose from.

Its also one of the fastest VPNs weve ever tested, meaning you wont have to downgrade your video quality to something that makes it look like the important bits were blurred on purposewere talking about those fine special effect details in the latest Avatar: The Last Airbender series, of course.

NordVPN

NordVPN Read our review Price When Reviewed: 3,09 Euro pro Monat (83,43  fur die ersten 2 Jahre) Best Prices Today:

If youre looking for a VPN that doesnt log the sites you visit and provides fairly anonymous payment methods, NordVPN is a fine choice. Its loaded with features and offers fast servers perfect for streaming videos. The one downside? While it only costs $4.19 per month if you commit to a two-year plan, it costs $12.99 monthly if you dont want to sign up for a long term contract.

Mullvad

Mullvad Read our review Price When Reviewed: 5 Euro pro Monat Best Prices Today:

This might be a better option, however. Mullvad isnt just in our top five VPNs for overall speeds, it more importantly earns top marks for privacy, taking seemingly every effort to know as little as possible about its users. From our roundup:

Weve never seen another VPN that actively resists knowing who you are the way Mullvad does. Mullvad doesnt ask for your email address, name, or anything else. Instead it assigns a random account number that acts as your identifier and login. Mullvad accepts payments using standard methods such as credit cards and PayPal, but you can also mail your payment in cash to remain as private as possible. Mullvad has a no-logging policy and doesnt collect any identifying metadata from your usage.

Better yet, it costs just $5 per month regardless of the plan you choose.

Windscribe Pro

Windscribe Pro Read our review

Windscribe VPN has a totally free-to-use version with 11 worldwide locations to choose from including a U.S. server conveniently located outside of Texas. It also offers up to 10GB of bandwidth per month, which should be enough to do your business, whatever that business may be.

The service is also extremely easy to use with a simple setup and solid performance for a free VPN. Plus, if you find that you like the services free version you can always upgrade to premium with more features to expand your, um, horizons outside of just the local content.
Absa Bank Ghana LTD. has successfully hosted another edition of its ongoing SME Clinic series, designed to bolster small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and enhance business efficiency. The latest session, held at its Nester Square branch, Airport City, attracted over one hundred local business owners, underscoring Absas strong commitment to economic empowerment.



This latest edition, titled Enhancing Business Efficiency through Digital Adoption, highlighted practical digital tools aimed at helping SMEs keep pace with the changing digital landscape. Adolph Kpegah, Interim Managing Director of Absa Ghana, provided insights into the banks broader mission, stating, We in Absa treasure events like this for a simple reason. We are increasingly focused on building businesses and building up our clients. It is premised on the absolute belief that as a bank the only way you grow is to help your customers grow. When we say, 'Your story matters,' it simply means we are focusing on the humanness of the business. He went on to explain that the SME clinics will facilitate the sharing of ideas and expertise to improve SME businesses.



The events resource person, Benedict Bentil, a Senior Manager at MTN Ghana, explored the impact of digitalization on business visibility and profitability. He covered essential digital strategies such as customer value management through Customer Relationship Management (CRM) applications, online presence enhancement via Linktree, and the strategic use of referral codes and targeted advertising. The clinic also included an interactive session where attendees engaged directly with the resource person. A lively question-and-answer segment followed, allowing for a deeper exploration of the digital tools discussed.



The SME Clinic series forms a part of Absa Banks broader initiative to support the SME sector. In 2023, the bank disbursed GHS 430 million to SMEs, demonstrating its dedication to this vital economic group. The series will continue throughout the year, with each session offering a comprehensive toolkit for SME business enhancement.



Feedback from attendees has been overwhelmingly positive. Reginald Sekyi-Brown, Franchise Manager for PharmaSymbiosis Limited, praised the initiative: It is not for nothing that a business like Absa decides to bring together stakeholders within their value chain and their customers. That shows the human-centeredness of Absa.



As Absa Bank Ghana LTD. continues to roll out its SME Clinic series, the focus remains on empowering SMEs with the tools and knowledge to thrive in a digital economy. With plans to expand the topics and reach of these clinics, Absa Bank is dedicated to fostering a sustainable, inclusive financial landscape in Ghana.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Ghana Police Service has arrested a man in connection with a shooting incident which occurred at Millenium City, Kasoa, in the Central Region, leading to the death of a soldier.



Preliminary Police investigation has established that the suspect, Benlord Ababio allegedly shot the soldier at Millenum City Kasoa on Tuesday, 30th April 2024, at about 4:20 pm. The victim sustained gunshot wounds and was rushed to the Mother and Child Hospital at Kasoa for medical attention. However, he was later pronounced dead by the medical authorities.



Suspect Benlord Ababio is currently in custody assisting Police investigation.



The leadership of the Police Service is in touch with the leadership of the Ghana Armed Forces as investigation into the incident continues.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Post Company Limited, Bice Osei Kuffour says Ghana is the first country in Africa to have a crypto stamp.



Bice Osei Kuffour, popularly called "Obour", in an interview with Kwami Sefa Kayi on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" show Tuesday morning, noted that his outfit will on Saturday, May 4, launch a new stamp to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Overlord of the Ashanti Kingdom, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.



The new stamp, he explained, captures all the memorable works and achievements of the Asantehene and tells the story of his reign as King of the Ashantis.



Mr. Osei Kuffour further revealed that as part of celebrating Otumfuo's local and global impact, Ghana Post will inaugurate a crypto stamp which will be the first of its kind in Africa.



He noted that the crypto-stamp offers numerous benefits, some of which he stated is "when you use your phone to scan the stamp, it will tell the historic stories about Otumfuo. The stamp will also give you a digital image of the stamp on your phone to use as maybe your screensaver...Furthermore, since it is a crypto stamp, you can also trade the stamp on the crypto stamp market".



He stressed; "None of this can be found in Africa; the Otumfuo stamp will be the very first crypto stamp" in Africa.













Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare has handed over the newly constructed headquarters building to the Real Estate Agency Council (REAC).



This follows sector Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumahs charge to the board and management during his first working visit to the Agency last February to ensure the opening of its offices by April this year.



At a brief handing-over event on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 at REACs new office premises in Accra, Madam Osei-Opare said the new office space marks the governments efforts to regulate and standardize the real estate sector in Ghana.



The establishment of the Real Estate Agency Council and subsequently the provision of office space represents a crucial step forward in our efforts to regulate and standardize the real estate market. By providing oversight and guidance to industry professionals, the Council will ensure that ethical standards are upheld, transactions are conducted transparently, and the interests of all stakeholders are protected and empowered," she said.



She emphasized the vital significance of the real estate industry in driving economic growth and improving living standards for Ghanaians acknowledging the challenges stemming from the lack of regulation and professional standards in the sector. She said these challenges lead to issues such as uncontrolled pricing, fraud, and high-risk transactions.







Mindful of the need for comprehensive reforms, Chief of Staff Osei-Opare highlighted the government's commitment to reshaping the real estate landscape. She referenced the passage of the Real Estate Agency Act 2020 (Act 1047) and the establishment of REAC as crucial steps towards ensuring transparency, accountability, and professionalism in the industry.



She outlined government's digitization agenda and its initiatives aimed at streamlining processes within the real estate sector highlighting plans to implement a cloud-based licensing and regulation system, which would expedite licensing processes and promote efficiency in the industry.



The ceremony was attended by prominent figures including the Minister of Works and Housing, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Minister in charge of Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei-Mensah Bonsu, and the Board Chair of REAC, Dr. Kojo Addo-Kuffour and other board members of the Council as well as other well known dignitaries.



Parliament in 2020 passed the Real Estate Agency Act, 2020 (Act 1047), creating the Real Estate Agency Council (REAC). This body, was tasked with regulating the sector, ensuring fairness and transparency in real estate transactions.



However, despite the passage of the legislation to fully establish and operationalize the Agency, it has been slow in executing it mandates. While the Council has been sworn in, its functions remain dormant with the CEO previously working from the Ministry of Works and Housing rather than from REAC's headquarters.



Mr. Oppong Nkrumah on his part lauded the concerted efforts to provide a working space for the Council. He said with a known operating space, the Council can now set out to work as mandated.



This he charged management and employees to get to work quickly in order to operationalize the Council and to sanitize the sector.

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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This is indeed a story of determination, positive declaration, grit, and humility.



At the age of six, he confidently announced to his friends, "I want to be a pilot when I grow up." However, his statement was met with mocking laughter.



The end of sixth grade marked the onset of financial difficulties for his family, as his father lost his job and life took a turn for the worse.



He failed the A Levels twice, disqualifying him from joining the Air Force, even though he passed the army's assessments twice.



This is the story of Captain Solomon Nana Kwakye Quainoo, the first Ghanaian to have flown the biggest airplane A380 to the Kotoka International Airports modern Terminal 3.



Captain Quainoo who has shared the story of his life in a book titled: "Flutter Unitl You Fly" spoke in a one-on-one interview with Kwami Sefa Kayi on Peace FM's morning show 'Kokrokoo' said: "I hope this inspires people not to give up on their dreams"



He recalled the days when he was cleaning the church as a service to God, and when he was a Chauffeur because he couldn't immediately get a job in his field of study.



Being a Chaffeur at the Airport, however, didn't stop his dream as he continued to make positive declarations into his life anytime he saw an airplane.



Listen to him in the video below





Source: Rebecca Addo Tetteh/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 gruesome accident that occurred at Dadwen area near Obuasi, within the Adansi North District of the Ashanti Region, has claimed the lives of five individuals and left over 14 others critically injured.



The incident involved multiple vehicles, including a Toyota Hiace trotro with registration number AS 2889-19, driven by 19-year-old Osei Ahenkorah, which was traveling from Dunkwa to Kumasi.



Another vehicle involved was a trailer with registration number AS 468-S, driven by 41-year-old Kofi Mahama, heading from the Anwiankwanta highway to Obuasi.



Additionally, a Jetta salon car with registration number GT 3171-11, driven by 40-year-old Ofori Samuel Ankrah, was also part of the collision.



Eyewitnesses reported that the Toyota Hiace trotro was traveling at a high speed and lost control, veering off its lane and crashing into the trailer at Dadwen.



Out of the 20 passengers on board the Toyota vehicle, including children, fourteen survived with injuries, while four individuals tragically lost their lives at the scene.



Fortunately, both the driver of the trailer vehicle and his mate survived the collision.



The bodies of the deceased individuals were transported to the Obuasi Government Hospital morgue for further arrangements.







Source: XYZ









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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Ben Dotsei Malor, Chief Editor of Dailies at the UN News and Media Division of the United Nations Department of Global Communications, has expressed concerns about Ghanaians' disrespect for time.



The UN official noted that the unfortunate routine seems to have been accepted by all, thereby causing the country to lose a lot in terms of productivity.



"We have normalized the abnormal, accepted the unacceptable, tolerated the intolerable, defended the indefensible, and condoned what should be condemned," Dotsei Malor said in an episode of the online Time Keeping Dialogue series on Sunday, April 28.



The dialogue, hosted by Georgina Asare Fiagbenu, a Communications for Development advocate, was themed "From 'Ghana Man Time' to Greenwich Mean Time - Lessons from the Diaspora."



Mr. Dotsei Malor, who has travelled to several countries due to the nature of his work, acknowledged that the issue is not unique to Ghanaians, citing Ecuador, where in 2003 the government declared a state of emergency to address chronic lateness estimated to cost the country $2.5 billion annually.



However, the former BBC editor said the issue is more damaging in Ghana compared to other countries.



On her part, Kirstie Angsmann, a member of the Migrants Council and Women's Commission in Freiburg, Germany, noted that "the issue is more about environment and structure than race," contrary to perceptions that it is prevalent among Black people.



She explained that in Germany, the system is structured such that excuses like "my car broke down" or "I was stuck in traffic" are not tolerated.



"They believe in communication - informing them in a timely manner with tangible reasons for why you will be late. Otherwise, there will be a penalty," she said.



Effect:

Mr. Dotsei Malor asserted that the disrespect for time, where a program scheduled to start at 10 AM and end at 12 PM eventually begins at 11:30 AM, is largely why most Ghanaians are poor and the economy is in a bad state.



"Being time-conscious means increased productivity, and productivity means efficiency. A lack of this results in inefficiency, lack of success, and other problems," he stated.



Solution:

Among others, Mrs. Kirstie Angsmann, a Ghanaian woman married to a German, noted that Ghanaians need to take every bit of their time seriously, just as it is done in Germany.



It's essential to understand the importance of time and use it wisely, said Kirstie Angsmann.



She cited an instance where her husband visited Ghana and they attended a program that was delayed for hours before it started, and how angry the husband was.



According to Mr. Dotsei Malor, acknowledging the impact of time wasting is a step in eradicating the seeming Ghanaman time that has persisted for years.



Another key thing is also a situation whereby leaders lead by example, like it was during the time of late Professor Atta Mills, who would be at a function on time, he said.



Others who joined the meeting also shared their views on how the issue can be resolved, such as a shift in mindset and a situation whereby leadership sets the tone at the top for everyone to follow.



The dialogue explored the concepts of "Ghanaman Time" and Greenwich Mean Time, differences in time perception between Ghanaian and Western cultures, and how these differences impact business practices.



Additionally, it discussed the diaspora's views on time, lessons for improving time management and productivity, and the role of policymakers in changing the Ghanaian perception of time.





Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Minister for Food and Agriculture, Bryan Acheampong, has dismissed suggestions that the running mate candidate of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) should hail from the Ashanti Region.



Bryan Acheampong, who is considered a potential running mate for the party, stated that the party should select a running mate for its flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, based on competence rather than tribal affiliations.



Speaking to Onua TV on the sidelines of a campaign event in the Eastern Region, the minister emphasized that a person's hometown should not be a factor in determining who will partner with Dr. Bawumia for the December 7 polls, as long as they are Ghanaian.



"If you trace our ancestries, you would come to the conclusion that we are all Ghanaians. Therefore, one's origin doesn't matter. It is a thing of the past. We should all proudly uphold the flag of Ghana and work for the country with good hearts; that is what's important," he explained to the Onua TV journalist in Twi.



When the journalist insinuated during her questioning that "it seems like the running mate is from the Ashanti Region," the minister retorted, "Who told you that the running mate is from the Ashanti Region? The running mate is from Ghana; a running mate is aligned with Dr. Bawumia."



Bryan Acheampong did not rule himself out as a potential running mate for Dr. Bawumia.



"That is a conversation we need to have. I have not been approached, but what I am saying is that ultimately, one's place of origin shouldn't matter... We're going to present two Ghanaians. Therefore, people should refrain from insisting that the person must come from a specific region; it is un-Ghanaian," he concluded.







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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Seth Acheampong, the Eastern regional minister has mentioned that President Akufo-Addo was taken out of context when he said he sanctions all projects before they are executed.



Speaking on the 'Kokrokoo' morning show on Tuesday, April 30, Hon. Acheampong noted that the President meant no malice neither did he disrespect Ghanaians when he mentioned that, he is the only one who gives the green light for projects to be done.



On Sunday April 28, the President, at the final rally ahead of the Ejisu by-election stated that until he gives approval for projects to be executed, no one can do anything on their own for the constituency.



Some Ghanaians, upon hearing him were outraged over the comments made by the President with some describing it as an act of arrogance and pomposity.



Dissonance to the worldview of some Ghanaians, the Eastern regional minister pointed out that, the president meant no malice adding that his statement was misconstrued.



He said, "the Presidents speech was figurative. The President was saying that Aduomi should have attributed all the achievements he had made while he was an MP to the NPP and to the President because the President gave him the authority to executive the projects. If it wasnt the president, there was nothing Aduomi could have done although he was an engineer. The president gives power to MPs and Ministers to executive projects so if Aduomi did what he claims to have done, the credit should be given to the president."







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 National Democratic Congress (NDC) has vowed to take legal action against those involved in what it describes as "illegal contracts" between the Government of Ghana and Strategic Mobilization Limited (SML), with a particular focus on the contentious agreement with the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).



Speaking to the media at the NDC's Moment of Truth series at the party's headquarters in Accra on April 29, 2024, Sammy Gyamfi, the National Communications Officer of the NDC, highlighted the party's dedication to maintaining accountability and transparency in government dealings.



Gyamfi emphasized that should the NDC come to power in the forthcoming elections, they will not honor contracts considered illegal and will endeavor to recover any funds lost to such deals.



"The NDC wishes to reaffirm the commitment made by our flagbearer and leader, John Mahama, that the next NDC administration will not acknowledge the unlawful contracts between the Government of Ghana and SML, upon taking office in 2025," Gyamfi declared.



The NDC's concern centers on the contract between the GRA and SML, which allegedly guaranteed SML monthly payments of up to GH24 million for downstream services.



Gyamfi denounced the agreement as a "flagrant SML scandal" and proclaimed that investigations would be initiated to recoup any illicit payments made to SML and to prosecute all those implicated in the purported malfeasance.



The dispute over the SML deal emerged after an expose by "The Fourth Estate," leading President Nana Akufo-Addo to suspend the contract on January 2, 2024.



A subsequent audit by KPMG resulted in the cessation of SML's services in both upstream petroleum and minerals auditing.



Nevertheless, Gyamfi asserted that the NDC would undertake its own probe into the affair, irrespective of the measures taken by the incumbent government.



"When we are elected to office, we will commence credible and transparent investigations into this egregious SML scandal, aiming to reclaim for the State all unlawful payments made to SML and to prosecute all those complicit in these illicit transactions," he stated.















Source: ghanaweb.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Awutu Senya West branch of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) has refuted allegations by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) regarding the upcoming limited voter registration exercise.



They refer to a statement by the NDC accusing the NPP parliamentary candidate for the Awutu Senya West constituency, Eugene Arhin, of masterminding a plot to bus "outsiders" to participate in the registration exercise in the constituency.



But the NPP Awutu Senya West branch states categorically that no such attempt has been or is being made by Eugene Arhin who doubles as the Communications Director at the Presidency.



"The NPP in Awutu Senya West state unequivocally that we will not do anything outside the electoral laws of Ghana in the upcoming registration exercise. We will provide citizens of Awutu Senya West, who reside in other parts of Ghana, and wish to come home to register, with the necessary support that they will need; as has been done in the past by various political parties, including the NDC", a statement signed by the Communications Officer of the branch, Ephraim Aidoo, emphasized.



The branch executives also debunked claims that Eugene Arhin is inducing people with an amount of GH5,000 to partake in the registration exercise.



"Our Parliamentary Candidate, Mr. Eugene Arhin, has not promised to pay any Assembly member, be it in Awutu Senya West or any District or Constituency for whatever reasons; be it for the voter registration exercise or not. Mr. Eugene Arhin will use the said amount, if he has it, to help improve the welfare of our Constituents, as has been his trump card as a young politician."



They touted the faithfulness of their candidate stressing "Mr. Eugene Arhin is a true son of Awutu Senya West; his father hails from Senya Beraku; and Eugene Arhin who has his personal house in Senya unlike the NDC MP, Hon. Gizella Agbotui Tetteh, whose mother hails from Hungary. In spite of her twenty-three (23) years experience architect, Hon. Gizella Abgotui Tetteh does not have even a hen coop to her name in her father's hometown, Obrachire" and threw a challenge to the NDC stating "we invite the NDC to bring the records of our MP Hon. Gizella Agbotui Tetteh to scrutiny, and they would realize that she has been the worst performing Member of Parliament in the history of Awutu Senya West Constituency".



The Electoral Commission (EC) has scheduled the new voters' registration for the upcoming December elections to begin from May 7 to May 27.



Read full statement below:



New Patriotic Party

Awutu Senya West Constituency

30th April, 2024.



To All Media Houses.



Re: ADVOCATING AGAINST OUTSIDERS CHOOSING OUR MP IN AWUTU SENYA WEST CONSTITUENCY; Urgent warning to Awutu Senya West NPP parliamentary candidate for Awutu Senya West Constituency.



We have taken notice of the release signed by NDC Communications Officers in which they have made baseless and unfounded allegations against our parliamentary candidate, Mr. Eugene Arhin. These unfounded allegations have become the practice of the NDC in an attempt to shield and cover their underperforming MP Hon. Gizella Agbotui Tetteh over the last three (3) years that she has been the MP for Awutu Senya West.



We wish to assure the NDC in Awutu Senya West that we, in NPP, believe that, based on the enviable records of our parliamentary candidate and our presidential candidate, we will certainly fold the umbrella to rest on December 7th, 2024.



Now to their baseless allegations.



Allegation



The NDC suggest we the NPP will transport outsiders and strangers ostensibly to register in the upcoming voter registration.



Our Response!



The NPP in Awutu Senya West state unequivocally that we will not do anything outside the electoral laws of Ghana in the upcoming registration exercise. We will provide citizens of Awutu Senya West, who reside in other parts of Ghana, and wish to come home to register, with the necessary support that they will need; as has been done in the past by various political parties, including the NDC.



Allegation



The NDC also alleges that our parliamentary candidate has plans to pay GH5,000 to facilitate the influx of voters to Awutu Senya West for the limited voter registration exercise.



Our response!



Our Parliamentary Candidate, Mr. Eugene Arhin, has not promised to pay any Assembly member, be it in Awutu Senya West or any District or Constituency for whatever reasons; be it for the voter registration exercise or not. Mr. Eugene Arhin will use the said amount, if he has it, to help improve the welfare of our Constituents, as has been his trump card as a young politician.



Mr. Eugene Arhin is a true son of Awutu Senya West; his father hails from Senya Beraku; and Eugene Arhin who has his personal house in Senya unlike the NDC MP, Hon. Gizella Agbotui Tetteh, whose mother hails from Hungary. In spite of her twenty-three (23) years experience architect, Hon. Gizella Abgotui Tetteh does not have even a hen coop to her name in her father's hometown, Obrachire.



We invite the NDC to bring the records of our MP Hon. Gizella Agbotui Tetteh to scrutiny, and they would realize that she has been the worst performing Member of Parliament in the history of Awutu Senya West Constituency.



The New Patriotic Party in Awutu Senya West Constituency and our Parliamentary Candidate, Mr. Eugene Arhin, are unfazed by these baseless allegations targeted at our Parliamentary Candidate, and would continue to pursue our development agenda to improve the welfare of Awutu Senya West Constituents. Based on this, and with the help of Almighty God, we will be crowned the victors in the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections.



Signed

Ephraim Aidoo

Communications Officer

Awutu Senya West Constituency

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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Police in Berks County alongside the Philadelphia Drug Enforcement Agency Task Force Group 25 arrested a 35-year-old Philadelphia man on Tuesday after they said he sold large amounts of drugs to undercover law enforcement and was found with over $8 million worth of drugs, according to the Berks County District Attorneys Office.

Ramon Alberto Jimenez-Merejildo, of the 7100 block of Brous Avenue in Philadelphia, was the center of a March 2024 investigation after police suspected him of selling fentanyl and heroin in Berks County while storing the drugs in his Philadelphia home.

After Jimenez-Merejildo sold multiple undercover officers fentanyl and heroin, police arrested him on the 5900 block of Perkiomen Avenue in Exeter on Tuesday.

When the arresting officers searched Jimenez-Merejildos vehicle, they found 106 bricks, or 5,300 packets, of fentanyl/heroin. The press release did not say how many doses of fentanyl/heroin are in one packet.

Later that day, police executed a search warrant at Jimenez-Merejildos home on the 7100 block of Brous Avenue and found an additional 257 bricks of fentanyl/heroin  12,870 packets  as well as 200 grams of bulk fentanyl and $3,407 in cash.

Investigators also received another search warrant for an undisclosed location in Philadelphia and found 16,700 packets of fentanyl/heroin, 11.5 kilograms (25.3 pounds) of bulk fentanyl/heroin, packaging materials/drug paraphernalia and stamps to press fentanyl/heroin into pills with logos including Redbull, Apple Jacks and Apple.

The total value of all the seized drugs is more than $8 million, the press release said.

Jimenez-Merejildo is charged with multiple counts of delivery of a controlled substance, possession with the intent to deliver, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

His bail was set at $600,000 and had his preliminary hearing scheduled for May 15.
Pennsylvanias county election officials saw progress toward their goal of getting an earlier start on preparing mailed ballots for counting.

The state House on Wednesday passed legislation to allow the processing, or pre-canvassing, of mail-in ballots to begin seven days prior to an Election Day. The bill won approval on a 102-99 party-line vote.

Currently, the process of opening ballot envelopes and flattening ballots to ready them for counting on election night cannot begin until 7 a.m. on election day. The bills proposed expansion of prep time led to a 50-minute floor debate. Republicans argued it would delay the reporting of election results and create distrust, while Democrats maintained it would mean more timely results that would restore voter confidence.

The measure, sponsored by Rep. Scott Conklin, D-Centre County, now goes to the Senate for consideration. The GOP leader there indicated its likely to be amended in a way that could lead this effort to a dead-end once again.

Ensuring voter confidence and the security of elections remain our top priorities, said Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman, R-Indiana County. As such, any discussion of changes to the administration of elections in our commonwealth must also include a constitutional voter identification requirement.

Democrats have resisted requiring voters to produce an ID every time they vote out of concern it could lead to voter disenfranchisement. However, Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, has suggested he is open to that idea. He also supports the bill the House passed on Wednesday.

Republican and Democratic county election officials have been calling on the Legislature to allow pre-canvassing of mail-in ballots for years  and Im glad to see the House take this commonsense step today, he said in a social media post. I hope the Senate will follow suit and send this simple, bipartisan reform to improve our elections to my desk so I can sign it into law.

County officials of both parties have called for pre-canvassing since before the 2020 election as a way to speed up the reporting of election results particularly in elections that have a heavy voter turnout. However, past efforts to address the issue have became entangled with more controversial election reforms to Act 77 of 2019 that introduced no-excuse mail-in voting to Pennsylvania.

This simple change would significantly improve election administration without compromising ballot security, said Lisa Schaefer, executive director of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania. Extending the pre-canvassing period would give counties more time to prepare mail-in and absentee ballots for counting and helps manage workloads and resources, ensuring timely availability of results.

She added: While counties are fully confident in their ability to administer run fair, secure, and accurate elections, we need the states support to become as efficient as possible. We appreciate the House advancing this important reform to Act 77, and we hope the Senate will act quickly to move the bill as currently written to the governors desk so that it can be implemented for Novembers general election.

The legislation provides for pre-canvassing to occur under the oversight of an authorized representative for each candidate and one from each political party to be present for pre-canvass meetings.

Separately, it eliminates the requirement for counties that accept a state-funded election integrity grant  which is most of them  to begin pre-canvassing at 7 a.m. on election day and continue without interruption until all ballots received by that time had been processed.

Republican lawmakers argued that lifting the requirement could lead them to wait until the three days after the election day when vote counting must commence.

So you could really see not knowing until Friday who wins and who loses, said Rep. Brad Roae of Crawford County, the ranking GOP member on the House State Government Committee. This legislation should actually be called the take-longer-to find-out-who-won legislation.

Other GOP lawmakers suggested the early access to mail-in ballots could provide opportunities for vote tampering that could shake voter confidence in the integrity of the electoral process. Rep. Russ Diamond, R-Lebanon County, said allowing counties to choose when they begin their pre-canvassing creates the potential for counties to administer elections differently.

This truly is a solution looking for a problem, he said. This is going to cause more problems than we have already with our election system.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Seth Grove, R-York County, predicted it would slow the reporting of results and make Pennsylvania the subject of national news stories that say Pennsylvania sucks at running elections and youre the laughingstock of the entire country. I will be a no vote because thats all this bill will do.

He said in an earlier interview that larger counties have acquired equipment to process and count ballots faster. The counties have been able to manage without extending it more days, he said. They want the luxury of having it but when you look at the operation, how elections actually operate in the commonwealth, no county has had an issue with 7 a.m.

House Republican Leader Bryan Cutler of Lancaster County said a concern that county officials raised to him is the overlap of pre-election activity with those of election day. He said this bill would extend that overlap even further by allowing voters to apply for a mail-in ballot seven days before an election.

Pennsylvanians have said consistently they want to restore trust and faith in our election systems such as requiring voter ID, Cutler said. Thats supported by 73% of the people whereas recent polls put support for pre-canvassing is 50%. Were missing the moment here today, missing this opportunity to advance comprehensive election reform, he said.

Conklin reminded his GOP colleagues that pre-canvassing is the one thing that county commissioners, most of whom are Republican, want and it also was included in GOP-sponsored election reform bills in prior sessions.

Pre-canvassing is the most important change that would significantly improve the election experience for both counties and voters without sacrificing ballot security ... or access to voting, Conklin said.

House Majority Leader Matt Bradford, D-Montgomery County, said he sees this issue as non-partisan, one that is simply about giving people a timely result in an election.

Department of State spokeswoman Amy Gulli called the proposal a commonsense legislative reform that county election directors and the Department of State have long advocated for. As the department has said repeatedly, earlier pre-canvassing would dramatically ease the workload of county election staff on Election Day and would speed up the vote count.

She added: Arguments against allowing earlier pre-canvassing ignore the longstanding pleas from on-the-ground election staff who are the real experts in how to administer Pennsylvanias elections. No-excuse mail-in voting was passed with bipartisan support, and providing county election officials an appropriate amount of time to process those ballots should not be a partisan issue.

Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on X at @JanMurphy.
Pro-Palestian protesters camped out on Rutgers Universitys College Avenue Campus in New Brunswick, New Jersey, have prompted school officials to cancel final exams and other activities scheduled for Thursday morning at the campus.

The state university made the announcement on X (formerly Twitter) shortly before 8 a.m.
A 73-year-old woman was killed and four people suffered severe injuries Wednesday in a chemical explosion and fire at a commercial business that makes smoke generators in Old Bridge, New Jersey, authorities said.

Officials called for a shelter in place at a nearby school due to the fire.
All eyes are on the legal system after the death of a Black 16-year-old after doorbell cameras recorded his classmates chasing him around his Lower Paxton Township home Friday night.

He just went to [expletive] Africa, one of the teens yelled when Justin Johnson, who would have turned 17 on Tuesday, easily outran them at the home on Bianca Way. Get him!
As part of PennLives election year coverage, we will provide occasional fact checks on candidatess statements.

Here were taking a deeper look at what Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick recently said about fentanyl deaths in Pennsylvania and Mexican drug cartels.

On Tuesday, McCormick, who is challenging Sen. Bob Casey, posted a video on X, formerly Twitter, in which he speaks about the fentanyl crisis and southern border security.

Specifically, McCormick, a Persian Gulf War Army combat veteran, said in the video that, We have fentanyl deaths. Five thousand is more people than were killed in 20 years of war, killed in action in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In the post sharing the 21-second video clip, McCormick said, Time to use our military to target the Mexican drug cartels responsible for killing thousands of Pennsylvanians.

The deadly flow of fentanyl into our communities must be stopped.



Time to use our military to target the Mexican drug cartels responsible for killing thousands of Pennsylvanians. pic.twitter.com/aGCk3vOCbY  Dave McCormick (@DaveMcCormickPA) April 30, 2024

CLAIM #1 : Thousands of Pennsylvanians have been killed by fentanyl.

FACT : According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, the number of annual fentanyl-related deaths in the state over the last five years totaled 3,246 in 2019; 4,001 in 2020; 4,185 in 2021; 4,042 in (2022) and 3,324 in 2023, with the last two years being preliminary figures.

Those annual figures total 18,798 fentanyl-related deaths, so McCormicks statement was correct.

CLAIM #2 : Five thousand fentanyl deaths, presumably in Pennsylvania, are more than the number of Americans killed in action in military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan

FACT : The numbers above provided by the Department of Health clearly show that fentanyl-related deaths in Pennsylvania have not exceeded 5,000 annually in the last five years.

McCormick might be referencing overdose deaths, which totaled 4,521 in 2023; 5,158 in 2022; 5,356 in 2021 and 5,176 in 2020.

As for the number of Americans killed in action, McCormick was slightly off.

The U.S. Department of Defenses Casualty Status Report in April said that there were 3,481 Americans killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom, 1,833 in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom and 77 in Afghanistan during Operation Freedoms Sentinel.

Based on those figures, the total for combat deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan is 5,391, comparable to the number of annual OD deaths, but more than any years fentanyl-related death total in the state.

McCormicks claim about 5,000 fentanyl deaths exceeding the total for those killed in action in Iraq and Afghanistan was incorrect.

CLAIM #3 : Mexican drug cartels are responsible for the fentanyl killing Pennsylvanians.

FACT : The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has said that fentanyl and its ingredients are typically shipped from China to Mexico, where criminal organizations manufacture pills.

Smuggling typically happens through points of entry, like border checkpoints, but can also occur, according to the U.S. Border Patrol, via airplanes, ships and express couriers. Ingredients are brought to the United States, moved to Mexico for manufacturing and then returned here as fentanyl pills.

The DEA has said its intelligence has indicated that several cartels in Mexico are likely the primary trafficking groups responsible for smuggling fentanyl into the United States from Mexico, so McCormicks claim was accurate.
A former police officer in western Pennsylvania has pleaded guilty to participating in a methamphetamine scheme with her former chief, who pleaded guilty to charges last month.

Regina McAtee, a 51-year-old former officer in Greensburg, Westmoreland County, pleaded to one count of conspiracy to distribute meth in federal court in Pittsburgh, U.S. Attorney Eric Olshan said in a statement released by his office on Wednesday.
A group of Democratic state representatives in the Harrisburg area on Wednesday shared their condolences following the death of Justin Johnson, a 16-year-old boy suffering from sickle cell disease who died of cardiac arrest after running from a group of his teenage classmates in his neighborhood, while also asking for the communitys patience.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to all who joined in remembering Justin and supporting one another during this difficult time. Your presence underscores the strength and unity of our community, said the statement released by Justin Fleming, D-Dauphin, Dave Madsen, D-Dauphin, and Patty Kim, D-Dauphin/Cumberland.
An Atlanta-based staffing firm will pay $2.7 million to resolve allegations that it failed to adequately protect COVID-19 tracking data in Pennsylvania.

The settlement with Insight Global LLC, comes after an investigation by the Department of Justice that alleged the company violated the False Claims Act by not implementing proper cybersecurity measures to protect health information gathered during COVID-19 contact tracing.

During the height of the Covid pandemic, the Pennsylvania Department of Health hired Insight Global to provide staffing for COVID-19 contact tracing, paying the company using funds from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
By Bret Pallotto, Centre Daily Times (State College, Pa.) (TNS)

BELLEFONTE  The trooper who punched a Tennessee man during a violent arrest in Centre County testified Tuesday that he was concerned the driver would either reach for a weapon or flee again if he was not pulled from his SUV.

Trooper Joshua Yaworski testified that each of the blows he landed to Dereck L. Raimey, 46, were meant to get him out of the Chevrolet Tahoe and into handcuffs.

Yaworski testified the strikes were his only option after a fellow trooper put himself in what he described as a very dangerous crossfire position. Plan B, he testified, was a problem.

Dashcam video obtained by the Centre Daily Times and played during Tuesdays hearing showed Raimey held both of his hands out of the vehicle once he surrendered at the end of a high-speed, drug-fueled pursuit that topped 100 mph.

Yaworski and at least one other trooper approached with their handguns drawn and yelled conflicting commands that were sometimes impossible to obey. Almost simultaneously, one trooper told Raimey to get the [expletive] out of the car, while another yelled hands up, [expletive].

Raimey was held in place by his seat belt, but the testimony offered Tuesday did not make clear if he was wearing the seat belt or got caught in it during the arrest.

Yaworski and Cpl. Christopher Isbitski each testified they were not aware of the seat belt when they began pulling Raimey from the car. They also testified that they were unaware of any trooper unbuckling Raimey before they roughly pulled him to the ground.

Centre County Deputy Public Defender Patrick Klena has described the arrest as a sustained and brutal assault that amounted to an extreme indifference to the value of human life. One of his questions to Yaworski intimated his belief that it was carried out, in part, because the troopers adrenaline was pumping.

Trooper Shane Eichelberger testified he was not aware of the driver or his passengers race until after the pursuit began. Both are Black, and Raimeys vehicle had an out-of-state plate.

Klena and the troopers repeatedly sparred Tuesday over how best to describe the blows; Klena preferred to call them punches or uppercuts, while the troopers responded every time by calling them compliance strikes.

Raimeys mugshot appeared to show his left eye swollen shut. In all, Klena said Raimey was punched in the head and face at least nine times.

Klena has challenged both the validity of the December traffic stop and whether Raimey voluntarily consented to have his blood drawn, which showed he was under the influence fentanyl, methamphetamine and the metabolite of cocaine.

Eichelberger testified he and Yaworski tried to stop Raimey on Interstate 80 for following a semitrailer too closely. Instead, he took off and led them on a chase that covered about 20 miles and lasted nearly as long.

During the pursuit, troopers accused Raimey of throwing several items out of his SUV. One item, they believe, was a stolen handgun that Raimey was not allowed to possess.

He has not been charged, but Eichelberger collected Raimeys DNA after Tuesdays hearing to see if it matches what was found on the weapon.

As they took the stand, each of the troopers testified their interactions with Raimey after he was in handcuffs were nothing but respectful and cooperative.

Eichelberger said he and Raimey got along well, while Yaworski testified he bought Raimey a cheeseburger and drink from Rutters on his own dime.

Raimey was neither threatened nor coerced into providing troopers with a sample of his blood, they testified. Klena countered by arguing his consent could not have been voluntary because of his fear of further physical attack if he refused.

Centre County Judge Julia Rater punted making a decision Tuesday on what kind of, if any, evidence should be suppressed. She gave Klena until May 30 to file a brief, while Centre County Assistant District Attorney Matt Metzger has until June 14 to reply.

Raimey is charged with eight crimes, including a felony count of fleeing and a misdemeanor count of resisting arrest.

Rater did, however, double Raimeys bail to $100,000. Metzger said he recently obtained a more complete understanding of Raimeys history of violent crime, which he described as prolific.

He has at least eight convictions between 2001 and 2022, most of which involved drugs, firearms and fleeing from police. He was twice convicted of vehicular homicide.

The longest he went without a conviction was five years, and Rater said he was incarcerated for part of that time. Raimey was also nearly four hours late to Tuesdays hearing. He was handcuffed and taken to the Centre County Correctional Facility.

The Pennsylvania State Police initiated an internal investigation shortly after Raimeys arrest, spokesman Lt. Adam Reed told the CDT in March. He did not make clear if any of the troopers were placed on any form of leave or restricted duty, writing that the department does not speak publicly about personnel matters.

Each of the troopers who testified Tuesday appeared in uniform.

(c)2024 the Centre Daily Times (State College, Pa.)

Visit the Centre Daily Times (State College, Pa.) at www.centredaily.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The 2024 Kentucky Derby is slated for Saturday with a talented field of horses set to compete in the 150th Derby race. Derby coverage begins Saturday, May 4 at noon on USA Network and moves to NBC at 2:30 p.m. EDT for the run-up to the 6:57 p.m. EDT post time.

In the run-up to the Derby, well take a daily look around the web for the best articles and analysis to prep for the big race.

Start today with the schedule for the 2024 Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks races at Churchill Downs. The big race is Saturday evening, while the Oaks is on Friday at 1 p.m. EDT and the Saturday undercard is loaded with races, as well.

Jason Frakes from the Louisville Courier Journal has a great, lighthearted introduction to each horse in the 2024 Kentucky Derby field and why they can or cant win the race. His take is as good as any for a new bettor to brush up on the field.

Of equal importance on Saturday could be a horses ability to run in wet or sloppy conditions, and the Courier Journals Alexis Cubit dives into the subject with a chance of rain on Saturday.

In terms of the latest workouts from Churchill Downs, those were just released by the track this afternoon.

Ed DeRosa from Horse Racing Nation shared his picks for Kentucky Derby Day and betting advice with the Courier Journal. DeRosa drills down on every race on Saturday, including why he likes Forever Young as a contender to win the Derby.

Joe Nevills from Paulick Report went in-depth on speed and which of the horses in the Derby field are best equipped for the 1 1/4-mile distance In Saturdays triple crown race. Nevills piece is a good explainer on speed ratings and horse bloodlines.

The Kentucky Derby has its first scratch, writes Cameron Drummond for the Lexington Herald-Leader. Encino is out of his No. 9 post position, and Epic Ride is now in the Derby field.

The 24 Kentucky Derby features two horses from Japan looking to conquer the field, writes Ron Flatter for Horse Racing Nation.
We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on!

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As the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour Monte Carlo starts to wind down, there is one last five-figure buy-in remaining on the schedule; the 25,000 EPT High Roller. Over the last eight days, the series hosted at Sporting Monte-Carlo has attracted some of the best and brightest stars in the poker community, and todays tournament is expected to bring an equal calibre of prestige.

The same event last year drew an impressive field of 211 entries which saw the eventual winner Mikita Badziakouski claim the trophy and the lions share of the 5,066,110 prize pool. Badziakouski defeated Ben Heath in heads-up play taking home a massive 938,042 for his efforts.

2023 EPT Monte Carlo 25,000 High Roller Final Table

Place Player Country Prize (EUR) 1 Mikita Badziakouski Belarus 938,042* 2 Ben Heath England 801,068* 3 Enrico Camosci Malta 477,750 4 Steve O'Dwyer United States 367,500 5 Felipe Ketzer Brazil 282,700 6 Daniel Dvoress Canada 220,800 7 Roman Samoylov Israel 184,000 8 Igor Yaroshevskyy Ukraine 153,350

* denotes heads-up deal

Mikita Badziakouski

Players will have a starting stack of 50,000 chips with blinds beginning at 100/200 with a 200 big blind ante. Day 1 is scheduled to kick off at 12:30 p.m. local time as competitors play through ten 60-minute levels, with an additional break of 20 minutes every two levels. There is also a 75-minute dinner break after Level 6.

A shot clock will be implemented from the start of the event and players will have four-time bank cards worth 30 seconds each. An additional time bank card will be allocated to each player who is sat at the start of every odd-numbered level. Registration will end at the start of Day 2.

Stay tuned to PokerNews for the coverage of this event from the moment cards are in the air until a winner is crowned on the 4th of May.
May Day brought fireworks to the felt at the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour Monte Carlo, as 246 players who took part on the European holiday were trimmed down to the final 16 in the 3,000 Mystery Bounty.

Italys Nicola Grieco celebrated in style, picking up numerous bounty tokens on his way to claiming the chip lead at Sporting Monte-Carlo. Grieco picked up some key pots as the day progressed to collect 2,850,000 chips, good for 71 big blinds when play resumes on Thursday, May 2.

The tournament attracted 91 new entries before late registration closed to begin Day 2, bringing the total field to 743. That created a 1,274,988 prize pool, with Grieco in the best position to claim the top prize of 232,898.

A trio of notable names are right behind, including Adrian State and Romain Lewis, who both will sit with more than seven figures in career earnings. In between those two is Mathieu Di Meglio, coming off a big score in the 2,200 FPS High Roller here in Monte Carlo for 278,123 after a three-way ICM chop.

Mathieu Di Meglio

End of Day 2 Chip Counts

Place Player Country Chip Count Big Blinds 1 Nicola Grieco Italy 2,850,000 71 2 Adrian State Romania 2,330,000 58 3 Mathieu Di Meglio France 2,000,000 50 4 Romain Lewis France 1,835,000 46 5 Gediminas Uselis Lithuania 1,785,000 45 6 Yves Piacentino France 1,740,000 44 7 Milos Petakovic Serbia 1,505,000 38 8 Paul Runcan Romania 1,420,000 36 9 Javier Fernandez Spain 1,350,000 34 10 Jamie Flynn Ireland 1,150,000 29 11 Sonny Franco France 940,000 24 12 Sergi Reixach Spain 905,000 23 13 David McConachie United Kingdom 805,000 20 14 Mohamed Mehalleg France 670,000 17 15 Fiodor Martino Italy 505,000 13 16 Martin Stausholm Denmark 300,000 8

The race to the bubble began early, with players eyeing a spot among the top 111 finishers to earn a spot in the money and take home at least 2,980. After reaching hand-for-hand play, the clock sat on 112 remaining for almost an hour before Klemens Roiter saw his pocket aces get cracked to bow out empty-handed.

Many players used the time during the extended bubble to pull their Mystery Bounty prizes, which came into play on the third level of the day. For Yiannis Liperis, the timing could not have been better as he pulled the first top prize of 75,000. Later on, Ghassan Bitar managed to pick out the second 75,000 bounty, adding an extra payday as both players cashed the event as well.

Among the rest of the players who found a cash were PokerStars Ambassadors Ramon Colillas (65th - 3,940), Benjamin Spragg (102nd - 2,980) and Parker Talbot (106th - 2,980), who saw a big bluff get called on the bubble before busting a few hands into the money.

Parker Talbot

Remaining Mystery Bounties

Prize Bounties Remaining Total 75,000 2 0 0 40,000 2 0 0 25,000 7 1 25,000 10,000 10 1 10,000 5,000 21 4 20,000 1,000 123 10 10,000 1,000 & Draw Again 10 1 1,000

Play will resume on Level 26 with blinds of 20,000/40,000 along with a 40,000 big blind ante. Action will continue until a champion is crowned here in Monte Carlo.

Be sure to stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team will have every moment covered until the trophy is lifted.
Day 3 of the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour Monte Carlo Main Event is in the books here at Sporting Monte-Carlo, with only 49 players remaining from the day's starting field of 154, after five 90-minute levels of play.

Selahaddin Bedir of Turkey (1,895,000) leads the way, closely followed by Jonathan Guedes of Brazil (1,810,000), Uruguyan Francisco Benitez (1,755,000) and Natan Chauskin (1,745,000) of Belarus, all of whom will have their eyes firmly fixed on the first place prize of 1,000,000.

Francisco Benitez

Bedir has career earnings of over $5,000,000 and posted a second place finish in the 10,300 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller at EPT Cyprus 2023.

Benitez is also no stranger to the EPT. He already has two EPT titles under his belt after taking down two events at EPT Barcelona 2022: The 25,000 No Limit Hold'em for 341,565 and the 5,200 No-Limit Hold'em Mystery Bounty for 114,080. He will be looking to claim another victory, this time worth a seven-figure score.

Chauskin boasts live earnings of almost $700,000 and is looking to follow up his 10th place finish in the 25,000 High Roller at EPT Monte Carlo 2023.

Day 3 Top 10 Chip Counts

Rank Player Country Chip Count Big Blinds 1 Selahaddin Bedir Turkey 1,895,000 126 2 Jonathan Guedes Brazil 1,810,000 120 3 Francisco Benitez Uruguay 1,755,000 117 4 Natan Chauskin Belarus 1,745,000 116 5 David Docherty United Kingdom 1,680,000 112 6 Jovan Kenjic Serbia 1,610,000 107 7 Nathan Tetart France 1,445,000 96 8 Boris Angelov Bulgaria 1,170,000 78 9 Adrian Mateos Spain 1,160,000 77 10 Vladimir Troyanovskiy Russia 1,100,000 73

Other notable names who remain in the mix include 2023 Irish Open winner David Docherty (1,680,000), Spanish crusher Adrian Mateos (1,160,000) and Dan Smith (1,020,000), who is on the hunt for the final missing piece of the Triple Crown.

Dan Smith

PokerNews caught up with Smith and asked about his chase for the Triple Crown, Smith replying "Obviously winning would be great. I don't really worry about the future. It's still a long ways away. I'm just going to go out there and play my best and maybe get lucky and get a W."

Smith also confirmed he'd been enjoying Monte Carlo, "despite the fact that I'm buried so far. In years past at a stop like this, I would've just skipped the Main to play the 50k. It's fun to make a run, and I think I might get my action in the future."

On potentially following Mike Watson as the champion, Smith replied, tongue firmly in cheek "I saw Mike Watson was able to win last year, and I thought to myself if that idiot could win, think about a real player like myself, how easy it would be."

Alexander 'Wolfgang Poker' Seibt (620,000) also remains in the mix, playing his first EPT Main Event. PokerNews grabbed a quick word with Seibt, who confirmed he'd had a "crazy, rollercoaster day" and that he's really enjoyed the overall EPT experience, saying "It's been top notch, everything from the floor to the dealers to just everything, the production on the live stream was amazing."

Recap of Day 3 Action

154 players started the day, and the short-stacked Philippe Souki was the first player to exit Day 3. Defending champion Watson departed in 149th after running into the overpair of Theo Degrave, while Juan Pardo's pocket queens were downed by Rutger Hennen's pocket fours to spell the end of the road for the Spaniard.

Bedir's run to the top of the podium began relatively late in the day when he won a huge pot against Silviu Baltateanu with a higher two pair.

Baltateanu was also at the center of some controversy, folding preflop out of turn, which affected the action and led to Gareth McMahon four-bet jamming ace-five suited to result in his exit, and a one-round penalty for Baltateanu.

Jonathan Guedes challenge began to pick up some momentum when he doubled through an opponent's top pair with pocket kings, and he continued to chip up through the remainder of the day.

Jonathan Guedes

Benitez came into Day 2 in fourth place and continued to steadily build throughout the day. Chauskin's surge to the top of the standings began when he was on the right side of a cooler versus Roman Hrabec, and he never looked back, steadily building thereafter.

Jamil Wakil got off to a great start and at the second break of the day had almost a 32 big blind lead over his closest challenger, after he rivered a higher full house than his opponent in a monster pot. He remains in the hunt, starting Day 4 with 1,070,000.

PokerStars Ambassador Felix Schneiders and streamer Elias Gutierrez's tilts at the title came to an end in 109th and 72nd place respectively, while PokerStars Gold Power Path pass winner Kevinas Korsakas bowed out in 57th place for 15,200 after a fantastic run.

Benjamin Pollak, Chris Dowling and Alexandre Reard all departed during the final level of the day, with Dowling running into Hennen's kings and Reard exiting via Cedric Schwaederle's aces.

The 49 players still standing will return at 12 p.m. local time on Thursday, May 2 for Day 4, which will feature 90-minute levels, with blinds commencing at 10,000/15,000, with a 15,000 big blind ante.

Be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews for all your coverage as we start to get towards the business end of the 2024 EPT Monte Carlo Main Event.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) showed up at a George Washington University campus protest and tried to rip down a Palestinian flag, but her political grandstanding failed.

Video:

VIDEO: Cong @laurenboebert attempts to rip down Palestinian flag that was draped over George Washington statue on the GWU campus. pic.twitter.com/w7lAxcROKP  Andrew Leyden (@PenguinSix) May 1, 2024

The nation has now reached the point in the campus protest story where Republican political barflies lied Lauren Boebert are showing up and trying to get the spotlight on themselves. Boebert is not a serious person, as she spent her time in the House seeking the spotlight and attention, and the perennial political attention only make a very delicate and sensitive situation more difficult.

It is fitting that Boeberts big gesture for the cameras ended up likely in the same place as her political career, in total failure. Boebert is desperately trying to get elected to a full term in a neighboring district after she was run out of the previous district she represented on a rail.

The United States has a long history of civil political protest. Unfortunately, the nation has an equally long history of political parasites like Lauren Boebert trying to attach themselves for situations for attention and gain.

A Special Message From PoliticusUSA

If you are in a position to donate purely to help us keep the doors open on PoliticusUSA during what is a critical election year, please do so here.

We have been honored to be able to put your interests first for 14 years as we only answer to our readers and we will not compromise on that fundamental, core PoliticusUSA value.

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If you think about the Flint, Michigan water crisis, its upsetting and grabs attention. But what doesnt grab attention, but should, is when the work is being done to prevent poisonous water  to provide clean air and clean water. That work is something President Biden has been doing with what his administration rightfully calls his Infrastructure Decade. This is a moral responsibility, they say.

That moral responsibility is why on Thursday they are announcing new action to replace toxic lead pipes around the country and deliver clean drinking water.

According to a White House fact sheet provided to PoliticusUSA:



President Biden is traveling today to Wilmington, North Carolina, to announce $3 billion through his Investing in America agenda to replace toxic lead pipes. This investment, administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is part of the historic $15 billion in dedicated funding for lead pipe replacement provided by the Presidents Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Todays announcement delivers funding to every state and U.S. territory to help address lead in drinking water while creating good-paying jobs, many of them union jobs. In addition, this program funding is part of the Presidents Justice40 Initiative, which set a goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities, and is helping address the inequities of lead exposure.

Additionally, to further reduce lead exposure, the Department of Housing and Urban Development is announcing today nearly $90 million in available funding to reduce residential health hazards in public housing, including lead-based paint hazards, carbon monoxide, mold, radon, fire safety, and asbestos, advancing the Presidents Lead Pipe and Paint Action Plan.

Flint, Michigan is the most well known example of the environmental inequality that exists in poor communities. All Americans deserve access to safe drinking water. It is a human rights issue that should not be happening in the United States.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan told PoliticusUSA during a call with reporters, Nearly 50% of this funding will go to disadvantaged communities, a crucial investment for communities that have been underserved and overburdened by pollution for far too long. With todays announcement, the funds will the funds awarded so far will help replace up to 1.7 million lead pipes securing clean drinking water for countless families across the country. Alongside this funding, our agency is also releasing a memorandum that helps states understand how they can use this and other funding to most effectively reduce exposure to lead in drinking water. Its far past time to get the lead out once and for all. This is a matter of public health, a matter of environmental justice and a matter of basic human rights.

The Biden administration is attempting to make American lives better in the most basic and essential ways. Every person deserves clean air to breathe and water to drink. President Biden is living up to his moral responsibility as president while delivering environmental justice for millions of Americans.

A Special Message From PoliticusUSA

If you are in a position to donate purely to help us keep the doors open on PoliticusUSA during what is a critical election year, please do so here.

We have been honored to be able to put your interests first for 14 years as we only answer to our readers and we will not compromise on that fundamental, core PoliticusUSA value.

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LEXINGTON  Sheriff Jay Koon will be facing two challengers on the Lexington County Republican primary ballot this June. With no Democratic candidates, the winner of the Republican primary is likely to be elected sheriff.

A fourth person who filed to run for sheriff, Garry Rozier, was rejected by the South Carolina Republican Party due to proof of residency. He has a lawsuit pending, and he said he will try to run as an Independent in the November general election.

For the June 11 primary election, here's who is on the ballot for Lexington County sheriff:

Jay Koon

Koon has been serving as the Lexington County sheriff since 2015. He won a special election following the indictment and removal of a longtime sheriff. Koon said his predecessor left a "dark cloud" over the department.

"Initially, we had a lot of trust to build back with the community," Koon said. "We had to repair some relationships, both with law enforcement and the media."

Koon said he's built back trust and proven his leadership. In 2023, the South Carolina Sheriff's Association recognized him as Sheriff of the Year.

Recently, there's been a significant decrease in various crimes, according to Koon, with drops in assaults, robberies, burglaries and motor vehicle theft.

If reelected, Koon said a focus will be on a new service center for the West Region, between Gilbert and Batesburg-Leesville on Highway 1. The service center will house law enforcement and a magistrate's office. Another building on-site will house a fire station.

"It's going to be great to upgrade our facilities and have a proper facility to serve that growing area," Koon said.

Koon said he also plans to focus on decommissioning a nearly 50-year-old section of the Lexington County Detention Center.

While Koon's two opponents said there's a staffing storage, Koon said the department has seen record hiring and retention numbers after he worked with the county council and administration to improve employee benefits.
After widespread criticism, Spectrum has given its first estimate for when it expects service to be fully restored from the aftermath of Tropical Storm Helene for its customers in South Carolina. Read moreSpectrum sets date for when internet service will be restored to 82K in SC
The sixth annual Pink Promenade celebration of Breast Cancer Awareness month saw 10 survivors showcase the latest in pink fashion on Oct. 12 at Mount Pleasant Towne Centre. Prior to the catwalk, attendees were clued in by Dr. Philip A. Albaneze on Roper St. Francis Foundation's efforts to he Read morePink of Health: Survivors strut the runway at Pink Promenade
Carolina Gas Transmission is seeking a roughly 85 percent increase in rates to supply utilities and industries in South Carolina with natural gas.

The requested hike potentially adds tens of millions of dollars in costs to transport natural gas here  costs that eventually flow into consumers' power bills.

It also comes amid the more visible and heated debate over plans by Dominion Energy and Santee Cooper to build a gas-fueled plant in Colleton County.

Opponents of the gas plant said the pipeline rate case is another example of the financial risks of relying too much on natural gas to generate electricity.

"Bottom line is that the consumer eventually has to pay for it," said Frank Knapp, president and chief executive officer of the S.C. Small Business Chamber of Commerce.

Whether the rate increase goes through or not, Carolina Gas Transmission's proposal also offers a small window into the arcane and highly technical business of sending massive amounts of natural gas through a spiderweb of pipelines across the nation.

Dominion and other utilities fights rate increase

Carolina Gas Transmission is a major pipeline player here with more than 1,500 miles of pipelines crisscrossing South Carolina and Georgia. All told, 70 percent of the natural gas consumed in South Carolina flows through its system.

The company doesn't charge residents and businesses. Rather, its customers are utilities, including Dominion, and municipalities that run gas systems. It's similar to a trucking company that supplies Amazon and Walmart warehouses. But instead of appliances and home goods, it transports huge volumes of gas. Dominion owned the Virginia-based company until 2020 when Berkshire Hathaway scooped it up.

The pipeline industry is heavily regulated, with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, responsible for deciding whether rate hikes are reasonable.
You know how Charlestonians get when they see snow falling? That was Pickens Rep. Neal Collins the morning Tropical Storm Helene arrived at his Easley home. He stood in his garage and shot video of the rain. I woke up before my 5am alarm with unexpected excitement, he posted on social medi Read moreScoppe: 'We are being manipulated by people who don't have our best interests at heart'
PR-Inside.com: 2024-05-02 15:17:51

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NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2024 / T. Rowe Price:As we recognize Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Island (AANHPI) Heritage Month, we celebrate the richness and dynamism of the Asian and Pacific Island community. With backgrounds hailing from East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, and the diasporic communities of these regions, this large and diverse global population represents 50 ethnic groups and speaks more than 100 languages.This year's AANHPI Heritage Month theme recognizes members of this community who have shaped our history and continue to influence our collective future. AANHPI leaders use their ingenuity and creativity to make lasting contributions to global economic prosperity, technological advancements, and social and political change-while also often navigating cultural and systemic hurdles.Here, a few of our associates share the importance of advancing leaders through innovation:Mavis Fernandes, Senior Offer Manage, Individual Investor Advice Solutions and MOSAIC @ T. Rowe Price's Asian Heritage Community ChairAt T. Rowe Price, Asian Americans strive to be more than technical experts in their fields. Across the firm, we demonstrate innovation in small and large increments, leading efforts to grow, scale, and serve our clients. As chair of the MOSAIC's associate-led Asian Heritage Community, we have used novel approaches to reach our associates, including online learning platforms, chat groups, and virtual mentoring circles, continuing to create a sense of inclusion and belonging. Advancing leaders will require that we continue to spend time listening to the needs of associates and clients and find ways to identify and elevate great ideas across all levels of the organization.Lee Sun, Analyst, Vice President, Fixed IncomeFrom boardrooms to beyond, innovation helps us advance, shaping a future where every voice matters. Unlocking the power of innovation relies on embracing diverse perspectives, promoting forward-thinking strategies, and harnessing cultural and technological insights. As innovators and pioneers, AANHPI ancestors have made outsized contribution for what's possible today. Looking ahead, AANHPI leaders can leverage their unique heritage to inspire change, disrupt norms, and pave the way for a more inclusive and dynamic future in leadership. Join the movement and dare to innovate, because together, we are limitless.Stephy Wong, Senior Project Manager, Global DistributionAs an individual of Asian descent, the theme of Advancing Leaders Through Innovation embodies the journey of the countless leaders who have carved out their place in history by harnessing their creativity and ingenuity. For us, innovation isn't just a means to an end; it is a vehicle for overcoming barriers, driving positive change, and leaving a lasting impact on society. This year's theme celebrates our ability to navigate complex landscapes while reshaping narratives, and it inspires me to continue pushing boundaries and fostering progress in my own endeavors.Harold Wu, Head of ProcurementIntentionality is key to enjoying the career journey and finding purpose. In the realm of procurement, embracing intentionality has the power to transform our business and the communities we serve.Our goal is not merely to provide a service, but to create opportunities and ensure fairness and equity in the process. This transformative potential should inspire us all. Supply chain inclusion is an intentional effort driven by leadership to include one or more historically underrepresented businesses in our procurement process, and to support their growth as suppliers. These programs can build strong business relationships and create meaningful change that impacts the newest entrepreneurs to the most seasoned small business owners. They can uncover new approaches, diverse ideas, and innovations for the future. By institutionalizing a procurement-driven initiative with meaningful intention, we can break down obstacles and provide opportunities for all.As we recognize AANHPI Heritage Month and other celebrations of diversity, we invite you to learn more about our diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and how our differences bring us together and multiply our impact at troweprice.com/diversity 042024-3543320T. Rowe Price Associates: Advancing Leaders Through InnovationView additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from T. Rowe Price on 3 blmedia.com Contact Info:Spokesperson: T. Rowe PriceWebsite: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/t-rowe-price Email: info@3 blmedia.com SOURCE: T. Rowe Price
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Company reveals future expansion plans for its PracticeOS AI platform, new Aiwyn-developed solutions, and a new PracticeOS Marketplace for third-party solution providers to CPA firmsCHARLOTTE, NC / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2024 / Aiwyn, the pioneering provider of Practice Automation solutions for over 100 "Top 500"-ranked CPA firms, today released the company's long-term solution roadmap and platform expansion vision. This information is intended to enable current and future customers to make long-term plans for incorporating Aiwyn's PracticeOS platform and PracticeOS solutions into their respective firm tech stacks and growth strategies. Aiwyn also revealed plans for the future release of the PracticeOS Marketplace, an open ecosystem tailored to the CPA profession that will allow Aiwyn customers to integrate and orchestrate preferred solutions from a range of third-party solution providers.Said Aiwyn CEO, Justin Adams: "I'm excited to share the vision and roadmap for what's to come here at Aiwyn. I'm grateful that our team and I have been fortunate to work so closely with so many great firm leaders - both long-standing CPAs and recent entrants from the private equity world. Their support and feedback have been crucial "north stars" to inform this roadmap.Since 2020, we've been hard at work alongside our customers to understand their challenges, build practical solutions, and lay the foundation for a new technology future in the CPA profession. This is a future of open integrations supporting best-in-breed, modern solutions, a future of best-in-class client experiences of better, cleaner, integrated data for better decision-making a future of freedom from manual tasks for Partners and staff, a future where technology pays for itself quickly and shows an enduring ROI.With Aiwyn's roots in solving long-standing problems for CPA firms, building trust by unlocking data from their legacy tech stacks, and driving a measurable ROI, I'm excited to say that we've built up the practical experience, firm-by-firm insight, support from the profession, and the technical platform to help firms fully leverage an AI-enabled future. Firms tell us they want to be able to continuously choose the solutions that make sense for their Partners, staff, and clients as technology trends and client needs evolve - with PracticeOS as an integrated launchpad for firm-wide operations, we can support their need for ongoing options and control." Aiwyn is an award-winning provider of Practice Automation solutions to leading CPA firms. Practice Automation is a category of modern software solutions that uses AI and machine learning to intelligently automate day-to-day firm operations and deliver recommendations and insights from vast datasets, helping firms increase efficiency, improve decision-making, free up their professionals, and increasingly improve client services.Aiwyn enjoys a best-in-class 77 Net Promoter Score (as voted on by customers) and is the winner of AccountingToday's "Top New Product" award and the BDO Alliance USA's "Innovation Award." The company currently focuses on helping top-ranked firms speed up cash flow, free up capacity, and delight clients with a suite of revenue cycle-focused solutions like "Payments & Collections." Based on growing Customer demand for current and future solutions, Aiwyn is announcing it will dedicate an 8-figure R&D budget in 2024 to accelerate expansion of its platform - PracticeOS - and to release additional solutions targeted at other core challenges facing CPA firms. Firms can visit the Aiwyn website for more information.Given the company's founding DNA in having an "open" platform, Aiwyn revealed a key piece of its future roadmap and R&D investment is the forthcoming PracticeOS Marketplace. This Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) solution, specifically tailored to the CPA profession, will allow CPA firms to more quickly and easily find new solution-providers, to integrate best-in-breed solutions, and to unify data and experiences for Partners, staff, and clients across their firm-wide tech stack. The PracticeOS Marketplace will also allow Aiwyn to enhance the scope and impact of the company's "Relay" solution, and to expand partnerships with other third-party solution providers serving the CPA profession."There's no shortage of vision and ambition in this profession - our customers have pushed us to innovate as much as we've pushed them." said Pat Morrell, Aiwyn CRO. "But the gating factor to innovation in the CPA space isn't a lack of need, interest, or will, it's that firms tell us they feel "stuck" in their current tech stacks. They tell us they struggle to integrate new apps with older systems, and they know they can't "rip and replace" without disrupting core firm operations and client services.Instead they need a series of tailored, firm-specific "off-ramps and on-ramps" so they can introduce new tech for their Partners, staff, and clients without dismantling underlying data. Given our ability to integrate newer solutions (both those from Aiwyn, and others) with longstanding IT systems common in the CPA space, we're excited that we can practically take firms on that incremental transformation journey they need, and give them the options they're looking for.We'll have firms in a position in Q4 of this year (and ongoing) where they can start consolidating older or duplicative IT assets and start operating the full spectrum of their day-to-day firm needs from PracticeOS - using Aiwyn solutions or other preferred solutions. PracticeOS is open, so the choice of "which solution can I use?" is up to the firm to decide. We're prioritizing this scenario for Aiwyn customers, helping them plan over a 1-2 year period in some cases. And we're prepared to support future customers in leveraging PracticeOS, too." For CPA firms interested in Aiwyn's PracticeOS solutions and/or the PracticeOS Marketplace, or for solution-providers interested in Aiwyn's PracticeOS Marketplace, please visit the Aiwyn website: www.aiwyn.ai About AiwynAiwyn (pronounced "I win") helps leading CPA firms save time and increase efficiency, speed up and strengthen cash flow, and deliver best-in-class experiences for firm clients and for firm Partners and staff. With Aiwyn's solutions and the PracticeOS platform, firms can leverage modern AI solutions to automate and improve critical day-to-day operations (ex: engagement letter prep, billing and collections, etc), freeing up executives, Partners, CPAs, and staff to focus on clients and to work at their highest and best use. PracticeOS is an open platform that inherently evolves with changing technology trends and client need
PR-Inside.com: 2024-05-02 13:45:52

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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2024 / Amarc Resources Ltd. ("Amarc" or the "Company") (TSXV:AHR)(OTCQB:AXREF) is pleased to announce that its team is in the final planning stages with Freeport-McMoRan Mineral Properties Canada Inc. ("Freeport"), to commence an extensive 2024 drilling program at its 100% owned JOY Copper-Gold ("Cu-Au") District (or "JOY" or the "District") in north-central British Columbia ("BC"). The program is planned to start in June and will be fully funded by Freeport, which is earning-in at JOY, with Amarc continuing as operator of the project."All drilling and exploration survey activities, together with trail and bridge repair initiatives completed at the JOY District over the past two years are culminating in an aggressive and focused drilling program in 2024," said President and CEO Dr. Diane Nicolson. "Our goal is discovery, by wide-spaced drilling, of one or more porphyry Cu-Au deposits within some seven drill-ready sulphide mineralized systems that extend over areas measuring 3 to 7 km2." Results from Amarc's 2023 geological, geochemical, and geophysical surveys (see Amarc release October 26, 2023) have greatly assisted in defining the drill targets. This work highlights, for example, the Northwest Gossan Deposit Target discussed below, the PINE Porphyry Trend (including the PINE Deposit, the Canyon Discovery and the Twins Deposit Target) and several other drill-ready targets for drilling during the 2024 field season (Figure 1 and Amarc release March 2, 2023). Also, there are seven additional Cu-Au targets located across the District that are to be brought up to a drill-ready status.Figure 1: JOY DISTRICT - IP Surveys Have Outlined Trends of Clustered Large-Scale Minerals Systems at Pine, Canyon, Twins & Other Developing TargetsNorthwest Gossan ("NWG") Copper-Gold Porphyry TargetThis exciting new target has never been drill tested; it is characterized by several intriguing layers of scientific evidence that indicate proximity to a porphyry Cu-Au system (Figure 2):It is located in a highly favourable geological environment similar to that which hosts the former Kemess South mine, the permitted and development-stage Kemess North underground deposit, and the advanced-stage Kemess East underground deposit - all currently held by Centerra Gold Inc. and located in the Kemess Mining District immediately adjacent to the south of the JOY District. The target is characterized by a substantial 3.7 km2 Induced Polarization ("IP") anomaly (>14 mV/V) outlining a sulphide system. Porphyry-related Cu, Au, Mo and Ag anomalies outlined in soils and rock samples are largely coincident with the area of IP chargeability high and extend beyond. Initial drill testing of NWG will focus primarily on a 1,500 m long and 500 m wide internal zone of higher (>20 mV/V) IP chargeability. New soil and rock chip sampling returned multiple anomalous elements which are indicative of an epithermal mineralization environment (BiTeSeAs) overlapping with potential near surface porphyry Cu-Au-Mo-Ag mineralization. This concept of overlapping, or telescoped, systems is supported by a suite of alteration minerals established by short wavelength infrared ("SWIR") reflectance spectra from surface samples that are characteristic of both the high level epithermal (minerals pyrophyllite and dickite) and lower-level porphyry (minerals sericite with related pyrite) mineralizing environments. Discrete magnetic highs are distributed within the IP chargeability anomaly and are interpreted to represent syn-mineral porphyry intrusions. Notably, porphyry dikes like those associated with Cu-Au mineralization elsewhere in the JOY District - including at the PINE Deposit, the Mex Deposit Target and the Canyon Discovery - are also distributed within the NWG target area.The Amarc team and Freeport are carefully refining the locations for 2024 drilling at the high potential NWG target and some six other mineral systems in the JOY District to commence in late June.Figure 2: NWG Target - An Exciting New Porphyry Copper Deposit Target That Has Never Been Drilled TestedAbout the JOY DistrictAmarc's 100%-owned JOY District is located on the northern extension of the prolific Kemess porphyry Cu-Au District that includes the former Kemess South mine, the permitted and development-stage Kemess North underground deposit, and the advanced-stage Kemess East underground deposit - all currently held by Centerra Gold Inc. Through its association with Hunter Dickinson Inc., Amarc's technical team was first to recognize the Kemess District's true porphyry potential, acquiring Kemess North and Kemess South as early-stage prospects and advancing both to significant porphyry Cu-Au deposits. Kemess South was sold in 1996 on beneficial terms to a predecessor of Northgate Minerals, which brought that deposit into production.The JOY District is readily accessed via resource roads servicing the southern Toodoggone region, including Centerra's Kemess porphyry Cu-Au deposits and the historical Lawyers, Baker and Shasta epithermal precious metal mines now being redeveloped by Benchmark Metals Inc. and TDG Gold Corp, respectively.Further in-depth information on historical and more recent exploration activities completed within the JOY District prior to 2021 can be found in the Company's 'JOY Project 2020 Technical Report', filed under Amarc's profile at www.sedarplus.ca or located on its website at https://amarcresources.com/projects/joy-project/technical-report/ About Amarc ResourcesAmarc is a mineral exploration and development company with an experienced and successful management team focused on developing a new generation of long-life, high-value porphyry Cu-Au mines in BC. By combining high-demand projects with dynamic management, Amarc has created a solid platform to create value from its exploration and development-stage assets.Amarc is advancing its 100%-owned IKE, DUKE and JOY porphyry CuAu Districts located in different prolific porphyry regions of northern, central and northern BC, respectively. Each District represents significant potential for the development of multiple and important-scale, porphyry CuAu deposits. Importantly, each of the three districts are located in proximity to industrial infrastructure - including power, highways and rail.Freeport-McMoRan Mineral Properties Canada Inc. ("Freeport"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. at JOY, and Boliden Mineral Canada Ltd. ("Boliden"), an entity within the Boliden Group of companies at DUKE, can earn up to a 70% interest in each District through staged investments of $110 million and $90 million, respectively. Together this provides Amarc w
PR-Inside.com: 2024-05-02 20:30:35

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NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2024 / Serving in the military can be one of life's toughest journeys as members of the Armed Forces navigate active service and veteran life. During Military Appreciation Month and throughout the entire year, American Airlines honors those who are serving and those who've served, including the more than 11,800 American team members who are veterans or currently serving in the National Guard or Reserves.American offers a robust network of support for service members and veterans through its partner programs and offers generous benefits to service members and their families when traveling on both official orders and personal travel."Supporting our nation's service members and veterans is part of our DNA at American Airlines," said American's Chief Operating Officer David Seymour. "As a veteran of the U.S. Army myself, I'm proud to be a part of a company committed to supporting our nation's greatest heroes and their families, whether it be alongside the military organizations we support, donating charter aircraft for special missions, or caring for service members each time they fly with us." Through the airline's Military and Veterans Initiatives program, the airline supports many programs and partnerships to honor, support and pay tribute to those who serve in the U.S. Armed Forces. The airline works with the Gary Sinise Foundation, the USO, the Medal of Honor Foundation and many other organizations to give back to those who serve our country.Flagship ValorAmerican's fleet boasts an Airbus A321 with a livery design that includes three variations of the Medal of Honor. Flagship Valor is a flying tribute to the men and women whose brave actions are worthy of the prestigious Medal of Honor, and whose military service allows for the freedom to fly around the world. Snowball ExpressAmerican partners with the Gary Sinise Foundation for the annual Snowball Express event that honors those who have lost a loved one while serving in the nation's military or First Responders who have died in the line of duty.Last year, more than 1,000 team members sent nearly 3,000 participants on donated charter aircraft to Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, for an all-expense-paid experience where these families are united and can create new, happy memories during the holiday season. Seats for HeroesIn January, American partnered with the Dallas Mavericks and Nick & Sam's Steakhouse to bring more than 100 wounded, ill, and injured service members from Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio to Dallas for dinner and courtside seats at a Mavericks game at the American Airlines Center. This is the 17th year American has provided chartered flights for the event. Other annual Seats for Heroes events include VIP trips to Texas Rangers games, a suite at a Dallas Cowboys game, and a special experience with the Los Angeles Chargers. Salute to the TroopsIn the 14th annual event, American flew more than 80 wounded and ill service members from Washington, D.C., to Las Vegas for an all-expenses paid weekend filled with sight-seeing, dinners, and shows, to include a concert on Freemont Street by Gary Sinise and his Lt. Dan Band. Each spring, American flies 20 military families from Washington, D.C., to Orlando, Florida, for a VIP experience at Walt Disney World Resort. In each of these families, either the service member or spouse is battling cancer. Soaring ValorAlongside the Gary Sinise Foundation, American bridges generations by bringing together World War II veterans and high school students on trips to the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. Traveling on an American chartered aircraft, the living history lessons allow veterans to share their firsthand experiences with the next generation. Military and veteran resource group for team membersAmerican continuously works to support our team members as they make the transition to civilian careers or manage the dual responsibility of working at American while also serving in uniform. Our Veteran Military Employee Business Resource Group (EBRG) provides connections to others who have made the same shift to offer guidance and support.American takes pride in honoring its commitments to military service members traveling on the airline, including:Government or military fares, where available. Free checked bag allotment for active U.S. military members traveling on orders and leisure travel and for dependents when traveling on orders. Offering active-duty military priority boarding. Complimentary access to Admirals Club lounge locations to current U.S. military personnel in uniform during the day of travel on an American Airlines-operated flight, when space is available. Waived pet charges for trained active military dogs traveling in the cabin if on official duty. Discounted vacations for U.S. active-duty military, veterans, and their families through WeSalute+.Learn more about American's commitment to honoring military heroes at aa.com/letgoodtakeflight View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from American Airlines on 3 blmedia.com Contact Info: Spokesperson: American AirlinesWebsite: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/american-airlinesEmail: info@3 blmedia.com SOURCE: American Airlines
PR-Inside.com: 2024-05-02 15:01:47

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Apex provides real-time detection, investigation, and response to cyberattacks targeting AI platformsTEL AVIV, ISRAEL / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2024 / Apex, the leader in AI security, announced today that it emerged from stealth with $7 million in seed funding. The round was co-led by Sequoia Capital and Index Ventures, with participation from notable angel investors.Matan Derman and Tomer Avni Matan Derman and Tomer Avni. Credit - Ben HakimSince the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022, there has been an exponential rise in the adoption of Generative AI capabilities across all industries in the world. Effectively, GenAI is becoming the core of every company, as 80% of Fortune 500 companies already have employees using ChatGPT for work. However, this rapid uptake of AI applications brings forth a range of security challenges for businesses, including potential data leaks, the risk of malicious data injection into organizational systems, concerns related to privacy and copyright infringements, as well as the looming threat of sophisticated AI-driven cyberattacks. While embracing AI practices swiftly is essential for organizations aiming to stay ahead in a competitive landscape, it also requires them to navigate effectively through evolving security threats. Companies are now tasked with finding the delicate balance between fostering innovation and ensuring robust protection measures are in place to safeguard against these potential risks."Apex was founded with the mission of empowering security and AI teams to enable the secure and swift AI adoption within world-class organizations," said Matan Derman, Co-Founder and CEO at Apex. "During the company's founding, we consulted with dozens of executives to understand their needs and discovered a reluctance to adopt advanced AI due to security concerns. Apex is positioned to change all that, playing a key role in helping organizations secure AI models and applications and enabling them to leverage the power of AI safely." Apex built a security platform that provides organizations with comprehensive visibility of their AI activity, allowing them to define how AI is used across the organization and enforce security policies accordingly. The platform can detect violations to a company's or industry security standards, detect and respond to AI attacks, so that companies can securely leverage cutting-edge AI technologies. Apex adds a crucial security layer to AI models, applications and large language models (LLMs); the platform includes a secure portal for a productive and secure interaction with all the organization's AI platforms.The company was founded in 2023 by Matan Derman (CEO) and Tomer Avni (CPO), who met at the elite intelligence unit 8200, where they served as distinguished officers at the ranks of Lieutenant Colonel and Captain. Both hold Master's degrees from Stanford and Harvard, respectively. Apex already caters to various Fortune 500 companies as clients and plans to use the seed funding to accelerate product development, employee recruitment, and go-to-market efforts."Every wave of disruptive innovation introduces new security threats and attack vectors, and generative AI is no exception. The world is elated by the possibility for Gen AI to increase productivity, and even create new markets, But at the same time, awareness is building that sensitive data can leave the corporate perimeter, and that Gen AI outputs are manipulated. Therefore the adoption of this new generation of AI services needs to go hand in hand with building out the infrastructure to securely use them," said Bogomil Balkansky, Partner at Sequoia Capital. "We are proud to partner with Matan and Tomer, and we are excited to see Apex Security quickly emerging as the leader in generative AI security. ""Every wave of new technology, while exciting, introduces multiple security threats requiring a fresh approach. As companies start using AI and large language models, they expose themselves to new risks, including data leaks, privacy, intellectual property breaches, or dedicated AI attacks," said Shardul Shah, Partner at Index Ventures. "Apex is focused on resolving this particular dilemma-one of the biggest cybersecurity challenges facing today's tech industry-using an innovative framework that actively mitigates AI risks on a large scale." About ApexApex is a leading AI security platform designed to empower organizations to adapt to the AI era, which is developing at a whirlwind pace. Apex offers a security platform that gives organizations a complete picture of their AI activity, allowing them to use these tools freely and gain an advantage while avoiding data leaks, malicious data injection, privacy and legal violations, and AI cyberattacks. For more details visit apexhq.ai Contact InformationTamar HarelTell NYtamar@ tellny.com SOURCE: ApexView the original press release on newswire.com
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Upcoming Lead Plaintiff Deadline is June 24, 2024NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / May 1, 2024 /Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP ("Wolf Haldenstein") announces that a federal securities class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, on behalf of persons and entities that purchased or otherwise acquired Lincoln National Corporation ("Lincoln National" or the "Company") (NYSE:LNC) securities between November 4, 2020 and November 2, 2022, inclusive (the "Class Period").All investors who purchased shares and incurred losses are advised to contact the firm immediately at classmember@ whafh.com or (800) 575-0735 or (212) 545-4774. You may obtain additional information concerning the action or join the case on our website, www.whafh.com If you have incurred losses, you may, no later than June 24, 2024, request that the Court appoint you as the lead plaintiff of the proposed class. Please contact Wolf Haldenstein to learn more about your rights.PLEASE CLICK HERE TO PROVIDE CONTACT AND TRANSACTION INFORMATIONOn November 2, 2022, after the market closed, Lincoln National released its third quarter 2022 financial results, reporting a net loss of $2.6 billion for the quarter. This was compared to a net income of $318 million for the third quarter of 2021 the previous year. The Company explained "[t]he current quarter's adjusted operating results included net unfavorable notable items of $2.0 billion, or $11.62 per share, related to the company's annual review of DAC and reserve assumptions." The Company also disclosed that it "incurred a $634 million goodwill impairment to the life insurance business." On this news, Lincoln's stock price fell $17.27, or 33.2%, to close at $34.83 per share on November 3, 2022, on unusually heavy trading volume.Wolf Haldenstein has experience in the prosecution of securities class actions and derivative litigation in state and federal trial and appellate courts across the country. The firm has attorneys in various practice areas, and offices in New York, Chicago, Nashville and San Diego. The reputation and expertise of this firm in shareholder and other class litigation has been repeatedly recognized by the courts, which have appointed it to major positions in complex securities multi-district and consolidated litigation.If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions regarding your rights and interests in this case, please immediately contact Wolf Haldenstein by telephone at (800) 575-0735 or via e-mail at classmember@ whafh.com Contact:Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLPGregory Stone, Director of Case and Financial AnalysisEmail: gstone@ whafh.com or classmember@ whafh.com Tel: (800) 575-0735 or (212) 545-4774This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and ethical rules.SOURCE: Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP
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NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES.VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2024 /Coppernico Metals Inc. ("Coppernico" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has signed a non-binding term sheet with a major international mining company ("MinerCo") pursuant to which MinerCo intends to purchase an initial 9.9% shareholding in the Company as part of a private placement financing (the "Offering") with a minimum total gross proceeds of C$15 million, inclusive of MinerCo's participation. MinerCo will be identified at the time of completion of the Offering.The Company has retained 3L Capital Inc. and Beacon Securities Limited as co-lead agents on behalf of a syndicate of agents to offer equity units ("Units") at a price of C$0.50 per Unit on a best efforts basis. Each Unit will consist of one common share of the Company (a "Share") and one half of a Share purchase warrant (each whole Share purchase warrant, a "Warrant"). Each Warrant will be exercisable to acquire an additional Share at a price of C$0.75 for a period of two years from completion of the Offering (the "Closing"). If the closing price of the Shares on a recognized stock exchange, if and when the Shares are listed, meets or exceeds C$1.25 for 20 out of any 30 consecutive trading days ending at least four months after the Closing, the Company may accelerate the expiry date of the Warrants to a date that is not less than 30 days from the date when such notice is given. If the Company's Shares are not listed on a recognized Canadian stock exchange within 90 days from Closing, investors including MinerCo will receive a bonus of 5% of their subscribed Units in additional Units.Proceeds from the Offering will be primarily used for drilling of the Sombrero Main target area at the Company's recently drill-permitted flagship Sombrero Project in southern Peru. The Shares and Warrants issued in the Offering will be subject to a statutory hold period of four-months plus one day. MinerCo has agreed to a voluntary twelve-month hold period in connection with its investment and will thereafter provide the Company with a 10 business day right to seek a designated buyer if MinerCo wishes to sell more than 2% of issued shares.For two years after closing and provided that MinerCo retains at least an 8% shareholding in the Company, MinerCo will have a pre-emptive right to participate in future Coppernico equity financings in an amount necessary to maintain its shareholding percentage subject to customary carve-outs for incentive options and strategic acquisitions in respect of which it will be offered the right to top up once a year at market. During this period MinerCo will also have a right to match any third-party investor that purchases a number of Shares from treasury greater than the number of Shares held by MinerCo. MinerCo will also agree to standstill to a maximum 14.15% (plus any increase if bonus Units are issued) unless and until a third party seeks to acquire control and in certain other stated events.The Closing is expected to be on or about May 15, 2024 and is subject to execution of a definitive agreement with MinerCo, completing the balance of the minimum Offering and customary Closing deliveries. The Offering size may be increased by up to 40% in which case the value received from MinerCo for the 9.9% investment would correspondingly increase.The securities of the Company have not been, nor will they 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 or for the account or benefit of any person in the United States, absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities to any U.S. person or in the United States, or in any other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Resales of any Shares or Warrants that may be placed within the United States will be restricted in accordance with applicable laws.A message from Ivan Bebek, Chairman and CEO of Coppernico"After dedicating over 8 years to the Sombrero Project, we are excited to announce another key development for Coppernico with the current undertaking of a 9.9% equity stake from a major mining company. The launch of this Offering in conjunction with our recently granted access and drilling rights further validate the significant potential of the Sombrero Project, which represents multiple large-scale copper exploration opportunities. These funds will enable us to list the Company, drill our high-value targets and accelerate our goal to create long-term value for our shareholders and all stakeholders." ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORSIvan Bebek Chair & CEOFor further information, please contact:Coppernico Metals Inc.Phone: +1 778 729 0600Email: info@ coppernicometals.com Website: www.coppernicometals.com Twitter: @CoppernicoMetalLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/coppernico-metals/ About CoppernicoCoppernico is a mineral exploration company focused on creating value for shareholders and stakeholders through careful project evaluation and exploration excellence in pursuit of the discovery of world-class copper-gold deposits in South America. The Company's management and technical teams have a successful track record of raising capital, discovery and the monetization of exploration successes. The Company, through its Peruvian subsidiary Sombrero Minerales S.A.C., is currently focused on the Main/Nioc area within the Sombrero project in Peru, its flagship project, and is reviewing additional premium projects in South America.The Sombrero Project is a land package of approximately 102,000 hectares located in the north-western margins of the world-class Andahuaylas-Yauri trend in Peru. It consists of a number of prospective exploration targets characterized by copper-gold skarn and porphyry systems, and precious metal epithermal deposits. The Company is in the final stages of preparing a NI 43-101 technical report which focuses on the Sombrero Main and Nioc target areas.Coppernico is currently an unlisted public reporting issuer. The Company intends to seek a listing on a recognized stock exchange once it qualifies to do so. For more information, please visit www.coppernicometals.com Coppernico Advisors for the MinerCo TransactionMinvisory Corp. acted as financial advisor to Coppernico. Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP acted as legal counsel.Cautionary NoteNo regulatory organization has approved the contents hereof.This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking informati
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MONROVIA, CA / ACCESSWIRE / May 1, 2024 / Dr. Ryan Smith, an esteemed education leader with over two decades of experience in various roles, including Superintendent of the Monrovia Unified School District in California and high school principal, is sparking a critical conversation about the impact of grading reforms on educational equity and accuracy.In response to a widely discussed New York Times opinion piece by Jessica Grose titled "Lenient Grading Won't Help Struggling Students. Addressing Chronic Absenteeism Will," Dr. Smith offers a thought-provoking exploration of grading practices' complexities and their implications for student achievement.Grading practices have long been debated within education circles, particularly concerning the gap between students' grades and academic performance, as measured by standardized test scores and other objective assessments. Dr. Smith acknowledges the multifaceted nature of this issue, recognizing the influence of various factors, including the subjective nature of grading, external pressures on educators, and the need to address equity in education.One proposed reform to address equity in grading is the elimination of zeroes in calculations, setting minimum marks at 50%. Advocates argue that this approach reduces the impact of zeros on students' overall grades, particularly for those who struggle with attendance or academic performance. However, Dr. Smith questions the effectiveness and accuracy of this reform, drawing on his extensive experience and expertise in education leadership.Dr. Smith argues that while the intention behind eliminating zeroes is to promote equity, it may inadvertently distort the accuracy of grades. He says that by setting a minimum mark of 50% regardless of students' actual performance, this approach must accurately reflect their mastery of academic standards. Instead of providing an accurate measure of achievement, grades become inflated and lose their validity as indicators of students' progress.To illustrate this point, Dr. Smith examines common scenarios where students may receive zeros, such as failing to submit or submitting work of poor quality. In these cases, assigning a grade of 50% without evaluating the actual merit of the work undermines the integrity of grading practices. Rather than addressing the root causes of academic challenges, this approach masks them, perpetuating inequities in education.Dr. Smith emphasizes implementing evidence-based strategies to support student learning and address absenteeism. He suggests utilizing frameworks like Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) and Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) to provide targeted interventions for students who need additional support. By addressing the underlying factors contributing to academic struggles, educators can help students succeed while maintaining the integrity of grading practices.In addition to proposing practical solutions, Dr. Smith advocates for meaningful, relevant, and rigorous instruction that engages students and promotes deep learning. He highlights the efforts of Learner-Centered Collaborative, Transcend, and PBLWorks in creating learner-centered environments that prioritize student agency and authentic learning experiences.Dr. Smith's insights challenge educators, policymakers, and stakeholders to critically evaluate grading practices and their impact on student success. By fostering dialogue and promoting evidence-based approaches, Dr. Smith aims to ensure that grading reforms prioritize accuracy and equity in education.Dr. Ryan Smith is an experienced education leader with over two decades of experience in roles ranging from Superintendent to high school principal. He is passionate about promoting equity and excellence in education and has contributed to numerous initiatives to improve student outcomes.CONTACT:Email: ryandsmithedd@ gmail.com SOURCE: Dr. Ryan Smith
PR-Inside.com: 2024-05-02 13:01:42

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CRANBROOK, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2024 /Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. (TSXV:EPL) or ("Eagle Plains") and Xcite Resources Inc. (TSXV:XRI) ("XRI or Xcite"), have received the results from a data compilation on the Beaver River uranium project, located 40km SE of Uranium City, Saskatchewan. The Beaver River project hosts near surface high grade uranium mineralization and is one of six Eagle Plains uranium properties under option to Xcite (see EPL/XRI news release Dec 14, 2023). The compilation and interpretation of available data will lead to recommendations for 2024 fieldwork.Beaver River Data Compilation HighlightsHistorical assays up to 29.89% U3O8 in trench chip samplesHistorical drill intersections include 0.18% U3O8 over 0.3m and 0.06% U3O8 over 0.61mRecognized mineralized trend >1km in lengthProspective for polymetallic Beaverlodge-type uranium mineralization in E-W and NW-SE trending fault zonesSee Beaver River Compilation Map hereAbout the Beaver River ProjectThe 1455ha project overlies 5 Saskatchewan Mineral Deposit Index ("SMDI") occurrences associated with Beaverlodge-type uranium mineralization.The polymetallic VIC U-Cu-Ni zone (SMDI 1551, 1553, and 1994) occurs along a NW-SE trending fault zone which has been traced for approximately 1 km. Mineralization occurs in fracture filling of quartz veins hosting sulphides, graphite, and pitchblende and uraninite, ore minerals of uranium. Historical assays of channel samples in this zone yield up to 29.89% U3O8 over 0.3m, 18.09% U3O8 over 0.2m and 3.09% U3O8 over 0.6m (AF 74O05-0077). The southeast zone has been tested by nine shallow drill holes, averaging 80m in length, returning assays of 0.18% U3O8 over 0.3m (AF74O05-0016) and 0.06% U3O8 over 0.61m along with anomalous copper, nickel, gold and silver (AF74O05-0051). The northwest portion of the VIC zone, identified as a priority for follow-up by Denison Mines, has yet to be tested by drilling.Another significant mineral occurrence on the Beaver River property is the Combined Mining UraniumShowing (SMDI 1557) where northeast-trending pitchblende-bearing fractures have ben mapped over a strike length of 137.2m. Assays from trenches yielded 0.23% U3O8 over 0.5m and 1.77% U3O8 over 0.9m.Since uranium mineralization on the Beaver River property was first noted in 1958 the property has seen a total of 1708m of diamond drilling in 26 shallow holes, with the last drilling completed in 1969 by Trans-Canada Resources. Other historical work includes prospecting, mapping, scintillometer surveys, trenching at the main showing areas, and airborne and ground-based geophysics.An electromagnetic and magnetic VTEM survey flown by Geotech for Fission 3.0 in 2016 covered the eastern part of the Beaver River property. The survey outlined numerous areas of enhanced conductivity including areas of parallel conductors with offsets and termination points indicative of cross structure, including a high priority conductive trend located west of the Combined SMDI occurrence. Follow-up prospecting and geochemical sampling was recommended to evaluate the source of the anomalies.The last recorded assessment work on the project was by Fission 3.0 who successfully located and resampled historic trenches at the VIC occurrence.Management of Eagle Plains and Xcite are encouraged by the tenor of mineralization displayed in trenches and shallow historical drilling at Beaver River and the potential for additional uranium mineralization both along strike and to depth within known mineralized areas, along trends identified by historical geophysical surveys, and on any additional targets generated by 2024 work.Rock grab samples are selective samples by nature and as such are not necessarily representative of the mineralization hosted across the property. The above results were taken directly from the SMDI descriptions and assessment reports) filed with the Saskatchewan government. Management cautions that historical results were collected and reported by past operators and have not been verified nor confirmed by a Qualified Person, but form a basis for ongoing work on the subject properties. Management cautions that past results or discoveries on proximate land are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be achieved on the subject properties.About the Beaverlodge Uranium DistrictSee Uranium City Area Projects Map hereThe Beaver River, Black Bay, Don Lake, Gulch, Larado, and Smitty projects are located in the Beaverlodge District near Uranium City in the Lake Athabasca region of Saskatchewan. Occurrences of uranium mineralization are abundant in the Uranium City area and have been explored and documented since the 1940s. The Beaverlodge camp was the first uranium producer in Canada, with historic production of approximately 70.25 million pounds of U3O8 between 1950-1982, from ore grades averaging 0.23% U3O8. The two largest producers were the Eldorado Beaverlodge (Ace-Fay-Verna) mine and the Gunnar uranium mine. The Beaverlodge area has seen limited uranium focused exploration since the early 1990's.Eagle Plains' management cautions that past results or discoveries on proximate land are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be achieved on the subject properties.Beaverlodge-style uranium deposits host structurally controlled, high grade mineralization in veins and breccia-fills within basement rocks. Mineralization often occurs at geological contacts and consists of structures filled with hematite, chlorite and graphite associated with pitchblende.Uranium City Option AgreementUnder the terms of the agreements, Xcite may earn an 80% interest in each of the Beaver River, Black Bay, Don Lake, Gulch, Larado, and Smitty projects by completing CDN$3,200,000 in exploration expenditures, issuing 750,000 common shares of Xcite and making cash payments to Eagle Plains of CDN$55,000 over four years, for an aggregate of CDN$19,200,000 in exploration expenditures, 4,500,000 shares and $330,000 in cash to Eagle Plains. Upon Xcite fulfilling the terms of any or all of the earn-in agreements, an 80/20 joint venture will be formed, with Eagle Plains retaining a carried interest in all expenditures until delivery by Xcite or its assigns of a bankable feasibility study. During the option earn in period, XRI will be appointed as operator, and EPL will manage the exploration programs under the direction of a joint technical committee. The projects are owned 100% by EPL, who will retain an underlying 2% NSR royalty on the each of the properties.Eagle Plains currently holds a 100% interest in 18 individual projects comprising a total of 40,050 ha of mineral dispositions in Saskatchewan covering both basement and unconformity hosted uranium targets
PR-Inside.com: 2024-05-02 16:00:30

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Patriot Software's founder & CEO, Mike Kappel, has been selected by Ernst & Young LLP as a finalist for the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2024.CANTON, OH / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2024 / Patriot Software is proud to announce that its founder & CEO, Mike Kappel, has been selected by Ernst & Young LLP ("EY") as a finalist for the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2024. Kappel is among 29 entrepreneurs selected by an independent panel of judges.Kappel is known for founding the first of the Patriot Software companies in 1986 in a cold and dingy basement of a factory. EY initially zeroed in on Kappel after hearing his many bizarre-but-truenational radio adson Sirius XM that told of his business escapades. And more recently, EY took notice of Patriot Software's intentionallyunconventional social media presenceled by Kappel.Now in its 38th year, EY's Entrepreneur Of The Year competition is the preeminent business award for entrepreneurs who disrupt markets, revolutionize industries, and have a transformational impact on lives. The East Central program celebrates entrepreneurs from Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky."I think it's incredible and almost comical that EY selected me as a finalist because I'm so unconventional," says Kappel. "Like most entrepreneurs, I've started more businesses than I probably should have, but I couldn't help myself. I've made every business mistake known to man, and many of them twice." Kappel went on to say, "I probably hold the world record for taking the longest amount of time to turn a company profitable; 21 years. No kidding, I intentionally allowed Patriot Software to run with a negative EBITDA for 21 years. I did this because I knew it was more important to build Patriot's systems and products to actually solve American businesses' accounting, payroll, time & attendance, and HR problems than it was to cut corners to generate short-term profits. Naturally, bankers and equity firms admonished us, but once we hit about 58,000 American businesses using our software, they started changing their tune. They wanted to see short-term results, but we were building generational results. What we've done is unheard of, and it's good. American businesses are going to be blessed, and our shareholders are going to reap healthy dividends for decades to come. So, me being selected by a very buttoned-up organization like EY for Entrepreneur of the Year, actually blows my mind!"EY's competition celebrates original founders who bootstrapped their businesses, raised outside capital, delivered unique innovative products, and created multigenerational solutions helping thousands or even millions of people.According to Patriot's president, Michael Wheeler, Esq., "Don't let Mike Kappel's self-deprecating nature fool you. He is a savvy entrepreneur and more than meets the criteria laid out by EY. Patriot Software is already helping tens-of-thousands of American business owners and their accountants, which represents hundreds of thousands of American employees and contractors, and it's on its way to helping millions. And Kappel, even with all of his quirks, has demonstrated grit by building one of the largest and most automated payroll companies in the USA." Regional award winners will be announced on June 13, 2024 during a special celebration. The winners will then be considered by the National independent panel of judges for the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Awards, which will be presented in November at the annual Strategic Growth Forum, one of the nation's most prestigious gatherings of high-growth, market-leading companies.About Patriot Software:Patriot Software is disrupting the accounting and payroll industries with its low prices, highest customer reviews, and award-winning software. Patriot offers cloud-basedaccounting ,payroll , HR, and time and attendance solutions that help American businesses with up to 500 employees simplify their administrative tasks. Patriot's US-based Customer Support Team provides a personal touch that most software companies lack today. The company has been serving tens of thousands of businesses nationwide since 2002.For more information, please contact:Patriot Software, LLCMichael A. Wheeler, Esq. mwheeler@ patriotsoftware.comhttps://www.patriotsoftware.com SOURCE: Patriot Software, LLC
PR-Inside.com: 2024-05-02 15:17:03

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Do you, or did you, own shares of Globe Life Inc. (NYSE:GL)?Did you purchase your shares between May 8, 2019 and April 10, 2024, inclusive?Did you lose money in your investment in Globe Life Inc.?Do you want to discuss your rights?NEW YORK / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2024 / Bernstein Liebhard LLP, a nationally acclaimed investor rights law firm, reminds investors of the deadline to file a lead plaintiff motion in a securities class action lawsuit that has been filed on behalf of investors who purchased or acquired the common stock of Globe Life Inc. f/k/a Torchmark Corporation ("Globe Life" or the "Company") (NYSE:GL) between May 8, 2019 and April 10, 2024, inclusive (the "Class Period"). The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas and alleges violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 against the Company and certain of its officers (the "Complaint").If you purchased or acquired Globe Life common stock, and/or would like to discuss your legal rights and options please visit Globe Life Inc. Shareholder Class Action Lawsuit or contact Investor Relations Manager Peter Allocco at (212) 951-2030 or pallocco@ bernlieb.com If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later thanJuly 1, 2024 . A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as lead plaintiff. If you choose to take no action, you may remain an absent class member.According to the Complaint, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made numerous materially false and misleading statements and omissions concerning: (i) Globe Life's consistent premium revenue growth, particularly from American Income Life Insurance Company; and (ii) Globe Life's Code of Business Conduct and Ethics (the "Code of Conduct"). Specifically, Defendants repeatedly attributed the Company's consistent premium revenue growth "to increased agent count and productivity." In addition, Globe Life's Code of Conduct stated, among other things, that "[t]he Company is committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment," that "[v]iolence and threatening behavior are not permitted," and that "[t]he use of illegal drugs in the workplace will not be tolerated." The truth was revealed on April 11, 2024, when investment research firm Fuzzy Panda published a report alleging that, since 2017, Globe Life had engaged in widespread insurance fraud. The report alleged that several Globe Life subsidiaries were underwriting policies for dead and fictitious people, as well as adding policies to existing customers' accounts without their consent. In addition, the investment research firm uncovered evidence that Globe Life subsidiaries maintained a hostile workplace where sexual harassment, drug use, and sexual assault went unchecked.On this news, Globe Life's stock price fell $55.76 per share, or 53.19%, to close at $49.17 per share on April 11, 2024.If you purchased or acquired Globe Life common stock, and/or would like to discuss your legal rights and options please visit Globe Life Inc. Shareholder Class Action Lawsuit or contact Investor Relations Manager Peter Allocco at (212) 951-2030 or pallocco@ bernlieb.com Since 1993, Bernstein Liebhard LLP has recovered over $3.5 billion for its clients. In addition to representing individual investors, the Firm has been retained by some of the largest public and private pension funds in the country to monitor their assets and pursue litigation on their behalf. As a result of its success litigating hundreds of lawsuits and class actions, the Firm has been named to The National Law Journal's "Plaintiffs' Hot List" thirteen times and listed in The Legal 500 for sixteen consecutive years.ATTORNEY ADVERTISING.  2024 Bernstein Liebhard LLP. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Bernstein Liebhard LLP, 10 East 40th Street, New York, New York 10016, (212) 779-1414. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter.Contact Information:Peter AlloccoInvestor Relations ManagerBernstein Liebhard LLP https://www.bernlieb.com (212) 951-2030 pallocco@ bernlieb.com SOURCE: Bernstein Liebhard LLP
PR-Inside.com: 2024-05-02 13:00:49

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WHITE ROCK, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2024 / Honey Badger Silver Inc. (TSXV:TUF)(OTCQB:HBEIF) ("Honey Badger" or the "Company") has fortuitously acquired at no cost the historic drill data base for its 100%-owned Nanisivik Project in Nunavut which contains extremely valuable geologic information about the claims we now own.The Company's CEO Dorian L. (Dusty) Nicol commented, "This is an extremely valuable data base. It contains the results from decades of drilling at Nanisivik that we estimate would cost well over $40 million to replicate today. We have been searching for this information since staking Nanisivik and were able to acquire it after months of effort utilizing our extensive contacts in the mining industry and some sleuthing. We are examining the data to identify potential mineralization at Nanisivik that could be economic at today's metals prices. We expect this to lead to multiple areas and potential targets for further examination and evaluation. Our target at Nanisivik is an eventual resource of up to 100 million ounces of silver at a grade of 30-50 grams per ton silver. The prospectivity is supported by the reported large tonnages of pyrite bodies at Nanisivik containing anomalous concentrations of silver as well as, locally, germanium, gallium, and indium. In addition, with a deep-sea port being constructed adjacent to the Nanisivik Mine, the pyrite bodies themselves may have significant commercial value. The data base we recently acquired will be invaluable in evaluating whether there may be concentrations of commercial interest at current metal prices." About NanisivikThe Nanisivik Mine (near Arctic Bay, Nunavut) produced over 20 million ounces of silver between 1976 and 2002, from 17.9 million tons of ore, grading 9% zinc, 0.72% lead, and 35 grams per ton silver (1). In addition to the polymetallic orebody, previous exploration identified massive sulphide bodies (principally pyrite), totaling about 100 million tons (1,2), containing base metal and silver values not economic at the time.(1) Reference: Geological Survey of Canada, 2002-C22, "Structural and Stratigraphic Controls on Zn-Pb-Ag Mineralization at the Nanisivik Mississippi Valley-type Deposit, Northern Baffin Island, Nunavut; by Patterson and Powis. (2) A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify this historic tonnage estimate as a current mineral resource and the Company is not treating the estimate as a current mineral resource. The historic tonnage estimate cannot be relied upon. Additional work, including verification drilling / sampling, will be required to verify the estimate as a current mineral resource. About Honey Badger Silver Inc.Honey Badger Silver is a silver company. The company is led by a highly experienced leadership team with a track record of value creation backed by a skilled technical team. Our projects are located in areas with a long history of mining, including the Sunrise Lake project with a historic resource of 12.8 Moz of silver (and 201.3 million pounds of zinc) Indicated and 13.9 Moz of silver (and 247.8 million pounds of zinc) Inferred (1)(3) located in the Northwest Territories and the Plata high grade silver project located 165 km east of Yukon's prolific Keno Hill and adjacent to Snowline Gold's Rogue discovery. The Company's Clear Lake Project in the Yukon Territory has a historic resource of 5.5 Moz of silver and 1.3 billion pounds of zinc (2)(3). The Company also has a significant land holding at the Nanisivik Mine Area located in Nunavut, Canada that produced over 20 Moz of silver between 1976 and 2002. (2,3) A qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the foregoing historic resources as current mineral resources and the Company is not treating the estimate as a current mineral resource. The historic resource estimates cannot be relied upon. Additional work, including verification drilling / sampling, will be required to verify the estimate as a current mineral resource.Sunrise Lake 2003 RPA historic resource: Indicated 1.522 million tonnes grading 262 grams/tonne silver, 6.0% zinc, 2.4% lead, 0.08% copper, and 0.67 grams/tonne gold and Inferred 2.555 million tonnes grading 169 grams/tonne silver, 4.4% zinc, 1.9% lead, 0.07% copper, and 0.51 grams/tonne gold.Clear Lake 2010 SRK historic Resource: Inferred 7.76 million tonnes grading 22 grams/tonne silver, 7.6% zinc, and 1.08% lead. Geological Survey of Canada, 2002-C22, "Structural and Stratigraphic Controls on Zn-Pb-Ag Mineralization at the Nanisivik Mississippi Valley type Deposit, Northern Baffin Island, Nunavut; by Patterson and Powis." ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD Dorian L. (Dusty) Nicol, CEOFor more information please visit our website www.honeybadgersilver.com or contact Ms. Michelle Savella for Investor Relations | msavella@ honeybadgersilver.com | +1 (604) 828-5886.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 InformationThis news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation that is based on expectations, estimates, projections and interpretations as at the date of this news release. Any statement that involves discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, interpretations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "interpreted", "management's view", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking information and are intended to identify forward-looking information. This forward-looking information is based on reasonable assumptions and estimates of management of the Company at the time such assumptions and estimates were made, and involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Honey Badger to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information.Such factors include, but are not limited to, risks relating to capital and operating costs varying significant
PR-Inside.com: 2024-05-02 18:55:59

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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2024 / Horwood Exploration Corp. ("Horwood" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce that it has closed a non-brokered private placement of 1,000,000 units in the capital of the Company (each, a "Unit") at a price of $0.05 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of $50,000 (the "Offering").Each Unit purchased includes one common share (each, a "Common Share") and one common share purchase warrant (each a "Warrant"). Each whole Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one additional Common Share for a period of thirty-six (36) months at a price of $0.10 per Common Share.The Company will use the proceeds raised from the Offering for working capital purposes. The Company did not pay any finder's fees.All securities issued in connection with the Offering are subject to a statutory hold period of four months plus one day from the date of issuance in accordance with applicable securities legislation.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.Early Warning ReportsAs a result of the Offering, a shareholder acquired 500,000 Units. Immediately prior to the Offering, Ms. Mindy Mudhar owned 1,000,000 Common Shares of the Company, which represented 5.97% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares of the Company on a non-diluted basis, and 8.22% on a partially diluted basis, if the Warrants are exercised. As a result of the Offering, Ms. Mudhar owns 1,500,000 Common Shares of the Company, which represent 8.45% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares of the Company on a non-diluted basis, and 2,500,000 Common Shares of the Company, which represent 13.33% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares of the Company on a partially diluted basis, if the Warrants are exercised in full.The acquisition was made in connection with their existing investment in the Company. In accordance with applicable securities laws, the shareholder may, from time to time and at any time, acquire additional shares and/or other equity, debt or other securities or instruments (collectively, "Securities") of the Company in the open market or otherwise, and reserves the right to dispose of any or all of their Securities in the open market or otherwise at any time and from time to time, and to engage in similar transactions with respect to the Securities, the whole depending on market conditions, the business and prospects of the Company and other relevant factors.The early warning report will be filed under Horwood's profile on the SEDAR+ website at www.sedarplus.ca . To obtain more information or to obtain a copy of the early warning reports filed in respect of this press release, please contact Mr. Eric Allard, interim CEO by e-mail at ea@ semmgeo.com or by mail at 9285 203B Street, Langley BC, V1M 2L9.About the CompanyHorwood is a Canadian company. The Company is engaged in the acquisition and exploration of mineral properties. The Company currently has an option to acquire a one hundred percent (100%) undivided interest in the Horwood Property. The Horwood Property is comprised of two hundred and ninety-six (296) mining claim cells, arranged into forty-five (45) Multicell Claims which form two non-contiguous blocks, covering a total area of 68.36 km2 after accommodating for overlaps with private patented claims located in Horwood and Silk Townships in the Sudbury District of Ontario, approximately 90 kilometers southwest of Timmins in a straight line.The Company's exploration program will be primarily focused on gold exploration.ON BEHALFOF THE BOARD,Eric Allard, Interim CEO and DirectorEmail: ea@ semmgeo.com Tel: 1-581-996-3007Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains certain forward-looking statements as well as historical information. Readers should not rely on information in this summary for any purpose other than for gaining general knowledge of the Company. The words "expected", "will" and similar expressions are intended to be among the statements that identify forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that its expectations as reflected in any forward-looking statements, are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties and no assurance can be given that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward- looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates, opinions or other factors should change.The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed this press release and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.SOURCE: Horwood Exploration Corp.
PR-Inside.com: 2024-05-02 15:16:36

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Dr. Torrejon, the original founder of Humonix, replaces Kimberly SouthernALBANY, NY / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2024 / Humonix Biosciences, Inc. ("Humonix"), a specialty pharmaceutical research company focused on 3D human tissue models capable of mimicking disease states for pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients, today announced the appointment of Dr. Karen Torrejon as the new Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Torrejon, who originally founded the company in 2014, will now be leading the company as it transitions into a broader, science-driven platform expanding research offerings for industry clients.Humonix's platform has been built upon a proprietary 3D human tissue-based system, originally introduced for the study of glaucoma under the Glauconix name, that has now scaled to encompass multiple disease entities including retinal vascular disease, pulmonary fibrosis, and renal fibrosis. As a partner to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, Humonix serves to improve the drug development process by expediting the translation of preclinical research into human efficacy using validated human tissue models to predict potential future effect, reducing cost, and improving a program's probability of success. Importantly, Humonix's ex vivo system enriches the understanding of mechanisms underlying therapeutic efficacy while reducing the need for animal testing in line with the FDA's Modernization Act 2.0."I am excited to once again lead the company that I founded a decade ago as we now expand into broader disease models as Humonix Biosciences," said Dr. Torrejon. "I am grateful to Ms. Southern for having helped Glauconix gain a foothold in the contract research space, and I'm truly excited to propel this company forward as Humonix to expand our scientific platform systematically. Our ability to test compounds in human tissues ex vivo sets us apart in enabling the early selection of ideal candidates for further development." "We would like to thank Ms. Southern for her exemplary service to the company," said Richard Frederick, Chairman of the Humonix Board. "We are thrilled to have Dr. Torrejon once again guiding Humonix as its scientific visionary. We look forward to expanding into new areas of research, enabling incredible value creation for industry partners and inevitably for patients, alike." "The Board is truly excited to leverage Dr. Torrejon's unparalleled scientific prowess to lead Humonix," said Barbara Wirostko, MD, FARVO, Adjunct Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Utah, Chief Medical Officer of Qlaris Bio, Inc., and Humonix Board Member. "The ability of this platform to translate preclinical research into clinical efficacy offers immense opportunities to clients and ultimately to patients." About Humonix Biosciences, Inc.Humonix Biosciences, Inc. was founded in 2014 in Albany, New York, with the aim to develop 3D human tissue models to mimic diseases in an ex vivo preclinical system. Humonix is focused on reducing the need to rely upon animal testing to predict the translation of preclinical drug or biologic efficacy to humans. Humonix Biosciences' investors include Excell Partners, Eastern New York Angels and private equity investors as well. For more information, please visit www.humonixbio.com Media ContactGeorge Torrejongtorrejon@ humonixbio.com(631) 487-5553Contact InformationGeorge TorrejonSenior Directorgtorrejon@ humonixbio.com (631) 487-5553SOURCE: Humonix Biosciences IncView the original press release on newswire.com
PR-Inside.com: 2024-05-02 22:01:44

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May is Lyme Disease Awareness MonthBUCHANAN, NY / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2024 / In response to the escalating threat of Lyme Disease and tick-borne disease cases throughout Westchester, the Hudson Valley and nationwide, JP McHale Pest Management has forged a strategic partnership with US Biologic to launch its breakthrough defense against ticks and tickborne diseases using innovative technology - The LymeShield System. LymeShield is an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program featuring a pellet that inoculates mice against Lyme Disease, based on the premise that a non-infected mouse cannot spread the infection to a tick, which in turn cannot spread the disease further. The product is conditionally approved by the USDA and is available in New York State.LymeShield System JP McHale and US Biologic are both companies committed to protecting the community by employing effective, cutting-edge pest control solutions, including early detection of ticks and the elimination of Lyme Disease through the latest pest control technology. This collaboration aims to address the exponential rise in Lyme Disease cases."We're thrilled to introduce the cutting-edge LymeShield technology, building upon our company's mission and intensive efforts to reduce the threat of tickborne diseases in the areas we serve," said Jim McHale, president of JP McHale Pest Management. "LymeShield is now available to homeowners, businesses, and public lands, including parks in Westchester County."The launch of LymeShield will be integral to JP McHale's Integrative Pest Management strategies (IPM), which minimize biocide use to control and eliminate pests. Innovative pest technologies like LymeShield are better for the environment and can be more effective in the long-term management and elimination of various pest issues." JP McHale has had unprecedented success in the control and elimination of rodent issues through its cutting-edge SMART Rodent Detection and Home Monitoring System. Using wireless technology, SMART rodent experts digitally track pest activity in real time and alert you to any pest activity that's detected. This technology doesn't utilize any sprays, glue, or chemical treatments, so there is no risk to pets, children or our planet.LymeShield works by deploying timed application stations that allow a controlled amount of pellets to inoculate mice from Borrelia burgdorferi, which can cause Lyme Disease in humans. Strategically placed, these stations have been shown to be effective in delivering the pellets to mice throughout the year.Integrative Pest Management techniques have the greatest potential to significantly reduce the risk of Lyme Disease transmission, the number one vector-borne disease in the U.S., which the CDC projects to impact 476,000 citizens each year. In fact, ticks capable of carrying Lyme Disease have spread to half of all US counties. Globally, experts estimate that as many as 1 in 7 people have been exposed to Lyme Disease at some point in their lives."JP McHale is a visionary company," says US Biologic CEO Mason Kauffman. "They truly understand the new technologies that can fight the spread of Lyme Disease, which is raging out of control in the U.S., with New York as more endemic than most states." About JP McHale Pest ManagementJP McHale Pest Management, LLCspecializes in eliminating pests through biological and environmentally sensitive methods, including organic solutions and advanced remote technology options for residential and commercial properties. JP McHale's SMART Rodent Detection and Home Monitoring System that uses wireless technology to digitally track pest activity in real time and LymeShield are among the company's focus on Integrative Pest Management strategies, minimizing the use of chemical treatments with no risk to pets, children or our planet. A partner of Anticimex, the 50-year-old family-run business is still headed by James P. McHale, Jr., a Cornell entomologist, and is recognized among the top 40 Pest Control companies in PCT's annual nationwide ranking. For more information about JP McHale Pest Management, please visit www.nopests.com About US Biologic and the LymeShield SystemUS Biologic envisions a world without endemic and pandemic diseases through solutions like the LymeShield System. For more information about the LymeShield System, please visit www.lymeshield.com Contact InformationDawn Dankner-RosenDDR Public Relationsddr@ ddrpr.com (914) 747-2500SOURCE: JP McHale Pest ManagementView the original press release on newswire.com
PR-Inside.com: 2024-05-02 09:05:28

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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2024 / (TSX:NANO)(OTC PINK:NNOMF)(Frankfurt:LBMB)Highlights:Strategic Alliance Agreement and License Agreement with Worley, a global engineering leader in sustainability solutions. Strategic Alliance Agreement to develop, market, and deploy One-Pot enabled cathode plant design. License Agreement to govern licensing, fees and other remuneration to both parties. Design-once-build-many growth strategy to accelerate deployment of One-Pot LFP and other cathode chemistries. Leverages technology, know-how, credibility and global relationships of both parties. Reduces risk and cost to accelerate project certainty, financial decisions and permitting. Design package to include IP, know-how, flow sheets, engineering and key equipment. Worley to also design and fabricate reactors optimized for the One-Pot process. Nano One Materials Corp. ("Nano One") a clean technology company with patented processes for the sustainable production of lithium-ion battery cathode active materials (CAM), and Worley Chemetics, a wholly owned Canadian subsidiary of Worley Limited have entered into a Strategic Alliance Agreement and a License Agreement for the purposes of jointly developing, marketing and licensing a process engineering design package for the deployment of cathode active material (CAM) production facilities with potential customers in the lithium-ion battery materials sector. Through Worley Chemetics, Worley offers technology and solutions for sulphuric acid and other specialty chemicals facilities."This licensing agreement and global strategic alliance with Worley is another major milestone for Nano One," said Nano One CEO, Dan Blondal. "It adds to the growing confidence of our shareholders, partners, and government stakeholders. It amplifies the value of our One-Pot process and addresses a growing need for a new generation of scalable battery cathode material production technology and clean, diversified supply chains. Worley has a global network of clients, deep engineering knowledge and a track record of designing and building process facilities that can accelerate our design-once-build-many growth strategy. We have found in Worley a collaborative, insightful and visionary team that is just as passionate about changing how the world makes battery materials as we are." Under the Strategic Alliance Agreement, Nano One and Worley will jointly develop a holistic technology CAM package that incorporates Nano One's proprietary One-Pot process into a modular process engineering design package with intellectual property rights, flow sheets, detailed engineering, the operational know-how of both parties and applicable proprietary equipment. Worley Chemetics will also design and fabricate One-Pot reactors made with customized metal alloys. The License Agreement oversees the sale of CAM packages, including necessary cross-licensing of intellectual property, license fees and remuneration to both parties over a term of up to 20 years.The One-Pot enabled CAM package will be marketed, sold and deployed to a wide range of customers in North America, Europe, the Indo-Pacific and other regions globally, enabling them to develop competitive CAM production assets to meet emerging market demand in renewable energy storage and electric vehicle sectors. The CAM package is expected to reduce risk and cost, while accelerating the timeline to project certainty and financial investment decision with easier permitting and broader community acceptance.Worley's Chief Executive Officer, Chris Ashton, said, "We're pleased to work with Nano One to bring the One-Pot process to market, which aligns with our technology solutions strategy of commercializing and scaling technologies that accelerate lower cost, lower carbon solutions." Worley Limited is an A$8.59B1 global professional engineering company of energy, chemicals and resources experts. With nearly 50,0002 people across 45 countries3, Worley brings a global team to the Nano One - Worley alliance, with a commitment to sustainability, and specialization in designing and delivery of battery materials facilities, including first-of-a-kind technology scale-up and deployment. Battery Materials is a key growth area for Worley with AUD 1.5B in new business since July 20214.Nano One brings its patented One-Pot process to the alliance as well as its innovation hub in Burnaby, British Columbia, its LFP CAM demonstration facility in Candiac, Quebec and one of the most experienced LFP teams outside of Asia, having produced and sold LFP CAM for 10-plus years in automotive and energy storage sectors. The One-Pot process makes commercially competitive cathode materials by combining the processes for precursor CAM (pCAM) and CAM, thereby enabling a smaller physical footprint than incumbent processes5 and up to 60% fewer GHGs for NMC, 50% fewer GHGs for LFP and 80% less process water6. Equally important, the One-Pot process eliminates wastewater and harmful sodium/ammonium sulphate by-products, a major disposal and permitting challenge in current cathode material production processes. The technology also leverages localized and sustainable sources of raw material inputs to enable a secure and diversified supply chain7.Mr. Blondal added, "Our partnership with Worley is a collaborative technology delivery business model proven in energy and chemicals sectors, and we are very much looking forward to pioneering this in the battery materials sector, and leading the way with Worley." ###About WorleyWorley is a global professional services company of energy, chemicals and resources experts. We partner with customers to deliver projects and create value over the life of their assets. We're bridging two worlds, moving towards more sustainable energy sources, while helping to provide the energy, chemicals and resources needed now.Worley Limited is headquartered in Australia and listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX: WOR).About Nano OneNano One Materials Corp. (Nano One) is a clean technology company with a patented, scalable and low carbon intensity industrial process for the low-cost production of high-performance lithium-ion battery cathode materials. Nano One has formed strategic collaborations and partnerships with various automotive OEMs, Sumitomo Metal Mining, Rio Tinto, BASF, Umicore and now Worley. Nano One's technology is applicable to electric vehicles, energy storage, and consumer electronics, reducing costs and carbon intensity while improving environmental impact and supply chain diversity. Nano One aims to pilot and demonstrate its technology as modular production solutions for license, joint venture, and independent production opportunities, leveraging Ca
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The Port of Hueneme is the first US port authority to sign green automotive shipping corridor agreements with ports and terminals in both Japan and South KoreaPORT HUENEME, CA / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2024 / What is a more fitting way to usher in World Trade Week in Southern California than by having the Port of Hueneme complete a series of collaborative discussions, strategic meetings, and site visits during a whirlwind 10-day economic and green corridor trade mission to South Korea and Japan? Commissioners of the Oxnard Harbor District and senior Port of Hueneme leadership visited these two countries to reinforce, reinvigorate, and reimagine trade with key industry leaders and policymakers alike and align on innovation initiatives to green shipping lanes and operations."I was especially honored to be a part of this historic trade mission to Japan and South Korea. It is important for the Port of Hueneme to be a bridge to foster robust relationships with two of our most esteemed trading partners," said Celina Zacarias, President of the Oxnard Harbor District.From Seoul to Pyeongtaek, Ulsan to Busan, and Tokyo to Yokohama, the Port's trade mission was focused on helping existing customers increase their business through the Port of Hueneme by introducing them to the Port's development goals, which seek to further catalyze business with the Port of Hueneme and honor community development and environmental goals as set forth in its strategic plan. The Port of Hueneme and its trading partners embraced cooperation and collaboration regarding environmentally sustainable port development initiatives and automotive logistics with the aim of establishing Green Automotive Shipping Corridors.The countries of Japan and South Korea are recognized as two of the brightest beacons of innovation, green initiatives and economic prowess, and their partnership with the Port has been instrumental in facilitating a thriving exchange of goods, ideas, environmental stewardship, and culture.Hyundai GLOVIS HQ: (Left to right) Scott Cornell, CEO of GLOVIS, USA; Mary Anne Rooney, Port of Hueneme Harbor Commissioner; Kyoo Bok Lee, President of Hyundai GLOVIS;Celina Zacarias, President of the Port of Hueneme Board of Harbor Commissioners; Kristin Decas, Port of Hueneme CEO/Port Director; Jason Hodge, Port of Hueneme Secretary.POH Welcome Reception: (Left to Right Back, back row then front row) Kim Sukwon, Vice President of Global SCM Support Group; Jason Hodge, Port of Hueneme Secretary; Kristin Decas, Port of Hueneme CEO/Port Director; Fiona Ma, California State Treasurer; Mary Anne Rooney, Port of Hueneme Harbor Commissioner; Scott Cornell CEO of GLOVIS, USA; andCelina Zacarias, President of the Port of Hueneme Board of Harbor Commissioners.California State Treasurer Fiona Ma was a member of the Port delegation. Port of Hueneme commissioners and leadership staff, as well as Treasurer Ma, presented a proclamation to Hyundai Glovis in recognition of the company's commitment of working towards innovation, technology, and environmental sustainability goals. Following this gesture of gratitude, the Port of Hueneme signed a green automotive shipping corridor Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on April 23rd with Wallenius Wilhelmsen Pyeongtaek International Ro-Ro Terminal - a WWL automotive terminal located in the Port of Pyeongtaek, South Korea.(Left to right front row) Lee, Hongkyoo, Representative Director, PIRT and Celina Zacarias, President of the Port of Hueneme Board of Harbor Commissioners sign the MOU. In attendance: (Left to right back row) Park, Chan-Soo, PIRT Safety & Planning Manager; Austin Yang, Port of Hueneme CFO/CAO; Kristin Decas, Port of Hueneme CEO/Port Director; Mary Anne Rooney, Port of Hueneme Harbor Commissioner; Christina Birdsey, Port of Hueneme COO."South Korea ranks as California's fifth largest export partner and the top trading partner with the Port of Hueneme, which is vital for Ventura County," said California State Treasurer Fiona Ma. "Hyundai Glovis is a leading logistics firm that enhances global connectivity. Hyundai Motor Company, the second largest in electric vehicle sales, is ramping up production to support California's ambitious climate targets." California Governor Gavin Newsom set an ambitious goal requiring all new light passenger vehicles purchased by 2035 to be zero emission. Twenty-three percent of auto imports that come through the Port of Hueneme are electric vehicles. Both Hyundai and Kia's commitment to the production of these vehicles is key to meeting that goal. The major counterpart ports where these vehicles are loaded include Pyeongtaek and Ulsan in South Korea. For its part, many Subaru vehicles discharged at the Port of Hueneme originate in Kawasaki and Yokohama in Japan. "The partnerships we have with Japan and South Korea will help mutually grow commercial relationships with existing port clients and allow for a dynamic effort to make a difference around the globe with green shipping and development practices," said Kristin Decas, CEO & Port Director for the Port of Hueneme. While in Yokohama, Japan, members of the Port of Hueneme delegation and the Port of Yokohama celebrated their long-standing partnership by establishing a Memorandum of Understanding to create a Green Automotive Shipping Corridor between both ports. This MOU will help promote cooperation and collaboration regarding environmentally sustainable port development initiatives and automotive logistics at both ports with the aim of transitioning to a zero-emission future. This transition will require more than changing equipment and the energy which makes it move. It will require collaboration across the maritime industry from cargo owners, freight forwarders, ports and carriers to vehicle and engine manufacturers, energy producers, and policymakers alike.(Left to Right) Mary Anne Rooney, Port of Hueneme Harbor Commissioner; Kristin Decas, Port of Hueneme CEO/Port Director; Celina Zacarias, President of the Port of Hueneme Board of Harbor Commissioners; Yasuhiro Shimbo, Director General, Port of Yokohama; and Shinsuke Ito, President, Yokohama Port Corporation, gather for a photo to celebrate the formal signing of the MOU.The MOU is a major step to improve the understanding of how these two ports can work together towards powering the world's fifth largest economy through the California spirit of innovation, equity, and leadership.The Port of Hueneme/Yokohama MOU is the first green automotive shipping corridor MOU signed by a US port authority and builds upon on a green shipping corridor initiative announced by the United States and South Korea at COP27, as well as a Letter of Intent to Support Port Decarbonization and the
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HATTIESBURG, MS / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2024 / Criminal defense lawyerTangi Carter marks 27 years of serving in the courts this year - and she has a special talent for sparing her clients the same amount of time in prison.With nearly three decades of practicing law, you would be forgiven for thinking that this Hattiesburg criminal defense attorney was old school, but Carter is always embracing creative ways of negotiating reduced sentences for clients she represents.Even more importantly, Carter employs a hugely powerful tactic in the courtroom to achieve the best possible outcome in cases: humanizing the person standing before the judge."If we get the right judge, it can give us a good opportunity to really humanize the client - and take that individual from being a number on the docket to being an actual real-life person with a family, with friends, and someone who has typically faced real difficulties in their life," said Carter."It's harder for a judge to send them to prison when they see a human being and not just the charge. After all, we are not the worst thing we've ever done in our lives."And so, our main goal - and I think we do a very good job at it - is to humanize the client in relation to the crime. We can then show that, yes there's this theft charge, but they're also a father, son, friend, good employeeand they've done X, Y, and Z for their community." While the Tangi Carter Law firm is based in Mississippi, Carter often hops across states as she is also licensed to practice law in Louisiana, Florida, and Tennessee.Being compassionate, empathetic, and "really listening" to clients who have committed a wide range of crimes, from attempted murders to robberies, is a foundation of how Tangi Carter & Associates operates.Meanwhile, trying her best to make that human-to-human emotional connection between the judge and the accused in the courtroom is also central to Carter's work. She feels that this is badly lacking in the legal profession.There's a real level of creativity that goes into sentence mitigation measures because every case is different. Some judges are open to reading support statements or hearing witness testimonies on behalf of criminals, whereas others are completely dismissive."Sometimes we produce a video of the client, like, a day in their life', and have witnesses testify," explained Carter. "This could be current employers, former employers, and maybe one or two family members in the right circumstances. Most of the mitigation would go to the judge at the time of sentencing."It could also be letters, it could be presenting any accolades, or sharing details of anything they've done for their community." The Day in the Life' video is a fairly unique approach that Carter admitted she hasn't seen utilized very often elsewhere. This can also be useful in many cases where clients are extremely nervous about testifying.While some judges may watch the footage in the courtroom, or in their backroom private chambers, others are quick to shoot down the video approach, and tell the attorney: "I don't care, I don't want to see it." Defendant Avoided a 30-Year Jail TermWhen asked about a case where video footage being used in mitigation had a big impact, Carter immediately came up with an example."I defended a woman who was charged with a sex case, which is rare," explained the attorney. "She was charged with having sex with a student at a high school where she worked. She was not a teacher, but was in a position of authority - and the possible sentence was 30 years."That's what typically happens and those cases are day by day. There's no time off for being a good inmate. Thirty years means 30 years." Carter drove a long distance to the woman's family home before sentencing. After recording a video of the woman with her children, she also filmed a short interview with the kids after receiving the woman's permission.Thereafter, Tangi pulled records that clearly demonstrated that this school employee had never been in any trouble before, had gone to postgraduate school, was highly intelligent, and had always been a productive member of society.Due to problems in her marriage, the woman had gone off the rails and made the horrendous mistake of committing a crime that could have cost her three decades of freedom.Carter said: "Ultimately, she got three years in prison as opposed to 30. Sometimes judges are not interested in our mitigation efforts for sentencing, but this judge actually listened."This outcome shows the impact of humanizing the client." Those who wish to learn more about Tangi Carter and her remarkable legal team can connect toThe Law Firm of Tangi Carter & Associates, P.A. website.Reach out to Tangi Carter & Associates, P.A. on these social media platforms.Facebook |X |Instagram |TikTok |LinkedIn |GoogleContact: Tangi Carter, Esq .Phone: 601-544-1313Email:tangi@ tangicarterlaw.com This has been a production of Pro Bono Legal, LLC/LawTegic Agencyjohn@ LawTegic.Solutions SOURCE: The Law Firm of Tangi Carter & Associates, P.A.
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In Illinois, Enbridge gift of 20 acres creates thriving native plants, migrating pollinators and transformational learning for high school studentsNORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2024 / Can you tell a deer tick from a black-legged tick? What about the lone star tick from the dog tick?Students from Pontiac Township High School in central Illinois are learning to identify them all, and their research is contributing to regional public health information available on tick-borne diseases.The tick project is one of many initiatives with impact undertaken by the students. They've also planted 20 acres of native plants, tracked monarch butterfly populations and feeding patterns, and re-established a species of reptile that had been extirpated from the state."There are very few kids in the state who are able to do this kind of learning in a non-traditional setting," says Paul Ritter, a science instructor at the Pontiac, IL-based high school."And why are we able to do this? Because we have the land." In 2021, Enbridge donated 20 acres of prairie property to Operation Endangered Species (OES), a program founded in 2011 by Ritter who also serves as the non-profit organization's executive director.Every year on April 22, the world marks Earth Day, an annual celebration of environmental protection around the globe. At Enbridge, sustainability is central to everything we do, and we also support community sustainability projects that help improve, grow and nurture our environment.Kickapoo Prairie, named by the students for the Indigenous Tribe that lived longest in the region, is located in Cayuga, IL, just a five-minute drive from the school. It serves as a classroom for multiple disciplines-biology, physics, English, history, math, engineering."When I say it's a living laboratory, that's 100% what it is," Ritter explains. "You can look at it as a piece of property, or you can look at it as a changer of lives." In 2023, the students worked with the school superintendent to design an outdoor learning center at the prairie. Another project in development is a communications tower that will deliver free broadband internet to Pontiac High students, ensuring every student has access to high-speed internet at home to support their learning."If we didn't have this property, none of this would have happened," Ritter says. "The reality is, giving the kids the tools to make these things happen is what makes real change take place-not just in this ecosystem, but within themselves. This is what carries them on into the future." The students' long-term goal, passed down from year to year, is to return the entire 20 acres to their natural prairie habitat. Though Illinois is known as the Prairie State, less than 0.01% of the state's original 21 million acres of prairie remain, according to the U.S. Forest Service.In 2023, students planted hundreds of thousands of native plant seeds to give nature a helping hand.In this project and others, Ritter and the students work with the Odawa, Ojibwa and Potawatomi communities, who have lived on the land for thousands of years. Indigenous cultural leaders visit the school and the prairie where everyone works together and shares culture, adding another level of depth and meaning to the restoration work.Cal Hackler, a science instructor at the high school, says the learning experience the prairie supports "is incomparable to any other experiences they've had from an academic standpoint." Adds Hackler: "The prairie is the catalyst. When kids come up with ideas, we give them the tools to do it. You can't hold them back. They want to do, and this space lets them do." One student sent Hackler and Ritter a thank-you letter describing the prairie's impact on her life. She says her self-confidence has increased, and she recognizes that every mistake is a chance to work harder and grow.Working on the prairie, the student sees what is possible, and what can be created, Hackler says."And that is the pinnacle of learning-creating." Paul Ritter, left, and Cal Hackler look over native plants in bloom on the 20-acre Kickapoo Prairie pollinator plot near Cayuga, IL. View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Enbridge on 3 blmedia.com Contact Info: Spokesperson: EnbridgeWebsite: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/enbridge Email: info@3 blmedia.com SOURCE: Enbridge
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TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2024 / Toggle3D.ai(the "Company") (CSE:TGGL)(OTCQB:TGGLF)(FSE:Q0C), a innovative AI solution harnessing the power of generative AI to convert CAD files, apply stunning 4K texturing, and seamlessly publish superior 4K 3D models and 3D photography is pleased to announce new management changes as it prepared for new product launches and rapid growth.Management changes:Hareesh Achi has been appointed CEO and director of Toggle3D.ai . With a solid history at major tech firms like Microsoft and Meta, where he was involved in large-scale operations, Hareesh aims to leverage his expertise to propel the growth and scaling of Toggle3D's AI and 3D technologies. Evan Gappelberg, who is stepping down as CEO/director of Toggle comments, "It's been my pleasure to work with Hareesh preparing Toggle3D.ai for rapid growth in the CAD-3D-AI space. He has a proven track record of success at big technology companies like Microsoft and Meta and so it makes total sense to hand over the reins to him to grow this exciting platform and business." Hareesh Achi commented, "Joining Nextech3D.ai was a key moment in my career, contributing to the company's growth and profitability. I am excited to lead Toggle3D.ai and drive further expansion and innovation in the AI and 3D sectors." Anum Wagas, CPA, CGA, previously the Director of Finance for Toggle3D.ai has been appointed interim Chief Financial Officer. Anum brings over a decade of experience from multinational companies and government sectors, with a strong background in financial reporting under IFRS. She succeeds Andrew Chan, who is exploring new job opportunities in different industries. The Board expresses appreciation for his contributions and wishes him success.Recent Toggle3D.ai News Toggle3D.ai Announces its Groundbreaking AI Textures Increases Productivity by 100% In 3D Model Production For Ecommerce Toggle3D.ai Reports 75% Usage Growth in Q4, New Release With AI Search Engine Integration Set for Q1 Toggle3D.ai Grows Userbase by 70% and Unveils Groundbreaking AI Tool Transforming Doodles into 3D Models Toggle3D.ai's AI Lab Announces Breakthrough With Generative AI Photo RenderingAbout Toggle3D.aiToggle3D.ai (CSE:TGGL)(OTCQB:TGGLF)(FSE:Q0C) is a groundbreaking SaaS solution that utilizes generative AI to convert CAD files, apply stunning 4K texturing, and enable seamless publishing of superior 4K 3D models, serving various industries within the $160 billion CGI market. With its Augmented Reality-based rapid prototyping web app, Toggle3D empowers designers, artists, marketers, and eCommerce owners to effortlessly convert, texture, customize, and publish high-quality 3D models and experiences, regardless of technical or 3D design expertise. Toggle3D.ai Investor Relations Visit the Toggle3D Investor Relations website and sign up for the investor mailing list to receive the latest news, press releases, investor presentations, CEO interviews, financial information and more.Sign up for the investor mailing list - click hereFollow Toggle3D.ai on Social Media YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Toggle3D Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/toggle3d.ai/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Toggle3D LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/toggle3d-ai/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Toggle3Dai For further information, please contact:Investor Relations Contact Julia Viola investor.relations@toggle3D.ai Toggle3D.ai Evan GappelbergCEO and Director866-ARITIZE (274-8493)Forward-looking StatementsThe CSE has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.Certain information contained herein may constitute "forward-looking information" under Canadian securities legislation. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as, "will be" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "will" occur. Forward-looking statements regarding the completion of the transaction are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. Nextech will not update any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information that are incorporated by reference herein, except as required by applicable securities laws.SOURCE: Toggle3D.AI Inc.
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TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / May 2, 2024 /Treasury Metals Inc. (TSX:TML)(OTCQX:TSRMF) ("Treasury" or "TML") and Blackwolf Copper and Gold Ltd. (TSXV:BWCG)(OTCQB:BWCGF) ("Blackwolf"or "BWCG") are pleased to announce that they have entered into a definitive arrangement agreement dated May 1, 2024 (the "Agreement") to combine the two companies to advance the Goliath Gold Complex Project ("GGC Project") in Ontario towards production with a strengthened leadership, balance sheet and capital markets team (the "Transaction"). The combined company's Niblack Copper-Gold development project in Alaska and other exploration properties also represent promising upside projects for future growth.Transaction Highlights:Potential Near-Term Gold Production: Based on a prefeasibility study conducted in February 2023, the GGC Project is poised for production with a forecasted 13-year mine life. It anticipates producing 109,000 ounces of gold annually at a cash cost[1] of US$892 per ounce and an All-in Sustaining Cost (AISC)1 of US$1,037 per ounce during the first nine years. The prefeasibility study projected a net present value (NPV) of $493 million at a 5% discount rate, and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 33.5% based on a gold price of US$1,950 per ounce. The project benefits from readily available world class infrastructure and has secured a Federal Environmental Assessment approval. The final feasibility study and permitting processes are currently underway. Strong Financial Position: The balance sheet will be fortified with a combined cash position of more than C$10 million, plus a proposed concurrent minimum C$4 million flow-through financing. Enhanced Capital Markets Focus: New capital markets strategy to be led by cornerstone investor Frank Giustra complements significant expertise in mine permitting, construction, operations, and exploration to create value for shareholders. Renewed Exploration Commitment: Exploration efforts are expected to be intensified within the Dryden, Ontario district, focusing on expanding the current resource area. An experienced team will oversee these efforts, aiming to simultaneously advance development and exploration, maximizing dual-track value realization. Growth and Consolidation Strategy: The companies are actively pursuing a proactive strategy to assess and undertake strategic acquisitions, aiming to accelerate growth and strengthen its industry position.Pursuant to the Transaction, Treasury will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Blackwolf. Under the terms of the Agreement, each BWCG share will be exchanged for 0.607 of a TML share. Upon completion of the Transaction, existing TML and BWCG shareholders will own approximately 68.3% and 31.7% of TML respectively (after closing of the transactions described below and prior to the completion of the minimum C$4 million concurrent financing, which is further described below).Jeremy Wyeth, President & CEO of Treasury, and expected CEO of the combined company, commented: "This combination represents a positive evolution for Treasury. With the sponsorship of mining and capital markets leader, Frank Giustra, we will undertake a corporate strategy that continues the advanced-stage development of the GGC Project, and introduces a more aggressive exploration strategy across the new portfolio and sets the stage for heightened strategic corporate activity." Morgan Lekstrom, CEO of Blackwolf, and expected President of the combined company, commented: "This is a tremendous win-win opportunity for Blackwolf and Treasury shareholders. Treasury has done an incredible job of advancing the GGC Project through the start of engineering and permitting, and we are optimistic that it can evolve into a major Canadian gold camp. The combined financial strength and asset portfolio gives us the capital to move into a new stage of growth in a rising gold market. I look forward to working closely with the management team and shareholders, to help the company gain the recognition it deserves." Frank Giustra, Blackwolf's largest shareholder and expected largest shareholder of the combined company, stated: "This is a strong transaction for Blackwolf and Treasury shareholders that puts the company on the path of a buy and build strategy that I have implemented many times. We see the GGC Project as buildable and expandable on a district scale. I look forward to continuing to be a supportive shareholder and am excited to join the team as a Strategic Advisor." Transaction TermsPursuant to the terms and conditions of the Agreement, the holders of the issued and outstanding shares of Blackwolf will receive 0.607 of a Treasury share for each one Blackwolf share held (the "Exchange Ratio"). Blackwolf options that are outstanding at the time of completion of the Transaction shall be exchanged for fully vested replacement options exercisable to acquire Treasury shares as adjusted to reflect the Exchange Ratio on substantially the same terms and conditions, and outstanding warrants of Blackwolf will become exercisable, based on the Exchange Ratio, to purchase Treasury shares on substantially the same terms and conditions. The Transaction will be completed pursuant to a court-approved plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia). The Transaction will require approval of at least: (i) 66% of the votes cast by Blackwolf shareholders; (ii) 66% of the votes cast by Blackwolf shareholders and option holders, voting as a single class; and (iii) a simple majority of the votes cast by Blackwolf shareholders, excluding the votes cast by certain persons in accordance with Multilateral Instrument 61-101 Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions. The issuance of shares by Treasury as consideration pursuant to the Transaction is also subject to approval by at least a majority of the votes cast by Treasury shareholders in accordance with TSX requirements. In addition to securityholder and court approvals, the Transaction is subject to applicable regulatory approvals including the TSX and TSX Venture approvals, the completion of the concurrent financing and the satisfaction of certain other closing conditions customary in transactions of this nature.Senior officers and directors of Blackwolf, along with Frank Giustra, collectively holding approximately 19.13% of the Blackwolf shares outstanding, have entered into voting support agreements pursuant to which they have agreed, among other things, to vote their Blackwolf shares and options in favour of the Transaction. Senior officers and directors of Treasury and certain shareholders collectively holding approximately 37.03% of the Treasury shares outstanding, have entered in
Key actors in the academia and the private sector have commended Omoniyi Ibietan for his efforts at establishing how political conversations on various platforms, especially the social media, influence voters behaviour and ultimately impact election outcomes in Nigeria.

At the book reading and further reviews of Mr Ibietans Cyber Politics: Social Media, Social Demography and Voting Behaviour in Nigeria, held at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, the book was described as a persuasive one, which adds huge insightful value to an understanding of the interactions between politics, social media networks and other variables that influence the behaviour of voters in a democracy.

Mr Ibietans book is one of the publications from the stable of Premium Times Books.

In his speech, the chairman of the occasion, Adigun Agbaje, a professor and former Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, described the author as a passionate individual. He praised him for the job done with the book.

Youve given us a wonderful book and youve done an excellent job for that. In the times that we live in, we need to be aware that the usual should no longer be the normal. You have someone who is not an academic confronting the whole issue of cybernetics and cyber politics. We do hope for another milestone publication from you very soon, Mr Agbaje said.

The Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Aminu Maida, who was represented by Olubunmi Banjoko, noted that the book was absorbing and persuasive.

Mr Maida described the book as one that added huge insightful value to an understanding of the interactions between politics, social media networks and other variables that influence the behaviour of voters in a democracy.

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Dr. Ibietans book speaks to the reality of how the demographics of voting is now in favour of digital natives, whose engagements are set to upend the traditional media approaches, hence the great value in seeking an understanding of the growing interface across cyber politics, social media networks and social demography. Specifically, the author utilises tested theoretical models and research methods to scrutinise the impact of social media on contemporary politics.

Therefore, we particularly appreciate Dr. Omoniyi Ibietan, a staff of the Nigerian Communications Commission, for this contribution to political communication scholarship, he said.

In his remark, the Vice Chancellor, Federal University, Kashere, Gombe State, Umaru Pate, congratulated Mr Ibietan on the successful publication and presentation of the book.

Mr Pate, a professor, stated that the book has increased his understanding of the relationship between the ever-growing social media and politics in the country.

This, he noted, was very important for obvious reasons, some of which he said related to the popularity and influence of the new media, particularly among the most active components of the population.

He recommended the book for all students of communication studies, political science and allied fields, adding that political tacticians and gladiators and other scholars of the interface between society, information and communication technologies will also find the text appropriate and useful in helping them to deeply understand the strategies and impact of the social media in Nigerian politics.

Mr Pate, president of the Association of Communication Scholars and Professionals of Nigeria (ACSPN), enjoined interested individuals to get copies of the book for increased understanding of the relationship between social media and politics in Nigeria.

Without a doubt, the academic community and communication scholarship require a deeper understanding of the evolving trend, influence, and impact of cyber politics in the country. I am glad Dr Ibietan has been able to undertake intensive and extensive research in the area. Happily, the study has been transformed into a textbook for wider circulation, he said.

The Dean, Faculty of Communication and Media Studies, University of Uyo, Peter Esuh, in his remark, said Mr Ibietans book stands out among the numerous publications on strategic communication in contemporary times.

Mr Esuh, a professor, said the book offered a scholarly exploration of how social media platforms shaped electoral behaviour in the intricate Nigerian electoral landscape.

He added that the book was a significant addition to the ongoing discourse on the influence of technological advancements on societal progress.

The author, Dr Omoniyi Ibietan, is a renowned scholar known for his intellectual prowess and activism. His work has consistently been commendable, and this notable book is a testament to his innovative thinking and scholarly contributions. The book is wholeheartedly endorsed for reading, Mr Esuh said.

Chinyere Okunna, a professor of Mass Communication and the deputy vice-chancellor, Paul University, Awka, Anambra State, described the book as worthy in both content and packaging.

She noted that the book, Cyber Politics: Social Media, Social Demography and Voting Behaviour in Nigeria, was eminently worthy of being seen and being read.

According to her, the book is strategic political communication at its best. As a book on political communication, it strategically explores the intersection between politics and digital socially-mediated communication, to clearly show the impact of social media on electoral choices/voting behaviour.

Ibietan: A testimonial on scholarship and commitment

Abiodun Salawu of North-West University, South Africa, expressed delight at the privilege of having supervised the PhD thesis of Mr Ibietan, from which the book emanated.

It was a pleasure supervising Omoniyis thesis as he was very conversant with the literature of the study. I must say that I learnt from the literature he used.

He was dedicated to the work that he took a years leave from his place of work to come over to Mahikeng in South Africa to exclusively focus on the study. I can say that the study was effectively done within this one year, he said.

Mr Salawu said he was happy that the ideas, findings and recommendations contained in the thesis have been turned into a book and were now available to a wider readership.

Reviews

The Editor-in-Chief of Leadership Newspaper, Azu Ishiekwene, in his first review last July in Abuja, observed that the book explored, among other things, the question of whether political conversations amongst Nigerias estimated 33 million active social media users, especially the influencers as of 2021, had any significant impact on the outcome of the 2015 election.

Mr Ishiekwene noted that the author in chapters one, five and six, not only examined earlier studies on the impact of social factors, including peers, opinion leaders and family influences on voter behaviour, but also set out the broad objectives of the book, raising issues that were both specific and contemporaneous in value.

In other words, instead of leaving the reader wondering what happened on the streets of North Carolina in Lazarsfelds studies decades ago and how that affects him in Gwagwalada, Abuja, Cyber Politics uses Nigerias 2015 general elections as anchor.

Cyber Politics helps me as a voter to ponder if the social networks I belong to or the influencers I follow have any potential effects on my political behaviour either in terms of mobilisation or my actual voting decisions. Sometimes, we think we are our own man, until we realise, like Pavlovs dog, that someone somewhere might be pulling the strings, he noted.

Also, in a separate review at the book reading, Awoyemi Michael of African Studies Student Association (ASSA) said the book had opened the floor for critical engagement of social media.

He said the study of influencers role in the voters behaviour presented citizens, voters and scholars with new knowledge and methodology of engaging and analysing online opinion leadership and the actors that played different roles in it.

He also commended the scientific exploration done by the author, which showed an intensive and detailed research.

In his review, Osinachi Esema said the authors data pointed to the possibility of querying the value of social media in the electoral and electioneering process beyond the pursuit of political popularity.

On the other hand, the authors brilliant and daring research also prompts the question, if social media does not bear direct and obvious influence on electoral choices, why do politicians still put so much money into it? Is the popularity being pursued on social media a cover to legitimise the other unseen political plans and strategies of rigging and fraud, which, after all, is now a common knowledge that all politicians partake in, or at least do not detest its privileges towards them?

Similarly, Ben Eluma said Mr Ibietans clearsighted study of cyber politics among Nigerian civil servants yielded useful results that may be compared with other studies of the same phenomenon among other categories of Nigerians online.

Cyber politics is not a trend. It has come to stay. This is why Dr Ibietans book has a very resonant value in the study of Nigerian Internet culture, Mr Eluma added.

I sold properties to pursue my PhD  Ibietan

Meanwhile, speaking at the event, Mr Ibietan narrated how he sold his two plots of land and cars to pursue his doctoral degree.

He said he was expelled from four schools before he eventually bagged his first degree, saying that it was not how fast one made it in life that was important.

The spectrum of when I started the first degree and when I ended it took 10 years because by my records, I think I must have been expelled from four different schools. I remembered the registrar of one of the schools where I was first thrown out told me that I could never even have a first degree, he said.

The author urged the younger generation to keep pushing in the face of challenges, adding that his desire to proceed to study was not for him to be referred to as a doctor but to teach and impart knowledge.

My desire to proceed to study is just to ensure that I return to academia to teach. I dont know when Im going to teach but I didnt go to South Africa to get my PhD because I want to be called a doctor, it is because I want to impart knowledge.

After I had been thrown out of several schools, I landed at the University of Uyo, where I eventually took a first degree successfully. I returned here to Ibadan, did my masters and then returned to work in the public sector. One day, I realised that I was close to 50 years old and then, I decided I was going to go and do the PhD.

There was no money. So, I sold two plots of land that I had in Abuja, I sold my car and I sold my wifes car. I set some money aside for my wife to first pay the school fees of the children for the period I will be away since I wasnt going to earn a dime. But I thank God, Mr Ibietan recalled with nostalgia.

Sparing some thoughts on the education sector, Mr Ibietan hailed the student loan initiative of the federal government as a welcome development.

He said the initiative would afford indigent students the opportunity to take loans and study.

However, while agreeing that the loan option for students was a fantastic idea, he stressed the importance of supporting people without money, but who were willing to learn, without necessarily offering them loans.

He noted if not for the bursary he had access to for his education in South Africa, he would have been stranded in school despite selling off some of his property.

Mr Ibietan also stressed the need for stakeholders to reflect on how to enrich Nigerias politics, because it determined practically everything people do.

He noted that there was a need to use the media to engage in content that shaped the society, saying that without communication there was no democracy.

Can we please look at how we can enrich the context of Nigeria politics. We cant run away from it, so that we can do something that is more intellectual and more rewarding.

How do we use the media to engage in content that shapes our society? This is the point I have made here. Without communication, there is no democracy. So, we need to be strategic in communicating in democratic context in order to enrich that context and in other to also enrich the context of our lives because ultimately, our survival is tied to what happens in the political space, he said.

He thanked his mentors, friends and everyone at the event for honouring the invitation to attend the event, which served a dual purpose having coincided with his birthday celebration.

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A Federal High Court in Lagos Thursday adjourned the criminal case instituted against internet socialite Okechukwu Pascal, A.K.A Cubana Chief Priest, due to the prayer for a plea bargain he initiated with the EFCC.

At the resumption of trial on Thursday, Cubana Chief Priests counsel, Chikaosolu Ojukwu, informed Justice Kehinde Ogundare of the defendants intention to toe the path of plea bargain subject to Section 14 of the EFCC Establishment Act.

We have looked at the charge under Section 14 of the EFCC Act, which encourages plea bargain agreements.

EFCC counsel Bilkisu Buhari confirmed the position.

Mr Ojukwu then prayed for the court to give the parties a short date for them to return and update the court on the deal.

He also withdrew the earlier preliminary objection he filed, challenging the courts jurisdiction to entertain the charge.

In the interest of justice, were urging the court to strike out the motion since the prosecution has not responded to it, he added.

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Granting his prayer, Justice Ogundare struck out the preliminary objection.

The judge also adjourned the case till 5 June for a report of the plea bargain agreement.

The EFCC had, on 17 April, arraigned the embattled socialite on a three-count charge bordering on abuse of the Naira.

One of the counts reads: That you, Okechukwu Pascal, on 13th February 2024, at Eko Hotel Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, while dancing during a social event, tampered with funds in the denomination of N500 (Five Hundred Naira) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria by spraying, thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 21(1) of the Central Bank Act, 2007.

Unlike his colleague, Bobrisky, who admitted to abusing the Naira in court, Cubana pleaded not guilty to the three-count charge filed by the EFCC on 4 April.

He pleaded not guilty to the three-count charge filed against him by the EFCC while the court granted him a N10 million bail.

The EFCC accused the celebrity barman of abusing the Naira twice in 2024 and once in 2020.

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Septembers United Nations (UN) Summit of the Future is touted as a crucial moment to forge a new pact that can better deal with global governance challenges. The UN calls the event a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reinvigorate global action, recommit to fundamental principles, and further develop the frameworks of multilateralism so they are fit for the future.

Why should the summit matter to Africa?

The rate of global conflict events rose by over 40 per cent from 2020-23, with a 12 per cent increase in 2023 compared to 2022. Two of the worlds 10 most violent countries are in Africa  Nigeria and Sudan. In these and other conflict hotspots like the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Sahel and the Horn of Africa, insecurity is growing while the humanitarian situation deteriorates.

These challenges highlight gaps in global and regional peace and security frameworks. UN Security Council (UNSC) divisions have hampered its ability to resolve crises like the Ukraine-Russia war through, for example, mediation. The council also has not authorised a new peacekeeping mission since 2014. Numerous missions have had to be reconfigured due to waning political support from the UNSC or host government.

Africas collective responses to conflict are similarly strained. African Union (AU) Commission Chairperson Moussa Mahamat recently lamented that the Peace and Security Councils (PSC) recurring decisions are ignored and violated, and have become unimportant and unimpactful. Diverging interpretations of the subsidiarity principle governing relations between the AU and regional blocs continue to hamper coordination when dealing with regional crises.

The summit could help address these security challenges. Since the zero draft of the Pact for the Future  the summits preparatory document  was released in January, negotiations have gathered momentum in New York, with UN member states robustly engaging on the various versions.

Africa has a unique stake in these discussions. It holds 28 per cent of the UNs membership, and the continents security issues usually dominate the UNSC agenda. The summit could be used to advocate for reforms that accommodate Africas changing security needs. But so far, both the summit and pact have received a lukewarm reception in Africa  including in Addis Ababa, the AUs seat.

Among others, the draft Pact for the Future stresses the need for adequate, predictable, sustainable financing for AU and subregional peace support operations. It welcomes UNSC Resolution 2719 on peacekeeping and encourages better UN-AU collaboration to ensure implementation.

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These discussions are especially relevant considering the recent withdrawals of UN peacekeepers in Africa and the pressing question of how to fill the security gaps they leave behind. The summit could even provide the impetus to implement the AUs July 2023 decision to overhaul the African Peace and Security Architecture.

It is also an opportunity to discuss reconfiguring the UNSC and strengthening the UNs role in dealing with contemporary crises. The draft pact includes a section on UNSC reform, which could redress Africas underrepresentation on the council. Text-based negotiations could help achieve the AUs position that Africa has two permanent seats with veto power, and five non-permanent seats, as per the Ezulwini Consensus and 2005 Sirte Declaration.

The pacts zero draft also includes a section on reforming international financial institutions  a crucial step in crafting a global economic system that better serves Africas development needs.

The pact specifically refers to Africa and the AU, recognising the body and its subregional actors as partners in leading a new generation of peace enforcement missions and counter-terrorism operations.

And yet, there has been limited engagement with the topic at the AU or among member states. Although some AU officials have spoken about Africas priorities at the Summit of the Future, the last AU summit did not cover the event or its preparatory processes.

One pact co-facilitator said few African states were helping to shape Africas position. The most visible engagement came from the AUs Economic Social and Cultural Council, which raised awareness and held consultations on inputs for the pact.

Perhaps the AUs focus on the G20 since its admission in September 2023 has overshadowed preparations for the Summit of the Future. The limited interest from African countries may also reflect their scepticism that the event will deliver tangible changes in the face of unprecedented global divisions. Regardless, a failure to engage risks relegating African priorities in the final version of the pact and ultimately in the summit.

The summit is also a stepping stone for the UN peacebuilding 2025 review. Africa could use the opportunity to craft follow-on mechanisms that reflect the continents needs.

AU member states and other African stakeholders could engage with the summit in several ways. First, the PSC could organise a dedicated open session on the event and mobilise Africas position according to the pacts five chapters.

As a summit co-facilitator and PSC member, Namibia could brief PSC members on key matters and ways to secure inputs from African states. Namibia could also coordinate between its mission in New York and Addis Ababa to brief the PSC on developments.

The role of the UN African Group in New York in negotiations should be prioritised. Achieving strong continental positions requires coordination between the PSC in Addis Ababa and the group. The UNSCs three non-permanent African members (Algeria, Mozambique and Sierra Leone) could also brief the African Group about the summit and its potential outcomes.

Civil society organisations can help broaden the coalition for the pact at the UN Civil Society Conference from 9-10 May in Nairobi, which focuses on the Summit of the Future. African think tanks and networks can provide analysis and advocacy using platforms like the AU Network of Think Tanks for Peace, which fosters strategic alliances between the AU and researchers.

Tsion Belay Alene, Dawit Yohannes and Emmaculate Liaga, Training for Peace, Institute for Security Studies (ISS) Addis Ababa

(This article was first published by ISS Today, a Premium Times syndication partner. We have their permission to republish).

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A student-led protest at the University of Virginia remained peaceful but had noticeably diminished in size as it entered its third day Thursday. UVas demonstration stands in stark contrast to how larger anti-Israel protests have unfolded across the country and the commonwealth.

As of Thursday evening, there were roughly 40 protesters on UVa Grounds, mostly concentrated near the chapel adjacent to the universitys landmark Rotunda. The crowd included students, faculty and Charlottesville community members rallying in support of the Palestinian cause. Attendance Thursday was roughly half of what was seen the day prior and nowhere near the size of the hundreds-strong demonstrations and encampments at other schools.

The itinerary Thursday included qigong exercises and group yoga. UVa graduate students from multiple departments circulated through the so-called liberated zone throughout the afternoon offering assistance to student protesters with papers and studies. Spring semester classes ended Tuesday, and many students are now preparing for final examinations.

One noticeable absence: any official involvement or endorsement from the Students for Justice in Palestine group. That student organization led multiple well-attended rallies, protests and teach-ins earlier in the year. And while it has not openly disavowed the protesters on Grounds, multiple people who spoke with The Daily Progress under the condition of anonymity said that attendance has suffered without the groups public support or private involvement. Students for Justice in Palestine has not responded to multiple Daily Progress inquiries, and the group has not published anything on its official social media accounts about the ongoing protest on Grounds.

While the crowd was much larger Wednesday, its activities were also subdued. Protesters spent the day blowing bubbles, singing songs, leading call-and-response chants, discussing Israels ongoing war in Gaza and posting signs about Grounds welcoming visitors to the liberated zone, calling for a Free Palestine, urging the United States to Stop Funding Genocide and demanding the school Divest from financial ties to Israel.

Jewish Israelis and Palestinian Arabs have warred over territory in the Levant for decades now, both believing the area to be a holy land for their people. The latest conflict started on Oct. 7 of last year, when Palestinian terrorist group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing roughly 1,200 people and taking more than 240 hostages. Since then, Israel has laid siege to the Hamas-controlled territory of Gaza. The war has now claimed more than 34,000 lives, the majority of those Palestinian women and children.

An ocean away, protests have erupted on college campuses across the United States, where students, siding with the Palestinian cause, have demanded their schools divest entirely from the state of Israel. The country, they say, is engaged in genocide.

Protesters have been split on their other demands, some demanding the U.S. forsake its longtime ally in the Middle East and withhold military aid to Israel, some demanding that Israel lay down its weapons and negotiate a cease-fire, some demanding that Israel cede all of its territory to the Palestinians, or a combination of the three.

At UVa, student organizers issued a list of their own demands Wednesday afternoon. In an Instagram post from an account called @uvaencampmentforgaza, organizers asked that UVa administrators:

 Disclose all direct and indirect investments made by the University of Virginia Investment Management Company, the agency charged with regulating the schools endowment fund.

 Divest from all weapons manufacturers aiding the killing of Palestinians, specifically Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics and Raytheon.

 End all financial and academic ties with Israeli institutions, including study abroad programs, fellowships, internships, research and grants.

 And ensure that students will not face any disciplinary action for engaging in protest.

Organizers issued a statement Thursday night that UVa has until noon Friday to respond. They did not say what would happen if the university did not.

What were all here doing goes further than convictions about morality or about politics, said one of the protests organizers, addressing roughly 50 people on the Lawn in front of the Rotunda around noon Wednesday. We are all here involved in it as a part of a deep tradition of justice that is fueled by those who shoulder oppression with courage and with love, by those who shoulder it with trust that is built together, and together we are all here gathered in the struggle for a life worth living and to stand against those who get in our way.

He thanked those in attendance for participating in the protest before leading them in a chant: Viva, viva, Palestina.

Despite the public nature of the protest, the events organizers have discouraged participants from speaking directly to the press and identifying themselves to members of the media, police or UVa administration. Participants have also been asked that they wear masks.

Since 1950, it has been a crime in Virginia for any individual over the age of 16 to wear a mask, hood or face covering with the intention of concealing their identity, a implicit tool to prosecute members of the Ku Klux Klan.

The masks worn at UVas liberated zone, at least according to organizers, are a COVID-19 precaution.

At one point, during a call-and-response chant Wednesday afternoon, an organizer alerted participants that a Daily Progress reporter was among them. The crowd paused for a brief moment before returning to its chanting.

Organizers have spent much of the past three days asking those gathered on Grounds to encourage others to join their ranks. While it may come as a surprise, given the schools reputation for left-leaning politics and the fears of campuswide chaos stoked by Virginia Republicans earlier in the week, the protest at UVa has so far paled in comparison to those at other schools  and to the weeklong, thousands-strong May Days protest against the Vietnam War at the college in 1970, from which protest organizers said they took their inspiration for the days proceedings.

A similar liberated zone at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg attracted a crowd of hundreds over the weekend, and 82 protesters there were arrested for trespassing late Sunday night and early Monday morning. Police in riot gear stormed an encampment at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond Monday night, arresting 13 after using shields and tear gas to push into the crowd. At the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, 12 protesters were arrested Saturday evening.

Protesters at Columbia University in New York were arrested en masse Tuesday night after they occupied a building on campus and requested the school feed them. And over the past week, protesters and counterprotesters at the University of California, Los Angeles, have regularly come to blows.

Protesters at UVa, meanwhile, have mostly been battling the elements.

A light rain fell on demonstrators Tuesday night, and temperatures in Charlottesville hit a high of 86 degrees Wednesday and 89 degrees Thursday. Clear skies have offered little protection against the suns rays for demonstrators, who regularly have broken into smaller groups seeking shade under the branches of the ash trees that line the grassy Lawn and the towering ginkgo tree near the UVa Chapel. Those groups have participated in teach-ins, discussing the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and student-led protests in the U.S.

So far, there have been no arrests or disruptions, UVa spokesman Brian Coy told The Daily Progress.

Unlike other protests, there have also been no tents, Coy said. Protesters were told early on when they first started to gather on UVa Grounds Tuesday afternoon that erecting tents was strictly prohibited and would qualify as trespassing.

Protesters spent Tuesday and Wednesday nights on blankets and in sleeping bags.

Another university policy is that students on Grounds not use amplified sound without permission. Perhaps the most tense moment of the protest to date was when a protester leading a chant via megaphone was approached by a university administrator who asked him to stop.

What police presence there has been near protesters has been minimal.

UVa Police Chief Tim Longo made an appearance at one point Wednesday afternoon to speak with protesters about the universitys policies regarding trespassing and amplified sound.

As of Thursday evening, what protesters remained showed no sign of leaving their liberated zone, and the university showed no sign of asking them to do so.

The protest activity ... has continued peacefully and in compliance with University policy since it began Tuesday afternoon, the university said in a statement issued Wednesday night. Organizers have complied with requests to remove tents and other prohibited materials. Additionally, a separate demonstration on the Lawn and a counterprotest near the Edgar Shannon Library were held and concluded Wednesday afternoon without incident. Representatives from UVA Student Affairs and University Police continue to engage with organizers to inform them of their right to demonstrate in public spaces, and to remind them of prohibited materials and behavior.

Jefferson, who established UVa in 1819, was a vocal proponent of free speech and expression in the countrys earliest days. And the university has maintained that it will do all in its power not to infringe on those rights, so long as the safety of its community members is not threatened.

The University is prohibited by the Constitution and our own values from restricting speech based on its content, even in cases where the content is hurtful or offensive, the school said in its Wednesday night statement. We do, however, enforce reasonable restrictions on the time, place, and manner of expressive activities, so as to assure the safety of our community and to avoid disruption to University life or the rights of others. As we become aware of planned expressive activities, University officials engage with organizers to inform them of these policies.
A federal jury in New Haven, Connecticut, convicted a Nigerian national today (Wednesday, 1 May) for operating a business email compromise scheme out of multiple countries, including the United States.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Okechuckwu Valentine Osuji, 39, and his co-conspirators targeted specific individuals and businesses by masquerading as trustworthy entities in electronic communications to obtain money. They utilised unwitting and witting money mules to receive fraud proceeds in their bank accounts, and then transferred those funds to accounts under the control of Osuji and his co-conspirators or to convert the stolen proceeds to cash for further transfer. Over the course of the schemes years-long operation, numerous victims were tricked into transferring funds into bank accounts the victims believed were under the control of legitimate recipients of the funds as part of normal business operations, when in reality, the bank accounts were controlled by Osuji and his co-conspirators. As a result of the scheme, losses and intended losses totaled over $6.3 million.

Osuji led a network of scammers in Malaysia and elsewhere in a sophisticated business email compromise scheme to defraud victims of millions of dollars, said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Departments Criminal Division. Todays conviction is another example of how the departments collaboration with international law enforcement partners enables us to bring cybercriminals to justice in the United States.

While it is often difficult to identify and bring to justice cybercriminals operating overseas, todays verdict demonstrates the expertise of the FBI and Stamford Police in uncovering this criminal network, and the shared commitment of our counterparts in Malaysia to ensure that fraudsters are held accountable in a court of law, said U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery for the District of Connecticut. We will continue to work to root out those who engage in internet fraud schemes, no matter where in the world they operate, and achieve justice for victims of these crimes.

The defendant perpetrated a complex international business email compromise scheme and laundered millions in stolen proceeds, said Executive Assistant Director Timothy R. Langan Jr. of the FBIs Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch. This conviction is the result of hard work and close collaboration between the FBI and our local and international partners. Together, we will work aggressively to bring to justice anyone who engages in fraud and theft against Americans, no matter where they are in the world.

Todays verdict provides a bit of closure to some victims of these often financially crippling crimes, said Special Agent in Charge Robert Fuller of the FBI New Haven Field Office. It also displays our international ability to bring criminal actors to justice despite the complexities of their crimes. We want to thank all of our law enforcement partners here and abroad, as well as the U.S. Attorneys office, for their dedication to serving justice.

The jury convicted Osuji of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft. He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 24 and faces a mandatory minimum of two years on the identity theft count and a maximum penalty of 60 years in prison on the wire fraud and conspiracy counts. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

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Osuji was arrested in Malaysia and extradited to the United States in 2022. His alleged co-conspirator, John Wamuigah, remains in Malaysia and is pending extradition proceedings. Another co-conspirator, Tolulope Bodunde, pleaded guilty on 16 February.

The FBI New Haven Field Office and the Stamford Police Department investigated the case. The Justice Departments Office of International Affairs, Royal Malaysia Police, and Malaysian Attorney Generals Chambers provided valuable assistance in securing the arrest and extradition of Osuji.

Trial Attorney Lydia Lichlyter of the Criminal Divisions Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Margaret M. Donovan for the District of Connecticut are prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Doherty for the District of Connecticut provided valuable assistance to the investigation.

If you believe that you have been victimized by Valentine Osuji, John Wamuigah, or Tolulope Bodunde, please contact the FBI New Haven Field Office at 203-777-6311 and ask for FBI Task Force Officer Michael Stempien. Please note that defendants are believed to have used the following accounts in perpetuation of their crimes (partially redacted where necessary, to obscure the names of stolen identities):

Ewleeurrg@gmail.com

Lui-fra-la@gmail.com

shawncarta@gmail.com

agoggiia@gmail.com

ksniper100@gmail.com or kindsnipes@gmail.com

To learn more about business email compromise scams, please visit www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/scams-and-safety/common-scams-and-crimes/business-email-compromise and www.ic3.gov/Media/Y2023/PSA230609.

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A member of Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly who was elected on the platform of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) has defected to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.

Moses Essien, member representing Ibiono Ibom State Constituency, was formally received into the PDP by Governor Umo Eno on Tuesday in Uyo.

Mr Esssien was one of the two opposition lawmakers elected on the YPP platform last year into the 26-member assembly.

The second member, Asuquo Nana, who is doing a second term was first elected into the assembly in 2019 but later defected to the YPP where he was re-elected for a second term.

YPP in Akwa Ibom

The YPP became popular in the state a few months to the 2023 governorship election following the defection of a former senator, Bassey Albert, in the state to the party.

Mr Albert was originally a member of the PDP, a platform in which he was elected twice as senator representing Akwa Ibom North-east.

Mr Albert, a grassroots politician with a great following, defected to the YPP and secured the party ticket to contest the governorship election after he was frustrated within the PDP.

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The former senator came second in the election, losing to Governor Eno of the PDP but had sprang a surprise as he defeated the candidate of the main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), Akanimo Udofia despite that the YPP was relatively new in the state.

Besides winning two seats in the state assembly, YPP also won one of the 10 federal constituency seats in the state.

The defected lawmaker, Mr Essien, who hails from the same local government area with the former senator  Ibiono Ibom, benefited from the goodwill of Mr Albert to emerge the winner at the poll.

Defections

Mr Albert after losing the election and also lost the legal battle to overturn the victory of Governor Eno at the poll defected to the APC in January.

The former senator had collapsed the entire YPP structure in the state to the APC and was received into the APC by the Senate President Godswill Akpabio.

Three months later, his lawmaker, Mr Essien, which Mr Albert had said would join the APC, defected to the PDP.

Besides the lawmaker, other supporters of Mr Albert who were in YPP had earlier defected to the PDP, saying they could not join the former senator in the APC.

Speaking while receiving Mr Essien, Governor Eno said he was committed to leading an administration that is committed to expanding opportunities available to Akwa Ibom people.

As one privileged to lead the PDP in Akwa Ibom State, I commit to standing with our elders and stakeholders and of course members to build a strong party that will continue to serve as the most preferred platform for the emergence of leaders.

The governors remark is contained in a statement posted on Facebook by Borono Bassey, the spokesperson of PDP in the state.

Following the defection of Mr Essien to the PDP, Mr Nana is now the only opposition member of the state assembly.

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The Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) in collaboration with The Best Strategic PR (TBS) are set for the second edition of the annual Nigeria Excellence Awards in Public Service (NEAPS).

The maiden edition of the NEAPs Awards held in October 2022, at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja, honoured 44 Nigerians, with the then President Muhammadu Buhari presenting the awards.

In a statement announcing the 2024 awards, the Communications Officer of TBS, Caroline Yovchevska, said individuals and groups in both the public and private sectors will be eligible to be selected for NEAPS 2024.

Mrs Yovchevska adds: To qualify for an award, recipients must have made significant contributions in public service. Winners of the NEAPS will be those who have improved the quality of public service delivery, taken risks to achieve change, have unblemished and commendable public service record, made significant and notable contributions to a more democratic society and have helped in championing social equity.

Nomination and shortlisting will be democratic to engender wide acceptance and boost recognition of the Awards as a benchmark for excellence in public service and social welfare delivery.

The SGF letter endorsing the 2024 NEAPS Awards, signed by the Permanent Secretary (General Services Office), Maurice Mbaeri, said, The NEAPS, which is designed to be a grand and prestigious independent award, promises to recognize and reward innovations, change, leadership and other exceptional demonstration of selfless public service delivery, with the greatest impact in Nigeria.

Over 60 percent of the winners of the well-attended maiden NEAPS Award in 2022 have continued to make progress in politics and business. They include former governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, who is now FCT Minister; NNPC GCEO, Mele Kyari, who was given a second term by President Tinubu; former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, who is now the Chief of Staff to President Tinubu; Businessman, Abdulsamad Rabiu, whose landmark private university is ready; Governor Umaru Fintiri of Adamawa State who got a second term and Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State who also secured a second term.

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The Best Strategic PR is a Strategic Communication and Policy advisory. The firm is at the forefront of galvanizing support for the promotion of Nigerian ideals and the achievement of sustainable development goals, through effective partnerships with government, International NGOs, diplomatic community, multinational companies and individuals.

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The Commissioner of Police in Kano State, Usaini Gumel, has said the command under his watch arrested and prosecuted no fewer than 3,000 suspects for various offences in the last year.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Gumel said those arrested included suspected kidnappers, banditry, armed robbers, human traffickers, illicit drug dealers and thugs.

He listed the achievements during an interactive session with journalists on Thursday in Kano as part of activities marking his one year in office.

Within the period, he said, the command also received and profiled 623 repentant thugs, who are currently engaged by the state government in various life-changing empowerment programmes.

According to the commissioner, the command, also in the last year, flushed out suspected criminals who occupied the historic Dala Hill and used it as a hideout from where they launched mayhem and various criminal activities.

By so doing, he said, the suspected not only attempted to destroy a major symbol of Kanos history, Dala Hill but almost destroyed a world-class tourist attraction.

Thus far, the intervention of the Police Command has made the historic site safe and secure for all residents of the area, visitors, and the people of Kano State, he said.

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Under the Inspector-General of Polices Safe Schools Initiative aimed at improving the security of lives and property, especially the safety of schools and students, MrGumel said, the command launched the School Protection Squad (SPS).

He said it was meant to provide adequate security to all schools across the state, especially those along borders with other states.

The SPS, comprised of 60 personnel, was provided with the tools for the task and dispatched to intensify and establish robust patrols around all primary and secondary schools, and tertiary institutions across each senatorial district, he said.

I must confess that it has been a privileged opportunity given to me by the Inspector-General of Police, through which I am serving the community with enormous cooperation from the good people of the state.

As the 45th Commissioner of Police in the Command, communities in the state have had their fair share of security challenges, he said.

According to him, this is especially the menace of daylight and nighttime mobile phone armed robbery, thuggery farmers and herders clashes, and other violent criminal activities.

Other heinous crimes include kidnapping, the threat of infiltration of bandits along border LGAs, especially Falgore and Danshoshiya forests.

There was also buying and selling of minors, motor vehicle theft, cross-border organised crimes, and illicit drug dealings, among others, he told journalists.

Through collective efforts, we succeeded in fighting and bringing down the wave of crime and criminality in the State, Mr Gumel told newsmen.

A breakdown of the activities showed the arrest of 337 armed robbery suspects,66 suspected kidnappers, 90 suspected drug dealers, 83 motor vehicle thieves, 62 tricycle thieves, 86 motorcycle thieves and 200 suspected petty thieves.

Also arrested were 61 suspected fraudsters, 9 suspected illegal forex hawkers, and 2101 suspected thugs.

Those rescued were 29 kidnap victims and 65 trafficking victims, while recovered items were six AK-47 rifles, one SMG rifle, three Beretta pistols, one anti-riot gunner, eight double-barrel guns, two Makarov pistols and five English pistols as well as 54 locally made guns.

Also recovered were 44 Dane guns and 14 toy guns, 83 live ammunition and 30 cartridges, 215 motor vehicles,84 tricycles and 116 motorcycles; 3,079 mobile phones, and 990 cartons of fake and expired drugs, among others.

(NAN)

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The Kaduna State office of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has said it received 268 cases of human rights abuses in the first quarter of 2024.

The state Coordinator, Terngu Gwar, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Kaduna that 20 of the cases have been concluded, while 248 are at various stages of intervention.

According to him, most of the cases are linked to domestic violence, forced marriage, parental issues, unlawful arrests and detention, as well as issues around entitlements and inheritance.

He said, 40 of the cases are on domestic violence, 39 on abandonment of wives and family, the remaining on rape, trafficking, custody and access to children and force marriage.

Mr Gwar said that the commission had mediated on matters involving couples and families, but added that some of the cases were referred to court after thorough investigation.

He explained that the NHRC involves relevant institutions such as the police, Ministry of Justice, Nigerian Army and Civil Defence in resolving some of the cases.

The coordinator said the commission remained committed to the protection, promotion and enforcement of the fundamental human rights of citizens.

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As a citizen when your right is violated, you can take a bold step by reporting the case to our office for appropriate action, he stressed, and assured that all the pending cases would be handled properly and timely.

Mr Gwar urged the Kaduna State government to provide a more enabling environment, enforce existing laws and provide additional policies and legal framework to check rights abuses.

He further urged other concerned parties to do more to guarantee the security of the girl-child, women and children at home, schools, and workplaces.

(NAN)

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Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State has set up a committee to work out the modalities for implementing a new minimum wage for workers in the states civil service.

The Secretary to the State Government, Nimibofa Ayawei, heads the committee.

Other members included the Head of Service, Biobelemoye Charles-Onyeama; the Commissioner for Finance, Maxwell Ebibai; his Labour, Productivity and Employment counterpart, Ebiuwou Koku-Obiyai; and the Chief of Staff, Government House, Peter Akpe.

The committee has until the end of May 2024 to submit its report.

Mr Diri made the pronouncement on Wednesday at the 2024 Workers Day celebration at the Peace Park in Yenagoa.

The governor assured that his administration would implement a new minimum wage once the committee submits its report, adding that the state workers always have emoluments as their federal counterparts.

Mr Diri stressed that the welfare of workers had always been a top priority of his administration as attested to by the numerous worker-friendly policies he initiated.

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He equally promised to commence the building of a new befitting secretariat complex for civil servants to accommodate the increasing workforce.

The states governor, who described workers as the backbone of development in society, attributed the achievements in his first tenure to the support and contributions of civil servants.

He called for continuous harmonious working relationship with his government in order to bequeath lasting legacies.

Mr Diri also approved an annual step increment for civil servants, release of funds for completion of the state secretariat of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC).

The committee is to immediately look into what the Federal Government has done on the proposed minimum wage and see the possibility of domesticating it in Bayelsa.

It is given until the end of May to submit its report.

My dear workers of Bayelsa, you have done so well. You know that you are the engine room of this government. We have succeeded because you have done so well. We receive commendations everywhere we go.

In terms of infrastructure, human capacity building and other sectors, we have done well. I say you should continue to keep it up.

The tangible evidence of these fruitful collaborations is that abundantly, we have made it clear for all to see in the plethora of transformative legacy projects that now span the length and breadth of our state, touching the lives of all Bayelsa people.

Let us continue to work together so that the future of our state will be established.

Beyond the ongoing renovation, we will look at the option of building a new state-of-the-art secretariat complex to accommodate the expanding workforce, he said.

Earlier, the workers thanked the governor for his labour-friendly policies that had improved their working condition.

In a joint address by the chairperson of the NLC, Barnabas Simon, and his TUC counterpart, Laye Julius, the workers specifically thanked the governor for approving payment of wage award to all categories of workers in Bayelsa.

We thank you for the regular conduct of promotion exercises and implementation, prompt payment of salaries of workers and pensioners, among others.

Organised labour in Bayelsa is most sincerely grateful for your kind and favourable disposition to the needs and aspirations of workers in the state.

Your open-door policies and swift response to most of our demands in the last four years is highly appreciated, they said.

They, however, appealed for an upward review of the wage award, improved transportation system for workers, and mapping out of acquired lands for civil servants.

(NAN)

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The Anambra State Government has arrested a man for allegedly forcing his daughter to marry in the state.

The man, Uzochukwu Okoli, was arrested after his daughter reported the incident to the State Commissioner of Women and Social Welfare, Ify Obinabo, according to a statement by the commissioners media aide, Chidinma Ikeanyionwu, on Thursday.

Ms Ikeanyionwu said the daughter, Chioma Okoli, 16, also reported to the commissioner that both her father and the man she was forced to marry were maltreating her.

The statement indicated that the commissioner, who facilitated the mans arrest, has vowed to ensure his prosecution.

How it happened

Ms Okoli, according to the statement, said her father began pressuring her and her sisters to marry after he brought them back from Edo State following their mothers death.

The daughter alleged that she was first forced to live with an over 70-year-old man while she was 14, but would later run back to her fathers house.

She said her father later forced her to marry a 34-year-old Chinedu Nweke.

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Ms Okoli, in a video clip uploaded on Facebook, stressed that life with Mr Nweke had been tough because he allegedly beat her and sometimes forced his urine down her throat, a development that compelled her to run away with her nine-months-old baby.

When I got home, my father said I should go back to him (my husband) after I narrated what had happened.

So, I returned (to my husbands house) and he continued to beat me, she said.

Ms Ikeanyionwu said Mr Nweke, like Mr Okoli, had been arrested and that both would be arraigned.

The governments statement did not indicate when the incident happened and the security agency that arrested Messrs Okoli and Nweke.

The man speaks

Mr Okoli, in the video clip which accompanied the statement, initially claimed that his daughter was 18 years old and not 16 but would later make a U-turn, saying the daughter was 20 years old.

In the clip, he denied allegations that he forced his daughter to marry Mr Nweke.

But Mr Okolis first daughter, whose name could not be ascertained, said in the clip that their father also forced another of her younger sisters to marry an unnamed 77-year-old man.

He usually threatened to eject us from his house if we refused to marry (anybody he brought to us) because he knew that we had nowhere to go, she said in Igbo language.

Mr Okoli was heard in the clip threatening to deal with the daughters when he was released from detention.

He asked the daughters to pray that he die in detention because he would make life more miserable for them if he got out of detention.

Stop pushing your children to early marriages

Reacting, the Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare in Anambra State, Mrs Obinabo, said the daughters would get justice when their father is arraigned for the offence.

She urged parents to stop pushing their children into early marriages, which could destroy their lives.

Child marriage in Nigeria

Child marriage is like any marriage where at least one party is under 18 years of age

Such marriage has been prevalent in many parts of the world, including Nigeria.

Nigeria, in 2003, enacted the Child Rights (Prohibition) Act, which outlawed child marriage and betrothing persons less than 18 years of age to any partner.

Anambra State is among the 24 states that have domesticated the law.

According to Part Three, Section 23 of the Act, offenders, on conviction, face a fine of N500,000, a five-year jail term, or both.

The section indicated that those to face the punishment upon conviction include those who marry such an underage child, those to whom an underage child is betrothed, those who promote such marriage and those who betroth the underage child.

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The Lagos State Government, on Wednesday, discovered some under-bridge apartments under the Dolphin Estate bridge in Ikoyi, Lagos.

The apartments had 86 partitioned rooms, sized 1010 and 1210, with each tenant paying an average of N250,000 annually as rent.

Speaking via his X handle, the state Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, said the enforcement team of the ministry had successfully removed all structures, including a container utilised for various illegal activities under the bridge.

The illegal occupants were evicted on Tuesday.

Also speaking on the discovery, Kunle Rotimi-Akodu, special adviser to the state government on environment matters, via his X handle, said, Squatters there have been paying an average rent of N250k per annum.

Squatters dwelling under the bridge leading from inward Dolphin Estate, Ikoyi were evicted on Tuesday by officials of the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps, LAGESC (aka KAI), he said.

These people created their own illegal settlement under the bridge, thereby exposing the critical infrastructure to impending destruction. 23 persons have so far been arrested and MoE/KAI will continue to monitor the place. The law will definitely take its course, he added.

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The Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, has said that the shoreline affected by the Lagos-Calabar coastal road never belonged to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Landmark Africa Group, Paul Onwuanibe.

According to Arise TV, Mr Umahi spoke at the second meeting with parties affected by the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway, which was held on Wednesday in Lagos.

The planned infrastructure is designed to link the former capital city to Calabar, a port city near the border with Cameroon.

Landmark sits along the Atlantic Ocean beachfront in Lagoss affluent Victoria Island area.

Some Landmark Beach Resort employees also protested the beachs sand filling.

The shoreline never belonged to Landmark; the owner, Onwuanibe, sublet it to people illegally, the works minister said, insisting that Mr Onwuanibes infrastructure was unaffected.

Mr Umahi said the Landmark owner is playing politics with politicians, adding that there is nothing to claim.

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Mr President says that this development must have two factors. One is the fear of God, and the second is the human face, and thats what we have tried to do.

Since we came on Thursday, we have been going through the route every day from morning to about 8 p.m. or 9 p.m. Weve made hard decisions. In some cases, we have followed the gazetted routes. In other cases, we have realigned to the coastal line, majorly. And the coastal line from the shore, 250 metres by the Supreme Court judgment, belongs to the federal government.

I talk in particular about Landmark. There is none of his infrastructure that is affected. I agree that there are some people he subleased the place to, but the shoreline was never given to him by the Oniru family. These people he sublet to, he erected some caravans, makeshifts, so on and so forth within the shoreline. So, we are dealing with these people who sublet the shoreline illegally, Mr Umahi said.

The minister challenged Landmark to provide documentation to lay claims to the shorelines.

I have asked him to bring his documents. I challenge him and his co-politicians; let him flash the documents before the press, he said.

Umahi chides Obi

Mr Umahi also addressed criticism of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi.

The former Anambra governor had described the demolition of structures for the project as insensitive and heart-wrenching.

A similar scenario occurred when Peter Obi was governor and he made a statement. He said, Any infrastructure that stands in the way of road construction must go and there will be no compensation paid. Thats what he said. But look at me, by the human face of the Renewed Hope Agenda administration, we are even paying for people that are illegally staying on the coastline and do not even have valid infrastructure and valid documents. That is mercy.

You know some people counsel without knowledge. When you condemn people, you bring judgment upon yourself. And thats what he has done, the minister said.

Benefits of the coastal road

The works minister said that the coastal road will enable people to travel with ease.

anyone traveling from Sokoto to Lagos will do it in about 10 hours and traveling from south-east to Abuja will be a maximum of five hours. These are the benefits of the coastal road.

He noted that the roads will be constructed with concrete pavement and will drive foreign investment into the country, which will in turn strengthen the Naira.

He also said that the coastal road will be an evacuation corridor for the Lagos deep seaport.

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A student of Veritas University, Abuja, has been announced dead by the institutions management.

The student, identified as Joshua Daniel, was a 100-level computer science student, who reportedly died while keeping fit at the institutions gymnasium.

In a statement issued on Thursday by the university and signed by the head of corporate affairs, Ben Agande, Mr Daniel slumped and died on 30 April.

The university said all attempts by its medical team to revive him failed.

Police wades in

Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police for the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Benneth Igweh, has ordered an investigation into the development.

A report by DailyPost noted that Mr Igwe has directed the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Criminal Investigative Department (CID) to conduct a discreet investigation on the matter.

Meanwhile, the university has pledged to cooperate with the police, and all other concerned stakeholders including the parents of the deceased, in the efforts to unravel the probable cause of the death.

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The statement reads in part: The parents of the student were promptly informed of the tragic event and the school authority, as a matter of procedure, duly informed the police.

Our thoughts are with the parents of late Mr Daniel as well as the Head of Department and Students of the Department of Computer Sciences over this unfortunate loss.

We pray for the peaceful repose of the soul of our student and extend our most sincere condolences to the parents and pray God to grant them the fortitude to bear the loss.

We plead with our colleagues in the media and members of the public to be respectful of the privacy of our late students parents at this trying moment while the police carry out their investigations.

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A law firm, Deji Adeyanju & Partners, representing a Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) staff member, Asabe Waziri, has threatened to sue the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) over what it termed a defamatory statement.

In a letter signed by Marvin Omorogbe, a lawyer, and addressed to the convener of HURIWA, Emmanuel Onwubiko, the law firm demanded an immediate retraction and apology from HURIWA.

It condemned HURIWAs accusations of misconduct against Ms Waziri and rejected insinuations of corruption, citing ongoing legal proceedings and evidence of criminal charges against individuals associated with the opposing party.

The law firm asserted that HURIWAs actions have severely damaged Ms Waziris public image and infringed on her constitutional rights.

It demanded an immediate retraction of the letter sent to NNPC, a formal apology, a public apology in two national dailies, and financial compensation amounting to N100,000,000 for defamation.

Our clients attention has been drawn to media reports regarding the above subject matter and she has indeed sighted a letter dated 19 April 2024, authored by HURIWA, wherein you requested her employer, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited to avail you sensitive documents relating to her employment, salaries, alleged ownership of properties, etc, all of which are protected by law, including the Freedom of Information Act, which you referenced in your letter, the firm said.

Background

HURIWA had written the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited, Mele Kyari, seeking the status of one of its staff, Ms Waziri, who is said to have purchased multi-million-naira houses in Abuja and Lagos.

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The letter, signed by HURIWAs director of public media relations, Amina Mohammed and written under the Freedom of Information Act (FOI), sought clarification on the employment status of Ms Waziri and sought to ascertain the veracity of certain allegations against her.

To assist us in better understanding Ms Waziris employment status with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited and to ascertain the veracity of the allegations against her, we kindly request the following information under the Freedom of Information Act:

Employment Status: Please provide details regarding Asabe Waziris current employment status with NNPC Limited, including her position, department, and any relevant employment records.

Salaries and Benefits: Kindly disclose Ms Waziris salary scale, benefits package, and any additional compensation she receives from NNPC Limited.

Date of Enlistment: Provide the date when Asabe Waziri was enlisted as a staff member of NNPC Limited, along with any records indicating her length of service.

Acquisition of Property: We seek clarification on how Ms. Waziri, as a public servant, allegedly acquired two units of residential property (specifically, units 3B and 3C, Abeh Signatures Apartments, 1 Mekong Close, Maitama Abuja FCT) valued at N260 million, as detailed in the aforementioned allegations. Sir, we would also be interested to ascertain the veracity of an unverified allegation that she made a purchase of a prized housing asset in Lagos. Kindly avail us of this information if this is credible and provable.

We believe that transparency in this matter is crucial for accountability and public interest. We trust that your esteemed office will provide the requested information promptly and following the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (2011), HURIWA wrote in its letter.

But Deji Adeyanju & Partners queried HURIWAs motive in writing the above-mentioned letter and its locus to dabble into an issue bordering on a civil contract that is already before several courts of competent jurisdiction in Nigeria, including the Court of Appeal.

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The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, says insecurity in the territory has reduced significantly.

Mr Wike said this in Abuja on Thursday when a delegation led by an Honorary Consul General of Hungary, Endre Deri, paid him a courtesy call.

Security has been an issue, but by the grace of God, weve been able to reduce the level of insecurity. You can attest to the fact that Abuja is safer now because of the way we have been able to tackle the issue, he said.

Abuja, the Nigerian capital, witnessed a series of kidnappings and other crimes earlier this year. Some of the incidents led to the killing of some of the kidnap victims.

Mr Wike, who assumed office as minister on 21 August 2023, told the delegation that there are plans to use drones to enhance surveillance.

He said the priority placed on security is in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.

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He said there is an ongoing procurement process for additional security equipment and invited Hungary to participate in it.

Agricultural Partnership Prospects

Mr Wike expressed readiness to partner with Hungary, particularly in agriculture and security.

He stressed the significance of agriculture in achieving food security and welcomed collaboration through Public Private Partnerships (PPP) with Hungary.

The issue of agriculture is very key. I know I have been to Budapest, and I know that Hungary is one of the countries that is also focused on agriculture, he said.

The minister said he is willing to offer land to Hungarian experts interested in investing in food production in the FCT.

READ ALSO: Wike urges speedy review of Abuja master plan

Earlier in his remark, Mr Deri indicated an interest in partnering with the FCT, citing the commendable development initiatives undertaken by Mr Wike in the territory.

He expressed gratitude for the support extended to Hungary, particularly for facilitating Hungarian scholarship programmes benefiting Nigerian students.

Mr Deris role as an honorary consul general involves promoting economic and cultural relations and providing support to nationals, according to a clarification shared with PREMIUM TIMES by the Hungarian Embassy in Abuja. He is, however, not a diplomatic staff member of the embassy in Abuja, and his role does not include providing diplomatic negotiations or official state representations unless explicitly authorised, the embassy clarified further.

EDITORS NOTE: This story has been updated with the accurate designation of Mr Deri, based on the clarification shared with PREMIUM TIMES by the Hungarian Embassy in Abuja.

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The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has said that the nation recorded 105 cases of grid collapse from 2015 till date.

The TCN General Manager Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, disclosed this in a statement posted on the companys X handle on Wednesday.

In recent times, the TCN has reported cases of national grid system collapses, resulting in reduced electricity allocation to electricity distribution companies in the country.

On 15 April, Nigerias electricity grid collapsed, throwing several cities into darkness.

The grid collapsed as generation dropped to 64.70 megawatts, officials said.

In its statement on Wednesday, the company said the number of grid disturbances/system collapses has gradually reduced, contrary to popular opinion.

In recent years, the number of grid disturbances/system collapses has gradually reduced, contrary to popular opinion.

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Clearly, between 2020 to date (five years), we recorded fourteen total and six partial grid disturbances totalling twenty (20), which represents a 76.47 per cent reduction in grid disturbance, when compared to the previous five years, (2015 to 2019) where we had sixty-four total and twenty-one partial grid disturbances, totalling eighty-five (85) times, Ms Mbah said.

She said this improvement is, however, not unconnected to the continuous effort by the management to strategically expand the grid while harnessing in-house capacities to find solutions to grid stability, pending the deployment of SCADA/EMS.

No doubt there is room for improvement, and TCN will continue to work hard to further reduce the number of grid disturbances to the barest minimum, she said.

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Twelve personnel of the Nigerian Army are facing a court martial regarding the bombing incident at Tudun Biri in Kaduna State.

The Director of Defence Media Operations, Edward Buba, a major general, made this known while briefing journalists on Thursday in Abuja on the armed forces operations.

On 3 December 2023, 85 civilians were killed in military drone attacks in Tudun Biri, Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

Mr Buba said that the military would punish the personnel found culpable in the incident, adding that an investigation was conducted and concluded with a resolve to ensure that the personnel involved were brought to book and justice served for the victims.

The military has conducted a painstaking investigation into the incident and has initiated disciplinary action against those culpable.

Accordingly, the affected personnel are to face a court martial for acts of omission or commission with respect to the incident.

I am, however, constrained not to speak much about the incident as it would be adjudged as prejudicial being a case before a court martial.

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The military will take extra precautions in the future to ensure that noncombatants are safe, he said.

(NAN)

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Henry Mbachu, representing Awka South I in the Anambra House of Assembly, said that from Easter Sunday till date, 34 persons have been gunned down in Awka and its environs alone.

He said the situation is worrisome and disclosed that he plans to hold a security summit within his constituency on 29 May.

The lawmaker gave this indication in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Awka on Monday.

Mr Mbachu, a Labour Party lawmaker, said that in the space of one month, 34 lives had been wasted in Awka and its environs in the name of cultism.

He said the crime needs to be discussed at a roundtable where we will all brainstorm to proffer solutions that will be submitted to the government.

The summit will throw up suggestions that will help in ending cult killings.

It looks like these cultists have overwhelmed the state apparatus charged with law enforcement and security services, he said.

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He appealed to traditional and community leaders, faith-based organisations, and youths in the constituency to take ownership of their lives and stop the menace.

As your representative in the state assembly, I am pained about the rate of killings in the name of cultism and wish to find a permanent solution.

We must separate cultism from crime as the presence of many security outfits, the construction of gates in all the villages and business areas have not been able to end the high wave of cult killings, he said.

Mr Mbachu disclosed that the state legislature has passed the anti-cultism bill, which is awaiting Governor Charles Soludos assent.

In his reaction to the lawmakers remark, the police spokesperson in Anambra, Tochukwu Ikenga, said that the police have been doing their best to end cultism in the state.

He said that the police would always partner with anybody in the fight against insecurity in the state.

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Thursday, presented two witnesses in the trial of Binance Holdings Ltd and its two executives at the Federal High Court, Abuja.

EFCCs lawyer, Ekele Iheanacho, at the beginning of the court session, informed the trial judge, Emeka Nwite, of his plan to call two witnesses.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the anti-graft had preferred five counts of money laundering against the crypto-currency firm, its top officials; Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla (said to be at large).

They were alleged to have conspired amongst themselves to conceal the origin of the financial proceeds of their alleged unlawful activities in Nigeria including $35.4 million, among others.

The commission accused them of committing the offence contrary to section 21 (a) and punishable under Section 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, among others.

However, before arraignment could take place, one of the defendants, Mr Anjarwalla, was reported to have escaped from lawful custody on 22 March and fled Nigeria for Kenya.

The rest of the defendants were later arraigned on 18 April. They pleaded not guilty to the counts.

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Mr Gambaryan was ordered to be remanded in Kuje Correctional Centre

The defendant, through his lawyer, Mark Mordi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), applied for a bail, on 23 April, which was opposed by the EFCC.

The judge fixed 17 May for ruling on the bail application.

Argument over trial

Meanwhile, when the matter was called on Thursday, Mr Iheanacho said the matter was scheduled for trial commencement.

The matter is for commencement of trial and we have two of our witnesses in court today my lord, Mr Iheanacho told the court.

But Tonye Krukrubo, a SAN, the counsel for Binance Ltd, objected to Mr Iheanachos submission.

Mr Krukrubo told the court that his client had not been served with the court documents in the matter.

But the EFCC lawyer responded that all the defendants, including the 1st defendant (Binance), had been duly served and that additional proof of evidence was served on the 1st defendant through the 2nd defendant (Gambaryan) in accordance with the law.

But Mr Krukrubo insisted that he had not been served.

He said a suspect facing criminal proceedings should be afforded the opportunity to defend himself, hence, there should be a proof of service of the documents on his client.

Mr Iheanacho, on his part, restated that the company was served through Mr Gambaryan, who is its agent in Nigeria.

He said the proof of service could be confirmed in the court record.

However, the proof of service could not be found in the court record when the judge directed the registrar to look through the file.

The judge, Mr Nwite, then summoned the bailiff to give his own account on the service of the documents.

The bailiff explained that on 30 April, he was at Kuje Correction Facility to effect the service of the documents on Binance through Mr Gambaryan but he was not allowed to see him.

He said all efforts made were unsuccessful.

The bailiff told the court that the documents were still in his care.

Mr Nwite then ordered Mr Iheanacho to serve Mr Krukrubo with the extra copy of the documents in his possession in the open court.

Mr Krukrubo applied for an adjournment to enable him study the documents ahead of the trial commencement.

The judge, who adjourned the matter until 17 May for trial commencement, advised EFCC to be diligent in the trial.

It behooves on you, as prosecution, to do all within your power in the trial because I am not going to entertain any delay in this trial again, Mr Nwite said.

(NAN)

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The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) says troops eliminated a total of 715 terrorists and rescued 465 kidnap victims in ground and air operations across the country in the month of April.

The Director, Defence Media Operation, Edward Buba, a major general, made this known while briefing journalists on Thursday in Abuja on the operations of the Armed Forces.

He added that the troops apprehended no fewer than 1,146 suspects during ambushes, raids, fighting patrols and other covert operations during the month.

Mr Buba said several enclaves of notable terrorist leaders and commanders like Nasanda, Babaru, Kamilu Buzaru, Ali Dawud, Bakura Fallujah and Mallam Ari, across North-west, were bombarded and destroyed.

According to him, other terrorist leaders and commanders engaged by air strikes include that of Mallam Yadee in Mariga Local Government Area of Niger and Bello Turjis camp in Kagara forest located between Shinkafi in Zamfara State and Isa LGA in Sokoto State.

All the surviving terrorist commanders and leaders are walking corpses as we would get them, sooner than later.

Mr Buba explained that the synchronised strikes between the ground and air forces during the period under review resulted in over 715 terrorists neutralised, arrested 1,146 persons and rescued 465 kidnapped hostages.

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Furthermore, troops recovered 937 assorted weapons, 23,034 assorted ammunitions and denied the oil theft of an estimated sum over N2 billion.

In the North-east, the defence spokesperson said troops of Operation Hadin Kai conducted operations into Sambisa Forest, Timbuktu Triangle and the Tumbus around the Lake Chad Region within the month.

He said that the operations led to the elimination of 248 terrorists, arrest of 422, and rescue of 163 kidnapped hostages while a total of 714 Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists and their families surrendered to troops.

According to him, the recovered items include 208 AK47 rifles, 34 fabricated and 45 dane guns, 18 assorted arms, 3,672 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 2,058 rounds of 7.62mm NATO and 422 assorted ammunitions.

In the North-central, Mr Buba said operations conducted by troops of Operation Safe Haven in several hot spots neutralised 32 terrorists and violent extremists and arrested 148 while 35 kidnap hostages were rescued.

He said the troops equally recovered 23 AK47 rifles, 19 fabricated guns, 93 assorted arms, 788 rounds of 7.62mm special, 451 rounds of 7.62mm NATO and 256 assorted ammunitions.

The defence spokesperson also said that troops of Operation Whirl Stroke had conducted operations to several criminal strongholds in April.

Overall, troops neutralised 60 terrorists, arrested 99 suspects and rescued 57 kidnapped hostages and also recovered 40 AK47 rifles, 60 assorted arms, 917 rounds of 7.62mm special, 896 rounds of 7.62mm NATO and 331 assorted ammunitions, he said.

In the North-west, Mr Buba said the troops of Operation Hadarin Daji maintained the momentum against terrorists hibernating in Bayan Ruwa and other enclaves.

Responding to questions, the spokesperson said there has been linkage between illegal mining and acts of terrorism in the region, as well as foreign involvement in illegal mining.

He said the troops neutralised no fewer than 297 terrorist, apprehended 141 suspects and rescued 143 kidnap hostages within the period, in addition to the recovery of 182 AK47 rifles, 57 fabricated guns, 71 assorted arms, 4,192 rounds of 7.62mm special, 2,341 rounds of 7.62mm NATO and 556 assorted ammunitions.

Under Operation Whirl Punch, Mr Buba said the troops neutralised 31 terrorists, arrested 69 suspects, rescued 17 kidnap victims, and recovered 20 AK47 rifles, 28 assorted arms, 538 rounds of 7.62mm special, 397 rounds of 7.62mm NATO and 1,200 assorted ammunitions.

In the South-south, he said the troops of Operation Delta Safe neutralised nine violent extremists, arrested 164 persons involved in crude oil theft and recovered 2,563,335 liters of crude oil, 254,620 liters of AGO, 1,050 liters of DPK and 8,000 liters of PMS.

He added that troops also recovered 56 assorted weapons and destroyed 74 wooden boats, 1,501 assorted ammunitions and 76 illegal refining sites during the month.

The defence spokesperson added that in the South-east, troops of Operation UDO KA neutralised 38 terrorists, arrested 103 suspects and rescued 50 kidnap hostages.

According to him, 8 AK47 rifles, 23 pump action guns, 661 rounds of 7.62mm special, 34 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 589 live cartridges, 225 assorted ammunitions and 43 other equipment were recovered within the month under review.

(NAN)

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The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has increased the maximum deposit insurance coverage levels for all licensed deposit-taking financial institutions with immediate effect.

The NDIC Managing Director, Bello Hassan, disclosed this Thursday at a press conference.

He noted that the NDICs Interim Management Committee (IMC) approved the adjustments during its 18th meeting on 24 and 25 April.

For commercial banks, NDIC increased the coverage from N500 thousand to N5 million offering full protection to 98.98 per cent of depositors, compared to the previous 89.20 per cent.

This adjustment substantially increases the value of deposits covered, reinforcing depositor confidence and mitigating the risk of bank runs.

Deposit Money Banks (DMBs): The increase of the maximum deposit insurance coverage from N500,000 to N5,000,000, would provide full coverage of 98.98 per cent of the total depositors compared with the current cover of 89.20 per cent.

In terms of the value of deposit covered, the revised coverage would increase the value of deposits covered by deposit insurance to 25.37 per cent compared with the current cover of 6.31 per cent of the total value of deposits, he said.

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For Microfinance Banks (MFBs) and Primary Mortgage Banks (PMBs), NDIC increased the maximum coverage from N200 thousand to N2 million. It also extends comprehensive protection to 99.27 per cent and 99.34 per cent of depositors, respectively, further bolstering financial stability.

For Payment Service Banks (PSBs), the NDIC gave similar adjustments elevating the maximum coverage from N500,000 to N2 million, ensuring full coverage of 99.99percent of the total number of depositors and an increase in the value of deposits covered by deposit insurance to 43.10 per cent of the total value deposits from the current cover of 40.60 per cent for PSBs.

The increase of the maximum Pass-through deposit insurance coverage from N500,000 to N5,000,000 per subscriber per MMO as the applicable coverage level for depositors of DMBs, he said.

Emphasising the potential risk of bank runs associated with a significant volume of uninsured deposits, he highlighted research findings revealing that a substantial majority of depositors, ranging from 89.20 per cent to 99.99 per cent, benefited from full coverage under various bank categories.

Nonetheless, a considerable portion of the total deposit value remains unprotected.

He said that the implementation of the updated maximum deposit insurance coverage is backed by the corporations existing funding, including balances in different Deposit Insurance Funds (DIFs), projected annual premium collections and strengthened supervision to mitigate bank failures, efficient bank resolution frameworks, and other funding mechanisms outlined in the NDIC Act No. 33 of 2023.

He reiterated the NDICs steadfast dedication to safeguarding depositors and fostering financial system stability.

The NDIC chief emphasised that these adjustments demonstrate the NDICs commitment to adapting and evolving amid shifts in the financial industry landscape and ensuring a secure and robust banking environment for all stakeholders.

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The declaration of an indefinite strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Abuja chapter has stirred controversy among the union members.

The chairperson of the branch, Sylavnus Ugoh, announced that ASUU members are embarking on a total, comprehensive and indefinite strike starting from Thursday. He said the decision to embark on the strike was decided by the union at a congress held earlier on Thursday.

Of course, the trustees and the principal officers of our union have to give us permission to embark on strike, and thats why we declare the strike today, he told PREMIUM TIMES in a telephone interview.

He noted that the strike was sanctioned by both the UniAbuja congress and the unions national leadership and board of trustees.

Why strike?

The union leader said ASUU has five contentious issues with the university, which he noted the institutions management has failed to resolve despite repeated engagement.

Mr Ugoh accused the university management of taking decisions specifically reserved for the governing council even when there is none.

He said the advertisement for the position of vice-chancellor to succeed the incumbent, Abdulrasheed NaAllah, a professor, is illegal, insisting that it negates the Establishment Act of the university.

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President Bola Tinubu had dissolved the governing councils of several agencies of the Nigerian government including the universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.

ASUU-UniAbuja also accused the university management of recruiting and promoting staff without following due process.

Controversy

Meanwhile, some members of ASUU on the campus have disclaimed the strike, accusing the Mr Ugoh-led union of not acting in good faith.

The faction of the union led by Umar Kari and Mohammed Yisa, said in a statement that all the issues raised by Mr Ugoh had been addressed.

Obviously, the cabal dictating to Dr Ugoh-led local ASUU desperately wanted a strike to satisfy their personal interest but never the in the interest of larger ASUU members and the university of Abuja, the statement reads in parts.

The university spokesperson, Habib Yakoob, however, explained that both the advertisement for the role of vice-chancellor and the promotions were approved by the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, a professor.

Issues in contention

Mr Ugoh accused the current management of the university of shortchanging ASUU in the establishment of the UniAbuja Microfinance Bank.

He said ASUU had, since 2017, paid the university management to buy shares in the microfinance bank, stressing that the union is both a stakeholder and a shareholder in the project.

The University Governing Council as of 2017 gave us a place where we have a chair in the board of directors and to have a shareholder capacity, which we already paid for since 2017, he told our reporter on Thursday.

But the university recently wrote ASUU to inform it that the union is no longer a shareholder and has no place as a member of the board of directors, he said.

We have engaged the vice-chancellor on this. We even wrote to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to notify it. But it seems (the university) is still going ahead to continue the process, which is what the governing council had already resolved, and written to us formally years before the current vice-chancellor came on board. And we have had a resolution to that effect, drawing the attention of the university administration to that but the management refused to reason with us.

The union also accused the university management of embarking on several acts of illegality which, according to it, include kickstarting the process of appointing another VC, recruitment of over 200 staff and the promotion of others.

There are about five major issues in contention. The first one was the advertorial that was illegally placed for the vacancy of the post of vice-chancellor without following due process. Right now theres no governing council in place and the Act of the university states clearly that it is only the university governing council that has the responsibility to hire and fire and in this case even to advertise for the post of the vice-chancellor, he said.

He added that the current management of the institution has failed to adhere to the rules of the university which dictates that the position of deans of faculties should be by election and the winner is expected to be in office for two years.

The union accused the university vice-chancellor of arbitrarily appointing persons into these positions without elections. According to the union, there have been no elections for the dean positions for more than two years.

We have written several letters. Not one, not two, not three, not four on this issue. But the administrations team remained adamant and we have to press home because its an act of illegality, Mr Ugoh added.

He added that the university has recruited more than 200 persons and promoted many others without advertisement or approval of the council.

We drew the attention of the university administration to that anomaly. We expected that they would have made a recourse but they went ahead to promote people and by that, we are not sure of the criteria for the promotion. And because the Council is not in place, it is illegality upon illegality.

Opposition to strike

Meanwhile, some members of the union led by Umar Kari and Mohammed Yisa have opposed the move to embark on an industrial action.

A statement signed by Messrs Kari and Yisa noted that the declaration of the indefinite strike was fraught with patterns strange to ASUUs declaration of strike action.

They accused the striking faction of the union of misrepresentation and having a sectional interest in declaring the strike.

According to the statement, the vice-chancellor had released the timetable for the election of deans in a manner that will not cripple the university activities, especially the ongoing students first-semester examination.

The statement noted that four substantive deans have been elected and the election continues with the faculty of law next Tuesday while others follow.

If the basis for the strike was genuinely about the election of deans, would an indefinite strike facilitate the process or put it far off? the statement said.

In an advertorial for the position of vice-chancellor, the duo said the university is not the only Nigerian university that has advertised for the position without governing councils.

The question begging the mind of everyone, staff and the public is why would ASUU, the University of Abuja alone, proceed on indefinite strike when the university of Maiduguri, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, ATBU Bauchi, and others sustain the sanctity of stable academic calendar on their campuses despite advertisement for VC positions, the statement said.

The statement also stated that ASUU had on 15 April received a letter, re-allocating a member to the union in the proposed UniAbuja Microfinance Bank.

The statement added that the Minister of Education monitors and approves the promotion process as directed by the visitor, President Bola Tinubu.

The statement further said: This was a process followed by all other federal universities in the promotion process since councils were dissolved. The same process earned the university chapters chairman, vice chairman and secretary of ASUU, elevation.

Describing the recruitment process duly approved by the Federal Government as illegal came as a rude shock to Congress as it is not known at any time that it is the ASUU local executives that approve appointments of deserving new staff into the system. With the increasing demands for more faculty members to fill the obvious shortages, should a genuine academic union that is desirous of unfettered quality education wage war against filling faculty positions?

READ ALSO: ASUU chapter seeks reconstitution of governing councils of federal universities

We vehemently demand that ASUU must work for ASUU and not a hidden cabal that is out to take the University of Abuja back to the inglorious yesteryears. A decision to go on an indefinite strike without at any point seeking members of ASUUs vote for, or against, is absolutely not the ASUU procedure for calling a strike. So, the so-called strike remains unrepresentative of the larger members of ASUU and cannot stand.

University speaks

Meanwhile, the university spokesperson, Mr Yakub noted that recruitment for the position of the vice-chancellor and promotion of some staff was approved by the education minister.

The universitys point is clear. The advert was placed in the newspaper on the authority and approval of the Minister of Education who has also approved some promotions, he said in a telephone conversation on Thursday.

The university is not going to get grounded because there is no council in the last couple of months.

Qosim Suleiman is a reporter at Premium Times in partnership with Report for the World, which matches local newsrooms with talented emerging journalists to report on under-covered issues around the globe

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Some West African journalists have accused the political leadership of the region of refusing to tackle environmental issues plaguing the region.

The journalists spoke on Thursday evening at a webinar organised by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) in Accra, Ghana, to commemorate this years edition of World Press Freedom Day.

The World Press Freedom Day is held every May to draw attention to the challenges journalists grapple with in the course of their roles as watchdogs of society.

The event also reminds governments across the globe to safeguard free press and freedom of expression.

The Executive Director of MFWA, Sulemana Braimah, said leaders in the region are more concerned about their desire to grab political power while ignoring existential issues of climate change exacerbated by environmental degradation.

Mr Briamah, in his opening remarks, at the two-hour webinar, called for accountability journalism in addressing the problems of environmental crises in West Africa.

In the same vein, Kenneth Ashigbey, a member of a media coalition against illegal mining in Ghana, said journalists must be supported to expose perpetrators of environmental degradation.

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Mr Ashigbey, a media manager, highlighted some of the worst environmental issues to include illegal mining, deforestation, poaching, and sand mining.

He pointed out that these activities pollute farm lands and water bodies from Ghana to her West African neighbour, Cote dIvoire.

Journalists recount challenges

Three West African journalists from Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon, who spoke on the theme of the webinar, Journalism & the Growing Environmental Crises in West Africa, said reporting on environmental degradation comes with a steep price for journalists.

An award-winning Ghanaian journalist, Erastus Donkor, recalled a horrific experience he had while reporting on illegal mining at a forest reserve in Ghana.

We were at a forest reserve reporting on illegal mining in Ghana, but the vigilante group guarding the miners detained me and my cameraman for five hours. They punched my driver in the face, vandalised the car windscreen and cameras just to destroy our evidence of the illegal activities, Mr Donkor recalled how he and his crew members were brutalised.

He said people with vested interest  politicians, businesspeople  do not want to be held to account.

Mr Donkwor corroborated Mr Ashigbeys concerns when he said fresh water bodies are being contaminated, while the Ghanaian government tries to suppress accountability reporting with disinformation.

In his account, Haruna Salisu, a Nigerian journalist, said reporting on environmental pollution in the countrys northeastern region had caused him enormous discomfort.

The situation in Nigeria is frightening, Mr Salisu, who hails from Bauchi State, said at the webinar.

The government would conspire to deny journalists access to vital information. It would also send thugs after you for trying to expose issues like illegal mining and logging in games reserves, he said.

Another journalist from Cameroon, Line Reene Batongue, said illegal logging and mining constitute some of the worst forms of environmental degradation in the country.

Mining in Cameroon generates a lot of money. So, exposing the miners whose activities are a threat to biodiversity, is dangerous, Ms Batongue said.

She lamented forest exploitation and pangolin scales that are shipped from Africa to feed Asian markets.

The journalists called for collaboration between members of the civil society organisations in addressing lawsuits that are filed by big corporations and powerful individuals against reporters who engage in environmental reporting.

They also proffered solution journalism as a way of sensitising locals in mining communities on the impact of environmental pollution on their wellbeing with a view to seeking redress in court.

Background

This year has witnessed rising temperatures which environmental experts attributed to climate change.

In Nigeria, for instance, many rural communities are faced with security challenges occasioned by illegal mining activities that are depleting biodiversity.

PREMIUM TIMES previously reported how terrorists in Nigerias northwestern state of Zamfara engage in illegal mining of gold.

In many instances, government oversight is absent in mining of minerals and other natural resources in Nigeria.

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Zurmi, the second most populous town in Zamfara State in North-west Nigeria, has been overrun by terrorists who ransacked the emirs palace, killed three palace officials and abducted some residents.

A terrorism gang leader, Isyaku Majo, has posted a video on Facebook claiming responsibility for the attack and indicating that he was holding hundreds of captives.

The terrorists began the attacks on Wednesday at about 9:45 p.m., according to a security report seen by PREMIUM TIMES.

The security report said the outlaws vandalised an MTN communication facility in Zurmi in an apparent move to disrupt communication and prevent security reinforcement as they had planned to abduct the emir, Muhammadu Suleiman.

Residents said the terrorists had accused the emir, Mr Suleiman, of indifference to the plight of Fulani residents in the area who were allegedly being maltreated by the local vigilantes.

The terrorists killed three people at the gate of the emirs palace and abducted three others including the Shamaki (chief details) of the emir, Buhari Yusuf; and two other residents, Aliyu Ahmed and Saidu Lawali.

It was the soldiers stationed at the town that forced the terrorists to retreat, but their target was to abduct the emir and they came on over 150 motorcycles, a resident said, asking not to be named.

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As I speak to you, about two-thirds of residents have fled Zurmi town and more people have been fleeing daily since the terrorists overran the emirs palace on Wednesday, the sources added.

Another source said the terrorists returned to the town on Monday and killed one Malam Salisu, a worker with the Local Government Education Authority (LGEA).

On the same day, (Monday) they went to the residence of Sani Maidaji, they broke into the house using a digger and abducted his newly wedded wife and two of his male children, the source added.

However, the police spokesperson in Zamfara, Yazeed Abubakar, said he was yet to be briefed about the development.

Group claims responsibility

Meanwhile, a terrorism gang leader, Isyaku Majo, has posted a video showing some of the abducted persons on Facebook, including the emirs chief details, Mr Yusuf, and claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Mr Majo, whose elder brother Yakubu Majo, is the traditional head of the Fulani community in Zurmi, vowed to unleash more mayhem on Zurmi until the vigilantes stop persecuting Fulani people in his domain, a resident said.

In the video seen by PREMIUM TIMES, the blindfolded Mr Yusuf, sat alongside dozens of captives on the floor, surrounded by armed terrorists, and urged the emir to address the plight of the Fulanis in the area.

I am the Shamaki, Alhaji Buhari Yusuf. Please Emir save your servants in captivity in the forest, we are above 600 in captivity.

Stop killing Fulani people, their women and children in Zurmi town, I am pleading with the emir to summon Fulani leaders and listen to their grievances because their people are being killed in Zurmi town.

As Mr Yusuf spoke, a voice could be heard in the background telling him him what to say.

Zurmi Emirates complicated history

Zurmi is the second most populous town in Zamfara after Gusau, the state capital. It is along the border with Niger Republic and shares a boundary with Katsina State.

In April 2022, the Zamfara State Government deposed Abubakar Atiku, the then Emir of Zurmi, over his alleged links with bandits.

Also deposed then were the emir of Dansadau, Hussaini Umar. They were accused of frustrating efforts to arrest suspected bandits and aiding cattle rustlers.

Mr Atiku, who later died in an Egyptian hospital, was an uncle to the current emir, Mr Suleiman. Residents said unlike the late emir, the current one is said not to be close to the Fulanis.

The late emir was the one who appointed Mr Majo (senior) as the traditional head of the Fulani community in Zurmi.

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A member of the House of Representatives, Ayodeji Alao-Akala, has presented a petition before the House on the alleged killing of Damilola Iyanda, a serving Corps member, by the police during the recent convocation ceremony of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, Oyo State.

Mr Alao-Akala presented the petition on Tuesday during plenary session.

Mr Iyanda was reportedly shot on 23 April allegedly by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Oyo State Police Command.

The lawmaker, while laying the petition, explained that he was presenting it on behalf of Israel Iyanda, a brother to the deceased.

Mr Alao-Akala, who represents Ogbomoso North/South/Oriire Federal Constituency of Oyo State, said the deceased was not a cultist as alleged by the police but only attended the convocation ceremony of his brother.

In the petition, Mr Iyanda narrated the events that led to the death of the corps member.

After the convocation ceremony at noon, we went to a lounge called Reeplay. We were inside the lounge when we heard people fighting outside. While this was ongoing, trigger-happy policemen of the Nigeria Police Force started shooting sporadically into the air, In an attempt to avoid being shot, we tried to rush to the car, but unfortunately, my brother got hit by a stray bullet in his head and he instantly died, he said.

Article Page with Financial Support Promotion Nigerians need credible journalism. Help us report it. Support journalism driven by facts, created by Nigerians for Nigerians. Our thorough, researched reporting relies on the support of readers like you. Help us maintain free and accessible news for all with a small donation. Every contribution guarantees that we can keep delivering important stories no paywalls, just quality journalism. SUPPORT NOW x Do this later

I was also hit by a stray bullet on my left arm, which I am currently at the hospital for, he added.

The petition was referred to the House Committee on Public Petition by Speaker Abbas Tajudeen for investigation and further legislative action.

The House Committee on Public Petition is a quasi-judicial body that investigates cases of human rights abuse.

Many cases of extra-judicial killings

Nigerian security agencies are notorious for carrying out extra-judicial killings across the country.

The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), in 2021, released a report detailing how security operatives had killed over 13,000 people extra-judicially in the country from 2011 to 2021, a period of 10 years.

The 2020 EndSARS protests was sparked by cases of brutality by the now-disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad. The SWAT was established in 2020 as a replacement for the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).

However, brutality by security agencies persists across the country.

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Lagos State Commissioner of Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, has disclosed that another illegal settlement has been found under the Osborne bridge in the Ikoyi area of Lagos.

On Tuesday, 86 partitioned rooms under the Dolphin Estate bridge, in Ikoyi, where squatters pay an average rent of N250,000 per annum was discovered.

Mr Wahab shared the update of the ministrys new discovery under Osborne bridge alongside a video of the shanty via his X handle on Thursday.

In the video, makeshift apartments made with mosquito nets, wood, banners and tyres could be seen.

There was also a wire mounted on poles underneath the bridge where the occupants spread their clothes.

Another illegal settlement was discovered under the Osborne bridge, Ikoyi. Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps #LAGESCOfficial (KAI) commenced an immediate clearance operation, the commissioner posted.

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A twist to an ongoing peace pact between the Otun Olubadan, Rashidi Ladoja, a high chief, and other kingmakers, may further put the planned installation of the Olubadan-designate, Oba Owolabi Olakulehin on hold, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt.

The two parties are currently at loggerheads over the signing of certain terms of settlement to facilitate the coronation of the Olubadan-designate as the 43rd Olubadan of Ibadanland.

Mr Ladoja had expressed readiness to withdraw the suit initiated against other members of the Olubadan-in-Council on the condition that the two parties must sign the terms of settlement as prepared.

The former governor made this known while hosting visiting Compound Heads of Ibadanland otherwise known as Mogaji, who were led by Asimiyu Ariori, at his Bodija residence on Wednesday.

Myself and other members of Olubadan-in-Council have been sitting together and talking. We have accepted to withdraw the case from court.

I heard that they have started signing the agreement. After all of them have signed, I will also sign my own aspect, and the next day, we will file for withdrawal of the case from court, Mr Ladoja told the visitors.

But rising from a meeting on Thursday at Ojaba palace, Ibadan, other members of Olubadan-in-Council, who are defendants in the suit, argued that there was no need to sign any terms of settlement again, having already abided by the 1957 Chieftaincy Declaration.

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PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the meeting had in attendance the Osi Balogun, Oba Lateef Gbadamosi Adebimpe, Asipa Olubadan, Oba Abiodun Kola-Daisi; Asipa Balogun, Kola Adegbola; Ekerin Balogun, Oba John Isioye-Dada and Ekaarun Olubadan, Oba Adebayo Akande.

Those absent at the meeting included Mr Ladoja, Osi Olubadan, Oba Eddy Oyewole; Otun Balogun, Oba Tajudeen Ajibola; Ekerin Olubadan, Oba Hamidu Ajibade Salaudeen, and Ekaarun Balogun, Oba Abiodun Azeez.

In his remark on behalf of members of the council who attended the meeting, Oba Adebimpe insisted that the event had overtaken the terms of reference as contained in the agreement, hence no need to sign it.

He said that they have resolved to comply with the 1957 Chieftaincy Declaration, which empowers the most senior High Chief, Ladoja, to convene the meeting of Olubadan-in-Council.

Events have overtaken the terms of settlement as stated in the paper being prepared for us to append our signatures. We have read through it and discovered that the terms of settlement have been met, which is strict compliance with the 1957 Chieftaincy Declaration.

We realised that our actions and deeds must be in accordance with the 1957 Declaration. That is why we honoured his (Ladoja) invitation for a meeting for the nomination of Oba Olakulehin as the 43rd Olubadan of Ibadanland, he said.

Oba Adebimpe recalled that Ladoja had called a similar meeting, which they all refused to attend.

We were later made to know that we had acted contrary to the provision of the 1957 Chieftaincy Declaration. Our attendance at the meeting showed that we are complying with the Declaration.

The nomination letter is with the state government; what is left now is for Chief Ladoja to withdraw the pending case in court in order to facilitate the installation of the new Olubadan, Oba Adebimpe added.

Similarly, the Asipa Olubadan, Oba Abiodun Kola-Daisi disclosed that a similar scenario of litigation played out two years ago when Governor Seyi Makinde insisted that he would not give any approval for the enthronement of a new monarch until the case was withdrawn.

He recalled that there were similar problems before the installation of the immediate past Olubadan, the late Oba Lekan Balogun when the Kingmakers camp instituted a court case against the government.

As a result, the Governor insisted that he would not approve the installation of the then-Olubadan until the case was withdrawn. The plaintiffs in the suit, 10 of us, came together and withdrew the case unconditionally from the court.

Two years down the lane, the same situation is playing out again. There is a case in court, not from our side but from Chief Ladoja, who has insisted that he would not join rank with us as crown-wearing Kings, but today the matter has been resolved, he said.

Oba Kola-Daisi noted that the new Olubadan-designate had been recommended, and they were just waiting for approval from the government. But there is a case in the court that needs to be withdrawn, he added.

The terms of settlement as contained in the agreement paper that we are expected to sign have been overtaken with events. We are asked to sign that we will abide by the 1957 Chieftaincy Declaration. We are already doing that. What are we signing again?

The summary of the terms of settlement is that we are going to follow the 1957 Chieftaincy Declaration in choosing another Olubadan. What that Declaration says is that Otun Olubadan, the highest ranking on the other side will convene the meeting of the kingmakers. He called the meeting the first time but we refused to attend because our status is different.

But we realised that we have acted outside the Declaration, so we later complied with his directives. The nomination of the new Olubadan has reached the government. We are just waiting for the approval, he reiterated.

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LAUSANNE, Switzerland, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The N.E.W.S. company, a global leader in leadership and organizational navigation, headquartered in Switzerland and operating in over 40 countries, today announced that Mark Gazit, co-founder and outgoing CEO of ThetaRay, has been appointed as its Executive Chairman. N.E.W.S. is recognized for its innovative approach and has significantly transformed global organizational leadership and structure.

Mark Gazit, N.E.W.S 's Executive Chairman.

Mr. Gazit brings varied experience across various industries, including Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, Fintech, IT, and Big Data Analytics. He was recently recognized by Mirror Review as one of the 30 most inspiring business leaders.

"We are thrilled to welcome Mark Gazit to the N.E.W.S. HQ as our Executive Chairman," said Marina Giareni, CEO of N.E.W.S.. "His extensive experience leading global companies to success will be invaluable, as we pursue new opportunities and achieve our ambitious business goals."

Reflecting on the rapidly evolving global environment, Mr. Gazit stated, "The world is changing in a rapid and unpredictable way, which presents both opportunities and threats for organizations. The unique N.E.W.S. Navigation solutions, with its rich intellectual property, is ideally suited to serve this need. We are poised to help organizations navigate these complexities to not only survive but thrive in these transformative times."

Before co-founding ThetaRay and driving its growth to success as CEO, Mr. Gazit served as CEO of NICE Cyber & Intelligence Solutions, making it a leading provider of security solutions for governments and law enforcement agencies. He also led Deltathree and Netvision to category leadership and substantial growth.

Mr. Gazit's impressive career further includes serving as the group president and CEO of SkyVision Global Networks, a global telecommunications company with operations across 50 countries and 5 continents.

Beyond his corporate leadership roles, Mr. Gazit actively contributes to various public boards. He served as the Chairman of the Public Board of the Israel Export Institute, a member of the Technology Council of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and a member of the Board of Directors of the American-Israel Chamber of Commerce.

About N.E.W.S.

Founded in 2006 and headquartered in Switzerland, N.E.W.S. has transformed organizational, team, and leaders' navigation with its acclaimed NEWS Compass methodology.

The innovative approach includes a suite of twelve award-winning solutions, each designed to foster innovative thinking, enhance skills, and provide clients with cutting-edge tools for navigating complex global changes. Especially powerful at helping organizations flourish and thrive in times of constant change and uncertainty, NEWS Compass has established itself as a pivotal resource for organizational resilience and growth. With a global presence across over 40 countries, N.E.W.S. serves a diverse client base ranging from dynamic startups to esteemed Fortune 500 companies, including industry leaders like Corning, Pfizer, Boeing, Microsoft, Apple, PWC, Mazda, Siemens, Vodafone, L'Oreal, Amdocs, and Citibank.

Committed to delivering outstanding results, N.E.W.S. consistently propels organizations to unprecedented success.

For further insights, visit newsnavigation.com/home and follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Media Contact:

Iris Weinstein, Kav  Yashir

iris@kav-yashir.co.il

972-544-363334

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2403536/Mark_Gazit.jpg
The touring pop-up is bringing the spirit of Mexico and best in Mexican & Mexican-American taste and culture to major cities

JERSEY CITY, N.J., May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- 1800 Tequila , the world's most awarded tequila brand1, announces its annual 1800 Taste Tiendita, an immersive pop-up highlighting the best in Mexican & Mexican-American taste across music, fashion, art, food and of course, tequila. In its second year, 1800 Tequila is taking its 1800 Taste Tiendita on a nationwide tour throughout the summer to cities including Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, Miami, New York City, and San Francisco via a series of experiences featuring local emerging Mexican & Mexican-American artists and brands.

1800 Taste Tiendita 1800 Taste Tiendita

Found on every street corner filled to the brim with authentic Mexican snacks, antiques, gifts, drinks and daily essentials, tienditas are at the heart of Mexican culture. Buzzing with energy, ranchera music, and even the neighborhood bartender, tienditas encapsulate Mexico's true spirit and taste. The 1800 Taste Tiendita will bring this Mexican cultural icon to street corners throughout the country, and introduce the best taste in tequila and in life to people throughout the summer.

In time for Cinco de Mayo, 1800 Tequila will kick off the tour in New York City on Thursday, May 2, 2024 for an evening of live performances by Girl Ultra, tiendita-inspired 1800 Tequila cocktails curated in collaboration with Chicano bartender Michael Aredes paired with trending Mexican dishes, tunes by DJ hellotones "el hijo de PueblaYork", hand-painted mural by visual artists Melissa Santamaria, curated fashion displays by Creative Director & Stylist Cesar Alvarez from brands Montserrat Messeguer, de Maria, & Gypsy Sport, and more.

"Let's go 1800 Tequila and New York City! I'm excited to be headlining the 1800 Taste Tiendita, and we're bringing the best taste in Mexican culture to our fans as we celebrate Cinco de Mayo, from the music and art, to the food and of course, the tequila," said Mexican R&B artist Girl Ultra.

Building on the brand's annual 1800 Tequila Essential Artist Series , a limited-edition bottle collection designed in collaboration with emerging artists, the 1800 Taste Tiendita is another testament to the brand's long-standing support and amplification of emerging artists. Last year, for its inaugural speakeasy-inspired 1800 Taste Tiendita in Los Angeles, 1800 Tequila partnered with the likes of Sofia Elias, Jazmin & Luis Garcia, Rick Montano, Richie Velazquez, Sofia Enriquez and Spanto from BornxRaised to create a limited-edition merch per their artistic disciplines, only available for purchase at the single-night pop-up. Finding massive success and support from the Los Angeles community through this debut, this second iteration of the 1800 Taste Tiendita tour will feature various integrations of Mexican and Mexican-American emerging artists across live music, bespoke cocktails, fashion displays, artwork, and more. The ever-evolving celebration will bring exclusive offerings to each city it visits, ensuring local artists and brands are at the forefront of every experience.

"Since its inception, taste has been at the forefront for 1800 Tequila. From tequila and music to art and fashion, for our audience taste is everything," shared Lander Otegui, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Proximo Spirits. "As the number one super-premium tequila in the U.S., we are committed to sharing our Mexican heritage and quality with fans as we bring the nostalgia and ambiance of a traditional Mexican tiendita to cities across the country."

To attend the 1800 Taste Tiendita and see when it reaches a city near you, follow on Instagram @1800Tequila and 1800Tequila.com . For the tequila fans enjoying Cinco de Mayo at home, they can recreate the custom 1800 Tequila tiendita-inspired cocktails  1800 Tiendita Margarita , 1800 Tiendita Cantarito , 1800 Tiendita Carajillo  featuring familiar tiendita items such as Jarritos, tamarind straws, coffee and grasshopper salt. Visit 1800Tequila.com/Drinks for the full recipes.

1 SOURCE: Based on awards received by 1800 from Acadamia Mexicana del Tequila, A.C. between 2001 and 2023

2 SOURCE: TABs Nielsen Sales 10/31/23

About 1800 Tequila:

1800 Tequila, the world's most awarded tequila and the #1 super premium tequila brand in the U.S. 2, is made with 100% Blue Weber Agave harvested at its peak in Tequila, Mexico. Named after the year of origin, 1800 Tequila has never wavered from its original formula and distillation process. Now, as the best taste in tequila, 1800 Tequila has reached category leadership through its liquid superiority, deep-rooted Mexican heritage and culture-driving collaborations with musicians and artists. The iconic bottle is also recognized for its trapezoidal shape, reminiscent of the centuries-old Mayan stone pyramids found throughout Mexico. Please visit 1800Tequila.com and on Instagram @1800tequila to learn more about the 1800 Tequila portfolio.

Trademarks owned by JC Master Distribution Limited. 2024 Proximo, Jersey City, NJ. Please drink responsibly.

Press Contact:

1800 Tequila

[email protected]

SOURCE 1800 Tequila
WASHINGTON, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- 1863 Ventures proudly announces that our esteemed Founder and General Partner, Melissa L. Bradley, has been honored with the prestigious John Carroll Award. The accolade was presented during the 72nd Annual John Carroll Weekend at the Royal Dublin Society in Dublin, Ireland on April 20, 2024.

Melissa Bradley, a trailblazer in the entrepreneurial community and a distinguished alumna of Georgetown University, has consistently demonstrated exceptional commitment to advancing New Majority entrepreneurs. Under her leadership, 1863 Ventures has become a pivotal platform, propelling small businesses from high potential to high growth. Her expertise is further evidenced by her roles on the board of Eat the Change, and as a trustee of the Nathan Cummings Foundation. Additionally, Melissa contributes her insights to several influential groups including the Milken Institute DEI in Asset Management Initiative and the Goldman Sachs' One Million Black Women Advisory Council.

1863 Ventures Founder and General Partner Melissa Bradley, Honored with Prestigious John Carroll Award Post this

Created in 1950 by the Georgetown University Alumni Association, the John Carroll Awards are bestowed annually to select graduates who exemplify outstanding service to their community and dedication to the university. The awards celebrate individuals who, through their achievements, uphold the prestigious legacy of Georgetown's founder, reflecting greatly upon the university.

Bradley's academic role as a Professor of the Practice at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University further underscores her commitment to education and mentorship in entrepreneurship. Her accolades include the Entrepreneurship Faculty Excellence Award, the Joseph F. LeMoine Award for Undergraduate and Graduate Teaching Excellence, the Peter W. Gonzalez, Jr. Award for Excellence in Adjunct Faculty Teaching, and The Ideas Worth Teaching Award from the Aspen Institute.

This year's John Carroll Weekend offered over 1,000 alumni and guests a rich program featuring tours, lectures, and exclusive receptions in Dublin, providing a unique opportunity to connect with fellow alumni and thought leaders.

1863 Ventures invites all who aspire to learn from Melissa Bradley to join us at our upcoming Founder to CEO Summit . This event will provide invaluable insights into transitioning from entrepreneurial vision to executive leadership, guided by one of the most respected voices in the industry.

For more information about Melissa Bradley, 1863 Ventures , or to register for the upcoming summit, please visit our website or contact our communications team at [email protected]

SOURCE 1863 Ventures
Patrons can Enjoy $5 drink and app specials all day May 5.

LUBBOCK, Texas, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Abuelo's Mexican Restaurant, famous for its authentic, made-from-scratch Mexican cuisine and hand-crafted Mexican Margaritas, announced today that all Abuelo's locations will celebrate Cinco de Mayo with festive drink and appetizer specials all day.

Guests dining in on Cinco de Mayo can enjoy Mexican Draft Beers served in a 22 oz. stadium cup, La Grandeza Margaritas, a festive Mexican Flag Margarita served in a 16 oz. logoed plastic cup and their signature Chile con Queso appetizer for just $5 (while supplies last). Special pricing for items will be in effect all day on Sunday, May 5.

"Cinco de Mayo is the perfect reason to dine-in and enjoy a delicious drink and appetizer at Abuelo's. What better way to celebrate than $5 specials all day long?," said Brian Bell, Vice President of Marketing and Beverage for Abuelo's Mexican Restaurants. "We have a wide selection of unique and new entrees to pair our specials with, and we hope our patrons will come out and celebrate with us."

Enjoy an Abuelo's Margarita or Mexican Draft Beer with their wide selection of unique House Specialties and delicious appetizers. See the dedication that Abuelo's Mexican Restaurant has to providing the freshest ingredients and perfect Margaritas at www.youtube.com/abuelosTV. Find an Abuelo's Mexican Restaurant near you at www.abuelos.com/restaurants.

About Abuelo's

Since its first opening in 1989, Abuelo's Mexican Restaurant has consistently been on the leading edge of made-from-scratch, family-style Mexican food. Experience homemade cooking with rich flavors of coastal and interior Mexican cuisine using the finest and freshest ingredients. Owned and operated by Food Concepts International in Lubbock, Texas, the company currently has 25 full-service restaurants located in eight states that provides in-house authentic Mexican food, Mexican food delivery, Mexican food to go, and Mexican food catering. For more information, visit www.abuelos.com or Abuelo's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/Abuelos .

Media Contacts:

[email protected]

SOURCE Abuelo's
BROOKVILLE, N.Y., May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The story of AHRC Nassau is one of love and relentless advocacy by parent advocates seeking to create a better world for their children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). From a small support group of a dozen parents came a disability services agency with the Compass designation of excellence from New York State and international accreditation by CQL | The Council on Quality and Leadership.

With a family-led board of directors, AHRC Nassau continues to advance this proud legacy through grassroots community-building and innovative programs that create new opportunities for independence and inclusion. In the past two years, AHRC Nassau has launched the Thomas S. Gulotta Wheatley Farms & Arts Center; been tapped by New York State to lead its Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Community of Practice (CoP) dedicated to I/DD; and been named by Forbes as one of "America's Best-in-State Employers."

"The greatest threat to our future and to the children born today with I/DD is complacency," said Saundra Gumerove, Esq., President of AHRC Nassau's Board of Directors. "The urgency for grassroots advocacy is more pressing than ever before."

"Like our history, our future depends on everyone who is touched by I/DD, including autism, to advocate vigorously. I urge every single person on Long Island, in New York and across the country to ensure people with I/DD are supported to thrive now and for the next 75 years."

For its anniversary, AHRC Nassau is offering a Lifetime Membership of "$75 in Our 75th Year." By becoming a member, you are increasing understanding and meaningful opportunities for Long Islanders with I/DD and their families. To become a member, visit ahrc.org/membership.

Why Membership Matters

Elevate Advocacy Efforts: Your voice, combined with those of over 8,000 members, will amplify our message.

Your voice, combined with those of over 8,000 members, will amplify our message. Shape Our Future: Influence the decisions and policies that impact our loved ones and the broader community we advocate for.

Influence the decisions and policies that impact our loved ones and the broader community we advocate for. Carry Forward Our Legacy: Help sustain our legacy of support and progress, ensuring that the next 75 years are as impactful as our first.

About AHRC Nassau

AHRC Nassau is among the largest agencies in New York State supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). A chapter of The Arc New York, AHRC empowers people to lead fulfilling lives, together with family, friends and community. For more information, please visit https://www.ahrc.org/.

Media Contact

Nicole Zerillo

[email protected]

SOURCE AHRC Nassau
Inaugural $50,000 Prize Awards and Expands Open Access Book Publishing in the Humanities

NEW YORK, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) is pleased to announce the winners of the 2024 ACLS Open Access Book Prizes and Arcadia Open Access Publishing Awards. Supported by Arcadia , these prizes recognize and reward the authors and publishers of exceptional, innovative, and open access humanities books published from 2017 to 2022.

History: Freedom Seekers: Escaping from Slavery in Restoration London by Simon P. Newman (University of London Press, 2022)

These prizes recognize and reward the authors and publishers of exceptional, innovative, open access humanities books. Post this ACLS Open Access Book Prize | Arcadia Open Access Publishing Award logo with text "2024 winners" and book covers of "Freedom Seekers: Escaping from Slavery in Restoration London" and "As I Remember It: Teachings (ms tw) from the Life of a Sliammon Elder"

Multimodal: As I Remember It: Teachings (ms tw) from the Life of a Sliammon Elder by Elsie Paul with Davis McKenzie, Paige Raibmon, and Harmony Johnson (University of British Columbia Press / RavenSpace, 2019)

Each prize winner was selected by a distinguished panel of judges from a shortlist of five finalists. The winning authors receive a cash award of $20,000, and the winning publishers receive a grant for $30,000 to support the immediate open access publication of at least two new books. The prizes, among the largest for scholarly books, were announced today at the ACLS Annual Meeting in Baltimore, MD.

"ACLS is proud to award these outstanding authors and publishers, whose commitment to open access is helping transform the way scholarly insights reach people inside and outside the academy," said ACLS President Joy Connolly. "Their books freely provide communities worldwide with accurate research on topics that have been historically and often intentionally held at the margins of academic inquiry. We look forward to continuing our work with Arcadia to cultivate an ecosystem in which humanistic publications thrive in a larger circle of readers."

For more than 100 years ACLS has supported the creation and circulation of knowledge that advances our understanding of humanity and human endeavors. Amplifying humanistic scholarship through initiatives such as the ACLS Open Access Books Prizes helps cultivate a twenty-first-century ecosystem in which humanistic publications can thrive.

Submissions for the 2025 ACLS Open Access Book Prizes and Arcadia Open Access Publishing Awards will open in May 2024. Sign up to stay updated on the prize and be notified when the competition opens.

About the American Council of Learned Societies

Formed a century ago, the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) is a nonprofit federation of 80 scholarly organizations. As the leading representative of American scholarship in the humanities and interpretive social sciences, ACLS upholds the core principle that knowledge is a public good. In supporting its member organizations, ACLS utilizes its endowment and $37 million annual operating budget to expand the forms, content, and flow of scholarly knowledge, reflecting our commitment to diversity of identity and experience. ACLS collaborates with institutions, associations, and individuals to strengthen the evolving infrastructure for scholarship. In all aspects of our work, ACLS is committed to principles and practices in support of racial and social justice.

About Arcadia

Arcadia is a charitable foundation that works to protect nature, preserve cultural heritage and promote open access to knowledge. Since 2002 Arcadia has awarded more than $1.2 billion to organizations around the world.

Supplemental quotes from judges:

History Judges

"Freedom Seekers is a deeply researched, well-argued, and effectively presented look into a hidden world within seventeenth-century London, that of slaves in the imperial capital. It offers a new view into slavery's deeply embedded history in Britain and the Atlantic world, and challenges the field to tackle important and challenging topics that still resonate in the modern world."

"Freedom Seekers: Escaping from Slavery in Restoration London is a journey of a book. As a reader, I found myself deeply immersedNewman's writing is highly engaging and will likely bring a completely new understanding of British history. The stories of featured freedom-seekers will stick with me forever. A must-read for just about any audience."

Multimodal Judges

"As I Remember It is compelling because it looks both to the future and the past. The intellectual contributions are massive: preserving a lost language, culture, and folkways. The aspects of what has been lost to colonialism and racism are acknowledged while being clear about what heritage is being preserved. It also allows for persons new to the ideas, language, and culture to experience it in ways that approach being authentic, not mediated by other groups of institutions."

"The initial protocol for being a respectful guest [provided upon entry to As I Remember It] forecasts the centrality of community control in this amazing archive. The team that constructed this digital monograph have centered the community while providing a broad and deep intervention into how we understand knowledge."

SOURCE American Council of Learned Societies
Students will learn skills to prepare for a meaningful college experience

DENVER, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Indian College Fund (College Fund) will host its Fifth Annual Summer of Success Conference: Cultivating Connections into Success from May 19 to May 21. This three-day, interactive online event is tailored to high school and college students, staff, faculty, and families, centering Native culture, experiences, and determinants of college success. Participants will learn strategies for achieving a meaningful college experience that moves them towards their career aspirations. Faculty and staff will also discuss ways to support student programming for college and career success.

Save the Date for the College Fund's Summer of Success Conference

While this conference is free and open to everyone, Sunday, May 19 is the designated "All Relatives Day." Starting at 1 p.m. MDT, the College Fund will host five different sessions focusing on connecting parents to resources, an informative FAFSA session, professional journey resources, and how to obtain accessibility accommodations in college. For participants interested in attending more than one session, the schedule is designed to allow the opportunity to attend each session twice. Each session is tailored for high school, college, tribal, traditional, and nontraditional students, and provides a broad overview of what students can expect in their academic journeys.

To accommodate for work and school schedules, sessions on Monday, May 20 and Tuesday, May 21 will start at 3 p.m. MDT. These sessions cover a variety of topics including professional development, growing alumni networks, and other college tips and tricks. All topics will be covered in interactive informative sessions, small group workshops, professional and student panel discussions, and by guest speakers and experts in higher education.

Each day will start with an opening session hosted by a College Fund student ambassador and a professional community leader, providing an opportunity for attendees to engage with the College Fund team and hear directly from scholars and guest speakers.

Registration for the Fifth Annual Summer Conference: Cultivating Connections into Success is now open. Be sure to register for free today and mark your calendars for your favorite sessions! The full conference schedule is outlined in the registration, along with the names and biographies of our guest speakers.

To register for the free conference, please visit https://events.zoom.us/ev/AhA8KDhPEEAoWJ1nzzYgz8M2NHEkc7V0k9vy-z1O91L8f3TU2h0t~AugIGLiNRwyDuBnYL6LkdSBjvVoVZ57eCn9bPyFOQvCo-5V3yXWmubgiXA.

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to the American Indian College Fund Student Success Services team at [email protected] or by phone at (720) 902-4283.

About the American Indian College Fund  The American Indian College Fund has been the nation's largest charity supporting Native higher education for 34 years. The College Fund believes "Education is the answer" and provided $17.4 million in scholarships and other direct student support to American Indian students in 2022-23. Since its founding in 1989 the College Fund has provided more than $319 million in scholarships, programs, community, and tribal college support. The College Fund also supports a variety of academic and support programs at the nation's 35 accredited tribal colleges and universities, which are located on or near Indian reservations, ensuring students have the tools to graduate and succeed in their careers. The College Fund consistently receives top ratings from independent charity evaluators and is one of the nation's top 100 charities named to the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance. For more information about the American Indian College Fund, please visit www.collegefund.org.

Journalists The American Indian College Fund does not use the acronym AICF. On second reference, please use the College Fund.

SOURCE American Indian College Fund
The acquisition will expand Argo Translation's ability to serve the market research industry, a space that often needs translation services to better understand consumer behavior worldwide.

GLENVIEW, Ill., May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Argo Translation, a pioneering translation company with 29 years of experience headquartered in Chicago, announced today the acquisition of Global Accent Translation Services, a distinguished provider based in Fort Collins, CO. This strategic move is set to expand Argo Translation's market reach and extend its industry coverage, particularly in market research and outdoor goods translation.

Through this acquisition, Argo Translation reinforces its commitment to delivering cutting-edge translation solutions globally. The company is poised to enhance its offerings with advanced technology, such as AI-driven translation models, real-time chat translation, and seamless platform integration with its proprietary CMSConnect application.

Peter Argondizzo, co-founder and president of Argo Translation, expressed his enthusiasm about bringing the companies together: "This acquisition marks a significant milestone in our journey. We are eager to merge our technological advancements with Global Accent's robust client relations, expanding our capabilities and reaching new heights in customer satisfaction."

Global Accent Founder Geoff Norby shared his positive outlook: "We are thrilled to join forces with Argo Translation. This partnership not only broadens our reach but also enhances our ability to deliver superior service with innovative technologies."

Operations will continue to be led from Argo Translation headquarters in Glenview, Illinois. Geoff Norby will assume the role of Senior Account Executive, bringing his extensive industry expertise to the team alongside Project Manager Kimberly Hannigan from the Fort Collins office.

About Argo Translation

Argo Translation provides tailored professional translation services in more than 80 languages to many industries ranging from legal and medical to manufacturing and financial. The company focuses on exceeding customer needs through exceptional attentiveness to customer service, innovative translation technology, responsiveness to tough deadlines, and guaranteed certified translation quality. More information is available at http://www.argotrans.com/.

SOURCE Argo Translation
NEW YORK, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The global automotive aftermarket e-retailing market size is estimated to grow by USD 79.60 billion from 2023 to 2027, according to Technavio. The market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 18.31% during the forecast period. North America is estimated to contribute 36%. to the growth of the global market.

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Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Automotive Aftermarket E-retailing Market 2023-2027

The Automotive Aftermarket E-retailing Market report forecasts market growth by revenue at global, regional & country levels from 2017 to 2027.

Region Outlook

North America Europe APAC South America Middle East & Africa

1. North America - North America plays a crucial role in the global e-commerce automotive aftermarket, expected to contribute 36% to its growth. With the largest revenue-generating automotive market globally, it boasts a strong presence in both passenger and commercial vehicles. The region's thriving e-commerce automotive aftermarket is supported by a growing number of DIY customers who prefer self-repair solutions. Additionally,

North America is witnessing a shift in the automotive value chain, with production facilities moving to Mexico to leverage lower production costs. Despite being a mature market, competitive pricing strategies are fueling an increase in new vehicle sales. These factors collectively position North America as a dominant force in the global e-commerce automotive aftermarket during the forecast period.

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Research Analysis

The Automotive Aftermarket E-Retailing Market is bustling with online platforms offering a plethora of vehicle parts and accessories catering to the age of the vehicle. With a focus on aftermarket parts for maintenance and repairs, digital makeover is apparent in digital marketing strategies capitalizing on the growing DIY culture. Customers can find a wide array of aftermarket components including brakes, filters, spark plugs, and engine parts, alongside interior accessories like floor mats and seat covers.

These platforms also offer specialized parts and performance components, enabling personalization choices for passenger cars and off-road vehicles alike. Logistics firms ensure swift delivery, addressing concerns over shipping fees and schedules, while customer trust is built through transparent pricing and reviews.

The rise of mobile commerce and internet penetration further enhances the customer experience, allowing for personalizing and designing interiors and exteriors with ease. In this landscape, the emphasis is on efficient customer service, fast delivery speed, and secure transactions, enhancing the luxury of vehicles for every enthusiast.

Market Overview

The Automotive Aftermarket E-Retailing Market caters to diverse needs like vehicle age, infotainment, electrical products, powertrain, tires, wheels, and aftermarket accessories. With a focus on personalization and design, it serves consumers seeking to customize their automobiles for both style and performance. From engine components to electrical products, the online platform offers a wide array of choices.

Tires and wheels, essential for vehicle safety and aesthetics, are prominently featured, meeting various preferences and requirements. This digital marketplace revolutionizes the way consumers access automotive aftermarket products, providing convenience and accessibility. Whether for personal vehicles or transportation fleets, e-retailing simplifies the process of finding and purchasing essential automotive components.

It caters to the evolving demands of modern consumers, offering a seamless shopping experience for all their automotive needs.

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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 Venodr 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
SAN FRANCISCO, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Ballistic Ventures , the venture capital firm dedicated exclusively to funding and incubating entrepreneurs and innovations in cybersecurity, today announced that two founding partners, Kevin Mandia and Barmak Meftah, will take the stage at the annual 2024 RSA Conference (RSAC) taking place May 6-9, 2024 in San Francisco. RSAC is one of the world's largest cybersecurity conferences and brings together industry leaders, experts and practitioners from across the globe.

Ballistic Ventures invites RSAC attendees to join and engage with the team during the following sessions:

Ballistic's Founding Partners Kevin Mandia and Barmak Meftah will take the stage at the annual 2024 RSA Conference. Post this

Monday, May 6 from 4:35  4:55 pm PT : Ballistic Co-founder and Strategic Partner and Mandiant CEO Kevin Mandia will lead a keynote discussion " The State of Cybersecurity  Year in Review ." He'll share observations after responding to hundreds of cyber intrusions in the last year including a synopsis of the apex attacker techniques, the most impactful cyber defense tips, and how cybersecurity impacts board and executive decision-making.

Ballistic Co-founder and Strategic Partner and Mandiant CEO will lead a keynote discussion " ." He'll share observations after responding to hundreds of cyber intrusions in the last year including a synopsis of the apex attacker techniques, the most impactful cyber defense tips, and how cybersecurity impacts board and executive decision-making. Tuesday, May 7 from 10:45  11:35 am PT : Ballistic Co-founder and General Partner Barmak Meftah will serve as one of the three panelists for RSAC Launch Pad , where early-stage startups will pitch their ideas to the panel of venture capitalists who will offer valuable strategic advice.

Ballistic Co-founder and General Partner Barmak Meftah will serve as one of the three panelists for , where early-stage startups will pitch their ideas to the panel of venture capitalists who will offer valuable strategic advice. Thursday, May 9 from 9:40  10:30 am PT : Mandia will also lead the panel " Private Sector's Power Play: Shaping AI and Cybersecurity Policy ." He will be joined by Lisa Kaplan , founder and CEO of Ballistic portfolio company Alethea; Sarah Barrington , PhD, AI researcher at UC Berkeley; Matthew Olson , Assistant Attorney General, National Division of Security in the US Department of Justice; and Alex Stamos , Chief Trust Officer at SentinelOne. Together, they will discuss the evolving AI and threat landscape and discuss the role of the private sector in securing our digital future.

"With an election year already plagued with disinformation, the democratization of generative AI, a surge in ransomware attacks and an ever-evolving attack surface, the 2024 RSA Conference provides an invaluable platform for our industry to collaborate and exchange insights that will drive cybersecurity forward," said Meftah. "My fellow partners and I look forward to this event, and we encourage entrepreneurs working on innovative security solutions to get in touch."

Earlier this week, Ballistic Ventures announced the Ballistic X Pursuit Cyber Fellows program, charting a path to narrow the industry's talent gap and economic divides. Ballistic and Pursuit will be onsite at RSA to discuss the program with prospective corporate partners. Schedule an onsite meeting at [email protected] .

The VC firm also announced today its investment in Mimic , the ransomware defense company, which emerged from stealth with $27 million, led by Ballistic Ventures. Read about the new investment and more here .

About Ballistic Ventures

Ballistic Ventures is a venture capital firm solely dedicated to early-stage cybersecurity and cyber-related companies. The partners have spent their entire careers defending against every cyber threat conceivable. Members of the firm have founded, operated, and funded over 100 successful cybersecurity firms  including Abnormal Security, AlienVault, ArcSight, Fortify, Mandiant, and Shape Security  led over 10,000 security professionals globally, and have 40+ years of experience in venture capital. The Ballistic portfolio includes Aembit, Alethea, ArmorCode, AuthMind, Codezero, Concentric AI, Mimic, Nudge Security, Oligo Security, Pangea, Perygee, Reach Security, SpecterOps, Talon (PANW) and Veza. Our experience provides entrepreneurs impactful support from people focused on the same mission. Our networks and relationships open doors for our founders. Learn more at ballisticventures.com .

SOURCE Ballistic Ventures
NEW YORK, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Owl Capital Inc. (NYSE:OWL) ("Blue Owl") today reported its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024.

"Blue Owl reported another strong quarter of growth, with our 12th consecutive quarter of higher management fees through an evolving and volatile economic landscape. We again demonstrated the predictability and stability inherent in our business model, as well as the ongoing and significant investor interest in our strategies across Institutional and Private Wealth investors," said Doug Ostrover and Marc Lipschultz, Co-CEOs of Blue Owl. "In addition to the robust strides we are making in further scaling our existing businesses, we continue to broaden our suite of investment solutions. We recently announced two accretive transactions that are intended to expand our insurance asset management and real estate credit capabilities, two very significant markets where we see meaningful runway for growth over time."

Blue Owl issued its full detailed presentation of its first quarter ended March 31, 2024 results, which can be viewed through the Investor Resources section of Blue Owl's website at https://ir.blueowl.com/Investors/events-and-presentations.

Dividend

Blue Owl declared a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per Class A Share, payable on May 30, 2024, to shareholders of record at the close of business on May 21, 2024.

Quarterly Investor Call Details:

Blue Owl will host its first quarter 2024 investor call via public webcast on May 2, 2024 at 10:00 a.m. ET. To register, please visit the Investor Resources section of Blue Owl's website at https://ir.blueowl.com/overview.

The conference call may be accessed by dialing +1 (888) 330-2454 (U.S. callers) or +1 (240) 789-2714 (non-U.S. callers); conference ID 4153114. For those unable to listen to the live broadcast, there will be a webcast replay available on the Investor Resources section of Blue Owl's website.

All callers will need to enter the Conference ID followed by the # sign and reference "Blue Owl Capital" once connected with the operator. All callers are asked to dial in 10-15 minutes prior to the call so that name and company information can be collected.

About Blue Owl

Blue Owl (NYSE: OWL) is a leading asset manager that is redefining alternatives.

With over $174 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2024, we invest across three multi-strategy platforms: Credit, GP Strategic Capital, and Real Estate. Anchored by a strong permanent capital base, we provide businesses with private capital solutions to drive long-term growth and offer institutional and individual investors differentiated alternative investment opportunities that aim to deliver strong performance, risk-adjusted returns, and capital preservation.

Together with over 725 experienced professionals, Blue Owl brings the vision and discipline to create the exceptional. To learn more, visit www.blueowl.com.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements made in this release are "forward looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this press release, the words "estimates," "projected," "expects," "anticipates," "forecasts," "plans," "intends," "believes," "seeks," "may," "will," "would," "should," "future," "propose," "target," "goal," "objective," "outlook" and variations of these words or similar expressions (or the negative versions of such words or expressions) are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Any such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions available under applicable securities laws and speak only as of the date made. Blue Owl assumes no obligation to update or revise any such forward-looking statements except as required by law.

These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, conditions or results, and involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors, many of which are outside Blue Owl's control, that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements.

Important factors, among others, that may affect actual results or outcomes include the inability to recognize the anticipated benefits of strategic acquisitions; costs related to acquisitions; the inability to maintain the listing of Blue Owl's shares on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE"); Blue Owl's ability to manage growth; Blue Owl's ability to execute its business plan and meet its projections; potential litigation involving Blue Owl; changes in applicable laws or regulations; and the possibility that Blue Owl may be adversely affected by other economic, business, geo-political and competitive factors.

Investor Contact

Ann Dai

Head of Investor Relations

[email protected]

Media Contact

Nick Theccanat

Principal, Corporate Communications & Government Affairs

[email protected]

SOURCE Blue Owl Capital
Market is driven by factors such as rising in aging population as the global population ages, there is a higher incidence of cardiac conditions associated with aging, such as atrial fibrillation and heart failure. On the other hand, Cost Constraints is expected to limit market growth to a certain extent in the coming years. As High upfront costs associated with cardiac monitoring and rhythm management devices may limit adoption, particularly in resource-constrained healthcare settings or for patients without adequate insurance coverage. Likewise, Continued advancements in technology offer opportunities for the development of more sophisticated and effective cardiac monitoring and rhythm management devices. Innovations such as miniaturization, wireless connectivity, artificial intelligence (AI), and remote monitoring capabilities can improve device performance, patient outcomes, and user experience. However, availability of lack of practiced professionals is anticipated to hinder market development.

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Browse in-depth TOC on "Cardiac Monitoring & Cardiac Rhythm Management Devices Market"

424 - Tables

48 - Figures

313 - Pages

Cardiac Monitoring & Cardiac Rhythm Management Devices Market Scope:

Report Coverage Details Market Revenue in 2024 $21.3 billion Estimated Value by 2029 $26.4 billion Growth Rate Poised to grow at a CAGR of 4.3% Market Size Available for 20222029 Forecast Period 20242029 Forecast Units Value (USD Billion) Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, and Trends Segments Covered Enteral feeding devices  Type, Age Group, Application, End user and Region Geographies Covered Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa and GCC countries Report Highlights Updated financial information / product portfolio of players Key Market Opportunities Wearable technologies and mobile health (mhealth) applications Key Market Drivers Growing geriatric population and subsequent increase in cvd prevalence

Resting ECG in ECG type segment to witness the highest shares during the forecast period."

Based on the type, the global cardiac monitoring & cardiac rhythm management devices market is segmented into Resting ECG Devices, Stress ECG Devices, Holter Monitors, Smart ECG Monitors, Event Monitors. The Resting ECG Devices is expected to dominate because of its wider application. Resting ECG is the most commonly performed type of ECG test and is widely used in clinical practice for routine cardiac screening, diagnosis, and monitoring. It is a non-invasive, cost-effective, and readily available diagnostic tool that can be performed quickly and easily in various healthcare settings. Similarly, Resting ECG is accessible to a wide range of healthcare providers, including primary care physicians, cardiologists, emergency department staff, and allied healthcare professionals. The simplicity and affordability of resting ECG make it accessible to patients in various healthcare settings, including hospitals, clinics, and ambulatory care facilities.

US dominates the North American cardiac monitoring & cardiac rhythm management devices Market

Based on the North America region, the cardiac monitoring & cardiac rhythm management devices Market is divided into US and Canada. US is expected to dominate the cardiac monitoring & cardiac rhythm management devices Market. The United States has a highly advanced and sophisticated healthcare infrastructure, including research facilities, laboratories, and healthcare institutions. This infrastructure supports the development, adoption, and implementation of advanced diagnostic screening such as cardiac. Similarly, The U.S. is a global hub for biomedical research and innovation. The presence of leading research institutions, academic centers, and biotechnology companies fosters a conducive environment for the development and validation of novel diagnostic as well as research of cardiac devices.

Japan dominates the Asia Pacific cardiac monitoring & cardiac rhythm management devices Market

The APAC Carrier Screening Market is segmented into Japan, China, India, and Rest of APAC. In 2023, Japan accounted for the largest share of the Asian cardiac monitoring & cardiac rhythm management devices Market. The large share of Japan can be attributed to the presence of Advanced Healthcare Infrastructure, as Japan boasts a highly advanced healthcare infrastructure with modern medical facilities, state-of-the-art equipment, and well-trained healthcare professionals. The country's advanced healthcare system enables the adoption of cutting-edge cardiac monitoring and rhythm management technologies similarly, Japan has one of the oldest populations globally, with a large proportion of elderly individuals who are at increased risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. Moreover, Japan has a relatively high level of healthcare expenditure, with substantial investments in medical infrastructure, research and development, and healthcare services.

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Cardiac Monitoring & Cardiac Rhythm Management Devices Market Dynamics:

Drivers:

Growing geriatric population and subsequent increase in CVD prevalence Availability of reimbursement for CM & CRM devices Rising awareness and prevention initiatives Increasing investments, funds, and grants for research Growing preference for wearable cardiac devices

Restraints:

High device cost Adverse effects and associated complications

Opportunities:

Measures to reduce infections caused by CIEDs Untapped emerging markets

Challenge:

Risk of associated cybersecurity vulnerabilities Frequent product recalls Stringent regulatory requirements delaying the approval of cardiac devices Dearth of skilled professionals

Key Market Players of Cardiac Monitoring & Cardiac Rhythm Management Devices Industry:

The major players in the cardiac monitoring & cardiac rhythm management devices Market are Abbott Laboratories (US), Medtronic (Ireland), Boston Scientific Corporation (US), GE HealthCare (US), Koninklijke Philips N.V. (Netherlands), Asahi Kasei Corporation. (Japan), MicroPort Scientific Corporatio (China), Baxter. (US), NIHON KOHDEN CORPORATION.(Japan), BIOTRONIK (Germany)

The primary interviews conducted for this report can be categorized as follows:

By Company Type: Tier 1 - 32%, Tier 2 - 44%, and Tier 3 - 24%

By Designation: C-level - 30%, D-level - 34%, and Others - 36%

By Region: North America - 40%, Europe - 28%, Asia Pacific - 20%, and the Rest of the World  12%

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Recent Developments of Cardiac Monitoring & Cardiac Rhythm Management Devices Industry:

In 2023, Abbott launched Asert-IQ, a Bluetooth-enabled insertable cardiac monitor for the long-term monitoring of heart rhythms.

In 2023, Boston Scientific received FDA clearance and launched the next-generation LUX-Dx II/II+ ICM system for long-term monitoring of arrhythmias.

In 2021, Baxter International announced the acquisition of Hillrom. Baxter paid USD 156.00 in cash for each outstanding share of Hillrom common stock for a purchase price of USD 10.5 billion (based on Hillrom share counts at closing).{deal size USD 12.5 billion }

Cardiac Monitoring & Cardiac Rhythm Management Devices Market - Key Benefits of Buying the Report:

This report studies the cardiac monitoring & cardiac rhythm management devices market based on Type, Application, Procedure, End User, and Region. The report also analyses factors (such as drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges) affecting the market growth. It evaluates the opportunities and challenges in the market for stakeholders and provides details of the competitive landscape for market leaders. The report also studies micromarkets with respect to their growth trends, prospects, and contributions to the total cardiac monitoring & cardiac rhythm management devices market. The report forecasts the revenue of the market segments with respect to four major regions.

The report provides insights on the following pointers:

Market Drivers: Comprehensive information about driving factors of the markets. The report analyses the markets drivers across key geographic regions.

Market Penetration: Comprehensive information on cardiac monitoring & cardiac rhythm management devices Market products offered by the top 25 players in the market. The report analyses the cardiac monitoring & cardiac rhythm management devices market by Product & Service, Type, Medical Condition, Technology, End User, and Region.

Market Development: Comprehensive information about lucrative emerging markets. The report analyses the markets for various securement devices across key geographic regions.

Market Diversification: Exhaustive information about untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments in the cardiac monitoring & cardiac rhythm management devices market

Competitive Assessment: In-depth assessment of market shares and strategies of the leading players in the cardiac monitoring & cardiac rhythm management devices market

Market Position: It will upkeep stakeholders better understand the competitive landscape and gain more insights to better position their business and make suitable go-to-market strategies.

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Get access to the latest updates on Cardiac Monitoring & Cardiac Rhythm Management Devices Companies and Cardiac Monitoring & Cardiac Rhythm Management Devices Industry Growth

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Complimentary May 16 Spring Showcase Event to

Reveal Latest and Greatest in Skin Tightening

WILLOWBROOK, Ill., May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Cheung Aesthetics & Wellness, a leading Chicago dermatology practice, is among the first to offer groundbreaking technology that reverses facial aging and reduces wrinkles without discomfort, needles, or downtime. The clinic is hosting "Spring Showcase," a complimentary beauty/makeover event on May 16 for those who want to try the latest technology.

Known for providing innovative dermatological and cosmetic solutions to patients in the Chicago and New York areas, Jessie Cheung, M.D., FAAD, adds to her advanced cosmetic procedures by offering EMface, a comfortable 20-minute procedure using patented radiofrequency and muscle stimulation technology to build collagen and restore muscle tissue while preserving bone health.

"EMface is the wave of the future for those wanting to reverse aging using a non-invasive, painless procedure with no bruising or downtime. It uses electronic stimulation to non-invasively tone skin muscles which reduces and softens lines," Dr. Cheung explains.

Data shows that for most effective results in reducing wrinkles, lifting muscles, and improving facial contour, patients need four treatments of EMface -- one per week. Optimal results are noticeable 6 to 12 weeks after the last treatment.

"Along with the EMface procedure, I recommend adding EXION, an ultrasound procedure that boosts hyaluronic acid by over 200% and gives patients smooth, lifted skin," Dr. Cheung adds.

The EXION platform also features a painless, radiofrequency micro-needling technology that targets hard to treat areas without discomfort or bruising.

Located at 545 Plainfield Rd, Suite B, Willowbrook, IL, Dr. Cheung invites you to her Spring Showcase Event, 1 to 3 p.m., Thursday, May 16, featuring refreshments, raffle prizes, giveaways, and a special appearance from the BTL Aesthetic bus with demonstrations of EMface, EXION, EmSculpt NEO and other skin-tightening technology. To register: 630-455-0140.

About Dr. Jessie Cheung

Dr. Jessie Cheung is a board-certified, fellowship-trained dermatologist with practices in suburban Chicago and New York City. Her focus is on cosmetics, anti-aging and regenerative medicine with hormones, peptides, and sexual health. Dr. Cheung is a speaker and trainer for fillers, thread lifts, and lasers. She has held faculty appointments at New York University Medical Center and Rush University Medical Center and is now exclusively in private practice with an international clientele.

SOURCE Cheung Aesthetics & Wellness
For four decades, Oregon State Universitys College of Agricultural Sciences has invited all kinds of artists to engage with the Pacific Northwests diverse natural landscape, economy, cultures and communities through the annual "Art About Agriculture" exhibition.

This May, in its 41st year, and with a theme of natural resources, "Art About Agriculture" will begin touring the work of 46 artists, four of them students from Oregon State and the Oregon Coast School of Art.

This is the first time in the projects history students' work will be exhibited.

A Place to Sleep, episode 9: Sleep The latest episode is here, and this time we put a lot less emphasis on the word "place" and a lot more on "sleep."

Directing Curator Owen Premore, who took up the position in 2018, said he was first led to consider student submissions last year when an Ecampus student asked to submit to the exhibition.

The colleges academic program office made available a $200 scholarship to encourage student submissions, and jurors chose three Oregon State student pieces and one by a student at Oregon Coast School of Art in Gardiner.

The exhibition's modalities remain as it was set up in 1983, as a blind-juried, open-call exhibition with a purchase award option. The jurors are often a mix of scientists and artists, some of whom have their works in the "Art About Agriculture" permanent collection, a growing archive of art promoting agricultural awareness and appreciation displayed in public spaces across Oregon.

This year, the program received 386 submissions from 126 artists.

Agriculture defined

Portland mixed-media artist Nancy Helmsworth said she first learned about the exhibition from a friend and thought her work would fit with its themes and goals.

"The OSU definition of 'agriculture' is a broad subject that touches the variety of natural resources that we find here in Oregon, and as an artist, I am inspired by some of those same features," Helmsworth said by email.

Helmsworth's artwork "Devastation, after the forest fire. Is this our new normal?"  Premores curator selection for the 2024 tour  was an attempt to capture her "discomfort with the increasing fires" in the West, and worry about the inaction of political leaders in the face of the threats to human and natural resources posed by these fires.

"My experience has indicated that those who do not live in the West really do not understand the oppressive nature of the smoke and the scale of destruction of the fires," Helmsworth wrote.

Helmsworth said the summer of 2023 proved to be a turning point, and continues to raise concerns about increasingly common wildfires and societys "state of learned helplessness" in the face of the destruction they cause.

The artwork, for which she found models in Cornelius Gijsbrechts 1600s "Vanitas," attempts to balance those concerns and vulnerabilities.

Gijsbrechts "realistic still life paintings were drawing attention to the transience of pleasure and the vulnerable, limited time of life," Helmsworth said.

"I think that is the attitude I hope to convey in my mixed-media vignette. Life is fragile  lets notice what is happening."

These kinds of conversations, though difficult, are the kinds Premore said he encouraged student artists submitting for the first time to allow themselves to have in their work.

"One thing I really appreciate about OSU is they have no hesitation at all in talking about the big topics," Premore said.

But even amid those difficult conversations is the opportunity to acknowledge and be awed by the natural world.

Retired physician and Eugene-based photographer Bryan Andresens photograph, "Open Range, Eastern Oregon," which is the face of the touring exhibition this year, is an example of this.

Andresen grew up around farms in Junction City and worked on farms in Iowa while attending college, as well as several other states while taking a year off from college.

In 2016, as an escape from a political landscape rife with negativity, Andresen returned to photography, in which he'd had some interest. His photography focuses heavily on the natural world; water, landscapes, the elements, plant and animal life.

"Open Range, Eastern Oregon" was serendipitously shot after he stopped a car full of friends to photograph the way light fell on a herd of cattle grazing along a highway in Eastern Oregon.

"Its a little scary, but I feel honored," Andresen said about having the photograph featured throughout this year's exhibition tour.

Symbiosis

What do these two disciplines do for each other as they interact in this annual exhibition?

"At a fundamental level, farmers are providing nourishment, which is pretty profound if you think about it," Andresen said, especially over the last century, when more Americans have been distanced from the difficult work that is food production as it has become more industrial.

Art, at best, serves as a reminder of the "miracle of the transformation of soil, water, nutrition; theres something very sacred about that," Andresen said.

Because of the toil that food production entails, it is easy to forget there is something magical about how it all comes together.

"I think art can perhaps provide a reminder both of beauty as well as provide some gratitude for them performing this profession," Andresen said.

This appreciation is only a very small fraction of the work that food production entails, but, he added, "What is art but hopefully expanding our awareness and maybe gratitude for the lives were going through?"

Premore considers art as having the capacity to bridge the urban and rural divides in communicating agriculture.

While in the past the exhibit has focused heavily on showing in urban centers, Premore said hes been more focused on showing in more rural venues.

"For instance, Oregon Coast School of Art, they didnt have a gallery, but Ive been watching their progress as an art center, Premore said.

He contacted the founders asking if they had a gallery space to host the "Art About Agriculture" exhibition. They had a potential space and he helped them put together a grant application to secure $67,000 in funding to set up the gallery.

"'Art About Agriculture' is going to be their first show," Premore said.

It will also be the final location of the tour, which begins Tuesday, May 7 at the Giustina Gallery at the LaSells Stewart Center at Oregon State. An opening reception is set for 5 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 23.

The tour will run through June 26 at Oregon State before moving to the Rotunda Gallery, Barber Library at Central Oregon Community College in Bend, where it will be hosted from July 3 to Aug. 22. The opening reception will take place from 3 to 5 p.m. July 3.

At the Oregon Coast School of Arts High Street Gallery, the exhibition will be on display from Aug, 30 to Nov. 9, with the opening reception 5 to 7 p.m. Aug. 30.

Agricultural scientists appreciate seeing creative responses to the research theyre doing, according to Premore.

"It helps them see the research differently as well. It helps with visualizing whats happening in a different way," Premore said.

Part of the joys of curating the exhibition is taking the diverse selections of the jurors and crafting a narrative specific to each location and audience, Premore said.

"That's the part I really enjoy," he said.

Showcased art is largely visual and photography-based, but there are other media too, from ceramics to textiles, as well as multimedia art.

Related stories
The assisted living and memory support community was honored for its design and high-quality of life

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Clearwater Living, a real estate and property management company dedicated to the ownership, operation, and development of high-quality senior living communities, earned prominent recognition today with the announcement that Clearwater Newport Beach, a 101-unit, luxury assisted living and memory support community in Newport Beach, has been named the best 55+ luxury assisted living/special needs community as part of the 2024 Shaping Advancements in Generational Environments ("SAGE") Awards.

"Our mission with Clearwater Newport Beach, and all of our communities, is to consistently provide our residents with the vital emotional, physical, and social experiences that are important for a thriving assisted living community," said Danielle Morgan, Clearwater Living's president and chief operating officer. "We are honored that Clearwater Newport Beach has been recognized for, not only its stunning physical environment, but also its innovative approach to addressing resident needs and enhancing their quality of life."

Currently in its 29th year, the annual SAGE awards honor the innovative professionals, projects and programs that contribute to the enhancement of life for residents in the western U.S. ages 55 and older. Recipients were recognized at an event hosted by the Council on SAGE, a special interest council of the Building Industry Association of Southern California (BIASC).

Nominees were evaluated based on several factors including design and appeal, creativity, value, overall execution and the ability to age in place. Clearwater Newport Beach was acknowledged for its excellence across all categories, with particular emphasis on its exceptional design aesthetics and appeal, as well as its innovative strategies in shaping a premier residential environment.

Located just off Route 73 at 101 Bayview Place, Clearwater Newport Beach opened in February 2024 and offers 70 assisted living and 31 memory support apartments in a variety of modern finishes and floor plans including studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom options. The community also boasts a large outdoor courtyard, offering residents an immersive indoor/outdoor living experience.

The community provides access to Clearwater's five-star, resort-style living experience. Amenities include a creative studio, club room, fitness and wellness center, theater, housekeeping and laundry, salons, transportation, and concierge services. Clearwater's commitment to healthy living includes chef-driven cuisine that goes well beyond basic nutritional needs. Residents and their guests will be able to select from a variety of options across multiple dining venues including an on-site Savor Restaurant, CDM Cafe, wine vault, outdoor bar, and private dining.

Additionally, Clearwater provides residents with access to a licensed nurse onsite, 24-hour compassionate care partners, medication coordination, regular monitoring and other comprehensive care services as well as physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech-language pathology through their collaboration with EmpowerMe Wellness company. These amenities and services all represent Clearwater's philosophy of Empowered Living through impactful emotional, physical, and social experiences in a stimulating and comfortable environment.

Clearwater Living actively acquires, develops and operates a full range of senior housing communities throughout the western United States. The company currently supports 12 communities across California, Texas, Nevada and Arizona, with several additional developments in the pipeline.

About Clearwater Living

Clearwater Living is committed to providing the most superior customer service and living experiences that celebrate individual relevance, from our residents and their families to our family of team members. Clearwater is growing through strategic acquisitions, development, and operational management of senior living communities throughout the western United States. Every Clearwater Living community practices a holistic approach to successful aging and personalized care that improves the daily lives of residents. To learn more about Clearwater Living, visit ClearwaterLiving.com.

Contact: Jennifer Franklin

Spotlight Marketing Communications

(949) 427-1385

[email protected]

SOURCE Clearwater Living
As part of Mission 600, 2023 Cup Series champion and defending Coca-Cola 600 winner Ryan Blaney visited Arlington National Cemetery and laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to mark the beginning of Military Appreciation Month.

Blaney was joined by Speedway Motorsports President and CEO Marcus Smith , Charlotte Motor Speedway Executive Vice President and General Manager Greg Walter , and North Carolina Rep. Richard Hudson .

The distinguished visitors also took part in a tour of the cemetery and its Memorial Display Room, visited with members of the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment and toured the U.S. Capitol while in Washington, D.C.

ARLINGTON, Va., May 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Continuing an annual tradition for the defending Coca-Cola 600 race winner to kick off Military Appreciation Month, Charlotte Motor Speedway hosted 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney for an impactful visit to Arlington National Cemetery. Arlington National Cemetery is the final resting place for more than 400,000 servicemen and women and their families from every major United States conflict since the Revolutionary War.

As a prelude to the 65th running of the May 26 Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend, Blaney joined Speedway Motorsports President and CEO Marcus Smith, Charlotte Motor Speedway Executive Vice President and General Manager Greg Walter and North Carolina Rep. Richard Hudson in laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider in Arlington, Va.

Blaney paid respects to fallen service members, viewed Arlington National Cemetery history and visited U.S. senators. Post this

"It was an honor to be here, very humbling," Blaney said. "Seeing the changing of the guard, being part of the wreath ceremony, that was just unbelievable, over the top  puts it all into perspective. We get to do what we do because of what's here, because of the men and women who were laid to rest here."

In addition to the wreath-laying, the group took part in a private viewing of artifacts that bring to life the rich history of Arlington National Cemetery in the Memorial Amphitheater Display Room and witnessed a changing-of-the-guard ceremony. At the iconic tomb, which marked its centennial anniversary in 2021, members of the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment, known as The Old Guard, stand watch 24 hours a day, a tradition that began in 1948. Following the visit to Arlington National Cemetery, the dignitaries visited the United States Capitol, where they met with U.S. Sens. Thom Tillis and Ted Budd.

"To be here with Ryan Blaney, NASCAR champion and Coca-Cola 600 champion, it makes us remember how special it is being able to race the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend," Smith said. "We all have a lot of things going on and we all are busy, but this is definitely a time that we can set aside and make it a special time of remembrance. Everybody should come to Arlington and appreciate this and feel the sacrifice of our Armed Forces."

Each Memorial Day weekend, Charlotte Motor Speedway pays tribute to those men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice during a moving Coca-Cola 600 pre-race show that includes representation from all six branches of the military. In addition to aerial and ground demonstrations, the pre-race salute features hundreds of members of the U.S. Armed Forces and Gold Star Families.

"I grew up going to the 600 watching dad race on Memorial Day and always knew what it was as a kid," Blaney said. "I saw the job that NASCAR did in honoring the soldiers that have fallen. Now as an adult, getting to be a part of it  meeting family members of fallen soldiers, active service members, and now coming here  I think it just makes it even more special that we get to run on Memorial Day It makes you feel how small you actually are in the broader picture of things. We get to do a neat sport, but at the end of the day, this is what real heroes are. It's going to be even more special getting to race the 600 after visiting this place."

In recent years, the speedway's salute has expanded to include Mission 600, a campaign pairing NASCAR drivers with military bases designed to educate the NASCAR community about the day-to-day lives of the men and women who serve in the U.S. Armed Forces. To date in 2024, on behalf of the Coca-Cola Racing Family of drivers, Daniel Suarez visited Fort Liberty to train alongside members from the 82nd Airborne Division and Denny Hamlin virtually met members of the 19th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, Korea. Additional Mission 600 visits in the coming weeks leading up to the May 26 Coca-Cola 600 are scheduled to include Coca-Cola Racing Family driver Joey Logano traveling to Shaw Air Force Base and Chris Buescher visiting Marines at Parris Island Marine Recruit Depot.

Click here for photos, video to support this release.

TICKETS:

Tickets are still available for the May 24-26 Coca-Cola 600 weekend, with three-day packages starting at $99. Weekend tickets for children ages 12 and under are just $10. Fans can purchase tickets online at www.charlottemotorspeedway.com or by calling the ticket office at 1-800-455-FANS (3267). Admission to BetMGM Speed Street concerts by tribute band Hairball (Friday) and country music sensation Kameron Marlowe (Saturday) is free with any race ticket. Sunday's pre-race concert by MatchBox20 is free with purchase of a Coca-Cola 600 race ticket.

MORE INFO:

Fans can connect with Charlotte Motor Speedway and get the latest news by following on Twitter and Instagram or becoming a Facebook fan.

SOURCE Charlotte Motor Speedway
WASHINGTON, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is warning consumers about the risk of fingertip amputation and crushing injuries associated with the use of Floatstep dock ladders. The dock ladders have pinch points which can cause fingertip crushes and amputations. Two people have suffered fingertip amputations while using the ladders in incidents in Kentucky in 2022 and Florida in 2018.

The manufacturer, Atlantic Aluminum and Marine Products Inc., of Lantana, Florida, has not agreed to an acceptable recall of the dock ladders at this time.

The Floatstep dock ladders are designed to rise out of the water when not in use. The main components of the ladders are a base with bushings that is attached directly to the dock and a hollow ladder that slides up and down the bushings. The pinch points are located on the rear of the ladder in between the bushings and the inside of the hollow ladder. There are four pinch points. The first set of pinch points is between the top of the bushing and the top of the hollow ladder. The other set of pinch points is between the bottom of the bushing and the bottom of the hollow ladder. These pinch points are located on both the right and left side of the ladder.

The dock ladders are made of aluminum, with a black plastic float at the bottom of the sliding ladder. "FLOATSTEP" is printed on the top of the float. The ladders have a hollow sliding ladder rail which can have three to 10 steps. The ladders continue to be sold online at DockGear.com, Havendock.com, TMPmarine.com and boatliftanddock.com.

CPSC urges consumers not to purchase or sell these dock ladders. Stop using and dispose of the dock ladders immediately .

Report a dangerous product or a product-related injury on www.SaferProducts.gov.

Under section 6(b) of the Consumer Product Safety Act, the CPSC is required to include with this press release any comments from the manufacturer or a summary thereof. The company objects to this press release. The company states that in the two incidents resulting in injury, the ladder was not installed per Atlantic Aluminum's instructions. The company states that specifically, the ladders were installed and utilized without the instructed rubber stoppers being installed at the pinch points. Atlantic Aluminum states that it has manufactured hundreds of the FloatStep ladders and the FloatStep ladders have been safely utilized on thousands of occasions. Atlantic Aluminum states that the rubber stoppers either eliminate or significantly reduce the significance of an injury if a finger inadvertently reaches the pinch point. Atlantic Aluminum maintains that the FloatStep ladders are safe when installed and utilized as instructed.

Individual Commissioners may have statements related to this topic. Please visit www.cpsc.gov/commissioners to search for statements related to this or other topics.

About the U.S. CPSC

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risk of injury or death associated with the use of thousands of types of consumer products. Deaths, injuries, and property damage from consumer product-related incidents cost the nation more than $1 trillion annually. CPSC's work to ensure the safety of consumer products has contributed to a decline in the rate of injuries associated with consumer products over the past 50 years.

Federal law prohibits any person from selling products subject to a Commission ordered recall or a voluntary recall undertaken in consultation with the CPSC.

For lifesaving information:

- Visit CPSC.gov.

- Sign up to receive our e-mail alerts.

- Follow us on Facebook, Instagram @USCPSC and Twitter @USCPSC.

- Report a dangerous product or a product-related injury on www.SaferProducts.gov.

- Call CPSC's Hotline at 800-638-2772 (TTY 301-595-7054).

- Contact a media specialist.

Release Number: 24-214

SOURCE U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
CHICAGO, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- An Illinois utility watchdog group has joined forces with a community that has had highly publicized problems with lead in its drinking water to file testimony arguing that Aqua Illinois' proposed $19.2 million rate hike should be slashed by at least 40 percent.

The testimony was filed May 1 by the Citizens Utility Board (CUB), the Village of University Park and Viscofan USA, which has a manufacturing facility in Danville and is Aqua's largest industrial customer in the Vermillion water division. The testimony uncovered at least $7.6 million in overcharges proposed by Aqua, or about 40 percent of the company's rate-hike request.

"Our testimony shows that Aqua Illinois' rate-hike request is unjust and unreasonable," CUB Executive Director Sarah Moskowitz said. "For years, we've received a steady stream of complaints from Aqua customers unhappy with poor water quality and exorbitant rates, and our latest testimony reveals that the company is pushing for an excessive profit rate for its shareholders. We urge state regulators to reject Aqua's rate hike."

The testimony, from Chris Walters and James Leyko, of Brubaker & Associates, Inc., a Missouri-based consulting firm that specializes in utility regulation, recommended these reductions:

Return on Equity and Common Equity Ratio. Aqua is asking for an excessive increase in its "Return on Equity" (ROE)or profit rate for shareholdersfrom 9.6 percent to 10.8 percent. Instead, CUB argues for a more reasonable 9.45 percent ROE. CUB also argues that the utility's proposed "common equity ratio"how much of the utility's financing comes from issuing stocksis too high. Combined, those two adjustments would reduce the proposed rate hike by $7.1 million . ROE is the most important component of a utility's "rate of return," which is the rate at which the utility recovers the cost of financing physical assets, such as meters and pipes.





Aqua is asking for an excessive increase in its "Return on Equity" (ROE)or profit rate for shareholdersfrom 9.6 percent to 10.8 percent. Instead, CUB argues for a more reasonable 9.45 percent ROE. CUB also argues that the utility's proposed "common equity ratio"how much of the utility's financing comes from issuing stocksis too high. Combined, those two adjustments would reduce the proposed rate hike by . ROE is the most important component of a utility's "rate of return," which is the rate at which the utility recovers the cost of financing physical assets, such as meters and pipes. Executive Bonuses. CUB argues that customers shouldn't cover bonuses the company gives to executives for reaching financial goals that only benefit shareholders. That recommendation cut Aqua's proposed increase by another $323,000 .





CUB argues that customers shouldn't cover bonuses the company gives to executives for reaching financial goals that only benefit shareholders. That recommendation cut Aqua's proposed increase by another . Rate-case Expense. Under Illinois law, utilities are allowed to recover expenses for outside lawyers and expert witnesses in rate cases. In the Aqua case, CUB's testimony argues that the utility inflated those expenses, reducing the rate hike by another $159,000 . (Note: In Springfield , CUB is working for the Utility Affordability Act, which would prohibit utilities from charging customers for such expenses.)

In total, the testimony calls for about $7.6 million in reductions of Aqua's proposed rate hike. CUB hopes to adopt testimony filed by other parties, including the Illinois Attorney General's Office, to argue for cutting the rate hike even more.

On Jan. 17, Aqua, which serves about 273,000 customers in central and northern Illinois, filed a $19.2 million rate-hike request with the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) (Docket 24-0044 ). Aqua estimated that it would increase the average residential wastewater and water bill (4,000 gallons) by $29.91 per month.

The rate-hike request was the latest bad news for Aqua customers. There have been several examples of serious service concernsincluding a water outage in Lake County in 2023 and unacceptable levels of lead in drinking water in University Park in 2019. While Aqua says the problem in University Park has been fixed, years later some customers were still drinking bottled water because they didn't trust the company.

At the same time, Aqua's aggressive strategy of buying up municipal systems, along with winning legislative approval to add a "Qualifying Infrastructure Plant" surcharge to bills, has needlessly increased costs for customers. Under state law, the company can buy depreciated water and wastewater systems across the state and charge their customers to cover 100 percent of the acquisition costs. CUB Water Tracker, a special online center that monitors the problem, has found that Aqua customers have so far covered $121 million in acquisition costs. CUB has been advocating for legislative reforms to bring relief to private water customers across Illinois.

Meanwhile, Aqua's parent company, Essential Utilities, has prospered. The company raked in $498.2 million in profits in 2023, up about 7 percent from the year before. In announcing its 2023 results, Aqua's parent bragged about its "proven acquisition track record" and capturing higher rates or infrastructure charges in Illinois and seven other states.

The Citizens Utility Board (CUB) is celebrating its 40th anniversary as Illinois' leading nonprofit utility watchdog group. Created by the Illinois Legislature, CUB opened its doors in 1984 to represent the interests of residential and small-business utility customers. Since then, CUB has saved consumers more than $20 billion by helping to block rate hikes and secure refunds. For more information, call CUB's Consumer Hotline at 1-800-669-5556 or visit CitizensUtilityBoard.org.

SOURCE Citizens Utility Board
DUBAI, UAE, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- As a testament to their unwavering dedication to catalyse positive change within the cybersecurity realm of the UAE, the Emarati entity, CyberGate Defense, made a formidable impact at the premier cybersecurity congregation of the region  GISEC 2024. Themed around the frontier of AI-powered cyber resilience, this three-day symposium served as a platform for showcasing pioneering solutions from leading cybersecurity entities.

His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, the Head of Cyber Security Council of the UAE Government graced the occasion of the unveiling of CyberGate Defenses latest offering: HAARIS at GISEC 2024. Pictured here with CybeGate Defense CEO Mohammed Bin Bouta Alharsousi

For CyberGate, the inaugural day unfurled a tapestry of notable moments. Commencing with an esteemed visit from HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohamed bin Rashed Al Maktoum, Vice Chairman of the Dubai Academic Health Corporation, their booth garnered attention from dignitaries. Welcoming His Highness was CyberGate Defense's illustrious Founder & CEO, Mohammed Bin Bouta Alharsousi, with discussions revolving around the nation's cybersecurity innovations.

Adding to the day's significance, CyberGate Defense orchestrated the unveiling of HAARIS in the esteemed presence of H.E. Dr. Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, the Head of Cyber Security Council of the UAE Government. The introduction of HAARIS signifies a pivotal milestone in CyberGate Defense's continuing pursuit to redefine the cybersecurity landscape of the nation.

What is HAARIS?

In today's digital age, protecting data is crucial for businesses. HAARIS offers an innovative solution driven by AI and Machine Learning, enhancing defense strategies, response mechanisms, and overall success.

HAARIS improves real-time threat detection and response. With AI, it predicts and neutralizes threats before they strike. It provides an integrated suite of security tools, surpassing traditional solutions. By fostering collaboration, it helps anticipate and tackle threats effectively, keeping businesses secure. HAARIS also evolves with emerging threats, enhancing customers' security programs. This proactive approach ensures resilience against evolving cyber risks, securing long-term success. It also enhances collaboration and response capabilities, providing comprehensive visibility and a unified platform. It efficiently detects and neutralizes threats, saving resources while offering seamless management of multiple cybersecurity services, from deployment to integration with existing systems, ensuring comprehensive protection.

As a security-as-a-service platform, HAARIS combines in-house innovations with trusted partnerships to protect assets and infrastructure. This holistic approach streamlines security operations and keeps businesses ahead of threats.

What's more, HAARIS caters to businesses of all sizes, offering tailored solutions, it is more than a cybersecurity solution; it's a strategic ally in achieving security excellence.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2401444/CyberGate_Defense_1.jpg

SOURCE CyberGate Defense
FRISCO, Texas, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- DialCare is excited to announce the debut of its new podcast, "Dialed-In on the Virtual Care Journey." This monthly podcast series will aim to help listeners navigate the ever-evolving landscape of virtual care by providing the latest industry news and expertise.

The inaugural episode, which officially debuted on March 28th, 2024, introduced co-hosts Jeremy Hedrick, Chief Operations Officer of DialCare, and Becca Bean, Senior Vice President of DialCare, as they shared their respective backgrounds and experiences in the telehealth industry. They also gave listeners an overview of the pandemic's monumental influence on the virtual care landscape and how DialCare quickly adapted to expand its suite of virtual health solutions.

"It is inspiring to be part of an industry dedicated to delivering accessible, affordable and convenient care," Mrs. Bean said. "We're thrilled to use this podcast platform as an opportunity to share our passion for virtual care and open the conversation about its growth and impact on patients across the nation."

The second episode is now live and dives deeper into DialCare's innovative programs and services. Future installments will highlight advancements in the telehealth field and feature insightful discussions with guest speakers, including health care providers and other industry experts.

"Even with our collective experience in the telehealth field, we know there's always more to learn," Mr. Hedrick said. "In addition to sharing our own insight, we look forward to speaking with pioneering, forward-thinking guests about their unique perspectives within the industry."

"As an innovative, adaptive leader in the virtual care space, DialCare is excited to launch this podcast series as a new way to connect with our audiences," Stewart Sweda, Chief Executive Officer of DialCare, said. "I'm confident Jeremy and Becca's conversance with virtual care will engage listeners as they foster the conversation about its impact and future."

DialCare welcomes individuals from the health care industry who are interested in being highlighted as a guest on "Dialed-In on the Virtual Care Journey." If you have interesting or valuable expertise to share about your experience with telehealth, we invite you to reach out. All inquiries can be emailed to DialCare's Digital Media Manager, Kenneth Faith at [email protected].

Listeners can stream "Dialed-In on the Virtual Care Journey" on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and watch on YouTube.

DialCare offers a robust suite of telehealth solutions including Physician Access, Mental Wellness, Teledentistry and Virtual Vet. DialCare's virtual health programs are available to organizations of any size or industry, employees of any status, brokers, benefits consultants and individual consumers nationwide. For more information, visit DialCare.com.

About DialCare

DialCare is an innovative industry leader committed to providing affordable access to virtual care to help people improve their overall health and well-being. Across a robust suite of virtual health services, DialCare offers seven comprehensive, high-demand telehealth solutions, including a Physician Access program that provides 24/7/365 access to non-emergency care from a national network of U.S.-based, fully credentialed physicians and virtual primary care for long-term care of chronic conditions with dedicated physicians; a Mental Wellness program that provides virtual counseling and psychiatry with licensed mental health professionals for mental and behavioral health care; a Teledentistry program for 24/7/365 access to consultations with licensed dentists via video or phone chat; and a Virtual Vet program that provides 24/7/365 access to guidance and information from licensed veterinary professionals. DialCare is available nationally to consumers and organizations of any size or industry. DialCare's virtual care solutions are available as standalone products or as part of a bundled offering. For more information on DialCare, please visit DialCare.com.

Contact:

Jamie Saunders

Vice President of Marketing and Communications

DialCare

Email: [email protected]

Phone: (800) 441-0380 ext. 2902

SOURCE DialCare
CHICAGO, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In April, the Elks National Foundation awarded more than $3.9 million to high school seniors entering their freshman year of college, welcoming 850 students to the Elks Family. More than just financial aid, an Elks scholarship is an invitation to a network of service-minded peers and a promise that an Elks Lodge is always there with open arms.

Elks award nearly $4 million in college scholarships to 850 high school seniors. Post this The Elks National Foundation awarded 350 Legacy Awards scholarships to high school seniors who are the children or grandchildren of Elks members. Pictured are recipients from across the United States: Caris Schneider from Florida (left), Kieran Murray from Wyoming (top), Lyric Knepshield from Pennsylvania (lower left), Denton Wiggins from Florida (lower middle), and Alynna Wilson from Ohio (bottom right). The Elks Top 20 Most Valuable Student scholarship recipients pose with scholar leaders outside of the Elks National Veterans Memorial and Headquarters in Chicago during the annual MVS Leadership Weekend. During the 2024 Elks Most Valuable Student Leadership Weekend, the Top 20 MVS scholars served at a Chicago location of Cradles to Crayons, where they helped sort clothes for children birth through age 12 living in low-income situations.

Out of more than 22,000 applicants for the Elks National Foundation's Most Valuable Student scholarship, the Top 20 scholars received $30,000 scholarships and an invitation to Chicago for the Most Valuable Student Leadership Weekend. Four-hundred-and-eighty runners-up received $4,000 scholarships.

From April 11 to 14 in Chicago, the Leadership Weekend offered panels run by current and former Elks scholars to teach the new class about personal branding, transitioning to college, and finding service opportunities through the Elks.

"The Leadership Weekend was an experience I will never forget," says Ella Brie Mayor, a top winner sponsored by Simi Valley, Calif., Lodge No. 2492. "I am so grateful to have been able to connect with a likeminded group of students who care about education and bettering the world just as much as I do."

The Elks also welcomed 350 Legacy Awards scholarship recipients to the #ElksFamily. Exclusively for the children or grandchildren of Elks members, the Legacy Awards are $4,000 scholarships with an essential service requirement. Recipients must serve with an Elks Lodge three times during the four years they receive the scholarship.

"Receiving an Elks Legacy scholarship is a profound honor that represents not only financial support but also recognition of my family connection to the Elks community," says Denton Wiggins, a Legacy scholar sponsored by Perry, Fla., Lodge No. 1851. "It signifies a legacy of service, generosity, and commitment to education passed down through generations."

To see a full list of the scholarship winners and to learn more about the Elks National Foundation's scholarships, visit elks.org/scholars, follow the ENF on Instagram @ElksScholars, and like the ENF on Facebook @ElksNationalFoundation.

Contact: Elks National Foundation

Abbey Knupp | Manager, Communications

2750 N. Lakeview Ave. | Chicago, IL 60614-2256

773/755-4864 | [email protected]

The Elks National Foundation, the charitable arm of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, helps nearly 800,000 Elks and more than 1,800 Lodges nationwide build stronger communities through programs that support youth, serve veterans, and meet needs in areas where Elks live and work. To learn more, visit elks.org/enf.

SOURCE ELKS NATIONAL FOUNDATION, INC.
NEW YORK, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ --The global embedded computer market size is estimated to grow by USD 19.71 billion from 2023 to 2027, according to Technavio. The market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of almost 7.94% during the forecast period. Europe is estimated to contribute 36%. to the growth of the global market.

Get region specific data - Download a FREE Sample

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Embedded Computer Market 2023-2027

The Embedded Computer Market report forecasts market growth by revenue at global, regional & country levels from 2017 to 2027.

Region Outlook

Europe North America APAC South America Middle East & Africa

1. Europe - Europe is anticipated to contribute 36% to the growth of the global embedded computing market during the forecast period. Analysts at Technavio have detailed the regional trends and drivers shaping the market. The increasing adoption of automation across industries in Europe is fueling market growth, particularly driven by the uptake of Industry 4.0. This initiative, spearheaded by the German government, aims to promote computerization in industrial practices by integrating automation technologies and data exchange with manufacturing systems.

Europe boasts several leading embedded computer manufacturers, including congatec and Kontron S and T, with high sales and operations due to the presence of numerous OEMs. For instance, MSC Technologies, now part of Avnet, conducts most of its sales and operations across more than ten European countries. The region's major revenue stems from Western Europe , notably Germany , where there is increasing interest in smart factories and Industry 4.0 adoption.

For insights on the market share of rest of the regions and countries- Download a FREE Sample

Research Analysis

The Embedded Computer Market encompasses various sectors, including the Communication and Automotive industries. In these domains, Microcontrollers and Microprocessors serve as the backbone for Digital Signal Processors and Embedded Security solutions. The Automotive sector utilizes these technologies in advanced systems such as Embedded Airbag Systems, Embedded Navigation Systems, and Adaptive Cruise Control.

The Industrial Ecosystem also benefits from these technologies, with Edge Controls enhancing the functionality of Vehicle's Electronic Systems. The Healthcare Industry leverages Embedded Computing in devices like Electronic Stethoscopes, Imaging Systems (PET Scans, CT Scans, MRIs), Glucose Monitors, Pacemakers, and CPAP Machines. Biomedical Sensors and Consumer Electronics Devices, such as Mobile Phones, Laptops, and Personal Computers, further expand the market's reach.

Market Overview

The Embedded Computer Market is a significant sector in the technology industry, characterized by the integration of computers into various devices and systems. This market encompasses a wide range of products, including microcontrollers, microprocessors, embedded systems, and real-time operating systems. The sector caters to diverse industries such as automotive, healthcare, telecommunications, and consumer electronics.

The market is driven by factors like the increasing demand for IoT devices, the need for miniaturization, and the growing trend towards Industry 4.0. The market is expected to grow steadily in the coming years, driven by advancements in technology and the increasing adoption of embedded systems in various applications.

To understand more about this market- Download a FREE Sample Report in minutes!

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
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Encompass Health Corporation (NYSE: EHC) today announced that its board of directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend on its common stock of $0.15 per share, payable on July 15, 2024, to holders of record on July 1, 2024.

About Encompass Health

Encompass Health (NYSE: EHC) is the largest owner and operator of rehabilitation hospitals in the United States. With a national footprint that includes 160 hospitals in 37 states and Puerto Rico, the Company provides high-quality, compassionate rehabilitative care for patients recovering from a major injury or illness, using advanced technology and innovative treatments to maximize recovery. Encompass Health is ranked as one of Fortune's World's Most Admired Companies and Modern Healthcare's Best Places to Work in Healthcare. For more information, visit encompasshealth.com, or follow us on our newsroom, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements contained in this press release which are not historical facts, such as the timing and amounts of dividends, are forward-looking within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In addition, Encompass Health, through its senior management, may from time to time make forward-looking public statements concerning the matters described herein. All such estimates, projections, and forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof, and Encompass Health undertakes no duty to publicly update or revise such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Such forward-looking statements are necessarily estimates based upon current information and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual events or results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors. While it is impossible to identify all such factors, factors which could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those estimated by Encompass Health include, but are not limited to, the legal, regulatory and administrative developments that occur at the federal, state and local levels; general conditions in the economy and capital markets, including any instability or uncertainty related to armed conflict or an act of terrorism, governmental impasse over approval of the United States federal budget, an increase in the debt ceiling, or an international sovereign debt crisis; Encompass Health's ability to comply with extensive, complex, and ever-changing regulations in the healthcare industry; potential disruptions, breaches, or other incidents affecting the proper operation, availability, or security of Encompass Health's information systems, including unauthorized access to or theft of patient, business associate, or other sensitive information; changes, delays in (including in connection with resolution of Medicare payment reviews or appeals), or suspension of reimbursement for Encompass Health's services by governmental or private payors; and other factors which may be identified from time to time in Encompass Health's SEC filings and other public announcements, including Encompass Health's Form 10K for the year ended December 31, 2023 and Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2024.

Media Contact:

Kennedi Spurling| 205-970-5912

[email protected]

Investor Relations Contact:

Mark Miller | 205-970-5860

[email protected]

SOURCE Encompass Health Corp.
ATLANTA, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Equifax  (NYSE: EFX) today announced that Barbara Larson, former Chief Financial Officer for Workday, has been elected to its board of directors.

Barbara Larson

"I'm energized to welcome Barbara as a new independent director on our board," said Mark W. Begor, CEO of Equifax. "Her more than two decades of financial leadership and extensive experience in both human capital management and enterprise technology will be a tremendous asset to Equifax as we execute against our EFX2026 strategic priorities  continuing to grow our non-mortgage business through Equifax Cloud-based new product and EFX.AI innovation."

Larson will serve on the board's Audit Committee. With this appointment, the Equifax board now consists of ten directors, including nine independent directors.

"Barbara is a strong business leader and seasoned finance professional," said Mark L. Feidler, non-executive chairman of Equifax. "I am pleased to welcome her to the Equifax board of directors and am confident that her background will be invaluable to the board in its continued oversight of the company's strategic growth."

Larson most recently served as Chief Financial Officer at Workday, a leading provider of solutions to help organizations manage their people and money. Under her financial leadership, the company consistently beat quarterly guidance and issued their first investment grade debt offering. During her nearly decade-long tenure with Workday, Larson held several leadership positions across the company's finance and product organizations, including Senior Vice President of accounting, tax, and treasury, as well as General Manager of Workday Financial Management, where she oversaw Workday Financial Management applications.

"The new Equifax has expanded well beyond a traditional credit bureau  growing into a leading global data, analytics and technology company," commented Larson. "I look forward to working with the board of directors to help guide the company's strategic priorities as it continues its growth worldwide."

Prior to joining Workday, Larson held various leadership roles in corporate finance spanning more than 20 years at VMWare, TIBCO, and Symantec. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Arizona.

ABOUT EQUIFAX INC.

At Equifax (NYSE: EFX), we believe knowledge drives progress. As a global data, analytics, and technology company, we play an essential role in the global economy by helping financial institutions, companies, employers, and government agencies make critical decisions with greater confidence. Our unique blend of differentiated data, analytics, and cloud technology drives insights to power decisions to move people forward. Headquartered in Atlanta and supported by nearly 15,000 employees worldwide, Equifax operates or has investments in 24 countries in North America, Central and South America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region. For more information, visit Equifax.com .

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Kate Walker for Equifax

[email protected]

SOURCE Equifax Inc.
Data centre focused on enhancing customer experience and security standards for Canadians

TORONTO, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- ESET, a global leader in digital security, is pleased to announce the establishment of its first local data centre in Canada, marking a significant milestone in its commitment to delivering unparalleled service and security to its customers across the country.

The local data centre plays a crucial role in accelerating the delivery of ESET's innovative cybersecurity solutions to Canadian businesses and individuals. By leveraging state-of-the-art technology and robust infrastructure, ESET will be able to deploy updates and patches more efficiently, ensuring that customers are always protected against the latest threats.

"We are thrilled to announce the launch of our first local data centre in Canada," said Bob Bonneau, Country Manager at ESET Canada. "This investment underscores our unwavering commitment to provide our customers with the highest level of service and security. ESET will now deliver faster response times, greater reliability and enhanced data protection. Leading this effort is also a tactical move for the company as Canada aims to pivot into an era of data protectionism."

The launch of the new data centre represents a strategic investment in Canada's cybersecurity infrastructure, enabling ESET to better serve its growing customer base with faster response times, enhanced data protection and improved overall performance.

The importance of a local data centre is critical with cybersecurity threats evolving rapidly. By housing critical data and infrastructure within Canada's borders, ESET ensures compliance with local regulations and provides customers with peace of mind knowing that their sensitive information remains secure and protected.

"Fulfilling Canadian client needs is at the heart of this decision, we are answering their call and growing concerns for data privacy by presenting a local option," said Michal Jankech, Vice President of SMB & MSP at ESET. "With this new data centre we are keeping the landscape for data hosting competitive, offering Canadian businesses and consumers freedom of choice."

ESET Canada remains dedicated to empowering Canadians to enjoy the full potential of the digital world without compromise. With the establishment of its local data centre, ESET reaffirms its position as a trusted partner in cybersecurity, committed to safeguarding the digital lives of individuals and businesses across the country.

Current ESET customers can rest assured that a local representative will reach out to discuss options available for transferring data.

For more information about ESET Canada and its comprehensive range of cybersecurity solutions, visit, https://www.eset.com/ca/

About ESET

ESET provides cutting-edge digital security to prevent attacks before they happen. By combining the power of AI and human expertise, ESET stays ahead of known and emerging cyber threats  securing businesses, critical infrastructure, and individuals. Whether it's endpoint, cloud or mobile protection, its AI-native, cloud-first solutions and services remain highly effective and easy to use. ESET technology includes robust detection and response, ultra-secure encryption, and multi-factor authentication. With 24/7 real-time defense and strong local support, we keep users safe and businesses running without interruption. An ever-evolving digital landscape demands a progressive approach to security: ESET is committed to world-class research and powerful threat intelligence, backed by R&D centers and a strong global partner network. For more information, visit www.eset.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and X.

SOURCE ESET
EnviroSpark announces $50 million in funding, spearheaded by Basalt Infrastructure Partners, to propel clean transportation infrastructure growth

ATLANTA, May 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- National electric vehicle (EV) charging company EnviroSpark Energy Solutions ("EnviroSpark" or the "Company") announced it has secured a $50 million investment by funds advised by Basalt Infrastructure Partners LLP ("Basalt"), a leading mid-market infrastructure equity investment firm focusing on investments in Europe and North America. This investment will fuel EnviroSpark's mission to revolutionize the EV charging landscape, enabling the Company to rapidly expand its owned and operated network across the US, innovate its cutting-edge technologies and further enhance the accessibility and sustainability of EV infrastructure.

Building upon the momentum of its $15M funding round led by Ultra Capital in 2022, Georgia-based EnviroSpark has established itself as a key player in the EV charging market. With a broad footprint of over 8,200 charging plugs across North America, the Company is well-positioned to further advance the adoption of electric mobility.

"Securing this substantial funding milestone marks a pivotal moment for EnviroSpark," said Aaron Luque, co-founder and CEO of the Company. "With strategic support from Basalt, we are poised to accelerate our mission of fostering sustainable transportation solutions. This investment not only fuels our expansion efforts but also reinforces our commitment to making electric mobility accessible and convenient for all."

"As part of our strategy to invest in compelling scale-up opportunities in low carbon infrastructure, Basalt is delighted to be partnering with EnviroSpark to help drive their next phase of growth in delivering long-term sustainable EV charging solutions to customers across North America," said Andrew Marsden, Basalt's Head of Energy Transition. "EnviroSpark's industry leading team is accelerating the build out of the EV-charging network across North America at this pivotal time for the clean transportation sector and we are proud to be sharing in their mission."

EnviroSpark continues to solidify its position as a leader in the EV charging industry through strategic partnerships and innovative initiatives. The Company has recently cultivated strategic partnerships with industry leaders across various sectors, including RaceTrac, Waffle House, IHG Hotels & Resorts, Ford Dealerships, HHHunt, and Asset Living. In addition to longstanding partnerships with Tesla, Volkswagen, Volta (recently acquired by Shell), and Starwood Capital Group, the company has also partnered with the U.S. Federal Government through the General Services Administration, which underscores EnviroSpark's dedication to driving widespread commercial and government EV adoption by addressing critical infrastructure needs.

EnviroSpark also acknowledges its recent achievements in securing National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) awards in Georgia and Tennessee. Selected by the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), EnviroSpark will construct significant DCFC charging projects in Tifton and Metter, Georgia, alongside installations at a Waffle House in Lakeland, Tennessee, chosen by the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT). These awards funded by the Federal government through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law further exemplify EnviroSpark's commitment to fostering innovation and sustainability in the electric vehicle infrastructure domain, driving towards a future of accessible and eco-friendly transportation solutions.

About EnviroSpark Energy Solutions

Founded in Atlanta GA by Aaron and Stephanie Luque in 2014, EnviroSpark is an industry leader in the turnkey design, installation and operation of EV charging solutions. The company was founded with two missions: to raise awareness around the benefits of electric vehicles and to build a more robust EV charging infrastructure. Responsible for more than 8,200 installations of charging plugs across North America to date, EnviroSpark addresses the pain points of property owners and drivers by enhancing EV accessibility in customer-friendly ways. Visit www.envirosparkenergy.com for more information.

About Basalt Infrastructure Partners

Basalt is an infrastructure equity investment firm focusing on investments in utilities, energy, transport and digital infrastructure in Europe and North America. Funds advised by Basalt have made over 30 infrastructure investments in Europe and North America since 2013. For more information on Basalt please visit www.basaltinfra.com

SOURCE EnviroSpark
LONDON, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Brattle Group has welcomed Federica Pietrogrande to the firm as a Principal in the firm's Bankruptcy & Restructuring practice. Ms. Pietrogrande brings over two decades of global experience in restructuring, insolvency, and special situations.

Federica Pietrogrande | Principal | The Brattle Group

"With her wealth of global experience and her proven expertise in navigating complex business and financial transactions and restructuring and insolvency matters, Federica will be a tremendous asset to Brattle's clients," said Torben Voetmann, Brattle President & Principal. "We are thrilled to have her on board as we expand our international securities capabilities to continue developing a cohesive, collaborative network of insolvency experts."

Having worked with major financial institutions, large private investors, and corporations as a principal investor and as a legal advisor, Ms. Pietrogrande brings a unique interdisciplinary perspective to Brattle. She has managed complex restructuring and insolvency cases and litigations and orchestrated complex transactions across Europe and globally. She also has expert witness experience in US litigations.

"Recent legal developments have significantly increased the demand for independent experts in restructuring and insolvency cases in the UK and Europe," said Ms. Pietrogrande. "I'm thrilled to join Brattle and to continue expanding its broader securities team, including the Bankruptcy & Restructuring practice, into Europe alongside my esteemed colleagues."

Prior to joining Brattle, Ms. Pietrogrande was Managing Director of International Strategy and Capital at a global distressed investment, restructuring, and valuation firm. She previously was the Head of Restructuring & Insolvency at the Italian office of an international law firm.

To learn more about Ms. Pietrogrande, please see her full bio at https://www.brattle.com/experts/federica-pietrogrande/.

ABOUT BRATTLE

The Brattle Group answers complex economic, finance, and regulatory questions for corporations, law firms, and governments around the world. We are distinguished by the clarity of our insights and the credibility of our experts, which include leading international academics and industry specialists. Brattle has 500 talented professionals across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. For more information, please visit brattle.com.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2403762/The_Brattle_Group_Federica_Pietrogrande.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/320171/the_brattle_group_logo.jpg
ST. JULIANS, Malta, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Gaming Innovation Group Inc. (GiG) publishes its interim report for the first quarter 2024 before market opening on Tuesday 7 May 2024.

Chairman of the Board, Petter Nylander will host a presentation of the Q1 2024 results via livestream at 10:00 CET with Jonas Warrer, CEO Media and group CEO, and Richard Carter, CEO Platform & Sportsbook, attending. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A-session, and investors, analysts and journalists are welcome to participate. The presentation will be given in English.

Link to the livestream:

https://www.redeye.se/events/995042/live-q-gaming-innovation-group-8

For further information, please contact:

Tore Formo, Group CFO, [email protected], +47 91668678

About Gaming Innovation Group (GiG)

Gaming Innovation Group is a leading iGaming technology company, providing solutions, products and services to iGaming Operators. Founded in 2012, Gaming Innovation Group's vision is 'To be the industry leading platform, sportsbook and media provider delivering world class solutions to our iGaming partners and their customers. GiG's mission is to drive sustainable growth and profitability of our partners through product innovation, scalable technology and quality of service. Gaming Innovation Group operates out of Malta and is dual-listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol GIG and on Nasdaq Stockholm under the ticker symbol GIGSEK. www.gig.com

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com.

https://news.cision.com/gaming-innovation-group/r/gaming-innovation-group--invitation-to-q1-2024-results-presentation,c3972495
NEW YORK, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Ann Huynh has joined Getzler Henrich & Associates LLC, (getzlerhenrich.com), one of the nation's oldest and most respected middle-market corporate restructuring and operations improvement firms, as a Managing Director and Co-Head of the firm's Houston office.

Ann Huynh

Ms. Huynh has over two decades of expertise in corporate restructuring, energy investment banking, and strategic financial advisory. With a focus on corporate restructuring, mergers & acquisitions, energy/infrastructure finance, performance improvements, and interim management, she has successfully led numerous clients through both in-and out-of-court restructuring and M&A transactions.

Throughout her career, Ms. Huynh has developed strong working relationships with stakeholders including lenders, boards and management teams, attorneys, and court-appointed trustees to assist with growth and distress corporate advisory, complex debtor, and creditor assignments. She has worked across multiple industry verticals including power, renewables, oil & gas, manufacturing, health care, and retail services combining her strategic and financial expertise to help clients with complex matters.

In announcing Ms. Huynh joining Getzler Henrich, Joel I. Getzler, Co-Chairman of Getzler Henrich, said, "We are pleased to welcome Ann to our Houston office. She brings diverse corporate restructuring, energy investment banking, and strategic financial advisory experience that will be invaluable to our clients. The many industries Ann serves, including power, renewables, oil & gas, manufacturing, healthcare, and retail are especially important growth opportunities for Getzler Henrich."

William H. Henrich, Co-Chairman of Getzler Henrich continued, "We are thrilled to have Ann join our team. Her consultative approach and passion for delivering innovative solutions for clients aligns well with our firm culture. With her depth of knowledge and broad network of relationships throughout the State of Texas and across the US, she will significantly help grow our services to meet the needs of our expanding US and international client base."

Prior to joining Getzler Henrich, Ms. Huynh held key roles at prestigious firms including Grant Thornton, Alvarez & Marsal, Riveron and Macquarie Bank. Ms. Huynh is a Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisor and serves as a board member of Turnaround Management Association Houston, Women's Energy Network Houston, and Under Our Wings, an outreach program that fosters literacy.

She earned a B.S. in Economics/Finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania, and an M.B.A. from the Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University.

ABOUT GETZLER HENRICH & ASSOCIATES LLC: Getzler Henrich & Associates LLC, a Hilco Global Company (www.hilcoglobal.com), is one of the nation's oldest and most respected names in middle-market corporate restructuring and operations improvement and has successfully worked with thousands of companies to achieve growth and profitability. Working with a wide range of companies, including publicly held firms, private corporations, and family-owned businesses, Getzler Henrich's expertise spans more than fifty industry sectors, from "new economy" technology and service firms to "old economy" manufacturing and distribution businesses. For more information on Getzler Henrich's expertise, please visit: getzlerhenrich.com

SOURCE Getzler Henrich & Associates
The latest Goli Gummy is made with matcha powder and Cognizin to help support focus and attention*

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif., May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - Goli Nutrition Inc. ("Goli"), a pioneering wellness company renowned for creating the world's first Apple Cider Vinegar Gummies, announces its new Matcha Mind Cognitive Gummies to support those who are looking to prioritize their brain health.

Goli Nutrition Matcha Mind Cognitive Gummies (CNW Group/Goli Nutrition)

Formulated by a team of nutrition and wellness experts, Goli Matcha Mind Cognitive Gummies combine two powerful ingredients, matcha and clinically studied Cognizin to help support focus, cognitive health and attention. Each delicious gummy is a convenient and flavorful way to give your brain the support it needs to help with healthy brain function.

"We are thrilled to introduce Goli Matcha Mind Cognitive Gummies, specially formulated to support brain health," said Paula Sandoval, VP of Operations, Goli Nutrition. "The health benefits of matcha have captured the hearts and minds of consumers which is why we've created a truly unique product that harnesses the cognitive benefits of matcha powder and Cognizin."

Featured ingredient, Cognizin helps to support:

Brain and cognitive health*

Focus and attention*

Brain cell signaling*

Production of key neurotransmitters*

"As more people prioritize wellness and self-care, there is a heightened awareness of the impact brain health can have on daily lives," said Karen E. Todd, RD and Vice President of Global Brand Marketing from the Cognizin team. "Cognizin is clinically studied to support brain and cognitive health, and we are excited to partner with Goli to make it more widely available in this innovative new product that combines best-in-class ingredients and delivery."

Now available at U.S. retailers nationwide including Target, CVS, Kroger and online at Amazon.com and Goli.com, Goli Matcha Mind Cognitive Gummies are vegan, gluten-free, non-GMO, gelatin-free and kosher. Within 24 hours of launching, Goli Matcha Mind Cognitive Gummies reached the top 20 products in their category on Amazon.com.

About Goli Nutrition

Goli Nutrition is a B Corp Certified, inventive, people focused nutrition company committed to providing innovative products that make taking your daily supplements enjoyable. Goli Nutrition's products are formulated with quality ingredients you can pronounce and flavors your taste buds will enjoy! The award-winning products can be found in more than 90,000 stores across 115 countries including the world's leading retailers: Walmart, CVS, Target, Walgreens, Kroger, Costco, Amazon and many more. To purchase Goli products or for more information, please visit www.goli.com.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Cognizin is a registered trademark of Kyowa Hakko Bio Co Ltd.

SOURCE Goli Nutrition
"We are thrilled to welcome Gary Clark Jr. into the esteemed ranks of Guitar Center's RockWalk inductees. His extraordinary talent and contributions to music make him a perfect fit for this honor," said Gabe Dalporto, CEO of Guitar Center. "Gary's induction is a testament to his incredible impact on the world of music, and we were pleased to celebrate his achievements at this year's ceremony. His handprints are a prestigious addition to Guitar Center's RockWalk, alongside the legends who have shaped the industry."

The RockWalk ceremony made a return to the city of Los Angeles after six years. Renowned Los Angeles broadcast music journalist Nic Harcourt hosted the memorable evening and presented Gary Clark Jr. with the prestigious recognition.

"I am honored to be the latest inductee into Guitar Center's RockWalk," stated Gary Clark Jr., the celebrated musician and newest RockWalk honoree. "This recognition holds immense significance for me, as it not only reflects my unwavering dedication and love for music but also acknowledges the respect and admiration of my peers and fellow musicians, who I also equally love and admire."

Guitar Center's RockWalk is dedicated to honoring those artists who have made a significant impact and lasting contribution to the growth and evolution of Rock 'n' Roll, Blues and R&B. As the newest RockWalk inductee, Gary Clark Jr.'s handprints now reside alongside the handprints, signatures, and faces of other equally accomplished musicians and innovators such as Eric Clapton, George Martin, Jimmy Page, Ozzy Osbourne, Carlos Santana, Johnny Cash, Van Halen, AC/DC, Aerosmith, Marvin Gaye, James Brown, B.B. King, Stevie Wonder, Run-D.M.C., Mana, Linkin Park, and Queen, among numerous others.

Photo assets can be found here, video highlights reel here, and the RockWalk induction ceremony can be found here.

About Guitar Center RockWalk:

Guitar Center RockWalk is an industry-recognized historic pedestrian path dedicated to honoring the musicians and pioneers who have made a significant impact on music through exceptional talent, outstanding innovation or creative ingenuity with their chosen instruments. Located at the entrance of the flagship Guitar Center store on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood, California, RockWalk was founded in 1985 with the induction of Remo Belli, Bill Ludwig Jr., C.F. Martin III, Jim Marshall, Robert Moog, Les Paul, Eddie Van Halen and Stevie Wonder. Since that first induction, over 150 notable musicians, producers, bands and manufacturers have been recognized. With concrete blocks bearing the signatures and handprints of these iconic industry personalities, this celebratory landmark has become a top attraction for fans from around the world.

For more information on Guitar Center's RockWalk, visit https://www.guitarcenter.com/rockwalk.gc .

About Gary Clark Jr.:

Gary Clark Jr. is a multifaceted musician recognized for his virtuosity as a guitarist, songwriter, and performer. With a career highlighted by four Grammy Awards, Clark has continuously evolved beyond his blues roots to embrace a broader musical palette. His recent album, "JPEG RAW," explores new artistic depths, influenced by significant societal changes during the global pandemic. This album, Clark's fourth studio offering, integrates diverse genres such as R&B, soul, rock, hip-hop, jazz, and even African musical elements, showcasing his versatility and commitment to pushing musical boundaries. "JPEG RAW" is not only a reflection of personal and societal challenges but also an introspective journey through Clark's life experiences, aiming to resonate with themes of resilience and hope. His collaborations span across music legends and new artists, enriching his sound and expanding his impact in the music industry.

About Guitar Center:

Guitar Center is the leading retailer of musical instruments, lessons, repairs, and rentals in the U.S. With more than 300 stores across the U.S. and one of the top direct sales websites in the industry, Guitar Center has helped people make music for more than 50 years. Guitar Center also provides customers with various musician-based services, including Guitar Center Lessons, where musicians of all ages and skill levels can learn to play a variety of instruments in many music genres, GC Repairs, an on-site maintenance and repairs service, and GC Rentals, a program offering easy rentals of instruments and other sound reinforcement gear. Additionally, Guitar Center's sister brands include Music & Arts, which operates more than 250 stores specializing in band & orchestral instruments for sale and rental, serving teachers, band directors, college professors, parents and students, and Musician's Friend, a leading direct marketer of musical instruments in the United States. For more information about Guitar Center, please visit guitarcenter.com.

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Edelman | [email protected]

SOURCE Guitar Center
meQ Research Examines Cognitive Traits and Thinking Styles That Shape Impact of AI on Employees

BOSTON, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The implications of Generative AI technology on employees are greatly dependent on their problem-solving skills and how resilient and positive they are, according to the new meQuilibrium (meQ) Workforce Well-being study of 5,989 employed adults released today. A quarter of employees (25.3%) with low positivity are concerned that AI threatens their job security, compared to 16% of workers with high positivity. Strong problem-solving skills make employees 66% more likely to experience productivity gains from Gen AI, and nearly half as likely (49% less) to worry about their job security being undermined.

The implications of Generative AI technology on employees are greatly dependent on their problem-solving skills and how resilient and positive they are, according to the new meQuilibrium (meQ) Workforce Well-being study. Highly resilient employees feel less threatened by Gen AI and more likely to make productive use of the tools, meQuilibrium's study found.

"Fundamental traits such as positivity, problem solving, and resilience confer significant advantages when it comes to navigating the transformative impact of Gen AI," said Brad Smith, PhD, Chief Science Officer, meQuilibrium. "While some employees are raising concerns about job displacement due to AI, positive employees and those who possess problem solving skills are better able to adapt to AI in the workplace, take advantage of its capabilities, and are less concerned about job security."

The Importance of Resilience

There are also stark differences between highly resilient and low resilience employees. Highly resilient employees feel less threatened by Gen AI and more likely to make productive use of the tools, the study found. Resilient workers are 35% more likely to report that Gen AI tools help them be more productive in their day-to-day work. In addition, resilient employees are half as likely than low resilience employees to express fears that AI systems pose a threat to their job security (13% vs 26%).

"This disparity highlights the importance of cultivating resilience among the workforce as organizations continue to integrate and leverage the capabilities of generative AI," Dr. Smith said. "Employees who are better equipped to adapt to change and embrace new technologies are better positioned to harness the productivity-enhancing potential of these tools, and more confident in their ability to navigate the evolving job market."

The meQ study also found:

Nearly one-third (31%) of companies have explicit guidance on the appropriate use of Gen AI, yet just 9.3% of employees overall say their managers are providing practical support on how to effectively leverage these technologies.

Only 5.1% of health services industry employees have been provided with guidance for using Gen AI tools at work, compared to 56.5% of technology industry employees.

Overall, 18% of employees are feeling their job security is threatened by AI tools. Managers are 68% more comfortable than individual contributors in feeling that their positions are safe from the threat of replacement by Gen AI.

More about the study can be found here.

Methodology: Approximately 5,989 employed adults participated in meQuilibrium's February 2024 study, which examined the impact of AI on workers and managers.

About meQ

meQ , the world's leading workforce resilience expert, identifies, addresses, and measures the root cause of risks to workforce performance, engagement, and well-being. sparQ is meQ's pioneering, proprietary Generative AI technology which enhances the ability to identify and address root causes of key workforce engagement, performance, and well-being risks. Our data analytics-based approach uses AI to predict workforce risk and to personalize solutions for each employee and team at global scale. meQ's mission is to make any workforce a workforce for growth. The meQ solution is available in 14 languages and serves global enterprises in 130 countries. Learn more at https://www.meQuilibrium.com .

Media Contact:

Beth Brody, BrodyPR

[email protected]

908-295-0600

SOURCE meQuilibrium
HAMILTON, Bermuda, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Hoegh LNG Holdings Ltd. (Hoegh LNG) has announced an agreement between Hoegh LNG, Australian Industrial Energy Pty Ltd (AIE) and Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) for the deployment of the Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) Hoegh Galleon.

The aim of the deployment is to support energy security in Egypt. Hoegh Galleon will be located in Ain Sokhna, Egypt for a likely period of 19-20 months, after which it is expected to be deployed to AIE's LNG terminal currently under construction at Port Kembla, Australia.

"Together with AIE and EGAS, we are pleased to provide Egypt with flexible infrastructure in support of energy security. Hoegh LNG is the industry leader in the rapid deployment of FSRUs, and we are pleased that we can provide this solution for EGAS together with AIE while continuing to develop our strong partnership," said Erik Nyheim, President & CEO of Hoegh LNG.

Hoegh LNG and AIE announced a 15-year FSRU charter agreement for Hoegh Galleon in June 2022. The agreement with EGAS is for an interim period of June 2024 to February 2026.

For more information:

Christine Corkery Steinsholt, Head of External Communications

[email protected] | +47 950 95 481

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/hoegh-lng/r/hoegh-lng-announces-agreement-to-deploy-fsru-hoegh-galleon-to-egypt,c3972118

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Public/16996/3972118/88df4fad8ed4b40e.pdf Hoegh LNG and AIE offer FSRU to Egypt 2 https://news.cision.com/hoegh-lng/i/hoegh-galleon,c3296169 Hoegh Galleon
New CEO visits 100 customers in first 100 days

LONDON, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- IFS, the global cloud enterprise software company, today announced its financial results for the first quarter ending March 31, 2024. The results reflect the best start to the year in company history  an early victory for new CEO Mark Moffat, who was appointed on January 9th, 2024.

Summary of Q1 results:

Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) up 26% YoY

Cloud Revenue up 20% YoY

Software Revenue growth up 19% YoY

A steadfast customer focus positions IFS as the demonstrable leader in all of the segments it serves. A position reinforced thanks to recent industry analyst reports recognizing IFS as the #1 vendor in terms of market share for Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) and Service Management.

IFS CEO Mark Moffat commented: "In my first 100 days as CEO, I have met with over 100 customers around the world, and they consistently tell me that our customer-centric approach is a key differentiator, especially in a world where we see our competitors peddling their own agenda over that of their customers'.

"Our Q1 results are the continuation of our relentless focus on what makes us successful: listening to and delivering value to our customers. It's also what enables us to outperform the market quarter after quarter. Our customer focus is not only ingrained in our culture, but it also extends across our partner ecosystem and the work they deliver alongside us."

Moffat added: "Industrial AI is a huge opportunity for our customers, and we are uniquely positioned to help them harness its potential. We have been developing industry-specific AI solutions that integrate seamlessly with our existing products and leverage the data we have to deliver game-changing outcomes." Moffat concluded: "IFS has an edge because we have been having these conversations with our customers for years, and that has informed how we shape our technology and services. The results of the first quarter show that we are on the right track, and that our vision resonates."

Key factors supporting IFS's expansion:

A sharp uptake in demand for IFS.ai thanks to compelling Industrial AI use cases that are fast and easy to implement, and in turn able to rapidly deliver value. As more of these use cases roll out with every release of IFS Cloud, IFS is providing further capabilities for customers to innovate and differentiate within their respective fields.

Welcoming a significant number of new customers who are moving from legacy vendors including SAP and IBM Maximo to IFS because of: IFS's relentless pursuit of customer success; the single composable platform and common data model; consistent enhancements in industry functionality; and flexible deployment options that put customers in control. In the last quarter alone, Modulaire Group, NGE, Evergy and the US's largest utility company, Exelon, have selected IFS as the modern, next generation alternative.

Significant expansion of IFS within existing customers, who are similarly implementing IFS to replace outdated technology that exists in other areas of their business. With so many industrial companies looking to technology, and specifically IFS, to transform and grow, IFS is uniquely positioned to help customers improve supply chains, operate more efficiently and ultimately deliver amazing Moments of Service that stand out. For example, many manufacturers are expanding their use of IFS with IFS's Connected Worker solution from Poka to better manage, enable and improve the productivity of their factory workers.

IFS Chief Financial Officer, Matthias Heiden, added, "Market conditions in 2024 are still volatile which puts our performance trajectory into context. 26 percent ARR increase year-on-year combined with strong subscriptions renewals is setting us up for continued steady growth in 2024." Heiden continued: "This means we are able to prioritize investment in people and in technology bringing even more innovation into our bi-annual releases." Heiden concluded: "We have worked hard to get to this point, and we are seeing financial benefits deep into our business with all the metrics continuing to accelerate in the right direction."

Investments in key markets such as the US, Europe, and Japan are slated to continue through 2024, bolstering regional performance by driving increased demand for IFS.ai. In Q1 the company also launched a significant brand campaign across the US, including out-of-home advertising at the largest airports in North America, becoming the Big Ten Conference's Official Technology Partner, and a Patron of MIT's Center for Information Systems Research.

IFS is also pleased to today publish the 2023 IFS Sustainability Report, which details the company's strategy, approach and achievements delivering on its own sustainability targets as well as supporting customers to achieve their ESG goals. The report, alongside an ESG Fact Sheet, is available here: https://www.ifs.com/assets/all-products/ifs-sustainability-report-2023

Financial Highlights for Q1 FY2024:

Q1 FY2024 software revenue was EUR 217m , an increase of 19 percent versus Q1 2023.

, an increase of 19 percent versus Q1 2023. Q1 FY2024 recurring revenue was EUR 209m , an increase of 21 percent versus Q1 2023.

, an increase of 21 percent versus Q1 2023. Q1 FY2024 net revenue was EUR 269m , an increase of 16 percent versus Q1 2023.

For more information about IFS's historical financial performance, please visit: https://www.ifs.com/about/financial-information.

Contact information.

EUROPE / MEA / APJ: Adam Gillbe

IFS, Director of Corporate & Executive Communications

Email: https://www.ifs.com/about/financial-information.



Phone: +44 7775 114 856

NORTH AMERICA / LATAM: Mairi Morgan

FS, Director of Corporate & Executive Communications

Email: https://www.ifs.com/about/financial-information.

Phone: +44 7018 607 299

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/ifs/r/ifs-announces-best-q1-results-in-company-history-with-26--increase-in-arr-yoy-and-20--increase-in-cl,c3968167

The following files are available for download:

SOURCE IFS
Reimagining the Future of Talent: a multi-generational conversation at Spelman College

WASHINGTON, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Tapestry Networks' Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity in Action (IDEA) initiative, in partnership with Spelman College, a global leader in the education of women of African descent, will host Reimagining the Future of Talent, a dialogue on the convergence of talent, technology, corporate culture, and workforce equity as mobilizers of business strategy. Given profound differences between Fortune 100 directors and students entering the workforce, and rapidly changing employer-employee relationships, this forum arrives at a critical juncture as boards seek to respond to global forces shaping the future of work, and to create inclusive talent pathways in their companies.

Talent can make or break a company, especially in uncertain times. Post this Spelman College Logo

Spelman College President Helene Gayle said: "We are honored to have this forum that not only exposes board directors to the talent at Spelman that is reflective of talent of other HBCUs but also helps them to understand the expectations of the workforce of tomorrow."

"What a privilege it would be to sit on the hallowed ground of a historically Black college, to hear from people to walk in this life, and understand the possibilities," said one director. "I would like to hear from students, that's what makes this so distinctive for me, I want to learn what areas of progress they want to see  in leadership, in recruitment, in access, in culture. I want to learn how we can help them launch."

For large organizations and their boards, talent strategy is more pressing than ever, especially with shifting employee expectations, the growing impact of AI, and the digital economy transforming talent access. According to a recent Korn Ferry study on the future of work, almost half of professionals now think about careers in terms of months rather than years, and over 80% of employees would leave their job for one that offered a higher salary or better benefits. With average CEO tenure declining to less than five years, as cited by Equilar, a powerful strategy for growing leaders is a business imperative.

Board leadership is essential to implementing talent strategies that build culture, retain talent and drive innovation. "Talent can make or break a company, especially in uncertain times," said Dr. Marsha H. Ershaghi, Managing Director, Tapestry Networks. "Companies want talent strategies that are inclusive and sustainable. Directors want to push the pace of progress and want to get to know the priorities of the newest generations in the workforce." A board member said, "There's noise about the global talent disruption, and diversity, equity, inclusion have become politicized. But the needle isn't moving, and directors aren't putting it into the business strategy."

Participants in the forum include directors, executives, and leaders from Accenture, AIG, Boeing, Booz Allen Hamilton, Boston Scientific, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Brown Pandemic Center, CDW, Cigna, Cintas, The Coca-Cola Company, Dexcom, Digimarc, Element Fleet Management, Kohls, LHH Recruitment Solutions, Newman's Own, Novartis, Perrigo, Salesforce, Viad Corp, Walt Disney, Warner Brothers Discovery, WittKieffer, Zurich Insurance Group, and other leading organizations.

Reimagining the Future of Talent will take place September 19, 2024, on Spelman College's Atlanta campus.

About Tapestry Networks

Tapestry Networks brings world-class leaders together to tackle complex challenges and promote positive change through the power of connected thinking. Learn more at: https://www.tapestrynetworks.com/.

About Spelman College

Spelman College, a historically Black college and a global leader in the education of women of African descent, is dedicated to academic excellence in the liberal arts and sciences and the intellectual, creative, ethical and leadership development of its students. Learn more at https://www.spelman.edu/.

Media Relations Contact:

Amy Christenson

Managing Director, Operations

[email protected]

SOURCE Tapestry Networks
New Relationship Strengthens Both Entities While Expanding Storybuilding Group Creative and Digital Expertise

CINCINNATI and NEW YORK, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyperquake, the independent creative strategy, branding and experience design agency, is very proud to announce its immediate acquisition of Brooklyn-based Potion.

Launched in 2005, under the leadership of Founder Phillip R. Tiongson, Potion has built a far-reaching reputation and track-record for innovation in inclusive digital storytelling and immersive content creation. Championing universal design values through its groundbreaking work for clients spanning leading brands, agencies and cultural institutions, Potion's awards recognition includes a Webby Award; several top MUSE, Core77 Design and APEX Awards; multiple finalist honors in the National Design Awards; as well as inclusion in Communications Arts Interactive Annuals and Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies, among many other prestigious accolades.

While financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, Potion will retain its identity, its full staff and its headquarters in the historic Brooklyn Navy Yard. Of vital importance to all parties are the heightened opportunities to collaborate in bringing expanded offerings to their clients, especially through Hyperquake's Storybuilding group, which is dedicated to innovation in experience design.

According to Hyperquake's CEO Colin Crotty, this strategic acquisition provides his company with its first presence in New York City, the media capital of the world. The development also reflects Hyperquake's commitment to expanding digital offerings and enhancing creative capabilities to better serve clients in a world that is increasingly digital-first.

"We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Potion's ultra-talented team to the Hyperquake family," Crotty began. "This win-win development allows us to offer our clients an unlimited range of digital solutions through our Storybuilding expertise, where Potion pairs seamlessly. Across the board, our dedication to delivering ROI for our clients by making their businesses more accessible, competitive and agile has just taken another giant leap forward."

For further background, since launching in Cincinnati in 1986, Hyperquake quickly rose to national prominence in the field of branding. With Crotty and Chief Creative Officer and Partner Dan Barczak purchasing the firm in 2016, two years later, Hyperquake acquired Cincinnati's The Brand Experience. That deal added global reach and premier talents in world-class experience design, including Melissa Wheat Kelly, who is now Hyperquake's President and Chief Operating Officer. While also establishing a formal alliance with Portland-based Verify Venture Studio at that time, Hyperquake expanded to Salt Lake City in 2021 as part of its strategic partnership with marketing strategy firm MarCore Group. Since 2022, the Hyperquake family of companies has also included the business management consultancy Several Thousand Alliance.

Arriving here in 2024, with the addition of Potion, the Hyperquake family's combined specializations in strategic innovation, branded experiences and scaling organizations for prosperity and growth represent a tightly integrated collective of business-changing superpowers.

"To bring stories to life, we depend on amazing partners across the country with very exciting and unique skills," Kelly explained. "As our Storybuilding team grew and clients demanded more dynamic immersive experiences, we began working with Potion more, and discovered the value of combining our strengths to help our clients turn their stories into momentous immersive experiences."

"To say we are excited to join forces with Hyperquake is a gross understatement," said Tiongson. "Combining our expertise to deliver even more value to our clients is where we will collectively excel. Our values and mission align. Together, we will be able to push the boundaries of creativity and innovation in the digital space - and beyond."

About Hyperquake

Hyperquake is an independent creative strategy, branding and experience design marketing agency founded in 1986. With locations in Cincinnati, Salt Lake City and Brooklyn, Hyperquake builds ambitious brands and experiences for those eager to activate a vision. Hyperquake specializes in strategic innovation, branded experiences and scaling organizations for growth, working with companies ranging from small startups to global enterprise. For more information, visit https://www.hyperquake.com.

About Potion

Potion is an interactive design firm based in New York City that is widely heralded for championing inclusive and universal design values. Specializing in transforming spaces with digital technology from personal mobile devices to architectural-scale attractions and galleries, Potion has developed interactive experiences for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Art Institute of Chicago, Cleveland Museum of Art, Smithsonian National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, M+ Museum in Hong Kong, Rubin Museum of Art, The Singapore National Science Center, the National Constitution Center, and, back home in New York, in the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, among many others. For more information, visit https://www.potiondesign.com.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Image to accompany this story here: https://darnellworks.com/hq/media/hq-p.png Embeddable video reel for Potion here: https://vimeo.com/939600804

SOURCE Hyperquake
Nonprofit financial innovation firm RUNWAY commits to raising $50 million in integrated capital for Black communities across the country

CHICAGO, May 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- RUNWAY announces the launch of its first in-house integrated capital investment fund committed to investing $50 million into businesses, co-operatives, and grassroots organizations building wealth in Black communities in select regions* across the United States.

The RUNWAY ROOTED Fund (The Fund) represents a departure from conventional investing paradigms. It is a model for reparative finance. It serves as a vessel of restitution, a mechanism of revitalization, and a runway for transformative shifts in finance to close the racial wealth gap.

The racial wealth gap is a systemic issue rooted in the history of enslavement, discriminatory laws, and racist bank policies and practices. To redress the ever-widening wealth disparity, we need a truly radical and restorative approach to supporting businesses in Black communities. If the racial wealth gap is not addressed, the median wealth of Black Americans is projected to fall to zero by 2053, while median white household wealth will climb to $137,000. (Source: Prosperity Now).

Enter RUNWAY ROOTED. The $50 million Fund launches with nearly $6 million already secured from dedicated financial institutions, investors and philanthropic funders, including BUILDERS, The No Regrets Initiative and The Kataly Foundation. This work is possible through collaborative investments from values-aligned investors, funders, and partners to provide holistic, reparative financing and advising to a national portfolio of businesses.

RUNWAY CEO & Founder Jessica Norwood says, "For too long, the racial wealth gap has persisted, fueled by systemic injustices that trace back to our nation's dark history of enslavement and discriminatory policies. The RUNWAY ROOTED Fund is not just an investment opportunity; it's a beacon of hope and a clarion call for change. This is the path forward."

The Kataly Foundation is an early investor of the organization's integrated capital investment fund. Lynne Hoey, Chief Investment Officer of The Kataly Foundation states, "We are proud to be an early investor in the RUNWAY ROOTED Fund, supporting businesses, co-operatives, and grassroots organizations that are building wealth and fostering resilience in Black communities. If we fail to act now, the median wealth of Black Americans is projected to plummet to zero by 2053, while median white household wealth continues to soar. This is not just unacceptable; it's a moral imperative to act. By supporting this transformative initiative, The Kataly Foundation is taking a stand for justice and equity in finance."

RUNWAY is where restorative capital meets community. Its mission is to close the racial wealth gap by supporting funding for businesses in Black communities. Since its founding in 2017, RUNWAY has supported the distribution of $3.3 million in holistic, repair-centered funding to more than 50 businesses in California and Massachusetts that have since generated $15 million in revenue. Initiatives include The Friends & Family Fund in Oakland and Boston, and The Real People's Fund in the Oakland/East Bay communityall of which feature financial innovation such as non-extractive terms, trust-and character based underwriting.

Nina Robinson, RUNWAY National Fund Director, explains: "We are in the business of transforming the culture, practices, and policies of financial institutions, investors, and lenders to cultivate equitable outcomes for Black communities across the United States. Our holistic approach unifies business owners, investors, community partners, and policy makers to build truly transformational economic solutions that inspire self-determination, and build community wealth and power in Black communities.

The RUNWAY ROOTED Fund also made it to this year's The Transformative 25 (T25) list, which recognizes funds, banks, and initiatives that represent the next generation of impact investing. The T25 funds and initiatives go beyond the limitations of traditional approaches to advance emerging impact frameworks in the fields of finance and investing. Learn more at https://rootedfund.family.

*RUNWAY supports select geographic areas in which Black people comprise at least 20 percent of the population. The Fund will invest in businesses without regard to the race of the business owners or leadership in these select regions.

About RUNWAY

RUNWAY is where restorative capital meets community. We are a financial innovation firm committed to reimagining the financial policies and practices that hold systemic barriers in place - all in the name of Black liberation.

Since 2017, our portfolio has distributed $1.62 million in holistic, repair-centered funding to more than 40 Black businesses in California and Massachusetts that have since generated $15 million in revenue. Our innovative work includes The Friends & Family Fund in Oakland and Boston, The Real People's Fund in the Oakland/East Bay community, and most recently, The RUNWAY ROOTED Fund which is our first in-house, integrated capital fund committed to investing $50 million dollars into businesses, cooperatives, and social impact organizations that support the creator economy in Black communities across the U.S.

Contact:

Jamica El

***@runway.family

Photo(s):

https://www.prlog.org/13018768

Press release distributed by PRLog

SOURCE RUNWAY
NEW YORK and AUSTIN, Texas, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Ironlight Group announced plans to launch and operate the premier tokenization, listing, and trading ecosystem for private securities, institutional funds, and financial and real-world assets (RWA), backed by distributed ledger technology (DLT).

The company also named former TD Bank President and CEO Greg Braca as a strategic advisor and board member. He brings 40 years of financial services experience, including TD Bank, which grew to nearly $500 billion in assets and 25,000 employees under his leadership.

Ironlight plans a premier DLT-backed tokenization, listing, and trading ecosystem for private securities, funds, and RWA Post this

CEO Rob McGrath said "Ironlight is in the advanced stages of product development and regulatory compliance and, with tokenization of illiquid assets forecast to reach up to $16 trillion by 2030, the time is now to level the playing field for all investors and asset types."

"We're also excited that a highly accomplished leader like Greg Braca is joining the team. He arrives with four decades of experience and understands the importance of DLT to the future of finance," he said.

In collaboration with leading global investment firms, Ironlight intends to:

Tokenize typically illiquid private securities, institutional funds, and RWA such as real estate, natural resources, fine art, public infrastructure, and private equity.

institutional funds, and RWA such as real estate, natural resources, fine art, public infrastructure, and private equity. Establish a highly regulated ecosystem with a FINRA-regulated broker dealer and an SEC-registered Alternative Trading System (ATS) to offer trading in such securities. The company is awaiting FINRA approval of its broker-dealer application. (Note: there are no existing plans to trade cryptocurrencies on the platform.)

a FINRA-regulated broker dealer and an SEC-registered Alternative Trading System (ATS) to offer trading in such securities. The company is awaiting FINRA approval of its broker-dealer application. Partner with sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, and traditional market makers to curate custom liquidity on the Ironlight ATS.

pension funds, and traditional market makers to curate custom liquidity on the Ironlight ATS. Create an open, protocol-agnostic network to converge unique liquidity, highly regulated market participants and blockchain facilitated workflow.

FROM THE LEADERS:

President and COO Matt Celebuski: "Our open-architecture platform is designed to create unprecedented opportunities and help investors to capitalize on the fundamental market shift taking place with digital assets. We're excited to leverage our knowledge and experience to help participants navigate this new world of investing."

Greg Braca: "I'm passionate about this market opportunity and will lean heavily upon my four decades of banking experience and deep relationships to help Ironlight advance to the forefront of DLT."

IRONLIGHT BACKGROUND:

ABOUT IRONLIGHT

Ironlight Group, with executives based in New York and its technology hub in Austin, is creating the premier U.S. fintech ecosystem backed by open distributed ledger technology (DLT). For more, visit Ironlight.io or LinkedIn .

MEDIA CONTACT:

Randy Williams

EPH2 Communications

[email protected]

+1.917.213.5980

SOURCE Ironlight Group
Welcomes Healthcare Litigators Greg Schafer and Valerie Fontenot to New Orleans Office

NEW ORLEANS, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Jones Walker LLP is pleased to welcome Greg Schafer and Valerie Fontenot as special counsel in the firm's Litigation Practice Group and members of the firm's growing Healthcare Industry Team in the New Orleans office.

Greg Schafer and Valerie Fontenot

"In an effort to continue strategic expansion of our Healthcare Industry Team, we are pleased to welcome Greg and Valerie to Jones Walker. Greg's vast experience in litigation and Valerie's deep knowledge of the intricately involved medical industry will strengthen the firm's ability to support our clients in the healthcare sector," said Jones Walker managing partner Bill Hines.

Greg is an experienced trial and appellate attorney who represents individuals, corporations, and healthcare providers. He has argued on behalf of clients in jury and bench trials, filed dozens of briefs and motions, conducted hundreds of depositions, and successfully obtained favorable decisions on appeals before the Louisiana Supreme Court and federal and state appellate courts. Greg strives to ensure that his clients' interests are best served through his trial work, settlement negotiations, and alternative dispute resolution forums, including mediation and arbitration.

"Jones Walker understands the importance of fortifying its Healthcare Industry Team to effectively counsel clients in one of the fastest growing sectors of the American economy. I am eager to lend more than 25 years of litigation experience to a team that adapts and excels in trial work, settlement negotiations, and alternative resolution forms," Greg stated.

Valerie, an accomplished attorney with deep knowledge of federal and state regulatory frameworks, represents, advises, and guides clients through the rapidly evolving legal and policy landscape of healthcare services delivery. She frequently works with provider organizations, senior executives, and individual professionals to address compliance issues and identify and resolve potential exposures and risks in corporate transactions.

"I am delighted to join the Jones Walker family, a place where I know I will be able to continue my growth to become an outstanding healthcare attorney and litigator," Valerie said. "In Louisiana and the Gulf South, there is no other firm that enjoys such an outstanding legacy and reputation, and I am honored to help continue that tradition of excellence."

Valerie is well versed in health equity, discovery rights, electronic health records and data privacy, and the use of artificial intelligence and related technologies.

About Jones Walker

Jones Walker LLP (joneswalker.com) is among the largest 140 law firms in the United States. With offices in Alabama, Arizona, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, and Texas, we serve local, regional, national, and international business interests. The firm is committed to providing a comprehensive range of legal services to major multinational public and private corporations, Fortune 500 companies, money center banks, worldwide insurers, and emerging companies doing business in the United States and abroad.

Contact :

Savannah Kirk

225.248.3435

[email protected]

SOURCE Jones Walker LLP
HOLLAND, Mich., May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- JR Automation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), unveils a new brand strategy that is more aligned with the distinct values and capabilities that differentiate the company, while further positioning them for growth as the market continues to rapidly evolve.

JR Automation is Fueled by Possible. We design and deliver custom automated solutions that enhance manufacturing and warehouse environments. www.jrautomation.com

For over forty years, JR Automation has led the market in designing and building custom automation solutions for leading manufacturers and distributors worldwide, integrating their advanced systems with their digital technologies to provide clients the edge needed to thrive in their industry. As a Hitachi Group Company, JR Automation's customers now have access to a global network of industrial, technical, and digital expertise to help advance their operations to compete. This new brand messaging focuses on highlighting their talented global team, emphasizing co-creation and partnership with their customers, and leverages the company's diverse experience.

"We are excited to showcase our new, elevated brand expression," said Chris Dolbow, Vice President of Marketing for JR Automation. "The new brand leverages a global, tech-forward design and the messaging showcases our dedication to collaborating with clients to find innovative solutions."

"The move is intentional," states Dave DeGraaf, Chief Executive Officer. "It enables us to better communicate the approach and capabilities that set us apart and aligns with our position as a forward-thinking global innovator. I believe it also recognizes our growth beyond West Michigan and our integration with Hitachi."

Visit JR Automation's website for an introduction to their updated brand direction, or visit them at the AUTOMATE 2024 show in Chicago or the SEMICON Southeast Asia show in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to physically experience their new look.

Follow JR Automation on social media for the latest updates.

LinkedIn | Facebook | X (Formerly Known as Twitter)

ABOUT JR AUTOMATION

Established in 1980, JR Automation is a leading provider of intelligent automated manufacturing technology solutions that solve customers' key operational and productivity challenges. JR Automation serves customers across the globe in a variety of industries, including automotive, life sciences, consumer products, and more.

In 2019, JR Automation was acquired by Hitachi, Ltd. in a strategic effort towards offering a seamless connection between the physical and cyberspace for industrial manufacturers and distributers worldwide. With this partnership, JR Automation provides customers a unique, single-source solution for complete integration of their physical assets and data information, offering greater speed, flexibility, and efficiencies towards achieving their Industry 4.0 visions. JR Automation employs over 2,000 people at 20+ manufacturing facilities in North America, Europe, and Asia.

SOURCE JR Automation
BOSTON, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Keches Law Group has teamed up with Tom Bosworth of Bosworth Law, a Philadelphia based catastrophic injury firm, filing a lawsuit this week on behalf of Talia Smith, age 44, of Walpole, for permanent and irreversible injuries she has suffered from taking just 3 antibiotic pills. The antibioticCiprofloxacin ("Cipro" for short)carries a blackbox warning that it can cause "disabling and potentially irreversible serious adverse reactions" to the central nervous system. Smith alleges in the lawsuit that the Beth Israel Deaconess nurse practitioner who prescribed her Cipro for a minor UTI never explained any of the risks or side effects of Cipro.

As a result of her injuries, Smith has been hospitalized numerous times, even spending her 42nd birthday admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital. Once a thriving employee climbing the ladder at her corporate job, Smith is now completely disabled and unable to work at all. This has devastated Smith and turned the life of her and her husband, a disabled war veteran whom she used to care for, upside down. Now both Smith and her husband require around-the-clock care.

What is the Lawsuit About?

The, complaint filed in Suffolk Superior court (Docket Number 2484CV01006) by Bosworth and Keches Law Group attorney, Chris Lynett, brings negligence and failure to warn claims against the nurse practitioner who prescribed the Cipro and the nurse practitioner's Beth Israel Deaconess/Harvard practice based out of Sharon, MA. In addition, Smith named global conglomerate Bayerthe manufacturer of Ciproas a defendant for creating an unreasonably dangerous and defective antibiotic that fails to adequately warn about the drug's risks and the severity of those risks. The lawsuit seeks monetary damages against the defendants to compensate Smith for her economic and non-economic damages in the past and into the future.

"No antibiotic that can permanently disable a healthy person should ever be prescribed in this country to treat a routine UTI," said Bosworth. "After taking just 3 Cipro pills, Talia Smith's life as she knew it was ripped away from her." Bosworth explained: "Talia now spends her days confined to a bed unable to function as a normal human being." Bosworth said that he "will not stop until full responsibility and accountability is taken by the defendants in this case."

Prior Media Coverage on this Client:

- "I Can't Walk: 25 investigate finds millions still prescribed risky antibiotic in MA, nationwide", Boston 25 News (2/6/24) (https://www.boston25news.com/news/25-investigates/i-cant-walk-today-25-investigates-finds-millions-still-prescribed-risky-antibiotic/3NOMSS3WDFAUJHM6MGJEQCFB3I/?outputType=amp)

- "UTI antibiotic leaves woman unable to walk", News Nation Prime (https://www.newsnationnow.com/health/uti-antibiotic-woman-unable-walk/amp/)

- "Common antibiotic pills used to treat UTI leave mom crippled and unable to eat solid food", Daily Mail (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-13111327/amp/young-mother-unable-walk-antibiotic-pills-uti.html)

ABOUT BOSWORTH LAW

Tom is a lawyer for catastrophic injury victims. At age 33, Bosworth became the youngest lawyer in the history of Pennsylvania to obtain an 8-figure verdict (i.e. greater than $10 million) for a living patient in a medical malpractice case. A native of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, Bosworth sits on the Executive Committee of the National Trial Lawyers Top 40 Under 40 organization for Civil Plaintiff lawyers nationwide. In just over one year into starting his own firm, Bosworth has obtained over $29 million in victories by settlement or verdict for his clients.

For more information, visit the Tom Bosworth Law website or follow him on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

CONTACT:

[email protected]

ABOUT KECHES LAW GROUP

Since opening in 1986, Keches Law Group has recovered more than $2 billion for their clients and has supported unions and fights for the rights of people injured on the job throughout the greater Boston area, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. Other practice areas include social security disability, employment law, class action, medical malpractice, and more. Keches Law Group also prioritizes community involvement and charitable causes through their non-profit organization, Keches Cares. For more information, visit the Keches Law website or follow them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

CONTACT:

[email protected]

SOURCE Keches Law Group
In a new industry resource, global HR research and advisory firm McLean & Company provides a guided approach to effectively managing HR's work as human resources professionals experience increased job-related stress and expanding strategic demands from the organization. The firm indicates that the uptick is associated with numerous undesirable impacts to HR and the broader organization if left unaddressed.

TORONTO, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - According to research from McLean & Company, the HR research and advisory division of Info-Tech Research Group, HR's involvement as a partner in planning and executing the organizational strategy has increased from 36% in 2021 to 50% in 2024. The global HR firm explains in a new industry guide, Effectively Manage HR's Work, that HR organizations increasingly support critical strategic initiatives alongside their standard transactional tasks.

The methods outlined in the infographic above represent different options that HR can use to manage their work, according to the new resource from McLean & Company. The firm advises that not all methods of workload management will be feasible for every organization and suggests that HR must evaluate their resources as well as the benefits and cautions of each method before selection. (CNW Group/McLean & Company)

"HR is dedicating more time to strategic responsibilities as its involvement as a partner in planning and executing organizational strategy has steadily increased," says Amani Gharib, PhD and director of HR Research & Advisory Services at McLean & Company. "While this is a positive direction for HR overall, HR organizations are still managing the same volume of administrative and transactional tasks on top of strategic priorities without an increase in resource allocation. This has led to decreased effectiveness alongside elevated rates of workplace stress and burnout. To enable effective teams, HR leaders must proactively optimize and prioritize their work."

Elevated levels of stress and burnout among HR teams can be accompanied by negative outcomes, such as decreased engagement, reduced performance, and increased turnover. These detrimental impacts come with significant costs to organizations, with the average cost to replace an employee equivalent to six to nine months' worth of that employee's salary. McLean & Company's resource will help HR leaders effectively manage HR's work and mitigate the risks of increased stress and burnout.

In addition to workload concerns and their associated impacts on HR teams, the firm's research-backed guide points to systemic barriers that hinder HR's ability to effectively manage their work, such as a history of negative stereotypes surrounding human resources. For example, HR leaders often fight the common misconceptions that HR lacks business and data acumen or that it has little responsibility beyond administration and bureaucracy, resulting in difficulty generating buy-in from key players for important strategic HR initiatives.

As part of its commitment to enable HR organizations to create workplaces where everyone thrives, McLean & Company has organized the resource into three easy-to-follow sections for human resources leaders and their teams. Each section includes research-backed recommendations that will help HR leaders make the prioritization of HR's work an ongoing practice, ensure their teams undertake work that supports the organization's strategy and goals, and enable other senior HR leaders to leverage various methods for managing HR's work. The firm's recommended best practices are outlined below:

Evaluate the HR organization's goals and work. Review organizational and HR strategies, then document HR's work for the current and following year. Next, determine the impact and urgency of that work and evaluate HR's current capacity to carry it out.



Review methods for managing HR's work. Evaluate the eight methods of managing HR's work to determine which methods are feasible for the organization's unique context. The eight methods, as included in McLean & Company's guide, are distribute, descope, postpone, develop, eliminate, automate, outsource, and hire. A full explanation of each method is available in the resource.



Initiate the change management process. Gain buy-in for HR's methods for managing work, outline guidelines for handling ad hoc requests, and use the decision tree in the resource to evaluate ad hoc requests. Then communicate changes to HR's work to affected individuals. Continue to evaluate HR's work and effectiveness to remain agile moving forward.

McLean & Company's guide further explains that HR leaders are often hindered from effectively managing HR's work by biases and mindset barriers, such as the sunk cost fallacy, the fear of saying no, and the desire to accomplish all work for all departments, even when the work may be out of scope. Because of these obstacles, the firm advises HR leaders that success requires a mindset shift when selecting and implementing the methods to manage HR's work.

To access the full guide or to view McLean & Company's on-demand webinar on the topic, please visit Effectively Manage HR's Work. The complete resource also includes the Manage HR's Work Workbook tool, which HR leaders can use to document key insights about HR's work and select the method(s) that will be used to manage it.

To attend upcoming free webinars on a variety of topics or explore the publicly available archive of recorded sessions, please visit McLean & Company's webinars page.

Please note that a selection of McLean & Company's research-based webinars are now offering professional development credits for recertification with SHRM, HRCI, and HRPA.

Media interested in connecting with McLean & Company analysts for exclusive, research-backed insights and commentary on psychological safety in the workplace, DEI, generative AI in HR, HR trends in 2024, the future of work, and more can contact Senior Communications Manager Kelsey King at [email protected].

About McLean & Company

Through data-driven insights and proven best-practice methodologies, McLean & Company offers comprehensive resources and full-service assessments, action plans, and training to position organizations to meet today's needs and prepare for the future.

McLean & Company is a division of Info-Tech Research Group.

Media professionals can register for unrestricted access to research across IT, HR, and software and hundreds of industry analysts through the firm's Media Insiders program. To gain access, contact [email protected].

SOURCE McLean & Company
ST. LOUIS, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- MLC (formerly Mississippi Lime Company) has named Mike Kiefer as vice president, finance and chief financial officer. As part of the global lime company's executive leadership team, Kiefer will be responsible for implementing the strategic financial and systems objectives of the company. He will also oversee financial planning and analysis, accounting and information technology.

MLC has appointed Mike Kiefer as vice president, finance and chief financial officer.

A proven strategic leader with more than 20 years of experience in finance and strategy, Kiefer joins MLC following his tenure at Afinitas, Inc., where he served as chief financial officer. He has also served in a variety of roles related to finance, strategic planning, global sales and operations planning, financial analysis, and mergers and acquisitions, including multiple past positions with Caleras, Inc.

"Mike's in-depth experience is highlighted by his success in strategic business growth and consistent delivery of results. His skill set will enable us to achieve financial excellence as we pursue our strategic plan, including initiatives to expand our portfolio of assets and businesses, capture share in new and existing markets and enhance business analytics," said Paul Hogan, president and chief executive officer at MLC.

Kiefer obtained a Bachelor of Science in business administration from the University of Missouri, Columbia, with a major in finance and banking. He earned his MBA from the Olin School of Business at Washington University with an emphasis in strategy.

"I enjoy partnering with business leaders in executing on the growth of great companies like MLC, which has a team of people united behind a clear mission and vision. It's also an exciting time to join the company, as it has recently reached new levels of international growth, innovation and sustainability. I look forward to working with the MLC teams to accomplish the company's ambitious strategic plan," Kiefer said.

About MLC

MLC, an HBM Holdings company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri., is a leading global supplier of high-calcium lime products and technical solutions. These offerings bring essential performance and value to a range of market applications, including metals, construction, chemicals, water and emissions treatment, glass, plastics, elastomers, agriculture, foods and beverages. With over a century in business, MLC has built a reputation on the quality of its products and services, as well as an unwavering commitment to safety, sustainability and service. The company's expanding global footprint includes a diversified, reliable network of production and distribution facilities in the U.S., as well as in the U.K. through its Singleton Birch business. For more information, visit https://mlc.com.

SOURCE MLC
LOS ANGELES, May 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Momcozy, a trusted global brand specializing in solution-focused maternal and baby care products since 2018, has announced their collaboration with 1 Natural Way (1NW), a nationally recognized Durable Medical Equipment company catering to the precise needs of new mothers. This innovative collaborative partnership aims to provide mothers with easy access to free Momcozy breastfeeding equipment and accessories through insurance reimbursement facilitated by 1 Natural Way.



This first-ever collaboration between Momcozy + 1 Natural Way commences May 1, 2024, coinciding with the launch of 1NW's new platform. This game-changing platform will help facilitate the procurement of essential breastfeeding equipment and accessories. Momcozy's S12 PRO DOUBLE and M5 DOUBLE breast pumps will be the first products offered on the platform to new mothers at no cost, with reimbursement through various insurance plans.



The S12 PRO is free to all insurance plans and the M5 is 100 percent covered by most insurance plans verified by 1NW. These intuitively designed, mom-friendly pumps are designed to provide mothers with efficient and comfortable breastfeeding solutions.



This synergistic collaboration between Momcozy and 1NW represents a significant step forward in supporting maternal health and well-being for all mothers. By providing access to high-quality breast pumps and accessories through insurance reimbursement, the partnership aims to alleviate financial barriers and ensure that mothers receive the support they need during the crucial breastfeeding period.



The Momcozy + 1NW initiative reflects Momcozy's belief that every mother deserves comfort, support, and practical solutions to navigate the beautiful journey of motherhood with ease. With over 3 million satisfied customers across 40+ countries, momcozy.com offers innovative solutions to support mothers throughout their journey. From pregnancy essentials to breastfeeding aids and baby gear, Momcozy is committed to providing comfort and convenience, making motherhood a more enjoyable experience for all.



For all media inquiries, please contact: [email protected]



Contact:

***@momcozy.com



Photos:

https://www.prlog.org/13018782



Press release distributed by PRLog

SOURCE Momcozy
Sydney Teenager Planned Catastrophic Acts Against Assyrians or Jews

A 15-year-old boy, allegedly part of a group of co-conspirators communicating through encrypted platforms, has been charged with conspiring to engage in any act in preparation for or planning a terrorist act. The charge against him is focused on messages exchanged between April 18 to 24, after the Wakeley incident. The boy's mother confiscated his phone after a previous church stabbing incident, as his behavior seemed "heightened". The magistrate stated that the messages clearly outlined the young person's desire to commit a catastrophic act against Jewish or Assyrian people. The teenager expressed his hatred towards non-believers and talked about wanting to do Jihad.

The Commonwealth prosecutor revealed in court that the boy had referred to the alleged stabber as his "mate" and police found two hand-drawn Islamic State flags in his bedroom. The teenager was allegedly part of a Signal group titled "Plans" where discussions about targeting Jewish people and non-believers took place. The prosecutor mentioned that on the same day, two of his alleged co-conspirators were planning to acquire guns for money, including a shotgun. When asked about the specific terror act being planned, the prosecutor explained that the offense can relate to generalized planning and not just a specific act. The defense lawyer argued that there was no substantial evidence of planning in the police fact sheet.

The alleged Wakeley church stabber, who is 16 years old, has been charged with committing a terrorist act. The 15-year-old boy is the youngest among four boys charged with conspiracy to engage in a terrorist act. Two others, aged 14 and 17, are accused of possessing extremist material. The court proceedings are ongoing, with some matters scheduled to return next week and others in June. No pleas have been entered yet in the case.

The 15-year-old boy's lawyer, Ahmed Dib, spoke to the media outside the court. He did not comment on the specifics of the case but confirmed that his client was facing serious charges related to terrorism. The boy's mother had raised concerns about his behavior before, leading to the confiscation of his phone after a previous church stabbing incident. The magistrate emphasized the serious nature of the messages written by the teenager, indicating a strong desire to carry out a violent act against specific religious or ethnic groups.

Overall, the case involves a group of young individuals allegedly planning a terrorist act through encrypted communication channels. The messages exchanged between the 15-year-old boy and his co-conspirators revealed a disturbing intent to cause harm to specific groups of people based on their religious beliefs. The court proceedings are ongoing, with different individuals facing charges related to terrorism. The seriousness of the allegations and the evidence presented in court highlight the potential threat posed by extremist ideologies and the need for vigilance in countering radicalization among young individuals. The outcome of the case will determine the legal consequences for those involved in the alleged conspiracy to commit acts of terror.
DALLAS, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Nanoscope Therapeutics Inc., a late-stage clinical biotechnology company developing gene therapies for retinal degenerative diseases, today announced that its Multi-Characteristic Opsin (MCO) gene therapy platform will be featured in six presentations at the ARVO Annual Meeting, taking place May 5-9, 2024 in Seattle. The management team will be present at the conference and available to meet at the Nanoscope Therapeutics booth #4620.

Details for the presentations are as follows:

Presentation Title: Longitudinal BCVA analysis of low- or high-dose MCO-010 mutation agnostic optogenetic therapy for retinitis pigmentosa: 12-month results from a Phase 2b/3 randomized, sham-controlled, patient- and assessor-masked clinical trial (RESTORE)

Presentation Number: 2137

Presentation Type: Paper Session

Session Title: Retinitis Pigmentosa

Session Date: May 6, 2024

Session Time: 4:15  4:30 p.m. PT

Location: 612 - Seattle Convention Center - Arch Building

Presenter: Allen C. Ho, MD, Chief Medical Advisor

Abstract Title: Test-retest Agreement of the Freiburg Visual Acuity Test in Ultra-low Vision

Abstract/Poster Number: A0223

Session Type: Poster Session

Session Title: Low Vision Performance Assessment

Session Date: May 7, 2024

Session Time: 1:15  3:00 p.m. PT

Location: Exhibit Hall - Seattle Convention Center

Presenter: Samuel Barone, MD, Chief Medical Officer

Abstract Title: Longitudinal BCVA Analysis of Patients with Stargardt Disease and Macular Degeneration Treated With MCO-010, a Mutation-Agnostic Optogenetic Therapy: 48-Week Results From a Phase 2a Clinical Trial (STARLIGHT)

Abstract/Poster Number: B0094

Session Type: Poster Session

Session Title: Pediatric Ophthalmology and Inherited Eye Diseases

Session Date: May 8, 2024

Session Time: 2:15  4:00 p.m. PT

Location: Exhibit Hall - Seattle Convention Center

Presenter: Vinit B. Mahajan, MD, PhD, Professor of Ophthalmology at Stanford University

Abstract Title: Multi-characteristic opsin gene therapy attenuates retinal degeneration and restores vision in mouse models of retinitis pigmentosa

Abstract/Poster Number: B0293

Session Type: Poster Session

Session Title: Gene and Cell Therapies and Other Novel Therapeutics I

Session Date: May 8, 2024

Session Time: 2:15  4:00 p.m. PT

Location: Exhibit Hall - Seattle Convention Center

Presenter: Subrata Batabyal, PhD, Director, Non-Clinical Development

Abstract Title: Characterization of a Broadband Ambient Light Activatable Multi-Characteristic Opsin Supporting its Superior Performance in Restoring Vision

Abstract/Poster Number: B0924

Session Type: Poster Session

Session Title: Gene and Cell Therapies and Other Novel Therapeutics II

Session Date: May 9, 2024

Session Time: 8:00  9:45 a.m. PT

Location: Exhibit Hall - Seattle Convention Center

Presenter: Samarendra Mohanty, PhD, President and Chief Scientific Officer

Abstract Title: In Vivo Efficacy of a Novel Multi-Characteristic Opsin (MCO-010) in a Mouse Model of Leber Congenital Amaurosis

Abstract/Poster Number: B0942

Session Type: Poster Session

Session Title: Gene and Cell Therapies and Other Novel Therapeutics II

Session Date: May 9, 2024

Session Time: 8:00  9:45 a.m. PT

Location: Exhibit Hall - Seattle Convention Center

Presenter: Najam Sharif, PhD, DSc, Vice President of Global Research and Development

About Nanoscope Therapeutics Inc.

Nanoscope Therapeutics is developing gene-agnostic, sight-restoring optogenetic therapies for the millions of patients blinded by inherited retinal diseases, for which no cure exists. The company's lead asset, MCO-010, recently announced the 100-week data from RESTORE Phase 2b/3 multicenter, randomized, double-masked, sham-controlled clinical trial in the U.S. for retinitis pigmentosa (NCT04945772). The company has also recently completed the Phase 2 STARLIGHT trial of MCO-010 therapy in patients with Stargardt disease (NCT05417126). MCO-010 has received FDA fast-track designations and FDA orphan drug designations for both RP and Stargardt disease. Preclinical assets include non-viral laser-delivered MCO-020 gene therapy for geographic atrophies secondary to age-related macular degeneration.

Investor Contact:

Argot Partners

212-600-1902

[email protected]

SOURCE Nanoscope Therapeutics
WASHINGTON, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA has awarded nearly $1.5 million to academic, non-profit, and business organizations to advance state-of-the-art technology that will play a key role in the agency's return to the Moon under Artemis, as well as future missions to Mars.

Twenty-four projects from 21 organizations have been awarded under NASA's Dual-Use Technology Development Cooperative Agreement Notices, or CANs. The awardees also will receive assistance from propulsion, space transportation, and science experts at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Brandon Aguiar, a graduate student at Florida International University, works to prepare a slurry containing a lunar regolith simulant, graphene nanoplatelets, and base resin for use in FIU's ongoing study of the enhanced electrical conductivity of additively manufactured lunar regolith components involving graphene nanoplatelets.

"The Dual-Use Technology Development Cooperative Agreement Notice enables NASA to collaboratively work with U.S. industry and academia to develop needed technologies," said Daniel O'Neil, manager, NASA Marshall's Technology Development Dual-Use CAN Program. "Products from these cooperative agreements support the closure of identified technology gaps and enable the development of components and systems for NASA's Moon to Mars architecture."

These innovative projects include ways to use lunar regolith for construction on the Moon's surface using smartphone video guidance sensors to fly robots on the International Space Station, identifying new battery materials, and improving a neutrino particle detector.

The following is a complete list of awardees:

Auburn University in Alabama

in Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne , Florida

, Florida International University in Miami

in Fronius USA in Portage, Indiana

in Gloyer-Taylor Laboratories in Tullahoma, Tennessee

Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge

Morgan State University in Baltimore

in Nanoracks (Voyager Space) in Houston

Northwestern University in Chicago

in Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana

Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio

Tethon 3D in Omaha, Nebraska

University of Alabama in Huntsville

University of California in Irvine

University of Florida in Gainesville

in University of Illinois in Chicago

University of North Texas in Denton

in University of Tennessee in Knoxville

University of Tennessee Space Institute

Space Institute Victory Solutions in Huntsville, Alabama

Wichita State University in Kansas

The Florida Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, and the University of Alabama were awarded funding for two projects each.

Funding was available for organizations focused on supporting entrepreneurial research and innovation ideas that could advance the commercial space sector and benefit future NASA missions.

Applications are now open for the 2024 solicitation cycle.

To learn more about NASA's missions, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/

SOURCE NASA
WASHINGTON, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Council of Institutions (COI) of Universities Space Research Association, which comprises representatives from each of USRA's 120 member institutions, elected new leadership, bringing together esteemed professionals from diverse academic backgrounds to further advance the organization's mission. Dr. Joan Ramage, hailing from Lehigh University, assumes the role of Chair of the Council of Institutions, while Dr. Jed Hancock, representing Utah State University, steps into the position of Vice Chair. Both Ramage and Hancock bring experience and dedication to their new roles, while they continue to serve as representatives of their respective universities within USRA.

Dr. Joan Ramage's tenure with USRA dates to 2012 when she first joined as a COI representative. Over the years, she has made significant contributions to USRA governance and operations, notably through her involvement in the Scholarship Review Committee from 2014 to 2020 and again in 2023, as well as her ongoing service on the Issues and Programs Committee since 2018. She hosted a meeting of USRA's member universities from New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania in 2021. Recognized for her leadership, Ramage was elected Vice Chair of USRA's Council of Institutions in 2022, a testament to her commitment to advancing collaborative efforts within the organization.

Likewise, Dr. Jed Hancock has been the Representative for Utah State University since 2015. He served on the Issues and Program Committee (IPC) from 2018  2020, after which he remained on the IPC as an observer. He also served as Chair of the COI Nominating Committee from 2022  2024 and hosted the meeting of USRA's Rocky Mountain (Region VIII) universities at Utah State University in 2019.

Beyond their roles within USRA, they are both active in many other initiatives. Ramage is an expert in remote sensing of terrestrial cryosphere and leads the Eastern Snow Conference. She is deeply committed to fostering diversity and inclusion within STEM fields. As part of her endeavors at Lehigh University and beyond, she actively contributes to the Earth and Environmental Sciences Department Committee on Diversity and Inclusion, working to create an environment where all voices are heard and valued.

Furthermore, Ramage's dedication to advancing equity is beyond her immediate roles. She has developed National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT) workshops aimed at fostering graduate student belonging, success, and leadership, contributing to the cultivation of a supportive and inclusive academic community. In her capacity as ADVANCE Center Faculty Director, Ramage champions equity and success for faculty members, with a particular emphasis on removing barriers to success for historically minoritized faculty across STEM disciplines and academia at large. Her multifaceted approach underscores her unwavering commitment to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion within academia, making her a truly invaluable asset to both Lehigh University and the broader academic community.

Dr. Jed Hancock's distinguished career at Utah State University's Space Dynamics Laboratory

(SDL) exemplifies his commitment to advancing research and education in the field of space exploration. Under his leadership as President since 2021, SDL has emerged as a trusted partner to government agencies, providing mission-enabling solutions to the Department of Defense, Intelligence Community, and civil space agencies.

Hancock's expertise in research and strategic partnerships has been instrumental in the success of several NASA programs, including OSIRIS-REx, ICON, NEO Surveyor, PACE, SunRISE, and AWE. Furthermore, Hancock's leadership in the development of space-based missile tracking and sensor technologies has significantly enhanced the Department of Defense's capabilities in national security and defense.

Dr. Hancock is an adjunct faculty member at Utah State University (USU) and serves on graduate committees at both USU and the University of Arizona. He earned a distinguished alumni award from USU, individual/group achievement awards from NASA, and is a Fellow of the International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE).

About USRA

Founded in 1969, under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences at the request of the U.S. Government, the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) is a nonprofit corporation chartered to advance space-related science, technology, and engineering. USRA operates scientific institutes and facilities and conducts other major research and educational programs. It is an association with 120 university members. USRA engages the broader university community, employs in-house scientific talent, and offers innovative research, development, and project management expertise. For more information, see www.usra.edu.

Contact:

Suraiya Farukhi

[email protected]

443-812-6945

SOURCE Universities Space Research Association
SYDNEY, May 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- ATFX, a leading global online trading broker, is pleased to announce that Nick Twidale has joined the company as Chief Market Analyst for the Australia region. With over two decades of experience in banking and broking, Nick brings a wealth of expertise and leadership to his new role.

Nick is a highly recognisable figure in the financial services industry. As the previous APAC CEO for FP Markets, GM for IC Markets and Chief Operating Officer at Rakuten Securities Australia and he solidified his reputation as a Forex Trading and broking industry expert.

In addition to his extensive professional experience in the broking space, Nick brings a unique 'trader eye perspective' to his insights and commentary honed during his previous 12+ years working on bank FX trading desks. These insights and expertise have gained him significant media exposure across multiple channels over the years, making him an ideal fit to bring the ATFX brand to the Australian region and beyond. At ATFX, Nick will cover market updates and provide commentary through articles and videos from the AEST time zone, enabling traders to make informed decisions from both a fundamental and technical perspective. This exciting addition to the ATFX market analysts team will undoubtedly enhance the platform's market analysis capabilities, ensuring users' well-rounded and comprehensive trading experience.

Country Head for ATFX in Australia, Simon Naish said "I am delighted to welcome Nick to ATFX. His proven track record in producing quality market commentary and analysis can only enhance our global offering, and his appointment marks another significant milestone in our commitment to the region."

The strategic hire of Nick for the APAC region reflects ATFX's commitment to providing the highest level of expertise and support to its clients. The team of 13 experienced analysts in ATFX, including Gonzalo Canete (Global Chief Market Strategist, ATFX UK), Martin Lam (Chief Market Analyst, ATFX Southeast Asia), and Gabi Dahduh (Senior Market Analyst, ATFX MENA), totally cover the Sydney, Tokyo, London, and New York trading sessions. They bring a wealth of knowledge and experience, equipping traders with the cutting-edge tools and insights they need to make wise trading decisions. This new addition is a testament to ATFX's dedication to empowering traders and ensuring their success in the dynamic world of trading.

ATFX focuses on delivering world-class customized service to clients, combined with detailed trader education programs and tools. In 2021, ATFX established AT Premier as a premium market research portal for its Middle Eastern clientele that offers top-tier research from major investment banks and prominent market research firms, among other sources. In 2022, to keep its leading competitive edge, ATFX stepped ahead with FinTech, which includes Big Data, Blockchain, and AI. The accurate raw data provision by CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is the key to success in FinTech. With its huge structured data, the algorithm analyses clients' trading histories and behaviours and predicts the highest possible outcomes through Big Data modelling and analytic tools. Due to the above, ATFX has distinguished itself in recent years.

About ATFX

ATFX is a leading global fintech broker with a local presence in 22 locations and licenses from regulatory authorities, including the UK's FCA, Cypriot CySEC, UAE's SCA, Australian ASIC, and South African FSCA. With a strong commitment to customer satisfaction, innovative technology, and strict regulatory compliance, ATFX provides exceptional trading experiences to clients worldwide.

For further information on ATFX, please visit ATFX website https://www.atfx.com.

SOURCE ATFX
#NikonCreators is the Call to Create

MELVILLE, N.Y., May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Nikon Inc. has launched the Nikon Creators Official Partners program, recognizing the driven, innovative and inspiring content creators that are steering the future of the creative space. These individuals are avid Nikon Z mirrorless camera system users, and each represent where the industry is headed. This program aims to support and amplify the creative community, partnering with artists who are defining visual storytelling while documenting their distinctive process.

Nikon Announces the First Group of Nikon Creators Official Partners

The diverse group of nine artists are social-savvy and exemplify a wide range of photo and video disciplines. This emerging generation of creators came up in a different era, blazing their own path in non-traditional ways, which Nikon actively embraces. The primary role of these Nikon Creators Official Partners is to elevate those around them, whether engaging the large communities they have built or inspiring their peers with their process of creating spectacular content.

"The creative landscape and the artists driving it are evolving faster than ever before. The Nikon Creators Official Partners is a unique program connecting the brand with a new generation of visual storytellers while providing them with the tools they need to tell their stories and push their creative boundaries," said Naoki Onozato, President and CEO, Nikon Inc. "Our partners continue to redefine what it means to be a creator, and we are excited to support them in their creative journey."

About the Nikon Creators Official Partners

Nikon plans to support these creators by helping to bring their unique visions to life and developing a brand relationship with the freedom to create what moves them, all while using Nikon's gear, resources and extensive educational platforms. This experience is a blank canvas, where they can teach what they love and create without boundaries. This is a generation that is no stranger to making a statement with cutting-edge technology and is always looking for ways to adapt their craft. Nikon Creators Official Partners will exist alongside the world's foremost professionals in Nikon's prestigious Ambassador program, producing content and driving engagement that reflects the unique needs of the creator community.

"It feels like a dream come true to become a Nikon Creators Official Partner," said Brandon Woelfel. "Photography isn't just my full-time job; it's become a core part of who I am. The first camera that jump-started my photography journey was my grandfather's Nikon film camera, and I've never looked back since. The brand has truly evolved with me, offering quality and innovation that I can rely on to bring my visions to life. It's also about the community I've found among other Nikon users and the Nikon team. They've always supported me and my art throughout my journey, and I'll forever be grateful for the connection we've made."

Meet the Nikon Creators Official Partners

Alex Frank / @shotzbyAlex

Alex is a fashion & lifestyle photographer and content creator that creates campaigns and portraits that can convey an entire state of mind in a single frame, by masterful use of warm tones, light and pose. Alex is based in NYC, where she shoots for various fashion brands and clients.

Brandon Woelfel / @brandonwoelfel

Brandon has become a household name in iconic street style and dreamy portraits, known for defining a genre with an ethereal look and style that is often imitated but never truly duplicated.

Chantel Miller / @chantelmillerstorytelling

Chantel is an Indiana based wedding, portrait and elopement photographer. She is a visual storyteller and a creative in every sense of the word, using a combination of photography, design and fine art to tell each of her client's unique love story or personality.

Erin Winters White /@erinOnDemand

Erin is a branding and business strategist and entrepreneur. She creates helpful photos, videos and vlog content to help empower aspiring content creators to tell their stories in an impactful style.

Houston Vandergriff / @Downsandtowns

As a young photographer with Down Syndrome, Houston defies the odds and travels the world chronicling his adventures with breathtaking content, hoping to inspire others to live their life to the fullest and make the world a more compassionate and better place. This Tennessee native has since travelled to 26 different countries and is a self-advocate who used his creativity to bring awareness to inclusion.

Inari Briana / @Inaribriana

Inari is a commercial photographer, creative director and consummate storyteller based in Atlanta, GA. She has an impressive portfolio, capturing campaigns for many notable clients, celebrities, brands and automakers with a distinct and striking style. Her mission is to create imagery that resonates with diverse audiences.

Jesus "JP" Presinal / @officialJPNYC

JP brings a contagious energy to his hard-to-match content. Try keeping up with this breakdancer, photographer, filmmaker and creative director, whose high-intensity style has landed him gigs working with major sport leagues, apparel brands and more.

Kien Quan / @kiequancreates

Kien is known for his distinct style of street photography and videography, approaching strangers in everyday scenes to create epic and heroic moving portraits. Whether it's cosplayers, cultural icons, dancers or even casual bystanders, Kien's skill and creativity make the everyday extraordinary.

Savannah Rose /@savannarosewildlife

Conservation and wildlife photographer Savannah Rose is based in Jackson Hole Wyoming, where she can usually be found outside the wilds of Yellowstone National Park documenting Nature. Savannah is an expert at safely getting close to nature, with an extensive knowledge of the ecosystem and patience that helps her be in the right place at the right time.

For more information about the latest Nikon products, including the vast collection of NIKKOR Z lenses and the entire line of Z series cameras, please visit www.nikonusa.com.

About Nikon

Nikon Inc. is a world leader in digital imaging, precision optics and technologies for photo and video capture; globally recognized for setting new standards in product design and performance for an award-winning array of equipment that enables visual storytelling and content creation. Nikon Inc. distributes consumer and professional Z Series mirrorless cameras, digital SLR cameras, a vast array of NIKKOR and NIKKOR Z lenses, Speedlights and system accessories, Nikon COOLPIX compact digital cameras and Nikon software products. For more information, dial (800) NIKON-US or visit www.nikonusa.com, which links all levels of photographers and visual storytellers to the Web's most comprehensive learning and sharing communities. Connect with Nikon on Facebook, X, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Vimeo and Flickr.

SOURCE Nikon Inc.
SAN DIEGO, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- North Island Credit Union Foundation has awarded 10 scholarships of $1,000 each to college-bound students in San Diego and Riverside Counties in its annual College Scholarship Program. Through the program, North Island Credit Union Foundation recognizes exceptional students who are active in both their schools and the communities, giving back to others through service and volunteer work.

2024 North Island Credit Union Foundation scholarship recipients were honored at a celebratory reception at North Island Credit Union on April 25, 2024.

"We were excited to see so many promising students participate in our program this year, and hope these scholarships will make the road to a college education just a little bit easier," said North Island Credit Union Foundation President Marvel Ford. "We are proud to recognize these students not just for their hard work in school, but also for their commitment to supporting their local communities. We wish all these inspiring students the very best of luck in their future education."

The 2024 North Island Credit Union Foundation scholarship recipients are:

Recipient School City Calee Birney Granite Hills High School El Cajon Ishaa Giridhar Rancho Bernardo High School San Diego Racel Ligeralde Scripps Ranch High School San Diego Daniela Martinez Tahquitz High School Hemet Tayler Nguyen University City High School San Diego Samantha Resendiz Escondido High School Escondido Daelin Ross Patrick Henry High School San Diego Julius Stevens Steele Canyon High School Spring Valley Jenny Tran Crawford High School San Diego Chloe Zuniga Chaparral High School Temecula

Individual photos of recipients available upon request.

The Foundation's Annual College Scholarship program was created by the credit union in 2005 to recognize outstanding students within its local communities. Since the creation of the program, more than $425,000 in scholarships have been awarded to students across San Diego, Riverside, Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties.

College-bound high school seniors and community college students transferring to a four-year university who maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.0 and plan to attend an accredited college or university in the coming year were eligible to participate.

About North Island Credit Union Foundation

North Island Credit Union Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation that serves as the philanthropic arm of North Island Credit Union, a division of California Credit Union operating in San Diego and Riverside Counties. California Credit Union is a state chartered full-service credit union with assets of nearly $5 billion, approximately 200,000 members and 25 retail branches. North Island Credit Union Foundation works to strengthen the financial well-being of our communities by providing targeted resources to non-profit partners effecting meaningful change across San Diego and Riverside counties. California Credit Union funds all administrative costs of the Foundation, enabling it to return 100% of donations back into community programs. Please visit ccu.com/foundation to learn more or make a tax-deductible donation, or follow the Foundation on Instagram @northislandcufoundation.

SOURCE North Island Credit Union
OMAHA, Neb., May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Scientists from the National Strategic Research Institute (NSRI) at the University of Nebraska recently spent nine days at sea on board the U.S. Navy hospital ship, USNS Mercy, to conduct testing for the underway phase of an infectious aerosol risk study.

NSRI research team sets up testing equipment for particle dispersal research onboard USNS Mercy in February 2024. Conducting this research in the complex and turbulent shipboard environment while underway allows the team to quantify existing risks and optimize mitigation strategies. Photo credit: ENS Lacy Burkett, assistant public affairs officer.

The USNS Mercy's primary mission is to provide an afloat, mobile, acute surgical facility to the U.S. military that is flexible, capable and uniquely adaptable to support expeditionary warfare. MERCY's secondary mission is to provide full hospital services to support U.S. disaster relief and humanitarian operations worldwide. In addition to a 1,000-bed capacity, the hospital ship includes four intensive care units and an isolation ward.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the USNS Mercy and its sister hospital ship, USNS Comfort, deployed to Los Angeles and New York City, respectively. The study aims to identify risks associated with infectious airborne pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2, so decision makers can implement strategies to mitigate risks and ensure operational readiness and mission success.

"Lessons learned and recommendations from the COVID-related deployments highlighted the need to further evaluate particle dispersal in the medical spaces of the ship to identify potential risks to medical staff and patients," said Marty Sikes, associate executive director of NSRI chemical and biological defense programs. "To my knowledge this is the first study of its kind conducted on the hospital ships while underway."

Funded by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, an NSRI team led by Donnie Huston, research scientist, and supported by Sikes and Senior Scientists Rick Arestad and Kevin Crown, investigated particle dispersal in the complex and turbulent shipboard environment. The team used fluorescent tracer particles with unique signatures not naturally present to quantify existing risks and optimize mitigation strategies.

The team conducted 59 tests using a custom aerosol generator designed by NSRI Gabe Lucero, senior research engineer, and a network of particle sensors that provided continuous environmental monitoring. Placement of the sensors throughout the ship's medical spaces allowed for precise, real-time measurement of airborne particle spread and clearance.

Findings and conclusions from the study will play a critical role in informing how the Navy and Military Sealift Command protects medical staff and patients from aerosolized pathogens on the only two hospital ships in the fleet.

"As a retired Naval Officer, it was an exciting opportunity for me to be at sea again and spend time with today's sailors," Sikes said. "It was also a rewarding experience knowing that our efforts will have a direct impact on protecting sailors and patients."

About the National Strategic Research Institute

Through the National Strategic Research Institute at the University of Nebraska leading scientists deliver innovative national security research, technology, product and strategy development, training and exercises, and subject matter expertise to the Department of Defense and other federal agencies. One of only 15 DOD-designated University Affiliated Research Centers in the country, NSRI is sponsored by U.S. Strategic Command and works to ensure the United States' safety and preparedness against increasingly sophisticated threats. Read about our mission.

SOURCE National Strategic Research Institute
BEIJING, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Recently, the Kashengeneck School, which was built by the Kambov Mining of CNMC, was officially handed over to the local government.

Bird's-eye view of the Kashengeneck School

The Kashengenek School is located in the village of Kashengenek, Kambowe Township, Likasi City, Upper Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The project was launched in October 2023. Together with the construction party and the supervision party, Kambov Mining has attached great importance to the construction safety and quality in the process of implementation. With unremitting efforts of nearly 5 months, schools and villagers' public wells were very well established. The school has 6 classrooms with teaching facilities such as chairs. The administrative building has offices and conference rooms. Meanwhile, they are equipped with bathrooms, special wells and walls. Furthermore, the well has a complete water filtration system, two 5m3 water tanks, a set of solar panels, a solid steel derrick, and 5 faucets which could fully satisfy the water needs of villagers. The completion of the two projects has provided better teaching conditions for the teachers and students, and also solved the problem of villagers traveling long distances to get water. The villagers' lives are more convenient now and the water sources are cleaner.

At the completion celebration, Wang Shougao, chairman of CNMC, said that the completion and delivery of the public well project for schools and villagers is a milestone in the company's public welfare activities and a powerful witness to the friendship between China and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, condensing the deep friendship between the two peoples. He hoped that teachers, students and villagers would cherish the school and public wells, and wished villagers an improving life quality, and more children could go to school to receive education.

The Finance Minister of Upper Katanga John Muloba Kitonge has attended the handover ceremony of the school and highly praised the campus and public wells of high quality donated by CNMC. He said that Kambov's own development has provided more jobs for the community, and it has actively fulfilled its social responsibilities. The livelihood problems of many people in the community are solved and a win-win cooperation has been achieved. May Kambov be more harmonious with the community, and may the friendship between the two countries last forever.

Kambov Mining is a joint venture between CNMC and Gecamines SA. As a responsible enterprise, Kambov Mining has practiced the development concept of cooperation and win-win since its establishment in the construction of the "Belt and Road" and actively fulfilled its social responsibilities. In 2023, the company's five social responsibility projects have landed.

Contact Person: Wang Keli

Tel: 0086-13886467228

Email: wangkl@somidez

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2403846/Kashengeneck_School.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2291943/4685559/CNMC_Logo.jpg

SOURCE China Nonferrous Metal Mining (Group) Co., Ltd
LAGUNA HILLS, Calif., May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Prelude Corporation (PreludeDx), a leader in precision diagnostics for early-stage breast cancer, announced the appointment of Dr. Pat Whitworth as its new Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Whitworth's extensive clinical and research expertise across the multiple stages of the breast cancer patient journey will bring invaluable leadership as PreludeDx expands its diagnostic portfolio.

"I'm thrilled to join the PreludeDx team during this important growth period and contribute to the mission of improving breast cancer outcomes," said Dr. Whitworth. "The company's commitment to personalized medicine with innovative tests like DCISionRT and patient-centered care aligns perfectly with my values."

Dr. Whitworth brings more than 30 years of clinical expertise to this role and recently served as the Breast Surgical Oncologist and Director at Nashville Breast Center; Medical Director of Aptitude Health; and Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, at the University of Tennessee. His expertise in breast cancer has been acknowledged multiple times as a National Top Doctor.

As a renowned breast cancer researcher, his work has been published in top-tier medical journals on topics such as genetic testing, molecular diagnostics, targeted therapies, minimally invasive surgical techniques and lymphedema prevention. He has extensive authorship in over 100 peer-reviewed publications and has served as the Principal Investigator in numerous NCI and industry-sponsored clinical trials.

"Dr. Whitworth's deep knowledge of breast cancer surgery, his passion for research and his dedication to patient advocacy and innovation, make him an ideal fit for PreludeDx," said Dan Forche, President and CEO of PreludeDx. "We welcome his leadership in advancing our precision medicine tools, especially at this critical inflection point and entry into the invasive breast cancer market with our AidaBreastTM offering."

Previously, Dr. Whitworth served as Chair of the Board of Directors for the American Society of Breast Surgeons; Vice Chair of the Breast Committee for the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group (ACOSOG); and Chair of the Research Committee for the ASBrS. He earned his medical degree from the University of Tennessee, completed his residency at the University of Louisville, and his fellowship at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in cell biology and surgical oncology.

About DCISionRT for Breast DCIS

DCISionRT is the only risk assessment test for patients with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) that predicts radiation therapy benefit. Patients with DCIS have cancerous cells lining the milk ducts of the breast, but they have not spread into surrounding breast tissue. In the US, over 60,000 women are newly diagnosed with DCIS each year. DCISionRT, developed by PreludeDx on technology licensed from the University of California San Francisco, and built on research that began with funding from the National Cancer Institute, enables physicians to better understand the biology of DCIS. DCISionRT combines the latest innovations in molecular biology with risk-based assessment scores to assess a woman's individual tumor biology along with other pathologic risk factors and provide a personalized recurrence risk. The test provides a Decision Score that identifies a woman's risk as low or elevated. Unlike other risk assessment tools, the DCISionRT test combines protein expression from seven biomarkers and four clinicopathologic factors, using a non-linear algorithm to account for multiple interactions between individual factors in order to better interpret complex biological information. DCISionRT's intelligent reporting provides a woman's recurrence risk after breast conserving surgery alone and with the addition of radiation therapy. In turn, this new information may help patients and their physicians to make more informed treatment decisions.

About PreludeDx

PreludeDx is a leading personalized breast cancer diagnostics company dedicated to serving breast cancer patients and physicians worldwide. Founded in 2009 with technology licensed from University of California San Francisco, PreludeDx has focused on developing precision breast cancer tools that will impact a patient's treatment decision. Our mission is to provide patients and physicians with innovative technologies that improve patient outcomes and reduce the overall cost burden to the healthcare system. Before making a treatment decision, Know Your RiskTM. PreludeDx is a Fjord Ventures portfolio company.

For more information on how PreludeDx is making a difference for patients, please visit the Company's website: https://preludedx.com and follow us on Twitter @PreludeDx, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

PreludeDx, the PreludeDx logo, DCISionRT, the DCISionRT logo, AidaBreast, DecisionTree, Decision Score, The DCIS Test, Know Your Risk and Your Biology, Your Decision are trademarks of Prelude Corporation or its wholly owned subsidiaries in the United States and foreign countries.

Media Contact Investor Contact Chris Emery Andrew Wade [email protected] [email protected]

SOURCE PreludeDx
LOS ANGELES, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Mathpresso, creator of Asia's leading learning app, QANDA, today announced that it has been recognized by TIME's World's Top EdTech Companies in 2024 . Presented by TIME and Statista Inc., this accolades acknowledges companies that exhibit financial strength and significant industry impact.

"We are honored that TIME has recognized QANDA for its commitment to transforming learning journeys through AI," said Jake Yongjae Lee, CEO of Mathpresso. "This achievement underscores the impact of our work and dedication in delivering personalized education around the globe."

This inaugural list was developed by TIME magazine in collaboration with the global market research firm Statista, selecting the most innovative and financially robust companies in the edtech sector. From an initial pool of 7,000 companies, only the top 250 with the highest scores were selected.

QANDA, Mathpresso's flagship app, stands as the largest AI-powered learning platform in Asia. It integrates OCR and LLM technologies to offer comprehensive solutions and study guides. This strategic approach has created a self-enforcing data flywheel, now boasting over 90 million registered users and processing between 4 and 8 million inquiries daily. 90% of its users are from outside Korea, with significant user bases in Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand. To date, Mathpresso has secured $130 million in funding from investors including Google, ByteDance, Samsung Ventures, SBVA, Goodwater, and GGV Capital.

In March, Mathpresso launched Cramify, its first product aimed at the U.S. market, previously known as Prep.Pie. This generative AI-powered study tool is designed to enhance exam preparation for college students in the U.S. Integrating QANDA's core technology, Cramify offers a highly personalized learning experience to boost study efficiency. Currently available by subscription at USC and UCLA, Cramify is set for expansion to other West Coast universities in the first half of the year and a nationwide rollout by year's end.

Mathpresso is also a developer of MathGPT, a math-specific large language model that broke the world record in various mathematical benchmarks last December.

To learn more about Mathpresso, visit https://mathpresso.com/en .

About QANDA(Mathpresso)

Seoul-based edtech startup Mathpresso(QANDA) operates the AI-powered learning platform, QANDA. The app has gained 10 million monthly active users globally including South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. Leveraging QANDA's vast database and traffic, Mathpresso plans to integrate its LLM-based AI tutor into its vertical services, including QANDA Tutor for tablet-based individual tutoring, and QANDA B2B & B2G SaaS, ensuring a deeply personalized educational experience for all students. Since 2015, Mathpresso has secured investments from Google, ByteDance, SBVA, and Samsung Venture Investment.

SOURCE Mathpresso
TIMONIUM, Md., May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- SG Benefit Providers, a leading insurance company, has announced the successful acquisition of Medicare Group USA for over $5 million. This strategic move marks a significant milestone for SG Benefit Providers, expanding its portfolio to include five insurance companies. The acquisition has propelled SG Benefit Providers to triple its size, surpassing last year's $8 million in revenue within the first quarter.

CEO Steven Reech expressed his excitement about the acquisition, stating, "We are pleased to welcome Medicare Group to the SG family and build a dream team together." CMO Anthony Miller expressed his excitement about the tech and marketing aspect "This acquisition also helps our ability to provide innovative insurance solutions to our clients and develop more IP."

The acquisition was facilitated with the assistance of ThinkEquity, serving as the advisor to the company on financing. Additionally, their lending partner REV Capital provided a $2 million line of credit with the option to increase to $3 million, enabling SG Benefit Providers to execute its growth strategy effectively.

Co-Founder of Medicare Group, Tim Wyatt, shared his enthusiasm about joining forces with SG Benefit Providers, stating, "My Co-Founder Andy Rathamn and I are delighted to find a great home with SG Benefit Providers. This partnership will allow us to continue serving our clients with the same dedication and commitment to excellence."

Chief Strategy Officer Blake Van Leer expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to contribute to SG Benefit Providers' growth strategy, stating, "I'm grateful to be of service to SG and help execute their vision for an M&A and organic growth towards our roadmap, which consist of over $100M in revenue. This acquisition certainly helps expedite the process."

The acquisition of Medicare Group USA underscores SG Benefit Providers' commitment to expanding its market presence and delivering exceptional value to its clients. With a strengthened portfolio and expanded resources, SG Benefit Providers is well-positioned for continued success in the insurance industry.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Blake Van Leer

CSG, Partner

2025258717

[email protected]

About SG Benefit Providers:

SG Benefit Providers is a leading insurance company dedicated to providing innovative insurance solutions to individuals and businesses. With a focus on customer-centricity and innovation, SG Benefit Providers aims to empower its clients with comprehensive insurance coverage and unparalleled service.

SOURCE SG Benefit Providers
SAN DIEGO, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- SolarTech, California's leading solar provider for residential, commercial, and nonprofit clients, designed and implemented a tailored solar solution for prominent auto dealership Mossy Nissan Chula Vista . Mossy Nissan Chula Vista, facing challenges of rising energy costs from San Diego Gas & Electric (SDGE), sought a sustainable solution that would not only combat rising operating expenses but also provide an opportunity to maximize available tax incentives.

In addition to rapidly increasing energy costs, Mossy Nissan Chula Vista faced high maintenance costs and potential vehicle value depreciation due to sun and weather exposure at its extensive vehicle lot. SolarTech designed a solar solution, featuring a combination of rooftop panels and solar carports, for Mossy Nissan Chula Vista to achieve 100% offset in annual electrical usage, provide shade and protection for vehicle inventory to enhance vehicle longevity, position Mossy Nissan Chula Vista as a leader in sustainable practices, and maximize tax benefits to enhance the project's financial viability.

"Partnering with SolarTech on this solar project was a triple win for us." - Peter Mossy, President of Mossy Automotive Post this

Though permitting can be time-consuming for large-scale solar installations, SolarTech's understanding of local regulations and relationships with permitting authorities streamlined the process with timely approvals and minimal delays. In fact, SolarTech successfully completed the installation 25% faster than expected minimizing the impact on Mossy's sales operations and customer experience.

"Partnering with SolarTech on this solar project was a triple win for us. We're saving money on energy, protecting our valuable inventory, and taking a meaningful step towards a more sustainable future. This investment aligns perfectly with our values and our customers' expectations," stated Peter Mossy, President of Mossy Automotive Group.

SolarTech's installation of a 391kW solar system with 990 panels saved Mossy Nissan $98,713 on their electric bill in the first year. Assuming a conservative 5% year-over-year utility rate increase, the projected lifetime electric bill savings for this system eclipses $6 million.

About SolarTech

SolarTech is a leading provider of turnkey solar solutions for residential, commercial, and non-profit clients in California and Arizona. With a steadfast commitment to excellence and sustainability, SolarTech has been delivering innovative solar energy systems tailored to meet customer needs since 2001. The company ensures timely project delivery, prioritizes job site safety, and upholds the value of in-house expertise with a team of certified solar analysts, technicians, and installers.

For more information about SolarTech, please visit www.solartechonline.com.

SOURCE SolarTech
The BGL Environmental Services Insider: Opportunity in Sustainability

CLEVELAND, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The environmental sector has continued at a strong pace as the emphasis on sustainability continues to grow, according to an industry report coauthored by the Environmental investment banking team from Brown Gibbons Lang & Company (BGL) and L.E.K. Consulting.

Download and read the BGL Environmental Services Insider  Opportunity in Sustainability: https://bit.ly/BGLSustainabilityInsider

Significant capital inflows are being allocated to the environmental sector. Post this The environmental sector has continued at a strong pace as the emphasis on sustainability continues to grow, according to an industry report coauthored by the Environmental investment banking team from Brown Gibbons Lang & Company (BGL) and L.E.K. Consulting.

The environmental industry report features an in-depth examination of the key drivers that are leading to the prioritization of sustainability, the role technology is playing to help companies achieve their sustainability-focused initiatives, and how select waste-to-value solutions are accelerating the transition toward a more circular economy. BGL gathered insights from executives leading sustainability-related initiatives at WM, GFL Environmental, VLS Environmental Solutions, and The Amlon Group.

Key takeaways include:

Why companies view sustainability practices as a value-creation opportunity and key growth lever





How technology is revolutionizing the waste and environmental sector's adoption of sustainability-based practices





The factors behind waste-to-value becoming an emerging area of opportunity





The notable M&A transactions and the driving forces behind a shift in environmental services investing to sustainable yet pragmatic solutions

Significant capital inflows are being allocated to the environmental sector, resulting in a high level of platform formation and add-on acquisition activity. The relative stability of the waste and environmental sector has long attracted investor activity because of its essential nature and traditionally strong growth profile. Companies delivering sustainability-oriented solutions will continue to command outsized investor interest, as these businesses take advantage of favorable regulatory and consumer-driven tailwinds.

BGL's Environmental investment banking team has been a leader in the North American market in transaction volume for more than a decade, according to Pitchbook.com. Our experience spans the spectrum of the sector, including solid waste, industrial & special waste, waste-to-energy, specialty environmental services, and tech-enabled services.

About Brown Gibbons Lang & Company

Brown Gibbons Lang & Company (BGL) is a leading independent investment bank and financial advisory firm focused on the global middle market. The firm advises private and public corporations and private equity groups on mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, financial restructurings, business valuations and opinions, and other strategic matters. BGL has investment banking offices in Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, and New York, and real estate offices in Chicago, Cleveland, and San Antonio. The firm is also a founding member of Global M&A Partners, enabling BGL to service clients in more than 35 countries around the world. Securities transactions are conducted through Brown, Gibbons, Lang & Company Securities, LLC, an affiliate of Brown Gibbons Lang & Company LLC and a registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA and SIPC. For more information, please visit www.bglco.com.

About L.E.K. Consulting

L.E.K. Consulting is a global strategy consultancy that works with business leaders to seize competitive advantage and amplify growth. Our insights are catalysts that reshape the trajectory of our clients' businesses, uncovering opportunities and empowering them to master their moments of truth. Since 1983, LEK's worldwide practice  spanning the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe  has guided leaders across all industries, from global corporations to emerging entrepreneurial businesses and private equity investors. Visit www.lek.com.

SOURCE Brown Gibbons Lang & Company
LUXEMBOURG, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- TIM, TIF and Telecom Italia Capital ("TICAP" or the "Issuer") have announced on the date hereof that the Total Cap for the Exchange Offers has been increased to 5,536,319,601 from 5.0 billion (based on the Euro/USD exchange rate of 1.07145). TIM and TIF have also announced on the date hereof that the aggregate principal amount of the EUR Original Notes accepted for exchange in the EUR Exchange Offers was 3,669,680,000. TICAP hereby announces that the USD Maximum Acceptance Amount is $2,000,011,000, the Maximum Series Acceptance Amount has been increased to $500,006,000 for the USD Original 2033 Notes, $500,001,000 for the USD Original 2034 Notes and $500,004,000 for the USD Original 2038 Notes. As of the Early Participation Deadline of 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on May 1, 2024, the USD Maximum Acceptance Amount was reached and the Maximum Series Acceptance Amount for each of the USD Original Notes was reached. Assuming that the USD Original Notes tendered by the Early Participation Deadline are accepted for payment at the Expiration Time, the proration factors would be 85.6200000% for the USD Original 2033 Notes, 93.9516130% for the USD Original 2034 Notes, 74.9288000% for the USD Original 2036 Notes and 67.4166670% for the USD Original 2038 Notes, respectively. The final proration calculations will be made upon acceptance as soon as practicable following the Expiration Time, and TICAP will disclose the final proration factors at such time.

Capitalized terms used in this announcement but not defined have the meanings given to them in the USD Exchange Offer Memorandum.

Further Information

A complete description of the terms and conditions of the USD Exchange Offers is set out in the USD Exchange Offer Memorandum. BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft, Goldman Sachs International, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, and UniCredit Bank GmbH are acting as the dealer managers (the "USD Dealer Managers") for the USD Exchange Offers. Kroll Issuer Services Limited is acting as Exchange and Information Agent. Before making a decision with respect to the USD Exchange Offer, Noteholders should carefully consider all of the information in the USD Exchange Offer Memorandum and, in particular, the risk factors described in "Risk Factors" therein.

This announcement must be read in conjunction with, and is deemed to be incorporated in the USD Exchange Offer Memorandum. This announcement and the USD Exchange Offer Memorandum contain important information which should be read carefully before any decision is made to participate in the USD Exchange Offers. It is recommended that Noteholders seek their own legal, regulatory, tax, business and investment advice immediately from their stockbroker, bank manager, accountant or other independent financial adviser.

Any questions regarding the terms of the USD Exchange Offers may be directed to:

USD Dealer Managers

BNP Paribas 16, boulevard des Italiens

75009 Paris

France

Telephone: +33 1 55 77 78 94

Attention: Liability Management Group

Email: [email protected] Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank 12 place des Etats-Unis

CS 70052 92547 Montrouge Cedex

France

Telephone: +44 207 214 5733

Email: [email protected]

Attention: Liability Management

Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft Mainzer Landstrae 11-17

60329 Frankfurt am Main,

Germany

Telephone: +44 207 545 8011 Attention: Liability Management Group Goldman Sachs International Plumtree Court

25 Shoe Lane

London EC4A 4AU

United Kingdom

Telephone: +44 20 7774 4836

Email: [email protected] Attention: Liability Management J.P. Morgan Securities LLC 383 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10179, United States of America Attention: Liability Management Group Phone: U.S. Toll Free (866) 834-4666 UniCredit Bank GmbH Arabellastrasse 12, D-81925 Munich Germany Telephone: +39 02 8862 0581 / +49 89 378 15150 Attention: DCM Italy; Liability Management Email: [email protected]; [email protected]

Any requests for information in relation to the procedures for participating in, and for any documents or materials relating to, the USD Exchange Offers may be directed to:

The Exchange and Information Agent

Kroll Issuer Services Limited

The Shard 32 London Bridge Street London SE1 9SG United Kingdom Telephone: +44 20 7704 0880 Attention: Arlind Bytyqi / Jacek Kusion Email: [email protected] Website: https://deals.is.kroll.com/tim

Each Noteholder is solely responsible for making its own independent appraisal of all matters (including those relating to the USD Exchange Offers) that such Noteholder deems appropriate in determining whether to offer for exchange their USD Original Notes pursuant to the USD Exchange Offers.

None of the USD Dealer Managers, the Exchange and Information Agent, or any of the Trustee (and in all their related agents role, as applicable), Paying Agent, Registrar or Transfer Agent for the USD Original Notes, the USD New Notes or the USD Optics Notes or any of their respective directors, officers, employees or affiliates assumes any responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the information concerning TIM or TICAP, the USD Exchange Offer, the USD Original Notes or the USD New Notes contained in this announcement or in the USD Exchange Offer Memorandum, or for any failure by TIM or TICAP to disclose events that may have occurred and may affect the significance or accuracy of such information.

None of the USD Dealer Managers, TIM, TICAP, or the Exchange and Information Agent, or any of the Trustee (and in all their related agents role, as applicable), Paying Agent, Registrar or Transfer Agent for the USD Original Notes, the USD New Notes or the USD Optics Notes (or their respective directors or managers (as applicable), officers, employees or affiliates) makes any representation or recommendation whatsoever regarding this announcement, the USD Exchange Offer Memorandum, the USD Exchange Offer, or any recommendation as to whether Noteholders should participate in the USD Exchange Offers. The Exchange and Information Agent and the USD Dealer Managers are agents of TIM and TICAP and owe no duty to Noteholders.

Offer restrictions

The Issuer is offering the USD New Notes (including the terms providing for the USD Acquisition Exchange contained therein) only (1) to "qualified institutional buyers" as defined in Rule 144A under the U.S. Securities Act, in a private transaction in reliance upon the exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act provided by Section 4(a)(2) thereof and (2) outside the United States, to persons other than "U.S. persons" as defined in Rule 902 under the U.S. Securities Act in offshore transactions in compliance with Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act. The Holders of USD Original Notes who have represented to the Issuer (and the USD Optics Notes Issuer) that they are eligible to participate in the USD Exchange Offers (including the USD Acquisition Exchange) pursuant to at least one of the foregoing conditions and the other acknowledgements and representations set forth in the section "Transfer Restrictions" of the USD Exchange Offer Memorandum are referred to as "Eligible Holders".

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of the USD New Notes or USD Optics Notes in any jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. In addition, this press release is neither an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer to sell USD Original Notes in the USD Exchange Offer.

No action has been or will be taken in any jurisdiction by TICAP, the USD Dealer Managers or the Exchange and Information Agent in relation to the USD Exchange Offers that would permit a public offering of securities.

(a) United Kingdom

The communication of this announcement, the USD Exchange Offer Memorandum and any other documents or materials relating to the USD Exchange Offers is not being made, and such documents and/or materials have not been approved, by an authorized person for the purposes of section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (the "FSMA"). Accordingly, such documents and/or materials are not being distributed to, and must not be passed on to, the general public in the United Kingdom. The communication of such documents and/or materials as a financial promotion is only being made to persons who (i) have professional experience in matters relating to investments falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (as amended, the "Financial Promotion Order"), (ii) are persons falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) ("high net worth companies, unincorporated associations etc.") of the Financial Promotion Order, (iii) are outside the United Kingdom or (iv) are persons to whom an invitation or inducement to engage in investment activity (within the meaning of section 21 of the FSMA) in connection with the issue or sale of any USD New Notes may otherwise lawfully be communicated or caused to be communicated (all such persons together being referred to as "Relevant Persons"). This announcement and the USD Exchange Offer Memorandum are directed only at Relevant Persons and must not be acted on or relied on by persons who are not Relevant Persons. Any investment or investment activity to which this announcement or the USD Exchange Offer Memorandum relates is permitted only by Relevant Persons and will be engaged in only with Relevant Persons.

(b) France

This announcement, the USD Exchange Offer Memorandum and any other documents or materials relating to the USD Exchange Offers have only been or shall only be distributed to the public in the Republic of France and only (i) providers of investment services relating to portfolio management for the account of third parties (personnes fournissant le service d'investissement de gestion de portefeuille pour compte de tiers); and/or (ii) qualified investors (investisseurs qualifies), acting for their own account, all as defined in and in accordance with Articles L.411-1, L.411-2 and D.411-1 of the French Code monetaire et financier, are eligible to participate in the USD Exchange Offers.

(c) Italy

None of the USD Exchange Offers, this announcement, the USD Exchange Offer Memorandum or any other documents or materials relating to the USD Exchange Offers has been or will be submitted to the clearance procedure of the Commissione Nazionale per le Societa e la Borsa ("CONSOB") pursuant to Italian laws and regulations.

The USD Exchange Offers are being carried out in the Republic of Italy ("Italy") as an exempted offer pursuant to article 101-bis, paragraph 3-bis of the Legislative Decree No. 58 of 24 February 1998, as amended (the "Italian Financial Services Act") and article 35-bis, paragraphs 3 and 4, of CONSOB Regulation No. 11971 of 14 May 1999, as amended and supplemented ("Issuers' Regulation").

A Noteholder or beneficial owner of the USD Original Notes located in Italy may offer for exchange their USD Original Notes through authorized persons (such as investment firms, banks or financial intermediaries permitted to conduct such activities in Italy in accordance with the Italian Financial Services Act, CONSOB Regulation No. 20307 of February 15, 2018, as amended and supplemented, and Legislative Decree No. 385 of 1 September 1993, as amended) and in compliance with applicable laws and regulations or with requirements imposed by CONSOB or any other Italian authority.

Each intermediary must comply with the applicable laws and regulations concerning information duties vis-a-vis its clients in connection with the USD Original Notes or the USD Exchange Offers.

Hong Kong

The Notes may not be offered or sold in Hong Kong by means of any document other than to (1) "professional investors" within the meaning of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571) of Hong Kong and any rules made thereunder, or (2) in circumstances which do not result in the document being a "prospectus" as defined in the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 32) of the laws of Hong Kong or which do not constitute an offer to the public within the meaning of that Ordinance. No invitation, advertisement or document relating to the Notes may be issued or may be in the possession of any person for the purpose of issue (in each case whether in Hong Kong or elsewhere), which is directed at, or the contents of which are likely to be accessed or read by, the public of Hong Kong (except if permitted to do so under the securities laws of Hong Kong) other than with respect to the Notes which are intended to be disposed of only to persons outside Hong Kong or only to "professional investors," as defined under the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571) of the laws of Hong Kong and any rules made thereunder.

Japan

The Notes have not been and will not be registered under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act of Japan (Act No. 25 of 1948, as amended, the "Financial Instruments and Exchange Act"). Accordingly, no Notes have been offered or sold, directly or indirectly, in Japan or to, or for the benefit of, any resident of Japan (which term as used herein means any person resident in Japan, including any corporation or other entity organized under the laws of Japan) or to others for re-offering or re-sale, directly or indirectly, in Japan or to, or for the benefit of, any resident of Japan except pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of, and otherwise in compliance with, the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act and other relevant laws and regulations of Japan.

Singapore

Neither this announcement nor the USD Exchange Offer Memorandum has been registered as a prospectus with the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Accordingly, each Dealer Manager has not offered or sold any Notes or caused the Notes to be made the subject of an invitation for subscription or purchase and will not offer or sell any Notes or cause the Notes to be made the subject of an invitation for subscription or purchase, and has not circulated or distributed, nor will it circulate or distribute, the USD Exchange Offer Memorandum or any other document or material in connection with the offer or sale, or invitation for subscription or purchase, of the Notes, whether directly or indirectly, to any person in Singapore other than (i) to an institutional investor (as defined in Section 4A of the Securities and Futures Act 2001 of Singapore, as modified or amended from time to time (the "SFA")) pursuant to Section 274 of the SFA or (ii) to an accredited investor (as defined in Section 4A of the SFA) pursuant to and in accordance with the conditions specified in Section 275 of the SFA.

Switzerland

The USD Exchange Offer are not public offerings in Switzerland. The Notes offered in the USD Exchange Offers may not be publicly offered, sold, or advertised, directly or indirectly, in, into, or from Switzerland. Neither this announcement nor the USD Exchange Offer Memorandum is intended to constitute an offer or solicitation to purchase or invest in the Notes described in the relevant exchange offer memorandum. Neither the USD Exchange Offer Memorandum or any other offering or marketing material relating to the Notes constitutes a prospectus as such term is understood pursuant to Article 652a or Article 1156 of the Swiss Code of Obligations, and neither the USD Exchange Offer Memorandum, nor the USD Exchange Offer Memorandum or any other offering or marketing material relating to the Notes may be publicly distributed or otherwise made publicly available in Switzerland. The Notes offered in the USD Exchange Offer will not be listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange Ltd. Or on any other exchange or regulated trading facility in Switzerland, and, therefore, the documents relating to the Notes offered in the USD Exchange Offer, including, but not limited to, the USD Exchange Offer Memorandum, do not claim to comply with the disclosure standards of the Swiss Code of Obligations and the listing rules of SIX Swiss Exchange Ltd. And corresponding prospectus schemes annexed to the listing rules of the SIX Swiss Exchange Ltd.

Forward-Looking Statements

All statements in this press release (and oral statements made regarding the subjects of this communication) other than historical facts are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements rely on a number of assumptions concerning future events and are subject to a number of uncertainties and factors, many of which are outside the control of TIM and/or TICAP, which could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to: statements regarding the timing and effect of the USD Exchange Offer and/or the Acquisition; general market and economic conditions, changes in law and government regulations and other matters affecting the businesses of TIM, and the other risks described in the USD Exchange Offering Memorandum.

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT RELATES TO THE DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION THAT QUALIFIED OR MAY HAVE QUALIFIED AS INSIDE INFORMATION WITHIN THE MEANING OF ARTICLE 7(1) OF THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (EU) 596/2014 ("MAR").

FOR THE PURPOSES OF MAR AND ARTICLE 2 OF COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2016/1055, THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS MADE BY FABIO ADDUCCHIO, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF TICAP.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2390926/4657235/Telecom_Italia_Capital_Logo.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2391032/4657444/TI_Capital_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Telecom Italia Capital
DALLAS, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The BLVD Group ("BLVD"), a leading multifamily investment and development firm, is pleased to announce the addition of Terry Turner as Director of Asset Management. Mr. Turner will be based at BLVD's Dallas office and will spearhead strategic asset management initiatives to drive value across the company's portfolio.

With over a decade of experience in real estate investments, asset management, and financial analysis, Mr. Turner brings a wealth of expertise to his new role and to BLVD's leadership team.

BLVD continues commitment to bolstering leadership for growth and strategy. Post this

Mr. Turner's appointment marks BLVD's continued commitment to strengthening its leadership team to support its expanding portfolio and strategic initiatives. He follows the addition of Chief of Staff, Ms. Amber Johnson, an Army veteran with over 7 years' experience leading corporate administrative and process management initiatives in the real estate sector. Ms. Johnson plays a key role in executing BLVD's strategic vision, with a primary focus on operations, marketing, and investor relations.

BLVD's Managing Principal, Jake Walker, comments, "We are thrilled to welcome Terry to the BLVD team. With a proven track record of success and deep understanding of the real estate industry, he is ideally suited to lead and optimize the performance of our asst management platform. We are fortunate to have both Terry and Amber on the team and we're confident these two leaders will further enhance BLVD's capabilities, strengthening our position in the market."

Prior to joining BLVD, Mr. Turner held various leadership roles in both asset management and acquisitions at multiple real estate investment firms, where he played a key role in building and scaling successful acquisitions and asset management platforms.

Mr. Turner holds a Bachelor's degree in Finance and a Master's degree in Real Estate Finance from Texas A&M University, Mays Business School.

Prior to joining BLVD, Ms. Johnson held multiple leadership positions in finance and corporate process management including roles with a global publishing company and a publicly traded U.S. lodging REIT.

Ms. Johnson holds a Bachelor's degree in English from Texas A&M University and an MBA from UT Arlington.

About The BLVD Group:

The BLVD Group is a leading multifamily investment and development firm specializing in market-rate, middle-income, and affordable housing solutions. With a commitment to innovation and excellence, BLVD has successfully executed over $3 billion in investments across various strategies and currently manages a nationwide portfolio exceeding $1 billion in assets. Leveraging a strategic approach and deep industry expertise, BLVD remains dedicated to delivering superior returns for investors while positively impacting communities nationwide.

SOURCE The BLVD Group
Kicking off on Monday, May 6th, the "We Got Next" 3 pt contest will feature artists from Rolling Loud California's lineup such as, Luh Tyler, Veeze, NLE Choppa, 310babii, 2Rare, Kaliii, That Mexican OT, Jeleel!, Rob49 and so many more, along with surprise special guests like AdamW, Jabari Banks, Quincy, Adam22 and so many more, as they compete for bragging rights, a $50,000 cash prize, a custom diamond bracelet designed by Eric the Jeweler & a custom one of one jacket by Jeff Hamilton.

In typical Crew League fashion, humor will be at the center of the show with more than fifty (50+) short-form episodes in the series hosted by comedy star, Ben Da Donnn, music superstar SuperDuperKyle, & Treasure Wilson aka Stat Baby, this competition is sure to entertain all.

"We are excited to partner with Rolling Loud on such a disruptive concept! Most rappers think they can outshoot everyone from the 3pt line Now we have a place for them to prove it Excited for what's to come from our partnership." - Elie Maroun (Commissioner, Co-Founder of The Crew League)

About Rolling Loud:

Founded by 7-time Billboard Hip-Hop Power Players Matt Zingler & Tariq Cherif as a one-day Miami show, Rolling Loud has grown into a global festival phenomenon, putting on shows on both coasts and in multiple countries across four continents. Rolling Loud is the premier festival brand in hip-hop, known for its expert curation of wide-ranging lineups that reflect the state of the genre. In 2023, Rolling Loud expanded its empire even further, hosting a series of star-studded festivals in all corners of the globe, including debuts in Thailand and Germany, plus its flagship affair, Rolling Loud Miami, which offered its most diverse and wide-ranging lineup to date.

Throughout 2024, Rolling Loud commemorates "10 Years Of Rolling Loud," celebrating the festival's rise from humble origins to world dominance. Stay tuned for announcements about Rolling Loud's 2024 World Tour, including upcoming festivals in Los Angeles, Europe, and more.

View the Official "We Got Next" 3-Point Contest Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzXJhTBJ3zY

About The Crew League:

The Crew League founded in 2020 is a next-generation sports media company headlined by celebrities and their "crews" participating in unscripted original sports competition series. Accumulating over 100 million views per season across social channels and several billion impressions alongside the biggest names in Music & Entertainment (21 Savage, Jack Harlow, Quavo, Offset, The Kid Laroi, Roddy Ricch, NLE Choppa, Anuel, Jason Derulo, Nick Cannon, Druski, Swae Lee, Russ, Tyga, G-Eazy, Waka Flocka and many more) the Crew League continues to create dynamic content that deeply connects with Gen-Z and Millennial consumers globally. Stay tuned for new cutting-edge Crew League content throughout 2024 & beyond.

SOURCE The Crew League
His Royal Highness Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan offered his best wishes to the 63 graduates from 50 nationalities: 'to be the best ambassadors of humanity, illuminating the paths of hope towards a more humanitarian future'.

MURCIA, Spain, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Universidad Catolica de Murcia (UCAM) and the DIHAD Foundation (Dubai International Humanitarian Aid and Development) recently celebrated the graduation ceremony of the first two classes of the Master's Degree in Sustainable Humanitarian Action . This innovative degree programme, which has the support and sponsorship of the Ahmad bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation and INDEX Holding, combines online and onsite teaching methods and in its first two editions has trained 63 students from 50 nationalities, such as Syria, Nigeria, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Gambia, Malawi, Romania, France, Sudan, Ghana, Lesotho, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Algeria, Kenya, Colombia, Panama and Bangladesh, among others.

Jose Luis Mendoza gives Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan a metope with the UCAM shield in the presence of Abdulsalam AlMadani

The ceremony was chaired by His Royal Highness Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Home Affairs of the United Arab Emirates; Abdulsalam AlMadani, President of INDEX Holding and the DIHAD Foundation, and Jose Luis Mendoza Garcia, UCAM's Director General of Institutional Relations, who was joined by Gonzalo Wandosell, Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business at UCAM and of the DIHAD Humanitarian College.

One of the most touching moments of the event came when Jose Luis Mendoza presented Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in recognition of his support and contribution to the programme, with a UCAM plaque and diploma accrediting him as Extraordinary Professor in Sustainable Humanitarian Action.

Training leaders for international organisations

The Master's Degree in Sustainable Humanitarian Action is a unique programme, where students are trained by a multinational faculty with extensive experience and benefit from networking opportunities with humanitarian organisations thanks to the DIHAD Foundation, a federation that brings together more than 600 NGOs worldwide.

The programme is designed to introduce students to the latest innovations and technologies in the humanitarian field, enabling them to further their careers in this sector. This graduation marks an important milestone in the lives of these students, who are now prepared to implement, improve and design humanitarian projects and programmes from a sustainable perspective, as well as to lead international organisations.

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SOURCE The Universidad Catolica de Murcia (UCAM)
Ms. Gernert's expertise lies in academic advising and educational leadership. Her journey in education began with a Bachelor of Science in elementary education from Liberty University in 1985. She embarked on her career as a classroom teacher at Bedford County Schools, laying the foundation for her lifelong commitment to education.

Throughout her illustrious career, Ms. Gernert has held various roles in education and management. She gained valuable experience as an executive manager at Tupperware and as an account executive at GETKO Group, Inc., demonstrating her versatility and dedication to success in different fields.

In 2002, Ms. Gernert founded Homeschool Connections, an organization that has grown to international prominence. Her leadership and vision have provided countless students and parents with access to quality homeschooling resources and support.

One of her most significant career accomplishments is the collaboration on the creation of Oxford Virtual Academy, a groundbreaking educational initiative. Additionally, she co-founded the High Point Hybrid Academy in 2017, serving as the chief executive officer until 2022. These endeavors have positively impacted the lives of thousands of students and families.

Ms. Gernert's dedication to education extends beyond her professional accomplishments. She has been a member of the Association of Christian Schools International, has made valuable contributions to Rotary International and is involved in her church. Currently, she is the president of the board of the HOA in her community.

Looking ahead, Ms. Gernert's future projection is clear - she aims to continue the growth and success of Homeschool Connections and other educational initiatives. Her passion for education and unwavering commitment to providing quality homeschooling resources drive her career and make a lasting impact on the education of students.

Contact: Katherine Green, 516-825-5634, [email protected]

SOURCE The Inner Circle
TOKYO, May 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- TIER IV , a pioneer in open-source autonomous driving (AD) technology, today announced an exciting initiative aimed at shaping the future of highway trucking. In response to driver shortage challenges facing Japan's cargo industry, the company is set to develop a new function for highway trucking and conduct proof of concept (PoC) tests on Japan's public highways, starting from fiscal year 2024. By developing a reference design for commercial truck manufacturers, TIER IV is fully dedicated to facilitating the deployment of autonomous driving.

The reference design will encompass the core functionalities of the open-source software, Autoware *, as well as advanced features developed through collaborations with partner companies. For the upcoming PoC tests, TIER IV is integrating the Mapless Autonomy Platform from a German start-up, driveblocks , into its AD software. Using driveblocks' software allows AD platforms to navigate using perception, rather than high-definition (HD) maps, a method proven effective in Europe's challenging routes, such as the Brenner Pass.

Video : Mapless Autonomy Platform used during a trucking test in Europe

The integration of driveblocks' technology is particularly valuable for TIER IV's highway trucking initiative, as it creates a redundant safety layer and a secondary path for situations where HD maps become unavailable or outdated, including new construction areas. Recent closed-loop PoC tests conducted on a multi-lane test track in Japan demonstrated the combined power of the companies' technologies for highway trucking scenarios.

TIER IV and driveblocks have also conducted a PoC test on highways, achieving reliable perception and accurate road corridor modeling at speeds up to 100 kilometers per hour (kph) under various driving conditions, including standard highway scenarios and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)-denied environments like tunnels and other low-light settings. TIER IV will place a strong emphasis on continuing to develop robust object detection capabilities, enabling autonomous trucks to perceive their surroundings and navigate safely on the highway, especially in complex scenarios with diverse objects like merging vehicles and debris.

Video: Data from a PoC test conducted on a highway in Japan shows two forward-facing camera views with detected lane markings overlaid (left) and a bird's-eye depiction of road corridors

Through this new initiative, TIER IV is poised to steer the deployment of autonomous driving for highway trucking, making a significant leap forward in the industry.

*Autoware is a registered trademark of The Autoware Foundation.

About TIER IV

TIER IV , the pioneering force behind the world's first open-source software for autonomous driving Autoware , offers a range of advanced AD products and solutions, encompassing both software and hardware across multiple platforms. The company is steering the development of safe and efficient autonomous driving technology, aiming to reimagine intelligent vehicles through the art of open source. A founding member of the Autoware Foundation , TIER IV conducts cutting-edge research and development in collaboration with partners worldwide, harnessing Autoware to accelerate the rollout of autonomous vehicles that will benefit society as a whole.

About driveblocks

Founded in December 2021 in Garching near Munich, driveblocks offers a modular software platform for automated and autonomous driving in the commercial vehicle sector. The founding team has many years of experience in the development of algorithms for automated driving. The core technology of driveblocks is a combination of Transformer Neural Networks and sensor fusion to create an environment model based on sensor data. Unlike map-based technologies, there is no need for pre-mapping and constant updating of maps in the cloud. The offering is complemented by algorithms that enable customers to fully automate their vehicles. The driveblocks platform is sold both as individual modules and as a system solution via a licensing model, enabling safe, fast and cost-effective automation of a wide range of applications - in mines, in container terminals or on the motorway.

Media Contact

[email protected]

SOURCE TIER IV, Inc.
SAO PAULO, and TEL AVIV, Israel, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Travelier, a travel-tech global leader digitizing land and sea transportation, today announced the acquisition of DeOnibus, A leading Brazilian online bus ticket platform. This strategic move strengthens Travelier's position in Latin America and positions the company to become the one-stop shop for all intercity land and sea transportation across the globe.

DeOnibus: A Powerhouse in Brazilian Bus Ticketing

Travelier Acquires DeOnibus. Image: DeOnibus team.

Founded in 2012, as "Brazil by bus", and rebranded as DeOnibus in 2018 to attract more domestic travelers, DeOnibus was founded by siblings Breno Moraes, CEO, and Mariana Malveira, Head of Tech & Customer Service. Prior to the acquisition by Travelier, DeOnibus had raised $700,000 USD in funding from ACE Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm, alongside additional angel Investors.

The company has established itself as a dominant force in the Brazilian bus travel industry. With a network of 300+ operators connected to more than 36,000 routes, DeOnibus offers 80% geographical coverage in Brazil and serves 30 million travelers annually. The company enjoys a strong reputation with a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of +72, highlighting exceptional customer satisfaction.

Unlocking Growth Potential in a Thriving Market

Brazil presents a significant opportunity for online bus ticketing. The bus travel market in Brazil is one of the largest in the world, generating more than $2 billion USD in annual revenue. While 50% of all international travel purchases in Brazil are made online, only 30% of bus tickets are purchased through online channels. This untapped potential fuels Travelier's vision to capture a dominant market share in this region.

"The bus travel market in Brazil has been going through changes in recent years, influenced by travelers' new purchasing habits, digitalization and modernization of the sector, and regulatory changes. Internet sales penetration has been growing fast year after year and is expected to exceed 50% of total sales in the next 2 to 3 years. When we started in 2012, the internet sales represented about 3% of sales." says Breno Moraes, DeOnibus Co-Founder and CEO.

Building a Unified Transportation Network in Latin America

This acquisition comes alongside Travelier's investment in Plataforma 10, two years ago, Argentina's leading online transportation brand. Together, these moves demonstrate Travelier's commitment to comprehensive coverage across Latin America.

The company plans to leverage its centralized technology hub, as a competitive edge for success in the region. Launched in 2023, the centralized hub enables a seamless booking experience across all subsidiaries and partners with a single API. This capability strengthens partnerships with online travel agencies (OTAs) and affiliates, providing them with a wider range of transportation services through a single integration point.

A Winning Combination: Travelier's Capabilities and DeOnibus' Local Expertise

The acquisition aligns with Travelier's vision to become the global leader in intercity land and sea transportation, with its current portfolio encompassing five B2C brands and two TMS brands spanning Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Africa. Travelier recognizes DeOnibus's strong position and believes the company is poised to dominate the Brazilian market. "We have looked into the Brazilian market for quite some time, evaluating the landscape, the players and the potential. DeOnibus has great foundations, a cultural fit to the Travelier group alongside scaling potential. I'm confident in our new journey together." Says Noam Toister, Travelier Co-Founder and CEO.

Continued Growth and Decentralized Leadership

Travelier has acquired 100% of DeOnibus shares. DeOnibus is projected to maintain its impressive 50% year-over-year growth trajectory, fueled by Travelier's extensive resources and capabilities. Breno Moraes, DeOnibus's co-founder and CEO, will continue to lead the company, ensuring a smooth transition and leveraging Travelier's support to achieve even greater success.

This investment also unlocks opportunities for Travelier to penetrate the Brazilian market with Sisorg, its Latam-based TMS (Transportation Management System) and solidify its leadership position across all transportation technology services in Brazil.

About Travelier

Travelier, formerly known as Bookaway Group, is a travel-tech company, revolutionizing land and sea transportation for travelers. Travelier's network of digital platforms allow customers to instantly buy intercity tickets to ferries, buses and trains in local markets which can be usually complex, enabling stress-free travel across the globe. Since its founding in 2017, Travelier has worked to bridge the gap between international travelers and local transportation suppliers  empowering suppliers to grow their businesses, all while easing travel anxiety for the consumer. Travelier's mission to facilitate unforgettable journeys is not only at the root of their proprietary platform but stretches across their wide range of subsidiaries  Bookaway.com , Getbybus servicing the Balkans, 12Go in Southeast Asia, SeatOS for the Asia Pacific market, and Plataforma10 , DeOnibus and Sisorg servicing Latin America. For more information, visit Travelier.com

About DeOnibus

Founded by brothers Breno Moraes and Mariana Malveira, more than 12 years ago, DeOnibus is one of the main bus travel marketplaces in Brazil. With more than 300 registered bus operators and thousands of routes available for sale, the company's mission is to make the road traveler's experience unique. The company has served more than 7 million travelers in Brazil and also acts as a technological partner for many bus companies, bus stations and travel agencies across the country.

More information: https://deonibus.com

Media Contact:

Noa Greenfield,

VP Brand & Communications, Travelier

[email protected]

+972-5454-55590

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2402728/Travelier.jpg

SOURCE Travelier
An Op-Ed from Pacific School of Religion faculty Rev. Dr. Kristin Stoneking

BERKELEY, Calif., May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- This week, the United Methodist Church (UMC) excised discriminatory policies against LGBTQ+ persons, many of which have been a part of its rules since 1972. While this is a celebration for those inside the denomination, it's also a victory for champions of dignity and human rights everywhere. The UMC is the second-largest Protestant denomination in the U.S., with a global membership of 10 million. With this change, it becomes one of few, and one of the largest, worldwide Protestant bodies without anti-LGBTQ positions.

A PSR faculty member on the frontline to remove discriminatory policies from UMC rules speaks on the movement's success Post this The Holbrook Building on Pacific School of Religion campus in Berkeley, CA (PRNewsfoto/Pacific School of Religion)

The impact of this change for the rights and protection of all people and the new discourse now possible is significant. As a denomination with consultative status in the U.N., United Methodists are now uniquely positioned to speak on behalf of LGBTQ+ persons in a transnational body through the language of faith.

While algorithms create smaller and more niche echo chambers, large, non-governmental institutions that cross nationality boundaries but carry unifying identities like common faith or denominational identity have the power to be conduits of both complexity and community.

This change in UMC policy has been labored for by many, some of whom contributed decades of work but didn't live to see this day. For me, this journey began in 1998 with a refusal to answer anti-LGBTQ+ questions during the ordination process. The courage of the body in Eastern Kansas, which affirmed my gifts and graces for ordination despite the ban on LGBTQ+ ordination, is an example of the many who have resisted and brought us to this day. In 2016 I worked with a team to organize a mass coming out of queer United Methodist clergy, which led to the founding of the Queer Clergy Caucus. Now that our work and prayers have been answered, I give thanks and celebrate all who have made this change possible.

Pacific School of Religion (PSR), where I teach, has also been at the forefront of this work. Their Center for LGBTQ and Gender Studies in Religion (CLGS), founded in 2000, is the country's first seminary-based LGBTQ+ center. Since then, it's been working to advance the well-being of LGBTQ+ people and transform faith communities and society through a new public discourse on religion, gender, and sexuality through education, research, community building, and advocacy. Karen Oliveto, the first openly queer bishop in the UMC, is a PSR alumnx, along with many other groundbreaking theologians and leaders in the fight for social justice.

At PSR, our vision is to create a world where all can thrive, and we are grateful to be partners with the UMC at this historic moment. We invite all into furthering transnational communities that champion spirituality, compassion, and dignity for all persons.

Rev. Dr. Kristin Stoneking is Associate Professor of United Methodist Studies and Leadership at Pacific School of Religion , a progressive Christian seminary, graduate school, and center for social justice committed to a radically inclusive Gospel. Rev. Stoneking is also an ordained elder in the California-Nevada annual conference of the UMC and has served as a local church pastor, district superintendent, and campus minister with a ministry focused on the intersection of social justice, revitalized faith communities and organizations, faith formation, and interreligious engagement.

CONTACT: Hallie Fryd, [email protected]

SOURCE Pacific School of Religion
JUNDIAI, Brazil, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Brazilian Climatech developed a revolutionary monitoring platform with AI to fight fires and reduce CO emissions and is leading one of the largest environmental preservation projects in the world.

Certified as a B Corporation, umgrauemeio has just completed its 1st round of fundraising, US$ 3,6 million, started in December, which brought together Barauna Investimentos, with US$ 1,7 million, Indicator Capital, contributing US$ 1,3 million and The Yield Lab Latam and Rural Ventures complementing the round.

With the aim of combating forest fires, reducing CO emissions and improving the instant detection of smoke signals, climatech developed an integrated management and risk analysis solution, called Pantera, which uses Artificial Intelligence in a monitoring system using security cameras, high resolution, installed on top of communication towers, automatically identifying fire outbreaks in seconds, notifying system operators and accelerating firefighting protocols.

There are more than 17.5 million hectares monitored so far in Brazil, 10 million in forests and native areas, with 2.2 million hectares in the Amazon, monitored 24 hours a day. In the Pantanal biome - a major carbon store, the largest tropical wetland in the world, Natural Heritage of Humanity and Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO - the Embrace the Forest project, which is one of the largest in environmental preservation in the world, involving several entities, aims to achieve 2.5 million hectares of native forest in the region, protecting the community and 140 thousand hectares of indigenous territories in the region.

"Every fire starts and can be put out by a single foot, and it is the speed of detection that defines its proportion. Therein lies the intelligence of our solution. We do not believe in a healthy economy without well-kept forests. We are looking for partnerships to expand the Embrace the Forest project, with a special focus on the Amazon, aiming to establish financial mechanisms for urgent actions against forest fires and high CO emissions," comments Rogerio Cavalcante, founder and CEO of umgrauemeio.

With revenue of US$3,6 million in 2023 and an estimated US$ 4,6 million for 2024, umgrauemeio participated in the G20-DIA in India, at the invitation of Itamaraty and won the startup challenge promoted by the Brazil Climate Summit in New York (USA), being invited to COP28 in Dubai. More www.umgrauemeio.com.

SOURCE umgrauemeio
BANGALORE, India, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Virtual Assistant Market is Segmented by Type (Fax, Media), by Application (Retail & Ecommerce, BFSI, Automotive, Healthcare).

The Global Virtual Assistant Market was valued at USD 2054.5 Million in 2023 and is anticipated to reach USD 8613.5 Million by 2030, witnessing a CAGR of 22.3% during the forecast period 2024-2030.

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Major Factors Driving the Growth of Virtual Assistant Market:

Because of its advanced digital infrastructure and early acceptance of technology, North America is the leader in the virtual assistant business. With so many tech-savvy professionals in the US and Canada, virtual assistant jobs are becoming more and more appealing to them as flexible work options. This region's virtual assistant platform industry is growing due in part to the presence of large technological corporations and startups. Furthermore, as companies look for affordable options for administrative help, the surge in remote work trendsparticularly in the wake of the pandemichas increased demand for virtual assistants.

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TRENDS INFLUENCING THE GROWTH OF THE GLOBAL VIRTUAL ASSISTANT MARKET

The growing requirement for efficient administrative support services is driving the virtual assistant market in the BFSI sector. Virtual assistants, who manage administrative tasks including data entry, document preparation, and email correspondence, are a wonderful asset to financial firms. Their remote access to planning resources from a home office makes it easier for clients to cooperate and boosts output. Additionally, virtual assistants with specialised knowledge in banking, finance, and regulatory compliance improve customer service and operational performance in the BFSI sector.

Because they offer administrative help to companies in the retail and e-commerce sectors, virtual assistants are essential to this industry. Virtual assistants let retailers focus on their main business activities by streamlining their operations and performing tasks like inventory management, product listing updates, and customer questions and orders processing. Their remote access to common calendars and other planning materials guarantees smooth client collaboration and improves responsiveness to client requests. Because virtual assistants provide flexible support services that can adjust to changing demand levels, they can help retail and e-commerce enterprises scale.

Virtual assistants are fostering growth in the automotive industry by offering administrative support services to companies in this field. Virtual assistants help auto firms with a range of duties, such as addressing client questions, making appointment arrangements, and organising logistics for car delivery and maintenance. The flexibility and efficiency of the automotive supply chain are increased by their remote access to planning documents and capacity to work from home offices. Furthermore, virtual assistants enhance client satisfaction by offering prompt help and support during the whole lifespan of a vehicle.

The market for virtual assistants is expanding in the healthcare industry as providers look to enhance patient care and streamline administrative procedures. Virtual assistants help healthcare businesses by taking care of patient queries, organizing appointments, and helping with medical paperwork duties. They may collaborate with healthcare professionals more easily and efficiently since they can work from home offices and access shared calendars and patient information. By promptly responding to questions and concerns about healthcare, virtual assistants can help to increase patient satisfaction.

The demand for cost-cutting and operational efficiency, the emergence of software-defined networking (SDN) technologies, and the growing complexity of network infrastructures are the main drivers of the market for network automation. In response to expanding digital transformation projects and the growth of cloud-based services and apps, organisations across a wide range of sectors are adopting automation to increase agility, streamline network administration operations, and boost security posture.

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VIRTUAL ASSISTANT MARKET SHARE ANALYSIS

Due to the region's early technological adoption and strong digital infrastructure, North America now dominates the virtual assistant industry. There is a sizable pool of tech-savvy workers in the US and Canada who are increasingly looking for flexible work options in virtual assistant professions. The existence of established tech firms and new ventures focused on virtual assistant platforms contributes to the expansion of this industry in this area. In addition, as companies look for affordable options for administrative help, the need for virtual assistants has increased due to the rise in remote work patterns, particularly in the wake of the pandemic.

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Key Companies:

Oracle

Nuance Communications

Microsoft

Inbenta Technologies

Samsung Electronics

Apple

IBM

Intel

GOOGLE INC

Amazon

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DISCOVER MORE INSIGHTS: EXPLORE SIMILAR REPORTS!

- The intelligent virtual assistant market size was valued at USD 3,442 Billion in 2019, and is projected to reach USD 44,255 Billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 37.7% from 2020 to 2027.

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- Healthcare Virtual Assistants market size is projected to reach USD 996.2 Million by 2028, from USD 293.9 Million in 2021, at a CAGR of 18.5% during 2022-2028.

- Intelligent Virtual Assistant (IVA) Based Insurance Market

- Automotive Virtual Assistant Market

- Medical Virtual Assistant market is projected to reach USD 2668.4 Million in 2029, increasing from USD 487 Million in 2022, with a CAGR of 27.9% during the period of 2023 to 2029.

- Text-based Intelligent Virtual Assistant Market

- Virtual Medical Assistant Service Market

- Intelligent Virtual Assistant Software market was valued at USD 3040 Million in 2023 and is anticipated to reach USD 9636.3 Million by 2030, witnessing a CAGR of 17.3% during the forecast period 2024-2030.

- Virtual Customer Assistant Application Market

- Virtual Receptionist Service Market

- Virtual Secretary Service market is projected to reach USD 912.2 Million in 2029, increasing from USD 412 Million in 2022, with a CAGR of 10.8% during the period of 2023 to 2029.

- OEM Voice Assistant Market

- Virtual Shopping Assistant market is projected to reach USD 1578 Million in 2029, increasing from USD 581.5 Million in 2022, with a CAGR of 16.7% during the period of 2023 to 2029.

- Human Virtual Assistant Services Market

- Potential Vertical Applications for AI Virtual Assistant

- Virtual Assistant Service Market

- AI In Telecommunication market was valued at USD 2482 Million in 2022 and is anticipated to reach USD 19170 Million by 2029, witnessing a CAGR of 40.6% during the forecast period 2023-2029.

- Metaverse market size is projected to reach USD 28 Billion by 2028, from 510 USD Million in 2022, at a CAGR of 95% during 2022-2028.

- The global conversational AI market size was valued at USD 5.78 billion in 2020, and is projected to reach USD 32.62 billion by 2030, registering a CAGR of 20.0% from 2021 to 2030.

- Conversational AI Platforms market was valued at USD 2352.3 Million in 2023 and is anticipated to reach USD 5331 Million by 2030, witnessing a CAGR of 12.1% during the forecast period 2024-2030.

- Augmented and Virtual Reality Market

- Virtual Fitting Room market size was USD 2973.1 Million in 2022 and is forecast to a readjusted size of USD 8501.1 Million by 2029 with a CAGR of 16.0% during the forecast period 2023-2029.

- The generative ai market was valued at USD 8.15 Billion in 2021, and is estimated to reach USD 126.5 Billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 32% from 2022 to 2031.

- The global AI Content Generation market was valued at USD 1400 Million in 2022 and is anticipated to reach USD 5958 Million by 2029, witnessing a CAGR of 27.3% during the forecast period 2023-2029.

- AIGC Large Model Market

- The global Digital Process Automation market size is projected to reach USD 11770 Million by 2027, from USD 6451.8 Million in 2020, at a CAGR of 8.5% during 2021-2027.

- Application Modernization Services Market

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BUDAPEST, Hungary, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- President of Xinhua News Agency Fu Hua and Hungarian Minister for National Economy Marton Nagy pledged here on Thursday to enhance media cooperation to contribute to bilateral ties.

During his meeting with Nagy, Fu highlighted the robust cooperation between China and Hungary under the personal care and strategic guidance of leaders from both countries, noting that Xinhua is always committed to reporting on Hungary in a fair, objective, and comprehensive manner for its audience in the two countries and across the world.

He expressed the willingness to continue collaborating with Hungarian media outlets to showcase the high-quality development of bilateral ties, strengthen cooperation under the Belt and Road Economic Information Partnership (BREIP), and contribute to a new chapter of cooperation between the two countries.

Nagy hailed the close friendship and partnership between Hungary and China, which is based on mutual respect, noting that the Hungarian side regards China's open development as an important opportunity for its own economic growth.

Nagy commended the contributions of Chinese companies such as Bank of China, CATL and BYD to Hungary's economic landscape, and expressed the hope that Xinhua would intensify its coverage to draw more Chinese businesses and tourists to Hungary.

SOURCE xinhuanet
YMCA Expands Economic Equity Portfolio to Meet Needs of Communities Across the Region

CHICAGO, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago is pleased to announce the promotion and role expansion for Martina "Tina" Hone as Chief Economic Inclusion & Equity Officer. Under the establishment of the Economic Equity Institute, the YMCA's economic equity portfolio focuses on workforce development, financial education, entrepreneurship, and homeownership. Now the Y's economic inclusion efforts will expand the focus on equity to also include health equity, digital equity, and food security.

"Tina has been a social-justice champion over her entire career," said Dorri McWhorter, President & Chief Executive Officer, YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago. "Individuals cannot reach their highest potential and build safe, thriving, healthy communities without economic security. Tina's passion and demonstrated ability to make change and positively impact lives of people and empower our neighbors through the YMCA platform is an inspiration to us all."

As the daughter of an African American mother and Yugoslavian political refugee father, Hone has seen the challenges facing marginalized communities firsthand.

"I am deeply committed to justice and am proud of my career as an advocate for equity across the education, health, digital, and economic spaces, as well as criminal justice and immigration reform," Hone said. "Through interconnected programs centered on financial empowerment and wealth building, the Y is creating significant impact for the communities we serve and working to build a truly equitable and inclusive economy for everyone."

Hone joined the YMCA of Metro Chicago in 2023 as Executive Director, Economic Equity. She and her team have delivered and expanded programming, including introducing the Illinois Works Pre-Apprenticeship program that brought $1.1 million in funding to the Y to increase the number of qualified construction workers and improve racial, ethnic, and gender diversity in the trades; growing the ComEd CONSTRUCT Infrastructure Youth Academy, which began as one cohort in 2023 and will reach four cohorts in 2024; and expanding Swim for Success, which will receive $675,000 in funding from the State of Illinois to teach individuals to swim, train them as lifeguards, connect them with career opportunities, and, ultimately, hire them at the YMCA and connect them with other employers.

Prior to joining the YMCA, Hone served as Chief Engagement Officer for Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Chief Equity Officer at YWCA Metropolitan Chicago, and in various senior roles in Washington, DC, where she spent the bulk of her career  from roles as Associate Under Secretary for Economic Affairs at the US Department of Commerce to Policy Director for the Education & Workforce Committee in the US House of Representatives. In 2023, she ran for Chicago City Council in the 5th Ward, losing by fewer than 500 votes and deepening her commitment to community engagement.

Hone received her law degree from the University of California, Berkeley and her BA in Political Science from the University of Chicago. After practicing law for several years, Hone joined one of the first Teach for America cohorts, informing her perspective and policy work on the education-to-career continuum.

About the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago

The YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago is the leader in accessible, inclusive programming for more than 300,000 individuals each year, strengthening community by connecting all people to their purpose, potential, and each other. The YMCA of Metro Chicago is evolving to become a 21st-century social enterprise for the region, through an association of 14 community hubs, 5 overnight camps, and 100 extension sites throughout Chicagoland and the Midwest. Learn more about the Y's locations and programming at ymcachicago.org.

MEDIA CONTACT

Katy Broom

Director, Marketing & Communications

YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago

312-932-1171

[email protected]

SOURCE YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago
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If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this





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Hormuud Telecom employees were killed in a roadside bomb attack on the outskirts of the Somali capital of Mogadishu.

In a press statement, the company detailed that six members of staff tragically died after their vehicle drove over a roadside bomb in the Garasbaley district, as they were on their way to the neighborhood of Ceelasha Biyaha.

This attack followed another that destroyed a Hormuud retail store on March 19th. There had been other explosions that injured staff but the operator did not disclose further details.

Reuters reported, Al-Qaeda linked militant group al Shabaab revealed itself to be responsible for similar previous attacks. No one has claimed responsibility for this latest bombing.

It has been a tumutulous year for the operator. Hormuud was raided by the Somali government in over a dispute regarding customer data, but resolved the issues this year.
(FOR BHUPI SIR-- SUNDAY SPECIAl) Surge in Hepatitis A and E, eye flu cases follows unusual rains in NCR. Image Source: IANS News

Beirut, May 2 : The Lebanese Ministry of Public Health has reported the outbreak of viral hepatitis in West Bekaa region, eastern Lebanon, according to media reports.

The Ministry said on Wednesday that hospitals, health centres, and laboratories have recorded 40 cases of hepatitis A, Xinhua news agency reported.

"We remind citizens that the hepatitis A virus is transmitted to humans through contaminated water, contaminated food, or contaminated hands, and the average incubation period extends from 28 to 30 days after infection. Its symptoms include fever and severe jaundice," the Ministry added.

The Ministry noted that it is following up on the outbreak and coordinating with the municipality, the Ministry of Energy and Water, and the water authorities to ensure the proper functioning of chlorination systems to avoid the spread of viral hepatitis.

It said that it continues to train municipalities, in coordination with the Lebanese Red Cross, to monitor the percentage of residual chlorine through field examination.
Lucknow, May 2 : The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court has directed the Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP), Prashant Kumar, to conduct an investigation through a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the alleged wrongful arrest of an MBA student by the Raebareli Superintendent of Police (SP).

The arrest was allegedly made under the guise of a theft case by the SP through his subordinates.

The court also directed the DGP to constitute an SIT with members senior to the implicated police officers, including Raebareli SP, Abhishek Agrawal, to investigate the incident thoroughly.

The court asked for a report from the SIT within two months and scheduled the matter to be reviewed on July 3, 2024.

DGP Kumar said he directed the Additional Director General (ADG), law and order, Amitabh Yash, to form an SIT led by a senior IPS officer above the rank of SP, as directed by the High Court.

He added that the relevant officials have been instructed to submit their findings within two months.

The order was issued by a division bench consisting of Justice Vivek Chaudhary and Justice Narendra Kumar Johari in response to a petition filed by an elderly woman, Gomati Mishra.

The petitioner claimed that her son was arrested by the police on the intervening night of March 30 and March 31, 2024, as recorded on a CCTV camera at the petrol station where the arrest took place.

However, the arrest record shows him being arrested a day later in a theft case.

She also alleged that her son, who holds an MBA degree and has no criminal record, was falsely implicated in the theft case because he refused to provide his taxi to Abhishek Agrawal, an IPS officer, and the Rae Bareli SP.

The court noted that despite repeatedly granting time, the respondent police officers were unable to explain why they had not investigated the alleged arrest on the intervening night of March 30 and March 31.

"In these circumstances, we find it appropriate to refer the matter to the Uttar Pradesh DGP, who shall have an SIT constituted with members superior to the implicated police officers, including Abhishek Agarwal, Raebareli SP, to investigate the entire incident," the court said.
Jerusalem, May 2 : Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz has denounced Colombian President Gustavo Petro for deciding to break diplomatic ties with Israel over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Katz accused Petro on Wednesday on social media platform X of being "a hateful anti-Semite".

"Relations between Israel and Colombia have always been warm," Katz wrote, adding that Petro "won't be able to change that".

Earlier on Wednesday, Petro said in a public speech in Bogota, "Tomorrow we will break diplomatic relations with the state of Israel ... for having a government, for having a President who is genocidal."

The Colombian President had criticised Israel's military operations against Hamas in Gaza and requested to join South Africa's lawsuit at the International Court of Justice, which accuses Israel of genocide, Xinhua news agency reported.

Israel's retaliatory attacks on Hamas-ruled Gaza have killed more than 34,500 people, mostly civilians, displaced most of Gaza's population of 2.3 million, and wrought hunger and devastation across the enclave.
Basti : , May 2 (IANS) The MP-MLA Court in Basti has directed district police to confiscate the remaining properties of absconding former MLA Amar Mani Tripathi in Gorakhpur.

The court gave the order after receiving an anonymous letter giving details of Tripathi's properties in Gorakhpur.

The court will now take up the matter on May 15.

On April 13, police had attached two rooms of former Minister Tripathi's Maharajganj office and put its seal on it.

This action was taken against Tripathi after he failed to appear in a criminal case pending against him.

He and his wife Madhumani were serving life sentences in the Madhumita murder case and were set free in August 2023 following directives of the Uttar Pradesh prison administration and reforms.

A senior police officer said that taking cognisance of the letter, the judge ordered the Kotwali police to investigate and confiscate the property mentioned in it.

Due to the non-appearance of the accused Tripathi in another case of kidnapping, the court had ordered the attachment of all his properties.

The letter contained details of various properties of Tripathi, including houses on Babina Road, Durgabari, and Suraj Road in Gorakhpur.

The police said if the properties mentioned in the letter were in the name of Tripathi they would be attached.

On December 2, the court declared Tripathi a 'proclaimed offender' and directed the police to attach his property in connection with the kidnapping case. However, the Basti police failed to do so.

According to the prosecution, in 2001, businessman Dharam Raj Gupta's son Rahul Gupta was allegedly kidnapped from near his house in Basti. The police later found Rahul locked up in a house purportedly under the possession of Tripathi and booked nine people, including the former Minister in the case.

Of the nine accused, one has died and two others have been absconding after jumping bail, the police said.

The case files of the five other accused have been separated from the rest.

The court recently framed charges against them and the trial has begun.
Cairo, May 2 : Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and visiting French counterpart Stephane Sejourne met here to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip and an Egypt-brokered ceasefire proposed for the enclave.

The two Ministers briefed each other on the indirect truce talks between the Gaza-ruling Palestinian faction Hamas and Israel over reaching a ceasefire in Gaza and swap of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, said the Egyptian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday in a statement.

Shoukry said that Egypt has put forward "implementable" truce proposals to both parties, who are expected to show "necessary flexibility" to realise an agreement that would spare Palestinians bloodshed, Xinhua news agency reported.

For his part, Sejourne said France is willing to support Arab efforts for settling the Palestinian issue, according to the statement.

He highlighted France's efforts to contain escalation between Israel and Lebanon on their borders, stressing that the potential truce in Gaza has to be accompanied by a similar truce in Lebanon, according to the Ministry's statement.

Shoukry and Sejourne reaffirmed their absolute rejection of any Israeli attempts to liquidate the Palestinian cause by displacing Palestinians outside the Gaza Strip.

The two Ministers agreed to completely reject any ground military operation in the city of Rafah, now the only haven for millions of people in Gaza, due to high humanitarian concerns and the risk of regional spillover, said the statement.

For months, Egypt, Qatar, and the US have been trying to mediate a new agreement between Hamas and Israel on a truce in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages.
New Delhi, May 2 : OTT titles like 'The Broken News 2', 'Manjummel Boys', and 'Super Rich in Korea' across various streaming platforms are guaranteed to keep you glued to your screen all week long and will leave you eagerly awaiting the next episode.

New Delhi, May 2 (IANS) OTT titles like aThe Broken News 2a, aManjummel Boysa, and aSuper Rich in Koreaa across various streaming platforms are guaranteed to keep you glued to your screen all week long and will leave you eagerly awaiting the next episode.

Here's a list of five titles that have caught the attention of IANS:

aA Man in Fulla:

The American drama stars Jeff Daniels and Diane Lane. Directed by Regina King and Thomas Schlamme, it is based on Tom Wolfe's novel of the same name. When Atlanta real estate mogul Charlie Croker (Jeff) faces sudden bankruptcy, political and business interests collide as Charlie defends his empire from those attempting to capitalise on his fall from grace.

The six-episode series is set to premiere on May 2 on Netflix.

aThe Broken Newsa season 2:

Sonali Bendre, Jaideep Ahlawat, and Shriya Pilgaonkar-starrer 'The Broken News 2a will capture the fictional lives, lies, loves, and struggles of journalists and their battle between truth and sensationalism.

Returning after a two-year gap, the new season will see the fight for ideologies between the two broadcast news channels, aJosh 24x7a and aAwaz Bhartia, scale new heights.

The show, based on the BBC Studios format aPressa, is directed by Vinay Waikul and written by Sambit Mishra.

It will air from May 3 on ZEE5.

aUnfrosteda:

The American comedy film directed by Jerry Seinfeld stars Jerry Seinfeld, Melissa McCarthy, Jim Gaffigan, Hugh Grant, and Amy Schumer.

Kellogg's and Post, sworn cereal rivals, race to create a pastry that will change the face of breakfast forever. A tale of ambition, betrayal, sugar, and menacing milkmen, aUnfrosteda is set to air on May 3 on Netflix.

aManjummel Boysa:

The Malayalam survival thriller film written and directed by Chidambaram stars Soubin Shahir, Sreenath Bhasi, Balu Varghese, Ganapathi S. Poduval, Lal Jr., Deepak Parambol, and others.

Based on true events, the film revolves around a group of friends from a small town, Manjummel, who decide to have a vacation in Kodaikanal.

It will stream from May 5 in Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada on Disney+Hotstar.

aSuper Rich in Koreaa:

The unscripted series follows the remarkable real-life stories of multibillionaires living in ultimate luxury. A Singaporean chaebol billionaire, an heir to an Italian luxury brand, a Pakistani noble family member, the Kim Kardashian of the Arab world with 50 million followers, and a Paris Hilton-esque shopaholic -- they all have the means to live anywhere in the world, but they love Korea and chose to call it home.

The reality series starring Cho Sae-ho, BamBam, and Mimi peeks into the extravagant lives of the extremely wealthy in Korea.

It will stream from May 7 on Netflix.
New Delhi, May 2 : After a brief exchange of fire, a 24-year-old man, who was wanted and absconding in a murder case, was nabbed near Delhi's Signature Bridge on Thursday, police said, adding that the accused sustained a bullet injury on his right leg.

The accused was identified as Umar, a resident of Chauhan Banger.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (northeast) Joy Tirkey said that on Thursday, Seelampur police station received information about accused Umar in the Khadar area.

"A trap was laid and at about 7.15 a.m. Umar arrived on a motorcycle. When he was signalled to stop, he fired upon the police party. In police retaliatory firing, Umar sustained a bullet injury on his right leg. He was apprehended at the spot and taken to Jag Pravesh Hospital. He was discharged after treatment," said the DCP.

A 7.65 mm pistol was recovered from his possession. "He had fired two rounds, while the magazine still had two more bullets. Police fired a single round which hit him in the leg. None from the police team was injured," said the DCP, adding that a case of attempt to murder and resisting police action is being registered against Umar.
Mumbai, May 2 : On his birthday on Thursday, actor Vardhan Puri expressed his excitement, stating that it will be special as he starts prepping for his next film, which he considers his "most ambitious project."

"Yes, this time it's going to be more special because I will start preparations for a film, which I feel is my most ambitious project. I can't wait for it to start since it's something very special with a great team and a fabulous cast, including actors who I have looked up to all my life," Vardhan said.

The actor has decided to celebrate his birthday with a pooja.

"I am always very excited about my birthdays. This time, too, it's no different. For the past couple of years, I have been wanting to have a special Shivji pooja, and this time on my birthday, I want to start my day with the same. It's going to be a close family ritual happening at a temple," he said.

In the evening, Vardhan will be meeting his close family and friends at his residence.

"At night, close family and friends will come over, though nothing has been elaborately planned yet, but I can feel that it's going to be special. I have a feeling that all my special folks will be with me under the same roof on my birthday."

"Birthdays should be all about accepting love and returning it back to the universe. I can't wait to turn a year younger," he said.

Vardhan has worked on projects such as 'Yeh Saali Aashiqui', 'Aseq', and 'Dashmi'. He will next be seen in 'Bloody Ishq', alongside Avika Gor.
Anand : , May 2 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched a scathing attack on Congress, saying that the grand old party's partnership with Pakistan has been exposed.

Addressing an election rally at Shastri Ground in Gujarat's Anand, PM Modi said, "Today, when Congress is weakening in India ... the Pakistan leaders are praying for Congress to revive. Pakistan and Congress have a partnership and it is now completely exposed. Pakistan wants a weak government, not a strong one -- a weak government like it was during the Mumbai blast. 'Modi ki majboot sarkar Pakistan ko chubhti hain (Modi's strong government hurts Pakistan."

He criticized the past dealings of the Congress with Pakistan, stating, "Congress government gave the dossier to Pakistan but Modi government does not waste time in the dossier. We kill terrorists in their homes."

The Prime Minister mentioned the international stature of India, saying that the Indian passport has become a symbol of safety and respect worldwide. "If there are conflicts in the world, then India is considered an ally, someone who can solve problems. During the Russia-Ukraine war, the only way to get out of the conflict zone was to show an Indian passport. This is the power of the Indian flag. Our passport is very powerful. Tell me, do you feel proud or not? Amidst all of these, Congress just wants to curse me. They want to divide people," PM Modi said.

The PM also accused Congress of neglecting and betraying backward communities, while highlighting his government's contributions to their upliftment.

"Over 25 crore people are now living above the poverty line. We gave them homes. Now, when the poor get homes, they get a new life and dreams. Congress even betrayed the SC/ST/OBC people. They never cared for them. During their government, they rejected every development proposal for the OBC. Congress didn't even acknowledge the Adivasi community. BJP government allotted budgets for Adivasis. Today, in my cabinet, over 60 per cent of members are from the ST/SC/OBC community," he elaborated.

The rally also saw PM Modi challenge Congress from the land of Sardar Patel, demanding the grand old party to commit to three things: first, not divide people, second to preserve reservations for SC/ST/OBC communities, and third to refrain from vote-bank politics.

"Congress has become a fake factory today. When Congress released its manifesto, I said its manifesto was a reflection of the Muslim League. They have surrendered to the Muslim League," PM Modi said.

While concluding his address in Gujarati, PM Modi expressed his ambitions for the BJP in the upcoming elections: "I have to do four sabhas today and leave for Kolkata tonight. Irrespective of how much heat, I hope we break all records. From Gujarat, we have to have all 26 seats. I am not here to campaign but to see you all and take your blessings."

Subsequently, Prime Minister Modi will address a rally near the Trimandir Grounds on the Surendranagar-Rajkot Road, aimed at drumming up support for the BJP candidates in the Surendranagar, Rajkot, and Bhavnagar Lok Sabha constituencies.

At 2.15 p.m., PM Modi will continue his campaign trail with a public meeting at Krushi Vishwavidyalaya in Junagadh, targeting the Junagadh, Porbandar, and Amreli Lok Sabha seats. This will be followed by his final public engagement of the trip at Pradarshan Ground in Jamnagar at approximately 4.15 p.m., where he will focus on rallying support for the BJP candidates in the Jamnagar Lok Sabha and Porbandar Vidhan Sabha seats.
The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has demanded that the government crack down on sales of Wi-Fi 6E routers that use the 6 GHz spectrum band, which has not yet been officially designated an unlicenced band.

According to media reports earlier this week, a letter from COAI that was sent to the Department of Telecommunication on April 15 claimed that e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart and Moglix were selling Wi-Fi 6E routers, as were some offline traders.

Wi-Fi 6E is an extension of Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) that enables Wi-Fi 6 to use the 6-GHz band to provide a superfast, low-latency fast lane for compatible devices and apps.

However, the 6-GHz band is a highly contentious one between the cellular and Wi-Fi sectors in India, despite the World Radio Conference 2023 (WRC-23) harmonising the upper 6 GHz band (6.425-7.125 GHz) globally for mobile services.

In India, the 6 GHz band is currently partly used by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for its satellite operations. The DoT has yet to decide how to reallocate the band, and to whom.

Both the COAI and the GSMA have lobbied the DoT to release the band to mobile operators who need the extra spectrum for 5G and upcoming 6G services. The Broadband India Forum wants the DoT to make it a new unlicensed band that can be used to create affordable public Wi-Fi services in rural areas. Under the WRC framework, India has up to 2027 to make a decision on the upper 6 GHz band.

Until that decision is made, COAI Director General SP Kochhar said in the letter that the DoT should ban sales of Wi-Fi 6E routers because they cannot legally use the 6 GHz band.

Moreover, even if the DoT eventually decides to make the 6 GHz band unlicenced, the letter said, consumers would be held legally liable for using Wi-Fi 6E routers making unauthorized transmissions in the meantime.

According to the Economic Times, Amazon, Flipkart, Moglix, and Google did not respond to email enquiries about the COAI demand. However, Moglix removed Wi-Fi 6E products from its site after the email was sent.
Kolkata, May 2 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), on Thursday, submitted a preliminary status report on its investigation into the cases of illegal land grabbing, extortion and harassment of women in West Bengal's Sandeshkhali to the division bench of the Calcutta High Court's Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya.

Kolkata, May 2 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), on Thursday, submitted a preliminary status report on its investigation into the cases of illegal land grabbing, extortion and harassment of women in West Bengal's Sandeshkhali to the division bench of the Calcutta High Courtas Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya.

After submitting the preliminary status report in a sealed envelope, the CBI counsel also complained of non-cooperation from the state government in providing the Central agency officials with the land records at Sandeshkhali.

The CBI counsel said that the Central agency through its dedicated portal has received around 900 complaints relating to illegal land grabbing in Sandeshkhali. He argued that without the cooperation of the state government in accessing the original land reports it will be difficult to carry forward the investigation process in the matter.

After hearing the argument of the CBI counsel, the division bench directed the state government to hand over all the documents sought by the CBI officials to the latter within one week.

The division bench also directed the state government to extend all necessary cooperation to the CBI so that the latter could carry forward its investigation into the matter smoothly.

On Monday, the Chief Justice also referred to the development of the Supreme Courtas decision of not interfering in the earlier order by the Calcutta High Court directing a CBI probe in the matter.

Since the apex court did not interfere in the order of the Calcutta High Court, it is expected of the state government to fully cooperate with CBI in the matter, the Chief Justice observed.

The division bench also referred to the earlier order of the Calcutta High Court on April 10 this year, where the state government was asked to make necessary lighting arrangements in Sandeshkhali streets within 15 days. Based on the complaint that this order for necessary lighting arrangement is yet to be implemented by the state government, the Chief Justice said that not adhering to this part of the order will amount to contempt of the court.

The division bench also allowed the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to be a party in the case. The next hearing on the matter has been scheduled for June 13.
New Delhi, May 2 : Microsoft on Thursday announced to invest $2.2 billion over the next four years to advance new cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure in Malaysia.

The investment will allow Microsoft to meet the growing demand for cloud computing services in the country, as well as enable Malaysia to capitalise on the significant economic and productivity opportunities presented by the latest AI technology, according to the company.

This marks the single largest investment in Microsoft's 32-year history in the country.

"Our investments in digital infrastructure and skilling will help Malaysian businesses, communities, and developers apply the latest technology to drive inclusive economic growth and innovation across the country," said Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO, Microsoft.

This investment will create AI skilling opportunities for an additional 200,000 people in the country, as well as support the growth of Malaysiaas developer community.

"This strategic emphasis on AI not only boosts economic growth but also promotes inclusivity by bridging the digital divide and ensuring everyone gets a seat at the table, so every Malaysian can thrive in this new digital world," said Andrea Della Mattea, President of Microsoft ASEAN.

Earlier this week, Microsoft announced that it will provide AI skilling opportunities for 2.5 million people in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states by 2025.

This training and support will be delivered in partnership with governments, nonprofit and business organisations, and communities in Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Chennai, May 2 : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, who has been on a six-day holiday trip to Kodaikanal hill station with family since April 29, has cut short his visit and will return to Chennai on Thursday.

The Chief Minister's Office confirmed that CM Stalin and his family will return from the hill station on Thursday.

The CM and his family will leave Madurai airport at 4 p.m. and arrive in Chennai by 5 p.m.

The reason for the Chief Minister and his family cutting short the holiday is not known.

It may be recalled that CM Stalin had after the 2021 Assembly election campaign stayed in Kodaikanal. In 2021 DMK returned to power and Stalin became the Chief Minister. After this, Kodaikanal is considered lucky for CM Stalin.
New Delhi, May 2 : Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) on Thursday announced that it sold a total of 41,008 SUVs in the domestic market in April, registering an 18 per cent (year-on-year) growth compared to the same month of last year when it sold 34,694 SUVs.

The company also mentioned that it sold 41,542 units of passenger vehicles in the utility vehicle segment, including both domestic and export numbers.

The SUV maker's overall auto sales for April stood at 70,471 vehicles, a growth of 13 per cent, including exports.

"We sold a total of 41,008 SUVs in April, a growth of 18 per cent and 70,471 total vehicles, a 13 per cent growth over last year," Veejay Nakra, President, Automotive Division, M&M Ltd, said in a statement.

"In April, we launched the XUV 3XO, tailored to a broad spectrum of customers across categories. With a unique blend of innovation, safety, comfort, performance and price starting at Rs 7.49 lakh, the XUV 3XO is set to be the new disrupter in the compact SUV space," he added.

The domestic sales for commercial vehicles stood at 22,102, the company said.
Kanpur, May 2 : In a significant development aimed at forging strategic partnerships, Lt. Gen. Upendra Dwivedi, PVSM, AVSM, Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS), accompanied by ADG Major General C. S. Mann and other high-ranking army officers, visited the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT Kanpur).

The visit facilitated in-depth discussions between the army officials and IIT Kanpur's faculty members specialising in defence-related areas, focusing on exploring potential collaborations to develop niche technology solutions for the Indian Army.

According to an official release, the institute's professors showcased IIT Kanpur's research capabilities by providing an overview of the ongoing defence projects at the institute.

Sanjay Tandon, Director of the DRDO Industry Academia Centre of Excellence at IIT Kanpur , elaborated on the CoE's mandate to establish an ecosystem for focused research and collaboration in advanced technology areas for defence and security.

This highlighted the institute's commitment to encouraging industry-academia partnerships in strategic domains.

The faculty members showcased various innovative technologies to the Army officers, including a Substation Inspection Robot, a generator for precision guidance kits, high-altitude logistics and eVTOL solutions, Quadruped and Rotary Robots, and Kamikaze drones.

Three defence-technology startups incubated at IIT Kanpur also presented outstanding innovations, stressing the institute's role as a hub for entrepreneurship and technology transfer. The Indian Army team also visited the C3i Hub and FlexE Center at IIT Kanpur.
New Delhi, May 2 : In its ongoing probe into Home Minister Amit Shah's doctored video case, a team of Delhi Police's Special Cell on Thursday visited 'Gandhi Bhawan', the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee headquarters in Hyderabad, sources said.

The sources also said the team met local police in Telangana and sought details about a few leaders, who were served notices.

Recently, after the end of the second phase of Lok Sabha polls, a doctored video of Union Home Minister Amit Shah went viral on social media, where his statement indicating a commitment to abolish reservation quotas for Muslims in the state was changed to make it seem that he was advocating the scrapping of all reservations.

On Sunday, Delhi Police registered an FIR after two complaints were received by it, one from the BJP and another from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). The case has been registered under Sections 153, 153A, 465, 469, and 171G of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 66C of the Information Technology (IT) Act.

Meanwhile, the investigators are yet to receive any response from social media giants X and Meta in connection with a doctored video, a source in the Delhi Police's Special Cell told IANS.

Three persons have been arrested for circulating the fake video so far, two in Gujarat and one in Assam.

"We are trying to trace the origin of the doctored video. A reply from the social media giants is of utmost importance in the case. X, meanwhile, has deleted all the morphed videos from its platform," said a senior Delhi Police officer privy to the probe.
Jammu, May 2 : Ghulam Nabi Azad, chairman of the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) said on Thursday that the decision of the Election Commission of India (ECI) to postpone polls in the Anantnag-Rajouri constituency has come as a relief to several political parties.

The ECI postponed the polling date from May 7 to May 25 in the Anantnag-Rajouri constituency.

Azad has been on an election campaign in Rajouri for his party candidate, Mohammad Saleem who is fighting the election from the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat against Mian Altaf Ahmad of NC, Mehbooba Mufti of PDP and Zafar Iqbal Manhas of J&K Apni Party.

The Congress is supporting the NC while the BJP and the Peopleas Conference (PC) are supporting the Apni Party candidate.

Justifying the ECI decision to postpone the poll dates in the constituency, Azad said that it took him three days to reach Rajouri through Jammu and another three days to return. He wondered how successful any poll campaign would be if a party candidate took six days and three nights to reach one polling district of his constituency.

Talking about the Mughal Road that connects the two districts of Kashmir with the two districts of Jammu division which constitute the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha constituency, Azad said the road was still closed due to snowfall and rain.

Asked whether the postponement of polls would affect the voting rights of the nomadic Bakarwals who move to cooler meadows of the Valley with their livestock, Azad said that the members of the Bakarwal community move out in June and by then the voting would have since ended in their constituency.

Talking about the criticism of the EVMs by political parties, he said if the Congress and the regional parties win then the EVMs are okay and if their opponents win then they blame the EVMs.

He emphasised the need for a Legislative Assembly in J&K adding that the union territory must have a democratically elected government.
Silchar/Agartala, May 2 : At least one person was killed and many others injured, all candidates of a recruitment exam of a Tripura bank, when their bus carrying the job aspirants overturned in Assam's Dima Hasao district, officials said on Thursday.

The officials said that six of the injured were very critical and admitted to Silchar Medical College and Hospital while others were shifted to various other hospitals.

According to reports, the accident occurred in the wee hours of Thursday due to heavy rain, causing the bus to overturn and collide with a road divider, ultimately plunging into a drain.

According to officials, the bus from Agartala carrying around 40 candidates for the recruitment exam of Tripura State Cooperative Bank (TSCB) going to Guwahati overturned at Ditokcherra in mountainous Dima Hasao district killing one of the candidates Deepraj Debbarma (27) on the spot and injuring others.

The candidates from Tripura are going to Guwahati to appear for exams of TSCB's different posts in different centers to be held for three days from Friday.

To conduct the recruitment examination and to select candidates, the TSCB authority outsourced the exam centres in Silchar, Guwahati, Jorhat, Dibrugarh and Tezpur of Assam besides Agartala.

The recruitment drive aimed to fill 156 positions across different categories, and around 19,000 candidates, all permanent residents of Tripura, have applied.

According to the TSCB authority, due to the lack of infrastructure to conduct the exams within the state, the venues had to shift to various locations in neighbouring Assam.

Various organisations, including Youth Congress and CPI-M's Democratic Youth Federation of India have been demanding the bank authority to conduct the recruitment examination in Tripura to save time and money of the job aspirants.
Chennai, May 2 : Teenaged Grandmaster D Gukesh has entered the top ten chess players' club in the World with an ELO rating of 2,763.

Chennai, May 2 (IANS) Teenaged Grandmaster D Gukesh has entered the top ten chess playersa club in the World with an ELO rating of 2,763.

Gukesh, now ranked sixth in the open category, is ahead of the seventh-ranked World Chess Champion Chinese GM Ding Liren with a rating of 2,762.

What is further interesting is that another Indian chess sensation GM Arjun Erigaisi is ranked eighth in the world with a rating of 2,761.

According to the International Chess Federation (FIDE), Gukesh gained twenty points after winning the FIDE Candidates Tournament that concluded in Canada recently.

By virtue of winning the Candidates Tournament, Gukesh has become the challenger for the world title now held by Liren.

It was a huge jump for Gukesh to be ranked sixth now as he was ranked 16th before the Candidates Tournament.

In the epic Ramayana, the Hindu God Lord Hanuman made the jump from India to Sri Lanka in search of Lord Rama's wife Goddess Sita.

"I believe Gukesh will be the slight favourite against Ding Liren. The world champion is a very good player. However, he has not been very active and his form is not at its peak," GM Susan Polgar former womenas world champion (1996-99) told IANS when queried about the Indian's chances of becoming a world champion.

On his part, Erigaisi gained five points, as per the rating list issued by the FIDE.

Perhaps this is also for the time in the FIDE list, two Indians figure in the top ten chess clubs in the world.

According to FIDE, two Indian Woman Grandmasters (WGM), Priyanka Nutakki (rating 2,357) and P.V. Nandhidhaa (2,359) gained 83 and 81 points last month in different rating tournaments while GM R.Vaishali gained 14 points at the Womenas Candidates Tournament.

(Venkatachari Jagannathan can be contacted at v.jagannathan@ians.in)
Tel Aviv, May 2 : Israeli fighter jets and artillery hit central Gaza on Thursday, the army said, as efforts to reach a new deal between Israel and Hamas continue.

Israeli Air Force (IAF) "fighter jets struck armed terrorists, terrorist infrastructure, and operational tunnel shafts," the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Telegram.

"The IDF continues to operate in the central Gaza Strip," it added.

The IDF said it launched its attack after "a number of launches" on Wednesday from central Gaza against Israeli forces. A mortar shell launcher was destroyed and several armed fighters were killed, the army said. It reported no Israeli injuries.

Meanwhile Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant discussed "operational developments" in northern and southern Israel in a phone call with his US counterpart, Lloyd Austin, a Gallant spokeswoman said. They also discussed efforts to release further hostages held by Hamas.

Austin also provided information about preparations for future Gaza operations. Israel has announced that it will go ahead with a controversial military operation in the city of Rafah in the south of the coastal strip if there is no early agreement on a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners.

In addition, humanitarian aid for the suffering population in Gaza and the opening of further crossings were also on the agenda. Aid deliveries have recently increased significantly, but the US is demanding a further increase.

--IANS/DPA

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Microsofts charm offensive in Southeast Asia this week has yielded two major commitments to build new cloud and AI infrastructure in Indonesia and Thailand, with the latter including its first data centre region in the country.

On Wednesday, Microsoft said the new data centre region in Thailand will expand the availability of its Azure hyperscale cloud services, facilitating enterprise-grade reliability, performance, and compliance with data residency and privacy standards.

The company said the data centre will not only help Thailand meet growing demand for cloud services, but also capitalize on various opportunities presented by the rise of AI technologies, not least those being developed by Microsoft.

Thailand has an incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future, said Microsoft chairman and CEO Satya Nadella. Our new data centre region, along with the investments we are making in cloud and AI infrastructure, as well as AI skilling, build on our long-standing commitment to the country  and will help Thai organizations across the public and private sector drive new impact and growth.

The deal follows an MoU signed by Microsoft and the Thai government in November 2023 to envision the nations digital-first, AI-powered future.

The Thailand data centre news came hot on the heels of Tuesdays announcement that Microsoft will invest US$1.7 billion over the next four years in new cloud and AI infrastructure in Indonesia, which represents the single largest investment in Microsofts 29-year history in the country.

Microsoft said the investment builds on its Berdayakan Indonesia (Empower Indonesia) initiative announced in February 2021 to accelerate inclusive economic growth in the country. At the time, Microsoft said the included plans to establish its first data centre region in Indonesia. Microsoft is currently building data centres in West Java that are tentatively scheduled to be completed in 2026.

Both announcements include an AI skilling programme thats part of a broader regional initiative announced by Microsoft on Tuesday. Under that initiative, Microsoft committed to providing AI skilling opportunities for 2.5 million people in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam by 2025 in partnership with governments, non-profit and corporate organizations, and communities in those countries.

Microsoft said the AI skilling programmes will benefit 840,000 people in Indonesia and over 100,000 in Thailand. Microsoft also said that Thailands AI skilling programme will focus particularly on young entrepreneurs in the countrys tourism industry.

Research from Kearney forecasts that AI could contribute nearly US$1 trillion to Southeast Asias GDP by 2030. According to the study, Thailand could potentially capture US$117 billion of that, while Indonesia could reap US$366 billion.

Microsoft made the announcements at its Microsoft Build: AI Day events in Jakarta and Bangkok this week. Nadella has also held high-profile meetings with Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin and Indonesian President Joko Widodo pledging to help boost their respective visions of transforming their countries into digital economies and economic powerhouses.
Chennai, May 2 : Teenaged Grandmaster D Gukesh has entered the top ten chess players' club in the World with an ELO rating of 2,763.

Chennai, May 2 (IANS) Teenaged Grandmaster D Gukesh has entered the top ten chess playersa club in the World with an ELO rating of 2,763.

Gukesh, now ranked sixth in the open category, is ahead of the seventh-ranked World Chess Champion Chinese GM Ding Liren with a rating of 2,762.

What is further interesting is that another Indian chess sensation GM Arjun Erigaisi is ranked eighth in the world with a rating of 2,761.

According to the International Chess Federation (FIDE), Gukesh gained twenty points after winning the FIDE Candidates Tournament that concluded in Canada recently.

By virtue of winning the Candidates Tournament, Gukesh has become the challenger for the world title now held by Liren.

It was a huge jump for Gukesh to be ranked sixth now as he was ranked 16th before the Candidates Tournament.

"I believe Gukesh will be the slight favourite against Ding Liren. The world champion is a very good player. However, he has not been very active and his form is not at its peak," GM Susan Polgar former womenas world champion (1996-99) told IANS when queried about the Indian's chances of becoming a world champion.

On his part, Erigaisi gained five points, as per the rating list issued by the FIDE.

Perhaps this is also for the time in the FIDE list, two Indians figure in the top ten chess clubs in the world.

According to FIDE, two Indian Woman Grandmasters (WGM), Priyanka Nutakki (rating 2,357) and P.V. Nandhidhaa (2,359) gained 83 and 81 points last month in different rating tournaments while GM R.Vaishali gained 14 points at the Womenas Candidates Tournament.

(Venkatachari Jagannathan can be contacted at v.jagannathan@ians.in)
Islamabad, May 2 : One person was killed and 20 others were injured in twin blasts in Pakistan's Balochistan province on Thursday, police said.

The first blast happened when a truck loaded with coal hit a land mine in Dukki district of the province, while the second blast triggered by a remote-controlled device occurred when people gathered at the spot, police sources from the province told Xinhua.

The police sources said that several officials of the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of police and mine workers were among the victims, adding that the CTD personnel rushed to the site to inspect the area after the first explosion, Xinhua news agency reported.

All the injured people have been shifted to a nearby hospital, with several of them in critical condition.

Following the incident, security forces cordoned off the area and kicked off a search operation.

No group or individual has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Gaza, May 2 : Israel released on Thursday 64 Palestinians who were arrested during the military operations in the Gaza Strip, said the General Authority for Crossings and Borders in Gaza.

The Authority said in a press statement that the Israeli authorities released 64 Palestinians, including one dead and one seriously injured, through the Kerem Shalom crossing in the southern Gaza Strip, Xinhua news agency reported.

During the ongoing Israeli ground operation in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army arrested hundreds of Palestinians, according to Palestinian human rights organisations.

The released prisoners were transferred to a hospital to check on their health status, according to Palestinian security sources.

Israel launched a large-scale offensive against Hamas in Gaza to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on October 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage.

The ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip have resulted in extensive casualties and damages, with the Palestinian death toll rising to over 34,000 since the conflict started, according to the Gaza health authorities.
Mumbai, May 2 : Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief leader Eknath Shinde on Thursday said that his son and the party nominee from Kalyan-Dombivli constituency, Dr Shrikant Shinde will break previous records in the forthcoming elections and win by a record margin of five lakh votes.

CM Shinde was speaking at the rally which witnessed a massive turnout of Shiv Sena, BJP, NCP and RPI cadres at the time of filing of nomination by Dr Shinde.

He is pitted against the Shiv Sena (UBT) nominee Vaishali Darekar.

Dr Shinde was accompanied by Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, Public Works Minister Ravindra Chavan, MNS Legislator Raju Patil and former NCP MP Anand Paranjape.

"In the last 10 years, Dr Shrikant Shinde has left his mark through his work. Today's rally is a victory rally. With the hard work of the activists and the blessings of the voters, all the previous records will be broken in the upcoming elections as he will win by a margin of five lakh votes," said CM Shinde, adding that his son was set to score a hat-trick.

"There has been a strong wave in favour of the Mahayuti in the entire state. Even in the scorching heat of Vidarbha, activists took to the streets in large numbers. Today's rush in Kalyan-Dombivli is a testimony to that. The work done by Dr Shinde in his two terms (2014 and 2019) has been acknowledged in today's rally," said CM Shinde.

He further stated that funds won't be a problem in further pushing the development in the constituency.

CM Shinde exhorted the Mahayuti workers to reach out to the voters and bring them to the polling station, especially amid the ongoing wedding season and vacations.

"A vote for Shrikant Shinde means a vote for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a vote for 'bow and arrow' means a vote for Modi and a vote for the grand alliance means a vote for Modi, so everyone should work hard till May 20. The MP will serve you for the next five years," said CM Shinde.
New Delhi, May 2 : A 50-year-old man, who was in contact with some agents based in Israel, was arrested in West Bengal by a team of Delhi Police for allegedly duping people on the pretext of sending them abroad, an official said on Thursday.

The accused was identified as Ramesh Sharma, a resident of Alipurduar district in West Bengal.

The arrest was made following an investigation that was launched after a woman, identified as Anju Chhetri (39), arrived at IGI Airport, Delhi on April 3, as a deportee from Tel Aviv in Israel.

"On questioning and scrutiny of her documents, it was revealed that she had obtained her passport fraudulently by submitting fake/forged documents. On further questioning, her real identity was revealed as Hetalben, a resident of Gujarat," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (IGI Airport) Usha Rangnani.

The passenger was also found in possession of one Aadhaar card and another copy was found in her phone, with the same UID number.

"One was issued from West Bengal and other from Gujarat, both bearing different names, date of birth and addresses," said the DCP.

During the probe, Hetalben disclosed that her sister-in-law had been working in Israel for many years and had asked her several times to come there.

"So, she also made a plan to go to Israel for a better livelihood and to also earn better. Thereafter, her sister-in-law asked her to visit Om Sai Caretaker Training Centre, Paharganj, Delhi for training," said the DCP.

Later, she visited the institute and met one lady, namely Richa Nanda there, who arranged her passport and all documents for her journey.

Nanda provided her the mobile phone number of Ramesh Sharma, and asked her to contact him.

"In April 2023, the accused lady met agent Ramesh, who promised to arrange her journey to Israel on someone else's identity in lieu of Rs 6 lakh," said the DCP.

Thereafter, agent Ramesh took her to Bagdogra in West Bengal, and with the help of his associates, arranged fake Aadhaar card for her in the name of 'Anju Chhetri' with an address of West Bengal and also arranged fake/forged documents i.e Voter I-Card & birth certificate at West Bengal address.

"After some time, the agent also arranged a passport for her from West Bengal on the basis of such fake documents. The agent also promised to arrange a job for her in Israel. The passenger revealed that on March 31, 2024, she took a flight from Delhi to Tel Aviv, but she was deported from there," said the DCP.

The DCP said that Nanda was arrested in the case, but Ramesh was absconding.

However, Ramesh was eventually nabbed from one of his hideouts in West Bengal.

On questioning, Ramesh disclosed that in 2020, he went to Israel where he came in contact with some agents who used to dupe people on the pretext of sending them abroad.
Bengaluru, May 2 : The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the sex video scandal involving former Prime Minister, HD Deve Gowda's grandson Prajwal Revanna on Thursday rejected his request to appear before it after 7 days and the authorities issued a lookout notice against him. This happened on a day another victim came forward and filed a complaint.

Prajwal Revanna's obscene video showing sexual harassment and abuse of women has taken the political circles in Karnataka by storm.

Sources confirmed that Prajwal Revanna will be taken into custody as soon as he lands in India.

Karnataka Home Minister, Dr G Parameshwara stated on Thursday that a 'Lookout Notice' has been sent to all airports of the country.

The sitting MP and NDA candidate for the Hassan Lok Sabha seat had sought seven days, but as per law it is not possible to grant him time for appearance before the authorities.

In spite of this, the officers are taking the opinion of legal experts over the matter.

In case there is no scope for giving him time, the SIT officers will go wherever Prajwal Revanna is, arrest him and bring him back to India.

Home Minister Parameshwara maintained that another victim had come forward and lodged a complaint against Prajwal Revanna in Hassan.

"The details cannot be made public," he stated.

Meanwhile, JD(S) MLC Suraj Revanna, brother of Prajwal Revanna speaking on Thursday maintained that his brother will win the Hassan seat despite the leak of the obscene videos.

"I will not speak about Prajwal. The SIT formed by the government is probing the case. I can only comment that it is a conspiracy. JD(S) MLA HD Revanna (his father) is a popular leader in the region. People who don't tolerate this are behind this. The people will know the truth once the probe is completed," he added.

Meanwhile, various organisations and Kannada activists staged a protest in Mandya against Prajwal Revanna for his alleged involvement in sexual abuse of women.

The protestors urged that Prajwal Revanna should be immediately arrested and victims should be given protection.
New Delhi, May 2 : The Handbook on the Rights of Transgender & Gender-Diverse Persons in India was unveiled by Justice A.K. Sikri, a former judge in the Supreme Court, and Prof. (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar, Founding Vice Chancellor, O.P. Jindal Global University, in the presence of stakeholders and activists from the trans justice movement.

The Handbook has been prepared by the Law and Marginalisation Clinic, Centre for Justice, Law and Society (CJLS) at Jindal Global Law School under the supervision of Professor Dipika Jain and Natasha Aggarwal as part of the clinical course titled "Trans Justice and the Law Clinic" in collaboration with Transmen Collective, Egale, and Feminist Future.

Initiative at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The Handbook demystifies the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 and seeks to empower transgender and gender-diverse persons in asserting their constitutional and statutory rights.

In the special address, Justice A.K. Sikri (former judge, Supreme Court) emphasised the importance of the Handbook, and delved into his experiences in writing and delivering the judgment of the Supreme Court in National Legal Services Authority v Union of India in 2014.

He stated: "We have come a long way from the judgement, to the Act and now resources like this handbook which will help the community realise their rights and fulfil the promises of the Constitution of India."

Justice Sikri also explained the importance of identities, not only from jurisprudential perspectives but also to ensure respect and dignity within society.

In the welcome address, Prof. (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar (Founding Vice Chancellor, O.P. Jindal Global University) emphasised JGU's commitment to clinical legal education and remarked that: "It is important for law schools to ensure engagement with social justice

movements."

He also emphasised the intellectual rigour and collaborative approaches required in developing a handbook that is comprehensive, accessible and can be used on-ground by activists and community members.

Introducing the Handbook, Dipika Jain, Professor of Law, Vice Dean, Director, Law and Marginalization Clinic, Centre for Justice, Law and Society, Jindal Global Law School and Natasha Aggarwal, Clinical Assistant Professor of Law, Jindal Global Law School, explained that the work of the Law and Marginalization Clinic is grounded in intersectional and community-centric approaches.

The objective and outcome of each clinical project is framed by friends from the trans movement.

The Handbook is no exception, as friends from the trans movement emphasised the need for a resource that comprehensively deconstructs the Transgender Persons Act.

They also expressed their immense gratitude to members of trans, gender-diverse and intersex communities who offered their expertise and feedback through consultative processes and reviews.

The Handbook demystifies the provisions of the Transgender Persons Act, the Transgender Persons Rules, relevant judgments of the Supreme Court and various High Courts as well as state-specific welfare schemes

for transgender and gender-diverse persons.

Specifically, the Handbook simplifies the process for obtaining identification documents that reflect a person's gender identity and explains the rights of transgender and gender-diverse persons in the realms of education, employment and healthcare.

The Handbook uses hypothetical scenarios to demonstrate how a transgender and gender-diverse person can assert their rights under the law.

Moreover, these hypotheticals account for unique barriers faced by individuals across socio-political and geographical contexts, including Dalit, Bahujan, Adivasi and Muslim persons and persons with disabilities.

The Handbook will be an important tool for the legal empowerment of activists and organizations working on-ground as well as transgender and gender-diverse persons across India.

The launch event also featured a panel discussion with Madhavi Goradia Divan (Senior Advocate, Supreme Court), Akkai Padmashali (Social Activist and Founder of Ondede), Nu Misra (Founder, Revival

Disability India) and Ritwik Dutta (Journalist, BBC).

The panel was moderated by Dr. Aqsa Shaikh (Professor of Community Medicine Founder of Human Solidarity Foundation).

Advocate Madhavi Divan discussed the important provisions of the Transgender Persons Act and touched upon some of the limitations of the legislation, noting the lack of affirmative action and the procedural

complexities in obtaining identity cards for transgender persons.

Ritwik Dutta also touched upon the implementation of welfare schemes under the Transgender Persons Act, specifically noting the lack of implementation of the SMILE scheme in the northeast India.

Similarly, Akkai Padmashali pointed to the limited number of identity cards that have been issued, which in turn has presented negatively impacted the number of transgender persons who can register to vote.

Dr. Aqsa Shaikh and Nu Misra stressed upon the value and importance of the Handbook.

In particular, Nu Misra commended the incorporation of visual elements and artwork, noting that art is frequently a tool of advocacy among activists.

Dr. Aqsa also highlighted the ways in which the Handbook draws from lived experiences and highlights how the law can be used in each of these situations.
New Delhi, May 2 : Pointing out a "glaring instance" of politics destroying an extremely significant piece of intelligence shared between two nations, a security expert on Thursday said that Israel had shared with India certain transcripts about the possible threat to the life of late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi that went missing after the assassination of the top Congress leader in 1991.

"In recent history, in the last three-four decades, the most critical information Israel shared with us was certain transcripts relating to possible threat to late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's life. Eventually, as the situation played out, the threat materialised... Once he was no more, the political dispensations were very different.

"Nations had to work with each other on a day-to-day basis. The situation arose where that particular piece of intelligence got misplaced, removed, or whatever," said Namit Verma during a discussion titled 'Intelligence Cooperation and Security Challenges in the Emerging World Order' organised by the Usanas Foundation.

Verma, according to the programme's host and Usanas founder Abhinav Pandya, has been an "expert on global geopolitics with specialisation in security matters" for decades, having also "worked closely with the government on various critical matters of security and foreign policy".

"In India, we reconstructed the material based on the correspondence with other files. We sought another copy of the transcript, but Israel never provided it. There can't be a more glaring instance of how politics plays out in sharing intelligence between nations.

"At that point, India was critical, the Soviet Union wasn't disintegrated and India was a backchannel between the US and the Soviets. Rajiv Gandhi was part of that communication," he mentioned during the discussion which was also attended by two Israeli security experts, Joseph Rozen and Kobe Michael, the latter having served as Deputy Director General and head of the Palestinian division in the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs.

Verma said that such incidents have happened whenever global equations are changing or the existing order is challenged.

"This particular transcript effectively said that the payment had been made... It said that 'Godman' has made the payment... What could be more obvious... On the backchannel, all this information was documented and our intelligence agencies were aware of that. They asked for security to be provided which the government of the day did not provide," the expert told the virtual gathering.
Mumbai, May 2 : 'Laapataa Ladies' writer Sneha Desai was all praise for Aamir Khan's power of visualisation at Vartalaap, a forum featuring conversations with screenwriters and lyricists in Mumbai.

Aamir Khan is known as 'Mr Perfectionist' in the industry, so the media asked Desai if she felt she was under pressure when she was working with Kiran Rao, the much-acclaimed film's director, or Aamir Khan, the producer.

Desai said, "Getting perfection in the writing wasn't a compulsion, It was more of pleasure. Aamir Khan is given this tag of perfection because cinematically his brain is so brilliant that when you take the story to him, which is still on paper, he can visualise the writing being translated on the screen as he's reading the script, which we might not be able to see."

Delving deeper into Aamir's ability to visualise scenes, Desai said, "Whether you call it his experience or craft, or his ability, he can visualise the edits of the scene, and he can visualise how the audience will react to the scene."

She added, "The same goes for Kiran Rao. She has done so much work as an assistant and producer, she has handled so many projects, that she has a ready solution for every problem and if there is something wrong, she can explain logically why it is so."

So, how do they transmit their perfection to the others who work with them? "It is not like they try to force their perfection on others," Desai noted, adding, "They explain the whole thing very lovingly to you, and when you take your work to such intelligent and correct people, you tend to quality control your own work beforehand, so that you can give work worthy of their level."

'Laapataa Ladies', helmed by Kiran Rao, backed by Aamir Khan Productions, and featuringt Nitanshi Goel, Pratibha Ranta, Sparsh Shrivastava, Chhaya Kadam and Ravi Kishan in lead roles, tells the story of two brides who lose themselves during a train ride.

The screenplay and dialogues of 'Laapataa Ladies' are written by Sneha Desai with Divyanidhi Sharma.
Islamabad, May 2 : Pakistan, Iran, and China will soon hold a trilateral meeting on counter-terrorism and security, a decision experts see as a representation of Beijing's increasing and further strengthening influence and role in bridging gaps between regional neighbours on important challenges and issues.

It should be noted that the upcoming trilateral consultation would be the second round of meetings as the first meeting was held in Beijing in June last year.

The main focus of the Trilateral Consultation is to find cooperating grounds, strategies and efforts to fight terrorism and groups that have been targeting the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

"The trilateral consultation meeting would review the current security situation and activities of terrorism groups threatening regional stability," said a diplomatic source.

"China has keen interest in Pakistan and Iran dealing this threat together as their shared border is home to some groups targeting Chinese interests," the source added.

China has been seriously concerned and worried over the ongoing attacks on its nationals in Pakistan, which saw a significant surge in the recent past with two major attacks in Besham and Karachi.

Sources say that the attack on the van carrying Chinese engineers in Besham, which resulted in the killing of at least five of Beijing's engineers, followed by a suicide attack on the vehicle carrying Japanese nationals in Karachi's Landhi area, has rung serious alarm bells in Beijing.

Beijing has called on both Iran and Pakistan to act against groups including the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), its suicide wing Majid Brigade, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other affiliate groups working to carry out attacks on Chinese nationals, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the BRI.

Kamran Yousaf, a senior political analyst, said that militant groups like the Majid Brigade have been targeting Chinese nationals in Pakistan and have been operating from bordering areas of the Pakistan-Iran border.

"Majid Brigade, a suicide wing of a Baloch terrorist outfit, was formed to target China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects. In recent years, the group took responsibility for many deadly attacks targeting Chinese nationals and CPEC," said Kamran Yousaf.

"China feels that close cooperation between Pakistan and Iran could neutralise these threats," he added.

China's regional influence is certainly increasing as it continues to engage with neighboring countries and work out ways to safeguard its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Also, the situation along the Pakistan-Iran border has gone from bad to worse in the recent past with increased attacks in different parts of the Balochistan province by militant groups.

Experts believe that it was Beijing's efforts that sorted out issues between Pakistan and Iran during January this year after Iran fired missiles into Pakistan targeting what it claimed as suspected terrorist hideouts of militant group, Jaish-e-Adl.

Pakistan denied the claim and responded with a similar strike on the Iranian side of the Pakistan-Iran border, claiming its target to be a terrorist hideout.

"Everyone believed that Pakistan and Iran were on the verge of a full-scale conflict in January. However, it was Beijing's influence and timely engagement with both parties that swiftly moved both countries to sort out their issues," said Kamran Yousaf.

"After January, both countries also decided to deploy senior military officials in each other's countries. A Colonel-rank Pakistan Army officer was deployed in Zaydan, Sistan-Balochistan while Iranian Revolutionary Guard officer would be stationed in Turbat, Balochistan for better coordination," he added.

Official sources also confirmed that while the Trilateral Consultation meetings between Pakistan-Iran-China are on the cards, Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi is also expected to travel to Iran and finalise the arrangements.

The cooperation between important regional countries to counterterrorism is certainly expected to raise eyebrows in Washington and the White House, who have recently imposed sanctions on at least three Chinese companies for supplying items to Pakistan's long-range missile programme.

However, despite the western pressure on Pakistan, it seems that Islamabad is ready to resist and go ahead with joining the regional lobby with China.
Alibaba, a Chinese multinational technology company specialising in e-commerce, retail, internet, and technology, reportedly plans to build a data centre in Vietnam.

Precise timings, likely address and the size of the planned facility are all still unclear but, according to news service Nikkei, the aim is to store data locally in compliance with legal requirements.

At the moment Alibaba rents space for computer servers from local telecommunications companies Viettel and VNPT to meet the requirements of the localisation law that took effect in 2022 despite opposition from Google, Amazon and others.

Businesses have also been looking for cross-border options. As well as renting out space from data centre operators to store client data locally, Alibaba also backs up data at clients' request at its own server farms located across the region, from Indonesia to Singapore.

Now, however Alibaba plans to build a data centre in Vietnam, not least to keep pace with demand in one of Asia's fastest-growing economies, to keep down costs, and to ensure greater security and control over its information.

Could this presage a data centre boom for Vietnam? State-owned operator Viettel apparently predicts expansion of 15% a year for the foreseeable future  possibly more if a big cloud company like Alibaba invests in the country.

Again, however, such an expansion would be partly down to data localisation rules, which have benefited the state's ability to access data and have also boosted cloud providers that already have server farms in Vietnam, but, says Nikkei, have violated Vietnams free trade agreements.
Chandigarh, May 2 : The Chief Electoral Officer of Punjab has issued warnings to the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for violations of the Model Code of Conduct during the Lok Sabha elections, a statement said on Thursday.

The SAD had used the phrase "Delhi ke Dalal" in a video against AAPas state convener and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and AAP candidates, which is in violation of the guidelines of the model code.

The party later deleted the video.

Furthermore, using children in an election rally of SAD President Sukhbir Badal has been deemed to be a violation of the model code, the Chief Electoral Officer said in a statement.

The District Election Officer of Ludhiana also submitted a report that children were used during an election campaign.

There are clear guidelines from the Election Commission that children should not be used in election rallies and campaigns.

The Akali Dal has been warned for violating the directions and directed it not to repeat such mistakes in the future and strictly follow the guidelines of the model code.

Likewise, the AAP has been refrained from uploading posts or videos like "Unsacred Games of Punjab".

Also, the casteist remarks used by Cabinet minister Laljit Singh Bhullar for his political opponents have also been considered a violation of the model code. The District Election Officer of Tarn Taran also submitted a report that the use of casteist remarks was in violation of the Election Commission instructions.

Punjab will go to the polls for all 13 parliamentary seats on June 1.
New Delhi, May 2 : The BJP on Thursday dropped sitting MP and former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh from UP's Kaiserganj, and instead gave the ticket for the Lok Sabha constituency to his younger son, Karan Bhushan Singh.

A six-term MP, Brij Bhushan suffered a massive political setback due to the allegations of sexual harassment levelled against him that saw some of the country's top women wrestlers hit the streets.

The latest development has drawn a sharp reaction from 2020 Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist wrestler Bajrang Punia, who was at the forefront of the protest against Brij Bhushan.

Speaking exclusively to IANS, Punia said, "This gives a sense of unhappiness to the daughters, sisters, women, and sportspersons of the country. First, the government made a promise to the wrestlers but installed a 'dummy' candidate in the wrestling federation.

"Now by giving the ticket to his (Brij Bhushan's) son, the BJP is trying to show that Brij Bhushan has been dropped. But everyone knows that he has influence in everything, from the wrestling federation to politics. The government has betrayed the players."

Attacking the Centre on the issue of women's safety, Punia said the Modi government gives the slogan of women's empowerment and 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao', but now it should be asked if the daughters should be saved from the BJP or someone else.

"Brij Bhushan showed his clout and influence in the government. Videos of many BJP leaders are going viral, but the party is supporting them. The government has tried to save Brij Bhushan in every way. The job of the government is to provide justice.

"But, instead of punishing him, the government worked to make him much stronger. This is a bad phase for the sisters and daughters in sports," the ace grappler said.

Given that the BJP slams nepotism in other parties, "what is the logic of giving the Lok Sabha ticket to the son of someone who plays with the honour of sisters and daughters", Punia asked.
New Delhi, May 2 : As Prime Minister Narendra Modi gears up to address public meetings in Bardhaman, Krishnanagar, and Bolpur constituencies in West Bengal, with an additional one in Jharkhand, on May 3, it is evident that his focus on Bengal for the ongoing Lok Sabha polls remains unwavering.

PM Modi's strategic emphasis on West Bengal underscores not only the significance of the state in the electoral landscape but also the BJP's aspirations to make substantial inroads into a traditionally challenging territory.

Needless to say, West Bengal has emerged as a pivotal battleground, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) eyeing significant gains in these Lok Sabha elections. The state, traditionally dominated by regional parties like the Trinamool Congress (TMC), now presents a ripe opportunity for the BJP to increase its tally.

PM Modi's decision to hold three back-to-back rallies in the TMC-ruled state on May 3 bears testimony to the fact that BJP is keen to capitalise on this opportunity.

With 42 Lok Sabha seats, Bengal offers a substantial share in the parliamentary equation.

The state's political landscape has witnessed significant shifts in recent years.

The BJP, once a marginal player, has steadily increased its presence, primarily by positioning itself as an alternative to the ruling TMC.

This shift is particularly notable in areas like Bardhaman, Krishnanagar, and Bolpur, where the BJP has made significant electoral gains in recent state and local elections.

Bengal's political discourse often revolves around issues of identity, culture, and regional pride.

PM Modi's campaign in these constituencies is likely to be tailored to resonate with the state's cultural ethos while also emphasising national development agendas. His speeches are expected to touch upon themes of Hindutva, development, and national security, strategically aligning with the BJP's core ideology.

PM Modi's decision to address public meetings in specific constituencies underscores the BJP's targeted approach towards consolidating support in key electoral battlegrounds.

Bardhaman, Krishnanagar, and Bolpur are significant as they represent a mix of urban and rural demographics, where the BJP has been actively expanding its support base.

PM Modi's presence in West Bengal is not merely symbolic; it's a demonstration of the BJP's organisational strength and its commitment to challenging the dominance of regional parties in the state.

By rallying support in these constituencies, PM Modi aims to energise party workers and bolster the BJP's electoral machinery for the polls.

The Prime Minister's speeches are likely to present a counter-narrative to the ruling TMC's governance model. He may highlight issues such as law and order, corruption, and economic development, portraying the BJP as a viable alternative capable of addressing the state's socio-economic challenges effectively.

PM Modi's focus on West Bengal for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls reflects the BJP's strategic calculations and its determination to expand its footprint in a politically significant state.

As the Prime Minister addresses public meetings in Bengal and Jharkhand, all eyes will be on the electoral dynamics unfolding in these crucial battlegrounds, with implications that extend far beyond regional politics.
Chennai, May 2 : Tamil Nadu Police on Thursday blamed the negligence of workers for the blast in a stone quarry in the state's Virudhunagar district, which left three workers lead.

Aviyoor police have filed the case under Sections 286 (negligent handling of explosives endangering human life) and 304 (2) (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code and under the provisions of the Indian Explosives Act.

Police, in its First Information Report (FIR), said that the three workers were not using any safety gear and there was no supervision when the explosives were being handled. The FIR said that two vans carrying different explosive materials - one carrying electric detonators and another containing nitrate mixture -- were parked in close proximity, even though those handling the explosives knew that keeping these materials close to each other while loading and unloading could result in an accident.

Negligent handling had led to the fatal accident, it said.

Two out of the four partners who were running the stone quarry and the nearby explosive storage unit have been arrested in connection with the accident.

Superintendent of Police, K. Feroze Khan Abdullah said that both the stone quarry and the explosives storage unit had valid licenses till 2027.

The bodies of the three workers - A. Kandasamy, 49, S. Periyadurai, 27, and R. Gurusamy, 55, were handed over to the families after post-mortem at Virudhunagar Government Medical College hospital.
Kolkata, May 2 : In a startling development, a temporary female staff at the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata on Thursday filed a written complaint with the police accusing Governor C.V. Ananda Bose of outraging her modesty.

Police sources said that late on Thursday afternoon, a woman claiming to be a temporary staff attached to the Peace Room in the Raj Bhavan approached the officer-in-charge of the police outpost located inside the Governor's House and accused Ananda Bose of molesting her.

The officer immediately contacted the local Hare Street police station, under which the Raj Bhavan falls, following which the police reached the Governor's House.

Later, the woman was taken to the Hare Street police station from the Raj Bhavan, where she registered a written complaint accusing the Governor of 'molesting' her on the pretext of providing her a permanent job.

Till the time of filing of this report, no official reaction or statement came from the Governor's House in the matter.

Incidentally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will reach Kolkata later on Thursday and is supposed to spend the night at the Raj Bhavan.

The Prime Minister will address three election rallies in West Bengal on Friday.

Security measures have been tightened in and around the Raj Bhavan following the police complaint against the Governor.
New Delhi, May 2 : A total of 125 calls regarding bomb threats were received from different schools in the national capital at 112, the Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) number, on Wednesday between around 6 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., according to the Delhi Police FIR in the 'threat emails' case.

"During my duty hours, 125 bomb threat calls were received from different schools at ERSS-112 from 5:47 hours to 14:13 hours. The school authorities informed that they had received these bomb threats over their email IDs," read the complaint given by a police official, based on which the FIR was registered.

The FIR copy, accessed by IANS, stated that on the receipt of the calls, PCR vehicles were rushed to the schools, and all concerned departments were also alerted.

"These resulted in massive inconvenience and elaborate exercise across the city in safely evacuating the schools and carrying out anti-sabotage checks. It appears that the emails used to send the threats were made with the conspiratorial intention of creating mass panic and to disturb public been made out," it read.

The case has been handed over to the Counter Intelligence Unit of the Delhi Police's Special Cell, known for its expertise in cybercrime investigation.

Delhi Police's Special Cell has filed the FIR against unidentified individuals under sections 505, 21, 507, and 120B of the Indian Penal Code.

A wave of panic swept through the National Capital Region (NCR) as 125 schools in Delhi, five in Gurugram, and three in Noida and Greater Noida were compelled to evacuate their students following threatening emails hinting at the presence of explosives on their premises on Wednesday.

The situation escalated rapidly as police stations in Delhi and its neighbouring areas were inundated with PCR calls from the affected schools, prompting swift action from law enforcement agencies. Fire brigades were put on high alert, and police units from across the city rushed to the schools in distress.

In a frenzied rush, parents scrambled from their homes to ensure the safety of their children.

The email address used, sawariim@mail.ru, indicated its Russian origin. However, police officials clarified that it cannot be ascertained if they actually originated from Russia as the perpetrators may have used a masked IP address.

Investigations revealed that all schools received the threat emails from a single IP address, likely masked using a VPN connection. The use of the Arabic word 'Sawariim,' meaning clashing of swords and associated with ISIS propaganda, raised concerns. However, officials deemed it improbable that ISIS was involved, suggesting that perpetrators often mimic ISIS signatures to lend credibility to threats.

The threats turned out to be a hoax.
Imphal, May 2 : With the deportation of 38 immigrants from Manipur to Myanmar on Thursday, a total of 77 illegal Myanmarese migrants, including 55 women and five children, have been deported to their country since March 8, officials said.

Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh said in a post on X: "Without any discrimination, we have completed the first phase of deportation of illegal immigrants from Myanmar with 38 more immigrants leaving Manipur today through Moreh."

He added: "A total of 77 illegal immigrants have been deported in the first phase. One Indian national was also brought back from Myanmar during the handover ceremony. The state government is continuing the identification of illegal immigrants and at the same time, biometric data are also being recorded. Let's keep our borders and country secure."

A senior official said that the first batch of seven Myanmarese was deported on March 8 through the Moreh border town in Manipur's Tengnoupal district.

The Myanmar nationals fled to Manipur after the military junta seized power in the neighboring country on February 1, 2021.

The Manipur Chief Minister had said earlier that although India is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, it has given shelter and aid to those fleeing the crisis in Myanmar on humanitarian grounds with a systematic approach.

Since the military took over Myanmar more than three years ago, over 5,000 Myanmar nationals, including women and children, have taken shelter in Manipur while over 32,000 people have taken shelter in Mizoram.

A majority of the refugees in Mizoram live in relief camps and government buildings, while many are accommodated by their relatives.

A large number of Myanmarese also live in rented accommodations.

Besides civilians, a few hundred Myanmarese soldiers also fled to Mizoram in phases after their camps were captured by the armed pro-democracy ethnic groups in Myanmar, who stepped up their battle against the army in October last year.

However, these soldiers have been deported to Myanmar in phases.

Following the advice of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the Manipur government has been collecting the biometric details of the Myanmar nationals sheltered in the state. The Mizoram government, however, turned down the MHA appeal to collect biographic and biometric data of the Myanmar refugees.
New Delhi, May 2 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a whirlwind poll campaign in Gujarat on Thursday, launched a blistering attack on the Congress as well as INDIA bloc and accused them of 'taking tacit support' of Pakistan for 'furthering' their politics at the cost of the national interest.

PM Modi, addressing back-to-back poll rallies in Gujarat's Anand, Surendranagar and Junagarh on Thursday, hurled a series of barbs at the grand old party and also asserted how the tables turned under NDA rule as the latter believed in giving doses and not dossiers to the terror masterminds.

At Anand rally, PM Modi excoriated the grand old party over former Pakistan minister Fawad Chaudhry's admiration for Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and said that the neighbouring nation wants to see 'Shehzada' as the next Prime Minister.

Further taking potshots at the grand old party, PM Modi said that ex-Pakistan minister's praise for 'Congress prince' has exposed the 'partnership' between Pakistan and Congress.

"Look at the co-incidence. Today, Congress is getting weaker. Congress is dying and Pakistan is crying. Pakistani leaders are now offering prayers for the Congress party. Pakistan is eager and desperate to make the prince, Prime Minister," PM Modi said.

"Congress is already a fan of Pakistan. This has completely exposed the partnership between Congress party and Pakistan," PM Modi further stated.

Pakistani politician Fawad Chaudhry on Thursday re-tweeted a video of Rahul Gandhi and reportedly wrote, 'Rahul on Fire' while lauding him for leading 'valiant campaign' against the current dispensation.

This also drew flak from the BJP as the latter said 'the party's dalliance with Pakistan could not get more obvious. Doubling down his attack on the Congress party, PM Modi also accused the latter and crown prince of misleading the people with false propaganda and peddling a fraudulent narrative via its 'fake factory'. "Before the NDA government, the country had two constitutions, two flags. The Indian Constitution didn't apply in Kashmir. But all that changed after our govt revoked Article 370," PM Modi said.

"Today, Congress has become a fake factory. It promises Mohabbat ki Dukaan but dishes out a barrage of fake information," he further said.

PM Modi also raked up 'love jihad' call by Salman Khurshid's niece Maria Alam and hit out at both Congress and INDIA bloc for giving communal colour to the elections.

He said the woman leader has exposed the real intentions of INDIA bloc, but Congress has not uttered a word on this, which means that the inflammatory call has the 'backing' of grand old party.

"They have a tacit understanding. On one hand, the INDIA bloc is trying to divide SC, ST, OBC and general categories, and on the other, they are raising the slogan of vote jihad. This shows how dangerous their intentions are," PM Modi said.

Maria Alam, addressing a poll rally in Uttar Pradesh's Farrukhabad recently, had made an appeal to Muslim voters to launch 'vote jihad', saying that was the only way to oust this government.

Addressing poll rallies throughout the day, the Prime Minister also slammed the previous Congress-led UPA governments for 'allowing' a series of corruption and scams that caused irreversible harm to the economy.

"Ten years ago, our country was ashamed of scams worth lakhs and crores. 2G scam, coal scam, defence scam, CAG scam, helicopter scam, submarine scam, commonwealth scam, the list goes long. Congress committed scams worth thousands of crores of rupees in water, land and sky," PM Modi told the gathering.

One major milestone that PM Modi highlighted in poll rallies was 'generational changes' in people's lives under the NDA government and how his government did not believe in providing dossiers to terror-sponsoring nations but to give doses to the terror masterminds, irrespective of their location.
Repolling underway in one polling booth in Ajmer LS seat. Image Source: IANS News

Jaipur, May 2 : Repolling at a voting booth in the Ajmer Lok Sabha constituency of Rajasthan registered a turnout of 68.66 per cent on Thursday.

Repolling was held in polling station number 195 at Government Higher Secondary School in Nandsi village under the Masuda Assembly constituency after a voters' register got misplaced.

A total of 517 people out of 753 registered voters exercised their franchise in the polling booth, said Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Praveen Gupta.

Voting for the Ajmer Lok Sabha constituency was held on April 26 during the second phase.
Kolkata, May 2 : Despite receiving a written complaint from a woman staffer of the Raj Bhavan accusing West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose of 'outraging her modesty', the Kolkata Police seem to be in a fix as to what should the next course of action in the matter.

According to legal experts, the Governor and the President of India, as constitutional heads of the state and the country, respectively, have immunity against any legal proceedings under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

City police sources said they are consulting their legal brains to decide on the next course of action.

In a startling development on Thursday afternoon, a temporary female staff at the Raj Bhavan filed a written complaint with the police accusing Governor Bose of outraging her modesty.

Police sources said the woman, reportedly attached to the Peace Room in the Raj Bhavan, approached the officer-in-charge of the police outpost located inside the Governor's House and accused Ananda Bose of molesting her on the pretext of providing her a permanent job. Later, she submitted a written complaint at the Hare Street police station, under which the Raj Bhavan falls.

According to Article 361 of the Constitution, a criminal proceeding cannot be instituted in a court against the Governor during his term of office.

Reacting to the development, state minister and senior Trinamool Congress leader Chandrima Bhattacharya said, "I wonder what is happening in the Raj Bhavan, and that too on a day when the Prime Minister is coming to the state."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to reach Kolkata on Thursday night and stay at the Raj Bhavan. He will address three election rallies in the state on Friday.

Meanwhile, Trinamool Rajya Sabha member Saharika Ghose posted on X: "Molestation charges against Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose put the prestige of the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata at stake. PM@narendramodi is scheduled to arrive in Kolkata today and stay overnight at Raj Bhavan. Will Modi ask CV Ananda Bose for an explanation?"

However, senior BJP leader Tathagata Roy, who had been the Governor of Tripura and Meghalaya, came out in the Bengal Governor's defence, saying: "Generally, such accusations of outrage of modesty are raised against anyone who has some past records in the matter.

"When I was the Governor of Meghalaya, he (Ananda Bose) was posted as a senior bureaucrat there. In due course, he worked in several important positions as a senior bureaucrat. There has been no such complaint against him in the past."
Industry organisations Fibre Connect Council MENA (FCC MENA) and the FTTH Council Europe have inked what is described as a significant agreement aimed at fostering collaboration and synergy between the two organisations.

The agreement was signed in Berlin on the occasion of the FTTH Conference 2024 in late March  but only now, it seems, is it being widely announced.

The two groups say they have long been at the forefront of advocating for the widespread adoption and advancement of fibre optic technology in their respective regions of interest. With parallel objectives and overlapping member interests, the agreement formalises a commitment to harnessing these commonalities for the mutual benefit of their respective memberships.

At its core, the agreement underscores a shared vision of accelerating the deployment and utilisation of fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) networks across the MENA region and beyond. By pooling resources, expertise and networks, both organisations say they aim to drive innovation, promote best practices and address common challenges encountered in the deployment and operation of FTTH infrastructure.

Raf Meersman, President of the FTTH Council Europe, explains: "This agreement allows us to pool resources and expertise, paving the way for a closer collaboration to help achieve our mission and tackle the common challenges for our industry in the near future. For the members of the FTTH Council Europe this also offers new chances of networking and exchange of knowledge with people and organisations in the MENA region and vice versa."

As part of the agreement, FCC MENA and FTTH Council Europe will explore various avenues for collaboration, including joint initiatives, knowledge exchange programmes, and advocacy efforts. By working together, both organisations say they are confident that they can unlock new opportunities and address the evolving needs of their members in the dynamic field of fibre optic communications.
Ludhiana, May 2 : The Congress is united in Punjab to win all 13 seats as the party does not find any challenge or competition anywhere in the state, state party chief and Ludhiana Lok Sabha seat candidate, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, said on Thursday, Ludhiana, May 2 (IANS) The Congress is united in Punjab to win all 13 seats as the party does not find any challenge or competition anywhere in the state, state party chief and Ludhiana Lok Sabha seat candidate, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, said on Thursday,

"On one hand, it is Congress, but on the other hand, all others and they canat match us even if they all come together," he told the media here.

Scores of Congress workers accorded a red carpet welcome to state Congress chief on reaching Ludhiana for the first time after his name was cleared by the party as the candidate.

Warring, a three-time legislator from Gidderbaha, has been pitted against Congress rebel and BJP's Ravneet Singh Bittu, a three-time MP and grandson of former Chief Minister Beant Singh who was assassinated in a terror attack while still in office in 1995.

As Warring entered the city, he was received by senior party leaders, including Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Rakesh Pandey, Capt Sandeep Sandhu, Surinder Dawer, Sanjay Talwar, Kuldeep Singh Vaid and Ishwerjot Singh Cheema.

Confident workers said it was a matter of great privilege to have the state unit President as their candidate from Ludhiana to fight against Bittu, who had betrayed the party by joining the BJP. They said Bittu has not only betrayed the party, but lakhs of party workers also had voted for him in both the elections in 2014 and 2019.

Warring said he was touched by the love and affection shown by the party workers on his first day in Ludhiana.

"I feel profoundly grateful and overwhelmed with the love you have showered on me," he said, adding: "Well begun is half done".

He said the party workers will take this battle to the logical conclusion.

Interestingly, both Warring and Bittu were handpicked by party leader Rahul Gandhi when they started their careers in the Youth Congress. The state's ruling AAP has fielded Ashok Parashar Pappi, while Shiromani Akali Dalas candidate is Ranjeet Singh Dhillon.

Punjab will go to the polls on all 13 parliamentary seats on June 1.
Kolhapur : , May 2 (IANS) Days after a spirited row on PM Narendra Modi's 'bhatakti atma' comments, Nationalist Congress Party-SP President Sharad Pawar on Thursday said that PM Modi reads out the words penned by local leaders in his poll campaigns in Maharashtra.

Speaking to the media while campaigning for the INDIA-MVA-Congress candidate Chhatrapati Shrimant Shahu Maharaj, Pawar took a jibe at the PM's speech earlier this week in Kolhapur.

As per his usual practice in Maharashtra, he had started his speech with a aNamaste Kolhapurkara followed by a few sentences in Marathi, which Pawar mimicked mischievously.

"Whenever Modi comes here, itas his style to utter a few sentences in the local language, penned by the local leaders and referring to local issues," he said.

In another swipe, Pawar said that though the PM mentions all the local leaders in his speeches, in Karad (Sangli), he forgot to name the legendary ex-CM and former Deputy PM Y. B. Chavan, who hailed from there, and blamed the local BJP leaders for the omission.

Later, the NCP-SP supremo replied to the PMas charge that if the INDIA bloc comes to power, there will be five PMs in five years, implying political uncertainty.

"When the INDIA alliance is voted to power, we shall give a strong and stable government in the countrya We (NCP-SP) did not demand more seats in the INDIA bloc meeting as the primary objective is to defeat the BJP. The question of who will be the PM from the Opposition was never discussed as it is inappropriate to do so before the elections," he declared, citing the instance of the 1977 elections when the Janata Party was voted to power and then selected Morarji Desai as the Prime Minister.

Pawar also rejected the PMas contentions that the INDIA bloc was planning to give reservations based on religion, in several of his election rallies.

"We have never discussed this and we do not accept the idea of reservations on religious lines. Even if Modi decides to give such religious reservations tomorrow, we shall strongly oppose it. The PMas statements are creating social tensions and bitternessa we donat accept it," he asserted.
New Delhi, May 2 : Acharya Pramod Krishnam, the Kalki Dhaam Peethadheeshwar and the sacked Congress leader spoke exclusively to IANS on Thursday and described Indian democracy as the best in the world.

Taking potshots at the Congress and other Opposition parties, Pramod Krishnam asked "if there was no democracy in the country, could you abuse the Prime Minister on daily basis?"

He said this while lambasting top Congress leaders for making false claims about the country on foreign territories like 'democracy is dead in India, Muslims are under threat'.

He told IANS that he returned from Abu Dhabi recently and was startled to see the state of affairs there.

He said that nobody could utter an insulting remark for the rulers. If anyone makes any derogatory remark, he is put behind bars there.

"There is no better democracy in the world than India," he said.

He said that Opposition parties take turns to abuse and curse the Prime Minister on daily basis, they remain unrestrained in attacking the Prime Minister and still enjoy full freedom.

Praising PM Modi's conduct in the face of such adversity, Krishnam said he remains committed to his goals and keeps serving the country with full devotion.

"What is his fault? He led the movement for Ram Mandir and got it constructed after 500 years. If he talks about equal rights for all 140 crore citizens, is it a crime? He has ensured free ration to 80 crore people for more than 5 years, is it a crime? If he got more than 150 vaccines administered, is it a crime?" he asked. Krishnam further showered praise on PM Modi for bringing a global recognition for the country.

"Had Narendra Modi not been country's Prime Minister, there would not have been a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya. There wouldn't have been a Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi as well," Pramod Krishnam told IANS.
Washington, May 2 : India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Wednesday urged Indian students enrolled in US colleges and universities to abide by local laws and regulations with regard to the ongoing protests that have swept across American institutions for higher education against Israel's ongoing war in Gaza.

There have been no reports yet of the involvement of Indian students in these protests and the ministry has also said no student or their family has contacted Indian missions for help.

"We expect all our citizens at home and abroad to respect local laws and regulations," MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a news briefing in New Delhi in response to a question about protests at Columbia University.

"So far no Indian students or their families have contacted us for any assistance in regard to disciplinary action which has been taken for their participation in the protest," he added.

Hundreds of thousands of Indian students are enrolled in US colleges and universities in graduate and undergraduate courses. Many of them desire to work after college and settle down here. They are unlikely to participate in protests or take part in an action that pits them against the law, which could jeopardize their future.

Protests have spread across US colleges and universities against Israel's ongoing war in Gaza, with students demanding an end to US support for Israel and, as in the case of Columbia University, cutting with businesses and other entities with investments in Israel.

These protests have turned violent in many instances with students taking over parts of the university building as they did in Columbia. Police have arrested scores of students and are breaking up their encampments, as their tents pitched around the campuses are being called.

"Disclose, divest. We will not slow, we will not rest" is what protestors at Columbia University have been heard chanting. They want the university to divest in Israel and cut ties with companies that invest in Israel or have supported its war effort.

President Joe Biden addressed the violence in a speech from the White House saying that the freedom to protest must be accompanied by respect for the law. "Violent protest is not protected, peaceful protest is," he said.

"It's against the law if violence occurs. Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations. None of this is a peaceful protest. Threatening people, intimidating people, instilling fear in people is not peaceful protest. It's against the law. Dissent is essential to democracy. But dissent must never lead to disorder, or to denying the rights of others so students can finish the semester and their college education," the US President said.

The US President also appealed for an end to anti-semitism and Islamophobia or discrimination against supporters of Palestine.

"There should be no place on any campus, no place in America, for anti-Semitism, or threats of violence against Jewish students. There is no place for hate speech or violence of any kind, whether it's anti-semitism, Islamophobia, or discrimination against Arab-Americans or Palestinian Americans. It's simply wrong. There's no place for racism in America. It's all wrong," he said.

College authorities and law enforcement agencies have blamed some of the violence on outsiders joining student protestors. New York police found "professional agitators" among protestors at Columbia.
Kolkata: An Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) and Voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) during a voters awareness programme organised ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Kolkata, on March 19, 2019. . Image Source: IANS News

Vijayawada, May 2 : A little over 4.14 crore voters are eligible to cast their votes in Andhra Pradesh for May 13 simultaneous elections to the state Assembly and Lok Sabha.

The state's total electorate stands at 4,14,01,887 - 2,03,39,851 male, 2,10,58,615 female, and 3,421 third-gender voters. The state has 68,185 service electors.

Chief Electoral Officer M. K. Meena said on Thursday that the final electoral roll was published under Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls with reference to January 1, 2024, as the qualifying date on January 22, 2024. Thereafter, the rolls were updated till the last date for making nominations for general elections, 2024 that is April 25.

He said there are 46,389 polling stations in the state, with 1,500 voters at each polling station.

Since the model code of conduct came into force, two persons have died and 156 injured in cases of electoral violence. The enforcement agencies seized cash, liquor, drugs, precious metals and freebies worth Rs.203 crore from March 16 to May 2.

The CEO revealed that 2,11,257 voters above 85 years of age and 5,17,227 PWBD (Persons with Benchmark Disability) voters are eligible for home voting. Out of the total 7,28,484 voters eligible for home voting, 28,591 have opted for it. A total of 31,705 essential services electors have opted for Form-12D collection.

Polling for the 175-member Assembly and all 25 Lok Sabha seats is scheduled on May 13.

--IANS

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Kolkata, May 2 : West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose issued an order on Thursday night banning the entry of the police and Minister of State for Finance, Chandrima Bhattacharya, into the Raj Bhavan.

The move came hours after a temporary female staff at the Raj Bhavan filed a written complaint with the police accusing the Governor of outraging her modesty.

"For defamation and anti-constitutional media statements against Governor C.V. Ananda Bose, a junior gubernatorial appointee Chandrima Bhattacharya, Minister of State (Independent Charge), Department of Finance, has been banned entry into the Raj Bhavan premises in Kolkata, Darjeeling, and Barrackpore," read a statement issued by the Governor's office.

Bhattacharya was the first to react after the allegation of molestation surfaced against the Governor.

"I wonder what is happening in the Raj Bhavan, and that too on a day when the Prime Minister is coming to the state," Bhattacharya said.

The statement issued by the Raj Bhavan also said that the Governor will not participate in any function attended by the Minister.

The Governor has also banned the entry of police into the Raj Bhavan premises.

"The Attorney General of India has been contacted for advice on further legal steps against the Minister. The Hon'ble Governor also banned the entry of police into the Raj Bhavan premises in the guise of conducting unauthorised, illegitimate, sham and motivated investigation to placate political bosses during elections," the statement read.

In an earlier statement issued on Thursday evening, the Governor denied the molestation charge, calling it an attempt to gain electoral benefits.

"Truth shall triumph. I refuse to be cowed down by engineered narratives. If anybody wants some election benefits by maligning me, God bless them. But they cannot stop my fight against corruption and violence in Bengal," it read.
Shivamogga : , May 3 (IANS) Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Thursday that the BJP must apologise to the people of the country, particularly the women, for seeking votes for a 'mass rapist' like Prajwal Revanna, the grandson of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda.

On Tuesday, the JD-S suspended Prajwal Revanna, the sitting party MP and Lok Sabha candidate from Hassan, after the Congress government in Karnataka formed a special investigation team (SIT) to probe allegations of sexual abuse against him.

Addressing a public rally in Shivamogga, Rahul Gandhi said, "It is not that the BJP didnat know about Prajwal Revanna abusing hundreds of women when it was seeking votes for him. The BJP can do anything to remain in power, even if it means defending and seeking votes for a mass rapist like Prajwal Revanna."

The Congress leader also alleged that it was the Central government which let Prajwal Revanna fly to Germany.

"The Government of India has all the agencies at its disposal... Had they wanted, the Centre could have prevented Prajwal Revanna from flying out of the country," he said.

Questioning the BJPas guarantees, Rahul Gandhi alleged that the only guarantee of the ruling party at the Centre is to protect the corrupt and a mass rapist.

Reiterating that the BJP is hell-bent on destroying the Constitution, Rahul Gandhi referred to a recent interview of BJP chief J.P. Nadda where he allegedly equated those seeking equality with the Maoists.

Showing a copy of the Constitution to the people, Rahul Gandhi said, "This Constitution guarantees equality and reservations for Dalits, backward classes, and Adivasis. The BJP is against both equality and reservation, and that is why it wants to get rid of the Constitution."

He also claimed that during the last 10 years, the BJP created 22 billionaires and handed over the entire wealth of the country to them.

"The BJP created just 22 billionaires, but the Congress will create crores of alakhpatisa (millionaires) by distributing wealth among the common people," he said.

Listing the Congress' guarantees, he said, "One woman in every poor family will receive Rs 1 lakh every year. For the youth, there will be a guaranteed first job -- apehli naukri pakkia -- immediately after they complete their graduation or diploma. They will also get Rs 1 lakh for one year. Farmersa debt would be waived, along with guaranteed MSP for their crops. The minimum daily wage will be enhanced to Rs 400 per day."
Ambala : , May 2 (IANS) Two-time Haryana chief minister and Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Thursday promised to set up an Institute of Management Technology (IMT) in Ambala to promote industry and employment if the Congress government is formed.

Hooda was here along with state Congress President Chaudhary Udaibhan to accompany party candidate Varun Mullana to file his nomination for the Ambala Lok Sabha seat.

Many senior party leaders and MLAs were present on the occasion.

Addressing a public meeting before filing the nomination, Hooda said: "This is not just the Lok Sabha elections, but a fight to save the Constitution of the country. That is why Opposition parties have united and formed the INDIA Bloc. In Haryana, this alliance is contesting the elections with full strength, and all communities are going to ensure victory for the INDIA bloc and by defeating the BJP.

"This victory will lay the foundation of Congress government in Haryana along with at the Centre."

Hooda promised that "if the Congress government is formed, 30 lakh youth across India and more than 2 lakh youth in Haryana will get permanent government jobs as per their merits, without any paper leak. Besides, farmers will be given guarantee of MSP (minimum support price) and freedom from debt".

He said the Congress has also promised to provide 300 units of free electricity and gas cylinders for Rs 500 in the state.

"The Congress manifesto also promises 50 per cent reservation in jobs for women and Rs 1 lakh annually," he added.

On this occasion, party candidate Mulana said the Congress has talked about five "justices and 25 guarantees".

"The Congress fulfils whatever it says, whereas the BJP makes big promises and claims but does not do even small work," he added.

Ambala is a significant Lok Sabha constituency in Haryana, comprising nine Assembly segments -- Kalka, Panchkula, Naraingarh, Ambala Cantt, Ambala City, Mulana (SC), Sadhaura (SC), Jagadhri and Yamunanagar.

It is a Scheduled Caste (SC) seat.

Ambala has traditionally witnessed a direct contest between the Congress and the BJP or Jana Sangh since 1967.

The BJP has fielded Banto Kataria, the wife of former Union Minister and three-time MP, Rattan Lal Kataria, who passed away last year.

In a first, Haryana's regional party Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) gave Ambala ticket to Sikh candidate Gurpreet Singh, a practicing lawyer at Punjab and Haryana High Court in Chandigarh.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Rattan Lal Kataria had defeated then Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee president Kumari Selja by securing 57 per cent votes with a huge margin of about 3.42 lakh votes.

--IANS

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Bengaluru, May 3 : The battle to emerge as the face of the Vokkaliga community has taken an ugly turn in Karnataka with surfacing of the sex scandal allegedly involving sitting MP and JD-S candidate from Hassan seat, Prajwal Revanna, who is also the grandson of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda.

The confrontation between Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda's family -- both hailing from the Vokkaliga community, has reached a bitter point.

The Deve Gowda family has never faced such an embarrassing allegations since its prominence in state and national politics.

The community, primarily comprising landlords, has an estimated population of about 16 per cent in the state. It is mainly based in south Karnataka districts, including the state capital Bengaluru. The Vokkaliga factor plays a significant role in state elections, as the community has a strong presence in 70 to 80 Assembly constituencies and 10 to 15 Parliamentary seats.

Deputy CM Shivakumar emerged as a Vokkaliga face in the 2023 Assembly elections after the Congress declared him as one of the Chief Minister faces. The Congress won the maximum seats in south Karnataka, dominated by the community, and the JD-S, which derived core strength from Vokkaligas, was reduced to 19 seats.

Though Shivakumar did not secure the post of Chief Minister, he consolidated his position in the government and the party.

Aware of Shivakumar's aggressive political tactics and his aim to emerge as the unquestionable leader of the Vokkaliga community after Deve Gowda, the JD-S had joined hands with the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

Sources said that the Deputy Chief Minister may have gained a commanding influence on the Vokkaliga vote bank as the Deve Gowda family is forced to take a defensive stance amid the alleged sex scandal.

Deve Gowda's son, former Chief Minister and state JD-S President H.D. Kumaraswamy, has been lashing out at Shivakumar and his brother, sitting Congress MP D.K. Suresh.

Kumaraswamy called them "420s" (cheaters). He also accused Deputy Chief Minister Shivakumar of managing the release of the pen drive containing alleged sex videos of Prajwal Revanna.The JD-S leader has vowed that he will not sit quietly now and will not leave the matter here.

Congress MP Suresh on Thursday said, "For them (Deve Gowda family), respect means nothing. But, it matters to the families of the poor victims. I don't want to comment on the a420a remark on us. If I use it on former PM Deve Gowda, his supporters will feel bad...Their party symbol of women carrying crops is being ridiculed."

Sources claimed that three days before the state's first phase election (held on April 26), thousands of pen drives containing alleged sex videos were dumped at public locations throughout the Hassan Parliamentary constituency.

Deputy Chief Minister Shivakumar had repeatedly claimed that the JD-S would lose all three seats and also the Bengaluru Rural Lok Sabha seat, from where Deve Gowda's son-in-law C.N. Manjunath is contesting the Lok Sabha election.

The alleged videos shocked the state, and the Congress government, without wasting time, formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) under the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). CM Siddaramaiah claimed on social media that it is prima facie found that there are atrocities committed against women.

The National Womenas Commission (NCW) also sought a report from the state police.

The BJP slammed the state government for not arresting the accused MP and allowing him to fly abroad.

Sources say that development is likely to take more serious twists in the coming days as the Deve Gowda family's influence, strength and reach cannot be undermined.

With Kumaraswamy claiming to be set for a big expose, the political corridors are abuzz with speculation that more skeletons will emerge from the closet in state politics.
Jaipur, May 3 : Rajasthan Assembly Speaker Vasudev Devnani on Thursday suspended a Class IV employee of the Assembly Secretariat, who was found guilty in the preliminary investigation for embezzling lakhs of rupees from people in the name of providing jobs in the Assembly and other agencies.

The employee, Nitin Sharma, has been suspended keeping in view the pending investigation.

The preliminary inquiry by the the Legislative Assembly was conducted after Speaker Devnani received several complaints in this regard.

Principal Secretary of the Assembly Secretariat, Mahavir Prasad Sharma, on Thursday issued an order to suspend the employee.
A promotion event for the Arabic version of a book that brings together Chinese President Xi Jinping's elaborations on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been held in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Over 100 representatives from China and Arab countries attended the event held on Monday.

Ali bin Tamim, director of the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Center, hailed in a speech the BRI as one of the greatest initiatives in the 21st century.

He stressed that, within the framework of tolerance and win-win values, the book serves as a beacon on the Silk Road in the contemporary era, by promoting dialogues among different civilizations and ties between the Arab and Chinese peoples.

The book, containing the treasures of human knowledge and cultural exchanges, will continue to contribute to promoting the friendship and prosperity between the UAE and China, he added.

Mohammed Ali, director of the UAE Trends Research Center, praised the book for being highly theoretical and practical, adding that the BRI is one of the most significant global initiatives raised by Xi.

The UAE, as an important link in global trade connectivity, has been playing a critical role in BRI construction due to its location at the intersection of the Belt and Road, he said.

Du Zhanyuan, president of China International Communications Group (CICG), said the book has collected President Xi's important manuscripts on the Belt and Road construction, vividly and accurately recording the development, connotation and implementation path of the initiative.

It is the authoritative book for Arab readers to understand the BRI, he added.

The promotion event, jointly sponsored by the CICG and the Chinese embassy in the UAE, was co-hosted by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Center.
Work has started on the Third Street bicycle and pedestrian bridge in Moscow. The initial phase includes preparing the foundation, followed by setting the bridge structure, pouring the concrete deck and tieing in the bridge at each end. A ribbon cutting event will be held once work is complete.  University of Idaho faculty Wednesday approved a university-wide shift to a plus-minus grading system to be implemented in 2023, in the face of what was characterized as strong opposition from students. Associate professor of Journalism and Mass Media Kenton Bird was among those speaking in favor of the move, noting a similar measure was approved by the faculty in 2005 but vetoed by then-President Tim White. Bird said such a shift is long overdue and would help align the UIs grading system with the majority of schools in the country.

2014 10 years ago today

Washington has been named the No. 1 bicycle-friendly state in the nation for the seventh year in a row by the League of American Bicyclists. The national bicycling advocacy group ranks states based upon bicycle-friendly legislation, policies, infrastructure, funding and education, among others, to determine which states provide the best bicycling opportunities. Other states topping the list are Minnesota, Wisconsin, Delaware and Oregon. The news was announced May 1, the first day of Bike Month in Washington, made so following a proclamation from Gov. Jay Inslee last month, who hailed the activity as one that helps build healthy communities, healthy people and a rich quality of life.
"However, we believe our beauty and wine customers will increasingly adopt frosting as part of their packaging mix. A screen-printed wine label looks great over a frosted bottle." Post this

"Being able to offer frosted and colored glass is hugely exciting for us and marks a significant expansion of our glass decoration options. The supply of colored glass is very limited, and high MOQs and long lead times are standard. Now our customers can create their own custom colored glass", says Caitriona Anderson, Monvera's COO."All the spray coatings are organic and environmentally friendly. Frosting mimics the look of etched or acid-dipped glass without the use of harmful chemicals and is a popular option for spirits and liquor bottles. However, we believe our beauty and wine customers will increasingly adopt frosting as part of their packaging mix. A screen-printed wine label looks great over a frosted bottle."

Color coating and frosting is suitable for a wide range of products, including spirits, wine, beauty products, and specialty foods. An ultraviolet-blocking coating can protect light-sensitive products such as olive oil from UV degradation. Post-coating, Monvera's UV screen-printed labels can be applied to the containers, or they can be shipped to the bottling line for paper label application.

The service is suitable for most bottle sizes and shapes and is available at Monvera's existing location in Richmond, California. The building is conveniently located close to Interstate 580 and Interstate 80, allowing for easy shipment of inbound glass from Oakland Port and glass supplier warehouses and outbound decorated glass to customers across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

About Monvera Glass Decoration:

Monvera is an industry leader in glass bottle decoration, specializing in screen-printed labels and now color coating and frosting. Industries served include wine and spirits, cosmetics and beauty, specialty food, CBD, and beer. Monvera's extensive range of clients includes Boisset Family Estates, Colorado Spirits, Vintner's Daughter, and Veronica Foods. To learn more about Monvera, visit http://www.monvera.com/.

Media Contact

Caitriona Anderson, Monvera Glass Decoration, 1 510 444 9463, [email protected], www.monvera.com

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APS William James Fellows Kent C. Berridge, Vonnie C. McLoyd, Nora S. Newcombe, and Henry Wellman have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). APS Fellow and 2024 Mentor Awardee Brenda Major and APS Fellow Eveline Crone have also been elected to the academy.

Established under a congressional charter signed by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, the NAS is a private, nonprofit institution charged with providing independent, objective advice to the nation on matters related to science and technology. Scientists are elected by their peers for outstanding contributions to research.

Berridge, McLoyd, and Wellman are University of Michigan faculty members. Berridge is the James Olds Distinguished University Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience. His research focuses on improving understanding of the neural mechanisms of emotion, motivation, learning, and reward. He and APS William James Fellow Terry Robinson won the 2019 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award in Psychology for their research on the role of neural sensitization in drug addiction.

McLoyd, the Ewart A. C. Thomas Collegiate Professor of Psychology, has pioneered attempts to understand the psychological processes through which economic deprivation influences Black families and children, and her work has guided the development of effective prevention and intervention programs for Black communities. Earlier this year, McLoyd received the NAS Atkinson Prize in Psychological and Cognitive Sciences. She is an APS Past Board Member.

Wellman is the Harold W. Stevenson Collegiate Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Michigan. His seminal research on childrens development of theory of mind has had a profound impact on developmental psychology, and his exploration of cultural variations in cognition has highlighted the intricate interplay between individual and societal influences.

Newcombe is a Laura H. Carnell Professor of Psychology at Temple University. Her highly influential research on the development of spatial cognition has demonstrated how both children and adults can improve these skills through training and play and that some of these abilities, such as using maps, develop even earlier than once thought. In addition to her 2014 William James Fellow Award, she is a 2023 APS Mentor Award recipient and editor of the APS journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest.

Major is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Majors research addresses how people cope with prejudice, discrimination, devalued social identities, and stressful life events. She is a recipient of the APS 2024 Mentor Award.

Crone was elected as an international member. She is a professor in the Department of Developmental Neuroscience in Society at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam and a professor of neurocognitive developmental psychology at Leiden University. Her research focuses on risky behaviors in adolescents and the function of those risks. In 2017, Crone was awarded the Spinoza Prize, the highest recognition for Dutch scientists.

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Author-illustrator Derek Anderson, known for his expressive and often humorous acrylics in Lauren Thompsons Little Quack picture books and numerous self-illustrated books, died of glioblastoma on April 26 in St. Paul, Minn. He was 55.

Anderson was born March 21, 1969, in Ames, Iowa, to Marvin, a physicist, and Carol Anderson, a teacher. According to his family, he was drawing almost as soon as he could hold a pencil, and never lost his passion for creating art.

Anderson graduated from Ames High School and went on to study at Iowa State University, earning his B.F.A. degree in drawing and painting in 1991. His college years were busy outside of coursework, too, and it was while working at the local Village Inn restaurant that he met Cheryl Meyer, who became his best friend, and then, in 1996, his wife.

Though Anderson knew he wanted a career where he could use his artistic talent, he wasnt quite sure what that might be. That changed during his senior year of college when his mother, then a third-grade teacher, attended a book conference. She brought armfuls of childrens books back with her, which immediately caught my eye, he recalled in his 2003 Flying Start interview with PW. Seeing those booksI was blown away by them, he saidhelped him envision a solid goal.

Shortly after college, Anderson moved to Minneapolis with his wife and landed a job as a sculptor at dimensional fine art company TivoliToo, creating figurines for Disney and Warner Bros. He moved through other positions there, eventually working in product design as well as greeting cards and animation storyboards. But even with an art-filled day job, Anderson did not lose sight of publishing. It was during this time, on evenings and weekends, that I would write and paint and send my stuff off to New York, he told PW.

In 1999, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers took interest in one of the stories he had sent out. Kevin Lewis, then executive editor, and Alyssa Eisner, then associate editor, encouraged Anderson and suggested rewrites, but ultimately passed on the project. But the experience motivated him to travel to New York in 2001 and make the rounds of 15 publishers with his portfolio. As a result, he received two contracts, one from Random House for Ready? Set. Raymond! by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, and the other for Little Quack (S&S, 2003), which became a New York Times bestseller and spawned nine more books featuring the fuzzy yellow duckling.

The first title Anderson both wrote and illustrated was Gladys Goes to Lunch (S&S, 2005). He did a number of picture books including Ten Pigs: An Epic Bath Adventure (Orchard, 2016), and more recently had developed the beginning reader Croc and Ally series, about a crocodile and alligator who are opposite personalities but best friends, and the early chapter book series Benny McGee and the Shark, about a shark who follows a boy home from school (both Penguin Workshop).

Anderson continued to illustrate stories by other authors, too, including the popular Hot Rod Hamster series by Cynthia Lord, which have tallied many state book awards and have been named to Best Childrens Books lists from Bank Street College of Education.

In all, Anderson published more than 30 books for kids, and was deeply committed to traveling to schools, libraries, conferences, and book fairs to meet young readers. Its important to give kids a glimpse into creating stories and pictures, he wrote in a passage shared by his family. It takes both patience and hard work to create anything. I want students to come away from my presentations knowing that if theyre willing to work hard and believe, they can do absolutely anything in this world.

Before his recent declining health, Anderson had completed a new picture book for HarperCollins, which will be published posthumously.

Tracey Adams, Andersons literary agent, said: Derek was an absolute joy to work withprofessional, kind, and always ready with a great story about his beloved dog. He loved his characters, and that love spilled onto the page so we couldnt help but fall in love with them, too. He wrote, I simply look for interesting situations and then sit back and watch to see what they do. 

Alexandra Cooper, executive editor at HarperCollins Childrens Books, paid tribute: I was lucky enough to work with Derek on several books, and he always took care to make sure his pieces were perfect, every detail attended to. He was as comfortable in his studio as he was in front of auditoriums of students, and I know he brought joy to many, many thousands of kids with his books.

And author Cynthia Lord, who partnered with Anderson on the Hot Rod Hamster books, shared this remembrance: Derek made the world a more colorful, warm, and kind place. We started as co-creators of Hot Rod Hamster, but quickly became friends. I loved his playful sense of fun. For example, he always drew our dogs in our books. That was Derek, adding something special into everything he did.

I love reading our books to K1 students, but at middle schools, something poignant happens. I hear a gasp of delight and Hot Rod Hamster? I loved that book! Its a powerful reminder that we carry our most-beloved books inside us, long after weve read them. Derek has left us all a great legacy.
Each year, the Sheikh Zayed Book Awards, organized by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre, is a highlight of the annual Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. The awards recognize authors who write about Arab culture and civilization.

This year, Spanish organization Casa Arabe was the recipient of the prestigious Cultural Personality of the Year award, presented at the 18th Sheikh Zayed Book Awards ceremony, held in Abu Dhabi on April 30. The award, which carries a prize of 1 million UAE dirhams (US$272,364), recognizes Casa Arabe's significant role in promoting cultural exchange between Spain and the Arab world.

Casa Arabe is the second Spanish recipient of the Cultural Personality of the Year award, following Arabist Pedro Martinez Montavez, who received the award in 2009. With headquarters in Madrid and Cordoba, the organization is dedicated to the promotion and celebration of Arab culture across the Spanish-speaking world. The institution also includes a prominent language center that teaches Arabic language courses. With an estimated 600,000 native Arabic speakers residing in Spain, Arabic is the second-most spoken language by the country's immigrant population.

Ali Bin Tamim, secretary general of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award, praised Casa Arabe's profound influence on the cultural exchange between Spain and the Arab world, particularly through its work in championing and promoting the Arabic language. He emphasized the historical connection between Arab culture and the Spanish-speaking world, dating back to the era of Al-Andalus.

Irene Lozano Domingo, director general of Casa Arabe, expressed gratitude for the award, calling it an endorsement of Spain's cultural contribution and the public diplomacy promoted by Spanish institutions, especially in the Arab world. She added that the award is a great encouragement for Casa Arabe to continue working on mutual cultural exchange and exploring the ties between Spanish society and the Arab world through culture, coexistence, and peace.

This year's Sheikh Zayed Book Awards awards received 4,240 submissions from 74 countriesa record number of entries and countries alikewith winners hailing from countries including the U.A.E., Tunisia, Germany, Egypt, and China. Each category winner receives prize money of 750,000 UAE dirhams ($204,198).

The winning entries covered a wide range of genres, with a notable focus on the history of the Arab World. The Literature prize was awarded to Egyptian author Reem Bassiouney, for her historical novel Al Halwani: The Fatimid Trilogy, while the Arab Culture in Other Languages category went to German scholar Frank Griffel, for his book The Formation of Post-Classical Philosophy in Islam, published in English by Oxford University Press.

Tunisian Italianist Ahmed Somai won the Translation category for his Arabic translation of Giambattista Vico's The New Science, and Egyptian musician and musicologist Mustafa Said received the inaugural Editing of Arabic Manuscripts award for his study of the medieval treatise Safinat Al-Mulk wa Nafisat Al-Fulk.

The Young Author category was awarded to Tunisian academic Houssem Eddine Chachia, for his work on the expulsion of the Moriscos from Spain, while the Development of Nations category went to Emirati Khalifa Alromaithi, for his study of historical place names in the Emirates. Bayt Elhekma of Creative Industries China won the Publishing & Technology category, for work in building cultural bridges between China and the Arab world.

This Years Winners on Opportunity and Responsibility

Bin Tamim, in his opening remarks at the award ceremony, emphasized that winning was about more than taking home prize money, and was a responsibility, with the winners being asked to serve as ambassadors for Arab culture around the world.

Bassiouney, who is a professor at the American University in Cairo and the author of more than a dozen novels, concurred. "I'm actually very honored to have this prize," Bassiouney told PW. "It's a very important time in my career, but also, it's a big responsibility because now, I feel like I should keep my quality of work at the same level."

Bassiouney's winning novel is the latest in a series focusing on semi-autonomous periods in Islamic history that have often been overlooked. "I wanted to write about periods that have not been once studied in the Islamic history, and that are extraordinarily important for our identity, for our culture at the moment," Bassiouney explained. By choosing to write historical novels, she aims to explore the human aspect of these eras, focusing on the experiences of ordinary people.

Bassiouney's passion for Islamic history was sparked by a visit to the Ibn Tulun Mosque in Cairo, considered one of the best in the world. "The moment I visited it, I thought, really, I need to know more about the builder, the architect," she recalled. This experience led her on an 11-year journey of delving into Islamic history, reading chronicles, articles, and books whenever she could find them.

Similarly, Griffel's work seeks to correct misconceptions about Islamic philosophy, particularly the idea that it declined after the 12th century. "Classical Islam is regarded by most people as a great culture, and then they think that it declined afterwards," Griffel said. "This is really what I try to correct here in my book. We have to look at that closely. There's so many interesting things happening. There is also, in science and philosophy, things that still need to be discovered."

Griffel's book focuses on the century following the death of Persian philosopher and polymath Al-Ghazali in 1111a period in which philosophy underwent significant changes in the Islamic world. Griffel argues that the kind of philosophy practiced during this time, known as hikmah, was essentially falsafathe Arabic term for philosophy derived from the Greek philosophiaunder a new name. This rebranding was an attempt to make philosophy more palatable to Islamic sensibilities, as the term hikmah appears in the Quran.

Both Bassiouney and Griffel emphasize the importance of making Islamic history and philosophy more accessible to a wider audience. Bassiouney believes that Arabic literature deserves more global recognition, noting that the Arabic language "does not necessarily, in the world, have the same status that it should have" considering its high number of speakers. She advocates for greater efforts by both the Arab world and the West to promote and translate Arabic literature.

Griffel, meanwhile, highlights the need for closer cooperation between Western scholars and those in the Islamic world. He hopes that his book will be translated and read in the Islamic world, fostering a better understanding of the post-classical period in Islamic philosophy. However, he acknowledges that there is a disconnect between the work of Western scholars and its distribution in the Islamic world, particularly in Arabic-speaking countries.

One of the key insights from Griffel's work is the different methodological approach taken by Islamic philosophers in the post-classical period. He explains that these thinkers often address philosophical problems by presenting both pro and con arguments, acknowledging the impossibility of a single, definitive solution. This inclusive approach contrasts with the Western philosophical tradition exemplified by Immanuel Kant, who argued that certain problems, such as proving the existence of God, should be removed from the realm of philosophy altogether.

Griffel believes that this methodology could be appealing to contemporary philosophers, particularly those in the analytical tradition. "There are my colleagues, particularly in philosophy departmentsparticularly, you might say, analytical philosopherswho actually are very much drawn to this kind of doing philosophy," he noted.

As Bassiouney and Griffel continue to shed light on the richness and complexity of Islamic history and philosophy, they hope to inspire greater interest and understanding among both academics and the general public. Their work serves as a reminder that there is still much to be discovered and appreciated in the intellectual traditions of the Islamic world.

For Bassiouney, this also means supporting and encouraging young writers. "Give more opportunities to young authors, first-time authors. Read them seriously," she advised. As an established author, she recognizes the importance of nurturing emerging talent and ensuring that fresh voices and perspectives are heard in the literary world.

"I hope that winning this award also serves as signal to younger writers of what can be achieved, and the opportunities ahead of them," she said.
Janet Reid, the literary agent known for her sharp-tongued writings about the publishing industry, especially on her website Query Shark, died on April 14, following a brief illness.

After moving to New York City from her native Seattle, Reid launched her own boutique literary agency, JetReid Literary, in 2000. Four years later, she joined Imprint Agency, and in 2006 she and Imprint owner Stephany Evans merged agencies to form FinePrint Literary Management, where she worked for the next 12 years, carving out a niche representing crime fiction as well as nonfiction.

After FinePrint, Reid spent three years at New Leaf Literary before relaunching JetReid in 2020. Over the course of her career, her clients included authors Bill Cameron, Adam Eisenberg, Andrew Grant, Dana Haynes, Jeffrey Marks, and Jeff Somers.

Beyond her more than 20-year tenure as an agent, Reid was perhaps best known for her avid blogging, which established her as a frank, outspoken voice within the publishing industry, as well as a trusted advisor for aspiring authors.

Reid's first blog, which she ran anonymously from 2004 to 2008 under the pen name "Miss Snark," offered up commentary on the trends, norms, etiquette, and hypocrisies that Reid observed within the industry. In 2008, Reid launched Query Shark, a website she ran under her own name for the next 16 years, where she offered free critiques of readers' query letters and answered their questions about the industryfor free.

In an obituary posted to the JetReid website, many colleagues, clients, and friends recalled the impact Reid and her work at Query Shark had on them and the industry.

"I want people to remember how kind she was, and how supportive of writers at all stages of their careers," said client Loretta Sue Ross. "Her blog was a major source of advice and encouragement and, of course, Query Shark was an amazing resource for authors at that stage."

"Janet has been a friend and mentor to so many of us in the publishing industry," said Gallery Books executive editor Abby Zidle. "I've never met someone with such a ready hand to help another, whether offering advice on a query, sharing a brilliant new manuscript, or connecting kindred spirits."

"Her passing leaves an unfillable hole for me, and for so many people, said Keith Kahla, executive editor at St. Martins Press. "And yet, I know that somewhere, shes clucking her tongue and saying, with great sympathy and heart'I know it's hard... now get back to work.'"

Click here to contribute to a memorial bench in Central Park in Janet's name and to Janet's favorite charity, Wild Bird Fund.
At the Independent Book Publishers Associations Publishing University 2024 in Denver, whose theme was Rise and Disrupt!, an April 27 roundtable addressed alternativesor creative tweaksto traditional publishing models. Introducing the panel, IBPA CEO Andrea Fleck-Nisbet questioned conventional measures of success. Corporate publishers can operate on a model that allows for eight out of 10 books to be unprofitable, she said, noting that indies cannot afford the massive advances or high returns and make this model possible. This traditional model is broken. Its bad for publishers, its bad for authors, and its bad for readers. But it doesn't have to be that way.

Panel moderator Brooke Warner, publisher of the hybrid She Writes Press, told the IBPA audience that indie publishers have myriad variations. The most disruptive thing were doing [at She Writes] this year is changing distributors, and were going to the most traditional place possible, which is Simon and Schuster, as a way of pursuing commercial goals, she said. Theres room for all of our different ways of doing things.

Joe Biel, CEO of Microcosm Publishing, prefers to keep operations in-house. He touted Microcosms cloud-based WorkingLit softwarewhich tracks subscribers fulfillment, inventory, title data, and royaltiesand talked about being a nonconformist in an industry that often perceives a correct path to success. You never want to take the right way to get there, because that street is clogged and youre going to have to fight every inch of the way, he said. For us, it was not about disruption. We looked at what we paid Amazon and [asked], Why are we paying them to sell our books? By putting that same effort everywhere else, we doubled our sales within the year and quintupled our sales within four years. I dont think of that as a moral stance, he added, but as a rational business decision.

Biel also spoke to distribution, reminding the audience that a distributor is not one-size-fits-all. In the wake of Small Press Distributions closure and the consequent scramble for reliable distributors, Biel floated the idea of cooperatives. I've been pushing this seriously since 2008, and I think I'm finally having my year, he ventured. Like-minded small publishers could be best off building their own distribution networks, owning the means of production, and not relying upon another company who can't fully appreciate their brilliance.

Dhonielle Clayton, president and founder of Cake Creative and Electric Postcard, innovates as a book packager rather than a publisher, and her focus is on diverse representation. Clayton called herself an outside agitator of publishing in the IP spacesomeone who starts with her own intellectual property, shares it with a writer-for-hire, and packages the result. A former educator, she spent seven years to get my first yes as a childrens author, which made her wonder, How long is it taking for other people from marginalized backgrounds to get in? How can I shorten that runway? She dreams up ideas that don't press down on the bruises of the collective backgrounds of marginalized people, in order to create highly commercial products that all publishers can get excited about.

When Warner asked her about labor and compensation, Clayton replied that she doesnt ask writers to work on spec. All of my writers are marginalized, and I believe to be able to write on spec is a privilege, she said. Im a writer as well, so I dont give a deal I wouldn't sign. She relies on other ways to make the math work, including upfront, one-time payments and royalty packages. As a Black creator, being here in the body that I exist in is disruptive to publishing, Clayton said, and her goal is creating new opportunities for writers that have been in the margins forever and haven't gotten the same opportunities as others. While shes primarily packaged books for children, shes now developing general titles that can be adapted in other media.

Oriana Leckert, head of publishing for Kickstarter, contributed her perspective to the roundtable too. I think Kickstarter is fundamentally disruptive because it flips the traditional P&L [profit and loss] on its head, Leckert said. An entrepreneur could empty their bank account to start an indie press and desperately hope that everything works out. Or you could just get the money first. She spoke to a persistent misapprehension that crowdfunding is begging for charity. Its exactly not. Youre just saying, Support the creative work Im doing and get things in exchange. She encouraged the audience to think less about the funding and more about the crowd: Where are they? What do they want? What offers can be compelling enough? The reward structure is I think the most exciting part of a Kickstarter campaign.

Leckerts examples included YA fantasy novelist Cassandra Clare (for investments of $300, shed write longhand a quote from one of her books that you could get tattooed on your body), horror novelist Matt Dinniman (for $666, hell kill you off in this next book, and for $777, hell bring you back to life), and graphic novelist Kwanza Osajyefo (who defied mainstream opinions that his Black superheroes were too niche). Shes seen a huge influx in our special editions right now, particularly in romance; author Willow Winters crowdfunded for pink gilt edges on her debut. Kickstarters highest-funded nonfiction book last year was called Shift Happens, by first time author Marcin Wichary, Leckert added. It was an 800-page oversized coffee table book on the history of keyboards. This man raised $700,000.

Not everyone is a six-figure fundraiser, though, so Leckert reminded IBPA members to think about goals besides cash: Kickstarter is in the business of giving you your audience, and even a small-scale fundraiser supplies a mailing list. You can find your audience on Kickstarter, whether it's Black people or people who love typewriters or people who want to read smutwere all there, Leckert said.

Warner expressed the idea that disruption really is innovation and that by the very fact of being independent publishers, we are being disruptors. I want to give a round of applause to everyone in this room for disrupting every single day with your work.
Idaho has joined in a growing red-state pushback over rewritten Title IX rules.

On Monday, Attorney General Raul Labrador said Idaho would join Louisiana, Mississippi and Montana in a suit challenging the Biden administrations new Title IX rules, issued earlier this month. Gov. Brad Little and state superintendent Debbie Critchfield both said they support the move.

Extending sex discrimination protections to LGBTQ students represents a twisting of the landmark 1972 law, Labrador said Monday.

The new definition of discrimination that includes gender identity will have a profound impact on the progress Title IX has made for girls and women in our society, Labrador said in a news release. With a single act, the Biden administration threatens decades of progress and opportunities for our females, while also subjecting them to the indignity of exposure to males in their locker rooms and bathrooms.

The lawsuit further argues that the rules fail to define gender identity, which will require school administrators to interpret the administrations intent.

The Biden administration announced the new guidelines on April 19.

The rules would go into effect on Aug. 1. Several Republican-led states want to stop that from happening.
By Julie Kelly, RealClearInvestigations

May 2, 2024

Jack Smith, special counsel: Opposed releasing files on the handling of Trump's documents case.

Top Biden administration officials worked with the National Archives to develop Special Counsel Jack Smiths case against Donald Trump involving the former presidents alleged mishandling of classified material, according to recently unsealed court documents in the case pending in southern Florida.

More than 300 pages of newly unredacted exhibits, containing emails and other correspondence related to the early stages of the hunt for presidential papers, challenge public statements by Joe Biden about what he knew and when he knew it regarding the case against his political rival.

Jonathan Su, White House lawyer: In regular touch with National Archives.

The new disclosures indicate the Department of Justice was in touch with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) during much of 2021, undermining the DOJs claims that it became involved in the matter only after the Archives sent it a criminal referral on February 9, 2022, based on the findings of records with classified markings in 15 boxes of materials Trump gave to the Archives a month prior.

The court exhibits, which were compiled by Trumps defense lawyers and kept under seal until last week, also show that Deputy White House Counsel Jonathan Su regularly communicated with Archive officials.

Although Biden himself is not mentioned in the exhibits, the active participation of Su and other high-ranking White House officials raises questions about whether Biden was forthright when he told 60 Minutes he wasnt involved in the investigation.

I have not asked for the specifics of those documents, Biden told Scott Pelley in the Sept. 17 broadcast, because I don't want to get myself in the middle of whether or not the Justice Department should move or not move on certain actions they could take. I agreed I would not tell them what to do and not, in fact, engage in telling them how to prosecute or not.

Trumps lawyers first filed the heavily redacted material in a January motion, under a standing protective order issued by the court to initially conceal potentially sensitive information. His team then asked U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon, who is presiding over the matter in southern Florida, to remove many of those redactions based on her review.

Aileen Cannon, presiding judge: Unseal the files, she ruled..

A protracted battle ensued as Smith fought to keep large portions of the motion and accompanying exhibits from the public. Smith told Cannon that disclosing the material would jeopardize the investigation and expose potential witnesses and government employees to "significant and immediate risks of threats, intimidation, and harassment."

But Cannon, arguing the need for public transparency, authorized the unsealing of the files, which were posted in mostly unredacted form on April 22. A comparison of the redacted and unredacted material shows the Archives acted in concert with several Biden administration agencies to build the case -- coordination that included the DOJ, the Biden White House, and the intelligence community.

The Trump case prompted revelations that both Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence had also retained classified documents  in Bidens case for decades, stretching back to his time in the Senate. But while the Archives outreach to Biden and Pence consisted of requests, the agency took a more assertive stance with Trump.

Gary Stern, National Archives lawyer: Some two dozen boxes of files missing.

Within weeks of Trumps leaving office in 2021, employees with Bidens Office of Records Management and the Archives began coordinated demands to Trumps transition team, including former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

Gary Stern, the Archives general counsel, noting several conversations with records office employees to discuss concerns about material in Trumps possession, emailed Trumps team in May 2021 and asked them to account for roughly two dozen boxes of original Presidential records [that] have not been transferred to NARA.

Stern did not specify the files the Archives wanted beyond original correspondence between President Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jung-un and the letter that President Obama left for President Trump on his first day in office. An unsealed FBI report indicated the Archives also sought the so-called Sharpiegate map of Hurricane Dorian that the former president used during a 2018 televised briefing on the track of the storm.

Despite Trumps cooperation, David Ferriero, the national archivist appointed by Barack Obama in 2009, warned the transition team a month later in June 2021 that he was running out of patience.

Before-and-after illustration 1: Unredactions on the National Archives early and aggressive focus.

By August 2021, Ferriero and Stern were in contact with DOJ officials and at least one White House attorney to develop what initially appeared to be a records destruction case against Trump. According to White House visitor logs, Stern met with Su on August 12 at the White House.

David Ferriero, national archivist: In touch with Justice Department.

From that point on, the collaboration between the White House and Archives accelerated. On Aug. 30, 2021, Ferriero, making unfounded accusations that 24 boxes of materials were missing, warned Trumps team, At this point, I am assuming [the boxes] have been destroyed. In which case, I am obligated to report it to the Hill, the DOJ, and the White House.

A Trump staffer whose name remains redacted responded, To my knowledge, nothing has been destroyed.

The archives, with apparent guidance from top White House lawyers, pressed forward. On Sept. 1, Stern sent an email to Ferriero and deputy archivist Debra Wall with the subject line, Draft Letter to AG re Missing Trump Records. In the Sept. 1, 2021 email, Stern disclosed that he already had reached out to DOJ counsel about this issue, and that WH Counsel is now aware of the issue.

An attachment to the email included a draft letter from Ferriero to Attorney General Merrick Garland to notify him that presidential records may have been unlawfully removed from U.S. government custody or possibly destroyed.

On Sept. 2, presumably with the draft letter in hand, Ferriero met with White House Counsel Dana Remus in her office, according to visitor logs. The draft letter was not sent as the Archives and White House continued to advance the case behind the scenes.

.Before-and-after illustration 2: Unredactions suggest early coordination with the White House and DOJ.

On Sept. 9, 2021, both Ferriero and Stern met again with Remus and possibly White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain. (A Sept. 8, 2021, email from Stern referred to a meeting beforehand with Ron and Dana, possibly referencing Klain.) The same email indicated plans to also meet with Su.

Dana Remus, White House counsel: Met with national achivist Ferriero in her office.

An Oct. 2021 letter to Ferriero from Remus referred to a notification on September 8 related to the January 6 Select Committees request for Trumps records. In the letter, Remus denied Trumps claims of privilege in preventing the committee from early access to his papers.

But the email chains do not reflect any mention of the January 6 Committees demands; to the contrary, emails between the White House and Archives repeatedly reference the Trump boxes.

In fact, a Sept. 15 email disclosed that Stern spoke to Su to get him up to speed on the issue and the dispute whether there are 12 or 24 missing boxes. A few weeks later, Stern told his colleagues that WHCO [White House counsel] is ready to set up a call to discuss the Trump boxes.

Before-and-after illustration 3: Unredactions on cooperation between the Archives and White House counsel.

On Jan. 18, 2022, following roughly seven months of negotiations, Trumps team delivered 15 boxes to the Archives. In a matter of hours, the Archives White House liaison director said he conducted what he described in an email to Ferriero, Wall, and three undisclosed recipients as a high level overview of the contents.

Lisa Monaco, deputy attorney general: "Instructed" National Archives lawyer Stern on how to proceed.

While admitting that most of the material consisted of newspapers, magazines, and printed news articles, the official claimed the boxes contained lots of classified records.

That assessment triggered deeper involvement by the DOJ. An unsealed FBI interview with an Archives official indicated that on Jan. 22 Su directed Stern to contact the office of Lisa Monaco, the current deputy attorney general and a longtime former adviser to Obama, to lay the groundwork for a criminal referral. It would represent the first time the Archives had ever sent a referral to the DOJ asking for an investigation into the retention of classified records.

Two days later, Monacos office instructed Stern on how to proceed. For guidance as to how a criminal investigation would proceed, two Monaco associates told Stern to notify the inspectors general for both the Archives and the intelligence community as well as DOJ National Security Division Chief Jay Bratt, now the lead prosecutor for Jack Smith in the classified documents case, and the chief of the DOJs public integrity unit.

According to the unredacted defense motion, Stern followed the DOJs guidance and sent information about the 15 boxes to the Archives inspector general, who then notified the intelligence communitys inspector general about a very high level potential spillage and records management issue.

The email chain then made its way to Thomas Windom, a prosecutor now tasked to Smiths team on the Jan. 6 case against Trump, on Feb. 1. A criminal referral was officially sent to the DOJ on Feb. 9.

Two months after the archives received Trumps boxes, which he produced voluntarily, the FBI opened on March 30, 2022, what it named the Plasmic Echo investigation, according to an unsealed FBI document. The probe centered on the mishandling of classified or national defense information.

Before-and-after illustration 4: Unredactions on top-level DOJ involvement before receiving criminal referral.

A grand jury and the FBI summoned Mar-a-Lago employees to testify. In May 2022, at the same time Biden officials were scouring Biden-related locations including the Penn-Biden Center in Washington for classified documents in advance of a potential GOP investigation into the same matter if Republicans won the House, the DOJ issued a subpoena for more classified records.

Not satisfied with the result  that Trumps lawyers produced 38 more files to investigators in June 2022  Garland authorized and the FBI executed a nine-hour raid of Mar-a-Lago in August 2022. After seizing more than 13,000 pieces of evidence, prosecutors claimed agents found another 102 records with classified markings.

In June 2023, Smith, appointed in November 2022 to take over the existing investigation, charged Trump with 32 counts of willfully retaining national defense information, representing a shift from the premise of the original investigation into more serious Espionage Act crimes. (Visitor logs show that Stern met with Bidens special counsel Richard Sauber at the White House the day before Smith announced the indictment.)

Smith has also indicted Waltine Nauta, Trumps personal aide, with obstruction, for moving boxes within Mar-a-Lago in an alleged attempt to conceal materials from investigators, and another Mar-a-Lago employee, Carlos DeOlivera, for allegedly attempting to erase security video at the property. All have pleaded not guilty.

Another Special Counsel, Robert Hur, was subsequently named to investigate Bidens retention of classified material, dating as far back as 1977. Although Hur reported that Biden had willfully retained state secrets in unsecured locations and illegally shared them with a ghostwriter, he concluded that Biden should not be prosecuted for these violations.

Trump and his co-defendants have filed motions to dismiss based on selective and vindictive prosecution; Cannon has not yet ruled on those motions.

A May 2024 trial date in Florida has been postponed in light of Trumps other legal entanglements, which the former president has described as a partisan witch hunt to interfere in the 2024 election.
The 1912 Center in Moscow has a wide-open 10,000-square-foot third floor thats been unused by the community for years.

It is embarking on a plan to change that.

Were going to bring back the life that it once had, said local architect Drew Davis.

Davis is the project manager for architecture firm Knit Studios, which was selected by the 1912 Center to create a design plan for the third floor of the multipurpose community building.

Heart of the Arts, Inc., the nonprofit that took over operations of the building in 2007, has worked to renovate it for community events over the years. It completed renovations of the second floor in 2022.

As it turns its attention to the third floor, Heart of the Arts has decided to build a commercial kitchen in the floors east wing.

On Tuesday, the public was invited to tour the floor and submit ideas for what the kitchen could look like. Davis said the kitchen could serve a variety of people, including restaurant cooks who need an extra kitchen space, caterers, farmers market vendors or those who want to teach cooking classes.

Twenty-three visitors came to share their ideas. Moscow residents Autumn Busick and her daughter Carson suggested the kitchen could have different stations supplied with everything the user needs. Carson Busick said the kitchen could have a rolling cart that would make transferring items back and forth easier.

Linnea Marshall, of Moscow, suggested the kitchen could be separated into two spaces with a shared storage compartment. She said it also could use a sitting area for users to rest or eat their meals.
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Netflix is teasing the new series Eric.

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The streaming service shared a trailer for the show Thursday featuring Benedict Cumberbatch

Eric is a thriller written and created by Abi Morgan (The Iron Lady, Shame) and directed Lucy Forbes (This is Going to Hurt).

Cumberbatch plays Vincent, a leading puppeteer and the creator of the hit children's show Good Day Sunshine, whose life unravels when his nine-year-old son, Edgar, goes missing on the way to school.

"Eric is a dark and crazy journey into the heart of 1980s New York -- and the good, bad, and ugly world of Vincent," Morgan told Netflix's Tudum.

The trailer shows Vincent (Cumberbatch) create Eric, a blue monster puppet inspired by his son's drawings, and become convinced that the puppet is the key to bringing Edgar home.

Gaby Hoffmann, McKinley Belcher III and Ivan Howe also star.

Netflix previously shared a poster for the show.

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Eric premieres May 30.

Cumberbatch is known for playing Dr. Stephen Strange in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. His previous TV roles include Sherlock Holmes on Sherlock.
Christ Church pastor Doug Wilson (Daily News, April 20) chides me (Daily News, April 18) for misstating the publication date of his fathers book The Principles of War: A Handbook on Strategic Evangelism. The fact that it was originally published in 1964 makes my argument even stronger: Moscow was targeted for spiritual warfare by Jim Wilson far earlier than we thought.

As recently as 2021, in an article in The Guardian (Nov. 2), Doug Wilson was still pushing the military model: We are not yet in a hot civil war, with shooting and all, but we are in a cold war/civil war.

In a 2018 video, Wilson spoke in the same violent vein: Its not the job of the preacher to be a firefighter out in the world. Were not supposed to be running around putting out other peoples fire. We are supposed to be arsonists in the world.

In the aftermath of the slavery booklet controversy, Doug Wilson rejected the description neo-Confederate in favor of paleo-Confederate. The former would mean the reestablishment of the Southern Confederacy under biblical law, but the latter would mean Christian rule by propertied males over the entire country.

On April 24, Wilson released a video in which he describes three options for establishing an American theocracy. First, the president could issue a proclamation that Jesus rose from the dead; the Supreme Court, contrary of course to the Founding Fathers, could rule that the U.S. is a Christian nation; or the Apostles Creed could be incorporated into the Constitution.

Wilson also claims that his slavery book co-author Steve Wilkins was not a neo-Confederate, but the facts say otherwise.

In 1994, Wilkins was the cofounder of the racist League of the South (LOS), which is described by a well-documented Wikipedia article an American white nationalist, neo-Confederate, white supremacist organization.

Wilson contends that Wilkins left the LOS not because it was racist, but because he had other priorities. LOS president Michael Hill was a regular visitor at Wilkins church in Monroe, La., and he once described Blacks as a compliant and deadly underclass.

Just before the Charlottesville riot in 2017, Hill tweeted to his LOS members: If you want to defend the South and Western civilization from the Jew and his dark-skinned allies, be at Charlottesville on August 12. The LOS is not only racist but antisemitic as well, making them a good match for the neo-Nazis marching there.
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Countries that raised concerns about the quality of Indian spices have called for urgent attention and action, Delhi-based think tank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said on Wednesday.

Photograph: PTI Photo from the Rediff Archives

The stakes are high since India exported spices worth about $692.5 million to the United States (US), Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and Maldives in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24), it said.

During FY24, Indias spice exports were worth $4.25 billion, accounting for a 12 per cent share of the global spice exports.

If China  influenced by actions in Hong Kong and Asean based on the precedents set by Singapore  decides to implement similar measures, Indian spice exports could see a dramatic downturn.

"The potential repercussions could affect exports worth $2.17 billion, representing 51.1 per cent of Indias global spice exports, GTRI said in a report.

The report further said the situation could worsen if the European Union (EU), which regularly rejects Indian spice consignments over quality issues, follows suit.

An EU-wide rejection could impact an additional $2.5 billion, bringing the total potential loss to 58.8 per cent of Indias worldwide spice exports, it said.

Last month India-based MDH and Everest's products were banned for allegedly containing pesticide ethylene oxide (ETO) beyond permissible limits.

On April 5, the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) in Hong Kong flagged the presence of ETO in samples of pre-packaged spice mix products of both MDH and Everest Spices.

The CFS had further suspended sales of the affected products Madras curry powder, sambhar masala mixed masala powder, curry powder mixed masala powder by MDH and the fish curry masala by Everest  in the country.



On April 18, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) also issued a notification to recall Everest fish curry masala after finding traces of ETO in it.

India needs to address the quality issues with urgency and transparencyErring firms should face immediate repercussions.

"However, the response from Indian authorities has been tepid and formulaic.

"Following international criticism, both the Spices Board and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) began routine sampling.

"Yet no definitive statements about spice quality have been issued by them or any other government agency, report said.
'Business families like the Godrej group are increasingly realising that an amicable settlement is better.'

'Else, the wealth of all shareholders gets destroyed.'

IMAGE: Clockwise: Jamshyd N Godrej, Adi Godrej, Nadir Godrej and Nyrika Holkar. Photograph: Kind courtesy godrej.com

The amicable split of the 127-year-old Godrej group will ensure that the shareholder value is not hit, governance and market experts said on Wednesday, while expressing hope that it could also boost the stock prices of the five listed group firms.

After years of negotiations, the Godrej family announced a 'shareholding realignment' after the market hours on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.

Under the new arrangement, Jamshyd Godrej, along with his niece Nyrika Holkar and their families, will oversee the unlisted Godrej Enterprises Group (GEG), encompassing Godrej & Boyce and its affiliates.

Nadir Godrej and Adi Godrej, along with their immediate families, will control the Godrej Industries Group (GIG), which houses listed firms such as Godrej Industries, Godrej Consumer Products, Godrej Properties, Godrej Agrovet and Astec Lifesciences.

Experts said there are several recent examples of shareholders' wealth getting destroyed and business growth getting impacted on account of disputes over family settlements.

The way such a large and complex group like Godrej has handled the ownership issue will be welcomed by the stock markets, they said.

"Business families like the Godrej group are increasingly realising that an amicable settlement is better," said Shriram Subramanian, Founder and Managing Director, InGovern Research Services.

"Else, the wealth of all shareholders gets destroyed. Also, the new Sebi regulation on disclosure of any family agreement is pushing families to have simple structures," Subramanian added.

"Overall, how this has been handled shows dignity in the whole process. Unlike other business families, there is no acrimony. Post this, the focus of each of the subgroups will be much sharper," said Amabareesh Baliga, independent equity analyst.

Experts said the Godrej settlement ensures that minority shareholders don't come in the crosshairs of a bitter family feud. Some of the recent examples of this is the dispute between Baba Kalyani and sister Sugandha Hiremath over ownership of Hikal.

Shares of Hikal are up just 2 per cent in the past one year even as the Nifty Smallcap 100 index has rallied 75 per cent.

Another example of a family feud cited by experts was the battle between the three Kirloskar brothers which led to a lot of charges and counter-charges before market regulator Sebi intervened; the feud between the cousins Prakash Chhabria and Deepak Chhabria of the Finolex group.

Governance experts urge India Inc to chalk out a succession plan to ensure business continuity.

"Business families also need to think of how the next generations will benefit from the wealth and work to separate ownership from management," said Subramanian.

Hetal Dalal, President, Institutional Investor Advisory Services, a corporate governance firm, believes companies can learn from other's mistakes and also empower their independent directors.

"Corporate history in India is replete with family feuds causing the downfall of companies. Learning from history and avoiding these mistakes is critical for boards.

"Independent directors must ask whether the board needs to get embroiled with intra-promoter group disputes.

"While it is impossible for the disputes not to be taken to the board, it is the independent directors' responsibility to protect the company from such battles.

"If not, the company will be dragged into endless litigation and the management will remain distracted. None of this is in the interest of the larger set of stakeholders," she wrote in a blog on promoter family feuds.

Why Godrej family split may not attract tax Bhavini Mishra A family settlement is defined as an arrangement between members of the family with the intent to avoid disputes. The multi-billion-dollar amicable split of the Godrej Group into two, between patriarch Adi Godrej/Nadir Godrej family and his cousin Jamshyd Godrej/Smita Godrej Crishna family, may not attract tax, say lawyers. The multi-billion-dollar Godrej family has decided to amicably split the Godrej Group, which spans from real estate to consumer products, into two groups by untangling the cross-holdings held by the two family branches across group companies with a division of businesses and assets between the Adi/Nadir Godrej family and the Jamshyd Godrej/Smita Godrej Crishna family. Statements sent by the group's listed companies to exchanges late on Tuesday said the promoters -- Adi Godrej, Nadir Godrej, Jamshyd Godrej, and Smita Godrej Crishna, heads of the respective family branches -- have sent a joint letter about a family settlement agreement (FSA) and a brand and non-compete agreement having been entered into amongst some members of the Godrej family. "With a transaction of this size and nature, the tax implications can be quite significant and at times can break the complete exercise despite all agreements. However, the fact that this is a family settlement will come to the favour of Godrej Group," said Ankit Jain, partner, Ved Jain & Associates. The courts, Jain said, have held that the transfer of shares pursuant to a family settlement would not attract any capital gains tax. "The courts have held that members of a family may, to maintain peace or to bring about harmony in the family, enter into such a family arrangement and if the arrangement is bona fide, then no capital gains tax will apply," Jain explained. A family settlement is defined as an arrangement between members of the family with the intent to avoid disputes, settle rival claims, maintain peace, or to maintain the reputation of the family wherein the various constituents with rights in the business or property take a share in the assets owned by the 'family'. Pallav Pradyumn Narang, partner, CNK, said that from a tax perspective, a family arrangement is not considered a transfer and is therefore not subject to tax. However, Narang says that questions may arise under Section 56(2)(x) of the Income-Tax (I-T) Act which stipulates that the value of assets/property received without adequate consideration be taxed in the hands of the recipient. "While gifts received from relatives are outside the purview of Section 56(2)(x) of the I-T Act, there have been a number of decisions that have held that maintaining family peace, settlement of disputes, and relinquishing of other claims is enough consideration and that no tax should be leviable on assets received upon a family settlement even if such assets were received from non-relatives," Narang said. However, if the family settlement also involves companies as parties to the arrangement, in that some companies are alienating assets to other entities as part of the arrangement, then the same ratio may not apply, and tax could be levied in such an instance, he added. Jain echoes the same perspective. "If the above restructuring necessitates the transfer of shares owned by the company to another person, then such transfer may not enjoy the exemption available as above. Those transfers of shares would be taxable. "The company would need to undertake a valuation of the company as laid down under Rule 11UA of the I-T Rules, and the difference between such value and the amount invested would attract a capital gains tax," he explained.

Godrej Industries holds 64.9 per cent stake Godrej Industries holds 64.9 per cent stake in Godrej Agrovet, and 23.7 per cent stake in Godrej Consumer Products, and 47.3 per cent stake in Godrej Properties. Godrej Industries, a listed entity, will be the main holding company of the Adi/Nadir Godrej family. The unlisted Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Company, the oldest company of the Godrej group, will be the main company of the Jamshyd Godrej and his sister Smita Godrej Crishna family. Godrej Industries holds 64.9 per cent stake in Godrej Agrovet, and 23.7 per cent stake in Godrej Consumer Products, and 47.3 per cent stake in Godrej Properties. The Godrej group listed entities are not party to the family settlement agreement or the brand and non-compete agreement and have not undertaken any liability. The parties to the family settlement agreement and the brand & non-compete agreement consist of the promoters and/or members of the promoter group and their immediate relatives of the Godrej Industries Group companies and the Godrej & Boyce group companies. As per the settlement plan, all five listed companies will now come under the Adi/Nadir Godrej family while G&B will be managed by Jamshyd Godrej family. According to Tuesday's closing prices, the value of Godrej family's stake is worth Rs 1.53 trillion in the five listed companies, which have a combined market capitalisation of Rs 2.44 trillion. The Godrej Enterprises group (GEG) comprises unlisted Godrej & Boyce (G&B) and its affiliates, which have a presence across multiple industries spanning aerospace, aviation, defence, IT, software as well as infrastructure solutions among others.

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com
'Pura phas gaya woh... barbad, satyanash ho gaya woh.

'Usko ticket bhi diya, election bhi ladha woh; ganda video bhi bahar aa gaya; hamara izzat bhi nikal diya woh; abhi letter ke baare main pooch ke kya hota hai?.'

IMAGE: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Narendra D Modi campaigns for Janata Dal-Secular candidate Prajwal Revanna, right, April 14, 2024. Photograph: Kind courtesy @narendramodi/X

G Devaraje Gowda -- who has emerged as a sort of awhistleblower in the alleged Prajwal Revanna sex video scandal -- tells Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com that he wrote e-mails to the Bharatiya Janata Party's Karnataka unit president B Y Vijayendra, Prime Minister Narendra D Modi, BJP national President Jagat Prakash Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit A Shah, but all these mails bounced and returned undelivered in his mailbox.

Gowda, who contested, and lost, the 2019 Lok Sabha election from Hassan against Prajwal Revanna, says he tried his best to reveal Prajwal Revanna's alleged sexual assaults evidenced through a pen drive that contains more than 2,300 sleazy videos, allegedly shot by Prajwal Revanna himself, and save the party's honour, but failed.

"I sent these letters to save my party's honour. But I failed to secure my party's honour; he got the ticket and Prajwal Revanna brought disrepute to Hassan's culture and reputation," says Gowda, a practicing lawyer who represents Prajwal Revanna's driver Karthik Reddy, the man who handed over the pen drive to Gowda.

"I don't have that much value (in the BJP). Only people who are valued, people who these leaders think are responsible get permission to meet them. There are so many security layers (one has to cross before reaching out to the prime minister, home minister, and BJP president). I am sure I would have spent my life getting an appointment with these leaders," offers Gowda explaining the reason behind why he couldn't communicate with the BJP's senior leaders in Delhi or Karnataka.

You had written a letter to Karnataka BJP president B Y Vijayendra cautioning him about the BJP forming an alliance with the Janata Dal-Secular. What did you write in your letter?

I had said that we will need to be very clever if we were to forge an alliance with the JD-S. I had warned that the sitting MP of Hassan (Prajwal Revanna) is facing serious allegations of sexual misconduct and assault.

Everybody in Hassan knows about the (alleged sex) videos of Revanna. If we allowed him (Prajwal Revanna) to contest from Hassan, then he would surely face defeat.

I had also mentioned about the pen drive (that reportedly has video clips of sexual acts allegedly recorded and performed by Prajwal Revanna) in my letter.

One of my clients (Prajwal Revanna's car driver Karthik Reddy who wanted to file a legal suit against Prajwal Revanna for alleged land grab) gave this pen drive to me which had ashleel, ganda-ganda (sleazy) videos; woh mamla main phas gaya ye (and that Prajwal Revanna won't be able to come out of this trap); that even if we allied with the JD-S, then we should not allow Prajwal Revanna to contest from Hassan.

If we did, then it will lead to a scandal and unnecessarily spoil the BJP's good image.

I had mailed this letter to our state president e-mail's ID, but the mail bounced and came back undelivered to me.

Then I clicked a photograph of this letter and sent it to our state president (B Y Vijayendra) over WhatApp.

Since he was a newly elected state president (Vijayendra was appointed president on November 10, 2023) then he would travel across Karnataka for the BJP's organisational base. So he must not have got the time to check my message.

So this message did not get communicated to him and so nobody in the party came to know about this (sex videos allegedly filmed by Prajwal Revanna).

I also sent an e-mail to the central BJP leaders.

I had mailed this letter to Modiji, Naddaji and Amit Shahji. But what happened was these e-mails bounced and came back undelivered to me. The undelivered e-mail said that the e-mail addresses (on which he mailed Modi, Nadda and Shah) were not found.

I got their e-mail addresses by searching it on Google (Gowda dilly-dallied about the Web site from where he got the e-mail IDs of Modi, Nadda and Shah; he later said he would send the photographs of the e-mail which bounced and remained undelivered; repeated requests on SMS, WhatsApp evinced no response since the evening of April 30, 2024; this interview was recorded between 7 pm and 7.30 pm on April 30; when contacted at 4 pm on May 1, G Devaraje Gowda said the e-mail he had sent to Modi, Nadda and Shah was confidential and he could not share it).

Could you please specify the e-mail IDs on which you sent a mail to Mr Modi, Mr Nadda and Mr Shah?

I can't tell you now; I found it on the Google Web site.

Did you get Mr Modi's e-mail ID from narendramodi.in?

I don't know. I just typed PM Office Web site and contact on Google search and I got it. The mail bounced with the notice that 'e-mail ID not found'. I couldn't communicate (with Modi).

On which email IDs did you send your mail to Mr Shah and Mr Nadda?

On the same address.

Same address?

I mean the e-mail addresses that were available on the Web site that has office address and e-mail address.

Did you get the addresses of Mr Shah and Mr Nadda on the PMO Web site (pmindia.gov.in) or on bjp.org?

I got it from Google.

Could you please share the e-mail IDs on which you sent your letter?

I can't give that to you right now. I am not in front of my office computer and so I can't open my mailbox.

Could you please share the e-mail Ids when you have access to your office computer?

Yes.

IMAGE: Prajwal Revanna, the incumbent Janata Dal-Secular MP from Hassan. Photograph: @iPrajwalRevanna/X

What happened after the mails you sent to these three bounced?

There was a communication gap (I couldn't communicate about the Prajwal Revanna pen drive sex videos to Modiji). Then there was an alliance with the JD-S and they got three seats (H D Kumaraswamy contested from Mandya, Prajwal Revanna contested from Hassan and M M Mallesh Babu contested from Kolar; all the three seats went to the polls on April 26). We announced our candidates and the JD-S announced their candidates.

None of our party leaders knew anything about these Prajwal Revanna videos.

But didn't B Y Vijayendra and the BJP national general secretary know about the letter you had written to them?

I don't know if they read my letter or received my mail. I got no acknowledgement from them. I didn't get even a phone call from them (acknowledging that they got my letter in which I had written about the alleged sex tapes).

How will I know if they read my letter or not?

In your interviews to the India Today television channel you said you had sent hard copies to them as well.

When I took the hard copies of my letter to give it to the state president, he was not present at his office. He was on a tour of the state. So, I kept my letter at his desk and left his office.

Now, what happens is he gets thousands of letters every day. It is possible that this letter must have gotten misplaced and so I have no idea about if he read my letter or not.

He (Vijayendra) is asking me now if I had written such a letter to him. He said he is watching about it on TV. He asked me when and I told him that I had done so last December. He is saying he does not know about this letter

What's the point in discussing the matter now?

Pura phas gaya woh... barbad, satyanash ho gaya woh. Abhi letter ke bare main poocha toh kya ho jayega? Usko ticket bhi diya, election bhi ladha woh; ganda video bhi bahar aa gaya; hamara izzat bhi nikal diya woh; abhi letter ke baare main pooch ke kya hota hai? (He is completely trapped now; this video leak has completely ruined and annihilated his political career; what's the point of knowing if I had written such a letter? The JD-S gave him the ticket, he contested the election, just before the polling days the allegedly sleazy sex video surfaced in Hassan and that tarnished the BJP's image as well.)

Today, are you saying that you are not sure if B Y Vijayendra got the letters -- hard copy as well as the e-mail you had addressed to him and that the mails you had addressed to Mr Modi, Mr Nadda and Mr Shah returned undelivered?

Yes, that's true.

When you realised that the top BJP leaders who you sent these letters and e-mail may not have received them and that there was a communication gap at that time did you think of any other way of communicating with all these four leaders?

I am just not a member of a political party. I am also an advocate. I am a serious lawyer fighting a number of cases at the (Karnataka) high court. Every day I have to take care of 20-30 cases for which I have to travel to the court often.

Politics is just one part of my life. Advocacy is my full-time work.

I fought the 2023 Vidhan Sabha election as a BJP candidate (from Holenarsipur where G Devaraje Gowda stood fourth; the seat was won by H D Revanna, Prajwal Revanna's father) and I sent these letters to save my party's honour.

But I failed to secure my party's honour; he got the ticket and Prajwal Revanna brought disrepute to Hassan's culture and reputation.

When your client Karthik Reddy first handed over the pen drive containing Prajwal Revanna's alleged sex tapes why didn't you hand it over to the Karnataka police?

As an advocate who was looking after my client's interest, my duty was to first bring it to the court's notice and not give it to the police. But Prajwal Revanna filed a case against my client and brought a court injunction against the release of these videos.

That my client (Karthik Reddy) was respondent number 82 -- the first 81 respondents were different media organisations which also wanted to publish these tapes -- led to a technical problem.

If I had to jump this queue of 81 people, then I had to file a suit in court in which, as per the court procedure, I would have had to write about the people involved -- the alleged victims as well as the culprit. And that meant revealing the identities of the victims as well as the culprit.

I couldn't have approached the police first because this was a court matter. As an advocate, I had to first fulfill my legal duties.

Contesting the injunction order, I had asked for the reasons why Revanna brought an injunction order and on what grounds did the court passed such an order. But that would have mandated mentioning the history of all the victims.

If I had done that, then all the print and electronic media would have published these names and their identities and that could have severely harmed the lives of these victims.

This is a sex scandal. It would have tarnished their reputation for life.

IMAGE: A Congress protest in Bengaluru, April 28, 2024, demanding JD-S MP Prajwal Revanna's arrest over his alleged involvement in the sex scandal. Photograph: ANI Photo

Do you think it would have saved the BJP huge embarrassment if you had tried harder to bring these video tapes to the notice of Messrs Modi, Nadda and Shah?

I didn't have that much time.

You could have still brought it to Mr Vijayendra's notice?

I don't have that much value (in the BJP). Only people who are valued, people who these leaders think are responsible get permission to meet them. There are so many security layers (one has to cross before reaching out to the prime minister, home minister, and BJP president). I am sure I would have spent my life getting an appointment with these leaders.

Do you think if you had gone public in November-December 2023 revealing that there are video tapes of scandalous proportions of a JD-S leader, then that would have alerted senior BJP leaders?

Since I became the legal counsel (for Karthik Reddy) the ethics of my legal profession prevented me from discussing about these tapes with anybody. I am Karthik's legal counsel now.

Prajwal Revanna's uncle and former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy indirectly hints that you have joined hands with a senior Congress leader from Karnataka -- indirectly hinting at Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar -- and since you are an adversary of the Gowda family you did this to malign the Gowdas. Your comments...

It is a baseless allegation. I have been fighting against them since 2019 (In 2019, after G Devaraje Gowda lost the Lok Sabha election to Prajwal Revanna he had challenged it in court. The Karnataka high court set aside Revann'a election victory in 2023 which was later restored by the Supreme Court).

I am a BJP man. If I had joined hands with D K Shivakumar, then would I not have become an MLA or a minister? Why would I support D K Shivakumar?

Do you think the alleged Prajwal Revanna sex tapes could harm the BJP's chances when the remaining 14 constituencies in Karnataka vote on May 7?

The BJP would not suffer any loss at all. The loss would be all the JD-S's.

But the narrative being built on social media is that Mr Modi knew about Prajwal Revanna's alleged sex tapes and still he asked people to support him and vote for him in his public rally...

Prajwal Revanna kaisa aadmi hai Modiji ko maloom nahi hai na. Tour programme toh state wala bana ke deta hai... kidhar jana, kidhar aana (Modiji didn't know about Prajwal Revanna's character. It is the state unit that chalks out his public rallies and decides where and for which seats he campaigns).

But had you brought Prajwal Revanna's alleged sex videos to Mr Modi's notice, then wouldn't he have been saved huge embarrassment which he is facing today? People are blaming him for what has happened...

I am a small fry (in the BJP). I don't have the power enough or the guts to sit in front of Modiji and talk to him about it. If I had that power, then I would have ensured that Prajwal Revanna did not get to contest.

But if you had brought it to Modiji's notice before the tapes got out you could have saved him huge embarrassment.

Abhi kharab ho raha hai. Mere haath se time nikal gaya na woh (He is facing embarrassment now. The time to sit and discuss this issue is over now. I had no control over the turn of events).

Who should shoulder the responsibility for such embarrassment for the BJP?

Responsibility? It is a bad time.
'Elections are fought to win.'

'In our party, the leadership takes the final decision, and our leaders are very clear about it.'

IMAGE: Dharmendra Pradhan, the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from Sambalpur constituency, during a roadshow in Deogarh, Odisha. Photograph: ANI Photo

Donning traditional dhoti-punjabi to counter Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's lungi-clad video message, which the Bharatiya Janata Party claims is not Odia culture, Dharmendra Pradhan says this election is all about fighting for Odia Ashmita (pride).

In a conversation with Ramani Ranjan Mohapatra/Business Standard in Sambalpur, from where he is contesting, Pradhan -- the Union minister for education, skill development and entrepreneurship -- speaks about the National Democratic Alliance securing over 400 seats and unemployment issue.

What are the issues deciding the elections this time around?

There is a clear signal that the Modi government will secure a third consecutive term, this time with over 400 seats.

In Odisha, the prime minister's popularity is more than 90 per cent.

In 2019, the BJP won eight of the 21 seats in Odisha with a 38 per cent vote share, compared to the BJD's 43 per cent.

We are winning all 21 seats this time.

The Modi government has allocated Rs 18 trillion to Odisha between 2014 and 2024, against the Rs 3 trillion sanctioned by the Congress-led government in the previous decade.

A record 3.4 million houses have been built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna in Odisha.

Significant funds have been allocated for railways, airports, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, Covid management, and the free rice scheme.

For the assembly elections, we created our voter base in 2019. Despite ruling Odisha for 24 years with huge mandates, the Patnaik government has failed in five key areas -- health, education, agriculture, migration, and women's security.

According to the National Family Health Survey, Odisha leads in child malnutrition rates. The posts of doctors are vacant.

The poor would benefit a lot if the state's Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (health insurance scheme) is merged with the Centre's Ayushman Bharat, which is done by many non-BJP-ruled states.

Unfortunately, the Odisha government resists this due to politics.

Simply building schools with tiles doesn't guarantee quality education. Teacher shortages and high dropout rates in matriculation are concerning.

Despite being an agrarian state with abundant water bodies, regions around the Mahanadi and Brahmani rivers face drought conditions. Drinking water scarcity is evident during summer months.

What has the Biju Janata Dal government done to address migration? Why do people migrate despite Odisha having rich resources? The state government lacks vision and relies on propaganda.

According to the latest National Crime Records Bureau report, Odisha ranks fourth in reported cases of women abuse.

The BJD government's failures in these key areas have led to growing resentment among voters, who have resolved to change in government here.

In Odisha, there is no value for democracy. An elected representative has no power. In a democracy, bureaucrats help the elected representative in discharging their duties.

It's the opposite in Odisha. Our fight will be against this undemocratic force.

Flareups in West Asia threaten crude oil prices. As a former oil minister, how do you think India should navigate?

It's a challenging situation, but I think energy diversion is key here. The Centre has rolled out the PM Suryaghar Yojna, which provides free electricity to the poor in India.

Energy management is a futuristic and long-term process. India has found alternative energy solutions and will go ahead with its plan.

What are your achievements as education minister? Has the debate over the National Education Policy (2020) settled?

There has been no debate. I think this is for the first time after Independence that we have a document that is based on such wide suggestions.

It has found acceptability among all states. The NEP shows a paradigm shift in education, and talks about self-reliance and self-employability.

You are also minister for skill development and entrepreneurship. Multiple surveys by agencies suggest unemployment is a key election issue this time? How do you respond?

The recent data shows a decline in the unemployment rate in India. This is a subject that needs regular intervention.

Innovation, technology, disruptions, and new economy are all associated with employment, and the Modi government has created a long-term road map.

India is one of the world's startup-centric countries. It is home to more than 120,000 startups.

There are 20-25 startups in Sambalpur only. The nature of the job is changing.

As the principal Opposition party in Odisha, what was the need for an alliance talk with the BJD? Where did the talks fail?

We are going solo in Odisha. Our state unit president, Manmohan Samal, has made it very clear in his post on X. We were never for an alliance, they (BJD) needed it.

The BJD had supported us in Parliament on some key issues with national importance. Our state chief has thanked the BJD for this.

The poor in Odisha will benefit only if there is a Modi government here. We have our viewpoint on Odia identity and Odisha pride, and we are not going to deviate from that.

In the run-up to the 2019 elections, the BJP's top leadership mounted an all-round attack on the Patnaik government.

The stance changed just after the polls and the tone has changed again now. Doesn't this confuse the voters?

There is no confusion among voters. They are clear that they are forming a Modi government with a formidable majority.

How feasible is abki baar 400 paar slogan, given the BJP contesting a little more than 400 seats and weaker allies than in 2019?

We are confident about the number. In Maharashtra, we have the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar faction) and Shiv Sena (Shinde group).

In Bihar, we have Nitish Kumar. We have a strong alliance with social engineering groups in Uttar Pradesh. Today, the BJP is standing like a huge banyan tree.

The year 2014 is a landmark for the BJP. We are seeing a trend of a single-largest party since 2014 thanks to PM Modi's developmental works.

It will be a vote for the politics of performance this time.

You are in a direct election after 15 years. How challenging would it be for you, as the BJD has fielded its general secretary and the CM has chosen Kantabanji (western Odisha) as his second seat?

The CM contested from the Bijepur assembly constituency in Baragarh last time, which was also from western Odisha.

But he had to resign to retain Hinjili (his traditional seat). Despite his candidature, the BJP won the Baragarh Lok Sabha seat.

The issue of discussion is that he has failed to deliver the promise he made to the voters of Bijepur.

Now he will fight from Kantabanji (Balangir), which is known for its migration issues.vHinjili still faces the crisis of migration.

He should tell Kantabanji voters how successful he has been to check the migration crisis in Hinjili.

At the Centre, there is always a debate over Modi versus who. In Odisha, is it Patnaik versus you?

I'm just a representative of PM Modi. It's not me, but Modi who is contesting the elections. Rural voters recognise him more than me.

There is no need (for a CM face). The Congress was dismissing Modi as a non-player when he was campaigning for the 2014 polls.

He is now the prime minister for 10 years. In UP, the BJP didn't contest under Yogi Adityanath. Now he is a towering figure in Indian politics. We fought under a collective leadership in Assam, and Himanta Biswa Sarma was named the CM later.

Who becomes our CM is a decision the top leadership takes.

Party-hoppers have taken centre stage this time. Every party has fielded a good number of turncoats. What's your view?

Elections are fought to win. In our party, the leadership takes the final decision, and our leaders are very clear about it.

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
A magisterial probe began on Thursday in the alleged suicide of an accused in the firing incident outside actor Salman Khan's house in Mumbai's Bandra area on April 14.

IMAGE: The two accused, Vicky Gupta and Sagar Pal, arrested by Gujarat police in connection with the Salman Khan house shooting case being brought to the Mumbai crime branch, April 15, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

Anuj Thapan, who was held from Punjab for allegedly supplying firearms and bullets to the arrested shooters, was found hanging on Wednesday inside the toilet of Mumbai Crime Branch's lock-up located in the commissionerate complex.

The probe initiated by the judicial magistrate is being carried out under section 176 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and all related documents have been submitted, a police official said.

Meanwhile, the Crime Investigation Department has collected DVR of the CCTVs installed in the lock-up as part of its probe, he added.

"They will submit their findings on the footage, chain of events as well as lapses, if any, on the part of the policemen posted at the lock-up. There were four personnel on guard duty at the time of the suicide," he said.

Earlier in the day, post mortem was conducted on Thapan's body at state-run JJ hospital in Byculla.

"The post-mortem was videographed and was done in the presence of forensic doctors. It started at 4.15 pm and was completed around 5.15 pm. The body has been kept in the morgue. The findings of the autopsy are yet to be disclosed," he added.

The post mortem got delayed by several hours due to police and legal formalities, another official said.

Thapan is among the six persons named in the firing incident FIR. While four of them have been arrested, gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, currently lodged in a jail in neighbouring Gujarat, and his brother Anmol Bishnoi have been shown as wanted accused.

Officials said Thapan's kin were on their way to Mumbai.

Thapan and Sonu Kumar Bishnoi (32) were arrested by a crime branch team from Fazilka in Punjab on April 26. The two had allegedly supplied weapons to shooters Sagar Pal and Vicky Gupta for firing at Salman Khan's residence.

As per the police, Thapan and Sonu Bishnoi visited Panvel near Mumbai on March 15 to deliver two country-made pistols and 38 live rounds to Pal and Gupta.

Thapan and Sonu's village in Punjab is very close to jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi's village.
Best of was not

In last weekends Best of the Inland Northwest (a region which I had always thought included Spokane and Coeur dAlene; but I waive that point), I was rather surprised to discover that nearly everything is Best in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley.

But then I considered the populations, newspaper circulation, and numbers of potential Best of voters in the LC Valley compared to those in Moscow-Pullman. And the fact that virtually nobody I know living at either elevation does much routine business in the other (except, of course, for my occasional Costco runs when other appointments demand).

As you try to survive the unfortunate challenges now facing newspapers, you would do well to remember that these two very different and distinct communities cannot be melded into one, for either local news or advertising. Your statistical imprecision has done a disservice to the merchants and readers on the Palouse.

Bruce Bradberry

Moscow

The situation in Gaza

A couple of my recent letters have been withheld from publication because the Opinion page editor suggested that their content might contain antisemitic sentiments, or possibly so. First Amendment rights exclude even a faint perception of antisemitic expression.

But I can not be labeled an antisemite, since I support a people in Palestine who are clearly semitic by ancestry, language and culture. They are being killed en masse, as we write, by a murderous regime whose own claims to semitic ancestry and rights to the land are far less persuasive in my opinion.

American university campuses today are overrun with protests against the certifiable genocide going on in Gaza. The mainstream American media, included in which I believe, must be the Moscow-Pullman Daily News, largely ignore the plight of beleaguered Palestinians. They refer to them and their leadership as terrorists. The major news outlets refuse to consider, even for a moment, that the Netanyahu government and Israel Defense Forces may be terrorists themselves. Most allege, along with numbers of mostly Republican politicians, and 80% to 85% of the Israeli population, that Palestinian Arabs should be either extirpated or driven off.

But one dirty little secret is never told. Significant numbers of these on-campus protestors are young, self-confessed Jewish students. You dont believe it? Then I suggest that you pull yourselves away for a moment from the NY Times, and from FOX, MSNBC and CNN. Consult alternative news sources and videos. Many, many Jewish citizens, particularly the young, have had a gut-full of this horrible massacre and are speaking out against it.

Timothy Moore

Potlatch

Far apart

I have to laugh at Ryan Uries April 25 opinion column, A needed intervention for Trump enthusiasts.

If I didnt know better I would say he was describing Biden and the Democrats and he doesnt even realize it. Just goes to show how far apart we are.

Kirk Koefod

Troy

Consider Bennett

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Taking note of false claims circulating in WhatsApp groups that bombs were detected in schools, Delhi Police on Thursday said the messages have 'no truth in them'.

IMAGE: Police personnel outside DAV School, R K Puram, in view of multiple-bomb threats in Delhi-NCR Schools, in New Delhi on Wednesday. Photograph: ANI Photo

Police made an appeal to people to not believe in the audio messages that have surfaced on WhatsApp groups making false claims about the bomb threat that schools in Delhi-NCR received on Wednesday morning.

'Some audio messages are being pushed on WhatsApp and other chat groups that some suspicious objects were found in some schools,' a statement issued by the Delhi Police said on Thursday.

'These messages are false and have no truth in them. We request all to please convey further that these are false messages,' the statement said.

In a bomb scare of unprecedented scale, around 200 schools in Delhi-NCR received an identical threat e-mail on Wednesday claiming that explosives had been planted in their premises, triggering massive evacuations and searches as panic-stricken parents rushed to pick up their children.

Nothing was found during searches by authorities which later declared it a hoax.
Observing that a balance between sustainable development and protection of the environment has to be made, the Supreme Court asked the Centre and state governments on Thursday to stop illegal mining in the Aravalli area.

IMAGE: A scenic view of the Aravalli range after rainfall, in Jaipur, Rajasthan, June 28, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

A bench of Justices BR Gavai and Abhay S Oka said the governments must ensure that action is taken against erring officials.

"Illegal mining in the Aravallis has to stop. The authorities have to ensure that the requisite steps are taken in this regard. Otherwise, what is the benefit of having only skeletal structures in the name of mountains? A balance has to be made between sustainable development and protection of the environment," the bench said.

The top court is dealing with a matter related to alleged illegal mining in the Aravalli range.

In 2009, the top court imposed a blanket ban on the mining of major and minor minerals in the eco-sensitive Aravalli hills.

The Rajasthan government had earlier told the court that the issue regarding the classification between the Aravalli hills and the Aravalli ranges, insofar as mining activities are concerned, needs to be decided by the apex court.

"We, prima facie, feel that if the state is of the view that the mining activities in the Aravalli range are also detrimental to the environmental interest, nothing stops the state government from preventing mining activities in the Aravalli range as well," the top court had said.
Last updated on: May 02, 2024 12:00 IST

Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters captures scenes of villagers fetching water from the Vaitarna river, which flows from Trimbakeshwar to Palghar, and is also a source of water for Mumbai city.

IMAGE: A drone view of women drawing water from a well on a hot day in Kasara, Maharashtra, May 1, 2024. All Photographs: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters

IMAGE: Women carrying pots walk towards a well to draw water from it in Kasara.

IMAGE: A woman pushes a water roller tank towards her home after drawing water from a well in Kasara.

IMAGE: A drone view of a woman carrying a utensil filled with water after drawing it from a well in Kasara.

IMAGE: Water tankers refill water from the Vaitarna river before heading off to provide water to villages in Kasara.

IMAGE: A drone view of people washing clothes in the Vaitarna river.

IMAGE: A view of the dry riverbed of one part of the Vaitarna in Kasara.

IMAGE: A drone view of a parched well in Kasara.

IMAGE: People carry bags of sand up a slope for the construction of houses on a hot day near the Vaitarna river in Kasara.

Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com

Feature Presentation: Mahipal Soni/Rediff.com
India has voiced hope that Palestine's bid to become a full member of the United Nations, which was blocked by the United States last month, will be reconsidered and its endeavour to become a member of the world organisation will get endorsed.

IMAGE: Protesters in New York City in response to US decision to defund the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), on January 31, 2024. Photograph: Mike Segar/Reuters

The US vetoed a resolution in the UN Security Council on a Palestinian bid to be granted full membership of the United Nations last month.

The 15-nation Council had voted on a draft resolution that would have recommended to the 193-member UN General Assembly 'that the State of Palestine be admitted to membership in the United Nations'.

The resolution got 12 votes in its favour, with Switzerland and the United Kingdom abstaining and the US casting its veto.

To be adopted, the draft resolution required at least nine Council members voting in its favour, with no vetoes by any of its five permanent members -- China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

"While we have noted that Palestine's application for membership at the United Nations was not approved by the Security Council because of the aforesaid veto, I would like to state here at the very outset that in keeping with India's long-standing position, we hope that this would be reconsidered in due course and that Palestine's endeavour to become a member of the United Nations will get endorsed," India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj said.

India was the first non-Arab State to recognise the Palestine Liberation Organisation as the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people in 1974. India was also one of the first countries to recognise the State of Palestine in 1988 and in 1996, Delhi opened its Representative Office to the Palestine Authority in Gaza, which later was shifted to Ramallah in 2003.

Currently, Palestine is a 'non-member observer state' at the UN, a status granted to it by the General Assembly in 2012.

This status allows Palestine to participate in proceedings of the world body but it cannot vote on resolutions. The only other non-member Observer State at the UN is the Holy See, representing the Vatican.

Addressing a General Assembly meeting on Wednesday, Kamboj underlined that India's leadership has repeatedly emphasised that only a two-state solution achieved through direct and meaningful negotiations between Israel and Palestine on final status issues will deliver an enduring peace.

"India is committed to supporting a two-state solution where the Palestinian people are able to live freely in an independent country within secure borders with due regard to the security needs of Israel," she said.

Kamboj stressed that to arrive at a lasting solution, India would urge all parties to foster conditions conducive to resuming direct peace negotiations at an early date.

On April 2, Palestine sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres requesting that its application for full UN membership be considered again. For a State to be granted full UN membership, its application must be approved both by the Security Council and the General Assembly, where a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting is required for the State to be admitted as a full member.

Kamboj noted that the latest conflict in Gaza has been ongoing for over six months and the humanitarian crisis that it has triggered has been increasing.

"There is also the potential for growing instability in the region and beyond," she added.

Underlining India's position on the conflict, Kamboj said the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas has led to a large-scale loss of civilian lives, especially women and children, and a humanitarian crisis, which is simply unacceptable. India has strongly condemned the deaths of civilians in the conflict.

Kamboj said the terror attacks in Israel on October 7 were shocking and deserve 'unequivocal condemnation'.

"There can be no justification for terrorism and hostage-taking. India has a long-standing and uncompromising position against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. And we demand the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages," Kamboj said.

India stressed that it is imperative that humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza be scaled up immediately in order to avert a further deterioration in the situation.

"We urge all parties to come together in this endeavour," Kamboj said, adding that India has provided humanitarian aid to the people of Palestine and that it will continue to do so.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), citing Gaza's Ministry of Health data, said that from October 7, 2023, till now, at least 34,568 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and 77,765 Palestinians injured.

OCHA said that between the afternoons of April 28 and May 1, two Israeli soldiers were reported killed in Gaza.

According to the Israeli military, 262 soldiers have been killed and 1,602 soldiers have been injured in Gaza since the beginning of the ground operation.

In addition, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 33 children, have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on October 7, when Hamas attacked Israel.

As of May 1, Israeli authorities estimate that 133 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld, it said.
Karnataka Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara on Thursday said a lookout circular has been issued to arrest Hassan Janata Dal-Secular MP Prajwal Revanna who is facing allegations of sexually abusing women.

IMAGE: NSUI supporters along with the students of the Maharani College stage a protest against JD-S MP Prajwal Revanna over his alleged involvement in the sex scandal, in Bengaluru on Tuesday. Photograph: ANI Photo

On Prajwal seeking seven more days to appear before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case as he is abroad, he said there is no provision to grant more than 24 hours.

"A lookout notice has been issued soon after it was learnt that Prajwal Revanna has gone abroad. We have informed all the ports and airports about the lookout notice," the minister told reporters in Kalaburagi.

Prajwal is the grandson of former prime minister and JD-S patriarch H D Deve Gowda and son of MLA and former Minister H D Revanna.

Some explicit video clips allegedly involving the 33-year-old MP had started making the rounds in Hassan in recent days.

He was the National Democratic Alliance candidate in the Hassan Lok Sabha constituency, where polling was held on April 26.

"Our SIT members are taking legal opinion whether to give time to the accused. The SIT will move forward to arrest him since there is no provision to give more than 24 hours," Parameshwara added.

A woman has filed a police complaint accusing Prajwal and his father of sexually harassing her.

He said one more victim has come forward and lodged a complaint against Prajwal.

"The victim's statements have been recorded. In the meantime, one more woman has lodged a complaint, whose details I cannot share," the minister said.
As Kshatriyas continue to protest against Union minister Parshottam Rupala over his remarks on erstwhile maharajas, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday visited the scion of the Jamnagar royal family and praised the community for its sacrifices.

Photograph: / Rediff.com IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Jam Saheb Shri Shatrusalyasinhji in Jamnagar, Gujarat, May 2, 2024.

Rupala is the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate for the Rajkot Lok Sabha seat, which goes to polls on May 7.

Ahead of his poll rally in Jamnagar on Thursday evening, Modi met Jam Saheb Shatrusalyasinhji at his residence in the city.

Upon reaching Jamnagar, went to the residence of Jam Saheb Shri Shatrusalyasinhji and had a wonderful interaction with him. Meeting him is always a delight. His warmth and wisdom are exemplary, Modi said on X.

He also shared photos of Shatrusalyasinhji, the last person to hold the title of Maharaja of Nawanagar, putting a halari paghdi' (royal turban) on Modi's head.

Later, Modi reached the rally venue wearing the headgear.

Addressing the rally, Modi recalled the battle of Bhuchar Mori, which was fought in 1591 between the army of Kathiawar led by Nawanagar State and the Mughal army at the Bhuchar Mori plateau near Dhrol in Jamnagar district.

The battle, which was won by the Mughal army, resulted in a large number of casualties on both sides.

When I was chief minister in Gujarat, some Kshatriya community leaders came to meet me and invited me to attend an event at Bhuchar Mori. One of them told me though we are inviting you, we know that you will not come', said the PM, who held three more rallies in the state during the day.

Modi said when he asked the person why he made such a comment, the person told him that no chief minister had gone there in the past because someone had spread a rumour that if a CM visited that place, he would lose his chief ministership.

I told them that I would definitely come because my CM's post held no value against the sacrifice of the Kshatriya community. And I attended that event, Modi said.

The Kshatriya community, also known as Rajputs, is angry with Rupala for his statement about former rulers.

Rupala had triggered a row by claiming that erstwhile maharajas' succumbed to the persecution by foreign rulers and Britishers and even married off their daughters to them.

The Kshatriya community in Gujarat strongly objected to the remarks as the majority of the erstwhile royals were Rajputs.

Since the BJP did not remove Rupala as its Rajkot candidate as demanded by the agitating Rajputs, the community has launched a state-wide stir and announced to hold four mahasammelans' or mega gatherings ahead of the May 7 polls to defeat BJP in at least 10 seats in Gujarat, including Rajkot and Jamnagar.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday alleged that Hassan Janata Dal-Secular MP Prajwal Revanna had raped 400 women and made their videos, and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of helping him to flee the country.

IMAGE: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addresses a public meeting for the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections, in Bhind, Madhya Pradesh, April 30, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

He demanded registering a case against Home Minister Amit Shah alleging that he was aware of the case following a letter by a BJP leader to him about the activities of Prajwal and his father and former minister H D Revanna.

Addressing election rallies in the district headquarters towns of Shivamogga and Raichur, Gandhi alleged that the prime minister was in the know about the sex scandal and he could have got Prajwal arrested within seconds but allowed him to flee the country.

Prajwal, grandson of former prime minister and JD-S patriarch HD Deve Gowda, is facing allegations of sexually abusing women.

The state government has constituted a Special Investigation Team to probe the case.

Scores of explicit video clips allegedly involving the 33-year-old MP had started making the rounds in Hassan in recent days.

He was the NDA candidate in the Hassan Lok Sabha constituency where polling was held on April 26.

The JD-S joined the National Democratic Alliance in September last year.

Gandhi said a Bharatiya Janata Party leader wrote a letter to Shah stating that Prajwal was raping women but no action was taken.

"This is not a sex scandal, it's mass rape," he alleged.

"If Amit Shah knew this, then the prime minister also knew it. Why is Modi protecting him (Prajwal), why is he promoting him and why is he seeking vote for him?" the Congress leader asked.

He said Shah allowed Prajwal to flee the country despite knowing about him.

"All the agencies were with them, such as CBI, Customs, Immigration and ED. The PM knew about it, he could have arrested him (Prajwal) in a second, which he did not do and allowed him to flee," Gandhi charged.

"The women of Karnataka know that you protected Prajwal Revanna because you wanted power and alliance. The PM and HM, the two people who control the nation, protected him," the former Congress president alleged.

"This is the difference between our and their (BJP) ideology. They (BJP) can do anything for power. There is no limit. There is no truth to them. There is no meaning to the pains and sufferings of women," he said.

Gandhi said Modi has to answer to every woman of the country, why he protected Prajwal and why he was allowed to flee the country.

He said the prime minister is now afraid of visiting Karnataka and claimed that "he has cancelled all the meetings and escaped".

"Dear PM, don't run away from Karnataka. Come here and tell the country about Prajwal Revanna," Gandhi said.

The Congress leader said the home minister knew about it, and did not act, which is a criminal offence.

A case should be filed against him (Amit Shah) because among the victims, there were minor girls below the age of 16 years.

"The PM should also apologise to the mothers and sisters of India. Prajwal Revanna rapes 400 women and makes videos. This is not a sex scandal but mass rape," the former Congress president alleged.

"The prime minister supported the mass rapist on the stage in front of Karnataka. He (Modi) told Karnataka that if you voted for this rapist, it will help me," Gandhi alleged and added: "Every woman in Karnataka should know when the prime minister was asking for your vote, he was aware of what Prajwal did."

He further alleged that every BJP leader was aware that Prajwal is a "mass rapist" and yet they supported him and the party formed an alliance with the JD-S.

"The PM has insulted every woman of India. The PM, Home Minister Amit Shah and all the BJP leaders should apologise to every woman of the country," he said, claiming that no leader in the world would have asked for votes for a "mass rapist".

"It is news worldwide that the PM solicited votes for a mass rapist. This is the BJP's ideology. They are ready to form alliances and do anything for power," Gandhi said.
West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose on Thursday said he will not be cowed down by "engineered narratives" and the "truth shall triumph" after Trinamool Congress leaders claimed that a woman working at Raj Bhavan levelled allegations of molestation against him.

IMAGE: West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose. Photograph: ANI Photo

In a statement, the governor said, "Truth shall triumph. I refuse to be cowed down by engineered narratives. If anybody wants some election benefits by maligning me, God bless them. But they cannot stop my fight against corruption and violence in Bengal,"

To the Raj Bhavan staff "who expressed solidarity with him following some derogatory narratives that were circulated by two disgruntled employees as agents of political parties," a communication by Raj Bhawan said.

The governor's statement came after senior TMC leaders claimed in a series of social media posts that the woman, who had levelled the allegations, has been taken to a police station to complain against Bose.

Senior police officials said they received a complaint and are looking into it.

"We have received a complaint and are conducting an investigation. We are also consulting the matter with constitutional experts of the law department. As per the woman's allegation, she was molested inside Raj Bhavan," Deputy Commissioner of Central Division Indira Mukherjee told reporters.

TMC leaders uploaded posts on social media about the alleged incident.

"BIG. Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose was accused of molesting a woman. How utterly appalling and Horrifying. Ahead of @narendramodi visit to Kolkata who is supposed to stay overnight at Raj Bhavan, a woman has alleged that she was molested while she went to meet the Governor at Raj Bhavan today.

The complainant has been taken to the Hare Street police station for filing a complaint. The woman has accused the Governor of molesting her. Shocking and disgraceful," TMC Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose said in a post on X.

Fellow TMC MP Saket Gokhale also posted on his X account regarding the issue.

West Bengal Women and Child Development Minister Shashi Panja said it is "shameful" that the Governor has maligned his post and has used it to "torture a woman".

"It is appalling and shocking to see such an incident. This is the same Governor who had reached out to Sandeshkhali to talk about women's rights and Nari Shakti. This is shameful that the Governor sought undue advantages in the pretext of giving her a permanent job. We want Prime Minister Narendra Modi who will be addressing rallies in Bengal tomorrow to react on this issue," she said.

According to sources in the Governor House, the "woman employee with the help of her alleged boyfriend who is also an employee of the Raj Bhavan was blocking complaints (from people) being sent to the Election Commission of India.

A Raj Bhavan said, "When she was reprimanded for that, she went outside and alleged molestation. She is in the habit of throwing tantrums against her colleagues because of some disease."

The West Bengal Governor and the TMC government have shared an acrimonious relationship since he assumed office in November 2022 and had several run-ins on various issues.

In a separate statement from Raj Bhawan, the governor banned the entry of West Bengal minister Chandrima Bhattacharya into the Raj Bhavan premises of Kolkata, Darjeeling and Barrackpore for "defamation and anti-constitutional media statements".

"The governor has also instructed his office that he will not participate in any function attended by the minister. The attorney general for India has been contacted for advice on further legal steps against the minister," the Raj Bhavan statement said.

The governor has also banned the entry of police into Raj Bhavan premises in the guise of conducting unauthorized, illegitimate, sham and motivated 'investigation' to placate political bosses during elections, the statement said.

The BJP said it has to be seen whether this is a "conspiracy by the TMC" or has an "iota of truth in it".

"We all know that the TMC is politically cornered on the issue of SSC scam and is looking for a breathing space. So this needs to be seen whether this is a conspiracy by the TMC or it has any iota of truth in it," BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari said.
In a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday said when the elections are over, people will only remember him as the PM who indulged in 'divisive and communal speeches filled with lies' to avoid an inevitable defeat.

IMAGE: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge addresses a public meeting for the third phase of the Lok Sabha polls, in Raichur on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

Noting that the PM in his letter to National Democratic Alliance candidates had claimed that reservation will be taken away from SC, ST and OBC and given to the Congress' 'votebank', Kharge said, 'Our votebank is every Indian -- the poor, the marginalised, the women, the aspirational youth, the labour class, the Dalits and the Adivasis.'

In a letter to the prime minister, Kharge urged Modi to seek votes on the performance of his government over the last ten years instead of indulging in 'hate speeches'.

The Congress president's remarks comes days after Modi levelled various charges against his party in his letter to NDA candidates after the second phase of the Lok Sabha polls.

Prime Minister Modi asked the BJP-led NDA candidates in the Lok Sabha polls to spread awareness among voters about the Congress's intention to snatch 'reservation from SC, ST and OBC communities and give it away to their vote bank'.

In a personal letter written to them, Modi also accused the Congress and its allies of having divisive and discriminatory motives, even though reservation on the basis of religion is unconstitutional.

Writing to Modi, Kharge said, 'I saw the letter written by you to all the NDA candidates about what they need to communicate to the voters. From the tone and content of the letter it seems that there is a lot of desperation and worry in you which is leading you to use language that does not suit the office of the prime minister.'

'The letter makes it look like the lies in your speeches are not having the effect you intended and now you want your candidates to amplify your lies. Repeating a lie a thousand times will not make it the truth,' he said.

The Congress chief said the voters are intelligent enough to read and understand by themselves what his party has written in its manifesto and what guarantees it has promised.

'Our guarantees are so simple and clear, that we don't have to explain it to them. For your benefit, I will reiterate them here,' Kharge said in his letter and elaborated on the party's Yuva Nyay, Nari Nyay, Kisan Nyay, Shramik Nyay and Hissedari Nyay.

'We have heard you and the Home Minister say that Congress is practising appeasement politics. The only appeasement policy that we have seen in the last 10 years is the appeasement of Chinese by you and your ministers. Even today, you refuse to call China as 'Ghuspaithiye', instead on June 19, 2020, you said 'Na Koi Ghusa Hai, Na Hi Koi Ghus Aaya hai', insulting the supreme sacrifice of 20 Indian soldiers in Galwan,' the Congress chief said.

'Your public 'Clean Chit' to China, has weakened India's case and made it more belligerent. Even as tensions escalate due to repeated Chinese transgressions and construction of military infrastructure near LAC in Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh and Uttarakhand, the imports of Chinese goods to India has increased by 54.76 per cent in the past 5 years alone and has crossed $101 billion in 2023-24,' he said.

Kharge also claimed that the RSS and BJP have opposed reservations at every stage since 1947.

'Your leaders have openly spoken about it. You need to clarify why you are opposed to reservation to SCs, STs and OBCs on the basis of their population as per Article 16 of our Constitution,' Kharge said.

'In your letter, you have said people's hard-earned money will be snatched and given away. I would like to take this opportunity to request you to direct your party to return the Rs 10 crore that was swindled from the poor Dalit farmers in Gujarat and given as electoral bonds to BJP,' Kharge said.

The Congress president accused the BJP of amassing Rs 8,250 crore through the 'illegal and unconstitutional' Electoral Bonds.

He said Modi's letter 'lies' that Congress wants to bring Inheritance Tax when it is a former BJP Finance Minister and BJP party leaders who have repeatedly mentioned they want Inheritance Tax.

'I see from your letter that you are worried by the low turnout of voters in the first two phases of the elections. It shows people are not enthusiastic about your policies or your campaign speeches. This is not because of the summer heat, but because the poor have been burnt by your policies,' the Congress chief said.

Kharge claimed the prime minister was not interested in talking about the ever widening inequality, unemployment and unprecedented price rise.

'You are not interested in talking about the increasing atrocities on women by your leaders,' he said in his letter to Modi.

'It is better as the prime minister if you seek votes on the performance of your government over the last ten years instead of indulging in hate speeches. The Congress Party would like to challenge you or anyone you depute to debate with us on our manifesto and the points you have made,' he said.

'As I mentioned in my earlier letter, when the elections are over, people will only remember you as the prime minister who indulged in divisive and communal speeches filled with lies to avoid an inevitable defeat,' Kharge said.
The suspense on whether top Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra would contest the Amethi and Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seats continued, with only two days left for the nomination process to end.

IMAGE: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi greets supporters with party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra at a roadshow in Wayanad, on April 3, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

Amethi and Rae Bareli are considered as traditional pocket boroughs of the Gandhi-Nehru family as its members have represented the seats for several decades.

Sources said Rahul Gandhi is likely to contest from Rae Bareli, but a final call is yet to be taken by the first family of the Congress.

They added that Priyanka Gandhi is also keen to contest from the Rae Bareli seat, but Rahul Gandhi is not favourable to the idea, considering the criticism of dynasty politics by Prime Minister Narendra Modi against the Congress leadership.

Sources said he does not want all three members of the Gandhi family to be in parliament.

They also said that a meeting to discuss the candidature for the two seats was held on Wednesday but no decision was taken.

K L Sharma, a close aide of the Gandhis, said people are expecting the Gandhi family members to contest from the Amethi and Rae Bareli seats.

A decision will be taken on the matter very soon as the last date for filing nominations for the seats is May 3, he added.

Amid the mounting suspense, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that "nobody is scared" and a decision on the matter would be announced in the next 24-30 hours.

He said that the party's central election committee (CEC) has empowered Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to finalise the candidates for Amethi and Rae Bareli.

"My expectation is that in the next 24-30 hours, the Congress president will finalise and a decision taken by him will be announced," Ramesh said in response to a question at a press conference at the All India Congress Committee headquarters in New Delhi.

"Till that is done all the information, all so-called office orders are fake," he said.

Asked why there is a delay in taking a decision and if the Congress was 'scared' in fielding Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, Ramesh said, "There is no delay. Has the BJP announced its candidates in Rae Bareli? Smriti Irani is a sitting MP. Nobody is scared, discussions are ongoing, and the Congress president has been authorised."

"There is no delay, there is time till May 3," he said.

The state leadership in Uttar Pradesh has already urged the central election committee and the party leadership to field Rahul Gandhi from Amethi and Priyanka from Rae Bareli.

As speculation mounted, the Congress workers in Amethi on Tuesday also held a sit-in and demanded that the party name a member of the Gandhi family as its candidate from the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency.

The Amethi seat has been represented by Rahul Gandhi since 2004 and he remained a member of Parliament from the constituency for three consecutive terms till 2019 when he was defeated by BJP's Smriti Irani. Rahul Gandhi currently represents the Wayanad constituency in Kerala from where he had also contested in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Rahul Gandhi has said earlier that he will follow 'whatever order' he gets from his party.

The Amethi and Rae Bareli constituencies go to polls on May 20 in the fifth round of the seven-phase general elections.

The Rae Bareli constituency was represented by Sonia Gandhi from 2004 to 2024. Prior to that, Sonia Gandhi had represented the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency after she entered politics and contested for the first time in 1999.

The seat has previously been represented by Sanjay Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi.

The Congress has forged an alliance with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh and is contesting 17 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

The Lok Sabha polls are being held in seven phases starting April 19. The counting of votes will be taken up on June 4.
BRATTLEBORO  On May 18, the Vermont Jazz Center will present Artemis, voted the Jazz Group of the Year by the 2023 Downbeat Readers poll.

This supergroup was initially organized by pianist and music director Renee Rosnes. The other members are trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, saxophonist Nicole Glover, bassist Noriko Ueda, and drummer Allison Miller. The first incarnation of Artemis was formed in 2016 when Rosnes put together a band for a European tour.

In an interview with Don Was of Blue Note Records, Rosnes recalled, We had so much fun playing together  We realized then that we had something special and that there was a natural chemistry that you cant make happen. The band has evolved to its present format: a quintet of leader-level musicians who love performing and touring together so much that they collectively regard this project as a high priority.

When asked by Don Was how they came up with the name Artemis, Ingrid Jensen brought up her research on powerful ancient goddesses: She explored the poetic and beautiful" land of Greek gods and goddesses and found Artemis.

It just jumped off the page  thats us, she said. Jensen discovered an image of a statue of Artemis online and, in digging deeper, she realized that Artemis was the goddess of the hunt: It was perfect.

Later on, drummer Allison Miller wrote a song on her electric bass called Goddess of the Hunt. She said the hunt-like, aggressive, repetitive bassline became what I felt was a representation of Artemis and reflected the determination of each member in this band. And then from there [that composition] became a way to feature each member in the band and a way to explore the qualities that I think make women so incredible and powerful.

In an interview with Neon Jazz, Rosnes discussed the way the band collaborates as a collective. She said she was an organizing force, but its all of our vision together. She went on, We do work well together, and since were performing pieces from everybody (everybodys a composer or arranger)  whoevers piece were working on conducts the rehearsal. She said that she hoped the music could be inspirational for young women so that they could look at a band like this and say, 'If they can do it, then I can do it  I can have a career in jazz.

This inspirational group plays music that is carefully scripted and expertly performed. The arrangements are clear and tight and the blend and dynamics are perfect. Adventurous and improvisational elements of jazz are also embraced and encouraged. Each musician is a master improviser; the open sections in each tune are exciting forays into the unexpected, replete with charismatic interplay, melodicism and virtuosity. These players demonstrate an elevated level of energy that is often guided by the propelling rhythms of Allison Millers drums. Nonetheless, their displays of expertise are far from gratuitous; every note and gesture is geared toward the service of the music and each composition is filled with intention and meaning.

Artemis will be appearing at the Vermont Jazz Center at 7:30 p.m. May 18. Come enjoy the music and find out why Artemis has been recognized as the Jazz Group of the Year in DownBeat's 2023 Readers Poll.

The Vermont Jazz Center greatly appreciates the sponsorship of this performance by supporters David Salzberg and Elissa Barr. For numerous years, these dedicated jazz aficionados have stepped up to recognize and help finance the Jazz Centers efforts to bring world-class jazz to New England. Publicity is underwritten by The Commons and the Brattleboro Reformer. The Vermont Jazz Center is supported in part by the Vermont Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Vermont Community Foundation.

In-person tickets for Artemis at the Vermont Jazz Center are offered on a sliding fee scale from $25 to $60 per person (contact the Vermont Jazz Center about educational group discounts), and are available online at vtjazz.org, by email at or by calling the Vermont Jazz Center ticket line at 802-254-9088, ext. 1. Access for the in-person event for people with disabilities is available by emailing elsa@vtjazz.org.

The online streaming of this concert will be offered free of charge, but donations are welcome. Please give generously and support live music. Access to the online event can be found online at vtjazz.org and at facebook.com/VermontJazzCenter/live.
BENNINGTON  Established in 2015, the Southern Vermont HomeBrew Festival focuses on the love of beer and other beverages. The Fest returns to 113 Depot St. on Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. With over 30 home brewers offering a variety of samples, including non-beer beverages like cider, wine and mead, there is a flavor for everyone.

Co-founders Will and Trish Gardner always wanted to find a way to bring this scene to the regional community. In its 9th year, the fest's uniqueness resides in that there is usually no other way to sample these beers. Trish explained that this has to do with how home-brewed beer is able to be marketed to the public.

With home brew, you cannot sell to the public ... period, she explained. "You can give it to your friends. You can give it out at (this kind of) festival. But you cannot sell it."

For many, a fest like this is the only way to truly experience some of these home brewers.

Gardner himself has been a home brewer since 2001. "I have a 15-gallon brew house in my house, all electric, that I built myself with a range hood," he said. "I can just walk in and brew whenever I want. And I only say that because that's really kind of the path that many home brewers follow."

Trish, who is Will's wife, noted that with no home brew competitions locally, there were no events to really receive any feedback. They remember discussing that they had so many friends, but with no outlet to expand.

So we thought, 'Why don't we just have a home brew festival? That's kind of where all of this stemmed from, said Trish. We wanted to give all of these people who we knew had these fantastic beers a way to share them, a way to get that out to other people, and kind of get that real-time feedback.

In order to bring people together, there needs to be a vetting process for selection. Will uses a home brewer registration form via Google where they are able to get some backstory from each applicant: What do the brewers have for a system at home? What kind of beers are they brewing? How much can they brew? How long have they been brewing?

Then I kind of pare that down to the folks, I think, that would be a good fit for us, she said.

This year, they have six first-timers, including Silver Bridge Brewing (Mount Tabor), Two Pines Brewing Company (Minoa, N.Y.) and Seacoast Home Brew Club (Wakefield, N.H.).

Will mentioned that some returning brewers have been with them since the beginning. One of them is Groth Garage Brewing, out of Saratoga, N.Y. They are focused on malt-based beverages like Scottish ales, brown ales and stouts.

But in this kind of day of brewing, youve got to bring a New England IPA, so they'll throw one of those in there, too, Will explained. What I like about [Groth] is their variety across the board. They'll bring five or six different beers, which is awesome. Will said that out of the 30 or so brewers, each bring a minimum of four different styles of beer to the fest.

While there are not really any local home brewers from Bennington, there is a veteran of the fest coming from Manchester: Kiev Ratee of Invisible Mountain Brewing. Ratee is also a contributor to Brew Your Own Magazine, out of Manchester as well.

What I love about him is I've never had a bad beer from him. He is consistent across the board, Will said. Everything that he brings is to style, (but) nothing flashy, nothing too crazy. They're always going to be in style and taste really well.

Another stalwart home brew collective returning this year to the fest is Three Teachers Brewing out of Albany, N.Y. It is, literally, three teachers who all befriended each other at their particular school. They got together, started brewing and became really fast friends.

They've missed a couple festivals, but they were at our our last one, Will said. They consistently place first, second, third, at many festivals, so they're coming back.

While there aren't any solo female brewers, there are a mix of spouses. Will said one that comes to mind is Moose and Otis, which is husband-and-wife team Cathy and John Sutherland.

We get a lot of that, which is kind of cool, Will said. So the husband is, and I don't want to stereotype, usually the brewer, and the wife is usually taste-tester, helper, and really gets into it. I also love when the wives come (to the fest) because the booth is always decorated awesome.

Another great element of the fest is that the home brewers are not just bringing their beer, pumping it up on a table and pouring. They are bringing $1,000 jockey boxes with coils inside with two, three or four taps on it along with a whole decorated area. Most of the home brewers, Will said, actually have monogrammed tents with their brewery name on it.

The festival itself, in its logistics, also continues to evolve. They have moved back and forth from glass to plastic because of safety concerns, mostly linked to COVID in recent years. And while they don't have water stations, they encourage attendees to hydrate. A complimentary water bottle cart circulates at the event. This is its second year at the Depot Street location.

A big part of their enthusiasm and dedication to this event is seeing many of the home brewers realize their dream and open, at one point or another, their own actual commercial brewery.

Sitting at Harvest Brewing on Northside in Bennington for this interview, Will mentioned Harvest owner (and 2024 Home Brew fest judge) Sean Dunleavy, who started at the festivals as a home brewer. In addition, Seth Barrows, formerly of Farm House Brewing, also began as a home brewer at the fest.

This year, Will said, in memory and honor of Barrows, who recently passed, they are renaming the best beer/beverage award to the Seth Barrows Farm Road Brewing Award.

We're super excited about that, Will continued. It's a way for us to sort of carry on his legacy from home brewer to professional brewer. The judges all knew Seth and are, I think, a little sentimental about it.

Will said the home brewers can sometimes be some of the pickiest and most crazy people, which often results in great beverages. He explained that, in the past week leading up to the fest, he and his wife have been trying to get all the information for the pour list, which will be available to the attendees on the day.

So I'm reaching out, and saying, 'Guys, I need this list. I got to go to print.' They're like, 'Alright, just give me more tasting here. We got six guys coming over. We're going to vote on our best one and bring it, explained Will.

(They want to) bring their best of the best. Trish added. We literally have had home brewers (drop) out of the Home Brew fest because they didn't think their beer was good enough (yet).

It all comes down to the love of the craft. In Will's perspective, it is the time, dedication and the love of these brewers that rings through. I mean, these home brewers, (along with us), we are a community. We support each other. We are constantly giving each other feedback. And we work together. Anybody asks for anything, it's like, 'This person can help you out.' So we've got those connections. And that's one of the things that, I think, gets lost sometimes a lot these days.

He said when they get a home brewer that wins, Everybody's cheering. Everybody's happy for them. Everybody's like, 'You deserved it.' That's fantastic.
BRATTLEBORO  On May 17, the Brattleboro Literary Festival will present a Literary Cocktail Hour, online and free, featuring Edward OKeefe, author of new book, "The Loves of Theodore Roosevelt: The Women Who Created a President," in conversation with historian Michael Cullinane.

To register for this event, go to: tinyurl.com/mr3ut2vp

Theodore Roosevelt wrote in his senior thesis for Harvard in 1880 that women ought to be paid equal to men and have the option of keeping their maiden names upon marriage. Its little surprise hed become a feminist, given the women he grew up with.

His mother, Martha Mittie, was witty and decisive, a Southern belle raising four young children in New York while her husband spent long stretches away with the Union Army. Theodores college sweetheart and first wife, Alice  so vivacious she was known as "Sunshine"  steered her beau away from science (hed roam campus with taxidermy specimen in his pockets) and toward politics. His older sister Anna Bamie would soon become her brothers key political strategist and adviser; journalists called her Washington, D.C., home the little White House. His younger sister Corrine Conie served as her brothers press secretary before the role existed, slipping stories of his heroics in Cuba and his rambunctious home life to reporters to create the legend of the Rough Rider we remember today. And Edith  Theodores childhood playmate and second wife  would elevate the role of presidential spouse to an American institution, curating both the White House and her husbands legacy.

A dazzling and lyrical look at one of Americas most significant presidents, "The Loves of Theodore Roosevelt" celebrates five extraordinary yet unsung women who opened the door to the American Century and pushed Theodore Roosevelt through it.

Theodore Roosevelt in Vermont

Theodore Roosevelt was the 26th president of the United States, from 1901-1909. He was vice president when President William McKinley was assassinated and was actually in Vermont attending a dinner of the Vermont Fish and Game League on Isle La Motte when he was notified of the shooting on Sept. 6, 1901.

With McKinleys death, Roosevelt, not quite 43, became the youngest president in the Nations history. He brought new excitement and power to the presidency, as he vigorously led Congress and the American public toward progressive reforms and a strong foreign policy.

On Sept. 1, 1902, Roosevelt also made an appearance in Brattleboro as part of a barnstorming tour through New England. Theodore Roosevelt was married twice (his first wife died at age 22), and he was the father of six children. Sarah Alden Derby was the daughter of one of his children, Ethel Roosevelt. Sarah later went on to marry Vermont State Senator Robert Gannett and they resided in Brattleboro.

Edward F. OKeefe is the CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation. He previously spent two decades in broadcast and digital media, during which time he received a Primetime Emmy Award for his work with Anthony Bourdain, two Webby Awards, the Edward R. Murrow Award, and a George Foster Peabody Award for ABC News coverage of 9/11. A former fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, he graduated with honors from Georgetown University.

Michael Cullinane is a historian of American politics, an award-winning author, and the Lowman Walton Chair of Theodore Roosevelt Studies at Dickinson State University. He also serves as a Public Historian for the Theodore Roosevelt Association and contributes to the design and curation of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library due to open in 2026. He is author of several books and hosts the popular podcast "The Gilded Age and Progressive Era."

For more information about A Literary Cocktail Hour, go to brattleborolitfest.org.
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.  Images Cinema in Williamstown has always been about education and opening film fans to different viewpoints of filmmaking. In introducing the Berkshire Student Film Festival, occurring on Saturday with both 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. screenings of short films, the venue hopes to create a more expanded community, with increased communication among local creatives.

Janet Curran, managing director of the cinema, first began her film journey as a student at Williams College when she spent time at Images nearly 20 years ago. I was a volunteer, so I got to see movies for free, Curran said. It was great. I got to watch movies multiple times and really study ... films that I really loved. That was a really important part of my time as a student. In turn, Curran believes in passing and encouraging that experience in a new generation.

The impetus for the new film festival came from the executive director of Images: Dan Hudson and board chair Kevin O'Rourke. O'Rourke works in the theater program at Williams College and knew there was a lot of interest in filmmaking there, even though there isn't a formalized department within the school. I think they both kind of just synchronously came up with the thought that we should do this, Curran continued. And so that's why we're doing it now.

Curran said festival organizers wanted to engage with students all over the area, and not just the immediate Williamstown/North Adams vicinity. It was important to her that there be representatives from a lot of different schools participating in the program. Images brought in an intern, Minnie Lerner, to spearhead the Student Engagement Committee.

Minnie did a lot of outreach, Curran said. I think she contacted every single school within a 25-mile radius to see if there was a film class or a film club? And if there wasn't, could they hang a flyer about (us) seeking submissions?" Eventually, Lerner ended up assembling a screening committee consisting of students from Bennington College, Buxton, MCLA and Williams College

Curran worked as a sounding board for Lerner, giving input and offering recommendations in terms of different avenues and initiatives for her to explore. After the screening committee vetted down the submissions, Curran and Hudson screened the films themselves. Curran said they did not know what to expect in terms of how many and what kinds of submissions they would get. There was also a question of quality. And I have to say, I was really pleasantly surprised by how good the films were.

A consistency across the board, Curran found, is that many of the films had a local or regional connection. She mentions two documentary shorts that stuck with her. One is called A Bucolic Exile, by Julian Arenas. It is a short film about how the Shah of Iran's son came to Williams Colleges in the late 1970s. It was under 10 minutes, Curran explained, but it was this short but very well-executed documentary about this (unique subject). Having lived in Williamstown for 25 years, Curran said she never heard about the piece of local lore. So it was just this interesting story about something that happened in Williamstown.

Curran also mentioned another short, a documentary/personal essay called Dear Mr. L by Myla Dougherty. It is about a student coming to Williams after her grandfather had attended the school many years prior. And she's reading his letters where he makes reference to different parts of Williamstown. I thought it was a really lovely film that was talking about the history of Williamstown and the college, but also about her personal interaction with these different things.

Curran said having a festival like this with these kinds of short films just reaffirms the mission Images promotes. The organization aims to encourage new voices to look at and tell stories in new ways.

Things can be (done) your own way, Curran added. And I think, especially in film, we have these ideas about what's 'good' in our minds that I think shuts a lot of creativity down. She said some of the filmmakers she really loves are those who are able to step outside the box. "Because you can't create something new and innovative if you're just trying to meet people's expectations."

Curran said this kind of film festival, like many events at Images, is meant to make every night its own kind of impromptu community. You always have people after the film standing around in the lobby or right in front of the entrance. It's just like, people watch a movie and then they want to talk. I mean, not always, but a lot of times.

These people want to know what other people think about what they just saw, how it relates to something in their own lives or something that they read.

Film festivals, especially ones like Berkshire Student Film Festival, Curran added, are about that discovery. And what a beautiful thing it would be if people felt empowered to do more visual storytelling.
Brattleboro, VT (05301)

Today

Mostly clear this evening followed by increasing clouds and a few showers after midnight. Low 33F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%..

Tonight

Mostly clear this evening followed by increasing clouds and a few showers after midnight. Low 33F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%.
A claim emerged in Chinese-language social media posts that Italy wants to rejoin Chinas Belt and Road Initiative, which it joined in 2019 and left last year, citing a screenshot of a Bloomberg article.

But the claim is false. The Bloomberg article makes no mention of Italy wanting to rejoin the initiative. Keyword searches found no credible reports or statements that back the claim.

The claim was shared on the popular Chinese social Weibo on April 15, 2024.

According to Bloomberg, Italy, which pulled out of the Belt and Road Initiative last year, wants to come back  Italy is desperate and wants back in, the claim reads in part.

The claim accompanied a screenshot of what appears to be a Bloomberg article.

On Dec. 6, 2023, the Italian government announced it will not renew the 2019 memorandum of understanding on its participation in Chinas Belt and Road Initiative. This decision marked Italys exit from President Xi Jinpings flagship diplomatic project.

The signing of the MOU raised concerns in Washington and other European nations, where it was feared to signal a shift in historical alliances, since Italy became the first and only G7 country to join the initiative.

At that time, many in the West viewed this as an attempt by Beijing to diminish the United Statess global economic dominance.

The BRI, launched in 2013, has positioned China as a significant international lender, funding numerous infrastructure projects primarily in developing countries, which has sparked controversy for both China and the involved nations.

The identical claim was shared on other Chinese social media platforms as seen here, here and here.

Influencers on Weibo claimed that Italy regretted dropping out of Chinas Belt and Road Initiative, attaching a screenshot of a Bloomberg article as evidence. (Screenshot/ Weibo)

But the claim is false.

Bloomerg article

A keyword search found the Bloomberg article cited in the misleading posts published on April 12, 2024.

But a close look at the article found that it made no mention of Italy wanting to rejoin the initiative.

Instead, the article said that the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will soon take a trip to China in order to improve relations with Beijing.

Noting Melonis preparations to visit China in an effort to reset relations between the two countries, the article also reported Italian Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajanis meeting with Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao at a bilateral discussion forum on April 12.

Leaving the Silk Road would not compromise channels with China, reads a statement released by Italy after the meeting.

Keywords searches found no credible reports or statements that back the claim.

Translated by Shen Ke. Edited by Shen Ke, Taejun Kang, Malcolm Foster, and Eugene Whong.

Asia Fact Check Lab (AFCL) was established to counter disinformation in todays complex media environment. We publish fact-checks, media-watches and in-depth reports that aim to sharpen and deepen our readers understanding of current affairs and public issues. If you like our content, you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and X.
Aerial view of ground preparation and new roads for mining in Prey Lang in Preah Vihear, February 2024. (RFA Photo)

Drone footage shows the latest developments at ore mines in northern Cambodia that citizens worry is harmful to the environment and could disrupt the lives of people who live nearby, residents told Radio Free Asia.

The mines are concerning because the developer Global Green has cleared forest cover and the project has impacted residents farmland without compensation. In the footage, the abrupt end of the forest is clearly visible, and the cleared area, said to be several hectares, is active with trucks bustling to and from work areas and large buildings where other trucks are parked.

We request that the government release more information on the conservation and strict implementation of the law on the protection of natural resources in the Prey Lang Conservation Area, a member of the core group of the Prey Lang Community Network in Preah Vihear province, Khem Soky, told RFA Khmer.

Global Green is owned by Try Dalux, the eldest son of tycoon Try Pheap, an advisor to Senate President Hun Sen, who ruled Cambodia as prime minister from 1985 until he stepped down last year so his son could succeed him.

The company has plans to expand its iron ore business in Preah Vihear and Stung Treng provinces.

On April 10, a community network in Preah Vihear province issued a statement alleging that Global Green's iron ore operation has damaged community forests and affected indigenous livelihoods, including preventing them from activities like resin extraction, picking mushrooms, traditional medicine gathering and family-owned mining.

The mining site, which used to be a cashew plantation, has been cleared by Global Green without proper compensation, a resident of Preah Vihear province, who asked not to be named over the concern of the security, told RFA.

He said that the company is currently hiding some information and that people suspect that the company has been smuggling gold ore to be sold abroad, which would be in violation of the government's license to exploit only iron ore.

It is difficult for us to know whether it is iron ore or gold ore, he said. But if it is only iron they shouldnt put it in trucks and take it away. I suspect it's gold because it is red.

RFA was unable to contact Pen Bona, head of government spokesman, and Ministry of Mines and Energy spokesman Ung Dipola for comment. Global Green representative Hak Sinath also could not be reached for comment.

The project coordinator of the Cambodian Youth Network Association, Ot Latin, said that any development or government investment must have an accurate and transparent assessment of social and environmental impact and must involve the people living there in the area first, otherwise those developments do not reflect the legitimacy and legality.

"Looking at this mining investment, the company seems to be making a lot of money, but if we look at the challenges of the people, the living standards of the people, it is not better and benefits from the mine business, Ot Latin said. I think the government should review the companies that have been granted concessions, especially the mining concessions."

Translated by Samean Yun. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.
The women say they have been denied food and medicine while awaiting help from their embassy.

Dozens of Cambodian women trafficked to work as maids in Saudi Arabia are demanding their embassy arrange for their return home, seen here in an image posted on a Cambodian government telegram page, April 30, 2024.

Updated at 13:20 ET on May 14, 2024.

Dozens of Cambodian women trafficked to work as maids in Saudi Arabia are demanding that their embassy arrange for them to return home, saying that since authorities rescued them nearly two weeks ago, they have lacked access to adequate food and their health is rapidly deteriorating.

On April 18, Cambodias Ministry of Labor confirmed that 78 Cambodian migrant workers had been tricked into working in Saudi Arabia, but have now been rescued and placed in hotel rooms under the care of the Cambodian Embassy in Egypt, which oversees Saudi Arabia.

The ministry said 51 of the women are in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, 15 in the capital Riyadh, and 12 in Dammam, on the coast of the Persian Gulf.

The Ministries of Labor and Foreign Affairs, along with the Cambodian Embassy, claimed to be purchasing flights for the victims to return to Cambodia, promising to return 29 on April 19, 27 on April 20, and the final 22 on April 21.

However, on April 27, RFA Khmer received videos from several of the victims in which they claimed to remain stranded in Saudi Arabia.

In the videos, the women call for help from former Prime Minister Hun Sen, his wife Bun Rany, and their son Prime Minister Hun Manet.

They said the companies that brought them to Saudi Arabia had violated their contracts, leaving them mired in legal issues surrounding their salaries and basic rights. They claim several of them were subjected to physical abuse by the households where they worked, including being denied food and sleep.

They singled out Saudi firm BAB, which places workers from Cambodia-based company Fatina Manpower, for allegedly threatening them and accusing them of working illegally in the country. Some of the victims said they were unable to leave the country because BAB had refused to terminate their contracts.

The women told RFA that since their rescue, some of them had been confined to their hotel rooms without proper access to food, and said they were appealing for help because they could no longer wait for the government to send them home.

According to Cambodias Ministry of Labor, nearly 1.4 million people were provided with employment opportunities to work abroad in 2023, more than 93% of which are in Thailand, while the remainder are in South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia.

Stranded in Saudi Arabia

RFA contacted one of the women, Thaing Sokyee, who said she had been forced to work as a maid in multiple homes each day without being provided enough food to eat before she was rescued, and is now suffering from health issues.

Ive called on the [labor] ministry and the embassy to find prompt solutions for us so that we may return to Cambodia, she said. Weve faced mounting difficulties; our bodies have deteriorated as we were forced to work without food.

Doeun Pheap, another victim who said she is sick as a result of her working conditions, told RFA that she has been confined to her room since her rescue and has not been permitted by embassy staff to go outside to purchase medicine.

She said the staff told her to wait for the government to send her home and that she was advised to record a video clip saying that my health condition is getting better and that I have been provided with enough food to eat.

I still hurt all over my body  Im able to stand up, but my waist and my back still hurt, she said, adding that embassy staff had provided her with rice, but not food.

I didnt do it [record the video] because I was too hungry and exhausted; I couldnt bear doing anything.

Other victims claimed that Uk Sarun, Cambodias Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, had threatened to abandon us if we continue to publicly call for help.

Trafficking designation

On Monday, Ambassador Uk Sarun confirmed to RFA Khmer that only 16 of the 78 women had been returned home so far. He said that some of the women had faced a shortage of food due to the ongoing holy month of Ramadan, during which Muslims fast during the day and only eat at night.

He did not address claims by victims that he had threatened to withhold assistance if they continued to speak out about their situation.

The Khmer Times reported last week that 29 of the 78 had been safely repatriated as of April 19, while the rest were awaiting documentation to leave, but provided no attribution for the numbers.

The report said that the embassy was providing the victims with food and accommodation and cited Cambodian Ministry of Labor spokesman Katta Orn as saying that the ministry was conducting an investigation into the employment scam.

RFA spoke with Bun Chenda, a Cambodia-based anti-human trafficking officer for labor rights group CENTRAL, who said the women had been exploited when they were sent to Saudi Arabia without proper compliance with labor contracts.

We are not sure if the government is treating their cases as human trafficking, he said. If they are being rescued as human trafficking victims, intervention would likely be easier and they wouldnt be subject to legal action by a Saudi Arabian company.

Translated by Yun, Samean. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.

Updates to clarify that Cambodian Embassy is based in Egypt and oversees Saudi Arabia.
Fang Bin says he's seen as a 'stability maintenance' liability by officials, who put pressure on his landlord.

Wuhan citizen journalist Fang Bin demonstrates the lack of utilities in his apartment, just two weeks into a year-long lease, April 29, 2024.

Citizen journalist Fang Bin, who was jailed after filming from hospitals and funeral homes in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, is now homeless after being evicted from an apartment he rented just last month.

Fang, who was sentenced to three years' imprisonment at a secret trial, was released last year and ordered back to Wuhan when he traveled to Beijing.

Back in Wuhan, Fang stayed for a while in Qiaokou district, where he was frequently questioned by local police as part of China's "stability maintenance" system that targets dissidents and activists before they have a chance to do anything, prompting him to leave the area.

Before his detention on Feb. 1, 2020, Fang was among a number of high-profile bloggers who tried to report on the emerging and little-understood viral outbreak from Wuhan. He described the pandemic as a "man-made" disaster, calling on people to resist government "tyranny."

He sent reports from Wuhan No. 5 Hospital and a funeral home in Wuchang, part of the three-city conurbation that makes up Wuhan, where he watched staff move out eight dead bodies in the space of five minutes, suggesting the death toll was far higher than the officially reported figure.

Last month, Fang found an apartment in Huangpi district, further out of town, and signed a one-year lease with a private landlord surnamed Ren on April 15, paying a year's rent and service charges up front.

Three days later, local officials found out that he had moved into the area, and put pressure on the landlord to terminate his lease, he told RFA Mandarin in an interview on Wednesday.

The landlord told him he was being evicted, saying he couldn't take the kind of pressure he was being put under.

"When [the authorities] found out that I'd moved to Huangpi from Qiaokou, they were against me living in Huangpi," Fang said. "They put pressure on the landlord to evict me."

"They cut off my power and water supply ... They want me to leave," he said. "I paid the rent and the service charge."

Fang said unidentified people had used "every tactic they could think of" to put pressure on the landlord, who didn't dare to say where the pressure was coming from.

"He said, 'I can't stand this any more  I'll give you your money back,'" Fang said.

A 'stability maintenance' target

Repeated calls to the neighborhood committee at Shekoujie Sub-district Office rang unanswered during office hours on Wednesday.

Fang believes local officials there didn't want him living in the district because he's a "stability maintenance" target, whom they fear could cause trouble for them.

Fang left on April 27, then regained entry to the apartment the following day, only to have the water and power cut off on April 29, he said. Then someone tampered with the door lock, shutting Fang out of the apartment entirely.

"They think that my living here would be dangerous or troublesome for them, due to stability maintenance and so on," he said. "They think I'll cause them trouble, be another thing they are responsible for."

Fang went incommunicado after a Feb. 1, 2020, livestream from Wuhan healthcare facilities, and made a couple more videos in the days that followed about his interrogation by police, before falling silent for three years, with no news of his fate.

He was sentenced in secret by the Jiang'an District People's Court, which didn't share any legal documents with his family, then served his sentence in the Xiaojunshan former juvenile correction facility, activists said at the time.

Fangs disappearance came a few days after the detention of another citizen journalist, Chen Qiushi, who had been interviewing people involved with the new mega hospitals being built at great speed in Wuhan.

Fellow citizen journalist Kcriss Li continued reporting from the scene for a few more weeks after that, until his dramatic, live-streamed chase by police on Feb. 26.

Lawyer-turned-reporter Zhang Zhan was detained and taken back to Shanghai, where there are ongoing concerns about her health in prison following months of on-off hunger strikes and forced feeding.

The U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China called for Fang's release in its annual report in November 2022, along with all those detained for reporting on the pandemic in China.

Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Roseanne Gerin.


First homegrown carrier Fujian is expected to help project power.

China's third aircraft carrier the Fujian begins sea trials on May 1, 2024.

Updated May 02, 2024, 03:35 a.m. ET.

China has begun sea trials for its third aircraft carrier, Fujian, a big step towards realizing its naval ambitions amid increased regional tensions, defense analysts said.

Chinese media reported that the 80,000-ton Fujian. a Type 003 class vessel, left Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai on Wednesday morning to begin its first trial in the open sea.

The sea trial is primarily aimed at testing the reliability and stability of the aircraft carrier's propulsion and electrical systems, state news agency Xinhua reported.

This is a huge step forward for the Chinese navy, said Andreas Rupprecht, a veteran Chinese military watcher.

The sea trial is probably the most eagerly awaited milestone for the ship that was launched almost two years ago, Rupprecht told Radio Free Asia.

However, there is still a lot that we dont know: if everything works according to plan or whether there remain technical issues, the analyst said.

Xinhua reported that the Fujian has completed its mooring trials, outfitting work and equipment adjustments and has met the technical requirements for sea trials without giving further details.

Pride of Chinese Navy

Chinas state CCTV released a clip showing the carrier, flanked by several tugboats, moving out of the shipyard and heading to sea.

This week, the Chinese Maritime Safety Administration issued a navigational warning to ban ships from entering an area in the East China Sea from May 1-9, believed to be the period of the trial.

Sea trials are an important final step towards commissioning the carrier. Some experts believe the carrier could become operational in 2025 while some say they are unsure of the time frame.

Yusuf Unjhawala, a Bangalore-based defense analyst, said that India took a year to carry out sea trials for its indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.

China's third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, docks in east China's Shanghai on April 30, 2024. (Pu Haiyang/Xinhua)





The Fujian is Chinas largest and most advanced carrier, also the first to feature a modern catapult system for launching fighter jets. Experts said the Fujians Catapult Assisted Take-Off Barrier Arrested Recovery, or CATOBAR, mechanism is similar to that of U.S. carriers.

Chinas first two aircraft carriers  Liaoning and Shandong  use a ski jump-style launch system.

The Fujian is also Chinas first carrier built with an indigenous design, unlike the other two which were remodeled from Soviet-made ships.

Combat capabilities

When operational, the Fujian will significantly enhance the capabilities of the navy, Chinese experts told the Global Times.

They were quoted as saying it can carry a larger number of aircraft and launch aircraft, including heavier ones, faster and more efficiently than its existing carriers.

Fujian will likely host Shenyang J-15 fighters, as well as the next generation J-35s and the new Xian KJ-600 fixed-wing AEWC (airborne early warning and control) aircraft, according to open intelligence sources.

The ships air complement is based on the Russian Su-33 which it calls the J-15, said Unjhawala, Its a very heavy fighter and it takes off from a ski ramp, which limits its ability to carry arms.

The aviation component of the new aircraft carrier is beset with technical problems, the analyst said, adding that it will take time for China to become a formidable carrier force.

Still, it represents a big leap forward and a warning for countries in dispute with China in the East and South China seas.

Japan has recently decided to upgrade one of its two helicopter carriers to its first aircraft carrier  a decision that was quickly condemned by Beijing.

Aircraft carriers represent Chinas maritime ambitions and the carrier fleet may be expanded to five ships in the next 10 years, according to a report by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA), an independent U.S. think tank specializing in defense policy, planning and budgets.

China already has the largest navy in the world by number with an overall battle force of more than 370 ships and submarines, compared with the U.S.s 293, according to the Pentagon. The U.S. Navy, however, has 11 aircraft carriers, most of which are much more advanced and powerful than Chinas.

The Fujian has a dead weight tonnage of 80,000 tons, similar to one of the U.S.s ten Nimitz-class ships but significantly smaller than the U.S.s new Gerald R. Ford carrier of 100,000 tons.

Edited by Mike Firn.

Updated to correct probable date of sea trial.
The third plenary session has already spawned some new buzzwords, and will focus on growth in the Yangtze Delta.

A general view shows delegates attending the closing of the 19th Communist Party Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on October 24, 2017.

The ruling Chinese Communist Party has announced it will hold a top-level plenary session on the economy several months later than usual, suggesting it is struggling to come up with a workable plan to stimulate growth and boost investor confidence in its handling of the economy, analysts said in recent interviews with Radio Free Asia.

The ruling party's Central Committee announced this week it will hold its delayed third plenary session of the 20th party congress in July, an unusual time of year for such a meeting. Third plenums -- full sessions of the 205-member, 171-alternate member committee -- have traditionally focused on economic matters.

But while state media have reported that the plenum will decide on reforms amid challenges at home and complexities abroad, analysts said the long delay suggests that the party leadership has struggled to reach consensus on what that might mean on the ground.

"If they had held it last year, or at the start of this year, they wouldn't have known what economic direction to take," U.S.-based commentator Cai Shenkun told RFA Mandarin, adding that nobody really understood the latest economic slogan to come down from the top, "new productive forces."

"They started pushing the idea of new productive forces, but everyone thought it was a joke," Cai said. "Now they may have found some practical ways to boost the economy."

The new focus will be breathing new life into the Yangtze River Delta region, using another buzzword -- "new development philosophy" -- state news agency Xinhua reported on May 2.

"Economic recovery is beset by multiple challenges, including insufficient demand, high operation pressures in enterprises, various hidden risks in key sectors, unsmooth domestic economic flow, as well as an external environment that is grimmer, more complicated and less certain," Xinhua quoted an April 30 Politburo meeting as saying.

One practical measure under the "new development philosophy" appears to be a recent attempt to boost flagging domestic demand through grassroots political campaigns to get people to buy more consumer goods, and to trade in their old domestic appliances for newer models, according to the article.

Another will be "new mechanisms for cooperation between the government and private capital," according to Xinhua.

Residential buildings under construction by Chinese real estate developer Vanke in Hangzhou, in eastern China's Zhejiang province, March 31, 2024. (AFP)

That could be where another new economic buzzword -- "patient capital" -- comes in.

According to financial commentator Zheng Xuguang, that means encouraging investors to seek long-term returns rather than a quick buck, while serving the national interest.

But he said the government doesn't offer a stable regulatory environment in return, further damaging confidence.

"If they need long-term investment, then they can't have short-term policies that can just change overnight," Zheng said. "The two things go together."

He said the deep-seated problems with confidence in China, which have manifested in the "run" movement of people moving overseas in the wake of the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions in late 2022, are likely behind the delay in the Third Plenum.

That hasn't been helped by further shifts away from the economic reform era begun by late supreme leader Deng Xiaoping in 1979, according to Cai.

"They were a little confused by the plummeting exports," Cai said. "And on top of that, they moved politically towards the pre-reform era [of a state-controlled economy] last year."

Added to which, the looming possibility of an armed invasion of democratic Taiwan would also wipe out any prospect of foreign investors offering long-term, "patient" investments, he said.

China's leaders also remain concerned about "hidden risks," an oblique reference to the possibility of financial crisis, and called on cash-strapped local governments to "shoulder their share of responsibility," according to Xinhua's May 2 article.

The "integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta" is a key strategy attributed to Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, and seeks to position the region as a "pioneer, leader and driver of regional development," including the building of high-tech industrial clusters and integrated supply chains, the agency reported.

"Shanghai should play a leading role, and Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces should leverage their respective strengths so as to form synergy for continuously writing new chapters in the integrated development of the Delta," the agency paraphrased the Politburo meeting as saying.

An employee counts Chinese yuan banknotes at a bank in Hefei, Anhui province November 11, 2010. (Stringer/Reuters)

Cai Shenkun said the region is likely to benefit at the expense of the Pearl River Delta, which includes Hong Kong.

"The Yangtze River Delta economy is a major leader of Chinese economic growth," he said. "The Pearl River Delta used to have that leading role, but Hong Kong has become totally paralyzed by [the political intervention of the] Chinese Communist Party."

"This basically sets the tone for the Third Plenum," Cai said.

Huang Tianlei , a researcher at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said Chinese officials are playing down the seriousness of the economic situation, amid huge structural changes, as China pivots from being an export-dependent economy to something more dependent on its own citizens' spending decisions.

"China's economic policy has been focused for a very long time on the supply side, and has been very light on the demand side," he said. "This is the fundamental reason behind the current economic imbalance."

He said the plenum needs to address changes to the tax system, which is hugely dependent on corporate tax revenues, and on boosting sources of income for local governments, which have heavy liabilities but few sources of revenue in the wake of the bursting of the real estate bubble.

Economic commentator Li Hengqing, said the Xinhua report glosses over the extent of China's current economic crisis, however.

Perhaps more tellingly, it talks about reform without talking about the use of the market economy to distribute resources and benefits, or about restraints on state power, Li said.

"It's trying to boost confidence, but actually nobody has confidence in them," Li said. "Confidence is the key, but they're not doing the things that matter [to make it happen]."

Translated by Luisetta Mudie.
Nearly two-thirds of older Americans see China as an enemy, compared to less than a third of the youngest adults.

Supporters await the arrival of China's President Xi Jinping next to Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit headquarters in San Francisco, California on November 14, 2023.

Four in five Americans say they have an unfavorable opinion of China, according to a new survey, with clear majorities across each age group but older people the most likely to report negative views.

The Pew survey, released on Wednesday, found that 81% of all Americans say they have an unfavorable opinion of Americas biggest geopolitical rival. That figure is about steady since 2019.

In that year, 79% of Americans reported unfavorable views of China, which was more than double the figure from a decade prior. In 2009, only 38% held unfavorable views, while 49% held favorable views.

Only 16% of Americans said they view China favorably this year.

Negative views of China are more common among older Americans. (Pew Research Center)

The Pew survey was based on responses from 3,600 adults carried out from April 1 to 7 using a random sampling of residential addresses with demographic weighting to represent the U.S. population. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.1 percentage points.

The unfavorable views are translating into policy positions, too.

In a report, Pew said that many Americans were likewise critical of Chinas impact on the U.S. economy, describing its influence as large and negative and supported government intervention.

Roughly half of Americans think limiting Chinas power and influence should be a top U.S. foreign policy priority, the report said, and another 42% think this should be given some priority.

Older and more conservative

Americans are more likely to hold negative views of China the older and more conservative they are, according to the survey results.

In fact, while 90% of those older than 65 years old reported unfavorable views  with 61% very unfavorable  that figure was only 72% for Americans younger than 30, among whom only 27% reported very unfavorable views, less than half of the oldest age range.

Meanwhile, nearly two-thirds of Republicans (59%) reported very unfavorable views of China and said the country was an enemy of the United States, compared with less than a third of Democrats.

A similar trend held across age demographics: Nearly two-thirds (61%) of Americans older than 65 say that China is an enemy of the United States, compared with only 27% of those aged under 30.

A pro-Tibet protester (top L) sits suspended on a flag pole over supporters of ChinesePresident Xi Jinping during demonstrations at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' week in San Francisco, California, on November 15, 2023. (Photo by Josh Edelson/AFP)

Overall, the portion of Americans who view China as an enemy has grown 8 percentage points since 2021, Pew noted. In that year, it was 34%, and it now stands at 42%. Exactly half of Americans now say that China is just a competitor, though, and 6% view it as a partner.

There is also less of a stark partisan divide when it comes to concerns about Chinas territorial disputes with its neighbors, with 65% of Republicans and 61% of Democrats saying they are concerned.

The oldest age bracket of Americans (79%) are still the most likely to be concerned about Chinas territorial expansionist aims, though, with only 47% of the youngest age bracket reporting the same concerns.

Pew notes an overarching trend: Americans with a sour view of the U.S. economy are the most negative when it comes to China.

Those who say the current U.S. economic situation is bad are more likely to hold an unfavorable opinion of China and to say China has a great deal or fair amount of negative influence on the U.S. economy, the report says. They are also more likely to see China as an enemy when compared with those who see the economy positively.

Edited by Malcolm Foster.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, United States, delivered a joint statement on behalf of 50 U.N nations on May 1, 2024.

Fifty U.N. members, including the United States, Japan, and South Korea, are considering alternatives to ensure continued objective and independent monitoring of sanctions on North Korea after the recent dissolution of a panel investigating suspected violations, they said in a statement.

The joint statement, delivered by U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield on Wednesday, emphasized the need for impartial analysis to address North Koreas unlawful development of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles.

The U.N. panel of experts, tasked with investigating violations of sanctions related to North Koreas prohibited nuclear and ballistic missile programs, was officially dissolved on Tuesday. This followed the U.N. Security Councils failure to renew the panels mandate on March 28 due to a veto by permanent council member Russia.

Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield stressed that the sanctions on North Korea remain in effect, reiterating the Security Councils consistent demand for the North to comply with its obligations under multiple Security Council resolutions.

When asked about possible alternatives to the disbanded panel, Thomas-Greenfield said countries are considering various possibilities. She added that the U.S. is working closely with South Korea and Japan to propose ideas for the rest of the member states to consider.

The panel, which consists of eight experts drawn from the permanent members of the Security Council, is tasked with assisting the North Korea Sanctions Committee to investigate alleged violations of sanctions by North Korea, and has issued in-depth reports twice a year on the sanctions violations.

The Security Council has extended the panels mandate for one year each March by passing a resolution. Its mandate expired at the end of April.

Russias use of its veto follows accusations from the U.S., South Korea and others that North Korea is supplying Russia with weapons to use in its war in Ukraine  an accusation that both countries have denied.

But the panel, in a report released in March, gave details, with photographs, of Russias arms dealings with North Korea in violation of sanctions. The panel said it was investigating reports of the arms transfers.

Edited by Mike Firn.
No reason is given for the restrictions, which come as authorities impose military draft.

Myanmar workers who will go to work in Korea were seen on April 30, 2024.

Updated May 03, 2024, 04:39 p.m. ET.

Myanmars junta has banned all men from working abroad amid widespread public concern over the implementation of a military draft law.

Since Myanmars conscription law was announced by junta chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing on Feb. 10, troops nationwide have attempted to press-gang large numbers into the military, which is seeking to shore up its ranks after a series of battlefield defeats.

It requires men and women aged 18 to 35 to serve in the juntas armed forces for two years  prompting more than 100,000 to flee their homes to avoid the draft, the Burmese Affairs and Conflict Study found last month.

The ban on men working abroad, which went into effect on May 1, is temporary and will remain in effect as needed, Ministry of Labor Permanent Secretary Nyunt Win told RFA Burmese on Thursday.

Starting from May 1  we will only be allowed to send [registered] women as migrant workers, Nyunt Win said in an interview. Men will not be able to register to work abroad during the suspension period.

Nyunt Win said that men who had registered to work abroad by the end of April will be exempt from the ban, as will a small number of workers who made arrangements through intergovernmental employment agencies.

The labor secretary provided no reason for the suspension or indication of its duration.

Myanmar workers who will go to work in Korea were seen on April 30, 2024. (Government Overseas Employment Agency)

The International Labor Organization estimates that more than 4 million Myanmar nationals work overseas with the largest number  approximately 2 million  in neighboring Thailand. Its not clear what percentage of overseas workers are men.

Blocking would-be draft dodgers

However, a representative of an overseas employment agency in Yangon regions Thingangyun township told RFA on Thursday that the restrictions on working abroad were likely imposed to prevent men from leaving the country amid implementation of the military draft law.

The junta enacted the conscription law because it wants young men [to join the military], he said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to security concerns. Since the day the law was implemented, large numbers of men have been going abroad either officially or unofficially through various means.

Political commentator Than Soe Naing agreed, saying the ban is likely "a consequence of insufficient enrollment numbers for the upcoming phase of military training."

"This announcement effectively prohibits adult men from leaving the country," he said. "It appears that such measures stem from challenges in enforcing military service regulations.

According to the Burmese Affairs and Conflict Study, the junta has carried out operations to enforce the military service law in 224 townships across the country. Approximately 5,000 young men were sent to 15 military training sites by the end of March, it said.

In addition, more than 2,000 people from 40 townships across Myanmar have been enlisted as militia fighters, the report found.

Workers left stranded

Kyaw Htin Kyaw, vice president of the Myanmar Overseas Employment Agencies Federation, told RFA that the junta's announcement poses challenges not only for those attempting to go abroad, but also for the employment agencies facilitating their services.

"Brokers who have already collected advance payments without rendering any services and those who have yet to establish connections with agencies will encounter difficulties," he said. "Primarily, the most vulnerable group affected by this situation is the workers themselves. With agencies unable to facilitate the migration of male workers, they will inevitably face repercussions as well."

Workers with plans to migrate overseas told RFA they were shattered by the announcement and left wondering how they would make ends meet in Myanmar, where the economy has been ravaged by junta mismanagement and widespread conflict.

Thein Ngwe, 27, said he had sold all of his mother's and older sister's jewelry and borrowed cash at exorbitant interest rates to pay the 4 million-kyat (US$1,150) fees for a passport and the use of an overseas employment agency with the hope of finding work in Japan.

The political situation here is dire and jobs are scarce, so with this new restriction, everyone is in trouble now," said the young man from a farming family in Magway region's Minbu township. "Now foreign [employment is] closed, leaving me feeling lost. I have no idea when it will reopen ... [and] I am not sure how Ill repay the loans Ive borrowed."

In comments marking International Labor Day on May 1, Min Aung Hlaing called workers an essential force for the country, and said the junta was taking measures to protect their rights abroad.

Translated by Kalyar Lwin. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.

This story was update to include comments from analysts, employment agency officials, and workers impacted by the ban.
A states administrators have warned residents against returning to their homes after clashes.

Thirty people have been injured or killed by landmines in an eastern Myanmar state this year, officials there said, highlighting a problem that the U.N. childrens agency says has made Myanmar one of the worlds most heavily mined countries.

Civilian officials in Kayah State have warned villagers wanting to go home in areas abandoned by the military junta to get the approval of anti-junta forces before venturing back because of the danger of mines.

Those who fled the war are now returning. Its been a month or two and they are coming back, Ba Nyar, secretary of the Karenni Interim Executive Council, told Radio Free Asia.

While the landmine toll has risen sharply this year, Ba Nyar said Kayah State has had nearly 100 landmine victims since Myanmars conflict surged after a 2021 coup, when the military ousted an elected government triggering an intensifying campaign by fighters determined to end army rule.

The council on Wednesday told residents not to go home without getting clearance from anti-junta forces and it appealed for residents to report any mines of unexploded ordnance in their neighborhoods.

A 14-year-old boy was killed by a landmine in Demoso townships Pu Hpar village while herding cattle on Sunday.

The anti-junta Progressive Karenni Peoples Force said civilian toll from mines had surged since anti-junta forces launched an offensive in November with a strategy aimed at seizing territory from junta control, a member of the anti-junta force said.

Retreating junta forces had left a deadly legacy, he said.

There are many landmines planted, said the insurgent group member, who declined to be identified. Villagers have stepped on and been hit by landmines. Some have lost their legs and hands.

Karenni forces have captured seven towns  Kayah States Mese, Demoso, Ywar Thit, Shadaw, Mawchee, and Shan States Moe Bye and Nan Mei Khon - since launching their Operation 1111 offensive.

The U.N. Childrens Fund said in a report last month that civilian deaths and injuries from landmines and unexploded ordnance throughout Myanmar had nearly tripled to 1,052 in 2023, from 390 the previous year.

The humanitarian group said 118 people, including 59 children, were killed by mines in 20023 and it called on all sides in the conflict to protect civilians and take immediate steps to halt the use of these indiscriminate weapons.".

Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan and Mike Firn.
In Cambodia, animals in wildlife sanctuaries are short of water.

This aerial photo shows a fisherman collecting dead fish caused by renovation works and the ongoing hot weather conditions from a reservoir in southern Vietnams Dong Nai province on April 30, 2024.

Around 40 people are dying a day in Myanmar from soaring temperatures and animals are at risk from a lack of water in a Cambodian wildlife sanctuary as record hot weather lingers over most of Southeast Asia.

In Vietnam, where temperatures as high as 44 degrees Celsius (112 F) are driving people indoors across the country, forecasters said they are expecting that temperatures in May will again be hotter than normal

In war-torn Myanmar, where many people have fled from their homes over the last few years and have inadequate shelter, the hot temperatures have been behind an increase in deaths since mid-March.

At least 1,473 people died in Myanmar from heat-related causes in April alone, according to numbers compiled by Radio Free Asia through funeral services and health officials in some of the countrys hottest cities.

A boat sits on a dried-up reservoir bed caused by renovation works and the ongoing hot weather conditions in southern Vietnams Dong Nai province on April 30, 2024. (AFP)





In the central Mandalay region, about 900 people deaths were related to the extreme heat, according to M-Rescue Corps, a volunteer ambulance and rescue service.

The heat wave was so high in the past two or three days that people died while walking or riding a motorcycle, while some people died while in a car, a M-Rescue Corps member said.

In Yangon, Myanmars commercial capital, the local free funeral association provided 441 free funeral services in April  an increase from 340 in March, an association official told RFA.

Many of the deaths in Magway region have come from elderly people or people who have chronic diseases such as high blood pressure or diabetes, according to an official from the Myanmar Rescue Team organization there.

Children are also dealing with heat stroke, according to a resident of an internally displaced camp in Sagaing regions Kawlin township. Also, many of the adults in the camp have to continue working outside in order to eat, he said.

A fruit vendor drinks iced coffee in Hanoi, Vietnam May 4, 2017. (Kham/Reuters)





Adults have to work under any weather conditions, he said. As a result, they commonly suffer heatstroke, dehydration and diarrhea. They do not feel as comfortable as at home, and they suffer restlessness.

The military juntas Health Ministry hasnt announced any heat-related death numbers. Ministry officials werent available for comments when RFA tried to reach them on Wednesday.

Wild boars and dry rivers

In northwestern Cambodia, there are worries about whether the many rare species of wildlife living in the Sang Rukhavoan community forest  including raccoons, monkeys and wild boars  will have enough water to survive.

The Stung Streng river, the main water source for animals in the sanctuary, is already running low and is expected to become even more shallow because of the hot weather, according to Venerable Ton Bunlin, the chief of the Forest Monk Patrol Team.

A street vendor uses an umbrella to protect her from the sun along a street in Manila, Philippines on April 29, 2024. (Aaron Favila/AP)





People who live in the sanctuary use the river for fishing and as a source for drinking water and to irrigate crops during the current dry season, which began three months ago, he said.

The fishermen tend to scare away deer and wild boar from the river, according to another monk who works to maintain the forest, the Venerable Lon Bunlin.

Some of the animals lay down in the river to cool down in hot weather, but the river is too shallow or has completely dried out in some places, he said.

The Cambodian government created the 30,000 hectares wildlife sanctuary in 2018 in Oddar Meanchey province. The sanctuary includes the Sang Rukhavoan community forest and other forest communities.

RFA was unable to contact the provinces Environment Department director for comment on Wednesday. Provincial Gov. Pen Kosal also couldnt be reached for comment.

More heat expected in Vietnam

In Ho Chi Minh City  Vietnams largest city  temperatures have ranged between 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) to 38 degrees (100 F) since April 21.

Vo Hong Son, 76, said his business of selling lottery tickets in the citys downtown area has suffered in recent weeks as more people stay home.

If the weather was as nice as before Tet (the Lunar New Year), I could sell 150 tickets daily and be less tired, he said.

A fisherman collects dead fish caused by renovation works and the ongoing hot weather conditions from a reservoir in southern Vietnams Dong Nai province on April 30, 2024. (AFP)





Lately, hes been selling only about 100 tickets per day, which brings in just 110,000 dong (US$4.40) a day. Hes also been taking frequent breaks to get out of the sun.

If its too sunny and hot, Ill find shade under a tree or sidewalk to take a break, he said. After refreshing myself with some water, Ill hit the road again.

The rest of the country  even communities in the cooler Central Highlands  have also experienced abnormally hot weather.

On Sunday, Dong Ha City in the central province of Quang Tri recorded a 44 degrees Celsius (111 F) temperature  the highest temperature in Vietnam since the beginning of this year.

El Ninos effect

The National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting said Vietnams average temperature is expected to be from 1.5 degrees to 2.5 degrees Celsius higher than average this month, the Vietnam News Agency reported.

The El Nino phenomenon has raised base temperatures above average throughout Vietnam, said Nguyen Ngoc Huy, a climate change and natural disasters forecast expert.

El Nino is associated with warming of Pacific Ocean surface temperatures and can significantly influence weather patterns, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the United States.

As the hot weather continues into May, outdoor temperature in urban areas with little tree cover or other kinds of shade can reach up to 48 degrees Celsius (118 F) to 50 degrees Celsius (122 F), Nguyen Ngoc Huy told Vietnams Health and Life Newspaper in an interview.

As a wounded veteran of the Vietnam War who fought for the former Republic of Vietnam, Vo Hong Son has limited ability to find work, he said.

I have to push through. Otherwise, I wont have any food, he said, adding that he hopes hell soon see a huge downpour to lessen the peoples suffering and to alleviate the intensity of the heat.

Translated by Aung Naing, Yun Samean and Anna Vu. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.
The Batanes archipelago, the northernmost part of the Philippines, is actually closer to Taiwan.

A rainbow appears over the port in Basco, the capital of the province of Batanes, the northernmost province of the Philippines, March 2, 2024.

Basco, the capital of the island-chain province of Batanes, is a small town of narrow alleys, green hills and, in spring, bright pink blossoms of bougainvillea. Surrounded by the broad waters where the Pacific Ocean blends into the South China Sea, things tend to move slowly here.

Batanes is a small place, says Mayor German Caccam. It is like living in a paradise, and we do not like being disturbed by conflicts.

But islanders increasingly fear a conflict could be coming.

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Though Batanes marks the northernmost point of the Philippines, it in fact lies closer to Taiwan, which is only 120 miles (193 km) away. On a clear day, islanders say they can see Taiwans southern tip.

Beyond that lies the Taiwan Strait, another flashpoint in a watery region beset by them. Beijing -- which considers democratic Taiwan one of its provinces and vows to reunite it with the mainland, by force if necessary -- regularly sends warships and airplanes around Taiwan in a show of strength to Taipei.

The brewing war in the Taiwan Strait brings a lot of concerns to the people of Batanes, says Caccam, a former teacher who has held the post since 2022. Because of the proximity to Taiwan, Batanes is likely to be affected.

Nida Cartano, a teacher in Diura fishing village, 20 km from Basco, points to the direction of Taiwan, March 2, 2024. (Luna Pham/RFA)

That possibility sets up an interesting dilemma for the islanders.

The people here feel vulnerable. They are served by a single, small airport that frequently closes due to bad weather. And yet they are wary of hosting soldiers or military equipment for fear of provoking China and being caught up in a conflict that isnt theirs.

We are very worried about the situation in Taiwan, Nida Cartano, a Batanes teacher, told RFA. Batanes is so small, we dont have facilities to go into a war with anyone, so we are afraid.

But hopefully there wont be any war any time soon.

The Philippine military has recruited hundreds of reservists in Batanes. In February, Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro visited the province to inspect local facilities. He ordered the military to boost the number of Filipino troops stationed in Batanes and to develop more military structures there.

The province is the spearhead of the Philippines as far as the northern baseline is concerned, Teodoro told reporters.

Two boys walk past a school in Basco, March 2, 2024. (Luna Pham/RFA)

China and the Philippines are at odds in the South China Sea, including at the Second Thomas Shoal, an area within the Philippines exclusive economic zone but where Chinese ships frequently run-off Filipino fishermen.

China bases its sovereignty on the so-called nine-dash line, which dips from the Chinese mainland deep into the South China Sea, encompassing the shoal and other nearby features that Manila views as their own.

But Taiwan is a particularly sensitive topic to Beijing. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson warned the Philippine government against playing with fire on the issue of Taiwan and being exploited by others, implying military cooperation between the Philippines and its treaty ally the United States.

US troops presence

The Bashi Channel, which separates Taiwan from Batanes, is a critical choke point for Chinese military operations in the region.

It is also the place where the United States and its allies hold naval drills. Batanes has served as one of the locations for Balikatan, an ongoing annual joint exercise between the American and Philippine militaries.

Filipino media reported last year that the local government and the U.S. were discussing construction of a sea port on the island chain that could also be used for security purposes and facilitate American access to the area.

Local officials last year discussed the possibility of working with the U.S. to construct a sea port in Batanes that could also be used for security purposes and facilitate U.S. access to the area.

U.S. Marine Corps planners evaluate a potential port location with Philippine Marine Corps personnel in Basco, Oct. 25, 2023. (Cpl. Christopher W. England/U.S. Marine Corps)

The U.S. military ultimately declined to get involved in the-estimated $50 million project  a move some believe is tied to local resistance to the idea.

The decision not to proceed in helping to pay for the port may help remove a source of tension with China. But the U.S. is expected to take part in a couple of other projects in the province, such as helping to upgrade an airport and build warehouses that can also have a dual use.

And in 2023, the Philippines extended the number of its military bases that U.S. forces can access to nine, including three facing Taiwan.

Mayor Caccam said residents welcome the Balikatan exercise, which has been held three times, because it makes us feel more secure.

However, as the mayor of Basco, I am not so amenable with the presence of foreign forces, especially the U.S., because that will make us a target.

Basco Mayor German Caccam, a former teacher, is seen in his office on March 2, 2024. (Luna Pham/RFA)

For now, daily life in Batanes goes on as usual. Women wait in small alleys near the shore to clean and gut the day's catch.

Unlike areas in the South China Sea where China claims territory, the fishermen of Batanes still have access to their traditional fishing grounds.

But as tensions rise throughout the region, the people here cant help but wonder how long their peaceful piece of the world will remain so.

Edited by Jim Snyder and Imran Vittachi
It was the first meeting of a Tibetan elected leader with the head of a state of a major Western democratic nation.

Sikyong Penpa Tsering (L) presents an autographed picture of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and President Emmanuel Macron to the president of France in an image posted on May 1, 2024.

Just days ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinpings visit to France, the democratically elected head of the Tibetan government-in-exile met with French President Emmanuel Macron during an award ceremony in Paris.

The visit marked the first meeting of a Tibetan elected leader with the head of a state of a major Western democratic nation.

Sikyong Penpa Tsering, head of Dharamsala, India-based Central Tibetan Administration, met Macron at a ceremony to award the Legion of Honour to former French senator and Tibet supporter Andre Gattolin on April 30 at the Elysee Palace in Paris.

Macron is expected to host Xi next week for dinner at the palace during the Chinese presidents first visit to the European Union in five years.

In January, France was among the 21 United Nations member states that raised serious concerns about the human rights situation in Tibet, resulting in 23 recommendations for Beijing during Chinas fourth Universal Periodic Review. The comprehensive review of the countrys human rights record took place at the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, in January.

The Chinese government tightly controls the Tibet Autonomous Region and Tibetan-populated areas of Chinas western provinces, restricting Tibetans' political activities and peaceful expression of cultural and religious identity.

During the meeting, Tsering presented Macron with a picture of his 2016 meeting with the Dalai Lama, autographed by the Tibetan spiritual leader, and urged him not to forget Tibet, Representative Rigzin Choedon Genkhang of the Office of Tibet in Brussels told Radio Free Asia.

An autographed photo of the Dalai Lama (R) and French President Emmanuel Macron during a September 2016 meeting. (Sikyong Penpa Tsering via Twitter)

For me, the fact that he discussed, even if it is a short discussion, with the sikyong, is very important because President Xi Jinping will make an official visit in Paris at the beginning of next week, Gattolin told RFA, while noting the meeting was held in the open before 300 people.

Now [that] it is public [knowledge] that the French president has met the sikyong, Im waiting for the reaction from China and to see what will be the consequences during his visit, he said.

Xi is scheduled to visit France, Serbia and Hungary on May 5-10 in an effort to bolster China-EU ties.

His visit to France on May 6-7 takes place amidst the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries and comes on the back of Macron's visit to Beijing in April 2023.

Exchanges will focus on international crises, first and foremost the war in Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East, trade issues, scientific, cultural and sporting cooperation, the French President's office said in a statement.

The French president met the Dalai Lama in September 2016 when Macron was a candidate for the 2017 presidential elections.

Macron wanted to meet His Holiness who was in Paris at the time, Gattolin said.

Nowadays, very often, I ask the French president to take a stronger position on the Tibetan situation, but due to the global international relations and the weight of China, he is very careful and prudent, Gattolin said.

Additional reporting by Tsering Yangdon for RFA Tibetan. Edited by Kalden Lodoe, Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
An estimated 1 in 26 Uyghurs have been jailed, accounting for a third of Chinas prison population.

Uyghur Nursimangul Abdureshid, 34, poses for a photo during an interview with the Associated Press in Istanbul, Turkey, May 4, 2022. Abdureshid's brother, Memetali Abdureshid, who ran a car repair shop in northwestern China's Xinjiang region, was sentenced to 15 years and 11 months in prison on charges of picking quarrels and provoking trouble and preparing to carry out terrorist activities.

An estimated one in 26 Uyghurs in Chinas far-western Xinjiang region are behind bars, the worlds highest rate of incarceration, according to a report by a Uyghur advocacy group.

Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples there are imprisoned at an estimated rate of 3,814 per 100,000 people  47 times higher than Chinas overall rate of 80 per 100,000, the group said.

Thats also more than three higher than in El Salvador, which has the worlds highest known incarceration rate at 1,086 per 100,000 people, according to the April 25 report by the Uyghur Human Right Project, or UHRP.

All told, 578,500 Uyghurs or other Turkic people were in jail as of 2022, the group estimates. Thats just over one-third of Chinas total prison population, even though they comprise only 1% of Chinas overall population. That figure is likely the same or higher today, the group says.

A prominent imprisoned Uyghur is Rahile Dawut, a Uyghur folklore expert and ethnographer convicted in December 2018 for splittism and sentenced to life in prison.

Rahile Dawut poses for a photo in Urumqi, capital of northwestern China's Xinjiang region, in August 2006. Dawut, a prominent Uyghur scholar specializing in Uyghur folklore and traditions, was sentenced to life in prison on the charge of 'splittism.' (Lisa Ross via AP)

Another example is Gulshan Abbas, a retired Uyghur doctor and the sister of Rushan Abbas, a former Radio Free Asia employee and current executive director of Campaign for Uyghurs. She was sentenced to a lengthy prison term on terrorism charges after she disappeared along with another relative in September 2018.

The U.S. State Department has said that Dawut and other Uyghur intellectuals have been unfairly imprisoned for their work to protect and preserve Uyghur culture and traditions.

The reports findings are based on data from annual reports from the Xinjiang High Peoples Procuratorate  which prosecutes criminal defendants  and information published on the website of Chinas Ministry of Justice, covering the period 2017-2022. During that period, one in every 26 Uyghurs or members of other Turkic ethnicities in Xinjiang was incarcerated.

Many of those imprisoned have been convicted of crimes related to practicing Islam, such as studying the Quran when they were young or teaching it to others.

Reality may be worse

The actual situation in Xinjiang may even be worse, said UHRP senior researcher Ben Carrdus, who wrote the report.

These are just people who have been put in prison. It doesnt include people who might still be in internment camps, he told Radio Free Asia, referring to the estimated 1.8 million Uyghurs and others arbitrarily detained in what the Chinese government said were vocational training centers.

The camps were, in fact, places where Uyghurs were subjected to political indoctrination and severe human rights abuses, including torture, the forced sterilization of woman and forced labor.

China claims that the camps have been closed.

When China says its ruled by law, it actually means that the law is whatever the Chinese Communist Party wants it to be, Carrdus said.

Using laws doesnt mean they are using justice. What theyve done is use the instruments against the Uyghur people, he said. Thousands and thousands of people have been sentenced to prison mostly through the courts where China has used very unjust rules.

The report indicates that Uyghurs experience higher death rates in prison than other ethnic groups in China, though death penalty figures are not publicly available because they are considered a state secret.

The UHRP believes Uyghurs receive severe sentences, such as at least 10 years in prison for minor actions like studying the Quran or teaching it to children, so that the rate of death sentences among them may be higher.

John Kamm, executive director of the U.S.-based human rights group The Dui Hua Foundation, emphasized the importance of highlighting the number of Uyghurs in prison to attract the attention of international media and governments in hope that they will push for their release.

Carrdus urged the international community not to forget the Uyghurs.

I can say that with 100% confidence, things are not getting better, he said, adding that although authorities in Xinjiang have been closing down the internment camps, theyve been sending Uyghurs to prisons instead.

Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
This photo taken on October 23, 2023 shows Vuong Dinh Hue, then-head of Vietnam's National Assembly, attending a National Assembly session in Hanoi.

Vietnams National Assembly approved the removal of Vuong Dinh Hue as its chairman and delegate at an extraordinary meeting of its standing committee in Hanoi on Thursday, state media reported.

Hue was forced to resign by the Communist Party on April 26 after being accused of violating party regulations affecting the reputation of the Party and the state. Last month, his personal assistant Phan Thai Ha was arrested at the airport after returning from a five-day official trip to China with Hue, where they met with President Xi Jinping.

Ha, who had been Hues right-hand man for over two decades, was charged with abusing his position and power to influence others for personal gain for his ties to the Thuan An construction group, a small firm that won 38 of 47 public tenders for major infrastructure projects. Thuan Ans two top leaders have been arrested.

The National Assembly meeting has made no decision so far on appointing a new Vietnamese president.

In March, it approved the removal of Vo Van Thuong as president for the 2021-2026 term after just one year in office.

Thuong was forced to quit for his failure to exercise proper supervision over officials in Quang Ngai province during his tenure as provincial party secretary from 2011-2014.

The Politburo appointed Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan as acting president, her second time in the temporary job.

The presidents role is one of the top four political positions in Vietnam, along with general secretary, prime minister and chairman of the National Assembly. The general secretary of the Communist Party is the most powerful figure in the country.

The removal of the National Assembly leader is the latest move in the partys blazing furnace anti-corruption campaign which has netted senior party officials and business leaders. It could raise new concerns about political stability in what is considered Southeast Asias manufacturing hub, which is heavily dependent on foreign investment and trade.

The National Assembly plans to hold a regular month-long session from May 20.

Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.
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.
TROY-A Troy man was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to rape in Pike County Court Wednesday.

Antonio Price, 30, pleaded guilty to first-degree rape, first-degree theft, and first-degree unlawful imprisonment before 12th Judicial Circuit Judge Shannon Clark.

Due to his criminal history, Price faced a potential sentence of life without the possibility of parole had he gone to trial and had been convicted, said 12th Judicial Circuit District Attorney James Tarbox. Through a negotiated settlement, Price was ordered to serve life imprisonment in the Alabama Department of Corrections.

Prices plea ensures that our victim is protected from having to relive this awful matter in public, and it also ensures that Price will serve a substantial amount of prison time, Tarbox said.

The incident occurred Aug. 17, 2023, while the victim was at her residence on Mulberry Street in Troy with a group of people, including the victims boyfriend. Price was also there, Tarbox said.

The victim went to bed with the understanding that everyone was going to leave the gathering and go home, Tarbox explained. The victim awoke with Price standing over her and then raping her.

Tarbox said Price assaulted the victim, causing injuries to her face. The victim was then tied up and left in the residence while Price stole the victims car and fled the scene.

Tarbox said the victim was able to untie herself and run to a friends house to call for law enforcement. After law enforcement arrived, the victim was taken to the hospital and a sexual assault examination was performed, Tarbox said. DNA swabs were sent to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, and the DNA obtained during examination matched Prices.

Our office will appear at any future parole hearings for Price and work to ensure that life means life, because he deserves to be incarcerated for the rest of his life for the actions for which he has now pled guilty, Tarbox said.

I appreciate the work of the Troy Police Department and the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences in investigating this matter, he added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said during a visit to Berlin on October 11 that it was important that Ukraine's allies do not decrease their assistance next year as he met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Zelenskiy has been on a whirlwind tour of major European capitals meant to win backing for his "victory plan" aimed at ending the war with Russia.

His main goal in his visits to London, Paris, Rome, and Berlin, his final stop, was to press for additional military and financial aid as Kyiv faces difficult months ahead in its fight to stop a slow but continuous Russian advance in the east.

In Berlin, Zelenskiy thanked Germany for its backing and said that "it is very important for us that this assistance does not decrease next year."

He said he would present Scholz with his plan for winning the war, repeating his hope that the conflict would end no later than next year.

"Ukraine more than anyone else in the world wants a fair and speedy end to this war," Zelenskiy said.

After his stops in London, Paris, and Rome on October 10, Zelenskiy said on X that he had "outlined the details" of his proposed "victory plan" to defeat Russian forces during his meetings with the leaders of Britain, France, and Italy.

He added that he and the other leaders agreed to work on the plan together but gave no details on what it says.

Scholz said he and the Ukrainian leader agreed on the need for a peace conference that includes Russia, but that peace "can only be brought about on the basis of international law."

"We will not accept a peace dictated by Russia," Scholz said.

Scholz also announced a 1.4 billion-euro ($1.53 billion) military aid package for Ukraine from Germany with partner countries Belgium, Denmark, and Norway, saying it includes more air defense, tanks, combat drones, and artillery and sends a clear message to Russian President Vladimir Putin that "playing for time will not work" and vowing "not let up in our support for Ukraine."

During a 35-minute meeting with Pope Francis on October 11, Zelenskiy sought the Vatican's help in securing the return of adults and children taken prisoner by Russia, he said on X, formerly Twitter.

"The issue of bringing our people home from captivity was the main focus of my meeting with Pope Francis," he said.



Zelenskiy gave Francis an oil painting called the Bucha Massacre, depicting the mass killings of civilians by Russian troops in the Ukrainian city in 2022.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.

Zelenskiy's arrival in Berlin comes after an October 12 summit of the Ramstein group of Ukraine's main backers was canceled at short notice when U.S. officials, including President Joe Biden, abandoned their travel plans as the southern U.S. states braced for Hurricane Milton.



The White House said in a statement that Biden spoke to Scholz on October 10 and noted "his intention to continue our strong collaboration on geopolitical priorities, including supporting Ukraines defense against Russian aggression."

The United States has been Ukraine's main backer and by far the main contributor in terms of financial and military aid, but a victory by Republican candidate and former President Donald Trump in the election could cast doubt about Washington's continued support for Kyiv.



Zelenskiy's diplomatic efforts are taking place as Russia continues to keep up the pressure on Ukraine's cities.

As Zelenskiy arrived in Berlin, the number of civilians killed in a Russian missile strike on Odesa on October 11 rose to nine, including a teenage girl, and Russian troops struck the city of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine.

"A two-story building where civilians lived and worked was destroyed," Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper said on Telegram.

Odesa, Ukraine's main hub for grain exports, has been repeatedly struck by Russian forces since the start of the war.

Kharkiv regional Governor Oleh Synyehubov said there were no injuries in one strike but an inspection following another missile strike on the Derhachiv community of Kharkiv was ongoing.

Outside Kharkiv, a 38-year-old man was killed by a Russian drone strike on the village of Kozacha Lopan, the region's military administration reported.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the capital was targeted by Russian drones early on October 11. The military administration of the Ukrainian capital later reported on Telegram that all the attacking drones had been shot down, without specifying a number.

On the battlefield, outmanned and outgunned Ukrainian forces were fighting Russian troops inside the strategic city of Toretsk in the eastern region of Donetsk after abandoning Vuhledar, another strategic hub in the region, last week.

Over the past 24 hours, Russian forces carried out fresh attacks near Vremivka, Kharkiv, Kupyansk, and Siversk, the General Staff of Ukraine's military reported on October 11.

Separately, the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said at least 208 civilians were killed and 1,220 injured in Ukraine in September. That made it the month with the highest number of civilian casualties in 2024, the mission said.

The organization said that 46 percent of the dead were over the age of 60. In addition, nine children were killed and 76 were injured in September.

With reporting by AP, Reuters, and AFP
A Russian missile strike early on May 2 on Odesa wounded 14 people and damaged critical civilian infrastructure. It was the third Russian missile attack on the city in as many days. The head of the region's military administration said the strike started a fire and that storage depots of the local branch of Ukraine's postal service were damaged.
Last week, Russian forces broke through Ukrainian lines in the village of Ocheretyne, building on momentum from the February capture of the industrial city of Avdiyivka about 25 kilometers to the southeast. Ukrainian commanders quickly redeployed exhausted troops from another brigade that had been fighting in the area for more than a year.

About an hours drive to the north, Russian troops, including elite paratrooper units, have slogged up to an important canal in Chasiv Yar, a height-of-land settlement that offers clearer lines for artillery fire targeting a critical railway supply line for Ukraines forces.

Hundreds of kilometers to the southwest, meanwhile, Russian motorized rifle infantry pushed into part of Robotyne, a village that Ukrainian troops recaptured during last years much-hyped counteroffensive that fell far short of its goals.

Ukraines commander in chief didnt mince words.

The situation at the front has worsened, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskiy said in a post to Telegram on April 28. Russian forces, he said, were actively attacking along the entire front line with tactical successes in some areas.

Beleaguered and outgunned, Ukrainian forces got a jolt of morale-boosting news last week, when U.S. lawmakers finally pushed through a $60 billion aid package dominated by weapons: anti-aircraft missiles; small-arms ammunition; 105 mm and 155 mm howitzer artillery; shells for high-precision HIMARS artillery systems, Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, and more. It came months after the last substantial deliveries were made.

But Ukraines battlefield position is bleak.

Its forces are badly outnumbered. Despite the government finally passing a new mobilization law aimed at getting more men into the fight, it will be weeks, if not months, before new troops can be trained, equipped, and able to make any substantive difference at the front.

And Russian commanders appear to have made a calculated decision to increase the tempo of operations, possibly aimed at high-profile victories to brag about before national Victory Day celebrations on May 9.

In general, we are slowly losing territory, said Ivan Stupak, an analyst with the Ukrainian Institute for the Future, a Kyiv think tank, adding that Russia is focusing its rolling advance on a narrow sector of the battlefield in the Donetsk region.

Russias General Staff has deployed more manpower and equipment to Donetsk from other directions, he told RFE/RL. So now Russia is slowly pushing back our defense lines.

We have reached the point where the situation on the front line is the worst since March 2022," said Konrad Muzyka, a Polish-based defense analyst who travels regularly to Ukraine.

The Russians' numerical superiority continues to grow, and so does the number of attacks, he said in a post to X, formerly Twitter. Ukraine has not endured its darkest hour. It is yet to begin.

Ukraine has no good options, even with the latest aid package. Many military analysts have already come to that conclusion privately but are unwilling to voice that sentiment, wrote Eugene Rumer, a former top Russia analyst at the U.S. National Intelligence Council.

Grim Outlook

Initiative on the battlefield has shifted several times since Russia launched its mass invasion in February 2022. Ukraine thwarted Russias advance on the capital, Kyiv, but the invading forces seized swaths of territory in the southern Kherson and Zaporizhzhya regions and in the Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kharkiv regions in the east.

Ukraine surprised Russian troops with two localized counteroffensives in the fall of 2022, recapturing substantial amounts of land in the Kharkiv and Kherson regions.

Ukraine then spent much of the following months prepping, training, and equipping nine new armored brigades, with Western armor and assistance from NATO. Another four also received Western weaponry, and in June 2023 Kyiv launched a three-pronged counteroffensive.

It faltered, however, thwarted by extensive Russian defensive lines.

Russias forces, for their part, ground into higher gear, bolstered by prison inmate brigades and a major mobilization ordered by President Vladimir Putin. Russias sprawling industrial infrastructure retooled to supply seemingly endless streams of artillery, ammunitions, and vehicles.

In February 2024, Ukrainian troops were forced to withdraw from Avdiyikva, an industrial city that had given Ukraine a vantage point over the regional capital of Donetsk. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy removed the countrys popular commander in chief, General Valeriy Zaluzhniy, after Zaluzhniy gave a publicly pessimistic assessment of the wars trajectory.

The tides have since turned further against Ukraine, in part because the flow of U.S. and other Western weaponry slowed to a trickle amid political infighting in Washington. Russia has taken advantage of the dearth of anti-aircraft defenses, using glide bombs -- heavy-explosive dumb bombs retrofitted with wings and satellite navigation -- to devastating effect.

"A difficult situation awaits us in the near future. But it will not be catastrophic, let's be clear," Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraines military intelligence chief, told the BBC. "There will be no Armageddon, as many are saying.... But there will be a difficult period. Mid-May, early June."

But critics say the Zelenskiy government also was slow to prioritize building its defensive lines across the 1,200-kilometer front line as it became clear Russias tactical strength was growing. And the government took months to push through new legislation aimed at getting more men to the front.

The lack of fresh fighters was the most pressing issue for Ukraine, a problem that was exacerbated by the lack of weapons and ammunition, said Rob Lee, a former U.S. Marine and senior fellow in the Foreign Policy Research Institute.

The relative manpower situation is likely the most important factor that will determine the war's trajectory, particularly if Russia can sustain recruiting 20-30k a month, he said in a post on X.

Western estimates put Russias casualties  killed and wounded  as high as 450,000, though a top U.S. Army general last month gave a lower figure: 315,000.

Ukraines casualties are sizable as well. Zelenskiy in February made his first official acknowledgment of combat losses, saying 31,000 troops had been killed in the previous two years. That number is widely seen as a major undercount.

Ukraines brigades are currently operating at just 40 percent of their original capacity, in terms of personnel and vehicles, according to Frontelligence Insight, a Ukrainian open-source research organization run by a Ukrainian reserve officer.

The situation on the front line is expected to stabilize with the arrival of new ammunition, weaponry, and freshly mobilized but trained recruits, the group said. Nevertheless, stabilization is not anticipated immediately, as it will take time to arm, train, and prepare new recruits.

' Putin Is In No Mood To Give Up'

Ukrainian and Western analysts say Russia has deployed around 25,000 troops, including several elite paratrooper and motorized rifle brigades, in its push to take Chasiv Yar. Taking it would allow Russian artillery to threaten the railway junction town of Kostyantynivka, to the south, and some of the supply lines Ukrainian units in the district rely on.

That in turn could put at risk the larger cities of Kramatorsk and Slovyansk, about 30 kilometers farther to the north, which still have some industrial factories, larger populations, and are more heavily fortified.

Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.

Ukrainian military and open-source analysts say Russian forces briefly crossed the canal on Chasiv Yars eastern side earlier this week but havent been able to hold it.

Ukrainian analysts also say Russia is relying on the tactic used in the capture of Bakhmut last year: World War I-style infantry wave assaults, with units comprised of poorly trained former prison inmates trailed by more elite units.

Russian forces have the upper hand, said Mick Ryan, a retired Australian Army major general, and they will be pushing hard to make the most of their opportunity before U.S. military aid arrives in the coming weeks.

In Ocheretye, meanwhile, unconfirmed reports say the Russian breakthrough may have been due in part to a retreat, possibly unauthorized or premature, by the 115th Separate Mechanized Brigade. Another NATO-trained and -equipped unit that had been fighting for months in the region, the 47th Mechanized Brigade, was ordered back to the villages district, to stabilize defensive lines.

Military commanders are now reportedly investigating the units command, and Ukrainian forces have also had to pull back westward from three villages on Ocheretynes southern edges.

"The enemy has broken through and gained a foothold in part of Ocheretyne, Lieutenant Colonel Nazar Voloshyn, a military spokesman, said in televised comments. All measures are being taken to knock the enemy out of there.

Ukraine is waging a war against an enemy that shows no inclination to stop its aggression and negotiate in earnest, Rumer, who is now director of the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, wrote in his April 25 commentary. Having bet his entire presidency on this war, Putin is in no mood to give up. Ukraines need for help, even with the adoption of a defensive strategy for the long run, is open-ended. Are Washington and Brussels ready for it?

RFE/RL correspondent Mike Eckel reported from Prague; correspondent Todd Prince reported from Washington, D.C.
A number of trade exhibitions were held in Hong Kong in April, attracting visitors worldwide who expressed their confidence in the business environment of Hong Kong.



"Hong Kong is a very nice place. We are always happy to come," Belgian businesswoman Isolde Hanson said, adding that this was her first visit to Hong Kong after the pandemic. She had been to Hong Kong more than ten times before.

Hanson, who runs a company that sells metal products such as brooches and cufflinks, said the Hong Kong Gifts & Premium Fair was a good platform to help her and her colleagues find the right suppliers. Hong Kong's stable and secure environment makes them feel safe to do business here.

From April 20 to April 30, a number of lifestyle products and creative trade events were held in the city by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, including the Hong Kong Gifts & Premium Fair, the Hong Kong International Printing & Packaging Fair, Home InStyle, Hong Kong International Licensing Show and the Asian Licensing Conference.

At these trade events, product suppliers and buyers worldwide regarded Hong Kong as an ideal exhibition platform.

A French company that sells kitchenware and home accessories is a regular visitor to Hong Kong. For more than a decade, they have visited trade shows in Hong Kong as a buyer every year, except during the pandemic.

"People here are friendly and helpful," Amandine, a member of the French company, said, adding that she finds it convenient to do business in Hong Kong.

Since 2016, Filipino buyer Benedict has visited Hong Kong almost every year in search of business opportunities. He and his business friends in the Philippines are optimistic about Hong Kong's business environment.

Cristian from Romania was very interested in the new products at the show Home InStyle which featured traditional crafts, kitchenware, and accessories. "I wanted to find new partners in Hong Kong and connect with them," he said, adding that the trip was fruitful.

First-time buyers Emelie Rosen and Stephanie Bjork from Sweden said that after completing their work in Hong Kong, they would do sightseeing and explore the city.

At the trade events, exhibitors actively promoted their latest products to buyers. A Thai company that sells household goods has been a regular participant in Hong Kong exhibitions since 2000. Surachai, a manager from the company, said there are many business opportunities in Hong Kong, and it is worth continuing to explore business in the city.

At the Hong Kong International Licensing Show, a Japanese company displayed a variety of cultural and creative products, including stickers and coasters. This was their first exhibition outside Japan.

A representative of the company said Hong Kong is a very international city, which is conducive to product promotion and provides a platform to meet with buyers from around the globe. Meanwhile, Hong Kong's safe environment makes overseas people feel at ease doing business.
High Court Reporters

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal by three people facing trial for allegedly breaching publication restrictions during the trial of the murder of teenager Ana Kriegel.

The three were among 10 charged with breaches under the Children Act 2001 which provides that no one could legally identify the two boys who were convicted of the girls murder.

Edel Doherty (48) of Rory OConnor House, Hardwicke Street, Dublin, is charged with posting photos on Facebook of the two, known as Boys A and B.

Kyle Rooney (26) of Rathfield Park, Raheny, Dublin, was charged with the posting of photos of the two boys on Twitter.

Declan Corcoran (30) of Williams Place Lower, Dublin, was accused of both naming the boys on Twitter and of posting images of them.

14-year-old Ana Kriegel was murdered at a disused farmhouse in Lucan, Co Dublin, in May 2018, by the boys when they were both 13 years old.

When they first appeared in court on the charges, the three were told the cases against them could be dealt with in the District Court where penalties are less severe.

However, when the case returned before the District Court, another judge decided the offences were too serious and they should be sent for trial before a judge and jury in the Circuit Court where penalties are more severe.

As a result, the three brought a High Court challenge over the second judges decision.

In July 2022, the High Court ruled the decision was incorrect and the matter should be sent back to the District Court for reconsideration.

The DPP appealed that decision and last November the Court of Appeal reversed it.

The three then asked the Supreme Court to hear a further appeal on grounds that the decision involved a matter of general public importance or that the interests of justice necessitate such a further appeal.

They argued, among other things, that trial in the Circuit Court before a jury will remove certain statutory entitlements, they can have in the District Court including their cases being dealt with under the Probation Act without proceeding to conviction.

It was also argued that trial before a jury was somehow a quantum leap as to seriousness and that exposure to a penalty is to be treated as a peril that on summary disposal would not be a hazard for the accused.

It was also claimed that where a judge in the District Court chooses to refuse jurisdiction that reasons are required.

The DPP opposed a further appeal saying the law is clear and there was no deprivation of rights.

It was also argued a potential sentence was not a breach of rights since a judge may legitimately and must choose a sentence within the summary level if appropriate even if there has been a finding of guilt by a jury.

In a determination, a three-judge Supreme Court panel, comprising Mr Justice Peter Charleton, Mr Justice Seamus Woulfe, and Mr Justice Maurice Collins, agreed to hear a further appeal.

The panel said a key issue in this case was the classification and disposal of offences.

The potential for a greater sentence is key to the application, it said.

Loss of statutory entitlements may not be as argued, but require analysis, as to a decision by the District Court to refuse jurisdiction, it said.

Whereas Article 38.2 of the Constitution establishes a right of jury trial, the contention is that moving from summary trial to trial on indictment exposes an accused to hazard and to deprivation of statutory benefit.

As to when a judge should refuse jurisdiction on an offence triable in either way might be clarified by reason of a further appeal, it said.
By Rebecca Black, PA

There was a discernible chill between Northern Irelands First Minister Arlene Foster and deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill following the funeral of IRA veteran Bobby Storey, the Covid-19 Inquiry has heard.

Ms ONeill attended the large-scale funeral in west Belfast for Mr Storey in June 2020 despite lockdown restrictions on public gatherings.

The then head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service, Sir David Sterling, said her attendance affected relations at the Stormont Executive.

This included Ms Foster and Ms ONeill stopping their then daily joint press conferences on Covid-19.

Then deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill attended the funeral of former leading IRA figure Bobby Storey at Milltown Cemetery in west Belfast (PA)

Appearing at the UK-wide Covid-19 Inquiry sitting in Belfast, Mr Sterling said he would not comment on the issue itself but said it did cause divisions.

The atmosphere in the Executive was difficult after that. One of the most immediate practical implications was that the joint press conferences which took place most afternoons by the First Minister and deputy First Minister stopped, and that was significant because the feedback we got from the start from attitude surveys etc was that the community found those press conferences very helpful, very reassuring, and it was a very visible manifestation of ministers working together, and the absence of that I think did reduce public confidence for a period of time, he said.

People on the outside perhaps dont fully understand that even parties who were diametrically opposed on a whole range of issues, they can actually work together quite well behind the scenes, but there was a discernible chill after that.

Business was still transacted issues were still brought to the Executive, discussions still took place, decisions were taken. I dont recall that that became any more difficult than it had been.

Pressed by Clair Dobbin, lead counsel to the inquiry, Mr Sterling added: It wasnt helpful generally its just harder to do business whenever the relationship is not as it should be.

Sir David Sterling was head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service (PA)

On Tuesday during opening statements, the inquiry heard that in March 2020, Mr Sterling sent a Whatsapp messages criticising political division at Stormont as ministers discussed lockdown measures.

In one message on March 17th, he described an Executive meeting the previous day as excruciating, adding no leadership on display at all.

On Wednesday, Mr Sterling was asked about the message by Ms Dobbin.

He said he wanted to clarify that message came during what he said was probably the most difficult two or three days that I experienced during the first wave.

He added: It was a protracted discussion, people had got into fixed positions, it had split along Nationalist/Unionist lines.

My frustration, as expressed in a message that night, was born of a concern that this might be how things played out from here.

Now, there were difficulties on occasion afterward but by and large not of that magnitude.

Mr Sterling added: I think its just recognising our context where we have five parties in an enforced coalition, very different ideologies, very different aspirations for this place, having to work together, but I think its important to recognise that on all the big issues they eventually did reach decisions.

It was painstaking, it was difficult at times but decisions were taken.
Remember that its the teams job to build the product, but as a founder your job is to build the right team. Michael Chmielewski

Feeling lonely despite being surrounded by people? Youre not alone. A new Australian app called Brane is tackling social isolation by creating a space for instant connections based on shared interests.

This innovative solution stemmed from the personal experience of Michael Chmielewski, who in 2012 arrived in Melbourne as a student feeling isolated despite being around people. His love for motorbikes and the difficulty finding fellow riders for spontaneous adventures on social media sparked the idea for Brane.

It was really out of frustration that there wasnt an easy way to find people near me to ride motorbikes with or chat to about Star Wars, Mike recalled. I realised it was easier to find someone to go on a date with than it was to chat or meet people that shared your interests. At the same time, the loneliness epidemic began escalating; a symptom of the way existing social media works.

Over the years, he settled in Melbourne, making friends through study and work, but still felt something missing. During tough times like a motorcycle accident in 2017 and his mothers illness in 2019, he craved casual conversations about things like the latest Star Wars movie, but found no platform for instant connections with like-minded people. So Chmielewski teamed up with his friends Greg Kodikara and Christian Mengler to create Brane, a new app. Their goal? To solve the problem of quickly connecting with people nearby who share similar interests, a challenge not adequately addressed by existing social media or dating apps.

Launched in 2022, Brane boasts 80,000 users and stands out from traditional social media by prioritizing new connections based on shared interests, rather than simply maintaining existing ones. The app utilizes AI to automatically match users based on their location and interests, facilitating instant connections with people nearby who share your passions.

Choosing the Right Partnerships

Pre-revenue your reputation is your currency and working with the right strategic partners builds value.

Mike emphasised the significance of strategic partnerships and choosing the right commercial clients. He acknowledged the temptation for startups to collaborate with any available opportunity but stressed the importance of selecting partners wisely.

Its tempting to work with whoever you can when youre a startup grinding for every win, but its important to choose the right partners. Pre-revenue your reputation is your currency and working with the right strategic partners builds value.

One notable strategic partnership is our alliance with Formula 1 racing legend Juan Pablo Montoya and his son Sebastian, whove come on board as part-owners and brand ambassadors.

Juan Pablo and Sebastian use Brane to connect with local people while travelling, and having them on board helps to reduce some of the stigma around loneliness  particularly among men  because it proves that even world-famous racing legends are looking to meet new like-minded friends. Plus, Juan Pablo has signed on as a business customer for his driving school Team Montoya. This is a great endorsement of Branes ability to create communities of people that like their brand, product or service (Crowds) and automatically grow interested audiences via AI that matches the users interests to the organisations brand values.

In terms of staying ahead, the founding team are all experienced in their respective complimentary fields, and weve all worked together in one way or the other before, meaning our internal learning curve isnt as high.

Were also very agile, we make decisions quickly and pivot when the need arises without over thinking because we trust one anothers capabilities. Were not married to one particular solution or tool, were committed to being the best we can be.

Focus on shared interests, not just existing networks

Brane offers a distinct solution to combat loneliness by providing a novel way for individuals to connect with others who share similar interests, utilizing AI for automatic matching based on interests and location.

Facebook, for example, is great for keeping you in touch with friends from high school, but its not ideal for finding instant one-on-one or group chats with people who like the same things as you do. If you dont know that someone likes something, and you dont even know their name, how do you message them? Well, now you use Brane.

If you dont know that someone likes something, and you dont even know their name, how do you message them? Well, now you use Brane, Mike said.

Challenges faced

Set out to solve a problem youre familiar with. That way, you can pivot easily when technology changes and youre not married to one solution or platform.

Mike expressed that challenges arise daily, but the team finds enjoyment in tackling them due to their belief in the projects purpose.

Theres a challenge every day, but we believe in what were doing so its fun. Weve gamified ourselves and we enjoy the challenges because they come right before a (hopeful) win.

An example of a challenge that turned into a win was seamlessly integrating our platform into a clients app, while ensuring users could effortlessly switch to using our app without any disruptions. Syncing the conversation and experience between both, we prioritized a seamless integration, enabling users to engage with our app directly within the clients interface. This approach not only streamlined the user experience but also meant users could engage with one another without losing any functionality, across multiple apps. Ultimately, this solution turned into one of our most notable USPs.

Mike stressed the importance of tackling problems the team knows well. This way, they can adapt easily to changes in technology without getting stuck on one solution. Its all about staying flexible and ready for whatever comes next.

Set out to solve a problem youre familiar with. That way, you can pivot easily when technology changes and youre not married to one solution or platform. Remember that its the teams job to build the product, but as a founder your job is to build the right team.

Im so proud to see Brane enter the next big growth phase, twelve years after I first had the idea, says Chmielewski. To get endorsement from two racing legends is proof that the concept fills a gap in the market, and has the goods to go up against the big social media platforms. The track ahead looks good for us.

Keep up to date with our stories on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Vivienne Clarke

The general secretary of the National of Journalists in Ireland, Seamus Dooley, has said that at the heart of the BBCs legal process to establish whether a senior journalist was subjected to alleged police surveillance, was the operation of a secretive process called the Independent Powers Tribunal.

Mr Dooley told RTE radios News at One that the NUJ had not been surprised that many journalists had been under surveillance by the PSNI.

The chief constable had confirmed to the Policing Board in Northern Ireland that there were 18 PSNI spying incidents. He confirmed this last month involving, interestingly, both journalists and lawyers, not more than ten of each. So it's all right, apparently. And I would worry when he talks about due process.

"That due process is secretive, and there's no guarantee that Vincent Kearney's case would even be held in public.

Mr Dooley said he was concerned that a tribunal, as was being requested by the BBC, could take years.

There was already compelling evidence on record that the surveillance did happen which had been confirmed by the chief constable and the PSNI to the Policing Board.

Lawyers and journalists were there to hold other people to account, he said. Surveillance of them was "a strike at the very heart of democracy.

What's really disturbing about this particular incident is that Vincent Kearney is a highly accomplished investigative journalist working on Spotlight, which itself is one of the show pieces of BBC and was investigating inappropriate relationships between the office of the Police Ombudsman and the police. And the police then appear to have investigated Vincent Kearney's activities.

"And by definition, that would have to involve trying to look at his sources. So here we are on the eve of World Press Freedom Day, looking at the PSNI, pursuing yet again sources, which is exactly what happened with McCaffrey and Birney.

Mr Dooley said it was not good enough for the Chief Constable to say we're going to go see that due process is observed.

We do not approve of the Independent Powers Tribunal. We don't approve of secretive tribunals. Why doesn't he come out and admit now whatever happened. The Chief Constable has it within his powers to explain now to the BBC what happened. We don't need a full legal process.

"I do not believe there could be any justification for spying on the basis of merely to find out who snitched on the relationship between the office of the Ombudsman the PSNI.
Vivienne Clarke

A school principal has spoken of the deep shock and sadness of the community over the death of a student on Tuesday night on the A5 road near Omagh, Co Tyrone.

Kamile Vaicikonyte (17) was killed along with 19-year-old Jamie Moore when a blue BMW crashed on the Doogary Road on the A5.

Paul Lavery, principal of St Ciaran's College in Ballygawley, Co Tyrone, said the school community was deeply shocked and saddened by Kamile's death.

"Kamile had a lovely smile. She was a bubbly, outgoing girl who was very popular with both staff and pupils. She joined our school in Year 10 and was studying AS levels in health and social care, business studies and nutrition and food science," he told RTE radios Morning Ireland.

He said Kamile had hoped to go to university and had recently completed work experience in a local primary school. She had been enjoying learning how to drive and had a part-time job.

On Monday afternoon the school had hosted a campaign to highlight a call for upgrades to the A5, in which Kamile had participated, which further heightened the tragedy, said Mr Lavery.

The principal thanked the Northern Ireland Education Authority's critical incident team, who came in and provided support for our pupils and staff, and I think along with our own pastoral care system, we've done our best to try and support our pupils and staff and the community through this very difficult time.

There have been more than 50 fatalities since 2006 on the A5 road, which links Derry with Dublin.

A scheme to turn the road into a dual carriageway was first approved by the Stormont Executive in 2007 but it has been held up by legal challenges and uncertainty over funding.

Local political representatives expressed sadness at further deaths on the A5, and reiterated calls for the redevelopment of the road.

West Tyrone MP Orfhlaith Begley, of Sinn Fein, said: The community is shocked and devastated to learn that another two young people have lost their lives on the A5 road.

My immediate thoughts are with these young peoples families and friends as they come to terms with this unimaginable heartbreak today.

More families have been left heartbroken by another fatal collision on this dangerous road, and todays news serves as another sad reminder of the need to move forward and build the A5 with no more delays.

SDLP MLA Daniel McCrossan said the A5 cannot be allowed to claim any more lives and added that immediate action was needed to progress the road upgrade.

Since the return of Stormont we have already seen a number of deaths on the A5, this is happening on a regular basis and our community cannot continue to brave these losses, he said.

Every day people are leaving their homes to travel on this road, causing huge worry in their families who cant be sure that they will come home.

We need to progress on the A5 redevelopment, we cannot afford any more delays, peoples lives are literally at stake and no excuse can be justified.
May 2, 2024 UPDATE

Click here for a roundup of local and world news

Newsflash

Newsroom, 02.05.2024, 20:00

HOLY THURSDAY Orthodox and Eastern-Catholic Christians in Romania celebrated Holy Thursday, which commemorates the Washing of the Feet and the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles. A mass devoted to the 12 Gospels was held during the evening, while the Lamentation at the Tomb, a unique religious service, will be held on Friday night. On Wednesday, the Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, Daniel, conveyed a special Easter message, saying that the Resurrection of Christ is a celebration of the pious and merciful love of Christ, who overcame hatred, violence and death and gave people eternal life. This makes Easter a celebration of forgiveness, peace and joy, the Patriarch said, urging people to share the news of the Lords Resurrection with everyone around through good deeds, love and peace.

PUBLIC ORDER Over 150,000 Romanians will take part in hundreds of events around the country during Easter break. To ensure public order, the interior ministry has increased the number of staff on duty, including gendarmes, police and fire-fighters. The National Cyber Security Directorate also warns that on holidays people are less careful with e-commerce platforms and they may become victims of online scams.

YOUTH DAY Lawmakers will know their actions were well-inspired when young Romanians at home and abroad choose Romania to build their future, the PM Marcel Ciolacu said on Youth Day. We must provide everyone with equal opportunities and development prospects, including at institutional level, the PM added. Marcel Ciolacu says he believes in young people, with whom he has been in constant dialogue since taking office, via representative associations or through government internship programmes, aimed at familiarising young people with decision-making processes at the level of the Romanian government and subordinated institutions.

AWARD Romanias president, Klaus Iohannis, has been designated as one of the recipients of the 2024 Atlantic Council Distinguished Leadership Awards, which will be handed in a special gala held on May 8 in Washington. The Romanian president will be honoured for his remarkable career, exemplary leadership of Romania, and his transatlantic and European leadership role. The other recipients of the award are the U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, the Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Christopher G. Cavoli, and the Academy Award-winning actress and producer Michelle Yeoh. Each year, the Distinguished Leadership Awards brings together more than six hundred policy, business, military, artistic, and civil-society leaders to celebrate individuals, including policy leaders, business executives, military staff and artistic and humanitarian champions. Past recipients include the US presidents George W. Bush, William J. Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and then-Vice President Joe Biden, the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, the current and former International Monetary Fund managing directors Kristalina Georgieva and Christine Lagarde. Set up in 1961, the Atlantic Council is a non-profit organisation whose staff must observe high standards of personal and professional integrity, openness and honesty in communications and interactions with one another as well as with other organisations, government officials, the media and the public.

TRANSPLANT Two Romanians have a chance for a new life after having received organs from a Bulgarian donor on Thursday. According to the National Transplant Agency, the organs were sent to Romania because there were no compatible beneficiaries in Bulgaria, and the 2 countries have a cooperation protocol in this field. The surgeries were performed in Iasi (eastern Romania), and the 2 patients condition is good.

GAZA The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called on the Palestinian organisation Hamas to accept a truce in Gaza, reiterating the United States opposition towards an Israeli offensive on Rafah (south). During his 7th mission to the Middle East since the conflict broke out, Antony Blinken visited Israel, expressing determination to reach a consensus right now to free the hostages held by Hamas for the last seven months. The US official met with a number of Israeli officials, including the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to Radio Romanias correspondent in Israel, Antony Blinken argued that, while Washington firmly supports Israels right to self-defence, it opposes the idea of an all-out attack on Rafah, insisting on continuing to expand humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian population in Gaza. (AMP, VP)
Romania in mini-holiday

Romanias mountain and seaside resorts have been flooded with people during this mini-holiday occasioned by the Orthodox Easter, which this year happens to be very close to Labour Day

Seaside, the main destination on May 1

Bogdan Matei, 02.05.2024, 02:00

The Orthodox Easter, celebrated on May 5th, this year happens to be very close to Labour Day and that has offered the Romanians a spring mini-holiday, which ends on Monday, May 6th. Almost two thirds of the Romanians choose to spend this holiday at home, mainly people over 60 years of age and those with small incomes  says a recent survey.

13.5% of the respondents say they dont celebrate at all this day, while those who chose to take a trip on this day account for 12.5 %. As Labour Day is considered the beginning of the summer holiday very few of the respondents, 3.4%, say they go to the seaside for this holiday.

However, over 50 thousand tourists are going to be in the seaside resorts on the Romanian Black Sea coast. In the sunny resorts of the south, like Vama Veche and Costinesti, parties have already kicked off. Thousands of young people from Romania and abroad have arrived at Mamaia North for the electronic music festival Sunwaves.

According to organizers, 100 Romanian and foreign artists are to attend the aforementioned festival, which is to last for seven nights on the beach. Anti-drug enforcers have also arrived in the area in an attempt to convince the participants to stay away from banned substances. The participants are encouraged to be able to identify first-aid centers, refrain from drinking to excess and be cautious regarding strangers who may offer them drugs concealed as food, drinks, medicine or cigarettes. In case of special situations they are encouraged to directly contact anti-drug experts or call the emergency number 112 in case of health-related issues. A spokeswoman for the Interior Ministry, Monica Dajbog, has told Radio Romania that measures have been taken to ensure public order and for intervention in emergency situations. Around 25 thousand policemen, gendarmes, border police, firefighters and troops from other structures of the Interior Ministry have been deployed to enforce law and order during this mini-holiday in Romania, with emphasis on travel resorts, churches and other crowded places, such as rail stations and airports.

Over 200 public events are to be staged in this period, which are expected to bring together roughly 167 thousand people. 2.6 million believers are expected to attend religious services at 12,200 churches on the Holy Night of Easter.

According to surveys, though, the number of those willing to travel on Easter holidays is around 16%, five percentages higher than last year. However, most of the Romanians, roughly 80%, intend to spend Easter with their families at home, while three quarters of them want to attend religious services on the Holy Night of Easter.

(bill)
Recently, Walmart (WMT) announced its decision to close down its 51 care centres across Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois and Texas, arguing that "there is not a sustainable model for us to continue."

"The decision to close all 51 health centers across five states and shut down the virtual care offering was not easy," the company stated. "We understand this change affects lives - the patients who receive care, the associates and providers who deliver care and the communities who supported us along the way."

The health clinics, started in 2019 nearby Walmart Supercenters, offered services such as lab and X-ray facilities, primary and emergency care, and dental work.

"Health care looks like a big opportunity," Walmart CEO Doug McMillion claimed during the launch of first clinic.

However, "challenging reimbursement environment and escalating operating costs" declined the profitability of the business over the time.

The U.S.-based retailer said that the impacted employees would be given an opportunity to shift to any other Walmart or Sam's Club store. If the employee doesn't choose to transfer or leave the company, then they will receive payment for 90 days.

After closing the clinics, Walmart said that it would prioritize pharmacies and vision centers.

"Over the past few years, the importance of Pharmacies has continued to grow, and we have expanded the clinical capabilities of the services we provide," the company added.

Walmart's pharmacies offer vaccination, testing facilities, and specialty medication and care.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
In a recent email communication reviewed by The New York Times, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Inc. (TSLA), informed the company's employees about the disbandment of a group of approximately 500 individuals responsible for constructing new Supercharger stations.

After reports of job cuts within the electric vehicle charging group, Musk subsequently announced on X that the company still plans to expand the Supercharger network, albeit at a slower pace for new locations, with more focus on 100% uptime and expansion of existing locations.

Nevertheless, the layoffs of around 500 Tesla employees, including a significant number at the Fremont factory and Palo Alto, have caused concerns. In a LinkedIn post, Lane Chaplin, a senior manager in Tesla's charging division, revealed the abrupt news, stating that the Tesla Charging organization was no longer in existence. William Jameson, strategic charging programs lead at Tesla, also disclosed on X that Musk had released the entire charging team, adding to the speculations about the future of the EV infrastructure.

Tesla's Supercharger network, being the largest public fast-charge network in the U.S., is expanding to accommodate more than a dozen rival automakers after forging agreements last year. However, the sudden disbandment of the Supercharger team has left many wondering about the future of EV infrastructure deployment.

Andres Pinter, co-CEO of Bullet EV Charging Solutions, a supplier to the network, expressed surprise at the sudden changes, emphasizing the importance of ongoing federal funding for EV infrastructure deployment. He speculated that Musk might revamp the EV charger team in a more significant manner. These developments coincide with Tesla's recent decision to open its Superchargers to non-Tesla vehicles, further adding to the speculation about the direction of the company.

Governor Gavin Newsom's announcement about the increased availability of fast-charging stations for electric vehicles in California adds to the ongoing shift in the industry, making it more important for Tesla to address the concerns and provide clarity on its plans.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
While reporting financial results for the first quarter on Thursday, Moody's Corp. (MCO) narrowed its earnings, adjusted earnings and revenue growth guidance range for the full-year 2024.

For fiscal 2024, the company now expects earnings in a range of $9.55 to $10.15 per share and adjusted earnings in the range of $10.40 to $11.00 per share on projected revenue growth in the high-single-digit to low-double-digit percent range.

Previously, the company projected earnings in a range of $9.45 to $10.20 per share and adjusted earnings in the range of $10.25 to $11.00 per share on projected revenue growth in the high-single to low-double-digit percent range.

On average, 20 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect earnings of $10.71 per share on a revenue decline of 10.6 percent to $6.54 billion for the year. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

On Friday, the Board of Directors also declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.85 per share of MCO Common Stock, payable on June 7, 2024, to stockholders of record at the close of business on May 17, 2024.

For more earnings news, earnings calendar, and earnings for stocks, visit rttnews.com

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
The United States has imposed sanctions on more than 80 entities and individuals alleging that Russia used the chemical weapon chloropicrin against Ukrainian troops.

The State Department also alleged that Russia has used riot control agents as a method of warfare in Ukraine, both of which are in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention.

"The use of such chemicals is not an isolated incident, and is probably driven by Russian forces' desire to dislodge Ukrainian forces from fortified positions and achieve tactical gains on the battlefield. Russia's ongoing disregard for its obligations to the CWC comes from the same playbook as its operations to poison Aleksey Navalny and Sergei and Yulia Skripal with Novichok nerve agents," the State Department said in a factsheet.

The Department of State said it is re-imposing restrictions on foreign military financing, U.S. Government lines of credit, and export licenses for defense articles and national security-sensitive items going to Russia.

The Department also is sanctioning three Russian government firms linked to Russia's chemical and biological weapons programs and four Russian companies that have contributed to such entities.

The Department of State is also targeting Russia's revenue generation through its future energy, metals, and mining production and sanctioning additional individuals in connection with the death of opposition leader and anti-corruption activist Aleksey Navalny.

These are in addition to another set of sanctions by the Department of the Treasury targeting Russia's military-industrial base and chemical and biological weapons programs as well as companies and individuals in third countries that help Russia acquire key inputs for weapons or defense-related production.

They include nearly 60 targets located in Azerbaijan, Belgium, China, Russia, Slovakia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates that enable Russia to acquire desperately-needed and equipment from abroad.

"Treasury has consistently warned that companies will face significant consequences for providing material support for Russia's war, and the U.S. is imposing them today on almost 300 targets," said Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen. "Today's actions will further disrupt and degrade Russia's war efforts by going after its military industrial base and the evasion networks that help supply it".

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Political News
A business more concerned with functions instead of outcomes will never truly meet, let alone exceed, its customers expectations.

Yet, how many times have we, as consumers, been passed from one companys department to another, as they expose to us their internal structures and fragmented approach to customer experience?

Whether in the B2B or B2C arena, customers frankly dont care that a business has a marketing team, a sales team, and a customer support team. All they know is that they need assistance with something  completing a purchase, making an enquiry, or understanding which product is right for them. Who solves this problem for them is of little to no importance. They simply want their problem resolved, and quickly.

In spite of this, too many businesses take a siloed approach between marketing, sales and customer experience teams  an approach that ensures each function remains in its lane, working towards their particular KPIs, with little priority given to how the customer experiences the three. The result is an organisation focused on functions instead of outcomes or impact to customers, and lacks accountability, which doesnt bode well for driving business growth. Worse yet, it leaves the customer with the same problem they had at the beginning.

The growing irrelevance of traditional marketing skills to the needs of modern business

Marketing as a standalone function  whether in a B2C, B2B or B2C2B perspective  has lost relevance in recent years. With the advent of data, including automated data, and the increasing importance of data-driven marketing, many CMOs are finding that their practised verses in marketing principles are turning old-hat in the wake of the deep analytical and technical skills necessary to effectively leverage data insights and translate them into actionable insights for other business units.

As data-driven marketing increasingly permeates all aspects of the marketing team, from building and understanding customer profiles, to optimising campaigns, and measuring return on investment, marketers who have lagged behind in upskilling or reskilling in technical areas may find their value eclipsed. Its my prediction that the need for standalone CMO roles will increasingly diminish in favour of more integrated approaches  ones that encompass sales, product, technology, and even finance, in order to drive true business growth. A marketers toolkit, while important, is now not sufficient for the demands of the modern, tech-enabled business.

Already, we are seeing a continually evolving C-Suite where roles encapsulate more holistic and cross-functional approaches, and the CMOs traditional marketing-focused role is no different. The rise in marketing-adjacent titles, such as Chief Brand Officers, Chief Experience Officers and so forth, also dont aid the CMOs quest for relevancy, as it makes it clear that change is necessary. A recent McKinsey survey tracking the relationship between CEOs and CMOs found only 22 per cent of marketing executives say their job is well-defined and understood by other C-Suite executives, down from 31 per cent in 2019. With customers having no clear point of contact, this is unsurprising.

Thinking beyond silos will put the customer at the fore

Businesses need to think about customer success and, with that, end-to-end growth. This will come down to introducing a culture of alignment and cohesion. While many brands talk about being customer-obsessed, how do they know if they are actually delivering on this promise? How do you measure or keep teams accountable for being customer-obsessed?

Most traditional marketing roles are mapped on a plot; they go up and down the funnel, but we need to recognise that growth, and growing the customer base, and improving the customer experience is more of a continuous circle, and will require an approach that takes a more birds eye and more collaborative view of growth impact within a business.Allocating growth as a primary success measurement for CMOs is disingenuous because business growth doesnt merely come from marketing. Marketing is just one growth output, and boards and leadership teams that pile pressure onto a CMO to be solely tasked with growth  either in customer, subscription or sales numbers  are not only doing a disservice to the CMO, but the organisation as a whole. Instead, leveraging product-led or sales-led growth and pulling these components together with marketing-led growth will be the key to successful and sustainable growth.

Marketing plays only one role in shaping and delivering exceptional customer experiences. Its an important puzzle piece, yes, but increasingly we will see other C-Suite roles such as Chief Customer Officers, Chief Experience Officers, or Chief Growth Officers emerge to lead a more comprehensive view of the end-to-end customer journey.

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President Joe Biden has announced that his Administration is approving $6.1 billion in student debt cancellation for 317,000 borrowers who attended the Art Institutes.

Biden said this institution falsified data, knowingly misled students, and cheated borrowers into taking on mountains of debt without leading to promising career prospects at the end of their studies.

Borrowers who enrolled at any Art Institute campus on or after January 1, 2004, through October 16, 2017, will get the benefit of the loan waiver.

The U.S. Department of Education said it found that The Art Institutes and its parent company, Education Management Corporation, made pervasive and substantial misrepresentations to prospective students about postgraduation employment rates, salaries, and career services during that time.

In October 2017, EDMC sold its remaining Art Institute campuses, and all existing Art Institute campuses closed under separate ownership in September 2023.

"For more than a decade, hundreds of thousands of hopeful students borrowed billions to attend The Art Institutes and got little but lies in return. That ends todaythanks to the Biden-Harris Administration's work with the attorneys general offices of Iowa, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania," said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. "We must continue to protect borrowers from predatory institutionsand work toward a higher education system that is affordable to students and taxpayers."

The Department independently reviewed evidence provided by the attorneys general offices of Iowa, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, which conducted multi-year investigations into, and brought lawsuits against, The Art Institutes and EDMC.

Over the last three years, the Biden Administration has approved nearly $29 billion in debt relief for 1.6 million borrowers whose colleges took advantage of them, closed abruptly, or were covered by related court settlements.

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Business News
Accenture plc (ACN) announced Thursday it has agreed to acquire Brazilian creative agency SOKO. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The completion of the acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

SOKO specializes in brand storytelling that engages audiences organically. Through proprietary methodologies and metrics, the agency, which is backed by FLAGCX, has successfully turned powerful ideas into strong brand engagement and impressions for their clients.

SOKO will become part of the world-renowned creative agency Droga5, deepening the agency's influence and relevance in Brazil while strengthening the market's creative and brand capabilities within Accenture Songthe world's largest tech-powered creative group. SOKO's team of over 300 employees will join Droga5 Sao Paulo.

The integration of SOKO into Droga5 Sao Paulo gives Accenture Song the opportunity to enhance the brand storytelling approach for its clients, tapping into Brazil's creative culture and diverse ecosystem.

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Business News
The services sector in Australia continued to expand in April, albeit at a slower rate, the latest survey from Judo Bank revealed on Friday with a services PMI score of 53.6.

That's down from 54.4 in March, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

Central to the sustained improvement in services activity was higher new inflows in April. Services new business increased for a third straight month and at the fastest pace since May 2022 as demand improved. Sub-sector data revealed that firms in the transport and storage sector recorded the most pronounced rise in new sales.

Additionally, new export business returned to growth after falling in March. Although marginal, the latest improvement in foreign demand marked only the second expansion in seven months and helped to support the uptick in overall new business.

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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.
With the Christmas quarter appearing to be a false dawn, new data released this week by illion credit bureau, as part of its Commercial Risk Barometer, reveals that business conditions have deteriorated significantly in the year to March 2024.

Year on year, the failure risk has risen: by more than 5% by the end of March 2024, and near 6.5% since the beginning of 2023  the largest deterioration noted post-COVID. As a result, the number of businesses at severe risk of failing is now 80% higher than 15 months ago.

There are likely a number of reasons for this, said Barrett Hasseldine, illions Head of Modelling.

It may be due, in part, to lower levels of government support for business and zombie companies are now finally toppling over. Equally, it may be due to creditors, lenders, and government offices such as the ATO calling a halt to amnesties on the repayment of liabilities. And a third option is that it is a consequence of significantly lower levels of consumer confidence and spending in 2023, as Australians struggled with their household budgets.

Deterioration in business conditions has followed a similar change to consumer credit risk, consumer spending, and consumer confidence; with worsening business activity showing as a three-to-six-month lag after economic conditions impacted consumer behaviour.

This general rise in business failure risk has led to a significant increase in the number of businesses that are at severe risk of failure. As such, 2024 is likely to see a material rise in businesses becoming insolvent, being liquidated, and being deregistered after litigation by creditors.

Industries most at risk

Retail and food services businesses and businesses operating in construction and transport appear to be most at risk, with these industries likely to have the largest rise in business failures in 2024. This rise comes on the back of their already high baseline risk in 2023.

Our data shows the change in business failure risk is not uniform across all sizes of businesses, Barrett added.

In the retail and food sectors especially, there appears to be a two-speed economy, with smaller retailers suffering hardest, and large corporations such as supermarkets and department stores able to withstand the headwinds  possibly through pricing power and/or economies of scale.

While business failure risk has been broadly higher in the year to March 2024 (5% higher), smaller businesses have suffered the most, with larger businesses remaining stable. For small businesses (up to $10 million turnover), failure risk has risen by up to a massive 20% in the year to the end of March 2024. This compared to the risk of medium-sized businesses (up to $100 million turnover) deteriorating by a much smaller 10%.

An even starker contrast is the failure risk of larger companies and corporations. This has improved significantly  more than 20% improvement for businesses with a turnover above $250 million.

Smaller businesses are at significant risk of going to the wall while larger businesses are benefitting from a possible change in consumer spending habits during these harder economic conditions. Pricing power matters most in times of fiscal tightening, added Barrett.

Spending in supermarkets, which has been up 5%, has been to the detriment of butchers, down one 1%, and greengrocers, down 2.5%. Spending with department stores that has been broadly stable has been at odds with spending in retail clothing stores, down eight 8%.

State differences

Victoria and New South Wales lead the way, with the highest levels of business failure risk nationally, most likely due to a higher rent and mortgage burden (from historically higher property prices) that have been sapping spending habits.

Businesses in New South Wales and Victoria have the highest level of stress  4% to 5% higher than the national average, Barrett added, although this has remained broadly flat in Victoria over 18 months, which was in bottom place.

Now New South Wales has seen significant deterioration, from 2% to 4% above the national average, so it is nearly equal bottom with Victoria.

Alongside consumer stress driven by housing costs, these states might also be suffering from higher commercial property costs, and higher wages and utilities costs.

There is also a material rise in the default risk of credit card holders in both Victoria and New South Wales, Barrett said.

illion data has also shown a recent deterioration in South Australia  which has traditionally held a lower level of failure risk  from 7% lower than the national average in January 2023 to 2% higher in March 2024.

In contrast, while weve seen some volatility in Queensland and Western Australia, businesses in both states are at much lower risk  8% lower than the national average in March 2024, Barrett said.

High-risk industries continue to be food services, construction, and transport businesses. The food services sector (comprising restaurants, bars, cafes, and pubs) has a massive 140% higher percentage of businesses at severe risk of failure today, when compared to the national average. The construction and transport sectors have 70% more businesses than the national average at severe risk of failure.

This is followed by the retail and rental sectors with 10% more businesses than the national average.

At the other extreme, the financial services and professional services sectors have the lowest percentage of businesses at severe risk of failure when compared to the national average, with 50% fewer and 25% fewer severe risk businesses respectively.

There is no clear sign that the at risk industries are likely to experience a turnaround in the short-term, Barrett adds.

Australian businesses have suffered significant financial strain in 2023 and into 2024, with trade payment obligations generally being paid 25% later than 12 months ago.

Food services businesses are now paying invoices 18 days late on average, construction firms and retail businesses 14 days late, and the transport sector 12 days late.

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In a paper published in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, scientists examined the theoretical and observational cases for a cosmic glitch in Universes gravity.

For the last 100 years, physicists have relied upon Albert Einsteins theory of general relativity to explain how gravity works throughout the Universe.

General relativity, proven accurate by countless tests and observations, suggests that gravity impacts not simply three physical dimensions but also a fourth dimension: time.

This model of gravity has been essential for everything from theorizing the Big Bang to photographing black holes, said Caltech researcher Robin Wen.

But when we try to understand gravity on a cosmic scale, at the scale of galaxy clusters and beyond, we encounter apparent inconsistencies with the predictions of general relativity.

Its almost as if gravity itself stops perfectly matching Einsteins theory.

We are calling this inconsistency a cosmic glitch: gravity becomes around 1% weaker when dealing with distances in the billions of light-years.

For more than twenty years, researchers have been trying to create a mathematical model that explains the apparent inconsistencies of the theory of general relativity.

Almost a century ago, astronomers discovered that our Universe is expanding, said University of Waterloos Professor Niayesh Afshordi.

The farther away galaxies are, the faster they are moving, to the point that they seem to be moving at nearly the speed of light, the maximum allowed by Einsteins theory.

Our finding suggests that, on those very scales, Einsteins theory may also be insufficient.

The teams model of a cosmic glitch modifies and extends Einsteins mathematical formulas in a way that resolves the inconsistency of some of the cosmological measurements without affecting existing successful uses of general relativity.

Think of it as being like a footnote to Einsteins theory, Wen said.

Once you reach a cosmic scale, terms and conditions apply.

This new model might just be the first clue in a cosmic puzzle we are starting to solve across space and time, Professor Afshordi said.

_____

Robin Y. Wen et al. 2024. A cosmic glitch in gravity. JCAP 03: 045; doi: 10.1088/1475-7516/2024/03/045
Standing Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Tran Thanh Man

Tran, aged 62, will run the National Assembly and the National Assembly Standing Committee until new Chairman of the Naitonal Assembly is elected.

He was Secretary of Can Tho Municipal Party Committee before becoming Vice Chairman of the National Assembly in 2021.

As reported earlier, the Party Central Committee had agreed for Chairman of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue to step down at his request.

Vuong was also relieved from his posts as member of the Politburo and member of the 13th Party Central Committee, the Party Central Committee decided at a meeting in Ha Noi last Friday.

Vuong was a key leader of the Party and the State. He has been trusted and assigned to undertake several important positions, according to a statement released after the meeting.

However, reports by the Party Central Committee's Inspection Commission show that he committed the Party regulations and his violations and flaws have negatively affected the public perception and the reputation of the Party and the State.

Being aware of his responsibilities before the Party, the State and the people, Vuong has sent in his resignation from his positions./.
President Xi Jinping has urged Serbian steel workers who are participants and beneficiaries of China-Serbia cooperation to make greater contributions toward consolidating the friendship between the two countries in a reply to workers at a steel plant in the Serbian city of Smederevo on Monday.

Xi, who is scheduled to pay a state visit to Serbia next week, said in his reply letter that he was glad to learn that the plant has rapidly turned losses into gains after receiving a Chinese investment, with the jobs of more than 5,000 employees being guaranteed and thousands of families enjoying a peaceful and happy life.

Xi had met with the workers in person during his previous state visit to the European country in 2016, when he said that he "deeply felt their support for the mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Serbia, and their high expectations for a bright future of the steel plant".

From their letter, Xi said he learned that the plant has taken on a new look and is providing strong support for the development of Smederevo, thanks to the joint efforts of the management teams of both sides and the workers themselves.

The development of the plant, he said, cannot be achieved without the dedication and hard work of the workers, who have been working diligently for the quick growth of the steel plant and have written a new chapter for the iron-clad friendship between China and Serbia.

I give you "the thumbs up", Xi said.

The plant, formerly known as the Smederevo Steelworks, was on the verge of bankruptcy before being purchased by China's Hesteel Group in April 2016, months after China and Serbia signed a memorandum of understanding on the Belt and Road Initiative in November 2015.

Today, Hesteel Serbia is one of Serbia's biggest exporters. It contributed 1.86 percent to the country's GDP in 2022.

In his reply, Xi said the sound development of the plant is a striking epitome of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation between China and Serbia as well as a paradigm of their mutually beneficial cooperation.

It is hoped that the steelworkers, who are participants, witnesses and contributors to and beneficiaries of China-Serbia friendly cooperation, will continue to do their jobs wholeheartedly and dedicate themselves enthusiastically to the operation and development of the steel plant, he said.

Nenad Cvetanovic, who is the head of operation of the hot mill, is one of the 30 representatives of Serbian workers at the plant who wrote a letter to Xi. In the letter, they expounded on the latest development of the plant and its important contribution toward improving the well-being of local residents. They also thanked Xi for showing care for and facilitating the project.

"I got this idea of sending a letter to President Xi with my colleagues in February after I learned that he will come to my country again," he said, adding that the letter was sent to China from Belgrade last month with signatures of colleagues from different departments at the plant.

Then on Monday night, Chinese Ambassador to Serbia Li Ming brought them Xi's reply. "That was something amazing for us, especially for me, because I didn't expect that,"Cvetanovic said.

He said that if Xi could visit the plant again, they would share with him all the changes that have taken place over the eight years since the Chinese president's last trip, including equipment renewal and upgrading.

"In particular, the workers are living a much better life and our sense of security has been enhanced after Hesteel Group came here," he said, adding that they believe the future will be even better.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic addresses a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of Serbia's National Stadium in Belgrade, Serbia, on May 1, 2024. (Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua)

BELGRADE, May 1 (Xinhua) -- A groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of Serbia's National Stadium by the Power Construction Corporation of China (PowerChina) took place here on Wednesday.

The commencement ceremony was marked by embedding a ball into the foundations of the new edifice, adorned with the signatures of eminent players and officials.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic affirmed that the stadium would be erected to the most exacting standards. Also providing facilities for the upcoming EXPO 2027 in Belgrade, the new building aspires to embody a city within a city.

"This is a significant construction endeavor," the Serbian president said in a press release.

Chinese Ambassador to Serbia Li Ming expressed gratitude to the Serbian president and government for support of Chinese companies. "We stand prepared to collaborate with Serbian partners in realizing this contemporary endeavor," Li said.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic (C) reviews the project presentation during a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of Serbia's National Stadium in Belgrade, Serbia, on May 1, 2024. (Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua)

Photo taken on May 1, 2024 shows the construction site of Serbia's National Stadium in Belgrade, Serbia. (Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua)

Editor: GSY
Late spring in Michigan is welcome for a lot of reasons, and one of those is the return of farmers market season. One of the metro Detroits biggest and most celebrated, the Farmington Farmers Market, makes its debut at 9 a.m. this Saturday, May 4, at the Sundquist Pavilion in downtown Farmington.The Farmington Farmers Market is coming off a big season in 2023, having celebrated its seventh consecutive award as The Best Farmers Market in Metro Detroit, as named through the annual WDIV-TV contest, and its 30th anniversary. Opening day for its 31st season will welcome market vendors back with gusto, with several special guests expected to attend opening day ceremonies.[Related: Read Downtown Farmington announces plans for new park at historic site on Metromode.]More than 50 Michigan farmers, makers, and artisans will be on hand for opening day, including Gass Centennial Farm, Taurus Trading Co., Lekker Choco Treats, and dozens more. Live music will be performed by local favorites Coltrane and Bob Monteleone, who also are scheduled to perform at the markets closing day on Saturday, Nov. 2. Live music is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. each Saturday, the full line-up of which is available via the Farmington Farmers Market website Opening day ceremonies begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday, May 4, as the American Legion Color Guard from Walker Groves American Legion Post 346, the North Farmington High School Band, and several Big Heads from the Detroit Parade Co. march into Riley Park. Opening remarks are expected from local dignitaries, including Michigan Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist II and Farmington Mayor Joe LaRussa. Heather Yanke will perform the National Anthem before Lt. Gov. Gilchrist rings the bell to open the 2024 season. Visit the Farmington Farmers Market online to keep up with Opening Day festivities and all thats planned for the Saturdays to follow in downtown Farmington.Got a development news story to share? Email MJ Galbraith here or send him a tweet @mikegalbraith
In a world full of designer cakes and snack food, what is the secret to the perfect pastry? According to baker and owner of Mother Hive , Jessica Brady, the answer is bees."Honeybees are a gateway drug," Brady says.Nestled in the heart of Oak Park, Brady built a small apiary in her backyard. She harvests the bees' honey and uses it in her recipes. What started as a love for hexagons while studying architecture led Brady to bees, the world's most famous hexagon builders."It seemed only natural to follow my curiosity into beekeeping and establish my own apiary. Honey is a generous gift."That gift would lead Brady to start her own business, Mother Hive. It was the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic and Brady had just discovered she was pregnant with her first child. As everything was changing around her, Brady turned to baking."I love the sense of control and predictability of baking," Brady says. "I appreciate the boundaries of a recipe. For example, when you are preparing to bake a cake, you know if you follow all the rules there will be a cake at the end."Once Brady saw the responses to her creations she realized that baking could be more than a hobby it could become a career. Brady decided to leave her job and became a full-time baker and beekeeper.I guess you could say I dove head first into butter and bees.The transition wasn't easy. Pandemic restrictions made it difficult to reach new clients and connect with the community. Her vision of turning Mother Hive into a parent collective stalled. Doubt set in."When you run your own business you only have yourself to blame. Being at home there is an extra layer of challenges. And like every business I have to deal with things like shrinkflation, and rapidly changing social media trends."Brady stuck through with support from her partner, friends and strong word-of-mouth. As the pandemic restrictions lifted Brady was excited to get out into the city and share her sweet tooth with everyone."After my first pop-up at Dog and Pony Show Brewing in Oak Park I knew I had made the right choice. It was the first time customers who were not related to me were paying real dollars for something I crafted by hand. It was a surprising and eye-opening moment in which I realized I could work for and by myself, yet satisfy the cravings of the community."Brady is a proud Oak Park resident. She cites the support from the city as a big boon to her business.Starting in 2014, the city created its Strategic Economic Plan. Looking to boost business and community involvement, the plan opened a lot of new doors for entrepreneurs in the area.Oak Park began partnerships with SCORE and Pure Michigan Business Connect ( PMBC ) to provide counseling and business-to-business resources for small businesses in the city.Oak Park joined Michigans Redevelopment Ready Certified Community in 2018. The process helped the city provide additional business services allowing access to new opportunities for residents..The opportunity to connect with the community is at the core of why Brady started Mother Hive.Mother Hive is here for the community, Brady says. we are at your table helping to celebrate lifes milestones and also comfort you with sweet treats.Among those sweet treats are non-dairy and vegan pastries, custom cakes and her popular Pocket Challah Rolls. Mother Hive takes orders online and custom cakes start at $50. Brady enjoys the challenge of creating new and unique designs for customers.Brady's ultimate goal for Mother Hive is to finish turning it into a collective. Having started the business during COVID-19, Brady realized how powerful baking is at bringing people together.I want to circle back on Mother Hives original intention to be a parent collective. I would love to establish a village of talented parents and passionate people to better the balance of work, life, and parenthood. We cant do it alone, were better together, together we thrive.
This story is part of our Faith in Action series of stories exploring faith-based and faith-inspired works, the people accomplishing them, and the connections with the community they are creating. The series is supported by the Fetzer Institute.But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly, there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were open, and everyones chains were loosed.Acts 16:25-26KALAMAZOO, MI  Even though he taught philosophy and world religions to college students, Jeff Grupp was an atheist. His life felt empty, hopeless, and dark.I was deeply depressed, even suicidal, Jeff says. That was in 2014.If Grupp had no faith in a higher power, his wife Amy was the opposite.I was always a believer, she says. I grew up that way. But my faith was strengthened in 2013 when I joined a prayer group. One month, we challenged ourselves to pray for someone hard to love. That felt different  and Jeff saw a big change in me at that point.Jeff Grupp nods, glancing over at his wife. I saw miracles in her. Honestly, I got scared of her.Amy Grupp felt a bit hurt that her husband kept making fun of her faith. He would tease her that she believed in something that wasnt there. In response to his teasing, Amy challenged him to pray one prayer, and if that prayer was answered, he would know there was a God.Jeff took up the challenge.I sat in my car and prayed, he says. Im talking to You! If You exist. I hate my life. Everything is a struggle. If Youre real, everyone would need to know it. If Youre real, I wont believe until I see You. Thats what I require.Seemingly, the world remained quiet around the man sitting in his car and praying. Yet somehow Jeff felt a strange elation. For the first time in a long time, he felt a sense of hope. Another year would pass, but then he began to have dreams of a car crash.Soon after those dreams, Amy Grupp and their four children were in a devastating car crash. Only Jeff was not in the car. He was sitting in the dark basement of the Grupp house when the crash happened.That was the night I became a Christian, he recalls. Because that was the night that I had a vision  an angel, some kind of presence, came to me and spoke to me, saying that she was a messenger from God. And I learned that my family was safe in that crash.Everything about him changed, Amy says.So much so, in fact, that Jeff returned to school to earn a degree at a seminary and took a position as pastor at a church in Tecumseh, Michigan. But his calling was not complete. Sometime in 2017, the Grupps searched for a ministry that would take them to those most often forgotten, who arguably needed divine guidance the most.Both natives of Kalamazoo, the Grupps decided to return to their original home  and as if to confirm that they were on the right path, they found a house on the very same street where they had once lived. The home, Jeff says, was strangely underpriced.The greatest need for ministry, the Grupps found, was among inmates, living behind bars in jails. The Grupps spent time at jails in Grand Rapids, Van Buren County, and Kalamazoo. For Jeff, it was due to a paid position, while Amy accompanied him as a volunteer chaplain. Jeff ministered to male inmates and Amy to female inmates.While the Kalamazoo County Jail at 1500 Lamont in Kalamazoo had had a ministry for nearly 50 years, changes were underway, and the Grupps received the blessing of County Sheriff Richard Fuller to bring in a new ministry. In August 2023, Jeff and Amy established the Kalamazoo Jail Ministry (KJM).Up until then, the ministry had been more about passing out items the inmates requested  playing cards, magazines, paper and pencils, hygiene items. But we wanted to get in there and sit with people, pray with them, talk with them, hear their stories in their darkest moments, Jeff says.The Grupps were given a room on the lower floor of the jail where they stacked shelves full of not only Bibles but books of all kinds. In January 2024, they began the work of KJM.Its all about listening to people, Amy says. I go into the jail with my Bible and a box of tissues, because Im always crying when I listen to the women. I often meet women who feel a great deal of shame, and they want forgiveness. I also see women struggling with anger issues, and we talk about that. We cry together, we pray together. I see people change so much during their time here. We see miracles here every day.We dont push religion at all, Jeff adds. We have magazines, art books, whatever they need. Our job is to serve and to love. We have radical acceptance for everyone. The first reaction when we approach an inmate can often be anger  they dont want to talk with us. But that changes when they understand we arent here to judge. We all sin.The Grupps say they have seen recidivism, often because those released from jail return to a world where they have no funds to restart their lives, no family or friends, no shelter, no transportation, no education. Time served doesnt end at the jail door, says Jeff Grupp. "Some of them are released and they walk out, and no one is waiting for them. They have nowhere to go.The Grupps hope to expand KJM to help inmates after their release, not just while sitting behind bars. They are beginning to flesh out plans to establish halfway houses, provide more opportunities for rehabilitation, meet other day-to-day needs, and break down obstacles to living a productive life.Most of the people here are the poorest of the poor, Amy says. If they hurt others, they have often first been hurt themselves. Sometimes we hear about their families going hungry because their main breadwinner is now in jail, so we may bring groceries to those families. And we often stay in touch even after their release.People here, everything is stripped away when they are brought here, Jeff says. They come in here with nothing  lost, broken, poor  so this is that time when they begin to realize who they really are. We see God deliver revelation to many. Its like an earthquake in them that melts the bars.KJM is fully donor-supported. Donations may be made to KJM online or by mailing a check to Kalamazoo Jail Ministry at 1500 Lamont, Kalamazoo, MI, 49048. For more information, email Jeff Grupp at Jeffg@kalamazoojailministry.org or view videos of their work online
Members of the Family Education Committee of the China Association of Higher Education gather for their 2024 academic conference at Shanghai Normal University, April 28, 2024. [Photo provided to China.org.cn]

The Family Education Committee of the China Association of Higher Education (CAHE) held its 2024 academic conference at Shanghai Normal University on April 28. The event attracted over 200 committee members, experts, scholars, and frontline educators from universities and research institutions across the country.

Since its establishment last year, the committee has made significant progress in developing academic systems, conducting theoretical and practical research, and exploring models for talent training.

During the opening ceremony, Jiang Enlai, vice president of CAHE, commended the committee's efforts. He stressed the importance of theoretical innovation in family education as key to advancing the field. He also expressed his hopes for the committee to proactively encourage high-quality development within the discipline.

Wang Xiping, executive vice president of the Shanghai Higher Education Society, addressed the challenges facing family education in China, such as educational utilitarianism. She called for higher research standards in family education and urged the development of a comprehensive policy framework to better integrate family, school, and social education.

Zhao Shiping, honorary chairman of the Family Education Committee, reflected on the committee's work since its establishment in areas like discipline construction, talent training, and academic exchange.

She noted that the committee's structure has expanded from 26 initial member institutions to 81, with membership growing to over 300. Zhao also highlighted the committee's efforts in organizing experts to develop research guides and promote both talent training and academic exchange, which are crucial for advancing the discipline.

Miao Jiandong, chair of the committee and a professor at Nanjing Normal University, speaks during the conference at Shanghai Normal University, April 28, 2024. [Photo provided to China.org.cn]

Miao Jiandong, chair of the committee and a professor at Nanjing Normal University, emphasized the need to strengthen family education to support the nation's educational ambitions. He advocated for sustainable development within the field and urged the integration of innovative practices that align with national and societal needs.

The conference featured keynote speeches and parallel forums that allowed attendees from various universities, including experts and graduate students, to delve into advanced topics in family education. The discussions spanned a wide range of issues, from the construction and theoretical innovation of the discipline to its practical applications and challenges, offering deep insights and unique perspectives.
Shares in Hugo Boss tanked on Thursday despite first-quarter results beating forecasts, as the German fashion group reported falling sales in the key market of China.

Sales totalled 1.014bn in the first three months of the year, up 5% on the same period in 2023, and ahead of the 1.005bn consensus forecast.

The company said that both brands  BOSS and HUGO  all regions and all channels contributed to sales growth in the quarter.

Currency-adjusted growth in the EMEA and Americas regions of 5% and 11% beat estimates of 4% and 10%, respectively, according to analysts at Jefferies.

However, a 4% improvement in Asia Pacific missed the mark with analysts expecting 5.5% growth, as sales in China remained below last year's levels which the company said reflected "overall muted local demand".

The stock was down 8% at 46.50 by 1234 in Frankfurt.

Nevertheless, on a group level, earnings before interest and tax grew 6% to 69m, beating the 65m consensus estimate.

"I am pleased that we delivered further sales and earnings improvements also in the first quarter of 2024," said chief executive Daniel Grieder.

"By leveraging our strong business platform, we remain equally committed to realising further efficiencies. All of this will enable us to continue our profitable growth trajectory also in 2024."

For the full year, the company expects to reports sales growth of between 3% and 6% from last year's 4.2bn, with EBIT projected to increase between 5% and 15% from 410m.
Danish shipping and logistics giant A.P. Mller  Mrsk has lifted its 2024 profit guidance, saying that Red Sea disruptions are likely to continue for the rest of the year.

The company, known simply as Maersk, raised the lower end of its guidance range for underlying earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), guiding to a loss of up to $2.0bn, from previous projections of a loss of up to $5.0bn.

It said that container volume growth is now expected to be towards the upper end of the 2.5% to 4.5% range.

Disruptions in the Red Sea  after attacks on vessels travelling the major trade route by Houthi militants  have led to higher freight rates (and higher costs) for container shippers, with ships having to divert around Africa.

"With the Red Sea crisis still ongoing, plans are made for the current rerouting south of the Cape of Good Hope [South Africa] to be extended potentially for the remainder of the year, while A.P. Moller - Maersk still expects overcapacity to prevail which implies lower rates during the second half," Maersk said in a statement.

First-quarter revenues totalled $12.36bn, down from $14.21bn a year earlier, while underlying EBIT dropped to just $174m from $2.56bn  though profits came in ahead of market forecasts.

Chief executive Vincent Clerc said the first quarter had developed "precisely as we expected". He said: "Demand is trending towards the higher end of our market growth guidance and conditions in the Red Sea remain entrenched. This not only supported a recovery in the first quarter compared to the previous quarter, but also provide an improved outlook for the coming quarters, as we now expect these conditions to stay with us for most of the year."
Hiscox reported a rise in first-quarter written premiums on Thursday as it benefited from accelerated growth in the retail segment.

In the three months to the end of March, total insurance contract written premiums increased 8.3% to $1.5bn. Hiscox said this was due to continued capital deployment in Re & ILS and the acceleration of Retail growth since full year 2023.

Hiscox Retail written premiums were up 8.1% to $723.2m, driven by a step up in growth in the UK business, as well as "robust" growth in US DPD and Europe.

These positive drivers were partly offset by continued subdued momentum in the US broker business.

Re & ILS saw a 19% jump in written premiums to $497.4m, while Hiscox London Market saw a 4.9% decline to $316.9m. This was mostly due to non-renewal of certain large binder deals to instead write more open market business, Hiscox said, in line with its strategy to lead more of the business it writes.

Chief executive Aki Hussain said: "A good start to 2024, with our focus on profitable growth continuing to deliver.

"Retail momentum has improved with growth accelerating in Hiscox UK and US DPD as our initiatives achieve targeted outcomes, and solid sustained growth in Hiscox Europe.

"In Hiscox London Market and Hiscox Re & ILS we continue to deploy capital where we see attractive opportunities. The outlook for the year remains positive."
L&T Technology Services (LTTS) and FORVIA, the world's seventh-largest automotive supplier, have announced a strategic partnership valued at approximately $45 million to advance engineering development for FORVIA's Clean Mobility division. The five-year partnership involves transferring around 300 engineers from FORVIA's Augsburg (Germany) and Bangalore (India) sites to LTTS. The transition achieved a remarkable 95% success rate, ensuring the teams' continued involvement in internal combustion engine-related engineering activities from within LTTS.

Under LTTS's leadership, the engineers will maintain their roles at their current locations, ensuring seamless collaboration and ongoing support for FORVIA's end customers across Digital PLM initiatives. This collaboration demonstrates FORVIA's commitment to addressing the changing automotive landscape, focusing on ultra-low emissions and high-quality engineering support while providing stable employment opportunities.

The partnership will deliver essential engineering services for FORVIA while securing the career paths of transferred employees and broadening their skill sets. LTTS' extensive portfolio offers exposure to various technologies and projects. A key aspect of the agreement is FORVIA's provision for LTTS to train and reskill the engineers, who, with support from the LTTS Global Engineering Academy, will be repositioned over time to work in different fields within LTTS's commercial network.
Vedanta, under the leadership of Chairman Anil Agarwal, intends to allocate $20 billion for investment in India across its various business sectors within the next four years. Agarwal made this announcement during the company's 'Nand Ghar' event, which is part of its philanthropic efforts. The decision to invest coincides with the company's reliance on the rise in commodity prices to drive its growth.

"Growth in India is tremendous. it's a double-digit growth, and there is a huge consumption activity. People are interested to invest in India and post the elections we would see recognition to entrepreneurships, which is very important," Agarwal said while detailing plans on the investment.

Agarwal additionally highlighted that the investments will prioritize the glass and semiconductor sectors, with a heightened focus on bolstering investments in electronics alongside other ventures. When queried about the progress of the company's semiconductor initiative, Aggarwal mentioned, "We got land in Gujarat, but we need to find the best partner".

Media reports earlier this year suggested that the Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology views Vedanta's plans with skepticism due to the lack of a technology partner. Nevertheless, Agarwal emphasized that the company remains fully dedicated to its endeavors in the glass and semiconductor sectors.

The company organized an event to welcome Bollywood actor Manoj Bajpayee to its Nand Ghar initiative. Nand Ghar is a joint venture between Vedanta and the Ministry of Women and Child Development, with a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in place to transform traditional anganwadis into modern Nand Ghars nationwide, focusing on the welfare of women and children. "We aim to have about 25,000 Nand Ghars over the next two years", Aggarwal said. "The company has constructed 6,000 such units as of today", the company said during the event.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  After Gov. Kathy Hochul announced new legislation as part of the fiscal year 2025 budget to give pregnant women an additional 20 hours of paid sick leave (PTO), she highlighted the new statewide implementations to help the health of both mom and baby.

We [are] prioritizing maternal and infant health because every family deserves a healthy start in life, Hochul said. Every mother deserves to feel joy and excitement, not fear and trepidation as she brings life into the world. When all families have the care and support they need to thrive, our potential as a state is limitless.

Heres a list of things you need to know about Hochuls enacted budget, according to a written statement:

Hospitals will receive money in order to lessen the amount of unnecessary C-sections.

$250,000 will be put towards starting a grant program to expand access to community-based doulas. The grant program will help recruit, train, support and mentor community-based doulas  especially those in historically vulnerable communities. This funding builds on the States efforts to allow Medicaid coverage for doula services and facilitate easier access to doulas via a New York State Community Doula Directory.

$1.6 million will be directed towards maternal mental health initiatives to ensure that service providers engaging pregnant and postpartum New Yorkers are equipped to provide the best care. Specialized training is being developed for counselors staffing the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, so they can better provide compassionate care, support, and necessary resources to mothers and birthing parents who experience mental health distress.

The State Office of Mental Health is also expanding Project TEACH, so that a wider range of front-line practitioners  including therapists, lactation consultants, WIC staff, home visiting nurses, and others  can provide mental health support to pregnant and postpartum New Yorkers.

Hochul will provide funding for the distribution of portable cribs for under resourced New Yorkers at no cost. The cribs will be available to families via local county departments of social services and other local organizations. Medical professionals at birthing hospitals will also facilitate referrals where a need for a crib is identified.

The budget additionally ensures that employers provide paid break time for employees who are nursing for up to three years following child birth. This ensures that no employer can discriminate in any way against an employee who chooses to express breast milk in the workplace.

As a passionate advocate for maternal health, Im thrilled about the numerous victories for new and expecting mothers in New York States budget. From the groundbreaking creation of paid prenatal leave for pregnant moms to the elimination of out-of-pocket medical costs for pregnancy-related expenses, our state is leading the nation in prioritizing the health of expectant mothers and their infants, State Senator Jessica Scarcella-Spanton said.

Im particularly proud to have championed securing funding for creating a midwifery program at CUNY. Our state urgently needs more skilled maternal healthcare providers, and our CUNY students possess so much potential to expand this in New York. As a proud CUNY graduate, advocating for this program was very meaningful to me, and I look forward to seeing what this program will accomplish in the upcoming years, she added.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  On Wednesday, May 1, fans gathered at Barnes and Noble in New Springville for an eagerly awaited book signing event with Jersey Shore reality TV star Mike The Situation Sorrentino.

The occasion marked the release of the Jersey Shore stars new book, Reality Check: Making the Best of The Situation - How I Overcame Addiction, Loss, and Prison, which delves into his journey to overcome addiction, incarceration, and personal struggles. With DJs from Magic Moments Productions of New Jersey setting the mood with EDM classics, the atmosphere was charged with excitement.

As the line stretched along the walls of the store, fans excitedly awaited Sorrentinos arrival. Once the TV star finally made his grand entrance, he dashed down the line of fans, ensuring to greet them and show some appreciation.

After reaching the end of the line, he even invited the last two ladies to join him ahead, ensuring they had the chance to meet him before anyone else.

His strength is so inspiring, said Cristina Dimaria, of Eltingville, while waiting in line. The change about him is so drastic, especially in the original show (Jersey Shore 2009), to now (Jersey Shore: Family Vacation), and I remember seeing an interview with Vinny (Guadagnino, his co-star), where he admitted, I never aspired to be like him, and now hes my biggest inspiration.

Fans gathered around, snapping photos and waving, excited to see the reality star grace Staten Island once again.

Mike The Situation Sorrentino saying hi to fans lined up with their purchased books at his book signing event for Reality Check, hosted at Barnes & Noble in New Springville on May 1, 2024. (Staten Island Advance/Toniann DiCostanzo) - . Toniann DiCostanzoToniann DiCostanzo

The event started promptly at 6 p.m., but due to the overwhelming attendance, the staff cut off the line at 7:30 p.m.

Attendees who purchased the book from any Barnes & Noble store or online were able to participate in the signing by simply presenting their receipt to the staff, giving them access to have their book signed and meet him.

Lesa Fishman, of Coney Island, Brooklyn, expressed her dedication, stating: Ive been watching the show for 17 years. I made the trip over an hour and came here straight from the beach.

Fans meeting Mike The Situation Sorrentino at his book signing event for Reality Check, hosted at Barnes & Noble in New Springville on May 1, 2024. (Staten Island Advance/Toniann DiCostanzo) - . Toniann DiCostanzoToniann DiCostanzo

She highlighted the impact of Sorrentinos story, sharing, I read the book on my phone first because I just couldnt wait, Fishman said, I even got copies for teachers I work with and my husband. He is just a true inspiration.

He reminds me to never give up, Fishman added, to never give up on yourself, and to always strive to be the best you can be.

In addition to the big turnout, some fans showed their appreciation by bringing Sorrentino heartful gifts. Among these thoughtful offerings was his favorite Pillsbury Funfetti cake mix, brought by Christina and Joe, of New Springville.

Another gift was a ball of fresh mozzarella from Lioni Specialty Foods, given by a dedicated fan, Steve Sciarrone, also known as Stevie Mozz of Monroe, N.J. These gestures of admiration and support added an extra touch of warmth and fun camaraderie to the event.

Fans lined up with their purchased books, eagerly anticipating their chance to meet Mike The Situation Sorrentino at his book signing event for Reality Check, hosted at Barnes & Noble in New Springville on May 1, 2024. (Staten Island Advance/Toniann DiCostanzo) - . Toniann DiCostanzoToniann DiCostanzo

When engaging with attendees to uncover what resonated with them most from Sorrentinos book, Justin from Oakwood shared his thoughts, stating: He told so many stories in his book that enlightened me. I think he went through a lot, and it really changed who he was. He calmed down a bit, and especially after prison, yeah, hes been through some highs and lows and its so good to see him come out of it.

Adding to the lively atmosphere, Chrissy & Biscuit Bliss novelty joined the event, presenting The Situation with his very own Guido on a Ledge doll, adding a touch of humor to the event.

Fans were clearly excited to have the reality star return to Staten Island. I love this guy, said Ava Kalikas, of Great Kills. Ive watched Jersey Shore since the start.

Fans meeting Mike The Situation Sorrentino at his book signing event for Reality Check, hosted at Barnes & Noble in New Springville on May 1, 2024. (Staten Island Advance/Toniann DiCostanzo) - . Toniann DiCostanzoToniann DiCostanzo

Reflecting on Sorrentinos journey, Kalikas added, Not to talk so Staten Island, but he really is inspirational. I mean, he started out by slamming his head into a wall to becoming a completely different guy  a family man, whos coming out here and meeting all these people. He used to be the most hated one, and now I literally watch the show for him.

The Reality Check book tour with Mike The Situation Sorrentino is not over, with more dates lined up throughout May. Fans can catch him on May 10 at 6 p.m. at A Great Notion in Auburn, Massachusetts; May 17 at 7 p.m. at Story Lab in Fairfield, Connecticut, and May 22 at 6 p.m. at Barnes & Noble in East Brunswick, New Jersey, with additional dates to be announced soon.

Fans meeting Mike The Situation Sorrentino at his book signing event for Reality Check, hosted at Barnes & Noble in New Springville on May 1, 2024. (Staten Island Advance/Toniann DiCostanzo) - . Toniann DiCostanzoToniann DiCostanzo

Mike The Situation Sorrentino saying hi to fans lined up with their purchased books at his book signing event for Reality Check, hosted at Barnes & Noble in New Springville on May 1, 2024. (Staten Island Advance/Toniann DiCostanzo) - . Toniann DiCostanzoToniann DiCostanzo
NEW YORK, N.Y.  Prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorneys office asked a state Supreme Court judge Thursday to again find former President Donald Trump in contempt of court for violating a gag order related to his criminal trial.

Judge Juan Merchan found Trump in contempt Tuesday fining him $9,000 for a series of online posts related to the case, and prosecutors want the judge to find the former president in contempt again for what they call continued violations of the gag order.

Defendant violated the order by making social media posts about known witnesses pertaining to their participation in this criminal proceeding and by making public statements about jurors in this criminal proceeding, Merchan wrote in his Tuesday decision.

Prosecutors latest push for a contempt finding pointed to four comments Trump made related to the trial that they say violated the gag order.

Christopher Conroy, a prosecutor from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Braggs office, called for $1,000 fines for each of the four comments, but said they did not want to see Merchan impose the maximum penalty of 30 days in jail.

Speaking to the press, the former president made the series of comments in relation to trial witnesses David Pecker and Michael Cohen, and regarding the Manhattan jury.

Merchan said he wasnt terribly concerned about Trumps comments directed at Pecker, former publisher of the National Enquirer, in which the former president described his one-time friend as a nice guy.

The judge previously found Trump in violation of the gag order for similar comments he made about Cohen as those brought up Thursday. Trump has been in a public war of words with his former fixer and personal lawyer since their falling out after Cohen began cooperating with prosecutors.

Merchan took particular issue with Trumps comments related to the jury, which the former president described as 95% all Democrats.

Conroy made the argument that Trumps comments were meant to damage the legitimacy of the trial. By talking about the jury at all, he places this process and this proceeding in jeopardy, he said.

Trumps defense attorney Todd Blanche, said that Trumps comments were protected political speech, but the argument seemed to have little impact on Merchans perspective.

Blanche also argued the media circus around the trial should permit some leeway for the former president to comment on the proceeding. Again, Blanches position seemed of little consequence with Merchan pointing out that Trump was the only person on trial and beholden to the gag order.

Everybody who came into this knew it would happen. Theres no surprises here, Merchan said. I couldnt possibly extend the gag order to them (the press). I just dont have that authority.

Merchan did not decide on the second contempt proceeding Thursday, but is expected to do so in the coming days.

Bragg charged Trump last year with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, which carries a maximum sentence of four years incarceration, according to the state court system.

The allegedly falsified business records came after Cohen paid pornstar Stormy Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about an alleged 2006 affair with Trump in the weeks before the 2016 election. Prosecutors allege the former president knowingly paid back Cohen using falsified business records to conceal the true reason for the payments.
Despite all our bashing of Seven West Media (SWM), we do sympathise with the decent people still working at the outfit.

New Seven CEO Jeff Howard wants to bring his clean-skin touch to the company. Credit: John Shakespeare

Its fair to say that many staff werent thrilled about Mondays news that Chris Dore, who departed the editors chair at The Australian after allegedly making lewd comments to a woman, had been promoted to temporarily head the newspaper division in the shakeup that followed the paying for Bruce Lehrmanns sex workers and cocaine scandal.

On an unrelated note, staff received an email from human resources two days later urging anyone whod witnessed inappropriate behaviour in the workplace to Be Brave and Speak Up.

Its very important that everyone at SWM feels empowered to speak up if you witness inappropriate behaviour in the workplace, the email from the companys general manager (people and safety) Claire Taylor said.
Artist Robyn Ross braved wet weather to carry her bubble-wrapped, two-metre squared painting from her suburban Sydney home to the Art Gallery of NSW to submit it for this years Archibald Prize.

I decided to do public transport on my gold seniors Opal card which cost me $2.50 to get here ... it is a hell of a lot cheaper than a courier, the three-time Archibald entrant said.

We got so many people laughing, asking questions, wishing us luck... our bus driver even turned around and dropped us off straight in front of the Art Gallery of NSW because he didnt want us walking in the rain, said Ross, who was met at Circular Quay by her subject, Sarah Jane Adams, for the final stretch of the journey.

Artist Robyn Ross (right) with sitter Sarah Jane Adams and her Archibald entry. Credit: Lousie Kennerley

Adams, an antique jewellery dealer, designer and model who started the hashtag #mywrinklesaremystripes, was so overcome when she saw her portrait for the first time in the Art Gallery loading dock she burst into tears.
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Eating outRestaurant news Botswana Butchery owes staff more than $500,000 as administrators recommend closure The New Zealand-owned restaurant group likely traded while insolvent, according to a new report. Scott Bolles May 2, 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

The group behind under-administration Botswana Butchery restaurants in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra owes creditors $4.5 million, according to a report dissecting one of the largest hospitality shake-outs of 2024. The financial stakes of the restaurant industry are laid bare in a report to creditors by the administrators. Details include unpaid taxation accounts across the group totalling $3.52 million; employee entitlements exceeding $500,000; and creditor debts including $1.81 million in unpaid rent, although the administrators note that will be partially offset by security bonds. The Sydney steakhouse in early 2022. Edwina Pickles The New Zealand-owned steakhouse entered voluntary administration in early April with the appointment of administrators Duncan Clubb and Andrew Sallway, from accounting firm BDO. The latest report to creditors  which also details $9.7 million in secured debt to the bank and $9 million in inter-company loans  is sombre reading for an industry under siege from higher operating costs and flatter consumer spending. The administrators report said the group was likely insolvent from last September.

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The Botswana Butchery restaurants continue to trade under the eye of Clubb and Sallway, who declined to offer further comment. But the administrators recommendation is that it would be in the best interests of creditors to wind the companies up. With a creditors meeting scheduled for Tuesday, May 7, at the time of writing administrators were yet to receive a completed deed of company arrangement from its directors or shareholders offering an alternate path. CopperTree Farms dry-aged Friesian rib-eye at Botswana Butchery. Edwina Pickles The high stakes of restaurant investment is also highlighted. While there is value for creditors in the groups wine cellars, research by administrators found the cost of removal of kitchen equipment had considerable depreciation attached. Parent hospitality group Good Groups arrival in Australia appeared to be well timed, opening during the post-pandemic dining boom. Botswana Sydney opened on prime turf at 25 Martin Place in December 2021, luring seasoned Sydney chefs. Melbourne followed in 2022 and Canberra earlier this year.

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Good Group also opened sibling restaurants in Sydney and Melbourne, White + Wongs, with some users on social media querying the names appropriateness. White + Wongs had even bigger problems behind the scenes. Both outlets had been unprofitable since opening. White + Wongs and its Melbourne spin-off Wong Baby Chapel ceased to trade before BDOs appointment. The Sydney branch closed last month. Financial reports suggest there had been some reasons for optimism. Botswana Butchery in both Sydney and Melbourne reported profits during their short trading history. But the economic downturn and wider group issues seemingly put a strain on the business. What is still unclear is where the owners of Good Group believe they went wrong. According to the report, the directors of the companies have as yet failed to provide administrators with their opinion of the reasons for the companies failure. In New Zealand, Good Groups operations are not affected. Exclusive Steak? Out! Botswana Butchery restaurants enter voluntary administration

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Australia will pour almost $500 million into development projects in the Asia-Pacific region after securing commitments aimed at preventing the participation of Chinese government companies who secure major Pacific Island infrastructure projects by underbidding only to deliver shoddy work.

Minister for International Development and the Pacific Pat Conroy and Foreign Minister Penny Wong inked the new $492 million, four-year funding contribution to the Asian Development Bank on Thursday night.

An aerial view of the Aiwo Port in Nauru. Credit: CHEC

Conroy stressed the funding deal was delivered after the bank had committed to reforming the way it delivered projects, amid concerns from experts and security officials that Chinese state-owned enterprises were also using Asian Development Bank-funded contracts to advance Beijings geopolitical agenda.

Conroy also revealed that Australias lobbying of the World Bank to overhaul its procurement processes had produced important reforms while warning that multilateral banks had unwittingly been caught in a contest for influence in the South Pacific.
The chief executive overseeing five inner Sydney hospitals has left the role after a turbulent 12 months in which medical staff revolted against her leadership, sparking an intervention from the states health minister.

Dr Teresa Anderson, a speech pathologist by training who has been chief executive of Sydney Local Health District since 2011, will leave the role at the end of the month, NSW Health secretary Susan Pearce said in an internal memo sent to staff on Thursday.

Chief executive Teresa Anderson is leaving Sydney Local Health District. Credit: Rhett Wyman

Western Sydney Local Health District boss Graeme Loy will act in the role until a replacement is found, Pearce said.

Anderson has been assigned to lead the agency charged with establishing a new single digital patient record system, which Pearce said marked a significant step forward in our commitment to revolutionise clinical management across the NSW health system.
A 15-year-old Sydney boy accused of plotting a terror attack has been refused bail for allegedly making explicit threats of wanting to do something catastrophic to Jewish or Assyrian people.

Police allege the teenager is an associate of the 16-year-old boy accused of stabbing Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel during a live-streamed service at Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley on April 15.

The boys parents leave Parramatta Childrens Court on Thursday after their son was refused bail on a terror charge.

The 15-year-old boy was charged on Friday with conspiring to prepare or plan a terrorist act after the Joint Counter-terrorism Team raided properties across Sydney on April 24.

At Parramatta Childrens Court on Thursday, magistrate James Viney denied bail for the boy because of an unacceptable risk for the protection of the community, and as the defence had not established exceptional circumstances for his release.
Police believe a Maroubra local may be responsible for the death of a young mother whose body was dumped in scrubland after she was violently murdered.

Toni Tiki was murdered while walking home from a New Years Eve party in 1996. Almost 30 years later, her now adult children have joined an appeal as police offer a $1 million reward for information.

Toni Tiki was brutally murdered as she walked home. Credit: NSW Police

The case is being put back in the public eye amid a movement around violence against women, with the entire case to be reinvestigated including forensic testing, NSW Police homicide squad commander Danny Doherty said.

Tiki, then aged 26, left the party at the South Maroubra Surf Life Saving Club about 1.30am with a male friend who said he would walk her home.
A lack of accessible and affordable housing is holding back a rapidly booming Brisbane, Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said on Thursday as he launched a prospectus of the citys great selling points.

A report by Deloitte Access Economics found Brisbanes economy would grow by 34 per cent to $275 billion by 2041 on the back of Australias fastest post COVID tourism recovery, a five-fold increase in manufacturing, and surging health exports.

A Deloitte Access Economics report has listed Brisbanes strengths. Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner says housing is not one of them. Credit: Adobe Stock

The population of south-east Queensland was expected to grow to six million over that time, with two-thirds of overseas migrants born in the Asia-Pacific region.

Brisbane has Australias highest growth in working age population, and highest net migration, but Schrinner warned more dwellings needed to be built to accommodate everyone and keep downward pressure on prices.
One of exiled gangland boss Kaz Hamads alleged key Melbourne lieutenants bought the custom number plate MEOC in an apparent joke about polices allegation he was a notorious Middle Eastern Organised Crime figure.

The flashy life and alleged crimes of Majid Alibadi, who police allege is Hamads regional operations manager, were laid bare during an application to revoke his bail in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday.

Majid Alibadi gets into a Rolls-Royce after being released on bail from Melbourne Assessment Prison in February. Credit: Jason South

The court was told the 25-year-old, who is facing more than 20 charges related to his alleged involvement in the so-called tobacco war, leads a luxury lifestyle marked by a taste for fine dining at Nobu, Fendi shopping sprees, luxury Mornington Peninsula accommodation and first-class air travel.

I believe Nobu is a favourite. When he was in custody and offered a meal, he asked if Nobu was available, Detective Leading Senior Constable Matthew Lindsay said. He also tended to attend high-value fashion outlets  on one occasion, he spent $30,000 at Fendi.
A woman has been arrested in connection with the disappearance of missing Perth brothers Jake and Callum Robinson in Mexico.

The pair were on a surfing trip when they failed to make it to pre-arranged accommodation and have not made contact with family and friends since Saturday.

Perth brothers Jake and Callum Robinson (inset) are missing on a surf trip in Mexico.

Its understood Jake, who is a doctor, had been visiting his brother, a lacrosse player living in the US. The pair were travelling with another friend from the US.

According to local media reports, the trio was last spotted at the weekend in the Esenada region.
Alcoas troubled bauxite mining in WAs jarrah forest will have extra government scrutiny costing $10.5 million over four years as the US miner seeks to repair its tarnished environmental credentials.

The funding for the Alcoa Assurance Plan in the upcoming state budget will allow the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation to check that Alcoas mining near many of Perths water supply dams meets the conditions imposed on it.

Alcoa blasting bauxite to prepare for mining near Serpentine Dam. Credit: WA Forest Alliance

Environment minister Reece Whitby said he had high expectations of Alcoas environmental performance and the funding would ensure it was adequately monitored.

Let me be clear, protecting our states drinking water remains paramount, he said.
Bob Carr says he will sue New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters for defamation after Peters accused the former foreign minister of being a Chinese puppet.

New Zealands Labour opposition has called for Peters to be stood down over the comments, accusing him of embarrassing the country.

Bob Carr says he will sue New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters over the comments. Credit: SMH

The fracas was triggered by remarks in which Carr colourfully criticised the AUKUS pact during a visit to New Zealand last month, describing the technology-sharing element of the partnership as fragrant, methane-wrapped bullshit.

Why do I call it bullshit? Because its been cobbled together to make it look like theres more to AUKUS than subs  there isnt.
A Commonwealth prosecutor twice raised fears a former immigration detainee would reoffend but did not oppose bail in the months before the man was accused of a brutal home invasion.

Following revelations Majid Jamshidi Doukoshkan, 43, wasnt wearing an ankle monitor at the time he was allegedly involved in the violent Perth home robbery on April 16, Immigration Minister Andrew Giles is now probing what led to a government-appointed panel advising he didnt need to wear one in February.

Immigration Minister Andrew Giles is looking into the Community Protection Boards advice. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

According to a Perth magistrates court transcript, the prosecutor said Doukoshkan declined to be interviewed by Australian Federal Police after he was arrested over the curfew breaches on February 19.

So ultimately, your honour, the prosecution does have concerns about his ability to not commit further offences, particularly in relation to the curfew, having regard to his attitude towards compliance thus far, the prosecutor said.
A text message sent from a Southern Highlands local councillor and state MP to the editor of a tiny regional newspaper has blown out into a bizarre public saga involving a faked identity and allegations of attempts to influence editorial coverage, and resulted in a referral to the states corruption body.

In an editorial in Wednesdays Southern Highlands Express newspaper, editor Cristian King published a text from independent Wollondilly MP Judy Hannan, which is alleged to offer a quid pro quo: she would buy advertising space in the paper if he revealed confidential information about the person who had written a letter critical of her.

Judy Hannan and Southern Highlands Express editor Cristian King. Credit: Artwork: Nathan Perri

Hannan used a council meeting in February to propose naming a Wollondilly Council-owned asset in honour of a councillor and former mayor who was retiring after 25 years, an idea ultimately rejected by her colleagues.

The motion was outrageous to Louise Werrington, purportedly a Thirlmere resident, who was published in the Express decrying the idea as a dangerous precedent for local governance, before writing four more paragraphs about how she thought Hannan was failing as a local MP.
Women fleeing domestic violence are being housed in tents in regional NSW and one shelter has been forced to set up a secure car park, so women can sleep safely as the emergency housing crisis emerges as one of the most pressing issues ahead of Fridays urgent state cabinet meeting.

The extraordinary cabinet meeting will hear from experts, including former Australian of the Year Rosie Batty, as the Minns government grapples with how to tackle violence against women following the death of Molly Ticehurst in Forbes on April 22.

In regional NSW towns, more women are sleeping rough or in their cars to escape violent homes. Credit: James Brickwood

Deputy Premier Prue Car said that nothing is off the table, and all options will be considered.

We need to take meaningful action and use every lever available to government.
What in the World, a free weekly newsletter from our foreign correspondents, is sent every Thursday. Below is an excerpt. Sign up to get the whole newsletter delivered to your inbox.

Greetings from New York.

I am standing outside Columbia University, just a day after 119 people were arrested for breaking into a campus building as part of a national student uprising over the atrocities in Gaza.

Police walk on the UCLA campus, after nighttime clashes between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups. Credit: AP

Its eerily calm compared to the chaos of the previous night, when police in riot gear stormed this storied institution to remove protesters and clear an encampment that had become a focal point for a vexed debate over the Israel-Hamas war and the limits of free speech.
PHILIPSBURG:--- On the occasion of Labor Day, The Honorable demissionair Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labor (VSA), Omar Ottley, extends his warmest regards and appreciation to the hardworking men and women who form the backbone of our society. This special day serves as a reminder to honor their invaluable contributions and recognize their significant role in building a prosperous and harmonious nation.

During his tenure as Minister of Public Health, Social Development, and Labor, Minister Ottley has been dedicated to improving the labor market through comprehensive policies that fostered positive change. His commitment to addressing the needs and concerns of workers has been unwavering, resulting in tangible improvements across various sectors. From labor safeguarding initiatives to workplace welfare advancements, Minister Ottley has prioritized the well-being and rights of employees throughout his tenure and increased the minimum wage.

Minister Ottley would like to express his heartfelt gratitude to the employers' and employees' unions for their unwavering support throughout his tenure. Their collaboration and partnership have been essential in effecting positive change in the labor landscape. Their dedication to fostering an environment of trust and dialogue has been instrumental in shaping policies that promote fairness, inclusivity, and growth in the workforce.

 As I assume my new role as a Parliamentarian, I will remain committed to advancing the interests of the working class and upholding their rights. Said Ottley

Minister Ottley invites employers and employees' unions to maintain productive engagement, ensuring that the voices of the working class continue to shape policies at the national level.

This Labor Day marks not only a day of celebration but also an opportunity to reflect on the achievements made towards an equitable and sustainable labor environment. Minister Omar Ottley extends his deepest gratitude to the working class and commits to working together towards a brighter future for all.
WILLEMSTAD:--- On Wednesday, 1 May, the annual Open Day Marine Barracks Savaneta took place from 10:00 oclock till 16:00 hrs. The Royal Navy opened its doors to the public with a varied program for young and old.

The open day offered an extensive range of activities and demonstrations, giving visitors a unique insight into the work of partners from Defense and Safety. The Marine Corps, Royal Military Police, Caribbean Coast Guard, Disaster Management Office Aruba, and the Police Corps Aruba were present to demonstrate their offerings.

Some highlights of the day included the impressive parachute jumps by the Defense Paraschool, the charities supported with various actions, and the berets divided among children. The charities supported by the event were CasMarie Centro di Encuentro pa Persona cu Demencia and Centro di Bario (CdB) Savaneta. (A meeting Centre for persons with Dementia and a neighborhood Centre).

During the day, two land and two water demonstrations took place, during which various scenarios were reenacted. Besides the demonstrations, there was live music, and the market and the food stalls provided visitors with treats and souvenirs to take home.

The success of the Open Day Marine Barracks Savaneta is thanks to the efforts of everyone involved and the enthusiastic participation of the public. The event not only helped raise awareness of the work of Defense and Emergency services but also provided valuable support to two local charities. See you next year on May 1st, 2025!
THE HAGUE:--- From Sunday, 5 May to Thursday, 9 May 2024, the Kingdom Relations Committee of the House of Representatives of the States General will pay a working visit to Saba, St. Eustatius, and Sint Maarten. The working visit is dedicated to the first introduction of the new spokespersons with the islands. Subjects such as economic developments, sustainability, education, health care, housing, and the history of slavery are discussed.

The delegation consists of the members of the House of Representatives:

W. Paulusma D66 (Chairman of the Standing Committee on Kingdom Relations)

J.P. van Haasen (PVV)

R.J. White (GroenLinks/PvdA)

I.J.M. Michon-Derkzen (VVD)

F.H. Bruyning (NSC)

At the beginning of 2025, the committee members plan to visit the other three islands of the Caribbean part of the Kingdom (Aruba, Curacao, and Bonaire) in combination with the Interparliamentary Kingdom Consultation.

A brief overview of the program:

Sunday 5 May  Travel Amsterdam-Sint Maarten-Saba.

Monday 6 May  Saba: meetings and visits regarding the subjects of economic development, housing, sustainability, and connectivity.



Tuesday 7 May  St. Eustatius: meetings and visits regarding health care, education, and slavery history.

Wednesday 8 and Thursday 9 May  Sint Maarten: meetings and visits regarding housing, reconstruction after hurricanes, economic development, and social connectivity. Return journey to the Netherlands (arrival Friday).
Willemstad;--- From May 7 to 10, the Social and Economic Council (SER) of Curacao will participate in an Ibero-American conference in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, as president of the regional network CESISALC (Red de Consejos Economicos y Sociales e Instituciones Similares de America Latina y el Caribe). Under the title 'Encuentro: Democracia, pactos y consensos: la contribucion de los Consejos Economicos y Sociales a las politicas publicas para una mejor gobernabilidad democratica. Sostenibilidad y cambio climatico, the meeting will focus on the essential role of socioeconomic advisory councils in promoting effective public policies for better democratic governance.

The opening ceremony will be led by distinguished officials from the SER of Spain and the Spanish Training Center for Development Cooperation in Cartagena, who are co-organizers of the conference. During the meeting, participants will consider several crucial themes, such as the impact of institutional social dialogue on policy and the challenges and opportunities presented by sustainability and climate change. There will also be a focus on the role of artificial intelligence in developing inclusive and sustainable regional models.

Leading speakers from various countries will share their perspectives on how socioeconomic advisory councils provide a foundation for strengthening democratic processes through constructive dialogue and cooperation. These contributions highlight the essential function of these councils in addressing regional dynamics and the growing complexity of global challenges.

The Curacao ESC emphasizes the importance of ongoing international cooperation and knowledge exchange to address common challenges. This conference provides a platform for exploring policy and sustainable solutions that benefit the governance and prosperity of societies in Latin America and the Caribbean.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Bregje Boetekees, Operations Manager of the White & Yellow Cross Care Foundation (WYCCF), received a royal honor (lintje) on Kings Day in recognition of her services in the field of healthcare. This Royal Decoration, requested by the WYCCF and endorsed by several persons in the community, celebrates her significant contributions across various areas. The WYCCF congratulates Bregje Boetekees on this well-deserved royal honor, acknowledging her remarkable achievements and commitment to the people of St. Maarten.

The application was based on several reasons, of which these are the most important ones:

Exceptional Leadership During Hurricane Irma When Hurricane Irma struck St. Maarten, Bregje Boetekees stayed with her teams to ensure the safety of clients, staff, and the WYCCF facilities. After the storm, she took charge of the cleanup and rebuilding efforts, dedicating her own time to restore essential services. Bregje's role extended to the government ESF-6 group and to the early recovery projects, which included the rebuilding of 48 homes and two retraining programs. Supporting the COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign, Bregje played a pivotal role during the COVID-19 pandemic with a comprehensive vaccination campaign on the island. In partnership with Collective Preventive Services, the Dutch Ministry of VWS, and the RIVM, she supported the development and implementation of a robust vaccine distribution strategy, with the WYCCF becoming a central hub for vaccine administration to the 60+ population. Her efforts significantly impacted the health and safety of the local community, especially among the elderly and vulnerable. Expanding Healthcare in St. Maarten Under Bregje's leadership, the White & Yellow Cross Care Foundation has become St. Maarten's second largest healthcare provider, expanding its services to include guided living and an enhanced day activity center for persons with an intellectual disability. She also launched a Rehabilitation center, a daycare for persons with a psychogeriatric diagnosis (such as dementia), a hospice, and a specialized swimming pool for all clients of WYCCF. These innovations have dramatically improved healthcare accessibility and quality on the island.

Early Contributions and Crisis Response Bregje began her journey in 1996 with the founding of Private Nursing, offering essential home health services like maternity care and palliative care. Her humanitarian spirit shone during the aftermath of Hurricane Luis in 1995 when she volunteered to assist with the transportation of patients to Curacao via military transport. Her selflessness during this crisis exemplifies the compassion that earned her this royal honor. The White & Yellow Cross Care Foundation congratulates Bregje Boetekees on this well-deserved royal honor, acknowledging her remarkable achievements and commitment to the people of St. Maarten.
US judge hears closing arguments in landmark Google antitrust case



Washington, May 2 (AFP) May 02, 2024



Lawyers for the US government and Google gave their closing arguments Thursday in a landmark antitrust trial over the search engine's monopoly power.

The two-day hearing took place more than six months after the conclusion of the trial and a decision is not expected before late summer or autumn.

The case is the first of five major lawsuits by the US government to reach trial, with Meta, Amazon Apple and a separate case against Google also heading for federal courtrooms.

Held in Washington, the trial is the first time the US Department of Justice has faced a big tech company in court since Microsoft was targeted more than two decades ago over the dominance of its Windows operating system.

The decision in the search engine case will be made by US Judge Amit Mehta who presided over several months of testimony late last year that saw Google CEO Sundar Pichai and other top executives take the stand.

At the heart of the government's case is the massive payments made by Google to Apple and other companies to keep its world-leading search engine as the default on iPhones, web browsers and other products.

Court testimony revealed that these payments reach the tens of billions every year to keep its prime real estate on Apple hardware or the Safari and Mozilla browsers.

The US Depart of Justice lawyers allege that Google achieved and perpetuated its dominance -- and strangled rivals -- through these default deals that also expanded to Samsung and other device makers.

On the first day of closing arguments, Judge Mehta focused many of his questions on whether search queries on Amazon, Facebook or Expedia served as competition to Google, one of the key arguments of the tech giant's defense.

Including activity on those websites would put a hole in the US case, which rests on maintaining that general search, in which Google has over 80 percent of the US market share, is the relevant market.

Mehta honed in on Google's contention that DuckDuckGo, the privacy focused search engine, was a competitor.

"You really think that DuckDuckGo is a competitor on Google?" Mehta asked Google's lawyer, who insisted that it was.

Lawyers from the Department of Justice also faced pointed questions from Mehta who pushed back at the government's contention that Google's dominance has stifled innovation for search.

That would be "a hard road for you to go down that Google hasn't innovated enough, how do I make that comparison?" the judge asked.
UK researchers unveil face of 75,000-year-old Neanderthal woman



Cambridge, United Kingdom, May 1 (AFP) May 01, 2024



A UK team of archaeologists on Thursday revealed the reconstructed face of a 75,000-year-old Neanderthal woman, as researchers reappraise the perception of the species as brutish and unsophisticated.

Named Shanidar Z after the cave in Iraqi Kurdistan where her skull was found in 2018, the latest discovery has led experts to probe the mystery of the forty-something Neanderthal woman laid to rest in a sleeping position beneath a huge vertical stone marker.

The lower part of her skeleton is believed to have been excavated in 1960 during groundbreaking excavations by American archaeologist Ralph Solecki in which he found the remains of at least 10 Neanderthals.

His discovery of a cluster of bodies with one surrounded by clumps of ancient pollen led him to controversially argue that this was evidence of funerary rituals with the dead placed on a bed of flowers.

Political difficulties meant it took around five decades for a team from Cambridge and Liverpool John Moores universities to be allowed back to the site in the Zagros mountains of northern Iraq.

The last Neanderthals mysteriously died out around 40,000 years ago, just a few thousand years after humans arrived.

Shanidar Z's skull -- thought to be the best preserved Neanderthal find this century -- had been flattened to a thickness of two centimetres (0.7 inches), possibly by a rockfall relatively soon after she died.

Professor Graeme Barker from Cambridge's McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, who led the excavations at Shanidar cave, told AFP the team had "never expected to get more Neanderthals".



- 'Flower burial' theory -



"We wanted to try and date these burials... to use the site to contribute to the big debate about why the Neanderthals died out, and then we started finding these bits," he said.

Shanidar Z is the fifth body to be identified in the cluster buried over a period of at least several hundred years right behind the rock in the centre of the cave.

Archaeologists believe the stone was used as an identifier to allow itinerant Neanderthals to return to the same spot to bury their dead.

Latest research by team member Professor Chris Hunt of John Moores now suggests the pollen that gave rise to Solecki's contentious "flower burial" theory might in fact have come from bees burrowing into the cave floor.

But Hunt said there was still evidence -- such as the remains of a partially paralysed Neanderthal found by Solecki -- that the species were more empathetic than previously thought.

"There's been this huge reappraisal which was actually started by Ralph Solecki in this cave with 'Shanidar 1' with his withered arm and his arthritis and his deafness who must have been looked after. That tells us there was compassion," he said.

The positioning of the bodies in the cluster in the same spot, in the same position and facing in the same direction implied "tradition" and the "passing of knowledge between generations", he said.



- 'Terrifying' -



"It looks much more like purposeful behaviour that you wouldn't associate with the text book stories about Neanderthals which is that their lives were nasty, brutish and short," he added.

Emma Pomeroy, the Cambridge palaeo-anthropologist who uncovered Shanidar Z, said finding her skull and upper body had been both "exciting" and "terrifying".

The skeleton and the surrounding sediment had to be strengthened in situ with a glue-like consolidant before being removed in dozens of small foil-wrapped blocks.

Lead conservator Lucia Lopez-Polin then pieced together the over 200 bits of skull as the first step in the facial reconstruction for the just-released Netflix documentary "Secrets of the Neanderthals".

Pomeroy said the task had been like a "high stakes 3D jigsaw puzzle" especially as the fragments were very soft "similar in consistency to a biscuit dunked in tea".

The rebuilt skull was then 3D-printed allowing palaeoartists and identical twins Adrie and Alfons Kennis in The Netherlands to complete the reconstruction with layers of fabricated muscle and skin for the documentary, which was produced by the BBC Studios Science Unit.

Pomeroy said Neanderthal skulls looked very different to those of humans "with huge brow ridges and lack of chins".

But she said the recreated face "suggests those differences were not so stark in life", highlighting the interbreeding between Neanderthals and humans "to the extent that almost everyone alive today still has Neanderthal DNA."
S. Korea parliament approves new probes into crowd crush, marine's death



Seoul, May 2 (AFP) May 02, 2024



South Korea's parliament on Thursday passed a bill to set up a new probe into a deadly 2022 Halloween crowd crush which left more than 150 mostly young people dead.

Tens of thousands of people had gathered on October 29, 2022, to enjoy the first post-pandemic holiday celebrations in Seoul's popular Itaewon nightlife district.

But the night turned deadly when revellers poured into a narrow, sloping alleyway between bars and clubs, with a lack of effective crowd control measures leading to a crowd crush in which 158 people died and hundreds were injured.

The parliament -- which is controlled by the opposition who secured a landslide victory in April legislative elections -- passed the bill in a bipartisan manner with 256 votes in favour, three abstentions, and no opposing votes.

President Yoon Suk Yeol vetoed a similar bill that had been passed without the support of his party in January.

This time, the parties reached a compromise by amending the earlier bill to remove direct investigative power from the nine-member panel looking at the disaster, a task which could last up to 15 months.

The bill to establish a fresh probe follows the convictions of two former senior police officers in February for destroying evidence linked to the crush -- the first police officials to be sentenced over the disaster.

Kim Kwang-ho, the former head of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, is on trial facing professional negligence charges.

The ex-police chief denied wrongdoing, telling the court on Monday: "Instead of seeking a scapegoat, real preventive measures should be carried out", broadcaster JTBC reported.

District-level officials have been prosecuted over the disaster, but no high-ranking members of the government have resigned or faced prosecution, despite criticism from victims' families over a lack of accountability.



- Marine death probe -



Also on Thursday, in a 168-0 vote which was largely boycotted by the ruling party, the parliament passed a bill to open a special probe into the military's handling of a young marine's death last year.

The 20-year-old died during flood relief work, with reports saying he had not been given a life jacket.

The incident became an electoral liability for the ruling People Power Party (PPP) after Seoul's former defence minister was appointed ambassador to Australia while still under investigation. He later stepped down.

Lawmaker Yun Jae-ok, the PPP's floor leader, said he will have no choice but to ask Yoon to veto the bill.

The presidential office expressed "great regret" over the passing of the bill related to the marine, criticising it as politically motivated and exploiting the victim's death.

"The Presidential Office will respond sternly in the future," Chung Jin-suk, the presidential chief of staff, told reporters.

South Korea's rapid transformation from a war-torn country to Asia's fourth-largest economy and a global cultural powerhouse is a source of national pride.

But a series of preventable accidents and disasters involving young people -- such as the 2022 crush and the 2014 Sewol ferry sinking that killed 304 people -- has shaken public confidence in authorities.
Kenya names new defence chief after deadly chopper crash



Nairobi, May 2 (AFP) May 02, 2024



Kenyan President William Ruto on Thursday named Charles Muriu Kahariri as defence chief after the death of his predecessor in a helicopter crash.

Kahariri replaces Francis Omondi Ogolla who was among 10 military officers killed when their chopper went down in a remote area of northwestern Kenya on April 18.

Kahariri had previously served as deputy to Ogolla, 62, who had been Chief of Defence Forces for a year and was about to mark 40 years of military service.

The promotion of Kahariri to the defence chief post and the rank of general was among several appointments Ruto announced.

He also named Major General Fatuma Gaiti Ahmed as commander of the Kenya Air Force, the first woman in the nation's history to hold the position.

She replaces John Mugaravai Omenda who was promoted to Vice Chief of the Defence Forces and the rank of lieutenant general.

Major General Paul Owuor Otieno was also named commander of the Kenya Navy.
Iraq students rally for Gaza and US campus protests



Baghdad, May 2 (AFP) May 02, 2024



Dozens of Iraqi university students and professors rallied Thursday at a Baghdad campus in solidarity with Gaza and pro-Palestinian protests at US universities, AFP correspondents said.

Iraqi Education Minister Naeem al-Aboudi earlier this week expressed his support for the "free voices in universities" around the world, and called for protests in solidarity with the embattled Gaza Strip.

Students at Al-Nahrain University waved the Palestinian and Iraqi flags.

"With all that is happening to our people in Gaza... of course I must be among the first to come to raise our voice," student Aya Kader, 20, said.

"It is very positive to see the Palestinian flag being waved at American universities," she said.

Weeks-long pro-Palestinian protests that have swept campuses across the United States have "encouraged us", she added.

Students and professors also carried banners calling for a "free Palestine", with some wearing the keffiyeh scarf that has long been a symbol of the Palestinian cause.

"We are here to tell them to stop the killing and to thank the free voices around the world," said Professor Jomaa Salman, head of the engineering faculty.

"If the storming of Columbia University had happened in another country, especially in a third world country, they would have moved heaven on earth."

The Iraqi embassy in Washington called Wednesday for "restraint, calm, respect for human rights and peaceful expression" as unrest over Israel's war in Gaza simmered on US campuses.

Iraq does not recognise Israel while all Iraqi political factions support the Palestinian people.

In 2019, popular protests broke out in Iraq against the ruling establishment, and a security crackdown left more than 600 people killed.

The United States is Israel's largest military supplier.

Student protesters on American campuses say they are expressing solidarity with Palestinians in the war-devastated Gaza Strip, prompting large-scale police arrests.

The Gaza war broke out after the unprecedented October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel which resulted in the death of 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel retaliated with a massive offensive that has killed at least 34,596 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

Militants also seized hostages during the attack, estimating that 129 of them remain in Gaza, including 34 the military says are dead.
Kremlin rejects US claims Russia used 'chemical weapon' in Ukraine



Moscow, May 2 (AFP) May 02, 2024



The Kremlin on Thursday rejected allegations by the United States that Russian forces had used a "chemical weapon" in Ukraine and blasted new sanctions targeting Moscow's key trading partners.

The US State Department said Wednesday that Russia used "the chemical weapon chloropicrin" against Ukrainian forces.

"As always, such accusations sound completely baseless and unsubstantiated," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked about the claims.

The US said that Moscow had violated the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).

Chloropicrin is an oily substance known as a choking agent that was widely used during World War I as a form of tear gas.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention label it a "lung damaging agent" that can cause severe irritation to skin, eyes and respiratory systems.

Its use is specifically prohibited by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the implementing body for the CWC.

"The use of such chemicals is not an isolated incident and is probably driven by Russian forces' desire to dislodge Ukrainian forces from fortified positions and achieve tactical gains on the battlefield," the State Department said on Wednesday.

Moscow has signed and ratified the CWC, which outlaws the production and use of chemical weapons.

"Russia has been and remains committed to its obligations under international law," Peskov said on Thursday.



- 'Hostile' -



Moscow said a fresh round of US sanctions -- including on entities in China and other countries where the West has accused firms of helping Russia's military offensive -- would not prevent it forging closer ties with its allies outside of the West.

"The United States is continuing with its overt pressure on these countries. Companies, firms are suffering, but it is not capable of disrupting the development of our bilateral relations with these countries," Peskov said Thursday.

The sanctions, imposed by the US Treasury, targeted companies and individuals that the US said were helping Russia procure key components and parts for its defence sector.

Visiting China last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he had raised concerns over Beijing's support for Moscow.

"Russia would struggle to sustain its assault on Ukraine without China's support," Blinken told reporters.

Moscow has boosted energy exports to China since losing access to European markets and its imports of equipment, machinery and consumer goods from China have also jumped.

But several Chinese banks have stopped servicing Russian clients after being warned they could be hit with Western sanctions, Russian media outlets have reported in recent months.

Peskov said Thursday Russia would "carry on cooperating in such a way as to gradually minimise the risks from these unfriendly, or rather hostile, manifestations."
Kenya names new defence chief after deadly chopper crash



Nairobi, May 2 (AFP) May 02, 2024



Kenyan President William Ruto on Thursday named Charles Muriu Kahariri as defence chief after the death of his predecessor in a helicopter crash.

He replaces Francis Omondi Ogolla who was among 10 military officers killed when their chopper went down in a remote area of northwestern Kenya on April 18.

Kahariri had previously served as deputy to Ogolla, 62, who had been Chief of Defence Forces for a year and was about to mark 40 years of military service.

A former Kenya Navy deputy commander, Kahariri joined the Kenya Defence Forces in April 1987, rising through the ranks during "his illustrious career spanning over three decades", according to a defence ministry profile.

The married father of three was involved in Kenya's cross-border incursion into Somalia in 2011 to flush out Al-Shabaab insurgents.

The offensive followed the abduction of four foreigners, including two Spanish aid workers, from a giant refugee camp near the border.

Kahariri served as the maritime component commander during that military campaign codenamed "Operation Linda Nchi" -- "Protect the Country" in Swahili.

The graduate of the US Naval War College was the task force commander of the operation that captured the Al-Shabaab bastion of Kismayo, a key port which served as a "commercial hub" for the Islamists.

The promotion of Kahariri to the defence chief post and the rank of general was among several appointments announced by Ruto.

He also named Major General Fatuma Gaiti Ahmed as commander of the Kenya Air Force, the first woman in the nation's history to hold the position.

She replaces John Mugaravai Omenda who was promoted to Vice Chief of the Defence Forces and the rank of lieutenant general.

Major General Paul Owuor Otieno was also named commander of the navy.

Under Kenyan military regulations, there is only one four-star general at any given time, with the president -- a civilian -- being a five-star general as the commander-in-chief.
Iraq govt, Congo Nobel laureate partner on rape victims care



Bukavu, DR Congo, May 2 (AFP) May 02, 2024



Iraq's government on Thursday sealed a partnership with a Nobel-prize winning gynaecologist's clinic in the Democratic Republic of Congo on caring for victims of sexual violence, an AFP journalist said.

Congolese gynaecologist Denis Mukwege -- who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018 -- has spent more than 20 years caring for victims of rape used as a weapon of war at his Panzi clinic in eastern DRC.

The mineral-rich Great Lakes region has been wracked by violence since fighting broke out between armed groups there in the 1990s.

Mukwege's clinic in Panzi, on the outskirts of Bukavu city in South Kivu province, and the Iraqi delegation agreed to develop exchange visits between them, said Sandra Orlovic, the representative in Iraq of the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

"This holistic approach of (the) Panzi model in treating survivors is recognised across the globe and valued as the best possible model of care of survivors of sexual violence," she said.

The care provided at the Panzi hospital combines medical, psychological and legal aspects, as well as the socio-economic reintegration of victims.

Orlovic was accompanying an Iraqi government delegation, including about 10 officials from the ministries of health, social affairs, justice and women's rights, who arrived in Panzi on Monday.

"Several countries have asked us about this approach, including the Central African Republic, Colombia, Guinea and Iraq," said Etienne Cikuru of the Panzi Foundation.

Mukwege was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018 with Iraqi activist Nadia Murad, a former slave of Islamic State jihadists, who has become the standard-bearer for the persecuted Yazidi minority to which she belongs.

"There are up to 4,000 survivors of sexual slavery, another sort of sexual violence committed by Islamic State against these minority communities," said Orlovic.
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A blanket wealth tax is not so practical, as the French government learned when millionaires fled the country, limiting the alternatives to restructuring tax regimes on inheritance and pensions. French economist Thomas Pickety noted that around 80% of wealth is inherited. A new argument has been gaining traction: In a system that has not undergone a reboot in eighty years, future generations benefit from the imbalances of capitalism that made their parents wealthy, perpetuating and exacerbating inequality. It would only be fair to reshuffle the deck by heavily taxing inheritance.
A lot of the times when it comes to black stories, we hear weve already got this story. Lets see next year,  Ali says. There could be so many other plays of young Somali girls and its not going to be like Dugsi Dayz because it's so different. Just actually trust us that we'll be able to do this.
We love visiting Greece, from the beautiful islands to the historic wanders and lively gay scene of Athens. This year, in February, Greece not only became the first Orthodox Christian country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage, but it will also host EuroPride in Thessaloniki on June 21-29. Athens oozes culture with ancient monuments and world wonders like the Acropolis. It also has a vibrant gay scene in the Gazi neighbourhood with bars like Del Sol, Big Bar, Samis, and clubs like Sodade, Shamone, and Bizzar. The big draw of Greece for most are the islands. The most popular for gay travellers is Mykonos with its bustling gay scene in the main town and a cluster of gay beaches including Super Paradise, Elia, and Agrari. The gay summer season culminates with the XLSIOR Festival (xlsiorfestival.com), this year taking place on August 22-28. For a more chilled Greek island experience, which is not as hectic (nor as pricey as Mykonos), we recommend a road trip in Crete. The beaches like Elafonisi are glorious, and theres even a small gay scene around Hersonissos with queer hangouts like Y.O.L.O. Cafe.
There would be more radical options but I presume that they arent palatable eg: asking Robin to take a different portfolio for the duration (they would have to make a tempting offer) and putting a SF or DUP Minister in? Or causing dHondt to be run again, he wrote in the email exchange.
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Railway passenger trips in China hit a record high of over 20.69 million on Wednesday, the first day of the five-day May Day holiday, data from the national railway operator shows.

Passengers walk past ticket gates at Tianjin West Railway Station in north China's Tianjin, May 1, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Ran)

The China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. (China Railway) said 17 million railway passenger trips are expected on Thursday, with 1,094 additional passenger trains planned.

The country's railway network is expected to handle 144 million passenger trips during the eight-day May Day holiday travel rush from April 29 to May 6, according to China Railway.

During the period, an average of over 12,000 passenger trains are planned daily, which is about 1,800 more than the usual number during non-rush periods, it said.

This year's May Day holiday runs from May 1 to May 5.
The Prime Ministers official spokesman would not comment on protests in the US, but said: Weve always been clear that people have a right to peaceful and lawful protest but clearly people shouldnt abuse that right to intimidate others, cause unnecessary disruption.
A spokesman for Goldsmiths, University of London said: From the start of the conflict we have prioritised the safety and support of all students and staff. We recognise that people hold strong views over the war and uphold their right to freely express themselves while being clear about the need to be respectful and within the law.
Several students who spoke during a news conference on Wednesday said they had to rely on each other, not the police, for support as they were attacked, and that many in the pro-Palestinian encampment remained peaceful and did not engage with counter-protesters.
If you are prepared to combat motion sickness, the answer is neither. According to the Centers for Disease and Control: Motion sickness happens when the movement you see is different from what your inner ear senses. This can cause dizziness, nausea, and vomiting.
In a joint statement after the hearing, the four journalists said: We are pleased the tribunal has agreed our four discrimination claims should be heard together, claims the BBCs lawyers tried to split, which would have necessitated eight hearings at great additional expense to the licence fee payer.
Charity

Aug. 18, 8 pm: Legacy Institutes Award Ceremony Fundraiser, The Pageant, $60-$80

Aug. 25, 6:30-9:30 pm: Hatz4Hearts presents Annual Pink Carpet Community Gala, Missouri Athletic Club, $75-$600

Community

Aug. 18, 6-10 pm: WEPOWER Weekend: The Garden Party 18, co-hosted with The Missouri Botanical Garden, $50

Aug. 19, 11 am-3 pm: WEPOWER Weekend: Building Community Wealth, Hyde Park, Free

Aug. 19, 7-10 pm: Beats x Brews, Saint Louis Hop Shop, Free

Concerts

Aug. 18, 8-11 pm: City Winery St. Louis presents The Dirty Dozen Brass Band live in concert, $35-$42

Aug. 19, 8 pm: City Winery St. Louis presents Anita Wilson live in concert, $28-$35

Aug. 19, The Smooth Jazz Cruise on Land The Factory St. Louis, $34.50-$97.50

Aug. 19, 8-11:59 pm: Soulja Boy, The Hawthorn, $40.00

Aug. 21, 7 pm: Beyonce  Renaissance World Tour, The Dome at Americas Center, $50.50-$2,501.00

Aug. 24, 7-8 pm: Concerts in the Garden featuring Harvey Lockhart and the Collective, Reading Garden at the Sachs Branch in Chesterfield, Free

Aug. 25, 7 pm: Moneybagg Yo  Larger Than Life Tour, Chaifetz Arena, $49.50-$165

Aug. 25, 7:30 pm: T-DUBB-O  Life Lessons Tour, Pops Concert Venue, $12

Festivals & Fairs

Aug. 19-20, 8 pm: 1st Annual Queens of the Lou Music Festival 2023, Off Broadway, $15

Aug. 19, 1-7 pm: 9th Annual St. Louis African American Artifacts Festival and Bazaar, Crown Square Plaza (Old North Historic District), Free

Aug. 19, 11 am-4 pm: Back-to-School Fair @ Clay Community Resource Center, Free

Aug. 26-27, 2-10:45 pm: Evolution Festival, Forest Park, $89.50-$449.50

Food & Drink

Aug. 20, 1-3 pm: Beyonce Renaissance Concert Pre-Game Brunch, HeyDay HQ, $60

Literary Arts

Aug. 25, 1-2 pm: Author Talk: Enslavement and the Underground Railroad in MO and IL, The Field House Museum, Free

Museums & Exhibitions

Aug. 18  Aug. 25, 9:30 am-4:30 pm: The Saint Louis Science Center welcomes Mandela: The Official Exhibition, Free

Aug. 19, 12-5 pm: SLAM Block Party Hip Hop Exhibition, Saint Louis Art Museum, Free

Religion & Spirituality

Aug. 19, 7-10 pm: We On Blast with Dee-1, The Advancing Church, $15

Talks & Lectures

Aug. 23, 6-8 pm: From Feels to Facts: A candid conversation about colorism, HeyDay HQ, Free

Theater

Aug. 18 -19, Aug. 25- 26, 8-11 pm: Ragtime at Union Avenue Opera, $55-$165

Aug. 18  Aug. 20, 8:15 pm: Sister Act, MUNY, $19-$120
As we enter this spring season, which is the earths way of reminding us to hope and to be renewed, we do so under circumstances that make us have to catch our breath and square our shoulders. How infants thrive (or fail to do so) during their first year of life holds up a mirror to any society. It reflects the social, economic, environmental, and spiritual conditions that our most precious little ones face and have to endure to make it.

Rev. Bethany Johnson-Javois | Deaconess Foundation

I draw attention to the possibility of what can happen when philanthropy, community health and public health infrastructure, and bold leaders galvanize to shape system response around the will and experiences of Black mothers and birthing people.

As we hold the mirror up to ourselves in the eight counties of Deaconess Foundations footprint in Missouri and Illinois, our reflection is distorted. Systems are historically designed to foster thriving for a narrow few while intentionally structured and fueled to discount and diminish the lives of the many. Out of all the numbers I could share and the life experiences I can personally point to, Im choosing to boil it down to this: of all pregnancy-related deaths in the state of Missouri, thePregnancy-Associated Mortality Review (PAMR) shows that 84% were determined to be PREVENTABLE.

In the Illinois Maternal Morbidity and Mortality Report showing what happened to 263 people who died while pregnant or within one year of giving birth from 2018 to 2020, 91% of pregnancy-related deaths might have been PREVENTABLE. Preventable. We cannot continue to look grieving families in their eyes to share the truth theyve always known. Many of the reasons why their loved one is no longer with us, and they are left to figure out life without them is caused by something we could have and should have stopped from happening.

To each warrior seen and unseen at every level of community, institutions, and systems who never stops fighting and winning to get us closer to the best reflection of ourselves in the image of our Creator, thank you and we see you. More than one generations worth of philanthropic and federal funding flowed in Missouri to support innovative partnerships to curb the tide. For the sake of fueling hope, I draw attention to the possibility of what can happen when philanthropy, community health and public health infrastructure, and bold leaders galvanize to shape system response around the will and experiences of Black mothers and birthing people.

In direct response to the Ferguson Commissions call to action to create opportunities to thrive through systemic changes, including increased access to care, the St. Louis Integrated Health Network (IHN) was activated. The IHN works with partners and community organizations to ensure accessible and affordable healthcare services for all residents of Metropolitan St. Louis. A multi-racial group of women physicians identified and are disrupting the stark inequities and unconscious biases pervasive within infant and maternal healthcare.

By intentionally listening to and amplifying the solutions brought forward through the wisdom and life experiences of Black mothers and birthing people, the IHN is perpetuating a model of well-being that can be tapped into by moms and medical professionals alike through the work of EleVATE (Elevating Voices, Addressing depression, Toxic stress and Equity). As a status quo disruptor, EleVATE provides prenatal care in a group setting for Black women and birthing people and their support system, engaging the patient as a partner, and offering the best clinical care and quality information sharing to elicit the best choices that moms make for themselves and their families.

The results are generating improvements in infant and maternal vitality that include increased rates of breastfeeding, increased trust reported among and across care providers and patient partners, higher birth weights, and decreased stress levels. Dismantling the impacts of structural racism systemically and individually is centrally positioned as the collaboratives ongoing work to stop the generational cycles of trauma before they start.

In Southern Illinois, I desire my community to receive even more activation and transparency around the issues that surround maternal and infant health that squander the potential of generations of its people. What are accountable institutions, public servants, and leaders doing about it? For example, how do national statistics compare locally, disaggregated by race and socio-economic levels?

We know that only 5.7% of physicians in the U.S. identify as Black or African American, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges, compared to an estimated 12% of the U.S. population identifying as Black or African American. Of all OB-GYN physicians, only 10.7% identify as Black or African American across the U.S. Im concerned about OB-GYN physician representation that reflects moms and birthing people in Southern Illinois. With fewer pregnancy-related deaths reported in 2023 among Black people as compared to the 2016-2017 Illinois Maternal Morbidity and Mortality Report, and more pregnancy-related deaths for Hispanic/Latinx and white Illinoisians, what is happening, and not happening, what exists, and does not exist in the Southern Illinois ecosystem that affects its people across the board in this way? What do we see when we look in the mirror given the lack of attention paid to this issue?

I offer my support to the open call letter written by our two health department directors Dr. Matifadza Hlatshwayo Davis and Dr. Kanika A. Cunningham for equity and reproductive justice. I lend my voice and purpose to join the cloud of witnesses around the world calling for womens health justice before and beyond our reproductive years. Our power, value, and identity are sourced in so much more than what happens or doesnt happen biologically within us. This is a call to be fully seen, unapologetically prioritized, and appropriately recognized for all that we bring to heal this nation and all of its people. We will not be silent, and we are far from dormant. What do you see when you look in the mirror?

Rev. Bethany Johnson-Javois, MSW is president & CEO of Deaconess Foundation and pastor of Monument of Faith Church.
WEBSTER GROVES  Taylor Streiff is often surrounded by alcohol. As an employee at O+O Pizza and The Clover and the Bee and a professional musician, Streiff said that alcohol is always accessible  and often free.

A few years ago, Streiff found himself turning to the bottle to deal with the stress of work more and more.

Throughout the hospitality industry you have to drink or engage with some of the shenanigans to be accepted, Streiff said.

Eventually, Streiffs drinking habit became a drinking problem. So he entered treatment.

Today, Streiff is two years sober and one of the organizers behind the local chapter of Bens Friends, a national network that provides addiction support to workers in the hospitality industry, where alcohol, drugs and partying are the norm. The chapter had its first meeting this month at Olive + Oak.

Reports have found that about 17% of employees in the hospitality industry suffer from serious alcohol-related problems and that employees in restaurants and hotels have the highest rates of substance abuse in the American workforce.

People in the hospitality industry have some unique stressors and unique lives, Streiff said. Were hoping we can be a safe space for people to come.

The Bens Friends started in 2016 after Ben Murray, a chef in Charleston, South Carolina, killed himself in a hotel room after struggling with alcoholism. Murrays friends and colleagues Steve Palmer and Mickey Bakst founded the organization to offer hope and community to industry workers struggling with substance abuse and addiction.

Max Bredenkoetter, chef at Mainlander Supper Club in the Central West End, said he was looking a few months ago for an industry support group in St. Louis, but came up empty-handed.

I couldnt find anything that catered to the restaurant industry, Bredenkoetter said. Even this is really kind of a new thing on the national level, which shocked me because of how prevalent addiction and substance abuse is in the industry.

Bredenkoetter said alcohol  whether a drink after work, cooking or wine tasting  permeates every level and aspect in the restaurant industry.

Bredenkoetter got sober about three years ago, as he was becoming a professional chef. He said some friends and family recommended he not enter the industry given his addiction, but Bredenkoetter wanted to follow his passion.

And while staying sober was difficult, Bredenkoetter said he found it easier to be honest with people about his struggles as most people knew others going through the same thing.

Everyone has seen it happen with friends, he said.

This month, Bredenkoetter hosted his first Temperance Kitchen pop-up, an alcohol-free multi-course dinner series hosted at the Mainlander. All proceeds go to Bens Friends organization. The next event is scheduled for May 20.

Bredenkoetter thinks programs like Bens Friends could economically benefit restaurants and business owners.

There really is a win-win benefit for the struggling employee and for ownership to help, Bredenkoetter said. When youre hungover you have a shorter fuse and are less productive. Restaurants would want their chefs to get sober.

Tatyana Telnikova, owner of HandleBar in the Grove, said she is all for the program as drinking is just the culture in the industry.

Theres nothing innately wrong about consuming alcohol, Telnikova said. I would imagine productivity would go down if youre inebriated. I definitely want people who are healthy.

Meetings are held every Monday at Olive + Oak  at 10 a.m., so as to not interfere with dinner service schedules. Members can remain anonymous.
ST. LOUIS  Washington University has plans to transform a historic building into office and lab space in St. Louis Cortex innovation district.

The private college wants to build a roughly 54,000-square-foot addition to the existing U-shaped Goodwill Building on Forest Park Avenue and and Sarah Street. The project would span a little over 175,000 square feet in total, according to plans filed with the city of St. Louis.

Washington University bought the property, at 4140 Forest Park, in 2019 for $5.6 million from MERS Goodwill Industries. The university said at the time that it did not have a specific development planned. In March of this year, the city issued a $27 million building permit to an entity affiliated with the college, records show.

Sign up for the Brick City newsletter Steph Kukuljan and other business reporters bring you insights into St. Louis-area real estate and development.

In a statement Thursday, university spokeswoman Sue Killenberg McGinn said the project is in the predevelopment process and that the design and tenant recruitment is ongoing.

The mid-century Forest Park Avenue location will serve as a support hub to nurture both businesses and individuals as they advance and grow in the St. Louis innovation ecosystem, she said in a statement.

The property was added in the National Register of Historic Places in early 2021 due to its history serving as the headquarters for Goodwill Industries, which was the first organization in St. Louis dedicated to helping those with disabilities by providing employment, job training and job placement.

Washington University is one of the founding institutions of Cortex, a 200-acre district created to foster technology and innovation companies in the Central West End. Cortex was one of the premier office districts in the region, with a 1% vacancy rate, until the pandemic weakened market conditions with the popularity of remote work. Cortexs leader has said the district is working to rebuild momentum.

The university has hired St. Louis contractor Tarlton Corp. to serve as construction manager and HOK as the lead architecture firm for the development, plans show.
ST. LOUIS COUNTY  A 17-year-old was charged Thursday with breaking into and damaging more than 35 cars over the course of a year.

Juanell Carter is accused of breaking the windows of dozens of cars when he was 16 between June 27, 2022, and June 19, 2023, police wrote in court documents. Hes also accused of stealing some of the cars as well as purses, credit cards and guns.

Police said he also broke into two garages on June 3, 2023, while people were inside their homes. In one of those break-ins, police said he stole a purse with credit cards.

At least one homeowner reported that they saw a masked intruder armed with a gun breaking into their garage, wrote Judge Jason D. Dodson in his judgment to certify Carter as an adult, which was filed Wednesday.

Carter was arrested on June 19, 2023, when police found him in a stolen car with several stolen items, police said. Investigators said they also found his fingerprint on one of the damaged vehicles.

The teen tried to sell one of the stolen guns on Instagram for $250, police said.

He was certified as an adult by Dodson, who said the teen has a lengthy criminal history dating back to when the boy was 12.

He was found guilty in April 2022 of first-degree burglary, second-degree tampering with a motor vehicle and leaving the scene of an accident.

A few months later, in December, Carter was convicted of attempted stealing of a motor vehicle, tampering with a motor vehicle and two counts of resisting arrest by fleeing.

The sheer volume of the offenses in such a short amount of time is astonishing, Dodson wrote in his judgment. Dodson also called the number of Carters referrals to juvenile court shocking.

Dodson said Carter has been in the St. Louis County Juvenile Detention Center and received services and was also placed on probation and was supervised in his home.

Additionally, he has had the benefit of educational and other supportive community services and been monitored with a GPS bracelet but could not comply with his rules of supervision, Dodson wrote.

Carter also ran away from home and was shot in July of 2022.

Ultimately, all of these strategies for rehabilitation of (Carter) did not work, Dodson wrote. (Carter) committed more crimes and was then committed to the Missouri Division of Youth Services for rehabilitative services in a secure setting.

Carter was released and offered services from the juvenile division on May 16, 2023. Thats when, the judge wrote, Carter accrued more than 60 referrals to the juvenile court until he was again detained on June 19, 2023.

Carter was charged as an adult with 31 counts of first-degree damage to a motor vehicle, five felony counts of stealing a firearm, seven counts of stealing a motor vehicle, two counts of first-degree burglary and one count of felony stealing.

He was booked into the St. Louis County jail on Wednesday and remained in custody Thursday on a $25,000 cash-only bond, according to online records.
ST. LOUIS  About 300 protesters shut down Grand Boulevard for more than an hour Wednesday evening in protest of the war in Gaza.

City officials vowed that police would not intervene if the protest remained peaceful, and as of 9 p.m. they had made good on their word.

Protesters chanted "Free, free, free Palestine" and "disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest" to condemn the war between Israel and Hamas and protest St. Louis University's ties to Boeing Co., which sells warplanes and munitions used by Israel in the war.

Nadia Abusoud, a third-year Palestinian student at SLU, said in addition to protesting in support of Palestine, attendees were also supporting protests that have erupted at colleges across the U.S. in recent weeks.

"It's my university's turn," Abusoud said in an interview. "This is doing our part and showing support."

Protesters marched across Grand Boulevard around 6:45 p.m., and when they returned they sat down in the street. Police blocked traffic on both sides of the sit-in.

The scene was markedly different from Saturday at Washington University, where a protest turned into a clash with cops as protesters were setting up encampments.

More than 100 people were arrested, including at least 23 students and four faculty members; the students have been suspended from school and kicked out of on-campus housing, and several faculty members were put on leave and barred from campus.

At Wednesday's protest, Marquis Govan pointed out SLU's status as a Jesuit university and asked the crowd: "Would Jesus want us to keep food, water and aid from starving children?"

Among the attendees was Megan Green, president of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen. Green, an adjunct professor at Washington University, attended Saturday's protest and was put on leave by the university this week.

In a letter informing her of her suspension, the university claimed she was put on leave for using her campus access card to let people into campus buildings. Green has disputed that claim.

Not all attendees on Wednesday were in support of protester's demands.

Maicoll Gomez walked through campus, U.S. flag in tow, with his sister Valentina Gomez, a Republican candidate for Missouri Secretary of State.

"If they don't like America, they can go and fight in Palestine themselves," he said.

As the protest wrapped up around 8:45 p.m., two people were detained by SLU public safety officers after a skirmish between a protester and a person holding an Israeli flag.

Hours before the Wednesday protest, St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones and SLMPD said police would not use force against or interfere with "peaceful" protests.

The joint statement from Jones and police Chief Robert Tracy also said officers would intervene if violence broke out or if the university's property was damaged.

"We ask the entire community recognize that the rejection of violence is central to ensuring a safe environment for all," the statement said.

SLU President Fred Pestello said Wednesday afternoon SLU created "a number" of plans to ensure the school's community could continue to learn and work on campus Wednesday evening. Students were encouraged to carry their SLU ID cards.

"We embrace engagement with challenging ideas as a necessary  if sometimes uncomfortable  component of our mission to pursue truth," Pestello wrote in a message to SLU's community.

Videos of the Saturday demonstration at Washington University showed police pulling protesters from linked arms, students screaming at officers, and detainees being escorted and dragged to police vehicles. A Southern Illinois University Edwardsville professor, Steve Tamari, said Tuesday three of his ribs and one of his hands were broken during his arrest.

In a message to the school's community on Monday, Chancellor Andrew Martin wrote that a large group of individuals came to campus "intending to disrupt, do harm, and interfere with educational activities and campus life."

Organizers of the protest have since pushed back on university leaders' claims that the demonstration was not peaceful.

Photos: Hundreds march at St. Louis University to protest war in Gaza
Wildly irresponsible. Thats how Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey last month described Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas perfectly responsible invitation to legal migrants to his city to help alleviate its labor shortage.

In a made-for-Fox News stunt last month, Bailey issued a threatening letter to Lucas laced with dubious legal reasoning, partisan disinformation and a whiff of xenophobia. All of which is typical of Missouris most wildly irresponsible statewide officeholder.

Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, a candidate for governor, took it a step further recently with a fundraising video in which he declares emphatically that Lucas stated that he wanted to make Kansas City a sanctuary city  an outright lie.

Now some legislative Republicans are getting in on the act, too, repeating that false narrative and threatening to strip Kansas City of all state funding. Talk about wildly irresponsible.

It all started in mid-April, in the context of two real problems: New York and other cities are having trouble absorbing the influx of legal migrants; and the Kansas City region, undergoing a building boom, is struggling with a labor shortage.

It was within that context that Mayor Lucas tweeted on April 16: All are welcome in Kansas City. Proud to work with my fellow mayors (in Denver and New York)  to ensure decompression of new arriving communities and collaboration among cities, labor, non-profits, and federal officials.

His post linked to a Bloomberg piece about Lucas invitation, which reports that the mayor has a hunch that migrants with work permits (emphasis added) could help alleviate the labor shortage in his region.

Clear as that is, Lucas clarified it further in a tweet the next day, specifying (again) that he was referring to persons who are lawfully present, with lawful work permits, and the lawful ability to come to our community.

Does anything about that sound wildly irresponsible?

Baileys letter to Lucas a day later  which the attorney general promptly, dutifully shared with Fox News  threatens unspecified legal action over Lucas comments. It quotes from statutes that make it illegal to transport undocumented migrants into Missouri or to employ them.

The letter acknowledges Lucas specification that he was talking about migrants who are lawfully present, with lawful work permits. But Bailey then dismisses that element as irrelevant because the federal governments open border programs are themselves illegal.

In calling for the hiring of migrants with federally approved work permits, Bailey alleges, you are actively encouraging Missouri businesses to become entangled in a fundamentally unlawful program.

Fundamentally unlawful as decreed not by Congress or the courts, mind you, but by one unelected official in one Midwestern state.

That Missouris official state lawyer would posit such a baseless, head-spinning rejection of the bedrock constitutional principle of federalism is both unsettling and unsurprising. Whether from instinctive demagoguery or plain old incompetence, Bailey has shown repeatedly a willingness to flout whatever legal principles get in the way of his right-wing performance art as he seeks election to the position he was appointed to last year.

Bailey has more than earned another entry in our on-going Bailey Tally of the worst official offenses from Missouris very worst statewide officeholder. The updated list will be posted in Thursdays opinion section of STLToday.com.

Secretary of State Ashcroft subsequently demonstrated why he may well be a close second to Bailey in terms of official mendacity among Missouri officeholders.

Since starting his gubernatorial campaign, Ashcroft has shown a distressing eagerness to abuse both his office and plain truth in his zeal to prevent a fair statewide vote on abortion rights and other hot-button issues. But the campaign fundraising video Ashcroft released trying to monetize the fake controversy over Lucas remarks was a startling exercise in deception even by those low standards.

... I was so appalled when the mayor of Kansas City suggested  well, no, he even stated  that he wanted to make Kansas City a sanctuary city, Ashcroft lied, looking directly into the camera.

Again: Lucas comments on welcoming migrant workers were specifically, explicitly in reference to legal residents with legal work permits. Kansas City is not a sanctuary city, Lucas reiterated to reporters after a recent Kansas City Council meeting. Kansas City follows the laws of the state of Missouri, which already prohibit any city in the state from becoming a sanctuary for undocumented immigrants.

That existing prohibition hasnt stopped some Republicans in the Legislature from trying to make it an issue anyway, with threats to strip Kansas City of state funding if it becomes a sanctuary city. That whole legislative enterprise is as meaningless as it is pathetic. Because Lucas has explicitly rejected the very premise, they might as well pass a law prohibiting him from harboring vampires.

Its all part of todays GOP playbook in Missouri: In the absence of any constructive ideas, the partys elected officials invent dragons to slay: Critical race theory! Woke! DEI!

And now the deliberate blurring of the line between legal and illegal migration in a calculated scheme to whip up hatred, fear and votes. Thats worse than wildly irresponsible.
Yokota Air Base is the headquarters of U.S. Forces Japan, 5th Air Force and the 374th Airlift Wing in western Tokyo. (Stars and Stripes)

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan  A fire broke out Thursday evening at this airlift hub in western Tokyo, spurring officials to warn people away from the headquarters building for U.S. Forces Japan.

A spokesman for Yokotas 374th Airlift Wing said no injuries resulted from the fire.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, and the installation is taking all necessary measures to ensure the safety and security of all personnel and facilities, Master Sgt. Nathaniel Allen told Stars and Stripes in a text message at 10:22 p.m. Thursday.

He provided no statement on specific fire damage.

We are in the process of accounting for all personnel and assessing any potential damage to base property, he wrote.

An 8:09 p.m. mass text alert from the wing said a 500-foot cordon had been established around Building 714  home to USFJ and 5th Air Force  and advised people to stay clear of the area. That message and a subsequent social media post by the wing did not mention a fire.

Emergency response teams were immediately dispatched to extinguish the fire, conduct all necessary sweeps, and establish a cordon, Allen told Stars and Stripes.

A road adjacent to the buildings rear was still blocked off by security forces around 11:30 p.m., with no visible signs of damage to the exterior. Roads on both sides and near the front of the building were accessible.

USFJ is a liaison command that serves as a go-between for the U.S. military throughout the country and the government of Japan.
Army Col. Ryan Barnett, commander of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, left, and Navy Lt. Mason Mullins, assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 11, cross a medium girder bridge laid down in support of Immediate Response 2024 in Bjerkvik, Norway, April 26, 2024. (James S. Hong/U.S. Navy)

An Army infantry brigade from Fort Johnson, La., will deploy to Europe in summer to train alongside NATO forces in a regular troop rotation, the service announced Wednesday.

The 10th Mountain Divisions 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team will deploy to Eastern Europe to replace soldiers from the 101st Airborne Divisions 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Army officials said.

The deployment will come on the heels of another exercise in Europe in which Fort Johnson soldiers are now participating. Hundreds of 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain soldiers deployed to northern Europe in recent weeks to train in an exercise known as Immediate Response 24, which will see the soldiers operate across Norway and Finland through the end of May, according to the Defense Department.

The later deployment will support the ongoing Operation Atlantic Resolve, which the United States launched in 2014 after Russias initial invasion of Ukraine when it annexed the Crimean Peninsula. The operation  meant to bolster NATOs eastern flank and dissuade Russian forces from entering the alliances territory  grew larger after Russias 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Since deploying to Eastern Europe in November, roughly 3,400 soldiers of the 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne have operated in multiple NATO countries, including Estonia, Poland and Romania, photos on the units social media pages show. The brigade will return to its home station at Fort Campbell, Ky.

While the rest of the 10th Mountain Division is based at Fort Drum, N.Y., the divisions 3rd Brigade is based at Fort Johnson, where it regularly trains at the Armys Joint Readiness Training Center.
The headquarters of the American Federation of Government Employees in Washington. The union said in a May 1, 2024, statement that 199 employees in two locations in Germany had voted to join. (AFGE)

Almost 200 U.S. Army civilian workers at two locations in Germany became the latest to approve membership in the largest U.S. labor union for federal employees.

As a result of the Wednesday vote, 163 non-appropriated fund employees at the Armys Edelweiss Lodge and Resort in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and 36 information technology staffers in Kaiserslautern will be represented by the American Federation of Government Employees.

The IT employees work at the Army Enterprise Service Desk, 2nd Signal Brigade. Kaiserslautern is home to the U.S. militarys largest overseas community.

The unions national president, Everett Kelley, welcomed the 199 new additions to the at-large Local 14 and noted that the vote occurred as many countries were celebrating International Workers Day, which is a holiday in Germany.

Local 14 was established last year to expand representation to federal employees working for U.S. agencies overseas.

In December, 389 Army and Air Force Exchange Services workers in the Kaiserslautern Military Community also voted to join the American Federation of Government Employees.

One hundred and sixty-three nonappropriated fund employees working at the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, voted to join the American Federation of Government Employees, the union said in a May 1, 2024 statement. (U.S. Army)

That was the first of what the union expects to be a series of votes on membership by federal government employees in Europe.

About 10,000 federal workers in Europe, most of whom are in Germany, are eligible to join, according to the unions estimate.

The move to offer membership to most federal civilian workers came last year in response to dozens of complaints the union said it had received, mostly from Defense Department employees.

Among those complaints is a practice known as bait-and-switch, in which civilians move overseas to take a job offer, only to be placed in a different position once they arrive.

Lack of work-life balance and last-minute schedule changes are also issues for U.S. federal employees in Europe, said Javier Soto, a legal rights attorney in Europe for the union.

Many foreign nationals who work on U.S. bases are covered by a different union, and Soto said there have been reports of disparities in how they are treated in comparison with U.S. citizens.

Its understandable, Soto said Thursday. They do have very strong labor rules here in Germany, and they do have labor contracts, which is what we have in the U.S. for federal employees.

Local 14 joins more than 930 other locals that make up the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents around 750,000 workers in almost every agency of the federal government.
F/A-18s from Carrier Air Wing 5 at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, take part in field carrier-landing practice at Iwo Jima, Japan, May 17, 2019. (Stars and Stripes)

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan  Naval aviators are scheduled for 11 days of carrier-landing practice on Iwo Jima ahead of the USS Ronald Reagans final deployment before returning stateside.

The training  an annual requirement for Carrier Air Wing 5 before it leaves with the Ronald Reagan on its annual patrol  will run between Saturday and May 15, Naval Forces Japan announced Thursday.

Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni-based pilots and crews of fixed-wing aircraft, including F-18 Super Hornets, EA-18G Growlers and C-2 Greyhounds, take part in the training.

Senior pilots fly at least six sorties  three during the day and three at night  and complete seven or eight touch-and-go landings. Junior pilots undergo more extensive training and may complete a dozen or more touch-and-goes.

This years training will be the last before the Ronald Reagan relocates from Japan to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Wash., sometime this summer.

Its replacement, the USS George Washington, departed Naval Station Norfolk, Va., on April 25 for a deployment to Central and South America, after which it will steam for its new homeport with the 7th Fleet.

Most of the carrier-landing practice will take place at Iwo Jima, also known as Iwo To, where Carrier Air Wing 5 has carried out its training since 1991.

Other U.S. airfields in Japan, such as Yokota Air Base or Misawa Air Base, are reserved as alternative training sites in the case of bad weather or other circumstances, according to the announcement.

The island is not used as a permanent training site due to its remote location  about 750 miles southeast of mainland Japan  and lack of alternative landing sites.

However, the Japanese government has committed to finding a permanent training area for the Navy, according to the release.

The Japanese Defense Ministry began work in January 2023 on a new site for U.S. carrier-landing practice on Mageshima, an island 20 miles south of Kyushu, the southernmost of Japans four main islands.

The $1.6 billion base will include an 8,000-foot main runway, a 6,000-foot crosswind runway, a port and ammunition and fuel storage facilities, according to the ministry. Its anticipated to be completed by 2027.

Naval Forces Japan spokesman Cmdr. Paul Macapagal on Thursday referred all questions regarding Mageshima or other alternative locations for a permanent training site to the Japanese government.

A spokesperson for Japans Ministry of Defense did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment that afternoon.
The USS America, an amphibious assault ship, pulls into Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2014. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro announced Thursday, May 2, 2024, that the next America-class ship will be named the USS Helmand Province to commemorate battles fought by Marines during the war in Afghanistan. (Scott Pittman/U.S. Navy)

WASHINGTON  The next America-class amphibious assault ship will be named after the Helmand province campaign during Americas 20-year conflict in Afghanistan, Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro announced Thursday.

In keeping with the naval tradition of naming our Navys amphibious assault ships after U.S. Marine Corps battles, I am honored to announce today that the future LHA-10 will be named USS Helmand Province, Del Toro said during a speech at the Modern Day Marine conference. Recognizing the bravery and sacrifice of our Marines and sailors who fought for almost 20 years in the mountains of Afghanistan.

In December 2022, Del Toro named another amphibious assault ship the USS Fallujah to commemorate the battles fought by U.S. forces during the war in Iraq.

The Helmand province was the site of some of the fiercest fighting during the war in Afghanistan. More than 20,000 Marines were based in the region during a military surge in 2010 that saw about 100,000 U.S. troops and 40,000 NATO allies deploy to the country.

Marine Corps Maj. Gen. John Toolan talks to Marines at Forward Operating Base Musa Qala, Helmand province, Afghanistan, in 2012. (Paul Oldfield/Royal Air Force)

Gen. Eric Smith, commandant of the Marine Corps, following Del Toros announcement spoke about his experience in the region when he was deployed there as part of 8th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 8 during Operation Enduring Freedom.

Helmand province holds a unique place in the hearts of this generation of Marines, he said. From about 2009 to 2014, this region was the center of our efforts to bring stability and security to a troubled land. Helmand province, as many of you know, was not just any theater of war. It was the heart of the opium trade, a Taliban stronghold.

America-class warships are the largest amphibious assault vessels in the Navys fleet. They carry Marines to the site of a conflict or disaster, where their aircraft move them from ship to shore.

The ships can be used as small aircraft carriers and are designed to carry the F-35B Lightning II, a fighter capable of vertical takeoffs and short-landings, and the MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft. America-class ships also provide a broader, more flexible command-and-control capability.

The Helmand Province will be the third Flight I America-class ship following the USS Bougainville and Fallujah. The Bougainville is expected to join the fleet this year. The Helmand Province is still years away from joining the fleet. Del Toro said it takes two years to build a ship.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and his wife, M.K. Pritzker, listen to speakers during a remembrance ceremony honoring the victims and survivors of the Highland Park shooting on July 4, 2023, in Highland Park, Ill. On Tuesday, April 30, 2024, the Pritzkers donated a historic document to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield. (Stacey Wescott, Chicago Tribune/TNS)

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (Tribune News Service)  Following the Confederacys 1861 attack on Fort Sumter, often viewed as the event that sparked the Civil War, then-President Abraham Lincoln had to decide how to retaliate against the Southern states.

The Anaconda Plan would be the result, a critical strategy the Union employed to cut off the supply chains to the South that would remain in place until the Confederacy was defeated in 1865. The plan became Lincolns first direct military action against slave states trying to secede, and its codified in a document formally called the Order to Affix Seal of the United States to a Proclamation of a Blockade.

On Tuesday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker and his wife, M.K., donated that historic document to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield. The couple acquired it at auction for $471,000. Its now one of about 13 million documents and artifacts amassed at the Springfield library and museum.

This was an act of leadership that required careful consideration but also courage and immediate action to take every action possible to keep the nation intact, the governor said to a small audience during a ceremony at the library, flanked by his wife, moments before the framed document was unveiled. To me, this document and the museum as a whole serves as a reminder of how far weve come as a nation. Despite our current divisions and challenges, more than 150 years after a terrible Civil War, our nation perseveres.

Ian Hunt, the acquisitions director for the library and museum, explained the historical significance of the document, discussing the division within Lincolns cabinet over how to respond to the Fort Sumter attack and Confederate President Jefferson Davis plans to authorize private citizens in the South to capture U.S. shipments, actions that would amount to piracy.

The Anaconda Plan was championed by Winfield Scott, the general and chief of the U.S. Army, who believed it would prevent the Southern states from selling agricultural commodities like cotton and tobacco to Europe, while at the same time denying the South access to arms, munitions and heavy machinery.

But U.S. Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles felt the Navy was too small and ill-equipped to properly patrol the roughly 2,500 miles of the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico shoreline. Welles advised that a port could be closed and law enforcement could search and seize vessels with contraband if necessary, which would effectively impose an embargo, Hunt explained.

U.S. Attorney General Edward Bates warned that a blockade was an act of war that would by default recognize the Confederacys independence.

The cabinet ended up being split down the middle on the issue, and Lincoln chose to order the blockade.

This document, asking the secretary of state to affix the seal of the United States to his proclamation, was the final step in making the presidents proclamation official, Hunt said. While the blockade may not have the dramatic moments that other famous battles such as Gettysburg or Vicksburg are remembered for, it was no less important. It denied the Southern economy much-needed revenue from the sale of agricultural exports while simultaneously skyrocketing prices in the South on the limited materials that did make it through.

Calling the document from April 19, 1861, a magic piece of paper, Christina Shutt, the library and museums executive director, said it represents a terrifying decision point for Lincoln.

Seven states have already announced they want to tear America apart, rather than risk any chance of freedom for 4 million enslaved people, Shutt explained. They opened fire on U.S. troops and seized federal property. They stole weapons and (began) amassing an army. Now the president must decide whether to act boldly to win a war the Confederacy has started or dither and hope that somehow the crisis fails. It was a moment like no other in American history.

The document will be available for viewing in the library and museums Treasures Gallery beginning Wednesday and will remain on display until February, when it will be transferred to the library and museums vault.

2024 Chicago Tribune.

Visit chicagotribune.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology houses Otzi, a Bronze Age man discovered frozen in the Alps in 1991. His mummified remains, which predate the Roman Empire by thousands of years, can be viewed through a small window on the first floor. Clothing and gear he was found with are also on display along with other exhibits on the Bronze Age. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)

One of historys greatest whodunits centers on a man killed in the Alps about 5,300 years ago and whose well-preserved body was discovered encased in ice in 1991.

Since then, the millennia-old cold case of Otzi the Iceman has captivated professionals and the public alike, giving a museum in Bolzano, Italy, quite the showpiece with which to draw visitors.

A city of about 100,000 people roughly 50 miles south of the Austrian border, Bolzano is approximately two hours and 15 minutes from Vicenza by car.

The South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology houses Otzi along with the clothing he was wearing and equipment he was using at the time of his death.

The preserved remains of Otzi, a Bronze Age man found frozen in the Alps, are on display at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Italy. He was killed about 5,300 years ago. (South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology) An artist's rendition of what Otzi, a Bronze Age man whose remains were discovered largely preserved in frozen ice in the Alps in 1991, could have looked like when he was alive. (South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology) Visitors at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Italy, look at the remains of the hat that Otzi the Iceman was wearing when he was killed about 5,300 years ago. Personal effects including his ax are on display at the museum as well. (South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology)

Today, the Iceman can be viewed through a small window on the museums first floor. Bits of clothing and other personal items, such as his ax, are displayed elsewhere on the same floor. Information is provided in Italian, German and English.

No photographs are allowed on the first floor, though visitors are allowed to use their cameras on the other two floors featuring exhibits.

One focuses on life in the Bronze Age in the area and some scientific guesses on Otzis life and demise. The top floor currently features an exhibition title Past Food: 15,000 Years of Nutrition.

Otzis story is largely known around Europe and has been told numerous times in American media outlets as well. The museum is well worth a visit for those interested in history.

But theres more to Bolzano than the Iceman, although the drive between Austria and Verona along the A22 autostrada doesnt reveal that.

Nothing of the old town is easily visible from the highway, where the view is mostly of factories or large and uninteresting structures..

Walterplatz, the main square in Bolzano, Italy, is busy all year but really comes to life in the winter, when it hosts one of Italy's most vibrant Christmas markets. The city's cathedral, whose origins date to the 12th century, is close by. A statue of Walter von der Vogelweide, a famed German medieval minstrel, sits in the middle of the square. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes) A small stained glass window helps illuminate the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Bolzano, Italy. The church was built in 1897. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)

The citys heart, especially in winter, is Walterplatz, a square named after a famous German minstrel, Walter von der Vogelweide. Bolzano is known as Bozen to German speakers, and there are quite a lot of them.

The Tyrol region has been a part of modern Italy only since the end of World War I. So dont be surprised if the place feels  and sounds  a bit more like Austria or Germany.

Restaurants serving dishes such as schnitzel are as common as pizzerias along the pedestrian streets that branch out from the square toward the museum. The Adige River and a tributary are a few more blocks away to the south and west.

Bolzano boasts a few churches, including the cathedral next to the main square, and a few small castles as well.

A great view of the entire city of Bolzano, Italy, and much of the surrounding area is in store for riders of a cable car that takes them up into the Alps. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes) The Adige River, the second-longest in Italy, flows through Bolzano. Houses and small castles dot the hills in the area, and the city is also home to the the world-famous Iceman, whose well-preserved remains were discovered in 1991. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)

A cable car up takes people up into the Alps, providing an excellent option for hikers or those who just want to get above it all for a while and take in the views.

Bolzano also has consistently ranked near the top of annual surveys of most livable cities in Italy. So maybe youll want to stay longer  though not likely as long as Otzi.

Directions

Address: Via Museo 43, Bolzano, Italy

Hours: For the museum, Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; open on Mondays during July, August and December. Cable cars depart and arrive multiple times per hour, with the last ones stopping at 7:30 p.m.

Cost: Museum admission is 13 euros for adults, 10 euros for students and senior citizens. Family tickets for two adults and children under 16 are 26 euros; for one adult and children under 16, 13 euros.

Information: www.iceman.it or www.bolzano-bozen.it/en/.
Members of Haitis new transitional presidential council. (United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti/TNS)

A majority bloc within Haitis new presidential council is doing an about-face on its selection of the countrys next prime minister, saying it will return to the original political agreement to choose the leader of the transitional government from a pool of applicants.

In a press statement issued late Wednesday, the newly emerged political alliance, which is calling itself The Indissoluble Majority Bloc, said its four members have resolved to return to the April 3 political agreement that expresses a common vision of the transition to a new government among the nine sectors and political parties that make up the presidential council.

The accord outlines a roadmap for the transition and the governance of the nine-member council tasked with restoring security and staging general elections by Feb. 7, 2026. It also explains how the seven members with voting rights are to go about choosing a president to coordinate their affairs, selecte a new prime minister and form a new cabinet.

In a surprising and controversial move on Tuesday, four of the voting members decided to forgo a public vote on the presidency of the council. They said they had, instead, decided among themselves that former Sen. Edgard Leblanc Fils would serve in the role. They also said they had reached an agreement to designate Fritz Belizaire, a former minister of youth and sports, as the next prime minister. Hours later, a document was leaked showing the names of the councils four members who had signed onto the nomination: Smith Augustin, Louis Gerald Gilles, Emmanuel Vertilaire and Leblanc.

Belizaires nomination immediately plunged the council into its first crisis and threatened its implosion. Members of the majority bloc, who represent sectors close to former President Michel Martellys Haitian Tet Kale Parti, or PHTK, were accused of having already distributed key government ministries such as finance, interior and justice, and engaging in the kind of political horse-trading that has created political instability in the past.

Unfortunately, the charade that took place on April 30, 2024 at the Presidential Council is a conspiracy aimed at guaranteeing power to PHTK and their allies during the transition period and thus perpetuating the tradition of corruption, the political party Fanmi Lavalas said in a statement.

In a separate statement, the Montana Accord, a coalition of civic society groups whose representative on the council is among those with a vote, said that the four voting members had plotted against the population in the middle of the night.

The political and economic mafia forces have decided to take control of the presidential council and the government so that they can continue to control the state, the Montana group said.

The representatives of Fanmi Lavalas, the Montana Accord and the private sector currently make up the minority bloc of the council, which was engaged in its own separate discussions with Leblanc to take charge of the council through a rotating presidency.

Under the political agreement, members of the transitional council are encouraged to find consensus. But should they not be able to, it was also decided that a vote would take place and 4-3 would constitute a majority. The battle for the presidency wasnt just a fight to name a coordinator but to also gain leverage over who should be the next prime minister, and which groups should control which ministries in the transition.

On Thursday, despite the about face on Belizaire, there was no indication that his nomiantion would eventually be dropped by the controlling majority. If anything, signs pointed to the continued fracturing of the council as former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Claude Joseph publicly accused the minority members of the council and their supporters of engaging in racism and discrimination against his majority bloc.

Joseph said the three sectors now in the minority were involved with a powerful member of Haitis private sector to gain the majority on the council with Leblanc.

Joseph is one of the architects of the political alliance known as BMI along with former Sen. Moise Jean-Charles, who leads the Pitit Desalin party. Both have voting members on the council.

When it was their majority it was good. But ours isnt good, Joseph said during an appearance on Radio Caraibes Thursday morning.

Singling out the private sector, Joseph continued. The [narrative] of this groupis not just anti-democratic but its a [narrative] that is racist and discriminatory.

He said that those with money in Haiti, the countrys economic elite, believe they are the only ones who are supposed to have the right and final word on everything.

As Joseph was speaking, Fritz Jean, the representative of the Montana Accord on the council, was appearing on another radio station, Magik 9. Jean took a much softer tone. He later told the Miami Herald that going forward, communication will be crucial to saving the project.

We must convey to the populace our strong disapproval of the current actions. Its imperative that the population understand the councils composition, comprising sectors from diverse backgrounds, each offering unique perspectives on the necessary changes in the country, he said.

He called the endeavor a clash of two projects: one decaying, responsible for the current chaos yet stubbornly refusing to fade, and the other, nascent but promising, still in its infancy.

Its vital that this message is crystal clear, emphasizing the urgency of embracing the emerging path for a better future, Jean said.

During his radio interview, Jean, who was among the four candidates seeking the councils presidency, said that one underlining problem is that some individuals view the new position of president as a traditional presidency when it is not. The presidents vote carries the same weight as the other six members, he said, and the presidents key role is to sign agreements, meeting with foreign leaders and carry out the majoritys decisions.

He has no issue with Leblanc, Jean said, but the prime ministers selection and the deal that sealed it is another matter.

We cannot have something closed where four people are going to take decisions on behalf of nine people, Jean said. Whats happened here needs to be revised so that we can work.

We are in a situation of crisis, where the institutions have been destroyed. We cannot be in a situation where posts have already been distributed, he added.

He also issued a warning to his fellow council members, saying the minority will not simply be a rubber stamp for an unbreakable majority.

2024 Miami Herald.

Visit at miamiherald.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Airmen from the 482d Fighter Wing and Special Operations Command South (SOCSOUTH) join forces with the 317th Airlift Wing, who provided their C-130 Hercules, to load pallets of medical supplies and electrolyte solution at Homestead Air Reserve Base, Fla., on April 26, 2024. This humanitarian aid, contributed by NGOs including Hope to Haiti, Medicine for All People International, and Lift Logistics, was delivered to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, under the coordination of the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) through the Denton Program. (Lionel Castellano/U.S. Air Force)

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti  Almost all the beds at the La Paix University Hospital are occupied. Critical medical supplies, including blood collection tubes, are running low. Doctors are operating without blood; they fear theyll soon run out of anesthesia, too.

The stream of patients, meanwhile, is unrelenting. There are those who have been attacked by the armed gangs that control 80 percent of the capital. Stroke patients. Women in labor. People with kidney failure who need dialysis  and are turned away because its not available.

Once, the staff at La Paix was augmented by international doctors, director Jean Philippe Lerbourg said, helping their Haitian counterparts after the 2010 earthquake that killed 220,000 people here.

Now, as Haiti confronts what aid workers say is the worst humanitarian crisis since then, theres far less international help. The hospitals Haitian doctors and nurses  many of whom have themselves been forced from their homes by the criminal paramilitaries who kidnap, rape and kill with impunity  are on their own.

The staff understands that help wont come from the outside, so they come to work, Lerbourg said. The current situation falls on us. Its quite a heavy burden that we cant just drop and leave.

Under skies throbbing with helicopters carrying diplomats and aid workers away, as the world responds to crises in Gaza and Ukraine, Haitians are banding together through political chaos, rampant violence and endemic poverty to keep themselves and each other alive.

Jacky Lumarque, the rector of Quisqueya University in Port-au-Prince, remembers a spirit of [international] solidarity after the earthquake. Its absent today.

Haiti has no friends, Lumarque said. We are alone in the world.

The United Nations has appealed to donors this year for $674 million in aid for Haiti. Theyve contributed $97 million  14 percent. Last year, the request was $720 million; only 35 percent was met.

Theres a lot of competition at the moment for aid, according to Carl Skau, deputy director of the World Food Program. The crisis in Haiti, meanwhile, is complex and requires an equally complex response.

But its really unacceptable, frankly, that Haiti is at the state it is at the moment, Skau told The Washington Post. The Haitians deserve that the world pay attention and step up support.

More than 2,500 people here have been wounded or killed in the first quarter of 2024, most of them by gangs, the U.N. office here has reported, the most violent period since it started tracking such attacks in 2022. More than 90,000 people in the capital alone have been forced from their homes.

Growing gangs have filled the power vacuum here opened by the still-unsolved assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021. In recent months, theyve busted open prisons, laid siege to police stations and shut down the international airport.

More ominously, they control the main roads in and out of the capital, have attacked the main seaport and assaulted a key fuel terminal, prompting fears of shortages and stranding supplies. The violence has spread to the countryside  Haitis breadbasket  as half the population faces acute hunger.

Armed gang members control many displacement camps and force young people to have sex with them for aid, said Guerda Previlon, who helps children and young mothers who have been forced from their homes.

There is no life in these spaces, said Previlon, the founder and executive director of the Haiti-based Initiative for Youth Development. Its not a living environment for children.

Ariel Henry, Haitis embattled prime minister, resigned last week and a transitional government was sworn in. Standing up that council of Haitian leaders was a condition for the deployment of a U.N.-approved, Kenyan-led international police force, but its unclear when it will get here.

The U.N. mission here, meanwhile, has reduced its presence to essential personnel and could shrink further amid concerns over continued access to clean drinking water and fuel.

U.S. Southern Command last week coordinated four military flights to Port-au-Prince to bolster embassy security and deliver privately donated aid including oral hydration fluids and medicines.

Theres much about the response to the 2010 quake that Haitians are keen to not repeat. Billions of dollars in aid was allocated to international organizations, but much was mismanaged. U.N. peacekeepers were blamed for a cholera outbreak that caused almost 10,000 deaths.

Still, aid workers and Haitians say the response today is grossly insufficient.

I do not see the mobilization of donors in proportion to the seriousness of the crisis, said Jean-Martin Bauer, the World Food Programs Haiti director. I have been working at WFP for 23 years. When I started, there was not Yemen, Sudan, Ukraine [and] Gaza burning at the same time.

The Center for Peasant Animation and Community Action, a nonprofit in Port-au-Prince that collaborates with WFP and other aid groups, has provided more than 300,000 meals to displaced people here since February.

On a recent visit, cooks prepared rice, peppers and sardines. Benita Isidore Tranquile was one of them. She was chased from her home by gangs in 2015, she said. The violence has prevented her husband from driving his taxi, so shes now the familys main breadwinner.

This work brings me a lot of joy, Tranquile told The Post.

The crisis has forced the group to hire more workers, according to Herns Francemy, the assistant to its program manager. It struggles to procure supplies, he said, including fuel and water.

Some people depend on the food we provide every day. We face resource problems to cover the people in need, Francemy said. Nevertheless, I feel proud to be able to meet the needs of those people. Some people say they would have starved to death if it wasnt for us.

Lerbourg, the hospital director, grew up dreaming of becoming a teacher or a lawyer, but his mother discouraged him. His parents have since left Haiti, but Lerbourg stayed behind with his wife and son because he felt he could be useful. He didnt want to be just another social security number.

I love medicine, and I cant see myself doing anything else, Lerbourg said. As soon as I pass the hospital gate, my mood changes. I forget my personal problems and grievances regarding the situation. Im here to save lives.
Beijings state-controlled propaganda units are forging ties with Chinese tech companies, including the sister company of popular e-commerce firm Temu, in what researchers say is likely a coordinated effort to gather targeted data on foreign users that can be used to bolster misinformation campaigns and other state propaganda work abroad. (Wikimedia Commons)

SYDNEY  Beijings state-controlled propaganda units are forging ties with Chinese tech companies, including the sister company of popular e-commerce firm Temu, in what researchers say is likely a coordinated effort to gather targeted data on foreign users that can be used to bolster misinformation campaigns and other state propaganda work abroad.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), a Canberra think tank, released a report on Wednesday that mapped extensive linkages between state-run propaganda groups tasked with harvesting data from Chinese tech firms, including popular shopping and gaming apps with hundreds of millions of combined users in the United States and elsewhere.

U.S. lawmakers have in recent years raised concerns that the soaring popularity of Chinese-owned apps among American users could have national security implications.

They use those companies to gain access to strategically valuable data sets, within China, but also globally, to process and use that data to contribute to propaganda work, said Samantha Hoffman, a former senior analyst at the ASPI who led the research.

The report maps ties between over a thousand Chinese government organizations and Chinese companies, including state-owned enterprises. It includes details of a cooperation agreement between the Chinese sister company of Temu  the breakout Chinese shopping app with over 100 million U.S. users  and a unit of the CCP-controlled media group Peoples Daily, which shares commercial data with the Chinese government and police.

Information funneled to these state data agencies could offer Beijing valuable insights into patterns of preferences, behavior and decision-making that can be used in targeted misinformation campaigns among other applications, the reports researchers say.

Hoffman says it highlights an urgent need for lawmakers to increase scrutiny of how user data is repurposed and consider registering internet companies with ties to Chinas state-controlled propaganda groups as state agents  a restrictive designation applied to Chinese state media in the United States.

It comes amid a crackdown on Chinese-owned apps in the United States  including TikTok  over fears that their data could be accessed and misused by the Chinese government. Under Beijings strict national data framework, companies are legally compelled to give authorities access to data stored in the country on request.

President Biden signed a bill into law last week that would compel TikToks Chinese owners to sell the app. The legislation also leaves space to target other apps controlled by Chinese owners, including Temu.

Beijing has strongly condemned efforts by the United States to restrict Chinese apps on the grounds of national security.

It is sheer robbers logic to try every means to snatch from others all the good things that they have, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin in March, after the House passed the legislation to force Chinese-owned ByteDance to divest TikTok.

While links between Chinese propaganda units and the countrys tech products are becoming increasingly visible, there is little direct insight into how data harvested and shared is used.

Its hard to tell that story in so many ways because theres never going to be that sort of smoking gun  and yet you can see that the propaganda system in China is investing heavily into these efforts so it must matter, said Hoffman.

Beijing tightly controls information through a web of state propaganda units, censorship restrictions and technical infrastructure that separates Chinese internet users from information outside of the country  including bans on all popular Western social media and news outlets.

Under President Xi Jinping, China has sought to retool its propaganda to control and influence narratives about the ruling Communist Party abroad, either by promoting positive messages or by undermining its critics. That drive has become increasingly visible through the aggressive expansion of Chinese state media abroad, as well as the proliferation of networks of pro-Beijing misinformation accounts on social media.

That process is aided by large-scale data collection conducted by a growing number of sophisticated groups linked to Chinas central propaganda authorities that are investing in technology, creating state-controlled data-sharing platforms and building partnerships with Chinese tech firms operating abroad.

One of the leading entities behind this drive is the state-run Peoples Daily media group, which in recent years has spawned units to oversee mass data harvesting and cloud services that in turn are made accessible to the government, police and other state clients looking to better understand perceptions of Beijing abroad and target critics.

Among the links uncovered by ASPI is a partnership between Pinduoduo  the sister company of Temu  and Peoples Data Management, a unit of Peoples Daily that facilitates state data sharing.

According to the Peoples Data website, the unit says its role is to break down data barriers between party committees, governments, enterprises and institutions at all levels, and facilitate the flow of social data to the CCP. The project is part of a broader national drive to bring commercial and industrial data into state-run exchanges and cloud centers in aid of a guiding national principle called party managed data.

Pinduoduo is listed as an enterprise partner on the website of Peoples Data. Pinduoduo, in a statement, denied it has a data-sharing agreement as part of its cooperation agreement with Peoples Data, and said it works with the state propaganda unit to to distribute editorial content like press releases.

Boston-based Temu says it does not have a relationship with Peoples Data, and says it stores U.S. user data on Microsoft Azure cloud services in the United States.

Peoples Data is a unit of Peoples Daily Online, a group that The Washington Post previously reported conducts extensive overseas surveillance of Western social media targets on behalf of Chinese police and intelligence services, according to troves of government bidding documents.

ASPI researchers pointed to caveats in Temus data-sharing agreements that allow information to flow to affiliates - which Hoffman says could include Pinduoduo.

Significant downstream data access risks emerge if you follow the logic of the Party-states stated policy intent, said Hoffman.

Peoples Data did not respond to an emailed request for comment.

Pinduoduo was suspended in the Google App store last year over violations of Googles privacy rules. The company is also facing class-action lawsuits in Illinois and New York over what users claim is unwarranted collection of unnecessary data.

The ASPI report also notes partnerships between Peoples Data and Didi Chuxing  Chinas top ride-hailing app, which operates in Australia, New Zealand and 10 countries in Central and Latin America  and Air China, the countrys top state-run airline.

State propaganda authorities are likewise expanding links with Chinese gaming, artificial intelligence and metaverse companies. In one case study, researchers point to links between a CCP national technology program and the popular international game and mobile app, Genshin Impact, made by Chinese firm Shanghai miHoYo Tianming Technology.

Pro-Chinese misinformation campaigns have recently expanded on X, while Meta in November cracked down on a network of thousands of Facebook accounts set up in China that sought to boost the countrys image.

Chinese actors are increasingly developing new techniques, including one campaign uncovered last year that saw state-friendly articles placed on the websites of dozens of local U.S. newspapers.

The more we understand this system and the more we can get on top of managing its implications, the more were able to control, the negative effects of those efforts, said Hoffman.
A Navy contractor collects water samples from a granular activated carbon filter at Red Hill well on the outskirts of Honolulu, April 4, 2022. (MarQueon A. D. Tramble/U.S. Navy)

HONOLULU  The trauma of exposure to petroleum-contaminated tap water left a Navy spouse with neurological injuries, anxiety and fear of water, a psychiatrist testified in Hawaii federal court Wednesday.

Dr. Steven Storage said Nastasia Freeman, one of 17 plaintiffs in Feindt vs. United States, suffered health problems that resulted from consuming water tainted by jet fuel in November 2021.

Traumatic events impede the flow of blood into the front part of the brain, which manages high-level functions such as planning, organizing and controlling responses, Storage said on the stand.

The group of plaintiffs, which does not include any uniformed service members, claims to have suffered medical, emotional and financial injuries from a jet fuel spill that contaminated the Navys water system for military housing.

A spill at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility seeped into the groundwater and into one of the wells that served roughly 93,000 residents on and near Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.

More than 7,500 additional plaintiffs have joined several other lawsuits also seeking compensation.

U.S. District Court Judge Leslie Kobayashi is hearing the case without a jury.

Storage, who practices at Amen Clinics in Encino, Calif., began seeing Freeman in September 2022. She complained of dizziness, drowsiness, numbness, muscle spasms, tremors, brain fog and an impaired memory and slurred speech, he wrote in a declaration filed on behalf of the plaintiffs.

Freeman had moved to Hawaii in May 2021 with her husband, Koda Freeman, a Navy lieutenant, and their three children, according to a declaration she filed with the court.

The family moved into Aliamanu Military Reservation, one of the military housing communities closest to the Red Hill well.

Their problems with tainted water began on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 25, 2021, a meal that sickened several guests. Within a few days the Freeman children were vomiting and suffering from diarrhea.

For much of her life, Freeman had a condition called temporal lobe epilepsy, but her seizures had been dormant for about two years.

With exposure to the tainted water, the seizures returned, Freeman states in the declaration. The family relocated to California in February 2022.

Among the tests and examinations performed under Storages care, Freeman was given a SPECT brain scan, which detects altered blood flow and indicates which parts of the brain are most and least active. It is used to diagnose conditions such as seizure, Parkinsons, epilepsy and traumatic brain injury.

While there is one irregularity in Nastasias SPECT scan that can be attributed to her seizure disorder, the other indications of brain injury, taken with the temporal nature of her symptoms, her exposure to contaminated water, and her medical history, indicate injury to the brain from toxic exposure and the resulting trauma, Storage wrote in his declaration.

On the stand, Storage said the circumstances of contaminated water coming into Freemans home would be particularly traumatic.

Home is supposed to be a safe place, he testified. We are retreating from the world there. Our guard is down. It becomes much more traumatic because it is unexpected.

Home no longer represents a place where you can live comfortably.

Freeman discussed her fear of water with Storage, he said.

The plaintiffs attorney, Kristina Baehr, asked the psychiatrist if he thought that fear would be long lasting.

I do, Storage said. It is very, very hard to shake a fear like that. You will second guess water wherever you are.

Under cross examination by Justice Department attorney Eric Rey, Storage acknowledged that Freeman had not been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

The government has acknowledged responsibility for the water contamination from the fuel leak but holds that the Navys quick response prevented widespread and lengthy exposure by residents of the housing areas.

The lines of cross examination by government attorneys since the trial began Monday suggests their defense will assert that the cause of maladies experienced by residents was largely due to preexisting conditions and situational stress.
The Chinese aircraft carrier Fujian is pictured on April 30, 2024, in this image by the state-run Xinhua News Agency. (Xinhua News Agency)

Chinas newest and most advanced aircraft carrier began sea trials this week, but it is still likely years away from regular, routine deployments, according to two experts.

The Fujian, Beijings third carrier, departed Shanghai Jiangnan Shipyard around 8 a.m. Wednesday to test the reliability and stability of its propulsion and electrical systems, according to the official China Military Online website that day.

The carrier  Chinas second built domestically and the first in its class  was launched in June 2022 and has since undergone mooring trials, outfitting work and equipment adjustments, according to the report.

The Fujian is named for the Chinese mainland province opposite of Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing considers a breakaway province.

While sea trials typically mark one of the final milestones before a warship begins patrols, the Fujian is likely several years away from regular deployment, according to an analysis published online Tuesday by Mike Sweeney, a nonresident fellow at Defense Priorities, a think tank in Washington, D.C.

He estimated the carrier will not achieve initial operating capability for approximately another year and routine deployments are likely several years away due to the ships new technology.

This assumes China encounters no major technical challenges with the new carriers design, which would not be unexpected with a first-of-class ship of the Fujians complexity, Sweeney wrote.

The carrier may not reach the Chinese navy for another two years, and even more time may be needed to make it a fully effective fighting ship, according to Sam Roggeveen, director of the international security program at the Australian think tank Lowy Institute.

The Chinese aircraft carrier Fujian is pictured on April 30, 2024, in this image by the state-run Xinhua News Agency. (Xinhua News Agency)

The Fujian and its sister ships are powered by steam turbines rather than nuclear energy like the United States 11 aircraft carriers.

It does, however, feature significant improvements over its predecessors.

The Shandong, Chinas first domestically built carrier, and the Liaoning, a rebuilt Soviet vessel, both use ski-jump flight decks. That system requires aircraft to carry fewer weapons and fuel and limits their combat efficacy and operational reach, Sweeney wrote.

The Fujian bridges that technological gap with an electromagnetic catapult system like the one aboard the United States newest carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, he said.

Roggeveen agreed.

On the first aircraft carrier with that technology, the U.S. Navy had all sorts of problems with it, he told Stars and Stripes by phone Thursday. China is basically introducing the same technology, but from a standing start, if you like, without the decades of experience that the U.S. has with aircraft carrier technology.
The South China Sea and parts of the Spratly Islands are seen in this 2014 image taken from the International Space Station. (NASA)

China is pursuing plans to develop floating nuclear reactors that could power military facilities it has built in contested areas of the South China Sea, according to the top U.S. military commander in the Pacific and State Department officials, a prospect they warn would undermine regional security and stability.

After more than a decade of research and development and Chinese regulators safety concerns, China appears to be moving forward with its plans  at a time when the international community has not yet crafted standards governing floating reactors safe use, U.S. officials said.

U.S. officials say they believe any deployment is still several years away. Still, the concern is great enough that Adm. John Aquilino, who leads U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, is raising a warning flag.

Chinas intended use of floating nuclear power plants has potential impacts to all nations in the region, said Aquilino, who is relinquishing his command Friday. Chinese state media has stated publicly Beijings intent to use them to strengthen its military control of the South China Sea, further exerting their unlawful territorial claims. Chinas claim of sovereignty of the entire South China Sea has no basis in international law and is destabilizing the entire region.

His apprehension is shared by the State Department.

Our concern is that the closer they get to deploying floating nuclear power plants, the faster theyll use them for purposes contrary to the national security of the United States and broader security in the region, a senior State Department official said in an interview. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the department.

The State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense in Beijing, which oversees approved nuclear-related projects, did not respond to a request for comment.

Worries about Chinas intentions were voiced obliquely during the Obama administration and more forcefully during the Trump administration. Today, U.S. officials say China is in advanced research and development stages to build reactors for military purposes.

These worries are coming at a time of heightened tensions in the western Pacific. Beijing, which is executing the most ambitious military buildup since the end of the Cold War, has been increasingly assertive in waters off Taiwan, Japan and the Philippines. Its coast guard has directly challenged Philippine vessels seeking to resupply a Philippine ship anchored off the Second Thomas Shoal.

Russia is the only country to operate a floating nuclear power plant, the Akademik Lomonosov, which became operational in December 2019. Photos of the facility show a multistory cogeneration plant on a nonmotorized barge. According to IEEE Spectrum, it consists of two pressurized-water KLT-40S reactors, similar to those powering Russian nuclear icebreakers, and two steam turbine plants.

China began designing floating nuclear power reactors in 2010. The state-run Global Times Online reported in 2016 that the government planned to deploy 20 of these reactors in the South China Sea to support commercial development, oil exploration and seawater desalination.

But the same article also boasted of military applications: Each South China Sea island and reef, paired with a floating nuclear-powered platform, is essentially a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier ... equipped with combat aircraft and missile systems. Their military advantage far outweighs that of a U.S. carrier fleet coming from afar.

Amid escalating tensions in the South China Sea, these reactors can ensure the smooth conduct of military exercises, researchers from a State Council-affiliated institute highlighted in a 2020 article.

Chinas National Development and Reform Commission, which approves nuclear projects, has signed off on three types of floating power reactors currently in development. According to a 2022 report by the International Atomic Energy Agency, construction for one is scheduled to commence this year, while another is in the detailed design stage.

But progress has been spotty. China had hoped to debut its first floating nuclear power plant by 2021, but nuclear engineers working on the project revealed challenges, including regulators concerns about safety and feasibility.

China over a decade ago began building artificial islands on remote atolls and coral reefs in the South China Sea  constructing ports, runways, barracks and hangars. Despite a 2015 pledge by President Xi Jinping not to militarize the islands, China has since placed antiship and antiaircraft batteries on the three biggest islands, Subi, Mischief and Fiery Cross Reefs; landed aircraft on the runways; and docked warships in the ports, alarming U.S. and regional allies.

In 2016, two days before Chinese state media reported the governments plan to build reactors, an international court in The Hague ruled that Beijing had no lawful claim to these reefs, some of which fell within the Philippines 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone.

Our biggest concern is potential deployment in the South China Sea, the State Department official said, noting the long-standing and contentious territorial and maritime disputes in that area. The official added: There are also critical questions around the implementation of existing nuclear safety and security frameworks that still need to be addressed.

Thomas Shugart, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, said Chinas deployment of floating nuclear power plants would amount to a doubling-down on Chinas occupation of the artificial islands.

The operation of these floating reactors within what are essentially military facilities would also raise risks that are greater than those associated with forward-deployed U.S. submarines at overseas ports, said Shugart, a former Navy submarine warfare officer. Unlike U.S. nuclear submarines, which normally shut down shortly after mooring, and operate only at low power levels in port, he said, these reactors would likely be operating at high power levels almost all the time to supply electrical power.

Some South China Sea experts are skeptical.

Weve been hearing about this for the better part of a decade now, and theres no reactor, said Gregory Poling, who runs the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He said floating reactors are less feasible than solar wind and diesel fuel. Chinas doing a lot of other, more concerning things that keep me up at night.

Many nuclear industry experts are bullish on next-generation technologies such as floating or small modular reactors as a way for countries to meet rising energy demands while lowering emissions of heat-trapping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. But even supporters acknowledge that significant challenges remain.

Some scientists and environmentalists say that floating nuclear plants have unique vulnerabilities compared with their counterparts on land, and that a catastrophic accident could release radioactive contaminants into the ocean, as happened during the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan in 2011.

On land, nuclear reactors and their fuel are generally protected inside containment structures of concrete and steel up to five feet thick. A reactor designed to float at sea would not be as robust, said Edwin Lyman, a physicist and director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

You cant have the kind of large, leakproof, thick reinforced-concrete containment that is typical for many land-based plants, Lyman said. If the reactor suffers a Fukushima-like failure, with molten nuclear fuel eating through the containment shell, that stuff is going to end up in the ocean, he said.

A floating reactor would be vulnerable to a malicious attack or sabotage from underwater assailants, or to the destructive forces of a tsunami or extreme storm, Lyman said. The Pacific Basin is the most tsunami-prone region, officials said.

Many of these ideas are based on expectations that this new generation of plants is so safe that you can stick them on a ship and send them anywhere without having to worry about them, Lyman said. Thats unrealistic and dangerous thinking. If you dont properly grapple with these issues, youre going to end up with potential disasters waiting to happen, around the world.

China has experienced a number of accidents involving nuclear technology over the last few years. An incident at the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant in 2021 led to the plants shutdown for a year for an investigation and to fix damaged fuel rods.

Nuclear safety experts with the International Atomic Energy Agency met with a Chinese designer of the reactors this year to provide an overview of IAEA safety standards related to transportation of nuclear materials. The agency does not have sign-off authority, but China has not yet sent formal technical information or construction plans to the IAEA for review, according to a Western diplomat who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matters sensitivity.

One of U.S. officials biggest concerns is the lack of a robust legal and regulatory framework to ensure that these technologies are deployed in a safe, transparent manner. The IAEA is seeking to craft such standards, but states such as China and Russia have slowed the process, to the consternation of Western officials. China, in particular, has sought to shape the safety standards so they are less rigorous, said people familiar with the matter.

The bottom line, said U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel, is that the region is too valuable to put at risk. The South China Sea provides 12 percent of the worlds fish catch. A third of global sea trade takes place there. Terrorist groups like the Islamic State-East Asia, or Abu Sayyaf, operate in areas near it. The last thing you want to do, he said, is put 20 floating nuclear facilities in the middle of the South China Sea.

Chiang reported from Taipei, Taiwan. Michelle Ye Hee Lee in Tokyo, Aaron Schaffer in Washington and Pei-Lin Wu in Taipei contributed to this report.
Ruslan Kozachok, 47, a former tattoo artist and a veteran who was blinded by shrapnel on the front line, sits in the Kyiv office of Port, an organization that helps blind veterans and their families adapt after combat. (Oksana Parafeniuk/for The Washington Post)

KYIV  In the 10 months since his daughter was born, Ruslan Kozachok has hardly left her side.

He held baby Isabella in the hospital before his wife did. Lately, hes learned to keep her steady as she practices her first steps.

But he has never seen her.

Three months before Isabellas birth, Kozachok, 47, was blinded when shrapnel from a Russian shell pierced the left side of his skull in Chasiv Yar, the small city where he was fighting as a soldier in eastern Ukraine.

Kozachok was once a tattoo artist with his own salon, but his injury has robbed him of his profession, his hobbies, his routine and, most painfully, of the chance to see his daughter grow up.

On the front lines of Russias bloody war, Ukrainian troops are killed and wounded daily, scarring and maiming a generation of young people. Many, like Kozachok, voluntarily joined the military in the first days of the invasion in 2022.

Kozachok holds his daughter Isabella while taking a walk with his wife, Yulia Bespala, in Kyiv on April 10, 2024. (Oksana Parafeniuk/for The Washington Post) Kozachok holds Isabella during a walk in the forest. (Oksana Parafeniuk/for The Washington Post)

Severe eye injuries are pervasive. At least 1,000 soldiers have been blinded in the past two years, said Anna Purtova, a lawmaker who is advocating for soldiers who have lost their vision. Tetiana Lytvynenko, head of ophthalmology at a Kyiv hospital that treats soldiers and civilians, said the 30 beds in her ward are always full.

While medical advances have improved treatment for many war injuries, including with enhanced prosthetic limbs, little can be done for those who lose vision in both eyes and must learn to navigate the world without sight. Ukraine has not yet adapted to its growing blind population. Guide dogs are uncommon, many streetlights do not beep for pedestrians, and drivers often park on city sidewalks, creating dangerous obstacles.

Some wounded Ukrainians are struggling with all of these challenges while also facing parenthood blind.

For nine years before his injury, Kozachok and his wife, Yulia, who works in a bank, dreamed of starting a family. She was six months pregnant when she visited her husband in the hospital and told him what his doctors had explained to her: His vision was gone forever.

Kozachoks head injury could easily have been fatal. He lost one eye immediately and had to crawl to an evacuation point, where he lost consciousness. He survived but woke up in the hospital to a blur that soon faded into darkness.

For months, he struggled to accept his situation. It was a daily process of finding the sense in living, he said. Its like fighting with yourself.

Kozachok, on right, has found solace in rock climbing at a gym in Kyiv after losing his vision. (Oksana Parafeniuk/for The Washington Post) Rock climbing helps Kozachok stay in shape and be active. (Oksana Parafeniuk/for The Washington Post)

Then Isabella was born. In the hospital, Yulia described Isabella to him: pink skin, red hair and bright blue eyes.

When she said blue eyes, I just melted, Kozachok said. He knows that her hair has since turned blonde, and he likes to imagine that, too.

I can only touch her face and picture her image in my head, he said. Im touching her face a lot.

Fatherhood, Yulia acknowledged, is probably what kept him alive.

Kozachok still hasnt found a job he can do that satisfies his creative passions. But he has found some solace in rock climbing  a sport he had never tried before losing his vision. Now, he regularly visits a gym in Kyiv.

The owner, who drives him to and from the sessions, calls out directions to help him navigate the rock wall that most climbers scale by following colored patterns.

Kozachok said he is trying to stay healthy and active, for himself - and also for Isabella. Every father wants to set an example for their kid, he said.

Denys Abdulin, 35, already had two sons when he left his home in Bila Tserkva, a small city near Kyiv, in March 2022 and joined the military. His wife, Olesia, took their boys to Lithuania for safety.

By April, Abdulin was in the eastern city of Severodonetsk, where Russian forces encircled his brigade, he said. They were hit with artillery, cluster munitions and aviation bombs.

Ukrainian veteran Denys Abdulin, 35, at a park in Kyiv on April 5, 2024. Abdulin lost the use of both eyes two years ago after shrapnel from a mortar pierced his skull through his left ear and exited his right eye. (Oksana Parafeniuk/for The Washington Post) Abdulin hugs his 9-year-old son Vadym at home in Bila Tserkva as his wife, Olesia Abdulina, stands watching. (Oksana Parafeniuk/for The Washington Post)

Abdulin took cover in a building. He didnt hear the drone that spotted them  or the whistle of the mortar that followed. Shrapnel pierced his skull through his left ear and exited his right eye. The soldiers in the building, all wounded, tried to patch each other up while awaiting evacuation.

In a hospital in Dnipro, Abdulin said, he waited days for bandages to be changed. Eventually, he was sent to Kyiv, and Olesia brought their sons, Vadym and David, to visit.

Even though he couldnt see them, their innocence about his injuries left him hopeful. One was excited to ride in his wheelchair; the other wanted to play with the adjustable hospital bed. I cannot explain the happiness, he said.

The boys, now 9 and 6, were two years younger when he last saw them  and thats how they will stay in his mind.

Im very grateful he had a chance to see them, Olesia said in their living room on a recent Saturday, as their cat, Usik, circled around their legs and the boys ran around with toys. Their eye color, body types, features. He saw them in real life.

The boys struggle to understand their dads blindness. The younger one, David, once took one of Abdulins prosthetic blue eyes and attached it to the head of his red Play-Doh octopus. They bring Abdulin books to read and pictures to see. Sometimes, when they ask him to assemble a toy, he gets frustrated. He wishes he could teach them to box, his favorite sport.

We didnt explain the whole situation, Olesia said. We tell them he got injured at war.

After losing his sight, Abdulin, a former warehouse worker, trained as a massage therapist. (Oksana Parafeniuk/for The Washington Post) Abdulin gives a massage to Elina Fediuk. His work has given him an important sense of purpose after a difficult recovery. (Oksana Parafeniuk/for The Washington Post)

Abdulin used to work in a warehouse  a job he can no longer do. Last year, he trained as a massage therapist with help from Port, an organization founded by Purtova, the lawmaker who helps blind veterans adapt. For now, Abdulin borrows a space to serve his few clients, but hopes to open his own studio.

Before hearing about massage school, he said, I had no idea what a blind person could do.

His work has given him an important sense of purpose after a difficult recovery. Olesia used to comfort him through panic attacks about his blindness. He also suffered from nightmares. Even good dreams always have a bad ending, he said, because he wakes up blind.

He recently had surgery to prepare for eye implants that will help prevent infections and give the appearance of natural eyes  but he still holds out hope that he will see again. I dont want to live my whole life blind, he said.

Ivan Soroka, 27, and his wife Vladyslava, 26, met online in April 2022. At military positions outside Kyiv, he climbed trees to find a signal to message her. They finally met in person and I fell in love with her green eyes immediately, he said. By May, they were engaged. When he left for the front in June, I promised her Id come back, he said.

Ivan Soroka, a Ukrainian veteran who lost sight in both eyes because of combat injuries, on Monday, April 29, 2024, holds his newborn son Sviatoslav, born three days earlier. (Oksana Parafeniuk/for The Washington Post)

In August of that year, while Sorokas unit was retreating from near Bakhmut, a mortar exploded between him and his close friend, Yura, who died, leaving behind a wife and two children. Soroka was badly wounded in his face and legs. He lost sight in both eyes.

His biggest fear, he said, was that he would be a burden to Vladyslava. The biggest surprise, he added, was that she told him they would overcome their challenges together. They married last September. Last month, between air raid sirens in Kyiv, Vladyslava gave birth to a boy  the first time her doctor delivered a baby for a blind parent. The doctor handed Soroka the scissors and he cut the umbilical cord.

They named the dark-haired baby Sviatoslav.

Three days later, family and friends  including some of Sorokas fellow soldiers  arrived to congratulate the new parents before they returned home. Soroka carefully held his son, cradling his head in the same hands that once held a gun.

Its scary to hold baby in your hands, he said. If you can see, it might not be so scary. But if you cant see him.  Such little hands, little legs.

It was especially good news that he was a boy, the visitors said. Sviatoslav looks like his father. And Ukraine is running out of men.

Oksana Parafeniuk contributed to this report.
Israeli soldiers handle a blindfolded Palestinian detainee from Gaza after arriving to the Israeli side of the border on Wednesday. The detainee's hands were tied behind his back with a plastic zip tie. (Heidi Levine/The Washington Post)

JERUSALEM  Israeli government lawyers defended the secret detention of Palestinians from Gaza before the countrys Supreme Court on Wednesday, arguing that the state is not required to disclose where it has held potentially thousands of detainees apprehended during the war.

The hearing, which lasted less than an hour, was the first on Israels incarceration of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip since the conflict started on Oct. 7. It was held after an Israeli rights group, HaMoked, brought a petition to locate a Palestinian medical worker detained by Israeli forces during a raid on Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza in February.

The petition, for a writ of habeas corpus, is part of a broader legal effort by rights groups to figure out where and under what legal framework Israel is holding the Palestinians its security forces have rounded up during military operations in Gaza. The case, while technically centered on the fate of one man, could also have sweeping implications for Israels commitment to rule of law during wartime, as it faces global scrutiny over the conduct of the war, including by top international courts.

There is no obligation to provide this information, Ran Rosenberg, a lawyer for the state, said at the hearing Wednesday. He cited an earlier ruling by a high court justice saying the state considers Gaza enemy territory and has no duty to alert the families of detainees to their whereabouts.

Thousands of Palestinians have gone missing in Gaza since the start of the war. Some of the missing are still buried under the rubble, while others have vanished into Israels opaque military detention system. HaMoked, which provides free legal aid to Palestinians, said it hoped the hearing would force the court to rule on the detentions and compel authorities to allow the detainees access to lawyers.

What is the legal basis for detention? Nadia Daqqa, a lawyer from HaMoked, asked the court Wednesday. There is no explanation as to why we cant know where the person is held.

Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza after Hamas-led militants staged a brutal attack on Israeli communities near the border, killing about 1,200 people and kidnapping more than 250 others. At least 34,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the local Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says the majority of the dead are women and children.

The Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday that it apprehends terrorism suspects in Gaza as part of its effort to dismantle Hamass military capabilities.

Individuals suspected of involvement in terrorist activity are being detained and questioned, the IDF spokespersons unit said in a statement. Individuals who are found not to be taking part in terrorist activities are released.

Israel has sent about 1,500 detainees back to Gaza through the main Kerem Shalom crossing, according UNRWA, the U.N. relief agency for Palestinian refugees.

In a report released last month, UNRWA said former detainees described being beaten, threatened and deprived of food, water, toilets and sleep. Responding to the report, the IDF said mistreatment of detainees is a violation of the IDFs values and contravenes IDF orders and is therefore absolutely prohibited.

HaMoked submitted requests to the IDF to locate 1,317 Palestinians from Gaza, including 29 women and 19 teenage boys. It also brought four blanket habeas corpus petitions to the Supreme Court, which the justices rejected on procedural grounds.

The group began filing petitions for individual detainees, including the subject of Wednesdays hearing, a 43-year-old X-ray technician named Muhammad Hamid Salem Abu Musa. A high court judge last month ordered the IDF, the head of Israels prison service, its chief military prosecutor and others to respond to HaMokeds petition.

Abu Musa, who is from the city of Khan Younis, was reportedly detained by Israeli troops in February as they swept through Nasser Hospital, apprehending dozens of patients and medical workers, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Since then, his whereabouts have been uncertain, his brother, Jasser Abu Musa, said in a phone interview.

The IDF said it stormed the medical complex to recover the bodies of hostages it believed were being held there - and to stop what it said was militant activity in and around hospital grounds. Israeli forces did not find any hostages bodies in the raid, but said they discovered boxes of medicine bearing the names of Israelis kidnapped by Hamas.

Hundreds of terrorists and terror suspects were arrested, the IDF said, and transferred to undergo further investigations by security forces.

Abu Musa had worked at the hospital as a radiology technician for roughly two decades, his brother said. And he was at work in October when his young son, Yousef, arrived at the hospital morgue following an Israeli strike on the family home.

Jasser, 45, said he heard from former detainees that his brother is being treated well in Israeli custody, and that Wednesdays hearing offered a glimmer of hope amid the uncertainty.

Still, the familys fears deepened when civil defense workers in Gaza discovered several mass graves at the Nasser Hospital complex in the weeks after the raid. Some of the graves contained bodies buried there before the operation.

I have little faith in the court given the ongoing violations of human rights in Gaza, he said. My only wish is to hear that Muhammad is safe.

In court on Wednesday, lawyers for the state did not say under which legal framework Abu Musa was detained, but said broadly that Gaza detainees are being held under either Israeli criminal law or a 2002 law on the incarceration of unlawful combatants. The law on unlawful combatants allows Israel to hold people accused of hostile acts against the state without charge or trial. In a filing this week, the state said Abu Musa would be granted access to a lawyer - but it did not say where he is being held.

The decision-makers have decided at this time not to provide this information to NGOs or to families, Rosenberg, the government lawyer, said.

The panel, which did not rule on the case Wednesday, seemed skeptical of the states argument. Justice Ofer Grosskopf questioned why there is not a clear avenue for rights groups and relatives to seek information about individual detainees short of petitioning the high court. In a country governed by the rule of law, everyone has to petition the high court, so the high court asks the states attorney to locate a detainee? Grosskopf said.

Israel has not allowed the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit Palestinian detainees since the start of the war. The ICRC has also called on Hamas to release the hostages still held by Palestinian militants in Gaza and to allow its representatives to visit them in the meantime.

Israeli media reported earlier this year that the defense establishment supported providing the ICRC with information on about 60 detainees from Gaza. But the state reversed course after far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir intervened, saying details regarding Palestinian detainees should only be shared if Hamas first provided information about the remaining hostages in Gaza.

Its shameful that Israeli authorities would aspire to behave like terrorists, Jessica Montell, executive director of HaMoked, said in an interview before Wednesdays hearing.

We should be a law-abiding country committed to respecting international legal standards, she said.

Alon Rom in Jerusalem and Hajar Harb in London contributed to this report.
An Israeli army mobile howitzer dug in near the border with the Gaza Strip outside Kibbutz Beeri in southern Israel, on Oct. 22, 2023. (Kobi Wolf/Bloomberg)

Hamas is studying a proposal for a temporary cease-fire with Israel in a positive spirit, as international pressure mounts on the two sides to reach a deal and end a conflict that has shaken the Middle East.

The Iran-backed militant group plans to send a delegation to Egypt as soon as possible to continue negotiations, according to comments by senior leader, Ismail Haniyeh, posted on Telegram on Thursday.

Haniyeh was speaking to Abbas Kamal, head of Egypts general intelligence directorate. The Hamas leader also discussed the situation with Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and the two agreed to continue talks with the aim of reaching an agreement.

Hamas is a designated terrorist organization by the U.S. and European Union.

Israel said it will only consider joining cease-fire talks if Hamas responds to the latest internationally mediated proposal for a temporary truce and release of hostages taken by the groups militants during their Oct. 7 invasion. The conflict has been raging in Gaza for the almost seven months since, and much of the enclave has been reduced to rubble.

About 1,200 people were killed in the Oct. 7 attack, with about 250 more taken hostage. More than 34,000 Palestinians have died in the subsequent Israeli onslaught, according to health authorities in Hamas-run Gaza.

Earlier this week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Hamas to quickly reach a decision on terms for a pause in hostilities, describing the offer as extraordinarily generous.

The U.S. is seeking the release of some hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, alongside a pause that could pave the way to an end to the war.

Haniyeh stressed the positive spirit in which Hamas is approaching the latest proposal, and aims to reach an agreement in a way that achieves the demands of our people and stops the aggression against them.

Hamas has previously called for Israeli forces to withdraw entirely from Gaza. Israel has refused to go that far, and is instead preparing to invade the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians have taken refuge.
A screenshot of an ISIS-Khorasan video shows two fighters in September 2020. The Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan is growing its numbers through recruitment amid economic instability in Afghanistan, a Pentagon watchdog agency report said May 2, 2024. (Wilson Center)

The Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan is regenerating strength through aggressive recruitment and by taking advantage of instability in the country, a Pentagon watchdog agency report said Thursday.

ISIS-Khorasan province has claimed a wave of attacks this year in Russia, Iran, Pakistan and Turkey. ISIS-K also claimed an attack this week in western Afghanistan that left six dead.

The groups resurgence is heightening ongoing U.S., UN and regional concerns that the country is once again becoming a terrorist haven, the Special Inspector General for the Reconstruction of Afghanistan report said.

The report follows testimony to Congress in March by Gen. Erik Kurilla, the top U.S. general in the Middle East, that ISIS-K is building an expanding cadre of fighters.

The group is in the midst of a recruiting surge that extends its ability to strike outside Afghanistan, the SIGAR report and regional analysts said.

ISIS-K is taking advantage of poor economic conditions and instability in Afghanistan that came after the Taliban seized the country from the U.S.-backed government in 2021, said Kamran Bokhari, senior director of the Eurasian Security and Prosperity program at the Washington-based New Lines Institute.

ISIS-K is having a resurgence, Bokhari said during a phone interview Wednesday. The Taliban is trying to consolidate power; they have huge financial problems and social unrest. These are all the conditions you would expect ISIS to try to exploit, and they are.

ISIS-K is recruiting people disillusioned by Taliban rule, and recent attacks outside of Afghanistan show the additional manpower is increasing the groups reach, he said.

Attacks claimed by the group and cited in Thursdays SIGAR report include a March 22 storming of a Russian concert venue that killed more than 130 people, a Feb. 7 attack in Pakistan that killed at least 30, and a Jan. 3 suicide bombing in Iran that left approximately 100 dead. ISIS-K also claimed a January church shooting in Turkey that killed one person and injured another.

The uptick in ISIS-K attacks beyond Afghanistans borders comes as the group has launched fewer operations within the country, said Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington.

The Taliban are enemies of ISIS-K and fought them before and after the fall of the U.S.-backed government in 2021.

Fewer ISIS-K attacks within Afghanistan indicate that Taliban ground offensives against the group are having an effect internally, Kugelman said.

The Talibans (counterterrorism) efforts have produced tactical triumphs, but the jurys still out on whether theyve succeeded strategically, Kugelman said in an email Thursday.

The bigger issue is ISIS-Ks growing capacity to project a threat far beyond Afghanistan, and the Talibans inability to address that, he added.

Other militant groups such as al-Qaida remain in Afghanistan in a weakened state, Thursdays SIGAR report said.

The group that launched the 9/11 attacks that drew in U.S. troops to Afghanistan in 2001 can no longer launch sophisticated attacks, the report said, citing a UN sanctions monitoring team.

But the group continues to try to expand its recruitment, with eight new training camps, the monitoring team said.
This undated photo shows the sign for the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn. Coast Guard nondisclosure agreements should not stop service members from cooperating with investigations into the sexual misconduct scandal at its academy after some senators claimed the agreements have hindered them from attaining information, service leaders said in a memo reinforcing the policy. (David M. Santos/U.S. Coast Guard )

Coast Guard nondisclosure agreements should not stop service members from cooperating with investigations into the sexual misconduct scandal at its academy after some senators claimed the agreements have hindered them from attaining information, service leaders said in a memo reinforcing the policy.

Adm. Steven Poulin, vice commandant of the Coast Guard, sent the all-Coast Guard message April 18 after Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, claimed the agreements had been used to block sexual assault victims from speaking to anyone, including Congress, about their assault or related investigations.

Current and former members and employees may have either signed nondisclosure agreements or been verbally advised not to disclose or discuss certain sensitive or confidential matters. Generally, these warnings would have been given to protect individual privacy, integrity of ongoing investigations, or other sensitive material, Poulin wrote.

The intent has not been, and is not, to restrict any individuals right to make protected disclosures to Congress, the Office of the Inspector General, Office of Special Counsel, or to make internal reports within the chain of command, the Coast Guard Investigative Service, or other authorities responsible for investigating or processing complaints of alleged violations, he wrote to the force.

Cruz on Wednesday thanked the Coast Guard for quickly responding to a letter that he sent April 8 alerting Adm. Linda Fagan, commandant of the Coast Guard, to his discovery.

Within a day of my letter alerting the commandant to the issue, the Coast Guard ended this indefensible practice. The Coast Guard has now notified every Coast Guardsman that NDAs may not silence victims of sexual assaults, nor do they prevent anyone else from blowing the whistle to Congress or the inspector general, Cruz said during an executive session of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.

The senator said the agreements were stalling the committees investigations into the cover-up of Operation Fouled Anchor  a 2020 report based on a six-year inquiry into the handling of sexual assault and sexual harassment at the academy. Coast Guard officials only alerted Congress about the reports existence after CNN uncovered it.

One reason that the Coast Guard may have been successful in hiding the Operation Fouled Anchor investigation from Congress and the public for so long  was that it had at least some of those involved in Operation Fouled Anchor either sign an NDA or orally agree to an NDA, forbidding them from speaking about the investigations, Cruz wrote to Fagan.

Cruz also sent his concerns to the Department of Homeland Security inspector general, Government Accountability Office, and the Office of Special Counsel, an independent federal investigative and prosecutorial agency.

The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations is also investigating the cover-up of Operation Fouled Anchor. Subcommittee leaders wrote Wednesday to Fagan to ask her to testify May 21 about Fouled Anchor and explain the Coast Guards failure so far to produce all documents and information requested.

Simply put, the Coast Guards lack of responsiveness stands in stark contrast to your previous commitments to be fully transparent with Congress and the American people, wrote Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., the subcommittee chairman, and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, the top Republican on the subcommittee.

The senators, who began their inquiry in September, gave the Coast Guard until May 15 to supply all records without redactions.

Should the Coast Guard continue to impede the subcommittees inquiry by withholding records or including inappropriate redactions that hinder our legitimate congressional oversight, the subcommittee will have no choice but to use compulsory process to ensure compliance, they wrote.

The Coast Guard said in December that Fagan is committed to being open and transparent with Congress and would testify on Fouled Anchor as she has done in the past.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III briefs media members, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., Nov. 17, 2021. ( Brittany A. Chase/Air Force)

WASHINGTON  Japan, the United States and Australia are in the final phases of preparation to sign a document on a deal to promote joint research and development in the defense field at Thursdays trilateral defense ministers meeting in Hawaii, a senior U.S. Defense Department official told The Yomiuri Shimbun and other media on Tuesday.

The official also said the command-and-control system of U.S. forces in Japan will be reevaluated, with a goal of completing the review by March 2025.

Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles will be in Hawaii to attend the U.S. Indo-Pacific Commands change of command ceremony. The three are expected to agree on a deal and sign an agreement before the ceremony.

The document will include agreements on the standardization of equipment and advanced information-sharing on research, development and testing. The official said the deal would enhance the interoperability of equipment and make cooperation more efficient and cost-effective.In January, Japan agreed with Australia to conduct joint research on autonomous underwater vehicles, while working with the United States to analyze technologies to counter hypersonic weapons being developed by China and Russia. Trilaterally, the countries are conducting research on unmanned aerial vehicles linked to fighter jets. The upcoming deal is expected to expand current bilateral cooperation efforts in advanced technologies to a trilateral framework.

The official also said the reevaluation of command and control structures between the Self-Defense Forces and U.S. forces in Japan is expected to be an agenda item at Thursdays Japan-U.S. defense ministers meeting. The official said the U.S. side was intensively studying what would be the best way to organize the U.S. forces in Japan and what it will be necessary to equip them with.

The official said the U.S. side would hasten the reevaluation so that it can be realized in time for Japans establishment at the end of fiscal 2024 of the SDF Joint Operations Command that would strengthen the integrated operations of its ground, maritime and air forces.
Up to 300,000 military members participate in tuition assistance programs annually, according to a Dec. 14, 2023, report from the Congressional Research Service. (Sarah Cherry/U.S. Marine Corps)

Four members of Congress have asked the Pentagon to bring them up to date on the Postsecondary Education Complaint System  reports the Defense Department stopped providing nearly a decade ago.

Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Tom Caper, D-Del., and Tim Kaine, D-Va., with Rep. Donald Davis, D-N.C., wrote Wednesday to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin asking the Pentagon to start publishing updates from the complaint system again.

This will afford Congress and the public the ability to conduct oversight and ensure accountability over these programs, which receive hundreds of millions of dollars in DoD funding annually, said the letter, which was also addressed to the acting undersecretary for personnel and readiness, Ashish Vazirani.

The system was launched in January 2014 when the DOD collaborated with the Departments of Education and Veterans Affairs to provide military students the opportunity to file education complaints against their schools, the letter states.

It was spurred on by Government Accountability Office probe in March 2011 that revealed the Pentagon was aware of concerns regarding improper recruiting practices, according to the letter.

But without a centralized process to track complaints against schools and their resolution, the DOD lacked the ability to discern trends requiring oversight and whether those concerns were adequately addressed.

In fiscal 2014, the DOD received hundreds of complaints from students receiving assistance from My Career Advancement Account Scholarships and the Tuition Assistance Program, according to the letter.

Most complaints focused on tuition and fees, refund or collections issues, quality of education and release of transcripts. Data from the following year was similarly helpful in identifying and addressing institutions and behavior that put taxpayer dollars at risk, according to the lawmakers.

After fiscal 2015, when the DOD stopped releasing summary reports, information on complaint numbers and critical information about problems facing military-connected students was unavailable to Congress, according to the lawmakers.

We write today to better understand the status of the Postsecondary Education Complaint System, and to urge the Department of Defense to prioritize this program in order to safeguard the hard-earned military education benefits of our service members and their families, the letter states.

The letter also requests the DOD to release basic data from the complaint system on its website along with providing annual summary data again.

The four lawmakers asked for a response by May 15.

Up to 300,000 military members participate in tuition assistance programs annually, according to a report from the Congressional Research Service published Dec. 14.

The DOD alone provided $644 million in tuition assistance in fiscal year 2022, according to the lawmakers letter.

Military spouses benefit from career scholarships and veterans benefit from the Montgomery and Post 9/11 GI Bills and loan programs from the federal government and commercial lenders.

All are encouraged to send their complaints to the Postsecondary Education Complaint System, according to the programs website.
The Syria Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, recover the body of Lutfi Hasan Masto who was killed by a U.S. drone strike on May 3, 2023. (X)

A U.S. military drone strike last year that targeted a top al-Qaida leader in Syria killed a civilian instead, the Pentagon admitted Thursday.

An investigation launched in the wake of the May 3, 2023, attack determined the U.S. military mistook a civilian, Lufti Hasan Masto, for the senior al-Qaida leader it tried to kill in the strike in Qorqanya in northeastern Syria, U.S. Central Command officials said in a statement.

Army Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, CENTCOMs commander, ordered the internal probe into the strike in June after The Washington Post published a story asserting the strike killed Masto, who was not affiliated with al-Qaida.

U.S. Central Command acknowledges and regrets the civilian harm that resulted from the airstrike, reads the statement from the command that oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East. We take all reports of civilian harm caused by U.S. military operations seriously and continue to employ thorough and deliberate targeting and strike processes to minimize civilian harm. This process includes a thorough review and vetting of lawful targets prior to a strike and another review after each strike.

Despite admitting to killing a civilian in the strike, the CENTCOM probe did not recommend punishment for any individuals involved. The investigation concluded the strike was conducted in compliance with the law of armed conflict and followed Pentagon and CENTCOM polices.

The probe did find several issues could be improved, but the statement did not provide additional details. The full report was not made public on Thursday.

Much of the investigation is classified and cannot be released, a CENTCOM spokesperson said, declining further comment.

Kurilla ordered the probe on June 6, 2023, after the May 18 story by the Post revealed family members of Masto  spelled Misto by the newspaper and Masto in the CENTCOM statement  had identified the 56-year-old former bricklayer as the man killed in the strike.

After initially expressing confidence that the strike killed its intended target  whose name was never made public  Pentagon officials by mid-May told reporters that they were no longer certain the strike killed a terrorist.

Kurilla tapped Army Brig. Gen. John Cogbill  a deputy CENTCOM commander not involved in the May 3, 2023, strike  to lead a team to investigate the incident. The team of 10 senior service members and civilians  who also were not involved in the strike  reviewed the incident, visiting locations in the United States, Iraq and Jordan and interviewing some 40 witnesses during their investigation.

The team completed the probe in November, according to CENTCOM. It was not immediately clear Thursday why the probes findings were not publicized for months.

In 2022, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin released a 36-page Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response Action Plan meant to improve the militarys ability to avoid civilian casualties in the wake of several strikes in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan found to have likely killed civilians.

Austins guidance was introduced about a year after a U.S. strike in Kabul during the militarys withdrawal from Afghanistan killed seven children and three adults who were mistaken for Islamic State-Khorasan group terrorists.

An investigation into that Aug. 29, 2021, strike  just three days after an ISIS-K suicide bomber killed 13 U.S. troops and some 170 Afghans at Kabuls Hamid Karzai International Airport  found limited communications and confirmation bias led to the errant attack. The probe found no evidence of criminality in the U.S. attack.

Pentagon officials vowed they would do better in the wake of the Kabul strike.

The protection of civilians is a strategic priority as well as a moral imperative, Austin wrote in his 2022 civilian harm mitigation plan. Our efforts to mitigate and respond to civilian harm directly reflect our values and also directly contribute to achieving mission success.
An E/A-18G Growler launches off of the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Red Sea on March 23, 2024. The Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group was deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations to support maritime security and stability in the Middle East region. (U.S. Navy)

WASHINGTON  U.S. airstrikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen have been insufficient to deter the militant groups targeting of ships in the Red Sea and a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war might not end the attacks, a senior intelligence official said Thursday.

Avril Haines, the director of national intelligence, said U.S.-led efforts to destroy Houthi weapons and storage facilities have had a limited impact as American service members continue to shoot down drones and missiles aimed at commercial and naval ships.

The threat from the group, which is partly financed by Iran, is going to remain active for some time, she told the Senate Armed Services Committee during testimony on the intelligence communitys 2024 assessment of threats facing the United States.

They continue to indigenously produce a fair amount of [drones], other weapons systems and so on and of course, theyre also getting assistance from the Iranians in this respect, Haines said. Neither of those things are likely to change in the near future.

The Houthis launched their campaign against international shipping after Israel began bombing the Gaza Strip in response to a Hamas-led attack on Israel in October. The rebels said their actions are in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.

The group has carried out more than 50 assaults on shipping since November, seizing one vessel and sinking another, according to the U.S. Maritime Administration. The pace of attacks dropped recently amid U.S.-led airstrikes in Yemen but picked back up again last week.

Haines said the Houthis have resumed near daily maritime attacks and intend to escalate their strikes and expand them to the Indian Ocean.

National Intelligence Director Avril Haines listens to opening statements Thursday, May 2, 2024, on Capitol Hill during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on worldwide threats. (Joe Gromelski/ Special to Stars and Stripes)

U.S. Central Command, which oversees military activity in the Middle East, said Monday that it destroyed one drone that was on flight path toward the Navy cruiser USS Philippine Sea and the destroyer USS Laboon in the Red Sea.

The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group deployed to the region in October as part of a multinational coalition, led by the U.S., to protect maritime commerce.

Haines said Thursday that the Houthis leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, is likely to keep up the attacks on military and commercial vessels to burnish his regional reputation. It is unclear if a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas would change that, she said.

Though the group tamped down its activity during a temporary ceasefire in late November, its rationale for attacking shipping has repeatedly shifted and grown more complex, Haines said.

Its possible the Houthis will continue their campaign in the Red Sea as well as the Gulf of Aden even if fighting in Gaza comes to an end, she said. On Saturday, the rebels announced they shot down one of the U.S. militarys $30 million MQ-9 Reaper drones.

Footage the Houthis released of a missile purportedly targeting the drone included a man off-camera reciting the groups slogan: God is the greatest. Death to America. Death to Israel. Curse the Jews. Victory to Islam.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Huawei has been subject to U.S. restrictions for the past several years over concerns that its technology could be used by China to spy. (SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg)

Huawei Technologies Co., the Chinese telecommunications giant blacklisted by the U.S., is secretly funding cutting-edge research at American universities including Harvard through an independent Washington-based foundation.

Huawei is the sole funder of a research competition that has awarded millions of dollars since its inception in 2022 and attracted hundreds of proposals from scientists around the world, including those at top U.S. universities that have banned their researchers from working with the company, according to documents and people familiar with the matter.

The competition is administered by the Optica Foundation, an arm of the nonprofit professional society Optica, whose members research on light underpins technologies such as communications, biomedical diagnostics and lasers.

The foundation shall not be required to designate Huawei as the funding source or program sponsor of the competition and the existence and content of this Agreement and the relationship between the Parties shall also be considered Confidential Information, says a nonpublic document reviewed by Bloomberg.

The findings reveal one strategy Shenzhen, China-based Huawei is using to remain at the forefront of funding international research despite a web of U.S. restrictions imposed over the past several years in response to concerns that its technology could be used by Beijing as a spy tool.

Applicants and university officials contacted by Bloomberg as well as one of the competitions judges said they hadnt known of Huaweis role in funding the program until they were asked by a reporter. A cross-section of applicants interviewed by Bloomberg said they believed the money came from the foundation and not a foreign entity.

There are 11 opportunities on the Optica Foundation website listing Early Career Prizes & Fellowships. All but the Huawei-funded competition  which awards $1 million per year, or 20 times the next most-lucrative annual cash prize on the site  list individual and corporate financial contributors.

A Huawei spokesman said the company and the Optica Foundation created the competition to support global research and promote academic communication. The spokesman said Huaweis name was kept private to keep the contest from being seen as promotional and that there was no ill intent.

Liz Rogan, Opticas chief executive officer, said in a statement that some foundation donors prefer to remain anonymous, including U.S. donors and that there is nothing unusual about this practice.

Rogan said the Huawei donation had been reviewed by outside legal counsel and won the approval of the foundations board. We are completely transparent with the funding and support of the Foundation programs with the Optica Foundation Board, the Optica Board and staff, she said.

The secretive effort in Washington stands in contrast with public initiatives by Huawei in several European countries. France and Germany, for example, are home to company-branded scientific hubs despite a European Commission recommendation that the companys equipment be barred from member state networks over security risks.

Optica Foundations 2023 annual report acknowledges Huawei in a section listing highest-level donors who have given more than $1 million since the organizations founding more than two decades ago. U.S. tech giants Google and Meta Platforms Inc. are among those in the second-highest tier of donors who have given $200,000 or more.

The report does not specify when any of the donors gave money, what it was used for, or how much they gave.

Fearful of losing funding from federal sources including the Pentagon and National Science Foundation because of security concerns, many U.S. universities have told researchers in recent years to cut ties with Huawei. Schools have also beefed up policies requiring academics to disclose foreign funding.

Within U.S. rules

The foundations secret funding arrangement likely doesnt violate U.S. Commerce Department regulations blocking people and organizations from sharing technology with Huawei, said Kevin Wolf, a partner at Akin who specializes in export controls.

Thats because such rules dont apply to the type of research the competition is soliciting  science thats meant to be published, Wolf said. If Huawei were subject to Treasury Department sanctions, however, the activity probably wouldnt be legal, he said.

Research security specialists said the lack of transparency underlying the arrangement nonetheless violates the spirit of university and U.S. funding-agency policies requiring researchers to disclose whether theyre receiving foreign money.

They also said some of the resulting research is likely to have both defense and commercial relevance. Topics the Optica Foundation singles out in an online post as being of interest include undersea and space-based solutions for the global communications grid and high-sensitivity optical sensors and detectors.

Its a bad look for a prestigious research foundation to be anonymously accepting money from a Chinese company that raises so many national security concerns for the U.S. government, said James Mulvenon, a defense contractor who has worked on research security issues and co-authored a seminal book on Chinese industrial espionage.

Jeff Stoff, founder of the nonprofit Center for Research Security & Integrity, said funding the competition could effectively let Huawei influence what research projects it would like to see without having to contract directly with academic institutions. He said the company could use the arrangement to recruit talent by sponsoring applicants of interest and acquiring intellectual property from their research in the future.

Texas A&M Universitys Chief Research Security Officer Kevin Gamache said the school had not known of Huaweis involvement in the competition before being contacted by Bloomberg. The university then looked into the matter and learned that two of its researchers had applied for awards, both unaware of the source of the competitions funding.

We have processes that would identify and prevent associations with Huawei unless they were being heavily obfuscated like this, Gamache said.

At least one applicant to the competition came from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which in 2019 said it would cease accepting new engagements with Huawei. An MIT spokeswoman declined to comment beyond pointing out the universitys policy.

Optica headquarters in Washington. (Samuel Corum/Bloomberg)

Universities winners

The Optica Foundation required universities whose researchers were awarded funding to accept the money on the winners behalf. Several of them, including Harvard, the University of Southern California, and Vanderbilt as well as The University of British Columbia and Wilfrid Laurier in Canada, declined to comment on whether they would take action in response to Bloombergs findings.

A Harvard spokesman said the university has a policy against working with Huawei.

Harvard physics professor Eric Mazur, whos chairman of the Optica Foundation board that Opticas CEO said had approved the Huawei arrangement, said in a statement: As the Foundation grows and continues to explore avenues for broadening our programming, we are committed to ensuring clear transparency policies related to our funding sources.

A spokesman for USC, which has had two winners over the past two years, said it follows U.S. regulations on reporting foreign gifts and contracts. There were no indicators to suspect any foreign involvement at the time the payments were made, and we similarly have no such indications at present, according to a statement provided by the spokesman.

USC engineering professor Alan Willner, who has been a judge for the competition, didnt respond to requests for comment.

A spokeswoman for the University of British Columbia said the schools relationship is with the Optica Foundation and that neither the university nor its winning applicant had been aware at the time the prize was awarded that it was funded by a third party.

Representatives from Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Arizona, which has one of the top optics schools in the U.S., didnt respond to repeated requests for comment about Huawei funding their winning applicants.

Huawei optical expert

Huawei became a member of the foundations parent organization Optica in late 2021 right as it committed to sponsoring the competition, according to a person familiar with the matter. It plans to fund the event for a decade, according to the nonpublic documents reviewed by Bloomberg, which would mean awarding a total of $10 million based on past disbursements.

The foundation is currently accepting proposals for the 2024 application cycle, which runs through May 21, with plans to grant 10 winners $100,000 each for the third year in a row.

Huawei has one executive on the competitions 10-person selection committee. The Hong Kong-based scientist, Xiang Liu, is Huaweis Chief Optical Standards Expert, according to his LinkedIn profile.

In 2021 he published a book about 5G communications technology after spending more than seven years at Huaweis U.S. unit Futurewei, the profile says. Prior to earning a doctorate at Cornell, Liu studied at the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Physics, which operates under the State Council of China.

When the Optica competition kicked off in 2022, Liu in a LinkedIn post thanked the foundation for this great initiative and said he would be serving on the selection panel. Chad Stark, Optica Foundations executive director and the signatory on the documents seen by Bloomberg, thanked Liu for sharing information about the competition. He didnt acknowledge Huaweis role as the sole funder.

Last month, Liu was advertised as a moderator of a virtual Optica session about the cutting-edge technologies revolutionizing connectivity between data centers. While Optica listed the panelists employers  all major U.S. tech companies  in event marketing materials, it described Liu only as a fellow at Optica and another professional society.

Liu deferred questions to Huawei, and Stark didnt respond to requests for comment.

With assistance from Siuming Ho.
The Department of Veterans Affairs is being urged by senators to find a balance between referring veterans to private community doctors and ensuring the same level of care is offered at VA clinics and hospitals. The VA is experiencing a sharp rise in the number of veterans seeking referrals to private doctors in their communities. (Stars and Stripes)

WASHINGTON  A sharp rise in the number of patients that the Department of Veterans Affairs refers to private community-based doctors for medical care is emptying VA exam rooms and eroding services, senators said.

Nearly 40% of the VA total care workload last year was delivered at community medical facilities, said Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.

Demand for community care is rising 16% to 20% yearly as veterans seek referrals from the VA to see private doctors, he said.

This is not sustainable, Tester said Wednesday at a hearing on the VAs $370 billion proposed budget for 2025.

Under the Mission Act, which became law in 2018, veterans can seek private care in their communities when they cannot access the VA medical care that they need close to home and in a timely manner.

Tester urged VA Secretary Denis McDonough to find the right balance between offering VA and referring veterans to community care.

But McDonough said the ability of veterans to access community care is statutorily granted.

The VA has always relied on the community. But we need to make sure this is a decision based on quality outcomes and not just a question of convenience, he said. I want us to compete apple to apple with community providers. We strive to have a conversation with veterans every time they seek a referral for community care what is available in the VA system.

Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough testifies Thursday, May 2, 2024, on Capitol Hill at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing about the 2025 VA budget. (Joe Gromelski/ Special to Stars and Stripes)

Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said veterans have the right to seek medical care where and when they need it.

He said he hears from VA workers that shortages of doctors, nurses and technicians are straining the workforce and increasing wait times, which causes more veterans to seek community care.

Moran said an increasing number of veterans  up to 30%  and their dependents who need emergency treatment are seeking non-VA care at hospitals and urgent care centers.

McDonough said the VA now enables veterans to connect with clinicians by phone about their immediate needs for urgent care. The clinician helps a veteran decide whether to seek care right away or make an appointment with their primary care doctor.

Sixty percent of callers have their issues resolved on the phone, he said. The veteran doesnt have to get in his car and has the issue resolved in under 30 minutes or less.

Kristina Keenan, deputy director for national legislative services at the Veterans for Foreign Wars, said Wednesday that her organization has concerns about planned reductions in VA medical staff and a pullback on new construction for renovations and modernization.

The 2025 budget includes a workforce reduction of 10,000 full-time employees, including more than 600 physicians.

Keenan criticized the VA for over-utilizing community care to address veterans health care needs rather than investing in internal capacity.

She said the VFW estimates costs for the VA to cover veterans medical care in the community will increase 13% in 2024, compared to an 8.4% increase to provide the same care at VA facilities. She said the groups projections are similar for 2025 and 2026.

This trend must be stopped and reversed, she said.
Calvin Kinsella (19) and Luke Treacy (19) stopped the van before the Ballymun exit on the M50 and they tried to flee, but were caught by gardai.

Two teenagers loaded a stolen motorbike into the back of a van and then led gardai on a high-speed chase along the M1 and M50 motorways, a court heard.

A pair of bolt cutters was thrown from the van, forcing a garda patrol vehicle to swerve to avoid them.

Calvin Kinsella (19) and Luke Treacy (19) stopped the van before the Ballymun exit on the M50 and they tried to flee, but were caught by gardai.

Judge Michael Connellan ordered probation reports for both men and adjourned sentencing and possible compensation to October.

Kinsella, with an address at Henrietta Place, Dublin 1, and Treacy, of Markievicz House, Dublin 2, admitted taking a motorbike and possession of bolt cutters.

Kinsella also admitted counts of dangerous and uninsured driving.

Read more Face of thug who doused himself with petrol and threatened to kill ex with a knife

Garda Brendan Fitzpatrick told Swords District Court that gardai were alerted to a white Transit van which was acting suspiciously in the Lusk area around 4am on October 17 last year.

Gda Fitzpatrick said he went to Chapel Farm Copse, after he was informed the vehicle was involved in taking a motorbike from the side of a property.

The garda said he followed the vehicle out of Chapel Farm and towards Blakes Cross. He activated the garda lights and sirens, and directed the van to stop. However, the vehicle failed to stop and headed at speed in the direction of Swords.

Gda Fitzpatrick sought assistance from the garda helicopter and other patrol vehicles in the area.

The court heard that Kinsella, the driver of the van, was weaving across lanes and driving at speeds over 100kmh.

At the Lissenhall roundabout, the van drove through a red traffic light, and took the M1 slip road towards Dublin. The driver continued to weave back and forth over lanes.

Gda Fitzpatrick said Kinsella headed towards the Ballymun slip road on the M50, and a pair of bolt cutters was thrown from the van, causing gardai to swerve to avoid a collision.

The van stopped short of the Ballymun exit on the M50 and the occupants tried to flee, but were arrested.

Gda Fitzpatrick said he asked Kinsella for his driving licence and insurance, but he failed to produce them.

Gardai opened the van door and found the stolen motorbike, which had been taken earlier in Lusk.

In a victim impact statement, the owner said there was 1,000 worth of damage to the bike, and he had to take out insurance on a second bike while he waited for his original bike to be repaired.

Defence lawyer Gerard Kennedy said Treacy had never been in trouble before and he said a probation report would assist the court.
The incidents on November 23 in the city-centre were among the most serious and "largest scenes of public disorder that has ever occurred in the history of the State".

An Garda Siochana at the scene in Dublin city centre last November. Photo: PA

Gardai have arrested a man in his 30s in relation to the Dublin riots last November.

The incidents on November 23 in the city centre were among the most serious and "largest scenes of public disorder that has ever occurred in the history of the State", unfolding shortly after an earlier incident where three children were injured in a knife attack at Parnell Square.

Today, Thursday May 2, gardai at Store Street arrested a man in Dublin in connection with their ongoing investigations.

He is currently detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984, at a garda station in the Dublin region.

A spokesperson said: Gardai at Store Street have arrested a male (aged in his 30s) in connection with ongoing investigations into the serious public disorder events of November 23rd, 2023, in Dublin city centre.

The man was arrested today, Thursday, May 2nd, 2024, in the Dublin area.

He is currently detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984, at a Garda Station in the Dublin Region.

An Garda Siochana continues to appeal to anyone with information about the events on that day or anyone involved in organising or participating in these events to contact the garda investigation team at Store Street Garda Station at 01 666 8000, the Garda Confidential Line at 1800 666 111, or any garda station.
Terrence Crosbie (37) was remanded in custody by a US judge when he re-appeared in court in Boston on Wednesday

A Dublin Fire Brigade firefighter charged with raping a woman in Boston during the St Patricks festival weekend is to face a supreme court trial, following a court appearance yesterday.

Terrence Crosbie (37) was remanded in custody by a US judge when he re-appeared in court in Boston on Wednesday

Mr Crosbie was charged on March 18 with the alleged rape of a woman at the landmark hotel Omni Parker House, on Friday, March 15.

Mr Crosbie, who has been placed on leave by Dublin Fire Brigade since the charges emerged, has denied the allegations and claims he never said a word to her.

According to US media reports and Boston 25 news channel, Crosbie appeared in the Central Division of Boston Municipal Court on Wednesday.

A Boston Police Department photo of Terrence Crosbie

At the hearing one of his attorneys, Daniel Reilly requested additional records from the Omni Parker House and the Black Rose pub in the citys downtown area- two locations where Mr Crosbie was the night of the alleged attack.

According to Mr Reilly, his team has received some footage but they are looking for a more detailed window of video surveillance from both the pub and the hotel. They are also requesting employee information from the hotel.

CCTV footage from bars and hotels tends to be written over after 30 days, Mr Reilly told the court. We want to make sure we get to that before it might disappear, before memories might fade, in case it shows anything that is exculpatory or might serve as alter impeachment evidence.

The prosecution argued that the request for employee information is too vague, not specific and irrelevant.

They claimed that Boston Police Department had adequately obtained records during their investigation and the defense should subpoena the police records.

The judge informed the count that Mr Reilly should obtain the records relating to Mr Crosbies actions and those he interacted with on the night in question. He added that it is understandable that the defence may want to obtain the records themselves and not rely solely on the Commonwealth.

Mr Reilly said his client maintains his innocence and that the case will likely proceed to the Massachusetts Supreme Court.

He is being held on $100,000 bail and was ordered to surrender his passport and remain in Massachusetts.

At a previous gearing last month, lawyers representing the Dublin Fire Brigade firefighter said he will do everything to clear his name.

I can tell you right now, he is going to fight and clear his name and do everything that he can to address these charges and maintain his innocence, Boston attorney Brad Bailey told Boston 25 News Reporter Bob Ward.

This is a man, Bob, who has never been in trouble before. Has no prior record, has never been in jail. Here he is, in a jail cell with no ability to make bail, really in a situation that is arguably punitive for somebody who has the presumption of innocence, Bailey said.

The victim told police in a report, the incident occurred on March 14 at the Black Rose Irish Pub near Faneuil Hall where she met a man from Ireland.

She told police they returned to his room at the Omni Parker House hotel where they had consensual sex.

Afterward, she told police they fell asleep in separate beds.

The following day, the victim said she woke up to another man, later identified as Terence Crosbie sexually assaulting her.

The victim quoted Crosbie, who she didnt know, as saying, I know you want this, he (the other man) fell asleep.

Crosbie and the other man, both from Ireland, were visiting Boston for St. Patricks Day and were sharing the hotel room.

In an interview with police, Crosbie denied the rape.

He told police he climbed into bed not knowing she was even there, but he heard her gather her clothes and leave the room.

Crosbie who claims he never said a word to her, was arrested at Logan Airport on March 16, three days before his previously scheduled flight, trying to get back to Ireland.

Members of the Massachusetts State Police stopped Mr Crosbies plane on the tarmac and removed him.

As always in these matters, the willingness of the victim to come forward is crucial," District Attorney Kevin Hayden said on March 18.

In a statement last month, Dublin Fire Brigade said: "Dublin Fire Brigade chief fire officer has been made aware that the Boston Police Department have begun a criminal investigation into an alleged serious case involving a member of Dublin Fire Brigade.

"The firefighter has immediately been placed on leave. We cannot comment on the specific circumstances but we would reiterate the high standards that we expect from all who represent our organisation at any event.

"As a result, we are conducting an internal investigation and establishing the facts in collaboration with the appropriate authorities and the organisers of the delegation. As this is a criminal investigation, we will not be making any further comment at this time."
Unannounced inspection reports come after an inquest found Clare teenager Aoife Johnston died by medical misadaventure at the Limerick hospital

Protesters lay flowers in memory of those who have died at UHL

Nineteen patients who should have been in a bed were on trolleys in the corridor of University Hospital Limerick and 16 more were in the emergency department (ED) during an unannounced inspection last November.

This impacted the dignity and privacy for patients, the inspectors from the Health Information and Quality Authority, a new report says.

The inspectors were following up on previous inspections in March 2022 and February 2023 and found several improvements.

Despite improvement, the patient experience in the ED continued to fall significantly short of national targets

The hospital had made improvements in resourcing, supports and alternate pathways. It had established an Urgent and Emergency Care Directorate to coordinate the strategic and operational function of the emergency and urgent care services across the six hospital sites of hospital group.

The staffing complement for all disciplines in the emergency department had increased since the previous inspection.

Data provided by the hospital demonstrated increased activity in many services to support patient flow and better compliance with HSE performance metrics related to unscheduled care.

The inspection report comes after last weeks inquest into the death of Shannon teenager Aoife Johnston, who died of sepsis after waiting nearly 16 hours in the emergency department in December 2022, found she died due to medical misadventure.

The inspectors said the impact of corrective actions and controls applied to reduce overcrowding and mitigate potential and actual risks to patient safety were still not fully effective on the day of inspection. In addition to 32 inpatients accommodated in the department, there was an additional 50 inpatients in surge capacity.

Thirty five patients were accommodated on trolleys on wards averaging 1-3 per ward, with other patients accommodated in the day services area and cardiology day ward.

Half of patients at the emergency department were there for more than six hours after registration  not in line with the national target which requires that 70pc be admitted to a hospital bed or discharged within six hours.

Some 48pc were in the department for more than nine hours after registration  not in line with the national target of 85pc of attendees being admitted to a hospital bed or discharged within nine hours of registration in the department

Of all patients in the emergency department, 19 were aged 75 and over. 63pc of these patients were in the department for more than nine hours after registration  not in line with the national target that 99pc of patients aged 75 years and over are admitted to a hospital bed or discharged within nine hours of registration in the department.

More than one in five were aged 75 years and over were in the department for more than 24 hours after registration.

However, patients were complimentary about staff, describing them as amazing, great and so nice. Patients also commented that staff were so busy.

One patient on a corridor off zone A, referred to the fact that they had no way to call nurses and had to wait until a staff member arrived.

The ongoing mismatch between the number of people attending the ED and the hospitals capacity resulted in an overcrowded ED, with patients admitted to the hospital continuing to be accommodated in the ED.

At 10am on the day of inspection, 32 of the 82 patients in the ED were admitted and awaiting an inpatient bed. This overcrowding, albeit reduced since the previous inspection, impacted on meaningful promotion of dignity and privacy for patients, the report said.

The planned addition of extra inpatient bed capacity is to be welcomed, the Hiqa inspectors said, but noted that the intended gains may be limited if a significant proportion of this new stock is used as replacement stock.

This should be further considered in the context of the risks posed by overcrowding in the ED, they said.

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly recently said 71 new beds would be available next year in Limerick compared to the previous estimate of 49.

Many of the new initiatives and improvements introduced by the hospital will take time to be fully established to impact positively on hospital attendance, patient experience times (PETs) and admission rates. The underlying issue of ineffective patient flow has yet to be fully addressed but ongoing focus should be targeted at hospital avoidance measures and alternate pathways alongside the planned additional capacity, Hiqa said.

It added that management at the hospital should ensure that recruitment is progressed to ensure staffing meets the additional beds.

The inspectors report highlighted how the emergency medicine early warning system had not been implemented at the time of inspection and said this is essential to spot and respond to patients who are deteriorating.

Hiqa also published inspection reports on other hospitals today.

The report on Letterkenny Hospital in Donegal said: Hospital management implemented a range of measures on a daily basis to improve patient flow through the hospital and into the community.

"However, on the day of inspection these arrangements were not effective in the ED, resulting in non-compliance with PETs and delayed transfer of care. Uptake of mandatory and essential training required improvement, especially training on transmission-based precautions, basic life support and the Irish National and Paediatric Early Warning Systems.

During an inspection of the Rotunda Hospital inspectors reported: [There were] identified areas for improvement including shortfalls in the rostered complement of midwifery and nursing staff in the antenatal ward, delivery suite and gynaecology ward.

!In addition, refurbishment work was continuing within the hospital but the age and current footprint of the hospitals building and physical environment presented many challenges to fully support the delivery of high-quality, safe, reliable healthcare services. Notwithstanding these areas for improvement, good overall compliance was identified on inspection.

The inspection of the Coombe Hospital found management was progressing with the refurbishing and repurposing of some clinical areas to support the delivery of safe, quality care.

Notwithstanding this, the configuration of large multi-occupancy rooms did not always support high-quality, safe, and reliable maternity care and did not fully support the promotion of privacy and confidentiality for women and babies.

In addition, shortfalls in the rostered complement of midwifery and nursing staff in clinical areas needs to be addressed. Notwithstanding these areas for improvement, good overall compliance was identified on inspection.

A report on Nenagh Hospital, which is part of the University Hospital Limerick Group said: On the day of inspection, the hospitals medical assessment unit and local injury unit were functioning well and were in line with HSE targets related to patient experience times (PETs).

Inspectors found evidence of a person-centred approach to care, especially for vulnerable patients, such as patients with dementia.

People who spoke with inspectors were positive about their experience of receiving care in the hospital and were very complimentary of staff. Improvement was needed to ensure that relevant staff had up-to-date basic life support and advanced cardiovascular life support training where needed.
Six lucky Lotto players from Auckland, Mount Maunganui, Lower Hutt, Christchurch and Dunedin will be over the moon after each winning $166,667 with Lotto First Division in Wednesday nights live Lotto draw.

The winning tickets were sold at Bayfair Lotto in Mount Maunganui, BP Mairehau in Christchurch and on MyLotto to players from Auckland, Wellington and Dunedin.

Powerball was not struck and has rolled over to Saturday night, where the jackpot will be $12 million, says a Lotto spokesperson.

"A lucky Strike player from Palmerston North will also be celebrating after winning $700,000 with Strike Four.

"The winning Strike ticket was sold on MyLotto to a player from Palmerston North."

Meanwhile, 14 lucky Lotto players will be having a blast after each winning $18,211 with Lotto Second Division in tonights live Lotto draw.

One lucky player also won Powerball Second Division, taking their total winnings to $35,202.

The winning Powerball Second Division ticket was sold at on MyLotto to a player from Tasman.

The winning Second Division tickets were sold at the following stores:

Store Location MyLotto Auckland Drop In Superette & Lotto Auckland West City Lotto Auckland MyLotto (x2) Waikato New World Brookfield Tauranga MyLotto Rotorua MyLotto Hawke's Bay MyLotto Wellington Relay Wellington Airport Wellington MyLotto (+PB) Tasman New World Ilam Christchurch Fendalton New World Christchurch MyLotto Dunedin

Anyone who bought their ticket from any of the above stores should check their ticket as soon as possible in-store, on MyLotto, or through the MyLotto App, says a Lotto spokesperson.

"There are 75 extra prizes of $10,000 cash up for grabs with Lotto NZ's Mother's Day promotion. All Triple Dip tickets bought between Sunday, April 28, and 7.30pm on Saturday, May 18, will be in the draw to win.

"Lotto NZ exists to return 100 per cent of its profits to Kiwi communities through lottery grants programmes run by Te Puna Tahua NZ Lottery Grants Board."
Millions in extra funding for councils would be welcomed by Western Bay of Plenty leaders, but it wouldnt be enough to ease the pressures they face.

Local Government New Zealand is calling for the government to return the GST paid on rates to councils, which would result in $1.1b in extra funding across the country.

Tauranga City Council would receive $31m, which is 10 per cent of its operating income of $308 million; $206m of this income is from rates.

Western Bay of Plenty District Council would be in line for $11.5m  11.6 per cent of its $99m operating income with $77m of this coming from rates.

Economic consulting firm Infometrics crunched the numbers using 2022 data.

Taurangas commission chair Anne Tolley told Local Democracy Reporting every little bit of funding helps.

An annual repayment of GST would certainly be welcome.

However, it would not address the underlying problem for local government of the increasing costs to ratepayers of providing for essential infrastructure, especially for high growth councils.

Tauranga City Council has been grappling with how to pay for much needed infrastructure which is exacerbated by the citys rapid growth.

Western Bay of Plenty mayor James Denyer said he welcomed alternative sources of funding for council.

Local Government New Zealand president Sam Broughton said the funding system for local government is broken. Photo: Supplied.

The analysis comes as councils in Aotearoa are setting rates, with the average rates rise estimated to be 15 per cent.

Taurangas median residential rates rise for 2024 is 7 per cent. This has been offset by a new industrial rating category introduced this year which reduced residential rates by around 3 per cent.

The citys average rates rise, which includes residential, commercial and industrial properties, is 15.9 per cent.

Western Bay of Plenty District Council is yet to set its rates, having pushed out adoption of its long-term plan until September.

Local Government New Zealand president Sam Broughton said despite councils ever-increasing responsibilities, local governments share of overall tax revenue has remained at 2 per cent of GDP for the last 50 years.

Its no secret that the funding system for local government is broken. Relying so heavily on rates is unsustainable, said Broughton.

We need a range of levers to address the funding and financing challenges in front of us. Returning GST on rates would be an excellent place to start.

Weve also put an accommodation levy, GST sharing on new builds, mineral royalties, and congestion charging on the table.

The suggestion of returning to GST to local authorities was just one way to help address the funding issues councils faced in the Future for Local Government Review.

The independent review also suggested central government paid rates on crown properties, set up an intergenerational fund for climate change and considered the funding impact proposed policy decisions would have on councils.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
Two people have been arrested following an aggravated burglary at a jewellery store in the Bay of Plenty.

A vehicle involved in the burglary at Michael Hill store in Whakatane on Thursday afternoon has also been recovered and is being forensically examined, says Detective Senior Sergeant Ash Clements.

"Police are continuing to make enquiries to locate people involved, and would like to speak to anyone who witnessed the incident, or anybody with video footage from the area."

Ash says two men are due to appear in Whakatane District Court today, charged with aggravated burglary.

Further charges are being considered.

"We understand the effects this has had on the victims who were in the store at the time.

"Victim support is working with the staff."

Anyone with information can contact Police by calling 105, or online at 105.police.govt.nz, using Update Report, and reference file number 240502/9091.

Information can also be provided anonymously via Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.
First highlighted as a problem in the 1960s, the mosquito-borne disease is increasing at a higher rate than any other communicable disease, according to the World Health Organisation.

Last year, Bangladesh experienced its largest-ever outbreak, with 300,000 cases.

In the first three months of 2024, governments in Latin America confirmed more than 3.5 million cases and 1000 deaths.

Last year was also a record year, with 4.5 million cases reported in the region.

What is dengue fever?

Dengue is a mosquito-borne, viral infection that is common in warm, tropical climates, according to the WHO. (The mosquitos that transmit dengue aren't present in New Zealand, in large part thanks to it's relatively cold temperatures.)

Infection is caused by any one of four serotypes, or closely-related dengue viruses. Infection with one gives long-term protection from that serotype, but can make infections from the other serotypes more serious.

A blood test is required for diagnosis.

Most cases are mild, though some can result in hospitalisation or even death.

Symptoms develop from four days after being bitten by an infected mosquito.

Patients often experience a fever, headaches, muscle and joint pain, nausea and vomiting, a rash, and fatigue.

As the disease progresses, some also suffer from respiratory distress, bleeding from the nose and gums, accompanied by a rapid drop in blood pressure leading to shock.

This last symptom is potentially fatal.

Roughly five percent of infections result in serious complications. And hospital care reduces fatality rates to less than one percent in most affected countries.

But outbreaks, which tend to have seasonal patterns, can cause extreme stress on health systems.

Why is it becomming more widespread?

Dengue is a climate-sensitive disease, Professor Cameron Simmons, director of the Institute of Vector-Borne Disease at Monash University, tells RNZ.

It's spread by common biting mosquitoes (various Aedes species) which "love to live where people live".

A combination of climate change and increased urbanisation will lead to more outbreaks, says Simmons, who is also the global delivery director of the World Mosquito Programme.

South-East Asia, Latin American, and the Western Pacific have had outbreaks for decades.

But the disease travels to new places via infected people, where conditions such as natural disasters, use and storage of water, as well as climate, influence whether the mosquito will then happily live and breed there.

"It's a neglected tropical disease. Partly because the countries it impacts are low or middle income. It doesn't kill a lot of people, but it makes people sick and puts them in hospital."

What's the situation in Samoa?

The recent surge in Samoa, with a population of 220,000, was troubling because of its impact on the health system as well as patients and their families, Simmons said.

The country's Ministry of Health declared the outbreak on April 19, after more than 80 cases were reported in the first two weeks of the month.

Since November, 2023, more than 250 lab-confirmed cases have been recorded, with the North-West Upolu and Apia urban areas being the most affected.

The ministry was encouraging people to clean up and remove all stagnant water sources. And to protect themselves from bites by wearing loose clothing covering as much of their body as possible, using mosquito nets and repellent lotions or sprays,

The ministry is planning a mass cleanup of potential mosquito breeding sites, as well as the spraying of "hot spot areas". RNZ has asked for further details.

A recent editorial in the Samoa Observer saysd: "Dengue fever just does not put stress and burden on individuals or families. If an outbreak is declared that would mean additional stress on the already stressed public health system. It would impact schools, workplaces and above all the economy."

Travelling to Samoa?

While the Ministry of Foreign Affairs hasn't issued a specifical travel advisory for Samoa, SafeTravel notes the outbreak and asks people to read up on dengue before travelling.

"New Zealanders travelling or living in Samoa should have comprehensive medical and travel insurance policies in place that include provision for medical evacuation by air," according to the site.

Samoa's Health Ministry says children under the age of 10 and adults over 60 are most at risk of severe illness.

Associate professor of immunology at University of Otago Wellington and associate Pacific dean at the Division of Health Sciences Dianne Sika-Paotonu tells RNZ, travellers from New Zealand should read up on the disease.

"Take appropriate precautions and avoid getting bitten by mosquitoes, but also be on the lookout for any sign of illness.

"Mosquitoes will lay their eggs in or near pools of water. Removing areas of still or standing water from around the home and covering areas where water can pool, will help stop mosquitoes from laying their eggs."

Treatment and prevention

There's no specific treatment for dengue fever but medical care can help manage the severity of the illness.

In terms of prevention: there are two existing vaccines for dengue available overseas, but not in New Zealand.

One is an expensive two-shot regimen and the other can only be given to people who have already had a dengue infection.

A more promising approach appears to be targeting the mosquitoes themselves.

For years, Simmons has been researching and implementing projects that aim to counter outbreaks by rendering mosquitos unable to carry the dengue virus.

The World Mosquito Project cultivates and releases mosquitos that have been infected with a bacterium, naturally occurring in many insects - but not the main carriers of dengue - called Wolbachia.

The bacterium appears to block the mosquitos from transmitting dengue.

"The beauty is we can deploy our infected mosquitos into the community and over time, [the bacterium] stays in the population, as it gets inherited."

Fiji, Vanuatu, and Kiribati recently joined 11 other countries who have participated in the project.

Simmons said the programme was open to "a conversation around whether our approach is a good fit for Samoa", he says.

"Fow now, [Samoa] is stuck with the old method of cleaning up households and spraying some insecticides."

-RNZ.
 Flash

The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), one of the top public universities in the United States, cancelled all classes for Wednesday after a night of violent clashes on campus over the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza.

A pro-Palestinian protester kneels down in front of police officers outside an encampment of tents in support of Palestinians near Royce Hall of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), in Los Angeles, California, the United States, on May 1, 2024. (Xinhua)

"Due to the distress caused by the violence that took place on Royce Quad late last night and early this morning, all classes are cancelled today," said the university in an alert to faculty, staff and students on Wednesday morning.

The university urged them to avoid the Royce Quad area and announced that Royce Hall, one of the original buildings and the defining symbol for the UCLA campus, will remain closed through Friday.

Last week, pro-Palestinian protesters set up an encampment of tents near Royce Hall in support of Palestinians.

Violent clashes erupted between pro-Palestinian protesters and pro-Israel counter-protesters late Tuesday night and lasted a couple of hours.

Fireworks, tear gas and fights broke out just after 10:50 p.m. Tuesday night local time and continued early Wednesday morning as around 100 pro-Israel counter-protesters attempted to seize the barricade around and storm the ongoing Palestine solidarity encampment, according to Daily Bruin, the university's student newspaper.

"The chaos comes as Chancellor Gene Block faces criticism for improper handling of the encampment and the same day the university deemed the encampment to be unlawful, threatening students inside with suspension and expulsion," reported Daily Bruin, adding that campus police and security retreated as pro-Israel counter-protesters and other groups attacked protesters in the encampment.

A participant in the encampment, who was granted anonymity for safety reasons, was quoted as saying by Daily Bruin that there were at least five injuries inside the encampment, most with eye injuries and some temporarily unresponsive.

Mary Osako, vice chancellor for UCLA Strategic Communications, said in a midnight statement that "horrific acts of violence occurred at the encampment tonight and we immediately called law enforcement for mutual aid support. The fire department and medical personnel are on the scene."

"We are sickened by this senseless violence and it must end," Osako noted.

Local news outlets reported that protesters clashed for more than two hours before law enforcement intervened.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a post on social media platform X that the violence unfolding at UCLA is "absolutely abhorrent and inexcusable."

California governor Gavin Newsom's office also said in a statement on X Tuesday night that it is closely monitoring the situation at UCLA and law enforcement leaders are in contact while "resources are being mobilized."

Following the arrest of more than 100 student protesters last month at Columbia University in New York, pro-Palestinian demonstrations are spreading at colleges and universities across the United States.

Aside from UCLA, students at some other California colleges and universities, including Stanford University, the University of Southern California, UC Berkeley, and Sacramento State, joined the national protest. A total of 35 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, early Tuesday morning, ending a week-long occupancy of buildings on campus of the university in Northern California.
New York  Duane Eddy, a pioneering guitar hero whose reverberating electric sound on instrumentals such as Rebel Rouser and Peter Gunn helped put the twang in early rock n roll and influenced George Harrison, Bruce Springsteen and countless other musicians, has died at age 86.

Eddy died of cancer Tuesday at the Williamson Health hospital in Franklin, Tennessee, according to his wife, Deed Abbate.

With his raucous rhythms, and backing hollers and hand claps, Eddy  a native of Corning, New York  sold more than 100 million records worldwide, and mastered a distinctive sound based on the premise that a guitars bass strings sounded better on tape than the high ones.

I had a distinctive sound that people could recognize and I stuck pretty much with that. Im not one of the best technical players by any means; I just sell the best, he told The Associated Press in a 1986 interview. A lot of guys are more skillful than I am with the guitar. A lot of it is over my head. But some of it is not what I want to hear out of the guitar.

Twang defined Eddys sound from his first album, Have Twangy Guitar Will Travel, to his 1993 box set, Twang Thang: The Duane Eddy Anthology.

Its a silly name for a nonsilly thing, Eddy told the AP in 1993. But it has haunted me for 35 years now, so its almost like sentimental value  if nothing else.

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.

Eddy and producer Lee Hazlewood helped create the Twang sound in the 1950s, a sound Hazlewood later adapt to his production of Nancy Sinatras 1960s smash These Boots Are Made for Walkin. Eddy had a five-year commercial peak from 1958-63. He said in 1993 he took his 1970 hit Freight Train as a clue to slow down.

It was an easy listening hit, he recalled. Six or seven years before, I was on the cutting edge.

Eddy recorded more than 50 albums, some of them reissues. He did not work too much from the 1980s on, living off my royalties, he said in 1986.

About Rebel Rouser, he told the AP: It was a good title and it was the rockest rock n roll sound. It was different for the time.

He scored theme music for movies including Because Theyre Young, Pepe and Gidget Goes Hawaiian. But Eddy said he turned down doing the James Bond theme song because there wasnt enough guitar music in it.

In the 1970s he worked behind-the-scenes in music production work, mainly in Los Angeles.

Eddy was born in Corning and grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, where he began playing guitar at age 5. He spent his teen years in Arizona dreaming of singing on the Grand Ole Opry, and eventually signed with Jamie Records of Philadelphia in 1958. Rebel Rouser soon followed.

Eddy later toured with Dick Clarks Caravan of Stars and appeared in Because Theyre Young, Thunder of Drums among other movies.

He moved to Nashville in 1985 after years of semiretirement in Lake Tahoe, California.

Eddy was not a vocalist, saying in 1986, One of my biggest contributions to the music business is not singing.

Paul McCartney and George Harrison were both fans of Eddy and he recorded with both of them after their Beatles days. He played on McCartneys Rockestra Theme and Harrison played on Eddys self-titled comeback album, both in 1987.
Syracuse, N.Y.  A Utica man was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in federal prison for trafficking fentanyl from New York City to Oneida County.

Eric Ares, 38, previously admitted to transporting the drugs in numerous trips from May 2020 through October 2021. He admitted to buying the drugs through numerous trips to New York City.

He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and to distribute fentanyl and one count of possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl.
Syracuse, N.Y.  A Utica-area man who helped brutally beat his two sons at the Word of Life Church in Oneida County in 2015 was released from state prison Thursday, records show.

Bruce Leonard, now 73, pleaded guilty in 2016 to first- and second-degree assault after he and others beat and whipped Lucas Leonard, 19, and Christopher Leonard, 17, in October 2015.

Lucas Leonard wasnt taken to the hospital until the next day and later died. A doctor testified he could have lived if treated sooner. Christopher Leonard survived his beating.

Bruce Leonard, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison, had been incarcerated in the Marcy Correctional Facility, about 20 minutes north of the former New Hartford church where the hours-long beating happened. He spent just over seven years in prison.

The case generated headlines around the world and at least one book.

The brothers were attacked by several people  including their parents and half-sister, Sarah Ferguson  in a beating prosecutors said was spurred on by church leader Tiffanie Irwin.

The brothers had been called into the church sanctuary after they were accused of molesting children, prosecutors said. Irwin first questioned them about witchcraft and being mean to one of Fergusons children, Bruce Leonard later testified. They were beat with an electrical cord, he testified.

Prosecutors said at the time there was no evidence the brothers molested children.

Bruce Leonard was one of nine people charged in the beatings:

Sarah Ferguson, now 41, was sentenced to serve up to 25 years. She is currently incarcerated in the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in Westchester. Shell be up for parole in 2037.

Deborah Leonard, now 66, the mother of Lucas and Christopher Leonard, was released from the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in January 2020. She served about three years in prison.

Tiffanie Irwin, now 38, pastor of the New Hartford church, was sentenced to serve up to 12 years. She is currently incarcerated in the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility. Shell be up for parole in 2026.

David Morey, now 35, was released from the Cayuga Correctional Facility in February 2020. He served about three years in prison.

Linda Morey, now 62, was released from the Albion Correctional Facility in February 2020. She served about three years in prison.

Joseph Irwin, now 30, was released from the Collins Correctional Facility in September 2022. He served about six years in prison, and is currently on parole.

Daniel Irwin, then 25, was expected to serve two years in county jail. He is not listed in custody.

Traci Irwin, then 50, was expected to serve two years in county jail. She is not listed in custody.

Word of Life appears to have since closed. In May 2019, the church sold its building at 3354 Oneida St. in New Hartford to CEM Realty LLC for $125,000, records show.

The administrator of Lucas Leonards estate filed a wrongful death lawsuit in 2016 against the church and several people accused of beating him. The suit was later settled, and the estate received about $57,000.

The Word of Life Church in New Hartford where Bruce Leonard, Deborah Leonard and others are accused of beating Lucas Leonard and Christopher Leonard. Dennis Nett | dnett@syracuse.comDennis Nett | dnett@syracuse.com

Staff writer Jon Moss covers breaking news, crime and public safety. He can be reached at jmoss@syracuse.com or @mossjon7.
Syracuse, N.Y.  A local pro-Palestinian activist taking part in protests at Syracuse University is under fire for violent, antisemitic comments made on social media 12 years ago.

Several posts on a now-deleted Twitter account linked to graduate student Aziza Zahran praise the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
A 96-foot cascade will be the star of the latest New York state park to be built.

Rochesters High Falls will be developed into High Falls State Park, first announced in 2022 by Gov. Kathy Hochul.

The most recent rendering of the proposed High Falls State Park shows a waterfall view looking south at the base of the Genesee River gorge. This river-level vista has not been open to the public in more than 100 years.

In total, the urban park is planned to span 40 acres starting at the falls and traveling down the river. There could be a restored meadow and public access to the river which also hasnt happened in a century.

Now organizers want the publics input on the design.

According to NPR News the Executive Director of Genessee Land Trust Lorna Wright, said public input will be crucial in building the new High Falls park.

The Genessee Land Trust is partnering with the Community Design Center Rochester will be holding a public input session from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on May 4. High Falls residents, landlords, business owners, people who work in High Falls and anyone interested in preserving the quality of life in Rochester are invited to the Monroe Community College Downtown Campus to participate.

This event will allow the public to give immediate feedback to the designers of the new park.

High Falls is just one of three waterfalls along the Genesee River. Nestled into the the High Falls District, there are plenty of places to eat and things to do in the area.

The Genesee Riverway Trail is an off-road way to walk, run, or bike to follow the river and see Rochesters scenic gorge, three waterfalls, and eleven parks. Take this trail to the Pont de Rennes bridge where youll get the best view of the falls.
Syracuse, N.Y.  Caleb Slater spent months trying to convince the New York Conservative Party to designate him as its candidate to challenge state Sen. Rachel May in this years 48th Senate District election.

Slater, 27, of Syracuse, got what he wanted in February when Conservative Party leaders in Onondaga and Cayuga counties voted to give him the partys ballot line in November.

After he submitted nominating petitions, the only thing left for Slater to do was to file a notarized acceptance letter with the state Board of Elections by April 8.

But Slater failed to file the routine paperwork in time. And now hes off the ballot.

The state Board of Elections ruled Wednesday that Slaters acceptance letter is invalid. The board said he signed the letter April 10. It reached the board in Albany on April 11. Both dates were after the deadline.

The decision means that the Conservative Party ballot line will be blank in the November election, said Kathleen McGrath, a spokesperson for the state Board of Elections.

Slater will still have a chance to make his way onto the ballot through a Republican primary election on June 25.

He will face Fanny Villarreal, 55, of the town of Onondaga, who has led the Syracuse YWCA for the past decade.

Villarreal won the designation of the Onondaga County Republican Committee in February. Slater won the Cayuga County Republican Committees backing the same month.

Slater blamed his failure to meet the deadline for accepting the Conservative designation on a serious illness affecting his campaign manager, Janet Burman of Syracuse.

Understandably, she prioritized her health over all other things occurring in her life, Slater said in a statement.

Slater provided a copy of a letter Burman sent to the state Board of Elections on April 10 asking for an exception to the expired deadline because of her illness. But the request was denied.

The winner of the Republican primary will try to unseat May, D-Syracuse, in the November election. May is seeking her fourth term in office.

May will have the advantage of a strong Democratic enrollment edge in the 48th Senate District.

The district has 75,941 enrolled Democratic voters, 53,540 Republicans and 52,554 independent voters who are not registered in a political party.

The district spans the city of Syracuse, some western and southern towns in Onondaga County and all of Cayuga County.

Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Mark Weiner anytime by: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751
First Lady Dr. Jill Biden will host a White House state dinner for the nations top teachers Thursday evening. The dinner will honor National Teacher of the Year Missy Testerman of Tennessee, along with an Upstate New York teacher and dozens of other state teachers of the year from across the country and U.S. territories.

The state dinner is the first time that the diplomatic nicety typically used to woo foreign heads of state or government will be held to honor educators, according to the first lady, a teacher herself.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. The European Union serves as Azerbaijan's main partner in demining, Ambassador of the EU to Azerbaijan Peter Michalko told reporters, Trend reports.

"The European Union is the most important supporter of Azerbaijan in its demining efforts. We have long-term cooperation in this field. The EU has been with Azerbaijan since the first years of its independence, supporting people in various domains, including issues related to IDPs, food security, improving housing conditions, and expanding economic cooperation," he said.

Michalko highlighted that the EU is presently continuing its efforts in demining and is also planning to introduce additional measures to support Azerbaijan in this regard.

"We will soon initiate the implementation of new measures to aid Azerbaijan in demining efforts. The EU acknowledges the paramount importance of this issue to Azerbaijan. We are deeply saddened by the news of individuals who have fallen victim to landmines, resulting in fatalities or injuries and wreaking havoc on their lives and families. Our commitment is to extend our support and enhance efforts in all facets of mine action," he said.

According to him, EU activities also include mine risk education, which is especially important now that people have started to return to liberated territories, as well as support for mine victims.

"Many EU institutions and member states are providing their support to Azerbaijan. And this is not only financial assistance but also expertise," he added.

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Patrick Tine, Times Union, Albany, N.Y. (TNS)

ALBANY  Alexa Kropf had just days left in her freshman year at an Upstate New York college and was looking forward to a summer with friends and family before the rider of a dirt bike slammed into her late Friday night, leaving her with extensive injuries, her father said Monday.

Jim Kropfs daughter is in a medically induced coma at Albany Medical Center Hospital and doctors there have performed two surgeries to remove blood and fluid from around her brain. The 18-year-old has multiple compound fractures in her leg and a fractured pelvis, Kropf said.

We are hoping for the best for a full recovery, Kropf said. The next few days are crucial.

Kropf said that his daughter had been enjoying her first year at the University at Albany and was getting ready for finals before heading home to Floral Park on Long Island next week.

This guy decided to take that away from her, Kropf said.

Police have said that a male riding a dirt bike on Hudson Avenue in the Pine Hills neighborhood was weaving through groups of people at a high rate of speed when he collided with Kropf at about midnight. She was thrown in the air and landed several feet away from where she was struck, police said.

The operator of the bike fled and Albany Police Department spokesperson Megan Craft said Monday afternoon that no one had been arrested. Mayor Kathy Sheehan and Police Chief Eric Hawkins have pledged to use every resource including local, county, state and federal law enforcement to track down the operator. Facing increasing incidents of off-road vehicles speeding on Albany streets, the city made it illegal in 2021 to operate ATVs and dirt bikes on any street or sidewalk, or in any public park.

Shes a great kid and a great big sister, to her younger brother and sister, Kropf said. He said that she had been looking forward to catching up with old friends on Long Island and having new friends from UAlbany come to visit over the summer.

He praised the actions of his daughters friends Friday night. They did a phenomenal job calling 911 and getting her to the hospital, Kropf said. Thats probably why she even has a chance right now.

Love and support from friends and family has been tremendous, Kropf said. A GoFundMe appeal has raised more than $80,000 from more than 1,500 donors as of Thursday.

Kropf said he had been down to the area where Alexa was struck, a neighborhood that has long been the focal point of the citys college social scene. He said he hoped that property owners around Hudson Avenue might have useful surveillance footage of the crash. I know there are cameras in the area, he said.

For now, he and other family members are staying close to Alexas bedside. She has a lot to get through, he said. In addition to her brain injury, she will require surgeries to insert plates and screws into her leg and pelvis. Kropf said.

The plan is to eventually get her closer to home but no date has been set for that, Kropf said. Her brain is the main concern.

Kropf said that the family had been receiving support from the university and expressed confidence in the police. He said he hoped an arrest would be coming soon. It would be best if the police found him first, before he does, Kropf said with anger and disbelief at the total disregard for everybody shown by the rider.

No family should ever have to go through something like this, Kropf said.

___

(c)2024 the Times Union (Albany, N.Y.)

Visit the Times Union (Albany, N.Y.) at www.timesunion.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
RahulNagaraj Senior - BHPian



Join Date: Mar 2021 Location: Bangalore Posts: 2,482 Thanked: 23,667 Times

Reuters: BYD EVs sold in foreign markets priced 3x times higher than their cost in China



The strategy, reportedly led by BYD, sees the automaker price some of its export EV models nearly three times higher than what the model sells for domestically. However, even with this strategy, some Chinese carmakers are managing to undercut their competitors in the West.







As per the latest research, Chinese automakers price their models just below that of European brands, while offering more standard equipment & features. Also, even after factoring in all additional exportation costs, each EV from a Chinese automaker still manages to rake in thousands of dollars of additional profits.



Reports suggest that this is possible because Chinese manufacturers have rationalised costs at every stage of the manufacturing process. Battery costs, which are 18% cheaper in China, combined with the availability of government subsidies and cheaper labour and power costs, help bring down the price of a Chinese EV.



Stating a few examples, the report mentions that in some export markets,*the BYD Atto 3 is priced between 81% - 174% higher than its price in China. Similarly, a BYD Dolphin, priced at $37,439 in Germany, costs just $15,524 in China. BYD Seal prices are anywhere between 30% to 136% higher in foreign markets compared to its retail price in China.



This massive headroom also allows Chinese EV makers to offer price cuts & discounts to engage in a price war with their rivals.



Source:



Link to Team-BHP news According to a media report, Chinese automakers are significantly raising the prices of their exported vehicles to maximise profits.The strategy, reportedly led by BYD, sees the automaker price some of its export EV models nearly three times higher than what the model sells for domestically. However, even with this strategy, some Chinese carmakers are managing to undercut their competitors in the West.As per the latest research, Chinese automakers price their models just below that of European brands, while offering more standard equipment & features. Also, even after factoring in all additional exportation costs, each EV from a Chinese automaker still manages to rake in thousands of dollars of additional profits.Reports suggest that this is possible because Chinese manufacturers have rationalised costs at every stage of the manufacturing process. Battery costs, which are 18% cheaper in China, combined with the availability of government subsidies and cheaper labour and power costs, help bring down the price of a Chinese EV.Stating a few examples, the report mentions that in some export markets,*the BYD Atto 3 is priced between 81% - 174% higher than its price in China. Similarly, a BYD Dolphin, priced at $37,439 in Germany, costs just $15,524 in China. BYD Seal prices are anywhere between 30% to 136% higher in foreign markets compared to its retail price in China.This massive headroom also allows Chinese EV makers to offer price cuts & discounts to engage in a price war with their rivals.Source: Reuters
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. The European Union stands ready to provide support for reaching a peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Ambassador of the EU to Azerbaijan Peter Michalko told reporters, Trend reports.

"We are pleased that the conflict resolution process is ongoing. It is incumbent upon both sides to seek solutions and paths for progress. Naturally, the European Union stands prepared to sustain its support for facilitating a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan," he said.

To note, on April 19, 2024, the 8th meeting of the State Commission on the Delimitation of the State Border between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia and the Commission on the Matters of Delimitation of the State Border and Border Security between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan took place under the chairmanship of Shahin Mustafayev, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and Mher Grigoryan, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia.

At the initial stage of the delimitation process, the sides tentatively agreed on the passage of certain segments of the border line directly between the settlements of Baganis (RA)  Baganys Ayrim (AR), Voskepar (RA)  Ashagy Askipara (AR), Kirants (RA)  Kheyrimli (AR), and Berkaber (RA) - Gyzylhajily (AR) to bring them in line with the legally justified inter-republican border that existed within the Soviet Union at the time of its collapse.

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sknair BHPian

Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Bangalore Posts: 386 Thanked: 572 Times

Re: Mercedes GLC SUV Review



A week ago on a Sunday morning, I was on a long drive with family, we had parked the car for about 30 minutes for breakfast on the highway. After finishing breakfast, I unlocked the car and got in and heard a long beeping sound, and then everything went blank (nothing on MBUX, nothing on the driver dash, etc). The car won't start either, I got worried as I was about 100 Km away from Bangalore, so I called up the Akhsaya Mortors Hosur Road branch Service Manager, he immediately picked up my call and tried to assist with a few things, but nothing worked. He called back along with a senior tech on a whats app video call and asked me to try a few more things, nothing worked at that time also. He told me he would likely have to send a tech team to my location and check out the car, After about 10 to 15 minutes later, I opened the car to try one more time and magically everything started working and the car re-started!



The service manager asked me to bring the car to the service center, and I returned to the service center and handed over the car; it was returned to me a few hours later after updating some of the s/w components (details below).



First of all I am thankful to the Mercedes Benz Service Center team at Akshaya Motors for their prompt response and that too on a Sunday!



But the question though is I bought a premium luxury car for peace of mind and top quality! I shudder to think about a scenario if I was stuck in a remote area on a late evening or night along with family and the car refused to start.





Concerned about the quality of the brand-new car manufactured in Jan 2024, I raised the issue with Mercedes, and they shared the following details about the s/w updates.



"In this context we are given to understand that your vehicle was reported at the authorized dealership M/s. Akshaya Motors, Hosur Road for the concern of vehicle not starting. Further, we wish to apprise you that the dealership conducted a comprehensive inspection, diagnosis of your vehicle and it was determined that software updating is required for EZS Central Gateway & Door Control Unit to address the concern. We wish to inform you that all necessary remediations have been completed and your three-pointed star was delivered back to your good hands, post affirming its optimal performance and road worthy condition. We request you to drive your three-pointed star with full passion."



I hope the problem is really fixed and similar software glitches will not happen again. I am really surprised that these software updates were not applied when the car was delivered to me and not even in the first service ?

There is an active s/w update directive to all dealers from Mercedes Benz worldwide. Please see below thread, these type of s/w glitches for Mercedes Benz GLC in particular is widely reported in the US and rest of the world (I really wish I saw these before my purchase decision).



https://mbworld.org/forums/glc-class...not-start.html



I would request new GLC owners to proactively reach out to their respective service advisors to get these s/w units updated!



Hope this post helps the community! New GLC 300 - software glitches! (requesting owners to get the s/w updated practively)A week ago on a Sunday morning, I was on a long drive with family, we had parked the car for about 30 minutes for breakfast on the highway. After finishing breakfast, I unlocked the car and got in and heard a long beeping sound, and then everything went blank (nothing on MBUX, nothing on the driver dash, etc). The car won't start either, I got worried as I was about 100 Km away from Bangalore, so I called up the Akhsaya Mortors Hosur Road branch Service Manager, he immediately picked up my call and tried to assist with a few things, but nothing worked. He called back along with a senior tech on a whats app video call and asked me to try a few more things, nothing worked at that time also. He told me he would likely have to send a tech team to my location and check out the car, After about 10 to 15 minutes later, I opened the car to try one more time and magically everything started working and the car re-started!The service manager asked me to bring the car to the service center, and I returned to the service center and handed over the car; it was returned to me a few hours later after updating some of the s/w components (details below).First of all I am thankful to the Mercedes Benz Service Center team at Akshaya Motors for their prompt response and that too on a Sunday!But the question though is I bought a premium luxury car for peace of mind and top quality! I shudder to think about a scenario if I was stuck in a remote area on a late evening or night along with family and the car refused to start.Concerned about the quality of the brand-new car manufactured in Jan 2024, I raised the issue with Mercedes, and they shared the following details about the s/w updates.I hope the problem is really fixed and similar software glitches will not happen again. I am really surprised that these software updates were not applied when the car was delivered to me and not even in the first service ?There is an active s/w update directive to all dealers from Mercedes Benz worldwide. Please see below thread, these type of s/w glitches for Mercedes Benz GLC in particular is widely reported in the US and rest of the world (I really wish I saw these before my purchase decision).I would request new GLC owners to proactively reach out to their respective service advisors to get these s/w units updated!Hope this post helps the community!
What just happened? If you think the prospect of artificial intelligence controlling fighter jets, drones, and machine gun turrets is concerning, think about the potential ramifications of AI making decisions on the deployment of nuclear weapons. The US is one of the countries that has declared control over nukes will also rest in human hands, and it wants China and Russia to make the same promise.

State Department arms control official Paul Dean told an online briefing that Washington has made a "clear and strong commitment" to keep humans in control of nuclear weapons, not AI. Dean added that both Britain and France have made the same commitment.

"We would welcome a similar statement by China and the Russian Federation," said Dean, via Reuters. "We think it is an extremely important norm of responsible behaviour and we think it is something that would be very welcome in a P5 context." P5 is a reference to the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

China and the US resumed nuclear weapons discussions in January, though formal arms control negotiations could take time. The Asian nation, which is expanding its nuclear weapons capabilities, said that the largest nuclear-capable countries should negotiate a no-first-use treaty between each other.

Russia's nuclear weapons have been especially worrying since its invasion of Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin said in February 2023 that he was suspending participation in the START treaty, an agreement between Russia and the US to reduce and limit their nuclear arsenals and allow the nations to inspect each others' nuclear weapons facilities.

AI-controlled weapons are advancing at a frightening pace. Last month brought news that the US Air Force successfully tested a fighter jet flown by AI in dogfights against human pilots. There were similar stories last year, including US plans to counter the China threat with a massive AI-powered fleet of autonomous drones and systems. We also heard about Israel's increasing use of these weapons.

Elon Musk was one of many experts who called for a ban on AI-controlled weapons in 2017. In response, the army said that the final decision to engage a target always rests with humans, not machines.
Facepalm: Emojis serve as a useful substitute for nonverbal cues when texting, helping to fill in the gaps and better convey the true meaning of a message. That is not necessary with voice calls due to the natural back-and-forth exchange of verbal cues, but Google apparently believes folks may still need help.

As 9to5Google highlights, the tech giant is rolling out audio emoji in its phone app for some reason. The feature is launching with six sound effects including clapping (applause), laughing, party, crying (trombone), sting (ba dum tss), and poop (a fart noise).

When activated, an audio emoji will play a brief sound effect that can be heard by all parties on a call. Google has thoughtfully implemented a "cooldown" period to prevent users from spamming the feature repeatedly. They can be accessed via a button in the overflow menu, and also through the main calling interface. Audio emoji can also be disabled, should you choose.

It's unclear how serious Google is about the new feature. If it's little more than a side project from a single engineer or a small group, then so be it. If Mountain View is investing lots of time and resources into the project in hopes of it becoming the next big thing, well they are likely going to be disappointed in the long run.

Once the novelty of the feature wears off (like, after using it a couple of times), it is probably going to be forgotten about by most people and eventually abandoned by Google. It wouldn't be the first time Google has got behind a software feature only to give up on it.

Audio emoji are rolling out as part of the latest update available via the beta channel, and will likely be released to general users in the coming weeks. Google's annual I/O developer conference is just a couple of weeks out on May 14, so perhaps we will learn then how much of a push this feature will receive.

Image credit: Pixabay
Facepalm: The open-source RISC-V instruction set architecture, evolved from other reduced instruction set computer (RISC) architectures, is winning international support and collaboration. However, Google has decided to stop being part of the RISC-V game.

A series of recently merged patches removed support for the "riscv64" processor architecture from the Android Common Kernel's codebase. Android Common Kernel (ACK) are the main branches of the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), which informs all third-party and Google's own Android implementations on mobile and wearable devices. Removing RISC-V support from ACK and AOSP effectively means that Mountain View is "killing" the ISA native implementation within its major computing platform.

Recently, many chip makers and processor designers have invested in the future of RISC-V. Google formally introduced RISC-V support on Android in October 2023. Qualcomm is already developing RISC-V chips for Wear OS, an Android version specifically designed for smartwatches and other types of wearable gadgets.

The open standard even provides some competition to Arm architecture in the SSD controller business, with significantly better results, according to Chinese manufacturer Yingren Technology. Removing RISC-V support from ACK/AOSP means that the upcoming Android releases will not work with RISC-V chips, although manufacturers could customize the mobile OS to add ISA support back in.

Considering how many ventures are interested in working with RISC-V, Google's decision to stop AOSP from further nurturing the technology development is baffling. The RISC-V ISA is yet to materialize in a proper SoC project for smartphone applications, and the newly merged ACK patches will likely be a significant hindrance in this regard.

Asked to comment on the issue, a Google representative told Android Authority that the mobile OS will continue supporting RISC-V in the future. Due to the "rapid rate of iteration" of the ISA tech, Android is seemingly not ready to provide a single supported kernel image for all Android vendors.

Google is assuring the market that it will not kill RISC-V support in Android completely, but pushing the architecture out of AOSP means that the eventual commercial developments of this promising chip standard will take much longer than anticipated. Meanwhile, the RISC-V community is working on a Boot and Runtime Services specification to set an interoperable OS platform for device discovery, system management, and other essential system operations.
Emailing sensitive documents to clients without email encryption leaves businesses at risk of being victimized by hackers who intercept emails to steal data and commit crimes like identity theft or identity fraud. Many email service providers use encryption to secure the transmission of messages between the sender and the recipient's email services, ensuring attackers cannot intercept the emails while they are in transit.

Email encryption prevents messages from being read by unauthorized or unintended individuals by converting them into an unreadable or indecipherable format. Only the recipient can decode the email.

Why is email encryption important?

Transitioning to a digital-first world means more businesses rely on technology to carry out mission-critical operations. Due to their convenience and speed, emails have replaced the postal service. However, emails can potentially result in data breaches when sent without encryption. Cybercriminals can intercept messages and steal data without needing to decrypt them as they travel over the network.

Email encryption guarantees only the intended recipient can open the email, keeping cybercriminals from obtaining valuable information they leverage for monetary gain. It protects organizational data and keeps businesses compliant with legal and industry regulations.

How It Works: Exploring the Features of Encyro

Many encrypted email services complicate the setup and require multiple email-server configurations. Encyro makes it easy to send and receive encrypted emails since there's no need to set up encryption keys, security certifications, or install a software program.

All messages and attachments are sent securely, even if the recipient is not an existing Encyro user. Recipients receive a link via email that directs them to the message in their existing account or if the recipient does not have an account, on a temporary secure webpage. The links for messages sent to non-Encyro users expire to ensure email security. Admins and other account owners can change the expiry duration to give clients more or less time to respond.

Encyro also has a solution for businesses that handle multiple clients seeking to eliminate the hassle of sending client invitations and setting up accounts through an upload page, a place for secure file sharing. Clients can upload any document; it stays organized by contact upon reaching the inbox, which simplifies document management.

The upload page speeds up the communication between the client and the business by removing account sign-ups and password recalls from the equation. It can also showcase the company branding with a displayed logo and matching colors to present a professional image to clients.

The email encryption service is also accessible via mobile devices. Users don't need to scan documents and transfer them to a computer. They can send files on the go or forward attachments without downloading them.

Encyro encrypts the messages and attachments on the user's device so they never travel across network channels without encryption. The data is also stored on multiple servers for extra reliability in case of hardware issues, server failures, and other major disasters. This feature is available in all membership tiers, including free accounts.

According to recent statistics, approximately 150,000 emails are sent every minute, leading to a pile-up of messages in inboxes over time. Encyro, besides storing data in multi-location data centers, provides ample storage space for all shared client files except for videos. With other low-quality email providers, storage is a problem that large-scale organizations constantly face. Encyro solves this problem by encrypting the files and removing them from the email pathway, which creates room for larger file sizes.

Encyro also provides Gmail encryption. It works as an add-on for the email platform, so users can benefit from its multiple layers of security for reading and responding to incoming messages. They can also request electronic signatures directly from the platform. The email encryption service is also compatible with Microsoft Outlook via the free add-in for Outlook.

Encyro offers free tamper verification to check if electronically signed documents have been compromised. The signed file includes a URL so users can check the file for tampering. Valid documents show a green checkmark when viewed on the Adobe Acrobat Reader.

The email encryption service also gives enhanced access controls for user access management. This feature protects sensitive documents sent for signatures from being tampered with through a specific login type or automated access codes by SMS, ensuring only the recipient/s can view and sign the documents. It makes the service IRS 8879 and 8878 compatible. They can easily sign on their computer by scanning a QR code and drawing their electronic signatures on their phone.

Businesses can select if only typed signatures are allowed, or only hand-drawn signatures are applicable. This feature provides an extra layer of security to protect them from people who can forge signatures. In addition, Encyro also offers dynamic file templates that let businesses reuse e-signature boxes and settings for new files to remove the hassle of creating new documents like onboarding letters or invoices. They can also remove electronic signatures when necessary, especially when the clients are not present or available in person.

Pros & Cons

Pros

Ease of use

Mobile-friendly

No password requirement for clients

Unlimited storage for emails

Automatic organization of files

Cost-efficient

Tamper verification

IRS 8879 compatible

Cons

Setting up permissions for multiple users can be complicated

Conclusion

Using Encyro takes little to no effort, as the service automatically handles email encryption to maintain the confidentiality of business communications. It gives businesses the reassurance and convenience to send and receive documents and other files without fear of anyone intercepting them in transit. Plus, all files received via the upload page are organized automatically by contact, which lessens the admin work of handling multiple clients.

Encyro also excels at requesting electronic signatures securely through knowledge-based authentication or automated access codes via SMS. It also gives clients a fast way to sign documents through hand-drawn signatures. It meets the IRS requirements for Forms 8879 and 8878.

Priced at $9.99/month, Encyro takes care of businesses' email security concerns through multiple layers of security. Data is backed up at various data centers, and encryption is enforced on all network connections.
Following the cyberattack on Change Healthcare, UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty told senators on Wednesday that all its internet-exposed systems now use multi-factor authentication (MFA).

Cybercriminals exploited the lack of MFA in Change Healthcare's ransomware assault earlier this year, affecting pharmacies, hospitals, and doctors' offices worldwide. Even with compromised credentials, MFA requires a second code to prevent unwanted access.

Witty said hackers breached a Change Healthcare server without MFA security using stolen credentials in a pre-hearing testimony on Tuesday before two Congressional sessions, as reported by TechCrunch. Hackers used this initial access to penetrate other computers, steal data, and encrypt them with ransomware.

Andrew Witty faced questions about the hack during the first Senate Finance Committee hearing. In response to Senator Ron Wyden, Witty confirmed MFA on all UnitedHealth Group external-facing systems.

Anthony Marusic, UnitedHealth Group's spokesperson, confirmed Witty's remark that MFA is a company-wide policy.

Witty Admits There Was a Cybersecurity Mistake

Witty credited Change Healthcare's MFA-free systems to continuous modifications after UnitedHealth Group's 2022 purchase. Witty regretted the data breach incident and emphasized the importance of figuring out why the vulnerable server did not activate MFA.

Senator Wyden blamed the security vulnerability on the company's policy violations.

UnitedHealth Group has not notified impacted individuals due to the necessity of analyzing the extent of the hack and the exposed data. Witty testified that the business paid $22 million to hackers.

Witty will speak before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Tuesday, May 2, with expected developments.

At the hearing, Andrew Witty explained the hack and his reaction. Cybercriminals infiltrated Change's computers on February 12, nine days before UnitedHealth realized they needed to shut them down. Witty noted the company's quick response to limit the cyber assault, preventing it from spreading to Optum, a pharmacy benefit manager, according to The New York Times.

Witty noted that United alone sees attempted invasions every 70 seconds, highlighting the healthcare sector's general susceptibility to cyberattacks. After 18 months of purchasing Change, United had not fully upgraded its "legacy technologies," making Change's systems vulnerable.

UnitedHealth's top executive sympathized with providers who were unwilling to use Change's services during the session. He stated that the protracted recovery period was necessary to rebuild the platform from scratch and remove any contaminated environment from the new technologies.

Read Also : Unsafe Practices at Spa Put Clients at Risk for HIV, Hepatitis

Other Issues Raised by Lawmakers

Senators discussed healthcare consolidation when United acquired the Change Network in 2022. A federal judge sided with United over the Justice Department's anticompetitive acquisition claim.

Senator Elizabeth Warren starkly described UnitedHealth as "a monopoly on steroids," highlighting its staggering 11th-largest global presence and control over one in 10 doctors. She further alleged that UnitedHealth exploited the breach to expand its influence over physicians' practices.

Andrew Witty countered Warren by citing fields in which United does not operate. Despite its size, he underlined that the United does not own US hospitals or medication makers.

TechTimes previously reported that UnitedHealth has acknowledged a significant breach, a ransomware assault on its subsidiary, Change Healthcare, which has potentially compromised the health data of numerous Americans.

According to the health insurance company, targeted data sampling has initially found files with PII or PHI, possibly affecting a large section of the US population.

UnitedHealth expects the complicated data to take months to analyze. The organization offers rapid service and strong security. It collaborates with industry experts to identify cyberattack-affected data and provide assistance as soon as possible.
In 2019, Microsoft made a tech-breaking $1 billion investment in OpenAI, driven by concerns over Google's advanced position in the AI industry.

As reported by Business Insider , the strategic decision of Microsoft's $ 1 billion investment in OpenAI was not a mere business move. It was a decision that was meticulously discussed in an internal email exchange involving Microsoft's top executives, including CTO Kevin Scott, CEO Satya Nadella, and co-founder Bill Gates. The details, which have recently come to light, provide a unique insight into the company's concerns over Google's AI dominance, thanks to the ongoing US Justice Department antitrust case against the search engine giant.

Microsoft 'Very Worried' About its AI Progress Over Google

The internal correspondence titled "Thoughts on OpenAI," revealed the initial skepticism and subsequent realization of the AI capabilities being developed by OpenAI and Google's DeepMind.

Kevin Scott initially doubted the practical applications of AI beyond "game-playing stunts" like those demonstrated by Google DeepMind's AlphaGo Zero. However, his perspective shifted dramatically towards the potential of natural language processing models.

"We are multiple years behind the competition in terms of machine learning scale," Scott wrote in an email addressed to Nadella and Gates on June 12th, 2019.

He added that Microsoft struggled to catch up with Google's BERT language model as it took six months to successfully "replicate" the idea. The company claimed its "infrastructure wasn't up to the task."

Scott's deep dive into the comparative analysis of Google's and Microsoft's AI capabilities led to significant concern about Microsoft falling behind, especially highlighted by Google's advancements in AI that bolstered its products like Gmail's autocomplete feature, which Scott noted was "getting scarily good."

Related Article : OpenAI, Microsoft Face Lawsuit from Major Newspapers Over Copyright Infringement

Keen Observations Prompted Nadella to Act

The urgency conveyed in Scott's observations prompted Satya Nadella to share these insights with Microsoft CFO Amy Hood, tackling the necessity of the investment in OpenAI.

Hood, who plays a crucial role in managing Microsoft's financial strategies, was looped into the discussion to align the company's financial goals with its AI aspirations.

Bill Gates' Involvement and Vision

Although Bill Gates stepped down from Microsoft's board in 2020, he has remained instrumental in Microsoft's ongoing partnership with OpenAI. Reports suggest that Gates had been engaged with OpenAI since 2016 and was pivotal in orchestrating the initial investment deal.

According to The Verge, the internal email does not specify who initiated the OpenAI discussions in 2019, but Gates' proactive involvement with the AI firm has been a consistent theme.

What Did the AI Investment Bring to Microsoft

Microsoft's crucial investment in OpenAI has integrated advanced AI models into a wide range of its products, from Office applications to its Bing search engine and even the Windows operating system.

What's good here is that the integration has greatly enhanced Microsoft's stature in the AI domain, positioning it as a leader rather than a follower in the fast-evolving tech landscape.

With this, Nadella has made AI and security the top priorities for Microsoft in 2024 and beyond.

The Redmond giant's early investment in OpenAI reflects a strategic maneuver to catch up with Google and potentially surpass the latter in key areas of AI technology.

Right from the start, Microsoft has tightened its grip on ChatGPT maker to leverage its groundbreaking research and AI capabilities. It knows that the billion-dollar deal could go a long way toward fulfilling its dream of being a top AI pioneer in the years to come.




A major data breach could have reportedly affected more than a million individuals in Australia who visited pubs and clubs, exposing critical information.

The driver's licenses of over a million people who frequented bars and clubs in Australia, Asia, and the US, according to haveibeenoutaboxed.com, are allegedly hacked.

Home addresses, signatures, club membership information, birthdays, phone numbers, timestamps of club visits, and slot machine usage are all included; however, at this point, the majority of the personally identifiable information has been removed.

The gaming and hospitality products that OutABox, an Australian IT business, sells to select Clubs NSW locations, have been linked to a data breach.

This is because an overseas development team claims they have not been paid for work they finished more than a year ago.

(Photo: Mika Baumeister from Unsplash)

The official statement available on the website states that a group of offshore developers from the Philippines was hired by Outabox, a business owned by Glenn James, Dalbir Singh, and Darren Blinn, to create a set of software systems.

They installed these devices at casinos and nightclubs in the US, Australia, and Asia and charged each customer for using them.

The developers were granted access to these gaming establishments' back-end systems, charged with keeping them maintained, and told to back up their data to the cloud.

Without any supervision from Outabox, raw data was made available to developers. The developers were abruptly cut off by Outabox and were not paid for their labor of a year and a half.

OutABox Worries

According to a representative for ClubsNSW, they are extremely "concerned" about the security of customer information that could have been hacked in the OutABox incident.

Although little evidence is now available, the spokesman acknowledges that the personal data of club patrons who utilize this IT supplier may have been compromised.

It is known that customers frequently utilized the affected software to log in during the COVID-19 epidemic. To prevent being the subject of security threats, Clubs NSW asks club patrons to scrutinize emails and messages with additional caution in the upcoming days.

Australia's Cyberattack Incidents

The significant data breach follows a report by the Australian Anti-Scam Centre that revealed scammers cost Australians an astounding $2.3 billion in 2023 and that over 601,000 incidents had been reported to the authorities.

Online fraud continues to be a problem, as evidenced by the 18.5% increase in reported frauds despite a 13.1% drop in losses from the previous year.

The most expensive were found to be investment scams, which caused an astounding $1.3 billion in losses. The money lost to remote access scams was $256 million, while romance scams lost $201.1 million.

The disproportionate effect on individuals over 65 is especially concerning since their reported losses rose 13.3%, primarily due to investment fraud.

(Photo: Tech Times)
Artificial intelligence's latest venture proves to be insect farms as farmers look to utilize the booming technology to study data and recommend the best methods to lower production costs.

Full Circle Biotechnology, a startup located in a tiny indoor laboratory on the outer edges of Bangkok, plans to employ AI to raise insects for animal feed in the nation's pig and shrimp farms.

The larvae feed on fruit and vegetable waste from food and drink makers and dwell in a dark, warm, humid environment. After they are gathered, they are mixed with probiotic bacteria and mushrooms.

(Photo by Andrea Verdelli/Getty Images)

Since its founding in 2019, Full Circle has supplied 49 farms in Thailand and employs 14 people. Full Circle is now looking at AI to help increase output at a cheaper cost in an attempt to lessen the price of its feed.

To achieve this, an AI system is being trained to examine all the historical and current data on insect farming to identify and then continually improve the most effective practices.

This can involve determining the ideal location for the larvae, managing temperature and food supply, precisely and swiftly counting thousands of flies, and deciding whether to introduce novel varieties or species.

Felix Collins, the creator of Full Circle, asserts that AI may expedite trial and error, assist businesses in overcoming challenges, and provide them with a comprehensive enough understanding of insect production to be reasonably certain that their output is optimized.

Other Insect Farms on AI

Cogastro, a Lithuanian developer of software for insect farms, is also developing an AI-powered solution some 5,000 kilometers away.

Currently, it provides monitoring software that gathers data automatically and analyzes it for consumers. However, with the AI enhancement, the system can learn from inside an insect farm and adjust as needed.

According to Cogastro, the AI will not be released quickly; instead, it will be made available for purchase during the following three years.

Mante Sidlauskaite, the company's founder and CEO, advises investors to be cautious of startups in the field that assert to have freely available AI systems.

AI and the Environment

AI is still influencing a wide range of activities. Earlier this year, two US environmental agencies, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), used AI to safeguard severely endangered North American right whales.

The plan uses AI and covert Acoustic tracking to monitor the whales' movements and evaluate how offshore wind development affects their habitat. This creative strategy seeks to safeguard whales and encourage the responsible growth of offshore wind energy.

The authorities have presented a thorough plan that includes important measures, such as refraining from leasing in regions that can affect whale habitat, establishing noise restrictions while construction is underway, and funding quieter technology research.

In order to make sure that noise levels from offshore wind activities stay under predetermined thresholds, they also want to carry out thorough sound field verification.

(Photo: Tech Times)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. The demands outlined in the Rules for carrying out payment operations and payment instruments are a vital step to abandoning the use of physical payment cards in Azerbaijan, representative of the Bank of Baku and Head of the Expert Group on Payment Systems and Digital Banking of the Azerbaijan Banks Association (ABA) Tamerlan Rustamov told Trend in an exclusive interview.

First of all, these rules were adopted in order to apply the requirements of the laws of Azerbaijan, On the Central Bank of Azerbaijan," On non-bank credit organizations, and On payment services and payment systems.

These rules, which define a variety of innovative techniques in the digital payments ecosystem, for the first time outlined the requirements for credit transfers, direct debits, payment cards, and electronic money as payment instruments," Rustamov stated.

According to him, non-bank credit businesses will issue credit cards in compliance with these criteria.

On this basis, non-bank credit organizations will provide payment accounts in accordance with the Rules on opening, maintaining, and closing bank accounts of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan, Rustamov said.

He noted that the rules replace the traditional concept of payment order with credit transfer and define requirements for low-volume payment instruments. The general framework requirements for the execution of payment orders, individual collection orders, and instructions from tax and customs authorities were retained.

"The regulations specify a payment instrument that allows the payer, or user of the payment service, to perform a payment transaction with a payment card. We are discussing the requirements for card payment instruments while conducting payment transactions via a mobile device with the payment application installed. With the entry into force of these regulations, "Instructions on non-cash payments and money transfers in Azerbaijan" and "Rules for the issuance and use of payment cards" are recognized as no longer in effect, Rustamov added.

According to him, ensuring information security in transactions with payment cards was identified as a priority issue in the Rules for the Issue and Use of Payment Cards," while the new rules have further expanded the scope of this requirement to apply to all payment instruments.

So, according to Article 3.17 of the rules, the transfer, collection, processing, and clearing of information on payment transactions performed within the country, as well as the technical maintenance of the issue and the acquisition of a means of payment, are carried out within the country.

In the previous edition, this requirement applied only to service centers for payment card transactions. Currently, any organization, including a payment service provider and a payment system operator, is subject to the law, Rustamov said.

The expert noted that due to the further expansion of the use of innovative payment solutions and technologies in our country, such as GooglePay and ApplePay, the exclusion requirement remains in these rules.

According to Article 3.18 of the rules, information on transactions carried out within the country may be directly exchanged between payment service providers, payment system providers, and payment system operators operating outside the country, he added.

Rustamov noted that according to the rules, electronic money can be issued only in two forms: identified or unidentified. The requirements for electronic money, the identification of which is not required, that is, their maximum amount and terms of use, are the same as for small-volume payment instruments.

"The volume of payment transactions within one calendar month for a payment instrument of small volume and not requiring identification should not exceed 300 manat ($176.47) or their equivalents in foreign currency. The volume of funds stored in this instrument should also not exceed 300 manat or their equivalents in foreign currency. With the help of this payment instrument, the user of which is only an individual, payments are made only within the country. Money transfers and cash withdrawals are not allowed with this payment instrument.

Electronic money can be issued in national and foreign currencies. The requirement for the maximum amount of obligations for electronic money issued by payment service providers is determined by the Central Bank. This requirement can be determined individually for each payment service provider, the expert added.

The deputy director of the department also noted that electronic money is not considered a deposit. "In accordance with Article 13.1.2 of the Law "On payment services and payment systems," when providing a person wishing to own electronic money with information about the issue of electronic money and the rules for their use before the issue of electronic money, it must be indicated that electronic money is not considered a deposit and is not insured in accordance with the law of Azerbaijan On deposit insurance and that no interest or other income is paid on these funds, he said.

Rustamov emphasized that, for the first time in our country, in order to further strengthen the competitive environment in the payment card market and eliminate possible negative consequences when implementing projects to pay for Internet services and cashback projects, regulation of trade codes of business entities, known as the MCC code, was provided.

Upon request, the buyer must set the merchant code (MCC code) of the business entity in accordance with the business entity's area of activity during the card-based payment transaction.

Also, the buyer must provide, without modification, the trade code of the economic entity for authorization and clearing of the same card-based payment transaction. Therefore, changing these codes and subsequently presenting them in a different form during clearing has a direct negative impact on the calculation of interbank service fees and the profitability of the issuer, he said.

According to the expert, according to another innovation, displaying payment card details on the card itself is no longer mandatory.

However, the issuer must make available to the card user this data, namely the name of the issuer, the payment card number, its expiration date, contact details of the issuer accepting applications, or the operator of the payment system serviced by the issuer, within 24 hours. This requirement is an important step on the way to eliminating physical dependence on payment cards in our society and completely eliminating physical cards in the next stage.

This strategy will provide further support for the growth of mobile banking services. Furthermore, the guidelines do not include any restrictive criteria for corporate cards. I anticipate that the next strategic era will significantly expand the usage of corporate cards as a payment mechanism, he said.

Rustamov pointed out that, according to the requirements of the rules, the accounting of funds for payment transactions carried out by this payment instrument can be carried out by the issuer in a general (consolidated) account.

Issuers can maintain records of prepaid cards identified for participation in payment systems, including the Instant Payment System, through separate payment accounts. This will allow payments to be made by applying the IBAN (International Bank Account Number) to the payment account to which the prepaid payment instrument is linked. According to this requirement, legal entities and individual entrepreneurs can carry out transactions using prepayment instruments.

Accounting for these payment transactions should be kept individually and not in a general (consolidated) account, he concluded.

To note, the Board of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan approved the Rules for the Implementation of Payment Operations and Payment Instruments in early April.

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Mobile got larger today as it completed its acquisition of Mint Mobile, the cellular network best known for being partly owned by Canadian Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds.

This acquisition also handed over the ownership of the Ka'ena Corporation, Mint Mobile's parent company, which means that its sibling networks, Ultra Mobile and Plum, also joined Big Tech.

While this is an acquisition, it does not mean that Mint and Ultra are losing their names and services; they will continue with their current operations.

T-Mobile Mint Mobile Acquisition Now Complete

T-Mobile and Mint Mobile finally inked their deal behind the Big Tech company's acquisition plans for the budget cell network operator.

This focuses on T-Mobile's Ka'ena Corporation acquisition, the parent company of Mint, centering on its brands like direct-to-consumer prepaid wireless brands, the international Ultra Mobile, and wholesale wireless network provider Plum.

We are excited to maintain the unique style and entrepreneurial spirit that make Mint and Ultra truly special, while also finding ways to supercharge their growth and leverage some of the secrets of that success into other areas of our business. Mike Katz, President of Marketing, Strategy, and Products at T-Mobile

Mint, Ultra Gets T-Mobile Special Features

First off, the $15 per month plan from Mint Mobile is still available for users to continue their subscriptions as part of the "Commitmint" program.

Mint Mobile also receives free Canada roaming with unlimited text and calls, as well as 3GB of data while on the Great North. Mexico roaming is also coming soon.

Lastly, Mint and Ultra Mobile will get T-Mobile's scam call screening feature, which will display a message that reads "Scam Likely" for flagged numbers.

T-Mobile and Mint Mobile

T-Mobile is still the best-known cellular network company for 5G speeds, giving the top numbers compared to the two other companies that are part of the Big Three of cell connections.

While rivals like Verizon are catching up, T-Mobile still holds the record for offering users the highest 5G speeds, remaining on top for its impeccable service.

The T-Mobile and Mint Mobile acquisition first caught wind back in January 2023, with the Big Tech company interested in acquiring the cell service partly owned by Reynolds.

Reports claim that T-Mobile is willing to buy the company for as much as $1.35 billion, centered on owning the budget-option telecom to the larger company after its long interest in a sale.

Mint Mobile's sales interest is finally answered by T-Mobile, which offers comprehensive services in the country alongside its fast internet and cellular communication offers.

It was not revealed how much T-Mobile acquired Mint and the Ka'ena Corporation, with Ultra Mobile and Plum also part of this acquisition, with plans already revealed for its operations moving forward.
NASA has selected nine U.S. companies to conduct preliminary concept studies aimed at exploring how commercial services can contribute to future missions to Mars.



Each of these companies will receive funding ranging from $200,000 to $300,000 to conduct 12 concept studies. These studies will investigate various potential services, including payload delivery, communications relay, surface imaging, and payload hosting.

"Space Tugs"

The selection of these companies followed a request for proposals issued by NASA on January 29 to the U.S. industry. The Mars Exploration Program within NASA initiated this effort to advance critical scientific objectives through a new paradigm for Mars missions.



Among the proposed services are innovative concepts such as "space tugs" designed to transport spacecraft to Mars, platforms to host scientific instruments and cameras, and telecommunications relays.



The overarching goal is to establish strategic partnerships between government, industry, and international collaborators to pave the way for more frequent and cost-effective Mars missions for the next two decades.



In the category of small payload delivery and hosting services, Lockheed Martin aims to transform a spacecraft currently utilized for lunar exploration.

Impulse Space is strategizing to repurpose an Earth-vicinity orbital transfer vehicle (space tug), and Firefly Aerospace is focused on adapting a spacecraft currently employed for lunar exploration.

In the domain of large payload delivery and hosting services, United Launch Services plans to adjust an Earth-vicinity cryogenic upper stage.

Blue Origin is considering adopting a spacecraft originally designed for Earth and lunar applications. Additionally, Astrobotic Technology intends to modify a spacecraft presently used for lunar exploration.



In the sphere of Mars surface-imaging services, Albedo Space Corporation is set on adopting a low Earth orbit imaging satellite. Redwire Space is working to modify a commercial imaging spacecraft in low Earth orbit.

Simultaneously, Astrobotic Technology will enhance a lunar exploration spacecraft to incorporate imaging capabilities.



For next-generation relay services, SpaceX is aiming to repurpose Earth-orbit communication satellites for Mars. Lockheed Martin is positioned to deliver communication relay services via a modified Mars orbiter.

Lastly, Blue Origin is exploring options to provide communication relay services with an adapted Earth and lunar spacecraft.

"New Era of Space Exploration"

These 12-week concept studies are scheduled to conclude in August, with a comprehensive summary expected later in the year. While these studies could pave the way for future requests for proposals, they do not represent a binding commitment, according to NASA.



"We're in an exciting new era of space exploration, with rapid growth of commercial interest and capabilities," Eric Ianson, director of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, said in a press release statement.



"Now is the right time for NASA to begin looking at how public-private partnerships could support science at Mars in the coming decades."




A new lawsuit filed by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University is targeting Meta, the parent company of Facebook, with the aim of allowing users more control over their social media experience.

The lawsuit, filed by researcher Ethan Zuckerman, seeks to challenge Meta's control over algorithmic feeds by releasing a browser extension.

Unfollow Everything 2.0

Ethan Zuckerman, a University of Massachusetts Amherst professor, is behind the lawsuit and developing a tool called Unfollow Everything 2.0.

This tool aims to empower Facebook users to effectively disable their algorithmic newsfeeds, providing a different and potentially more personalized experience on the platform.

"I'm suing Facebook to make it better. The major social media companies have too much control over what content their users see and don't see," Zukerman said in an official statement.

"We're bringing this lawsuit to give people more control over their social media experience and data and to expand knowledge about how platforms shape public discourse."

The Unfollow Everything 2.0 browser extension seeks to facilitate more effective unfollowing of friends, groups, and pages on Facebook, thereby allowing users to tailor their newsfeed experience to their preferences.

Additionally, the tool would enable users to contribute their data to Zuckerman's research study, which seeks to understand the impact of increased control over online experiences on user behavior and well-being.

However, Zuckerman's initiative isn't without precedent. In 2021, a similar tool called Unfollow Everything, developed by a UK-based developer named Louis Barclay, faced legal challenges from Meta.

Barclay received a cease-and-desist letter from Meta and ultimately chose to take down his tool to avoid potential legal action.

However, Zuckerman's Unfollow Everything 2.0 represents a renewed effort to empower users by allowing them to "effectively" unfollow everything.

Unilateral Control for Social Media Users

The lawsuit argues that social media companies like Meta should not have unilateral control over users' experiences on their platforms.

Instead, users should have the right to curate and personalize their social media interactions, including the ability to block or filter content they find objectionable or unhelpful.

Ramya Krishnan, a senior staff attorney at the Knight Institute, emphasizes that users should not be confined to the platform's default settings and content offerings.

Section 230, a provision often associated with shielding social media platforms from legal liability, is also invoked in this lawsuit to protect developers like Zuckerman, who seek to create tools that enhance user control over online experiences.

"Users don't have to accept Facebook as it's given to them. The same statute that immunizes Meta from liability for the speech of its users gives users the right to decide what they see on the platform," Krishnan said in a statement.
The iconic Nokia 3210, a staple of late 90s mobile technology, will make a dramatic return, tapping into deep-rooted nostalgia while integrating modern tech enhancements.

With its anticipated revival, Nokia, now under the stewardship of HMD Global, aims to merge the cherished memories of yesteryear with today's digital advancements.

The relaunch of this classic phone, known for its ultra-solid build and straightforward design, could hit the market as early as next week, with a price tag that promises to be as appealing as its new features.

Nokia Triggers Nostalgia Among Phone Fans

Originally released in the late 1990s, the Nokia 3210 was a phenomenon in the mobile phone world, known for its durability and the revolutionary introduction of an internal antenna.

Fast forward over two decades, and its appeal hasn't waned. The Finnish retailer Gigantti recently leaked images suggesting the new iteration of the Nokia 3210 will be available in vibrant cyan and yellow, expected to be unveiled by May 8, based on a teaser from HMD's Twitter feed hinting at the launch of an "icon" phone this month.

Modern Features in a Classic Frame

While the new Nokia 3210 retains the silhouette of the original, it's speculated to bear a closer resemblance to the Nokia 6310 in terms of functionality. This includes a larger 2.8-inch screen, contrasting sharply with the original's modest monochrome display.

True to its roots, the rebooted 3210 will feature a "retro interface" and even the beloved game Snake, but with significant upgrades such as a MicroSD card slot, Bluetooth capabilities, and 4G connectivity.

The absence of a camera and headphone jack had defined the old 3210, focusing solely on basic mobile functions like SMS messaging and a handful of games, per Gizmodo. The 2020s version, however, promises to support modern necessities like Bluetooth 5, MMS messaging, a rear-facing camera equipped with a 2 MP, F2.8 lens, and USB-C charging for its 1450 mAh battery, enhancing user experience while staying true to its minimalist origins.

How Much is the New Nokia 3210

While the initial leak suggested a price of 89 Euros ($95), specifics regarding the U.S. pricing remain under wraps until the official release. The strategy behind this pricing is to make the new 3210 accessible while offering a nostalgic journey back in time coupled with contemporary conveniences.

Continued Legacy of Nokia's Throwback Phones

This isn't HMD's first attempt at reviving Nokia classics. The Nokia 3310 was reintroduced over seven years ago, appealing to those seeking a break from the pervasive reach of smartphones.

Since then, Nokia has successfully launched several retro-inspired models, including sleek flip phones like the Nokia 2660 Flip, demonstrating a viable market for devices that evoke nostalgia while accommodating basic modern needs.

Nokia's strategy to blend nostalgic elements with modern technology provides a unique niche in today's smartphone-dominated market. By reviving the beloved 3210, Nokia is not just selling a phone; it's offering a slice of the past, updated for today's technological industry, appealing to both former 3210 owners and a new generation curious about the digital simplicity of the late 90s.

It remains to be seen how this modern take on a classic will resonate with today's consumers.

For now, let's take a look at the "Boring Phone" brought by Heineken in partnership with HMD and Bodega.
Microsoft has unveiled its plan to invest a staggering $2.2 billion in Malaysia for cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, marking the company's largest-ever investment in the Southeast Asian nation.

Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella made the announcement during the Microsoft Build: AI Day event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella delivers a speech during an event named Microsoft Build AI Day in Kuala Lumpur on May 2, 2024. Microsoft on May 2, 2024 pledged a $2.2 billion investment in artificial intelligence and cloud computing in Malaysia to help develop the country's AI infrastructure, the tech giant said in a statement.

Microsoft Boosts Malaysia's AI, Tech Economy with Major Investment

This substantial investment is set to be rolled out over the course of the next four years, with the primary aim of strengthening Malaysia's digital transformation efforts.

Nadella emphasized Microsoft's commitment to supporting Malaysia's evolution into a regional digital hub, stating, "We really want to make sure that we have world-class infrastructure right here in the country, so that every organization, every software developer, every startup can use it, to really not only build for this country, but for the world and the region."

The investment encompasses various facets, including the development of cloud and AI infrastructure, provision of AI training opportunities, establishment of a national AI Centre of Excellence, and reinforcement of the nation's cybersecurity capabilities.

Nadella reiterated Microsoft's dedication to ensuring that the benefits of this investment extend to all Malaysians, asserting, "We are committed to supporting Malaysia's AI transformation and ensuring it benefits all Malaysians."

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim welcomed Microsoft's substantial investment, underscoring its significance in bolstering Malaysia's economic foundation and reinforcing the nation's status as a favorable destination for tech investment.

He remarked, "This investment proves their confidence in the country's strong economic foundation, clear directions in policies, aside from political stability and investor-friendly."

Microsoft's Strategic Investments in Malaysia and Indonesia

Microsoft's investment in Malaysia follows a similar initiative in Indonesia, where the company pledged $1.7 billion over four years for cloud computing and AI infrastructure.

Nadella emphasized the pivotal role of AI in reshaping how people live and work, stating, "This new generation of AI is reshaping how people live and work everywhere, including in Indonesia."

The company's commitment to Southeast Asia extends beyond infrastructure investment, with plans to provide AI skilling opportunities to 2.5 million people across ASEAN member states by 2025. In Malaysia alone, Microsoft aims to benefit 200,000 individuals through AI training programs, technical education initiatives, and support for underserved communities.

Furthermore, Microsoft will collaborate closely with the Malaysian government to strengthen the nation's digital ecosystem. This includes establishing a national AI Centre of Excellence and partnering with various government agencies to drive AI adoption across key industries while ensuring regulatory compliance and governance.

The investment in Malaysia aligns with Microsoft's broader vision of fostering inclusive economic growth and innovation across the region. Andrea Della Mattea, President of Microsoft ASEAN, highlighted Malaysia's progress as a regional hub for digital innovation and smart technologies.

"This strategic emphasis on AI not only boosts economic growth but also promotes inclusivity by bridging the digital divide and ensuring everyone gets a seat at the table, so every Malaysian can thrive in this new digital world," Della Mattea said.

Research indicates that by 2030, artificial intelligence (AI) could boost Southeast Asia's GDP by almost $1 trillion, with Malaysia expected to account for US$115 billion of this total.

Stay posted here at Tech Times.
Thames Valley Police in the UK has credited recent technological advancements for a successful murder investigation that led to the conviction of the perpetrators involved in the tragic death of 13-year-old Olly Stephens.

Thames Valley Police credits technological advancements for solving Olly Stephens' murder. Digital forensics unveiled crucial evidence, highlighting the evolving role of technology in investigations.

Digital Forensics Key to Solving Teenager's Murder

According to a BBC report, Det Supt Andy Howard emphasized the pivotal role of advancing technology in cracking the case, shedding light on how digital forensics played a crucial role in accessing critical evidence.

Olly Stephens tragically lost his life due to fatal stab wounds inflicted in a field in Reading, Berkshire, back in January 2021. The investigation revealed that the motive behind the heinous crime stemmed from a dispute on social media, where Olly was wrongly perceived to have informed his assailants of another boy they had mocked.

The culprits, two schoolboys, were later convicted of his murder, along with a girl found guilty of manslaughter.

Voice notes and text messages uncovered by the police revealed chilling details of the assailants' intentions of revenge, highlighting the significance of digital evidence in modern-day investigations.

Det Supt Andy Howard, speaking to the BBC, stressed how technological advancements enabled the police to access crucial digital data, which ultimately provided insights into the motive behind Olly's tragic demise.

"If Olly had been killed perhaps six months earlier, we would have had to look at the investigation in a very different way," said Mr. Howard. "We were able to harvest so much information from the digital data it meant we didn't have to rely on calling a single young person or child to court, which I think was positive all round."

Furthermore, Mr. Howard stressed that the investigation's success was largely attributed to the ability to leverage digital evidence, particularly from mobile phones and social media platforms.

Growing Concerns Over AI in Government Decision-Making

Meanwhile, The Guardian reported earlier this year that concerns have been raised about the widespread use of artificial intelligence (AI) and complex algorithms in decision-making processes across various government departments, including law enforcement agencies.

The report revealed instances where flawed algorithms led to discriminatory outcomes, such as the erroneous removal of benefits and biased facial recognition tools.

The use of AI in public sector decision-making has sparked debates surrounding transparency and accountability, especially in cases where algorithms produce outcomes that are not fully understood by developers.

While proponents argue for the transformative potential of AI in revolutionizing public services, critics warn against the risks of relying on poorly-understood algorithms to make life-changing decisions.

With the growing reliance on technology in law enforcement and public services, there is a pressing need for robust safeguards to ensure the responsible and ethical use of AI and digital tools.

Stay posted here at Tech Times.
TBILISI, Georgia, May 2. One of Azerbaijan's priorities at the annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is the country's positioning as the host of COP29, the country's Minister of Finance Samir Sharifov told reporters on the sidelines of the ADB annual meeting in Tbilisi, Georgia, Trend reports.

"Our participation here is traditional for the annual meeting of the Boards of Governors of Banks, but it also includes a variety of seminars, conferences, discussions, and round tables where there is a very fruitful exchange of views on economic cooperation issues.



This year, one of our focuses is promoting Azerbaijan as the host country of COP29; therefore, we'll participate in a number of panel talks on developing a greener future in Asia," he said.

Sharifov noted that accordingly, as the host country of COP29, Azerbaijan plans to offer participants of these meetings its vision of how the country sees its role in bridging the positions of the participating countries in climate agreements so that the principles and goals that were set when signing these agreements are implemented.

To note, the theme for the 57th Annual Meeting to be held from May 2 to May 5 is Bridge to the Future..

The opening session of the Board of Governors will take place on May 4. The opening session marks the official start of the annual meeting. It is a high-profile event attended by the guest of honor from the host country. Remarks will be made by ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa and the Minister of Finance of Georgia and Chair of the ADB Board of Governors, Lasha Khutsishvili.



The annual meeting is an opportunity for ADB governors to consider development issues and challenges facing Asia and the Pacific. Several thousand participants, including finance ministers, central bank governors, senior government officials, members of the private sector, representatives of international organizations and civil society organizations, youth, academia, and the media, regularly join the meeting.

Moreover, this November, Azerbaijan will host COP29. This decision was made at the COP28 plenary meeting held in Dubai on December 11 last year. Baku will become the center of the world and will receive about 70,00080,000 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. The COPthe Conference of the Partiesis 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, and its secretariat is located in Bonn.

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At least 29 killed in Burundi floods: UN



Nairobi, May 2 (AFP) May 02, 2024



At least 29 people have died and tens of thousands displaced in Burundi since the start of the rainy season in September last year, the United Nations said.

Burundi, which the UN says is one of the 20 countries most vulnerable to climate change, has been pelted by almost nonstop rains for months, exacerbated by the El Nino weather pattern.

East Africa has been experiencing torrential downpours in recent weeks that have devastated parts of the region, particularly Kenya and Tanzania, and cost several hundred lives.

Burundi's main city of Bujumbura, on the northeastern shore of Lake Tanganyika, has seen several neighbourhoods flooded and roads and bridges destroyed.

"The El Nino phenomenon has caused torrential rains, flooding and landslides," the UN's humanitarian response agency OCHA said in an update dated Wednesday.

As of April 26, more than 237,000 people have been affected, with 42,000 displaced, more than half of them women, it said, adding that 29 people had died and 175 injured.

OCHA also warned that the levels of Lake Tanganyika, the second largest in Africa, were continuing to rise.

The government of Burundi and the United Nations last month launched an appeal for financial aid to cope with the "devastating effects" of the relentless rains.

President Evariste Ndayishimiye's government has come under fire over the situation, particularly from civil society groups and the opposition, which have called for the authorities to declare a state of emergency or natural disaster.

El Nino is a naturally occurring climate phenomenon typically associated with increased heat worldwide, leading to drought in some parts of the world and heavy rains elsewhere.
Brazil saw record forest fires from January to April



Rio de Janeiro, May 2 (AFP) May 02, 2024



Brazil saw a record 17,182 forest fires from January to April this year, according to satellite images from the Brazilian Institute of Space Research (INPE) released Thursday, more than half of them in the Amazon region.

The figure represented an 81 percent increase from the same period last year, and was the most forest fires recorded for this period in Brazil since data collection started in 1998.

The previous record was set in 2003, when 16,888 outbreaks were registered in the first four months of the year.

Brazil's Ministry of Environment blamed the increase on the effects of climate change, including drought, although the country's agribusiness sector routinely burns forests to create farmland.

In the Brazilian Amazon, home to more than 60 percent of the world's largest rainforest, the INPE recorded 8,977 forest fire outbreaks from January to April, the highest since 2016.

This represents an increase of 153 percent compared to the same period last year.

The government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva cut Amazon deforestation in half during its first year in office last year, after it soared under his far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro.

But the forest fire situation remains alarming.

"Forest fires in Brazil and other countries in the region, such as Chile and Colombia, have been intensified by climate change and by one of the strongest El Nino phenomena in history, which caused a long drought in many areas of the Amazon in 2023," the country's Environment Ministry said in a statement.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. The European Union supports Azerbaijan's chairmanship of COP29, Ambassador of the EU to Azerbaijan Peter Michalko told reporters, Trend reports.

"This year, our collaboration is intricately linked to the climate agenda. The European Union, a leading international actor in the fight against climate change, is willing to work together with Azerbaijan to provide assistance during its presidency of COP29. We collaborate with the objective of identifying and promoting resolutions to worldwide climate issues," he said.

According to Michalko, Azerbaijan and the EU are close partners, and cooperation between the countries also involves the energy sector.

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 world's center, receiving about 70-80,000 foreign guests.

At the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, the United Nations signed the Framework Convention on Climate Change as an agreement to prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system. The COP, or Conference of the Parties, is the highest legislative body responsible for overseeing the implementation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change. There are 198 countries that sign the Convention. The COP takes place annually, unless the parties agree otherwise. The first COP event took place in March 1995 in Berlin, and its secretariat is located in Bonn.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. European Union supports Azerbaijan's chairmanship of COP29, Ambassador of the EU to Azerbaijan Peter Michalko told reporters, Trend reports.

"This year, our collaboration is intricately linked to the climate agenda. The European Union, a leading international actor in the fight against climate change, is willing to work together with Azerbaijan to provide assistance during its presidency of COP29. We collaborate with the objective of identifying and promoting resolutions to worldwide climate issues," he said.

According to Michalko, Azerbaijan and the EU are close partners and cooperation between the countries also involves the energy sector.

This November, Azerbaijan will host COP29. This decision was made at the COP28 plenary meeting held in Dubai on December 11 last year. Baku will become the center of the world and will receive about 70-80,000 foreign guests.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is an agreement signed at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992 to prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system. COP - the Conference of the Parties - is the highest legislative body overseeing the implementation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change. There are 198 countries that are parties to the Convention. Unless the parties agree otherwise, the COP is held annually. The first COP event took place in March 1995 in Berlin, and its secretariat is located in Bonn.

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TBILISI, Georgia, May 2. Azerbaijan is attending discussions on the green economy in the CAREC region (Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Program) within the framework of the ADB (Asian Development Bank) annual meeting in Tbilisi, Trend reports.

The panel discussions involve government representatives, development partners, and private sector representatives to discuss the role of regional cooperation in strengthening CAREC's links to global value chains while advancing the climate agenda.

The participants will explore opportunities to mobilize funding and support the preparation of regional projects related to combating climate change.

Azerbaijan is represented at the event by the Minister of Finance and member of the ADB Board of Governors, Samir Sharifov.

To note, the theme for the 57th Annual Meeting to be held from May 2 through May 5 is Bridge to the Future.

The opening session of the Board of Governors will take place on May 4. The opening session marks the official start of the annual meeting. It is a high-profile event attended by the guest of honor from the host country. Remarks will be made by ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa and the Minister of Finance of Georgia and Chair of the ADB Board of Governors, Lasha Khutsishvili.



The annual meeting is an opportunity for ADB Governors to consider development issues and challenges facing Asia and the Pacific. Several thousand participants, including finance ministers, central bank governors, senior government officials, members of the private sector, representatives of international organizations and civil society organizations, youth, academia, and the media, regularly join the meeting.

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The shifting sands of television news come at a crucial time. Consumption trends show older audiences are beginning to prefer online news websites and apps to television, while younger audiences are increasingly consuming news through social media. Sitting down to consume the headlines at 6pm has diminished in importance, says Peter Meakin, who has served as director of news and current affairs for each of Australias three commercial networks. But Meakin says, the evening bulletin still serves a purpose, particularly for local audiences. Most people would be aware of anything important before that time. There is still a demand for it, but the audiences have markedly declined over the last couple of decades. News bulletins have outlasted the majority of other free-to-air programming  barring live sport  as the last hyper-local product on screens with budgets shifting elsewhere. In June last year, the ABC attempted to nationalise its Sunday Night bulletin, replacing state and local services in a slimmed down broadcast output.

Six weeks later, managing director David Anderson reversed the decision after listening to audience feedback. Social media takeover While free-to-air television remains the primary choice for news consumption for now, both TV and online news will soon be overtaken by social media as the first choice for Australians, according to data from the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). Twenty per cent of Australians now cite social media as their first port of call for news, according to ACMAs How We Access News report published in February. The report finds that while free-to-air television is still selected by 26 per cent of Australians as the main source of news, the overall consumption of news on the medium is declining.

Nine in ten Australians watch free-to-air TV news each week, with that figure just 30 per cent in the 18-to-24 age group. Overall, 53 per cent of Australians watched free to air TV news in 2023, down from 59 per cent in 2022. Australians are also getting news from fewer sources  3.1 sources in any given week in 2023, down from 3.5 in 2022. Social media was the main source of news for 46 per cent of 18-to-24-year-olds, and 38 per cent of Australians between the ages of 25 and 34. Those age groups more generally consumed news through social media at rates of 70 per cent and 64 per cent. Metro consumption of the nightly bulletins on the two leading commercial networks, Nine and Seven, declined by 12 per cent between 2019 and 2023, according to OzTAM data. The audience is getting older, too. Audiences in the key demographic of 25-to-54 year-olds dropped 24 per cent in the same period. Meakin says TV news audiences have been 55-plus for decades.

There have been attempts, here and overseas to make news style programs that appeal to younger audiences. Most of them, apart from The Project have been a failure, he says. You can chase them, and if someone can find a magic bullet, good luck to them and theyll be extremely wealthy. But at the end of the day, theres just not a lot of interest among the younger generation in watching news bulletins. Yet despite the declines, television and professional news outlets remain more trusted in a crowded environment. Trust in news remains at pre-pandemic levels in Australia, according to a 2023 study by the Reuters Institute. Both SBS and the ABC had a trust score of 66 per cent, with 9News (57pc) and 7News (56pc) ahead of all digital news websites. News Corp brands The Daily Telegraph, The Herald Sun and Sky News Australia had the lowest trust scores of those surveyed. As a result, nightly bulletins retain significant reach despite television audiences declining more generally. On Sunday, the combined audience across evening news bulletins on Nine, Seven, Ten and ABC was 3.7 million.

Ad dollars dwindling For decades, television could command around half an advertising agencies media budget, a senior advertising executive says, but its now a secondary focus. We want to be in front of the news, MAFS, Farmer Wants a Wife and live sport, thats about it, the executive said, speaking anonymously to preserve their commercial relationships. In 2015, television netted 46 per cent of all advertising spend in Australia according to Standard Media Index data provided to this masthead. (These figures consider around 60 per cent of all advertising spend, comprising data from all the major agencies).

Fast-forward to 2024, television makes up just 31 per cent of a slightly larger market. Televisions lunch has been eaten by digital advertising (mostly Google and Meta), which captures 43 per cent of all advertising, up from 23 per cent in 2015. Its worse for newspapers. The sectors share has cratered, down from 8 per cent to just 2 per cent, with revenue now reliant on subscriptions amid a protracted battle with the Facebook-owner for commercial compensation ongoing. Preserving the brand Sevens swift decision to jettison McPherson and install De Ceglie shows the importance of preserving the brand. Televisions shrinking share of the ad market puts the company in a volatile position, deriving around 90 per cent of its income from advertising. Its not fatal, but its not helpful, says Meakin of the recent blunders by Sevens newsrooms, including the misidentification of the Bondi Junction killer, and revelations of the efforts Spotlight went to secure an interview with former Liberal staffer Lehrmann, who was found last month at a civil standard to have raped Brittany Higgins.

People reading about people being plied with sex workers and cocaine, it doesnt do your reputation much good. If youre asking people to trust what they what youre telling them. You wouldnt want to have that on your CV. Meanwhile, Nines search for Wicks replacement is taking some time. Its television boss Michael Healy isnt expected to consider external candidates for the role, this masthead was told by two network sources confidentially as the plans are still underway. Another consideration being mulled over is whether the exhaustive remit would be better split up, uncoupling news and current affairs under the remit of two executives. Names including Melbourne and Sydney news directors Hugh Nailon and Simon Hobbs have been mentioned, alongside Nine Perths Gareth Parker, 60 Minutes EP Kirsty Thompson and deputy Sydney news boss Fiona Dear. All of this is under consideration by Nines management after recruiting Morris, a former ABC and Al Jazeera executive to help lead a comprehensive review of its news division.

Like De Ceglie, the ABCs news boss is another millennial in Justin Stevens. Appointed in 2022 he leapfrogged more senior news figures for the role at just 37 years of age. Previously executive producer of 7.30, he now oversees a team of over 1200 journalists. Recognisable newsreaders have also helped networks build trust with audiences. Peter Overton has led Nines Sydney news since 2009, while Susannah Carr and Rick Ardon at 7News Perth will celebrate 40 years hosting the nightly bulletin next year, a world record. In 2024, Nines Peter Hitchener was replaced as the weeknight anchor in Melbourne after 25 years by Alicia Loxley and Tom Steinfort. In 2024, the show is up 12 per cent, while its competitor in Seven is down 14 per cent across the same period. Whether De Ceglie can halt or prolong the decline for television news, there is still significant revenue to be made, and audiences to be served. Despite the expertise he may lack, Meakin says, news pedigree comes first, rather than TV pedigree.
The trailer for M. Night Shyamalans upcoming horror Trap begins well. A man has taken his teen daughter to a pop concert, only to discover theyre trapped inside the venue with a deranged serial killer. Its a simple premise, yet it promises a thrill.

But it keeps going. Before you know it, you find out the father is the serial killer.

And its not just Trap making the mistake of revealing too much. These days, watching a trailer can feel like one big spoiler. Theyre packed with as much material from the film as possible, often including the best jump scares, stunts, twists and gags.

Movie trailers seem to be major spoilers these days. Why do they give so much away? Credit: Compiled by Bethany Rae.

Granted, only showing the best parts of something is bound to generate hype, which is ultimately what trailers are made to do. But this can come at the expense of the audiences enjoyment of the film itself. Would you have enjoyed The Sixth Sense as much if the trailer had already explained that Bruce Willis character was a ghost? Even if you did, the chances of it going down in cinematic history would surely have been much slimmer.
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Eating outBrisbane Brisbanes Carmen Hartwich named Australias first master of bourbon Shes just the seventh person in the world to achieve the qualification  and the first female. Matt Shea May 2, 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

Brisbane-based whisky expert Carmen Hartwich has been named Australias first master of bourbon. Hartwich received her certification early last week after a gruelling 18-month undertaking that culminated in a judging process on the Isle Raasay in Scotland. Master of Bourbon Carmen Hartwich. The Brisbane-based whisky expert became Australias first master of bourbon early last week. Markus Ravik It hasnt sunk in yet, Hartwich, 34, says. Ive had so many people amping me up. Especially in this industry, its so hard not to get imposter syndrome. I havent had to introduce myself as a master of bourbon yet. Maybe at that point it will sink in. Hartwichs qualification involved a syllabus of top whisky periodicals and eight whiskey books (the latter focusing on spirits from the US where, like Ireland, whiskey is generally spelled with an e). There was also a list of core American distilleries that students needed to know back to front.

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Youre also connected to previous masters who act as mentors to the students, she explains. All of the students across the world would be connected, and we would have weekly dial-ins to go through the material and go through the tastings  and when I say you need to know these [core] distilleries, this is where the blind tasting comes in. You need to be able to pick any of these whiskeys in a blind line-up. The judging process on the Isle of Raasay was a two-day affair and involved an essay component with six questions; a two-hour blind tasting of eight American whiskeys and panel session where the candidate explained the reasoning behind their picks; and an oral exam with a panel of international whisky experts that Hartwich describes as the most intense game of Jeopardy youll ever play. Brisbanes best bar openings of 2023 But it was incredible  we had a close cohort of candidates this year, and we all practiced with each other, so no matter how scary it was we were all supportive of each other. Not only is Hartwich Australias first master of bourbon, but shes just the seventh in the world to achieve the qualification, and the first female.

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Thats not because women arent delving into whisky. They are  theres more than ever before, Hartwich says. But you have to keep in mind that, say, the [Institute of] Masters of Wine exam has been around for many years. Master of whisky exams are relatively new because its only recently that weve developed a thorough enough understanding of whisky in terms of how it works  distillation, maturation, all the finite details  more thoroughly within the space of the last 10 years. Hartwich says the accolade hasnt sunk in yet. Markus Ravik Hartwichs certification was achieved through the Council of Whiskey Masters, which was founded in 2019 and is acknowledged as the leading international education and certification body for bourbon and whisky. Hartwichs career in hospitality started on the door at Cloudland 10 years ago. She then went on to bartend at venues across Fortitude Valley such as Press Club, Empire Hotel, Brunswick Social and Grape Therapy. Shes currently a Queensland and South Australian brand ambassador for booze giant Brown Forman, and still makes regular pop-up appearances behind the bar at venues across Brisbane. Im excited for the future, Hartwich says. What this does is open doors in Australia. Ill actually be a mentor for future masters, which is amazing. To see how much this industry has grown and changed in the last decade, Im so excited to see what the next decade brings.

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Eating outThe scoop Dont visit St Kildas reborn Prince Dining Room without knowing this first Hotshot Sydney chef Mitch Orr has brought his golden touch to the Prince. Heres what to order, where to sit to and other inside intel to get the most out of it. Tomas Telegramma May 3, 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 culinary king now reigns at St Kildas Prince Dining Room. After having been shuttered for a month, the Acland Street restaurant has reopened with star Sydney chef Mitch Orr  of hatted restaurant Kiln  crossing the border to serve as food and creative director. Good Food slid into a booth to give you the scoop on whats good (and new). Crumpets with anchovies and smoked butter at Prince Dining Room. Parker Blain What to eat Simply glancing at the menu, you wont find the topped Jatz cracker thats become a signature at Kiln. But look a little closer. Here, the same toppings  anchovies and smoked butter  crown a two-bite crumpet, the next best thing. But the Prince isnt Arnotts-averse. Orr is getting savvy with Savoys, Jatzs Victorian counterpart: they accompany the crab cocktail, served in a shell and smoke-infused by adding smouldering pieces of charcoal into the mayo, then carefully straining them.

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Orr and head chef Ben Parkinson (ex-Pipis Kiosk) are all for playing with fire on their roaring wood oven and grill, also turning out flame-licked whole flounder and coal-kissed bonito. Wood-fired flounder, yellow curry, fried curry leaves at Prince Dining Room. Parker Blain What to drink Good things come in small packages, and the Princes new mini-cocktail list is indeed good. Each just 60 millilitres (essentially a double shot), no more than $16 and poured in thrifted glassware, theyre perfectly sized to smash before your late date arrives. The zingy Three Faces is gin, yuzu, ume plum wine and cardamom bitters. Meanwhile, the sober-curious list punches above its weight, with beverage manager Paul Beresford making many components in house. Chai-spiced honey, salted grapefruit soda and lime make for a curiously cohesive concoction, the flavours dancing around on your palate. The Princes mini cocktails are perfectly sized to smash before your late date arrives. Parker Blain

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Where to sit Dont dismiss the circular, central bar as simply a spot for a pre-dinner drink. Orr has developed a dedicated bar offering that makes it worth visiting in its own right, with playful dishes not on the dining-room menu. The headliner? A baloney sandwich resurrected from his now-closed Sydney diner, Acme. [The bars] like a mini Acme, Orr says. There are also five pasta dishes, from mezcal-spiked spicy rigatoni to malloredus (little Sardinian gnocchi) with clams and preserved lemon butter  another Acme dish. Between Orrs new iteration of the Prince, Karen Martinis recently hatted Saint George and the evolving icon Cafe Di Stasio, this strip of St Kilda is a bonafide pasta paradise. The Prince Dining Room bar has its own dedicated menu. Parker Blain Who to take A hungry group, so you can give the sizeable snack menu the attention it deserves without skimping on centrepiece-worthy proteins (like the Blackmore wagyu flatiron steak) and left-field desserts (like ginger cake with chicory ice-cream and glazed quince).

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Glazed quince, chicory ice-cream and ginger is one of Princes left-field desserts. Parker Blain Our favourite details Those familiar with the space will notice it hasnt been overhauled. But there are a few notable new features: an angular, neutral-coloured floral installation hung over the curvaceous, interconnected booths in the dining room, and a vibrant abstract work by contemporary artist Dale Frank, hung on the far-right wall just before opening night. Open Wed-Thu 5pm-late, Fri-Sat noon-late, Sun noon-5pm 2 Acland Street, St Kilda, theprince.com.au/prince-dining-room Four simple but irresistible ways to jazz up a Jatz cracker

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As Victoria braces for a tough budget from Treasurer Tim Pallas on Tuesday, anybody out there hit by cuts to the state Labor governments  admittedly prodigious  spending might take comfort that their tax dollars are being put to good use elsewhere.

A long way elsewhere, as a matter of fact.

Labor, Liberal and Nationals state MPs at Gallipoli on Anzac Day. Credit: Instagram

Labors Veterans Minister Natalie Suleyman led a platoon of MPs to Turkiyes Gallipoli peninsula last week to check out the battlefields and engage in a little Dawn Service Anzacery with their federal colleague Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles.

Under Natalies command were ALP foot soldiers John Berger, Pauline Richards, Juliana Addison, Matt Fregon, Ella George, Belinda Wilson, Anthony Cianflone and Luba Grigorovitch.
More from AFL on women

The AFL has an opportunity at this time to do something more than a minute of silence, something that would contribute to the change in culture needed to address the deep disrespect for women so obvious at this time.

No one questions the motives of the AFL: how could you? They love women, they targeted their pre-season advertising towards women to keep them loyal to the code.

But here is an idea, how about real action? Stop the gambling ads that surround football, bring in gender vilification rules for players and spectators, remove the commentators and players who have been abusive to women, and pay AFLW women at the same rates as AFL men.

Attitudes must change, and the AFL can take a leading role here.

Christine Craik, Darraweit Guim

Barrackers behaviour

So the AFL orchestrates a minutes silence this weekend for women who have been murdered by their partners: then what? Ill be at the MCG tomorrow, scouring the crowd wondering which of the one in every six women in attendance will be subjected to physical and emotional abuse when they return home.

Ill also be watching the male supporters more closely and will continue to reprimand the verbally abusive ones (much to my husbands chagrin). At last weeks game, I turned to the screaming, abusive 50-something male supporter and simply said: Yeah, Im sure that will help.

Fortunately, he stopped. Why do they think their behaviour is acceptable at a football game? It indicates a lack of respect for those around them, particularly female supporters. If the AFL is genuinely concerned about domestic violence, it could take a more holistic approach to the way men behave.

Sally Davis, Malvern East

Women must change too

Domestic violence is complex. The deaths of so many women are horrendous. Much is said about educating boys and men on how to treat females. Little is mentioned about educating young people about healthy relationships and what constitutes a toxic and abusive relationship.

Even less is said about the role females can have in holding men to account. Educating girls and young women about coercive control is essential. Females need to know how to identify coercive language and actions in relationships and be empowered to challenge males who demonstrate this behaviour.

Young women need to reject the cultural shackles of people-pleasing and passivity and to embrace self-acceptance. They need to embrace self-determination to protect them from being controlled. Young men need to be educated to embrace these changing gender values.

In my lifetime, I have seen women successfully challenge conventional roles, attitudes and aspirations. It is time for women to apply this activism to intimate partner expectations and for men to work towards embracing this equality.

It takes strength to walk away from a relationship. Identifying and rejecting a toxic relationship early could save a womens life.

Cathie Hutchinson, mental health social worker, Mulgrave

Stop saying girl

The landscape of combating domestic violence against women has been marred by well-intentioned action plans.

Despite the earnest efforts of policymakers and activists, the harrowing truth persists that one woman per week in Australia has died at hands of a current or former intimate partner since 2010.

Despite the statistics and discourse around this violence, its equally vital to examine how our language contributes to a culture that tolerates and, in some cases, normalises violence against women.

Consider the casual use of the term girl to describe adult women in conversations everyday settings. Would we ever hear similar references to men as boys?

Girl when applied to adult women carries a subtle yet potent message: that women are childlike, dependent, and lacking in agency. It reduces their worth to mere physical attributes and child-like qualities rather than their intellect, skills, or achievements.

By challenging the use of this term and advocating for more respectful and equitable language, we can chip away at the foundations of gender-based violence.

Mary Ann Oakley, Brighton East

Zomi Frankcom death

Its been a month since the deaths of aid worker Zomi Frankcom and her colleagues. Our prime minister said that Australia expected full accountability for their deaths but all we have seen is the dismissal of a reserve colonel.

No Israeli inquiry and no dismissals of, or possible criminal charges against, Israeli military officers will add up to accountability.

The officers who killed the aid workers were acting under the authority of Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant who said in October last year that he had released all restraints on the Israeli military.

Accountability for the aid workers deaths cant be contracted out to Israel.

Shane McCartin, Macleod
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. The European Union and Azerbaijan remain close partners, Ambassador of the EU to Azerbaijan Peter Michalko told reporters, Trend reports.

"The European Union and Azerbaijan maintain a strong partnership, and we are committed to sustaining our dialogue and collaboration. Some areas hold particular significance, notably those concerning the economy, energy, and transportation," he said.

The ambassador noted that the European Union supports Azerbaijan's demining efforts, cooperates on conflict resolution with Armenia, provides assistance to IDPs, promotes food security, improves living conditions, and expands economic cooperation.

"The European Union represents a solid partner for Azerbaijan, and this partnership is based on our common priorities," Michalko said.

To note, earlier during a briefing in Baku, European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson remarked on the consistent rise in gas supplies from Azerbaijan to the EU. Furthermore, considering the vast potential of the Caspian Sea for wind energy, renewable electricity generated from Azerbaijan will significantly contribute to Europe's energy objectives aimed at reducing CO2 emissions.

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When federal ministers are asked what they would like to do with former criminals who have been released from immigration detention over the past six months, Australians are being given a simple assurance. The vow is to take them off the streets if that is what it takes to keep the community safe.

Home Affairs Minister Clare ONeil made the declaration this week when asked about the horrific bashing of a Perth grandmother, and the accusation, yet to be tested in court, that one of the detainees is to blame.

Home invasion victim Ninette Simons says: I handed over all of my lifes savings on a platter, only to be bashed for it.

The safest thing for the community is for this person to be in detention, ONeil told the Seven Network on Wednesday when asked about the detainee. Im not going to deny that. And if I had the power to put them back in detention, I would absolutely do it.

Tough words. And ONeil has been saying them for months. She and Immigration Minister Andrew Giles are clearly frustrated with the High Court ruling last November that shifted years of thinking about immigration detention and led to about 150 people being released because the government had no reasonable prospect of deporting them.
Australias police ministers will investigate new ways to spot red flags for dangerous men, which could involve looking at their online activity, GPS and mental health data or involvement in family law disputes.

As state and federal governments escalate their efforts to tackle domestic violence, ministers are also examining how intervention orders and apprehended violence orders travel across state borders to ensure women escaping violent partners do not have to renew them if they move.

Mens violence against women will dominate the agenda when Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus hosts police ministers in Canberra on Friday following weeks of public outrage demanding stronger action. A national cabinet meeting this week tasked the ministers and attorneys-general with improving how police respond to high-risk and serial offenders.

That will involve considering fixated-threat strategies targeted at offenders who are jealous, controlling and abusive in their relationships but may appear functional in other parts of their lives.
The Australian arm of controversial social media platform TikTok has posted a surge in revenue and profits over the past year, despite a looming ban in the US and questions over whether Australia should follow suit.

In its annual financial report filed with corporate regulator ASIC this week, TikTok Australia reported profit for the 2023 calendar year of $11.4 million  nearly double its $5.4 million profit a year earlier  on revenue of $375 million, which was more than twice as much as the previous year.

TikTok is under fire from US legislators amid claims it represents a national security risk. Credit: Alamy

The social media company makes the vast bulk of its revenue from third-party advertising in its mobile app, and despite the increase in scrutiny across the Western world, has raked in advertising dollars at a record clip.

TikTok counts around 8.5 million Australian users, approximately a third of the population.
They often visited my dreams. The chasing kind, where only daylight rescued me from my unrelenting nemeses, faceless sub-humans in dark paramilitary uniforms chanting repetitive questions that I could never satisfactorily answer.

I didnt need hypnosis to unriddle who my bogeymen and bogeywomen were, because they always came visiting in the weeks before a trip to the US, a country which, ironically, has provided some of my most heart-quenching life moments, from strolling New York streets until my knees screamed to utterly embracing that Rocky Mountain high.

Have Americas border protection staff become nicer in this post-COVID era? Credit: AP

So how did US Customs and Border Protection officers in particular scare the giddy, pre-holiday buzz from this usually bright-eyed traveller? After all, Ive crossed over much harder borders than the US  yet Iranian, Syrian and Zimbabwean border guards have all snuggled softly into my memory, more or less.

Was it me? I dont think so. Granted, Ive never been a huge fan of suited authority, but I have enough street smarts to approach borders and other places with extreme power imbalance without a bad attitude; chips brushed from shoulders, paperwork completed and printed out. Perhaps suspiciously so.
How Russian rare books came to be at the centre of a possible multinational criminal conspiracy is a story of money and geopolitics as much as of crafty forgers and lacklustre library security. Authorities, librarians and experts in Russian rare books believe the thieves are smaller fish operating on behalf of bigger fish. But who is behind the thefts, and what motivates them, remain open questions. A crow tries to drive a seagull off the sculpture of famous Russian poet Aleksander Pushkin in St Petersburg, Russia. Credit: AP First editions of writers from the Russian Golden Era (the early 19th century to the early 20th century) have sold for five and six figures in recent years at Western auctions. Experts say there is a thriving market for them today in Russia, where they have tremendous cultural and patriotic value. French authorities have not ruled out a state-sanctioned drive to bring Russian treasures home. According to Europol, authorities have arrested nine people in connection to the thefts. Four were detained in Georgia in late April, along with more than 150 books. In November, French police placed three suspects into custody. Another man has been convicted in Estonia and a fifth suspect is in jail in Lithuania. A special French police unit dedicated to fighting cultural theft is overseeing the investigation in France and coordinating across Europe. Authorities paint a picture of a network of associates, some blood relatives, travelling across Europe by bus with library cards sometimes under assumed names to scout rare Russian books, make high-quality copies, then swap them for the originals, case files reviewed by The New York Times reveal.

The investigation, dubbed Operation Pushkin, was reported in depth by Le Parisien, a Paris daily. The director of Frances culture police unit, Colonel Hubert Percie du Sert, declined to comment on an ongoing investigation. Immediately identifiable with Russian culture: Municipal workers dismantle a monument of Alexander Pushkin in the city centre of Dnipro, Ukraine in December 2022. Credit: AP In Russia, Pushkin is a national icon with the status of William Shakespeare but the familiarity of a friend. A romantic poet, novelist and playwright, aristocrat, libertine, writer on freedom and empire, he brought Russian literature, and the Russian language itself, into modernity before dying in a duel at age 37, in 1837. In Russia for the past 200 years, there were not four elements in nature but five, and the fifth is Pushkin, said Andre Markovicz, the preeminent translator of Pushkin into French. Every leader of Russia has embraced Pushkin in line with his own political vision, from the tsars who expanded the Russian Empire in the 19th century to Josef Stalin  who held public celebrations across the Soviet Union on the 100th anniversary of Pushkins death in 1937 even while purging intellectuals  to President Vladimir Putin, who has cited Pushkin in speeches and unveiled monuments to him around the world.

Pushkin is the mirror of all the epochs of Russia, Markovicz said. In Ukraine today, Pushkin has become a reviled symbol of Russian imperialism since the brutal Russian invasion and people have toppled statues to him. Russian author poet Alexander Pushkin. Prices of books published during the lifetimes of the holy trinity of Russian romantic writers  Pushkin, Gogol and Mikhail Lermontov  have risen dramatically in the past 20 years, in line with the rise in wealth of Russian collectors. Its a small market with relatively few books and collectors who often have a checklist of the books they want, dealers say. Pushkin died young and so lifetime Pushkins are scarce. He published Eugene Onegin, a novel in verse, as a serial; a first edition with some chapters in their original wrappers sold for more than 467,000 ($896,000) at auction at Christies in 2019. Western sanctions put in place after Russia invaded Ukraine prohibit dealers in the West from selling to residents of Russia, fuelling an existing shadow market for rare books.

In this market, sales are often brokered privately through middlemen, with cash transactions that are difficult to trace, dealers say. Libraries are easy targets for thieves because they are intended to serve the public; they are often underfunded, without the same security as museums and other institutions with valuable works. Its easy to get the books, its easy to know which books you should get and its easy to know the value, said Pierre-Yves Guillemet, a dealer in London specialising in Russian rare books. Guillemet and other dealers said it would be unlikely for the Russian books stolen from European libraries to turn up at official auctions in the West. The International League of Antiquarian Booksellers, a trade organisation, has listed many of the recent library thefts on its Missing Books Register. Angus ONeill, the groups vice president and security chair, said the organisation had been in regular contact with Europol to inform its members about the thefts. Booksellers are advised to be cautious! the State Library of Berlin wrote on the register, listing the five Russian books it had lost, with a total value in the low six figures. Absorbing so many stolen books into the relatively small market for Russian books could be difficult. But these are the most famous books in Russia, Guillemet said, potentially attractive not only to seasoned collectors but also to rich people wanting trophy items.

Europol said some of the stolen books had already been sold by auction houses in Moscow and St Petersburg, Russia, effectively making them irrecoverable. The agency did not reveal which books, citing the ongoing investigation. A book of Alexander Pushkins poetry remains amid debris in a damaged apartment in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, in January. Credit: Getty Dealers say it is not uncommon for Russian books with library stamps to be for sale. The Soviets plundered private family collections and nationalised libraries. During World War II, libraries burned, the Soviets took books from Germany and the Nazis took books from Russia. When the Soviet Union was collapsing, impoverished librarians sometimes sold library books on the sly to support themselves. In the 20th century, Russian books flowed westward as emigres sold their collections. In the 21st century, they flowed eastward as new generations of Russians bought them back. In 2018, Christies auctioned one of the largest private collections of Russian books in the West, amassed by R. Eden Martin, a lawyer in Chicago, a sale that totalled more than $US2.2 million. The recent thefts have led to heightened vigilance. Its deeply upsetting whenever thefts like these occur, said Susan Benne, the executive director of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America.

Libraries are in the business of providing access to scholars and the public, and when a breach of trust like this occurs, necessary changes in security can curtail that access. The thefts seem to have caused the most public outrage in Poland, which is acutely sensitive to actual and perceived Russian aggression. In October, the library of Warsaw University, a former Russian imperial university with a large collection of 19th-century Russian books, discovered 78 Russian rare books missing, including first editions of Pushkin. The thefts may have begun in the northern autumn of 2022 and continued until they were discovered 10 months later, a spokesperson for the university said. Loading As authorities across Europe begin to arrest suspects, so far all of them Georgian nationals, a picture is emerging of a possible network. One of the men implicated in thefts at Vilnius University Library, which lost 17 books valued at 440,000 ($722,000), is in jail in Lithuania. He is also suspected to be involved in library heists elsewhere. In Estonia, one man was convicted on charges related to the Tartu heist. He had been extradited there from Latvia, where he served time for facilitating the theft of three books from the National Library of Latvia in Riga  one by Pushkin and two by Russian futurist poet Alexei Kruchyonykh, who, as it happens, renounced Pushkin and sought a new poetic language.

In November, French police placed three people into custody on charges of criminal conspiracy for stealing 12 Russian books at a university library in Paris, the Paris prosecutors office said. It said authorities had linked the alleged culprits to another theft last July at the library of a prestigious public university in Lyon. The same men had also been identified at the National Library of France in Paris. Loading These days, requesting a 19th-century early edition of Pushkin in the rare books room of the National Library of France will draw nervous looks from librarians and swift requests for further information about a readers motives. Last year, thieves lifted eight books by Pushkin and one by Lermontov, with a total estimated value of 650,000, one of the largest thefts from the library in the modern era. The pattern was the same. A man showed up over a period of months to consult rare Russian books. When librarians asked the nature of his research, he claimed not to speak French or English. The librarians were doubtful but ultimately gave him access. The man allegedly stole the books, possibly hiding them in the sling of a bandaged arm. He replaced them with such high-quality copies that librarians didnt discover the thefts for months.
TBILISI, Georgia, May 2. Climate finance must be accessible, Minister of Finance of Azerbaijan Samir Sharifov said during the "Financing Greener Value Chains in the CAREC Region" panel session at the 57th ADB Annual Meeting in Tbilisi, Trend reports.

"Azerbaijan hosting COP29 this year underscores the significance of mobilizing for climate action, which is crucial for global efforts. The conference, slated for Baku, will center on financing matters," he said.

Sharifov noted that all signatories to the Paris Agreement have a common understanding of the importance of achieving results.

"To attain our objectives, action is imperative, and financial backing is essential. We must consider global financing and align the efforts of partners in this regard, ensuring the affordability and accessibility of financial resources. Reallocating these funds towards climate projects is paramount. International development banks are pivotal in this process, but without the backing of major shareholders, it will prove unfeasible," the minister said.

He stressed that financing expenses are excessively high.

"We perceive no incentives for borrowing in climate finance," he said.

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 Flash

The Palestinian Islamic Movement (Hamas) said on Wednesday that the ceasefire negotiations with Israel would be suspended if Israel attacks the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.

Osama Hamdan, a senior official of Hamas, said in an interview with Lebanon-based al-Manar TV that Hamas would halt all indirect negotiations with Israel if it launches military operations against Rafah.

Accusing Israel of seeking "to blackmail all the parties by its threats of attacking Rafah," the Hamas official stressed that "the resistance is still having its power to defend our people."

Hamdan noted that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and the Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing, maintained contact with the political faction of Hamas, and were informed about the ongoing situation on the ground.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel will enter Rafah and eliminate the Hamas battalions there "with or without" a deal with Hamas.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov met with Deputy Chair of the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine Olena Kondratiuk, who is on a visit to Azerbaijan to participate in the 6th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue held in Baku, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told Trend.

In the course of the meeting, the sides discussed topical issues on the cooperation agenda between Azerbaijan and Ukraine, as well as regional and international security matters of mutual interest.

Highlighting the significance of close ties between Azerbaijan and Ukraine in fostering cooperation, Bayramov underscored the pivotal role of parliamentary connections in advancing the partnership between the two nations.

The sides commended the consistent support shown across various platforms for the principles of territorial integrity and sovereignty, which form the bedrock of their bilateral relations.

Emphasizing the importance of political consultation mechanisms, the need for furthering Azerbaijan-Ukraine relations was underscored.

Azerbaijani minister provided the Ukrainian side with comprehensive insights into the current regional landscape in the aftermath of conflict, regional peacebuilding efforts, and constructive initiatives.

Kondratiuk expressed gratitude for Azerbaijan's steadfast adherence to international law norms, notably the principle of territorial integrity, and for the humanitarian assistance provided. Both sides expressed confidence in the continued development of their strategic partnership.

Additionally, the meeting saw discussions on other bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest," the ministry said.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. The first session of political consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan and Australia was held in Baku yesterday, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told Trend.

During the consultations, the delegation of Azerbaijan was headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Elnur Mammadov, while the Australian delegation was headed by Deputy Secretary, Development, Multilateral and Europe Group department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Rod Brazier.

"During the consultations, discussions focused on the existing condition of bilateral ties, as well as the prospects for future expansion and development of cooperation in political, economic, humanitarian, and other areas.



Elnur Mammadov briefed the Australian delegation with in-depth information about the region's current post-conflict situation, including ongoing reconstruction efforts in newly liberated territories and progress in demining operations.



The upcoming 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), which will be hosted in Azerbaijan, was highlighted as providing promising opportunities for cooperation.



Furthermore, the potential for collaboration between the two countries within the framework of international organizations was discussed during the discussion," the ministry said.

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Renais celebrates milestone with limited edition bottle

Renais, the brand founded by siblings Alex and Emma Watson, has released a limited edition bottle to celebrate the first anniversary of its founding.

The Renais Edition Anniversaire bottle features a black and gold foiled label and sleeve, and comes with a wearable pin badge set of a grape, shell, and flower. The pin symbols are provided by a previous limited edition released in 2023, which was illustrated by Renais creative director, actress Emma Watson.

Alex Waston said: It has been an incredible first year for Renais and were thrilled to be marking our birthday with the release of Renais Edition Anniversaire. Carving out a new space within ultra-premium gin, inspired by French winemaking tradition has long been a dream for Emma and myself.

We have both been blown away by the response and are looking forward to opening up the world of Renais to more consumers, introducing new and established gin drinkers to the warm and complex taste profile of our gin.

Along with the bottle, Renais has a suggested serve; the Crusta Anniversaire is a reimaging of the classic Crusta cocktail.

The siblings founded Renais in May 2023. Having spent a decade working in the drinks industry, Alex was inspired to distil spirit using by-product grapes from the Watson family vineyard in France. Distilled in the UK from French product, Renais aims to capture the heritage of French winemaking in a craft gin.

In February, Renais announced a distribution deal with Proof Drinks , with the aim to grow its presence in the UK on-trade. The brand is currently distributed in the UK, US, Italy, Germany, and Australia.

2 May 2024 - Lucy Schofield
BJP will end Naxalism in 2 yrs if voted to power





Our Correspondent

KORBA,

Union Home Minister Amit Shah criticised the Congress party, alleging that Naxalism thrived under Bhupesh Baghel Government and spoke about the swift action taken by the BJP Government led by Vishnu Deo Sai, which resulted in the neutralisation of 95 Naxalites within four months, with 350 arrests and numerous surrenders. Shah was addressing an election rally in Katghora. Shah asserted that under Prime Minister Modi's leadership, Naxalism has been eradicated from Bihar, Jharkhand, and Madhya Pradesh within five years. He attributed the persistence of the issue in Chhattisgarh to the governance of Bhupesh Baghel, promising that if PM Modi secures a third term, the BJP will eliminate Naxalism from the state within two years.

Launching a scathing attack on the Congress,Union Minister Shah, accused the party of indulging solely in vote bank politics and prioritizing minority interests. Shah claimed that despite being invited, the Congress refused to attend the consecration of Ram Lalla, highlighting what he perceived as the party's disregard for sentiments of the majority Hindus. According to Shah, the Congress's mantra revolves around continuous falsehoods, exemplified by their recent claim that Modi's premiership would lead to the end of reservation. Countering this, Shah pointed out that during the BJP's ten-year tenure with a majority government, key issues such as Article 370, terrorism, and Naxalism were addressed, emphasizing the party's commitment to these causes. Furthermore, he assured the public that as long as the BJP holds even a single MP, reservation policies will remain intact.

Addressing the issue of COVID vaccination, Shah highlighted Modi's efforts in safeguarding the nation by ensuring free access to the vaccine. He criticized Rahul Gandhi for initially discouraging people from receiving the vaccine by referring to it as Modi vaccine, only to later receive the vaccine himself, along with his sister, under the cover of darkness. Shah condemned this as a display of Rahul Gandhi's shamelessness, exploiting the COVID crisis to undermine Modi. BJP holds MLAs in 6 out of 8 assembly seats within the Korba Lok Sabha constituency. Despite BJP's control in Manendragarh, Bharatpur-Sonhat, Baikunthpur, and Marwahi, the party's presence in Korba remains scattered. BJP's position in Rampur and PaliTanakhar is relatively weak. Amit Shah's visit is perceived as an attempt to bolster morale among party workers.
4-days remand custody of dismissed Constable Singh, businessman Agrawal given to SEOIACB





Staff Reporter

RAIPUR,

In a fresh development linked to Mahadev Online Betting app case probe, special court of ACB on Wednesday granted 4-days remand of two accused to State Economic Offences Investigation and Anti Corruption Bureau (SEOIACB) for questioning, till May 4. The two accused granted remand to the states anti-graft agency includes a dismissed police constable of Durg district Bhim Singh and businessman Amit Agrawal. Knowledgeable sources in legal corridors averred that the SEOIACB sleuths during the remand period would confront the duo with other arrested accused linked with the betting app scam, namely Chandrabhushan Bhushan Verma, Satish Chandrakar and Sunnil Dammani. Earlier, the court had issued a production warrant for both Singh and Agrawal after the SEOIACB moved an application requesting the remand custody of the duo for interrogation purposes, the sources added.

According to the sources, the SEOIACB in their remand plea for dismissed constable Bhim Singh underlined that he accepted illegal gratifications beyond his known source of income, which clearly reflects his involvement in extending favours to concerned people linked with the betting app scam, despite being a public servant. Apropos, the remand application for businessman Amit Agrawal highlighted that he was actively engaged in running several betting panels for the app promoters and hefty monetary gains derived from the proceeds of crime were invested in buying properties in his as well wifes name. Agrawal also maintained constant communication with Damman brothers, the two Hawala operators, arrested in connection with the scam. Credible proofs with incriminating digital evidence (mobile CDR) establishing money trails have been found against both the accused and hence their remand for questing is necessitated, the SEOIACB maintained in their remand pleas to the court. Meanwhile, sources also affirmed that the SEOIACB also filed an application before the court requesting for issuing production warrant for Nitish Diwan, one more accused arrested by Enforcement Directorate (ED), in connection with money laundering case in the betting app scam.

The court accepted the application of the states investigation agency and issued a production warrant for Diwan, who is presently lodged in Raipur Central Jail. Diwan would be produced in the court on May 2 and it is likely that the SEOIACB may also seek his remand after arresting him tomorrow, the sources added. Sources further revealed that the SEOIACB has already brought to the notice of the court about Nitish Diwans active involvement with the app promoters and other handlers including Saurabh Chandrakar, Ravi Uppal and Shubham Soni since 2020 from Dubai. Diwan is also a shareholder in many business entities owned by the app promoter Saurabh Chandrakar, whereas he also used to offer his services to them as trouble shooter for handling various financial issues faced by the operators, panels and players. A Dubai-based company Sports Buzz registered to the name of Nitish Diwan happens to be one among several business entities that used to be run by the Mahadev app promoters, the sources informed.
Experts dispose off scrapped defence explosives at godown





Staff Reporter

Team of experts disposed-off scrapped defence explosives at scrap godown of Shameem Kabadi in Khajri-Khiriya early morning on Wednesday. It may be noted that following the investigation in case of explosion at the scrap godown, investigating team found huge cache of scrapped 125-mm and 30-mm ammunitions. According to sources, experts team disposed-off around 200 shells of ammunitions at the site of explosion. Team buried the scrapped ammunition shells into a big dig under sacks of sand in the early morning hours for avoiding any kind of untoward incident. During the disposal of ammunition shells, heavy police force was deployed in the area to avert entry of residents.

Central Investigation Agencies include National Investigation Agency (NIA), National Security Guard (NSG), Military Intelligence (MI) and district agencies are investigating the case to ascertain reason behind the explosion. Besides this, Police already arrested Haji Faheem (37), resident of Saifnagar Raddi Chowki in Gohalpur and his partner Sultan (29), resident of HIG Anand Nagar in Adhartal. In the interrogation, Faheem disclosed that they had obtained wreckage of ammunitions from Ordnance Factory Khamaria and Amla Airforce in Betul.

On their identification, investigation teams contacted the concerned officers of Ordnance Factory Khamaria and Amla Airforce Betul and collected information about auction of ammunition scraps. On the other hand, continuing a thorough search for absconding Shameem Kabadi, police received unconfirmed information that he escaped from India and hiding in Pakistan or Dubai as he has good contacts in both the countries and his daughter-in-law and wife of Faheem also belongs to Pakistan.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. Special Representative of Russian President on International Cultural Cooperation Mikhail Shvydkoy, visiting to take part in the 6th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue in Baku, has met with Assistant to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Anar Alakbarov, Trend reports.

They talked about Azerbaijani-Russian collaboration in cultural and humanitarian sectors, assessed the current potential for enhancing bilateral relations further, and exchanged perspectives on upcoming projects.

Additionally, the meeting addressed the organization of COP29, a significant interstate event scheduled for 2024 in Azerbaijan, highlighting the participation and representation of Russia as a pavilion in COP29, which is an important platform for solving such urgent problems as environmental protection.

This November, Azerbaijan will host COP29. This decision was made at the COP28 plenary meeting held in Dubai on December 11 last year. Baku will become the center of the world and will receive about 70-80,000 foreign guests.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is an agreement signed at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992 to prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system. COP - the Conference of the Parties - is the highest legislative body overseeing the implementation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change. There are 198 countries that are parties to the Convention. Unless the parties agree otherwise, the COP is held annually. The first COP event took place in March 1995 in Berlin, and its secretariat is located in Bonn.

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FUZULI, Azerbaijan, May 2. The scale of construction and reconstruction progress in Azerbaijan's Karabakh over the year is surprising, member of Norway's national club of international travelers (Vagaclub) Jorn Augestad told Trend.

"This is my third visit to Azerbaijan and the second to Karabakh. My first visit to Karabakh was a year ago, when construction and reconstruction work had just begun. This time, I witnessed that the majority of this work had already been completed. It's surprising to see the scale of work done in just one year," he emphasized.

Speaking about the landmine issue in the region, the traveler mentioned that this problem poses a huge danger.

"When we were here a year ago, we also observed the process of demining. Landmines are a problem for the entire world, as civilians often become their victims," he added.

To note, the trip of a delegation of foreign travelers to the territories of Azerbaijan liberated from occupation has started.

As part of the trip, travelers will visit cities such as Fuzuli, Shusha, and Aghdam.

A delegation of 30 members of the national club of international travelers in Norway, Vagaclub, is headed by Jorn Augestad.

The delegation will visit Karabakh and East Zangezur for three days, moving along the Fuzuli-Shusha-Aghdam-Lachin-Jabrayil route.

Representatives of the largest international travel networks in the worldETIC, MTP, TCC, NomadMania, as well as the Travelers Club of Turkiye and the club Piki Reels (UK), and the Swedish Club 100have visited Karabakh and East Zangezur nine times in the last four years.

The visit of the world famous Norwegian Vagaclub is considered the 10th visit of this kind.

In total, during these 10 trips, more than 360 international travelers from 46 countries had the opportunity to eyewitness the situation in the liberated territories. Through them, millions of people around the world received detailed information about the real situation in Karabakh.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. The master plan of Azerbaijan's Kalbajar city has been approved, Trend reports.

Azerbaijani Prime Minister Ali Asadov signed a decision to approve the Master plan for the development of Kalbajar city until 2040.

On 26 June, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev viewed the master plan of Kalbajar.

The First Deputy Chairman of the State Committee for Urban Planning and Architecture, Namig Hummatov, informed the President of the master plan of Kalbajar.

During the development of the master plan of Kalbajar, various architectural traditions were studied in accordance with the geographical location and structure of the district to form a unique image. Suggestions were made on possible examples.

The conceptual basis of the master plan is to develop health and mountain tourism opportunities and create a green urban environment in harmony with nature.

Multi-apartment buildings will be built in the central part of the city and individual houses with a yard will be constructed in the suburbs.

Over the next 20 years, the city of Kalbajar is to cover an area of 237 hectares and have a population of 17,000 people.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. Global players are vying for access to strategic transportation routes to ensure their uninterrupted operation, as the new world order evolves due to the decline of old security structures and economic principles, Trend reports.

With trade and transportation routes from Russia to the West disrupted due to the conflict in Ukraine, official Moscow has prioritized seeking new trade partners and markets in the eastern and southern directions. Presently, the Zangezur Corridor emerges as a crucial project in this endeavor, aimed at connecting Azerbaijan with Turkiye and facilitating trade between Europe and Asia via the Middle Corridor.

In the prevailing geopolitical climate, this transportation route holds significant strategic importance for bolstering Russia's political, economic, and trade connections with nations in the Global South, Turkiye, the Middle East, and Iran. Russia views it as crucial to enable the Federation, amid severed trade ties with Western states and imposed sanctions, to access alternative regions.

In this context, a joint statement signed on November 10, 2020, by the leaders of Azerbaijan, Russia, and Armenia designated the Russian Federal Security Service to oversee the re-establishment of communications between Azerbaijan and Armenia. From the Azerbaijani perspective, the oversight by Russian border guards in the corridor where unrestricted movement will occur does not jeopardize its strategic interests. Instead, it neutralizes Armenia's potential to employ blackmail or geopolitical leverage against Azerbaijan in the future.

Certainly, this is also agreeable on the Russian side. However, recent events concerning the East-West corridor warrant attention. Challenges have emerged along the northern, or main, section of the East-West transport corridor by land due to the conflict in Ukraine and ongoing clashes in the Red Sea between the Houthis and local authorities, including coalition forces. Consequently, the Middle Corridor has garnered significant attention. For Russia, excluded from the East-West transport corridor, connecting to the Zangezur corridor holds global significance. Viewed as a secondary transport route, this corridor would enhance the capacity of the Middle Corridor and its utilization possibilities.

However, one must not disregard Russia's increasing distrust of Armenia and Armenia's recent alignment with Western structures. Nikol Pashinyan's government, backed by Western nations, asserts its control over transportation communications.

At present, Western powers, particularly France, are striving to bolster their political and military influence in Armenia. Consequently, they oppose the Zangezur corridor project, aiming to hinder Russia's expansion into new regions.

Following the conflict in Ukraine, Odessa city and the Zangezur region have gained strategic significance in France's new front against Russia across Eastern Europe, encompassing Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia, and Armenia. Indications of France's intention to establish a consulate in Gafan, Armenia, and Emmanuel Macron's stance on the Odessa situation suggest imminent military involvement by France in both regions.

Furthermore, ensuring Russian oversight of transportation routes in the strategic Zangezur region is crucial for the development of the internationally significant North-South transport corridor.

Deviating from the approved (east, central, and western) routes of the International North-South Transport Corridor project, which links the Global South with the Black Sea and the West through Iran, Armenia, and Georgia, is contrary to the interests of Russia.

Figure 1: International NorthSouth Transport Corridor's approved routes

Currently, the Russian Federal Security Service oversees border control along the Armenian-Iranian border within the Zangezur region, a pivotal area for this project.

Russia is keen to maintain its oversight role in Zangezur to prevent the implementation of a project that aims to bypass Russia. Conversely, the West aims to establish transportation and logistics connections to Iran and beyond to the global South, excluding Russia from the equation.

Figure 2: Global South connecting to Europe via Iran-Armenia-Georgia, bypassing Russia

Thus, regional collaboration has been hindered as the Zangezur region has become a new battlefield in Eurasia for the West and Russia. An additional "battlefield" or "gray area" in Eastern Europe, the situation in Armenia is further complicated by the ongoing conflict.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. On May 2, religious leaders gathered in Azerbaijans city of Shusha for a meeting held on the sidelines of the 6th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue, Trend reports.

Following the meeting, the religious leaders adopted the Shusha Declaration. The Declaration reads:

On May 13, 2024, within the framework of the 6th World Forum of Intercultural Dialogue, organized under the patronage of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, a plenary meeting in Baku (the Baku Meeting) on the topic Strengthening trust through interreligious dialogue and the Shusha Meeting of religious leaders, representing different countries, was held.

Participants in the Baku and Shusha meetings included leaders of world and traditional religions, public figures, scholars, and representatives of international and religious organizations.

- emphasized the important role of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the development of inter-civilizational and interreligious cooperation, the protection of national, cultural, and spiritual values, and the promotion of traditions of tolerance and multiculturalism at the international level;

- highly appreciating the participation and meaningful speech of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, at the opening ceremony of the 6th World Forum for Intercultural Dialogue.

We are extremely grateful for the special care and support the Government of Azerbaijan provided to the religious leaders meeting within the framework of the 6th World Forum for Intercultural Dialogue.

- emphasizing the importance of holding events dedicated to issues of interreligious dialogue and promoting the creation of an environment of mutual trust on platforms such as the Baku Process," implemented on the initiative of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the 1st and 2nd Baku summits of world religious leaders, as well as other important forums, held worldwide  the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in Astana, the Bahrain Forum on Dialogue, the G20 Interfaith Forum, the UN Frame Conferences on Climate Change, the Saudi Media Forum;

- emphasizing the contribution of the Document on Human Fraternity and World Peace, signed on February 4, 2019, in Abu Dhabi by His Holiness Pope Francis and His Eminence the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayeb, to inter-civilizational and interreligious cooperation, peace, security, and human solidarity;

-expressing their deep concern about the spread of terrorism, xenophobia, religious and ethnic intolerance, and violence in the world;

- expressing the need for the international community to increase joint efforts in countering obstacles to sustainable progress, stability, and security. These obstacles include aggressive propaganda, actions aimed at undermining mutual trust between followers of different religions, calls for hatred, and inciting interreligious conflicts;

- condemning systematic and massive violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, and emphasizing the importance of joint action by the state, religion, science, and society, especially in the field of protecting the rights of women and children;

- emphasizing the need for a unanimous common position against attempts by terrorist and extremist groups to use religious sacred values for their insidious purposes;

- reaffirming the need to protect the religious and cultural diversity of the world's peoples as the greatest heritage of human civilization;

- expressing deep concern about the grave consequences of armed conflicts, terrorist attacks, and acts of violence on religious and national grounds, accompanied by human casualties, by looting and destruction of cultural and religious heritage, including the targeted destruction of monuments to the cultural and spiritual heritage of Azerbaijan, the policy of scorching and mining the lands, and ecocide and urbicide during the period of occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia;

- welcoming the restoration work carried out in the territories liberated from occupation after full restoration of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan, in addition to the rebuilding and construction of new cultural and religious monuments in particular;

- supporting political processes that serve peace, reconciliation, and strengthening mutual trust and coexistence in the South Caucasus region;

- underlining the statements of certain states and international and religious organizations as not conducive to stability in this region, especially the harmful trends of aggressive separatism and revanchism propagated by the Armenian Church;

- expressing the intention to hold regularly, on an ongoing basis, the interreligious events, including meetings of religious leaders in the cultural capital of Azerbaijan, Shusha, with the participation of representatives of Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, and other religious faiths representing different regions of the world, speaking from a unified position regarding the problems threatening the modern world;

- expressing wishes for success to the COP29 Climate Change Summit, and the hosting country, the Republic of Azerbaijan, including the Faith Pavilion and the Summit of the Religious Leaders within the framework of this important platform, which will be held in Baku in November 2024;

Call on the States, international, regional, religious, and public organizations, and religious leaders to:

- support emerging efforts aimed at immediately ending the wars and military conflicts occurring in various regions of the world at present and preventing the bloodshed of innocents and civilians;

- support the cooperation between leaders of world and traditional religions, official and public institutions, and international organizations to promote inter-civilizational and interreligious understanding, and to create an environment of peaceful coexistence by promoting the ideas of dialogue and universal humanism;

- take effective steps to prevent the misuse of the name of religion as the grounds for terrorism and crimes against humanity, discrimination, racism, harmful ideologies, and propaganda inciting violence on racial, religious, and ethnic grounds;

- condemn acts of vandalism against religious symbols, shrines, and attributes, and counter attempts to justify such actions under the guise of democracy and freedom of speech;

- the education of young people about common citizenship and the role of the media in these processes, with a view to their more active participation in countering xenophobia and discrimination;

- support the protection and respectful care of religious, cultural, and ethnic diversity;

- express deep concern about the humanitarian crisis at the level of a global catastrophe as a result of the massive emergence of refugees, IDPs, and migrants resulted after armed conflicts, persecution, and violence, and make efforts to restore their violated rights, and also eliminate the factors leading to the emergence of such situations;

- prevent harmful ideologies and hate speech that incite racial, religious, and ethnic violence through the media and information technologies, expand cooperation.

- use the potential of religions more effectively in establishing peace, global dialogue, and human solidarity, as well as in solving problems related to climate change.

We call for support for the joint activity of the state, religion, science, and public figures in the field of protecting human rights, especially the rights of women and children, in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Shusha City, May 2, 2024."

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. Azerbaijan will continue to expose double standards committed by neocolonialists, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said while receiving Konstantin Kosachev, Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, and Leonid Kalashnikov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration, and Relations with Compatriots, Trend reports.

The head of state noted that during Azerbaijan's four-year chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement and now during the "troika of chairmanship," the country came forward with many important initiatives focusing on important issues, particularly neocolonialism.

Moreover, President Ilham Aliyev stated that Azerbaijan organizes events, both within the country and abroad, on this topic and would continue to expose crimes and double standards committed by neocolonialists against other countries and peoples in the past and present.

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Article 355 of the Constitution of India

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Naorem Umakanta Singh (Advocate)

Sometime back, the words Article 355 did the round in the State of Manipur. The Question that was being bandied around was - Whether Article 355 of the Indian Constitution was imposed in the State of Manipur or not?. The exact answer to this question can only be given and confirmed by the relevant competent authority but in the absence of such confirmation and also conflicting statements given by some public leaders and officials, the question remains unsatisfactorily answered.

But what exactly is Article 355 of the Indian Constitution? Article 355 is a provision found in Part XVIII of the Indian Constitution. Part XVIII of the Indian Constitution (starts from Article 352 up to Article 360) deals with the Emergency provisions in the country as provided in the Constitution of India. By these special Articles, the Union Government can declare a state of emergency and assume the power and function of the Government in the affected State/s or for that matter the entire country. As per the Emergency provisions as contained in Part XVIII of the Indian Constitution, the declaration of state of Emergency is done in 3(three) situations. Firstly, by invoking Article 352, when a grave emergency exists whereby the security of India or any part of the territory thereof is threatened, whether by war or external aggression or armed rebellion; Secondly, by invoking Article 356 when there is failure of Constitutional machinery in the State and thirdly, by invoking Article 360 when there is a financial emergency. Now, where do Article 355 fits into this scheme of things. Lets first understand the provision as contained in the Constitution.

Article 355 reads as under:-

355. Duty of the Union to protect States against external aggression and internal disturbance.

It shall be the duty of the Union to protect every State against external aggression and internal disturbance and to ensure that the Government of every State is carried on in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.

From the plain reading of Article 355, it can be seen and understood that a duty is mandated upon the Union Government to protect every State against external aggression and internal disturbance and the Article also further mandates the Union Government to ensure that the Government of every State is carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.

Article 355 of the Constitution was initially absent from the Draft Constitution of 1948 but was later on introduced. The underlying principle and purpose of introducing Article 355, as explained by Dr BR Ambedkar, Chairman, Drafting Committee was that if the Union Government was to interfere in the administration of the State, it must be under some Constitutional provisions. The Constitution framers intended that Union Government intervention in the State by imposition of President Rule must be used sparingly. In other words, Article 355 was to be the precursor or the enabling power before the declaration of Emergency and imposition of Union Government rule. It is because of this Constitutional duty that is cast upon the Union Government to safeguard the Constitutional machinery in a State that the Union Government can intervene in by imposition of President Rule. In the case of SR Bommaiversus-Union of India as reported in (1994) 3SCC1, His Lordships, Justice Sawant and Justice Kuldip held that Article 355 is not an independent source of power for interference with the functions of the State Government but is in the nature of justification for the measures to be adopted under Articles 356 and 357.

However, in recent times there seems to be a change in the understanding as well as approach toward Article 355 of the Constitution. The Sarkaria Commission, which was mandated to study and review the Union and State relations, while submitting its report on 27/10/1987, explained the whole range of actions possible on the part of the Union Government under Article 355 of the Constitution depending on the circumstances of the case, the nature, the timing and the gravity of the internal disturbances. In some cases, advisory assistance by the Union to the State for the most appropriate deployment of its resources; in serious situations, augmentation of the States own efforts by rendering Union assistance in man, material and finances. If its a violent upheaval or a situation of external aggression (not amounting to grave emergency under Article 352), deployment of the Union Forces in the areas of the State. Normally, a State would actively seek assistance of the Union to meet such a crisis, but the scope of Article 355 is wide enough to enable the Union to render all assistance not-withstanding that the State Government has not made any specific request. The third limb of Article 355 cast a duty on the Union to ensure that the Government of the State is carried on in accordance with the Constitution. So if one was to read and understand the Sarkaria Report as well as certain observations and opinions of the Honble Courts made in recent times, the ambit and scope of Article 355 seems to have widened. If a reference is to be made to judgement of the full bench of the Allahabad High Court in HSJain versus Union of India, (1997) 1OPCBEC594, the changing scope of Article 355 from merely being a justification for action under Article 356 to independent power and obligation as well can be apparent.

From the above discussions , one can fairly have an idea that Article 355 has been provided in the Constitution to enable the Union Government to intervene and assist in the affairs of the State if the State Government ability to govern as per the Constitution is under threat by External Aggression and Internal Disturbance. Accordingly, the invocation of Article 355 will arise, where there is an external aggression and internal disturbance, which may affect the Constitutional governance of the State. In that case, we need to understand the words and meaning of Aggression and Internal Disturbance in the context of Article 355.

Aggression is defined in the dictionary as Violent behaviour Readiness to attack, etc. while Internal Disturbance as per the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC), defines it is as a situation where there is serious or lasting internal confrontations, which include acts of violence, from spontaneous isolated Act or Revolt to a struggle by groups in various stages of organisations against the authorities in power. These situations do not necessarily escalate into open struggle, but the authorities use large police forces and the armed forces, to restore order within the country.

Less than a score years back, the Honble Supreme Court of India again had the occasion to deal with the provision of Article 355 and also discuss the word Aggression as contained therein while considering the Constitutional validity of the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) Act, 1983 made applicable to the State of Assam in Sarbananda Sonowal versus Union of India as reported in (2005) 5SCC1655/AIR 2005 SC 2920. The relevant portions of the Honble Supreme Court succinct discussion with regard to Article 355 and the word Aggression as found in paragraph 51 to 63 are quoted below :-

51. The foremost duty of the Central Government is to defend the borders of the country, prevent any trespass and make the life of the citizens safe and secure. The Government has also a duty to prevent any internal disturbance and maintain law and order. Kautilya in his masterly work The Arthashastra has said that a King had two responsibilities to his State, one internal and one external, for which he needed an army. One of the main responsibilities was Raksha or protection of the State from external aggression.

The defence of the realm, a constant preoccupation for the king, consisted not only of the physical defence of the kingdom but also the prevention of treachery, revolts and rebellion. The physical defensive measures were the frontier posts to prevent the entry of undesirable aliens and forts in various parts of the country. (Arthashastra by Kautilya - translated by Shri LN Rangarajan, who was in Indian Foreign Service and Ambassador of India in several countries-published by Penguin Books 1992 Edn., page 676). The very first entry, namely, Entry 1 of List I of the Seventh Schedule is : Defence of India and every part thereof including preparation for defence and all such acts as may be conducive in times of war to its prosecution and after its termination of effective demobilization.

In fact entries 1 to 4 of List I of Seventh Schedule mainly deal with armed forces. Article 355 of the Constitution of India reads as under :-

355. Duty of the Union to protect States against external aggression and internal disturbance. It shall be the duty of the Union to protect every State against external aggression and internal disturbance and to ensure that the Government of every State is carried on in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.

52. The word aggression is a word of very wide import. Various meanings to the word have been given in the dictionaries, like, an assault, an inroad, the practice of setting upon anyone; an offensive action or procedure; the practice of making attacks or encroachments; the action of a nation in violating the rights especially the territorial rights of another nation; overt destruction; covert hostile attitudes.

53. The word aggression is not to be confused only with war. Though war would be included within the ambit and scope of the word aggression but it comprises many other acts which cannot be termed as war. In Kawasaki v. Bantahm S.S. Company 1938 (3) All ER 80, the following definition of war as given in Hall on International Law has been quoted with approval :-

When differences between States reach a point at which both parties resort to force, or one of them does acts of violence, which the other chooses to look upon as a breach of the peace, the relation of war is set up, in which the combatants may use regulated violence against each other, until one of the two has been brought to accept such terms as his enemy is willing to grant.

54. In Introduction to International Law by JG Starke (Chapter 18) it is said that the war in its most generally understood sense is a contest between two or more States primarily through their armed forces, the ultimate purpose of each contestant or each contestant group being to vanquish the other or others and impose its own conditions of peace. With the passage of time, the nature of war itself has become more distinctly clarified as a formal status of armed hostility, in which the intention of the parties, the so-called animus belligerendi may be a decisive factor. The modern war may involve not merely the armed forces of belligerent States but their entire population. In Essays on Modern Law of War, LC Green the author has said that in accordance with traditional international law, war is a contention between two or more States through their armed forces, for the purpose of overpowering each other and imposing such conditions of peace as the victor pleases.. The framers of the Constitution have consciously used the word aggression and not war in Article 355.

55. Article 1 of Chapter 1 of the Charter of the United Nations gives the purposes of the United Nations and the first is to maintain international peace and security, and to that end : to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggre- ssion or other breaches of peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustments or settlement of international dis- putes or situations which might lead to a breach of peace. On account of use of expression acts of aggression it was thought nece- ssary to define aggression and explain what it exactly means. The International Law Commission defined the term aggression as any act of aggression including the employment of armed forces by a State against another State for any purpose other than national or collective self- defence or any decision by a competent organ of the United Nations. But at the 1954 Assembly, there was opposition to this definition.

In his book Conflict Through Consensus, Julius Stone (1977 Edn.), describes in detail how after twenty years of discussion by a Special Committee on aggression a consensus was arrived at and an agreed definition was approved by the United Nations Assembly on 12th April, 1974 vide Resolution No.3314 (XXIX). (To be contd)


BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. The closing ceremony of the VI Forum on Intercultural Dialogue has been held in Baku, Trend reports.

Azerbaijani Culture Minister Adil Karimli, ISESCO Director General Salim bin Mohammed AlMalik, UN Tourism Organization Director General Zoritsa Urosevic, and UN Alliance of Civilizations Director Nihal Saad addressed the ceremony.

Minister of Culture Adil Karimli noted that the forum will contribute to the development of cooperation. "Through this forum, we wanted to convey the message to the world that through intercultural dialog we can contribute to solving many issues," the minister said.

ISESCO Director General Salim bin Mohammed AlMalik emphasized that intercultural dialogue is important for peace and cooperation. "In such a complex world, cooperation and dialog play an important role. ISESCO will continue to contribute to this dialog. I express my gratitude to Azerbaijan for successfully hosting such an important forum," he said.

UN Tourism Organization Director General Zoritsa Urosevic emphasized that the Forum held by Azerbaijan is a leading platform.

"We discussed several challenges and solutions to problems. Tourism is a very important sector. This sector affects our daily lives. I hope we can put into practice what has been discussed here," she said.

United Nations Alliance of Civilizations Director Nihal Saad said that the topics discussed at the Forum inspired everyone.

"The 6th Intercultural Dialogue Forum was another success. Forums usually voice challenges and problems. But at this forum, problems were identified, diagnosed, and solutions discussed. I hope that this trend will continue," she said.

To note, the VI World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue held in Baku on the theme "Dialogue for Peace and Global Security: Cooperation and Interaction" was attended by a total of 700 guests from different countries of the world.

The event, organized by the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan, was held in partnership with reputable international organizations, including the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), UNESCO, ISESCO, and the UN World Tourism Organization.

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India and New Zealand have acknowledged the existing huge potential in both economies and mutual trade complementarities, and that there is a substantial potential to increase the trade and people to people contacts.

A delegation led by Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal held the 11th India  New Zealand Joint Trade Committee (JTC) meeting in New Zealand, the Commerce & Industry Ministry said on Thursday.

The delegation also held a number of constructive and outcome-oriented meetings in New Zealand to work on ways to deepen the existing bilateral relations.

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These meetings were held with the Minister for Trade of New Zealand Todd McClay, Acting Chief Executive and Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade of New Zealand, Brook Barrington.

These meetings had focused discussions on several key areas aimed at promoting bilateral trade and cooperation, marking a pivotal moment in strengthening economic ties and fostering collaboration between the two nations, building upon the existing close ties through people to people and business contacts, the Commerce Ministry said.

The meetings reviewed progress on market access issues, economic cooperation projects and explored opportunities for new initiatives. Both sides discussed the establishment of robust bilateral economic dialogue architecture and the creation of working groups on sectors like Agriculture; Food Processing, Storage & Transportation; Forestry and Pharmaceuticals to facilitate ongoing collaboration on key trade and economic issues.

Notably, discussions also included cooperation in the horticulture sector, including cooperation in kiwi fruit sector, quality & productivity, proper storage in pack houses and their suitable transportation, as well as the dairy sector.

The Commerce Ministry said once working groups were established, India and New Zealand will review the progress made by those working groups and the recommendations thereof at regular intervals.

The meetings, held on April 26-27, addressed bilateral trade matters of mutual interest, including issues related to market access, non-tariff barriers (NTBs), and sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures on products like grapes, okra and mangoes, Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) in Organic products, simplified homologation including through mutual recognition of comparable domestic standards for vehicles.

Both parties reaffirmed their commitment to resolve these issues through constructive dialogue and cooperation under the existing mechanism of JTC.

Services sector and enhancing its scale for bilateral trade was given special focus during the discussions held at various levels which revealed great interest from both sides for increasing business to business as well as people to people contacts and to work on the skill gaps and how the same can be strengthened through capacity building and improving the ease of mobility.

It touched upon areas such as the hospitality sector including adventure tourism, nursing, tele-medicine, education, air connectivity, Joint R&D (wherever feasible) and startups.

Collaboration in the pharmaceuticals and medical devices sector was discussed at length, including the adoption of fast tracking of regulatory processes and quality assessment of manufacturing facilities using, as appropriate, the inspection reports of comparable overseas regulators. Greater sourcing of medicines from India and cooperation in the medical device sector was also discussed.

Both parties briefly explored opportunities for collaboration in digital trade, meeting Nationally Determined Contributions, cross border payment systems, among others.

Discussions also encompassed co-operative engagement within platforms such as G20, Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), and other plurilateral and multilateral associations and how to address imperative economic challenges and opportunities.

Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to the principles of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to uphold a rules-based international trading system.
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Venezuelan workers from across the country rallied in the capital Caracas on Wednesday to show their support for President Nicolas Maduro, condemning the sanctions imposed by the United States.

Among those marching in the May Day parade was Edgar Villanueva, a worker from central Cojedes state, who told state-run Venezolana de Television he was expressing his repudiation of the sanctions that "are harming the working class" and their purchasing power.

Carlos Moreno, from the eastern state of Delta Amacuro, said workers continue to "support our president, who has remained firm through all the difficulties that our country has gone through."

Earlier in the day, Maduro congratulated workers on International Workers' Day, in a post on social media.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation Olga Lyubimova, taking part in the VI World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue in Baku, met with Anar Alakbarov, Assistant to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Executive Director of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Trend reports.

The discussion focused on close ties in several areas, including humanitarian direction, and explored cooperation between Azerbaijan and Russia on a number of platforms.

Additionally, it was noted that more than 300 secondary schools in Azerbaijan offer education in the Russian language, and Baku Slavic University and the Azerbaijan State Academic Russian Drama Theater named after Samed Vurgun are both operational. The activities of the Baku branches of the Lomonosov Moscow State University and the First Sechenov Moscow State Medical University were also highlighted.

Besides, the meeting highlighted successful projects implemented during the 20-year activity of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation headed by First Vice President of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva in the humanitarian sphere in Azerbaijan and beyond, including in the Russian Federation. Operation of the pavilion "Azerbaijan" at the Exhibition of National Economic Achievements in Moscow, reconstructed with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, and activity of the Russian representation of the Foundation in further expansion of bilateral relations were underlined.

A concert program will be presented at the Helikon Opera House in Moscow in May with the help of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation.

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Steel manufacturer Jindal Stainless on Wednesday announced a three-pronged investment strategy worth Rs 5,400 crore as part of its plans to augment its melting and downstream capacities, the company said in an exchange filing.

The steel manufacturer has also entered into a joint venture (JV) for the development and operation of a stainless-steel melt shop in Indonesia, which has an annual production capacity of 1.2 million tonnes per annum (MTPA). The move which entails an investment of Rs 700 crore will see the melting capacity of the steel major go up by as much as 40 percent to 4.2 MTPA, according to the company statement.

The steel major further stated that it has set aside Rs 1,900 crore for the expansion of its downstream lines in Jajpur and Odisha, while it has earmarked nearly Rs 1,450 crore towards the associated upgradation of infrastructural facilities.

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Besides, it has announced the signing of an agreement to acquire a 54 per cent equity stake in Chromeni Steels Private Limited (CSPL), which owns a 0.6 MTPA cold rolling mill located in Mundra, Gujarat, through a structured indirect acquisition deal for Rs 45 crore.

The transactions also include a takeover of existing debt of Rs 1,295 crore, the company added.

The Indonesian JV will get us the best of speed and raw material security, and the augmentation of the Jajpur lines will offer enhanced value for domestic and export customers, said Abhyuday Jindal, MD, Jindal Stainless.
The Indian benchmark indices closed with modest gains on Thursday, remaining calm in response to the unchanged monetary policy stance of the US Federal Reserve.

Sensex closed with a gain of 128 points, or 0.17%, at 74,611.11 while the Nifty settled at 22,648.20, up 43 points, or 0.19%.

After opening 91 points lower at 74,391.73, the Sensex traded in the green for most of the day, rising as much as 330 points in the intraday session to the days high of 74,812.43.

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The Nifty 50 opened at 22,567.85 against its previous close of 22,604.85 and touched its intraday high of 22,710.50 during the session.

The stock market erased opening losses and traded higher throughout the session with Nifty crossing 22,700 led by buying seen across the sectors except realty and banking. The second-half selling pressure erased some of the intraday gains.

On the Nifty 50 index, the top gainers were the BPCL (up 4.61%), Power Grid (up 3.71%) and Asian Paints (up 3.20%).

While the shares of Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 2.83%), Tata Consumer (down 1.43%), and Bharti Airtel (down 1.38%) ended as the top losers.

In the sectoral analysis, the Nifty Auto and Metal indices rose over a per cent each while Oil and Gas and Pharma indices rose about a per cent each. Nifty Media fell 1.58%, ending as the top loser among sectoral indices. Nifty Bank fell 0.34%.

The Bank Nifty witnessed follow-through selling pressure and closed in the red, down by 166 points.

Among individual stocks, a volume spike of more than 400 per cent was seen in Dabur, Indiamart Intermesh, and Bosch.

A long build-up was seen in Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company, REC, and Indiamart Intermesh, while a short build-up was seen in Godrej Properties, IGL, and Kotak Mahindra Bank.

Notably, the shares of oil marketing companies Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp, and Hindustan Petroleum Corp surged 2-7% in the early trade tracking a slump in prices of Brent crude to its lowest levels in two months.

The BSE Midcap index hit its fresh all-time high of 42,564.25 during the session. The index closed 0.91 per cent higher at 42,503.13.

The BSE Smallcap index closed 0.29 per cent higher at 47,451.13.

The overall market capitalisation of the firms listed on the BSE rose to nearly Rs 408.5 lakh crore against Rs 406.6 lakh crore in the previous session.

On Wednesday, the US Federal Reserve kept the federal funds rate unchanged at 5.25-5.50% for the sixth consecutive time. The policy outcome did not significantly impact the stock market as it was in line with market expectations.

Maintaining the status quo on rates, the Fed rejected any possibility of a rate hike in the near future while also avoiding giving clear signals on rate cuts.

S&P 500 contracts climbed 0.6%, with Apple, Amazon.com Inc. and Nvidia Corp. posting small gains in pre-market trading.

In Europe, stocks had small moves amid mixed company reports. The Hang Seng Index jumped more than 2%, putting it on track to enter a technical bull market.
In a shocking incident, a 14-year-old girl was allegedly attacked by her schoolmates with blades in North Delhis Gulabi Bagh area a couple of days ago, the police said.

The victims parents are demanding strict action against the schoolmates involved in the incident.

A video of the incident took place near the school premises had gone viral on social media. In the video the girl could be seen with injuries. She received 17 stitches on her face.

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Legal action has already been taken that day under the provisions of JJ Act since the assailants and victim were both minors, a senior police official said on Thursday.

A case was registered under the appropriate sections of the law, and as per a news agency who had access to the complaint in the matter, it said that the victim and two other school mates had an altercation which occurred during the lunchtime on April 29, and later while on the way home, the two girls met her outside a park near the school and started cursing her, and later suddenly one of them suddenly attacked the victim, it was alleged.

Barely a week ago, two juveniles allegedly stabbed a man after robbing him near the neck near Zakhira flyover. Last month, a juvenile was apprehended along with four other persons for their alleged involvement in abduction and killing of another teenager.
A total of 72 nominations have been filed so far for the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi.

The filing of the nominations for the seven parliamentary seats began on Monday following a notification from the Election Commission of India (ECI) for the sixth phase of voting in the LS elections.

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Seventy two nominations received by 2nd May for all the parliamentary constituencies (PCs) of NCT of Delhi, said the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi.

According to the data released by the poll panel, 15 nominations were received each on Monday and Tuesday, 19 on Wednesday and 23 on Thursday. The total number of candidates is 57.

The last date for filing of nominations is 6th May while the scrutiny of the nominations will take place on 7th May, as per the notification.

The last date for the withdrawal of candidature is 9th May.

Voting for the seven parliamentary seats in Delhi is scheduled to take place on 25th May.
Amidst confusion over the sharing of the lone Lok Sabha constituency of Ladakh, Congress candidate Tsering Namgyal on Thursday filed his nomination for the seat, whereas the Congress and National Conference (NC) in the Kargil district have named Haji Hanifa Jan as their joint candidate.

NC vice-president Omar Abdullah had earlier left the Ladakh seat for the Congress to contest under the formula of the Congress and NC sharing three of the six seats in Jammu and Kashmir and the UT of Ladakh. However, NC leader Haji Hanifa Jan was on Wednesday named as the joint candidate of Congress and NC which are partners in the INDIA bloc .

While Jan is a Shia Muslim of Kargil, Namgyal is a Buddhist from the Leh district and is leader of opposition in the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Leh.

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Former minister and Congress leader Rigzin Zora confirmed that Namgyal is the official candidate of the Congress.

BJP candidate Tashi Gyalson filed nomination for the Ladakh seat on Wednesday.

The current BJP MP, Jamyang Tsering Namgyal has been denied the ticket this time and it is being seen whether he files his nomination as an independent as he has already obtained a set of papers from the election office.
India on Thursday dismissed the report of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) which accused the BJP of reinforcing discriminatory nationalist policies, saying the organisation is completely biased and does not understand this countrys diverse, pluralistic and democratic ethos.



The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is known as a biased organization with a political agenda. They continue to publish their propaganda on India masquerading as part of an annual report, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a media briefing.



We really have no expectation that USCIRF will even seek to understand Indias diverse, pluralistic and democratic ethos. Their efforts to interfere in the largest electoral exercise of the world will never succeed, he added.



The USCIRF, in its report released yesterday, alleged that last year, the Indian government failed to address communal violence disproportionately affecting Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, Jews, and Adivasis (indigenous peoples).



In 2023, religious freedom conditions in India continued to deteriorate. The government, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), reinforced discriminatory nationalist policies, perpetuated hateful rhetoric, and failed to address communal violence disproportionately affecting Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, Jews, and Adivasis (indigenous peoples). Continued enforcement of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), and anti-conversion and cow slaughter laws resulted in the arbitrary detention, monitoring, and targeting of religious minorities and those advocating on their behalf, the report said.
While condemning the decision of the Election Commission of India (ECI) to ban BRS supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao for 48 hours, the partys working president, KT Rama Rao, demanded similar action against Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy for using foul language and misleading people with fake documents.

KCR was banned from electioneering by the ECI for 48 hours for his derogatory comments against Congress. KT Rama Rao said every BJP leader was using Lord Rams posters to seek votes. He alleged that the ECI was being guided by the Centre, pointing out that though the BJP was openly inciting hatred among communities the poll body was yet to take any action. Over 20,000 citizens complained against Prime Minister Narendra Modis statement but ECI didnt even send its notice to Narendra Modi. It was sent to JP Nadda instead, said KT Rama Rao who is more popular as KTR.

He said both BJP and Congress were apprehensive over the success of KCRs bus yatra. He alleged that the Chief Minister had used a fake document to mislead people about the water and power crisis. Instead of facing action, he got BRS leader Krishank arrested since he had put out the actual circular issued by the warden of Osmania University last year when KCR was still the Chief Minister, claimed KTR.

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The circular posted by Reddy was identical to the one issued in 2024 where the warden had claimed there were water and power crisis and the hostels should be vacated. However, the one posted by BRS leader Krishank did not mention the water and power crisis. Krishank was arrested for posting a fake circular. KTR said BRS will file a complaint against Reddy with the ECI.
A night super bus travelling from Agartala to Guwahati overturned near Ditokcherra in Assams Dima Hasao district which resulted in the loss of one life and several people being injured.

The bus, identified as belonging to Seema Travels, is suspected to have been speeding, with indications that the driver may have been under the influence of alcohol, as per police reports.

Currently, the driver is on the run, prompting authorities to launch a thorough investigation into the matter.

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Police from Harangajao and Ditokcherra, in conjunction with Fire and Emergency Services personnel, mobilised to the scene to aid the passengers.

One male passenger, identified as Dibraj Deb Barma, aged 33 and hailing from Maharani Kamalpur village in Tripuras Dhalai district, succumbed to his injuries on the way to the hospital.

The severity of the situation led to six passengers sustaining grave injuries, necessitating their referral to Silchar Medical College after initial treatment at Harangajao.

Additionally, at least 25 others with minor injuries are currently receiving medical attention at the Harangajao Public Health Centre.
Taking a dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that Pakistani leaders want to make Shehzada (prince) of Congress Indias prime minister.

Addressing an election rally in Gujarats Anand, Modi said that the partnership between Congress and Pakistan has been completely exposed.

Look at the coincidence, today Congress is getting weak in India. The funny thing is that here Congress is dying and there Pakistan is crying. Now Pakistani leaders are praying for the Congress. Pakistan is eager to make the prince the Prime Minister. And Congress is already a fan of Pakistan. This partnership between Pakistan and Congress has now been completely exposed, he said.

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PM remarks came after former Pakistani minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain praised Rahul Gandhi and shared one of his viral speeches on social media.

Rahul on fire, Fawad Hussain wrote in the caption, while reposting a video of Rahul Gandhi on X.

Soon after his comments, several right wing handles started questioning why a Pakistan leader is praising Rahul Gandhi.

Replying to a user, the former Pakistani minister said, Because I oppose extremists and hate mongers be it in Pak or India or elsewhere and Modi and BJP are the people who should be opposed by everyone with conscience, btw I get the same reaction from Muslim fundos.

However, this is not the first instance of a Pakistani leader praising Indian politicians. Former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan has also praised PM Modi on more than one occasions.

In September 2022, Imran Khan had praised Modi, while targeting his political rivals Nawaz Sharif over accumulation of properties outside the country.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the sexual assault case involving JD(S) leader and NDAs Hassan candidate Prajwal Revanna, saying the PM is seeking votes for a mass rapist.

Addressing a rally in Karnatakas Shivamogga, Gandhi said that what Prajwal Revanna did was not a sex scandal but a mass rape and charged PM Modi with supporting him in the elections.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking votes for a mass rapist. Prajwal Revanna raped hundreds of women and made their obscene videosAnd Narendra Modi, from a packed stage, supports that rapist and says  If you vote for this rapist, it will help me, he said.

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Earlier in the day, Gandhi demanded an apology from the PM for endorsing a person who has mass raped 400 women.

The biggest issue here is the Revanna case, the person who has mass raped 400 women and he was endorsed by PM Modi. First, Prime Minister Modi should answer and apologise to the women, he told a news agency.

JD(S) leader Prajwal Revanna, the grandson of former PM HD Deve Gowda, is NDAs joint candidate from Karnatakas Hassan Lok Sabha seat. Before his sex scandal surfaced, PM Modi had reportedly campaigned for him.

The Congress has been claiming that both  the BJP and the Prime Minister  knew about Prajwals Crimes and yet he was given a ticket and Modi sought votes for him.

However, the Karnataka BJP has denied having any prior knowledge about the case.

Earlier on Wednesday, Gandhi had slammed Modi for maintaining shameful silence on the gruesome crimes against women by the NDA Lok Sabha candidate.

Knowing everything, why did they promote the monster who exploited hundreds of daughters just for the sake of votes? After all, how did such a big criminal escape from the country with such ease? Gandhi asked.

Referring to the sex assault allegations against BJP MP Brijbushan Sharan Singh, and several other similar cases involving the ruling party leaders, the Gandhi scion said Modis silent support is boosting the morale of criminals.

From Kaiserganj to Karnataka and Unnao to Uttarakhand, the Prime Ministers silent support to the culprits who targeted daughters, is boosting the morale of criminals across the country. Is being part of Modis political family a guarantee of safety for criminals? he asked.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov met with Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for International Cultural Cooperation Mikhail Shvydkoy, who is on a visit to the country to participate in the VI World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue, Trend reports.

The meeting discussed bilateral and multilateral cooperation between Azerbaijan and Russia, preparations for the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), as well as the current regional situation.

Minister Jeyhun Bayramov emphasized the active participation and contribution of the Russian side to prestigious international events held in our country, including the VI World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue. It was emphasized that the existing high-level dialogue between the leaders of the two countries, as well as intensive contacts, contribute to the development of relations between the countries. The importance of continuing bilateral cooperation between the two countries within regional and international formats was noted.

Referring to the work done within the framework of Azerbaijan's chairmanship of COP29, the Minister noted new opportunities for cooperation in this direction.

Informing about the current regional situation in the post-conflict period, including the process of normalizing relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, the Minister noted that the recent agreement reached between the delimitation commissions is a very positive progress within the peace agenda. He noted that our country is determined to achieve real results in all elements of the normalization process.

The Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation, Mikhail Shvydkoy, highlighted the broad prospects for cooperation between the two countries in various fields, especially education, culture, technology, and innovation, and emphasized the importance of joint activities in this direction.

During the meeting, the sides also exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest.

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Union Home Minister and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said that the prince of the INDI alliance, Rahul Gandhi, started off the Lok Sabha elections with the Bharat Jodo Yatra but will conclude it with the Congress Dhoondho Yatra after the election results are announced on June 4.

Addressing a public meeting in Bareilly in support of BJP candidate Chhatrapal Singh Gangwar, Shah said: The Congress is nowhere to be seen even through binoculars in the first two phases of the election. This election is all about propelling the countrys economy to become the third-largest globally and making three crore lakhpati didis. This election will play a decisive role in eradicating terrorism and Naxalism in the country, he declared.

Shah alleged that while Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav wants to become the Chief Minister Congress leader Sonia Gandhi wants her son Rahul Gandhi to become the Prime Minister. The irony is that these people cannot do any good to the public, he added.

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Shah questioned the people whether Ram temple should have been constructed in Ayodhya or not. He accused the Congress of stalling the issue of Ram Temple for 70 years. However, after Narendra Modi secured his second term as the Prime Minister, he cleared all the hurdles, paving the way for the inauguration of the Ram Temple on January 22.

He said that invitations were sent to SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, Dimple, Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi, yet none of them attended the grand event, fearing a potential loss of their vote bank. These people consistently engage themselves in politics of appeasement, he claimed.

Shah said, Congressmen preserved Article 370 for 70 years. Narendra Modi abolished it. Modi has diligently worked towards liberating the nation from terrorism. Previously, a Congress government, supported by SP-BSP, was in power. During the 10-year tenure of the Sonia-Manmohan government, incidents of terrorism, facilitated by infiltrators like Alia, Malia, and Jamalia, were rampant. They used to enter the country and carry out bomb blasts. There was minimal response. However, post-2014, when Pakistan attempted incursions in Uri and Pulwama, they forgot that the Prime Minister was now Modi, not Manmohan Singh. In just 10 days, we entered Pakistan and eliminated the terrorists by carrying out surgical and air strikes.

Shah said that the current government has worked to secure the country by vaccinating 130 crore people with both doses of Covid vaccines.

The Home Minister said that under the SP government, the entire UP was marred by riots. There were massive riots in Bareilly in 2010 and 2012. Both SP and Congress did not stand with the people of Bareilly. The BJP government assumed office in 2017 and Yogi Adityanath became the Chief Minister. He worked hard to make UP riot-free. While there was significant migration from West UP during the SP rule, now there is migration of goons in Yogiraj, he said.

He said that the SP and Congress are family parties. Yadav community considers Akhilesh Yadav as their leader, but Akhilesh himself is contesting election from Kannauj. Dimple is from Mainpuri, Akshay from Firozabad, Aditya from Badaun and Dharmendra Yadav from Azamgarh.

He said that during the SPs tenure, there were factories making desi kattas in UP. Today, in place of guns, a factory for making cannons and missiles has been established, which will provide shells to Pakistan.

Shah will also address election meetings in Badaun and Sitapur. In the evening, he will hold party workers meeting in Lucknow.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath conducted an extensive roadshow in Mainpuri on Thursday in support of BJP candidate Jaiveer Singh. He also exhorted voters in Etah to re-elect Rajveer Singh.

Additionally, he appealed to Firozabad residents to cast their votes in favour of Vishwadeep Singh for holistic development.

During all the three public gatherings, CM Yogi vehemently criticised the Congress, the SP, and the BSP.

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Addressing the crowd in Firozabad, CM Yogi highlighted a concerning aspect of the Congress manifesto, which suggests granting minorities the freedom to consume food according to their preferences. A majority of Indians say that do not eat beef, but some people deliberately encourage cow slaughter to irritate them, he remarked.

CM Yogi warned that supporting such agendas would invite condemnation from future generations and ancestors alike, implying that voting for the INDI alliance is akin to participating in sinful activities.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath led an impressive roadshow in support of Jaiveer Singh, the Tourism Minister in his government and the BJP candidate for the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat. Amidst the roadshow, voters echoed their support for CM Yogi with chants of Saat Mayi, SP Gayi (On May 7th, SP is gone).

Addressing the people after the roadshow, CM Yogi said Your enthusiasm reflects Mainpuris commitment to change this time. The Samajwadi Party, which is focused on family interests, insulted Babu Kalyan Singh and disrespected faith. They should face consequences for their alliance with the Congress.

In Etah, Yogi Adityanath remarked that Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar opposed reservation based on religion in the country, yet Congress is intentionally seeking to impose Taliban-like governance with the aim of Islamising India.

Yogi asserted, In doing so, the Congress is maliciously attempting to sow division in the country once again. Beware of the alliance between Congress and the SP. These parties aim to prioritise reservation for Muslims over backward castes and Scheduled Castes, which is a direct affront to the principles of Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkars Constitution.

He emphasised that the voters are faced with a choice between those who betray Lord Ram and those who are devotees of Lord Ram. In such circumstances, it is crucial for voters to decide whether the SP and the Congress deserve their support. The CM also noted that those responsible for the murders of Raju Pal and Umesh Pal are now dead.

In Firozabad, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed his frustration towards the Congress, stating that a new version of the Congress-SP INDI alliance resembling Aurangzeb has emerged, proposing the imposition of inheritance tax. He likened this proposal to Aurangzebs imposition of the Jizya tax on Hindus.

The CM questioned whether people would agree to pay Jizya in independent India. He emphasised that when the country is in capable hands, adversaries remain subdued, but when it is in weak hands, threats emerge. He highlighted that when adversaries attempt to harm India, a strong response is delivered, causing them to falter.

Furthermore, he criticised Rahul Gandhi for fleeing the country during times of crisis, only to return during elections to make grand promises without genuinely caring for Indias welfare. He pointed out the lack of justice for victims during the SP-BSP governments tenure, emphasising that Congress had compromised the nations dignity.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday exhorted Prime Minister Narendra Modi to seek votes on the performance of his government in the past 10 years instead of indulging in hate speeches.

Accusing the PM of lying about the Congress manifesto (Nyay Patra), the Congress chief challenged Modi to debate with the partys manifesto.

In his three-page letter addressed to the PM, Kharge said, I saw the letter written by you to all the NDA candidates about what they need to communicate to the voters. From the tone and content of the letter it seems that there is a lot of desperation and worry in you which is leading you to use language that does not suit the office of the PM. The letter makes it look like the lies in your speeches are not having the effect you intended and now you want your candidates to amplify your lies.

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He asserted that repeating a lie a thousand times will not make it the truth.

Referring to the Congress manifesto, the Congress president said, The voters are intelligent enough to read and understand by themselves what the Congress has written in its manifesto and what guarantees we have promised. Our guarantees are so simple and clear that we dont have to explain it to them.

In your letter you claim that reservation will be taken away from SC, ST and OBC and given to our votebank. Our votebank is every Indian  the poor, the marginalised, the women, the aspirational youth, the labour class, the Dalits and the Adivasis. Everyone knows it is the RSS and BJP which have opposed reservations at every stage since 1947. Everyone knows it is the RSS and BJP which wants to change the Constitution to end reservation, he said.

The Congress chief added, Your leaders have openly spoken about it. You need to clarify why you are opposed to reservation to SC, ST and OBCs on the basis of their population as per Article 16 of our Constitution.

On allegations of appeasement politics against the Congress, Kharge said, We have heard you and Home Minister (Amit Shah) say that Congress is practising appeasement politics. The only appeasement policy that we have seen in the last 10 years is the appeasement of Chinese by you and your ministers.

On inheritance tax, he said, Your letter lies that Congress wants to bring Inheritance tax when it is your former Finance Minister and your party leaders who have repeatedly mentioned they want inheritance tax.

Kharge, who is also the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, further said, You have said peoples hard-earned money will be snatched and given away. I would like to take this opportunity to request you to direct your party to return the Rs 10 crore that were swindled from the poor Dalit farmers in Gujarat and given as electoral bonds to BJP. Your party amassed Rs 8,250 crore through the illegal and unconstitutional electoral bonds from various companies.

Our manifesto speaks of Nyay and how we will bring growth for all sections of the society. It is better as the Prime Minister if you seek votes on the performance of your government over the last ten years instead of indulging in hate speeches. The Congress party would like to challenge you or anyone you depute to debate with us on our manifesto and the points you have made, he said.

Kharge asserted that after elections are over, people will only remember him as the PM who indulged in divisive and communal speeches filled with lies to avoid an inevitable defeat.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath led an impressive roadshow in support of Jaiveer Singh, tourism minister in his Government and BJP candidate for the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat, here on Thursday.

During the roadshow, voters were seen voicing their support to CM Yogi, echoing the chant Saat Mayi, SP Gayi (On May 7th, SP is gone).

Braving the scorching heat, the people of Mainpuri thronged the streets to welcome Yogi. Carrying cutouts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and the Lotus flower (symbol of BJP). The public walked along the entire route of the roadshow.

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Flower petals were showered on Yogi Adityanath from rooftops in the SP stronghold amid resounding echoes of Bharat Mata ki Jai. Throughout the hour-long roadshow, chants of Yogi-Yogi filled the air.

Dozens of bulldozers, stretching from the Arya Samaj complex to the Bhavant intersection, lined the roads during the roadshow. Mainpuri residents and BJP workers, standing on bulldozers symbolizing law and order, showered Yogi Adityanath, standing on the chariot, with a profusion of flowers.

Amidst the fervour, the youth swayed to the rhythm of Aayenge Phir Modi Hi, Aayenge Phir Yogi Hi (Modi and Yogi will return). Even the children exhibited great enthusiasm for Yogi Adityanath. Women stood on terraces with folded hands in some areas, while in others, they showered flowers upon the procession.

The vehicle carrying Yogi was adorned in saffron hues and embellished with marigold flowers. BJP and saffron flags fluttered along the route of the roadshow. Mainpuri welcomed the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh with unprecedented fervor, echoing chants of Jai Shri Ram. BJP candidate from Mainpuri, Jaiveer Singh, along with Yogi government minister Sandeep Singh, accompanied CM Yogi on the chariot.

The chief minister remarked, Your enthusiasm reflects Mainpuris commitment to change this time. The SP-Congress alliance is part of a conspiracy aimed at dragging India back into slavery. These individuals are plotting to undermine the reservation rights of Scheduled Castes, Tribes, and Backward Castes, diverting them to minorities.

He further said, By excessively favouring Muslim appeasement domestically, Congress is insidiously endorsing cow slaughter.

The CM cautioned against supporting the INDI Alliance, equating it to tampering with the faith of India. A genuine patriot, who holds faith in high regard, will never permit such an agenda to prosper, he concluded.

The CM highlighted that the entire life of former chief minister Kalyan Singh was devoted to Shri Ram and the progress of the state. The SP failed to offer even a single word of condolence upon his demise. I personally visited Mulayam Singhs residence following his passing. PM Modi extended his condolences as well. The Samajwadi Party, which is focused on family interests, insulted SP Babu Kalyan Singh and disrespected faith. They should face consequences for their alliance with Congress, Yogi remarked.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has declared intentions to sever diplomatic relations with Israel due to its actions in the Gaza Strip, a move criticised by human rights advocates and experts who caution against the possibility of genocide, Al Jazeera reported.

Addressing a gathering on International Workers Day in Bogota, Petro emphasised the necessity for countries to take active stances in response to the escalating crisis in Gaza.

Here in front of you, the government of change, of the president of the republic, announces that tomorrow we will break diplomatic relations with the state of Israel  for having a government, for having a president who is genocidal, Petro declared.

A steadfast leader of the left-wing faction, President Petro has emerged as a prominent figure in the Latin American political landscape, aligning himself with the progressive wave known as the pink tide. Since assuming office in 2022, he has been a vocal critic of Israels actions, particularly in the context of the Gaza war, as reported by Al Jazeera.

The rift between Colombia and Israel deepened in October, following Petros condemnation of Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallants rhetoric, which he likened to that of the Nazis. Gallants description of Gaza as inhabited by human animals during a period of heightened conflict elicited sharp rebuke from Petro, resulting in Israel halting security exports to Colombia.

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Subsequently, Petro escalated his criticism, accusing Israel of perpetrating genocide in the besieged Palestinian enclave. Such allegations drew fierce condemnation from Israeli officials and pro-Israel advocacy groups, further straining bilateral relations.

In a significant move, Colombia suspended its purchases of Israeli weapons in February, citing concerns over the use of force against Palestinians in Gaza. Petro evoked poignant parallels, invoking the spectre of the Holocaust as he decried Israeli actions as reminiscent of historical atrocities.

The Colombian presidents latest pronouncement comes amidst mounting apprehension over the prospect of an Israeli ground offensive in Rafah, a southern city in the Gaza Strip. United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has cautioned against such escalation, warning of dire consequences for civilians caught in the crossfire.

The toll of the conflict is staggering, with over 34,500 Palestinians perishing in Israels military offensive thus far. The Gaza Strip grapples with a looming humanitarian crisis, exacerbated by relentless violence and crippling siege measures. Experts warn of impending famine, underscoring the urgency of addressing the plight of the enclaves inhabitants, according to Al Jazeera.

Israels response to Colombias decision to sever diplomatic ties remains elusive, as the government refrains from immediate comment. However, Colombias pursuit of justice extends beyond mere diplomatic gestures, as it seeks recourse through international legal avenues.

In early April, the Colombian government petitioned to join a case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), alleging Israels commission of genocide against Palestinians. The move underscores Colombias commitment to upholding the rights and dignity of vulnerable populations, particularly women, children, persons with disabilities, and the elderly, in Gaza.

The ICJs ruling in January, acknowledging the plausible risk of genocide faced by Palestinians in Gaza, lends credence to Colombias pursuit of accountability. UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albaneses findings further validate these concerns, highlighting the grave nature of Israels assault on Gaza and its catastrophic impact on Palestinian lives.

Israel vehemently denies accusations of genocide, dismissing Albaneses report as a distortion of reality. Yet, amidst mounting evidence and international scrutiny, the quest for justice for the victims of the Gaza conflict remains an urgent imperative on the global stage, Al Jazeera reported.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and visiting French counterpart Stephane Sejourne met here to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip and an Egypt-brokered ceasefire proposed for the enclave.

The two Ministers briefed each other on the indirect truce talks between the Gaza-ruling Palestinian faction Hamas and Israel over reaching a ceasefire in Gaza and swap of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, said the Egyptian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday in a statement.

Shoukry said that Egypt has put forward implementable truce proposals to both parties, who are expected to show necessary flexibility to realise an agreement that would spare Palestinians bloodshed, Xinhua news agency reported.

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For his part, Sejourne said France is willing to support Arab efforts for settling the Palestinian issue, according to the statement.

He highlighted Frances efforts to contain escalation between Israel and Lebanon on their borders, stressing that the potential truce in Gaza has to be accompanied by a similar truce in Lebanon, according to the Ministrys statement.

Shoukry and Sejourne reaffirmed their absolute rejection of any Israeli attempts to liquidate the Palestinian cause by displacing Palestinians outside the Gaza Strip.

The two Ministers agreed to completely reject any ground military operation in the city of Rafah, now the only haven for millions of people in Gaza, due to high humanitarian concerns and the risk of regional spillover, said the statement.

For months, Egypt, Qatar, and the US have been trying to mediate a new agreement between Hamas and Israel on a truce in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages.
The UN General Assembly will resume its 10th emergency special session (ESS) on May 10, after Palestines UN membership bid was blocked by the US at the Security Council in April.

UN General Assembly President Dennis Francis has informed member states that he will convene a plenary meeting of the ESS on May 10, said Monica Grayley, his spokeswoman, on Wednesday.

In a letter dated April 26, Francis told member states that the resumption of the ESS was requested by Saudi Arabia, Mauritania, and Uganda, in their respective capacities as chair of the Arab Group, chair of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Group, and chair of the Coordinating Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement, Xinhua news agency reported.

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The US on April 18 vetoed a Security Council draft resolution that would have recommended to the General Assembly Palestines full UN membership.

Riyad Mansour, the permanent observer of Palestine to the United Nations, expressed the hope that the General Assembly would ask the Security Council to reconsider the issue at the ESS.

We will now bring the matter for consideration by the General Assembly on May 10 in a resumed 10th emergency special session and trust that this body representing the international community will unequivocally support the admission of Palestine to the UN and call on the Security Council to reconsider our application for admission favourably, he told a General Assembly meeting on Wednesday on the use of the veto by the US.

Under UN rules, the admission of new members has to be recommended by the Security Council before a vote in the General Assembly.

If the Security Council does not recommend the application or postpones its consideration of the application, the Council then must submit a special report to the General Assembly, which in turn could ask the Council to reconsider.

The 10th ESS on the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory was convened for the first time in April 1997.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. The chairman of Azerbaijan's Central Election Commission, Mazahir Panahov, has not ruled out changing the dates of parliamentary election, Trend reports.

According to him, the date of parliamentary election may be postponed to an earlier date due to the COP29 to be held in Azerbaijan in November.

"According to the Constitution, parliamentary election should be held in early November 2024. In this regard, we have very little time and a lot of work to do. We should start preparations from then on. I think there are grounds for this. We must work actively so that there are no problems in the constituencies," Panahov said.

To note, parliamentary election in Azerbaijan is held every 5 years on the first Sunday of November.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. The next stage of political consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan and the Republic of Azerbaijan was held in the city of Dushanbe, Trend reports.

The delegations of the sides were headed by Deputy Foreign Ministers of Tajikistan Imomi Sodiq and Azerbaijan Samir Sharifov.

During the consultations, the sides discussed in detail topical issues of Tajik-Azerbaijani relations in political, trade-economic, cultural-humanitarian, and other spheres. Special attention was paid to the preparation of the content of the upcoming Tajik-Azerbaijani contacts at the highest level.

The sides also exchanged views on cooperation between the two countries within international organizations.

Following the consultations, a memorandum of understanding on consular cooperation between the Foreign Ministries of Tajikistan and Azerbaijan was signed.

The negotiations were held in a friendly and constructive atmosphere.

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A day after reprimanding the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for putting political interest above the national interest, the Delhi High Court said that the AAP-led government has come to a standstill after the arrest of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The court was hearing a petition on the non-supply of books and stationery to nearly 2 lakh Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) schools depriving students of basic amenities.

A CMs post in a buzzing capital like Delhi is not ceremonial and it is a post where the office holder has to be available 247, the court observed. The civic work has come to a halt, the AAP claimed, due to the non-formation of the MCD standing committee, the highest decision-making body.

About a fortnight ago, a 15-year-old girl fatally stabbed a woman in a dispute over water in Delhi's Farsh Bazar area, sparking one of the many stand-offs between the Lieutenant Governor (LG) and the AAP, who blatantly engaged in a blame-game on a daily basis, even as people of Delhi continue to bear the brunt of gaps in governance.

The courts remarks, however, point to a deeper malaise that has gripped the national capital. A cursory reading of what is unfolding in Delhi will tell that the city finds itself at a crossroads where federal values are rapidly eroding. The exchange of barbs between the LG and the AAP over postponement of mayoral and deputy major elections is another case in point exemplifying that federal processes have decayed at all levels of governance. The city has evidently plummeted on the federal index, which procedurally entails both top-down and bottom-up cordiality.

Federalism evolved over decades around synonyms adjectives such as accommodation, bargain, compromise, mutual interdependence and most recently cooperative. Acting as a key pillar of centre-state relations, it is based on a system of governance in which powers are divided between central and state governments, some falling in the Centres domain, some in the state basket and others shared.

Delhi, being the national capital, has a unique federal relationship with the Centre in comparison to other states and union territories. The Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi has competence over entries in List II (state list) and List III (concurrent list) except for excluded entries  public order, police and land  of List II.

While ruling in favour of the elected government of Delhi, the Supreme Court in 2023 held that the Delhi government will have legislative and executive control over administrative services except for the three excluded entries. A few weeks later, the Centre passed an ordinance nullifying the SC order, giving the powers back to the LG. Since then, this has been a major bone of contention between the AAP government and the centrally appointed LG.

Today, the AAP and the Congress members of the INDIA alliance are sparring with the BJP over the erosion of the faith of people in the federal system.

Democracy and federalism are sides of the same coin. They converge to bring about the same desirable outcome  a just and viable polity reconciling autonomy and control. They both tend to operate through processes rather than structures. And there lies the key.

While democratic values are predominantly put to the ultimate test during elections, federalism has a far bigger role to play in the day-to-day operation of the very processes that breathe life into structures to ensure that differing views are aligned for a common good. In Delhi, however, processes are marred with suspicion and deep mistrust today.

The tussle in the city has become a painful predicament for the people. It began when the BJP came to power at the Centre in 2014 and the AAP formed the government in Delhi with a dominating victory, winning 67 assembly seats out of 70. Since then, run-ins between the Kejriwal government and the Centre over governance-related matters increasingly assumed political overtones undermining the federal principles.

Soon after coming to power, the Kejriwal government and the then L-G, Najeeb Jung locked horns over issues of control over the Anti Corruption Branch, transfer and posting of senior officers (the issue still is a thorn in centre-UT relations), and movement of official files, showing total lack of accommodation and coordination. Another controversy erupted when Jung appointed the chief secretary whom Kejriwal asked not to take charge, eroding the trust between the two levels of government and jeopardising hopes of a federal compromise.

If Jungs tenure initiated the ongoing tussle over control of services, the former Union home secretary Anil Baijal's stint as the L-G proved even more sour witnessing numerous face-offs, the most remarkable being a dharna staged by Arvind Kejriwal and his cabinet colleagues inside Raj Niwas in 2018, alleging that city bureaucrats were not listening to the ministers.

In July 2021, the then deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia voiced objection to Baijal holding meetings with officers and instructing them on works that directly came under the purview of the elected government.

In May 2022, V. K. Saxena took charge as the L-G and ordered an enquiry into the procedural lapses in the now-scrapped Delhi liquor policy. The AAP government accuses the BJP-led central government of carrying out a political vendetta by misusing the investigating agencies in the case. Along with Kejriwal, two Delhi ministers, Manish Sisodia and Satyendra Jain are now in jail. AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh came out on bail about a month ago.

Political differences are part of governance. Armed with the capacity to be a balancer between differing views that often collide for power, federalism tends to employ an accommodative approach to conflict resolution. That is the reason why, historically, it emphasises adjectives that look to find common ground for the good of the people. Prof. Rekha Saxena, Delhi University wrote in the Economic and Political Weekly, In lieu of a conflict between Parliaments legislative supremacy and Delhis executive supremacy, it is preferable to strengthen the consultative mechanism between the union government and the Government of Delhi.

Antony Birch remarked in 1966 that federalism had entered a new phase which could conveniently be called co-operative federalism, the terminology having immense contemporary resonance nationally in India.

The Delhi conundrum and the bitter battle with its pungent twists and turns every day, exudes anything but cooperative federalism. All necessary indicators that constitute a healthy federal relationship between the national government and its constituent unit seem virtually absent indicating that federalism has taken a backseat.

When political interests are placed above everything else, federalism is the ultimate casualty and people are the ultimate sufferers.
The Delhi Police's anti-terror unit, probing the bomb threats received by over 130 schools in the Delhi-NCR region on Wednesday, said the investigation will focus on an organisation rather than an individual. Sources within the Delhi police said the threat seemed to be part of a big conspiracy.

"The timing of the threat given the elections, mass collection of data from schools, use of Russian IP addresses --all these point towards a conspiracy," sources told ANI.

The probe will also explore whether ISI may be involved or any Chinese involvement. "The use of a strong server has raised suspicions regarding China. But, the investigation is still at a very early stage," the sources added.

The Special Cell of Delhi Police has registered an FIR against unidentified people under Section 120B of IPC and IPC 506 in the case of threatening emails to schools.

The police on Wednesday night had said that the email id used to send the threat was 'sawariim@mail.ru'. "Sawarim is an Arabic word extensively used by the terror outfit Islamic State (IS) in their propaganda videos over the past several years," the official said.

"Kill them wherever you meet and drive them out of the places from which they drove you. There are many explosive devices in the school...," reads the identical email sent to all schools.

"The main agenda of sending such threat emails in bulk is to create panic and wage a cyber war by some terror group," an officer, who did not wish to be named, told PTI.

"The domain of email ID sawariim@mail.ru has been traced to Russia and is suspected to have been formed with the help of the dark web, which is an encrypted online content that allows individuals to hide their identity and location from others," he said.

Over 130 schools in the Delhi-NCR area received an identical bomb threat by email early Wednesday, triggering mass evacuations and searches as panic-stricken parents rushed to pick up their children. The threat was declared a hoax as "nothing objectionable" was found during searches, the police said.
Former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia approached the high court on Thursday seeking bail in the corruption and money-laundering cases lodged by the CBI and the ED respectively in relation to the alleged excise policy scam.

The bail pleas are scheduled for hearing before Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma on Friday.

Sisodia approached the high court after a trial court refused to grant him bail in the matter on April 30.

The bail pleas were mentioned by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader's counsel before a bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet P S Arora for an urgent hearing, which agreed to list the same for Friday.

"Let the judge go through the file. So let it come tomorrow," the bench said.

Advocates Rajat Bhardwaj and Mohammad Irshad, representing Sisodia, told the bench that the petitioner is an MLA and requested that both the pleas seeking bail be listed for an urgent hearing.

The trial court had dismissed Sisodia's bail pleas in the corruption and money-laundering cases lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) respectively in connection with alleged irregularities in the formulation and execution of the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy for 2021-22.

The beneficiaries diverted "illegal" gains to the accused officials and made false entries in their books of account to evade detection, the probe agencies have alleged.

The special judge had, in the April 30 order, denied the relief, saying the stage is not right to grant bail to Sisodia.

The AAP leader was arrested by the CBI on February 26, 2023 for his alleged role in the "scam". The ED arrested the former deputy chief minister in a money-laundering case stemming from the CBI FIR on March 9, 2023.

Sisodia resigned from the Delhi cabinet on February 28, 2023.

The high court had dismissed Sisodia's bail pleas in the CBI and ED cases on May 30 and July 3 last year respectively.

On October 30, 2023, the Supreme Court also refused to interfere with the high court's verdict, saying the allegation by the probe agencies that "windfall gains" of Rs 338 crore were made by a few wholesale liquor distributors was "tentatively supported" by material and evidence.
Capping suspense over the Congress candidates for Amethi and Rae Bareli, party chief Mallikarjun Kharge will announce the candidates for the high-profile seats on Thursday.

With only two days left for the nomination process, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on Wednesday that the party's central election committee (CEC) has empowered Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to finalise the candidates for the two seats, which will be announced in the "next 24-30 hours."

Both Amethi and Rae Bareli are traditional pocket boroughs of the Gandhi-Nehru family and its members have represented the seats for several decades. However, Rahul Gandhi lost to BJP candidate and Union Minister Smriti Irani in 2019.

However, there are reports that Rahul Gandhi is likely to contest from Rae Bareli this time, though the final decision has to come from the party. Though Priyanka Gandhi is keen to contest from the Rae Bareli seat, Rahul Gandhi is not favourable to the idea, considering the criticism of dynasty politics by Prime Minister Narendra Modi against the Congress leadership, PTI quoted sources.

Rahul does not want all three members of the Gandhi family to be in parliament, the report added.

Rahul Gandhi has said earlier that he will follow "whatever order" he gets from his party. The Amethi and Rae Bareli constituencies go to polls on May 20 in the fifth round of the seven-phase general elections.

Asked if there was a delay in fielding the candidates and if the Congress was scared of fielding Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, Ramesh said, "There is no delay. Has the BJP not announced its candidates in Raebareli? Smriti Irani is a sitting MP. Nobody is scared, discussions are ongoing, the Congress president has been authorised. There is no delay, there is time till May 3," he said.

Meanwhile, the state leadership in Uttar Pradesh has already urged the central election committee and the party leadership to field Rahul Gandhi from Amethi and Priyanka from Rae Bareli.

As speculation mounted, the Congress workers in Amethi on Tuesday also held a sit-in and demanded that the party name a member of the Gandhi family as its candidate from the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency.

The Rae Bareli constituency was represented by Sonia Gandhi from 2004 to 2024. Prior to that, Sonia Gandhi had represented the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency after she entered politics and contested for the first time in 1999. The seat has previously been represented by Sanjay Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi.

The Congress has forged an alliance with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh and is contesting 17 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

The Lok Sabha polls are being held in seven phases starting April 19. The counting of votes will be taken up on June 4.

(With PTI inputs)
Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara has said that both Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna and his father H D Revanna will be arrested if they don't appear before the Special Investigation Team (SIT).

The minister's statement comes amid a lookout notice issued against the disgraced MP at all immigration points across the country. Prajwal, the grandson of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, had fled to Germany just after a huge cache of about 3,000 explicit videos and photos featuring him leaked.

"A lookout notice has been issued. They have been asked to appear before the SIT. They have to appear since the notice has been served. If they don't, they will be arrested," Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara told reporters on Thursday.

Both Prajwal and his father have been booked on a complaint lodged by their former cook and relative for allegedly sexually harassing her.

After the notice was served, Prajwal, who is seeking re-election from Hassan on a JD(S) ticket, sought seven days to appear before the investigation team. The MP made the request via his lawyer Arun.

In a post on X on Wednesday, Revanna said, "As I am not in Bangalore to attend the inquiry, I have communicated to CID, Bangalore, through my advocate. The truth will prevail soon."

"The SIT is yet to respond to our request. I am positive that they will accommodate," the lawyer told reporters on Wednesday. On whether the MP would depose before the SIT, the lawyer said: "Isn't it obvious? The lawyer said his client is ready to cooperate with the investigation. Even Prajwal Revanna's father, H D Revanna, too has said that he will give the fullest cooperation," he added.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said Prajwal had used his diplomatic passport to travel abroad and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take swift action to cancel it. In a letter to Modi, he also asked the PM to take other steps such as using diplomatic and police channels of the Government of India as well as international police agencies to ensure the swift return of the "absconding" member of parliament to face the full force of the law.
As suspense continues over the Congress candidates in Amethi and Raebareli, party president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi are holding a meeting to decide on its nominees for the high-profile seats.

The meeting is held in Karnataka, where Gandhi has gone for election campaigning. According to an NDTV report, Rahul is likely to contest from one of these seats while party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra remains firm on her decision not to contest.

Both Amethi and Raebareli are traditional pocket boroughs of the Gandhi-Nehru family and its members represented the seats for several decades. However, Rahul lost Amethi to BJP candidate and Union Minister Smriti Irani in 2019.

Some reports suggested that Rahul is likely to contest from Raebareli this time. Quoting sources, PTI reported that Priyanka is also keen to contest from the Raebareli seat, but Rahul is not favourable to the idea, considering the criticism of dynasty politics by Prime Minister Narendra Modi against the Congress leadership.

A decision is likely on Thursday as the last date for filing nominations for the seats is May 3.

As speculations mounted on the two seats, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on Wednesday that "nobody is scared" and a decision on the matter would be announced in the next 24-30 hours.

He said that the party's central election committee (CEC) has empowered Kharge to finalise the candidates.

The state leadership in Uttar Pradesh has already urged the central election committee and the party leadership to field Rahul Gandhi from Amethi and Priyanka from Raebareli.
As suspense continues over the Congress candidates in Uttar Pradeshs Amethi and Raebareli constituencies, reports claim that party leader Rahul Gandhi is likely to contest from Amethi. With Friday being the last date for filing nominations, a decision is likely on Thursday night or tomorrow morning.

"I am hopeful that some formal announcements on Congress candidates from Amethi and Raebareli are likely to be made today, AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said. He, however, added that the nomination deadline is 3 pm on May 3.

News agency PTI quoted Congress sources as saying that Rahul is the most likely choice of the party for Amethi, a seat he lost to Union Minister Smriti Irani in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Rahul and party president Mallikarjun Kharge met on Thursday afternoon to discuss the candidates for the high-profile seats. The meeting was held in Karnatakas Shimoga where both leaders had gone to attend an election rally.

According to reports, Kharge suggested both Rahul and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra contest from the two seats, but left the final decisions to them.

Sources told PTI that Congress has prepared an alternative plan in case Priyanka does not contest from Raebareli, adding that a grandson of former Congress leader and Indira Gandhi's aunt Sheila Kaul may be fielded from Rae Bareli.

Both Amethi and Raebareli are traditional pocket boroughs of the Gandhi-Nehru family and its members represented the seats for several decades. However, Rahul lost Amethi to Smriti Irani in 2019.

Smriti Irani has already filed her nomination papers from Amethi.

As speculation mounted on the two seats, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh had said on Wednesday that a decision on the matter would be announced in the next 24-30 hours.

He said that the party's central election committee (CEC) has empowered Kharge to finalise the candidates.

The state leadership in Uttar Pradesh has already urged the central election committee and the party leadership to field Rahul Gandhi from Amethi and Priyanka from Raebareli.

The Amethi seat has been represented by Rahul Gandhi from 2004 and he remained the member of Parliament from the constituency for three consecutive terms till 2019. He currently represents the Wayanad constituency in Kerala from where he has contested this time also.

The Raebareli constituency was represented by Sonia Gandhi from 2004 to 2024. Prior to that, Sonia Gandhi had represented the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency after she entered politics and contested for the first time in 1999. The seat has previously been represented by Sanjay Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.

Both constituencies go to polls on May 20 in the fifth round of the seven-phase general elections.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi charged Prime Minister Narendra Modi endorsed an alleged mass rapist like Prajwal Revanna and Modi should apologise for seeking votes for him.

"The biggest issue here is the Revanna case, the person who has mass raped 400 women and he was endorsed by PM Modi. First, Prime Minister Modi should answer and apologize to the women, Rahul Gandhi told ANI.

Campaigning in Shivamogga for the Lok Sabha polls, Rahul Gandhi said, The PM should also apologise to the mothers and sisters of India. Prajwal Revanna rapes 400 women and makes videos. This is not a sex scandal but mass rape, the former Congress President alleged.

The Prime Minister supported the mass rapist on the stage in front of Karnataka. He (Modi) told Karnataka that if you voted for this rapist, it will help me, Gandhi alleged and added: Every woman in Karnataka should know when the Prime Minister was asking for your vote, he was aware of what Prajwal did."

Rahul alleged that every BJP leader was aware that Prajwal is a "mass rapist" and yet they supported him and the party formed an alliance with JD(S). The PM has insulted every woman of India. The PM, Home Minister Amit Shah and all the BJP leaders should apologise to every woman of the country, he charged, claiming that no leader in the world would have asked for votes for a "mass rapist".

It is news worldwide that the PM solicited votes for a mass rapist. This is BJP's ideology. They are ready to form alliances and do anything for power, Gandhi said.

A Special Investigation Team has been formed and a lookout notice has been issued against the disgraced MP at all immigration points across the country. Prajwal, the grandson of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, had fled to Germany just after a huge cache of about 3,000 explicit videos and photos featuring him leaked.

- with inputs from agencies.
Fractures have emerged within the INDIA bloc over the choosing of a candidate for the lone Lok Sabha seat in Ladakh.

The local Congress leaders and the National Conference leaders on Wednesday proposed the name of Haji Hanifa Jan as the INDIA bloc candidate for the Ladakh Parliament seat. Jan is the district president of NC.

However, the move contrasted with the Congress High Command's decision, which nominated T Namgayal, the opposition leader in the Leh Hill Development Council (LADHC), as the party's official nominee.

Sajjad Kargili, the leader of the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), clarified that both the NC and the Congress have independently selected their candidates. "As a core committee member of KDA, I would like to clarify that both NC and Congress have independently selected their candidates for the Ladakh Lok Sabha seat within their respective parties. As of now, not a single meeting of KDA was held on this matter," Kargili said in a post on X.

According to the understanding within the INDIA bloc, the NC and the Congress were supposed to contest three Lok Sabha seats each in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh Union Territories (UTs). The NC has fielded candidates in all three Lok Sabha constituencies in Kashmir, including Anantnag-Rajouri. The NC and the PDP have lent support to the Congress on two seats-Udhampur and Jammu- in Jammu. It was expected that the NC would support the Congress in Ladakh against the BJP.

However, the nomination of Jan as a 'joint candidate' has put the workers of the two parties at odds with each other. A Congress leader said the NC did not inform them about naming Jan as their candidate.

Earlier, the NCs decision to announce its candidate from Anantnag-Rajouri had upset the PDP. PDP president Mehbooba Mufti had criticised the NC for not consulting her party before announcing its candidate from the constituency. She said the regional partners of the INDIA alliance in Jammu and Kashmir had entrusted NC president Farooq Abdullah with the decision to announce the candidates for the three seats in Kashmir, but the NC named its candidates without consulting them. After the acrimony with the NC, Mehbooba jumped into the fray from Anantnag-Rajouri and is now the main rival against the NC since the BJP has decided not to field its candidate from the constituency.

Crisis in BJP too

The BJP also is facing a crisis as party candidate Tashi Gyalson, chairman-cum-CEC, filed his nomination papers, but sitting MP Jamyang Tsering Namgayal, whose supporters on social media declared him as the Independent candidate from Ladakh, skipped the event.

The BJP won the Ladakh seat in 2014 and 2019, with Thupstan Chhewang and Namgayal emerging as winners, respectively. A BJP leader told The Week that efforts are on to persuade Namgyal to drop his opposition to Gyalsons candidature.

On April 30, Namgyal obtained a nomination form from the Returning Officer as an Independent candidate despite persuasions by BJP national general secretary, in charge J&K, Tarun Chug, and Union Minister Kiren Rijiju. Namgayal has been mobilising support after being denied the ticket by the party. Observers believe if Namgyal contests as an Independent, it will hurt the prospects of the BJP, which is already facing an angry electorate over the refusal to grant Sixth Schedule status to Ladakh.

The KDA and Leh Apex Body (LAB), a coalition of different socio-religious groups backed by the influential Ladakh Buddhists Association (LBA), have joined forces to press for their demand for Statehood and Sixth Schedule for the region. The demand gained speed after Ladakh was granted a UT status following its separation from Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019.

The residents of Leh celebrated the UT status while those in Kargil opposed it. However, after realising that the protection that Article 370 conferred to land, jobs, and the unique identity of Ladakh no longer existed after the abrogation of Article 370, the LAB joined forces with KDA for constitutional safeguards. The agitation has garnered nationwide attention after climate protection activist Sonam Wangchuk observed a 21-day hunger strike in support of the demand. The BJP leaders say the Centre has agreed to provide all constitutional safeguards applicable to Ladakh, but LAB and KDA are adamant about the nomenclature.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to seek votes based on his governments performance during the past 10 years and not to indulge in hate speeches.



In the letter, Kharge said, I saw the letter written by you to all the NDA candidates about what they need to communicate to the voters. From the tone and content of the letter it seems that there is a lot of desperation and worry in you which is leading you to use language that does not suit the office of the Prime Minister. The letter makes it look like the lies in your speeches are not having the effect you intended and now you want your candidates to amplify your lies. Repeating a lie a thousand times will not make it the truth.

Highlighting the Congresss NYAY guarantees mentioned in its manifesto, Kharge said, Voters are intelligent enough to read and understand by themselves what the Congress has written in its manifesto and what Guarantees we have promised. In your letter, you claim that reservation will be taken away from SC, ST and OBC and given to our vote bank. Our vote bank is every Indian - the poor, the marginalised, the women, the aspirational youth, the labour class, the Dalits and the Adivasis.

Denying claims of Congress trying to appease Muslims for votes, Kharge said, The only appeasement policy that we have seen in the last 10 years is the appeasement of Chinese by you and your ministers. Even today, you refuse to call China as Ghuspaithiye, instead on June 19, 2020, you said Na Koi Ghusa Hai, Na Hi Koi Ghus Aaya hai, insulting the supreme sacrifice of 20 Indian soldiers in Galwan. Your public Clean Chit to China, has weakened Indias case and made it more belligerent. Kharge charged the imports of Chinese goods to India have increased by 54.76 per cent in the past five years alone and have crossed $101 billion in 2023-24.

I would like to take this opportunity to request you to direct your party to return the Rs 10 crores that were swindled from the poor Dalit farmers in Gujarat and given as electoral bonds to BJP. Your party amassed Rs 8,250 crores through the illegal and unconstitutional Electoral Bonds from various companies using Chanda Do-Dhanda Lo, Theka Lo-Ghoos Do, Hafta Vasooli and Farzi company routes and schemes. Out of the 8,250 crores, you can return at least Rs 10 crores to this Dalit family, Kharge wrote.

You are not interested in talking about the ever widening inequality. You are not interested in talking about unemployment and unprecedented price rise, that is affecting our people. You are not interested in talking about the increasing atrocities on women by your leaders, Kharge charged. Kharge challenged Modi to debate Congress on their manifesto and his claims.

As I mentioned in my earlier letter, when the elections are over, people will only remember you as the Prime Minister who indulged in divisive and communal speeches filled with lies to avoid an inevitable defeat, Kharge noted.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov has met with Secretary General of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (IPA) Siti Rozaimeriyanty, who is on a visit to Azerbaijan to participate in the VI World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue, Trend reports.

The meeting discussed prospects of cooperation between Azerbaijan and ASEAN IPA, issues arising from the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), as well as the situation in the region in the post-conflict period.

Pointing out that Azerbaijan's existing ties with many ASEAN countries contribute to cooperation within the framework of the ASEAN IPA, as well as the admission of our country as an observer member in the ASEAN IPA, Minister Jeyhun Bayramov emphasized the importance of continuing mutual support and solidarity within multilateral platforms. It was noted that Azerbaijan attaches great importance to the formats of inter-parliamentary cooperation and dialogue and is interested in continuing contacts in this direction with the ASEAN IPA.

The Minister informed in detail about Azerbaijan's preparations for COP29.

Moreover, he spoke in detail about the current situation and realities in the region after the 44-day war, the reconstruction and construction works carried out in the territories of Azerbaijan liberated from occupation, the fight against the mine threat, as well as the process of normalizing relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia. It was noted that after the past conflict, our country is the party that took the initiative for peace and made the greatest efforts to promote the process.

Secretary General Siti Rozaimeriyanty, who is visiting our country for the first time and participating in the VI World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue, spoke about the importance of such initiatives, including highlighting the further expansion of inter-parliamentary ties.

The meeting also witnessed the exchange of views on other issues of mutual interest.

This November, Azerbaijan will host COP29. The COP28 plenary meeting in Dubai on December 11 last year made this decision. Baku will become the world's center, receiving about 7080,000 foreign guests.

At the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, the United Nations signed the Framework Convention on Climate Change as an agreement to prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system. The COPthe Conference of the Partiesis the highest legislative body overseeing the implementation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change. There are 198 countries that sign 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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From New York to Los Angeles, university campuses in the United States look like riot zones these days. Student protests against the Gaza war are spreading across American campuses, with more and more universities requesting police to step in. They have not yet reached the levels seen back in the 1980s when campuses rallied against the apartheid regime in South Africa or in the 1960s when the Vietnam War led to nationwide protests. Yet, protests against the Gaza war have become the biggest students' movement in the 21st century, paralysing the functioning of top-notch universities such as Columbia, UCLA, Princeton, Yale, Ohio State, Emory, the University of Texas and the University of Minnesota, to name a few.

The recent wave of protests were triggered by the arrest of more than hundred protesters at Columbia on April 18. Two weeks later, police officers in riot gear moved into the the university, cleared a building occupied by students and arrested more students. Similar police action and arrests have been reported from across the country.

While pro-Palestine protests have been reported from universities across the world, in the US, their scale and scope have been huge. The high profile protests in Columbia and the subsequent police action may have got something to do with it. Columbia being an Ivy League university located right in the heart of New York City gives it a wider national as well as global reach, making it a trigger for protests in other parts of the US.

Another reason behind the intense wave of protests is the heavily polarised political situation in the US, which is in the middle of a presidential election cycle. The Republican versus Democrat divide is clearly visible. Among the Republicans, who are facing a fierce internal battle between extreme MAGA elements and mainstream Conservatives, the campus protests have come as a uniting factor. Among Republicans across the spectrum, there is staunch support for Israel and they are vociferously opposed to student protests. Republican leaders have been targeting university presidents for not doing enough to quell the protests and they accuse mainstream universities of being sanctuaries for the radical left. They also blame university administrations for not reining in anti-Semitic tendencies and protect Jewish students. Harvard president Claudine Gay and University of Pennsylvania president Elizabeth Magill were forced to resign after fierce criticism of their institutions' response to the Israel-Hamas conflict a few months ago. Columbia president Minouche Shafik is under immense pressure to resign. She was summoned by the Republican-led Congressional committee on education on April 17 for a hearing on her university's response to anti-Semitism. Shafik called in the police that night itself to remove protesters from the campus.

Among Democrats, things are more complicated. While a large majority of the Democratic leadership are avowedly pro-Israel, there is a significant and influential minority which is opposed to the Gaza war and is supporting the student protests. They are protesting this war, said Pramila Jayapal, who chairs the progressive caucus in the House. We have a long history of doing that in this country with students on campuses and I think it would be great if President Biden lifted up that history.

Along with Jayapal, many other progressive leaders, such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib have expressed solidarity with the students, saying the protests were part of free speech protected by the American constitution. They have also called for sanctions against Israel and divestment from companies doing business with it. The worst thing that you can do is send in police to violently escalate what is going on, said Ocasio-Cortez, who visited Columbia protesters last week. But that view is not shared by centrist Democrats. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, for instance, said smashing windows with hammers and taking over university buildings could not be called free speech. It is lawlessness and those who did it promptly face the consequences that are not merely a slap on the wrist, he said.

This division within his own party has turned into a major challenge for President Joe Biden in his re-election campaign. Essentially, the student protests are directed against his policies on the Gaza war, but he has been largely silent on the issue. Biden's last public comment came on April 22 at an Earth Day event. He spoke against anti-Semitism and also criticised those who don't understand what's going on with the Palestinians. It was clear that he was trying to adopt a safe, neutral stand. But the balancing act may not work for long. Unless his administration can manage a temporary pause in fighting by working out a new hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, the campus situation could deteriorate and hurt Biden's chances.

If the protests are not addressed soon, it could affect youth votes for Biden and hurt his reelection prospects. While Biden led Trump by around 25 points in the 2020 elections among voters under 30, opinion polls have shown that the lead has come down to less than 10 points this time. Young voters overwhelmingly oppose Biden's handling of the war. And nearly 60 per cent of them believe that the country is on the wrong track. But most of them are unlikely to vote for Donald Trump, Biden's presumptive Republican rival. Most of them may, however, choose to boycott the polls, which could give Trump the edge in key battleground states. On May 1, the College Democrats of America, a pro-Biden, centrist outreach group of the Democratic Party, endorsed campus protests. The group said it was important to stand up for the rights and dignity of the Palestinian people. Each day the Democrats fail to stand united for a permanent ceasefire, two-state solution and recognition of a Palestinian state, more and more youth find themselves disillusioned with the party, said a statement.

The issue could affect not just the youth vote, but also Arab American and Muslim American votes, which have always been reliably pro-Democratic. If a section of those voters opt to boycott the polls, it could create a big problem for Democrats in key battlegrounds such as Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Finally, the protests and Biden's style of handling it could alienate the progressive, liberal, educated section of voters, which is a solid Democratic bloc, especially in the cities and suburbs. It could also affect his standing among independent voters.

Republicans are using the issue to argue that Biden has abandoned the longstanding bipartisan consensus about offering Israel unconditional support on all issues. They also allege that the president has not been able to maintain order and curtail the chaos caused by the protesters. Trump has called the campus protesters raging lunatics and alleged that they were hired by left-wing groups to turn the attention away from the crisis on the southern border.

Democratic strategists, meanwhile, believe that a large majority of the young voters are solidly behind Biden. College students, in their assessment, form only a small section of the youth population. For the rest of the young voters, economy and abortion rights are even more important issues. As a Politico report observes, The protesters are a subset of a subset of the electorate, one that's drawn a disproportionate amount of media coverage compared to its actual political clout. Gaza, Democratic strategists believe, is not a critical issue for the rest of the voters.

History offers some lessons about campus protests getting out of hand in an election season. There is clearly the precedent of student protests affecting the presidential election in 1968 when Democratic incumbent Lyndon B. Johnson was forced to drop out of the primaries and quit his re-election campaign following widespread campus protests against the Vietnam war. Johnson was devastated to hear slogans such as, Hey, hey LBJ, How many kids did you kill today? He just could not take it anymore and chose to give up, although many other reasons, too, contributed to his decision to quit. Johnson's vice president Hubert Humphrey managed to win the Democratic nomination in his absence, but he lost in a landslide to Republican candidate Richard Nixon. It offers valuable clues to Democratic strategists to tweak their efforts in getting the president reelected in November.
Following the October 7th Hamas massacre, Americans have watched our countrys college campuses devolve into cesspools of naked, unabashed antisemitism. Antisemitic and anti-Israel vitriol from students and professors; praise for Hamas and its butchery; threats, assaults, and violence against Jewish students have all become a daily occurrence that is met only with a tepid response from officials of even the most elite universities.

Agudath Israel of America applauds the U.S. House of Representatives for passing the Antisemitism Awareness Act (H.R. 6090) which will provide another critical weapon in the fight against the scourge of antisemitism on campus. This bipartisan legislation introduced by Representative Mike Lawler (R-NY) and Representative Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) directs the U.S. Department of Education to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism when investigating possible antisemitic actions on campus.

This legislation helps ensure that the U.S. Department of Education, now and in the future, will have a clear, statutorily-based definition when investigating whether and when anti-Israel or antisemitic incidents cross over from free speech to unlawful activity and behavior, said Rabbi Abba Cohen, Agudath Israels Vice President for Government Affairs and Washington Director and Counsel. Agudath Israel urges the Senate to pass this important piece of legislation as soon as possible.
Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said Wednesday she would call a vote next week on ousting House Speaker Mike Johnson, forcing her colleagues to choose sides in a difficult showdown after Democratic leaders announced they would provide the votes to save the Republican speakers job.

Speaking outside the Capitol, Greene ranted against Republican Party leaders at the highest levels and pushed back against their public entreaties, including from Donald Trump, to avoid another messy political fight so close to the November election. With her was Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., one of the few lawmakers to join her effort.

We need leaders in the House of Representatives that are going to get this done, said Greene, R-Ga., holding up a red MAGA hat from Trumps Make America Great Again campaign movement.

Mike Johnson is not capable of that job, she said.

In pressing ahead next week, she said that every member of Congress needs to take that vote and let the chips fall where they may.

The standoff with Greene, one of Trumps most enthusiastic supporters, risks throwing Republican control of the House into a fresh round of chaos as rank-and-file lawmakers will have to choose between ousting Johnson, R-La., as speaker or joining with Democrats to keep him on the job.

Johnson, in his own statement, said Greenes move was wrong for the Republican Conference, wrong for the institution, and wrong for the country.

Democrats see in Johnson a potential partner, a staunch conservative who nevertheless is willing to lead his Republican Party away from the far-right voices obstructing the routine business of governing, including funding the government and, more recently, supporting Ukraine and other U.S. allies overseas.

The Democratic leader, New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, and his team issued a joint statement this week saying it was time to turn the page on the GOP chaos, announcing that the Democrats would vote to table Greenes motion to vacate the speakers office, essentially ensuring Johnson is not evicted from office  at least on this attempt.

From the very beginning of the Congress, House Republican have visited chaos, dysfunction and extremism on the American people, Jeffries said Wednesday.

Marjorie Taylor Green is the star of the show. The show is called Republicans Gone Wild, he added. It is undermining the well-being of the American people and preventing us from delivering real and meaningful results on the issues that matter.

Johnsons public opponents are few, at this point, and less than the eight that it took to oust now-former Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., last fall in the first ever removal of sitting speaker from the powerful office that is second in the line of succession to the president. Just one other Republican, Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona, has joined Greene and Massie in their effort.

Greene and Massie said they were giving their colleagues the weekend to weigh their options before calling for the vote on her motion to vacate next week. Or, they said, Johnson could simply resign, pointing to the example of a previous speaker, Republican John Boehner of Ohio, who stepped aside in 2015 when hard-liners threatened to oust him.

They listed a list of complaints against Johnson, including his leadership in securing the aid for Ukraine.

Are you going to embrace Hakeem Jeffries like Mike Johnson has? said Massie, before a poster-photo of Jeffries handing Johnson the gavel when the Republican first became speaker last fall.

Theyve got a weekend to think about it, but more importantly, Mike Johnson has a weekend to think about it.

The turmoil has gripped a House already essentially at a standstill. Johnson has been unable to command his razor-thin majority to work together on party priorities and has been forced into the arms of Democrats for the votes needed to approve most big bills  and now, to keep his job.

Johnson had been elected by Republicans as a last-ditch consensus candidate after McCarthys ouster, but he courted the far-rights ire when he led passage of the $95 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine and U.S. allies that they oppose.

Trump has given a nod of support to Johnson, who dashed to the former presidents Mar-a-Lago club in Florida last month to shore up backing.

Other Republican leaders, including Trumps hand-picked head of the Republican National Committee, Michael Whatley, have urged House Republicans to hold off the removal effort before the fall election that will determine which party controls the White House and Congress.

In a private meeting Tuesday, Whatley urged House Republicans to unite around their shared priorities. He delivered the same message later in the day to Greene, telling her that trying to remove Johnson was not helpful, according to a person familiar with the conversations who was not authorized to discuss them publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he was pleased the threat of ousting the speaker did not appear to be gaining traction.

I am relieved, as I think all of America is, that the chaos in the House will be discontinued, said McConnell, R-Ky.

Asked if Johnson should resign, McConnell said: No of course not. I support Speaker Johnson and I think hes done an good job under extremely difficult circumstances.

Many House Republicans describe Greenes effort as distracting from other priorities.

We just need to rip off the Band-Aid, get it over and get it done and move on, said Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn.

While the Democratic leaders have said they would provide the votes to table Greenes motion when it comes forward, essentially shelving it for now, it is not clear that all Democratic lawmakers would join that effort.

At their own private meeting this week, some Democrats objected to helping Johnson, particularly after he helped lead Trumps legal challenges to the 2020 presidential election won by Democrat Joe Biden. Party leaders have said their support for sidelining Greenes resolution is not the same as a vote for Johnson.

Jeffries said each lawmaker will chose his or her own position in what is often referred to as a vote of conscience and that any future efforts by Republicans to try to remove the speaker will be taken under consideration, one step at a time.

(AP)
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken hiked up pressure on Hamas on Wednesday to accept the latest proposal for a cease-fire with Israel, saying the time is now for an agreement that would free hostages and pause the nearly seven months of war in Gaza.

But a key sticking point appeared to remain  whether the deal would completely end Israels offensive as Hamas has demanded.

Blinken met with Israeli leaders throughout the day on the last stop of his seventh visit to the region since the war erupted in October, trying to push through what has been an elusive deal between Israel and Hamas. The U.S. and fellow mediators Egypt and Qatar hope to avert an Israeli offensive into the southern Gaza town of Rafah, where some 1.4 million Palestinians are sheltering.

Throughout months of talks, Hamas has said the freeing of all the hostages it holds must bring a permanent halt to the war and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.

The proposed deal now at the center of talks raises that possibility, according to leaked details that were confirmed by an Egyptian official and a Hamas official. But Hamas is seeking to strengthen the language to ensure a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the entire Gaza Strip, the Egyptian official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the internal negotiations. The group said it is likely to give its response to the proposal on Thursday.

In public, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has staunchly rejected stopping the war before Hamas is destroyed. In a sign of the challenges in the negotiations, Netanyahu in his talks with Blinken on Wednesday repeated his vow to launch the offensive on Rafah, which he says is Hamas last stronghold in Gaza.

Blinken said Israel has made very important compromises in cease-fire efforts and it is now up to Hamas to get the deal done.

Theres no time for further haggling. The deal is there, Blinken said, shortly before he was to leave Israel.

Earlier in the day, he said in talks with Israels President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv that Hamas would bear the blame for any failure to get a deal. No delays, no excuses. The time is now, he said.

Blinken said the deal would also allow much needed food, medicine and water to get into Gaza.

Blinken said there has been meaningful progress in efforts to increase the flow of aid. On Wednesday, Israel reopened its Erez crossing for deliveries into northern Gaza for the first time since it was damaged in Hamas Oct. 7 attack.

Hanging over the cease-fire negotiations is the possibility of an Israeli attack on Rafah, where more than half of Gazas population has fled, cramming into vast tent camps and other shelters. On Tuesday, Netanyahu vowed to go ahead with the assault with or without a cease-fire deal.

The operation in Rafah doesnt depend on anything. The prime minister made this clear to Secretary Blinken, Netanyahus office said after the two met Wednesday. Hard-line members of Netanyahus coalition, on whom he depends to keep his government in power, have railed against any deal that prevents a Rafah attack as a victory for Hamas.

The United States has staunchly supported Israels campaign of bombardment and ground offensives in Gaza since Hamas unprecedented attack on Oct. 7 into southern Israel. But the U.S. has grown increasingly critical of the staggering toll borne by Palestinian civilians and has been outspoken against a move on Rafah. American officials say they oppose a major offensive but that if Israel conducts one, it must first evacuate civilians.

Throughout his regional visit, with previous stops in Saudi Arabia and Jordan, Blinken urged Hamas to accept the cease-fire proposal, calling it extraordinarily generous on Israels part.

The proposal lays out three stages of six to seven weeks each, according to details first reported in the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, which is close to Hamas and the Lebanese Hezbollah militant group.

The first phase would bring a pause during which Hamas would release women and elderly civilians in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. In a series of timed steps, Israeli troops would withdraw from a coastal road in Gaza, then from central Gaza and displaced people would return north.

In the meantime, talks would start on restoring a permanent calm, the Egyptian official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the internal negotiations.

The next stage would bring implementation of the calm, including Hamas release of all remaining hostages  soldiers and civilians  and a withdrawal of Israeli forces out of Gaza. The Egyptian official said Hamas sees the language about the withdrawal as too vague and wants to specify a complete withdrawal to avoid different interpretations.

The last stage would see the release of bodies of dead hostages and the start of a five-year reconstruction plan. The plan says that Hamas would agree not to rebuild its military arsenal.

(AP)
The House passed legislation Wednesday that would establish a broader definition of antisemitism for the Department of Education to enforce anti-discrimination laws, the latest response from lawmakers to a nationwide student protest movement over the Israel-Hamas war.

The proposal, which passed 320-91 with some bipartisan support, would codify the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances definition of antisemitism in Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a federal anti-discrimination law that bars discrimination based on shared ancestry, ethnic characteristics or national origin. It now goes to the Senate where its fate is uncertain.

Action on the bill was just the latest reverberation in Congress from the protest movement that has swept university campuses. Republicans and Democrats in Congress have denounced the protests and demanded action to stop them.

If passed by the Senate and signed into law, the bill would broaden the legal definition of antisemitism to include the targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity.

What is happening at Columbia, at Yale, at UCLA, and so many other schools, is reprehensible and alarming, said Congressman Mike Lawler (NY-17). When people engage in harassment or bullying of Jewish individuals where they justify the killing of Jews or use blood libel or hold Jews collectively responsible for the actions of the Israeli government  that is antisemitic. Its unfortunate that needs to be clarified, but thats why this bill is necessary.

By requiring the Department of Education to adopt the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism and its contemporary examples, the Antisemitism Awareness Act gives teeth to federal anti-discrimination laws to go after those who attack their Jewish peers, Lawler continued. Politics should never get in the way of the safety of students. The strong bipartisan support for and passage of this legislation will ensure that it wont.

Critics of the bill, like self-hating Rep. Jerry Nadler, say the move would have a chilling effect on free speech throughout college campuses.

Speech that is critical of Israel alone does not constitute unlawful discrimination, Nadler said during a hearing Tuesday. By encompassing purely political speech about Israel into Title VIs ambit, the bill sweeps too broadly.

Advocates of the proposal say it would provide a much-needed, consistent framework for the Department of Education to police and investigate the rising cases of discrimination and harassment targeted toward Jewish students.

The expanded definition of antisemitism was first adopted in 2016 by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, an intergovernmental group that includes the United States and European Union states, and has been embraced by the State Department under the past three presidential administrations, including Joe Bidens.

Previous bipartisan efforts to codify it into law have failed. But the Oct. 7 terrorist attack by Hamas in Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza have reignited efforts to target incidents of antisemitism on college campuses.

Separately, Speaker Mike Johnson announced Tuesday that several House committees will be tasked with a wide probe that ultimately threatens to withhold federal research grants and other government support for universities, placing another pressure point on campus administrators who are failing to manage or deter pro-Palestinian encampments, discrimination against Jewish students and questions of how they are integrating free speech and campus safety.

The House investigation follows several high-profile hearings that helped precipitate the resignations of presidents at Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania. And House Republicans promised more scrutiny, saying they were calling on the administrators of Yale, UCLA and the University of Michigan to testify next month.

The House Oversight Committee took it one step further Wednesday, sending a small delegation of Republican members to an encampment at nearby George Washington University in the District of Columbia. GOP lawmakers spent the short visit criticizing the protests and Mayor Muriel Bowsers refusal to send in the Metropolitan Police Department to disperse the demonstrators.

(AP/YWN)
Israeli professors in US universities spoke to Ynet about the shocking scenarios they have faced in recent months.

UCLA Prof. Nir Hoftman, an anesthesia specialist, said: I am a scientist, but since the demonstrations started on campus, I have hardly touched research. I am only engaged in a war of survival for our existence as Jews in this country.

Hoftman said that three protesters blocked his path on campus and wouldnt let him pass. Someone blindsided me, my earphone flew out of my ear and he ran away with it. The security guards stood by and did nothing. This is anarchy, the Wild West here. This is how we are treated, like stinking Jews that no one cares about. They just throw us in the trash.

Hoftman added that he and his Jewish and Israeli colleagues are compiling evidence of antisemitic incidents on campus to provide testimony to Congress and then file a lawsuit against the university for failing to protect them.

We are struggling here at the university but it takes time. People dont understand whats going on here. The police do nothing because they are instructed not to do anything. This is really Germany in the 1930s. Jews are simply not allowed to enter buildings. Its unbelievable and its only getting worse.

Hoftman said that he has become a target since he began protesting against antisemitism on campus and at the medical school. Its a terrible feeling because Im not someone who easily gets scared and Ive been fighting with the school from the beginning but even someone like me is starting to worry. There are a lot of crazy people around, you never know what these individuals are capable of doing.

Im concerned for my home. I worry that someone might come and harm my family especially since I started being vocal and appearing in the media. Ive become a kind of Shai Davidai of UCLA [the Israeli professor who was barred from entering Columbia University]  a symbol, and sometimes it works against me.

Prof. Judea Pearl, a Chancellors Professor of Computer Science and Statistics at UCLA, [and the father of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, Hyd] said that the protests are allowed to continue due to the large amount of money the university receives from Qatar.

The university thought they would let the pro-Hamas protesters vent their anger and then it would quiet down. But on Sunday, Israel supporters held counterdemonstrations and since then there have been beatings and physical and verbal clashes. The most plausible theory is that they dont want to upset Qatar which covers tuition and provides scholarships to the campuses.

Prof. Gil Zussman, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Columbia University, said that he has been having trouble sleeping. I spoke with Jewish students on campus and couldnt fall asleep, he said.

Zussman added that the protesters dont represent the university. We have 30,000 students and these protesters are a noisy minority that bothers everyone else. Most students are in labs or classrooms trying to study. This group does not represent the majority but it certainly disrupts my activities, research, and teaching.

I havent reached the point of giving up and leaving yet but I think the university could have managed the situation better. The administration brought in the police but they did it improperly and incompletely. They did half the work and it led to another escalation. They removed one student, but there are still many students calling to harm Jews.

Zussman said that there have been student protests in the past but these protests are different. Its aimed specifically at Jews. They say specifically that they dont want people who served in the IDF, they dont want Zionists here on campus. This is discrimination based on religion, and it has been happening consistently for several months at the university.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. The UN Secretary-General intends to participate in the COP29 event in Azerbaijan, Special Advisor to the UN Secretary-General on Climate Action and Just Transition Selwin Charles Hart said during the meeting with President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Trend reports.

The President of Azerbaijan stated that he would be glad to see the UN Secretary-General at COP29.

The head of state emphasized that all necessary works in connection with preparations for COP29 continue on schedule. Azerbaijan is holding negotiations and consultations with the international community and institutions on substantive issues of COP29.

This November, Azerbaijan will host COP29. The COP28 plenary meeting in Dubai on December 11 last year made this decision. Baku will become the world's center, receiving about 7080,000 foreign guests.

At the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, the United Nations signed the Framework Convention on Climate Change as an agreement to prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system. The COPthe Conference of the Partiesis the highest legislative body overseeing the implementation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change. There are 198 countries that sign 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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Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Irans supreme leader, is furious over attempts to normalize ties between Israel and Arab countries as a solution to the Middle East crisis, arguing that Palestinians should have the right to decide their own fate.

Some people think that by forcing neighboring countries to normalize their ties (with Israel) the problem will be solved, Khamenei said. They are wrong.

Khameneis remarks come amid reports that the US is preparing a security package to offer Saudi Arabia in exchange for normalizing relations with Israel. Saudi Arabia had previously been in talks with Israel but paused them when the war with Hamas broke out.

Iran, which does not recognize Israel, has long made support for the Palestinian cause a central tenet of its foreign policy since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Palestine should be returned to them (Palestinians), Khamenei insisted. They should form their own regime, their own system, then that system should decide how to deal with the Zionists.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has lauded the New York Police Departments raid on a Columbia University building occupied by anti-Israel students on Tuesday night, calling the protesters raging lunatics and Hamas sympathizers.

Speaking at a campaign rally in Wisconsin, Trump said, New York was under siege last night, and commended the police officers for arresting around 300 protesters. It was a beautiful thing to watch, he added.

Trump also criticized the Biden administrations plan to accept some Gaza refugees, saying, Your towns and villages will now be accepting people from Gaza and various other places. The crowd responded with boos.

According to CBS News, internal government documents reveal that US officials have been discussing options to resettle Palestinians displaced by the Gaza conflict, pending screening tests. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed that the Biden administration is exploring a plan to relocate Palestinian refugees with family ties to Americans.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
The head of the IDFs Personnel Directorate, Gen. Yaniv Asor, traveled to Bnei Brak before Pesach for a secret meeting with HaGaon HaRav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, the Rosh Yeshivah of Slabodka and one of the leaders of the Chareidi Litvak sector.

The meeting was held on the background of the Supreme Court and the Attorney-Generals demands on the government to recruit bnei yeshivos.

Sources close to HaRav Hirsch said that the Rosh Yeshivah stressed that he will not agree to any plan that does not allow all bochurim to learn Torah without interference from the IDF.

Senior IDF officials confirmed the meeting. The IDF responded to an inquiry from BChadrei Chareidim by stating: The Personnel Directorate deals with a wide range of issues related to strengthening the competence of the IDFincluding working to promote the integration of Chareidim in a variety of service paths while providing the opportunity to maintain their lifestyle and beliefs. The General met with many leaders in the Chareidi public in order to learn about the various aspects related to the issue and promote it successfully.

On Wednesday, the government stated that it is working on a plan to recruit Chareidim in the immediate future in a response to the Supreme Courts demand to clarify how it intends to comply with the law regarding the Chareidi draft.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
A GoFundMe page for University of North Carolina students who rushed to protect a US flag that pro-Hamas rioters attempted to down has collected $400,303 as of Thursday morning.

After pro-Hamas rioters removed the US flag from the campus flagpole and replaced it with a Palestinian flag, UNC Chancellor Lee Roberts, under the protection of the police, removed it and restored the US flag.

But the pro-Hamas rioters wouldnt give up and they attempted to down the US flag again. Members of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity rushed to the flagpole and prevented the flag from touching the ground while being cursed out and pelted with rocks, sticks, and water bottles by the pro-Hamas hooligans. The few dozen students held onto the flag for a full hour until the police arrived, clutching the flag amid the much larger anti-Israel mob.

Following the incident, a patriotic American started a GoFundMe page [that can seen here) to show appreciation to the patriotic students.

Brendan Rosenblum, a Jewish UNC student, stood next to the US flag holding an Israeli flag as pro-Hamas students threw water bottles at him.

Below, UNC Chancellor Lee Roberts speaks about the incident as the uncivilized pro-Hamas mob tries to drown him out:

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
Saudi Arabia has launched a series of arrests targeting citizens who have expressed anti-Israel sentiments on social media during the ongoing Gaza conflict, Bloomberg reports. This crackdown is seen as a precursor to potential diplomatic normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel, contingent on Israels commitment to support the creation of a Palestinian state.

The arrests highlight a broader strategy by Saudi authorities to mitigate any domestic unrest that could arise from its normalization talks with Israel. According to a Saudi security official, the kingdom is taking proactive measures to curb any incitement that could potentially fuel internal dissent during these critical discussions.

U.S. officials have linked these arrests to concurrent talks between Riyadh and Washington. These discussions encompass a potential defense alliance and the possibility of the U.S. supporting Saudi Arabias development of a civilian nuclear program, which also hinges on the kingdoms normalization of relations with Israel.

Historically, Saudi Arabia has monitored and sometimes curtailed expressions of dissent on the internet. However, the focus on anti-Israel statements at this juncture underscores the kingdoms diplomatic priorities and its cautious approach to managing both domestic and international political dynamics.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBCs Morning Joe, rebuked viewers supporting the pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses, calling them too stupid to realize it could help former President Donald Trump get re-elected. Scarborough made these remarks as police clashed with protesters at UCLA, using tear gas and flash bangs to disperse the crowd.

Scarborough drew parallels between the current protests and the Vietnam War era, recalling how his parents, who were Democrats, switched to Republicans due to their disillusionment with the anti-war movement. If youre offended by this, please, Im trying to help you, Scarborough said. I dont want Donald Trump to get elected. All right? Im trying to help you. If youre too stupid to figure that out, you can change to another channel.

He emphasized that the protests are not helping the people of Gaza or those fighting fascism in America. Scarborough warned that the protests could have a similar impact as the 1968 Vietnam War protests, which he believes contributed to Ronald Reagans victory in 1980.

Scarborough concluded that there are ways to protest without harming President Joe Bidens re-election bid or aiding the worst elements in American politics.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
Takeover talks: BHP chief exec Mike Henry

The boss of BHP flew to South Africa for crisis talks as the mining giant seeks support to take over rival Anglo American.

Chief executive Mike Henry fears a deal could be derailed after Anglo dismissed Sydney-based BHPs 31billion approach.

But BHP is thought to be working on a fresh offer of up to 40billion. The proposal faced a backlash in South Africa last week but BHP insisted that its plans to dump two of Anglos South African businesses did not reflect a view on the country as an investment destination.

The South African government is BHPs second-biggest shareholder and the shock bid came at a politically charged time as the country holds a general election this month.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. Major media outlets have extensively covered Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev`s speech at the opening ceremony of the 6th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue, themed Dialogue for Peace and Global Security, held in Baku on May 1, Trend reports.

The media outlets particularly focused on the Presidents remarks about Azerbaijan's contributions to intercultural dialogue, the forums importance, Azerbaijans role in regional development, steps taken to solidify peace and stability, and efforts to normalize Armenian-Azerbaijani relations.

Articles published by Turkish Anadolu Agency, "Haber Global" TV, "Aksam" newspaper, "Haberler.com" portal, and others highlighted the landmark event that welcomed over 700 distinguished guests from more than 100 countries.

The articles also featured President Ilham Aliyev's comments on relations with Armenia, wherein he stated, "The process of delimitation and demarcation was carried out between Azerbaijan and Armenia without any mediation.

Russian TASS and Interfax agencies, Vedomosti, Gazeta.ru, Profil magazine, and Rossiya segodnya, along with Georgian information portals such as "resonancedaily.com", "imedinews.ge", "newshub.ge", "primetime.ge", "for.ge", "alt-info.ge", and "1tv.ge", drew readers` attention to President Ilham Aliyev`s remarks regarding the importance of preventing the policy of neo-colonialism implemented by some big European countries.

Qatar News Agency and Belarusian press including BELTA and Sb.by focused on the 6th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue, highlighting the discussed topics covering education, youth, climate change, artificial intelligence, protection of cultural heritage, illegal migration, and other key issues.

Ukrainian publications such as "Telegraph" and "Correspondent", Iran's IRNA agency and "Entexab" newspaper, as well as the "Central Asia" media platform of Turkmenistan, mainly emphasized the Presidents remarks on steps taken towards the normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov has met with the Special Adviser to the UN Secretary General on Climate Action and Just Transition Selwyn Charles Hart, who is visiting our country to participate in the VI World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaij told Trend.

It was noted that the meeting discussed issues of preparation for the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), the negotiation process, as well as issues of cooperation.

Minister Jeyhun Bayramov noted that, despite the fact that Azerbaijan is a country rich in hydrocarbon resources, it has set a course for the transition to alternative energy at the national level and the country is currently determined to demonstrate its contribution to these efforts at the international level within the framework of COP29. A number of important meetings and events have already been held in this direction. The importance of ensuring continuity of such contacts with various parties, including the UN, was also emphasized.

During the meeting, the importance of conducting educational work on climate change issues was emphasized.

Special Adviser Selwyn Charles Hart highlighted the country's preparations for COP29 and the establishment of the COP Troika format to ensure coordination with other countries hosting the event. It was noted that the start date of COP29 coincides with the period when NDCs (National Determined Contributions) will be determined for countries and in this regard, COP29 could be a good opportunity.

During the meeting, there were also exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest and related to cooperation in the fight against climate change.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. Director General for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations of the European Commission Gert Jan Koopman has arrived in Azerbaijan, Trend reports.

"Arrived in Azerbaijan to discuss EU-Azerbaijan cooperation on COP29, demining and more. Started with a productive meeting with Presidents Adviser Hikmet Hajiyev and Deputy Foreign Minister Fariz Rzayev.

Important opportunity to build a positive agenda on green energy, regional connectivity and peace in South Caucasus," Koopman wrote on his page on X.
FUZULI, Azerbaijan, May 2. Intensive efforts are undertaken to restore infrastructure in Azerbaijan's Karabakh region, member of Norway's national club of international travelers (Vagaclub) Michael Jorstad told Trend.

I arrived in Azerbaijan for five days to visit its Karabakh region.

Sharing his impressions of what he saw in Karabakh, Jorstad noted with surprise that beautiful modern buildings were being built on one side of the road, and ruins were located on the opposite side.

According to him, this is something special, a bright contrast is visible.

It's clear that during the Armenian occupation the region suffered enormous damage, he added.

To note, the trip of a delegation of foreign travelers to the territories of Azerbaijan liberated from occupation has started.

As part of the trip, travelers will visit cities such as Fuzuli, Shusha and Aghdam.

A delegation of 30 members of the national club of international travelers of Norway - Vagaclub, is headed by Jorn Augestad.

The delegation will visit Karabakh and East Zangazur for three days, moving along the Fuzuli-Shusha-Aghdam-Lachin-Jabrayil route.

Representatives of the largest international travel networks in the world - ETIC, MTP, TCC, NomadMania, as well as the Travelers Club of Turkiye and the club Piki Reels (UK), and the Swedish Club100 - have visited Karabakh and East Zangazur nine times in the last four years.

This is the 10th visit of Vagaclub in a row.

In total, during these 10 trips, more than 360 international travelers from 46 countries had the opportunity to eyewitness the situation in the liberated territories. Through them, millions of people around the world received detailed information about the real situation in Karabakh.

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 Flash

Over 1,000 pro-Palestinian protesters have been arrested in recent days according to U.S. media reports, as the anti-war demonstrations at over 20 American universities continued on Tuesday.

Clashes between pro-Palestinian protesters and pro-Israel counter-protesters take place at the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), in Los Angeles, California, the United States, on May 1, 2024. (Xinhua)

Some schools including Columbia University, where the protests initially erupted, have seen a further intensification of the protests, while on some other campuses, the situation appears to be cooling down.

Early Tuesday, dozens of protesters at Columbia University's Manhattan campus moved furniture and metal barricades to block the entrance of Hamilton Hall, one of several buildings occupied by students during the 1968 civil rights and anti-Vietnam War protests.

Protesters formed a human chain in front of the building and said that they would only leave unless the school meets their demands, which include the university's divestment from Israeli-related companies, disclosure of all financial assets, and amnesty for students and faculty disciplined in the protests.

In a statement Tuesday, a Columbia spokesperson said that "students occupying the building face expulsion."

The university spokesperson stated that the protesters were offered an opportunity to depart peacefully and complete the semester. However, those who does not comply with the conditions outlined since Monday should face suspension.

"Protesters have chosen to escalate to an untenable situation -- vandalizing property, breaking doors and windows, and blockading entrances -- and we are following through with the consequences we outlined yesterday," the spokesperson said.

On Tuesday night, New York police entered Columbia University campus and started to make arrests after pro-Palestinian protesters refused to leave.

In light of the escalation, the White House expressed disapproval of the actions taken by the protesters at Columbia University.

"The president believes that forcibly taking over a building on campus is absolutely the wrong approach, that is not an example of peaceful protests," White House national security communications adviser John Kirby told reporters. "Taking over a building by force is unacceptable."

"A small percentage of students shouldn't be able to disrupt the academic experience, the legitimate study, for the rest of the student body," Kirby said.

At a demonstration at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill earlier Tuesday, police entered the protest camp and arrested about 30 people.

Later in the day, protesters returned to the site and replaced the American flag in the center of the campus with a Palestinian flag. They linked arms and formed a circle around the flagpole, and could be heard chanting "Intifada" and "Free Palestine," according to the school newspaper. Law enforcement officers later switched back to the American flag.

In the northwestern state of Oregon, protesters occupied a library at Portland State University overnight. On Tuesday, the university urged protesters to leave the library and asked the police for help.

Clashes between police and protesters turned violent in some cases. Police used riot gear and pepper spray to break up a protest at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond late Monday after protesters threw objects at officers and used chemical spray, officials said. Thirteen people, including six students, have been charged with unlawful assembly and trespassing.

Since protests broke out at Columbia University on April 18, more than 1,000 protesters have been arrested on over 20 U.S. college campuses in recent days, the New York Times reported.

While tensions have increased on some campuses, they appear to be cooling on others.

On Tuesday, police managed to end an eight-day occupation of the administration building at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt. Protest camps at Yale University and the University of Pittsburgh also appeared to have been emptied.

Northwestern University announced an agreement with protesters late Monday, saying it would re-establish an Investment Responsibility Advisory Committee in the fall with participation of student, faculty and staff representatives.

The agreement calls for the removal of tents set up by protesters and in exchange, the school allows students to demonstrate peacefully on the grass until the end of the semester on June 1.

The multi-day wave of campus anti-war protests is a manifestation of young Americans' discontent with how the Biden administration is managing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

A recent CNN poll found that 71 percent of American adults surveyed were dissatisfied with the Biden administration's handling of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Among those under 35, 81 percent were dissatisfied.
FUZULI, Azerbaijan, May 2. A visit by religious figures to Azerbaijan's Karabakh has kicked off within the framework of the 6th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue, Trend reports.

The delegation first arrived at Fuzuli International Airport.

The guests will learn about the destruction in the Fuzuli district, which was once occupied by Armenia for almost 30 years, as well as the construction and restoration work carried out by the Azerbaijani state after the region's liberation from occupation.

After getting acquainted with Fuzuli, the guests will go to Shusha city.

To note, a total of 700 guests from around the globe are convening for the forum centered on the theme "Dialogue for Peace and Global Security: Cooperation and Interconnectivity."

Among the diverse participants hailing from over 100 nations, ministerial figures and representatives from the cultural ministries of 60 countries, along with 28 international organizations, will be in attendance. The agenda includes 10 panel discussions and four plenary sessions.

This significant event, organized by the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan, is a collaborative effort with esteemed international bodies such as the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), UNESCO, ICESCO, and the UN World Tourism Organization.

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SHUSHA, Azerbaijan, May 2. A total of 30 delegates from Norway's national club of international travelers (Vagaclub) have arrived in Shusha city, Trend's Karabakh bureau reports.

The delegation, predominantly comprised of youth, began their acquaintance with the city.

Initially, the guests arrived at the central square of Shusha, where the monuments of prominent Azerbaijani figures Natavan, Bulbul, and Uzeyir Hajibayli, were installed.

An employee of Shusha City State Reserve Management informed the guests about the city, its condition during the occupation period, and the ongoing restoration efforts.

During nearly 30 years of occupation, historical buildings, mosques, and monuments in Shusha were the targets of Armenian vandalism.

Following the city's liberation from occupation, extensive restoration and construction started here.

Shusha's infrastructure development coincided with the restoration of the city's authentic historical appearance, as well as its historical and cultural landmarks.

To note, the trip of a delegation of foreign travelers to the territories of Azerbaijan liberated from occupation has started.

As part of the trip, travelers will visit cities such as Fuzuli, Shusha, and Aghdam.

A delegation of 30 members of the national club of international travelers of Norway - Vagaclub, is headed by Jorn Augestad.

The delegation will visit Karabakh and East Zangazur for three days, moving along the Fuzuli-Shusha-Aghdam-Lachin-Jabrayil route.

Representatives of the largest international travel networks in the world - ETIC, MTP, TCC, NomadMania, as well as the Travelers Club of Turkiye and the club Piki Reels (UK), and the Swedish Club100 - have visited Karabakh and East Zangazur nine times in the last four years.

This is the 10th visit of Vagaclub in a row.

In total, during these 10 trips, more than 360 international travelers from 46 countries had the opportunity to eyewitness the situation in the liberated territories. Through them, millions of people around the world received detailed information about the real situation in Karabakh.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
FUZULI, Azerbaijan, May 2. A total of 30 delegates of Norway's club of international travelers (Vagaclub) have met with residents of Fuzuli city as a part of the visit to Azerbaijan's Karabakh and East Zangezur regions, Trend reports.

The guests were introduced to the Fuzuli International Airport for the first time, and they were informed about it.

It was noted that the airport, referred to as the 'air gates of Karabakh', was built to the highest modern standards and has the capability to accommodate aircraft of any type, with a runway of 3,000 meters long and 60 meters wide.

It was added that the airport terminal, equipped with modern infrastructure, can handle at least 200 passengers per hour.

Moreover, it was mentioned that the city's master plan aims to increase the administrative territory to 1,943 hectares and the population to 50,000 people by 2040.

It was also emphasized that to ensure comfortable and modern living conditions in the city, medium- and low-rise residential buildings, private houses with backyard plots, educational, healthcare, cultural zones, industrial enterprises, recreational areas, and areas for other purposes will be constructed.

In addition, the guests were informed that three residential complexes are being built that will meet all modern urban planning requirements.

Subsequently, the travelers conversed with residents who returned to Fuzuli after many years and visited the residential complex built in the city.

To note, the trip of a delegation of foreign travelers to the territories of Azerbaijan liberated from occupation has started.

As part of the trip, travelers will visit cities such as Fuzuli, Shusha, and Aghdam.

A delegation of 30 members of the national club of international travelers in Norway, Vagaclub, is headed by Jorn Augestad.

The delegation will visit Karabakh and East Zangezur for three days, moving along the Fuzuli-Shusha-Aghdam-Lachin-Jabrayil route.

Representatives of the largest international travel networks in the worldETIC, MTP, TCC, NomadMania, as well as the Travelers Club of Turkiye and the club Piki Reels (UK), and the Swedish Club 100have visited Karabakh and East Zangezur nine times in the last four years.

The visit of the world-famous Norwegian Vagaclub is considered the 10th visit of this kind.

In total, during these 10 trips, more than 360 international travelers from 46 countries had the opportunity to eyewitness the situation in the liberated territories. Through them, millions of people around the world received detailed information about the real situation in Karabakh.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
A man in 30s has become the latest person to be arrested in connection with the Dublin riot last year.

Dozens of people have been arrested in connection with incidents in the Irish capital on November 23, which have been described as unprecedented public disorder by gardai.

The rioting broke out after three children and a care worker were injured in an attack outside a primary school and creche on Parnell Square East, for which a man has been charged and appeared before the courts.

Tens of millions of euro of damage was done to public infrastructure during the disorder which saw buses, trams and Garda cars set on fire and shops in OConnell Street and Henry Street looted.

On Thursday, a man in his 30s was arrested under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984 and detained at a Garda Station in the Dublin Region.

Gardai said investigations are continuing and appealed for anyone with information about the events on that day or anyone involved in organising or participating in these events to contact them.
A Dublin man who admitted possessing 54 videos of explicit child pornography has been given a suspended sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Gavin Belmont (26) of Oatfield Park, Clondalkin, pleaded guilty to possessing the material on a mobile phone at his home on May 24, 2022.

Handing down a two-year suspended sentence this Thursday, Judge Martin Nolan said the videos were at the explicit end of the scale and that possessing child pornography was not a victimless crime.

Judge Nolan noted that Belmont had pleaded guilty early, cooperated fully with gardai, had no previous convictions and was unlikely to re-offend.

Hes thoroughly ashamed for what he did, as he should be, said the judge, ordering Belmont to be of good behaviour and abide by the instructions of probation services for the duration of his suspended sentence.

Garda Gemma Casserly told Emmet Nolan BL, prosecuting, that she was made aware of the illegal activity by the Garda Online Child Exploitation Unit.

Gardai discovered child porn activity on the messaging app Kik, which was linked to a username and email address used by Belmont.

After obtaining a search warrant, gardai arrived at Belmonts home, where he lives with his parents.

Belmont was cooperative and gave gardai his phone and password.

The phone was examined and found to contain 54 images and videos, all of which were categorised as explicit, with some depicting particularly graphic sexual acts involving naked children.

Belmont attended a garda station by appointment. He has no previous convictions.

Gda Casserly agreed with Olan Callinan BL, defending, that Belmont comes from a very good and very hardworking family.

Gda Casserly also agreed that as soon as gardai knocked on his door, Belmont took immediate steps by attending counselling.

The court heard that Belmont has worked for the last decade in the same manufacturing company as his father and has also obtained a degree from Maynooth University.

Gda Casserly agreed that Belmont has a high level of shame and remorse and that his main concern was for the shame and hurt he had brought upon his family.

Letters from Belmonts parents and from himself were submitted to court, including one from his mother describing a kind and gentle son who had been a role model for his younger brothers.

He knows he has hurt our family, wrote his mother.
A 38-year-old Irish man has died in a two-vehicle road traffic collision in Canada, which claimed the lives of two people.

A spokesperson for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said officers attended the scene of the incident on Tuesday, April 30 at around 6pm.

The deceased, understood to be from Limerick, was travelling on Highway 22 in the Municipal District of Ranchland, which is in southwest Alberta.

They said road and weather conditions at the time may have been a factor amid reports of an unexpected downpour of snow.

The driver of the southbound vehicle, a 38-year-old male resident of Calgary, was declared deceased at the scene. Two occupants of the northbound vehicle were transported to a Calgary hospital in serious condition.

The female passenger, a 72-year-old resident of Calgary, succumbed to her injuries in hospital. The male driver was seriously injured, said the RCMP spokesperson.

An RCMP collision reconstructionist attended the scene and the investigation continues.

The spokesperson, on behalf of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, expressed their condolences to the family and friends of both deceased and the injured male.

The RCMP spokesperson confirmed the 38-year-old deceased man was an Irish national, originally from Limerick city.

A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs said it is aware of the case and is providing consular assistance.

As with all consular cases, the department does not comment on the details of any specific case, said the spokesperson.

It is understood the deceased was a popular and skilled tradesman who has been living and working in Canada for over a decade.
A man who secretly filmed his lodger while she was showering and then harassed her for months has been put in prison to think about what he did while a judge considers his sentence.

Le Wang (42) of Balally Drive, Dundrum, Dublin 16, pleaded guilty to harassing a foreign student over three months between December 2022 and March 2023.

At a sitting of Dublin Circuit Criminal Court this Thursday, May 2, Judge Martin Nolan remanded Wang in custody for a fortnight pending sentence.

I want him to look about him and think about what he did in the meantime, said Judge Nolan, noting that Wang had videoed the woman twice in the shower and was attempting to do it a third time when the woman noticed the phone.

Wang had hidden the phone in a laundry basket, balanced on clothes at the foot of the bathtub, the court heard.

Judge Nolan said that when confronted, Wang implied threats to disclose the videos and harassed the young woman for three months, which had been very distressing for her.

The court heard that the woman had arrived in Ireland from China in 2021 to study and was offered a room to rent in Wang's house.

Garda Paul Kane told Jane Murphy BL, prosecuting, that the woman paid 950 for her first month's rent in December 2022.

She told gardai that when she moved in, Wang started to text her every day, asking her things like what she was up to and whether she would like to go to a bar. He also asked her to let him know when she wanted to have a shower, the court heard.

On December 20, 2022, the woman was in the bathroom getting ready to have a shower when she noticed the accused's mobile phone balancing on clothes in the laundry basket.

She immediately brought it to the attention of Wang's wife, who said her husband must have put it there by accident and gave it back to him.

Wang overheard the conversation and heard the student crying, the court heard.

That evening, he sent her a series of text messages to the effect that she had to move out the next day.

The messages also contained the following threats: If you make a big deal out of what happened tonight and ruin my family, I have a way of ruining your reputation. You better pretend nothing happened tonight.

The student moved out that evening. Wang's wife later rang the injured party and told her she had looked through her husband's phone and found many videos of her on it.

In the months that followed, Wang tried to contact the student through several social media apps, including WhatsApp and WeChat, a messaging app used by the Chinese community.

The woman always tried to block his contact, and after 18 incidents of attempted conversations, the harassment ended on March 11, 2023.

Wang was asking the woman to come back to the house, asking where she was and saying he wanted to apologise to her.

Gardai seized the man's phone and found two videos of the woman naked in the shower, taken on December 5 and 10, 2022.

Garda Kane said the videos had been deleted and then restored, and photos had been screenshotted from them and shared to Wang's own WeChat app.

Wang has no previous convictions.

A victim impact statement was handed to the judge but was not read aloud.

Gda Kane agreed with Marc Murphy BL, defending that there was no suggestion that the images or videos had been shared with anyone else.

The court heard that Wang cooperated fully with gardai and seemed to suggest to them that his behaviour had been an extraordinary misjudgement or a moment of madness.

Many moments of madness, interjected Judge Nolan.

Wang came to Ireland about twenty years ago from China and has always worked, the court heard.

He is currently self-employed as a taxi driver, working up to 50 hours a week.

A psychological report described Wang as extremely introverted and said his childhood had been devoid of emotional expression.

Judge Nolan remarked that there were plenty of introverted people in the world and that this was neither a mitigating nor an aggravating factor.

Counsel said Wang had made an utter fool of himself and put his marriage and his employment at risk. The court heard that the psychological report placed Wang at a low risk of recidivism.

He's a man who's learnt his lesson, said counsel, submitting letters from Wang and his wife to court.

Wang will be sentenced on May 16.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. The cultural revival is filled with calls for peace, Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan to UNESCO, Ambassador Elman Abdullayev said, Trend reports.

He made the remark during a panel discussion on "Ensuring sustainable peace for the revival and preservation of culture in post-conflict periods" within the framework of the 6th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue in Baku.

According to him, it is important to consolidate efforts to preserve cultural heritage.

Abdullayev emphasized that after wars, great damage is caused to cultural heritage.

"However, there is always hope. Cultural restoration is filled with calls for peace. We must constantly remember that intercultural dialogue is important for resolving conflicts. It's necessary to build bridges between cultures, discuss ways to preserve cultural heritage in the post-conflict period, and join efforts to find solutions. This is also an important factor in the preservation of world cultural heritage," he added.

To note, the second day of the 6th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue is being held in Baku.

A total of 700 guests from around the globe are convening for the forum centered on the theme "Dialogue for Peace and Global Security: Cooperation and Interconnectivity."

Among the diverse participants hailing from over 100 nations, ministerial figures and representatives from the cultural ministries of 60 countries, along with 28 international organizations, will be in attendance. The agenda includes 10 panel discussions and four plenary sessions.

This significant event, organized by the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan, is a collaborative effort with esteemed international bodies such as the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), UNESCO, ICESCO, and the UN World Tourism Organization.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
FUZULI, Azerbaijan, May 2. Buildings in the city of Fuzuli resemble houses in Norway, a member of Norway's national Club of International Travelers (Vagaclub), Anna Sofia Radish told Trend.

There are contrasting destroyed and newly built buildings in the city, which are similar to houses in my country, Norway, and they are very beautiful, the traveler stressed.

She also mentioned that she witnessed the rapid rehabilitation and reconstruction work in Fuzuli city.

"Everything is being completed quickly here." First, we familiarized ourselves with Fizuli International Airport. It is amazing to build such an airport in such a short period, she added.

To note, a delegation of foreign travelers has begun their trip to the territories of Azerbaijan liberated from occupation.

As part of the trip, travelers will visit cities such as Fuzuli, Shusha, and Aghdam.

A delegation of 30 members of the National Club of International Travelers in Norway, Vagaclub, is headed by Jorn Augestad.

The delegation will visit Karabakh and East Zangezur for three days, moving along the Fuzuli-Shusha-Aghdam-Lachin-Jabrayil route.

Representatives of the largest international travel networks in the worldETIC, MTP, TCC, NomadMania, as well as the Travelers Club of Turkiye and the club Piki Reels (UK), and the Swedish Club 100have visited Karabakh and East Zangezur nine times in the last four years.

The visit to the world-famous Norwegian Vagaclub is considered the 10th of its kind.

In total, during these 10 trips, more than 360 international travelers from 46 countries had the opportunity to witness the situation in the liberated territories. Through them, millions of people around the world received detailed information about the real situation in Karabakh.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
SHUSHA, Azerbaijan, May 2. The visit of a 30-member delegation of Norway's National Club of International Travelers Vagaclub to the city of Shusha has been completed, Trend's Karabakh Bureau reports.

The travelers visited the fortress walls of Shusha city.

The travelers were informed about the history of the city and the construction of fortress walls.

Additionally, it was noted that the fortress, built by Karabakh Khan Panahali Khan, protected the city from external interference for a long time and was a symbol of impregnability.

Besides, the travelers were informed that during the occupation, the walls of the fortress were subjected to Armenian vandalism, and after the liberation of the city, repair and restoration works were carried out in the fortress.

The guests visited the Khurshidbanu Natavan's house in Shusha, the spring of Khan's daughter, the Ganja gate of Shusha fortress, and Jidir Duzu.

The travelers' visit to Shusha ended here. They left for the city of Aghdam.

To note, the visit of the delegation of foreign travelers to the territories of Azerbaijan liberated from occupation started today. During the trip, travelers will visit such cities as Fuzuli, Shusha, and Aghdam. The delegation of 30 members of the National Club of International Travelers of Norway, Vagaclub, is headed by Jorn Augestad. The delegation will visit Karabakh and East Zangezur for 3 days, moving along the route Fuzuli-Shusha-Aghdam-Lachin-Jabrayil.

Meanwhile, nine visits of the main travel networks - ETIC, MTP, TCC, NomadMania, as well as Turkish Travel Club, British Piki Reels, and Swedish Club 100 - to Karabakh and East Zangezur have taken place in the past four years.

The visit to the world-famous Norwegian Vagaclub is considered to be the 10th visit of its kind.

During these 10 trips, more than 360 international travelers from 46 countries had the opportunity to get acquainted with the situation in the liberated territories. Through them, millions of people around the world received detailed information about the real situation in Karabakh.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. Statements and actions of international organizations diverge, Head of the Turkish-Azerbaijani Friendship, Cooperation, and Solidarity Foundation Aygun Attar said, Trend reports.

She made the remark during the panel session "Ensuring sustainable peace for revival and preservation of culture in post-conflict times" held within the framework of the VI Forum on Intercultural Dialogue.

Those who destroyed samples of our cultural heritage in Karabakh are still quietly traveling around the world, and they are invited to Europe and to European institutions. Statements and actions of international organizations diverge. They condemn in words, but do nothing indeed, she said.

The second day of the VI World Forum of Intercultural Dialogue is taking place in Baku.

Meanwhile, a total of 700 guests from different countries around the world are taking part in the forum on the theme "Dialogue for Peace and Global Security: Cooperation and Interaction".

To note, the event, organized by the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan, is being held in partnership with reputable international organizations, including the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), UNESCO, ISESCO, and the United Nations World Tourism Organization.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. The State Tourism Agency of Azerbaijan and the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) are jointly organizing the 1st ECO Tour Operators Forum in Baku on May 23, a source in the agency told Trend.

Official state representatives and tourism industry representatives from nine member countries of the organization, including Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan, attend the forum.

Speaking at the event, the Head of Administration at State Tourism Agency Kanan Gasimov emphasized the importance of the forum in terms of expanding ties between representatives of the ECO region's tourism industry, exchanging knowledge and experience in tourism among member states, and serving as an important platform for mutual promotion and advocacy activities.

He also highlighted the development of relations between the State Tourism Agency and the ECO, reminding that in December 2023, Baku successfully hosted the first meeting of educational institutions specializing in tourism from member states of the Economic Cooperation Organization.

In his speech, ECO Secretary General Khusrav Noziri emphasized that the forum is an important step towards strengthening the network of tour operators in the organization's member states and expressed gratitude to the State Tourism Agency for supporting the implementation of this initiative.

He noted that the development of relationships among tour operators will contribute to the creation of new tourism products and routes.

The Secretary-General proposed to establish the ECO Federation of Tourism Agencies as a mechanism to support the promotion of public-private partnerships within the organization's strategy until 2025.

The ECO was founded in 1985 by Iran, Pakistan, and Turkiye as an intergovernmental regional organization aimed at fostering economic, technical, and cultural cooperation among member states.

In 1992, the organization underwent further expansion with the accession of seven new members: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. ADA University has hosted the 12th Career Fair in Baku, Trend reports.

The event was attended by the Azerbaijani office of the Big Four companies, as well as the ministries of energy, justice, economy, and internal affairs of Azerbaijan, PASHA Holding and its subsidiaries, along with renowned companies and holdings in the banking sector, tourism, communications, and representatives of international organizations.

During the exhibition, held with the support of the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) partnership and the ADA University Fund, the results of Career Readiness Week, which began on April 16, were summed up.

Overall, 137 public institutions and companies were represented at the event, organized by the university's career services department.

The exhibition's opening featured speeches by ADA University's Vice-Rector for Public, Foreign, and Student Affairs Fariz Ismayilzade, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs at ADA University Elkin Nurmammadov, President of the ADA University Fund Natig Hajiyev, and IBA's Director of Human Resources Malahat Abdullayeva, who expressed gratitude to the institutions and companies participating in the Career Fair.

In his address, Ismayilzade emphasized that this career exhibition is an excellent opportunity for the alumni to further their vocational advancement, noting that this year a record number of companies participated in the fair.

"This career fair is not held for the first time at ADA University, and the demand for its organization has grown too high to hold it in just one building," he said.

Nurmammadov mentioned that the career exhibition has come a long way, both quantitatively and qualitatively, emphasizing various mechanisms related to employment opportunities between ADA University and employers.

Hajiyev highlighted that the cooperation between IBA and ADA University over the past four years is one of the successful examples of relations between the university and the private sector.

He added that these connections will boost the number of students' social projects and their academic development in the future.

Abdullayeva said that IBA collaborates with many local universities, with ADA University ranking first on the list because the university's students stand out with their education.

She also added that it's no coincidence that about 50 ADA University alumni have already been employed at IBA.

To note, the fair provided ADA University students and alumni with an opportunity to meet potential employers, present their summaries directly to them, and participate in on-the-spot interviews.

During Career Readiness Week, which ended today, the names of five students who passed a special selection organized by companies were announced.

They were provided with internship opportunities at these companies.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. According to the decree of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, participants in the Second World War of 19411945, widows of soldiers who died or died later, and persons awarded with orders and medals for selfless labor in the rear will be provided with one-time material aid, Trend reports, referring to the Azerbaijani Ministry of Labor and Social Protection.

The decree will cover around 3,000 people.

"30 of them are veterans of the Second World War," the information notes.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
As national debate over illegal immigration hits critical mass, Kansas City is now central to the discussion.

Context for this report . . .

Remember that Mayor Quinton Lucas has earned rebuke for his invitation to migrant workers. He responded to the overwhelming scorn from conservatives and many locals by walking back his comments and attempting to clarify that he was speaking only of "lawfully present" workers.

HOWEVER . . . Rrom people we know and trust . . .

INSIDERS SEND PUBLIC INFO EXPOSING "INADMISSIBLE ALIENS" TRANSPORTED & PROCESSED THROUGH KANSAS CITY'S NEW AIRPORT!!!



This isn't gossip or snark and we're not gonna provide much commentary because the facts speak louder than the typical dumb jokes from this news blog . . .

And so . . .

Here's the intro to the report on a congressional website:



"The House Committee on Homeland Security revealed documents obtained through a subpoena of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that identified over 50 airport locations, including our nations capital, used by DHS to help process into the country more than 400,000 inadmissible aliens through the administrations unlawful Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan (CHNV) mass-parole program. The program was officially launched in January 2023, and the documents obtained by the Committee cover the period from January-August 2023accounting for roughly 200,000 of these individuals.



"According to these documents, as of mid-October 2023, there were 1.6 million inadmissible aliens awaiting travel authorizations through the CHNV program. In the documents, DHS further admits that none of these individuals have a legal basis to enter the country before being paroled through the program, stating, All individuals paroled into the United States are, by definition, inadmissible, including those paroled under the CHNV Processes.

We're also sharing a screenshot for more context . . . Click the image or this link for a bigger, better view:

Again, don't take our word for it . . . Because this info is important, we're linking to the congressional website with THANKS TO AWESOME INSIDERS for sending this info to help our blog community put it on blast.



Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

House Committee On Homeland Security: Documents Reveal Airports Used by Secretary Mayorkas to Fly Hundreds of Thousands of Inadmissible Aliens into U.S. Via CHNV Mass-Parole Scheme



Developing . . .


As always, our blog community hopes to bring context to conversations that local media overlook.

This important fact often escapes the last remaining grumps who oppose weed legalization.

More than half of Americans (54%) live in a state where both recreational and medical marijuana are legal.

Somebody please POLITELY EXPLAIN this fact to Kansas State Senator Mike Thompson when his imagination gets carried away with fantasies about the cartel coming to raid his sweater collection and/or refrigerator.

Meanwhile, here's the reality in KC, MO and the rest of the nation . . .



Recreational marijuana was legalized in Missouri in February of 2023.



Now, the Drug Enforcement Administration is proposing re-classifying marijuana. It's currently a schedule-one drug, considered a dangerous drug under federal law, alongside substances like heroin. Marijuana could be lowered to a schedule three classification.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .
This local report offers a sympathetic view of liberal arts majors enjoying their time before entering an increasingly competitive workforce . . . What's more interesting is a glimpse at administrators caught in the middle of a progressive tug of war and more allegations of rising antisemitism form American college students . . . Check-it:



UMKC officials, however, said students must follow the universitys protest policy, which forbid camping or the use of temporary shelter. Tents, a spokesperson said, are against the guidelines even if they are being used as a political symbol.



Witnesses at the UMKC protest said university police dragged one tent away as a protester clung on. Afterward, university staff, including police officers, stood by. A handful of protesters stood facing them, yelling and training phone cameras in their direction.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

Why Kansas City students are joining nationwide protests supporting Palestine As tensions grow at colleges and universities around the country, Kansas and Missouri students are standing with others resisting the war in Gaza. Their fight comes with complicated questions.

Related reading . . .

Columbia University faculty 'horrified' by mass arrests of student protesters Faculty members express anger Wednesday outside Hamilton Hall, which had been occupied by pro-Palestinian students

How today's antiwar protests stack up against major student movements in history Pro-Palestinian campus protests over Israel's war in Gaza may be the biggest of the 21st century.

Pro-Palestine protesters occupy lawn on KU's campus More than 100 pro-Palestine protesters gathered outside Fraser Hall on KU's campus Wednesday, calling on the university to disclose and divest any financial connections with Israel amid monthslong violence in Gaza that has killed tens of thousands of people.

'Horrific' violence at UCLA after counter-protesters attack pro-Palestinian camp Fireworks and tear gas flew through the air after masked pro-Israeli assailants tore down barricades.

Biden has his own 'fine people on both sides' moment. He's as wrong now as Trump was then. The campus protests and encampments opposing Israel's war against Hamas deserve no support from President Joe Biden.

Universities Face an Urgent Question: What Makes a Protest Antisemitic? Pro-Palestinian student activists say their movement is anti-Zionist but not antisemitic. It is not a distinction that everyone accepts.

Trump's comparison of student protests to Jan. 6 is part of effort to downplay Capitol attack Former President Donald Trump is lamenting the possibility that Columbia University's pro-Palestinian protesters could be treated more leniently than the rioters who stormed the U.S.

Developing . . .
Credit where it's due . . .

Remembering shared glory from TKC college daze . . . Springtime hangouts on this campus are the closest thing to Heaven on Earth based solely on the high concentration of attractive white women.

Sure . . .

Saving the world is nice but so much better in academic Disney land funded by middle-class parents.

Accordingly, check earnest reporting about the sitch the hopes the uprising will merit at least some mention in graduate studies applications or whatever means possible to avoid getting a real jorb . . .



"Protesters are determined to stay. Multiple encampment organizers have said they plan to stay through the end of finals.



"The protest, however, is putting the rest of the University on edge. With counter-protesters this afternoon and threats from police during the evening, its unknown what will happen tomorrow.



"Around 100 campers are staying the night, but 300-400 people passed through the area throughout the day in support of the protest.



"The encampments most significant issue: what about next week? Many students will be taking finals, which will almost certainly reduce the number of protesters.



"We've had the protest's first arrest, an unknown man for assaulting a protester."

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

UPDATES: Day one of the pro-Palestinian encampment at Fraser Hall Pro-Palestinian protestors began forming an encampment outside Fraser Hall Wednesday morning, part of a broader national movement. This story is developing and will be updated.

'We're very sad': Members of KU Jewish community feel like pro-Palestinian campus encampment is antisemitic At least one hundred pro-Palestinian protesters gathered, and some Jewish students were present in opposition.

Developing . . .
A peek at the end of local journalism by way of friendly alliances . . .

Today we notice that a prog blog mostly funded by donations is taking over the Kansas City Star editorial section.

The screed isn't so significant and mostly serves to support Guv Kelly . . . What's most important is the progressive local news cartel now claiming space on the newspaper.

Here's the quote and comparison . . .



"Kelly wont deploy the Kansas Guard to Texas. The money wont be spent. Sometime early next year, legislators will determine what to do with the bonus $15.7 million, perhaps spending it on ice pops or pony rides for their donors. For that matter, Kansas industry depends on immigration for meatpacking and other agribusiness jobs. With full employment, migrants fill a needed role in the U.S. labor force."





Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . .

Kansas lawmakers neglect problems at home, throw $15.7 million at the border. It won't be spent. * Kansas Reflector No matter what lawmakers do ,Gov. Laura Kelly won't deploy the Kansas Guard to Texas. The money won't be spent.

Lawmakers neglect Kansas problems, throw $15.7 million at border. It won't be spent | Opinion Democratic Governor Laura Kelly won't send Kansas National Guard troops to Texas to help a political stunt from Legislature Republicans.

Developing . . .
AirAsia Philippines is looking into starting direct flights to Boracay. This move aims to help decrease the heavy traffic at Manila's airports. The announcement came during the recent Boracay Business Forum, which officials from ASEAN countries and local leaders attended.

The event highlighted the potential for tourism and investment in Boracay while emphasizing the need to keep the island's natural beauty intact.

AirAsia Philippines Launches Direct Boracay Flights

Ricky Isla, CEO of AirAsia Philippines, shared the plan at the forum. He noted that the new direct route would make travel easier for tourists heading to the island. Currently, most travelers have to pass through Manila, causing congestion.

By offering a direct flight, AirAsia Philippines hopes to attract more visitors directly to Boracay and reduce the load on Manila's airports.

In addition to that, according to Travel and Tour World, the airline has found that most of its Boracay-bound passengers are millennials and young professionals, along with older adults looking for a place to relax. These travelers mainly come from countries like the USA, China, the UK, South Korea, Japan, Germany, and Canada.

AirAsia Philippines has been successful, with an impressive 94% load factor this month, which means most of its flights are nearly full. The airline also boasts a good record of being on time, with 85% of its flights arriving and departing as scheduled.

Moreover, AirAsia Philippines is committed to responsible tourism. The airline has been working on reducing its carbon footprint, cutting down on carbon emissions significantly since 2016. It also supports travelers with its mobile app, which offers information on flights, hotels, restaurants, and activities in Boracay.

This is part of a broader effort to make traveling easier and more enjoyable for its guests.

AirAsia Philippines Boosts Pilot Hiring Efforts

Budget airline AirAsia Philippines recently held a large-scale pilot recruitment event to meet the rising travel demand and provide opportunities for aspiring pilots. The event, aligned with World Pilots Day, underscores the airline's commitment to bolstering its workforce in preparation for a surge in air travel.

As per Business Mirror, Isla emphasized that the recruitment drive is part of a broader effort to rejuvenate the aviation sector, which had seen a downturn during the pandemic. He stated that with the booming demand for travel, they are keen to open more doors for those passionate about aviation.

The event drew hundreds of applicants who participated in the selection process. Isla also noted that with over 300 aircraft scheduled for delivery to the AirAsia Aviation Group by 2035, the airline's prospects for employment and growth are promising.

Currently, AirAsia Philippines employs 138 captains and 116 first officers. As Labor Day nears, the airline is also looking to highlight the significant contributions of its over 2,000 employees, which are vital to maintaining flight safety and operational excellence.

In related news, the AirAsia Group plans to make Manila its hub for U.S. flights, with services expected to start by 2025, including destinations like Los Angeles.
In a recent incident, Norwegian Cruise Line left an elderly couple from the US behind in Motril, Spain. Richard and Claudene Gordon, ages 84 and 81, missed their ship, the Norwegian Viva, when it sailed away on schedule while they were delayed returning from a trip to Granada.

The mishap occurred on Monday as they were caught in a rainstorm.

Norwegian Cruise Line Strands Couple in Spain

The Gordons, experienced travelers on about 30 cruises, took an independent excursion to the historic city of Granada, which was not arranged through the Norwegian Cruise Line.

When they headed back to the ship, their return was delayed by unexpected weather, causing them to miss the 5:30 p.m. all-aboard call. Despite a phone call to a relative on the ship at approximately 5:45 p.m. informing them of their close proximity and delay, the ship departed at 6:00 p.m.

Arriving at the dock by taxi at 6:10 p.m., the couple found that the Norwegian Viva had already left, taking essential items such as Claudene's medication and their spare hearing aid batteries.

According to CNN, with no immediate assistance from the cruise line, the couple had to fend for themselves, eventually finding a place to stay in a nearby bed and breakfast.

After their ordeal, Norwegian Cruise Line did make efforts to reconcile the situation. On Wednesday, they arranged a limousine to bring the couple from their hotel to meet the ship in Palma de Mallorca.

The Gordons were then escorted aboard by ship officials, who apologized for the inconvenience.

Norwegian Cruise Line has stated that they attempted to contact the couple multiple times and coordinated with local port agents to help them rejoin the ship.

This incident calls up the importance of adhering to posted schedules on cruises, even as it raises questions about the support offered to passengers when plans go awry.

Related Article : Norwegian Cruise Line Loses Autistic Child, Father Demands Answers

Another Passengers Stranded in Africa

Eight passengers, including Americans Jill and Jay Campbell, were stranded in Africa after their Norwegian Cruise Line ship left without them. The incident occurred when the group, on a private tour on the island of Sao Tome, failed to return on time on March 27.

Despite a desperate two-day journey across seven countries to catch up with the ship in Senegal, the Campbells needed more certainty about continuing their 20-day cruise.

The New York Post reported that Jill Campbell expressed dissatisfaction with how Norwegian Cruise Line managed their situation, emphasizing that the ship's crew should prioritize passenger safety and care.

The passengers could not reboard the ship when they finally reached it, leading to significant additional expenses. They had to spend over $5,000 on necessities such as food and lodging while trying to meet the ship at its next port.

Norwegian Cruise Line stated that it is standard procedure to leave behind passengers who miss the boarding time and that the responsibility for making subsequent travel arrangements falls on the passengers.

However, the company plans to reimburse the stranded passengers for their travel expenses from Gambia to Senegal and is communicating with them about further assistance.
This summer, Royal Palms Resort and Spa is offering a special deal that lets you enjoy a vacation without extra charges. You can forget about resort fees, parking costs, and even pet fees. With this offer, you can save over $100 per night, making it easier to relax and enjoy your time away.

The promotion is available for bookings made between April 17 to Sept. 6. You must stay between May 1 to Sept. 8 to benefit from the savings. The offer at Royal Palms Resort and Spa includes skipping the usual $45 daily resort fee, the $38 valet parking fee per day, and the $150 pet fee for the entire stay.

Royal Palms Resort and Spa: Unbeatable Summer Savings

You will need to book for at least two nights to take advantage of the deal. While enjoying your stay at Royal Palms Resort and Spa, you can relax in a spacious cabana during the day. You can also treat yourself to some pampering at the Alvadora Spa, savor delicious meals at T. Cook's, and try craft cocktails at the Mix-Up Bar + Lounge.

This package has some conditions. It is subject to room availability and must align with your stay. It does not cover alcoholic drinks, and you cannot use it with other offers, tour packages, or special rate programs.

You are also responsible for any expenses not included in the package.

Aside from that, keep in mind that this offer cannot be changed and no refund will be given for any unused part of the package. Certain dates when the offer is not available may apply due to high demand or special events.

Royal Palms Resort and Spa ensures that you have a wonderful and affordable summer getaway. Do not miss the chance to enjoy a relaxing vacation without worrying about extra fees.

Plan your trip now to make the most of this fantastic offer!

Related Article : You Won't Want to Miss This Summer at Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea

About Royal Palms Resort and Spa

Royal Palms Resort and Spa invites you to experience a blend of luxury and history in Phoenix, Arizona. This unique resort was originally a Spanish Colonial Revival villa built in the 1920s. Now, it serves as a peaceful retreat near Camelback Mountain, offering a perfect mix of traditional charm and modern amenities.

As a part of The Unbound Collection by Hyatt, Royal Palms Resort and Spa provides an exquisite background for your stories. If you are drawn to historic sites or contemporary designs, this resort allows you to write your unforgettable experiences.

Guests can enjoy a variety of amenities designed to enhance their stay. The resort offers free internet access, making it easy to stay connected.

For those who drive electric vehicles, there is a charging station available. Dining is a delight with an on-site restaurant and room service options. The resort is also pet-friendly, includes a luxurious spa, and supports digital innovations like digital keys and check-in, as well as in-room Chromecast for streaming.

Moreover, Royal Palms Resort and Spa is a leisure destination and caters to business needs with its meeting facilities. This resort promises a memorable stay whether you are relaxing or conducting business.
 Flash

America's repeated use of its veto on the Palestinian-Israeli issue is not commensurate with the role of a responsible power, said a Chinese envoy on Wednesday.

The United States has used its veto dozens of times on the issue. Since the outbreak of the current conflict in Gaza, the United States has used its veto five times, four of which to block a cease-fire in Gaza. Its latest veto single-handedly blocked Palestine's full UN membership, said Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the United Nations.

"With intransigence based on its own interests and geopolitical calculations, the United States has repeatedly resorted to veto in an abusive manner, which is not commensurate with the role of a responsible power," Fu told a UN General Assembly meeting on the U.S. veto to block Palestine's UN membership.

"We hope that the United States will truly uphold an objective and impartial position and join the international community's action for justice, so as to play a due constructive role in stopping the war and alleviating the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza," he said.

The Palestinian-Israeli conflict has lasted for more than seven decades, and generations of Palestinians have lost their homes and lived in displacement, Fu said, noting that this is an open wound in the conscience of humanity.

Establishing an independent state is the long aspiration of the Palestinian people. Full UN membership is a crucial step in this historical process. With its veto on April 18, the United States has mercilessly shattered the decades-long dream of the Palestinian people. China is deeply disappointed, said Fu.

Palestine formally submitted its application for full UN membership in 2011. However, due to the opposition of certain members, the Security Council's action was put on hold at that time. During the past 13 years, the political prospects of the two-state solution have continued to be eroded while the suffering of the Palestinian people worsened, Fu said.

Under such circumstances, accepting Palestine as a full member of the United Nations to ensure Palestine can enjoy equal status with Israel and to provide an international guarantee for the implementation of the two-state solution is an urgent responsibility that the international community must not shy away from, he said.

Implementing the two-state solution is the fundamental way out of the Middle East issue. China calls for greater international diplomatic efforts to revitalize the political prospects of the two-state solution. China supports the Security Council's early reconsideration of Palestine's application for full UN membership and hopes that individual countries will cease setting up obstacles to that end, he said.

Fu said that China will continue to work with all parties to achieve the goal of a comprehensive, just and lasting solution to the question of Palestine, the peaceful coexistence of Palestine and Israel, and lasting peace in the Middle East.

The ongoing war in Gaza has created an unprecedented humanitarian disaster. Fu said China urges Israel to immediately cease all military operations; abandon its offensive plan on Rafah; immediately open all land crossings; guarantee rapid, safe and large-scale humanitarian access; and facilitate the transportation and distribution of relief supplies by the UN humanitarian agencies in Gaza.
AGHDAM, Azerbaijan, May 2. A delegation of 30 representatives of Norway's National Club of International Travelers, Vagaclub, arrived in Aghdam as part of a trip to Karabakh and East Zangezur, Trend's Karabakh Bureau reports.

The travelers witnessed the consequences of Armenian vandalism in Aghdam as well as familiarized themselves with the construction works carried out by Azerbaijan after the liberation of the city from occupation.

The delegation also visited Aghdam's Juma Mosque.

To note, the visit of the delegation of foreign travelers to the territories of Azerbaijan liberated from occupation started on May 2. The delegation of 30 representatives of Norway's National Club of International Travelers, Vagaclub, is headed by Jorn Augestad. The delegation will visit Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur for 3 days, traveling along the Fuzuli-Shusha-Aghdam-Lachin-Jabrayil route.

Meanwhile, nine visits to Karabakh and East Zangezur were made over the past four years by representatives of the main travel networks: ETIC, MTP, TCC, NomadMania, as well as the Turkish Travelers Club, the British Piki Reels, and the Swedish Club 100.

Altogether, more than 360 international travelers from 46 countries had the opportunity to learn about the situation in the liberated territories during the trips that took place. Through them, millions of people around the world received detailed information about the real situation in Karabakh.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Four Wheel Drive India Pvt. Ltd., under the leadership of Founder Anil Sinha, unveils Uttarakhand Tour Packages, inviting travelers to explore the natural beauty and spiritual sites of the region. With customizable options, travelers can tailor their journey. Contact info@fourwheeldriveindia.com or +91-9829248899 for bookings.



(TRAVPR.COM) INDIA - May 1st, 2024 - New Delhi, India - March 25, 2024 - Four Wheel Drive India Private Limited, a premier provider of bespoke travel experiences, is delighted to announce the launch of its Uttarakhand Tour Packages. This new offering invites travelers to discover the breathtaking landscapes, serene mountains, and spiritual havens of Uttarakhand, all with the flexibility of customized tour options.

Uttarakhand, known as the "Land of the Gods," is renowned for its pristine beauty, majestic Himalayan peaks, and sacred pilgrimage sites. With the launch of the Uttarakhand Tour Packages, travelers can embark on unforgettable journeys to explore the region's natural wonders and cultural treasures.

If you want to know more about this tour packages: https://fourwheeldriveindia.com/destination/uttarakhand-tour-packages

Anil Sinha, Founder of Four Wheel Drive India Private Limited, expressed his excitement about the launch, stating, "We are thrilled to introduce our Uttarakhand Tour Packages, which offer travelers the opportunity to immerse themselves in the natural splendor and spiritual heritage of this enchanting region. With our customized tour options, we aim to provide travelers with the flexibility to tailor their experience according to their preferences and interests."

The Uttarakhand Tour Packages feature a variety of customizable itineraries, allowing travelers to create their ideal journey. From scenic drives through the Himalayas to visits to ancient temples and tranquil lakes, each itinerary is designed to provide a unique and unforgettable experience.

In addition to offering personalized travel experiences, Four Wheel Drive India Private Limited is committed to ensuring the safety and comfort of its customers. Stringent health and safety protocols have been implemented across all aspects of the tour packages to provide travelers with peace of mind as they explore the wonders of Uttarakhand.

For more information about the Uttarakhand Tour Packages and to book your customized travel experience, please contact Four Wheel Drive India Private Limited at info@fourwheeldriveindia.com or call +91-9829248899.

About Four Wheel Drive India Private Limited: Four Wheel Drive India Private Limited is a leading provider of bespoke travel experiences in India. With a focus on excellence and customer satisfaction, the company offers a wide range of customized tour options designed to showcase the diverse beauty and cultural heritage of the country. For more information, visit www.fourwheeldriveindia.com.

Contact: Anil Sinha Founder, Four Wheel Drive India Private Limited Email: info@fourwheeldriveindia.com Phone: +91-9829248899

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AGHDAM, Azerbaijan, May 2. A delegation of 30 representatives of Norway's National Club of International Travelers, Vagaclub, has completed their visit to Aghdam within the framework of their trip to Karabakh and East Zangezur, Trend's Karabakh Bureau reports.

The travelers toured the territories in Aghdam with residential houses, civil objects, and religious and cultural monuments destroyed during the Armenian occupation.

Additionally, it was noted that before the Armenian occupation, Aghdam was one of the most beautiful cities in Azerbaijan; now there are only ruins in place of the looted and destroyed city. The travelers visited the territory where the ruins of the Bread Museum and drama theater are located.

They also witnessed Armenian vandalism in the Alley of Martyrs in Aghdam. They were informed that the heroic sons of the Motherland who died in the first Karabakh war are buried here, as well as some of the inhabitants of the town of Khojaly who died during the genocide. Armenian vandals, who destroyed everything in Aghdam, also destroyed the graves in the Alley of Martyrs.

Thus, the visit of travelers to Aghdam ended.

To note, the visit of the delegation of foreign travelers to the territories of Azerbaijan liberated from occupation started on May 2. The delegation of 30 representatives of the National Club of International Travelers of Norway, Vagaclub, is headed by Jorn Ogestad. The delegation will visit Karabakh and East Zangezur for 3 days, traveling along the route Fuzuli-Shusha-Aghdam-Lachin-Jabrayil.

Meanwhile, nine visits to Karabakh and East Zangezur were made by representatives of major travel networks (ETIC, MTP, TCC, NomadMania), as well as Turkish Travel Club, British Piki Reels, and Swedish Club 100, during the past four years.

Altogether, more than 360 international travelers from 46 countries had the opportunity to learn about the situation in the liberated territories during the trips that took place. Through them, millions of people around the world received detailed information about the real situation in Karabakh.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Please, if you have information, just share it. It's the plea of the mother of missing teen,
TBILISI, Georgia, May 2. Digitalization of all customs procedures needs to be ensured, Minister of Finance of Azerbaijan Samir Sharifov said during the Enhancing Connectivity: European Connectivity (Renewable Energy and Digital Connectivity) Middle Corridor (Reshaping Euro-Asia Connectivity) and Collaborative Fintech Community: Building on the Middle Corridor Momentum panel discussions at the 57th ADB Annual Meeting in Tbilisi, Trend reports.

He mentioned that Azerbaijan has invested significant amounts in the construction of a new port complex, and the expansion process is ongoing.

"We've allocated substantial funds into the railway," he emphasized.

According to him, the Middle Corridor is not just a railway connecting national highways. "Another branch of this corridor is available - the connection of fiber-optic communication from Azerbaijan to the Black Sea ports of Georgia, then to Europe," Sharifov noted.

He also pointed out that digitalization will be a crucial response to issues regarding the Middle Corridor.

"We need to digitize customs procedures there. There's a growing understanding that this is an important alternative, and we should continue to bring more goods and logistics into this route. This corridor is a very important asset," he added.

The theme of the 57th annual meeting, scheduled for May 2 to 5, is "Bridge to the Future".

The first session of the Board of Governors will take place on May 4. The opening will mark the official start of the annual meeting. This event is attended by distinguished guests from the host country. Statements will be made by ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa and the Minister of Finance of Georgia, Chairman of the ADB Board of Governors, Lasha Khutsishvili.

The annual meeting provides ADB governors with the opportunity to discuss development issues and challenges facing the Asia-Pacific region. Several thousand participants regularly attend the meeting, including finance ministers, central bank governors, high-ranking government officials, representatives of the private sector, international organizations, civil society organizations, youth, academia, and the media.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. Azerbaijan sees a surge in tourist arrivals, Chairman of the State Tourism Agency Fuad Naghiyev said during a panel discussion on the topic "Tourism connecting people and its role in building intercultural dialogue" within the framework of the 6th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue in Baku, Trend reports.

He emphasized that Azerbaijan has high tourism potential.

Azerbaijan is particularly concerned with the development of this area. The number of tourists visiting Azerbaijan has significantly increased. This year, we completed the reconstruction of Azerbaijan's tourism sector. The development of tourism in the country aligns with the global trend, he added.

To note, a total of 700 guests from around the globe are convening for the forum centered on the theme "Dialogue for Peace and Global Security: Cooperation and Interconnectivity."

Among the diverse participants hailing from over 100 nations, ministerial figures and representatives from the cultural ministries of 60 countries, along with 28 international organizations, will be in attendance. The agenda includes 10 panel discussions and four plenary sessions.

This significant event, organized by the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan, is a collaborative effort with esteemed international bodies such as the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), UNESCO, ICESCO, and the UN World Tourism Organization.

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In a pre-dawn operation on Tuesday, law enforcement officers descended on the campus of California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt (Cal Poly Humboldt), to disperse and arrest student protesters who had taken over two university buildings for a period exceeding seven days.

The protesters, numbering about 100, had taken over Siemens Hall, a central administrative and academic building, to voice their support for Palestine and criticize the university's alleged ties to Israel.

Arrests and Charges

The police operation resulted in the arrest of 31 individuals on charges including unlawful assembly, vandalism, conspiracy, and assault of police officers. The protesters had reportedly broken into the president's office and defaced walls with spray paint and markers. Despite attempts by law enforcement to negotiate a peaceful resolution, the protesters remained inside the building, leading to the early morning raid.

READ MORE : USC Cancels Main Commencement Ceremony Amidst Controversy And Tightened Security Measures

University Response and Escalating Tensions

University officials, including President Tom Jackson Jr., condemned the occupation, describing it as "serious criminal activity" that disrupted the campus community. The university had initially closed campus and shifted to virtual instruction in response to the protest, but as tensions escalated, the closure was extended through the end of the semester. Jackson praised law enforcement for resolving the situation and protecting the campus community.

Protester Demands and University Claims

The protesters, part of a larger movement on campuses nationwide, demanded that Cal Poly Humboldt disclose its ties to Israel, boycott the country and its academic institutions, and divest from companies with connections to Israel. The university clarified that it does not have any collaborations with Israeli institutions and has only limited indirect investments in companies linked to Israel. Despite this, the protesters remained steadfast in their demands, leading to the prolonged occupation.

Campus Climate and Impact on Students

The police action and subsequent closure of the campus have had a profound impact on the student body. Many students have expressed fear and uncertainty, with some reporting reluctance to leave their dorms even for basic needs. The campus community has been divided, with some supporting the protesters' right to free speech and others condemning their tactics as disruptive and harmful.

Faculty and Student Reactions

Faculty members have been vocal in their criticism of the university administration's handling of the protest. Many have expressed dismay at the decision to involve law enforcement before exploring other avenues of resolution. In an emergency meeting, the majority of faculty members voted no confidence in President Jackson and his chief of staff, calling for their resignation.

Calls for Dialogue and Resolution

As tensions continue to simmer, there are calls for dialogue and peaceful resolution to the ongoing dispute. Both sides have expressed a desire to find common ground and address the underlying issues that led to the protest. However, the path forward remains uncertain, with the campus community deeply divided and emotions running high.

The police raid and subsequent arrests at Cal Poly Humboldt have exposed deep-seated tensions on campus and raised questions about the limits of free speech and protest. As the university seeks to restore normalcy, it must also address the grievances of the protesters and work towards a more inclusive and equitable campus environment. The events at Cal Poly Humboldt serve as a reminder of the power of student activism and the importance of dialogue in resolving complex issues.
In a bold move aimed at addressing rising concerns over antisemitism on college campuses, House Speaker Mike Johnson and a group of powerful Republican lawmakers have announced a comprehensive plan to crack down on the issue. This initiative, which is set to involve nearly every committee in the House, marks a significant escalation in efforts to tackle antisemitic incidents within higher education institutions across the United States.

Background: Antisemitism on Campus

Recent years have seen a troubling increase in reports of antisemitic incidents on college campuses. These range from verbal harassment and vandalism to more serious threats and physical violence against Jewish students. The rise in antisemitic incidents has been linked to various factors, including the proliferation of hate speech on social media, the spread of extremist ideologies, and tensions related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

READ MORE : New House Bill Proposes Monitoring For Antisemitism At Federally Funded Colleges And Universities

The House Republicans' Plan

At a press conference, Speaker Johnson outlined the key components of the Republican plan to address campus antisemitism. The effort will involve a coordinated approach across multiple House committees, including Education and Workforce, Ways and Means, Judiciary, Oversight, Energy and Commerce, and Science, Space and Technology. Each committee will play a distinct role in investigating and addressing different aspects of the issue.

Education and Workforce Committee's Investigation

The Education and Workforce Committee, which has been investigating antisemitism at select colleges and universities since December, will play a central role in the House Republicans' effort. The committee has already held two hearings aimed at holding college administrators accountable for their response to antisemitic incidents on campus. A third hearing is scheduled for May 23, where leaders from Yale University, the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Michigan will testify.

Ways and Means Committee's Focus on Funding

The Ways and Means Committee will be looking into the tax-exempt status of institutions involved in antisemitic incidents. Additionally, the committee will examine the role of federal research dollars in funding colleges and universities that fail to adequately protect Jewish students. This could have significant implications for institutions that receive federal funding for research and other purposes.

Judiciary Committee's Role in Oversight

The Judiciary Committee will be conducting inquiries into the role of international students in campus protests related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The committee will examine colleges and universities to ensure they adhere to federal civil rights laws, specifically Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bans discrimination based on race and national origin.

Consequences for Non-Compliant Institutions

Lawmakers have hinted at the possibility of cutting off federal funding for financial aid and research to institutions that are found to be violating federal civil rights laws by not adequately protecting Jewish students. This could have far-reaching consequences for colleges and universities, particularly those that rely heavily on federal funding for their operations.

Criticism of Biden Administration

House Republicans have criticized what they perceive as inaction and equivocation by the Biden administration on the issue of campus antisemitism. They have pledged to fill the void left by the administration's lack of decisive action. Speaker Johnson likened antisemitism to a virus, criticizing both the administration and university leaders for failing to address its spread.

The House Republicans' plan to combat campus antisemitism represents a significant escalation in efforts to address this pressing issue. By targeting federal funding and increasing oversight of colleges and universities, lawmakers are sending a clear message that antisemitism will not be tolerated on campus. The consequences for non-compliant institutions could be severe, underscoring the importance of taking decisive action to protect Jewish students and ensure a safe and inclusive learning environment for all.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona has strongly denounced the recent wave of antisemitic protests at Columbia University and other colleges, labeling them as "unacceptable."

The protests, characterized by chants and actions deemed intimidating to Jewish students, have sparked a contentious debate over the handling of discrimination on college campuses.

Calls for Immediate Action from Senate Republicans

During a Senate budget hearing, Republican lawmakers grilled Cardona over the protests, urging him to take more immediate actions to combat antisemitism. This included the suggestion of pulling federal funding from colleges that fail to address the issue adequately. Senator John Boozman of Arkansas emphasized the need for Cardona to use the levers at his disposal to pressure institutions into compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin.

Cardona acknowledged the seriousness of the situation and stated that hate has no place on college campuses. He emphasized the Department of Education's commitment to enforcing Title VI and ensuring that colleges fulfill their obligations to protect students from discrimination. However, the exact measures and timeline for such actions remain unclear, with investigations into alleged discrimination taking time to complete.

READ MORE : Department Of Education's Threat To Shut Down Largest Christian University Sparks Controversy

Challenges and Responses from the Education Department

The Education Department's Office for Civil Rights has initiated over 100 investigations into allegations of discrimination based on shared ancestry, including Jews, Muslims, and other ethnic or religious groups. However, the complexity of these investigations and the lack of resolution in cases opened since the Israel-Hamas War have raised questions about the department's ability to enforce Title VI effectively.

Cardona highlighted the department's efforts to provide guidance to colleges on their obligations under Title VI and expressed a willingness to use federal funding as leverage if necessary. However, pulling federal funds from colleges would be a significant and unprecedented step, requiring a lengthy and complicated process.

Budget Discussions Overshadowed by Campus Protests

While the budget hearing was intended to focus on the Education Department's $82.4 billion budget request for fiscal year 2025, much of the discussion was dominated by concerns over the campus protests and other issues. Republican senators criticized the department's handling of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which faced technical glitches and delays. Senator Susan Collins of Maine called the FAFSA rollout an "unmitigated disaster," highlighting the impact on students' ability to access financial aid.

Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, a Democrat, expressed concerns about the FAFSA rollout and pressed Cardona to commit to launching next year's form on time. Cardona assured her that meeting the Oct. 1 deadline was their expectation, acknowledging the importance of a smooth application process for students.

Bipartisan Calls for Action Against Discrimination

Despite the partisan divide on many issues, both Republican and Democratic senators condemned the antisemitic protests and called for stronger action to combat discrimination on college campuses. Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia criticized the department's response to the FAFSA rollout, calling it a failure of leadership. She urged Cardona to apologize for the botched launch and to focus on the fundamentals of ensuring students' access to higher education.

In response to questions about the new Title IX rule, which includes discrimination based on gender identity, Cardona emphasized the importance of protecting all students, including those who are transgender. He pushed back against criticism from Republicans, stating that the changes were necessary to ensure that all students are protected from discrimination.

Addressing Discrimination on College Campuses

The recent wave of antisemitic protests at colleges has brought the issue of discrimination on college campuses to the forefront of national attention. While Education Secretary Miguel Cardona has condemned the protests and pledged to enforce Title VI, questions remain about the effectiveness of these efforts. With bipartisan calls for action against discrimination, the Education Department faces pressure to address these issues swiftly and effectively to ensure a safe and inclusive environment for all students.
A recent report by Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW) has shed light on the persistent diversity challenges faced by selective U.S. colleges and universities.

Despite employing race-conscious admissions practices, these institutions have seen only marginal gains in diversity over the past decade. The report's findings underscore the need for a deeper examination of the factors contributing to these trends and the urgency of implementing more effective strategies to address them.

The State of Diversity at Selective Institutions

The report's analysis of demographic changes at selective institutions from 2009 to 2019 revealed that while Hispanic/Latino enrollment nearly doubled during this period, Black/African American enrollment saw only a modest increase, and American Indian/Alaska Native enrollment actually declined. Meanwhile, White and Asian American/Pacific Islander students continued to dominate enrollments at these institutions.

These figures highlight a stark disparity between the racial composition of the college-aged population and the student bodies of selective colleges. Despite collectively representing 37% of the college-aged population, Hispanic/Latino, Black/African American, and American Indian/Alaska Native students accounted for only 21% of enrollments at selective institutions in 2019. In contrast, White and Asian American/Pacific Islander students, who make up 60% of the college-aged population, comprised 73% of enrollments at these institutions.

Challenges Faced by Underrepresented Groups

One of the key challenges facing underrepresented minority groups is the lack of access to resources and support systems that are essential for academic success. The report notes that selective institutions, despite their higher levels of funding and support services, continue to enroll disproportionately fewer students from these groups. This raises questions about the effectiveness of current efforts to promote diversity and inclusion on college campuses.

Furthermore, the report highlights the disparities in socioeconomic status among students at selective institutions. While there has been a slight increase in the enrollment of Pell Grant recipients at these institutions, the overall trend shows a decline in their numbers. In 2019, less than one in four students at the most selective colleges were Pell Grant recipients, indicating a widening gap in access to higher education based on economic status.

Implications for Equity and Opportunity

The findings of the CEW report have significant implications for equity and opportunity in higher education. Despite the stated commitment of selective institutions to diversity and inclusion, the data suggests that current efforts are falling short of achieving meaningful change. This has broader implications for society as a whole, as access to higher education is closely linked to economic mobility and social progress.

The report's authors argue that addressing the diversity gap at selective institutions requires a comprehensive overhaul of admission policies and practices. They emphasize the need for a more holistic approach that takes into account the unique challenges faced by underrepresented minority groups and provides targeted support to ensure their success.

Moving Forward: A Call to Action

In light of these findings, the report calls for a renewed commitment to diversity and inclusion at all levels of higher education. This includes not only revisiting admission policies but also investing in programs and initiatives that support underrepresented minority students throughout their college journey. It also calls on policymakers to prioritize funding and support for open-access institutions, which serve the majority of college students and play a crucial role in promoting equity and opportunity in higher education.

The CEW report serves as a wake-up call for selective U.S. colleges and universities to reevaluate their approach to diversity and inclusion. By acknowledging the challenges faced by underrepresented minority groups and taking proactive steps to address them, these institutions can fulfill their mission of providing a truly equitable and inclusive educational experience for all students.
WWF-Pakistan, with catalytic funding from Laudes Foundation, launched the Regenerative Production Landscape Collaborative (RPLC) Pakistan to drive new business models and farming practices that holistically tackle current challenges faced by smallholder farmers and address the environmental issues resulting from unsustainable practices

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 2nd May, 2024) WWF-Pakistan, with catalytic funding from Laudes Foundation, launched the Regenerative Production Landscape Collaborative (RPLC) Pakistan to drive new business models and farming practices that holistically tackle current challenges faced by smallholder farmers and address the environmental issues resulting from unsustainable practices.

Supported by textile and food brands, RPLC Pakistan will be implemented in the Jhang and Sahiwal districts of Punjab and Barkhan and Lasbela districts of Balochistan. The initiative offers a demonstrable approach to landscapes that has already seen success in India, Brazil and Tanzania.

Speaking at the launch event, Director General, WWF-Pakistan, Hammad Naqi Khan shared that the initiative addresses the long-term challenges of unsustainable agricultural practices in Pakistan.

Highlighting that agriculture faced major issues of excessive use of water, chemicals and pesticides impacting the crop and soil productivity, which was further aggravated by climate change, he noted that this has led to increasing vulnerabilities of local communities and smallholder farmers.

To address these challenges, this initiative will enhance collaborative actions and develop innovative strategies which help farmers to develop climate resilience and improve the agricultural yield, he added.

Addressing the workshop virtually, Head of the Fashion Programme at Laudes Foundation, Anita Chester said, "Laudes Foundation is incredibly pleased to see the RPLC launch in Pakistan supporting the local ecosystem towards sustainable and regenerative practices. We are confident in the leadership of WWF-Pakistan in driving the collaborative forward, fostering collaborations with regional players, supporting local farmers and communities to becoming self-sufficient and financially independent and galvanising communities towards better practices enabling businesses to source responsibly.

Today, the RPLC is planned to cover globally, over a 1 million hectares, and over 300,000 farmers.

In Pakistan specifically, this will cover over a 100,000 hectares and benefit over 50,000 farmers. The approach has already made significant strides in many regions, including India, Brazil, and Tanzania, demonstrating the scalability of this approach.

Speaking at the workshop as chief guest and Chairman Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC), Ghulam Muhammad Ali said that the project will help smallholder farmers and crop growers to improve crop productivity and income generation capacity.

Furthermore, he noted that it will benefit them in that the use of fertilizers and pesticides will be significantly reduced through adaptation of sustainable farming practices.

He added that key problems in crop productivity result from the extensive use of chemicals that harm the ecosystem and soil fertility. He also emphasized the need to promote nature-based solutions, which will help to reduce the negative impacts of climate change and improve sustainable farming practices.

He said climate change was posing a serious challenge to Pakistans economy, agriculture, and natural landscape. More than 1,700 people died in devastating floods and widespread rains in 2022. The need to address these events in Pakistan is urgent and requires governance and policy changes that address specific challenges impacting the different sectors.

Qadir Baksh Pirkani, Special Secretary Agriculture, Government of Balochistan shared that despite the challenges emerging from climate change, water scarcity, poor infrastructure, and limited market access, Balochistan has great potential to contribute to the agriculture sector, adding that the province has 3.47 million hectares of cultivable land.

Asad Imran, Director Foods and Markets, WWF-Pakistan provided an overview of the project saying that this five-year initiative calls for systematic changes towards a landscape-based approach which can further halt and reverse the productivity losses resulting from land degradation and climate change.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. Azerbaijan's Azersun Holding may be entering the Uzbek market, said Azerbaijan's Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov as he addressed the panel discussion themed "Joint way to success: Uzbekistan & Azerbaijan" held as part of the Tashkent Investment Forum, Trend reports.

"We have been in communication with Azersun representatives, and I believe they will enter the Uzbek market as potential investors," he said.

The minister pointed out several potential investment projects to be implemented between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.

"I would like to thank our colleagues in Uzbekistan who have facilitated the partnership within our joint investment fund, we highly appreciate it. Yesterday, we held the first meeting of the oversight committee. We discussed more than 10 projects in various fields," Jabbarov added.

Azersun Holding is a sizable holding company that brings together the top businesses in Azerbaijan's food industry. The organization has launched over thirty businesses in the food production, agricultural, and packaging container manufacturing sectors. It exports goods to more than 40 countries and meets the majority of Azerbaijan's local food market demand.

The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan from January to March 2024 totaled $142 million. The two countries' economies have enough potential for mutual trade indicators to reach $1 billion in the coming years.
(@Abdulla99267510)

The aim of the exercise was to enhance relations and interoperability between Navies of Pakistan and the United States through mutual exchange of professional experience and expertise in maritime domain.

KARACHI: (UrduPoint/UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News-May 2nd, 2024) joint bilateral exercise of Pakistan Navy and US Navy Inspired Union 2024 was held in Karachi.

The aim of the exercise was to enhance relations and interoperability between Navies of Pakistan and the United States through mutual exchange of professional experience and expertise in maritime domain.

Officers and personnel of United States Marine Corps, Coast Guards, Explosive Ordnance Disposal, Diving, Legal, Naval Construction Force, Civil Affairs and Medical teams participated in the drills.

During the exercise, multiple discussions and practical evolutions were conducted on professional topics of mutual interest.

Commander of CTF-52 also called on Commander Pakistan Fleet and Commander Coast during the exercise. Matters related to mutual interest in maritime domain were discussed in the meeting.

Conduct of Exercise Inspired Union is a regular feature between Pakistan Navy and US Navy.

The exercise is manifestation of strong bilateral military relations between Pakistan Navy and the US Navy aimed at promoting safe and sustainable maritime environment in the region.

The exercise also proved mutually rewarding to hone professional skills of participating personnel from both navies and learn from each others experiences.
KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 2nd May, 2024) Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah presided over the 5th Governing Body meeting of the Sindh Digital Technology Board, which decided to appoint a managing director of the board through the head search process from the market.

The meeting was attended by the Principal Secretary to CM Agha Wasif, Secretary IT Asif Ikram, Secretary Finance Fayaz Jatoi, Board members Jaham Ara, and (through a video link) Junaid Qureshi, Asif Peer, and Osama Nasir.

After discussion, the CM decided that the board should have a managing director, who must be appointed from the market through a head search.

He directed Secretary of IT Asif Ikarm to complete the appointment process within six weeks.

Shah directed the IT secretary to establish the office of the IT board in the market, such as at Shahrah-e-Faisal, so that they could perform in market competition.

The meeting decided that the IT board would be registered as a company. The Secretary of IT was directed to develop a plan to make the provincial government departments paperless.

There must be an E-file system in all the departments so that a paperless digital filing system could be evolved, he said, and he directed him to submit the proposals.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday stressed the need to work together with Azerbaijan to enhance trade and investment, energy cooperation, defence, connectivity, education and cultural exchanges, and people-to-people contacts

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 2nd May, 2024) Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday stressed the need to work together with Azerbaijan to enhance trade and investment, energy cooperation, defence, connectivity, education and cultural exchanges, and people-to-people contacts.

The prime minister said that he intended to send a high level ministerial delegation to Baku for enhancing bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

Pakistan, he said, was also prepared to convene the Pakistan-Azerbaijan Joint Commission meeting at an early date where both sides could discuss matters related to cooperation in various fields.

The prime minister was talking to Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Pakistan Khazar Farhadov who called on him.

The ambassador briefed the prime minister on the current state of bilateral relations, highlighting the recent inauguration of flights between Baku and Karachi, in addition to the flights already operating between Baku and Islamabad as well as Baku and Lahore.

He said that the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan was also expected to visit Pakistan later this month. He also briefed the prime minister on various institutional mechanisms and their upcoming meetings later this year.

While admiring the beauty of the city of Baku, Prime Minister Shehbaz said that he wanted to replicate the beautification of Baku in Islamabad and suggested that both cities could explore enhanced cooperation through sister city agreement among them.

He emphasized that Pakistan attached great importance to Azerbaijan as the two countries enjoyed excellent brotherly relations.

He conveyed his greetings for President Ilham Aliyev and fondly recalled their telephonic conversation on Eidul Fitr.

He also recalled his interactions with the leadership of Azerbaijan during his visit to Baku in June 2023 and reiterated his invitation to President Aliyev to undertake an official visit to Pakistan at his earliest convenience.

The prime minister congratulated Azerbaijan on being selected as the host city for the COP 29 Summit meeting that would be held in November 2024 and said he looked forward to receiving the Minister of Ecology of Azerbaijan next week, who would be carrying the formal invitation letter of the Azeri President for the COP 29 meeting.

He said that Pakistan wanted to enhance its fraternal relations with Azerbaijan and also looked forward to the visit of President Ilham Aliyev to Islamabad soon.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday formed an inquiry committee headed by the Secretary Cabinet Division to probe into the matter of wheat import in the country

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 2nd May, 2024) Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday formed an inquiry committee headed by the Secretary Cabinet Division to probe into the matter of wheat import in the country.

Chairing a high-level review meeting regarding the current status of wheat reserves in the country here, the prime minister inquired from the Ministry of National food Security about the import of wheat last year.

The prime minister questioned that for what reason the decision to import wheat was taken despite the good production of the commodity last year.

Expressing satisfaction over bumper crop production of wheat this year, the prime minister stressed to ensure that there was no delay in the purchase of wheat.

All necessary steps should be taken regarding the purchase of wheat, he said adding the farmers should be immediately paid for their hard work.

Federal Ministers Ahad Khan Cheema, Rana Tanveer Hussain, Muhammad Aurangzeb, Jam Kamal Khan, PM's Coordinator Rana Ehsan Afzaal and other high officials attended the meeting.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Zonal Office Lahore, in collaboration with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Cyber Crime Circle, Thursday conducted a successful raid against franchisee of a mobile phone company in Khairpur Tame Wali, Distt Bahawalpur against Illegal SIM Issuance

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 2nd May, 2024) Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Zonal Office Lahore, in collaboration with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Cyber Crime Circle, Thursday conducted a successful raid against franchisee of a mobile phone company in Khairpur Tame Wali, Distt Bahawalpur against Illegal SIM Issuance.

The franchisee was found to be involved in the illegal issuance of SIMs that were also found to be used in grey trafficking and fraudulent activities, said a news release issued here.

During the raid, 470 suspicious active SIM cards, nine BVS devices, one BISP device, a laptop containing approximately 4000 fingerprints that were being used to activate the SIMs illegally, were seized.

Additionally, one individual was apprehended by the FIA team, against whom FIR has been registered.

The FIA is actively pursuing further investigation into the matter.

The authority has filed a complaint with FIA based on information related to the illegal issuance of SIMs by the sales channel.

This raid signifies the authority's dedication to eradicate the illegal issuance of SIMs.
(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Mexico City, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 2nd May, 2024) The skeletal remains discovered in an alleged clandestine grave in southeastern Mexico City are those of animals, not humans, prosecutors said Wednesday.

"The 14 bone elements found at the site are of animal origin, particularly of the canine species, and none of them correspond to any person," Mexico City prosecutor Ulises Lara said in a statement.

Cecilia Flores, who leads the Searching Mothers group in the state of Sonora, posted on social media Tuesday the discovery of the remains buried in a vacant lot, something fairly rare in the Mexican capital.

She said the group also found photographs and identification belonging to different people, which were believed to have possibly been the victims'.

However, as of midday Wednesday, a woman and a child who some of the documents belonged to were found alive, the first having lost her ID in a robbery and the child having left his in a book that was discarded.

The site, according to the search group, was on the border between Iztapalapa and Tlahuac, two crowded boroughs in the capital with high rates of poverty and gang crime.

Lara, the prosecutor, also said that with a town located nearby, it would be difficult to cremate bodies -- a process that requires high temperatures for a long time -- without the townspeople realizing it.

"We can categorically affirm that it is neither a crematorium nor a clandestine grave," he said.
(@FahadShabbir)

Brazzaville, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 2nd May, 2024) Denis Sassou Nguesso's 40-year rule of Congo-Brazzaville has sparked debate over the appropriate age for a president, with the African 'dinosaur' already widely expected to win the next election that is not due until 2026.

The former paratrooper was president of Congo-Brazzaville from 1979-1992 under a single-party regime, then returned to office in 1997 after a civil war and has dominated politics ever since.

Dubbed the "emperor", Sassou Nguesso, who is officially 80 and remains fit, is widely expected to run for a fifth term in 2026.

"He makes no secret of it," a diplomat told AFP.

Last September, a rumour of a potential coup spread on social media following a string of coups that have rocked the Sahel since 2020, including Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Gabon. But all remained calm in the oil-producing country.

After successive elections in 2002 and 2009, Sassou Nguesso held the presidential reins in 2016 and 2021 by making a constitutional change in 2015 which bypassed the original age limit, 70, and increased the number of five-year terms to three.
Scotland's likely next leader John Swinney is a political veteran who will have to unify his fractured separatist party and revitalise its flagging independence movement

London, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 2nd May, 2024) Scotland's likely next leader John Swinney is a political veteran who will have to unify his fractured separatist party and revitalise its flagging independence movement.

The 60-year-old belongs to the Scottish National Party's (SNP) old guard, and is an ally of tarnished ex-first minister Nicola Sturgeon, whom he loyally served as deputy for a record nine years.

Swinney is viewed as a calm head capable of stabilising Scotland's ruling party following 39-year-old Humza Yousaf's turbulent leadership and repairing its broken relationship with former power-sharing partners the Greens.

But detractors say Swinney -- who has led the party before -- represents more of the same, and is damaged by his defence of former boss Sturgeon, who was arrested in an ongoing party finances scandal.

"He could hardly be closer to the now discredited Sturgeon leadership so distancing himself from that will be a challenge," politics professor James Mitchell, of Edinburgh University, told AFP.

"(But) Swinney is the ultimate party man, loyal to a fault. He is very well liked in the SNP because of this."

Born in Edinburgh in April 1964, Swinney joined the SNP when he was 15, quickly rising through its ranks and becoming national secretary in the mid-1980s.

He first became a lawmaker in 1997 when he was elected to the UK parliament in London to represent a constituency in Tayside, in the heart of Scotland.

Two years later, he was elected to Scotland's regional parliament at Holyrood in Edinburgh when it was re-established after more than 300 years, with Labour at the helm.

Swinney first became SNP leader in September 2000 following the departure of Alex Salmond.

But he endured a torrid four years in charge as the SNP's fortunes slumped during the early days of Scotland's devolved parliament and the height of New Labour mania under UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Despite an expenses scandal forcing then-Labour first minister Henry McLeish from office in 2001, the opposition SNP still lost several seats at Holyrood in the 2003 Scottish parliamentary election.

Swinney saw off a leadership contest from an SNP activist but was forced to step down after a dismal showing at the 2004 European Parliament elections.

- 'Unite' -

His political career enjoyed a rebirth in 2007 when the SNP, then under the leadership of Salmond again, became the largest party at Holyrood and Swinney became finance minister.

He became deputy first minister in 2014 after Sturgeon succeeded Salmond following an independence referendum in which Scotland voted to remain part of the UK.

Swinney occupied several ministerial roles under Sturgeon, including education minister, and gained a reputation for being a steady and trusted hand.

He faced challenges, though, and twice survived no confidence votes, including over his refusal to publish legal advice during an inquiry into the flawed handling of harassment complaints against Salmond.

After Yousaf succeeded Sturgeon in March last year, Swinney stepped down from government, saying it was time for a "new generation" to lead.

Since then, internal divisions have been laid bare between progressives pushing trans rights and tough action against climate change, and more conservative members interested in core issues such as the economy.

All while the SNP faces pressure from a resurgent, union-supporting Labour party that is tipped to form the next UK government following an election due later this year.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan plan to hold an interregional forum, said Yusif Abdullayev, Executive Director of the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Agency (AZPROMO), as he addressed the panel discussion themed "Joint way to success: Uzbekistan & Azerbaijan" held as part of the Tashkent Investment Forum, Trend reports.

"We visit Uzbekistan at least 5 times a year, and these visits strengthen our relations. I would like to announce that we will be holding the Interregional Forum between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan on May 21 in the city of Guba. I invite everybody, and we would be glad to see you there. This also emphasizes the development of our relations and the regularity of our meetings," he said.

He pointed out that, as the Azerbaijani delegation attends the current forum in Tashkent, a larger delegation was assembled this time.

"We have signed a roadmap to execute several projects. Over the past 7-8 months, this cooperation has advanced significantly. There is a huge opportunity in the textile sector. Additionally, we hope to implement a project for establishing a textile enterprise together," the executive director added.

He also mentioned several more projects between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan in the industry, automobile, construction, and other sectors to be implemented over the next few months.

Meanwhile, in February 2023, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan entered into an intergovernmental agreement to establish a Joint Investment Fund worth $500 million.

Trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan from January to March 2024 totaled $142 million. The two countries' economies have enough potential for mutual trade indicators to reach $1 billion in the coming years.
TBILISI, Georgia, May 2. The Middle Corridor is experiencing a surge in prominence as an extraordinary alternative to Black Sea ports or land routes for facilitating trade flows between Europe and Asia in light of the current difficult global environment and the increasing need to diversify supply chains, First Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia Levan Davitashvili said, Trend reports.

He made the remark at a panel discussion on the topic "Enhancing Connectivity: European Connectivity (Renewable Energy and Digital Connectivity) Middle Corridor (Reshaping Euro-Asia Connectivity)" within the framework of the ADB (Asian Development Bank) annual meeting in Tbilisi.

"In pursuit of this objective, the nation is proactively enhancing its transportation infrastructure via a multitude of initiatives, including railway modernization, the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line, the East-West highway, and the deep-sea port of Anaklia, among others."

These strategic investments are aimed at strengthening Georgia's role as a bridge between Europe and Asia, while providing corresponding opportunities to meet the continuously growing transport flows," Davitashvili also said.

He noted that Georgia has long-standing cooperation with the Asian Development Bank.

"Up to $4.5 billion has been invested in various important infrastructure projects. Today's event is also crucial for promoting inclusive and sustainable development, especially in light of the challenges in the region resulting from the pandemic and geopolitical conflicts.

Despite the significant macroeconomic impact caused by the pandemic, crises have generated new approaches and innovative ideas for reorienting and intensifying efforts towards accelerated economic development in the regions," the minister mentioned.

Davitashvili emphasized that the theme of today's event, "Enhancing Connectivity," is very important, as connectivity in a broad sense encompasses many areas, including communication, energy, and transportation, which can have synergistic and cumulative effects on our countries and economies.

"In the post-pandemic period, Georgia's economic growth reached double digits  10.6 percent and 11 percent in 2021 and 2022, respectively. The trend continued with a growth rate of 7.5 percent in 2023 and 7.7 percent from January through February 2024. Along with structural reforms, strengthening regional ties helps ensure economic stability and sustainable long-term growth," he said.

The official stressed the crucial role of the private sector and international financial institutions in accelerating the implementation of strategic partnership projects and thanked the Asian Development Bank and other financial institutions for their long-term support in building quality infrastructure in Georgia.

The minister also emphasized the importance of Georgia in terms of energy connections. According to him, the most ambitious project is the construction of the Black Sea submarine cable, which will strengthen regional connectivity.

"The importance of this flagship project for both Europe and the Caucasus cannot be overstated; it not only serves the diversification of supply routes and risk reduction but also has great potential to promote the development of renewable energy sources in Georgia and the wider region," he added.

According to the Ministry of Economy, Georgia is hosting the annual ADB event this year.

The 57th Annual Meeting will have the theme "Bridge to the Future" from May 2 to May 5.

The opening session of the Board of Governors will take place on May 4. The opening session marks the official start of the annual meeting. It is a high-profile event attended by the Guest of Honor from the host country. ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa and Georgia's Minister of Finance and Chair of the ADB Board of Governors, Lasha Khutsishvili, will make remarks.



The annual meeting is an opportunity for ADB governors to consider development issues and challenges facing Asia and the Pacific. Several thousand participants, including finance ministers, central bank governors, senior government officials, members of the private sector, representatives of international organizations and civil society organizations, youth, academia, and the media, regularly join the meeting.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Transcript:

The Inside Story: A free Press Matters: World Press Freedom Day

Episode 142 - May 2, 2024

Show Open:

Unidentified Narrator:

This week on The Inside Story...

UNESCO marks World Press Freedom Day...

VOA journalists and independent media in the line of duty... and working under fire.

From the United States Capitol to Beijing...France to South Africa... see how dedicated journalists fight to bring you the world's most important stories.

Now... on The Inside Story...World Press Freedom Day.

The Inside Story:

JESSICA JERREAT, VOA Press Freedom Editor:

Hi Im Jessica Jerreat, VOAs Press Freedom Editor here outside the White House in Washington.

As UNESCO marks World Press Freedom Day, the worlds attention turns to the role journalism plays in society. From holding the powerful to account, to investigating the issues that affect their communities most, reporters act as the public watchdog And ensure that news flows, even to the most censored countries.

We take a look at some of those remarkable efforts later in the show.

But we start off here with a look at local media covering US politics, with my colleague here in Washington.

CRISTINA CAICEDO SMIT, VOA Correspondent:

Hi, Im Cristina Caicedo Smit, here at the Capitol in Washington. Regional reporters from across the U.S. are here covering national politics for local audiences. In a key election year, they are a vital resource.

The Iron City. Four hundred and forty-six bridges span the three rivers that converge here in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. And one bridge connects its 300,000-plus residents with national politics from a local angle: the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Jonathan Salant, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

Are you concerned that progressives are not going to come along to vote for Biden during the elections based on what is going on in Israel?

CRISTINA CAICEDO SMIT:

Heading the Washington beat is Jonathan Salant. Reporting from the capital for about four decades, he has covered his fair share of presidents, elections, congressional policy and scandal.

When he started out, Ronald Reagan was president and Salant was one of hundreds of local reporters covering national politics.

Now, in an era of political partisanship, rising distrust in news, and mass closures of local media outlets, fewer journalists work this beat.

Currently, only about two dozen states have reporters accredited to cover Congress, according to data from the U.S. Senate Press Gallery.

Jonathan Salant, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

I mean, in New York alone, there was Buffalo, there was Rochester, there was Albany, there was Syracuse and now they're all gone.

CRISTINA CAICEDO SMIT:

In swing states like Pennsylvania and Georgia, that leaves local reporters with an outsize task.

Tia Mitchell, Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Nikki Haley at this hour is holding a news conference announcing shes suspending her campaign for president

I do have to just keep in mind I'm a one-woman show. I can't do everything. Also, keep in mind that I'm not the national media. I'm not competing with national reporters.

CRISTINA CAICEDO SMIT:

From her home outside Washington, Mitchell has a busy schedule. She covers the Capitol, produces a daily newsletter and co-hosts a podcast for audiences back in Atlanta, Georgia.

Like Salant, she remembers when more local reporters had a seat at White House briefings.

Tia Mitchell, Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

We share and we rotate, whereas before so many of the newspapers and the Regional Reporters Association, back in the day, might have had their own seat.

CRISTINA CAICEDO SMIT:

Jonathan Salant's job is far from glamorous. He spends weekends going over bills and policy.

Jonathan Salant, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

You go through hundreds of pages and looking up all the local lawmakers and the bills they sponsored.

CRISTINA CAICEDO SMIT:

His focus is always the local perspective.

Jonathan Salant, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

I always say my job is to tell the public what their public officials are doing.

CRISTINA CAICEDO SMIT:

Salant has earned a reputation on the Hill for being attentive and asking tough questions.

And he is a familiar face to staffers and press secretaries.

Jen Psaki, White House Press Secretary:

He has a good mustache, for anyone who doesn't know. Go ahead.

CRISTINA CAICEDO SMIT:

His reporting supports the work of colleagues back in Pittsburgh, like Hallie Lauer, who covers City Hall.

Hallie Lauer, City Hall Reporter:

B alance the campaign trail stuff versus what the voters are thinking.

CRISTINA CAICEDO SMIT:

She and Salant work closely to make news from the Capitol relevant to their readers.

Hallie Lauer, City Hall Reporter:

So we're collaborating on projects like that all the time where, Hey, this lawmaker earmarked $5 million for this project. And then I get to go out and talk to the people planning the project here and be like, What does this money mean to you?

CRISTINA CAICEDO SMIT:



At the Hazelwood Cafe in Pittsburgh, Dasawn Gray is upfront about what matters most to his community.

Dasawn Gray, Hazelwood Cafe Owner:

Having a grocery store, having a dentist's office, having a bank like with main like, what other neighborhood(s) have, like Hazel deserves those things.

CRISTINA CAICEDO SMIT:

Running a business in the neighborhood where he grew up, Gray has seen the effects of store closures, high housing costs and gentrification.

And all the while, local reporters have told the community's story.

Dasawn Gray, Hazelwood Cafe Owner:

Well, I think local news is important because it shares not only the bad things, also about the positive things happening in the neighborhood.

CRISTINA CAICEDO SMIT:

As for Salant, he just wants to keep Pittsburghs residents informed.

Jonathan Salant, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

Somebody's got to tell them what's going on. That the lawmaker they send over in Washington, what he or she [is] doing. That's our job to let you know what your officials are up to.

CRISTINA CAICEDO SMIT:

In this election year, Washington-based reporters like Salant are vital watchdogs, ensuring transparency, asking questions, and making sure campaign promises are upheld and local issues resolved.

With Liam Scott in Washington and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Cristina Caicedo Smit, VOA News.

JESSICA JERREAT:

News deserts present a big challenge to American journalists. But in Russia, Vladimir Putins repressive policies are creating a media blackhole. The Kremlin is also detaining two American journalists: Alsu Kurmasheva and Evan Gershkovich.

Heres what President Joe Biden had to say about their unlawful detention at the White House Correspondents Dinner:

President Joe Biden:

Journalism is clearly not a crime. Not here, not there, not anywhere in the world. And (Vladimir) Putin should release Evan (Gershkovich) and Alsu (Kurmasheva) immediately.

JESSICA JERREAT:

Russias crackdown on independent media is affecting its own journalists too. With increased legal risk for reporting truthfully on Putins war in Ukraine, many have gone into exile. From Paris, Lisa Bryant has the story.

LISA BRYANT, VOA Correspondent:

Arnold Khachaturov got into journalism to provide his fellow Russians with the kind of news not seen on state-controlled channels. Then Russia invaded Ukraine and imposed new media restrictions that upended the Moscow-based reporters career.

Arnold Khachaturov, Novaya Gazeta Europe:

Every independent media was thinking about how to continue because they were blocked a few days after the war started.

LISA BRYANT:

Khachaturov is one of the more than 1,500 Russian journalists estimated to be living in exile. This year, his news outlet  Novaya Gazeta Europe  opened a third office  in Paris.

Its a two-person operation  sharing a co-working space like this one, which provides offices and other resources to the exile community.

Khachaturov covers European and Russian news for audiences inside and outside his home country  including the latest on the war in Ukraine. Inside Russia, the topic is heavily censored.

Social media is crucial to his work.

Arnold Khachaturov, Novaya Gazeta Europe:

It is indeed very hard to get information in Russia, not only because were not physically there. But also because were an undesirable organization  so for people who talk with us, its a real danger.

LISA BRYANT:

Novaya Gazeta Europe is one of dozens of media outlets that Moscow has labeled undesirable  a designation that puts its staff and sources in and out of Russia at risk of legal action and imprisonment.

Jeanne Cavelier, Reporters Without Borders:

It always has been difficult for independent journalists in Russia. But the situation has been getting worse with the war in Ukraine, with the whole military censorship. You can be put in prison for anything.

LISA BRYANT:

To help exiled Russian independent journalists broadcast their reports, Reporters Without Borders launched Svoboda, a satellite package that includes Novaya Gazeta Europe and other news channels. Supported by the European Union, it aims to reach several million households in Russia.

Jeanne Cavelier, Reporters Without Borders:

Television is, can be, a powerful tool for Russian people to change their mind about the war  to have the facts, real facts. Instead of propaganda.

LISA BRYANT

Russian journalist and analyst Galia Ackerman says it was even more difficult accessing independent news in Soviet times. Living in Moscow decades ago, she and her husband listened to foreign radio late at night, when there was less jamming.

Galia Ackerman, Russian Analyst:

My parents never came to listen with us. They didnt care. Because for them it was simpler for them not to know.

LISA BRYANT

Thats one reason shes skeptical that the new satellite operation will make much of a difference inside Russia.

Galia Ackerman, Russian Analyst:

Most of the population  I think, Im afraid  do not want to know, because its unbearable to know. Because Russia is committing a big continuous crime. Crime against Ukraine, but crime against its own people.

LISA BRYANT

Khatchaturov is optimistic that democracy and free expression will one day come to Russia. But first, he says, he and other exiled journalists need to prepare for a long struggle.

Lisa Bryant, VOA News, Paris.

JESSICA JERREAT:

Exile offers journalists protection from immediate retaliation. But distance is not always a guarantee of safety. Journalists from China, for instance, flee Beijings reach but still find themselves targeted with attacks, threats, and surveillance. From Berlin, heres Liam Scott:

LIAM SCOTT, VOA Correspondent:

Su Yutong has become a skilled chef. Cooking dishes she loved in Beijing connects the journalist with her home country and helps fill the long periods spent home alone.

The reason for her self-imposed isolation: years of attacks and threats from China.

Su Yutong, Journalist:

I keep telling the truth, so they [China] want me to shut up, including by threatening me.

LIAM SCOTT:



Sharing a banned book on Tiananmen Square back in 2010 began Sus troubles. Police raided her home in Beijing and held her under house arrest.

But with the help of friends, she escaped to Europe.

For a while, Germanys capital provided a sense of safety. Su wrote human rights stories for Deutsche Welle and then Radio Free Asia. But the sense of safety soon disappeared.

In 2022, strange men started turning up at her building, brought there by an underground sex website that listed her address.

Su Yutong, Journalist:

I felt very disgusted and very humiliated, and I had some mental health problems at the time. I was afraid to walk down the street.

LIAM SCOTT

The worst was yet to come. In 2023, assailants used Su and two Chinese activists identities to book rooms at luxury hotels in Berlin and other cities. Then, they called in fake bomb threats.

Experts say that Sus case is extreme even for Beijing, which ranks among the worst perpetrators of transnational repression.

Mareike Ohlberg, German Marshall Fund:

The basic tactics of transnational repression are usually geared toward showing people that they cant get away from the Chinese government.

LIAM SCOTT

The driving goal, says Ohlberg, is to stop any criticism of China overseas.

Neither Chinas embassy in Berlin nor its foreign ministry responded to VOAs requests for comment.

Being targeted is a lonely experience. Over a two-year period, Su barely left her apartment. She says even something as simple as a walk in the park can feel tinged with danger.

Su Yutong, Journalist:

When I went out, I kept checking to see if there were any suspicious people around me, and I rarely even went out of the house.

LIAM SCOTT

Such a response is typical, experts say.

Gozde Bocu, Citizen Lab:

Paranoia is a common response across different communities. And often people fear that other actors or individuals within the community could spy on them. And these fears are not unfounded.



LIAM SCOTT

But now, Su says she feels less afraid.

Su Yutong, Journalist:

They didnt expect me to slowly come out of that shadow. I think they should be afraid, not me. They can't shut me up. They cant achieve this goal.

LIAM SCOTT

Her life is fuller again, but Sus apartment is still sparse. After the 2023 incidents, police recommended she move. When she did, she left nearly everything behind.

Except the tools needed to keep reporting.

Su Yutong, Journalist:



China blocks the truth. It needs to have a lot of journalists to tell the real stories, tell the real events and the truth.

LIAM SCOTT

In one way, says Su, theres a sense of comfort in knowing that Beijing is scared too. If they werent, Su believes, they wouldnt try so hard to silence her.



Liam Scott, VOA News, Berlin.

\

JESSICA JERREAT:

The trial of former President Donald Trump is underway in New York. Among those testifying, a former tabloid publisher who says he helped suppress negative stories. Arash Arabasadi has more...

ARASH ARABASADI, VOA Correspondent:

Journalists gather outside the New York courthouse where jurors are hearing testimony in former President Donald Trumps trial on 34 felony counts of falsifying information. The former President is accused of hiding payments meant to suppress negative stories about him... in an effort to influence the outcome of the 2016 election.

Among those taking the stand was David Pecker, former head of the National Enquirer. The tabloid publisher testified that he pledged to be Trumps eyes and ears for the 2016 election.

That included a promise to publish positive stories about Trump... publish negative stories about his opponents... and also to buy exclusive rights to negative stories and then never publish them, a practice known as catch and kill.

The practice of buying stories is known as checkbook journalism. Heres what that means.

Checkbook journalism, or brown envelope journalism as it is known in Africa, is where newsrooms either pay sources for exclusive interviews, or accept money to report on a subject favorably or as alleged in the Trump case  not at all.

Rick Edmonds, Media Business Analyst, Poynter Institute:

Among the many things wrong with it (is that) it sort of fosters unreliable sources who may be in it for the money and may be shading the truth, or in some cases, just making it up.

ARASH ARABASADI:

In the U.S. and Britain, the practice is most common in tabloid media. In other countries, it comes in the form of bribes or attempts to influence reporting.

The Society of Professional Journalists tells members to be wary of sources offering cash. And VOAs own guide says it is a violation of journalistic ethics.

Christina Veiga, News Literacy Project:

We dont want people to become cynical about news sources. We want them to understand that a credible news organization is not going to pay for sources or for stories, because it could affect the accuracy of what theyre reporting.

ARASH ARABASADI:

Payments for journalism are largely seen as an ethical issue. Associations like the International Federation of Journalists advocate for higher pay to avoid the lure of cash for content.

Part of the concern: the loss of objectivity, and in turn, the loss of trust from audiences.

Christina Veiga, News Literacy Project:

The aim of journalism is to produce fair, accurate, (and) useful information, and once you start paying for sources, that gets muddied.

ARASH ARABASADI:

As the first of Trumps criminal cases moves forward, with the former president denying the 34 charges against him of falsifying business records, the courtroom sheds light on this murky issue of media ethics.

Arash Arabasadi, VOA News.

JESSICA JERREAT:

As part of a border plan in early 2023 the White House extended its humanitarian parole program for those fleeing uneasy climates in Nicaragua, Cuba and Haiti. For Nicaraguan journalists who have long been jailed, threatened, or expelled, the program enables them to relocate to safety and keep their media outlets running. Veronica Villanfane has more:

VERONICA VILLANFANE, VOA Correspondent:

The San Juan River. Two hundred kilometers of water separates these journalists from their home country  and their readers in Nicaragua.

Forced into exile but still reporting from neighboring Costa Rica, the journalists wanted to mark the 98th anniversary of their paper, La Prensa. So they briefly returned to Nicaraguas shores.

Hans Lawrence Ramirez, La Prensa:

I remember there was a moment when we were on the boat and there was a profound silence from the entire team. Only the noise of the engine could be heard.

VERONICA VILLANFANE:

The clandestine approach was necessary. Almost all La Prensa's staff  reporters, editors, even the drivers  were forced to flee government persecution.

For them, producing a special edition from Nicaraguan territory sends the government a message.

Nayel Martinez, La Prensa:

It was a way of telling the dictatorship, well, that, Here we are, from where we should never have left: Nicaragua.

Oscar Navarrete, La Prensa:

Show the dictatorship that we are not on our knees. Show the dictatorship that independent journalism is present and active and is penetrating the Nicaraguan population.

VERONICA VILLANFANE:

After two years in exile, the brief return was deeply moving, Navarrete says.

Oscar Navarrete, La Prensa:

I felt fulfilled, I swept my hands with the waters of the river and enjoyed that water. I put it on my forehead and said, Here is my country again, and here I am again.

VERONICA VILLANFANE:

But a permanent return is not an option for the La Prensa team. In 2021, President Daniel Ortegas government seized the newsroom as part of what authorities said was a customs fraud investigation.

Juan Lorenzo Holmann, La Prensa Publisher:

A contingent of police and riot police arrived at La Prensa. They took over La Prensa, they took over the facilities with us inside.

VERONICA VILLANFANE:

Then they arrested the publisher, Juan Lorenzo Holmann.

Juan Lorenzo Holmann, La Prensa Publisher:

I spent 545 days in El Chipote (prison). I was tried, sentenced to nine years, a fine of $3 million for money laundering, because, obviously, everything they presented were totally absurd arguments, a circus.

VERONICA VILLANFANE:

Investigations and arrests are a reality for Nicaraguas journalists, says media watchdog Reporters Without Borders.

The office of Nicaraguas government spokesperson did not respond to VOAs email requesting comment.

Holmann was freed in 2023. But not before authorities expelled him from the country and stripped him of his citizenship.

VERONICA VILLANFANE:

Now in the U.S., Holmann works with his team in exile to keep La Prensa going.





Juan Lorenzo Holmann, La Prensa Publisher:

We work with many sacrifices and many hardships, but always with the intention of continuing to serve.

VERONICA VILLANFANE:

Adding to the complexity of their job, the team has been reduced from 400 collaborators in 2018 to just 47. But those remaining refuse to be silenced.

Oscar Navarrete, La Prensa:

We inform the country 24 hours a day, not just to Nicaragua, but also the world, about what is happening inside and outside of Nicaragua.

VERONICA VILLANFANE:

The journalists are confident they will one day return to their home  and their newsroom. And that La Prensa will live on to celebrate its 100-year anniversary.

For Donaldo Hernandez in San Jose, Costa Rica, Veronica Villafane, VOA News.

JESSICA JERREAT:

Presidential candidate Donald Trump plans to campaign this week in the Midwestern state of Michigan. Its a state that President Biden and Vice President Harris have already visited a few times this year. Its also one of a handful of swing states that could decide the results of Novembers presidential election. Heres Scott Stearns with the latest installment of our series USA Votes 20-24

SCOTT STEARNS, VOA Correspondent:

Voters in Michigan chose Donald Trump in 2016 but Joe Biden in 2020. It is a state both campaigns believe they can win this November.

Part of Trumps approach in Michigan is winning over auto workers whose jobs, he says, are threatened by Bidens renewable energy plans, including subsidies for electric vehicles.

Its a message he is bringing to a rally in central Michigan Wednesday.

Donald Trump, Republican Presidential Candidate:

Well be in Michigan, a state that hes destroyed because of the auto industry. Were not going to have any jobs left in Michigan. No auto jobs left in Michigan. Theyre all going over to China and other places with this ridiculous EV mandate, electric vehicle mandate.

SCOTT STEARNS:

The main union representing auto workers in Michigan endorsed Biden over Trump.

Paul Torrente is a union representative.

Paul Torrente, Michigan Voter:

Donald Trump most likely has the support of big corporations in Michigan because they are the ones that actually hold the working class down. So, for him to actually say that he has Michigan, he doesnt have the working people in Michigan, he has the 1%.

SCOTT STEARNS:

That is a message Biden is using to keep union-household voters, who an NBC News poll says still favor him over Trump but by a smaller margin than four years ago.

Joe Biden, U.S. President:

Donald Trumps vision of America is one of revenge and retribution. A defeated former president who sees the world from Mar-a-Lago and bows down to billionaires, who looks down on American union workers. Its not just that hes not supporting, he looks down on us.

SCOTT STEARNS:

A potential liability for Biden in Michigan is traditionally Democratic voters who oppose his support for Israel in the war in Gaza.

Omar Suleiman is an Imam at the Islamic Center of Detroit.

Omar Suleiman, Michigan Voter:

He is intentionally, I think, pursuing a policy that is not only inhumane and disgusting to everyone that hoped for something different, but will be consequential in November 2024.

SCOTT STEARNS:

In Michigans Adams Township, voters believe Biden has mishandled immigration and lost control of the border, says township supervisor Randy Johnson.

Randy Johnson, Michigan Voter:

Look how many, and Im not saying this in a bad way, but look how many people came in. Look how many people we didnt know came in. Look how many bad people came in. Trumps wall wouldve isolated all that.

SCOTT STEARNS:

Trump says Michiganders are tired of Biden.

Donald Trump, Republican Presidential Candidate:

This November, the great state of Michigan is going to tell crooked Joe Biden you're fired, get the hell out of here.

SCOTT STEARNS:

Biden says it is the strength of labor unions that will help him win re-election.

Joe Biden, U.S. President:

You're the best in the world. You know, you had my back in 2020. And because of you, I'm standing here as president of the United States of America. Because of you. And that's a fact. Because of you, in 2024, we're going to make Donald Trump a loser again.

SCOTT STEARNS

A CBS News poll of Michigan voters last week found Biden has a slim lead over Trump, with nearly two-thirds of Michiganders saying voting for president this year matters more than it did four years ago.

Scott Stearns, VOA News:

JESSICA JERREAT:

Thats all for now. Thanks for Watching the Inside Story: A Free Press Matters.

For the latest news you can, log on to VOA news dot com. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook at VOA News.

To get all the Press Freedom related content, follow me on X formerly Twitter at @jessicajerreat. Catch up on past episodes at our free streaming service, VOA Plus.

See you next week, for The Inside Story.

###
Pro-Palestinian students at four Australian campuses say they will permanently occupy university land until their demands for divestment are met. The protests have been called by activists in solidarity with their counterparts in the United States.

Australian students say they see themselves part of this global wave of pro-Palestinian activism. The protests have, so far, been peaceful, although some Jewish students say they feel intimidated by the rallies.

The Australian Union of Jewish Students in New South Wales state told local media that antisemitism was forcing many of its members to avoid going to classes and many were scared to go to campus. In response, protest organizers said that antisemitism had no place in their campaign. A university spokesperson said the protest camp was being carefully monitored and that threatening chants or slogans would not be tolerated.

At the University of Sydney, there have been verbal disputes between pro-Palestinian students and others who oppose their actions.

Student activists at four Australian campuses want their universities to divest from all activities that support Israel, as well as a cease-fire and the end of Australian government ties to Israel.

All four universities told local media they supported the rights of students and staff to protest peacefully in accordance with Australian law.

Antony Loewenstein is a Jewish Australian and author of the best-selling book The Palestine Laboratory.

He told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that the students support their counterparts in the United States.

There were a lot of Jewish students and others," he said. "There were Muslims, there were Christians. What they are protesting, yes, is partly what is happening in Gaza, of course, in solidarity with students across the U.S. but also the connections between Sydney University and frankly many Australian universities with defense companies.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrations have continued at universities across the U.S. and there have been counterprotests by activists supporting Israel.

Police officers have massed in Los Angeles on the campus of the University of California. telling pro-Palestinian protesters to leave or face arrest.

Last month, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the country could consider a highly conditional recognition of a Palestinian state. The Canberra government would expect a cease-fire in the war in Gaza, the return of Israeli hostages held by the militant group Hamas, and the exclusion of Hamas from any future Palestinian government as preconditions for recognition.
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After weeks of pro-Palestinian protests escalating at universities across the U.S., President Joe Biden warned Thursday that order must prevail, even as he underscored that dissent is essential for democracy. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara reports.
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said Thursday that the Palestinian militant group was studying a proposal for a temporary cease-fire with Israel with a "positive spirit."

Haniyeh discussed the issue in separate phone calls with Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel and Qatar Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, according to a Hamas statement.

Hamas said it is sending a delegation to Egypt for more talks on a cease-fire.

Mediators have proposed a 40-day cease-fire and the release of many Palestinian prisoners in exchange for dozens of Israeli hostages.



"Hamas needs to say yes and needs to get this done," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a visit to Israel on Wednesday. "If Hamas actually purports to care about the Palestinian people and wants to see an immediate alleviation of their suffering, it should take this deal."

Hamas said on Saturday that it received Israel's latest position and would study it before issuing a response.

Meanwhile, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Wednesday his government would sever diplomatic relations with Israel Thursday in response to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Speaking at a march in the Colombian capital, Bogota, Petro described Israels leadership as genocidal.

If Palestine dies, humanity dies, and we are not going to let it die, Petro said.

His comments drew a quick response from Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, who called Petros decision a gift to Hamas.

History will remember that Gustavo Petro decided to side with the most despicable monsters known to mankind who burned babies, murdered children, raped women and kidnapped innocent civilians, Katz said on X.

As Israel prepares for a planned military operation in Rafah, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke by telephone Wednesday with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

A Pentagon spokesperson said Austin stressed the need for any potential Israeli military operation in Rafah to include a credible plan to evacuate Palestinian civilians and maintain the flow of humanitarian aid.

Austin also reiterated U.S. support for Israels defense, as well as a commitment to the unconditional return of all hostages and conveyed the importance of increasing the flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza to flood the zone, while ensuring the safety of civilians and aid workers.

The discussion followed a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Israel amid efforts to resolve details of an elusive bid for a cease-fire.

Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials, as well as families of some of the hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Blinken emphasized that it is Hamas that is standing in the way of a cease-fire.

The militants so far have refused to accept a plan calling for a several-week halt in nearly seven months of warfare, along with Hamas failing to free hostages it is holding in exchange for the release of Palestinians jailed by Israel.

Israel launched a campaign to eliminate the Hamas militant group after the Hamas attack on Israel in October that killed 1,200 people.

Hamas also took about 250 hostages during the attack, and it is believed to still be holding about 100, along with the remains of 30 or more hostages who have either been killed or otherwise died in the ensuing months.

Israel's counteroffensive in Gaza has killed more than 34,500 people, about two-thirds of them women and children, according to the health ministry in Gaza.

Some material in this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. The State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan sold funds worth $623.4 million last month, Trend reports via the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan.

Furthermore, this is 2.1 times more than it was during the same period in 2023.

Last April, the State Oil Fund sold funds worth $286 million.

Established by the Republic of Azerbaijan, the State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) is a sovereign wealth fund (SWF). The fund was established in December 1999 subsequent to the president's issuance of a corresponding decree. The investment fund, established to preserve the nation's oil and gas revenues for future generations, is supervised by a special council presided over by the president of the country.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
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Police remain on Columbia Universitys campus, even after clearing out student protesters and their encampment. But questions remain about how the university and the students move forward. Tina Trinh reports from New York.
Chinese officials say the death toll from a collapsed highway in southeastern Guangdong province rose to 48 on Thursday, some 24 hours after a section of the four-lane mountainous pass buckled in the wake of record rainfall and flooding, sending 23 vehicles tumbling down a steep slope with some bursting into flames.

Three people remained unidentified, pending DNA testing, according to a local official in Meizhou City. It was not immediately clear if they died, which would bring the death toll to 51. At least 30 other people had non-life-threatening injuries.

The collapse occurred on one side of a four-lane highway in Meizhou about 2 a.m. Wednesday, just as China kicked off a five-day holiday.

For a second day, rescuers searched for trapped people by digging through mountainous terrain. Construction cranes lifted out burnt-out and mangled vehicles.

Heavy rains, the risk of secondary disasters and the large number of trapped, burned and buried vehicles were complicating rescue efforts, a city official said. More than 570 people and 80 rescue vehicles have been deployed to help with the mission.

Meizhou is one of the areas in southern China's Guangdong that has been overwhelmed by heavy rain since last month. The adverse weather triggered dangerous mudslides, inundated homes and destroyed bridges.

The rain saturated soil in the area, making it prone to secondary disasters during the rescue process, said Wen Yongdeng, the Communist Party secretary for the Meizhou emergency management bureau.

Over the past two weeks, parts of Guangdong experienced record rains, hail and flooding. A tornado killed five people in the provincial capital during storms last weekend.
The mass protest movement currently engulfing dozens of U.S. college campuses has included calls for university endowments to divest from Israel, a demand that some activist organizations are broadening to U.S. companies that do business in Israel or are otherwise connected to the Israeli economy.

The demand that U.S. institutions withdraw their financial support from Israel is not a new one. It has been a central plank of an established protest movement known as "BDS," for Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions, for nearly two decades.

However, the public reaction to Israels response to an October 7 attack on its citizens by militants of the Palestinian organization Hamas, which killed more than 1,200 people and resulted in hundreds more being taken as hostages into the Gaza Strip, has amplified those calls, particularly among college students.

In the wake of the October 7 attack, Israel pummeled Gaza with artillery, missiles and an eventual ground invasion. Those operations have killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, including many women and children, destroyed much of the regions infrastructure, and left more than a million people without adequate access to food and water.

Decentralized movement

The protests that have erupted on U.S. college campuses appear to have arisen independently of each other and without significant coordination. That has made it difficult to identify a single specific set of demands common to all of them.

Demands for divestment, though, are commonly heard from protesters, as are accusations that Israel is an "apartheid state" in which citizens of Palestinian descent are discriminated against.

For example, a group calling itself Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) has published demands including, "Divest all of Columbias finances, including the endowment, from companies and institutions that profit from Israeli apartheid, genocide and occupation in Palestine. Ensure accountability by increasing transparency around financial investments."

Another organization, the University of California Berkeley BDS Coalition, demanded among other things, "the total divestment of the UC Berkeley Foundation and the UC General Endowment Pool from the Israeli state and from all companies profiting from the colonization of Palestine."

Universities push back

Many universities subject to ongoing protests have called in law enforcement officials to remove activists encampments. Others have publicly refused calls to divest from Israel, often noting that many BDS divestment demands are coupled with calls to sever ties to Israeli universities and academics.

"The University of California has consistently opposed calls for boycott against and divestment from Israel," that school said in a statement. "While the University affirms the right of our community members to express diverse viewpoints, a boycott of this sort impinges on the academic freedom of our students and faculty and the unfettered exchange of ideas on our campuses."

Columbia, seen by many as the epicenter of the protest movement in the U.S., denied divestment demands but offered to begin a dialogue with protesters.

"While the University will not divest from Israel, the University offered to develop an expedited timeline for review of new proposals from the students by the Advisory Committee for Socially Responsible Investing, the body that considers divestment matters," Columbias president said in a statement. "The University also offered to publish a process for students to access a list of Columbias direct investment holdings, and to increase the frequency of updates to that list of holdings."

In a rare moment of compromise, students at Brown University in Rhode Island agreed to remove their protest encampment from campus after striking a deal with the administration under which the schools board will schedule a vote on the question of divestment later this year.

Past success cited

Supporters of divestment from Israel point to past instances in which divestment has helped effect change, most notably the global divestment from South Africa beginning in the 1980s, in protest of that countrys racially discriminatory laws. Many universities, they point out, joined in the divestment movement at the time.

However, the funds that protesters are targeting are, in many cases, enormous investment portfolios with interests spanning the globe. According to the Department of Educations National Center for Education Statistics, the combined market value of the 20 largest university endowments in the country totaled more than $927 billion at the end of 2021.

The management of college endowments has also changed profoundly in recent decades. Universities hire investment professionals to manage the growth of their endowments, often placing funds with large investment managers and hedge funds, which are often empowered to buy and sell stocks independently. This is particularly true of the largest endowments.

According to a February 2024 study of university endowments by the National Association of College and University Business Officers, "Larger endowments had smaller allocations to the public equity markets and were more heavily weighted to private investment strategies with investment strategies that tend to be much less transparent.

Effect on Israel likely minimal

In an analysis published by the Brookings Institution in 2018, senior fellows Dany Bahar and Natan Sachs analyzed the effect of the BDS movement on the Israeli economy and found that the impact had been, at most, minor.

Israels exports include a large amount of high-tech goods that are often difficult to find substitutes for. Additionally, a large share of those exports are what are known as "intermediate goods," or items that are incorporated into more complex final products in other countries, making them difficult to identify and track.

In the first dozen years of the BDS movements existence, the Israeli economy enjoyed sustained growth, seemingly little affected by divestment, they found.

"The data suggests that economically, anything short of official sanctions by important economic partners such as the United States or European Union would be unlikely to produce anything near the kind of economic pressure BDS supporters envision," Bahar and Sachs concluded.

However, the BDS movement has claimed a number of what it calls "major successes" over the years. These include the announcement by the French multinational Veolia in 2015 that it would stop participating in the construction of a controversial light rail system in Israel, and the more recent announcement by various countries, including Kuwait and Chile, that they would limit trade with Israel.
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen announced $1 billion in aid to Lebanon on Thursday to help tackle illegal migration, as rights groups warned against forced returns to Syria.

The European Union has already agreed deals with Egypt, Tunisia, Mauritania and others aimed at helping stem flows of irregular migrants.

"I can announce a financial package of $1 billion for Lebanon that would be available from this year until 2027," the European Commission chief said, adding that "we want to contribute to Lebanon's socio-economic stability."

She said the aid was designed to strengthen basic services such as education and health amid a severe economic crisis.

Europe will also support Lebanon's army, with the aid "mainly focused on providing equipment and training for border management."

$1 billion in aid

The EU Commission's spokesman said in Brussels the aid will be disbursed "in grants," with 736 million euros ($788 million) earmarked to support Lebanon "in response to the Syrian crisis."

He said, "264 million euros will be for bilateral cooperation," notably to support the security services, including with border management.

Von der Leyen said the EU was committed to maintaining "legal pathways open to Europe" and resettling refugees, but "at the same time, we count on your good cooperation to prevent illegal migration and combat migrant smuggling."

Lebanon's economy collapsed in late 2019, turning it into a launchpad for migrants, with Lebanese joining Syrians and Palestinian refugees making perilous Europe-bound voyages.

Lebanon says it currently hosts around 2 million people from neighboring Syria  the world's highest number of refugees per capita  with almost 785,000 registered with the United Nations.

"We understand the challenges that Lebanon faces with hosting Syrian refugees and other displaced persons," said von der Leyen, adding that the EU had supported Lebanon with 2.6 billion euros to host them.

The Syria war erupted in 2011 after the government repressed peaceful pro-democracy protests and has killed more than half a million people and displaced around half of the prewar population.

Eight rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, warned before von der Leyen's Beirut visit that Syria was not safe for returns.

EU assistance "geared to enabling or incentivizing returns to Syria risks resulting in forced returns of refugees," a statement said.

EU aid bolstering Lebanese security agencies so they can curb migration to Europe "could result in Syrians resorting to even longer and more dangerous routes," they added.

Lebanon has also faced nearly seven months of border clashes between its powerful, Iran-backed Shiite movement Hezbollah and Israel that flared after the Israel-Hamas war began in October.

Lebanon remains essentially leaderless, without a president and headed by a caretaker government with limited powers amid deadlock between entrenched political barons.

Cyprus also watching

Von der Leyen was accompanied by Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides.

Cyprus, the EU's easternmost member, is less than 200 kilometers (125 miles) from Lebanon and Syria, and it wants to curb migrant boat departures from Lebanon toward its shores.

Nicosia says the Israel-Hamas war has weakened Beirut's efforts to monitor its territorial waters.

"I am very confident that this package announced today will enhance the capacity of Lebanese authority to handle various challenges, including controlling land and maritime borders, ensuring the safety of its citizens, fight against people smuggling and continue their fight against terrorism," Christodoulides said.

Some Lebanese politicians have blamed Syrians for their country's worsening troubles, and pressure often mounts ahead of an annual conference on Syria in Brussels, with ministers meeting this year on May 27.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said: "We reiterate our request to the European Union ... to help displaced people in their own countries to encourage them to return voluntarily, and thus guarantee them a decent life in their country of origin.

"If we insist on this issue, it is to warn against Lebanon becoming a transit country from Syria to Europe, and the problems at the Cypriot border are just one example of what could happen if this issue is not radically resolved."
U.S.-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) last week accused soldiers of the Burkina Faso junta of extrajudicial executions of 223 civilians, including at least 56 children, in Nondin and Soro villages on February 25.

The junta denied the accusations, blocked the HRW website, and barred domestic media from reporting the watchdogs findings.

On April 27, the juntas Superior Council of Communication suspended the Voice of America and BBC radio networks from broadcasting in the country over their coverage of the HRW report.

On April 29, the Burkinabe military government suspended another five Western news outlets over the HRW report.

Burkinabe Communications Minister Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo issued a decree, condemning the HRW report as baseless and accusing the rights watchdog of orchestrating media coverage to undermine the image of Burkina Faso.

HRW alleges that the Burkinabe army deliberately massacred 223 civilians including more than 50 children in the villages of Nodin and Soro on February 24, he said. The government of Burkina Faso firmly rejects such baseless accusations. The media campaign around these accusations clearly demonstrates the intention of its authors, which is to discredit our fighting forces engaged on the front line.

The Burkina Faso juntas denial is false.

The HRW report is based on an investigation that included firsthand testimonies from survivors and witnesses. HRW investigators reviewed and verified photo and video evidence, and satellite images confirming the numbers, location, age, and gender of the victims bodies and the timing of the massacres, as well as the juntas role in the killings.

HRW is not alone in accusing the Burkina Faso security forces of mass violence. For decades, United Nations investigations, along with reports by major international outlets such as The Associated Press and rights groups have collected and independently verified evidence implicating Burkinabe forces in mass atrocities.

AP and others assert that the killings have grown under the junta led by Capt. Ibrahim Traore that came to power in September 2022 after two consecutive coups.

The latest HRW report states that soldiers killed 44 people, including 20 children, in Nondin village, and 179 people, including 36 children, in the nearby Soro village.

Survivors told HRW the junta security forces executed villagers in retaliation for an attack by Islamist fighters on a Burkinabe military and a militia camp outside the provincial capital, Ouahigouya, earlier that day.

One survivor who was shot in the leg said: Before the soldiers started shooting at us, they accused us of being complicit with the jihadists [Islamist fighters].

Having verified video and photographs documenting the killings and showing the injured survivors, HRW reported that Burkinabe forces knowingly targeted innocent and unarmed civilians, including children.

Previous accusations

This is not the first time the Burkina Faso military has been accused of attacking villagers, including children and women.

Reports indicate that the army has repeatedly carried out mass killings of civilians who the junta suspected of supporting Islamist armed groups.

On March 22, an Associated Press investigation revealed a civilian massacre in Zaongo village that claimed 70 lives on Nov. 5, 2023.

On that day, Burkina Faso security forces, mounting pickup trucks and armed with guns and drones, attacked villages, leaving behind a trail of deaths.

Describing photographs by a 32-year-old farmer, AP reported scenes of women slain with babies wrapped against their bodies, lifeless children intertwined together, a 2-month-old face-up on the ground with puppies crawling on his tiny frame.

In an earlier investigation, AP reported a deliberate killing of boys inside the Burkina Faso security forces military base about two kilometers northwest of the regional capital Quahigouya in mid-February 2023.

Burkina Faso junta denied responsibility. But AP determined troops in the video were members of Burkina Fasos security forces, which until recently received military training and hardware from the United States and European Union.

Most attacks go unpunished and unreported in a nation run by a repressive leadership that silences perceived dissidents, AP wrote on March 22.

In another village, a report by the International Crisis Group, a non-profit organization, said: In March 2023, residents of Karma in the North reported that the armed forces had killed at least 146 non-Fulani civilians [including women and children] execution-style.

Last June, HRW accused the Burkina Faso junta of grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949, citing a key United Nations document for the prevention of crimes and genocide during armed conflicts.

The U.S.-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) Project reported that civilian deaths at the hands of the Burkina Faso junta increased by 77% between 2022-2023.

ACLED figures showed a severe escalation of deadly attacks in Burkina Faso in 2023, with more than 8,000 people killed.

ACLED senior researcher Heni Nsaibia told Al Jazeera in 2021, that the Burkina Faso security forces killed almost as many people as the al-Qaeda and ISIL-affiliated groups combined.

In a joint statement on April 29, the U.S. and U.K. expressed grave concern for the massacres of civilians by the Burkinabe junta in late February, first-hand accounts of which are detailed in the HRW report.

Since taking over the government a year and a half ago, Captain Traore has been working with the Russian Wagner Group mercenaries.

The U.N. and the U.S have sanctioned Wagner for committing widespread human rights abuses and stealing natural resources across multiple African nations.

In January, 100 members of the newly branded Africa Corps, which has replaced the Wagner group since the death of its founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, arrived in Ouagadougou, Burkina Fasos capital.
UNICEF warns the conflict in Gaza and mounting violence between Israel and Hezbollah are increasing the suffering of tens of thousands of children in Lebanon caught in the crosshairs of this escalating regional crisis.

A report issued by the United Nations Childrens Fund this week calls for an immediate, permanent cease-fire in Gaza as an essential prerequisite for protecting the lives and well-being of children and civilians in Lebanon and beyond.

Without that, Lebanon is at risk of a full-scale war which would have a devastating impact on the 1.3 million children living in the country, as well as the rest of the children in the region, said UNICEF spokesperson James Elder.

Presenting the report at a Geneva press conference, Elder said humanitarian needs were surging across Lebanon as airstrikes by Israel Defense Forces have progressively increased and hit deeper into a country already suffering protracted economic and political crises.

Israel has been exchanging frequent fire with Lebanons Hezbollah militants.

UNICEF has previously warned of Lebanons unrelenting, overlapping emergencies and their impact on children and education. Today these are compounded by almost daily airstrikes, he said.

According to Lebanons Ministry of Public Health, airstrikes have damaged civilian infrastructure and facilities, killing 344 people, including eight children and 21 women, since October 7, when Israel began its offensive in Gaza in response to a Hamas attack that killed some 1,200 people and saw 240 abductions.

Together with those children killed and scores injured, 30,000 children have been displaced, said Elder. Infrastructure that children rely on is being destroyed, including significant damage to water stations, thus denying 100,000 people access to safe drinking water. Around 23 health care facilities, serving 4,000 people, are also closed due to the hostilities.

Should the conflict continue to escalate, UNICEF warns that repercussions for children will be devastating, he said.

Before the conflict, UNICEF reports, some 700,000 children in Lebanon were out of school. It says Lebanons pre-existing education crisis has since worsened, noting that the recent violence has forced the closure of 72 schools in southern Lebanon, disrupting the education of an additional 20,000 students.

The agency says nearly half of Lebanons 5.49 million population live below the poverty line, while an estimated 90% of its more than 1 million Syrian-refugee households live in extreme poverty.

There are some commonalities between Syrian and Lebanese children, and Palestinian children on the ground in that the vast majority of children in Lebanon are not having their needs met, Ettie Higgins, deputy head of office for UNICEF in Lebanon, told journalists Tuesday.

She observed that tensions between communities and nationalities have risen due to the lack of resources brought on by a massive collapse of humanitarian funding in Lebanon in the past few months.

This has forced us to cut back virtually on all of our services, including the provision of safe drinking water and simple things like getting rid of sewage in communities.

She acknowledged that cutbacks in food and other essential life-saving commodities and services are having a profound impact on the health and well-being of children.

This is borne out by data collected for a comprehensive nutrition assessment conducted by UNICEF in Lebanon last year. Higgins said the results, which will be released next month, point to a very, very worrying situation, particularly for children who are living in informal settlements.

The rates of stunting and wasting [becoming underweight for height] are much higher than we, unfortunately, had assumed, she said, noting that there has been a three-fold increase in children being referred to malnutrition programs in the past 12 months.

Discussing Lebanons economic meltdown, she said: Now in the fourth year of this massive catastrophe that has hit Lebanon, we are seeing tensions spike, and this is having an impact on children daily.

Higgins added that Palestinian refugees who have been living for a long time in terrible conditions in camps and settlements are experiencing the secondary trauma of seeing what is happening to fellow Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

She said destitute families who are unable to make ends meet have been forced into negative and sometimes potentially dangerous coping mechanisms to survive.

We are seeing families sending the entire family out to beg. They are forcing children as young as four to work in agriculture. And this means that their overall health and well-being are impacted, she said.

I spoke to a doctor recently who said that he had 7-year-olds coming to him with back problems because of the heavy loads of trash that they are carrying on a daily basis, she added. And this was to earn maybe two dollars a day, just to be able to eat and put a meal on the table."
Activists from an international flotilla carrying humanitarian aid are applying for new maritime flags to sail to Gaza from Turkey after the flags of two of their ships were removed by Guinea-Bissau authorities last week.

We will take flags of different countries. We will also apply to Turkey. We will also try to get Turkeys flag, Behesti Ismail Songur, head of the Mavi Marmara Association, a group that is part of the international flotilla, told VOA.

So, this will be a litmus test for all states. We will see who will be brave enough to flag the freedom fleet, Songur said.

The flotilla is organized by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which consists of several Turkish and international groups, including the Turkish Islamist Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) and the Mavi Marmara Association.

Inspection

The flotilla has three ships, named Vicdan (conscience in Turkish), Anadolu (Anatolia), and Akdeniz (the Mediterranean).

Anadolu, docked at Turkeys Iskenderun port in the Mediterranean, was set to transport 5,000 tons of humanitarian aid. Meanwhile, the activists were planning to sail to Gaza on the Akdeniz, a ferry, from Istanbuls Tuzla shipyard. Vicdan, recently acquired by the group, was not part of the planned sailing.

Anadolu and Akdeniz carried Guinea-Bissau flags until last week when the Guinea-Bissau International Ships Registry (GBISR) inspected them and decided to remove the flags.

Flotilla organizers said the GBISR referred to their planned mission to Gaza while informing them about the removal of the flags.

GBISR did not respond to VOAs request for comment.

The flotilla organizers believe that Guinea-Bissau authorities withdrew their flags because of pressure from Israel, which objects to the refusal of the organizers to allow the ships to be inspected for contraband or weapons. But Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embalo dismissed these allegations Monday.

Embalo told the Portuguese LUSA News Agency that he never spoke to his Israeli counterpart about the flagging of ships, noting that it is not a matter that he would deal with.

I do not usually talk to the prime minister of Israel; I talk to the president of Israel, a friend I met many years ago. Thats who I have been talking to, but about the war in the Gaza Strip, Embalo said, adding that he talked with Israeli President Isaac Herzog Sunday.

Mavi Marmara

On April 22 Israel's Channel 12 television reported that Shayetet 13, the Israeli armys elite special forces unit, had been preparing to intercept the flotilla, citing the Israel Defense Forces.

Shayetet 13 was also involved in 2010 when the Mavi Marmara, carrying pro-Palestinian activists including Turkish Islamist IHH, attempted to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza with a flotilla. Israel views the IHH as a terrorist group.

Israeli units boarded the Mavi Marmara with helicopters in international waters, killing nine activists. At least seven Israeli soldiers were injured as activists attacked them with clubs, knives and pipes.

According to a report by the Spanish daily El Pais on April 25, the activists, who were set to sail on the Anadolu and the Akdeniz, took basic training in Istanbul in case of an Israeli attack on the flotilla. The training was conducted by Lisa Fithian, an American expert who teaches peaceful resistance.

At least 500 international activists were set to sail in the flotilla, including Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, the grandson of late South African President Nelson Mandela; Ada Colau, former mayor of Barcelona; and Ann Wright, a former U.S. Army colonel and diplomat who resigned from the State Department in opposition to the 2003 U.S.-led military invasion into Iraq.

Wright, who also participated in the Mavi Marmara voyage in 2010, accused the U.S. of pressuring the current flotilla to prevent it from sailing.

The U.S. is very complicit in trying to stop the Gaza flotilla, Wright said, referring to a letter to U.S. Secretary Antony Blinken signed by 20 members of Congress last week.

In the letter, members of the U.S. House of Representatives said they were "gravely concerned by the reported Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which plans to breach the established security perimeter with an unknown number of ships to deliver aid to Gaza.

The flotilla, led in part by the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH)  which has close ties with the Turkish government and has previously raised funds for Hamas  intends to bypass established aid channels and refuse to allow Israeli inspection of their cargo, casting doubt on the nature of the mission, the letter stated.

The House members also called on Blinken to engage directly with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Turkish government to prevent or delay the flotillas departure and ensure that all shipments to Gaza are vetted and in compliance with international standards for humanitarian assistance.

Wright hopes Erdogan will support the flotilla. Erdogan and Turkish government officials have not commented publicly on the flotilla.

Erdogan hosted Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Istanbul last month, and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan announced on Wednesday that Ankara has decided to join South Africas lawsuit against Israel at the International Criminal Court in the Hague.

This story originated in VOAs Turkish Service with contributions by Portuguese Service.
Kenya and Tanzania were bracing Thursday for a cyclone on the heels of torrential rains that have devastated East Africa, killing more than 350 people and forcing tens of thousands from their homes.

In addition to claiming 188 lives in Kenya since March, the floods have displaced 165,000 people, with 90 reported missing, the interior ministry said, as the government warned citizens to remain on alert.

"Crucially, the coastal region is likely to experience Cyclone Hidaya, which will result in heavy rainfall, large waves and strong winds that could affect marine activities in the Indian Ocean," the office of Kenyan President William Ruto said.

Neighboring Tanzania, where at least 155 people have been killed in flooding and landslides, is also expected to feel the force of Hidaya.

"The presence of Hidaya Cyclone ... is expected to dominate and affect the weather patterns in the country including heavy rain and strong winds in some Regions near Indian Ocean," the Tanzania Red Cross Society said on X, formerly Twitter.

Kenya's capital, Nairobi, is among the areas expected to suffer heavy rains over the next two days, the Kenya Meteorological Department said on X.

The heavier-than-usual rains have also cost at least 29 lives in Burundi, with 175 people injured and tens of thousands displaced since September last year, the United Nations said.

Stranded tourists

Earlier this week Ruto announced he was deploying Kenya's military to evacuate everyone living in flood-prone areas.

In a bulletin released Thursday evening, the Interior Ministry ordered anyone living close to major rivers or near 178 "filled up or near filled up dams or water reservoirs" to vacate the area within 24 hours, warning that they would otherwise face "mandatory evacuation for their safety."

The devastation has also affected Kenya's tourism sector  a key economic driver  with some 100 tourists marooned in the famed Maasai Mara wildlife reserve on Wednesday after a river overflowed, flooding lodges and safari camps.

Rescuers later managed to evacuate 90 people by ground and air, the Interior Ministry said.

The area is currently inaccessible with bridges washed away, Narok West subcounty administrator Stephen Nakola told AFP, adding that about 50 camps in the reserve have been affected, putting more than 500 locals temporarily out of work.

There are no fatalities, but communities living around the area have been forced to move away.

"Accessing the Mara is now a nightmare, and the people stuck there are really worried. They don't have an exit route," Nakola said, adding that waterborne diseases were likely to emerge.

"I am worried that the situation could get worse because the rains are still on."

In the deadliest single incident in Kenya, dozens of villagers were killed when a dam burst on Monday near Mai Mahiu in the Rift Valley, about 60 kilometers (40 miles) north of Nairobi.

The Interior Ministry said 52 bodies had been recovered and 51 people were still missing after the dam disaster.

Travel warnings

Opposition politicians and lobby groups have accused Ruto's government of being unprepared and slow to respond to the crisis despite weather warnings.

"Kenya's government has a human rights obligation to prevent foreseeable harm from climate change and extreme weather events and to protect people when a disaster strikes," Human Rights Watch said Thursday.

The United States and Britain have issued travel warnings for Kenya, urging their nationals to be cautious amid the extreme weather.

The devastation has sparked an outpouring of condolences and pledges of solidarity from all over the world, including from Pope Francis and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The rains have been amplified by the El Nino weather pattern  a naturally occurring climate phenomenon typically associated with increased heat worldwide, leading to drought in some parts of the world and heavy downpours elsewhere.
Families of Americans wrongfully detained in foreign countries called Tuesday on the Biden administration to share more information about their loved ones and to step up efforts for their release.

"My father, Jamshid Sharmahd, is a German American national who has been held hostage in Iran for three years and he is on a death row now. Our government has unfortunately failed to bring him back, has failed to engage and talk to us," Gazelle Sharmahd told VOA on the sidelines of a Foreign Affairs Committee roundtable Tuesday.

Jamshid Sharmahd, a U.S. resident of Iranian origin, has been sentenced to death in Iran. According to an Amnesty International report, Iranian state media claim Jamshid Sharmahd confessed to having a role in an April 2008 explosion in Shiraz, Fars province, in which 14 people were killed.

He has repeatedly denied the charges, Amnesty reported.

He was convicted of the charge of "corruption on earth," which is not clearly defined in law, according to the report. His appeal in front of Irans Supreme Court is pending, it added.

Gazelle Sharmahd was among the nine relatives and representatives of Americans detained in Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, Russia, China and Nigeria who testified at a U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee roundtable Tuesday.

"My concerns are whether my father is alive or not, and the U.S. government being able to provide proof about his whereabouts and his conditions," said Maryam Kamalmaz, daughter of Majd Kamalmaz, an American psychologist last seen in 2017 at a Syrian government checkpoint outside of Damascus.

"As of right now the Syrian government is holding him, however, we have not been able to hear his voice for the past seven years," she told VOA in an interview Tuesday on the sidelines of the roundtable.

Maryam Kamalmaz said that her fathers absence has had a profound impact on the family.

"It's been an absolute nightmare. You know, you do not realize how special a person is until they are gone. My father completed our family, he was the glue to our family. In my daily life, everything he taught me is echoing in my ears," she told VOA.

Debra Tice, mother of Austin Tice, an American journalist kidnapped in Syria in 2012, told VOA Tuesday her main concern at Tuesdays meeting "was HR 3202, which prevents any engagements with Syria, any company doing business in the United States of America not being able to engage with Syria. It was very important to discuss, it has already been through the floor of the House and it's now at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee."

Anna Corbett, whose husband, Ryan Corbett, has been detained in Afghanistan, told the congressional hearing, "I literally have no idea what steps are being taken to rescue my husband."

US government response

In August 2022, the 10th anniversary of the captivity of Austin Tice, Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a statement: "I am committed to bringing home all U.S. hostages and wrongful detainees held around the world.

"As the president said directly to the Tice family, we will continue to pursue all available avenues to bring Austin home and work tirelessly until we succeed in doing so," he said in the statement.

In a July 2022 executive order, President Joe Biden declared a national emergency to deal with the threat of wrongful detention.

"I therefore determine that hostage-taking and the wrongful detention of United States nationals abroad constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States," the order said. "I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with this threat."

This story originated in VOAs Deewa service.
Serbian lawmakers on Thursday voted into office a new government that reinstated two pro-Russia officials who are sanctioned by the United States, reflecting persistent close ties with Moscow despite the Balkan nation's proclaimed bid to join the European Union.

Prime Minister Milos Vucevic's government got backing in a 152-61 vote in the 250-member parliament. The remaining 37 lawmakers were absent.

The government includes former intelligence chief Aleksandar Vulin, who has made several visits to Russia in recent months, as one of several vice-premiers, along with Nenad Popovic, another Russia supporter who has faced U.S. sanctions.

The foreign minister in the previous government, Ivica Dacic, also a pro-Russia politician, will be in charge of the Interior Ministry in the new Cabinet.

The vote followed a heated two-day debate. President Aleksandar Vucic's ruling nationalist conservative Serbian Progressive Party holds a comfortable majority after an election in December that fueled political tensions because of reports of widespread irregularities.

The increasingly authoritarian Vucic has refused to join Western sanctions against Moscow over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, though Serbia has condemned the aggression.

Vucevic, the new prime minister, reiterated that Belgrade doesn't intend to impose sanctions on Russia and "cannot and will not give up" the friendship with Russia. Integration into the EU remains a "strategic goal," Vucevic said.

"Best possible" relations with the U.S. also are in Serbia's interest, Vucevic added. "I firmly believe that our relations can once again be on a high level."

Security analyst and a Belgrade university professor Filip Ejdus described the new government's composition as a "spin" designed to send a message both to the West and Russia, and to voters at home.

"It sends a message to the EU that they should not push Belgrade too much over democracy, rule of law, or Kosovo if they want to keep Serbia in its orbit," Ejdus said. "At the same time, it signals to Moscow a readiness to strengthen the strategic partnership with Russia."

The U.S. imposed sanctions on Vulin in July, accusing him of involvement in illegal arms shipments, drug trafficking and misuse of public office.

The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control said that Vulin used his public authority to help a U.S.-sanctioned Serbian arms dealer move illegal arms shipments across Serbia's borders. Vulin is also accused of involvement in a drug-trafficking ring, according to U.S. authorities.

Vulin, who in the past had served as both the army and police chief, has recently received two medals of honor from Russia, one from the Federal Security Service, or FSB, and the other awarded to him by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Popovic, a businessman and a former government minister, has "used his Russia-based businesses to enrich himself and gain close connections with Kremlin senior leaders," the U.S. Treasury said last November in a statement.

The U.S. sanctions against individuals and companies in the Balkans are designed to counter attempts to undermine peace and stability in the volatile region and Russia's "malign" influence.

The West has stepped up efforts to lure the troubled region into its fold, fearing that Russia could stir unrest to avert attention from the war in Ukraine. The Balkans went through multiple wars in the 1990s, and tensions still persist.

Serbia's falling democracy record has pushed the country away from EU integration, explained Ejdus. Reports of election fraud at the December 17 vote triggered street protests and clashes.

"Vucic is still pretending to be on the EU path because it's beneficial for Serbia's economy, and the EU tolerates his authoritarian tendencies out of fear of instability that could be caused in its backyard if Belgrade was lost to Russia and China," Ejdus said.
TBILISI, Georgia, May 2. COP29 is a good opportunity to talk about the challenges of combating climate change in the South Caucasus, First Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia Nino Tandilashvili said, Trend reports.

She made the remark at a panel discussion on the topic Financing greener value chains in the CAREC (Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Program) region" at the annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Tbilisi.

Tandilashvili mentioned that Georgia is seeking to expand its 'green' agenda.

"The climate agenda plays a crucial role in integration. We aim to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. COP29, which will take place in our region, is a great opportunity to discuss the challenges of climate change in the South Caucasus," she emphasized.

According to her, Georgia's integration into the EU has strengthened, and in this regard, the country fully understands its responsibility.

"We have been working very actively in all areas, including the green economy, agriculture, to align with EU standards. There is no other way but integration. The candidate status in the EU imposes great responsibility on us in the context of green energy," the official added.

This November, Azerbaijan will host COP29. The COP28 plenary meeting in Dubai on December 11 last year made this decision. Baku will become the world's center, receiving about 7080,000 foreign guests.

At the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, the United Nations signed the Framework Convention on Climate Change as an agreement to prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system. The COPthe Conference of the Partiesis the highest legislative body overseeing the implementation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change. There are 198 countries that sign 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.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Two Nigerian military officers will face a court martial over a December drone strike that killed at least 85 civilians, the Defense Headquarters said on Thursday.

The December 3 attack was one of the country's worst airstrike errors. The Nigerian military acknowledged the drone accidentally struck a village in northwest Kaduna State, killing residents as they celebrated a Muslim festival.

The military depends on aerial assaults to combat Islamic militants in the northeast and armed kidnapping gangs in the northwest. It said it misinterpreted the religious gathering of villagers as armed criminal gangs and apologized for the error.

"It is hoped that there would be no repeat of strikes on non-combatants in ongoing operations," it said. "The military will take extra precautions in the future to ensure that non-combatants are safe."

Defense Headquarters spokesperson Major General Edward Buba said the strike should have never happened.

"The military has conducted a painstaking investigation into the incident and has initiated disciplinary action against those culpable," he said.

Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu called the mistake "disturbing" and ordered an investigation in December.

The United Nations human rights office said the drone strike was the latest of at least four airstrikes since 2017 that caused significant civilian fatalities. It called on the government to take steps to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure.

Some information for this report came from Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
After weeks of pro-Palestinian protests escalating in universities across the United States, President Joe Biden addressed the nation Thursday, underscoring that the right to free speech and the rule of law must both be upheld.

Order must prevail, he said from the White House, even as he stressed that dissent is essential for democracy.

We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent, he said. The American people are heard. In fact, peaceful protest is in the best tradition of how Americans respond to consequential issues.

Biden said he does not support calls by some Republican lawmakers including House Speaker Mike Johnson to send in the National Guard to quell protests.

He said the campus demonstrations have not caused him to reconsider his approach to Gaza. His administration has criticized some of Israels war conduct but continues to support their efforts to eliminate Hamas, despite pushback from progressive Democrats and American Muslim groups.

Bidens statement was met with criticism from Edward Mitchell, deputy director of the Council of American and Islamic Relations, who said the presidents vague, both-sides speech failed to specifically mention or condemn the violent attacks that pro-Israel rioters and law enforcement officers have launched against students protesting the Gaza genocide across the country.

The White House has repeatedly rushed to condemn any allegation of antisemitism, but repeatedly failed to call out incidents of anti-Palestinian racism and Islamophobia, he told VOA.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump has also criticized Bidens approach on the protests, suggesting he has been too soft on demonstrators.

The radical extremists and far-left agitators are terrorizing college campuses, Trump said Wednesday during a campaign event in Waukesha, Wisconsin. And Bidens nowhere to be found. He hasnt said anything.

The protests have become a growing political dilemma for Biden ahead of the November presidential election. Republicans accuse the U.S. president of turning a blind eye to lawlessness and antisemitism while progressives and young voters are incensed at police cracking down on unrest over the war in Gaza.

This is a classic case of a policy issue where a president cannot win, said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at University of Virginia.

The issue is particularly fraught for a Democratic presidential candidate who usually carries the votes of both most Jewish Americans and most Arab Americans, Sabato told VOA.

The odds are, you're not going to get both this year or at least the percentages will be lower than usual, he said.

Biden denounced Republican efforts to use the protests as campaign fodder. In moments like this, there are always those who rush in to score political points, he said.

Police crackdown

Earlier Thursday, police moved against a pro-Palestinian protest camp at the University of California, Los Angeles, pulling apart a barricade and arresting multiple people after issuing orders for people to leave.

The police action unfolded over hours, with officers initially standing near the protest camp and briefly pushing into the area before retreating as protesters cheered.

About an hour later, a larger group of officers returned, and while they were initially stymied at one end of a plaza by hundreds of protesters clogging stairs and walkways, officers converged on the main protest camp from another direction and quickly began tearing away plywood, metal fencing and tents.

The protesters, who are demanding the university divest from Israel, chanted peaceful protest as police equipped with helmets, face shields and batons worked to push people from the area.

The UCLA protest is one of many pro-Palestinian demonstrations at college campuses across the country, which have resulted in hundreds of arrests.

Police in New Hampshire made arrests and removed tents late Wednesday and early Thursday at Dartmouth College.

A pro-Palestinian protest camp emerged at Dartmouth on Wednesday as administrators warned that such a camp would violate school policy.

At the University of Texas at Dallas, police cleared a pro-Palestinian camp following the arrest of at least 17 people.

In New York, police arrested at least 15 people Wednesday at Fordham University while clearing a pro-Palestinian protest camp.

Columbia University administrators said Wednesday that all remaining academic activity for the semester, which is nearing its end, will be held remotely following protests that included the occupation of a campus building. Police cleared protesters late Tuesday and arrested nearly 300 people.

Israel launched its counter-offensive in Gaza after Hamas, a U.S.-designated terror group, launched a surprise attack on southern Israel on October 7. Militants killed about 1,200 people according to Israeli tallies, most of them civilians, and took about 250 hostages.

Vowing to erase Hamas control of Gaza, Israel has killed more than 34,500 Palestinians in the territory along the Mediterranean Sea, two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Gaza health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its casualty toll.

VOA United Nations correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report. Some information came from Agence France-Presse, The Associated Press and Reuters.
Demonstrations against Israel's military action in Gaza continue around the world as police raid the protester's encampment on the campus of UCLA. Joe Biden reacts to the protesters and the politics. A look at security in Asia, plus, tomorrow is World Press Freedom Day.
Jeremiah Manele, a former foreign minister and career diplomat, was elected the Solomon Islands new prime minister Thursday, winning 31 out of 49 votes from the newly elected National Parliament.

Some analysts say the result means the Solomon Islands under the new government will likely maintain its pro-China foreign policy agenda while adopting a less confrontational approach to handle its relationship with Western democracies, including Australia, the United States and New Zealand.

Manele is largely going to provide continuity on foreign policy and I think Beijing will welcome that as it indicates that their robust relationship with the Solomon Islands will continue, Parker Novak, a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub, told VOA by phone.

Thursdays result comes after last months parliamentary election delivered no clear winner. The incumbent government previously led by former Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare won 15 seats, losing more than half of the seats it held going into the poll.

After failing to secure the 26 seats required to form a new government, the two main opposition parties struck a coalition deal Saturday. Ultimately, they nominated former opposition leader Matthew Wale to run in Thursdays prime ministerial election, in which he eventually won 18 votes.

Sogavare said Monday he would not run for prime minister, claiming he had been experiencing pressure from the United States and other Western allies after switching diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 2019. He also criticized the media for vilifying him and his family.

Some experts say Sogavares decision to withdraw was a result of the ruling coalitions heavy loss in the parliamentary election.

To secure the best chance of the coalition maintaining government, a change of leadership was required, Meg Keen, director of the Pacific Islands Program at Lowy Institute in Australia, said.

Thursdays election was closely followed internationally as competition increases among major powers, including China and the United States, for influence in the Pacific region in recent years. It is also the first election since Sogavare signed a controversial security deal with China in 2022 that raised alarm among Western countries and opposition forces in the Solomon Islands.

An experienced politician

Some experts say Manele, who served as foreign minister in Sogavares administration, is an experienced politician who played an important role during the Solomon Islands efforts to deepen diplomatic relations with China in recent years.

Manele played a role in negotiating the change of recognition to China and the security deal with China, he is on the record saying close relations with China will bring development dividends, Keen in Australia told VOA in a written response.

She said Manele will likely uphold Sogavares signature foreign policy agenda, the Look North policy, but adopt a more measured approach to engage with Western countries, given his background as a diplomat for the Pacific Island nation.

He will be more measured than Sogavare and a less fiery leader, she added.

Despite his tendency to be less confrontational toward Western countries, some analysts warn that Manele could pose a greater threat to regional security than his predecessor.

While Manele wont push the Wests buttons like Sogavare does, Cleo Paskal, a nonresident senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense for Democracies, told VOA in a written response, if Manele continues with his pro-PRC bent, he is much more dangerous to security in the region because he will feed fodder to those who want to say everything is fine while he continues the same destructive policies as Sogavare.

Sogavare, during his five-year tenure as prime minister, embraced a pro-China foreign policy agenda that saw the Pacific Island nation sign a series of security-related agreements with Beijing. Meanwhile, he had repeatedly praised Chinas political system and criticized democracy as a cause of moral decay.

While Sogavare fails to become the first politician to win two consecutive terms as prime minister in the countrys short democratic history, some experts say he will remain a formidable political force there.

Manele and Sogavare worked very closely in the previous government, so it would be a bit surprising to think that Manele wouldnt look to Sogavare for guidance and input, Tess Newton Cain, an expert on Pacific affairs at the Griffith Asia Institute in Australia, told VOA by phone.

Regional and geopolitical implications

Novak said China will try to maintain a close relationship with the new Solomon Islands government, but it remains to be seen how much impact Chinese aid and development can have on improving the situation, including economy and health care.

Theres a broader question of how impactful Chinese development aid has been on improving the lives of Solomon Islanders and I think there is a lot of skepticism about that, he told VOA.

On the other hand, Novak said he thinks it is important for Western countries, especially the United States, to maintain and keep expanding their engagement with the Solomon Islands.

They need to be proactive in the relationship and this is especially true for the United States, he said, adding that foreign aid for development should be prioritized.

While Manele will try to stabilize the relationship with the West amid efforts to maintain close ties with China, Keen told VOA that geopolitical competition between major powers will remain intense in the Solomon Islands.

VOA's Jessica Stone contributed reporting from Washington.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has met with Israeli leaders in his push for a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas. Violence and chaos erupt on campuses as protesters and counter-protesters clash over the war in Gaza. South Korea held talks on joining a part of the AUKUS defense deal between the U.S., Britain and Australia. We talk with Naoko Aoki, an associate political scientist at the RAND Corporation. The average income of people around the world will be cut by one-fifth because of climate change. And high school students in the U.S. are becoming poll workers for the upcoming election.
An exhibition of Western military equipment captured from Kyiv forces during the fighting in Ukraine opened Wednesday in the Russian capital.

The exhibit, organized by the Russian Defense Ministry, features more than 30 pieces of Western-made heavy equipment, including a U.S.-made M1 Abrams battle tank and a Bradley armored fighting vehicle, a Leopard 2 tank and a Marder armored infantry vehicle from Germany, and a French-made AMX-10RC armored vehicle.

The exhibition, which will remain open for a month at a World War II memorial venue in western Moscow, also displays firearms, military papers and other documents.

Russian authorities have criticized supplies of Western weapons and military equipment to Ukraine, casting them as evidence of NATO's direct involvement in the fighting. At the same time, Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly declared that Western military supplies to Kyiv wouldn't change the course of the conflict and prevent Russia from achieving its goals.

The exhibition comes as Russian forces have grabbed more land in eastern Ukraine, taking advantage of delays in U.S. military assistance to push back the under-gunned Kyiv forces.

Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, has hailed the Moscow exhibition as a "brilliant idea."

"The exhibition of trophy equipment will attract great interest from Moscow residents, guests of our city, and all residents of the country," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "We should all see the enemy's battered equipment."

Russian military bloggers drew parallels between the show and the exhibits of captured Nazi military equipment that the Soviet Union held during and after World War II.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova noted that foreign diplomats based in Moscow should take the opportunity to visit the exhibition to see how "the West destroys peace on the planet."

"This exhibition will be interesting to all those who still believe in mythical 'Western values' or fail to notice an aggression unleashed by NATO against Russia and our people," Zakharova said.
French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview published Thursday it would be wrong to rule out any particular actions in response to Russias invasion of Ukraine, saying that doing so weakens the capacity to deter Russia.

In the interview with The Economist, Macron was asked if he stands by his statement earlier this year in which he said he would consider sending troops to Ukraine.

Im not ruling anything out, because we are facing someone who is not ruling anything out. We have undoubtedly been too hesitant by defining the limits of our action to someone who no longer has any and who is the aggressor, Macron told the magazine.

He pointed to the example of NATO allies declaring they would not send tanks or long-range missiles to Ukraine.

We are now all in the process of doing this, so it would be wrong to rule out the rest, Macron said. But above all, it would be wrong in terms of credibility and deterrence vis-a-vis the Russians to rule it out.

Deadly Odesa strike

Ukrainian officials said a Russian missile attack injured 14 people Thursday at a postal facility in the southern city of Odesa.

The attack was the third to hit the city this week, including strikes that killed a total of eight people.

Oleh Kiper, the regional governor of Odesa, said the latest attack was another crime committed by Russia against Ukrainian civilians.

Russia has denied targeting civilians during its invasion of Ukraine but has repeatedly struck Ukrainian cities with drones and missiles during more than two years of attacks.

Russian officials reported Ukrainian drone attacks Thursday targeting several regions.

Andrei Klychkov, the governor of the Oryol region, said Russian air defenses intercepted Ukrainian drones over two districts, but that energy infrastructure was damaged and there were power outages in the area.

In Smolensk, the regional governor, Vasily Anokhin, said the Ukrainian drones tried to attack an energy facility.

Roman Staravoit, the governor in the Kursk region, said Russian forces downed a Ukrainian drone there, but that there was also damage to power lines.

Russia Thursday rejected U.S. accusations of using a banned chemical agent in Ukraine, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov calling the allegation baseless.

The United States accused Russia Wednesday of breaching a global chemicals ban by deploying the choking agent chloropicrin against Ukrainian troops.

The State Department also accused Russia of using riot control agents "as a method of warfare" in Ukraine.

"The use of such chemicals is not an isolated incident and is probably driven by Russian forces' desire to dislodge Ukrainian forces from fortified positions and achieve tactical gains on the battlefield," the State Department said in a statement.

Additionally, Russian forces have used grenades loaded with CS and CN tear gasses, according to the Ukrainian military. It said at least 500 Ukrainian soldiers have been treated for exposure to toxic substances, and one was killed by suffocating on tear gas.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
Solomon Islands lawmakers selected a new prime minister in a secret ballot on Thursday, choosing foreign minister Jeremiah Manele, who has pledged to continue the Pacific Island nation's foreign policy that saw it grow close to China.

Governor General Sir David Vunagi announced outside parliament house that Manele had won 31 votes, to Opposition leader Matthew Wales' 18 votes.

Police boosted security in the capital, Honiara, as newly elected lawmakers arrived at parliament on Thursday to vote.

A national election last month failed to deliver a majority to any political party, and two camps lobbied to win support from independents ahead of the vote for prime minister.

The election is being closely watched by China, the U.S. and neighboring Australia because of the potential impact on regional security, after incumbent Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare struck a security pact with China in 2022.

Sogavare, who built close ties with Beijing during five years in power, did not seek re-election to the top political office and his party backed Manele.

Manele said outside parliament on Thursday "the people have spoken," and called for calm.

Manele's OUR party, which has pledged to build more infrastructure, won 15 seats, and gained four seats under a renewed coalition with two micro parties. It needed support from independents to reach 26 seats for a majority in the 50-seat parliament. A total of 49 votes were cast with one lawmaker absent.

Lowy Institute research fellow Mihai Sora, a former Australian diplomat in the Solomon Islands, said Manele has "a strong track record of working well with all international partners," compared to Sogavare who was "a polarizing figure."

Australian National University's Pacific expert Graeme Smith said Manele was capable and "a big change in style" for the Solomon Islands.

Wale, in a 20-seat coalition of opposition parties called CARE, said on Wednesday the government had failed to create jobs and the economy was dominated by logging and mining companies which shipped resources to China, while health clinics were unable to obtain basic medications such as paracetamol.
South Koreas government raised its terror alert level for five diplomatic missions Thursday, warning North Korea could attack South Korean diplomats overseas.

The countrys terror watch level was raised to alert status, the second-highest level in a four-tier system, indicating a high possibility of a terrorist attack, according to a statement from South Koreas Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The statement said the decision was made during a Thursday meeting of South Koreas Counter Terrorism Center.

South Korean officials recently received intelligence that North Korea was planning to harm South Korean diplomats, it added, without disclosing the exact nature of the alleged threat.

The targeted diplomatic missions include South Korean embassies in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, as well as consulates in the Far Eastern Russian city of Vladivostok and the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang.

South Koreas Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to VOAs request for more details.

The two Koreas have remained technically in a state of war since their 1950s conflict ended in a truce instead of a peace treaty. However, it has been decades since major sustained hostilities have arisen. OK?

North Korea has a long history of terror attacks and political assassinations against South Korea. In 1983, North Korea bombed a hotel in Rangoon, Burma, now Yangon, Myanmar, during a visit by South Koreas then-president Chun Doo-hwan. Although Chun survived, 21 others were killed. In 1988, North Korean agents blew up a South Korean civilian airliner, killing 115 people.

After the airliner attack, the United States formally placed North Korea on its list of state sponsors of terrorism. Pyongyang was removed from the list in 2008 amid negotiations over North Koreas nuclear weapons program.

In 2017, the United States reinstated North Korea on the terror sponsor list after American college student Otto Warmbier died shortly after being released from North Korean custody.

That year, North Korea also assassinated Kim Jong Nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, during a brazen attack at a Malaysian airport.

North Korea has denied involvement in any terrorist activities. It has not commented on the Souths latest accusations.
A defense lawyer for former U.S. President Donald Trump laid the groundwork Thursday for a claim that Michael Cohen, likely to be the star prosecution witness against his former boss, is motivated by a desire for revenge.

The defense suggested at Trumps New York criminal trial Thursday that Cohen, the defendants one-time lawyer and political fixer, turned against Trump because as the new president in 2017, he did not offer Cohen a White House job.

Cohen, who served 13 months in federal prison for various offenses, including a campaign finance law violation that is critical in the case against Trump, is still to testify in the first-ever criminal case against a former president.

Trump is accused of illegally falsifying business records to hide Cohens $130,000 hush money payment to pornographic film star Stormy Daniels just before voters went to the polls in the 2016 election. Prosecutors say the goal was to keep her from talking about her claim that she had a one-night tryst with Trump a decade before, a liaison Trump denies.

Trumps defense lawyers are contending that Cohen, in turning against Trump, is out for revenge against his former boss, that he had paid Daniels of his own volition, and that Trump was not involved. Trump claims that after he became president, he reimbursed Cohen in 2017, saying it was money he was owed for his legal work.

Yet a prosecutor introduced a tape of a phone conversation Cohen had secretly taped with Keith Davidson, Daniels lawyer, in negotiating the hush money payment, where Cohen told Davidson that Trump hates the fact that we did it, which Davidson said referred to the payment to Daniels.

Davidson had earlier testified that he never doubted that Cohen was trying to execute the deal with Daniels at Trumps behest.

In addition, Cohen secretly recorded a call he had with Trump ahead of the election, in which Trump discussed details of a $150,000 payment to Karen McDougal, Playboy magazines 1998 Playmate of the Year.

McDougal has claimed that she had a monthslong affair with Trump in 2006 and 2007, which Trump has also denied.

Anticipating how Trumps lawyers would likely attack Cohen when he testifies, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass had wanted jurors to first hear damaging information about Cohen through his own questioning. Steinglass elicited numerous accounts from Davidson about how volatile and demanding Cohen could be.

In one piece of testimony, Davidson said he received a phone call from Cohen in December 2016, not long before Trump took office as president.

According to Davidson, Cohen said he was despondent, quoting him as saying, I cant believe Im not going to Washington, an acknowledgment that Trump had not asked him to join his new administration.

On cross-examination by Trump defense lawyer Emil Bove, Davidson said about Cohen, I thought he was going to kill himself. Bove suggested that Cohen wanted to be named to a high-ranking position, even as high as attorney general, the top U.S. criminal justice position in the government.

In a withering cross-examination, Bove also sought to portray Davidson as something of a legal lowlife, a lawyer who specialized, as Bove said, in taking on Hollywood clients who wanted to extract money, something bordering on extortion, from celebrities who had something embarrassing to hide in their personal lives.

With the focus on Davidsons legal work, Boves clear suggestion to the 12-member jury was that Davidson and Daniels had done much the same, attempting to hide her story of sex with a future president in exchange for money.

Davidson repeatedly denied the accusations from Bove and said he could not remember all the details of his legal work because over the years he said he has had more than 1,500 clients.

Earlier in the day, prosecutor Christopher Conroy sparred with another Trump lawyer, Todd Blanche, over whether the 77-year-old Trump should again be held in contempt of court for violating New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchans gag order prohibiting him from attacking witnesses and jurors in the case.

On Tuesday, Merchan ruled that Trump violated the gag order nine times, held him in contempt of court and fined him $9,000, a relative pittance for a billionaire like Trump, as Merchan acknowledged in his order.

The judge, after a 40-minute hearing, did not issue an immediate ruling on four more statements Trump has made. Among them were on-camera comments from last week in which Trump, the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential contender, disparaged the jurors hearing the case as Democrats deciding his fate.

Conroy told Merchan, The defendant thinks the rules should be different for him.

Trump defense lawyer Blanche suggested that Trump has to respond to reporters questions about the trial in a hallway outside the courtroom, but Merchan rejected Blanches contention.

It was your client who went down to that holding area and stood in front of the press and started to speak, Merchan said. It wasnt the press that went to him. He went to the press. He didnt need to go in that direction.

Blanche then agreed that no one was forcing Trump to talk to reporters, drawing laughter in an overflow room where spectators are watching the trial on closed circuit television.

Even as Merchan ruled against Trump in the first contempt case, the judge warned Cohen and Daniels about their ongoing taunting public social media posts against Trump.
TBILISI, Georgia, May 2. There is progress in the climate-trade nexus, Deputy Director-General at the World Trade Organization (WTO) Jean-Marie Paugam said during the "Financing Greener Value Chains in the CAREC Region" panel session at the 57th ADB Annual Meeting in Tbilisi, Trend reports.

"Advancements are occurring in the climate-trade relationship, which entails the intersection of policies." "Climate policies impact markets in a variety of ways, and trade policies can also influence climate policies," he said.

Paugam highlighted that trade can either accelerate or impede the energy transition.

"Market fragmentation hampers efforts in both trade and climate initiatives. Greater economic efficiency often results in underestimated emissions. Climate cooperation requires no minimum threshold. We can redirect high production tariffs on fossil fuels towards climate-related purposes," he added.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Hackers who breached UnitedHealth's tech unit in February potentially stole data from a third of Americans, the largest U.S. health insurer's CEO told a congressional committee on Wednesday.

Two congressional panels grilled CEO Andrew Witty about the cyberattack on the company's Change Healthcare unit, which processes around 50% of all medical claims in the U.S.

The breach has caused widespread disruptions in claims processing, impacting patients and providers across the country.

Witty fielded heated questions from House Energy and Commerce Committee members about the company's failure to prevent the breach and contain its fallout.

Pressed for details on the data compromised, Witty said protected health information and personally identifiable information pertaining to "maybe a third" of Americans was stolen.

"We continue to investigate the amount of data involved here," he added. "We do think it's going to be substantial."

The cybercriminal gang AlphV hacked into Change on Feb. 12 using stolen login credentials on an older server that did not have multifactor authentication, Witty said.

"It was ... a platform which had only recently become part of the company was in the process of being upgraded," Witty said, referring to UnitedHealth's $13 billion acquisition of Change in 2022.

The platform also did not have the security measures prescribed in a joint alert issued by the FBI and U.S. cyber and health officials in December 2023 to specifically warn about AlphV, or BlackCat, targeting healthcare organizations.

UnitedHealth paid the gang around $22 million in bitcoin as ransom, Witty said, adding that however there was no guarantee that the breached data was secure and could not still be leaked. Another hacking group claiming to be an offshoot of AlphV said last month it had a copy of the data, though the company has not verified that claim.

The Senate Finance Committee probed the outsized influence of UnitedHealth - which has a market capitalization of $445 billion and annual revenue of $372 billion - on American health care. But Witty said the company's problems were not a threat to the broader economy.

Senator Bill Cassidy said senators on the panel "would have to ask, is the dominant role of United too dominant because it is into everything and messing up United messes up everybody?"

"My point is, the size of United becomes a it's almost a too big to fail and sure, because if it fails, it's going to bring down far more than it ordinarily would," Cassidy said.

Witty said in response, "I don't believe it is because actually despite our size, for example, we have no hospitals in America, we do not own any drug manufacturers."

Yet, Change processes medical claims for around 900,000 physicians, 33,000 pharmacies, 5,500 hospitals and 600 laboratories in the U.S.

U.S. military members' data was also stolen in the hack, Witty revealed, without saying how many of them were impacted.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden called the hack a national security threat.

"I believe the bigger the company, the bigger the responsibility to protect its systems from hackers. UHG was a big target long before it was hacked," he added.

"UnitedHealth Group has not revealed how many patients' private medical records were stolen, how many providers went without reimbursement, and how many seniors are unable to pick up their prescriptions as a result of the hack," said Wyden.

In letters to both congressional committees, the American Hospital Association said an internal survey of its members found that 94% of hospitals reported damage to cash flow, and more than half reported "significant or serious" financial damage due to Change's inability to process claims.

Similarly, 90% of respondents to an American Medical Association survey of doctors said they continue to lose revenue because of the hack, according to the group's written testimony to the Senate Finance Committee.
U.S. and Israeli efforts to isolate Hamas diplomatically have run up against the reality that a cease-fire and the release of 129 Israeli hostages cannot be achieved without engaging the group responsible for the massacre of some 1,200 people on October 7.

Standing next to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken later in October, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas "should be spit out from the community of nations. No leader should meet them. No country should harbor them. And those that do should be sanctioned."

But almost seven months later, Hamas leaders have neither been ostracized nor have countries that engage with them faced sanctions.

Elusive goal

Last week, Hamas representatives were in Beijing discussing reconciliation with Fatah, another Palestinian faction. A week before that, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh met with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul.

Israels frequently stated objective, the complete elimination of Hamas, "is an elusive goal," Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, wrote to VOA.

"Its simply not an attainable military goal," said Sarah Parkinson, professor of international studies at Johns Hopkins University.

However, weakening Hamas to the point where it is willing to agree to a political solution acceptable to Israel is achievable, some experts say.

"A reformed and evolved Hamas that operates with a platform of peaceful politics could be helpful for sustainable peace," Brian Katulis, an expert at the Middle East Institute, told VOA.

China, US policy

Beijing too has been trying to play a role. But unlike the United States, China does not label Hamas a terrorist group.

Last month, China supported a resolution calling for "the State of Palestine" to have full membership at the United Nations. The United States vetoed the resolution.

China firmly supports "establishing the independent State of Palestine," the absence of which is the root cause of the perpetual crisis Palestine, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry said last week.

While the U.S. also supports a two-state solution to the long-standing Israel-Palestine dispute, Washington insists that Hamas should not govern a future Palestinian state.

"We are committed, as Israel is, to ensuring that Gaza cannot be controlled by Hamas," Blinken said on April 19.

U.S. officials recognize China's influence in the region and suggest that Beijing should use it constructively.

China "has no interest in a Middle East thats in flames, full of conflict, and just out of its own self-interest, I think, is looking to take appropriate action," Blinken said.

Despite Chinas many interests in the region, its influence pales in comparison to the United States, experts say.

"Most countries in the region still look to the United States as the strategic partner of choice because it offers security support and robust economic and diplomatic engagement," said Katulis of the Middle East Institute.

While the U.S. and China may strive to influence the situation in the Palestinian territories, ending the war in Gaza and charting a path toward a Palestinian state hinge primarily on the decisions of Israel, Palestinians, and other countries in the region.

A senior Hamas leader told The Associated Press last week that the group would quit armed resistance for five years or more if an independent Palestinian state is established on the pre-1967 borders. Hamas charter and subsequent manifestos call for the eventual "liberation" of all the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.

Netanyahu has repeatedly expressed his opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state, especially one in which Hamas plays a role.
NAIROBI  Kenya and Tanzania were bracing Thursday for a cyclone on the heels of torrential rains that have devastated East Africa, killing more than 350 people and forcing tens of thousands from their homes.

In addition to claiming 188 lives in Kenya since March, the floods have displaced 165,000 people, with 90 reported missing, the interior ministry said, as the government warned citizens to remain on alert.

"Crucially, the coastal region is likely to experience Cyclone Hidaya, which will result in heavy rainfall, large waves and strong winds that could affect marine activities in the Indian Ocean," the office of Kenyan President William Ruto said.

Neighboring Tanzania, where at least 155 people have been killed in flooding and landslides, is also expected to feel the force of Hidaya.

"The presence of Hidaya Cyclone ... is expected to dominate and affect the weather patterns in the country including heavy rain and strong winds in some Regions near Indian Ocean," the Tanzania Red Cross Society said on X, formerly Twitter.

Stranded tourists

Earlier this week Ruto announced he was deploying Kenya's military to evacuate everyone living in flood-prone areas.

In a bulletin released Thursday evening, the Interior Ministry ordered anyone living close to major rivers or near 178 "filled up or near filled up dams or water reservoirs" to vacate the area within 24 hours, warning that they would otherwise face "mandatory evacuation for their safety."

The devastation has also affected Kenya's tourism sector  a key economic driver  with some 100 tourists marooned in the famed Maasai Mara wildlife reserve on Wednesday after a river overflowed, flooding lodges and safari camps.

Rescuers later managed to evacuate 90 people by ground and air, the Interior Ministry said.

The area is currently inaccessible with bridges washed away, Narok West subcounty administrator Stephen Nakola told AFP, adding that about 50 camps in the reserve have been affected, putting more than 500 locals temporarily out of work.

There are no fatalities, but communities living around the area have been forced to move away.

"Accessing the Mara is now a nightmare, and the people stuck there are really worried. They don't have an exit route," Nakola said, adding that waterborne diseases were likely to emerge.

"I am worried that the situation could get worse because the rains are still on."

SEE ALSO:

Tourists evacuated from Kenya's Maasai Mara reserve amid flooding

In the deadliest single incident in Kenya, dozens of villagers were killed when a dam burst on Monday near Mai Mahiu in the Rift Valley, about 60 kilometers (40 miles) north of Nairobi.

The Interior Ministry said 52 bodies had been recovered and 51 people were still missing after the dam disaster.

Travel warnings

Opposition politicians and lobby groups have accused Ruto's government of being unprepared and slow to respond to the crisis despite weather warnings.

"Kenya's government has a human rights obligation to prevent foreseeable harm from climate change and extreme weather events and to protect people when a disaster strikes," Human Rights Watch said Thursday.

The United States and Britain have issued travel warnings for Kenya, urging their nationals to be cautious amid the extreme weather.

The devastation has sparked an outpouring of condolences and pledges of solidarity from all over the world, including from Pope Francis and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The rains have been amplified by the El Nino weather pattern  a naturally occurring climate phenomenon typically associated with increased heat worldwide, leading to drought in some parts of the world and heavy downpours elsewhere.

Kenya's capital, Nairobi, is among the areas expected to suffer heavy rains over the next two days, the Kenya Meteorological Department said on X.

The heavier-than-usual rains have also cost at least 29 lives in Burundi, with 175 people injured and tens of thousands displaced since September last year, the United Nations said.
Photo: Jemal Countess/Getty Images for TIME

Amazon MGM Studios is adapting Colleen Hoovers Verity. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Eat the Cats Nick Antosca and Alex Hedlund are producing, with a script written by Insomnias Hillary Seitz.

Verity centers on Lowen Ashleigh, who agrees to ghost write a novels for the comatose bestselling author Verity Crawford. Lowen falls for Veritys husband, Jeremy while also discovering a hidden autobiographical manuscript that paints Verity in a very different light than her public persona. Its kind of Jane Eyre meets that time on Vanderpump Rules when Jax slept with Faith while she was doing in-home hospice care. Hoover self-published the book in 2018, before it was acquired by Grand Central Publishing in 2021. It reached #2 on the New York Times bestsellers list. Hoovers first page-to-screen adaptation, It Ends With Us, comes to theaters August 9.
Photo: Dia Dipasupil/WireImage

Former Dance Moms star Nia Sioux is reminding us all that No is a full sentence. Sioux went on TikTok to address why she didnt do the two-hour Dance Moms: The Reunion special, premiering on Lifetime Wednesday May 1. Yeah, its pretty plain and simple. I just didnt want to do it, she said. Some people think it was because I had sorority stuff. Nope, I didnt. Some people think its because Im in school. I am in school, but it wouldnt have been an issue. I just didnt want to do it, and thats a good enough answer and thats a good enough reason. Sioux said she originally didnt want to comment on her lack of participation in the reunion because I just didnt want to start drama  not that this would even start drama. It really shouldnt. She says shes still grateful for getting her start on the show, and shes happy her former co-stars get to share how they felt or their experiences, but thats just something I decided that I didnt want to do, and thats okay.

Whos Attending Dance Moms: The Reunion?

Sisters Maddie and Kenzie Ziegler also excused themselves from this reunion narrative. Jojo Siwa, Chloe Lukasiak, sisters Brooke and Paige Hyland, Kendall Vertes, and Kalani Hilliker (and all their moms) will appear on the reunion. Dance Moms: The Reunion airs on Lifetime tonight at 8 p.m. It will be available to stream May 2.
TBILISI, Georgia, May 2. Tajikistan plans to fully switch to renewable energy sources by 2032, Governor for Tajikistan, ADB, and First Deputy Prime Minister of Tajikistan Hokim Kholiqzoda said during the "Financing Greener Value Chains in the CAREC Region" panel session at the 57th ADB Annual Meeting in Tbilisi, Trend reports.

"Natural climatic complexities pose challenges to action in Tajikistan."Political will is essential to addressing this issue. There is currently no active implementation of the Paris Agreement, but Tajikistan is making significant strides in this direction," he stated.

The minister highlighted Tajikistan's ambition to transition entirely to renewable energy sources by 2032.

"Tajikistan ranks sixth globally in renewable energy usage." Green initiatives are also prioritized. However, financial constraints hinder progress in this area. The Rogun Hydropower Plant construction encountered delays, and financial resource challenges emerged after 2014. Ultimately, the project's cost escalated to $6 billion," he remarked.

He acknowledged that CAREC's infrastructure, which dates back to the Soviet era, needs modernization.

CAREC comprises 11 countries and development partners collaborating to foster development through regional cooperation, aiming for accelerated growth and shared prosperity.

The CAREC 2030 strategy supports five operational clusters and three cross-cutting themes.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Photo: Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty Images She has Drinking Around the World at home.

The most important question of Dua Lipas never-ending Radical Optimism press cycle has been answered. No, its nothing about manifestation  its her favorite vacation spot! And leave it to two gay men (and former Vulture contributors), Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers, to ask. The question came up during Lipas appearance on their podcast Las Culturistas. And no, to Rogerss dismay, its not Epcot. What is that, is that where Disney is? Lipa responded when he suggested the theme park. Her real answer? I think, like, south of Albania is, really, she said. Or Ibiza. I love Ibiza. And you know the recommendation queen has some tips for your trip. When I say Ibiza, people immediately think of, like, the one strip with all the clubs where its absolute carnage, she said. But you can do really peaceful, quiet. Theres amazing restaurants in Ibiza. Its really chill, beautiful little beaches, little coves  its amazing. And then you can dip out once a week and go to DC10 and just rave. So you just need, its about balance.

And before you hit Lipa with a joke about how she would know because shes always vacationing, she already clapped back during her I Dont Think So, Honey segment on the pod. I think you can work hard and play hard and not be, you know  I feel like no matter what, people are still going to call you the Vacanza queen, Lipa declared, laughing. And people think that Im always on holiday  Im actually not always on holiday, Im actually always fucking working. Rogers gets it. When Dua Lipa goes on vacation, that is a tax write-off. Thats going into the work, he chimed in. You dont have Illusion if Dua doesnt go on vacation, period! And well get to judge if that travel was worth it when Radical Optimism comes out on May 3.
Photo: Lev Radin/Pacific Press/ZUMA Wire/Alamy

On Thursday, April 25, New Yorks highest state court threw out Harvey Weinsteins 2020 rape and sexual-assault conviction. The New York State Court of Appeals, in its 4-3 decision, said that the remedy for these egregious errors is a new trial, and indeed, Weinstein will be retried, with a judge saying on May 1 that it would be tentatively scheduled for the fall. The appeal decision immediately prompted questions about whether this was a setback for the Me Too movement more broadly. Me Too set the stage for a renewed discussion about alleged abusers who for years had evaded justice due to their stature or privilege. Without the women across various industries who came forward, one wonders, would there have been urgency to pursue cases against Jeffrey Epstein and R. Kelly  or would victims claims get written off as unreliable or unimportant? Weinstein, who was convicted during his 2022 Los Angeles rape trial, is now in New York City. Its unclear when he would be transported back to California due to the expected retrial, but he still faces a 16-year sentence in his Los Angeles case. We spoke to experts and asked if theres any chance something similar could happen during his California appeal; Weinsteins attorneys are filing their full briefing next week, per his rep. Heres what to know about the future of Weinsteins cases.

I need a refresher  what was overturned in New York and why?

Weinstein was found guilty of rape in the third degree and criminal sexual act in the first degree for assaulting two women, Jessica Mann and Mimi Haleyi. Mann, who had been an aspiring actor, told jurors that Weinstein raped her at a Midtown East hotel in early 2013. Haleyi testified that Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her in 2006 at his downtown apartment. Weinstein was found not guilty of two predatory sexual-assault counts, which related to actress Annabella Sciorras claim that he raped her around late 1993. To bolster their case, Manhattan prosecutors called three other accusers  Dawn Dunning, Tarale Wulff, and Lauren Young  to testify about Weinsteins sexual misconduct. Weinstein was not facing charges for their allegations.

Weinsteins lawyer, Arthur Aidala, argued his appeal. He told the New York Court of Appeals that the judges decision permitting these three women to testify about alleged prior bad acts solely served to smear Weinstein before the jury, making a fair trial all but impossible. Aidala argued, It was his character that was on trial  it wasnt the evidence that was on trial. The New York court effectively agreed, saying in its opinion: The only evidence against defendant was the complainants testimony, and the result of the courts rulings, on the one hand, was to bolster their credibility and diminish defendants character before the jury. On the other hand, the threat of a cross-examination highlighting these untested allegations undermined the defendants right to testify.

Does this mean Weinsteins New York case is over?

No. During a hearing on May 1, prosecutors said, We believe in this case and will be retrying this case. The judge said that a tentative retrial date would be in the fall. Its unclear, however, whether Haleyi will take the stand. Following Wednesdays proceeding, her attorney, Gloria Allred, said Haleyi wasnt sure whether or not she wanted to testify again, as it was incredibly traumatic.

Didnt Weinsteins 2022 L.A. trial have similar testimony?

Yes. Weinstein was found guilty on three charges, including the forcible rape of Jane Doe No. 1, in his Los Angeles rape trial. Weinstein was acquitted of sexual battery against Jane Doe No. 2, and the jury did not reach a decision on counts with two other accusers; a mistrial was declared on said counts. In total, Weinstein had faced two counts of rape and five counts of sexual assault for alleged encounters in California between 2004 and 2013, per CNN. In addition to the four women for which Weinstein was charged, jurors heard testimony from four other accusers related to uncharged bad acts.

Is the L.A. district attorney worried?

Los Angeles prosecutors appear confident that Weinsteins conviction will stick. They said, We are saddened by the news out of New York overturning the hard fought convictions in the Harvey Weinstein case, but added that California law specifically allowed the kind of propensity evidence  testimony from witnesses about uncharged similar bad acts  in sexual-assault cases. Consistent with this law, our office sought the admission of propensity evidence of Mr. Weinsteins sexual assaults in other jurisdictions, prosecutors said in a statement.

The defense has filed a notice of appeal on the Los Angeles case, but they have not filed their opening brief, the prosecutors also said in a statement. Although we do not know what arguments the defense will raise on appeal, we are confident that our convictions will withstand appellate scrutiny. Our Office stands ready to see that Mr. Weinstein faces the serious consequences of his deplorable conduct.

So, uncharged bad acts arent an issue in California?

David Ring, an attorney in California who represented Jane Doe No. 1 in Weinsteins L.A. case, said its far more difficult to make this kind of appeals argument because of this law. Even though the defendant is not charged with these other victims crimes, theyre allowed to testify if the judge finds the testimony to be important and relevant and all that, Ring said. New York does not have that statute  New York has a more restrictive statute.

Theres a huge difference between the two cases, Ring said. Ring explained that the California law empowers judges to accept certain testimony. If an appeals court in California must weigh whether the uncharged bad-acts witnesses should or shouldnt have testified, they must use an abuse of discretion standard.

Thats a pretty high standard  that the trial judge abused her discretion in allowing this other testimony, which, because of the law, is quite difficult to prove. Bottom line, it gives the trial judge very broad discretion in what comes in and does not in these cases. In Rings view, the judge in L.A. did an excellent job with this, allowing some uncharged accusers to testify but not permitting prosecutors requests for others.

Can the New York decision somehow still impact Weinsteins appeal in California?

I dont think it is going to affect the California conviction at all, said Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor who now helms West Coast Trial Lawyers. This is the type of thing if a judge lets it in, its really only reversible for an abuse of discretion  its really hard to prove. And as for a retrial in New York, Rahmani said the outlook was good for prosecutors if there were a way to modify how prior bad-acts witnesses came into the case. If there were conduct that fit within the statute of limitations, even if it werent as serious an allegation as rape, and were clearly relevant to a charge, then this could be bulletproof on appeal, he said. Rahmani said he thinks Weinstein would be convicted again. I cant imagine any situation where hes retried and acquitted.

What does Weinstein think about his California case?

Defense attorney Jennifer Bonjean  who has represented R. Kelly and Bill Cosby  is working on his appeal in California. Bonjean, who was present at a press conference following Weinsteins New York hearing, said she doesnt think the California evidence law is necessarily a problem for his appeal. A judge absolutely has to do a balancing test to determine whether the admission of this propensity evidence would cause undue prejudice, Bonjean said, noting its the same in California, New York, and other jurisdictions. The court did not do that there. Bonjean also said that Weinsteins California appeal does not turn entirely on this issue. She pointed to how Weinstein was only convicted on Jane Doe No. 1s allegations. She also said that the California judge gutted his defense by barring him from presenting evidence that could have helped him.
Patti LuPone. Photo: Cindy Ord/Getty Images

In 2022, Patti LuPone said she would not be on Broadway again for a very long time, so she decided to give up membership in the Actors Equity union. Were not sure how wed define a very long time, but two years is probably not the answer. Either way, LuPone is headed back to the stage this summer alongside Mia Farrow in a new play, The Roommate, by Jen Silverman (Spain). You cant keep Patti LuPone from the stage, its like keeping a clown from birthday parties. The production will be directed by Jack OBrien (Hairspray). Its always a big decision to return to the stage, and I certainly had no intention of being back on Broadway so fast, LuPone said in a press release. But when I read the play and heard Mia was attached, it became the easiest decision of my life. Ive always been a fan of Mias work and she is a treasured friend. Were going to have a blast. The Roommate is heading into the Booth Theater on August 29, with opening day scheduled for September 12. So, thats why Oh Mary! didnt get the Booth.
Italy culture minister welcomes court ruling.

A European court on Thursday upheld Italy's right to claim an ancient Greek bronze statue from the Getty Villa Museum in California.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rejected an appeal by the J. Paul Getty Trust and ruled unanimously in favour of Italy which has for decades has sought to reclaim the prized Victorious Youth statue from the American museum.

In a statement, Italian culture minister Gennaro Sangiuliano welcomed the "unequivocal ruling" by the Strasbourg court and pledged to "continue our action with renewed determination to have [the statue] back in Italy soon".

Felice per la sentenza della Corte di Strasburgo che riconosce le nostre ragioni sull'Atleta di Fano.#Lisippo #2maggio pic.twitter.com/YvhxwbqhY3  Gennaro Sangiuliano (@g_sangiuliano) May 2, 2024

The life-sized statue, attributed to the Greek sculptor Lysippos, was found in 1964 by Italian fishermen in the Adriatic Sea off the coast of Pesaro.

Dating from 300 BC to 100 BC, the statue was later trafficked abroad illegally, changing hands several times before being purchased by the Getty for $4 million in 1977. It has been on display at the Getty Villa Museum in Malibu since 1978.

The Getty has long held that Italy had no legal claim to the Greek statue, arguing that it was not part of Italy's cultural heritage and claiming that it had been found in international waters.

However Italy has always insisted that the statue is part of its national cultural heritage and that it was brought ashore aboard an Italian-flagged boat before being smuggled out of the country and acquired illegally.
Emily in Paris takes a Roman Holiday.

Lily Collins is currently in Rome to film scenes for Season 4 of the hit Netflix series Emily in Paris after filming concluded in the French capital last week.

After posting on Instagram last Saturday "Next stop: Rome!", the show's star shared pictures of herself at landmarks including the Colosseum and the Mouth of Truth.

The British-American actress, who plays Chicago marketing executive Emily Cooper in the Netflix show, filmed scenes at the Trevi Fountain with new co-star Eugenio Franceschini, with filming also reportedly taking place on streets around the Jewish Ghetto district.

The show's arrival in Rome was long expected after Collins teased fans during the annual Netflix Tudum event last June when she said: While Emilys heart will always remain true to Paris, her life takes an unexpected twist this season. Dont be surprised to find her on a Roman holiday.

It is not known exactly what role Rome will play in the show's storyline, or how many episodes will be filmed in the Italian capital, ahead of the expected release of the fourth season later this year.

Photo Lily Collins Instagram
Dining chat: A waiter gave our anniversary bubbly to the table next to us. What should we have done?
TBILISI, Georgia, May 2. President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Masatsugu Asakawa is set to attend COP29, scheduled to take place in Azerbaijan, Trend reports.

The announcement was made during a meeting between Asakawa and Azerbaijani Finance Minister Samir Sharifov on the sidelines of the ADB's annual meetings in Tbilisi.

Discussions at the meeting centered on the current status and future prospects of cooperation between Azerbaijan and ADB, particularly focusing on participation in transport and railway projects.

As Azerbaijan and the bank celebrate their 25th anniversary of cooperation this year, Asakawa expressed his intention to visit Azerbaijan in commemoration of the occasion. Sharifov extended an invitation to Asakawa on behalf of the Azerbaijani government to attend COP29, which was graciously accepted by Asakawa.

Additionally, during a meeting with Georgian Finance Minister Lasha Khutishvili, discussions revolved around mutual interests, emphasizing the importance of cooperation and experience exchange between the financial institutions of both countries, as well as collaboration within international financial organizations.

Sharifov commended his Georgian counterpart on successfully hosting the 57th annual meeting of the ADB Board of Directors.
Tenants at Westfield Bondi Junction are moving to the next phase of recovery as floral tributes are removed from the site following the shocking knife attack just over two weeks ago in which six people were killed.

Son of a Baker founder Roman Urosevski said there had been a slowdown in foot traffic as things returned to normal at the mall, but was hopeful customers would start coming back.

In the first few days after the tragedy there was a pickup in business ... but now we are seeing it is about 30 per cent quieter, Urosevski said.

Son of a Baker at Westfield Bondi Junction Credit: Son of a Baker Instagram

That also includes the most recent school holidays. Customers were keen to support local business, and we hope that will come back.
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 Having always played nice-looking girlfriends or heroine-y type people, being offered Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous was a gift, says Dame Joanna Lumley. Humour was always right at the bottom of everything  at school, in my family, I was the clown, the fool or the joker. Suddenly to be offered this part when I was 40  it was paradise, it was just magic, she says. To have the freedom and the wildness to invent those two extraordinary women, I think Jennifer [Saunders, who wrote the show and played Eddie] is just a genius. And then, of course, as we settled into the saddle, it got madder and wilder, and we would just cry with laughter when we were rehearsing. We would just weep with laughter. The 78-year-old says theres no chance the show, which ran for six seasons over 20 years from 1992, with a follow-up movie released in 2016, could be made today. Because everything has now become unacceptable  a lot of the language would have been suspicious, particularly Eddie, who was forever saying the most appalling things about people, which was hysterically funny because she was such a ghastly character. Of course, Patsy wouldnt be able to smoke, they were both drinking all the time, that would be ruled out. Not that you depended on those things, but their characters were defined by the way they lived and once you strip that away, its all gone. Jerry Seinfeld made similar comments this week, observing that many of the jokes in his show wouldnt fly in todays climate. Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley during a promotional tour for Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie in 2016. Credit: Andrew Testa/The New York Times

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Were speaking ahead of Lumleys tour of Australia in October for a series of shows in which she will talk about her roles (I wont be able to miss Patsy, I mean, I couldnt leave her out of anything), and her life, including her many travels and some of the things that have gone hideously wrong. The show is devised specifically for Australian audiences, although she has done a similar life and times-style tour of Britain. Lumley will be interviewed on stage by producer Clive Tulloh, an old friend whom she met more than 30 years ago on the set of Ruby Waxs The Full Wax; the audience will be able to submit questions. I just want to make an entertaining show, Lumley says. Its got to be good  [not] some half-hearted old woman scrabbling around. Anyone whos seen her travel shows knows theres no risk of that. A natural on screen, Lumleys warmth and enthusiasm for people and places are palpable, as is a certain cheekiness which makes the shows a joy to watch. She is the same when we chat  generous and charming, the smile coming through in that distinctive voice. Her father said that even as a baby she had a grin from ear to ear, and shes often said she has a naturally optimistic disposition. Born in Kashmir the year before Indian independence, Lumley was travelling even as an infant. Her fathers work in the British Army meant the family moved around Asia, including Hong Kong and Malaysia, sailing to and from the UK regularly. It was proper travel. And I think one was so used to suitcases, and packing up and moving on, that it got into my blood and I then began to feel rather restless if I wasnt moving, rather panic-stricken if I could see a year stretching ahead with no foreign travel. In 1991, she made her first travel doco, In Search of the White Rajahs, which took her back to Sarawak in Malaysian Borneo, where the family spent time. She has gone on to make half-a-dozen such series, with destinations ranging from Greece, Japan and the Silk Road to the Trans-Siberian Railway. Joanna Lumley visited nutmeg growers during her Spice Trail Adventure. Viewers often say, I didnt know you spoke Malay, or whatever the language is in question, which she sees as the ultimate compliment. Interpreters are used and footage is edited to splice in her questions and interviewee responses, as well as her commentary.

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Ive always understood how much we can communicate with each other, even if we dont have a language, through our eyes, through our gestures, through our sympathetic acknowledgment of what they seem to be saying, she says. And Ive never been afraid of dumb play, where you signal things and mime what you mean; people pick it up very, very quickly. Her background has influenced her advocacy work, including being the public face of the campaign to secure the right to settle in Britain for the Gurkhas who fought with the British Army and the exiled Tibetan government and people. Over the years, she has also campaigned for the human rights group Survival International and various other charities; she is a patron of the Born Free Foundation and the Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust. Lumley with an anti-war poster in the form of the American flag during her Avengers days. Credit: Getty Last year, she revealed she has prosopagnosia, a rare condition also known as face blindness; sufferers are unable to recognise faces theyve seen before, including friends and family. This is why I kiss everybody, she quipped on BBC Radio. Lumleys fascination with people shines through in the travel shows, as does her quest for knowledge. The poorer people are, the more generous they are, the more open-hearted, she observes. There seems to be part of the human spirit which somehow makes the best of what youve got, she says. Quite often, people who have got more seem to be more disgruntled and more unhappy. If youre always looking at a screen, or TikTok, youll never see the bluebells coming up ... I also think you ask for much less, which is why quite a lot of these people in much less developed countries  as some would call them, but in many ways more developed  people are so happy to sit in the shade of a tree, laughing and talking and gossiping, Lumley says. And were scurrying about with scowls on our faces wondering if our stocks and shares have lost money. Weve got it slightly out of balance. We can redeem it but weve got to fight hard for it, I think, we cant just hope it will wash over us. Because theres a lot of bad in the world, as were seeing with all the conflict and the greed. The old, horrid enemies are rising up again: greed, religion, land grabbing, hostilities.

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Man is by nature a fairly warlike animal. No other animal is quite as hell-bent on horribleness as mankind. And so we must be aware of it and watch out for it like a hawk to stop it. Anything that brings more grievance and fury into the world should be stamped upon. Describing herself as a country girl, Lumley says her mother taught her and her sister about seasons and birdsong and trees and insects. So I had a head start, she says. To her mind, one of the great malaises of the 21st century is technology, which has made us more insular. Everybody carrying a mobile phone and looking down and in, rather than out and up, she says, adding that in doing so, we miss a lot of the true beauty of life. Loading Our springtime is just starting here but if youre always looking at a screen, or TikTok, youll never see the bluebells coming up or the leaves budding and then notice the different trees coming out at different times. You never see those things ... So suddenly, all the glory  the whole purpose of being alive  is stripped away from you. And then you cant understand why you feel morose and unhappy and unfulfilled all the time. She and her husband, acclaimed pianist, composer and conductor Stephen Barlow, live in London and have a remote and quiet house in the hills of Dumfriesshire, Scotland. Its her second marriage; she wed Jeremy Lloyd (co-creator of Are You Being Served? and Allo! Allo!) in 1970 but they separated after just a few months. Her son, Jamie, whom she had at 21 and raised as a single mother, is a photographer, having followed in the footsteps of his father, Michael Claydon; she has two granddaughters. Lumley tells a lovely story about when she and Barlow first met. It wasnt a kind of love match or anything  we were both with other people at the time. We clocked each other and then went off on our separate ways  and it wasnt until at least eight years later that we came back in touch with each other. It was extraordinary.

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But I do have to say, in a rather sappy, girly way, that when I set eyes on him, I felt a strange sort of electric shock going through me. And I think in a prescient way, I thought, this person is going to be in my life. There didnt seem any shadow of a doubt. Isnt that odd? I couldnt think how, because I was with somebody I loved very much. At that second meeting, the timing was right. Thats why I believe in angels and archangels, all sitting up there using us like puppets and going, oh, lets put her there and well put him there. Theyve now been together 37 years and are extremely good friends. A lot of married couples will tell you this: theyre good friends, good companions. You like being with that person ... Im sure that makes a huge difference. In the podcast, Joanna and The Maestro, released last year, she asks Barlow about classical music, a passion they share. The conversation ranges from their early interest in different genres  the Bee Gees, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin for him and for her, the Everly Brothers, Simon & Garfunkel and anyone who had a lovely voice, especially Elvis. Its intimate and funny and a lovely insight into their relationship. In one episode, she describes music as unknowable  a bit like life, really. I think life is endlessly fascinating. It just throws out great tapestries every day and says, Pick your way through that one, babe, and so you do, she says. I think youre learning until the end of your days. Lumley circa 1970. Credit: Getty Having been a model in the 1960s, Lumley had first-hand experience in the fashion industry. She couldnt have been more unlike the louche, work-averse Patsy  who didnt even know her way to the office. Modelling allowed her to travel the continent, including Russia. In those days, it was a very different scene: models did their own hair and make-up, brought their own accessories, made their own way everywhere. Now its a bit, sweetie, darling, she says.

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A 15-year-old boy who described the alleged Wakeley terrorist as his mate sent messages in the days after the church stabbing about wanting to do something so bad, including attacking a bunch of Jews, a court has heard.

The teenager was charged in the aftermath of the alleged stabbing of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel during a live-streamed service at Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley on April 15, which was declared a terrorist incident. During a raid on the teenagers home, police say they found two hand-drawn flags of the terrorist group Islamic State.

The 15-year-old boys parents leave Parramatta Childrens Court after their sons bail application. Credit: Dion Georgopoulos

The 15-year-old on Friday became the sixth alleged associate of the 16-year-old accused stabber to be charged, but is the youngest to be facing a count of conspiring to prepare or plan a terrorist act, which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment if proven.

At a bail application in Parramatta Childrens Court on Wednesday afternoon, attended by the teenagers parents as he appeared via video link, Crown prosecutor Rebekah Rodger said the boys mother had taken his phone away from him on April 15 because he was getting heightened by the stabbing of the bishop.
The Perth grandmother bashed in her own home, allegedly by a former detainee, has taken on the Immigration Minister Andrew Giles over the chain of events prior to the attack.

In a powerful phone call, Ninette Simons asked why her accused was freed on bail multiple times prior to her assault, and why he wasnt wearing an ankle monitor.

Ninette and her husband Philip Simons have found themselves at the centre of a political firestorm over how detainees  released following last years landmark High Court decision  were being monitored in the community.

Former detainee Majid Jamshidi Doukoshkan, 43, and two other men were allegedly let into the Simons home on April 16 after impersonating police officers. They are then accused of tying Philip up, bashing Ninette, and stealing more than $200,000 worth of jewellery.
The collapse of WorkSafe Victorias pursuit of the Health Department over the governments hotel quarantine program provides a fittingly shambolic end to a lamentable failure of public administration and accountability.

It is four years, nearly to the day, that a family of four infected with COVID-19 flew into Melbourne Airport from Bangladesh, checked into the Rydges Hotel on Swanston and seeded a second wave epidemic that plunged the state into lockdown and killed nearly 800 people.

The Rydges Hotel in Carlton in April 2020. Credit: Penny Stephens

It is now well established that none of this was the fault of the family, the security guards responsible for keeping them in their rooms, hotel staff or the public health officials tasked with running a fatally ill-conceived program.

These are people who, if the WorkSafe prosecution had reached a verdict, might have received a belated token of justice.
Another former Perth immigration detainee released after a High Court ruling last year is back before the courts this week for allegedly breaching curfew for nearly a week and then turning off his ankle bracelet.

Kimbengere Gosoge, 42, was arrested on Wednesday and appeared before Midland Magistrates Court on Thursday where he didnt apply for bail.

Yongah Hill Detention Centre. Credit: 9News Perth

Gosoge is alleged to have breached the conditions of his visa five times between April 26 and May 1 by failing to observe his residential curfew obligations and is alleged to have failed to keep his monitoring device in working order.

He will be remanded in custody to reappear at Perth Magistrates Court on May 16.
Briefly back to footy, and Hamish Brayshaw, the WA-based brother of forcibly retired Melbourne footballer Angus, has launched a swingeing attack on the AFLs judicial system.

Brayshaw, who captains East Perth in the WAFL, accused the system of being inconsistent, selective and an existential threat to the game.

The tribunal and the match review panel are single-handedly destroying the game, he said.

Hamish Brayshaw during his time playing for West Coast in 2020. Credit: Getty Images

You are making it impossible to play in good spirit, you are making it impossible to adjudicate, and youre not far off making it impossible to support.

Brayshaw was making his thoughts known in an open letter to the AFL delivered on Backchat, a YouTube podcast he hosts with former West Coast player Will Schofield and journalist Dan Const.

Angus Brayshaw was knocked out by a flying smother from Collingwoods Brayden Maynard in last years qualifying final and has retired on medical advice. Another brother, Andrew, plays for Fremantle and their father, Mark, played for North Melbourne and later worked in footy administration.

About Angus, Brayshaw is poignant. My brother is never going to play football again in his whole life because of a jumping smother that turned into a bump that collided with his head, Brayshaw said.

As much as it killed me to watch that, I can put my feeling for Angus aside and say that down to the nuts of and bolts of it, Maynard was trying to smother the ball in a qualifying final, so technically it was a football act.

You certainly didnt care at all for the outcome there, and Brayden went on to win a premiership. You went with protecting the sanctity of the game over the protection of the player. Im not agreeing or disagreeing with that, but it is breaking me that you are constantly backflipping on that stance.

Read the full story here.
TBILISI, Georgia, May 2. The Asian Development Banks (ADB) 57th Annual Meeting has kicked off in Tbilisi, Georgia, Trend reports from the event venue.

The theme for the 57th Annual Meeting to be held from 2 to 5 May, is Bridge to the Future.

The event will feature discussions on renewable energy, digital connectivity, the Middle Corridor, sustainability in finance, artificial intelligence and digital transformation, financing climate finance projects.

Moreover, it is planned to launch the Asian Development Policy Report 2024: Aging Well in Asia.

The opening session of the Board of Governors will take place on May 4. The Opening Session marks the official start of the Annual Meeting. It is a high-profile event attended by the Guest of Honor from the host country. Remarks will be made by ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa and the Minister of Finance of Georgia and Chair of the ADB Board of Governors, Lasha Khutsishvili.



The Annual Meeting is an opportunity for ADB Governors to consider development issues and challenges facing Asia and the Pacific. Several thousand participants, including finance ministers, central bank governors, senior government officials, members of the private sector, representatives of international organizations and civil society organizations, youth, academia, and the media, regularly join the meeting.
The United States, aligned with Russia and states in the Persian Gulf, is thwarting a push by Australia and other nations, including France, Rwanda, the Netherlands and Nigeria, to establish the first international treaty to curb plastic pollution.

The failure of a proposal to cut plastic pollution emerged at a United Nations meeting in Ottawa, Canada, on Wednesday (AEST). It called for a global commitment to reach a target to reduce primary plastic polymers  meaning plastics made from petrochemicals that have not been processed before.

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek wants a global treaty to cut plastic pollution. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen/Joe Armao

The proposal would have required signatory countries to set a limit on global plastic production that would be deemed sustainable and a requirement for countries to transparently report their production.

The United Nations conference, which wrapped up on Tuesday night in Ottawa, was the penultimate scheduled meeting set aside to develop a plastics treaty. The proposal was dubbed the bridge to Busan because the South Korean city will host the final conference designated to negotiate the treaty. That meeting will take place in November.
London: Europe must consider sending troops to help defend Ukraine if Vladimir Putins Russian forces break through their defence lines in an anticipated offensive in the next three months, Emmanuel Macron has said.

The French president, expanding on remarks he made in February about possible military intervention, said it was vital that nothing was ruled out because if Russia won in Ukraine, there would be no security in Europe.

Emmanuel Macron has been a stalwart ally of President Volodymyr Zelensky since his attempts at trying to dissuade Vladimir Putin from invading in 2022 failed. Credit: Bloomberg

Macron made the comments in an interview with The Economist after delivering a speech last week when he declared that Europe was mortal and could die partly due to the threat posed by Russian aggression after its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Im not ruling anything out because we are facing someone who is not ruling anything out, Macron said when asked if he stood by his previous comments not excluding the sending of Western troops. His views at the time drew a sharp put-down from Germany and caused uproar in several other EU states.
Theyre feeling the kicks for months after theyre being told that theyre never going to have a live birth, Roberts said. And its just horrifying when you could take care of it at 20 weeks, and they could move on, and they could get pregnant with their next pregnancy and be able to hold their babies that much sooner. Loading The Biden campaign quickly placed blame for the extreme six-week ban on former President Donald Trump. Trump is worried the voters will hold him accountable for the cruelty and chaos he created. Hes right. Trump ripped away the rights and freedom of women in America. This November, voters are going to teach him a valuable lesson: Dont mess with the women of America, President Joe Biden said in a statement about the new abortion ban. US Vice President Kamala Harris visited Jacksonville, Florida where she made remarks on the law change.

Because of Donald Trump, more than 20 states have abortion bans, Harris said. And today, this very day, at the stroke of midnight, another Trump abortion ban went into effect here in Florida. As of this morning, 4 million women in this state woke up with fewer reproductive freedoms than they had last night. Dr Leah Roberts discusses Floridas six-week abortion ban in her office in Boca Raton, Florida. Credit: AP Roberts said a huge issue with the ban is that the doctors who perform emergency abortions have to learn the procedures by performing therapeutic abortions. So if most abortions are banned, the next generation of doctors wont be able to develop the skills needed to perform an emergency abortion. Roberts said she is concerned the restrictions will also prompt veteran doctors to leave Florida, as they have in other states that have enacted abortion bans. Were going to have less access to care for our general population, even if its just basic maternity care and normal OB-GYN care, because people are leaving, Roberts said.

Loading In addition, women are going to have to travel far from home to get abortions. Florida Access Network executive director Stephanie Pineiro said the organisation, which helps provide funding for abortions, expects costs to increase dramatically. She estimates it will cost around $US3000 for a woman to travel to another state for an abortion. The closest place after 12 weeks would be Virginia or Illinois, but before 12 weeks would be North Carolina. Its very emotionally draining and challenging to deal with these types of barriers and have to leave your home, Pineiro said. The Florida Supreme Court, with five of its seven members appointed by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, ruled 6-1 last month to uphold the states ban on most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, which cleared the way for the six-week ban.

The 15-week ban, signed by DeSantis in 2022, had been enforced while it was challenged in court. The six-week ban, passed by the Legislature a year later, was written so that it would not take effect until a month after the 2022 law was upheld. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks about the implementation of Floridas abortion ban at an event in Jacksonville, Florida. Credit: AP Arizona ban Republican state Senator Erin Grall, who sponsored the six-week ban, previously said bodily autonomy should not include abortions. We live in a time where the consequences of our actions are an afterthought and convenience has been substitution for responsibility, Grall said, and this is unacceptable when it comes to the protection of the most vulnerable.

The Arizona Senate voted on Wednesday to repeal the states 1864 ban on abortion which could have gone into effect within weeks if not struck down. The repeal was passed by the Senate in a 16-14 vote and is expected to be quickly signed by Governor Katie Hobbs, a Democrat. Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs. Credit: AP The Arizona House last week passed the measure after a handful of Republicans broke party ranks and voted with Democrats to send it to the Senate. The fight over the Civil War-era abortion ban in Arizona, a state sharply split between Democrats and Republicans, is the latest flashpoint on womens reproductive rights in the U.S. In 2022 the U.S. Supreme Court ended the constitutional right to abortion, leaving it up to states to decide the issue. Conservative-led states quickly invoked strict bans on abortion within their borders.

Loading Floridas future Floridas voters may be able to enshrine abortion rights in states constitution after a separate state Supreme Court ruling allowed a proposed constitutional amendment to be on the November ballot. The proposal says, no law shall prohibit, penalise, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patients health, as determined by the patients healthcare provider. It provides for one exception that is already in the state constitution: Parents must be notified before their minor children can get an abortion.
Students have rallied or set up encampments at dozens of colleges, expressing opposition to Israels war in Gaza and demanding schools divest from companies that support the Israeli government. Many of the schools have called in police to quell the protests. With the presidential election coming in November, Republican legislators have accused some university administrators of ignoring antisemitic rhetoric and harassment, and some have demanded Columbias president Minouche Shafik resign. Loading Many protesters, some of whom are Jewish, reject allegations of antisemitism. Shafik has said the protests have brought rancour to life at Columbia, while also blaming some episodes of harassment and hostile rhetoric on outsiders drawn to the busy Manhattan streets surrounding the campus. US President Joe Biden, who has angered many protesters by funding and arming Israel, plans to give a speech on antisemitism next week at a Holocaust memorial event.

Americans have the right to peacefully protest, Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House spokesperson, told reporters. Forcibly taking over a building is not peaceful. UCLA protesters report violent attacks Before the clashes in Los Angeles, UCLA officials declared that an encampment on its campus was unlawful, violated university policy and included people unaffiliated with the campus. Afterwards, counter-demonstrators  many of them masked and some apparently older than most students  can be seen in videos throwing objects and trying to smash or pull down the wooden and steel barriers erected to shield the encampment.

Some screamed pro-Jewish comments as pro-Palestinian protesters tried to fight them off. I just didnt think they would ever get to this, said Kaia Shah, a pro-Palestinian protester and researcher at UCLA, where our protest is met by counter-protesters who are violently hurting us, inflicting pain on us, when we are not doing anything to them. Demonstrators on both sides used pepper spray, and fights broke out. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators said the counter-protesters threw fireworks at them and beat them with bats and sticks. Demonstrators clash at a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA on Wednesday. Credit: AP Benjamin Kersten, a UCLA graduate student and member of the pro-Palestinian group Jewish Voice for Peace, called it a devastating night of violence.

The encampment would be a peaceful effort were it not for the continuous presence of counter-protesters and agitators, he wrote in a text message. While Congress holds more hearings on whether Jewish students feel safe enough on campuses, Jewish students are among those withstanding attacks from Zionist protesters, he said in reference to recent sessions held by a Republican-led House of Representatives committee. Sympathy for the injured UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said in a statement on Wednesday (US time) that a group of instigators came on campus to forcefully attack the pro-Palestinian encampment, prompting the school to ask for assistance from outside law enforcement agencies. However one feels about the encampment, this attack on our students, faculty and community members was utterly unacceptable, Block said.

It has shaken our campus to its core and  adding to other abhorrent incidents that we have witnessed and that have circulated on social media over the past several days  further damaged our communitys sense of security. Loading Block offered his sympathy to those who were injured and anyone who feels unsafe on campus. He promised the university will conduct a thorough investigation that he said may lead to arrests, expulsions and dismissals. In addition, Block said the administration is examining its own security response. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass also called for an investigation into the events on UCLAs campus.

Those involved in launching fireworks at other people, spraying chemicals and physically assaulting others will be found, arrested, and prosecuted, as well as anyone involved in any form of violence or lawlessness, she said. Police said UCLA had called them to restore order and maintain public safety due to multiple acts of violence within the encampment. Broadcast footage later showed police clearing a central quad beside the encampment and erecting a metal crowd control barrier in front of it. The atmosphere was calmer later on Wednesday. Hundreds of police officers were on campus and lining its perimeter. It was unclear how many arrests were made or the number of people injured. Columbia demonstrators arrested

Columbias Shafik said she had asked police to stay on campus until at least May 17, two days after graduation, and the main campus, where student dorms are located, remained under lockdown on Wednesday. The school said the rest of the semester would be conducted remotely, including final exams, some of which may be delayed. Ararat Sekeryan, a sixth-year Slavic languages doctoral student from Istanbul, described being pushed out of the lawn encampment and described the calling of police as dangerous. I myself felt attacked, he said. They were so afraid of this peaceful movement that they had to send more than a thousand, maybe hundreds of police to campus. Ben Solomon, a 22-year-old Jewish student at Columbia, said he welcomed the move to clear what he called a mob from the occupied building and encampment. Im glad to see universities took decisive action, he said, as more than 100 students and professors gathered in a street adjoining the campus to protest the schools decision to call the police.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has outlined its focal points for collaboration with the Azerbaijani government on National Adaptation Plans, which encompass the nation's commitments to mitigate climate change, Trend reports via UNDP Azerbaijan.

"In Azerbaijan, our collaboration with the government focuses on 'National Adaptation Plans' across three primary domains: enhancing water purification, addressing coastal area concerns, and improving agricultural efficiency," UNDP Resident Representative a.i. in Azerbaijan Alessandra Roccasalvo said.

According to her, water (including the Caspian Sea and rivers) constitutes Azerbaijan's most crucial "asset," and all three UNDP priorities in the country are, in one form or another, linked to water.

"We want to help in reducing harmful emissions, protecting water sources, and purifying them," Roccasalvo added.

She noted that the preservation and safeguarding of clean water sources are among the topics deliberated at the Conferences of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP) and anticipates that this subject will be addressed at COP29.

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. COPthe Conference of the Partiesis 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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The 243rd/244th sessions of the Permanent Technical Committee (PTC) took place from 23 to 26 April 2024, in Brussels, Belgium. The meeting brought together more than three hundred delegates from WCO Members, international organizations, the private sector and academia to discuss, provide guidance and endorse issues on a wide range of topics. The blend of perspectives and experiences added depth and richness to the discussions. Since its first meeting in April 1953, this Committee has played a pivotal role in promoting trade facilitation instruments and tools and addressing contemporary challenges that Customs are facing.

In his inaugural address to the PTC as WCO Secretary General, Ian Saunders thanked delegates for their contributions to the PTC, emphasizing their expertise and dedication. He highlighted the PTC's role in addressing trade facilitation issues and the importance of partnerships, echoing the theme of the year, "Customs engaging traditional and new partners with purpose." The Secretary General urged delegates to reflect on their contributions and adapt to challenges like disruptive technologies and big data. He outlined key themes: cooperation, technology utilization, and adaptability. Examples included the WTO TFA implementation and discussions on blockchain and the Smart Customs Project. He stressed the need for continual evolution, citing ongoing reviews of initiatives like the E-Commerce package. Finally, the Secretary General encouraged active engagement from delegates in shaping the future of Customs.

On the first day, the PTC discussed the 2024 WCO Theme of the Year. Representatives from a range of organizations participated in a roundtable session and explored potential collaborations aligned with WCO objectives. The PTC provided guidance on future work of the WCO and encouraged Members to continue to seek opportunities to forge relationships with new stakeholders, to break down silos, and ensure new and established partnerships are equipped to adapt to modern challenges. The WTO Trade Facilitation Committee (TFC) Chair addressed developments taking place in that Committee and how they relate to the activities of the WCO. Furthermore, the WTO Secretariat briefed the PTC on the state of play regarding Trade Facilitation Agreement implementation. Through a panel discussion, the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement Facility (TFAF) and Annex D organizations discussed the WCOs cooperation with them and how collaboration and synergies between the WCO and these traditional partners can be strengthened. Presentations on multi-agency initiatives such as the Global Trade Helpdesk (GTH) and Trade4SMEs were featured. The PTC embraced the discussions, emphasizing a proactive approach to Customs practices and fostering international partnerships.

On the second day, discussions focused on e-commerce, highlighting progress and Member experiences with implementing the Cross-Border E-Commerce Framework of Standards. The PTC identified potential areas of the E-Commerce Package that might need to be reviewed and potentially amended during the second periodic review of the E-Commerce Package. Furthermore, presentations by major players including Amazon, Alibaba Group, and the United Kingdom explored e-commerce fulfillment and its implications for Customs. Discussions also covered the topic of expanding the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) concept to cross-border e-commerce, as well as updates on the WTO e-commerce negotiations. The PTC also endorsed the 5th edition of the Compendium of Case Studies on E-Commerce. Other topics of discussion on this day were traveler facilitation and control and the WCO Smart Customs Project.

On the third day, delegates discussed enhancing Customs operations and trade facilitation. "Digital Customs" focused on improving control, security, and compliance through blockchain technology. The PTC endorsed a concept paper exploring the challenges and benefits of blockchain use by Customs. The agenda item on "Single Window" (SW) aimed at streamlining trade processes, with a focus on updating international best practices. The PTC shared and discussed national/regional SW implementation practices and provided guidance on potential updates to the SW Compendium, focusing on consistency and optimal data exchange. The establishment of a mini- group for updating the SW Compendium was welcomed. Talks on Customs-Port Cooperation emphasized revising the guidelines for better collaboration. Discussions on Rules of Origin highlighted the ongoing feasibility studies followed by an examination and endorsement of the Business Process Models (BPM) and the revised dataset for the Interconnectivity Frameworks e-Certificate of Origin of the . The PTC also took note of the progress made and provided guidance on updating the TRS CLiKC! e-learning module and the TRS Guide.

On the final day, delegates focused on advancing Customs operations and trade facilitation. Presentations on transit initiatives aimed at supporting landlocked developing countries in addressing the challenges they face. The PTC then noted and acknowledged the success of the implementation of the SIGMAT system, which has delivered a positive impact for the West African countries involved--recognizing it could be used as a blueprint for connecting all Customs administrations in the region and beyond. The PTC also had an opportunity to discuss and provide guidance on the need to develop or update existing tools recommending that this should be done in line with the upcoming Strategic Plan in the areas under its responsibility. The draft Resolution of the Customs Co-operation Council on Strengthening Customs-Industry Resilience was endorsed. The "Green Customs" session highlighted waste shipment management progress. The PTC took note of the presentation by the Basel Convention Secretariat regarding the progress made by the Small Intersessional Working Group, which was entrusted by the Conference of the Parties at its Sixteenth Meeting (COP-16) to work on improving the functioning of the Prior Informed Consent procedure by identifying implementation challenges along with best practices and possible approaches and initiatives to be considered. Updates on the Glossary of International Customs Terms were shared and the Revised PTC Work Programme 2022-2025, including the progress in terms of its implementation since April 2023 meeting, were endorsed.

The PTC concluded by electing Hoai Nguyen of Vietnam as the Chairperson and Abraham F. Siafa of Liberia as the Vice-Chairperson for the financial year 2024/2025.

In his closing remarks, Mr. Pranab Kumar Das, Director of Compliance and Facilitation, expressed gratitude to delegates for their invaluable contributions, highlighting their passion and expertise in shaping Customs practices. He emphasized the significance of collaboration in addressing emerging challenges and commended the diverse topics covered. Mr. Das congratulated David Saville, the outgoing Chairperson, and Ririn Septiani, the outgoing Vice-Chairperson, welcomed their successors, and assured continued support from the WCO Secretariat. He thanked all delegates for their active participation and appreciated the efforts of the organizing team and technicians, looking forward to reconvening in October.
From 22 to 24 April 2024, global law enforcement agencies across customs, police, prosecution from more than 20 countries from South America, Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia Pacific, met as part of the first ICCWC Global Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade.

The conference was organized by the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC) and hosted by one of the five ICCWC partners, the World Customs Organization (WCO), in Brussels. The theme was Building Strong Cases through Operation Thunder: From Seizure to Prosecution and sessions covered the various aspects related to the fight against illegal wildlife trade across the entire criminal justice system.

With a focus on one of ICCWCs flagship activities known as Operation Thunder, discussions were organized into several thematic sessions. These included Customs, Investigations, Prosecution and Civil Society Organizations Dialogue, and the importance of collaboration to strengthen efforts to dismantle criminal networks involved in wildlife crime.

Opening the conference, Secretary General of the World Customs Organization Ian Saunders said, The establishment of ICCWC demonstrates our unwavering commitment to tackle this urgent threat through a coordinated response at scale. Years of dedicated collaboration from these global organizations have culminated in ICCWC, where we harness collective knowledge and leverage resources to combat wildlife crime.

Collaboration across the wildlife enforcement chain

The conference opened with a high-level panel consisting of experienced wildlife enforcement officers from around the world. Each participant demonstrated a broad understanding of challenges and opportunities in combating illegal wildlife trade and shared their experiences to the audience. Discussions were moderated by the CITES Secretariat and included lessons learned, good practices, and possible solutions to increase collaboration and efficiency across the entire wildlife enforcement chain.

Today is a key event for frontline officers from national agencies, those who stand on the frontlines of wildlife law enforcement, to come together. These efforts are vital to act against the criminals that are destroying nature, so that wildlife trade is legal, sustainable and traceable to ensure the survival of wild animals and plants for future generations.

- Ivonne Higuero, Secretary-General of CITES.

Customs  leveraging technology and innovation to combat illegal wildlife trade

Customs authorities stand at the frontlines of wildlife crime, serving as the first line of defence against the illicit trade in endangered species.

This session was led by the World Customs Organization, with various countries sharing examples and experiences in leveraging technology and innovation to detect, intercept and seize illicit shipments. Deepening inter-agency and international collaboration to improve communication and concerted action was a main objective in this session.

Investigations - investigating and dismantling wildlife trafficking networks

Investigations play a pivotal role in combating wildlife crime by uncovering smuggling routes and dismantling wildlife trafficking networks.

This session was led by INTERPOL and highlighted the involvement of police and specialized units in detecting, investigating and dismantling trans-national poaching and trafficking networks. Law enforcement participants shared their experiences about collaborating and exchanging information as well as experiences and challenges in enforcement operations at national, regional and international levels.

Police, customs, prosecutors, civil society, and international organizations constitute our global response. Preventing and disrupting the trade in illegal wildlife and timber can only be achieved by combining our respective mandates, efforts, and action streams.

- Jurgen Stock, Secretary General of INTERPOL.

Prosecutors  legal process and frameworks to prosecute criminals

Strong judicial responses to illegal wildlife trade are vital to deter wildlife crime and hold perpetrators accountable for their crimes.

This session was led by UNODC and provided a deeper understanding of the legal process and frameworks in place to prosecute criminals involved in wildlife crime. The session looked at the importance of international cooperation and how existing frameworks can be leveraged to facilitate higher success rates in prosecutions and convictions.

The illegal wildlife trade is a serious form of organized crime. From 2015 to 2021, UNODC recorded over 150,000 seizures in 158 countries involving the trafficking of 4,000 wildlife species. This conference is an opportunity to combine our efforts, develop new strategies, and reaffirm collective action to tackle the illegal wildlife trade on a global scale.

- Ghada Fathi Waly, Executive Director of UNODC.

Civil Society Organizations Dialogue

The final session looked at the role of Civil Society Organizations and other sectors in combating the illegal wildlife trade. A focus of the session was on how support to enforcement authorities can be enhanced in the areas of capacity-building, innovation, community awareness, advocacy, data and information sharing.

International collaboration with public-private partnerships, governments, local communities and civil society organizations are key to ICCWCs efforts towards a world free of wildlife crime.

Whats next?

The outcomes of the conference will be taken into consideration as ICCWC embarks on the implementation of the ICCWC Vision 2030, the road map for the Consortium in the years ahead to move towards a world free of wildlife crime. It is designed to support and strengthen enforcement authorities involved in the protection of wildlife.

Thank you to all participants, speakers and partners for three days of knowledge sharing, networking and collaboration towards a shared goal of combating wildlife crime around the world.

The conference was generously financed by the European Union and supported by France, Germany, Monaco, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Find out more about ICCWC donors here.
Under the auspices of the WCO/JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) Joint Project, the WCO organized a high-level explanatory meeting on the Master Trainer Programme (MTP) on Risk Management and a programme on Time Release Study (TRS) for Central Asia and the Caucasus via virtual meeting platform on 25 April 2024. These new programmes are to respond to the growing importance of Middle Corridor/Trans-Caspian international transport route, which were also addressed in various high-level fora, including the G7 Hiroshima Summit in Japan in May 2023 , the G7 Transport Ministerial meeting in Italy in March 2024, and the Customs Heads Meeting on the Project for simplifying transit customs procedure along the Trans-Caspian International East-West Middle Corridor using Single Window principle, in Azerbaijan in March 2023.

The meeting was held to explain the outline of the two programmes before their start this July, inviting high-level representatives of participating WCO Members of the programmes, namely, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

The MTP aims to develop sustainable and autonomous training capacity in participating regions by 1) developing a pool of quality trainers and 2) developing regionally featured training materials and programmes to be used by these trainers. Upon completion of the MTP, successful participants are expected to become regional assets and contribute to facilitating legitimate trade while intercepting smuggling and fraud through enhanced Customs risk management capability. Also, a TRS programme will be conducted to release the maximum potential of the corridor, leading to the regions economic development.

At the opening ceremony, Mr. Pranab Kumar Das, WCO Director for Compliance and Facilitation, Mr. Seiichi Negishi, Director for Public Governance and Financial Management, Governance and Peace Building Department of JICA Headquarters, and Mr. Takashi Nakao, Director for Technical Cooperation, Customs and Tariff Bureau, Japan Ministry of Finance, highlighted the importance of enhanced Customs capability and further improvement of connectivity which the new programmes set as objectives. These would also serve to implement Focus Area 1 of WCO Strategic Plan 2022-2025, Technology and Innovation, with the aim to move towards SMART (Secure, Measurable, Automated, Risk Management-based, and Technology-driven) borders.

Following the opening, a presentation explaining the new programmes was given. The background, outline, and planned schedule of the programmes were explained.

At the closing, Dr. Taeil Kang, WCO Director, Capacity Building Directorate, thanked the representatives for their participation and appreciated the longstanding cooperation of JICA and Japan Customs. He emphasized the importance of risk management and TRS for better border management and introduced the WCO activities featuring Big Data analysis and Artificial Intelligence, drawing attention to the possibility of future utilization of these technologies for the programmes.
The World Customs Organization (WCO) participated in the 3rd Meeting of Heads of WCO Asia/Pacific Regional Customs Laboratories (RCLs), on 23-25 April 2024 in Jinju, the Republic of Korea, organized by the WCO Asia/Pacific ROCB and hosted by RCL in Korea. The WCO also organized a study visit for Heads of African Customs laboratories to this meeting, conducted under the EU-WCO HS Africa Programme, funded by the European Union.

The delegates from Algeria, Ghana, Kenya and Uganda, had the opportunity to attend the proceedings of the meeting as observers and engage in rich exchanges with representatives of RCLs from China, India, Indonesia, Japan and the Republic of Korea.

The presentations of RCLs, RILO and ROCB in AP, and the WCO gave a comprehensive picture on the ongoing work, the latest developments, the challenges, the capacity building actions and cooperation opportunities in the work and management of regional customs laboratories.

With regards the WCO RCL Professionals Programme, RCLs in India and Japan introduced the last years programme, and the Algerian Delegate presented his experience during the 2023/2024 RCL Professionals Programme in Korea. Three RCLs used the information exchange as a reference for the next programme.

Participants also discussed about cooperation with Customs laboratories in other regions, especially the African region because there are only four Customs laboratories and no RCL. A/P RCLs agreed to continue working with partners in Africa, including inviting them for the workshops and leveraging synergies with the other initiatives like the WCO RCL Professionals Programme.

As part of the programme, Korea Customs Service organized tours to RCL in Korea and to Busan Customs Laboratory. Participants explored the premises of the laboratories and were introduced to the methods and equipment used to analyze various categories of merchandise, along with the sampling techniques, safety requirements, analysis purposes, laboratory standards, and procedural aspects of laboratory work.

The Meeting concluded successfully and the RCLs agreed to continue to exchange information and work together to strengthen the functioning of customs laboratories within the region and other regions.

The delegates from African countries highly appreciated ROCB/AP, RCL in Korea and other A/P RCLs. The delegates stressed that they would utilize the experience and information to modernize or establish their own Customs laboratories and they would cooperate to establish the first RCL in Africa.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. The election of Turkish Erzurum, and Azerbaijani Shusha cities as tourism capitals of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) for 2025-2026 will further enhance regional cowork in the field of tourism, Secretary-General of the organization Khusrav Noziri told reporters on the sidelines of the 1st ECO Tour Operators Forum in Baku, Trend reports.

"In light of our cooperation in the field of tourism, I would like to mention the new initiative of the ECO, which consists of the annual proclamation of the organization's tourism capitals. This year this title is held by Shakhrisabz city in Uzbekistan, but in subsequent years (in 2025 and 2026, respectively) the Turkish Erzurum and Azerbaijani Shusha will receive the official status of the tourism capital of the ECO region.

I believe that the events dedicated to the proclamation of Erzurum and Shusha as tourism capitals for 2025 and 2026 will contribute to the further development of regional cooperation in the field of tourism, he emphasized.

The Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) was founded in 1985 by Iran, Pakistan, and Turkiye as an intergovernmental regional organization aimed at fostering economic, technical, and cultural cooperation among member states.

In 1992, the organization underwent further expansion with the accession of seven new members: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. A new flight route from Dushanbe to Baku will be launched in 2024, the Director of the Dourgard Adventures Tajikistan travel company Gulrukhsor Nurova told Trend.

"A test flight has already taken place on the Dushanbe-Baku route. This year, the flight will become regular. This is a significant convenience for passengers, as now it's possible to fly directly to Baku.

Moreover, the visa-free regime between Tajikistan and Azerbaijan is an extra advantage. Citizens of both countries can stay in each other's territory for up to 90 days without the need for a visa," she emphasized.

To note, from January through March of the current year, Azerbaijan was visited by 36,154 tourists from Central Asian countries, which is 84 percent higher than the figure for the same period in 2023 (19,659 people).

Additionally, from 2017 through 2023, Azerbaijan was visited by a total of 545,730 people from Central Asian countries (from Kazakhstan - 225,124, Turkmenistan - 145,216, Uzbekistan - 135,941, Kyrgyzstan - 21,296, Tajikistan - 18,153).

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Tom Tuite

A Dublin man arrested for carrying an "improvised explosive device" close to his home believed there was a viable threat to his safety, a court has heard.

Sammy Hutch (48), of Cardiffsbridge Avenue, Finglas, was remanded in custody on Thursday.

He begged, via his lawyer, to be put into protective custody when he appeared before Judge Gerard Jones at Blanchardstown District Court.

Mr Hutch was arrested in the early hours of Tuesday and detained at a local Garda station before being charged with an offence under section four of the Explosive Substances Act.

He is accused of unlawful possession of a pipe bomb at Cardiffsbridge Avenue on April 30th but has not yet indicated a plea.

Mr Hutch, dressed in a black jacket, white T-shirt and green tracksuit bottoms, did not address the court but clutched his chest and bent over several times as he sat on the defendants bench.

Garda Mary Devins told the court that Mr Hutch made no reply to charge, and the officer confirmed that she intended to object to bail due to the seriousness of the case.

However, defence counsel Ciaran MacLoughlin told Judge Jones there was no application for bail at this stage.

Judge Jones asked about the background of the case. Garda Devins replied, It is alleged that an improvised explosive device was found in the accuseds possession in the early hours of the 30th of April.

Judge Jones remanded him in custody to appear at Cloverhill District Court on Tuesday.

Mr MacLoughlin was granted an order for medical attention to be given to Mr Hutch in prison custody.

Counsel also said, He has asked me to convey that he would like to be put in some form of protective custody because he believes there is some form of viable threat to his safety."

Judge Jones held that was a matter for the prison authorities. Legal aid was granted.

Directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions have yet to be conveyed on whether the case will remain in the District Court or go forward to the Circuit Court, which has broader sentencing powers.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. Turkmenistan hopes to launch direct air communication with Azerbaijan, General Director of Turkmenistan's Bakhtiyar Dostlar Travel Agency Ruslan Sadykov said, Trend reports.

He made the remark during the panel discussion on the "Organization and status of serial study tours along route directions from Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey to Azerbaijan with the support of Associations travel agencies" within the framework of the I Forum of Tour Operators of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) held in Baku.

The main factor positively influencing tourism is the availability of air transportation. Even when we were coming here, we had to fly via Istanbul. This is, of course, one of the inconvenient challenges, but I hope that soon there will be direct air service between our countries, he emphasized.

The Economic Cooperation Organization is an intergovernmental regional organization established in 1985 by Iran, Pakistan, and Turkiye to promote economic, technical, and cultural cooperation among member states.

Meanwhile, in 1992, the organization expanded further with the entry of seven new members: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

To note, a total of 36,154 tourists from Central Asian countries visited Azerbaijan from January through March this year, which is 84 percent higher than the figure for the same period in 2023 (19,659 people).

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Among the first tasks the newly elected Mayo County Council will have when it sits for the first time in June will be to adopt the Mayo Digital Strategy.

The policy, which came up for discussion at last weeks meeting of the councils Economic Development strategic policy committee (SPC), runs from 2024-2029 and is framed around the five-year lifetime of the next council with a review at its midpoint.

Broadband officer with the council, Danny OToole, said among the biggest challenges in Mayo is the rollout of the National Broadband Plan with several areas yet to be connected.

The challenges are immense to deliver fibre to every home in the county. The National Broadband Plan is slow in Mayo because it has to work its way out from the urban centres like Castlebar and Ballina.

Mr O'Toole said he receives contact from 10 or 15 people a week wondering how they can get broadband at their home or business, adding that National Broadband Ireland (NBI) is contractually obliged to deliver fibre to every home in Ireland by 2027.

Farming representative on the SPC Martin Gilvarry said the situation was very unfair on farmers who are asked to submit a lot of documentation online nowadays.

The Mayo Digital Strategy 2024-2029 will come before the first meeting of the new council in June.
Inspired by true events in Mayo seventy years ago, a new childrens book by Sarah Webb captures the hidden history of Irelands role in the Second World War for young readers.

Published last week by The OBrien Press, The Weather Girls is inspired by the story of Maureen Sweeney who, on the eve of her 21st birthday, provided hourly weather reports on a storm front from Blacksod Lighthouse and weather station in County Mayo to the war office in England, which proved crucial to the success of D-Day, the largest seaborne invasion in history.

A tale of bravery, adventure and friendship for readers aged nine and older, the book was close to completion when Maureen Sweeney passed away last December, aged 100. While researching the book, author Sarah Webb was helped by Maureens grandson Fergus, who grew up in the lighthouse and is now head of visitor experience there, to retell his grandmothers story through the books young heroine, 12-year-old Grace Devine.

Seeing The Emergency through Graces young eyes, Webb explores how the Second World War impacted the small rural community at Blacksod through the rationing of food and fuel, and confronts the question of Irelands neutrality head-on when Grace and her friend Sibby risk their lives to save a young German airman who crash lands on the Mayo coast.

The Weather Girls is inspired by events in Blacksod in 1944.

Speaking on the launch of the book, Webb hopes The Weather Girls will inspire young readers as well as inform them of Irelands role in World War Two.

Maureens story might have been written by a Hollywood movie-maker  a young woman in the 1940s who left her home in Kerry to work at a remote weather station in this small community, and ended up changing the course of world history through something as everyday as a weather report. What a fantastic story to tell young readers, to inspire them that small actions can not just change the world, but save it.

I think its important that children learn about Irelands experience of The Emergency - as World War II was known in Ireland - and consider the complicated feelings many must have had about our neutrality while bombs were dropped on Belfast just up the road. Today, many parents and teachers have to consider how to talk to children about the worlds modern conflicts, but history gives us the perfect way into those conversations. We all learn from stories, and Maureens is a story which every child should know.

D-DAY LINK: Blacksod Lighthouse in Mayo, where Maureen Sweeney was based in 1944

Fergus Sweeney, who includes his grandmothers story in his tour for school groups visiting Blacksod Lighthouse, agrees.

It is so special to our family that Sarah has captured our grannys story for children, a story we grew up with. We always knew that our grandparents had played this historic part in the war, but its not until you tell it to others that you really see the huge significance of the lives those weather reports saved.

Being 24 hours from the French coastline, the Blacksod Lighthouse weather station was perfectly located to inform the Allies plans for D-Day. Without those hourly updates on the storm front, the course of history might have run very differently.

On our tours, we show visitors the instruments which Maureen used for those weather reports, something which Sarah captures wonderfully in the book  how crucial the accuracy of those reports was. When you think about the technology and equipment used to monitor the weather now, it really does make Maureens role all the more inspiring. She was a young woman working in a scientific field and she was part of something so historic from right here in this small Irish village.

To celebrate the books launch, Sarah Webb will hold a series of readings and special events in Mayo over the coming week. These include:

 Mayo Day event at Belmullet Library, Saturday, May 4th;

 Events at Belmullet Library and the newly opened Solas Visitor Centre and Tourist Hub at Blacksod Lighthouse, Tuesday, May 7th;

 Readings at Westport Library and Tertulia Bookshop, Wednesday, May 8th;

 Reading at Castlebar Library, Thursday, May 9th.

The Weather Girls is available from all good bookshops now.
The development and reopening of the Western Rail Corridor has been given a huge boost after the Claremorris-Athenry section of the project was added to the European Unions Ten T network, making it eligible for major European funding support.

However, campaigners have said it is crucial to ensure that the section of the project connecting Sligo to Claremorris via Cooloney remains on the agenda.

The European Parliament voted to include the Western Rail Corridor in a revised Ten-T regulation following an application from the Irish government last week.

It means that this project can now be part funded by the EU, who will provide 20% of capital funding towards the cost of the project.

Sinn Fein Councillor Gerry Murray, who has campaigned in favour of the Western Rail Corridor, said it is now up to the Government to ensure that the project is delivered.

"The problem has never been in Brussels. The EU want the whole region to be included but the problem was in Dublin. A large contribution is required from the national exchequer towards this," he added.

Cllr Murray said he is hopeful about receiving EU funding towards the Claremorris-Collooney aspect of the Western Rail Corridor.

I would be optimistic about this. There is a Sinn Fein government in waiting and we have always been committed to bringing this all the way to Sligo and at the same time, creating a possible link to Knock Airport. This is a railway that goes all the way out to Waterford port and then links to Europe. It is a low-carbon link to the continent and is really a no-brainer. West on Track campaigner and spokesperson Colman O Raghallaigh said that it is essential that the connection to Sligo is included as soon as possible.

It is very welcome that Claremorris-Athenry will get European funding but we also believe that the section of railway to include connecting on to Sligo should be included and when the time comes, it should also be funded by Europe. These decisions only come about every few years and Sligo has missed out on this front. At the earliest opportunity, Sligo will need to be included. Independent TD Sean Canney said this development is a gamechanger for this project, as well as Galway Port which has also been included as part of the Ten-T Network.

The Western Rail Corridor is now acknowledged as a viable project and has been identified as such in the All-Island Rail Review which was approved by both Governments in the North and South at the ministerial meeting two weeks ago and the review will be published in the coming weeks. It is clear the re-opening of the railway line north from Athenry through Tuam and onto Claremorris will be a game changer for economic development in the west of Ireland. It is a key infrastructure to drive regional development and connectivity between Ballina, Castlebar, Claremorris, Tuam and Athenry, to Galway Port, Limerick, Foynes Port, Cork, and Waterford Port."
By Cillian Sherlock, PA

Anti-racism groups have criticised the decision not to prosecute gardai involved in the fatal shooting of a black man outside his home.

George Nkencho, 27, died outside his home in December 2020, after being shot multiple times by members of a Garda armed support unit while allegedly brandishing a knife.

He was experiencing mental health issues at the time.

The incident was the subject of an independent criminal investigation by GSOC (Garda ombudsman), which concluded in June 2023 with the submission by GSOC of an investigative file to the director of public prosecutions (DPP).

George Nkencho died after being shot multiple times by gardai outside his home in Clonee, west Dublin (Niall Carson/PA)

Following the DPPs decision not to prosecute the case, Mr Nkenchos family expressed disappointment as they indicated they would launch an appeal.

On Thursday, anti-racism demonstrators staged a protest outside the Department of Justice in Dublin.

About 40 people gathered and held signs with slogans such as Justice for George Nkencho, Gardai cant be exempt from trial and travesty of justice.

Members of the Nkencho family, including Georges mother, Blessing, were also in attendance.

Pierre Yimbog, co-founder of Black and Irish, said Mr Nkencho needed support and said the decision not to seek prosecution was a miscarriage of justice.

He added: George suffered and needed support and empathy. Instead, he was met with quick decisions which  in our view  was excessive force.

Liam Herrick, from the Irish Council of Civil Liberties, said Mr Nkenchos case was an issue of human rights.

The State has an obligation in these instances  when agents of the state are responsible for the death of an individual  to carry out an effective, independent investigation into the circumstances of that death.

He added: His family still have not had that effective, independent investigation of his death.

They are entitled to know how he died, the circumstances of his death, and have an explanation from the State which answers their legitimate questions.

Mr Herrick said the Nkencho family needed to be provided with answers from the DPP for their decision.

The family deserve justice, and ultimately the family will get justice.

Event organiser and former TD, Ruth Coppinger, warned that there was a rise in racism and the far-right in Ireland, who she said spread misinformation about the incident.

Thats why it was very important for us to mark today with a protest and to show our support for the Nkencho family.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. Shusha as a tourism capital of the ECO will increase the tourism potential of Karabakh, responsible for the tourism program of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), Hasan Tufan told Trend.

According to him, the ECO's goal in selecting Shusha as a tourist capital is to popularize this city in the member states.

"Several activities will take place after Shusha city transfers the status of 'tourist capital' from Erzurum in 2026. Shusha as a tourist capital of ECO will increase the tourism potential of Karabakh as a whole, he emphasized.

In the meantime, Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey founded the Economic Cooperation Organization in 1985 as an intergovernmental regional organization to foster economic, technical, and cultural cooperation among member states.

The organization expanded further in 1992 with the entry of seven new members - Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

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BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, May 2. Azerbaijan will be able to supply Kyrgyzstan with energy through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, Kyrgyz Energy Minister Taalaibek Ibraev said, Trend reports.

According to the minister, Azerbaijan is currently constructing energy lines with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Given its technical capabilities, it can be easily transmitted further to Kyrgyzstan.

"The topic of energy cooperation between Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan has been continuing for some time, and the ministries just signed a memorandum. Azerbaijan now exports oil, fuels, lubricants, gasoline, diesel fuel, and natural gas. With the upcoming opening of the improved Junda oil refinery, more oil is necessary. Kyrgyzstan has expressed interest in obtaining oil from Azerbaijan, and logistics are now being considered.," he emphasized.

Ibraev noted that Azerbaijan has a well-developed production of cable products as well as power transformers.

"Negotiations have been completed, and our experts will fly to Azerbaijan in June for Energy Week. During this trip, they will visit factories where cables are manufactured and closely watch the production process," the minister added.

On April 24, a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the energy sector was signed between the Ministries of Energy of Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan.

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CHAMPS receives grant to study causes of death in adults with HIV in Africa

New grant will enable Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) Network to leverage laboratory capacity and partnerships in Africa.

A new grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will allow the Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) network to leverage its laboratory capacity and partnerships in Africa to identify and document causes of death among adults who were living with HIV.

U.S. CDC and photo documentarian Thom Pierce traveled to the epicenter of the global HIV epidemic in South Africa to capture the faces and stories of individuals at the forefront of the response against HIV.  Thom Pierce, South Africa 2018

The work funded by this new grant will support network partners in CHAMPS sites in Kenya, Sierra Leone, Mozambique, and South Africa to enroll and investigate deaths in adults aged 18 to 64 years with HIV.

The CHAMPS study site in South Africa is at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

Dr Ziyaad Dangor is the CHAMPS South Africa Co-Director and also the Clinical Research Director of the Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit (Wits VIDA).

Identifying underlying causes of death in people living with HIV

Despite significant progress in scaling access to antiretroviral therapy for people living with HIV, HIV-related deaths remain unacceptably high in low-resource communities across the CHAMPS network.

Approximately 40% of the World Health Organization-estimated seven million AIDS-related deaths over the next decade could be prevented by addressing advanced HIV disease (AHD).

While it is well-established that tuberculosis is a leading cause of death in AHD, the contribution of other underlying causes for most adults who were living with HIV (PLHIV) remain unknown across the African region.

Dr Victor Akelo is the CHAMPS Senior Director for Science, Site Strategy, and Implementation. He will direct the study for the network and lead the Kenya site.

Akelo says, CHAMPS Network data can be used to close critical gaps in understanding the causes of deaths among persons living with HIV, including deaths related to advanced HIV disease.

In 2022, an estimated 21 000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses in Kenya. Thus, knowing the definitive causes of death can help transform HIV programmes and inform targeted investments to reduce HIV transmission, prevent progression to AHD, and save lives in these communities.

Leveraging laboratory capacity and partnerships in Africa

Since 2015, CHAMPS has worked with communities and built local capacity to determine definitive causes of stillbirths and child deaths across its network in Africa and South Asia, two regions that account for 82% of under-five child mortality worldwide.

The work funded by this new grant will use CHAMPS procedures and methods with additional tests to investigate markers of Advanced HIV Disease (AHD).

CHAMPS identifies and analyzes specific causes of death using minimally invasive tissue sampling, histopathology, molecular and microbiologic diagnostics, clinical data abstraction, and verbal autopsies.

Over the three-year study period, timely, open access to data and expert analysis will be available to local and global health programmes, policymakers, and practitioners to evaluate and guide existing HIV programmes, while informing service delivery to under-served communities.

The CHAMPS study in South Africa

CHAMPS South Africa Co-Director Dr Ziyaad Dangor says:

This study in South Africa represents a significant opportunity for advancement in comprehending and tackling the challenges encountered by adults living with HIV. Through granular investigation of the causes of death in persons who were living with HIV in the era of antiretroviral therapy, the insights from the study can be instrumental for informing what additional interventions are required to address the ongoing disproportionately higher incidence and mortality rate in this population.

More from CHAMPS Network Leadership in Participating Countries

Mozambique

Mozambique has made remarkable progress in the battle against HIV, as the prevalence rate has decreased from 16.2% in 2009 to 11.5% in 2019. Nonetheless, the limited availability of healthcare and the stigma associated with HIV still pose significant challenges for the country," says Dr Inacio Mandomando, CHAMPS Mozambique Co-Director. "Our study's launch in Mozambique demonstrates our unwavering commitment to evidence-based healthcare strategies. By utilizing state-of-the-art laboratory facilities and fostering collaborative partnerships, we are well-positioned to generate essential insights into the factors contributing to mortality among adults living with HIV. This will help drive progress towards more effective interventions and improved health outcomes.

Sierra Leone

Dr Ikechukwu (Ike) Ogbuanu, CHAMPS Sierra Leone Site Director, says: Recently, we have seen a disproportionately high prevalence of HIV (24%) among adult deaths in Sierra Leone, despite the current prevalence among living adults being estimated at 1.7%. The study to be conducted in Sierra Leone is a significant step in our collective efforts to better address a possible 'hidden HIV epidemic' in the country, as well as tackle the complex challenges faced by individuals living with HIV. With the help of rigorous data collection and analysis and existing strong partnerships established across CHAMPS Sierra Leone platform, we aim to identify factors associated with advanced HIV disease, further explore the root causes of HIV mortality, and co-create targeted interventions for saving lives and promoting health equity.

The CHAMPS programme office is located at Emory Global Health Institute and led by Dr. Cynthia Whitney, CHAMPS Principal Investigator and Executive Director.

Learn more about the CHAMPS Network and Leadership here: https://champshealth.org/team/
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, May 2. Kyrgyzstan utilizes only 13 percent of its hydroelectric potential, Akylbek Japarov, the Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan, said, during the panel session at the III Tashkent International Investment Forum, Trend reports.

"Kyrgyzstan possesses a high potential for energy generation. Hydroelectric power produces almost all of the green energy in Kyrgyzstan. However, we have only tapped about 13 percent of our available potential," he said.

Japarov noted that the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan has actively embarked on implementing infrastructure and energy projects.

The forum's energy panel session featured presentations of the Kambarata-1 HPP's construction project and details about the Chatkal HPP.

"Work is underway to implement energy projects such as building a cascade of HPPs on the Chatkal river as well as the Kazarman HPP cascade on the Naryn river. Our country requires foreign investments to develop the energy sector, which is a key sector of the economy, and we are ready for close cooperation in this area. We invite foreign companies to consider the possibility of participating in the construction of small and medium-sized HPPs and renewable energy sources in Kyrgyzstan," Japarov said.

The Kambarata-1 hydropower project is one of Central Asia's largest, according to Kyrgyzstan's Ministry of Energy. It will be on the Naryn river. With a capacity of 1,860 MW and a reservoir volume of 5.4 billion cubic meters, the HPP is projected to generate 5.6 billion kWh per year.
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, May 2. The Belgian Camco Technologies company has expressed interest in entering the Turkmen market, Trend reports.

According to the Embassy of Turkmenistan in Belgium, this interest was expressed by CAMCO Technologies Business Development Director Werner Pieters during a meeting with the Turkmen Ambassador to Brussels, Sapar Palvanov.

Pieters also added that he plans to visit Turkmenistan to present the company's products to local companies and institutions.

Peters also added that after the presentation, the ambassador took a tour of the CAMCO Technologies production area to personally see the innovative technologies and equipment used in the company's work.

Meanwhile, founded in 1999, Belgian CAMCO Technologies is a leading supplier and manufacturer of container scanning technologies, cargo vehicle tracking, and innovative transmission solutions. The company has offices in Europe, the US, China, the Middle East, and Australia.
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, May 2. According to preliminary estimates, Uzbekistan's GDP amounted to 242.7 trillion soums ($19.1 billion) from January through March 2024, Trend reports.

According to the data from Uzbekistans Statistics Agency, this figure has increased by 22.3 percent compared to the same period last year (198.4 trillion soums, or $15.6 billion in January-March 2023).

The largest share of GDP by types of economic activity falls on services (54 percent), followed by industry sector (29.2 percent), agriculture, forestry and fishery (11.3 percent), and construction (5.5 percent).

At the same time, Uzbekistan's GDP per capita totaled 6.5 million soums ($512) from January through March 2024. This indicator shows a 20.3 percent growth year-on-year (5.4 million soums, or $426 in January-March 2023).

Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Uzbekistan projects the countrys real GDP to amount to 5.25.7 percent in 2024.

According to the Bank, the reason for this is associated with more moderate consumer demand in the future due to structural changes in the expenditures of households and businesses.
BAKU, Azerbaijan. May 2. A huge amount of institutional investors are interested in financing and investing in the projects in Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, director of Uzbekistan's Reconstruction and Development Fund Shukhrat Vafaev said, Trend reports.

He spoke at the III Tashkent International Investment Forum.

'We need to find a shared platform for collaboration and successful projects. The conditions and outcomes of the changes in Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan enable us to attract large partners and propose projects. We can also broaden the scope and size of these projects beyond the present opportunities of our investment funds," he said.

Shukhrat Vafaev also added that these projects can bring benefits and good results to both sponsors and investors participating in financing.

The III Tashkent International Investment Forum is being held in Tashkent on May 23.

Almost 2,500 people from 84 countries are expected to participate. Among them are government representatives, heads of major companies, as well as high-ranking guests from international organizations such as the UN, EBRD, OPEC, and SCO.

The forum program includes more than 40 events, including breakout sessions, round tables, presentations, and meetings of intergovernmental commissions. A launching ceremony for a number of projects in Uzbekistan is also envisaged.
BAKU, Azerbaijan. May 2. Uzbekistan-Azerbaijan Investment Company is ready to invest from $1 to $25 million to acquire minority shares, with the standard horizon of planning investments from 5 to 7 years, director of the company Nazim Hajiyev said, Trend reports.

He spoke at the III Tashkent International Investment Forum.

"We are also investing in different companies and cargo. In accordance with our investment policies that were just approved yesterday at the council meeting, we are reviewing the projects with a minimum IRR (internal rate of return) of 12 percent," he said.

Nazim Hajiyev noted that one of the company's missions is to develop partnerships, trade, complex supply chains, and the overall well-being of the investment climate.

"One of our goals includes attracting foreign investments in our countries, the production of high technologies, the development of the logistics infrastructure, as well as the creation of high-tech and highly effective jobs," the director emphasized.

He highlighted that the company is investing in existing low-volatility sectors as well as the growing sectors of the economy and is also reviewing investing in projects in digitalization, which will bring great benefits to the economies of both countries.

Meanwhile, the III Tashkent International Investment Forum is being held in Tashkent on May 23.

Almost 2,500 people from 84 countries are expected to participate. Among them are government representatives, heads of major companies, as well as high-ranking guests from international organizations such as the UN, EBRD, OPEC, and SCO.

The forum program includes more than 40 events, including breakout sessions, round tables, presentations, and meetings of intergovernmental commissions. A launching ceremony for a number of projects in Uzbekistan is also envisaged.
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, May 2. Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan discussed the practical aspects of the implementation of the projects on the construction of the Kambarata-1 HPP China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railroad, Trend reports.

The issue was reviewed at a meeting between the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, and the Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers and Head of the Presidential Administration of Kyrgyzstan Akylbek Japarov, within the program of the Tashkent Investment Forum.

Both parties also noted the implementation of the projects on the construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railroad.

In addition, the sides discussed issues of further deepening Uzbek-Kyrgyz relations through comprehensive strategic partnerships, expanding cooperation in trade, industry, energy, transportation, and logistics, as well as intensifying interregional contacts and cultural and humanitarian exchange.

The officials talked about the issues of forming a new agenda of multidimensional partnership in preparation for the upcoming summit meetings.

Meanwhile, trade turnover volume between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan amounted to $158.2 million from January through March 2024.
A train runs on the Belgrade-Novi Sad high-speed railway on the Danube river in Serbia, March 12, 2024. [Photo by Ren Weiyun/Xinhua]

Chinese President Xi Jinping's upcoming visits are expected to promote the sustained, steady and sound development of China-Europe relations, help provide more stability and certainty for a turbulent world, and further energize global development.

BEIJING, April 30 (Xinhua)  Chinese President Xi Jinping will pay state visits to France, Serbia and Hungary from May 5 to 10.

The visits will be the Chinese president's first trip to Europe in the past nearly five years. Xi's trip is expected to enhance bilateral relations with the three countries and boost their mutually beneficial cooperation.

Meanwhile, China and the European Union (EU) are two major forces advancing multipolarity, two major markets in support of globalization, and two major civilizations championing diversity.

Xi's upcoming visits are expected to promote the sustained, steady and sound development of China-Europe relations, help provide more stability and certainty for a turbulent world, and further energize global development.

Unique History, Steady Partnership

Xi's upcoming visit to France marks his third state visit to the European country after visits in 2014 and 2019. This visit will take place during the 60th anniversary year of China-France diplomatic ties, which gives the visit special meaning as an important opportunity to build on past achievements and guide the future for bilateral ties.

Under the guidance of the two heads of state, China and France have witnessed the steady development of their bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership. The two countries have also become staunch advocates for the multi-polarization of the world and the democratization of international relations.

As today's world is once again at a critical crossroads, China and France should jointly open up a path of peace, security, prosperity and progress for human development, Xi said in January while exchanging congratulations with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, on the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

There are many "firsts" in China-France relations: France is the first major Western nation to formalize diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China in 1964, and the first major Western country to form a comprehensive strategic partnership with Beijing. The European country is also the first among Western nations to conduct civilian nuclear energy cooperation with China.

Visitors walk past the France pavilion during the second China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, east China, Nov. 5, 2019. [Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei]

The unique history of bilateral ties has shaped the "China-France spirit," featuring independence, mutual understanding, foresight, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation. Over the past six decades, this dynamic relationship has witnessed numerous historic milestones and tangible accomplishments.

Trade is one example. Bilateral trade between China and France has surged dramatically, increasing 800-fold to reach 78.9 billion U.S. dollars in 2023. China is now France's largest trading partner in Asia, while France ranks as China's third-largest trading partner and the third-largest source of investment in real terms within the European Union (EU).

China and France are representatives of Eastern and Western civilizations respectively. In recent years, the two sides have continuously expanded their cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

For example, the two sides have cooperated in the restoration and protection of their respective iconic cultural heritages, including the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and China's Terracotta Warriors. The two sides have also set up cultural centers in each other's countries and designated 2024 as the China-France Year of Culture and Tourism.

Though France and China are very different regarding culture, history and political systems, "we can draw inspiration from our differences to progress together," said Eric Alauzet, president of the France-China friendship group of the French National Assembly.

The key is "to talk to each other, to listen to each other, and to understand each other," he said.

Ironclad Friendship

"Ironclad" is often used to describe the relationship between China and Serbia.

Xi called Serbia "an ironclad friend" of China during his meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who was in Beijing to attend the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in October last year.

He said that bilateral relations have withstood changes in the international landscape over recent years and are an example of friendly relations between China and European countries. In response, Vucic said his country is proud of its ironclad friendship with China.

The fruitful Belt and Road cooperation between China and Serbia is a testament to the special relationship.

Steel coils are seen at the steelworks of HBIS Serbia in Smederevo, Serbia, May 5, 2023. [Xinhua/Ren Pengfei]

The high-speed train linking the Serbian capital Belgrade and the country's second-largest city Novi Sad is a part of the Belgrade-Budapest railway. It is a key project of cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries under the Belt and Road Initiative.

In March, the Belgrade-Novi Sad high-speed railway marked its second anniversary. Over the past two years, the railway has transported some 6.83 million passengers, effectively enhancing local connectivity.

The rebirth of Smederevo Steelworks is another good example of a strong partnership. The plant, located near the Danube River and considered the pride of Serbia, was once on the verge of bankruptcy. However, with the burgeoning Belt and Road cooperation between China and Serbia, the century-old factory experienced a remarkable resurgence.

After a Chinese company invested in the mill in 2016, things changed: Thousands of jobs were saved, and the production capacity and environmental performance greatly improved.

Meanwhile, Serbia and China are close trading partners. The European country has participated in the China International Import Expo for six consecutive years. Beer, red wines, agricultural products, and other products from Serbia have become favorites with Chinese consumers.

In October 2023, China and Serbia signed a free trade agreement to boost bilateral trade and business ties, the first one inked by China with a country from Central and Eastern Europe.

The brotherly friendship between China and Serbia is also attributed to the fact that they always help each other in hours of urgent need.

In 2008, after a major earthquake occurred in China's Sichuan Province, Serbia mobilized a batch of tents from its military reserves to aid China's disaster areas. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chinese government dispatched a medical expert team to Serbia to assist in combating the outbreak.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic (L) greets members of the Chinese medical team via elbow contact in Belgrade, Serbia, March 21, 2020. [Xinhua/Shi Zhongyu]

Xi's visit to Serbia will be his second visit to the country in eight years, which will mark an important milestone for strengthening and elevating China-Serbia ties.

New Chapter in China-Hungary Cooperation

Xi's upcoming visit to Hungary marks his first state visit to the European country as China's head of state.

Over the past 75 years since establishing diplomatic relations, China and Hungary have enjoyed mutual respect, mutual understanding, mutual support and mutual trust.

Hungary is the first European country to sign a Belt and Road cooperation document with China. In 2017, the two countries announced the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership.

A China-Europe freight train bound for Budapest, Hungary leaves a logistics base in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, July 29, 2022. [Photo by Xi Jingyu/Xinhua]

China is willing to continue to be good friends and partners with Hungary who trust each other and pursue win-win cooperation, and take the China-Hungary comprehensive strategic partnership to new levels, Xi said during his meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Beijing in October 2023.

With the care and strategic guidance of the leaders of both countries, China-Hungary connectivity continues to deepen, with pragmatic cooperation flourishing.

Both sides are promoting a deep synergy of the Belt and Road Initiative with Hungary's "Opening to the East" policy. From direct cargo flights between Budapest and Chinese cities including Zhengzhou and Ningbo, to the efficient operation of China-Europe freight trains, the enhanced transportation network has significantly boosted Hungary's position as a transportation hub in the region.

Moreover, both China and Hungary have a long history and splendid cultures, and the peoples of the two countries have enjoyed a time-tested friendship and increasingly close cultural exchanges.

Last year, in his reply to a letter from students of the Hungarian-Chinese bilingual school in Hungary, Xi encouraged Hungarian youths to learn more about China and become envoys of the China-Hungary friendship.

A Chinese teacher instructs students on Chinese calligraphy at Hungarian-Chinese bilingual school in Budapest, Hungary, Feb. 24, 2023. [Xinhua/Lian Yi]

Founded in September 2004, the Hungarian-Chinese bilingual school is the first full-time school in Central and Eastern Europe that uses both Chinese and the local language for instruction, a model of cultural and educational cooperation between the two countries.

Sustained, Sound China-Europe Relations

China always views its relations with Europe from a strategic and long-term perspective and views Europe as a comprehensive strategic partner and an important force in a multi-polar world.

The two sides should do more to increase the breadth and depth of cooperation and tighten the bond of shared interests, Xi said in December 2023 during his meeting with President of the European Council Charles Michel and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in Beijing.

With concerted efforts from both sides, China and the EU have emerged as each other's second-largest trading partners, underscoring the fact that for China and the EU, cooperation far outweighs competition, and the areas of consensus far exceed differences.

Photo taken on May 27, 2021 shows the Kaposvar solar power plant in Kaposvar, Hungary. Hungary inaugurated the country's largest solar power plant, which was built by China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CMC) near the southwestern city of Kaposvar. [Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua]

In 2023, the China-Europe freight train service had connected 219 cities in 25 European countries, establishing a secure and efficient lifeline for global industrial and supply chains.

Meanwhile, China has granted visa-free entry to multiple European countries, facilitating personnel exchanges and economic and trade activities between the two sides.

Key cooperation projects under the Belt and Road, such as the Belgrade-Budapest railway, the Port of Piraeus in Greece, and the Peljesac Bridge in Croatia, continue to benefit people along the routes.

As the international landscape is undergoing profound changes, global observers hope that China and Europe can strengthen their communication and cooperation.

"Many agree with the Chinese president's principle that we are all in the same boat, (and) that our common destiny is linked," said Stephan Ossenkopp, a senior researcher with the German think tank the Schiller Institute.

"A respectful exchange between our civilizations at both ends of the Eurasian continent is essential," said Ossenkopp.

Meanwhile, Lyazid Benhami, vice president of the Paris Association of French-Chinese Friendship, said "China and Europe are two major global players, and global challenges require them to work together."

"Dialogue and joint action based on mutual respect are the only tools capable of bringing about a better shared future," said Benhami.

(Source: Xinhua)


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Former President Donald Trump, seen here on May 1, refused to unconditionally accept the results of the upcoming 2024 presidential election.
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, May 2. Uzbekistan and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) signed an agreement on the privatization of Asakabank, Trend reports.

According to the EBRD, pre-privatization support includes the transfer of know-how, technical assistance, and possible equity investment.

Earlier, Uzbekistan and the EBRD adopted a new partnership strategy in small and medium business, women's entrepreneurship, alternative energy, digital technologies, and others.

Meanwhile, the current loan portfolio of the EBRD projects in Uzbekistan has totaled 2.4 billion euros as of February 29. In particular, the EBRD's loan portfolio is calculated for the implementation of 85 projects.

The majority of the portfolio, 75 percent (1.8 billion euros), focuses on sustainable infrastructure. The remaining 18 percent (437 million euros) is directed toward financial institutions, while industry, commerce, and agribusiness account for 7 percent (182 million euros).
This article is old - Published: Thursday, May 2nd, 2024

Wrexham.com has invited the four North Wales Members of the Senedd to write a monthly column with updates on their work. You can find their updates  along with contributions from the Wrexham and Clwyd South MPs and MSs  here. 

In his monthly column for Wrexham.com, Welsh Conservative MS Mark Isherwood writes:

Unpaid carers provide care and support to family members or friends who are affected by disability, physical or mental ill-health, frailty or addiction. 3 in 5 people will become a carer at some point in their lives, sometimes for more than one person at a time. Carers can be any age, including young children.

In 2019, there were an estimated 400,000 unpaid carers in Wales., these individuals provide care worth around 8.1 billion to the Welsh economy each year.

Three years ago Social Care Wales estimated that 12% of the population of Wales are unpaid carers, and this figure could increase to 16% by 2037.

Earlier this month I was pleased to join the Carers Wales Celebration of the Implementation of the UK Carers Leave Act virtually.

With over 120,000 of the 400,000 unpaid carers in Wales juggling employment and care, the Act, which came into force on 6th April 2024 after years of campaigning led by Carers UK, grants employees who are unpaid carers up to five days of unpaid leave each year to attend to their caring responsibilities.

The Carers Leave Act covers employees in England, Wales and Scotland, and any employee who is providing or arranging care for someone with a long-term care need is entitled to take this leave.

This includes if you are caring for someone with a physical or mental illness or injury, a disability, or care needs because of their old age. The person you are caring for may be a family member or someone else who relies on you for care.

The right to take carers leave is available from the first day of your employment, applies to full-time and part-time employees, and provides the same employment protections to employees as other forms of family-related leave, including protection from dismissal.

The Act is a great step forward, but more must be done to support our unpaid carers in Wales. I was therefore pleased to hear during my meeting with Carers Wales, that along with Carers UK they will continue to campaign to ensure that carers rights at work continue to strengthen.

Last month in the Senedd Chamber, I spoke in the Debate on the Final report of the Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales.

Over two years, the Commission examined how Wales is currently governed and explored possibilities for its future governance, and in January it published its final report.

Speaking in the Debate on the report, I stated that although UK Conservative Governments have delivered law making powers, tax raising powers and a reserved powers model, turning the Senedd into a fully-fledged Parliament, Welsh Conservatives recognise that further devolution of powers now or in the foreseeable future is both unnecessary and unsafe.

Whilst the evolving constitutional settlement within our UK should not be determined by the transient personalities and policies of different Governments at any point in time, it should and must be built on the solid foundations provided by representative democracies with functioning checks and balances.

As I stated however, the democratic deficit in Wales is still alive and kicking, with many still not understanding where the decisions are taken, who is responsible and how much power the Welsh Government actually has over their lives.

In the Debate, I stressed that the Commissions Report confirms that in the event of independence, Wales would face a fiscal deficit, meaning big cuts for many years and possibly longer, the extent of which would be dependent upon the terms negotiated, which would include decisions surrounding state pensions, proportion of UK debt allocation, what currency Wales would use, defence and overseas representation.

Perhaps intentionally, the obsessive like pursuit of further powers is a distraction from the issues which matter to the people of Wales.

While there are some interesting aspects of this report which will require further consideration, the work of the Commission will not make ambulances arrive any faster, properly staff our schools or support Welsh businesses.

Welsh Labour Ministers and their Plaid Cymru partners should instead be focusing on getting to grips with unacceptable waiting lists, on improving educational outcomes and on better pay for people in Wales, the lowest paid in the UK.

For my help, email Mark.Isherwood@senedd.wales or call 0300 200 7219.
This article is old - Published: Thursday, May 2nd, 2024

Wrexham.com has invited the four candidates vying for the role of North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner to take part in a written Question and Answer session.

On May 2 voters will head to the polls to elect a commissioner whose responsibilities include deciding the budget for North Wales Police and holding the forces chief constable to account.

In North Wales four candidates have put themselves forward to become the regions next PCC. These are (you can click to view their Q&A):

We contacted the four candidates with 10 questions about their plans if elected and what they feel are the biggest crime related issues facing North Wales.

You can read Richard Marbrow  Welsh Liberal Democrats  responses in full below:

What are the key crime issues in North Wales that you think need addressing and plan on focusing on in your term in office if elected

Reducing violence and the fear of violence against women and girls including domestic violence. Catching and prosecuting cyber criminals who cause real harm to people with their scams. Making a noise in the right places to reduce the barriers that the Police face in doing their jobs such as excessive court waiting lists and poor design of public spaces.

Theres still a lot of confusion around what a Police and Crime Commissioner is  if elected how would you raise awareness of the role and your work across the region

You have to meet people where they are. That means community events and occasions where many people gather. Events organised by the Commissioner for the Commissioner wont work. You have to take part in events that are already happening.

Across the UK the reputation of policing has faced fierce scrutiny in the last few years and trust has decreased. Within your role as Police and Crime Commissioner how would you work to rebuild the relationship between the public and police,

By increasing understanding. When people talk about losing trust in the Police they are often talking about an event they have seen or poor service they have received. Understanding why those individual events happened and what the explanation was either helps people to accept what occurred or helps the Police to do better the next time. Either way you have to listen to both sides and communicate.

Retail crime has been quite topical lately with assaulting a retail worker to be made a standalone criminal offence. Where does addressing it stand in your priorities and do you have sufficient resources to tackle it.

Retail crime is immediate, often frightening and hard to apprehend people for. Promoting increased use of CCTV is one element of deterring criminals but this is an area where highly visible policing, whether by PCSOs or Officers can make a real difference. You have to increase the deterent effect of a fear of being caught.

What relevant experience have you got for the role of Police and Crime Commissioner?

I served on Merseyside Police Authority for some years in my twenties and spent 4 years as the lead Councillor for Crime and Community Safety in Liverpool. Im not going to claim a vast experience of more rural crime but I am willing to learn and at least I understand Police Forces and their finances.

What are your thoughts on the 20mph policy in Wales and secondly how would you put those thoughts into action as Police and Crime Commissioner?

A good idea, badly implemented. The real argument here is whether the default should be 20mph and people have to argue for 30 or the other way round. 20 saves more lives so I think it should be the default. I would prioritise enforcement in areas where most accidents can be prevented and encourage councils to use their discretion to return some roads to 30mph.

The cost of living crisis shows little sign of improving and Council Tax and precepts from all levels have increased. How will you work to keep the policing precept as low as possible while providing value for money?

That is all about efficiency and that can be achieved both directly by saving money on procurement and IT but also by getting the government in London to do something about the court delays that waste police time and effort. Keeping the police precept low is about supporting the police more rather than less.

A common criticism is a lack of bobbies on the beat and a drop in visible policing. Is this something you would look to improve if elected as Police and Crime Commissioner and if so, how? If its not a priority  why isnt it?

I think we need to listen to the Chief Constables on this and her views would determine my stance. Bobbies on the beat is an easy catchphrase for politicians to say but sometimes it may not be the right thing. A bobby on the beat in rural North Wales is a lot less useful than one who can get to you in a car when a crime is underway. Police visibility is about more than the Police walking around a town or village. It is about the Police attending community events, explaining how they can help the public and the public can help them and normalising interactions with officers.

What are your priorities for reducing rural crime and boosting policing in rural communities across North Wales.

People have to believe that the Police will attend when a crime is committed. I know of farmers for whom there is a real fear that they wont attend. Fear of crime can be as painful as crime itself. Community safety guidance can help people to help themselves and sometimes a small grant can help someone secure a rural area. Designing out crime by increasing visibility in rural areas and community watch schemes can also help.

Finally, what are your views on police funding  specifically on local and national levels and how do you think policing should be funded?

I think the mix of council tax and national funding is sensible but I also think business taxation should be looked at. Diversifying police funding across a wider range of taxes, targeted at activities that cause most crime is a good way of ensuring that funding stays consistent. There also need to be longer range financial settlements so that the Force can plan ahead and make investments in policing equipment and technology that they know will be affordable in future years.

Open statement

Being the Police and Crime Commissioner will be an honour for whichever of your 4 candidates is elected. I dont think any of us would have stood for election if we didnt have good intentions so Im not going to attack my opponents but I will explain why I think that a Liberal Democrat Police and Crime Commissioner would be a good thing.

Liberal Democrats are guided by evidence when making decisions. We listen to communities and take our guidance from there. As I have talked to people through this campaign the impression I get is that people dont want grand promises of things that will never happen. People just want everything to be a bit less broken. A little bit better.

People dont want an easy life but they dont want politicians to make it harder. They dont want grand plans, they just want us to get on with fixing some stuff. And that is where the role of Police and Crime Commissioner gets important.

The truth is that none of your candidates can promise to make crime go away. None of us will be the Police, none of us will go out and catch a criminal. Thats not the job.

The job is to make sure the Police have the resources they need to do the job well. That means setting a budget that puts as much money as possible into policing and not paperwork. And money isnt the only resource, information is also vital. The Police and Crime Commissioner should be stepping in when something goes wrong, hearing complaints fairly. Saying when the Police have got it wrong but also saying when they have got it right.

There will be people who want the moon on a stick when it comes to the Police. Visible Police everywhere at no cost to taxpayers, with no crime and 100% prosecution rates. That isnt going to happen and Im not going to promise the earth. But what I will promise is to work out what we can commit to and then deliver it. Work out what can be fixed and fix it. Approach every decision with an attitude not of trying to achieve perfection but trying to be better.

Ill spread my time between our counties and communities. Making sure I listen to everyone from Anglesey to Wrexham. Freeing up the Chief Constable to do her job by staying in my lane and doing my job. Getting in the ribs of politicians in London and Cardiff to make sure North Wales policing gets its voice heard.

So my first six months would be about working out what is broken. Then I would tell everyone what that was and get on with fixing it. No huge statements of a new settlement between the public and the police, just working out what we can do to make it a bit better and getting on with it.

A Liberal Democrat emphasis on getting things done, on rehabilitation that works rather than just making people feel like some muscles have been flexed, on the real problems rather than the headline grabs would bring us real results.

If you elect me on 2nd May, Ill start working on 3rd May. And no-one will work harder. Liberal Democrats are known for our community politics approach of getting things done at the local level. My local will be North Wales and Ill work with everyone and anyone to make its policing better.
Summers Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod is going to better than ever, says Clwyd South MS

This article is old - Published: Thursday, May 2nd, 2024

This years Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod is going to better than ever, the MS for Clwyd South has said.

Ken Skates MS, who represents Clwyd South in the Senedd and is the new Cabinet Minister for Transport and North Wales said he cant wait for the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod this summer.

Ken, also a Vice-President of the festival met up with Eisteddfod organisers for an update as they step up plans for the biggest Eisteddfod for generations.

This year, the Llangollen Eisteddfod has partnered with promoters Cuffe and Taylor, and are bringing some of the Worlds biggest artists to the town with Bryan Adams arriving in just 50 days-time.

In June and July, the likes of Kaiser Chiefs, Jess Glynne, Nile Rodgers & Chic and Simple Minds are all heading to Llangollen.

There are major concerts before and after the core Eisteddfod. The core Eisteddfod takes place from 2-7 July  with Tom Jones making his Llangollen debut, followed by concerts by Welsh folk heroes Calan, Britains Got Talent Semi-Finalists Johns Boys Chorus, West End stars Kerry Ellis and John Owen-Jones, double GRAMMY award winning Gregory Porter, the internationally renowned Choir of the World, finishing with a Gala Concert from Katherine Jenkins.

The Eisteddfod will also welcome over 3000 competitors from over 30 countries with its popular Parade of Nations, its Childrens Day, popular outdoor stages and much more.

Ken Skates MS is a Paloma Faith fan and is looking forward to seeing local choir  Johns Boys Chorus.

Everyone in Llangollen and North Wales is super excited about this years changes at International Musical Eisteddfod, said Ken.

I cant wait to attend. It is a fantastic occasion and this year is going to better than ever.

When quizzed about which concert he is looking forward to  Ken said: Ive been to see Paloma Faith before  so Im going to say Paloma Faith because she is phenomenal. Coming from North Wales, how could I not mention as well  Johns Boys!

Llangollen Eisteddfod Board Member, David Hennigan said, It was great to update Ken on our exciting plans for this Summer.

Ken has been and remains a huge supporter of our peace festival.

We were pleased to congratulate him on becoming Cabinet Minister for North Wales and Transport.

This year, we are set to welcome tens of thousands of extra visitors to our wonderful town and we are pleased to enjoy continued support from the Senedd.

Every summer since 1947, something magical happens in Llangollen  we are a small town with a big voice and this year our festival will be bigger and better.
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, May 2. Uzbekistan and Oman discuss the construction of the Trans-Afghan railroad and the promotion of the Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Iran-Oman transport corridor, Trend reports.

The matters were reviewed at a meeting between the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, and the Minister of Trade, Industry, and Investment Promotion of Oman, Qais bin Mohammed Al Yousef, who arrived to participate in the III Tashkent International Investment Forum.

Both sides discussed issues of expanding mutually beneficial cooperation, primarily in the trade, economic, and investment spheres.

The parties noted the great potential for the implementation of projects in the energy, transport, healthcare, tourism, geology, food, textile, and chemical sectors, including with the support of the Uzbek-Oman Investment Company.

At the end of the meeting, the officials reached an agreement on holding a meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission and a joint business forum in the near future.

Meanwhile, the III Tashkent International Investment Forum is being held in Tashkent on May 23.

Almost 2,500 people from 84 countries are expected to participate. Among them are government representatives, heads of major companies, as well as high-ranking guests from international organizations such as the UN, EBRD, OPEC, and SCO.

The forum program includes more than 40 events, including breakout sessions, round tables, presentations, and meetings of intergovernmental commissions. A launching ceremony for a number of projects in Uzbekistan is also envisaged.
On April 22, students at Irelands biggest university, University College Dublin (UCD), were joined by a large gathering of healthcare workers in a demonstration denouncing the visit of former Democratic Party speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, who had been invited to receive an honorary degree.

UCD president, Professor Orla Feely, had refused to cancel the award to Pelosi, which was opposed by the UCD Student Union (SU) and many students. Feely said in an email, Were it to be our practice to take an institutional position on geopolitical matters, we would be inhibiting the freedom of members of our community to express their individual positions and suppressing our ability to sustain and respect a diversity of views.

Screenshot of the University College Dublin website showing Pelosi receiving the award from the institution [Photo: ucd.ie]

Student Union president Martha Ni Riada denounced Feelys position, saying essentially, she doesnt want to take sides. The SU demand was for a ceasefire in Gaza, which was not taking sides, but the bare minimum.

Ni Riada was present at the ceremony by invitation but was assaulted by police and UCD security and dragged from the OReilly Hall when she interrupted proceedings by denouncing Pelosi as a Zionist and a war criminal. Two plainclothes police wearing Garda pins seized her, assisted by UCD security, and dragged her out of the room as she shouted, Israel is NOT in our DNA and What about Palestinian women?, in a reference to Pelosis supposed feminist credentials.

Ni Riada later told reporters, I had a few more lines that I wanted to say, expressing the students position and that we denounce this doctorate and this isnt representative of what our students wish.

We dont want people like this to be celebrated. But then I only got a sentence in and two guards [police] came and forcibly removed me, with excessive force. She suffered abrasions and bruising to both arms.

Ni Riada said that the arrests of hundreds of students on college campuses in the United States while protest encampments have been broken up by police were really worrying.

Universities are constantly talking about academic freedom and protecting freedom of speech, but if the speech is something that they disagree with, theres no protection of it. Thats a worrying trend.

I think its a similar thing to when I was thrown out of the Pelosi event because I was stating a view that was unpopular with the administration but supported by the students I think universities are in a dangerous place at the moment, where if this can be accepted, then academic freedom means absolutely nothing.

Outside, as well as those organised by the Student Union, demonstrators were joined by UCDs Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions organisation, the Union of Students in Ireland, and healthcare workers, mostly from a nearby hospital, in support of their Palestinian colleagues being targeted by the Zionist occupation forces.

Pelosi was recently condemned for calling on the FBI to investigate pro-Palestinian protestors she said may be connected to Russia. This was described as unsubstantiated smears by the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), targeting those who seek an end to the slaughter of civilians in Gaza.

Speakers pointed out that Pelosi had been an integral part of the US government, which provides an estimated 69 percent of Israels foreign-sourced weapons.

As shame was written across the window of UCDs OReilly Hall and many waved Palestinian flags and shouted shame on you and war criminal, Pelosi was awarded an honorary doctorate in law, along with the Sutherland Leadership Award and the James Joyce Award, from a student society. Peter Sutherland was a former Irish attorney general and director-general of both the World Trade Organisation and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

As guests, including former prime ministers Bertie Ahern and Enda Kenny, were ushered into the venue by police, they were met with chants of Shame on you, Palestine will be free and While youre dining, kids are dying. To disrupt the dinner, three megaphones were programmed to play a high-pitched siren outside.

Incoming SU president Miranda Bauer told the crowd, It is incredibly disrespectful of the university to completely negate the feelings of the wider student body.

Protesters were joined by pseudo-left parliamentary deputy Richard Boyd Barrett, who said that if not for the weapons and the political support and the impunity provided to Israel by the United States, the genocidal massacre that has been inflicted on the people of Gaza could not happen, would not have happened.

He added that Pelosi could not even bring herself to say the word ceasefire. Pelosi and her associates are not just complicit with genocide, they are guilty of genocide.

In line with the perspective of all the pseudo-left groups, Boyd Barrett sought to restrict opposition to the genocide to placing moral pressure on the capitalist states. He said that people advocating on behalf of the Palestinian people had been begging Western governments to end the impunity of Israel long before the recent horror.

Boyd Barrett also attacked the presence of former prime ministers Ahern and Kenny at the event, noting that throughout their time in government they did nothing for Palestine.

This wasnt the first pro-Palestine event at UCD since October. There have been a number of protests and speeches on campus and Ni Riada said that a group of students briefly occupied the Tierney administrative building. Back in October, we asked for the university president to call for a ceasefire and we also asked for the college to outline links they had with Israeli institutions, she said.

At that time, Feely said they had no links with Israeli institutions. But then later the University Observer, one of the student newspapers, researched it and found that UCD actually has links with 12 institutions. So then the college retracted that statement, and we updated our calls then for them to call for a ceasefire and also to cut ties with Israeli institutions.

These calls were ignored.

Support for Palestine is strong in Ireland, both for historical reasons and present-day. The Irish have suffered dispossession, invasion, and attempted genocidein the form of an engineered famine in the mid-19th centuryat the hands of the British over centuries of their history and recognize all of these in Israels behaviour towards the Palestinians.

Hundreds of thousands have regularly attended demonstrations called by the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Committee (IPSC). As many as 200,000 occupied the centre of the capital, Dublin, to demand a ceasefire, Israeli withdrawal, and action by the government to implement two laws on imports from the occupied territories passed by the legislature but not implemented by the state.

Hundreds of actions and events take place across the country.

A poll last November showed that 84 percent of Irish people already supported an immediate ceasefire, while 71 percent agreed that Israeli rule over the Palestinians is apartheid.

The three-party right-wing government has responded to this enormous popular pressure with fine words but has done little of substance to stop the Israeli assaults.

The Occupied Territories Bill, which would ban trade with and economic support for illegal settlements, has already been legislated, but the government has blocked implementation. Another piece of legislation it has failed to carry out is the Illegal Israeli Settlements Divestment Bill 2023, designed to compel the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund to terminate its investments in companies operating in Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

The government has not even joined in the South African legal action against Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
Students in the UK have taken action in solidarity with those in the US facing down fierce police repression and fascist violence to protest the imperialist-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza.

Encampments have been established at Sheffield, Warwick, Newcastle, Leeds and Bristol Universities. Hundreds also took part in a student protest outside Cambridge University and a lunchtime protest was organised by staff and students at Bradford University.

At Sheffield, the Sheffield Campus Coalition for Palestine declared it had begun a mass encampment in solidarity with the Palestinian people and in protest against allegations of their universitys complicity in Israeli apartheid and the ongoing bombardment of Gaza.

A spokesperson explained, The University has been found to have helped streamline and produce the very instruments of warfare Israel used in its ruthless and indiscriminate bombardment of Gaza. It is for that reason that we students have come to charge the university with complicity in the genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza. Our demand is clear: divest now.

We, as students of the University of Sheffield, will not sit idly by and watch our institution wreak havoc in Palestine and across the Global South. We will continue to take action on campus, regardless of reprisal or repression, without hesitation or fatigue. We will continue to hold the mirror to the faces of the Universitys administration, until they raise their gaze and acknowledge their complicity and commit to dismantling their systemic evil. Until the University of Sheffield stands in active solidarity with Palestine, until Palestine itself is liberated from the violence of neo-colonialism, we will fight.

A spokesperson for Sheffield Jews Against Israeli Apartheid (SJAIA) announced that the organisation welcomes the May Day walk out by Sheffield University students in solidarity with Palestinian people. We support their actions and call on all students and staff to do so and resolve to hold their University to account for its complicity with the genocide perpetrated by Israel in Palestine.

At a protest outside the university, World Socialist Web Site reporters spoke with Mohammed, who said, The objective of these protests is to show the authoritiesthose in powerour voices do matter. I feel there is a huge gap between the higher ups and us, the working class. It is really important we continue to protest and rally, otherwise, if they stop, the higher ups will think they have won because they have silenced us. If we stop doing these protests over Gaza we will have lost our voice.

Mohammed at the protest in Sheffield

It is a disgrace what has happened in America with the police on campus. Protesting is a basic part of human rights and freedom of speech. As far as Im aware there has been no aggression or violence by students in America.

Ultimately it feels the police action is because it does not fit their agenda, with America being an ally and supporter of Israel and the people supporting Palestine. What they dont realise is that social media has revealed everything. People know the truth now and they will not be able to silence them, no matter how they try both here and in America.

I saw a video from Germany, in Berlin, where very young protestors were being very violently attacked by the police. That is nothing short of a disgrace as well; its a basic violation of freedom of speech.

It seems like at this moment the only way of being heard is by causing disruption. So if you are looking at the communities of international workers, by not going to work or striking, ultimately disrupting the economy, that is only way the government will say OK we have an issue.

A section of the rally at University of Sheffield

Weve seen this with the rail strikes but still nothings been done. If you are connecting with the global working class that will create more pressure on the government. I think its important the working class is coming together internationally because at the moment it seems a bit like a broken record: we are doing all these protests and rallies to no avail. Unfortunately, that is the reality of the situation.

Warwick Stands with Palestine explain, On Wednesday evening, we set up camp on our Piazza after months of being ignored by our University. After countless demonstrations, sit ins, open letters and even a motion through our students union, the University hasnt even engaged with us, let alone met our demands.

They call for the university to divest from all companies complicit in Israels occupation of Palestine and weapons manufacture; condemn Israels bombardment of Gaza; pledge to support the rebuilding of educational infrastructure in Gaza and also offer scholarships to Palestinian students; and protect Freedom of Speech for activists, students and staff who speak in support of the Palestinian people.

A fundraiser for the encampment has raised nearly 4,000.

Newcastle Apartheid Off Campus describe themselves as a coalition of students and staff at Newcastle and Northumbria Universities who have joined together to join the global uprising for Palestine.

They demand: Newcastle university must immediately disclose all investments, collaborations and partnerships with BDS target companies and defence/security sector firms and We demand divestment and cessation of academic, industrial, teaching or recruitment relationships with BDS targets and defence/security contractor firms.

The students describe themselves as outraged our university has deepened its ties with Leonardo S.pA and Rafael Industries in-spite of our vice chancellor admitting they supply arms to Israel.

Further demands include the protection of students/staff to stand in solidarity with Palestine on campus. This includes abolishing the IHRA definition of antisemitism used to suppress voices against the Israeli genocide; a pledge to cut all relations with Israeli universities; a call for an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza; and a commitment to forge links with universities in Palestine, including assisting in the reestablishment of destroyed universities in Gaza on their own conditions.

The Leeds Students Against Apartheid Coalition announced in setting up its encampment, according to reporting by the Tab, Despite clear and repeated communication of our demands and our popular support from the student and staff bodies, the University Executive Group has failed to meaningfully respond and continues to hide behind equivocations, excuses, and silence.

Its partnerships with arms companies and Israeli universities are especially dangerous in light of Israels incessant bombing campaigns in Gaza and intensifying settler violence in occupied Palestine.

Referring to the police attacks on students protests in America, the group says, Globally, we have seen an intense crackdown on Palestinian activism on university campuses. Hundreds of students and faculty members across America are being arrested for protesting their institutions complicity in genocide, and the extreme and excessive police violence against peaceful protestors should alarm all of us who value our inalienable democratic right to protest.

They continue, As the prospect of an Israeli invasion of Rafah threatens to kill Palestinians on an unprecedented scale, it is more urgent than ever for us to end institutional support for the genocidal apartheid state.

The universitys complicity in the maintenance of the genocidal apartheid state of Israel is but a manifestation of the marketisation of education institutions, which prioritise profits over teaching quality, working conditions, and basic morals and ethics.

The students conclude, Only through mass collective mobilisation and struggle can we as students and workers support the Palestinian people and liberate ourselves from systems of subjugation, oppression, and violence.

At the Bristol encampment, Bristol Students Occupy for Palestine, a student told Epigram, Despite numerous meetings, open letters, walkouts and occupations the University of Bristol has thus far failed to take any action to divest from the arms industry. As students, as academics, as human beings we refuse to stand silent in a time of genocide. We demand divestment and demilitarisation  we demand arms off campus!

They added: Student protest will continue until our demands of divestment are met and until academic freedom and student safety are adequately protected on campus. The global movement of students for liberation and emancipation will not end until we see a free Palestine. None of us are free until all of us are free.

Outside the David Hockney Building of Bradford College, around 20 staff held a lunchtime walkout in opposition to the genocide in Gaza.

The walk-out at Bradford college, May 1, 2024
Last year, the Saxony state governmenta coalition of the Christian Democrats (CDU), Social Democrats (SPD) and Greenspresented a draft amendment to the Saxony Assembly Act. Last month, it was debated in the state parliaments interior affairs committee amid protests.

Following the Police Act 2019 being declared partially unconstitutional in January, the state government is making a renewed push to restrict basic democratic rights and establish an authoritarian police state.

Demonstration against the Saxon Assembly Act [Photo by #NoVersgSAX]

The Saxony draft law is not an isolated phenomenon. The federal government had already massively expanded the police and surveillance state under Chancellor Angela Merkel. Since the beginning of the Gaza war, the federal and state governments have been continuing in Hitlers fascistic traditions and suppressing anti-war protests and events. Jewish people are also being arrested in the process.

The draft extends the powers of the police to restrict and ban assemblies in numerous areas. It works with vague formulations whose interpretation opens the door to arbitrary state action. Above all, however, it twists democratic legal principles into their opposite: instead of offering protective rights against the state, the Saxony government wants to enact a protective right of the state against the population.

The Committee for Basic Rights and Democracy (KGD) accuses the draft law of a fundamental mismatch between fundamental rights and state power. Instead of being a right of defence against the state, it was drafted from a police and therefore disruption-centred perspective and restricted the fundamental right of freedom of assembly in many ways and comprehensively. The fact that citizens are the bearers of fundamental rights is not even recognised in words.

In addition, the association continues, a covert compulsion to cooperate is introduced, which undermines the principle of freedom of assembly.

According to the draft law, the police may demand the names and dates of birth of organisers in the event of a threat to public safety and store them for up to two years. This will provide a free list of important demonstration participants, which they can use as an arrest sheet if repression is stepped up.

The KGD regards this not only as a massive restriction of the freedom of assembly, but also as a profound encroachment on the informational self-determination of those affected.

It is obvious that this is primarily directed against left-wing protests. Passing on personal data to the police and perhaps to other authorities will hardly deter organisers of right-wing extremist demonstrations. The Saxony state apparatus is riddled with right-wing extremist structures. The measure serves to intimidate and monitor left-wing or pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

The KGD also criticises the fact that the vague legal concept of public order is deliberately used to open the door to arbitrary action by the state.

Another point concerns the presence of police officers. Their previous, already inadequate duty to identify themselves to the assembly leader has been struck down without replacement. This means that there are no longer any limits to the massive deployment of undercover police officers or state agents provocateurs.

Further points are:

The right of assembly does not apply to persons who have forfeited it in accordance with Article 18 of the Constitution. According to this article, freedom of expression is forfeited by anyone who abuses it to fight against the free democratic basic orderan ambiguous statute that can be used to suppress left-wing and socialist protests. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), as Germanys domestic secret service is called, justified its categorisation of the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality Party) as anti-constitutional on the grounds that it fights for a democratic, egalitarian, socialist society, agitates against alleged imperialism and militarism and thinks in class categories.

A blanket ban on uniforms and belligerence that is based on a vaguely defined impression of a willingness to use violence or an intimidating effect. This means that uniformly dressed demonstrations or protests by entire professional groups can be prohibited if they appear in professional clothing, for example.

A compulsion to cooperate with the authorities that, according to the KGD, turns constitutional case law on its head and transforms the official duty to cooperate into a set of rules to discipline organisers. The authorities are given the opportunity to exert massive pressure on the organisation of assemblies, such as the choice of time, place, design and content.

According to the KGD, this is a completely absurd and constitutionally untenable reinterpretation of the organisation of assemblies. If the assembly leader cannot be identified, the authorities would de facto take over their role by law.

An extension of the so-called ban on disruption, which aims to ban counterdemonstrations. Instead of preventing, it is now sufficient to significantly obstruct an assembly. According to the explanatory memorandum to the law, this can already include an acoustic disruption. A loud protest against a rally by the far-right Alternative for Germany can thus be arbitrarily banned by the police.

Despite the clearly dictatorial thrust of the new assembly law, the Greens state domestic policy spokesperson, Valentin Lippmann, indulges in Orwellian Newspeak, talking about a big step on the way to a modern and liberal assembly law and a great opportunity for more civic freedom.

When it was sworn in at the end of 2019, the World Socialist Web Site described how the Greens were joining the Saxony coalition governments right-wing agenda, one that was planning a massive increase in powers of the state repressive apparatus. This programme is now being put into practice.

Those in power are thus reacting to the growing opposition to social inequality and their pro-war policiesboth in Ukraine against Russia and in the Middle East, where Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians with the full support of the German government and fuelling the confrontation with Iran.

The Greens have transformed themselves from former pacifists into aggressive advocates of war and dictatorship. They are in favour of massive rearmament spending and arms deliveries to Ukraine and the far-right Netanyahu regime. They denounce opponents of the Gaza genocide as antisemites and put the AfDs racist deportation policies into practice.

Hundreds of thousands have protested in a petition against the impending deportation of Pham Phi Son from Saxony. Pham came to Germany in 1987 from Vietnam as a contract labourer in the former East Germany. He has now lived in Saxony for over 35 years and is to be deported along with his wife and child.

The new assembly law is due to come into force for the state elections on September 1, 2024. Obviously, the ruling class fears spontaneous mass protests in view of the AfDs impending electoral success. There were already protests across Germany in 2020 when Thomas Kemmerich (Liberal Democrat, FDP) was elected as the short-term Minister President of Thuringia with the votes of the AfD. This year, millions took to the streets to demonstrate against the AfD and the shift to the right by all the establishment parties.

What applies to the SPD and the Greens also applies without restriction to the Left Party. With the establishment of Wagenknechts right-wing BSW, the section of the Left Party that openly advocates a stricter deportation policy has split off. However, this does not make the rest of the Left Party any less right-wing. This is particularly evident in Saxony.

One of the leading candidates for the Left Party in the upcoming European elections is Soren Pellmann from Leipzig, who described Wagenknecht as indispensable last year. Other well-known Left Party representatives in Saxony such as Juliane Nagel are aggressive supporters of the federal governments war agenda in Ukraine and the Middle East.

We appeal to all serious workers and young people to take stock of the politics of the Saxony state executive. These parties are neither opponents of dictatorial and fascist tendencies nor a lesser evil compared to them. They pave the way for them, put their programme into practice and try to suppress any protest against it. Only an independent movement of the working class can stop fascism, war, and dictatorship.
At last weeks arguments in the Supreme Court on Donald Trumps claim that he is immune from any criminal liability for acts he committed while in office, the four most right-wing justices cited uncharged war crimes linked to US imperialism and mass civil rights violations to justify a new rule that US presidents cannot be prosecuted after leaving office.

Comments by the nine justices make relatively clear that the unanimous decision of the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals, which included a judge nominated by Ronald Reagan, rejecting Trumps claim of absolute immunity, will not be affirmed. Instead, a combination of justices adding up at least to the five needed for a majority will likely rule that the lower courts must review the indictment in light of a newly minted presidential immunity rule based on picayune distinctions between official and private acts, which may or may not include allegations arising from Trumps attempt to overthrow the government on January 6, 2021, after having lost the 2020 election.

The Supreme Court as composed June 30, 2022 to present. Front row, left to right: Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., and Associate Justice Elena Kagan. Back row, left to right: Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Associate Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, Associate Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, and Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. [Photo: Fred Schilling, samling av USAs Hyesterett]

The exact parameters of the new presidential immunity rule will be spelled out in one or more written opinions expected shortly before the summer recesstraditionally the end of Juneno doubt accompanied by one or more dissents.

Regardless of the outcome, the Supreme Court intervention has already thrown a monkey wrench into the federal prosecution of Trump for his unlawful attempts to overturn his 2020 defeat, most likely postponing trial until after the presidential election in November, which Trump is presently slightly favored to win.

The ruling could also derail the state prosecution brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis against Trump for his efforts to overturn Joe Bidens narrow electoral victory in Georgia, a criminal liability for which Trump could not pardon himself.

While nominally posing questions to the attorneysJohn Sauer for Trump and Michael Dreeben for Special Counsel Jack Smith, who brought the five-count indictmentthe justices were, in fact, arguing among themselves over whether allowing prosecutions of ex-presidents would, as right-winger Neil Gorsuch said, place presidents under fear that their successors would criminally prosecute them for their acts in office, such as drone strikesa none too veiled reference to Democrat Barack Obamas Middle East assassination program.

Sonia Sotomayorthe senior liberal following the 2020 death of Ruth Bader Ginsburgraised the hypothetical made famous in the DC Circuitwhether a president could be prosecuted for ordering the assassination of his political rival. When Trumps lawyer said that could be an official act, Sotomayor clarified her hypothetical: Hes not doing it like President Obama to protect the country from a terrorist, hes doing it for personal gain.

In fact, as a matter of international and US law, Obama should be prosecuted for authorizing 542 drone strikes while president. At least 3,800 people, including US citizens and over 300 civilians, were blown to bits without a semblance of due process. Obama reportedly told senior aides in 2011: Turns out Im really good at killing people. Didnt know that was gonna be a strong suit of mine.

In any event, Sotomayors comment shows that whatever the differences among the justices, they are unified on protecting the executive branchs ability to use violence and other extreme, anti-democratic measures to further imperialist interests.

Clarence Thomas, the senior and most openly corrupt justice, said that certain presidents have engaged in various activity, coups or operations like Operation Mongoose when I was a teenager, and yet there were no prosecutions.

President John Kennedy authorized Operation Mongoose after the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion, to remove the Castro government from power in Cuba, by assassination if necessary. The CIA Mongoose program incorporated organized crime figures who had lost concessions in Havana, and were subsequently implicated in Kennedys November 22, 1963 assassination.

Right-wing justice Brett Kavanaugh cited Democrat Lyndon Johnsons false statements about the Vietnam War during his presidency as a possible basis for prosecution, were immunity not granted.

Extreme right-wing justice Samuel Alito worried that a defeated president will not be able to go off into a peaceful retirement if he or she may be criminally prosecuted by a bitter political opponent, leading into a cycle that destabilizes the functioning of our country as a democracy.

Rejecting Dreebens response that there should be reliance on the good faith of incoming Justice Department officials, Alito cited Mitchell Palmer, whom Democrat Woodrow Wilson appointed Attorney General in 1919. Alito said Palmer is widely regarded as having abused the power of his office, alluding to his infamous use of mass deportations and other authoritarian measures to suppress the revolutionary upsurge in the US working class that followed the Russian Revolution and end of the first World War.

Alito then asked Dreeben whether President Franklin D. Roosevelts decision to intern Japanese Americans during World War II could be charged as a conspiracy against civil rights. In Korematsu v. United States, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of that noxious program in an opinion written by Justice William O. Douglas, who would later become a liberal icon.

Alito floated a hypothetical immunity rule that a former president cannot be prosecuted for official acts unless no plausible justification could be imagined for what the president did, an absurdly deferential standard that prosecutors could never overcome.

Alito wrote the infamous majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization that eliminated the constitutional right to abortion access, despite 50 years of Supreme Court precedent, ostensibly because he could not find it in the Constitutions text. Yet he now proposes that the Supreme Court invent an entirely new rule without any reference to a constitutional, statutory or common-law source.

Sotomayor, responding directly to Alito, said the majority might as well give absolute immunity because anybody could argue plausibility, adding rhetorically:

What is plausible about the president insisting on and creating a fraudulent slate of electoral candidates, knowing that the slate is fake, that they werent actually elected, that they werent certified by the state?

While at least four justices seem clearly in favor of broad, if not absolute, presidential immunity, the six justices forming the right-wing bloc might not be unified. Chief Justice John Roberts, who sometimes looks for resolutions to protect the standing of the Supreme Court as an institution, raised the possibility of prosecuting an ex-president for accepting a bribe in exchange for an appointment as an ambassador. Ignoring the specific allegations in the indictment, Roberts said that the court of appeals did not get into a focused consideration of what acts were talking about.

Trump appointee Amy Coney Barrett appeared to disagree. She asked Sauer pointed questions based precisely on those allegations, including that Trump turned to a private attorney willing to spread knowingly false claims of election fraud to spearhead his challenges to the election results, that Trump conspired with another private attorney who caused the filing in court of a verification... that contained false allegations, and that Trump directed a plan to submit fraudulent slates of presidential electors to obstruct the certification proceeding.

Sauer conceded that those acts would be private, and therefore not subject to immunity being claimed.

Elena Kagan described the allegations against Trump as attempting to overthrow an election, and then asked Sauer whether selling nuclear secrets to a foreign adversary or ordering the military to stage a coup would be an official act immune from prosecution. Trumps attorney was unable to give a straight answer.

Ketanji Brown Jackson said the obvious: That granting Trump the broad immunity he seeks could turn the Oval Office into the seat of criminal activity.

Ironically, the oral arguments revealed that this has been the case for decades.
As the Israeli regime prepares to unleash a barbaric offensive on the southern Gazan city of Rafah, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held two hours of talks yesterday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Blinkens only objection to the military assault was that Israel had not yet provided a humanitarian plan.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken walks with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, right, at the Kerem Shalom border crossing, Israel, May 1, 2024 [AP Photo/Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo]

We cannot, will not support a major military operation in Rafah absent an effective plan to make sure that civilians are not harmed and no, weve not seen such a plan, Blinken told reporters after the meeting. He claimed that there were other ways of dealing with Hamas that do not require a major military operation in Rafah.

What hypocrisy! US imperialism has politically backed, bankrolled and armed Israels genocidal onslaught in Gaza that to date has claimed more than 34,500 lives, the majority of which were women and children. Biden has just signed legislation that provides a further $26 billion in aid to Israel, more than half being military weaponry.

It is patently obvious that any Israeli operation, whether major or not, into Rafah where more than a million Palestinians are jam packed will result in thousands, even tens of thousands, more civilian casualties. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Tuesday that a military assault on Rafah would be an unbearable escalation, killing thousands more civilians and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee.

Blinkens purely verbal expressions of humanitarian concern, like Washingtons involvement in protracted talks in Egypt over a ceasefire, are simply to obscure the fact that the US is the chief enabler of the Zionist regimes monstrous crimes.

Following his discussion with Blinken, Netanyahu reiterated what he had stated on Tuesday that the Israeli offensive into Rafah would proceed, regardless of whether a deal was reached with Hamas over a prisoner exchange. The Prime Ministers Office stated that Netanyahu had told Blinken a Rafah operation was not contingent on anything and that he rejected any truce proposals that would end the Gaza war.

In his comments yesterday, Blinken promoted the limited Israeli improvements in allowing aid access into Gaza where Palestinians confront extreme shortages of all the basicsfood, water and shelter as well as medicines and medical equipment. After noting that aid trucks from Jordan had passed through the Erez crossing for the first time, he declared: So the progress is real, but given the need it needs to be sustained.

In reality there is no let up in the Israeli policy of killing Palestinians through hunger and disease as well as through military operations. Much of Gaza, particularly in the devastated north of the enclave, is on the brink of being declared in famine by UN agencies as defined by severe food shortages, levels of acute malnutrition and daily deaths from starvation.

In a comment published on Reliefweb yesterday, Mari Carmen Vinoles, head of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) emergency programs, blasted Israeli claims that there were not limits on the supply of humanitarian aid to Gaza. She explained that Israeli authorities had refused MSFs requests bring essential biomedical equipment such as an oxygen concentrator into Gaza where the major hospitals have been devastated. Without this simple device, our medical teams in Gaza are forced to witness their patients die from entirely preventable causes, she said.

Vinoles said that MSF had made a request in early November to bring fridges and freezers essential for storing medicines and vaccines into Gaza, which were only approved in April and are yet to arrive. We are still waiting for approval to bring in generators, oxygen cylinders, ultrasound scanners, external defibrillators, intravenous sodium chloride solutions, essential for rehydrating patients and diluting drugs. The list is as long as it is alarming, she commented.

Twenty seven percent were impeded, 10 percent were denied, and 8 percent were cancelled due to logistical constraints.

The latest OCHA update released yesterday highlighted reported that more than 10,000 people were estimated by the Palestinian Civil Defense (PCD) to be missing under rubble in Gaza. PCD added that they are facing enormous challenges in recovering dead bodies, including lack of equipment, heavy machinery and personnel, warning it could take up to three years to retrieve the bodies using the primitive tools they have on hand.

The fact that Gaza has been transformed into a war zone posing great dangers to the population is underscored by UN estimates that there is some 7,500 tonnes of unexploded ordnance (UXO) scattered throughout Gaza. A UN assessment team visiting Khan Younis in April reported that streets and public spaces were littered with UXO, with unexploded 1,000-pound bombs lying on main intersections and inside schools.

Even more sinister is a report on Monday by the government media office in Gaza that a 14-year-old boy was seriously injured and sustained limb amputations after opening a booby-trapped can of food he found inside his house that had been shelled by Israeli forces. The media office noted that others had been injured recently by booby-trapped canned goods.

Israeli military operations involving tanks and air strikes are continuing. According to the health ministry in Gaza, 80 Palestinians had been killed and 118 injured in the period from Monday afternoon to 11 a.m. yesterday. Since October 7 at least 34,568 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and 77,765 injured.

UN aid chief Martin Griffiths warned on Tuesday that an Israeli ground operation in Rafah was on the immediate horizon. He stressed that Israeli improvements to aid access in Gaza cannot be used to prepare for or justify a full-blown military assault on Rafah. A military onslaught on Gaza would be nothing short of a tragedy beyond words, he said.

Griffiths stated that a ground operation would deal a disastrous blow for agencies struggling to provide humanitarian aid despite the active hostilities, impassable roads, unexploded ordnance, fuel shortages, delays at checkpoints, and Israeli restrictions. It would bring even more trauma and death for the hundreds of thousands of people who have fled to Gazas southernmost point to escape disease, famine, mass graves and direct fighting.
The Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) government has tabled legislation to modernize the provinces construction industry that under the pretext of providing greater flexibility will impose speed-up and jeopardize workers jobs and safety.

Acting as a henchman for the building contractors and the banks and other large financial institutions that profit from their projects, Prime Minister Francois Legault is determined to impose sweeping changes in the rules governing the industry prior to the next collective bargaining round in 2025.

This legislative attack follows on from changes made in 2018-19 that slashed the training requirements for crane operators, and is a further step in deregulating the entire building industry.

Quebec construction workers demonstrate in Montreal during their 2017 strike.

Bill 51 is a key part of the governments economic strategy, which seeks to exploit the profit-making potential of Quebecs massive hydro-electric reserves and lower electricity rates. The construction sector accounts for 6.9 percent of the provinces GDP, with annual investments of $73 billion in 2023, and employs nearly 300,000 workers, representing 1 in every 15 Quebec jobs.

Legault is counting on his new law to guarantee fat profits for his corporate cronies in the implementation of his flagship projects, in particular Hydro-Quebecs new power projects and the controversial Northvolt project to develop a Quebec-based EV battery industry.

The bill is primarily focused on increasing productivity and flexibility. Labor Minister Jean Boulet wants, for example, to decompartmentalize several construction trades to enable workers to perform related and short-term tasks that are currently exclusive to specific trades.

The bill would allow contractors to employ their workers anywhere in the province as of May 1, 2025, by banning regional protection clauses that require local workers to be employed on projects in the regions. It would reduce from 1,500 to 750 the number of hours required for a worker to obtain preferential employee status, i.e., to be able to work throughout the province. Under the guise of inclusion, the requirement would drop to 400 hours for women, indigenous people, immigrants and people with disabilities.

For those with more than 15,000 hours experience, i.e., half of the 300,000 workers, the bills full flexibility clause would give employers full latitude to ship workers from one end of the province to the other.

Having essentially dictated its content, business circles warmly welcomed the tabling of Bill 51 in February. For them, the legislation represents a golden opportunity to cut costs while gaining greater control over their workforce.

However, for some, such as the Association de la construction du Quebec (ACQ), the project does not go far enough because it did not include the elimination of construction regions. Others, like the Association des professionnels de la construction et de lhabitation du Quebec (APCHQ), expressed doubt that the measures will have a great effect on productivity, particularly given the housing situation in Quebec.

These comments underscore that big business is intent on keeping pressure on the CAQ government not to deviate from its right-wing line.

With the housing crisis currently gripping the country, there is a desperate need for construction workers. According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), 860,000 housing units will need to be built by 2030 in Quebec alone.

But far from investing massively in the building of affordable housing, the Legault government wants instead to accelerate the deregulation of the industry to make it an even more lucrative source of profits for big business.

Faced with the scale of the attack on workers rights and the threat to their jobs and safety, the construction unions have been forced to adopt a pose of opposition to avoid losing what remains of their credibility with their members.

On the first day of parliamentary hearings on Bill 51, the FTQ-Construction organized a protest demonstration in front of the National Assembly. Carl Dufour, president of the CSD-Construction, promised a solid rendez-vous in 2025 for the renewal of collective agreements.

These are empty words. In Quebec, as elsewhere in Canada and internationally, unions today act as a veritable police force for the employers, nipping in the bud worker resistance movements and, when that proves impossible, rapidly isolating any struggle that erupts against employer and government attacks.

This is clearly evident from the experience of Quebec construction workers over the past decade.

During negotiations in 2013 and again in 2017, the provinces construction unions imposed concessions, in addition to bowing to the Liberal governments 2017 draconian anti-strike legislation.

In 2018, they sabotaged the struggle of 2,000 crane operators, who paralyzed major construction sites for 8 days, bravely defying a back-to-work injunction. The Federation des travailleurs du Quebec (FTQ) and FTQ-Construction, working in close concert with the then Liberal government of Philippe Couillard, responded by threatening to put Local 791g under trusteeship if it did not immediately end the walkout.

In 2021, during the last collective bargaining round, the construction unions once again waged a demobilization campaign and used government threats that any strike would be met with a back-to-work law to push through sellout agreements.

To defend their rights and their living and working conditions, construction workers must break with the bureaucratic, pro-capitalist union apparatuses and turn to their working-class brothers and sisters who are facing the same attacks.

As a first step in this direction, new organs of struggle, rank-and-file committees completely independent of the unions, are needed to organize the struggle in Quebecs construction sector, linking it with other workers struggles across North America.
In a lengthy interview with TIME magazine for its current cover story, fascist ex-president Donald Trump doubles down on threats to round up millions of immigrants using police, the National Guard and the regular military if he returns to power in the 2024 election, while suggesting there would be a violent response if he were to lose.

Trump on the cover of May 2024 edition of TIME magazine. [Photo: Time]

Trump lays out a political agenda to satisfy his most right-wing supporters, while at the same time seeking to reassure Wall Street and the military-intelligence apparatus that he will continue their aggressive policies in Ukraine, the Middle East and against China.

Under the headline, If He Wins, TIME political correspondent Eric Cortellessa draws out from Trumpmainly through flattery and by not challenging his brazen liesthe fullest account so far of his intentions for a second presidency. Despite maintaining that his expressed desire for a dictatorship, voiced in an interview with Fox News, was only a joke, Trump outlines a program of authoritarianism that amounts to a presidential military dictatorship.

This starts with his refusal to accept the outcome of the upcoming 2024 election or disavow a violent response by his supporters if he loses. I think were going to win, Trump said. When asked about possible violence, he continued, And if we dont win, you know, it depends. It always depends on the fairness of an election.

Trump embraced the fascist criminals who attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 in an effort, instigated by the president himself, to overturn the 2020 election and keep him in the White House. I call them the J-6 patriots, he said, adding, in response to the question of whether he would consider pardoning all of them, Yes, absolutely.

Claiming that there were 15 to 20 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, Trump said he would order mass round-ups and expulsions as soon as he set foot again in the White House. He said the primary vehicle of repression would be local police, but these would be supplemented by calling out the National Guard wherever necessary.

I can see myself using the National Guard and, if necessary, Id have to go a step further, Trump said. (I)f I thought things were getting out of control, I would have no problem using the military, per se.

Asked about the posse comitatus law, which prohibits the use of the military in law enforcement operations against civilians within the United States, Trump replied:

Well, these arent civilians. These are people that arent legally in our country. This is an invasion of our country. An invasion like probably no country has ever seen before. Theyre coming in by the millions.

The interviewer did not pursue the issue, or point out that the millions of migrants have millions of US citizen family members, and millions of other working people and youth are opposed to mass deportations. Any use of the military to round up and deport immigrants would mean a full-scale war against the population of the United States.

Trump again raised the delusional claim that the influx of migrants is a screen for a covert Chinese military operation against the United States, saying:

[W]e have a major force thats forming in our country, when you see that over the last three weeks, 29,000 people came in from China, and theyre all fighting age, and theyre mostly males.

In response to a later question, the former president said he would certainly use the National Guard against protesters if the police were unable to stop them. He cited his actions against protesters over police violence and racism during the summer of 2020, concluding, I would use the National Guard. I dont think youd ever have to use much more than that.

The use of the military against the American population would be combined with an effort to build up the authority of the US president over the executive branch, giving him the right to fire workers previously protected by civil service status. Trump also declared that he would direct the Department of Justice to carry out prosecutions and fire US attorneys if they did not obey his orders.

This is in keeping with the theory of a unitary executive, propounded by extreme-right ideologists who take their cue from the Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt, which posits the entire executive branch, some three million people counting the military, acting in unison on the orders of the president, as a Fuhrer in all but name.

Asked about his suggestion that he would appoint a special prosecutor to go after Democratic President Joe Biden and his family, Trump replied with a blackmail threat:

Well, it depends what happens with the Supreme Court. Look, a president should have immunity. That includes Biden. If theyve ruled that they dont have immunity, Biden, probably nothing to do with me, he would be prosecuted for 20 different acts

Trump proposes to establish a literal police state regime by immunizing police from prosecution for any action, no matter how brutal or violent, which they carry out in the course of fighting crime. In the interview, he claimed that crime was at record levels, dismissing FBI figures released last week showing a continued drop in murders and other violent crimes, calling them rigged.

Responding to the handful of prosecutions of killer cops, such as Derek Chauvin, who killed George Floyd in May 2020 by placing his knee on Floyds neck and holding it there for nine minutes, Trump complained:

[T]heir authority has been taken away. If something happens with them, even if theyre doing a very good job, they take away their house, they take away their pension police are being prosecuted all the time. And we want to give them immunity from prosecution if theyre doing their job.

On abortion, Trump sought to downplay the impact of the Dobbs decision by the US Supreme Court, which overturned Roe v. Wade, saying that it had only returned the issue to the states, and that states would enact differing laws and regulations. No national ban would get through the closely divided Senate, he said.

But he indicated that he would not oppose any state action against abortion rights, no matter how repressive and intrusive, whether criminalizing doctors who perform abortions or collecting information on female pregnancies in order to identify and prosecute women who obtain abortions in defiance of state laws. I think they might do that, he said. Again, youll have to speak to the individual states.

After focusing mainly on so-called social issues like immigration, crime and abortion, the TIME interview only turned to the economy and foreign policy toward the end. Trump was at pains to declare that renewing his 2017 tax cut for the wealthy would be one of his two main priorities immediately after taking office, since most of its provisions were temporary and expire early next year.

He went on to suggest that his policies on Russia, Iran and China would be just as aggressive as those of Biden, if not more so. He claimed that his well publicized remark that Russia could do whatever the hell they want to NATO countries that did not pay their share of the imperialist alliances budget was nothing more than a point of negotiation, an effort to goad other countries into raising their contributions.

Trump indicated he would support the US-NATO war against Russia in Ukraine, provided Europe starts equalizing Im going to try and help Ukraine, but Europe has to get there also and do their job. Theyre not doing their job. Europe is not paying their fair share. (The European imperialists have actually paid as much for the war as the United States, although with more financial aid and less military aid). I want them to pay their bills, he concluded. Very simple. NATO is fine.

In the Middle East, while criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his alleged failure to participate in the January 2020 assassination of Iranian leader Qasem Suleimanithe real source of the animosity is believed to be Netanyahus recognition of Bidens victory in 2020Trump focused on a likely war with Iran, in which he said the US would participate side-by-side with Israel.

On China, he sought to outbid Biden on tariffs, suggesting as much as 100 percent tariffs on Chinese imports, including those routed through Mexico. And he echoed the bipartisan howling about the necessity for the US military to defend Taiwan against any effort by Beijing to return the island to Chinese sovereignty.

These statements, in a publication certain to be widely read, appeared directed primarily at the military-intelligence apparatus, providing reassurance that there would be no effort by a second Trump administration to pull back from the aggressive posture adopted by US imperialism in what are the early stages of a world war.

In perhaps his most chilling remark, Trump said:

I think the enemy from within, in many cases, is much more dangerous for our country than the outside enemies of China, Russia, and various others.

It speaks volumes about the perspective of TIME magazine that there was apparently no attempt to clarify who those enemies were and what measures Trump intended to carry out against them.
This is the second in a series of articles on films from the San Francisco International Film Festival (April 24-28) that were made available to the WSWS online. The first was posted April 30.

The ongoing Israeli mass murder in Gaza and stepped up brutality and repression on the West Bank provide immediate, living context, if such be needed, for British-Palestinian filmmaker Farah Nabulsis The Teacher, a drama-tragedy set in the Occupied Territories. The urgent, moving film is Nabulsis debut feature. Three years ago, her short film The Present garnered an Academy Award nomination and won a BAFTA.

The Teacher (2023)

In The Teacher, a mural pays homage to Our Martyrs in the school where Basem (the remarkable Saleh Bakri, from a well-known Palestinian acting family) teaches young men who have already spent time in Israeli prisons.

Basem takes a special interest in brothers Yacoub (Mahmoud Bakri, brother of Saleh) and Adam (Muhammad Abed El Rahman), who come home from school one day to find their house is under a demolition order by Israeli authorities. On top of that, they are then presented with a bill for the operation and the threat of imprisonment if they cant pay! Most of the houses in the village have demolition orders, including mine, Basem tells Lisa (Imogen Poots), a British social worker who has come to work at the school. They carry out the demolition orders and then charge the homeowners for the demolition. (A new twist on the bullet fee.*)

Adding to the suffering, Yacoub is shot when he tries to prevent an Israeli settler from burning down an olive grove. At the same time, a young American who left the US to fight for Israel has been taken hostage by a Palestinian resistance group, which is demanding 1,200 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for his release. Basems secretive interaction with the fruit seller (Muayyad Abd Elsamad) indicate that he maintains his ties to the resistance movement.

The teachers life is also wracked with personal tragedy. His 16-year-old son was arrested years ago alongside Yacoub, but was tried as an adult by an Israeli court, given a sentence of eight years and subsequently died in prison.

Filmed mostly in the Nablus (West Bank) area, the movie is tense, enraged and provides a sense of what Palestinian men and women experience on a daily basis under Israels horrific occupation.

I came across a story about an Israeli occupation soldier who was abducted in 2006 by Palestinian fighters and he was released over five years later for over a thousand Palestinian political prisoners, of which hundreds were women and children, Nabulsi explained in an interview with Arts & Culture. I remember thinking at the time, what a huge imbalance in value for human life.

If you ask any parent what your child is worth to you, they cant put it in numbers. I found that universal dynamic very interestingIn the case of Basem, and indeed Adam, with his loss as well, there is no recourse to justice, Nabulsi continues. And it culminates what you see in the court scene, this idea that if the only people that Palestinians have to turn to for justice are one and the same as those complicit in the crime itself, the system is rigged. It is perverted.

Nabulsi told the Hindustan Times that her parents are Palestinians. They never shied away from their children knowing our origins, heritage and identity. I was always kept aware that a gross injustice had been done and there was a military occupation and a settler colonial enterprise that had been taking place in our historical land. But the difference was I wasnt compelled to take further action in my life until I visited Palestine.

The immense moral and political pressures brought to bear on the Palestinian population, as well as the conflicts and fissures they engender, bring to mind similar strains and terrors for people in those portions of Europe and elsewhere under Nazi rule during World War II.

This is a moving and valuable film.

Empty Nets from Iran

Directed by Iranian-German filmmaker Behrooz Karamizade, Empty Nets is set in rural Iran, on the shore of the Caspian Sea. Young lovers Amir (Hamid Reza Abbasi) and Narges (Sadaf Asgari) want to marry, but societal obstacles abound. Amir comes from a poor background, while Nargess family is wealthy and essentially want to sell her to the highest bidder. Amirs mother does everything to support her son, but is aware of the futility of the situation.

Empty Nets (2023)

After losing his job at a restaurant for standing up to his boss, Amirs search for employment is so desperate that he resorts to working at a far-away fishery. A talented swimmer, he joins other men who sign on to the cutthroat, dangerous and highly exploitative enterprise. By day, they catch fish entangled in the seas garbage. At night, the bosss special crew, including Amir, illegally poaches and sells caviar from endangered sturgeon. The business is so lucrative that Amir is prepared to risk arrest to secure the money to marry Narges. If you betray us, Ill cut your tongue out, threatens the amoral, malevolent fishery owner.

Amirs innocence is compromised by the shady underworld, and smashed dreams lead to dire consequences. Empty Nets is an affecting film. Cinematographer Ashkan Ashkani adds to the strong, suggestive atmosphere, contrasting the natural turbulence of the ocean to the violence of an irrational social order.

In an interview included in the production notes for Empty Nets, director Karamizade notes that it was important for me to make a film about young people in Iran because, from my point of view, they are the social group confronting the biggest and deepest problems. And just as important as the problems themselves is the almost insurmountable lack of future perspectives they are faced with. Because whats worse than having no perspective, not being able to dream? Although the current protests have brought the younger generation into the international spotlight, its important to acknowledge their problems are structural and multi-layered.

It was in some sense predictable that this pressure and discontent among young people in Iran would eventually be unleashed. That tragic inevitability of this generations situation was a reason for me to shoot Empty Nets. I wanted to say something about the unfulfilled dreams and wishes of an entire generation.

Karamizade elaborates: I tried to bring out the daily struggles for the main character Amir, the many setbacks he must overcome and how they lead him to drift into the criminal world. Although Amir does everything to win over his great love Narges, at the same time he is distancing himself from her and their common dream. Because of the social structures and how they inspire Amirs own choices, own actions. In the end, Amir becomes a different person. A person Narges can no longer love.

An ever-widening gap between rich and poor and restrictions that can drive women in particular, and lovers like Amir and Narges, to break the law

Thats when the idea of the nets and the fish came to me. I see in the nets and the fish wriggling in them a figurative metaphor for the lives of peopleespecially the younger generation: the daily problems, restrictions and hopelessness all wrap themselves around young people like a fine-meshed net. All they can do is wriggle in it, like trapped fish, gasping for air.

Another worthwhile film.

-

*Certain governments, including the Nazi regime in Germany, have been known to charge the families of prisoners executed by firing squad the cost of the bullets used to end the lives of the condemned. This is known as a bullet fee.

To be continued
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. Cooperation between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the Iranian nuclear program is moving in a positive direction, Iranian Foreign Minister Hussein Amir Abdullahian said, Trend reports.

He made the remark during a telephone conversation with Josep Borrell, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

Iranian FM noted that Iran welcomes the visit of IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi to Iran.

At the same time, according to him, Iran is trying to take positive steps to lift sanctions against the country.

In turn, Josep Borrell noted that the EU does not want to escalate tensions in relations with Iran. At the same time, Borrell welcomed the continuation of diplomatic consultations between Iran and the EU and the adoption of constructive steps.

Notably, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi will take part in the 1st International Conference on Nuclear Science and Technology, which will be held in Isfahan (Iran) on May 6-8.

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.

Based on the decision of the Iranian parliament, as of February 23, Iran 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.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. Iran has imposed sanctions against 12 companies of US, as well as individuals and entities, for supporting Israel on the Palestinian issue, Trend reports, with reference to a statement by the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

According to the statement, sanctions were imposed on five US companies due to weapons and information support for Israel, as well as against seven legal entities and individuals due to events in the Gaza Strip.

"Necessary steps will be taken by all relevant authorities in Iran to implement the sanctions," reads the statement.

To note, on October 7, the situation in the Middle East deteriorated sharply after Hamas militants entered Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing residents of border towns and taking more than 200 people hostage.

In response, the Israeli side announced the start of Operation Iron Swords, which continues to this day.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza Strip reported that 34,454 people died and 77,575 were injured in the Gaza Strip from October 7 last year to April 28 this year.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. Iran never intended to go to war against Israel, said Iran's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN Amir Saeid Iravani in his letter addressed to the UN and the UN Security Council, Trend reports.

According to him, Iran also has no intention of starting a war against Israel in the future.

Iravani stated that Iran believes it has the right to respond to any action against its sovereignty, territorial integrity, security, and national interests under international law.

On April 13, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attacked Israel with cruise and ballistic missiles. Iran called the attack a response to an Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus. This is the first direct military confrontation between the two countries.

On the morning of April 14, Iran announced the end of the operation against Israel.

On April 19, the Iranian side reported that drones were spotted over Isfahan around 03:00 local time. After this, the air defense system activated and destroyed them in the sky.
Hot off the heels of the sci-fi hit Fallout, which you probably finished in a single night or two, you might be looking for a new show to sink your teeth into. Amazon Prime Video has a wide selection beyond the most-talked-about hit shows, including some underrated series that you might not know about or havent considered watching.

Among the three underrated shows on Amazon Prime Video you need to watch in May, one is a British miniseries that will give you Quentin Tarantino and Coen Brothers vibes, another is a neo-Western with a sci-fi twist, and the third is a Canadian comedy-drama based on a ranch that has been going strong now for 17 years. Learn more about each one and you might find that theyre right up your alley.

Boat Story (2023)

Boat Story | OFFICIAL trailer - BBC

Available to stream through Amazon Freevee, Boat Story gives Quentin Tarantino vibes on the small screen thanks to its genre-bending style and violent storyline. In the show, two strangers discover cocaine on a boat. But rather than turn it into the authorities, the pair, both down on their luck with nothing to lose, decide to sell it and split the funds. But a large cocaine shipment never goes missing without someone nefarious hot on its tail, as Janet (Daisy Haggard) and Samuel (Paterson Joseph) quickly realize.

Running from the police, dodging hitmen and gangsters, and desperate to get out of the harrowing situation, the unlikely duo meet gruesome, graphic, savage violence along the way. Boat Story beautifully weaves humor with the dark plot and heavy brutality, with fast-paced action through the short six-episode series.

Stream Boat Story on Amazon Prime Video.

Outer Range (2022-)

OUTER RANGE Trailer (2022)

Starring Josh Brolin, Lewis Pullman, and Imogen Poots, Outer Range hasnt received the recognition it deserves for being a sci-fi-fueled neo-Western that uniquely blends the two genres. Described as Yellowstone meets Stranger Things, Brolin is Royal Abbott, a rancher in Wyoming desperate to keep his precious land in the family. Things take a strange turn, however, when a mysterious black void appears in his pasture alongside an equally puzzling drifter named Autumn (Poots).

Returning for a second season this month, Outer Range has gotten lost amid so many other high-profile shows on Amazon released over the last few years. But the twists and turns of the compelling plot and many subplots keep you invested. While fans who caught on early to Outer Range have had to wait a full two years for the second season, you can dive right in and binge the entire thing.

Stream Outer Range on Amazon Prime Video.

Heartland (2007-)

Heartland Season 17 Official Trailer

If youre into shows with a soapy, country feel, Heartland is one of those long-running hidden gems you have either never heard of or glossed over but never thought to stop and check it out. The Canadian family comedy-drama has been airing since 2007 and follows two sisters residing on a family ranch in Alberta alongside their widowed grandfather, their father, and the hired farmhand.

A show about strong familial bonds, facing challenges, and navigating country life, Heartland is one of those mainstay shows that fans love to watch when theres nothing else on, and new fans will appreciate for the same reason. While it has traditionally aired on CBC in Canada and The CW Plus and Up TV in the U.S., Heartland is now also available to stream on Prime Video. The latest season (its 17th!) premiered in October 2023.

Stream Heartland on Amazon Prime Video.
Benins past, present, and future is on display for the first time at the 60th Venice Biennale

Ancestral African art is a linchpin of identity and a source of inspiration to creatives across the continent. But an estimated 90% % of cultural artifacts still remain outside of Africa, according to a report on the restitution of sub-Saharan African heritage commissioned by French President Emmanuel Macron in 2018.

In 2021, 26 artifacts stolen by French colonizers were returned to the West African country of Benin. That same year, the Smithsonian Museum of African Art in the US announced plans to repatriate its Benin bronzes, while two more statues were returned to Nigeria (formerly part of the Kingdom of Benin) in 2022.

Now, a contemporary take on Beninese art is on display on its own terms. For the first time in the 60-year history of the renowned Venice Biennale in Italy  an arts and culture festival lasting eight months, hosted every other year  Benin is presenting a national pavilion.

Romuald Hazoume's centerpiece for the Benin Pavilion features his signature masks using petrol containers, inside and out. - Jacopo La Forgia

A look at the interior of Hazoume's structure, which is lined with petrol containers. - Jacopo La Forgia

Called Everything Precious is Fragile, the exhibition will explore the theme of African feminism and features four critically acclaimed contemporary artists: Romuald Hazoume, Chloe Quenum, Ishola Akpo, and Moufouli Bello.

Their works will focus on topics including gender, slavery, decolonization, repatriation, and spirituality.

In my work, memory is very important, 61-year-old Romuald Hazoume told CNN in a video interview ahead of the Biennales opening. (Benin) always thought about other peoples cultures without thinking about our own. The day we forget well be lost, and well soon be erased from the minds of future generations.

In this piece titled Carpe Rouge, Hazoume creates a striking contrast between rubbish and beauty through the use of recycled materials. - Florian Kleinefenn

Reclaiming the past

For Nigerian Azu Nwagbogu, the director of the African Artist Foundation in charge of curating the Benin National Pavilion, Hazoumes experience is a significant contribution to the exhibition, both for his ability to interpret the theme and for serving as a mentor for younger talent.

Art is really about transferring knowledge and thats super important for my proposition for the Biennale, Nwagbogu said. I think the way he deploys the materiality of found objects allows you to think about the object that hes trying to make.

Hazoumes iconic work uses discarded fuel canisters. I take photos to remember the containers I'm interested in, he told CNN. - Romuald Hazoume/Courtesy October Gallery

Each of the artists brings a unique perspective and different medium to underscore the link between contemporary art and the traditions ingrained in Benins pre-colonial past.

Hazoumes Yoruba lineage, for example, comes from high priests of the Fa of Nigeria, also known as Babalawo. Leaning into his heritage, he produced critically acclaimed installations using petrol containers and other discarded materials.

Hazoume grew up Catholic but taps into ancestral African traditions like voodoo to create his signature masks inspired by Gelede, a Yoruba feminist ideology that asserts the importance of womens leadership in Beninese culture.

By using recycled materials his art speaks about current socio-political issues with an emphasis on reflecting on the consequences of colonization, migration, and African identity.

Hazoume hopes the exhibition will reiterate his message and inspire other African artists to own their past to fuel creativity.

What I want to (say) bothers me. I dont have a choice. Im disturbed by what I want to do. he said. What I want people to take away from my work is that people have to know that they come from somewhere, that they have strong traditions, they have a strong culture, they have to dive back into it before they know where theyre going.

Forging the present

Using metal, glass, concrete, and other harsh materials, Chloe Quenum builds on her anthropological studies to engage the audience on mixed-race and female visibility. - Tadzio

It is a theme echoed by his three fellow artists. Chloe Quenum, who studied anthropology in France, casts metal, glass, and concrete to emphasize through a historical lens the political issues that deal with mixed-race and female visibility.

Ishola Akpo explores the opportunities of digital technology by mixing modern techniques with black and white photography to meld reality and fiction through thoughtful and provocative imagery.

Ishola Akpo sets up his piece titled Iyalode at the Benin national pavilion in Venice, Italy. - Jacopo La Forgia

And the youngest of the group, Moufouli Bello, uses traditional large-format paintings to highlight female inequality and injustice. The lawyer-turned visual artist made a splash in the global art scene with indigo-tinted portraits, showcasing the iconic Yoruba patterns found on womens clothing and designs of blue dyed fabric.

Ive found that art can be used as a tool to denounce things, to educate, because (it) doesnt involve direct confrontation and allows the artist to express herself without putting her person first, she told CNN.

Curating the future

Benins inclusion in the worlds longest-running biennale comes after an influx of African nations to the exhibition in recent years, with Madagascar and Ghana debuting in 2019 and Uganda, Cameroon, and Namibias first national pavilions featuring in the last edition in 2022.

According to the curatorial team, the overarching aim of this exhibition is to not only elevate feminism but create a universal humanism of African women by challenging stereotypes.

Moufouli Bello draws inspiration from childrens books, Gelede philosophy and Yoruba traditions in this piece titled Egbe Modjisola," on display at the Benin national pavilion in Venice, Italy. - Jacopo La Forgia

Their aim is to make the Biennale an enclave of experiential encounters, focusing on the conception of art in a public space through sound, smell, and sight.

Each artist brings a different ingredient to give the audience something relevant to the contemporary moment we are living in, curator Nwagbogu added.

During Hazoumes long 40-year career, even while he found international success, he struggled to get visibility in his own country. But he says with renewed interest in African culture worldwide he decided to participate in the Benin Pavilion.

For several years, I never took part in a Beninese exhibition for personal reasons, because I dont want to take anyones place, but things have changed, Hazoume said. When I was (selected as) one of the four artists and when I was told the theme, I said Wow! Today, Im able to be proud of my country.

The Venice Biennale opened April 20 and will run through November 24, 2024.

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Adrenaline junkies have imagined this moment for months.

The newest ride at Cedar Point, one of the nation's oldest amusement parks, is set to debut to the public on Saturday. Billed as the worlds "tallest and fastest triple-launch" strata-coaster, the Top Thrill Dragster has been renamed Top Thrill 2, but the new version is likely to be the Midwest destination's No. 1 attraction.

A summer visit to the Sandusky, Ohio, amusement park has been a rite of passage, badge of courage, and favorite summer camp outing for Michiganders for generations.

"Im sure the new ride will be popular," said Greg Calbeck, Pleasant Ridge's easygoing assistant recreation director, who usually plans two, all-day city summer camp trips to Cedar Point. "It will be interesting to see how theyve modified it, and how it will be different from the old one."

The rides debut and parks opening day is coincidentally on May 4  which has become a "Star Wars" pun for science fiction fans, "May the fourth be with you," instead of "May the Force be with you"  and hopeful potential are ready to feel some actual G-forces.

But more than a new thrill, this year's reimagined coaster illustrates what theme parks like Cedar Point are up against, competing to push the limits of "taller, longer, faster," while, at the same time, balancing it against the challenges of keeping ever-increasing lines moving and riders safe.

Unlike most of Cedar Point's new rides, this one is actually a new iteration of the record-breaking Top Thrill Dragster. The park shortened the rides name to Top Thrill 2, which has a double meaning because it's the second generation, but also now has two 420-foot tall towers, instead of just one.

Moreover, some news organizations, including the Wall Street Journal, have termed the intense competition to offer the most death-defying rides a "roller coaster arms race." And others  such as "Inside Edition," which previewed the Top Thrill 2  have questioned whether the rides have become "too darn scary."

On top of that, new safety rules prohibiting loose objects may prove more inconvenient and costly.

A look at Cedar Point's Top Thrill 2 coming in 2024.

Still, hundreds of thousands of people are expected to queue up this summer to launch more than 400 feet in the air at 100-plus-mph, free-fall backward, shoot up again  and plunge, spiral-twisting headfirst back down to earth, feeling the wind in their face and a death-defying rush.

"Top Thrill 2 delivers everything a thrill-seeker could want, including staggering height and speed," Carrie Boldman, vice president and general manager of Cedar Point, said this week. "We cant wait for our guests to take their very first lap."

An accident and lawsuit

The original Top Thrill Dragster worked like a slingshot.

Hydraulic pressure shot you down a half-mile track, tipped you over the top, and sent you racing down the other side. It would take you to 120 mph in 4 seconds and directly up, almost as high as Detroit's Penobscot skyscraper.

Cedar Point didn't initially reveal why it retired the Dragster after 19 years or what would replace it, only that "more details" were coming. It had been a ride that visitors loved, but also, over the years was plagued by mechanical problems.

A look at Cedar Point's Top Thrill 2 coming in 2024.

In 2021, a piece of metal the size of a hand fell off the ride and struck a then-44-year-old Swartz Creek woman in the head. Ohio officials said it was an L-shaped bracket that sat at the back of the train car. While the ride was in descent, the bracket hit the coasters track and came off the coaster train.

The accident led to a widely reported lawsuit, which, some speculate led to the ride's 2022 retirement.

Last year, there was wild guessing by eager fans about what the ride would be and hype from the amusement park, which had shrouded details in secret.

It ultimately was spoiled, however, by an early, accidental  and accurate  release.

How Top Thrill 2 works

Top Thrill 2 also will work like a slingshot, but uses what the park calls an "all-new linear synchronous motor launch system," with riders peeling out down a straightaway reaching 74 mph, racing toward the sky on the original 420-foot-tall tower, long nicknamed the "top hat."

Then, riders experience near weightlessness during the so-called rollback, which is the moment when the cars momentum isnt enough to make it up and over the tower.

In the ride's previous iteration, before it was modified to incorporate an intentional rollback, the cars sometimes wouldnt make it over the top, and they would unintentionally roll back. But it turned out that some riders hoped that would happen.

During the car's second launch it reaches 101 mph.

Than, after going over the top, the car dives into a 270-degree spiral, and crosses the finish line.

In addition to the ride's mechanical problems, other parks introduced rides that were taller and faster.

The Kingda Ka  which opened in 2005 at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey and is similar to Dragster  is 456 feet and 128 mph. It was followed by Formula Rossa in 2010 at Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. It goes even faster than Kingda Ka at 240 mph.

Top Thrill 2, however, is reclaiming a record as the only tall coaster with a dual-tower vertical speedway.

Beach resort to Roller Coast

Cedar Point, owned by Cedar Fair, opened in 1870 on Lake Erie's south shore, a middle-class, bathhouse vacation destination. A peninsula with a relaxing beach, the area was so named for its abundance of cedar trees and it jutted into the lake.

And just before the turn of the century, a roller coaster, the Switchback Railway, was added.

Before long second roller coaster, along with a hotel and other attractions  and gradually, through financial ups and downs  the park installed more and more thrill rides, including several that have set world records.

In more recent times, the amusement park has long dubbed itself "America's Roller Coast," and boasts 18 "world-class" coasters  giving children seeking to face their fears and who have reached the minimum height requirement to ride, a modern rite of passage.

Calbeck, 37, said he grew up in Michigan making annual trips to Cedar Point.

His first visit, he said, was with a church group when he was 11 or 12. It was a lot like, he said, the trips that he organizes for the city's summer camp. It was fun, he recalled, because he had never ridden roller coasters, and his friend, who had, told him which ones were the best.

What made the rides so thrilling?

"The excitement of the unknown," Calbeck said, adding that he has loved the 364-acre amusement park ever since. He enjoys, he said, the "thrill of all the spins and going fast." He's especially eager, he said, to try out Top Thrill 2.

He said: "I remember the old one, which was fast  and quick."

Calbeck's description, a couple of decades later with the instillation of even more terrifying rides, is an understatement because when the Dragster debuted at Cedar Point, it was  without rival  the fastest and tallest in the world, so quick, it could blow the contacts right out of your eyes.

Lockers, new safety rules

Some fans have expressed on social media that they like the novelty of Top Thrill's second tower, but they wish Cedar Point would have pushed the thrill boundaries just a little more by making the ride just a bit taller  and faster.

Instead, the park adopted some new safety rules.

Cedar Point explained: After testing the new version of the ride, it decided to impose a stricter policy.

Part of the reason for this might be that last year, a season-pass holder from metro Detroit said he was hit in the head by a loose iPhone while riding the Maverick roller coaster. The impact caused the rider, he told the Free Press, to start bleeding and led to a concussion diagnosis the next day.

The incident made national headlines.

Last month, the park officials told riders that it knows they are excited to ride but wanted to make sure visitors had "all the information" they needed, including the minimum height requirement  52 inches  and that they must be able to fit into the seats with a safety restraint.

Glasses are OK but must be "tightly secured" with a strap. Riders cant hold them in place.

Loose shoes  like, flip-flops  are a no-no, and so is going barefoot.

Items that could fall out of a pocket are not permitted on the ride, with riders passing through a metal detector at the entrance to check. The park specifically noted this includes: "cellphones, keys, lighters, lipstick/lip gloss."

And waist packs, zippered pockets or pockets that fasten to store the items, just aren't enough to secure items, the park said. Safety, the park said, is its "first priority," and the integration of lockers into the queue  like for the Steel Vengeance ride  was not possible.

So loose items "must be left with a non-rider or in a locker," and "there are no loose article bins on the station platform." This means if you go with a group, you might want to take turns riding and holding on to each others things or bring a few extra dollars to spend on renting a locker "near the entrance."

It's not clear whether the new rules will make the ride wait even longer.

Ideally, Calbeck said, a roller coaster rider wants "a long fun ride," and a short line to get on it. But that's probably as wishful as asking young summer camp kids to get back to the bus on time. Inevitably, the rec department assistant director said, a few of them will try "to squeeze in one last ride at the back of the park."

Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Cedar Point's Top Thrill 2, a new record-setter, to open Saturday
Chris Hemsworth and Wife Elsa Pataky Step Out Together at Furiosa World Premiere in Australia

Chris Hemsworth and Elsa Pataky married in 2010 and share three children, 11-year-old India Rose and 10-year-old twins Sasha and Tristan

James Gourley/Shutterstock Elsa Pataky and Chris Hemsworth on May 2, 2024

Chris Hemsworth and wife Elsa Pataky were all-smiles at the premiere of his latest movie.

Hemsworth, 40, and Pataky, 47, appeared together on the red carpet for the world premiere of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga on Thursday, May 2 in Sydney, Australia. The Marvel star, who takes a turn as a villain in the latest Mad Max movie, wore a grey suit with a matching black shirt and shoes as he wrapped his arm around Pataky, who sported a lengthy black sheer dress to the film's premiere.

The couple's twin sons, 10-year-old twin boys Sasha and Tristan, also joined their parents on the red carpet in Sydney.

Hemsworth and Pataky, a Spanish actress and model best known for her role in the Fast & Furious movies, first met in 2010 when they were introduced by his talent agent. The pair married in December 2010 just months after they went public with their relationship and have been going strong ever since.



Related: Chris Hemsworth and Elsa Pataky's Relationship Timeline

James Gourley/Shutterstock Elsa Pataky and Chris Hemsworth on May 2, 2024

In addition to sons Sasha and Tristan, Hemsworth and Pataky also share an older daughter, India Rose, 11.

Though the couple met in Hollywood, Hemsworth and Pataky moved their family from Los Angeles to Hemsworth's home country Australia in 2015 and eventually settled down in Byron Bay. Vanity Fair reported in Hemsworth's recent cover story that Hemsworth's parents Craig and Leonie live close by.



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.

Hemsworth most recently shared a video of him and Pataky together to his Instagram on March 11. The video appeared to show them as they drove to March's Academy Awards ceremony, where Hemsworth and his Furiosa costar Anya Taylor-Joy presented the award for Best Animated Feature.



"And the winner is... Elsa Pataky! Congrats, babe, congrats," he joked in the video, as he rehearsed for his presentation while she filmed.

"She couldn't be here tonight - she couldn't be here tonight, so I'm going to take this opportunity to say she thanks me, mostly, for her performance and basically everything in her entire life," he added. "You're welcome, honey! Love you."



Related: Everything to Know About Chris Hemsworth and Elsa Pataky's Kids

James Gourley/Shutterstock Elsa Pataky and Chris Hemswroth on May 2, 2024

"Love you," Patasky responded while laughing.



In the new Mad Max movie, Hemsworth plays a villain named Dementus opposite Taylor-Joy, 28, who stars as younger versions of Charlize Theron's Fury Road character Furiosa. The new movie takes place over "about 16 to 18 years" of Furiosa's life leading up to Fury Road, as filmmaker George Miller said while presenting footage of the movie alongside Hemsworth and Taylor-Joy at CinemaCon in April.



Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is in theaters Friday, May 24.



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Read the original article on People.
TBILISI, Georgia, May 2. 64 percent, or 276 kilometers, of the East-West International Highway in Georgia has already been opened to automobile traffic, Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia, Irakli Karseladze said, Trend reports.

He made the remark during the panel discussions on Enhancing Connectivity: European Connectivity (Renewable Energy and Digital Connectivity) and the Middle Corridor (Changing Euro-Asian Connectivity).

During his speech, Irakli Karseladze discussed significant road infrastructure projects in Georgia that are enhancing the country's potential in the Middle Corridor.

The Minister stated that work is currently underway on 66.1 km of the East-West International Highway, which will significantly increase the corridor's capacity.

Karseladze also discussed the construction of the new Rikoti road, a component of the East-West highway, of which road transport already uses 70%. They have opened the 36-kilometer main road and built 89 bridges.

The minister highlighted that the Asian Development Bank celebrated the successful completion of two important projects last week. The Asian Development Bank achieved a unique result by opening a 9-kilometer bypass road in Zestafoni and drilling a 9-kilometer long and 15-meter diameter tunnel connecting Kusheti village with Kobi village using a TBM (tunnel boring machine).

Meanwhile, "Bridge to the Future" is the theme of the 57th Annual Meeting, which will take place from May 2 to 5.

The Board of Governors will hold its first meeting on May 4. The opening ceremony will mark the official start of the annual meeting. Distinguished guests from the host country will attend this event. ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa and Lasha Khutsishvili, Georgia's Minister of Finance and Chairman of the ADB Board of Governors, will make statements.

To note, the annual meeting provides an opportunity for ADB governors to address development issues and challenges facing the Asia-Pacific region. Several thousand participants regularly join the meeting, including finance ministers, central bank governors, senior government officials, private sector representatives, representatives of international and civil society organizations, youth, academics, and the media.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Directed by Paul Greengrass, Green Zone is a 2010 British action thriller film set during the 2003 Iraq War. It follows U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller as he searches for weapons of mass destruction. He and his team uncover a conspiracy and false intelligence, raising questions about the true purpose of their mission.

Heres how you can watch and stream Green Zone via streaming services such as Starz.

Is Green Zone available to watch via streaming?

Yes, Green Zone is available to watch via streaming on Starz.

The movie is set during the Iraq War in 2003, where Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller is tasked with finding weapons of mass destruction. As he and his team traverse hazardous sites in Iraq, they uncover not deadly weapons but a complex political conspiracy. The film explores the ramifications of deceptive intelligence used to justify the war. This intense narrative culminates in a revelation that challenges the foundations of their mission.

The main cast of the film features Matt Damon as Roy Miller, Greg Kinnear as Clark Poundstone, Brendan Gleeson as Martin Brown, and Amy Ryan as Lawrie Dayne. The supporting cast members include Yigal Naor, Jerry Della Salla, Jason Isaacs, and Khalid Abdalla, among others.

Watch Green Zone streaming via Starz

Green Zone is available to watch on Starz. It is a premium cable and streaming service that offers an extensive library of movies, original series, and documentaries. Starz provides content both on-demand and as part of a live streaming service.

You can watch via Starz by following these steps:

Go to Starz.coms sign-up page. Select either the six-month plan or the monthly plan The standard rate for the six-month plan is $46, excluding any special offers

The standard for the monthly plan is $9.99 per month, excluding any special offers

Starz is also available as a Prime Video Channel, meaning that subscribers to the Amazon Prime Video service can also receive discounted access to Starz. The discounts offered vary throughout the year. You can sign up here.

The Green Zone synopsis is as follows:

During the U.S.-led occupation of Baghdad in 2003, Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller and his team of Army inspectors are dispatched to find weapons of mass destruction believed to be stockpiled in the Iraqi desert. Rocketing from one booby-trapped and treacherous site to the next, the men search for deadly chemical agents but stumble instead upon an elaborate cover-up that threatens to invert the purpose of their mission.

NOTE: The streaming services listed above are subject to change. The information provided was correct at the time of writing.

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Gypsy-Rose Blanchard Isn't Rushing into Marriage with 'Wonderful Boyfriend': 'I've Got to Get Divorced First' (Exclusive)

Gypsy-Rose Blanchard was spotted with her ex-fiance Ken Urker shortly after she announced her separation from husband Ryan Scott Anderson on March 28

JC Olivera/WireImage Gypsy-Rose Blanchard

Gypsy-Rose Blanchard is feeling confident and comfortable in her own skin a month after separating from her husband.

On May 1, PEOPLE caught up with Blanchard, 32, at Lifetime's Television Academy For Your Consideration event in Los Angeles.

"I'm just enjoying my time traveling," Blanchard, who resides in Louisiana, tells PEOPLE. "I don't get to travel very often because I am on parole, so I have to get permission from my [parole officer] to travel, so I'm just enjoying tonight."

With newly minted blonde hair and dressed in a red blazer, Blanchard said she has been having a great time experiencing new firsts in her life, such as going to the beach, shopping at Sephora and attending a New Orleans jazz festival in late April with her dad, stepmom and her "wonderful boyfriend" Ken Urker, who Blanchard was once engaged to.



BACKGRID Gypsy-Rose Blanchard

Blanchard was spotted with Urker shortly after she announced her separation from her husband Ryan Scott Anderson, a Louisiana special education teacher, on March 28. After Blanchard's December 2023 prison release, Blanchard and Anderson were living together for roughly three months before they separated.

Mega / SplashNews; Jamie McCarthy/Getty Ken Urker and Gypsy-Rose Blanchard are seen holding hands, left, and Ryan Anderson

In regards to the physical changes Blanchard has recently underwent  including rhinoplasty  she told PEOPLE they're all a part of her ongoing evolution.



"I had been wanting to go through a physical transformation to separate myself from the old Gypsy," Blanchard said, "I felt like, you know, going into prison, growing my hair out, that was me evolving into my own back then, but then coming out of prison was another evolving moment for me. So I think that right now I'm very comfortable in the way I look, and I'm proud and I have confidence now."

Steve Granitz/FilmMagic Gypsy-Rose Blanchard

Blanchard  who was a victim of Munchausen by proxy  pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 2016 for conspiring to murder Dee Dee with her then-boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn.



Related: Gypsy-Rose Blanchard Is Back Together with Her Ex-Fiance Ken Urker: Report

When asked about marrying Urker, she confirmed the pair are not rushing into marriage. "I've got to get divorced first," Blanchard said with a laugh.

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Amy Schumer Doubled Down On Her Israel Comments, And It's Not Great

Warning: Discussion of violence and rape.

Amy Schumer's latest interview with Variety where she defends her controversial comments about Israel and Palestine is attracting further backlash.

Raymond Hall / GC Images

Since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, at least 30,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli counterattacks  including 13,000 children.

It is unclear how many Israeli hostages from the over 200 taken by Hamas remain. According to Human Rights Watch, Israel holds around 7,000 Palestinians in detention, the majority of which have never been convicted of a crime.

As Amy has been incredibly outspoken about the topic, let's take a moment to break down her quotes piece-by-piece to get a better understanding of the situation.

1.Amy: "The focus is so razor-sharp on Jewish people but not on Hamas..."

The idea that the mainstream discourse has somehow ignored Hamas feels out of touch with the way the ongoing conflict has been reported. Let's take the New York Times as an example. According to a NYT staff memo obtained by the Intercept, the paper advises writers not to use the term Palestine." It uses the phrase "Israel-Hamas war" for its news page for updates. The word "Hamas" was used in at least 10 different headlines within the NYT's news coverage over April 2024. In late 2023, the op-eds "There Should Be More Public Pressure on Hamas" and "I Might Have Once Favored a Cease-Fire With Hamas, but Not Now" ran. In March 2024, an op-ed blamed the 30,000 death toll in Palestine on Hamas. I can continue on with other examples from other newspapers, but you get the gist. Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images

2.Amy: "...So Id recommend people read a book..."

There is a persistent idea that those criticizing Israel are simply coming from a position of being uninformed (such as the person who once emailed me the Wikipedia link to Hamas). Still, the people advocating for Palestine include academics and professors at the highest-ranking universities in the world, who, one can assume, have read a book or two. Interestingly, Martin Luther King's daughter encouraged Amy to read Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? after accusing her of misusing her father's words on Israel. Nbc / Nathan Congleton / NBC via Getty Images

3.Amy: "...Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth by Noa Tishby. Or anything  Jewish people wrote everything down."

Of course, people can read any book that they want to gain an understanding of a topic or worldview. I would, however, caution against Noa Tishby as a neutral writer on the topic. Noa accused artists such as Billie Eilish and Mark Ruffalo, who wore Artists4Ceasefire pins to the 2024 Oscars, of furthering Hamas hateful agenda into the world, "subconscious antisemitism" at best and "deliberate attacks against Jews" at worst. Amy herself "liked" this post and has shared other posts of Noa's  such as one where she insinuates that student protests in favor of Palestine are connected to terrorist organizations and should be banned by the FBI. It's safe to assume that Amy's point here is less about education and more about hearing more on Israel and Palestine from those she agrees with. Not all Jewish people are Zionists, so one could have easily recommended work by, say, Sara Roy. Dia Dipasupil / Getty Images

4.Amy: "I dont agree with anything that Netanyahu is doing, and neither do the Israelis I know."

Amy seldom mentions Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on her Instagram account, but she did share a Regina Spektor post that says, "Netanyahu does NOT speak for all Israelis, or all Jews living across the world," before saying in the following sentence that Israel is "the ONLY land where LGBTQ people are able to live safely. The ONLY land which doesn't mandate women's dress or behavior" in the Arabic world. Here, the vague criticism of Netanyahu is quickly swept over in favor of a homonationalist and femonationalist worldview in which a "progressive" Israel is allowed to do what they want in the face of what they consider a "backward" Arabic world. Never mind that queer people are far from truly safe in Israel, or that even a stellar womens' and LGBTQ record could not be used as a shield for accusations of genocide... But I digress. One way that Amy is remarkably similar to Netanyahu is in her rejection of a ceasefire. Just yesterday, Netanyahu said that Israel would invade Rafah "with or without" a peace deal. Jacquelyn Martin / POOL/AFP via Getty Images

5.Amy: "Of course whats going on in Gaza is sickening, horrifying and unthinkable."

One might find it challenging to find this opinion obvious from Amy's post history. For one, in October, Amy posted, then deleted, a comic mocking supporters of Palestine that held signs such as, Gazans rape Jewish girls only in self-defense" and "Proud of our rapist martyrs." Naturally, the insinuation that Gazans are rapists was not received well. She later posted on Instagram, "Hamas terrorists are who Im talking about. No Gazans. Sorry I posted something that was hurtful to them." Again, Amy is against a ceasefire, so it remains unclear how she intends to remedy the "sickening, horrifying and unthinkable" situation beyond the continuing bombardment of Gaza. Yahya HASSOUNA / Getty Images

6.Amy: People get really mad at women. They save a special kind of vitriol for us. Its not new. I think its because they fear women. Thats my guess.

Amy has absolutely been the target of misogyny, and I have no doubt that there are some individuals who are using Palestine as a cover for their own sexism. However, it is disingenuous to imply that all criticism of Amy's statements on Israel and Palestine is because she is a woman. Steve Granitz / FilmMagic

You can read Amys full interview with Variety here.
Slightly Stoopid and Cloud 9 Adventures announce details for the 10th edition of Closer to the Sun, their fan-favorite winter concert vacation.

The annual event returns to Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya, an all-inclusive resort on the coast of Mexico, for four days and nights from Dec 11-15, 2024. Closer to the Sun is known for its close-knit community of loyal returning guests, its welcoming of first-time attendees, its participating artists and its tendency to quickly sold out.

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The schedule features multiple shows by Slightly Stoopid with a stacked lineup including additional performances by Stick Figure, Sublime, Cypress Hill, Iration, Fortunate Youth, The Elovaters, Z-Trip, G. Love & Donavon Frankenreiter, Eli-Mac, Tropidelic and Boostive to round out the trip.

Closer to the Sun takes place at Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya located between Playa del Carmen and Tulum where the event has a full takeover and hosts shows and event activities, just steps away from guest rooms. Recent upgrades include a new pool and multiple new restaurants with new offerings for returning guests. This year, Closer to Sun has been extended to an exclusive section of rooms at Barcelo Maya Beach, a second all-inclusive resort just a 10 minute ride away.

All-inclusive packages for returning Closer to the Sun guests can be reserved during the pre-sale on May 6. If rooms remain, the public onsale will begin on May 7, 2024 at 1 p.m. ET on the Closer to the Sun website. Pricing starts at $1999 per person for four night room packages with various upgraded options available including suites overlooking the main stage.

Closer to the Sun

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WCPO anchors Jasmine Styles and Evan Millward will leave the station at the end of this month.

Two Cincinnati TV anchors are moving on.

Channel 9 (WCPO-TV) anchors Evan Millward and Jasmine Styles are departing from the station at the end of May, they both announced via social media Thursday.

"After 10 years, its time for me to step away from (WCPO) at the end of May," Millward wrote in an Instagram post. "Sometimes you have to seize an opportunity when its presented. Simply, the (changes) there came at the right time for me to make a change of my own. My choice to walk away."

Millward, an Ohio University alum, joined WCPO in 2014.

"Whats next? Some rest, unplugging, and reflection," he added. "Heres to kickstarting (summer)! Much love to each of you!"

Styles, a Florida State University grad who joined the station in January 2022, told The Enquirer that May 24 is her last day on the air.

"After more than a decade of living out my dreams  its time for a break. When an opportunity came to walk away, I couldnt say no," she posed to Instagram. "Im hype to spend more time with my fiance and plan our wedding! Im grateful for my time in Cincy and Ill still be around! Whats next? Who knows? Because at the end of the day, the day gotta end."

Funemployment (n)

The condition of a person who takes advantage of being out of a job to have the time of their life.



When an opportunity comes to walk away, I cant say no. Yall know Im good for a sabbatical. Im hype to spend more time with my fiance and plan our wedding! pic.twitter.com/KErNRg44Qf  Jasmine Styles (@_newsbae) May 2, 2024

Millward and Styles mark the second and third WCPO anchors to announce their departures this week. Kristen Swilley, who has anchored and reported at the station for nine years, announced on social media Sunday that she will leave in two weeks.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati anchors Evan Millward, Jasmine Styles leaving WCPO
The book and the series are based off of Hunters familys experiences during World War II

Vlad Cioplea/Hulu A scene from 'We Were the Lucky Ones'

Note: This post contains major spoilers for the novel and show We Were the Lucky Ones.

The Hulu limited series We Were the Lucky Ones sees its series finale Thursday, May 2.



Both the show and its source material  the 2017 novel of the same name by Georgia Hunter  follow the Kurc family, who are Polish and Jewish, throughout World War II. Once the war began, the family was scattered across the globe, in places like a ship on the Mediterranean to a Siberian labor camp, and went years without knowing where some members were.



The story is based upon the the authors familys experiences and stories of survival. Hunter wrote and researched the sprawling novel for nearly a decade, spending time in her familys Radom hometown and in museums, as well as interviewing her relatives and their descendants.



I went into this particular project as a family historian, not really as an author, Hunter told PEOPLE of the novel. I had never written a book before, so I set out in 2008 to unearth and record the family story.

Related: We Were the Lucky Ones Author Georgia Hunter Felt Like My Ancestors Were There With Me on Set of New TV Series (Exclusive)

The Hulu series stars Logan Lerman as Addy Kurc and Joey King as Halina Kurc. The cast also features Henry Lloyd-Hughes as Genek Kurc, Hadas Yaron as Mila Kurc, Amit Rahav as Jakob Kurc, Robin Weigert as Nechuma Kurc, Lior Ashkenazi as Sol Kurc, Sam Woolf as Adam, Michael Aloni as Selim, Eva Feiler as Bella and Moran Rosenblatt as Herta.



Though the series stays close to its source material  Hunter also served as an executive producer on the show  there are some slight changes. Here are some of the biggest differences between Hunters novel and the Hulu series.

The series and the novel begin differently

Vlad Cioplea/Hulu Logan Lerman as Addy in 'We Were the Lucky Ones'

In the novel, readers are first introduced to Addy, who, in 1939, is living in Paris and is unable to go back home to Poland for Passover. He has just received a letter from his mother, who warns him that its too dangerous to travel across German borders at the start of the war.



The series starts out differently, and utilizes a nonlinear timeline. The show opens with the Kurc's youngest child, Halina, at a Red Cross office in Poland in 1945. Halina receives word that her brother, Genek, sister-in-law Herta and brother-in-law, Selim, are alive. The show then cuts to 1938, when Addy returns to Poland from Paris, and the family celebrates their last Passover together before the war.



Bella doesn't travel to Lvov alone

Vlad Cioplea/Hulu Eva Feiler as Bella and Amit Rahav as Jakob in 'We Were the Lucky Ones'

The Kurc family begin to get seperated from one another at the start of the war. Jakob, the Kurcs youngest son, leaves for Lvov to fight in the military, and his girlfriend, Bella, decides to travel to meet him and to be closer to her sister, Anna.

Related: Everything to Know About Joey King, Logan Lerman and the Rest of the 'We Were the Lucky Ones' Cast

In the novel, Bella attempts the journey to Lvov alone, traveling by horse and wagon by a man named Tomek. In the show, however, Halina accompanies her. The two are turned back at gunpoint after German officers discover that they are Jewish. Halina and Bella eventually make it to Lvov on their own, where Bella and Jakob get married in a secret ceremony.



A new scene involving Genek is added to the show

Vlad Cioplea/Hulu Henry Lloyd-Hughes as Genek in 'We Were the Lucky Ones'

A new scene is added to the TV series, taking place when the eldest Kurc child, Genek, and his wife, Herta, are working in a Siberian labor camp after Genek is arrested by soldiers and deemed an enemy of the state. Genek didnt disclose that he was Jewish and Polish before renting an apartment.



At the camp, Genek attempts to get a doctor and time off for Herta, who is pregnant, but his requests are denied. When his food rations are cut after he didn't show up for work (a prison guard who originally gave him permission later denied doing so), Genek loses his temper and tells off the Commandant about the unfair treatment of prisoners in the camp.



No such scene happens in the novel, though Herta and Geneks son, Jozef, is still born in the labor camp.

Mila leaves her job as a nanny under slightly different circumstances

Vlad Cioplea/Hulu Hadas Yaron as Mila in 'We Were the Lucky Ones'

During the war, Mila takes a job as a nanny for a German family, but ultimately has to leave. In the novel, she resigns from her job after her boss confronts her about visiting a seamstress, who is helping Mila to hide her daughter, Felicia, in a Wocawek convent under a false name.



In the series, Mila is confronted by her boss after she takes her bosss son, Edgar, to the park. Edgar is playing a game with other children, where they are pretending to be soldiers and Jews, and complains to Mila about having to be a Jew. Mila and her boss get into an argument afterward with her boss saying that Edgar was accused of being a Jew.

Both versions of the story see Milas boss hitting her over the head with a vase, and Mila vowing to never return to work there.

Related: Joey King Calls Holocaust Tale We Were the Lucky Ones 'Deeply Personal': Some Nights 'It Was Really Hard' (Exclusive)

Adam goes with Mila to find Felicia after a bombing in Warsaw

Vlad Cioplea/Hulu Belle Swarc as Felicia in 'We Were the Lucky Ones'

One of the most harrowing moments in the show and novel is when Mila goes to rescue Felicia in the aftermath of bombing in Warsaw. In the novel, Mila arrives at the convent and searches for her daughter with Tymoteusz, the father of another child.



In the show, Halinas partner, Adam, goes with Mila to rescue Felicia. Eventually, Mila and Adam, along with Halina, parents Sol and Nechuma, and Felicia embark on a journey through the Alps to reunite with Selim, Genek and Herta once the family learns that they are alive.

Addy learns of his familys survival while with different people

Vlad Cioplea/Hulu Logan Lerman as Addy in 'We Were the Lucky Ones'

A touching scene in both versions of the story sees Addy receiving news that his family is alive, while hes living in Brazil. In the book, Addy learns of his familys survival while with his friend Sebastian, a writer from Poland, who also traveled with Addy on the ship Cabo de Hornos.

Related: Author Georgia Hunter Started Bawling' When Watching Logan Lerman Film We Were the Lucky Ones (Exclusive)

In the show, Addy receives the good news while he is with Eliska, his ex-fiancee. In the series, Addy and Eliska stayed in touch, even after they called off their engagement, and Addy began a relationship with an American woman named Caroline.

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Doctors Are Sharing The 1 Bathroom Habit They Would Avoid At All Costs

Weve all been told to wipe from front to back and use a squatty potty at some point in our lives. Weve heard this advice for a good reason  because it works.

On the other hand, when it comes to what not to do in the bathroom, some colorectal and gastrointestinal doctors have one product they dont always recommend: wet wipes.

This is not to say that every doctor is totally against using them. However, there are some potential drawbacks (aside from future plumbing issues) youll want to consider before reaching for one on your next trip to the bathroom.Heres what to know.

Wet wipes can cause some irritation and other issues post-potty.

Japatino / Getty Images

Although wet wipes are marketed to provide a better clean down there, especially after going No. 2, youre generally not supposed to wipe with wet wipes as they can actually be more harmful than helpful.

The use of wet wipes is a common cause of perianal dermatitis (a rash around your butthole), said Dr. Alex Elias, a board-certified female colorectal surgeon in Bakersfield, California. The irritation caused by wet wipes can be secondary to certain ingredients and preservatives, the disruption of good bacteria, and even the residual moisture left behind.

Additionally, Dr. Maysaa El Zoghbi, a gastroenterologist at NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn, said the materials used in some wet wipes may be abrasive or rough, exacerbating irritation, especially in individuals with sensitive skin or conditions such as hemorrhoids or anal fissures.

Wet wipes generally contain alcohol or fragrances which can irritate the perianal area, said Dr. Ari Lamet, board-certified gastroenterologist. Plus, excess moisture that isnt dry before leaving the restroom from the use of wet wipes can promote the growth of bacteria or fungi which can also lead to irritation, he added.

According to Dr. Carlton Thomas, a gastroenterologist in San Francisco, some ingredients youll want to keep an eye out for include parabens, phthalates, phenoxyethanol and cocamidopropyl betaine. (Youll want to pay attention to the ingredients in baby wipes, too, and make sure those are gentle for skin as well.)

In the case that you want to use a wet wipe, youre best off looking for an alcohol and fragrance-free wipe. Although this wont completely eliminate the potential for irritation, it can help take away some risk factors.

Outside from causing irritation, wet wipes also arent good for pipes which is why doctors recommend steering clear when possible. They are terrible for the environment because they can clog sewer systems and take forever to break down, Thomas said.

What is the best wiping method?

Basak Gurbuz Derman via Getty Images

Theres no one-size-fits-all answer when it comes to the best wiping methods, but doctors recommend toilet paper and a bidet for starters.

Bidets have been used in a number of European countries for years and the United States is slowly hopping on the bandwagon. From a medical perspective, incorporating a bidet into ones hygiene routine can help maintain optimal perineal health, and reduce the risk of various dermatological and infectious complications associated with inadequate cleansing practices, El Zoghbi said.

If youre in the market for a bidet, brands like Tushy and RinseWorks make ones that are easy to install for at home use. Otherwise, you can use a squeeze bottle to mimic the effect at a more budget-friendly price point.

Another option Lamet suggests is unscented toilet paper. Gently wipe from the front to the back until the paper is clean, he said. Never scrub the perianal area.

During the process, youll want to take a quick peek at the toilet paper and in the bowl to see the color and consistency of your bowels as that can tell you a lot about your health.

Youll want to talk with your physician if you notice any bleeding or irritation while wiping as they can be signs of an underlying problem. Theyll also be able to better discuss what method is best-suited for your needs to make sure youre staying healthy down there.This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
What Is Mochi? Everything to know about the traditional Japanese dessert

In a small shop nestled in Los Angeles Little Tokyo neighborhood, a small but popular Japanese confectionary shop called Fugetsu-Do is turning 120 years old.

Though this is a remarkable achievement  many L.A. restaurants fail very quickly to the point its often a punchline to locals  you wouldnt know it walking into the small shop.

A small, red sign denotes the year it opened: Since 1903. Though the family was interned during World War II at Hart Mountain, Wyoming, and the business was closed, they still count those years toward the 120th anniversary. After all, when word spread around the camp that Seiichi Kito, the shops founder, was a pastry chef, fellow detainees saved their sugar rations to give him.

One woman of Japanese descent operates the worn counter as customers stop by, taking their orders in English and Japanese and passing them small bags of various treats through a plexiglass wall put up during the pandemic.

In the back, over the din of machinery and the slapping sounds of bare hands on colorful rice flour, staff speak to each other in a combination of Spanish, English and Japanese.

The crew is a testament to the diversity of Southern California and changing times  one that both owner Brian Kito and the larger (but still very small) consortium of Japanese American confectionaries hope to keep up with.

What is mochi and why is it important to Japanese culture? (Samantha Kubota / TODAY)

What is mochi?

Mochi has traditionally been made by pounding steamed rice in a large wooden mortar. The old-school style of using your hands and a wooden mallet called a kine to beat the glutinous rice is called "mochi-tsuki."

Nowadays, many confectioners use mochi rice flour and heavy machinery that does most of the pounding for them.

What is the difference between mochi and manju?

When people think of mochi, they often are referring to the traditional balls of pounded rice flour carefully ensconcing some type of condiment  from the traditional red bean paste to other, more modern flavors, like Nutella or peanut butter.

Manju is a similar confection but is baked with cake flour instead.

At any given time, Kito says he has around 20 to 25 varieties of treats on hand in the shop. He categorizes them into traditional, artisan and snack categories.

What is mochi and why is it important to Japanese culture? (Samantha Kubota / TODAY)

The artisan ones are often unique  featuring things like steamed egg yolk-flavored coating (pictured) or a very sticky, less pounded rice exterior that has to be served with a leaf.

New kinds of Japanese confectionary treats

Many of the Japanese confectionary shops still open in the United States  Kito estimates there to be fewer than 10  have also had to modernize, making less traditional treats that appeal to younger generations. That forms the "snack" category for Kito.

He says he first started making suama mochi for decades ago to target Generation X kids who didn't have a taste for the more traditional desserts. Suama mochi doesn't have the condiments in the center, and instead are just sweet rectangles with colorful tops.

Then, in more recent years, Kito says he started making "rainbow dango." It's a similar-style treat to the suama mochi but instead of larger rectangles, they're instead rolled into little, snack-sized balls.

Rainbow dango are small, bite-sized colorful balls of sweet mochi rice flour. (Samantha Kubota / TODAY)

He says it quickly became his most popular treat. He also started to make the pounded rice treats with more unique, sweeter centers like peanut butter and chocolate ganache.

At Fujiya Hawaii in Honolulu, their two most popular mochis are more modern  one features a fresh strawberry inside while the other has crunchy peanut butter.

Fujiya, which has been open since 1953, has taken inspiration from the local cuisine.

The confectionery sells chichi dango, similar to Kitos rainbow dongo, but with different, even less traditional flavors infused into the pounded rice flour.

What is mochi and why is it important to Japanese culture? (Samantha Kubota / TODAY)

Hawaii has long been a melting pot of sorts, Fujiyas owner Devin Wong tells TODAY.com in an interview.

Wong, who came aboard the longtime business two years ago during the pandemic, says he grew up in Hawaii eating mochi, like everyone else.

Their treats, especially the chichi dango, are largely inspired by the flavors of the Hawaiian islands  like coconut, strawberry or mango.

New audiences

In recent years, Kito says more non-Japanese Americans have taken an interest in his bakery. After a BuzzFeed YouTube video about his shop went viral in late 2019, Kito says the majority of in-person customers dont identify as Japanese American.

Though he still stocks his wares at the Southern California locations of Japanese American grocery store chain Mitsuwa  which helps keep business booming  he says he was almost unable to keep up with all the foot traffic, especially during the pandemic.

We are so surprised on the big range of our customer base now, Kito tells TODAY.com (At first) because of the exposure, but the fact that these people come and they come again and again, theyre repeat customers. And yet, maybe three years ago, these people didnt even know what mochi was, possibly.

Continuing the tradition

Wong says that when he saw that Fujiya was looking for a new owner, he wanted to be a part of keeping the tradition alive  despite not being an expert in the craft of Japanese confectionery.

A lot of (mochi shops) just got passed on to the son or whatever and a lot of them say it was more of an obligation than a choice, he explains, adding that the younger generations of longtime owners have been following their passions more instead of taking over their family shops.

But all the people that work (at Fujiya) want to be here.

One of his employees, Dani Emoto, used to volunteer at the shop when it was struggling years ago. She says she and several other women retired from their normal office jobs and went to work at Fujiya to help keep it afloat.

When it became clear theyd need her expertise to keep going, the 72-year-old Emoto said her volunteer gig turned into a paid job and she earned the nickname Mochi Mama.

When other new people came on and younger helpers came on, everybody was like, OK, Class Dani, she says with a laugh. And so it was like, I guess Im the I was one of the oldest people here, too. So I just became the mother.

What is mochi and why is it important to Japanese culture? (Samantha Kubota / TODAY)

Since Wong took over, Fujiya has relocated to a larger location and hired several young people to staff the shop and learn the business.

The struggle of keeping a labor-intensive shop open with a highly specialized product is one playing out across the country.

In San Francisco, the famed store Benkyodo closed after 115 years in 2022.

My kids ... all three of them have good jobs, former Benkyodo co-owner Rick Okamura tells TODAY.com. They dont need to do the same thing I was doing all these years.

Both Okamura and Kito say they have worked nearly 12-hour days for six days a week for the past several decades  a difficult life they understand their kids might not choose for themselves.

Its sad, it was sad, Okamura said. And all I could think about was my my grandfather and my father who put all that work into it and and we have to end it.

But after years of hard work, Okamura said he was just so tired and had to close up shop. However, hes not entirely sure what to do with himself during retirement.

Im so bored! he laughs.

As for Kito, who will see his shop turn 120 years old this year, he is unsure what will happen to Fugetsu-Do when (and if) he retires. But even he cant believe hes managed to keep it afloat this long.

He tells stories about how his business floundered in the 1990s when the neighborhood was almost considered blighted and during the 1992 Los Angeles riots. He says when the shop turned 90 in 1993, he debated closing and probably shouldve.

But through it all, he persevered. Kito cites his parents  who had to close the shop when they were detained during World War II, then later buy everything back to reopen when they were allowed to return  as his inspiration.

Kito notes a popular saying in Japanese, Shikata ga nai, which loosely translates to It cannot be helped.

I look back at everything my parents had to go through and I just keep pushing through, he says. Shikata ga nai.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
A new boulevard now connects San Diego's bay with Balboa Park with art and design installations along the route. Cool San Diego Sights/dpa

The idea for the "Bay to Park Paseo" walk was first conceived in 1908 by a renowned urban planner, John Nolen.

More than a century later, San Diego has at last realised its vision for a boulevard connecting the surrounding bay with the well-known Balboa Park.

It's a fitting time for a project like this to finish, because this year San Diego holds the title of "World Design Capital", shared in 2024 with the Mexican city of Tijuana, located close to San Diego, directly south on the border with California.

Fittingly, on the new Bay to Park Paseo boulevard walkers can now see installations by 13 design teams. There are also many well-known landmarks of the coastal city along the almost 3 kilometre-long route (1.7 miles).

The project is aimed to encourage people to walk more and be more aware of the environment. Free public tours of the Bay to Park Paseo will begin on May 4. More information can be found at baytoparkpaseo.org.

According to the San Diego Tourism Authority, several events are being staged over the coming weeks, including lectures, design exhibitions and public design workshops.
The Fondation Haute Horlogeries first 'Roadshow' event took place last weekend in Paris, in collaboration with the we are_ club. Nearly 300 enthusiasts, journalists, influencers, and partner brand representatives were present to mark the launch of a pilot project of educational videos, designed to make the FHH Academy educational content accessible to the French public

The Fondation Haute Horlogerie (FHH) celebrated the first chapter of its 'Roadshow' event series on the occasion of its Academys tenth anniversary, on the weekend of April 26 and 27, 2024, in the heart of Paris.

The prestigious we are_ club, a key player in the Parisian cultural scene, opened its doors to an eclectic audience of nearly 300 people (watch enthusiasts and experts, journalists, and delegates from partner brands), for a celebration of knowledge and innovation.

The highlight of this event was the introduction of a new French pilot project of educational videos incorporating content from the "Watch Essentials" FHH Academy training program, well- known within the watchmaking industry. Now, this initiative will allow any watch enthusiast in France to acquire a certified FHH training at home, bringing the expertise and culture of watchmaking directly into the intimacy of their home.

Discovering the online courses  Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie

Over two days, the foundation rolled out a range of activities, including intensive "Watch Essentials" training from the FHH Academy, one of the famous FHH Quiz Nights, as well as panels and conferences led by renowned experts. Artist Estelle Lagarde conducted an art workshop, adding a remarkable creative dimension to the event. Another notable element was the return of "Watch Icons," an augmented reality exhibition first revealed during Dubai Watch Week in 2023, showcasing iconic watches from all 44 partner brands of the Foundation for the first time, as well as corresponding historical and current pieces from the six French partner brands: Cartier, Chanel, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Van Cleef & Arpels, and Trilobe.

FHH Vice-President, Aurelie Streit, emphasized the motivation behind these events: On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the FHH Academy, and on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Foundation, our wish is to make the FHH known to as many people as possible, from novices to watchmaking professionals. Since the early days of the FHH Academy, we have diversified our educational offering, ensuring accessibility to quality knowledge. Today, this offering has allowed us to train more than 35,000 people, among whom more than 10,000 are also certified. In the spirit of inclusivity that characterizes the FHH, the series of educational videos we have just introduced to the French market will soon be available in eleven languages and integrated into similar international events.

Watch enthusiasts and industry players are invited to follow the FHH via its website and social platforms for updates and upcoming announcements, providing all the necessary information to join these unique eventsperhaps soon in a city near you.

The Watch Icons digital experience  Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie

For those who wish to acquire, improve, and test their level of knowledge, the educational videos from the FHH Academy are now available exclusively in France through an FHH approved service provider (in French only), priced at EUR 1190 (may vary under certain special regimes). Further availability in more countries and languages by the end of 2024.

For upcoming updates and announcements about future FHH 'Roadshow' events, stay connected with the FHH.
Cheap getaways for under $150 from DFW Airport? We found 10 flights to U.S. destinations

Feeling the summer vacation bug? Perhaps you should look into a quick getaway out of North Texas.

How about a visit to the White House, Chicago Bean, or perhaps the Las Vegas strip for under $150.

Youd be surprised, there is an affordable flight out of Dallas/Fort Worth Airport to almost any major U.S. city. Round trip tickets, on Google Flights or Kayak, can be found for weeklong dates in various tourist destinations.

Simply type in Google flights. From there, you should be able to choose a departure destination (DFW) and that is it. No need to put in dates or arrival location, Google will scan the internet for you and pull up one-week trips within the next six months. You can also filter so you only see flights within $150, or whatever your price range may be.

The cheapest round-trip flight out of DFW is with Spirit Airlines to Miami for $38. Most flights found with ticket prices this cheap will be with Spirit or Frontier airlines. Please note that flying with the budget carriers mean you have to pay for a carry-on bag. You are only allowed to bring one personal item on board for free.

For a quick getaway though, packing should be light and flights should be short.

 More trending stories:

Snakes are crawling out of hibernation in Texas. Check the toilet before taking a seat.

In Texas, set your thermostat at 80 when it's 100 degrees, expert says.

Groceries at this national chain are the cheapest, study finds.

Here are current round trip flights out of DFW for under $150:

Boston, Massachusetts

Spirit, $134

Chicago, Illinois

Frontier, $40

Spirit, $54

Las Vegas, Nevada

Frontier, $40

Spirit, $54

Los Angeles, California

Frontier, $106

Spirit, $63

Miami, Florida

Frontier, $38

Spirit, $41

Nashville, Tennessee

Frontier, $40

Spirit, $72

New Orleans, Louisiana

Spirit, $65

New York, New York

Spirit, $83

San Diego, California

American, $129

Frontier, $68

Spirit, $118

Washington D.C.

Frontier, $93

Spirit, $126
Colorado has more wolves, but would you know one if you saw one? Here is what to know

Confirmation of dead wolves in Larimer County, on the Front Range, and Elbert County, on the Eastern Plains, in recent weeks has only heightened public awareness that wide-wandering wolves can show up anywhere in Colorado.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife has received hundreds of calls and wolf sighting reports in recent years.

Those sightings could increase this summer after Colorado reintroduced 10 in late December in recreation-heavy Grand and Summit counties and as the weather warms and more people venture outdoors to recreate.

Here are things you should know about wolves and recreating.

Here is how to tell the difference between a wolf and coyote.

Could you distinguish between a wolf and coyote? They look similar. Here are telltale differences

Many people mistake coyotes for wolves because they look similar and coyotes are much more prevalent in Colorado than wolves.

Here are the differences, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife and other sources:

Wolves are about twice the size of coyotes. However, smaller wolves can be about the same size as larger coyotes.

Wolves can measure up to 6 feet in length, including the tail, and stand approximately 30 inches in height at the shoulder. Females usually weigh 70 to 80 pounds, while males weigh 95 to more than 100 pounds.

Coyotes typically measure up to 4 feet in length, including tail, and stand closer to 18 inches in height at the shoulder. They generally weigh 15 to 45 pounds.

Coyotes usually have more grayish-brown fur, while a wolf's fur usually is light gray or black.

Wolves have larger and blockier snouts/muzzles and shorter and more rounded ears than coyotes, which have longer, narrower features.

Wolves have distinctively bushier and shorter tails than coyotes.

Wolf tracks are about 5 inches long by 4 inches wide, with four symmetrical toes and identifiable claws.

Coyote tracks are similar but about half that size.

Wolf track paths usually show a direct, purposeful route.

How to report a wolf sighting and what to include in the report

Colorado Parks and Wildlife has a wolf sighting form and encourages the public to report sightings.

The agency received six confirmed wolf sightings between 2004 and 2019. Those confirmed sightings have increased since 2019, when what became the breeding female of the North Park pack was discovered in Jackson County.

Since when that breeding female and a male naturally migrated into Jackson County and gave birth to six pups in spring of 2021, confirmed sightings have increased.

Here are important elements when reporting a sighting:

Clear video and/or photos, while making sure to keep a safe distance.

Photograph or video the tracks and measure them, placing an easily identifiable object next to the tracks.

Moffat County sheep rancher Jorgiea Raftopoulos places her hand next to a wolf track she found in February along a county road a mile from her ranch house near Hamilton.

What to do if you and your pet encounter a wolf

Wolves pose little risk to humans but some risk to dogs, which they see as competition for prey and as encroaching on their territory.

Here are safety tips when recreating:

Make lots of noise if you come and go when wolves are most active  dusk to dawn.

Dogs should be leashed or under strict voice control while recreating.

Bear spray can be effective in warding off an attack.

In the extremely rare case that you encounter a wolf:

Keep visual contact with the animal.

Keep your dog away from the wolf.

Face the wolf but slowly move away (don't run or bend down) to seek shelter.

If it approaches you, make yourself look larger by raising your hands, make loud noises and wave an object such as a hiking stick in front of you.

If attacked, fight back using your fingers or sharp objects on the wolf's most sensitive areas, including underbelly, face and eyes

Where might you encounter a wolf in Colorado?

The reintroduction of wolves has increased their presence in Colorado and wolves wander widely.

Confirmed sightings of naturally migrating and released wolves stretch from the West Slope to the Eastern Plains.

A dead wolf was discovered in Larimer County on April 18.

The wolf found dead in Elbert County in eastern Colorado on April 3 was discovered through blood samples to have wandered from Michigan or Wisconsin.

The highest concentration of wolves remains in the general vicinity of their initial release sites in Grand and Summit counties. That is where the majority of recent wolf depredations on livestock have taken place.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife has released four monthly wolf activity maps showing watersheds in which its 12 wolves (11 after the deceased wolf in Larimer County) were detected travelling via pins from their GPS tracking collars.

The latest map recorded wolf movements March 26 through April 23. That map showed notable movement of a wolf or wolves in Larimer County, expanding eastward in watersheds encompassing roughly the western three-fourths of Larimer County. Those watersheds include one that reaches just east of U.S. Highway 287 north of Fort Collins and another south to U.S. Highway 34 west of Loveland.

It's important to note with the watershed map that watersheds can be quite large. Also, if a collar or collars pings in a watershed, the entire watershed is marked as having a wolf or wolves in it at some point in the last month. It does not necessarily mean a wolf or wolves are currently in those areas.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Colorado has more wolves. Here is how to ID, what to do if you see one
Fashion never tasted so good. New smoothie bowl shop opens in northern Beaufort County

If you hear someone wanting a Blouis Vuitton or a Dolce N Banana, dont assume they are a little tipsy. They are just craving the latest stylish treat from a new smoothie bowl shop on Harbor Island.

Boujee Bowls marked its official grand opening Friday, but it has slowly been building a fan base in northern Beaufort County over the last three weeks out of its new storefront at 2137 Sea Island Parkway. The location was formerly Beach Bums Barbecue.

The bowls are created with a frozen and pureed fruit base  acai, passion fruit, pitaya or coconut  and topped with chunks of colorful fresh fruit, almonds, chia seeds, granola and even crunchy cereal, among other items.

They are meant to pack a nutritional punch but also be delicious and filling.

All the bases are made out of superfoods. They are all made in-house, said owner Sissy Fricks. We dont add sugar to anything, but they dont taste like they are good for you. To be honest, a lot of things that are good for you dont taste good.

Not a problem at Boujee Bowls, where Fricks admits her bowls can be a little addictive. In the three weeks the shop has been open, some customers have already filled up their first loyalty punch cards and gotten a free treat.

Superfoods are rich in antioxidants, essential nutrients and vitamins. They may also be high in fiber and healthy fats, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

To clarify, Fricks explained that some of the toppings are sweetened, such as the peanut butter, caramel or Nutella.

That doesnt change the fact that the stuff inside ... is so beneficial to your body, Fricks said.

The granola is gluten-free and nut-free.

Sissy Fricks grew up in the Upstate but her family always vacationed on Harbor Island. She has opened up Boujee Bowls at 2137 Sea Island Parkway.

The shop is the brainchild of Greenville-area native Fricks, a former school bus driver and mom of four adult children who has been vacationing on Harbor Island since her own childhood.

We always came here, so when this location opened up, I was like, Im not letting anyone else have that, Fricks said. The opportunity was too great.

Fricks started Boujee Bowls in Powdersville in April 2023 and followed with a second location in Anderson in December. Fricks, her sister and her children are currently the only employees.

A friend who retired from the military signed a deal with Fricks to operate a Boujee Bowls food truck outside of San Antonio, Texas.

Boujee Bowls offers 11 signature bowls with names that are a play on fashion brands and fashion-related sayings.

The bowls come in three sizes ranging in price from $5 for the six-ounce Boujee Baby, to $10 for the 10-ounce Fit N Fab and $15 for the 14-ounce Big and Boujee. Any of 11 signature drinkable smoothies, aka Boujee on the Go options are $10.

The larger bowls are meant to be meals, but any make a handy treat to take to the beach or one to cool off after a hot day.

Boujee Bowls is open on Harbour Island and serves superfood bowls, smoothies and coffee.

On Friday, Boujee Bowls added overnight oats and coffee, both hot and cold, to the Harbor Island menu.

I am not a Starbucks barista by any means, but I do know my cold brew, Fricks said.

Hours for now are flexible while Fricks works out seasonal traffic trends.

Currently, Boujee Bowls is open from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to sunset Friday and Saturday. During peak season, Fricks expects to be open on Mondays as well and to extend all hours to sunset when people are coming off the beach.
A woman has recounted the insane plane behaviour she witnessed on her recent flight, and it has sparked a debate about airplane etiquette.

In a viral video posted to TikTok, user Alex Bennett (@justalexbennett) recalled how a father asked a fellow plane passenger to swap seats with him so that he could sit with his two children. However, the father wasnt entirely honest about what seat hed be swapping the man for.

I witnessed the most insane plane behaviour on the way here, Bennett began the video, which has been viewed nearly 300,000 times since it was posted. She explained that she was sitting behind a man in the aisle seat when a father walked up to the man with his two children and asked if he could take his seat.

Hes like: Hey man, my kids have [the] middle and window [seats] and Ive got this aisle across. Do you mind swapping me aisle to aisle? Bennett recalled.

When the man asked the father if he would be switching his purchased aisle seat for another aisle seat across from them, the TikToker claimed that the father hesitated before giving an answer.

The dad pauses and he said: Middle or aisle? Yeah, aisle, she shared.

The man  who she noted was a bigger, older man  ended up swapping aisle seats with the father so he could sit next to his children, before another woman walked up to the man and informed him that he was now sitting in her seat. Shes like: Hey, Im the aisle seat here. And hes like: Oh, I traded with that guy. He said he was the aisle seat, Bennett explained.

At that point, however, the father who had asked to swap seats refused to look up from his phone during the debacle. The dad had the middle seat, and I think he knew it, Bennett said. Nevertheless, the man could not have been nicer and got up from his seat once again to switch to the middle seat in the row.

I totally understand a dad wanting to sit with his kids, no question. But I think you gotta tell the guy: Im middle. I need a solid here because I need to sit with my kids. But you cant say youre the aisle and then the girls addressing it, Bennett chimed in.

She wrote over the viral clip, Airplane etiquette trading seats, and captioned the post: Airplane etiquette is crazy.

In the comments section, many people were appalled that the father lied to the man about his ticketed plane seat and refused to clarify the situation.

Absolutely not. I would have been like: Sorry dude, you gotta switch back since you lied to me, one TikTok user commented under Bennetts video.

I would have asked him why he lied, in front of his kids. The kids will remember the confrontation, another person wrote.

Deal breaker, a third user said. If he wouldnt be willing to switch back, a flight attendant would be called.

Meanwhile, others admitted that they refuse to swap sweats with strangers on an airplane, like one person who said: A plane is the only place you wont catch me being a people pleaser. My seat is my seat.

This is why my answer is no! Every damn time, said someone else, while another user wrote: Never switch.

In recent months, theres been an ongoing debate surrounding proper etiquette for swapping seats on planes. In July, a CEO went viral when she refused to switch seats with a mother who wanted to sit next to her two children on a flight. Tammy Nelson, the CEO of global jewellery brand CONQUERing, shared on TikTok that she was flying on a Delta Air Lines flight from Cincinnati, Ohio to San Jose, California, when she noticed a woman sitting in her window seat.

I got on the plane and a woman was sitting in my seat and when I mentioned it to her, she said, Oh, you want to sit here? I thought we could switch because these are my kids, Nelson recalled. I said, As long as its a window seat, Im happy to switch. She points to the row behind us and says, Mine is right there. Its the middle seat.

She said the mother was reportedly super annoyed that Nelson had refused to switch seats, before moving back to her own middle seat.
Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Great Falls was recently named Montana's Tourism Destination of the Year. The Interpretive Center will celebrate its 26th year in operation this Sunday, May 5.

Just upstream from Giant Springs State Park, the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center blends into the sandstone bluffs like a smooth Cubist sculpture seamlessly matched to the Missouri River landscape. Though it lies within the furthest northeast boundary of Great Falls city limits, the view from the centers two-story tall windows is stunning, a scene of the Missouri that Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, and the 30 men of the Corps of Discovery would have recognized in their journey to explore the uncharted west.

I count it a privilege to call it my place where Im working at, said Duane Buchi, Director of the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center.

This Sunday, May 5, marks the 26th anniversary of the opening of the Interpretive Center in 1998. The motivation for its construction was to promote the Lewis and Clark story as a draw for tourists to Great Falls during the Voyage of Discoverys bicentennial celebration.

Those festivities began in 2003, Buchi recalled In this area they were in earnest in 2005, because that was when they came through here two centuries ago on their initial trip to the west.

Explore Great Falls: Taking in the beauty and history of First People's Buffalo Jump State Park

Although it has been nearly two decades since those festivities concluded, the Interpretive Center remains one of Great Falls most popular tourist destinations. It is consistently ranked on Trip Advisor as the number one place to visit in Great Falls, drawing close to 50,000 visitors annually from all parts of the globe.

This April at the Montana Governors Conference on Tourism and Recreation, the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center was recognized as Montanas Tourism Destination of the Year. Each year the award honors one tourism enterprise for their outstanding achievements to advance tourism through marketing, product development, destination events and activities.

A life-sized diorama at the Interpretative Center depicts the hardships the Corp of Discovery faced making the portage around the Great Falls of the Missouri River in July of 1805.

Managed by the U.S. Forest Service, the 25,000 square-foot building includes two floors of exhibits chronicling the Lewis and Clark Expedition, along with regular multimedia presentations in its 158-seat theatre, guided tours, and a historical research library.

While the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center is an impressive fixture in Great Falls today, it was nearly never built at all. In the mid-1980s when the concept of an interpretive center was first floated the city was in a rough patch. The smelter had closed and the Anaconda stack had been blown up. The population was dropping, and Great Falls was no longer Montana's largest city. The riverfront was an industrial area and that's it, with the River's Edge Trail still years away (it opened in 1991).

Buchi credits the centers ultimate completion to a small group of community leaders who believed in the project, and to one man in particular, Mike Labriola.

Newly retired as a full colonel from the Air Force, Labriola was hired as director of the Great Falls Chamber of Commerce. An avid Montana history buff, he worked tirelessly to promote the idea of the Interpretive Center, raising money to build it and rallying the community to support the idea.

It all started really as a community effort, Buchi explained. It was a civic initiative. They tried to lobby and bring awareness to the Congressional delegation about what had occurred here, why this was important, and encouraged them to be better stewards of this place and do something with it.

In 1987, Labriola led a delegation to Washington, D.C. to testify for the need for an interpretive center along the Missouri River in Great Falls. Almost immediately they met with disappointment.

Initially the thought was the National Park Service would run this site, but they turned it down, Buchi explained. Dale Gorman, who was the superintendent of the Lewis and Clark National Forest at the time  hes the one who raised his hand and said well take that on.

Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center Director Duane Buchi points out a Grizzly Bear pelt recently acquired for display from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

The property the Interpretive Center now stands upon today belonged to the State of Montana at that time. It was deeded to the U.S. Forest Service that the Interpretive Center would become a reality. However, the federal government offered only partial funding for the project, with the prospect of federal matching funds if the city was able to raise $3 million within two years.

Organizers met that funding goal on time, raising $3.1 million with the help of large donations from Great Falls Shipping Association and $1 million from the Montana Power Co. Groundbreaking for the $6.2 million Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center took place in 1996.

Buchi noted that the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Great Falls is only one of 212 different historic sites along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, which stretches across 16 states and 4,900 miles from Pittsburgh to Fort Clatsop on the Oregon Coast. The Center in Great Falls is one of the largest of these sites, and is also unique in that offers a complete overview of the expedition, from its inception following the purchase of the Louisiana Territory in 1803 to its conclusion in St. Louis, Missouri after a journey lasting 28 months.

We certainly have a focus point, he said. (The Great Falls of the Missouri River) is where they spent a longer time than anywhere on the trail except when they wintered in North Dakota and out on the Pacific Coast. So, we put a special emphasis on that portage but the whole story is told here. I think thats what really captures the essence of the expedition.

The Interpretive Center has also recently made some significant physical improvements to the facility. Benefiting from grants from the Great American Outdoors Act and the Missouri-Madison Fund, the center has been able to repave its parking lot, install new LED lighting in the parking lot, replace a wooden bridge leading down to the Rivers Edge Trail, and replace a broken elevator that allows handicap access to a paved trail that leads the Missouri Rivers edge.

Right now, the center is in the midst of a three-phase project to refresh and refurbish 15 displays in the exhibit hall.

One of the many displays within the exhibition at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center

Therere just some areas that are very well loved, Bushi noted. Were not looking to change anything. Were just looking to refurbish and bring up the standards of some things.

And there are two new things that are coming, he added. At the very end of exhibit hall tour theres going to be a kids zone where there will be interactive opportunities for kids. Theyll be a place to get a selfie taken and where they can try on different clothing of the era, that kind of thing. Then there will be a more pronounced thank you to all our visitors who complete the tour, along with an acknowledgement the American Indians and where they are today.

All this is being done with a paid staff that in the winter only numbers five full-time employes and one part-time. Bushi said that without the contributions of time and effort made by more than 40 volunteers  some of whom have been donating their time to the Center since it opened  that the visitor experience at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center would only be a shadow of what it is today.

They are passionate about this place to the depth of their souls, and that certainly isnt something thats lost on people when they come through these doors, he said. They sense the energy, the passion, the excitement to share this place. Theyre the ones that take a wonderful facility and make it an incredible experience for our visitors.

May marks the beginning of the Interpretive Centers busy season, but there are special presentations and activities scheduled at the facility all year long.

Theres always a lot going on, from festivals to guest speakers and presentations in our auditorium, Bushi noted. During the winter we check out snowshoes for free to the general public. Once a month we do ranger led hikes with people, weve got our annual Lewis and Clark Festival. Thats coming on the 22nd of June. Thats all free and gives us a chance to connect with our community.

A conical hat once used by the Chinook Indians of the Pacific Northwest to protect themselves from the rain

The Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center located at 4201 Giant Springs Road in Great Falls. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day it's open seven days a week, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. The rest of the year the Interpretive Center is closed on Mondays.

There is an $8 entrance fee for adults. Children 15 and younger are free. For more information visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/hlcnf/recarea/?recid=61458 or you can call the Interpretive Center at 406-453-6248.

This article originally appeared on Great Falls Tribune: Lewis and Clark Center cited among Montana's best tourist destinations
This Kansas city is one of the best places to live in the US, ranking says. Heres why

The city ranking site Livability has ranked Overland Park the seventh most livable city in the U.S., with standout qualities including education, economic opportunity and health care access.

Overland Park is a warm and welcoming community with picturesque neighborhoods, a strong economy, top-rated schools and plenty of things to do without skimping out on affordability, Livability writes.

While the site may not know everything about Overland Park based on rankings alone  it describes the Johnson County city as situated in the heart of Kansas its customized LivScore ranking system highlights some of the citys best assets.

See a new side of Overland Park: famous farmers market, international foods & green space

Overland Park ranks third in the nation on education out of the sites 100 best small and mid-sized cities to live in across the U.S., just behind Broomfield, Colorado, and Columbia, Maryland.

The city comes in fifth place on both health care access and economic factors. The site notes its proximity to the Kansas City metro area and growing sectors like technology, e-commerce and manufacturing as reasons the economy is drawing in new, young workers. And its wide variety of hospitals and specialty clinics make it a top-rated choice for health care.

Overland Parks scores on all those factors plus amenities, environment, housing, safety and transportation combined to earn it the seventh place slot in Livabilitys rankings.

Some local businesses also got shoutouts, including Deanna Rose Childrens Farmstead, Louies Wine Dive, New Theatre Restaurant and The BrewTop Pub and Patio.

The city was beat for the top slots by the following cities:

Carmel, Indiana

Cary, North Carolina

Columbia, Maryland

Fishers, Indiana

Naperville, Illinois

Broomfield, Colorado

Overland Parks lowest scores came in the safety and environment categories, where it earned 49 and 50 out of 100 total points, respectively. Safety scores were calculated using local crime rates, while environment scores looked at factors like natural disaster risks, air quality and urban density.

Do you have more questions about the cost of living in the Kansas City area? Ask the Service Journalism team at kcq@kcstar.com.
What to know as downtown South Bend First Fridays architectural walking tours begin May 3

SOUTH BEND  A longtime guide will take guests on an architectural walking tour around downtown South Bend on the first Friday of each month now through October.

Starting this Friday at the replica American Trust Company clock, which stands at the corner of Washington and Michigan streets near Cafe Navarre, Steve Szaday will point out landmark buildings in downtown South Bend and explain their historical significance. A St. Joseph County employee and historic preservation advocate, Szaday has been leading the tour for 10 years, he told The Tribune.

"In the first 20 minutes," Szaday, a 52-year-old South Bend native, said he promises attendees, "you're going to learn at least three things you never knew about South Bend, even if you've been here your whole life."

Steve Szaday, St. Joseph County Preservation Inspector, pictured in 2016 at the corner of Michigan and Washington streets, where he starts his downtown South Bend walking tours that take place on the first Friday of the month now through October. Tribune Photo/BECKY MALEWITZ

Historic preservation: The 10 most endangered historic properties, according to South Bend preservation agency

The roughly 90-minute downtown tour, a partnership with the nonprofit Downtown South Bend, takes walkers around historic landmarks in a few city blocks between Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to the east and Lafayette Boulevard to the west.

The tour will highlight century-old staples like the Morris Performing Arts Center and Palais Royale while also drawing attention to lesser-known sites like the second St. Joseph Hotel building. Built in 1868 at 117-119 W. Colfax Ave., it's the oldest commercial structure downtown that remains standing.

And each year seems to bring with it new projects to mention as asides during the tour, Szaday said. About 90 new apartment units in South Bend's tallest building, Liberty Tower, were approved last year and are under construction. Developers also plan to bring apartments and retail space to the Lafayette Building, at 115 S. Lafayette Blvd., which served as the law offices for two of the city's prominent civil rights figures.

For three First Fridays events  June 7, Sept. 6 and Oct. 4  Szaday will guide attendees down a different route in the West Washington Historic District, which features many mansions that housed former industrial and civic leaders.

If you go

What: Tour guide Steve Szaday, a St. Joseph County employee and historic preservation advocate, will lead walking architectural tours of downtown South Bend and the West Washington Historic District.

The 90-minute tours cost $10 cash per person. Downtown South Bend, the nonprofit that sponsors the tours, asks folks to make reservations online at https://www.downtownsouthbend.com/walking-tours or by calling 574-282-1110. Those interest can also find the tour map on the website.

When: The first Friday of each month from May to October from 6-7:30 p.m.

Where: For tours of the downtown area on May 3, July 5 and Aug. 2, attendees will meet at the replica American Trust Company clock, at the corner of Washington and Michigan Streets near Cafe Navarre.

For West Washington Historic District tours on June 7, Sept. 6 and Oct. 4, attendees will meet at the historic Ambassadors for Christ Church at 302 W. Washington St., where Washington Street and Lafayette Boulevard intersect.

Ambassadors for Christ Church, at 302 W. Washington St., was built as the First Presbyterian Church in 1880.

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: Downtown South Bend architecture tours begin with First Fridays
The Lamoille Valley Rail Trail has been added to the list of Vermont paths to be cleaned up on Green Up Day, Saturday, May 4. Trail directors say there will be a "collaborative effort to clean up sections of the LVRT that was damaged during last summers floods."

The rail trail spans 93 miles, from Swanton to St. Johnsbury, passing through 18 towns. It was completed summer 2023, making it the longest rail trail in New England. The old railway was used until 1994, and in the subsequent years a plan was made to remove the tracks and create a flat path ideal for walking, biking, cross country skiing and more.

More: From Swanton to St. Johnsbury, ride along on the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail

The grand opening of the trail in the summer of 2023 was pushed back due to Vermont's massive flooding which caused an estimated $11 million worth of damage to the trail. Volunteer work and funding to clean up the trail restored it to its intended glory, and the trail is ready for more work to be done on its inaugural Green Up Day.

Washout of the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail near Johnson.

Cleaning up the trail

The LVRT efforts are being led by the Northern Forest Canoe Trail who have recently become LVRTs fiscal sponsor. There is also support from the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail Committee and the Lamoille River Paddlers Trail, in partnership with Green Up Vermont. Staff and volunteers will focus on town-specific sections of the LVRT: Cambridge, Johnson, Hyde Park, Morrisville, Wolcott and Hardwick.

While many residents may be hitting highways or Burlington city streets May 4, Alex Delhagen, the assistant trail director for the NFCT, said that garbage is unfortunately dumped in natural areas too. He's encouraging people to volunteer at different miles of the rail trail and clean up "Vermont's extremely beautiful landscape."

The project began as a river cleanup, but with unsteady water levels and low temperatures, spring didn't seem to be the best time to encourage people into the chilly water. They decided to pivot the project to the trail that runs parallel to the Lamoille River.

Delhagen has been heading the cleanup project for roughly six months. Grant money funds his work, but he said with the amount of time he's putting in, he's likely doing much of the work unpaid. The Vermont native said it's worth it.

"I care about this project," Delhagen said. "It's so quintessentially Vermont: to be as clean and green as possible. I'm always impressed by Vermont residents to take collective ownership over shared natural resources. I think there's many places where people are a little more blase about their natural resources, but Vermonters generally seem to really care."

More information can be found by emailing Victoria Hellwig of the Lamoille County Planning Commission to get connected with local organizers in the town you're interested in greening up: victoria@lcpcvt.org. They can provide information on where to get the green garbage bags, where to clean and where to leave bags after.

A cow crossing sign on the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail between Sheldon and Jeffersonville.

Other projects

The NFCT has a slate of other projects coming up, besides their normal call for volunteers to assist in projects most weekends.

Every summer they have a group of college intern stewards. This year they will have two groups  one led by Delhagen  to complete a variety of campsite, river access and portage trail development and maintenance projects along the trail corridor. The organization is also breaking ground on a new "accessibility initiative." They have begun distributing surveys to best assess what's needed to make outdoor recreation more accessible. They will be awaiting grant funding and plan to jump into the project in the fall, after the stewardship program ends.

Sydney P. Hakes is the Burlington city reporter. Contact her at SHakes@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Lamoille Valley Rail Trail joins Vermont's Green Up Day
Craft beer goes great with craft tacos. Its a lesson that Country Boy Brewing founder Daniel D.H. Harrison experienced first-hand dining at a Georgetown Mexican restaurant near the taproom.

Country Boys beer makers often grabbed lunch there and Harrison loved the food so much hes adding their tacos to the Lexington taproom permanently, full-time.

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Country Boy Brewing is bringing Tienda San Juan Taqueria, a family-owned restaurant, to the Chair Avenue taproom, beginning on May 5 with a full Cinco de Mayo celebration that includes the release of a new margarita flavored beer.

Daniel DH Harrison co-founder of Country Boy Brewing, with Edgar Sanchez, co-owner of Tienda San Juan Taqueria in Georgetown. The restaurant is lunch spot popular with Country Boys beer makers, who are bringing San Juans menu of tacos and more to the Lexington taproom permanently.

San Juan is one of our favorite lunch spots in Georgetown, and we want to share the familys amazing food with our friends across the state, Harrison said in a statement. Beer and tacos are the perfect combination.

San Juan will serve handmade street tacos and birria, burritos and quesadillas to go with Country Boys menu of craft beers such as flagship labels Cougar Bait, Shotgun Wedding, Cliff Jumper and Halfway Home.

Three Street Tacos from Tienda San Juan Taqueria featuring slow roasted pork, beef, and chicken. San Juan Lexington will open May 5 at Country Boy Brewing on Chair Avenue.

The Georgetown restaurant, which opened eight years ago on Broadway, is staying; this will be a second location. Owners and married couple Juana Araujo and Edgar Sanchez built a following first with lunch regulars and families with a food truck then added the brick-and-mortar business. Their restaurant serves authentic Mexican food including classic family recipes for salsa, sauces and more.

We are so excited for the opportunity to join Country Boy in Lexington, said Juana Araujo, in a statement. It is going to be amazing to bring our recipes to our friends in Lexington.

They plan to launch with their full menu in an all-day fiesta.

New Country Boy Brewing margarita-style beer

About that beer: On Cinco de Mayo, Country Boy Brewing is launching Coug-a-Rita, made with lightly roasted malts and flavored with agave, lime and orange. At a 9.5 alcohol by volume, Country Boy plans to serve it over ice, margarita style.

The Lexington taproom previously served burgers and other pub fare, said spokesman Pete Weiss, but they discontinued that a few weeks ago to make way for the new menu.

Country Boys Georgetown taproom will continue to serve a menu of barbecue, burgers and hot dogs, sandwiches, wings, pizzas, salads and appetizers.

San Juan Lexington will open May 5 at Country Boy Brewing on Chair Avenue. The Georgetown restaurant serves birria tacos made with slow roasted pork with a side of birria dipping sauce.

San Juan Lexington at Country Boy Brewing

Where: 436 Chair Ave.

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Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily

Online: Countryboybrewing.com

For sale: Downtown Lexington bar, restaurant known for New Orleans flavor, live music

First location of Lexingtons all-salad restaurant has closed. Owner tells why.

Lexington restaurant inspections: Pizza place closed, illnesses reported
The LGBTQ+ guide to travelling the world: where to go and where to definitely avoid

We met in 2009 at the G-A-Y bar in London. Stefan is originally Greek Cypriot and Sebastien is from Lyon, France and several years into our relationship we realised we wanted a complete life change and had a craving to see more of the world together. We began planning and saving, then in 2014 we quit our lives and jobs in London for a big trip around Asia.

We started our Nomadic Boys gay travel blog as a way for our friends and family to follow along our trip, but unbeknownst to us, it grew quickly. We started to see random people reading it  people who found our content online after searching on Google for gay travel related content. At this point we realised we were onto something big and started publishing more content for LGBTQ+ travellers.

As gay people there is an extra layer of research we need to carry out before embarking on a trip. We need to know if the place were going has any anti-gay laws, whether we need to be cautious about PDAs, are the hotels were staying at ok to let two men share a bed, are there any queer-friendly spaces to have a drink or party?

We also need to work out the extent to which its safe to be openly gay. In Lebanon, for example, we were blacklisted and almost arrested because we posted content about #gaylebanon during our trip. This taught us the importance of switching all our social media to private when visiting such destinations and avoiding posting anything online before and during the trip.

Egypt is another destination with a nasty anti-gay law in place with local police actively enforcing it, using gay apps like Grindr to target and arrest gay men. When we visited, we hired a private guide who met us as we got off the plane, guided us through immigration and stayed with us until we left. We stayed friends during this trip, avoided all PDAs, and remained firmly in the closet.

We want our new book book, Out in the World, to be a useful resource for LGBTQ travellers to plan a fun and safe trip as well as inspiring them to visit places beyond the pink bubble. These are our 5 of our favourite gay-friendly destinations:

Stefan and Sebastien scuba diving in Koh Lipe (Nomadic Boys)

Thailand

Since we first set foot in Thailand many many moons ago, we instantly fell in love. The Thai are tolerant and welcoming to everyone. Bangkok has become one of the gayest cities in the world with a large scene centred around Silom Soi 4 and 2. The islands of Thailand have some of the best beaches weve ever been to along with impressive diving sites. Our favourite island is Koh Lipe  we make a point of going there every January for a week as our no-tech holiday.

Thailand nails it when it comes to food. The Thai cuisine is world famous for good reason  nothing beats a Pad Thai, Green Curry, or sticky mango rice. The culture of Thailand is rich with so much Buddhist history, which we particularly felt in the countrys northern city of Chiang Mai. Oh  and did we mention: Thailand is on course to become the second nation in Asia (after Taiwan) to legalise gay marriage. The Thai marriage equality bill is set to become law at the end of 2024. We predict the gay honeymoon market to Thailand is going to boom in 2025.

Top tip for LGBTQ+ travellers to Thailand: try to coincide your trip with one of the big gay festivals like White Party in December, Songkran in mid-April (the Thai New Year), or Bangkok Pride in June. Also check out the gay trips with LGBTQ companies like Everything To Sea, and Out Adventures.

Stefan and Sebastien at the Svartifoss waterfall at the Skaftafell National Park (Nomadic Boys)

Iceland

We love Iceland because as well as its mix of impressive otherworldly landscapes, we found it to be one of the most gay-friendly nations weve ever set foot in. Its also super quirky. Icelandic humour is a thing! These guys take quirky to a whole new level: The Penis Museum (phallus.is)in Reykjavik, anyone? It was easily our travel highlight of the Icelandic capital. Trust us, youll fall in love with this remote European country as much as we did.

Highlights of Iceland include the Geysir Geothermal Area, the myriad of impressive waterfalls such as Skogafass and Svartifoss, the Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon, Diamond Beach, the picturesque fjords, bathing in geothermal baths like the Blue Lagoon, whale watching in Husavik, and our favourite, watching the Northern Lights (between September-April).

In terms of a gay scene, Reykjavik has a few queer spaces, the main one being Kiki Bar (instagram.com/kikiqueerbar). It has two prominent LGBTQ+ events: Reykjavik Pride in August, and Reykjavik Bear in September.

Top tip for LGBTQ+ travellers to Iceland: rent a car and explore the country on its famous Ring Road. In addition, we recommend the excellent gay owned Pink Iceland (pinkiceland.is) to organise your trip.

Greece

We love visiting Greece, from the beautiful islands to the historic wanders and lively gay scene of Athens. This year, in February, Greece not only became the first Orthodox Christian country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage, but it will also host EuroPride in Thessaloniki on June 21-29. Athens oozes culture with ancient monuments and world wonders like the Acropolis. It also has a vibrant gay scene in the Gazi neighbourhood with bars like Del Sol, Big Bar, Samis, and clubs like Sodade, Shamone, and Bizzar. The big draw of Greece for most are the islands. The most popular for gay travellers is Mykonos with its bustling gay scene in the main town and a cluster of gay beaches including Super Paradise, Elia, and Agrari. The gay summer season culminates with the XLSIOR Festival (xlsiorfestival.com), this year taking place on August 22-28. For a more chilled Greek island experience, which is not as hectic (nor as pricey as Mykonos), we recommend a road trip in Crete. The beaches like Elafonisi are glorious, and theres even a small gay scene around Hersonissos with queer hangouts like Y.O.L.O. Cafe.

Top tip for LGBTQ+ travellers to Greece: For a unique experience exploring Greece, check out the clothing-optional gay sailing cruises offered by companies like GaySail (gaysail.com)and SAILORdudes (sailordudes.com)

Stefan and Sebastien in Osaka, Japan (Nomadic Boys)

Japan

Going to Japan feels like youve set foot into the future. Everything works like clockwork, the technology is out of this world, and everything is beautifully presented to you  with a loving smile. Weve been three times and cant get enough of it. This year is particularly exciting for Japan when Osaka will be hosting the big IGLTA gay travel conference on October 23-26.

Highlights of Japan include the bustling capital, Tokyo, which has the quirkiest gay scene weve ever encountered, with over 300 small unassuming bars/clubs crammed in Shinjuku's Ni-Chome district. One of them, New Sazae, was particularly popular with the late Freddy Mercury and where one of the Queer Eye episodes was filmed when they came to Japan. Kyoto is the cultural hub of Japan with stunning temples, the unique Fushimuri Inari Shrine, and the iconic Sagano Bamboo Forest at Arashiyama. Close to Kyoto is Osaka, the culinary capital of Japan, where youll find the best of the best in terms of classic Japanese dishes such as takoyaki and okonomiyaki.

Hiroshima is a must for all travellers. The Peace Memorial Park was harrowing and intense but so vital to see how the 1945 atomic bomb impacted the city. For something more tropical we recommend heading to the Yaeyama Islands, home to the Japanese jungle, unspoiled beaches, and pristine reefs for world class diving.

Top tip for LGBTQ+ travellers to Japan: For an excellent local Japanese gay tour company check out Out Asia Travel (outasiatravel.com) which is based in Tokyo.

Stefan and Sebastien at the Tigers Nest Monastery in Bhutan (Nomadic Boys)

Bhutan

When asked which the most memorable place weve been to is Bhutan is always up there for both of us. Its a remarkable place that for so long was closed off to the world, only recently opening up to tourism. The culture has strong Tibetan influences, particularly the impressive intricate artwork in every monastery and temple. The main draw of Bhutan is Tigers Nest Monastery, perched on the side of a cliff at an elevation of 3,120 metres, which you can only reach via a two-hour hike. The cuisines is similar to Nepal and Tibet including the delicious momo dumplings. By contrast, the national dish will blow your mind: the super spicy ema datshi, a chilli cheese stew. The countrys Royal Family and Buddhist traditions are revered and highly regarded by everyone with a grand festival that takes place almost every month.

Bhutan is also slowly coming out of the closet. The country got rid of its anti-gay law in February 2021. As a result, the local LGBTQ community has grown massively, led by the efforts Pride Bhutan. Note that Bhutan is not a budget destination. The government focuses on high value, low volume tourism, requiring every visitor to pay a daily tourist fee of $100, in addition to requiring a tour is booked. One gay-friendly local operator we highly recommend is Bhutan Mountain Holidays (bhutanmountainholiday.com). We used them for our trip. They were well aware from the outset that we are a gay couple. Our guide and driver had no issue with this at all, and always ensured we stayed in a hotel room with a double bed. We think this speaks volumes in a country that is only starting to wake up to its LGBTQ community.

Top tip for LGBTQ+ travellers to Bhutan: look out for the phallic art. Were serious: the erect penis holds significant popularity in Bhutan, revered as a symbol of good luck and a deterrent against malevolent spirits. You can even buy said artwork in the many souvenir shops in the form of intricately carved wooden penises or phallus keyrings.

Out in the World: The Gay Guide to Travelling with Pride by Stefan Arestis & Sebastien Chaneac is out May 9 (Nomadic Boys)

Important things for LGBTQ+ travellers to consider:

1. Check if the place your visiting has an anti-gay law. If it does, consider putting your social media channels to private before/during your trip. It goes without saying that you should avoid posting anything online until youve left that country.

2. Check if its safe to use Grindr in the destination youre visiting. For example, in Egypt, the local police actively use Grindr to target and arrest gay men.

3. Do you need a VPN? A lot of places ban LGBTQ websites and apps, so youll need a VPN to get around this.

4. Is your hotel gay-friendly? Email or call ahead to check theyre ok with two men (or women) wanting to share a double bed. Most big brand hotels like Marriott, Hyatt, and the Hilton will be fine about this. Alternatively, consider using a platform like Misterb&b (misterbandb.com) to find gay-friendly hosts to rent a place from.

5. Even if there is no anti-gay law, how safe is it to be openly gay there? Are public displays of affection safe or best avoided and limited to queer safe spaces?

6. Is it safe to bring PrEP/HIV medication or is there a restriction? Places like Dubai ban it, others impose a three-month limit on the amount you can bring with you.

7. Make sure you have adequate travel insurance.

Out in the World: The Gay Guide to Travelling with Pride by Stefan Arestis & Sebastien Chaneac is out May 9 (Pavilion Books).

Follow nomadicboys.com for further travel tips and insights.
Introducing the non-limited edition that watch lovers were willing to queue for  the MoonSwatch Snoopy

Swatch unveiled its Omega  Swatch Speedmaster MoonSwatch Misson To The Moonphase on March 26th. Did I like it enough to queue on six separate occasions to get one? I most definitely did!

Omega x Swatch MoonSwatch Snoopy Mission to the Moonphase  Skay Fasano

Early bird fails

Swatch stores have a simple rule: one MoonSwatch Snoopy per customer per day. March 26th was my first attempt, the launch day of the "Mission To The Moonphase  Full Moon". At 9:55, just five minutes before the store opening, a Swatch employee respectfully advised us that it was pointless to stay in line as they didnt have enough watches for everyone queueing.

Five attempts later and my lucky day was Thursday, April 11th. I came around 11 am and asked if they had a "Snoopy" in stock. The shop assistant replied, "It is the last one we have." Let me tell you, I have never spent CHF 285 on something this fast. The next thing I knew, I was happily walking out of the store swinging a red Swatch shopping bag.

Omega x Swatch MoonSwatch Snoopy Mission to the Moonphase  Skay Fasano

Unpacking the specs

This all-white 42mm watch has a white case, white dial, and white Velcro strap. It is the second white dial release for Omega this year, following the Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional, which was launched in early March after being teased by Daniel Craig last November.

Omega x Swatch MoonSwatch Snoopy Mission to the Moonphase  Skay Fasano

Not only is this new collaborative series fun and lighthearted, but it is also the first time the company has combined a chronograph with a moon phase. So, you have a unique take on the Speedy for less than 300 CHF.

Snoopy details appear on the front and back of the watch. The comic strip character sits on the crescent moon at 2 o'clock and there is a hidden quote "I can't sleep without a night light!" that can only be seen under UV light! Then, if you turn the watch over, you can see Snoopy's paw on the battery cover, which is in the exact location where Apollo 11 landed on the Moon.

Omega x Swatch MoonSwatch Snoopy Mission to the Moonphase  Skay Fasano

The watch is made from Swatch's Bioceramic material  a blend of 2/3 ceramic and 1/3 bio-sourced material derived from castor oil  making it a robust material with a matte and silky finish.

Space beagle to the rescue

You might be wondering, why Snoopy? Well, there's a reason behind it. NASA chose Snoopy as the "watchdog" during its space missions, a symbol of reliability and safety. In 1970, Omega earned the NASA Silver Snoopy Award after contributing to the safe landing of the Apollo 13 crew. The famous comic strip character Snoopy seemed like a natural fit for this new watch, "Mission to the Moonphase."

Omega x Swatch MoonSwatch Snoopy Mission to the Moonphase  Skay Fasano

Snoopy's style hack

I read somewhere online that you should swap the two strap pieces (so the top strap goes on the bottom and vice versa) as it makes it more comfortable to wear. It's the first thing I did when I bought it, and it makes a huge difference. The watch hugs your wrist and it fits much better like this. I am not sure why the brand doesnt just sell it this way.

Omega x Swatch MoonSwatch Snoopy Mission to the Moonphase  Skay Fasano

The MoonSwatch buzz

The watch sells for 285 CHF  a little over the price of the original 11-piece collection which was CHF 250  and it is currently reselling (on Chrono24) for between CHF 450 and CHF 3,200! Pretty crazy, I know. It is definitely hard to get one in-store right now, which explains the resell price, but it is not limited. I would advise popping by a Swatch store regularly, asking if they have them in stock or waiting until the craziness cools down, rather than buying one on the secondary market.

Omega x Swatch MoonSwatch Snoopy Mission to the Moonphase  Skay Fasano

Whether it is the MoonSwatch collection from two years ago or this year's Snoopy edition, watch lovers are ready to line up around the block to get their hands on them. I think the exclusive in-store launch created this global excitement for a watch that is not even limited. After all, there is nothing we want more than something that we cant have!
When is Mother's Day? How to celebrate Mother's Day in Asheville.

Mother's Day, the annual holiday dedicated to the moms and mother figures in our lives, is around the corner.

The holiday is celebrated worldwide, though not always on the same day. Mother's Day was celebrated in the United Kingdom on March 10. Australia, Canada, Denmark, Italy, the United States and other nations will celebrate the holiday in May.

Here's what to know about Mother's Day this year, plus how to celebrate in Asheville.

More: Mother's Day idea: This Western NC city named best in South for mother-daughter weekend

When is Mother's Day 2024?

Mother's Day is observed in the U.S. and many other countries on the second Sunday in May. This year, it lands on Sunday, May 12.

Mother's Day gifts 2024

Need gift ideas for mom? Head to USA TODAY's Reviewed list of the 45 best gifts this year.

When is Father's Day?

Just so you know, Father's Day, the annual holiday that celebrates dads, lands on Sunday, June 16, this year.

How to celebrate Mother's Day in Asheville, NC

Table dressing from Posana's 2022 Mother's Day brunch.

Asheville recently took the #1 spot on Southern Living's list of top 10 Southern destinations for a mother-daughter weekend. So what are the best ways to celebrate mom in Asheville this May 12?

Asheville tourism site exploreasheville.com has plenty of suggestions to add to Southern Living's list.

More: 2024 Mother's Day meals, gifts and experiences in Asheville

Spa days in Asheville

There are plenty of choices for this classic Mother's Day option in the Asheville area. Here are a few options for your mom:

Asheville Wellness Tours offers yoga, hikes, tarot readings, goat yoga, mobile massage and more

Shoji Spa is known for their private outdoor salt soaking tubs with forest views. They also offer massage and sauna options.

Asheville Salt Cave offers the unique experience of being surrounded by 20 tons of imported salts, a unique "healing micro climate" designed to relax and heal visitors.

Dining in Asheville

As "Beer City, USA," it's no surprise that Asheville has plenty of brewery, bar and restaurant options. Here are a few food options from exploreavl.com that your mom might enjoy:

French comfort food at RendezVous

Wood-fired flavor at Golden Hour

Contemporary American at Posana

Outdoors options in Asheville

Another famous Asheville feature is beautiful outdoor spaces, including the adjacent Blue Ridge Parkway and mountain range. Here are some outdoor fun suggestions from exploreavl.com:

Try Parkway Picnics for a luxury Mother's Day picnic experience without the hassle.

Visit the Biltmore Estate to get a look at their famous seasonal blooms and art installation.

Use the Asheville Hike Finder to hunt down the perfect free outdoor experience.

Democrat and Chronicle, USA Today Network, contributed to this article.

Iris Seaton is the trending news reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at iseaton@citizentimes.com.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: When is Mother's Day 2024? Celebrate mom in Asheville.
Novo Nordisk, the maker of popular drugs used for weight loss including Ozempic and Wegovy, says it is investing over $6 billion dollars to help meet the increased demand for the drugs amid ongoing shortages and high prices.

Negelle Morris, senior vice president and head of U.S. cardiometabolic sales at Novo Nordisk Inc., warned though that even with the increased investment, there will still likely be a delay in getting the drugs to the market.

"It's not like a light switch," Morris told ABC News' Erielle Reshef in an exclusive interview that aired Thursday on "Good Morning America." "The strategy is to be very mindful and thoughtful about the amount of the lower doses that we're putting into the market, and I think that over time, the investments that we're making in manufacturing capabilities will ensure that over time we're able to meet that demand."

The three smallest doses for Wegovy, ranging from 0.25 milligram to 1 milligram, currently have "limited availability," according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Novo Nordisk told ABC News that despite the shortages for Wegovy, the company has enough product on the market to start 25,000 patients on Wegovy per week -- a fourfold increase since late last year.

In addition, Novo Nordisk has agreed to acquire three production facilities from pharma and biotech company Catalent for $11 billion, and the company expects to complete the acquisition by the end of the year.

Ozempic is currently available in all dosages, according to the FDA, but has experienced shortages over the past two years as demand for drugs used for weight loss has continued to skyrocket.

PHOTO: The anti-diabetic medication Ozempic is pictured in a pharmacy on April 13, 2023. (Florian Gaertner/Photothek via Getty Images)

Ozempic is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat Type 2 diabetes, but some doctors prescribe the medication "off-label" for weight loss, as is permissible by the FDA.

MORE: First came Ozempic for weight loss, then came the shaming.

Wegovy, a medication that contains the same main ingredient, semaglutide, as Ozempic, is FDA-approved for weight loss.

Along with physical access to the medications, financial access has also been a barrier for people with diabetes and obesity who might benefit from the drugs.

Of the estimated 110 million adults living with obesity, about 50 million have insurance coverage for drugs like Wegovy. According to Novo Nordisk, about 80% of Wegovy patients with commercial insurance pay $25 or less per month.

But without insurance coverage, the out-of-pocket cost for medications like Ozempic and Wegovy can run as high as $1,000 or more per month.

MORE: Barbra Streisand publicly asks Melissa McCarthy about Ozempic, sparking debate on weight and shaming

Last month, a U.S. Senate committee led by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont launched an investigation into the high cost of the two medications.

Novo Nordisk told ABC News the company is working with insurance companies to lower the cost of the drugs, as well as with lawmakers to have the drugs covered by Medicare for obesity.

PHOTO: Negelle Morris, senior vice president of Novo Nordisk, speaks out on 'Good Morning America' about drugs used for weight loss. (GMA)

"I can absolutely assure America that we're doing everything that we can, not only to reduce cost and out of pocket in a way that is consistent with the health care system that we have in the U.S., but also to increase supply," Morris said. "Our manufacturing facilities are working 24/7."

She continued, "The plan that we had to be thoughtful and certainly responsible, but also to increase access to this medication by releasing more of those lower doses, allowing more new patients to start, is something that we'll continue to work on."

When asked by Reshef where the profit from the sales of Wegovy and Ozempic is directed, Morris said it goes back into research and innovation for new medicines and a unit dedicated to preventing obesity.

Novo Nordisk announces $6B investment in Ozempic, Wegovy amid shortages originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com
Ocean City to get grand new museum on Boardwalk soon: Take a look inside the restored bank

Mere steps from Ocean City's historic Boardwalk and a short walk from the crowded beach and squawking seagulls sits a small, two-story building with a colorful history.

What was once the former McGregor Building, before later becoming the Bank of Ocean City in 1910, will soon be known by a new name: The Museum of Ocean City.

The building, currently under construction and in the process of being restored to its former glory, is said to house fresh recounts of unique Ocean City history come May.

Construction continues on the Museum of Ocean City Tuesday, April 30, 2024, at 217 S Baltimore Ave in Ocean City, Maryland.

The Bank of Ocean City closed its Dorchester Street Branch in December 2019, and the building was donated to the town of Ocean City for the Ocean City Museum Society's use in 2020.

"What was left when the bank closed its doors does not reflect the early 1900s structure that once was. It's been really amazing to see what we've been able to put back, rebuild and re-create. It's transformed the block," said Christine Okerblom, curator at the Ocean City Life-Saving Station Museum.

HISTORIC HOTEL RENOVATIONS: Historic Ocean City Commander Hotel to renovate pools, guest rooms in time for summer

Four permanent exhibits will showcase different aspects of Ocean City

The Bank of Ocean City opened on the corner of Dorchester Street and South Baltimore Avenue on January 3, 1916, and remained in operation for 103 years.

The Museum of Ocean City will adopt the same mission as the resort town's Ocean City Life-Saving Station Museum, which is to preserve and celebrate the cultural and natural history of Worcester County, specifically Ocean City.

"This space is going to offer opportunities that we haven't had yet; a mix of new and old," Okerblom said.

The brand-new museum plans to welcome guest speakers and local authors, as well as offer the preexisting Little Learners program and other well-established Ocean City Life-Saving Station Museum programs.

A piece of furniture donated by the engineering department that will hold maps and other large prints at the Museum of Ocean City Tuesday, April 30, 2024, at 217 S Baltimore Ave in Ocean City, Maryland.

With the assistance of Adler Display  a display and exhibit designer headquartered in Baltimore  the first floor will consist of four permanent exhibits highlighting the history of downtown Ocean City, Ocean City hotels and restaurants, Native American culture and native wildlife, and the former Bank of Ocean City building.

"The exhibits have been in discussion for years. The goal is to hit topics that we don't have covered in our existing museum," Okerblom said, adding that the museum has not ruled out additional pop-up exhibits.

The second floor will consist of office space, a fire-proof room to store sensitive documents, artifact restoration space, a porch open to staff only, and a research room with shelving space accessible to the public by appointment only. A smaller research area will be found on the first floor for those who cannot access the stairs.

BALTIMORE AVE. PROJECT: Ocean City's Baltimore Avenue project gets big boost with federal grant. What's ahead.

Museum building will multiple tributes to its history in Ocean City

Joseph Kurtz, City of Ocean City project manager, shows the vault at the Museum of Ocean City Tuesday, April 30, 2024, at 217 S Baltimore Ave in Ocean City, Maryland.

Unlike the existing museum situated near the Inlet, the Museum of Ocean City will not have a museum store or any exterior display cases. However, Okerblom believes visitors will appreciate the exterior of the building for its remarkable recreation of the past.

More components said to be added to the museum include restored hardwood floors, a bank teller booth and historic phone booth.

As soon as visitors step foot inside, they will be greeted with a massive steel vault where money and valuables were once stored. The vault will remain open at all times and even house an exhibit dedicated to the history of the building.

The restoration project, led by Ocean City Public Works Department Project Manager Joseph Kurtz, intends to pay homage to the history of the building. According to Kurtz, removal of the vault would have cost more than the entire building is worth.

An image depicting the former Bank of Ocean City's historic vault, where money and valuable were once stored.

"The process would have started with demolishing the concrete around the existing vault. From there, we would've had to bring in ironworkers to cut up the vault into pieces and haul it out," Kurtz said.

Ultimately, it was an easy decision to preserve the vault.

"We saved everything, and we're piecing it back together," Kurtz said of the restoration process.

"The goal is for it to not look like new construction," Okerblom added.

The total cost of construction is approximately $900,000.

HIDDEN OCEAN CITY TREASURES: Explore Ocean City's hidden treasures with local author Bunk Mann

Hidden treasures discovered during work on new Ocean City museum

Christine Okerblom, curater, talks about how the rooms will be used at the under construction Museum of Ocean City Tuesday, April 30, 2024, at 217 S Baltimore Ave in Ocean City, Maryland.

Throughout the tedious construction process, multiple historic items have been recovered from the bank vault, above doorways and even inside the walls.

A few hidden treasures include a late 1800s murder-mystery novel, old baking soda and ketchup bottles, batteries, and pairs of baby shoes which, throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, were commonly hidden for good luck.

The project's feasibility is thanks to countless private donations and grant funding, including grant awards from the Maryland Heritage Area Program, Department of Housing and Community Development, and Ocean City Development Corporation.

Construction is expected to conclude on Memorial Day weekend. The museum will then be open to the public on Mondays and Tuesdays come June. All exhibits are said to be fully installed by January 2025.

Construction continues on the Museum of Ocean City Tuesday, April 30, 2024, at 217 S Baltimore Ave in Ocean City, Maryland.

GAMBLING IN OCEAN CITY: Gambling thrived in Ocean City during Great Depression, even though it was illegal

"As of this summer, visitors will get to enjoy the exterior and interior restoration, the vault exhibit, and events and programs," said Okerblom. "I want to make sure this space is really inviting. I want it to feel like a library."

The restoration project contributes to a bigger, long-lasting initiative to restore downtown Ocean City. According to Okerblom, Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan has expressed his support. He is behind the project 100 percent and is eager to see it come to fruition.

"We're happy that (the Museum of Ocean City) in walking distance (from the Ocean City Life-Saving Station Museum)," Okerblom said. "We hope that visitors take advantage of both locations."

Those interested in donating to the restoration project and learning more about the full history of the former bank building can do so by visiting the Ocean City Life-Saving Station Museum's website.

OCEAN CITY 'TOP BEACH': Ocean City hailed as top US beach town by multiple top-tier travel publications.

Olivia Minzola covers communities on the Lower Shore. Contact her with tips and story ideas at ominzola@delmarvanow.com.

This article originally appeared on Salisbury Daily Times: Step inside Museum of Ocean City, set to open near Boardwalk this May
OKC nonprofit ensures that 'no kid sleeps on the floor' in their town

Children's curiosity turned to excitement when a truckful of Oklahomans showed up on their doorstep with power tools in hand.

The three young people initially wondered who the strangers were, but soon realized that the arrival of Oklahoma volunteers with Sleep in Heavenly Peace meant beds for each of them.

Richard Moio, president of the Sleep in Heavenly Peace Oklahoma City chapter, said he and other trained volunteers are living out the nationwide nonprofit's motto: "No kid sleeps on the floor in our town"  one bed at a time.

Making the bed

On a recent Saturday, sisters Aniyah and Aziyah watched in awe as Moio and another volunteer, Todd Taylor, quickly used their drills, mallets and other tools to build the girls a new bunkbed. In another room, their older brother, A'Kerrion, 16, wasted no time getting comfortable on his own new single bed that had been built by Moio's wife, Jamie, and their son Dominic, 15.

"This is straight perfect size," A'Kerrion said.

Looking on, the Moio family took in the young people's reaction, along with their parents' gratitude.

"It's all about the kids and their smiles  it melts your heart," Jamie Moio said.

Richard Moio said Sleep in Heavenly Peace-Oklahoma City is one of more than 300 chapters across the country. The military veteran said local volunteers stay busy going to homes and building beds on many weekends throughout the year.

More: This OKC grocery store opened to combat a food desert. Now it's offering more community resources

They also coordinate and participate in a nationwide event called Bunks Across America each September, a gathering in which numerous beds are built at one time. Another large bed-building and delivery event called Deliveries Across America is typically held annually, a week or two before Christmas.

Moio said the group could use more donations and volunteers.

A'Kerrion, 16, falls asleep on his new bed that was assembled and delivered by volunteers with the Sleep in Heavenly Peace-Oklahoma City chapter.

He said an enthusiastic social media post was made not too long ago by a grateful Florida resident whose family received beds for its youngest members. The viral post shined a spotlight on the nonprofit and requests for beds have increased.

"We had a wave of applications," Moio said. "We got about 13,000 applications in one month."

He said each bed costs the nonprofit about $250, which covers the wood, mattress and bedding. When beds and bedding run low, a growing pile of applications won't dwindle "because we don't have beds to deliver," Moio said.

He said many local organizations, particularly churches, have partnered with the nonprofit to get beds to families that need them. Lowe's is a nationwide sponsor.

On the Saturday that included the bed-building visit to the home of Aniyah, Aziyah and A'Kerrion, the Moios met other volunteers at the group's storage facility in Del City. They planned to divide into two groups to build beds mostly in the Midwest City area. The group packed headboards, slats and other materials in two different vehicles. They added to the bed-building materials, fluffy pillows and bedding, which young recipients had chosen in advance. The group said they average between 15 and 20 bed deliveries on Saturday delivery days.

Sleep in Heavenly Peace volunteers Jamie Moio and her son, Dominic, place a mattress and bedding on a bed just assembled and delivered for a family.

Scott English, a volunteer from Edmond, said the entire effort to build a bed would not take the group long, and that included finishing it all off by making the bed with pillows and sheets.

"We can be in and out in 12 minutes," English said.

Bed of roses

Akasha Jones was home when Sleep in Heavenly Peace volunteers recently delivered a bed for one of her relatives. She said the new bed meant her loved one could stay with her.

"It feels good," Jones said. "Honestly, it means my sister can be here with me."

Sleep in Heavenly Peace volunteers Todd Taylor, left, and Rich Moio, right, assemble a bed at a family's home.

Felicia Sharkey couldn't thank volunteers enough as she watched her daughters sit on their new beds and feel the softness of bedding. Aniyah, 8, had chosen a comforter set with a lilac and turquoise print, while Aziyah, 13, had selected floral bedding featuring a variety of colors. Video gamer A'Kerrion was pleased with his comforter because it featured a video game theme.

"I'm just happy that they're happy," their mother said.

She said the family had some air mattresses and someone had also given them a couch to sleep on when they moved into the Oklahoma City metro area about eight months ago.

"I'm excited, and I'm ecstatic," Felicia Sharkey said. "I'm very grateful."

Aniyah, 8, and Aziyah, 13, try out their new bunk bed for the first time after it was assembled in their room by Sleep in Heavenly Peace-Oklahoma City volunteers.

Good night's sleep

Sleep in Heavenly Peace hopes to make a dent in what it calls a "National Bed Crisis."

According to the organization, children who don't have beds suffer side effects such as struggling in school, weaker immune systems, decreased focus, emotional problems, increased levels of depression and anxiety and fewer or weaker relationships.

Volunteer Larry Fenwick, of Moore, said according to Sleep in Heavenly Peace data, up to 6% of children in the United States sleep on the floor because they don't have beds. Some of the young people may be homeless, sleeping in a car or bedding down a pile of clothes or blankets.

Volunteers with the Oklahoma City chapter of Sleep in Heavenly Peace load a truck with materials for a bed delivery.

Fenwick said he and other local volunteers simply want to help struggling families by providing them with beds for their children.

"The beauty of it is when you hear a kid say 'thank you for the bed  I don't have to sleep on the floor anymore,'" he said.

Rob Anderson, of Del City, said he previously worked at a furniture rental store and got a glimpse of what it means when a family in need can't afford beds for their children.

"I saw the dark side of this," he said. "I would go out and deliver a bed and then for whatever reason, the parents couldn't afford to keep it. Every time I'd go and have to pull a bed away from a kid, it just tugged at my heart."

Autumn McKellar said her neighbor was a Sleep in Heavenly Peace volunteer and encouraged her and her husband to get involved. She said they understood that families often have unmet needs due to expenses beyond their financial grasp.

"I feel like I'm doing something for somebody," McKellar said. "We have four kids of our own and we know it can be hard sometimes."

How to help

For more information about Sleep in Heavenly Peace-OKC or to make a donation, email richard.moio@shpbeds.org or go to https://www.facebook.com/SHPOklahomaCity.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Sleep in Heavenly Peace nonprofit builds beds for OKC children
Panama City Beach nominated for 'Best Beach in Florida' by USA Today 10Best. How to vote

PANAMA CITY BEACH  Panama City Beach has been nominated for the USA Today 10Best Readers' Choice Awards in the Best Beach in Florida category.

Panama City Beach is among 20 beaches in the state nominated for the award.

According to USA Today 10Best, Panama City Beach is described as a relaxed coastal getaway that's friendly for all age groups. The city is known for its hospitality, along with its famous, mouthwatering seafood.

A lifeguard station at the M.B. Miller County Pier.

"Vacationers can take to the beautiful beach to enjoy surf and sand, with 27 miles of shoreline to stretch out on for relaxation and plenty of activities." USA Today 10Best said.

Panama City Beach was recently named a top-15 beach by TripAdvisor. Panama City Beach has always been a hot vacation spot and among the top spring break destinations in the United States.

Previous Panama City Beach rankings: Among the best: Panama City Beach named a top 15 beach in the United States by TripAdvisor

Voting is open to the public until May 20 at 11 a.m. CST. Voting can be done once a day during the contest and the winners will be announced on May 29.

Voters can go online to vote for Panama City Beach at 10bestusatoday.com

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Panama City Beach nominated for 'Best Beach in Florida.' How to vote
Its about the people: Sioux Falls thrift store owners say they're seeing a resurgence

Sioux Falls is home to numerous thrift and antique storefronts, full of treasures and one-of-a-kind finds. For some, its the thrill of the hunt while for others, its one step closer to living more sustainably.

During this time of year, rummage, estate and other outdoor sales events often escalate and what's left over often shows up on display in these locations. This year though, owners of antique and thrift stores say they're seeing a resurgence in business as Sioux Falls continues its trajectory of being the fastest-growing city in the Midwest.

More: Sioux Falls is the fastest-growing city in the Midwest, US Census data shows

These antique and thrift stores often offer a curated selection of items with character and history, allowing shoppers to uncover one-of-a-kind pieces that reflect their individuality. Additionally, the affordable prices and diverse range of merchandise often appeal to budget-conscious consumers seeking quality items at discounted rates.

But its not just those who are nostalgic who shop. Younger generations also wander the aisles of lost memories and moments often caught in time. Some have even taken to owning these vintage havens to breathe new life into them.

More: Families and young people are buying up antiques for use, and shops say they've been busy

At 605 Thrift, owner Kiara Seiler began the venture two years ago. Seiler, 25, saw an opportunity to not only own a small business but also cater to those who can appreciate the authenticity and sustainability of thrifted items.

The inside of 605 Thrift on Saturday, April 27, 2024, in Sioux Falls.

"Trends come and go, but vintage is forever lasting," Seiler said. "That's why I did it because I know there's always going to be items circulating.

Last Saturday, 605 Thrift hosted their monthly pop-up event Thrifty Days with half a dozen vendors selling their handcrafted works of art, including fellow thrifter and consigner Bella Boo Threads, who rents a booth at the store.

Seiler said she hosts these events for Sioux Falls-based vendors to also share their passions with the community, no matter their style or who they are.

Everyone is welcome, Seiler said. I want to make sure everyone feels seen and accepted while finding something special.

For thrifters Dominque Dix, 29, and Marissa Large, 23, this couldnt be more true.

We have opposite styles but we are best friends, Dix said.

Dominque Dix and Marissa Large are best friends who love thrifting together to find that one-of-a-kind piece.

Dix is an artist, whose fondness for color is expressed through her business, Dominques Designs. Large, who is more partial to neutrals, is an esthetician at Beauty Charter in Sioux Falls.

Our favorite line to say to each other is, Its cute for you, Large chuckled.

Aside from running their own businesses, thrifting is a passion the pair have been doing together for the past eight months.

Ive always thrifted. Even in high school, thats the place I would go for things like theme nights - I dont have a Hawaiian shirt just on hand, Large said.

The friends enjoy finding unique, one-of-a-kind pieces that have character and add a bit of texture.

Brookings resident Paige Figland looks through the clothes racks on Saturday, April 27, 2024, at 605 Thrift in Sioux Falls. Figland and her friend went to 605 Thrift as a fun activity to do for a birthday weekend.

Dix said her main reason for shopping secondhand is her and her husbands shared reduce, reuse and recycle philosophy, which also saves money.

I realized I don't buy anything brand new for myself. Like, this is my father-in-law's jacket from the 70s, and it works, Dix said, pointing to her attire.

Large added they love supporting local businesses, especially given they are both entrepreneurs themselves.

Opening and having to go through all the steps to be a small businessit is hard," Large said. I applaud anyone else who does it.

When it comes to competing antique and thrift stores, Seiler said she doesnt see it that way.

If I dont have something, I will refer you to someone who might, Seiler said.

For Peggy Taylor, owner of Gift & Thrift, the allure of antique and thrift stores extends beyond their merchandise.

I'm a firm believer that each one of us should support the other, Taylor said. A lot of people say, Well, they're your competition. No, we should all be working together for the same goal.

Taylor has experienced the transformative power of thrift shopping since she opened Gift & Thrift 13 years ago, she said.

The inside of Gift and Thrift on Saturday, April 27, 2024, in Sioux Falls.

I was always a fan of secondhand shopping," Taylor said. "I wanted nice things for myself and my kids, and those things dont always have to be new box store-type items."

Its not just antiques and secondhand finds at Gift & Thrift though. Among the 102 vendors renting their own spaces, some are artisans.

"We've become more than just a thrift store," Taylor said. "Many of our vendors handmake their items, adding to the charm and variety."

Treehouse Treasures hosts a booth filled with antiques and decor on Saturday, April 27, 2024, at Gift and Thrift in Sioux Falls.

As to what that demand consists of, its a multitude of things ranging from small knickknacks to old concert T-shirts to even toys for young kids.

Shelves filled with toy cars for sale on Saturday, April 27, 2024, at Gift and Thrift in Sioux Falls.

I've noticed that the younger kids like 10 and under, some of them have that old soul in that they don't want a brand new toy, Taylor said.

Another trend Taylor has noticed in the store is shopping for secondhand gifts, especially during the Christmas season when entire families will stop in.

The kids go and pick something out for grandma, or aunts and uncles and things like that. It's family time together and I have surprisingly noticed how much fun the kids have," she said.

To Booth 202 owners Marie Murfin and Steve Whitman, family and community are key to speciaizing in those secondhand gifts.

Booth 202 owners Marie Murfin and Steve Whitman say the store is family-run and strives to give back to the community.

As far as how the husband and wife duo got into the business, Whitman said, It was very random.

I heard it was for saleand without even telling her, I purchased it, Whitman said. She was actually really excited about it.

Located at the old Julz Woodworking, Antiques & Thrift Store on West 12 Street, Booth 202 opened three years ago in January, a few months before the COVID-19 pandemic.

More: The story behind the nostalgic sign on 12th Street in Sioux Falls: Looking Back

When we first opened there's a lot of different inventory, so we kind of switched our business model to focus on our other vendors and diecast model cars is a kind of our niche, Whitman said.

A large portion of the store is filled with classic Hot Wheels collectibles, which are advertised across the country.

We had a family come from Texas just so their kid could take a picture next to our Hot Rod Rat Fink statue because they saw our ad at the airport in Sioux Falls or the visitor's guide," Whitman said. "It was pretty awesome."

Hot Rod Rat Fink statue and a large collection of Hot Wheels welcome customers when they walk into Booth 202.

He wants to bring back the Kmart days, Murfin said, referring to the former stores Collectors Days where exclusive vehicles were released from sealed cases.

Booth 202 also hosts Hot Wheel and other item showings once a month.

Customers of various generations enter their doors looking for classic thrift store finds to pop culture items like DC and Marvel comics, Star Wars items, Ghostbusters memorabilia, books and records and of course, renowned Hot Wheels.

Something strange in the neighborhood. Who you gonna call for all your vintage and pop culture memorabilia? Booth 202!

Its nostalgic to a lot of customers in here, Murfin said.

Whitman and Murfin also like to give back to those customers and others in the community which includes a blessing box right outside the store offering food and other items to those in need.

Blessing box outside Booth 202 on West 12th Street.

"There's no reason anyone should go hungry," Whitman said. "We like to give back because without the community, we wouldn't be in business."

As antique and thrift stores continue to rise in popularity among different generations, store owners agree that one thing remains clear: it's not just about the items on the shelves; it's about the people behind them and the communities they serve.

In the end, were all small business owners people take the time to frequent," Taylor said. "This is especially true in a town of Sioux Falls size but at the same time, its rapidly growing, so the demand will be higher."

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Sioux Falls thrift, antique stores are seeing a resurgence. Here's why
LANSING  Penny Munson couldn't stop crying in the months after her husband Robert died in January 2022.

Songs on the radio reminded her of him, and memories of their 27 years together popped into her head constantly. All of it made her weep. One day, as she pushed a shopping cart down a grocery store aisle, she passed a display filled with bananas and thought, "Robert loved bananas," before bursting into tears.

Munson, 73, couldn't understand why until she started attending a grief support and social group offered through the Lansing area's Gorsline Runciman Funeral Homes.

During the month-long support program, and lunches, mall walks and game get-togethers that followed, Munson met others struggling with losing a loved one. They have taught her grief is messy, comes in waves, and is best faced when supported by like-minded friends.

"I went and met lots of nice people who are going through the same crap," Munson said. "I found out normal is not what you think it is."

Gorsline Runciman has been offering care following the loss of a loved one to the community since 1974, but in 2007 that program, Life's Landscapes, expanded to include Living Information For Today, which added social offerings for widows and widowers. Some participants have used the funeral home's services when their loved one died, but the activities are open to anyone, Program Director Deborah Sydlowski said.

Grief support programs are growing in importance because widowhood is prevalent among older adults, according to recent data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau. Most widows and widowers are over the age of 65, according to the data. And an estimated 58% of women and 28% of men aged 75 and older who participated in the latest census had experienced the death of a spouse.

In 2022, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated there were 368,984 widows in Michigan older than 15 and 120,097 widowers over that age. In Clinton, Eaton and Ingham counties, the U.S. Census estimated that year there were 14,225 widows and 3,612 widowers.

Sue Forbrush, right, leans over and laughs with Jan Gee while playing cards Thursday, April 11, 2024, at Gorsline Runciman Funeral Homes in East Lansing. The game day is one of several Living Information For Today events that brings together those dealing with loss to offer social support.

Through Gorsline Runciman's LIFT group, participants not only share in each other's grief, but offer support, build new friendships and take part in social outlets for people who are suddenly alone. LIFT has even led to new romantic relationships.

'I call them my dead walking people'

Life's Landscapes program director Debbie Sydlowski, left, talks with Darlene Barkema while walking around the Meridian Mall as part of the Supportive Soles group on Thursday, April 25, 2024. Supportive Soles, part of the Living Information For Today grief support group, is one of several events that brings together those dealing with loss to offer social support.

Grief counselor Gwen Kapcia oversaw the grief support programs at Gorsline Runciman Funeral Homes for two decades, until 2014. She was with the program when LIFT was established.

People in the program started taking group walks together and meeting for lunches and games. Kapcia watched as kinship and friendships formed outside of the organized activities she was planning.

"I am closer to people in this group than I am to my family," participants have told her. "Yes, I love my family, but these people get me, these people know me."

The devotion people developed for one another surprised Kapcia. She remembers watching one woman invite seven other widows from the group to a dinner commemorating the first anniversary of her marriage to her late husband following his death. She found out later they were the only people who showed up at the restaurant.

"I noticed they did all sorts of life together and it has been a bonding and support for people in a way that I didn't even dream possible," Kapcia said.

Fifteen years later, LIFT's offerings have grown. So have the bonds people have created through it.

Life's Landscapes program director Debbie Sydlowski smiles while introducing the guest speaker during a Living Information For Today luncheon on Tuesday, April 23, 2024, at Coral Gables in East Lansing. The luncheon is one of several events that brings together those dealing with loss to offer social support.

Munson has been participating for nearly two years, and like many people who attend, she has no plans to stop. Many of the program's regulars have been gathering for its weekly activities for over a decade; they've created lasting friendships, and about a dozen are now married to or in lasting relationships with other members.

Only fellow members could understand the humor behind Munson's nickname for their weekly walking group, which meets at the Meridian Mall every Thursday and continues with breakfast at a local restaurant.

"I call them my dead walking people," she said, and life after her loss has been bearable because of them. "I could have done it by myself but this made it so much easier."

The misconceptions surrounding grief are numerous, Kapcia said.

"People think there's closure," she said. "They think it's linear, meaning that there's a step-by-step process and if you go through the steps or you go through a whole year there's some magical end."

None of that is true, she explained, and people who are grieving need space to talk about the person they lost and the way they feel about it, but their family and friends often avoid those topics.

"The key to support is finding someone that will listen to the words, so whether it's someone individually, like me, who's a professional that talks to people individually, or even more so than that, someone who's walking this road at the same time or a little bit ahead of you," she said.

'You always feel like the fifth wheel'

Life's Landscapes program director Debbie Sydlowski, right, laughs while playing cards with Sue Forbrush on Thursday, April 11, 2024, at Gorsline Runciman Funeral Homes in East Lansing. The game day is one of several Living Information For Today events that brings together those dealing with loss to offer social support.

Bill Birney's wife of 45 years, Janet, had been gone several months when he went to his first grief support walk in 2011. He'd felt sorry for himself in the months after her death, but kept busy with work and home projects. He made himself join the walking group and remembers immediately feeling common ground with the people he met.

"I got out of my truck and looked up and there's 25 people just like me, some with a lot worse stories, some older, some younger," Birney, 80, said.

One of the walkers was Toni Tenlen, 84. Her husband Thomas had died a year earlier. She attended a few other area grief groups before finding the program.

"All you did was sit around and talk about sad things," Tenlen said, of the other grief support groups, but the LIFT program through local Gorsline Runciman Funeral Homes offered real connections.

"We were all in the same boat," she said. "You know, you have friends when you're married, that are couples and they want to keep including you but it's different. You always feel like the fifth wheel."

Birney and Tenlen found each other through the group. They've been a couple for several years, live in Laingsburg together, and still attend weekly events through the program.

"They all became our new family," Tenlen said.

'We don't sit around being down. We laugh a lot'

Mary Lou Lane shows off her Supportive Soles shirt on Thursday, April 25, 2024, before walking with the Living Information For Today group at the Meridian Mall in Meridian Township. Supportive Soles is one of several events that brings together those dealing with loss to offer social support.

Becky Ruttan spent a decade caring for her husband Duane, whose health had long been in decline before he died in 2023.

"I had been his caregiver for so long," she said. "My whole life revolved around my husbands illness."

When he died everything just came to a stop and then you have to find out who you are," Ruttan said. That's been so much easier to do, thanks to the new friends she's made at LIFT.

"I have met some really supportive, very good friends through this group and we're active," she said. "We end up going out weekly. We go to a show and to dinner on the weekend."

Before participating in the program, she was isolated and had no interest in things she once enjoyed. Now, she has friends she can talk about all of it with.

"We've all been in it together and you can talk about," she said. "These friends don't back away from it."

Jan Gee has been part of the program for nearly 15 years. She remembers attending her first luncheon at Coral Gables in East Lansing, less than a year after her husband Jack died in 2009.

"I just went by myself and I found a lot of friends and kept going," she said. "I haven't looked back and I'm still with them. Everybody gets along great. We don't sit around being down. We laugh a lot. We're like family."

Learn more about Life's Landscapes and LIFT

For Gorsline Runciman, the programs and support group are a community service, Sydlowski said. The company spends money to offer it, but the cost to participants is minimal.

"What (participants are) doing is developing brand new relationships," Sydlowski said. "And I have to tell you that even though we're giving them a really beautiful template for them to come and feel comfortable, and learn to laugh again and to reach out to others again and to manage their own daily living experiences they take it even further. It's as if they're beginning anew."

To learn more, call Sydlowski, the community relations manager for Dignity Memorial Michigan Metro Market of Gorsline Runciman Funeral Homes, at 517-337-9745.

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Contact Reporter Rachel Greco at rgreco@lsj.com. Follow her on X @GrecoatLSJ .

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: 'These people get me.' Widows, widowers find new hope, life after losing spouse
A new barbecue restaurant could open in the Carolina Forest area. Construction crews and equipment are building a new building near Publixs at 136 Sapwood Road.

While construction is ongoing, only the wooden interior of the building is present; Horry County Land Records provide a clue as to its final form. On Jan. 8, 2024, the 1.36-acre plot of land received a permit to add a Slim Chicken with a drive-thru.

Slim Chicken is a chicken-themed eatery with locations throughout the United States, including one in Florence, S.C. The national chain did not return a request for comment before publication. In 2022, The Sun News reported that two Slim Chickens would open across the Grand Strand area. The Carolina Forest area is teeming with construction at the moment.

Nearby Slim Chickens and Publix, a Noodles and Company restaurant, is opening in the same area. Along River Oaks Drive, the Westlake Commons strip malls are adding another location, and a Cook Out is opening on International Drive nearby. Both Westlake Commons and Cook Out are currently under construction.

Meanwhile, a new school and community are joining the area along Carolina Forest Boulevard. A new elementary school is opening near Stafford Drive, with trees removed and site work beginning on the project. A townhome community is also under construction along Carolina Forest Boulevard, as Villas at Carolina Forest is about a 35-acre project with two and three-bedroom units.
Schafer State Park has expanded its campground in preparation for its 100th anniversary as a state park, the state Parks Department has announced.

Washington State Parks is wrapping up a two-year renovation of the historic park on the Satsop River near Elma. Schafers new campground has 30 sites that add to its 38 existing sites and campground, according to a Parks news release.

The renovations also include a new restroom building, welcome center, reservoir for the parks potable water system, landscaping, entry road and roads through the campgrounds, according to the state..

Schafer is included on the National Register of Historic Places. It officially became a state park in 1924 after a logging company donated the land to the state. Its structures were developed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the 1930s. The parks new features were built in the original National Park Service rustic style to match the historic WPA-built structures in the park, according to the parks department news release.

There is a lot of history at this park, said Angela Galli, Schafer park ranger, in a statement. There are multi-generational families and folks who have been coming to Schafer since they were 3 years old. Its a place you can come to with your family, to relax, enjoy the river, camp, float and fish.

To commemorate the parks centennial anniversary, a public event is planned for July 20 with a free food truck, yard games, live music, storytelling, square dancing in period costumes, museum exhibits with historic artifacts, and other family-friendly activities.
Michael and I left America seven years ago and we've been traveling the world ever since. More importantly, we've also been tasting the food for which various regions of the world are most famous.

From pizza in Naples, Italy, to pho in Nam inh, Vietnam, the best local versions of these specialties usually more than live up to the hype.

But not always!

Here are five regional dishes that definitely do  and two that sadly don't.

Of course, these are just my opinions. But Im still right.

Which five regional specialties live up to the hype?

(1) Tom Yum Soup in Thailand

Supaporn Somboon via Getty Images

In Thai cooking, most dishes have all four tastes  sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. These tastes are carefully balanced by all the ingredients in such a way that it makes the whole dish make sense, like the notes in a complicated but harmonious chord of music.

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There may be no better example of this than Thailands famous tom yum soup, a hot and sour dish that may be one of the most complicated dishes that humanity has ever created.

And also one of the most delicious.

Fun fact: in the south of Thailand, tom yum soup is generally made with coconut milk. But in the north, they tend to use a clear broth.

(2) Gelato in Italy

Irina Marwan via Getty Images

Italy has given the world everything from pizza to pesto, so I may be a fool to declare that my favorite Italian food is gelato. But here are two hills I will die on: gelato is (much) better than ice cream, and gelato in Italy is (much) better than anywhere else in the world.

How is gelato different from ice cream anyway?

Ice cream is made with sugar, cream, and egg yolks, everything whipped together and frozen solid. But all that fat and sugar, not to mention the cold, tends to overwhelm the taste buds.

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Gelato is generally made with whole milk, or milk and cream, but no egg yolks  either that or just fresh fruit or berries. Its also churned much slower, so there is less air whipped into it, and its chilled but not frozen solid.

The result is smoother and denser than ice cream, and more intense. It's served at a warmer temperature, so the tongue can register more of the flavor. A little gelato goes a long way.

But oh, what a wonderfully subtle journey!

I once asked an Italian friend why gelato was so good, and she told me, "You must start with fresh, local ingredients. And you must never skimp on the flavors. There are so many more peaches in peach gelato than you might think. But that's as it should be. The point is to make peaches that taste like gelato, not gelato that tastes like peaches."

Im still not entirely sure what she meant, but I couldnt have said it better myself.

(3) Barbecue in the Southern United States

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When Michael and I left America, we quickly discovered that food is almost always better outside of the United States. Other cultures seem to care less about quantity and more about quality.

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But on our occasional forays home, Ive discovered that there are definitely a few things that America does right.

First, thanks to centuries of immigration to America, you can get virtually any ethnic cuisine in the United States. And itll be good! This simply isnt true in most other countries, which usually excel at their specialties but not much else.

Then there are regional or ethnic cuisines that are uniquely American, like Southern barbecue. I've had grilled meat and vegetables all over the world. But when it comes to the sauces  not to mention the sides!  barbecue doesn't get any better than the American South.

(4) Turkish Breakfast in Turkey

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There is breakfast, and then there is the full Turkish breakfast.

The food is typically served in individual serving dishes, and once it starts, those dishes never seem to stop coming. Youll get an assortment of olives, cheeses, cured meats, tomatoes, and cucumbers, along with a carafe of piping hot tea.

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Then youll see a large basket of freshly baked breads and rolls, along with various jams, butter, olive oil, and maybe even molasses.

But at this point, were still only getting started, because now youll see a tray of fried or boiled eggs, another of fried potatoes, and one more of a phyllo dough and cheese pastry called borek, and another with more eggs, possibly cooked as omelets or as menemen, the traditional Turkish dish of eggs scrambled with vegetables and spices.

My only question? How the heck do you find room to eat anything else for the rest of the day?

(5) Khinkali Dumplings in the Republic of Georgia

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Okay, so I admit that Georgian cuisine isnt as well-known as the others on my list. But Im including it because Im convinced that one day soon it will be the latest trendy cuisine to sweep the world.

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I loved everything about Georgian cooking, but the stand-out dish is almost certainly the incredible khinkali dumplings, which are made from meat, cheese, or vegetables which is wrapped in a thick white dough, and then boiled.

These dumplings are served without a dipping sauce. Why? Because the cooking creates a luscious, piping-hot broth inside the dumpling. Bite a small hole in the dumpling and slurp out the broth, then eat the rest of the broth-infused dumpling.

Its not just a fantastic food item  its a whole experience.

Tom yum soup, Italian gelato, American barbecue, Turkish breakfast, and khinkali dumplings are five foreign specialties that I think live up to their hype.

So what are the two that dont?

(1) Paella in Spain

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Spaniards are proud of their paellas, which are available everywhere in Spain. Michael and I even recently spent six weeks in Valencia, which is the birthplace of paella, and we had plenty of the Valencian variety, which is made with chicken, rabbit, beans, and sometimes snail.

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Paella is rice, meat, and spices  usually saffron  cooked in broth and oil in a thin layer in a frying pan.

Its kind of fun that its cooked at such high temperatures. And I once had a black seafood version cooked with squid ink, and that was fun too.

But the dish itself? Um, it's rice and a little bit of meat and vegetables.

Much ado about not very much.

(2) Spring Rolls in Vietnam

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As chance would have it, one of my favorite foods in the whole world is Vietnamese spring rolls. These are the fresh kind, not deep-fried, sometimes called summer rolls or salad rolls.

Theyre made with rice vermicelli noodles; roasted pork belly and boiled shrimp; vegetables including lettuce, shredded carrots, and/or bean sprouts; and herbs including cilantro, basil, lemongrass, chives, and/or mint. Its all rolled up in a thin, moistened rice paper wrapping.

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Theyre usually served as an appetizer in Vietnamese restaurants, chilled or at room temperature, and eaten with a dipping sauce  either a thick, hoisin-y peanut sauce or a lighter one made with fish sauce, vinegar or lime juice, garlic, sugar, and peppers.

But if theyre one of my favorite foods, why are they on my list of foods that dont live up to their hype?

Because in Vietnam, theyre made with unshelled shrimp.

I lived in Vietnam for three months, but I never got used to this. Did I take the shrimp out of the salad roll, de-shell it, and put it back in again? If I did this, the whole thing became impossibly messy  and always drew confused stares. But if I didnt do it, it tasted, well, very, very chewy.

I still love Vietnamese spring rolls. But I make no apologies that I will only eat the Westernized version with shelled shrimp, the kind they make only for tourists in Vietnam.
Scientists have discovered a new class of antibiotics with potent activity against particularly resistant bacteria. The drug has also demonstrated effectiveness in treating bloodstream infections in mice.

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The antibiotic was developed by doctors from Uppsala University. According to them, the drug destroys bacteria with so-called multidrug resistance, SciTechDaily reports.

It is difficult to overestimate the importance of antibiotics for the treatment or prevention of bacterial infections. However, the global growth of bacterial resistance to antibiotics jeopardizes their effectiveness. Therefore, it is necessary to develop new therapeutic agents to which there is no resistance yet.

These are the drugs developed by doctors in multinational consortia. Scientists have described a new class of compounds in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA.

The revolutionary antibiotic targets the LpxH protein used by gram-negative bacteria to synthesize their outer layer of environmental protection, called lipopolysaccharide.

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Not all bacteria produce this layer. But those that do include the organisms identified by the WHO as most important for the development of new treatments, including E. coli and Klebsiella, which have already developed resistance to existing antibiotics.

The researchers were able to show that this class of antibiotics is highly active against bacteria with multidrug resistance, i.e. resistance to several drugs.

They also managed to cure bloodstream infections in a mouse model.

Since this class of compounds is completely new, and the LpxH protein has not yet been used as a target for antibiotics, there is no previous resistance to it yet. This contrasts with many antibiotics in existing classes that are currently in clinical development.

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Although the results are very promising, significant additional work will need to be done before compounds in this class are ready for clinical trials.

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The strange tale of how a Star Wars X-wing Fighter landed outside a Kent restaurant

Mike's Place owner, Mike Kostensky, stands beside the X-wing starfighter displayed in front of the Kent restaurant.

There was never supposed to be an X-wing Fighter from Star Wars parked out front.

Nor was there ever supposed to be a castle complete with a catapult protruding from the roof.

And a bus was supposed to be parked in parking lot  not smack dab in the middle of the restaurant.

Mike's Place owner, Mike Kostensky, near the bus seating section of a 1947 twin coach that was made in Kent.

But Mike Kostensky's dream of owning his own restaurant where food is made from scratch and served hot and fresh has taken a lot of twists and turns over the years.

Back in 1987 he thought he found the perfect spot for his Mike's Place restaurant.

The old Dutch Pantry restaurant sat empty at the busy intersection of state routes 43 and 261.

He figured it would be a sure win.

An X-wing starfighter is displayed in front of Mike's Place restaurant in Kent.

Why is there an X-wing Fighter in Kent, Ohio?

Kostensky said from the start, the restaurant just didn't stand out.

"It seemed like people would just drive by," he said. "I wanted something for people to see and hopefully stop."

Mike's Place owner, Mike Kostensky, walks around the X-wing starfighter displayed in front of the Kent restaurant.

May the Fourth Be With You, but it wasn't with Kostensky when he first started dreaming up ways to make his restaurant stand out.

Initially, he wanted to build a replica of a giant B-17 bomber crashing out of the side of the place.

Aside from it looking "really, really cool," it would also be a nod to his grandfather, who worked in a factory that helped build the warplanes.

But those grandiose plans were grounded when zoning officials squawked at the idea.

Since the plane would have technically been a part of the restaurant, it was subject to a myriad of rules and regulations and proved to be too costly.

So he decided to pivot and build something equally cool that wasn't attached to the restaurant.

Kostensky said it was back to the drawing board and, in this case, the chicken coop/workshop at his Brimfield Township farm where the X-wing Fighter was built.

An X-wing starfighter is displayed in front of Mike's Place in Kent. Beer kegs were used for the engines.

Since there aren't exactly blueprints for a fictional aircraft, he and his helpers had to use their imaginations.

"We used everything we could get our hands on that was cheap," he said.

This explains the beer kegs that are the aircraft's thrusters, the PVC pipes and the old water cooler door as the ship's hatch.

Mike's Place inside Star Wars decor includes posters above and behind owner Mike Kostensky.

Where did all the stuff inside Mike's Place come from?

Mike's Place is about as well known for the stuff that covers just about every surface inside as it is for its eclectic menu that ranges from pancakes to burgers to liver and onions.

Kostensky will readily admit he's a collector and some of his own treasures are on display.

But many of the items, in his words, simply found him.

Mike's Place owner, Mike Kostensky, stands in a small section that includes original decor and lighting. The Kent restaurant opened in 1987.

It all started with a plate.

One day, someone gave him an Elvis Presley plate to put up on display.

To one up that donation, he said, someone else dropped off a box full of Ohio scenic plates.

"The stuff just started coming," he said.

Star Wars items on display at Mike's Place in Kent include Darth Vader and R2-D2 figures on a ceiling shelf.

An example is the large old, wooden boat docked inside of the restaurant.

Kostensky said it showed up in the restaurant's parking lot one day.

He figured a customer had trouble with the trailer and left it behind and would later return to retrieve it.

But there it sat.

Eventually, Kostensky said, he moved it inside and made it part of the restaurant's decor.

Not long after that, a regular chuckled and told him he was glad he was finally doing something with the boat he had left behind.

"The stuff seems to find me," he said.

Over the years, the collection continued to grow, including the recent acquisition of signs from the old Geauga Lake amusement park.

"We have a lot of junk," he said. "But I love everything."

Mike's Place owner, Mike Kostensky, stands in the outdoor patio section at the Kent restaurant.

What's the future of Mike's Place?

Kostensky said he is beginning to step back from the business and letting others run it day to day.

He's also wrapping up his term as a Brimfield Township trustee.

Although he's not there every day, he still comes in a couple days a week and can be seen making the rounds, greeting longtime customers or making cabbage rolls in the kitchen.

Kostensky said they have been quietly making improvements inside and outside of the restaurant to make it easier to operate and maintain and this effort includes a new entrance.

And this love will include the X-wing Fighter out front.

The airship is now 25 years old, Kostensky said, and is in need of some TLC.

"It's all fun."

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: How Star Wars X-wing Fighter landed outside Mike's Place in Kent
Stuck on what to get mom for Mother's Day? Here's what Wisconsin moms say they really want.

Stuck on what to get mom this year for Mothers Day? Youre not alone.

Thats why USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin compiled a list of gifts moms actually want. How do we know these gifts are guaranteed to please? We asked moms across Northeastern Wisconsin.

Who knows, maybe the moms in your life responded. At the very least, this list can serve as inspiration.

Heres what they said:

A break

Hands down, this was one of the most popular answers. Many mothers said they want a day or night when they dont need to field questions from their little ones, cook, clean or handle any of the tasks that come with having a family.

And yes, this includes giving them a good nights sleep.

For some, like Green Bay mom Karina Olbrantz, the ideal is a mini getaway: a hotel room all to herself, with room service and a late checkout just because.

Abby Bieniewski, a Kimberly mom to an infant, said that would be nice  but she would also be happy with just being home alone.

If my hubby took our daughter to a hotel or stayed at his parents house and let me have the house to myself for one night that would be amazing, Bieniewski said. (I) would love to order takeout, watch the shows I like and sleep in without any interruptions or responsibilities.

Related: Inclusive playgrounds provide a safe place for children of all abilities. Heres why thats important

Related: Where can you find inclusive playgrounds in the Fox Valley and beyond?

A clean home  that they didn't have to clean

Heres another popular answer. For Erika Rohms family, this has become a tradition.

Every year, my family cleans the whole house whilst I inspect, direct and sip mimosas. Thats my gift: a clean house that I didnt lift a finger for, the Neenah mom said.

Other moms said theyd like their car detailed.

A spa day

As a precursor to the coveted night to herself, Olbrantz, who is a mom of a 2-year-old with another little one on the way, suggested a spa day with the whole shebang  massage, facial, mani/pedi.

New additions to their garden

This idea is perfect for all the plant-loving mamas out there: a new plant. To ensure it meets your mom's preferences, you can let her pick it out herself. For extra quality time, join her in the garden to plant it.

When I was young, my mom and I planted a little pink rose bush together. It was so fun to watch it bloom and grow, and it was a special memory we both carry today.

Keepsakes

Our very own regional features and local business editor Alexandria Bursiek Kloehn recently became a mom, and she's hoping for a little craft to remember this special time in her son's life. A picture featuring his little hands or feet  you get the idea.

A few moms said they would specifically like sweatshirts made out of their children's outgrown clothes.

Katelyn Bowman, a Hollandtown mom of a 4-year-old and almost 2 year-old, said she'd love to have one made from her children's outgrown PJs. She got the idea from Etsy.

Payton Seewald, a Green Bay mom of an infant, wants a sweatshirt that says "mama," with the lettering made out of her son's newborn clothes.

Bethany Crawford, owner of a West Allis-based business called The Crafty Crawford, makes sweatshirts using outgrown children's clothes. For this one, she used the same pattern of her son's first ever outfit, as she said she couldn't bring herself to cut up his onesie.

The Crafty Crawford, a business based in West Allis, makes these sweatshirts. Its owner, Bethany Crawford, previously made a "mama" sweatshirt, using the same patterned fabric of her son's first outfit for the lettering. Now, she's working to make these keepsakes for others.

The best part? She ships anywhere!

Related: 8 tips to help Wisconsin parents find the right pediatrician for their kids

Quality time with family

While some moms prefer a day planned out for them, Appleton's Carrie Kreps Wegenast, a mom of an 11-year-old and 9-year-old, plans her own special Mother's Day every year. The day comes with a special stipulation: Nobody can complain.

Over the last three years, the family has enjoyed picnics, hiking, museums and ice cream. This year, Kreps Wegenast looks forward to trying the famous pies at Adelles Bluebird Cafe in Clintonville.

I like it when its a new adventure for all of us, she said. It makes the day feel like a vacation, so every year we go somewhere we havent been before.

Another mom connected to our newsroom weighed in, too. Jaime Rosandick, who is married to our video producer Jim, usually enjoys family time in the kitchen for Mother's Day.

"I usually ask my teen to find a recipe they'd like to make (or) bake with me," she said. "My gift is the ingredients for it, and the uninterrupted time in the kitchen with a great kid. Bonus, I'm teaching them the tricks of the kitchen at the same time."

Some want quality time with their mothers, too. After all, its their day as well.

Time to stop

This response from Nicole Basten, a Green Bay mom of a 2-year-old, might make you tear up a little: More time. Our kids grow so fast, she said.

Unfortunately, we can't turn back the clock. That's why Green Bay's Tina Ramirez, whose children are now adults, wants a day with all of them under the same roof.

As an empty nester, Id like a day with my kids. All of them. Just hanging out and laughing. I miss those simpler days," she said.

When in doubt, just ask!

We hope this list gives you some fresh ideas, but you can never go wrong with asking your favorite mother what shed like, said Kaukauna mom Kelly Dopson. That way, you know you will nail it this Mothers Day. To her 8 year-old: take note!

Madison Lammert covers child care and early education across Wisconsin as a Report for America corps member based at The Appleton Post-Crescent. To contact her, email mlammert@gannett.com or call 920-993-7108. Please consider supporting journalism that informs our democracy with a tax-deductible gift to Report for America by visiting postcrescent.com/RFA

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Here's what Wisconsin moms actually want for Mother's Day
How to win friends and influence people? Bring them to The Drake | Review

You dont win friends with salad, the saying goes.

But the salads at The Drake are likely to win chef/owners Heberto and Rona Segura as many friends as their hand-cut frites, about which I have waxed poetic  arguably to the point of prosaic  for years. And so, back to the greens. For now.

Most of what youll find in these gorgeous seasonal bowls was grown in and around the city. 4Roots Farm. Everoak. Others. And theyve been a nice departure for this 2021 Best Food Truck winner in the Sentinels Foodie Awards, which finally has the room to play in a space that the tiny Duck & Drake Kitchen trailer, even with the supernaturally skilled chefs in its kitchen, couldnt manage.

Duck & Drake Kitchen is killing it in College Park

The truck is still cozy, by the way, serving the best-ever wine bar mop-up food from its permanent parking spot outside of Digress Wine in College Park. Balancing time between that and The Drake (a concept Segura told me theyd been planning for back in 2021) has been challenging  like so many other operators, theyve struggled with staffing  but rewarding.

Its going fantastic over here! he told me of their new downtown enclave with its winding shape and warm, contemporary feel. Everyones loving the space, the menu options have been well received. People in this neighborhood have told us theyve been looking for something unique, and we feel like weve been filling the niche.

And expanding the culinary footprint.

Longtime Duck & Drake fans will recognize plenty  terrines, charcuterie, Wagyu sliders, those fries  but here, the repertoire expands.

Comforting Prime Beef meatballs ($15) steeped in earthy mushroom confit and a rich foie gras emulsion, heady with spices  cardamom, anise. Its a Segura-level departure from the expected red-sauce offering, served with lightly grilled slices of the spectacular house-baked sourdough youll find elsewhere on the menu.

On the other end of the app spectrum, bright Gulf Coast cobia ($19), simply cured with citrus-scented salt, rests in a light and lovely mignonette thats a tomato-y take on leche de tigre. Locally grown rainbow radishes and fennel round out the fresh catch, while Seguras Caribbean roots show up in the form of thin, crisp plantain chips.

Shareable is the order of the house, though my lunch companion would have kept the Broken Egg to himself if given the choice. This ones on both lunch and dinner menus ($18) and if I have to give you a dont miss, this ones it.

The prize on your fries: Up your ketchup game with fun artisan versions

Get your pics when the thing hits the table  a composed plate featuring crisp, hot papas bravas in a gorgeous pool of Calabrian chili brava sauce and a pile of thin-sliced Lady Edison ham from North Carolina. Topped with a beautifully fried duck egg, its a composition that begs to be destroyed. Mix it!

Thats exactly what we want you to do, says Segura. Stir it up!

Get some of each element, the ham, the yolk the sauce. The aioli will communicate on spiritual levels with your garlic-loving soul, I promise.

These are heavier offerings, admittedly, which is why those salads are so thrilling.

Available now, the Spring Fling salad (a steal for $12, if you ask me) sits on a foundation of pea-studded quinoa thats piled high with beautiful greens and bits of broccolini, baby heirloom tomatoes and thin-sliced radish. Pickled cherries amid the grains are borderline hedonistic in this mix, a luscious kiss of sweet acidity to counter the richness of a chickpea-based green goddess dressing. Its got balance. Texture. Everything.

The downtown location, says Segura, sees the lunch crowd looking for lighter options before they head back to work, but were definitely going to push the envelope.

I wont talk up the winter salad too much, but it brought the same game. Caramelized pepitas were a standout feature. And while my lunch pal absconded with 95 percent of our leftovers, I packed the last bit of the Spring salad into a box. Unbelievably, it was as good, maybe better, the next day.

You wont have the same option with the chocolate budino ($12). This decadent, double chocolate cream is among the new gems from Rona Seguras mighty treasure chest of pastry prowess.

Lightly spiced, accented with a dollop of buttery-perfect hot coffee caramel, its a spoonable mocha. Sumptuous. Sexy.

Rona has her ways, her husband tells me. Shes very passionate about what she does.

It shows up in the bread, too, also Ronas realm. Pizza crust. Bruschetta-like slices. The ciabattino on which the toasted mortadella panino ($18), a lunchtime goodie, is served. Alongside the rich meat and mozz combo, another tiny salad, lemony and bright, cuts the fat like an assassins stiletto.

Soon, says Segura, Sunday suppers will allow diners to enjoy four courses of comfortable, cozy, family-style dining for one price (between $50-65 per person, depending on ingredients and dishes, he tells me). Id opt in for sure. Be on the lookout for a killer Industry Night, as well.

Were kicking around ideas, but were really excited, he tells me. Our goal has always been to do something a little different, and we feel like with how great Orlandos culinary scene is going, it deserves a hospitality night thats on that level, too.

Id be interested to see what can top the $6 Happy Hour pricing on the citys best frites (usually $10). Enduringly crisp with a creamy center, these double-fried delights are, in a word, perfect.

If the salad here wins friends, the fries are powerful enough to influence people. Mostly to eat more fries  but amid the decadent and beautifully executed options here, its a potent statement.

Find me on Facebook, TikTok, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com, For more foodie fun, join the Lets Eat, Orlando Facebook group.

If you go

The Drake Kitchen + Bar: 361 N. Rosalind Ave. in Orlando, 407-776-3333; thedrakeorl.com
Witness spring migration or learn about mushrooms this weekend with these Indiana events

Spring bird migration is in full swing during the first weekend in May, and there are plenty of experiences around Indiana to enjoy the avian migrants.

There are also volunteer opportunities, guided hikes and all-day events this weekend to learn about the state's flora and fauna as you explore Indiana's natural areas.

Rain will hit the state Friday, but Saturday is expected to have a lower chance of showers with highs around 78 degrees. So get out in Indiana this weekend.

Paint flowers or birdwatch on Friday, May 3

Birds on Display, 12 p.m. at Hardy Lake in Scottsburg: Live Birds of Prey on display near the front office.

Wildflower Colors, 2 p.m. at Potato Creek State Park in North Liberty: Come to the Nature Center to create a watercolor painting of native flowers. This program is best for ages 8 and up.

Wildflower Watercolors, 2 p.m. at McCormick's Creek State Park in Spencer: Join Naturalist Jessica at the Nature Center to create a watercolor painting of native flowers that are here today but gone tomorrow. This program is best for ages 8 and up.

Indy events this weekend: Explore the city with these IndyStar ideas

Eagle Creek Ornithology Center Manager Will Schaust looks for birds at Eagle Creek Park, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2019.

Celebrate spring birds or learn about mushrooms on Saturday, May 4

Indiana Audubons annual Spring Gathering, 7 a.m.  4:30 p.m. at Mary Gray Bird Sanctuary in Connersville: Celebrate the peak of spring migration with a day full of guided hikes and workshops. Indiana Audubon members will receive a 50% discount on the $10 event. Visit bit.ly/springgathering24 for more information.

Dunes-Calumet Audubon Bird Walk, 8 a.m. at Indiana Dunes State Park: Join trip leader Dan Barriball for a peak migration special extended bird walk. The group will leave from the Wilson Shelter lot at 8:00 am and head out on Trail 2 and down the Trail 2 boardwalk. We will return to Wilson Shelter on Trail 10. The walk will be 3 miles long through mostly flat terrain and it will last until the early afternoon. Registration required: eventbrite.com/e/may-special-extended-spring-migration-bird-walk-tickets-859259928577

Guided Hike, 9 a.m. at Patoka Lake in Birdseye: Meet at the Nature Center then Hike Trail 4 with the naturalist to learn a little about Patokas natural resources.

Hoosier Quest Pin Challenge, 9 a.m. at Chain O'Lakes State Park in Albion: Complete the self-guided interpretive trail (Trail 8) Hike one of our 12 beautiful trails or paddle on one of the 9 connected lakes Volunteer for one hour picking up trash along the shore or trail or pull some invasive species. Visit the Stanley Schoolhouse and read the interpretive sign outside by the bell. Visit Park Headquarters to tell us about your adventure and collect a pin.

Guided hike, 9:30 a.m. at Moraine Nature Preserve, Porter County: Join Indiana DNR Division of Nature Preserves and partner Old Growth Forest Network for a free guided hike. Registration is limited to 25 hikers.

Introduction to Wild Mushroom Workshop, 1 p.m. at Salamonie Lake in Andrews: Jake Wyatt will present an introductory workshop on properly identifying edible and toxic wild mushrooms. No mushrooms will be picked or consumed during the workshop. Cost is $7 per person, payable by cash or check the day of the workshop. Advance registration is requested by calling 260-468-2127. Space is limited.

Salamander Saturday (Hellbender) Program, 1 p.m. at Falls of the Ohio State Park in Clarksville: Come and learn about this amazing aquatic animal, what makes it special, and what you can do to keep its habitat clean. This hands-on program will cover its adaptations, how water pollution affects it, and how amphibians have changed over geological time using a life-size model of Ichthyostega, the oldest amphibian in the fossil record.

Buy native plants and remove invasives on Sunday, May 5

Sunday Morning Bird Walk, 8 a.m. at Fort Harrison State Park in Indianapolis: Sunday Morning Bird Walks are back for spring migration. Bring binoculars, water and appropriate footwear for a two-hour walk. Meet at the northeast corner of Delaware Lake parking lot. Walk starts promptly at 8 a.m.

Backyard Birdwatching, 10 a.m. at Clifty Falls State Park in Madison: Come to the Nature Center to see what birds visit the parks feeders. Park experts will help identify what you see and share tips and tricks with you for creating your own backyard bird watching habitat at home during this 30-minute program.

Native Plant Sale, 11 a.m. at Mississinewa Lake in Peru: Meet at Mississinewa Lakes beach parking lot. Take this opportunity to speak to UWIN experts about tips on landscaping your space with natives, and purchase from a wide native plant selection.

UWIN (Upper Wabash Invasives Network) Weed Wrangle, 1 p.m. at Mississinewa Lake in Peru: Volunteers will receive hands-on practice while helping to combat and remove invasive plant species along a designated area at the beach. Call to register, work 1-2 p.m., and receive a UWIN t-shirt. 260-468-2127.

Recycle Romp with Mike, 3 p.m. at Falls of the Ohio State Park in Clarksville: Join Mike Gibson and walk the riverbank looking for debris brought to the park by the river to be used in future art programs. There will be an artist brainstorming session and the idea to develop ideas you can make at home.

Karl Schneider is an IndyStar environment reporter. You can reach him at karl.schneider@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @karlstartswithk

IndyStar's environmental reporting project is made possible through the generous support of the nonprofit Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana's spring migration is here. Get out and enjoy these events
1 dead, 2 fighting for life after overnight shooting in Kansas City, Kansas

KANSAS CITY, Kan.  Kansas City, Kansas, police are investigating a deadly shooting that happened overnight in KCK.

It happened around 17th and Cleveland. Police have been at the scene since shortly before 1 a.m. Thursday, when they took a call about a reported shooting.

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When officers arrived at the scene, they found two men who had been shot; both were taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.

A third man was also found near a house, he was pronounced dead. Hes been identified as 46-year-old Javier Benitez.

KCKs major case unit is working on the homicide investigation within the area, which is taped off with police tape.

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At this time, there is no word on what led up to this shooting.

Police are asking if anyone has information to please call the Crime Stoppers Tips Hotline at 816-474-TIPS.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
Samuel McCurdy had been living at Complete Care at Laurelton, a nursing home in Brick, for less than two years in July 2022 when, according to a lawsuit, he was found to have pressure injuries on his backside and multiple maggot-infested wounds.

The Toms River resident was taken to Ocean University Medical Center in Brick and treated, but the incident left him with severe physical and mental anguish, according to the lawsuit, filed against the nursing home and its owner in February.

The lawsuit said the injury could have been avoided if the nursing home had enough nurses. Instead, it said, Complete Care "knowingly established staffing levels that created recklessly high resident-to-staff ratios."

Complete Care at Laurelton is one of 10 Shore-area nursing homes that have been fined by the New Jersey Department of Health in recent months for failing to meet staffing requirements that were enacted four years ago in a bid to keep patients safe.

Exterior of Complete Care at Laurelton in Brick, NJ Thursday, March 21, 2024.

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The penalties total $676,000 and represent hundreds of days over at least three years that regulators found shortages, an Asbury Park Press analysis found. And the fines have been rolling in as the facilities sift through federal staffing rules that were introduced last week by the Biden administration.

Industry officials are conceding defeat, saying they have raised wages and offered hiring bonuses, but the labor pool for certified nursing assistants at the center of the mandate simply doesn't exist.

'Staffing is everything'

But patient advocates are skeptical, noting nonprofit and independent, family-owned nursing homes are having more success. They are renewing their call on state lawmakers to require operators to be more transparent with how much of their Medicaid reimbursements are going towards patient care.

"Staffing is everything in long-term care," said Laurie Brewer, long-term care ombudsman with the state Department of Health. "You need staff that are well-paid, dedicated and treated fairly in the workplace. That's not always the case in, primarily, for-profit nursing homes."

Complete Care said in an email it couldn't discuss the specifics of McCurdy's lawsuit due to privacy rules. "We are contesting these allegations vigorously," a spokesperson said. "Each Complete Care resident is provided with high quality care and is treated with dignity."

But patient advocates say understaffing puts residents at risk and opens nursing homes to lawsuits.

Crystal Lake Healthcare and Rehabilitation in Berkeley in February was assessed a penalty of $177,000 for staffing deficiencies dating to 2021, the Health Department said.

The Crystal Lake Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Berkeley Township is shown Thursday, August 1, 2019.

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The 235-bed facility and PBV Herman Holdings LLC, which has owned the business since 2021, were named in a lawsuit filed last week in state Superior Court, Ocean County, on behalf of Frank Lattore, a patient there in 2022 and 2023.

During his stay, the lawsuit said, Lattore was assaulted, developed pressure wounds and suffered a fall that resulted in a fractured right leg.

The nursing home failed to meet required applicable regulations and allocate sufficient resources to care for Lattore, the lawsuit said.

Crystal Lake officials didn't respond to a request for comment.

Crystal Lake on its website is advertising for a certified nursing assistant with wages ranging from $16 to $25 an hour, along with a $1,500 signing bonus. Among the qualification and requirements: knowledge of relevant nursing care; friendly and professional bedside manner; current CPR certification; multitasking skills; effective oral, written and reading communication skills; and an understanding of legal implications of patient care.

New Jersey set minimum staffing ratios in October 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic swept through nursing homes, eventually killing more than 9,000 residents, accounting for a quarter of the state's COVID deaths.

The rules call for long-term care facilities to provide: one certified nurse assistant for every eight residents during the day; one direct care staff member for every 10 residents during the evening; and one direct care staff member for ever 14 residents at night.

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Ramped-up enforcement

The New Jersey Health Department tracks staffing levels when it is recertifying nursing homes or investigating complaints. It can fine facilities $1,000 per day when it finds multiple deficiencies that are direct risks to a patient's physical or mental health or a violation of residents' rights.

The department appears to have ramped up its enforcement. The Asbury Park Press identified 63 nursing homes in Monmouth and Ocean counites. Of those, nearly 16% have been assessed penalties by the state for understaffing.

Exterior of Complete Care at Bayshore in Holmdel, NJ Thursday, March 21, 2024.

Among them is Complete Care, a privately owned company based in Toms River that operates 43 nursing homes statewide, including 13 in Monmouth and Ocean counties. Its footprint grew two years ago after it acquired eight nursing homes from nonprofit Hackensack Meridian Health.

The past two years, Complete Care has been assessed a total of $193,000 in penalties at four facilities in Monmouth and Ocean counties for staffing shortages, according to the New Jersey Department of Health.

In at least four of the five Monmouth and Ocean County facilities formerly operated by Hackensack Meridian, Complete Care's nursing staff has rapidly left, pushing the turnover rate higher than the statewide average of 47.7%.

In Wall, the total nursing staff turnover rate during the past year has been 82.9%. In Shrewsbury, the turnover rate has been 81.5%. In Holmdel, 75.5%. In Ocean Grove, 69.2%, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The turnover rate for Complete Care at Brick wasn't publicly available.

Complete Care said the state's staffing requirements are unreasonable. In a statement to the Asbury Park Press, it noted New Jersey's senior population is the fastest-growing demographic, while the population of caregivers ages 45 to 64 is shrinking.

It said its turnover rate was high at its new facilities because Hackensack Meridian relied heavily on temporary nurses from employment agencies, which detracts from patient care. Since taking over, Complete Care has been working to transition to permanent, in-house staffing and has seen the turnover rate improve, the company said.

Complete Care said it has been working with schools to recruit employees. And a wage increase took effect throughout its southern New Jersey region on May 1.

Patient care and safety is paramount to Complete Care, and we ensure that all our nursing homes are well staffed," the company said in an email. "Fines have been levied against nursing homes throughout the state, which Complete Care along with others are contesting.

Exterior of Complete Care at Bayshore in Holmdel, NJ Thursday, March 21, 2024.

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'They can't find enough people'

New Jersey is trying to incentivize nursing homes to hire more staff. Gov. Phil Murphy's budget proposal would provide bonuses to nursing homes treating residents covered by the state's Medicaid program, NJ FamilyCare, based on metrics that include total nurse staffing hours and nurse staffing retention, the Department of Human Services said Tuesday.

The proposal would need to be approved by the Legislature.

More staffing requirements, however, are on the way. The Biden administration last week finalized new rules in part requiring nursing homes to provide at least 3.48 hours of nursing care per resident day. An Asbury Park Press review of federal data found just 20% Monmouth and Ocean County nursing homes meet that standard.

Industry officials said they are studying the impact of the latest staffing requirements. But they say the standards are virtually impossible to satisfy.

Problem in hospitals too: Unions say NJ must force hospitals to hire more nurses, or more will keep quitting

Almost every nursing home is hiring. About 90% of nursing homes have increased wages in the past six months. Some 78% offer signing bonuses. But they can't find enough candidates who are either qualified or interested, according to a recent survey by the American Health Care Association, a trade group.

Meanwhile, 45% of nursing homes said they are operating at a financial loss, the survey found.

"Nursing homes can't comply with the ratios," said Andrew Aronson, president and chief executive officer of the Health Care Association of New Jersey, a trade group. "No matter what efforts the homes are making to hire  they're offering hiring bonuses, they've raised wages significantly, offered different benefit packages  they can't find enough people to fill the slots."

Being a certified nurse's aide isn't for the faint of heart. The job has an average wage ranging from $19.83 an hour in southern New Jersey to $22.81 an hour in northern New Jersey, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, for work that can involve caring for patients who are coping with dementia or are susceptible to falls.

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Nonprofits doing better

But advocates and researchers say staffing levels have suffered as New Jersey has seen a shift from nonprofit operators to for-profit operators.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services tracks nursing home staffing levels and turnover and rates them on a scale of one star (much below average) to five stars (much above average).

Resident Helen Walsh with staff nurse Joanna Jacobs L.P.N. New Jersey nursing homes are struggling to hire enough workers to meet the state's minimum staffing ratios. But Sunnyside Manor has bucked the tide, becoming the only privately owned long-term care facility at the Shore to receive the top rating from Medicare. Wall, NJ Wednesday, April 24, 2024

In Monmouth and Ocean counties, 87.5% of its eight nonprofit operators had a staffing level that received at least four stars from Medicare. By comparison, 10.9% of its 55 for-profit operators received a similar score, an Asbury Park Press analysis found.

"The nonprofit nursing homes do tend to have higher staffing levels than the for-profit nursing homes, and they also tend to have higher quality of care," said Dr. Rachel Werner, executive director of the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics and the University of Pennsylvania. "Some of that is simply because they have higher staffing levels."

Not that privately owned nursing homes can't meet the standards.

Sunnyside Manor, a for-profit long-term care facility in Wall, has five stars from Medicare. Its nursing staff spends 4 hours per resident a day, well above the new federal requirements. And its turnover rate is 21.4%, far below the statewide average, data shows.

MaryEllen Keane, the second-generation owner, said she has tried to combat the tight labor market by ensuring annual raises for her staff and fostering a collegial workplace with the help of a core group that has been with the company for decades.

If Keane sees that the facility won't meet the state's regulations, she said, she will turn away patients to make sure residents have appropriate care. Last week, for example, Sunnyside had 48 patients, even though it had 60 long-term-care beds.

"It is very hard to attract new talent; that's 100% true," Keane said. "Where I'm fortunate is I've kept my base staff. They're a real family. Every person that works for me, I know, they've had challenges over the years. But I say, 'All right, you're having a challenge, how do we get through this?' We've all learned to support each other."

MaryEllen Keane, second generation owner of the facility, is grateful for the success of the facility. New Jersey nursing homes are struggling to hire enough workers to meet the state's minimum staffing ratios. But Sunnyside Manor has bucked the tide, becoming the only privately owned long-term care facility at the Shore to receive the top rating from Medicare. Wall, NJ Wednesday, April 24, 2024

The persistent staffing shortage has caused advocates to urge the state to require nursing home operators to disclose more financial information to ensure a fair share of revenue is going for patient care.

A bill introduced last year in Trenton requiring operators to provide audited financial statements failed to pass. Aronson said nursing home operators already provide financial reports to regulators and noted the proposal to require audited statements would be another expensive burden.

Advocates disagree and wonder how much nursing homes spend on related-party transactions, or other companies that the operators also own.

We dont know if they are losing money," Ernest Tosh, an attorney specializing in nursing homes, said during a webcast with the New Jersey Long-Term Care Ombudsman's Office. "We keep as a society throwing money at nursing homes expecting the care to get better, and it does not. We expect staffing ratios to go up. They do not. Wheres the money going? We dont know.

Understaffed nursing homes face fines

Ten nursing homes in Monmouth and Ocean counties were assessed penalties by the state for understaffing. They are:

AristaCare at Whiting in Manchester was fined $70,000 in April 2024.

Excel Care at Manalapan was fined $94,000 in March 2024.

Complete Care at Laurelton in Brick was fined $64,000 in March 2024.

Crystal Lake Healthcare and Rehabilitation in Berkeley was fined $177,000 in February 2024.

Complete Care at Green Acres in Toms River was fined $96,000 in February 2024.

CareOne at Wall was fined $96,000 in January 2024.

Coral Harbor Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center in Neptune was fined $28,000 in December 2023. Coral Harbor officials said they disputed the findings and are working with the state Health Department to clear up the situation. "The well-documented, industry-wide skilled nursing staffing shortage has made it increasingly difficult to hire talent  despite the allocation of ample financial resources and persistent, elevated recruiting efforts. To that end, our efforts are bearing fruit," Carolyn Zeh, Coral Harbor's administrator, said, noting that Medicare has recently raised its rating on the nursing home's staffing levels.

Complete Care at Bayshore in Holmdel was fined $18,000 in November 2023.

Complete Care at Bey Lea in Toms River was fined $14,000 in September 2023 for staffing violations found in April and May 2023.

Complete Care at Brick was fined $19,000 in September 2023 for staffing violations found in June and August 2023.

The operators can challenge the survey's findings and request a hearing with the Office of Administrative Law. Crest Haven paid the fine, while CareOne at Wall paid the fine but is requesting a hearing, the Health Department said.

Coral Harbor officials said they disputed the findings and are working with the state Health Department to clear up the situation.

"The well-documented, industry-wide skilled nursing staffing shortage has made it increasingly difficult to hire talent  despite the allocation of ample financial resources and persistent, elevated recruiting efforts. To that end, our efforts are bearing fruit," Carolyn Zeh, Coral Harbor's administrator, said, noting that Medicare has recently raised its rating on the nursing home's staffing levels.

Michael L. Diamond is a business reporter who has been writing about the New Jersey economy and health care industry for more than 20 years. He can be reached at mdiamond@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Monmouth, Ocean nursing home staff shortages result in $676K NJ fines
Former world heavyweight champion Grigory Drozd expressed confidence that George Kambosos (21-2, 10 KOs) will put up a fight and create problems for Vasyl Lomachenko (17-3, 11 KOs) in their May 12 fight. The former Russian boxer urged not to write off the Australian.

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Drozd said this in an interview with the propaganda TV channel Match TV. According to him, Cambosos will be able to compete with Lomachenko, as he will probably be in good shape for the fight in front of his home fans, while the Ukrainian will be hampered by his age.

"We haven't seen Vasia Lomachenko in action for a long time. Time does not stand still. If Kambosos gets his head on straight and he's in good shape, and Lomachenko will be in good shape... Kambosos will be able to compete, and quite well. I would not write Cambosos off. I think we will have a very competitive fight," Drozd said.

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As a reminder, the Lomachenko-Kambosos fight will take place in Perth. Last week it became known that Ukraine refused to broadcast the fight. Fans were told where to watch the fight in this case.

Earlier, Cambosos shared his expectations for the fight with Lomachenko, promising to knock the Ukrainian's head off. Vasyl and George were supposed to fight in the summer of 2022, but the Ukrainian refused because Russia attacked Ukraine. At the same time, the Australian recently got into a scandal by inviting a Russian boxer who supports the war to his camp to prepare for the fight.

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After it became known that Vasyl and George were going to fight, the Ukrainian was excluded from several world rankings. Lomachenko himself came to the meeting with Ukrainians in Perth wearing a T-shirt with a picture of a dove of peace.

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
A year after the United Methodist Church underwent a major upheaval, the church made another major change on Wednesday by approving the ordination of openly gay ministers.

At the churchs General Conference in Charlotte, Methodists voted overwhelmingly to remove a 40-year-old prohibition on self-avowed practicing homosexuals serving as clergy, CNN reported.

At the same time, the vote removed a decades-old prohibition on United Methodist ministers performing same-sex weddings.

The motion to allow gay clergy passed the conference overwhelmingly, by a vote of 692-51. But the move comes after a series of events in recent years that saw many of the denominations more conservative congregations leave the UMC to either become independent churches or join competing Methodist denominations. Churches in South Carolina have not been immune to those shifts.

I know that some of you are celebrating, some are mourning, and some are uncertain and frightened about what the future holds  for the denomination, for your local church, and perhaps even for yourselves as followers of Jesus Christ, Bishop Jonathan Holston of the S.C. United Methodist Conference said in a statement after Wednesdays vote.

But the mission of The United Methodist Church has not changed, Holston said. The mission of the church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world by proclaiming the good news of Gods grace and by exemplifying Jesus command to love God and neighbor, seeking the fulfillment of Gods reign and realm in the world.

Today, I am asking you to remember that we are still one church, one Body of Christ, Holston said.

Last June, the state conference of South Carolina United Methodists voted to accept the closure of 113 churches in the Palmetto State, allowing those congregations that had voted for it to leave the denomination over doctrinal and administrative differences, including perceived moves to make the church more welcoming to LGBTQ+ people. The departing churches represented about 12% of South Carolina UMC churches at the time.

Even before this weeks votes by the national governing conference of the denomination, more conservative Methodists said church leaders were moving away from traditional interpretations of the Bibles teachings on sexuality. United Methodist churches elsewhere had already chosen openly gay pastors, including a bishop in one jurisdiction, and made other moves to accommodate LGBTQ+ worshipers even with the former prohibitions in the church rulebook.

We believe in celibacy in singleness and fidelity in marriage, with marriage being defined between a man and woman, Lexingtons Mt. Horeb Church said in a 2023 separation guide posted to its website, ahead of a congregation vote on leaving the UMC. Mt. Horeb relies on the Scriptures and what orthodox Christians have always believed about God to guide all matters of human relations, including sexual ethics.

Mt. Horeb, which was one of the largest United Methodist churches in the state and which counts former Gov. Nikki Haley among its 5,000 members, ultimately voted overwhelmingly to leave the UMC and joined the Global Methodist Church in August.

Wednesdays vote follows the departure of more than 7,600 American congregations  one-quarter of all UMC congregations in the U.S., the Associated Press reports.

Others have stuck with the United Methodists through all the changes. The Rev. Tiffany Knowlin Boykin is pastor of Wesley Church on Gervais Street in Columbia. She stressed that Wednesdays decision still leaves local churches and pastors with the final say on how they want to handle clergy and weddings in their own sanctuaries.

There is still a lot of diversity in our church, Knowlin Boykin said. This vote is very progressive, but not everybody who stayed is progressive. There are a lot of moderate people and a lot of more traditional people who stayed in the church.

The majority even in my church would be grateful that this harmful language has been removed, but I cant say theyre all ready for a same-sex ceremony, she said. Im grateful people can evolve and change and mature, and Im grateful we now have the option.

The split within the UMC is similar to those in other major Protestant churches in recent years that have faced internal struggles over whether and how to welcome LGBTQ+ people into the church. As some churches have named openly LGBTQ+ clergy or blessed same-sex marriages, other believers have peeled away from established denominations they feel no longer share their values.

The United Methodist Church started a years-long process of conscious separation in 2019, allowing individual congregations to debate and vote on their affiliation with the church and then allowing them to disaffiliate following a settling of accounts with the denomination.

Those departures, however, cleared the way for the remaining United Methodist churches to move in a more progressive direction on sexual orientation and identity at this weeks general conference.

The Rev. Susan Leonard pastors Bethel United Methodist Church in Charleston. She said the previous policy had only served to limit the circle of people who could come to worship in the Methodist church.

Todays vote, made by a delegation of worldwide United Methodists, which passed by 93%, moved to widen the circle. That is good news to me and to many in the church, Leonard said.

That does not mean in every local United Methodist church, everyone believes the same way or sees life the same way or experiences life the same way. But the centerpoint of Christ allows us to hold our differing points of view, she said. We already hold differing perspectives on many social issues, and we still stand together to sing (the hymn) Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee.

The move does not explicitly affirm LGBTQ+ clergy moving forward, and many UMC denominations outside the United States, including in more conservative areas, will have their own discretion in naming clergy. But Wednesdays move still marks a monumental shift in relations between mainline American Christianity and the LGBTQ+ community.

The circle is so wide, said Knowlin Boykin, that the General Conference also approved a method for departing churches to one day rejoin the United Methodists if they see more advantages and kinship with the larger denomination.

Thats a hopeful thing, the pastor said.
These 11 South Jersey sites are part of the New Jersey Black Heritage Trail

South Jersey has 11 of the 32 sites chosen by the New Jersey Historical Commission to receive historical markers for the New Jersey Black Heritage Trail in the first round of selections.

Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law on Sept. 7, 2022, the New Jersey Black Heritage Trail legislation which calls for the NJHC to establish a Black Heritage Trail that will highlight Black heritage sites through historical markers and a trail-like path that connects the stories of Black life and resiliency.

The Black Heritage Trail will serve an important role in connecting our states residents and visitors with the complex histories of African Americans in New Jersey, said Lieutenant Governor Tahesha Way in a press release. We have a responsibility to make all of our histories visible, and I am proud to oversee the New Jersey Historical Commission and its work uplifting these aspects of the American story.

In March, the NJHC Black Heritage Trail team received more than 60 responses to their first call for nominations. The 32 sites ultimately selected had to pass eligibility and historical accuracy reviews before being brought before the NJHC at its public meeting on April 19. The recommended sites were approved in a unanimous decision.

Three of four signs explain the history of the cemetery of Buffalo Soldiers in historic Timbuctoo in Westampton.

The bill allocated $1 million in taxpayer funds to support the project.

What are the sites in South Jersey for the inaugural markers?

Signed on the dotted line South Jersey lawmaker's proposal for Black Heritage Trail signed into law

The sites selected in South Jersey include:

Chicken Bone Beach in Atlantic City

The historic African American borough of Lawnside

Bethlehem A.M.E. Church, Rev. Jeremiah Pierce and a civil rights milestone, Burlington

Historic Timbuctoo, Westampton Township

The Point, Haddonfield

Dr. James Still Office, Medford

Rev. Alexander Heritage Newton, Camden (former site of his home)

Kaighn Avenue Baptist Church, Camden

Bivalve, Shellpile & Maurice River, Port Norris

Macedonia Baptist Church of Cape May New Jersey/Harriet Tubman Museum of New Jersey, Cape May

Franklin Street School, Cape May

We are thrilled Lawnside's special significance as the state's first incorporated Black municipality will be recognized as part of the Trail, said Linda Shockley, president of the Lawnside Historical Society. The historical society applauds the commission and the history community for honoring this small borough in this way.

Linda Shockley, President of the Lawnside Historical Society, reads "The Underground Railroad by William Still" at The Peter Mott House Underground Railroad Museum in Camden County, N.J. May 19, 2021.

I am absolutely elated that we will join these compelling organizations in this innovative effort to promote this important local history in our region, said Guy Weston, who manages the Timbuctoo Historical Society (THS).

Weston said he incorporated the historical society in 2019 to preserve, promulgate, and protect the community where his ancestors settled in 1829. He hopes installation of Timbuctoos historic marker can coincide with another historic sign that will commemorate early 20th century pioneers, tentatively scheduled for late summer, he said.

Guy Weston talks about Timbuctoo, a Burlington County community founded by formerly enslaved and freeborn Black people.

This is the first round for sites for the New Jersey Black Heritage Trail

The NJHC said markers will be placed at sites across the state with 15 counties receiving at least one marker in the initial round. To help visitors navigate the trail, the NJHC will work closely with the Division of Travel and Tourism.

South Jersey played a pivotal role South Jersey had multiple stops on the Underground Railroad. Where are they?

The markers will feature QR codes that will lead visitors to more information about the site, offerings from the NJHC, and programming from the sites themselves.

Our goal is to showcase the many contributions of Black Americans to more than 300 years of New Jersey history, explained Sara Cureton, Executive Director of the NJHC.

This is the just the beginning for the New Jersey Black Heritage Trail, said Director of the NJHC African American History Program Noelle Lorraine Williams. We plan to hold nomination rounds on a regular basis for the foreseeable future. Sites that were not selected in this round will have the opportunity to work with us to strengthen their nominations and resubmit.

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This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Which South Jersey sites are on a New Jersey Black Heritage Trail?
13-year-old boy killed in barrage of gunfire at 2 a.m., Texas cops say. Three charged

Three men were arrested in connection with the shooting death of a 13-year-old boy, Texas police said.

Tristian Phelps was fatally shot around 2 a.m. on April 28, Marshall police said. A distressing 911 call to police reported 20 to 30 shots were fired before a vehicle sped away, police said in an Facebook post.

It is believed that this incident stemmed from an earlier confrontation, police said. Authorities did not share if the teen was involved.

Phelps was taken to the hospital and died later that day, according to police.

Three men were arrested in connection with Phelps killing, police announced on May 1.

Donyan Dillard, 35, Devan Hurd, 22, and Jaquavious Robinson, 21, were charged with murder, police said. The three men are held in Harrison County Jail.

While our investigation continues and we make further progress, we remain grateful for the assistance provided by the community, police said in a Facebook post. Your cooperation has been invaluable and continues to be crucial.

Phelps was a student at Marshall Junior High School.

Tristian will be greatly missed by his peers and teachers, the district said in a Facebook post.

Marshall is about a 150-mile drive east of Dallas.

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17-year-old killed by friend while on a walk, Texas cops say. We knew him for years

A male juvenile has been arrested in connection with the death of 17-year-old Kaitlin Hernandez, Texas police said.

San Antonio police said he was the last person to be seen with her before she was found dead.

We knew him for years, Hernandezs aunt, Crystal Rodriguez, said at a news conference recorded by KSAT.  ... Were all traumatized.

Hernandezs body was found in a drainage ditch under a bridge after she was reported missing March 12, police said.

She had gone on a walk with her friend that night, police said.

She was only supposed to go out for 30 minutes, Hernandezs grandmother told KSAT.  ... When those 30 minutes were up, I got worried. I knew something was wrong.

The teens body showed signs of strangulation and a possible sexual assault, police said.

The family told KSAT Hernandez knew the suspect for about two or three years, but he showed no concerning behaviors before her death.

The suspect was interviewed shortly after Hernandezs body was found, but police said there was not enough evidence to charge him at the time.

DNA was taken from Hernandez body and her friend, then it was sent to the Bexar County Crime Lab, police said.

Results indicated the suspect could not be excluded as a suspect in the sexual assault and murder of the victim, according to police.

He has been taken into custody and an investigation is ongoing, police said. Authorities are not releasing his name because he is under the age of 18.

In our mind and in our hearts, we felt it, Rodriguez said. It was just a matter of the evidence.

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18-year-old driver dead after being hit by semi-truck while turning into school in Sugar Grove

18-year-old driver dead after being hit by semi-truck while turning into school in Sugar Grove

SUGAR GROVE, Ill.  An 18-year-old woman was killed Tuesday after they were hit by a semi-truck while turning into a school in Sugar Grove, according to police.

The crash happened around 9 a.m. Tuesday near Route 47 and Waubonsee Drive.

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In a news release, police said the 18-year-old was southbound on Route 47 and turning into Waubonsee Community College when they were hit by a semi-truck driver, 42, of Morrisville, Pennsylvania.

The semi-truck driver was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The woman who died as been identified as Emma Grzesik, of Maple Park by the Kane County Coroners Office. Her cause of death has been ruled multiple injuries due to a motor vehicle collision.

The crash is still under investigation and anyone with information is asked to call police at 630-391-7250.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV.
As 2 affordable-housing complexes open in Lakeland, more than 1,700 are on a waiting list

Tampa Bay-based developer Blue Sky Communities held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a supportive-housing community, Swan Lake Village, and affordable-housing community, Swan Landing, in North Lakeland on April 25. There's already a 1,700-application waiting list.

LAKELAND  The demand for apartments in Lakeland's newest affordable housing development, Swan Landing, shows need is still outpacing available units.

Lakeland officials gathered with Tampa Bay-based developer Blue Sky Communities on April 25 to celebrate the opening of Swan Landing and Swan Lake Village off Griffin Road in North Lakeland.

There are approximately 1,700 applications on a waiting list from individuals looking to live in one of the units, according to Scott Eller, CEO of CASL, who has partnered with Blue Sky and helps manage the leasing of the two developments. That's nearly 10 times the number of available units.

"Blue Sky and CASL will continue to build," Eller said.

Swan Lake Village is an 84-unit affordable housing complex whose construction was completed in early 2023. The development includes 42 units of permanently supportive housing for people with disabling conditions, along with onsite counseling and support services provide through CASL. Swan Lake Village units are for families making 40% to 60% of the median income, or roughly $25,000 to $30,000 for a single individual and $35,700 to $42,840 for a family of four based on U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's 2023 figures. The rents, based on each resident's income, range from $572 to $1,032 a month.

Blue Sky has started moving residents into Swan Landing, an 88-unit affordable housing complex featuring a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units for families making between 30% to 80% of Lakeland's median income. The rents on these units range from $430 to $1,590 a month, according to Blue Sky CEO Shawn Wilson, who said the majority of residents will wind up paying between $757 and $913 a month.

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The Swan Landing development was financed by the Florida Housing Finance Corp., Bank of America, Neighborhood Lending Partners and Raymond James Affordable Housing Investments. Wilson said Polk County provided about $2.1 million in incentives and impact fee waivers, and Lakeland provided about $1.5 million in similar incentives and fee waivers.

"We are honored to have both the city and the countys support to help make affordable housing a reality for so many local families," Wilson said. Blue Sky is currently building a development in Auburndale, and has started accepting applications for Florence Place, an 88-unit affordable housing development in Winter Haven.

Sara-Megan Walsh can be reached at swalsh@theledger.com or 863-802-7545. Follow on X @SaraWalshFl.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: 1,700 on waitlist for Lakeland's newest affordable housing complexes
Two men have been arrested in connection with a deadly triple shooting that happened in Atlanta a few months ago.

On Tuesday, January 2, three men were shot near Windsor Street and Ralph David Abernathy Blvd. around 2 p.m.

One of those men later died at the hospital.

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Police said the victims were the targets of a drive-by shooting.

On April 4, Atlanta police arrested Terrance Cole, 21, and charged him with murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

On May 1, Atlanta police arrested Desmond Lindsey, 22. He faces the same charges as Cole.

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HOPKINSVILLE, Ky. (WKRN)  More than two weeks after a drive-by shooting outside of the Christian County Health Department left four people injured, police announced two juveniles had been taken into custody in connection with the incident.

The Hopkinsville Police Department said officers responded to the 500 block of W. 17th Street for a report of a shooting in the health departments parking lot shortly after 6:45 p.m. on April 14.

Several hours after the shooting, authorities announced three minors and one adult were injured during an exchange of gunfire by multiple shooters. While law enforcement initially said the injuries appeared to be non-life-threatening, they were later described as serious injuries.

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According to officials, two juveniles and one adult were taken to Jennie Stuart Medical Center while the other juvenile was brought to a Nashville hospital. However, there is no word on the victims ages or their current conditions.

Shortly before 1:15 a.m. on April 15, police released a statement saying the investigation determined 23-year-old Stephen Bussell of Hopkinsville was driving eastbound on W. 17th Street when he fired a handgun from his moving vehicle toward a crowd of people.

As a result, Stephen was reportedly arrested and charged with four counts of first-degree assault, seven counts of first-degree wanton endangerment, and one count of tampering with physical evidence.

PREVIOUS: 1 arrested after drive-by shooting leaves 4 injured outside Hopkinsville health department

Weeks later, on Thursday, May 2, the Hopkinsville Police Department announced two minors were arrested in relation to the health department shooting. However, authorities did not mention the ages or identities of the juveniles, or the nature of the charges against them.

However, officials said they are still searching for Darrin Bussell. He was named the Fugitive of the Week on April 24 by the Hopkinsville-Christian County Crime Stoppers, who said Darrin had an active warrant for four counts of first-degree assault in connection with a recent shooting. There is a cash reward available for his arrest.

If you have any information about the shooting or Darrins whereabouts, you are asked to call the Hopkinsville-Christian County Emergency Communications Center at 270-890-1300.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.
CHICAGO  A man is dead after he and another man were shot Wednesday afternoon in Chicagos Woodlawn neighborhood.

The shooting happened around 4:45 p.m. in the 6600 block of South Blackstone.

Read more: Latest Chicago news headlines

According to information from the Chicago Police Department, the men were on the sidewalk when they were shot by an unknown person.

They were both taken to the hospital where the 29-year-old man, who was shot in the stomach and leg, later died, police said.

He has been identified by Cook County Medical Examiners Office as Ozarius Jones.

The other man, 33, had a graze wound to the left arm and is in good condition at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

The incident is still under investigation by Area One detectives and anyone with information should call them.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV.
This week, Indian Oil Corp. resumed purchasing Russian crude oil through the sanctioned Russian company Sovcomflot. This may be a reaction to the US's condescending rhetoric on oil exports from Russia.

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According to Bloomberg, on May 2, the Suezmax tanker "Vladimir Tikhonov" unloaded about 1 million barrels of Russia's flagship Urals oil in the Indian port of Paradip, where Indian Oil's refinery is located.

"The Vladimir Tikhonov" is the first "Sovcomflot" tanker to deliver crude oil to India after another vessel, the SCF Baltica, unloaded 90,000 tons of fuel oil in Gujarat last week.

This reinforces the idea that India is resuming oil purchases from Russia through "Sovcomflot", which has been under US sanctions since February 23. In addition, the acceptance of a Sovcomflot tanker by India's largest refinery is important because it may encourage other smaller refineries to use Sovcomflot vessels to purchase oil from Russia.

Due to the sanctions imposed by the United States and the G7 countries, Indian refineries decided in March to stop shipping oil on "Radcomflot" tankers. But the situation changed after a March visit to India by U.S. officials, where they expressed their desire for stable global oil supplies and urged India to cut back on Russian oil imports.

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According to the analytical company Kpler, India's average daily oil imports from Russia in April reached a 9-month high, exceeding 1.9 million barrels. In particular, the supply of Urals and Sokol oil increased sharply compared to the previous month. At the same time, purchases of raw materials from Iraq and Saudi Arabia, which are the second and third largest oil suppliers to India, respectively, decreased.

Meanwhile, at least five more "Radcomflot" vessels have indicated India as a destination for Urals oil. And the tanker "Suvorovskiy Prospekt" has already anchored off the country's west coast.

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
A FedEx employee is accused of opening packages and stealing $10,000 in cash and Apple products in Tennessee.

The 20-year-old was fired and is now charged with theft, officials told McClatchy News.

On May 1, a security specialist at FedExs Memphis hub told police he saw the employee open up customers packages and place large sums of cash into his pockets, the Memphis Police Department said in an arrest affidavit filed in Shelby County.

Security asked him to show them what was in his pockets, and they confiscated $100 bills totaling $10,000, police said. He also had Apple AirPods and an Apple Watch, both of which had been reported stolen from the shipping companys package inquiry, according to police.

The safety and security of our customers shipments is a top priority, and we are fully cooperating with authorities in this investigation, a FedEx spokesperson told McClatchy News in an emailed statement.

The former employee was booked in Shelby County jail on a charge of theft of property $10,000-$60,000 and was released on his own recognizance, court records show.

His attorney information is not available in Shelby County records as of May 2.

FedExs Memphis center is the companys largest hub, referred to as the World Hub or super hub.

Postal manager stole drugs from mail, let coworker snort cocaine off his desk, feds say

FedEx driver carrying weed and alcohol crashes into occupied home, Louisiana cops say

Postal worker got $156K in disability for injury  but was caught at Disney, feds say

FedEx driver accused of dumping $40,000 worth of packages is ordered to pay $805
More than 8 million passengers traveled on Ukrainian Railways' trains between January and April 2024, indicating a 25% person increase compared to 2023, the company reported on May 2.

Ukraine's state-owned railway company, Ukrzaliznytsia, announced on Twitter that a total of 8.43 million passengers traveled on Ukrainian Railways' trains between January and April 2024. Around 6.78 million passengers traveled through Ukrainian Railways during the same time frame in 2023. Additionally, Ukrzaliznytsia reported that 93% of the company's domestic trains arrived on time.

Throughout the full-scale invasion, Ukraine's state-owned railway has played a significant role in maintaining interstate and domestic travel. The airspace above Ukraine has remained closed since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, meaning that road or rail travel is required to enter or exit Ukraine.

Ukrzaliznytsia operates services to Warsaw, Chelm, and Przemysl in Poland, Vienna in Austria, and Chisinau in Moldova. Trains also run to Chop, a town on the border with Hungary, allowing passengers to connect with trains to Budapest.

In total, the company transported 25 million passengers in long-distance trains in 2023.

However, Ukrzaliznytsia has been subject to major corruption investigations in the past two years. Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) recently announced that seven individuals, including a former presidential advisor, associated with the company are accused of having embezzled Hr 95 million ($2.4 million) from Ukrzaliznytsia.

Read also: Ukrainian Railways initiates construction of major European routes

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
A second man charged in connection with a mass shooting in Boston last year that left five people injured, including a young brother and sister, has been ordered held on $2 million bail, officials said.

Micah Ennis, 25, of South Boston, was arraigned Thursday morning in Suffolk Superior Court on charges including five counts of assault to murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury, four counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and unlawful possession of a firearm, according to District Attorney Kevin R. Hayden.

Members of the Boston Police Fugitive Apprehension Unit arrested Ennis on Wednesday night, after being a fugitive from the law since September 2023.

Im relieved on behalf of the victims and our entire community that the second suspect in this incredibly brazen shooting is in custody and will answer for his actions. A lot of people were hurt that day in mere seconds, which speaks not only to the callousness of the shooters but also to the firepower they possessed, District Attorney Kevin Hayden said.

Officers responding to a report of a shot spotter activation in the area of 50 Ames Street around 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 17 found five people suffering from gunshot wounds in a courtyard, police said. Those who were injured were transported to local hospitals.

Johan Howard, an 11-year-old sixth grader at Charles Taylor Elementary in Mattapan, was shot in the leg. His sister, Juliana Howard, a 15-year-old sophomore at the Community Academy of Science and Health in Dorchester, was fighting for her life in the hospital for months. She has since returned home.

Gianni Johnson, 24, of Dorchester, was arraigned last year on charges including five counts of assault to murder, unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, unlawful possession of a large capacity feeding device, unlawful possession of a machine gun, and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building, in connection to the September shooting.

Ennis will return to court June 10 for a pre-trial conference.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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A man wanted in connection with a mass shooting in Boston last year that left five people injured, including a young brother and sister, has been arrested, Boston Police announced.

Micah Ennis, 25, of South Boston, was located and apprehended at 33 Ellingwood St in Roxbury by the Boston Police Fugitive Apprehension Unit on Wednesday, after being a fugitive from the law since September 2023.

Ennis was wanted on warrants charging him with five counts of assault to murder, unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, unlawful possession of a large capacity feeding device, unlawful possession of a machine gun, and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building, the Boston police said.

Officers responding to a report of a shot spotter activation in the area of 50 Ames Street around 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 17 found five people suffering from gunshot wounds in a courtyard, police said. Those who were injured were transported to local hospitals.

Johan Howard, an 11-year-old sixth grader at Charles Taylor Elementary in Mattapan, was shot in the leg. His sister, Juliana Howard, a 15-year-old sophomore at the Community Academy of Science and Health in Dorchester, was fighting for her life in the hospital for months. She has since returned home.

Gianni Johnson, 24, of Dorchester, was arraigned on charges in connection with the shooting. He was held on $1 million bail after a probable cause hearing last year. Johnson was charged with five counts of assault to murder, unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, unlawful possession of a large capacity feeding device, unlawful possession of a machine gun, and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building.

Ennis will be arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court on Thursday.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  Three people face second-degree murder charges for a mans overdose death inside a Las Vegas hotel room involving a sex worker, the 8 News Now Investigators have learned.

On Thursday, April 25, Las Vegas Metro police arrested Mandy Wimberly, 27, at the Regional Justice Center before a sentencing in an unrelated drug case, records said. Two other people: Stephanie Ward, 41; and Daniel Christopher, 33, also face charges connected to the overdose death of Alfred Davtyan, 41.

Davtyan, of Glendale, California, died on March 8, 2023, from acute fentanyl and cocaine toxicity, according to the Clark County coroners office.

On the night of March 7, hotel security at The Cosmopolitan found Davtyan unresponsive in a hotel room, documents said. Las Vegas Metro police officers responded, finding white powdery substance residue on the dining room table, which they believed to be cocaine as well as a clear vile with an unknown white powdery substance inside, which was found next to Davtyans body on the floor, documents said.

FILE  A vial containing 2mg of fentanyl, is displayed at the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Testing and Research Laboratory in Sterling, Va., Aug. 9, 2016. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)

The substance later tested positive for fentanyl, police said. Illicit fentanyl is 50-to-100 times more potent than morphine.

Video surveillance police obtained showed Davtyan on the casino floor on March 7, police said. In the video, Davtyan is playing slots when a woman approaches him. The pair then walks to his hotel room.

About an hour later, other cameras captured the woman leaving the room in an obvious hurry, documents said.

A reverse-image search located several prostitution advertisements with the same woman, police said. Police later identified the woman as Ward. Police found more video, which showed Davtyan and Ward together on March 6 and then Davtyan, Ward and two more people together on March 7, they said. Police later identified the two people as Christopher and Wimberly.

On Thursday, April 25, Las Vegas Metro police arrested Mandy Wimberly, 27, (right) at the Regional Justice Center before a sentencing in an unrelated drug case, records said. Two other people: Stephanie Ward, 41 (center); and Daniel Christopher, 33, (left) also face charges connected to the overdose death of Alfred Davtyan, 41. (LVMPD/KLAS)

Police arrested Ward on March 25, 2023, documents said. Ward had a probation violation at the time, police said. Ward told police she met Davtyan for sex work. She also told police she purchased drugs from Christopher and Wimberly.

Facebook messages between Ward and Christopher allegedly showed Ward asking the couple for cocaine on March 6. In the conversation, detectives believe Ward and Christopher conspired to gain access to Davtyans hotel room and steal some of his belongings and his rental car. In other messages, Christopher allegedly connected with other people about selling fentanyl.

In July 2023, Metro police arrested Christopher and Wimberly on other drug-related charges, police said. In February, police arrested Christopher again on a fentanyl trafficking charge.

Ward faces charges of second-degree murder, theft and two drug-related charges, records said. A judge denied setting bail.

Christopher and Wimberly face second-degree murder and drug-related charges. A judge denied setting bail for both.

A preliminary hearing was scheduled for May 7. Booking photos for Ward and Christopher were not immediately available.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
Editors note: This story has been updated with additional information about the number of injured personnel and a comment by U.S. 2nd Fleet. Find an updated story here.

Dozens of sailors and Marines were injured Wednesday evening after an at-sea mishap during a training event off the coast of Florida, the Navy said Thursday.

Thirty-five Marines and sailors suffered injuries, with five sailors medically evacuated to Savannah Memorial University Medical Center for further care, according to the Navy.

The service initially reported 30 sailors and Marines were injured but later updated that number to 35. As the incident unfolded and aid was rendered, additional personnel received medical care, increasing the total number injured to 35 personnel, the Navy said in a Friday release.

Four of the five Sailors have been released from the hospital after treatment, the Navy said Thursday afternoon. One Sailor remains under medical care and is being assessed for further treatment.

The incident involved two of the Navys Landing Craft Air Cushion vehicles, or LCACs, 91-foot-long, air-cushioned vessels used to move troops and materiel from ship to shore.

The Navys statement did not say what specific training the LCACs were undertaking before the mishap, nor did it address the nature of the injuries.

Asked by Navy Times about the nature of the injuries and what the LCACs were doing before the mishap, U.S. 2nd Fleet officials emailed a statement that repeated the original statement the Navy released earlier on Thursday.

Troops that sustained minor injuries were treated aboard the amphibious assault ship Wasp and the amphibious transport dock New York, two of the three ships that comprise the Wasp Amphibious Ready Group.

The unit spent much of April in pre-deployment training, according to the Navy.

Marines with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit and sailors assigned to the Wasp Amphibious Ready Group were involved.

One of the LCACs was with the amphibious assault ship Wasp, while the other belonged to the amphibious transport dock New York.
More than two dozen Republican senators are calling a potential proposal by President Biden to accept Palestinian refugees from Gaza a national security risk, following the administrations acknowledgment that discussions are underway to help Palestinians in the U.S. bring families over from the region.

A letter rejecting the potential proposal was led by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), the number three GOP leader, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and 33 colleagues.

It signals another avenue Republicans may try to attack Biden ahead of the November election.

While Biden has maintained robust military support for Israel, he is under immense political pressure from Democrats and progressives amid increasingly violent protests across the U.S. to do more to hold Israel to account for a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

Republicans have seized on the criticism as failing to support Israels right to self-defense in the aftermath of Hamass Oct. 7 attack on Israel, where an estimated 1,200 people were killed in their homes, on the streets and at a music festival, and more than 250 taken hostage. Hamas still holds approximately 133 Israeli hostages, some with dual-American citizenship.

The GOP senators call for Biden to prioritize securing the release of American hostages over accepting Palestinians as refugees.

We demand that your administration cease planning for accepting Gazan refugees until you adequately answer our concerns and focus your attention instead on securing the release of U.S. hostages held by Hamas.

The GOP senators further frame accepting Palestinians from Gaza as a national security risk, raising doubt that the Biden administration could prevent Hamas-members or other members of a terrorist group from entering the U.S.

Unfortunately, the risk of terrorists entering our homeland is no hypothetical matter, the senators wrote, citing that border officials had arrested 169 people on the FBI terror watchlist over the course of 2023.

The Biden administration has acknowledged that Hamas has tried to exploit civilian evacuations for its own gain. During a week-long cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in November, the Biden administration said it worked to block Hamas fighters, disguising themselves as civilians, from receiving medical treatment outside Gaza.

The GOP senators also raise concern over the risk of allowing Palestinians, 34 percent of whom are said to support Hamas, into the U.S. The senators dont acknowledge that that number is a decline from months previous, in response to the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip, according to polling carried out by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey research.

With more than a third of Gazans supporting the Hamas militants, we are not confident that your administration can adequately vet this high-risk population for terrorist ties and sympathies before admitting them into the United States, they wrote.

The letter follows criticism from former Trump administration officials and other lawmakers rejecting the proposed plan for accepting refugees and raising it as a key election issue.

Former Trump White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, now a Fox News co-host, criticized Biden as exploring executive action not to close the southern border, but to bring in more Palestinian refugees. Wow. Good luck with that in a general election.

And Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fl.) said in a statement Tuesday that he rejected the Biden administrations plan to import Palestinians from Gaza into the U.S.

The latest in Joe Bidens America Last agenda is an absurd scheme to bring into our country the people who cheered as Americans and Israelis were killed, beaten, raped, and taken hostage on October 7th, he said. These are the same people who elected Hamas as their government. These are people who live next to Egypt, yet Egypt finds them too much of a national security risk to let into their country.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A group of UNC fraternity brothers photographed protecting an American flag as it was being pulled from its pole at a Chapel Hill protest has drawn nationwide praise and an online fundraising effort promising an even sudsier award:







A rager of a party worth more than half a million dollars.

Some of the money could be diverted to charity causes, a GoFundMe organizer clarified as the window to donate closed at midnight Thursday with $516,652 raised.

Heres what we know about who is behind the fund-raiser and what all that money could actually go.

The protest and the flag

Protesters set up tents on the Chapel Hill campus starting last Friday, forming a Gaza Solidarity Camp that drew hundreds of people and demanded that UNC disclose investments related to Israel and divest from them.

Police broke up the camp Tuesday morning and charged 36 people, including 13 students. Later Tuesday, a physical clash broke out when protesters returned to the site on the campus main quad. Protesters removed the large American flag there and replaced it with a Palestinian flag, leading to an hour-long struggle.

A GoFundMe page asking for money to support a rager for Pi Kappa Phi fraternity at UNC-Chapel Hill after Brohemians protected Old Glory from the unwashed Marxist horde reached $516,672 before the organizers closed donations.

During that struggle, several students were photographed holding the American flag off the ground, standing in a ring. Many of them were members of UNCs Pi Kappa Phi fraternity.

(Thread) Yesterday, my fraternity brother @estradguillermo and I were photographed holding up the American flag in the Quad of UNC-Chapel Hill during the protests. Since then, these images have spread, receiving media coverage nationwide. pic.twitter.com/3HjaSXGiCL  Alex Jones (@a_jones331) May 1, 2024

Today was a sad yet empowering day at Chapel Hill, wrote Guillermo Estrada in a post on X. When I walked to class, I saw the Palestinian flag raised on our quad flag pole, and was immediately upset at the act that these protestors had made.

A group of counter-protesters hold up an United States flag after pro-Palestinian protesters replaced the flag with a Palestinian flag on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 at UNC-Chapel Hill. Pro-Palestinian protesters clashed with police while the Palestinian flag was removed and the American flag was replaced.

Sen. Ted Budd, the North Carolina Republican, shared a photo of the students holding the flag on X, formerly Twitter, and wrote, Proud of these UNC students. Right on!

The fund-raising for the rager

By Wednesday, a GoFundMe page appeared praising Pi Kappa Phis flag defense, calling protesters an unwashed Marxist horde and raising money to pay for a rager party in honor of the triumphant Brohemian frat brothers.

Commie losers across the country have invaded college campuses to make dumb demands of weak university administrators, the post read. But amidst the chaos, the screaming, the anti-semitism, the hatred of faith and flag, stood a platoon of American heroes.

Armored in Vineyard Vines and Patagonia, fueled by Zyn and White Claws, these triumphant Brohemians protected Old Glory from the unwashed Marxist horde  laughing at their shrieks and wails and shielding the Stars & Stripes from Soviet missiles.

Originally, the post from John Noonan sought $15,000  a total that would prove modest.

As post goes viral, money pours in

The plea for funds drew donations nationwide  one for $10,000.

America, (heck) yeah boys, wrote donor Bobby Phillips. Heres a case of Miller Lite from a thankful patriot in Indiana.

Country singer John Rich wrote on X that hed like to perform a free concert for the boys who protected the American flag at UNC.

The funding goal soon rose to $50,000, then $100,000. By 10 p.m. Thursday, the total had topped $501,000.

Three top donors  identified as John Clark, Adam Sinn and William Ackman  gave $10,000 or more. Others included former UNC basketball coach Matt Doherty, who expressed his appreciation for the students on X, and two donors who gave $1,776 each.

We are overwhelmed by you glorious, Patriotic Americans who value good beer and great times, the organizer said in an update on GoFundMe Wednesday evening. We are in contact with multiple leaders from fraternities whose members helped defend the flag, including Alpha Epsilon Pi and others, in addition to Pi Kappa Phi.

In a Thursday night update, Noonan said volunteers have offered to provide free entertainment and merchandise to give the fraternity houses  eight in all  a world class party. The organizers have also contacted the fraternities and UNC officials about a date, he said.

What GoFundMe says

On Thursday morning, a GoFundMe spokesman said the companys Trust & Safety Team had reached out to Noonan for more information.

All funds remain safely held by our payment processors during this process, Cornell Wedge wrote in a statement.

At GoFundMe, being a safe and trusted place to give and receive help is our top priority. We have a team of experts working around the clock to review fundraisers and work directly with organizers to help prevent misuse and ensure compliance with our Terms of Service. This process includes both a human review from our world-class Trust & Safety experts as well as technical tools designed to catch misuse.

Wedge said the money, once processed, would be released only to the person named as the recipient of the funds.

Before funds are transferred to the beneficiary, their personal information must be verified, the statement said. If any questions arise, our processors will hold the funds until the recipient is verified.

Who will get the money?

On Thursday, the GoFundMe page was changed to say John Noonan is organizing this fundraiser on behalf of Susan Ralston.

Ralston has deep conservative connections, having served as former special assistant to President George W. Bush and former deputy to Karl Rove, who was Bushs senior advisor until Rove resigned in 2007.

Ralston resigned from her post with Rove in 2006, following a House ethics report showing she was a conduit for messages between Rove and lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who later pleaded guilty to conspiracy and other charges related to a corruption investigation.

Ralston was never accused of wrongdoing. She now is president of SBR Enterprises in Virginia, which specializes in public relations, event planning, and government and political consulting.

Ralston acknowledged being asked by GoFundMe organizers to plan the fraternity party when The News & Observer reached her by phone Thursday. She declined to comment about the fundraiser or the party.

WUNC radio identified Noonan as another former political adviser with conservative ties. Now a senior adviser with Polaris National Security, he is a former U.S. Air Force officer and also former senior counselor for military and defense affairs to Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton.

In addition to other roles, he served in two presidential campaigns as national security advisor to Gov. Jeb Bush and as defense policy adviser to Gov. Mitt Romney.

What the fraternity says

A national Pi Kappa Phi spokeswoman said Wednesday that the fraternity did not set up the fundraiser and is not endorsing it.

In Chapel Hill, the local fraternity said it didnt know the organizers and was trying to contact them.

A few answers from the fund-raiser organizer

Reached through GoFundMe, Noonan originally referred questions to Max Meyer, a blogger who describes himself on X as a propagandist and westerner.

Meyer did not respond to an email Wednesday, but he effusively praised the fraternity and its flag efforts, posting about it on X:

It was a fraternity alliance that defended the flag. I am in contact with all of the chads. And Im on my way to North Carolina to bring the story to you.

Noonan said in an update Thursday that a member of the GoFundMe team is working with the organizers to ensure your donations do as God intended  to show these guys enough fireworks to blow their Oakley aviators straight off their faces.

But not all of the money will pay for kegs and fireworks, he clarified Thursday night.

Fraternities will also have input on sending funds to some great charities in their name, foundations that are consistent with the fundraisers patriotic theme, he said in an update. A transparent independent entity that will include a board of directors, as well as representation from the fraternity organizations themselves, is in the process of being established to keep true to donor intent.

No word yet on invites.
4 Americans charged with ammunition offenses in Turks and Caicos, accused of bringing live ammo to the islands

Four Americans are charged with possession of ammunition offenses in the tropical Atlantic getaway of Turks and Caicos, according to a post from the Turks and Caicos Islands Government.

Carrying firearms in Turks and Caicos is prohibited, according to the TCI Government. Bringing firearms or ammunition, including stray rounds, into the British Overseas Territory without prior permission from police is strictly forbidden.

Individuals who violate the law face a minimum 12 years in prison, according to an April advisory from the US Embassy in the Bahamas. A post on X from the island government said judges do have discretion to lower the minimum when there are exceptional circumstances.

According to the post from the Turks and Caicos government, the four Americans are: Michael Lee Evans, 72; Bryan Hagerich (no age listed); Tyler Scott Wenrich, 31; and Ryan Tyler Watson, 40.

Darkest days and nights of my life

Hagerich detailed his recent arrest in Turks and Caicos in an ABC exclusive after pleading guilty to bringing live ammunition into the islands while on vacation.

He is expected to be sentenced on May 29, a lawyer representing him told CNN. A court heard pre-sentencing arguments from Hagerichs defense team and prosecutors on Friday, according to his attorney, Oliver Smith. Smith said he is challenging the constitutionality of the legislation as it relates to how the judge can sentence a defendant under the current law.

The court is expected to rule on that constitutional point and sentence Hagerich according to its ruling on May 29, Smith said.

In the interview with ABCs Matt Rivers ahead of the court proceedings, Hagerich said bringing the ammunition with him was an accident.

Hagerich was arrested in February after several rounds of ammunition were found in his luggage while going through airport security, he told ABC. Hagerich and his family were leaving Turks and Caicos and returning home following a vacation with their children, he said.

While at the airport, Hagerich told ABC his name was called over the PA system after his bag was selected for random search.

Authorities then found hunting ammunition Hagerich said hed forgotten was in his bag following a recent trip.

Bryans wife, Ashley, told ABC she begged officials to go easy on them.

I remember pleading like, Cant we just pay a fine? Like it was an honest mistake, Ashley told ABC, And it was a firm, No.

Hagerich told the outlet in an interview aired Friday morning that he was arrested in front of his children, aged four and six, and spent eight nights in jail.

Those were the absolute darkest days and nights of my life, Hagerich said.

Hagerich pleaded guilty to possession of 20 rounds of ammunition, according to the Turks and Caicos Islands Government.

Hagerich is asking for leniency.

Im the first to acknowledge that I take full responsibility for my actions. But Hagerich added, There are alternative ways that this can be handled and dealt with that are within the laws of Turks and Caicos that will allow me to return home to my family.

More ammunition-related offenses

While out on bail, Hagerich has been sharing a short-term rental with another American recently charged under the law, Ryan Watson, he told ABC.

This is like probably the loneliest Ive ever been in my entire life, Watson told ABCs Matt Rivers. To have somebody thats experiencing the, the very same thing as you It gives you some bit of support, he added.

Watson was arrested at the Howard Hamilton International Airport on the island of Providenciales on April 12 for a similar offense, according to TCI police. After posting a $15,000 bail, Watson was released from jail on April 24 but was forced to surrender his passport and remain on the archipelago.

His next court hearing is set for June 7, according to the TCI Government.

Watson and his wife, Valerie, were detained upon departure of Turks and Caicos where they had been celebrating several of their friends 40th birthdays, according to a GoFundMe page set up to help the family with expenses.

Airport security found four rounds of ammunition unknowingly left in a duffel bag from a deer hunting trip, the post said.

Valerie Watson was released of charges and allowed to return to Oklahoma, an April 23 update from the fundraising page shows. The page does not give a reason for her release.

The TCI government has declined to comment further on the Americans arrested.

The ammunition was not noticed by TSA when leaving America, the GoFundMe post said. Now, they are facing a legal system that is unfamiliar, daunting, and expensive.

In a statement to CNN, the TSA confirmed Wednesday that four rounds of ammunition were not detected in a travelers bag during a security screening at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City, from which Watson was traveling.

TSA takes its security mission very seriously, a TSA spokesperson said. TSA is here to protect our transportation security systems, and an oversight occurred that the agency is addressing internally.

The agency added that it is working on perfecting systems that detect prohibited items to ensure seamless and safe travel.

CNN has reached out to the Watson and Hagerich families for more information on their cases and is attempting to reach attorneys for both men.

Two additional Americans  Michael Lee Evans and Tyler Scott Wenrich  are also facing lengthy prison sentences for possessing ammunition, according to the TCI Government.

Travellers are strongly advised to search their luggage before they travel to the Turks and Caicos Islands to ensure they do not bring in forbidden items inadvertently, the TCI Government post said. The Transportation Security Administration screening in the United States may not identify ammunition in a travellers baggage.

Airline passengers are also encouraged to research local laws when traveling internationally and to start packing for trips with an empty bag, the TSA said.

Know before you go to Turks and Caicos

Prospective tourists considering a trip to Turks and Caicos do have access to warnings from TCI and the US State Department about the British Overseas Territorys weapons and ammunition laws  if you know where to find them online.

Last month, the State Department released a travel warning advising Americans to carefully check your luggage for stray ammunition or forgotten weapons before departing from the United States. Firearms, ammunition (including stray bullets), and other weapons are not permitted in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI). TCI authorities strictly enforce all firearms-and-ammunition-related laws.

There is also more detailed information on the departments Turks and Caicos webpage under the header of Local Laws & Special Circumstances.

Travelers can find out critical information from the State Department for any destination here.

CNNs Michael Rios, Tanika Gray and Forrest Brown contributed to this report.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
The small town of Zaandam, located near Amsterdam, the Netherlands, looks like it was made of Lego bricks. Its strange shapes and bright colors evoke a fairy-tale atmosphere. At the beginning of construction, this town was designed as a mill center, but now tourists can spend their vacations here.

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The peculiarity of the houses called Zaan houses is their color scheme because it is impossible to paint them in any shade  only in tones of green. Only sometimes, to accentuate the details, you can add yellow or blue. In his YouTube video, American food and travel blogger James Andrews talked about the interesting places and features of Zandam.

He said that the city is no less interesting than Amsterdam itself, but a bit more budget-friendly, as a hotel room cost him much less. In particular, there are regular trains to the capital from the Zandam station, and the trip takes about 12 minutes.

The city even has the same historic windmills called Zanse Schans. It is worth noting that the area where they are located is residential, and the condition of the wooden windmills is well-maintained.

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"This city seems much less touristy compared to what I've seen in Amsterdam. It looks like a more local place," the blogger shared his observations.

It is worth noting that it is the historical center that is colorful, and everything outside of it has more or less classic Dutch architecture. One of the largest buildings in Zaandama is the Inntel Hotel, which was built in a style that matches the color scheme of the "old" city.

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"After its completion in 2010, the Intel Hotel instantly became a landmark and symbol of the city. The 12-storey building blends seamlessly into the neighborhood, yet is boldly different. The hotel is a modern reproduction of the blue house that Claude Monet painted when he spent time in Zaandama. It's a really beautiful building that you can visit at any time of the day," the blogger said.

He noted that the weather in Zaandama changes several times a day and is unpredictable, so you should pay attention to this when planning your trip.

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Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
FORT WORTH  Six people, including four children, were injured in a drive-by shooting Tuesday night in Fort Worth.

Fort Worth Fire Department and MedStar officials say the shooting was reported around 7:30 p.m. at an apartment complex in the 3000 block of Las Vegas Trail.

"It makes me sick to my stomach," said Fort Worth Police Chief Neil Noakes. "It pisses me off. I've said many timesIt makes me angry and mad."

All four children were taken to Cook Children's Hospital for treatment. One of the adults was taken to another area hospital but the second adult did not want to go. The victims' conditions were not immediately provided.

"There's no reason anyone should be conducting themselves in such a violent dangerous way that children should be shot and, unfortunately, that's what we're dealing with, that someone chose to do something that stupid," Noakes continued.

Authorities are trying to determine a motive in the ongoing investigation. The suspect is not in custody.

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4-year-old boy identified as body found in duffel bag, PA cops say. Its devastating

The body of a young child found stuffed in a duffel bag has been identified as a 4-year-old boy missing since December, according to Pennsylvania police and news reports.

The decomposed body was discovered inside a black Puma bag by a Philadelphia city worker cleaning an alleyway March 18, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. The remains were unable to be identified at the time because of how long they had been abandoned.

Now, DNA evidence revealed the remains were of Damari Carter police said Wednesday, according to KYW.

Innocence lost for what? Nakia Bailey, Damaris aunt, told the Inquirer. Ill never get to see him grow up. Its devastating.

Damaris mother, 30-year-old Dominique Bailey, and her boyfriend, 30-year-old Kevin Spencer, had previously been arrested in the boys disappearance and presumed death, WCAU reported.

Court records show Dominique Bailey and Spencer were arrested Jan. 6. As of May 2, they face charges of murder, abuse of a corpse and endangering the welfare of a child, among other charges.

The mother initially said her son had been struck and killed by a car, WPVI reported, but police said there was no evidence to indicate a car crash occurred.

Police believe Damari was beaten to death, according to the Inquirer.

A neighbor heard Damari screaming Dec. 7, police told People, and Spencer was spotted in surveillance footage the next day dragging a trash bag out of the house.

The way they found him is appalling, Aiyana Parrish, Damaris cousin, told WPVI. I wouldnt wish that on my worst enemy for someone to find him like that. And I applaud that worker who found him.

Parrish described Damari as a smiling, happy little boy.

Darryle Carter Jr., the boys father, said in an interview with People his son was his heart. He gave Damari his name, which translates to strength in Yorurba.

I miss my little man, the father said. This is a nightmare to me. I just wish I could wake up.

Bailey and Spencer are due in court June 18.

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Wildlife researchers trekked through the tall grass in north Florida, unbothered by the long, slithering apex predator species in their hands.

The researchers were at the Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve on April 30 to deposit 41 of those creatures back into nature.

Theyre eastern indigo snakes, the longest snake species in the U.S., and they play a vital role in the circle of life here, according to James Bogan Jr., the director of Central Florida Zoos Orianne Center for Indigo Conservation.

Bogan said he feels a touch of pride at the eighth annual reintroduction of the species, the most in one year so far, according to news release from the Central Florida Zoo.

It is wonderful to see these young indigos have the opportunity to fill their important role as a lynchpin species in the longleaf pine ecosystem, Bogan said.

Eastern indigo snakes provide balance to the now rare ecosystem, eating venomous and nonvenomous snakes, as well as other wildlife, according to conservationists. Theyre native to the southeast U.S., but their range has decreased in part due to habitat loss.

The federally threatened snake disappeared from the Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve after 1982, but scientists hope reintroduction efforts since 2017 will be good for both the snake species and the ecosystem as a whole.

The Central Florida Zoo bred the 2-year-old snakes for release, but a victory came in 2023, when conservationists discovered wild eastern indigo snakes that werent bred by the zoo.

This year is particularly special because we actually found two hatchlings on the preserve this last survey season, according to Michelle Hoffman, a field biologist with the Orianne Center for Indigo Conservation. So its kind of great to see that the snakes are surviving and reproducing successfully.

The snakes typically reach 5 to 7 feet in length but can grow more than 8 feet long, making them the longest snake species native to North America, according to the Smithsonian National Zoo.

So far, 167 snakes have been released in the preserve, conservationists shared.

Those involved in the yearslong efforts are celebrating the programs success, including Michele Elmore, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recovery biologist for the eastern indigo snake.

The indigo is gaining momentum to return to the landscape where it belongs, Elmore said.

The Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines Preserve is in the Florida Panhandle, about a 45-mile drive west from Tallahassee.

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After 44 years, Im putting down my Herald pen. Its time to be citizen Fabi | Opinion

Theres no easy way to say this, beloved readers and critics.

Its time to retire from a newspaper that, more than an employer, has been my longest-lasting place of residence, 44 years, and longest-lasting relationship, a marriage more durable than the one my college sweetheart and I registered at the Miami-Dade Courthouse during the heady summer days of historic 1980.

This retirement thing is a pinch me kind of moment.

Ive been working non-stop since I was 15, when my exiled parents and I lied to the owners of the Hialeah shop House of Notions and told them I was 16. I needed to save money for college, a car and coveted 6-inch heels.

Im selfish, I know, to call it quits in an election year.

But Ive already said all I wanted to say in the Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald about the characters involved, and this presidential election feels like a replay of 2020 and 2016. Only this time, voters have already made up their minds, or so it seems from many conversations Ive had in cities I visit often. People know who Donald Trump is. Ditto for his mini-me in Florida.

I will only be one less state voice reminding voters.

Ive had a privileged, long run in journalism, full of seminal Miami moments.

I walked into the Miami Herald newsroom on March 31, 1980, a 21-year-old intern with lousy clips but a can-do attitude, recruited at the University of Florida by the good-cop, bad-cop team of metro editors Dave Nelson and Mike Baxter.

Why should we hire you? Baxter asked, after poking holes in a story in my thin portfolio, a profile of a fraternity house cook nicknamed Funky George who made a fortune gambling in New York and cooked for fun and camaraderie.

There was nothing left to lose at that point in the interview. I went for the jugular:

Because I know Miami better than you. I know the community, and unlike you, I speak its two languages.

Three weeks later, when the boats of the Mariel flotilla began arriving, I walked the talk, scoring my first front-page story about a group of teen boys who had left a Havana party on a whim to storm the Peruvian embassy. And when the deadly Liberty City riots broke out after the cops who killed Arthur McDuffie and covered it up were found not guilty by an all-white Tampa jury, I reported from Hialeah Hospital, as the injured arrived into the night.

My internship extended, and in June, still covering the boatlift and its impact on the convulsed city of Hialeah, I made two major life-changing decisions. I became a U.S. citizen and I took a long weekend off to marry and honeymoon at the Newport Resort in Sunny Isles Beach.

My Journey to Citizenship tale in Living Today  in which I confessed that technically it took me 10 years but emotionally, it may take me forever because I felt like I was losing Cuba all over again  brought me my first big batch of hate mail.

One mans correspondence lasted years.

He addressed his letters in shaky handwriting to Fabiola Santiago, Propaganda Minister for Miami Cubans, Miami Herald. No address, but it always managed to reach my desk. When one day he stopped writing, I worried about him. Maybe he left this world  or realized, like so many of my column detractors have, that displays of hate only fuel commitment and passion for the job.

Writing opinion vs. chasing the news

I know its hard to believe, but I never aspired to write an opinion column like Ive done the last 13 years, first for news pages, and in recent years, editorial ones.

I was a newsroom rat at heart, addicted to the adrenaline of chasing, discovering and keeping my front seat to unfolding history. Twice I flew in dinky little airplanes to the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo to cover the Cuban refugees housed in tent cities after they took to the seas en masse in 1994 on rickety, homemade rafts.

Decades ago, I wrote mostly about people, not party politics.

Although I covered the first all-Cuban Hispanic Caucus in the Florida Legislature, spending three weeks in Tallahassee, my favorite story from that stint was a feature: Legislators in Love, about the love affair and marriage of Cuban American Republican Ileana Ros and Democrat Dexter Lehtinen.

We werent so rabidly divided then, when Bob Graham was governor and Democrats held, from City Hall to Congress, the most important political posts in Florida.

READ MORE: Who Bob Graham was: We work for all the taxpayers, not just the ones who vote for me. | Opinion

But the advent of President Obamas Cuba engagement policy  I supported it in principle but was critical of execution flaws  moved me right into the political arena. The crushing division brought by Trumps candidacy  and the hard-right turn of Cuban Americans in Miami  sealed the deal.

READ MORE: Carnival cruise to Cuba discriminates against a class of Americans | Opinion

I seldom lingered for years in any beat or post.

In fact, the secret to my staying power was that I re-invented myself as Miami  and my three daughters  grew along with me.

When the fledgling food scene became the rage, I wrote a popular food culture column named Gusto and an unforgettable feature-section cover story about Miamis relationship with coffee.

It started like this:

Every morning, I stand before my coffeemaker and face my life.

Will it be American or cafe cubano today?

Yes, it has come to this: My coffeemaker defines me.

Like me, it straddles two cultures. On one side, I make my potent, sweet dose of cafecito. On the other a lighter brew of American coffee.

In every colada, every cupful, I brew a lifetime of love and loss; with every sip, I toast tradition and new beginnings.

Then, after the art scene exploded fueled by homegrown talent and artists exiled from Cuba, attracting the international crowds of Art Basel Miami Beach, I became the newspapers visual arts writer, a beat that nurtured my own creative spirit.

Ive done it all, including accepting an editors position in the Neighbors section when I was very pregnant with my third daughter. That led to my being tapped to become the founding city editor of el Nuevo Herald in the middle of my maternity leave. I worked three months without a day off preparing for the launch. I brought the girls to the office on the weekends, baby Erica set up in the middle of the newsroom in her playpen.

My first baby, Tanya, was born during my last semester at UF, and I managed to only miss class on a Friday and a Monday.

The second daughter, Marissa, grew in my belly three years later while I was trying to prove that I was as good as any male reporter, but while pregnant and wearing heels. And so I ended up covering a packed demonstration in Miami Beach where the burly guy standing right behind me took out a gun. Lucky for me, a police officer, no doubt looking at the pregnant reporter, spotted him and deftly disarmed him.

I ran to the pay phone to phone in the story.

Another day, I ended up sweating profusely at the door of the accused No. 2 man in the Cuban terrorist organization Omega 7, a county worker who couldnt deny a pregnant woman a glass of water, turning his no comment into something to report.

Finally, delivery day close, I had to ask my editor: Do you think you could finish editing my story quickly? Because my doctor said this morning that I was already dilating. A lifelong friend, she likes to remind me of this story.

I gave birth the next day.

Motherhood & journalism

I will miss writing for the two Heralds more than mere words can say.

But Im excited about the new adventures ahead. Walking the Camino de Santiago set me on this path of exploration, of taking refuge from turmoil in nature. The death of my editor, Nancy Ancrum, three weeks after retiring, was a wake-up call.

READ MORE: In a world short on perspective and high on grievances, an ancient Camino shows the way | Opinion

Retiring while I still feel youthful and healthy at 65 means precious freedom to travel and spend time with family.

My retirement is my gift to my daughters and four grandchildren. Theyve been prodding me to do this for a long time, but I wasnt ready. I am now. Ive said in the pages of the Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald all I needed to say. Time to pass the baton to the next generation.

My girls have no idea what its like to have a mother who isnt synonymous with the Heralds, who isnt on deadline, who doesnt get calls from editors while on vacation.

Hey, Gabriel Garcia Marquez died  you want to chime in? Didnt you meet him?

Hey, Fabi, theres a credible rumor that Fidel is dying  can you handle it?

It was a relief when the latter was true and I was in town.

I wrote:

The tyrant is dead.

I have to say it to believe it.

Al fin.

Finally, the guerrilla leader who rose to power on a promise of social justice but instead separated families, executed and persecuted opponents, and unleashed unprecedented misery on the Cuban people no longer exists on this earth.

I attracted the fury of the extreme left enamored of Castro-styled communist dictatorship the same way I now enrage the Floridas fascist far-right.

But I dont regret any of my writings. Though, no, dont call me when Raul Castro dies.

Its me time.

I, a 1970s Cuban girl who rocked and roared to Helen Reddys you can bend but never break me cause it only serves to make me more determined to achieve my final goal, became a mother when female journalists delayed marriage and babies for careers.

Master juggler that Ive always been, I bought into the 80s notion that we could have it all. And I wrote about the supermom struggle in the feature pages of the Miami Herald while I covered immigration, all aspects of the Cuban exile, the rising Hispanic political power, and hurricanes.

Journalist Fabiola Santiago reporting on Hurricane Elenas loopy path in 1985 coastal southern states.

Most moms fill their baby books with sweet musings about firsts.

But how many include, along with the first word spoken and fallen first tooth, a cut-out of the Heralds front page with this Gulf War headline: U.S. ships cruise war zone? Followed by a note in red-ink: First newspaper headline Tanya read by herself.

No wonder my first-born became a journalist and a Herald intern at 16.

Baby No. 2s book features a column my editor wrote about my rushing off to report in Panama the story of stranded Cubans and a fraudulent-visa ring  only seven weeks after giving birth to Marissa, my episiotomy not yet completely healed.

And, of the hundreds of pictures Ive taken of baby No. 3, my favorite is still the one I took of Erica reading at the breakfast table an issue of Neighbors when she was barely 2.

Sure, having it all took its toll.

But my mother was my secret weapon and No. 1 fan. Without mami quitting her job to take care of my daughters for however long I needed and picking them up from school, I wouldve failed.

To her, I owe this career.

Its time for me to be for my daughters whatever they need me to be, for them and for my grandchildren.

And its time for me to return to the book career I launched when Simon & Schuster published my novel Reclaiming Paris. Or to simply travel non-stop with no mind to the 24-7 news cycle and not worry about publishing another word. I love the way Cuban artist Antonia Eiriz protested censorship: She didnt paint for 20 years.

Silence is also speech.

Whatever the future holds, Im happy to be, for the first time in four decades, just citizen Fabi: one woman, one vote.
SEMMES, Ala. (WKRG)  A weekend shootout in Semmes has left a 5-year-old boy blind in his left eye, according to Semmes Police Chief Todd Freind.

I-10 crash leaves 2 people seriously injured: FHP

Jesus Manuel Venegas Rodriguez and Antony Josue Mena Moron. (Photos courtesy of the Semmes Police Department)

The Semmes Police Department has arrested one man, Jesus Rodriguez, and is still looking for another suspect, Antony Moron.

Freind said he believes Moron may have fled to Texas or even crossed the border into Mexico.

Rodriguez is in custody and charged with reckless endangerment, and more charges are possible, Freind said.

Investigators said both fired shots during an argument, and a stray bullet hit the 5-year-old boy on the left side of his head and eye area.

2 women accused of stealing over $5,000 in products from Fairhope Publix stores

After surgery, the boy cannot see out of his left eye.

They transferred him from University to UAB Hospital to complete the surgery, which the surgery was yesterday, Freind said. And we got an update from the mom last night that he was out of surgery, and everything went well.

He does not have vision in his left eye as of right now.

The shooting occurred Sunday afternoon at Green Oak Trailer Park on Denmark Road.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRG News 5.
Five victims including four children have been transported to hospitals after they were shot at an apartment complex on Las Vegas Trail in west Fort Worth on Wednesday night.

The youngest victim of the drive-by shooting is 3 years old and the oldest is 19, according to Fort Worth police.

One patient was in critical condition, one in serious condition and three were in good condition with more minor injuries when they were transported by ambulance, according to MedStar.

Four of the injured were taken to Cook Childrens Medical Center, and one injured adult was also transported to a hospital. A sixth person with a minor injury refused treatment at the scene police said.

The shooting was reported about 7:30 p.m. at the Miramar Apartments and Townhomes, at 3064 Las Vegas Trail.

In a news conference at the scene, Police Chief Neil Noakes said someone opened fire from a vehicle and shot the victims, who were outdoors at the apartments.

No suspects were in custody as of about 9:30 p.m. A police spokesperson said the motive for the shooting has not been determined.

More than 30 police units have responded, according to a call log.

Media staging area is on Eastside of the 3000 Block of Las Vegas Trail.

Next to the crime scene tape. https://t.co/opv8sIQttI  Fort Worth Police (@fortworthpd) May 2, 2024

Police asked the public to avoid the area.

This is a developing story. For the latest updates, sign up for breaking news alerts.

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SARASOTA, Fla. (WFLA)  On the edge of Downtown Sarasota, theres an empty grass lot on School Avenue just south of the county health department. That lot could one day become a new workforce housing project.

In collaboration with realtor Michael Saunders, One Stop Housing is planning to build a 48-unit mixed-use development on the site. We are told 100% of the housing is slated to be available as workforce housing with rental rates at or below 80% of the area median income.

Managing Partner of One Stop Housing Mark Vengroff tells 8 On Your Side the collaboration came about organically when he was discussing the need for more workforce housing to a small business group. He says local business owner and realtor Michael Saunders happened to be sitting in that crowd.

He approached me after the engagement says, I have this piece of land I would like to contribute to give back to the community that has been so kind to me and that has helped my business so much. I dont want to sell it. I want to contribute it to create some workforce housing, can you help me do that? And I said absolutely, Im in, said Vengroff.

Through a mutual connection, Vengroff was put in touch with Sarasota County Sheriff Kurt Hoffman, who he was told had a great interest in workforce housing for his staff.

There are some agencies around here in Southwest Florida that are down 40, 50, 60 law-enforcement personnel in their agency and fortunately, we are not at those kind of numbers, but when that happens, theres an impact on policing, theres an impact on community safety, said Sheriff Hoffman. When I say community safety, it is not just patrol folks. Weve got 110 dispatchers that take over 600,000 calls a year protecting this community, so after a 12-hour shift, they need to have a place to lay their head as well, he continued.

Sheriff Hoffman really explained his plight with the officers and they do so much every day to put their lives on the line, the least we can do is really get out there, and really try to make this happen, said Vengroff.

He says he brought the idea of setting aside a percentage of the workforce housing for sheriffs office employees to Saunders and she agreed. They plan to set aside half of the units for both sworn and civilian employees.

The property sits within walking distance of the jail, courthouse, and public transit options.

One Stop Housings mission is to provide affordable housing for the community. Vengroff said this project will be exactly that.

We are going to agree to a 30-year affordability. For as long as Michael Saunders will own the property or as long as we are managing it, we know we are going to keep it affordable because that is just our mission, said Vengroff.

Sheriff Hoffman says this project will not fix the affordable housing crisis, but believes it is a good first step that will have a meaningful impact and hopefully inspire other developers.

I think Mark has got a really good model and I am hoping that others will see that you dont have to always make every single dollar you can make. If there is a community enhancement or a value in what you are doing like what Mark is doing, maybe some other folks think twice about it and want to do the same, said Sheriff Hoffman.

The project needs to go before the city commission for approval. Vengroff says if all goes as planned, residents can start moving in within about two and a half years.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
LAUDERDALE COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT)  A male inmate was found dead in his cell in Lauderdale County on Wednesday.

According to the Lauderdale County Sheriffs Office (LCSO), correction deputies found the unresponsive inmate inside his jail cell around 3:45 p.m. Deputies then notified the on-duty nurse and EMS.

LCSO says that 58-year-old Lewis Dean Simspon, of Florence, was pronounced dead. No foul play is suspected and it is believed that Simpson had a medical episode.

Authorities locate missing man in Lauderdale County

The investigation has been turned over to the Alabama State Bureau of Investigations. According to LCSO, Simpson has been transported for an autopsy.

Simpson was arrested on April 30, 2024, for charges of domestic violence, third-degree menacing, and resisting arrest.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHNT.com.
AURORA, Colo. (KDVR)  The Colorado Department of Transportation confirmed plans to improve a section of northbound Interstate 225 in Aurora between Alameda and 6th avenues.

The stretch was a cause for concern among politicians and police, and it also brought a call to action from the family of someone who died in a crash there last year.

Ive been driving that for years, and Ive noticed an irregularity in the road, Aurora Council Member Steve Sundberg said.

Polis signs bill to assign firearm code to gun, ammo purchases

In early April, Sundberg was concerned about the stretch of I-225.

For that spot, you can see marks and scrapes on the concrete barriers years ago and debris from vehicles that have crashed, Sundberg said.

Traffic on I-225 in Aurora

7 fatalities at this spot on I-225 in Aurora

Several deadly crashes happened there. Two were on the same day last year, and the latest was on March 30.

In nine months, there have been seven fatalities at this spot, Sundberg said. Veteran police officer in Aurora says that for the last six years, this has been a problem spot.

In April, Aurora police shared their concerns about the stretch of I-225 with FOX31 as the family of Austin Alarcon called for something to be done. Alarcon died in a July 2023 crash at the same location.

First, we implore the public to drive safely, Sundberg said. But we implore CDOT to shift gears and put the pedal to the metal and get this project fixed.

Debris from a deadly crash on Interstate 225

I-225 improvements planned

Change is coming to the stretch. CDOT confirmed to FOX31 that plans are being drafted for improvements.

Thats planned to be completed this summer, Aurora Deputy City Manager Laura Perry said.

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The aim is to level the road where there is a prominent bump blamed for vehicles losing control. Some believe this will be a life-saving improvement.

Which will then go under construction next year, Perry said.

CDOT said their engineers have met with city officials from Aurora to discuss short-term design work. Meanwhile, Sundberg said the Aurora Police Department is expected to increase speed enforcement along the stretch of I-225.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
BRADENTON, Fla. (WFLA)  The Bradenton Police Department said it arrested a 7-Eleven clerk who admitted to stabbing a man behind a store.

According to police, 34-year-old Danny Waiters told detectives that he stabbed a man in his 60s after they got into an argument behind the 7-Eleven on 14th Street West on Tuesday.

Police said the man approached Waiters behind the 7-Eleven and started arguing with him. During the argument, Waiters said the 60-year-old displayed a spear but didnt threaten him with it.

Later, the store manager told the man to leave the property. Waiters intervened and started to argue with the man again. When the man turned away from the employees, police said Waiters stabbed him once with a pocket knife.

Waiters told detectives that he believed the man was going to grab his spear.

The man was taken to a hospital and is now recovering from surgery.

Police said Waiters agreed to turn himself in. He was charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
The American writer Stephen King has always been frank and merciless when it comes to his own works. The famous author is always ready to admit mistakes or praise himself, and his fans respect him for his honesty.

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Even when talking about some of his most iconic books, the "King of Horror" can safely admit that the director of the film adaptation was even more skilled in his craft, Starte Facts writes. In particular, King considers Brian De Palma's 1976 film Carrie to be one of his best.

Screen adaptations of a writer's works should be recognized as a separate genre. The quality of such films varies greatly, from cult classics to garbage that should never have been released. Fortunately, the first category is iconic enough to compensate for the more numerous and unsurpassed second.

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But only one film adaptation was called "better than my book" by Stephen King himself: "Brian De Palma's Carrie in 1976, based on the author's novel of the same name. "I heard the buzz about a remake of Carrie. Why [remake it] when the original was so good? I don't mean Casablanca or anything like that, but a really good horror movie with tension, much better than the book," the celebrity said in 2011.

There must have been something really special about Carrie in 1976 for a writer as famous as Stephen King to openly call it the best version of his work. Luckily, the "King of Horror" himself perfectly described what impressed him about the film adaptation. Brian De Palma's Carrie was stunning. He deftly and artistically handled the material and got a great performance from Sissy Spacek. The movie is much more stylish than my book," the author explained.

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Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.

ABC 20/20s The Hungryland Homicide looks into Air Force veteran Tricia Todds murder case. The upcoming episode will air on the network on Friday, May 3, 2024, at 9 p.m. ET. A synopsis reads, A mysterious true crime, a young mother murdered, and the stunning details of what happened next.

NBC News stated that Tricia Todd, who was a mother, U.S. Air Force veteran, and hospice nurse, went missing in April 2016. Her ex-husband, Steven Williams, last saw her on April 26. Todds family eventually reported her missing after she failed to pick up her two-year-old daughter from the babysitter. Authorities and people from the community searched for the missing woman for days. They found her car, and the keys were reportedly still in the ignition. Her purse was still inside the vehicle, but her phone was missing.

Authorities questioned several potential suspects, including Todds ex-husband, Steven Williams, who worked for the Air Force. He later confessed to a gruesome crime, telling investigators that her death was an accident. Williams then took them to the victims remains and later pleaded guilty in the case. Afterward, he revealed the entire story, detailing a cruel and premeditated crime, per WPBF.

How was Tricia Todds murder case solved?

A mysterious true crime, a young mother murdered, and the stunning details of what happened next. 20/20 The Hungryland Homicide full episode with @DebRobertsABC premieres Friday, May 3rd on @ABC. Stream later on @Hulu. pic.twitter.com/ohFM2hHgqu  20/20 (@ABC2020) May 1, 2024

According to WPBF, detectives solved Tricia Todds murder case after getting a confession out of her ex-husband, Steven Williams. Authorities interrogated Williams after becoming suspicious of his involvement in Todds disappearance. They told the ex-husband about finding surveillance footage of him leaving the missing mothers house. They alleged the suspect the footage captured him dropping off her car there. His confession came on May 25, nearly a month after he claimed he last saw Todd.

The outlet stated that Williams initially claimed Todds death was an accident. He claimed to have pushed the 30-year-old while arguing when she fell and died. Fearing that he would face the blame for her death, Williams claimed he first dismembered her body and disposed of the body parts. He initially told authorities he couldnt recall the exact whereabouts where he disposed of the victims body.

Williams eventually agreed to lead detectives to her body in exchange for a plea deal. He took detectives to a remote location in the Hungryland Wildlife and Environmental Area. The wildlife preserve is situated along the borders of Palm Beach and Martin counties. There, after digging, they found Todds remains buried in a plastic tub of acid.

As part of the plea deal, Tricia Todds killer, Steven Williams, reportedly received a 35-year prison sentence on a second-degree murder charge. He also got a consecutive term of five years on one count of child neglect, per the Office of Special Investigations. Martin County Circuit Judge Lawrence Mirman delivered the sentence the same year he murdered Todd. Judge Marin said that the plea deal and reduced terms were clearly less than full justice for the victim.

Later that year, after his conviction, Steven Williams finally revealed the truth behind Todds murder during an interview with detectives. WPBF stated that in his final confession, the killer admitted that the murder was premeditated. Williams claimed that he committed the crime in an Airbnb, where he was staying at the time. The couples two-year-old daughter was also present there.

Williams confessed that he first tried to strangle Tricia Todd. His plan was to render the mother of one unconscious and then wait for her to revive. He wanted to get her to reveal her email password and other information and then send fake emails to the victims family to mislead them into believing that she had left for Haiti. However, his plan failed when Todd began screaming after regaining consciousness. Thats when he struck her in the head using a club before choking her to death.

Per his confession, the killer took Todds body to the Hungryland Wildlife Preserve. There, he had already made preparations by digging up a hole and placing a tub containing acid in it. He then used a chainsaw to dismember the victims body and buried the cut-up parts in the tub. Surveillance from a North Carolina Home Depot had managed to capture him as he bought acid a few months prior to the murder.

Steven Williams admitted to murdering Todd to avoid paying child support. Moreover, Williams, who resided in North Carolina, wanted full custody of their daughter and take her back with him, per The Palm Beach Post. He also felt his ex-wife disrespected him, and the fact that he got to see his daughter rarely upset him. Moreover, he mentioned that he and the victim had financial issues.

Detectives believed Williams confession definitely was key and [they] were able to bring justice to her [Todds] family.

ABC 20/20s The Hungryland Homicide airs with Tricia Todds murder case this Friday, May 3.

The post ABC 20/20s The Hungryland Homicide: What Happened to Tricia Todd? appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More.
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  Florida was once a state thousands of women traveled to in order to receive an abortion, but thats no longer the case as of Wednesday after the states six-week abortion ban took effect.

Its a step in the right direction in creating a culture of life, said, Reginald Hobbs of the Tampa Bay Pro-Life Alliance.

At six weeks, many women dont realize they are pregnant. Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida Interim CEO Barbara Zdravecky said the law will create a health care crisis across America.

Its going to be a public health crisis: Health advocates on 6-week abortion ban

Planned Parenthood is an organization whose north star is care no matter what, and we cant provide that care no matter what now because of whats happened in Tallahassee with our politicians, she said.

The law has exceptions for rape, incest, and human trafficking up to 15 weeks and for the life of the mother and fatal fetal abnormalities, but Dr. Robyn Schickler, the chief medical officer at Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, said thats not sufficient.

It puts doctors like me in a place of interpreting laws when weve had medical training, we didnt have to interpret law to figure out if we can or cant take care of a patient, said Schickler.

Since the U.S. Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe v Wade, its been a fight for each state.

Hobbs said he educates the minority community of the high abortion rate.

Being African American, its one of the issues that concerns me that we make up 13% of the population but have about 30 to 40 percent of the abortions, Hobbs said.

Former Hillsborough principal warns of opioid dangers after losing only child to overdose

State data shows last year, more than 9,000 women traveled to Florida to receive the procedure.

Our care will be helping patients to migrate out of the state of Florida so they can find care and states that are more friendly to themselves, said Zdravecky.

Nearby options for care after six weeks will be North Carolina and Virginia.

In November, there will be a constitutional ballot amendment that would protect abortion rights, meaning Florida voters will have the final say.

We have unprecedented success that weve had in the state. We do have some threats to that success to some of the things that be on the ballot, and those will be the constitutional amendments that were going to be working very hard to make sure that people know what exactly it is doing, Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a news conference in Hardee County on Wednesday.



Our main focus is going to be defeating Amendment 4 in November, Hobbs said.





For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
As protests surge across America just months before the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, activists representing LGBTQ+ and womens reproductive rights say Mayor Brandon Johnsons administration is violating their First Amendment rights and is unprepared for the onslaught of dissidents headed to the city this August.

The claims were made as Bodies Outside of Unjust Laws filed a federal lawsuit Thursday alleging the city wrongfully denied permits for the group to protest by the Water Tower on Michigan Avenue, an area where many Democratic delegates will be staying during the Aug. 19-22 convention.

Joined by the ACLU of Illinois, activists with the LGBTQ+ and womens reproductive rights organization said that while they support the Democratic Party over Republicans its essential for protesters to be heard to ensure their perspectives are reflected by the party both during and after the convention.

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In this important election year, its vital that Democrats listen to the priorities of their supporters who are desperate for the protection of their health and safety and the ability to decide the direction of their own lives, Anne Rumberger, an activist with the group, said after the lawsuit was filed.

With abortion access being one of the main issues Democrats hope will drive voters to the polls, Andy Thayer, another activist with the coalition, said the lawsuit is about preserving democracy.

For half a century the Democrats allowed the constitutional right to abortion and other rights to be eroded bit by bit until we lost them, he said. Thats why we have to be in the streets, using the media attention on the DNC to force the Democrats to live up to their verbal promises.

The lawsuit comes as several contentious issues continue to roil the nation and the Democratic Party, most notably the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas that has sparked protests on college campuses.

Ed Yohnka, a spokesman for the ACLU of Illinois, which filed Thursdays lawsuit, warned that the city of Chicago was not prepared for the protests headed here.

Despite suggestions by some Chicago officials that the city is prepared for the Democratic National Convention, we are here today because they are not, Yohnka said. Sadly, the city has not created a clear, transparent plan for welcoming those who want to come to demonstrate and express themselves on the issues of our day.

DNC organizers have sought to downplay the disunity in the Democratic coalition while at the same time promising that protesters First Amendment rights will be protected. Theyve expressed confidence in the ability of the U.S. Secret Service, the Chicago Police Department and other law enforcement agencies to maintain order.

Bodies Outside of Unjust Laws is one of several groups seeking the right to protest at the convention, in which more than 50,000 people are expected to descend upon the city, including 5,000 nominating delegates. Political conventions have typically been the site of mass protests, but Johnsons administration has blocked every protest permit requested near the conventions United Center headquarters.

A pro-Palestinian group last month was part of a similar lawsuit against the city, and group leaders promised that protesters would make life miserable for DNC organizers.

Bodies Outside of Unjust Laws applied for a permit on the first day applications opened on Jan. 2 and received an official rejection letter on Jan. 22. The group appealed the Johnson administrations decision at an administrative hearing, but was denied.

The groups planned protest was set for Aug. 18, the Sunday before the DNC kicks off, at the Jane M. Byrne Plaza, previously known as Water Tower Park. Many of the conventions delegates will stay at hotels downtown and be in the Michigan Avenue area.

Johnsons Department of Transportation offered the group an alternative route: a two-block march up a tree-lined stretch of Columbus Drive in the middle of Grant Park from Roosevelt Road to Jackson Drive. The site is nearly 4 miles from the United Center.

City officials declined to comment on the pending lawsuit. A spokesperson said that if a permit is denied, the applicant is given an alternative route that accounts for police resources, security and other additional factors.

Thayer said Bodies Outside of Unjust Laws will not let the mayor stop them from advocating for full reproductive justice. They plan to march, he said, permit or no permit.

Rebecca Glenberg, senior supervising attorney for the ACLU, said that under the First Amendment, Bodies Outside of Unjust Laws has the right to an alternate route that still allows (them) to reach (their) intended audience.

Rather than make room for speech, Chicago has denied our clients and others permits to march where delegates can see them. These permit denials are unconstitutional, Glenberg said Thursday.

Johnson has repeatedly promised to provide demonstrators with a fair platform, in keeping with his past participation in large demonstrations and support for their importance in progressive movements.

But the city has argued in court that Chicago does not have enough police to protect the parade, keep protesters in check and regulate traffic, records show. Chicago is set to receive $75 million from the federal government for convention security. Still, confusion remains around safety and logistics for the event.

Yohnka said the city is trying to avoid chaos like the riots that erupted outside the Democratic National Convention in 1968 under then-Mayor Richard J. Daley when anti-Vietnam War protesters and the Black liberation movement organized mass demonstrations.

One of the things thats really precarious right now in this country is we seem to be having a dialogue that somehow any kind of demonstration or protest is equated with danger, Yohnka said. There are demonstrations that take place every single day in this city that are not unsafe.

Kristi Keorkunian, a member of the group and co-founder of Stop Trans Genocide Chicago, stressed that the group is marching for comprehensive and inclusive health care policies.

What year is this? In the third-largest city in the United States, we have to fight for our right to get close enough to our politicians for them to actually hear us? she asked.

Chicago Tribune reporters Jake Sheridan, Rebecca Johnson and Alysa Guffey contributed.
Longtime tenant Sally Juarez sits on the stoop of her Eagle Rock home, one of 17 apartments targeted for demolition to make way for a 153-unit affordable housing complex.

Eagle Rock resident Sally Juarez has a rental home that many in L.A. can only dream of.

It's a five-minute walk from busy Eagle Rock Boulevard. Even better? Her two-bedroom is $560 per month, thanks to a city law limiting the size of rent increases in older buildings.

But Juarez's life was upended a few months ago, when she and her family learned their rental and 16 others on Toland Way in Eagle Rock were targeted for demolition to make way for new affordable housing. A proposal for an eight-story, 153-unit building was submitted as part of Executive Directive 1, Mayor Karen Bass' initiative to fast track the approval of low-cost housing.

Tenant Sally Juarez has a sign promoting the work of the Los Angeles Tenants Union, which has been lobbying city leaders to protect her and other renters on Toland Way.

The mayor's initiative, part of her larger fight against homelessness, was created to ensure that 100% affordable housing projects are approved within 60 days, without public hearings. Renters facing displacement from such projects say that timetable leaves them with less time to mobilize  or fight back.

The Eagle Rock development is on hold, with city planners waiting for additional documents. Meanwhile, Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez has begun pushing for new safeguards to ensure that projects submitted under the ED1 program do not result in the rapid demolition of rent-stabilized apartments in her Eastside district.

On Tuesday, the City Council  at Hernandez's urging  voted 13-0 to instruct the Department of City Planning to draft a temporary ban on the approval of affordable housing projects that result in the demolition of five or more occupied rent-stabilized units in parts of her district.

The moratorium sought by Hernandez would only apply to 100% affordable housing projects  the kind being fast-tracked under ED1  in portions of Chinatown and Eagle Rock. Hernandez said she selected those areas because they have a high concentration of rent-controlled apartments and are facing major displacement pressure.

"I, as the representative of CD1, have to do everything in my power to try to keep folks housed in my district," Hernandez told her colleagues. "Because we have a serious eviction-to-homelessness pipeline."

The new regulations, which must be drafted and come back for another council vote, would buy the city time to develop rules requiring that 100% affordable housing projects provide at least some units for families that are defined as very low-income, said Hernandez spokesperson Chelsea Lucktenberg.

Zach Seidl, a spokesperson for Bass, did not provide the mayor's position on Hernandez's proposal when contacted by The Times.

"We are working to protect and support all Angelenos as more housing is built and we bring more Angelenos inside," Seidl said. "As issues come up, we will take action to address them."

A developer on Toland Way in Eagle Rock has submitted an application to build a 153-unit affordable housing complex, replacing 17 rent-controlled apartments. Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez is pushing for a moratorium on such projects.

Tuesday's vote is the latest example of council members looking to rein in real estate developments that would result in the destruction of rent-controlled units. In December, the City Council passed a motion from Councilmember Kevin de Leon seeking a temporary ban on the demolition of rent-controlled apartments in Boyle Heights.

That ordinance has been drafted but not yet approved by the council, said Pete Brown, a spokesperson for De Leon. In addition, city agencies are still waiting for feedback from the state's Department of Housing and Community Development, he said.

Juarez, who has lived in her home on Toland Way since 1978, said she is grateful to Hernandez for helping her neighborhood with the fight against demolition. She said safeguards aimed at protecting tenants won't go far enough for her and her neighbors.

According to the city's housing department, L.A. residents whose rent-controlled apartments are demolished must be provided relocation payments, which can range from $9,900 to $24,650, depending on a renter's income and other factors.

Juarez, a retired schoolteacher, said she believes she would be eligible for nearly $25,000. But she said rents are now so high that she would likely burn through that money in less than a year.

"There's no way I can afford to live anywhere in my neighborhood. There's absolutely no way. Not on my retirement," said the 71-year-old.

Representatives of JFP Toland LLC, which is listed in city paperwork as the developer of the Toland Way project, did not respond to inquiries or declined comment when contacted by The Times.

Under state law, low-income residents who are displaced to make way for affordable housing also are eligible to move into a comparably priced unit, with the same number of bedrooms, in the replacement building, said Eduardo Mendoza, policy director at the Livable Communities Initiative, a housing and transit advocacy group.

Lucktenberg, the spokesperson for Hernandez, said many tenants cannot realistically take advantage of that opportunity, in part because of the amount of time it takes to build the replacement project. Renters who relocate frequently have to find not just new apartments but also new schools for their children  making it difficult to uproot their families a second time, she said.

Juarez said she's not interested in moving into the replacement building. And she's not the only tenant on edge.

Johanna Olivares, 42, said she and her family have been paying $892 per month for their apartment on Toland Way. A 20-year resident of the building, she said the landlord has previously offered cash to her family to move out.

Tenants Johanna Olivares, son Emmanuel Riebeling, 4, and husband, Juan Riebeling, are facing an uncertain future if they are forced out of their rent-controlled apartment.

Appearing at Tuesday's council meeting, Olivares begged council members to block the new project from being approved.

"I'm a stay-at-home mother. I'm on a fixed income," she said. "We love Los Angeles."

A developer is looking to demolish 17 apartments on Toland Way in Eagle Rock, replacing those units with a 153-unit affordable housing complex. The company is looking to take part in Mayor Karen Bass' Executive Directive 1 program, which fasttracks the approval of such projects.

Bass launched the ED1 initiative in December 2022, during her first week in office. She signed the order to ensure that 100% affordable housing projects would have top priority, not just at the planning department but also at the Department of Building and Safety, which reviews construction work, and the Department of Water and Power, which oversees utility hookups.

The mayor later amended the order to make explicit her intent to prohibit ED1 projects from being approved on properties zoned for single-family homes.

Bass has portrayed the ED1 initiative as a big success, saying it has unleashed a flurry of applications to build affordable housing. During her recent State of the City speech, she announced that the city had cut the permitting process for 100% affordable housing projects from six months to 35 days.

"This has resulted in more than 16,000 additional, new affordable housing units in the pipeline," she said.

At one point last year, the mayor's team said that 46 units of new affordable housing were being permitted under ED1 for every rent-controlled unit targeted for demolition.

Still, some renters' rights activists have been critical. Last year, they pointed out that dozens of tenants in South Los Angeles were being pushed out of apartments targeted for demolition by developers using ED1's fast-track process.

Johanna Olivares with son Emmanuel Riebeling, 4, and husband, Juan Riebeling, at their home on Toland Way.

Those arguments were repeated during Tuesday's meeting. Some Toland Way residents fought back tears as they described their fear of being forced out of their apartments. Tenant advocates took direct aim at the mayor.

"I'm here today to ask you to pass this ordinance and defend these families, because the mayor is not going to," tenant organizer Yaya Castillo told the council. "Let's speak plainly here: by not protecting our rent-controlled units, Executive Directive 1 has been implemented to accelerate gentrification."

Bass is looking to transform her executive order into a permanent ordinance. Although the proposal has been endorsed by the city's planning commission, it has not yet come before the council.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Aggressive foxes break into Arizona museum and one attacks staffer, officials say

A pair of aggressive  and possibly rabid  foxes broke into a southern Arizona museum, and one of the animals attacked a staff member, wildlife officials said.

The Sonora Desert Museum staff member was not injured in the attack, the Arizona Game and Fish Department in Tucson said on Facebook Wednesday, May 1.

The museum closed for the rest of the day and wildlife officials captured the foxes, euthanized them and submitted them for rabies testing, the department said.

The museum is adjacent to Saguaro National Park in western Tucson, where a rabid gray fox attacked three hikers within three days in early April, McClatchy News previously reported.

Reports emerged earlier this year of animals  including foxes, raccoons and a bobcat  acting oddly in the park, McClatchy News reported.





Wildlife officials urged people to report any ill or aggressive wildlife to 623-236-7201.

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LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  A Las Vegas newspaper and prosecutors have come to a partial agreement in the murder case against a Las Vegas politician accused of killing a local reporter.

Prosecutors and attorneys for the Las Vegas Review-Journal have reached a partial agreement regarding materials at the center of the murder case against Robert Telles. The disgraced Clark County Public Administrator is accused of killing investigative journalist Jeff German in September 2022.

In a series of contentious court hearings and filings, the Review-Journal had argued that police and prosecutors should not have full access to electronic devices, including cell phones, taken from German during the investigation of his stabbing death because of journalistic privilege. One concern, they contended, is that Germans sources would be revealed.

The Nevada Supreme Court ruled in October that the Review-Journal has standing to assert the privilege, which is known to be one of the countrys strongest protections of freedom of the press, a constitutional right under the First Amendment.

Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney Chris Hamner said in court Thursday that the newspaper agreed to turn over roughly 1,200 items from one of Germans cell phones that the newspaper originally deemed off limits prior to their review of the entire contents of the phone. The newspaper had identified approximately 5,500 items from the cell phone to be privileged, according to Hamner. Prosecutors had provided eight categories that would be relevant to the criminal case, and the Review-Journal informed prosecutors that approximately 1200 items may fall into those categories, Hamner said.

Of the approximately 1,200 items that may fall into the eight categories, the newspaper refused to waive the privilege for 36 items, Hamner told Clark County District Court Judge Michele Leavitt. The relevance of those items, along with items from at least two other electronic devices in Germans possession, may be addressed at future dates.

Once turned over, police, prosecutors, and the defense would have access to the material.

Telles, 47, remains in the Clark County Detention Center. A jury trial is scheduled for Aug. 5. Previous trial dates have all been delayed, including one in March.

German, 69, was found stabbed to death outside his home on Sept. 3, 2022. Detectives said Telles DNA was found under Germans fingernails and believe Telles targeted German because of articles he wrote about problems in the Clark County Public Administrators office, which Telles oversaw. Telles represented himself for much of his defense until recently.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
AI could be used to influence election, says experts

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR)  Top national intelligence leaders briefed senators Thursday on worldwide threats to America. Topics ranged from election interference to AI, and state and individual actors.

Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines says cyber-attacks are on the rise.

We have seen a massive increase in the number of ransomware attacks globally in the last year, which went up as much as 74%, Avril Haines, Director of National Intelligence.

Members of the intelligence community gave lawmakers an update about the most serious, global threats facing the United States.

The terrorist threat level is of grave concern, Haines said.

Most of the specifics were kept behind closed doors.

As the war rages on in the Middle East, Arkansas Republican Senator Tom Cotton is concerned terrorists are coming across the U.S.-Mexico border.

Do you think there might have been an even greater surge in Islamic extremists trying to cross our open southern border? Cotton asked.

We havent seen Hamas directing essentially folks or others in the region to come into the United States to engage in attacks, Haines said.

Other concerns lawmakers had included adversaries using AI to try to influence our 2024 elections.

Russia, in particular, has you know engaged in the use of artificial intelligence generative AI in the context of their information operations, Haines said. 

Director Haines says Russia is far from the only ones.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
The New Mexico state capitol on June 12, 2023. (Photo by Austin Fisher / Source NM)

An expert on artificial intelligence told a legislative panel that state lawmakers were right to protect themselves from AIs potential harmful effects on their election campaigns, but now they need to offer the same protections to everyone else.

Melanie Moses is a University of New Mexico computer science professor and special adviser to the vice president for artificial intelligence research.

At the Science, Technology and Telecommunications Committees first meeting between legislative sessions on Wednesday, Moses said lawmakers took a good first step with the deepfake law passed in the 2024 legislative session.

Deepfakes can be used in any type of media that is edited or manipulated to make fake information appear real. Artificial intelligence can be used to easily create sophisticated media that can make a person appear in places theyve never been, or do and say something that didnt happen.

The new law in New Mexico will go into effect later this month. It requires political campaigns and candidates to tell the public whenever they use false information generated by artificial intelligence in a campaign ad.



However, Moses said its a small step on whats going to be a very long journey.

Youve protected yourselves; youve protected people who are running for election, Moses said. The rest of the population also needs this sort of protection.

She pointed to deepfakes that create pornography or slander as two examples of real harms. We cant let (those) stand, both for the particular individual that is going to suffer, but more broadly, because all of us will learn to distrust reality if these deepfakes proliferate, Moses told state lawmakers.

I think were already pretty close to never being able to believe what we see, which is a really hard way to run a democracy, Moses said.

Moses said she thinks the Legislature would best serve New Mexico by considering what to regulate to protect people from algorithms potential harms, and where to invest money in artificial intelligence research for the economy and public education.

Transparency and equity

Moses said AI laws passed by other states contain many loopholes, especially around trade secrets, where governments and corporations can withhold information about the models they use to make decisions by claiming it is proprietary.

I think that the state of New Mexico should take the position: if an algorithm is making a choice that affects someones freedom, their financial wellbeing, those sorts of highly consequential decisions, there cant be a loophole that says, This is my trade secret, so I cant tell you why Im denying you this loan or keeping you in jail, Moses said.

Machine learning models like the AI-driven chatbot ChatGPT, for example, are not explainable, Moses said.

If the model is not transparent and cant be explained, it shouldnt be used in this kind of high-stakes decision making in our state, Moses said. I think thats a line we can draw.

Two committee members, Reps. Debra M. Sarinana (D-Albuquerque) and Christine Chandler (D-Los Alamos), were co-sponsors on a bill in the last session that would have required all state agencies to track their artificial intelligence systems, including whether the system was used to support a consequential decision, like determining someones public benefits or imposing punishment like jail or prison time.

Moses said she thinks that bill is on the right track.

Electricity and water usage

It is difficult to find a place to put the large data centers which host the supercomputers that help create these AI models, Moses said, because there is no state that will say, We can offer you enough power and enough water to cool this data center that you can put it here.

We just dont have the power to actually drive these, Moses said. Its expected that 10% of the electricity in the United States will soon go to powering these AI models. In an era of climate change, that is an astonishing  and really not a future we want to go to.

Chandler asked if she should assume greater demand on electricity and water because of a new supercomputer installed by Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Moses said yes and no. The labs machine is smaller than other supercomputers but New Mexico does not have much water, she said.

I have not seen an assessment of how much water and electricity is in use for these particular machines, Moses said. Its the kind of thing we should know the answer to before, as part of the decision making.

Chandler asked if lawmakers should consider making some kind of public input requirement for supercomputing projects to assure that the resources are there, and not theyre not going to negatively infringe on just living in a town.

Study group

Moses said another important thing discussed in the previous session was some kind of standing study group to look at what is coming in the future, what lawmakers have already done, and the impacts of those new laws.

Moses said when there is radically new technology, we really are terrible at predicting what will happen. She said thats why she thinks a study group is necessary to constantly monitor AI laws good and bad effects.

With AI, it is really a complex system; youre not going to be able to create a law that regulates AI and expect it to hold for years on end, Moses said. It really is going to have to be an iterative process.

The post AI expert tells New Mexico lawmakers to go further with regulation appeared first on Source New Mexico.
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW)  George Avila joined the Air Force at the tail end of the Korean War. What he missed in that war, he more than made up for in the Vietnam War. He flew over 100 bombing missions over North Vietnam, a feat not many pilots can say they accomplished.

Avila was born in Van Nuys, California, in 1933. He had a favorite uncle he looked up to who was in the Air Force.

Avila attended Fresno State and joined the ROTC. He graduated with a degree in physics in 1955. He immediately reported for boot camp, followed by flight training in early 1956. By December of 1956, Avila had earned his wings at Laredo, Texas.

I always wanted to fly, and that was the easiest way in the Korean War to get into pilot training and to also finish college, said Avila.

Deaths of friends and fellow Marines led Wichita veteran to attempt suicide, write a book

Avila spent his first eight years in the Air Force as an instructor pilot. He also attended the school aviation medicine, and in 1964, he was transferred to Alaska to the 317th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at Elmendorf Air Force Base.

In 1967, Avila was sent here to McConnell Air Force Base to fly the Thud  the F-105D.

The F-105 is a Thunderchief, and its a fighter bomber, Avila explained. It was designed in the early 50s as a nuclear strike bomber. They could carry a nuclear weapon internally in a bomb bay.

The F-105 was a one-seater cockpit, which meant the pilot was much more than the pilot.

That particular model, called the D model, only had one position to fly it. You were the pilot, the navigator, the radio operator, the bombardier. You did the whole thing, he said.

It was loaded with an arsenal of 20 mm cannon rounds, 2.75-inch rockets, Bullpup and Sidewinder missiles, general-purpose bombs, cluster bombs, flares, chaff dispensers, and drop tanks.

The standard load at that time that we carried to North Vietnam was six Mark-117 750-pound general purpose bombs.

U.S. Army demolitions specialist survived four IED explosions in Iraq & Afghanistan

Between March of 1968 and October of 68, a span of 180 days, Avila flew 117 missions over North Vietnam. His assignment was to cut supply chains by dropping bombs on strategic places such as major roadways, trails, bridges, and on North Vietnamese weapons.

They had a very sophisticated supply system with supplies coming out of China, and also things arriving in the port of Haiphong by ship. And they were transporting them south over quite a transportation system, said Avila. Our job was to try and cut the choke points and destroy the weapons that were on the ground. Whatever theyre sending south.

When his assignment in North Vietnam ended, Avila returned to the states.

When I returned from Southeast Asia, my next assignment on my return home was instructing pilot training and the T-37 at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas.

Over the next few years, Avila was selected to go to the University of Southern California and was named the Chief of Safety of the Air Force safety program. Then in 73, he was transferred back to Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska and assigned to the Alaska Air Command.

Avila remained in Alaska until he retired in 1977.

He served in the Air Force for 22 years.

In December of 78, Lockheed offered a position as a senior Safety Engineer in Saudi Arabia.

So, Avila was off to Saudi Arabia for the next six years, leading the Royal Saudi Air Force safety program.

In late 1984, he moved back home to San Antonio and worked in Northeast School District school bus transportation department. He even drove a school bus for a period of time. He also received his Masters Degree from the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Avila moved to Wichita in 1985 to manage school bus leasing for USD 259. He also served as a safety supervisor and an accident investigator until he retired in 2003.

When asked about his proudest moment during his days in the Air Force, Avila recalls being diverted away from his formation to rescue a downed F-105 pilot. The North Vietnamese were ready for his arrival with anti-aircraft weapons. As Avila puts it, it was a dicey situation.

The rescue mission was a success.

And thats probably the greatest mission I flew. Yeah, we got one guy home. Came home to his family.

And when asked what it means to be a veteran, Avila says pride. He mentions the American privilege of having a passport to travel wherever we want to and being proud of his country.

He also says its important to remember the sacrifices made by our men and women in the military.

Lets not forget.

Over 600 F-105D aircraft entered service for Vietnam. More than half of those were lost in combat in Southeast Asia. Avila gave his Thunderchief fighter jet the name Honey Babe, and it survived Vietnam. In fact, Honey Babe is on display at an air museum in Slaton, Texas.

Avila and his wife, Kay, have been married since 1995.

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.
Air Force Starts to Fly Some Ospreys Again Following Crash that Killed 8 Airmen in Japan

The Air Force has started to fly some of its CV-22 Ospreys again to assess the troubled aircraft's flight eligibility, a notable step as the service works to return the entire fleet to full operations after a deadly crash late last year.

It is the last among the services to return its Ospreys to the air following the Nov. 29 crash off the coast of Japan that killed eight airmen and triggered a military-wide grounding of the aircraft. The Pentagon cleared all the services to begin flying the Osprey again in March, and several of the Air Force's aircraft have undergone testing and evaluation.

"As each aircraft is cleared, our aircrew will immediately commence flight operations," Lt. Col. Rebecca Heyse, an Air Force Special Operations Command spokeswoman, told Military.com on Monday. "As of today, several aircraft have conducted functional check flights, the first step in resuming flying operations."

Read Next: Considering Fat-Loss Supplements? New Military Study Finds Many Are Not What They Seem.

In December, the V-22 Joint Program Office -- part of Naval Air Systems Command -- grounded the aircraft, which is flown by the Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy. In March, while lifting the grounding, that same office admitted that a new mechanical failure had led to the crash. Officials declined to provide specific details of what went wrong and why they felt confident putting Ospreys back in the air.

"We have high confidence that we understand what component failed, and how it failed," Marine Corps Col. Brian Taylor, the program manager for the V-22 program, told reporters in March.

"I think what we are still working on is the 'why,'" he added, noting that "this is the first time that we've seen this particular component fail in this way."

Amid that uncertainty, the Air Force has taken a phased and slow approach to putting its CV-22s back in the air. Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind, the head of Air Force Special Operations Command, convened a safety investigation board and an accident investigation board, in addition to conducting a comprehensive review of the Air Force CV-22 force as a whole following the crash.

Heyse told Military.com that the safety investigation board has been completed, while the accident investigation board and other reviews are ongoing.

"The AFSOC CV-22 fleet is executing the deliberate return-to-flight process," Heyse said. "This process includes simulator training for our CV-22 aircrew, maintenance inspections of our CV-22 aircraft, and a review of each aircraft's maintenance records as prescribed by the Joint Program Office."

By contrast, the Marine Corps began putting its Ospreys back in the skies by March 14 -- less than a week after the hold was lifted. Similarly, the Navy told Military.com in late March that it had begun flying some of its stateside Ospreys again.

Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force, which also flies the Osprey, resumed flights in March, according to a report from Japan Times.

The November crash is only the latest issue for the Air Force's Ospreys. In August 2022, the service briefly grounded its V-22 fleet after it experienced a series of hard clutch engagements that worried leaders.

The hard clutch problem is an ongoing issue with the Osprey's complex system of clutch assemblies that is supposed to enable one engine to fly the aircraft in the event of an engine failure. However, those clutches have failed in some instances.

Military.com reported one such mishap with an Air Force Osprey that could have been fatal in 2017.

Related: Air Force Ospreys in Japan Remain Grounded After Deadly Crash, Even as Marines Return to the Air
On the night of Wednesday to Thursday, May 2, two regions of the Russian Federation  Orel and Kursk  were experiencing turbulence. They were attacked by unidentified UAVs, which left a number of settlements without electricity.

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Local residents complained online about "pops" and later about power outages. The regional authorities confirmed the attacks on energy facilities.

For example, the governor of the Oryol region, Andrey Klychkov, said that the UAVs flying towards the region were allegedly shot down. However, in the Glazunovsky and Sverdlovsk districts, energy infrastructure facilities were damaged during their neutralization.

"This led to a partial power outage in a number of households. Operational services are working at the scene, eliminating the consequences of the attack and restoring power supply," Klychkov wrote.

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The governor of the Kursk region, Roman Starovoit, did not report the downing of the drone. He said that as a result of the UAV attack in the village of Ponyri, power lines were damaged and the village was left without electricity.

"Emergency crews have already started restoring the power supply," Starovoit assured.

As OBOZ.UA reported, on the night of May 1, an unknown drone attacked the Ryazan region of Russia. As a result of the attack, a massive fire broke out at the Ryazan oil refinery.

Later it became known that the attack on the Ryazan refinery was a GRU operation. After the hit, a massive fire broke out there: the primary oil processing unit was on fire.

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Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Jack Teixeira, the Massachusetts Air National Guardsman who has pleaded guilty to leaking highly classified information online, is facing new charges and potentially a court-martial related to his military duties, the Air Force said Wednesday.

An Air Force spokesperson confirmed to Military.com that the service is weighing additional charges of failure to obey an order and obstruction of justice under the Uniform Code of Military Justice related to Teixeira's military service.

Teixeira, 22, an airman first class focused on cyber defense, was arrested in early 2023 following long-running leaks on Discord, an online platform used by gamers, that disclosed classified information about the war in Ukraine and U.S. relations with allies.

Read Next: Air Force Starts to Fly Some Ospreys Again Following Crash that Killed 8 Airmen in Japan

He was charged by federal authorities in April 2023 with unauthorized retention, removal and transmission of national defense information and classified documents. He pleaded guilty in March and faces anywhere from 11 years to a little more than 16 years in prison.

"Following close coordination with the Department of Justice, the Air Force determined that separate and distinct charges should be preferred against A1C Jack Teixeira, for alleged misconduct related to his military duties," the spokesperson said. "These charges will be sent to an Article 32, UCMJ hearing where a neutral and detached officer will examine whether the evidence is sufficient to refer the charges to trial by courts-martial."

Teixeira's Article 32 hearing is scheduled to be held at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts on May 14. He remains an airman first class on active-duty status "pending the outcome of the court-martial," the Air Force spokesperson added.

An Article 32 hearing is a preliminary hearing similar to a grand jury proceeding for civilians. A charge sheet provided to Military.com alleges Teixeira didn't "cease and desist from accessing information not pertaining to his duties, an order which it was his duty to obey," charging him with a violation of Article 92 under the UCMJ.

The second charge alleges that Teixeira did "dispose of an iPad, computer hard drive, and cell phone, with intent to obstruct the due administration of justice in the case of himself," as well as "direct another individual to delete Discord messages," referencing a UCMJ violation under Article 131b, according to the charge sheet.

Teixeira had a top-secret security clearance, as well as access to sensitive compartmented information -- a more restrictive designation for some of the government's most closely guarded secrets -- since 2021, according to an affidavit from the Justice Department. Federal documents alleged that Teixeira began posting the classified information as paragraphs of text starting in December 2022 on the platform Discord.

By January 2023, federal authorities claim he started posting pictures of the intelligence and secret information, because he was worried he would be discovered making transcripts of the documents at his job. They allege he began taking the documents to his home, where he photographed them.

It had been known that Teixeira could potentially face additional charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, because he had been on federal Title 10 orders, meaning he had been on active-duty status performing military duties as opposed to more sporadic drill weekends in Massachusetts.

Guardsmen, who spend the bulk of their service under different duty statuses working part time, often fall out of military justice jurisdiction. An Air Force statement on Wednesday proved that wasn't the case.

"As A1C Teixeira was on Title 10 active-duty orders during the charged time frame, he is subject to both criminal prosecution with the Department of Justice and the United States Air Force under the Uniform Code of Military Justice," the Air Force spokesperson said. "The Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) worked closely with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and provided evidence to the command that demonstrates A1C Teixeira committed violations of the UCMJ."

The 102nd Intelligence Wing where Teixeira worked -- which is based out of Joint Base Cape Cod in Massachusetts -- had its mission paused and divided among other units following his arrest last year. The Air Force announced in December that 15 Air National Guard enlisted troops and officers had been punished and removed from command in connection with the incident, citing a "lack of supervision" that enabled the leaks.

The announcement coincided with the release of an Air Force inspector general report that found members of Teixeira's unit failed to take proper action after becoming aware of him seeking the intelligence, but it found no evidence that any of his supervisors knew that he was allegedly leaking the information online.

Related: Air National Guardsman Teixeira Pleads Guilty to Leaking Classified Info, Faces Up to 16 Years in Prison
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR)  The Senate is racing to pass a massive air safety bill set to expire next week. The Federal Aviation Administration Act must be reauthorized every five years.

Thursday Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called on Democrats and Republicans to unite to get the package across the finish line before a May 10th deadline.

The 2024 FAA Reauthorization Act includes new funding to hire more air traffic controllers, upgrade technology and improve flights to smaller airports.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas.) who calls the package a big improvement over the status quo, also noted the bill would provide direct flights from San Antonio to Washington, D.C.

The package also includes new safety mandates to reduce close calls on runways and require commercial planes to have 25-hour cockpit recording devices.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) ensured the bill improves multiple provisions to ensure better air travel for Americans with disabilities.



Representation matters, Im a legislator that travels with a wheelchair, said Duckworth. Airlines have to let passengers know they have the right to bring their wheelchairs on board.

Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) fought to ban airlines from forcing future mask mandates.

I feel like a lot of that covid tyranny should stay in the rear-view mirror and we should never do it again, said Schmitt.

The bill will have to go through whats likely to be a lengthy amendment process but is expected to pass with bipartisan support in the Senate before it heads to House for a vote.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
Are Airbnbs banned in Hawaii? New law seeks to cracks down on short-term rentals.

Airbnb listings and other short-term vacation rentals in Hawaii are one step closer to being phased out as the state grapples with a housing crisis exacerbated by last years wildfires on Maui.

A bill with the potential to reshape vacation rental regulation across the state passed the Senate and the House on Wednesday and now awaits Hawaii Gov. Josh Greens signature  who already promised to sign it if it hits his desk. If signed, the new law will go into effect on January 1.

SB2919 would grant each Hawaii county the authority to redefine zoning ordinances, including converting short-term rentals into long-term residential housing, in order to guide the overall future development of the county. Those who violate the law would be charged a fine of $10,000 per day.

Significant change wont happen overnight, but it is the first major legislation regulating short-term vacation rentals statewide, according to Hawaii Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole, who introduced the bill.

Its huge, Keohokalole told USA TODAY.

The bill actually overturns a 1957 ordinance that drove Native Hawaiian communities from their homes and converted their land into sugar plantations. Many of the other zoning ordinances are outdated, Keohokalole said, and dont reflect the influx of foreign investors or overtourism.

Should I visit Maui now? Maui businesses ask for responsible tourists to help economy after fires

Destroyed homes and businesses are seen in the aftermath of the Maui wildfires in Lahaina, Hawaii.

We know the majority of STRs (short-term rentals) in Hawaii are illegal, owned by non-residents, and contribute to skyrocketing housing costs, Gov. Green posted on X, formerly Twitter, last week. We support Senate Bill 2919 to empower counties to regulate STRs and potentially phase them out.

Housing affordability in Hawaii has worsened over the past two decades. A single-family home cost four times as much in 2023 than in 2000, and less than one-third of households can even afford the typical local home, according to the Hawaii Housing Factbook by the Economic Research Organization and the University of Hawaii. Rents also continue to rise, and Maui has the most expensive median rent in the state  a typical apartment is $2,500 a month.

Part of that is due to the high percentage of short-term rentals in Hawaiis housing stock. About 30,000 of Hawaiis 557,000 total housing units, or 5.5%, are short-term rentals, compared to cities like Las Vegas, where only 3% are short-term rentals, the report said. Its even worse in Maui, where vacation rentals account for 15% of the islands total housing supply.

Augusts wildfires, which destroyed the majority of Lahaina and displaced thousands of West Maui residents, only amplified the housing crisis on Maui. With Lahaina, were in an emergency situation, Jordan Ruidas of Native Hawaiian-led community organization Lahaina Strong told USA TODAY.

The fire burned away the majority of our working-class housing, she said. Were in shambles, and people are still waiting for long-term housing.

Ruidas said around 3,000 displaced residents are still living in hotels, over eight months since the fires ravaged West Maui. Some are leaving Hawaii entirely due to the lack of stable long-term housing.

Whats become clearer, at least in Lahaina and that outlying community, is that so much of the housing stock on that part of the island has been converted into vacation rentals that the survivors are struggling to find places to live, said Keohokalole.

Maui County Mayor Bissen has said that he wants to increase the inventory of available long-term units for people of Maui and even proposed tax incentives for owners to convert their units into long-term housing in November.

Its not an inventory problem, its the fact that the inventory is being used for something thats not helping the community, said Ruidas.

Kathleen Wong is a travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Hawaii. You can reach her at kwong@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: New Hawaii law cracks down on vacation rentals amid housing crisis
Rep. David Faulkner, R-Mountain Brook, speaks to a colleague on the floor of the Alabama House of Representatives on April 30, 2024 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)

A bill to allow parole applicants to attend their hearings virtually and address the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles stalled in a House committee Wednesday after one legislator introduced major modifications to the legislation.

Rep. David Faulkner, R-Mountain Brook, tried to submit changes to SB 312, sponsored by Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, during the House Judiciary Committee meeting. Faulkners amendment would allow members of the board to exclude parole applicants if they think it would affect victims.

Faulkner also proposed changing the bill to allow the Board to use telephone communications in the first year followed by video conferencing the year after to give the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles time to set a system and a protocol. He also changed the language in the bill to leave the decision up to the board.

In the effort of time, in trying to get it to the committee in time with a potential amendment, it became a lot easier if you didnt make it a requirement, but you started pushing the parole board to do this, meaning to set up a system to make sure they had time to have the system in place, Faulkner said in an interview after the meeting.

The bill cleared the Senate April 25 on a unanimous vote.

The legislation requires the board to allow parole applicants to participate in parole hearings virtually through video conferencing or other communication means. It suspends the hearing if the communication system fails and allows applicants to waive their rights to attend.

SB 312 was amended in the Senate so that the applicant will not be allowed to see, hear, or interact with the victim; the victims family members, or those advocating for the victim.

Victims of Crime and Leniency (VOCAL), a nonprofit organization that supports victims and victims rights, said the bill could force victims to recollect the traumatic events should the parole applicant be allowed to participate in the hearing.

We are troubled and concerned by the bill, said Wanda Miller, the executive director of VOCAL, in an interview after the meeting.

Others, including Redemption Earned, based in Birmingham, were surprised by the events that transpired on the committee after having advocated for SB 312s passage.

This bill would just provide them (parole applicants) the essence of fairness, the right to be virtually present, said former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb, the executive director of Redemption Earned. I am disappointed that a bill that passed the Senate unanimously, that there is this much consternation on the committee, particularly around the fact of simply just trying to deprive worthy, prospective parolees the opportunity to have something they have earned.

She also said that allowing the parole applicant to participate in the hearing would have minimal impact on the victim.

The victims wont even know, Cobb said. The cameras will be focused on the board. They will not know they are there.

Faulkner submitted his proposal during the final moments in committee as the bill was under consideration, surprising many of the legislators on the committee.

Rep. Matt Simpson, R-Daphne, almost immediately moved to introduce an amendment to Faulkners substitute, changing it back to the original version but keeping the provision to allow applicants to participate in their hearings by telephone and later move to video conferencing.

If someone is going to talk about my future, at least let me hear what they are saying, Simpson said. If the parole board says, listen, you are not behaving in prison, you are not following what you are supposed to do, youve got too many disciplinaries, you have got too many of these things going on, you havent done this, get your GED, get a trade, get a skill, at least the person had the opportunity to hear from the parole board what they can do for the time they need to show up next time.

Rep. Jim Hill, R-Odenville, chair of the Judiciary Committee, also disagreed, telling committee members that while he was a judge, people would appear in court whenever a judgment was made regarding their future.

The ranking Democrat on the committee, Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, vehemently opposed Faulkers proposal.

Currently, the parole board has absolutely no oversight, none, he said. We know there have been instances where they have not followed the law in terms of set aside. We know there have been instances where they dont go by guidelines. We also know there have been instances where the process has been abused to the detriment of the applicant.

Others on the committee, including Rep. Jerry Starnes, R-Prattville, said that parole applicants have other chances to address the committee. They can submit letters or written statements. Staff may also interview them to gauge how prepared they are to be released.

The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to meet on the bill Thursday morning.

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Alabama officials clear way for Biden to appear on states fall ballot

Alabama officials have enacted legislation that will allow President Joe Biden to appear on the states November ballot, less than a month after the Republican secretary of state warned that Democrats might miss a state deadline to formally name him as their nominee.

Republican Gov. Kay Ivey on Thursday signed into law a bill that pushes back Alabamas certification deadline from 82 days before the election to 74 days. This will give Democrats time to submit Bidens name after he formally becomes the nominee at their national convention this summer.

The state House passed the measure earlier Thursday, while the state Senate did so early last week. Republicans hold overwhelming majorities in both chambers.

The latest developments in Alabama put to rest a politically charged drama that may have otherwise turned into a legal battle between Democrats and state officials.

Election after election, states across the country have acted in line with the bipartisan consensus and taken the necessary steps to ensure the presidential nominees from both parties will be on the ballot, Biden campaign spokesperson Charles Lutvak said in a statement.

Wes Allen, Alabamas secretary of state, warned state Democrats and the Democratic National Committee last month that the timing of their national convention could conflict with the states certification deadline of August 15. The Democratic convention will take place August 19-22, while Republicans are holding their convention in July.

Allens warning came days after election officials in Ohio flagged that the Democratic convention would take place after the Buckeye States August 7 deadline to certify presidential candidates.

In recent years, lawmakers and state election officials have quietly resolved certification timeline issues by either enacting legislation to push back the deadline or accepting provisional certifications from political parties.

Four years ago, when the Republican convention took place a week after Alabamas deadline, Allens predecessor, also a Republican, accepted a provisional certification from the national GOP in anticipation of President Donald Trump being named the nominee. Democrats also submitted a provisional certification.

Allen, however, has insisted that state law doesnt allow for provisional certification.

In Ohio, which requires parties to submit the names of their nominees 90 days before the general election, the path forward is less clear. State officials have said they wont accept provisional certification.

Historically, lawmakers have resolved the issue by passing legislation to move back the deadline. Such a legislative fix would need to be enacted by May 9, the legal counsel for Ohios Republican secretary of state, Frank LaRose, told Democrats last month.

Ohios Republican State Senate president, Matt Huffman, expressed confidence last month that Biden would be on the ballot, whether thats through legislation or the involvement of federal courts.

He pointed to the US Supreme Courts unanimous decision in March to keep Trump on the primary ballot in Colorado, despite a state high court ruling that he had violated the insurrection clause of the 14th amendment.

The federal court is not going to allow the state of Ohio to say you cant have Joe Biden on the ballot, Huffman said during an episode of his podcast. Thats just not going to happen.

This story and headline have been updated.

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Sen. Vivian Davis Figures, D-Mobile, speaks with Sen. Robert Stewart, D-Selma, on the floor of the Alabama Senate on April 23, 2024 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)

The Alabama Senate Thursday voted for a bill that would extend eight weeks of parental leave to education employees.

Then the chambers leader killed it.



SB 305, sponsored by Sen. Vivian Davis Figures, D-Mobile, would require local boards of education to provide paid parental leave for birth, adoption, miscarriage or stillbirth.

Right now, the women working for this state or the boards of education around the state do not have paid leave to go and have their babies, Figures said.

As initially filed, Figures bill would have extended 12 weeks of parental leave to both parents of a child. But in committee last month, Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee Chair Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, introduced a substitute that cut leave from 12 weeks to six weeks; only allowed one parent to take leave and removed leave for miscarriage or stillbirth.

Orr said at the time he was trying to bring it in line with a bill sponsored by Rep. Ginny Shaver, R-Leesburg, extending six weeks of parental leave to state employees.

On the floor of the Senate Thursday, Figures offered amendments that raised the leave period to eight weeks, which the chamber approved.

Orr raised questions about the potential cost of the bill and the short time left in the 2024 session. The Alabama Legislature can only meet for three more days this year.

My concern is that we vote these today, knowing the bill is not going to pass the House, so that were somewhat on record supporting eight weeks versus six weeks, Orr said.

Figures acknowledged the bill was unlikely to pass the Alabama House of Representatives. But she said the bill was critical for women in the state, saying that the Alabama Senate  in which only four of the 35 members are women  made decisions for (women) that you all dont have to go through, but we do.

None of you have ever been pregnant, she said. None of you ever will be pregnant. None of you have ever had a baby. You have no idea what its like, not only the physical things we have to go through, but the mental and emotional things we have to go through. And the least you can do is give us time, a little time, eight weeks, to deal with that.

The measure passed the Senate 26-2. But Senate President Pro Tem Greg Reed, R-Jasper, blocked the bills transmission to the Alabama House of Representatives.

Under Senate rules, a bill originating in the Senate that first passes the chamber after Day 26 of the session needs unanimous consent from senators to go to the House. Thursday was Day 27.

Reed cited Orrs concerns over the budget.

Any time we look at a circumstance like this, you got budgetary requests, youve got budgetary requirements to have these kinds of things come into effect, and its going to cost the budget money, he said. Ill respect the budget chair who was dialoguing with you, recognizing that its his job to be trying to stay in touch in regards to the costs of those topics.

Reed said he wanted to thank Figures for raising the issue. Figures responded that it really stings that Reed blocked the bill.

The females are a minority in elective office all over, but we are not a minority as voters, she said. Maybe I just need to leave the Senate and start energizing women all over, to let them know the power they really do have. And thats maybe where we start to make the changes.

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The post Alabama Senate passes  then kills  parental leave bill for school employees appeared first on Alabama Reflector.
Alaska Gov. Dunleavy says homeschool changes must wait until appeal ruling as lawmakers eye fixes

Deputy Attorney General Cori Mills explains the administration's understanding of a ruling that struck down key components of the state's correspondence school program, in the Alaska State Capitol on May 1, 2024. (Photo by Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)

Deputy Attorney General Cori Mills explains the administration's understanding of a ruling that struck down key components of the state's correspondence school program, in the Alaska State Capitol on May 1, 2024. (Photo by Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)

It may take a special session of the Alaska Legislature to clarify whats available through the states correspondence school program. Gov. Mike Dunleavy suggested Wednesday that he would veto any related bills before the state Supreme Court weighs in on the programs status.

Alaska families who use the correspondence school option have been waiting for state guidance since a judge struck down key components of the program in April. State legislators in both houses have proposed fixes to keep the programs running.

But Dunleavy said those proposals may not be valid once the states Supreme Court rules. He said that after the court rules, lawmakers would have to come back together quickly: Something of this magnitude warrants a special session, he said.

Anchorage Superior Court Judge Adolf Zeman decided that two sections of state law that allowed public funds, in the form of per student allotments, to be spent at private and religious organizations are unconstitutional.

Dunleavy and Deputy Attorney General Cori Mills interpreted his ruling to mean that all correspondence programs in the state are inoperable. This is literally a disaster and, potentially, an emergency because of its magnitude, Dunleavy said.

Lawyers for the Legislature have had a different interpretation. Because the ruling only struck down student allotments, the correspondence study program continues to exist following the ruling, wrote legislative counsel Marie Marx in an April memo.

The lawyer who brought the lawsuit that led to the decision, Scott Kendall, concurred: Homeschooling remains, Kendall said by phone on Wednesday. The allotment program  the statute underlying that  has been wiped out.

Zeman struck down the two provisions of law pertaining to specific features of the correspondence program and did not mention other laws that pertain to district spending.

Mills said that the language in Zemans ruling could be interpreted to ban all school spending on items from private organizations; Dunleavy supplied the example of district contracts with private bus companies for student transportation. Mills said their interpretation stems from Zemans use of the word organization to describe places where unconstitutional spending occurs, rather than school or institution.

Kendall said the administrations read of the decision is absurdly overbroad. What they say is, this is so broad that a school district cant buy a mop, he said.

He pointed out that when the judge struck down specific pieces of statute, he invited lawmakers to fix them.

If the legislature believes these expenditures are necessary  then it is up to them to craft constitutional language to serve that purpose  that is not this Courts role, Zemans ruling said.

With only two weeks left in the legislative session, both the House and Senate have attempted to answer the rulings call and introduced bills aimed at providing certainty to correspondence school families through their respective education committees. Both bills are intended to allow correspondence programs to continue operating constitutionally and are scheduled for committee hearings this week.

House Bill 400 would direct the governors appointees on the state Board of Education and Early Development to develop new regulations that adhere to the state constitution. Committee co-chair Rep. Justin Ruffridge, R-Soldotna, said the language is such that the law would be relevant even if another proposal, to pass a constitutional amendment, were approved.

Senate Bill 266 would strike the language Zeman found to be unconstitutional and add restrictions on how families spend and report state education dollars. It would also require students to take statewide assessments.

Education committee Chair Sen. Loki Tobin, D-Anchorage, said the Senate majority would continue to pursue legislative solutions and has communicated that to the governor.

President Stevens and I shared our emphatic belief that we need to act so we can ensure stability and predictability and certainty for our correspondence programs, she said.

Both sides of the correspondence school court case asked the court to delay its ruling through a mechanism called a stay. Attorneys for the state requested the court stay its ruling until after a higher court hears its forthcoming appeal. Plaintiffs have asked that the court limit any stay to two months, and to allow rules that are more narrow than the provisions Zeman struck down to govern correspondence programs next school year. The judge is expected to decide as soon as this week.

Alaska Beacon reporter James Brooks contributed reporting to this article.

Correction: Marie Marxs first name has been corrected.

The post Alaska Gov. Dunleavy says homeschool changes must wait until appeal ruling as lawmakers eye fixes appeared first on Alaska Beacon.
In December 2022, the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) received a tip that officers assigned to the APD's DWI unit were getting paid to make cases disappear. The tipster specifically mentioned Honorio Alba, one of several officers who would later resign amid a burgeoning corruption scandal featuring that very allegation. Yet an internal investigation found no evidence to substantiate the tip.

That episode, recently revealed by City Desk ABQ, helps explain why evidence of longstanding corruption within the DWI unit did not come to light until the FBI began looking into it. "We're dealing with stuff that we anticipate started decades ago, and we've done a lot of things that have got us to this point," Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina said at a press conference in February. "But we will continue to dig and look and leave no stone unturned and make sure that we get to the bottom of this."

It seems like the department left plenty of stones unturned when it had a chance to clean its own house before the feds stepped in. Instead of telling the FBI about the alleged corruption, the APD apparently did not take the situation seriously until after it heard from the FBI.

In October 2023, 10 months after the APD's Criminal Intelligence Unit launched its fruitless probe, the FBI informed Medina that it was investigating the DWI unit. The following month, Albuquerque's Civilian Police Oversight Agency received a letter from a local court official who said Alba reportedly had pulled over a speeding, flagrantly drunk driver and, instead of filing charges, referred him to a specific local defense attorney.

The FBI investigation became public knowledge after agents executed search warrants at that attorney's office and the homes of several officers in January 2024. Local news outlets began looking into DWI cases that had been handled by Alba and his colleagues. They found suspiciously low conviction rates that somehow had eluded the APD's investigators in 2022.

In response to the corruption allegations, the Bernalillo County District Attorney's Office dropped some 200 DWI cases, saying it could not rely on the testimony of the cops who had made the arrests. KOB, the NBC affiliate in Albuquerque, reported that Alba, who was honored as "Officer of the Year" by the New Mexico chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving last July, was the arresting officer in many of those cases.

KRQE, the local CBS affiliate, looked at DWI cases filed during the previous six years. It found that Joshua Montano, a 19-year veteran, "was named as the officer in at least 36 cases" in which the defendants were represented by Thomas Clear, the lawyer whose office the FBI had searched. Nearly 90 percent of those cases "ended in dismissals."

City Desk ABQ examined "85 DWI cases dating back to 2017" involving Clear and Alba, Montano, or two other members of the DWI unit, Harvey Johnson and Nelson Ortiz. It found that 14 percent of the cases ended with trial convictions or plea deals, which was "much lower than the Metro Court average of 56% convictions in DWI cases over the same years." The other 86 percent were dismissed, typically because officers did not show up at pretrial interviews or hearings. The "vast majority" of the defendants were arrested by Alba or Montano.

Why didn't the APD discover any of this back in 2022? Acting Sgt. Jon O'Guin "started gathering information butafter looking through officer activitydidn't turn up any evidence," City Desk ABQ reports, citing a five-page "intel file" that it obtained through a public records request.

According to the tipster, APD spokesman Gilbert Gallegos told City Desk ABQ, three bars in Northeast Albuquerque were alerting police to intoxicated patrons so they could be nabbed after they drove away. "They were targeting individuals, who then could get their cases dismissed," Gallegos said, describing the tip. "So they would arrest and charge them and then get their cases dismissed and there would be some sort of payment for that."

In response to that tip, City Desk ABQ says, O'Guin examined "the activity of the seven officers who were on the DWI unit at that time, including Alba, Johnson and Montano." But his investigation apparently was limited to the specific allegation, as opposed to the general claim that officers were helping arrestees avoid charges in exchange for payoffs.

In December 2022, the officers' activity "did not show any obvious indicators that would match the allegations of the information received for the initial complaint in regards to increased activity in the areas of the three locations mentioned in NE Albuquerque," O'Guin wrote in the intel file. "All officers' CAD [computer-aided dispatch] activity showed what would appear to be normal traffic stops and requests for assistance responses across the city." The same was true, he said, for October and November.

That summary of O'Guin's investigation is dated January 2024, by which point the FBI had collected enough evidence to obtain search warrants. "When the allegations were relayed from the FBI, the detective was asked to update the file with documentation of the work that was initially done," Gallegos explained. "So that part of the report was dated January 2024, when he provided that information."

Given the timing, O'Guin's gloss may have been deliberately self-exculpating. In any case, he evidently never thought to look at what was generally happening with the DWI cases that Alba et al. handled. If he had, he would have discovered the same curious pattern that reporters found after the FBI raids. Those high dismissal rates reinforce the allegation that these officers, after stopping drivers for DWI, would "get their cases dismissed" in exchange for "some sort of payment."

No corruption charges have been filed yet. But Alba, Montano, Johnson, Ortiz, and Lt. Justin Hunt all resigned after they were placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of another internal investigation, this one prompted by the FBI probe and the letter to the Civilian Police Oversight Agency. On Tuesday, APD spokesman Daren DeAguero, a 15-year veteran who served in the DWI unit from 2014 to 2018, joined the line of exiting officers.

DeAguero resigned the same day he was scheduled to be interviewed by internal investigators. "Due to the current situation of receiving a letter of investigation with very little time to obtain adequate representation," he wrote in a memo to Medina, "I unfortunately will be ending my employment [with] the Albuquerque Police Department effective April 30, 2024."

Montano was more expansive when he resigned on March 20. "When I was put on administrative leave, I thought there would be an opportunity for me to talk to the department about what I knew regarding the FBI's investigation," he wrote. "I thought there would be a time [when] I could disclose what I knew from within APD and how the issues I let myself get caught up in within the DWI Unit were generational. I thought there would be a time where I could talk about all the other people who should be on administrative leave as well, but aren't."

Montano said he ultimately decided against cooperating with APD investigators. "In order for me to talk to the City about what I knew," he wrote, "I needed to not be the City's scapegoat for its own failures." He complained that Medina "has made it seem like there are just a few bad officers acting on their own." That is "far from the truth," Montano said.

Among other things, the FBI reportedly is investigating claims that officers deliberately missed court dates, resulting in the dismissal of DWI cases. But according to Montano, "officers all know that our attendance, or non-attendance, at Court is watched over and monitored." While "I take responsibility for my actions," he said, the responsibility for the alleged misconduct extends up the chain of command and more than a few years back in timeprobably "decades," according to Medina himself.

"There is a much bigger story here," Montano's lawyer, Thomas Grover, told City Desk ABQ. "If Officer Montano is a cinder block in this saga, there's a whole wall to address. It goes outward and upward."

The post A Year Before Albuquerque's Police Corruption Scandal Made Headlines, an Internal Probe Found Nothing appeared first on Reason.com.
A woman accused of being a high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel  and behind a murder near Miami International Airport in 2022  was sentenced to nine years in federal prison Thursday in connection to a methamphetamine trafficking case.

After pleading guilty, Tsvia Kol, 36, will spend almost a decade locked up. Once released, she will be required to report to a probation officer for five years, surrender to immigration for removal and seek substance abuse treatment, U.S. District Judge Raag Singhal ruled in his Fort Lauderdale courtroom.

Kol was indicted in the drug case 21 days before the shooting death of 46-year-old Julio Gonzalez, court records show. She was detained two days after the Nov. 29, 2022 murder.

READ MORE: In 2022, a man was killed in Miami area hotel. Police believe Sinaloa Cartel involved

Kol lured Gonzalez to room 304 of the Aladdin Hotel, 901 S. Royal Poinciana Blvd, in Miami Springs, Miami-Dade police allege. Then, she and 36-year-old Jimmy Sanchez shot the South Florida man in the head, according to an arrest warrant.

Though Kol is mentioned in the warrant, she hasnt been charged in connection to the killing, according to court records. Its unclear why.

A photo of Julio Gonzalez, 46, who was killed at the Aladdin Hotel, 901 S. Royal Poinciana Blvd. Miami-Dade Police Department

Authorities also say Kol was married to a high-ranking cartel member. The cartel, formerly led by drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, is an international organized crime syndicate focused on drug trafficking and money laundering.

Prior to her arrest in the federal case, Kol admitted to her involvement in the cartel and agreed to stop trafficking drugs and cooperate with federal agents, according to court records. She was detained after being dropped as an informant, with prosecutors arguing that the Israeli national would flee the country. Israel doesnt extradite their citizens.

Kol, described by a judge as having a long-standing and serious dependence on meth, previously had her sentencing postponed due to defense attorneys aiming to resolve an unrelated matter that could have a significant effect on the case, records indicate.

A tough case

Prosecutors on Thursday agreed to reduce her sentencing threshold to anywhere from nine to 11 years. Kol was facing the possibility of spending life in prison at the time she plead guilty.

The murder case wasnt directly mentioned during the sentencing, though it was seemingly alluded to  and possibly discussed during a sidebar that both parties agreed to have sealed.

Singhal, before imposing the sentence, said he was concerned by a series of paragraph in Kols presentencing investigation report. He didnt read them in open court, and the record isnt accessible to the public.

This is a tough case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexandra Comolli said. The nature and circumstances of this offense are very serious...

Kol, Comolli added, intended to flood South Florida with methamphetamine. She added that nine years is a substantial amount of time for someone who has never been to prison. It also grants Kol the opportunity to seek substance abuse treatment.

Defense attorney Jason Kreiss said the sentence was reasonable but not greater than necessary. He announced he didnt have further arguments due to the nature of the situation.

Kreiss also noted he has been in regular contact with Kols family, and in a different scenario would have called them up to testify during the proceeding.

When asked by Singhal if she wanted to address the court, Kol, dressed in a blue jail jumpsuit, replied No, your Honor. Instead, Kreiss spoke for Kol, and said she wanted to express remorse and take responsibility for her actions.

He also requested that Singhal send Kol to a prison close to South Florida  mentioning the Federal Correctional Institution in Tallahassee  to allow visitation from her family.

Shes just asking the court for mercy... Kreiss said.

Throughout the sentencing, Kol frequently turned to her family, who was sitting behind her in the gallery. Her chains rattled as she blew kisses.
Most Russian war criminals are "missing" in Ukraine in the Pokrovsk and Bakhmut districts of the Donetsk region. This region accounts for 55% of all occupants wanted by their relatives from Russia.

ADVERTISIMENT

The relevant data was published by the state project "I Want to Find", which provides information on missing and killed Russian soldiers in Ukraine. It is noted that in 4 months of work, since January 9, 2024, the organizers have received 10,255 applications.

After analyzing the data, they found out that most of the Russians who disappeared in Ukraine were in the age group of 28-40. The youngest of them was 18 years old, and the oldest was 68 years old.

ADVERTISIMENT

Of all the occupiers on the wanted list, only 54% had military badges.

According to the organizers, the increase in the number of missing persons began with the occupiers' offensive on Avdiivka in October 2023. December 2023 saw the largest number of missing persons  16.7%. 81% of people who contacted the project assured that they did not support Russia's war in Ukraine.

ADVERTISIMENT

Sisters and wives are most often involved in the search for missing persons. They received 27% and 25% of applications, respectively, during the specified period.

According to statistics, the largest supplier of "missing persons" to the occupiers is the "Storm Z" unit, formed by Russians from prisoners. At least 487 soldiers have disappeared from this unit. In addition, 6 of the top 20 units in terms of the number of missing soldiers are from the "L/DPR".

"Men from Donetsk and Luhansk are not spared in the Russian army," the project noted.

ADVERTISIMENT

The organizers of the project "I Want to Find" noted that the 10,225 applications they received are, according to their estimates, only 6 percent of the total number of servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces in the status of missing persons.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
NEW YORK (PIX11)  Almost half of the nearly 300 people arrested at college protests on Tuesday were unaffiliated with Columbia University or City College, according to Mayor Eric Adams.

More than 40%  roughly 130  of those detained at the New York City campuses Tuesday night were not tied to the schools, according to a source close to the investigation. But the breakdown is much lower for Columbia, specifically, with just 29% of those arrested being unaffiliated with the school, the source said.

It appears as though over 40 percent of those who participated in Columbia and CUNY were not from the school and they were outsiders, Adams said Thursday in an NPR interview.

It was unclear if the unaffiliated arrests were considered outside agitators.

NYPD cops take down Palestinian flag, put up American flag at City Collge: video

During an appearance on the PIX11 Morning News Thursday, Adams did not clarify how many outside agitators were at the protests. He said that the universities were given the names of those arrested to determine who was a student and who wasnt.

We dont want to release student names, Adams said. Its up to the institutions to do that.

Of the roughly 280 arrests at both campuses, about 170 were given summonses, and the remaining got either Desk Appearance Tickets or have yet to be processed, according to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

We will look carefully at each individual case on our docket and make decisions based on the facts and the law. That will include a thorough review of body cam footage and interviews with witnesses, Bragg said in a statement.

The NYPD was expected to reveal how many outside agitators were at the Columbia University and City College protests but has not yet released the information, as of early Thursday.

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.
Alyssa Farah Griffin, who served as White House communications director under Donald Trump, flagged a real reality for President Joe Biden on Wednesday as she predicted that he could lose the election to Trump in November.

The View co-host rang some alarm bells about the presidential election.

She explained that she initially believed the presumptive GOP presidential nominees hush money trial was gonna hurt him, noting that its put him in a courtroom as opposed to on the campaign trail.

Im startin to think that it doesnt in the same way, because hes not out there saying crazy things. Hes not saying, Immigrants are poisoning our blood. He actually has to kinda sit there silently with his hands folded, Griffin said.

So what people are seeing when they turn on the media  not that crazy Time piece we read yesterday about all the horrifying things hes gonna do in a second term  they see violence and they see protests on college campuses, she added. They see young people calling Joe Biden Genocide Joe and it scares people, whether youre from a law and order perspective, whether youre on the fence about Biden.

Griffins made her comments less than 24 hours after counter-protesters attacked pro-Palestinian demonstrators at UCLA while Columbia University called in police to clear an occupied building of protesters calling for divestment from Israel on Tuesday night.

She added that theres a real reality in which Biden could pick up swing voters and moderate Republicans.

He could pick up all the demographics you generally need but lose young progressives and lose the election to Donald Trump. Thats where we are right now, said Griffin, noting that Trump could very well become president in seven months based on an aggregate of polls.

Biden is trailing Trump by less than 0.8 percentage points, as of May 1, according to an average of national polls compiled by FiveThirtyEight.

Related...
American Airlines flight to London diverted to Bostons Logan Airport due to medical emergency

An American Airlines flight traveling to London was diverted early Thursday morning.

Flight 134 was traveling from Los Angeles (LAX) to London Heathrow (LHR) when it was forced to divert to Boston Logan International (BOS) due to a customer needing medical attention.

The place was able to safely land in Boston and it was met by first responders who transported the passenger to the hospital.

The flight will continue to LHR with a different crew this evening.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
NEW YORK  As New York police officers stormed the campus of Columbia University earlier this week and arrested dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters, many onlookers from around the country were glued not to their TVs or social media, but to a student-run radio station.

The WKCR-FM website crashed Tuesday as people tried tuning into its live broadcast to hear a team of student journalists recount police movements throughout the night and the moment officers began clearing the area around the occupied Hamilton Hall. They also told of a tense standoff where NYPD threatened to arrest the reporters themselves.

This is a harrowing moment in many of our college careers, Teddy Wyche, the student life director at the station, said on air.

As some of the most knowledgeable sources of news about their own campus, some student journalists of WKCR worked 18-hour days after the first tents went up at Columbias encampment about two weeks ago.

Context: Alumni pressure and a crime-fighting mayor helped set the stage for Columbia arrests

Across the U.S. from California to Florida, concerned listeners tuned in Tuesday night to the broadcast. The draw: student journalists with a deep understanding of their campus reporting with an unobstructed view of the scene that mainstream reporters could not access, listeners told USA TODAY.

My wife and I were glued to it, we were really quite worried about what the outcome was going to be, Columbia University alumnus Stuart Strickland said.

The broadcast was chaotic at times, as student reporters interrupted each other to deliver the latest updates of police action and statements from embroiled university President Minouche Shafik.

As the night wore on, the police presence on campus increasingly impacted the broadcast. Student journalists  like other students  had their movements on campus restricted, impacting their ability to gather the news.

Some reported being threatened with arrest. Buildings were sealed off, leaving broadcasters stuck in place. And officers at times forced journalists into buildings away from where police were working.

"The police were saying if you don't go inside the building, you'll be arrested" WKCR station manager Ted Schmiedeler told USA TODAY. But "going inside would prevent (the journalists) from seeing what was happening." Schmiedeler said he was awake for more than 40 hours straight between April 29-30 as the station reported on the protests.

Despite the tense moments, no WKCR journalists were arrested. Their work even got a nod from the Pulitzer Prize board: "In the spirit of press freedom, these students worked to document a major national news event under difficult and dangerous circumstances and at risk of arrest."

The radio kept broadcasting. America kept listening.

Many listeners outside New York learned about the WKCR live stream on the social media platform X.

It meant so much, said Imani Mosley, who graduated from Columbia University in 2013 with a masters degree in musicology. Hearing it in their own words was really important  thats definitely different from how the mainstream media was reporting on things.

Strickland said he appreciated how student journalists gave live updates that relied on things they could personally confirm, while many major media outlets struggled to get first-hand information.

The picture I got of students, from students, was much closer to my experience of Columbia than the coverage from the outside world, said Strickland, 61, who listened from his home in Berkeley, California.

Protests explained: How Columbia University became the epicenter of disagreement over the Israel-Hamas war

While he was listening attentively to WKCR, Strickland said he had his TV on mute in the background, because he only wanted to hear the radio updates, which he said were more current.

Similarly, Karen Leader said she found the stations livestream amid a barrage of other outlets on X, and immediately trusted it as a reliable source of news based on campus.

I just felt incredibly grateful and glad to have found them, said Leader, 64, an NYU alumna who listened from Boca Raton, Florida.

Students on air noted several times throughout the night that their website was experiencing a surge of visitors and kept crashing, and pointed people to other ways to tune in.

Student reporters say they were threatened with arrest

The students reporting that night said as the hours wore on, their movements grew more restricted by police. They were forced away from Hamilton Hall, where police focused most of their efforts, and the students reported facing threats of arrest themselves.

Frankly, no one here is left to document whatever might go down at Hamilton Hall, as we are now being told to leave the premises, reporter David Gonzalez said.

It was in the school's famed Pulitzer Hall that some of the journalists said they found themselves trapped during the 10 oclock hour, unable to leave to go report because, they said, police officers threatened them with arrest should they come out of the building.

A police officer poked his head in and told us that if we go outside again were going to get arrested, journalist Ian Pumphrey, who was part of a group of six WKCR reporters stuck in Pulitzer Hall, told USA TODAY.

Protest news: Pro-Palestinian protests reach some high schools amid widespread college demonstrations

They even told Dean Cobb as well, that if he went outside hed be arrested, Pumphrey said, referring to Columbia University Journalism School Dean Jelani Cobb, who Pumphrey said was in Pulitzer Hall along with journalism graduate students.

Cobb didn't immediately respond to an email request from USA TODAY.

I was the one outside  being pushed into the journalism building, reporter Leon Zhou said on air.

The police basically said, You have to go back, and were threatening to arrest even the dean himself. So with all that said, we are I think we are sort of trapped here at least in the J-School building... for the time being, Zhou said.

Hundreds of police officers stand outside Columbia University on April 30, 2024, as they get ready to rid the campus of protesters.

At around midnight, audiences listened with relief when the station announced all of its reporters made it back to the station safely, Mosley said.

It was a lot of emotions, said Mosley, 40, who listened in Gainesville, Florida. Pride, being so amazed at how they were navigating this situation, and sadness they had to be in that situation in the first place.

NYPD did not answer questions about why student journalists movements were restricted, but pointed USA TODAY to a news conference in which Kaz Daughtry, deputy commissioner of operations for NYPD, told reporters that when officers cleared encampments at New York University the press kind of got in the way of our operation while officers were making arrests.

Freedom of the press on university campuses explained

While covering protests is always chaotic and comes with risks, experts say student journalists being threatened with arrest is unusual and concerning. Attempts to stop them from doing their jobs harm the public's ability to stay informed, experts said.

"Journalists  including student journalists who have been thrust into a national spotlight to cover stories in their communities  must be allowed to cover campus protests without fearing for their safety," said Katherine Jacobsen with the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Columbia University, like many of the universities seeing mass protests, is a private institution, meaning school officials arent required to apply First Amendment rights. That includes the freedom of the press, according to Kevin Goldberg, a First Amendment specialist at the Freedom Forum.

However, any student journalist has the right to be reporting on their community as long as it doesnt interfere with police doing their jobs, Goldberg said. As a reporter you cant just be there if it means youre blocking law enforcement or putting the others at risk, but it seems as though (Tuesday) night, people were simply prevented from observing.

Student journalists often report from protests where law enforcement is present. But the situation at Columbia was especially unfortunate given the universitys prestigious journalism school, Goldberg said.

The school is supposed to have one of the top journalism programs in the country. Traditionally, its been an incredible atmosphere for free speech, he said. I think this is out of character and very unfortunate.

University spokespeople did not respond to a request for comment from USA TODAY about the treatment of student journalists on campus.

The Student Law Press Center is tracking freedom of the press disruptions by police or administrators during the protests. The group has found several cases where student journalists were blocked from reporting on the Pro-Palestinian protests, including at the University of Southern California, University of California at Los Angeles, Northwestern and Princeton, Josh Moore, an assistant director at the organization, said in an email to USA TODAY.

Other than those reports, student journalists seem to be largely steering clear of trouble while doing their work, said Mike Hiestand, senior legal counsel for Student Press Law Center.

Officials from the Student Press Law Center urged "administrators and law enforcement to work directly with student journalists to ensure they can safely and responsibly report on the historic events unfolding across the country.

Now is the time to strengthen our commitment to the student press, not sideline or undermine it.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Columbia encampment arrests broadcast by student radio station
Amid all the drama and protest at UNC, an adult took charge | Opinion

Take away all of the drama at UNC-Chapel Hill this week  the chants and counter-chants, encampments built and torn down, flags raised and lowered  and were left with this: There is an adult in charge, and what a refreshing reality that is.

This university does not belong to a small group of protesters. It belongs to every citizen of North Carolina, interim Chancellor Lee Roberts said Tuesday during an impromptu press conference on the steps of UNCs South Building.

Pat Ryan

A small group of protesters had claimed the university quad for themselves. They put up structures, yelled at passersby, and caused general mayhem, all without a permit.

One might suggest that these are kids being kids: Sure, they violated some technicalities of university policy, but just let them blow off some steam.

First, its not clear theyre just kids. According to the university, 20 of the 30 people arrested on Tuesday were not UNC students. In a statement Tuesday, Chancellor Roberts and Provost Chris Clemens referenced involvement from outside activists.

Interim Chancellor Lee Roberts and police prepare to rehang an American flag after it was brought down by demonstrators and replaced with a Palestinian flag Tuesday, April 30, 2024 at UNC-Chapel Hill. About 1000 pro-Palestinian demonstrators rallied after a Gaza solidarity encampment was removed by police early Tuesday morning.

Second, and this gets to the heart of the matter, violating university policies must carry consequences. Order rests on a clearly established set of rules. Break those rules, and consequences must follow. Its the most basic maxim of relationships, from employer-employee and parent-child dynamics to foreign affairs.

For those who think that UNCs decision to enforce university policies came too soon or too forcefully, we thankfully have a near-identical example of what happens when a university leader chooses an alternate route.

Instead of enforcing the rules, Columbia University Chancellor Minouche Shafik spent two weeks negotiating with students who were violating university policies. Chaos has now consumed the university. Actual tuition-paying students cannot access some campus facilities. Classes have been canceled or switched to hybrid. A mob stormed and ransacked a campus building.

The behavior of the protesters at UNC on Tuesday suggests UNCs encampment would have devolved into something similar without action. The students, or whoever they were, threw objects and hurled insults at police officers and at Chancellor Roberts himself.

And who does this chaos harm? The rest of the student body trying to celebrate the final days of classes, for starters, particularly graduating seniors. Remember, as high school seniors the UNC Class of 2024 was denied nearly all the rites of passage that define adolescence and early adulthood. They missed out on proms, graduation ceremonies, and the blissful freedom that is the summer before college. They spent their freshman year of college bouncing between their dorm room and their old bedroom, isolated and confined due to the pandemic.

And this week a small group of protesters threatened to derail the Class of 2024s celebrations, despite all they have endured. So yes, rules exist and they must be enforced. The world should not stop for a small, angry group that flouts the rules everybody else follows.

Which brings us back to the refreshing realization that an adult is running UNC. When protesters first occupied the quad in violation of university policy, they were told to take down their tents. They complied.

By Sunday, though, protesters had reoccupied the quad, and this time they did not abide by the warnings. In response, a coalition of university police cleared them out Tuesday. They enforced the rules the protesters knew existed but decided to violate anyway.

During the ruckus, some protesters removed the American flag that flies in the center of campus and replaced it with a Palestinian flag. Chancellor Roberts marched onto the quad amid a phalanx of officers to help re-hoist it.

Afterward, UNC Board of Trustees Chair John Preyer told me: I think all of us that have served on the Board for several years now have been hoping for this type of leadership. Were delighted to see Chancellor Roberts out there leading by example.

An adult is in charge. Thank God.

Contributing columnist Pat Ryan is a former spokesperson for Republican N.C. Senate leader Phil Berger.
By Joan Faus

BARCELONA (Reuters) - Crunch elections in Catalonia next week will test the wisdom of the latest political gambles by Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who aims to use the vote to buoy his power nationally but risks inadvertently awakening a dormant Catalan separatism.

Sanchez aims to wrest control of the wealthy region in the May 12 vote from separatists who wield outsized influence over Spanish politics. But if his Socialists perform poorly, the outcome could mangle his fragile parliamentary alliances in Madrid and undermine the stability of his minority government.

It may also revive Catalan separatism seven years after the issue set off Spain's worst political crisis in over 30 years.

Opinion polls forecast a comfortable lead for Socialist candidate Salvador Illa in the election, with the separatist party Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC), which currently runs the northeastern region, and its more hardline rival Junts appearing neck and neck for second place.

A win would vindicate Sanchez's conciliatory approach to the region's independence movement, which most recently included the offer of an amnesty to Catalan separatists in exchange for their backing of his minority administration in Spain's parliament.

It might also reassure the prime minister that there were no hard feelings among his supporters, after some were troubled by the amnesty offer. Sanchez hopes as well to shore up support across the political spectrum, after many Spaniards were shocked by a five-day break he took from office last month to weigh his possible resignation over what he said was a smear campaign directed against him and his family by right wing opponents.

But if the Socialists are unable to secure the 68 seats required for a majority in the Catalan assembly and have to rely on alliances with other parties, possibly including right-wing rivals the People's Party (PP), their victory could be pyrrhic.

Junts has warned that such a deal with the PP would prompt it to withdraw its crucial support for Sanchez's national government, blocking the passage of legislation in parliament in Madrid and ultimately making it untenable.

Conversely, should separatist parties see a late surge in support and are able to bury old enmities to team up, Sanchez would suffer the double blow of losing the regional contest and seeing a separatist movement gain fresh momentum to push its independence ambitions at a national level, particularly if the victor is the exiled Carles Puigdemont.

Puigdemont, the former Catalan president who fled to Belgium after spearheading a failed independence bid in 2017, is running for Junts and seeks a victorious return. The Spanish arrest warrant he faces over those events is poised to be lifted by the amnesty, expected to come into force in late May or June.

SOCIALISTS ASCENDING

A Basque Country election last month already underscored the influence regional politics has on national government.

The Socialists gained votes in that contest and will return as junior coalition partner to the moderate nationalist PNV, which in turn supports the national government.

In Catalonia, the Socialists aim to replicate a strong showing in the region in last year's national election, when they tallied more than twice the number of votes cast for the next most popular party -- the far-left Sumar -- in a result read as signalling a dampening of pro-independence sentiment.

Their goal this time is to obtain more than 40 seats in the 135-seat regional chamber, said the Socialist campaign head Lluisa Moret. The Socialists hold 33 seats in the current Catalan assembly, level with ERC, while Junts has 32.

At a recent rally, Illa, a calm-mannered former national health minister whose campaign motto is "to unite and serve", barely mentioned Puigdemont and did not even refer to the amnesty that surveys show some socialist voters oppose.

He vowed to move on from a "lost decade" of separatism and focus on concerns such as climate change - a big issue for Catalonia, facing water restrictions after a drought.

"Illa would be a good president because he believes in dialogue. Catalonia is at a moment where it wants reconciliation," said rally participant David Carvajal, 20.

Vicenc Redon, 71, said the amnesty bill should help mobilize voters for the Socialists, but he warned that separatist sentiment could still be rekindled if Puigdemont regains the presidency and launches a fresh drive to break away from Spain.

BUSES TO FRANCE

Puigdemont has said he plans to end his 6-1/2 years of exile in Belgium to attend Catalonia's next swearing-in session even if the amnesty does not remove the risk of his arrest by then.

He is campaigning from over the border in southern France and Junts has arranged buses from Catalonia to his rallies in Argeles-sur-Mer. Puigdemont told Reuters he wanted to connect directly with voters instead of appearing on large screens.

But he conceded it wouldn't be easy to regain the trust of voters disappointed over his handling of the botched 2017 independence declaration, and any fresh independence drive would need "more cunning and better preparation".

Columnist Josep Ramoneda said the election will show whether voters are nostalgic, or fed up with the 2017 legacy.

"It is a total mistake and will unlikely pay important dividends to Puigdemont to come out with a discourse of 'we will do it again'," he said, saying Catalonia had changed.

(Reporting by Joan Faus, editing by Aislinn Laing, William Maclean)
With a hollow center, 12 sides, and no known uses, Roman dodecahedrons remain one of the great enigmas in archeology. They dont appear to be used for grooming or personal pleasure and only 33 of these objects have been uncovered in Great Britains Roman ruins . A recent discovery in eastern England is now making a splash in the Roman dodecahedron stud world. The Norton Disney Dodecahedron is of the largest and newest Gallo Roman Dodecahedrons ever found and is currently on display at the National Civil War Centre, Newark Museum in Newark, England. It will also be featured in an exhibit beginning on Saturday May 4 at the Lincoln Museum in Lincoln, England.

The strange object was discovered by a group of amateur archeologists in June 2023 in the village of Norton Disney in the Midlands of eastern England. The mysterious object was sitting among the ruins of a Roman pit and was likely placed there about 1,700 years ago. It was found in situ, or deliberately placed among 4th Century CE Roman pottery in some sort of hole or quarry. More archeological excavation is needed to clarify exactly what this pit was used for.

[Related: This ancient Roman villa was equipped with wine fountains .]

The cast bronze object is hollow at its middle and is about the size of a clenched fist. It has 12 flat faces that are shaped like pentagons. Each face has a hole in various sizes and all 20 corners have a knob. At about three inches tall and half a pound, it is one of the largest of these mysterious Roman objects ever discovered.

According to the Norton Disney History and Archaeology Group , it is considered a copper alloy object that is made up of 75 percent copper, seven percent tin, and 18 percent lead. It is also the only example of one of these objects found in Englands Midlands and is an example of very fine craftsmanship.

Lorena Hitchens, an archaeologist specializing in Roman dodecahedrons, told The Washington Post , that its a really good dodecahedron, after examining the object. Preliminary dating estimates believe that it was crafted sometime between 43 and 410 CE, during the later Roman period.

Even with such a solid find, historians and archeologists are still not sure exactly what these unique objects were used for.

The imagination races when thinking about what the Romans may have used it for. Magic, rituals or religionwe perhaps may never know, Norton Disney History and Archaeology Group secretary Richard Parker told the BBC .

Known Roman literature does not have any descriptions or drawings of dodecahedra. The objects were not of a standard size, so the Norton Disney group does not believe they were used to take measurements. They also do not have signs of wear and tear the way blades do, so they were not tools.

A huge amount of time, energy and skill was taken to create our dodecahedron, so it was not used for mundane purposes, especially when alternative materials are available that would achieve the same purpose, the Norton Disney History and Archaeology Group wrote in a statement .

[Related: The Roman Britons cared a lot about hair removal, and it shows in artifacts .]

There are 130 known examples of these objects that have been uncovered from the rest of the vast Roman world. Most have been found in north and western Roman provinces near the Alps of modern day France and Germany . There are 33 known examples of Roman dodecahedrons that have been excavated in Britain. This particular example was found near the where a statue of a mounted horseman deity was found in 1989

Roman society was full of superstition, something experienced on a daily basis, wrote Norton Disney History and Archaeology Group. A potential link with local religious practice is our current working theory. More investigation is required though.

The group will return to the trench the dodecahedron was found in sometime this year to resume excavations.
Perhaps it was only a matter of time before Labours New Deal for Working People went the way of its 28bn Green Prosperity Plan. Launched in 2021 to much fanfare  from the unions at least  it promised a revolution in workers rights not seen in decades.

Now parts of the deal look set to be dropped. Its hard not to read this as confirmation that Keir Starmer has been itching to pare back the plan for some time, but faced a seemingly insurmountable obstacle in its author and champion Angela Rayner.

Not with Keir and I at the helm, the deputy leader said defiantly last October, in response to rumours her deal would be watered down. At the time, Rayner pledged to personally table the legislation within 100 days of taking office.

Zero-hour contracts would be banned, along with fire-and-rehire, while workers would be handed basic rights from day one. Union power would be entrenched by, among other things, making recognition easier, relaxing rules on calling strikes, and allowing right of entry to the workplace  despite the dangers this would clearly present in a period of rising militancy.

But with Rayners political currency depleting as the row over her tax affairs escalates, it appears Starmer is seizing the moment. Labour is expected to reveal that it has ditched plans for a legal right to switch off from work emails and calls out of hours. It will make clear that companies may still be permitted to fairly sack workers under its day one workers rights regime, while staff will be able to opt into zero hours contracts if they choose.

It appears as though Starmer has been itching to pare back the workers' rights plan for some time - Anthony Devlin/Getty Images

Though the party will struggle to spin this as anything other than a humiliating defeat for Rayner, its good news for businesses already buckling under the burden of employment restrictions.

British workers dont need the biggest upgrade of rights in a generation. Our minimum wage is now the eighth highest in the OECD once adjustments are made for exchange rates and prices, despite concerns that it is pushing strained businesses to the brink and dampening job prospects for younger workers. The Government closely regulates hiring and firing procedures, entry into pensions schemes, holiday allowance, sick pay, maternity pay, the number of hours that can be worked, and the statutory minimum length of rest breaks.

This year, the Tories introduced a right to request flexible working from day one of a new job, despite research showing that it takes, on average, 28 weeks for a new staff member to get up to speed and become fully productive in a new job. How could employers possibly know whether a flexible arrangement is suitable on day one? The Equality Act has substantially expanded the concept of protected characteristics, meaning a tribunal or court could rule that discrimination is behind a huge number of firing decisions.

If anyone needs more rights, its employers. The array of costs and obligations on businesses is one of the reasons HR has expanded at breakneck speed since 2010. More rules means more people are required to interpret them, handing ever more power to bureaucrats in a self-sustaining cycle that helps explain why around 250,000 British workers now have personnel, industrial relations, training or human resources in their job title. How many could honestly say they are contributing to their companys bottom line or the nations productivity?

As for Rayners insistence that businesses will thrive under Labours new regime: if this is the case, why is compulsion needed? The answer must surely be that, for many employers, it will impose significant costs  even when they are ultimately passed on to consumers in higher prices or to workers in lower pay or reduced job opportunities.

Its worth noting, too, that the problems are not just with the laws but with their interpretation. A Supreme Court ruling in the Asda equal pay case has reinforced the quasi-Marxist idea that men and women should receive the same wage for doing different jobs, despite the obvious point that many people would prefer to work behind a till than in distribution.

In 2021, meanwhile, it ruled that Uber must classify drivers as workers rather than self-employed, despite four-fifths of drivers in surveys agreeing with the statement: Being able to choose my own hours is more important than having holiday pay and a guaranteed minimum wage.

This begs the question of who precisely Labours plans are supposed to help. While the IWGB union on Wednesday warned of extreme power imbalances between employers and employees in the UK, surveys have consistently shown that gig staff value control over so-called rights. Those on zero hours are often second earners; around a third are aged between 16 and 24, and a sizeable minority are in full-time education.

The idea that todays workers are modern-day serfs is difficult to reconcile with our 900,000 vacancies: employment is for now a sellers market. Flexible working may benefit certain groups, but there is a risk employers will seek to avoid taking on workers who are most likely to take advantage  mothers, older staff, those with health problems.

Advocates for greater regulation look to Belgium as the poster-nation for employee well-being. Its government recently introduced a raft of new labour market regulations  yet it has an employment rate around 5 percentage points lower than ours. France, which has a notoriously socialist attitude towards worker rights, has consistently struggled with a low employment rate and poor competitiveness.

Despite the Tories best efforts to shoot our golden goose, Britain still has a flexible labour market with a wide range of types of employment. Prior to the pandemic, nearly 1.5 million people had term-time only jobs. Over 100,000 had job shares. We already have a way of managing trade-offs between the needs of businesses and the preferences of their workers: the market economy.

Its not enough for Labour to water down its plans  it needs to scrap them altogether. If Starmers track record is any indication, perhaps they soon will.

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.
Rows of supporters filled benches and held tissue boxes on both sides of the courtroom Tuesday morning during the sentencing of a Meridian man who pleaded guilty to felony manslaughter while driving under the influence.

Kellen Tutt, 41, hit a man while driving in a Boise intersection on Jan. 23, 2023. The victim, Henry Reents, 79, of Boise, died from his injuries two days later.

It makes me so angry with myself that my actions have had such an effect on you, Henry, and all those it sounds like he touched with his big heart, Tutt said tearfully in court.

After emotional statements from the defense, Judge Peter Barton sentenced Tutt to at least two years in prison, with seven years indeterminate, for the charge. That means he could be eligible for parole after serving 24 months.

The sentence was lighter than the prosecutions request of four years fixed, 11 years indeterminate.

Ada County Prosecuting Attorney Nolan Knuth said that after Tutt dropped his daughter off at the YMCA, Tutt turned left from West State Street onto N. 11th Street. His truck hit Reents, who had been walking north across State Street to get to the Y, Boise police said. Reents flew several feet and sustained serious injuries, according to Knuth.

His wife, former state Sen. Sue Reents, previously told the Idaho Statesman that she had contacted the Ada County Highway District about the dangers of crossing that intersection more than a decade ago, but nothing was done.

Since the accident, however, ACHD has made changes to add increased protection for pedestrians at that intersection, including warning lights and an adjusted crossing time.

After hitting the victim, Tutt stopped his truck at the intersection, checked on Reents, and then moved his truck to a nearby parking lot, according to defense attorney Mistie Bauscher. Knuth said he threw empty alcohol cans, which tested positive for Tutts DNA, into nearby bushes before returning to the victim. At some point, Tutt called 911 and told the operator that he had hit someone, Bauscher said.

A blood test revealed Tutts blood alcohol content to be 0.134, easily exceeding the 0.08 legal limit. Knuth speculated that because of a time gap, his BAC could have been higher while he was driving.

A misdemeanor charge for transporting a minor while under the influence was dismissed by the court through a plea agreement, court records show.

Timing of the stop lights has been adjusted so pedestrians are crossing while all lanes are at a stop at the intersection of 11th and State Street near the YMCA. New signage alerts drivers turning left or right to yield to pedestrians.

The first thing Fourth District Judge Peter Barton did Tuesday morning was ask the court to wait while Tutt left for a drug and alcohol test.

Barton asked Tutt what the result would be.

Negative, your honor, Tutt said.

The results, the judge confirmed, indeed showed that.

Mistie said Tutt spent the past year focused on overcoming alcoholism, including attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings 100 times in 100 days. His sponsors submitted letters of support. He had reached freedom from alcohol, which is something hes never been able to achieve before, Mistie said.

As you have seen, I am on the right path, Tutt told the court. ... Sobriety has been a game changer in our family and daily life.

Tutts wife asked the judge to consider the lasting impact his sentence would have on his four children, the youngest of whom is 9 months old.

Theyll be absolutely crushed when their dad cant hold them tight at the end of the day, she said.

None of the victims family members made statements in court, but the prosecution said they submitted letters.

Barton said his highest priority as a judge was to protect society as a whole.

You can talk about how much you are a victim of disease, how much you are controlled by this, but theres a moment when you choose to drive, Barton said. That moment of driving is a choice to put yourself at risk and to put other people at risk.

In addition to prison time, Barton ordered Tutts license to be suspended for seven years after his release. He also must pay $1,793 in restitution.
Why are the words of the Ukrainian foreign minister being distorted, replacing what he really said with what someone wanted to hear from him?

ADVERTISIMENT

He said that Ukraine is building a coalition of countries that share our principles and approaches, not that he is looking for those who share the president's formula for peace regarding the 1991 borders, as some media outlets report.

Kuleba also emphasized the potential role of China in ending the war. I would like to remind you that China has not even hinted at Zelenskyy's formula or the complete withdrawal of Russian troops as something urgent and possible right now.

Some people may like the minister's realistic pragmatism, and some may not. But why blatantly lie, attributing to him what he did not say?
Joshua Dean, a former quality auditor at Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems, died on April 30 after battling a stretch of illness that began with influenza B and MRSA, a bacterial infection, and eventually pneumonia. In a statement from Dean's mother, posted to Facebook, he had been "fighting for his life."

One of the first whistleblowers to draw attention to Spirit leadership ignoring aircraft defects  specifically on the 737 MAX  Dean's death comes shortly after the apparent suicide of John Mitch Barnett in March, who had been "in the midst of giving depositions alleging Boeing retaliated against him for complaints about quality lapses when he was found dead from a gunshot wound," according to The Seattle Times.

Let go from Spirit in April 2023, Dean had filed a complaint with the Department of Labor alleging that his termination was retaliation for drawing attention to the company's lax aviation safety measures, related to improperly drilled bulkhead holes.

I think they were sending out a message to anybody else, Dean told NPR in February: If you are too loud, we will silence you.

Whistleblowers are needed," says Brian Knowles, one of Deans lawyers. "They bring to light wrongdoing and corruption in the interests of society. It takes a lot of courage to stand up, Knowles said. Its a difficult set of circumstances. Our thoughts now are with Johns family and Joshs family.
Another Wave Of Campus Arrests Overnight As Police Intervene In Protests

A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPMs Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version.

Campus Protest Watch

The latest developments:

UCLA : Police dismantle pro-Palestinian camp and makes numerous arrests.

Dartmouth : 90 protesters arrested at a pro-Gaza encampment on campus

Yale : Four people were arrested at pro-Palestinian protests.

UW-Madison : 34 people were arrested when police dismantled a pro-Palestinian encampment.

Fordham : 15 people were arrested when police cleared out the campus pro-Palestinian encampment.

Stony Brook : 29 people were arrested early this morning after a pro-Palestinian protest.

UT-Dallas: 21 people were arrested after police broke up the pro-Palestinian encampment

I Have Never Seen Anything So Terrifying

What happened last night at UCLA was similar to the efforts to arrest protesters on other campuses, but it was different from what happened at UCLA two nights ago, when police eventually intervened to separate protesters and aggressive counter-protesters who seemed eager to provoke a clash. Before law enforcement acted, UCLA professor David N. Myers inserted himself between the two sides and writes about his experience here.

A Sense Of Proportion

WATCH @chrislhayes: It's easier to argue about what college kids are doing than to confront the human misery and destruction that's happening in the actual conflict which is, of course, the source of these protests. pic.twitter.com/sHYhTMnZmd  All In with Chris Hayes (@allinwithchris) May 2, 2024

Stone Cold Assassin

So you agree that people who break in and vandalize a building should be prosecuted?



J.D. Vance: "Exactly."



Im just checking because you did help raise money for people who did so on Jan. 6th. pic.twitter.com/74AzrHuXXx  Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) May 2, 2024

What Delay Over Trumps Immunity Might Look Like

While we wait for the Supreme Court to rule on Trumps claim of presidential immunity in the Jan. 6 case against him, NBC News Lisa Rubin found a potentially useful parallel case that shows how long it could take to resolve the immunity issue if it gets sent back down to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to sort out what is official v. personal.

The Specter Of Political Violence

CNN: Trump doesnt rule out political violence if he loses

Brian Beutler: Donald Trump Sees The Threat Of Violence As A Skeleton Key To Unchecked Power

TPMs Khaya Himmelman: Majority Of Election Officials Face Threats, And Significant Number Fear Assault, Survey Finds

Trump Trial Resumes Today

The first order of business today is a hearing on additional alleged violations by Donald Trump of the gag order against him. These alleged violations occurred before the trial judge ruled Tuesday that Trump was in violation of the gag order for a separate batch of out-of-court statements, so its unclear how the judge will handle these add-on statements.

The hearing isnt expected to last long before the trial testimony of Stormy Daniels lawyer Keith Davidson resumes.

The big suspense in the trial right now centers on when Michael Cohen will testify. Stay tuned for reporting from the courthouse from TPMs Josh Kovensky.

Talk To The Hand

A judge rejected a bid by former Trump campaign attorney and Jan. 6 figure John Eastman to delay her ruling suspending his law license.

The Antisemitism Comes So Easily

On the occasion of the House passing a new bill to combat antisemitism, Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL) took the opportunity to trot out a well-worn antisemitic trope to justify their opposition to the bill.

Pass The Damn Popcorn

A defamation lawsuit by Georgia election workers Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman is offering a glimpse of the internal operations of the notorious Gateway Pundit website.

The Hunter Biden Laptop Saga Continues 

A former Secret Service agent is suing the New York Post and The Daily Mail for defamation, claiming they published stories based on fabricated texts from Hunter Bidens laptop that falsely tied him to Biden.

Abortion Watch

Arizona : Enough Republicans bolted for the state Senate to vote to repeal the states newly revived Civil War-era abortion ban. The repeal measure had already passed the state House, but wont go into effect until 90 days after the legislative session ends.

Florida : The states new six-week abortion ban went into effect Wednesday.

Louisiana: Lawmakers are trying to quietly criminalize possession of the most commonly used abortion pills, Rolling Stone reports.

Party Of Lincoln?

Nehls: Everything we do in the House should be in the best interest of getting Donald Trump re-elected pic.twitter.com/ZfsqY8vaLX  Acyn (@Acyn) May 2, 2024

Do you like Morning Memo? Let us know!
Another whistleblower who raised safety concerns about production practices related to Boeing has died. Joshua Dean, who previously worked as a quality auditor at the plane manufacturers supplier, Spirit AeroSystems, died Tuesday as the result of a sudden, fast-spreading infection, the Seattle Times reports.

Dean, who is described as being a healthy 45-year-old who was known for having a healthy lifestyle, succumbed to the sudden onset of a bacterial infection known as Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, or MRSA. He died after two weeks in critical condition, the newspaper reports, citing Deans aunt.

Boeing used to own Spirit but spun the company off in 2005, the Associated Press previously reported. This year, Boeing announced it was in talks to buy Spirit, with a spokesperson for the company stating that the reintegration of Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems manufacturing operations would further strengthen aviation safety, improve quality and serve the interests of our customers, employees, and shareholders.

Prior to his death, Dean was engaged in several legal conflicts with Spirit. Dean was fired by the company in April of 2023 and he subsequently filed a Department of Labor complaint alleging that his dismissal had been retaliation for him raising safety concerns, the Times reports. Spirit notably builds key parts of numerous Boeing aircraft, including the fuselages of large passenger planes like the 737 Max. Dean had also filed a complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration that accused Spirit of serious and gross misconduct by senior quality management of the 737 production line. Dean had also previously given a deposition for a Spirit shareholder lawsuit, the Times writes.

The Times describes Deans sudden illness and hospitalization:

Parsons [Deans aunt] said Dean became ill and went to hospital because he was having trouble breathing just over two weeks ago. He was intubated and developed pneumonia and then a serious bacterial infection ... His condition deteriorated rapidly and he was airlifted from Wichita to a hospital in Oklahoma City, where he was put on an ECMO machine, which circulates and oxygenates a patients blood outside the body, taking over heart and lung function when a patients organs dont work on their own, Parsons said.

When reached for comment by Gizmodo, Boeing referred us to Spirit. A representative for Spirit provided the following statement: Our thoughts are with Josh Deans family. This sudden loss is stunning news here at Spirit and for his loved ones.

Dean is the second Boeing whistleblower to die this year. In March, John Barnett, a former quality control engineer at Boeing, was found dead in a motel parking lot. Officials have said Barnett likely died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Barnetts death notably spurred online conspiracy theories since, at the time of his death, he was engaged in a lawsuit against Boeing and had accused the company of retaliation against him.

Boeing has been under intense scrutiny from the media and the federal government since an Alaska Airlines flight lost part of its hull in January. Regulators and the general public have raised questions about Boeings safety practices, and the company has become the focus of numerous federal investigations, as well as Congressional scrutiny. Last month, several additional whistleblowers testified in front of Congress about what they felt was the companys disregard for safety. One whistleblower accused the company of being involved in a criminal cover-up, while another said that he had been threatened by his boss for raising safety concerns. All of the speakers claimed that Boeings practices put planes, and their passengers, at risk.

For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Anthropic is making its Claude AI easier to access on mobile. The company has released a Claude mobile app for iOS that any user can download for free. Similar to the mobile web version of the chatbot, the app syncs users' conversations with Claude across devices, allowing them to jump from a computer to the app (or vice versa) without losing their chat history. Users will also be able to upload files and images straight from their iPhone's gallery  or take a photo on the spot  if they need Claude to process or analyze them in real time. They'll be able to download and access the Claude app whatever plan they're using, even if they're not paying for the service.

If they do decide to pay for Claude, they now have a new option other than Pro. The new Team plan provides greater usage than the Pro tier so that members can have more conversations with the chatbot. It also enables users to process longer documents, such as research papers and contracts, thanks to its 200,000 context window. The Team plan gives users access to the Claude 3 model family, as well, which includes Opus, Sonnet and Haiku. It will cost subscribers $30 per user per month, with a minimum head count of five users per team.

Back in March, Anthropic claimed in a blog post that its Claude 3 language model had outperformed ChatGPT and Google's Gemini in several key industry benchmarks. It was better at graduate-level reasoning, multilingual math and coding (among many other metrics), the company said, showing Claude 3's benchmark results against its staunchest rivals. The most powerful Claude 3 model, the Opus, even apparently showed "near-human" abilities with rapid response rates that make it ideal for more complex and time-sensitive tasks.
Students hold up anti-abortion signs at the Midwest March for Life on Wednesday at the Missouri State Capitol (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent).

Wednesdays Midwest March for Life at the Missouri Capitol had a different tone this year. It was about fighting.

Nearly two years ago, the crowd celebrated Missouri becoming the first state to ban abortion after Roe V. Wade was overturned. But on Wednesday, a new worry loomed over the annual event: Abortion could soon be enshrined in the Missouri Constitution.

If God doesnt intervene in this process, Paul Shipman, with the Christian radio program Bott Radio Network, said at a rally on the statehouse steps Wednesday, it just kind of shows you the direction where the nation is going and the direction where the state of Missouri is going.

After recent losses in states like Kansas and Ohio, anti-abortion activists say they must take a more aggressive approach in Missouri, using a low-budget grassroots strategy to convince Missourians not to sign the initiative petition that would put a constitutional right to an abortion in the hands of voters.

They enlisted elected officials to publicly decry the ballot measure. They set up a hotline to report the location of signature gatherers so volunteers could show up and hand out Decline to Sign materials. And they stoked unsubstantiated fears about the initiative petition process, such as the notion that it could result in widespread identity theft.

And with a Sunday deadline to turn in signatures for proposed initiative petitions, their message and strategy is transforming from decline to sign to withdraw your signature, with fliers distributed Wednesday hoping to reach those who regret signing  or who mistakenly signed.

After signatures are turned in, anti-abortion advocates plan to pour over them to make sure anyone who opts out isnt counted.

Anti-abortion organizers interviewed by The Independent, both in Missouri and nationally, say the biggest lesson they learned from a series of defeats across the country over the last two years is that they have to engage their supporters earlier in the process.

Missouri could be the first test of the new strategy, even as abortion-rights supporters are raising millions more to get the issue on the November ballot.

It is the work that is being done on the ground in Missouri that has not happened in any other state across the entire nation, said Brian Westbrook, CEO of St. Louis-based Coalition Life. It doesnt require tens of millions of dollars to get that ground game. That groundwork is already happening.

Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, the campaign behind the abortion-rights initiative petition, has until Sunday to turn in more than 171,000 signatures from 8% of registered voters across six of Missouris eight congressional districts.

Mallory Schwarz, executive director of Abortion Action Missouri, which is a leader in the abortion initiative petition coalition, said she remains confident the campaign will hit its signature goal. She didnt share where their numbers currently stand ahead of the deadline, but Schwarz said the tactics from the anti-abortion side boost her confidence that abortion is a winning issue.

If they were confident that people were aligned with them, she said, they wouldnt resort to tactics like blatant lies, disinformation and harassment.

Our track record has not been good

A women holds a sign urging Missourians not to sign an abortion initiative petition at the Midwest March for Life on Wednesday at the Missouri State Capitol (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent).

Anti-abortion groups interviewed by The Independent are focused on communicating three main points to voters: They believe the constitutional amendment goes farther than Roe; they say the amendment would harm health and safety protections for mothers; and they argue it will eliminate parental consent laws.

Abortion-rights groups have said these claims have no merit whatsoever. The decision to move forward with an amendment including viability limit, often considered to be around 24 weeks, rather than no ban at all was considered a compromise position rather than an extreme one.

Susan Klein, executive director with Missouri Right to Life, said her organization has teams across the state who will file requests under the states open records laws to obtain copies of all the signatures obtained by Missourians for Constitutional Freedom. They plan to make sure any names she says were scratched out by people who regretted signing are not counted.

Missouris messaging is consistent with the strategy being deployed in six other states with abortion measures heading for the ballot, said Kelsey Pritchard, state public affairs director at Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.

Jamie Morris, executive director of the Missouri Catholic Conference, said the results in other elections made it clear that anti-abortion groups needed a new strategy. The Catholic dioceses in Missouri are helping spread the movements message and encouraging parishioners not to sign the abortion-rights petition.

Our track record has not been good, he said. From the pro-life side, weve always kind of been used to making one particular argument. And obviously, that was not resonating in some of the other states.

Morris said the movement isnt changing its position, but rather it is rethinking its messaging to focus increasingly on mothers as well as the unborn child.

Weve done a good job of trying to limit the supply of abortions in the state, but what can we do to limit the demand? Morris said.

In neighboring Kansas in 2022, the Catholic church donated hundreds of thousands of dollars in a failed attempt to pass an amendment that would remove the right to abortion from that states constitution.

So far, the Missouri Catholic Conference has been one of the main donors to Missouri Stands with Women, the only campaign focused solely on actively opposing the abortion initiative petition, contributing $5,001.

Morris said Missouris dioceses so far have not fundraised on this issue, but if the measure lands on the ballot, he imagines there will be more serious conversations about financial contributions.

Decline to sign

Hundreds of people gathered for the Midwest March for Life on Wednesday at the Missouri State Capitol (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent).

On a recent Saturday in late April, Republican state Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman stood outside her hometown library in Arnold and asked constituents not to sign the abortion-rights initiative.

Connie Doty, 74, a longtime Arnold resident and an escort with Abortion Action Missouri, was volunteering to collect signatures that day.

Doty said library staff eventually asked her and the other volunteers to stay on the sidewalk. When Doty stepped into the parking lot at one point to let someone take a picture of the ballot initiative, she says Coleman followed her and told the person in the vehicle not to sign it.

A short time later, after Doty refused to leave for stepping off the sidewalk, she said three police vehicles showed up. They told everyone to be nice and be safe, Doty recalls, then left.

Doty said she was not phased, thanks to her decade of experience as an abortion clinic escort encountering protesters who try to stop women from getting abortions. But she said she was alarmed to see her own state senator among the two anti-abortion protesters who showed up.

Considering that Sen. Coleman was doing this to her constituents, Doty said, I found pretty deplorable.

Doty said despite the interruption, they collected 143 signatures in a couple hours.

Theyre very much afraid that the issue will get on the ballot, Doty said. And if it gets on the ballot, people will pass it.

Coleman could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Kellie Copeland executive director of Pro-Choice Ohio, said anti-abortion advocates used similar tactics during their 2023 campaign, including instances where police were called on signature collectors.

Everything about that frankly shows they know that they dont have the will of the people, Copeland said. Why else would they do that?

A more aggressive strategy

Anti-abortion advocates gathered at the Midwest March for Life on Wednesday in Jefferson City hope Missouri will be the first state to defeat an abortion ballot measure after the overturning of Roe v Wade (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent).

Sam Lee doesnt want to talk about November. The longtime Missouri anti-abortion lobbyist has his sights set on May 5.

He said other states where anti-abortion groups have taken the approach of only trying to beat abortion measures at the ballot box have lost. Thats why in Missouri, efforts began much earlier.

The Decline to Sign (strategy) overall has just been more aggressive in Missouri by a variety of groups, Lee said. Not just one group or even one church. It is THE strategy.

Lee said Missouris approach has been much more grassroots, spread through social media, sermons and at dining tables.

Tell your family member not to sign, he said. Tell your neighbor not to sign.

When Lee is asked by some what hes afraid of, he said its simple: I just dont think this should be on the ballot. I think its wrong. Why should you give people an opportunity to vote for something that is bad?

Missouri Stands with Women, of which Lee is president, has been distributing messaging, including through paid Facebook ads, encouraging people not to sign.

One in particular depicts a man portrayed in a mugshot offering a pen in his hand. The word felonies is in quotes beside the drawing.

Its a pretty clever ad, actually, Lee said. Is there a guarantee these signatures cannot be duplicated and used for identity theft? Is it a real issue or not? Well I dont know. Its been raised elsewhere.

JoDonn Chaney, a spokesman for the Missouri Secretary of States office, said hes not aware of any threat of identity theft during the signature gathering process at this point. He said the offices larger focus is ensuring people know and understand what theyre signing.

Lee said his campaign is leaning into a 2005 California law that prohibits the sale or transfer of voter data collected through initiative petitions to other countries after concerns were raised when an initiative petition campaign outsourced signature verification to a firm in India.

So far, Chaney said, the office has received a handful of applications to withdraw signatures from the abortion initiative petition.

According to records obtained by The Independent through Missouris Sunshine Law, the Secretary of States office has received about 140 requests for signature withdrawals from the abortion ballot initiative.

Most did not provide an explanation for why they changed their mind, but one Columbia resident wrote: I let a very pushy person with a petition make me feel like I needed to sign. Immediately after, all the reasons not to sign flooded my head. Someone needs to speak for the unborn.

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft joined the Midwest March for Life on Wednesday at the Missouri State Capitol. I think regardless of what the legislature does, the people of this state  with hard work  can protect all life in this state, Ashcroft said (Anna Spoerre/Missouri Independent).

On Wednesday morning, the crowd of at least several hundred people gathered on the front lawn of the Capitol, including many high school students, were encouraged to stall signature gatherers if they encounter them on a sidewalk or at their door in a final push to defeat the measure before it gets to a vote.

Michael Merchant, 31, based in St. Louis and with Students for Life, said it would be easier if the threshold to pass a constitutional amendment was more than a simple majority. Legislation seeking to increase the threshold for amendments to pass through the initiative petition process has cleared the House and Senate, but dysfunction in the Senate has put its chances at risk.

As much as I like to be optimistic, Im not 100% confident that we can get 50% (in opposition), Merchant said. The main thing we would have to do is convince people that its an extreme thing.



Merchant said he may be able to sway more people who are on the fence by pointing out to them how few limits on abortion would exist under the amendment. Advocates of abortion rights have said limits on abortion access often harm those who are most in need of the procedure, including those with medically-complicated pregnancies.

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, who attended Wednesdays rally, said he believes his party can defeat an abortion ballot measure whether a higher threshold for passing citizen-led ballot measures is ultimately passed or not.

Im not a political consultant, Ashcroft said, holding an anti-abortion sign at Wednesdays march. I just want to make sure that people know what this amendment will actually do. That its abortion from conception until the very last second that the last toenail leaves the birth canal.

The post Anti-abortion groups say more aggressive approach necessary to stop Missouri amendment appeared first on Missouri Independent.
CARLISLE, Pa. (WHTM)  Police have arrested a man for allegedly leaving an anti-Semitic note at the Asbell Center for Jewish Life at Dickinson College.

Ronald Bates, 52, was charged Thursday with misdemeanor counts of ethnic intimidation, harassment and disorderly conduct, Carlisle Police said in a news release. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for a later date.

Bates is accused of putting the note at the front door of the Jewish cultural center, located at 262 W High St., just after 7 p.m. on Wednesday, police said.





Dickinson College released a statement on Thursday saying We condemn this hateful act. Members of our Department of Public Safety, along with the Carlisle Police Department, are investigating this matter and we continue to work to support our community and keep our campus safe.

The college added We remind everyone, including those with criminal intent, that we will continue our surveillance of every corner of this campus. Anyone engaging in ethnic intimidation or any criminal acts whatsoever will be prosecuted to the fullest extent the law permits. As always, we remind our community members that if they see anything that is untoward, they should report it to DPS immediately.

According to the American Jewish Committees State of Antisemitism in America 2023 report, 24% of current or recent college students say they felt uncomfortable or unsafe at a campus event because they are Jewish and 44% of American Jews with a direct connection to a college campus, avoided or experienced at least one behavior out of fear of antisemitism.

This is not the first time Carlisle Police have investigated messages left at the Asbell Center for Jewish Life. In January 2022 police said Frank Petromio placed stickers with inflammatory and intimidating messages on the building.

Petromio pled guilty in February 2023 to ethnic intimidation and was sentenced to one year of probation, to have no contact with the center, to stay off the college campus, and to be required to attend a cultural awareness course.

This is a developing story. Stay with abc27 News as more information becomes available

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27.
Short summary of updates: Passage of a transgender sanctuary bill in Maine places it among the safest states with the best protections for transgender people for both youth and adults. Several anti-trans bills that have passed in Idaho raise its risk for transgender adults; that risk was already at its highest level for transgender youth. In Alabama, passage of a college bathroom ban and extreme Dont Say Gay law moves it into the most restrictive as well.











About The Map

I have tracked anti-transgender legislation for 5 years @erininthemorn on Twitter and TikTok. Every day, Ive gotten messages from worried people wondering how they are supposed to assess their risk of staying in their home state. The messages range from parents of trans youth wondering if their children will be taken from them to trans teachers wondering if their jobs will be safe in coming years. Sometimes people just want to know if there is a safer state they can move to nearby.

I created the legislative risk map specifically to help answer that question. Now more than ever, it is a question that needs answering for so many transgender people facing forced medical detransition, arrests for using the bathroom, bans on the use of our names, pronouns, and identification documents, and many other curtailments of our rights to exist in public life.

In previous iterations of the map, the focus was entirely on the risk to transgender youth. When the map was first developed, bills targeting transgender youth were far more common. Unfortunately over the last year, the transgender youth map has lost all granularity, largely reducing to just two colors: red and blue, a set of states criminalizing trans youth and a set of states protecting them. You can still find this map at the end of the document, and it will be continually updated. The primary map of focus, though, will be the transgender adult map, as bills targeting trans adults have become far more common.

Methodology

The methodology used is primarily qualitative, with a scoring-rubric element for the worst bills. Part of the methodology is my own expert assessment of laws, of which I am well equipped to do. I have read all 550 bills that target trans people in America in 2023 and 520 so far in 2024. I have watched hundreds of hours of hearings on anti-trans legislation and am fully aware of all of the players nationally as well as where they are making their pushes against trans rights. I have followed the vote count and talk to activists on the ground in each state. I am looking at how similar states are moving in their legislative cycles. Lastly, I watch for statements by governors and bill drafts to see if the Republican party in various states seems to be pushing anti-trans legislation heavily - you can see many examples of such legislation in this newsletter.

In terms of actual laws, I keep a rubric of the various types of laws that target transgender people. For transgender youth, the most concerning laws are those that prohibit gender-affirming care and mandate detransition. Additionally, bathroom bans, laws that rigidly define sex as binary, and restrictions on social transition are other key factors that negatively impact a state's ranking. For transgender adults, the primary legislative concerns include adult gender affirming care bans, bathroom bans, prohibitions on drag specifically aimed at trans people and pride events, restrictions on changing birth certificates and drivers licenses, and laws that end legal recognition for trans people entirely. These factors play a significant role in how I assess and rank a state's legislative risk.

The Adult Trans Legislative Risk Assessment Map

This updated map delineates the legislative risks concerning laws aimed at transgender adults in the United States. States like Florida have eliminated 80% of all trans adult care, adults can be thrown in jail for using the bathroom of their gender identity, and trans people with correct gender markers on their drivers licenses can be charged with fraud. Multiple states have passed laws ending all legal recognition for trans people. As such, starting this year, adult risk levels for trans people will be tracked on its own map.

Moves in this update: Idaho (High Risk  Worst Laws), Alabama (High Risk  Worst Laws), Maine (Low Risk  Safest States)

Summary of updates: There are three major moves in this latest update. Both Idaho and Alabama move into the most restrictive category. In Idaho, multiple anti-trans laws passed, including one law that bars all state funding for gender affirming care as well as state facilities from practicing gender affirming care; many hospitals receive state funding there. In Alabama, a Dont Say Gay or Trans bill also applies a bathroom ban against transgender adults and has even been targeted at a transgender Space Camp employee. Meanwhile, Maine moves into the most protective category after legislators passed a sanctuary bill there in spite of bomb threats received by the state legislature.

Nationwide Risk: Moderate. Although energy around anti-trans legislation seems to have peaked, the 2024 election could put transgender rights under threat nationally.

Here are the categories:

Do Not Travel (FL): The only state earning a Do Not Travel advisory is Florida. Florida has a law that allows for the arrest of transgender people for using bathrooms according to their gender identity and another policy targets transgender peoples drivers licenses. Florida has also put into effect a policy that says trans people misrepresenting their gender on their drivers license could be guilty of fraud. Local LGBTQ+ orgs as well as HRC have issued travel advisories for the state. This analysis likewise concurs with such a rating.

The Worst States (AL, ID, KS, MT, OK, ND, TN, UT): These states have passed deeply troubling legislation targeting transgender adults in extremely harmful new ways. Kansas and Utah have bathroom bans for transgender adults. Alabama has also passed a Dont Say Gay bill that includes a bathroom ban on college campuses. Many states, including Kansas, Montana, Oklahoma, and Tennessee, have gone so far as to legislatively erase transgender people, effectively removing any legal rights associated with their gender identities. Other states, such as Kansas, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Tennessee, prohibit any changes to birth certificates, forcing trans people to out themselves when showing their documents. In Kansas, this law could even force individuals who have updated their driver's licenses and birth certificates to see their gender markers reverted. These states also could start targeting adult gender affirming care - Florida has already done so, banning 80% of such care. Idaho has an extreme ban on state funds for gender affirming care.

High-Risk States (AR, IA, IN, LA, MO, MS, NE, OH, SC, TX, WV): All of these states have passed some anti-trans adult laws, but they haven't reached the same level of severity as the worst states. Missouri and West Virginia, for example, prohibit gender-affirming care for incarcerated adults as well as transgender youth and have seen new laws proposed this cycle going even further. Nebraskas governor has issued an executive order ending legal recognition of trans people. Additionally, some of these states, including Arkansas, have laws that permit the refusal of medical care to LGBTQ+ individuals on religious grounds. Iowa may soon require trans people to have special markers on their birth certificates identifying them as trans. Although each of these states has laws targeting transgender adults, none have done so to the extent of the worst states.

Moderate-Risk States (AK, GA, KY, NC, NH, SD, WY): These states have either passed one or two laws aimed at transgender adults or have enacted multiple laws targeting transgender youth, or are advancing negative laws quickly. For states focusing on trans youth, history shows they are more likely to introduce anti-trans legislation for adults in subsequent years. All of these states are under Republican control, either through supermajorities in the legislature or Republican governorships. Many have enacted "Don't Say Gay" provisions, which frequently result in the banning of transgender teachers - in Georgia, for instance, a teacher was fired for merely reading a book with a character that could vaguely be interpreted as transgender. Additionally, many have passed religious refusal rights bills. However, most of these states have either not yet ventured into anti-trans adult legislation or have only passed milder forms of such laws.

Low-Risk States (AZ, DE, MI, NV, PA, RI, VA, WI): These states have largely refrained from targeting transgender adults, although they haven't taken extraordinary steps to protect adult transgender rights either. For example, Arizona and Virginia have enacted anti-trans policies affecting youth but, due to state-specific factors, appear unlikely to extend such policies to adults. Conversely, Michigan, and Nevada have enacted fairly robust non-discrimination policies but fall short in ensuring healthcare equity and providing protections for incarcerated transgender individuals. While these states generally offer a safer environment for transgender adults, they stop short of going the extra mile to make their jurisdictions unequivocally safe places to reside.

Most Protective States (CA, CO, CT, DC, HI, IL, MA, MD, ME, MN, NJ, NM, NY, OR, VT, WA): These states have gone above and beyond in safeguarding the rights and well-being of transgender individuals, making them highly desirable places to live for those in search of security. States like Colorado, Hawaii, Maryland, and Washington have enacted comprehensive health insurance laws that cover facial hair removal and an expanded range of medical procedures. Each of these states offers refugee protections for individuals fleeing more repressive states with anti-trans laws. Care is not only supported but also enjoys legal reinforcement from the state, ensuring accessibility as long as such treatments remain lawful at the national level. These states are the most likely to counteract federal anti-trans regulations if faced with a Republican presidency.Please support my independent reporting and advocacy on transgender legislation by subscribing. You help me keep this going and keep people informed.Subscribed

The Youth Trans Legislative Risk Assessment Map

Very few states now occupy the middle ground in the realm of anti-trans legislation for transgender youth. Those marked in dark red have enacted bans on gender-affirming care for transgender youth, with many even mandating medical detransition for these young people. Conversely, states shown in dark blue have implemented refugee protection laws for trans youth seeking to escape the harsh legal environments of more restrictive states.

Moves in this update: Maine (Low Risk  Safest States)

Summary of updates: The only shift this month for youth has been the state of Maine, which moved from the lowest risk level into the ranks of the safest states due to a passage of a transgender sanctuary/shield law protecting medical care from out of state prosecution. Several states do bear watching, however: South Carolina could pass a gender affirming care ban at any time, for example. Similarly, Colorado and California bear watching over anti-trans ballot initiatives, which have not yet reached the threshold to go on the November ballot.

Nationwide Risk: Moderate. The 2024 election cycle remains a great threat towards transgender youth.

This article originally appeared on Erin in the Morning.
Raucous pro-Palestine protests have taken over college campuses across the country for the past several days. At UCLA, protesters declared areas of campus off-limits to pro-Israel students and blocked them from entering certain spaces, even just to get to class. At night, masked counter-protesters attacked the pro-Palestine encampment, tearing down barricades and shooting fireworks at the protesters.

At the University of Texas at Austin, police brutally dispersed student protesters. Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein was among those arrested at Washington University in St. Louis. Administrators at Brown University persuaded protesters to disband their encampment peacefully after agreeing to discuss their demands for financial divestiture from companies that do business with the Israeli military.

Events at Columbia University came to a head after the authorities finally tired of the occupation of Hamilton Hall. Protesters had smashed the windows of the administrative building, entered it, taken over, held a janitor hostage, and demanded humanitarian aidnot for Gaza, but for themselves. (I.e., they wanted snacks.)

Reporter grills Columbia student after she demands the university help feed protestors occupying Hamilton Hall: "It seems like you're saying, 'we want to be revolutionaries, we want to take over this building, now would you please bring us some food'." pic.twitter.com/vNczSAM4T1  The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) April 30, 2024

It is easy to make fun of these protesters, many of whom seem to know very little about why they are even protesting. And some of their antics deserve not just mockery, but condemnation: Statements in support of terrorist violence and exhortations for "Zionists" to be killed "or worse" are contemptible, as are tactics that involve preventing other students from moving about campus and pursuing their education.

But critics of the campus left should not lose sight of the much greater threat, which is that campus authority figures, members of law enforcement, and even national legislators will act in a manner that gravely threatens the free speech rights of everyone. Indeed, in response to the protests, identity-obsessed busybodies are already working overtime to discourage protests on the grounds that offensive speech is a threat to the safety of Jewish students.

Safe Space Reprise

These are not new arguments; for years, university bureaucrats have subtly chipped away at their institutions' stated protections for free speech by invoking dubious safety concerns. You might remember the concept of the safe space: A very real notion, frequently invoked by progressive student activists, that being forced to confront speech with which they disagree is a form of physical violence.

In my first book, Panic Attack: Young Radicals in the Age of Trump, I traveled to college campuses and interviewed activists. What I learned was that for a variety of reasonstheir upbringing, their ideology, their social circlesthey did not want free and unfettered debate. They thought that outside speakers, professors, and even other students should be silenced for expressing nonprogressive views. In fact, they viewed the university administration's role as that of a parent, shielding them from painful speech. Administrators were all too happy to comply, and school after school took steps to shield their most unreasonable students from emotional vulnerability. Not all of these efforts are explicitly contrary to free speech principles, even though they were universally silly: In 2016, for instance, the University of Pennsylvania created a safe space so that students spooked by former President Donald Trump's rise to the presidency could take time to breathe, play with coloring books, and pet some puppies. Duke University's 2016-era safe spacea production of the campus's diversity, equity, and inclusion bureaucracyincluded the presence of a social worker.

More perniciously, hundreds of campuses created bias incident reporting systems, whereby students were instructed to call the campus authoritiesin some cases, the literal copsif they overheard anyone say something that could offend another person on the basis of a protected class, such as race, gender, sexuality, or ability status. At Colby College, someone filed a bias incident report when they overheard the phrase "on the other hand," with no explanation given, though I gather the ever-vigilant person worried that a one-handed person might take offense.

These developments on campuses produced widespread mockery from many Democrats as well as Republicans. Aside from a minority of extremely difficult young people, and the administrators who coddle them, most people do not think the university's job is to protect students from having their feelings hurt.

Enter Congress

Unfortunately, many elected officials are hypocrites, and during a perceived crisislike the one unfolding on college campuses right nowthey are all too eager to pass bad laws. Case in point: On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Antisemitism Awareness Act by a margin of 32091. This bill empowers the Education Department to take action against educational institutions that do not sufficiently combat antisemitic speech on campus. It also defines antisemitism incredibly broadly; Rep. Thomas Massie (RKy.), who voted against the bill, pointed out on X that political statements about Israel could be punished if the bill became law.*

Do you agree with all of these examples of antisemitism? Should people in America be prosecuted for saying these things in all contexts? I think not. This is a poorly conceived unconstitutional bill and I will vote no. pic.twitter.com/L3AI5MCFGw  Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) May 1, 2024

Some of the statements deemed impermissible antisemitism include "denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination" with respect to a Jewish state and "applying a double standard" to the state of Israel. It should go without saying, but the First Amendment robustly protects the right to disagree with the political project of Israel. This bill is obviously unconstitutional, and moreover, a clear violation of the idea that college students don't need protection from uncomfortable speech. Universities must protect their campuses from violence and harassment, whether motivated by antisemitism, some other political animus, or any other cause. It's the action that should count, not the content of the belief.

The collective national media are obsessed with campus protests, and understandably sothe spectacle of disproportionately elite, privileged young people resorting to histrionics is frequently amusing to general audiences. People should feel free to mock them, but let's not forget that Congress is using them as a pretext to grant vast new powers to federal bureaucrats, with the explicit goal of enshrining into law a new right not to be offended: one giant safe space.

This Week on Free Media

Reason's Emma Camp and I mocked Drew Barrymore's cringeworthy interview with Vice President Kamala "Momala" Harris, surveyed media coverage of the campus protests, criticized the Biden campaign's youth outreach strategy, and argued about RFK Jr.'s appeal.

Worth Watching

Famed satire website The Onion was recently acquired by Ben Collins, a former disinformation beat reporter for NBC News. (Regular readers will know Collins and I have clashed before.)

That said, I have to give him props for his plan to revive The Onion's TV department. I am particularly eager to the see return of Today Now, the site's mock morning show. The entire archive is available here; the humor has only become more relevant for me over time, now that I, too, host a morning show. It's hard to pick a favorite, but here's one.

*Correction: This article has been updated to more accurately reflect the language of the Antisemitism Awareness Act.

The post The Antisemitism Awareness Act Will Make It Illegal To Criticize Israel on Campus appeared first on Reason.com.
FILE - Kelsey Juliana, of Eugene, Ore., a lead plaintiff who is part of a lawsuit by a group of young people who say U.S. energy policies are causing climate change and hurting their future, greets supporters outside a federal courthouse, June 4, 2019, in Portland, Ore. A 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, rejected a long-running lawsuit brought by young Oregon-based climate activists who argued that the U.S. government's role in climate change violated their constitutional rights. (AP Photo/Andrew Selsky, File)

SEATTLE (AP)  A federal appeals court panel on Wednesday rejected a long-running lawsuit brought by young Oregon-based climate activists who argued that the U.S. government's role in climate change violated their constitutional rights.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals previously ordered the case dismissed in 2020, saying that the job of determining the nation's climate policies should fall to politicians, not judges. But U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken in Eugene, Oregon, instead allowed the activists to amend their lawsuit and last year ruled the case could go to trial.

Acting on a request from the Biden administration, a three-judge 9th Circuit panel issued an order Wednesday requiring Aiken to dismiss the case, and she did. Julia Olson, an attorney with Our Children's Trust, the nonprofit law firm representing the activists, said they were considering asking the 9th Circuit to rehear the matter with a larger slate of judges.

I have been pleading for my government to hear our case since I was ten years old, and I am now nearly 19, one of the activists, Avery McRae, said in a news release issued by the law firm. "A functioning democracy would not make a child beg for their rights to be protected in the courts, just to be ignored nearly a decade later. I am fed up with the continuous attempts to squash this case and silence our voices.

The case  called Juliana v. United States after one of the plaintiffs, Kelsey Juliana  has been closely watched since it was filed in 2015. The 21 plaintiffs, who were between the ages of 8 and 18 at the time, said they have a constitutional right to a climate that sustains life. The U.S. governments actions encouraging a fossil fuel economy, despite scientific warnings about global warming, is unconstitutional, they argued.

The lawsuit was challenged repeatedly by the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations, whose lawyers argued the lawsuit sought to direct federal environmental and energy policies through the courts instead of through the political process. At one point in 2018, a trial was halted by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts just days before it was to begin.

Another climate lawsuit brought by young people was successful: Early this year the Montana Supreme Court upheld a landmark decision requiring regulators to consider the effects of greenhouse gas emissions before issuing permits for fossil fuel development.

That case was also brought by Our Children's Trust, which has filed climate lawsuits in every state on behalf of young plaintiffs since 2010.
Apple on Thursday reported a 10% drop in iPhone sales for the second fiscal quarter, dropping from $51.33 billion to $45.96 billion, year-over-year. The slowdown was fueled, in part, by an 8% drop in China.

Apples slow adoption of AI versus competitors like Google and Microsoft likely played a role in consumers decision to hold off on purchasing a new iPhone. Apple has promised some big announcements on that front (likely at WWDC in June), but the iPhone 16 itself likely wont arrive until fall.

"Keep in mind as we described on the last call in the March quarter a year ago, we were able to replenish iPhone channel inventory and fulfill significant pent-up demand from the December quarter COVID-related supply disruptions on the iPhone 14 pro and 14 Pro Max," CEO Tim Cook explained on an earnings call. "We estimate this one-time impact is $5 billion to the March quarter revenue last year. If we remove this from last year's results, our March quarter total company revenue this year would have grown."

In spite of those dire hardware figures, however, the company still managed to beat Wall Street expectations and the stock rose more than 6% after hours, fueled by both an increase on services revenue and a massive $110 billion stock buyback -- a jump over last year's $90 billion purchase.

Services, which includes offerings like iCloud, Apple TV+ and Apple Music, jumped 14% for the year. Apple has long anticipated a slowdown in hardware sales, and its increasing focus on subscription services have helped to make up for some of that loss.

"We expect our services business to grow double digits at a rate similar to the growth we reported for the first half of the fiscal year," CFO Luca Maestri noted on the call. He added that, "iPad should grow double digits."

The company is expected to release two new iPads at a standalone event next week. That the company has not refreshed the tablet line since 2022 no doubt contributed to its own drop in sales from $6.67 billion to $5.56 billion, year over year. At Tuesday's event, Apple is also expected to announce the M4 chip -- the latest addition to the Apple Silicon line. The company's chip progress, however, will soon be challenged by Microsoft's efforts in the space, which are expected to be revealed at its Build conference in late May. More hardware is likely also on the docket for its annual World Wide Developers Conference in June.

Apple does not break out Vision Pro numbers. Instead, those numbers are included in Wearables, Home and Accessories -- a list that also includes devices like Apple Watch, AirPods and HomePods. Most reports, however, point to worse than anticipated sales. The company still attempted to give the headset's arrival a positive spin.

During the quarter, we were thrilled to launch Apple Vision Pro and to show the world the potential that spatial computing unlocks," Cook noted in a release. "Were also looking forward to an exciting product announcement next week and an incredible Worldwide Developers Conference next month."

In February, Cook attempted to address concern that the company was falling behind Google and Microsoft, noting that it would have more information on its generative AI efforts "later this year." While the subject will no doubt be top of mind at the iPad event, it seems likely the company is saving the big news for WWDC in June. In the meantime, reports have surfaced that Apple is in to integrate both OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini into future iPhones.

"I don't want to get in front of our announcements, obviously," Cook said in response to a question on the subject during tonight's call. "I would just say that we see generative AI is a very key opportunity across our products. And we believe that we have advantages that set us apart there. And so we'll be talking more about it as we go through the weeks ahead."
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg pays an unannounced visit to Ukraine. The NATO Secretary General discussed the initiative to create a $100 billion Special Allied Contribution Fund for Ukraine for 5 years. Meanwhile, U.S. aid is already arriving in Ukraine as part of the funding approved by Congress. At the same time, Republican presidential candidate D. Trump said that Europe should help Ukraine at the level of the United States.

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That is, if the United States is providing $61 billion in aid to Ukraine in 2024, the Europeans should provide the same assistance this year, otherwise Washington will reconsider whether to continue to provide aid to Kyiv. It seems that Western capitals have finally begun to understand that the Ukrainian struggle is of great importance to the West, as it is a struggle not only to restore Ukraine's territorial integrity, but also to defend the common values of the democratic world in the face of the Kremlin's dictatorship. The support of Kyiv by its allies comes at a much lower price than the potentially devastating consequences of Putin's military success in Ukraine.

Therefore, Ukraine has every right to become a member of NATO, and Jens Stoltenberg assured the Verkhovna Rada in Kyiv that this will happen. Meanwhile, Jens Stoltenberg also made it clear that Kyiv will not receive an official invitation to join the Alliance at the NATO summit in Washington in July. He expects the NATO summit to strengthen its role in coordinating assistance to Ukraine, which the Alliance should put on a stronger long-term basis. At the Washington summit in July, participants are expected to agree on a greater role for NATO in coordinating security assistance and training for Ukraine. In addition, NATO member states are strengthening their own defense production and working on joint production with Ukraine.

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Stoltenberg invited the President of Ukraine to the anniversary summit, noting that long-term support for Ukraine by the Allies requires a serious multi-year financial commitment. And this will be a serious and clear signal to Moscow that it will not be able to win and will not be able to wait it out. According to him, Ukraine has earned the right to be in NATO. This is the way that guarantees security for a long time. Stoltenberg pointed out that unlike the invitation to join the European Union, the invitation to join NATO "comes at the end of the process. And the ambition is to make Ukraine so powerful, so interoperable, and so well prepared that when the time is right, it will immediately become a NATO member.

At the same time, Jens Stoltenberg said that he could not predict when exactly Ukraine would become a NATO member, but that such a day would come, and it was important that at the time of such political readiness of the allies, it was ready for membership. Stoltenberg also expressed his respect for the Ukrainian military, which is deterring Russian aggression, emphasizing that Ukraine's struggle is very important for the whole West, because it is fighting for the common values of the democratic world, while Russia's partners are such players as the DPRK, Iran and China.

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The Secretary General of the Alliance emphasized that all allies have declared that Ukraine will be a member of NATO and we need to move towards this goal. The problem now is that when a state is invited to become a member of the treaty, it is necessary not just to have a majority of 32 allies, but for all allies to agree to this decision. And at the moment, no such agreement has been reached, and this is the reality.

During a meeting between President Volodymyr Zelensky and Jens Stoltenberg in Kyiv, the two discussed ways to repel Russian aggression, further cooperation between Ukraine and NATO, and real unification of forces. Zelensky noted that the Russian army is currently trying to take advantage of the situation when Ukraine is waiting for military supplies from its partners, primarily the United States. The Russian army is preparing for further offensive actions and it is necessary to disrupt the Russian offensive.

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The meeting also touched on preparations for the NATO summit, which could be a moment of strength for the Alliance or not. "It is there that will decide whether the enemy of the Alliance will have the opportunity to veto NATO's strengthening. And this is decided precisely in the issue of Ukraine, which deserves an invitation to join NATO," the Ukrainian president emphasized, noting that he is also convinced that Ukraine will not become a NATO member until it wins the war unleashed by the Russian Federation. "We will be in NATO only when we win. In times of war, we will not be accepted into NATO. This is a risk for some of the NATO members, and some people are just skeptical about it," Zelensky said. The issue of NATO is decided by the majority and it is a political issue.

And for Ukraine to be accepted into the Alliance politically, it needs a victory. According to V. Zelensky, one of the reasons for today's war is that Ukraine was not a NATO member before. Many years ago, there was a corresponding skepticism of some members, and Russia worked very hard with the Alliance members. Moscow did everything to prevent Kyiv from joining not only NATO, but even the European Union, to prevent Ukraine from developing and to prevent it from being cut off from Russian influence.

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In an interview with the media after his visit to Kyiv, Jens Stoltenberg said that delays in the supply of military aid from NATO members had affected Ukraine's trust, and that NATO's increased role in this process could resolve the situation. Ukraine's trust in its NATO allies has been undermined by delays in the delivery of weapons, and such failures indicate the need to reconsider the coordination of international military assistance to Kyiv.

This requires a more robust, institutionalized framework for such support to ensure predictability, greater accountability, and burden sharing. A multi-year plan should be created that clearly defines the contribution of each Ally to Ukraine. This money will be a "tiny fraction" of what the United States and its allies have spent in Iraq and Afghanistan. "We spent trillions there, and in Ukraine we are talking about billions," J. Stoltenberg summarized.

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By Stephen Nellis, Max A. Cherney and Yuvraj Malik

(Reuters) - Apple's quarterly results and forecast beat modest expectations on Thursday, as the iPhone maker unveiled a record share buyback program, sending its stock up 6% in extended trade.

Apple increased its cash dividend by 4% and authorized an additional program to buy back $110 billion of stock. The buyback is the largest in the company's history.

Apple's quarterly revenue fell, but less than analysts had expected, and CEO Tim Cook said revenue growth would return in the current quarter.

The results and guidance suggest the company may be regaining its footing in the smartphone market, despite stiff competition and regulatory challenges.

The surge in Apple's shares following its report lifted its stock market value by over $160 billion.

Apple said fiscal second-quarter revenue fell 4% to $90.8 billion, beating the average analyst estimate of $90.01 billion, according to LSEG data.

For Apple's current quarter, which ends in June, Cook told Reuters the iPhone maker expects "to grow low-single digits" in overall revenue. Wall Street expected 1.33% revenue growth to $82.89 billion, according to LSEG data.

Long considered a must-own stock on Wall Street, Apple shares have underperformed other Big Tech companies in recent months, falling 10% this year as it struggles with weak iPhone demand and tough competition in China.

Apple expects current-quarter services and iPad revenue to grow by double digits, CFO Luca Maestri told analysts on a conference call. The company expects gross margins of between 45.5% and 46.5% for the fiscal third quarter.

Apple faces a raft of challenges across its business. Smartphone rivals such as Samsung Electronics have introduced competing devices aimed at hosting artificial-intelligence chatbots.

On the regulatory front, Apple's services business, which contains its lucrative App Store and was one of the few areas of growth in the fiscal second quarter, is under pressure from a new law in Europe. In the United States, the Department of Justice in March accused Apple of monopolizing the smartphone market and driving up prices.

For the fiscal second quarter, iPhone sales fell 10.5% to $45.96 billion, compared with analyst expectations of $46 billion. Apple executives said in February that the year-ago fiscal second quarter had benefited from a $5 billion surge in iPhone sales as the company caught up from supply-chain snarls during pandemic lockdowns.

Excluding that one-time phenomenon, iPhone sales were down only slightly as the Cupertino, California, company's signature product faces stiff competition. In China, Huawei Technology has gained market share.

Story continues

Cook said that iPhone sales still experienced "growth in some markets, including China."

Apple's revenue decline in China was not as steep as analysts expected, with Greater China sales of $16.37 billion for the fiscal second quarter that ended March 30, down 8.1% and above analyst expectations of $15.59 billion, according to data from Visible Alpha.

Apple has said little about its product plans for artificial intelligence, the technology on which rivals Microsoft and Alphabet's Google are placing huge bets. The company started ramping up research and development spending last year, and Cook said the company has spent more than $100 billion on R&D in the past five years.

"We continue to feel very bullish about our opportunity in generative AI and we're making significant investments," he said. "We're looking forward to sharing some very exciting things with our customers" at events later this year, Cook said.

As it races to bring AI into its products, Apple's massive buyback program may appease investors who have been bruised by its sinking stock price.

"It's certainly a great time to resort to this strategy as, on the one hand, the stock remains relatively fairly priced, and, on the other hand, it needs to garner solid support for a structural shift that may very well take several quarters to play out," Investing.com analyst Thomas Monteiro said in a client note.

Apple's quarterly earnings per share were $1.53, above Wall Street estimates of $1.50, according to LSEG data.

Sales in Apple's services segment, which also represents Apple Music and TV offerings, rose to $23.87 billion, above analyst expectations of $23.27 billion, according to LSEG data.

Analysts had expected Mac sales to decline in the fiscal second quarter, but they instead grew to $7.5 billion, compared with estimates of $6.86 billion, according to LSEG data.

"They were really driven by the strength of the new MacBook Air that's powered by the M3 chip," Cook said. "About half of our MacBook Air buyers during the quarter were new to the Mac."

The company's sales in the iPad segment declined to $5.56 billion, below analyst expectations of $5.91 billion.

In the company's wearables segment, which represents sales of Apple Watches and AirPods headphones, sales fell to $7.91 billion, compared with analyst estimates of $8.08 billion, according to LSEG data.

(Reporting by Stephen Nellis and Max A. Cherney in San Francisco and Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Noel Randewich in Oakland, California; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
April proves to be exceptionally violent in Jackson, MS. See homicide totals for month

Clarion Ledger reporting shows the City of Jackson has seen 45 homicides from Jan. 1 to April 30, 2024, with an alarming trend of the murders occurring during the month of April.

In April 2024, there were 16 reported murders in Jackson. The Jackson Police Department is investigating 15 of the cases, and the Capitol Police are investigating one.

That April number could grow. The death case of Dau Mabil has not been ruled a homicide, though his brother Bul Mabil has alleged foul play. Also, on the last night of April, a man was pulled from the Pearl River. No announcement as to a cause of death has been determined. The April figure also does not include deaths outside Jackson within Hinds County such as the homicide at a nightclub in Utica.

Of the 16 reported Jackson homicides in April, at least 40% were found to be a result of interpersonal violence  personal disputes between romantic partners, family members or friends that turn deadly.

Jackson Police Chief Joseph Wade told the Clarion Ledger that these situations occur due to individuals not knowing how to "deal with conflict," so people resort to using a gun to "resolve their issues."

"This is a lose, lose situation for the family of the victim, the family of the suspect and also for the City of Jackson as a whole," Wade said.

Jackson Police Department Chief of Police Joseph Wade

'Never forgotten. I love you, Dad': Funeral held for veteran firefighter Gerald Bates, who died during a domestic dispute

On April 7, a firefighter was shot and killed following a domestic dispute inside a South Jackson home in the 200 block of Ferguson Drive.

On April 9, a registered nurse was killed by a former Jackson police officer, who was also an ex-partner, at an apartment complex off Parkway Drive near Old Canton Road.

On April 22, a woman died at a hospital after being run over several times by a vehicle in a suspected domestic dispute.

Wade told the Clarion Ledger that the department takes these incidents "very seriously" and is actively working to hold "perpetrators accountable" for any crimes committed.

"We're starting a 'Community Conflict Resolution Training' that is going to be held at the Jackson Police Training Academy starting next week. We're still building out what it will look like, but it's our strategy of trying to help families navigate conflict where it does not have to end in someone losing their life. This is for adults, and it is for juveniles," Wade said.

Family members hold hands

Court debate on Dau Mabil disappearing: Widow denies any connection to death of Dau Mabil. Texts show a strained marriage

Here are Jackson murders by month in 2024. All were investigated by JPD:

In January, there were 12 murders.

In February, there were four murders.

In March, there were 13 murders.

In April, there were 16 murders as of the time of publication.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Homicide totals for Jackson, MS, for April 2024
It was three weeks ago when Republican-appointed justices on the Arizona Supreme Court gave the political world an unexpected jolt, clearing the way for a 160-year-old near-total abortion ban to take effect in the state. Under the 1864 law  approved before the end of the Civil War, and before women could vote  anyone who performs abortions or helps people access abortion care could face felony charges.

There are no exceptions for rape, incest, or the health of the pregnant woman.

Democratic efforts to repeal the generations-old state law  first approved before Arizona was part of the United States  ran into fierce resistance in the GOP-led legislature, but after multiple attempts, a repeal measure cleared both the state House and state Senate this week, after a small handful of Republicans broke ranks.

Gov. Katie Hobbs vowed to sign the repeal as soon as the measure reached her desk, and the Arizona Democrat did exactly that today. NBC News reported:

Ive heard from doctors who were unsure if they would wind up in a jail cell for simply doing their job, women who told me they didnt know if it was safe to start a family here in Arizona, Hobbs said at the signing ceremony. These excruciating conversations are exactly why I have made one thing clear, very clear: This ban needs to be repealed.

For advocates of reproductive rights, the good news is policymakers acted with relative speed and efficiency to undo Arizonas 1864 law. The bad news is, there are some complicating factors.

First, as The Arizona Republic reported, the repeal bill will take effect 90 days after the last day of the years legislative session. Its still unknown when the session will end, but its possible the repeal wont take effect until late September.

Second, even after the 160-year-old near-total abortion ban has been officially undone, its not as if abortion policy in the Grand Canyon State will revert to a progressive ideal. On the contrary, a Republican-imposed 15-week ban, approved in 2022, will take effect once the 1864 law is gone.

All of which brings us to the near future. As NBC News reported:

Politico reported that this weeks successful repeal effort has some Democrats worried that voters might be less engaged on the issue in the fall than they wouldve otherwise been if the 1864 law were still on the books.

At today's bill-signing ceremony, Hobbs criticized the 15-week ban as "draconian," and added, "We still have work to do."

State Sen. Anna Hernandez, who introduced the repeal bill in her chamber, added, "Our fight is just beginning. ... We cannot let our guard down.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
The Arizona state senate has voted to repeal an 1864 abortion ban, and while the governor is set to sign the repeal, the near-total ban could remain in effect into the autumn.

The Civil War-era ban went into effect last month after a ruling from the state Supreme Court. The ban only allows abortions to save the life of the mother.

Two Republicans joined with the Democrats to vote for the bill repealing the ban, with the legislation passing by 16-14. The state House voted to repeal the ban last week.

A spokesperson for Governor Katie Hobbs told 12News that the bills signing will not take place on Wednesday. Shes expected to sign it in the coming days.

The territorial-era abortion ban was put in place during the Civil War  decades before Arizona became a state in 1912. It carries a felony punishment of two to five years behind bars for anyone conducting an abortion.

The ban will likely still go into effect in late June, according to Democratic Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes.

People walk to the Senate gallery to watch the proceedings, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, at the Capitol in Phoenix (AP)

After the repeal has been signed by Ms Hobbs, it wont go into effect until 90 days after the end of the current legislative session. The session doesnt have a specific end date, but it typically ends between late June and July, meaning that the ban could remain in effect into the autumn.

But Ms Mayes told NPR earlier this month that the ban wont be enforced while it is in effect.

The ban went into effect for a short period after the US Supreme Court reversed Roe v Wade in the summer of 2022 before it was blocked in the courts.

On 9 April, it was brought back by the Arizona state Supreme Court in a ruling that prompted nationwide attention and rebuke from abortion rights advocates.

After the expected repeal, Arizona is set to go back to a 15-week abortion ban, with voters possibly set to vote on enshrining abortion rights in the state constitution in November, according to The Washington Post.

Anti-abortion supporters stand outside at the Capitol, Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP)

In October, 59 per cent of Arizonans said in a New York Times/Siena College poll that abortion should be mostly or always legal while 34 per cent said it should be mostly or always illegal.

Republicans have slim majorities in both the state House and the state Senate. They have faced increasing pressure to repeal the ban from within their own party, from figures such as former President Donald Trump and Senate candidate Kari Lake.

Many Republicans see abortion as a losing issue, as polling shows that conservatives are out of step with the US population at large. The 15-week ban was seen by some in the party as a more palatable option.

Angela Florez, the President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona, said in a statement: With todays long-overdue victory, lawmakers stood with the overwhelming majority of Arizonans who support abortion access.

Abortion is essential health care, and this Civil War-era law had no place dictating our reproductive freedom, she said, but added that The reality is that Arizonans will still be living under a restrictive 15-week abortion ban.

Arizona is an important state both in the upcoming presidential race and in the race for congressional control. President Joe Biden won Arizona by less than 11,000 votes in 2020, becoming the first Democrat to win the state on the presidential level since Bill Clinton in 1996.
Arkansas House passes PBS appropriation after three votes for second consecutive fiscal session

Rep. Lane Jean, R-Magnolia, addresses the Arkansas House of Representatives on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate)

The Arkansas House of Representatives passed Arkansas PBS appropriations bill Wednesday after two failed attempts for the second consecutive fiscal session.

Appropriations bills need a three-fourths majority vote to pass each chamber: 76 votes in the House and 27 votes in the Senate. Two years ago, the fiscal year 2023 Arkansas PBS appropriations bill also took three tries to pass the House.

This years bill received 68 votes Tuesday and 72 votes on the first try Wednesday. It later passed with 78 votes for it, 11 votes against it, six members voting present and five not voting.

All of the House members that voted no or present all three times were Republicans.

Rep. Lane Jean, R-Magnolia, the House chair of the Joint Budget Committee, told his colleagues after Wednesdays first vote that it was in their best interest to pass the bill before the fiscal session ends next week.

People will start calling and the pressure will start rising and well get called down here for a special session [if it doesnt pass], Jean said. For $6 million, its not worth it.

The bill would give Arkansas PBS the authority to spend up to $6.24 million in taxpayer dollars and $8.96 million in private funds.

Rep. Wayne Long, R-Bradford, said he voted against the bill because he believed some of PBS programming is unnecessary due to the ubiquity of streaming and online content. He also said state officials ongoing plans to cut taxes will require some reduction in state-funded programs.

Rep. Carlton Wing (R-North Little Rock)

Rep. Carlton Wing, R-North Little Rock (John Sykes/Arkansas Advocate)

Defunding Arkansas PBS would probably be a very small step toward having smaller, more affordable government, and it would be a good first step in the right direction, Long said.

Other House Republicans disagreed. Rep. Carlton Wing, R-North Little Rock, reminded the chamber that Arkansas PBS maintains the states emergency alert system towers that warn the public about severe weather.

Rep. RJ Hawk, R-Bryant, said local broadcasting stations would not have the capacity to maintain their areas emergency alert systems on their own if Arkansas PBS no longer had this power, citing his experience working for a radio station.

Hawk also addressed Longs comment about streaming services and internet access.

Right now we dont have 100% internet connectivity in the state of Arkansas, he said. [In] every corner of the state with an over-the-air signal, you can get Arkansas PBS.

The educational television network has been under legislative scrutiny for months. Administrators faced questions from lawmakers last year after a 2022 audit of the agency raised concerns that PBS officials sidestepped state laws related to contract bidding, possibly intentionally. CEO Courtney Pledger and her cohorts insisted to the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee that they had no such intentions.

The committee authorized a new audit in November to examine more than two years of procurements and related processes at Arkansas PBS.

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Jonesboro, has been the Legislatures most vocal critic of Arkansas PBS. Last week, he introduced an amendment to the networks appropriations bill that would have reduced the agencys spending authority for private funds by 20%, from $8.96 million to $7.17 million. The Joint Budget Committee rejected the amendment.

In 2022, Sullivan introduced a bill that would have cut the networks appropriations for both private and state funds by a cumulative 25%. The bill died in the Joint Budget Committee at the end of the fiscal session.

The Senate will vote Thursday on whether to send the bill to the governors desk as the fiscal session wraps up. PBS fiscal year 2023 and 2025 appropriations bills passed the Senate with no dissent.

The post Arkansas House passes PBS appropriation after three votes for second consecutive fiscal session appeared first on Arkansas Advocate.
Transgender, nonbinary, and intersex Arkansas residents are suing the state over a new policy that makes it nearly impossible to change the gender marker on drivers licenses and prohibits the nonbinary X marker.

Since at least 2010, the state had let residents self-select the marker on the license, either M, F, or X, according to the American Civil Liberties Unions Arkansas affiliate, which is representing the plaintiffs. But in March, the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration put in an emergency rule that requires an amended birth certificate to change the marker and eliminates the X option. Its extremely difficult to obtain an amended birth certificate, as it requires a court order with proof of gender-affirming surgery, the ACLU notes.

This emergency rule was implemented without any documented justification or compliance with the procedural requirements of the Arkansas Administrative Procedures Act, which stipulates a 30-day public notice and comment period unless there is an imminent peril to public health, safety, or welfare or a need to comply with federal law, says an ACLU press release.

There is no imminent peril created by recognizing and respecting a persons affirmed gender identity, yet the DFAs emergency rule has precipitated a true crisis for affected Arkansans, ACLU of Arkansas Executive Director Holly Dickson said in the release. This rule is not safeguarding Arkansans; it's compromising their safety, their mental health, and their ability to participate fully in society.

The DFA has failed to demonstrate any urgent threat to public health or safety that justifies this sudden and restrictive change in policy, added ACLU of Arkansas Legal Director John Williams. Instead, their actions have created a real and immediate danger to the well-being of our plaintiffs and other transgender, nonbinary, and intersex people, for whom accurate identification is not just a matter of dignity, but of personal security.

The suit was filed Tuesday in Pulaski County Circuit Court in Arkansas. It seeks to prevent enforcement of the rule and have it declared invalid due to its violation of administrative procedures and lack of any stated emergency.

The plaintiffs represent a variety of identities. Brandyn Gallagher is intersex and nonbinary, with a commercial drivers license currently using X, but the new rule would force a change to M or F. Gallagher works as a truck driver and is trying to upgrade their license for a job transporting hazardous materials. JaVon Hansen is a transgender man, but his license identifies him as female, and the new rule would prevent him from obtaining a corrected license. Kaden McIntosh is nonbinary but has a license with the F marker and would change it to X if not for the rule. Lydia Nelson is nonbinary and has an expired state ID with X and would be forced to adopt M or F upon renewal. Haley Nicole Prentice is a trans woman, but her license identifies her as male, and the rule prevents her from obtaining one with a female marker.

The requirement to present an amended birth certificate to change the gender marker on a drivers license is a major barrier, the lawsuit says, given the need for a court order certifying that the person have had gender-affirming surgery. Many trans, nonbinary, and intersex people do not have surgery, either because it is not medically indicated for them or because they do not have the resources to access such treatment, the suit notes.

Having a drivers license with a gender marker that does not match a persons identity is a cause of stress and can often result in harassment in daily interactions in which they must present an ID, the suit points out.

The emergency rule disregards the recognized medical consensus on the treatment of gender dysphoria, violates the privacy of individuals, and undermines the safety and well-being of all transgender, nonbinary, and intersex people, the press release concludes. By forcing them into a narrow definition of gender, the rule not only causes harm to people but also contradicts the DFAs long-standing practice of acknowledging the spectrum of gender identities.

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin told TV station KARK his office is reviewing the lawsuit, and we look forward to defending the Department of Finance and Administration in court.

DFA issues licenses and IDs based on objective information, Department of Finance and Administration Secretary Jim Hudson told the station. Our emergency rule was adopted by DFA and the General Assembly to ensure the safety of our citizens and the stakeholders who rely on the licenses and IDs we issue. DFA is implementing this policy in a manner that is respectful to all. We intend to vigorously defend this policy in court.
An Army brigade combat team will deploy to U.S. European Command over the summer, service officials announced on Wednesday.

The 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division will replace the 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division as part of a regular rotation of forces in support of NATO allies, according to the service. The unit will deploy later this summer, Lt. Col. Sarah Ray, a 10th Mountain Division spokesperson, told Military Times in an email.

They will continue to assure our NATO partners and allies, deterring further Russian aggression and reinforcing the NATO flank in eastern Europe, Ray added.

The unit is based out of Fort Johnson, Louisiana.

U.S. Army Europe and Africa announced in a statement on Tuesday that some 1,600 soldiers arrived in Norway to begin a nearly 559-mile march to Finland. The 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division is currently taking part in a multinational training between the United States, NATO and new member Finland. The exercises will occur through May 31, involving more than 10,400 U.S. service members.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the Biden administration announced an influx of troops to shore up NATOs eastern flank  and spurred two Nordic neighbors to join the alliance. Sweden joined NATO in March. Meanwhile, Finland, which shares an 830-mile border with Russia, joined the alliance on April 4.

The unit will make history as the first light brigade combat team to deploy to a Nordic country, according to U.S. Army Europe and Africa.

The Pentagon has deployed more than 20,000 additional forces to Europe, bringing the total number of American service members operating in Europe to more than 100,000.
The Associated Press has obtained exclusive drone video footage of what the ruined town of Chasiv Yar in Donetsk Oblast looks like as of Monday. This particular town is under continuous attack and attempts to be captured by Russian forces.

Source: Associated Press

Quote: "The footage shows Chasiv Yar  set amid green fields and woodland  pounded into an apocalyptic vista. The destruction is reminiscent of the cities of Bakhmut and Avdiivka, which Ukraine yielded after months of bombardment and huge losses for both sides."

Details: Not a single intact building remains in the town, with houses and municipal offices charred and the town, once home to 12,000 residents, now nearly deserted.

The Associated Press noted that capturing the town would give Russia control of a hill from which it could attack other towns that form the backbone of Ukraine's eastern defences. "That would set the stage for a potentially broader Russian offensive that Ukrainian officials say could come as early as this month," AP stressed.

Background: On 14 April, Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said that Russia was concentrating efforts to break through the Ukrainian defence west of Bakhmut, seize the settlement of Chasiv Yar and create conditions for further advancement to the Kramatorsk agglomeration. He noted that the highest Russian military leadership had set the task for its troops to capture Chasiv Yar by 9 May.

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Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba reminded that Ukraine is not going to sit down at the negotiating table to find ways to end the war. According to him, there is no point in talking to an aggressor country that does not share our views on peace.

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This is how he answered journalists' questions about why Kyiv does not invite Moscow to the Global Peace Summit. His words, among others, were quoted by Foreign Policy.

"We know that there is no point in bringing Russia to the negotiating table if you cannot get it to act in good faith. There are only two ways to bring Russia to a situation where it will act in good faith: the first is success on the battlefield, and the second is to create a coalition of countries that share the same principles and approaches," he said.

The Foreign Minister emphasized that the summit aims to unite countries that share Ukraine's vision of peace and are looking for approaches to build further actions on.

Since Russia never keeps its unfounded "promises" and always uses such platforms to blame Ukraine for its own war crimes, it will not be among the participants.

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At the same time, Kuleba added that after the summit, such communication with Russia "may take place," and it has a chance to become part of the negotiations.

"In the end, you cannot end the war without both sides," he admitted.

The Global Peace Summit will be held in Switzerland on June 15-16, 2024. The platform will bring together leaders from about 80 countries to discuss ways to peacefully resolve the war and how to prevent future military conflicts in the world. Not only Russia, but also its ally Belarus was not invited.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia was trying to disrupt the Peace Summit. According to him, the aggressor has a specific plan aimed at reducing the number of participating countries and generally postponing the event.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, US State Department Secretary Atony Blinken earlier said that negotiations with Russia to end the war in Ukraine depend on Russian dictator Putin. However, he must prove his readiness to conduct a dialogue in accordance with international law and the UN Charter: sovereignty, territorial integrity, independence.

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Only verified information on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Almost a decade after astronomers proposed the existence of Planet 9 , an unseen extra planet in the distant reaches of the solar system, they still havent all agreed whether its real or not. Now, new research from Caltech astronomers just uncovered an extra line of evidence in favor of the hidden planet. Their computer simulations require Planet 9s gravitational kick to explain how small bits of rock and ice from around Neptunes orbit end up close to the sun.

There is an open question of why particular objects in the solar system act the way they do, and we cant quite explain it, but if you add Planet Nine into the model it all makes sense, says Juliette Becker , an astronomer at the University of Wisconsin, Madison not affiliated with this new work.

These objects are Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs)--chunks of debris in the outer solar system, beyond Neptune and even Pluto. Until the 2000s, astronomers hadnt spotted many TNOsespecially not the most distant ones. Theyre incredibly faint, a result of their small sizes and huge distances from Earth and difficult to see. Once astronomers had built up a more substantial catalog of observed TNOs, however, they began to notice some strange trends.

A group of TNOs were bunched together, sharing similar orbits as if they were being wrangled up by something, like a group of sheep by a shepherd. These oddballs were orbiting at very high angles compared to other TNOs, and they were lined up in the same direction. Some astronomers, including the same Caltech crew behind the new bit of evidence, claimed that the most likely explanation for these observations was the existence of Planet 9 acting as a massive object acting as a gravitational shepherd for the TNO sheep.

However, other astronomers thought Planet 9 was an outlandish solution to the puzzle at hand , coming up with other ways to explain the unexpected observations. Some suggested that the clusters of TNOs could be a natural result of the solar systems formation, with no need for Planet 9. Others thought that the shepherd was actually a small black hole instead of a giant planet. More recently, two astronomers in Japan proposed that a different planet , instead of Planet 9, might be lurking in the Kuiper Belt.

Theories abound for explaining the observed orbits of TNOsand astronomers have spent the past eight years discussing and debating which make the most sense. This isnt an anomaly, but instead an illustration of the scientific process. Scientists iteratively and collaboratively improve our understanding of a natural phenomenon, exploring all the evidence to find the best explanation for an observation.

Now, the Caltech team just showed how Planet 9 could be necessary to explain a different group of TNOs, which were somehow chucked towards the sun. An object on a path that crosses Neptunes orbit, dips towards the sun, and swings back shouldnt be able to stay that way for long. If we see objects in these kinds of orbits, something has to be pushing them to be thereperhaps even Planet 9.

If Planet Nine exists, it would occasionally pull the orbits of distant Trans-Neptunian objects closer to the sun, to the point where they cross Neptunes orbit. Without Planet Nine, these objects can't be pushed inward past Neptune very often, explains Konstantin Batygin , Caltech astronomer and lead author on the new paper.

Planet Nine would re-supply the population of these objects as they are depleted, explaining why we can see them at the present day when the Solar System is relatively old, adds Becker

Throughout the years of theories, some astronomers have been entranced by the idea of actually spotting Planet 9 in the night sky. Despite the evidence of its gravitational influence, seeing is still believing and many of us wont be satisfied until we have concrete proof that Planet 9 is there in our telescopes.

Batygin and co-author Mike Brown, also an astronomer at Caltech, have been hunting for Planet 9 using huge archives of data taken by surveys of the night sky from the Pan-STARRS1 facility atop Haleakala in Hawaii, the Dark Energy Survey completed in Chile , and the Zwicky Transient Facility in nearby San Diego. Astronomers from Yale even used the exoplanet-hunting satellite TESS to scan the sky for Planet 9 . Unfortunately, no one has seen the elusive extra planet yet.

Simply put, Planet 9 is very distant and extraordinarily dim, says Batygin. The challenge of directly detecting it is difficult to appreciate without seeing first-hand how complex the observation process is, especially when looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack.

The Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile currently scheduled to begin operations in early 2025 and equipped with the largest digital camera ever made for astronomy will provide an excellent opportunity to continue the search for Planet 9. Astronomers have been looking forward to this facility for years, even citing it in a PopSci article from 2020 as the key to solving this mystery once and for all .

And if theres no planet to be found, even with a bigger and better observatory on the case? If it turns out not to be there, then we will need to find individual explanations for all these different observations, says Becker. I am continually amazed by just how many solar system puzzles Planet Nines existence would solve.
A customer of the Hereford House in Leawood voiced her frustrations Wednesday after being unable to get answers from police and health officials about possibly eating contaminated food last week.

The woman learned Tuesday evening that the Johnson County District Attorney charged a former steakhouse restaurant worker with contaminating food between March 26 and April 25. Leawood police asked anyone who fell ill after eating at the restaurant to contact them at tips@leawood.org or 913-266-0696.

After a sleepless night, the woman called police Wednesday morning and was told someone would call back. As the hours passed, her concern grew, and she contacted the Johnson County health department, the restaurant, the district attorneys office and police administration, who all referred her back to the number police provided.

Oh my goodness, on a scale of one to 10, its over a 10, the Olathe woman, who declined to be identified because of concerns for her safety, said of her frustration.

I do know for a fact that I ate there  I fit the timeline, she said, noting that it had been around six hours since she first called the police and she still hadnt heard from them.

Similar to food poisoning

Prosecutors announced Tuesday that they had charged 21-year-old Jace Christian Hanson of Kansas City with one felony count of unlawfully adulterating or contaminating food at the restaurant at 5001 Town Center Drive in Leawoods Town Center Plaza.

Prosecutors havent said how Hanson allegedly contaminated the food. District Attorney Stephen Howe told KCTV5 and FOX4 that the concern is that bodily fluids were used to alter the food.

Hanson, a part-time employee who worked at the restaurant for less than a month, remained in Johnson County jail on a $100,000 bond.

As of Wednesday morning, more than 50 people had contacted police by either phone or email saying they had eaten at the restaurant during the period in question, said Capt. Brad Robbins with the Leawood Police Department.

Were getting back to people as quickly as we can, said Robbins, who added theyd received dozens of calls and emails.

Not everyone claimed to have fallen ill; some indicated that they only had questions, Robbins said. Police were responding to everyone who called in, which was part of the reason for the delay.

Police had been in contact with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the Johnson County Health Department, who indicated that the type of illnesses that people would have experienced would have been gastric distress similar to food poisoning, including upset stomachs and other gastrointestinal issues.

Thats something that comes and goes fairly quickly, not any kind of lasting event, Robbins said. He declined to go into further details of the investigation, saying the case had been handed over to the district attorneys office.

Because of the number of calls, people should give police at least 24 hours to get back to them, Robbins said. He said it does take time for detectives to respond to each person and interview them to gather their basic information and see what happened to them.

Police are still working to determine how many people were impacted by the alleged crime.

This is obviously a month-long period that this subject was working at the Hereford House, so there are likely thousands of people who have eaten at this particular restaurant, Robbins said. Those who may have experienced some incident and have called in, its going to take us more than just an hour or two to get to them.
AUSTIN (KXAN)  An Austin photojournalist who was arrested while covering a protest on the University of Texas Austin campus on April 24, is facing two misdemeanor charges assault and interference with public duties, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Court documents previously showed he was facing a felony charge of assault on a peace officer. Additional documentation showed that warrant was canceled.

Austin photojournalist faces felony charge after arrest during UT protest, affidavit says

Carlos Sanchez, 43, met with DPS special agents and was then booked into the Travis County Jail on Wednesday, according to DPS.

KXAN spoke to Sanchez, who identified himself as Carlos and said he worked with Fox 7, as he was led away in handcuffs during the April 24 protest.

They said that I hit an officer. I didnt hit an officer. They were pushing me. They were pushing me, he said. This never happened to me, you know what I mean? I was just covering things I told them I was press.

An attorney for Sanchez provided a statement to KXAN Wednesday.

Mr. Sanchez was performing an important news gathering function during a chaotic event when he inadvertently bumped into a police officer. He did not commit a crime. We look forward to someone taking a unbiased look at the evidence and exonerating Mr. Sanchez. That may ultimately occur with a jury. Law Office of E.G. Morris

Fox 7 told KXAN it does not have a comment at this time.

79 arrested on UT campus during Monday protest, sheriffs office says

In the statement provided Wednesday, DPS said Sanchez was seen moving towards a DPS Trooper, then lunging and striking the Trooper with his camera in the lower head and neck area. Furthermore, the agency said video evidence showed Sanchez was not pushed, and there were not objects in front of him that would have caused him to trip making contact with the Trooper.

Read the full statement from DPS below:

This morning, 43-year-old Carlos Giraldo Sanchez, of Austin, Texas, met with Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Special Agents and was charged with two misdemeanors  assault and interference with public duties  he was then booked into the Travis County Jail. These charges stem from Sanchezs actions during last weeks protest at the University of Texas (UT) Austin campus. According to multiple video and witness statements, Sanchez is among a group of protestors as law enforcement officers work to disperse the group from campus. He can be seen moving towards a DPS Trooper, then lunging and striking the Trooper with his camera in the lower head and neck area. Video evidence also shows Sanchez is not pushed and it appears there are no objects that would have caused him to trip making contact with the Trooper. The department understands a journalists right to cover events of the day, and we work to ensure those rights are protected while also upholding the laws of this state. While journalists should be provided access, it is never acceptable to interfere with official police duties and assaulting an officer of the law  no matter the degree  will never be tolerated. DPS will always work to ensure the safety of our officers. Both law enforcement officers and journalists should be expected to do their jobs in a professional manner  and we strongly believe a line was crossed last week when one of our Troopers was assaulted while trying to do his job. Texas Department of Public Safety

A total of 57 people were booked into the Travis County Jail related to the April 24 protest, according to the Travis County Sheriffs Office. The Travis County Attorneys Office said last week that criminal trespass charges were dropped against all 57 people because all 57 lack sufficient probable cause to proceed.

Mondays UT protest arrest cases remain active, County Attorney says

On Monday, 79 people were arrested after a group of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered on the South Mall at the UT campus and set up several tents in the area. The university issued a dispersal order, and law enforcement responded shortly after.

Of the 79 people arrested, 78 of them were arrested and charged with criminal trespass, according to the Travis County Sheriffs Office. Additionally, 45 of the 79 people arrested Monday were not affiliated with UT, according to a UT statement.

Abigail Jones, Andrew Schnitker and Jala Washington contributed to this report

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
The grassy expanse of the University of Queenslands Great Court has long been the center of student life at the Australian states biggest university.

Now its a gathering point for rival camps pitched around 100 meters (328 feet) from each other  one populated by supporters of the Students for Palestine UQ, and another smaller cluster of tents with the Israeli flag among others strung between trees.

In the past 10 days, pro-Palestinian protest camps have appeared at seven universities around Australia  from Melbourne and Sydney in the countrys southeast, to Adelaide in its center, and Perth along the western coast.

They were erected in solidarity with Palestinians under Israeli siege in Gaza and student protesters in the United States.

And its not just Australia. Students at some universities in the United Kingdom have also set up pro-Palestinian encampments in recent days. In France, pro-Palestinian protests erupted at the Sciences Po university in Paris last week and at the Sorbonne university Monday.

Camps have sprung up at several university campuses across Australia. - Hilary Whiteman/CNN

So far, violent scenes that have erupted at universities across the US involving protesters, counter-protesters and law enforcement have not been repeated in Australia. But some students worry events could move in that direction.

Some Jewish groups say the protests are causing unnecessary tension on campus, and the countrys federal opposition leader has called them racist and antisemitic.

At the pro-Israel Camp Shalom at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Jewish students said they were on edge after strangers came into the camp and spat on a sign attached to a tree that reads Zionist and proud.

From the other side of the Great Court, Liam Parry from Students for Palestine UQ camp said, Were here to speak up for Palestine and were not interested in people trying to provoke a fight or anything like that. He said thered been no interaction between the two opposing camps. Weve basically been ignoring them, he added.

Meanwhile, at Monash University in Melbourne, Students for Palestine organizers said in the early hours of Thursday, a group of 12 people wearing Australian and Israeli flags tore down Palestinian flags and trashed the camp kitchen.

We will not be intimidated by these people, said Students for Palestine Monash representative Madeline Curkovic.

Students say they will stay at the University of Sydney for as long as it takes for their demands to be met. - Angus Watson/CNN

Tensions build over intifada video

About 50 tents line the quadrangle at the University of Sydney, where up to 100 protesters are sleeping each night.

Its been relatively peaceful so far. The students are mindful of scenes in the US, where police have made hundreds of arrests on campuses across the country and have sent officers to clear camps and building occupations.

I think were very concerned to see a repeat of the scenes in America, which have been truly horrifying, said Shovan Bhattarai, a 25-year-old USYD history student.

Jasmine Al-Rawi, convenor of the USYD Students For Palestine, said theyve planned a peaceful, static demonstration.

We want to just stay here, to say that we have a right to protest peacefully, here on our campus, and demand an end to a genocide, said Al-Rawi, 21, who studies architecture.

But Jewish groups say USYD is not a safe space as long as the protests are allowed to continue, and on Friday called supporters to march against what they call a disturbing trend of antisemitic and anti-Israel activities at the university.

More than 200 people, some wearing Israeli and Australian flags, gathered at the Sydney campus, but there was no direct encounter between them and the pro-Palestinian group, which had urged followers to help them defend their camp.

In a show of unity, some pro-Palestinian protesters formed a human chain around the camp, but as of mid-morning there was no sign the pro-Israel protesters had any intention of attempting to breach it.

Pro-Israeli protesters stage a counter-rally at the University of Sydney on Friday, May 3, 2024. - Angus Watson/CNN

Tali Hamilton, a science student at the counter-rally, said the pro-Israel protesters tried to talk to members of the pro-Palestinian camp, but they walked away.

The whole thing is horrific, what happened in October is horrific and what has happened after is horrific. We dont want war, but the perpetrators are Hamas. To look at the news makes me want to crawl into a hole, she said.

The invitation to Fridays counter-rally  organized by Together for Israel and Stand with Us  pointed to a video that circulated on social media last week that showed children attending an excursion to the pro-Palestine camp, during which a child led chants of intifada, the Arabic word for uprising, and from the river to the sea.

This is unacceptable and we cannot allow universities to condone such actions on their campuses, the invitation said.

The chant from the river to the sea has long been heard at pro-Palestinian rallies around the world and is often accompanied by the phrase Palestine will be free. The phrase demands equal rights and the independence of Palestinians, although in some cases it is intended to call for the abolishment of Israel.

In response, pro-Palestinian groups rallied behind the organizer of the childrens event, author and academic Randa Abdel-Fattah, with more than 1,100 people signing a letter of support.

Abdel-Fattah said in a lengthy statement on social media platform X that children were offered the megaphone to lead chants of their choosing, hoping to give them a sense of agency in a moment of distress.

Those that jumped at the opportunity had been to the weekly rallies for over 7 months, observing and participating in chants and calls for justice, freedom and an end to the slaughter, she wrote.

She said attempts to depict the children as radicalized and violent extremists was reprehensible.

Members of Students for Palestine told CNN on Thursday their protest includes a diverse array of students and does not tolerate any form of discrimination.

Tents at a pro-Palestine encampment at the University of Melbourne, on May 2, 2024. - Joel Carrett/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Calls for universities to cut ties with Israel

Scenes of violent clashes at US colleges have made the protesters in Australia even more determined to dig in  and for now, Australian universities have not signaled any intent to remove them.

Mark Scott, vice chancellor of the University of Sydney, suggested a US-style police response was unlikely to unfold on campus.

I am not convinced what is happening on US campuses demonstrates a pathway to greater safety and security for any students or staff, nor helps to build a community committed to free speech and thoughtful exchanges of divergent views, Scott said.

He said he was shocked to see children involved in the protest last week, and understood how upsetting it was for some people. You will get moments in protests that can be uncomfortable and upsetting, he added.

In a statement, the University of Queensland said its committed to freedom of speech and is reiterating expectations that while expressing their views, people treat one another with dignity and respect to ensure our community can go about their studies, research, work or other activities.

Similar to demands from protests at other universities, Students for Palestine UQ want the university to disclose all links to Israeli companies and universities, and cut ties with weapons companies.

This week they yelled slogans outside the Boeing-led Research Center, which opened on campus in 2017 to allow the aircraft manufacturers staff to collaborate with university researchers and students.

Boeing has links to Israel that date back more than 75 years and supplies the Israel Defense Forces with nine products, according to its website. Its involvement in Israels bombardment of Gaza has also angered student protesters in the US.

The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) has called on Australian universities to protect the right of students to peaceful protest, saying their action is justified.

It is unconscionable that our educational institutions are cultivating relationships with a genocidal regime and companies and entities that profit from Israels brutality towards Palestinians, said APAN President Nasser Mashni.

At the University of Queensland, occupants of the pro-Israel camp are located about 100 meters away from the Palestinian camp. - Hilary Whiteman/CNN

But Danny Channan, a member of the small Queensland Jewish community, said allowing protesters to camp on site created a culture of fear among Jewish students.

He and others set up Camp Shalom as a safe space for students and staff to gather and discuss whats going on, but he says theyll respect the wishes of the university if theyre asked to leave.

At the moment we see no purpose in encamping other than as a reactionary element, to provide a different sentiment, a different feeling and to provide a safe space, he told CNN.

So far, he says theres been no meeting across the path that cuts through the lawn on the Great Court that separates the two camps  something he hopes might change in time.

I would love a world where instead of instead of, Im on Team Israel or Im on team Palestine, were just waving two flags and saying, Im on Team lets figure this out.

This story has been updated with additional information. Alex Hardie and Catherine Nicholls in London; Joseph Ataman, Julen Chavin and Chris Liakos in Paris; and Teele Rebane in Hong Kong contributed reporting.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
The Chicago Police Department and the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force took Xavier L. Tate Jr. into custody on suspicion of the murder of Chicago Police Officer Luis Huesca.

Tate Jr. was found Wednesday night in the Chicago suburb of Glendale Heights, Illinois, police said.

PHOTO: Police on Friday issued an arrest warrant for 22-year-old Xavier Tate Jr., in connection with the shooting of Chicago officer Luis Huesca. (Chicago Police Department)

The 30-year-old officer was wearing his uniform when he was shot and killed early Sunday morning while on the way home from a shift. He was killed two days before his 31st birthday, according to authorities. .

MORE: Reward grows to $100,000 in search for suspect in slaying of Chicago officer Luis Huesca

Tate, 22, was charged with murder, vehicular hijacking and possession of a stolen firearm, according to police.

PHOTO: In this booking photo released by the Chicago Police Department, Xavier Tate is shown. (Chicago Police Department)

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said Huesca's death was the result of "an act of unconscionable gun violence in our city."

Huesca the "victim of the type of crime he was working against," the Chicago police superintendent said.

PHOTO: Chicago police Officer Luis M. Huesca, 30, was fatally shot on April 21, 2024, while on his way home from work, authorities said. (Chicago Police Dept.)

Police officers found Huesca on the ground outside his home when they responded just before 3 a.m. to investigate a ShotSpotter gunshot detection alert, police said. Huesca was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Tate has a detention hearing scheduled for Friday, police said.

Attorney information for the suspect wasn't immediately available.

The investigation is ongoing.

Authorities arrest suspect in killing of Chicago Police Officer Luis Huesca originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
SUDBURY  Authorities have identified the Framingham man who was killed Tuesday morning after his car collided head-on with a tractor-trailer on Boston Post Road.

Authorities said Biejan Michael Amini, 34, died after the Nissan Sentra he was driving collided with a tractor-trailer at about 10:30 a.m. on Boston Post Road (Route 20) near its intersection with Wayside Inn Road.

According to his obituary, Amini enjoyed hiking, kayaking and cycling and had three pet birds  Loki, Kiwi and Greenie  and a cat named Harley. He was the son of Hamid Amini and Julie Ann DeHaven, and stepson of Maryam Amini and Tom Pitta, according to the obituary, and also had two brothers, Brian and Babak, and two stepsiblings, Ben and Miranda Pitta.

The Framingham man who was killed after a two-vehicle crash Tuesday on Boston Post Road (Route 20) in Sudbury has been identified.

Earlier: Framingham man killed after car collides with tractor-trailer

The driver of the tractor-trailer, who has not been identified, was transported to Marlborough Hospital to be treated. His condition was not released, but his injuries were not believed to be life-threatening, authorities said.

The crash remains under investigation by the Middlesex District Attorney's Office, the Massachusetts State Police and the Sudbury Police and Fire departments.

There will be a celebration of Amini's life and visitation with his family from 2-6 p.m. Saturday at the Faggas Funeral Home, 551 Mount Auburn St., Watertown, with a service at 5 p.m.

Burial will be private and held later.

Norman Miller can be reached at 508-626-3823 or nmiller@wickedlocal.com. For up-to-date public safety news, follow him on X @Norman_MillerMW or on Facebook at facebook.com/NormanMillerCrime.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Framingham man, 34, identified as victim in Sudbury fatal crash
College protests: President Joe Biden says 'peaceful protest' is protected; 'violence' is not

President Joe Biden Thursday addressed recent campus unrest during a statement from the White House. He said while peaceful protest is protected, violence is not. He said protest must be protected but the rule of law must also be upheld. He said the national guard should not be sent to campuses. Photo by Chris Kleponis/UPI

May 2 (UPI) -- President Joe Biden on Thursday addressed pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses throughout the nation as hundreds of protesters have been arrested.

Biden said the campus pro-Palestinian protests are protected as long as they are peaceful, but he said violent protests are not protected.

"As president I will always defend free speech but I will also stand up for the rule of law," Biden said in a brief address from the White House.

In response to a question from a reporter, Biden said the National Guard should not be used on campus.

He also said the protests had not changed his stance on policies regarding the war in Gaza and the broader region.

A pro-Palestinian encampment is seen cordoned off by stanchions on the UCLA campus on Sunday. Police moved in to dismantle the encampments Thursday morning. Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI

Biden said the protests put to the test two fundamental American principles.

"The first is the right to free speech and for people to peacefully assemble and make their voices heard," he said. "The second is the rule of law. Both must be upheld."

The president said America is not "an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent." But he said order must prevail in a civil society.

He said in moments like this there are always those who rush in to score political points.

"But this isn't a moment for politics," Biden said. "It's a moment for clarity. Violent protest is not protected. Peaceful protest is. It's against the law when violence occurs. Destroying property is not a peaceful protest."

He said vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancelation of classes and graduation are not peaceful protests.

He said threatening people, intimidating people, instilling fear in people is not peaceful protest.

"There should be no place on any campus, no place in America for anti-Semitism or threats of violence against Jewish students," Biden said. "There is no place for hate speech, or violence of any kind. Whether it's anti-Semitism, Islamaphobia or discrimination against Arab-Americans or Palestinian-Americans."

Biden said as president he will both protect free speech and uphold the rule of law.

Biden's comments came after authorities in Los Angeles began clearing out protesters and their encampments early Thursday morning after they ignored orders to leave.

Video captured some protesters being taken away by California Highway Patrol officers as the officers fired flashbangs into the encampment.

Despite the aggressive action by law enforcement, some protesters attempted to remain at the encampment, linking arms and singing.

Several hundred officers in riot gear moved into the encampment area before dawn, as they pushed through some demonstrators who tried to stop them from advancing without success. Police started tearing down the encampments once reaching them.

Officers appeared to take "dozens" of protesters into custody as they swept through the UCLA encampment, CNN and NBC News reported. Some were restrained with zip ties as officers pushed through the campus.

UCLA Associate Professor Graeme Blair told CNN he expected that faculty members who were on supporting the protests were "all expecting to get arrested."

"The University of California Los Angeles has declared the encampment and all unauthorized tents and structures in Dickson Plaza to be unlawful," a university alert said before police started to enter the encampments.

"The university requires that everyone must leave the encampment and adjacent areas, as well as all unauthorized structures and tents immediately, until further notice."

The action is part of increased law enforcement action against pro-Palestine protesters on campuses around the country as demonstrators called on university officials to divest funds from Israel because of the ongoing Gaza War and its effect on Palestinians.

More than 40 colleges and universities have seen pro-Palestinian protests, while an increasing number of administrations chose to use police force to end the demonstrations along with the threat of suspensions and expulsions for participating students.
Editor's note: This is a developing story and is being updated.

Russian troops attacked the town of Derhachi in Kharkiv Oblast on May 2, injuring at least eight people, including seven children, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said.

Settlements in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv Oblast suffer from daily Russian attacks due to their proximity to the front line and the border with Russia.

Civilian infrastructure came under Russian attack, Syniehubov said. Russia dropped two UMPB D-30SN glide bombs, targeting the area near the sports complex and residential houses, according to the Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutor's Office base on preliminary information.

Seven children between the ages of nine and 15 (six boys and a girl) and a 76-year-old man, are among the injured, according to prosecutors. Another eight-year-old boy reportedly suffered from shock.

"Two children suffered light injuries to their limbs, and four sustained moderate injuries. All the victims were hospitalized," the governor reported.

Derhachi is located 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) northwest of Kharkiv's city center and about 45 kilometers (28 miles) south of the Russian border.

Russia has recently intensified its attacks against Ukraine's second-largest city, dealing multiple casualties and severe damage to Kharkiv's energy infrastructure.

Read also: Sumy Oblast fortifies amid looming threat of Kharkiv attack

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET)  Bakersfield firefighters will be opening up their doors to the community this weekend.

On May 4th, an Open House is set for Bakersfield Fire Department Station 1, according to Battalion Chief Tim Ortiz. Families are invited out from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., for fun activities for the kids and some firefighter demonstrations as well. Station 1 is located in downtown Bakersfield, at 2101 H Street.

Jury finds Greyhound bus shooter sane

Snacks and refreshments will be provided for visitors.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced that the first Peace Summit will be held on June 15-16 in Switzerland. Heads of states and governments from different continents are invited and expected to participate.

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The head of state announced this on the social network X (formerly known as Twitter). The organization of the Global Peace Summit is to be the culmination of work on the Zelenskyy Peace Formula.

"According to our agreements with Swiss President Viola Amherd, the first Peace Summit will be held on June 15-16 in Burgenstock, near the city of Lucerne in Switzerland," the president said.

According to the Head of State, the Summit will become a forum for discussing ways to achieve a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace for Ukraine in accordance with the UN Charter and international law. All states invited to the summit have confirmed their commitment to these principles.

"I am confident that every peace-loving country is interested in participating in the summit because it is important not only for Ukraine. It is about the global role of each country, as well as genuine respect for international law and peaceful coexistence around the world.

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These common rules, enshrined in the UN Charter, protect all countries from attack and violence. So, it is our common global responsibility to protect them with real actions, not just words. This is what we will discuss at the first Peace Summit in Switzerland," the President added.

Earlier, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba reminded that Ukraine is not going to sit down at the negotiating table to find ways to end the war. According to him, there is no point in talking to an aggressor country that does not share our views on peace.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia is trying to disrupt the Peace Summit. According to him, the aggressor has a specific plan aimed at reducing the number of participating countries and generally postponing the event.

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Only verified information on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee readiness panel called for increased privatization of military barracks during a hearing Tuesday on fiscal year 2025 budget requests from the military services.

Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., also asked the vice chiefs of staff whether the services budget requests would be enough to address a backlog of issues in barracks  and how the barracks figured into their unfunded priority list for the next fiscal year.

My understanding is you have not submitted anything in your unfunded priority list for barracks, Waltz said. So, that leads me and the committee to assume  correct me if Im wrong, please, on the record  that you have all the funding you need to fix this problem. Is that correct?

Waltzs questioning comes as military branches face decades-long scrutiny over the state of military housing  and its impact on recruitment and retention. A Government Accountability Office report in September 2023 found that all 10 installations visited had widespread issues with mold, in addition to heating and air condition systems.

On Feb. 7, the Marine Corps ordered a wall-to-wall inspection of living conditions in barracks. That same day, a Pentagon official testified before the readiness panel that no one had been fired for barracks issues. In response, Waltz suggested that was part of the problem, calling the situation unacceptable.

What the [unfunded priority list] does is accelerates our bid in barracks 2030, said Gen. Christopher Mahoney, the assistant commandant of the Marine Corps. The service requested $642.5 million in its unfunded priority list for barrack renovations, he added.

Following Mahoneys explanation, Waltz questioned whether training service members on issues related to barracks was the best use of their time.

I encourage every one of you that Ive sat down with to look at privatization, Waltz said. I want Marines focused on bullets on bad guys, not managing HVAC systems. Thats something that we as a force must take a much harder look at. ... I think you have a lot of bipartisan support.

The other branches of the military had varying needs as well.

The Army put two barracks projects in its unfunded priority list, the first costing roughly $47.7 million and the second $57.6 million. The Army will spend $2.1 billion over the next few years to address barracks issues, Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James Mingus said.

Mingus added that 80% of Army barracks meet the basic minimum standards for the service. The Army will focus on salvaging those buildings that can be brought up to minimum standards, while tearing down and rebuilding others, he added.

I want to emphasize that the Army is fully committed to our barracks sustainment at 100%, Mingus said in his opening remarks to the committee. And we are also exploring the option of privatizing barracks, starting with Fort Irwin and other installations where it makes sense to do so.

Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. James Kilby said the service requested $206 million for barracks in its unfunded priority list, and plans to spend $1.2 billion across 55 projects for fiscal year 2025.

More than 99% of the Air Forces unaccompanied housing meet or exceed standards, Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James Slife told Waltz. Space Force Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. Michael Guetlein said the service renovates one of its 28 dorms each year, and 81% of dorms are currently satisfactory. That, however, is below the services goal of getting to 85%.

We are funded at 81, wed like to get to 85, Guetlein said.

How about we get to 100? Waltz responded.
Battle of Chasiv Yar begins: On the ground with Ukrainian forces defending city key to Russias plans

Editors note: In accordance with the security protocols of the Ukrainian military, soldiers featured in this story are identified by first names and callsigns only.

CHASIV YAR, DONETSK OBLAST  As he creeps between rubble-strewn garages near the central square of Chasiv Yar, the eyes and ears of the reconnaissance commander are glued squarely to the overcast midday sky.

From the east, the unmistakable sounds of heavy fighting roll in without pause: not just artillery fire, but a full orchestra of machine gun and rifle bursts, anti-air cannons, and the occasional Russian airstrike.

Most of that, though, is unfolding at a distance,  around two and a half kilometers away to be precise  where Russian forces pound the residential neighborhood on the edge of the city.

What bothers the commander, 41-year-old Andrii Yankee, more are not the sounds of explosions but of propellers; those belonging to the hundreds of drones, enemy and friendly, constantly surveying the battlefield.

I cant take you any further, he says, pointing to a five-story building just 30 meters away.

Even two days ago you could walk pretty freely between these buildings here. Now it's just a matter of time before they mark us (on the map) and start hitting us with whatever they want, they are really f***ing generous when it comes to that.

With just five kilometers of open ground separating Chasiv Yar and Bakhmut, which Russia took in May last year after 10 months of heavy fighting, the city was always seen to be Moscows next target in the sector.

A destroyed five-story building in Chasiv Yar, Donetsk Oblast, on April 26, 2024. (Francis Farrell/The Kyiv Independent)

Two years ago, it was here in Donetsk Oblast that Moscow, having failed to take Kyiv by storm, embarked on its new strategy: to grind the Ukrainian military down through a sheer advantage in soldiers and firepower.

The strategy has stayed the same, and now, it is beginning to pay off: depleted in numbers by the endless positional fighting, overstretched Ukrainian units are beginning to lose ground.

Over March and April, after being held just outside the ruins of Bakhmut for the better part of a year, Russian forces made a string of gains through fields and forests, bringing them up against the first streets of Chasiv Yar.

Kyiv has claimed that over 20,000 Russian troops have been gathered for the offensive on the city, while President Volodymyr Zelensky has suggested that Moscows forces have been ordered to take it by Victory Day on May 9.

Technicalities aside, the battle of Chasiv Yar has undoubtedly begun, and the stakes could hardly be higher.

The city is rightly seen as the gateway to the agglomeration of four cities, from Kostiantynivka in the south through Druzhkivka, Kramatorsk, and Sloviansk to the north, which form the backbone of Ukraines defense of Donetsk Oblast.

On the map, making a defensive stand in Chasiv Yar  located on relative high ground and with a natural defensive barrier in the form of a canal  should be a good fight to take for Kyiv.

Map of Chasiv Yar and surrounds as of May 1st, 2024. (Francis Farrell / The Kyiv Independent)

Much-needed artillery ammunition, on its way to Ukraine as part of the long-awaited $61 billion U.S. military aid funding package signed by President Joe Biden on April 24, is also poised to lift the defenders battlefield fortunes after months of worsening shell hunger.

But with many Ukrainian brigades badly attritted by long periods on the front line without rotation, and the delayed preparation of fortified defensive lines in Donetsk Oblast, it remains unclear how capable Kyivs forces are of mounting a solid defense, even in more favorable conditions.

Russia has only upped the pace of its attacks, looking to exploit what could be a temporary period of enemy weakness to maximize territorial gains and finding success in a dramatic breach of Ukrainian lines further south near Avdiivka.

To understand what could be a critical pressure test for the Ukrainian military and a sign of how the war will likely develop over the summer, the Kyiv Independent gained rare access to units serving both on the flanks of Chasiv Yar and inside the city itself.

Of course we feel an escalation from the Russian side, but we are holding, said Yankee upon returning to proper cover.

They are trying to break us, now we need to break them.

Under cover of spring

North of Chasiv Yar, open fields give way to undulating forest, where at the traditional dawn hour, Ukrainian soldiers are changing shifts.

Under a lush canopy of spring foliage, six figures in pixel camouflage walk in single file along a makeshift forest track.

Each of them carries a crucial component of kit typical to Ukrainian front-line positions: petrol for the generator, a pair of quadcopter drones, a crate full of 3D-printed bombs, and a slab of energy drinks.

Equipment used by a Ukrainian drone team at positions north of Chasiv Yar, Donetsk Oblast, on April 24, 2024. (Francis Farrell/The Kyiv Independent)

As the men reach their positions and begin setting up their equipment, the sounds of the battle of Chasiv Yar ring out from the right of the units sector.

These positions are manned by a reconnaissance team of Ukraines 56th Motorized Infantry Brigade, which has fought on the northern flank of the Bakhmut sector for over a year now.

Once performing the tasks of a traditional on-the-ground reconnaissance squad, their work is all done with drones now.

One team uses a Chinese commercial drone to maintain a constant vision of the zero line in the destroyed village of Bohdanivka, while another carries out bombing missions on Russian forces with an FPV (first-person-view) drone.

Usually associated with one-way kamikaze missions against enemy equipment and personnel, FPV drones can be also used to drop grenades and other custom-made munitions, allowing one drone to be used many more times.

Throughout the day, 28-year-old bomber pilot Andrii Inspector flies out from the dugout to peer over at the villages debris-strewn streets in search of a target.

For now, the Russian troops are sticking to their basements, so the pilot has been tasked with demolishing them, one grenade at a time.

Periodically, the sound of other drones above their positions makes everyone crane their necks to the sky.

Sometimes you have so many drones in the air, said Inspector, so many people wanting to work all at the same time that our guys end up interfering with each other's video feed.

Ukrainian drone pilot Andrii Inspector at positions north of Chasiv Yar, Donetsk Oblast, on April 24, 2024. (Francis Farrell/The Kyiv Independent)

Off to the side, a lone hooded figure stands on the forests edge, flying yet another drone.

Softly-spoken 26-year-old Petro Fanat has been in the drone game longer than most, having flown fixed-wing UAVs on the front line in Donbas before the full-scale invasion.

From his vantage point in the air, Fanat has a front-row seat to watch Russian infantry assault tactics, by now famed for their lack of regard for human life.

They follow a simple rule: if you managed to make it to the positions, dug in, and survived, good job, he said. The rest, the dead and the wounded, might be picked up at some point later but there is no guarantee.

Just a few days ago in Bohdanivka they had a few wounded left behind during an assault. Nobody came to help them, and eventually they were all finished off.

Often given the crude label of human wave or meat attack, Russian assault tactics, using expendable infantry groups to swarm enemy positions and quickly entrench themselves, have nonetheless proved effective in exhausting Ukrainian defenders, as was the case in Bakhmut earlier in 2023.

This use of units that go up and dig as close to the Ukrainian units as possible and then have assault units use them; Wagner was doing that last year, said Rob Lee, Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy Research Institutes Eurasia program, to the Kyiv Independent.

A Ukrainian drone team sets up a drone for dropping munitions at positions north of Chasiv Yar, Donetsk Oblast, on April 24, 2024. (Francis Farrell/The Kyiv Independent)

It could very well be a tactic that the Russian military is adapting from them.

Making full use of the arrival of spring and Ukraines ammunition shortage, Russian troops have, according to open-source data as of May 1, advanced through the forest to the Donets-Donbas canal, aiming for a short section where the waterway goes underground.

People need to understand that it is ordinary people, not super soldiers but ordinary mobilized people defending these trenches, said Fanat.

The enemy doesn't care, if they have 10 killed in action from an assault group, no problem, the next 10 will be there in an hour, so of course, eventually we can lose positions because of this.

Night shift

As dusk reaches a quiet residential street at an undisclosed location further back from the front line, medics of the 5th Assault Brigade wait for peak hour to begin.

When the enemy goes on the attack, we can often even predict how much work we are likely to have, said 43-year-old Dmytro Urakov, in charge of the team of military doctors and volunteer medics that man this stabilization point.

It isnt long before the evenings work begins.

Tied to a stretcher, a young soldier is brought in with a spinal injury, after his pickup truck crashed when hit by an FPV drone.

Ukrainian military medic Dmytro Urakov at a stabilization point near Chasiv Yar, Donetsk Oblast, on April 25, 2024. (Francis Farrell/The Kyiv Independent)

Swarmed by the well-oiled team of medics, within 10 minutes, the soldier lies wrapped in the gold foil of a space blanket, ready for his transfer.

Leaning over, 31-year-old volunteer medic Anastasiia Chubachenko calms down the patient with a personal brand of small talk.

Get ready for a little road trip, a special tour called Donbas is a beautiful region, she said.

Finish me off, replied the wounded soldier, groaning.

Sorry, I cant do that, it costs extra.

I think I am allergic to Chasiv Yar.

Then its a good thing you are no longer there.

By midnight, five patients had come through the stabilization point, all evacuated from Chasiv Yar, and all carrying light wounds from FPV drone strikes.

According to Urakov, although the injuries are on average lighter than those from artillery fire, over 90% of wounded treated here in recent weeks had been from FPV drones and drone-dropped bombs.

Ukrainian medical volunteer Anastasiia Chubachenko at a stabilization point near Chasiv Yar, Donetsk Oblast, on April 25, 2024. (Francis Farrell/The Kyiv Independent)

Ukrainian military medics tend to a wounded soldier at a stabilization point near Chasiv Yar, Donetsk Oblast, on April 25, 2024. (Francis Farrell/The Kyiv Independent)

One patient, high on adrenaline and pleading to be allowed to drive to the hospital in his own vehicle, was there for the second time within a week.

Everyone here will tell you that the situation with the wounded has changed dramatically when you compare what it was like a year ago with what we have now, said Urakov.

Ninety percent of the wounded that come through here are targeted either by FPV or by drone-dropped munitions.

Not only has the saturation of the front with drones changed the nature of wounds suffered, but, more critically, it has made evacuating wounded from zero-line positions exponentially more difficult and dangerous.

You used to be able to evacuate the wounded at night time on vehicles, said Urakov, but now they have plenty of drones with night vision often it is up to the combat medics or infantry to drag them out on foot.



Pushed to the limit

With the old roads now too dangerous to traverse, traffic into the embattled city center of Chasiv Yar flows along wide dirt highways criss-crossing the fields to the west of the city.



The U.S.-built HMMWV (Humvee), of which Ukraine operates hundreds, makes light work of the terrain.

In this phase of the war, dominated by the sightlines and ranges of FPV drones, riding in an armored car is not enough to guarantee safety; most vehicles, especially high-value targets like the Humvee, are all fitted with electronic warfare kits.

A Ukrainian soldier driving a U.S.-built HMMWV armored vehicle into Chasiv Yar, Donetsk Oblast, on April 26, 2024. (Francis Farrell/The Kyiv Independent)

According to Yankee, while the brigade was losing soft-skin vehicles earlier at a rate of about one per day, by now the number was around four.

Along the way, a quick visit is made to soldiers who had just returned from eight days spent on zero-line positions.

In a cramped basement, 37-year-old infantryman Andrii Burzhui looks forward with an intense gaze, appearing somehow both focused and lost at the same time.

The last shift was tough, there is nothing easy about it, he said.

When we arrived, they started shelling us instantly, the entrance to the dugout was hit, there were FPVs, grenade drops, and artillery working constantly.

Burzhui, along with Yankee, fights in the ranks of Ukraines 41st Mechanized Brigade, alongside other assorted units to hold the urban area of Chasiv Yar itself.

The situation is tense; Yankee noted, it's worth taking into account that our guys are on edge, our commanders too.

Ukrainian infantryman Andrii Burzhui in a basement near Chasiv Yar, Donetsk Oblast, on April 26, 2023. (Francis Farrell/The Kyiv Independent)

Speaking to the Kyiv Independent, experts and soldiers alike identify manpower as the core problem at the heart of Ukraines military at this stage of the war: overstretched and undermanned units, with infantry often fighting for so long without rotation that their combat effectiveness begins to drop.

Despite the circumstances, Ukraines defense of Chasiv Yar remains stable, with little to no confirmed territorial gains in the area outside the city over the last 10 days.

The same cannot be said further south, where a botched rotation around the town Ocheretyne, northwest of occupied Avdiivka, has resulted in a growing bulge in the front line that Ukraine, lacking effective and readily available reserve forces, has so far been unable to contain.

Unfortunately, according to Lee, in conditions of limited manpower, losses in one sector will often compromise the defense of another.

The road into Chasiv Yar, Donetsk Oblast, on April 26, 2024. (Francis Farrell/The Kyiv Independent)

When Ukraine has to fight off advances in a number of places at once but doesn't have sufficient manpower to do so, it makes it more difficult for them to deploy reserves to hold one given area, he said.

Whenever Russia is able to advance in one direction, it puts strain elsewhere because often Ukraine has to defend places with fewer units.

With three different Russian reconnaissance drones flying overhead, the visit to Chasiv Yar is cut short as the area begins to be targeted by regular howitzer fire.

We want peace of course, people are tired, they want to go back to their families, to normal life, said Yankee, chuckling at the phrase normal life right as a whistling shell lands nearby.

But it is simple logic, if we don't stop them here they will keep going forward.

Editors Note: The Kyiv Independent is grateful to our members and donors. This story wouldnt have been possible without a donation from The Charles Douglas-Home Memorial Trust.

Watch the video version of this story here:

Note from the author:

Hi, this is Francis Farrell, cheers for reading this article. I hope that news about Russia making gains across the front line hasn't come as a surprise to you. Thanks to a mixture of drones and military bureaucracy in equal measure, getting access to the hottest parts of the front line is increasingly difficult, but we are dedicated to continue being Ukraine's voice to the world, no matter how dangerous and dark this war gets. Please consider supporting our reporting.

Read also: One night with Ukrainian drone hunters near Russia

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
By Clark Mindock

(Reuters) -A Washington state appeals court overturned on Wednesday a $185 million verdict against Bayer's Monsanto unit over chemical contamination at a Seattle-area school, marking the second big legal win for the company in as many weeks.

Monsanto spinoff Pharmacia, which sold now-banned chemicals called polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), was found liable in 2021. Three teachers claimed they suffered brain damage from PCBs that leaked from light fixtures at the Sky Valley Education Center (SVEC) in Monroe, Washington.

On Wednesday, the state Court of Appeals agreed with Bayer that the lower court improperly applied the laws of Missouri, where Monsanto is based, which allowed the claims to be filed decades after the company stopped producing PCBs in 1977.

The U.S. government outlawed the chemicals in 1979 after discovering links to cancer.

U.S. litigation over PCBs, and more importantly over an alleged cancer-causing effect of weedkiller glyphosate, have weighed heavily on Bayer's shares.

The stock was up 4.5% at 0706 GMT, reaching a four-week high.

Bayer argued Washington law limits liability if exposure occurs outside a product's useful lifespan, which generally means 12 years.

The case will go back to the lower court to determine whether a new trial is warranted. Plaintiffs' attorney Richard Friedman said in a statement they will retry the case if necessary but hope the state Supreme Court "simply reinstates the verdict" on appeal.

Bayer faces about 200 similar claims from the school, where people allege PCBs caused cancer, thyroid conditions and other health problems.

Bayer said the ruling was very significant because the appeals court identified multiple errors.

"The company will consider its legal options regarding the application of this ruling to other SVEC verdicts that are in conflict with it, as well as how this ruling could affect future trials," said a spokesperson.

Juries in some of those cases have awarded more than $1.7 billion in compensatory and punitive damages. But another Washington judge nearly halved an $857 million verdict against the company last week in a small group of those claims.

The company has denied responsibility for the alleged harms and says the school failed to heed repeated warnings to replace the lights. It is appealing the verdicts.

Monsanto said Wednesday's ruling, which also found the lower court wrongfully allowed punitive damages on some claims and erroneously allowed certain expert testimony, is "significant," and many or all of the other trials from the school may have had the same errors. The company said it will evaluate how to proceed in those cases and others yet to be tried.

Story continues

PCBs were once widely used to insulate electrical equipment and found in other common products like caulking and paint.

(Reporting by Clark Mindock, additional reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi, Cynthia Osterman and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
BCSO Baby Boom: 15 Kentucky deputies welcome new babies in last year

BOONE COUNTY, Ky. (WDKY)  Facebook followers have speculated that there must be something in the water at the Boone County Sheriffs Office in Kentucky.

On Tuesday, the BCSO shared a group photo on Facebook with a caption reading, Were growing in more than one way, and they werent talking about their newest recruits: A total of 15 BCSO deputies welcomed new babies in the last year  a remarkable occurrence that the sheriffs office is calling the BCSO Baby Boom.

Babies named Johnny Cash and June Carter born at same hospital, same day

What have yall been drinking? one commenter joked.

Id love to know the statistical probability of this! Pretty astronomical, Id imagine, another Facebook comment read.

The Boone County Sheriffs Office shared an image of their deputies with their young children, calling it the BCSO Baby Boom. (Boone County Sheriffs Office)

The Boone County community couldnt get enough.

This is the cutest thing Ive ever seen, wrote one social-media user.

Locals on Facebook were largely supportive of the group. The picture, some said, illustrated 15 more reasons those deputies can look forward to coming home safely at the end of the day.

What a crop of junior deputies for the future, another commenter said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
Beer distributor in Allentown robbed at gunpoint

A beer distributor in Allentown was robbed at gunpoint Wednesday.

Pittsburgh police said the robbery happened just after 9 p.m. in the 800 block of East Warrington Avenue.

An employee told responding officers that two male suspects entered the store, brandished firearms and robbed them at gunpoint.

The suspects got away with a large amount of cash before they ran from the scene, police said.

Detectives are processing evidence, including business and city camera footage.

The investigation is ongoing.

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Studies of melon-based communication have so far been limited to belugas in captivity. The animals may behave differently in the wild.

Animals have evolved all sorts of weird and wonderful methods of communicationeverything from mantis shrimp bouncing pulses of polarized light to one another to birds-of-paradise gallivanting around the jungle to demonstrate their virility. Even so, there may well only be one animal that can claim to have a highly developed variety of expression that's communicated entirely via a blob of fat on its forehead. Step forwardor, perhaps, swim forwardthe beluga.

Like all other toothed whales, these little Arctic-dwelling cetaceans have an organ on their foreheads that's referred to as the melon. The melon has long been a source of fascination to scientists, who've proposed a variety of outlandish theories over the years to explain its presence. (The consensus today is that it's used for sound generation and to assist in echolocation .)

In the beluga, however, the melon also seems to have another use. Belugas' melons are strikingly large and, uniquely, they are also malleable, because belugas have facial muscles that can pull and push on the melon. Doing this essentially allows the animal to change the shape of its head. But why do belugas do this?

As ScienceNews reports , a March Animal Cognition study of four captive belugas in a Connecticut aquarium set out to categorize the different shapes the melon can take, and then trying to deduce those shapes' meanings. The study's authors analyzed a year's worth of video footage of the belugas, and then compared their findings to observations of another, larger population of 51 belugas at an aquarium in Canada.

They found that while the melon can take any number of subtly different shapes, these all fall into five distinct categoriesand they suggest that these shapes essentially constitute a form of visual communication unique to belugas.

A trained beluga demonstrating the ability to voluntarily change the shape of the melon from the relaxed position ( a ), to extended rostrally ( b ) and retracted posteriorly ( c ). Credit: Richard, Pellegrini, Levine.

It is commonly known that the motivation behind many of a given animal's actions come down to feeding and/or mating. And unsurprisingly, at least two of the melon shapes seem related to the latteror as the study authors put it, they are "primarily performed by males toward a female recipient in conjunction with courtship behavior." (These shapes also occur during what the authors call "male-male sociosexual play," a behavior that occurs in various cetaceans. One study of killer whales describes it as "young males ... practic[ing] courtship behaviors by engaging in sociosexual play with other males"; in this context sociosexual refers to behavior that is sexual but does not involve conception .) The three remaining shapes are harder to parse, although one common thread is that all are carried out more often by males: "Males performed shapes more than three times as frequently... as females."

There are important caveats here: studies of melon-based communication have so far been limited to belugas in captivity, and it's certainly not out of the question that an intelligent, highly sociable animal might communicate differently in an aquarium than in the wild. The study also suggests that more research is needed into the interaction between the melon's echolocatory and visual functions, not least because the video footage used for analysis lacked audio: "[Shapes] could serve both functions, [and] the lack of acoustic recordings during this study precludes these determinations... Simultaneous acoustic recordings and video observations in all lighting conditions are needed to resolve this question for the function of beluga melon shapes."

Nevertheless, the study goes some way toward explaining one of the animal kingdom's most unusual behaviors.
FILE PHOTO: Protests continue at a protest encampment in support of Palestinians at University of California, Berkeley

FILE PHOTO: Protests continue at a protest encampment in support of Palestinians at University of California, Berkeley

By Andrew Hay

(Reuters) - At Columbia University, tensions between the administration and students protesting over Israel's war in Gaza have reached the point that scores of New York City police marched onto campus to clear an encampment and arrest demonstrators who had commandeered a classroom building.

It was the second time in as many weeks that the administration has called on police to control the protests. Students have been suspended, and threatened with expulsion. Police are now stationed around-the-clock on campus.

Nearly three thousand miles away at the University of California, Berkeley, the scene has been far different. Student demonstrations have so far taken place without arrests or disruption of campus operations.

The contrast in how protests have played out at the two prestigious institutions - both with long histories of student activism - illustrates the range of factors at play in how school administrations, students and the police navigate what can quickly turn into a full-blown crisis.

South of Berkeley at UCLA, part of the same university system, police on Thursday morning flattened a pro-Palestinian camp, a day after it was attacked by pro-Israel counter protesters. Authorities at the Los Angeles school had declared the encampment an unlawful assembly.

Similar crackdowns have occurred at colleges across the country, from Arizona State to Virginia Tech and Ohio State to Yale. Police have arrested around 2,000 campus protesters to date.

Still, some universities - including Berkeley, Northwestern and Brown - have managed to avoid confrontations between the police and students.

Education experts say these cases offer lessons in keeping tensions from boiling over, a key one being a university's experience with balancing student activism against pressure from donors, interest groups and politicians.

Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ has allowed students to maintain a protest space on campus since they began erecting tents April 22 on the steps of Sproul Hall, where Martin Luther King gave a 1967 civil rights speech. Dan Mogulof, a spokesman for the university, said that remained the case Thursday, despite a scuffle Wednesday evening between the co-founder of a Zionist activist group and a pro-Palestinian protester. It was the first violence after days of peaceful assembly.

"We are urging everyone to avoid engaging in pointless provocation and physical conflict," Mogulof said, adding that Christ was in talks with encampment leaders after the Wednesday incident led to three minor injuries. He said the school would respond to violence in line with University of California policy.

That guidance tells administrators to avoid police involvement unless it's absolutely necessary and the physical safety of students, faculty and staff is threatened. That policy is rare, with most universities having some kind of regulation that prohibits permanent encampments or outlaws overnight student activities on campus.

The University of California system has seen in the past where police involvement can lead.

In a 2011 Berkeley protest during the Occupy movement against economic inequalities, campus police clubbed and jabbed students with batons. Then-Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau later apologized, and the UC system shifted to the policy of restraint Berkeley spokesman Mogulof described.

Amid current protests, administrators across the country are seeking to ease tensions with talk. In Illinois, Northwestern University reached a deal with protesters to remove tents and sound systems in return for a new advisory committee on investments, a key policy for students who object to their school's financial ties to companies that back Israel's government.

Protesters at Brown University in Rhode Island also agreed to take down their encampment in return for a vote by the college's corporation on whether to divest funds from companies tied to Israel's military attacks on Gaza.

Still, some deals have failed to resolve tensions. While Portland State University in Oregon agreed to pause donations from Boeing, a company that makes attack helicopters used in Gaza, students there have nonetheless occupied the library, scrawling messages like "END GENOCIDE NOW" on windows.

Other factors at play as institutions navigate balancing free speech and campus security include how students react to daily developments in the Middle East as well as those at other campuses in the United States.

Columbia has often proven to be a beacon for protest movements at other universities. President Minouche Shafik has said the campus has become "intolerable," citing factors ranging from antisemitic language to loud protests going into the night.

"One groups rights to express their views cannot come at the expense of another groups right to speak, teach, and learn," Shafik said in a Monday statement.

Adversaries of pro-Palestinian protesters accuse them of antisemitism, a claim Columbia student protesters and their faculty advocates strongly deny.

Free-speech attorney Zach Greenberg said no matter how hateful or offensive the speech on campuses, it was not a justification for police crackdowns.

"It's always better to counter the speech you dislike with more speech," said Greenberg, a program leader at the college campus rights advocacy group FIRE.

(Reporting By Andrew Hay; editing by Donna Bryson, Michael Perry and Diane Craft)
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.  The Missouri Secretary of States Office has certified a petition that paves the way for a new statewide political party known as the Better Party.

According to Missouri state statutes, a new political party can form in the state if at least 10,000 registered Missouri voters sign a petition in support of it.

Ashcrofts office says he has signed a certificate of sufficiency for the Better Party after a petition met its signature requirements.

McDonalds fundraising after 15-year-old employee beaten by customer

With this certification, candidates can run for statewide office through the Better Party. Its first candidates could appear on ballots for the Nov. 5 general election.

According to an April report from the Springfield News-Leader, the Better Party is an alternative to the Democrat or Republican party.

The report credits Joplin resident and prospective Better Party Missouri U.S. Senate Candidate Jared Young for the push behind a new party. He feels it will give people greater political choice and combat concerns of extremes on both sides of the Democratic and Republican parties.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2.
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that after the first Global Peace Summit to be held in Switzerland on June 15-16, Ukraine may hold talks with the terrorist country of Russia. At the same time, the head of the diplomatic department emphasized that there is no point in bringing Russia to the negotiating table if it cannot be guaranteed that it is acting in good faith.

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At the same time, Kuleba emphasized that Russia can act in good faith during negotiations only under two conditions. The Foreign Minister said this in an interview with Foreign Policy.

The minister said that between 2014 and 2022, about 200 rounds of negotiations with Russia took place in various formats. However, neither bilateral contacts nor negotiations with intermediaries yielded results, and everything ended with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Kuleba also added that the Russian Federation can act in good faith during negotiations only in two cases  when Ukraine is successful on the battlefield or there is a coalition of countries that share the interests and principles of our country.

"There is no point in keeping Russia at the negotiating table if you cannot guarantee that it is acting in good faith. There are only two ways to bring Russia to a situation where it will act in good faith. The first is success on the battlefield, and the second is a coalition of countries that share the same principles and the same approaches. That is why Russia is not expected to participate in the summit," Kuleba said.

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The head of the diplomatic department emphasized that the Global Peace Summit in Switzerland involves the unification of countries that share the principles and approaches on which they will build further actions. Kuleba added that after that, communication with Russia may take place, and the aggressor country will be able to take part in the negotiations.

By the way, Chinese President Xi Jinping has once again stated that the aggressor country Russia should take part in the upcoming peace conference in Switzerland. Beijing's representatives emphasized the need to establish peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.

In particular, Xi Jinping recently said that China encourages and supports all efforts that contribute to a peaceful settlement of the war. Beijing said that it supports the convening of an international peace conference with equal participation of all parties and a fair discussion of all peaceful options.

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As a reminder, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin plans to visit China in May. He intends to give his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping a copy of Nikolai Chernyshevsky's book What to Do.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba reminded that Ukraine is not going to sit down at the negotiating table to find ways to end the war. According to him, there is no point in talking to an aggressor country that does not share our views on peace.

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Late on a Friday evening, Congress recently renewed Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). I get a strange chill up my spine when the House Freedom Caucus and the American Civil Liberties Union find themselves aligned. Yet, there we were.

Renewal of FISA for two more years gives the U.S. intelligence agencies the means to surveil Americans without a warrant. Proponents say that in todays world, FISA is necessary to provide security by intercepting crime before it happens. Opponents argue that FISA is a dangerous encroachment on our Fourth Amendment right against unlawful search and seizure.

Phil Williams

It is part of the slow dribbling away of our privacy rights.

It caused a flashback to a movie called The Truman Show. Filmed just down the road in Seaside, Florida, the movie followed the everyday life of a man named Truman who was unknowingly the centerpiece of a reality show.

Truman lived in a fabricated world, never realizing all of his friends, family and co-workers were cast members. His every moment was contrived. For the outside world, "The Truman Show" was a fixation as people spent countless hours hanging on the everyday events in the life of Truman.

But there was a sadness to the story as it became apparent that every day saw new mind games played on him by the infamous Director Cristo. For audience pleasure, Cristo would stoke fears and stir emotions just to keep Truman in the positions needed for the show. The greater goal was the ratings and the endorsements.

Truman was likeable, but sorrowful. A man who had no say in the events of his life. A man who had absolutely no privacy  a rightful sense that he was watched. Every corner of his life had a hidden camera. If he whispered to his girlfriend, the world knew it. If he dreamed of a vacation, a script was written to convince him couldnt go. If he sang in the shower, read a book or drank a soda, it was all about product placement for the sponsors.

Everyone had an angle. Everyone was a manipulator. Everyone stood to gain from Truman, except Truman. Truman was duped, but not a dupe himself. Suspicions set in as characters were accidentally caught out of character. He began to see through the facade.

In todays world, there is too often a complete loss of anonymity. Criminals can walk past in the grocery store and scan data off a smartphone. Credit cards can be co-opted by holding a device close to your wallet on a crowded subway. Criminals can track your movement by slipping an AirPod in a gym bag.

But we dont expect to see that kind of thing from our government. It starts with simple things like red light cameras -- insidious devices that take a picture of you as you drive by and then send you a demand in the mail months later to pay a fine or risk a warrant. You have no Sixth Amendment right to face your accuser, just a moneymaker for the local municipality.

COVID saw proof of medical vaccination data to eat in a restaurant. It becomes a very slippery slope when we must display our private lives to be allowed to do public things.

Then theres the farming of social media. Its in the public domain, right? Until you realize the governments intent is to deal with your misinformation because it conflicts with the governments narrative.

But one of the hallmarks of a free and open democracy is the ability to converse with our elected officials. We have access because they are truly our representatives in the halls of government  until the surveillance state decides that may be a problem.

In 2022, U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls (RTexas) made known that Capitol Police had illegally entered his office dressed as construction workers. Nehls asserted the copying of legislative papers and grilling of his staff as to certain meetings he had. If true, it would be a heinous violation of the Speech and Debate Clause of Article 1 Section 6 of the Constitution.

The plot thickened when 33 House Republicans sent a letter to former Speaker Nacy Pelosi calling for an investigation into alleged surveillance abuses by the Capitol Police. The letter raised concerns the Capitol Police were surveilling members of Congress, congressional staff and their Capitol visitors.

Some would claim that this level of police state action is necessary in the name of security. After all, insurrection is still a buzzword for many in the Capitol. "We must be safe. We must know your business. Privacy be danged, the greater good demands it."

What it also does is put a chilling effect on the ability of members of Congress to hold meetings with concerned constituents, business interests, or for that matter to just grill out with friends when theyre home from D.C. Without probable cause, no member of Congress or their various constituencies should expect to be surveilled.

Ill add fuel to the fire by pointing out that Nehls is also a staunch Trump supporter who wore a T-shirt with Trumps mugshot on it to Bidens most recent State of the Union address. Immediately thereafter, a report was filed against him, causing a House ethics investigation of his campaign finances. Nothing to see here. Move along, please.

We deserve better than this. Citizens of this great nation deserve to know that their rights to speak freely, confront their accusers, remain free from unlawful search and seizure, or meet with duly elected officials will be preserved. Ben Franklin famously said, Those who give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.

If we continue down this path, we will become a society of Trumans with the government serving as Director Cristo.

Keep your eyes open and smile for the camera, y,all.

Phil Williams is a former state senator from District 10 (which includes Etowah County), retired Army colonel and combat veteran, and a practicing attorney. He previously served with the leadership of the Alabama Policy Institute in Birmingham. He currently hosts the conservative news/talk show Rightside Radio on multiple channels throughout north Alabama. The opinions expressed are his own.

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Are we playing a part in our own 'Truman Show'? | PHIL WILLIAMS
A new Biden-Harris campaign ad highlights what the future could hold for women and people with the capacity for pregnancy if Donald Trump wins the presidency in November.

The one-minute ad centers on Trumps recent comments that he wants to leave abortion rights to the states, and hes fine with those states monitoring pregnant women so they dont get abortions. The ad features Dr. Austin Dennard, an OB-GYN from Texas, who was forced to leave the state to get abortion care after she was given a fatal fetal diagnosis.

If Donald Trump is elected, that is the end of a womans right to choose, Dennard tells the camera. There will be no place to turn. We could lose our rights in every state, even the ones where abortion is currently legal. And that means every woman in every state is at risk.

The seven-figure ad buy will run on the two-year anniversary of the leaked draft decision that revealed the Supreme Court was poised to overturn Roe v. Wade. The ad will run in battleground states across the country, according to the Biden-Harris campaign.

Over the last two years, weve seen a health care crisis unfold for women because of what Donald Trump did as president. If hes reelected, hell make things even worse, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, the Biden-Harris campaign manager, said in a statement.

Hes saying he approves of states surveilling, monitoring, prosecuting, and punishing women for receiving reproductive care, she said. Our campaign will continue to relentlessly remind voters every single day about the very real and horrifying stakes for women this November if Trump has his way.

The presidents campaign for reelection has centered abortion, with Biden promising to restore federal abortion protections if he stays in the White House. Vice President Kamala Harris is still on her Fight for Reproductive Freedoms campaign tour, and recently spoke in Florida after the states six-week abortion ban went into effect on Wednesday. Last month, Harris was in Arizona after the state Supreme Court ruled that an 1864 near-total abortion ban can take effect.

Biden criticized Trumps comments around prosecuting women seeking abortion care in a video posted to Twitter on Wednesday. There seems to be no limit to how invasive Trump would let the state be, Biden says. This should be a decision between a woman and her doctor, and the government should get out of peoples lives.

Related...
The Biden administration said Wednesday that it will give more than $26.9 million in grants in support of clean energy projects across the country.

Energy efficient upgrades are a surefire way to bring down costs and shore up resiliency for communities across the nation, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a press release from her department.

President Bidens Investing in America agenda is equipping local governments with funds to transform clean energy plans into real actions that deliver benefits in every corner of the country, Granholm continued.

The grants, which will go to nine states, 27 local governments and one tribe, come by way of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program (EECBG), according to the press release. Funds from the program assist state, local and tribal governments to put in place plans with a goal of lowering fossil fuel emissions and energy use, per a notice of intent shared with The Hill.

The awards announced this month include governments that will use EECBG Program funds to install [electric vehicle] charging infrastructure, develop e-bike incentive programs, conduct municipal building energy audits, provide efficiency retrofits and upgrades for low-income communities, and more, the press release reads.

Back in February, the Biden administration announced more than $350 million for rural renewable energy projects. The $366 million would be allocated to more than 17 projects in 20 states and 30 tribal nations, per Granholm.

These projects showcase rural and remote communities [and] innovative approaches to clean energy deployment. They span technologies, they are replicable, theyre scalable, and they include everything from building micro grids for community health centers so they never lose power for lifesaving equipment, medical equipment, to constructing a new hydroelectric facility on tribal lands thatll offset the need for expensive diesel fuel, Granholm said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
David Burr demonstrates removing leaves on marijuana plants to allow more light for growth at Essence Vegas 54,000-square-foot marijuana cultivation facility on July 6, 2017, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Ethan Miller | Getty Images)

The Biden administration plans to remove marijuana from a list of the most dangerous and highly regulated drugs, the Department of Justice said Tuesday.

The Drug Enforcement Administration will propose moving the drug from a Schedule I substance, which also includes heroin and methamphetamine, to Schedule III, which is the category for regulated-but-legal drugs including testosterone and Tylenol with codeine.

Today, the Attorney General circulated a proposal to reclassify marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III, DOJ spokesperson Xochitl Hinojosa said in a statement to States Newsroom. Once published by the Federal Register, it will initiate a formal rulemaking process as prescribed by Congress in the Controlled Substances Act.

The reclassification would not have transformative effects in New Hampshire, experts say. Recreational cannabis is still illegal in the Granite State, though since 2017, people have been allowed to possess up to three-quarters of an ounce at a time without the threat of jail time.

But the reclassification will help the states therapeutic cannabis scene  particularly when it comes to accessing federal tax breaks.

If you view cannabis reform as an irresistible force and the DEA is the immovable object, this is the first movement ever, said Matt Simon, director of public and government relations for GraniteLeaf Cannabis, which is based in Chichester and Merrimack. This was the first theyve ever budged.

In terms of practical impacts: important but limited, he added.

Cannabis has been listed as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act since 1971, even as many states have moved to legalize recreational use for more than a decade and medicinal use for even longer.

State-legal marijuana businesses make up a multibillion-dollar industry, but the illegal status of the drug under federal law creates barriers unseen by other industries, including a lack of access to banking and the inability to deduct business expenses from taxes.

Social justice advocates have also noted that prosecutions for marijuana-related crimes have hurt communities of color. Many of those convicted for offenses related to marijuana have not benefited from the recent decriminalization in many states.

Moving cannabis to Schedule III would allow a more permissive approach to the drug, including permitting greater study of medicinal uses and allowing related businesses to use a common tax deduction.

Representatives in New Hampshires therapeutic cannabis industry say the rescheduling could ease longstanding financial struggles.

Currently, there are three nonprofits operating seven different alternative treatment centers  facilities where people with medical marijuana identification cards may purchase cannabis products to help their condition.

While those nonprofits operate legally under state law, they have faced difficulties under federal tax law due to the scheduling of cannabis, according to Simon. Because marijuana has been placed in the strictest enforcement category  Schedule I  organizations that sell it are barred from certain federal tax deductions. Section 280E of the Internal Revenue Code prohibits any business from deducting business expenses related to the sale of Schedule I or II substances.

Due to the current set-up, alternative treatment centers in New Hampshire face a two-pronged problem, Simon said. First, even though they must operate as nonprofit organizations under New Hampshire state law, they are treated as businesses under federal law, meaning they do not get the tax protections they would if they were recognized under Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3).

Second, even when they do attempt to act as for-profit businesses in the eyes of federal tax law, they are barred by Section 280E from deducting the same expenses available to other for-profit businesses. They are allowed to deduct the production costs to make cannabis products  known as the cost of goods sold. But they may not do the same for any expenses on the retail end, including for any personnel costs or facility upgrades.

Now, were not even a nonprofit at the federal level and on top of that, were being penalized for the cannabis side of things by being taxed more than any other for-profit business that exists, said Brandon Pollock, vice president of Temescal Wellness Inc, which operates dispensaries in Dover, Lebanon, and Keene.

The result is that alternative treatment centers are forced to set higher prices to account for the additional federal taxes, Pollock says.

The Biden administrations planned move will not solve all of those tax headaches; it will not allow the ATCs to register as 501(c)(3)s, for instance. But it will remove the limitations set by Section 280E, allowing for them to use the tax deductions.

Thatll allow ATCs and cannabis organizations across the country to have better access to funding as well as (to) reduce the tax burden, which will help sort of the financial side of the industry, Pollock said.

It means that when we file our taxes next year, well be able to pay less than the exorbitant amount that we normally have to pay, said Simon.

It will also help researchers study cannabis in the U.S. Schedule I drugs are deemed by the U.S. government to have no medical purpose. As a Schedule III drug, that determination would not apply, and researchers would face fewer barriers under the Controlled Substances Act to accessing it and acquiring grants to study it.

That could also help the alternative treatment centers, Pollock said. More research into the effects of cannabis would allow the organizations to design better products and dosages for different conditions, and it could convince more doctors to recommend therapeutic cannabis for their patients  a requirement to obtain a medical marijuana card in New Hampshire.

Overall, while the federal reclassification may not have major practical effects on the cannabis landscape overall, it could have a symbolic impact, particularly as lawmakers debate legalization this year, Simon and Pollock say.

I think the inevitability narrative, which has been a pretty strong narrative for a long time, has definitely received a major plot point, if not a climax, with this decision, Simon said, referring to cannabis legalization efforts.

Cannabis proponents say they hope the administrations move could pave the way for other federal policy shifts, including around banking rules.

New Hampshires ATCs have access to a bank in Massachusetts to manage their finances, but many for-profit and nonprofit cannabis businesses in the country do not, and must use cash transactions. And relaxing banking restrictions around cannabis could also allow New Hampshires centers better access to loans and financing that might not be available, supporters say.

The U.S. Cannabis Council, a business group, applauded the expected change.

The move was based on U.S. Department of Health and Human Services research and would have myriad benefits for business, Executive Director Edward Conklin said in a written statement.

The update would put marijuana on a path to full legalization and make it easier for state-legal businesses to run profitable operations, he said.

Moving to Schedule III represents a tectonic shift in our nations drug laws. The US Cannabis Council is committed to ending federal cannabis prohibition, and we believe that reclassification is a necessary and critical step toward that goal, he wrote. In the coming days, we will submit comments to the DEA in support of the proposed rule.

Jennifer Shutt contributed to this report.

The post Biden administration to greatly ease marijuana regulations; heres how NH would be affected appeared first on New Hampshire Bulletin.
What would Biden administration proposal mean for marijuana in Mississippi? Details here

Over the past several decades, marijuana has remained a prevalent and complex issue within the U.S. government.

Complicated and sometimes outdated laws pertaining to medical and recreational marijuana often make the matter harder to navigate.

If the Biden administration moves forward with a recently proposed plan aiming to reclassify marijuana, the results could make major waves within the U.S. marijuana industry. It could also mean a great deal for Mississippi.

Proposal to reclassify marijuana

The proposed plan would reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III.

A Schedule I drug is characterized by a drug that has no medical use. Any drug classified as Schedule I is illegal. Examples of Schedule I drugs include heroin, LSD and ecstasy.

Marijuana is grown at the University of Mississippi's Coy Waller Laboratory for research in Oxford, seen on Friday, Oct. 27, 2023. If the Biden Administration signs a bill to reclassify marijuana as a Schedule III drug, more research opportunities will open up across the nation.

A Schedule III drug, on the other hand, is characterized by a low chance of physical or psychological dependence. Examples of Schedule III drugs include Tylenol or anabolic steroids.

The scale goes from Schedule I to Schedule IV.

Marijuana became a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substance Act of 1970.

The Agriculture Improvement Act, also known as the Farm Bill, of 2018 shifted marijuana's status slightly. The drug is still classified as Schedule I, but the bill made products containing less than 0.3% of THC, the most intoxicating component in cannabis, legal.

If the Biden administration implements the proposed plan, the state of marijuana will change drastically throughout the nation, but maybe not in the way you think.

The plan will not actually legalize marijuana. All it would do is change the drug's classification.

The plan is a baby step toward the national legalization of marijuana. However, the most significant change this plan would bring is within the research field.

Since marijuana is currently classified as a Schedule I drug, the requirements to be able to research the drug are extremely strict and the steps are difficult to take.

A reclassification would mean more labs and pharmacy companies can begin more extensive research into medical marijuana and its uses.

The proposed plan still awaits public comment and will not reach a finalized decision in the near future.

More details on proposed plan: Biden administration plans to drastically change federal rules on marijuana

Coming fall 2024: Ole Miss to offer medical marijuana master's degree. Here's what to know

What would it mean for Mississippi?

For Mississippi, the main changes that would come with the plan center around research.

Robert Welch, director of the National Center for Cannabis Research and Education at the University of Mississippi, said reclassifying marijuana would open up research significantly due to the current restraints placed on researching Schedule I drugs.

"If you want to work with cannabis, you have to get a DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) Schedule I license," Welch said. "Well, that's a pretty arduous and costly level to get just because you're handling illicit material."

If the plan is put into place, the cannabinoid industry has the potential to boom in the coming years.

"I think a lot more pharmaceutical companies are going to jump into the fray on development of different cannabinoid products," Welch said. "Companies will be a little more tempted to involve themselves with these products because (research regulations would be) less strict."

Since 1968, the University of Mississippi has been the only federally funded facility growing marijuana for research purposes. Eventually, if other facilities around the state and the nation are able to grow marijuana for research, some of the burden will lift from the University of Mississippi's facility.

"We're the ones that have been supplying all that material," Welch said. "Well, this could potentially open that up a great deal. That's going to take time to get there."

Because of loopholes within the 2018 Farm Bill and widely unenforced laws, many gas stations and vape stores, including those in Mississippi, today sell products that contain intoxicating cannabinoids. An example of these products is a vape containing Delta 8, a popular cannabis compound.

"What happened is folks started interpreting (the 2018 Farm Bill) such that they foresee it as legal to be able to sell all this intoxicating stuff," Welch said. "But that's not what the bill meant. It was trying to help folks that were interested in creating hemp products and CBD products. But, there's wording in that bill that talks about derivatives."

These unregulated derivatives, Welch said, often contain additives including hydrochloric acid. Welch said he and his students have tested products like Delta 8 in the lab and have found several impurities and byproducts.

The reclassification of marijuana would put constraints on these products.

More in state news: See which Mississippi high school earned the highest ranking from U.S. News list

What comes next?

All of these potential effects of the proposed plan depend on the plan's wording, Welch said.

The proposed plan will next receive public comment, which will include feedback from experts like Welch.

Welch anticipates some initial confusion over what the plan actually means for the U.S.

The proposed plan will not have clear, immediate effects. Eventually, however, the plan could create drastic changes when it comes to how marijuana is regulated and perceived within the U.S.

"This is just the next step toward a more robust federally approved program and then a recreational arm," Welch said. "This has to happen first."

Got a news tip? Contact Mary Boyte at mboyte@jackson.gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: The future of marijuana in MS under proposed Biden national plan
President Biden will announce Thursday that his administration will be doling out $3 billion in funds to replace lead pipes, which can pose a health hazard.

Biden will announce the funds, part of a total of $15 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, during a trip to Wilmington, N.C., to replace these pipes.

He will also announce the first Bipartisan Infrastructure Law-funded lead pipe replacement in Wilmington is underway. North Carolina is slated to get $76 million of the total $3 billion being dispersed.

That $3 billion is expected to replace up to 1.7 million lead pipes, the White House said. The U.S. currently has an estimated 9.2 million lead service lines.

While the Bipartisan Infrastructure Laws funding is expected to make a significant dent in the nations lead pipe problem, environmental advocates have expressed concern that it is not enough.

No level of lead in drinking water has been identified as safe. Exposure to the substance can damage childrens brains and nervous systems. The most infamous incident of lead poisoning in the U.S. was the water crisis in Flint, Mich., though numerous other areas have also dealt with such problems.

The Biden administration has proposed to require most of the nations lead pipes to be replaced in 10 years, though concerns have been raised that some cities, such as Chicago, could maintain some of their lead pipes for years or even decades under the proposal.

In addition to the funding for lead services line replacement, the Department of Housing and Urban Development is announcing Thursday nearly $90 million to reduce health hazards in public housing, including lead-based paint  as well as carbon monoxide, mold, radon, and asbestos.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
University of Wisconsin-Madison protesters sit around tents on May 1, 2024, as police work to dismantle their encampment on Library Mall. (Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden responded Thursday to weeks of protest on college campuses calling for a cease-fire in Gaza with a brief statement that the right to protest should be protected, but not the right to cause chaos.

We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent, Biden said from the White Houses Roosevelt Room. In fact, peaceful protest is in the best tradition of how Americans respond to consequential issues. But neither are we a lawless country.

Biden said that the student-led protests have not made him reconsider policy in the Middle East and that he did not believe the National Guard should be authorized in response to protests across the country.

He criticized the protests that have led to classes being canceled.

Dissent is essential to democracy, but dissent must never lead to disorder or to deny the rights of others so students can finish a semester or finish their college education, Biden said. Order must prevail.

Students have set up encampments to protest the Israel-Hamas war at about 30 college campuses across the country, including Tulane University in Louisiana and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Some have turned violent.

Fights broke out Tuesday night at UCLA when counter-protesters attempted to dismantle an encampment set up by protesters on the universitys campus, according to NPR.

Violent protest is not protected, Biden said. Peaceful protest is.

Student protesters have called for a ceasefire and for their institutions to divest from businesses that are tied to Israel, including companies that make weapons that have been used in the war.

More than 34,000 Palestinians have died in nearly seven months of war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Universities have called in police to sweep the encampments, leading to about 1,300 arrests, according to The Guardian.

Calls from Congress

Lawmakers have also called on higher education institutions to quell the protests, and have raised concerns about antisemitism.

The House on Wednesday passed a bipartisan bill that would require the Department of Education to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances definition of antisemitism.

Republicans and some Democratic advocates of the bill have argued that the protests are a form of antisemitism.

Critics of the bill say it could chill freedom of speech at educational institutions.

Nationwide protests began at Columbia University in New York on April 17 after the universitys president, Minouche Shafik, testified before the House Education and Workforce committee about antisemitism on college campuses.

Students pitched tents to establish a Gaza Solidarity Encampment. A day later Shafik authorized the New York Police Department to sweep the area. NYPD officers arrested 108 students  the largest mass arrest on Columbias campus since 1968, according to the independent student newspaper the Columbia Spectator.

After that sweep, students returned and stayed for two weeks until Tuesday, when hundreds of NYPD officers entered Columbias campus and cleared the encampments and Hamilton Hall, which students occupied, according to the Columbia Spectator.

The post Biden backs peaceful protest, denounces campus chaos over Gaza appeared first on Rhode Island Current.
University of Wisconsin-Madison protesters sit around tents on May 1, 2024, as police work to dismantle their encampment on Library Mall. (Baylor Spears | Wisconsin Examiner)

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden responded Thursday to weeks of protest on college campuses calling for a ceasefire in Gaza with a brief statement that the right to protest should be protected, but not the right to cause chaos.

We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent, Biden said from the White Houses Roosevelt Room. In fact, peaceful protest is in the best tradition of how Americans respond to consequential issues. But neither are we a lawless country.

Biden said that the student-led protests have not made him reconsider policy in the Middle East and that he did not believe the National Guard should be authorized in response to protests across the country.

He criticized the protests that have led to classes being canceled.

Dissent is essential to democracy, but dissent must never lead to disorder or to deny the rights of others so students can finish a semester or finish their college education, Biden said. Order must prevail.

Students have set up encampments to protest the Israel-Hamas war at about 30 college campuses across the country, including Tulane University in Louisiana and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Some have turned violent.

Fights broke out Tuesday night at UCLA when counter-protesters attempted to dismantle an encampment set up by protesters on the universitys campus, according to NPR.

Violent protest is not protected, Biden said. Peaceful protest is.

Student protesters have called for a ceasefire and for their institutions to divest from businesses that are tied to Israel, including companies that make weapons that have been used in the war.

More than 34,000 Palestinians have died in nearly seven months of war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Universities have called in police to sweep the encampments, leading to about 1,300 arrests, according to The Guardian.

Calls from Congress

Lawmakers have also called on higher education institutions to quell the protests, and have raised concerns about antisemitism.

The House on Wednesday passed a bipartisan bill that would require the Department of Education to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances definition of antisemitism.

Republicans and some Democratic advocates of the bill have argued that the protests are a form of antisemitism.

Critics of the bill say it could chill freedom of speech at educational institutions.

Nationwide protests began at Columbia University in New York on April 17 after the universitys president, Minouche Shafik, testified before the House Education and Workforce committee about antisemitism on college campuses.

Students pitched tents to establish a Gaza Solidarity Encampment. A day later Shafik authorized the New York Police Department to sweep the area. NYPD officers arrested 108 students  the largest mass arrest on Columbias campus since 1968, according to the independent student newspaper the Columbia Spectator.

After that sweep, students returned and stayed for two weeks until Tuesday, when hundreds of NYPD officers entered Columbias campus and cleared the encampments and Hamilton Hall, which students occupied, according to the Columbia Spectator

The post Biden backs peaceful protest, denounces campus chaos over Gaza appeared first on New Jersey Monitor.
University of Wisconsin-Madison protesters sit around tents on May 1, 2024, as police work to dismantle their encampment on Library Mall. (Baylor Spears/ Wisconsin Examiner)

President Joe Biden responded Thursday to weeks of protest on college campuses calling for a ceasefire in Gaza with a brief statement that the right to protest should be protected, but not the right to cause chaos.

We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent, Biden said from the White Houses Roosevelt Room. In fact, peaceful protest is in the best tradition of how Americans respond to consequential issues. But neither are we a lawless country.

Biden said that the student-led protests have not made him reconsider policy in the Middle East and that he did not believe the National Guard should be authorized in response to protests across the country.

He criticized the protests that have led to classes being canceled.

Dissent is essential to democracy, but dissent must never lead to disorder or to deny the rights of others so students can finish a semester or finish their college education, Biden said. Order must prevail.

Students have set up encampments to protest the Israel-Hamas war at about 30 college campuses across the country, including Tulane University in Louisiana and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Some have turned violent.

Fights broke out Tuesday night at UCLA when counter-protesters attempted to dismantle an encampment set up by protesters on the universitys campus, according to NPR.

Violent protest is not protected, Biden said. Peaceful protest is.

Student protesters have called for a ceasefire and for their institutions to divest from businesses that are tied to Israel, including companies that make weapons that have been used in the war.

More than 34,000 Palestinians have died in nearly seven months of war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Universities have called in police to sweep the encampments, leading to about 1,300 arrests, according to The Guardian.

Calls from Congress

Lawmakers have also called on higher education institutions to quell the protests, and have raised concerns about antisemitism.

The House on Wednesday passed a bipartisan bill that would require the Department of Education to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances definition of antisemitism.

Republicans and some Democratic advocates of the bill have argued that the protests are a form of antisemitism.

Critics of the bill say it could chill freedom of speech at educational institutions.

Nationwide protests began at Columbia University in New York on April 17 after the universitys president, Minouche Shafik, testified before the House Education and Workforce committee about antisemitism on college campuses.

Students pitched tents to establish a Gaza Solidarity Encampment. A day later Shafik authorized the New York Police Department to sweep the area. NYPD officers arrested 108 students  the largest mass arrest on Columbias campus since 1968, according to the independent student newspaper the Columbia Spectator.

After that sweep, students returned and stayed for two weeks until Tuesday, when hundreds of NYPD officers entered Columbias campus and cleared the encampments and Hamilton Hall, which students occupied, according to the Columbia Spectator.

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The post Biden backs peaceful protest, denounces campus chaos over Gaza appeared first on Maine Morning Star.
The Russian occupation army managed to make a breakthrough in the Avdiivka sector and gain a foothold in Ocheretyne. In turn, Ukrainian troops are keeping under fire control a part of the village where Putin's troops are stationed.

ADVERTISIMENT

Fierce fighting is also taking place on this section of the frontline to drive the Russians out of Ocheretyne. This was reported to Interfax-Ukraine by Lieutenant Colonel Nazar Voloshyn, spokesman for the "Khortytsia" operational and strategic grouping of troops.

According to him, the Russian occupiers managed to break through and gain a foothold in Ocheretyne in the Pokrovsk district. At the same time, the part of the settlement where the enemy has taken up residence is under fire control of Ukrainian defenders.

"As for Ocheretyne. The enemy broke through and gained a foothold in this settlement. The part where the enemy is located is under our fire control. We are taking measures to drive them out of there. Heavy fighting is also going on there, but the situation is under control of the Ukrainian Armed Forces," said Voloshyn.

ADVERTISIMENT

He also added that Ukrainian soldiers are taking all measures to stabilize the situation in this area of the front. In particular, the soldiers are trying to regain control of Ocheretyne. Voloshyn emphasized that reserve forces and resources have been deployed for this purpose.

At the same time, the spokesman for the "Khortytsia" operational and strategic grouping of troops emphasized that Russian troops had deployed up to four of their brigades in the Pokrovske and Kurakhove directions. Currently, the occupants are trying to develop an offensive west of Avdiivka and Maryinka to break through to Pokrovsk and Kurakhove.

"The enemy has achieved some tactical success in these areas but failed to gain an operational advantage. To strengthen the defense in these areas and replace the units that suffered losses, we are moving brigades that have regained their combat capability," said Voloshyn.

ADVERTISIMENT

As a reminder, Russian occupation forces continue to storm Robotyno in the Zaporizhzhia region. However, the occupiers' attempts to gain a foothold in the settlement have been unsuccessful.

Earlier, analysts estimated that the command of the Russian Armed Forces would have to choose which direction to intensify the offensive. They note that despite minor successes near Avdiivka and some progress in the Chasovyi Yar area, the occupation forces are currently unable to break through in several areas of the front simultaneously.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!

ADVERTISIMENT
University of Wisconsin-Madison protesters sit around tents on May 1, 2024, as police work to dismantle their encampment on Library Mall. (Baylor Spears | Wisconsin Examiner)

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden responded Thursday to weeks of protest on college campuses calling for a ceasefire in Gaza with a brief statement that the right to protest should be protected, but not the right to cause chaos.

We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent, Biden said from the White Houses Roosevelt Room. In fact, peaceful protest is in the best tradition of how Americans respond to consequential issues. But neither are we a lawless country.

Biden said that the student-led protests have not made him reconsider policy in the Middle East and that he did not believe the National Guard should be authorized in response to protests across the country.

He criticized the protests that have led to classes being canceled.

Dissent is essential to democracy, but dissent must never lead to disorder or to deny the rights of others so students can finish a semester or finish their college education, Biden said. Order must prevail.

Students have set up encampments to protest the Israel-Hamas war at about 30 college campuses across the country, including Tulane University in Louisiana and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Some have turned violent.

Fights broke out Tuesday night at UCLA when counter-protesters attempted to dismantle an encampment set up by protesters on the universitys campus, according to NPR.

Violent protest is not protected, Biden said. Peaceful protest is.

Student protesters have called for a ceasefire and for their institutions to divest from businesses that are tied to Israel, including companies that make weapons that have been used in the war.

More than 34,000 Palestinians have died in nearly seven months of war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Universities have called in police to sweep the encampments, leading to about 1,300 arrests, according to The Guardian.

Calls from Congress

Lawmakers have also called on higher education institutions to quell the protests, and have raised concerns about antisemitism.

The House on Wednesday passed a bipartisan bill that would require the Department of Education to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances definition of antisemitism.

Republicans and some Democratic advocates of the bill have argued that the protests are a form of antisemitism.

Critics of the bill say it could chill freedom of speech at educational institutions.

Nationwide protests began at Columbia University in New York on April 17 after the universitys president, Minouche Shafik, testified before the House Education and Workforce committee about antisemitism on college campuses.

Students pitched tents to establish a Gaza Solidarity Encampment. A day later Shafik authorized the New York Police Department to sweep the area. NYPD officers arrested 108 students  the largest mass arrest on Columbias campus since 1968, according to the independent student newspaper the Columbia Spectator.

After that sweep, students returned and stayed for two weeks until Tuesday, when hundreds of NYPD officers entered Columbias campus and cleared the encampments and Hamilton Hall, which students occupied, according to the Columbia Spectator.

The post Biden backs peaceful protest, denounces campus chaos over Gaza appeared first on Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
University of Wisconsin-Madison protesters sit around tents on May 1, 2024, as police work to dismantle their encampment on Library Mall. (Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

University of Wisconsin-Madison protesters sit around tents on May 1, 2024, as police work to dismantle their encampment on Library Mall. (Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden responded Thursday to weeks of protest on college campuses calling for a ceasefire in Gaza with a brief statement that the right to protest should be protected, but not the right to cause chaos.

We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent, Biden said from the White Houses Roosevelt Room. In fact, peaceful protest is in the best tradition of how Americans respond to consequential issues. But neither are we a lawless country.

Biden said that the student-led protests have not made him reconsider policy in the Middle East and that he did not believe the National Guard should be authorized in response to protests across the country.

He criticized the protests that have led to classes being canceled.

Dissent is essential to democracy, but dissent must never lead to disorder or to deny the rights of others so students can finish a semester or finish their college education, Biden said. Order must prevail.

Students have set up encampments to protest the Israel-Hamas war at about 30 college campuses across the country, including Tulane University in Louisiana and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Some have turned violent.

Fights broke out Tuesday night at UCLA when counter-protesters attempted to dismantle an encampment set up by protesters on the universitys campus, according to NPR.

Violent protest is not protected, Biden said. Peaceful protest is.

Student protesters have called for a ceasefire and for their institutions to divest from businesses that are tied to Israel, including companies that make weapons that have been used in the war.

More than 34,000 Palestinians have died in nearly seven months of war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Universities have called in police to sweep the encampments, leading to about 1,300 arrests, according to The Guardian.

Calls from Congress

Lawmakers have also called on higher education institutions to quell the protests, and have raised concerns about antisemitism.

The House on Wednesday passed a bipartisan bill that would require the Department of Education to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances definition of antisemitism.

Republicans and some Democratic advocates of the bill have argued that the protests are a form of antisemitism.

Critics of the bill say it could chill freedom of speech at educational institutions.

Nationwide protests began at Columbia University in New York on April 17 after the universitys president, Minouche Shafik, testified before the House Education and Workforce committee about antisemitism on college campuses.

Students pitched tents to establish a Gaza Solidarity Encampment. A day later Shafik authorized the New York Police Department to sweep the area. NYPD officers arrested 108 students  the largest mass arrest on Columbias campus since 1968, according to the independent student newspaper the Columbia Spectator.

After that sweep, students returned and stayed for two weeks until Tuesday, when hundreds of NYPD officers entered Columbias campus and cleared the encampments and Hamilton Hall, which students occupied, according to the Columbia Spectator.

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The post Biden backs peaceful protest, denounces campus chaos over Gaza appeared first on South Dakota Searchlight.
University of Wisconsin-Madison protesters sit around tents on May 1, 2024, as police work to dismantle their encampment on Library Mall. Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner.

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden responded Thursday to weeks of protest on college campuses calling for a ceasefire in Gaza with a brief statement that the right to protest should be protected, but not the right to cause chaos.

We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent, Biden said from the White Houses Roosevelt Room. In fact, peaceful protest is in the best tradition of how Americans respond to consequential issues. But neither are we a lawless country.

Biden said that the student-led protests have not made him reconsider policy in the Middle East and that he did not believe the National Guard should be authorized in response to protests across the country.

He criticized the protests that have led to classes being canceled.

Dissent is essential to democracy, but dissent must never lead to disorder or to deny the rights of others so students can finish a semester or finish their college education, Biden said. Order must prevail.

Students have set up encampments to protest the Israel-Hamas war at about 30 college campuses across the country, including Tulane University in Louisiana and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Some have turned violent.

Fights broke out Tuesday night at UCLA when counter-protesters attempted to dismantle an encampment set up by protesters on the universitys campus, according to NPR.

Violent protest is not protected, Biden said. Peaceful protest is.

Student protesters have called for a ceasefire and for their institutions to divest from businesses that are tied to Israel, including companies that make weapons that have been used in the war.

More than 34,000 Palestinians have died in nearly seven months of war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Universities have called in police to sweep the encampments, leading to about 1,300 arrests, according to The Guardian.

Calls from Congress

Lawmakers have also called on higher education institutions to quell the protests, and have raised concerns about antisemitism.

The House on Wednesday passed a bipartisan bill that would require the Department of Education to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances definition of antisemitism.

Republicans and some Democratic advocates of the bill have argued that the protests are a form of antisemitism.

Critics of the bill say it could chill freedom of speech at educational institutions.

Nationwide protests began at Columbia University in New York on April 17 after the universitys president, Minouche Shafik, testified before the House Education and Workforce committee about antisemitism on college campuses.

Students pitched tents to establish a Gaza Solidarity Encampment. A day later Shafik authorized the New York Police Department to sweep the area. NYPD officers arrested 108 students  the largest mass arrest on Columbias campus since 1968, according to the independent student newspaper the Columbia Spectator.

After that sweep, students returned and stayed for two weeks until Tuesday, when hundreds of NYPD officers entered Columbias campus and cleared the encampments and Hamilton Hall, which students occupied, according to the Columbia Spectator.

The post Biden backs peaceful protest, denounces campus chaos over Gaza appeared first on Minnesota Reformer.
University of Wisconsin-Madison protesters sit around tents on May 1, 2024, as police work to dismantle their encampment on Library Mall. (Baylor Spears | Wisconsin Examiner)

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden responded Thursday to weeks of protest on college campuses calling for a ceasefire in Gaza with a brief statement that the right to protest should be protected, but not the right to cause chaos.

We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent, Biden said from the White Houses Roosevelt Room. In fact, peaceful protest is in the best tradition of how Americans respond to consequential issues. But neither are we a lawless country.

Biden said that the student-led protests have not made him reconsider policy in the Middle East and that he did not believe the National Guard should be authorized in response to protests across the country.

He criticized the protests that have led to classes being canceled.

Dissent is essential to democracy, but dissent must never lead to disorder or to deny the rights of others so students can finish a semester or finish their college education, Biden said. Order must prevail.

Students have set up encampments to protest the Israel-Hamas war at about 30 college campuses across the country, including Tulane University in Louisiana and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Some have turned violent.

Fights broke out Tuesday night at UCLA when counter-protesters attempted to dismantle an encampment set up by protesters on the universitys campus, according to NPR.

Violent protest is not protected, Biden said. Peaceful protest is.

Student protesters have called for a ceasefire and for their institutions to divest from businesses that are tied to Israel, including companies that make weapons that have been used in the war.

More than 34,000 Palestinians have died in nearly seven months of war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Universities have called in police to sweep the encampments, leading to about 1,300 arrests, according to The Guardian.

Calls from Congress

Lawmakers have also called on higher education institutions to quell the protests, and have raised concerns about antisemitism.

The House on Wednesday passed a bipartisan bill that would require the Department of Education to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances definition of antisemitism.

Republicans and some Democratic advocates of the bill have argued that the protests are a form of antisemitism.

Critics of the bill say it could chill freedom of speech at educational institutions.

Nationwide protests began at Columbia University in New York on April 17 after the universitys president, Minouche Shafik, testified before the House Education and Workforce committee about antisemitism on college campuses.

Students pitched tents to establish a Gaza Solidarity Encampment. A day later Shafik authorized the New York Police Department to sweep the area. NYPD officers arrested 108 students  the largest mass arrest on Columbias campus since 1968, according to the independent student newspaper the Columbia Spectator.

After that sweep, students returned and stayed for two weeks until Tuesday, when hundreds of NYPD officers entered Columbias campus and cleared the encampments and Hamilton Hall, which students occupied, according to the Columbia Spectator.

The post Biden backs peaceful protest, denounces campus chaos over Gaza appeared first on Washington State Standard.
UW-Madison protesters gathered on Library Mall Wednesday morning as police began dismantling their tents. (Baylor Spears | Wisconsin Examiner)

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden responded Thursday to weeks of protest on college campuses calling for a ceasefire in Gaza with a brief statement that the right to protest should be protected, but not the right to cause chaos.

We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent, Biden said from the White Houses Roosevelt Room. In fact, peaceful protest is in the best tradition of how Americans respond to consequential issues. But neither are we a lawless country.

Biden said that the student-led protests have not made him reconsider policy in the Middle East and that he did not believe the National Guard should be authorized in response to protests across the country.

He criticized the protests that have led to classes being canceled.

Dissent is essential to democracy, but dissent must never lead to disorder or to deny the rights of others so students can finish a semester or finish their college education, Biden said. Order must prevail.

Students have set up encampments to protest the Israel-Hamas war at about 30 college campuses across the country, including Tulane University in Louisiana and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Some have turned violent.

Fights broke out Tuesday night at UCLA when counter-protesters attempted to dismantle an encampment set up by protesters on the universitys campus, according to NPR.

Violent protest is not protected, Biden said. Peaceful protest is.

Student protesters have called for a ceasefire and for their institutions to divest from businesses that are tied to Israel, including companies that make weapons that have been used in the war.

More than 34,000 Palestinians have died in nearly seven months of war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Universities have called in police to sweep the encampments, leading to about 1,300 arrests, according to The Guardian.

Calls from Congress

Lawmakers have also called on higher education institutions to quell the protests, and have raised concerns about antisemitism.

The House on Wednesday passed a bipartisan bill that would require the Department of Education to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances definition of antisemitism.

Republicans and some Democratic advocates of the bill have argued that the protests are a form of antisemitism.

Critics of the bill say it could chill freedom of speech at educational institutions.

Nationwide protests began at Columbia University in New York on April 17 after the universitys president, Minouche Shafik, testified before the House Education and Workforce committee about antisemitism on college campuses.

Students pitched tents to establish a Gaza Solidarity Encampment. A day later Shafik authorized the New York Police Department to sweep the area. NYPD officers arrested 108 students  the largest mass arrest on Columbias campus since 1968, according to the independent student newspaper the Columbia Spectator.

After that sweep, students returned and stayed for two weeks until Tuesday, when hundreds of NYPD officers entered Columbias campus and cleared the encampments and Hamilton Hall, which students occupied, according to the Columbia Spectator.

The post Biden backs peaceful protest, denounces campus chaos over Gaza appeared first on Wisconsin Examiner.
University of Wisconsin-Madison protesters sit around tents on May 1, 2024, as police work to dismantle their encampment on Library Mall. (Baylor Spears | Wisconsin Examiner)

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden responded Thursday to weeks of protest on college campuses calling for a ceasefire in Gaza with a brief statement that the right to protest should be protected, but not the right to cause chaos.

We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent, Biden said from the White Houses Roosevelt Room. In fact, peaceful protest is in the best tradition of how Americans respond to consequential issues. But neither are we a lawless country.

Biden said that the student-led protests have not made him reconsider policy in the Middle East and that he did not believe the National Guard should be authorized in response to protests across the country.

He criticized the protests that have led to classes being canceled.

Dissent is essential to democracy, but dissent must never lead to disorder or to deny the rights of others so students can finish a semester or finish their college education, Biden said. Order must prevail.

Students have set up encampments to protest the Israel-Hamas war at about 30 college campuses across the country, including Tulane University in Louisiana and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Some have turned violent.

Fights broke out Tuesday night at UCLA when counter-protesters attempted to dismantle an encampment set up by protesters on the universitys campus, according to NPR.

Violent protest is not protected, Biden said. Peaceful protest is.

Student protesters have called for a ceasefire and for their institutions to divest from businesses that are tied to Israel, including companies that make weapons that have been used in the war.

More than 34,000 Palestinians have died in nearly seven months of war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Universities have called in police to sweep the encampments, leading to about 1,300 arrests, according to The Guardian.

Calls from Congress

Lawmakers have also called on higher education institutions to quell the protests, and have raised concerns about antisemitism.

The House on Wednesday passed a bipartisan bill that would require the Department of Education to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances definition of antisemitism.

Republicans and some Democratic advocates of the bill have argued that the protests are a form of antisemitism.

Critics of the bill say it could chill freedom of speech at educational institutions.

Nationwide protests began at Columbia University in New York on April 17 after the universitys president, Minouche Shafik, testified before the House Education and Workforce committee about antisemitism on college campuses.

Students pitched tents to establish a Gaza Solidarity Encampment. A day later Shafik authorized the New York Police Department to sweep the area. NYPD officers arrested 108 students  the largest mass arrest on Columbias campus since 1968, according to the independent student newspaper the Columbia Spectator.

After that sweep, students returned and stayed for two weeks until Tuesday, when hundreds of NYPD officers entered Columbias campus and cleared the encampments and Hamilton Hall, which students occupied, according to the Columbia Spectator.

The post Biden backs peaceful protest, denounces campus chaos over Gaza appeared first on Indiana Capital Chronicle.
University of Wisconsin-Madison protesters sit around tents on May 1, 2024, as police work to dismantle their encampment on Library Mall. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden responded Thursday to weeks of protest on college campuses calling for a ceasefire in Gaza with a brief statement that the right to protest should be protected, but not the right to cause chaos.

We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent, Biden said from the White Houses Roosevelt Room. In fact, peaceful protest is in the best tradition of how Americans respond to consequential issues. But neither are we a lawless country.

Biden said the student-led protests have not made him reconsider policy in the Middle East and he did not believe the National Guard should be authorized in response to protests across the country.

He criticized the protests that have led to classes being canceled.

Dissent is essential to democracy, but dissent must never lead to disorder or to deny the rights of others so students can finish a semester or finish their college education, Biden said. Order must prevail.

Students have set up encampments to protest the Israel-Hamas war at about 30 college campuses across the country, including Tulane University in Louisiana and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Some have turned violent.

Fights broke out Tuesday night at UCLA when counter-protesters attempted to dismantle an encampment set up by protesters on the universitys campus, according to NPR.

Violent protest is not protected, Biden said. Peaceful protest is.

Student protesters have called for a ceasefire and for their institutions to divest from businesses that are tied to Israel, including companies that make weapons that have been used in the war.

More than 34,000 Palestinians have died in nearly seven months of war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Universities have called in police to sweep the encampments, leading to about 1,300 arrests, according to The Guardian.

Calls from Congress

Lawmakers have also called on higher education institutions to quell the protests, and have raised concerns about antisemitism.

The House on Wednesday passed a bipartisan bill that would require the Department of Education to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances definition of antisemitism.

Republicans and some Democratic advocates of the bill have argued that the protests are a form of antisemitism.

Critics of the bill say it could chill freedom of speech at educational institutions.

Nationwide protests began at Columbia University in New York on April 17 after the universitys president, Minouche Shafik, testified before the House Education and Workforce committee about antisemitism on college campuses.

Students pitched tents to establish a Gaza Solidarity Encampment. A day later Shafik authorized the New York Police Department to sweep the area. NYPD officers arrested 108 students  the largest mass arrest on Columbias campus since 1968, according to the independent student newspaper the Columbia Spectator.

After that sweep, students returned and stayed for two weeks until Tuesday, when hundreds of NYPD officers entered Columbias campus and cleared the encampments and Hamilton Hall, which students occupied, according to the Columbia Spectator.

The post Biden backs peaceful protest, denounces campus chaos over Gaza appeared first on Iowa Capital Dispatch.
University of Wisconsin-Madison protesters sit around tents on May 1, 2024, as police work to dismantle their encampment on Library Mall.

University of Wisconsin-Madison protesters sit around tents on May 1, 2024, as police work to dismantle their encampment on Library Mall. (Baylor Spears | Wisconsin Examiner)

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden responded Thursday to weeks of protest on college campuses calling for a ceasefire in Gaza with a brief statement that the right to protest should be protected, but not the right to cause chaos.

We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent, Biden said from the White Houses Roosevelt Room. In fact, peaceful protest is in the best tradition of how Americans respond to consequential issues. But neither are we a lawless country.

Biden said that the student-led protests have not made him reconsider policy in the Middle East and that he did not believe the National Guard should be authorized in response to protests across the country.

He criticized the protests that have led to classes being canceled.

Dissent is essential to democracy, but dissent must never lead to disorder or to deny the rights of others so students can finish a semester or finish their college education, Biden said. Order must prevail.

Students have set up encampments to protest the Israel-Hamas war at about 30 college campuses across the country, including Tulane University in Louisiana and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Some have turned violent.

Fights broke out Tuesday night at UCLA when counter-protesters attempted to dismantle an encampment set up by protesters on the universitys campus, according to NPR.

Violent protest is not protected, Biden said. Peaceful protest is.

Student protesters have called for a ceasefire and for their institutions to divest from businesses that are tied to Israel, including companies that make weapons that have been used in the war.

More than 34,000 Palestinians have died in nearly seven months of war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Universities have called in police to sweep the encampments, leading to about 1,300 arrests, according to The Guardian.

Calls from Congress

Lawmakers have also called on higher education institutions to quell the protests, and have raised concerns about antisemitism.

The House on Wednesday passed a bipartisan bill that would require the Department of Education to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances definition of antisemitism.

Republicans and some Democratic advocates of the bill have argued that the protests are a form of antisemitism.

Critics of the bill say it could chill freedom of speech at educational institutions.

Nationwide protests began at Columbia University in New York on April 17 after the universitys president, Minouche Shafik, testified before the House Education and Workforce committee about antisemitism on college campuses.

Students pitched tents to establish a Gaza Solidarity Encampment. A day later Shafik authorized the New York Police Department to sweep the area. NYPD officers arrested 108 students  the largest mass arrest on Columbias campus since 1968, according to the independent student newspaper the Columbia Spectator.

After that sweep, students returned and stayed for two weeks until Tuesday, when hundreds of NYPD officers entered Columbias campus and cleared the encampments and Hamilton Hall, which students occupied, according to the Columbia Spectator.

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The post Biden backs peaceful protest, denounces campus chaos over Gaza appeared first on Louisiana Illuminator.
University of Wisconsin-Madison protesters sit around tents on May 1, 2024, as police work to dismantle their encampment on Library Mall. (Baylor Spears | Wisconsin Examiner)

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden responded Thursday to weeks of protest on college campuses calling for a ceasefire in Gaza with a brief statement that the right to protest should be protected, but not the right to cause chaos.

We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent, Biden said from the White Houses Roosevelt Room. In fact, peaceful protest is in the best tradition of how Americans respond to consequential issues. But neither are we a lawless country.

Biden said that the student-led protests have not made him reconsider policy in the Middle East and that he did not believe the National Guard should be authorized in response to protests across the country.

He criticized the protests that have led to classes being canceled.

Dissent is essential to democracy, but dissent must never lead to disorder or to deny the rights of others so students can finish a semester or finish their college education, Biden said. Order must prevail.

Students have set up encampments to protest the Israel-Hamas war at about 30 college campuses across the country, including Tulane University in Louisiana and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Some have turned violent.

Fights broke out Tuesday night at UCLA when counter-protesters attempted to dismantle an encampment set up by protesters on the universitys campus, according to NPR.

Violent protest is not protected, Biden said. Peaceful protest is.

Student protesters have called for a ceasefire and for their institutions to divest from businesses that are tied to Israel, including companies that make weapons that have been used in the war.

More than 34,000 Palestinians have died in nearly seven months of war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Universities have called in police to sweep the encampments, leading to about 1,300 arrests, according to The Guardian.

Calls from Congress

Lawmakers have also called on higher education institutions to quell the protests, and have raised concerns about antisemitism.

The House on Wednesday passed a bipartisan bill that would require the Department of Education to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances definition of antisemitism.

Republicans and some Democratic advocates of the bill have argued that the protests are a form of antisemitism.

Critics of the bill say it could chill freedom of speech at educational institutions.

Nationwide protests began at Columbia University in New York on April 17 after the universitys president, Minouche Shafik, testified before the House Education and Workforce committee about antisemitism on college campuses.

Students pitched tents to establish a Gaza Solidarity Encampment. A day later Shafik authorized the New York Police Department to sweep the area. NYPD officers arrested 108 students  the largest mass arrest on Columbias campus since 1968, according to the independent student newspaper the Columbia Spectator.

After that sweep, students returned and stayed for two weeks until Tuesday, when hundreds of NYPD officers entered Columbias campus and cleared the encampments and Hamilton Hall, which students occupied, according to the Columbia Spectator.

The post Biden backs peaceful protest, denounces campus chaos over Gaza appeared first on Kentucky Lantern.
University of Wisconsin-Madison protesters sit around tents on May 1, 2024, as police work to dismantle their encampment on Library Mall

University of Wisconsin-Madison protesters sit around tents on May 1, 2024, as police work to dismantle their encampment on Library Mall. (Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden responded Thursday to weeks of protest on college campuses calling for a ceasefire in Gaza with a brief statement that the right to protest should be protected, but not the right to cause chaos.

We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent, Biden said from the White Houses Roosevelt Room. In fact, peaceful protest is in the best tradition of how Americans respond to consequential issues. But neither are we a lawless country.

Biden said that the student-led protests have not made him reconsider policy in the Middle East and that he did not believe the National Guard should be authorized in response to protests across the country.

He criticized the protests that have led to classes being canceled.

Dissent is essential to democracy, but dissent must never lead to disorder or to deny the rights of others so students can finish a semester or finish their college education, Biden said. Order must prevail.

Students have set up encampments to protest the Israel-Hamas war at about 30 college campuses across the country, including Tulane University in Louisiana and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Some have turned violent.

Fights broke out Tuesday night at UCLA when counter-protesters attempted to dismantle an encampment set up by protesters on the universitys campus, according to NPR.

Violent protest is not protected, Biden said. Peaceful protest is.

Student protesters have called for a ceasefire and for their institutions to divest from businesses that are tied to Israel, including companies that make weapons that have been used in the war.

More than 34,000 Palestinians have died in nearly seven months of war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Universities have called in police to sweep the encampments, leading to about 1,300 arrests, according to The Guardian.

Calls from Congress

Lawmakers have also called on higher education institutions to quell the protests, and have raised concerns about antisemitism.

The House on Wednesday passed a bipartisan bill that would require the Department of Education to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances definition of antisemitism.

Republicans and some Democratic advocates of the bill have argued that the protests are a form of antisemitism.

Critics of the bill say it could chill freedom of speech at educational institutions.

Nationwide protests began at Columbia University in New York on April 17 after the universitys president, Minouche Shafik, testified before the House Education and Workforce committee about antisemitism on college campuses.

Students pitched tents to establish a Gaza Solidarity Encampment. A day later Shafik authorized the New York Police Department to sweep the area. NYPD officers arrested 108 students  the largest mass arrest on Columbias campus since 1968, according to the independent student newspaper the Columbia Spectator.

After that sweep, students returned and stayed for two weeks until Tuesday, when hundreds of NYPD officers entered Columbias campus and cleared the encampments and Hamilton Hall, which students occupied, according to the Columbia Spectator.

The post Biden backs peaceful protest, denounces campus chaos over Gaza appeared first on Kansas Reflector.
Russian military commanders are redeploying units of two airborne divisions from Zaporizhzhia region to Donetsk region to reinforce and intensify their current offensive operations. The enemy is probably trying to take advantage of the current "window of vulnerability" of the Ukrainian Defense Forces before American military assistance begins to reach the front line on a large scale.

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This is stated in a report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). The analysts named three frontline areas where Russia could send these army units, but do not claim that this will happen at all.

Whom Russia has withdrawn from the Zaporizhzhia sector

Some Russian and Ukrainian sources said that the enemy planned to move units of the 76th and 7th Divisions, which had been operating in the area of Robotyno in the western Zaporizhzhia region since the height of the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the summer of 2023.

On May 1, Ukrainian military observer Kostyantyn Mashovets said that the Russian military command had recently made such a decision. He said that at least one battalion of the 76th Division would be relocated from near Orikhiv, in his opinion, to the front in Luhansk region or to the Kramatorsk/Bakhmut direction.

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On April 29, a Russian blogger with an openly biased attitude toward the Russian Federation's Airborne Forces and the commander of the Dnipro troop group, Colonel General Mikhail Teplynsky, claimed that elements of the 76th and 7th divisions from the general forces deployed on the left bank of Kherson and in the western part of Zaporizhzhia would soon be operating in other areas. He did not name which areas, and later suggested that the command wanted to replace units of the 104th Airborne Division near the Ukrainian tactical foothold in Krynky on the left bank of the Dnipro River. The propagandist did not provide any further updates on the alleged redeployment of the units.

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"We have not yet received confirmation that elements of the 76th and 7th divisions have been redeployed to other areas. But these Russian and Ukrainian reports are significant. Any redeployment of Russian forces from Zaporizhzhia region to the eastern part of Ukraine requires a more thorough examination in the coming days," ISW noted.

Experts recalled that in the middle of summer 2023, elements of these two divisions of the Russian Armed Forces were redeployed from the Liman and Kherson directions to the Robotyno area, which strengthened the enemy's "defense" in this area at a critical moment. In particular, this way the occupiers were able to prevent the Armed Forces of Ukraine from breaking through their "defense" line in Zaporizhzhia. The redeployed enemy forces launched counterattacks that demonstrated that the 76th and 7th Divisions were relatively more combat-ready than other Russian troops at the time, and they recovered to some extent during their next sluggish offensive in the south.

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"In recent weeks, Russian troops captured most of Robotyno. Perhaps that is why the command decided that the probable combat-ready units of the 76th and 7th Airborne Divisions would be more useful in other areas," the ISW suggested.

Where the Russian Federation could deploy new forces

According to military experts, the occupiers may try to move units of one or both of these divisions to the east to support offensive operations in Donetsk region and take advantage of the current "window of vulnerability" of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

"At present, Russian troops are trying to use the offensive northwest of Avdiivka to achieve a broader breakthrough in the area and are intensifying operations to capture the operationally important town of Chasiv Yar," the ISW reminded.

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It suggests that the Russian military command intends to use elements of the 76th and 7th Divisions as significant reinforcements to any of these efforts in order to achieve operationally significant gains before the arrival of U.S. military assistance allows the Ukrainian Defense Forces to slow the enemy's advance and stabilize the front line.

In the Avdiivka sector, Russia has now formed a relatively cohesive grouping of troops, consisting mainly of elements of the Central Military District and the 1st Army Corps of the "DPR," although they are likely exhausted from intense offensive operations over the past few months. It is possible that reinforcements from the VDP units could serve as an operational force for the enemy to continue attacks in the area.

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In the Bakhmut direction, analysts estimate that Russia has formed a less cohesive group of troops, consisting, in particular, of elements of several divisions and airborne brigades. Therefore, the redeployment of units of the 76th and 7th Divisions to this area could intensify the occupiers' attacks on Chasiv Yar.

Another possible option is the transfer of these units of the Russian army to the Kupiansk-Svatove-Kreminna line, where the invaders have resumed their offensive.

"However, Russian troops seem to be trying to consolidate this entire area under the responsibility of the Moscow Military District, and the redeployment of the 76th and 7th Airborne Divisions may not be as useful in these efforts as the more intensive operations currently underway in the Donetsk region," ISW explained.

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Nevertheless, they believe that any redeployment of these elements would give Russian forces the opportunity to intensify offensive operations and "put the Ukrainian Armed Forces under pressure regardless of their location."

So far, military experts have not made any estimates as to which of these frontline areas is the most likely to be the place where the Russian VDP forces could be redeployed, if at all.

"We will continue to monitor reports of a possible redeployment of elements of the 76th and 7th Divisions, as this poses a significant risk to Ukraine's ability to slow down ongoing Russian offensives in the east in the coming weeks before US security assistance arrives," ISW concluded.

As OBOZ.UA reported earlier, analysts have already estimated that the Russian Armed Forces command will have to choose which direction to intensify the offensive. They emphasize that despite minor successes near Avdiivka and some advances in the Chasovyi Yar area, the occupation forces are currently unable to simultaneously break through in several areas of the front.

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Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
University of Wisconsin-Madison protesters sit around tents on May 1, 2024, as police work to dismantle their encampment on Library Mall. (Baylor Spears | Wisconsin Examiner)

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden responded Thursday to weeks of protest on college campuses calling for a ceasefire in Gaza with a brief statement that the right to protest should be protected, but not the right to cause chaos.

We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent, Biden said from the White Houses Roosevelt Room. In fact, peaceful protest is in the best tradition of how Americans respond to consequential issues. But neither are we a lawless country.

Biden said that the student-led protests have not made him reconsider policy in the Middle East and that he did not believe the National Guard should be authorized in response to protests across the country.

He criticized the protests that have led to classes being canceled.

Dissent is essential to democracy, but dissent must never lead to disorder or to deny the rights of others so students can finish a semester or finish their college education, Biden said. Order must prevail.

Students have set up encampments to protest the Israel-Hamas war at about 30 college campuses across the country, including Tulane University in Louisiana and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Some have turned violent.

Fights broke out Tuesday night at UCLA when counter-protesters attempted to dismantle an encampment set up by protesters on the universitys campus, according to NPR.

Violent protest is not protected, Biden said. Peaceful protest is.

Student protesters have called for a ceasefire and for their institutions to divest from businesses that are tied to Israel, including companies that make weapons that have been used in the war.

More than 34,000 Palestinians have died in nearly seven months of war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Universities have called in police to sweep the encampments, leading to about 1,300 arrests, according to The Guardian.

Calls from Congress

Lawmakers have also called on higher education institutions to quell the protests, and have raised concerns about antisemitism.

The House on Wednesday passed a bipartisan bill that would require the Department of Education to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances definition of antisemitism.

Republicans and some Democratic advocates of the bill have argued that the protests are a form of antisemitism.

Critics of the bill say it could chill freedom of speech at educational institutions.

Nationwide protests began at Columbia University in New York on April 17 after the universitys president, Minouche Shafik, testified before the House Education and Workforce committee about antisemitism on college campuses.

Students pitched tents to establish a Gaza Solidarity Encampment. A day later Shafik authorized the New York Police Department to sweep the area. NYPD officers arrested 108 students  the largest mass arrest on Columbias campus since 1968, according to the independent student newspaper the Columbia Spectator.

After that sweep, students returned and stayed for two weeks until Tuesday, when hundreds of NYPD officers entered Columbias campus and cleared the encampments and Hamilton Hall, which students occupied, according to the Columbia Spectator.

The post Biden backs peaceful protest, denounces campus chaos over Gaza appeared first on North Dakota Monitor.
University of Wisconsin-Madison demonstrators sit on grass near tents as police work to dismantle their encampment.

University of Wisconsin-Madison demonstrators on May 1, 2024, as police work to dismantle their encampment on Library Mall. (Baylor Spears / Wisconsin Examiner)

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden responded Thursday to weeks of protest on college campuses calling for a ceasefire in Gaza with a brief statement that the right to protest should be protected, but not the right to cause chaos.

We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent, Biden said from the White Houses Roosevelt Room. In fact, peaceful protest is in the best tradition of how Americans respond to consequential issues. But neither are we a lawless country.

Biden said that the student-led protests have not made him reconsider policy in the Middle East and that he did not believe the National Guard should be authorized in response to protests across the country.

He criticized the protests that have led to classes being canceled.

Dissent is essential to democracy, but dissent must never lead to disorder or to deny the rights of others so students can finish a semester or finish their college education, Biden said. Order must prevail.

Students have set up encampments to protest the Israel-Hamas war at about 30 college campuses across the country, including Tulane University in Louisiana and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Some have turned violent.

Fights broke out Tuesday night at UCLA when counter-protesters attempted to dismantle an encampment set up by protesters on the universitys campus, according to NPR.

Violent protest is not protected, Biden said. Peaceful protest is.

Student protesters have called for a ceasefire and for their institutions to divest from businesses that are tied to Israel, including companies that make weapons that have been used in the war.

More than 34,000 Palestinians have died in nearly seven months of war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Universities have called in police to sweep the encampments, leading to about 1,300 arrests, according to The Guardian.

Calls from Congress

Lawmakers have also called on higher education institutions to quell the protests, and have raised concerns about antisemitism.

The House on Wednesday passed a bipartisan bill that would require the Department of Education to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances definition of antisemitism.

Republicans and some Democratic advocates of the bill have argued that the protests are a form of antisemitism.

Critics of the bill say it could chill freedom of speech at educational institutions.

Nationwide protests began at Columbia University in New York on April 17 after the universitys president, Minouche Shafik, testified before the House Education and Workforce committee about antisemitism on college campuses.

Students pitched tents to establish a Gaza Solidarity Encampment. A day later Shafik authorized the New York Police Department to sweep the area. NYPD officers arrested 108 students  the largest mass arrest on Columbias campus since 1968, according to the independent student newspaper the Columbia Spectator.

After that sweep, students returned and stayed for two weeks until Tuesday, when hundreds of NYPD officers entered Columbias campus and cleared the encampments and Hamilton Hall, which students occupied, according to the Columbia Spectator.

The post Biden backs peaceful protest, denounces campus chaos over Gaza appeared first on Utah News Dispatch.
University of Wisconsin-Madison protesters sit around tents on Wednesday as police work to dismantle their encampment on Library Mall. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden responded Thursday to weeks of protest on college campuses calling for a ceasefire in Gaza with a brief statement that the right to protest should be protected, but not the right to cause chaos.

We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent, Biden said from the White Houses Roosevelt Room. In fact, peaceful protest is in the best tradition of how Americans respond to consequential issues. But neither are we a lawless country.

Biden said that the student-led protests have not made him reconsider policy in the Middle East and that he did not believe the National Guard should be authorized in response to protests across the country.

He criticized the protests that have led to classes being canceled.

Dissent is essential to democracy, but dissent must never lead to disorder or to deny the rights of others so students can finish a semester or finish their college education, Biden said. Order must prevail.

Students have set up encampments to protest the Israel-Hamas war at about 30 college campuses across the country, including Tulane University in Louisiana and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Some have turned violent.

Fights broke out Tuesday night at UCLA when counter-protesters attempted to dismantle an encampment set up by protesters on the universitys campus, according to NPR.

Violent protest is not protected, Biden said. Peaceful protest is.

Student protesters have called for a ceasefire and for their institutions to divest from businesses that are tied to Israel, including companies that make weapons that have been used in the war.

More than 34,000 Palestinians have died in nearly seven months of war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Universities have called in police to sweep the encampments, leading to about 1,300 arrests, according to The Guardian.

Calls from Congress

Lawmakers have also called on higher education institutions to quell the protests, and have raised concerns about antisemitism.

The House on Wednesday passed a bipartisan bill that would require the Department of Education to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances definition of antisemitism.

Republicans and some Democratic advocates of the bill have argued that the protests are a form of antisemitism.

Critics of the bill say it could chill freedom of speech at educational institutions.

Nationwide protests began at Columbia University in New York on April 17 after the universitys president, Minouche Shafik, testified before the House Education and Workforce committee about antisemitism on college campuses.

Students pitched tents to establish a Gaza Solidarity Encampment. A day later Shafik authorized the New York Police Department to sweep the area. NYPD officers arrested 108 students  the largest mass arrest on Columbias campus since 1968, according to the independent student newspaper the Columbia Spectator.

After that sweep, students returned and stayed for two weeks until Tuesday, when hundreds of NYPD officers entered Columbias campus and cleared the encampments and Hamilton Hall, which students occupied, according to the Columbia Spectator.

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The post Biden backs peaceful protest, denounces campus chaos over Gaza appeared first on Oklahoma Voice.
University of Wisconsin-Madison protesters sit around tents on May 1, 2024, as police work to dismantle their encampment on Library Mall. (Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

University of Wisconsin-Madison protesters sit around tents on May 1, 2024, as police work to dismantle their encampment on Library Mall. (Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden responded Thursday to weeks of protest on college campuses calling for a ceasefire in Gaza with a brief statement that the right to protest should be protected, but not the right to cause chaos.

We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent, Biden said from the White Houses Roosevelt Room. In fact, peaceful protest is in the best tradition of how Americans respond to consequential issues. But neither are we a lawless country.

Biden said that the student-led protests have not made him reconsider policy in the Middle East and that he did not believe the National Guard should be authorized in response to protests across the country.

He criticized the protests that have led to classes being canceled.

Dissent is essential to democracy, but dissent must never lead to disorder or to deny the rights of others so students can finish a semester or finish their college education, Biden said. Order must prevail.

Students have set up encampments to protest the Israel-Hamas war at about 30 college campuses across the country, including Tulane University in Louisiana and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Some have turned violent.

Fights broke out Tuesday night at UCLA when counter-protesters attempted to dismantle an encampment set up by protesters on the universitys campus, according to NPR.

Violent protest is not protected, Biden said. Peaceful protest is.

Student protesters have called for a ceasefire and for their institutions to divest from businesses that are tied to Israel, including companies that make weapons that have been used in the war.

More than 34,000 Palestinians have died in nearly seven months of war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Universities have called in police to sweep the encampments, leading to about 1,300 arrests, according to The Guardian.

Calls from Congress

Lawmakers have also called on higher education institutions to quell the protests, and have raised concerns about antisemitism.

The House on Wednesday passed a bipartisan bill that would require the Department of Education to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances definition of antisemitism.

Republicans and some Democratic advocates of the bill have argued that the protests are a form of antisemitism.

Critics of the bill say it could chill freedom of speech at educational institutions.

Nationwide protests began at Columbia University in New York on April 17 after the universitys president, Minouche Shafik, testified before the House Education and Workforce committee about antisemitism on college campuses.

Students pitched tents to establish a Gaza Solidarity Encampment. A day later Shafik authorized the New York Police Department to sweep the area. NYPD officers arrested 108 students  the largest mass arrest on Columbias campus since 1968, according to the independent student newspaper the Columbia Spectator.

After that sweep, students returned and stayed for two weeks until Tuesday, when hundreds of NYPD officers entered Columbias campus and cleared the encampments and Hamilton Hall, which students occupied, according to the Columbia Spectator.

The post Biden backs peaceful protest, denounces campus chaos over Gaza appeared first on Oregon Capital Chronicle.
President Biden called Japan and India xenophobic at an off-camera campaign fundraiser in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, lumping the U.S. allies in with China and Russia while making the argument that the United States is right to welcome in immigrants.

This election is about freedom, America and democracy. Thats why I badly need you. You know, one of the reasons why our economy is growing is because of you and many others. Why? Because we welcome immigrants, the president said.

The reason  look, think about it. Why is China stalling so badly economically? Why is Japan having trouble? Why is Russia? Why is India? Because theyre xenophobic. They dont want immigrants. Immigrants are what makes us strong. Not a joke; thats not hyperbole. Because we have an influx of workers who want to be here and want to contribute, he added, according to a pool report.

When asked if the president would want to apologize to Japan for the comment, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden was trying to make a broader point.

The broader case that he was trying to make, which I think most leaders and allies across the globe understands, he was saying that we are a nation of immigrants, that is in our DNA, she said.

She added, as it relates to our relationship with our allies, that continues. Obviously we have a strong relationship with India, with Japan.

Biden has been hit relentlessly by Republicans over immigration, which is among a host of issues key to the 2024 election.

Biden has previously hit China for its lack of immigration as a reason for its economic troubles but hasnt criticized Japan, which is a key ally in Asia. Hes also had choice words for Russia, particularly during its war with Ukraine.

In including India and Japan alongside with China and Russia, Biden lumped in two counties considered key allies, particularly when it comes to combating China.

Biden has hosted leaders of both countries at the White House in the last year. He hosted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June 2023 and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida last month. Both were also treated to state dinners.

Updated 1:12 p.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
President Joe Biden on Wednesday called close US ally Japan xenophobic at a Washington, D.C., fundraiser, just weeks after lauding the US-Japan alliance at a state dinner.

The president made the remark at the off-camera event while arguing that Japan, along with India, Russia and China, would perform better economically if the countries embraced immigration more.

You know, one of the reasons why our economy is growing is because of you and many others. Why? Because we welcome immigrants. We look to  the reason  look, think about it  why is China stalling so badly economically? Why is Japan having trouble? Why is Russia? Why is India? Because theyre xenophobic. They dont want immigrants, Biden said, according to an official White House transcript released Thursday. An initial report of Bidens comments that was released by pool reporters did not include India in the list of countries he mentioned.

On Thursday, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the president was attempting to make a larger point when he described Japan and India as xenophobic.

He was saying that when it comes to who we are as a nation, we are a nation of immigrants, that is in our DNA, she told reporters aboard Air Force One, adding later Biden was making a broad comment in his comments about Japan and India.

She described the US-Japan relationship as important and enduring that would continue, despite Bidens comment. As for whether the president would make similar remarks going forward, she said: That is up to the president.

Earlier in the day, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said he wasnt aware of any communications between the White House and the governments of Japan or India.

President Biden values the capabilities that they bring across the spectrum on a range of issues, not just security related, Kirby said.

Biden had similarly cast Japan, Russia and China as xenophobic during an interview with a Spanish language radio station in March.

The Japanese, the Chinese, theyre xenophobic, they dont want any  the Russians, they dont want to have people, other than Russians, Chinese, or Japanese, the president said at the time.

The latest critique of Japan comes less than a month after he hosted Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for a state visit and nearly a year after the president hosted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his own state visit. Biden has leaned on improving relations with both Japan and India as important counterweights to Chinas growing global influence.

At the state dinner held at the White House in April, Biden said Japan and the US share the same values, the same commitment to democracy and freedom to dignity.

And today without question, our alliance is literally stronger than it has ever been, Biden said during the dinner.

Japan has long experienced a demographic crisis with far-reaching consequences for the countrys workforce and economy. Japan and other East Asian nations have largely shied away from using immigration to bolster their populations.

The presidents comments also come as hes facing political pressure at home over his own immigration policies amid strained resources to deal with an influx of migrants and sharp Republicans criticism.

This story has been updated with a quote from the official White House transcript and additional reporting.

CNNs Jessie Yeung contributed to this report.

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President Bidens reelection campaign is blaming former President Trump for a bill proposed in Louisiana that would criminalize possession of the abortion pills mifepristone and misoprostol.

In a statement first shared with The Hill from the Biden campaign, Louisiana native Kaitlyn Joshua, who was turned away from two emergency rooms and denied reproductive health care while experiencing a miscarriage, called out the former president.

This is Donald Trumps Project 2025 agenda in action: criminalizing womens reproductive health care, Joshua said. This should ring alarm bells for every woman across the country  MAGA Republicans want to ban and criminalize abortion medication everywhere.

The Pelican State proposal would add mifepristone and misoprostol to the list of controlled dangerous substances, and if someone in Louisiana were caught with them, it could lead to 10 years of prison time, local outlet WWNO reported.

Louisianas near-total abortion ban doesnt include exceptions for rape or incest, which are exceptions that Democrats in the state are currently fighting for. The only exceptions are for certain fetal conditions or if the pregnant mothers life is in danger. And the ban includes 15 years in prison and up to $200,000 in fines for doctors who violate the law.

I could have lost my life because of the extreme Louisiana abortion ban unleashed by Donald Trump and his overturning of Roe v. Wade, Joshua added in the statement. What is happening in Louisiana was enabled by Donald Trump  and will threaten the lives of more women like me. He did this and we must stop him.

The Biden campaign also launched a seven-figure ad campaign Thursday focused on Trumps recent comments to Time Magazine in which he said states should decide whether to monitor womens pregnancies or prosecute those who illegally get abortions.

Trump says states should decide on prosecuting women for abortions, has no comment on abortion pill

The campaign has targeted restrictive abortion bans in other states and has linked the former president to them, hoping that abortion will drive turnout for Democrats at the polls in November.

Vice President Harris traveled to Florida Wednesday, as the states 6-week abortion ban went into effect, to bash Trump.

Last month, she went to Arizona to knock the former president just days after the states Supreme Court upheld an 1864 law that made performing an abortion a felony  a law that was repealed Wednesday.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
President Joe Biden's campaign on Thursday attacked former President Donald Trump after Trump doubled down on saying that he wouldn't commit to accepting the results of the upcoming presidential election.

"If everything's honest, I'll gladly accept the results. I don't change on that," Trump said in an interview on Wednesday with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "If it's not, you have to fight for the right of the country."

Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, did go on to say he anticipates the 2024 election will be "honest."

MORE: Trump says 'it depends' if there will be violence if he loses 2024 election to Biden

In response to Trump's comments, the Biden campaign released a statement accusing Trump of being a "danger to the Constitution and a threat to our democracy."

"President Biden has said, 'You can't love your country only when you win.' But for Donald Trump, his campaign for revenge and retribution reigns supreme," Biden campaign spokesperson James Singer said in a statement.

PHOTO: President Joe Biden speaks at a campaign in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, April 18, 2024. (Thomas Hengge/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Asked on Thursday afternoon by ABC News' Karen Travers if he were worried that Trump wouldn't accept the election results, Biden said "listen to what he says."

Trump's latest comments come after an interview published this week in TIME Magazine where Trump hinged potential political violence on if he won or not.

"I don't think we're going to have that. I think we're going to win," Trump told TIME Magazine when asked about future political violence. "And if we don't win, you know, it depends. It always depends on the fairness of an election."

On the campaign trail, Trump has been vocalizing doubts about the outcome of the 2024 election. He has claimed that his legal battles are a form of "election interference," as he has had to juggle campaign appearances with required in-person court attendance during his New York hush money trial. Prosecutors have denied any political motivations.

Trump has also bashed early-voting methods such as mail-in voting, as the Republican National Committee seeks to encourage more Republican voters to embrace these voting methods.

MORE: Republican Party pushing mail-in voting despite Trump's opposition

PHOTO: Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally on May 01, 2024 in Waukesha, Wisconsin. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Trump also continues to spread false claims about the security of the 2020 election.

On Wednesday, speaking at rallies in Wisconsin and Michigan, where the 2020 election results were heavily contested, Trump continued to falsely suggest that the 2020 presidential election was rigged, but attempted to assure his supporters that their ballots will be secured even for early voting and mail-in voting.

"Democrats rigged the presidential election in 2020, but we're not going to allow them to rig the presidential election, the most important day of our lives in 2024," Trump falsely claimed at his rally in Freeland, Michigan.

"No matter how you vote, whether it's early, on election day, by mail or in person, it doesn't matter, we'll make sure your ballot is secure," Trump continued. "We want to make you sure, but we're going to be sure that your ballots are secure. You're not going to put in ballots that don't count."

But Trump's continued false claims about a "rigged" election have already fueled distrust in the 2024 election system within a large portion of Trump's support base -- with multiple attendees at his Wednesday rally telling ABC News that they don't have faith in the current election system in the United States.

"I feel that Michigan went for Trump, but I don't have any hard data to support that," Don Barnard of Sanford, Michigan, who attended the Michigan rally, said of the 2020 presidential election.

"Do I have questions about how the election was conducted? Yes. But can I say because of this and because of that? No," Barnard continued regarding the 2020 election. "Obviously there's little I can do, and all I can do is pray we will have an honest election."

Another Michigan rally attendee, Martin Humphrey of Saginaw, Michigan, told ABC News, who also said he currently doesn't have any faith in the election system, called for stricter laws governing voter ID and so-called ballot harvesting, a practice in which individuals or groups collect large amounts of mail-in ballots from vulnerable populations like the elderly and submit them en masse. In more than 30 states, someone other than the voter is allowed to return a ballot on behalf of another voter.

"I think that everyone should have an ID to vote," Humphrey said. "And ballot harvesting should be stopped."

Biden campaign slams Trump's latest unwillingness to accept results of 2024 election originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
President Joe Biden on Thursday condemned pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses that have turned violent or resulted in property destruction, emphasizing that Americans only have the right to protest as long as it remains peaceful.

"There is a right to protest," Biden said, in his most extensive remarks since the campus protest movement began. "But there is not a right to cause chaos."

The president, however, rejected the idea that the National Guard should be called in to quell some of the demonstrations at campuses across the country. And he rejected the suggestion that the protest movement might persuade him to change course in the Middle East, where Biden has remained largely supportive of Israel's war in Gaza.

Biden's remarks came more than two weeks since the pro-Palestinian student protests began. The movement has grown and intensified in the days since then, spreading to more than 100 campuses as students erected encampments and issued demands for colleges to divest from their ties to Israel. In several cases, college administrators have responded by calling in law enforcement to disperse the protesters, leading to intense confrontations and even arrests.

In his speech, Biden acknowledged the demonstrations are part of a long history of Americans exercising a right to free speech and assembly that he called "American fundamental principles." But he insisted the protests must stay within the law, in a nod to the decision by protesters at Columbia University to occupy one of the school's buildings.

"Destroying property is not a peaceful protest, it's against the law," Biden said. "Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduation, none of this is a peaceful protest."

The White House until now had largely sought to steer clear of any significant involvement with the protests, contending they amounted to individual situations for college administrators to handle. Yet campuses across the country have become the site of chaotic scenes in recent days, amplifying pressure on Biden to take a more public role.

At Columbia, protesters occupied a university building, prompting the school to authorize police to enter it and conduct mass arrests. The arrival of counter-protesters at UCLA sparked violent late-night clashes with a pro-Palestinian group that had barricaded itself on campus. And in Texas, Missouri and elsewhere, viral clips showing the arrests of journalists and college professors have heightened scrutiny of police officers' use of force.

The White House, in the meantime, has conducted little visible outreach to university administrators, nor weighed in on frustrations with the war in Gaza that is fueling the protests. Though second gentleman Doug Emhoff spoke privately with a pair of Jewish community leaders at Columbia last week, the discussion was limited to combating antisemitism on campus.

During his remarks, Biden offered his own rebuke of the antisemitic episodes that have occurred alongside the protests, asserting that "there should be no place on any campus, no place in America, for antisemitism or threats of violence against Jewish students."

"Dissent must never lead to disorder or denying the rights to others, so students can finish a semester and their college education," Biden added. "It's basically a matter of fairness, it's a matter of what's right."


On April 29, Russian troops attacked Odesa with an Iskander-M ballistic missile with a cluster warhead, killing 6 people. The use of such weapons is prohibited by the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which has been ratified by 112 countries, but their reaction to the attacks is unlikely to be what Ukrainians expect.

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Ihor Koziy, an expert on military affairs at the Institute for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation, said this in an interview with OBOZ.UA. As an example, he cited the UN's reaction to Russia's invasion of Ukraine: the organization called Russia's actions aggression, but the occupying country has not yet been expelled from the UN Security Council.

And Russia got there as a successor to the USSR, it did not go through the official procedure of joining.

"As you say, what is the reaction of the world. By the way, how many colors does the world have? Only seven - 'Richard of York Gave Battle in Vain'. If the world seems white to you, it breaks down into seven colors, and it is not white at all. Therefore, when you expect a reaction from it, you must clearly understand from whom you expect a reaction. The German Chancellor is making fig signs, and you are happy," Koziy said.

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He believes that Ukraine should pay more attention to counterintelligence and intelligence - these structures should be well funded so that they can both detect enemy "moles" and create their own agents in Russia, the United States, Germany, and other countries.

"And we pay more attention to ballistics, whether it will fly or not, whether it will fall or not. All decisions are made by people, and in big offices, and you have to understand that. Therefore, we need to allocate certain resources to recruit these people, to make them work for Ukraine, to provide all the information necessary for our country, to create the conditions necessary for us to restore the defense industry, and not to play along with the Russian Federation," the expert explained.

As reported by OBOZ.UA:

- In the evening of April 29, the Russian army attacked Odesa with Iskander with shrapnel. Five people were killed and 32 people were injured. Civilian infrastructure and residential buildings were damaged. The number of victims of this attack on May 1 increased to six people - one of the wounded men died in hospital.

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- Late in the evening on Tuesday, April 30, Russian occupation forces again struck Odesa with ballistic missiles. Explosions were heard in the city, and three people were killed in the attack.

- On the evening of Wednesday, May 1, the Russians again attacked Odesa, using ballistic missiles. Explosions were heard in the city. At least 13 people have been reported injured as a result of the enemy shelling.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
President Joe Biden delivered unscheduled remarks from the White House on Thursday, addressing the wave of pro-Palestine demonstrations taking place on university campuses across the nation.

Biden emphasized that the United States is a freedom-loving nation and that dissent is essential to democracy  just not this kind of dissent. Its against the law when violence occurs, he said. Destroying property is not a peaceful protest. Its against the law. Vandalism. Trespassing. Breaking windows. Shutting down campuses. Forcing the cancellation of classes and graduation. None of this is a peaceful protest.

Dissent must never lead to disorder or to denying the rights of others so students can finish the semester and their college education, he added.

President Biden on college campus protests: "There's the right to protest, but not the right to chaos." pic.twitter.com/wtmvjOrLWH  CSPAN (@cspan) May 2, 2024

Students have been protesting Israels assault on Gaza for weeks now, most notably at Columbia University, where students took control of a building earlier this week only to be forcibly removed and arrested by the New York City Police Department. Law enforcement officers have been cracking down on demonstrations at campuses around the nation, routinely brutalizing protesters in the process. The brutalization escalated Wednesday night, with cops appearing to fire rubber bullets at protesters at UCLA. A day earlier, pro-Israel counter-protesters violently attacked a pro-Palestine encampment at the school.

Some Republicans have called for Biden to send the National Guard onto college campuses to break up the demonstrations. Biden was asked on Thursday if he would do so. He said no.

Biden was also asked if the protests are influencing his approach to Israel. The United States has been sending military aid to Israel since Hamas attacked it on Oct. 7, and has continued to do so despite the death toll in Gaza, accusations of human rights violations by the Israeli military, and ongoing international criminal investigations into Israels offensive on Gaza.

Biden said no.

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In a surprise White House address on Thursday morning, President Joe Biden condemned the violent protests that have swept American college campuses and decried the antisemitism that has taken place at many of the demonstrations.



Weve all seen the images and they put to the test two fundamental American principles, Biden said in his first major remarks on the campus protests. The first is the right to free speech and for people to peacefully assemble and make their voices heard. The second is the rule of law. Both must be upheld.



In a brief speech lasting just over three minutes, Biden drew a clear differentiation between lawful protests and the violence that has occurred on some campuses.



Violent protest is not protected. Peaceful protest is. Its against the law when violence occurs, the president said. Destroying property is not a peaceful protest. Its against the law. Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduation  none of this is a peaceful protest. Threatening people, intimidating people, instilling fear in people is not a peaceful protest. Its against the law.



Biden specifically called out the hate experienced by Jewish students on many campuses. Lets be clear about this as well: There should be no place on any campus, no place in America, for antisemitism or threats of violence against Jewish students, said Biden.



There is no place for hate speech or violence of any kind, whether its antisemitism, Islamophobia or discrimination against Arab Americans or Palestinian Americans. Its simply wrong, added Biden. Theres no place for racism in America. Its all wrong. Its un-American.



The president did not mention Israel or anti-Zionist rhetoric, nor did he make any reference to the content of the protests or the protesters demands. But Biden said no when asked by a reporter if the protests will lead him to reconsider his policy in the Middle East. He also responded with a no when asked if the National Guard should intervene.



I understand people have strong feelings and deep convictions, said Biden. In America, we respect the right and protect the right for them to express that. But it doesnt mean anything goes. It needs to be done without violence, without destruction, without hate and within the law.



Earlier this week, after student protesters violently occupied a Columbia University administrative building, White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates condemned their actions.





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WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden will deliver the keynote address at an annual ceremony commemorating the Holocaust on May 7, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced on Wednesday.

President Joe Biden (Matt Rourke / AP)

Biden's remarks will take place during a U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum ceremony marking the Days of Remembrance on Capitol Hill next Tuesday.

Jean-Pierre told reporters that Biden will "discuss our moral duty to combat the rising scourge of antisemitism" and the administration's work to fight back against antisemitism.

Biden's remarks will come amid a rise in antisemitism, including at the protests that have swept college campuses in recent weeks as students have blasted Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza.

Asked Wednesday if Biden supports the deployment of law enforcement to address college campus protests, Jean-Pierre said: "We've been very clear on that  Americans have the right to peacefully protest. They have a right to peacefully protest, as long as it's within the law and that it's peaceful."

"Forcibly taking over a building is not peaceful. It's just not," she continued, referring to protestors at Columbia University who took over a campus building early Tuesday. "Students have the right to feel safe. They have the right to learn, they have the right to do this without disruption and they have a right to feel safe."

Former President Donald Trump has seized on these sometimes violent demonstrations, reposting a Fox News clip on Truth Social on Wednesday, for example, in which a guest said that these protests wouldn't have happened under Trump and that "Biden is complicit in this violence."

Congressional Republicans have also highlighted antisemitism on college campuses. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., visited Columbia last week with a group of other GOP members, and said he would call on Biden to rein in protests.

The House is expected to vote Wednesday on legislation that would mandate that the Education Department adopt the broad definition of antisemitism used by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, an intergovernmental group, to enforce anti-discrimination laws.

The international group defines antisemitism as a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. The group adds that rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism include such things as calling for the killing or harming of Jews or holding Jews collectively responsible for actions taken by the state of Israel.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
President Biden will expand two new national monuments in California on Thursday morning, the White House confirmed.

President Obama first designated the two monuments, the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument and the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument. A White House official confirmed that the expansion, reported by The Hill in April, will protect some 120,000 acres between the two monuments. Bidens proclamation will also rename the Snow Mountain monuments central ridge from Walker Ridge to Molok Loyuk.

According to a White House fact sheet, the proclamation will protect another 105,919 acres of the San Gabriel Mountains monument on top of its existing 346,177. The monument, which is adjacent to Los Angeles, also includes broad swathes of undeveloped land.

Bidens expansion will also add 13,696 acres to the existing 330,000 acres covered by the Berryessa Snow Mountain monument.

In a statement, Vice President Harris, who is set to attend the signing ceremony with the president, highlighted her own roots in California and the administrations broader conservation goals. Harris introduced legislation in the Senate to expand the San Gabriel monument in 2020. Harriss successor, Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), and Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) have also long pushed for an expansion, with the House passing a companion bill to Harriss sponsored by Chu at the time.

Thanks to President Bidens leadership and the dedicated organizing of advocates throughout my home state, we are making that a reality by protecting an additional 120,000 acres of lands that are culturally, ecologically, and historically important to California and our nation, Harris said. These expansions will increase access to nature, boost our outdoor economy, and honor areas of significance to Tribal Nations and Indigenous peoples as we continue to safeguard our public lands for all Americans and for generations to come.

The administration has set a target of preserving 30 percent of American lands and waters by 2030.

From increasing access to nature for low-income and underserved communities to protecting the source of one-third of Los Angeles Countys drinking water, todays proclamation will be so meaningful to our region, Chu said in a statement. As we celebrate this proclamation by President Biden, lets recommit to protecting these pristine public lands for the future and working together to give everyone access to their immense benefits.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
FILE - Lake Berryessa is seen with parts of California's newest national monument in the background, July 10, 2015, near Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, Calif. President Biden has expanded two culturally significant California landscapes: the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument in Southern California and Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument in Northern California. The U.S. National Park Service notes that the move Thursday, May 2, 2024 was allowed under the Antiquities Act of 1906. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

President Joe Biden on Thursday expanded two national monuments in California following calls from tribal nations, Indigenous community leaders and others for the permanent protection of nearly 120,000 acres (48,562 hectares) of important cultural and environmental land.

The designations are part of the Democratic presidents America the Beautiful initiative, launched in 2021 in line with Bidens campaign promises, and builds on the Great American Outdoors Act. They're aimed at honoring tribal heritage, meeting federal goals to conserve 30% of public lands and waters by 2030 and addressing climate change, the White House said in a news release.

Against the backdrop of Bidens reelection campaign, the White House emphasized the role of Vice President Kamala Harris in ensuring protections in her home state. The state of California also has conservation targets.

These expansions will increase access to nature, boost our outdoor economy, and honor areas of significance to Tribal Nations and Indigenous peoples as we continue to safeguard our public lands for all Americans and for generations to come, Harris said in a written statement.

Some Republicans and other critics of the president's initiative say it unnecessarily ties up resources that could be crucial for agriculture and other uses. In some cases, they allege he has exceeded his legal authority. Some of the president's past actions have included restoring monuments or conservation land that former Republican President Donald Trump had canceled.

In Pasadena, Southern California, Biden expanded the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, driven by calls from Indigenous peoples including the Fernandeno Tataviam Band of Mission Indians and the Gabrieleno San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians. Both are the original stewards of the culturally rich and diverse lands, advocates noted in a separate news release.

The president also expanded Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument in Sacramento in Northern California, to include Molok Luyuk, or Condor Ridge. The newly renamed ridgeline has been significant to tribal nations such as the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation for thousands of years. It is a central site for religious ceremonies and was once important to key trading routes, advocates said.

Expansion of both sites makes nature more accessible for Californians, while protecting a number of species, including black bears, mountain lions and tule elk, the White House release said.

Californians are calling on the Biden administration to make a total of five monument designations this year. The other three include the designation of a new Chuckwalla National Monument, new Kwtsan National Monument and a call to protect and name Sattitla, known as the Medicine Lake Highlands, as a national monument.

Expansion and designation efforts are made under the Antiquities Act of 1906, which authorizes the president to provide general legal protection of cultural and natural resources of historic or scientific interest on Federal lands, according to the Department of the Interior.

Across the nation, coalitions of tribes and conservation groups have urged Biden to make a number of other designations over the past three years. With Thursdays news, the administration has established or expanded seven national monuments, restored protections for three more and taken other measures, the White House said.

Biden signed a national monument designation outside Grand Canyon National Park called Baaj Nwaavjo Itah Kukveni last August, a move which the top two Republicans in Arizona's Legislature are currently challenging.

In 2021, Biden restored two sprawling national monuments in Utah and a marine conservation area in New England where environmental protections had been cut by Trump. The move was also challenged in court.

Avi Kwa Ame National Monument, sacred to Native Americans in southern Nevada, was designated in 2023 along with the Castner Range in El Paso, Texas.

___

Alexa St. John is an Associated Press climate solutions reporter. Follow her on X: @alexa_stjohn. Reach her at ast.john@ap.org.
President Joe Biden on Thursday expanded two national monuments in California following calls from tribal nations, Indigenous community leaders and others for the permanent protection of nearly 120,000 acres (48,562 hectares) of important cultural and environmental land.

The designations are part of the Democratic presidents America the Beautiful initiative, launched in 2021 in line with Bidens campaign promises, and builds on the Great American Outdoors Act. Theyre aimed at honoring tribal heritage, meeting federal goals to conserve 30% of public lands and waters by 2030 and addressing climate change, the White House said in a news release.

Against the backdrop of Bidens reelection campaign, the White House emphasized the role of Vice President Kamala Harris in ensuring protections in her home state. The state of California also has conservation targets.

Lake Berryessa is seen with parts of California's newest national monument in the background, July 10, 2015, near Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, Calif.

These expansions will increase access to nature, boost our outdoor economy, and honor areas of significance to Tribal Nations and Indigenous peoples as we continue to safeguard our public lands for all Americans and for generations to come, Harris said in a written statement.

Some Republicans and other critics of the presidents initiative say it unnecessarily ties up resources that could be crucial for agriculture and other uses. In some cases, they allege he has exceeded his legal authority. Some of the presidents past actions have included restoring monuments or conservation land that former Republican President Donald Trump had canceled.

In Pasadena, Southern California, Biden expanded the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, driven by calls from Indigenous peoples including the Fernandeno Tataviam Band of Mission Indians and the Gabrieleno San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians. Both are the original stewards of the culturally rich and diverse lands, advocates noted in a separate news release.

The president also expanded Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument in Sacramento in Northern California, to include Molok Luyuk, or Condor Ridge. The newly renamed ridgeline has been significant to tribal nations such as the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation for thousands of years. It is a central site for religious ceremonies and was once important to key trading routes, advocates said.

UCLA campus trashed after police dismantle encampment

Expansion of both sites makes nature more accessible for Californians, while protecting a number of species, including black bears, mountain lions and tule elk, the White House release said.

Californians are calling on the Biden administration to make a total of five monument designations this year. The other three include the designation of a new Chuckwalla National Monument, new Kwtsan National Monument and a call to protect and name Sattitla, known as the Medicine Lake Highlands, as a national monument.

Expansion and designation efforts are made under the Antiquities Act of 1906, which authorizes the president to provide general legal protection of cultural and natural resources of historic or scientific interest on Federal lands, according to the Department of the Interior.

Across the nation, coalitions of tribes and conservation groups have urged Biden to make a number of other designations over the past three years. With Thursdays news, the administration has established or expanded seven national monuments, restored protections for three more and taken other measures, the White House said.

Biden signed a national monument designation outside Grand Canyon National Park called Baaj Nwaavjo Itah Kukveni last August, a move which the top two Republicans in Arizonas Legislature are currently challenging.

In 2021, Biden restored two sprawling national monuments in Utah and a marine conservation area in New England where environmental protections had been cut by Trump. The move was also challenged in court.

Avi Kwa Ame National Monument, sacred to Native Americans in southern Nevada, was designated in 2023 along with the Castner Range in El Paso, Texas.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
Biden says 'order must prevail' during campus protests over the war in Gaza

WASHINGTON (AP)  President Joe Biden on Thursday rejected calls from student protesters to change his approach to the war in Gaza while insisting that order must prevail as college campuses across the country face a wave of violence, outrage and fear.

Dissent is essential for democracy, Biden said at the White House. But dissent must never lead to disorder.

The Democratic president broke days of silence on the protests with his remarks, which followed mounting criticism from Republicans who have tried to turn scenes of unrest into a campaign cudgel. By focusing on a law-and-order message while defending the right to free speech, Biden is grasping for a middle ground on an intensely divisive issue in the middle of his reelection campaign.

He largely sidestepped protesters' demands, which have included ending U.S. support for Israeli military operations. Asked after his remarks whether the demonstrations would prompt him to consider changing course, Biden responded with a simple no.

Biden said that he did not want the National Guard to be deployed to campuses. Some Republicans have called for sending in troops, an idea with a fraught history. Four students were shot and killed at Kent State University by members of the Ohio National Guard during protests over the Vietnam War in 1970.

Tensions on college campuses have been building for days as demonstrators refuse to remove encampments and administrators turn to police to clear them by force, leading to clashes that have seized widespread attention.

Biden said he rejected efforts to use the situation to score political points," calling the situation a moment for clarity.

There's the right to protest, but not the right to cause chaos, Biden said shortly before leaving the White House for a trip to North Carolina. People have the right to get an education, the right to get a degree, the right to walk across campus safely without fear of being attacked.

The White House also maintained its focus on combating antisemitism. Doug Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, spoke to Jewish students and Hillel leaders on Thursday to hear about their experience with threats and hate speech, according to a White House official.

Biden will make his own visit to a college campus on May 19 when hes scheduled to deliver the commencement address at Morehouse University in Atlanta.

His last previous public comment on the demonstrations came more than a week ago, when he condemned antisemitic protests and those who dont understand whats going on with the Palestinians.

The White House, which has been peppered with questions by reporters, had gone only slightly further than the president. On Wednesday, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Biden was monitoring the situation closely" and that some demonstrations had stepped over a line that separated free speech from unlawful behavior.

Forcibly taking over a building," such as what happened at Columbia University in New York, "is not peaceful," she said. "Its just not.

Biden's latest remarks weren't well received in some corners of the Democratic Party.

We need to prevent lawlessness in society. We need to have protections against hate speech, said a social media post from Patrick Gaspard, president of the Center for American Progress and a former White House political director under President Barack Obama. But we need to be able to hold space for active dissent and activism that is discomforting without blanket accusations of hate and violence against all activists.

But Biden's team has expressed confidence that his stance appeals to the widest array of voters. It also echoes his approach to nationwide unrest after the murder of George Floyd by a police officer four years ago, a politically volatile situation in the middle of his campaign against then-President Donald Trump.

I want to make it absolutely clear rioting is not protesting, looting is not protesting, Biden said then in remarks that his team turned into an advertisement. Its lawlessness, plain and simple, and those that do it should be prosecuted.

Biden has never been much for protests of any kind. His career in elected office began as a county official when he was only 28 years old, and hes always espoused the political importance of compromise.

As college campuses convulsed with anger over the Vietnam War in 1968, Biden was in law school at Syracuse University.

Im not big on flak jackets and tie-dyed shirts, he said years later. You know, thats not me.

The White House has also maintained its focus on combating antisemitism. Doug Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, spoke to Jewish students and Hillel leaders on Thursday to hear about their experience with threats and hate speech, according to a White House official.

Despite the administration's criticism of violent college protests and Biden's refusal to heed demands to cut off U.S. support for Israel, Republicans blame Democrats for the disorder and have used it as a backdrop for press conferences.

We need the president of the United States to speak to the issue and say this is wrong," House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said on Tuesday. "Whats happening on college campuses right now is wrong.

Johnson visited Columbia University with other members of his caucus last week. House Republicans sparred verbally with protesters while speaking to the media at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.

Trump, who is running for another term as president, also criticized Biden in an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News.

Biden has to do something, he said. Biden is supposed to be the voice of our country, and its certainly not much of a voice. Its a voice that nobodys heard.

He repeated his criticisms on Wednesday during a campaign event in Waukesha, Wisconsin.

The radical extremists and far-left agitators are terrorizing college campuses, as you possibly noticed," Trump said. And Bidens nowhere to be found. He hasnt said anything."

Kate Berner, who served as deputy communications director for Bidens campaign in 2020, said Republicans already had tried the same tactic during protests over Floyd's murder.

People rejected that, she said. They saw that it was just fearmongering. They saw that it wasnt based in reality.

Apart from condemning antisemitism, the White House has been reluctant to directly engage on the issue.

Jean-Pierre repeatedly deflected questions during a briefing on Monday.

Asked whether protesters should be disciplined by their schools, she said universities and colleges make their own decisions and "were not going to weigh in from here.

Pressed on whether police should be called in, she said that's up to the colleges and universities.

Asked on Thursday why Biden chose to speak on the matter after police had arrested protesters at the University of California, Los Angeles and at universities in New York City, Jean-Pierre stressed instead the importance of any protests being nonviolent.

Weve been very consistent here, she said. Americans have the right to peacefully protest as long as its within the law and violence is not protected.

___

Associated Press writer Adriana Gomez Licon in Miami and AP writer Colleen Long and White House Correspondent Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.
On Thursday, President Biden made his way to Wilmington, North Carolina, also making a stop in Charlotte to visit the families of police officers killed in the line of duty. Bidens trip comes shortly after Vice President Kamala Harris visited Charlotte last month. In fact, both have made multiple journeys down to North Carolina this year.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the vice president visited Jacksonville, Florida on the day that the states six-week abortion ban came into effect. Harris, as Inside Washington has written before, can zero in on abortion rights in ways that Biden, an 81-year-old Catholic man, cannot. And indeed, Harris delivered some scorching lines against Florida Republicans, saying extremist Republican lawmakers who voted in the ban either dont know how a womans body works, or simply dont care.

The president continues to poll badly, even in states that he won in 2020 such as Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Nevada. So why the focus on tough-to-win states like North Carolina and Florida?

Florida has become a Republican citadel in the past decade, with its governor Ron DeSantis winning re-election by almost 20 points in 2022. Thats a far cry from when Barack Obama and Biden won it twice and when it had Democratic Senators like Bill Nelson and the late Bob Graham.

And North Carolina has proven even more elusive than Florida. After Barack Obama pulled off a miracle in 2008 and became the first Democrat since Jimmy Carter in 1976 to win the state, its taken a hard-right turn. Mitt Romney won North Carolina in 2012, Donald Trump won it twice, and Democrats have not won any of the four Senate races since 2008.

But Democrats think that the fallout from the 2022 Dobbs v Jackson decision that overturned abortion rights may well have put both states in play.

Florida is by far the tougher climb. The state barely voted for Trump in 2016. But increased migration from retirees seeking the states warm weather and zero income taxes, combined with an influx of migrants from countries with socialist governments like Venezuela and the rightward shift of the existing Hispanic population, has turned Florida into a laboratory for right-wing politics.

Nevertheless, Nikki Fried, the Florida Democratic Party chairwoman, told my colleague John Bowden that she and other Democrats believe the draconian abortion ban, as well as a ballot initiative to enshrine abortion rights in the state, can turn everything around. Specifically, she said she would focus on the three As: affordability, accountability and abortion while campaigning this year.

Democrats have already had some success: they flipped the mayorship of Jacksonville last year, which is no mean feat.

Biden and the party feel they have a better shot in North Carolina. In recent years, as my colleague Ariana Baio reported, North Carolina has seen an influx of people move to the state. But unlike in Florida, North Carolina has seen mostly college-educated young professionals move in  mostly to the Charlotte area or the Research Triangle, which includes Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill and many of the states elite universities. These are the types who typically vote Democratic.

Like in Florida, Democrats are banking on abortion rights turning the state from Wolf Pack Red to Tar Heel blue. When I spoke to the states governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat who won both times Trump was on the ballot, he noted how he fears that Republicans might go further than the states 12-week abortion ban.

There's an effective ban in the entire southeast now that we have the Florida situation, and obviously North Carolina has a 12-week ban, but it's very burdensome on women because of the requirement of an in-person appointment before you can get the healthcare that you need, he told me at the time.

Democrats also hope that Mark Robinson  the Republican nominee for governor who has peddled in notoriously xenophobic rhetoric  might not only help Democrat Josh Stein win the governorship but help carry Biden over the finish line in a buzzer-beater worthy of March Madness.

Yet, Democrats are not oblivious, even if they are optimistic.

I'm not gonna say [abortion] is going to flip the state because there's going be a lot of Republicans who vote for [the ballot initiative to enshrine abortion rights] too, Representative Maxwell Frost, the progressive Gen-Z Democrat from Florida told me.

Senator Marco Rubio outright dismissed the efforts from Harris and others to turn Florida blue.

I think some of the problems [are] wildly exaggerated, but it's part of a very heated debate around the country, he told me. [Harris is] running for office, and I think this is going to give them an advantage but they're going to lose Florida by a lot.

Senator Ted Budd of North Carolina said he was sure North Carolina would stay red.

Hes wasted the last three and a half years and hes going to waste a trip to North Carolina, he told me, when I asked about Bidens trip to the state this week.

Republicans may say that they are sure Biden and Harris arent a threat in North Carolina and Florida. But the fact that Democrats see a clear opportunity means their opponents may be forced to spend campaign funds in defense, whether they like it or not.
President Joe Biden ran for president on the premise that he would protect the nations democracy from existential threats. This week, his administration took a major step to do just thatby moving to downgrade marijuanas classification on the federal list of controlled substances and lift significant legal restrictions on its use and possession.

The Drug Enforcement Administrations planned rule change, as reported by the AP, would reclassify pot from Schedule I, alongside heroin and LSD, to Schedule III, which includes more benign drugs like codeine and testosterone. An exact timeline on when the change would take effect is not clear, since it still requires the approval of Attorney General Merrick Garland and the White Houses Office of Management and Budget, and rule changes must go through a lengthy notice and comment period.

It is also important to note what the Biden administrations move will not do. First and foremost, it would not fully decriminalize the drug at the federal level. Only Congress has the power to rewrite the laws that specifically make its possession and distribution a criminal offense. Nor does it affect state licensing regimes that determine who can and cant lawfully sell it in the states, or the state-level laws that still criminalize it.

But this will be welcome news for the nations marijuana industry, which has operated in a gray area of legality for the past decade. Reclassification could open the door for researchers to conduct clinical studies on marijuanas effects that were previously barred. It may also allow dispensaries and other marijuana-related businesses to obtain tax breaks, conduct business with major banks, and, unless otherwise prohibited by state law, advertise their products.



Beyond the practical effects, there is also an important civic one. There are few issues in American politics with such broad public support where the nations elected leaders nonetheless refused to do anything about it. While some may deride reclassification as an election-year gambit, that would be a good thing. Protecting democracy isnt just about holding elections; it means making the government responsive to the American peoples wishes.

There is no real dispute on where the people stand on marijuana. Last fall, a Gallup survey found that roughly 70 percent of Americans support legalizing marijuana. That represents a nearly 20 percent leap just within the past decade. The polling organization has found that about 17 percent of Americans regularly use it, while about half of all Americans say theyve tried it at least once. Its unclear how many of those respondents followed former President Bill Clintons lead and didnt inhale.

The most striking thing about the Gallup survey may be its demographic findings. Unsurprisingly, marijuana legalization enjoys relatively more support among younger and more liberal Americans, with 87 percent of Democrats and 79 percent of 18-to-34 year olds favoring it. But it has also made considerable inroads among more conservative sections of American society: 55 percent of Republicans favor legalization, as do 64 percent of people older than 55 years of age.

Those numbers may even be underestimates. While Gallup did not distinguish between medical and recreational use in its survey, a March 2024 Pew Research Center survey looked at the difference. With that question in the mix, a whopping 88 percent of respondents said that it should be legalized at least for medical use. Only roughly one-third of Americans polled said that legalizing marijuana for recreational use would make communities less safe or increase the use of more dangerous drugs.

Marijuana legalization does not hold the title for greatest social shift in American life within the last generation. That title still goes to the reversal of public opinion on same-sex marriage. But the tidal shift on marijuana is impressive in its size and scope. Colorado became the first state to legalize it for recreational use in 2013. Earlier that year, the Obama administration had said it would not sue jurisdictions that sought to do so, opening the door to similar state-level initiatives.

Today, 24 states have legalized marijuana for recreational use, and a further 13 states allow possession and distribution for medical use as well. Only six states have declined to legalize it in some form. Two of them, Idaho and Nebraska, may hold ballot initiatives on the matter in November. Florida is also considering a recreational marijuana initiative, while South Dakota will try to do it again after the state Supreme Court struck down a successful 2020 amendment for violating single-subject rules.

All of this stands in sharp contrast with Congress and the White House, where movement toward legalization has been sluggish at best. Part of the problem is generational: Top federal lawmakers, as well as Biden himself, are much, much older than the nation they represent. For Biden, the shift is even more remarkable given his own senatorial career. While representing Delaware in the Senate, he championed some of the nations strictest anti-drug laws, reflecting the tough-on-crime zeitgeist of the 1980s and the 1990s as well as his own beliefs.

That stance softened in recent years but never completely changed. In 2022, Biden pardoned thousands of Americans who had been convicted of simple possession of marijuana. That move made it easier for the recipients to obtain jobs and housing, but it also did not free anyone from prison. The Justice Department said nobody was serving a prison sentence just for simple possession at the time. And while Biden then expressed support for rescheduling marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act, he has stopped short of supporting full legalization.

After this weeks announcement, Senate Democrats reintroduced legislation to do just that. But it faces a set of nearly insurmountable obstacles in Congress: The legislative branch is barely functional these days thanks to GOP infighting in the House, and even if it were functional, a large number of Republican lawmakers still oppose legalization in any form. If Biden wants to tell voters that American democracy is better off now than it was four years ago, carrying out their wishes on marijuana policy is a good way to do that.
President Biden on Thursday will meet with families of the police officers who were killed in the line of duty in Charlotte, N.C.

The president will travel to Charlotte Douglas International Airport to pay his respects to the brave law enforcement officers killed and wounded in the line of duty in Charlotte on Monday, according to the White House.

At the Charlotte airport, he will meet with families of the fallen officers, the wounded law enforcement officers, and other law enforcement officers, as well as elected officials.

Biden will then travel to Wilmington, N.C., to give remarks about his agenda, including rebuilding infrastructure and creating jobs, according to the White House.

Four police officers were killed Monday in east Charlotte while trying to serve an arrest warrant for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The officers tried to approach the individual and were met with gunfire.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Thomas Weeks and Sam Poloche and William Elliott of the North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections were killed. Officer Joshua Eyer was critically wounded before he later died at the hospital, according to WSOC-TV.

Biden has stressed his support for law enforcement amid hits from Republicans over crime across the U.S. He has previously pushed back against policies he believes are too weak on crime and has championed funding for police departments to allow them to hire more officers and spend more time in communities.

Also, in the 2020 Democratic primary, he distanced himself from the defund the police movement that gained momentum among some progressives in the aftermath of George Floyds murder in Minnesota.

Bidens trip to North Carolina comes as his campaign has set its sights on flipping the state that former President Trump won in 2020. Biden also traveled to the Tar Heel State in March, and Vice President Harris visited Charlotte in April.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Poland, like other democratic countries, will never take such a step as extraditing to Ukraine men who are subject to military service and are classified as evaders at home but are recognized as refugees abroad. And consular services to citizens are a matter of domestic policy, not foreign policy.

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Former member of the Polish Government Piotr Kulpa told OBOZ.UA how the termination of consular services for Ukrainians abroad will affect the attitude of Western countries toward them. He called it absolute nonsense to talk about the West extraditing "evaders" to Ukraine.

"This categorically does not fit into any plane. Because this would be possible for countries that are dictatorships, provided that Ukraine is a dictatorship. But as for democratic countries, there are human rights and so on. Especially since these are refugees, which is what we are talking about. There is no such possibility only voluntarily," the Polish expert said.

Kulpa also explained what the termination of consular services means for Ukrainians abroad.

"First, it may mean that a citizen cannot vote, cannot run for office. These are millions of people who will be cut off from the opportunity to participate in determining the fate of Ukraine. It turns out that this is a division of citizens into two categories  those who are ready to defend their homeland and those who are at risk of administrative violations. Because until now, it was the case that not registering was an administrative offense," the Polish politician said.

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According to Piotr Kulpa, such a step by Ukraine will affect the status of Ukrainians abroad. After all, if Ukrainians are left without passports, the countries in which they live will issue them a so-called travel passport that will not indicate their citizenship.

At the same time, the Polish politician emphasized that the partner countries would not be able to forcefully return men who are liable for military service to Ukraine.

"Absolutely not, no, and no again. What can they do? They can create conditions, for example, they can create financial support programs for those who agree to go. They may need to establish, for example, financial support. But not in a violent way, there are no such possibilities," Piotr Kulpa emphasized.

He noted that Poland has adopted laws for refugees until October 2025, and until then, all their rights remain. For example, the child allowance of $200 per month is still in place, provided that the child fulfills his or her school obligations.

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At the same time, there have been some restrictions that will affect Ukrainian refugees in Poland. In particular, the housing search.

"Previously, a Pole could receive compensation for providing accommodation for refugees from Ukraine. Now, this can only be done by professional institutions, either state-owned or those that have an agreement with the state, such as hotels, and state centers, this type of thing. These compensations will no longer be paid to private individuals," Kulpa explained.

Accordingly, the Poles will be less interested in providing housing for Ukrainian refugees, so it will be harder to find and housing prices will rise.

"But in general, nothing changes, everything remains the same, everything is normal and nothing will happen (repression, forced eviction or deportation - Ed.)," the Polish politician emphasized.

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Piotr Kulpa also commented on the statement by Polish Defense Minister Kosyniak-Kamysh that Poland is allegedly ready to help return Ukrainians who are liable for military service

"He meant that it was voluntary, and he apologized to those who misunderstood and thought that there would be violence and some kind of repression. This is simply unacceptable," said Piotr Kulpa, a former member of the Polish government.

Only verified information on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Biden to meet with families of killed law enforcement officers

President Joe Biden on Thursday will meet with the families of law enforcement officers who were killed Monday in North Carolina, the White House announced.

Four officers were shot and killed in the line of duty in Charlotte on Monday attempting to serve a warrant. Eight law enforcement officers in total were shot.

Biden will also visit with officers wounded in the shootout, the White House said, as well as other law enforcement officers and elected officials.

NBC News reported the expected visit with the victims families ahead of the White House announcement.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at Wednesday's briefing that the officers were heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Asked during the briefing about a trip to Charlotte ahead of the announcement, Jean-Pierre said she did not have any details to share.

Biden said in a statement Monday that "we mourn" for the officers killed and "pray for the recoveries" of the wounded.

Its like losing a piece of your soul, Biden said about family members receiving the news.

Biden has previously used the phrase "losing a piece of your soul" and drawn on his own grief in discussing others' tragedies. His first wife and infant daughter were killed in a car crash in 1972, and his adult son Beau Biden died in 2015 after a battle with brain cancer.

Biden had already been expected to travel to Wilmington, North Carolina, on Thursday to tout his economic agenda and infrastructure projects. It will be his third visit to the battleground state this year.

Former President Donald Trump canceled a planned rally in Wilmington last month because of weather.

The North Carolina officers killed in the shooting were Sam Poloche, 42; William Alden Elliott, 46; Deputy U.S. Marshal Thomas M. Weeks Jr.; and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Joshua Eyer, authorities said.

The suspect, who was killed in exchange of gunfire, used a high-powered rifle, authorities said.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Joe Biden hosted Fumio Kishida, Japan's prime minister, for a summit and state dinner in Washington last month - ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP

Joe Biden has taken a swipe at US ally Japan, blaming xenophobia for its economic struggles as he praised the positive impact of immigration on America.

At an election campaign fundraiser in Washington on Wednesday, the US president suggested that his countrys economy was growing in part because we welcome immigrants.

Think about it, he said. Why is China stalling so badly economically, why is Japan having trouble, why is Russia, why is India, because theyre xenophobic. They dont want immigrants. Immigrants are what makes us strong.

Japan is a long-time ally and the criticism appears to diverge from the Biden administrations policy of strengthening ties with Tokyo to counter China in the Asia-Pacific region.

Last month, Mr Biden, 81, hosted Fumio Kishida, Japans prime minister, for a summit and state dinner in Washington.

Border policy

There was no immediate reaction to the criticism of its border policy from the Japanese government on Thursday.

Mr Bidens decision to talk positively about immigration also puts him at odds with Republican rival Donald Trump who has made tightening US borders a central plank of his 2024 election campaign.

Mr Trump, 77, has previously accused migrants of poisoning the blood of the country and rarely references the economic advantages of legal migration when discussing the issue.

Although Japan is a country of 125 million people, it has an ageing and declining population.

As a result, it has been trying to attract more foreign workers to fill job vacancies but this is being hampered by restrictive immigration laws that make it tough to gain permanent residency.

In March, the Japanese government approved legislation that would more than double the cap on foreign skilled workers to over 800,000.

Immigration without integration

Japan was ranked 35th out of 56 countries in the 2020 Migrant Integration Policy Index, which categorised the countrys approach as immigration without integration.

Researchers said foreign nationals in Japan were denied equal opportunities and several basic rights, especially protection from discrimination, putting it significantly behind other developed countries.

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US President Joe Biden said Thursday that the weeks-long pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses across the country havent changed his policy stance on Israel and Gaza.

In his strongest direct remarks yet on the escalating unrest across universities, Biden criticized some of the protests as not peaceful, saying that they had disrupted classes and upcoming graduation ceremonies, and that vandalizing, trespassing, and occupying campus buildings wasnt considered free speech.

Violent protest in America is not protected. Peaceful protest is, Biden said at the White House.

Biden did not name specific colleges or universities where protests have taken place, but his remarks came the day after police said they arrested nearly 300 protesters at Columbia University and the City College of New York and cleared pro-Palestine encampments from Columbias lawn. The night before, protesters had broken into a university building at Columbia and had barricaded themselves inside.

Biden emphasized that he will always defend free speech.

We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent. He also said he would not call in the National Guard to shut down the campus protests.

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Sources: USA Today, The New York Times, Semafor

Bidens Thursday address marks his strongest direct comments yet on the student protests. The president had largely avoided talking about the escalating unrest, using White House officials and statements to get his message out. The approach underscores the no-win situation Biden faces, USA Today wrote: Condemning the protesters risks alienating younger voters, while defending them feeds the Republican narrative that he is weak on law and order and ill-suited to manage domestic and global turmoil. Bidens comments seemed designed to address the law-and-order issue. He condemned violence and hate speech, while reiterating his support for peaceful demonstrations. I will always defend free speech, he said. And I will always be just as strong standing up for the rule of law.

The student movement is spreading across the world  except in Arab countries

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Sources: CNN, The Washington Post, Reuters

Universities in France, Canada, the Middle East, the UK, and Australia have also seen protests and encampments spring up in solidarity with Palestinians and US student protesters. Some protesters said they were directly inspired by the US protests. But others, including a student in Lebanon, said American students were inspired by us. While students in some Arab countries have organized protests, some Palestinians have questioned why there arent more large-scale movements in countries they consider allies. American students may face expulsions from their universities, but harsher consequences could await Arab citizens protesting without state authorization, Reuters wrote.

Critics say US antisemitism bill is misguided

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Sources: The Washington Post, Al Jazeera, NPR

The US House passed the Antisemitism Awareness Act on Wednesday, which critics argue could silence criticism of Israel. The bill would allow the federal government to withhold funding and other resources from schools perceived as tolerating antisemitism, which it defines as a certain perception of Jews which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rep. Jerry Nadler, a Jewish lawmaker who has co-sponsored legislation aimed at combating antisemitism, called the bill misguided, saying universities could end up suppressing protected speech criticizing Israel or supporting Palestinians to avoid federal investigation. Proponents of the bill including New York Democrat Rep. Ritchie Torres argued that was a false narrative. Torres said students can still criticize Israel, so long as they dont call for the destruction of Israel itself.

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Two protesters shout as officers of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) arrest them. Columbia University calls in the NYPD to "restore safety and order to our community" after Pro-Palestine protesters occupied Hamilton Hall overnight. Syndi Pilar/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Students must have the right to free speech but "violent protest is not protected" under the law, US President Joe Biden said on Thursday, as university campuses from New York to Los Angeles were gripped by unrest over Israel's war in Gaza.

"We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent. The American people are heard," Biden said at the White House.

"In fact, peaceful protest is in the best tradition of how Americans respond to consequential issues. But neither are we a lawless country. We are a civil society and order must prevail," Biden added.

Speaking just hours after police dismantled a protest camp at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Biden said that violence, vandalism, trespassing, shutting down campuses and breaking windows do not constitute peaceful protests.

"Threatening people, intimidating people, instilling fear in people is not peaceful protest, it is against the law."

He continued: "There should be no place on any campus, no place in America for anti-Semitism or threats of violence against Jewish students."

Protests against Israel's military actions in Gaza war and in favour of solidarity with the Palestinians have been boiling over at various campuses, leading to police action at Columbia University, City College of New York, UCLA, the University of Texas at Austin and several other well-known academic institutions.

The protests have centred around demands for universities and companies to cut financial ties with Israel. The protests have taken dark turns at times, including individuals making anti-Semitic and other inflammatory remarks, and participants trashing the campus.

While some Jewish students are taking part in these protests, others feel threatened and are staying away.

The demonstrations - a hot-button national political issue in an already tumultuous election year - are pitting free speech against student safety concerns.

There have been major police operations in recent days to clear pro-Palestinian protest encampments, including at a building occupied by students at Columbia University in New York.

According to tallies by US media, well over 1,000 demonstrators have been arrested across the country in the past two weeks for crimes such as trespassing, disorderly conduct, criminal mischief and assault.

Late Wednesday, the police took action against a pro-Palestinian encampment on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles after the authorities had categorized it as an "unlawful assembly."

Demonstrators and police engaged in an hours-long standoff before officers moved in to clear the premises and tear down barricades that had been erected. There were reportedly over 100 arrests.

Violence had already broken out the previous night when supporters of Israel clashed with pro-Palestinian protesters.

There were police operations at other US universities.

At Dartmouth College in the state of New Hampshire, 90 people were arrested on Wednesday evening, according to the local police. They were charged with trespassing and resisting law enforcement after tents were erected on the grounds without authorization.

Only some of those arrested were actually Dartmouth students or teachers, police said. Like in New York and Los Angeles and elsewhere, people from outside the academic institutions have been drawn into the protests, complicating the situation for both campus leaders and law enforcement.

In Dallas, police took at least 20 people into custody during the clearing of a protest camp on the grounds of the University of Texas, local broadcaster Fox4 reported.

Stony Brook University in New York also reported that a demonstration on its campus, which had initially begun peacefully, turn chaotic.

Tents had been erected and other students had been intimidated and harassed, it said. As a result, 29 protesters were arrested, including students and staff as well as non-members of the university.

Students watch through their building door, as officers of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) stand guard. Columbia University calls in the NYPD to "restore safety and order to our community" after Pro-Palestine protesters occupied Hamilton Hall overnight. Syndi Pilar/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
The snow capped San Gabriel Mountains are seen looking north from the Interstate 10 and 15 interchange in Ontario, Calif. Photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI

May 2 (UPI) -- President Joe Biden on Thursday signed two proclamations expanding California's San Gabriel Mountains National Monument and Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument.

The San Gabriel proclamation adds 105,919 acres of federally protected land south and west of the monument's existing 346,177 acres.

Though adjacent to the highly developed areas of Los Angeles, the expansion area includes untouched natural land that offers more access to outdoor recreation and homes to protected wildlife such as the endangered California condor.

"The San Gabriel Mountains National Monument is a crown jewel for Los Angeles. It is a backyard to millions of people, and is also home to cultural resources, rare animals and plants, unique geology and dynamic forests, rivers and high peaks," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement. "President Biden's actions today ensure this remarkable place is protected for current and future generations."

President Barack Obama designated the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument in 2014, preserving natural resources and sites that are culturally significant to California's Indigenous peoples.

Berryessa Peak at Berryessa Snow Mountain. Photo by Andrew Fulks/BerryessaSnowMountaing.org

Indigenous groups still use the area for ceremonial purposes and to collect plants for basketry, food and medicine.

Also in the expanded area are historic sites such as remains of the Mount Lowe Railway and Cold War-era Nike missile facilities.

The U.S. Forest Service will manage the area according to the terms of the 2014 proclamation.

The Berryessa Snow Mountain proclamation adds 13,696 acres of public land to the monument's original 330,000 acres designated by Obama in 2015.

The expansion includes an 11-mile portion of the previously named Walker Ridge. Biden's proclamation also renamed the ridge to Molok Luyuk, which means "Condor Ridge" in the language of the native Patwin people.

Within the expanded area is evidence of Indigenous occupation going back more than 10,000 years.

"The name Molok Luyuk recalls a time when condors were a common sight soaring above the ridge, and the Patwin people would often celebrate them with dances and ceremonies," Biden said in a statement. "On a clear day, the highest points of Molok Luyuk offer a commanding view of the surrounding rugged and undeveloped landscape, encompassing Mount Shasta to the north, Mount Tamalpais to the southwest, and Sutter Buttes to the east."

Molok Luyuk is home to nearly 500 native California plant species and wildlife such as tule elk, mountain lions, bears, and bald and golden eagles.

The expansion of Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument is part of Biden's America the Beautiful initiative. The Biden administration has conserved more than 41 million acres of American lands and waters.

The Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service will jointly manage the expanded area.

Biden designated the expansion of these national monuments under the Antiquities Act, which President Theodore Roosevelt first used in 1906 to designate Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming. Since then, 18 presidents from either party have used that authority to protect historic American landmarks, including the Statue of Liberty, Colorado's Canyon of the Ancients, and New Mexico's Gila Cliff Dwellings.
By Jarrett Renshaw and Jeff Mason

WILMINGTON, North Carolina (Reuters) -Since 1968, North Carolina has backed only two Democrats for president: Jimmy Carter in 1976 and Barack Obama in 2008.

President Joe Biden visited the Southeastern state on Thursday for the third time this year, betting he can do it again for Democrats in the 2024 election.

But opinion polls suggest Biden will have a tough time flipping North Carolina in this year's rematch against Republican Donald Trump. While winning the presidency in 2020, Biden lost the state to Trump by 1.3% - just 74,000 votes - his narrowest state loss.

Biden's campaign is spending heavily on early advertising, voter outreach and in-state staff, hoping to ride North Carolina's recent population boom to victory.

Some 400,000 people have moved to North Carolina since 2020, census figures show, including many people of color and with college educations, groups that vote overwhelmingly Democratic.

This time, the state's Republican Party is embracing far-right candidates and policies. Its candidate for governor, Mark Robinson, has supported an outright ban on abortion and referred to homosexuality as filth." Democrats believe those hard-line policies can help Biden.

"We are in the best position to win this state in years," said Aisha Dew, a Biden supporter and Democratic candidate for the state legislature.

Opinion polls, however, show a tougher path for Biden in the November election. An Emerson College poll released on Tuesday showed Trump 5 percentage points ahead of Biden in the state, while Marist College polling from March showed Trump leading on issues like immigration.

With a hefty 16 votes in the 538-vote Electoral College that selects U.S. presidents, North Carolina would be more than a historic flip. Winning the state could be an insurance policy for Biden, who polls show struggling against Trump in other battleground states.

A win in North Carolina could help Biden clinch victory even if he loses Arizona, Georgia or Wisconsin, states he won in 2020 and where polls show close races this year.

The Biden campaign has poured $30 million into battleground state ads since early March, including in North Carolina, aimed at groups including Hispanics and African Americans.

It has been working with state election officials to pre-qualify a list of acceptable identification for voters, the first statewide election requiring a photo ID to vote in person.

North Carolina's Republican-led legislature has passed some of the strictest laws in the U.S. that could limit whose vote counts. Republicans say these are needed to prevent voter fraud; Democrats say they are meant to suppress likely Democratic votes.

Biden's campaign has opened 11 offices in the state and had 40 staffers by the end of the April, aides say, a sharp contrast to Trump, who has yet to name a state team or open any offices in a state he visited more than 20 times in 2020. Trump visited North Carolina earlier this year but had to cancel a rally there last month due to storms.

Trump's campaigning has been limited because he is on trial in New York, accused of falsifying business records to conceal hush-money payments to a porn star during the 2016 campaign.

Biden visited Wilmington on Thursday to talk about $3 billion in federal funding to replace lead pipes across the country.

"This progress is part of my vision for an economy that grows from the middle out and the bottom up," Biden said. "The plan we've put in place is beginning to work."

The president also went to Charlotte to pay his respects to the families of four law enforcement officers killed in a gun battle there on Monday.

Republicans say they are not worried about losing the state.

"In 2016 and 2020, Democrats lit money on fire in North Carolina only to lose to President Trump," Anna Kelly, a Republican National Committee spokesperson, said in a statement.

RALEIGH, CHARLOTTE ARE KEY

North Carolina's population boom has been led by people of color, according to state budget figures, and is most pronounced around the banking hub of Charlotte and the state capital Raleigh, two of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the U.S.

Many of the new residents are from Democratic-leaning states like New York and California, according to researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Mecklenburg County, encompassing Charlotte, and Wake County, including Raleigh, have added a net 90 voters a day for the past four years, accounting for 41% of the state's new voter registration growth for the period, said Paul Shumaker, a longtime Republican pollster in North Carolina.

"This is the county where the election is going to be won," Mecklenburg County Democratic Party chair Drew Comer told supporters when Vice President Kamala Harris visited.

In 2020, Biden beat Trump by 198,896 votes in Mecklenburg County and 167,139 in Wake County, even as he lost the state.

Despite the population boom, there are signs of trouble for Democrats. Black turnout in the 2022 midterm elections was below that of the previous midterms in North Carolina, which at 20% has one of highest Black populations in the country.

Even though Cheri Beasley, a Black woman running for the U.S. Senate in 2022, was at the top of every ballot in the state, fewer than 42% of Black registered voters cast a ballot  the lowest turnout of Black voters since 2010, according to an analysis by the group Democracy North Carolina.

A Marist College poll last month found North Carolina registered voters favoring Trump by 12 percentage points on immigration and 9 points on the economy, with 22- and 17-point leads, respectively, with independents. Biden held a 5-point advantage on abortion rights and a 1-point edge on preserving democracy.

"Mathematically, Biden is in the hunt in North Carolina,' Republican pollster Shumaker said. "Issue-wise, he has a long way to go to win the state."

(Reporting By Jarrett Renshaw and Jeff Mason; Editing by Heather Timmons, William Mallard and Jonathan Oatis)
President Biden was sharply critical Thursday of aspects of protests that have swept across college campuses nationwide in response to the war in Gaza, condemning vandalism and trespassing even as he defended the right to peacefully demonstrate.

In moments like this, there are always those who rush in to score political points. But this isnt a moment for politics. Its a moment for clarity. So let me be clear  Violent protest is not protected. Peaceful protest is, Biden said in prepared remarks from the White House.

He called out what has occurred at Columbia University and on other college campuses over the past week, which has garnered national attention as tensions have escalated and police disassemble encampments.

Destroying property is not a peaceful protest, its against the law. Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduation. None of this is a peaceful protest, threatening people, intimidating people, Biden said.

Dissent is essential to democracy, but dissent must never lead to disorder, Biden added.

The president said he was not considering sending in the National Guard in response to the protests. And he said the the protests on college campuses have not caused him to rethink his policy in the Middle East.

Demonstrations have been playing out across college campuses nationwide amid outrage over the war in Gaza, where tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed as Israel responds to Hamass October attacks that left more than 1,100 Israelis dead.

Pro-Palestinian protesters opposing Israels military campaign in Gaza had seized control of Hamilton Hall on Columbias campus on Monday, an escalation of protests that began roughly two weeks ago. New York police officers entered the building late Tuesday through a window, carrying riot shields and zip ties and arresting several protesters as they cleared the area.

A statement from a university spokesperson said officers arrived after the school had requested help.

Police in Los Angeles also dispersed demonstrators on the campus of UCLA late Wednesday.

Weve all seen the images, and they put to the test two fundamental American principles. The first is the right to free speech, for people to peacefully assemble, make their voices heard. Second is the rule of law. Both must be upheld. Were not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent, Biden said Thursday.

He added, were a civil society, and order must prevail.

And, he called out antisemitism that has bubbled up from the college campus protests, which the White House has called out since the campus protests began.

There should be no place on any campus, no place in America for antisemitism or threats of violence against Jewish students, he said. There is no place for hate speech or violence of any kind, whether its antisemitism, Islamophobia, or discrimination against Arab Americans or Palestinian Americans. It is simply wrong.

I understand people have strong feelings and deep convictions. In America, we respect the right and protect the rights for them to express that. But, it doesnt mean anything goes. It needs to be done without violence, without destruction, without hate, and within the law, he added.

Biden had only made a passing comment on the protests prior to Thursday, condemning antisemitism but also pushing back against those who dont understand whats going on with the Palestinians.

Former President Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, has called the protests a disgrace and slammed Biden on Wednesday for his lack of public comment on the scenes playing out across the country.

Bidens nowhere to be found. He hasnt said anything, Trump said. When you have a problem like that you should go out and talk about it and talk to the people. But theres a big problem, theres a big fever in our country, and hes not talking. But if he did, it wouldnt matter.

The situation is politically complicated for Biden, who is already facing blowback from portions of his base over his handling of the Israel-Hamas war. Thousands of voters have cast protest ballots against Biden in Democratic primaries, and a CNN poll released over the weekend showed Biden trailing Trump among young voters.

The White House has condemned the rhetoric used by the student leader of the protests at Columbia, who said in January that Zionists dont deserve to live. And, when protesters took over a building on Columbias campus Tuesday, the White House called the move the wrong approach and condemned demonstrators for disrupting the academic experience of other students.

Updated at 11:42 a.m. ET

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Students watch through their building door, as officers of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) stand guard. Columbia University calls in the NYPD to "restore safety and order to our community" after Pro-Palestine protesters occupied Hamilton Hall overnight. Syndi Pilar/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Students must have the right to free speech but "violent protest is not protected" under the law, US President Joe Biden said, as major university campuses are gripped by unrest over Israel's war in Gaza.

"We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent. The American people are heard," Biden said on Thursday at the White House.

"In fact, peaceful protest is in the best tradition of how Americans respond to consequential issues. But - but - neither are we a lawless country. We are a civil society and order must prevail," Biden said.

Biden said that violence, vandalism, trespassing, shutting down campuses and breaking windows do not constitute peaceful protests.

"Threatening people, intimidating people, instilling fear in people is not peaceful protest, it is against the law."

He continued: "There should be no place on any campus, no place in America for anti-Semitism or threats of violence against Jewish students."

Protests against Israel's military actions in Gaza war and in favour of solidarity with the Palestinians have been boiling over at various campuses, leading to police action at Columbia University, City College of New York, the University of California, Los Angeles, the University of Texas at Austin and elsewhere.

The protests have centred around demands for universities and companies to cut financial ties with Israel. While some Jewish students are taking part in these protests, others feel threatened and are staying away from the campuses.

The protests are pitting free speech against student safety and have led to major police operations to clear pro-Palestinian protest encampments.

Two protesters shout as officers of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) arrest them. Columbia University calls in the NYPD to "restore safety and order to our community" after Pro-Palestine protesters occupied Hamilton Hall overnight. Syndi Pilar/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
The leverage of U.S. sanctions has determined the last leg of the Venezuelan political conflict. After revoking two weeks ago one of the oil licenses awarded within the framework of the Barbados Agreement, due to non-compliance on the part of the government of Nicolas Maduro, the Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Brian A. Nichols, declared this week that they are reconsidering their position after Caracas accepted the candidacy of Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, in the third attempt by the Venezuelan opposition to register a candidate to participate in the presidential elections, and following steps taken to facilitate the work of observers from the European Union and the Carter Center.

In an editorial published in Voice of America, the U.S. official said: We were forced to suspend General License 44 on oil and gas, issuing a new license, General License 44A, which provides a 45-day winding down period. He later added: But were also still very much engaged in the process of supporting a competitive election. The selection of a unified opposition candidate in Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia and his acceptance by the electoral authorities in Venezuela is a very important positive step.

The suspension of General License 44 did not mean a total return to the scenario of greatest sanctions against Venezuela. The United States gave a late May deadline for companies that started business with the state oil company PDVSA to close the transactions in process and opened the way to the approval of specific licenses for each company that wants to continue operating in Venezuela. But the pressure was enough for Chavismo to abandon its ban on the registration of a third unitary opposition candidate. But President Maduro dismissed the idea that he yielded to pressure from Washington. There is no sanction, there is no threat that, today, will harm the effort to build a new productive economic model, because today we do not depend on anyone in this world, we only depend on our own effort, our work, the union that we have, he declared when the license was withdrawn after six months of being active.

Chavismo has continued with the repression nonetheless through its judicial and police branches. Last weekend, three political activists close to opposition leader Maria Corina Machado were arrested. This persecution against the leaders entourage was criticized at the beginning of the week by Nichols himself. More opposition politicians have also been disqualified.

Venezuelan officials have assured that they are prepared to live with sanctions. At the same time, they have undertaken a strong campaign against the measures as part of the narrative against the opposition. In Caracas, billboards have been displayed on the highways with messages that hold those who oppose the government responsible for the countrys crisis. Some of these billboards feature the faces of Machado and Leopoldo Lopez, accusing them of having requested sanctions to which the government solely attributes the the economic debacle in the country, even though the fall began long before these measures were imposed.

In this election year, both for Venezuela and the United States, the rope is tightened and loosened according to the movements of each country, which go beyond the formal negotiations between Chavismo and the opposition. The immigration issue is crucial for the domestic policy of the United States, and Venezuelans are topping the list of nationalities exerting pressure on the U.S. border. For Chavismo, relief from sanctions is crucial to increase public spending in the run-up to July 28 in a scenario of social unrest due to low wages and falling consumption. Therefore, in the three months left until the elections in Venezuela, the sanctions lever could move again.
Biden departs Wilmington

Air Force One took off at 6:15 p.m. from Wilmington International Airport to head back to the White House, two hours after it landed in the Port City.

President Joe Biden's motorcade left the Wilmington Convention Center around 5:50 p.m. after Biden spoke just more than 20 minutes.Biden and Governor Roy Cooper greeted members of the Wilmington Police Department and New Hanover County Sheriffs Office that were part of the motorcade before departure.

-- Madison Lipe

Taking shots at Trump and himself

President Joe Biden didnt shy from taking shots at his presumed Republican opponent in the fall while announcing the additional funding for removing lead pipes from the countrys public water systems.

Here are some highlights from the presidents comments, which lasted about 20 minutes:

Along with removing the countrys lead pipes, Biden said his administration was working hard to improve the nations water quality by investing in water plant improvements and getting forever chemicals out of the environment and public drinking supplies. He said his government had a special focus on helping disadvantaged and low-income communities that have often been overlooked.

Folks this is about safety, but its also about fairness, he said. We have to make things right, and were going to do that now.

President Joe Biden delivers remarks at the Wilmington Convention Center on Thursday.

Without mentioning Donald Trump by name, referring to him as his predecessor several times, Biden said his administration was making progress for all Americans  not just the wealthy and corporations.

Im sick and tired of trickle-down economics, he said to loud applause.

Along with brandishing his environmental credentials, Biden mentioned his work in helping the economy  especially manufacturing  bounce back from the pandemic and foreign competition.

He took special note of his administration's work on reducing medical and prescription costs, something he said he had been working on for decades while in the U.S. Senate.

I know I look like Im only 40, but Im a little older than that, Biden said, taking a self-deprecating jab at the age issue that has dogged him during his re-election push.

The president wrapped up his comments just after 5:22 p.m.

-- Gareth McGrath

Show the president 'our Wilmington'

Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo took the stage at 4:40 p.m., warming up the crowd.

He talked up the sense of community and how peoplepower can make a difference in good governance and protecting the environment.

Saffo was followed by EPA Administrator Michael Regan, who used to be the head of the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality.

It is great to be home back in North Carolina, Regan said, before mentioning the new PFAS regulations he had announced in Fayetteville last month.

He then said President Biden is keeping his promises and working every single day for a healthier and fairer America.

Gov. Roy Cooper speaks before President Joe Biden at the Wilmington Convention Center.

Regan also praised Saffo and local advocates for staring down the water quality issues the Cape Fear region had been facing for years.

That journey would be continued today by the presidents announcement to dedicate billions toward the removal of lead pipes from the nations water systems.

Next up was Gov. Roy Cooper, who received the first standing ovation of the afternoon.

Im excited and always excited to be at the beach, he said after remarking that this was the presidents third visit in four months to North Carolina.

And with him being from Delaware, we want to show him our Wilmington," he said to thunderous applause. "If Air Force One's crew ever gets confused about which Wilmington to fly to, tell them to head south!"

Next up is President Biden, who started his remarks remembering the law enforcement officers' lives lost in Charlotte on Monday.

Afterwards, Biden noted to Saffo that there's another Wilmington: The one the President knows well in Delaware.

-- Gareth McGrath

Biden reaches Wilmington Convention Center

President Joe Biden arrived at Wilmington International Airports Aero Center and was greeted by Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo and Governor Roy Cooper at 4:20 p.m.

Saffo joined the motorcade and they departed to travel to the Wilmington Convention Center where Biden is expected to deliver his remarks. Around 20 minutes later, the motorcade arrived.

Remarks will include environmental investments such as the replacement of 1.7 million toxic lead pipes throughout the U.S.

Biden will also meet with local students and faculty from a Wilmington school that was able to replace a water fountain with high levels of lead with funding from the presidents American Rescue Plan.

-- Madison Lipe

Biden arrives...and so do Donald Trump supporters

Air Force One made its way to Wilmington International Airport around 4:15 p.m.

While it might be around 5 p.m. before President Joe Biden arrives at the Wilmington Convention Center, a few supporters of former President Donald Trump will also be there to greet him.

By 3:30 p.m., dozens of civilians gathered about a block away from the convention center. Among them were about 40 pro-Palestinian activists and roughly the same number of supporters of former President Donald Trump.

Supporters of Donald Trump arrive outside the Wilmington Convention Center on Thursday.

Trumps supporters raised flags with Trump 2024 and Women for Trump messages, among others.The crowd of activists held signs and yelled Free, free, free Palestine, Cease fire now, Biden, Biden, you cant hide, we charge you with genocide, among other chants.

-- Jamey Cross

District Attorney on Biden: 'He's putting his money where his mouth is'

New Hanover and Pender County District Attorney Ben David said Wilmington "will always be a place where the biggest races are decided" as he awaited President Joe Biden's arrival at the Wilmington Convention Center Thursday afternoon. "Politically we are a microcosm, we represent what America looks like and we are confronting some of the biggest issues honestly here, and so, it's only appropriate that (Biden) should come to Wilmington."

Prior to his arrival in Wilmington, Biden is making a stop in Charlotte to meet with the families of law enforcement officers who were killed in the line of duty.

District Attorney Ben David in attendance at the Wilmington Convention Center in advance of remarks from President Joe Biden.

David said he appreciates that the president "recognizes the importance of going to a tragedy like that and calling out the violence that has to stop." Addressing such violence is important, "particularly when it's directed at people who are just trying to do their jobs," David added.

The district attorney said he admires that the president has come to North Carolina to address three important topics: honoring men and women in law enforcement, the environment, and infrastructure.

"He's putting his money where his mouth is," David said about Biden.

-- Molly Wilhelm

White House remarks before flight to Wilmington

Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the Biden administration mourns for the fallen heroes and their loved ones and (prays) for the recoveries of the courageous officers who were wounded while en route to Charlotte, according to a press release.

Jean-Pierre also touched on the upcoming presidential visit to Wilmington. While the schedule noted Joe Biden's arrival to the Wilmington International Airport around 3:55 p.m., it's more likely Air Force One will arrive at 4:15 p.m.

President Biden believes that every American should be able to turn on the tap and...drink clean and safe water, Jean-Pierre said.

Enviornmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan said he was really excited to join the president today for this big announcement.

This is the third installment of five, Regan said in the release. We are giving out or investing into grants that will amount to $15 billion in total. This is the third year, so the President has already put out $9 billion to erase these lead service lines in our country.

The 100% removal of lead piping across the country is expected to complete within a 10-year window, Regan said in the release, adding that he was unable to provide an estimate on the percentage of lead piping that has already been removed nationwide.

-- Molly Wilhelm

Seats all spoken for

The first attendees at President Joe Bidens event at the Wilmington Convention Center began filing in just after 2 p.m.

Twenty minutes later, the small guest area was roughly half full of VIPs, hand-picked by the White House and local Democratic Party for the presidents announcement about new funding to remove lead pipes from homes and public water systems.

With the president not scheduled to speak for around two hours, many of the attendees took the downtime to excitedly take pictures in front of the dais and lectern that would later be occupied by the countrys top executive  large signs and digital boards behind them advertising Bidens impending policy announcement.

By 2:35 p.m., officials announced all the seats were taken and it would now be standing-room only as people continued to file in.

-- Gareth McGrath

Women's groups arrive at convention center

People begin filing into the Wilmington Convention Center by 2 p.m. Thursday. President Joe Biden is expected to give remarks around 4:30 p.m.

Elli Klein, founding administrator of Southeast North Carolina Women for Biden/Harris, arrived at the Wilmington Convention Center around 2:15 p.m. on Thursday.

"I'm joining my Democratic Party colleagues to hear what the president has to say and all that he is doing (and) all the administration is doing to improve our infrastructure," said Klein less than two hours before President Joe Biden is scheduled to give remarks. "It's exciting. We have a lot of work to do to make sure we preserve our reproductive freedom and our democracy."

Elaine Syres, core member of Women Organizing for Wilmington (WOW), arrived at the Wilmington Convention Center sporting both a WOW T-shirt and a blue American Federation of Teachers T-shirt.

Syres recalled Women Organizing for Wilmington protests held outside on the corner of City Hall in 2016.

"The first one I was involved in was (about) the condition of the water in New Hanover County and the PFAS and everything else," Syres said. "What good does it do everybody if the water (that is) going to the homes or schools (is) going through lead pipes? It's an issue...it could be the cleanest water in the world but if you're running it through a lead pipe, that's not helping anyone."

Biden "should come here" to discuss the replacement of lead pipes, Syres said, adding it's an issue experienced nationwide.

-- Molly Wilhelm

Wilmington International Airport to soon see Air Force One

By early afternoon, President Joe Bidens expected arrival time at Wilmington International Airports Aero Center remains 3:55 p.m.

About two hours before Bidens expected arrival, Wilmington International Airport appears not too busy. Some New Hanover County Sheriffs Office vehicles and Wilmington Police Department vehicles are in the area.

According to the airports website, flights for General Aviation users will be restricted between 1:30 p.m.-5:15 p.m.

-- Madison Lipe

By noon, Wilmington Convention Center relatively quiet

Wilmington police presence at Nutt Street and Convention Center Drive next to the Wilmington Convention Center in advance of President Joe Biden's appearance on Thursday.

Aside from a heavy police presence in the area, things were largely quiet at the Wilmington Convention Center early Thursday afternoon. Several Wilmington Police Department vehicles were in the area, and deputies with the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office were also nearby.

Students made their way around Cape Fear Community Colleges downtown campus Thursday afternoon, where classes were seemingly being held as usual.

-- Jamey Cross

More on Biden's speech, including a visit with Wilmington students

US President Joe Biden speaks on "how the CHIPS and Science Act and his Investing in America agenda are growing the economy and creating jobs," at the Milton J. Rubenstein Museum in Syracuse, New York, on April 25, 2024.

The White House released more details about President Joe Biden's expected remarks in Wilmington on Thursday afternoon. He is scheduled to speak at the Wilmington Convention Center at 4:30 p.m.

According to a morning news release, Biden is expected to announce a $3 billion investment to replace toxic lead pipes during his Wilmington presidential visit. Bidens announcement delivers funding to every state and U.S. territory to help address lead in drinking water while creating good-paying jobs, the release reads. It added $76 million in funding from the presidents Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will be allocated to lead pipe replacement across North Carolina.

Biden is expected to meet with faculty and students from a Wilmington school that replaced a water fountain with high levels of lead with funding from the presidents American Rescue Plan, according to the release. The total project will replace up to 1.7 million lead pipes nationwide.

-- Molly Wilhelm

Biden heads to Charlotte, then Wilmington

President Joe Biden will be visiting Wilmington today to talk about address environmental issues and infrastructure in the city and surrounding region.

After departing Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Air Force One around 11:45 a.m., his first stop will be in Charlotte to pay respects and meet family members of four law enforcement officers who died on Monday in a shootout.

Biden will leave Charlotte at 3:10 p.m. and should arrive at Wilmington International Airport around 3:55. Then he will head to the Wilmington Convention Center, where he will discuss his Investing in America agenda and how it is rebuilding infrastructure and creating jobs in Wilmington and across the country, according to an email announcement from the White House.

The area of the Wilmington Convention Center has been set up by Thursday morning for President Joe Biden, who will speak there Thursday afternoon.

Biden in Wilmington: From arrival to traffic, here's more about the president's visit

Although Biden is seeking reelection in November, his visit is not a campaign visit, but a presidential visit.

"It cannot come at a more-critical time during a more-critical election year in a more-critical place," according to a statement Monday from the New Hanover County Democratic Party.

Biden's visit comes nearly two weeks after Donald Trump's campaign rally in Wilmington was postponed due to severe weather. A date has not been set yet for his return.

As for the issues Biden could be addressing, it is uncertain which ones he will cover, but PFAS filtration could be one on the list as well as the need for a Cape Fear Memorial Bridge replacement.

-- Madison Lipe

Check back here for updates throughout the day.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Updates on Joe Biden's visit to Wilmington, NC
(Bloomberg) -- President Joe Biden defended the right to protest peacefully but demanded that order must prevail, as demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war have wreaked havoc on US college campuses.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Theres the right to protest but not the right to cause chaos, Biden said at the White House Thursday, his first extended comments on the pro-Palestinian unrest at schools across the country. Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations  none of this is a peaceful protest, he added.

The demonstrations have posed a threat to Bidens reelection bid, and the president faced mounting pressure to personally address them before his unscheduled remarks on Thursday. The president said the protests have not caused him to rethink his approach to the war.

The clashes have highlighted the growing discontent among progressives, young people and Muslim and Arab Americans over the war  and the deep rift within Bidens own Democratic party over his handling of the issue. The war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza has increasingly become a drag on Bidens political standing, opening him to attacks from both sides and with polls showing voters are losing confidence in his approach.

Pro-Palestinian encampments spread to at least 100 colleges in 30 states and Washington, DC, since protesters first erected tents on Columbias quad on April 17.

Earlier: Students Pitched Tents For Gaza On at Least 100 US College Campuses

Biden on Thursday sought to strike a balance between what he said were two fundamental American principles, the right to free speech and the rule of law.

Both must be upheld. We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent, he said. But neither are we a lawless country. Were a civil society and order must prevail.

Asked if the National Guard should intervene as some Republicans have suggested, Biden said no. He also warned against antisemitic intimidation against Jewish students or threats against Muslims.

There should be no place on any campus, no place in America for antisemitism or threats of violence against Jewish students, Biden said. There is no place for hate speech or violence of any kind, whether its antisemitism, Islamophobia, or discrimination against Arab Americans or Palestinian Americans.

Police Crackdown

University administrators have struggled to address the protests, facing criticism from donors and politicians on both sides of the debate. Some have lambasted what they say is a heavy-handed response to young activists and others accuse the schools of turning a blind eye to Jewish students they say are being threatened by antisemitic intimidation.

Protests at campuses across the US have escalated in recent weeks in solidarity with students at Columbia University who were arrested after building an encampment that administrators say broke multiple school policies and intimidated Jewish students. The protestors at Columbia dug-in following the arrests, eventually risking expulsion to barricade themselves in a building  a move that ended in a police raid Tuesday night and the arrest of 119 people.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said that students have been influenced by professional outside agitators to become increasingly violent. Police have been concerned about a mainstreaming of rhetoric associated with terrorism, Deputy Commissioner Rebecca Weiner for intelligence and counterterrorism told reporters Wednesday.

Read more: Columbia Chief Assailed for Calling Cops Keeps Shaky Hold on Job

The protests have been a personal challenge for Biden who will need to mobilize young voters and progressives dismayed by his support for Israel to bolster his chances in Novembers general election rematch with Republican Donald Trump.

Republicans have seized on the images to criticize Biden and paint a picture of a nation they say has seen lawlessness and disorder grow under his administration. Trump on Tuesday night called into Fox News as police entered Columbias campus, saying Biden had eroded bipartisan support for Israel.

Earlier: Biden Faces Make-or-Break Moment in Gaza Cease-Fire Talks

Biden has been pushing Israel and Hamas to agree to a cease-fire, a first step toward resolving their conflict, and for more aid to enter Gaza to alleviate the humanitarian crisis there  steps which could help address the domestic political backlash.

Israel has fought a nearly seven-month war after Hamas, a group designated a terrorist organization by the US and European Union, launched an attack that killed 1,200 people and saw 240 kidnapped. Authorities in Hamas-run Gaza say more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed.

--With assistance from Katia Porzecanski.

(Updates with additional details, background throughout)

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2024 Bloomberg L.P.
"Some are very worried that AI can actually overtake human thinking and planning," President Biden said at a commencement address on Thursday.

From racial bias in medicine to more accessible Alzheimer's drugs, here are the health stories you may have missed this week from Yahoo News partners.

Biden warns AI could 'overtake human thinking'

At a commencement address at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Thursday, President Biden said he had been warned by experts that artificial intelligence could "overtake human thinking." USA Today reported that this was the presidents most direct warning to date about the power of AI technology.

"It's not going to be easy decisions, guys," Biden said. "I met in the Oval Office with eight leading scientists in the area of AI. Some are very worried that AI can actually overtake human thinking and planning. So we've got a lot to deal with. An incredible opportunity, but a lot [to] deal with."

The presidents remarks come days after hundreds of leaders in AI, as well as other public figures, released a statement saying that "mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.

Last month, Biden met with the CEOs of AI innovation companies, including Google, Microsoft and OpenAI, in an effort to ensure that AI products are safe before theyre accessible to the public.

Lung problems in Black men are underdiagnosed due to racial bias in testing, study says

As a result of a commonly used algorithm, a study finds, lung problems are often misdiagnosed in Black men. (Getty Images)

A study published on Thursday contends that 40% more Black male patients would be diagnosed with breathing problems such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder or lung scarring due to air pollutant exposure if current diagnosis-assisting computer software was modified to eliminate racial bias, the Associated Press reported.

Based on data from more than 2,700 Black men and 5,700 white men tested by the University of Pennsylvania Health System, researchers looked at a commonly used test with a computer-generated report that scores a persons ability to breathe based on how much and how quickly they can inhale and exhale. The report is created by algorithms that adjust for race, which raise the threshold for diagnosing a problem in Black patients, the Associated Press said. When comparing the race-based algorithm with a new algorithm, researchers found that there would be nearly 400 more cases of lung obstruction or impairment in Black men diagnosed if the new algorithm were used.

The American Thoracic Society, which represents lung-care doctors, has recommended that race and ethnicity should no longer be a factor in interpreting test results, but also called for more research to avoid any changes that could lead to an overdiagnosis of lung problems.

Medicare plans to pay for Alzheimer's drugs that get FDA approval

Alzheimers disease takes a toll on not just the people suffering from the disease but also on their loved ones and caregivers, in a way that almost no other illness does, CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure said. (Getty Images)

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will now pay for new Alzheimers drugs that have received full Food and Drug Administration approval, the agency said Thursday, on the condition that doctors who prescribe the drugs use a government registry to track patients progress and assess how these drugs work in the real world.

NBC News reported that until now, Medicare would only pay for medications if patients were enrolled in a clinical trial. This new development is likely to enable more patients to afford medications that could slow progression of the disease.

Alzheimers disease takes a toll on not just the people suffering from the disease but also on their loved ones and caregivers, in a way that almost no other illness does, CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure said. CMS has always been committed to helping people obtain timely access to innovative treatments that meaningfully improve care and outcomes for this disease.

Winter saw a spike in rare pediatric brain infections, CDC reports

Hospitals reported the highest level of pediatric brain infections in years this past winter. (Getty Images)

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report published this week found that while still very rare, hospitals reported the highest level of pediatric brain infections in years this past winter.

CBS News reported that the CDC began looking into a potential increase in "pediatric intracranial infections" after doctors reported an uptick in hospitalizations, with many children infected by the bacteria Streptococcus. Most Streptococcus infections lead to benign illnesses like strep throat, but on rare occasions, they can progress to worrying symptoms, like seizures and changes in mental status.

This past winter, there were 102 cases in December  exceeding the previous peak of 61 cases during the 2016-2017 winter season.
After weeks of pro-Palestinian protests and chaotic arrests on college campuses, President Joe Biden finally responded to calls for military action.

Asked on Thursday about the protests, which have spread coast to coast and resulted in an estimated 1,900+ arrests, Biden gave a series of curt answers.

Reporter: Have the [pro-Palestinian campus] protests forced you to reconsider any of the policies with regard to the region?



President Biden: No.



Reporter: Do you think the National Guard should intervene?



Biden: No. pic.twitter.com/BIT0FryvvW  The Recount (@therecount) May 2, 2024

Have the protests forced you to reconsider any of the policies with regard to the region? a reporter at his Thursday press conference asked.

No, the president said.

Do you think the National Guard should intervene?

No, the president repeated.

The question of whether or not to involve the National Guard has been pushed by some Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), who directly called on Biden to involve the military when he visited Columbia University last week. The calls have inevitably stirred harrowing memories of the Kent State massacre in 1970, in which the Ohio National Guard killed four unarmed students who were protesting the Vietnam War on Kent State Universitys campus.

On Thursday, Biden acknowledged students right to peaceful protest but said other tactics, like occupying buildings and defacing school property, were a step too far.

Violent protest is not protected. Peaceful protest is. Its against the law when violence occurs. Destroying property is not a peaceful protest. Its against the law. Vandalism. Trespassing. Breaking windows. Shutting down campuses. Forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations. None of this is a peaceful protest, he said.

At Columbia, student protesters on Tuesday took over a campus building that had also been occupied in 1968 by antiwar student demonstrators. Occupation then was a common protest tactic, which the school has commemorated and memorialized.

University administrators responding to the student protests of the past few weeks have often preemptively reached for police. At UT Austin, President Jay Hartzell called in state troopers and the Austin police in addition to the campus police force, which culminated in several peaceful protesters being dragged away from where they sat on a lawn. The charges against the 57 protesters arrested on April 24 were all dropped by the Travis County Attorney, who said there was doubtful evidence of probable cause for their arrests.

At other campuses, police appear to have acted too late to stem the flow of violence. When a crowd of pro-Israel counter protesters attacked the encampment at UCLA on Tuesday night, lobbing fireworks into the protest area, they sparked a bloody clash between the groups that upturned an otherwise peaceful encampment. The Los Angeles Times reported that during the fighting, security guards on standby simply watched and did not intervene. They shut down the camp the next morning.

As for graduation, only the University of Southern California has canceled its main commencement ceremony, also preemptively citing safety concerns without specifying whether direct threats or plans to disrupt had been made.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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President of the United States Joe Biden and Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris speak to the American people about the urgent need to pass legislation to protect the constitutional right to vote and the integrity of our elections at Atlanta University Center Consortium on the grounds of Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia (Photo by Kyle Mazza/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

EXCLUSIVE: What he has been doing and will continue to do leading up to the speech is listening very closely to all the concerns raised and making sure that he addresses them, Stephen Benjamin, senior adviser to President Biden, told theGrio.

After some backlash to last weeks announcement that President Joe Biden will deliver the commencement address at Morehouse College, officials from within the presidents orbit tell theGrio the president hears those concerns loud and clear, and may even address them in his upcoming speech later this month.

What he has been doing and will continue to do leading up to the speech is listening very closely to all the concerns raised and making sure that he addresses them either in the speech or separate and apart from that, said Stephen Benjamin, senior adviser to President Biden and director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. He added, The war is obviously a significant issue of discussion  all around the country. Probably most vividly on college campuses right now.

Since Morehouse President David A. Thomas announced President Biden as the keynote speaker for the all-male colleges 140th commencement on May 19, a number of students, faculty and alumni expressed opposition as a result of the Biden administrations policy to support Israels military operation in Gaza against Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist group, resulting in the deaths of more than 34,000 Palestinians.

Outraged over the war and Bidens role in it were expressed in a campus town hall between Morehouse students and President Thomas, as well as a letter circulated amongst Morehouse alumni that called the invitation to the president a moral disaster and an embarrassment to the college.

Cedric Richmond, national co-chair of the Biden-Harris campaign and a Morehouse alumnus, told theGrio that he is proud of the Morehouse student body for being engaged and caring about human life.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators wave a Palestinian flag as they call for a ceasefire in Gaza during a protest as part of the Peoples White House Ceasefire Now Iftar outside the White House in Washington, DC, April 2, 2024. President Joe Biden has downsized the traditional Ramadan event at the White House amid tensions over his support for Israels offensive in Gaza, officials said on April 2, 2024. (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

The president is also concerned about civilian casualties, Palestinian people and their safety, added Richmond, who noted that the president has criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus handling of the ground operation in Gaza and committed significant resources to Palestinians in Gaza.

The former Biden White House senior adviser said the president would continue his efforts for long-lasting peace and a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine.

Despite actions by the Biden administration and campaign to lead to a peace solution in the Middle East, some alumni see the presidents visit as a direct conflict with the legacy of Morehouses most illuminating alumnus: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. King was famous not only for his leadership in the Civil Rights Movement but for risking his reputation [and] relationships to speak up against the Vietnam War near the end of his life, said Edward Mitchell, a Morehouse graduate and national deputy director at the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). That legacy of speaking out against an unjust war is what college kids around the country are living out right now.

Mitchell, who signed the aforementioned letter circulated amongst Morehouse alumni, said that while he understands why the college would normally welcome the president of the United States to deliver a commencement speech, the timing is terrible.

When I was at Morehouse, theres no way they would have invited George W. Bush to speak in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, or at the height of the Iraq War, he explained. So why is it acceptable?

Mitchell said the Biden administration is living in an alternate reality if they think that they can speak at Morehouse and not face serious blowback from young Black men who overwhelmingly oppose the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

He said until Biden stops enabling an unjust, genocidal war, Morehouse is not the place for him to be, adding, His presence is really distracting from what should be a celebration focused on students and their parents without the specter of protests or disruptions.

Though its unclear whether students or graduates themselves will protest the presidents visit when he comes to the campus, Mitchell told theGrio, Students should decide on their own how they want to respond to this and what they feel is appropriate.

Morehouse College graduates participate in the 2023 139th Morehouse College Commencement Ceremony at Morehouse College on May 21, 2023 in Atlanta. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images)

He added, I know students are angry and frustrated, and they may decide that speaking out is more important than having a peaceful ceremony. That is totally up to them to decide.

Controversy aside, Benjamin and Richmond, the two most prominent Black men advising Biden inside the White House and on the campaign trail, say the president chose to participate in Morehouses graduation ceremony to honor the HBCUs rich history of producing Black male leaders.

When a president accepts to speak at a school, he is acknowledging the value of the school, the worth of the students, and in Morehouses case, the impact and legacy that the school has had on this countrys history, said Richmond, a former U.S. congressman from New Orleans, Louisiana.

Whether its by being a school teacher, or an engineer, or lawyer, or a doctor, or going on as the Secretary of Homeland Security like Jeh Johnson. We, at the school, produce people who change communities and change the world.

When President Biden delivers his remarks on the Morehouse campus in the heart of Atlanta, he will become the second sitting U.S. president to do so. The first was President Barack Obama, the nations first Black commander-in-chief, whom Biden served as his vice president.

I think that it raises Morehouses profile once again, Richmond said of President Bidens upcoming visit.

Though some critics have dismissed the presidents Morehouse commencement speech as a campaign stop to shore up Black voters in a battleground state, Biden officials pushed back against the suggestion. Instead, they argue that the president has an authentic relationship with the campus and an understanding of its legacy.

A sculpted bust of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., adorns a table for an early preview of the redesigned Oval Office awaiting President Joseph Biden at the White House in Washington, DC. (Photo by Bill OLeary/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

He considers Dr. King his personal hero  and has his bust on display with only a handful of others in the Oval Office, said Benjamin, who also noted that several Morehouse grads work in the White House executive office, including in the West Wing. He added, He considers the connection with Morehouse real.

Richmond, who recalled talking about Morehouse with Biden during his 2020 campaign, said the Biden-Harris administration holds a reverence for Morehouse and the greater Atlanta University Center, which includes Spelman College, Clark Atlanta University, and Morris Brown. Richmond said that is why the president delivered one of his most important speeches on civil rights and voting rights on the campus in 2022 and Vice President Kamala Harris included Morehouse on her Fight for Our Freedoms college tour last year.

The Biden campaign official said the president sees the commencement speech as an opportunity to remind the 2024 graduates of all the things that he has been able to accomplish specifically for the Black community, because [they] were engaged in the last presidential election.



Its more about making sure that they understand the impact that they have had, that they will have, that we need them to have, Richmond noted, and not necessarily in a political context, but in a community, country-type context.

Benjamin said President Bidens upcoming speech to the hundreds of Black male graduates will be about centering the students and their families.

When the president comes to speak, its meant to be a memory for a lifetime, he said. My sense is that hell speak to those things that unite us, more so than those things that divide us.

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The post Biden world reacts to Morehouse backlash, signals president may address concerns in speech appeared first on TheGrio.
Biffle Potts Farm in Hampshire named Century Farm of the Year: 'Preserve its legacy'

Hundreds of guests including farmers, business professionals, elected officials and community members attend the annual Farm Breakfast at the Ridley 4-H Center hosted by Maury Alliance on Friday, April 26, 2024.

The Biffle Potts Farm in Hampshire was recognized as Maury County Century Farm of the Year at the annual Farm Breakfast, hosted by Maury County Chamber & Economic Alliance.

The beef and once tobacco farm, established in 1859, is run by Melissa Potts and her husband Darrell, on almost 400 acres. Inheriting 125 acres from Melissa Potts' stepfather James Ed ("Mr. Ed") Biffle in 1993, over the years, the couple added 256 acres on which to raise their beef cattle. The Potts are also longtime owners of United Country Realty & Auction in Columbia.

Biffle and Potts' mother, Audrey, married in 1990 when Biffle was 75, and he died in 1994.

Landowners and farmers Melissa and Darrell Potts were recognized for preserving the generational Biffle Potts Farm in Hampshire, Tenn., which was named Maury County Century Farm of the Year at the annual Farm Breakfast at the Ridley 4-H Center hosted by Maury Alliance on Friday, April 26, 2024.

Biffle served in World War II in the 1st Calvary, farming one handed all of his life because he had a severe injury. He did bulldozer work and owned one of the first combines in the community, Melissa Potts said.

"He combined crops for other farmers. He, of course never had any crops himself," she said.

Audrey and Ed Biffle traveled to many World War II sites in later life, and "they loved Mule Day", Melissa Potts said.

Melissa Potts carries the Tennessee General Assembly proclamation declaring the Biffle Potts Farm in Hampshire, Tenn. as the Maury County Century Farm of the Year at the annual Farm Breakfast at the Ridley 4-H Center hosted by Maury Alliance on Friday, April 26, 2024.

"It's all about the land," Melissa Potts said to hundreds of guests at the annual Farm Breakfast at the Ridley 4-H Center in Columbia.

"Our dream is to keep this farm in tact and preserve its legacy," she said.

Melissa Potts also said they are also giving row crops a try this year. However, her true passion and favorite place on the farm is the small goat sanctuary, the Potts began when approximately a dozen goats from a nearby farm needed a new home. Now the herd has grown to 34 goats.

The Biffle Potts Farm was named as the Maury County Century Farm of the Year by Maury Alliance at the annual Farm Breakfast at the Ridley 4-H Center hosted by Maury Alliance on Friday, April 26, 2024. (Center) Melissa and Darrell Potts, who also serve as realtors at United Country Real Estate, are surrounded by their family. (From left) Tammy Body, Josie Collins, Jake Gizzard, Melisa Potts, Darrell Potts, Dalton Papajeski, Dexlyn Papajeski and Kayce Papajeski.

Sen. Joey Hensley read a proclamation approved by the Tennessee General Assembly declaring the farm a Century Farm and along with Rep. Scott Cepicky, R-Culleoka, presented it to the couple.

"There's something about the dirt, getting your hands messy, watering something and watching it grow, and holding a baby calf in your hands," Cepicky said. "Whenever we pass these resolutions, these resolutions are numbered and one day your great grandchildren can go up to the archives and look it up."

Sen. Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald, reads a proclamation, with (back) Rep. Scott Cepicky, R-Culleoka, declaring the Biffle Potts Farm in Hampshire, Tenn. as the Maury County Century Farm of the Year at the annual Farm Breakfast at the Ridley 4-H Center hosted by Maury Alliance on Friday, April 26, 2024.

Ag industry shrinks over the decades

Keynote speaker Tennessee Farm Bureau President Eric Mayberry, originally of Humphreys County, spoke about the state of farming in Tennessee, an industry that is top in the state but has overall shrunk over the decades.

Founded in 1921, Farm Bureau was established after its founders recognized a need to come together to advocate for farmers and the industry.

"Sometimes life is just better in blue jeans and cotton T-shirts," Mayberry said.

He shared statistics that show farming is on some levels a shrinking industry.

Keynote speaker Tennessee Farm Bureau President Eric Mayberry talks to attendee at the annual Farm Breakfast on Friday April 26, 2024.

In 1916, the U.S. was comprised of 32.5 million farmers, or a third of the nation's population, Mayberry said. Fast forward to today, there are 4 million farms left, or 1.4% of the population in the U.S., according to recent statistics.

"It doesn't look like a lot, and it's not. A lot who don't understand agriculture, don't realize that 1.4% produce the food for all the rest in the world," Mayberry said.

"Every farmer in the United States feeds himself and 172 other people in this country and around the world. ... It's a testament to the American farmer and speaks to the dedication of a farmer."

Maury County Commission Chairman Eric Previti, Maury County Mayor Sheila Butt and former county commissioner Charlie Tisher fellowship at the annual Farm Breakfast at the Ridley 4-H Center hosted by Maury Alliance on Friday, April 26, 2024.

He also shared statistics show that most Americans, or 70% to 80%, trust farmers, a percentage that exceeds many elected officials and leaders.

"Find a way to preserve farmland because at the end of the day, they aren't making more of it," Mayberry said.

Maury County agriculture facts:

Number of Farms: 1,442Land in Farms: 209,805 acresAverage Farm Size: 145 acresTotal Value of Ag Products: $50,538,000Avg. Value of Products per Farm: $35,047

Contribution to the Maury County economy:

Direct Agricultural Output est. $309 millionEconomic Impact est. $475.9 millionAg Generated Jobs est. 2,734

Data compiled by Maury Alliance

This article originally appeared on The Daily Herald: Biffle Potts Farm in Hampshire named Maury Century Farm of the Year
A bipartisan group of senators called on the chambers leaders to use the upcoming Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill to restrict the use of facial recognition technology at airports throughout the country.

In a letter on Thursday to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), 14 senators cited concerns about potential violations of peoples privacy and civil liberties, and they called for additional congressional oversight before the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) expands the technology.

This technology poses significant threats to our privacy and civil liberties, and Congress should prohibit TSAs development and deployment of facial recognition tools until rigorous congressional oversight occurs, the senators wrote in their letter, which was led by Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), John Kennedy (R-La.) and Roger Marshall (R-Kan.).

The TSA currently uses the facial recognition technology at 84 airports with the stated goal of expanding to more than 400 airports. Travelers at those airports have the option of using the TSA scanners to either place their passport photo on a reader or insert their IDs into a machine, and then look into a camera to have their face scanned. The machine then compares the two images to verify the travelers identity before a TSA officer signs off on the verification.

The photos taken during the facial recognition scan are not stored or saved after a positive ID match has been made, except in a limited testing environment for evaluation of the effectiveness of the technology, the TSA said on its website.

While the agency touts the technology as a significant security enhancement that improves traveler convenience, the senators expressed concern about potential future applications of such technology.

The potential for misuse of this technology extends far beyond airport security checkpoints. Once Americans become accustomed to government facial recognition scans, it will be that much easier for the government to scan citizens faces everywhere, from entry into government buildings, to passive surveillance on public property like parks, schools, and sidewalks, they wrote.

A TSA spokesperson criticized the senators push in a statement.

The amendment would halt facial recognition technology at security checkpoints, which has proven to improve security effectiveness, efficiency, and the passenger experience. Additionally, the amendment calls our technology deployments pilots, but they are operational assessments, the spokesperson said.

The senators noted that while the technology is currently optional for travelers at airports, they cited the TSA administrators remarks last April that we will get to the point where we will require biometrics across the board.

The senators urged Schumer and McConnell to use the FAA reauthorization  a must-pass bill this Congress  to restrict the TSA development of this technology.

The scope of the governments use of facial recognition on Americans will expand exponentially under TSAs plans, with little to no public discourse or congressional oversight, they wrote.

The FAA re-authorization bill is a key opportunity to provide needed oversight of TSAs facial recognition program, the senators continued. Should Congress delay, TSAs facial recognition infrastructure will soon be in place at hundreds of cities across America, and it will be that much more difficult to rein in facial recognition surveillance by the federal government.

The Hill reached out to Schumer and McConnell for a response.

This story was updated at 7:38 p.m. EST

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
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Health officials in the US are monitoring the spread of bird flu  the H5N1 virus  in dairy cows, particularly as traces of the virus have been found in supermarket milk.

On Wednesday, scientists revealed several cats had died on a Texas farm where cows have the virus, seemingly after drinking raw milk.



There are now two potential vaccines designed to curb the disease if it starts moving through people, health officials said Wednesday.

At least 36 cow herds across nine states have tested positive for bird flu, according to the most recent data. And at least two dairy farm employees have been infected with the virus. While there is no evidence there has been human-to-human transmission of the virus, if the virus mutates  much like the novel coronavirus did  that could change fast, especially if more animals with close human contact get the virus.

The federal government could produce and ship more than 100 million doses of the two vaccines within three to four months if needed, authorities said, but the Food and Drug Administration would also need to approve them first.

The outbreak has been quietly gathering steam worldwide for the last year in animals and birds. While the US is more prepared for any future pandemic than they were before COVID-19, various factors  including misinformation and a potential Trump presidency  have experts worried.

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Source: NBC News

The vaccines effectiveness on this strain of bird flu isnt completely clear. Experts are optimistic the results would be similar to past H5N1 cases, but a lack of human cases means theres also a lack of data to fully support this, researchers told NBC News. There is also a question about prioritization, as it is unclear who is most at risk of severe infection from bird flu. Typically, H5N1 doesnt spread in humans easily, and farm workers may be most at risk. But the virus has a high mortality rate  about 50%. Health authorities are also worried about vaccine skepticism and uptake. Its very disheartening to see so much vaccine skepticism and vaccine fatigue, said one infectious disease doctor.

Healthcare hurdles, misinformation complicate contact tracing

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Sources: Scientific American, The Atlantic, NPR

Although H5N1 doesnt typically jump from person to person with the same virality as COVID-19 or measles, for example, a mutation could change that. Ranch operators have reported several instances of workers falling sick with flu-like symptoms, and at least two people have tested positive for H5N1, according to Scientific American. Health experts warn that contact tracing will be difficult, because many people who work with cows in the US are mobile, uninsured, and undocumented, wrote The Atlantics Kathern J. Wu. In turn, many may not actively seek out treatment. Fears over the economic consequences of an outbreak are also making farmers hesitant to test employees: unlike poultry farmers, dairy farmers are not compensated for production losses related to culling herds or loss of manpower, NPR reported.

Trump says he would close pandemic preparedness office

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Sources: TIME Magazine, Laurie Garrett

While the anxieties over bird flu spread in the US rises among public health officials, former President Donald Trump told TIME Magazine that he would shut down the Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy. The public-health body opened last year after Congress passed a bipartisan bill in support of its creation. The office has been crucial for coordinating efforts to contain bird flu, but Trump said that it is too expensive and that he would only create such an agency if a widespread virus emerges. The office is a way of giving out pork, Trump told TIME. Many are already warning that a lack of preparation could see the nation return to a pre-COVID-19 state of vulnerability.

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The ISU Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory tests samples from animals for viruses such as avian influenza. (Photo courtesy of Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory)

Dairy cattle infected by avian influenza in recent months have surprisingly large amounts of the virus in their milk but little in other bodily fluids, according to tests by the Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.

That makes it easy to confirm whether a lactating cow is infected but makes testing more difficult for other cattle as federal agriculture officials attempt to learn the extent of bovine infections across the nation.

In nasal secretions, blood, feces and urine, we can find an occasional positive, but those positives are at levels that are almost undetectable, said Dr. Drew Magstadt, a cattle disease researcher at the Ames lab.

His comments were part of an online ISU Extension and Outreach discussion about the virus on Wednesday.

Magstadt discovered about six weeks ago that highly pathogenic avian influenza was the source of a mystery illness among dairy cattle in Texas. It had never been known to infect cattle in the United States before.

Since then, the virus has been detected in herds in eight other states, most recently in Colorado. That spread has been caused by the movement of dairy cows from infected herds to previously unaffected herds.

Genetic testing revealed that wild birds initially infected cattle with the virus, but the USDA has found evidence that it has since spread from cow to cow and from cattle to poultry. At least one infected dairy cow had no symptoms of illness.

FDA: Virus fragments in milk supply

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced last week that fragments of the virus have been detected in the nations commercial milk supply even though milk from sick cows is barred from distribution. On Wednesday, it said testing has confirmed that pasteurization  a process of heating milk to kill pathogens  inactivates the virus.

Tests of milk, cottage cheese and sour cream did not detect any live, infectious virus, the FDA said.

FDA strongly warned against drinking raw milk. Some states, including Iowa, have sought in recent years to expand the unpasteurized milks availability for purchase.

Also on Wednesday, the USDA said tests of ground beef in states where the virus has been detected showed no evidence of the virus. Dairy cattle are often slaughtered for their meat when their milk production drops.

Iowa is not imposing quarantine on sick cows

Starting this week, the department requires most lactating dairy cattle to test negative for the virus before they can be transported to different states.

Iowa will require labs to report all confirmations of the virus regardless of the animal species, said Dr. Jeff Kaisand, the state veterinarian and a bureau chief for the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship.

For now, IDALS will not quarantine dairy farms if their cattle are infected, Kaisand said. Most states have taken a similar approach, he said.

Dr. Yuko Sato, an ISU professor who has researched the virus in poultry, said dairy farmers should take more precautions than what might be required by government officials. She said a bird flu outbreak in 2015 was largely driven by farm-to-farm spread that was the result of insufficient biosecurity measures. About 33 million poultry were culled in Iowa that year.

We waited for the federal government to give us guidance, so we kind of sat on our hands a little bit, she said. I encourage the dairy industry to take a proactive stance and try to look at creative solutions, because were learning as we speak.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza is often lethal to poultry  especially chickens  but infected cows usually recover in 10 to 14 days.

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In many Western democracies, the brutal military retaliation undertaken by Benjamin Netanyahu against the civilian population of Gaza in the wake of the Hamas terrorist attack of October 7 has transcended foreign policy to become a domestic issue. For days now, the campuses of some of the most prestigious universities in the United States have joined the demonstrations taking place on weekends in cities like London, Paris and New York, and students are demanding an immediate end to the war.

The protesters are keeping up a fight with academic administrators and police authorities that is reaching historic proportions in a country that, regardless of whether the administration is Democratic or Republican, has been supporting Israel without reservations. Columbia, Harvard, Yale, Emory and Emerson are among the more than 20 universities that have organized movements that are galvanizing American society. Unlike other massive protests recently experienced in the U.S. such as Black Lives Matter  following the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in 2020  or Occupy Wall Street  motivated in 2011 by the economic crisis  this protest is not based on a domestic issue but on an unacceptable situation in the Middle East for which the protesters consider their own government partly responsible.

To find a similar mobilization we would have to go back almost 40 years, when global outrage against the South African apartheid regime forced U.S. students out of the classrooms. The difference is that now the country is immersed in a cultural war and gripped by an unprecedented political polarization that has been taken advantage of by ultra-conservative populism, whose greatest exponent is former president Donald Trump, and which threatens to divide the Democratic ranks just a few months before the November presidential election.

The decision by the president of Columbia University to suspend students who refused to leave the encampments, and to ask the New York Police Department to intervene to clear the area two weeks ago  a move that was repeated in the early hours of Wednesday  has helped deepen a conflict that is beginning to be reminiscent of the protests against the Vietnam War, and which could become a serious obstacle for President Biden as he seeks re-election.

No government should be surprised that the images of the tragedy unfolding in Gaza are stirring consciences thousands of kilometers away, and that those who can do something to stop it are being required to act. Biden is probably the politician on whom Netanyahu depends the most and the one who can force him to a ceasefire and alleviate the desperate situation of Palestinian civilians. And thats how American students are viewing it.
A young male black bear was captured late Wednesday night after spending a day roaming around two eastern Montgomery County communities evading police efforts to find him.

Black bear sightings are not uncommon in southeastern Pennsylvania between April and June, when mating season happens. On April 30, a black bear was spotted in Upper Makefield in Bucks County.

It is unknown if the bear caught in Montgomery County is the same one spotted the day before 15 miles away in Bucks County. Male juvenile bears can travel up to 15 miles in a day.

Here is how the Montgomery County rogue bear story unfolded, according to police and social media.

Hatboro officials reported May 1 theat a young bear sighted in Upper Moreland and Hatboro had been captured by the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

Where was the first sighting of the bear?

At 6 a.m. Wednesday Upper Moreland police put out an alert that a black bear was possibly sighted near Farmstead Park in the 6600 block of Byberry Road in Upper Moreland.

When was the next sighting?

Around 7:30 p.m. police in neighboring Hatboro received a call that a black bear was spotted in the area of east Mill Road, near the Hatboro Cemetery on Fulmor Avenue.

When officers arrived, though, there was no sign of the bear, but the homeowner snapped a photo showing a black bear in the yard, Hatboro Sgt. Hatboro Sgt. Conner Dilks said.

When was the second sighting?

Two hours later, Hatboro police received another call for a bear sighting about a tenth-of-a mile away on South York Road and Newington Drive, near the border with Upper Moreland Dilks said. Police tracked the bear to Armour Road in Upper Moreland where it had climbed up a tree at a home off Armour Road, Dilks said.

How did they catch the bear in Hatboro?

The Pennsylvania Game Commission, which had been alerted to the situation, was in the area preparing to set bear traps, when they learned the bear had been located. About an hour after the second sighting, game commission employees tranquilized the bear and took custody of it, Dilks said. The bear was described as about 3-years-old and 255 pounds.

Where is the bear now?

Unknown. A Pennsylvania Game Commission spokesman did not immediately respond to a message Thursday morning, but typically juvenile bears are relocated to more suitable areas.

Reporter Jo Ciavaglia can be reached at jciavaglia@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Bear caught in Hatboro after day of roaming in Montgomery County
(The Hill)  A bicameral host of Black lawmakers on Wednesday reintroduced legislation offering protections against hair discrimination.

Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman and Sen. Cory Booker gathered outside the Capitol with fellow lawmakers, as well as Adjoa B. Asamoah, co-founder of the CROWN Coalition, in announcing the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act, or CROWN Act.

Watson Coleman said the lawmakers were reintroducing the bill for the simple reason that nobody  no worker, no student, no person  should ever face discrimination because of how their hair grows out of their heads.

We cant control the texture of our hair any way that we can control the color of our skin, Watson Coleman said. And yet, Black Americans routinely face discrimination simply because of the way their hair is.

A 2020 study from Michigan State and Duke universities found that Black women with natural hair are often perceived as less professional and less competent than Black women with straightened hair or white women with straight or curly hair. They are also less likely to be referred for job interviews.

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More than 20 percent of Black women have been sent home from work because of their hair. One-third of Black women under 34 believe they have been denied a job interview because of their hair.

Our hair plays a significant role in our overall well-being, self-esteem, cultural identity, and personal expression, said Watson Coleman. Discrimination against Black hair is discrimination against Black people. And were going to put a stop to it.

The CROWN Act would prohibit discrimination based on an individuals texture of hair or hairstyle that is coiled or tightly-curled, locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, Afros and any other style of hair commonly associated with a race or national origin in the definition of racial discrimination.

Nobody should face harassment or discrimination based on their natural hair, and the CROWN Act is an effort to heal a systemic bias that tells Black people that who they inherently are is wrong, said Booker.

Prejudice against Black hair demeans an important foundation of our identity and cultural heritage, he continued. Its time that the long and storied history of implicit and explicit biases against natural hair comes to an end. Black hair is beautiful in all of its forms and styles, and we must ensure individuals are free to express their cultural identities without fear of prejudice or bias.

Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, said the legislation is backed by the entire caucus.

Whether its students like Darryl George, the student in Texas who has been barred from the classroom because of what is on his head instead of whats in his head, or Black women all over our country that are being forced to change their hair in order to be accepted  whether thats in the workplace or in any other environment  that is wrong, and it must end, said Horsford. Its a direct form of racist discrimination. And it has to end, and that is what the CROWN Act is all about.

Darryl George, then a 17-year-old junior, is seen before walking across the street to go into Barbers Hill High School after serving a 5-day in-school suspension for not cutting his hair Monday, Sept. 18, 2023, in Mont Belvieu, Texas.

Those gathered Wednesday were adamant that discrimination based on hair is racist.

Asamoah, co-founder of the CROWN Coalition, said that hair discrimination is based on Eurocentric beauty standards and as such is anti-Black.

We know in many ways anti-Blackness is pervasive, she said. While race, the way we typically discuss, is a social construct, racism is very real and it requires a thoughtful and intentional approach to dismantle the rules and practices that reinforce it and, in this case, to mitigate the physical, psychological and economic harm caused by race-based hair discrimination.

This is not the first time Democrats have tried to pass the legislation.

In March 2022, the House advanced a national CROWN Act legislation that later stalled in the Senate.

While no federal legislation has passed, more than 20 states have enacted a CROWN Act law.

But each state has different levels of protection, and in recent months, these disparities have made headlines.

Most notably, George, the Texas high school student, has remained on in-school suspension for his locs since August. School authorities said his locs fell below his eyebrows and ear lobes and therefore violated the districts dress code, though Georges family disputes this. They are now suing the school district.

While Black students are disciplined at a rate four times higher than any other racial or ethnic group, research has found that 70 percent of all suspension disciplines are discretionary, with many stemming from dress code violations, including unapproved hair styles.

Our babies need to be in school climates that are nurturing and conducive to them thriving, said Asamoah.

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On Wednesday, Watson Coleman said the disciplinary action against George is not really because of a dress code violation but because hes a young Black man in an overwhelmingly white school district.

The federal CROWN Act would provide research, statistics and precedent to support that there is a need to define and prohibit hair discrimination in the workplace and schools in order to enforce the protection of civil rights.

It would also provide clear definitions that describe enforcement mechanisms of the bill.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley emphasized that the CROWN Act is also a public health act due to the health issues Black women face from chemicals applied to their hair in order to assimilate.

But, she added, its also about sending a message to Black Americans everywhere that they belong.

Whether you are a student in the classroom, an employee in the workplace or the next Supreme Court justice, you belong everywhere, exactly as you are.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  Margaret Rudin, dubbed The Black Widow, whose murder conviction and life sentence a judge overturned, filed a lawsuit Thursday against the state for the more than 8,000 days she sat in prison.

In 2001, a Las Vegas jury found Rudin, now 80, guilty of the death of her husband, Ron Rudin, a real estate investor. Ron Rudins charred body was found near Lake Mohave in 1995. In January 2020, a parole board granted Rudins release. Then finally in 2022, a federal judge vacated her conviction, citing other potential suspects.

Margaret Rudin, in fact, did not murder Ron Rudin, did not participate in or plan his murder, and does not know who killed Ron Rudin, the lawsuit filed in Clark County District Court said. She is innocent of the crime and has professed her innocence to the crime and involvement in his death for thirty years.

In 2022, Rudin spoke exclusively with the 8 News Now Investigators one day after the Nevada Attorney Generals Office ran out of time to appeal the federal judges decision.

What do you think of that moniker? Charns asked Rudin about the Black Widow name.

I dont think anybody would dare call me that to my face, she said.

The Rudins married in 1987 after meeting in church. It was the fifth marriage for both. Ron Rudin was worth an estimated $8-$11 million. Several people, including Margaret, were listed as beneficiaries of his trust. Ron Rudin disappeared in December 1994 as Margaret was preparing to open an antique store in a strip mall her husband owned steps from their home near Charleston and Decatur boulevards.

He had always cheated, and every time he would say, Im not going to do it again, Im not going to do it again, Rudin said in 2022. Rudin described her husband as a paranoid man who had cameras at their now-demolished home. He owned hundreds of guns, she said.

Margaret Rudin speaks with the 8 News Now Investigators in 2022. (KLAS)

On Dec. 22, 1994, police found Rons car covered with a layer of dust parked at the Crazy Horse Too, a gentlemens club off the Las Vegas Strip.

In January 1995, Ron Rudins burnt remains were discovered near Nelsons Landing about 50 miles south of Las Vegas. Investigators determined Ron Rudin had been shot in the head several times. No one witnessed the murder.

Prosecutors theorized Margaret Rudin shot her husband while he was asleep in bed. Police found human blood in the room, but an expert testified the amount was less than a drop of blood from an eye dropper. An expert for the defense also testified that there was no evidence of a cleanup and there would be much more evidence had Ron Rudin been killed in the bedroom.

In a 10-week trial, Rudin earned the Black Widow name as prosecutors painted her as a wife out to get her husbands money.

The judge who overturned her conviction wrote there was no evidence linking Rudin to the murder weapon, Ron Rudins abandoned car, or the suspected crime scene. He also said Rudins defense attorney, Michael Amador, who has since died, did not do enough to defend her.

A federal court has already found that Margaret Rudin was wrongfully convicted, Rudins attorney, Adam Breeden, said in a statement Thursday. Today in her early 80s, Margaret Rudin intends to prove, under a Nevada statute amended in 2019 to address the rights of persons wrongfully convicted, that she was not involved either directly or indirectly in her husbands death and did not commit the crime.

The lawsuit asks for compensation for the wrongful incarceration, assistance for housing and insurance and attorneys fees.

A court date was not scheduled as of Thursday.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) meets Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel in Israel Wednesday on the last day of his three-day trip to the Middle East. Photo courtesy of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken/X

May 1 (UPI) -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel in the Middle Eastern country on Wednesday as the Biden administration pushes to secure a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war and prevent its ally from invading the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

Blinken ended his three-day, three-country trip Wednesday in Israel as he continues to push for a cease-fire deal that would include the release of all Israeli hostages held by Iran-backed Hamas.

He has said the deal is "generous on the part of Israel" and has been presented to Hamas, whom they are awaiting a response. The contents of the deal have not been publicly released, but The New York Times reported that Israeli officials are demanding Hamas release 33 hostages.

Speaking to reporters in Ashdod, Israel, about his multi-hour meeting with Netanyahu, Blinken said Israel has made comprises on the deal, a demonstration of its desire to get it done, with Hamas now in control of deciding how the situation will proceed.

"There is no time for delay. There is no time for further haggling. The deal is there," he said. "They should take it."

The push for a cease-fire comes amid growing expectations that Israel will launch a ground offensive into the southern border town of Rafah were more than 1 million Palestinians are sheltering from the war.

Worries of the Rafah invasion have been growing for weeks as Israel seeks to hunt down remaining leaders of Hamas who may be sheltering in the city. Despite concerns over potential humanitarian fallout from the invasion, Netanyahu has said they have "no choice" but to go forward with the ground campaign.

Earlier this week at the start Blinken's trip and amid hopes that a cease-fire deal could soon be reached, Netanyahu made clear that the ground invasion will go ahead whether Israeli hostages are released or not.

The United States has been forthright that they are against the invasion, and Blinken told reporters Wednesday that the Biden administration's position hasn't changed.

"We cannot, will not support a major military operation in Rafah absent an effective plan to make sure that civilians are not harmed," he said.

"And no, we have not seen such a plan."

The elimination of Hamas in Gaza is one of the conditions Netanyahu has set out to achieving victory in the war, and Blinken said that the United States sees other, better ways of dealing with the militant group than a major military operation in Rafah.

Some 130 of an initial 253 Israelis abducted during Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel remain captives of the Iran-backed militia.

During a brief cease-fire achieved in November, Hamas freed 50 Israeli hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians held captive by the Israeli government.

Blinken has been in the Middle East since Monday seeking a second cease-fire. Along with Israel, the United States' top diplomat visited Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
Body of fifth Baltimore Bridge collapse victim is pulled from wreckage 37 days after disaster

The body of a fifth construction worker who died in the disastrous collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore has been found five weeks after the tragic incident.

The victim has been identified as Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez, 49, of Glen Burnie, Maryland, state officials announced in a news release.

Gonzalez was one of six workers who went missing after they were still on the bridge in the early hours of the morning on 26 March at the time the container ship the Dali struck the 1.6-mile long structure when they lost power, sending the workers into the Patapsco River below as the bridge collapsed.

The worker was found by Unified Command salvage teams on Wednesday after they located one of the missing construction vehicles at the Key Bridge incident site, and immediately notified the Maryland Department of State Police.

Investigators from the police department, along with officers from the Maryland Transportation Authority Police and the FBI all responded to the scene, where they recovered the body that was inside a red truck.

This is the fifth construction worker that authorities have recovered while continued efforts have been carried out to restore marine traffic in the area and remove giant pieces of the tangled bridge in the river.

One worker, Jose Mynor Lopez, still remains unaccounted for.

Miguel Luna, 49, was the first vicitm to be named while the six construction workers were presumed dead following the bridge collapse (Supplied)

We remain dedicated to the ongoing recovery operations while knowing behind each person lost in this tragedy lies a loving family, Colonel Roland L. Butler, Jr., Superintendent of the Maryland Department of State Police said in a statement.

Along with our local, state and federal partners, we ask that everyone extend their deepest sympathies and support to the families during this difficult time.

The state police underwater recovery team and the crime scene unit also assisted at the scene.

Eight workers were filling potholes on the bridge at the time of the collapse; two managed to survive, while six others, including Gonzalez, lost their lives.

Divers were able to quickly recover the bodies of 35-year-old Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes and 26-year-old Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera a day after the bridge collapse after an initial search for the missing workers recovered a submerged truck.

Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalezs body was found on 1 May by salvage teams after they located one of the workers missing vehicles (Supplied)

38-year-old Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandovals body was found on 5 April by divers as the search continued, and salvage teams found a deceased fourth unnamed worker trapped inside a vehicle over a week later while they were clearing debris from the channel.

Gonzalez, who was from El Salvador, was the first of the six victims to be named by devastated family members in the early days of the search, identifying him as Miguel Luna.

The worker was married with three children, according to Gustavo Torres, the executive director of the nonprofit CASA, an organisation that provides services around Baltimore and other areas to immigrant communities.

Miguel Luna, from El Salvador, left at 6:30 p.m. Monday evening for work and since, has not come home. He is a husband, a father of three, and has called Maryland his home for over 19 years, CASA wrote in a statement last month.

Following the bridge collapse, his wife Maria del Carmen Castellon told NBC sister station Telemundo 44 that family members were able to get into the restricted zone.

They only tell us that we have to wait, that for now, they cant give us information, she said.

[We feel] devastated, devastated because our heart is broken because we dont know if theyve rescued them yet. Were just waiting to hear any news.

Salvage workers have continued to remove the large pieces of debris a month after the bridge collapsed in Baltimore (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

One of Lunas children, Marvin Luna, told The Washington Post that he knew his father was working on the Key Bridge overnight but did not know it collapsed until one of his friends called him up and said, The bridge is  gone.

Marvin then called his fathers phone, but there was no reply.

The recovery of Gonzalezs body comes a week after a memorial was held for him on Friday, along with the final missing worker, Jose Mynor Lopez, and the four other victims, with community members coming to offer support for all their families.

Organisers used two cranes to hoist Salvadoran and Guatemalan flags high into the air in honour of Gonzalez and Mynor Lopez.

As authorities continue to tirelessly shift the tangled heavy debris of what is left of the Key Scott Bridge, the Port of Baltimore said they are hoping to reopen the ports main channel by the end of May, which will help to restore marine traffic and alleviate economic pressures. Crews also plan to refloat and remove the Dali that has been stationary near at the incident site ever since the collapse.
Salvage work continues on the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge as it lies on the container ship Dali in Baltimore, Md. On Wednesday, authorities said the body of a fifth victim who died when the bridge collapsed in late March has been recovered. Photo by Julia Nikhinson/UPI

May 2 (UPI) -- The body of a fifth victim of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse has been recovered, authorities and officials said.

Unified Command confirmed the recovery in a statement Wednesday, identifying the body as 49-year-old Miguel Angel Luna of Glen Burnie. Md.

Six people were killed and nearly all commercial transit to the Port of Baltimore, one of the busiest in the United States, came to a halt March 26 when Maryland's Francis Scott Key Bridge collaged after a 985-foot container ship crashed into it.

The victims in the collapse were construction workers filling potholes on the bridge. Two bodies were initially recovered from the wreckage, followed by a third on April 5 and a fourth on April 15.

Unified Command said Luna's body was found inside a red truck that had been located by salvage teams on site.

"We remain dedicated to the ongoing recovery operations while knowing behind each person lost in this tragedy lies a loving family," said Col. Roland Butler Jr., superintendent of the Maryland Department of State Police.

"Along with our local, state and federal partners, we ask that everyone extend their deepest sympathies and support to the families during this difficult time."

The other victims have been identified as Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, and Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval, 38. At the request of the family, the identity of the fourth victim has not be released to the public.

The search for the sixth victim remains ongoing.
Body Found in Duffel Bag ID'd as Missing Boy, 4, Whose Mother Initially Claimed He Was Hit by Car

4-year-old Damari Carter's body was discovered in an alley less than half a mile away from his mother's apartment nearly five months ago after he went missing

AIDBIPOC.org Damari Carter

The body of 4-year-old Damari Carter, who went missing in December, has been found and identified by using DNA evidence, police said.

According to the Philadelphia Police Department, a boy's body was discovered stuffed in a duffle bag in a West Philadelphia neighborhood back on March 18, less than half a mile away from where Damari lived with his mother, Dominique Bailey, 28. Now, two weeks later, police say that DNA confirmed that the body was 4-year-old Damari.

Per the police, a maintenance worker discovered a Puma-brand bag in the alleyway behind the 600 block of North 38th Street in the Mantua neighborhood.

Related: 'Damari Was My Heart': Dad of Pa. Boy, 4, Speaks Out After Boy's Mom & Her Boyfriend Are Charged with Murder (Exclusive)

According to a press release from police, the body was so "severely decomposed" that investigators could not determine an identity at first and only discovered it was Damari after DNA testing.

AIDBIPOC.org Damari Carter

Damari was first reported missing on December 30 by family members who said they had not seen the 4-year-old in weeks. His mother initially said that he had been killed in a car accident, but police said they found no record of the incident.

The discovery of his body comes after investigators told Damari's family members that were unlikely to find his body, Damaris cousin, Aiyana Parrish, previously told PEOPLE.

Related: Pa. Mom Said Her Missing 4-Year-Old Was Hit by a Car. Now She and Boyfriend Are Accused of Murdering Him

On December 7, Bailey and her boyfriend Kevin Spencer's downstairs neighbor "heard Damari screaming," as the little boy was allegedly beaten, Staff Inspector Ernest Ransom of the Philadelphia Police Department previously told PEOPLE.

According to a police report obtained by PEOPLE, Bailey eventually told investigators that her son had died soon after the beating and that Spencer then put his body "in a trashcan," but she refused give any further location, the report alleges. Security footage obtained by police also allegedly shows Spencer "dragging a trash bag out of the house," according to footage cited in the report.

In an interview with police in January, Bailey told investigators that "she did see Kevin Spencer beat Damari frequently and that on the day he went missing, Spence beat him so bad that his head was swollen and his eyes were blackened," per the police report.



Philadelphia Police Department Kevin Spencer, left, and Dominique Carter

Bailey and Spencer were arrested in relation to Damari's death in January and have both been charged with a number of crimes, including murder, endangering the welfare of a child, abuse of a corpse and conspiracy. The couple are next due in court on June 18, according to court documents, and police say the homicide investigation is still ongoing. It is unclear if they've retained attorneys to speak on their behalf.

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.

Damari's aunt Nakia Bailey told the Philadelphia Inquirer that she was glad her nephew could finally be put to rest.

"I'm just glad that his remains were found," Nakia Bailey told the the outlet. "Because that was sitting not so well with any of the family, us not knowing where he was. We're still trying to wrap our heads around this situation happening at all."

"Innocence lost for what?" Bailey added. "I'll never get to see him grow up. It's devastating."



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Read the original article on People.
Boebert: It makes no difference to me if Jeffries or Johnson is Speaker

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) said Tuesday there is no difference to her whether Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) keeps his job or Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) becomes Speaker.

We are passing the democratic agenda each and every day that were here. We have a slim majority in the House. And its  everythings being passed overwhelmingly with Democrat support. So it makes no difference to me if its Hakeem Jeffries as Speaker or Mike Johnson right now, Boebert told CNNs Manu Raju in an interview Tuesday.

Boeberts comments came a day before Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) unveiled her plan Wednesday to force a vote next week on whether to oust Johnson from the top spot. Only two other Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), have publicly backed her effort.

The Georgia Republicans efforts face an uphill battle now that Democratic leaders have vowed to protect Johnson from the motion to vacate. Greene, joined by Massie on Wednesday, acknowledged that their efforts could fail while announcing the plans.

If this vote fails and the whole conference, the whole Congress, supports the uniparty, let me tell you something, that is not a failure, its a win for the American people because thats a list of names, Greene said. They deserve that list.

Johnson has criticized Greene and her efforts, saying during an interview with NewsNations The Hill Tuesday evening that she is not proving to be a serious lawmaker. Shortly after Greenes announcement Wednesday, Johnson denounced her plans in a statement.

This motion is wrong for the Republican Conference, wrong for the institution, and wrong for the country, Johnson wrote.

Greene is bringing her motion to vacate against Johnson after the lower chamber approved a foreign aid package last month. She said Sunday in a social media post that Johnsons days as Speaker are numbered, referencing the package that included funding for Ukraine.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Boeing-Linked Whistleblower Dead, the Second in 2 Months: He Possessed Tremendous Courage, Lawyers Say

Joshua Dean reportedly died the morning of Tuesday, April 30, after experiencing a sudden illness

Stephen Brashear/Getty The Boeing Airplanes factory in Everett, Washington

A Kansas man is now the second whistleblower linked to Boeing to die in the last two months

Family said Joshua Dean died after contracting influenza B, MRSA and developing pneumonia



The 45-year-old man was reportedly among the first whistleblowers to accuse Spirit AeroSystems leadership of ignoring defects on the 737 MAX

Another whistleblower who raised concerns about Boeing aircraft product safety has died, the second in the last two months.

Joshua Dean, of Wichita, Kan., died the morning of Tuesday, April 30, after experiencing a sudden illness, according to Seattle Times and Newsweek. He was 45.

Dean had previously worked as a quality auditor at Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems and was among the first whistleblowers to accuse Spirit leadership of ignoring defects on the 737 MAX.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with Josh and his family," said Dean's lawyers Brian Knowles and Rob Turkewitz in a statement obtained by PEOPLE. "He possessed tremendous courage to stand up for what he felt was true and right and raised quality and safety issues."

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Carol Parsons, Dean's aunt, said her nephew was in critical condition for two weeks prior to his death, according to the Times. He was apparently in good health before falling ill, as well.

Our thoughts are with Josh Deans family, a spokesperson for Spirit AeroSystems says in a statement obtained by PEOPLE. This sudden loss is stunning news here and for his loved ones.

Dean began working for Spirit in 2019, returning in 2021 after he was laid off due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Time.

In October 2022, Dean raised concerns about what he alleged were manufacturing defects in the 737 MAX, TIME and Newsweek reported. He was fired a few months later, in April 2023.

Stephen Brashear/Getty The Boeing Airplanes factory in Everett, Washington

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Dean then filed a complaint with the Department of Labor claiming he was fired in retaliation for raising concerns regarding the defects, according to the Times.

He also filed a complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration accusing Spirit of serious and gross misconduct by senior quality management of the 737 production line.



Dean went to the hospital less than three weeks ago after he started having trouble breathing, Parsons told the Times.

His family said in posts on social media that Dean was first diagnosed with influenza B and MRSA, a bacterial infection, before developing pneumonia, per Times report.



Related: 2 Pilots Survive 'Miraculous' Escape from Boeing 737 Tanker Crash While Fighting Fires in Australia

Dean was eventually airlifted to a hospital in Oklahoma City and later put on an ECMO machine. A CT scan revealed he had experienced a stroke at some point.

He is in the worst condition I have ever known or heard of. Even the hospital agrees, the former quality auditor's sister-in-law, Kristen Dean, said in a Facebook post on April 2.

Dean's death was announced three days later. Knowles and Turkewitz tell PEOPLE his death "is a loss to the aviation community and the flying public."

"Aviation companies should encourage and incentivize those that do raise these concerns," Knowles and Turkewitz say. "Otherwise, safety and quality are truly not these companies' top priorities."

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Dean's death occurred less than two months after another Boeing-linked whistleblower, John Barnett, was found dead on March 9 in Charleston, S.C., where he was delivering a deposition in connection with a whistleblower lawsuit against Boeing.

The Charleston County Coroner's Office said the 62-year-old Louisiana man died from an apparent suicide, according to a statement previously obtained by PEOPLE.

Lawyers for Barnett said their client was in very good spirits at the time, and was really looking forward to putting this phase of his life behind him. They described him as a brave, honest man of the highest integrity who cared dearly about the Boeing company, his Boeing co-workers and those who flew on Boeing aircraft.

We didnt see any indication he would take his own life, Knowles and Robert Turkewitz said in a statement previously obtained by PEOPLE. No one can believe it.



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Police arrested more than 130 people as they moved in to clear a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA on Thursday morning, according to the Los Angeles Times. The decision to send in the police came after protesters ignored orders to clear the area. There were scuffles between students and police officers, who launched flares and wore body armor, helmets and face shields as they moved in to tear down the barricades around the university encampment.

At least 1,300 people have been arrested across the U.S. in the last two weeks in connection with student protests. The movement continues to gather pace across the nation and more clashes with the police were expected on Thursday. At Portland State University in Oregon, officers were getting ready to evict students who took over the campus library in recent days. Meanwhile, on the East Coast, some of the activists who were arrested on Tuesday at Columbia University were brought before a judge.

After keeping largely quiet about the campus unrest, President Joe Biden gave a televised address to the nation on Thursday, condemning the acts of violence and saying that things had gone too far. Were a civil society and order must prevail. Theres the right to protest but not the right to cause chaos, he said. Destroying property is not a peaceful protest. Its against the law.

We all see the images, and they put to the test two fundamental American principles. The first is the right to free speech and for people to peacefully assemble and make their voices heard. The second is the rule of law. Both must be upheld. We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent, said Biden, who answered no to reporters questions of whether he would change his Middle East policy or send in the National Guard to quash the protests.

Biden, who is lagging behind the Republican presumptive nominee Donald Trump in the polls, is walking a fine line. His rivals are seeking to portray the protests as antisemitic and extremist, and saying that the Democratic administration is incapable of keeping them under control. On the other hand, being too critical of the student movement could alienate him from young and progressive voters, something he can ill afford to do: the under-30s are one of the pillars of his race for re-election, and this group has been very vocal in its criticism of Bidens unwavering support of Israel, as have Arab-American communities.

Officers detain a protester at UCLA during a pro-Palestinian protest on May 2, 2024. Mike Blake (REUTERS)

In New York, at least 20 people were brought before a judge out of a total of 282 who were arrested at Columbia University and the City College of New York, where protesters had clashed with the police on Tuesday. Although the encampment at Columbia  the epicenter of the protest movement  has been cleared, there are others still up at more than 40 universities across the country.

The clashes at UCLA had been brewing since Tuesday, when university officials declared the encampment illegal after being initially tolerant of protesters. By Wednesday morning the Palestinian flag was flying on campus, but a brawl initiated hours earlier by a pro-Israel group against the pro-Palestinian encampment raised tensions to their highest level during the weeks-long demonstration. It was an unexpected and unprecedented attack, said Alicia Verdugo, a 20-year-old sociology student who is among those demanding that the U.S. government stop investing in the conflict through aid to Israel. Our tuition money is the same money that buys bombs to wipe out Gaza, she added. Her fellow students were beaten, faced pepper spray and chemicals used to frighten bears, and even had fireworks directed at their tents. The police took several hours to intervene, a lack of swift response that has been widely criticized.

The violence at one of Californias most important educational institutions forced university officials to follow in the footsteps of Columbia, where the NYPD cleared the student encampment on Tuesday night. UCLA canceled classes for Wednesday and Thursday. At around 6 p.m., university loudspeakers blared a police message declaring the protest illegal and threatening to arrest anyone who did not leave the site. Hours later, hundreds of helmeted officers descended on the campus to disperse protesters, some of whom donned helmets, goggles, and respiratory masks in anticipation of the raid, Reuters reports.

Students had been preparing all day Wednesday for this outcome, the same reaction that has followed most of the university protests across the United States. We are ready to resist, to go through again and again what we experienced last night until the occupation of Gaza ends, one of the spokespeople said Wednesday afternoon to the applause of hundreds of students, who came to hear a press conference after the early morning events. Intifada Revolution, there is only one solution, the demonstrators chanted.

A pro-Israel group attacks the pro-Palestinian camp early Wednesday morning. Ethan Swope (AP)

The press conference also gathered another audience: a heavy police deployment. This grew throughout the day, heralding what was to come. First, several LAPD riot police officers arrived. By the afternoon, dozens of California Highway Patrol vehicles were parked on the grounds of the public university, their trunks open so that helmets and rubber bullet-firing rifles were easily accessible. Where were they last night? a student shouted to the uniformed officers as he recorded them with a video camera.

The slow reaction of the police has been harshly criticized. California Governor Gavin Newsom called it unacceptable and demanded answers from those responsible. They arrived around 3 or 4 a.m. They were here for an hour and 20 minutes before they mobilized. They were back there... said Kaia, a researcher who graduated last year from the university and was part of the encampment.

Karen Bass, the citys Democratic mayor, has called for an investigation into what happened on campus and has vowed to find those responsible for the violence. Those involved in launching fireworks at other people, spraying chemicals and physically assaulting others will be found, arrested and prosecuted, as well as anyone involved in any form of violence or lawlessness, Bass said in a statement.

A pro-Palestine protester confronts a police officer in the early hours of May 1. Ethan Swope (AP)

Following the eviction announcement, students turned to social media for support. We need bodies to keep us from being swept out. This is high risk. Only come if you are prepared, the movement wrote on Instagram. Many used markers to write the number for a legal hotline on their forearms in case they were arrested.

By Wednesday morning, almost nothing remained of the brawl that hastened the end of the camp. A thick silence hung over UCLAs main lawn, located between the main library and Royce Hall, a concert venue for nearly 2,000 people built in the image of Milans St. Ambrose church. Students at the encampment, all wearing sanitary masks, reinforced the security perimeter with planks and wooden pallets donated by supporters of the movement. The chirping of birds was only interrupted by the thud of helicopters, from the police and television channels, which watched over the settlement from the air.

Today in the morning, some peoples eyes were still hurting from the chemicals they threw at us, Verdugo said. Kaia claims that 100 people were hit with pepper spray and other substances and that at least 25 people received hospital care. There are no independent figures to corroborate this. The Fire Department claims that a 26-year-old was also treated by paramedics after receiving an injury from a blow to the head.

The students do not know which group was responsible for the violence. Verdugo points, without naming it, to a Zionist group that raised a hefty amount of money to serve as a counterpoint to the pro-Palestinian camp. This manifests itself in a giant screen, watched over by a couple of security guards 24 hours a day, which projects images of the Israeli hostages taken during the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023. The audiovisual system is an ominous presence for the students. Loud music began to emanate from there, preceding the beatings.

The display set up by a pro-Israel group, seen on the UCLA campus on April 29. Jae C. Hong (AP)

Wednesdays events have attracted curious onlookers who want to witness with their own eyes the movement on American campuses. One of them was Will, 25, originally from Chicago and in town for a year. He was the only one showing his solidarity with Israel by waving a flag bearing the Star of David. Its not the best time, I know. But these camps are wrong. Everyone has the right to express themselves, but when you close part of the university and affect classes and harass and intimidate individuals, when people openly chant that they want Jews dead... theres a limit to everything, he said.

But among the students there was determination, even moments before the police broke up the camp. Were not planning on going anywhere. Were here for the people of Gaza. Its much worse for the people of Palestine. Reminding ourselves why we are here has made us resilient, Kaia said.

Protesters block the entrance to a campus building on Wednesday afternoon. Jae C. Hong (AP)

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A delivery driver escaped an accused robber by intentionally crashing his truck into a light pole, California police reported.

The crash took place early in the morning of Saturday, April 27, Watsonville police said in a May 1 news release.

The 41-year-old driver stopped at a gas station a short time earlier when a man forced his way into the cab, police said.

The driver continued for about a mile, but when the accused robber produced what police say appeared to be a knife, he intentionally crashed the truck into a light pole, police said. Officers called it a bold move.

The driver called 911, and minutes later, officers arrested Joshua Barcelo, 33, on a charge of armed robbery, police said. No one was injured in the incident.

Watsonville is about a 90-mile drive south from San Francisco.

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New York City mayor Eric Adams and New York Police Department officials insisted this week that the protest occupation of a Columbia University hall, escalating months-long pro-Palestine demonstrations at the institution, was carried out by "outside agitators."

But when repeatedly pressed by media for evidence to support the claim, the Democratic mayor and officials bobbed and weaved, with Adams arguing, reports The New York Times' Dana Rubinstein, on CNBC Thursday morning that the percentage of "outside agitators" compared to the number of student protesters "doesn't matter" following a spiel about the danger a professor espousing misinformation poses to young people.

I know that there are those who are attempting to say: Well, the majority of people may have been students. You dont have to be the majority to influence and co-opt an operation, Adams said at a Wednesday press conference, as reported by Politico, while warning of a global movement working to radicalize young people. And so if you want to play the word 'police,' you could do so. Im going to play the New York City Police.

Adams also suggested that the alleged outsiders had taught the students to barricade themselves in an effort to evade police removal attempts, the Associated Press notes.

Columbia faculty members, however, rebuff that claim and the notion that students are being influenced to escalate their protests, with some instead emphasizing the students' own desire to protest.

"I think it's a pathetic attempt to discredit the political investments and moral conscience of this movement," Dr. Shana Redmond, a professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University, told Salon. "I think that the investment in paying attention to people beyond the university discredits the fact that these are adults. These students of Columbia University are adults who are making very principled decisions about how they want to live in the world and the kinds of impacts that they want to make."

Redmond, who participated in a faculty protest against the police presence at the campus, added that "the fact that they're trying to blame someone else, as if these young adults could not have come to this reasonable position on the genocide in Palestine on their own, is an absolute fabrication and [Adams] should be ashamed of himself for having insulted their intelligence in this way."

Adams and NYPD officials' "outside agitators" claim, according to Politico, has served as a justification for the mass arrests and offers cover to Columbia president Minouche Shafik, who requested police presence on campus to clear the encampment and through to graduation. Droves of NYPD officers entered Columbia's campus Tuesday night in riot gear, removing students from the Hamilton Hall building they had seized the night before. Officers would go on to arrest nearly 300 people that night, between the Columbia campus and the City College of New York, less than a mile north.

Police brass identified other tactics they argued could only be the work of professionals, including protesters sporting "black bloc attire," forming barricades inside the hall, breaking windows and blocking cameras. They also pointed to a social media post indicating that a woman with ties to a group the State Department has designated a terrorist organization had been present on campus, Politico notes.

That woman, Nahla Al-Arian, told The Associated Press Wednesday that Adams had misrepresented her role in the student protests and the facts about her ties to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group through her husband, Sami Al-Arian, a former prominent Palestinian activist and computer engineering professor, who made the social media post. Her husband was arrested in 2003 on charges of supporting the group but was not convicted. His case stayed in "legal limbo" for years, the AP notes, with Sami Al-Arian later accepting a plea deal for aiding the group. He was deported to Turkey in 2015.

Nahla Al-Arian told the outlet that she wasn't on Columbia's campus this week, was not among the arrested protesters and has not been accused of a crime. Instead, she said she visited Columbia briefly on April 25 to see the encampment while visiting the city and sat on the lawn but did not speak directly to any protesters.

Redmond said that several people visited Columbia's campus in the days the encampment stood, "many of whom came in solidarity" and "some of whom came to share about what they know, having been in student movements in prior decades." Alumni of the 1968 sit-ins and occupations and intellectuals alike came to campus, she recalled, describing how visitors took the time to sit in "peaceful, deliberate, quiet contemplation with" students, as well as to sing and dance with them.

"The real outside agitators in this situation have been the conservative congressional members who have showed up to campus. Eric Adams has been an outside agitator who has done nothing but stir up already volatile emotions and communications on this campus as set by the example of our president," Redmond said, noting she doesn't "buy" their arguments.

The NYPD has often rolled out the outside agitator rhetorical tactic in the face of protests, Politico notes, employing the claim in the midst of racial justice protests following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. But the history of the claim goes even farther back, as Dr. Mae Ngai, a Columbia professor of Asian American studies and history, told Salon.

The outside agitator is a "boogeyman narrative" that's used to "shift the blame away from people who are protesting" and has been employed against students who protested the Vietnam War in 1968  some of whom staged a similar occupation of Hamilton Hall exactly 56 years, to the date, before the latest Columbia occupation  and civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was said to have been "controlled by communists," she explained. The "trope" also serves to "discredit any ties" the students may have with community members who align themselves with the students' cause.

Because there has been a swath of protesters outside Columbia's gates, which Ngai said includes "provocateurs who are trying to inflame the situation with antisemitic slogans" which student organizers have denounced, "this outside agitator narrative is also being used to take the most extreme and provocative politics that are on the street and attribute it to the students," she said.

In an interview with MSNBC, Deputy Commissioner Tarik Sheppard presented chains that NYPD officers had recovered from their raid of Hamilton Hall at Columbia, which protesters used to secure the building, describing them as indicators that professional outsiders had taken over peaceful student protests for Palestine.

Deputy Commissioner Tarik Sheppard shows the chains used to secure Hamilton Hall at Columbia University.



"This is not what students bring to school. This is what professionals bring to campuses and universities." pic.twitter.com/fwFUPZlIj7  Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) May 1, 2024

The chain Sheppard displayed appeared to be highly similar to a bike lock the university's Public Safety Department sells to students at a discounted price. The only difference between the chain featured on the website and the one Sheppard presented is that the former is covered by a black printed fabric that appears to be removable.

When shown the image of the Public Safety Department's promoted bike lock by a reporter at the Wednesday press conference, Sheppard insisted that the chains the NYPD had removed from Hamilton were not the same and were a sign of professional work.

https://twitter.com/ChristRobbins/status/1785690103580389859

Using the chain as evidence of the alleged outside agitators is "laughable," Ngai said.

"Bicycle locks are just commonplace. Everyone has access to them  Columbia and non-Columbia students alike  so, I mean, if [officials are] presenting that as evidence that's very strange. They should be able to present much more convincing evidence one way or the other," Dr. Michael Thaddeus, a mathematics professor at Columbia University who is currently overseas on sabbatical, told Salon. He added, "Why the police department has to offer this very indirect evidence I have no idea. They arrested everybody. They have their names. They should be able to tell us whether they were outsiders or not."

Adams continued to dodge reporters' questions about the identities of the alleged outside agitators and the number of supposed outsiders respective to student protesters present in media appearances Thursday morning. According to Rubinstein, Adams refused to tell local news outlets Spectrum News NY1, Fox 5 and PIX11 News who and how many he believed were "outside agitators." He later told NPR that a "preliminary review" showed that "over 40 percent of those who participated in Columbia and CCNY protests were not from the school, Rubinstein reported.

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

When approached for comment regarding the 40 percent figure Adams cited on NPR Thursday morning, the mayor's office directed Salon to the NYPD Office of the Deputy Commissioner of Public Information. That office did not respond to a request for comment.

An NYPD official told CNN Thursday that of the 282 people arrested at either Columbia and CCNY and Tuesday, 134 were not affiliated with either university. The remaining 148 protesters were affiliated with one or the other.

At Columbia, CNN noted, 80 people arrested had an affiliation with the Ivy League university, compared to only 32 who didn't  numbers that account for arrests made both inside and outside Hamilton Hall.

While Columbia student protesters have been clear they welcome outside community members, organizers have maintained that their actions have been student-led, according to the AP. Some of those students said they had closely studied tactics employed by the students who took over university buildings in 1968 to protest the Vietnam War.

In a statement to the AP, Columbia University Apartheid Divest, the coalition behind Columbia's now dismantled encampment comprised of more than 100 student groups, defended its right to include people from outside the Ivy League or the ivory tower in this global movement and dubbed the "outside agitator" narrative a "far right smear."

"Columbias attempt to repress the movement only strengthens our resolve. We are not finished," the group said in a press release published on its Substack, recounting its occupation of Hamilton Hall, which was renamed "Hind's Hall" by the protesters in honor of a six-year-old Palestinian girl killed by Israel's bombardment of Gaza, which has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians according to the Gaza health ministry.

"The protesters defending Hinds Hall belong to a rich, beautiful legacy of civil disobedience at Columbia," they added, pointing to the police raid of the April 30, 1968, occupation of Hamilton Hall. "On the 56th anniversary of that day (to the very same day of the week), we met the same militarized adversaries with a resolve fiercer than before."

That's what's most important, Ngai and Redmond argued. Students led the protests, they insist  not an outside agitator but students galvanized to action for Palestinian lives. Ngai drew a comparison to her own experience as an NYU student protesting, striking and occupying buildings in 1969 and 1970 in protest of the Vietnam War.

"I think then, as now, the students [are] on the right side of history, and they lead the way as a moral conscience for the nation," she said, adding: "They don't need outsiders to tell them what to do. They're the leaders."
Columnist Jay Bookman writes that GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is uniquely suited to unite Democrats and Republicans, even in these divided times. Win McNamee/Getty Images

We are a divided country these days, so much so that certain people have taken to mad mutterings about a national divorce, secession or even civil war. But fear not, fellow Americans, for a time of healing and reunion may be upon us.

If you have doubts, I get it, because what could inspire renewed unity in this overheated political environment? What could possibly bring together Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals, at a time when we appear to agree on so little?

Well, history tells us that nothing brings people together faster than having a common enemy, and Americans of both parties now seem to have found one in Georgias own Marge in Charge, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Of course, Democrats have openly despised Greene since she entered public life a few years ago, in large part because shes as mean as a water moccasin and nutty as a south Georgia pecan orchard. But times being what they are, that disdain has become the foundation of her political career. Conservatives love what liberals hate, so the more anger that Greene could trigger from the left, the more adoration and power she got on the right. It has worked very, very well for her until now, but her limitations are about to come into play.

Thanks to her time in the spotlight, Greene now sees herself as a foreign policy expert, as the arbiter and enforcer of what Republicans are allowed to believe, and even as vice presidential material. She has also recently decided, pretty much all on her own, that House Speaker Mike Johnson, her fellow Republican, must be removed from that high office because he dared to allow votes on foreign-aid packages to Ukraine, Taiwan and Israel that Greene personally opposed. (All three passed by large margins.)

Mike Johnsons speakership is over, she proclaimed last week, as if she held his fate in her hands, saying that he has betrayed America, he has betrayed Republican voters.

Instead, and for the first time in her short career, there has been significant blowback from her own party. Her insistence that all aid to Ukraine be ended has earned her the title of Moscow Marjorie from the Murdoch-owned New York Post. The far-right editorial board of the Wall Street Journal, also Murdoch-owned, called her Rep. Mayhem Taylor Greene for her ongoing string of tantrums.

She  not the Democrats  are the biggest risk to us getting back to a majority, said Sen. Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina, accusing her of being a terrible leader and dragging our brand down. Even Democrats are now saying that if necessary, they will join with Republicans in voting to spite Greene and keep Johnson as speaker, a step of bipartisan cooperation that would be extraordinary even in less heated times.

Greene is clearly a clown, but clowns can be popular. However, the traits that make a good clown arent transferable to other lines of work. A funny face and big feet dont qualify you to dictate American foreign policy on Ukraine. A lapel flower that shoots water doesnt make you vice presidential material, and a big red nose doesnt give you the power to unilaterally remove a House speaker.

The most famous clown in America, Ronald McDonald, has been the popular mascot for McDonalds for more than 60 years, but nobody, including Ronald, thinks Ronald should be CEO of McDonalds Corp. (The actual CEO of McDonalds went to Harvard Business School, not to clown college.)

But you see, thats where Ronald McDonald and Marjorie Greene part company. Ronald is self-aware enough to know hes a clown. Marjorie doesnt. She thinks she gets all this TV time and attention because of her wisdom and leadership qualities, when in fact she has just happened to come along at a time when her partys base cares more about performance art and political theater  which shes good at  than they do about actual governing.

But like Greene herself, that approach has severe limitations. The GOP has forfeited so much power to the clowns among them  including at the very top  that on its own it is incapable of performing the basic functions of self-government. Thanks to the leeway theyve given to Greene and others, the party that famously rejects compromise as betrayal now needs Democratic help just to keep its own speaker in place.

Its a kumbaya moment.

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Its likely the U.S. Navy can repair its nearly 30-year-old amphibious assault ship Boxer with an underwater team, but the dilemma of how to fix the ship and redeploy it as soon as possible highlights the services dual challenges of an antiquated amphibious fleet that lacks the necessary repair capacity, the Navy secretary told reporters.

Boxer left San Diego, California, for deployment on April 1. It was already behind schedule, as fellow ship Somerset left the city in January. Somerset was the lone member of the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group prepared to leave at the time. Boxer and Harpers Ferry stayed behind for maintenance before leaving in the spring.

But Boxer had to turn around on April 11, due to what was ultimately determined to be an issue with the ships starboard rudder and roller bearing system.

USS Boxer will execute repairs to its starboard rudder at Naval Station San Diego. The waterborne repairs will be conducted at the pier and will likely not require a dry dock. Boxer may resume its deployment as soon as this summer, Cmdr. Arlo Abrahamson, a spokesman for the commander of Naval Surface Forces, said in an April 30 statement.

Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro told reporters following a speech at the Modern Day Marine conference this week that Boxer just came out of a very complicated availability, and we are investigating the reason why the bearing failed on the rudder.

The Navy is also still investigating if it can fully address the problem with an underwater repair team rather than having to wait for a dry dock in San Diego to become available. However, waiting for a dry dock would cause further delays to the ships redeployment to the Pacific, Del Toro said, adding that the Navy should know the final repair plan within the next few days and that teams are preparing for both outcomes.

Del Toro noted there can be material deficiencies in new ships, but the old fleet is much more likely to experience them.

In the amphibious navy in particular, we have failed to basically purchase new amphibious ships at the pace that we should have for decades, and now were sort of paying the consequences of that, he said.

He noted the Navys fiscal 2025 budget plan shows the service is preparing to buy San Antonio-class amphibious transport docks in FY25, FY27 and FY29, as well as the next America-class amphibious assault ship in FY27.

Im hopeful about the future, and well continue to do the very best that we can to replace those old amphibious warships, he said, noting that deployment roadblocks like Boxers would become less common when the average age of the amphibious fleet is younger.

Lawmakers for years have pushed the Navy to sign a multi-ship contract with HIIs Ingalls Shipbuilding to lower the cost of buying these amphibious platforms. The Navy, despite several congressional measures giving it the contracting authority, has declined to take this step, citing uncertainty about how many, if any, amphibious vessels it wants to buy in the future.

With the debate over the future of San Antonio-class procurement now settled, Del Toro said the Navy hopes to have this multi-ship deal worked out in the coming weeks.

The Navy acquisition chief is in close discussions with the shipyard, and obviously were trying to negotiate the best deal possible on behalf of the American taxpayer. So I feel confident that, hopefully over the next several weeks, well be able to have a negotiated deal that we can announce, Del Toro said.
TechCrunch

The dispute between WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg and hosting provider WP Engine continues, with Mullenweg announcing that WordPress is forking a plugin developed by WP Engine. Specifically, Advanced Custom Fields  a plugin making it easier for WordPress users to customize their edit screens  is being taken out of WP Engines hands and updated as a new plugin called Secure Custom Fields. The Advanced Custom Fields team responded on X, describing this as a situation where a plugin under active development has been unilaterally and forcibly taken away from its creator without consent, which it said has never happened in the 21 year history of WordPress.
The Daily Beast

Donald Trump, while giving a speech Friday in Colorado during which he used teleprompters, falsely claimed that he doesnt use them.Not only that, but the chronically truth-averse candidate repeated a debunked assertion on the same topic: that Vice President Kamala Harris used a teleprompter during her Univision town hall the day prior.Did you see where she did a town hall yesterday and she used a teleprompter? I never saw a townyou dont use teleprompters. We dont use teleprompters, period,
ABC News

WNBA star Brittney Griner on Wednesday recounted her time in a Russian prison for most of 2022, describing cold, moldy conditions and having to use toothpaste that had expired around the time George W. Bush left office.

In a 20/20 interview with Good Morning America co-anchor Robin Roberts ahead of the release of her memoir, Coming Home, Griner said it was a mental lapse that led to her detainment for bringing vape cartridges with cannabis oil into the country, which is illegal.

Her packing the morning of her flight to Russia to play in the Russian Premier League during the WNBA off-season was hurried due to a late start, she said, and involved just throwing all my stuff in there and zipping it up and saying, OK, I'm ready.

After airport security inspected her bag, she realized her error.

Brittney Griner and Wife Cherelle Announce Theyre Expecting a Baby

I'm just like, Oh, my God. Like, How did I make this mistake? How was I this absent-minded and made this huge mistake? she said. I could just visualize everything I worked so hard for just crumbling and going away.

Once she had been detained and was awaiting trial, the prison experience was poor, she said.

The mattress had a huge blood stain on it, and they give you these thin two sheets, so you're basically laying on bars, she said. From the middle of my shin to my feet stuck through the bars, which, in prison, you really dont want to stick your leg and arm through bars[because] someone could go up and grab it, break it, twist it. And thats what was going through my mind.

No Stranger to Hard Times: Brittney Griner Tears Up at Her First Press Conference

Griner also recalled long stretches without having toilet paper, and toothpaste that expired like 15 years ago.

We used to put it on the black mold to kill the mold on the walls, she said.

Griner credited her cellmate for helping her navigate her time there, for instance by translating.

After Griners sentencing in August to nine years in prison, she was moved to a penal colony and worked cutting fabric for Russian soldiers uniforms, video of which was captured by Russian authorities and played on Good Morning America.

Griner said of the conditions there: Really cold. Its a work camp. You go there to work. There's no rest.

The Phoenix Mercury center had to cut off her dreadlocks because they were hard to dry and were making her sick. Also, she said, we had spiders above my bed making nests.

Griner was freed in December 2022 as part of a prisoner swap, with Russia getting Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer known as the merchant of death.

Griners full interview airs Wednesday at 10 P.M. on ABC.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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The White House is showing growing impatience over achieving a ceasefire in Gaza. There just has to be a deal, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby insisted Tuesday regarding ongoing negotiations in Cairo for a pact between Israel and Hamas that would allow a truce in the Gaza Strip in exchange for the release of more hostages. If we can get a ceasefire, we can get something more enduring and then maybe end the conflict [] but it has to start with a deal and getting these people back to their families, he told a press conference. Kirbys message also carried a domestic political motivation. For the White House, at a time when President Joe Biden is lagging in the polls, reaching an ceasefire agreement is vital ahead of the November election and amid the increasingly widespread pro-Palestinian university protests raging against Washingtons support for the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

While it awaits Hamas response to the latest proposals in the months-long negotiations, Washington is pressing from all angles for the radical Palestinian militia to accept a deal that would allow the return of more than 30 Israeli hostages held in the Strip in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners and a pause in hostilities.

The talks have entered the final stretch at a decisive moment for the Biden administration: anti-war protests are spreading in U.S. universities and the achievement of a deal may be the only way to avoid a growing schism with younger voters and the progressive Democratic wing, while Washingtons management of the conflict may continue to drag the president down in the polls in the run-up to the November election.

While Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a series of meetings in Tel Aviv with Israeli authorities at the end of his seventh tour of the Middle East since the conflict began, Biden himself is also involved in the negotiations.

On Monday, the president held talks with his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, and the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, the leaders of the two countries that, together with the United States, are mediating the negotiations. Biden asked the two Arab heads of state to press Hamas to accept the terms of the pact. In a message on X, Biden stated: The United States will work with Egypt and Qatar to ensure the full implementation of the terms of the deal, and exert all efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas which is now the only obstacle to an immediate ceasefire and relief for civilians in Gaza.

The situation in Gaza, for Biden, is also a matter of domestic politics. Ending the war in the Strip would give him a huge boost ahead of the November election, and would quell other elements involved in the ongoing conflict  such as the Houthi attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea  or those threatening to lead to an escalation in the region such as the clashes between Israel and Hezbollah on the Lebanese border.

Should the conflict continue, on the other hand, it will complicate Bidens political prospects: something he can ill afford when polls suggest he is losing ground to Republican candidate Donald Trump. An average of polls collated by the specialized website RealClearPolitics places Biden a point and a half below Trump and in the most disputed states, the former president has increased his advantage to 3.2 points.

A Harvard Youth Poll conducted in April found that Biden only leads his predecessor by eight percentage points among those aged under 30, a segment of the population that traditionally leans toward the Democrats and whose support the president needs in what is expected to be a very tight election. In 2020, Biden held a 23-point lead among young voters.

Concern among Democrats

On Capitol Hill, there is palpable concern among Democratic legislators over the pro-Palestinian university protests  in which hundreds of students have already been arrested  and the possibility that the Republican opposition will take advantage of them to attract at least a segment of public opinion.

If there is some sort of [ceasefire] in Gaza right now, that would be very helpful, Democratic member of Congress Jan Schakowsky told Axios, adding the crisis in the Strip is looming over the campaign.

Among Democrats there are fears that, in the absence of a breakthrough in the Middle East, the protests will continue with renewed force after the final exam season is over. And even come the August convention in Chicago, the big event of the Democratic political campaign at which Biden will be anointed as the partys official candidate for the November presidential election. That prospect frightens many, who remember how the last convention held in Chicago, in 1968, went disastrously amid street protests against the Vietnam War.

For the moment, the White House is struggling to explain to the progressive wing of its party what it is doing, and what it is trying to achieve, in Gaza. This week, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has been meeting with lawmakers from that group.

Meanwhile, Biden has been keeping a low profile at what in normal times would be an appointment as obligatory as it is plentiful at this time of year: his attendance at college graduation ceremonies. The president has only two such events scheduled, at the West Point Military Academy and Morehouse College in Atlanta, historically the only college for Black students interested in the liberal arts.

Biden has said little specifically about the protests, a task he has delegated to his White House spokespeople. The presidential office has tried to maintain a neutral stance and, while assuring that it defends freedom of assembly while it is peaceful, has also declared itself opposed to any move that might represent an act of antisemitism and condemned the occupation of a building on the Columbia campus by protestors. Americans have the right to peacefully protest. They have the right to peacefully protest as long as its within the law and that its peaceful. Forcibly taking over a building is not peaceful, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday at her daily briefing.

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In a law career that started between the Miami Dolphins two 1970s Super Bowl wins, Hallandale Beach attorney Roger Davis said hed never even faced a grievance committee before current accusations that he misappropriated $15,229.

Starting May 22, Davis will be under suspension.

The state Supreme Court granted the Florida Bars petition for emergency suspension last week, a petition that included two grievances. Judge James Sherman of the 15th Judicial Circuit in West Palm Beach has been appointed referee in the case.

Davis, 76, said the Bar got all his accounts frozen Tuesday. He figures he p----- off the wrong person and both issues originally were filed with the Attorney Consumer Assistance Program, a Florida Bar program that allows consumers to settle issues of attorney conduct without making an official Bar complaint.

The first instance which spans 45 years, was dismissed with the indication that there was no disciplinary or ethical violation, Davis said. The second complaint was completely cleared in Tallahassee, then filed anew with the Florida Bar office in Fort Lauderdale.

Davis joined the Bar on Oct. 18, 1973. He met William Storen almost three years later.

William Storen

Davis said Storen was a walk-in client to Davis downtown Miami office in 1976 who refused to be represented by Davis partner because the partner was Black. Davis became the 26-year-old Storens legal guardian that year.

The Bar petition says Davis lost contact with Storen, who had been declared a man Davis described as a dangerous paranoid schizophrenic who had been declared disabled. Storen died Jan. 9, 2018.

The Bar complaint says Davis learned about Storens death in 2019 from Susan Capri, Storens niece, when he inquired to Storens family about him.

In a phone interview with the Miami Herald, Davis said hed agreed with Capri to take a third of the money in Storens account as attorneys fees. But after a disagreement when Capri asked for accounting records, Capri filed a Bar complaint and Davis said he told her he was taking her whole end and going to distribute it to worthy causes.

The Bar petition says Davis refused to give Capri an accounting of funds held on Storens behalf so Capri filed the complaint.

The Florida Bar said as of May 13, 2019, there was $13,933 in the account that Davis kept for Storens money.

That money remained there plus nominal interest until May 25, 2022, the Bar petition said. That day, according to the Bars Lead Staff Auditor Carl Totaro, there was a $5,000 transfer from the Storen account to Davis personal account and a Zelle payment of $1,000 to Galetti Keith.

Six days later, the Bar petition said, there was an online transfer to Davis personal account, and on June 7, 2022, a Zelle payment, each for $1,000. On June 23, a Tele-Transfer moved $2,200 from the Storen account to Davis trust account. That same day, a $3,500 check from Davis trust account was cashed payable to Roger B. Davis.

Three online transfers of $1,000 each came out of the Storen account on June 28, June 29 and July 1, 2022. A Zelle disbursement of $500 wen to a Downing Mary with the order to Use in Good Health. By Sept. 16, 2022, the account balance sat at $102.94.

Only one of the last seven transfers from the Storen account exceeded $300, but the final total was $13,837. The Bar auditor said at least $9,630 of that went to Davis personal account.

The Bar petition says Davis claimed that money counted as his attorneys fees and said he even included them in his gross taxable income, but has not provided evidence to support those funds were his earned attorneys fees.

Also, the Bar said Davis didnt file an annual accounting in his guardianship for Storen from 2014 through 2018.

Miami Motors money

The matter of the other $1,392 involves Miami Motors, a company run by Henry Rose in the Country Walk area of Kendall. The Bar petition says Rose paid Davis $350 up front, but they never had a fee agreement. Rose claimed Davis didnt come across with all of Roses part of $3,500 after the case settled in 2023.

Davis, the Bar petition says, didnt put the settlement check in his trust account on March 21, 2023, but in his personal account, mixing business and personal money. By March 31, the Bar petition says, Davis personal account was down to $182.90 after Davis made payments to Citibank, American Express, Capital One, Target and Florida Power & Light.

Davis did pay Rose $1,575, the Bar says, from his trust account over four payments from April 10 through May 4. But that plus the $182.90, by the Bars math, still leaves Davis $1,392.10 short.

Also, one cannot use client money received today for an attorneys personal purposes banking on it being replaced in time for a client payment in the future, the Bar said.
Brown University has seen division. A student and her grandmother see the need for dialog

We are in a time when the word oppression is part of the conversation  facing it, surviving it.

So I was intrigued to hear of a Brown University student with unlikely roots in two of historys most tragic examples of it.

She is a descendant of American slaves as well as Holocaust survivors.

Her name is Naomi Umlauf, a 21-year-old junior, and her name comes up because of an extraordinary event happening in Providence on Thursday evening, May 2.

Now that almost 80 years have passed since the end of World War II, few actual death camp survivors are left.

Naomis grandmother, Eva Umlauf, now 81, is one of them, having been deported by cattle train to Auschwitz at age 23 months with her father and pregnant mother from their native Slovakia. Because of the cold efficiency of the Nazis, even as a 2-year-old Eva was tattooed with her new identity  A-26959. It remains on her arm today.

Brown University junior Naomi Umlauf with her Holocaust survivor grandmother, Eva Umlauf, at Auschwitz on Jan. 27, 2023, the 78th anniversary of the camp's liberation.

Her father was murdered, but she and her mother survived when, after three months in the Auschwitz barracks, they were liberated in January 1945.

It is a defiance of oppression that Eva is still among us, and so is the life she's lived, becoming a doctor and still practicing today as a psychotherapist in Germany.

A few years ago, she wrote a memoir called The Number on Your Forearm is Blue Like Your Eyes, and Eva herself will be at Browns Hillel Thursday at 6:30 p.m. for the launch of the American translation.

Her African American granddaughter Naomi will be part of the presentation.

Naomi was kind enough to talk with me despite scrambling during finals week, and, like all students at Brown, navigating upheaval around Palestinian passions and protests, including the tent encampment that was taken down a few days ago.

At one point, I asked Naomi where she stands on the issue, given her mixed background.

Well get to that in a minute, but first, I was curious about her heritage.

Naomi grew up in New York City, daughter of Evas son Erik Umlauf and her African American mom, Natalie Williams, both now working as executives at JPMorgan Chase. The two met when seated randomly at the same table at a Club Med in Martinique.

Naomi's mother went to Yale Law School and clerked with Judge Sonia Sotomayor, who officiated at their marriage in 1997 and 12 years later was elevated to the Supreme Court.

Naomi, an English major, is editor-in-chief of Browns campus Black publication, The Black Star Journal, a mix of news and creative writing.

I identify as African American, Naomi told me. My passion for Black storytelling comes from a desire to learn more about that side of me. It was an identity I struggled with growing up.

But she has also immersed herself in the lineage of her grandmother Evas side.

In the same way that most African Americans can trace their ancestry to slavery, most here with a Jewish parent have relatives who were in the Holocaust.

Yet Naomi is a rare case with a death camp survivor grandparent still alive, and, indeed, last Jan. 27, on the 78th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, Naomi traveled there with Eva  whom she calls Oma, the German word for grandma.

During that visit, Eva gave a speech to a gathering in a preserved former gas chamber. The talk was in German, but Naomi took in the emotion and symbolism of a grandmother still here to give testimony about oppression. Auschwitz, Naomi realized, was part of her own story.

Being there  it was impossibly heavy, Naomi told me. I dont know if Ive fully processed it yet.

And then there is Naomis other side. Although her family celebrated Jewish holidays and occasionally went to synagogue, they also embraced the Protestant faith of her maternal grandmother, Jacqueline, who grew up in the South during the Jim Crow era, then moved to Brooklyn, where her historic Black church was a huge part of her life.

It adds to Naomis mosaic  a descendant of slaves and Holocaust survivors, as well as having both Christianity and Judaism in her experience.

I asked her how that mix plays out in her view of the Gaza war, with groups like Black Lives Matter supporting the Palestinian side while most Jews align with Israel.

In Nazism, Naomi said, Jews were othered in the same way African Americans have a legacy of being othered. As someone who was a part of those two experiences, its led me to recognize the need for dialog between two peoples in an effort for peace.

More: How many students will attend RI's colleges and universities this fall? Here's what we know.

She puts it this way in the afterword she wrote for her grandmothers book: Although the experiences and struggles of Jews and African Americans are distinct, their shared experience as victims of horrific oppression and unspeakable inhumanity has inspired both communities to work in solidarity to obtain justice.

Naomi admits the passions on campus around each side have been challenging for her.

For me, these last few months have been super-draining, said Naomi. Ive leaned on my friends and community for support.

There were times in her life when Naomi felt her white, Jewish side detracted from her ability to be in Black spaces.

But as she writes in the afterword to her grandmothers book: My parents instilled in my sister and me an awareness that we had the blood of survivors running through our veins from both sides of our family.

Naomi is looking forward to the book launch at the Brown-RISD Hillel Center with her Oma. It will be a striking tableau in this time of division  an 81-year-old Jewish survivor of Auschwitz sharing her memoir  and memories  with her African American granddaughter at her side on a campus that has lately seen much division.

The message will unavoidably be one of hope.

mpatinki@providencejournal.com

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Holocaust survivor Eva Umlauf speaks at Brown University with granddaughter
Two Buena Park police officers used excessive force when they fatally shot a 19-year-old man suffering from a mental breakdown, a Santa Ana jury found this week and subsequently awarded his mother $3.5 million in damages.

Officers Bobby Colon and Jennifer Tran shot and killed 19-year-old David Sullivan on Aug. 19, 2019 when they confronted him after he stole a vehicle from his workplace, according to lawyers for the victim's family. Sullivan, who was shot multiple times, was unarmed.

The plaintiff's attorneys argued that Sullivan was suffering a mental breakdown that required the officers to use proper non-ethal techniques for dealing with a person in distress.

This was the second time the officers were tried in the case. A federal jury hung on the case in 2022 and a mistrial was declared, according to the plaintiffs lawyers. The case was then remanded to state court.

Although Colon and Tran will be held civilly liable for the shooting, it is unlikely they will face professional repercussions, said Gary Dordick, the attorney who led the plaintiffs trial team.

Colon and Tran attempted to pull Sullivan over for an expired registration on the day of the shooting, Dordick said in a press release. Sullivan attempted to flee in the stolen SUV, striking the police car and a passerby.

When Sullivans vehicle came to a stop, he charged at the officers on foot. The officers fired seven shots, striking Sullivan four times in a shooting caught on one officers body camera, according to the plaintiff's attorney's.

The defendants argued during trial that Sullivan, who was over 6 feet tall and weighed 230 pounds, was running toward them in a threatening manner and could have inflicted great bodily harm, Dordick said. They also referenced a suicide note found in Sullivans wallet after his death as a justification for the shooting, he said.

This was a bad shooting and they should have accepted responsibility and learned from it, Dordick said in an interview. Instead, they gave inconsistent statements and false statements about the shooting.

Dordick and his team argued that the officers used lethal force against a man who did not present a deadly threat. They also pointed out that Sullivan was in the midst of a mental health crisis at the time.

The family has to accept responsibility for the wrongful conduct of David Solomon and what role he played, Dordick said. But at the same time, the officers need to accept responsibility and be held accountable for what they did.

Dordick said he expects the defendants to file an appeal.





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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Bunnies in plastic bag tossed out car window in Macomb County, rescued by deputy

A Macomb County sheriff's deputy rescued a group of bunnies found in a plastic bag that was knotted multiple times and tossed out a car window.

Seven of the eight bunnies survived as Deputy Taylor Dibble delivered them to a rescue in northern Macomb County, the Sheriff's Office said in a news release Thursday.

Sheriff Anthony Wickersham said in the release that his office takes situations of animal abuse and mistreatment "very seriously" and that Dibble gave the animals "a chance at life."

The Sheriff's Office said it was dispatched to the area of Potomac Drive and Shoal Drive in Macomb Township about 7 p.m. Monday for an animal complaint. The caller said he saw a person throw a plastic bag out a car window and the bag contained baby rabbits.

Bunnies found inside a knotted plastic bag that were rescued by a Macomb County sheriff's deputy April 29, 2024. The bag was tossed out a car window in Macomb Township, according to the sheriff's office.

Dibble found the bag closed with multiple knots. The mouth and nose of one bunny was poking out of a hole in the bag, with a knot tied around its neck, per the sheriff's office release.

Dibble, unable to untie the knots, used a key to rip a hole in the bag to provide oxygen to the bunnies, according to the Sheriff's Office.

It said the Michigan Department of Natural Resources provided contact information for Detroit Animal Welfare Group, a nonprofit, no-kill animal sanctuary in Bruce Township, where Dibble took the bunnies.

One was dead. The others were estimated to be about 1-2 weeks old and unable to live on their own without care from their mother or rehabilitation efforts, group Director Kelley LaBonty told the Sheriff's Office.

The group posted on its Facebook page the cottontail bunnies were: "Left to die."

"Sadly one had already died but we will work hard on saving the rest!" according to the group's Facebook post.

The same day, the group posted on its Facebook page that it received even more mouths to feed. In addition to the bunnies, 10 baby opossums, whose mother was killed, came in as did an orphaned baby raccoon and an orphaned red squirrel with puncture wounds, according to that post.

In the case of the bunnies, the Sheriff's Office said the suspect who is believed to have tossed the young animals is a younger to middle-aged man who was driving a smaller red Chevrolet car. The witness said he had seen the suspect in the area before. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Sheriff's Office.

Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @challreporter.

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Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Bunnies in bag tossed out car window, rescued by Macomb deputy
ALGOMA, Wis. (WFRV)  A statewide alert was issued for Wisconsin after an Algoma home was burglarized on Wednesday. Authorities say the suspects, possibly tied to a nationwide criminal network that targets jewelry store owners, stole over $100,000 worth of cash and valuables from the victims.

According to a release from the Winnebago County Sheriffs Office, the victims reportedly noticed a suspicious vehicle outside their home around 1:50 p.m. on May 1. The vehicle was described as a newer Toyota Highlander, silver or light grey with what were believed to be Louisiana license plates.

The victims home on Sheboygan Street is described as being in a secluded area of Algoma with higher-value homes.

Mississippi man facing 24 felony charges in Wisconsin after deputies find 100+ stolen checks at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport

The victims told authorities that they noticed the vehicle as they were leaving and described the driver as being a possibly Black or Hispanic man in his 30s with either very short hair or a shaved head.

Deputies noted that the driver of the suspicious vehicle is believed to be the getaway driver and lookout.

Winnebago County Sheriffs Office

Winnebago County Sheriffs Office

Authorities say the burglary took place shortly after they left their home. When they returned, they reportedly noticed that the suspect or suspects got into the home through a rear patio door. The master bedroom was found to be ransacked and a small safe was also allegedly pried open.

The victims, who are described by authorities as being the owners of two jewelry stores that also manufacture jewelry inside of their home, reported that the stolen cash and jewelry was valued at over $100,000. A Louis Vuitton purse with $5,000 in cash inside of it was also stolen from the safe.

Authorities believe the incident to be part of a nationwide criminal network that targets Asian Jewelry store owners by following them home, and later burglarizing them of cash, Jewelry, and designer purses.

Wisconsin driver with expired license arrested following 28-mile police pursuit

The Winnebago County Sheriffs Office stated that this stems back to at least 2020, including numerous homes in the Omaha, Nebraska area. In those incidents, the suspects were identified as operating out of Houston, Texas, and are possibly originally from Honduras.

The suspects are sophisticated, minimizing cellphone use, and also using WiFi disabling equipment so WiFi-based cameras do not detect them on video. Two WiFi-based Ring doorbell cameras were disabled during the act of the burglary and no video was captured whatsoever. The suspects have been identified as staying at Hampton Inns. Coincidentally, the jewelry store in our jurisdiction is positioned directly next door to a Hampton Inn. Winnebago County Sheriffs Office

It was also noted that a similar burglary ring was discovered and broken up in Massachusetts in 2018 with multiple suspects being indicted on 95 counts of home invasion burglaries.

No other information was provided. Local 5 will update this story when additional details are released.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFRV Local 5 - Green Bay, Appleton.
A group of Cal Poly students, faculty and staff staged a die-in on Dexter Lawn to show solidarity with Palestine on Wednesday afternoon.

About 70 people silently laid down on the grass at 11:10 a.m.  some holding the Palestinian flag or cardboard signs that read, We stand with Palestine.

Since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in Gaza, the Associated Press reported on Monday. Hamas meanwhile still holds about 100 Israeli hostages abducted on Oct. 7, the AP said.

This is a very peaceful, almost passive form of resistance to show that people are dying in Gaza, Cal Poly plant sciences professor Ashraf Tubeileh said. The message is that (the university) should be protecting us, they should be supporting us, they should be standing with Palestine.

The protest also sought to support the global movement of students pitching tents on campus to protest their universitys investment in companies that profit from the war, according to Tubeileh. Many of these demonstrations have ended in violent clashes with the police and counter-protesters, he said.

The university does not intend to alter existing investment policies related to Israel or the Israel-Hamas conflict, Cal Poly spokesperson Matt Lazier said in a statement to The Tribune on Wednesday.

About 70 people gathered on Cal Polys Dexter Lawn on May 1, 2024, to stage a silent die-in in support of Palestine. David Middlecamp/dmiddlecamp@thetribunenews.com

The die-in also aimed to protest Israels destruction of universities and schools in Gaza, according to a faculty member. The Tribune is not disclosing the faculty members name because the person feared retaliation from administration.

According to the United Nations, Israeli airstrikes had destroyed 60% of Gazas educational facilities as of April 18. This includes the Central Archives of Gaza, which contained 150 years of historical records, the UN report said.

That has a huge impact on a society, a culture, the faculty member said, noting that damaging schools results in the loss of historical records and a countrys ability to educate its youth. Every university should be horrified by that  thats not something any people should have to endure.

The faculty member said Cal Poly should support students and faculty who wish to advocate for Palestine.

A lot of students are devastated about whats happening in Gaza, I think theyre looking for outlets to express their grief, they said. Were not all Palestinian, but we share their grief as humans.

About 70 people gathered on Cal Polys Dexter Lawn on May 1, 2024, to stage a silent die-in in support of Palestine. David Middlecamp/dmiddlecamp@thetribunenews.com

Counter-demonstrators argue with police while students stage die-in

A hush fell over Dexter Lawn during the die-in, interrupted occasionally by a student heckler who paced the perimeter of the protest.

One of them moved  theyre not actually dead, he shouted at the crowd.

About 17 officers from the San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly and California Mens Colony police departments patrolled the area. Six stood on two corners near the lawn, while others lined up further away. A backhoe was parked at the entrance to the nearby parking lot while a police car was stationed near bike racks.

About 20 students holding an Israeli flag gathered on the lawn across from the die-in at about 11:30 a.m.

Three police officers then lined up between the two groups, while other officers positioned around the plaza moved closer to the lawn. A faculty member flying a Palestinian flag patrolled the sidewalk too.

One of the counter-protesters then tried to pass the police and walk on the lawn where the protesters lay. The police stopped him and told him to walk around the protest.

What about this is illegal? he asked the police, then appeared to debate with the officers for a few minutes about why he should be allowed to walk across the lawn.

A different student with the group holding the Israeli flag told The Tribune he did not attend to stage a counter-protest but was there to watch the hilarious display. He then declined to provide further comment.

At one point, the counter-protesters posed for photos with the Israeli flag in front of the die-in.

At 11:40 a.m., the protesters stood up and chanted Free, free Palestine! before dispersing.

Brooks Martin, a Cal Poly grad student, holds a sign that reads History is watching as about 70 people gathered on Cal Polys Dexter Lawn on May 1, 2024, to stage a silent die-in in support of Palestine. David Middlecamp/dmiddlecamp@thetribunenews.com

While lying on the grass, Cal Poly history major Brooks Martin said he thought about the people suffering in Palestine.

Seeing nothing but my eyelids, I thought about the people trapped under the rubble, Martin said.

Martin held a sign that said, History is watching, featuring a drawing of a man on fire. The sign referenced Aaron Bushnell, a U.S. Air Force member who self-immolated outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C. to protest Israels attacks on Gaza. Bushnell died of his injuries.

We want to make the administration know that this is something we care deeply about, Martin said. The more we make our voices heard, the louder we are, the more uncomfortable people get.

Environmental engineering freshman Jacob DeMarco heard about the die-in on social media. He wore a Jews for Palestine t-shirt to the protest, and said he attended the die-in to show that some Jewish people consider Israels attacks on Gaza to be a genocide.

The big thing that needs to be stopped is the State of Israel is systematically trying to wipe out Palestinians, DeMarco said.

He also called for Cal Poly to divest from companies that support Israel.

The students of the university, the people that pay tuition, we dont support the universitys investment in the genocide of the Palestinian people, DeMarco said.
Should Big Tech be taxed to pay for more California journalists?

A California lawmaker has introduced a bill that would levy a data extraction mitigation fee on companies such as Google and Meta in order to provide media outlets in the state with a tax credit meant to pay for more journalists.

Senate Bill 1327, by Sen. Steve Glazer, D-Contra Costa, would raise around $500 million annually to be split among California news outlets, depending on their size and whether they offer employee health and retirement benefits.

Glazer likened the rise of the tech giants to a new Gold Rush  but instead of gold, these companies harvest massive amounts of data against which they can sell ads. This has come, Glazer said, at the expense of the news industry, much of which is heavily reliant on ad revenue.

In my opinion, the platforms need to mitigate this damage, and this new bill that were introducing today will do exactly that, Glazer said. California, Glazer said, already imposes mitigation fees on other companies, such as those that put chemicals in the environment and developers who burden state roads and schools.

Glazers fee would impose the statewide sales and use tax rate of 7.25% on all online ad revenue above $2.5 billion. The base tax credit for news organizations with 10 or more employees would be 25% of the wages paid, and more if the company offers health and retirement benefits. News organizations with fewer than 10 employees would get a credit equal to 35% of wages paid, Glazer said.

News outlets that hire new reporters would get an even larger credit under the proposed law. Glazer said that a journalist at a small publication making $60,000 a year would generate a tax credit of $24,000.

However, the bill limits that tax credit to journalists who live within 50 miles of the community they serve; it would exclude journalists who work remotely or work in bureaus outside that community, such as a Washington, D.C., bureau.

The bill sits in the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee, which Glazer chairs. There is no hearing scheduled.

Representatives from Google did not respond by deadline to The Bees request for comment. A representative for Meta said the company has no comment at this time. The Bee also reached out to tech industry trade groups, including the Chamber of Progress and Technet, for comment.

Dylan Hoffman, Technets executive director for California and the Southwest, told The Bee in a prepared statement: SB 1327 is a billion-dollar tax that will ultimately hurt California entrepreneurs. It will prevent consumers from learning about new products and services and punish small businesses across the state that rely on digital advertising to reach and attract customers, find talent, and compete against larger companies.

Chris MacKenzie, with the Chamber of Progress, told The Bee that his organization is still analyzing the bill.

The legislation is supported by a number of groups, including the California Federation of Teachers and the Media Guild of the West.

It cannot be overstated how desperately in crisis this industry has become over the last 20 or so years, said Nadia Taha, executive director for the the Media Guild of the West, during Wednesdays news conference.

Its a dire situation, and so while this bill is ambitious, we feel its very appropriately ambitious to address the real needs of both working journalists and their employers and the communities that they both seek to serve, Taha said.

Other groups, including the California News Publishers Association  which includes Sacramento Bee parent company McClatchy as a member  have yet to take an official position on the bill.

Its a very complex bill and topic, so we will look forward to seeing the language in print and to be able to do a deeper analysis, CNPA General Counsel Brittney Barsotti told The Bee.

Another media advocacy group, Free Press Action, expressed tentative support for Glazers bill in a letter, but also called for it to be amended to include a cap on revenue for eligible news organizations.

Given that the data extraction mitigation fee would generate a fixed amount of revenue, every dollar that goes towards out-of-state broadcasters like Sinclair and Rupert Murdochs Fox Corp. is a dollar less that could have gone toward small publishers, ethnic media, and community-rooted outlets  entities that are providing impactful, local, public interest journalism across our state, the letter reads in part.

The letter also calls for ethnic and community-specific media to receive a larger share of the money, and to expand the funding option for nonprofits, which as tax-exempt organizations would otherwise be ineligible to receive the credit.

Barsotti told The Bee that CNPA continues to stand as a proud sponsor of a separate bill, Assembly Bill 886. That bill, by Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, would require tech companies to pay for news content that shows up on their platforms. Google and Meta both oppose that legislation, and Google recently announced that it is experimenting with removing California news links from its search platform for some users.

At his Wednesday press conference, Glazer said his bill is not meant to replace or compete with other similar legislative initiatives, such as AB 886.

My bill is a separate option for the Legislature to consider, he said.
Donald Trump wasted no time Wednesday, when he was excused from the New York court where he faces a criminal trial  the first in history against a former U.S. president  stemming from hush money paid to porn actress Stormy Daniels to cover up an alleged extramarital affair. It was the first time since the trial began that the Republican presidential candidate, who is required by procedural law to sit in the dock every day, was afforded time to campaign. As such, Trump held not one rally, but two: the first, in the town of Waukesha, Wisconsin, and the second, in the late afternoon, in Freeland, Michigan. Both stops were in the heart of two pivotal states that promise to be the kind of arenas in which the November election that will pit him against President Joe Biden will be decided.

In the two municipalities, separated by Lake Michigan, he took the opportunity to refer to the student protests against Israels war in Gaza that have taken over college campuses across the U.S. and that early Wednesday morning led to an eviction at Columbia  as well as some 300 arrests  while violence between pro-Israel and pro-Palestine sympathizers erupted at UCLA. Trump invited the police to subdue what he described as raging lunatics. There are a lot of negative forces in this country, he said in Wisconsin. To every college president, I say remove the encampments immediately. Vanquish the radicals and take back our campuses for all of the normal students.

The former president has used those protests to try to downplay the far-right explosions of violence that defined the start of his term, in particular the white supremacist march that left one person dead and 40 injured in Charlottesville, Virginia, in the summer of 2017. The then White House occupant avoided condemning the neo-Nazis with a phrase that went down in history: There were very fine people on both sides, he declared.

Trump arrived first at the Waukesha convention center, where a crowd that had queued for hours was waiting for him according to Milwaukee media, eager to see one of the most famous men on the planet in their small Midwestern town of 70,000 inhabitants with their own eyes. Trumps visit to Wisconsin was his second in a month, and he landed boosted by the polls: according to a local survey, he is two points ahead of Biden in Wisconsin six months ahead of the election. Waukesha County voted Republican in 2020.

A courtroom sketch of Donald Trump during the Stormy Daniels trial, with Judge Merchan in the background. Jane Rosenberg (REUTERS)

Anti-immigration rhetoric

For an hour and a half, Trump delivered one of his characteristic improvised speeches that nonetheless contained his favorite topics, unconnected arguments, and jokes. He talked about immigration and the Biden administrations management of the border with Mexico: They come from the poorest and most crime-ridden countries in the whole world, he said of immigrants to the U.S. He also claimed that Biden will raise taxes if he wins at the polls, and that this will lead to the destruction of this country. He also implied that Palestinian refugees resettled in the United States will bring jihad. This last argument led him to launch into one of his most-repeated promises, that of organizing the largest deportation in history.

Trump also did not miss the opportunity to attack the judge presiding over the Stormy Daniels case, Juan Merchan, who on Tuesday fined the former president $9,000 for contempt over comments on his social networks that, the magistrate considered, violated a gag order he had issued. He also threatened him with a jail sentence if he chooses to continue doing so.

There is no crime. I have a crooked judge. Hes a totally conflicted judge, said the Republican candidate, who insisted on defining the New York legal process and the other three criminal proceedings pending against him as maneuvers of electoral interference. That gag order prohibits him from making public statements about witnesses, jurors, and other people related to the case, but the defendant is free to criticize Merchan, and he did so.

Im not allowed to talk about things. And nobodys seen anything quite like it, he complained to his supporters in a tone unlike that described by attendees at the Manhattan courthouse, where each day he listens to witnesses with a mixture of irritation and idleness, an attitude that sometimes even includes falling asleep in the dock.

When he was finished in Waukesha, the former president boarded his campaign plane, a Boeing 757 he likes to call Trump Force One, bound for Freeland, in central Michigan, where he gave his second rally of the day at the foot of the steps of the aircraft, making one of his dramatic entrances. Again, a crowd was anxiously awaiting him.

The script of Trumps second show did not vary much. He defined the Stormy Daniels case as the Biden trial, expressed his desire to militarize the southern U.S. border with Mexico, and fantasized that the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine shaking the geopolitical chessboard would not have erupted on his watch. He also opened a window into what a second term would be like if he regains the keys to the White House in November, as he did in an interview published in Time magazine. In it, his first with a print media outlet in a long time, he tidied up some of the ideas that sprinkle his rallies. And, again, he raised the specter of political violence if he does not win at the polls.
ABINGDON, Va. (WJHL)  A man from Buena Park, California was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to funneling thousands of fentanyl pills into Southwest Virginia.

According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), Robert Contreras, 24, also known as Quill, previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to distribute and possession with the intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl and one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

The DOJ reports Contreras supplied as many as 30,000 pressed fentanyl pills a week to people who then shipped the pills to Southwest Virginia.

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Contreras was sentenced to 18 years on Thursday. He was also ordered to forfeit five firearms and $31,294 in cash.

Contreras reportedly sold between 10,000 and 30,000 fentanyl pills at a time to a co-conspirator once a week or more. Those transactions took place between 2020 and 2023, court documents state. Some weeks saw multiple pill sales between Contreras and the co-conspirator, identified by the DOJ as Marco Orozco.

The pills were then shipped from California to Southwest Virginia and other locations across the country for further distribution, a news release from the DOJ states. Specifically, Orozcos sub-distributors used various social media platforms to facilitate their drug trade.

A search warrant was executed at Contreras home in California on March 6, 2023. Officers found more than 1,600 pressed fentanyl pills, five firearms without serial numbers and $31,294 in cash. The DOJ reports officers also found thousands of alprazolam and Adderall pills, 242 grams of cocaine and other hallucinogenic narcotics.

Body found in Holston River identified as Kingsport man

Fentanyl, especially in the form of pressed pills, is taking its toll on America, and Virginia is no exception. This case, involving the collaboration of law enforcement agencies across the country, is a prime example of the proactive measures undertaken by this Department of Justice to combat the burgeoning pressed pill epidemic currently plaguing our nation, United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh said in the release. We will investigate, prosecute and hold accountable those who profit by poisoning our communities, and  as exhibited here  we will work up the chain of drug traffickers as far and wide as possible to bring them to account.

In addition to multiple federal and California agencies, the Wise County Sheriffs Office, Norton Police Department and Southwest Virginia Drug Task Force investigated the case.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather.
ABINGDON, Va. (WFXR)  A man from California has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for trafficking thousands of fentanyl pills into Southwest Virginia.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) says 24-year-old Robert Contreras, from Buena Park, California, also known as Quill, supplied as many as 30,000 pressed fentanyl pills a week to people, who then shipped them into Southwest Virginia.

Contreras previously pled guilty to conspiring to distribute and possession with the intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

Fentanyl, especially in the form of pressed pills, is taking its toll on America, and Virginia is no exception. This case, involving the collaboration of law enforcement agencies across the country, is a prime example of the proactive measures undertaken by this Department of Justice to combat the burgeoning pressed pill epidemic currently plaguing our nation, United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh said today.

According to court documents, between 2020 and 2023, Contreras sold between 10,000 and 30,000 pressed fentanyl pills to his alleged co-conspirator Marco Orozco at least once a week. In late 2021 and early 2022, Contreras sold Orozco 10,000 pressed fentanyl pills several times per week.

The DOJ says the pills were shipped to Southwest Virginia and other locations across the country for further distribution. Orozco then used various social media platforms to facilitate their drug trade.

On March 6, 2023, authorities served a warrant at Contreras home in California. During the search officers seized the following:

1,639 pressed fentanyl pills

$31,294 in cash

five firearms without serial numbers

Approximately 7,000 alprazolam pills

3,000 Adderall pills

242 grams of cocaine

other hallucinogenic narcotics

In addition to his prison time, Conteras was ordered to forfeit five guns and $31,294.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFXRtv.
Debbie Lindh leaned forward in a chair on the front porch of her Grass Valley home and pointed at the house directly across a narrow street.

Lindh, 71, and her husband were recently told State Farm will no longer insure their property near the citys downtown.

Yet the neighbor across the street is not losing coverage. Her insurer is also State Farm.

Its just so arbitrary, said Lindh, who noted the many trees that surround both her home and that of her neighbors.

This house versus that house? I just totally dont get it.

A little over a month after State Farms decision to drop roughly 30,000 home, rental and other property policies statewide, confusion and anger remain strong in Nevada County, one of the areas of the state deeply affected by the cuts. It is home to Grass Valley and Nevada City, both about 50 miles northeast of Sacramento and densely filled with trees.

State Farm said it is dropping policies across California for financial reasons and is ending coverage in areas with wildfire hazards, among other factors. A company spokesman declined to explain further how it decided which homes to drop.

It is just the latest major company to cut coverage in the state, which has seen its insurance market fall into turmoil. In recent years, insurers have stopped or restricted new business and dropped policies across California, blaming wildfire risk, state laws and inflation. That has left some homeowners with skyrocketing premiums and few options.

But State Farms announcement carries a greater weight than others. It has been the largest home insurer in California, and a major one in Nevada County. Many residents have been dropped by other companies, and forced to turn to the California FAIR Plan, the state-created private insurer of last resort. State Farm was seen as one of the communitys last hopes.

Until now.

While acknowledging they live in a dangerous fire area, people affected in the county feel a sense of unfairness about how the company decided to drop homes. In interviews and emails, more than 20 policyholders who are losing coverage there shared an array of emotions, which included anxiety, dismay and betrayal.

I think Im going through the seven stages of grief, said Steven Dunlap, 64, adding that he was mad as hell about the company dropping his policy after 30 years.

Dunlap, who lives about five miles outside downtown Nevada City, said he had nine policies, including coverage on two rental properties, with State Farm and was hoping that the quantity of business would have insulated him from dropping his house.

He was visiting family when he got the call and said he told the company representative he spoke with that he planned to take that business elsewhere.

Even those who kept their insurance with the company are worried.

Reed Hamilton, 75, found out that State Farm will continue to cover his home, in a mix of woods and pasture land a few miles outside Grass Valley. Still, his policy price went up almost 80% last year. And theres no guarantee his coverage wont get dropped in the future. He has been in the house for 24 years, and the company has covered it the entire time.

Its a relief for now, Hamilton said, but its on my mind a lot about what well do about it.

Many residents are retirees, adding to the pain felt by the companys decision. The county has one of the highest median ages of any in the state.

The areas great appeal has become its great flaw; The waves of trees that provide its crisp air and sound of solitude have made it a place insurers increasingly dont want to be. The higher prices people are paying have stretched their budgets and made them consider leaving the homes they planned to stay in for the rest of their lives.

Paying for expensive work to remove trees, clear other vegetation and modify their homes has made their properties more fire resistant, but it hasnt prevented them from losing their insurance.

The county has 95 community groups, formed under the Firewise USA program, devoted to reducing wildfire risks  the most of any county in the country, according to a communications manager for the National Fire Protection Association, which oversees the program.

Weve invested at the home hardening level, at the community level and at the regional level, said Nevada County Supervisor Heidi Hall. And weve not seen any change from the insurance companies.

State Farm insures Halls home and she is waiting to see if her coverage will also be dropped.

Mike Bratton, a well-known State Farm agent in the area said the coverage on his Nevada City home is one that the company is dropping.

Like a good neighbor, State Farm is where?

In its March 20 notice, State Farm called the decision by its California subsidiary to cut policies difficult but necessary. In Nevada County, it is planning to drop more than 1,600 in three major zip codes alone  about 30% of the policies it holds in those areas.

Even State Farm agents did not come away unscathed. Mike Bratton, a well-known agent in the area, said the company is getting rid of the coverage on his Nevada City home. He is in his 39th year working for State Farm and has an office in Grass Valley. He declined to comment on the companys decision to end coverage for so many homes in the area  including his own.

Residents now bristle at State Farms tagline, calling itself a good neighbor.

They really need to change their motto, because it does not fit the actions they are taking in this area, Lindh said. She and her husband have decided to insure their two vehicles with another company in response to having their homeowners policy dropped.

Kevin Cookson, CEO of Maven Insurance Services, in Grass Valley, directed blame at the Department of Insurance for State Farms action.

Raising rates in California can be a long process and insurance companies dont always get the full increases they are looking for. While announcing its decision to cut policies, State Farm said it would continue to work with the department, and lawmakers, to create a situation in which rates are better aligned with risk.

Cooksons home is also insured by State Farm. His coverage was recently renewed but he is waiting to hear if it will eventually be dropped. In the meantime, his business has received a large number of calls from people who are losing their policies.

Theres panic, he said.

The insurance department argues that it is trying to ease that panic. It is rolling out a series of rule changes this year that it hopes will stabilize the insurance market. One is meant to streamline how rate increases are approved in the state. Another is to allow companies to use computer programs that estimate wildfire losses when asking for those price hikes.

But its unclear what effect the changes will have on price and availability.

Its also not clear what long-term effects State Farms decision will have on Nevada County. Some people who spoke to The Bee said they were considering leaving the state.

That is in line with a trend Mimi Simmons, a prominent area real estate agent, has noticed. She represents people selling their homes. In the last three years, a majority of her clients have left the state, she said, and rising insurance costs are contributing to that.

The insurance has to be more affordable and have better coverage if California wants to keep people here, Simmons said.

She was recently notified that State Farm will no longer cover her home.

But Simmons is not looking to flee the area. The fifth-generation Nevada County resident is right where she wants to be.

There is nothing that will overcome my love of living in the mountains, Simmons said.

A love of the outdoors is one of the reasons that Randall Frizzell, 75, keeps living near downtown Nevada City. State Farm is dropping coverage on the home, which he and his wife have lived in for 15 years.

They are looking for their fifth insurer.

Frizzell serves on the citys Fire Safety Advisory Committee, which recommends wildfire mitigation work to the City Council. Theres an irony to his situation: Even someone who is trying to make the community more fire resistant got dropped.

On a recent afternoon, Frizzell sat on his front porch explaining why he loves the area. His father was born in Nevada County but later moved away and never came back. Frizzell, who grew up in Sacramento, is addicted to the surroundings. He takes daily walks, even in the rain and snow, and enthusiastically suggests hiking trails.

He also recognizes the world class beauty he has such easy access to has its drawbacks.

The couple has spent tens of thousands of dollars to make the home and property more fire safe, Frizzell said, including adding a new roof and windows.

He then walked around the property, showing areas where he regularly cleans pine needles off the ground and stumps where trees used to be. Frizzell, who worked for 47 years as an arborist, wanted to cut another down, he said, but didnt have enough money to do so.

The decision by State Farm has left Frizzell wondering if they should have even bothered with all the work.

About 25 feet from his own house is another home. Its owners also have State Farm, Frizzell said, and are not losing their coverage.

Im glad my neighbors didnt get dropped, he said. But why me?

Frizzell sometimes wishes he stayed in Sacramento, where he could pay less for insurance.

Many homes in Nevada City are surrounded by dense trees. State Farm is just the latest major company to cut coverage in California.

Concerns about the future

Even with insurance options evaporating each year, Nevada County still has its gems that draw new people in and keep them there. Theres the Mill Street plaza, a pedestrian walkway in downtown Grass Valley lined with places to shop and eat. And downtown Nevada City, with its plaques noting its ties to the 1850s.

One of the areas well-known attractions is Empire Mine State Historic Park, the former site of one of the states oldest and richest gold mines. Along with old mining buildings and shafts it has 14 miles of trails. On a recent afternoon, the sounds of birds chirping and flapping their wings was at times louder than the hum of vehicle engines. Visitor after visitor at the park had stories of insurance challenges involving companies other than State Farm.

Carson Ham, 50, was a lucky one. His home is covered by USAA, and the company had not said it would drop his policy. Yet he did not revel in his fortune. Wearing a wide-brimmed sun hat and shorts, he called on the Legislature to do more to protect homeowners.

Ham said he knows people who are losing coverage after decades with State Farm.

To pull out on people who have been paying years and years is immoral, he said, before heading towards a trail.

Outside City Hall on a recent evening, Nevada Citys Vice Mayor Gary Petersen said State Farms action did not quash the communitys motivation to reduce its fire risk.

In March, more than two-thirds of voters agreed to raise the citys sales tax by .5% to fund wildfire prevention measures. He said the work is vital for the citys safety, even if it doesnt prevent people from being dropped.

At the same time, Petersen is a State Farm policyholder and his homes coverage was recently renewed. While he awaits the possibility of losing his coverage next year, he worries what will happen to residents who werent so fortunate.

I understand its a business proposition, he said, but at the same time were going to have people lose their homes over this.

A view of Broad Street in Nevada City, about 50 miles northeast of Sacramento, shows the quaint town surrounded by trees in April.
Superintendent fired for threatening students who didnt clap enough for her daughter

The superintendent of a California school district has been fired after allegedly threatening students who she believed did not clap loud enough for her daughter at an annual softball awards ceremony.

Dr Marian Phelps was dismissed by the Poway Unified School Districts board, following claims she peddled a bizarre conspiracy that other players on the Del Norte High School sports team had not applauded sufficiently and sought to bully and intimidate them.

The decision to fire Dr Phelps was announced following a closed board session on Monday 30 April. It followed an investigation launched in November into her conduct, which included interviews with 41 witnesses and others with first-hand knowledge of the alleged incidents.

The Board voted unanimously to terminate for cause Dr Phelps Employment Agreement and services as Superintendent of Poway Unified School District, effective immediately, a statement from the school read.

Based on her conduct, as revealed to the Board through the investigation, the Board has lost all confidence and trust in Dr Phelps ability to continue to serve as Superintendent.

A civil lawsuit against Dr Marian Phelps claimed she peddled a conspiracy that other players on the Del Norte High School sports team had not applauded sufficiently for her daughter and sought to bully and intimidate them (NBC San Diego)

Dr Phelps also faces a civil lawsuit, brought by a student, identified as Jane Doe.

The original complaint against Dr Phelps, obtained by The Independent, accused her of constructing a false narrative that Jane Doe had bullied her own daughter, identified as JP.

Both Jane Doe and the plaintiffs daughter were pitchers on the Del Norte High School softball team, which Dr Phelps unilaterally perceive[d] to be an intense rivalry between the two, according to the complaint.

It appears that Superintendent Marian Phelps ultimate goal is to hinder Plaintiff from competing for pitching time with her daughter or prevent her from playing on the softball team altogether, the documents read.

As a result, the girl was barred from extracurricular activities for her senior year, which included playing for the softball team, as well as dances, field trips, student clubs, activities and graduation, the lawsuit said.

Dr Phelps was accused of giving the student and her parents less than a day to sign an "Other Means of Correction Contract" agreeing to the discipline.

The former superintendents alleged campaign of intimidation came to a head, the complaint stated, following an annual banquet celebration for the softball team in May 2023, during which player awards were handed out.

During the event, which was attended by parents and players, Dr Phelps daughter was awarded the most valuable player prize for the high school varsity softball team.

Dr Phelps denied allegations of bullying the students, including that she had threatened to revoke their graduation privileges (NBC San Diego)

Not that anyone was required to do so, [but] there was resounding support from those in attendance who cheered and/or clapped for JP as she received her award. Other players received applause and cheers while they accepted other awards, the complaint stated.

Superintendent Marian Phelps and her daughter were seemingly disgruntled as they felt her daughter did not receive loud enough applause compared to other players accepting awards. She apparently felt others were obligated to clap more enthusiastically for her daughter.

Following the ceremonys conclusion, Dr Phelps allegedly texted another student (MA) and kept them on the phone for around 30 minutes until midnight, during which time she threatened to have Jane Doe transferred to another school and revoke the graduation privileges of the entire softball team.

MA did not admit to or ever state that a conspiracy to not clap for JP ever existed, the complaint stated.

In an interview with NBC San Diego, Dr Phelps denied the claims against her.

Ive never threatened any student, I never would. Ive never talked to any student about making threats about them not graduating, she said.

A phone number listed for Dr Phelps was disconnected. The Independent has attempted to contact her via email.

Contact details for Dr Phelps no longer appear on the Poway Unified School District website, though The Independent has also contacted them for further comment. An interim superintendent has already been appointed.
Cambridge University announces moratorium on certain donations following student campaign: 'Taken action to demonstrate leadership'

After a successful campaign by student activists and academics, Cambridge University has announced a temporary moratorium on new donations from dirty energy companies, Phys.org reported.

The decision follows recommendations made by United Nations climate change envoy Nigel Topping in a report last year.

"The university has recognized the urgency of the climate emergency and taken action to demonstrate leadership," Topping wrote, citing the university's "decisions to divest from fossil fuels in the endowment, commit to science-based targets, [and] launch Cambridge Zero."

Now, the university has gone even further, as it will no longer accept donations from companies like Shell and BP that profit from the destruction of the environment. The two companies gave at least 19.7 million ($24.6 million) to the university in philanthropic and research funding between 2016 and 2023.

However, those calling for the moratorium have argued that the efficacy of that research is hampered by its ties to the dirty energy giants, which are mainly interested in maintaining profits and diverting attention away from the need to cut planet-overheating pollution.

Shell CEO Wael Sawan recently drew the ire of climate activists when he was quoted as saying that it would be "dangerous and irresponsible" to reduce oil and gas drilling.

What is actually dangerous and irresponsible, according to just about every expert who doesn't have a financial stake in dirty energy companies, is drilling for oil and then burning that oil for energy. This practice has caused widespread environmental degradation and air pollution while contributing to the overheating of our planet.

"Accepting funding from fossil fuel companies validates the industry at a time when it is threatening the future viability of life on earth, including by developing new oil and gas infrastructure," said Jason Scott-Warren, a Cambridge professor who supported the moratorium.

Join our free newsletter for cool news and actionable info that makes it easy to help yourself while helping the planet.
Tufts University protestors remain parked in the middle of the Medford Campus where commencement is expected on May 19.

Amy West is a Tufts Department Administrator and has been keeping track of the back and forth between students and the school.

I think the administration is doing a great job, we dont want any police here. I feel like maybe the university should just move where commencement happens and just let the students stay there, said West.

She said she supports the students right to protest but doesnt find their demonstrations effective.

Maybe raise some money and send it to the people in Palestine and Gaza or maybe raise some money and go there, she said.

One Jewish student said he wishes the school would take a stronger stance on the situation but he doesnt want to see whats happening on other campuses across the country happen here.

I personally dont think they should bring in the police and get violent I think that looking at whats happening on other campuses its heartbreaking to see the level of violence and arrests that have happened, said Alex Friedman a freshman.

Encampment of protestors on Northeastern campus violates student code of conduct, school says

Northeastern University sent an update Thursday which said 98 people were arrested during last Saturdays protests including 29 students, 6 faculty and staff, plus 63 people not affiliated with the school. Commencement is scheduled for Sunday at Fenway Park.

Given recent events and Northeasterns Boston campus  and across campuses nationwide  the university will have enhanced student affairs and public safety staffing at its main commencement ceremonies this Sunday. The safety and security of our community is always our highest priority. While we realize that issues in the world prompt passionate viewpoints, the focus this weekend should be on our graduates and their remarkable achievements. We look forward to celebrating our graduating students with their families, said Renata Nyul, VP for Communications at Northeastern.

(AP Photo/Steven Senne)

MIT said leaders have been meeting with students and faculty on a regular basis.

Students involved in the protest have rejected any avenues for ending the encampment other than MIT agreeing to their original demand, which would be in violation of academic freedom, said Kimberly Allen, Institute Office of Communications, MIT.

The school said efforts to resolve the situation continue. MITs graduation is scheduled for May 31st on campus at Killian Court.

Boston 25 News has also reached out to Harvard and Emerson for an update but hasnt gotten a response.

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As protests over the Israel-Gaza conflict continue in certain U.S. cities, we should understand that such demonstrations are a common feature of the history of this country.

Even right here in Florida, similar gatherings took place across the state during the 1980s related to the anti-apartheid movement and calls for divestment for universities with ties to companies doing business in South Africa.

These movements can provide an important historical lens in understanding their motivations, length and impact on understanding civil unrest in our modern moment.

These protests, some taking place on Florida campuses, are nothing new, but instead part of a long tradition of civil disobedience that is a hallmark of our university systems and the U.S. more broadly.

College campuses in Florida were key spaces for protest activity and protester education. As early as January 1985, Florida Memorial College (now Florida Memorial University) hosted a lecture and workshop with Ronald W. Waters, secretary of the National Black Leadership Roundtable and formerly president of TransAfrica Forum. Leaders of the local anti-apartheid movements could participate, ask questions and build strategies for the coming years, and help increase support for H.T. Smiths Coalition for Free South Africa in the greater Miami area.

Like today, the University of Florida was one of the first major sites of protest. The Student Coalition Against Apartheid and Racism (SCAAR) worked with a multiracial coalition of student organizations, church groups and labor organizations to demand the university divest some $3 million from companies directly doing business in South Africa.

Like their contemporary counterparts, students used their proximity to the university as a conduit for their frustration with international events seemingly beyond their control.

Most dramatically, on April 25, protesters blocked Tigert Hall, UFs main administrative building, and manacled the doors with bike chains. University police arrested 27 people, including faculty and students, as the local student paper reported students once again Taking It To The Streets.

The use of police force was widely condemned, but the tactics were in no way dissimilar to what we have seen on campuses across the country, as many members of the administration had very little sympathy for these protesters and looked at them with open scorn.

UF President Marshall Criser had made his opinions of such assemblies clear in an interview the previous year, where he referred to the Kent State shooting in 1970 as Criminal insurrection, under the guise of civil disobedience.

In Tallahassee, Florida State University and Florida A&M University staged multiple protests on campus and capitol grounds, including in October 1985 when Randall Robinson, founder of TransAfrica, spoke on the steps of the state house, flanked by students from both universities.

In Miami, a coalition of students from the University of Miami, FIU, and the then named Miami-Dade Community College staged joint protests in September 1985, calling for all involved to hold rallies simultaneously on all college campuses in Florida.

They were joined by members of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Coalition for Free South Africa, who later formed the foundation for the famous Boycott Miami movement of the early 1990s.

Admittedly, the overall success of these rallies was mixed. UF never fully divested even by the conclusion of the 1980s, UM partially divested (claiming it was not due to the protests), and USF and FSU fully divested by 1989, years after the initial demonstrations occurred on their campuses.

The situation will not change overnight. If history repeats itself, the current wave of protests should rightly be expected to be a long and arduous struggle.

Jacob Ivey is an associate professor of history at Florida Memorial University in Miami Gardens and is working on a book on the anti-apartheid movement in Florida.
Russia appears to have two new poster children for its war against Ukraine and supposed crusade to save traditional values from the deviant West: a cannibal and a murderer united on the battlefield.

Nearly two years after Moscow first hatched its deranged prison-recruitment scheme to use hardened criminals as cannon fodder in Ukraine, a selfie shared on social media provides a glimpse of the countrys new normal.

Dmitry Malyshev, sentenced to 25 years in 2015 for murdering a man and filming himself eating the victims heart, among other things, can be seen grinning and embracing Alexander Maslennikov, who got 23 years for murdering and dismembering two women he met at a nightclub.

Malyshev confirmed to V1.ru that both he and Maslennikov signed a contract to get out of prison by serving in the Russian militaryin a notorious unit comprised of convicted rapists and killers.

Alexander and I served together and signed a contract together with the Defense Ministry in October 2023, Malyshev told the outlet, adding that both are serving in Storm V, a penal military unit Vladimir Putin signed off on in June 2023.

He went on to claim that the two convicted murderers are not like other criminals unleashed on Ukraine. Theyve got principals, according to him.

Ive known people who came here from the colony just for a change of scenery. They usually disappear quickly. But I understood why I was going and where I was going. How would you react if your little daughter was told how to put a condom on correctly in elementary school? Or if men will walk down the street licking each other? Is this normal for you? It's not normal for me, he said, apparently referring to sex-ed classes and gay men, a favorite bogeyman in Kremlin propaganda.

Malyshevs words horrified the Russian public years ago when he was tried for killing and devouring another human being. Were frying human flesh. Here it isa heart. Ive already added onion, he said in video hed filmed on his phone as a souvenir.

Now Malyshev is among the hordes of ex-convicts elevated to hero status in the war as he supposedly fights to protect traditional values.

At least 57 ordinary Russians have been killed so far by convicts who returned home after receiving a pardon to take part in the war, the independent outlet Verstka reported last week. After a series of disturbing headlines in the Russian media about ex-convicts arriving home and butchering their neighbors or raping schoolgirls, the Russian Defense Ministry stopped offering pardons and began offering only conditional release.

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Witness testimony resumed Thursday morning in the murder trial of Karen Read, the Mansfield woman accused in the Canton death of John OKeefe, her Boston police officer boyfriend.

Thursdays proceedings resumed with Canton Firefighter Anthony Flematti on the stand. He testified that he found OKeefe suffering from traumatic injuries in the snow outside 34 Fairview Road early on Jan. 29, 2022.

Flematti said he heard Read saying, I hit him, I hit him, Oh my god, I hit him. He added that Read just kept repeating it over and over again. Testimony from other first responders on Day 2 of the trial painted a similar picture.

Flematti also testified that injuries on OKeefes arm were consistent with happening earlier in the evening based on dried blood.

Fellow Canton Firefighter Matthew Kelly took that stand after Flematti. Kelly told the court that he heard Read say that OKeefe was dead, however, he claimed he never heard her say, I hit him.

FF Kelly testifies that he never heard KR say "i hit him". Yannetti says Kelly has been "extremely consistent" with his testimony.  Ted Daniel (@TedDanielnews) May 2, 2024

Canton Firefighter Matthew Kelly

Canton Firefighter told the court that he encountered two women at the scene who were frantically moving around a lot and that he heard Read ask, Is he alive?

Canton Firefighter Katie McLaughlin was next up on the stand.

FF Mclaughlin testifies that KR told her "I hit him, she repeated it". She says she heard a woman standing next to KR tell KR she was hysterical and needed to calm down  Ted Daniel (@TedDanielnews) May 2, 2024





Read has been charged with second-degree murder and other charges in OKeefes death.

Prosecutors allege she struck him outside the Canton home and then drove away after a night of drinking at two bars.

Prosecutors havent said where they think she went after that. However, they allege she later became frantic after she said she couldnt reach OKeefe. She returned to the site of the party, where she and two friends found OKeefe covered in snow.

The defense has spent months arguing in court that the case was marred by conflicts of interest and accused prosecutors of presenting false and deceptive evidence to the grand jury in an effort to frame Read.

Good Morning from the Commonwealth vs. Karen Read.



-We left off with Canton Fire Lt. Anthony Flematti. Expect him to back this morning.



-I would anticipate more 1st responders after him.



-A jury view is planned for tomorrow at 34 Fairview Rd. Jury will go by bus  Ted Daniel (@TedDanielnews) May 2, 2024

Karen Read enters Norfolk Superior Court for day three of the murder trial. The morning will begin with testimony from a Canton firefighter. @boston25 pic.twitter.com/KXI0Dhn70a  Ryan Breslin (@ryanjbreslin) May 2, 2024

Karen Read murder trial: A guide to the key players you need to know

PREVIOUS STORY:

A Canton Firefighter Anthony Flematti will once again take the stand to testify in Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, picking up after a half day on Tuesday and no court on Wednesday.

Read is accused of killing John OKeefe by hitting him with her car and leaving him to die outside of a home on Fairview Road in a weekend blizzard in January 2022.

The prosecution has been calling on the first responders who were on the scene the morning OKeefe was found to testify. So far, four have taken the stand including two Canton Police officers and two Canton firefighters.

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.

FILE - Karen Read sits in court during jury selection for her murder trial at Norfolk County Superior Court, Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Dedham, Mass. Read, 44, is accused of running into her Boston police officer boyfriend with her SUV in the middle of a nor'easter and leaving him for dead after a night of heavy drinking. Read's trial is scheduled to begin Monday, April 29. (David McGlynn//New York Post via AP, Pool,File)

Karen Read, left, leaves Norfolk Superior Court with her attorney Alan Jackson, right, after the opening day of her trial, Monday, April 29, 2024, in Dedham, Mass. Read is charged with killing her Boston police officer boyfriend by intentionally driving her SUV into him. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Karen Read, right, is flanked by Massachusetts State Police while leaving Norfolk Superior Court after the opening day of her trial, Monday, April 29, 2024, in Dedham, Mass. Read is charged with killing her Boston police officer boyfriend by intentionally driving her SUV into him. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Karen Read leaves Norfolk Superior Court after the opening day of her trial, Monday, April 29, 2024, in Dedham, Mass. Read is charged with killing her Boston police officer boyfriend by intentionally driving her SUV into him. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

FILE - Karen Read, of Mansfield, Mass., center, departs Norfolk Superior Court following a day of jury selection, April 17, 2024, in Dedham, Mass. Read is accused of running into her Boston police officer boyfriend with her SUV in the middle of a nor'easter and leaving him for dead after a night of heavy drinking. Read's trial is scheduled to begin Monday, April 29. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

Karen Read leaves Norfolk Superior Court after the opening day of her trial, Monday, April 29, 2024, in Dedham, Mass. Read is charged with killing her Boston police officer boyfriend by intentionally driving her SUV into him. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Karen Read, facing a murder charge in the death of an off-duty Boston police officer, was ordered held on $100,000 bail.

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

The words Read allegedly uttered at the crime scene were the focus Tuesday on the second day of her trial. Firefighter Tim Nuttall said he spoke to Read briefly while trying to resuscitate OKeefe in the snow.

Nuttall said Read made the statement that she hit OKeefe outside of the home but defense attorney Alan Jackson said the statement did not become a part of the initial record until more than a week later.

As I was ventilating, I was able to ask, did anybody see anything, did anybody, what happened? And there was one individual who replied several times, I hit him, I hit him, Nuttall said.

Jackson questioned, So the first time you ever repeated that statement was February 8th with Trooper Proctor?

Reads lawyers have repeatedly claimed that Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor is involved in a conspiracy to frame Read but the prosecution says thats false.

We also learned in court Tuesday that homeowner Brian Albert, who was a Boston police officer at the time, never came out of his house when first responders were on the scene trying to save OKeefe. Nor did any of his neighbors.

Thursday is planned to be a half day in the trial, beginning with Flematti on the stand. Proceedings are expected to run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The jury may travel to the scene where OKeefe was found dead on Friday.

PREVIOUS TRIAL COVERAGE:

Karen Read trial: Focus turns to demeanor of girlfriend charged in Boston officers death

Tuesday, April 30, 2024: Canton police officer, firefighters testify on 2nd day of Karen Read murder trial

WATCH LIVE: Day 2 of testimony in the Karen Read murder trial starting soon. WATCH LIVE: Witness testimony continues on day 2 of the Karen Read murder trial Posted by Boston 25 News on Tuesday, April 30, 2024

Is he dead?: Jurors in Karen Read murder trial shown police cruiser video on 1st day of testimony

Monday, April 29, 2024: Opening statements, testimony begins in Karen Read murder trial

WATCH LIVE: Opening statements underway in Karen Read murder trial. WATCH LIVE: First witness is called in Karen Read murder trial after jurors hear opening statements. boston25.com/3UCmwRX Posted by Boston 25 News on Monday, April 29, 2024

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FILE - In this photo provided by the Ventura County Fire Department, VCFD firefighters respond to a fire aboard the Conception dive boat fire in the Santa Barbara Channel off the coast of Southern California on Sept. 2, 2019. A scuba dive boat captain is scheduled to be sentenced by a federal judge Thursday, May 2, 2024, on a conviction of criminal negligence after 34 people died in the fire aboard the vessel nearly five years ago. (Ventura County Fire Department via AP, File)

LOS ANGELES (AP)  A federal judge in Los Angeles on Thursday sentenced a scuba dive boat captain to four years in prison and three years supervised release for criminal negligence after 34 people died in a fire aboard the vessel.

The Sept. 2, 2019, blaze was the deadliest maritime disaster in recent U.S. history, and prompted changes to maritime regulations, congressional reform and several ongoing lawsuits.

Captain Jerry Boylan was found guilty of one count of misconduct or neglect of ship officer last year. The charge is a pre-Civil War statute colloquially known as seamans manslaughter. It was designed to hold steamboat captains and crew responsible for maritime disasters.

Family members pleaded with U.S. District Judge George Wu to give Boylan the maximum 10-year sentence in an impassioned hearing. Many cried, and Robert Kurtz, father of the sole deckhand killed, Alexandra Kurtz, brought a small container with him up to the lectern to address Boylan and the court.

This is all I have of my daughter, he said.

Yadira Alvarez is the mother of 16-year-old Berenice Felipe, who volunteered at an animal shelter and dreamed of becoming a marine biologist, and was the youngest of the 34 victims killed on the boat.

Hes not a victim. He is responsible for my daughter not being here, Alvarez said, while sobbing in court. Can you imagine my pain?

The Conception was anchored off Santa Cruz Island, 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Santa Barbara, when it caught fire before dawn on the final day of a three-day excursion, sinking less than 100 feet (30 meters) from shore.

Thirty-three passengers and a crew member died, trapped in a bunkroom below deck. Among the dead were the deckhand, who had landed her dream job; an environmental scientist who conducted research in Antarctica; a globe-trotting couple; a Singaporean data scientist; and a family of three sisters, their father and his wife.

Boylan was the first to abandon ship and jump overboard. Four crew members who joined him also survived.

During the hearing, Boylans attorney read a statement aloud to the court in which he expressed his condolences and said he has cried every day since the fire.

I wish I could have brought everyone home safe, the statement said. I am so sorry.

In determining a sentence, Wu said he took into account Boylans age, health, the unlikelihood of recurrence and the need for deterrence and punishment.

He said while Boylans behavior was reckless, the guidelines for sentencing would not warrant a 10-year sentence.

This is not a situation where the defendant intended to do something bad, Wu said.

The defense had asked the judge to sentence Boylan to a five-year probationary sentence, with three years to be served under house arrest.

Boylans appeal is ongoing.

Hank Garcia, whose son Daniel was among the victims, said he is not a vengeful person but he and other family members dont want something like this to ever happen again.

We all have a life sentence, he told the court. We are having a life sentence without these people that we love.

U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement: While todays sentence cannot fully heal their wounds, we hope that our efforts to hold this defendant criminally accountable brings some measure of healing to the families.

Thursday's sentencing was the final step in a fraught prosecution thats lasted nearly five years and repeatedly frustrated the victims families.

A grand jury in 2020 initially indicted Boylan on 34 counts of seamans manslaughter, meaning he could have faced a total of 340 years behind bars. Boylans attorneys argued the deaths were the result of a single incident and not separate crimes, so prosecutors got a superseding indictment charging Boylan with only one count.

In 2022, Wu dismissed the superseding indictment, saying it failed to specify that Boylan acted with gross negligence. Prosecutors were then forced to go before a grand jury again.

Although the exact cause of the blaze aboard the Conception remains undetermined, the prosecutors and defense sought to assign blame throughout the 10-day trial last year.

The government said Boylan failed to post the required roving night watch and never properly trained his crew in firefighting. The lack of the roving watch meant the fire was able to spread undetected across the 75-foot (23-meter) boat.

But Boylans attorneys sought to pin blame on Glen Fritzler, who, with his wife, owns Truth Aquatics Inc., which operated the Conception and two other scuba dive boats, often around the Channel Islands. They argued that Fritzler was responsible for failing to train the crew in firefighting and other safety measures, as well as creating a lax seafaring culture they called the Fritzler way, in which no captain who worked for him posted a roving watch.

The Fritzlers have not spoken publicly about the tragedy since an interview with a local TV station a few days after the fire. Their attorneys have never responded to requests for comment from The Associated Press.

With the conclusion of the criminal case, attention now turns to several ongoing lawsuits.

Three days after the fire, Truth Aquatics filed suit under a pre-Civil War provision of maritime law that allows it to limit its liability to the value of the remains of the boat, which was a total loss. The time-tested legal maneuver has been successfully employed by the owners of the Titanic and other vessels, and requires the Fritzlers to show they were not at fault.

That case is pending, as well as others filed by victims families against the Coast Guard for what they allege was lax enforcement of the roving watch requirement.

After the sentencing Thursday, Susana Solano, who lost three of her daughters and their father on the boat, said she and the other family members hoped the judge would listen to their pleas.

Im extremely disappointed, she said. Its just heartwrenching.
Jerry Boylan, right, captain of the Conception, arrives in federal court in Los Angeles in October 2023. (Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)

Jerry Boylan, the captain of the Conception dive boat where 34 people died amid smoke and flame over Labor Day weekend in 2019, was sentenced Thursday to four years in prison for negligence that contributed to the disaster.

U.S. District Judge George Wu said he found Boylan "incredibly remorseful" and that he had not "intended to do something bad."

The judge called it "one of the most difficult sentencings I've ever done" and said he was taking the 70-year-old Boylan's age and health into account, as well as the unlikelihood that he would re-offend.

The judge also rejected the prosecution's claim that Boylan had abandoned his ship.

Hearing those words, Boylan began to tremble and wipe away tears. He could have received up to 10 years in federal prison for his conviction on what is colloquially called seaman's manslaughter.

The lighter sentence  and the fact that the judge is allowing Boylan to remain free until after a restitution hearing  left many of the victims' family members furious.

"There's no justice," said Robert Kurtz, the father of one of the victims. "He's not even being remanded. He's still free."

After a two-week trial, a federal jury in November found Boylan committed gross negligence in the deaths of the 33 passengers and one crew member who were trapped in a windowless bunk room when the boat caught fire before dawn on Sept. 2, 2019, off Santa Cruz Island.

Boylan had been a captain for 34 years but failed to appoint an overnight watch, ignoring the Certificate of Inspection requirements hanging in his own wheelhouse.

Nor did he institute adequate fire safety drills. Prosecutors argued that this left his poorly trained, panic-stricken crew effectively useless amid the fire, which possibly originated in a trash can sometime after 2:35 a.m.

As the flames spread, blocking the exits for those crowded in the bunk room below, a member of Boylan's crew twice ran right by a 50-foot fire hose overhead. Boylan himself called in a Mayday at 3:14 a.m. and jumped overboard, which prosecutors described as abandoning ship.

But Boylan's attorneys with the federal public defender's office called it "an unstoppable inferno" and said there was little he could have done after waking amid the flames. His attorneys also argued that Boylan, in failing to use an overnight watch, was merely following the custom of the company that owned the boat, Truth Aquatics, and did not know that he was imperiling passengers. Prosecutors called it the "blaming your boss" defense.

Read more: Feds say captain saved himself as California boat fire killed 34. But prosecution hits a wall

Families of the fire victims packed the ninth-floor courtroom in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday. Many came with posters of their loved ones, and some wore shirts that said "34 fearless divers" and "forever remembered." For nearly two hours, families read victim impact statements to the judge.

Yadira Alvarez said her 16-year-old daughter, Berenice Felipe, who died on the boat, was in her last year of high school.

"Her wings were cut," Alvarez said. As she displayed photos of her daughter on the screen, Boylan kept his head bowed. She demanded the maximum 10-year sentence for Boylan, even though "10 years for him is nothing," adding: "He is not a victim."

During the trial, the families endured graphic testimony about the effort to recover the bodies from the charred boat 56 feet below the surface. They watched a 24-second video, found on an iPhone recovered from the wreck, recording the victims' last moments alive.

On the tape, voices could be heard exclaiming, "There's got to be a way out!" and "There's got to be more extinguishers!" and "We're gonna die ...!"

Boylan did not testify and has remained free since his conviction. Prosecutors said he was guilty of manslaughter if his negligence caused even one of the 34 deaths.

Boylan's lawyers, and his supporters, pleaded for leniency before the sentencing.

"There's no way to undo this tragedy," said defense attorney Georgina Wakefield. "Mr. Boylan is not a bad man. He wishes every day that he could go back in time and change what happened. ... I've never represented anybody who is as grief-stricken."

Defense attorneys argued that none of the Truth Aquatics boats, nor any other boat in the waters off Santa Barbara, used a roving night watch at the time, and that it was unfair "to punish him for the failings of an entire industry."

Giving Boylan a stiff prison term would not serve to deter further catastrophes like this one, the attorneys argued, since the dive boat industry has already implemented safety reforms as a result of the Conception fire.

Read more: Conception boat owner, criticized as 'woefully underinsured,' sells rest of fleet

Defense attorneys asked the judge to sentence Boylan to house arrest and community service, characterizing him as a man with "almost no family" whose "job was his life." He was now an isolated 70-year-old man who sleeps 1 hours most nights, rarely leaves home and "has been crippled with pain and guilt in the years since the accident," according to a pre-sentencing defense memo.

The memo said Boylan, who was making a wage of around $44,000 after decades as a boat captain, now survives on Social Security and can't afford payments on the trailer where he lives.

Baron Kelly, who worked on Boylan's crews and considered him a mentor in seamanship, described him as among "the most conservative" of the Truth Aquatics captains, a skipper who drilled his crews in how to handle dive-related emergencies.

"I have spoken with Jerry many times since the accident and his grief is colossal," Kelly wrote in a letter to the judge. "At one point he told me he was sleeping in his living room because his bedroom didn't have enough emergency exits. Some days when I would reach out, he was too distraught by grief to speak at all."

Another of Boylan's former crew members, Shannan Johnson, described him as "one of the company's most reliable and responsible captains."

"Jerry is a good man. He did his best and then some," Johnson wrote to the judge. "Yet that night the negligence was trusting that what had been safe and successful for 30 years all of a sudden wasn't."

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Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, the wife of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, has been questioned as a suspect in a witness-tampering case against her husband, according to local media reports Thursday.

The 56-year-old supermodel was questioned as a witness in the case last year but is now considered a suspect, according to Le Monde. The witness tampering case is linked to allegations that her husband accepted money from Muammar Gaddafi, the late Libyan autocrat, to help finance an election campaign.

Gaddafis Ghost Takes Revenge as Frances Ex-President Sarkozy Detained for Questioning

Bruni-Sarkozy was at the Paris offices of the Central Office for the Fight Against Corruption and Financial and Tax Offenses on Thursday, according to MailOnline. A source told the outlet that the former first lady of France is a free suspect, adding: She has spoken to officers before, but not as a suspect in a case in which shes accused of trying to whitewash her husband.

Sarkozy was charged last year with illegal witness tampering in connection with the Libya funding allegations. Authorities suspect that multiple people in Sarkozys orbit were involved in an effort to pressure a key witnessZiad Takieddine, a Franco-Lebanese businessmanto retract a statement hed made that incriminated Sarkozy.

Takieddine had originally claimed that hed delivered three suitcases containing more than $5 million worth of euros to Sarkozys campaign staff in 2006 and 2007, but he suddenly recanted on his claims in 2020, raising suspicions that hed been pressured to do so.

Takieddine dropped his accusations in an interview with the magazine Paris Match. Michele Marchandan influential figure in the French media dubbed the paparazzi queenwas charged with witness tampering in 2021.

According to Le Monde, an investigation found that Bruni-Sarkozy deleted all messages shed exchanged with Marchand on the day that Marchand was charged. The former first lady is also reportedly suspected of helping Marchand and a paparazzo get hold of COVID tests in October 2020 that allowed them to travel to Lebanon where the interview with Takieddine took place.

Bruni-Sarkozy is now one of 11 defendants in the case, the newspaper reports, all of whom are suspected of misleading the justice system in France.

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The ringleader of a body modification cult made a testicle salad, a court heard.

Marius Gustavson, a 46-year-old Norwegian national living in north London, cooked the genitalia in a skillet alongside roasted potatoes, cashew and pistachio nuts in an artfully arranged salad, the Old Bailey was told on Thursday.

Gustavson is facing jail with six co-defendants for castrating and sexually torturing men to provide footage for a sado-masochistic website known as Eunuch Maker.

The website is estimated to have raked in 300,000 from its 22,841 paying viewers across the globe between 2017 and 2021.

Prosecutors described Gustabson as the arch-manipulator of vulnerable victims and was involved with at least 30 mutilations of willing men over the four-year-long stretch.

They admitted it was impossible to know the full scale of Gustavsons offending.

Caroline Carberry, KC, prosecuting, said that as well as body mutilations there was clear evidence of cannibalism.

She said: We do know that on June 22 2018 he cooked some testicles for lunch.

A series of photographs shown to the court during the sentencing hearing shows Gustavson preparing and cooking two testicles.

The testicles are shown lying in individual tupperware boxes before they are seasoned and grilled on a skillet.

The testicles were then cooked and fried with nuts, actual nuts, cashews, pistachios and the like, Ms Carberry KC told the court

They were then plated with sliced cucumber, potatoes, chillies and other vegetables in an artfully arranged salad, she said.

David Carruthers was involved in four testicle removals - Paul Grover for The Telegraph

On another occasion on Feb 11 2017, Gustavson texted co-defendant Ion Ciucur, 30, of his plans to cut off a mans penis which will be cooked by Gustavsons friend and fed back to him. These incidents were clear evidence of cannibalism, Ms Carberry said.

The castrations are believed to be part of the genital nullification, or Nullo, movement where men become nullos - short for genital nullification, by having their penis and testicles removed.

Gustavson is now wheelchair-bound after willingly having his leg frozen and then amputated. He has also had his penis and nipple removed. A court has previously heard that he received 18,000 in benefits since having his leg amputated.

He is facing jail after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm, five counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, possessing criminal property, namely money and making and distributing two indecent videos of a child between January 2017 and January 2020.

Ms Carberry, said that none of the defendants had medical qualifications and that the harm caused was without precedent.

She added: It is a remarkable feature of this case that that website operated in plain sight, not on the dark web, accessible to anyone who stumbled upon it and had the inclination and means to pay to view the gruesome footage.

Screenshots of the website presented to the court show users were offered a VIP yearly subscription of 100 along with free unlimited messaging.

Janus Atkin was involved in eight procedures and had his penis removed by members of the group - Paul Grover for The Telegraph

The castrations were often carried out using agricultural tools, normally reserved for surgeries on livestock, and were performed in the basement of his north London flat or at rented apartments and hotels.

The victims were often promised a sum of money from the revenue generated by the website, the court heard.

Judge Mark Lucraft KC praised the bravery of one of Gustavsons victims for coming forward and being the only person to report the crimes to the police.

He said that without the victims intervention, the groups appalling activity may well have continued.

The victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, reported Gustavson to the police after he was sexually tortured with needles, clamps and a red hot branding iron.

The court heard Gustavson branded him on his calf with an iron and later had one of his testicles removed and sewn back inside him.

Nathaniel Arnold was given a suspended sentence last year - Paul Grover for The Telegraph

A video played to the court showed Gustavson counting down, 3, 2, 1 before branding him with the iron and the man screaming in agony.

After the procedures which, the victim said, left him feeling like a monster, a mug, a degenerate and a freak, he gave officers a USB stick which contained around 5,000 Whatsapp messages between him and Gustavson and others, including former surgical assistant David Carruthers.

In a victim impact statement, the man said Gustavson had inculcated a cult-like atmosphere that mesmerised his followers who considered him their unquestionable leader.

He said: After the barbaric encounters, if I think about them too long, I can still feel the physical pain.

The pain was unbearable and short, the iron had burned off the nerve endings in my leg, I still cant feel in that area.

Ms Carberry said that Gustavson was the principal offender, organiser and ringleader.

He was as is clear from the many thousands of text messages recovered an arch-manipulator of victims, all of whom consented to the procedures, but who themselves were vulnerable to exploitation by him.

It is impossible to know how many procedures were carried out over four years when the EM was active.

Ashley Williams helped remove a testicle from a friend - Paul Grover for The Telegraph

Gustavson has a history of dishonest offending in his native Norway, the court heard having received two suspended jail sentences for fraud.

At an earlier hearing, the court heard that doctors had considered a diagnosis of body integrity identity disorder when he received hospital treatment for the amputation of his leg.

Ms Carberry KC said that while the condition may explain his own body modifications, it does not explain why he made a lucrative business out of mutilating other people.

The other defendants are Peter Wates, 67, Romanian Ion Ciucur, 30, and German Stefan Scharf, 61.

Also facing jail are former surgical assistant David Carruthers, 61, his boyfriend Ashley Williams, 32, and Janus Atkin, 39, all from South Wales.

Wates admitted conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm. Ciucur admitted conspiracy to cause GBH with intent in relation to two modifications. Scharf admits causing grievous bodily harm Carruthers and Atkin admit conspiracy to commit bodily harm. Williams admitted to causing grievous bodily harm.

All defendants were refused bail and were remanded in custody.

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The Catholic bishop of Monterey, whose district includes San Luis Obispo County, said his diocese could go bankrupt amid of flood of lawsuits alleging childhood sexual abuse.

In a letter to parishioners April 18, the Most Rev. Daniel E. Garcia said after the state reopened the statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse in 2020, the Diocese of Monterey received approximately 100 lawsuits alleging childhood sexual abuse between the 1950s and 2002.

The issue of sexual abuse of minors has been one that deeply saddens and disturbs all of us, Garcia wrote in the letter. It is an on-going human problem that has touched many families and all kinds of public and private organizations including, most sadly, the Catholic Church. These actions are never acceptable.

Garcia added the diocese is committed to helping those touched by childhood sexual abuse by those working for the Church of Monterey.

In 2019, the California Legislature approved the Child Victims Act, which created a three-year window that gave adults more time to sue over sexual abuses they suffered as children. Since then, several California dioceses have been hit with an onslaught of lawsuits alleging abuse.

Several dioceses  including those in Sacramento, Oakland and San Francisco  have turned to Chapter 11 bankruptcy protections as a means to secure funding to compensate victims.

Garcia said that is one of the options on the table for the Diocese of Monterey.

This would allow all victims to be compensated from the limited funds that the Diocese has and will be allocated in an equitable manner, he wrote. I have consulted with the priests of the diocese, the Presbyterian Council and my advisers, and we are strongly considering this option. Our attorneys have tried other methods of resolution, but unfortunately, have not been successful in reaching a resolution.

Garcia said that though an official decision hasnt been made on whether the diocese will declare bankruptcy, it is highly likely in light of the number of lawsuits we are facing.

The bishop did not disclose further details about what declaring bankruptcy would mean for the diocese.

The Diocese of Monterey was established in 1967 and encompasses Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Benito and San Luis Obispo counties, according to its website. It oversees 47 parishes, including five historic California Missions.

None of the 100 lawsuits filed against the Diocese of Monterey during the expanded statute of limitations window appear to originate in San Luis Obispo County, a Tribune court records search found.
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  Thieves struck not once but twice in the same month at a Las Vegas music shop. The Accomplished Musician has had three run-ins with break-ins since it opened in 2020.

Kenneth Wiener started the music shop, located at the corner of Rainbow Boulevard and West El Parque Avenue, after recovering from a severe case of COVID in 2021, which left him unable to do his job as a home inspector. So he transformed his office space into a retail music store.

Its not about the money with this store, its about spreading music to everybody, explained Wiener.

Thieves tried to steal his dream away first in January 2023 and then again on April 12, 2024, and on April 30, 2024. The recent break-ins have left him frustrated.

Its really hard because I love music.

Surveillance video stills of suspect courtesy of shop owner Kenneth Wiener

Surveillance video stills of suspect courtesy of shop owner Kenneth Wiener

It was someone that has been inside the store before because they knew exactly what they were taking, said Wiener. If they really wanted the stuff that bad, they should come in and Ill make some sort of deal so they can get the instrument.

Nearly $30,000 in items were taken including a very expensive guitar and clarinet that he later found on eBay. Those listings were then taken down, but he is still out of those instruments.

Thieves also cost him more than $5,000 in damage that was done to the store. After the break-ins, he has since upgraded security but wants other businesses to be on the lookout and do what they can to make sure the music keeps playing.

Las Vegas Metro Police are still searching for the suspect or suspects in the break-ins. If you have any information about the person in the photos, please contact the police.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
This is a developing story. Check back as ABC4 will update this article as more information becomes available.

BOISE, Idaho (ABC4)  Chad Daybells family members testified against him in court this morning, including his own mother and his sister-in-law.

Chad Daybells mother, Sheila Daybell, testified about the first time she met Lori Vallow Daybell, while sister-in-law Heather Daybell spoke about her distress over Chads end-of-days visions.

CONTEXT: A complete timeline for the Daybell, Vallow murders

Lori admitted daughter was dead

Sheila Daybell took the stand this morning, telling the court that the first time she met Lori Vallow Daybell in November 2019, she admitted that her daughter, Tylee Ryan, was dead.

It is believed Tylee Ryan was killed in early September 2019. Chad Daybells first wife, Tammy Daybell, died Oct. 19, 2019. Chad and Lori got married in Hawaii on Nov. 5, 2019.

Sheila Daybell testified this morning that she met with her son at a Texas Roadhouse restaurant in Idaho Falls on Nov. 13, 2019. She said it was the first time she had ever met or heard of Lori. During that meeting, Sheila said she noticed Chad and Lori were wearing wedding rings. When asked if the two were engaged, they said they were, in fact, already married. Sheila Daybell said the information was surprising and shocking.

During that first meeting, Sheila testified that Lori said her previous husband had died of a heart attack, and that she had a daughter who had died. Sheila said Lori never mentioned other children.

In cross-examination, defense attorney John Prior asked Sheila about her sons personality, seeming to continue with an effort to paint Chad Daybell as being manipulated by Lori. Sheila said her son was mostly introverted and had not been a worldly man before getting married to his first wife, Tammy. Meanwhile, she described Lori as friendly and upbeat on their first meeting and agreed with Prior that Lori could be persuasive, charming, and convincing.

Sister-in-law looked to escape from Chad

Following Sheila Daybells testimony, Heather Daybell took the stand. Heather Daybell is the wife of Chads brother Matt. In her testimony, Heather Daybell explained her distress over Chads end-of-days visions.

Heather Daybell noted that starting around 2015, Chad Daybell began talking more and more about how hed had visions about end-times destruction coming to the Utah area. Specifically, he mentioned an upcoming earthquake that he said would cause massive destruction.

Heather said at the time, as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, she had concerns about Chads obsession with the end times. When asked why she was concerned, she replied, Because in the belief system I had at that time in the LDS church, some average person doesnt get information like that to share with others. We have a prophet who would let us know if we needed to prepare for something like that.

Heather testified that Chads beliefs caused a rift between them. Any time she tried to confront Chad over the situation, Heather said he wouldnt respond with anything more than a nod. Heather and her husband live in Rexburg, Idaho, and when Chad began talking about moving to be near them, she testified that she even asked her husband to try to talk Chad out of it. She said she told Chad they would appreciate if he didnt live close to them so that he wouldnt be part of their neighborhood or their church ward.

Chad would eventually move within a half-mile of Heather, she said.

She also testified that when she found out Tammy Daybell was dead in October 2019, Chad insisted on having her funeral within two days. Heather testified that she and her husband were in Las Vegas at the time, and they asked if the services could be moved back. She stated that Chad refused and wanted to just get it done. She said she did make it to the funeral.

Heather said when she asked Chad what happened, his responses felt scripted, and that during her funeral, it appeared he turn it on and off, in relation to his grief.

Like Sheila Daybell, Heather Daybell also testified that Lori originally told her Charles Vallow had died from a heart attack.

This story is being updated. Refresh for more. Court is currently adjourned for lunch until 1 p.m. MT. Heather Daybell will return to the stand this afternoon.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
URBANA, Ill. (WCIA)  Champaign County has not given up in a court battle with the Carle Foundation.

This week, county officials are asking the Illinois Supreme Court again to consider hearing a case over property tax exemptions. The case started in 2013, and a Champaign County judge ruled in 2020 in favor of the Carle Foundation for partial tax exemptions.

An appellate court ruled in August that Carle should get charitable tax exemptions for parcels of land between 2004 and 2011 for Carle. The Supreme Court denied hearing the appeal in March.

Carle previously argued there is no factor requiring property to be exclusively used for charitable purposes. The County argues that goes against the Illinois Constitution.

IL Supreme Court denies Champaign Co. appeal over Carle tax exemptions

The Fourth Districts erroneous reasoning may cost local governments in Champaign County, in just the present case and two other pending cases, over $10.4 million dollars  a burden which Carle and other hospitals seek to shift to local residents and businesses, the motion to reconsider states.

A spokesperson with the Illinois Department of Revenue confirmed to WCIA that the agency is not a part of the motion to reconsider. They were on the side of the county in the past for the case.

A lawyer representing Carle in the court case declined to comment on the motion.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com.
A veteran who spread a false story blaming White House immigration policies for harming homeless veterans was charged with stolen valor and fraud this week after months of investigation into her charity work by the FBI.

Sharon Toney-Finch, 43, founder of the Yerik Israel Toney Foundation in New York and an Army veteran, was charged by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York on Wednesday with multiple counts of fraud. She could face more than 30 years in prison if convicted of all the charges.

In a statement, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said that Toney-Finch falsely claimed to have received a military award bestowed on those wounded or killed in the line of duty, and she used this lie to drive donations to her charitable organization, which in fact was a ruse the defendant allegedly used to line her own pockets.

The defendants alleged crimes are dishonorable to the highest degree.

Hoax alert: tale of homeless vets booted because of immigrants false

Toney-Finch came under national scrutiny in May 2023 after her organization claimed that 20 homeless veterans under its care had been kicked out of a Newburgh, New York, hotel to make room for incoming migrants being housed through county funding.

New York state lawmakers introduced legislation to stop the evictions. But as the story gained national attention, hotel officials said they had no record of the veterans in question, and Veterans Affairs officials said they had no record of any direct work with the charity.

Within a few days, New York State Assemblyman Brian Maher said that Toney-Finch had admitted to making up the story. He called for a full investigation into the charity, eventually prompting the fraud charges.

Officials from the U.S. attorneys office said that Toney-Finch spent funds raised by her charity on personal expenses and falsely claimed to have survived a terrorist attack in Iraq in 2010, earning her a Purple Heart. They also said she falsified her military discharge paperwork to support her fake biography.

Since 2016, Toney-Finch had been collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars in disability benefits based on those false claims.

Acts of stolen valor are especially egregious as they distract from sacrifices of those who were truly injured defending our nation, FBI Assistant Director in Charge James Smith said in a statement.

Toney-Finch declined comment on the fake homeless veterans story last year and could not be reached for comment on the new criminal charges.
KYODO NEWS - May 2, 2024 - 18:36 | All, Japan

Japan Airlines Co. said Thursday its net profit increased 2.8-fold to 95.53 billion yen ($614 million) in the business year ended March, lifted by a recovery in tourism demand after the coronavirus pandemic ended.

Sales for the year grew 20.1 percent to 1.65 trillion yen. Both net profit and sales surpassed the pre-pandemic 2019 figures for the first time, the airline said.

Robust international travel demand drove the growth in profit as a weaker yen lured more travelers from overseas. Sales of its international operations jumped 49.1 percent to 622.3 billion yen, exceeding the 2019 figure by 17.2 percent.

Sales of its domestic operations saw a 22.1 percent rise to 550.8 billion yen, thanks to increased tourism demand following the full removal of coronavirus restrictions in the spring of last year.

"I am relieved that we have been able to come this far," JAL Chief Financial Officer Yuji Saito said at a press conference. "Demand recovery for the past year, including that of inbound tourists, was much stronger than we expected."

The upbeat earnings followed rival ANA Holdings Inc.'s results released last week, in which its net profit rose 75.6 percent to a record 157.10 billion yen for the same year.

While the weakness of the yen, which dropped to the 160 level versus the U.S. dollar to hit a fresh 34-year low earlier this week, has contributed to the growth of inbound tourism, Saito said it also poses some drawbacks for the industry, which procures aircraft and fuel from abroad.

"It leads to higher fuel costs and aircraft prices," Saito said. "While the impact for a single year is limited, it affects our business structurally."

The weak currency also means overseas trips are more costly for Japanese tourists, he added.

"It is hard to see a recovery in demand for outbound flights from Japan given the current situation of foreign exchange," he said.

For the current year ending March next year, the company expects its net profit to rise 4.7 percent to 100 billion yen on sales of 1.93 trillion yen, up 16.8 percent.

Related coverage:

JAL net profit jumps fivefold in April-Dec. on demand recovery

Toyota, Nissan offer historic pay hikes as wage talks culminate
Chicago police search for man wanted in attempted sex assault on Near West Side

Chicago police search for man wanted in attempted sex assault on Near West Side

CHICAGO  Chicago police have released new surveillance images of the man wanted for attempted sexual assault on the citys Near West Side.

On April 14, a 35-year-old woman was walking northbound on Carpenter Street from Randolph Street the Fulton Market, when she was approached from behind by the man, according to police.

Police said the suspect grabbed the woman by the waist and put his hands over her mouth. The man then dragged the woman to an alley and she was able to bite his index finger, causing him to throw her to the ground.

Woman thwarts attempted sex assault by biting mans finger on Near West Side

On Wednesday, police released the following images of the suspect wanted in the attempted assault.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is urged to call Area 3 Detectives at (312) 744-8200.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV.
BOISE, Idaho (ABC4)  The biological grandmother of murder victim Joshua JJ Vallow testified as a states witness in court Thursday morning in the third week of the murder trial of Chad Daybell.

The body of JJ Vallow was found by police on June 9, 2020, on Chad Daybells property. While JJ was in the custody of Lori Vallow Daybell  Chads wife  JJ was actually the biological nephew of Loris previous husband, Charles Vallow. Lori and Charles had adopted the infant JJ in 2013.

CONTEXT: A complete timeline for the Daybell, Vallow murders

JJ Vallow, born Canaan Trahan in Lake Charles, La., was the grandson of Charles Vallows sister, Kay Woodcock. According to Woodcocks testimony, the boy was born with drugs in his system and was later diagnosed as autistic. As such, Woodcock said his original parents were not able to care for him.

Shortly after his birth, Woodcock said Charles and Lori Vallow began discussions about adopting the child to care for him. Charles and Lori renamed him as Joshua Jaxon Vallow, and took him with them to their home in Arizona.

Woodcock testified that under the adoption agreement, she remained in JJs life as his grandmother, and she explained that she and her husband traveled to Arizona to visit JJ as often as they could.

We were having a real hard time dealing with letting him go, Woodcock said.

In the beginning of their relationship, Woodcock testified that Lori Vallow seemed to be a wonderful person, and JJ was doted upon as the family researched his autism. Woodcock said that when she and her husband visited JJ, Lori and Charles would often disappear to give the grandparents quality time with the boy.

By 2019, however, Lori and Charles Vallows relationship had deteriorated, and they separated. Woodcock testified that in the spring of 2019, Lori Vallow disappeared for several weeks, leaving JJ in Charles Vallows care and having little to no contact with him. Charles moved to Houston, Texas, which put him within a couple hours of the Woodcocks home in Louisiana.

Relative says Chad Daybell told inconsistent stories about wifes death

Charles Vallow was then shot to death by Loris brother, Alex Cox, on July 11, 2019. After the shooting, Woodcock testified that she became scared for JJ.

Shortly before Charles Vallows death, he made several moves to change the beneficiary on his life insurance policy. While Lori was originally his beneficiary, he eventually named Woodcock as his beneficiary and left instructions with her on how the money should be used. Woodcock testified that she and Charles only had one conversation about that change, and she wasnt even entirely sure he had named her as beneficiary until the insurance company contacted her after Charles death.

After Lori found out that she was no longer Charles beneficiary, Woodcock said she limited contact with JJ. Woodcock testified that she received a text from Lori Vallow asking if the life insurance money was the reason why you want JJ. Woodcock said the last time she saw JJ was Aug. 10, 2019, in a brief video call. Woodcock said Lori became evasive and wouldnt respond to requests.

Woodcock also testified that she had arranged to fly to Arizona to see JJ in August 2019, but Lori canceled their meeting. Woodcock also testified that Lori refused to let JJ attend Charles funeral services.

The minute we found out Charles had been murdered, we were extremely worried [about JJ], she said.

As the Woodcocks worked with law enforcement following Charles death, Kay testified that she would repeatedly bring up JJs whereabouts with law enforcement. Eventually, she worked with Brandon Boudreaux, the ex-husband of Loris niece Melani, on splitting the cost of a private investigator.

Amazon account

Woodcock also testified that she has access to a number of Charles Vallows accounts, including banking and email. She noted that in November 2019, she accessed Charles Vallows Amazon.com account to find that Lori Vallow had used it to search for and purchase a number of items, including malachite wedding rings and beach clothing  all of which were used in Lori and Chad Daybells November wedding in Hawaii.

Woodcock testified that Amazon records showed Lori searching for the items in the first week of October 2019, days before Chad Daybells previous wife, Tammy Daybell, died. Using the delivery information from the Amazon account, Woodcock said she was finally able to find where Lori had moved  to Rexburg, Idaho.

Woodcock called the Amazon discovery jaw-dropping and mind-blowing.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
(Bloomberg) -- Chinas largest and most advanced warship has begun its first sea trial, paving the way for the country to enhance its navys capability to project power amid US concerns of Beijings assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The Fujian, which is Chinas third aircraft carrier, tested waters Wednesday, according to the state broadcaster CCTV. The ship was launched and officially named in June 2022. The province is across the strait from Taiwan, which the Chinese Communist Party has pledged to take  even if by force.

The 316-meter (1037-foot) carrier is fitted with three electromagnetic catapults to launch fighter jets, which is similar to the advanced system used by the latest US carrier, the 337-meter long USS Gerald R. Ford. But unlike Americas fleet of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, the Fujian is conventionally powered, which could limit its range and duration of its deployments.

The first sea trial will mainly focus on the reliability and stability of the propulsion and power systems, according to Chinese state media. The Fujian needs to go through the trials to test its performance including for its engine and weapon systems, before its delivered to the navy.

The sea trial marks a milestone for the Fujian, a key piece of the puzzle in President Xi Jinpings ambitious plan to improve the military. Under his watch, China set a goal of building a modern military by 2027 and a world-class version by 2049, the 100th anniversary of the Peoples Republic.

With a displacement of more than 80,000 tons, the Fujian is some 20,000 tons more than its two predecessors. The ship is part of a naval buildup that the Pentagon expects to reach 435 vessels by 2030. In addition, China is bolstering the armaments on its Coast Guard vessels, sending the militarized ships to contested waters in places such as the South China Sea.

Both the Liaoning, a refitted Soviet-era vessel that became Chinas first aircraft carrier, and the Chinese-built Shandong use ski-jumps, which are less efficient for launching jets compared to catapults. The Fujian also features a flat runway, which allows for more room on the carriers deck for jets.

Sea trials for the Liaoning took as long as 13 months, while the Shandong took some 19 months.

(Updates with comments from state media in paragraph four. A previous version corrected a mention for a jet-launching method.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
China's top climate envoy is coming to the US this month as tensions over green tech run high

China's top climate envoy is coming to the US this month as tensions over green tech run high

The US is trying to cut itself off from China's green tech like solar, EVs, and batteries.

The moves could hit China's economy and risks slowing down the green transition.

The US and China, as the world's largest polluters, are key to solving the climate crisis.

There will be a long list of grievances when China's top climate envoy, Liu Zhenmin, visits the US this month for his first formal talks with US officials.

The meeting comes as the US and China jockey for power in the green-energy transition. The Biden administration is trying to cut itself off from Chinese goods that are key to solving the climate crisis  such as solar panels, electric vehicles, batteries, and semiconductors. The US wants to protect its factories against competition from cheaper products, which, in turn, could hit China's economy and risk slowing down the green transition. China is also under pressure to stop building new coal plants, the dirtiest form of power production, because the expansion undercuts the country's promise that its greenhouse-gas emissions will start dropping after 2030.

"The recent moves by the US to connect the climate issue with trade measures, industrial competition, and national security is something I'm sure the Chinese will raise because they have a lot of concerns on this policy direction," Li Shuo, the director of China Climate Hub at the Asia Society Policy Institute, told Business Insider.

Li said China's view was that the US prioritized economic competition at the expense of mitigating the climate emergency. The world needs affordable green technology for the energy transition, and China's record levels of investment have driven down the costs, he added.

A recent example is the remarkable rise of BYD, a Chinese automaker that briefly eclipsed Tesla this year as the world's largest seller of EVs.

However, the US views China as a threat to both national security and the climate. The country's boom in green-tech manufacturing was largely powered by dirty energy, with coal still accounting for about 60% of China's electricity, an S&P Global analysis found. And even though China is adding renewable energy to its grid faster than any other country, it's also building new coal-fired power plants at a rapid clip.

Coal is a major source of tension between the US and China, Li said. China has no policy to signal a coal slowdown, undermining its climate promises.

The issue could be inflamed following a deal this week among seven of the world's wealthiest countries to stop burning coal for power by 2035. During a G7 meeting in Italy, Japan, another major coal user, endorsed the timeline for the first time and was joined by the US, Canada, and several European nations.

For its part, the US in late April finalized stricter emissions limits on power plants, which are expected to speed up the shift away from coal. About 16% of US electricity comes from coal, a steep drop over the past decade largely due to the fracking boom that made gas a cheaper source of power.

But neither the US nor China is in a position to compromise, Li said.

China defends its coal expansion as a matter of energy security. Last year, sky-high temperatures and drought in regions reliant on hydropower forced rolling blackouts and factory closures.

Biden-administration officials, including the climate envoy John Podesta and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, in recent months have said the US is evaluating new strategies to counter China's dominance over green technology. Former President Donald Trump said he would impose tariffs of more than 60% on China if he won the election in November.

Given the tension, there likely won't be any major breakthroughs during this month's talks, Li said. But the fact that the world's two largest polluters are meeting in person shows that the climate still carries special weight. Few Chinese senior officials travel to the US.

Read the original article on Business Insider
DURANT, Okla.  Tribal members, government officials, associates, friends and family gathered Friday, April 26, to celebrate Chief Gary Batton's 10 years of service as Chief of the Choctaw Nation.

Batton was sworn into office on April 28, 2014, as the 47th Chief of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. Under his leadership, the tribe has evolved, significantly expanded its operations and continued improving its members' services.

Never miss Indian Countrys biggest stories and breaking news. Click here to sign up to get our reporting sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning.

Chief Batton spoke of what drives him as Chief, saying, "I think about our people that came across the Trail of Tears, that lost lives, but they fought for us to be here today. And we have to keep that fight for our language, our culture, our history, our sovereignty to remain and stay strong."

Under Chief Batton's leadership, food distribution centers, summer education programs and healthcare facilities have expanded, tribal housing has increased, and employment has more than doubled.

"We want to grow our language and culture, along with opportunities like health, housing, education and social programs so that our tribal members can have a better way of life," said Chief Batton.

Chief Batton's commitment to the community extends beyond the Choctaw Nation. He is actively involved in various organizations, including the Choctaw Nation Chahta Foundation, the Inter-Tribal Council of the Five Civilized Tribes, and the Southeastern Oklahoma State University Foundation.

Recognized for his exceptional leadership, Chief Batton has received numerous accolades throughout his career. He has been honored as one of Oklahoma's Most Admired CEOs and appointed as an Oklahoma Creativity Ambassador. Chief Batton's outstanding achievements were further acknowledged when he was named Southeastern Oklahoma State University's Outstanding Alumni and received the Happy World Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award in Global Citizenship. In recognition of his significant contributions, Chief Batton was also inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.

About the Author: "Levi \"Calm Before the Storm\" Rickert (Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation) is the founder, publisher and editor of Native News Online. Rickert was awarded Best Column 2021 Native Media Award for the print\/online category by the Native American Journalists Association. He serves on the advisory board of the Multicultural Media Correspondents Association. He can be reached at levi@nativenewsonline.net."

Contact: levi@nativenewsonline.net
MEMPHIS, Tenn.  Christian Brothers University has selected former student and Board of Trustees member Brother Chris Englert as its interim president.

Englert, who attended CBU in 1974 and graduated in 1977, will begin leading the university on June 1.

Englert returned to Memphis in 1988 to become the Vice Principal at Christian Brothers High School. After just a year, he became the principal, serving nearly three decades until 2018.

He was also on the CBU Board of Trustees from 2011 to 2023.

It is an honor to be asked to serve this great institution that not only provided an education and career path but helped to grow my faith and value system, said Englert. This is a full-circle moment, and I look forward to reminding the community why this institution has had a significant impact on students, just like me, for more than 150 years.

CBUs accreditation on probation; school says things are turning around

This news comes after the former president of two years, David Archer, announced his retirement in April.

Before Archer decided to leave, the school had been placed on probation due to accreditation issues.

According to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, its problems revolved around its governing board and financial responsibility.

CBU also took extraordinary means to balance a budget deficit of up to $7 million earlier this year. The college said in a statement that it was experiencing fundamental shifts that have negatively impacted its financial situation.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA)  The Illinois Department of Natural Resources announced the presence of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in free-ranging deer populations in Ford County.

CWD is a terminal disease that impacts the brains of white-tailed deer. It was first discovered in Northern Illinois near Roscoe in 2002, and has since spread to 21 counties across the area.

In mid-March of this year, a deer was detected in Ford County that exhibited symptoms of CWD. After diagnostic testing, the infection was confirmed. Affected counties now include Boone, Bureau, Carroll, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Ford, Grundy, Jo Daviess, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, LaSalle, Lee, Livingston, McHenry, Ogle, Stephenson, Will and Winnebago.

Douglas County gets ILs first bird with West Nile virus in 2024

At dates and times yet to be announced, IDNR wildlife biologists will hold public meetings for landowners, hunters and interested citizens to share management strategies and to answer questions.

The IDNR says their 20-year program is a model for other states, and that Illinois is a national leader in managing and slowing the spread of CWD. These efforts include hunting and testing CWD-infected deer in affected counties, statewide surveillance in unaffected counties and raising awareness of CWD and its potential long-term impact on deer hunting in Illinois.

For more information on CWD management, visit the IDNR website. Other questions regarding CWD detections or the disease itself can be emailed to Chris Jacques, Wildlife Disease Program Manager, at chris.jacques@illinois.gov.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE)  Albuquerque Police Department Chief Harold Medina says the department has seen an increase in the number of cadets that have entered the police academy and joined the force. That comes after the city has put a list of problems tied to the academy behind them. A new report shows the city has settled lawsuits tied to the actions of former academy staff.

Albuquerque teen found guilty of murder sentenced to 38 years in prison

Former academy Commander Angela Byrd was fired in October 2020 when APD said she explicitly threatened cadets who accused her of misconduct. Byrd was secretly recorded at the time threatening cadets after someone sent a letter to HR about Byrd.

In 2022, she filed a whistleblower lawsuit, claiming she was praised by the Department of Justice for her work in the academy. Former Chief Mike Geier resigned in September 2020 and then Byrd was fired in October. Shes now settled her lawsuit with the city for $85,000.

Former APD Cadet Nan Zhang is originally from China and says the problems with APDs training academy staff started almost instantly when she joined in early 2020. Her dream of being an officer quickly faded and she says she was forced to quit. They began to look at me weird I was they started to call I became, Cadet COVID, said Zhang in 2021. Zhangs public records lawsuit against the city was also recently settled for $105,000.

The Zhang and Byrd settlements were included in the most recent round of the citys Quarterly Litigation Report, covering lawsuits that the city settled between October and December. Two other cadets from Byrds class also sued the city. Those have been settled.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos.
KYODO NEWS - May 3, 2024 - 07:35 | All, Japan

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged Thursday to take the lead in formulating global regulations on the appropriate use of generative artificial intelligence technology through a new framework involving like-minded nations.

In a speech at a session of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris, Kishida expressed his appreciation for the launch earlier in the day of the grouping, which aims to bring more participants into the AI initiative agreed upon at the Group of Seven summit he hosted last year.

"Let us collaborate as nations united by a common purpose to address the universal opportunities and risks brought about by AI, and work toward achieving safe, secure and trustworthy AI," Kishida said in the OECD meeting.

He told reporters afterward that "a total of 49 countries and regions will participate" in the Friends Group for the initiative.

Kishida, who is in the French capital on the first stop of his six-day overseas trip, attended the OECD's ministerial council meeting as Japan serves as its chair in 2024.

The creation of the initiative, known as the Hiroshima AI Process, was agreed upon at the G7 summit hosted by Kishida in May last year in the western Japanese city, his constituency.

The Friends Group framework was set up as the world has been seeking ways to harness the benefits of rapidly developing generative AI tools amid fears that the spread of disinformation through misuse of the technology could threaten democracy and political stability.

Kishida also promised to work with other OECD members in tackling climate change and various other global issues while pursuing free and open investment and trade.

In a bid to grapple with environmental problems, Kishida welcomed the recent establishment of a ministerial dialogue on decarbonization, called the Inclusive Forum on Carbon Mitigation Approaches, which is the OECD's flagship initiative.

"The climate crisis is a challenge common to all humankind that cannot be postponed, and it demands a holistic effort from all nations," Kishida said.

On the international trade front, Kishida voiced readiness to work in tandem with other countries to maintain and bolster a "rules-based, free and fair economic order, with the World Trade Organization at its core."

"We also need to strengthen our cooperation to ensure economic resilience and economic security, such as addressing economic coercion and non-market policies and practices, enhancing supply chain resilience, and protecting critical technologies," he said.

The use of economic coercion as a means to achieve political goals has drawn condemnation, particularly as some democracies find themselves adversely affected by the tactics allegedly employed by authoritarian regimes.

Kishida committed to helping expand the membership of the 38-member OECD so that countries from around the world, including those in Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, and Southeast Asia, can participate in the organization.

"As one of the few Asian members, Japan will continue to act as a bridge between the OECD and the Asian region, contributing to the OECD's continued leadership in the global economy," he said.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of Tokyo joining the Paris-based club of mostly wealthy nations.

Later Thursday, Kishida also met with French President Emmanuel Macron and agreed to initiate negotiations on a reciprocal access agreement so the two countries' defense forces can cooperate more closely as well as enhance bilateral work in AI-related fields, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

France will host a summit on the safe use of AI next year.

Also on Thursday in Paris, Japan and the European Union held a high-level economic dialogue, agreeing to coordinate and advance efforts to build more transparent, resilient and sustainable supply chains.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, industry minister Ken Saito and Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commission's executive vice president for economy, expressed "deep concern about the weaponization of economic dependencies on certain supply sources for strategic goods," recognizing the need to address "systemic vulnerabilities" and work together to promote a level playing field, according to their joint statement.

Kishida will also visit Brazil and Paraguay during Japan's Golden Week holiday period in early May.

Related coverage:

Japan PM Kishida leaves for trip to France, South America

OECD revises up global growth outlook for 2024, more upbeat on U.S.

Japan core CPI logs fastest rise in 41 yrs in 2023, points to easing
A Georgia city councilwoman is accused of fudging election paperwork to hide her criminal record, state investigators say.

Tameka Lowe, 46, is charged with violation of oath by a public officer after the City of Manchester councilwoman was accused of falsifying details of her criminal history when she applied for an open council seat, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

She also faces two counts of false swearing, the agency said in an April 30 news release.

The GBI began investigating the accusations against Lowe on Feb. 8 at the request of Manchester police. Agents said she gave false information on a Notice of Candidacy and Affidavit, then falsely swore to the City of Manchester Oath of Public Officer once she was elected to the position.

She was arrested and taken to the Meriwether County Jail, investigators said. No attorney information was provided.

After bonding out of jail, Lowe told WTVM that she would never, ever intentionally or knowingly do anything, say anything or behave, or perform in a matter that would violate (her) oath of office.

Its unclear if Lowe will still serve as a council member.

McClatchy New reached out to Manchester City Manager Mark Pullium for comment on Thursday and was awaiting a response.

Authorities didnt release additional details but said the investigation is ongoing.

Manchester is about an 80-mile drive southwest of downtown Atlanta.

Investors took out life insurance on stranger and got millions when she died, suit says

Postal manager stole drugs from mail, let coworker snort cocaine off his desk, feds say

Supervisor stole $110,000 and splurged on trips to Disney and SeaWorld, feds say
City Hall is taking candy from babies to end subway peddling as parents plead, I need to work

City, NYPD and MTA officials are handing out fliers to discourage migrant kids from selling candy in the subways and streets.

Big Apple officials have kicked off a campaign to stop migrant kids from peddling candy in the subways and on city streets  as migrant parents argue they need the youngsters to help make ends meet.

City staffers, the NYPD and the MTA this week started distributing flyers in Spanish and an Ecuadorean dialect to steer migrant parents to available childrens services to keep the youngest asylum seekers in school instead of panhandling sweets on the streets.

The pamphlets also make it clear its illegal to sell goods without a permit.

The health and safety  especially that of children  are always top priorities for our administration, which is why were expanding outreach to ensure every migrant parent knows about the support available for their children, City Hall spokeswoman Kayla Mamelak said in a statement.

Migrant children have increasingly been seen on the subways and street corners to help their families make ends meet. Getty Images

Migrant parents are using their kids to pull the heartstrings of straphangers as they sell candy in the subways. Helayne Seidman

Beginning this week, we are intensifying our work both in migrant shelters and on the subways to ensure school-aged children are enrolled in schools and parents know about safe after-school and childcare programs available to kids, Mamelak said.

All good, except that migrant parents tell The Post they need their kids help earn a living in the big city  which is the way things are done back in their native lands.

I dont have a choice, I have to work, said Maria, who was lugging her 3-year-old son along as she sold an assortment of gum and candies at Grand Central Terminal on Tuesday. Ive seen cops and others trying to discourage people from selling on the train but I cant afford to listen to them.

Where Im from, the kids are expected to help their parents with work, the 40-year-old single mom from Ecuador said. As soon as my baby can walk, if I dont find another job, hell have to help me sell candy. I want him to go to school, but if I need him to help me, he wont go.

City Hall is distributing pamphlets in Spanish and an Ecuadorean dialect to stop migrants from using kids to sell candy. Stephen Yang

She said she used to work in a chocolate factory before she began peddling on the street  and can make up to $30 on a good day.

Veronica Chega, 44, who was selling candy in Times Square with her 4-year-old daughter in tow this week, said hawking the sweets make it easier for her to duck police  because theyre easier to hide.

I am always moving around when Im working because a moving target is hard to catch  all good vendors know that, the Ecuadorean native told The Post. This is easier and I can move around freely.

Chega says while her young daughter helps with business, she prefers to have her in school.

I heard they are warning everyone about kids selling candy in the subway, she said. Thats why I only bring my daughter after shes done at school. Today theres no school so shes working with me but tomorrow Ill be selling on my own.

Pint-sized migrants have become a familiar sight at city subway stations and street corners selling sweets in recent years, as asylum seekers have flooded into the five boroughs.

Mexican migrant Jose Prado, 53, said he used to work in textiles but now makes ends meet by selling candies and churros  a Latin American fired-dough pastry.

One Mexican migrant said hes trying to get his kids in the US because he can make more money panhandling. Stephen Yang

Migrants say peddlers with small children often do the best. Helayne Seidman

Although he can make as much as $80 in a day, he said kids can pull on the heartstrings of straphangers, so he is trying to get his own kids into the US to help hawk the sweet treat.

My kids are all back in Mexico but the kids and parents with kids make the most money, he said.

Prado said he had been living in a shelter in the city but said conditions were awful. He now shares an apartment in the Bronx with four other men.

It would be one thing if the president [Joe Biden] were telling us all to come here and giving us jobs, Prado said. But were only getting half of that.

Maria said she doesnt have a choice but to bring her son along as she works. Matthew McDermott

I have the hardest time finding work because Im older than a lot of the migrants showing up.

More than 190,000 migrants have arrived in the Big Apple since the influx started in the spring of 2022, with more than 64,000 currently housed in city shelters at taxpayer expense.

Many have picked up underground jobs delivering food, but others have resorted to panhandling.
Civilian company, secondary school and houses damaged in Russian strikes on Nikopol district  photo

Aftermath of Russian attacks on Nikopol district. Photo: Serhii Lysak on Telegram

Russian forces bombarded Nikopol district (Dnipropetrovsk Oblast) with kamikaze drones and heavy artillery on 2 May.

Source: Serhii Lysak, Head of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Military Administration, on Telegram

Quote: "Nikopol, Marhanets, Myrove, and Pokrovske hromadas came under enemy strikes. [A hromada is an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town and their adjacent territories  ed.].

Three high-rise buildings, the same number of private houses and an outbuilding have been damaged. A secondary school and a company have been affected."

Details: In addition, four lorries and a scooter were damaged. A car caught fire, which emergency workers put out. A power line was also damaged.

Aftermath of Russian attacks on Nikopol district

Photo: Serhii Lysak on Telegram

Aftermath of Russian attacks on Nikopol district

Photo: Serhii Lysak on Telegram

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Emergency responders rescued climbers Thomas Gilbert and Philip Bond, who were rappelling down a Washington state mountain

Chelan County Sheriff's Office A climber ascending Cutthroat Peak in Chelan County

Friends Thomas Gilbert and Philip Bond had been climbing a mountain in Washington state when they experienced an accident while rappelling on Sunday, April 28

Rescuers were able to reach an injured Bond and a stuck Gilbert the following morning

If they didnt have some sort of satellite connectivity who knows you know, they would have probably not made it out alive, a rescuer told KIRO of the stranded men

One of two climbers who was recently rescued following an accident on a Washington state mountain on Sunday, April 28 initially thought that his friend could be either injured or dead after he fell.

What went through my mind when I saw him fall is, hes going to die, Thomas Gilbert told CBS affiliate KIRO about his climbing partner Philip Bond, and Ill be stranded and hes really struggling or really, really hurt and I have no rope and I cant come down to help him.

In a Facebook post, Chelan County Mountain Rescue (CCMR) said that it was notified on the evening of April 28 by authorities to help in the rescue of Bond, who fell and injured himself, and Gilbert, who was left stuck.

Related: Climber Dead After 2-Person Team Falls 1,000 Feet Off Alaska Mountain

The two men, who had been climbing the Cauthorn-Wilson Route on Cutthroat Peak, experienced an accident while rappelling.

Gilbert later told KIRO that the knot in the rappel ring came out of the system and so Phillip fell with the rope all the way down to the bottom of the route.

Chelan County Sheriff's Office Cutthroat Peak in Chelan County

The stuck Gilbert said that both he and the injured Bond had rocky talkies and were able to talk to each other. Then they contacted for help using a Garmin InReach beacon. Although they had to spend a cold night before being rescued, the two climbers had layers of Gore-Tex waterproof fabric as well as food and water.

Related: Experienced Climber Found Dead in Mount St. Helens Volcano Crater  1,200 Feet Below the Summit

CCMR added that responders reached the injured Bond the next early morning.

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.

Two members of CCMR started to climb to the stuck climber at about 5:45AM and accessing them at 7:00AM, said the rescue group in its statement. The CCMR and [Okanogan Search and Rescue Association] team with the fallen climber were able to stabilize the injuries and warm the patient using sleeping bags, chem kits (think giant hand warmers), food, water and shelter.

Related: 'Caring' Student, 21, Dies After Falling at Least 300 Feet While Climbing Ore. Volcano

CCMR said that its climbers lowered Gilbert to the other team members so he could be warmed.

Around 10:20 the weather cleared well enough that NAS Whidbey Island was able to conduct a successful hoist of the injured party. All rescuers were able to hike out and made it home safely, added CCMR.

The Chelan County Sheriff's Office said in a press release that the injured Bond was transported to a hospital.

Gilbert expressed gratitude to the emergency responders, per KIRO, adding that he will thank them for the rest of his life.

Vernon Nelson of CCMR credited the Garmin InReach beacon used by the stranded climbers, telling KIRO, If they didnt have some sort of satellite connectivity who knows you know, they would have probably not made it out alive.

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HIALEAH, Fla.  They hailed from Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti. The women who visited a family-owned abortion clinic in a strip mall in Hialeah this week reflected the diverse population of immigrants who call Miami-Dade County home.

Like women across the state, they were faced with a new reality Wednesday: a ban on abortion, with few exceptions, after six weeks.

On Tuesday, the day before the ban went into effect, a sign at the entrance to A Hialeah Womans Care Center and another on a pink wall of the clinics waiting room warned patients of the change in law. The small clinic was bustling, with women pouring in all day, eager to be seen. Some patients were asked to return the following day because the state requires a 24-hour waiting period for abortions.

A fruit stand on a street corner (Martina Tuaty for NBC News)

Roughly three-quarters of the population of Hialeah, 11 miles northwest of downtown Miami, is foreign-born. Mom-and-pop shops line the commercial streets and fruit vendors dot many street corners. Some of the patients Tuesday were immigrants from Cuba, where abortion is legal and widely accessible. Others, like a 36-year-old nurse who immigrated from Haiti, were originally from countries where abortion is largely banned.

I didnt even know a law had been passed, said the nurse, a mother of two who visited the clinic with her husband and declined to give her name to protect her medical privacy. If I had not made it in time, I would have no choice but to have the baby.

On Wednesday, that possibility loomed larger as a slow trickle of patients arrived at the clinic, not knowing if they had made it in time.

A patient seen from the back (Martina Tuaty for NBC News)

Women across Florida are encountering the new ban, but abortion rights advocates say immigrants in the state and in this county  which has the nations highest share of foreign-born residents according to census data  will feel the impact more acutely. They may face language barriers, for instance, or have jobs without paid time off. And for those who lack legal documentation, the hurdles are magnified.Undocumented immigrants are already walking a tightrope, said Suma Setty, a senior policy analyst with the Center for Law and Social Policy, which has advocated for immigrants abortion rights.

Its basically narrowing the tightrope even further, she said of Floridas six-week ban. And theres no safety net.

Detail of a sign explaining the new law that goes into effect on May 1st (Martina Tuaty for NBC News)

E.H., a 28-year-old Cuban immigrant who lives in Jacksonville with her husband and two children, traveled about six hours to Hialeah because she knew the clinic. On Wednesday, she said she was unaware of the abortion ban until she spoke with NBC News. She explained why she was seeking an abortion. Its not fair to be obliged to bring children into the world if you cannot care for them properly, she said.

Her ultrasound confirmed she was right around six weeks pregnant and she was confident shed still qualify for the procedure. If shed come in a week later, shed have been forced to travel out of state.

Before Wednesday, the state banned most abortions after 15 weeks under a law enacted in 2022. Because the new cutoff comes before many women may realize theyre pregnant, those seeking abortion care may be faced with traveling hundreds of miles across state lines to clinics in North Carolina and Virginia.

Interior hallway of A Hialeah Womans Care Center (Martina Tuaty for NBC News)

In a process already fraught with confusion, abortion rights advocates say, travel may be especially daunting for immigrants. Even basic accommodations, like front desk staff who speak Spanish, Creole or French or signage in different languages, can be less accessible outside the region, they say.I am a first-generation American, and Ive seen a lot of my own family struggle with accessing health care and navigating all the barriers and that was prior to having medical care criminalized across the country, said Lanae Hernandez, a patient navigator with Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida.

When travel is involved with these patients, it just makes it 10 times more difficult for them.

For immigrants in Florida who lack legal documentation, most of whom come from Central and South America, fear of exposure adds another challenge, particularly in the wake of a sweeping immigration law enacted last year that requires hospitals that accept Medicaid to ask patients for their immigration status, among other provisions, making some people reluctant to seek even routine health care.

The entrance of A Hialeah Womans Care Center (Martina Tuaty for NBC News)

Stephanie Loraine Pineiro, executive director of the Florida Access Network, which helps patients pay for abortions and travel for their procedures, said some people might be subject to electronic monitoring because of their status and unable to leave the state.People are afraid to travel, she said. Theyre afraid to go to the hospital. So all we can do is encourage people to reach out for support to see if theres a way to find access to health care for you.

After Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, Florida was one of the few states in the South without a total or near-total abortion ban. Over 9,300 people traveled to Florida from other states to get abortion care last year, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

One of the employees at A Hialeah Womans Care Center on the phone (Martina Tuaty for NBC News)

Supporters of the six-week ban have touted the states plans to spend $25 million on Florida Pregnancy Care Network, a statewide alliance that includes crisis pregnancy centers, which aim to dissuade clients from having abortions. Although the Biden administration has attempted to restrict federal funding for such centers, many states rolling back abortion rights have incorporated them into their post-Roe plans.

Outside the Hialeah clinic Wednesday, a small group of women from the anti-abortion group Sidewalk Advocates for Life were handing out red bags that contained pamphlets with information about crisis pregnancy centers, as well as nail polish, cream and perfume.

There are always resources, said Kelly Tarazona, the groups metro coordinator for Miami and Fort Lauderdale. Abortion is not the only option.

She said the pregnancy centers could offer more than an abortion. They would help a woman find shelter, for instance, and a job if she needed one.

Pro-life demonstrators stand outside of a clinic with signs in Spanish (Carmen Sesin / NBC News)

As proponents of the ban celebrated Wednesday, abortion rights supporters are preparing to knock on doors in Hialeah in the coming weeks to spread awareness about the ban ahead of a referendum this fall that would amend the state Constitution to protect the right to an abortion.Were not giving up on Florida, said Charo Valero, Florida state manager for the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice. We are fighting back.

A yellow flower emerges from a concrete sidewalk (Martina Tuaty for NBC News)

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Philip Martin, a former Obama-Biden administration staffer, says he feels betrayed by President Joe Bidens unconditional support for Israel as it continues its attack in Gaza, almost seven months after the terrorist group Hamas killed 1,200 people in Israel and took 250 hostages.

Martin, a former director in the U.S. Department of Education, told USA TODAY hed joined the Obama campaign in 2008 because he was furious that the Bush administration had hijacked" the country's pain to justify killing civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Philip Martin

But now, he says Biden is having a similar effect with his Israel foreign policy.

Seeing the Biden administration provide unconditional support to the Israeli war machine that is killing, displacing, starving, and otherwise terrorizing Palestinian civilians makes me just as furious and feels like a betrayal, he said.

He is one of close to 300 former Obama-Biden administration and campaign alumni who sent a letter on Tuesday asking Biden to suspend military aid to Israel. The letter is addressed to Biden and former President Barack Obama.

The 290 signatories (201 signed the letter with their names, the rest only had their titles) are asking Biden to call for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, and withdrawal of troops from Gaza and the West Bank. This is the second group letter ex-Obama-Biden staffers have sent Biden since November.

We are writing to you together because we see you both as our leaders with tremendous influence over the fate of Palestinians and our democratic society here in America, the letter says. We implore you both to lead now before our democracy and the world backslide further into war and authoritarianism.

More than 35,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. Beyond the death toll, a March 18 U.N. report said a famine is "imminent" and humanitarian groups estimate more than 2 million people are threatened with famine.

A Gallup survey released March 27, a day before the Biden campaigns fundraiser, showed 55% of all Americans disapprove of Israels military action. That includes 75% of Democrats, which is up from the 63% who said the same last November.

Sara Eckhouse

Several donors, some who served on Bidens 2020 election campaign have stopped supporting Bidens reelection bid. Slipping support for Israels ongoing war in Gaza threatens to unravel the Democratic coalition at a time when the president wants to unite the party.

Sara Eckhouse, a granddaughter of a Holocaust refugee, who worked as a field organized for the Obama campaign in 2008 and later as a senior adviser in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, told USA TODAY she felt compelled to speak out after seeing atrocities and war crimes committed in the name of protecting Jews.

This is not about politics. It is about humanity and the value of human life, she said. The President likes to say that he ran for office to redeem the soul of America. I hope this letter reminds him that we are holding him accountable to that promise when it comes to ending the suffering of millions of Palestinians.

The letter cautions Biden that it is not uncommitted voters or third-party candidates that are risking a Trump presidency and our democracy by defending the war crimes and agenda of a foreign far-right government.

Rumana Ahmed, a former senior adviser at National Security Council during the Obama administration told USA TODAY that the policy actions the group is calling for are morally right and strategically important for everyones collective security.

Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House correspondent for USA TODAY. You can follow her on X, formerly Twitter, @SwapnaVenugopal

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ex-Obama-Biden staffers ask Biden to suspend aid to Israel
The Israeli war on Gaza is at a critical juncture. Efforts are being exerted to ensure that a cease-fire and an exchange of hostages and prisoners take place as soon as possible. Naturally, with both sides not trusting each other, the possibility of a breakthrough remains elusive, even though the current Egyptian-proposed plan appears to have the best chance of success.



Hamas leaders have said they have no major issues with the latest Egypt- and Qatar-brokered truce plan, which includes a 40-day cease-fire, the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners, and the return of 33 Israeli hostages of the roughly 130 remaining who were taken October 7. But they have yet to accept the plan. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is still holding out, insisting in public comments that his army will conduct its ground offensive in Rafah regardless of whether Hamas agrees to a hostage and cease-fire deal. That statement sounded like a person trying to put a rod in the wheels of peace, or at least rhetoric aimed at keeping the pressure on Hamas to accept the Israeli position of not agreeing to a permanent cease-fire.

The current itinerary of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is one sign of the top U.S. diplomat understanding that Bibi is the obstacle to a deal, more than Hamas. In Blinkens six previous visits to the region, he always began in Israel. Then he went to Egypt or Qatar carrying Israeli positions and trying to convince them of what Israel wanted. On his first visit, not only did Blinken make an extremely sympathetic statement to Israel, but he initially took on their plans of convincing Egypt to allow the resettlement of Palestinians from Gaza in Egypt.

Palestinians since 1948 have learned in a hard way the lessons of leaving their homeland and not being able ever to return. Palestinians from two small Christian villages in north Israel, Iqrit and Biram, which were part of the state of Israel after the Arab-Israeli war of 1948, were asked to leave their villages for two weeks because of the fighting from South Lebanon. They have yet to be allowed to return even though they are citizens of Israel and the Israeli high court ruled in their favor.

Since his initial visit, Blinken has regularly defended the position of Bibi and his right-wing government that Israel must be allowed to militarily finish off Hamas even though U.S. intelligence and security officials have argued that the goal of eliminating a movement will not succeed.

Now, almost seven months later, and with a dramatic change in world opinion, including in U.S. universities and among a huge slice of Democratic voters, the Biden administration wants this deadly war, largely against Palestinian civilians, to end ASAP. This is the first time after six visits that Blinken begins his visit to the Middle East in an Arab country and ends it in Israel. This shows he feels that the problem is in Tel Aviv.

The main person who continues to hold up an agreement on the cease-fire is the Israeli prime minister. For Netanyahu, agreeing to a permanent cease-fire could be the end of his political career. His far-right-wing coalition partners from the religious Zionist party are insisting on war on Rafah or they will bring the government down. On the other hand, opposition leader Yair Lapid promised publicly to provide a safety net to Netanyahu to ensure that his government will not fall. Members of the far-right-wing parties hold the deciding votes. Without their vote of confidence, the Netanyahu government would be ousted by the Knesset. However, if Lapid, whose party has 17 seats, provides a safety net, Netanyahu would be able to survive.

The ball is therefore clearly in Netanyahus court.

While Blinken has said that Hamas should agree to the generous offer that Egypt has made, the reality is that Hamas has given some positive signs but is looking for assurances that Israel will indeed allow Palestinians to be able to return to their homes in north Gaza.

What began as a war justified by claims of the right of Israel to self-defense has become clear to have been all along a revenge war aimed at reclaiming Israeli hegemony and attempting to cover the mistakes of the Israeli army and intelligence by killing and destroying Palestinian lives and properties without any restrictions. The decision by the Israeli defense minister to block all food, water, and electricity to Gaza is now part of an accusation against Israel of alleged genocidal action against Palestinians. When the top European official Josep Borell says that the destruction of Gaza is worse than the destruction of cities in Europe during World War II, the justification of a defensive act can no longer be accepted.

The failure to find a path to a cease-fire and an exchange of prisoners (Israel is holding over 9,000 Palestinians in terrible conditions, with thousands of them held administratively) will continue to endanger the region. Administrative detention means that Palestinians are held without charge or trial. When the United Nations Security Council approved Resolution 1273, it called for an immediate cease-fire and the release of hostages and others being held in reference to Palestinian detainees by Israel.

By refusing to honor the binding UNSC resolution, Israel has brought about the wrath of the world, including the International Criminal Court. The ICC is said to be planning to issue arrest orders against a number of Russian generals accused of war crimes in Ukraine and, at the same time, against Israeli officials, including Netanyahu, his defense minister, and his chief of army.

Israel, which depends on the United States for arms, financial support, and defense in international forums such as the U.N. Security Council, cannot ask for help from the Biden administration without understanding that it is obliged to follow the laws of war and avoid civilian casualties at all costs.

The Biden administration has gone to bat for Israel on numerous occasions, the latest of which was the vetoing of a resolution recognizing Palestine as a full member state of the U.N. Now Netanyahu wants President Biden to help him cancel the arrest orders from the ICC. The time for Israel to pay back its due to the Biden administration, and for the Biden administration to finally draw some red lines for the Netanyahu government, has come.

Israel needs to accept the deal offered by Egypt and supported by nearly the entire world and begin the process of ending the war, getting its hostages released, and releasing Palestinian prisoners. Once that is over, a considerable effort to begin the process of negotiations must ensue so that Palestinians can live in an independent and free state alongside a safe and secure state of Israel, as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in Riyadh last week.
Hi, Im David Mixner. And Im a living legend.

Very few can say such a sentence when they meet new people. Even fewer can mean it. And when David Mixner said this and he said it often he meant it.

David was and always will be a legend. He believed that all Americans belong in all places in America, and he spent decades of his storied life making that happen. Since he first championed racial equality at the end of the Vietnam War, over sixty years ago, to the fight to reverse the harm of Dont Ask, Dont Tell and promote the causes of Marriage Equality, transgender rights, and democracy for all, in recent years, David actually made the change so many merely talk about making.

He once told me that the only thing that belongs in closets are cowboy boots. Once, during one of our many hours-long talks in his apartment, he had me try a few pairs on. Just like a diary, every boot was filled with stories. I wore these the first time I told off my friend Bill Clinton. Then, I got arrested chaining myself to his White House fence in them, he devilishly reminisced while pointing to a pair of his favorites. These, I wore, pointing to another pair, in my off-Broadway debut. They should give me a special Tony Award for that.

Even without the cowboy boots, David always stood tall. The conviction he felt in every word of advice, every bit of guidance, every nuanced look at the current political landscape, made you feel taller, too. He was such a profound lover of nature, and you felt like you were on a great safari with him every time he took on one of his magical trips using only his words.

He was also a profound student of history  and not just the history he helped make. He made sure you knew that we, as an LGBTQ+ community, have a history that we, ourselves, have to write, preserve, and share  and we cant let it be erased.

At his funeral service in New York City, we laughed, we cried, we told the kind of filthy jokes that David would have loved. But, we also, as David so often asked us to do, bore witness. An eclectic group of individuals showed up to pay their respects. In the pews were elected officials and public servants, artists and activists, radical champions, and quiet changemakers. Though all of us are different in our work, the one thing we all shared was the understanding of the historical impact David made, and how all of us are who we are and where we are today because of all he did.

Sean Patrick Maloney, former White House staffer, turned congressman, turned ambassador, delivered one of the many beautiful reflections on Davids life and influence. In his words, he reminded us that before David, the shadow of the Lavender Scare loomed over all of our futures. LGBTQ+ Americans who wanted to fight, and even die, for the nation they love had to do so in total secrecy in our armed forces. A life in public service as a political appointee or career staffer in Washington, D.C., was nearly impossible for anyone who was out  or even assumed to be. It was not possible for us to have the national security clearances needed to do our jobs, and so while some hid quietly in their work, countless more were expelled and had their livelihoods forever damaged because of who they were, and who they loved.

Davids name permeates the halls of power in Washington and across America. A little over 70 years ago, the Lavender Scare sought to purge all queer people from the Federal Government. Yet in 2023, dozens of my fellow out LGBTQ+ appointees and staffers came together to celebrate how far we've come, and how far we still have to go many years after the Scare. One of our guest speakers invoked David and said how much hed get a kick out of all of us being here and queer in a building named for the President who said we couldnt possibly be trusted to serve the nation we love.

Cut to the Biden-Harris Administration, the most pro-equality and pro-inclusion administration in American history. A record-breaking 15 percent of appointees are members of the LGBTQ+ community, with more celebrating their total identities and intersections than ever before.

David was a co-founder of the LGBTQ Victory Fund, which helps recruit and train elected and appointed officials from our communities. Its a beautiful testament to his legacy that the program responsible for putting people like us in positions of influence and service will soon be renamed the David Mixner Presidential Appointments Initiative.

To be a David Mixner Presidential Appointee is as much an honor as being asked to serve by the president himself. Serving my country as an out and proud gay man is a dream come true, and thankfully one that is realized because of David. This is the most pro-LGBTQ and pro-equality administration ever. More LGBTQ+ people are serving at every single level of government in America because David demanded we be there. He refused to accept anything less than equality, and would never let you shirk from the fight to make it happen for our community, and for any in need of a voice.

Thats why theres a photo of David on my desk, next to a signed copy of one of his many books. When I need to be reminded of the guts it takes to make a difference, I take a look at David and remember that there is always more work to be done.

And perhaps even more importantly: every pair of cowboy boots I see will make me smile with pride and purpose.





Jonathan Lovitz is an appointee in the Biden-Harris Administration, focused on the economy. He most recently served nearly a decade as SVP of the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), where he led passage of over 20 pro-LGBTQ and minority-supporting laws across America. Follow him @jdlovitz.

Views expressed in The Advocates opinion articles are those of the writers and do not necessarily represent the views of The Advocate or our parent company, equalpride.
CNN anchor Erin Burnett pressed New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) on his claims of outside agitators at the recent pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University.

Do you have any ability at this point to tell us how many of those were outside agitators and how many of them were students at Columbia University? Burnett said on her CNN show Wednesday, in a clip highlighted by Mediaite.

Adams responded that there was clear evidence of training that was conducted by an outside agitator, that was not a student, did not belong on the campus.

In addition to that, we saw people participating and allowing people access to Hamilton Hall, Adams continued, referring to the building on Columbias campus that was taken over by protesters Tuesday morning.

Adams then said he received a letter from the school and that in that letter, the school claimed that there were outside individuals who were on the grounds, [participating in] this activity.

Burnett then questioned if there would be a breakdown from Adamss office or the New York City Police Department on how many of the people arrested Tuesday night were actually Columbia students.

Heres what we can do, were allowed to do, Adams said. Were going to give the complete list of those who are arrested and turn it over to the school, and the school will make the determination. Were not going to release students name, but the school can make the determination of giving you a breakdown  of the difference between students and nonstudents. They would have that authorization to do so.

Violence erupted at Columbia the previous night, as NYPD cracked down on pro-Palestinian protesters at the school.

The New York mayor said Tuesday at a press conference that the protests at Columbia were co-opted by professional outside agitators.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) and CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins clashed Wednesday over the ongoing college protests, the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, and former President Trumps legal cases, as speculation rises over Vance becoming Trumps potential running mate in November.

Vance denounced mass pro-Palestine protests on college campuses across the nation, endorsing the New York Police Departments action Tuesday to break up demonstrations at Columbia University. Police moved in after a group of protesters occupied a campus building, and the Ohio Republican said those demonstrators deserve criminal prosecution.

You cant police people for being pro-Israel or anti-Israel, but you can police people for violating the law, Vance said Wednesday on CNNs The Source with Kaitlan Collins. We have seen some of that with some of these protests.

Collins questioned the first-term senator over his logic, pointing out an apparent double standard with how he reacted to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

Im just checking because you did help raise money for people who did so on Jan. 6th, she pressed.

Vance has repeatedly defended those who participated in the insurrection and backed their goals, saying in February that if he was the vice president, he would not have certified the 2020 election results.

In further discussions about Jan. 6, the senator said he was skeptical Vice President Mike Pences life was ever in danger during the riots, despite chants from the crowd to have him hanged and gallows erected near the Capitol.

Im truly skeptical that Mike Pences life was ever in danger, Vance said in the interview. I think politics and politics people like to really exaggerate things from time to time.

Collins interjected, saying she thinks Mike Pence would disagree.

Vance also addressed Trumps immunity case in the Supreme Court, in which the former presidents attorneys claim that he cannot be prosecuted for official acts while he was still in the White House, adding that impeachment is also a prerequisite for punishment. While the former president was impeached for his alleged efforts to remain in power, the Senate did not vote to remove him from office.

Under harsh questioning from liberal justices, Trumps attorneys said that having a political rival assassinated could be considered an official act. Vance seemingly agreed.

Youre basically saying that if the president orders a military coup, you believe the only remediation for that is impeachment? Collins questioned.

Vance brushed off the question, saying the host was merely dealing with hypotheticals.

Speculation has risen in recent weeks over Trumps potential running mates, and Vance is a common name. He told Collins that he has not been in touch with Trumps campaign about a potential place on the 2024 ticket.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
KYODO NEWS - May 2, 2024 - 09:43 | Arts, All

Ingrid Fujiko Hemming, known for her rendition of Liszt's "La Campanella" and respectfully referred to as a "late-blooming pianist" who overcame a temporary loss of hearing, died on April 21, her foundation said Thursday. She was 92.

Fujiko Hemming, also written as Fuzjko, had arranged a return appearance at Carnegie Hall in New York this spring, but her plans were interrupted by a fall in November while at home in Tokyo, the foundation said. She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in March.

"Even amid her hospitalization, she found joy and solace in playing the piano," a statement read, adding that the foundation will later share details of plans for her farewell ceremony.

Born in Berlin to a Swedish architect father and a Japanese pianist mother, Hemming relocated to Japan as a child. She started learning piano from her mother at age five and later took lessons from influential teacher Leonid Kreutzer before winning prizes in competitions as a schoolgirl.

Having graduated from the Tokyo University of Arts, she returned to Europe at 28 and studied in Berlin and Vienna.

She overcame hardships including temporarily losing her hearing in one ear right before a recital, which forced her to withdraw to Stockholm. The temporary deafness was a side-effect of a treatment she was undergoing for the flu.

While receiving treatment for her ear, she was certified to teach at music academies, and since then continued to perform concerts in Europe while working as a teacher.

In 1999, her life was featured in an NHK documentary program and she gained fame in her late 60s.

Hemming's multi-million-sale debut album "La Campanella" won the Classical Album of the Year at Japan's Gold Disk Awards in 2000. She went on to win the prestigious prize three more times in her career.

The pianist actively performed many solo recitals and collaborated with international orchestras and musicians, including the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra.

Related coverage:

World-renowned Japanese conductor Seiji Ozawa dies at 88

Award-winning Japanese musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, member of YMO, dies

Famed Japanese musician Ryuichi Sakamoto mourned across the world
These college students are mad about Gaza  but it wont drive their vote: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics teams latest reporting and analysis from the campaign trail, the White House and Capitol Hill.

In todays edition, national political reporter Ben Kamisar breaks down our latest focus groups with young voters in battleground Wisconsin. Plus, senior national political reporter Jonathan Allen notes how President Joe Biden leaned into a "law" and "order message in response to campus protests.

Sign up to receive this newsletter in your inbox every weekday here.

These young voters are mad about Gaza  but dont see it driving their vote

By Ben Kamisar

Theyre mad about the situation in Gaza, and theyre not going to take it anymore. But they probably arent going to vote on it.

That was the key takeaway from the latest NBC News Deciders focus groups  in collaboration with Engagious, Syracuse University and Sago  of independent Wisconsin college students. Virtually all of the 16 students we spoke to backed the wave of pro-Palestinian protests sweeping college campuses and held dim views of President Joe Bidens handling of the Israel-Hamas war, and some have even participated in the protests themselves.

Do you have a news tip? Let us know

Pushed to reckon with how the issue may influence their vote in the presidential election, few said they expected it to change who they will for, except for a few who questioned whether they may be less likely to cast a ballot at all.

Why? Largely because they dont see Biden and former President Donald Trump as having meaningfully different stances on Israel.

I dont think Biden is doing a great job; I dont think Trump would do a better job.  As it stands, I cant see it changing how I vote.  Cooper M., a 19-year-old University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire student who is currently backing Biden

But even if Bidens handling of the war is not likely to be a main driver of their votes, its clear these students feel passionately about it and are almost unilaterally supportive of these protests.

Its completely unfair for students who are paying tuition to not have a say in where their money goes.  Suchita H., a 19-year-old student who is backing Biden and attends the University of Wisconsin-Madison

The protests are very empowering to see a lot of young people on these campuses rising up together in solidarity with Gaza and the Palestinian people.  Sophia K., an 18-year-old UW-Madison student who said she would vote for Green Party candidate Jill Stein

None of the students had decided to join the encampments themselves, even those who had attended the protests. And the majority of them drew the line against protesters occupying buildings, as has happened on some campuses like Columbia University. Four students said they supported the tactic.

I would not prefer it, but I do think thats almost the only way. A lot of people who talk about peaceful protest dont realize that the point of protest is to carry out radical change, and as long as its peaceful and not getting in anyones way, thats exactly when no one cares about it.  Suchita H.

Its going to make the tuition rates go up even more if we start destroying the resources that we have already. I just think its unproductive to be destroying what we already have.  Angelina J., a 19-year-old University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh student who said she would vote for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Read more from the latest NBC News Deciders focus groups, including how these voters view a potential TikTok ban 

Bidens law and order message on campus protests

By Jonathan Allen

Biden emphasized two words Thursday when he addressed the nationwide campus protests over Gaza: law and order.

Notably, Biden didnt use them in the same phrase, avoiding the timeless echo of Richard Nixon that Donald Trump repeated during the 2020 protests following George Floyds killing.

Nevertheless, Bidens message was clear: He doesnt stand with protesters who break the law.

Peaceful protest is in the best tradition of how Americans respond to consequential issues, Biden said. But neither are we a lawless country. Were a civil society, and order must prevail.

Of course, each protest is different. The grievances of the Vietnam generation are distinct from those of people who demonstrated against police violence in 2020 and the current set that wants the U.S. to stop funding Israel as it wages war in Gaza.

But Bidens remarks hint at the political risks of perceived chaos. Hes trying to win swing voters in swing states, and the ongoing protests have included rhetoric and behavior that are well outside the mainstream.

Its against the law when violence occurs, he said. Destroying property is not a peaceful protest. Its against the law  vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations.

And, he added, Dissent is essential to democracy, but dissent must never lead to disorder.

Biden is obviously walking a tightrope between those in his party who agree with the sentiments of the pro-Palestinian protesters and those who are either alienated by the demonstrators views or the ways in which they are being expressed.

But if he falls off, hes going to be sure its on the side of law and order. No doubt he remembers Nixon and Trump saying it.

Read more on how Trump is trying to make the campus protests a political liability for Biden 

Trump trial, Day 10: Former Stormy Daniels attorney recounts hush money deal struck before 2016 election

By Adam Reiss, Jillian Frankel, Gary Grumbach and Dareh Gregorian

Trumps hush money trial resumed Thursday in a Manhattan courtroom with a former lawyer for adult film star Stormy Daniels recounting the deal struck days before the 2016 election to suppress her claims that she had a sexual encounter with Trump  and the role he suggested the deal may have played in his campaign victory.

What have we done? attorney Keith Davidson said in a text sent on election night to the National Enquirer executive whod helped him to mediate the deal. Oh my god, responded the exec, Dylan Howard, who was the Enquirers editor-in-chief at the time. He described the text as gallows humor about their understanding that our activities may have in some way assisted the presidential campaign of Donald Trump.

On cross-examination, Trumps attorney Emil Bove tried undermining Davidsons credibility by asking him about other salacious tabloid stories he had been involved with, including people who peddled sex tapes featuring wrestler Hulk Hogan and influencer Tila Tequila, and a person who allegedly leaked information about actress Lindsay Lohans stint in rehab.

Davidson was evasive with his answers, saying he couldnt remember details about specific cases. I had over 1,500 clients in my career, he said.

He acknowledged that he was investigated for extortion in relation to the Hogan tape back in 2012. That is true, he told Bove, while denying any wrongdoing.

Read more from the Trump trial 

Thats all from The Politics Desk for now. If you have feedback  likes or dislikes  email us at politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com

And if youre a fan, please share with everyone and anyone. They can sign up here.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Gustvo Petro at the workers rally in Bogota on Wednesday.

Gustvo Petro at the workers rally in Bogota on Wednesday. Photograph: Diego Cuevas/Getty Images

Colombias president has announced that his government will sever diplomatic relations with Israel, in the latest escalation of a furious row between the countries over the war in Gaza.

Addressing a May Day rally in Bogota on Wednesday, Gustavo Petro again described Israels siege of Gaza as genocide.

Tomorrow, diplomatic relations with the state of Israel will be broken  for having a genocidal president, Petro said, adding: If Palestine dies, humanity dies, and we are not going to let it die.

Israels foreign minister, Israel Katz, quickly rebuked the Colombia leaders comments, saying: History will remember that Gustavo Petro decided to side with the most despicable monsters known to mankind who burned babies, murdered children, raped women and kidnapped innocent civilians.

Shortly after the 7 October Hamas attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people and sparked the current war in Gaza, Petro denounced what he called neo-Nazi efforts to destroy the Palestinian people, freedom and culture.

Related: Israel and Colombia in ferocious diplomatic spat over Hamas war

The World Jewish Congress accused him of completely ignoring the hundreds of Israeli civilian victims and called Petros statement an insult to the 6 million victims of the Holocaust and to the Jewish people.

Israel accused Petro of expressing support for the atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists, fueling antisemitism, and summoned Colombias ambassador.

Israel, one of the main providers of arms to Colombias military, then said it was halting security exports to the South American country as the feud escalated.

Historically, Colombia had been one of Israels closest partners in Latin America. But relations between the two nations have cooled since Petro was elected as Colombias first leftist president in 2022.

Colombia uses Israeli-built warplanes and machine guns to fight drug cartels and rebel groups, and both countries signed a free trade agreement in 2020.

Relations between Israel and Colombia always were warm and no antisemitic and hate-filled president will succeed in changing that, Katz wrote on Tuesday. The state of Israel will continue to defend its citizens without worry and without fear.

Colombia deepened its military ties with Israel in the late 1980s by purchasing Kfir fighter jets that were used by Colombias air force in numerous attacks on remote guerrilla camps that debilitated the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or the Farc. The attacks helped push the group into peace talks that resulted in its disarmament in 2016.

Petro had previously come out in support of Brazils president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who also provoked the ire of Israel for saying its Gaza campaign isnt a war, its a genocide.

Colombia and Brazil supported South Africas complaint against Israel to the international court of justice in The Hague, alleging the Gaza assault amounted to a breach of the genocide convention.
(COLORADO)  According to the Colorado General Assembly, the House passed legislation on Wednesday, May 1, to require funeral industry workers to be licensed, bringing Colorado in line with all 49 other states that already require education, certification, and licenses.

Currently, Colorado is the only state in the nation that does not require licenses for those working in the funeral industry, which has been brought to light by the recent Return to Nature Funeral Home tragedy, where nearly 200 bodies were found, having been secretly stored over the course of several years, while some family members were given cremation urns with fake remains.

RELATED STORY: Demolition of Return to Nature Funeral Home complete

Were the only state in the nation that does not require proper licensure for funeral professionals  its time to fix that to ensure our funeral homes and crematories are safe and operating legally, said Rep. Brianna Titone, D-Arvada. This bill would help ensure Colorado funeral homes and crematories have proper oversight from licensed professionals. Colorado has been at the center of many egregious and heartbreaking instances of fabricated cremation records and the mishandling of bodies. Colorados public health and safety depends upon our action which will ensure every funeral home and crematory in our state is operated by a licensed professional.

The bill, SB24-173, passed the House by a vote of 59 to 3 and if passed into law, would require an individual to obtain a license to practice as a funeral director, a mortuary science practitioner, an embalmer, a cremationist, or a natural reductionist, starting January 1, 2027.

For a new industry worker to be licensed, they will have to graduate from an accredited educational institution for that profession, pass the national board examination, complete an apprenticeship, and pass a criminal background check.

The licenses could be obtained by those currently working in the field, when they can show they have worked at least 4,000 hours in the field, completed an apprenticeship, passed a criminal background check, and after two years, they could qualify for full licensure.

Another bill is moving through the legislature requiring recurring inspections of state-operated funeral homes and crematories.

The Colorado Senate hearing for SB24-173 is scheduled for Thursday, May 2.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX21 News Colorado.
Columbia University students protest against apartheid in front of Hamilton Hall in New York City on April 4, 1984. Credit - Barbara AlperGetty Images

It's been more than 50 years since Columbia University became the site of student demonstrations amid unrest over the Vietnam War, but the spirit of protest on campus remains strong.

Late Tuesday night, dozens of protestors sieged Hamilton Hallthe iconic site of numerous student occupations over the course of historyand unfurled a banner to reveal the building's new name by protestors: Hinds Hall. The designation was in honor of six-year-old Hind Rajab, who was killed by Israeli troops in Gaza. More than 100 people were arrested at Columbia by the New York Police Department (NYPD), with dozens apprehended in the hall. Those detained face charges ranging from trespassing, criminal mischief, and burglary, NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said during a Wednesday press conference.

The student takeover is part of ongoing pressure to have Columbia divest, or remove investment funds, from companies that have business ties, or profit from their relationship with Israel. The actions are also a show of support for the Palestinian people in Gaza who have been living in a warzone since Hamas kidnapped more than 200 hostages and killed around 1,200 Israelis on Oct. 7. More than 34,000 Palestinians have died since, per the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Aniko Bodroghkozy, a media studies professor at the University of Virginia, spoke with TIME about how recent protests compare to other moments in Columbias history some 40 and 56 years back. Bodroghkozy participated in a 1985 protest calling for Columbia Universitys divestment from South Africa while she was studying for her Masters.

Aniko Bodroghkozy on Columbia University campus in 1985. Courtesy Aniko Bodroghkozy

This conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Its been more than 50 years since the 1968 Vietnam War protests that rocked Columbias campus. Looking at the present-day encampment, what are the biggest similarities between these two flashpoints in history?

The most obvious one is the student takeover of Hamilton Hall, which, in 1968, was the main classroom building. It was the main classroom building when I was at Columbia in the mid-1980s when the student divestment group, Coalition for free South Africa, blockaded Hamilton Hall.

The other obvious similarity is Columbia University administrators calling the NYPD to come onto campus and clear and arrest the students. In 1968 that happened twice. That was devastating to the university and ended up radicalizing a lot of students that had not been participating in the protests. It had such a negative impact on Columbia as an institution that by the time I was on campus in the 80swhich was the next major upsurge of student protestswe always said, they'll never call the cops again after what happened in 68.

Another similarity that doesn't get a lot of attention is there's been a lot of focus on the fact that the pro-Palestinian students have been more antagonistic to other students who [dont] support them. At Columbia in 1968, [there] was asignificant number of student athletes, but not exclusively [just them], who attempted to prevent students from getting inside the buildings. There were scuffles among student demonstratorsand so that kind of antagonism between different student groups was also going on in 1968. Much less so in 1985, [though] our divestment movement has provided some inspiration to the pro-Palestinian, anti-war movement.

Since youre mentioning it, Im wondering if you can explain a bit more about the aims and goals of the 1985 protest, how that played out, and how it compares to whats happening right now?

The focus was on South African apartheid, and students demanding that the university divest its financial holdings from companies that were actively engaged with South Africa. By the early-to-mid-1980s, a coalition at Columbia and other universities were starting to make demands of the Boards of Trustees to look at [their] investment portfolios. At Columbia, after a number of years of students trying to engage with the administration on the issue, they began to raise the stakes with a hunger strike. Then, the Coalition for a Free South Africa basically chained the doors of Hamilton Hall and just started camping out on the steps. I think students could get in and out but that encampment went on for many, many weeks.

Eventually, the students and the administration came to an agreement to seriously talk through the issue and a number of months later, the Board of Trustees agreed to divest.

Are there any differences or anything that really distinguishes the protests weve seen over time?

In 1968, there was a clear leader, or spokesman. His name was Mark Rudd. He was the head of Columbia's chapter of the Students for a Democratic Societythat was the group that coordinated the protests. He became a media celebrity, and sort of became [the image of] the student protests.

In the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, which very much [had] a kind of non-leader, very grassroots, or everybody can be a leader, but we don't have charismatic leaders  I think we're seeing the same thing with this movement [model]. It doesn't seem that there are leaders or spokespersons who are being elevated into celebrity kind of positions, so that seems to be a clear differenceCertainly, how the students interact with the media, or kind of don't [is interesting.] There seems to be more anonymous students, because many of them are masked.

What about public perceptions of this protest? How do you think they compare then vs. now?

I would reframe that to media perception. Media was quite hostile to Columbia student activists in 1968. [I think] they referred to students as vandals, as barbarians. [It was] really quite hostile coverageOne quote[was], they're staging the revolts at the Winter Palace, so making references to the Russian Revolution was not favorable coverage.

The mass media was always looking at the moderate students: Well, what are the moderate students saying about all of this, or focusing on what the administration [was] saying. So the hostilities that we're seeing towards the activists, not just Columbia, but throughout the country, feels very, very similar.

Also, the emphasis on outside agitatorsthat's a term that I certainly was hearing a lot with the coverage I was watching and had been reading about what happened yesterday. That it's outside agitators who have taken over Hamilton Hall. There was a certain amount of that in the coverage in 1968: they're taking their marching orders from these Black Power radicals, particularly with the taking of Hamilton Hall, which was coordinated by Columbia's Society for Afro-American Students. So there's that hostility [thats] quite different from media coverage of youth activism in previous [or recent] years around gun control, the Parkland students, the march of 500,000 in Washington, climate activists or in the summer of 2020, George Floyd activism. That wasas far as other mass media coveragesomewhat more positive.

Certainly what I'm seeing with the coverage of the students at Columbia is that it seems to be quite hostile. I think that can be in part because the students are masked in all kinds of ways. Of course, some of the rhetoric was also troubling in 1968, and the media tended to emphasize the most flamboyant things that the activists were saying.

In terms of the response by university administrators, would you say their reactions to the protests are pretty similar?

In both periods, administrators seem to not quite know what to do. In 1968, the Columbia administration really did not want to call the police in, but they were kind of in a position [with] all these buildings that have been taken over. What the administrators couldn't control was the way that the police behaved[They] were quite violent. What appears to have been the two times that the police have been called on protestersthis past week, and then yesterdayis apparently much more kid gloves.

On the other hand, we don't really know what happened last night. I was watching CNN and all the journalists were basically kicked off of the campusWe don't have [much] news coverage of what the police did last night when they went into Hamilton Hall and cleaned it out. And then of course, when you have city police come onto your college campus, they're not university police so university administrators don't have any kind of jurisdiction over how they do their jobs. It appears that it wasn't violent, but we don't really know.

[While TIME was at Columbia University on Tuesday night, press was ordered to leave Hamilton Hall before officers moved into the building. Journalists running WKCR, the universitys radio station, say police used sledgehammers as they attempted to enter Hamilton Hall. Samaa Khullar, an investigative fellow at the university, said that student press were pushed back almost immediately after [the] NYPD came in. Many of us were hit, [and] shoved, she tweeted on X. NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry shared a video on X of how officers entered Columbia and City College of New York.]

Read More: Why Are Police in Riot Gear?: Inside Columbia and City Colleges Darkest Night

What effect do you think this will have on Columbia's legacy, having done this in the past, and doing it again? How will it affect current students, future students, alumni, and others?

If the past is any guide, what's happening at Columbia right now is not good for the institution. On the one hand, one can see why the administration may have felt they had no choice but to call the cops, but especially for a place like Columbia, because of that historythe irony being, of course, its history that the institution has embraced, right? When Columbia as an institution tells a story, the protesters who took over the building [in 1968] are not presented as vandals in a way that the mass media tended to frame them at the time. But I think for many students, certainly for Jewish students, coming to Columbia will be very fraught. I suspect for Muslim students, considering Columbia will also be fraught.

There's no way that this is a good story for Columbia. Certainly, all highly selective universities are very concerned about their public image. Columbia's public image right now is really terrible. And, you know, for students considering going there the issue of safety [is big]. Am I safe as a Jewish student? Am I safe as a Muslim student? Am I safe? You want to go to a university so that you can explore different ideas, meet new people, and feel that you are welcome. And right now Columbia is not seen as a welcoming place for anyoneInstitutions like Columbia will eventually rehabilitate their reputation. But in the short term, this is really bad for Columbia not just because these protests are happening on other college campuses, but [because] Columbia has a very particular history around this.

Does that rehabilitation of their reputation just come with time?

In 1968, it came with all new leadership. Columbia's President Grayson Kirk was as out of touch as one could be with the sort of the politics of the era, the culture of the era. He was just completely disconnected from where the students were. The current Columbia president made her own set of mistakes. We're still in the midst of this crisis.

I think there's a lot of mistrust between administrators, faculty, and studentsI think it will probably take at least a few years of some kind of institutional change. But again, we're in the hot fire of this right now. So I think Columbia just wants to get to the end of the semester, graduate the students without more protests (but if Columbia 68 is any guide, there will be protests). [But] when you have a large constituency of students who are riled up it's hard to stop them from expressing themselves.

Columbia is also home to one of the most well-known journalism schools across the country. But at the same time, there have been serious attempts to limit the presss access to the protest and cover it. What do you make of the idea that a school meant to educate future journalists has been pulling back on freedom of the press?

That was distressing to me when I was watching the coverage last night. It's not a good look for the Columbia School of Journalism. As I understand it, their journalism students and faculty were told to shelter-in-place, were not allowed to leave the building, or to cover this major, international media story. I'm sure there will be a lot more discussion about why journalists, whether it's student journalists, or journalism faculty, at Columbia, barred from what was going on last night on their own campus.

Do you think thatbecause of modern society, social media, and online doxxingstudents engaging in protests today are more at-risk of facing consequences, than students who participated in protests in the 60s and 80s?

I get the fear of doxxing, [but] I think back to the Civil Rights era. These were activists and protesters who were literally putting their bodies and their lives on the line and there's a part of me that thinks if you are going to engage in a protest in a public space that you [should] bring your whole self to that protest. There are of course, consequences. One of the consequences is you can be identified, but you are putting your body on the line for a cause So masking and trying to hide your identity seems somewhat contradictory to the purpose of protest action. And if the purpose is to change minds and build solidarity, this, to me at least, does not seem to be a productive way to go about that.

With you having been a participant in the 1980 protests, can you talk a little bit about why you decided to join the protests? And were you at all concerned about possible disciplinary action back then?

For me, I went to teach-in to learn more and it just felt to me that this is obviously something that I should support, and if I'm going to support it I will sit-in. I wasn't prepared to get arrested. As a Canadian citizen, I was on a student visaTo me, this was a morally simple matter, right. Apartheid in South Africa was an immoral regime. The wholesale segregation of its Black population, it was just wrong. Nobody, not even the Reagan administration was standing up for South Africa. So in some ways, it was kind of easy. I think in some ways one could argue that the war in Gaza, the horrific loss of life, being that in some ways, is morally, an easy call to make. But the movement itself is going to other places, [with] anti-zionism and all of that is not as morally simple as the case was with South Africa in the mid-1980s.

In terms of the change that the 1968 and 1985 protests brought about, I'm wondering if you can talk a little bit about that, and whether you think the protests happening now will bring about change?

The clearest thing that the protesters got was stopping the construction of this gymnasium in Morningside Park. The whole issue around that this [was] a gymnasium that Columbia is going to put into this park that largely is used by the African American community, and they get an entrance from the back. So that gym never got built in Morningside Park, [but] the protesters obviously didn't stop the Vietnam War.

Obviously, the 1985 protest, we won. I'm hoping that the upsurge in student protests about the war in Gaza, will lead to the political will for a ceasefire, and for an end to the horrific horrific death and destruction in GazaThe divestment [push today] is so much more complicated than the divestment movement against South Africa I don't quite know what success for these students really looks like.

Contact us at letters@time.com.
Columbia University announced Thursday all classes and final exams were going remote for the rest of the academic year due to an evolving environment.

In order to address the concerns of our members in an evolving campus environment, all academic activities for schools on the Morningside Heights campus will be fully remote for the remainder of the semester (with carve-outs noted below), said Provost Angela Olinto.

Any remaining class meetings, review sessions, or office hours should be held fully remotely, and all final exams and other final assessments should be fully remote, Olinto added.

The announcement came after the New York Police Department arrested 300 people while clearing out protesters who took over Hamilton Hall.

The decision comes after Columbia already made classes hybrid due to the unrest on campus.

The provost is encouraging professors to adjust their finals, such as making them a take-home final, modifying the finals weight, adjusting the grading policy such that the final exam does not negatively impact the final grade (i.e. a no-harm final), making the final exam optional, or canceling the final exam.

Professors will also have to work with students who have already left campus because only those residing in the residential buildings on the Morningside Heights campus are allowed on the premises.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
NEW YORK  The pro-Gaza encampment at Columbia University that had exploded into a national phenomenon has been dismantled, leaving an unsettling quiet on campus Wednesday and questions about how the school can move forward.

NYPD cleared the tent city as part of an operation to stop the student occupation of Hamilton Hall. A total of 109 protesters were arrested in the late Tuesday night campus raid, both in and around campus, police said.

Hours later, students and faculty continued to grapple with the fallout of mass arrests and the universitys decision to call in police for the second time since the encampment was erected in mid-April.

With undergraduate classes done for the semester, some students schlepped boxes and said their year-end goodbyes, as others rallied for the rights of Palestinians and against university leadership. Students who live off campus and faculty were still blocked from entering the university gates.

Ahmed Suleyman, 22, stood on Amsterdam Ave. in his Columbia blue cap and gown with a makeshift sign that read: COPS OFF CAMPUS. Weeks away from graduation, hes struggled watching his campus descend into such unrest during his final days.

I cant study. I cant think about anything else, said Suleyman, who has not participated in protests but sympathized with the Palestinian cause. I feel like at a bare minimum, I should be allowed to enter the campus and not have to worry, not have such a huge police presence.

Dozens of those arrested were inside Hamilton Hall, where students had moved in less than a day prior. Police could not say how many of those arrested had no ties to the university, but Mayor Eric Adams attributed an escalation in tactics to outside agitators on campus.

College officials encouraged students who could rearrange their plans to leave campus early. Final exams and review sessions were moved online under a new directive Wednesday from the Provost. Some graduate school classes still in session on the Morningside Heights campus were being held remotely.

I know I speak for many members of our community in saying that this turn of events has filled me with deep sadness, Columbia president Minouche Shafik wrote in a memo Wednesday to students and faculty. I am sorry we reached this point.

A Columbia spokesman confirmed Hamilton Hall has been cleared of all protesters and remains an active crime scene under investigation by the NYPD. Alongside the main encampment on the west lawn, smaller tent demonstrations that had popped up in recent days and the materials left near them were also removed, he said.

Shafik said protesters are fighting for an important cause, for the rights of Palestinians and against the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza, and can express their views.

But students and outside activists breaking Hamilton Hall doors, mistreating our Public Safety officers and maintenance staff, and damaging property are acts of destruction, not political speech, she said, adding that antisemitic comments, many outside the campus gates, have made Jewish students feel unwelcome.

For some faculty and staff, the universitys conciliatory words fell on deaf ears.

In the afternoon, a Columbia professor-led rally outside campus gates drew a couple hundred protesters, with signs that read: HANDS OFF OUR STUDENTS and SHAME. A student demonstration followed.

Shame on the administration of this university, said Rashid Khalidi, a Columbia professor of Arab Studies. They will go down in infamy for having done what they did the other night.

Some students who say they saw videos or heard from others that protesters with no ties to Columbia were involved in the Hamilton Hall occupation and campus lawn encampment  a claim that student organizers vehemently deny.

The coalition behind the tent demonstration, Columbia University Apartheid Divest, was expected to hold a press conference and rally Wednesday evening at City College of New York, where more than 100 protesters were also arrested overnight. No protests took place on campus all day, a spokesman confirmed.

The pro-Gaza encampment first emerged on campus on April 17, as Shafik testified before Congress about efforts to curb antisemitism. Thirty hours later, university officials had suspended students involved and called the NYPD, with cops arresting more than 100 students while clearing the lawn.

The protesters quickly returned and formed a second iteration of the encampment.

Shafik on Monday said negotiations with student protesters to dismantle it had broken down, and Columbia would not to concede to their main demand: to divest from Israel. Students faced disciplinary action up to expulsion for the Hamilton Hall occupation.

In her letter requesting assistance, Shafik requested the NYPD remain on campus until May 17, two days after graduation. While some students welcomed the additional security, others suggested it rendered the campus unrecognizable.

Its insane that it got to this point, said Eliana Goldin, a Columbia junior and president of Aryeh, a Zionist student group. I guess it was expected when people were chanting globalized Intifada months ago, and the university didnt say that they would get in trouble. So it only empowered them to go further.

But Im glad the NYPD came in and shut it down because it was getting out of hand, she said.

The police presence was visible Wednesday at several checkpoints and around the campus perimeter.

It feels deader than a ghost town, said Max, 19, a sophomore at Columbia College. Walking back on campus on a beautiful evening, you expect to see students, teeming with life. All I saw were NYPD officers that I couldnt even look in the eye.

_____
NYPD police officers remove and arrest pro-Palestine protesters who occupied the Hamilton Hall building the campus at Columbia University in New York City on Tuesday. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI

May 2 (UPI) -- Columbia University has become the epicenter of student protests over the war in Gaza. In the following Q&A, Stefan Bradley, a history professor at Amherst College and author of the 2009 book "Harlem vs. Columbia University: Black Student Power in the Late 1960s," touches on the similarities and differences between the protests of the 1960s and now.

How do protests now differ from those of 1968?

Similarities lie in students' opposition to war, racism and prejudice.

A key difference is social media, which has contributed greatly to the ability of students to mobilize. News of various actions and protests spreads quickly.

Violence or the threat thereof is another difference. Initial demonstrations at Columbia University in April 1968 started with the threat of violence between radical students who wanted to end the university's ties to war research during the Vietnam War and terminate a university gymnasium construction project and mostly white athletes who wanted to push forward with it. The gym had been designed for mostly Black and brown Harlem residents to enter one door and Columbia affiliates in another. Columbia affiliates also had greater access to various parts of the gym, leading residents to refer to the situation as "Gym Crow."

Considering the institution's history of expansion and the uprisings surrounding the assassinations of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. that took place just weeks earlier, tension was in the air. Taking the demonstration to the gym site, student activists then clashed with police in the park before returning to campus to take over Hamilton Hall, the same building where dozens of Columbia student activists in this year's protests over Gaza were arrested on the night of April 30, 2024.

Until April 30, students were less disruptive than they'd been in the past. The encampments on the South Lawn did not prevent major functions of the university.

But after students took over Hamilton Hall, the calculus has changed. By breaking into the building and barricading themselves in, the campus activists provided administrators with even more justification to call on the police to remove them.

How so?

Officials in 1968 called city police to forcibly remove students, who had subsequently taken over four more buildings, and to make arrests. It quickly turned violent. Police charged into buildings and around campus to make arrests. In a building called Math Hall, activists, including Tom Hayden -- author of the Port Huron Statement, a leftist manifesto that called on students to work against racism, imperialism and poverty -- fought back. Police struck observers and activists alike with batons.

With long-standing critiques of the university in their minds, and the death of King in their hearts, Harlem residents were ready to support protesting students.

Black Power leaders such as Stokely Carmichael and H. Rap Brown explained to the press that if Columbia did not negotiate with the Black students in Hamilton, then the university would have to deal with the "brothers out on the streets" of Harlem. The threat of a coalition with Harlem neighbors aided in the success of the activists in ending the university's construction of a private gymnasium in nearby Morningside Park and the cessation of the school's ties to the Institute for Defense Analyses, a consortium of flagship and elite higher education institutions conducting government-funded defense research during the Cold War.

The threat of violence loomed with the recent building capture and arrests at Hamilton. The 2024 protest is starting to resemble the 1968 protest in terms of students feeling uncomfortable with their university's decision-making and administrators feeling compelled to regain control of campus. The differences are becoming slimmer and the similarities thicker.

What about the use of symbolism?

In 1968 and today, students used symbolism to send a message.

Fifty-six years ago, demonstrators also took over Hamilton Hall -- named after Alexander Hamilton -- renaming it Malcolm X University and hanging images of Stokely Carmichael.

Today, protesters renamed it Hind's Hall -- in honor of a 6-year-old Palestinian child killed by Israeli tank fire in Gaza -- and flew a Palestinian flag from a Hamilton window.

What is the legacy of the 1968 protest?

The major legacy is that students are the moral compass of these well-endowed, elite institutions -- even if they engage in disruptive behavior. They are willing to act on campus when no one else will. If left to the trustees, administrators, faculty and staff, the university would likely be quiet and civil while waiting for the marketplace of ideas and countless committees to suss out what to do about real-time humanitarian crises.

Young people have always been impatient in their calls for justice. In 1968, the issues were Columbia's construction of a gymnasium in West Harlem and the university's relationship with the IDA; in the 1980s, it was the university's financial interests in apartheid South Africa; and in the 2010s, the school's investments in private prison corporations. The 1968 rebellion taught later generations not to accept indiscriminate killing and injustice.

Another legacy is that the deployment of police to break up demonstrations may end disruptions in the short term, but it may also end up radicalizing moderate students who see their friends get arrested or injured.

What makes a protest successful?

Of course, students want every demand met, but that is often unlikely to happen. A better mark of success is the disruption of the status quo and the amount of attention they bring to issues. In that regard, the protests have been a success.

Conflict at a place like Columbia garners attention because of its location in the media capital of the world. When administrators respond to issues students raise by focusing on policies and procedures, it can give the impression that the issues are not important.

Fifty-six years ago, campus activists inspired students abroad to chant "Two, Three, Many Columbias!" Administrators may want to remain apolitical, but campus demonstrators want to know where their tuition goes and have a say in how it is spent. Highlighting the conflict between key sources of funding -- the students paying tuition and the school's major donors -- is a notable victory.

How unprecedented are the student arrests?

There is precedence for student arrests on and off campus. The NYPD violently arrested more than 700 students in April 1968 and dozens more in May.

When students in the 20th century rebelled against the idea that the university was supposed to act in the place of their parents, higher education officials turned to law enforcement in the hope that students would comply.

There were arrests at the Fisk Institute in 1925 for protests over strict student rules, including those that limited participation in civil rights movements; there was the Berkeley Free Speech Movement, when students demanded the right to pass out civil rights literature on campus.

In 1970, there were also police or National Guard-involved shootings of students at Jackson State and Kent State, a predominantly white university.

In 2016, police battled students protesting tuition hikes in California. There were no fatal shootings, but nonlethal weapons like pepper spray were deployed. Inviting police onto campus introduces an element that concedes power to those not interested in the educational well-being of students.

The Conversation

Stefan M. Bradley is a professor of black studies and history at Amherst College. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
As the New York Police Department raided Columbia Universitys Hamilton Hall on Tuesday night to arrest pro-Palestinian protesters camped inside, there was one outlet that many onlookers turned to for live updates: WKCR.

Listenership of WKCR was so high that night that its website crashed. The website was still experiencing intermittent outages as of Wednesday afternoon.

The radio station is one of several student news outlets across the country  including The Columbia Daily Spectator, UCLAs The Daily Bruin, USCs The Daily Trojan and UT Austins The Daily Texan  that have become go-to sources for information about protests at college campuses.

On Tuesday, reporters from mainstream media outlets had their access restricted by Columbia, so student journalists used their unique positions as members of the community to report on the event. Elsewhere across the U.S., journalists at national and local outlets have also said theyve been turned away from some campuses if they didnt have college IDs.

As a result, many following along online have turned to students  many who are juggling classes or finals and reporting nonstop amid a barrage of breaking news impacting their communities.

On Tuesday, many listeners of WKCR  including The Daily host Michael Barbaro  commended the students for their work, calling the future of journalism bright.

Demonstrators link arms. (Alex Kent / Getty Images)

Nearly 100 people were arrested after police raided Hamilton Hall, according to the NYPD. Columbia University President Nemat Minouche Shafik had sent a letter to the NYPD on Tuesday requesting help in clearing the protesters from the building. Columbia students, as well as those in other universities across the country, have been calling on their schools to divest from all financial support of Israel.

Columbia has a long history of student activism. The occupation of Hamilton Hall was reminiscent of students takeover of the same building in 1968 to protest the Vietnam War. WKCR was also an instrumental source for live updates on campus during that time.

The student journalists at WKCR did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In their broadcast on Tuesday, WKCR journalists said they faced difficulties in reporting on the raid despite their access to the campus. Some reported that they were prohibited from exiting Pulitzer Hall, or else they risked being arrested. Other WKCR staff that were outside of the building were reportedly restricted from entering for hours.

At times, they disputed claims made by public officials.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said on Wednesday that while there were students involved in the occupation of Hamilton Hall, the protesters were led by individuals not affiliated with the university. He did not specify how many students and non-university affiliated officials NYPD believed were involved in the protests.

WKCR reporter Alejandra Diaz-Pizarro said during Tuesdays broadcast that many of the outlets sources confirmed that the people on those buses were students.

These are people who have seen these students in classrooms, people who have seen them on campus, that have perhaps lived on the same dormitory floors and so on, she said. Im sure it brings no joy to students to be reporting on their peers being loaded into NYPD correctional buses and any implication that the occupiers of Hamilton Hall were not students is a serious knock on the students ability to recognize and see their own peers.

The journalists also documented the hurdles they faced  reporting on what they described as a lack of communication between the university and the community regarding the deployment and retention of police presence on campus for the rest of the academic year.

As they shared live updates, the journalists appeared candid about the emotional and physical toll that covering the protests and the administrations response had on them.

Georgia Dillane, program director at WKCR, previously told Mother Jones about the unique challenges that the team has faced in covering the protests.

I think I speak for a lot of the people here and that weve never done something like this to our bodies and to our souls, Dillane told the outlet. And so that has been something that has been challenging, just like understanding, like balancing the intense motivation we have to bring this coverage out into the world, but also recognizing that there are limits to what we can handle.

On Wednesday morning, the station released a statement on social media announcing that it would be maintaining reduced coverage of the situation on campus starting tomorrow.

While we will be taking some much-needed physical and emotional recuperation, our staff continues to be paying attention to developments on and around campus, and we are prepared to report on them as necessary, the statement read.

Columbia Journalism School Dean Jelani Cobb reportedly sent a memo commending the work of the student journalists.

Cobb did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

We believe that journalists have a fundamental right to cover the news, the note, which was widely shared on X, stated. Your efforts turned those sentiments into reality.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
KYODO NEWS - May 2, 2024 - 21:31 | World, All

Solomon Islands foreign minister Jeremiah Manele, known for his China-friendly stance, was sworn in as the South Pacific nation's new prime minister on Thursday, more than two weeks after a closely watched general election where no party secured a majority.

Manele, who was chosen as premier by newly elected members of parliament earlier in the day, is expected to continue the pro-China policy of former Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, whose government cut ties with Taiwan in favor of Beijing in 2019 and signed a controversial security pact with the Asian power in 2022.

Manele received 31 votes against 18 for opposition coalition leader Matthew Wale, with all but one of the 50 members of parliament voting in the leadership race, according to Solomon Islands Governor General David Vunagi.

Manele said after the parliamentary vote, "The people have spoken," calling for the public to respect the outcome of the democratic process.

As Sogavare said Monday he was withdrawing from the race to become the country's next prime minister following the general election held on April 17, Manele was instead announced as the ruling Ownership Unity and Responsibility Party's prime ministerial candidate.

The OUR Party secured 15 seats in the election, well short of the 26-seat majority needed to form government in the unicameral parliament. Following intense post-election negotiations, the party formed a coalition with the People's First Party and Kadere Party, as well as several independent lawmakers.

Manele, a 56-year-old former diplomat, was first elected to parliament in 2014.

Political experts believe that in addition to maintaining Sogavare's China-friendly stance, Manele will dial back the frostiness with the West.

Meg Keen, director of the Pacific Islands Program at the Lowy Institute, an Australian think tank, said Manele will be "a less fiery personality with a greater capacity for diplomacy across diverse global players," and open the door wider to engagement with Western nations as well.

While some media outlets interpreted the election results as a sign the public is concerned over the possible Chinese military presence in the country, others believe the results showed dissatisfaction with the Sogavare government's handling of domestic issues like the lack of sufficient investment in health care and basic infrastructure.

In an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corp. Wednesday, Manele said his government will prioritize infrastructure improvement as well as investment in forestry, mineral industry, fisheries, agriculture and tourism, the broadcaster reported.

However, as experts point out, delivering promises on the nation's tight budget will be challenging as the economy remains on a recovery path from a recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and a 2021 anti-government riot that destroyed many buildings and shops in the capital Honiara.

Related coverage:

Japan, Pacific islands oppose change of status quo amid China clout

Australia rips China over "unsafe, unprofessional" naval interaction
Columbia Journalism School student Cecilia Blotto stands in front of Hamilton Hall on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in New York, where, hours earlier, New York police burst in to break up a demonstration by protesters who had occupied the building. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

Student journalists on the Columbia University campus knew what was coming long before police with riot shields arrived to begin arresting the pro-Palestinian protesters.

They had watched the situation spiral as the protesters stood their ground, refusing to abandon Hamilton Hall and using a pulley system to bring supplies into the building they had occupied.

The reporters, working for university and online U.S. and international publications, suspected negotiations with administrators were going nowhere when the protesters began donning COVID-era masks to hide their identities. Some began sleeping on the floor in journalism classrooms or offices out of fear of missing something.

But when a journalism professor began writing the phone number to call if they were arrested in permanent marker on their arms, that was the moment it became clear: They were capturing history.

The police operation Tuesday night that cleared out Hamilton Hall capped two weeks of drama over the protests at Columbia, which student journalists at the Ivy League school lived through as they were covering it.

Other media were being kept off campus, so these reporters were the only ones who could capture what was happening.

I just woke up and I was like, Im going to go and take some pictures, said Seyma Bayram, a Columbia journalism fellow focused on creating a longform investigative podcast unrelated to the protests.

The encampments were a visual feast. There were musical performances, students reading and helping each other write papers for their classes. She wanted to document it all.

By Monday, students were facing suspension if they didnt leave. Crowds marched around the encampment chanting. Students were given written notices from the administration, warning them to go. They ripped them up, dumped them in trash bins. Rumors were flying.

That night, Bayram was unwilling to go home, sleeping on her office floor.

How, she wondered, are they going to remove the students. Theyre not leaving.

By Tuesday, she was exhausted. The student reporters charged their cameras and other gear, and waited.

Many protesters were starting to leave, recalled Shayeza Walid, a graduate journalism student at Columbia, who covered the arrests for the news website Al-Monitor.

The sun was setting as they held hands and chanted, knowing they faced academic repercussions by remaining. Many had given up covering their faces by now, Walid said.

To her the chants sounded like a hymn and she saw the protesters, some clad in Palestinian keffiyehs, crying. She doubts she will ever forget it.

It felt so both inspirational and devastating because these were the kids who were willing to get arrested, she recalled.

And then police started assembling outside, setting up barricades. Even on campus, Bayram could tell by the photos posted on social media that police action was imminent. And then the police were there.

I dont know, it was just like all of a sudden there were just like police, ... riot gear everywhere, Bayram said.

The student journalists were walking backward, filming as they went, Bayram said.

She was pushed off campus. Police buses and officers were everywhere. Around her, people were being arrested.

Those of us who are pushed out, like student reporters and faculty, I think we were just all horrified that no press was present outside of, or inside of, Hamilton Hall, Bayram said.

Walid recalled that the reporters paired up for safety. Her partner, an international student, had never seen so many police in one place. And frankly, I hadnt either, Walid said.

She said the police also seemed shocked when they came into campus and saw how few students were left. It was very evidently disproportionate from where we were standing, she said.

Before the arrests, protesters inside the campus used a megaphone to lead those protesting outside in chants, recalled Cecilia Blotto, a graduate journalism student, who has been publishing photos and video to Uptown Radio, a project of the university's journalism program.

Columbia, you are a liar," she recalled them chanting, along with Disclose, divest! We will not stop, we will not rest.

Then Blotto saw a police buses pull up, officers exiting with shields and zip ties. Then they played a recording saying that if the protesters didnt disperse they would be arrested.

People were like being dragged out on the street, with like four cops holding a leg and an arm each. I saw some really, like, striking images of people, like, yelling shame at the cops, while they were dragging out students, Blotto said. She tried to film it all.

Student radio host Macyn Hanzlik-Barend said having reporters on the scene was important to communicate what was happening at Columbia that night.

It was not just an outside media outlet, Hanzlick-Berand said. It was students watching this happen to their own community and having enough poise and maturity to report live in that moment.

Emily Byrski, a graduate student who had a phone number written on her arm in case she was arrested, said the students weren't totally unprepared. There had been a training session.

Still, she said, there had been so many false alerts.

Its like the boy who cried wolf. Like, there were two or three nights here where we were told, there was a rumor going around that the NYPD was coming, please come to campus, she recalled.

Byrski had knee surgery earlier in the year, so was unable to run as police descended. She limped along with her buddy.

So were sort of seeing this all happen from inside and trying to document it as the NYPD is grabbing people, like shoving them to the ground. It was pretty horrifying to see, like, right a foot away from me, Byrski said.

She said she has seen professors cry over the last week. She is pondering it all, uncertain what to make of it.

Im just sort of in shock, Byrski said. I think we all kind of were in shock.

___

Associated Press reporter Haya Panjwani in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.
Police have named a suspect and are searching for three additional persons of interest in a brawl that escalated to a fatal shooting outside a Waffle House near the Ohio State University campus.

A warrant was issued Wednesday for the arrest of Jaquan Curry, 19, of Columbus, who has been charged with murder in the death for Ronald Diggs, 38. Diggs was found suffering from a gunshot wound after police responded to a report of 15-20 people fighting and shots fired outside the Waffle House on the 1700 block of North High Street at about 2:31 a.m. Monday morning.

Diggs was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 3:06 a.m.

Two other people, who police have not identified were hurt during the fighting.

The Columbus Division of Police released images of three people of interest in a fight outside a Waffle House near the Ohio State University campus that escalated to a shooting, leaving one man dead.

The Columbus Division of Police released photos of three unknown people who they are seeking to identify in connection to the fight and shooting.

Anyone with information about the shooting or the three people of interest can contact the Columbus Police Homicide Unit at 614-645-4730 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-8477.

bagallion@dispatch.com

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus man charged with murder in shooting at Waffle House near OSU
Column: How the GOP  with Democratic Party connivance  has undermined a crucial effort to avert the next pandemic

Peter Daszak, president of EcoHealth Alliance, defended himself and his organization from three hours of uninformed attacks Wednesday from a GOP-dominated House subcommittee. (House of Representatives)

We've all come to recognize that committee hearings conducted by the Republican House majority are almost invariably clown shows featuring spittle-flecked posturing by members intent on displaying their ignorance to an appreciative crowd.

Wednesday's hearing by the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic was a crystalline example of the genre. It was designed around the grilling of Peter Daszak, the head of EcoHealth Alliance, which oversees international virus research funded by federal agencies.

The members scraped along rock-bottom, but the most telling moment may have been this exchange between Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) and Daszak. Asked to explain an apparent (but not real) discrepancy in a progress report EcoHealth submitted to the government, Daszak started to answer, but a theatrically fulminating Griffith cut him off.

Our organization, staff, and even my own family were often targeted with false allegations, death threats, break-ins, media harassment, and other damaging acts.

Peter Daszak, EcoHealth Alliance

"I can give you the answer to your question," Daszak said.

"I'm going to answer it for you!" Griffith shot back, then outrageously accused Daszak of lying. Daszak didn't get a chance to reply.

The whole session, more than three hours, went that way. The members kept peppering Daszak with questions about abstruse matters of science and the grant-making process, only to rudely cut him off when he tried to respond. They misquoted him to his face, misrepresented his work, and spouted cocksure inanities showing with every word that, scientifically speaking, they have no idea what they're talking about.

Ideally, congressional hearings should be fact-finding efforts. This was nothing of the kind. It was an opportunity for posturing by politicians intent only on smearing Daszak and EcoHealth on the pretext of getting to the bottom of the pandemic's cause.

How do we know this? From the fact that hours before the hearing even began, the subcommittee released a report calling on the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Health and Human Services to "immediately commence suspension and debarment proceedings against both EcoHealth and Dr. Daszak"  in other words, permanently cut them off from federal funding.

One more thing about this ludicrious cabaret act: The Democratic committee members, who should have been standing up for science and scientists, did the opposite by throwing Daszak under the bus.

Read more: Column: Two Rutgers professors are accused of poisoning the debate over COVID's origins. Here's why

In his opening statement, ranking member Raul Ruiz (D-Indio) attacked the GOP majority's preposterous position that the U.S. government funded research that created the virus responsible for COVID-19. But he accepted its position that Daszak "sought to deliberately mislead" government regulators.

Ruiz's statement was echoed by other Democrats, including Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.). Perhaps they hoped that by allowing Daszak to be drawn and quartered, they might persuade the Republicans to climb down from their evidence-free claims about government complicity in the pandemic's origins.

Their hearts didn't seem to be in it, though; they talked as though their main concern was that EcoHealth was spending government funds. They all seemed to be reading from the same ChatGPT script, the key phrase of which was: "poor steward of the taxpayers' dollars." Nothing about EcoHealth's significant achievements in public health.

That makes the Democrats' performance all the more shameful and cowardly. They're knowingly participating in a flagrantly fictitious smear campaign.

Let's examine the background of this display of partisan grandstanding.

Fundamentally, it's part of a disreputable campaign to demonize responsible scientists such as Anthony Fauci, who retired in 2022 as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and was one of the most respected virologists and public health professionals in the world.

Republican leaders and the right wing have tried to turn Fauci into a sinister figure by advancing the absurd proposition that he somehow played a role in creating COVID-19 and spreading it worldwide, and that he masterminded the nation's anti-pandemic policies, even though he had zero authority to do so.

This is no innocent game; it has subjected Fauci, who was a top pandemic advisor to Donald Trump until his resistance to Trump's unhinged takes on the pandemic led to his being sidelined at the White House, to death threats and unending vilification on social media.

Daszak has come in for more than his share of character assassination. Social media posts referring to him have included the image of a guillotine. As the pandemic developed, Daszak told the committee in his opening statement Wednesday, "our organization, staff, and even my own family were often targeted with false allegations, death threats, break-ins, media harassment, and other damaging acts."

One recent post on X (formerly Twitter) said "the Daszak family should be shot down." Daszak says he has asked X to cancel the abusive, anonymous account, without success.

Read more: Column: Trump and RFK Jr. want to make the world safe again for polio and measles. You should be terrified

What's the purpose of this campaign? The attack on the credibility of science and scientists has arisen because validated scientific findings about global warming and the origins of COVID-19 cause economic and political discomfort to Big Business and know-nothings who believe that undermining science will advance their political careers. (I'm looking at you, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.)

An essential tenet of the right-wing position on COVID-19 is that the virus escaped from a Chinese laboratory, specifically the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Superficially this is an alluring theory, since the initial outbreak occurred at a wildlife market in that city. But there is absolutely not a speck of evidence for that theory, and scientific research overwhelmingly indicates that the virus reached humans via a spillover from infected wildlife  the path followed by countless viral outbreaks over human history.

Lab leak advocates love to point to a statement FBI Director Christopher Wray made in an interview with Fox News in March 2023  that the bureau had concluded with moderate confidence that the virus had escaped from the Chinese lab. But he cited no evidence; the FBI's assessment, which had been previously disclosed, had been part of a survey of all U.S. intelligence agencies that largely contradicted the FBI's position. And in June, a report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence refuted claims that the Chinese lab had played any role in the pandemic.

Anyway, the WIV isn't exactly near the market  it's miles away on the far side of the Yangtze River, in a city as densely populated as Los Angeles, with almost three times L.A.'s population, and a huge regional transportation and commercial hub.

That brings us back to EcoHealth, which was founded in 1971 and has long been an essential clearinghouse for funding for research into "emerging disease threats to the U.S.," as Daszak said in his opening statement.

That has included providing funds for the WIV and other research in China, where viruses capable of jumping into the human population  as did SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind COVID-19  are commonly found in bats, and where a vigorous, illicit trade in wildlife brings millions of humans into direct contact with potential disease carriers.

EcoHealth's relationship with Chinese research institutions was open and aboveboard, and its funneling of U.S. grants to those institutions explicitly approved by the NIH and HHS.

EcoHealth was long considered a gold-plated research organization. "Their grants, when reviewed scientifically, scored at the highest levels in the scientific community," says Gerald T. Keusch, a former associate director of international research at the NIH. "The work they proposed was absolutely stunningly good."

An internal memo prepared at the NIH for a Fauci news conference in January 2020 described EcoHealth as one of "the biggest players in coronavirus work" and Daszak as one of "the worlds experts in ... non-human coronaviruses" such as SARS-CoV-2.

Read more: Column: Scientists are paying a huge personal price in the lonely fight against anti-vaxxers

As I've reported, EcoHealth's useful and productive role in virological research began to unravel at a news conference on April 17, 2020, when a reporter from a right-wing organization mentioned to then-President Trump that the NIH had given a $3.7-million grant to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. (Actually, the WIV grant, which was channeled from a larger EcoHealth grant, was only $600,000).

Trump, sensing an opportunity to show a strong hand against China and advance his effort to blame the Chinese for the pandemic, responded: "We will end that grant very quickly." The NIH terminated the full EcoHealth grant one week later, prompting a backlash from the scientific community, including an open letter signed by 77 Nobel laureates who saw the action as a flagrantly partisan interference in government funding of scientific research.

The HHS inspector general found the termination to be "improper." The NIH reinstated the grant, but immediately suspended it until EcoHealth met several conditions that were manifestly beyond its capability, as they involved its demanding information from the Chinese government that it had no right to receive.

The EcoHealth grant was finally restored in May 2023. By then, EcoHealth no longer had a relationship with WIV, which had been barred from receiving any NIH funds. Still, at the time I celebrated the end of a Trump-inspired three-year shutdown of field work to examine how viruses move from rural wildlife to humans. Unfortunately, that was premature.

Since then, Daszak told me, the NIH has continued to erect bureaucratic barriers preventing EcoHealth from accessing funds under the grant, in effect freezing its ability to work.

At Wednesday's hearing, the GOP tried to pretend that the decision to terminate the grant was all the NIH's idea. "This was not ended by the president of the United States," declared Mitchell Benzine, counsel to the subcommittee's Republican majority.

Read more: Column: House Republicans give a crash course in how to concoct a conspiracy theory about COVID's origin

Benzine has a suspiciously short memory. According to documents that the subcommittee itself made public, on Jan. 5 this year, Benzine himself elicited closed-door testimony from Lawrence Tabak, a top NIH official, that after that 2020 news conference "[Trump Chief of Staff] Mark Meadows called the Office of General Counsel at HHS, who then called Dr. Tabak, who then called Dr. [Michael] Lauer, who was instructed to cancel the grant." Can't get a much more direct line from Trump to the NIH than that.

(Lauer is an NIH functionary who has been a key figure placing the bureaucreatic obstacle course before EcoHealth; my request for comment from him and Tabak was met with a no-comment from NIH.)

Wednesday's hearing largely recapitulated the attacks on EcoHealth that have been floating in the right-wing fever swamp for four years now. They include a litany of minor bureaucratic snafus, such as a grant progress report that missed a deadline (Daszak said the problem was a glitch in an NIH web portal that prevented it from being submitted on time).

One key assertion is that EcoHealth was funding "gain of function" research at the Wuhan Institute. "Gain of function" is a widely misunderstood term that has become a shibboleth for proponents of the lab-leak hypothesis, who use it as an all-purpose symbol of sinister behavior, like "critical race theory" or "DEI" (diversity, equity and inclusion).

Technically speaking, gain of function is a method of modifying a pathogen in the lab to gauge its infectiousness in humans, the better to develop countermeasures such as vaccines. The right wing claims that such research in China funded by the NIH and EcoHealth created SARS-CoV-2, which then escaped into the wild.

Read more: Column: How Trump's anti-science meddling erased 3 years of crucial COVID research

There's no evidence that the Wuhan lab did anything like that, and experienced virologists have questioned whether it's even technically possible to have created the SARS2 virus given today's level of knowledge. The U.S. government placed a moratorium on gain-of-function research from 2014 through 2017 to allow for the development of best-practice protocols.

The NIH explicitly confirmed to EcoHealth that the studies it was funding didn't qualify as gain of function under its own definition. That didn't stop the committee members from wasting long swaths of their session accusing Daszak of secretly funding such experiments.

The attacks on EcoHealth appall scientists and public health experts who know that the organization's work in identifying potential pandemic sources and crafting responses has never been more important. Agricultural authorities are dealing with the spread of a bird flu virus into cattle herds, another case of species-to-species, or zoonotic, viral transmission.

Given the bipartisan attacks against it, whether EcoHealth can avoid being cut off from all government funding is an open question. But that only underscores the supine irresponsibility with which Democrats have bought into the right wing's attack on the organization and its crucial work.

"We now have zoonotic threats emerging at an accelerating cadence," says Peter Hotez, a molecular virologist who is dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

"This is a time when we need to be doubling down and expanding our global virus surveillance networks," Hotez told me. "By making up allegations, they're undermining the work of EcoHealth and other organizations committed to understanding how viruses are jumping from animals to humans. We're creating incredible vulnerability for ourselves. They're damaging our national security. That to me is unforgivable  that they're willing to jeopardize national security for political expedience."

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Since the opening of the Donald Trumps New York trial  when the former presidents counsel told the jury that the prosecutions star witness cannot be trusted  the defense has telegraphed its principal strategy: Eviscerate Michael Cohen.

As Trumps fixer and attack dog at the time of the alleged crimes, Cohen was more central to the events spelled out in the indictment than anyone in the defendants orbit. He even fronted his personal funds to quiet Stormy Daniels, who was shopping a story of a 2006 sexual liaison with Trump.

And having pleaded guilty to tax evasion, false statements and campaign finance violations related to the Daniels affair, along with a separate plea to making false statements to Congress, he seems tailor-made to be accused of lying to settle scores with his former boss. For the loyalty-obsessed Trump, moreover, the prospect of savaging a traitor promises additional psychological rewards.

Read more: Litman: Donald Trump was just fined for contempt of court. Could he go to jail next time?

But before the jury has even heard from Trumps bete noire, the prosecution has made great strides to neutralize any plan to undermine Cohens testimony.

They have done so first and foremost by presenting a wealth of evidence that prospectively corroborates what Cohen will say. (And after his grand jury testimony and numerous reported sitdowns with the district attorneys office, the prosecution knows what Cohen is going to say down to the last comma.)

The prosecutors decision to introduce their story through David Pecker, the former chief executive of the company that owned the National Enquirer, worked beautifully. A sort of Runyonesque rascal in his business affairs, Pecker came across as completely forthcoming on the stand. And he came forth with many details that involved Cohen and will be echoed by him. Those particulars included a key August 2015 meeting in which Pecker said he first promised Trump that he would smother the stories of his purported former sexual partners who might come forward now that he was a presidential candidate.

Read more: Litman: How Trump's trial will go well beyond the charges to paint a damning portrait of him

Every major witness since Pecker has also covered ground that Cohen will retread. By the time the jury hears the account of Trumps onetime fixer, it will ring familiar in almost all its particulars.

Almost but not quite all. Only Cohen and Trump could have been privy to certain details of the alleged falsification of documents, the basis of the 34 criminal counts in the indictment.

Still, the district attorney will be able to respond to the defenses ferocious attacks on Cohen by noting, in time-honored prosecutorial form, that the jury neednt rely on his word alone because of all the corroboration.

In fact, the prosecutions case has been sprinkled with disparaging characterizations of Cohen by its own witnesses, who have called him a jerk and worse. Its another signal that the district attorney will argue that the case does not stand or fall on Cohens testimony.

And much of what follows Cohen will reinforce his testimony. Longtime Trump aide Hope Hicks figures to provide devastating corroboration of Cohens testimony about the Boss, including her firsthand account of the 2015 meeting.

The extensive corroborating evidence is just one way the prosecution is cutting off the defense's main line of attack. As important, prosecutors have constructed and reinforced a narrative that bolsters Cohens story. It moves from the initial meeting, through the efforts to catch and kill the stories of a Trump Tower doorman and a Playboy model , and then to the critically important  Access Hollywood  tape that left the Trump campaign in an existential crisis.

The recording, which surfaced shortly before the election and caught Trump boasting of sexually assaulting women, prompted Republican Party leaders such as John McCain to withdraw their support for Trump. The jury heard evidence on Friday that key players in the catch-and-kill scheme were confident that Trump could not recover from the revelation.

Enter Daniels, who had recently resumed her efforts to parlay her alleged affair with Trump into a payday. If the campaign was on life support, her account threatened to pull the plug.

The story that prosecutors have presented from multiple sides thereby leads to the conclusion that the dealings with Daniels could have had only one motivation: to salvage the campaign. And that meant that Daniels not only had to be paid off but also that the purpose of the payoff had to be hidden.

The force of this account has Team Trump staring up at a nearly insurmountable incline. Its not just that Cohens explanation of Trumps alleged scheme and purposes will be roundly corroborated by other witnesses; its that no other explanation would make any sense of the whole patchwork of evidence.

The prosecutions marshaling of that evidence leaves the defense with no viable counternarrative. Assume Trumps team beats Cohen up for days on cross-examination and reiterates in closing that he cant be trusted. What alternative story can they offer to supply a reasonable doubt about the district attorneys account?

As Pecker testified and we will probably hear repeated at closing, Cohen couldnt buy lunch without Trumps approval. Is it remotely possible that he would nevertheless take out a home equity loan and pay Daniels $130,000 without Trumps knowledge and direction? The Manhattan jury might be expected to conclude, in a word, Fuhgeddaboudit.

Thats not to say that the prosecution is coasting toward a guilty verdict or that the jurys response to Cohen wont matter. The charges of falsifying business records are still vulnerable to technical challenges involving intent and other questions. Especially with two lawyers in the jurys ranks, stitching up that part of the case could be difficult. But with a broader rejection of Cohens testimony looking unlikely, the defenses options for preventing a conviction are dwindling.

Harry Litman is the host of the Talking Feds podcast and the Talking San Diego speaker series. @harrylitman

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Ted Cruz, candidate for the Republican nomination for U.S. President, talks with Kristine Carlin during a campaign stop at the Wagon Wheel restaurant in Bloomington on May 2, 2016. He suspended his campaign the next day after losing the Indiana primary to Donald Trump. David Snodgress | Herald-Times

Indianas presidential primary could draw some national attention, even though the results Tuesday will mean nothing in terms of selecting the nominees.

There certainly wont be national news of the magnitude of eight years ago, when Donald Trump ended the last chance of the Stop Trump movement, solidly defeating Ted Cruz and winning all 57 delegates at stake in the states Republican primary.

Now, there will only be a look at percentages in the Republican primary and analysis of what, if anything, it means for November if Nikki Haley gets a significant protest vote.

While both Trump and President Joe Biden long ago won more than enough delegates for nomination, their names will be on the Indiana ballot Tuesday  Biden unopposed in the Democratic primary; Trump listed along with Haley, who quit campaigning two months ago, on the Republican side.

Haley qualified for the Indiana ballot before she was clobbered by Trump in the March 5 Super Tuesday primaries and suspended her campaign.

More Colwell: The choice is clear, even if it's not an ideal one.

Since Haley is out of the running, votes for her in Republican primaries are seen now as indication of unhappiness with Trump and a sign of possible defections from him in the fall.

The recent Pennsylvania Republican primary results were regarded as troubling news for Trump, with 155,000 voters 16.5% of the GOP turnout  declining to vote for their presumptive nominee and instead picking Haley.

It seems unlikely that Haley will get a percentage that high in Indiana, where Trump has been so popular with Hoosier Republicans in his two presidential races.

Even if she did, it wouldnt mean as much as that showing in Pennsylvania, a key state in determining the winner in the Electoral College. Republican defections there could be decisive. Indiana, however, is listed in all projections as in the Trump column for sure in the fall.

Signs of defections here would be viewed not in terms of suggesting some monumental upset in the fall in Indiana, but as an indication that Trumps base might not be as solid nationally if slipping even in Indiana.

What if Haleys total isnt in double digits or barely gets there? That would bring analysis that Trumps base remains solid.

Column: A Biden-Trump rematch in 2024? Say it isn't so

No matter what happens in Indiana on Tuesday, any news nationally will be small potatoes, really just potato peels, in comparison with that 2016 presidential primary.

Indiana Republican primary voters cinched it  Trump would be the nominee. Cruz was in a must win situation to keep Trump from a first-ballot win at the Republican National Convention and keep alive the diminishing hopes of Stop Trump success in a brokered convention going into multiple ballots.

Cruz pulled out all the stops, even making a deal in which another contender, John Kasich, would stop campaigning in Indiana and let Cruz go more one-on-one against Trump. Cruz also got an endorsement from then-Gov. Mike Pence.

Polls showed Trump ahead, but not by a lot. Trump was not that confident of victory, complaining that the Indiana election system was rigged because he couldnt control his Hoosier delegates on a second convention ballot.

Results: Cruz, needing a big win to stay viable, didnt win a single delegate. Trump won so big all around the state that he claimed all 57 delegates. Cruz gave up. There was no way left to stop Trump. The nomination was decided.

And Pence, whose endorsement of Cruz had been tepid and not harmful to Trump, wound up running for vice president on the ticket to appeal to evangelical voters.

In 2020, the traditional May primary was delayed until June 2 by the pandemic. Trump, then president, faced only token opposition from Bill Weld, a former Massachusetts governor. Trump got 91.9% of the Republican vote. If he comes close to a percentage like that on Tuesday, Trump will be buoyed, not troubled by the results.

Jack Colwell is a columnist for The Tribune. Write to him in care of The Tribune or by email at jcolwell@comcast.net.

Jack Colwell

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Indiana primary won't have much national impact
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  Commissioner Rene Gonzalez called for public order on his social media accounts Wednesday in response to protesters occupying Portland States Millard Library.

Freedom of expression is a fundamental American right, Gonzalez wrote. Destruction of property and denying others access to shared facilities is not.

98-year-old Portland fountain donated by Jewish immigrant vandalized

A KOIN 6 News report documented the extensive damage inside PSUs occupied library Tuesday. Footage of the library halls showed a trail of graffiti, broken glass and stacks of furniture blocking stairwells and corridors. PSU President Ann Cudd said that the roughly 50 students agreed to leave the building peacefully early Wednesday morning. However, a number of protesters still inside the building are not students, she said.

Protesters who occupied Millar Library on the PSU campus over the Israeli-Hamas war caused damage and destruction, April 30, 2024 (KOIN)

Protesters who occupied Millar Library on the PSU campus over the Israeli-Hamas war caused damage and destruction, April 30, 2024 (KOIN)

Protesters who occupied Millar Library on the PSU campus over the Israeli-Hamas war caused damage and destruction, April 30, 2024 (KOIN)

Protesters who occupied Millar Library on the PSU campus over the Israeli-Hamas war caused damage and destruction, April 30, 2024 (KOIN)

Protesters who occupied Millar Library on the PSU campus over the Israeli-Hamas war caused damage and destruction, April 30, 2024 (KOIN)

Protesters who occupied Millar Library on the PSU campus over the Israeli-Hamas war caused damage and destruction, April 30, 2024 (KOIN)

Protesters who occupied Millar Library on the PSU campus over the Israeli-Hamas war caused damage and destruction, April 30, 2024 (KOIN)

Protesters who occupied Millar Library on the PSU campus over the Israeli-Hamas war caused damage and destruction, April 30, 2024 (KOIN)

Protesters who occupied Millar Library on the PSU campus over the Israeli-Hamas war caused damage and destruction, April 30, 2024 (KOIN)

Gonzalez said that he has instructed the bureaus that he oversees, including Portland Fire & Rescue, the Bureau of Emergency Communications, and the Bureau of Emergency Management, to give the Portland Police Bureau and Mayor Ted Wheeler whatever support they need in preserving public order and making our downtown welcoming for all.

Absorbing police resources over an extended period and bringing more chaos to our downtown, still fighting for its future, is unacceptable, Gonzalez said.

Portland State University library occupation may soon spark police action

Commissioner Carmen Rubio, who is running against Gonzalez in Portlands mayoral election, told KOIN 6 News that she supports the protesters calls for a ceasefire in Gaza. However, she also condemned those vandalizing public property.

I believe that we are one community, Rubio said. And as such, we need to address these situations in a collaborative manner, both in ensuring that our students rights to freedom of speech and assembly are protected, while making it abundantly clear to the leaders of these demonstrations that violence and property destruction will not be tolerated.

Gov. Kotek also addressed the protest in a press conference on Wednesday.

I believe in the non-violent expression of free speech. I do not support discriminatory harassment, or violence, or property damage. I think that needs to be dealt with. I do think universities are doing it in different ways. I do think we have seen some very peaceful expressions of free speech that are appropriate on out campuses here, so well continue to monitor it. What I have to say to families with any concerns: We are watching it. We will make sure things dont get out of hand. And also, I think we want to make it clear that Oregon is a place where we honor the exchange of ideas and free expression, but we do it in a way that people can feel safe and supported. If there are any concerns, Ill certainly want to know in my office, she said.

KOIN 6 also requested a response from city commissioner and mayoral candidate Mingus Mapps. However, Mapps did not immediately respond.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB)  Buffalo Common Council member Mitch Nowakowski said that the proposed $41 million budget increase outlined by Buffalo mayor Byron Brown in his State of the City address on Wednesday needs to be amended.

Nowakowski, who represents the Fillmore District, is the chair of the Common Council Finance Committee.

The proposed budget from Brown Tuesday was just under $618 million, which was a 7.1% increase from last years budget of $576.9 million. The increase was due to union contracts, health insurance costs, Medicare and capital debt.

The city is proposing a 9% tax levy hike, which would bring the city an additional $14.9 million in revenue. The bill means that a home that is assessed at $100,000 would see an annual increase of about $78, while commercial businesses assessed at $200,000 would see an increase of $464.

Mayor Brown details proposed $41M budget increase during State of the City

New York State has a 2% cap on a tax levy, but the common council voted to override that limit, similar to what several other municipalities, including Kenmore, which proposed a 5% tax levy earlier this month.

For over the course of 13 years, the mayor proposed a budget that some certain senior councilmembers approved where there was no growth in taxes, Nowakowski said. Thus, keeping revenues low and expenses growing and using other revenue to fill in the middle. Now, those revenues are shoring up and our revenues do not meet our expenses and we are going to face fiscal turbulence next year.

Nowakowski said that the council needs to come together to make amendments on the proposal, even if that does include making tough decisions on raising taxes in order to make sure the city is in a good spot financially.

We need to step up and be leaders and make tough decisions, Nowakowski said. Its not fun to raise taxes. Its sometimes what politicians usually fear from, but we cannot have leaders fear from making responsible decisions.

You can watch Nowakowskis full interview on Wednesday in the video player above.

Latest Local News

Aidan Joly joined the News 4 staff in 2022. He is a graduate of Canisius College. You can see more of his work here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to News 4 Buffalo.
Community 'benefit' or 'slaughtered' land? What we know about the White Pond development

Triton Property Ventures land off of White Pond drive on Tuesday, April 23. Ponds were created after the removal of peat bogs with previous owners.

Developer Triton Property Ventures is grading land and about a week away from laying slab foundations for ranch homes and townhomes at White Pond Reserve in Akron.

The first phase of construction at the development, east of Interstate 77 and west of White Pond Drive, comes 18 years after the city of Akron first purchased the land and nearly a year and a half after City Council narrowly approved the development and land sale to Triton by a 7-6 vote.

Alan Gaffney, Tritons president and COO, showed a Beacon Journal reporter and photographer the 64-acre property, highlighting natural features such as lapping pond water and deer prancing in the distance. But he also mentioned the possibility of an ice cream shop and cafe that could come later.

The entire project, on roughly 64 acres that Triton owns, could eventually include about 22 acres of building space and roughly another seven acres of streets and other infrastructure. The development could cost $50 million to $55 million total, Gaffney said, adding that he is hoping to complete it for less if possible.

That leaves the sites wetland habitat, including ponds, he said.

Effectively, we're going to have 30-plus acres of natural area here that will be here as long as we own it, he said.

As the project moves forward, opposition to it remains. One local resident with a decades-long career background in planning, Mary Deal, stated: There are so many errors and miscues here that it might make a case study in how not to plan.

Much of the controversy surrounds the removal of flora and habitat for fauna but also concerns about potential flooding and toxic chemicals that were formerly found on the site.

Theres always a little bit of controversy any time you're trying to do something new, Gaffney said. But we think in the end, this will net out to be a benefit for the whole community.

What's included in the White Pond Reserve development?

A rendering of ranch homes that will be included in the White Pond Reserve development.

The first phase of the White Pond Reserve development will include 98 townhomes and 45 ranch homes for rental, Gaffney said.

The average unit will be about 1,600 square feet, and some larger three-bedroom townhomes will be closer to 2,100 square feet, he said, adding that leases will potentially range from $1,900 to $2,100 per month.

Gaffney said he plans for the construction of most of the building structures to be completed by the end of 2024 with interior work to progress through the winter.

A phase to follow could include about another 70 units, including townhomes and ranch homes, on the west side of the property, pending permitting such as building permits from the city of Akron and Summit County and a sewer permit from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Gaffney said. Construction of those units could start either this year or next year, he said.

White Pond Reserve plans to provide tenants with walking trails, a dog park and a bocce ball court, Gaffney added.

A third phase could include construction of commercial units, such as restaurants and retail, and would require further permits that Gaffney said his team tentatively plans to apply for in 2025.

What is the potential economic impact of the project?

Triton Property Ventures land off of White Pond Drive on Tuesday, April 23. Commercial use is planned closest to White Pond Drive.

The Beacon Journal previously reported that, in accordance with a citywide tax abatement program, neither the developer nor residents would need to pay property taxes for 15 years, though property tax would be collected from commercial portions of the property over that period.

After the project is complete, property tax revenue and tax increment financing revenue collected for the next 30 years would go toward Akron Public Schools and the Public Arts Council, the Beacon reported. The school district would receive $8.8 million, and the arts council would receive $200,000, according to the news outlet.

In April, city of Akron spokeswoman Stephanie Marsh said these estimates will likely change, but probably not to a great extent, once the city receives the projects final approved plans.

What is the debate around wildlife as it relates to this project?

Michele Colopy, executive director, LEAD for Pollinators, points out how tall trees have been cut down on the White Pond Reserve development lot, Monday, April 22, 2024, in Akron, Ohio.

A month after Akron City Council approved the development in December 2022, nonprofit environmental group LEAD for Pollinators sued the city to halt the development.

The developer began timbering while the case was moving through the Summit County Common Pleas Court. LEAD for Pollinators amended its suit to include White Pond Reserve, LLC  a subsidiary of Triton Property Ventures  and filed a restraining order to stop White Pond Reserve from cutting down trees and performing construction.

By the end of March, both sides of the case agreed that the case was moot, and LEAD for Pollinators attorney filed a notice of dismissal.

LEAD for Pollinators Executive Director Michele Colopy said the court process delayed saving the land, so that's why the court case pretty much stopped.

The land had been slaughtered, murdered, decimated, Colopy said.

One of the issues that Colopy said she sees with the development is that the removal of trees takes away a possible habitat for bats. The environment could have supported endangered bats.

In 2023, cave expert Dr. Hazel Barton found bat guano while surveying a nearby cave with her then-students at the University of Akron. At the time, Barton was associate dean for research and graduate studies at UAs Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences. (She has since joined the University of Alabama as Loper Endowed Professor of Geological Sciences.)

Exactly which bat species were using the cave, just north of White Pond Reserve in Fairlawn Heights, is presently unclear, Barton said, but she added that genetic testing could determine that.

If there are [currently] bats in there, I'm sure they're using the wetlands as a foraging habitat, she said.

Some bat species can migrate for hundreds of miles, Barton said.

But bats tend to have a certain location  certain species will have a certain location that they return to again and again and again, she said. So, if there is disruption or damage to that location, then they have to find a new habitat.

An analogy is moving into a big city and trying to find rent you can afford, Barton said.

Standing near trees that remain around the site's ponds, Gaffney said his team submitted a planting and landscaping plan to the city of Akron.

In fact, the city arborist has told us that our canopy, when were done, will be above the average of Akron for residential areas  quite a bit above, he said.

Triton also donated $15,000 to the citys tree fund and plans to install native species at the site, Gaffney said.

How will structural issues be prevented at White Pond Reserve?

A rendering of townhomes that will be included in the White Pond Reserve development.

A document from the city of Akron said the site is a remote outlier of the historical Copley Swamp. The property has mostly Carlisle soils, which are nearly level, poorly-drained soils, according to the document.

Gaffney said the site's ponds were formerly peat bogs that were excavated and never been filled back in, and which have been collecting rainwater for decades. (None of these ponds are the namesake White Pond, which is to the south along White Pond Drive and west of I-77.)

Brad Beckert, the city of Akrons business retention and expansion manager, said city officials found peat and muck when they bored soil on the property multiple times.

The soil was just not very conducive for a lot of things structurally, Beckert said, adding that structures and roadways can shift in those soils.

But proper engineering, such as with stone, cement or a polymer called geogrid, can resolve issues, he said.

Deal, whose career in planning has included work with the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency, said the site is a really troublesome piece of property for development. She pointed to city documents and comments from city officials that said the city was selling 29 acres of developable land.

Beckert said the word developable in this context refers to land that the city could single-handedly sell to Triton without the developer needing to seek permission other government agencies, such as the EPA or U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, to develop on the site's ponds.

Draining the ponds and building on that land could be structurally possible, Gaffney said, but he said he wants to keep them as natural features.

Could you technically develop on this? he asked at the site, pointing to a pond. Yes, you could. But it would be just more costly.

How will flooding be prevented in the neighborhood?

Pine Grove Drive, part of Triton Property Ventures' land west of White Pond Drive, on Tuesday, April 23.

Colopy raised flooding of the development as a concern, given the areas natural environmental conditions and water that flows downhill from the north.

As rainwater flows south from the Fairlawn Heights neighborhood, the Copley Swamp filters water, collects stormwater runoff and prevents flooding, she said.

And we have taken that free environmental service away from this neighborhood and from the community, Colopy said. And eventually, water will win. I don't care how much engineering you do. Water will win.

Deal said its an issue that impervious surfaces such as sidewalks and parking lots are being built on the Carlisle soils and downhill from Fairlawn Heights.

Brandon Andresen, a stormwater specialist with the Summit Soil & Water Conservation District (SSWCD), addressed stormwater with the Beacon Journal via email. He said the majority of stormwater coming into the area is from the west-northwest and circumvents the development area by traveling through the undisturbed and natural areas of the site.

Triton will install sanitary and storm sewers throughout the development to connect to Akrons city infrastructure, Gaffney said.

How are water and soil quality being managed at White Pond Reserve?

In 2014, URS Corporation, an engineering, design, and construction firm, performed an assessment of the site, finding toxic chemicals such as arsenic, cadmium and lead in groundwater, according to documents from the city of Akron.

Gaffney said Triton has performed soil tests and did not find toxic chemicals.

SSWCD is performing site inspections to ensure Triton complies with a plan to prevent stormwater pollution as per Ohio law, Andresen said.

Gaffney said his team meets with SSWCD every three weeks.

During construction, three sediment basins will be installed on the site, Andresen said. He added that one basin will be removed before construction is complete, then the other two will be converted to post-construction water quality dry-extended detention.

The water quality of the two detention basins is based on Ohio EPA standards, and SSWCD will inspect the detention basins every five years after the project is finished, Andresen said.

Colopy said the development is a "buyer beware" situation.

But Gaffney said he and his team came up with what they think is "a very balanced development" and that residents will be safe as they live in an area surrounded by natural features.

Patrick Williams covers growth and development for the Akron Beacon Journal. He can be reached by email at pwilliams@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @pwilliamsOH.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Your questions about the White Pond Reserve development, answered
From concept to completion: What to know before building an ADU in Stanislaus County

Inside Look is a Modesto Bee series where we take readers behind the scenes at restaurants, new businesses, local landmarks and news stories.

A 2016 state law requires local governments to allow for accessory dwelling unit, or ADU, projects in housing zones including single-family parcels.

ADUs sometimes are called tiny homes, mother-in-law suites, or guest houses, and more are being built in Stanislaus County. In unincorporated areas of the county, 64 ADUs were built in 2023 compared to just 13 in 2019.

What do these homes look like, and how easy are they to complete?

Having never built a house before, real estate agent Alex Simon, 38, wasnt sure how the process would go.

But it was surprisingly fast, much easier than I expected, he said. Make sure you get a good contractor and an engineer. Just do a lot of research.

In six months in 2022, Simon was able to draw custom plans, pull permits and construct his ADU.

He credits his builder, Josh Alvarez of JA Design, for making the process efficient. Coming in at about 900 square feet, the two-bedroom, two-bath unit looks like a modern cottage and sits on the same parcel as his single-family investment property in Modesto.

Simon rents out the unit for around $2,000 a month.

Its the perfect size for a couple just starting out, or parents. I have a mother and son there now and they feel very at home there, he said.

Interior of ADU built by JA Construction for real estate agent Alex Simon in Modesto. Alex Simon

While the process went smoothly overall, Simon said he was surprised when the dwelling required solar  a cost he had not budgeted for in his original plan.

California requires solar panels on all ADUs that are nonmanufactured and detached from main homes. The solar panels cost about $9,000, bringing his total to around $200,000.

Here are some of the estimated costs incurred on the project:

Permitting and fees- $22,000

Construction- $18,000

Plumbing- $8,500

Electrical- $9,000

Solar panels- $9,500

Couple build home for aging parents

ADU home built by Red River Construction for Burt and Aurora Skurtun in Patterson, Ca on Friday, April 19, 2024. Maria Figueroa mfigueroa@modbee.com

Burt and Aurora Skurtun encountered more bumps in their ADU building journey than Simon did.

Building a two-bedroom house is sobering, but having this opportunity is huge. We feel fortunate that we are able to do this, Aurora Skurtun said.

The Skurtuns started the process in May 2023 and sought to build a home for her aging parents.

While Simons permit approval went smoothly, Aurora said theirs took a few months. Simon opted to draw his plans for the unit, while the Skurtuns chose one of the plans provided by Stanislaus County.

Using the preapproved plans, the Skurtuns saved around $5,000. But in hindsight, because of the delays and unknown total costs for the whole project, Aurora would have opted to acquire the plans from the builder.

The county only releases a portion of the overall plans and will not release the full specs until a permit is filed, she said. But our builder cant properly give a full estimate without seeing the full plans. So its this Catch-22, we had to just estimate and hoped it all worked out.

The Skurtuns finally broke ground in October 2023 and anticipate completing their two-bedroom, one-bath, 900-square-foot home next month. The Skurtuns credit their builder, Ryan Riner of Red River Construction, for making the building phase run smoothly and even making it exciting.

Builder from Red River Construction works on cabinets in the kitchen of Burt and Aurora Skurtuns ADU in Patterson on Friday, April 19, 2024 Maria Figueroa mfigueroa@modbee.com

Watching it be built has been fun, Aurora said. When things are happening, they happen fast. Our contractor is amazing. He has done a lot of great things that make it look unique, so it doesnt look like a generic tract home.

By opting for nine-foot ceilings height and 36-inch-wide doors, to possibly accommodate wheelchairs if needed in the future, the home feels roomy and airy.

Like Simon, the Skurtuns were surprised by the solar power requirement. They already have solar in their home and thought it would exempt them, but because the ADU is a new build, with its own power box, it had to have separate panels. .

Their total to date is around $277,000.

Here are some of the estimated costs incurred on the project:

Flooring - $40,000

HVAC - $40,000

Interior painting - $10,000

The Skurtuns offer the same advice as Simon when undertaking an ADU project. Have patience and find a good contractor, Aurora said. That is the key  having someone who knows how to face all the challenges and permitting issues. There are so many little things that can happen, but you need to go with the flow and work with someone who knows how to handle it all.

Aurora Skurtun shows the progress of her ADU build on her property in Patterson on Friday, April 19, 2024. Maria Figueroa mfigueroa@modbee.com
NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chells team deleted a tweet Thursday deriding Councilwoman Tiffany Caban and encouraging New Yorkers to start getting involved if they dislike her policies, fueling growing concern Chells social media antics may violate rules barring police officials from engaging in certain political activity.

An NYPD press office representative told the Daily News that an aide to Chell took down his heated post by mistake.

Chief of Patrol John Chell directed one of his assistants to pin his post. His directive was misinterpreted and the post was deleted in error, the rep said, referring to a prompt on X that allows a user to affix a specific message to the top of ones profile. Chief Chell stands by all the information contained in that post.

The post, which Chell thumbed out on X Wednesday night, took aim at Caban for criticizing the NYPDs mass arrests of pro-Palestinian protesters on the Columbia University and City College campuses this week.

I started to read this garbage and quickly realized this is coming from a person who hates our city and certainly does not represent the great people of NYC, Chell wrote in the message issued from his official NYPD handle.

Chells since-deleted post, a screengrab of which was obtained by The News, went on to say: Remember everyone, if you want change, seek the change you want by getting involved. Then you know what to do.

The NYPD press office didnt answer when asked what Chell meant by getting involved.

Chell attacked Caban on X along similar lines in March. The March 29 post, which remains on Chells profile, said Cabans ridiculous public safety policies are hurting everyday NYers in our city, and then added: I always say to all NYers, If you want change, vote the change you seek.'

The March missive raised concern from ethics watchdogs and Democratic politicians, who said it appeared to violate Chapter 68 of the City Charter, which bars municipal officials from using government resources, including social media accounts, to engage in partisan political messaging, or electioneering.

Caban, a democratic socialist, argued Chells latest post is another clear example of electioneering and should result in repercussions.

Enough. He should face consequences for his gross misconduct, Caban said.

Susan Lerner, executive director of the nonpartisan Common Cause government watchdog group, echoed Cabans sentiment.

Its completely unacceptable for a civil servant and a member of law enforcement to be directing the public how to vote from his official Twitter account, said Lerner.

City Conflicts of Interest Board Executive Director Carolyn Miller, whose agency polices local rules on electioneering, declined to comment on Chells post, citing confidentiality protocols prohibiting her from speaking about an enforcement matter until and unless there is a final finding of a Chapter 68 violation.

Mayor Adams, a retired NYPD captain who has stood by Chell amid criticism over his social media activity, didnt return a request for comment via his spokespeople.

Some of Cabans colleagues said Adams should step in.

Wildly inappropriate, unethical, and dangerous statement by Chief Chell. The Mayor and Police Commissioner should have this account deleted, Brooklyn Councilman Lincoln Restler, a progressive Democrat, tweeted.

The latest Chell dustup comes as other NYPD officials are also under fire for engaging in activity that critics say is overtly political.

Tarik Sheppard, the NYPDs top spokesman, and Kaz Daughtry, deputy commissioner for operations, were filmed Tuesday night at City College hoisting an American flag in place of a Palestinian flag pulled down by a school worker following the removal of protesters encamped on the campus. Daughtry and Sheppard are seen in the video flashing peace symbols to the camera after the hoisting.

An incredible scene and proud moment as we have assisted @CityCollegeNY in restoring order on campus, culminating in raising Old Glory once again, Daughtry captioned the video posted on X after NYPD officers arrested nearly 200 protesters who had set up encampments on the grounds to protest Israels ongoing military campaign in Gaza.

With Graham Rayman
KYODO NEWS - May 2, 2024 - 13:51 | All, Japan

A sperm bank only for donors who agree to disclose their identity will be set up at a Tokyo clinic, its organizer said Thursday, in a first for Japan.

Hiromi Ito, who counsels on infertility, said she hopes "to create a society where parents can openly tell their children the facts about their births" through the sperm bank at Private Care Clinic Tokyo.

Currently, sperm donations in the country are carried out almost exclusively on an anonymous basis.

Ito, who gave birth to two children through donated sperm, said she aims to start the bank by the end of this year.

In Japan, artificial insemination using donated sperm began in 1948, with over 10,000 people believed to have been born through the method. Currently, 16 medical institutions are registered with the Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology to perform the assisted procedure.

But many facilities have suspended their services as an increased number of people have become wary of offering sperm amid a global move in recent years to recognize children's rights to know their biological parents.

Ito said she fears that the decrease in certified services for sperm donations has pushed parents into seeking other ways to receive sperm, for example by resorting to social media, which could lead to high-risk transactions with individuals.

The planned sperm bank will not only be safe for users but will "respond online so that interested parties can use it regardless of where they live," Ito said.

Through its official website, the clinic will solicit men aged 20 to 45 and then select donors based on sperm function tests and whether they have sexually transmitted infections.

The donated sperm will be frozen at the clinic and stored along with personal information about the donors. As the clinic does not have an obstetrics and gynecology department, it will send the frozen sperm to facilities registered with the Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology to perform the artificial insemination.

The clinic will charge around 70,000 yen ($449) for one course of artificial insemination to cover testing, storage and other fees.

"In Japan, medical institutions have requested confidentiality from (sperm) donors and recipients and the procedure has been treated as something to feel guilty about," Ito said.

She stressed the importance of notifying children born through donated sperm at an early stage about the circumstances of their birth, saying unexpected discovery of the truth later on can be deeply shocking.

Ito, whose husband was diagnosed with azoospermia soon after marriage, once thought of a life without children. But she later reconsidered and decided to try artificial insemination through donated sperm after her husband said he wanted to raise a child who was at least biologically connected to his wife.

Ito said she has told her children using picture books that a "kind person" helped in their births.

"If the right to know the origin of one's birth is guaranteed, a parent can be confident in telling them about the facts," she said.

Related coverage:

Japan hospital denies LGBT woman support for IVF pregnancy

Japan gov't plans to require firms to set paternity leave targets

FEATURE: Manga bringing realities of fertility treatment to mass audience
GREENSBORO, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  A Concord man convicted of racially motivated hate crimes earlier this year was sentenced Wednesday to more than three years in prison.

According to the U.S. Attorneys Office, trial evidence proved that Marian Hudak, 52, willfully intimidated the victims and interfered with their enjoyment of federally protected activities using force, or a threat of force, because of their race and color.

Hudak was charged in June 2023 after being accused of a series of reported harassment incidents involving Black drivers, a Mexican family, and his neighbors.

All people  regardless of the color of their skin or their nationality  are entitled to travel on public roads and enjoy their homes without fear of being threatened, harassed or intimidated, said U.S. Attorney Sandra J. Hairston. The sentence imposed yesterday sends a strong message that this type of violent, hateful conduct will be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

In addition to the 41-month sentence, Hudak received three years of supervised release.

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Crime & Public Safety

Evidence at trial proved that, on Oct. 13, 2022, Hudak encountered a Black man, identified as J.S., while driving in Concord, and shouted racial slurs at him. After telling J.S. to come here, boy, Hudak swerved into J.S.s lane, got out of his vehicle, and punched J.S.s drivers side window multiple times. When J.S. fled, Hudak chased him to his home where he continued shouting racial slurs and threatened to shoot and kill him.

A year earlier, evidence confirmed a similar encounter with a Hispanic man. Hudak attacked his neighbor, J.D., outside J.D.s home because of his nationality. Hudak shouted racially charged insults at J.D. before attacking him. Hudak punched and tackled J.D., causing J.D. to suffer bodily injury, authorities said.

For years Marian Hudak terrorized people of color living in one North Carolina city, said Robert M. DeWitt of the FBI Charlotte Field Office. They were afraid to drive down certain streets, fill their cars with gas, or even take their children to the bus stop because of his intolerance for people who didnt look like him. There is no place for racial hatred-fueled violence.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ashley Waid and JoAnna McFadden for the Middle District of North Carolina and Trial Attorney Daniel Grunert of the Civil Rights Divisions Criminal Section prosecuted this case.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
CONCORD, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  A mother was arrested Wednesday in connection to the student who was found with a reported self-inflicted gunshot wound at a Concord charter school last month.

The Concord Police Department said 40-year-old Courtney Wall was charged with possession of a weapon on school property, and released with a written promise to appear in court.

On April 16, officers say Wall was part of a student-parent meeting at the Valor Preparatory School Upper School. Following the meeting, Wall and the student walked to their car together before she briefly returned to the building. During this time the student reportedly accessed a handgun inside the vehicle.

Three teens charged in connection to Mooresville double homicide: Sheriff

Officers say when Wall returned to the car, the student was suffering from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Emergency responders then transported the student to Atrium Health Cabarrus where they were later pronounced dead.

It serves as a heartbreaking reminder for all gun owners of the serious and costly consequences of failing to properly secure firearms and the importance of never bringing a weapon on school property, Concord Police said in a statement. Gun owners are reminded that if they live with minors, under North Carolina law they have a responsibility to store their firearms in a way that unsupervised minors cannot access them.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
Judge Wendy Davis, a congressional candidate, is the subject of a new attack advertisement. (Screenshot of Club for Growth Action video)

An attack advertisement featuring garbled audio clips of a congressional candidate could provoke an early test of a 50-day-old law cracking down on digitally altered campaign media.

Judge Wendy Davis, one of eight Republicans running for Indianas Third Congressional District, accused conservative political action committee (PAC) Club for Growth Action of dub(bing) together words and unrelated statements  to form a sentence that fits their absurd claims.

The advertisement asserts that Davis institut(ed) woke, race-based hiring during her time as judge. It purports to quote Davis as saying the government lacks ethnic and religious diversity.

We dont have enough inclusion. I believe the Constitution  still a breathing and living document  requires, Davis appears to say.

She denounced the advertisement as dishonest in a news release Wednesday.

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Its laughable to call me a Liberal Judge  I forfeited my position on the bench to run for office because I was too conservative to maintain the neutrality the job requires, Davis said.

I am disappointed that Club for Growth spliced my words together to fit their fake narrative in support of a failed, career politician  she continued, referring to primary competitor Marlin Stutzman.

The news release indicated the original audio came from an hourlong panel that Davis participated in about religious freedom. The campaign said it had issued a cease and desist letter.

Club for Growth Action dismissed Davis claims.

Wendy Davis has expressed her strong opinion on diversity and that she believes the Constitution is a breathing and living document, but now shes trying to rewrite history to cover-up her past leftist woke statements, group President David McIntosh said in a statement.

The super PAC has spent more than $100,000 on ads in recent days against Davis, according to Federal Election Commission records.

An Indiana law approved just weeks ago could apply to the spat.

House Enrolled Act 1133 requires disclaimers on political campaign communications featuring fabricated media depicting a candidate that a reasonable person wouldnt know is fake.

That includes audio recordings of speech that have been altered without the affected candidates consent so that the media conveys a materially inaccurate depiction of the individuals speech, appearance, or conduct as recorded in the unaltered recording.

It also includes visual recordings, artificially generated imitations of the affected candidate and more.

Under the law, the disclaimer must state: Elements of this media have been digitally altered or artificially generated. When in a video, it must be displayed continuously for the duration of the advertisement.

If not, the affected candidate can bring a civil action against people that paid for or sponsored the advertisement.

Although most new laws take effect in July, lawmakers had this one take effect immediately; Gov. Eric Holcomb signed it into law March 12.

Davis campaign said it planned to pursue legal action but didnt specifically refer to the new law.

Splicing someones words together without their consent to fit your agenda is wrong, but its also illegal in the state of Indiana, Campaign Manager Rex Purgason said in a statement. We are pursuing any and all legal measures to have this false ad removed from the airwaves.

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The post Congressional candidate hits back at spliced ad, threatens legal action appeared first on Indiana Capital Chronicle.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark.  A coalition of 21 conservative states led by Arkansas filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging a new federal rule regulating licenses for gun dealers.

The rule is meant to clarify definitions and help implement the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022, which the White House has called the only significant expansion of the background check requirement since 1993.

The rule broadens the definition of when a person is considered a firearms dealer and therefore must be licensed and required to run background checks on the people they sell guns to, according to the rule adopted on April 19.

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin announces a lawsuit challenging a new federal rule regulating licensing for gun dealers on May 1, 2024.

At a news conference Wednesday, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin called the rule an "attempt to do what  the administration couldn't get through the Congress" as well as "arbitrary and capricious."

"They do not have the power to do this unilaterally via fiat," Griffin said.

"This proposed rule does not help clarify anything" and "should have to go through the Congress," he said.

Griffin is co-leading the suit with Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach as part of a 21-state coalition. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Little Rock.

The other states include Iowa, Montana, Alabama, Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming, as well as several individuals and a gun collector group.

In filing lawsuit, Arkansas AG cites airport director raid

Griffin cited the March search warrant raid carried out by Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents in which the director of Little Rock's airport was killed in a shootout.

Bryan Malinowski was suspected of dealing firearms without a license and the pre-dawn raid at his house was intended to seize some of the more than 150 guns that he had bought since 2021.

"For whatever reason, the ATF believed that [Malinowski] had somehow met the nebulous, somewhat subjective standard" of being in the business of dealing firearms," Griffin said. "There was confusion and a lack of clarity as to where the line was before and this [new rule] doesn't help. ... If you're going to be put in that situation based on your conduct, there's a heightened obligation on the government to provide guidance."

The raid took place before the new rule was announced.

New rule aimed at illegal sales, White House says

According to the lawsuit, "only those who repetitively purchased and sold firearms as a regular course of business had to become a licensee."

The lawsuit alleges the new rule "has the practical effect of requiring background checks for a large number of firearms sales that would not have been required under the prior definitions of 'engaged in the business.'"

Under the rule, the lawsuit contends, anyone who sells or resells even one firearm with the intent to profit (no matter how little), combined with other (nebulously defined) evidence, is a firearms dealer who must become a licensee.

An April 11 statement from the White House announcing the rule emphasized a seller's intent, saying that a person selling just one gun and then saying to others they are willing and able to purchase more firearms for resale may be required to obtain a license and run background checks.

In the past, people selling firearms at gun shows weren't required to be licensed as a dealer or run background checks on their customers, a fact known as the "gun show loophole."

In the statement, the Biden administration said that under the new rule and the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the gun show or online sale loopholes do not exist and that if you are conducting business that in a brick-and-mortar store would require you to become a licensed dealer, you have to become a licensed dealer and run background checks.

The rule also gives the Department of Justice additional tools to crack down on individuals illegally selling guns without background checks.

However, it also leaves a carveout for collectors and hobbyists. A bona fide personal collection is not the same as business inventory, the White House said.

A representative from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which is targeted in the lawsuit, declined to comment.

This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Arkansas, conservative states sue over 'gun show loophole' rule
Representative Beau Beaullieu at a podium with a microphone. He holds a piece of paper in his hands.

Rep. Beau Beaullieu, R-New Iberia, is carrying legislation that sets up the framework for a constitutional convention. (Allison Allsop/Louisiana Illuminator)

Backers of a proposed Louisiana constitutional convention indicated Wednesday they dont intend to touch the states homestead exemption on property taxes or the K-12 public school funding structure if they overhaul the states foundational governing document.

Rep. Beau Beaullieu, R-New Iberia, amended his legislation to call the convention in order to protect Louisianas popular homeowner tax break and public school funding from alterations. He also took language out of the proposal that would have allowed private funding to pay for the event.



Our convention is not for sale. Our convention has never been for sale, Beaullieu said.

House Bill 800 would call state lawmakers and 27 gubernatorial appointees into a two-week meeting from May 20 to June 3 to revise the states 50-year-old constitution. Two-thirds of lawmakers in each chamber must approve the measure for the convention to be scheduled.

Several legislators and members of the public expressed concern the homestead exemption might be removed during a proposed constitutional rewrite. Louisianas constitution entitles homeowners to a generous tax break on their primary residence, which currently tops out at $7,500.



Lawmakers and public school advocates also worried an existing shield protecting public school funding could be targeted.The state constitution makes it difficult to cut money for K-12 schools from year to year, even while other state services are being reduced.

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Beaullieus changes are supposed to signal those two provisions wont be up for debate, but there are some legal disagreements about whether lawmakers can restrict discussion ahead of a constitutional convention. Some attorneys believe all parts of the constitution have to be on the table, legally, if a convention is called at all.

The convention backers are also looking to put some topics off limits, while not really revealing what they intend to do to the constitution. Gov. Jeff Landry has made holding the convention a top priority but has refused to say what he wants to see removed from the document.

Legislators have complained they are being pressured to vote for the convention, even though they still dont know what its goals would be.

I simply want to know what exactly we are voting for, state Rep. Larry Bagley, R-Stonewall, said. I really havent talked to anyone that has that information.

The Louisiana House of Representatives is supposed to vote Tuesday on whether they want to hold the convention. The Senate has not taken up the proposal yet but some of its members have expressed general skepticism about the proposal.

The conventions schedule forces it to overlap with the final two weeks of the regular legislative session, which is already a busy time for lawmakers.

The post Constitutional convention wouldnt alter homestead exemption, school funding, supporters say appeared first on Louisiana Illuminator.
Guest Opinion. Nearly 4,000 miles separate Alaskas North Slope, the ancestral homelands of the North Slope Inupiat, and Washington D.C. But after multiple trips between the two to advocate for our self-determination in our ancestral homelands before the vast bureaucracy of the federal government, it feels like we live on different planets.

This disconnect is not just physical  it can be measured by the number of policies affecting our lands and people crafted by Washington without first consulting with the North Slope Inupiat. Most recently, the federal government unilaterally curtailed development opportunities in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A) while shamefully cutting Regional Alaska Native tribal governments like mine out of discussions to informing the policymaking process. As a result, the administrations NPR-A actions do not reflect our Indigenous communities wishes, will roll back progress for our people, and imperil our Inupiaq culture.

To be clear, this is not only a dangerous dereliction of duty and disrespectful to the North Slope Inupiat, who have been the ancestral stewards of our lands for over 10,000 years. It is a violation of the federal governments obligation to consult with Regional Alaska Native tribal governments, like the Inupiat Community of the Arctic Slope (ICAS), on all matters that affect our land. Without federal consultation, it is impossible to adequately exercise our sovereign rights for the benefit of our communities.

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On April 19, 2023, the Department of the Interior (DOI) announced that it would finalize its decision to restrict development in more than 50% of the NPR-A. DOI did so without consulting our elected leadership about the impact of its decision on the North Slope Inupiat. Had the department taken the time to speak with us, it would have learned that our communities do not support this decision a fact that the federal government was and continues to disregard due to its lack of consultation with the North Slope Inupiat.

This decision will have massive implications for the future of our regional economy, our communities, and our culture. The North Slope relies on tax revenue from resource development  more than 95 percent of our regions tax base comes from taxation of land development. These funds support essential services like modern water and sewage systems, schools, health clinics, and world-class research and monitoring of subsistence resources vital to our culture. Our communities will struggle without these services, and our culture will become imperiled as a result.

Several North Slope entities have shared detailed letters highlighting these risks and the urgent need for the federal government to reconsider the faulty economic analysis supporting its NPR-A rule. The White Houses current study does not sufficiently examine the severe financial impact the rule will have on our communities and its downstream effects on our ability to provide essential services. There is a direct correlation between increased development in the region and drastic increases in our average life expectancy from just 34 years in 1969 to 77 years today. By finalizing its NPR-A rule, DOIs is undoing decades of progress.

We would have readily shared these facts with DOI had it fulfilled its legal obligation to consult with us ahead of their mandates, and we remain committed to educating DOI and the federal government about the unintended consequences of their actions. But ICAS and other North Slope Inupiat elected leaders have repeatedly been ignored by DOI and other agencies. In fact, Secretary Deb Haaland herself has ignored or denied at least eight meeting requests from us and other leaders on the North Slope, even after we traveled thousands of miles to D.C. on multiple occasions.

We have also joined with other North Slope entities to issue unanimous resolutions on topics ranging from condemning the federal governments actions and urging on the White House to reevaluating its incomplete economic analysis, which does not explore the economic and cultural impacts its policy would have on our people. Notably, the North Slope is not alone in its protest. The Alaska State Legislature passed the bipartisan HJR20, a joint resolution that calls on the federal government to reverse its September 2023 decision on the NPR-A, further demonstrating the widespread support in our state and region for responsible development.

Given the growing chorus of dissent, it is unacceptable for Indigenous communities like ours to be tuned out by leaders in Washington  especially by an administration that purports to care about our voices. This administration has issued multiple policy memos and federal strategies claiming Indigenous people are best served when Tribal governments are empowered to lead. The federal governments treatment of ICAS and the North Slope Inupiat, however, show that this administrations actions fall far short of its words.

Its time to close this policymaking and communication gap between Washington and the North Slope Inupiat. The federal government must do right by our communities by fulfilling its legal consultative obligations to regional governments before issuing edicts that could put the future of our communities and culture at risk. Our people are not some distant civilization beaming messages to Washington from afar. We are Americans, and we demand that our voices be heard.

Doreen Leavitt is director of natural resources for the Inupiat Community of the Arctic Slope (ICAS), secretary of the Tribal Council, and a resident of the North Slope Borough.

About the Author: "Levi \"Calm Before the Storm\" Rickert (Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation) is the founder, publisher and editor of Native News Online. Rickert was awarded Best Column 2021 Native Media Award for the print\/online category by the Native American Journalists Association. He serves on the advisory board of the Multicultural Media Correspondents Association. He can be reached at levi@nativenewsonline.net."

Contact: levi@nativenewsonline.net
A Monroe County judge will hear arguments later this month over a request from Indiana abortion providers to issue an injunction against the state's near-total abortion ban. (Getty Images)

A three-day bench trial scheduled for later this month will put Hoosier abortion providers and the state attorney generals office back in court as the battle over Indianas near-total abortion ban continues. Already in contention, however, is whether certain testimony and internal hospital documents entered as exhibits in the case should become public.

Attorneys for the abortion providers, along with those for Eskenazi Health  which is not a party in the case  maintain that dissemination of those confidential materials will create a significant risk of substantial harm to the hospital, as well as patients who received abortion care.

The special judge presiding over the case has so far ordered temporary exclusion of some documents from public view, but its not yet clear if theyll be presented at trial, slated for May 29-31 in Monroe County.

The matter stems from an amended complaint filed in November by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana on behalf of Indianas Planned Parenthood, Womens Med Group, All-Options Pregnancy Resource Center and obstetrician-gynecologist Dr. Amy Caldwell.

Their original court challenge  which alleged the ban would infringe on a constitutional right to privacy and violate guarantees of equal privileges and immunities  kept enforcement on hold for about a year. The Indiana Supreme Court upheld the ban in June 2023, but said Hoosiers could still sue over specific parts of the ban or concrete examples of its consequences.

With the door left open for additional litigation, the plaintiffs are now seeking new injunctions against health and hospital clauses in the state abortion law which they argue are overly narrow or unnecessary.

Womens Med Group has since been dismissed from the case, though. The provider indicated earlier this year it had closed its only facility in Indiana and no longer seeks to provide abortions.

What should be public?

In February, Special Judge Kelsey Blake Hanlon laid out parameters for confidential discovery and exhibits, including those containing health-related details, information protected by physician-patient privilege, or other information that may cause harm to those involved.

Information designated as confidential can only be accessed or reviewed by the judge and court staff, the named parties and their counsel, and experts who sign confidentiality agreements.

The Indiana Attorney Generals Office, representing defendants in the lawsuit, filed its list of exhibits in March, including six to be kept from public view. Among those were depositions of Caldwell, the Indianapolis OB-GYN, and Indiana Planned Parenthood COO Sharon Dudash; an IU Health/Eskenazi Health Complex Family Planning Care document; and IU Health internal documents relating to abortion-related policies and practices put in place after the statewide ban took effect.

But Eskenazi attorneys pushed back, saying in an April 11 filing that the court should permanently exclude the confidential documents from public access. Not doing so will create a significant risk of substantial harm to Eskenazi Health, its workforce members, and others, according to the court filing.

Shortly after, ACLU of Indiana counsel, on behalf of the plaintiffs, additionally requested several other exhibits be permanently excluded, including:

Documents that contain sensitive, non-public information about Dr. Caldwell and Indiana Planned Parenthoods abortion practice prior to the near-total ban going into effect. Other document excerpts include confidential information about specific individuals affiliated with Planned Parenthood and AllOptions, as well as confidential and proprietary business information.

Exhibit pieces containing sensitive, non-public information concerning patients who either received or sought abortion care  and who are not parties to this litigation.

Two additional sensitive internal documents that contain confidential and proprietary business information about Planned Parenthoods abortion care procedures prior to the states new abortion law going into effect.

If the confidential versions of these documents are not permanently prohibited from public access, (Indianas Planned Parenthood) and its providers, Dr. Caldwell, All-Options, and the patients discussed in these documents will be at significant risk of substantial harm, the plaintiffs wrote. They noted that permitting the confidential versions of the documents to remain sealed is consistent with the approach that Indiana courts have taken in other circumstances involving a significant risk of substantial harm.

Given the volatile climate surrounding abortion care, the patients discussed in these documents deserve to have their privacy rights respected and protected, the plaintiffs continued. Moreover, given the very low number of abortions performed in Indiana, there is a risk that the patients who received the healthcare discussed in this confidential testimony could be identified and risk reputational damage or much worse.

Hanlon has so far ordered the exhibits in question to be excluded, pending further review and a hearing. The two depositions are available but redacted.

Story continues below.

2024-04-11 Nonparty Eskenazi Hea

In Caldwells deposition, for example, the doctor said shes performed 14 or 15 abortions in Indiana since the near-total ban took effect. At least half, if not more were for fetal anomalies, she said, while one or two other abortions she performed were for victims of rape.

Another five or six abortions were to protect the life or health of the mother, she said. Most of those cases came from outside clinics or health facilities, though one or two were referred by maternal-fetal medicine physicians at IU Health, Caldwell noted.

Caldwells response when asked to list the diagnoses of the patients she performed abortions on for life or health reasons is redacted.

The doctor said there have been probably just as many patients who sought an abortion because of other potential health consequences of continuing a pregnancy  such as clotting disorders, uterine anomalies, hypertension, diabetes, complex obstetric histories, or history of obstetric complications  but were turned away because their condition did not qualify under the new law. Those patients were ultimately referred out for other sorts of care, Caldwell said.

Eskenazi attorneys argued that the attorney generals office should not have made the confidential documents court records in the first place because they are wholly unnecessary for the states defense.

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They pointed to the defendants 41-page brief in which counsel from the attorney generals office group-cites the confidential documents just once to support a single proposition about Indiana hospitals having guidance, procedures and consultations to assist doctors with best practices for abortion care.

That fact, Eskenazi counsel said, was already established by the non-confidential testimony of the hospitals Chief OB-GYN Dr. Elizabeth Ferries-Rowe.

It is uncontestable that access to abortion care is a fraught, politicized, and emotionally charged issue in Indiana and across the United States, Eskenazi attorneys wrote. It is also uncontestable that healthcare providers  both individuals and entities  have been subject to threats and violence because they provide this care.

The attorneys emphasized that the likelihood for those threats will increase if the confidential documents dont remain under seal, putting both doctors and patients in danger.

The new underlying complaint

The Supreme Court ruled that the state constitution protects a womans right to an abortion to prevent death, or to avoid a serious health risk. But the ban itself is more stringent.

It stipulates a serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function and specifically excludes psychological conditions alongside threats of self-harm and suicide.

The plaintiffs call that exception unconstitutionally narrow and maintain that people with debilitating conditions  or conditions that could become life-threatening over the course of pregnancy  could be forced to remain pregnant and to suffer serious and potentially life-long harms to their health.

Additionally, plaintiffs argue, the law could exclude patients with conditions requiring treatment that would harm a fetus  like many psychiatric medications. They allege that the mental health write-out will harm pregnant Hoosiers.

The state disagrees.

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokitas office said in a March 25 oppositional brief that plaintiffs are only lob(bing) accusations about how the new abortion law supposedly prevents abortions they deem necessary.

Story continues below.

Defendants' Brief in Opposition

By necessary, however, they do not mean medically required, the office added. Plaintiffs themselves admit that there are various ways to manage nearly every health condition that women experience during pregnancy, without pursuing abortion. Instead, plaintiffs consider abortion to be necessary whenever a woman prefers abortion to childbirth. As our Supreme Court held, nothing in Indianas traditions justifies abortion on demand.

The plaintiffs asked the court for three preliminary injunctions.

Two would halt enforcement of the health risk language  for a broad range of physical health conditions and for mental health conditions  and one would pause the hospital requirement.

They also requested that the court eventually find both elements of the ban unconstitutional.

Indianas ban also stripped abortion clinics of their licenses, instead mandating that the procedures occur at hospitals or related ambulatory surgical centers. The clinics have historically performed nearly all abortions in Indiana, with small numbers of hospitals contributing minute shares of the total.

The hospital requirement makes abortion inaccessible to even those Hoosiers who qualify for the procedure, the plaintiffs argued. They said further in court documents that hospital abortions will cost patients significantly more money than procedures performed at clinics. And because no hospitals outside of Indianapolis are providing abortions under the bans exemptions, access is further limited to those who still legally qualify.

The attorney generals office maintains that Indianas constitution does not require abortions to be permitted at clinics.

In the rare circumstances that abortions may be medically required to avert life-threatening situations or serious health risks, S.B. 1 allows them, Rokitas office said in court documents. Plaintiffs argue that those allowances are not enough because the penalties for violating S.B. 1 supposedly chill physician behavior. But plaintiffs have not brought a vagueness challenge to S.B. 1, which reuses language from prior statutes that plaintiffs and physicians have operated under for years. And plaintiffs offer no authority for the novel proposition that subjective allegations of chill render a statute invalid.

It is not enough to hypothesize that circumstances could arise that could produce a constitutional violation, the office continued. But all plaintiffs have are hypotheticals, leaving them unable to describe a specific, narrowly tailored injunction.

This story was updated to correct Sharon Dudashs title.

The post Contention brews in ongoing Indiana abortion ban lawsuit over confidential documents appeared first on Indiana Capital Chronicle.
Contextualizing the Claim the UN Was 'Unwilling' to Condemn Hamas But Expressed Concern Over Pro-Palestine College Demonstrations

In April 2024, as U.S. college students formed pro-Palestinian encampments on campuses to express solidarity with residents of the Gaza Strip, U.S. law enforcement reacted by arresting at least 1,000 protesters nationwide. In some cases, protesters accused police of using violent tactics  alleged actions that spurred criticism from a high-profile leader of the United Nations, Volker Turk.

In a statement to journalists, including Reuters, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said, "I am concerned that some of law enforcement actions across a series of universities appear disproportionate in their impacts."

Democratic U.S. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania reacted to that statement with a post on X that claimed the U.N. was "unwilling to condemn Hamas" but would speak against police action against pro-Palestinian protesters. The post included a screenshot of the Reuters headline reading, "UN right chief troubled by treatment of pro-Palestinian protesters at U.S. universities."



(X user @SenFettermanPA)

The American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, among others, shared the post widely.

Fetterman's tweet had a nugget of truth but deserved extra context.

Firstly, his caption referenced the U.N. in general, though the screenshot (i.e., the Reuters article) was about a specific individual, Turk, speaking about the protests on campuses. The U.N.'s top bodies, like the General Assembly and Security Council, have not issued a formal declaration about the protests. Likewise, they have not issued a formal condemnation of Hamas. However, individual leaders of the U.N., including Turk and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, have condemned Hamas.

We reached out to Fetterman for comment and will update this story if he responds.

To fact-check Fetterman's tweet, we first looked at Turk's past statements about Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel. In the aftermath of Hamas' attack, Turk condemned "horrifying mass killings by members of Palestinian armed groups" and noted the militant abduction of hostages was forbidden under international law. He did not mention Hamas by name. Rather, he repeatedly referred to "Palestinian armed groups."

On Dec. 6, 2023, Turk issued a statement calling for investigations into allegations of sexual violence committed by Hamas. In that statement, Turk decried violence by Palestinian armed groups (again), as well as and Israeli military. He named Hamas, specifically.

Two months after the horrific 7 October attacks on Israel by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups, in which civilians were directly targeted and hostages taken, civilians in Gaza continue to be relentlessly bombarded by Israel and collectively punished  suffering death, siege, destruction and deprivation of the most essential human needs such as food, water, lifesaving medical supplies and other essentials on a massive scale. Palestinians in Gaza are living in utter, deepening horror.   As the catastrophic consequences for civilians in Gaza mount, I want to again express my grave concern regarding dehumanizing and inciteful statements made by current and former high-level Israeli officials, as well as Hamas figures. As more information emerges on serious allegations of sexual violence perpetrated by members of armed Palestinian groups, including Hamas, during their attacks on Israel on 7-8 October, it is painfully clear that these attacks need to be fully investigated to ensure justice for the victims. It is crucial that there are rigorous investigations and accountability for all serious breaches of international human rights and humanitarian law. Individual criminal responsibility must be established.

In February 2024, Turk said at a U.N. meeting in Geneva (emphasis ours):

The attacks on Israeli civilians on 7 and 8 October were shocking. Profoundly traumatising. And totally unjustifiable. The killing of civilians, reports of torture and sexual violence inflicted by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups, and the holding of hostages since that time, are appalling and entirely wrong. And so is the brutality of the Israeli response; the unprecedented level of killing and maiming of civilians in Gaza, including UN staff and journalists; the catastrophic humanitarian crisis caused by restrictions on humanitarian aid; the displacement of at least three-quarters of the population, often multiple times; the massive destruction of hospitals and other civilian infrastructure  and in many cases, systematic demolition of entire neighbourhoods, rendering Gaza largely unliveable.

"There appear to be no bounds to  no words to capture  the horrors that are unfolding before our eyes in #Gaza," @volker_turk told the @UN Human Rights Council.



"This is carnage."



The @UNHumanRights chief called for an immediate ceasefire and for the war to end.#HRC55 pic.twitter.com/ZVuKeJjXRm  United Nations Human Rights Council (@UN_HRC) February 29, 2024

In other words, the above statements were evidence of Turk publicly denouncing Hamas, using words like "horrific," "unjustifiable," "appalling" and "entirely wrong" to describe the group's attacks on Israeli civilians. We consider those words to be a condemnation of Hamas' attacks. At the same time, he also denounced the Israeli military's attacks on Palestinian civilians and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza as a result of Israeli restrictions on aid.

Second, we looked into Guterres' comments. Guterres' spokesperson released this statement shortly after the Oct. 7 attack:

The Secretary-General condemns in the strongest terms this morning's attack by Hamas against Israeli towns near the Gaza Strip and central Israel, including the firing of thousands of rockets towards Israeli population centres. The attacks have so far claimed numerous Israeli civilian lives and injured many hundreds. The Secretary-General is appalled by reports that civilians have been attacked and abducted from their own homes. The Secretary-General is deeply concerned for the civilian population and urges maximum restraint. Civilians must be respected and protected in accordance with international humanitarian law at all times.

Guterres explicitly used the word "condemn" while denouncing the attack by Hamas against Israelis.

Have Top UN Bodies Condemned Hamas?

The U.N. General Assembly, which is the body responsible for policy-making, has not passed a formal resolution condemning Hamas. However, individual member states of the U.N. Security Council  including Brazil, which presided over the UNSC in October 2023  have offered their own condemnations.

In December 2023, the UNGA adopted a nonbinding resolution (i.e., a resolution that is not legally binding but often carries political weight on the international stage) calling for a cease-fire in Gaza. The resolution also called for the immediate release of hostages in Gaza and better humanitarian access to the enclave. However, the proposal did not explicitly condemn Hamas. The U.N.'s Arab Group and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which represents Muslim and Arab countries, brought forward the resolution.

The U.S. and Austria each proposed unsuccessful amendments to the resolution that condemned Hamas' attacks. Each amendment failed to receive a two-thirds majority required to pass. Other countries, such as Pakistan, said they would not support language condemning Hamas without also condemning Israel's crimes in Gaza.

In response to the resolution, the Israeli representative said the U.N. was becoming more irrelevant and such calls for a ceasefire would continue Hamas' "reign of terror."

The UNGA is made up of 193 member states, each with an equal vote. It has been criticized for resisting reform, and politics in the assembly are often dictated by tensions between wealthier and poorer nations.

Months after the failed amendments by the U.S. and Austria, in March 2024, the U.N. Security Council  which consists of 15 member states and is responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security  passed a resolution that demanded an immediate ceasefire during Ramadan, an immediate return of hostages taken by Hamas, and more aid to Gaza. Israel criticized that resolution for also failing to condemn Hamas for the attack.

However, numerous members of the UNSC have reportedly condemned Hamas' attacks. For instance, shortly after the Oct. 7 attacks, the U.S. called for unanimous condemnation. According to U.S. Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood, "a good number of countries," but not all council members, condemned the Hamas attack in a closed-door emergency meeting, according to PBS.

On Dec. 1, 2023, U.N. Women  the U.N. body dedicated to gender equality and women's rights  also condemned Hamas' attacks, stating:

We unequivocally condemn the brutal attacks by Hamas on Israel on 7 October. We are alarmed by the numerous accounts of gender-based atrocities and sexual violence during those attacks. This is why we have called for all accounts of gender-based violence to be duly investigated and prosecuted, with the rights of the victim at the core.

In sum, the U.N. Security Council and General Assembly have numerous member countries with varying support for a formal condemnation of Hamas. However, the secretary-general and human rights chief have explicitly condemned Hamas' actions  in addition to Israel's military campaign, which, according to Guterres' words, has brought "relentless death and destruction" to Gaza.

Sources:

"Arrests at Columbia University as New York City Police Clear Gaza Protest." Al Jazeera, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/1/new-york-city-police-enter-columbia-campus-as-gaza-protest-escalates. Accessed 1 May 2024.

Farge, Emma. "UN Rights Chief Condemns Israeli 'siege' of Gaza, Militants' Taking of Hostages." Reuters, 10 Oct. 2023. www.reuters.com, https://www.reuters.com/world/israeli-air-strikes-hit-residences-schools-across-gaza-un-rights-chief-2023-10-10/. Accessed 2 May 2024.

Fassihi, Farnaz. "U.N. General Assembly Votes for Israel-Hamas Cease-Fire, Countering U.S. Veto." The New York Times, 12 Dec. 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/12/world/middleeast/un-general-assembly-israel-cease-fire.html. Accessed 1 May 2024.

"Gaza: Security Council Passes Resolution Demanding 'an Immediate Ceasefire' during Ramadan." UN News, 25 Mar. 2024, https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/03/1147931. Accessed 1 May 2024.

"General Assembly of the United Nations." United Nations. https://www.un.org/en/ga/. Accessed 1 May 2024.

"Israel Has Brought 'Relentless Death and Destruction' to Gaza: UN Chief." Al Jazeera, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/5/israel-has-brought-relentless-death-and-destruction-to-gaza-un-chief. Accessed 1 May 2024.

"Opening Statement by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk at Press Conference Ahead of Human Rights Day." United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, 6 Dec. 2023, https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2023/12/opening-statement-un-high-commissioner-human-rights-volker-turk. Accessed 1 May 2024.

"Professors Arrested as Police Use 'Violence' to Clear University Camp." Al Jazeera, https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2024/4/26/professors-arrested-as-police-use-violence-to-clear-university-camp. Accessed 1 May 2024.

Richardson, Nikita. "Here's What to Know about the U.N. General Assembly." The New York Times, 19 Sept. 2023. NYTimes.com, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/19/world/what-is-the-un-general-assembly.html. Accessed 1 May 2024.

"Secretary-General Strongly Condemns Attack by Hamas against Israeli Towns Near Gaza Strip, Which Have Killed Numerous Civilians, Injured Hundreds." United Nations, Oct. 7, 2023. https://press.un.org/en/2023/sgsm21981.doc.htm. Accessed 1 May 2024.

"Turk Calls for End to 'Carnage' in Gaza." United Nations Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights, 29 Feb. 2024, https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2024/02/turk-calls-end-carnage-gaza. Accessed 1 May 2024.

"UN Right Chief Troubled by Treatment of Pro-Palestinian Protesters at U.S. Universities." Reuters, 30 Apr. 2024. www.reuters.com, https://www.reuters.com/world/un-right-chief-troubled-by-treatment-pro-palestinian-protesters-us-universities-2024-04-30/. Accessed 1 May 2024.

"UN Human Rights Chief Urges States to Defuse 'Powder Keg' Situation in Israel and OPT, as Incalculable Suffering, Massive Death Tolls Take Hold." United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, 10 Oct. 2023, https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/10/un-human-rights-chief-urges-states-defuse-powder-keg-situation-israel-and. Accessed 2 May 2024.

"United Nations Security Council." United Nations. https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/. Accessed 1 May 2024.

"UN Women Statement on the Situation in Israel and Gaza." UN Women  Headquarters, 1 Dec. 2023, https://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/statement/2023/12/un-women-statement-on-the-situation-in-israel-and-gaza. Accessed 2 May 2024.

"US and Europe Lead World Condemnation of Hamas Attacks on Israel." France 24, www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20231008-world-in-shock-after-hamas-attacks-on-israel. Accessed 2 May 2024.

"U.S. Demands Condemnation of Hamas at UN Meeting, but Security Council Takes No Immediate Action." PBS NewsHour, 9 Oct. 2023, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/u-s-demands-condemnation-of-hamas-at-un-meeting-but-security-council-takes-no-immediate-action. Accessed 1 May 2024.

"What Is the UN General Assembly?" Council on Foreign Relations, https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/un-general-assembly-unga-role. Accessed 1 May 2024.
An immigration bill passed a state Senate committee, inching closer to becoming law.

House Bill 10 is on its third attempt to move through the state government. On Wednesday, legislators with the Senate Rules and Operations Committee moved forward with the bill.

PREVIOUS: North Carolina lawmakers try again to make sheriffs help ICE

HB10 would require local sheriffs to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) if and when they arrest someone and determine they are living in the United States unlawfully.

If the bill becomes law, ICE would receive custody of arrestees after 48 hours of local custody. Some communities are worried about the implications.

The bill has to pass the state Senate before landing on Gov. Roy Coopers desk. Cooper is expected to veto it, but legislators are expected to override his veto, moving the bill into law.

Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden has openly opposed the bill when its gone through previous rounds in the House. In a new statement obtained by Channel 9, he explained what about the bill holds him from supporting it:

HB10 creates new and specific processes and timelines for sheriffs to follow when cooperating with ICE. For example, while HB10 mandates that all sheriffs honor ICE detainer requests for anyone charged with any crime in their jails, it also requires that all sheriffs follow a judicial process when doing so. Specifically, sheriffs must transfer the person in custody to a judicial official without unnecessary delay to obtain a custody order, which may or may not be issued. This process is mandated for every sheriff and sheriffs will no longer have the discretion to simply not honor or delay acting after they receive a detainer from ICE for a person inside their detention center/jail.

In addition, HB10 will mandate annual reporting from every sheriffs office. Sheriffs will be required to track and report: the number of inquiries made to ICE about a persons immigration status; how many times ICE responded to those inquiries; the number of ICE detainers received; the number of times the person was held for 48 hours; the number of people held but released due to detainers that were rescinded by ICE; the number of times a person was held but would have otherwise been released; and how many times ICE took custody of a person after being notified. This, of course, will be required without additional funding or added personnel.

Many sheriffs offices may have already decided to honor ICE detainers; however, HB10 is not about continuing this practice alone. It will increase the administrative burdens that sheriffs face when doing so and without due compensation.

Furthermore, as is often the case as more bureaucracy is created, legal liability for any misstep will increase. Though HB10 aims to limit civil and criminal liability when holding a person for ICE, sheriffs will continue to be subject to constitutional liability if they fail to properly follow the custody process established under this bill.

(WATCH: Local nonprofit offering assistance with power bills this summer)
Assemblymember Evan Low, left, will face former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo in the November general election for a Silicon Valley congressional seat. Both are Democrats. (Rich Pedroncelli / AP; Beth LaBerge / KQED via AP)

After more than two weeks of recounting and several contested ballots, the verdict in California's 16th Congressional District is in.

Democratic Assemblymember Evan Low has narrowly edged out Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian for second place, meaning Low will continue to the November ballot alongside first-place finisher former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, also a Democrat. Low gained 12 votes during the recount and Simitian gained seven.

That shift gave Low a five-vote advantage, dashing Simitian's chances of replacing retiring Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Menlo Park) to represent a coveted, safely Democratic Northern California district.

The unprecedented second-place congressional tie meant that all three candidates would have appeared on the November ballot, had the results held. The three-way race would have been a first 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 affiliation.

Read more: Every vote counts in Silicon Valley, where two congressional candidates literally tied for second place

Wednesday's recount results come after an astounding month in Silicon Valley politics, with a race that has roiled local affairs, engendered an atmospheric river's worth of mudslinging and added a layer of uncertainty to the coming general election.

It is not unusual for a recount to change the vote totals, especially in such a large jurisdiction, Santa Clara County Assistant Registrar of Voters Matt Moreles said Tuesday in a statement. Because this contest was so close with two candidates precisely tied for second place, even tiny changes can make a difference in the outcome. The district covers portions of Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.

The post-recount changes in the vote tally can be explained in a number of ways, according to the Santa Clara County elections office. In some cases, challenges were raised about a voter's intent "when a ballot was marked in an unusual way," which would then be up for interpretation. A number of ballots that were deemed ineligible in the original count were also challenged, with the county determining that seven of those ballots were valid and could be included in the recount. Human error also affected a very small number of ballots in the original count, such as with a 12-ballot batch that was processed but not tallied because an operator mistakenly pressed the wrong button after scanning them prior to the recount.

After trading leads several times, Simitian and Low each finished with 30,249 votes in the original tally, which was finalized earlier this month, shortly before the recount began. Liccardo finished with 38,489 votes, well ahead of the other two candidates.

Election officials in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties began their recounts on April 15, with various parties accusing each other of playing politics and trying to manipulate the democratic system.

Low initially tried to halt the recount through his lawyers, alleging that certain deadlines were missed, according to a letter obtained by the Mercury News. The effort was unsuccessful.

Under California law, any voter can request a recount so long as they are willing to pay for the costs. This particular request came from Padilla, a tech entrepreneur and onetime Liccardo campaign staffer who frequently posts about cryptocurrency and has been active in San Jose politics for decades.

A new independent expenditure committee called Count the Vote was created on April 9, the same day Padilla filed his recount request.

Read more: Two congressional candidates tied. Now a recount is complicating the results even further

Padilla told The Times that he had put "some" money into the PAC and that people who "had backed Sam in the past" and "were very concerned about democracy" had also put some money into it, but declined to share specifics, saying all would be disclosed in the next required federal filing in July.

Eshoo, the current occupant of the seat the candidates are vying to fill, attacked the opacity of the super PAC's finances, with the Congress member saying "a dark shadow" would be cast across the landscape of the whole election without full transparency.

Another member of Congress, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Fremont), took a hard swing at the recount itself, characterizing it as "a crass political ploy" and arguing that recounting all the votes would be an "undemocratic" attempt to overturn the will of the voters. Khanna endorsed Low, and Eshoo endorsed Simitian in the race.

The attacks reached a fever pitch late last month, when a local prosecutor filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission alleging that Liccardos campaign illegally coordinated with a newly formed dark money Super PAC to do his CD-16 recount bidding.

Liccardo political consultant Orrin Evans said his candidate had nothing to do with the recount and characterized the complaint as a distraction that lacked any evidence.

The district Liccardo and Low are seeking to represent is overwhelmingly Democratic and encompasses parts of Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, including the cities of Palo Alto and Mountain View and part of the city of San Jose.

Santa Clara County accounts for the vast majority of the districts voters, with about 82% residing there, while about 18% live in San Mateo County, according to California Target Book.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
* The success of ARJ21 marks a significant achievement under the Belt and Road Initiative in the burgeoning relationship between China and Indonesia.

* The aircraft can not only serve as a tool of transportation but also act as a bridge to enhance cooperation between the two countries.

by Yu Shuaishuai, Ye Pingfan, Jia Yuankun

JAKARTA/SHANGHAI, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Since Chinese-produced ARJ21 made its overseas commercial flight debut with Indonesian airline TransNusa one year ago, the regional jetliner has demonstrated improved performance in the Southeast Asian market.

Over the past year, TransNusa has acquired two ARJ21s from Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. (COMAC) and operated them on six routes. The planes have accumulated 3,560 safe flight hours and transported nearly 120,000 passengers.

The success of ARJ21 marks a significant achievement under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in the burgeoning relationship between China and Indonesia.

People pose for a group photo with the first jetliner ARJ21 of Indonesian airline TransNusa in Bali, Indonesia, April 18, 2023. (Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China/Handout via Xinhua)

LOCAL MARKET ADAPTATIONS

In Indonesia, airports often have limited facilities and short and narrow runways, but ARJ21 adapts well to these conditions.

TransNusa Vice President Leo Budiman called it "a remarkable success" and a breakthrough for ARJ21 when it completed a chartered flight from Jakarta to Morowali, where the airport's runway was narrow and short.

Wu Guofang, vice president of COMAC Shanghai Aircraft Customer Service Co., Ltd., told Xinhua that ARJ21 was designed to adapt to high temperatures and high humidity, well suited to climate in Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries.

This photo taken on Dec. 17, 2022 shows the first jetliner ARJ21 of Indonesian airline TransNusa in east China's Shanghai. (Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China/Handout via Xinhua)

For Yves Liga Pangeran Hakim, one of the pilots from TransNusa, ARJ21 is perfect for the local market.

"It has good potential and can fly on a narrow runway. This aircraft provides solutions for the Indonesian aviation market. It is a great success," said Hakim, who has flown on ARJ21 for several times.

The ARJ21 was also deployed for international flights, as TransNusa operated the aircraft on the Jakarta-Kuala Lumpur route in 2023.

Budiman said ARJ21 received "a remarkable welcome" in Malaysia as the jetliner has acquired permits to operate in six airports nationwide.

"We will show the world that ARJ21 is really suitable for the local market," said Budiman.

Indonesian airline TransNusa Vice President Leo Budiman has an interview with Xinhua in Jakarta, Indonesia, April 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Sun Lei)

POTENTIAL FOR WIDER REGION

After its success in Indonesia, COMAC has sought to expand its business footprint to more Southeast Asian countries.

At the Singapore Airshow 2024 in February, ARJ21 and C919, another COMAC-made jetliner, garnered attention. During the event, the company received orders for 40 C919 and 16 ARJ21 jets.

After the airshow, the two jetliners launched demonstration flights in five Southeast Asian countries. Eyeing cooperation with local airlines in these countries, COMAC is beginning to establish its overseas market network.

"The aircraft has fully demonstrated its excellent stability and adaptability, receiving very positive responses from the Indonesian civil aviation authority, Indonesian airlines and the Southeast Asian market," said Wu.

Believing that ARJ21 has bigger market potential in the region, Budiman said the regional airliner will improve connectivity between islands, which is very important for Indonesia and the wider region.

"We see COMAC is making improvements day by day," Budiman said, adding that the prospect is "very promising."

According to Wu, COMAC has established a customer service office in Jakarta, offering more efficient and localized personnel training, aircraft parts and maintenance services for regional clients.

Wu said the aircraft can not only serve as a tool of transportation but also act as a bridge to enhance cooperation between the two countries, adding that more opportunities for further cooperation can be explored.

China-manufactured commercial jetliner ARJ21 (R) and C919 are seen in Jakarta, Indonesia, March 10, 2024. (Xinhua/Sun Lei)

BENEFITING LOCAL ECONOMY

Over the past decade, Indonesia and China have forged productive cooperation in various fields.

The China-Indonesia bilateral relationship has never been stronger. China is Indonesia's largest trading partner and one of its biggest foreign investors.

In April, the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway, the flagship project co-constructed by China and Indonesia under the BRI, marked six months of operation, during which some 2.56 million passengers were transported.

With a design speed of 350 kilometers per hour, the 142.3-kilometer high-speed railway cut the journey between Jakarta and Bandung in West Java province from over three hours to around 40 minutes.

Veronika Saraswati, a China expert and researcher at Indonesia's leading think tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said infrastructure projects carried out by Indonesian and Chinese companies under the BRI will transform Indonesia's traditional industries and increase national and local fiscal revenues.

Teguh Dartanto, dean of the School of Economics at the University of Indonesia, would like to see a stronger relationship between China and Indonesia.

"We need a more next-level relationship where we not only focus on production, business and trade but also on people-to-people collaboration, R&D and perhaps a transfer of technology and knowledge."

(Xinhua Correspondent Tao Fangwei in Jakarta also contributed to this story. Video reporters: Di Chun, Jia Yuankun, Yu Shuai Shuai; Video editors: Zheng Kaijun, Qiu Qingyi) 
By Angeliki Koutantou and Karolina Tagaris

ATHENS (Reuters) -The convicted leader and founder of Greece's far-right Golden Dawn party, Nikos Mihaloliakos, has been released from prison on parole, a police source said on Thursday, a move that drew criticism from political parties and the family of a Golden Dawn victim.

Mihaloliakos and other members of Golden Dawn were sentenced in 2020 following a five-year, high-profile political trial for running a criminal gang linked to a string of hate crimes, including the killing of left-wing rapper Pavlos Fyssas in 2013.

Mihaloliakos, 66, who was often seen giving Nazi-style salutes at party gatherings, was serving a 13-year sentence. He has been at home since Wednesday, a police source said.

His request for parole was approved by a board of judges, who took into account his prison labour and health issues, an official at Greece's citizen protection ministry told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

The decision was condemned by the main opposition Syriza party, whose leader Stefanos Kasselakis called the move "provocative." In a post on X, he wrote: "Impunity for the neo-Nazis of Golden Dawn."

The Socialist PASOK party said the release raised questions, because Mihaloliakos "had not shown a trace of remorse."

Under the restrictions, Mihaloliakos is banned from leaving the greater Athens area and is required to regularly check in at a police station near his home, state broadcaster ERT reported.

Golden Dawn, whose emblem resembles a swastika, stormed into parliament in 2012 at the peak of Greece's debt crisis, seizing on public anger over painful austerity.

The party began to unravel in September 2013, when a party supporter was arrested for the killing of Pavlos Fyssas, a musician and rapper aligned with the political left.

In a statement published by ERT on Thursday, lawyers representing Fyssas' family said Mihaloliakos' release "constitutes a maximum insult to Golden Dawn's victims and their families, and to all of Greek society."

Golden Dawn failed to win a single parliamentary seat in 2019 elections that brought the conservative New Democracy party to power.

Before last year's national election, Greece passed a law amendment to prevent political parties such as Golden Dawn from fielding candidates.

(Additional reporting by Yannis Souliotis, editing by Deepa Babington)
A 27-year-old Twitch streamer was hunted down by cops in the Russian city of Krasnodar and forced to issue a public apology for saying Ukrainians are better looking than Russians.

Olga Kasyanenko, a native of Ukraines Donetsk region who relocated to Krasnodar a few years ago, was also fined nearly $1,000 for supposedly discrediting the Russian military with her comments, regional police said in a press release.

Pro-war bloggers first began circulating clips from Kasyanenkos streams earlier this week, demanding authorities take action. Head of the Safe Internet League Yekaterina Mizulina, whose favorite pastime is siccing law enforcement on anyone who defies the Kremlin narrative online, then roped in local police, according to state-run RIA Novosti.

In clips that Kasyanenko said were taken out of context, the young model can be seen calling Russians yokels and dipshits while arguing that Ukrainians are the most beautiful people on the planet.

In a video shared by Mizulina on Wednesday, Kasyanenko is then shown suddenly apologizing for discrediting the Russian army and making negative statements about Russians as she stands in front of a map and calendar featuring the Russian flag.

Federal investigators are also probing Kasyanenkos statements, according to Mizulina, meaning she may face more than just a fine and forced apology.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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COALINGA, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE)  A correctional sergeant at the state prison in Coalinga has been arrested after he was allegedly found with fentanyl inside the secure perimeter, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said on Wednesday.

According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), 51-year-old Greg Reinaldo Clark, a correctional sergeant, was arrested inside the secure perimeter of Pleasant Valley State Prison with fentanyl and other narcotics on Monday.

Hanford bars license revoked after cocaine sold to investigators, state says

Officials say Clark has since resigned.

Clarks selfish acts put himself, PVSP staff, and the incarcerated population in danger, Pleasant Valley State Prison Warden Steve Smith said. That is one of the most detestable acts one can commit in a peace officer position.

State officials say they condemn any staff member, including peace officers, who violate their oath and violate the publics trust.

We are committed to investigating and rooting out any employee who does not obey the law and betrays the public or CDCR staff, said CDCR Secretary Jeff Macomber.

Contraband seized on April 29, 2024.

State officials say Clark began his career with them as a cadet at the Richard A. McGee Correctional Training Center on July 9, 2001. He reported to Pleasant Valley State Prison as a correctional officer on Dec. 15, 2003. He was promoted to correctional sergeant on Oct. 14, 2013.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com | KSEE24 and CBS47.
Gov. Ron DeSantis and some Republican lawmakers are talking about holding a special legislative session this month  possibly to enact another strict immigration law and add ballot proposals to November that might complicate the abortion access measure.

Theres little hard evidence that lawmakers are planning a late-May special session, an idea first reported Wednesday by the news site, Florida Politics.

But DeSantis Thursday poured cold water on the idea of creating further amendments related to abortion, during an appearance in Jacksonville, though he did express a desire for summoning lawmakers back to Tallahassee to further strengthen his hand on illegal immigration enforcement.

"The states need to do whatever we can," DeSantis said.

But on the idea of adding additional amendments to the November ballot, the governor said it was, "Not coming from me." Still, he didn't rule out the possibility that some legislative Republicans might push the approach.

But talk of the possibilities were swirling on the same day that Vice President Kamala Harris was in Jacksonville campaigning in support of abortion rights.

DeSantis a day earlier had talked about the states new six-week abortion law at length for the first time and also ridiculed both the Amendment 4 abortion access measure and the Amendment 3 recreational marijuana ballot proposal set for the November ballot.

DeSantis promised he'll 'be getting involved in different ways'

Well be getting involved in different ways, DeSantis said during an appearance in Tampa, without offering specifics.

The governor several weeks ago had gone on Fox News host Sean Hannitys podcast and talked about how his administration was working on a proposal to make it a crime for migrants to enter Florida without authorization, modeled on a Texas law.

Im working with folks to craft, if theres something we can do in a Special Legislative Session, to give our law enforcement more authority to arrest and detain, because I think that will be a huge disincentive for people to come if we can do it, DeSantis said on the show.

During his appearance

The proposal would allow state courts to direct sheriffs and city police to transport migrants back to the Mexican border for deportation if they are found to be in the state illegally.

DeSantis raised the possibility when he was also warning against a surge of Haitians fleeing their home nation to Florida because of violence.

That surge hasnt happened, but DeSantis may still be eager to take another swipe at immigration, having enacted strict new limits in 2023, shortly before launching his failed presidential campaign.

The governor recently also patched things up with former President Trump, who viciously attacked him when they were rivals for the GOP presidential nomination. The pair met last weekend for breakfast in Miami, and DeSantis purportedly pledged to help with fundraising and the campaign in Florida.

Immigration a driving issue for Republican voters

Concerns over illegal immigration and border security was central to Trumps 2016 campaign, when he won the presidency and polls show it remains the Republican Partys most potent political weapon this year.

The governors office didnt immediately respond to a question about a possible special session. A spokeswoman for Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, said that she has not been contacted on the topic.

Andres Malave, a spokesman for House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, said, theres lots of talking.

But he acknowledged in a text message, People have been talking about there being a special since the hanky dropped in March, ending the 2024 regular session. No plans yet, to my knowledge, he added.

But Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, seized on talk of additional ballot measures which could cloud the Amendment 4 abortion access measure set for the November ballot.

Gov. Ron DeSantis gives brief remarks at the end of the 2024 Florida Legislative Session on Friday, March 8, 2024.

The Florida Republican Party is so committed to banning abortion and stripping us away of our rights that they are willing to host a special session to add more amendments that will only confuse voters, Eskamani said.

The tactic wouldnt be new in Florida. In 2016, the utility industry, wary of a solar choice constitutional amendment going on the ballot, mounted a costly campaign that successfully put an industry-friendly solar amendment before voters.

While the more consumer-oriented solar choice proposal was blocked from the ballot by the state Supreme Court, the industrys amendment also fell short of gaining at least 60% support from voters, and also failed.

David Bauerlein of the Florida Times-Union contributed to this report. John Kennedy is a reporter in the USA TODAY Networks Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jkennedy2@gannett.com, or on X at @JKennedyReport.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida special session for abortion, immigration measures? Talk swirls
NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY)  The woman accused of driving the wrong way into the Downtown Tunnel, causing an accident that left someone dead, was in court Thursday morning.

Police: Person killed in wrong way crash in Downtown Tunnel

According to Virginia State Police, on Dec. 30, 2023, 27-year-old Dominique Goodwin was traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes when she struck a 2007 Chevrolet Equinox driven by 43-year-old Shelby Riddick-Walker, killing her instantly.

Hampton Roads remembers pillar of LGBTQ+ community

10 On Your Sides Nick Broadway was at the hearing, where three witnesses took the stand.

Suspect in fatal Downtown Tunnel crash turns herself in

During the hearing, the prosecution said Goodwin had a blood alcohol level of .242, more than three times the legal limit.

The first witness to take the stand was a state trooper. The trooper described what he saw when he arrived to the scene of the crash.

The next person to take the stand was a woman who works with the tunnel, who showed the video of Goodwin going the wrong way down the tunnel.

A woman from the Virginia forensics science lab also took the stand to describe how driving with a .242 blood alcohol level affects the driver.

During the hearing, the judge stated there is overwhelming evidence for the case to go to a grand jury.

Goodwin is still being held on a no-bond status.

Suspect in fatal Downtown Tunnel crash denied bond

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com.
Six people arrested this week at UNC-Chapel Hills pro-Palestinian encampment face more charges than the university has publicly said.

In news releases, the university only said 36 people were accused of trespassing. That did not explain why 30 were cited on campus and released, while six more were arrested and taken to the Orange County jail in Hillsborough, where they were charged and then released.

UNC officials still have not provided the names of those charged and why some were arrested when campus police, supported by officers from other UNC system universities, shut down the four-day encampment at Polk Place.

Arrest reports, which help in the reporting of the ongoing protests, are public records under state law and are typically available within hours of someone being arrested.

UNC Police is processing the arrest/incident reports and will release those when they are complete, a spokesperson told The News & Observer in an email Wednesday evening.

What are the protest charges?

Court officials on Thursday gave The N&O the names of all 36 people charged.

Thirty people  10 of them UNC students and 20 non-students  were cited Tuesday with trespassing. Six who faced additional charges included three UNC students and three non-students.

The News & Observer does not generally name people charged with misdemeanors.

However, the names released Thursday provided access to court records with additional details about three of those arrested. Other arrest reports were not yet available.

 An N.C. State University officer reported that a 25-year-old protester from Asheville did not leave the encampment when ordered and resisted arrest by lunging at and striking the officer with a musical drum. The protester then actively resisted by straining and not placing hands behind his back. He was charged with assault on a government employee, trespassing, and resist, delay and obstruct.

 A 21-year-old man from Greensboro was accused of pushing to the ground and tackling an N.C. State police officer while being removed from the encampment. He was charged with assault on a government employee, trespassing, and resist, delay and obstruct.

 A 21-year-old man from Raleigh was accused of refusing to leave the processing area after a UNC Police officer cited him for trespassing. He also was charged with resist delay and obstruct.

 Three people whose court records were not immediately available were charged with trespassing and with resist delay and obstruct, according to information provided by court officials.

Additional reports

UNC did release information Thursday about two reports of simple assault filed Tuesday afternoon when protesters replaced a U.S. flag with a Palestinian flag at Polk Place. The U.S. flag was later reinstalled.

A CBS News cameraman from Greensboro, who filed the first assault report, said someone doused him with water from a water bottle at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The other report was filed by a 20-year-old UNC student who said someone intentionally struck him in the head on the university quad around 4 p.m.

UNC Police crime log entries for those alleged assaults do not show that anyone has been charged or arrested.

In the Spotlight designates ongoing topics of high interest that are driven by The News & Observers focus on accountability reporting.
Then French President Nicolas Sarkozy speaks at a press conference in the Chancellery in Berlin. A French court questioned Carla Bruni, the wife of former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, amid investigations into alleged illegal campaign funding from Libya for his election bid in 2007. Michael Kappeler/dpa

A French court questioned Carla Bruni, the wife of former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, amid investigations into alleged illegal campaign funding from Libya for his election bid in 2007.

Sarkozy allegedly received illegal campaign funds from Libyan strongman Moamer Gaddafi and has been charged with illegal campaign financing, embezzlement of public funds and bribery, allegations he denies.

Musician and former French first lady Bruni was questioned on Thursday about possible witness tampering, the Paris financial prosecutor's office confirmed to dpa.

At this stage of the proceedings, Bruni's possible involvement is being examined without her being considered a defendant, the office said. She was already questioned as a witness just under a year ago.

The Libya affair centres on allegations that money for Sarkozy's 2007 presidential election campaign came illegally from Gaddafi's regime.

French-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine said in 2016 that he had brought several suitcases containing millions of euros - provided by the Libyan regime - to the Paris Interior Ministry, which was headed by Sarkozy at the time, in late 2006 or early 2007.

He was initially considered to be the main witness, but later said Sarkozy had not received any Libyan money for his campaign. Later still, Takieddine said that the statement had been falsified.

Amid the confusion, the French judiciary launched a further investigation in 2021 to clarify whether the prosecution's main witness was bribed to change his statement.

The judiciary suspects Takieddine was offered money from Sarkozy's associates to do so. Bruni's role could have been to bring those involved into contact with each other, according to the judiciary.

Sarkozy, who was French president from 2007 to 2012, has been battling with the judicial authorities for years over a slew of allegations.
IMPERIAL, Mo.  May 3, is Wake Up Day at Seckman High School where local authorities will stage a crash simulation to caution students against drinking and driving, especially with prom night approaching.

The Antonia Fire Protection District of Jefferson County will set up a car wreck on the school campus at 2800 Seckman Road. The demonstration aims to remind students of the dangers associated with driving under the influence. The event will include guests Christi Weidler and Captain Ben Ortballs-Steinkamp, who will discuss the impact of such incidents.

Statistics show that about a third of teen traffic fatalities related to alcohol occur between April and June, which coincides with the peak of prom season. Teens are 17 times more likely to die in a crash with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08% compared to when they have not been drinking. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration notes that one in three teen crash deaths happens during prom season, underscoring the importance of this events message.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2.
People pull a car submerged in flood water in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, on May 1, 2024. At least 188 people have been killed by flooding and landslides caused by heavy rains in Kenya, the government said on Thursday. (Photo by Joy Nabukewa/Xinhua)

NAIROBI, May 2 (Xinhua) -- At least 188 people have been killed by flooding and landslides caused by heavy rains in Kenya, the government said on Thursday.

According to the Ministry of Interior and National Administration, downpours and thunderstorms in over 28 of the country's 47 counties have resulted in widespread displacement, affecting 196,290 people from 33,100 households.

"A total of 125 people have been reported injured, 90 people are currently missing, and an estimated 165,500 others were affected by the heavy floods, which touched a total of 33,100 households and 1,967 schools," the ministry said in a statement issued in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.

Kenyan officials and humanitarian agencies have called on the population to avoid flooded areas, move to higher ground and avoid driving when it rains heavily.

The weatherman has predicted that rainfall is expected to continue over parts of the country, with several counties expected to receive heavy rainfall in the coming days.

The government said it has scaled up measures to mitigate the aftermath caused by the ongoing enhanced rains and floods, dispatching military personnel to help with search and rescue operations.

The interior ministry said 151 Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) officers are dispatched to Mai Mahiu, about 60 kilometers north of Nairobi, where flash floods killed more than 52 people on Sunday evening; 51 people are still unaccounted for following a mudslide tragedy there.

The national death toll could rise as more heavy rainfall is expected this week, with floods and landslides predicted in some areas.

The interior ministry said a nationwide assessment of dams is underway, with inspection teams dispatched to ascertain the integrity of 192 dams identified to be high risk.

The devastating floods are exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in the country just as it emerges from the El Nino floods that occurred late 2023 when at least 178 people were killed, 242 injured and thousands displaced.

"The government wishes to appeal to individuals, groups, organizations and partners to support the provision of food, medical kits, sanitary kits and other non-food items in counties where search and rescue operations are still ongoing, including Nairobi, Kirinyaga, Homabay and Tana River counties," the ministry said.

Landslides and mudslides have affected families with young children in central Kenya, according to the Kenya Red Cross Society, a charitable organization.

In the Masai Mara National Reserve, in Kenya's southwestern county of Narok, where 19 lodges were flooded after the Talek River overflowed, 90 tourists were evacuated in coordinated efforts by ground and aerial units, the interior ministry said, noting that no fatalities have been reported, and a tracing desk has been established.

The government has deployed National Youth Service members to support ongoing search and rescue operations, the ministry said. 

People drive on a flooded road in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, on May 1, 2024. At least 188 people have been killed by flooding and landslides caused by heavy rains in Kenya, the government said on Thursday. (Photo by Joy Nabukewa/Xinhua)
BALTIMORE, Md. (WDCW)  Unified Command crews said Wednesday that they had recovered the body of a fifth construction worker who died when Baltimores Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed in March.

The body of Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez, from Glen Burnie, Maryland, was found within a red construction truck, according to Wednesdays update.

Bystander video shows moment ship hits Baltimore bridge: No way  I just witnessed that

The 49-year-old was one of several workers who plunged into the water when the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed in the early morning on March 26, having been struck by the container ship Dali.

Two of the workers survived, while six were presumed dead following rescue efforts. One of the six, identified as Jose Mynor Lopez, has yet to be found.

We remain dedicated to the ongoing recovery operations while knowing behind each person lost in this tragedy lies a loving family, Colonel Roland L. Butler, Jr., the superintendent of the Maryland Department of State Police, said in a statement included with Wednesdays announcement. Along with our local, state and federal partners, we ask that everyone extend their deepest sympathies and support to the families during this difficult time.

A section of the damaged and collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge is seen, in the Baltimore port, Monday, April 1, 2024. (Kaitlin Newman/The Baltimore Banner via AP)

Officials with the FBI, the Maryland Transportation Authority Police and the Maryland State Police  along with the departments underwater unit  were part of the recovery crew that found the fifth body, per Wednesdays announcement.

First cargo ship passes through new channel since Baltimore bridge collapse

A memorial for the victims near the south end of the bridge has grown in recent weeks to include six large wooden crosses decorated with flags from the victims home countries. A painted canvas backdrop displays abstract scenes from the bridge collapse and salvage efforts as well as handwritten notes from the mens loved ones.

We want to send a message to the world that were here and we care, said the artist, Roberto Marquez, during a visit to the bridge in late April. We will be here working until they are all recovered.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
Crews in Suffolk respond to fire on Babbtown Road Wednesday night

SUFFOLK, Va.(WAVY) Suffolk Fire and Rescue responded to a residential structure fire Wednesday night.

Crews were called to the 200 block of Babbtown Road at 11:10 p.m. When crews arrived on scene at 11:17 p.m., they found heavy smoke showing through the roof of the single story residential structure. Two occupants and 1 dog safely evacuated prior to firefighters arrival.

Courtesy- Suffolk Fire and Rescue

Courtesy- Suffolk Fire and Rescue

Courtesy- Suffolk Fire and Rescue

Courtesy- Suffolk Fire and Rescue

Crews performed an interior attack and performed a search and found no additional occupants.

The fire was placed under control at 12:08 a.m.

The American Red Cross is assisting the two displaced occupants.

No occupants or firefighters were injured.

The Fire Marshals Office is investigating the cause and origin of the fire.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com.
Police patrol Getty House, the official residence of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, where a man was taken into custody for allegedly smashing a glass door and breaking in on April 22, 2024. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

A trio of crimes involving Democratic lawmakers has put the spotlight back on public safety in the Golden State, an issue on which experts warn the party's candidates could be vulnerable in November.

In the span of a week, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass was the victim of a burglary at Getty House in Windsor Square, Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank) had his suitcase stolen out of his car in the Bay Area, and a plainclothes police officer protecting San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan was punched by a pedestrian during a television interview.

All three incidents were ready-made fodder for Republican critics who often lambast California's approach to public safety. They have also renewed concerns that how California voters think about crime could affect some Democrats in swing districts in November.

"Voters are thinking: You've got to be kidding me," said Darry Sragow, a longtime Democratic strategist. "Adam Schiff isn't safe, Karen Bass isn't safe  if they're not safe, who is?"

Property and violent crime rates in California both rose during the COVID-19 pandemic, but remain far below the peaks of the 1980s and 1990s. When it comes to campaigns, though, what the statistics show is less important than how voters feel, Sragow said.

Crime is "definitely one of the top issues on voters' minds right now," said Mark Baldassare, the survey director of the Public Policy Institute of California, or PPIC, a nonpartisan think tank that regularly surveys Californians about their views on public policy issues.

Read more: Suspect in break-in at Mayor Bass' home previously convicted of assault

The economy, homelessness and housing affordability are still top concerns, Baldassare said, but the share of likely voters who are concerned about crime appears to be growing. In December, the PPIC found that 8% of likely voters described "crime, drugs and gangs" as the most important issue facing the state. Two months later, 12% of likely voters said that crime was the most important issue for Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature to address in 2024.

Those numbers are particularly high among voters who described themselves as independents: In February, 17% of likely independent voters said crime was the most important issue, up from 8% in December.

"The thing about crime is, it doesn't take much  it just takes one or two things that people notice and makes them scared," Baldassare said.

Recent high-profile attacks, including the shooting of an L.A. County Sheriff's Department deputy stopped at a traffic light in West Covina, and a spate of stabbings on the L.A. Metro system, can leave uneasy Californians wondering "whether everything is falling apart," Sragow said.

The job of Democratic candidates, Sragow said, will be "to address how people feel, that people have to feel safe when they walk outside." Republican challengers, he said, will try to make a case for tough-on-crime policies, crafted subtly enough to try and appeal to "disaffected independents, and maybe some Democrats."

Some of that tough-on-crime talk is coming from Democrats too. A shift in how state lawmakers in Sacramento are talking about public safety is proof that crime is "clearly a vulnerability" for Democrats in tight races, said Rob Stutzman, a Republican strategist.

He said voters' concerns over crime probably won't make a difference in the Senate race, where polling shows Schiff with a commanding lead over Republican challenger Steve Garvey. But, Stutzman said, those concerns could make a difference in more competitive districts, including the handful of California swing seats for Congress that could help decide control of the House of Representatives in November.

"The pendulum is swinging, and its dragging them with it," Stutzman said of Democrats.

Democrats are a ripe target, given that the party has a firm grip on political power in California. Democrats hold every statewide office and control both chambers of the state Legislature. Republicans have not won a California statewide election since 2006, when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger won reelection and Steve Poizner became insurance commissioner. Registered Democrats also outnumber Republicans by almost 2 to 1 in the state.

Read more: Can California curb retail theft without changing Prop. 47? Assembly Democrats unveil their plan

Newsom has sent dozens of California Highway Patrol officers to Oakland and to Bakersfield this year in an attempt to address rising crime rates. The governor said this week that authorities in Kern County, home to Bakersfield, have made 211 arrests, recovered 127 stolen vehicles and seized four firearms in the first six weeks of the CHP enforcement effort.

A package of bills from Assembly Democrats, endorsed by Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister), are designed to address retail theft by, among other proposals, allowing restraining orders to keep people who steal away from certain stores and letting prosecutors aggregate the value of thefts across multiple incidents in determining criminal charges.

The "root cause of so much of the chaos and decay" is Proposition 47, said Yolo County Dist. Atty. Jeff Reisig in a post on the social platform X. California voters approved the ballot measure in 2014 to reclassify some felony drug and theft offenses as misdemeanors and to raise, from $400 to $950, the amount for which theft can be prosecuted as a felony.

"Many friends and family who live and work in the urban core of our big cities no longer feel safe even walking to lunch," Reisig said after the scuffle involving the San Jose mayor's security detail on live television. The attack, he said, was "more stark evidence that Californias urban centers have been turned into dangerous places."

He said he hoped voters would get the chance to reform Proposition 47 in November. Mahan and San Francisco Mayor London Breed, both Democrats, have endorsed an effort to increase criminal penalties for fentanyl dealers and repeat organized retail theft rings, as well as provide mandatory treatment for drug users.

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.
Anas Al Borno was lying on a flimsy mattress with his wife and children in a Rafah refugee camp in January when a relative texted with a rare piece of good news. For the first time since Oct. 7, Al Borno and his family were eligible to cross into Egypt.

The main travel agency that arranges such crossings had changed its rules, allowing Palestinians without foreign passports through the land border. But there was a catch  the price to get out for Al Borno and his family was at least $18,000, far more than he could afford.

I didnt have any money, said Al Borno, 36, whose livelihood had been shattered after his small manufacturing business was bombed early in the war. I had no options; how could I live? How could I eat? How could I travel, me and my family?

His lifeline came in the form of a stranger 8,000 miles away  a Jewish graphic designer from California who launched a crowdfunding campaign that ultimately raised most of the money needed for Al Bornos wife and children to cross the border a month later.

This is my only hope in life  to get out of this war, said Al Borno, who stayed behind and continued raising money for himself and other family members to flee. He now spends much of his day communicating with the hundreds of people who have donated.

I feel that they are my closest friends, he said.

Left, Anas Al Borno with his wife, Yasmine, and children Yazan, Abdel Rahman and Julia before the war. Right, his company's Gaza City warehouse after it was bombed in the fall. (Courtesy Anas al Borno)

After more than six months of Israels offensive on the Gaza Strip, which health officials there say has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians and destroyed the vast majority of its buildings, many Gazans like Al Borno are desperate to flee. Thousands have turned to crowdfunding platforms to raise money to cross into Egypt  often the only way out  supported by a growing cadre of strangers abroad helping them clear financial hurdles.

On GoFundMe alone, the most popular platform, more than 12,000 active campaigns for Palestinians in Gaza, largely for evacuation, have launched since Oct. 7. They have raised over $75 million, according to a company spokesperson.

Even for the families who have benefitted from crowdfunding campaigns, though, getting out of Gaza is anything but a straight shot.

Calculated risk

On the southernmost tip of the Gaza Strip, the Rafah border is the only land crossing out of the enclave that does not go to Israel, opening into a militarized zone of Egypts Sinai Desert. After Israel imposed a blockade on the territory in 2007, it became Gazans main access to the outside world. Israeli-controlled crossings were far more difficult to cross or were sealed shut.

But entering Egypt was never simple. Before the war, human rights groups documented bureaucratic hurdles like long delays for crucial visa paperwork and unexplained denials that left Palestinians waiting months or years for permits to cross. Sporadic border closures and mistreatment by border officials were a regular part of the experience.

A network of travel agencies and black market middlemen have long acted as expediters in a process known as tanseeq, the Arabic word for coordination. For a fee, they use connections with Egyptian authorities to speed up paperwork processes and get Palestinians names on the approved list of travelers used by border officials.

Their prices skyrocketed after Oct. 7, when Egypt further restricted who could cross. While there are no official numbers on what coordinators charge, more than a dozen locals familiar with the process reported that pre-war prices were typically $500-$1,000 per person. Since the war began, many fleeing families have reported paying around $7,000 per person  more than twice the average annual income of a family in Gaza.

As the war dragged on, the number of Palestinians desperate to flee rose and Rafahs population swelled fourfold. The cramped bordertown has been designated a safe zone by the Israeli military since December, but has been hit repeatedly by airstrikes in recent months.

To raise the funds to cross the border, many in Gaza turned to crowdfunding platforms like GoFundMe. Until late January, travel agencies, considered the more reputable coordinators, provided services only to Palestinians who had immediate family with foreign passports. That left the majority of Gazans with the black market as their only option. Stories of fleeing families scammed out of thousands circulated widely, eight people told NBC News, leaving many hesitant to use the black market.

Travel agencies opened applications to all Palestinians in late January. Soon after, Israel announced it was planning a ground offensive on Rafah, prompting a rush of people like Al Borno to begin raising money to pay the soaring fees. But that was no easy task. Most travel agencies and middlemen require payment in U.S. dollars in cash. And fundraising platform rules often require a bank account from the U.S. or Europe to launch a campaign.

GoFundMe requires a bank account from one of 19 supported countries, which do not include Egypt, Israel or the Palestinian territories. Many Palestinians unable to launch their own campaigns turned to social media, like Instagram and TikTok, posting about their experiences and asking for help.

Despite patchy internet access throughout the territory, their messages got out. Many were shared widely, triggering a swell of online organizing from people around the world to help them raise money.

People in the U.S., Canada, Switzerland, Sweden, the U.K. and elsewhere began to sponsor campaigns on behalf of families they had never met who were stranded in Rafah. Among them was Caroline Kuspa, a 35-year-old graphic designer in Santa Cruz, California, who connected with Al Borno on Instagram after he began posting videos seeking help.

Al Borno sent her an Instagram DM after she liked one of his stories in February. She responded and the pair began trading messages. Several weeks later, Kuspa offered to launch a GoFundMe after meeting his family on video calls and reviewing relevant documentation.

Launching the campaign was a calculated risk, Kuspa said. I was given a chance to make a life-changing difference for individuals who were part of a group of people Ive been thinking about and worrying about every day for months.

Palestinians seek safety in Rafah (Abed Zagout / Anadolu via Getty Images file)

That risk has paid off. She and Al Borno have raised more than $46,000 and, with the help of relatives abroad, evacuated five of his family members, including his elderly mother and 3-year-old daughter, who has a serious health condition.

NBC News found that GoFundMe had a significant spike in campaigns launched after travel agencies expanded eligibility for their services.

While many of those fundraising stay in Rafah, some venture farther into the war zone chasing cell service. Abdullah Alqatrawi, 24, has traveled as many as 28 miles to more dangerous areas in the Palestinian enclave, dodging airstrikes by hitching rides on trucks, to check his GoFundMe and post more videos.

My way of collecting donations is to shoot films and share them on Instagram, explaining my suffering, he said.

Alqatrawi, a recent college graduate, received a significant uptick in donations last month after one of his Instagram videos was watched more than 85,000 times. He has raised over $15,000 through a campaign managed by people in Belgium and was able to evacuate his mother and four younger siblings to Egypt last week. He remained behind with his father and one brother.

Abdullah Alqatrawi's Instagram features videos he has shot around Gaza in the last few months, including his living conditions, left, the ruins of his neighborhood and his family crossing the border. (@aqatrawii via Instagram)

As the number of online fundraisers climbed, several international groups sprang up to collect and amplify the campaigns. Operation Olive Branch began as an idea in the comments section of a TikTok in early February, a spokesperson from the organization told NBC News, quickly amassing nearly 100,000 followers on TikTok and Instagram. Run by volunteers, it takes submissions for fundraisers to feature, vetting the campaigns by directly asking families verifying questions and examining their social media to confirm they are still in Gaza, and tracking suspected fraudulent fundraisers.

The volunteers received so many submissions that they became overwhelmed and stopped featuring new campaigns for several weeks in March. Operation Olive Branch had 820 fundraisers listed as of late April.

The group began boosting Al Bornos campaign in February. Soon after, he had enough money for his wife and children to leave. Then came the challenge of getting the money into Egypt.

Barriers

Palestinians face far more hurdles in leaving Gaza than just meeting a GoFundMe goal. Once money is raised, it has to get to the coordinator, typically as cash payment in U.S. dollars. But American currency is hard to come by in Egypt.

Many families have resorted to withdrawing U.S. dollars in another country before moving it to Egypt. Two told NBC News they flew from the United States to Cairo with a suitcase full of cash to pay for eight family members permits  more than $35,000. To get Al Bornos family out, Kuspa transferred money to one of his relatives in a nearby country, who then got the cash into Egypt. NBC News reviewed transfer and payment records to verify the transactions.

But payment alone no longer guarantees speedy crossing.

An estimated 80,000 to 100,000 Palestinians have crossed into Egypt since the war began, according to the Palestinian ambassador to Cairo. But over a million more are packed into sprawling refugee camps near the Rafah gate.

A camp for displaced people in Rafah, southern Gaza, by the border with Egypt on April 28, 2024. (AFP - Getty Images)

With so much demand, there is now a backlog to enter Egypt, even for those who pay additional fees to expedite their paperwork. In recent weeks, multiple people told NBC News they have been waiting more than a month after submitting paperwork and paying in cash to Hala, the most popular travel agency. Their loved ones names have yet to appear on Egypts daily list of those approved to cross.

Its really a very chaotic and exploitative situation, said Amr Magdi, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, who focuses on governance and human rights in the Middle East. Even as more people raise the money to leave, the number allowed to cross the border remains a fraction of those wanting to flee the war, he said. Things have gotten more difficult and the money  the bribes  have risen so much.

Egyptian officials have denied allegations of bribery and collection fees at the crossing, saying they come from noncredible and unverified sources. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi has staunchly and repeatedly opposed what much of the Arab world views as attempts to displace Palestinians into Egypt, calling instead for a cease-fire.

Hala, the travel agency, did not respond to a request for comment on its crossing coordinations, pricing and backlog.

Al Borno checks his GoFundMe religiously and talks to Kuspa daily, whenever he has enough internet access  though that is getting more sporadic as Rafah gets more crowded. In addition to the backlog, power outages and imminent famine, Israeli leaders have issued new threats of a ground offensive in Rafah.

Its been two months since Al Borno said goodbye to his wife and children at the Rafah gate.

Everyone was crying, the children didnt want to leave me, Al Borno said. I sit with myself and pray that I will be able to see them soon.

Left, Anas Al Borno's makeshift tent in Rafah. His daughter Julia, 3, right, in front of the tent in February, has since fled to Egypt. (Courtesy Anas Al Borno)

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
(WHTM)  A Cumberland County man was convicted of multiple felonies related to his actions on January 6 at the U.S. Capitol.

According to the U.S. Attorneys Office in the District of Columbia, Joseph Pastucci of New Cumberland was convicted of three felony offenses, including obstruction of an official proceeding, civil disorder, and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers.

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The Justice Department says Pastucci and his wife Jeanette Mangia, a co-defendant awaiting trial, traveled to Washington D.C. to protest the certification of the Electoral College and believed the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump.

The two attended the Stop the Steal rally and walked to the Capitol building where, according to the Justice Department, they entered the Capitol two minutes after the initial breach.

The Justice Department says the two entered the Speaker of the Houses Office Suite where court documents show them taking a picture and moving into the Rotunda. They then moved toward the Senate Gallery and were eventually able to enter the Senate Chamber where they remained for 13 minutes and sat at Senators desks, including Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomeys.

The Justice Department says Pastucci was pushed out of the Capitol by a police officer and that he resisted by grabbing a wooden table by a metal detector and pulling against it as the officer attempted to get him to leave the area. He then shoved the officer in the chest and shoulder area as Mangia kicked an officer in the groin area.







After being forced out of the Capitol the two re-entered as part of a crowd on the east side of the building. Pastucci was one of the last people to enter the Rotunda before officers were able to close the door to stop the flow of rioters.

Pastucci was later seen on body camera telling an officer he wanted to leave after being in the building for approximately one hour.

The Justice Department says Pastucci was identified through a dating website picture where he wore the same blue jacket that he had in the Capitol. On video, investigators identified him by his coat and camouflage Veterans for Trump hat.

Police in New Cumberland were able to identify Pastucci and Mangia through previous interactions.

Pastucci was also convicted of eight misdemeanors including entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds; entering and remaining on the floor of Congress; entering and remaining in certain rooms in the Capitol building; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; act of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings; and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.

Pastucci will be sentenced on August 2, 2024.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27.
Comb Ridge, an 80-mile ridge line in Bears Ears National Monument, is pictured at sunset.

Comb Ridge in Bears Ears National Monument is pictured on May 10, 2018. (Kyle Dunphey/Utah News Dispatch)

Utah Republican Rep. John Curtis bill to repeal a controversial new public lands policy is gaining traction after passing out of the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday.

The WEST Act  short for Western Economic Security Today  would direct the Bureau of Land Management to withdraw its Public Lands Rule that was recently finalized.

The law passed the House after a 212-202 vote. Three Democrat representatives joined Republicans in voting for the bill  Henry Cuellar of Texas, Jared Golden of Maine and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington. Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick was the lone Republican no vote.

The BLM rule would allow for conservation leases, similar to how the agency leases land for mineral extraction, energy development, recreation or grazing. It would create restoration leases for groups or individuals to improve habitats and restore or conserve land  and mitigation leases, to offset existing development and projects on BLM land.

It was celebrated by environmental groups, but Curtis and other Utah Republicans argue the rule would allow groups to permanently hold land while negatively impacting traditional uses like grazing or commercial guiding.

The rule the BLM recently finalized undermines the very people who rely on our federal lands for ranching, grazing, recreation, and beyond. Utahns know the true value of these lands and they should remain open to everyone. Instead, this rule favors wealthy individuals and environmental groups, allowing them to lock up land that belongs to all Utahns, Curtis said in a statement Tuesday after the bill passed.

Curtis framed the rule as another example of Washington D.C. forcing rural Utah to comply with unpopular policy. Most of the state  about 65%  is government land controlled by federal agencies, which Curtis said makes it difficult for local politicians to manage their towns and districts.

The question isnt whether or not we want to protect these lands, but who gets to make the decisions? he said on the House floor. It is critical that Utahs lands remain under the stewardship of those who have tended it for generations. Theres a lot of hyperbole in Washington, and Im genuine when I say this is one of the most offensive attacks on rural Utah I have seen in my career.

Curtis bill was heavily criticized by environmental groups, including the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, which was one of 115 organizations that signed a letter urging lawmakers to vote no.

In a statement, the organizations Washington D.C. director Travis Hammill called the Public Lands Rule overdue and accused Curtis, who is vying for outgoing GOP Sen. Mitt Romneys seat, of campaigning.

The WEST Act is nothing more than election-year grandstanding and has no chance of becoming law, said Hammill. Representative Curtiss decision to sponsor the WEST Act is at odds with the majority of Utahns who support conservation and know climate change is a serious problem.

Michael Carroll, the BLM Campaign Director for The Wilderness Society, described the law as a handout to extractive industries.

Today Congressman Curtis and his anti-public lands partners in the House showed who they really represent: Big Agri-biz, mining and multinational oil companies who want to profit at the expense of our public lands, Carroll said in a statement. People across the West and around the country support the balance between conservation and extraction the Public Lands Rule creates. Sadly, Curtis and his allies want to keep the scales weighted in the favor of the old, dirty extraction industries.

One of Curtis main gripes with the bill is that the BLM didnt consult communities in rural Utah. On Wednesday, Curtis grilled U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, who testified before the House Committee on Natural Resources.

We got no listening sessions in Utah, can you tell me why you werent willing to do that? Curtis asked.

It was a very transparent process, where whoever wanted to comment publicly was able to do so, and I feel very confident that the staff we have in Utah is very close with the local community there, Haaland told Curtis. I feel confident that those local communities have complete access to the BLM staff.

House passes three other natural resource and land management bills

In addition to Curtis bill, the House approved three other bills focused on natural resources and land management Tuesday, promoting a Republican message of dissatisfaction with the Biden administrations approach to conservation.

The bills would remove mining restrictions near Minnesotas Boundary Waters, delist the gray wolf from the Endangered Species Act and block federal bans on lead ammunition.

The bills passed with few members of each party crossing the aisle.

They are unlikely to become law  or even receive a vote in the Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate  but their passage is an election-year message that Republicans support extractive industries in rural communities and oppose what they describe as an overreaching environmental agenda.

Whether its the new BLM rule that fundamentally threatens the western way of life, or the decision to lock up enormous deposits of increasingly scarce minerals, its clear Biden and his bureaucrats have no interest in properly stewarding our federal lands or listening to local stakeholders, House Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman, an Arkansas Republican, said in a statement following the votes.

Democrats blasted the bills, saying they were ideological rather than practical.

The entire House schedule this week misses the mark, California Democrat Jared Huffman said. It elevates right-wing ideology over the actual needs of the American people.

Huffman managed Democratic speakers during much of Tuesdays floor debate in place of House Natural Resources ranking Democrat Raul Grijalva of Arizona, who announced a cancer diagnosis last month.

Biden has signaled strong opposition to the bills.

Gray wolf

The House voted 209-205 to pass a bill authored by Colorado Republican Lauren Boebert that would remove the gray wolf from the federal endangered species list.

Republicans Fitzpatrick, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Mike Garcia of California and Nancy Mace of South Carolina voted against the bill. Democrats Yadira Caraveo of Colorado, Cuellar, Golden and Perez voted in favor.

Under the bill, states would be empowered to manage wolf populations, Boebert said on the House floor.

During floor debate, Republicans said wolves have fully recovered and no longer needed federal protections. They also said the predators were a nuisance to livestock and the ranchers whose livelihoods depend on cattle and sheep.

I stand here today celebrating the success story of the Endangered Species Act, seeing that the gray wolf has been fully recovered, Boebert said. I also stand today  in defense of our farmers and our ranchers.

Democrats argued that while gray wolves numbers have increased, they are still in danger of extinction if federal protections were to disappear.

Virginia Democrat Don Beyer noted that states such as Montana, Wyoming and Idaho that have delisted wolves saw overhunting.

Were in the midst of a biodiversity crisis, Beyer said. We should be supporting current scientific efforts by fully funding the agencies that carry out ESA extinction preservation work.

Let us know what you think...

Beyer also took a veiled shot at South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican who described in a recently published memoir killing her 14-month-old hunting dog in a gravel pit.

Dogs kill twice as many cattle as wolves, Beyer said.

Yet we dont say that all good dogs should go to the gravel pit, he said.

Lead bullets

The House also passed, 214-201, a bill sponsored by Virginia Republican Rob Wittman to block the Department of Agriculture and Department of Interior from regulating the use of lead ammunition or lead fishing equipment on federal lands or waters.

Republicans Fitzpatrick, Gatez and Vern Buchanan of Florida voted against it.

Democrats Cuellar, Donald Davis of North Carolina, Robert Garcia of California, Golden, Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, Mary Peltola of Alaska and Perez voted in favor.

Each side accused the other of indulging special interests on the issue.

Democrats said Republicans were more concerned about blocking regulations on guns than promoting hunting and fishing.

When it comes to guns, and now ammo, any type of restriction is too much for Republican ideology, Huffman said.

Westerman said the bill probably is more aimed at fending off any kind of attack they can take on our Second Amendment rights, but said that Democrats opposition was due to their loyalty to extreme environmentalists.

Manage these lands for the public, not for your special interest, radical environmental groups, he said. I think Congress has to take the lead on that.

Boundary Waters

The House passed, 212-203, a bill to rescind an administration ban on mining operations near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Northern Minnesota. Golden and Perez voted in favor along with all Republicans.

Pete Stauber, the representative from the area who introduced the measure, said it would promote the economy of the mineral-rich region.

Stauber, a Republican who chairs a mining subcommittee, criticized the Biden administrations approach to extractive industries. Boosting domestic mining would give U.S. policymakers more control over environmental and labor protections than importing critical minerals from overseas.

Bidens mining policy of anywhere but America, any worker but American must be stopped, Stauber said. We can find these minerals domestically under the best labor and environmental standards in the world. We know this all too well in Northern Minnesota, where mining is our past, our present and our future.

Democrats objected to the bill, saying it endangered the Boundary Waters separating Minnesota from Canada. The wilderness area is a beloved destination for many in the state.

This piece of legislation would revoke key protections for a watershed that contains some of the purest, freshest water in the nation, in the world, Minnesota Democrat Betty McCollum said.

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The post Curtis bill to repeal BLM public land policy gets green light from House appeared first on Utah News Dispatch.
The Czech Republic celebrated the 20-year milestone with a star-studded ceremony at Prague Castle in the capital on Wednesday.

The central European country became a member of the European Union on 1 May 2004 together with its Visegrad Four counterparts  Slovakia, Hungary, and Poland  and six other European states.

Prime Minister Petr Fiala reiterated Czech support for the enlargement of the EU to include the Western Balkans, Ukraine and Moldova. "Some countries have been seeking entry for a very long time, and we must be transparent and not play any fake game with them. If they meet the conditions, the rules, then we should accept them," he said.

"Let us give them this chance and let us take advantage of the opportunities that enlargement will bring.

Czech President Petr Pavel said the European Union is founded on a basis of "mutual respect" and shared interest. "Membership in the European Union and NATO is the unquestionable foundation of our freedom, prosperity and security," he said.

FILE - Czech Republic's President Petr Pavel speaking on Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2023. - AP

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier also told the crowd that European states can respond collectively to threats against the union and that Ukraine is considered an "integral part" of the continent. "The states that want to live together peacefully and sovereignly in a united Europe can give an answer to this attack," he said.

"And the answer? We support Ukraine as an integral part of Europe and as a future member of [the EU]. And here too, our strength is acting together. We won't let ourselves be worn down or divided.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made an impassioned video speech shown at the event, saying it is an "honour" and a "dream" for countries to be considered part of the European family. "Twenty years ago this dream became a reality for Czechia and I am sure it will soon become a reality for Ukraine," he said.

Ukraine applied for EU membership in 2022 and was granted candidate status. EU leaders and Kyiv are currently undergoing accession negotiations.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was also in Prague for the occasion. She spoke to reporters while touring the Czechoslovak Group company facility: a business specialising in the production of defence, aerospace, ammunition, automotive and railway industry products.

Czech military industry has been "crucial" in supporting Ukraine as it defends itself against Russia's ongoing invasion, von der Leyen said.

"They have delivered and are delivering the so much needed military capability to Ukraine so that Ukraine can defend itself against Russia's war aggression."
A judge could toss out Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Hos lawsuit against the city regarding homeless camps Friday.

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Jill Talley is scheduled to hold a hearing at 9 a.m. Friday. During the hearing, she could dismiss Hos complaint that the city is not doing enough to clear homeless camps from public property. Or she could rule that the case can proceed, potentially to an eventual jury trial with hundreds of witnesses.

The judges staff said Thursday morning that a tentative ruling would be issued later that afternoon.

In September Ho filed the civil lawsuit against the city alleging the city is allowing public and private nuisances to take place, as thousands live in camps lining the capital citys sidewalks, freeway underpasses, and bike trails. In December, Ho filed an amended complaint removing the private nuisance claim and adding an allegation that the city is violating the states Fish and Game Code by allowing the homeless to pollute creeks that flow to the Sacramento and American Rivers.

Sacramento is known as the river city, and thats because the rivers run through the heart of our community, and they are the true natural jewels of our community, Ho said during a December news conference standing in front of tents along a creek on city property. But over the last seven years, the city of Sacramento has allowed that natural jewel to be soiled and polluted.

Mayor Darrell Steinbergs term started roughly seven years ago.

The county, which is in charge of large sections of the American River Parkway, where thousands of unhoused people camp on the river banks, is not named as a defendant in the complaint.

City officials have disputed the claims, saying under its interpretation of the 2018 U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Martin v. Boise ruling, the city cant legally move people off public property unless theres a shelter bed to offer them. The citys roughly 1,300 shelter beds  all of which were opened during Steinbergs tenure  are all typically full, with a wait list topping 2,400. The city has cleared people off certain public properties when theyre fully blocking sidewalks or fire station entrances, or are near schools  places where its ordinances prohibit camping. Recently the city has started issuing criminal citations, similar to traffic tickets, for storing personal belongings on public property.

On Friday, the city filed a court document, called a demurrer, disputing the allegations in Hos amended lawsuit. Talley is set to make a ruling on whether to grant the demurrer Friday.

Mark Merin, a civil rights attorney, said he believes Talley will side with the city and toss out the suit Friday, in part because the city has its own discretion over how it handles so-called public nuisances.

The city has discretion as to how it executes and enforces its own laws, and thats critical to the separation of powers between the city and the DAs Office, said Merin, who frequently sues the city on behalf of the homeless. The city cant be forced to do what the DA thinks is a different or better way to deal with the homeless ... The DA doesnt get to run the city. Thats why we have a City Council.

City Attorney Susana Alcala Wood has accused Ho of suing the city because he plans to run for attorney general, possibly against Steinberg  an allegation Ho has denied.
I keep thinking that it will get better, but it is only getting worse. Racism against Jews is becoming more and more prevalent, more and more permissible, more and more dangerous.

Jewish people are increasingly disturbed, depressed and distressed by what they are witnessing and reading. And there are no signs that this surge in Jew-hate will end any time soon.

The relentlessness of events feeds this anxiety. Not a day goes by without an unsettling story of Jew-hate. It is a daily drumbeat of anti-Semitism. It makes you nervous, puts you on edge, makes you wonder what might happen next.

The ambient anxiety felt by many Jewish people is best understood through events themselves. Stories of racist hatred, violence and abuse from across the globe feel unceasing.

Here is a taste of it, a brief diary of anti-Semitic crimes, threats and stories from just the last few couple of weeks. It is by no means comprehensive.

Tuesday 23 April: Calls for the destruction of the worlds only Jewish State spread across American university campuses. Students at Columbia University show open support for Hamas terror. Their chants include Hamas, we love you. We support your rockets too! and We say justice, you say how? Burn Tel Aviv to the ground!.

Wednesday 24 April: Hamas releases a propaganda video of hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin. He is pale and thin after six months in captivity. His arm is visibly severed below the elbow following the terrorist assault on the Nova music festival. The number of hostages still alive remains unclear.

Thursday 25 April: A man is convicted of murdering a pensioner in Hartlepool. Ahmed Alid said he was inspired by revenge for the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Friday 26 April: A British man is convicted of terror offences related to Jew-hate. Neo-Nazi Mason Reynolds gathered information about a synagogue and made notes outlining a plan to attack it.

Saturday 27 April: A Holocaust Memorial in Hyde Park is covered up to protect it from vandalism during the now regular pro-Palestinian marches in central London. The Governments adviser on anti-Semitism, Lord Mann, described the precaution as sad but necessary.

Sunday 28 April: University College London first-year student Romilly Blitz is interviewed on the radio about her experiences since the 7 October pogrom. She was called a brainwashed Zionist for pointing out that Hamas terrorists had raped and killed Israelis. Miss Blitz was forced to leave campus for two weeks and said she was booed on her return.

Monday 29 April: Reports emerge of an attempted kidnapping of an orthodox Jewish man in Stamford Hill, north London. The police launch an investigation.

This is the daily drip-drip. This is the new anti-Semitic drumbeat that has become a part of everyday life. It gets under your skin. It feels inescapable. It can make it difficult to sleep.

Jewish people talk about it together. Some are angry, some are frightened, others are just very sad. Comfort is found in community and in the greatly appreciated support of non-Jewish friends who reach out with kindness and empathy.

Yet there is no doubt that, for many Jewish people, our social worlds have got smaller since 7 October. There is a new uncertainty about who we can talk openly with, who we can rely on, who may be thinking differently about us now because we believe that the Jewish State has a right to exist.

We cannot allow this to become the new normal for Britains Jewish community. We must not find ourselves in a position in which Jewish people begin to question whether there is a long-term future for them in the UK. This is our home. We are proud Britons. As a nation, we must all do more to put an end to this racist, toxic drumbeat.

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New dairy promises Iowa industry growth but who will milk all those cows?

A dairy herd grazes near Peosta , Iowa on Aug. 16, 2011. (Photo by Lance Cheung/USDA)

Iowa Writers 'Collaborative. Linking Iowa readers and writers.

Im delighted Daisy Brand, LLC will be building a 750,000 square foot manufacturing plant in Boone, Iowa. A total of 255 new jobs will be created, and in return, Daisy will receive $67 million in state and local incentives. Its a feather in the cap of newly elected Mayor Elijah Stines.

Daisy, a family-owned company based in Dallas, Texas, is best-known for its cottage cheese, sour cream, and dip products. Its the most significant new business built in Boone in recent years; Daisy will invest $627 million here. The average employee salary will be $28.85 per hour, along with health benefits. No doubt it will inject an economic booster into the arm of the city, Boone County, and central Iowa.

As a long-time Boone County resident and farmer, I celebrate this good news. However, as an agricultural writer and editor for four decades, I was compelled to dig deeper after reading a story in the Des Moines Register stating, It would mean more cows. A lot more cows.

How many more?

An estimated 43,000 dairy cows to meet the plants production needs. In the same story, Dan Culhane, Ames Chamber president weighed in, saying, It can reinvigorate the dairy industry here.

Reinvigorate is defined as giving new energy or strength. What does it mean in the context of todays dairy industry? An upgrade of the current Iowa dairy model, or something more like Wisconsin? Does it mean Iowa following the lead of California, Texas, or Idaho?

New model overtakes Midwest

I called Wisconsin home for almost four years in the late 1970s. In those days, bucolic 100-cow dairy farms dotted the hills and dales. I spent a lot of time driving two-lane country roads, visiting and interviewing farmers. Often I returned home after dark, and as I passed farms in the shadow of towering silos, Id see lights blazing in the dairy barns, as farmers worked to wrap up the evening milking so they could arise at 4 a.m. the next day and do it all over again.

Fast forward. At about the same time in California, a fledgling dairy industry was expanding, with technology, economies of scale, ample land, and plentiful labor escalating the growth of dairy herds. By 1993, Wisconsin had lost its lead as the highest milk-producing state to California, dropping to #2.

After leaving Wisconsin, my treks back there over the years from my Iowa home base at Successful Farming revealed a starkly changed landscape: Peeling paint on shuttered barns, sagging fences, deserted pastures, with silos left standing sentinel over the graveyards of once thriving 100-cow dairy farms. Wisconsin still has under 7,000 herds, compared to 1,600 much-larger herds in California.

Eastern Iowas dairy farms also have declined. In recent years, northwestern Iowa dairy farms have grown, with larger herd sizes becoming the norm, as farmers from the Netherlands settled there, along with a few transplanted California dairies fleeing development pressures. Most market their milk to Wells (Blue Bunny) and Kemps (formerly Deans Foods) in Le Mars.

Today Texas is #3 in dairy production. You may recall reading about South Fork Dairy Farm in west central Texas in April 2023, when an explosion and fire killed nearly 18,000 head of its herd. Located in Castro County, it has the second-highest milk production in the states, with more than 59,361 cows. South Fork owners plan to rebuild.

Its no coincidence that the first transmission of bird flu (H5N1) to dairy cows happened in Texas, as well as the first human infection in a dairy worker. H5N1 now has been detected in eight states and 30 herds (four states traced their infections back to Texas herds). Scientists say viral fragments found in milk arent the same as active virus. But FDA will continue to monitor the situation.

Adding value  not volume

Iowa ranked #11 in total milk production in 2023. We have about 238,000 milk cows on 1,016 farms, according to the 2022 USDA Ag Census. Adding 43,000 cows would be an 18% increase. How much manure would 43,000 cows produce? (Manure-generated electricity, produced by biodigesters, can be sold to the grid. Some USDA grant funding is available.)

As far as I know, Boone County has one dairy farm. Its a family operation. To boost dairy project entries at the Boone County Fair, Jeremiah Haub volunteered over the past nine years to lease calves to local 4-H club members so they could raise and show calves.

This farm also sells its milk to Picket Fence Creamery, a Dallas County family dairy that reinvented itself to bottle its milk and make its own ice cream back in 2003. The owners had no interest in following industry trends to get bigger. I wrote about Picket Fence years ago; today it also sells directly to Hy-Vee, Caseys General Stores, and Fareway.

Ive also written about Hansens Dairy, near Hudson. In 2004, it launched an on-farm creamery, where they pasteurize and bottle milk, and make butter, cheese curds, and ice cream. Their products also are sold at retailers in the Cedar Falls-Waterloo area. Several Hansen siblings make a living from their valued-added products.

Some smaller dairies are surviving by using robotic milkers, an expensive investment. Others are turning to solar and wind energy to reduce costs, as well as rotational grazing. Ive also reported on farms producing organic milk and artisanal cheeses.

Of course, none of these farms will be sending milk to Daisy Brand. Other conventional farms will need to expand.

No Ubers or bus stops for workers

Who will milk these cows? Circling back to Wisconsin, I traveled there in 2014 to interview farmers and others for a series of stories about immigration reform, as well as dairy worker safety and health. With the industry trend to larger herds, the shrinking pool of family members and local residents no longer could handle the workload.

In Wisconsin, following the lead of California, most dairy workers are immigrants. Dairy farming is year-round, 24/7. Yet the H-2A federal visa is not. Its seasonal, and doesnt meet the needs of farmers and workers.

Clark County, Wisconsin, has the largest number of dairy farms in the state. Undocumented workers can own and register cars and trucks. But legislators didnt want to appear soft on immigration, so they passed a law in 2006 preventing undocumented individuals from obtaining drivers licenses. If workers cannot drive legally, farmers often provide on-farm housing. (Undocumented individuals arent eligible for insurance, either.)

If housing isnt available, and theyre stopped, theyre fined $200.50 for driving without a license. Only 6% of Clark County residents are Hispanic; but they make up 75% of the cases of operating a motor vehicle without a license, according to data compiled for ProPublica by Court Data in Madison.

Recently I read about John Rosenow, one of the farmers I interviewed in 2014, who still is advocating for dairy workers. One of his employees had been stopped on his way to work more often than the law of averages, so Rosenow wrote the judge that he suspected harassment. It didnt help. The workers fines cost him five days of pay.

A total of 19 states allow undocumented individuals to obtain drivers licenses. Guess what? Iowa isnt one of them. How many northwestern Iowa dairy farm workers are in same boat?

Passing legislation just for show

Recently, following the lead of Texas, Iowa legislators passed a law to apprehend and hold noncitizens, and transport them to Mexico, regardless of where theyre from. The law will take effect July 1 unless, like Texas, its blocked by the courts.

Once again, where will the workers come from to milk 43,000 more cows for the Daisy plant? And how will they get to work? Of course, youll find some dairies in surrounding counties. One to the east in Marshall County sells its milk to Anderson Erickson Dairy.

And maybe, just maybe, its premature to worry. Construction of the Boone Daisy plant wont be complete until 2027; the equipment wont be in place until 2029. Iowa has a few years to wrestle with these questions.

Im happy for the growth potential posed by the new Daisy plant in Boone. I want Daisy Brand to thrive here in Boone County. I hope theres a plentiful milk supply for its products. But, wouldnt it be great if 43,000 dairy cows could be raised on 80 different farms  farms with families with children enrolled in local schools, attending local churches, and paying property taxes? Children who would grow up to become the next generation of rural leaders. That would be a win-win growth model for Iowa!

Unfortunately, the trend toward larger farms has created a seismic structural transformation in the labor landscape of agriculture. And the concentration of livestock is a recipe ripe for future disasters: from zoonotic diseases to antibiotic resistance to pollution of water supplies.

Congress has a role to play, too. It failed to act on a bipartisan immigration bill earlier this year, after Trump bullied Republicans into giving him the gift of immigration to use as a cash cow campaign issue this November.

This column first appeared on Cheryl Tevis blog Unfinished Business, and it is republished here via the Iowa Writers Collaborative.

Editors note: Please consider subscribing to the collaborative and its member writers to support their work.

The post New dairy promises Iowa industry growth but who will milk all those cows? appeared first on Iowa Capital Dispatch.
NAIROBI, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan President William Ruto on Thursday announced the promotion of Lieutenant General Charles Muriu Kahariri to the rank of General and appointed him as the new Chief of Defense Forces following the death of General Francis Ogolla in a helicopter crash in April.

Kahariri, who joined the Kenya Defense Forces in April 1987, served as the Vice Chief of Defense Forces before his new appointment.

On the same day, Kenya Air Force Commander Major General John Omenda was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General and named as the new Vice Chief of Defense Forces. 
A mural in Las Manos, Nicaragua, seen in 2016, depicts Sandinista martyrs. Rising to power within the Nicaraguan government in the 1980s, the left-wing Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) was opposed by contra military forces, who were covertly supported by the U.S. government during what was to become known as the Iran-Contra Affair. Credit - Shepard SherbellCORBIS SABA/Corbis via Getty Images

President Ronald Reagan warned in 1986 that if Nicaraguas Sandinistas remained in power, terrorists and subversives would have sanctuary just 2 days driving time from Harlingen, Texas. During the 1980s, Reagan gave more speeches on the Central American country than about almost any other foreign policy issue. Congress voted countless times on his policy of undermining Nicaraguas Cuban- and Soviet-backed government by arming insurgents known as the Contra. White House officials said the stakes were tremendous: Central America, top diplomat Jeane Kirkpatrick declared, was the most important place in the world. For their part, the left-wing revolutionaries who ruled Nicaraguathe Comandantes of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN)became icons of the Cold War. In March 1986, TIME ran a cover story featuring Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega: the headline read The Man Who Makes Reagan See Red.

Much has changed over the past four decades. The Cold War is over. Its ideological battle lines have faded. Today, most Americans know or care little about events in Central America, except inasmuch as they affect the migration patterns of the regions people. Nicaraguan affairs, in particular, largely escape the U.S. publics attention, marking a stark departure from the fervor of the 1980s. This raises a historical puzzle: How did Americans move on so quickly from this Cold War hot spot? Why did Nicaragua transfix them in the first place?

For 40-odd years beginning in the 1930s, Nicaragua was ruled by the dictatorship of the Somoza family. Their repressive regime was sustained, in part, by the support of successive U.S. presidents who saw the Somozas as staunch advocates of U.S. influence in Central America and the Caribbean. Few Americans, however, could locate the country on a map.

Read More: How Policies in the U.S. and Mexico Led to the Detention Center Fire that Killed 39 People

It was in 1979 that Nicaragua burst into the American publics consciousness. That year Sandinista guerrillas entered the international scene by leading the armed overthrow of the Somoza dynasty. Once in power, they promised radical change in one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere.

Cold War geopolitics amplified the revolutions importance for Americans, arguably to the point of distortion. U.S. Cold Warriors believed that a second Cuba would have a domino effect across Central America, eventually creating a Soviet foothold in Americas backyard.

Aggressive action to confront Nicaraguas leftist government was therefore necessary. Nicaragua, Reagan told lawmakers, is just as close to Miami, San Antonio, San Diego, and Tucson as those cities are to Washington. Similar logic justified U.S. involvement across Central America, including military support for the Salvadoran governments war against left-wing rebels.

Those who opposed further intervention pointed out that tiny Nicaragua couldnt actually pose a military threat to the United States. But on a symbolic level, Nicaragua provided American hawks with an opportunity to exorcise the ghost of defeat in Vietnam. The United States showed remarkable hostility toward Nicaraguas government, through its assistance to anti-Sandinista Contra rebels, as well as economic sanctions and direct acts of sabotage.

This David versus Goliath dynamic that pitted the powerful United States against a small developing country enhanced the Sandinista projects international allure. Around the world, left-leaning politicians, activists, and intellectuals hoped that the Sandinistas would create a revolutionary third way in Cold War politics that fused state-led wealth redistribution with respect for democratic liberties. Bernie Sanders  then mayor of Burlington, Vt.  was one of thousands of Americans who even visited Nicaragua in this period. The lofty expectations of outsiders did not always align, however, with the hard realities of governance in Nicaragua or the complex feelings and interests of its diverse population.

While the U.S. Congress, worried by the prospect of a Vietnam-like quagmire, put limits on aid to the Contra, the Reagan administration circumvented these in spectacular fashion. At one point, U.S. officials secretly sold weapons to Iran (in violation of an embargo) and used some of the proceeds to finance the insurgents in Nicaragua. The ensuing Iran-Contra scandal rocked Washington.

Illustration by Paul Davis

Nicaragua fell off the U.S. political radar in 1990, just as the Cold War was ending. Following a war that claimed tens of thousands of lives, Nicaraguans voted the FSLN out in free elections that year. The Revolution was over. Outgoing president Daniel Ortega ditched his olive green fatigues and started fresh as a civilian politician.

Read More: The Cold War Didn't Have to End. Gorbachev Made It Happen

But while Americans moved on, Nicaraguans picked up the pieces. Like contemporaneous conflicts in Guatemala and El Salvador, the war between Sandinistas and Contras had wrecked the countrys economy and left its social fabric hanging by a thread. A transition to electoral democracy in the 1990s brought some form of peace but failed to solve underlying problems of poverty and inequality.

Amid the resulting precariousness, Ortega was reelected as president in 2006 after winning only 38% of the vote. He soon consolidated a dictatorship with his wife (and, later, vice president) Rosario Murillo, facing relatively little institutional or societal pushback.

Their neo-Sandinista regime became far more repressive than the revolutionary government that grabbed headlines in the 1980s. In an example of how Cold War-era ideological frameworks have mutated since then, Ortega and Murillo eschew the socialist economic policies of yesteryear and espouse Christian-conservative social values. At the same time, their regime maintains anti-American rhetoric and enjoys friendly ties with countries like Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran.

When Nicaraguans finally launched protests to demand democratic freedoms in the spring of 2018, Ortega and Murillo launched a crackdown of historic proportions. That year police and paramilitary repression killed over 300 people and injured and displaced many more. By 2023, the regime had jailed or exiled virtually every voice of dissent, including many Sandinistas who helped lead the 1979 revolution. A United Nations inquiry last year accused the regime of having committed crimes against humanity. Stunned by the scale of repression, the studys authors saw fit to compare Ortegas Nicaragua to Germany under the Nazis.

Whereas Americans followed events there closely in the 1980s, Nicaraguas current drama doesnt resonate in the same way. This shift reveals how powerfully geopolitical optics determined what mattered during the Cold War. At the time, U.S. foreign policymakers deemed the Sandinista government unacceptable and spent significant resources seeking its destabilization. Today, few in the West find Ortegas presidency especially relevant for their interests. Nor do they feel threatened by Nicaraguas alignment with Russia and China. After all, Nicaragua  a country of less than 7 million people  has a Gross Domestic Product of roughly 15 billion dollars. (For context, the Bureau of Economic Analysis calculates that of Tucson to be around 55 billion.)

Read More: My Father Was a Vocal Critic of Nicaraguas President. Now Hes a Political Prisoner

The history of Nicaraguas time in the U.S. purview is a poignant reminder that narratives shaping our understanding of the world around us are often ephemeral, and reveal more about the people observing and generating those narratives than the realities of those involved. What we find pressing in world politics today may seem trivial in a few decades, just as there are current crises whose significance we will only fully grasp in hindsight.

The armed conflicts of the 1970s and '80s, in which U.S. financing and weapons played a major role, traumatized Central Americans and left their countries more impoverished and violent than they might have otherwise been. This, in turn, is one reason why so many people leave the region and come to the United States (including a small but rapidly growing number of Nicaraguans). The headlines came and went, but the consequences of being a hot spot were both tangible and lasting.

Mateo Jarquin is Assistant Professor of History and Co-Director of the Program in War, Diplomacy, and Society at Chapman University. He is the author of The Sandinista Revolution: A Global Latin American History (University of North Carolina Press, 2024).

Made by History takes readers beyond the headlines with articles written and edited by professional historians. Learn more about Made by History at TIME here. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of TIME editors.

Contact us at letters@time.com.
Daniels lawyer believed Cohen was going to kill himself when Trump denied him White House gig

Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, was allegedly upset when he discovered he would not be getting a top job in the White House - Drew Angerer/Getty

Stormy Daniels former lawyer has said he thought Michael Cohen was going to kill himself when Donald Trump did not give him a plum job in the White House.

Keith Davidson said Mr Cohen had previously discussed how he hoped to become Mr Trumps chief of staff or attorney general.

But in December 2016 Mr Cohen realised he was not being handed a top job and called Mr Davidson while depressed and despondent.

He said something to the effect of, Jesus Christ, can you f---ing believe Im not going to Washington?, Mr Davidson told prosecutors in his second day of testimony during Mr Trumps hush money criminal trial.

He said Mr Cohen told him After everything Ive done for that f---ing guy  I cant believe Im not going to Washington. Ive saved that guys a so many times you dont even know.

Mr Davidson said Mr Trump also complained that that f---ing guy hadnt repaid him the $130,000 for the Ms Daniels deal.

Mr Trump is accused of covering up hush money payments  including $130,000 given to Ms Daniels by Mr Cohen  recording them instead as legal expenses.

The 77-year-old has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records. He has denied having a sexual encounter with Ms Daniels or Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model, who claimed she had a 10-month affair with Mr Trump in the mid-2000s.

Donald Trump watches as lawyer Keith Davidson is questioned during a trial before Justice Juan Manuel Merchan - Jane Rosenberg/reuters

Asked about the call during defence lawyer Emil Boves cross-examination, Mr Davidson said: I thought he was going to kill himself.

The jury was also played three clips from an audio of a conversation that Mr Cohen had secretly recorded when he was speaking to Mr Richardson.

Nobodys thinking about Michael, Mr Cohen said in the recording.

He added: Im sitting there and Im saying to myself, what about me? What about me?

Referring to Mr Trump, Mr Cohen said: I cant even tell you how many times he said to me I hate the fact that we did it.

Mr Davidson clarified that Cohen was speaking about the deal between Ms Daniels and Mr Trump.

The court was also given an insight into how Mr Davidson helped craft cleverly worded denials of Mr Trumps affair with Ms Daniels.

In one statement issued on Jan 10 2018 Ms Daniels said claims she and Mr Trump had a sexual and/or romantic affair were absolutely false.

Mr Davidson, who prepared the statement, said an extremely strict reading of the denial would show it was technically true.

Asked how it is technically correct, Mr Davidson said: I think youd have to hone in on the definition of romantic, sexual and affair.

He added: I dont think anyone had ever alleged that any interaction between she and Mr Trump was romantic.

A second denial stated the pair had never had a sexual relationship. Mr Davidson said a relationship implies something that goes on for an extended period of time.

He also claims the denials of hush money payments were technically correct, as he would never use that term.

Rather, he said, he would refer to the $130,000 pay-off to keep Ms Daniels quiet as a consideration.

Mr Davidson is seen as a critical building block for the prosecutions case that Mr Trump and his allies hatched a catch and kill scheme to bury negative stories in the run up to the 2016 presidential election.

He represented both adult movie star Ms Daniels and Ms McDougal in negotiations that resulted in the rights to their claims of sexual encounters.

The jury was also shown a text message Mr Davidson sent to Dylan Howard, the former National Enquirer editor, at 3am on election night, saying: What have we done?

Asked about what he meant, Mr Davidson said it had been gallows humour.

Mr Howard responded: Oh my god.

There was an understanding that our efforts may have in some way  strike that  our activities may have in some way assisted the presidential campaign of Donald Trump, Mr Davidson told the court.

Donald Trump with his lawyer, Emil Bove, deny all the charges - Doug Mills/The New York Times

Earlier on Thursday, Mr Trump was accused of further violating his gag order with corrosive and insidious attacks on witnesses.

Days after the judge overseeing his hush money case warned the former president he could be jailed for future breaches, prosecutors claimed four recent comments by Mr Trump also fell foul of the court order.

The alleged breaches included attacks on Mr Cohen made in the courthouse hallway, as well as comments about the jury and former tabloid boss David Pecker, who testified last week.

His statements are corrosive to this proceeding and the fair administration of justice, prosecutor Christopher Conroy said.

Calling on Justice Juan Manuel Merchan to hand Mr Trump another $4,000 (3,200) fine  $1,000 for each alleged violation  he added that Mr Trumps attacks create an air of menace.

Mr Merchan will rule on the four alleged violations at a later date.

On Tuesday Mr Trump was held in criminal contempt for nine violations of the court order, which prohibits statements about witnesses, jurors and court staff.

Mr Merchan fined Mr Trump $9,000 and ordered the Republican presidential nominee to remove the offending posts from his Truth Social account and his campaign website.

The trial continues.

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On April 27, a daring rescue mission lasted 11 hours, and ended up saving two experienced hikers in northern California.

The climbers told dispatch they tried to summit Mount Shasta and snowboard down the Avalanche Gulch Route, according to the Siskiyou County Sheriffs Office.

But, they triggered a wind slab avalanche at 13,000 feet, which swept them down 1,000 feet.

Courtesy: Siskiyou County Sheriffs Office

Courtesy: Siskiyou County Sheriffs Office

Courtesy: Siskiyou County Sheriffs Office

Courtesy: Siskiyou County Sheriffs Office

Courtesy: Siskiyou County Sheriffs Office

Sheriff said in a social media post that this is when the climbers called for help. One of the two men broke his femur during the fall, the other hurt his knee.

The Siskiyou County Sheriffs Office Search and Rescue Team, the USFS Climbing Rangers and a group of professional mountain guide volunteers mobilized on the ground to begin an extraction, the sheriffs office said.

CHP helicopters brought first responders to an area 3,500 vertical feet below the injured climbers, and rescuers were able to find the injured men at about 6:20 p.m. and started to treat their injuries.

The man with the injured femur was showing signs of frostbite and hypothermia, the sheriffs office said. The other man with the injured knee was able to self-rescue and snowboard back to the trailhead.

Both are expected to make a full recovery.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
DARLINGTON COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW)  A suspect in a deadly Darlington County shooting turned himself in to law enforcement Wednesday evening, authorities said Thursday morning.

Deputies responded Wednesday evening to the shooting on Johnson Street in the Hartsville area, according to the sheriffs office, which said the suspect is being treated at a local hospital.

News13 Photo: Curtis Graham

News13 Photo: Curtis Graham

News13 Photo: Curtis Graham

The sheriffs office said more information would be released once all charges are filed. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division is assisting the investigation.

Sheriff James Hudson Jr. told News13 Wednesday evening that the coroners office was called to the scene.

As you can see, we have a large presence of law enforcement, Hudson said. And right now, were just trying to figure out everything that is going on so that we can get all of the details together. Thats probably going to take us a while.

 Download the News13 app to stay updated on the go

 Sign up for WBTW email alerts to have breaking news sent to your inbox.

 Find todays top stories on WBTW.com for the Grand Strand and Pee Dee.

Count on News13 for updates.

* * *

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.

* * *

Caleb is a digital producer at News13. Caleb joined the team in January 2023 after graduating from Liberty University. He is from Northern Virginia. Follow Caleb on X, formerly Twitter, and read more of his work here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBTW.
Nearly half arrested in Columbia, CCNY Gaza protests were outsiders, but unclear if they were agitators

NEW YORK  Almost half of the more than 280 pro-Palestinian protesters arrested at Columbia University and City College this week werent students or faculty at the schools, according to data released by Mayor Adams administration Thursday.

The issue of whether outside agitators were behind the encampment protests at Columbia and CCNY that culminated in the short-lived occupation of Columbias Hamilton Hall has become a focus of intense debate. Mayor Eric Adams, NYPD officials and college leaders have repeatedly said outsiders were influencing student behavior, while student protest leaders deny thats the case.

The data released Thursday, while pointing to the involvement of many outsiders, didnt make clear how many of the arrested demonstrators fit the bill of being agitators. Officials have declined to say who those suspected agitators are or how many of them were arrested.

The data from Adams administration, portions of which were first reported by The New York Daily News before its late afternoon release, show 134 of the 282 people arrested in Tuesday nights raids at Columbia and City College werent students or faculty. Other arrest data obtained by the Daily News show that about a third of those arrested were 30 or older, though it was not clear from those statistics how many of them were or werent students.

The new info comes two days after hundreds of police officers in riot gear stormed the uptown Manhattan campuses of Columbia and City College, arresting the scores of pro-Palestinian demonstrators who had set up encampments days or weeks earlier to protest Israels war against Hamas.

Most of the arrests took place at Harlems City College campus, where 170 people in total were taken into custody on charges of burglary, assault on a police officer, obstructing governmental administration, criminal mischief, resisting arrest, trespassing and disorderly conduct, according to the data.

Of the 170, 102 were unaffiliated with the college, according to the data. The statistics do not make clear who the unaffiliated arrestees are or whether they were actively involved in the days-long protest or simply on or around the campus as the raids took place Tuesday night.

At Columbia, 112 people were arrested in total on similar charges, 80 of them students or faculty, the data say. The rest were in the unaffiliated category, according to the data.

Forty-four of the arrests at Columbia happened inside the occupied Hamilton Hall, according to other data obtained by the Daily News. Of them, 25 were Columbia students or employees, six were students at unidentified affiliated institutions and 13 were nonaffiliates, the data say.

Before the release of the data, Adams, who has repeatedly said the protests were heavily influenced by unidentified professional and external activists, said on NPR that about 40% of those arrested were outsiders.

He went on to say an NYPD Intelligence Divisions inquiry into the  outside agitators was based on his own gut reaction to what he perceived was going on at the protests.

They came back, substantiated on the Columbia grounds and other grounds that there were those that were professionals who participated in training, participated in some of the activities, he said.

Student leaders of the campus protests have denied the demonstrations have been led by outsiders and argue Adams use of the phrase is meant to delegitimize their demands for their schools to divest Israeli financial holdings over the countrys ongoing military campaign in Gaza, which was launched in response to Hamas Oct. 7 terror attacks. The Israeli military incursion has left more than 34,000 Palestinians dead, including thousands of children.

Leadership at Columbia and City College have echoed the mayor in saying that outsiders were involved in protests that roiled their campuses in recent weeks.

Students inside the encampment began to warn us that outsiders among them were planning to take over a building, City College President Vince Boudreau wrote in an email Wednesday to students and faculty.

When students briefly occupied an administrative building on the City College grounds in Harlem Tuesday night, he said, campus public safety entered it and arrested 31 protesters, none of whom were City College students. Of the 31 individuals arrested, five were affiliated with CUNY as students or employees, while at least 10 were not residents of New York State, Boudreau said.

Columbia President Minouche Shafik in a memo Wednesday also blamed protests that have persistently mobilized outside our gates for making many students feel uncomfortable and unwelcome.

Adams said the tipping point for him in analyzing the influence of outsiders came when he learned one woman who attended the Columbia demonstration is the wife of a man arrested on federal terrorism charges.

He didnt name the woman, but The Associated Press identified her as Nahla Al-Arian, a 63-year-old retired teacher whose husband was deported to Turkey in 2015 after pleading guilty to a conspiracy charge related to providing financial support to Palestinian Jihad, a terrorist group.

Al-Arian told the AP that she stopped by the campus protester encampment last week with her daughter. She was not present for Tuesdays raids, and police officials have said theres no indication of wrongdoing on her part.

I could not sit back and state that Im going to allow this to continue to escalate, Adams said. The school sent us a letter and reinforced their observation that there were outside individuals influencing the protests.

With pro-Palestine protests expected to continue in the city as the weather heats up, the mayor also offered some advice for local colleges.

On Fox5, he called on them to enforce a zero tolerance policy on encampment protests going forward.

Soon as that tent goes up, it comes down, do not allow this to continue to expand, he said.

Other local Democrats have said colleges should instead engage in discussion with campus protesters.

Theyve pointed to Brown University, where a pro-Palestinian encampment was voluntarily disassembled this week after school leaders committed to a dialogue with protesters about their demands to divest from Israeli financial holdings.

You should not call the Police Department, city Public Advocate Jumaane Williams told the Daily News. You should do what other universities did around the country. They opened up a dialogue so they can listen to what people are saying, acknowledge their pain and have a way for people to have a conversation.

_____
On This Day, May 2: 630 Nigerian Muslims die in Yelwa massacre

A Nigerian Muslim woman and her husband assess the damage to their home in the town of Yelwa, Friday on May 7, 2004. On May 2, Nigerian Christian militants attacked the Muslim town of Yelwa with firearms and machetes in reprisal for an attack in February 2004. File Photo by Stringer/EPA

May 2 (UPI) -- On this date in history:

In 1519, Leonardo da Vinci, Italian artist, scientist and inventor, died at age 67.

In 1611, a new translation of the Bible in England, popularly called the King James Bible after King James I, was published.

In 1863, Confederate Gen. Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson was mistakenly shot by his own soldiers. He died eight days later.

File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI

Myanma service members form a line to unload water supplies from a U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft at Rangoon International Airport in Myanmar on May 12, 2008. The shipment of water, mosquito nets and blankets arrived on the first of three planned relief flights to provide aid to citizens devastated by Tropical Cyclone Nargis. File Photo by Andres Alcaraz/U.S. Marine Corps

In 1913, the United States formally recognized President Yuan Shikai and his Republic of China.

In 1941, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission approved the regular scheduling of commercial television broadcasts.

The Sunshine Miners Memorial in Idaho honors the 91 miners who died in a mine fire in 1972. File Photo by Visitor7/Wikimedia

File Photo by Larry Rubenstein/UPI

In 1972, 91 people were killed by carbon monoxide poisoning in a mine fire in Kellogg, Idaho. The Sunshine Mine is one of the world's most profitable silver mines in the world.

Leonardo da Vinci's "Salvator Mundi" painting is on display at a press preview at Christie's in New York City on November 3. On May 2, 1519, the Italian artist, scientist and inventor, died at age 67. File Photo by Dennis Van Tine/UPI

In 1972, J. Edgar Hoover died at the age of 77 after nearly five decades as director of the FBI.

In 1995, the Clinton administration announced that Cuban boat people seeking asylum in the United States would be henceforth returned to Cuba.

The Museum of the Bible is seen during a preview in Washington, D.C., on November 14. On May 2, 1611, a new translation of the Bible in England, popularly called the King James Bible after King James I, was published. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI

In 2004, Nigerian Christian militants attacked the Muslim town of Yelwa with firearms and machetes in reprisal for an attack in February 2004. The Nigerian Red Cross put the death toll at 630.

In 2008, Tropical Cyclone Nargis, with winds up to 120 mph, slammed into densely populated southern Myanmar. The death toll was eventually raised to nearly 140,000 people.

A wax figure of J. Edgar Hoover is on display during a preview of the Newseum's exhibit, "G-Men and Journalists: Top News Stories of the FBI's First Century" in Washington, on June 17, 2008. Hoover died May 2, 1972 at the age of 77. File Photo by Roger L. Wollenberg/UPI

In 2010, Greece was saved from defaulting on its debts by the International Monetary Fund and the 16 European countries of the eurozone, which agreed on a $146 billion loan package for the struggling country.

In 2014, a landslide struck a remote village in north Afghanistan, killing more than 2,000 people. An international official called the massive mud and rock collapse "absolutely devastating."

In 2019, a drone delivered an organ for transplant for the first time -- a kidney at a Maryland hospital.

In 2022, a draft opinion by the Supreme Court overturning the landmark abortion ruling Roe vs. Wade was leaked. The high court officially released its opinion on June 24, 2022.

In 2023, the board of directors for the Writers Guild of America voted unanimously to go on strike after negotiations for better pay with major studios and streaming services. The walkout ended Sept. 27, 2023, with an agreement.

For the first time in 15 years, entertainment industry writers walk picket lines at Paramount Pictures and numerous other studios in Los Angeles on May 2, 2023. Pictured is actor John Owen Lowe, who joined strikers on the picket line. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI
Five days before pro-Israeli counterprotesters attacked a pro-Palestinian camp at UCLA, the university Police Department asked other campuses for additional police, according to the head of the UC police officers union.

But the requests  which would have provided UCLA with more police officers as they dealt with the camp and a dueling area erected by pro-Israeli activists  were both quickly canceled, according to internal communications reviewed by The Times.

UCLA officials did not respond to a request for comment about the cancellations.

The requests for additional police resources add to the questions about why UCLA was so underprepared when dozens of people swarmed the pro-Palestinian camp Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, attacking protesters who were occupying the space on the campus.

Law enforcement sources said there were only a handful of UCLA officers on duty at the time, and they were quickly overwhelmed. It would take hours for officers from the Los Angeles Police Department, the California Highway Patrol and other agencies to arrive and stop the violence.

Read more: UCLA struggles to recover after 200 arrested, pro-Palestinian camp torn down

UCLA's handling of the upheaval is now the subject of an external review by the University of California and has been roundly criticized.

Wade Stern, an officer at UC Riverside and the president of the Federated University Police Officers Assn., told The Times that the mutual aid call would have allowed for members of UCPD's Systemwide Response Team  a group of about 80 officers across the portfolio of schools known as the SRT  to deploy to UCLA. The request would have placed the extra officers on campus from Sunday to Tuesday, Stern said.

"Weve all been trying to get up there and go help," he said.

Read more: Photos: Clashes at pro-Palestinian demonstrations on California campuses

The two requests for mutual aid were made Thursday and Friday, but both were canceled within a few hours, according to documents reviewed by The Times. UCLA requested and received aid on Sunday to deal with counterprotesters at the camp.

The request for mutual aid was not sent out again, despite the fact that SRT members were standing by, ready to head to UCLA, Stern said.

It's not clear how many more officers UCLA would have received or whether the additions would have been enough to prevent Tuesday's violence.

But the university is already facing scrutiny over the way it handled the incident.

Read more: 'Unacceptable': Why it took hours for police to quell attack at UCLA pro-Palestinian camp

The limited and delayed campus law enforcement response at UCLA last night was unacceptable  and it demands answers, a spokesperson for California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement Wednesday.

When camps started popping up on college campuses, UC took a lighter touch in handling protests than USC, Columbia and other campuses that have called in police, who have arrested hundreds of people, many of them students.

But on Tuesday, hours before the camp was attacked, UCLA declared the gathering "unlawful." On Thursday morning, hundreds of CHP officers moved in and disassembled the camp, arresting more than 200 people.

The SRT is little-known but is a key tool for the 10 small police departments at the UC schools. UCLA Police Chief John Thomas called his force "underemployed" in a February interview with the Daily Bruin. He has 65 officers, whereas when he was the chief at USC across the city, he had 300. Thomas said that UCLA needed about 15 more officers than it had on staff.

A request for mutual aid through the SRT has to be made by the host university's chief of police, according to the UC police procedures manual.

Read more: Gazans thank U.S. campus protesters. Israel condemns what it sees as 'Nazi-like behavior'

Thomas did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Stern's union put out a statement Wednesday noting that the police departments across the UC system take their orders from the chancellors of the schools.

"When protests erupt on campus, the decisions regarding the response of the UC Police rest firmly in the hands of campus leadership," the union said in a statement.

The union noted the difference between "operational execution," which was under the departments, compared to "strategic direction," which was controlled by the school administrators, according to the statement.

On Thursday, UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said in a statement the university's approach to the encampment was guided by the need to support the safety and well-being, as well as the free expression, of its students coupled with the need to minimize teaching and learning disruptions.

"When physical violence broke out [Tuesday] night, leadership immediately directed our UCPD police chief to call for the support of outside law enforcement, medical teams and the fire department to help us quell the violence," Block said.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
WASHINGTON (DC News Now)  Police said two people were arrested for two robberies that took place in Southeast D.C. on April 30.

Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers responded to the unit block of 49th Street around 11:15 a.m. and the 5300 block of B St. SE around 4:30 p.m. for the robberies.

MPD said that in each case, the suspects approached the victims while armed with guns and took property before escaping in a vehicle.

Police said that there were four suspects in total.

Man shot, critically hurt in broad daylight in Southeast DC

Prince Georges County Police Department officers found two of the four suspects after they bailed out of a stolen vehicle. Officers found evidence of the robberies inside the stolen vehicle and also recovered a gun.

Police arrested and charged a 16-year-old boy and 18-year-old Saivon Davis of no fixed address for the two armed robberies and for carrying a pistol without a license.

The boy was being charged as an adult.

MPD said that the two were involved in several other robberies in Maryland.

Anyone with any information should call (202) 727-9099 or text 50411.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
A manager with power equipment multinational Hitachi Energy has said that China's drive to realize "dual carbon goals" has created great opportunities. #GLOBALink





Produced by Xinhua Global Service




Flooding due to heavy rains in the city of Encantado

Flooding due to heavy rains in the city of Encantado

SAO PAULO (Reuters) -The death toll from heavy rains in Brazil's southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul rose to 29, local authorities said on Thursday evening, as the state government declared a state of public calamity to handle the dramatic situation.

The storms, which have caused the greatest devastation in the state in recent years, also left 60 people missing and 10,242 displaced in 154 cities, according to Rio Grande do Sul's civil defense.

"It's not just another critical case; it's the most critical that the state will probably have recorded in its history," state Governor Eduardo Leite said in a live broadcast on social media, adding that the situation is worse than last year's rains in the state.

More than 300,000 people have also been left without electricity after a dam at a small hydroelectric power plant burst on Thursday, the state's main utilities company said.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva flew over the affected areas and met with Governor Leite in Santa Maria on Thursday for an emergency meeting.

"I told the governor and my ministers that the federal government will make every effort. ... We will take care of this with great care and respect," Lula said during the meeting.

In a video posted on social media, Leite called for coordination in the efforts to rescue people, asking for "full force" as he declared a state of public calamity citing the risk faced by the state as a result of climate events.

Lula told Leite in a call late on Wednesday he would send as many men as necessary to help deal with the situation, the president's office said.

Brazil has faced a recent spate of natural disasters. More than 50 people were killed in Sao Paulo state last year after massive downpours caused landslides and flooding.

(Reporting by Fernando Cardoso in Sao Paulo and Pedro Fonseca in Rio de Janeiro; Additional reporting by Marcela Ayres; Editing by Richard Chang)
How a 'death trap' for fish in California's water system is limiting the pumping of supplies

The Harvey O. Banks Pumping Plant near Byron, Calif., sends water uphill to the California Aqueduct. (Paul Kuroda/For The Times)

Giant pumps hum inside a warehouse-like building, pushing water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta into the California Aqueduct, where it travels more than 400 miles south to the taps of over half the state's population.

But lately the powerful motors at the Harvey O. Banks Pumping Plant have been running at reduced capacity, despite a second year of drought-busting snow and rain.

The reason: So many threatened fish have died at the plant's intake reservoir and pumps that it has triggered federal protections and forced the state to pump less water.

The spike in fish deaths has angered environmentalists and fishing advocates, who argue the state draws too much water from the delta while failing to safeguard fish. Conversely, the reduced pumping has vexed Central Valley growers and water districts, who have complained that they need more water from the estuary and that deliveries are being unduly limited by regulatory constraints and outdated infrastructure.

Together, their criticisms have placed renewed attention on the half-century-old pumps and fish protection facilities that are critical linchpins of the State Water Project, one of the worlds largest water-delivery systems. The recent problems are also adding to the complex debate over how the state should manage water in the delta, and whether it should build a $16-billion water tunnel beneath the region.

The Los Angeles Times recently requested a tour of the pumping plant and its nearby fish-collecting facility to gain insights into California's struggle to uphold environmental protections while delivering water to the state's cities and farmlands.

The idea is to intercept as many fish as we can and collect them before they end up here in the pumping plant, said Javier Miranda, a biologist and environmental program manager. "We want to save those fish, return them back out into the delta.

Water passes from Clifton Court Forebay through an inlet to the John E. Skinner Delta Fish Protective Facility, where fish are collected. (Paul Kuroda/For The Times)

The states massive pumps, as well as nearby federal pumps that draw water into the canals of the Central Valley Project, are powerful enough that they regularly reverse the flow of water in parts of the south delta. The risk for fish is not just that they may be drawn into pump machinery and killed, but also that they will first be pulled into waters where they are easy prey for predators.

The process begins at a holding reservoir called Clifton Court Forebay, northwest of Tracy, where gates are regularly opened to allow water to flow in from the delta's rivers and channels.

Miranda and his colleagues rode in a van to the forebay, passing green pastures where cattle were grazing among yellow blooming mustard. Two people stood with fishing poles on the banks of the shimmering reservoir, which covers nearly 2,200 acres.

Enclosed in levees, the shallow forebay is filled with nonnative striped bass and other predators, which feed on juvenile salmon, steelhead trout and other native fish.

Some experts describe the forebay as a death trap for fish species that have suffered major declines in recent years.

Studies have shown that about 75% of the young salmon that pass through the gates are killed by predators in the forebay, Miranda said.

For several years, he and other state scientists carried out an experimental program to capture as many nonnative fish as they could. They used methods including stunning fish with an electric current and trapping them with nets, then releasing them in another reservoir.

A striped bass is pulled from Clifton Court Forebay on a fishing line. (Paul Kuroda/For The Times)

Ultimately, however, Miranda said they stopped the effort because it wasnt improving the survival rate of salmon in the forebay.

Some environmentalists have urged the state to redesign the reservoir and erect large screens that would prevent fish from being drawn into the forebay, but state water officials say that wouldn't solve the problems.

Those fish that manage to avoid predators in the forebay next encounter an elaborate system of underwater barriers at the John E. Skinner Delta Fish Protective Facility, which has been operating since 1968.

Birds fly over a structure made up of metal louvers that guides fish into the John E. Skinner Delta Fish Protective Facility. (Paul Kuroda/For The Times)

Beside the facility, located about 2 miles from the pumps, Miranda and his colleagues stood on a bridge over the 158-foot-wide intake channel.

On one side, beside a floating boom designed to trap debris, a mechanical gripping device lifted out a tangle of aquatic weeds. The plants, which were discarded in a bin, gave off a smell of muddy decay.

On the other side of the bridge, the water flowed through a structure made up of dozens of metal panels arranged in a zigzag formation.

Each metal louver resembles a giant vertical blind or a tall fence, with the slats spaced 1 inch apart  large enough to allow large volumes of water to pass through while also functioning as a fish guidance device.

This is our first point where we're guiding fish into the facility, Miranda said. It's to protect fish that would otherwise go to the pumping plant.

Javier Miranda, an environmental program manager in the State Water Project's delta fisheries monitoring section, leads a tour of the John E. Skinner Delta Fish Protective Facility. (Paul Kuroda/For The Times)

The spaces between the metal slats create ripples, and fish tend to swim away. The system funnels many of the fish toward pipes that carry them into the collection facility.

About 75% to 80% of fish that make it to this point are collected, Miranda said. And then the remainder are what we directly lose to the pumps.

As Miranda and others walked on a metal grate over the channel, two workers in hard hats stood on a platform spraying water to clean algae off a metal louver.

Every single one of these is lifted and cleaned every week, said Trent Schaffer, the acting civil maintenance branch manager. The cleaner they are, the more efficient the flow through the facility is.

The captured fish pass through four large pipes, then enter other channels with louvers and screens, and finally travel through smaller pipes into the building, where they end up in 20-foot-wide concrete tanks.

Trent Schaffer, acting civil maintenance branch manager, and Javier Miranda, an environmental program manager, stand in front of a spare metal louver. The 13-foot-tall panel is one of dozens placed underwater to guide fish into the John E. Skinner Delta Fish Protective Facility. (Paul Kuroda/For The Times)

Biologists have found that nearly all the fish that arrive in the building live through the process.

Once they get in here, its very high survival, Miranda said.

The fish that are collected are regularly transferred to a truck with an oxygenated tank and hauled to one of several locations in the delta to be released. Before that occurs, however, the facility operators will collect a sample of the fish from one of the concrete tanks, and use it to estimate the total number that are salvaged.

It's impossible for us to count all of the fish, Schaffer said.

Based on the number of fish collected, the employees estimate how many are killed by predators in the forebay or sucked into the pumps. These estimates are tracked against limits in the facilitys permits under endangered species laws.

An employee uses a claw-like device to remove aquatic plants from the channel at the John E. Skinner Delta Fish Protective Facility. (Paul Kuroda/For The Times)

During the tour of the Skinner facility, the pumping plant was not running, so there were no fish in the collection tanks. However, the staff demonstrated how they collect a sample.

First, a 90-gallon steel bucket with sieve-like perforations was lowered into one of the tanks on a cable. When it was lifted, water rushed out forcefully, filling the building with a crashing sound and causing metal railings to vibrate as a whirlpool formed in the bottom of the tank.

Next, the bucket slid into position above a vat resembling a large cooking pot, and emptied its payload. In this vat, workers will count, identify and measure each fish by hand.

Read more: As fish deaths increase at pumps, critics urge California agencies to improve protections

Last month, environmental groups called for state and federal agencies to reduce pumping after the estimated losses of steelhead trout and winter-run Chinook salmon exceeded maximum annual limits.

Managers of the facility said theyve limited pumping in recent months after steelhead and salmon moved into the area, and have further cut water exports to minimal levels in recent weeks because of flow requirements for another species, longfin smelt.

At other times, pumping has been reduced to avoid harming endangered delta smelt , which are on the brink of extinction.

The methods of collecting fish have largely remained the same since the facility was built. But the system was enlarged in 1986, when the number of pumps was increased from seven to 11.

Read more: California increases water allocation after wet winter, but fish protections limit pumping

At full capacity, the pumping plant now consumes as much power as 211,000 homes. It pushes water 244 feet uphill and can send a river pouring into the aqueduct at a rate of up to 10,870 cubic feet per second. The water flows to farmland in the San Joaquin Valley and cities across Southern California.

Miranda and other state officials acknowledge that there are significant shortcomings in the existing facilities, such as the forebay filled with predators, but say they are making improvements in operations. They also tout the infrastructures effectiveness at directing most fish away from the pumps and keeping the water flowing.

A poster shows fish species that are collected at the Skinner fish facility near Byron. (Paul Kuroda/For The Times)

To prevent migrating fish from entering the south delta, the Department of Water Resources installed a fence-like system that creates a barrier of bubbles at the junction of the Sacramento River and Georgiana Slough in the north delta. Along with the bubbles, the system emits flashing lights and pulsating sounds that encourage fish to keep moving down the Sacramento River toward San Francisco Bay, away from the interior delta and the zone of the pumps.

Some managers call this the disco barrier. They say it's proving to be effective.

The department has also sought to improve the operation at the fish-collection facility by incorporating genetic testing technologies to more accurately differentiate between endangered and non-endangered types of salmon.

Despite these efforts, managers of the State Water Project have so far limited this years allocation to 40% of suppliers full allotments  the same level that federal officials have set for agricultural water districts south of the delta.

The restrictions on pumping have demonstrated the challenges the state faces with the existing infrastructure and the location of the pumps, said Karla Nemeth, director of the Department of Water Resources.

It's limiting the movement of water in a period where we should be focused on moving more so that we're better prepared for a dry year, Nemeth said.

She said thats one of the reasons Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed building the Delta Conveyance Project , a 45-mile tunnel that would transport Sacramento River water beneath the delta and create a second delivery route.

Read more: Newsom wants to build a $16-billion water tunnel. Will it destroy California's delta?

Newsom has said the project is critically important for the state to adapt to the effects of climate change.

Officials at the Department of Water Resources say building the tunnel would enable the state to capture more water during wet periods while limiting harm to fish and reducing reliance on supplies from the "conflict zone" in the south delta. Upgrades to existing facilities won't address the problems, they say.

Plans for the tunnel have generated bitter controversy and sparked lawsuits.

One of those criticizing the states approach in the delta is Chris Shutes, executive director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance. He has argued that building the tunnel would cause more problems for fish and the ecosystem.

They should be looking at improving the existing facilities, Shutes said.

For more than a decade, his group has urged the state to upgrade its infrastructure by installing fish screens at the entrance to Clifton Court Forebay that would keep many fish out and reduce losses to predators.

The Skinner fish facility is located 2 miles from the pumping plant that sends water into the California Aqueduct. (Paul Kuroda/For The Times)

The screens would need to be much larger than the existing louvers at the fish facility, and redesigning the system would be costly. But Shutes said this sort of upgrade, along with changes in pumping procedures, would lessen the toll on fish.

If that isn't done, he said, "well continue to have large amounts of fish mortality at the intakes."

Along with the disagreements over how to modernize infrastructure, there is ongoing debate about how state regulators should manage water in the delta.

The State Water Resources Control Board is considering new water quality standards that will determine how much water may be diverted and pumped, and how much should be allowed to flow through the delta. As part of this process, the Newsom administration has proposed negotiated "voluntary agreements" between the state and water suppliers, while environmental groups have urged the board to adopt traditional regulatory requirements, which they argue would help struggling fish populations.

At the same time, some experts say state officials should continue examining ways of improving the existing infrastructure to better protect fish.

Exactly how that might be done remains a dilemma, said Greg Gartrell, an engineer and former manager of the Contra Costa Water District. While there have been proposals to install new fish screens or move the intake to another location, he said, the conditions in much of the south delta make it an unfriendly place for native fish, where many are lost to nonnative predators such as bass.

Its a very, very difficult situation to resolve, Gartrell said.

Read more: Experts urge California to avoid pitfalls in water deals in the delta

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Micah Rasmussen is director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University. He testified against a bill to revamp the state's Open Public Records Act at a Senate budget hearing on March 9, 2024, at the Statehouse in Trenton. (Dana DiFilippo | New Jersey Monitor)

When New Jersey lawmakers passed a law in 2002 protecting the publics access to government records, it was celebrated as a win for transparency and accountability.

Two decades later, an original sin in the law  legislators exempting their own doings from disclosure  has laid the groundwork for local public officials and others to roll back records access, as they now are working to do, good government advocates say.

The legislative exemption drove mayors and other public officials to say well, you got exempted, why am I not exempted? And theyve been on a quest, I think really ever since, to let themselves off the hook the way that the Legislature let themselves off the hook, said Micah Rasmussen, who heads Rider Universitys Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics.

The institute hosted a panel discussion Tuesday night on a bill moving through the Statehouse that would add almost 30 pages of new restrictions to the Open Public Records Act. The New Jersey Society of Professional Journalists sponsored the event, which featured panelists Rasmussen, a municipal clerk, an attorney who specializes in public records access, journalists, and a former government spokesman. Sen. Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen), one of the bills prime sponsors, declined an invitation to participate, organizers said.

The bills sponsors say the law lags far behind the technological advances that have expanded information access, raising privacy concerns. They also say many records custodians have been harassed by repeat requesters, overwhelmed by commercial requesters such as data miners, and dragged into costly court battles over record denials.

But transparency advocates have fought the bill since Sarlo introduced it in March, warning it would gut the 2002 law. They testified for hours against it at several legislative hearings, only to see lawmakers advance it anyway. Outcry intensified, driving the bills sponsors to pull it from a scheduled vote for amendments.

Sarlo and Sen. Anthony Bucco (R-Morris), the bills other sponsor in that chamber, declined to answer the New Jersey Monitors questions Wednesday about when the bill might return for a vote and how its being amended.

Assembly members Joe Danielsen (D-Somerset), Reginald Atkins (D-Union), and Vicky Flynn (R-Monmouth), sponsors of the bill in their chamber, said they didnt know, although Atkins hopes itll see a vote maybe sometime this month. Legislators will break for the summer at the end of June.

The bills foes said they wont rest until its dead  but fear lawmakers are working behind closed doors to shore up support for the bill and will push it through to the governors desk even though a recent poll showed most voters oppose it. Gov. Phil Murphy said on WBGO in March that hes open-minded to tweaking OPRA, citing privacy and cost concerns related to the volume of commercial requests.

This is I think, 22 years old. So the world we live in, in terms of privacy, in particular, with all the technology we have in the world has changed dramatically, Murphy said.

He acknowledged the backlash, but said of the bills sponsors: Their heart is in the right place. There may be a real disagreement here and I get that, but I dont think this is  I havent seen anyone with nefarious behavior here.

Eroding transparency?

Advocates regard the bill as just the latest in a series of things that have made government in New Jersey more opaque and less accountable  a law passed last year that critics say weakened the state Election Law Enforcement Commission, a 2020 statute called Daniels Law that shields judges and other public officials home addresses from disclosure, and a groups recent call for restrictions on the state Comptrollers office, which investigates public misconduct, fraud, and abuse.

At the panel discussion Tuesday, speakers said many legislators have a skewed view of OPRA, because theyre current or former local elected officials or attorneys who hold public contracts or represent towns in court battles over records, meaning they have a conflict of interest on the issue.

This is all part of a coordinated effort by local government, whether its counties or towns, who dont like transparency and dont like what its revealing, said panelist CJ Griffin, an attorney who fights public records denials in court.

Legislators are ignoring their constituents interests, she added, pointing to the Fairleigh Dickinson Universitys recent poll and the outcry at legislative hearings.

No one likes secrecy, whether youre a MAGA Republican or a Bernie fan, Griffin said.

Panelists especially objected to a provision in the bill that would weaken the current laws fee-shifting provision in court battles over denied records, which allows journalists and citizen watchdogs to recover legal fees if they prevail. Without that, neither can afford to sue to challenge denials  so records wont get released, said Walt Kane, lead investigative reporter at News 12-NJ.

The average citizen who wants to use OPRA is not going to pay an attorney, by the way, Kane said. They will just give up.

Panelist Charlie Kratovil is a New Brunswick-based journalist who has waged many court fights for public records. He suspects several recent court rulings siding against local governments in records disputes motivated legislators to act.

Some of these items in the bill are specifically meant to overturn well-reasoned court rulings where judges looked at the cases, looked at the facts, looked at what the custodians were doing, what was being requested, and came down on the side of transparency, and now were seeing the Legislature trying to sort of undo what the judiciary has done, Kratovil said.

Flynn acknowledged as much.

Why are we addressing so much all at once? Theres been a lot of court decisions that have come into play, and GRC (Government Records Council, which adjudicates records complaints) decisions from the moment OPRA was enacted until now, and therefore there are a lot of examples that need to be addressed and cleaned up, Flynn said.

Flynn is an attorney who has represented local governments in records disputes. Some have faced crushing costs from such battles, she said.

Im all for government transparency, and Im a proponent of people putting things up online. But I have a problem when it leads to litigation, she said.

The post Debate simmers over fate of effort to overhaul New Jerseys public records law appeared first on New Jersey Monitor.
A building destroyed by fire sits in ashes at the Texas R.V. Park in Fritch. It was burned during a string of wildfires earlier this year. A Texas House committee on Wednesday investigating the fires released its report. (Photo by Mark Rogers for The Texas Tribune)

LUBBOCK  A decayed utility pole that broke, causing power wires to fall on dry grass in the Texas Panhandle, sparked the states largest wildfire in history, a Texas House committee confirmed Wednesday.

And other poorly maintained power equipment sparked four additional fires across the region earlier this year, the committee said.

The committee also found that a lack of readily available air support, ineffective communication from faulty equipment and coordination among agencies inhibited on-the-ground efforts to contain the Smokehouse Creek fire and others that ravaged the Panhandle earlier this year.

In response, the committee made up of three House members and two landowners recommended the Legislature have more effective monitoring and rule enforcement to check irresponsible oil and gas operators and improve accountability with utility providers when it comes to inspecting and replacing power poles.

The 48-page report largely confirmed what was previously established in the days and weeks following the fire. It appeared to rely heavily on testimony from three days of public hearings the committee held in Pampa, a Panhandle town near where the fires raged.

The deadly wildfires disrupted life in the Texas Panhandle after they started in late February. Two people died and more than 1 million acres burned across several counties  Hutchinson, Hemphill, Roberts, Carson, Gray and Wheeler.

Read the Texas Houses report on the Panhandle wildfires. This document is available here.

The committee was chaired by Rep. Ken King, a Canadian Republican. It also included Republican Reps. Dustin Burrows of Lubbock and Todd Hunter of Corpus Christi, and landowners Jason Abraham and James Henderson as public members of the committee.

The fires caused extensive damage in its wake. The Panhandle region is largely rural, where cattle are known to outnumber residents. More than 85% of the states cattle population is located in the Panhandle. Many residents lost everything  138 homes burned, according to the report, and more than 15,000 head of cattle, including pregnant cows, perished.

Hundreds of water wells were also destroyed as the fires raged through the Panhandle. According to the report, this has eliminated sources of water for people and livestock in the region, creating another hurdle to overcome.

Xcel Energy, a Minnesota-based company that has provided electricity in that portion of the state, previously acknowledged its role in the Smokehouse Creek fire. Following the release of the committees report, it said they are taking action to mitigate wildfire risk, including updating systems to be more resilient in extreme weather and adjusting wildfire settings on their equipment.

We care deeply about the Panhandle communities harmed by wildfires, the company said. Our people live and work in these same communities.

The company said it they look forward to working with the Public Utility Commission, the state legislature, members of the public and other agencies in response to the wildfires. Osmose Utility Services, a Georgia-based company Xcel has contracted to manage its lines in Texas, did not return messages from the Tribune. Both companies have been sued in the aftermath of the fire.

Scott McBroom, a Fritch resident, fled his home when the Windy Deuce Fire breached his neighborhood. McBroom and his wife Deana lost everything. It was his childhood home.

McBroom, who learned about the reports findings through a Texas Tribune reporter, said he was angry to hear it. He said companies should have done more to maintain the power lines and poles.

Its just frustrating because through no fault of your own you end up losing everything, he said. It does make you angry because they have been neglecting stuff for a while.

The family, including their dogs, are living with their daughter in Borger while they figure out whats next.

Efforts to extinguish the fires showed how flawed the states response to emergencies is in vulnerable areas of Texas. Volunteer fire departments were first on the scene, but had poor equipment, including broken radios, due to running on a tight budget. Wind speeds and a lack of availability caused a delay in air support being used as the fire spread.

The committee also called for more resources to contain wildfires before they grow out of control. Their suggestions range from Texas obtaining its own firefighting air fleet, additional funding for volunteer fire departments, and upgrading statewide communications systems for better communication across all responding agencies.

Investigators began looking into poorly-maintained power lines as the cause of the fire in the days after it started. According to the report, wildfires ignited by power lines have been among the most destructive in the region since 2000  causing more than 1,300 fires and burning more than 1.4 million acres.

Carlos Nogueras Ramos contributed.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/01/texas-panhandle-wildfires-report/.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

The post Decayed power pole sparked the largest wildfire in state history, Texas House committee confirms appeared first on Source New Mexico.
A building destroyed by fire sits in ashes at the Texas R.V. Park in Fritch. It was burned during a string of wildfires earlier this year. A Texas House committee on Wednesday investigating the fires released its report. Credit: Mark Rogers for The Texas Tribune

LUBBOCK  A decayed utility pole that broke, causing power wires to fall on dry grass in the Texas Panhandle, sparked the states largest wildfire in history, a Texas House committee confirmed Wednesday.

And other poorly maintained power equipment sparked four additional fires across the region earlier this year, the committee said.

The committee also found that a lack of readily available air support, ineffective communication from faulty equipment and coordination among agencies inhibited on-the-ground efforts to contain the Smokehouse Creek fire and others that ravaged the Panhandle earlier this year.

In response, the committee made up of three House members and two landowners recommended the Legislature have more effective monitoring and rule enforcement to check irresponsible oil and gas operators and improve accountability with utility providers when it comes to inspecting and replacing power poles.

The 43-page report largely confirmed what was previously established in the days and weeks following the fire. It appeared to rely heavily on testimony from three days of public hearings the committee held in Pampa, a Panhandle town near where the fires raged.

The deadly wildfires disrupted life in the Texas Panhandle after they started in late February. Two people died and more than 1 million acres burned across several counties  Hutchinson, Hemphill, Roberts, Carson, Gray and Wheeler.

[After Texas largest wildfire is contained, a rancher moves on with a single calf]

The fires caused extensive damage in its wake. The Panhandle region is largely rural, where cattle are known to outnumber residents. More than 85% of the states cattle population is located in the Panhandle. Many residents lost everything  138 homes burned, according to the report, and more than 15,000 head of cattle, including pregnant cows, perished.

Hundreds of water wells were also destroyed as the fires raged through the Panhandle. According to the report, this has eliminated sources of water for people and livestock in the region, creating another hurdle to overcome.

Xcel Energy, a Minnesota-based company that has provided electricity in that portion of the state, previously acknowledged its role in the Smokehouse Creek fire. Following the release of the committee's report, it said they are taking action to mitigate wildfire risk, including updating systems to be more resilient in extreme weather and adjusting wildfire settings on their equipment.

We care deeply about the Panhandle communities harmed by wildfires, the company said. Our people live and work in these same communities.

The company said it they look forward to working with the Public Utility Commission, the state legislature, members of the public and other agencies in response to the wildfires. Xcel has contracted Osmose Utility Services, a Georgia-based company, to manage its lines in Texas. Both companies have been sued in the aftermath of the fire.

In a statement, Osmose CEO Mike Adams said they have met with King since the hearings.

We have provided the committee with information regarding our view of best practices for utility pole maintenance and remain available to the committee and our customers in Texas to assist in this area going forward, Adams said.

According to the report, the pole was inspected in January by Osmose and given a "priority one replacement" designation. On Feb. 9 weeks before the fires sparked  Osmose notified Xcel that the pole needed to be replaced.

Scott McBroom, a Fritch resident, fled his home when the Windy Deuce Fire breached his neighborhood. McBroom and his wife Deana lost everything. It was his childhood home.

McBroom, who learned about the reports findings through a Texas Tribune reporter, said he was angry to hear it. He said companies should have done more to maintain the power lines and poles.

Its just frustrating because through no fault of your own you end up losing everything, he said. It does make you angry because they have been neglecting stuff for a while.

The family, including their dogs, are living with their daughter in Borger while they figure out whats next.

Efforts to extinguish the fires showed how flawed the states response to emergencies is in vulnerable areas of Texas. Volunteer fire departments were first on the scene, but had poor equipment, including broken radios, due to running on a tight budget. Wind speeds and a lack of availability caused a delay in air support being used as the fire spread.

The committee also called for more resources to contain wildfires before they grow out of control. Their suggestions range from Texas obtaining its own firefighting air fleet, additional funding for volunteer fire departments, and upgrading statewide communications systems for better communication across all responding agencies.

Investigators began looking into poorly-maintained power lines as the cause of the fire in the days after it started. According to the report, wildfires ignited by power lines have been among the most destructive in the region since 2000  causing more than 1,300 fires and burning more than 1.4 million acres.

Reference

Read the Texas House's report on the Panhandle wildfires.

(1.9 MB)

The committee was chaired by Rep. Ken King, a Canadian Republican. It also included Republican Reps. Dustin Burrows of Lubbock and Todd Hunter of Corpus Christi, and landowners Jason Abraham and James Henderson as public members of the committee.

Carlos Nogueras Ramos contributed.

Weve got big things in store for you at The Texas Tribune Festival, happening Sept. 57 in downtown Austin. Join us for three days of big, bold conversations about politics, public policy and the days news.
A long-term decline in smoking has stalled since the Covid-19 pandemic, with smokers increasingly turning to roll-ups, researchers have found.

A study by University College London (UCL), funded by Cancer Research UK, found overall cigarette consumption fell by 22 per cent  from 13.6 cigarettes a day to 10.6  between 2008 and October 2019.

However, the data from 57,778 adult smokers who took part in the monthly survey between January 2008 and September 2023, showed the decline paused between late 2019 and 2023.

Researchers suggested this could be attributed to more people working from home following the pandemic, leading to them taking more regular smoking breaks.

The study, published in Nicotine & Tobacco Research, found the average smoker had 14 cigarettes a day in 2008, falling to 11 by 2019  a figure which has not changed.

Roll-ups now most popular cigarettes

But self-rolled cigarettes have overtaken factory cigarettes in popularity, with an average of 5.7 consumed daily by smokers, against 5.4 manufactured cigarettes.

On average, smokers are getting through 35 per cent more hand-rolled cigarettes and 47 per cent fewer manufactured cigarettes since 2008.

Researchers suggested that this could be down to the price of manufactured cigarettes, which has been driven up by steep tax rises.

Dr Sarah Jackson, lead author of the paper and principal research fellow at UCLs Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, said: This 15-year study captures shifts in smoking behaviour, showing that while the average number of cigarettes smoked per day has fallen, this trend has stalled since 2019.

People are increasingly opting to use cheaper hand-rolled tobacco over more expensive manufactured cigarettes, proving that consistency in taxation and regulation across all cigarette types is key.

Some groups across England still smoke more heavily than others. Its vital that smoking cessation services are made easily and equally available across the UK, so that those who want to quit smoking are given all the support they need to do so.

Cancer Research UK called for Rishi Sunaks legislation aiming to create a smoke-free generation to pass through Parliament swiftly in a bid to reduce cancer rates caused by smoking.

Government must not let up

The charity said smoking causes about 15 different types of cancer, and leads to the equivalent of about 150 cases of the disease every day.

In October, Mr Sunak unveiled plans to introduce legislation that would make it illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone born after Jan 1 2009.

Dr Ian Walker, the executive director of policy at Cancer Research UK, said the UCL study makes it clear that the UK Government must not let up in its fight to reduce smoking.

All tobacco products are harmful, and more work needs to be done to end cancers caused by smoking for good, he added.

Mr Sunaks Tobacco and Vapes Bill will raise the legal age for buying tobacco  currently 18  every year by one year so that people born in or after 2009 will never legally be able to buy cigarettes.

The Bill cleared its first Commons hurdle last month, with MPs voting 383 to 67 to give it a second reading.

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Ukraine is working to limit satellite mapping of Ukrainian territory, amid concerns of intelligence leaks that would benefit Russian forces, Ukraine's Defense Ministry announced on May 1.

"Every day, satellite companies take images of Ukrainian territory. These images can be used by the enemy," Deputy Defense Minister Kateryna Chernohorenko said in a statement. "In times of war, we must minimize the risks of the enemy using images of Ukraine."

Ukraine's Defense Ministry said it had signed a memorandum of understanding with unnamed satellite imaging companies limiting the distribution of imaging to ensure Russia did not have access to mapping.

The Defense Ministry also stated that it had reached an agreement with an imaging company, which went unnamed for security reasons, to provide high-resolution imaging for security and defense purposes. The unnamed company is the "only satellite company" in the world to provide daily imaging of territory with a resolution of three to five meters, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported.

Previously, satellite images could have been ordered by Russia through shell companies, evading detection. It is unclear whether there have been any such instances.

The EU is also considering sanctioning a number of Chinese and Hong Kong-based companies who have allegedly provided Russia with satellite images, Bloomberg reported on April 23.

Read also: Ukraine war latest: Ukrainian drones hit oil refineries in two Russian regions

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Huntington Mayor Steve Williams, a Democratic candidate for governor, launched a petition calling on leaders to include abortion in the upcoming legislative special session. (Will Price | West Virginia Legislative Photography)

Steve Williams, a Democrat running to be the next governor, has launched a state-wide petition calling for Gov. Jim Justice to include reproductive freedom on the agenda for the upcoming legislative special session.

He hopes, should Justice OK the issue for special session, that the Republican-majority Legislature will approve a ballot measure that gives voters the chance to reinstate abortion rights.

Williams, who is mayor of Huntington, cited former Republican President Donald Trumps call to leave the issue up to the states.

This isnt a Republican or Democrat issue, Williams said in a news release on Thursday. Gov. Justice and the West Virginia Legislature should listen to Trump and let the people decide by putting this question on Novembers ballot.

In February, Del. Kayla Young, D-Kanawha, and seven Democrat colleagues, introduced legislation calling for a ballot measure to let voters decide whether a person has the right to make and carry out ones own reproductive decisions, including decisions related to contraception, fertility treatment, miscarriage care and abortion.

The legislation got zero traction during the regular session.

After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, West Virginia lawmakers passed a near total abortion ban.

Since the Supreme Court ruling, some states, including Ohio, have voted through constitutional amendments to protect access to abortions.

Williams said West Virginia voters deserve the opportunity to have their voices heard on restoring this fundamental freedom.

To opponents of reproductive freedom, I say if you believe the majority of West Virginians agree with you, then you have no reason to oppose this vote, he said, adding that the petition is available at freedomwv.com.

If you dont think the majority agree with you, then at least have the courage to tell the voters that Trump is wrong and that West Virginia citizens shouldnt be allowed to decide this question at the ballot box.

The four prominent Republican men running for governor have all previously said that they didnt plan to change West Virginias current abortion ban.

Candidate Moore Capito, who is in a tight race with Patrick Morrisey to win the May primary, voted to change the states abortion law while serving in the House of Delegates.

West Virginias abortion ban has few exemptions minus medical emergencies and for rape and incest victims until eight weeks of pregnancy for adults and 14 weeks for children  but only if they report to law enforcement first.

West Virginia voters in 2018 approved an anti-abortion amendment. State Democrats have said that they believe the outcome would be different now following the U.S. Supreme Courts decision to overturn Roe.

State lawmakers are expected to return to Charleston for a special session in the coming months due to lingering budget issues that werent resolved by March adjournment.

The post Dem governor candidate Williams calls for abortion ballot measure to make special session agenda appeared first on West Virginia Watch.
Guests attend the first China-Serbia Cultural Exchange Forum in Belgrade, Serbia, on April 29, 2024. (Xinhua/Ren Pengfei)

They discussed the development of China-Serbia cultural exchanges, civilization dialogue and new opportunities for people-to-people communications under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

BELGRADE, May 2 (Xinhua) -- About 50 experts, scholars, government and industry representatives from China and Serbia attended the first China-Serbia cultural exchange forum held here this week.

They discussed the development of China-Serbia cultural exchanges, civilization dialogue and new opportunities for people-to-people communications under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Addressing the opening ceremony, Tang Dasheng, cultural counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Serbia, said that cultural exchanges, an important part in China-Serbia ties, have played a positive role in promoting mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples.

Tang also said he hopes the forum will act as an opportunity to further leverage the role of experts, scholars, think tanks and universities of the two countries to push bilateral cultural exchanges to a new level.

Danijel Nikolic, assistant secretary general of the government of the Republic of Serbia, said that cultural exchanges can help enhance understanding and promote cooperation.

The forum will further enhance the two countries' iron-clad friendship and lay the foundation for deeper cooperation in the future, he noted.

Both China and Serbia have a long history and splendid civilization, and there is great potential and broad prospect for cooperation in the field of cultural exchanges, said Ma Ligeng, vice president of Capital Normal University of China.

The forum will contribute to enhancing understanding and deepening friendship between the two peoples, Ma added.

Sharing Serbia's experience in participating in the BRI over the past decade, Bojan Lalic, director of the Institute for Belt and Road Studies in Belgrade, said that Serbia and China can strengthen cooperation in such fields as digital economy and green development.

Meanwhile, Li Jiashan, an expert on culture development at Beijing International Studies University, said the two countries' cultural industries have the desire, foundation and space for cooperation, and joint efforts should be made to boost in-depth development of bilateral cultural trade.

The BRI is the best framework to promote Serbia-China cultural exchanges, which can in turn push forward communications in other areas, Violeta Djerkovic from the Network of Cultural Stations of Novi Sad in Serbia also stressed. 
Experts predict demand for electricity in the Northwest to grow at least 3% per year until 2034. (fhm/Getty Images)

Electricity demand in the Northwest is expected to grow more than 30% in the next decade, or about 5% more than estimated last year and triple the prediction three years ago, industry experts said in a new report.

Large data centers, an increase in high-tech manufacturing and growing electrification in homes, buildings and transportation are key factors in the forecast.

The projections are in an annual report published Wednesday by the Portland-based industry trade group Pacific Northwest Utilities Conference Committee. For more than 70 years, the group has analyzed annual demand projections from utilities in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana to paint a larger picture of future demand for electricity throughout the region.

In 2022, the committee projected demand would grow about 1% each year to 2032. In its latest report, the committee projects demand in the Northwest will grow at least 3% per year until 2034.

The report said that the rapid expansion of data centers is one of the chief drivers in increased electricity use. Oregons data center market is the fifth largest in the nation, according to Chicago-based commercial real estate group Cushman & Wakefield. Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and X, formerly named Twitter, have massive data centers in eastern Oregon as well as in The Dalles, Hillsboro and Prineville that require enormous amounts of energy to operate. Amazon is planning to build at least 10 more data centers in eastern Oregon, according to reporting by The Oregonian/OregonLive.

High-tech manufacturing and increasing electrification in building and transportation also contribute to the expected increase in demand. Increased demand for electricity for charging electric vehicles is projected to account for about 4% of total electricity demand in the West by 2034. Some utilities, such as Seattle City Light, are projecting demand from its customers for EV charging to be more than double that. Population is also expected to influence demand, with some areas seeing growth and others a drop, and changes in building code laws and energy efficiency mandated by local and state governments will also affect demand, the report said

Members of the utilities committee recommended that regional energy departments collaborate on expanding electrical grids and transmission capabilities across the West to accommodate these changes.

The forecast did not take into account the effect that emerging energy sources and technology, such as offshore wind turbines, long-term energy storage, green hydrogen power and nuclear energy, could play in the future. But the report acknowledged they could profoundly reshape the energy landscape.

The post Demand for electricity in Northwest projected to grow 30% in decade, triple previous estimates appeared first on Oregon Capital Chronicle.
The House voted, 188-177, Thursday to table Senate Bill 563, which passed the Senate in March along party lines. Here, people stand at at a gap in the U.S.-Mexico border wall after having traveled from South America to the United States on Dec. 10, 2021, in Yuma, Arizona. (John Moore | Getty Images)

New Hampshire Republicans appear on track to lose their latest attempt to prohibit so-called sanctuary city policies and require local police to help federal immigration agents detain undocumented individuals, even those not facing criminal charges.

The House voted, 188-177, Thursday to table Senate Bill 563, which passed the Senate in March along party lines. Eight House Republicans joined Democrats in supporting the tabling motion. While the bill was not defeated, it would be a challenge to take it off the table or tuck the measure into another bill as an amendment.

Lawmakers have rejected similar bills at least a dozen times since 2006. Still, Thursdays vote wasnt certain given the role immigration is playing in political campaigns and state policy.

Gov. Chris Sununu has 15 National Guard soldiers stationed at the Texas-Mexico border until June, to help stop undocumented migrants and fentanyl from entering the country outside official ports of entry. Soldiers are directing individuals to an official entry point.

Sununu also secured $1.4 million last year from lawmakers to enhance security at the northern border.

Several police chiefs urged lawmakers against supporting SB 563, some noting they work with federal immigration officials if an undocumented individual is facing criminal charges. They said only federal immigration officials can enforce civil matters, which includes being in the country illegally. Several also said detaining undocumented individuals on behalf of federal immigration agents would jeopardize the relationship they have forged with diverse communities.

The post Democrats halt sanctuary city legislation  again appeared first on New Hampshire Bulletin.
Supermajority Democrats in the Illinois House moved quickly Wednesday to push through a change to state election laws that partially limits ballot access and adds three nonbinding referendums to the 2024 general election ballot.

Its a move that caused minority party Republicans to vote present, then walk off the House floor without even debating the measure, while four Democrats voted against the bill that would amend ballot laws for the election cycle that is already underway.

Republicans were particularly critical of a provision that prohibits political parties from appointing a candidate to a general election ballot if no member of that party filed nominating petitions for the primary.

The minority party also criticized Democrats hasty movement of the proposed changes from introduction to floor passage. Rep. Jay Hoffman, D-Swansea, filed the amendment to an unrelated bill, Senate Bill 2412, Wednesday morning before it was quickly moved to committee for passage, then to the floor within hours. It now awaits action in the Senate.

House Minority Leader Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, noted at an impromptu news conference on a Capitol stairwell that the GOP has grown accustomed to legislation moving with little public notice  but it usually happens closer to the General Assemblys end of May adjournment.

But we dont understand the sense of urgency right now, unless the goal  the end goal  is to stifle the democratic process through the changes on slating candidates, she said.

At the same time the amendment was moving through the House, senators were being briefed separately on the proposed changes.

In the Senate Executive Committee, which meets one floor below the House chamber, Republican Leader John Curran, of Downers Grove, argued that changing the rules in the middle of an election cycle would be unfair to potential candidates who are operating under existing rules.

He also said such a move could add to what he called the publics growing mistrust of the election system generally.

Theres a lot of talk around the country about stealing elections, Curran said. And the faith in the democratic process has been shaken a bit around the country. I believe Illinois would be adding to that, really, national problem, if it took that step here and changed the rules midstream rather than just waiting to the next election cycle.

But Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, noted there are other ways to get on the ballot after the primary has passed.

A candidate who would want to run for General Assembly seat after the primary will have to run, as they can today, as an independent or a third-party candidate, Harmon said. They would no longer be able to appeal to the local party bosses to have them installed as the candidate of a major political party.

Privately, GOP lawmakers said they believe the proposed change is designed to influence the outcome of one particular race this year  the 112th House District in the Metro East area, where incumbent Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, is running for reelection.

No Republican filed to run in that race in time for the March 19 primary, but party officials say one is currently being lined up.

Republicans believe that district is winnable for them. Stuart won reelection to that seat in 2022 by a 54-46 margin over Republican Jennifer Korte.

Rep. Lindsey LaPointe, D-Chicago, was one of the four Democrats to vote no on the bill Wednesday afternoon, though others skipped the vote. She said shes not opposed to eliminating the slating process beginning in the 2026 election cycle but said doing it now is moving the goal posts in the final minutes of a ballgame.

Thats problematic for me because as an elected official in Illinois, Im constantly trying to rebuild trust in Illinois government and politics that many of the people I represent...dont have, she told Capitol News Illinois after the vote.

The measure would also pose three nonbinding advisory referendum questions to voters on the November ballot, including asking whether health insurance plans that cover pregnancy benefits should be required to cover in vitro fertilization and other fertility treatments.

That mirrors legislation passed in the state Senate last month that would require IVF and other fertility coverage for insurance plans with pregnancy benefits that are sponsored by companies with 25 or more employees.

The other questions would ask voters whether theyd favor civil penalties for any candidate who interferes or attempts to interfere with an election workers official duties and whether the state should adopt an additional 3 percent tax on income over $1 million.

The extra revenue would be collected for the purpose of dedicating funds raised to property tax relief  a perennial concern in a state with the second-highest property taxes in the U.S., just behind New Jersey, according to a 2023 report from The Tax Foundation.

Illinoisans were already asked a similar nonbinding referendum a decade ago, when nearly 60 percent of voters said yes to a question about a 3 percent tax on income over $1 million for the purposes of education, which is largely funded by local property taxes. Then-House Speaker Michael Madigans push for the so-called millionaires tax was seen as a poke at then-gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner, a self-funded Republican who ultimately won the governors race and spent his four-year term fighting with the powerful Democratic speaker.

McCombie said Republicans had offered bills aimed at property tax relief on several occasions in recent years. She and state Rep. Ryan Spain, R-Peoria, argued the referendums were a distraction.

What you saw today was a phony attempt to solicit feedback from voters that was covering up the real intention to the Democrats bill upstairs, which is to eliminate competition in our elections, Spain said.

As state law limits the number of questions on a statewide ballot to three, SB 2412 would also crowd out the possibility of any other citizen-initiated questions from making it to the ballot.
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR)  The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is recommending marijuana be reclassified as a lower risk Schedule 3 drug.

Democrats across Capitol Hill praised the historic pivot from the Biden administrations Department of Justice.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.),Chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, says the reclassification will fix a decades long error.

Currently, as a Schedule 1 drug marijuana is considered as dangerous heroin.

It is not highly addictive and has in fact medicinal purposes, said Blumenauer. I could not be more excited and optimistic that we are finally on the home stretch to end the failed War on Drugs, Blumenauer said.

Rescheduling marijuana will not legalize it nationwide but would open the door to new research and make cannabis business owners eligible for tax breaks.

Opponents are not happy.

Luke Niforatos with Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) calls the proposed rule an election year giveaway to this new Big Tobacco like industry.

He accuses the Biden administration of ignoring science, and says SAM is prepared to sue if the rule is finalized after a public review session.

What theyre saying is marijuana has lower potential for abuse at a time when the science is telling us the potency of this drug is unlike its ever been before, Niforatos said.

Democrats on Capitol Hill are vowing to go further and decriminalize marijuana.

Sen. Cory Bush (D-N.J.) Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) reintroduced their bill The Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act Wednesday. The plan would also provide federal public safety guardrails to discourage users from driving while under the influence.

Booker says while the DEAs reclassification is a good step, it does not resolve inequities in the law that disproportionately harm African American communities.

People cant get jobs for doing the same things that presidents, and senators and congresspeople have done, thats the height of hypocrisy, Booker said.

The senators say they now have 18 senators supporting their bill and are working to garner additional support.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
Senate Democrats in tough races are calling on college and university presidents to crack down on campus protests that have spun out of control, as images of protesters smashing windows and unfurling Palestinian flags are becoming a political problem for President Biden and his allies.

But leading progressives are defending students rights to protest and pushing back against calls for the federal government to intervene on campuses across the country.

Its 100 percent unacceptable for Jewish students or any students to be harmed on campus. Youre seeing this at campus after campus that now theres physical violence, said Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), who faces a tough reelection race this fall.

This is pure, blatant antisemitism and it needs to be stopped. It should not be tolerated, she added.

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), one of the Senates most vulnerable incumbents, said, We all speak strongly that the antisemitism and hate and violence are not acceptable.

The law should be enforced, he said when asked about protesters who smashed windows and unfurled an intifada banner while taking over Hamilton Hall in the middle of Columbia Universitys New York City campus.

One Democratic senator who requested anonymity said Biden and Democrats need to step up their condemnations of displays of antisemitism on college campuses.

We all need to do more. This is something that rears its ugly head, said the senator, who acknowledged its a huge challenge to address given the First Amendments protections for political speech.

Its not easy for anybody. Im sure its not easy for [Biden]. We do need to push back on it, they continued.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) condemned what he called the lawlessness on Columbias campus Tuesday.

Campuses cannot be places of learning and argument and discussion when protests veer into criminality, he warned.

It is also unpredictable when Jewish students are targeted for being Jewish  when protests exhibit verbal abuse, systematic intimidation, or glorification of the murderous and hateful Hamas or the violence of Oct. 7, he said.

Some Republicans are criticizing Biden for not being more outspoken about the campus protests.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) called on the Justice Department to investigate potential violations of Jewish students civil rights.

If moral clarity does not prevail in the ivory tower and the Biden administration, this could go down as a particularly shameful episode, he said on the Senate floor.

Senate Republican Conference Chair John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) called on Biden to restore order.

Joe Biden would rather waffle than act. Why does he bow down to these pro-Hamas protesters. Its because the election is coming up and he knows he needs their votes, he said. What the president ought to be doing is applying the law, returning order to campuses and getting students back into the classroom.

Democratic strategists acknowledge that Biden needs to turn out young voters to the polls in November to win, and that polls show that a majority of them feel more sympathetic to Palestinians than Israelis amidst the mounting death toll in Gaza.

A New York Times/Siena College poll of 1,059 registered voters nationwide from April 7-11 found that 45 percent of voters under 30 sympathize more with Palestinians than Israelis in the conflict. Only 15 percent of the same group said they felt more sympathy for Israel.

Clashes between protesters and police or between protesters and counterprotesters have brought back memories of the Black Lives Matter demonstrations that roiled cities ahead of the 2020 election, when Republican candidates ran against the Defund the Police movement.

The growing turmoil on campuses has Democrats feeling anxious about their upcoming presidential nominating convention in Chicago this August.

Some Democratic senators fear a reprise of the clashes between police and anti-Vietnam War protesters that rocked the Democratic convention in 1968, which split their party heading into that years presidential election, when Richard Nixon defeated Vice President Hubert Humphrey.

But Democrats are divided over whether Congress needs to put more pressure on college and university presidents to crack down on campus unrest.

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), an outspoken critic of the pro-Palestinian protests who calls the campus demonstrations pup tents for Hamas, said hes open to putting conditions on federal aid to colleges and universities that have let protests spin out of control.

I think there has to be consequences, he said. Its rampant hate speech in all of this, and I just dont understand how this is allowed.

Asked about cutting federal funding, Fetterman noted there are parts of my party that love conditions on military aid for Israel.

Then we should have conditions on a lot of these universities, he said.

Fetterman said Wednesday he supports the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which passed the House on Wednesday with strong bipartisan support.

The bill would direct the Department of Education to adopt a definition of antisemitism sponsored by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance to enforce antidiscrimination laws.

The bill divided House Democrats, with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) voting for it and Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) leading the Democratic opposition to it.

Nadler warned the bill threatened to chill constitutionally protected speech.

Speech that is critical of Israel alone does not constitute unlawful discrimination. By encompassing purely political speech about Title VIs ambit, the bill sweeps too broadly, he argued before the vote.

The bill passed the House by a vote of 320-91 and now presents Schumer with a tough decision about whether to bring it to the floor.

A total of 133 House Democrats voted for it while 70 Democrats, including prominent liberals such as Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Katie Porter (D-Calif.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), voted no.

Asked about it before the House vote, Schumer declined to say how he would handle the bill if it came over to the Senate.

We havent seen what the House is sending us yet, he said.

Asked whether Biden needs to get more vocal in condemning violence and antisemitism on college campuses, Schumer said: I have made my views clear.  Theres no place for violence or antisemitism on the campuses.

The debate over the campus protests is already dividing Senate Democrats.

Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), who faces a difficult reelection race in a presidential battleground state, earlier this month introduced with Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), a potential GOP vice-presidential candidate, the Senates version of the Antisemitism Awareness Act.

On the campuses, theyve got to enforce the law. If people are engaged in violence or property destruction, youve got to enforce the rules of the campus. By that I mean expulsion or some action. And then theres a law enforcement element as well, Casey said.

When theres antisemitic actions taken on a campus, there has to be a consequence to that, he said.

Secondly, weve got to provide appropriations funding so that the Office of Civil Rights within the Department of Education can start these investigations, complete them in a timely manner and provide a sanction or a penalty when  theres a finding that theres a hostile environment, he said.

But Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) took to the Senate floor late Wednesday to defend the rights of students to protest at Columbia, noting that anti-Vietnam War protesters occupied the same building, Hamilton Hall, in 1968.

I did want to take a moment to remind some of my colleagues about a document called the U.S. Constitution and specifically the First Amendment of that Constitution, he said on the Senate floor.

Sanders condemned protesters who threw a brick through a window at Columbia and also counterprotesters on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles who attacked what he called the peaceful encampment of antiwar demonstrators.

He argued that politicians and pundits are accusing todays antiwar demonstrators of antisemitism to deflect scrutiny from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus use of overwhelming force in Gaza.

It is outrageous and it is disgraceful to use the charge of antisemitism to distract from the immoral and illegal war policies that Netanyahus extremist and racist government is pursuing, he declared.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
As demolition begins on one of the last Klamath River dams, attention turns to recovery

Work began Wednesday on removing the third of four dams that nearly destroyed salmon populations on the Klamath River in Oregon and California and caused some of the nation's largest-ever fish kills.

Karuk elder Leaf Hillman and his wife, Lisa, were on hand to see the first shovelful of dirt scraped from the top of the earthen dam. They and other tribal fish and water protectors had fought for years to demolish the dams that nearly made one of their cultural touchpoints and primary food sources extinct.

"We sweep all the bad things off the downriver edge of the world and off the upriver edge of the world," said Hillman. "We make this place all new again in service of all the spirit people that exist on this earth, both human and non-human ancestors and relations."

Karuk Tribal member Lisa Hillman, left, gives her husband Leaf Hillman a hug on an overlook above Iron Gate Dam as crews begin the removal of the top layer of the earthen dam that blocks the Klamath River east of Yreka, Calif. Wednesday, May 1, 2024.

The Iron Gate Dam was the last of the dams built to provide electricity to Northern California in the early 20th century. The reservoir behind the 173-foot-high dam, which went into service in 1962, was drained in January along with the other reservoirs. Klamath River Renewal Corporation, the nonprofit in charge of the largest dam removal project in the U.S. to date, chose to drain the reservoirs in the dead of winter because it was in between fish runs.

The Arizona Republic traveled to the Klamath last year for a series of stories about the damage inflicted by the dams and the work to restore wildlife habitat and ancestral homelands.

How removing the dams will change the landscape

Tribes and environmentalists had fought for decades for removal of the dams as part of a basin-wide restoration effort. After a fish kill in 2002, spurred by toxic algae entering the river from the reservoirs that had acted as blue-green algae nurseries, tribes amped up the battle to "undam the Klamath" and restore health to the waters and lands the Yurok, Hoopa, Karuk, Shasta and Klamath Tribes have inhabited and stewarded for millennia.

In 2022, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the dam removals, and demolition began in 2023. The first dam, Copco II, came down in mid-2023. Copco I demolition began in March. FERC approved an early start to Iron Gate's removal process.

The final dam, JC Boyle, is expected to come down this fall, just in time for Chinook salmon season.

Restoring a river: How removing 4 dams will return salmon to the Klamath River and the river to the people

When all the dams are gone and the Klamath flows freely again, salmon and other fish will once again seek out their ancient spawning waters. Water quality, always an issue in northern California and southern Oregon due to high natural concentrations of phosphorus, will improve as free-flowing water carries the nutrient away. Wetland and juvenile fish habitat restoration is also in progress.

Hillman acknowledged that the dams and reservoirs are on the ancestral lands of the Shasta Indian Nation. The 300-member tribe has asked for the return of 2,200 acres of land that were once under water. The land was taken by eminent domain in the early 1900s.

"They have been gracious in allowing us to do this work," he said.

'It is pretty awesome'

Mark Bramson, CEO of the Klamath River Renewal Corporation, said it has been a challenge and an honor to be in charge of the massive operation.

"We are simply standing on the shoulders of our tribal friends and partners who have been advocating for this project for several decades and been working for this day for longer for that," he said. Bramson said that he values that relationship and partnership with tribes.

Other longtime fish protectors like Dania Rose Colegrove of the Hoopa Tribe posted their thanks on social media:

"BIG HAPPY TEARS.. they start demo here to day.. UNDAM THE KLAMATH ..IRON GATE BEGONE!!"

"For us, this day has always been inevitable," Hillman said. The tribes endured setbacks, struggles and hardships including people who said "no" and walked away from the negotiating people, he said, "but no other answer than success was the only thing that was possible for us.

"I didn't think I'd live to see this day, but since I am still alive to see it is pretty awesome."

Debra Krol reports on Indigenous communities at the confluence of climate, culture and commerce in Arizona and the Intermountain West. Reach Krol at debra.krol@azcentral.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter @debkrol.

Coverage of Indigenous issues at the intersection of climate, culture and commerce is supported by the Catena Foundation.

My articles are free to read, but your subscriptions support more such great reporting. Please consider subscribing today.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Demolition starts on Iron Gate Dam, one of the last Klamath River dams
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  A protest scheduled for Wednesday at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, gathered a group of activists responding to the recent conflict in the Middle East.

Approximately 150 people were influenced by recent protests on college campuses across the U.S. and joined a gathering at the UNLV outdoor amphitheater. Participants said the protests were to support the Palestinian people during the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Tensions rise after pro-Palestine protests, Jewish community speaks on rise in anti-semitism

Demonstrators gathered at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, on Wednesday to protest the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict. (Ryan Matthey / KLAS)

An unidentified man who called himself the protestors liaison said many of the students who participated had chosen to conceal themselves, citing online harassment. Multiple student organizations were responsible for the demonstration, he said, which was aimed at gathering information on UNLV finances and establishing whether or not the school was invested in weapons or surveillance used in the Middle Eastern conflict.

Were demanding to see if UNLV is supporting this, he said. If so, then we demand divestment from these companies.

A protestor exchanges words with demonstrators at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas on Wednesday. (Ryan Matthey / KLAS)

A group of approximately 10 counter-protestors gathered across the 30-foot police-established perimeter, as required by the universitys protesting policy. Those protestors chanted in Hebrew, Am Yisrael Chai, repeating a Jewish solidarity anthem which translates to The People of Israel Live.

Take off your masks, cowards, one man said to the group of protestors.

Its just insane that our Jewish students need to deal with that, and theyre just scared, said Mareen, who was holding an Israeli flag during the demonstration.

Counter-protestors gather at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, on Wednesday. (Ryan Matthey / KLAS)

The three-hour protest dispersed peacefully Wednesday afternoon, with some students threatening a hunger strike until financial information is released by the university. Officials from the Israeli American Council say they have a demonstration planned in Summerlin in the coming days.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR)  House Speaker Mike Johnsons future could soon come up for a vote on the House floor.

Some GOP lawmakers are looking to remove him as speaker.

Georgia Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene says its time for House Speaker Mike Johnson to go.

Mike Johnson is not capable of that job. He has proven it over and over again, Greene said.

Greene and Kentucky Republican Congressman Thomas Massie are moving forward with their plan to take the gavel from Johnson.

Mike Johnson alone can save us from that ultimate outcome, if he would step down, Massie said.

Greene originally filed the motion to oust the speaker in March, after he worked to pass a government funding bill with the help of Democrats.

Mike Johnson is giving them everything they want, Greene said.

Their beef with Johnson reached a boiling point when he relied on Democrats to help him pass a major foreign aid package that included money for Ukraine.

The Democrats coming out embracing Mike Johnson with a warm hug and a big, wet, sloppy kiss, Greene said.

Speaker Johnson brushed off Greenes sharpened threat to force a vote to oust him from his post, in an interview set to air in full Wednesday on NewsNations The Hill.

I dont think she is proving to be, no, Johnson said in a preview of the interview, which was taped Tuesday night, when asked if he thinks Greene is a serious lawmaker.

Johnson became speaker after House Republicans ousted former Speaker Kevin McCarthy in October.

At that time, House Democrats voted against McCarthy. This time, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries says Democrats will help save Johnsons job.

This is a vote of conscience, Jeffries said.

Greene plans to force a vote next week.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
GOLDEN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD)  Authorities are investigating the death of a man near Mears.

The Oceana County Sheriffs Office said that around 9 p.m. Wednesday, Mason-Oceana 911 received a call for help on W. Taylor Road between 48th and 56th avenues in Golden Township, south of Mears.

The death of the 33-year-old New Era man is being investigated as suspicious, according to the sheriffs office.

The Michigan State Police mobile crime lab was called to help with the scene investigation, the sheriffs office said.

This embedded content is not available in your region.

The sheriffs office did not release any additional information or the mans name as of Thursday morning.

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Visitors view photos exhibited at a photography exhibition named "EncountersSilk Road--Xi'an in the Eyes of an Italian Journalist" at Xi'an Museum in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, May 1, 2024. This exhibition is a selection of 87 old photos of Xi'an taken by Italian sinologist, journalist, and photographer Adriano Madaro between 1979 and 1983. Through the photos taken by Madaro, the viewer can see a city street view, Shaanxi specialties, an agricultural market, the Bell Tower, the Terra Cotta Warriors, and other cultural attractions.(Xinhua/Cai Xinyi)

XI'AN, May 2 (Xinhua) -- A photography exhibition named "EncountersSilk Road--Xi'an in the Eyes of an Italian Journalist" was unveiled at Xi'an Museum in northwest China's Shaanxi Province on Wednesday.

This exhibition is a selection of 87 old photos of Xi'an taken by Italian sinologist, journalist, and photographer Adriano Madaro between 1979 and 1983.

Madaro's journey in China began in April 1976, when the 34-year-old was invited by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to visit the country as a journalist. Since then, he has visited China 217 times, and his tours have covered many places across the country.

Through the photos taken by Madaro, the viewer can see a city street view, Shaanxi specialties, an agricultural market, the Bell Tower, the Terra Cotta Warriors, and other cultural attractions. Each photo records the history of Xi'an, and the captions convey Madaro's thoughts and feelings at that time.

In addition, Madaro's passport, camera, brochures of the Terra Cotta Warriors, poems written to Xi'an, and other exhibits show his friendship with Xi'an.

One of the exhibition curators, Wang Lu with Xi'an Museum, said this exhibition is a reflection on the history of Xi'an and a tribute to Madaro and the friendship between China and Italy. 
ORLANDO, Fla.  Gov. Ron DeSantis has tried lately to shore up his relationship with former President Donald Trump and soften his much-maligned public image even as his culture war agenda continues.

Hes signed laws to allow chaplains in public schools, mandate teaching kindergartners about the history of communism, and ban lab-grown meat that he declared was a plot hatched by the global elite.

Its a placeholder, said Dante Scala, a political scientist at the University of New Hampshire, a state where DeSantis campaigned heavily but dropped out before its primary. I dont think he and his circle have figured out yet exactly what went wrong.  I dont know that they have much of a clue what to do for 2028. So when you dont know what else to do, keep doing the same thing.

Across the country, bills aimed at transgender people have waned from this time last year, with bills dying even in GOP-controlled states such as Iowa.

But DeSantis said last week that he would fight back against new federal regulations banning discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity at universities and colleges.

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody filed a lawsuit Monday, along with counterparts in Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina, to try to block the new federal rule.

His social policies are core to both his identity and to his public brand, said Gregory Koger, a professor of political science at the University of Miami. Hes been at the forefront [of] translating them into policy. The rest of the party sees that as an agenda they can run with.

Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabatos Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said although it didnt appear culture war issues were at the top of national GOP voters minds in the primary, his focus on them wasnt the reason for DeSantis failure.

I dont necessarily think his loss was a rejection of his approach, Kondik said. I just dont think he ended up being all that compelling of an actual candidate.

Kiss the ring

In the closing days of his presidential campaign, DeSantis was vocal about his frustrations with Trump.

You can be the most worthless Republican in America, but if you kiss the ring, [Trump will] say youre wonderful, DeSantis said in Iowa. You can be the strongest, most dynamic, successful Republican and conservative in America, but if you dont kiss that ring, then hell try to trash you.

He held a video call with former donors in March during which he criticized Trump and his potential running mates despite having endorsed him as he dropped out of the race.

But since then, DeSantis has said he would campaign with Trump if asked. The two finally met at Trumps Mar-a-Lago estate in late April, although Trump didnt praise DeSantis personally.

We had a great meeting yesterday, Trump wrote on Truth Social. The conversation mostly concerned how we would work closely together to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.

DeSantis has not publicly commented about the encounter, but reports indicate he agreed to help raise money for Trumps campaign.

DeSantis has rejected the idea of a joint campaign appearance in Florida with Trump by saying the state was now safely Republican.

But Trump said outside his New York trial on charges of election interference that I would much rather be in Georgia and Florida. I much rather be in states that are in play.

The Biden campaign has also stepped up its presence in Florida, with Biden slamming the states 6-week abortion ban in Tampa and Vice President Kamala Harris doing the same in Jacksonville.

With Florida increasingly important, Koger said it was possible that DeSantis could be considered for Trumps running mate, but there may be too much bad blood between them.

He said after former Vice President Mike Pence refused to delay certification of Bidens win on Jan. 6, 2021 amid false claims of fraud, Trump might not trust someone who has criticized him.

Its less likely DeSantis gets picked than someone who has been less publicly confrontational over the last year, Koger said. Trump prizes loyalty and subservience, and wants to know that the next vice president he asks to violate the Constitution will do it.

If DeSantis doesnt get the nod from Trump, Scala said, The running mate is probably going to be a fairly prominent player for the 28 nomination.  who will have been elevated by Trump to a sort of second-place standing. I also think that DeSantis showed enough weakness in 24 that hes not going to dissuade other people from running.

Self-reflection

DeSantis appearances on the primary trail led to national stories listing his most awkward and weirdest campaign moments, including what seemed like forced laughter and smiles amid a failure to connect with voters in person in Iowa and New Hampshire.

I think the lesson is part of politics is being likable, and building relationships with other human beings, and hes working on that, Koger said.

His lengthy battles with Walt Disney Co. over criticism of the so-called dont say gay law and takeover of the former Reedy Creek special district also fell flat with national voters, Koger said.

He was acting like a strong man, in person and in public, in ways that cost him support, he said. So, publicly, weve seen him make peace with Disney. That was a fight he picked because he thought it worked well for him. Now hes realized that made him look petty and extreme. And now hes backed off.

In addition to praising Disney, DeSantis has also tried to soften his image with social media posts focusing on his family, including his wife, Casey, and their childrens new dog.

From being abandoned on the streets of Tallahassee to finding a new home in the Governors residence  welcome Liberty! DeSantis wrote on X.

Mac Stipanovich, a Tallahassee consultant who has been one of DeSantis harshest critics, said the key question for DeSantis was how much insight he has into himself.

Hes promoting things that appeal to the Republican base, but I havent seen any signs of self-reflection and humility, Stipanovich said.

He just doesnt have the talent, the special sauce thats required of great politicians, Stipanovich said. Really good politicians are artists, not accountants.  DeSantis is an accountant. He gets in a room and tries to figure it all out. He calculates the odds and the percentages and then he does something. Thats not the stuff of greatness.

Kondik said Floridians can probably expect DeSantis culture warring to continue, for a simple reason: he doesnt want to be left behind when a new conservative trend appears on the scene.

There may very well be other things that come up between now and [2028] that become cultural hot buttons, Kondik said. Maybe some of those things will be ones DeSantis will end up dealing with in his remaining time as the governor of Florida.
On Wednesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a bill banning the sale or production of lab-grown meat in the state. While a press release framed the bill as an attempt to advance Floridans' freedom by protecting them from the "World Economic Forum's goal of forcing the world to eat lab-grown meat and insects," all the legislation really does is stile competition for the state's meat producers.

"Today, Florida is fighting back against the global elite's plan to force the world to eat meat grown in a petri dish or bugs to achieve their authoritarian goals," DeSantis said in a Wednesday press release. "Our administration will continue to focus on investing in our local farmers and ranchers, and we will save our beef."

Cultivated, or "lab-grown," meat has been available in the United States on an extremely limited basis, generally limited to individual restaurants, since last year, after the Food and Drug Administration approved two different kinds of cultivated chicken for sale.

However, despite DeSantis' supposed fears about a lab-grown meat takeover, the small cultivated meat industry is struggling. The product isn't currently available anywhere in the United States, let alone in Florida.

Nonetheless, the governor signed Senate Bill 1084, which enacts a wide-ranging ban on cultivated meat, making it illegal "for any person to manufacture for sale, sell, hold or offer for sale, or distribute cultivated meat in" Florida. Violators of the law face misdemeanor penalties, and businesses caught selling the product could have their licenses suspended.

"We must protect our incredible farmers and the integrity of American agriculture," Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson said in the press release. "Lab-grown meat is a disgraceful attempt to undermine our proud traditions and prosperity, and is in direct opposition to authentic agriculture."

However, it seems DeSantis is the real authoritarian in this situation. Instead of letting Floridians decide for themselves whether they want to try lab-grown meat, DeSantis is having the state step in, all in the name of protecting Floridians from an imaginary threat to their freedom.

Florida's lab-grown meat ban is a perfect marriage of protectionism and the culture war. By framing the tiny lab-grown meat industry as a left-wing threat, DeSantis can justify giving government kickbacks to the meat industry, all while protecting meat producers from a source of future competition. Wednesday's press release goes so far as to brag about a litany of recently passed legislation that "support[s] the state's agriculture and meat industry."

Unfortunately, Florida isn't the first state to ban cultivated meat. Alabama passed a ban on lab-grown meat last month, and legislation to ban the product is pending in Arizona and Tennessee. Italy banned it last year.

The post DeSantis Signs Bill Banning Lab-Grown Meat in Florida appeared first on Reason.com.
The San Diego Humane Society is asking for people to come and adopt or foster some of their dogs, and have since declared their facilities are in "a state of emergency." Sadly, they also predict that it's only going to get worse as we head into summer.

It's not that the animal rescue is a little overcrowded, they're reporting record numbers of animals and limited space on where to keep them all.

According to Fox 5, the San Diego Humane Society has more than maxed out their available space and are now hoping that they can raise awareness to the public and encourage them to come out and bring a dog home.

Related: Humane Society Assigns 'Taylor Swift Eras' to Their Pets in Precious Video

Last year the organization had about 540 dogs in the care every day. This year "we have 640 dogs per day in our animal shelters," a spokesperson told the news outlet.

And that number is only going to get worse. In the summer months, the organization could be caring for more than 3,000 dogs  far above what they can safely accommodate.

What were asking for today is the communitys help to get some of these animals into homes, the spokesperson added.

San Diego Humane says one of the main reasons for the uptick are unwanted litters of puppies that end up at their facilities.

"In six years, two unaltered dogs, un-spayed and unneutered male and female and their offspring, can be responsible for over 60,000 canines," they explained.

And you can only imagine that many of those dogs will end up in shelters or rescues like this one, where they'll stay until someone comes and gives them a good home.

"We've never seen numbers of dogs like we have now," San Diego Humane President Gary Weitzman told CBS 8. "Those numbers have almost doubled since 2022."

Weitzman said they're now calling on the public to come adopt or foster some of their animals, "and definitely spay or neuter your own pets," he advised. "We've got plenty ourselves, we actually want to stop that right where it starts."

He also shared that within San Diego County they have about 45,000 animals in shelters per year.

"We're at 150 percent capacity, even 200 capacity on dogs," he added. "That's the real critical point for us."

He said that they also believe the cost of pet care has driven many people to surrender their animals or could prevent people from adopting. As well as the San Diego housing market.

"We really want to appeal to the compassion of landlords to allow people to have pets in their apartments," he said. "That would help tremendously."

He warned that the large surplus of dogs could also change their promise to not euthanize any of their animals. "That's what we're all afraid of," he said. "We'll maintain that promise but this is challenging us to the very last bit of our effort."

If you are in the San Diego area and are ready to bring an animal home, you can visit the facility or head over to their website to learn more information.

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.
The Maine State House in Augusta. (Maine Morning Star)

Gov. Janet Mills said at the outset of the year that if a legislation to recruit case aides for the Office of Child and Family Services ended up on her desk, she would sign it.

But Mills hasnt had the chance to make good on her promise because that bill is stuck in limbo waiting to be funded. This is true for nearly all of the bills this session seeking to improve Maines failing child welfare system.

People had a big focus [on child welfare] at the beginning, and it just kinda fizzled out, said Julian Richter, an attorney and president of the Maine Parental Rights Attorneys Association.

The Legislature is scheduled to come back May 10 to address vetoes and unresolved bills, which could include the case aides pilot project and other proposed reforms, such as one requiring the Department of Health and Human Services to determine whether a child in its care is eligible for federal benefits.

Those bills werent included in the budget, nor were they taken up by the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee, which has a pot of discretionary funding to dole out. However, roughly $11.4 million has been left unappropriated, and the budget committee could approve further bills for funding.

Though if not taken off the appropriations table by the committee by sine die, or final adjournment, the bills will automatically die.

Perhaps the biggest attempt to reform the child welfare system was through LD 779, a proposal to separate the Office of Child and Family Services from the Department of Health and Human Services. It passed the Senate with a bipartisan vote of 22-8, despite the majority of the Health and Human Services Committee recommending against the bill. The House still hadnt voted on the bill when the bulk of session work was wrapped up in the early morning hours of April 18.

The Legislature would need to convene in a special session to take action on LD 779; however, there has been no indication as of Thursday morning if there will be a special session.

A long simmering problem

The death of a six-week-old whose family was involved with the child welfare system reignited a years-long discussion around the systemic failures in OCFS and the burden placed on caseworkers, who reported being understaffed and overworked.

Caseworkers get little room to catch their breath in a physically and emotionally demanding job, dozens of vacancies go unfilled and convoluted policies lead to unsound safety decisions, according to testimonies and reports shared with the Legislatures Government Oversight Committee in late 2023.

In response, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services announced in January it would make several structural changes, including elevating acting director Bobbi Johnson to lead OCFS. Additionally, the department said they would launch a management review for the child welfare division and reorganize childrens behavioral health services.

After a series of hearings, the 12-member bipartisan oversight committee in early March shared its recommendations to improve the agency, including unanimous support for the case aide recruitment proposal.

Child welfare failures no longer in the shadows

However, the session wasnt completely void of action on child welfare. The final supplemental budget signed by the governor included several initiatives to improve child safety.

This includes $1.3 million for legal aides, trainers and other support positions so caseworkers can focus their time on investigations and engaging with children and families. Another $4 million has been allocated for reclassifying caseworkers and supervisors so their compensation better reflects the difficulty of the job.

Bill Diamond, a former state senator who started a nonprofit aimed at preventing child homicides and the abuse of children under state care, said even though it seems there may not be any significant legislative wins for child welfare this session, there is increased awareness of the problem.

Its no longer sitting in the shadows, said Diamond.

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The post Despite major concerns about child welfare, Legislature could adjourn without concrete action appeared first on Maine Morning Star.
California prison officials arrested a correctional officer reportedly found in possession of fentanyl and other narcotics on Monday inside Pleasant Valley State Prison in Fresno County.

Sgt. Greg Reinaldo Clark, who has worked the past 23 years for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, was arrested within the secured perimeter of Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga, CDCR announced Wednesday in a news release.

CDCR officials did not indicate the amount of confiscated fentanyl or what other narcotics Clark allegedly had in his possession at the prison, but they did release a photo of the confiscated drugs.

Clarks selfish acts put himself, PVSP staff and the incarcerated population in danger, Steve Smith, the prisons warden, said in the news release. That is one of the most detestable acts one can commit in a peace officer position. A huge thank you to the investigative team for their hard work and dedication on this case.

Contraband of fentanyl and other narcotics are shown by California prison officials after they were found by investigators on Correctional Sargeant Greg Clark inside Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga. Clark was arrested Monday, CDCR officials said. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid, and 2 milligrams of fentanyl can provide a lethal dose. Fentanyl can shut down breathing, cause cardiac arrest and kill within minutes.

Clarks career started in July 2001 as a CDCR cadet at the Richard A. McGee Correctional Training Center in Sacramento County. He started working as a correctional officer in December 2003 at Pleasant Valley State Prison. He was promoted to correctional sergeant in October 2013.

CDCR officials said on Wednesday that Clark has since resigned.

Clark earned a base salary of $97,701 in 2022 and had total pay and benefits that year of just over $200,000, according to compensation records provided by the state to Transparent California. Over a four-year span ending in 2022, he earned $113,395 in overtime pay.

The department firmly condemns any staff member, including peace officers, who violate their oath and betray the publics trust, CDCR Secretary Jeff Macomber said in the news release. We are committed to investigating and rooting out any employee who does not obey the law and betrays the public or CDCR staff.

Clark, 51, was arrested on suspicion of drug possession, transporting or selling narcotics, bringing drugs into a prison, possessing paraphernalia in a jail and unlawfully communicating with a prisoner, Fresno County Jail records show. He was booked at the jail late Monday and released on $80,200 bail two hours later.
The 89-year-old senators bout with shingles included a previously unreported case of encephalitis, a rare complication that causes inflammation of the brain.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., attends a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting on Capitol Hill Thursday. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Sen. Dianne Feinsteins office on Thursday confirmed that the 89-year-old California lawmakers complications from shingles were far more serious than previously known.

The disclosure came following a report by the New York Times revealing that Feinsteins shingles had spread to her face and neck, causing vision and balance impairments and facial paralysis known as Ramsay Hunt syndrome and had brought on a previously unreported case of encephalitis, a rare but potentially debilitating complication that causes inflammation of the brain.

Adam Russell, a spokesman for Feinstein, said in a statement that the encephalitis resolved itself shortly after she was released from the hospital in March. She continues to have complications from Ramsay Hunt syndrome, Russell added in the statement, which came after the Times story was published.

Heres everything we know about Feinsteins health and its impact on her work in the Senate, culled from original reporting and Yahoo News partners including the Times, Washington Post and others.

How rare are Feinsteins complications?

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., is seen in a wheelchair as she returns to the Senate after a more than two-month absence on May 10. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Very. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shingles affects a third of Americans, but Ramsay Hunt syndrome and encephalitis are far less common and can be severe.

Michael Wilson, a doctor who specializes in encephalitis at the University of California at San Francisco, told the Washington Post that the risk for post-shingles encephalitis is about one in a thousand.

Encephalitis symptoms include fever, headache, sensitivity to light or sound, neck stiffness, or even seizures and loss of consciousness, the paper said.

Ramsay Hunt syndrome  which is caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox and shingles  is also very rare. According to the Mayo Clinic, it's more common in older adults, typically affecting people older than 60.

But younger people can get it too. Last year, Justin Bieber, 29, announced he was suffering from Ramsay Hunt syndrome, which paralyzed one side of his face and forced him to postpone his tour.

How long was Feinstein gone?

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., appears at a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting on May 11 after a more than two-month absence. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Feinstein, who sits on the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee, returned to Washington last week after months away from the Senate as she recovered from her case of shingles, which was diagnosed in February. In the same month, the six-term California Democrat announced she will not seek reelection in 2024.

Her extended leave caused concern among Democrats about missed votes, and prompted numerous calls for her to resign. Her absence from the judiciary committee held up President Bidens judicial appointees and undercut the panels ability to issue subpoenas investigating the numerous reports of Supreme Court corruption.

[Time: Why Diane Feinstein shouldn't quit]

Feinstein said last month that her return was delayed due to continued complications from her shingles diagnosis and that she had not been cleared to travel by her doctors.

She also asked Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to allow another Democratic senator to temporarily serve on the panel until Im able to resume my committee work.

What happened when she returned to work?

Feinstein, accompanied by Prowda, right, is pushed in a wheelchair as she leaves a meeting on Capitol Hill on Thursday. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

When she did finally return to Capitol Hill, she appeared to be remarkably frail.

Using a wheelchair, with the left side of her face frozen and one eye nearly shut, she seemed disoriented as an aide steered her through the marble corridors of the Senate, complaining audibly that something was stuck in her eye, the Times reported.

And when speaking with a small group of reporters a few days later, Feinstein, who turns 90 next month, appeared to be confused when asked about the well wishes she'd received from her Senate colleagues since her return.

I havent been gone, she said, per the Los Angeles Times. I've been here. I've been voting. Please, either know or don't know."

[Politico: Feinsteins return leaves her party on edge]

The exchange did little to quell the calls for Feinstein to resign, which she has resisted.

The senator still sees the job as her calling and is no more receptive to a conversation about stepping aside than she was in 2018, when she decided to seek another term despite questions about her mental acuity, the New York Times said, adding: People close to her joke privately that perhaps when Feinstein is dead, she will start to consider resigning.

Im back in Washington, voting and attending committee meetings while I recover from complications related to a shingles diagnosis, Feinstein said in a statement Thursday. I continue to work and get results for California.

Whos running to replace her?

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., addresses a meeting of the Jan. 6 committee hearing on Capitol Hill, on June 21, 2022. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

Feinstein is not running for reelection next year and three prominent Democratic representatives are vying to replace her.

Barbara Lee, 76, has served in Congress since 1998, representing the San Francisco Bay Area. Lee was the only member of Congress not to vote for the authorization of military force following the Sept. 11 attacks and has a slew of endorsements from progressives, the Congressional Black Caucus and top California officials, like the state attorney general and the mayors of Los Angeles and San Francisco.

[Yahoo News: The 2024 California Senate race could be Democrats' next big civil war]

Katie Porter, 49, came into Congress in what has been described as the 2018 "blue wave" of Democratic progressives, representing an Orange County district that is more competitive than those represented by her Senate rivals. Upon entering Congress, she quickly established a reputation as a tough questioner in committee hearings. Porter recently released a memoir and has earned the endorsement of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who was her professor at Harvard Law School.

Adam Schiff, 62, has represented a Los Angeles-area district since 2001 and was the lead manager for former President Donald Trumps first impeachment. The former House Intelligence chairman has received the endorsement of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and nearly two dozen other California House members, in addition to holding a significant fundraising advantage over his opponents.
Editors Note: If you or anyone you know is the victim of a crime, call 1-800-CALL-FBI, or report it online at tips.fbi.gov.

(WJW)  If your children have access to the internet, they are also accessible to online predators.

The FBI is tracking an explosion in cases involving children and teens being coerced into sending explicit images online and being blackmailed with them.

Local parents share how son became sextortion victim

The increase in the number of children being targeted in sextortion crimes comes as Northeast Ohio lost one of its own.

Police search for sextortion suspect, more reports filed after teens death: I-Team

James Woods was a senior in Streetsboro City Schools and a member of the cross-country team.

The 17-year-old, who was making plans for college, died by suicide on Saturday, Nov. 19.

His parents Tamia and Timothy Woods say he was a victim of sextortion. They shared his story so other parents could learn how to protect their children from predators targeting teens online  like the ones who targeted their son before his death.

Quick links

FBI on sextortion scams

ICE prevention tips

Human trafficking hotline

Internet safety expert tips

What is sextortion?

Kids can be targeted on any site, app, messaging platform or game where people can communicate, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Typically, predators send friend requests posing as a person who is their own age.

Online safety expert Jesse Weinberger travels the U.S., talking with families and kids.

How predators are targeting children online for human trafficking

Weinberger says sextortion is weaponized attention. The predator fakes a safe, friendly and loving persona to build trust, cases show.

Woods believed he was communicating with an attractive young woman, who eventually convinced him to send sexually explicit photos.

Once the photos have been sent, the blackmail begins, the FBI says. Criminals threaten to publish that content and even threaten violence to get the victim to take more photos and videos.

The FBI says the shame cycle is what often prevents kids from asking for help.

The FBI recently issued a national public safety alert about financial sextortion targeting minors.

In these cases, the offender receives sexually explicit material from the child and then threatens to release the compromising material unless the victim sends money and/or gift cards.

I-Team gets results at Hopkins on human trafficking

The FBI says sextortion has resulted in an alarming number of deaths by suicide.

How common is it?

Over the past year, law enforcement has received over 7,000 reports related specifically to financial sextortion of minors, resulting in at least 3,000 victims, primarily boys, and more than a dozen suicides, the FBI says.

The FBI has seen a horrific increase in reports of financial sextortion schemes targeting minor boys, FBI Director Christopher Wray said.

Victims as young as 8

The FBI says it has interviewed victims as young as 8 years old. The most common targets are boys between 14 and 17.

Weinberger adds that sextortion happens in all kinds of families.

FBI data shows that sextortion affects children of both genders and crosses all ethnic and socioeconomic groups. The victims are honor-roll students, student-athletes, etc. The only common trait among victims, according to the FBI, is internet access.

Parentsand kids, toothink that if they are home, they are in their safe haven, Special Agent Kevin Kaufman said. But these are professional online predators who have perfected their craft. Youre putting them up against 11-, 12-, and 13-year-old children. I have seen victims who were straight-A students. Ive seen victims who were adults, for that matter.

Countless unknown victims

Lucas Michael Chansler victimized nearly 350 teenage girls over a several-year period ending in January 2010. To date, the FBI has identified and located only 109 of those victims and is actively working to identify others to help provide them with closure and assistance.

Chansler pled guilty to multiple counts of child pornography production and was sent to prison for 105 years.

Chanslers case highlights what the FBI believes is a prevalent problem.

The many victims who are afraid to come forward are not even included in those numbers, FBI Director Christopher Wray said.

Homeland Security reports a single predator may have hundreds of undiscovered victims around the world due to the shame of reporting the crime.

What if you or your child is a victim?

If you, your child or anyone you know is a victim of a crime, contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or tips.fbi.gov.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) can help get explicit images of the internet.

Is your explicit content out there?

Report the predators account on the platforms safety feature.

Block the predator and do not delete the profile or messages because it can be helpful to law enforcement.

If you dont feel that you have adults in your corner, you can reach out to NCMEC for support at gethelp@ncmec.org or call NCMEC at 1-800-THE-LOST.

Prevention

Open lines of communication are the best defense against sextortion, according to Homeland Security. Parents and caregivers are encouraged to have conversations with their children early on regarding their online activity.

Here are tips from the Office of Homeland Security:

Have an open dialogue with your kids before theyre exposed to sextortion. Let them know you have their backs if something happens in the future.

Consider limiting your childrens internet use or spot-check their phones and other devices. Keep tabs on the people your children are communicating with; this can be part of an open and ongoing conversation about what is (and isnt) appropriate online. It also may be worth considering a rule against devices in bedrooms overnight or shutting off Wi-Fi access after a certain time.

Review your childs social media privacy settings. Keeping accounts private can prevent predators from gathering their personal information.

Keep the door open. Let them know they can come to you and ask for help, and that helping will always be your top priority. If youre the adult a child trusts with this information, you should comfort them, help them understand they have been the victim of a crime, and help them report it to law enforcement.

Internet safety tips:

Weinberger notes Childrens Online Privacy and Protection Act says that children under 13 years old should not have social media accounts.

Dont accept a friend request from anyone online you dont know in real life.

Dont give any personal contact info (email or handles) to anyone you havent met IRL.

If someone you dont know asks for personally identifying information, say no.

Never share your passwords with anyone.

Whats in your bio? Information about your hometown and school can give predators personally identifying information.

Dont use easy-to-guess passwords, such as pet names, birth dates or anything that someone can guess by reviewing your social media profiles.

Dont click on links in e-mails that come from people you dont know; doing so could compromise your device.

Use mobile carrier tools to review which phone numbers are communicating with your child

Be wary of the recording devices you bring into your home. Some low-security devices (such as baby monitors and nanny cams) are easy to exploit.

Assume your webcam or recording devices can be activated remotely. Never have your phone or other electronic camera devices pointed at you while undressing or in a position you would not want to share with the world.

Cover your webcam when youre not using it; if your webcam doesnt have a built-in cover, use a sticker or piece of tape to cover it.

Weinberger suggests taking things even further.

Her recommendations include:

Physically taking away phones and tablets at night.

Reducing the amount of time your child spends on devices.

Dont share photos of children without their permission.

Set all accounts to private.

Where to get help

National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

1-800-843-5678

cybertipline.org

FBI

1-800-CALL-FBI

Tips.fbi.gov

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Dermatologists weigh in on why protecting your skin from the sun and paying attention to skin health should be a priority for people with darker complexions.

Sunscreen seems like an obvious go-to skin protector as extreme weather heats up the globe with record-breaking temperatures. But according to a Consumer Reports survey, 61% of Black people and 23% of Latinos reported never wearing sunscreen, believing that melanin provides natural protection.

The American Academy of Dermatology recommends that everyone apply broad-spectrum sunscreen, which protects your skin from the sun's UVA (aging) and UVB (burning) rays. This type of sunscreen can help prevent skin cancer, sunburn and premature skin aging. The sunscreen should have an SPF of 30 or higher  and yes, you still need sunscreen on a cloudy day to protect from those ultraviolet rays that pierce through the clouds.

UV is a known carcinogen, Dr. Ali Hendi, a dermatologist, surgeon and clinical assistant professor at Georgetown University Hospital, told Yahoo News. We need the sun to survive, and our planet needs it. But it increases my risk for skin cancer, and as much as I want to be outside, I need to protect myself.

Lurii Krasilnikov/Getty Images

While Black people are less likely to develop skin cancer, a new study by the American Academy of Dermatology found that Black men, who had a survival rate of 52%, were more likely to die from it than any other racial group. But Dr. Andrew Alexis, professor of clinical dermatology at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York and president of the Skin of Color Society, pointed out that sun is not the only factor for skin cancer diagnoses and prognoses.

One of the potential contributors to the higher mortality rates of melanoma, specifically in Black men, and one of the reasons why we see a lower five-year survival rate and a tendency to be diagnosed at later stages, is that melanomas in virtually pigmented skin types tend to be in places that are less frequently evaluated, looked at, like the sole of the foot or the palm of the hand, or the nail bed, Alexis told Yahoo News.

Hendi emphasized the fact that the African American and Latino communities and the physicians who treat them dont always have melanoma on their radar, leading to a delayed diagnosis.

Oftentimes, their melanoma is caught at a much later stage than someone who is Caucasian. And their doctors know that [Caucasians are] at risk, so they are more likely to use sunscreen, Hendi continued.

Here are a few myths that dermatologists are hoping to debunk for people with darker skin tones as millions experience the repercussions of dangerous heat.

Myth: Darker-skinned people dont get skin cancer

Regardless of our natural skin tone or skin complexion, anyone is susceptible to skin cancer, including skin cancers that can have as a risk factor UV exposure from the sun, Alexis said.

Theres low public awareness of the risk of skin cancer in people of color, and theres low public awareness of the tendency for skin cancers to appear in different locations, not just the areas that are exposed frequently to the sun.

The dermatologists said that while melanin does offer protection, it is not absolute.

It doesn't make one completely immune to the damaging effects of the sun, but it does lower the risk to some degree, Alexis said.

You are still at risk, and the more UV exposure you have, the likelihood increases, Hendi added.

Myth: Darker skin tones dont need sunscreen or protection from the sun

Leo Patrizi/Getty Images

Hendi emphasized the need for people of all skin types to protect their skin from the suns emission of ultraviolet rays and for overall skin health.

Everybody would benefit from sunscreen, not just from skin cancer prevention, but also from an antiaging perspective, he said.

In addition to applying sunscreen, Hendi suggests that people seek shade during the suns peak hours. He also advises people to wear protective clothing and UV protection sunglasses to shield their skin.

Alexis emphasized the importance of being able to find the right sunscreen for a persons complexion that doesnt leave a visible white cast, an issue that can create a barrier to wearing sunscreen.

For many years, the options were limited for cosmetically elegant formulations that would be applicable to folks with richly pigmented skin, he said. But many of the newer formulations today are suitable for all skin types. The options that we have now can suit the vast majority of complexions.

Myth: Sunscreen causes cancer

Hendi says we apply such minute amounts of sunscreen that the risk is theoretical.

If theres a concern over the carcinogens and chemicals in sunscreen, you can always use mineral sunscreens, and those mineral sunscreens are composed of either zinc or titanium dioxide. So those are physical sunscreens which dont get absorbed by the skin, and theyre not carcinogens. They stay on the surface of your skin.

Myth: People with darker skin dont burn from the sun

Having a history of intense sun exposure, including sunburns, is associated with higher risk for skin cancers in general, Alexis said. I have seen skin cancers of various types, be it basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma or melanoma, in patients of all different backgrounds and skin types. In particular, basal cell carcinomas are very much closely associated with sun exposure regardless of ones skin type.
Doctor took his own life with poison that Border Force was powerless to prevent being sent to him

Dr Shaw's parcel had been seized when it arrived in the UK but as the poison was not officially banned it was later sent to him - Paul Grover for the Telegraph

A doctor took his own life with poison that Border Force was powerless to prevent being sent to his address, an inquest heard.

Dr Jonathan Shaw had ordered the substance from Malaysia online but had his parcel flagged and seized by officers when it arrived in the country, the inquest heard.

However, current legislation means the agency can keep hold of such items for only up to 30 days, and because the poison wasnt officially banned it was delivered to Dr Shaw just nine days later.

Police werent told the package had been sent to him and although he told family and police he would dispose of it, Dr Shaw then used it to take his own life.

Risk to life

Now, in a Prevention of Future Deaths Report, Catherine McKenna, the area coroner for Manchester North, has said there should be greater consultation between police forces and UK Border Force.

The inquest heard Dr Shaw had purchased poison from Malaysia online, which was stopped by UK Border Force before being delivered to him.

The parcel had been flagged by the National Fast Parcels Targeting Team, which received intelligence about the Malaysian company and information about concerns for Dr Shaws welfare and the risk to life.

It was heard that officers from Greater Manchester Police (GMP) made contact with Dr Shaw and told him the parcel had been stopped by UK Border Force.

But when Border Force released the package after nine days without examining its contents or consulting with GMP, Dr Shaw hid it and told family and police he had got rid of it, before using its contents to end his life.

Significant missed opportunity

There is no evidence that the officers were informed by UK Border Force of the timescales before release and the officers would most likely not have been aware that UK Border Force could only lawfully keep hold of the package for 30 days, Ms McKenna said.

UK Border Force released the package nine days after its arrival in the UK and without examining its contents or consulting with GMP.

After recording a verdict of suicide, Ms McKenna said the lack of consultation between Border Force and GMP represented a significant missed opportunity.

She concluded that Dr Shaw would most likely have agreed to the safe destruction of the package if he had been asked before it came into his possession.

Action should be taken

Now, she has said evidence from the inquest revealed matters giving rise to concern.

In my opinion there is a risk that future deaths will occur unless action is taken, she wrote.

She said UK Border Force does not have legal powers to seize the specific package used because it is not a prohibited poison under the Poisons Act 1972.

If there is an ongoing police investigation or police interest in a particular consignment, the UK Border Force can use section 19 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 to stop and hold.

However, the holding power is limited to 30 days, after which the consignment must be released.

No national guidance or training

There is no national guidance or training provided to police forces or the UK Border Force on joint working around the management of consignments of [poison] from overseas which have been ordered by individuals inside the UK for the purpose of ending their own life.

There is no legal requirement to alert the local police force before a consignment is released or to request a welfare check during which the recipient could be invited to agree to the safe destruction of the parcel by the police or UK Border Force.

Addressing the chair of the National Police Chiefs Council and James Cleverly, the Home Secretary, she added: In my opinion action should be taken to prevent future deaths and I believe each of you respectively have the power to take such action.

They have until June 21 to respond.

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Doctors of color call on Congress to help address minority physician shortage

Roughly, 15 percent of doctors nationwide are Black or Latino.

Dr. Samual Cook is one of them.

The doctors I saw as a child never looked like me so I made it my lifes mission to be the change I sought in medicine, said Dr. Cook.

Dr. Cook is now a resident at the Morehouse School of Medicine. But he said the journey wasnt easy. In fact, it was almost over before it started.

I was told by my medical school admissions counselor that my above average GPA at one of our nations top ten universities was not strong enough to make medicine a reality, said Cook.

Thursday on Capitol Hill, Dr. Cook joined other minority doctors to share their experiences with Congress. They also urged lawmakers to address the shortage of physicians who look like them.

The most recent federal data shows only eight percent of doctors are Black and seven percent are Latino. Doctors say the disparities dont end there; minorities are disproportionately affected by chronic diseases compared to white people.

These disparities are not solely attributable to socioeconomic factors but are deeply rooted in systematic racism and unequal treatment, bias and inadequate access to quality healthcare, said Dr. Yolanda Lawson, President of the National Medical Association.

Its a set of disparities that doctors say affects more than just minorities.

When there are more sick people in our nation, such an imbalanced dynamic creates a bigger burden on our healthcare system, reduces workforce productivity, increases disability and raises medical costs that ultimately we all pay for whether through Medicare, Medicaid or high health insurance premiums, said Dr. Lawson.

Doctors say one of the biggest barriers for students is debt. Many medical students - regardless of race - face hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt but the financial burden is significantly greater for minorities.

Racially based and systematic wealth inequity is an undeniable truth in our nation, said Dr. Cook.

We must address financial constraints on many Black students. Medical school is a financial impossibility, said Dr. Lawson. We support programs such as the National Health Service Corps and ask for resources for the HBCU medical schools to address education and infrastructure.

Another one is access. There are only four Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) with a medical school nationwide and even fewer options for Latino students.

We need a bilingual and bicultural medical school anchored at a Hispanic serving institution partnered with local hospitals, said Dr. Michael Galvez, co-creator of the National Latino Physician Day.

Dr. Galvez believes community colleges should be included as potential pathways for medical students of color.

The commercialize of medical school and the reliance of standardized tests such as the MCAT overlooks the potential of a compassionate and capable physician candidate, said Dr. Galvez.

Doctors say they want Congress to increase funding for HBCUs nationwide and create more loan repayment programs for medical students.
"They have been a tall brother, a shoulder to lean on." Flood victims in one of the largest informal settlements in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi on Tuesday received vital donations from a Chinese company. #GLOBALink





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Dr. Samuel Cook, a resident at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on May 2, 2024, about the need for more support for HBCU schools of medicine. (Screenshot from U.S. Senate webcast)

WASHINGTON  Doctors on Thursday urged Congress to pass legislation addressing the disproportionately high rates of maternal mortality throughout the country and to lower barriers that have hindered people of color from becoming medical professionals.

During a hearing in the U.S. Senates Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, a panel of five medical professionals detailed health disparities for communities of color, including higher rates of maternal mortality.

Research consistently demonstrates that patients from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds experience better outcomes when treated by health care providers who share their racial and ethnic backgrounds, said Dr. Yolanda Lawson, president of the National Medical Association and an OBGYN in Texas. In short, patients can have better health outcomes when their doctors look like them.

Yet, Black doctors remain vastly underrepresented, Lawson added.

Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, ranking member on the committee and a doctor, noted that African American physicians account for only 8% of all physicians despite comprising 13.6% of the population.

Cassidy said that reducing maternal mortality has been a top issue for him during his time in Congress and said its important to acknowledge that this issue disproportionately affects African Americans.

California Democratic Sen. Laphonza Butler testified that the United States has the highest rate of maternal mortality among high-income nations.

Within recent years, thousands of women have lost their lives due to pregnancy-related causes, Butler said. And over the past decade, while the birth rate in this country has declined by roughly 20%, maternal mortality rates have steadily risen.

She implored the committee to debate and approve the so-called Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act, legislation introduced last year by New Jersey Democratic Sen. Senator Cory Booker, Illinois Democratic Rep. Lauren Underwood and North Carolina Democratic Rep. Alma Adams. It currently has 31 co-sponsors in the Senate and 193 in the House.

This legislation is not just about the life and death of Black women  its enactment will improve birthing outcomes for all women, Butler said.

HELP Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, indicated the panel would take up the legislation in the months ahead.

Sanders also said Congress should also look at increasing funding for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, also known as WIC; increasing class size at Historically Black Colleges and Universities to increase Black representation in the health care workforce; and making medical schools tuition-free to reduce the mountains of student loan debt that can serve as an obstacle to more people of color becoming doctors.

Thursdays hearing coincided with the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions release of new maternal mortality data, showing that 817 women died during 2022  a decrease from the 1,205 deaths the year before, but roughly in line with the 861 deaths from 2020.

The maternal mortality rate for Black women was 49.5 deaths per 100,000 live births, compared to 19 for white women, 16.9 for Hispanic women and 13.2 for Asian women.

Funding for HBCU medical schools

Dr. Samuel Cook, a resident at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, said during the hearing that medical students of color sacrifice our physical, mental, spiritual and financial wellbeing to be the change in the medical field we so desperately seek.

So now we ardently advocate for the reintroduction of legislation which would specifically fund and protect the growth of HBCU medical schools, he said.

Cook told the committee that the exorbitant cost of medical school is the greatest impediment in recruiting Black and brown doctors to our workforce. He currently holds nearly $400,000 in student loan debt.

Dr. Brian Stone, president of Jasper Urology Associates in Jasper, Alabama, told senators there are serious challenges that must be addressed in access to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, or STEM, education for Black and brown students.

Theres a wealth of data showing better health outcomes when Black patients have Black physicians. And this applies across different cultures, Stone said. This is because when you have cultural connectivity, you have better communication, you have shared experiences and you can overcome the mistrust that has developed over the decades.

Stone said his home state of Alabama has a population of about 4.8 million people, of whom about 25.8% are Black. Yet we only have 7% of the physician workforce thats Black.

Stone told the committee that theres a huge need to replace retiring physicians. And he said that making several changes, like providing mentors early and reducing the financial burden, can help to bridge the gap thats forming.

Currently, we have about 71,000 physicians retiring per year for the past few years. We only graduated 21,000 medical students per year, Stone said. And if you follow the mathematics, you see where were going to end up. Were going to need some very creative ideas to get us out of this situation.

The post Doctors plead with Congress to help improve U.S. maternal mortality rates appeared first on SC Daily Gazette.
Dr. Samuel Cook, a resident at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on May 2, 2024, about the need for more support for HBCU schools of medicine. (Screenshot from U.S. Senate webcast)

WASHINGTON  Doctors on Thursday urged Congress to pass legislation addressing the disproportionately high rates of maternal mortality throughout the country and to lower barriers that have hindered people of color from becoming medical professionals.

During a hearing in the U.S. Senates Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, a panel of five medical professionals detailed health disparities for communities of color, including higher rates of maternal mortality.

Research consistently demonstrates that patients from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds experience better outcomes when treated by health care providers who share their racial and ethnic backgrounds, said Dr. Yolanda Lawson, president of the National Medical Association and an OBGYN in Texas. In short, patients can have better health outcomes when their doctors look like them.

Yet, Black doctors remain vastly underrepresented, Lawson added.

Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, ranking member on the committee and a doctor, noted that African American physicians account for only 8% of all physicians despite comprising 13.6% of the population.

Cassidy said that reducing maternal mortality has been a top issue for him during his time in Congress and said its important to acknowledge that this issue disproportionately affects African Americans.

California Democratic Sen. Laphonza Butler testified that the United States has the highest rate of maternal mortality among high-income nations.

Within recent years, thousands of women have lost their lives due to pregnancy-related causes, Butler said. And over the past decade, while the birth rate in this country has declined by roughly 20%, maternal mortality rates have steadily risen.

She implored the committee to debate and approve the so-called Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act, legislation introduced last year by New Jersey Democratic Sen. Senator Cory Booker, Illinois Democratic Rep. Lauren Underwood and North Carolina Democratic Rep. Alma Adams. It currently has 31 co-sponsors in the Senate and 193 in the House.

This legislation is not just about the life and death of Black women  its enactment will improve birthing outcomes for all women, Butler said.

HELP Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, indicated the panel would take up the legislation in the months ahead.

Sanders also said Congress should also look at increasing funding for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, also known as WIC; increasing class size at Historically Black Colleges and Universities to increase Black representation in the health care workforce; and making medical schools tuition-free to reduce the mountains of student loan debt that can serve as an obstacle to more people of color becoming doctors.

Thursdays hearing coincided with the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions release of new maternal mortality data, showing that 817 women died during 2022  a decrease from the 1,205 deaths the year before, but roughly in line with the 861 deaths from 2020.

The maternal mortality rate for Black women was 49.5 deaths per 100,000 live births, compared to 19 for white women, 16.9 for Hispanic women and 13.2 for Asian women.

Funding for HBCU medical schools

Dr. Samuel Cook, a resident at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, said during the hearing that medical students of color sacrifice our physical, mental, spiritual and financial wellbeing to be the change in the medical field we so desperately seek.

So now we ardently advocate for the reintroduction of legislation which would specifically fund and protect the growth of HBCU medical schools, he said.

Cook told the committee that the exorbitant cost of medical school is the greatest impediment in recruiting Black and brown doctors to our workforce. He currently holds nearly $400,000 in student loan debt.

Dr. Brian Stone, president of Jasper Urology Associates in Jasper, Alabama, told senators there are serious challenges that must be addressed in access to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, or STEM, education for Black and brown students.

Theres a wealth of data showing better health outcomes when Black patients have Black physicians. And this applies across different cultures, Stone said. This is because when you have cultural connectivity, you have better communication, you have shared experiences and you can overcome the mistrust that has developed over the decades.

Stone said his home state of Alabama has a population of about 4.8 million people, of whom about 25.8% are Black. Yet we only have 7% of the physician workforce thats Black.

Stone told the committee that theres a huge need to replace retiring physicians. And he said that making several changes, like providing mentors early and reducing the financial burden, can help to bridge the gap thats forming.

Currently, we have about 71,000 physicians retiring per year for the past few years. We only graduated 21,000 medical students per year, Stone said. And if you follow the mathematics, you see where were going to end up. Were going to need some very creative ideas to get us out of this situation.

The post Doctors plead with Congress to help improve U.S. maternal mortality rates appeared first on Rhode Island Current.
Dr. Samuel Cook, a resident at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on May 2, 2024, about the need for more support for HBCU schools of medicine. (Screenshot from U.S. Senate webcast)

WASHINGTON  Doctors on Thursday urged Congress to pass legislation addressing the disproportionately high rates of maternal mortality throughout the country and to lower barriers that have hindered people of color from becoming medical professionals.

During a hearing in the U.S. Senates Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, a panel of five medical professionals detailed health disparities for communities of color, including higher rates of maternal mortality.

Research consistently demonstrates that patients from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds experience better outcomes when treated by health care providers who share their racial and ethnic backgrounds, said Dr. Yolanda Lawson, president of the National Medical Association and an OBGYN in Texas. In short, patients can have better health outcomes when their doctors look like them.

Yet, Black doctors remain vastly underrepresented, Lawson added.

Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, ranking member on the committee and a doctor, noted that African American physicians account for only 8% of all physicians despite comprising 13.6% of the population.

Cassidy said that reducing maternal mortality has been a top issue for him during his time in Congress and said its important to acknowledge that this issue disproportionately affects African Americans.

California Democratic Sen. Laphonza Butler testified that the United States has the highest rate of maternal mortality among high-income nations.

Within recent years, thousands of women have lost their lives due to pregnancy-related causes, Butler said. And over the past decade, while the birth rate in this country has declined by roughly 20%, maternal mortality rates have steadily risen.

She implored the committee to debate and approve the so-called Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act, legislation introduced last year by New Jersey Democratic Sen. Senator Cory Booker, Illinois Democratic Rep. Lauren Underwood and North Carolina Democratic Rep. Alma Adams. It currently has 31 co-sponsors in the Senate and 193 in the House.

This legislation is not just about the life and death of Black women  its enactment will improve birthing outcomes for all women, Butler said.

HELP Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, indicated the panel would take up the legislation in the months ahead.

Sanders also said Congress should also look at increasing funding for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, also known as WIC; increasing class size at Historically Black Colleges and Universities to increase Black representation in the health care workforce; and making medical schools tuition-free to reduce the mountains of student loan debt that can serve as an obstacle to more people of color becoming doctors.

Thursdays hearing coincided with the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions release of new maternal mortality data, showing that 817 women died during 2022  a decrease from the 1,205 deaths the year before, but roughly in line with the 861 deaths from 2020.

The maternal mortality rate for Black women was 49.5 deaths per 100,000 live births, compared to 19 for white women, 16.9 for Hispanic women and 13.2 for Asian women.

Funding for HBCU medical schools

Dr. Samuel Cook, a resident at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, said during the hearing that medical students of color sacrifice our physical, mental, spiritual and financial wellbeing to be the change in the medical field we so desperately seek.

So now we ardently advocate for the reintroduction of legislation which would specifically fund and protect the growth of HBCU medical schools, he said.

Cook told the committee that the exorbitant cost of medical school is the greatest impediment in recruiting Black and brown doctors to our workforce. He currently holds nearly $400,000 in student loan debt.

Dr. Brian Stone, president of Jasper Urology Associates in Jasper, Alabama, told senators there are serious challenges that must be addressed in access to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, or STEM, education for Black and brown students.

Theres a wealth of data showing better health outcomes when Black patients have Black physicians. And this applies across different cultures, Stone said. This is because when you have cultural connectivity, you have better communication, you have shared experiences and you can overcome the mistrust that has developed over the decades.

Stone said his home state of Alabama has a population of about 4.8 million people, of whom about 25.8% are Black. Yet we only have 7% of the physician workforce thats Black.

Stone told the committee that theres a huge need to replace retiring physicians. And he said that making several changes, like providing mentors early and reducing the financial burden, can help to bridge the gap thats forming.

Currently, we have about 71,000 physicians retiring per year for the past few years. We only graduated 21,000 medical students per year, Stone said. And if you follow the mathematics, you see where were going to end up. Were going to need some very creative ideas to get us out of this situation.

The post Doctors plead with Congress to help improve U.S. maternal mortality rates appeared first on West Virginia Watch.
Dr. Samuel Cook, a resident at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on May 2, 2024, about the need for more support for HBCU schools of medicine. (Screenshot from U.S. Senate webcast)

WASHINGTON  Doctors on Thursday urged Congress to pass legislation addressing the disproportionately high rates of maternal mortality throughout the country and to lower barriers that have hindered people of color from becoming medical professionals.

During a hearing in the U.S. Senates Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, a panel of five medical professionals detailed health disparities for communities of color, including higher rates of maternal mortality.

Research consistently demonstrates that patients from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds experience better outcomes when treated by health care providers who share their racial and ethnic backgrounds, said Dr. Yolanda Lawson, president of the National Medical Association and an OBGYN in Texas. In short, patients can have better health outcomes when their doctors look like them.

Yet, Black doctors remain vastly underrepresented, Lawson added.

Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, ranking member on the committee and a doctor, noted that African American physicians account for only 8% of all physicians despite comprising 13.6% of the population.

Cassidy said that reducing maternal mortality has been a top issue for him during his time in Congress and said its important to acknowledge that this issue disproportionately affects African Americans.

California Democratic Sen. Laphonza Butler testified that the United States has the highest rate of maternal mortality among high-income nations.

Within recent years, thousands of women have lost their lives due to pregnancy-related causes, Butler said. And over the past decade, while the birth rate in this country has declined by roughly 20%, maternal mortality rates have steadily risen.

She implored the committee to debate and approve the so-called Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act, legislation introduced last year by New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker, Illinois Democratic Rep. Lauren Underwood and North Carolina Democratic Rep. Alma Adams. It currently has 31 co-sponsors in the Senate and 193 in the House.

This legislation is not just about the life and death of Black women  its enactment will improve birthing outcomes for all women, Butler said.

HELP Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, indicated the panel would take up the legislation in the months ahead.

Sanders also said Congress should also look at increasing funding for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, also known as WIC; increasing class size at Historically Black Colleges and Universities to increase Black representation in the health care workforce; and making medical schools tuition-free to reduce the mountains of student loan debt that can serve as an obstacle to more people of color becoming doctors.

Thursdays hearing coincided with the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions release of new maternal mortality data, showing that 817 women died during 2022  a decrease from the 1,205 deaths the year before, but roughly in line with the 861 deaths from 2020.

The maternal mortality rate for Black women was 49.5 deaths per 100,000 live births, compared to 19 for white women, 16.9 for Hispanic women and 13.2 for Asian women.

Funding for HBCU medical schools

Dr. Samuel Cook, a resident at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, said during the hearing that medical students of color sacrifice our physical, mental, spiritual and financial wellbeing to be the change in the medical field we so desperately seek.

So now we ardently advocate for the reintroduction of legislation which would specifically fund and protect the growth of HBCU medical schools, he said.

Cook told the committee that the exorbitant cost of medical school is the greatest impediment in recruiting Black and brown doctors to our workforce. He currently holds nearly $400,000 in student loan debt.

Dr. Brian Stone, president of Jasper Urology Associates in Jasper, Alabama, told senators there are serious challenges that must be addressed in access to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, or STEM, education for Black and brown students.

Theres a wealth of data showing better health outcomes when Black patients have Black physicians. And this applies across different cultures, Stone said. This is because when you have cultural connectivity, you have better communication, you have shared experiences and you can overcome the mistrust that has developed over the decades.

Stone said his home state of Alabama has a population of about 4.8 million people, of whom about 25.8% are Black. Yet we only have 7% of the physician workforce thats Black.

Stone told the committee that theres a huge need to replace retiring physicians. And he said that making several changes, like providing mentors early and reducing the financial burden, can help to bridge the gap thats forming.

Currently, we have about 71,000 physicians retiring per year for the past few years. We only graduated 21,000 medical students per year, Stone said. And if you follow the mathematics, you see where were going to end up. Were going to need some very creative ideas to get us out of this situation.

The post Doctors plead with Congress to help improve U.S. maternal mortality rates appeared first on Iowa Capital Dispatch.
Dr. Samuel Cook, a resident at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on May 2, 2024, about the need for more support for HBCU schools of medicine. (Screenshot from U.S. Senate webcast)

WASHINGTON  Doctors on Thursday urged Congress to pass legislation addressing the disproportionately high rates of maternal mortality throughout the country and to lower barriers that have hindered people of color from becoming medical professionals.

During a hearing in the U.S. Senates Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, a panel of five medical professionals detailed health disparities for communities of color, including higher rates of maternal mortality.

Research consistently demonstrates that patients from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds experience better outcomes when treated by health care providers who share their racial and ethnic backgrounds, said Dr. Yolanda Lawson, president of the National Medical Association and an OBGYN in Texas. In short, patients can have better health outcomes when their doctors look like them.

Yet, Black doctors remain vastly underrepresented, Lawson added.

Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, ranking member on the committee and a doctor, noted that African American physicians account for only 8% of all physicians despite comprising 13.6% of the population.

Cassidy said that reducing maternal mortality has been a top issue for him during his time in Congress and said its important to acknowledge that this issue disproportionately affects African Americans.

California Democratic Sen. Laphonza Butler testified that the United States has the highest rate of maternal mortality among high-income nations.

Within recent years, thousands of women have lost their lives due to pregnancy-related causes, Butler said. And over the past decade, while the birth rate in this country has declined by roughly 20%, maternal mortality rates have steadily risen.

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She implored the committee to debate and approve the so-called Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act, legislation introduced last year by New Jersey Democratic Sen. Senator Cory Booker, Illinois Democratic Rep. Lauren Underwood and North Carolina Democratic Rep. Alma Adams. It currently has 31 co-sponsors in the Senate and 193 in the House.

This legislation is not just about the life and death of Black women  its enactment will improve birthing outcomes for all women, Butler said.

HELP Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, indicated the panel would take up the legislation in the months ahead.

Sanders also said Congress should also look at increasing funding for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, also known as WIC; increasing class size at Historically Black Colleges and Universities to increase Black representation in the health care workforce; and making medical schools tuition-free to reduce the mountains of student loan debt that can serve as an obstacle to more people of color becoming doctors.

Thursdays hearing coincided with the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions release of new maternal mortality data, showing that 817 women died during 2022  a decrease from the 1,205 deaths the year before, but roughly in line with the 861 deaths from 2020.

The maternal mortality rate for Black women was 49.5 deaths per 100,000 live births, compared to 19 for white women, 16.9 for Hispanic women and 13.2 for Asian women.

Funding for HBCU medical schools

Dr. Samuel Cook, a resident at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, said during the hearing that medical students of color sacrifice our physical, mental, spiritual and financial wellbeing to be the change in the medical field we so desperately seek.

So now we ardently advocate for the reintroduction of legislation which would specifically fund and protect the growth of HBCU medical schools, he said.

Cook told the committee that the exorbitant cost of medical school is the greatest impediment in recruiting Black and brown doctors to our workforce. He currently holds nearly $400,000 in student loan debt.

Dr. Brian Stone, president of Jasper Urology Associates in Jasper, Alabama, told senators there are serious challenges that must be addressed in access to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, or STEM, education for Black and brown students.

Theres a wealth of data showing better health outcomes when Black patients have Black physicians. And this applies across different cultures, Stone said. This is because when you have cultural connectivity, you have better communication, you have shared experiences and you can overcome the mistrust that has developed over the decades.

Stone said his home state of Alabama has a population of about 4.8 million people, of whom about 25.8% are Black. Yet we only have 7% of the physician workforce thats Black.

Stone told the committee that theres a huge need to replace retiring physicians. And he said that making several changes, like providing mentors early and reducing the financial burden, can help to bridge the gap thats forming.

Currently, we have about 71,000 physicians retiring per year for the past few years. We only graduated 21,000 medical students per year, Stone said. And if you follow the mathematics, you see where were going to end up. Were going to need some very creative ideas to get us out of this situation.

The post Doctors plead with Congress to help improve U.S. maternal mortality rates appeared first on Utah News Dispatch.
What does the Hispanic population of Mississippi look like? It's diverse and growing

Danny Bolanos is a third-generation banker. He started his career at the bottom of the ladder, working his way up to an executive position with The First Bank in the Jackson metro area.

Bolanos, vice president of commercial banking, has received a number of accolades for his business acumen and leadership role in his community. He also is an Hispanic immigrant who moved to Mississippi from his native Costa Rica, where he earned a bachelor's degree before moving to the United States. He emigrated to this country after meeting his future wife during an internship at Disney World in Orlando.

Danny Bolanos

The couple married in 2008, and Bolanos has lived in the Jackson metro area ever since.

Hector Boldo is an artist and is a native of Mexico. He and his husband, Tom Boldo, and fellow artist Jacqueline Wooton, recently opened an art gallery called Nuestro Arte in downtown Hattiesburg. They also are founders of the Mississippi Latinx Art Association. Wooton is from Puerto Rico, a Spanish-speaking U.S. territory in the Caribbean.

Mississippi is home to a growing number of Hispanic and Latinx people who are making a renewed investment in the state. According to the U.S. Census, the Hispanic population in Mississippi increased nearly 30% between 2010 and 2020, when official Census data were collected.

While the total Hispanic population is less than 4% of the state's total population, it is the fastest-growing group in the state. According to the Urban Institute, the Hispanic population in Mississippi is expected to nearly double by 2040 to nearly 50,000 people  up from 28,000 in 2020.

Creative media: Ole Miss student creates a story, now on its way to becoming a film about Latinx culture

The Mississippi Department of Archives and History recognizes the upward trend and has started collecting stories and artifacts to document the trend and follow its progression over time.

"Their stories were not really recorded," said Ivette Ray, director of Curatorial Services at MDAH. "We're starting from there and working our way to the present. It is just a community that has been overlooked."

Hector Boldo was the first to share his story with MDAH. The department bought several of his paintings and he donated other pieces to the MDAH collection. The paintings depict immigrants from many countries around the world, so while the emphasis is on the Hispanic community, the artwork has portraits of women from Hungary, Japan and other countries who moved to Mississippi.

"They (MDAH) don't have much of anything related to or about immigrants, so they are starting a collection about that," Boldo said.

Nan Prince, MDAH director of collections, works with Hattiesburg artist Hector Boldo to unveil one of his paintings that will be added to the Mississippi Department of Archives collection.

Ray said most of the Hispanic population in the state are full-time residents who work in a variety of industries.

"It's not just sharecroppers working on the farms," she said. "We have doctors, business owners and a lot of them are very talented, they play in the orchestras and things like that, so they bring a lot of every (profession) here."

Creative entrepreneurs: 2 artists form Mississippi Latinx Art Association to give Hispanic artists opportunity, visibility

Ray, herself a native of Mexico, attended bilingual school in Mexico until her family moved to the United States when she was 10, so she knew a little English, but had to adapt quickly when she was enrolled in school.

Ray moved to Mississippi several years ago and worked as an interpreter before joining the MDAH staff. Sincer her arrival, she has been working to gather artifacts and telling the stories of Hispanic and Latinx people in Mississippi.

Some have lived in Mississippi for generations. Others are new to the state  and the country. Either way, their stories reflect their culture and their contributions to the state. Ray said anyone interested in sharing their stories and artifacts can contact her at MDAH. Artifacts don't have be items of value, she said. MDAH is looking for items with historical significance, such as an airplane ticket showing a person's arrival in the U.S., family photos and other documents or memorabilia that show the historical and cultural relevance of the Hispanic and Latinx communities.

Hattiesburg artists Hector Boldo and Jacqueline Wooton, seen Sept. 14, 2023, started an organization to bring together Latinx artists in Mississippi,

"That is very important because it is a part of the story of Mississippi," Ray said.

The Hispanic population may be small, but it is not new to Mississippi. The Spaniards were the first Europeans to arrive in Mississippi  in the 1500s. Some of those who came from Spain included Alonso Alvarez de Pineda, who mapped the coastal areas in 1519, and Hernando DeSoto, who arrived in 1541 after crossing the Mississippi River south of Memphis, bringing with him about 400 soldiers to the Mississippi Delta.

Spain's domination of parts of the Southeast continued until the 1800s, including the Natchez area, according to the Mississippi Encyclopedia.

Today, the Hispanic population is most prominent in Scott County, about 40 miles from the Jackson Metro area. The county is roughly 15% Hispanic, according to the U.S. Census. Other areas where Hispanic populations are higher include Issaquena County in the Delta, Jones County in the Pine Belt and Harrison and Jackson counties on the Coast.

"We are here," Bolanos said. "We live here. We pay taxes here. We buy gas here. We buy our groceries here. We are very much members of this community, and we are contributing members of the financial system."

Bolanos and other Latinx business leaders are members of LABA Link, an organization that connects Latinx-owned businesses and business people to provide networking opportunities. The Hispanic and Latinx populations are comprised of people from many countries, so they are not always connected to each other outside their own families or social groups.

"For us it's important to close the gap that people think, well Latinos are a different sector or a different set of people, but we are very much involved with what is going from a political world, a financial world, we have a very high impact on different industries," he said. "We have a community that is full of entrepreneurs and other people who are creating jobs."

To learn more or get involved

To share your story or artifacts with MDAH, contact Ivette Ray at iray@mdah.ms.gov.

For more information about LABA Link, visit labalink.com.

For more information about the Mississippi Latinx Art Association, visit mslatinxart.com.

Do you have a story to share? Contact Lici Beveridge at lbeveridge@gannett.com. Follow her on X @licibev or Facebook at facebook.com/licibeveridge.

This article originally appeared on Hattiesburg American: MS Hispanic, Latinx population documented by MDAH as population grows
A dog bled to death over three days in a California shelter. Could new laws help? | Opinion

It is a true story sure to bring tears to the eyes of any dog owner:

A Siberian Husky ended up in an animal shelter in Orange County after being hit by a vehicle. It was injured and bleeding, but there were no notations from a veterinarian on treatment, like administering pain medications. According to a lawsuit against the county, the animal received only a minimal amount of pain medicine, and kept bleeding and suffering for three days until it died.

State Sen. Janet Nguyen recounts this sad tale as she promotes a bill that would recommend key veterinary practices at shelters across the state to ensure such a lack of treatment does not happen again anywhere else.

The Huntington Beach Republican is also sponsoring a second bill that would standardize reporting by shelters in Californias largest counties when it comes to how many animals get taken in, how many get placed and how many end up being euthanized. With this information, the public can see how well shelters are performing.

Every year in California nearly 600,000 dogs, cats and other animals go into county shelters, according to the advocacy group Best Friends. Thankfully, over 450,000 get adopted. But nearly 10%, or more than 60,000, get put to death.

Nguyens Senate Bill 1478 would recommend guidelines for veterinarian notations on charts for such things as treatment plans and pain control.

The bill would establish how quickly shelter staff would need to see an animal that comes in. Protocols for treatment of injuries and infectious diseases would be set forth, as well as how to manage pain and guarantee proper communication between vets and staff.

Animals have no voice, Nguyen says. So we are their voice. We must treat dogs, cats and other creatures in our shelters with care and dignity.

A second bill, SB 1459, would mandate that counties with populations over 400,000 report on their websites how many animals come into shelters, how many get fostered or adopted, and how many die naturally or by euthanasia. More than 200 animal shelters operate in California, but there are no standardized reporting requirements.

SB 1459 would also clarify that trapping, neutering and returning feral cats would not constitute abandonment under the California Penal Code. This would be particularly helpful in addressing the states feline overpopulation problem.

Shelter reporting varies greatly

The need for standardized reporting becomes readily apparent when checking online reports from county animal shelters. There is wide variety in the timeliness and detail of reports.

Sacramento County animal services, for example, has a robust collection of data. Numbers are current and updated on a monthly basis. There are up to date annual summaries as well. The yearly totals break out canines and felines, and even detail whether euthanasia was done for medical reasons or behavioral issues.

By comparison, Stanislaus County is updated just through the 2022-23 fiscal year and does not include as much detail as Sacramento.

San Luis Obispo County reports animal shelter outcomes  adoptions, redemptions and euthanasias  over a 10-year period through 2020, but does not break out specific rates for dogs and cats.

Fresno County has annual statistics just through 2022, and also does not break out canines from felines.

Bipartisan support

Nguyen has Democrat co-authors in state Sen. Josh Newman and Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva, both of Fullerton. With their backing, the bills have a better chance in the Legislature, where Democrats are the supermajority.

The measures recently passed out of the Senates Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee and now head to the Senate Appropriations Committee. Lawmakers there, and in both the Senate and Assembly, should back the bills as common sense.

Some counties have already pushed back on Nguyen, complaining the reporting requirements would be a burden. But reporting standards for animal shelters, at least in the states largest counties, would be a valuable step toward transparency that will help the public know which facilities operate properly and with integrity. The data are worth the effort.

California trails other states on these animal-welfare measures. It is time to catch up.
MARIETTA, Okla. (KFOR)  Tornado damage to the Dollar Tree distribution center in Marietta has some employees concerned about the future status of their employment and the building.

The Saturday night EF4 tornado tore through the center, which opened in 2003; before expanding in 2013.

We show the love: Marietta focused on recovery in EF-4 aftermath

The distribution centers parent company confirmed that none of its 456 associates were injured at the facility. It said its also working to support impacted employees through the recovery process, including temporary work relocation and access to a relief fund.

The large Dollar Tree/Family Dollar distribution center on I-35 in Marietta has major storm damage. (KFOR)

I started stressing out, said employee Martin Sanchez. Started overthinking things like, oh my God what are we going to do now?

Sanchez said the company has been very communicative with him and his fellow co-workers, letting them know they arent in this alone.

Get paid for the next 30 days, said Sanchez. Then on May 21st, its going to be an update there.

Sanchez said the center is an economic hub for the area and that as much reassurance as hes getting, there are still some unknowns.

I dont know what step to take, said Sanchez. We dont know where to go right now. Theres a lot of uncertainties with the building. We dont know if its going to be rebuilt.

Governor Kevin Stitt visited Marietta on Tuesday, surveying damage around the community and touching on the economic blow to the area.

This is a big, big economic driver for this community, said Stitt. Its certainly a loss to the families that work there.

 Find more coverage of the deadly tornado outbreak

Stitt said the states unemployment office will be working with Oklahomans to help fill in the gap.

Sanchez said hes heard potential ideas being floated around asking for names of employees whod be willing to relocate.

We do have a warehouse in Houston, and a warehouse in Missouri, said Sanchez.

Sanchez said hed consider it, but knows thats not something every employee would be on board with.

Ive talked to my team, said Sanchez. Half of them are saying no because their families are here.

Sanchez said structural engineers visited the center this week and provided some information in regards to the buildings integrity.

They were saying that the wall separated a little bit, said Sanchez. So that could be a potential big rebuild like complete tear down, but we still dont know.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
TechCrunch

Starship is ready to fly again  and for the first time, SpaceX is going to try to bring the booster back to the launch site to catch it with a pair of oversized "chopsticks." SpaceX will launch the mammoth Starship on Sunday in a launch window that opens at 5 AM PST (7 AM local time) from the companys Starbase site in southeast Texas. This flight, which will be the fifth in the Starship development program, is coming a little sooner than expected: the Federal Aviation Administration had previously said that it did not anticipate issuing a modified launch license for this test before late November.
'I dont think Ill ever be the same after this': What happened when a student brought a gun to Mount Horeb

MOUNT HOREB  It took several calls before Alyssa Kopczynskies daughter answered her cellphone Wednesday morning. What Kopczynskie heard when her daughter finally answered did little to ease her concerns.

Her daughter, a student at Mount Horeb Middle School, was "crying hysterically." So were all of her friends, Kopczynskie said.

"You can hear all of them in the background literally bawling their eyes out, Kopczynskie said.

For two hours, she kept her daughter on the phone. She told her to breathe and to rub her friends' backs.

When the weight of what was unfolding at her daughter's school began to sink in, she broke down. Before she'd reached her daughter, Kopczynskie and the other parents of students in the Mount Horeb Area School District had been alerted that a person armed with a rifle was outside the middle school.

Im literally shaking to death and can hardly breathe, Kopczynskie said. "I dont think Ill ever be the same after this.

No one was injured in the incident except the young male student who police say brought a gun to school. He was shot and killed by law enforcement and never made it inside the school, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said at a press conference in Mount Horeb on Wednesday evening.

Kaul said Mount Horeb police officers involved in the incident have been placed on leave, which is typical practice after law enforcement uses deadly force.

Late Wednesday, the district canceled school for Thursday. On Thursday morning, the post on the district's Facebook page said students, families, staff and community members are invited to an event at the high school commons from 3 to 4:30 p.m. "in a demonstration of community cohesion," adding that resources would be available for families.

More: Police kill Mount Horeb student they say brought gun to school

More: What to know about Mount Horeb, Wisconsin, where police responded to an active shooter

Parents are being asked to show ID and sign kids out after the Mount Horeb school system in Mount Horeb, WI went on lockdown because of an active shooter Wednesday May 1, 2024.

Some students ran home, others remained on lockdown for hours

The five schools in the Mount Horeb district are clustered close together. Mount Horeb Middle School and Intermediate School are on the same block, connected by several outdoor fields. The high school is across the street from the middle school. The schools serving kids in kindergarten through second grade sit a few blocks west.

All went into lockdown sometime at 11:16 a.m. Wednesday, with the district saying there was "an active shooter near our middle school."

The district reported just after noon that no one had been injured except for the suspect.

Students were kept in classrooms for hours as they waited for the scene to be cleared.

Just outside of the police perimeters, about a block from the schools, parents gathered and held on to each other as they watched officers move in and out of the buildings. Some were on the phone with their children, while others simply stood in silence.

Other parents sat on the curbs, monitoring their phones for any updates about their children inside of the buildings. Parents often approached officers enforcing the perimeter, who could do little more than shake their heads and tell the adults that they didn't have any new information for them.

Melissa Alvarado had picked up her daughter from the middle school earlier Wednesday, apparently just minutes before the incident began, because she was feeling sick.

Her other child, who attends high school in the building across the street, heard gunshots. Teachers told students to run to the other side of the school to barricade themselves in classrooms, Alvarado said.

This is our home, our safe spot, thats no longer safe, she said.

Eric Boyle has two children who attend the middle school. His eighth grader ran home after seeing someone with a gun.

They were at lunch, and then they just ran out the front door because they saw a guy with a gun, Boyle said.

Parents hug on the road between the high school and the Intermediate Center in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin on Wednesday, May 1, 2024.

Boyles seventh-grader remained on lockdown through the day.

Asked how it felt to see an incident like this in Mount Horeb  a community of 7,700 people located 20 miles from Madison  Boyle replied, Its crazy, but the world is crazy."

Parents wait anxiously for students to be released

At Life Church, designated as a reunification center for the intermediate school, grades 3 to 5, many parents chatted in the parking lot as they waited for their children Wednesday afternoon. Others sat alone in the grass.

Water was being distributed, and police brought two therapy dogs: golden retrievers named Luna and Nova.

Two golden retriever therapy dogs, Luna and Nova, are accompanied by a law enforcement officer at Life Church in Mount Horeb on Wednesday, May 1, 2024.

Parent Kristen Malone said when heard about the active shooter at the middle school, she felt complete panic and terrified."

She said shes glad her children followed the emergency protocols and stayed safe. But shes anxious about the entire ordeal, she said.

Its unthinkable that it happened here. I just never really ever considered that it would happen in our community, Malone said.

Sarah Wisner sat in the grass outside the church waiting to be reunited with her fifth-grade son. She hadn't yet got word when her seventh-grade son and other middle schoolers would be reunited with their families.

The first thing she planned to tell her fifth-grader was that his older brother was safe.

Were just so happy that everyones safe, and were OK, and go from there, Wisner said.

She said she was very grateful for everyone who responded and how quickly everyone took action to help keep our students and town safe.

Aurora Powers, a parent and former teacher, said the children hadnt been able to eat lunch before going into lockdown. She called Mount Horebs Pizza Hut and explained the situation. The restaurant told her they would donate pizzas to the church so the students could have a slice when they arrived.

This is a community that does support each other, I find, Powers said.

Unlike most of the other parents the Journal Sentinel spoke to, Powers said she absolutely expected something like this to eventually happen in her community.

She understands the challenges the students and teachers are facing. She quit teaching two years ago. The Uvalde, Texas, school shooting  when 19 students and two teachers were killed  in 2022 was a big reason.

The whole system needs to be re-evaluated, she said, to put more focus on students health.

Mentally, the wear and tear on teachers, staff, children, everybody  all of this is just a byproduct of people needing better mental health and better programs for people to get help, she said.

Later Wednesday, Powers was among the parents waiting in line behind a fence outside Mount Horeb Early Learning and Primary Centers, which serve kids in preK through second grade. The schools usually dismiss students at 3:15 p.m.; this day, the students weren't allowed out until 5 p.m., with all parents being asked to show ID to sign their kids out.

Students were released one-by-one to parents. As the young children finally emerged from the school doors, they raced to hug their parents.

Powers' daughter Ruby ran into her arms, squealing with excitement.

"It was really scary," one child told their dad.

Another father told his child they'd be going out for ice cream.

A little boy asked his dad, "Was mom crying?"

Many parents were crying as they embraced their children after an exhausting, terrifying day.

Aurora Powers, a Mount Horeb mother, reunites with her daughter after students spent hours locked in their schools following a report of an active shooter at the Mount Horeb Middle School.

A grandmother, who lives across the street and said her children attended the school years ago, had allowed waiting parents to use her bathroom earlier in the day. She returned to school grounds in the evening. She said she wanted to make sure she saw that all the anxious parents were reunited with their babies.

Parents reunite with their children who attend Mount Horeb Intermediate School early Wednesday evening at the bus depot in Mount Horeb. The school was on lockdown due to an active shooter. The suspect was killed by police.

Meanwhile, a nearby bus depot was announced as the location for parents to pick up their middle-school students. Families waited there with their dogs, friends and younger children. A group of four women shared a takeout dinner. Friends chatted about upcoming Little League games.

Around 6:30 p.m., more than seven hours after the first reports of an active shooter at their building, middle school students were released.

Some children, kept inside since mid-morning, were rolling down the hill and playing tag in the grass as they waited for their parents to arrive.

Some reunions were emotional. Many children were in tears as they rejoined their parents.

Parents like Laura Isaacson praised the teachers for keeping the students safe, entertained and fed. Snacks and dinner were provided during the lockdown.

Isaacson was there with her dog, Chewy, waiting for her seventh grade son. He had texted her earlier in the day.

"Mom, there's a shooter in my school," read the text.

When she asked if it was a drill, he responded, "No. It's not a drill."

"My heart sank," Isaacson said. "Its the worst nightmare you can ever imagine as a mom."

Reporter Rory Linnane contributed to this story.

Jessica Van Egeren is a reporter with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She can be reached at jvanegeren@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What Mount Horeb experienced when suspected shooter came to school
BEIJING, May 2 (Xinhua) -- For foreign travelers in China, swiping their credit cards for a cup of coffee or a cab, even in a metropolis like Beijing, used to be a troublesome challenge as international credit cards were not widely accepted in the country.

Now, the situation has changed, as China has recently implemented a slew of measures to streamline payment processes for overseas travelers, highlighting the country's ongoing commitment to enhancing high-level openness.

"When I shop and want to buy something (in Beijing), I can just directly use my Visa credit card. It feels awesome to be able to use the same payment method as in my own country," Corazon Scheppy, an American girl, told Xinhua at a cafe in the Haidian District of Beijing.

Last month, China's central bank, along with several other government organs, jointly released a circular to make payments more accessible for foreigners visiting the country. The circular urged efforts to optimize bank card payment services, promote cash use, and facilitate mobile payment.

It followed a guideline issued by the country's State Council in early March, which detailed measures to help foreign nationals navigate different payment options in the country.

Over the past months, Chinese authorities, collaborating with commercial banks and retailer shops, have taken intensive steps to smooth payments for foreigners.

For example, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the nation's largest lender, has equipped 130,000 merchants with POS terminals that accept a wide range of international credit cards.

The latest survey showed that the acceptance rate of overseas cards in key areas of southern China's economic hub of Guangzhou has reached 90 percent. All subway stations and many taxis in Shanghai now accept payment via overseas bank cards.

For foreign visitors who prefer mobile payment, mobile payment services are available in Alipay and WeChat Pay, two predominant mobile payment service providers in China. Foreigners can link their international credit cards, including Visa and Mastercard, to these platforms.

Among its facilitating measures, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) has instructed major payment platforms to increase the single transaction limit from 1,000 U.S. dollars to 5,000 dollars and the annual cumulative transaction cap from 10,000 dollars to 50,000 dollars for overseas travelers using mobile payments.

Another payment option, and quite a red-hot one as well, is a digital RMB wallet, which is also well-received by foreign visitors. "It's really a novel and creative way of making payment in digital RMB, and the paying procedure is so simple and so easy," noted Larissa Lima, a traveler from Brazil.

The bank told her that she could register and open an RMB wallet just with her overseas mobile phone number, and the wallet could be used after binding her international credit cards, including Visa or Mastercard, among other options, with the platform.

Data from the PBOC showed that over 900,000 inbound travelers used mobile payment from January to February this year, completing more than 20 million transactions worth some 3 billion yuan (about 422.16 million U.S. dollars).

In the meantime, the country is also working on measures to enhance cash services. Over 60,000 bank outlets nationwide now offer foreign currency exchange services. International travelers can acquire RMB banknotes through self-service kiosks located at airports, border ports, and other key locations.

Some commercial banks have established cooperation mechanisms with taxi companies by providing customized denomination mix of banknotes for the drivers to meet the needs of cash users, especially foreign visitors.

Major cultural and tourism attractions have also been directed to retain ticket booths and ticketing staff to accommodate visitors who prefer cash payment options.

In the next step, priority will be given to setting up foreign currency exchange institutions and facilities at airport arrivals to ensure that key places like ports and hotels have at least one foreign currency exchange channel, according to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. 
Donald Trump, a day after being warned about potential jail time if he continues to violate the gag order in his criminal trial in New York, lashed out at the judge presiding over that case as crooked.

There is no crime. I have a crooked judge. Hes a totally conflicted judge, Trump told his supporters at a Wisconsin rally Wednesdayhis weekly day off from the trial, where prosecutors allege the former president broke state laws governing business records and federal campaign finance law after covering up a hush-money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

The trial, he added, is unfortunately being held in a 95 percent or so Democrat area.

Trump has consistently lashed out at New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, and at other officials involved in his four criminal cases. Last month, he labeled the judge crooked after Merchan expanded his gag order in the case. Crooked Judge Juan Merchan is not allowing me to talk, is taking away my First Amendment Rights, hes got me GAGGED, because he doesnt want the FACTS behind the Gag to come out, Trump claimed in a Truth Social post.

Later on Wednesday, during a rally in Freeland, Michigan, Trump complained about the kangaroo court room, and repeated unproven allegations that the Biden administration is behind a secret plot to bury him.

Ive got to do two of these things a day. You know why? Because Im in New York all the time with the Biden trial, he said, according to the Associated Press. Its a fake trial. They do it to try and take your powers awaytry and take your candidate away.

While the gag order allows Trump to criticize Merchan and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, it forbids him from talking about jurors, prosecutors, court staff, and potential or actual witnesses. Merchans and Braggs families are also off limits.

On Tuesday, Merchan found Trump to be in contempt of court for social media posts and statements doing just that, and fined him $1,000 for each of the nine violations. Merchan noted that an incarceratory punishment is an option if Trump continues to flout the order.

Trump, who has claimed it would be a great honor to go to jail, has oddly compared himself to South African anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela if that should happen.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Donald Trump can dish it out, but he has shown, once again, that he simply cannot take it.

As proceedings began Thursday morning in the disgraced ex-presidents criminal hush-money trial, defense attorney Todd Blanche complained to New York State Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan that the gag order put in place to prevent Trump from intimidating witnesses, jurors, and court staff was unfair to his client.

Everybody can say anything they want, except for President Trump, Blanche grumbled.

The focus of Trumps present ire, Blanche said, is Michael Cohen: specifically, a social media posting mocking the former presidentwho has repeatedly slammed his former personal lawyer and fixer as a liaras hopelessly incontinent.

Hey Von ShitzInPantzyour attacks of [sic] me stink of desperation, Cohen recently posted on X, formerly Twitter. We are all hoping that you take the stand in your defense.

Reached by phone shortly after the tweet was formally entered into the court record, Cohen said he was in the middle of a meeting and couldnt talk.

Hey Von ShitzInPantzyour attacks of me stink of desperation. We are all hoping that you take the stand in your defense. pic.twitter.com/FVsWbRnNkB  Michael Cohen (@MichaelCohen212) April 22, 2024

Trump is facing 34 counts of falsifying business records over a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels in an effort to silence her about an alleged affair the two had, which the then-candidate feared would impact his chances of winning the 2016 election.

The twice-impeached ex-commander-in-chief has already been fined $9,000 for his repeated gag order violations. Merchan has warned Trump he could be jailed if he continues to act out in defiance of the rules. On Thursday, Blanche told Merchan that Cohen is now posting videos to TikTok nightly and making fun of Trump, to which Trump is not allowed to respond.

Theyre over the top about his character, about his candidacy, Blanche said.

Merchan, for his part, appeared unmoved, coolly telling Blanche that he didnt have the authority to impose a gag order on Cohen because he is not a defendant in the case. However, if Cohen keeps it up, Merchan has said he would consider lifting the portion of the gag order barring Trump from mentioning him.

Blanche was also exercised today that President Biden teased Trump at the White House Correspondents Dinner last weekend, making sly reference to the stormy weather his predecessor has experienced of late.

Youre saying he cant respond to what President Biden said? Merchan shot back. Theres nothing in the gag order that says he cant.

Blanche has previously claimed to Merchan that Cohens entire financial livelihood depends on President Trumps destruction, and that he was obsessed with Trump. Cohen spent more than 13 months in prison for his role in the payoff, and has since turned against his former boss. He is expected to appear as a star witness for the prosecution.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Donald 'Von ShitzInPantz' has now formally been entered into the public record at Trump's hush-money trial

Testimony in Donald Trump's New York trial was delayed Thursday by more gag-violation arguments.

"Everybody can say anything they want except for President Trump," his lawyer said.

Trump's lawyers flagged Biden's "stormy weather" and Michael Cohen's Donald "Von ShitzInPants" cracks.

Another week, another contempt-of-court hearing for former President Donald Trump  and this one was a doozy.

On Thursday morning, prosecutors at Trump's Manhattan hush-money trial argued that he violated his gag order last week when he made four on-camera statements attacking witnesses and the jury.

Things got weird when his defense attorney Todd Blanche complained that Trump must remain silent about witnesses and jurors while his opponents get to say "anything they want."

That's when President Joe Biden and Donald "Von ShitzInPants" made their bizarre cameo appearances on the official trial record.

Biden "mocked President Trump," Blanche told the judge, quoting into the record a joke the president had made Saturday at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner.

"Donald has had a few tough days lately. You might call it stormy weather," Biden quipped in a very apparent reference to Stormy Daniels, the porn star at the center of the hush-money trial.

"President Trump can't respond to that" by criticizing Daniels, Blanche said Thursday to the judge, state Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan.

Likewise, Trump's personal attorney turned nemesis, Michael Cohen, can take whatever potshot he chooses, Blanche told the judge.

A courtroom sketch showing Donald Trump seated as his attorney presents to the court unfavorable tweets from Michael Cohen during Trump's hush-money trial. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg

But Trump must remain silent, Blanche added, even when Cohen mocks him as Donald "Von ShitzInPantz," a favorite insult on Cohen's podcast and his account on the social-media site X.

Blanche proceeded to read that colorfully worded, offending post into the record as Trump sat listening at the defense table.

"This one says, oh my, ShitzInPantz," Blanche recited as he entered a screenshot of the post into the court record as Exhibit 64  without any objection from prosecutors.

The official court stenographer duly followed along, typing the phrase into the court record as "shits in pants."

"Keep whining and crying and violating the gag order you petulant defendant," Blanche continued, quoting Cohen.

"Your attacks of me stink of desperation," Blanche continued, flipping to another social media post. "We are all hoping that you take the stand in your defense."

Hey Von ShitzInPantzyour attacks of me stink of desperation. We are all hoping that you take the stand in your defense. pic.twitter.com/FVsWbRnNkB  Michael Cohen (@MichaelCohen212) April 22, 2024

"Everybody can say anything they want except for President Trump," Blanche complained to the judge.

He read a few more Cohen posts into the record, along with screenshots entered as court exhibits. Again, Trump was required to remain seated to his left, listening and looking at the screenshots.

They included this direct Cohen taunt: "Keep messing with me Donald and I won't send any money to your commissary."

Last week, Cohen pledged to stop talking about Trump on X for as long as a month, until after his testimony in the trial is over.

Now, "Michael Cohen has gone on TikTok, nightly," and makes money from it, Blanche told the judge.

Please dont forget about the witnesseswe also matter! https://t.co/raWyfmDk7o  Michael Cohen (@MichaelCohen212) April 16, 2024

Merchan has already found Trump in contempt of court for gag violations.

On Thursday, he fined the GOP frontrunner $9,000 for nine online attacks on witnesses and jurors.

The judge did not immediately rule on the four additional Trump statements now before him.

Prosecutors are asking that Trump be fined another $4,000, the maximum allowed, for the four on-camera statements he made last week.

Contempt of court is punishable under New York law by as much as 30 days in jail per violation. The district attorney's office has not asked for jail.

However, prosecutors and the judge have warned that jail may be appropriate if there are future violations.

He's done it again

Trump continued to complain about the gag order at the end of the court day. Answering a question from Business Insider in the hallway outside of the courtroom, he said he couldn't respond to testimony earlier in the day from Stormy Daniels's lawyer Keith Davidson because he was "under a gag order."

"It's a very easy question. The easiest question so far," he said. "But I'm not allowed to testify because this judge is totally conflicted, has me under an unconstitutional gag order."

"Nobody has ever had that before, and we don't like it, and it's not fair," he continued. "Other people are allowed to do whatever they want to us, and I'm not allowed  as a presidential candidate, and a leading candidate, the Republican party nominee, and the one who's leading Biden by lot  and I'm not allowed to talk."

Christopher Conroy, one of the prosecutors, told the judge as Thursday morning's hearing began that Trump wasn't adhering to the order.

"He's already been found to have violated the order nine times, and he's done it again here," he said, referring to Trump's earlier statements about jurors, Cohen, Daniels, and former National Enquirer owner David Pecker.

Conroy was asking for $4,000 in new fines for Trump's most recent batch of four statements.

In one of the challenged statements, Trump said: "That jury was picked so fast." He also claimed the jury was "95% democrats."

Trump made that statement on Thursday, Conroy noted, "hours before he had a hearing here relating to his previous allegations."

In another challenged statement, from April 25, Trump praised the start of Pecker's testimony.

"He's been very nice," Trump told reporters of Pecker.

"This is classic carrot and stick," Conroy told the judge about a witness who "was going to be testifying an hour later."

This was Trump warning, "I have a platform," Conroy said, "so be nice."

In his other challenged statements, Trump called Cohen "a convicted liar" and condemned his lack of credibility.

Trump's gag violations have been "persistent and escalating," the prosecutor told the judge.

"His statements are corrosive to this proceeding and to the fair administration of justice," the prosecutor added.

'Not a man that needs protection'

The judge showed skepticism toward Blanche's argument that Trump "can't say anything."

"You're saying he can't respond to what President Biden said?" the judge asked Blanche at one point, his voice sounding incredulous.



"There's nothing in the gag order that says he can't," the judge told Trump's lawyer.

But the judge also appeared sympathetic to Blanche's complaints that Cohen and Daniels enjoyed the protection of a gag order while having carte blanche to attack Trump  and continue to do so.

"They're not defendants in this case," Merchan said. "I can't extend a gag order to them. I just don't have the authority."

Merchan can, however, remove Cohen from the gag order's protection, something the judge suggested last week he would consider.

"They're all similar," Blanche said of Cohen's relentless jabs at Trump. "They're over the top about his character, about his candidacy."

The lawyer added of Cohen: "This is not a man that needs protection from the gag order."

This story has been updated.

Read the original article on Business Insider
FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE)  Do you have books that you no longer read? If they are in good condition, Fresno Unified is inviting readers to donate their books to children who need them.

Fresno Unified officials announced they are partnering with Reading Heart, a nonprofit book donation program, to collect gently used childrens books to grow home libraries for Fresno children.

As we work with our families on our Every Child is a Reader literacy initiative, having books at home is a key piece, said Superintendent Bob Nelson.

According to officials, books can be dropped off at the EZPak blue bins at Fresno Unified schools. Reading Heart will be redistributing the books at events for Fresno Unified students and other students in the community.

The sixth annual Read-Cycle Book Drive begins on Wednesday and will continue through May 15.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com | KSEE24 and CBS47.
Family members of Chad Daybellwhos accused of killing three people before fleeing with his new wife to Hawaiitook the stand on Thursday, describing the introvert Doomsday authors increasingly extreme religious views.

Hes not a gregarious personality, is he? defense attorney John Prior asked Daybells mother, Sheila, who took the stand Thursday.

Sheila agreed he was not, at which point Prior asked if Daybell was a man of the world, noting that he did not have a lot of experiences dealing with relationships. Daybells mother, who also called her son a shy introvert, agreed.

Daybells sister-in-law, however, had a harsher take. Heather Daybell told Ada County Court jurors that she was not comfortable with her brother-in-laws escalating and extreme views on Mormonism, including his claim that he was having visions and that he was preparing people for end-time events.

I was very blunt, she said about one conversation they had about his religious ideologies. When she and her husband learned Daybell was moving his family to join them in Idaho, the family even asked the Doomsday author not to move into their neighborhood.

I knew why he was coming and I didnt want him trying to draw in people from my ward and having people think we were involved or believed in him, she added.

Daybells family weighed in on the 15th day of his murder trial in Idaho. Prosecutors allege that Daybell and his wife, Lori Vallow, were driven by their religious extremism to murder his first wife and Loris two children between October and November 2019. Afterward, prosecutors say, they fled to Hawaii to start their new life.

Coroner Recalls Emotional Day Doomsday Dads First Wife Died

Daybell, 55, has pleaded not guilty to several chargesincluding first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, grand theft, and insurance fraudin connection with the three 2019 murders.

In July, Vallow was sentenced to life in prison in connection with the case. Defense lawyers insist there is no evidence to directly tie Daybell to the murders.

Heather Daybell, however, said that her brother-in-law was acting suspiciously soon after his first wife, Tammy Daybell, was found dead inside their Idaho bedroom in October 2019.

Daybell had told authorities that he found his wife of nearly 30 years was stiff on the floor that morning after she had been coughing and vomiting throughout the night. He then asked authorities not to complete an autopsy, before phoning friends and family to let them know a funeral service would happen as soon as possible because he didnt want to drag this out.

I was very upset, Heather told jurors about the moment she found out about Tammys death and the quick funeral.

The funeral held in Utah opened to the song Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel and featured speeches from Daybell, his children, and a bishop. She said she was confused by the song choice as its a song about work and punishment.

His demeanor seemed strange to me, she added, saying that she believed Daybell was disingenuous at the funeral and showed up late for the luncheon afterward.

About a month later, after Heather learned that Daybell had married Vallow, she texted her nieces and nephews to check-in. Daybell then called her upset, telling her she had been a problem his whole life before admitting he was moving to Hawaii with Vallow.

It seemed almost cruel for his children, Heather said about the decision to remarry.

Sheila Daybell said she met Vallow at an Idaho Texas Roadhouse in November 2019. After noticing that the pair had rings on, she said her husband asked if they were engagedand they revealed that they were already married.

Vallow then revealed to Sheila that her husband had recently died, as well as her daughterbut did not mention having a son. Prosecutors say Vallows two children, 17-year-old Tylee Ryan and 7-year-old J.J Vallow, were reported missing by family members a month later. Seven months later, authorities found the two children buried in Daybells backyard.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Driver injured in serious crash on I-93 in New Hampshire

A New Hampshire woman suffered serious injuries after the car she was driving went off Interstate 93, rolled over and struck a tree.

Kristian M. Whittum, 23, of Hooksett, was taken by ambulance to Elliot Hospital with serious injuries following the crash on Tuesday, state police said Wednesday. Her condition was not known on Thursday.

At 7:48 p.m. Tuesday, troopers responded to a crash on I-93 northbound near mile marker 24.

At the scene, investigators determined a gold 2000 Toyota Corolla had exited the interstate on the right side and rolled multiple times before stopping after striking a tree.

At some point during the crash, the driver, Whittum, was thrown from the Corolla, state police said.

Multiple northbound lanes were closed near the area of the crash from 8 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Troopers were assisted at the scene by members of the Hooksett Police and Fire departments.

All aspects of the crash are under investigation. Anyone who may have information on the crash is asked to contact Trooper Gazlay at 603-223-4381 or kevin.j.gazlay@dos.nh.gov.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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Duda: Polish EU presidency to focus on Ukraine's integration as one of key priorities

One of the main priorities of Poland's EU presidency next year will be the accession efforts of Ukraine, Moldova, and Western Balkan countries, Polish President Andrzej Duda said on May 1, RMF 24 reported.

Poland will chair the EU Council between January and June 2025, taking over the six-month presidency of Hungary.

The European bloc granted candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova in June 2022, and EU leaders agreed last December to open accession talks with the two aspiring members.

Speaking in the Presidential Palace in Warsaw, Duda said the accession process "will be our priority next year under our presidency so that these countries can become full members of the European Union as soon as possible."

"Ukraine is struggling with Russian aggression. We deeply believe that this aggression will be repelled, Ukraine will be able to enjoy its sovereignty again and will be able to start developing again," the Polish president said.

"This means a very difficult and expensive reconstruction process, and Ukraine alone will probably not be able to accomplish it. We want to help. We believe that our entire community should participate in the process of rebuilding Ukraine," he added.

Duda also suggested that during its presidency, Poland should host two European summits: one between the EU and the U.S. and the other between the EU and Ukraine, with a focus on Kyiv's reconstruction efforts and European integration.

While Ukraine's accession talks have not yet begun, the EU has already started screening the country's legislation, one of the first steps necessary for the process. Kyiv hopes to receive a framework for the membership negotiations in June.

Read also: Ukraines path to EU accession paved with reforms

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Dutch Princess Says She Found Freedom In Spain After Threats Forced Her to Move

While attending King's Day celebrations in Emmen, Netherlands in honor of her father, King Willem-Alexander's birthday, Princess Amalia of the Netherlands told local reporters she is "grateful" for the opportunity to find safety and "freedom" in Madrid, Spain amid ongoing threats.

According to a previous report from the BBC , organized crime communications showed that Princess Amalia was a possible target while she was attending the University of Amsterdam. As fears she would either be kidnapped or attacked grew, the future queen was forced to return home.

She then secretly moved to Madrid, Spain, so that she could continue her studies.

"Of course, it was strange circumstances that made me go there," she told Dutch reporters, as reported by Bild. "I'm still very grateful to everyone who made it possible for me to walk around there in freedom. I managed to find a little more freedom there than was possible here."

Princess Amalia of The Netherlands during King's Day on April 27, 2024 in Emmen, Netherlands.

Princess Amalia went on to say that living in Spain "made life" back home in the Netherlands "somewhat possible again."

"The Netherlands is my home, so it's nice to be here again," she added.

In April, Princess Amalia's father, King Willem-Alexander, revealed that his eldest daughter was living in Spain while hosting the country's King Felipe and Queen Letizia during a state visit. While speaking at the event's state banquet, the King thanked the Spanish royal family and all those who made it possible for his daughter to seek refuge.

"Last year, circumstances required (my daughter) to live in Madrid. From there, she was able to continue her studies at the University of Amsterdam," King Willem-Alexander said, as reported by People at the time. "This was made possible by the kind efforts of many of your compatriots and yourselves. A touching demonstration of friendship at a difficult time. I'd like to express my heartfelt thanks to you and to everyone else who helped arrange this."

Princess Amalia of The Netherlands, Queen Maxima of The Netherlands, King Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands, Princess Alexia of The Netherlands and Princess Ariane of The Netherlands during King's Day on April 27, 2024 in Emmen, Netherlands.

Spain was arguably chosen for one of several reasons as a safe haven for the future queen: Princess Amalia is fluent in Spanish, due in part because her mother, Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, is from Argentina. It is also where her parents first met.

"Spain has a special place in our hearts. First of all, because it was in your country that our life together began," the King said during the same state dinner speech. "We were at the Feria de Abril in Seville 25 years ago. The sparks began to fly. The rest is history."

During the King's Day celebrations, King Willem-Alexander said it was "terrible" that Princess Amalia wasn't able to "spread her wings" under normal circumstances, but was grateful that "luckily, it worked out in Madrid."

Queen Maxima went on to say that her daughter is "smart," "independent," and, as a result, was able to "handle it very well."
by Xinhua writer Luo Xin

BEIJING, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Ancient architectural buildings at the Temple of Agriculture in downtown Beijing have recently opened to the public after years of renovation, and this cultural cluster, of the same age as the Forbidden City, is sure to become a new tourist magnet.

Located five kilometers south of Tian'anmen Square and approximately 800 meters west of the Temple of Heaven, the architectural marvels known as the Divine Granary Complex in the temple compound contribute to the rich tapestry of cultural heritage along Beijing's Central Axis, a vertical axis of Beijing's urban layout that can be traced to the 13th century.

The restoration work of the Temple of Agriculture reflects the municipal government's efforts in the preparations for the UNESCO World Heritage nomination for Beijing's Central Axis, dubbed Beijing's "dragon vein."

The Beijing Central Axis is 7.8 kilometers long, starting from the Yongding Gate in the south of the city and ending with the Drum Tower and Bell Tower in the north. Most of the major old-city buildings of Beijing are along this axis.

The No. 8 Line of Beijing's metro network threads the important cultural sites along the Central Axis.

The metro line starts from the Olympic Park station on the northern extension of the Central Axis. On its way south, passengers can hop on and off to visit the commercial streets of Shichahai and Qianmen, and the cultural sites such as the Drum Tower, Jingshan Park, the Palace Museum, the Temple of Heaven, and now the Temple of Agriculture.

The temple is also known as Xiannongtan Temple, with Xiannongtan meaning the Altar of the God of Agriculture.

The worship of Chinese ancestors who developed agriculture is deeply rooted in Chinese culture. As a Chinese traditional saying goes, "The country takes agriculture as the foundation, and food is the first necessity of the people."

Passing by vermilion walls, towering arches and lush trees, I proceeded through the north gate to enter the temple.

Inside, lies an intriguing spot: a small farming plot measuring 1 mu and 3 fen, roughly about 866.77 square meters. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368-1911), emperors personally plowed the land every spring as a solemn ritual to worship the agricultural god and pray for good weather to achieve bountiful harvests.

The major buildings inside the temple include the Divine Granary, a milling house and a barn, a grain harvesting pavilion and a courtyard used for drying grains. The indoor spaces now host exhibitions showcasing the historical functions and cultural significance of the buildings, highlighting the ancestral wisdom in agricultural development.

The barn features a skylight and colored paintings adorning the walls and beams, created with painting materials containing pest-resistant realgar and minium, aimed at preserving grains by keeping them dry and preventing decay.

However, I was told that the current layout of the temple has not been fully restored to its original state. A middle school now occupies a portion of the space that was once part of the temple.

"In the near future, more areas of the temple will be open to the public after relocation and renovation work," said Xue Jian, director of the Beijing Ancient Architecture Museum.

Chinese authorities have planned to recommend the Beijing Central Axis as China's 2024 world cultural heritage application project, according to the National Cultural Heritage Administration.

Since 2011, Beijing has been committed to promoting the comprehensive protection of the old city's appearance, leveraging the world heritage application program to propel this endeavor forward.

"The opening of the restored Divine Granary complex showcases the achievements of Beijing's old city protection efforts," said Chu Jianhao, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Cultural Heritage Bureau. 
EBR Schools wants feedback from community, students in search for new superintendent

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD)  Community meetings are scheduled for May as the East Baton Rouge Parish School System begins its search for its next superintendent.

Adam Smith was named interim superintendent after Sito Narcisse announced he was leaving the role in January. The school system said Smith has worked in the district for over 27 years and will serve in the interim position until the search to fill the role permanently is completed.

School officials want parents, students, teachers and community members to attend the meeting planned to get insight into the qualities they would like to see in the next superintendent.

3 Livingston Parish high schools among top 25 in Louisiana, report says

Heres when and where community meetings are happening.

Monday, May 6 : 5:30-6:30 p.m. at Tara High School, 9002 Whitehall Ave.

Monday, May 6 : 6:45-7:45 p.m. at Tara High School, 9002 Whitehall Ave. (For community organizations and nonprofits)

Tuesday, May 7 : 5:30-6:30 p.m. at Liberty Magnet High School, 1105 Lee Drive.

Wednesday, May 8: 5:30-6:30 p.m. at Glen Oaks Magnet High School, 6650 Cedar Grove Drive.

A virtual meeting will be held from 6:45-7:45 p.m. Wednesday, May 8 for anyone who cannot attend a meeting in person. Click here for the meeting link.

Latest News

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to BRProud.com.
It is never OK to use physical violence against people with whom you disagree. This should be obvious, but the events that unfolded on the UCLA campus early Wednesday show the consequences when that message is lost.

Late Tuesday night, a large group of people attacked the anti-war encampment on the Westwood campus. They weren't campus authorities acting on the university's order that the camp was "unlawful," but rather people who disagreed with the pro-Palestinian protesters and decided to clear the camp themselves. It turned ugly quickly.

Read more: Editorial: Sending armed troops to quash peaceful campus protests is a dangerous idea

In this era of a video camera in every pocket, we can watch it all in jarring clarity through the many clips posted on social media. It's shocking to view people rush the barricades, trying to remove the metal and wood barriers and attack one another with fists and sticks and pepper spray.

It's disheartening to hear the vile slurs hurled by counterprotesters and the screams from protesters after a firework launched into the middle of the encampment explodes. This violence continued over the course of hours, although campus officials knew it was going on, and had summoned law enforcement to the campus. Student journalists covering the incident were attacked.

Looking back it should have been easy to see this clash coming. Tension had been brewing since the pro-Palestinian protesters set up an encampment last week and it escalated after Israel supporters set up a protest space nearby, as has been documented by the Daily Bruin.

Read more: Goldberg: What we keep getting wrong about protests like those at USC, Columbia and other campuses

University of California President Michael V. Drake was right to call for a review of the campus administration's actions. We hope it can determine whether the university could have done more to prevent this from blowing up Tuesday night, why campus security stood by as the violence escalated and why it took about three hours for officers from the Los Angeles Police Department and California Highway Patrol to control the situation. UC leaders have a responsibility to maintain safety and the melee made the campus unsafe for students and personnel.

Several faculty have criticized the response as a failure by university, city and state authorities. Why didnt the police, UCPD and LAPD, show up? Those in the encampment were defenseless in the face of a violent band of thugs. And no one, wherever they stand politically, is safer today, David Myers, a professor of Jewish history at UCLA, said.

Anyone who is found to have participated in the violence should be held accountable, as Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday, otherwise such attacks are bound to continue as the campus protest movement grows nationwide.

Protesters in encampments on college campuses know they could face arrest over trespassing or failure to disperse, which is what happened Thursday morning as police cleared the UCLA encampment and arrested more than 200 people. Thats part of the deal when undertaking acts of civil disobedience. But protesters should not be subject to physical attacks from people who disagree with them.

Free speech and protest are foundations of the United States  and it's been a cornerstone of American university life for decades. It's unacceptable for anyone to try to silence an opinion they don't agree with through intimidation and violence.

If its in the news right now, the L.A. Times Opinion section covers it. Sign up for our weekly opinion newsletter.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
In the novel The Handmaids Tale, a violent theocracy overthrows the U.S. government, and doctors who perform abortions are hanged. Young women are enslaved to bear children for influential older men.

Author Margaret Atwoods imagination was inspired in part by the biblical tale of Hagar, the Egyptian handmaid whom Abrahams wife gave to him to bear the child she didnt think she could.

The author was thinking, as she later wrote, of the heavy-handed theocracy of 17th century Puritan New England, with its marked bias against women. She thought it would need only a period of social chaos to reassert itself.

Pure fiction? No. Again, life imitates art. Much of the nation  including Florida now  resembles a theocracy where womens bodies belong to the state, not to themselves.

Abortion is fully or effectively forbidden in 19 states, including all of the South except North Carolina and Virginia, the closest recourses for Florida women after six weeks of pregnancy. Many women dont know they are pregnant that fast, and likely may not even be pregnant, since the law counts pregnancy from the first day of the last missed menstrual period.

That will burden thousands of women, only some of whom will be able to obtain abortion pills online. Statistics illuminate the hardship: There were some 84,000 legal abortions in Florida last year, according to Planned Parenthood. The pills are generally considered safe only during the first 10 weeks. Their use without medical supervision is technically illegal in Florida, and theres no doubt that the theocrats aspire to a nationwide ban on sending them through the mail.

Whos responsible? The list

The greatest immediate danger is denial of emergency care to women with pregnancy complications. Physicians will necessarily think twice about what care to provide, even if delaying it might have lifelong consequences.

Many are to blame for Floridas theocracy, starting with former President Donald Trump, who boasts of appointing the Supreme Court justices who repealed Roe v. Wade.

There are the six justices who did it; the Florida legislators who took advantage of what they did; Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose state Supreme Court appointments were as maliciously purposeful as Trumps; the six Florida justices who signed an intellectually corrupt opinion excluding abortion from the protection of Floridas constitutional right of privacy; and Attorney General Ashley Moody, who maintains that the privacy right applies only to the disclosure of information, not to police-state control of personal conduct.

The opportunities for so many people to do so much harm owe to fundamental fault lines in the constitutional order, and the triumph of states rights in the defeat of democracy.

Connecting the dots

The Republican Party has lost the popular vote in five of the past six presidential elections, but its appointees hold six of the nine Supreme Court seats and are the ones who reversed Roe. Over a longer time, that Republican court has also given free rein to political gerrymandering and the corruption of unlimited campaign contributions (as in the Citizens United case), which enabled the election of most of the anti-abortion legislatures.

Between the gerrymandering and the campaign money, Floridas Legislature is a picture of democracy in collapse.

When the Legislature passed the six-week abortion ban last year as Senate Bill 300, five of the 26 Republican senators who voted for it had been elected without opposition. They included Sen. Erin Grall of Vero Beach, the principal sponsor. Six more had no Democratic opposition.

In the House, 18 of the 70 yes voters were elected without opposition and 18 more won without Democratic opponents on the November ballot. That is 36 votes, more than half of the majority, cast by people who had not been fully challenged by the electoral process or chosen by voters.

Rep. Jennifer Canady of Lakeland, a House co-sponsor of the anti-abortion bill, whos in line to become a future speaker, was one of those whom the Democrats didnt challenge in 2022.

Her husband is Charles Canady, one of the justices who heard the critical abortion case and voted to nullify Floridas constitutional right of privacy. Canady should have recused himself. Instead, he followed the odious example of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who continues to decide cases spawned by the 2020 election despite his wifes active advocacy for Trump and parroting of his lies about that election.

Stacking the courts, legally

The Florida Constitution is flawed in failing to prevent governors from stacking the courts to suit their ideologies. It was supposed to, but no one thought to prevent governors from rigging the judicial nominating commissions, which the 2001 Legislature authorized.

On the federal level, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito havent given up on writing privacy out of the Constitution altogether. They want also to repeal the 1965 decision Griswold v. Connecticut, which forbade interfering with marital privacy by banning contraception. They want to repeal Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 decision that legalized same-sex marriage. Curiously, Thomas says nothing about Loving v. Virginia, the 1967 decision that eliminated bans on interracial marriages like his own.

Like Roe, Griswold and Obergefell depended upon the Constitution protecting the people of the United States from government intrusion into their private lives.

But now, many millions of women in the U.S., and in Florida particularly, are the handmaidens of theocrats who are doing just that.

Thomas Paine wrote, tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered. But in Florida today, the tyrants are winning.

The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board includes Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson, Opinion Editor Krys Fluker and Viewpoints Editor Jay Reddick. The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Editorial Page Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Editorial Page Editor Dan Sweeney, editorial writer Martin Dyckman and Anderson. Send letters to insight@orlandosentinel.com.
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago is expected to hear arguments later this year in the case of Amya Sparger-Withers, whose property was targeted by a private attorney under contract with the district attorney of Hancock County, Ind. (Carol M. Highsmith / Library of Congress)

Policing and prosecuting for profit contradicts reasonable notions of justice and fairness, yet it's allowed in most U.S. states. Using a process known as civil asset forfeiture, law enforcement agencies seize private property that they claim was somehow involved in a crime. And they may keep it  even if the owner is never criminally charged. This abusive practice has become a key source of funding for some police and sheriff's departments.

Many of the constitutional rights to which Americans are entitled in criminal proceedings do not apply in civil forfeiture cases. The standard of proof is far lower than beyond a reasonable doubt. The government need not prove guilt, and in fact people who try to get their property back must prove their innocence  if they can afford to. They have no right to counsel, which means they have to pay a lawyer out of their own pocket.

Read more: Editorial: Criminal justice reform is alive. Thank conservatives

The asset forfeiture system is so egregious that a wave of reform has swept the nation in recent years. In California, the government now at least has to prove that the owners knew their property was involved in a crime, even if they arent the ones who committed it.

But theres still a perverse incentive to seize property. California police agencies get to keep 65% of everything they grab if they win a civil forfeiture action in court. Prosecutorial offices get 10%. An additional 1% goes to a fund controlled by the state prosecutors association.

Its a recipe for abuse, and in some states its far worse.

Read more: Editorial: The Supreme Court rightly reins in asset forfeiture

Consider Indiana. Its the only state in the U.S. that allows elected prosecutors to contract out civil asset forfeiture cases to private lawyers. The contractors get a substantial cut of whatever they win, and nothing if they lose, so they have every incentive to grab as much property as possible. But unlike government prosecutors, they are unhindered by a responsibility to seek justice. Their only task is to win.

It should go without saying that financial gain should play no part in a district attorneys decision to prosecute a case or a police agencys decision to enforce the law.

Read more: Editorial: A draconian remnant of the war on drugs

Other states that once had Indiana-style private-prosecuting-for-profit schemes gave them up long ago. In 2012, for example, a Georgia appeals court called that states contracting-out practices repugnant, and the Legislature outlawed them.

But its different in Indiana, where well-connected private attorney Joshua Taylor holds the local prosecutors forfeiture contracts in 20 of the states 92 counties. In 2021, Taylor went after $6,096 belonging to then-21-year-old Amya Sparger-Withers, who was at the time facing marijuana charges. Unlike many forfeiture targets, though, Sparger-Withers fought back. With the help of the Institute for Justice, a libertarian-oriented public interest law firm, she filed a class-action lawsuit challenging the state's for-profit prosecution system.

Read more: Editorial: Don't believe the nonsense. The criminal justice system worked properly in Venice assaults

She lost in federal trial court but is now appealing to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The case has support from a broad spectrum of the legal community who are righteously outraged at this government overreach (masquerading as a lawsuit by a private lawyer) against a legally innocent citizen.

Progressive district attorneys have also signed on to a brief filed by Fair and Just Prosecution, including Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascon, Contra Costa County Dist. Atty. Diana Becton and more than 50 other current and former prosecutors and law enforcement leaders. They support the long-established principle that prosecutors are more than just lawyers whose clients happen to be the government, and must meet higher standards of justice.

Read more: Editorial: Only dictators have immunity from criminal acts while in power

The fight to defend that principle against ominous pushback from the conservative legal and policing establishment is a strong undercurrent in Sparger-Withers case.

That pushback can be seen in the impeachment of Philadelphia Dist. Atty. Larry Krasner by the Pennsylvania Legislature in 2022 and the Florida governor's removal of Hillsborough County state attorney Andrew Warren  and numerous other efforts  for seeking what the elected prosecutors considered the most just result in cases, instead of doing all they can to secure convictions and the toughest possible sentences.

The same type of pushback is evident in the Indiana federal judge's opinion in Sparger-Withers' case. He remarked with obvious disdain about many a sermon on prosecutors noble disinterestedness. He asserted that historically there was no belief that the prosecutor had any special duty to justice in the abstract, apart from his role as one sides advocate in an adversary system.

Read more: Editorial: A justice system that frees the monied and locks up the poor isnt worthy of the name

But he also noted that the Supreme Court wrote in a 1935 opinion that the proper goal of prosecutors is not that [they] shall win a case but that justice shall be done. It's an ancient principle with deep roots.

The American system of justice is a remarkable achievement, although not flawless. While laden with injustices it is embedded in a larger system of democratic representation and civil rights that ensures an ongoing process of reform. Sparger-Withers suit is in that reform tradition.

Arguments before the 7th Circuit are expected later this year, and they will be closely watched. At stake are due process for Indianans and the rights of all Americans to a legal system in which elected prosecutors are expected to seek justice rather than profit for their agencies or their cronies in private law practice.

If its in the news right now, the L.A. Times Opinion section covers it. Sign up for our weekly opinion newsletter.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Florida, a swing state only a few years ago, has turned so Republican  at least on paper  as to make some people doubt whether its worth President Joe Bidens time in 2024.

Theyre spooked by Donald Trump having won the state twice, by Gov. Ron DeSantis easy re-election two years ago, and by the GOP now leading the Democrats by nearly 900,000 voters.

Much has changed since Barack Obama won Florida twice. One factor appears to be migration of Republican voters from Democratic-leaning states where living is more expensive and taxes are higher. Another is Trumps hypnotic appeal to resentments.

Finally, over the years, the Florida Democratic Party has been only marginally competent  a record of futility that party chair Nikki Fried promises to change.

Joe Biden's optimism

Biden is an optimist by nature, and judging by his campaign visit to Tampa last week, his optimism extends to fighting for Florida.

And it should, even though Floridas 10 television markets make it one of the most expensive states in which to campaign. The 13.5 million people registered to vote here deserve to be taken seriously rather than for granted, especially the 3.5 million who have no party affiliation.

What could put Florida back in play is abortion rights, the issue Biden chose to emphasize in his speech at Hillsborough Community College.

No state is doing more to deny those rights. Floridas new ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy  a time when many women dont even know theyre pregnant  kicks in on May 1. Trump made that possible by stacking the Supreme Court  as he said he would  with justices who would repeal Roe v. Wade. He claimed all the credit when they did, and now he deserves the blame.

DeSantis did the same to the Florida Supreme Court to create the majority that effectively erased the privacy rights the voters put in the state constitution.

A daunting 60% threshold

Florida's reproductive freedom initiative, Amendment 4 on the November ballot, would overturn the Florida Supreme Courts intellectually corrupt ruling as well as the draconian anti-abortion law it upheld.

But the 60% threshold required for an amendment's passage is daunting, and the danger persists that if it meets that test, the court would nullify it by declaring that fetuses are persons. It has already so hinted.

That's certainly no reason to fail to vote for Amendment 4 or to accept DeSantis hogwash that the initiative is misleading; even the court said it is not. The amendment's ratification would send an unmistakable message to those in power.

As the president made plain, however, the ultimate goal of restoring reproductive freedom here and in the rest of the theocratic South requires his re-election and a Democratic Congress that would restore the protections of Roe v. Wade.

'It's about women's rights'

Unlike Trump, Biden is committed to vetoing any nationwide restriction Congress might pass. The waffling, equivocating, hiding-from-his-record Republican nominee says he wouldnt sign one, but that reluctant promise didnt extend to a veto. A bill can become law without a presidents signature.

It shouldnt matter where in America you live, Biden said in Tampa. This isnt about states rights. Its about womens rights.

The best way for him to assert that point is to keep coming to Florida and see to it that his party puts in as much money as it takes to be competitive.

Through the last four presidential elections, Florida hosted more presidential campaign events, 188, than any other battleground state except Ohio, which had 196. But interest in Ohio dwindled to 13 events in 2020 while Floridas shrank to 31 from a high of 71 in 2016.

Not a good trend.

National Popular Vote

Roughly 30% of Americas voters live in the four largest states: California, Texas, Florida and New York. But because of the ancient and outdated Electoral College system, all but Florida were entirely ignored when Obama was elected and re-elected, and when Trump was elected and defeated.

These statistics, compiled by the nonprofit organization National Popular Vote, show that in the last four presidential elections, 22 states had no presidential candidate visits and nine had one each. Their citizens were told in effect that their votes werent worth the asking. Thats one of the poisons that the Electoral College injects into the system, along with the strong possibility that a minority of voters will elect the president, which has already happened five times. In 2020, it spawned criminal conspiracies to replace legitimate electors with fraudulent claimants in battleground states.

When presidential candidates neglect a state, it can and often does hurt their partys candidates for Congress, the legislatures and other offices. If Biden wants a supportive Congress, it means making a whale of a fight for Florida.

No one can say with certainty how different the results might be if the president were chosen by popular vote, but what is certain is that every vote would matter. Every vote will matter, in fact, if just a few more states join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, as Maine did this month, becoming the most recent state to do so.

There are now 18 jurisdictions with 209 electoral votes legally bound to cast those votes for whoever wins the popular vote nationwide. Thats 61 short of the 270 needed to put it into effect. Florida could, and should, supply 30 of those.

____

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.

___
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  El Paso Animal Service received the Education Empowerment Award from Socorro Independent School District (SISD).

The award is a recognition to the contribution the animal services has done for the community through its Vet Science Program, according to the news release by the City of El Paso.

The Vet Science Program is a collaboration between El Paso Animal Services and high schools to provide hands-on experience to students.

The City says students from Pebble Hills, El Dorado, Eastlake, Clint, Bel Air, and Ysleta High Schools actively participate in the program, gaining invaluable skills and knowledge.

Students assist with various tasks such as walking dogs, interacting with cats, ensuring the cleanliness and comfort of kennels, creating enrichment items, and helping at offsite events.

Additionally, students enrolled in the program also learn about microchipping, administering vaccines and shelter medicine, according to the City.

This award is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our staff and students who have contributed to the success of the Vet Science Program. We are committed to providing enriching educational experiences for the next generation of veterinary professionals, said Director of El Paso Animal Services Terry Kebschull.

For more information about El Paso Animal Services, visit their website here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
El Salvador gang member arrested in New Orleans, U.S. Border Patrol reports

Disclaimer: All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO)  The United States Border Patrol reports an alleged gang member from El Salvador has been arrested in New Orleans.

More than 2,000 pills recovered from Slidell home, man arrested

According to USBP Chief Jason Owens, Lorenzo Alexander Benitez was arrested during a traffic stop.

Owens said Benitez is a member of the MS-13 gang and will be prosecuted for felony re-entry after being previously removed from the US.

Stay up to date with the latest news, weather and sports by downloading the WGNO app on the Apple or Google Play stores and by subscribing to the WGNO newsletter.

Latest Posts

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGNO.
A couple in their 80s say they were left in Spain by Norweigan Cruise Line a month after the same cruise company sailed off from an African island, leaving eight passengers behind.

Richard and Claudene Gordon, ages 84 and 81, had left their home in Salt Lake City, Utah, to embark on a vacation around the Mediterranean aboard the Norweigan Viva cruise ship, along with their family and friends to celebrate Mr Gordons 85th birthday, this week.

However, their trip took a drastic turn on Monday when the couple booked an independent excursion, not organised by the cruise line, while docked in Motril, Spain, to the historic city of Granada, the pair told CNN.

On their return back, their bus was delayed for an hour while a rain storm hit the region, meaning the couple missed the ships all-aboard time of 5.30pm to sail away at around 6pm.

I am a very experienced traveller and have probably been on as many as 30 cruises during my lifetime, Mr Gordon told the outlet. Never before have we ever missed catching a ship on time at a port. So we are not someone who abuses the system.

Along with the rest of their party, the ship sailed away to its next destination with Ms Gordons medication, Mr Gordons eyeglasses and both their spare hearing aid batteries and phone chargers.

The incident occured almost a month after eight passengers with Norweigan Cruise Line were left on the island nation of Sao Tome and Principe after a private tour overran.

While the passengers claim they had to spend thousands in attempts to catch up with the ship, the cruise line said the passengers were responsible for returning to the vessel at the designated all-aboard time.

The Gordons told the outlet that they eventually made it to the dock by taxi at 6.10pm, but their cruise ship had already started to set sail.

At around 5.45pm, Mr Gordon said he phoned a relative on board, who told the cruise staff that they were nearby but running late; however, the staff allegedly replied that the ship needed to sail on time and nothing could be done.

Our cruise began in Lisbon and we departed from Lisbon about one and a half hours after the scheduled departure at 4pm, Mr Gordon told CNN. Then the next night or two, at least a half-hour late from the dock, so it is clear that they do not always leave on the exact moment scheduled.

Stranded on the Spanish dock, the couple tried to talk to local police, but they said they could not do anything, so they took a bus up to Granada and stayed in a little B&B since they had not heard from Norweigan Cruise Line at that point.

The couples daughter then booked them on a flight to Palma de Mallorca, where the ship would be docking at 8am on Wednesday.

Late Tuesday afternoon, the couple said that Norweigan Cruise Line had made contact with them for the first time since they were left on the port, and offered them a taxi from their Palma hotel to reunite them with the vessel, the outlet reported.

The couple said they said that they received royal treatment when a BMW limousine turned up and took them to the ship where they were met by senior cruise staff who escorted them to breakfast.

We simply told them that we were abandoned at the dock with no one to meet us or tell us where to go, and they said they have already complained about the harbor master who was supposed to take care of things for them. But of course, the ship had not contacted us directly for two days so that doesnt speak so well for them, Ms Gordon told the outlet.

Norwegian Cruise Line, however, disputed the couples arrival time at the pier. It said they were approximately an hour late, in a statement to CNN.

A cruise ship follows a set itinerary with designated arrival and departure times. Itineraries are carefully coordinated and planned out well in advance of each voyage to ensure that all of our guests have the experience they are expecting. It added that while they keep a small window for late guests to be accommodated, the Gordons arrived outside of this.

After several attempts to contact these guests with the phone numbers provided, as well as trying to phone their emergency contact, we were unable to speak to them directly. However, we worked closely with the local port agents to make arrangements for the guests to rejoin the vessel.

The cruise spokesperson added that prior to their hotel pick-up on Wednesday morning, the ship had coordaited an airport pickup for them at Palma de Mallorca the evening prior, but were still unreachable by phone.

The Independent has contacted Norweigan Cruise Line for comment.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- An elderly man from Missouri was arrested on Monday for the murder of an 18-year-old woman nearly 60 years ago in a south suburb of Chicago.

James Barbier, 79, is charged with first-degree murder in the 1966 stabbing death of 18-year-old Karen Snider in Calumet City.

An elderly man from Missouri was arrested on Monday for the murder of an 18-year-old woman nearly 60 years ago in a south suburb of Chicago. James Barbier, 79, is charged with first-degree murder in the 1966 stabbing death of 18-year-old Karen Snider in Calumet City. / Credit: Cook County Circuit Court

Husband discovers wife's body

Snider's husband, Paul, found her dead from multiple stab wounds in their home in the 400 block of Wilson Avenue around 11:10 p.m. on Nov. 12, 1966. According to published reports, her husband told police he'd found his wife's body when he got home from work. Their two-month-old daughter, Paula, was found safe in her bassinet in another room.

The Sniders on their wedding day. / Credit: Snider family

Karen Snider and her husband, Paul Snider. (Undated photo) / Credit: Snider family

Police said an autopsy revealed Snider had been beaten and stabbed 125 times. Barbier was considered a suspect at the time but was never charged.

"My father's side had always said, 'This is the man," the Sniders' daughter, Paula Larson, said after the court hearing on Thursday.

According to published reports, detectives could not find any clear fingerprints at the time of the murder but hoped tests on blood smears on a broken basement window would help them identify the killer.

/ Credit: The Daily Chronicle

What evidence led to murder charges?

Police said they reopened the case in December 2022, and detectives spent more than a year examining evidence and tracking down witnesses for questioning.

Detectives sent clothing and a bed sheet to the Illinois State Crime Lab for analysis. In March of 2023, investigators obtained a search warrant in Missouri and got a DNA sample from the defendant. A DNA analysis led them to charge Barbier with murder.

Barbier was a family friend who had worked as a railroad employee with Karen Snider's husband.

Barbier was a pallbearer at Karen Snider's funeral and was observed with cuts on his hands, according to court documents.

Paul Snider died in 1989.

"I carried it with me when my father explained what happened," Larson said. "I was about 11, but at the age of five, I heard children at school talking about it because their parents spoke of it."

Barbier was arrested on Monday in Creve Coeur, Missouri, and brought back to Calumet City to face charges.

"I never thought that we'd ever get here," Larson said. "I never thought that we would have a DNA match because they didn't have DNA matches back in the day. I'm very thankful that the articles of clothing were preserved well."

Karen and Paul Snider with their baby daughter, Paula, who was at today's court hearing for her mother's alleged killer. / Credit: Snider family

He made his first court appearance in Markham on Thursday and was allowed to return to Missouri while he awaits trial.

He must surrender his passport, appear for all required court dates, and may only travel to Missouri and to and from court.

Defense attorneys said Barbier has diabetes and suffered a stroke last year. He is due back in court on May 21.

Bill Neaves, who is Karen Snider's brother, said: "I can't imagine seeing him sitting there and for 57 years he was free, and my sister's been in the ground."

He said it is time to "make sure that he pays for what he's done."

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Election chaos in Louisiana as only state without a congressional map for fall ballot

A federal court panel's divided decision to throw out Louisiana's congressional boundaries has left the state without a map to hold the Nov. 5 election and less than two weeks to produce one before the state's chief elections officer's deadline to conduct a fall ballot.

The three-judge panel issued a 2-1 decision Tuesday ruling Louisiana's congressional map creating a second Black majority district was unconstitutional because of an impermissible racial gerrymander, siding with the plantiffs who sued to block the boundaries.

U.S. Western District Judges Robert Summerhays and David Joseph, both nominated by President Trump, sided with the plaintiffs. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Carl Stewart, nominated by President Bill Clinton, dissented.

The court has scheduled a status conference at 10:30 a.m. May 6 to discuss what's next for the state and intervenors who defended the map and the plaintiffs who successfully challenged it.

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill told USA Today Network Thursday she expects to file a motion with the panel by Friday to permit the state to implement the rejected map pending an appeal of its verdict to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, a group of Black voters and other civic organizations have already filed a notice of appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court asking it to allow the rejected map to remain in place as an emergency remedy for the 2024 election until a new map can clear the courts.

The NAACP Legal Defense fund will also enter Monday's hearing with its own preferred map that would create a second majority Black district.

"We will continue fighting on all fronts for a map that has two majority Black district as a matter of fair and constitutional representation as we have been for the past two years," NAACP Legal Defense Fund attorney Jared Evans told USA Today Network.

Tom Stagg United States Court House in Shreveport on April 8, 2024.

Evans said he doesn't believe two weeks is enough time for the panel or Louisiana Legislature to craft a new map, which is why the intervenors have asked the Supreme Court to allow the rejected map to be implemented for the 2024 elections only.

"Louisiana is the only state that doesn't have a congressional map," he said. "This is an emergency."

But Paul Hurd, an attorney with the plaintiffs who will likely have their own map to submit, dismissed those concerns.

"With the technology we have today we can draw a map in 4 hours," Hurd said. "We can definitely deliver an answer by (Louisiana Secretary of State Nancy Landry's) May 15 deadline.

"I think we're right on schedule, but we'll find out Monday. If the court asks for proposals I'm sure we'll have one."

The federal panel could also commission what's known as a special master to draw a new map it finds acceptable.

At stake are the political careers of the incumbents and scope of representation for the state's Black voters.

The plaintiffs successfully challenged the map by attacking the new majority Black 6th Congressional District boundaries stretching from Baton Rouge to Lafayette to Alexandria to Shreveport as unconstitutional, arguing they they didn't meet traditional redistriction principles like compactness and preserving communities of interests.

The state contended additional factors drove the map, including the politics of protecting powerful incumbent Louisiana Republicans U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (4th District), Majority Leader Steve Scalise (1st District) and Julia Letlow (5th District), a member of the Appropriations Committee that controls the country's pursestrings.

Doing so put Republican U.S. Rep. Graves, the current 6th District congressman, in peril by dismantling his boundaries in favor of a majority Black voter population.

The lawsuit was just the latest litigation challenging the state's ever-shifting congressional boundaries since the 2020 U.S. census.

Late last year a federal appeals court signaled it would uphold Baton Rouge Middle District Judge Shelly Dick's earlier ruling requiring Louisiana's previous congressional map be redrawn to include a second majority Black district out of six to comply with the Voting Rights Act.

The Republican-dominated Legislature complied and new GOP Gov. Jeff Landry signed into law the newest map in January, only to have it thrown out this week by the three-judge panel after a three-day trial in Shreveport in early April.

More: Federal judges throw out Louisiana congressional map with second Black District

Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.

This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Louisiana doesn't have congressional map to conduct election: What's next?
BEIRUT, May 2 (Xinhua) -- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced Thursday a 1-billion-euro (about 1.07 billion U.S. dollars) financial assistance package for Lebanon from 2024 to 2027.

"This continued EU support will strengthen basic services such as education, social protection, and health for the people in Lebanon. It will accompany urgent economic, financial, and banking reforms," von der Leyen said in a statement by the Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon.

Her remarks came during a joint press conference in Beirut with President of the Republic of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides and Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

Christodoulides and von der Leyen arrived in Lebanon on Thursday to discuss with Lebanese officials the significant domestic and regional challenges faced by Lebanon, which is hosting a large number of Syrian refugees, and how best the EU could support the country and its people.

Von der Leyen said that support will also be provided to the Lebanese Armed Forces and other security forces, including equipment and training for border management and fighting smuggling.

For his part, Christodoulides said the new assistance package will help Lebanese authorities address challenges such as monitoring land borders and fighting against illegal immigration from and to Lebanon.

The Cypriot president said he is aware of the pressure of hosting a large number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, noting that the "situation is not acceptable for Lebanon, Cyprus, and the European Union."

He said quick solutions must be found to address this issue.

He said, "We should work with our partners and the United Nations to guarantee a safe return for refugees to their homeland."

Meanwhile, Mikati said the biggest part of his meeting with the two officials focused on the Syrian refugees issue, which is putting tremendous pressure on Lebanon and its population.

"Lebanon can no longer bear the repercussions of hosting Syrian refugees on its territories as they constitute around one-third of the Lebanese population," he said.

Lebanon hosts the largest number of refugees per capita, with the government estimating around 2 million Syrian refugees.

Under current EU regulations, migrants from Syria are entitled to refugee protection.

Cyprus is grappling with an influx of Syrian migrants as over 30,000 people who have received refugee status in the country are entitled to accommodation and a monthly allowance.

Cyprus is working with other EU countries to convince the European Commission that at least two regions in Syria are not anymore in a state of war, which would enable the return of Syrian migrants.

Nearly all the Syrian refugees who arrived in Cyprus by sea departed from the coasts of Lebanon, less than 200 km southeast of Cyprus.

Earlier this month, Cyprus suspended the processing of asylum applications by Syrian migrants following mass arrivals by sea and the escalation of regional conflicts. 
ELMIRA, N.Y. (WETM)  Elmira City Manager Michael Collins remains under a performance review by the city council, that started in January, after confirmation with the mayor on Thursday.

Mayor Mandell told 18 News that the review is ongoing and that an update will made once the review is complete.

An 18 News reporter asked Mandell about the review after the city council held a closed-door meeting on Thursday, May 2, on a personnel matter involving employee performance, according to the council. The city did not comment about the specifics of the meeting, or which employee it was about.

New hockey team announced to play at First Arena next season

Collins was reappointed to his role on January 1, 2024, along with the new city council. In the November election, the Elmira City Council flipped to a 4-3 Democrat majority.

According to an addition to the ordinance appointing Collins, a 90-day review was to be conducted and completed following the first day of Collins appointment, with the exact wordage reading:

First addendum to the ordinance on the agenda for the special meeting held on the 1st day of January, 2024. Whereas, on this Agenda there is an Ordinance of the appointment for P. Michael Collins as City Manager and authorizing the Mayor to execute an Employment Agreement with P. Michael Collins providing, among other provisions, that the City agrees to employ P. Michael Collins until December 31, 2027 with the City Council retaining the right to terminate P. Michael Collins services as City Manager at any time without cause by a majority vote of said Council; and Whereas, the City Council of the City of Elmira finds that it is in the best interest of City governance to provide in this Addendum to said Employment Agreement as follows: The Employment Agreement with the City Manager shall contain the following provision: The City Council shall conduct a performance evaluation review of the City Manager within ninety (90) days of the City Managers appointment. The official Addendum posted by the City of Elmira to the Public Notices section of the Star Gazette required by law.

The addendum above was not provided in full on the citys website and remains off the agenda as of the posting of this article.

As for the 90-day review, the official date was up on Sunday, March 31, meaning that the review is now 32 days past its original end date.

18 News reached out to City Manager Mike Collins on Thursday, Collins said he could not comment.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WETM - MyTwinTiers.com.
Elon Musk hosted an anti-Joe Biden dinner party last month with a guest list featuring some of the worlds wealthiest and most powerful people.

The elite gathering was co-hosted by entrepreneur and investor David Sacks at his mansion in the Hollywood Hills in April, Puck first reported. The dinner party conversation largely revolved around how to raise money to defeat Democrats, a source told the outlet.

The gathering was branded anti-Biden by Puck but was not specifically in support of former president and presumed Republican nominee, Donald Trump. In fact, Mr Sacks said that Mr Trumps actions on January 6 disqualified himself from being a candidate at a national level again on a January 2021 podcast.

The guest list reportedly included Peter Thiel, Rupert Murdoch, Michael Milken, and Travis Kalanick.

Elon Musk arrives at an event in Los Angeles in April. He also reportedly hosted an anti-Biden dinner party in the city last month (2024 Invision)

Immigration was a hot topic at the dinner, Puck reported.

Mr Musk, the worlds second richest person, has shown a growing interest in politics in recent years, and is often seen in the company of world leaders. He has publicly shared an array of political views on his social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

Mr Musk has yet to endorse a candidate in the US presidential election this November. The billionaire said in March that he didnt plan on donating to campaigns for either Mr Biden or Mr Trump.

However, the SpaceX founder said he voted for Mr Biden in 2020. In January, he posted on his social media network, X: I cannot see myself voting for Biden this time.

He has openly criticized Mr Bidens immigration policy, and called for the impeachment of Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for deliberately breaking the law and massively increasing illegal immigration beyond all historical precedent.

He is also an outspoken advocate for free speech on X, and expressed his discontent with Anthony Fauci, the presidents former chief medical advisor, posting:My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci.

Mr Musk has also been critical of Mr Trump. The Tesla billionaire stepped down from his roles on Mr Trumps presidential advisory councils in June 2017 after the US withdrew from the Paris climate accord.

In July 2022, Mr Trump blasted the billionaire as a bulls*** artist, prompting Mr Musk to respond: I dont hate the man, but its time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset.

Other guests at the dinner were at one point closely aligned with Mr Trump.

Michael Milken, a financier who Mr Trump pardoned, was in attendance along with Steven Mnuchin, the Trump administrations treasury secretary.

Rounding out the party was media mogul Rupert Murdoch, former chair of News Corp which owns Fox News; former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, one-time member of Trumps economic advisory council; and PayPal co-founder and 2016 Trump supporter Peter Thiel.

The Independent has contacted representatives for Mr Musk, Mr Sack, Mr Thiel, Mr Murdoch, Mr Milken, and Mr Kalanick for comment.
Elon Musk (left) said he will reinstate the account of notorious white supremacist Nick Fuentes (right). AP

Tech billionaire Elon Musk said he plans to reinstate the X account of a notorious white supremacist who has expressed his love for Adolf Hitler and called for the execution of non-Christians.

Nick Fuentes, the 25-year-old leader of the America First Groyper movement, was banned from Twitter in 2021 for repeated violations of the rules. Fuentes attended the deadly 2017 neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and was also at the Jan 6. 2021, Capitol attack, encouraging his supporters to take over the building.

On Thursday, Musk said he planned to reinstate Fuentes account on X, formerly Twitter, after a Groyper account with a blue check mark asked Musk to bring Fuentes back.

Very well, he will be reinstated, provided he does not violate the law, and let him be crushed by the comments and Community Notes.



It is better to have anti whatever out in the open to be rebutted than grow simmering in the darkness.  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 2, 2024

Very well, he will be reinstated, provided he does not violate the law, and let him be crushed by the comments and Community Notes, Musk said. It is better to have anti whatever out in the open to be rebutted than grow simmering in the darkness.

As of Thursday afternoon, Fuentes account still appeared to be suspended.

Along with his virulent antisemitism, Fuentes has also called rape not a big deal, and in a 2022 livestream defended being an incel, or involuntary celibate while also bringing up Adolf Hitler.

All I want is revenge against my enemies and a total Aryan victory, Fuentes said.

Fuentes has routinely praised Hitler, favorably comparing Russian President Validmir Putin to the dictator during a 2022 white nationalist conference.

Now, [the media is] going and saying, Vladimir Putin is Adolf Hitler, as if that isnt a good thing, Fuentes said during the conference, HuffPost reported at the time. Oops, I shouldnt have said that.

And in January 2023, he praised Hitler as really fucking cool.

Hitler was a pedophile and kind of a pagan, Fuentes mimicked critics of the dictator. Well, he was also really fucking cool, so you know, time to grow up.

He added that this guys awesome, this guys cool.

Fuentes also joined the antisemitic presidential campaign of rapper Ye, and had dinner with Ye and former President Donald Trump in 2022.

Following Musks announcement, dozens of accounts with purchased blue checkmarks celebrated Fuentes expected return. A request for comment to X was met with an auto-reply: Busy now, please check back later.

Fuentes was previously reinstated to the website last year, but was banned again one day later. Though Twitter didnt clarify his return or suspension at the time, a reporter for the Southern Poverty Law Center said Fuentes praised Hitler and the Unabomber in a Twitter space, at one point saying that Jews run the news before he was banned again.

Musk, who has been bleeding advertisers since be bought Twitter for $44 billion in 2022, has faced criticisms for endorsing several antisemitic conspiracies. Musk was also recently deposed in a lawsuit after he falsely accused a 22-year-old Jewish man of being a federal agent involved with a neo-Nazi group.

Im guilty of many self-inflicted wounds, Musk testified in March.

In a post on X, Musk defended his reasoning to bring back Fuentes.

I cannot claim to be a defender of free speech, but then permanently ban someone who hasnt violated the law, no matter how much I disagree with what they say, Musk posted. This will probably cause us to lose a lot of advertisers and makes me sad, but a principle is a principle.
In a move that will surprise few people, Elon Musk announced Thursday that far-right commentator Nick Fuentes, known for racist, neo-Nazi, and antisemitic views, will soon be allowed back on X.

Very well, he will be reinstated, provided he does not violate the law, and let him be crushed by the comments and Community Notes, Musk said in a reply to a question from one of Fuentess fans. It is better to have anti whatever out in the open to be rebutted than grow simmering in the darkness.

Fuentes has been banned from X since July 2021. He and his supporters call themselves the groyper army, and push racist and white nationalist beliefs while also claiming to uphold Christian values. Groypers gained notoriety for disrupting conservative events and spouting racist statements to troll right-wing accounts on social media. Their activities have even influenced Kanye West, who joined Fuentes for a dinner at Donald Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort in 2022. Despite accounts stating that Trump was impressed with Fuentes, he later blamed West for bringing Fuentes to the meeting.

Fuentes has denied the Holocaust and also expressed prejudice against Muslims, LGBTQ people, and even women. He attended the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, and was present outside the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., during the insurrection on January 6, 2021. He is still banned from other platforms, including Reddit and YouTube, but has a verified account on Trumps Truth Social.

Musk apparently believes that these viewpoints and activities should not warrant a social media ban, but should be publicly challenged. When he first took over Twitter in 2022, Musk unbanned many accounts that spouted similar beliefs to Fuentess, and he has continued to reinstate such accounts, claiming free speech grounds. But Musk has also engaged in random suspensions of left-wing accounts and those critical of him, as well as the wife of deceased Russian dissident Alexei Navalny and the grandson of South African leader Nelson Mandela. At the same time, advertisers continue to flee the site as it is overtaken by newer platforms like Metas Threads.


Elon Musk said he plans to reinstate the X account of white-nationalist activist and all-around problematic podcaster Nick Fuentes.

On X on Thursday, Musk caved to a users demand to make good on his promise and bring Fuentes back to the social media site, from which he has been banned for over a year.

Its unclear what Musks promise was, but the billionaire has seemingly been determined to bring as many far-right voices espousing dangerous conspiracy theories back to the platform as possible.

Very well, he will be reinstated, provided he does not violate the law, and let him be crushed by the comments and Community Notes, Musk wrote in a response to the demand. It is better to have anti whatever out in the open to be rebutted than grow simmering in the darkness.

Very well, he will be reinstated, provided he does not violate the law, and let him be crushed by the comments and Community Notes.



It is better to have anti whatever out in the open to be rebutted than grow simmering in the darkness.  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 2, 2024

Seth Dillon, the CEO of conservative satire website Babylon Bee and fervent Musk fanboy, touted the decision in a post on X.

You don't have to like what someone says to support their right to say it, he wrote. Anyone who isn't breaking the law (e.g., calling for violence, making threats, etc.) should be permitted to speak in the public square. If you don't like what they have to say, respond with more speech or tune them out.

Musk responded to the post, writing Exactly!

Of course, thanks to Xs algorithm, its unlikely that Fuentes speech would be buried by more speech, but rather be whisked away to a right-wing sub-communityor even promoted by the sites Who to Follow feature like Alex Jones, the far-right broadcaster and conspiracy theorist who was recently reinstated, even after being handed a series of legal judgements of more than $1 billion for a hoax campaign claiming that a 2012 school shooting in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, was faked.

The decision to reinstate Fuentes comes months after Musk himself faced criticism over alleged antisemitic statements, accusations the technology baron called bogus.

Fuentes was first kicked off the platform in July 2021. Before then, Twitter administrators were unwilling to ban the right-wing activist, even when he floated the idea to assassinate state legislators the day before the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. By the end of 2021 he was also banned from Facebook and YouTube.

Fuentes was unsuspended from the app for a single day in Jan. 2023, before being promptly banned yet again. According to Hannah Gais, a senior researcher at the Southern Poverty Law Center, Fuentes had tweeted several antisemitic comments immediately upon having his account reinstated.

He also shared a video promoting Kanye Wests 2024 presidential campaign, which included one of the rappers virulent antisemitic tweets, where he said he planned to go death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE, according to The Hill.

Since being banned, Fuentes has tried to remain on the site using a series of burner accounts, The Daily Beast reported in October.

A Holocaust denier, Fuentes marched alongside his fellow neo-Nazis at the deadly Unite The Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017. He was later invited to dine at Mar-a-Lago with former president Donald Trump and Kanye West in 2022.

Fuentes has previously said that he believes improving the rights of women and LGBTQ+ people constitutes the bastardized Jewish subversion of the American creed. The Founders never intended for America to be a refugee camp for nonwhite people. Fuentes started his America First livestream and podcast to deliver his hate speech directly to his followers, colloquially known as groypers.

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As Donald Trumps first criminal trial moves through its second week of testimony, the prosecution is calling witnesses that can attest to Trumps personal involvement in the underlying crime that the case is built onbut one witness wont be at their disposal, and documents obtained by The Daily Beast suggest that he could provide pivotal information about that very crime.

That witness is longtime Trump Organization financial controller Allen Weisselberg, a convicted tax cheat whose perjury plea deal earlier this month reportedly took his testimony off the table. But while Weisselbergs personal testimony may not be key, he left behind a potentially priceless paper trail.

The prosecution has already highlighted Weisselbergs central role, saying that they will present the accountants handwritten notes documenting the allegedly fraudulent reimbursement scheme that Trump is charged with carrying out. But other documents obtained by The Daily Beast suggest that Weisselberg was in a unique position among the other witnessesnot only was he handling the Trump Orgs books, he was also apparently advising the campaign at the same time.

Federal Election Commission records dont show any campaign payments to Weisselberg, however, raising the prospect that Trumps right-hand man may himself have made unreported contributions in the form of services for his 2016 bid.

Trump Trial Shifts Focus to the Dirty World of Hush Money

According to internal Trumpworld emails, Weisselberg was an enormous help to the 2016 campaigna fact that has not appeared in previous public reporting, despite prior coverage of these same documents. Additionally, these records show that the hardened bookkeeper was apparently quite familiar with FEC filings. This cuts to the heart of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Braggs case: that the hush-money payoff to adult film star Stormy Daniels just ahead of the election was a campaign finance crime, which Trump then went to great lengths to keep from the publicallegedly criminal lengths.

Weisselbergwho last month pleaded guilty to perjury after doing a stint in Rikers Island on tax fraud chargesis already known to have a key role on one side of the payments. Prosecutors told jurors last week that they will present handwritten documents where Weisselberg lays out the plan to reimburse former Trump attorney Michael Cohen for his $130,000 payoff to Daniels, with those reimbursements coming via a series of checks from the Trump Organizationwhich were grossed up for tax purposes and disguised as retainers for legal work that Cohen never performed.

However, Weisselberg was not previously reported to have had any deep involvement at the same time with the campaign. But in an introductory email sent to Presidential Inaugural Committee treasurer Doug Ammerman in April 2017, a former senior Trump campaign aideRick Gateslauded Weisselbergs talents as an enormous help to us on the campaign.

A Trump spokesperson didnt return The Daily Beasts comment request.

The documents obtained by The Daily Beast are significant because they put Weisselberg on both sides of the hush-money affair. They also show that, just months after the election, Weisselberg was conversant and comfortable with FEC reportsso comfortable, in fact, that Trumps aides turned to him to help audit campaign finance reports.

Mr. Weisselberg for sure [knew] about the entire discussions and negotiations prior to the election, Cohen said in his 2019 congressional testimony. Weisselbergs name also came up in an audio recording that Cohens attorney, Lanny Davis, previously released, where Cohen tied Weisselberg to the hush-money payment ahead of the election, saying, Ive spoken to Allen Weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up.

Former Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg is handcuffed after being sentenced at Manhattan Criminal Court. Curtis Means/AFP via Getty Images

But by the spring of 2017, all of that was thought to be in the rearview. Instead, Trumps political team was now scrambling to smooth out the accounting for his Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC). That group, which raised and spent more than $100 million in just 72 days, almost immediately drew scrutiny and criticism for apparent self-dealing to the Trump Organization, with years of drawn-out investigations and legal proceedings finally culminating in a $750,000 settlement two years ago.

But even at the time, the PIC team was struggling to keep its books straight. Three months after the event, they brought Weisselberg in.

I would like to introduce you to Allen Weisselberg who is with the Trump Organization and was an enormous help to us on the campaign, Gates wrote in an April 19 email. Please reach out to Allen and walk him through [the] auditing process for PIC and the activities that were conducted throughout [the] project. (Less than a year later, Gates pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and conspiring to conceal millions of dollars that he and former Trump campaign boss Paul Manafort had laundered out of Ukraine.)

Gates didnt respond to The Daily Beasts comment requests.

A printed copy of that email contains handwritten notes in Weisselbergs scrawl, also dated April 17, noting that he spoke to Rick Gates today about the inauguration accounting. Those notes also say that Gates was going to contact the Trump campaigns FEC compliance firm, Red Curve, to send me full reports showing all money raised and spent. (The Daily Beast reported this month that Red Curve has recently facilitated millions in legal fee reimbursements from Trump political groups, now the subject of a federal complaint.)

Then, in a separate email chain one month later, Weisselberg revealed that his audit work on behalf of the PIC involved a review of the committees FEC reports.

After reviewing the FEC filing dated 4/18/17 the net donations on line 7 of $106,715,308.29 and the PIC revenue on your report of $105,133,603.00 differ by $1,581,706.29, Weisselberg wrote to PIC budget director Heather Martin. What caused this difference?

In response, Martin informed Weisselberg that the committee had just filed a correction, and attached the full version of the new FEC report, with raw data.

Since FEC report was filed we received an additional 1k in donations from Farmer Brothers Coffee for which an amendment will be submitted to the FEC, Martin wrote. The full detail of the entire FEC report raw data is attached which includes the in-kind contributions beginning on line 660.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump appears in Manhattan Criminal Court during his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments during his 2016 campaign. Curtis Means/Getty Images

That last detailabout in-kind contributionsis also central to Trumps current hush-money case. Cohen previously pleaded guilty to making an unreported and excessive in-kind contribution to the Trump campaign vis-a-vis his payment to Daniels.

Trump defenders, however, have sought to portray these laws as too complicated or obscure to follow.

Bragg would have to prove that Trump not only understood the complex and convoluted campaign laws that few people comprehend, but that he intended to violate them, Fox News commentator Greg Jarrett wrote ahead of the indictment last year.

But those laws are not that hard to follownor to anticipate. For instance, David Pecker, the former National Enquirer chief who helped coordinate hush-money payments on Trumps behalf during the election, revealed on the witness stand last week that hed known enough to hire a campaign finance lawyer ahead of one such paymentand kept any mention of campaign out of the contract. AMI was later hit with a major FEC fine and signed a non-prosecution agreement with the DOJ.

Jordan Libowitz, communications director for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, explained that in-kind contributions are standard fare among all campaigns.

In-kind contributions are pretty simple. Its right there in the name: in-kind, Libowitz told The Daily Beast. Its something you give to a campaign or candidate that isnt a monetary contribution.

Any Lawyer Who Followed Trumps Advice Would End Up in Jail

He explained that if supporters want to donate things like furniture or computers, or provide free catering or travel or other services, those have value and must be accounted for as a contribution. The value of in-kind contributions cannot exceed the individual donation limitwhich in 2016 was a maximum $5,200.

Campaigns deal with this all the timepeople call and ask if they can donate things, and the campaigns will say yes, heres how you can do it, Libowitz said.

Asked about the revelation that Weisselberg had advised the 2016 campaign and audited FEC reports, Libowitz said that the veteran accountant would have certainly understood regulations around in-kind contributions.

Its definitely not a complicated matter for someone who spent decades working on the financial side of a corporation, he said. Its not hard for anyone to understand, let alone a controller for a multibillion-dollar corporation.

FEC filings show that Trump himself understood in-kind contributions. He reported making more than $630,000 worth to his 2016 campaign, including for meals, rent, payroll, and a software subscription. (Candidates can contribute to their own campaigns in unlimited amounts.)

Last year, The Daily Beast reported that Trump had also once personally signed and submitted a detailed affidavit in an FEC investigation demonstrating a deep understanding of in-kind contributions specifically.

However, FEC data shows no in-kind contributions from Weisselberg for the services in his advisory role, nor do they show him receiving any campaign payments for that work. Campaign finance rules carve out some narrow exceptions for permissible volunteer services, and while they include compliance work, the value of that work must still be documented.

Reporting does show that Weisselberg did have one previously known tie to the Trump campaign. In January 2016, Weisselberg wrote checks from the Trump Foundation to other charities, designed to benefit Trumps candidacy. Those payments later contributed to a $2 million fine against Trump for violating New York charity regulations.

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WASHINGTON  Even as President Joe Bidens administration is reconsidering the criminal classification of marijuana  an epic policy shift  they are dragging their feet on the much simpler question of researching the medical impact of cannabis.

Congress passed a law at the end of 2022 designed to make it easier for organizations such as universities to obtain cannabis and study its potential medical uses, an enterprise hobbled for years by marijuanas illegality at the federal level.

Loosening restrictions on cannabis research was so obviously worthwhile that the law, sponsored by legalization-friendly Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and prominent pot skeptic Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), passed the House by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 325 to 95, and the Senate approved it without even bothering to count votes.

Blumenauer said that as far as he can tell, however, the administration has done nothing to streamline the process for approving cannabis research.

Its embarrassing, Blumenauer, who is retiring at the end of this Congress, told HuffPost. Ive seen no evidence that theyre at work to make this research go much more smoothly. I mean, this not low-hanging fruit  this is picking it up off the ground. It just mystifies me.

The law also required the Department of Health and Human Services to submit a report to Congress detailing the potential therapeutic effects of cannabidiol or marijuana on serious medical conditions, the effects of marijuana on on the human body and developing adolescent brains, and barriers to research in states that have legalized marijuana.

The Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act, enacted in December 2022, gave HHS a year to submit its report, but the department has yet to do so. Blumenauer and Harris complained about the blown deadline and the continued research obstacles in a March letter to agency heads but received no response.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) is seen in the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, April 26, 2023. Tom Williams via Getty Images

Spokespeople for HHS did not respond to requests for comment. Spokespeople for the White House and the Drug Enforcement Administration, required by the law to simplify procedures for registering pot researchers and manufacturers, also did not respond to requests for comment.

The Biden administration has undertaken a historic review of whether marijuana belongs in the same category of illegal drugs as heroin and LSD, with The Associated Press reporting this week the DEA would reclassify cannabis as a less dangerous substance, stopping short of legalizing it.

The move to reschedule marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act represents an effort by the federal government to catch up to public opinion on marijuana, which a majority of Americans say should be legal for medical and recreational purposes, and which a majority of states have legalized for one or the other.

At the same time, Blumenauer said, the governments apparent refusal to give greater leeway to researchers shows the bureaucratic inertia against a more enlightened view of cannabis.

Thats part of the bureaucracy with the failed War on Drugs. Theyre so invested in hurdles and problems, Blumenauer said. Its extraordinarily frustrating, and its a symbol of whats wrong with federal cannabis policy.

Republicans in Congress have refused to go along with Democratic efforts to legalize weed, but medical marijuana remains a political middle ground. Thats why Harris, who has blocked the Washington, D.C., governments efforts to set up a regulated marijuana industry in the capital city, was willing to do the research bill. He said he was deeply disappointed that the law had not been implemented in line with congressional intent.

While there is evidence to suggest that medical marijuana may be beneficial in the treatment of some diseases like glaucoma and epilepsy, only scientific research will prove the veracity of the many claims regarding efficacy for other diseases, Harris said.

Conducting clinical trials to measure the efficacy of marijuana as a medical treatment requires approvals from HHS and the DEA, which the agencies have refused to grant even in cases where state governments have funded studies into the potential benefits of cannabis for military veterans.

Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said the Blumenauer-Harris law has had no noticeable impact on the marijuana research landscape. He faulted the law itself for adding a requirement the U.S. attorney general sign off on research applications.

Unfortunately, while I think some folks were acting in good faith when they were supporting that bill, it was so watered-down by the end that I was not convinced it was going to lead to any significant major changes, and I dont think today it has, Armentano said.

Armentano also noted, however, that a lot is already known about the effects of cannabis on the human body, including through a plethora of observational studies. The National Academy of Sciences reported in 2017, for instance, that theres strong evidence cannabis can relieve chemotherapy-induced nausea in cancer patients and that theres no statistical association between cannabis use and lung cancer.

The Biden administrations dramatic move to reschedule marijuana likely wont open the door to new research, but Betty Aldworth, with the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, which has sought to conduct a clinical trial with inhaled marijuana and veterans, said the change could be a useful signal.

Recategorizing of cannabis could prompt certain bureaucracies and bureaucrats to look at processes and restrictions and begin to take action toward removing barriers for patients and consumers in terms of clinical research, Aldworth said. I certainly hope that thats the case.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly reported the federal government lists cocaine is in the same category of controlled substances as marijuana; cocaine is actually in a category for less dangerous substances.
Empty kayak found 3 miles off Florida ignites search for missing 77-year-old, cops say

The discovery of an empty kayak has Florida officials worried about a 77-year-old man in the Gulf of Mexico.

A witness called the Lee County Sheriffs Office Wednesday, May 1, to report an abandoned kayak was seen floating 3 miles off Bonita Beach, officials said.

Deputies responded and located documents within the kayak belonging to Kenneth Humiston, the sheriffs office said in a news release. Bonita Beach is about a 150-mile drive south of Tampa.

Members of the Lee County Sheriffs Office Marine Unit, Collier County Sheriffs Office, and U.S. Coast Guard immediately searched the area including Estero Bay and Wiggins Pass, the sheriffs office reports. At this time, the Lee County Sheriffs Office is continuing search efforts with the U.S. Coast Guard.

Humiston lives in Naples, about a 14-mile drive south of Bonita Beach in Collier County.

Missing boater spent night atop capsized boat in Gulf of Mexico, Florida rescuers say

Man in flooded boat saw sharks circling while trapped 38 hours off Florida, reports say

Dad dies, son hurt when motorized canoe tosses them and takes off, Florida cops say
Allen Weisselberg is currently sitting in a cell on Rikers Island, again, after pleading guilty to perjury, so it may come as little surprise that the long-time financial controller for the Trump Organization may have been less than honest about the the role he played in his former boss' 2016 campaign for president. But emails obtained by The Daily Beast suggest not only that Weisselberg provided unreported labor for the campaign, in possible violation of campaign finance laws, but specifically helped on its filings with the Federal Election Commission.

The 2016 Trump campaign's compliance with FEC filing requirements is tied to Manhattan criminal case against the former president, who is charged with falsifying business records to avoid reporting a hush payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Though Weisselberg is not expected to testify in the case, he "left behind a potentially priceless paper trail" for prosecutors, according to the report.

Weisselberg's contribution to the 2016 campaign was detailed in an email sent by Rick Gates, a former Trump aide who himself pleaded to lying about his lobbying for pro-Russia interests in Ukraine.

I would like to introduce you to Allen Weisselberg who is with the Trump Organization and was an enormous help to us on the campaign, Gates wrote in the April 19 email, according to The Daily Beast. Please reach out to Allen and walk him through [the] auditing process for PIC and the activities that were conducted throughout [the] project, he continued, referring to Trump's presidential inaugural committee.

A printed copy of that email, obtained by The Daily Beast, shows notes in Weisselberg's own handwriting indicating that he "spoke to Rick Gates today about the inauguration accounting" and had requested "full reports showing all money raised and spent" from the third-party firm helping the Trump campaign comply with FEC regulations.

Weisselberg's work appears to constitute an in-kind contribution to the campaign  donated labor  but does not show up on any FEC filings, The Daily Beast noted.

The revelation that Weisselberg worked on the 2016 campaign comes as prosecutors say they plan to introduce evidence at Trump's criminal trial showing that the former Trump Organization executive was involved in the hush money scheme.

Last month, prosecutor Matthew Colangelo told jurors that Weisselberg worked with former Trump fixer Michael Cohen to cover up the $130,000 payment to Daniels, which the Manhattan District Attorney's Office says should have been reported as a campaign contribution. Cohen was ultimately reimbursed for the payment to the tune of $420,000, an amount intended to cover the taxes he would have to pay for claiming the money as income for legal work.

Prosecutors plan to introduce handwritten notes from Weisselberg showing that the payment from the Trump Organization was intended as a "clever way to pay Cohen back without being too obvious about it," Colangelo said, arguing that the former president would have had to sign off on the arrangement. "They agreed to cook the books."
El Paso Independent School District Superintendent Diana Sayavedra discusses the "Destination District Redesign" plan at Burges High School on May 1. EPISD is seeking community input as it considers "sunsetting" some of its campuses in response to El Paso's declining population.

The El Paso Independent School District is planning to close or consolidate schools  which the district calls sunsetting campuses  by the 2025-26 school year as it braces for continued declining enrollment.

EPISD Superintendent Diana Sayavedra on Wednesday announced the district is evaluating programs, resources and facilities and will present recommendations to the Board of Trustees in late fall.

The district will hold a series of community meetings this month to introduce their restructuring plans and gather public input.

In an interview with El Paso Matters, Sayavedra said the district still doesnt know how many or which of its 76 campuses could be affected but noted it does not plan to close any high schools at this point.

If we dont begin to have that conversation and make those difficult decisions, we will find ourselves in a crisis, Sayavedra told El Paso Matters. So before we get there, were giving ourselves a good runway to partner with the community so that our decisions are informed.

More: Bravery, dedication: El Paso police honor officer, detective of the year for 2023

EPISD enrollment declines

The superintendent of El Pasos largest school district said the change is needed due to declining enrollment that she expects to continue falling in the coming years.

EPISDs enrollment has declined by 20% since the 2013-14 school year, according to the Texas Education Agency. The district currently has fewer than 50,000 students for the first time since the 1960s.

Students enrolled at El Paso Independent School District

Students enrolled at El Paso Independent School District

Over the next 10 years, we stand to lose additional students. Because our birth rates and the birth rates nationally are showing that were graduating more students from school systems than there are children being born, Sayavedra said.

The number of children born to El Paso County residents declined by 21% between 2013 and 2023, according to state data provided to El Paso Matters. Nationally, the number of births declined by 9% in the same period.

Births to El Paso County residents, 1989-2023

Data for 2022 and 2023 are provisional

Births to El Paso County residents, 1989-2023. Data for 2022 and 2023 are provisional.

Elementary schools are the first affected by declining birth rates. EPISD closed nine elementary schools between the 2018-19 and 2020-21 school years. The declines then ripple through to middle schools and high schools over the years.

Sayavedra said she expects the districts enrollment to settle between 36,000 and 42,000 students. That would take the districts enrollment back to where it was in the 1950s, according to newspaper reports from that period.

More: Prom season in full swing: Upcoming events, venues in El Paso County

El Paso ISD budget, teacher pay

As enrollment declines, Sayavedra said the district will likely have to tighten its budget and possibly forego raises for its teachers and other employees in the coming school year.

I dont foresee that we can give a significant compensation increase, if any at all. But what I can share with you is that Im going to bring a balanced budget to the board, Sayavedra said. Were not at a point where were having to make significant staffing cuts because weve been very conservative and very fruitful and very strategic about our budget development process.

She said the district plans to maintain its fund balance at 75 days or higher and keeps its employees insurance premiums the same.

Trustees for El Pasos two other largest school districts, the Socorro and Ysleta Independent School Districts, have also said they may not be able to give employees raises in the 2024-25 school year.

During an April board meeting, SISD trustees discussed possibly reducing its employee health plan contributions as it deals with a $33 million deficit.

The future of EPISD high schools

Though Sayavedra said EPISD does not currently plan to close any high schools in the district, many have also seen declines in enrollment.

Since the 2013-14 school year, enrollment dropped by over 43% at Irvin High School, 27% at Austin High School, and 21% at Andress High School.

Among EPISDs 10 traditional high schools, El Paso and Franklin were the only ones to see their enrollment increase during that time, by 31% and under 9%, respectively.

Enrollment trends at El Paso ISD traditional high schools

Enrollment trends at El Paso ISD traditional high schools

2025 bond election plans

The district also plans to bring a bond election to voters in November 2025 to upgrade heating and cooling systems throughout the district, improve security and potentially pay for upgrades or the construction of new consolidated school campuses.

Sayavedra said changes would need to be made even without a bond.

If we were to sunset a campus, and families are going to transition to another campus, with a bond there may be opportunities for us to update that facility so that its a healthier learning environment for children. But if were not able to pass a bond, at the very least what we will be able to offer is program expansion for the receiving campus, Sayavedra said.

More: Bel Air girls gymnastics prepares for State that they will be hosting

Whats next in school closure plan?

A series of public meetings will be held this month to gather input from the community. Over the summer, the district will develop preliminary criteria for school consolidations and closures.

The criteria will be shared with the community by early fall, and the district will conduct a preliminary analysis of campuses, including which schools require facility improvements or have opportunities to implement or expand programs.

Recommendations will be presented in late fall to the EPISD school board, which will vote on which schools to close or consolidate.

EPISD community meetings

El Paso ISD is holding a series of community meetings to discuss possible school consolidations and closures for the 2025-26 school year. All meetings at 5:30 p.m.

Wednesday, May 1Burges High School, 7800 Edgemere Blvd.Schools: Burges, MacArthur PK8, Hartley PK8, Hawkins ES, Cielo Vista ES, Hillside ES, Milam ES, CCTE

Monday, May 6Chapin High School, 7000 Dyer St.Chapin, Canyon Hills MS, Park ES, Powell ES, Logan ES, Bliss ES, TMECHS

Tuesday, May 7El Paso High School, 800 E. Schuster Ave.El Paso High, Wiggs MS, Mesita ECDC, Mesita ES, Lamar ES

Wednesday, May 8Irvin High School, 5400 Sanders Ave.Irvin, Magoffin MS, Stanton ES, Sunrise Mountain ES, Moye ES, Whitaker ES, Duran ES

Thursday, May 9Bowie High School, 801 S San Marcial St.Bowie High; Guillen Middle; Aoy, Hart, Douglas Elementaries

Monday, May 13Jefferson High School, 4700 Alameda Ave.Jefferson High; Tinajero PK8; Zavala, Cooley Elementaries

Tuesday, May 14Franklin High School, 900 Resler Dr.Franklin High; Hornedo, Brown Middle Schools; Lundy, Polk, Tippin, Kolhberg, Guerrero, Herrera Elementaries

Wednesday, May 15Coronado High School, 100 Champions PlaceCoronado High; Murphree, Haskins PK8; Zach Whit, Green, Putnam, Rivera, Western Hills Elementaries

Thursday, May 16Andress High School, 5400 Sun Valley Dr.Andress High; Charles, Richardson Middle; Bobby Joe Hill PK8; Newman, Torres, Barron, Tom Lea, Nixon Elementaries

Monday, May 20Austin High School, 3500 Memphis Ave.Austin High: Navarette Middle; College Career Technology Academy; Coldwell, Crockett, Moreno, Clendenin, Rusk, Travis Elementaries

Timeline:

May 2024: 10 feeder pattern community meetings

Summer 2024: EPISD reviews feedback; begins developing preliminary criteria for school consolidations, closures

Early fall 2024: Criteria shared with the community; begins preliminary analysis of campuses, including which schools require facility improvements or have opportunities to implement or expand programs; more community meetings

Late fall 2024: EPISD presents recommendations to the Board of Trustees.2025-26 school year: School consolidations, closures implemented

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: EPISD plans school closures, consolidations amid declining enrollment
BEIRUT, May 2 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) planned to reduce by half the ceilings of health coverage for displaced Syrians in Lebanon, Lebanon's National News Agency reported on Thursday.

Ivo Freijsen, the UNHCR representative in Lebanon, informed Lebanese Health Minister Firas Abiad of the decision, attributing it to the successive global crises in recent years.

Abiad expressed his regret for this decision, saying the decision will "negatively affect the ability of displaced Syrians to obtain services."

Abiad was also surprised by "the international community's abandonment of its humanitarian responsibilities, as Lebanon has been bearing the great burden of displacement" and has been suffering from an unprecedented financial crisis.

He stressed "the need for the international community to assume its responsibilities and implement its promises and relevant international agreements," pointing out "the priority of finding a solution to the crisis of displaced persons by ensuring their dignified return to their country."

Lebanon hosts the largest number of refugees per capita, with the government estimating around 2 million Syrian refugees, which weighs heavily on the country's economy and infrastructure. 
Escambia County commissioners' local retirement payouts totaling nearly $200,000 under a plan that was declared unlawful last month have been returned to the county's public treasury. The official return of the payments marks the conclusion of the more than two-year legal battle.

An Okaloosa County Circuit Court judge ruled last month that the county's local retirement plan that contributed 57% of a commissioner's salary to a 401(a) retirement account amounted to unlawful compensation under Florida law.

The ruling came as a result of a lawsuit filed by the Escambia County Commission against Escambia County Clerk of Court and Comptroller Pam Childers, who blocked the payments to the program at the beginning of 2022.

Escambia County had until Friday to appeal the judge's decision, but County Attorney Alison Rogers recommended against appealing after the ruling. After Childers sent a demand letter requesting that the funds be returned to the county treasury, the county sent its own demand letter to MissionSquare, the firm that managed the local retirement plan.

Okaloosa Circuit Court Judge William Stone presides over the Escambia County vs. Pam Childers court proceedings on Monday, Feb. 26, 2024. Three Escambia County commissioners have returned nearly $200,000 in local retirement payouts they received under a plan that Stone declared unlawful last month.

All county funds deposited into the accounts of the three commissioners who were participating in the local plan were returned to the county, plus any earned interest on Monday. The total amount of funds returned to taxpayers is $197,156.71, according to documents obtained by the News Journal through a public records request.

Former Commissioner Robert Bender's account had the most funds, at $143,491.18, because he enrolled in the program after his election in 2018, and contributions weren't stopped until the beginning of 2022.

Commissioner Steven Barry's account returned $28,586.16 back to the county.

Commissioner Lumon May's account returned $25,076.37 back to the county.

Bender re-entered the regular Florida Retirement System when he was appointed Escambia County Supervisor of Elections. May and Barry re-entered the FRS on Wednesday, according to county spokesperson Andie Gibson.

Had Childers not stopped the payments when she did, the amount that would've been wrongly paid out would be more than $390,000, according to court documents from the lawsuit.

Attorneys Ed Fleming and Aaron McCurdy with the McDonald Fleming law firm, along with Escambia County Clerk attorney Codey Leigh, argued the case on behalf of Childers that won in court.

Fleming said they received inquiries from across the state who were interested in the outcome of the case, which could have radically altered how Florida constitutional officers were paid.

Previously: Pam Childers wins lawsuit: Escambia Commissioner's retirement plan unlawful, judge rules

Had the County Commission won the case, the legal precedent would have been set to allow all 67 Florida sheriffs, tax collectors, supervisors of elections, property appraisers, and all 374 county commissioners to enact local retirement plans that allowed an additional 57% of their salaries to go into individual retirement accounts instead of the approximately 11% they receive with the FRS.

That scenario could have led to a huge loss of funds that keep FRS functioning.

"When you start looking at the financial ramifications of this as a whole, you're talking about tens of millions of dollars, maybe hundreds of millions," Fleming said.

Fleming said the key part of their argument was always that the Florida Constitution requires local officials' pay to be set by the legislature.

"They (the authors of the state constitution) didn't want three votes of commissioners to be able to vote themselves a $57,000 a year pay raise," Fleming said. "If you're going to do that, you have to do it at the statewide level, and that gets more attention."

Fleming said it was good the case was coming to a close, and the episode showed that the systems of checks and balances in the government worked as they were supposed to.

"The system worked exactly like it was designed to work," Fleming said.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Escambia County v. Pam Childers: county returns retirement payments
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna speaks to media at the Informal Meeting of EU Foreign Affairs Ministers. Tsahkna laid the blame for the jamming of GPS signals over the Baltic squarely with Russia on 02 May, following weeks of interference that has disrupted air travel in the region. Johannes Frandsen/European Council/dpa

Estonia's Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna laid the blame for the jamming of GPS signals over the Baltic squarely with Russia on Thursday, following weeks of interference that has disrupted air travel in the region.

Estonia has been seeing an increase in targeted disruptions to GPS satellite navigation recently.

The authorities of the Baltic Sea state say the GPS signal interference is being transmitted from Russian's territory, and the problem has worsened since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

"We know that Russia has been jamming the GPS signal since the beginning of its attack on Ukraine. Over the last year and a half, this problem has become very serious in our region," Tshanka told Estonian television, according to a radio report on Thursday.

He said Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Poland were also struggling due to the interference, alongside Estonia.

"If we look at Russia's activities, this attack on GPS is part of a hybrid action that disrupts our lives and breaks all kinds of international agreements," Tsahkna said.

According to a convention to which Russia is a party, no one should interfere with GPS, he said. However, there is plenty of evidence that the interference is coming from near St Petersburg, Pskov and Kaliningrad, he said, without providing any further details.

Two Finnair aircraft had to be diverted after GPS interference prevented them from landing in Estonia's second largest city, Tartu, late last week.

Finnair said at the time that its pilots had also reported an increase in GPS problems since 2022 - particularly near Kaliningrad, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea and the eastern Mediterranean.

The problems do not normally affect the flight route or flight safety, as pilots are aware of the problems and aircraft have alternative navigation systems. But a GPS signal is currently required for the approach to Tartu, so flights were suspended as a precautionary measure, the airline's statement continued.

After the incidents, the Estonian Consumer Protection and Technical Regulation Authority (TTJA) investigated the GPS problem and said this was not a deliberate attack on Estonia.

The interference is a "side effect" likely due to Russia defending its critical infrastructure from attacks and trying to deter drones, it said.

Tshakna disagreed, saying if external influence endangers people's lives and impairs aviation, this is not a spillover effect.

There is also no logical need to interfere with GPS signals in Norway, Sweden or Finland, Tshakna said. He added that no drone attacks are coming from these countries or from Estonia and argued that it is clear Russia is instead testing what it could do towards the West.
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna speaks to media at the Informal Meeting of EU Foreign Affairs Ministers. Tsahkna laid the blame for the jamming of GPS signals over the Baltic squarely with Russia on 02 May, following weeks of interference that has disrupted air travel in the region. Johannes Frandsen/European Council/dpa

Estonia's Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna laid the blame for the jamming of GPS signals over the Baltic squarely with Russia on Thursday, following weeks of interference that has disrupted air travel in the region.

Estonia has been seeing an increase in targeted disruptions to GPS satellite navigation recently.

The authorities of the Baltic Sea state say the GPS signal interference is being transmitted from Russian's territory, and the problem has worsened since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

"We know that Russia has been jamming the GPS signal since the beginning of its attack on Ukraine. Over the last year and a half, this problem has become very serious in our region," Tshanka told Estonian television, according to a radio report on Thursday.

He said Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Poland were also struggling due to the interference, alongside Estonia.

"If we look at Russia's activities, this attack on GPS is part of a hybrid action that disrupts our lives and breaks all kinds of international agreements," Tsahkna said.

According to a convention to which Russia is a party, no one should interfere with GPS, he said. However, there is plenty of evidence that the interference is coming from near St Petersburg, Pskov and Kaliningrad, he said, without providing any further details.

Two Finnair aircraft had to be diverted after GPS interference prevented them from landing in Estonia's second largest city, Tartu, late last week.
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL)  The woman convicted in the 2021 stabbing death of an East Tennessee State University professor received a life sentence Wednesday.

Annette Harvey appeared in Washington County court Wednesday afternoon.

A jury found Harvey guilty of the premeditated first-degree murder of Robin Leonard in February following a five-day trial. Harvey was also found guilty of the commission of a felony and especially aggravated burglary.

DA: Ex-Greene Co. school board member pleads guilty to official misconduct

Judge Lisa Rice sentenced Harvey to serve a life sentence plus 10 years on the especially aggravated burglary charge. Those sentences will be served concurrently.

Leonard, a professor in ETSUs Department of Psychology, was found with numerous stab wounds on Jan. 18, 2021. Leonard died 11 days later due to her injuries.

Rice said while Harvey did appear to act erratically in Leonards death, evidence showed she also acted with forethought and mediation by planning to take a knife to Leonards home.

She deserves to spend every day of her life in prison for the violent and vicious attack on Ms. Leonard, Rice said.

Leonards family members were in the courtroom Wednesday. Her son, sisters and cousin all spoke during Harveys sentencing hearing and expressed their grief at her death.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather.
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, center, Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides, left, and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen pose for photograph at the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

BEIRUT (AP)  The European Union announced Thursday an aid package for Lebanon of 1 billion euros  about $1.06 billion  much of which will go to boost border control to halt the flow of asylum seekers and migrants from the small, crisis-wracked country across the Mediterranean Sea to Cyprus and Italy.

The deal follows other EU aid packages for countries such as Egypt, Tunisia and Mauritania to fortify their borders. It comes against a backdrop of increasing hostility toward Syrian refugees in Lebanon and a major surge in irregular migration of Syrian refugees from Lebanon to Cyprus.

European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said during a Beirut visit with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides that the aid distribution will start this year and last till 2027.

The bulk of the aid  736 million euros  would go to support Syrian refugees and other vulnerable groups in Lebanon, while 200 million euros are meant to bolster Lebanese security services in enforcing border and migration control, according to figures provided by the Cypriot government.

An unspecified amount would go to Lebanese fishermen, to discourage them from selling their boats to smugglers.

Von der Leyen said the EU will also work on a more structured approach to voluntary return" of Syrian refugees "in close cooperation with the U.N. refugee agency. The bloc will continue to maintain legal pathways for resettlement of refugees in Europe, she said.

Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati praised the package, saying that Lebanons security is security for European countries and vice versa, and that an escalation of the crisis will not be limited to Lebanon but will extend to Europe."

Lebanon, which has been in the throes of a severe financial crisis since 2019, hosts nearly 780,000 registered Syrian refugees and hundreds of thousands more who are unregistered, the world's highest refugee population per capita.

Lebanese political officials have for years urged the international community to resettle the refugees in other countries or assist their return to Syria  voluntarily or not. Lebanese security forces have stepped up deportations of Syrians over the past year.

Tensions further flared after an official with the Christian nationalist Lebanese Forces party, Pascal Suleiman, was killed last month in what military officials said was a botched carjacking by a Syrian gang. The incident prompted outbreaks of anti-Syrian violence by vigilante groups.

Meanwhile, Cypriot authorities complain the island nation has been overwhelmed by irregular migration of Syrian asylum seekers, many of them coming on boats from Lebanon.

The UNHCR in Lebanon said it had verified 59 actual or attempted departures by boats carrying a total of 3,191 passengers from Lebanon between January and mid-April, compared to three documented boat movements carrying 54 passengers in the same period last year. Usually, few boats attempt the much more dangerous crossing in the winter. In all of 2023, UNHCR recorded 65 boat departures carrying 3,927 passengers.

Cyprus has taken a new approach to halting the flow of migrants. Last month, it suspended processing of Syrian asylum applications, and human rights groups accused the Cypriot coast guard of forcibly turning back five boats carrying about 500 asylum seekers coming from Lebanon. Cypriot officials have denied this.

Bassel al-Shayoukh, a Syrian refugee from Idlib living in Lebanon since 2014, said his brother and several cousins and nephews were on one of the boats turned back. Now he wants to make the journey himself.

In the beginning I thought that in a year or two the war would be over in Syria, he said, but it dragged on, while in Lebanon every year ... the situation began to get worse.

Shayoukh said he fears being beaten by vigilantes or deported to Syria after Lebanese authorities declined to renew his residency permit.

His 17-year-old nephew, who declined to give his name fearing for his safety, said the Cypriot coast guard started making waves to push the boat he was on away. I was terrified... I dont know how to swim, he said. I thought we were going to die.

The people on the boats stayed three days without food or water before turning back to Lebanon, the teen added.

Back in Lebanon, they were detained by the army; those registered with UNHCR were released and the others deported.

Mohammed Sablouh, a Lebanese human rights lawyer who works on refugee and migrant cases, says Lebanese authorities are deliberately turning a blind eye" to the surge in migration to "pressure the international community.

The Lebanese army did not respond to a request for comment on their measures to combat smuggling.

Thursday's aid announcement comes ahead of the annual fundraising conference for the Syrian crisis in Brussels later this month. After 13 years of civil war, donor fatigue has set in while the worlds attention is occupied by the humanitarian fallout of more recent conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.

The Cypriot president said Thursday was a historic day and called for European officials to go farther and declare some areas of Syria safe for return.

The current situation is not sustainable for Lebanon. It is not sustainable for Cyprus, it is not sustainable for the European Union, Christodoulides said.

But not all Lebanese officials are convinced the European aid would solve the problem.

Lebanese Forces party head Samir Geagea told The Associated Press earlier this week that European authorities are mainly concerned that the refugees dont go to Europe."

"For us the problem is that we cannot have our country drowning in illegal Syrian refugees, Geagea said, urging for Syrians to be sent back to either government or opposition-held areas of the neighboring country.

But Shayoukh says he has nowhere to go.

The Damascus government wants him for opposing Syrian President Bashar Assad, he said, while the Islamist group that now controls his hometown behaves "the same way as the regimes intelligence services in crushing dissidents.

___

Associated Press writer Menelaos Hadjicostis in Nicosia, Cyprus, contributed to this report.

___

Follow APs global migration coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/migration
The European Commission has promised Lebanon financial aid totalling around 1 billion ($1.07 billion) in order to stop the flow into the European Union of refugees from Syria currently living there.

"We are here first and foremost to say that the European Union strongly supports Lebanon and its people and we want to reinforce our longstanding cooperation," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in Beirut on Thursday, following talks with acting Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides.

"To underline our support, I can announce a financial package of 1 billion for Lebanon that would be available from this year until 2027."

"We want to contribute to Lebanon's socio-economic stability, first by strengthening basic services," she said, listing investments in education, social protection, and health.

"We will accompany you as you take forward economic, financial and banking reforms."

"Security and stability are also key for these investments. We will support the Lebanese armed forces and the general and the internal security forces. This will be mainly focused on providing equipment and training, and the necessary infrastructure for border management."

The EU side is counting on good cooperation in preventing illegal migration and combating people smuggling. In order to support Lebanon in managing migration, the EU is committed to keeping legal routes to Europe open and resettling refugees from Lebanon to the EU.

According to Christodoulides, Syrians from Lebanon, which is around 160 kilometres from Cyprus, have been arriving almost daily by boat in the EU island republic in recent months. Around 4,000 migrants have already been counted since the beginning of the year, compared to just 78 in the first quarter of the previous year.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen attends a meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Mikati and Cypriot President Christodoulides (not pictured) at the Government Palace. Marwan Naamani/dpa

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati (L) meets with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the Government Palace. Marwan Naamani/dpa
The European Commission has promised Lebanon financial aid totalling around 1 billion ($1.07 billion) in order to stop the flow into the European Union of refugees from Syria currently living there.

"We are here first and foremost to say that the European Union strongly supports Lebanon and its people and we want to reinforce our longstanding cooperation," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in Beirut on Thursday, following talks with acting Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides.

"To underline our support, I can announce a financial package of 1 billion for Lebanon that would be available from this year until 2027."

The package aims to strengthen Lebanon's basic services including education, social protection, and health. The package will also support the Lebanese armed forces, mainly to provide equipment and training, and infrastructure for border management.

Beirut appreciates the European Union's help "in supporting the military and security institutions in Lebanon to enable them to control the maritime and land borders and carry out their duties in preventing illegal immigration to and from Lebanon, and to support Lebanese communities in need," Mikati said.

Syrians from Lebanon, which is some 160 kilometres from Cyprus, have been arriving almost daily by boat in the EU island republic in recent months. Around 4,000 migrants have already been counted since the beginning of the year, compared to just 78 in the first quarter of the previous year, according to Christodoulides.

In absolute numbers, this is significantly fewer than in Italy, Spain and Greece, for example, where boat refugees from countries such as Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Morocco and Turkey arrive. But in relation to its population, nowhere else in the EU receives as many asylum applications as Cyprus, whose refugee camps are overcrowded.

Christodoulides and von der Leyen planned later to meet Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri, a close ally of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah movement.

The Cypriot president had visited Lebanon on April 8 accompanied by his country's interior and foreign ministers and army chief, shortly after he urged the EU to intervene with Lebanese authorities to stop Syrian refugees from heading to Cyprus from Lebanon.

Lebanon, struggling amid deep economic crisis since 2019, hosts some 805,000 UN-registered Syrian refugees, of whom 90% live in poverty, according to the UNs refugee agency UNHCR. Lebanese officials estimate say that the actual number is far higher, ranging between 1.5 and 2 million.

"We are not in a position to take in any more Syrian refugees," said Christodoulides.

The boats, which usually leave from areas in the Lebanese coastal city of Tripoli, bring mainly Syrian refugees fleeing their war-torn country who have lived in camps across Lebanon since the Syrian uprising started in 2011.

Nicosia has lobbied for months to extend aid to Lebanon similar to deals the EU has done with Turkey, Tunisia, and more recently, Egypt. Those deals have provided billions in exchange for keeping migrants out of the EU.

But Lebanon is different, critics say.

Unlike the authoritarian states of Tunisia and Egypt, Lebanon does not even have a head of state. Electing a president proved impossible for a year and a half due to power struggles among the political elite.

The country is currently led by Mikati but the government is only able to act to a limited extent.

The EU is making a big mistake in Lebanon, said Riad Kahwaji, director of the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis, citing the country's long history of internal problems, driven by sectarian conflicts, which are causing the power vacuum.

Lebanon is in no way prepared to be a receiving country for refugees, he said, arguing the same politicians receiving money from the EU would demand the Syrians be thrown out of the country.

It is crazy to see that Europeans believe in the illusion that the Lebanese authorities are able to stem the flow of refugees.

Human rights activists say Lebanese officials have been discriminatory against Syrians for years, trying to force them to return to Syria or leave Lebanon, pointing to the devastating economic crisis.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that in recent months, Lebanese authorities have arbitrarily arrested, tortured and sent Syrians - including opposition activists and army defectors - back to Syria.

Some Lebanese politicians however say the civil war-torn country is safe enough to guarantee a return. The United Nations and other human rights organizations meanwhile say international observers are needed to return Syrians safely back to Syria.

"We wish to stress that our primary concern remains with those most vulnerable, who need protection. It is our duty as UNHCR to ensure their safety and dignity, while we strive for durable solutions, including resettlement to third countries," said UNHCR spokeswoman Lisa Abu Khaled.

Preliminary findings of the 2023 Vulnerability Assessment of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon (VaSyR) indicate that the vast majority of Syrian refugee households still face high levels of vulnerability to a wide array of shocks.

"Nine out of 10 Syrian refugees are still in need of assistance to meet their most basic needs," Abu Khaled said.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati (C) welcomes Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides (L) and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the Government Palace. Marwan Naamani/dpa

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati (C) welcomes Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides (L) and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the Government Palace. Marwan Naamani/dpa
EU celebrates anniversary of 'Big Bang' enlargement with a splash of colour

EU celebrates anniversary of 'Big Bang' enlargement with a splash of colour

The EU put on a colourful display to celebrate Wednesday's 20th anniversary of the biggest enlargement in its history, known as the "Big Bang".

The buildings of the European Commission in Brussels, the European Parliament in Strasbourg and the EU building in Luxembourg all lit up in blue and yellow, projecting the slogan "20 Years Together".

Ten new countries joined the bloc on 1 May 2004. Almost all of them were from eastern Europe.

The integration of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia brought the number of member states from 15 to 25.

The move increased the bloc's population by almost 75 million people overnight, making it one of the world's largest single markets.

Countries that joined the EU in 2004 have since enjoyed substantial economic growth.

The economies of Poland and Malta, in particular, more than doubled, while Slovakia grew by 80%, according to EU data.

Since the 2004 enlargement, around 26 million jobs have emerged in the EU. Six million of them were created in the 10 new EU countries.

The bloc's expansion also allowed an additional 2.7 million young people to take part in the Erasmus+ programme.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati (C) welcomes Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides (L) and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the Government Palace. Marwan Naamani/dpa

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides met Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati at the governmental palace in downtown Beirut on Thursday.

Army chief Joseph Aoun and Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib were also present in the meeting.

Christodoulides and von der Leyen planned later to meet Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri, a close ally of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah movement.

The Cypriot president had visited Lebanon on April 8 accompanied by his country's interior and foreign ministers and army chief, shortly after he urged the EU to intervene with Lebanese authorities to help stop boatloads of Syrian refugees from heading to Cyprus from Lebanon.

Lebanon, which has been coping with a crippling economic crisis since 2019  hosts some 805,000 UN-registered Syrian refugees, of which 90% live in poverty, according to the UNs refugee agency UNHCR. Lebanese officials estimate say that the actual number is far higher, ranging between 1.5 and 2 million.

"Our primary concern remains with those most vulnerable, who need protection. It is our duty as UNHCR to ensure their safety and dignity, while we strive for durable solutions, including resettlement to third countries," UNHCR spokeswoman Lisa Abu Khaled told dpa.

She added that the findings of the 2023 Vulnerability Assessment of Syrian Refugees in Lebanon (VaSyR) indicate that the vast majority of Syrian refugee households still face high levels of vulnerability to a wide array of shocks. "Nine out of 10 Syrian refugees are still in need of assistance to meet their most basic needs," Abu Khaled said.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati (C) welcomes Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides (L) and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the Government Palace. Marwan Naamani/dpa

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati (L) meets with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the Government Palace. Marwan Naamani/dpa
The European Union will host an EU-Ukraine Defense Industries Forum on May 6 to boost cooperation with Ukraine's defense industry, the EU announced on May 2.

The forum will reportedly gather over 350 representatives from EU institutions, governments, European and Ukrainian defense industries, industry associations, and key partner countries to "strengthen defense industrial cooperation between the EU and Ukraine."

Kyiv has repeatedly called on international partners to expand support of air defense systems in the wake of increased Russian aerial attacks on civilian areas. Additionally, the Ukrainian military continues to face a critical ammunition shortage amidst delays in U.S. aid.

The upcoming forum promises to address Ukraine's priority areas in air defense, ammunition, missiles, and drones.

According to an official EU statement, the meeting is the first, concrete step in the implementation of the European Defense Industrial Strategy (EDIS) aimed at supporting the competitiveness and readiness of the bloc's defense industry.

The performance of the European defense industry, especially when it comes to supporting Ukraine, has been lackluster, as the EU failed on its promise to deliver 1 million artillery shells between March 2023 and 2024. After supplying only about half of the promised rounds, Brussels shifted the deadline to the end of this year.

Josep Borrell, the EU's top diplomat, will lead the forum, along with EU Commissioner Thierry Breton, the Belgian Minister of Defense, and the Ukrainian Minister for Strategic Industries, Oleksandr Kamyshin.

Read also: Russian strikes overwhelm Ukraines overstretched air defense amid Western aid delays

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
GUANGZHOU, May 2 (Xinhua) -- As of 2 p.m. on Thursday, the death toll has risen to 48 after part of an expressway collapsed in south China's Guangdong Province early Wednesday morning, according to a press conference held in Meizhou City.

The DNA of another three people has yet to be identified.

Thirty injured people are receiving hospital treatment, and none are in life-threatening condition, according to authorities of Meizhou City.

The collapse happened around 2:10 a.m. on the Meizhou-Dabu Expressway in Meizhou. The collapsed section measures 17.9 meters in length and covers an area of 184.3 square meters, officials said.

Aerial photos show one side of the expressway had caved in, causing vehicles to roll down a slope.

The Ministry of Emergency Management has dispatched a team to the scene to guide rescue work, and has urged local efforts to accelerate search and rescue work, treat those who sustained injuries, minimize casualties, and determine the cause of the incident.

More than 500 personnel from local emergency response teams, mine rescue teams and the fire brigade have joined on-site rescue work, which is ongoing.

The ministry has said that safety risks are relatively high on transportation, at tourist attractions and in densely populated areas during the May Day holiday, as the number of people traveling has increased.

The ministry will make further efforts to improve emergency plans, investigate potential risks, and strengthen safety precautions. 
Welcome back to Everythings Political, Capital Bs news, culture, and politics newsletter! Every Thursday, Ill take a look at recent stories that seem particularly noteworthy.

But before we dive into this weeks roundup, I first wanted to let you know that Capital B has released a mission statement and FAQ explaining how our national newsroom will be covering the 2024 election. As a pro-democracy newsroom, we want to detail what you can expect from our reporting. Be sure to check it out.

Now on with the show.

Heritage and Hate

I remember walking into the dining hall when I was a junior at Furman University in South Carolina and immediately noticing that something was, well, off. Sprinkled across the tables were small Confederate flags, put there by a group of conservative students. What followed was a campuswide debate on a question that, at least in the South, is as tired as it is tiring: heritage or hate?

I thought about this episode again this week because, in Mississippi, Monday was Confederate Memorial Day. Only a few states, including South Carolina, observe the holiday in some fashion, though they dont do so on the same day.

Proponents say that the holiday is nothing more than a way to honor people who gave their lives for a cause. But the fact that Confederate dogma continues to shape violence  from a mass shooting at a Black church in South Carolina to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot  shows just how dangerously incomplete that narrative is. And lawmakers arent taking it lying down.

This is a day to celebrate treasonous individuals who promoted slavery or those who were in favor of slavery, Mississippi state Rep. Chris Bell, a Democrat, told the Clarion Ledger.

Mississippi state Sen. Derrick Simmons, another Democrat, introduced legislation earlier this year to get rid of Confederate Memorial Day, but as has happened in the past, the bill died in the Senate Rules Committee without being considered.

He isnt giving up, though.

We should be moving forward to the day that the governor [Republican Tate Reeves] claims that he wants to have, where he represents all of Mississippi, Simmons told the Clarion Ledger. He can start by not signing the proclamation every year for this holiday.

The Anti-DEI Cycle Isnt Slowing Down

The attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion is relentless.

I wrote in this newsletter just a couple of weeks ago about how Duke University is ending a scholarship for high-flying Black students in response to the U.S. Supreme Courts decision in 2023 to gut affirmative action in higher education  a decision that will affect not only enrollment numbers but also the campus cultures that students of color experience.

And now Iowa is making headlines.

The presidents of the states three public universities  the University of Iowa, Iowa State University, and the University of Northern Iowa  recently told the Board of Regents that they are eliminating or overhauling their respective DEI programs. The schools have been working for months to align their policies with the boards mandate to jettison unnecessary DEI programs and boost diversity of thought (which typically means conservative or Republican-friendly thought).

This announcement came around the same time that Iowa lawmakers passed legislation that, if signed by Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, would further limit spending on DEI offices at public universities.

Clearly, a lot is happening DEI-wise. But, fortunately, the Chronicle of Higher Education has this handy tracker to help you keep up with anti-DEI legislation across the country.

We Grown Now

We exist!

This cry is heard in We Grown Now, Minhal Baigs lyrical new film about two elementary-school-age Black boys  best friends  growing up in Chicagos infamous Cabrini-Green public housing project in the early 1990s. But its more than just a cry. Its a celebration  a declaration that Black lives do, in fact, matter.

Part of the reason Im so excited to see the movie, which is already receiving enthusiastic reviews, is that it feels something like a salve in our current political season. At a moment when conservative groups hope to use the powers of the state to chip away at Black Americans rights and dignity, the film grants the duo at its center the kind of warmth  the kind of humanity  that were too often denied on and off screen.

Im not saying that the film downplays the challenges that come with being a Black person in the U.S., but rather that, from what Ive seen so far, it explores these challenges with a great deal of compassion.

This gentle focus is one of the many things I love about Moonlight, Barry Jenkins 2016 film that mines similar emotional terrain. Its a cinematic approach Ill never get tired of.

Louisianas Latest City

The Republican-controlled Louisiana Supreme Court late last month paved the way for the creation of the affluent and largely white city of St. George, made from a previously unincorporated suburb of majority-Black Baton Rouge.

Immediately, the decision generated backlash. Some worry that the move will only heighten tensions between Black and white residents, and theyre concerned about how denying Baton Rouge a key tax base will affect crucial public services.

The creation of a new municipality introduces considerable uncertainty around funding allocation for our schools, jeopardizing the cornerstone of our communitys future: education, the Baton Rouge branch of the NAACP said in a statement. We urge the court to ensure that current funding levels are maintained, if not increased, to support our schools during this transition period.

This recent development echoes incorporation battles that have occurred elsewhere, including in Atlanta and Gary, Indiana.

For additional context on St. George, check out the 2022 book, How the Color Line Bends: The Geography of White Prejudice in Modern America. (Full disclosure: The author, Nina M. Yancy, is a friend and former Oxford University classmate of mine.)

Ken Paxton on the Hook

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, whos been leading the Lone Star States yearslong assault on transgender rights, must now go on the defensive.

A Dallas appeals court recently ruled that Paxton, a Republican, can be sanctioned for his attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election. This misconduct case makes him one of the highest-profile attorneys to potentially be punished for attempting to cast doubt on President Joe Bidens victory, and it comes as former President Donald Trumps legal team insists that he should be able to get away with plotting to overthrow the government.

For Black Americans, the fact that Paxton might face sanctions provides some degree of comfort: The case shows that its still possible to hold to account those who suggested that Black votes arent legitimate  and who ultimately fueled the attack on multiracial democracy that occurred on Jan. 6, 2021.

As the appeals court justices underscored, the case targets Paxton not because he was acting in his role as attorney general but rather because he was using his credentials to make a claim that was bogus, harmful, and below judicial standards.

Subjecting Paxton to disciplinary proceedings does not violate separation of powers, they wrote. Immunizing him does.

Clearing my calendar for We Grown Now,

Brandon Tensley

The post Everythings Political, Including This Holiday appeared first on Capital B News.
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  A former Republican congressional candidate and ex-wrestler was attending a Halloween party dressed as a shirtless Ken when he allegedly beat another man to death inside a Las Vegas hotel room, according to documents obtained by Nexstars KLAS.

Las Vegas Metro police issued an arrest warrant in March for Dan Rodimer, 45, for the death of Christoper Tapp, 47. Tapp died after an incident at Resorts World on Oct. 29, 2023. A Clark County grand jury indicted Rodimer on the murder charge last week.

It was initially suspected Tapp died of an apparent overdose and fall on Oct. 29, according to the documents. However, after interviews with witnesses, police believe Rodimer attacked Tapp after he allegedly offered Rodimers model stepdaughter, Bella Duffy, cocaine during the Halloween party for racecar driver John Odom at the Crocksford hotel inside Resorts World.

Doctors pronounced Tapp dead at a Las Vegas hospital on Nov. 5. The Clark County coroners office ruled Tapps death a homicide as a result of blunt force trauma to his head, documents said. A scan showed he suffered several brain bleeds.

Former Republican congressional candidate Dan Rodimer, who faces a murder charge, appears in a Las Vegas courtroom on April 10, 2024. (KLAS)

Investigators later said they learned Tapp  who himself was acquitted of murder after serving two decades in prison  had been involved in an altercation inside the hotel room before he was found and taken to the hospital.

Dani Lyons, a friend of Rodimers stepdaughter, claimed to hear Rodimer say, If you ever talk to my daughter again, Ill [expletive] kill you, documents said. Immediately after hearing Dan say this to Christopher, [the witness] heard two loud banging noises, police wrote.

Lyons also told police she saw Dan knock Christopher to the ground, at which time Christophers head hit a small table. She then said she witnessed Dan Rodimer punch Christopher throughout his head and body, documents said.

Another witness told a person attending the hotel room party that Tapp slipped and fell and hit his head on a coffee table, according to the documents. Other witnesses told police several people used cocaine at the party.

A photo of the hotel room as provided in grand jury documents.

Lyons told the grand jury Tapp offered her and Duffy cocaine, documents said. Later, Rodimer allegedly made the threat to Tapp when Rodimers wife, Sarah Rodimer, entered the room, dressed as Barbie, in an attempt to calm down her husband.

It does not appear anyone at the party called 911. Odom allegedly waited 30 minutes to an hour to call hotel security who then alerted paramedics and police, documents said.

Despite head injuries and bruising to Tapps jaw, police were still not contacted. Tapps loved ones later realized the circumstances appeared to be suspicious and reached out to police, documents said.

Tapp was a sponsor of Odoms event in the hotel room. Odom told Resorts World security that Tapp slipped on a pair of slippers. Security was not able to find the said footwear, documents said.

According to grand jury transcripts, the witness said Sarah Rodimer told her the next day not to say anything if law enforcement asked.

A photo of Dan Rodimer dressed as Ken for the Halloween party from grand jury documents.

She said if anyone asks you about it, law enforcement wise, to say you didnt see anything, the witness told the grand jury. She said you dont want to get involved in this.

Investigators also obtained text messages between Dan Rodimer and Sarah Rodimer where Sarah Rodimer said, I watched you nearly murder somebody and I had to take your [expletive] hands off from his neck as he laid there and you ran away and I spent the next two hours trying to take care of him. Nobody should have to watch their husband murder somebody.

Tapp, of Idaho, was previously charged in the 1996 rape and murder of an 18-year-old, despite being excluded by DNA evidence, according to the Innocence Project. He was convicted in 1998 on charges of first-degree murder, rape, and use of a deadly weapon, and sentenced later that year to life in prison with a minimum sentence of 30 years for the murder conviction and 10 years for the rape conviction.

On July 17, 2019, Tapps murder conviction was vacated.

Rodimers attorneys, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, argued earlier this month that text messages from Sarah Rodimer should not be part of the evidence in the case. At the time of their clients arrest, they said Dan Rodimer intended to fight the charge.

In 2020 Rodimer, a former professional wrestler, lost his bid to represent Nevadas 3rd Congressional District against Democratic Rep. Susie Lee. Rodimer lost the 2020 election to Lee by nearly 13,000 votes, or 3 percentage points. He later left Nevada and lost a bid to represent Texas 6th Congressional District, coming in 11th in a 2021 primary.

Dan Rodimer was currently out of jail on a $200,000 bond. He is due in court May 8.

Odom, Sarah Rodimer and Duffy did not immediately responded to requests for comment.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  A former Republican congressional candidate and ex-wrestler was attending a Halloween party dressed as a shirtless Ken when he allegedly beat another man to death inside a Las Vegas hotel room, according to documents the 8 News Now Investigators obtained.

Las Vegas Metro police issued an arrest warrant in March for Dan Rodimer, 45, for the death of Christoper Tapp, 47. Tapp died after an incident at Resorts World on Oct. 29, 2023. A Clark County grand jury indicted Dan Rodimer on the murder charge last week.

It was initially suspected Tapp died of an apparent overdose and fall on Oct. 29, according to documents obtained by 8 News Now Investigators. However, after interviews with witnesses, police believe Dan Rodimer attacked Tapp after he allegedly offered Dan Rodimers model stepdaughter, Bella Duffy, cocaine during the Halloween party for racecar driver John Odom at the Crocksford hotel inside Resorts World.

Doctors pronounced Tapp dead at a Las Vegas hospital on Nov. 5. The Clark County coroners office ruled Tapps death a homicide as a result of blunt force trauma to his head, documents said. A scan showed he suffered several brain bleeds.

Former Republican congressional candidate Dan Rodimer, who faces a murder charge, appears in a Las Vegas courtroom on April 10, 2024. (KLAS)

Investigators later said they learned Tapp  who himself was acquitted of murder after serving two decades in prison  had been involved in an altercation inside the hotel room before he was found and taken to the hospital.

Dani Lyons, a friend of Dan Rodimers stepdaughter, claimed to hear Dan Rodimer say, If you ever talk to my daughter again, Ill [expletive] kill you, documents said. Immediately after hearing Dan say this to Christopher, [the witness] heard two loud banging noises, police wrote.

Lyons also told police she saw Dan knock Christopher to the ground, at which time Christophers head hit a small table. She then said she witnessed Dan Rodimer punch Christopher throughout his head and body, documents said.

Another witness told a person attending the hotel room party that Tapp slipped and fell and hit his head on a coffee table, according to the documents. Other witnesses told police several people used cocaine at the party.

A photo of the hotel room as provided in grand jury documents. (KLAS)

Lyons told the grand jury Tapp offered her and Duffy cocaine, documents said. Later, Dan Rodimer allegedly made the threat to Tapp when Dan Rodimers wife, Sarah Rodimer, entered the room, dressed as Barbie, in an attempt to calm down her husband.

It does not appear anyone at the party called 911. Odom allegedly waited 30 minutes to an hour to call hotel security who then alerted paramedics and police, documents said.

Despite head injuries and bruising to Tapps jaw, police were still not contacted. Tapps loved ones later realized the circumstances appeared to be suspicious and reached out to police, documents said.

Tapp was a sponsor of Odoms event in the hotel room. Odom told Resorts World security that Tapp slipped on a pair of slippers. Security was not able to find the said footwear, documents said.

A photo of Dan Rodimer dressed as Ken for the Halloween party. (KLAS)

According to grand jury transcripts, the witness said Sarah Rodimer told her the next day not to say anything if law enforcement asked.

She said if anyone asks you about it, law enforcement wise, to say you didnt see anything, the witness told the grand jury. She said you dont want to get involved in this.

Investigators also obtained text messages between Dan Rodimer and Sarah Rodimer where Sarah Rodimer said, I watched you nearly murder somebody and I had to take your [expletive] hands off from his neck as he laid there and you ran away and I spent the next two hours trying to take care of him. Nobody should have to watch their husband murder somebody.

Tapp, of Idaho, was previously charged in the 1996 rape and murder of an 18-year-old, despite being excluded by DNA evidence, according to the Innocence Project. He was convicted in 1998 on charges of first-degree murder, rape, and use of a deadly weapon, and sentenced later that year to life in prison with a minimum sentence of 30 years for the murder conviction and 10 years for the rape conviction.

On July 17, 2019, Tapps murder conviction was vacated.

Dan Rodimers attorneys, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, argued earlier this month that text messages from Sarah Rodimer should not be part of the evidence in the case. At the time of their clients arrest, they said Dan Rodimer intended to fight the charge.

In 2020 Dan Rodimer, a former professional wrestler, lost his bid to represent Nevadas 3rd Congressional District against Democratic Rep. Susie Lee. Dan Rodimer lost the 2020 election to Lee by nearly 13,000 votes  or 3 percentage points. He later left Nevada and lost a bid to represent Texas 6th Congressional District, coming in 11th in a 2021 primary.

Dan Rodimer was currently out of jail on a $200,000 bond. He was due in court May 8.

Odom, Sarah Rodimer nor Duffy immediately responded to requests for comment.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
After being fired in less than a year at a hotel in Detroit's Corktown neighborhood, the former human resources director is suing the company for discrimination and retaliation.

Tom Guajardo, a 50-year-old Hispanic American with more than more than 30 years in the human resources industry, was hired in March 2023 as the HR director of the Godfrey Hotel in Detroit, which opened last year. He was terminated in February 2024 after opposing discriminatory practices in the workplace, according to the lawsuit.

"Employees need to know they are safe to oppose discriminatory practices in the workplace. They need to know that if they oppose those practices internally or through state and federal agencies ... they will not be retaliated against," Guajardo's lawyer, Adam Akeel, told the Free Press in a statement. "If not even HR personnel, particularly the director of HR, is safe to oppose discrimination in the workplace, then what type of message is that sending to employees?"

The Godfrey Hotel in Detroits Corktown photographed on Monday, June 26, 2023.

The Godfrey Hotel in Detroit, which is part of Oxford Hotels & Resorts LLC, dubs itself as a "luxury lifestyle" boutique hotel in Corktown. Guajardo was responsible for ensuring compliance with statutory requirements, along with providing guidance and counseling for employees, including General Manager Aaron Black, according to the lawsuit.

However, things took a turn when Guajardo was informed of discriminatory remarks made by Black, and when he witnessed the general manager engaging in "overly discriminatory hiring practices," preferring to hire less qualified Caucasian males, according to the lawsuit.

Lawsuit alleges a series of discriminatory remarks

Black "insisted on having the final say of all candidates at the hotel," according to the complaint. Black rejected candidates for matters outside of their experience and would base his hiring off "physical appearance and would not approve of anyone that had a disability, physical or cognitive."

"When I would question Mr. Black on these matters, his response was always, 'Tom, I am the general manager, and I will do whatever I want to do,'" according to the lawsuit.

On one occasion, an employee told Black of the person's desire to have more female employees, to which Black responded: "Why would I want to hire more women? Then Ill have to hire more Blacks and Mexicans too," according to the lawsuit.

In another instance, Guajardo objected to a remark by another employee, who said he knew Spanish because he "worked with a bunch of Mexicans" and proceeded to gesture riding a donkey while uttering "offensive words in Spanish," but Black disregarded his concerns.

Guajardo later alleged Black was engaging in discriminatory pay practices. Guajardo was promised a $105,000 salary, $21,000 quarterly incentive, plus the potential to receive monthly bonuses. In January, he realized four employees, including himself, did not receive their quarterly incentive. After raising the concern, Black provided "fictitious" and baseless excuses, according to the lawsuit.

'Secret incentive payments'

He informed Black that all four of them who were excluded are members of legally protected classes and were given no negative feedback on their performances, and warned him that such conduct falls within the definition of discrimination through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and U.S. Department of Civil Rights.

Guajardo learned Black offered "secret incentive payments" to some of the four of the excluded employees. Guajardo wasn't one of them. He sought further clarity as to why they were originally deprived of their incentives and told Black he intended to file complaints with the agencies if they didn't come up with a resolution.

Days later, Black suspended Guajardo and initiated a "baseless investigation" into the former HR director. Following the investigation, Black instituted a "vindictive, retaliatory and baseless fishing expedition" in an attempt to justify terminating Guajardo, according to the lawsuit. Guajardo on Feb. 15, in a meeting with Black plus a witness, said he filed discrimination complaints and viewed the investigation as retaliation for his opposition to Black's "discriminatory employment practices."

Guajardo sent lengthy correspondence to company leadership regarding his concerns over "discriminatory and retaliatory practices." The following day, he was terminated.

"The Legislature enacted anti-retaliation provisions in the civil rights statutes to protect employees, to let them know they are safe to voice concerns of unethical and illegal employment practices. It is important for employees to know that if they are retaliated against for opposing discrimination, and they pursue the proper legal channels, their employers will be held accountable and they will be compensated for their bravery," Akeel said.

The Godfrey Detroit responded to the Free Press Thursday, in an emailed statement, denying Guajardo's allegations. Officials declined to comment on specific personnel matters due to pending litigation but stated the hotel is committed to ensuring a "safe and welcoming environment" for employees and guests.

The Godfrey Hotel Detroit stands firm in its commitment to an inclusive and respectful work environment for all our employees and guests. Our zero-tolerance policy against discrimination reflects our core value of holding the highest ethical standards. We vigorously and categorically deny this employees allegations of wrongdoing and affirm that the discharge of this employee was for legitimate, non-discriminatory and non-retaliatory reasons," according to a statement from The Godfrey Hotel.

Dana Afana is the Detroit city hall reporter for the Free Press. Contact: dafana@freepress.com. Follow her: @DanaAfana.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Former HR director sues Godfrey Hotel Detroit, alleging discrimination
Former Ohio State University defensive back Marcus Williamson has been indicted on more than 20 felony charges in connection with nine bank robberies in Franklin County.

A Franklin County grand jury handed up an indictment Thursday against a former Ohio State University defensive back charging him with 23 felony counts in connection with nine bank robberies.

Marcus Williamson, 25, faces 17 counts of robbery, six counts of felony theft and one count of misdemeanor theft, according to the indictment.

The robberies  all of which occurred at banks  took place on March 7, March 15, March 21, March 29, April 3, April 8, April 10 and April 24, police and court records say.

Columbus police arrested Williamson on April 24 after officers saw him leaving the First Merchants Bank at 5090 N. High St. in North Columbus.

Detectives were already looking into Williamson as a suspect in bank robberies across Franklin County and secured a search warrant to put a tracking device on his vehicle, Det. Brad Thomas testified at a hearing to determine if Williamson should be held without bond.

Thomas said Williamson used the same method in each robbery, which included passing or showing a note to the teller demanding money in $20, $50 and $100 denominations and implying that he had a gun, police said. Williamson wore latex gloves when he committed the robberies, Thomas said.

Franklin County Municipal Court Judge Eileen Paley had set Williamson's bond at $50,000. Williamson has remained in the Franklin County jail since his arrest.

His next court date has not been set, according to court records.

Williamson played defensive back for Ohio State between 2017 and 2021.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ex Ohio State defenseman Marcus Williams charged in bank robbery spree
Former Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield, a Republican from Levering, and his wife, Stephanie Chatfield, pleaded not guilty to embezzlement and conspiracy charges, their attorneys said Thursday morning.

Prosecutors have alleged that Lee Chatfield improperly used public funds and money raised through a nonprofit to pay for flights, meals and family vacations while he was in office.

Lee Chatfield led House Republicans as speaker in 2019 and 2020, having served two previous terms as a lawmaker before that. He faces 13 embezzlement, conspiracy and larceny charges in East Lansing's 54B District Court. Attorney General Dana Nessel announced the charges against Chatfield, as well as one count each of embezzlement and conspiracy against his wife, Stephanie, in April. At that news conference, Nessel said the investigation into the Chatfields' finances is ongoing.

Through his attorney, Mary Chartier, Lee Chatfield has long denied any wrongdoing. An investigation launched in January 2022 by the Michigan State Police initially focused on allegations of sexual assault made by his sister-in-law, with whom he admitted having an affair but maintained it was consensual. The investigation later expanded to probe claims of financial misconduct. At the April news conference announcing the financial charges, Nessel said the investigation into the sexual assault allegations was closed without any charges.

Then-Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield applauds during the State of the State address at the State Capitol in Lansing, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020. Chatfield and his wife, Stephanie, have been charged with felonies related to alleged financial impropriety while Lee Chatfield was in office.

The Chatfields appeared via video in front of District Judge Molly Hennessey Greenwalt on Thursday for their arraignment. Arraignments are typically straightforward affairs  a judge will read the charges levied and the maximum penalty for them, and inform defendants of their rights in the criminal justice system. The most serious charge faced by Lee Chatfield, conducting a criminal enterprise, is a 20-year felony. Both charges against Stephanie Chatfield carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

Personal recognizance bonds were set for both Lee and Stephanie Chatfield, meaning they'd only have to pay bond if they violated the court's conditions. Hennessey Greenwalt said the Chatfields must inform the court when they leave the state of Michigan and surrender their passports, among other conditions.

Defense attorneys asked Hennessey Greenwalt not to order the Chatfields to surrender their passports, but the judge ultimately set it as part of the bond conditions.

"It has been almost two and a half years that Mr. Chatfield has had to live under the umbrella of allegations being made," Chartier said. "His allegations, his life, have been in the media regularly. He has been wrongfully maligned. There's been speculation, rumor, innuendo, false claims, throughout all of that he has never fled, not once."

A preliminary examination date was tentatively set for June 13, although attorneys recognized the date as a placeholder, as the Attorney General's Office has not yet turned over discovery evidence to defense lawyers.

Nessel's office alleges Lee Chatfield used a political nonprofit, the Peninsula Fund, to cover personal expenses, including a $132,000 credit card balance. In an affidavit, an investigator wrote the credit card was used to pay for charges "clearly personal in nature," including purchases at gift shops at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, and other expenses made during a family vacation in November 2020.

The affidavit also asserts Lee Chatfield participated in a "check kickback" scheme, where checks were written using money from the Peninsula Fund under the guise of paying for official purposes, but the money was collected for personal uses, including during a trip to the Bahamas in 2018.

The Attorney General's Office also alleges Lee Chatfield wrongly sought mileage and travel reimbursements afforded to him as a member of the House for trips he didn't take and personally profited from subletting an apartment paid for by the Peninsula Fund.

Anne and Robert Minard, who worked for Lee Chatfield while he was a lawmaker and also ran a political consulting firm in Lansing, were charged in December with multiple counts including embezzlement, conducting a criminal enterprise and intent to defraud under false pretenses. Both have pleaded not guilty, and a preliminary examination hearing in their case is slated in 54B District Court for June.

Contact Arpan Lobo: alobo@freepress.com. Follow him on X (Twitter) @arpanlobo.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ex-Speaker Chatfield, wife plead not guilty in financial crimes case
WASHINGTON  Sen. Bernie Sanders has always been a political maverick, but these days the longest-serving independent in U.S. congressional history is not afraid to show his pragmatic side.

In an exclusive interview with USA TODAY on Wednesday, the senior senator from Vermont spoke about topics including the Israel-Hamas war, antisemitism, college protests, and President Joe Bidens record. One throughline that quickly became apparent was that Sanders would not let his differences with Biden on some issues get in the way of confronting something more urgent: the threat of former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee.

He believes a policy change by Biden on Israel is long overdue, but also worries that young people are underestimating the true threat that Trump poses and in their anger over Israel and other issues, may not recognize that Biden is better on their side  even if he is not where they want him to be on Israel.

"We can be extremely upset at the Biden administration for their policies with regard to Israel and Gaza, but the difficulty is that in the real world that you live in, you've got to take a look at a whole lot of things," he said, sitting in the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee hearing room on Capitol Hill. "On the other hand, I would hope that most of the young people and protestors do not want to see Donald Trump, who is a racist, a sexist, a homophobe who doesn't acknowledge the reality of climate change, become elected president of the United States."

The 82-year-old lawmaker was a favorite among young voters when he ran in 2020 but ultimately endorsed Biden and became a powerful surrogate. His comments about young people and Trump come at a time when the self-described Democratic socialist is taking a more active role in messaging directly to Democrats, and also as polling shows Biden's support waning among a critical voting demographic that helped the incumbent president win the White House nearly four years ago. Sanders has built his career on his pledge to fight the powerful  including big corporations and lobbyists  to help the working class.

"I think the president has much to be proud of in terms of what he has already accomplished. I don't know if he gets credit for it," he said.

Sen. Bernie Sanders is photographed in the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) committee hearing room in the Dirksen Senate building on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Sanders is the Chair of the committee.

Sanders praises Biden's work on health care access, infrastructure

As chair of HELP, Sanders talked about the work hed done with Biden to take on the pharmaceutical industry. Last month, he appeared with Biden at the White House for an event with health care advocates that focused on lowering the costs of inhalers to $35 a month, along with other Democratic efforts to expand health care access.

"For the first time in history, you'll have Medicare negotiating prices. That is a big deal for health care in general," he said.

He then proceeded to rattle off a list of the Biden administrations accomplishments including the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law that passed to rebuild the countrys crumbling roads, bridges, and water systems as well as addressing climate change and canceling "a lot of" student debt.

He also praised Biden for being the first president in American history to be on a picket line with United Auto Workers in Michigan, making it clear that he was "pro-union and pro-worker."

One area where Sanders is strongly at odds with the Biden administrations "unfettered military aid" to Israel as it conducts its war on Gaza after Hamas terrorists killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages in southern Israel on Oct.7. Sanders has been highly critical of the way Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is prosecuting the war and holds him responsible for the humanitarian crises in Gaza.

More than 35,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. Beyond the death toll, a March 18 U.N. report said a famine is "imminent" and humanitarian groups estimate more than 2 million people are threatened with famine.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., photographed in the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) committee hearing room in the Dirksen Senate building on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Sanders is the Chair of the committee.

At odds with policy on military aid to Israel

A Gallup survey released on March 27, a day before the Biden campaigns fundraiser, showed 55% of all Americans disapprove of Israels military action. That includes 75% of Democrats, up from the 63% who said the same last November.

Biden signed a $95 billion foreign aid bill in April, which includes $26 billion in funds for Israel and humanitarian aid for Gaza and other places. Sanders voted against the measure.

Sanders said while the money has been approved by Congress and signed by the president, it has not been released yet.

"The president needs to tell Netanyahu you're not going to get a nickel unless there is a huge and significant increase in humanitarian aid, that the potential of famine is ended tomorrow," he said. "You stop the terrible actions of the settlers on the West Bank and that we begin serious discussion about a two-state solution. If you want the money, these are the things you got to do."

Pro-Palestinian protest movements have sprung up around the country since police first tried to end an encampment at Columbia University in New York nearly two weeks ago. There have also been numerous instances of antisemitism recorded on campuses since the start of the war.

At the same time, student protestors have expressed concern that politicians often conflate criticism of Israels government with antisemitism. Netanyahu recently described the college protestors as "antisemitic mobs."

I reject very strongly the suggestion that if people are concerned and raise strong concerns about the military that makes one anti-Semitic. That is just not the case, Sanders said. "I really find it outrageous that Netanyahu wants to hide the outrageous military behavior of his government behind the terrible image of antisemitism."

Just as criticizing the government of Italy or Ireland does not make one anti-Italian, or anti-Irish, criticizing the government of Israel doesnt make one anti-Jewish or anti-Semitic, he added.

But at the same time, Sanders acknowledged that anti-Semitism and Islamophobia are on the rise.

I would say to any protestors whether it is anti-Semitism or racism against Muslim students, Black students or gay students is unacceptable. It is not what a peace movement is about, he said. And I strongly condemn it.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., photographed in the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) committee hearing room in the Dirksen Senate building on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Sanders is the Chair of the committee.

'Solution is to mobilize the American people'

Biden has described himself as a Zionist, but these days that has become a loaded word. Some say they are not antisemites, but they're anti-Zionist. As a Jewish lawmaker himself, how does Sanders define Zionism?

"I don't sit around worrying about what the word means. All I know is that right now in Israel, you have an extreme right-wing government, which includes some out-and-out racists, period," he said. "Hamas is a terrorist organization that started this war. Israel had the right to defend itself, but it does not have the right to go to war against the entire Palestinian people."

With polls showing that many segments of the Democratic party, such as young voters, Black voters, Arab, and Muslim American voters are feeling disenchanted with Biden's stance on Gaza, what does the president need to convince these voters?"I think for a start, changing their policy to Netanyahu and Israel would be a good step forward," he said. "I think that would be the first order of business. So I think the time is long overdue to change that."

Sanders, the de facto leader of the progressive wing of the Democratic party, who has endorsed Biden says that however disenchanted the voters are the solution is not to elect a president "who admires authoritarian leaders like Putin, who's trying to undermine American democracy."

"The solution is to mobilize the American people, working-class people, Black, white, Latino, Native American, whatever they may be, to come together, to fight for a government, which represents all of us, and not just the few."

Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House correspondent for USA TODAY. You can follow her on X, formerly Twitter, @SwapnaVenugopal

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bernie Sanders worries young people are underestimating Trump threat
Russian troops enter base housing US military in Niger, US official says

FILE PHOTO: Nigeriens demonstrate to protest against the U.S. military presence in Niamey

FILE PHOTO: Nigeriens demonstrate to protest against the U.S. military presence in Niamey

By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Russian military personnel have entered an air base in Niger that is hosting U.S. troops, a senior U.S. defense official told Reuters, a move that follows a decision by Niger's junta to expel U.S. forces.

The military officers ruling the West African nation have told the U.S. to withdraw its nearly 1,000 military personnel from the country, which until a coup last year had been a key partner for Washington's fight against insurgents who have killed thousands of people and displaced millions more.

A senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Russian forces were not mingling with U.S. troops but were using a separate hangar at Airbase 101, which is next to Diori Hamani International Airport in Niamey, Niger's capital.

The move by Russia's military, which Reuters was the first to report, puts U.S. and Russian troops in close proximity at a time when the nations' military and diplomatic rivalry is increasingly acrimonious over the conflict in Ukraine.

It also raises questions about the fate of U.S. installations in the country following a withdrawal.

"(The situation) is not great but in the short-term manageable," the official said.

Asked about the Reuters report, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin played down any risk to American troops or the chance that Russian troops might get close to U.S. military hardware.

"The Russians are in a separate compound and don't have access to U.S. forces or access to our equipment," Austin told a press conference in Honolulu.

"I'm always focused on the safety and protection of our troops ... But right now, I don't see a significant issue here in terms of our force protection."

The Nigerien and Russian embassies in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The U.S. and its allies have been forced to move troops out of a number of African countries following coups that brought to power groups eager to distance themselves from Western governments. In addition to the impending departure from Niger, U.S. troops have also left Chad in recent days, while French forces have been kicked out of Mali and Burkina Faso.

At the same time, Russia is seeking to strengthen relations with African nations, pitching Moscow as a friendly country with no colonial baggage in the continent.

Mali, for example, has in recent years become one of Russia's closest African allies, with the Wagner Group mercenary force deploying there to fight jihadist insurgents.

Russia has described relations with the United States as "below zero" because of U.S. military and financial aid for Ukraine in its effort to defend against invading Russian forces.

The U.S. official said Nigerien authorities had told President Joe Biden's administration that about 60 Russian military personnel would be in Niger, but the official could not verify that number.

After the coup, the U.S. military moved some of its forces in Niger from Airbase 101 to Airbase 201 in the city of Agadez. It was not immediately clear what U.S. military equipment remained at Airbase 101.

The United States built Airbase 201 in central Niger at a cost of more than $100 million. Since 2018 it has been used to target Islamic State and al Qaeda affiliate Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM) fighters with armed drones.

Washington is concerned about Islamic militants in the Sahel region, who may be able to expand without the presence of U.S. forces and intelligence capabilities.

Niger's move to ask for the removal of U.S. troops came after a meeting in Niamey in mid-March, when senior U.S. officials raised concerns including the expected arrival of Russia forces and reports of Iran seeking raw materials in the country, including uranium.

While the U.S. message to Nigerien officials was not an ultimatum, the official said, it was made clear U.S. forces could not be on a base with Russian forces.

"They did not take that well," the official said.

A two-star U.S. general has been sent to Niger to try and arrange a professional and responsible withdrawal.

While no decisions have been taken on the future of U.S. troops in Niger, the official said the plan was for them to return to U.S. Africa Command's home bases, located in Germany.

(This story has been refiled to insert the dropped word 'official' in paragraph 1)

(Reporting by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali; Additional reporting by Daphne Psaledakis; Writing by Idrees Ali; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Clarence Fernandez)
As this year marks the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and Hungary, join Xinhua reporter Shang Yang as she continues to explore the city of Budapest. What hot touristy place did she visit? What did Chinese travelers say about it?
Exclusive-US to provide nearly $55 million in humanitarian aid for Burkina Faso

FILE PHOTO: A child and bicycle-riding woman are pictured at a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Kaya

By Daphne Psaledakis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will provide nearly $55 million to address a dire humanitarian crisis in Burkina Faso, U.S. aid chief Samantha Power will announce on Thursday, according to a statement seen by Reuters.

The aid will address emergency food and nutrition needs as well as other support, Power said. The funds will bring the U.S. Agency for International Development's total emergency aid to Burkina Faso to nearly $158 million since the beginning of fiscal-year 2023.

"Growing conflict and a dire humanitarian crisis in Burkina Faso is unfolding in communities cut off from the worlds view," Power said in the statement.

"Widespread violence and attacks on civilians and critical infrastructure have driven mass displacement and disrupted essential services, leaving approximately 6.3 million Burkinabe  nearly a third of the countrys population  in need of urgent aid this year."

Burkina Faso is one of several nations in Africa's Sahel region struggling to contain Islamist insurgencies linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State that have killed thousands and displaced millions.

Frustrations over authorities' failure to protect civilians have contributed to two coups in Mali, two in Burkina Faso and one in Niger since 2020. The current military rulers in Burkina Faso seized power at the end of 2022.

In February, Burkina Faso's military summarily executed about 223 villagers, including at least 56 children, as part of a campaign against civilians accused of collaborating with jihadist militants, Human Rights Watch said last week.

Power in her statement called on donors to increase their support for the humanitarian response she said was "overlooked and underfunded," but warned that even with additional support, reaching vulnerable civilians remains challenging.

She said civilians were trapped by armed groups, cut off from aid by fighting and intentional impediments and suffering from severe hunger. At least 1 million people are reachable only by humanitarian helicopter airlifts or military convoys, Power said.

She warned that nearly 3 million people are projected to face levels of food insecurity requiring immediate humanitarian assistance in coming months.

"We call on all parties, including the Transition Authorities, Burkinabe military, and armed groups, to protect civilians and enable the free flow of humanitarian aid to prevent this devastating situation from getting worse," she said.

(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis in Washington; Additional reporting by Sofia Christensen in Dakar; Editing by Don Durfee and Matthew Lewis)
Exiled Belarus opposition leader says she hasnt heard from her imprisoned husband for over 400 days

FILE - Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, centre, holds a portrait of her jailed husband Syarhey Tsikhanousky attending a protest demanding freedom for political prisoners in Belarus, in front of the Belarus Embassy, in Vilnius, Lithuania, Friday, March 8, 2024. Belarus exiled opposition leader said Thursday, May 2, 2024, that she hasnt heard from her imprisoned husband for 421 days. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis, File)

TALLINN, Estonia (AP)  Belarus exiled opposition leader said Thursday that she hasnt heard from her imprisoned husband for 421 days.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said holding her husband incommunicado is part of the governments repressive policies.

Siarhei Tsikhanouski has been behind bars since being arrested in 2020 after announcing plans to challenge Belarus authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko in a vote that year. After Tsikhanouski was arrested, his wife ran in his stead as the main opposition candidate but was forced by authorities to leave the country after the election.

Tsikhanouski has been sentenced to 19  years, and his wife said that by holding him incommunicado authorities are trying to persuade Siarhei that everyone has forgotten him.

For more than a year I dont know about Siarheis condition, I dont know if he was allowed to receive any cash and whether he has any toothpaste or toilet paper, she said.

Along with Tsikhanouski, several top opposition figures also have been held incommunicado for more than a year.

They include Maria Kolesnikova, a leading opposition figure serving an 11-year prison sentence who hasnt been heard from for 443 days, Mikola Statkevich, an opposition activist whose relatives havent heard from him for 448 days and lawyer Maxim Znak who has been held incommunicado for 449 days.

Its our duty to speak loudly about them and support them in every possible way, Tsikhanouskaya said.

The August 2020 election that handed Lukashenko his sixth term in office was denounced by the West and the opposition as fraudulent and triggered a massive wave of protests. Authorities responded with a sweeping crackdown that saw 35,000 people arrested and thousands brutally beaten by police. Many top opposition figures were arrested and given long prison terms, while others fled abroad.

The Belarusian authorities have ignored U.N. requests to provide information about the opposition activists who have been held incommunicado.

Belarus leading human rights group Viasna counts about 1,400 political prisoners in the country, including the groups founder, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski.

Viasnas representative Pavel Sapelka said that holding opposition activists incommunicado was a form of torture not only for the political prisoners but their families. He described it as part of strategy of punishing political opponents and concealing evidence of cruel treatment and torture.
What to expect if youre attending graduation at the University of Utah

Metal detectors are set up at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. In the aftermath of a pair of pro-Palestinian protests, University of Utah moves ahead to planned commencement exercises. Weapons detectors will be used at each venue and other restrictions similar to those for athletic events will be observed. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

After a pair of pro-Palestinian protests on the University of Utah campus earlier this week, one of which was broken up by police, the university is shifting its attention to its commencement and convocation ceremonies Thursday and Friday.

The university will step up security measures at commencement, said university spokeswoman Rebecca Walsh.

In light of recent protests across the country and on our campus, and out of an abundance of caution, we will have extra police and security officers at the Jon M. Huntsman Center to respond to any disturbances inside the arena.

We hear the protesters, and they have the right to express their viewpoints. They do not, however, have the right to disrupt this celebration of their peers years of hard work and academic achievements, Walsh said.

She continued, As a public institution, the University of Utah preserves and protects the right to free speech on our campus. But there are reasonable limits under the First Amendment for the times and places of these expressions. Our protesters are welcome to continue to express their opinions outside.

Graduates and guests will undergo screening for weapons prior to entering graduation and commencement venues. Only weapons expressly permitted under state law will be allowed in the Jon M. Huntsman Center and Kingsbury Hall, the venue for several college convocations.

On Thursday, the university will celebrate the graduation of 8,652 graduates from every state and 64 countries who have earned 9,266 degrees.

I ask our campus community to support our graduates by expressing views in a dignified, peaceful and legal manner. By doing so, we exercise our right of free expression, honor our graduates, and exemplify civil society, said University of Utah President Taylor Randall in a statement following Mondays protest and short-lived encampment.

Twenty people were arrested after they refused to comply with police orders to disperse after Monday nights protest had been declared an unlawful assembly.

Police officers from the University of Utah Police Department, Salt Lake City, West Valley City, Utah Highway Patrol and Unified Police moved in to break up the crowd after several hours of negotiations between Academic Senate leaders, a few faculty members and student protesters failed to persuade the protesters to disperse.

They also did not heed a series of warnings by police that acknowledged the groups constitutional right to free speech but explained their actions were in violation of state law and university policy, according to the universitys account of the events.

Sections of fence have been set up to help direct people into Kingsbury Hall in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. In the aftermath of a pair of pro-Palestinian protests, University of Utah moves ahead to planned commencement exercises. Weapons detectors will be used at each venue and other restrictions similar to those for athletic events will be observed. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Other venue requirements

Guests may not bring bags into the venues except for diaper bags with a small child present or medical bags. Both are subject to search upon entry to each facility.

Several items are not permitted in the venues, including alcohol, umbrellas, drones, weapons, artificial noisemakers, backpacks, fireworks, outside drink and food, confetti, strollers, and balloons.

Walkers or wheelchairs not being used as seats are not permitted. In the Huntsman Center, they can be stored in the Ticket Office at Portal 23. There are designated ADA spaces in the arena for those who use wheelchairs.

There will be no charge for parking in campus lots during the university commencement and college convocation ceremonies. Due to limited parking, graduates and guests are encouraged to use TRAX and the universitys free campus shuttle service.

For those unable to attend in person, the University Commencement ceremony will be streamed in real-time online at utah.edu/live beginning at 6 p.m. on Thursday. Visit the College Convocation webpage for streaming information about convocation ceremonies.

Eboo Patel, founder and president of Interfaith America, is the keynote commencement speaker. He is also one of the University of Utahs Impact Scholars.

Walsh said the states flagship institution is excited to celebrate the hard work and dedication of one of the biggest graduating classes here at the University of Utah  the Class of 2024.

They began their academic careers at the height of the global COVID-19 pandemic, but have persevered and deserve to celebrate this moment. Were especially mindful that many of this years graduates werent able to participate in high school graduation celebrations because of the pandemic.

To mark the occasion, each member of the class will receive a pin recognizing their resilience, she said.

In addition to the University of Utah, two other major public universities in the state will be celebrating Thursday evening. Utah State University and Utah Valley University will also hold commencement ceremonies on their respective campuses.
(Bloomberg) -- The US Federal Trade Commission declined to challenge Exxon Mobil Corp.s $60 billion purchase of Pioneer Natural Resources Co. on the condition that Pioneer co-founder Scott Sheffield be excluded from the supermajors board.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The decision, announced Thursday in a filing, will ease concern the Biden administration would seek to block a series of oil and natural gas mega-mergers, but it came at a hefty price. The antitrust agency says it found evidence Sheffield sought to communicate with OPEC and US peers about oil pricing and output, potentially driving up costs for consumers.

Mr. Sheffields past conduct makes it crystal clear that he should be nowhere near Exxons boardroom. American consumers shouldnt pay unfair prices at the pump simply to pad a corporate executives pocketbook, Deputy Director of the FTCs Bureau of Competition Kyle Mach said in a statement.

The FTC order will prevent Sheffield from engaging in collusive activity that could drive up pump prices for US consumers. The agency says he exchanged hundreds of text messages with OPEC representatives and officials about the oil market.

The FTC plans to refer the matter for a potential criminal investigation into Sheffield, the news organization Semafor reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The FTC has a responsibility to refer potentially criminal behavior and take that obligation very seriously, agency spokesman Douglas Farrar said when asked if officials planned to refer the matter for a criminal probe.

Exxon shares were unchanged at 12:02 p.m. in New York. Pioneer shares rose 0.7%.

The proposed consent order also bars Sheffield from serving in any advisory capacity at Exxon and prohibits the oil giant from appointing any Pioneer employee or director to its board for five years.

Exxon learned of the FTCs allegations regarding Sheffield from the agency and said in a statement that they are entirely inconsistent with how we do business. Exxon has agreed to the terms of the consent decree and plans to close the acquisition on May 3.

Pioneer said it was surprised by the FTCs allegations and disagrees with the agencys conclusions.

Fundamental Misunderstanding

Mr. Sheffield and Pioneer believe that the FTCs complaint reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of the US and global oil markets and misreads the nature and intent of Mr. Sheffields actions, the company said in a statement.

However, Pioneer and Sheffield are not taking any steps to prevent the merger from closing, according to the statement.

Selling his company to Exxon and landing a seat on the board were to have been a career capstone for Sheffield, who led Pioneer for more than 20 years and was one of the earliest proponents of fracking in the Permian Basin. After closing the merger, Exxon will be far and away the biggest oil and gas producer in the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico, which now pumps more oil than OPEC member Iraq.

Chevron Corp., Occidental Petroleum Corp. and Chesapeake Energy Corp. are among companies with large pending takeover deals that are undergoing in-depth reviews before the FTC.

Shale Evangelist

Sheffield has been a rare outspoken leader in the US shale patch, frequently appearing in media interviews and industry conferences. He was an early advocate of the industrys push for capital discipline rather than ramping up production at all costs, and was one of the first CEOs to call on his company and others to reducing flaring.

But it was Sheffields public and private communications with OPEC and other industry executives that caught the attention of the FTC. He was a leading advocate of government-mandated rationing of Texas oil production during the early-2020 crude market collapse that saw prices plunge below zero. His efforts to convince the Texas Railroad Commission that oversees that states oil industry to impose output caps for the first time in decades was ultimately unsuccessful.

Read More: OPEC-Style Limits for Oil-Rich Texas Divide Shale Industry

The FTCs complaint cites voluminous evidence that Sheffield tried to organize coordination between US shale producers and OPEC both in public and private. We produced too much oil and competed with OPEC, the complaint quotes Sheffield as saying in 2023.

The agency alleged Sheffield acted as a conduit between US shale and OPEC, exchanging private messages with senior leaders on both sides. It also cited his attendance at dinners between American and OPEC producers at the prestigious, annual CERAWeek conference in Houston.

Credible Narrators

Corporate executives are not always credible narrators, FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a statement. But when corporate executives words or actions reveal, against their interests, a belief that they can collude, we should generally believe them.

Sheffields proposed appointment to the Exxon board would give him a larger platform from which to advocate for greater industry-wide co-ordination, the FTC said.

Pioneer and Sheffield rebutted the FTCs claims in an 850-word statement that said his efforts were an attempt to push back against the predatory practices of OPEC and Russia, which had flooded the market with oil on several occasions, including in 2020, to wipe out US shale. A disciplined shale sector would help to maintain a sustain a resilient, competitive and economically vibrant oil and gas industry in the United States, the company said.

--With assistance from Joe Carroll, Joe Ryan, Mitchell Ferman and Elizabeth Elkin.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

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A British team of archaeologists on Thursday revealed the reconstructed face of a 75,000-year-old Neanderthal woman, as researchers reappraise the perception of the species as brutish and unsophisticated.

Named Shanidar Z after the cave in Iraqi Kurdistan where her skull was found in 2018, the latest discovery has led experts to probe the mystery of the forty-something Neanderthal woman laid to rest in a sleeping position beneath a huge vertical stone marker.

The lower part of her skeleton is believed to have been excavated in 1960 during groundbreaking excavations by American archaeologist Ralph Solecki in which he found the remains of at least 10 Neanderthals.

"I think she can help us connect with who they were," said Dr. Emma Pomeroy, a palaeo-anthropologist on the project from the University of Cambridge.

Associate Professor in the Evolution of Health, Diet and Disease, Dr Emma Pomeroy, poses for a photograph with the rebuilt skull and a physical reconstruction of the face and head, of a 75,000-year-old Neanderthal woman, named Shanidar Z, at the University of Cambridge, eastern England, on April 25, 2024. / Credit: JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images

"It's extremely exciting and a massive privilege actually to be able to work with the remains of any individual but especially one as special as her," she told BBC News.

Solecki's discovery of a cluster of bodies with one surrounded by clumps of ancient pollen led him to controversially argue that this was evidence of funerary rituals with the dead placed on a bed of flowers.

Political difficulties meant it took around five decades for a team from Cambridge and Liverpool John Moores universities to be allowed back to the site in the Zagros mountains of northern Iraq.

"Skull was as flat as a pizza"

The last Neanderthals mysteriously died out around 40,000 years ago, just a few thousand years after humans arrived.

Shanidar Z's skull -- thought to be the best preserved Neanderthal find this century -- had been flattened to a thickness of 0.7 inches, possibly by a rockfall relatively soon after she died.

Professor Graeme Barker from Cambridge's McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, told the BBC the "skull was as flat as a pizza, basically."

A picture shows the rebuilt skull and a physical reconstruction of the face and head, of a 75,000-year-old Neanderthal woman, named Shanidar Z, after the cave in Iraqi Kurdistan where her skull was found in 2018, at the University of Cambridge, eastern England, on April 25, 2024. / Credit: JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images

"It's a remarkable journey to go from that to what you see now," Barker said. "As an archaeologist, you can sometimes get blase about what you're doing. But every now and then you are brought up short by the fact you are touching the past. We forget just what an extraordinary thing it is."

Shanidar Z is the fifth body to be identified in the cluster buried over a period of at least several hundred years right behind the rock in the center of the cave.

Archaeologists believe the stone was used as an identifier to allow itinerant Neanderthals to return to the same spot to bury their dead.

Latest research by team member Professor Chris Hunt of John Moores now suggests the pollen that gave rise to Solecki's contentious "flower burial" theory might in fact have come from bees burrowing into the cave floor.

But Hunt said there was still evidence -- such as the remains of a partially paralyzed Neanderthal found by Solecki -- that the species were more empathetic than previously thought.

"There's been this huge reappraisal which was actually started by Ralph Solecki in this cave with 'Shanidar 1' with his withered arm and his arthritis and his deafness who must have been looked after. That tells us there was compassion," he said.

The positioning of the bodies in the cluster in the same spot, in the same position and facing in the same direction implied "tradition" and the "passing of knowledge between generations," he said.

"Exciting" and "terrifying" discovery

"It looks much more like purposeful behavior that you wouldn't associate with the text book stories about Neanderthals which is that their lives were nasty, brutish and short," he added.

Pomeroy, the Cambridge palaeo-anthropologist who uncovered Shanidar Z, said finding her skull and upper body had been both "exciting" and "terrifying."

The skeleton and the surrounding sediment had to be strengthened in situ with a glue-like consolidant before being removed in dozens of small foil-wrapped blocks.

Lead conservator Lucia Lopez-Polin then pieced together the over 200 bits of skull as the first step in the facial reconstruction for the just-released Netflix documentary "Secrets of the Neanderthals."

Pomeroy said the task had been like a "high stakes 3D jigsaw puzzle" especially as the fragments were very soft "similar in consistency to a biscuit dunked in tea".

The rebuilt skull was then 3D-printed allowing palaeo-artists and identical twins Adrie and Alfons Kennis in The Netherlands to complete the reconstruction with layers of fabricated muscle and skin for the documentary, which was produced by the BBC Studios Science Unit.

Pomeroy said Neanderthal skulls looked very different to those of humans "with huge brow ridges and lack of chins."

But she said the recreated face "suggests those differences were not so stark in life," highlighting the interbreeding between Neanderthals and humans "to the extent that almost everyone alive today still has Neanderthal DNA."

The BBC reported that the researchers are confident the Neanderthal is a female. Because no pelvic bones were recovered, archaeologists relied on certain dominant proteins found in the tooth enamel that are associated with female genetics. The slight stature of the skeleton also supports the interpretation.

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This image from video released by the U.S. Army, shows a frame from a haunting new video, released on May 2, 2024, in the latest effort by the Army to lure soldiers to some of its more secretive units. Hints of its origin are tucked into the frames as they flash by touting the power of words, ideas and "invisible hands." Army Special Operations Command hopes that those drawn to the video may be interested in joining as one of its psychological warfare soldiers. (U.S. Army via AP)

FORT LIBERTY, N.C. (AP)  The video is unsettling, with haunting images of faceless people, fire and soldiers. The voiceover is a cascade of recognizable historical voices as the screen pulses cryptic messages touting the power of words, ideas and invisible hands.

Hints of its origin are tucked into frames as they flash by: PSYWAR. The Armys psychological warfare soldiers are using their brand of mental combat to bring in what the service needs: recruits. And if you find the video intriguing, you may be the Armys target audience as it works to enlist soldiers to join its Special Operations Command.

Released in the early morning hours Thursday, the video is the second provocative recruiting ad that, in itself, exemplifies the kind of work the psyop soldiers do to influence public opinion and wage the war of words overseas. Called Ghost in the Machine 2, it is coming out two years after the inaugural video was quietly posted on the units YouTube site and generated a firestorm of online chatter.

Its a recruiting video, said the Army major who created it, speaking with The Associated Press before the release. Someone who watches it and thinks, wow, that was effective, how was it constructed  thats the kind of creative mindset were looking for."

The soldier, a member of the 8th Psychological Operations Group based at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, also made the first video. He asked that his name not be used to protect his identity, as is common among special forces troops.

Psyop units are used for an array of missions that can range from simple leaflet drops to more sophisticated propaganda and messaging aimed at deceiving the enemy or shaping opinion on foreign soil. Its illegal for the U.S. military to conduct psychological operations on Americans.

Army Special Operations Command leaders and special forces recruiters hope that a new stream of chatter inspired by the video will help bring in recruits to an often unseen and little known job.

From a tactical level, the psyop mission is extremely hard to show and tell, said Lt. Col. Steve Crowe, commander of the Special Forces Recruiting Battalion. And its the job in Army special forces that recruiters say is the hardest to fill.

Across the military, the armed services have been struggling to meet enlistment goals, with most falling far short of their targets in recent years. The Army, which is the largest service, has had the most trouble, missing its goal by about 15,000 soldiers for the past two years. But most of the services say things are improving this year.

The Armys Special Operations recruiters who recruit from already-serving soldiers say they are making about 75% of their overall goal, which is between 3,000 and 4,000. Of that, they have to bring in about 650 active-duty soldiers to psychological operations per year.

Officials blame the nations low unemployment, increased competition from corporate businesses, which can pay more and offer similar benefits, and a sluggish return from several years of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions that prevented recruiters from visiting schools and attending other public events.

Recruiting struggles in Army Special Operations Command have mirrored those of the larger Army. The recruiters said they are responsible for bringing in several types of special forces  the most well-known are the Green Berets and Delta Force, but there are also Civil Affairs, Psychological Operations and the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, known as the Night Stalkers.

The Army has said it intends to trim the number of psyop soldiers, but still has struggled to fill the ranks.

Perhaps the most celebrated psyop was in World War II, when the so-called U.S. Ghost Army outwitted the Germans using inflatable tanks, radio trickery, costumes and impersonations. In what was dubbed Operation Viersen, the soldiers used the inflatables, sound trucks and phony headquarters to draw German units away from the point on the Rhine River where the 9th Army was actually crossing. Several of the last surviving members of the unit were recently awarded the Congressional Gold Medal at a ceremony in Washington.

These days, psyop activities are often classified. But one of the last U.S. service members to die in Afghanistan  killed by a suicide bomber at Abbey Gate during the chaotic evacuation in 2021  was a psyop soldier: Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss, 23, of Corryton, Tennessee. His task that day was largely crowd control and influence, by using a bullhorn to communicate with the frantic throngs of Afghans and get them moving in the right direction.

A more recent example would be assistance to Ukraine. U.S. psychological operations soldiers have advised and assisted Ukrainian troops in their efforts to counter Russian disinformation campaigns since 2014. After the Russian invasion in February 2022, Ukrainian forces used a range of tactics  including leaflets and social media  to entice Russian troops to surrender and tell them how and where to give themselves up.

About half of the psychological operations troops are young people who join when they enlist. The rest are recruited from within the Army's existing ranks. The commands recruiters focus on the internal audience, which has its own challenges.

A growing hurdle, according to Crowe and Army Maj. Jim Maicke, executive officer of the Special Forces recruiting battalion, is that these days regular soldiers across the Army have less interaction with special operations forces than they did during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

In those conflicts, soldiers often worked side-by-side with commandos, or were deployed at the same bases and had a better view of what they did.

Business was generally pretty good. And the reason, we believe, was all the interaction that was happening between special operations and conventional forces, said Crowe, adding that soldiers got to see behind the curtain, how we operate. We dont have that anymore.

It's particularly difficult for psyops soldiers, whose work is often less visible than that of the more celebrated Army commandos and not always understood.

Were all nerds for sure, said the Army major who created the ad. But were all nerds in different ways. Usually, those who are drawn to the job are planners, he said. "Theyre writers, theyre great thinkers. Theyre idea people.

Often, he said, they are creative, such as artists and illustrators, but others are tech experts who can bring those ideas to life in videos or online messaging.

The new Ghost in the Machine video is aimed at that audience.

Recruiters say the first video was successful.

I think what he does with Ghost in the Machine is it tells you what psychological operations is, and shows you it, without telling you in words, said Crowe. You watch the video and youre like, okay, this is how Ill influence and change behavior.

On a recent recruiting trip to the Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina, the recruiters brought a psyop officer and a civil affairs officer along to speak with the cadets.

We had a very limited amount of time to engage about 450 cadets, said Maicke, a graduate of the college. And the psyop officer chose to give a brief introduction and then immediately turn on the Ghost in the Machine video. He ended with, if anyone has any questions about this, Im right over here, and business was booming."

In fact, about six months after the first video was released, the command began surveying soldiers who applied for the psyop mission and got into the assessment and selection course. More than 51% said the video had a medium to high level of influence on their decision to try out for the job, recruiters said.

That, said the Army major, is the goal of the second video, which ends with a crescendo of music, shots of marching military troops with their arms raised in surrender, and a question streaming across the screen: Do you believe in the power of words and ideas. Will You. We Believe. The final frames say PSYWAR and show the website: goarmysof.com.
AstraZeneca wriggling off the hook as some families drop out of legal action over costs

Gareth Eve with his wife Lisa Shaw, who died after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine. He has now had to abandon attempts to sue the company

Families whose loved ones died after taking the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine have abandoned attempts to sue the pharmaceutical giant after being told that they were likely to lose.

Gareth Eve and other families whose relatives were harmed after having the jab have pulled out of the High Court case after being told that they would be unlikely to succeed with their claims because a leaflet issued at the height of the pandemic warned of a rare side effect associated with the vaccine.

The document, given out at vaccination centres, said that extremely rare cases of blood clots with low levels of platelets have been observed following vaccination with Covid-19 vaccine AstraZeneca.

Legal experts believe that this could potentially protect the pharmaceutical firm against cases brought by families whose relatives were given a dose supplied after April 7 2021.

In total, 12 families have now dropped out of the legal action.

More than 50 are still suing the pharmaceutical giant in the High Court, however, because their vaccines were supplied before the warning about blood clots was added to the patient safety leaflets.

Mr Eve, whose wife, Lisa Shaw, died in May 2021 after having the jab, said he felt it was unjust that families like his could not continue.

Its like the Government and AstraZeneca have wriggled off the hook on a technicality when you just think, come on, what is the right thing to do here?

In my opinion, there is a battle here that needs to be had, but Im not even able to do that anymore, he told The Telegraph.

If I didnt remove my name from the legal action, I wouldnt be covered by the insurance. I could be liable for the drug companys costs, which could run into hundreds of thousands of pounds.

He said he felt utterly bereft.

After abandoning his legal claim against AstraZeneca, Mr Eve said the 120,000 compensation offered by the Government was insufficient and called for ministers and the drugs company to sit down and have a conversation with families like his.

AstraZeneca and the Government might not have a legal obligation to support us, but they have a moral responsibility, he said.

Independent studies show the AstraZeneca vaccine was effective in tackling the pandemic, saving more than six million lives globally in the first year of the rollout.

The World Health Organisation has said the vaccine was safe and effective for all individuals aged 18 and above and the adverse effect that has prompted the legal action was very rare.

The pharmaceutical giant is being sued in a class action over claims its vaccine, developed with the University of Oxford, caused death and serious injury in dozens of cases.

Lawyers argue the vaccine produced a side-effect that has had a devastating effect on a small number of families. AstraZeneca is contesting the claims.

The Government has indemnified AstraZeneca against any legal action but it has so far refused to intervene.

The first case was lodged last year by Jamie Scott, a father of two, who was left with a permanent brain injury after developing a blood clot and a bleed on the brain that has prevented him from working after he received the vaccine in April 2021.

On Thursday, his wife, Kate, said, This could have been any of us. We will continue fighting to ensure every family  regardless of the date the vaccine caused death and injury  get justice.

Jamie Scott with his wife Kate. He suffered a brain haemorrhage the day after receiving the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine - Andrew Fox

Sarah Moore, a partner at law firm Leigh Day, who is bringing the legal claims, said: We feel desperately sorry for Gareth and the other families affected.

These cases should not have to be fought through the courts. If there was a functioning support scheme, then litigation wouldnt be necessary.

Mrs Shaw was 44 when she died and the couples son, Zach, was only six years old.

A coroner has ruled that she died owing to complications from the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.

Mr Eve successfully applied for financial support under the Vaccine Damage Compensation Scheme (VDPS), which entitles people who have been severely injured, or the families of those who have died, to receive a one-off payment of 120,000, but he said that he felt the scheme was not fit for purpose and needed to be reformed.

Zach is going to have to grow up for the rest of his life without a mother. Losing your wife, it turns your life completely upside down, you have to start again, he said.

He said it felt like the drug company was passing the buck if it was going to defend the claim by saying patients were warned in information leaflets.

I understand some of the terminology in the documents which were released, because thats the things that killed Lisa. But had I been sat in a vaccination centre, being farmed through a room with dozens of other people, I wouldnt have had a clue what they were talking about.

The loudest voice in the room at the time was from the Government to get vaccinated. Do your bit. Lisa was only doing what she was asked to do.

It is understood that out of the other 11 cases that have been dropped, one other relates to a fatality and in this case, vaccine-induced immune thrombocytopenia and thrombosis (VITT) is recorded in the death certificate. VITT is the name for the rare condition which causes blood clots and low platelets discovered by scientists during the rollout of the Covid jab.

Of the other ten cases, all but one of these either received a VDPS payment or have had causation accepted by the scheme, even though no payout was made because they were judged to be less than 60 per cent disabled.

AstraZeneca said: Our sympathy goes out to anyone who has lost loved ones or reported health problems. Patient safety is our highest priority and regulatory authorities have clear and stringent standards to ensure the safe use of all medicines, including vaccines.

It added: From the body of evidence in clinical trials and real-world data, the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine has continuously been shown to have an acceptable safety profile and regulators around the world consistently state that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks of extremely rare potential side effects.

To hear more on this story, listen to Episode 6 of The Lockdown Files podcast, The Forgotten Victims, using the audio player in this article, or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD)  An Indiana family has sued Ford Motor Company, stating a faulty seatbelt led to a mans death after a crash in Alamo Township.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday at the U.S. District Courthouse in Grand Rapids. In it, the family accuses the automaker of negligence, breach of implied warranty and a failure to warn.

Harlan Slabaugh died on August 14, 2022, after his car was rear-ended on US-131. Investigators with the Kalamazoo County Sheriffs Office said his 2000 Ford 350 veered off the road and rolled several times, ejecting him from the vehicle. Slabaugh was pronounced dead at the scene.

The lawsuit claims there were defects in the drivers seat, seat belt and door latch that caused his death.

The family requested at least $75,000 and a court-determined amount of non-economic damages for Harlan and the Slabaugh familys physical pain and mental and emotional distress.

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The lawsuit ends with a statement against the automaker, asking for an award of exemplary damages in an amount properly calculated to punish the defendant for their despicable conduct and conscious disregard for the safety of others and to deter any such despicable conduct and conscious disregard for the safety of others in the future.

News 8 has reached out to Ford representatives for comment.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
BEIJING, May 2 (Xinhua) -- A team of Chinese researchers has discovered that soil carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are significantly more sensitive to climate warming in areas where permafrost has collapsed than in areas where it has not.

This finding, published this week in the journal Nature Geoscience, sheds new light on the relationship between permafrost carbon-climate feedback and future global warming scenarios.

Abrupt permafrost thaw, known as thermokarst, occurred in about 20 percent of the northern permafrost region on Earth that stores about half of all below-ground organic carbon.

The researchers from the Institute of Botany under the Chinese Academy of Sciences found that the warming-induced increase in soil CO2 release was about 5.5 times higher in thermokarst features than in adjacent non-thermokarst landforms.

They found that the greater warming response was mainly due to the lower soil substrate quality and higher abundance of microbial functional genes related to organic carbon decomposition in thermokarst-affected soils.

The results may help to project the future trajectory of permafrost carbon-climate feedback more accurately, said the researchers. 
Its graduation season, but what should be a celebratory moment isn't for some Florida A&M Universitys pharmacy students and their parents.

Here's why: If the expected graduating class of FAMUs College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Institute of Public Health (CoPPS IPH) does not pass a required exit exam, those students will not receive degrees.

Although pharmacy students who have not passed the exam yet would be able to walk in their FAMU commencement ceremony 6 p.m. Friday at the Al Lawson Center, according to FAMU Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Allyson Watson, they would not officially be graduating.

Over 100 participants were in a Zoom meeting Tuesday, April 23, in which students and parents aired their concerns and fears to Dean Johnnie Early and Associate Dean of Clinical Affairs Jocelyn Spates. A few faculty members and alumni were also on the call.

This exit exam shouldnt define us as students, and one exam shouldnt hold us back from getting our degrees, said Annaya Morrison, a fourth-year doctor of pharmacy candidate at FAMU.

At the end of the six-year pharmacy program, student pharmacists must take a 100-question comprehensive exam designed to evaluate their level of competence prior to graduation and receive a minimum passing grade of 75%, according to FAMUs Comprehensive Examination Policy.

The colleges exam is meant to prepare students for the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination (NAPLEX), a standard test created by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy that will qualify them as licensed pharmacists.

The student pharmacists  84 testers this year  have five attempts to meet the comprehensive exams minimum percentage, but many of them have struggled to get a passing grade on the rigorous test during the first two tries.

While 12% of the 2023-2024 FAMU cohort of student pharmacists passed the mandatory comprehensive exam on the first attempt, 39% passed on the second attempt.

FAMUs College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, (CoPPS), Institute of Public Health building.

'Helping them to bone up'

Spates says it is not unusual to see a low pass rate on the first attempt. The percentage tends to increase by the third attempt, where the pharmacy program had a 95% passing rate in 2022.

Early, who has been serving as the pharmacy schools dean since 2018, says the comprehensive exit exam has worked for decades as it has been administered at FAMU for over 30 years.

Our endpoint is not so much graduation and commencement, said Early, who moderated the virtual meeting. The metric that we look at is passing the licensure exam the first time, so its become a very useful tool over decades.

Johnnie Early is dean of FAMU's College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Institute of Health.

He explained that the college uses the comprehensive test as a high-stakes exam similar to a capstone, and the process of having five attempts to pass it reflects the five attempts that students are given to pass the NAPLEX after graduating.

To help the students get ready, comprehensive exam study tools through RxPrep, a national consulting firm that includes a course book, online videos and a 3,000-question test bank, were provided to fourth-year doctoral candidates in June 2023.

Students also had the option of attending a three-day virtual review presented by RxPrep and taking a seminar course to prepare. The pharmacy program's NAPLEX passing rate last year was 70%, which is a decline from 80% in 2022 and 90% in 2023.

Spates says the college hears from worried parents and students every year around the time the comprehensive exams are taken.

Every year, we hear from parents and students wanting us to make it go away, but the reality is that when we do that, we see what happens to our scores, Spates said on the Zoom call.

Jocelyn Spates, associate dean of Clinical Affairs at FAMU's College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (CoPPS), Institute of Public Health.

She referred to the time when the college recorded a 59% passage rate for first-time licensure in 2016 compared to 88% in 2012.

We have to do this to be sure that they are ready to sit for the national exam, Early said, referring to the comprehensive test. If we dont, then the stress and the anxiety people are experiencing right now is what theyll experience when they take the next one.

This is a high-stakes exam meant to prepare people, helping them to bone up before they take the actual licensure exam.

But parents are more so concerned about the toll the required exam is taking on the students while they are near the final stretch of the pharmacy program.

I just think this test that you guys are saying is beneficial is more of a detriment, a mother said during the virtual call. When I look into my childs eyes, I see the hurt, the pain and the disappointment, and thats a huge problem for me.

More 'disheartening' concerns from students, parents, trustees

FAMU is not the only university under the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) that administers a comprehensive exam as other programs across the nation, such as the University of Utahs College of Pharmacy, require students to pass a similar test before graduating.

But in Florida, pharmacy programs at the University of Florida and the University of South Florida do not have a comprehensive exam requirement in place.

To be prevented from graduating for one exam even though I have done everything up until this point to show that Im ready to be a practicing pharmacist in the pharmaceutical industry, its very disheartening, fourth-year doctor of pharmacy candidate Delpria Hubbard said.

The college does not care about students' commencement. Instead, it cares about first-time NAPLEX pass rates. But we cant sit for the NAPLEX if we dont graduate.

As parents spoke one after the other, they expressed how alarming and disturbing the issue is, and requested that the college reevaluate the policy.

A father shared that his daughter has a residency opportunity lined up but might lose it if she is unable to pass the exit exam in time to graduate, apply for the NAPLEX and take that national exam.

Concerns reach the ears of FAMU trustees

FAMU's Board of Trustees met over Zoom April 24 for a previously scheduled Academic Affairs Special Committee Licensure meeting, where the spotlight was put on the pharmacy school.

During the virtual trustees meeting, FAMU President Larry Robinson said he listened to part of the pharmacy programs Zoom meeting the day prior and heard the passion and concern about high-stakes testing.

The success of our students in pharmacy and every other program on this campus is our number one priority, and it gives me just as much anguish and pain when our students don't perform the way we would like to see them perform, Robinson said.

FAMU President Larry Robinson.

FAMU Trustee and Faculty Senate President Jamal Brown, who is also an associate professor of pharmacy practice, supported student concerns and expressed that he does not think it is fair to prevent high-achieving student pharmacists from graduating based on their score on the exit exam.

"These are proud students that have 3.7 and 3.8 GPAs and have done the work of our program  summa cum laude and magna cum laude students with honors cords around their necks," Brown said. "How do you hold a student from graduating when apparently the input was good but the output isn't working? We as an institution are in between."

Jamal Brown is a Florida A&M University College of Pharmacy professor and is also a FAMU alumnus.

A third attempt for taking the comprehensive exam was scheduled for Monday. The students passage rate has not been announced yet.

Our process, procedures and decisions regarding the completion of our curriculum remains the same, Early told students and parents who shared concerns. We do recognize, understand and sympathize with the stress that our learners are experiencing. Its almost unavoidable, but its unfortunately a part of the educational learning process.

Contact Tarah Jean at tjean@tallahassee.com or follow her on X: @tarahjean_.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU pharmacy students, parents worry about required exam, graduation
TEL AVIV, IsraelDozens of demonstrators carrying posters of hostages gathered outside of Secretary of State Antony Blinkens Tel Aviv hotel on Wednesday morning with an unusual message: Thank you. The top U.S. diplomat and his entourage arrived in the country this week hoping to strike a long-awaited deal to bring the captives, including five Americans, out of Hamas custody after nearly seven months in Gaza.

Bringing your loved ones home is at the heart of everything were trying to do, and we will not rest until everyoneman, woman, soldier, civilian, young, oldis back home, Blinken told the assembled crowd. There is a very strong proposal on the table right now. Hamas needs to say yes and needs to get this done.

The U.S. and Israel presented a united front this week in a final diplomatic push to get the terror group to agree to a deal. In exchange for the multi-stage release of hostages, Israel has agreed to a temporary pause in fighting and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. But whether Hamas will abandon its maximalist demands, which include a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and a permanent ceasefire, remains unclear. The terror groups response to the latest proposal is expected as soon as today.

Barring a breakthrough, the next phase of the war is imminent. The Israeli military in recent weeks made its final preparations for a ground offensive into Gazas southernmost city of Rafah, where the last Hamas battalions are sheltering among and beneath more than a million civilians. Though Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to eliminate Hamas final stronghold with or without a deala point he reiterated to Blinken during their Wednesday meeting in Jerusalemthe date and scope of the operation may be determined by the outcome of this weeks negotiations.

Lebanese news outlet al-Akhbar published the contours of the latest U.S.-backed proposal on Wedneday, releasing a draft agreement that included significant concessions on the part of Israel. According to the report, Israel is willing to consider a sustainable calm in Gaza and the gradual withdrawal of its troops in exchange for the return of the remaining hostagesliving and deadin three stages.

In the first stage, Hamas would release up to 33 hostages from the humanitarian categorywhich includes women, children, the elderly, sick, and woundedin return for a 40-day pause in fighting. In the second, the terror group would free all remaining men for a 42-day ceasefire. The third would see the return of dead hostages bodies to Israel for another 42-day pause, after which would begin a five-year plan for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including those serving life sentences for killing Israelis, would also be freed as part of the deal. Displaced civilians would be permitted to return to northern Gaza, a reversal from Israels previous stance.

What isnt included in the proposal is an explicit commitment to ending the wara key demand of Hamas and a non-starter for Israel, which remains firm in its goal of destroying the terror groups governing and military capabilities in Gaza. The idea that we will halt the war before achieving all of its goals is out of the question, Netanyahu told the family members of hostages on Tuesday.

Yet Hamas may see an opening in ongoing anti-Israel protests in cities and on college campuses in North America and Europe that, beyond calling for a ceasefire alone, have praised October 7 and embraced Hamas ideological commitment to the elimination of Israel. Izzat Al-Rishq, a member of Hamas political bureau, commended the demonstrators last week for standing on the correct side of history.

To the Biden administration, however, the onus to move forward with the deal is squarely on Hamas. Such was Blinkens main message during his diplomatic blitz through Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Jordan this week, as he urged the terror group to accept Israels extraordinarily generous offer to halt the fighting. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby made a similar pitch in a press briefing Tuesday: This is a really good proposal and Hamas ought to jump at it, and time is of the essence.

Lazar Berman, a Jerusalem-based analyst and diplomatic correspondent at the Times of Israel, likewise views this latest proposal as Israels final offer ahead of a Rafah operation. Whats clear is that there is unprecedented international pressure and diplomatic weight on Hamas to agree to this deal. Its also clear that Israel is offering concessions beyond what I wouldve thought possible, he told The Dispatch. This is really as far as Israel can go.

If talks fall through, as they have on multiple occasions throughout the nearly seven-month conflict, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is ready to push into southern Gaza as soon as the government gives the order. During a meeting with the head of Israels Southern Command on Sunday, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi approved plans for the continuation of the war in reference to the forthcoming offensive in Rafah. The military last week announced it had pulled the Nahal Brigade from the Gaza Strip to allow the infantry unit to rest and train in preparation for the ground operation.

As it has launched limited airstrikes on Rafah in recent days, Israel has also begun preparations to evacuate and provide shelter, food, and other humanitarian services to the citys more than a million civilians, most of them displaced by fighting elsewhere in the Strip. Israeli officials reportedly assessed that the movement of Gazans to the nearby city of Khan Younis will take between two and three weeks, after which the IDF ground forces can begin clearing Rafah of its thousands of Hamas fighters neighborhood by neighborhood.

That Israel prevent further harm to civilians has been a key demand of the White House, which has previously opposed a major operation in Rafah in the absence of a clear plan to move Gazans out of harms way. During Blinkens visit to southern Israel on Wednesday, Israeli officials showed the American delegation the location of the evacuation zones in Gaza and laid out their plans for getting food and medical treatment to sheltering Palestinians.

The preparations are there. It will just take a decision from the political echelon, and the IDF will be in Rafah, Berman said. Theres nothing Hamas can do militarily to stop them.

Read more at The Dispatch

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Why cant Fayette schools have art, music AND reading? Explain it to us like were 5 years old. | Opinion

Theres been a lot of talk lately in Lexington about an art teacher getting cut at Cassidy Elementary, which has led to more questions about how money is spent in the Fayette County Public Schools.

As most of my readers know, Im a public school booster. I think people who work in our public schools are heroes who do so much with too little, and in return get almost constant criticism and shame.

But I do have some very basic questions for Superintendent Demetrus Liggins and school board chair Tyler Murphy about how they are spending money and how they communicate how they spend it. Apparently, elementary schools all over the district have had to cut art and music positions, but the district wont say which schools or what exactly has been cut.

District spokeswoman Dia Davidson said fine arts curriculum is funded through the normal staffing allocations. That means based on regular teacher student ratios, there should be enough money to hire art and music teachers.

Cassidy Elementary is slated to offer band, orchestra and general music during the 2024-2025 school year, Davidson wrote in an email. The SBDM chose to have a Spanish course instead of a fourth fine arts offering for students, so the narrative that fine arts is not being offered at the campus is untrue.

SBDM is the familiar shorthand for School-Based Decision Making Council. Its an important group of elected parents, teachers and the principal that reviews and creates school policies and makes numerous decisions, from selecting classroom textbooks to choosing principals.

Each school council makes decisions on staffing based on what their school needs most. For example, they might need to hire a reading or math specialist because too many of their kids struggle with basic skills. That could take away from a fine arts class.

Cassidy, as mentioned, chose to keep a Spanish course after the district decided a few months ago that they would stop funding foreign language teachers at the elementary level and only start in middle school.

Schools have to find extra funding for more teachers where they can. One way they found to do so was the influx of federal COVID dollars, known as ESSER funding. According to Davidson, Fayette County received quite a lot: $11 million in 2020, $48 million in 2023 and $97 million in 2024. Of that $12 million in left.

In short, the reason that art and music are being cut in some schools is because the school leadership has chosen to keep the learning interventionists who were funded by ESSER, she said.

The money for the arts programs was not cut, it is funded at the same level as it was pre-COVID. What has happened is the schools have selected to keep the learning supports for students that were necessary during COVID and directly related to ESSER funding. With ESSER going away, they are not able to budget for both and have to make a choice.

Davidson said that principals were warned to not use ESSER money for personnel because the funding was temporary, but many still did, she said.

So what I am hearing is that schools need funding for art and music teachers as well as learning interventionists. I would like to have asked individual principals about how this has worked in their schools.

But spokeswoman Davidson said the only two people who can speak to the media are Liggins and Murphy because they have the most insight. All due respect, but I doubt either one has as much insight into individual schools budgets as a school principal. Davidson denied my requests to speak with a principal or the districts finance director.

But parents dont understand why their property tax assessments are going up, why Fayette Schools have a nearly $1 billion budget and why kids cant learn to read and get music and art instruction at the same time.

This seems like, pardon me, a no-brainer.

We know the effects of music and art on brain development; they are good for all children and in fact help the test scores that our states puts so much emphasis on.

Remember way back in 2011 when Superintendent Stu Silberman insisted on music, foreign language and chess in every elementary school? I do.

As veteran choral teacher Kathleen Balling said in a lengthy Facebook post on Tuesday, once again, our most vulnerable students will be the ones who lose out.

The schools that have student populations that need the arts the most, because families do not have the resources for private lessons, classes, camps, etc., are the ones who are losing out, she wrote.

I have taught at three Title I elementary schools since moving to Kentucky. The first one for 13 years , the last 2 years the arts positions were cut from full time to .5 due to enrollment/funding. The second school for a year and the interim principals cut Music and Drama in favor of STEM. The third for 3 years before again, enrollment/ funding lead to the choice of cutting music (a discretionary position).

SBDMs should not be put in a position to have to choose. It shouldnt matter the enrollment, every school should have arts educators.

So heres some free advice to everyone involved:

 Parents, please go to your schools SBDM meetings. They are open to the public and offer an amazing viewpoint on why and how schools do what they do. By understanding how everything works, you might be able to offer schools more grace instead of constantly complaining about them.

Then run to be one of the parent representatives on the council, or join the school PTA. You cant complain and not be involved.

 Dr. Liggins, you are in the middle of budget planning for next year. We understand its very very complicated stuff. Nonetheless, this would be a perfect time to fully explain how Fayette Countys budget works. We know you dont get enough money from Frankfort. But parents and taxpayers still want to know how many people work in Central Office doing what. They want to know why Henry Clay High School cant afford beakers in chemistry classes. They want to know exactly what youre spending money on and why.

Of course, its tempting for public officials to try to control the narrative.

But it never, ever works. It creates ill will and a culture of intimidation and fear. Let principals tell us what theyre doing and why so we can understand whats going on. If parents are really shareholders, then bring them in, dont shut them out.

Arts and music instruction is one of those rare topics that nearly everyone agrees on.

Lets make it happen.
Will Fayetteville State, other NC HBCUs, see a big impact from elimination of DEI?

The governing body for the UNC System is moving to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs at the states public campuses.

Among the 17 public universities, five are historically Black.

I wondered how the decision might impact Fayetteville State University, the oldest historically Black public university in North Carolina. I also wondered about the impact on HBCUs like FSU of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in June 2023 striking down the use of affirmative action in admissions.

More: Fayetteville State faculty votes against academic leader

For many predominantly Black schools, diversity efforts include boosting white and other non-Black enrollment.

Turns out, FSU is avoiding public comment on the impacts of either DEI or affirmative action changes.

Devon T. Smith, university spokesman, said to my email request: We arent going to comment on this story.

Fayetteville State University is one of five HBCUs in the UNC System.

The DEI decision is not definite yet, so I can somewhat understand the skittishness to engage in the issue when the UNC system's Board of Governors manages the universitys purse strings. I do not see why our local university cannot comment on affirmative action impacts, as that became enforceable law as soon as the Supreme Court ruled it so.

News site Center Square reported after the Court decision last June that FSU referred questions on affirmative action to Peter Hans, UNC system president, who released a statement that the system would follow the law.

Our public universities do extraordinary work every day to serve students of all backgrounds, beliefs, income levels and life experiences, the statement read. Every student in North Carolina should know that the UNC System welcomes their talent and ambition. The most important work of higher education is not in deciding how to allocate limited admissions slots at highly competitive schools, but in reaching and encouraging more students to take advantage of our 16 remarkable public universities.

Signs of a boost

In March, Smith said that Fayetteville State attracted 1,000 more applications this cycle compared to last year, according to a story in the Raleigh News & Observer about climbing enrollments at HBCUs. It was a boost of around 18%.

We should be careful drawing a straight line from those numbers to the affirmative action decision, which was generally expected to reduce the number of minority applications to predominantly white schools.

Fayetteville State has seen increasing enrollment for years, mostly driven by its participation in NC Promise, a program that offers $500 tuition. There were 6,878 students enrolled in 2023, according to WRAL, citing University Chancellor Darrell T. Allison.

An FSU press release in September said "the university welcomed its largest, most diverse, first-year class in nearly 20 years, and FSU scored its highest student retention rate in recent years to nearly 78% which is a staggering increase of 14% in just two years (63.3%) in 2020."

Nationally, the impact of affirmative action on HBCUs is in a wait-and-plan phase, according to Inside Higher Education.

Some HBCU officials expected a deluge of applications from Black prospective students dismayed by the decision or anticipating being rejected by selective predominantly white institutions, while others were not sure they would be ready if that flood happened, the online magazine reported.

Doing the work

A UNC Board of Governors committee unanimously forwarded a motion with little comment to eliminate DEI programs, which have been in place just since 2019. The items appear on the full board's consent agenda for its next meeting, scheduled for May 22 and May 23 in Raleigh. In regular peoples terms, that means it is likely to pass  again with little to no comment.

The right-leaning boards move is part of a politically driven trend in Southern-based university systems like Florida, Texas, Louisiana and Tennessee to eliminate any appearance of advantaging minorities over everyone else.

We can assume it applies even when the minority on a campus is white. Still, the likely elimination of DEI programs, may have a limited impact at FSU.

Fayetteville State, unlike UNC-Chapel Hill, N.C. State and other predominantly white schools in the system, does not have a DEI office or officers assigned to DEI, according to a report by the nonprofit James. G. Martin Center. The same applies to the states other public HBCUs in the system.

All the campuses in the system have DEI aspirations laid out in their strategic plans, however, the center report says.

A lack of a DEI office is not unusual for HBCUs. They are also absent in HBCU flagships like Howard University in D.C., Jackson State in Mississippi and Grambling State in Louisiana, as noted at City Journal.

Part of the reason is history.

Historically Black schools have already been doing the work of DEI programs, writes Dr. Marcia Robinson in an article in HBCU News about the potential impact of anti-DEI sentiment on Black Americans seeking medical education and careers.

HBCUs generally do not have DEI programs because  for almost two hundred years  they have been addressing the social issues that sparked the DEI movement in the first place, she wrote.

Opinion Editor Myron B. Pitts can be reached at mpitts@fayoserver.com or 910-486-3559.

Myron B. Pitts

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: How will DEI elimination at UNC System affect Fayetteville State?
Senator Lindsey Graham, pictured staring at his phone in April, on Capitol Hill. The FBI recently seized his phone as part of an agency investigation (Getty Images)

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham revealed on Wednesday that his phone was in the possession of the FBI after a scam caller impersonating Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer contacted him.

Graham made the announcement at the Hill and Valley Summit, a gathering of lawmakers, defence contractors, venture capitalists and others connected to the national security sphere, where it was first reported by The Washington Times.

The gathering is a rare island of bipartisanship around a common value: defence and warmaking. This years gathering was attended by Republicans including Graham as well as Democrats including Schumer himself. Former President Donald Trump also spoke to attendees via phone.

A spokeswoman for Graham, Taylor Reidy, confirmed toThe Independent on Thursday that the Sergeant at Arms is investigating a possible hack of Senator Grahams phone, but did not elaborate on whether the device had been taken by the FBI. The Independent has reached out to the FBI for comment.

Graham has known Schumer for many years and has been involved in many a negotiation with the Democratic Senate leader. During the Trump administration, Graham was somewhat of a go-between connecting the Republican president to Senate Democratic leadership, as he retained personal relationships across the aisle even as he and his party drifted further to the right.

Now, he plays a different role: his fealty to Donald Trump (even after January 6) has caused a widely-reported splintering of his relationship with Joe Biden and the Biden family. In 2015 the South Carolina Senator famously choked up describing the personal tragedies endured by then-Vice President Biden, calling him as good a man as God ever created, but he has since fallen out of favor with his former friends.

During the 2020 presidential race, Dr Jill Biden was asked by CNNs John Berman about her familys relationship with Graham. Her response conveyed a deep disappointment in the senators rightward turn and embrace of Trumpian political tactics.

I dont know what happened to Lindsey. And we used to be great friends [with him] and friends with John McCain, she said in that interview. I mean, we traveled together with the [Senate] Foreign Relations Committee. Weve had dinner, you know. And now hes changed.

Senator Lindsey Graham is pictured staring at his phone during congressional votes to pass foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. The FBI recently seized his phone as part of the agencys investigation. (Getty Images)

Despite this, the two found themselves on the same side in 2021 when the president worked with both Democrats and Republicans in the upper chamber to ink a deal on a bipartisan infrastructure package. Graham would go on to vote for the legislation while his fellow South Carolinean, Senator Tim Scott, voted against it.
MEMPHIS, Tenn.  A recently terminated FedEx employee is accused of stuffing $10,000 in cash plus Airpods and an Apple watch into his pockets at the Memphis shipping hub.

Kadarius Pirtle, 20, is charged charged with theft of property $10,000-$60,000.

A FedEx security officer called Memphis police to the facility on Democrat Road around 2:15 a.m. Wednesday. The security officer told police that Pirtle was seen opening packages and placing large sums of cash into his pockets.

One-of-a-kind sentimental engagement ring lost in transit in Memphis

When he was asked to empty his pockets, the security officer said Pirtle had $10,000 in $100 denominations, plus Apple Airpods and an Apple watch, according to a police affidavit. The Apple items had been reported stolen.

Pirtle was booked Wednesday and released on his own recognizance the same day, jail records show.

FedEx said Pirtles employment was terminated.

The safety and security of our customers shipments is a top priority, and we are fully cooperating with authorities in this investigation, the company said in a statement.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
Feds called in to help investigate cause of largest building fire in Tri-Cities history

What may be the largest structure fire in Tri-Cities history is continuing to burn 10 days after it started, sending toxic smoke from burning plastic and other materials drifting over nearby homes.

Fire officials still dont know what sparked the destructive blaze at Lineage Logistics Kennewick cold storage warehouse, but Benton Fire District 1 has asked for help from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The fire district has no reason to suspect the cause of the fire was suspicious, but needs the additional resources of the federal agency to determine the cause, Jenna Kochenauer, the Benton County Fire District 1 public information officer, told the Herald on Wednesday.

The mostly volunteer rural fire department has limited staff, and the federal agency has better equipment to get into the partially collapsed building that covers nearly 12 acres.

The federal agency is starting by interviewing firefighters first at the scene and the 10 Lineage workers at the warehouse when the fire started about 5:15 a.m. on Sunday, April 21.

Lonnie Click, the retiring fire chief for Benton Fire District 1, said the older section of the cold storage warehouse is now a pile of smoldering vegetables and packaging.

Piles of vegetables and packing materials remain in the shell of the older part of the Lineage Logistics cold storage warehouse in Finley

That half of the building was storing large boxes of potatoes cut into small pieces. He estimated the cardboard boxes that held them were about four-feet square with a thin liner. They were stacked on wooden pallets.

The walls of the newer section of the cold storage facility that were made of noncombustible materials remain standing. But fire spread across the roof of the entire structure, destroying it.

The newer section of the plant held smaller containers of vegetables ready to ship, including more potatoes, corn, peas and carrots.

Click said the fire at 224905 E. Bowles Road in Finley was possibly the largest structure fire ever in Tri-Cities, destroying a significant amount of food.

What remains of the Lineage Logistics cold storage warehouse in Finley as a fire that started April 21 continues to burn.

Crews have been spraying water on the building from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and keeping a fire watch overnight.

Over nearly eight days, a little over 1 million gallons of water were sprayed on the pile of vegetables and packing materials, Click said.

There are no fire hydrants in the area and fire district crews had been pumping water out of a nearby Columbia Irrigation District canal.

However, the canal ran dry this week after the irrigation district had to shut down miles of the waterway to investigate a possible breach near Columbia Park Trail and Highway 240.

Water shortage for Finley fire

Benton Fire District 1 was forced to suspend its daytime dousing of the fire, because trucking in the large quantity of water was no longer practical.

The fire district feared that the canal might be dry for more than a week. But the irrigation district resolved the issue quickly and water is expected to be flowing again by 8 a.m. Thursday, Click said.

Helicopters and airplanes are not being used to drop water on the fire, in part to preserve as much as possible the area where the fire started, Benton Fire District 1 posted on social media.

In addition, the fire now does not meet the usual requirements for bringing in aerial resources, it said.

Smoke is continuing to bother nearby residents, although air quality at stations in Kennewick and Burbank has been rated as good after being rated as moderate for several hours on Saturday.

For people who are in the path of the smoke from the fire, the Benton Fire District 1 cautions that plastic continues to burn.

All smoke is toxic, but you want to avoid breathing smoke from plastics, it posted on social media. There are also building materials, cardboard and produce burning.

What remains of the Lineage Logistics cold storage warehouse in Finley as a fire that started April 21 continues to burn.

People in the path of the fire should take the same precautions as when wildfire smoke inundates the Tri-Cities area  keep doors and windows closed, change out home air filters as needed and consider wearing N95 masks.

The Washington state Department of Ecology has installed air monitors to check for anhydrous ammonia.

About 14,000 pounds of ammonia, which was used as a refrigerant at the frozen vegetable warehouse, was lost in the fire, the Washington Department of Ecology previously told the Herald.

There have been no alerts issued based on the monitoring.

Plumes of smoke from a fire at the Lineage Logistics warehouse near the Columbia River in Finley and natural cover fires that started as embers spread could be seen for miles on April 21.

Ammonia is caustic and hazardous when released in large volumes, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, which notes that it is difficult to ignite and that its smell tends to drive people away before concentration levels become dangerous.

The Department of Ecology also will be monitoring dry wells on the Lineage Logistics property that have captured some of the runoff water.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers monitored outflow into the Columbia River for 72 hours after the fire and has not reported detecting any concerns to the Department of Ecology.

A Benton County Sheriffs Office drone showed the extent of the fire at the Lineage Logistics warehouse on April 21.

Cause of the fire

Local fire officials initially believe the fire started in a freezer.

Firefighters spent several hours going through the freezer, which was lined with large racks loaded with plastic pallets of vegetables.

The search for where the fire started was difficult because of the mist inside the freezer which was exacerbated by the fire suppression efforts and the density of stacked pallets, Kochenauer said previously.

The sprinkler system initially was able to contain the fire for a while, but couldnt snuff it out because it was blocked by shelving and stacks of pallets, she said.

We could see the fire was creeping up to the ceiling, so they tried access the fire from the roof, she said.

After cutting a hole in the roof and pouring more water on it, the wind kicked up and fanned the flames. Firefighters were then forced to retreat to safety and the fire flared and spread.

The fire at Lineage Logistics destroyed the 525,000-square-foot warehouse. Kennewick firefighters were on the scene helping fight the fire.
(EL PASO COUNTY, Colo.)  A convicted felon has been sentenced to more than three decades in prison after a string of violent crimes, including the attempted murder of an El Paso County deputy.

According to the 4th Judicial District Attorneys (DA) Office, Wesley Braden was originally arrested in July of 2022 for Attempted Second Degree Murder and First Degree Assault following a shooting incident at a home on East Vermijo Avenue. Braden posted a $25,000 bond in August of that year, then failed to appear in court in October.

Courtesy: El Paso County Sheriffs Office

He was arrested again in November following a violent incursion with his domestic partner, and once again failed to appear in court in May 2023.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Protective gear saves EPSO deputy from violent suspect

In July of 2023, law enforcement was able to locate Braden in a truck in Manitou Springs. The 4th Judicial DAs Office said Braden resisted arrest, and tried to get away from officers. During the incident, Braden fired a shot that hit a deputy with the El Paso County Sheriffs Office (EPSO). Thankfully, the round hit the deputy in his gun holster, causing only minor injuries.

As a result, Braden was charged with Attempted Murder and Second Degree Assault on a Peace Officer.

On April 23, 2024, Braden was sentenced to prison time in the Department of Corrections (DOC), to be served concurrently:

35 years for Criminal Attempt to Commit Murder in the First Degree, Extreme Indifference

16 years for Criminal Attempt to Commit Aggravated Robbery

Three years for Possession of a Weapon by a Previous Offender

Bradens sentence also includes five years of mandatory parole.

This repeat violent offender continued to escalate his behavior and was able to post bonds set by the court, leaving the community and law enforcement officers vulnerable to his extreme acts of violence, said 4th Judicial DA Michael Allen. Im thankful the deputy was not seriously injured or killed, and I am always impressed by our law enforcement personnel, who dedicate their lives to keeping us safe.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX21 News Colorado.
Fiery crash will close stretch of I-95 through Connecticut for days, governor says

Fiery crash will close stretch of I-95 through Connecticut for days, governor says

Both sides of Interstate 95 running through southern Connecticut will be closed for days after a collision involving a fuel truck caused a major vehicle fire and damaged an overpass, according to state officials.

The crash in Norwalk, Conn., occurred around 5:30 a.m. Thursday, when a fuel truck, car and tractor trailer collided on the interstate, causing the fuel tanker to burst into flames, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) said during a news conference.

No serious injuries or fatalities were reported, but the heat from the burning fuel damaged the Fairfield Avenue bridge, prompting the highway to close in both directions, per Lamont.

Images and videos from the scene show the tanker fully engulfed in flames, with the fire spreading across the roadway and up toward the bridge.

Lamont said the bridge is now compromised and must come down, with demolition beginning at 3 a.m. Friday. He estimated the process will take about 24 hours or slightly longer, before crews can begin repaving the roadways.

Crews are aiming to reopen both sides of traffic by Monday morning, according to Lamont.

The governor said he filed an emergency declaration Thursday afternoon and hopes to get federal reimbursement for replacement of the bridge.

This bridge is less than 10 years old and, you know, but the damage was pretty severe due to the amount of gasoline that was in the tanker ignited directly underneath the bridge structure, Connecticut Transportation Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto said. The steel did begin to overheat and warp.

The tanker was carrying about 8,500 gallons at the time of the crash, The Associated Press reported.

Alerts were sent via text to residents of Connecticut, New York and New Jersey and to trucking companies to seek alternate routes, though congestion was still intense following the crash.

Traffic was backed up for dozens of miles during morning rush hour on I-95 and prompted backups in other surrounding highways, the AP reported.

Extra rail services will be added for those looking to go into New York or Hartford, Lamont said.

My recommendation is if you cant stay home, take the train, stay away from the cars, he said.

The crash comes just more than a year since a fuel truck went up in flames after crashing with a car on Gold Star Bridge located between New London and Groton, Conn. The driver of the fuel truck was killed, and both sides of the highway were briefly shut down.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
BEIJING, May 2 (Xinhua) -- China strongly deplores and firmly opposes the statement from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in which he said the United States encourages the World Health Organization (WHO) to invite Taiwan's presence as an observer at this year's World Health Assembly (WHA), a foreign ministry spokesperson said Thursday.

"The U.S. statement seriously violates the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. Joint Communiques. China strongly deplores and firmly opposes the statement," said the spokesperson.

The spokesperson noted that there is but one China in the world and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory. China's position on the Taiwan region's participation in the activities of international organizations, including the WHO, is consistent and clear, that is, this must be handled under the one-China principle, which is also a basic principle enshrined in the UNGA Resolution 2758 and WHA Resolution 25.1.

The spokesperson added that the Democratic Progressive Party authorities have stubbornly stuck to the separatist position of "Taiwan independence," which means that the political foundation for Taiwan region's participation in the WHA no longer exists. The U.S. statement presents this matter in a misleading way essentially to connive at and support "Taiwan independence" separatist activities.

"The Taiwan question is at the core of China's core interests and the number one red line that must not be crossed in China-U.S. relations," the spokesperson said.

"We once again urge the U.S. to earnestly abide by the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. Joint Communiques, observe international law and the basic norms governing international relations, act on the U.S. leader's commitment of not supporting 'Taiwan independence,''two Chinas' or 'one China, one Taiwan,' stop using the WHA to create confusion on Taiwan-related issues, and avoid sending wrong signals to 'Taiwan independence' separatist forces," said the spokesperson.

"The one-China principle has the extensive support of the international community. It is where global opinion trends and where the arc of history bends. There's no denying or stopping of that trend. Any attempt to play the 'Taiwan card' and use Taiwan to contain China will meet the firm opposition of the international community and is doomed to failure," the spokesperson added. 
The body of a fifth Baltimore bridge collapse victim was recovered on Wednesday, according to authorities, leaving one victims body still missing.

The construction worker, identified as Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez, 49, died in the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March. His body was recovered on Wednesday, state officials said in a news release.

Gonzales was one of the six workers who was missing following the bridges collapse in late March. Four had previously been recovered by search and rescue crews working under the Unified Command overseeing the response.

One of the missing construction vehicles was found Wednesday by the commands salvage teams, who notified the Maryland State Police. Maryland Transportation Authority Police officers, FBI and state police investigators then recovered Gonzales body from inside the red truck on Wednesday. Maryland State Police Underwater Recovery Team and Crime Scene Unit assisted in the recovery.

We remain dedicated to the ongoing recovery operations while knowing behind each person lost in this tragedy lies a loving family, Colonel Roland L. Butler, Jr., the Superintendent of the Maryland Department of State Police, said in a statement. Along with our local, state and federal partners, we ask that everyone extend their deepest sympathies and support to the families during this difficult time.

Gonzales was one of the members of the construction crew that was on duty when Dali, a cargo ship, hit the Baltimore bridge in the early morning hours on March 26 after losing power. The ship was going to Sri Lanka and was carrying 4,700 containers. The workers were immigrants from Guatemala, Mexico, El Salvador and Honduras.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Grieving families of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse are closer to achieving peace for their lost relatives as five out of six victims have been recovered.

According to new reports, salvage teams recently discovered the fifth body from the bridge's wreckage. The deceased belonged to the missing construction workers who tragically went down with the bridge when a cargo ship struck one of its support pillars.

The Fifth And Fourth Victim's Discovery Were Weeks Apart

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The discovery of the fifth victim's body was made when salvage teams found a missing construction vehicle in the Patapsco River. They reported their findings to the Maryland State Police Department, whose underwater recovery team joined forces with other agencies.

These agencies, including the FBI, assisted in lifting the body from the water. Then, the recovered victim was identified as Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez, a 49-year-old man from Glen Burnie.

Gonzalez's recovery comes weeks after the fourth victim's body was found in the bridge's wreckage. The deceased was recovered on April 15, with the superintendent of the Maryland Department of State Police, Colonel Roland L. Butler Jr., addressing the news with a poignant statement.

"As we mourn the lives lost and continue the recovery operation, we recognize each missing individual is someone's beloved friend or family member," Butler said, echoing similar sentiments about Gonzalez's discovery per Fox News.

Maryland's Police Superintendent Implores The Public For Sympathy

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The Superintendent of the Maryland State Police Department addressed the recovery of the fifth victim's body in a press release, saying:

"We remain dedicated to the ongoing recovery operations while knowing behind each person lost in this tragedy lies a loving family."

Aside from his promise to continue the recovery mission, Butler implored the public to sympathize with the grieving families. His statement continued:

"Along with our local, state, and federal partners, we ask that everyone extend their deepest sympathies and support to the families during this difficult time."

Two People Were Rescued When Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapsed

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As previously reported by The Blast, Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed on March 26 while multiple contractors were working on "concrete deck" repairs.

At the time, James Wallace, chief of the Baltimore City Fire Department, addressed the situation in a press conference.

According to Wallace, the construction workers and several cars plunged into the Patapsco River following the bridge's collapse. However, two people were rescued in the initial hours of an emergency response.

Unfortunately, one of the rescued victims was in "very serious condition," while the other was unharmed. Meanwhile, the crew members of the cargo ship responsible for the accident were stuck on the vessel until rescuers could access the ship for damages.

Baltimore's FBI Opened A Criminal Investigation

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Last month, The Blast shared that the cargo ship responsible for the Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge's collapse was being investigated. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) opened a criminal investigation into the vessel.

The cargo ship named Dali was being investigated to determine if its collision with the bridge was accidental or an act of negligence.

Their investigation would primarily look into what happened when the ship left the port, but part of their probing would also focus on the vessel's crew.

Baltimore's FBI, per sources, was questioning if Dali's personnel knew the vessel had potential mechanical problems that would have made it unsafe in the harbor.

They were also collecting physical evidence and data from inside the ship. This information was reportedly related to the moments before, during, and after the Dali struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

Baltimore's Mayor Promised To Take Legal Action Against Those Responsible

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Mayor Brandon M. Scott (@mayorbmscott)

The FBI's investigation into the Dali came at the heels of Baltimore's Mayor, Brandon M. Scott, powerful declaration against those responsible for the bridge's collapse.

Scott claimed the city was taking "legal steps" to address the situation. This involved hiring law firms "to launch legal action to hold the wrongdoers responsible and to mitigate the immediate and long-term harm caused to Baltimore City residents." In his words:

"The City of Baltimore will take decisive action to hold responsible all entities accountable for the Key Bridge tragedy, including the owner, charterer, manager/operator, and the manufacturer of the M/V Dali, as well as any other potentially liable third parties."
Authorities have recovered the body of a fifth victim in the Baltimore bridge collapse five weeks ago, officials said Wednesday.

The victim has been identified as Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez, of Glen Burnie, Maryland, according to the Unified Command, a joint task force composed of police, coast guard and other government agencies to respond to the disaster.

A 213-million-pound cargo vessel slammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, crippling the structure and killing six workers repairing potholes on it. The bridge was used daily by some 30,000 Marylanders.

The six construction workers were immigrants from Honduras, El Salvador, Mexico and Guatemala. After the discovery on Wednesday, one of the victims bodies was still missing.

CNN previously reported Luna, 49, was a husband and father of three from El Salvador who had lived in Maryland for more than 19 years, according to the nonprofit CASA, which provides critical services to working-class and immigrant families.

Unified Command salvage teams located one of the missing construction vehicles and promptly notified the Maryland Department of State Police, Colonel Roland L. Butler, Jr., Superintendent of Marylands State Police, said in the statement.

Maryland State Police investigators along with officers from the Maryland Transportation Authority Police and the FBI responded to the scene and recovered the body of a fifth construction worker inside a red truck, he added.

Miguel Luna - Obtained by CNN

Butler said his team is dedicated to the recovery operation knowing behind each person lost in this tragedy lies a loving family.

Investigations have been underway since mid-April to find out what caused the deadly incident.

The FBI and the US Coast Guard are leading a criminal investigation into the crash, a US official familiar with the matter told CNN previously.

The ships owner, Grace Ocean Private Limited, and manager, Synergy Marine PTE LTD, have filed a petition in federal court asking for a $43.6 million limit on potential liability payouts.

But both the city of Baltimore and attorneys for several victims are also seeking accountability.

The city of Baltimore said earlier that it would launch a legal action to hold the wrongdoers responsible and announced programs to help families of the victims as well as businesses and workers impacted by the catastrophe.

Attorneys representing the families of two deceased workers and a victim who survived the fall have started their own investigation.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
A fifth body has been found after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed in Baltimore on March 26

JIM LO SCALZO/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock The Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed on March 26

A fifth body has been recovered after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed in Baltimore on March 26.

In a press release shared on Wednesday, May, 1, the Key Bridge Response Unified Command said another body had been found at the site, five weeks after the incident.

The victim was identified as 49-year-old Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez, per the release.

"Unified Command salvage teams located one of the missing construction vehicles and promptly notified the Maryland Department of State Police," the release read in part. "Maryland State Police investigators along with officers from the Maryland Transportation Authority Police and the FBI responded to the scene and recovered the body of a fifth construction worker inside a red truck."

Roland Butler Jr., superintendent of Maryland State Police, said the authorities "remain dedicated to the ongoing recovery operations while knowing behind each person lost in this tragedy lies a loving family." "Along with our local, state and federal partners, we ask that everyone extend their deepest sympathies and support to the families during this difficult time," he added.

Miguel Luna/Facebook Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez

Related: Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse in Maryland: Read the Full Recap About the Incident in Baltimore

The day after the bridge's collapse, nonprofit organization CASA reported that the father of three  who is from El Salvador, but had lived in Maryland for over 19 years  was among the six people still missing and presumed dead from the incident.

Eight construction workers were working on the bridge when it collapsed early in the morning on March 26. Four of the six bodies were previously found while two other workers were able to escape with their lives.

Butler Jr. previously said the six victims were from originally from several countries, including Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.

The bodies of two workers  identifed as Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, of Baltimore, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, of Dundalk  were found on March 27 inside a red pickup truck that was submerged in 25 feet of water.



JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty The Francis Scott Key Bridge after it collapsed on March 26

Related: Warning from Ship Crew Before Baltimore Bridge Collapse Allowed Officials to Stop Traffic: 'They Saved Lives'

The body of a third worker, 38-year-old Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval, was found over a week later on Friday, April 5. The man was remembered as being a wonderful father to an 18-year-old son and a 6-year-old daughter, his brother Carlos Alexis Suazo Sandoval told Noticias Telemundo, per NBC News.

He fought day after day for our family to get ahead. He looked for a way to make a living, his sister told the Spanish-language outlet.

Nearly three weeks after the collapse, a fourth body was discovered on Sunday, April 14. At the time, officials said the victim had been positively identified by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, but at the request of the family, the individuals name was not publicly disclosed.



Tasos Katopodis/Getty The cargo ship Dali in the water after running into the Francis Scott Key Bridge

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All three men were employees of Brawner Builders, which was doing overnight maintenance work on the structure at the time of the deadly collapse, according to a statement previously shared by Jack Murphy.

This tragic event was completely unforeseen and was not something that we could imagine would happen, Murphy said at the time. Our company is in mourning over the loss of these fine people.



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Read the original article on People.
Yurii Fedorenko, Commander of the Achilles Battalion of the 92nd Separate Mechanised Brigade, says Russian forces have had no tactical success near Chasiv Yar over the past week.

Source: Fedorenko on UP.CHAT

Quote: "The Russian occupying forces are throwing a huge number of personnel and equipment into the battle and using all the available assault potential they have in the area at the moment.

Tactically, the enemy is acting as follows: they are trying to capture Novyi Chasiv Yar (towards the canal) in an operational encirclement, so they are moving from the top to the village of Bohdanivka, and from the bottom to the village of Ivanivtsi. Over the past week, the enemy has not had any tactical successes, despite the fact that about thirty combat clashes take place in this area every day."

Details: Fedorenko also said that the Ukrainian defence forces are countering the Russians and fierce fighting is going on for the positions.

Quote: "As for Chasiv Yar itself: it is extremely important for the enemy to jump into the city itself and engage in street fighting, because if you are numerically superior, it is an advantage to fight in urban areas. So far the enemy has not managed to enter Chasiv Yar. Fighting continues in the forest plantations that surround it and the enemy has not advanced over the past week."

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The final person charged in a shooting at a Miami County Park is headed to prison.

>>RELATED: Police arrest 3 in connection to August shooting at Troy park

Courtney McCarel-Kraska, 38, of Piqua, was sentenced to six years in jail in Miami County Pleas Court on April 25, according to court records.

She pleaded guilty in March 2023 to attempted murder with a firearms specification, felonious assault, and tampering with records.

>>ORIGINAL COVERAGE: Police investigating shooting at Troy park

As News Center 7 reported back in 2022, McCarel-Kraska was one of five formally charged following a shooting at Troy Community Park on Adams Street on August 24, 2022, which police called drug-related.

A 29-year-old man who got shot in the chest survived.
Financial aid available to Pennsylvania residents impacted by April floods

Financial aid is available to Pennsylvania residents impacted by heavy flooding on April 11 and 12.

The flooding in southwestern Pennsylvania has been devastating, and I remain committed to helping Pennsylvanians recover and rebuild stronger than before, said Gov. Josh Shapiro said in a news release. Thats why we worked with the federal government to open up access to these low interest loans as a tool to ensure homeowners and business owners have the support they need and can recoup unforeseen losses.

The Small Business Administrations Disaster Loan program provides low-interest loans for homeowners, renters, private nonprofits and businesses located in disaster- declared counties that sustained damages from flooding.

Disasters were declared in Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Washington and Westmoreland counties.

The SBA can provide up to $500,000 for homeowners to replace or repair their primary residences and up to $100,000 for homeowners and renters to replace or repair personal property. Businesses and most private nonprofits may apply for up to $2 million to cover disaster losses not fully covered by insurance.

Small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives and most private nonprofit organizations located in the declared disaster area that have suffered substantial economic impact may be eligible for a loan.

A Disaster Loan Outreach Center will open at the South Fayette Township Municipal Building, 100 Township Dr., Bridgeville, beginning at noon on Friday, May 3, to provide in-person assistance.

The deadline to return disaster loan applications for physical damages is June 28. The deadline to return economic injury disaster loan applications is January 29, 2025.

More information can be found here or by calling 1-800-659-2955.

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By Anne Kauranen

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finland's new armed forces chief said Russia was unlikely to test NATO's mutual defence clause by attacking a NATO member state in the coming years, but may well continue what he said were hybrid attacks such as jamming and election interference.

Some Western leaders, such as U.S. President Joe Biden, Germany's top military official and Denmark's defence minister, have expressed concern that Russia's longer term plans could include an attack against NATO.

"Of course testing the Article 5 is always possible, but if we take correct action and maintain unity, I consider an attack unlikely," General Janne Jaakkola said told Reuters.

Jaakkola, whose job is to closely watch what Russia does behind the long border it shares with Finland, said right now Moscow was too busy preparing for its new summer offensive in Ukraine to consider an attack against NATO.

At the end of last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin himself dismissed the idea of attacking NATO as nonsense but the Kremlin has also warned that a conflict between Russia and NATO would be inevitable if European members of NATO sent troops to fight in Ukraine.

However, Jaakkola said Russia was likely to continue what he described as hybrid attacks against European countries, in the form of GPS jamming, influence operations and by targeting its neighbours including Finland with migrants.

The Kremlin routinely denies meddling in elections and weaponising migration. It did not respond to a request for comment about allegations of jamming by Estonia last month but has previously denied attempting to develop jamming technology.

"The point for the Russians is that they wish to cause as much division in Europe as possible, so that our unity and cohesion is a bit weaker," Jaakkola said.

Jaakkola nomination to lead the Nordic country's defence from April 1 marked the first anniversary of Finland's membership in the Western military alliance, which it joined in response to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

As well as joining NATO, Finland has increased its defence spending, amounting to 2.5% of gross domestic product in 2023 and 2.31% this year, renewed its fighter jet fleet, signed a bilateral defence cooperation agreement with the U.S., and is doubling its ammunition production capacity by 2027.

"The direction of our defence and therefore deterrence is upwards," he said.

(Reporting by Anne Kauranen in Helsinki; Editing by Alison Williams)
General Janne Jaakkola, the new chief of the Finnish Armed Forces, believes that Russia is unlikely to directly attack a NATO member state but may well continue hybrid attacks, including signal jamming and election interference.

Source: European Pravda with reference to the commander's interview with Reuters

Details: Jaakkola said that testing Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which provides for collective self-defence in the event of an attack on NATO, "is always possible, but if we take correct action and maintain unity, I consider an attack unlikely".

The Finnish general noted that Moscow is currently too busy preparing for a new summer offensive in Ukraine to consider an attack on NATO.

However, he warned, Russia is likely to continue hybrid attacks against European countries in the form of GPS jamming, influence operations and facilitating illegal migration to neighbouring countries, including Finland.

"The point for the Russians is that they wish to cause as much division in Europe as possible, so that our unity and cohesion is a bit weaker," Jaakkola said.

Janne Jaakkola's appointment as commander of Finland's armed forces on 1 April marked the anniversary of the country's NATO membership.

His predecessor in office, Timo Kivinen, predicted that the situation with the war in Ukraine would become more difficult before turning more positive in the future.

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The first wrongful-death trial in Travis Scott concert deaths has been delayed

FILE - Travis Scott performs at the Astroworld Music Festival in Houston, Nov. 5, 2021. The start of the first civil trial stemming from the 2021 Astroworld festival, at which 10 people were killed in a crowd surge, has been delayed. Jury selection had been set to begin Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in the wrongful-death lawsuit filed the family of Madison Dubiski, a 23-year-old Houston resident who was killed during the crowd crush at Scott's November 2021 concert. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP, File)

HOUSTON (AP)  The start of the first civil trial stemming from the 2021 Astroworld festival, at which 10 people were killed in a crowd surge, has been delayed.

Jury selection had been set to begin next Tuesday in the wrongful-death lawsuit filed the family of Madison Dubiski, a 23-year-old Houston resident who was killed during the crowd crush at the Nov. 5, 2021, concert by rap superstar Travis Scott.

But Apple Inc., one of the more than 20 defendants going to trial next week, filed an appeal this week, automatically delaying the start of jury selection.

Unless I hear differently, the trial is stayed, state District Judge Kristen Hawkins said during a court hearing Thursday.

Apple, which livestreamed Scotts concert, is appealing a ruling by Hawkins that denied the companys motion to be dismissed from the case. Apple has argued that under Texas law, it can appeal Hawkins ruling because its defense claims are being made in part as a member of the electronic media.

Apple is arguing that in livestreaming Scotts concert, it was acting as a member of the electronic media and its actions merit free speech protection.

It remains our position that our conduct is protected by the First Amendment, Kent Rutter, one of Apples attorneys, told Hawkins during a court hearing Thursday.

Just before the hearing ended, Hawkins said she had been notified that the appeals court earlier Thursday had denied a request by the lawyers for Dubiski's family to lift the stay.

Jason Itkin, one of the attorneys for Dubiskis family, said he planned to appeal that denial, likely up to the Texas Supreme Court.

Lawyers for Dubiskis family have alleged that her death was caused by negligent planning and a lack of concern over capacity at the event. Her lawyers allege that how Apple placed its cameras around the concert site affected the placement of barriers and reduced available crowd space by the main stage.

Rutter argued that it was broadcasting an event with significant public interest and that by doing so, it was acting as a member of the media and gathering news.

Itkin said Apple has described itself in business records as a company that makes smartphones and computers but doesnt mention news or news reporting. He added that the companys Apple News app is a subscription service that aggregates the stories of other news organizations.

This is not a free speech case. They know that, Itkin said.

During the hearing, Hawkins appeared skeptical about Apples claims about being a member of the electronic media, asking Rutter that if a livestream were set up in a zoo to watch animals, would that be news.

Yes, it would be, Rutter said.

Over 4,000 plaintiffs filed hundreds of lawsuits following the concert. Dubiskis case had been chosen by attorneys in the litigation to be the first to go to trial. More than 20 defendants, including Scott, Apple and Live Nation, the festivals promoter, had been set to go on trial Tuesday.

Following a police investigation, a grand jury last year declined to indict Scott, along with five others connected to the festival.

___

Follow Juan A. Lozano: https://twitter.com/juanlozano70
LHASA, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Yeshe Drolma, a hearing-impaired student from a special education school in Lhasa, the capital city of southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, expressed her delight to see her painting on display at an exhibition recently held in the city.

Her painting depicts a Tibetan girl with a dual face, one side adorned in traditional Tibetan attire, while the other side showcases modern fashion with a stylish hairband and earrings. "I love blue, and it's a prominent color in my painting," Yeshe Drolma said in sign language.

The special art exhibition, running from April 19 to May 6, at the Xizang Art Museum showcases more than 100 paintings by nearly 180 disabled students from special education schools and ordinary schools across the region.

"Each piece of work was created by students themselves. I only helped them when they encountered problems," said Ning Xiaohan in sign language, an art teacher at a special education school in Lhasa.

"Some students with intellectual or physical disabilities could not hold a pen well enough, so we have to hold their hands to help them draw circles or straight lines," said Tsering Dekyi, an art teacher at the Nagqu Special Education School in the city of Nagqu.

"These paintings blend elements of Thangka, traditional Chinese painting, and contemporary techniques, offering a glimpse into the life experiences and dreams of the students," said Lhapa Tsering, director of Xizang Art Museum.

Tenzin Wase, a middle school student in Lhasa who visited the exhibition, took photos of the artworks that impressed him. "Some of the buildings in the paintings are so impressive that they remind me of my hometown, the city of Xigaze," he said.

At present, 1,057 disabled students are studying in seven special education schools in Xizang, 4,597 are studying in ordinary schools, and 2,600 are receiving homeschooling. The enrollment rate of disabled students during the compulsory education period remained above 97 percent, according to the region's disabled persons' federation.

"Each painting is unique, and the paintings represent the most authentic expression of children," said Cai Shoukuan, an official of the Xizang Education Department.

Cai noted that with the popularization and promotion of special education in Xizang, there is a gradual increase in understanding and care for marginalized groups in society. 
Five people have been arrested for sex crimes against children, including a Duval County Public Schools employee after an undercover operation from the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office.

Kevin Pearce, Norman Kimmerly, Thomas Gainey, Michael Hill, and Glenroy Hazel are all facing child solicitation charges and charges of traveling to meet after using a computer to seduce/solicit/lure a child, among other charges.

Action News Jax told you Monday when Duval County Public Schools announced the arrest of Pearce, who was a carpenter who fulfilled work orders at schools throughout the district.

In all five cases, the suspects joined a group chat with an undercover JSO agent in it, with the purpose of messaging who they believed to be an underage girl to meet for sex.

Its effective because it doesnt require any real activity by the perpetrator other than texting, which memorializes the evidence, Action News Jax Law & Safety Expert Dale Carson said.

READ: Massive drug bust results from anonymous citizen tip in Jacksonvilles Westside

Carson is also a former FBI agent with decades of law enforcement experience, who added that undercover investigations like these are often valuable and legal ways to prevent future harm to children in communities, using an undercover agent as an imaginary victim to prevent future crimes.

The use of an undercover detective is appropriate because it results in protecting children, Carson added.

While Carson did say undercover operations like these sometimes get labeled as entrapment by defense attorneys, he added that the courts, more often than not, will find them as a legal way to keep the community safe.

PHOTOS: 5 arrested in undercover sting for child sex crimes in Jacksonville, including DCPS employee

Glenroy Hazel, 30: Travel to meet after using a computer to solicit child, solicitation of a child via computer to engage in sexual conduct, unlawful use of two-way communication device

Norman Kimmerly, 62: Travel to meet after using a computer to solicit a child, solicitation of a child via computer to engage in sexual conduct, unlawful use of two-way communication device

Michael Hill, 44: Coerce commercial sexual activity of an adult for human trafficking, travel to meet after using a computer to lure a child, unlawful use of two-way communication device

Thomas Gainey, 22: Travel to meet after using a computer to solicit a child, solicitation of a child via computer to solicit a child, unlawful use of two-way communication device

Kevin Pearce, 57: Coerce commercial sexual activity of an adult for human trafficking, travel to meet after using a computer to solicit a child, solicitation of a child via computer to engage in sexual conduct, transmission of material harmful to minors

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Credit: Getty Images. Courtesy of the Michigan Advance.

Quality Journalism for Critical Times

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law Thursday a measure restricting curricula for educator preparation programs and courses, essentially removing theories regarding systemic racism, sexism, oppression and privilege.

The governor described HB 1291 as an effort to stop indoctrination during the bill signing ceremony in Jacksonville.

So its not going to be DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion). Theres not going to be any of the bogus history. Its just going to be standard teacher preparation without having an ideological agenda, and I think that thats something that we want to see, he said. Parents want to send their kids to school, knowing theyre getting an education. I dont think theyre interested in an indoctrination. I dont think that parents care if a teacher has a certain political cause that they care about.

Under the measure, which goes into effect on July 1, teacher preparation programs may not distort significant historical events or include a curriculum or instruction that teaches identity politics, or is based on theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression, and privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States and were created to maintain social, political, and economic inequities.

Meanwhile, Florida Education Association president Andrew Spar said state officials should focus on absenteeism and raising teacher pay. Floridas average teacher salary, $53,908, currently ranks at #50 in the National Education Associations latest report.

This law that mandates teacher preparation programs ignore the reality of our states public education disparities will ultimately take valuable tools away from educators and leave students without the critical life skills they need to succeed, Spar wrote in a statement to Florida Phoenix. Florida can do better for our students by investing in public education, moving teachers from #50 in average teacher pay to top 10, and making sure every student has access to a qualified, trained teacher and education staff professional team.

The Legislature approved HB 1291 during the last days of the 2024 session, and it caused heated debate in both chambers, with Democrats calling it another attempt to erase history. Ultimately, the House voted 81-31 in favor of the bill, and the Senate passed it on a 28-12 vote.

Pinellas County GOP Rep. Berny Jacques. Florida House of Representatives.

Republican Rep. Berny Jacques of Pinellas County, one of the sponsors of the bill, attended the bill signing on Thursday. He brought up the House floor debate on HB 1291, when he was scolded for using the term woke garbage.

The fact of the matter is this: Regardless of how you slice it, whether its CRT or DEI, all of that stuff is simply trash, Jacques said. And with the signature today of House Bill 1291, governor, we will take out the trash once and for all.

Future anti-DEI action against businesses

Schoolchildren at a public charter school in South Florida attend a bill signing, HB 7, with Gov. Ron DeSantis. CRT references Critical Race Theory. April 22, 2022. Credit: Diane Rado

The teacher preparation measure DeSantis signed today harkens back to the 2022 Individual Freedom Act, (HB 7) known as the Stop Woke Act, which banned public school curricula and private companies training that suggest members of one race, color, national origin, or sex are morally superior to members of another race, color, national origin, or sex.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed a ruling in March that the law was unconstitutional when applied to businesses, which it prevented from requiring employees to attend diversity, equity and inclusion training.

But at the bill signing, DeSantis signaled that his administration would take further action on private businesses DEI practices.

If you have some of these trainings, where an employee is being told that they are inherently racist or sexist or bad in any, any respect, doesnt matter if youre white, Black, anything  that could constitute actionable conduct under Floridas existing law, DeSantis said. So were going to be saying more about this, but the Stop Woke Act was really just a numerating and making clear that we believe this was the case anyways.

He continued: Youre gonna make sure that we fight back against a hostile work environment, so stay tuned on that. Were gonna be rolling out some more stuff administratively, and I think its going to be really, really good.

DeSantis also signed HB 989 on Thursday. That law allows people to place a complaint with the Office of Financial Regulation if they believe a financial institution restricted or canceled their account based on their personal views.

The post FLs educator preparation programs may not teach identity politics or distort historical events appeared first on Florida Phoenix.
Flags to be half-staff in Mobile County to honor Major General J. Gary Cooper: Gov. Ivey

MOBILE COUNTY, Ala. (WKRG)  Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey ordered United States flags in Mobile County to be flown at half-staff on Thursday in honor of the late Major General Jerome Gary Cooper, USMC-Retired.

5-year-old blind in 1 eye after Semmes shootout: Police Chief

Flags will be flown at half-staff in Mobile and at state facilities in Montgomery from sunrise to sunset on Thursday, May 2, according to a pres release from Gov. Kay Ivey.

Maj. Gen. Cooper died on Saturday at 87 years old.

Cooper is the first African-American Marine Corps officer to lead an infantry company into combat in Vietnam, and earned two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star among other distinctions.

State Ballet Theatre of Ukraine to perform Swan Lake in Mobile

General Cooper was a decorated Marine who continued to give years of service to the City of Mobile, the State of Alabama, and our country after his exceptional military career ended, a release from the City of Mobile said.

In addition to his work in the private section, General Cooper continued to serve the public as a member of the Alabama House of Representatives, as the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, and as the U.S. Ambassador to Jamaica.

He will be laid to rest on Thursday at the Alabama State Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Spanish Fort.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRG News 5.
The end of April is about to be the busiest week of Lauren Groffs life.

In the span of a few days, the acclaimed author is set to share the stage at New Yorks Lincoln Center with Margaret Atwood, where theyll discuss their books about women in quiet fury and the places that misunderstand them. Then its off to a gala in the city to celebrate her selection for Times 100 most influential people of the year, where shell rub shoulders on the red carpet with personalities like Dua Lipa and Patrick Mahomes.

But when I meet her, on a swampy early spring day in Gainesville, Florida, Groff isnt thinking about her glamorous New York appointments. Shes wearing Birkenstocks and lugging boxes around her nearly completed book store.

The shop is situated in an old building that in the 19th century housed a cotton gin. Its the newest storefront in historic downtown Gainesville, just a mile from the University of Florida. When it is done, the Lynx will be a literary hub and independent bookstore devoted to selling challenged and banned books and titles by authors from marginalized groups.

The idea for the store has lived in her head for years, but shes held the keys to this place since December  roughly the last time her life wasnt going a mile a minute.

I havent slept in six months, she says with a smile, shuttling boxes around the store and shelving new releases, pausing to greet admirers and sign their books. Its five days before the stores April 28 opening.

Groff is opening the Lynx now to plant a flag in her adopted home state, where she worries free thought is becoming increasingly endangered.

An acclaimed author plants something new

Author Lauren Groff, left center, talks with Jackie Davison, right, operations manager, before the grand opening of The Lynx. - Octavio Jones for CNN

This isnt just any bookstore, because Groff isnt just any bookseller. Shes a three-time National Book Award finalist and one of Floridas most acclaimed living writers. Shes published bestselling novels like Fates and Furies, a diptych that documents a marriage from the perspective of both spouses, and Matrix, historical fiction set in a 12th-century French convent.

Groffs most popular work hits closer to home. Her 2018 short story collection Florida meanders through the state, following tales of a neglectful father who loves snakes, little girls who narrowly evade death on a deserted island and a mothers love-hate relationship with Florida itself.

The collection has flown off the shelves recently because of its appearance in, of all things, a Taylor Swift song. Its co-writer Florence Welch revealed she based her verse in Swifts song Florida!!! on one of Groffs stories, about a wine-drunk woman who keeps seeing ghosts of the men shes loved in her home as it falls apart during a hurricane.

Groff loves Gainesville. Originally from New York state, she has a connection with the spirited college town where shes raised her children and found a community of fellow literature lovers.

Its a connection I feel, too. I lived in Gainesville for years as a student and immediately felt at home among its plucky residents and plentiful alligators.

But she and her neighbors are increasingly concerned about laws Floridas government is passing that make it easier to ban books, restrict what can be taught about Black history and limit the rights of LGBTQ residents.

The city needed a new stronghold against these threats, and Groff knew she was the person to make it.

A mural of a lynx faces Gainesville's Main Street. - Octavio Jones for CNN

A bookstore is the central nexus for a place, the link between communities, she says. And we are watching. We want them to know that there are people watching  theyre not going to get away with it without a lot of protest, and were building a community to protest.

Her work on the bookshop has been frantic, fulfilling and increasingly necessary as challenges to books in her state keep coming. If she had a mission statement, she says, its a quote from Heinrich Heine, a 19th century German poet: Wherever people burn books, they will ultimately burn people.

If its up to her, Gainesville  and Florida  wont burn.

Why Florida needs the Lynx

Theres something about Florida that grafts itself onto a writers bones. Groff isnt originally from Florida, but I am, and the way her book Florida captures my home state is the way I know it: Menacing and gorgeous, hostile and warm  a place where snakes can stalk you from your backyard and ducklings can hatch mere feet away from them. Here is where the lynx rufus, or bobcat, prowls in the heavy night air.

When the wild cat with tufted ears and cropped tail darted in front of Groffs car one evening, it felt like a sign. She had found a name for her dream, one that had teeth. On the outer wall of The Lynx bookshop is a mural of the animal with a message: Watch us bite back.

Groff understands Florida, in all of its confounding and infuriating glory. She knows that the things that live here are hard to conquer.

What we want to do is create a lighthouse so that, nationally, people know that Florida is not full of closed-minded people, Groff says.

So that they know that there are places here that love and welcome transgender people, people who want to learn about Black history, people who want to pay homage to what actually happened, even if it makes us feel bad.

Palace Niekerk, left, and Emily Ayers browse through books by authors in the BIPOC and LGBTQ+ sections of the Lynx. - Octavio Jones for CNN

Once a dream, Groffs vision of a bookshop with purpose acquired new urgency as she observed what she calls authoritarian creep. Florida led the country in attempted book bans last year, with 2,672 challenges, the American Library Association reported. Between July 2021 and December 2023, Florida accounted for over 5,000 bans, PEN America found  the next highest state, Texas, had just over 1,500.

With this in mind, the Lynx will be a store first, but also a meeting place for community organizers, a haven for young people in search of books that reflect and affirm who they are and a symbol for Floridians who refuse to bow to discriminatory laws.

Were watching whats happening, she says. We want them to know that there are people watching  theyre not going to get away with it without a lot of protest, and were building a community to protest.

Shes not alone in her defense of books

With the Lynx, Groff joins a small but passionate group of independent booksellers in Florida who defend against what Groff calls an intellectual freeze, where uncomfortable ideas and topics are silenced.

Mitchell Kaplan, who founded the Miami-based indie chain Books & Books in 1982 as well as the Miami Book Festival, is thrilled that Groff is formally joining their numbers.

Ive never felt a more poignant time than now (for) the importance of a bookstore which acts, Kaplan says. Most good independent bookstores act as conveners, to bring people together to resist.

Customers browse for books during the grand opening of The Lynx. From the first few minutes of its opening, the store reached capacity, and a growing line waited out back to be let in. - Octavio Jones for CNN

There are other independent bookstores and advocacy organizations in Florida with missions like the Lynx. Gainesville hasnt had a new one in years until now. The Lynxs power is in its symbolism, Groff says, existing in rebuke of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his supporters efforts to minimize perspectives by removing them from classrooms and libraries.

There have always been pockets of people trying to limit the distribution of books, Kaplan tells me. But they usually come from real fringe elements. And now, unfortunately, those fringe elements are in our government.

Intellectual freedom in the state came under severe threat in 2022, when DeSantis signed the law known to its opponents as the Dont Say Gay bill, restricting discussion of sex and gender identity in schools. (A legal settlement in March allowed discussion of those topics in classrooms under certain circumstances.)

Also in 2023, the state passed HB 1069, which allows residents of a district to object to books that contain sexual content if its not being taught in a health class, which can lead to the bans of books that discuss sexual assault. The state also last year made significant changes to the way Black history is taught in classes: When Florida high schoolers learn about slavery in the US, they now must also discuss how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.

All of those laws have emboldened waves of challenges, overwhelmingly against titles that reflect experiences of Black subjects and people of color or LGBTQ characters.

DeSantis has called the medias depiction of Floridas book bans a hoax. In February, the governors press team said, Florida does not ban books, instead, the state has empowered parents to object to obscene material in the classroom.

Hundreds of books have been removed from shelves in Florida public schools and libraries. Students in Orlandos Orange County will no longer find Toni Morrisons The Bluest Eye in their libraries. Miami removed Groffs own Fates and Furies from shelves in its school district. And in Alachua County, home to Gainesville, books like Gender Queer, a graphic novel about what its like to be nonbinary, and Melissa, a chapter book about a trans fourth grader, are unavailable at libraries and public schools.

The top 10 banned books in the US are shelved in numerical order at the Lynx. The most frequently banned book, "Gender Queer," sold out on opening day. - Octavio Jones for CNN

At the Lynx, such titles are a main attraction. Banned and challenged books are on prominent display in the store. The staff has even arranged the 10 most frequently challenged books in the country in numerical order.

Iconic childrens author Judy Blume, who with her husband opened a branch of Books & Books in Key West, Florida, tells me shes delighted that Groff is becoming a bookstore owner, like authors Ann Patchett, Emma Straub and Blume before her. Her resolve, Blume says, is a necessary tool in the fight against censorship.

I feel sure that her customers, like ours, will thank her every day for featuring banned books and theyll ask what they can do to help, Blume told CNN in an email. And thats good news.

Florida, flaws and all, has sent out roots

Groff resisted Gainesville when she moved here with her husband 18 years ago. Even her body revolted  she doesnt do well in the Florida sun, and for most of the year Gainesvilles heat is searing. But like the Spanish moss she describes so delicately in Florida, the town and its people grew on her. As we sip cafe con leches in an outdoor plaza not far from her shop, we periodically rearrange our Adirondack chairs to stay shadowed from the sun.

Its so rich with natural beauty, she says, dreamily. You walk around and see these heritage oaks that are 300 years old, with their arms on the ground  Right now the jasmine is blooming, and it smells magnificent. It just perfumes your day. Theres so much to love.

The city snuck its way into her writing, too. The very first story in Florida is set in Gainesville. In it, an unnerved mother goes on long walks in the dark, pounding the misshapen sidewalks in the towns historic Duck Pond neighborhood, passing streets and landmarks that leap to life in my minds eye.

But Gainesville, typically considered a progressive spot in a sea of red, has disappointed Groff lately. The University of Florida recently fired all diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) staff after the state moved to permanently prohibit DEI offices from Floridas public universities. The universitys reputation as a champion of free speech and inquiry has been damaged, and its breaking the hearts of Gainesvilleans off campus.

Still, Groff believes the people here will stand their ground.

Even though right now its in the hands of people who want to limit how good it is, and ultimately to whom it is being open and loving, I believe in it, she says.

She has grand designs for what the Lynx can become. She wants to give books away with her staff, like the Dolly Partons of Gainesville. (The country legend has donated over 200 million books to children worldwide through her foundation.) She wants to install a book vending machine at the regional airport. She wants to ensure that the people who need the Lynx most  young people whose families dont accept or understand them, or who dont have the language to understand themselves  can find it.

Groff, left, embraces fan Lisa Reed after signing Reed's copy of Groff's novel "The Vaster Wilds." Groff stopped to chat with dozens of the Lynx's visitors on its opening day. - Octavio Jones for CNN

We will be doing a lot of things to get books into peoples hands, she says. But just to be a symbol of resistance has given a lot of people courage, to be honest.

She cant do it alone. A group of lynx is called a watch, and along with her passionate staff, Groffs watch has grown in strength and number. Seeing locals and faraway supporters buy a book in person or donate to the Indiegogo campaign that raised over $116,000 for renovations has brought her to tears more than once.

Its made me have faith in humanity again, she says. It was getting a little dark for a while.

The store opens with a heaping of hope

Sunday  opening day at the Lynx  kicks off with champagne and trays of mini muffins. The store looks like a gift waiting to be opened. Aside from the 8,000-plus copies of new releases, beloved classics, plays, poetry compilations, cookbooks and wellness manuals, theres a first edition of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Pulitzer-prize winning, Florida-set novel The Yearling, in a display case. Tiny Progress Pride flags dot the space.

A little over half an hour before she and her team will cut the red ribbon at the stores back entrance, Groff quiets her crowd of supporters with a handheld microphone, surrounded by the stores evergreen walls and dark walnut shelves.

The pun in our name is just apt at the moment, she says. Look at how were already the links between so many communities.

Shes astounded by the small crowd, which includes her beaming parents, neighbors and their young children, her publishing team in town from New York, high school students volunteering for service hours and admirers who contributed to the campaign that pushed the Lynx out of Groffs head and into a Gainesville storefront. Even Harvey Ward, Jr., Gainesvilles mayor, is in attendance.

Were whisked out of the store for a few minutes while Groff and her team tidy up with their booksellers. They reemerge outside with a pair of scissors, ready to cut the ceremonial ribbon.

Were here today because we love Gainesville, and we love every single one of you, Groff tells the crowd, which thrums with happiness. It is warm, and the sun is in her face.

From left, Jackie Davison, operations manager; Gina Marks, events manager; Lauren Groff, owner; and bookseller Ryann Tookes celebrate the grand opening of The Lynx. - Octavio Jones for CNN

Watching the Lynx finally open its doors reminds me of the final story in Florida. It follows a mother of two, a writer who sounds an awful lot like Groff, on a weeks-long trip to France with her sons. Shes disturbed by an unknowable darkness inside of her until she realizes, near the storys end, that she actually doesnt want to be where she is at all.

Suddenly, she wants more than anything to be back home  a place flawed and infuriating and desperately hot but beloved nonetheless.

Of all the places in the world, Groff writes, she belongs in Florida.

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Florida-bound flight from Reagan National diverted to BWI after possible bird strike

ARLINGTON COUNTY, Va. (DC News Now)  A flight heading from Virginia to Florida took an unexpected detour Wednesday after the plane possibly hit a bird while both were in flight.

American Eagle Flight 4186, which was operated by Envoy, took off from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), heading to Key West Internatinoal Airport (EYW) when the incident took place.

Planes almost collide at Reagan National Airport; FAA investigating

American Eagle is a network of carriers that is part of American Airlines. Media relations for American said that because of the possible bird strike, the flight diverted to Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI).

Pilots landed the plane at BWI where it taxied to the gate without any issues. American Airlines maintenance team inspected the Embraer 175 aircraft while the airline worked to get passengers on their way to Key West as soon as possible.

FAA bill would add more flights to Reagan National; Virginias senators push back

Amerian Airlines aid there were 69 passengers and four crew members on board. No one was hurt.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
Amid criticism of Floridas six-week abortion ban, state health regulators issued emergency rules Thursday clarifying what medical conditions qualify for exceptions under the new law.

The rules say that if a womans water breaks prematurely, attempting to induce delivery is not defined as an abortion if the fetus does not survive, nor is the treatment of an ectopic pregnancy or trophoblastic tumor, a rare growth that forms in the uterus.

Providers have been demanding clarity since the states 15-week ban in 2022, and calls for guidance increased in the days leading up to the six-week ban, which took effect Wednesday.

Both laws allow exceptions for the health of the mother but do not provide specific examples of what conditions qualify. Violators could lose their medical licenses and face third-degree felony charges.

But the emergency rules dont provide much more clarity, said Dr. Nisha Verma, an OBGYN and abortion care provider in Atlanta. She said the guidance is largely irrelevant and includes politicized language that may even add to confusion.

They just use so much inaccurate and stigmatizing language that just contributes to misinformation, Verma said. This doesnt clarify the majority of situations that doctors are going to be dealing with because theres no way to really do that in the setting of these deeply problematic laws.

For example, Verma said, the rules repeatedly use the term unborn baby rather than fetus. They also doesnt mention dilation and evacuation, a common abortion method that is used to treat women whose water broke prematurely, she added.

State Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, echoed Vermas criticism.

They are basically just drawing a distinction between the abortions they think are acceptable versus those that they think are not by .. not calling them abortion, she said. Its so bizarre.

There have been several instances since the 15-week bans passage where Florida women were turned away from hospitals after their water broke prematurely, with potentially life-threatening consequences.

Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood was cited in 2023 by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for refusing to provide an abortion for a woman whose water broke because she was past Floridas 15-week limit.

The Agency for Health Care Administration, which released the rules, contended the laws exceptions are clear and accused abortion-right advocates of spreading disinformation.

The rules themselves include language that says they were published in response to a deeply dishonest scare campaign and disinformation being perpetuated by the media, the Biden Administration, and advocacy groups to misrepresent the Heartbeat Protection Act and the States efforts to protect life, moms, and families.

Eskamani said shes hopeful they will help cut down on life-threatening situations, but she took issue with the incredibly political part of it.

Its not the Biden administration that passed an abortion ban. It is [the DeSantis administration] that passed an abortion ban that has created just intense chaos and confusion among patients and among medical practitioners, Eskamani said. I find the tone of their emergency rules to be incredibly problematic and disingenuous, and highly delayed.

The six-week law offers exceptions for health, in part, if two physicians certify in writing that, in reasonable medical judgment, the termination of the pregnancy is necessary to save the pregnant womans life or avert a serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman other than a psychological condition.

One physicians approval is enough if another is not available.

The law also offers exceptions for rape, human trafficking and incest up to 15 weeks of pregnancy but requires documentation such as a police report or a restraining order. It also has exceptions up to the third trimester for a fatal fetal abnormality, a nonclinical term defined as a condition where the baby will die at birth or immediately after.

Mat Staver, founder and chairman of the anti-abortion group Liberty Counsel, said the AHCAs emergency order doesnt add anything new.

I think there has been a lot of fear-mongering and disinformation that goes beyond what the six-week law actually does. So this helps to bring some clarity to it, Staver said.

The Biden Administration has argued that a federal law, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, already requires hospitals to provide abortions when necessary for a womans health. The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in April but has yet to rule whether that law applies.

Ccatherman@orlandosentinel.com
Florida man arrested on felony, misdemeanor charges for actions during Jan. 6 Capitol breach

A Florida man is facing both felony and misdemeanor charges for what investigators say he did in just under an hour during the Jan. 6, 2021 breach of the U.S. Capitol.

 WATCH CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS

According to court documents, the investigation into 38-year-old Michael Hennessey of Palm Harbor began on December 17, 2021, with a tip to the Federal Bureau of Investigation identifying him in images taken inside the Capitol on Jan. 6.

After receiving the tip, agents from the FBIs Tampa field office compared Hennesseys Florida drivers license photograph with CCTV footage from inside the Capitol to confirm his identity.

READ: Biden says order must prevail during campus protests over the war in Gaza

According to court records, during an interview with FBI agents at his home in November of 2022, Hennessey identified himself in two of the images and described entering the Capitol building on Jan. 6.

Photograph shown to Hennessey during FBI interview, depicting him standing outside the Capitols East Rotunda Doors

Investigators say Hennessey traveled from his Palm Harbor home on Jan. 4, 2021, and attended the Stop the Steal rally at the Capitol Ellipse in Washington, D.C., two days later.

According to court documents, Hennessey told the FBI he listened to several of the rallys speakers, including Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump Jr., and emphasized that he listened to former President Donald Trumps entire speech while at the rally.

After President Trumps speech, Hennessey told FBI agents he joined a crowd walking from the Ellipse to the Capitol and eventually entered the Capitol grounds through the West Plaza.

According to the Department of Justice, open-source video shows Hennessey proceeding toward the building by way of the northern stairs, where he joined the first group of rioters that would go on to overwhelm police lines and force law enforcement officers to retreat.

Once inside the Capitol, investigators say Hennessey joined a mob chanting Our House as they continued toward the Senate Carriage Door. While in that area, Hennessey can be seen donning a black face mask.

Screenshot of open-source video, with Hennessey circled in red





Open-source video shows Hennessey reaching the Capitol Crypt, where he appeared to record videos and take pictures while carrying a yellow Dont Tread on Me flag, which he told the FBI he received from another rioter.

Once he reached the Crypt, investigators say Hennessey positioned himself at the front of a crowd that was facing off with U.S. Capitol police who were attempting to protect the area.

In a coordinated effort with the mob, investigators say Hennessey went on to push against the officers, eventually helping the crowd overpower them.

After pushing past police in the Crypt, Hennessey can be seen again taking a position at the front of the advancing mob, walking down a hallway lined with offices for various members of the House of Representatives, and eventually reaching the Hall of Columns, which came to a dead end.

While walking back down the hallway, investigators say Hennessey entered the office of House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer with a group of other rioters.

After leaving Rep. Hoyers office, Hennessey can be seen walking upstairs to the Capitols second floor just before 2:30 p.m. and entering the Rotunda, where he used his cell phone to film the activity there before exiting towards the Senate minutes later.

From the Rotunda, investigators say Hennessey walked toward the Senate and again stood at the front of a crowd that stood across from police officers who were protecting the Small Senate Rotunda exit.

READ: Man who bragged that he fed an officer to the mob of Capitol rioters gets nearly 5 years in prison

Open-source video from the incident shows Hennessey speaking to the officer as the crowd shouts, Nancy, Nancy.

With Hennessey at the front, investigators say that crowd eventually pushed past the officers and continued toward the Senate.

By 2:45 p.m., officers had established a line protecting the hallway to the Senate Chamber, holding the rioters at bay just outside, when Hennessey positioned himself at the front of the crowd as they began chanting Whos House? Our House and You serve us at the officers.

At one point, investigators noted Hennessey looked back at the growing crowd and commented that the mob was piling up before joining them in pushing against the police line, initially succeeding in moving them back down the hall and towards the Senate.

The officers eventually used a chemical spray on the crowd and regained control of the hallway. As Hennessey returned to the rotunda, investigators say he found a group of officers who were blocking a doorway that led down a set of stairs.

By 2:50 p.m., investigators say Hennessey joined a mob in pushing against those officers, forcing them to the edge of the stairs and causing at least one to fall down them.

Screenshot of Capitol CCTV footage, with Hennessey circled in red

By 3:05 p.m., officers regained control of that doorway and, eventually, the Capitol Rotunda.

Despite instructions from police, court records say Hennessey remained in the Rotunda until officers formed a line and forced rioters toward the exit.

According to court records, Hennessey finally left the Rotunda and the Capitol building at approximately 3:10 p.m. after spending about 56 minutes in the Capitol building.

Once outside the Capitol, investigators say Hennessey remained on restricted Capitol grounds and filmed rioters as they threw objects at police officers who attempted to clear the doorway.

Investigators say Hennessey later joined rioters who faced off with a line of police officers on the Capitols East Plaza and others who gathered around video cameras and other recording equipment that had been abandoned by reporters due to assaults and threats from rioters.

Screenshot of open-source video, with Hennessey circled in red

Despite claiming in his November 2022 interview that his phone died while he was inside the Capitol, other video footage shows him using his cell phone to film other rioters lighting the television equipment on fire.

Finally, Hennessey told FBI agents in his interview that he left Washington D.C. and drove with a cousin to Bridgeport, Connecticut

READ: Number of Americans applying for jobless claims remains historically low

Hennessey was arrested in Florida Wednesday on a felony count of civil disorder. Hes also charged with misdemeanor counts of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly or disruptive conduct in a Capitol building or grounds, and parading, picketing, or demonstrating in a Capitol building.

The FBIs Tampa and Washington Field Offices are investigating the case.

According to the Department of Justice, since the Jan. 6, 2021, beach of the U.S. Capitol, more than 1,385 people have been charged, including 500 who have been charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony.

The FBI is still asking anyone with tips to call them at 1-800-225-5324 or visit tips.fbi.gov.

Photograph shown to Hennessey during FBI interview, depicting him inside the Capitol buildings Rotunda. A red circle has been added around Hennessey but was not part of the photograph shown to Hennessey during his interview.

Photograph shown to Hennessey during FBI interview, depicting him standing outside the Capitols East Rotunda Doors

Screenshot of open-source video, with Hennessey circled in red

Screenshot of Capitol CCTV, with Hennessey circled in red

Screenshot of Capitol CCTV footage, with Hennessey circled in red

Screenshot of open-source video, with Hennessey circled in red

Screenshot of open-source video, with Hennessey circled in red

Screenshot of open-source video, with Hennessey circled in red

Screenshot of Capitol CCTV footage with Hennessey circled in red.

Screenshot of open-source video, with Hennessey circled in red

Screenshot of Capitol CCTV footage, with Hennessey circled in red

Screenshot of open-source video, with Hennessey circled in red.

Screenshot of Metropolitan Police Department body-worn camera footage, with Hennessey circled in red

Screenshot of open-source video, with Hennessey circled in red

Screenshot of open-source video, with Hennessey circled in red

Screenshot of Capitol CCTV footage, with Hennessey circled in red

Screenshot of open-source video, with Hennessey circled in red

Screenshot of open-source video with Hennessey circled in red

Screenshot of open-source video, with Hennessey circled in red

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KIEV, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba did not rule out negotiating with Russia following a high-level conference on peace slated for next month in Switzerland, a Ukrainian news website reported on Thursday.

"In the end, you cannot put the war to an end without both parties," the TSN.ua quoted Kuleba as saying.

Earlier in the day, the Ukrainian presidential press service said that the peace conference will be held on June 15-16 at the Burgenstock resort near the Swiss city of Lucerne.

State leaders and heads of governments from around the globe were invited to participate in the conference. 
Photo by iStock / Getty Images Plus

Quality Journalism for Critical Times

The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration has issued emergency rules stating that, under certain conditions, removing a fetus from the body after six weeks does not constitute an abortion.

Just Wednesday, Floridas six-week abortion ban went into effect, with critics saying pregnant people wouldnt be able to receive medical help in the event of an emergency. AHCA officials recognized in the rules published Thursday those medical exceptions that can happen after six weeks.

For example, inducing a birth after a pregnant persons water breaks prematurely and the fetus does not survive, it does not count as an abortion and, therefore, does not need to be reported, according to the rules. The same applies to treating an ectopic pregnancy, which occurs when a fertilized egg grows outside of the uterus, or a trophoblastic tumor, which develops during the early stages of pregnancy.

However, the procedure must be recorded in the patients medical record, according to the emergency rule.

Laura Goodhue, executive director of the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates, wrote in a statement that the emergency rules demonstrate Florida politicians know the damage the six-week abortion ban causes.

The so-called emergency rules issued by (AHCA) today smack of the same political interference weve seen from the Legislature and state leaders. We expect it from politicians but its particularly disturbing to see this kind of disinformation coming from a state agency charged with protecting our health, Goodhue wrote. The fact is, if the State of Florida had these concerns they should have acted on them two years ago when the Legislature passed a 15-week abortion ban. Announcing these rules the day after Floridas six-week ban went into effect makes it clear that the motivation is political cover for the State, and not protecting public health.

ST LOUIS, MO  MAY 28: The exterior of a Planned Parenthood Reproductive Health Services Center is seen on May 28, 2019 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images)

She continued: Todays announcement has only caused more confusion and chaos when Floridians are hurting and can least afford it. Regardless of your position on abortion, it is undeniable that less than two days into living under a near-total abortion ban we are already seeing the pain and suffering these arbitrary restrictions on access to essential health care can cause. AHCA adding fuel to that fire is reckless and mean-spirited.

As outlined in the six-week abortion ban, someone can get an abortion in the first two trimesters if the fetus has a fatal abnormality. There is also an exception to save a pregnant persons life or physical health if determined medically necessary by two physicians.

AHCA blamed having to issue the emergency rules on the Biden administration, the media and advocacy groups.

The Agency finds there is an immediate danger to the health, safety, and welfare of pregnant women and babies due to a deeply dishonest scare campaign and disinformation being perpetuated by the media, the Biden Administration, and advocacy groups to misrepresent the Heartbeat Protection Act and the States efforts to protect life, moms, and families, according to the rules.

To Chelsea Daniels, a family physician in Miami and abortion-rights advocate with Physicians for Reproductive Health, the emergency rules are not enough to ensure access to care.

Any restriction aiming to prevent people from accessing timely health care hurts our community. Exceptions like these guised as allowances for some people to access care are thinly veiled attempts to appease the public while not actually meeting their needs, Daniels wrote in a statement to Florida Phoenix. Exceptions to abortion bans like these are not centered on peoples real lives and real experiences. No one should have to prove themself sick enough or harmed enough (or be forced to go through official reporting systems) to be worthy of safe and effective health care.

Meanwhile, abortion opponents say the emergency rules clarify their perceived difference between procedures to save a patients life and elective abortions. In a statement to the Phoenix, Andrew Shirvell, the executive director of Florida Voice for the Unborn applauded AHCAs actions Thursday.

The Agencys emergency rules also reflect the fact that procedures intended to save the life of a mother are indeed very rare. It is a tragedy that the unborn child may not be able to survive as a result of the procedure needed to save the life of the mother; however, performing such a procedure is not a crime because the intent is to save both mother and child  unlike in the cases of elective abortions where the sole intent is to end the preborn childs life even though the mothers life is not endangered.

The post Florida publishes emergency rules outlining medical exceptions to the six-week abortion ban appeared first on Florida Phoenix.
Former Augusta University employee charged with stealing hundreds of thousands from school

A former Augusta University employee has been indicted for allegedly stealing more than $300,000 from the school, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr announced Thursday.

Dawn Gantt, 43, of Martinez, has been charged with one count of racketeering in connection with 288 acts of theft by taking and 19 acts of false statements and writings.

Gantt served as the deans office coordinator for Augusta Universitys Dental College. She is accused of stealing from the college between February 2016 until she was fired last October.

University employees are expected to help further our mission to provide a world-class education, and those who choose to instead engage in unlawful activity will be held accountable, Carr said. Stealing from our college campuses means stealing from Georgias students, and it wont be tolerated.

The attorney generals Public Integrity and White Collar Crime Unit presented evidence in the case to a Richmond County grand jury, resulting in the indictment of Gantt last month.

The Augusta University Police Department investigated the case.
NEW YORK (PIX11)  Former Village of Brewster Police Officer Wayne Peiffer was sentenced to three years in jail for his role in a commercial sex bribery scheme, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York announced on Thursday.

Peiffer was ordered to pay $5,000 in forfeiture and to perform 208 hours of community service during supervised release, officials said.

Man dies in explosion at Queens garage while working on vehicle: sources

From October 2010 to October 2018, Peiffer offered protection to a prostitution business and a sex trafficking organization, both based in Queens, said prosecutors.

Peiffer helped the two businesses transport women from Queens to Brewster by providing advanced notice of increased law enforcement and helping members avoid detection and apprehension, said officials.

In exchange, Peiffer received sexual services from the women for free, said officials.

Driver in Queens crash that killed girlfriend had BAC twice the legal limit: DA

Co-defendants Luz Elvira Cardona, Roberto Cesar Cid Dominguez, Blanca Hernandez Morales, and Jose Facundo Zarate Morales were convicted of sex trafficking and are awaiting sentencing, said prosecutors.

A fifth co-defendant, Cristian Godinez, was sentenced to two years for conspiring to facilitate prostitution and bribery, officials said.

Submit tips to police by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, downloading the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).

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 former Greensburg police officer pleaded guilty in federal court to engaging in a drug conspiracy.

Regina McAtee, 51, of New Kensington, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

As part of her guilty plea, McAtee admitted that she conspired to distribute methamphetamine, in the form of fake Adderall pills, with former Greensburg Chief of Police Shawn Denning and other drug suppliers. McAtee admitted that she and Denning would order the pills from online suppliers and that McAtee would pay for the pills, which were delivered to McAtees residence.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Ex-Greensburg police chief facing federal drug charges

McAtee sold some of the pills back to Denning, who would then distribute the drugs to others, according to court documents.

Denning pleaded guilty to a drug conspiracy charge on April 16.

As a sworn police officer, Regina McAtees job was to stop drug dealing, U.S. Attorney Eric Olshan said in a news release. Instead, she worked with her boss at the time, Shawn Denning, to push more methamphetamine out into the community. Our office and our law enforcement partners will continue to aggressively pursue and prosecute drug dealing, regardless of whether its being committed by citizens on the street or those who wear a badge.

Sentencing is scheduled for August 22, 2024. The law provides for a maximum total sentence of up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $1 million, or both.

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Former legislator sues Missouri House over punishment doled out as part of his censure

Former state Rep. Wiley Price, D-St. Louis, discusses the effort to censure him during House debate on Jan. 13, 2021 (Ben Peters/Missouri House Communications).

A former Democratic lawmaker filed a lawsuit Wednesday over a $22,000 penalty he incurred as part of his 2021 censure for allegedly lying about a sexual encounter with an intern and retaliating against the House employee who reported it.

Wiley Price, a St. Louis Democrat who lost his bid for re-election in 2022, is demanding the state repay his garnished legislative wages. In his lawsuit filed in Cole County, Price argues the House changed its rules to retroactively allow it to fine him as part of his punishment.

Hes being represented in the case by Richard Callahan, a former judge and U.S. attorney, who writes in the lawsuit that Price is entitled to the return of all the money that has been unlawfully deducted from his salary, which he puts at $22,492.

The lawsuit names Dana Miller, the chief clerk of the House, and Ken Zellers, commissioner of the Office of Administration, as defendants. In a statement, Miller said she is unable to comment on pending litigation but noted her role in the House is to adhere to the directives and decisions of the Missouri House of Representatives within the scope of my responsibilities.

Any actions taken, she said, were in accordance with established procedures and the Houses official directives.

In January 2020, the House received a report alleging Price violated a rule prohibiting lawmakers from sexual or romantic relationships with employees or interns.

The complaint was referred to the House Ethics Committee to investigate.

In testimony to the committee, Prices legislative assistant claimed he admitted to her that he had sex with an intern. She alleged that after she informed Price she was required under House rules to report the incident, he threatened to fire her in an attempt to keep her quiet.

Both Price and the intern deny the sexual encounter took place. Price claims he had already told the legislative assistant he would be replacing her prior to her making the allegations. He admitted lying to a House investigator, but said he told the truth in closed-door testimony to the ethics committee.

In December 2020, the ethics committee  made up of five Republicans and five Democrats  completed its inquiry and voted unanimously to recommend censuring Price. It released a report that concluded he had committed perjury in his testimony, obstructed the legislative investigation and compromised the ability of the House to provide a respectful, professional work environment.

The legislature reconvened the next month, and the House voted 140-3 to censure him. The vote removed him from all committee assignments and required him to reimburse the state for the cost of the investigation, which included hiring an outside law firm to conduct the inquiry.

But Prices lawsuit notes that the only punishments allowed under the Houses rules at the time were a letter of reproval, a reprimand, a censure or expulsion.

It was only after the House voted to censure Price, Callahan writes in the litigation, that the rules were amended to include an option that a legislator could be fined or punished by a dollar amount equal to the cost of an ethics investigation.

Price first threatened litigation over the garnishments in 2022, when he was still serving in the House.

In correspondence with the chambers general counsel, Callahan said a lawsuit wouldnt be necessary if the House stopped garnishing Prices wages. If the deductions stopped, Callahan said at the time, Price would forgo his claim to a return of the money already collected.

Both the House attorney and the deputy commissioner of the Office of Administration, the agency that handles payroll for state government, informed Callahan that the payroll deductions were lawful and would continue until the balance was paid off.

When Callahan raised the issue of the rule change taking place after the censure, the legislative attorney shared older House journals that reference fines and penalties, as well as a Congressional research brief pertaining to legislative discipline that includes fine or monetary restitution.

Callahan writes in the lawsuit that state law demands the House notify Price of his right to appeal before deductions began, which it did not, and says the constitution doesnt give the House the authority to reduce a lawmakers salary.

The post Former legislator sues Missouri House over punishment doled out as part of his censure appeared first on Missouri Independent.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel talks about charging former House Speaker Lee Chatfield, Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in Lansing, Mich. Prosecutors charged Chatfield and his wife with financial crimes Tuesday, alleging they milked political accounts for personal travel, housing and other benefits while the Republican lawmaker was raising millions of dollars from his powerful post. (Al Goldis/Detroit News via AP)

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP)  The former leader of the Michigan House and his wife pleaded not guilty Thursday to financial charges arising from an investigation of how they spent money from unregulated political funds.

Lee Chatfield and Stephanie Chatfield appeared in a Lansing-area court by video conference from Kentucky, where they plan to attend the Kentucky Derby.

Chatfield, a Republican, was speaker of the House in 2019 and 2020. He is accused of using money for personal travel, housing and other benefits when he was in office. Investigators said he tapped political funds that were created under federal law as tax-exempt social welfare organizations.

Stephanie Chatfield monitored her husbands credit card balance and paid it off with money from the Peninsula Fund, including $132,000 over a 14-month period, Attorney Dana Nessel said when charges were filed in April.

Lee Chatfield faces 13 charges, including conducting a criminal enterprise and embezzlement. His wife is charged with embezzlement and conspiracy.

"He is looking forward to his day in court and fighting this, defense attorney Mary Chartier said during an arraignment in East Lansing District Court.

Nessel, a Democrat, has said there has been a proliferation of dark money political funds in Michigan by Democrats and Republicans. She and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson have called for laws that would require public disclosure.
Clashes between pro-Palestinian protesters and pro-Israel counter-protesters take place at the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), in Los Angeles, California, the United States, on May 1, 2024. (Xinhua)

The unfolding crackdown on students and American youth trying to exercise their 1st Amendment constitutional rights to free speech and assembly shows the "continuing atrophy and decline of democracy in the USA," a professor said.

LOS ANGELES/SAN FRANCISCO, May 1 (Xinhua) -- The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), one of the top public universities in the United States, canceled all classes for Wednesday after a night of violent clashes on campus over the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict in Gaza.

"Due to the distress caused by the violence that took place on Royce Quad late last night and early this morning, all classes are cancelled today," said the university in an alert to faculty, staff and students on Wednesday morning.

The university urged them to avoid the Royce Quad area and announced that Royce Hall, one of the original buildings and the defining symbol for the UCLA campus, will remain closed through Friday.

University of California President Michael Drake announced in a statement on Wednesday an "independent external review" has been ordered.

When the free expression "blocks the ability of students to learn or to express their own viewpoints, when it meaningfully disrupts the functioning of the University, or when it threatens the safety of students, or anyone else, we must act," Drake said Tuesday.

People participate in a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), California, the United States, April 25, 2024. (Xinhua)

Last week, pro-Palestinian protesters set up an encampment of tents near Royce Hall.

Violent clashes erupted between pro-Palestinian protesters and pro-Israel counter-protesters late Tuesday night and lasted a couple of hours.

Fireworks, tear gas and fights broke out just after 10:50 p.m. Tuesday local time (0550 GMT Wednesday) and continued early Wednesday morning as around 100 pro-Israel counter-protesters attempted to seize the barricade around and storm the ongoing Palestine solidarity encampment, according to Daily Bruin, the university's student newspaper.

"The chaos comes as Chancellor Gene Block faces criticism for improper handling of the encampment and the same day the university deemed the encampment to be unlawful, threatening students inside with suspension and expulsion," reported Daily Bruin, adding that campus police and security retreated as pro-Israel counter-protesters and other groups attacked protesters in the encampment.

A participant in the encampment, who was granted anonymity for safety reasons, was quoted as saying by Daily Bruin that there were at least five injuries inside the encampment, most with eye injuries and some temporarily unresponsive.

UCLA declared on Tuesday that the encampment is "unlawful and violates university policy." Officials said that the protesters faced suspension or expulsion.

A pro-Palestinian protester and a pro-Israel counter-protester try to engage in a peaceful talk during clashes between pro-Palestinian protesters and pro-Israel counter-protesters outside an encampment of tents in support of Palestinians near Royce Hall of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), in Los Angeles, California, the United States, on May 1, 2024. (Xinhua)

Mary Osako, vice chancellor for UCLA Strategic Communications, said in a midnight statement that "horrific acts of violence occurred at the encampment tonight and we immediately called law enforcement for mutual aid support. The fire department and medical personnel are on the scene."

"We are sickened by this senseless violence and it must end," Osako noted.

Local news outlets reported that protesters clashed for over two hours before law enforcement intervened.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a post on social media platform X that the violence unfolding at UCLA is "absolutely abhorrent and inexcusable."

California governor Gavin Newsom's office also said in a statement on X Tuesday night that it is closely monitoring the situation at UCLA and that law enforcement leaders are in contact while "resources are being mobilized."

A person flushes a pro-Palestinian protester's eyes after pepper spray exposure outside an encampment of tents in support of Palestinians near Royce Hall of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), in Los Angeles, California, the United States, on May 1, 2024. (Xinhua)

PROTESTS SPREADING ACROSS U.S.

Following the arrest of more than 100 student protesters last month at Columbia University in New York, pro-Palestinian demonstrations are spreading at colleges and universities across the United States.

Aside from UCLA, students at some other California colleges and universities, including Stanford University, the University of Southern California, UC Berkeley, and Sacramento State, joined the national protest. A total of 35 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, early Tuesday morning, ending a week-long occupation of buildings on the university's campus in Northern California.

The New York Police Department confirmed on Wednesday that the arrests from Tuesday night numbered 202, with 109 from Columbia University.

"We are processing the arrests to distinguish between who were actually students and who were not supposed to be on the grounds," New York Mayor Eric Adams said on Wednesday.

"In order to address the concerns of our members in an evolving campus environment, all academic activities for schools on the Morningside Heights campus will be fully remote for the remainder of the semester. Any remaining class meetings, review sessions, or office hours should be held fully remotely, and all final exams and other final assessments should be fully remote," Columbia University said in a statement.

Campus police officers at the University of Arizona in Tucson shot "chemical irritant" munitions at a gathering of protesters early Wednesday, the police said.

The university's president Robert C. Robbins had asked the campus police and school officials to "immediately enforce campus use policies and all corresponding laws," according to a statement from his office.

A total of 34 people were arrested while emptying a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Wednesday, the university said.

A man waves a Palestinian flag during a pro-Palestinian demonstration outside Columbia University in New York, the United States, on April 23, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Rui)

RESURRECTION OF "McCARTHYISM"

Experts wonder if the arrests suppress free speech, with college presidents under the pressure of the congressional hearings. Administrators, faculty and others were being intimidated by firings and discipline to avoid discussions or protests on campus that dare use the word "ceasefire" or "genocide," said Jack Rasmus, a professor teaching economics and politics at St. Mary's College in California.

"The latest attack ... can only be described as the resurrection of 'McCarthyism' in the USA," he told Xinhua Wednesday.

It's worse than McCarthyism in the 1950s. "In the 1950s, McCarthy did not have the full support of U.S. institutions," he said.

American youth are outraged by the "genocide policy in Gaza and the apparent unlimited support for that by the Biden administration," according to Rasmus.

The unfolding crackdown on students and American youth trying to exercise their 1st Amendment constitutional rights to free speech and assembly shows the "continuing atrophy and decline of democracy in the USA," he argued.





BROADER DEFINITION OF ANTISEMITISM

On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that would establish a broader definition of antisemitism for the Department of Education to enforce anti-discrimination laws.

If passed by the Senate and signed into law, the bill would broaden the legal definition of antisemitism by including the "targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity."

The move would have a chilling effect on free speech throughout college campuses, the Associated Press said in a report, citing critics. 
Kimberly Zapata, the former deputy director of the Milwaukee Election Commission, enters court with defense attorney Daniel Adams before her jury trial in Milwaukee County Circuit Court on Monday, March 18, 2024. Zapata is accused of fraudulently requesting absentee ballots reserved for members of the military and sending them to GOP state Rep. Janel Brandtjen, who is known for embracing conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.

A former Milwaukee election official was ordered to serve one year of probation and pay a $3,000 fine Thursday afternoon for ordering three military absentee ballots under fake names ahead of the 2022 midterm elections and having them sent to a state legislator known for embracing conspiracy theories.

The criminal charges against Kimberly Zapata, 47, of Milwaukee came at a sensitive time for election workers across the state and nation, two years after former President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election and sought to sow doubt in the validity of the election results.

In his sentencing argument Thursday, the prosecutor referenced the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol that followed Trump's false claims that the election was stolen from him.

More: In interview, Trump doesn't commit to accepting Wisconsin election results if he loses

Zapata's defense attorney, however, contended her actions did not resemble those of the people who participated in that attack, and Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Kori Ashley was cautious about casting blame on Zapata for mistrust in elections.

"The state referenced the climate around election fraud, and the tensions are high," Ashley said before handing down her sentence. "Ms. Zapata is not responsible for that. She did contribute to it."

Zapata was convicted in March by a Milwaukee County jury on a felony charge of misconduct in public office and three misdemeanor counts of making a false statement to obtain an absentee ballot. She told investigators that she sent the military ballots to Republican state Rep. Janel Brandtjen to highlight a real gap in the election system.

Ashley rejected the defense argument that Zapata was acting as a whistleblower, saying Zapata had options to make her point other than to commit crimes.

"I think you had legitimate means to go about solving an issue that you identified, and I think you took a shortcut," Ashley said.

Still, the judge said she did not think Zapata acted with "nefarious intent."

The sentence Ashley handed down included 120 hours of community service as a condition of probation.

Zapata would have to serve nine months in the Milwaukee County Community Reintegration Center, formerly known as the House of Correction, if she violates the terms of probation.

The felony charge carried a maximum sentence of 3 1/2 years in the state prison system while each misdemeanor count carried a maximum six-month sentence.

Before she was sentenced, Zapata expressed regret for her actions, which she said were the result of a "complete emotional breakdown." She also said she has autism spectrum disorder and struggles to regulate her emotions, sensory input and thought processes when she is stressed.

She said today she is better able to manage stressors in her life and has been learning to let go of things she cannot control.

"I now recognize my actions did not match my best intentions," she said.

Assistant District Attorney Matthew Westphal had argued for 18 months of probation on the felony count with 12 months in the Community Reintegration Center only if she violated the terms of probation. He also recommended a total of 60 days in the Community Reintegration Center for the three misdemeanor counts, consecutive to the sentence for the felony count.

"Ms. Zapata swore an oath to defend the federal and state Constitutions and to faithfully discharge her duties," Westphal said. "She abandoned that duty. She introduced fraud into the system."

The climate around elections only aggravated the offense, he said.

In a sentencing memorandum filed before Thursday's hearing, Zapata's defense attorney Daniel Adams recommended a $500 fine and said any time behind bars would be "a gross injustice and completely unnecessary."

"She has zero prior criminal record and has been convicted of non-violent offenses," he wrote to Ashley. "Her intention was not to steal votes but to expose a legitimate flaw in the elections system."

After the sentencing, he said he would be appealing Zapata's conviction.

Zapata was charged in November 2022 with fraudulently requesting three military absentee ballots and sending them to the Menomonee Falls home of Brandtjen. The ballots were mailed by clerks in Menomonee Falls, Shorewood and South Milwaukee.

She was fired from her job at the city after officials there learned of her actions.

In a recording of a police interview with Zapata that was played for the jury, she said she sent the ballots to Brandtjen because she knew she would not cast the ballots and because she wanted to "make (Brandtjen) stop and think and redirect her focus away from these outrageous conspiracy theories to something that's actually real."

Adams wrote in the memorandum that Zapata's "rash and unwise decision" was mitigated by factors including her not using any real person's identity, her emotional instability due to her brother's unexpected death and her making a full statement to the District Attorney's Office regarding her actions. He also wrote that her fixation on the absentee ballot issue was explained by the fact that she is on the autism spectrum.

Milwaukee Election Commission Executive Director Claire Woodall testified at trial that Zapata had come to her before the 2022 midterm election and told her she sent the ballots to Brandtjen, who had reported receiving military absentee ballots at her home.

In a letter ahead of sentencing, Woodall wrote that Zapata "without a doubt, committed an enormous violation of public trust and sowed greater distrust in our democratic system."

Woodall described the personal and professional toll she felt from Zapata's actions but maintained that Zapata was trying to highlight a gap in the election system.

"As the executive director of the Election Commission, I faced severe skepticism and criticism from my colleagues, employees, and the citizens that I serve after Kim's actions came to light," Woodall wrote. "The Election Commission had already faced two years of ongoing conspiracy theories and false accusations; in November of 2022, those same critics suddenly gained legitimate ammunition to fire at our office as a result of Kim's actions. Despite the harm she has caused, her actions were rooted in a very real security vulnerability that state statute has created and that continues to persist."

Woodall said Zapata had already begun to serve "a life-altering sentencing" for her actions that were "out of character and the direct result of unconscionable stress, constant scrutiny, and personal grief."

Hers was one of nine letters submitted on Zapata's behalf ahead of sentencing.

Alison Dirr can be reached at adirr@jrn.com.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ex-Milwaukee election official given probation in military ballot case
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW)  A former accountant with the Wichita Police Department has been charged with felony theft.

Shauna Dickman has been formally charged with theft of property or services; value $25,000 to $100,000, and theft of property or services; value $1,500 to $25,000.

The crimes are alleged to have occurred sometime between May 20, 2019, to March 2023, and Aug. 2, 2021, to March 2023.

Cowley County man dies after mower overturns

Court documents did not provide details about the alleged crimes and when they were uncovered. She made her first appearance Tuesday in Sedgwick County District Court, and her bond was set at $2,500.

In 2015, Dickman received an award from the Wichita Police Department. She was recognized for outstanding accuracy in financial document entry for her work the previous year when she entered 14,064 items with a 99.7% accuracy rate, according to the departments Facebook post.

Dickmans next court appearance is scheduled for May 13.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV.
As Fort Worth nonprofit Lena Pope is in the process of closing its public charter school, Chapel Hill Academy, the future of the schools property on Sycamore School Road is still being determined while former and prospective families are reflecting on the news.

Lena Pope officials announced last week that the campus would be closed at the end of August due to a combination of competing charter schools opening in the area and student enrollment declining in recent years. The school serves students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade and opened in 2008. As school leaders are currently focused on the closure process overseen by the Texas Education Agency, it remains to be discussed whether the school facility will be used for other services provided by Lena Pope, or if it will be sold or rented, according to CEO Ashley Elgin.

We have a lot of work to do in order to prepare the school for a close-down, and thats our primary focus. We havent really begun the next phase, she said.

Chapel Hill Academy had an enrollment of 535 students as of October 2023, according to TEA records. Enrollment peaked at 763 students in October 2020, the same school year when eighth-grade classes were first added.

Elgin noted that while enrollment declined at Chapel Hill Academy, the need for other child and family services offered by Lena Pope has grown. The nonprofit offers counseling and substance use services and behavioral well-being programs focused on areas such as juvenile justice and youth resilience. The organization also offers early childhood education through two child care centers that are nationally accredited and have the highest state ratings, four stars, through the Texas Rising Star quality and improvement program.

At the same time that we saw the decline in enrollment, our child care centers have a three-year waiting list and our counseling services also have a waiting list, and our juvenile justice services continue to be in peak demand. We feel that to fulfill our mission, were needed elsewhere, and so were turning our attention to meet those needs, Elgin said.

Fort Worth resident Jeffrey Williams and his family have strong ties to Lena Pope. Although they were disappointed to hear about the school closure, they were relieved to hear its other services would continue. Williams met his wife, Gloria, in 2016 through a class provided by one of Lena Popes services, and they got married at the organizations Marty Leonard Community Chapel. The Williamses had planned to enroll their son Mateo in pre-K at Chapel Hill Academy in the fall but will now send him to Daggett Elementary School in Fort Worth ISD, he said.

It was pretty disappointing having to pivot. Obviously Mateo starting pre-K is a big deal, and we were really excited about him becoming part of the Lena Pope family. We have no ill feelings though and are still excited about Mateo starting school, Williams said.

Rachel Olivarez, a former Chapel Hill Academy parent and employee, said she was also saddened by the closure announcement, as her two sons attended the school during their elementary years and she had worked there for more than a decade in roles such as a substitute teacher and an administrative assistant.

I still have many lifelong friends who work there and I know this will be a difficult transition for many of them. I know they care so much for the community they serve, and its sad to know that it wont be an option for families in the future, Olivarez said.
Foundation to provide mortgage-free homes to families of 4 officers killed in Charlotte

Foundation to provide mortgage-free homes to families of 4 officers killed in Charlotte

CHARLOTTE (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  The Tunnel to Towers Foundation has announced it will be providing mortgage-free homes for the families of four fallen law enforcement officers who died on Monday after attempting to serve a warrant on a wanted suspect in east Charlotte.

Tunnel to Towers announced Thursday that it plans to provide mortgage-free homes to all four families these heroes left behind, the organization shared.

Fallen Officer William Alden Elliott honored following Mondays horrific Charlotte shooting

The four law enforcement officers were part of a team executing a warrant for the arrest of Terry Hughes Jr., 39, who was wanted out of Lincoln County, in the 5000 block of Galway Drive, when he opened fire on multiple officers in the neighborhood, sending dozens ducking for cover.

Gunfire continued as backup arrived at the scene, and multiple officers were struck.

The four officers killed on Monday, April 29, have been identified as: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Joshua Eyer, NC Department of Adult Corrections Investigators Samuel Poloche and William Elliott, and Deputy U.S. Marshal Thomas Weeks.

Several other officers were injured during the shootout but are expected to survive.

MORE FROM QUEEN CITY NEWS

Continuing Coverage

Weeks served with the Marshals Service for 13 years and previously served with the US Dept. of Homeland Security Customs and Border Protection. He is survived by his wife and four children.

Eyer was a six-year veteran of the police department who was honored as CMPDs Officer of the Month for April. He leaves behind his wife and 3-year-old son.

Poloche and Elliott were 14-year veterans of the Corrections Department. Poloche leaves behind a wife and two children, and Elliott leaves behind a wife and child.

Words simply cannot express the impact of this event, CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings somberly said from the Charlotte City Council Chambers this week.

Hughes came out of the east Charlotte home Monday evening, armed. Law enforcement at the scene fired, striking Hughes in the front yard. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

What happens to the Charlotte home at the center of the deadly standoff?

Two other women who were inside the home, and have not been identified, are cooperating with police, CMPD said this week. CMPDs Homicide Unit is conducting the investigation.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
Four restaurants in South Mississippi failed to pass their health inspection in the last nine days of April, with once cited for food not in good condition and another for insects, rodents or animals present.

The restaurants cited by the state health department are:

Sonic Drive-In, 3001 Highway 11 north, Picayune, was inspected April 22 for a permit renewal. It was cited for:

 Food not in good condition, safe and unadulterated

 Food contact surface not cleaned and sanitized

Corrected during the inspection were:

 Adequate hand washing facilities supplied and accessible

 Food separated and protected

This was the second C dating back to 2010. The previous one was in 2013.

El Saltillo Bar, 2650 Beach Blvd., Biloxi was inspected April 30 for a permit. It was cited for:

 Insects, rodents or animals present, a repeat offense.

This was the second C since 2018, with the prior C in 2022.

El Lupillo, 1909 E. Pass Road, Gulfport, was inspected April 30 for a corrective follow-up and again scored a C.

The restaurant failed on April 15 for not having a certified manager, for food contact surface not cleaned and sanitized and for not posting the last inspection report.

On April 30, the restaurant still didnt have a certified manager, but the other two violations were cleared.

The only prior C was in 2017.

Chanitos Taqueria, 2600 Beach Blvd., Biloxi, had a scheduled inspection April 30 and was cited for:

 No certified manager.

Corrected during the inspection were:

 Proper eating, tasting, drinking or tobacco use

 Adequate hand washing facilities supplied and accessible

The restaurant was inspected once before on March 26 and had no violations.

Restaurants and other food service establishments in Mississippi are rated A if they pass the health department inspection, B if all violations are corrected during the inspection and C if the violations are critical.

During April, 16 restaurants and kitchens in South Mississippi failed their health inspections. The vast majority  268 kitchens  had no violations and scored an A. Another 48 were given a B grade when violations were corrected.
Four student journalists who work for the UCLA Daily Bruin were attacked shortly before 3:30 a.m. Wednesday by pro-Israel counterprotesters during a campus demonstration that turned violent.

Daily Bruin news editor Catherine Hamilton, 21, told The Times she recognized one of the counterprotesters as someone who had previously verbally harassed her and taken pictures of her press badge. The individual instructed the group to encircle the student journalists, she said, before they sprayed the four with Mace or pepper spray, flashed lights in their faces and chanted Hamiltons name.

As she tried to break free, Hamilton said, she was punched repeatedly in the chest and upper abdomen; another student journalist was pushed to the ground and beaten and kicked for nearly a minute. The attack was first reported in the Daily Bruin.

We expected to be harassed by counterprotesters, Hamilton said in an interview Wednesday, adding that every Daily Bruin reporter was instructed to use a buddy system, to report from outside the encampment and to leave the area if it became unsafe. I truly did not expect to be directly assaulted.

One of the other student reporters who was attacked, Shaanth Kodialam, said they watched their friend get pummeled to the ground and begged for the counterprotesters to stop.

Read more: Timeline: UCLA's night of violence before police moved in

"It's not easy to do that job. It's not easy to cover this event," Kodialam, 21, said Wednesday, recalling how their eyes burned from the spray. "At the end of the day, we're all trying our best to serve our campus community and make sure our students, our faculty, our staff get the information they need."

The incident lasted about five minutes. The group of four made their way to the Daily Bruin newsroom before Hamilton went to the hospital, accompanied by her editor in chief, when the bruising made it difficult for her to stand and breathe. She has since been released.

Read more: Photos: Tensions grow as pro-Palestinian demonstrations on college campuses continue

The attack is one of several recent incidents involving journalists. It also is one of the first known attacks involving student reporters covering the ongoing unrest on campuses over the Israel-Hamas war, often when outside news media have been prevented from entering universities.

Hamilton, who has been a reporter for three years, said she believed her identity as a journalist would have prevented her from being assaulted. Instead, she said, it made her a target.

Read more: 'Unacceptable': Why it took hours for police to quell attack at UCLA pro-Palestinian camp

I have never feared for my safety or the safety of my fellow Daily Bruin staffers until last night, she said. I was on edge the entire time looking for the three others who were with me to make sure that they were safe. Because I could not trust that they would be.

Aggression against journalists at protests and demonstrations has steadily escalated over the last 20 years in the age of internet surveillance and photographic capture, said Steve Wasserman, the publisher of the Berkeley-based nonprofit Heyday Books.

Wasserman was arrested at UC Berkeley during an anti-Vietnam War demonstration when he was a student in 1970. He said a major difference between now and then is that the press was previously viewed with more neutrality.

"The press was largely regarded as a neutral arbiter ... and could be useful in spreading the word of the causes around which the protest occurred," he said.

Now, a growing mistrust of the media has all but normalized the current aggressive treatment.

Clayton Weimers, executive director of Reporters Without Borders, USA, said the recent threats against journalists are reminiscent of the summer of 2020, when violence erupted at protests over the police murder of George Floyd.

I am hopeful that we are not going back down that same path, Weimers said.

A record number of arrests of journalists and attacks against the press occurred during that period four years ago, according to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.

Read more: Dueling Gaza protests at UCLA draw hundreds as USC sees peaceful demonstration

"It's imperative that both [professional] journalists and student journalists who are covering their communities are able to do their jobs without fear of assault," said Katherine Jacobsen, U.S., Canada and Caribbean program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists. "It's also really important that law enforcement and school administrations across the United States provide conditions in which the student journalists and other journalists can do their jobs without having to worry about being assaulted."

Read more: Timeline: UCLA's night of violence before police moved in

University of California President Michael V. Drake said Wednesday that he had ordered an independent review of the university's actions and law enforcement's response to the violence.

The Daily Bruin, which said its site was down intermittently Wednesday due to a surge in traffic, previously reported that a building designated as an area for student reporters to seek safety was locked when reporters tried to access it. UCLA did not directly respond to questions emailed by The Times about that claim.

"I want to express my sincere sympathy to those who were injured last night, and to all those who have been harmed or have feared for their safety in recent days," UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said in a statement. "We are still gathering information about the attack on the encampment last night, and I can assure you that we will conduct a thorough investigation that may lead to arrests, expulsions and dismissals."

Hamilton, a junior, is one of two students who have spearheaded the Daily Bruin's coverage of the reaction to the Israel-Hamas war, which began Oct. 7 when Hamas-led militants attacked Israel, killing an estimated 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages. According to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, an estimated 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli retaliatory attacks in the Gaza Strip.

Despite what happened, Hamilton said, she will continue to cover the campus unrest. And Kodialam, also a junior, continued their coverage Wednesday afternoon.

"I can't sit back while I watch my friends, my peers, the people who have trained me, the people who I have trained, be hurt that way and allow myself to not continue to do my job," they said.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Emmanuel Macron, President of France, makes a press statement following a joint meeting at the Federal Chancellery. Macron will make an official state visit to Germany in late May, Germany's presidential office said 02 May, after a planned trip in July was cancelled at short notice. Christoph Soeder/dpa

French President Emmanuel Macron will make an official state visit to Germany in late May, Germany's presidential office said Thursday, after a planned trip in July was cancelled at short notice.

Macron and his wife Brigitte are set to arrive in Berlin on May 26 and will be welcomed with full military honours by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife Elke Budenbender in front of Bellevue Palace.

The state visit - the first by a French president to Germany since Jacques Chirac visited Berlin in 2000 - was due to be held in July last year, but had to be rearranged after protests broke out across France following the police killing of 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk.

In Berlin, Macron will visit a festival held at the Bundestag to mark the 75th anniversary of Germany's constitution, the Basic Law. Steinmeier will also host a state banquet on May 26.

Further stops will reportedly include Dresden and Munster on May 27 and 28. According to dpa sources, Macron intends to give a speech on Europe in Dresden, as he had originally planned.
NEW YORK  A fraud investigator for the New York City Department of Homeless Services stole homeless peoples personal information during the COVID pandemic, then sold that info to an identity theft scammer, federal authorities allege.

Brooklyn resident Olabanji Otufale, 41, abused his position by accessing names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers and photos of more than 10 city homeless people, according to an indictment unsealed on Wednesday.

He then peddled that info to New Jersey resident Mark Lazarre, who in turn stole the victims identities so he could file COVID unemployment claims with the state Department of Labor, the feds allege.

Lazarre  who has a history of identity theft convictions and at one point took out a lease in a dead persons name, federal authorities allege  is currently jailed for a federal bank fraud case in New Jersey.

In one instance, on Oct. 6, 2020, Otufale sent Lazarre a screenshot of a state ID card, complete with personal information, as well as a picture of a computer screen with more info, including that persons Social Security number, according to the indictment.

Lazarre then filed for unemployment insurance in the victims name, getting a KeyBank debit card sent to him by the Department of Labor, the feds allege.

Otufale and Lazarre were taking advantage of the federal CARES act, an economic stimulus package set up in the early days of the pandemic that provided more than $2 trillion in emergency COVID relief, the feds allege.

In 2020, the year of his alleged crime, Otufale earned a roughly $69,000 salary in his DHS job, and took home more than $84,500 after overtime and other pay, records show.

Last year, he brought home $151,000, which included more than $58,000 in overtime, according to payroll data.

He started working for DHS in 2015, records show. Agency representatives could not be reached for comment.

Both men were indicted on aggravated identity theft  which carries a two-year mandatory minimum sentence  and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Otufale awaits arraignment in Brooklyn Federal Court, while Lazarre remains held on the New Jersey charges.

_____
LOS ANGELES/SAN FRANCISCO, May 1 (Xinhua) -- The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), one of the top public universities in the United States, canceled all classes for Wednesday after a night of violent clashes on campus over the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict in Gaza.

"Due to the distress caused by the violence that took place on Royce Quad late last night and early this morning, all classes are cancelled today," said the university in an alert to faculty, staff and students on Wednesday morning.

The university urged them to avoid the Royce Quad area and announced that Royce Hall, one of the original buildings and the defining symbol for the UCLA campus, will remain closed through Friday.

University of California President Michael Drake announced in a statement on Wednesday an "independent external review" has been ordered.

When the free expression "blocks the ability of students to learn or to express their own viewpoints, when it meaningfully disrupts the functioning of the University, or when it threatens the safety of students, or anyone else, we must act," Drake said Tuesday.

Last week, pro-Palestinian protesters set up an encampment of tents near Royce Hall.

Violent clashes erupted between pro-Palestinian protesters and pro-Israel counter-protesters late Tuesday night and lasted a couple of hours.

Fireworks, tear gas and fights broke out just after 10:50 p.m. Tuesday local time (0550 GMT Wednesday) and continued early Wednesday morning as around 100 pro-Israel counter-protesters attempted to seize the barricade around and storm the ongoing Palestine solidarity encampment, according to Daily Bruin, the university's student newspaper.

"The chaos comes as Chancellor Gene Block faces criticism for improper handling of the encampment and the same day the university deemed the encampment to be unlawful, threatening students inside with suspension and expulsion," reported Daily Bruin, adding that campus police and security retreated as pro-Israel counter-protesters and other groups attacked protesters in the encampment.

A participant in the encampment, who was granted anonymity for safety reasons, was quoted as saying by Daily Bruin that there were at least five injuries inside the encampment, most with eye injuries and some temporarily unresponsive.

UCLA declared on Tuesday that the encampment is "unlawful and violates university policy." Officials said that the protesters faced suspension or expulsion.

Mary Osako, vice chancellor for UCLA Strategic Communications, said in a midnight statement that "horrific acts of violence occurred at the encampment tonight and we immediately called law enforcement for mutual aid support. The fire department and medical personnel are on the scene."

"We are sickened by this senseless violence and it must end," Osako noted.

Local news outlets reported that protesters clashed for over two hours before law enforcement intervened.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a post on social media platform X that the violence unfolding at UCLA is "absolutely abhorrent and inexcusable."

California governor Gavin Newsom's office also said in a statement on X Tuesday night that it is closely monitoring the situation at UCLA and that law enforcement leaders are in contact while "resources are being mobilized."

PROTESTS SPREADING ACROSS U.S.

Following the arrest of more than 100 student protesters last month at Columbia University in New York, pro-Palestinian demonstrations are spreading at colleges and universities across the United States.

Aside from UCLA, students at some other California colleges and universities, including Stanford University, the University of Southern California, UC Berkeley, and Sacramento State, joined the national protest. A total of 35 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, early Tuesday morning, ending a week-long occupation of buildings on the university's campus in Northern California.

The New York Police Department confirmed on Wednesday that the arrests from Tuesday night numbered 202, with 109 from Columbia University.

"We are processing the arrests to distinguish between who were actually students and who were not supposed to be on the grounds," New York Mayor Eric Adams said on Wednesday.

"In order to address the concerns of our members in an evolving campus environment, all academic activities for schools on the Morningside Heights campus will be fully remote for the remainder of the semester. Any remaining class meetings, review sessions, or office hours should be held fully remotely, and all final exams and other final assessments should be fully remote," Columbia University said in a statement.

Campus police officers at the University of Arizona in Tucson shot "chemical irritant" munitions at a gathering of protesters early Wednesday, the police said.

The university's president Robert C. Robbins had asked the campus police and school officials to "immediately enforce campus use policies and all corresponding laws," according to a statement from his office.

A total of 34 people were arrested while emptying a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Wednesday, the university said.

RESURRECTION OF "McCARTHYISM"

Experts wonder if the arrests suppress free speech, with college presidents under the pressure of the congressional hearings. Administrators, faculty and others were being intimidated by firings and discipline to avoid discussions or protests on campus that dare use the word "ceasefire" or "genocide," said Jack Rasmus, a professor teaching economics and politics at St. Mary's College in California.

"The latest attack ... can only be described as the resurrection of 'McCarthyism' in the USA," he told Xinhua Wednesday.

It's worse than McCarthyism in the 1950s. "In the 1950s, McCarthy did not have the full support of U.S. institutions," he said.

American youth are outraged by the "genocide policy in Gaza and the apparent unlimited support for that by the Biden administration," according to Rasmus.

The unfolding crackdown on students and American youth trying to exercise their 1st Amendment constitutional rights to free speech and assembly shows the "continuing atrophy and decline of democracy in the USA," he argued.

BROADER DEFINITION OF ANTISEMITISM

On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that would establish a broader definition of antisemitism for the Department of Education to enforce anti-discrimination laws.

If passed by the Senate and signed into law, the bill would broaden the legal definition of antisemitism by including the "targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity."

The move would have a chilling effect on free speech throughout college campuses, the Associated Press said in a report, citing critics. 
FREDERICK COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now)  Weve all heard of college signing day, but Frederick County Public Schools offers something similar to its Career and Technology Education students.

On Wednesday, these students got the chance to officially sign on with local companies that they will be working for after graduation.

Not everyone goes to college, and we value what you are doing as well, Supervisor of Career and Technical Education Dr. Christine Pearl said.

Over 28 students signed on the dotted line to secure their future after graduation.

Frederick County Public Schools break ground on 2 new schools after over 50 years of no renovations

Student Lillian Froehle said she spent about 450 hours in the FCPS apprenticeship program that gets them prepared for their future

Im thrilled to kind of start my career, Froehle said. I previously didnt know what I wanted to do until I joined CTC and Ive been able to learn exactly what I want to learn.

David Cadenas and Fernando Paz have been working with Dynamic Automotive.

They tell us participating in a signing day like their other classmates makes them feel included.

It was a great feeling, Cadenas said. You only see career signing day with a bunch of college athletes, but to have this like small ceremony for us career students  its honestly a great feeling.

This is what its all about, helping the next generation because its a legacy for us, where we can continue to build and then it allows us to help our community, CEO of Dynamic Automotive.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
Free summer camps to be offered by Fresno Unified

FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE)  Free summer camps will be offered by Fresno Unified to support academic growth in children.

Officials say their free summer camps will feature more than 90 camp opportunities for students in transitional Kindergarten through 12th grade.

Camps will be held at schools throughout the district and at community-based locations. Some locations are the African American Historical and Cultural Museums, Fresno State, Fresno City College, and Chukchansi Park.

According to officials, camps will include: Dive into Space Scuba Diving, Virtual Reality and Coding, California Arts Academy, Hmong Clothing and Fashion Through Time, Fresno States Womens Rugby Youth Camp, and more.

Fresno Unified will announce more details about their camps on May 8 at 10 a.m. at the African American Historical and Cultural Museum in Fresno located at 1857 Fulton Street.

Priority registration will begin May 13 and general registration will begin May 16. More information will be available at the Fresno Unifieds website.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com | KSEE24 and CBS47.
State Sen. Rick Brattin of Harrisonville speaks Wednesday morning during the Freedom Caucus filibuster blocking approval of provider taxes essential to funding Medicaid. The filibuster ended just before 4 a.m. Thursday (Rudi Keller/Missouri Independent).

None of the demands Missouri Freedom Caucus members said must be met before they would drop a filibuster against legislation renewing taxes that fund Medicaid were achieved when the group decided to end its resistance a little before 3:30 a.m. Thursday.

After a 41-hour-filibuster, the Senate gave initial approval Thursday morning to a bill renewing taxes on hospitals, pharmacies, nursing homes and ambulance services that are essential to Missouris Medicaid program. The bill must be approved by the Senate one more time before it heads to the House.

And other than the addition of a 2029 expiration date for the taxes, none of the things that were at the heart of the Freedom Caucus filibuster were accomplished.

One demand, a final Senate vote on a proposal to change how the majority is determined on future constitutional amendments, cant happen until at least Monday because the Senate wont return until then.

The other, Gov. Mike Parsons signature on a bill banning Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid payments for covered medical services, will happen on the governors timeline  and he didnt seem eager to give the caucus a victory earlier in the week.

Sen. Lincoln Hough, R-Springfield, on the first day of the 2024 legislative session (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent).

In an interview after the Senate adjourned, state Sen. Lincoln Hough, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and sponsor of the provider tax renewal, said the end was a complete defeat for Freedom Caucus members.

What you saw today was the majority of the majority party all sticking together saying we know we have a duty to govern in this state, and were going to do whatever we need to do that, Hough said.

The filibuster did set a record of sorts for the longest attempt to block a single bill, but because some of the time was spent on procedural motions, Democrats challenge whether their record has actually been broken.

Five Freedom Caucus members kicked off a filibuster shortly after the Senate session began Tuesday, determined to monkeywrench the machinery on a bill renewing taxes known as the federal reimbursement allowance.

The five Republicans  Sens. Rick Brattin, Bill Eigel, Denny Hoskins, Andrew Koenig and Nick Schroer  took turns holding the floor, adhering to the Senate rule that they only speak once on a motion and turning routine motions into tests of endurance.

On the Senate floor, the filibuster played out in bursts of euphoric declarations by caucus members interspersed with hours of each reading books, often with a religious theme.

During a shift Wednesday, Eigel, a Weldon Spring Republican running for governor, claimed the filibuster would be the longest in Senate history and would set the record at midnight. When Senate Democrats told him that a recess of 15 minutes, plus eight hours on procedural motions, would be subtracted, he took good-natured offense.

Here we are at the cusp of greatness, Eigel said, and now I have other members of this chamber trying to take it away from us.

But outside the chamber it was all-out warfare on social media.

On Wednesday, Majority Floor Leader Cindy OLaughlin used her Facebook account to claim that everything the Senate had accomplished as Republican priorities had been done in spite of obstruction of the Freedom Caucus.

The filibuster threatened Medicaid funding for essential services, she wrote.

Now, our hospitals, nursing homes, and state budget are in jeopardy due to outside lobbyists and dark money working against Missourians through a small faction of our own Senate, OLaughlin wrote.

She posted the office telephone numbers of the five in the filibuster and asked constituents to call.

At 10:10 p.m. Wednesday, about the time he left a shift on the Senate floor, Eigel struck back through his social media.

In a statement from his campaign, Eigel blamed OLaughlin and Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden for forcing him to filibuster to achieve Republican objectives.

The Freedom Caucus is filibustering, the statement read, because the Senate leadership and the RINO Brigade, once again, will do everything possible to avoid getting conservative policies across the finish line.

Eigel did not respond to a text message asking for comment on the end of the filibuster.

Budget deadline looms

The filibuster successfully stalled action on the budget this week.

With the Senate not returning until Monday, there will be only four days left to pass the budget and iron out differences with the House before the May 10 deadline.

The filibuster greatly increased the chances lawmakers will finish a state budget in a special session, House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith said.

In an interview Wednesday afternoon with The Independent, Smith said he and House staff were combing through the $53 billion spending plan adopted last week by the Senate Appropriations Committee. He hasnt seen anything that would cause an impasse, he said, but hes still learning about every change to the $50.8 billion budget proposal passed in the House.

The most pressing problem, Smith said, is having enough time to do the job.

Im concerned that the Senate will be unable to move through their appropriations process within a time to get us to conference between the House and Senate or maybe even if they wont be able to pass a budget at all, within the regular session, Smith said.

The amount of work to prepare for budget conference committees and to get the results into the form of bills lawmakers can consider is enormous. To make the deadline, Smith said, conference committee talks must conclude by next Wednesday.

House Budget Chair Cody Smith, R-Carthage, summarizes his budget proposal to reporters Thursday, March 14 (Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent).

Under House rules, substitute bills must be on the calendar for a day before they come to a vote. Wednesday decisions would result in final votes in both chambers on May 10.

We need to let staff finalize the conference committee reports and that takes some time, Smith said.

There are ways to shorten the time needed to finish the budget, Hough said. He has been talking with Smith, GOP leadership in both chambers and Democrats. Substitute bills have been prepared for debate as of Monday, he said.

I think tonight, this morning, was a very good step to explain to people that were not going to be held hostage for somebody elses political game, Hough said.

The Freedom Caucus members have promised a line-by-line examination of the budget. Hough said he is prepared for that. He will answer honest questions, he said, but he doesnt think Eigel is honest.

I have no problem going through this. Hough said. The problem I have is when people are disingenuous about what theyre saying, and Bill Eigel routinely is just borderline lying about things. He either doesnt understand it, or you know, or he just wants to sensationalize things.

Under a constitutional provision adopted in 1988, lawmakers are required to finish work on appropriation bills one week before the end of their annual session. Lawmakers have failed to meet that deadline only once, in 1997.

That year, two spending bills werent passed in time.

This year, there are 17 spending bills stacked up on the Senate calendar, including one to keep programs short of funds operating through the end of the current fiscal year.

As it was in 1997, the central issue is abortion.

Then, the question was how to make Planned Parenthood prove it wasnt subsidizing clinic administration or abortion services with state-paid family planning services.

This time, it is Republicans desperate to avoid a November vote on whether abortion should remain illegal in Missouri. An initiative petition campaign to put abortion rights on the ballot is expected to turn in signatures any day to the Secretary of States office to be placed on the statewide ballot.

Value of the reimbursement allowance

The bill that was the focus of this weeks filibuster is a key source of money for Missouris Medicaid program.

Levied on all hospitals, nursing homes, ambulance services and pharmacies, the approximately $1.4 billion raised by the taxes draws $2.8 billion in federal matching funds. For most Medicaid programs, Missouri pays about 35% of the cost and the federal government picks up the rest.

The Medicaid program in Missouri cost $16.1 billion in the fiscal year that ended June 30. Parson asked for $17.8 billion for the program for the coming year in his budget proposal.

The taxes, called the federal reimbursement allowance, helped keep the general revenue cost of Medicaid to $3 billion, or about 19% of the total.

Hough, a Springfield Republican running for lieutenant governor, wanted the bill passed without anything but a change to the expiration date of the taxes, currently set for Sept. 30.

The bill he filed eliminated the sunset date but the bill he brought to the floor sets a five-year expiration. Since being enacted in 1991, the taxes have been renewed 17 times, 16 with little or no controversy. Only the most recent renewal, in 2021, became entwined with the abortion issue during the regular session.

Parson called lawmakers back and they renewed the taxes with just hours to spare before the new state fiscal year began.

Big differences

Even with the provider taxes secured, ironing out a final budget from the House and Senate positions will take time. The budget passed by the House spends $2.2 billion less than the proposal awaiting Senate debate.

The $50.8 billion total includes $14.9 billion in general revenue, with $14.1 billion in the operating budget. The Senate committee proposal is $53 billion, with $15.7 billion in general revenue including $14.9 billion in the operating budget.

Funding either budget, or Parsons original $52.7 billion plan, requires tapping the states massive surplus, which stood Tuesday at about $6.4 billion in general revenue and other funds.

His goal for the budget, Smith said, is to keep general revenue spending for ongoing state needs within the anticipated revenue for the coming year. He defines a balanced budget as one with general revenue spending for ongoing programs like public schools, Medicaid and other services at or below annual revenue.

All those expenses are ongoing and they need to fit within our ongoing revenues, Smith said.

The official estimate for the coming fiscal year is $13.1 billion but sustained growth at the year-to-date rate through late April means it could be $13.5 billion. There are numerous one-year general revenue spending items in the operating budget for the coming year, including $373 million for improvements on Interstate 44.

Surplus money is for investing in the state, Smith said.

You treat those surpluses, he said, as more one-time funding.

The post Freedom Caucus ends filibuster in Missouri Senate without action on its demands appeared first on Missouri Independent.
(File/Getty Images)

COLUMBIA  A Republican legislators claims on social media that a refugee in Spartanburg received multiple voter registration forms resulted in a flood of phone calls to the South Carolina Election Commission, which refuted the idea that its putting non-citizens on voter rolls.

Decades-old federal law requires that anyone receiving government aid be offered an opportunity to register to vote  regardless of their legal status. But that doesnt mean non-citizens can actually register, said election agency spokesman John Michael Catalano.

The very first question you have to answer on a voter registration application is, Are you a US citizen? and the very last thing you see before you sign an application is that any fraudulent registration is a crime, Catalano told the SC Daily Gazette on Wednesday.

And the agency doesnt simply rely on applicants being truthful, he said.

The auditing process includes checking voter data against a Department of Homeland Security database, he said, pointing to a review of records from 2020 to 2023 that found zero instances of a non-citizen voting in South Carolina.

The angry phone calls the agency received this week prompted the commission to put a not on our watch statement on its website. It also caused the office to make its own call  to law enforcement.

Yesterday we asked a law enforcement officer to just come to our office because some of our calls were threats, Catalano said. Things like, Watch your back, and Ill come for you.'

While employees dont think the callers have any intention of following up on the threats, they thought it best to have protection just in case.

Rep. Adam Morgan, R-Taylors, talks to colleagues in the House chamber on the opening day of the 2024 session Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024, at the Statehouse in Columbia, S.C. (File/Mary Ann Chastain/Special to the SC Daily Gazette)

The backlash began when state Rep. Adam Morgan, whos running for Congress, posted Monday on X/formerly Twitter that a refugee received a packet at the Social Security office in Spartanburg with a voter registration form.

But the story gets worse, continued Morgan, who is challenging GOP Rep. William Timmons for the seat representing Spartanburg and Greenville counties.

The refugees relative, who is a citizen, mailed the forms back and a few weeks later received more voter registration forms in the mail, he wrote.

He then corrected himself, saying the refugee confused government offices, and it was actually the state Medicaid agency that gave her the form.

Stop this nonsense in your state! wrote Morgan, R-Taylors.

The hardline conservative House Freedom Caucus, which he chairs, then sent Gov. Henry McMaster a letter Wednesday and posted it on X/Twitter. It sought an immediate investigation of the Department of Health and Human Services to determine whether or not this Cabinet agency should be held accountable for misspending taxpayer funds to illegally register non-citizens to vote.

Within two hours, McMaster responded with his own letter on X, informing Morgan that State Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel would be contacting him immediately to arrange a meeting.

This will allow you to provide SLED with any and all evidence, documents and information that you possess in order to evaluate the authenticity of your allegations of illegalities, he wrote.

The integrity of our elections is indeed a top concern, he concluded. I ask that you give Chief Keel your full and immediate cooperation.

Critics of the Freedom Caucus, which publicly feuds with the Houses GOP majority both in the chamber and online, chimed in on social media questioning whether Morgan made up the story.

An X/Twitter account that spoofs the Freedom Caucus retweeted McMasters letter, adding, When your campaign stunt leads to SLED investigating you

A spokesperson for SLED said only that the agency will review the allegations provided.

Morgan said SLED is investigating what happened, not him, and hes arranged a sit-down with the refugees family.

All those involved are meeting with SLED just to investigate how they got the form, who sent it to them and why they sent it to them multiple times, Morgan told the SC Daily Gazette.

I wanted to inform the public and make sure everyone knows this is happening on their tax dollars, and that we need people that have these kinds of issues to come forward and report it, Morgan said, explaining his initial post of the form he said the refugee received. I just think we need to make sure we get it right.

The form he posted was not actually a voter registration form. It was a voter declination form, which asks someone receiving government assistance if theyd like to register to vote. One of four boxes can be checked. That form does not ask about citizenship.

The Freedom Caucus asked McMaster to order state agencies to cease and desist giving voter registration and voter declination forms to noncitizens.

But thats not an option under federal law, according to spokespeople from the elections and Medicaid agencies.

All that form is is telling those people about voter registration and letting them know, hey, if youre eligible, you can register to vote if you want to, said Catalano.

Beyond supplying the required forms, the Medicaid agency has nothing to do with putting people on voter rolls. It would prefer not to have to distribute voter registration material to every applicant, as that would allow the department to focus singularly on officially operating the government health care program, said spokesman Jeff Leieritz.

He also noted Morgan did not reach out to the Medicaid director about his concerns. Morgan confirmed that to the Gazette but said others had been in contact with the agency.

Generally, non-citizens dont qualify for regular Medicaid coverage in South Carolina. Exceptions include refugees legally resettling here.

The letters between the Freedom Caucus and McMaster were posted online the same day the House unanimously approved asking voters whether the state constitution should specify that only citizens can vote.

A final, perfunctory vote Thursday will put the question on the November ballot. It seeks to change the state constitutions guaranteed right to vote from every to only a citizen in South Carolina whos at least 18 and properly registered.

The Senate approved the resolution last month.

Some municipalities across the country have allowed non-citizens to vote in local elections, and the resolutions Senate sponsors said the change would prevent that from ever being an option in South Carolina.

SC Daily Gazette Editor Seanna Adcox contributed to this report.

The post Freedom Caucus posts on social media prompt threatening calls to SC election agency appeared first on SC Daily Gazette.
In Freeland, Trump celebrates the fall of Roe v. Wade, promises mass deportations if hes elected

Former President Donald Trump addressed supporters at a rally in Freeland, Michigan on May 1. | Kyle Davidson

After flying into Freeland, former President Donald Trump drew a large crowd of supporters as he continued criticism of President Joe Bidens economic policies while promising mass deportations on day one if elected in November.

A number of prominent Michigan Republicans rallied in support of Trump ahead of his speech on Wednesday in Saginaw County. Michigan House Minority Leader Matt Hall (R-Richland Twp.), Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt (R-Porter Twp.) and former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-White Lake), whos running for U.S. Senate, blasted Democrats on the economy, crime and immigration policy.

Trump urged his supporters to vote for Rogers over U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly) in the upcoming U.S. Senate race.

Mike Rogers will vote to secure our borders, crackdown on sanctuary cities, support our police and stop the crime that is ravaging your communities and ravaging our country. Hell vote to block the Biden tax hikes, hell allow nothing to happen bad to our country, Trump said.

Both Rogers and Slotkin would have to win their respective primaries on Aug. 6 first. Slotkin faces actor Hill Harper and businessman Nasser Beydoun, while Rogers is running against former U.S. Rep. Justin Amash (I-Cascade Twp.), physician Sherry ODonnell and businessman Sandy Pensler.

Michigan Republican Party Chair Pete Hoekstra and Republican former gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon also spoke in support of the former president, who last traveled to Michigan in April for a press conference in Grand Rapids blasting Biden over immigration.

In his speech, Trump celebrated the fall of Roe v. Wade, arguing that Democrats will allow abortion in the seventh, eighth and ninth month of pregnancy and after birth, calling it an execution.

A report from Politifact on similar claims by the former president called them grossly inaccurate, noting that wilfully ending a newborns life is illegal in every state. It also noted that abortions after 21 weeks of pregnancy make up 1% of abortions in the U.S. and are often tied to severe anomalies in the fetus or risks to the mothers health.

Ahead of Trumps appearance on Wednesday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer criticized him for his role in overturning Roe v. Wade during a roundtable discussion on the consequence of the Supreme Court Decision.

Trump also condemned Bidens economic agenda, while touting his own tax policy.

Republicans have blasted Bidens plan to raise taxes on businesses and wealthy Americans, and argued that Biden will allow Trump-era tax cuts to expire, while Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said he would negotiate with Congress on how to proceed when the policies do expire, according to a report from the New York Times.

While Yellen argued these tax increases wouldnt touch the middle class, Republicans argued that consumers and employees would bear the brunt of a higher corporate tax rate. In response Trump promised a tax cut for the middle class.

I will deliver a Trump middle class tax cut the likes of which youve never seen. .On day one, we will throw out Bidenomics and we will reinstate a thing called MAGAnomics, Trump said, referencing his campaign slogan Make America Great Again (MAGA) which was originally used in Ronald Reagans 1980 campaign.

Trump also denounced the Biden administrations goal for electric vehicles to make up 50% of all new vehicles sold by 2030, which Trump called a mandate. He criticized Biden and UAW President Shawn Fain for the effort, saying a transition to electric vehicles would result in the loss of U.S. auto jobs to China.

It will be an economic bloodbath. Crooked Joe will rip out your auto jobs and send them immediately to China, Trump said.

Michigan Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt (R-Porter Twp.) at a May 1, 2024 rally in support of Donald Trumps reelection. | Kyle Davidson

The Biden campaign responded to these criticisms in a statement, pointing to a report from the Atlas Public Policy Institutes EV Hub, which found vehicle and battery manufacturers are expected to invest $860 billion globally by 2030, with $210 billion expected in the U.S.

Donald Trump didnt deliver a thing for once again, Trump is lying about President Bidens policies instead of owning up to his own record of ceding the EV race and jobs of the future to China, giving tax handouts to billionaires at the expense of Michigan working families, and incentivizing companies to ship Michigan jobs overseas, the campaigns Michigan communications director, Alyssa Bradley, said in a statement.

President Biden is keeping Michigan at the forefront of the auto industry while helping to create hundreds of thousands of jobs in the Great Lakes State. Trump wants to drag us backwards, Bradley said.

Trump also attacked transgender Americans and blasted the many legal cases against him, calling them bullst and falsely claiming Al Capone had faced less indictments.

Trump has been charged in a number of cases including mishandling top secret documents, attempting to overturn the 2020 election, as well as anti-racketeering charges in Georgia.

Last week, Trump was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Michigan fake electors plot, one of sevens states where groups submitted false documents claiming Trump had won the election. Another 18 individuals were charged in Arizona as part of the plot, with the Arizona Mirror identifying Trump as one of the seven individuals whose names were redacted by the Arizona Attorney Generals Office.

Trump was also recently fined $9,000 for nine violations of a gag order tied to his hush-money case, in which he is accused of disguising payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during his 2016 campaign to conceal an alleged affair.

Former President Donald Trump arrives at Avflight Saginaw for a rally with Michigan voters. | Kyle Davidson

People gatheering at a rally for former President Donald Trump in Freeland, Michigan. | Kyle Davidson

Michigan House Minority Leader Matt Hall (R-Richland Twp.) at a rally in support of Donald Trump's reelection in Freeland, Michigan. | Kyle Davidson

Former President Donald Trump at a rally in Freeland, Michigan. | Kyle Davidson

Former President Donald Trump speaking at a rally in Freeland, Michigan. | Kyle Davidson

U.S. Senate candidate and former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers rallies for Donald Trump in Freeland. | Kyle Davidson

Former President Donald Trump arrives at a rally in Freeland, Michigan. | Kyle Davidson

A Trump supporter raises a sign during a May 1, 2024 rally in support of the former president's reelection | Kyle Davidson

Former President Donald Trump addresses supporters in Freeland, Michigan. | Kyle Davidson

Former President Donald Trump at a rally in Freeland, Michigan. | Kyle Davidson

Individuals gather to see former President Donald Trump in Freeland, Michigan. | Kyle Davidson

During his speech, he continued to spread disproven claims that the 2020 election was stolen, and said his campaign would be working with the Republican National Committee to ensure what happened in 2020 will never happen again.

Trump also continued to stoke fears about crime and the crisis at the southern border, referencing a number of break ins which Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said are tied to Chilean gangs, and promising to shift large portions of federal law enforcement into immigration enforcement. He also accused migrants of being traffickers, drug dealers and said other countries were emptying their prisons and mental health facilities into the United States.

On day one, we will begin the largest domestic deportation operation in America, Trump said.

Research from Stanford University has found that first-generation immigrants are 60% less likely to be incarcerated than individuals born in the U.S. An investigation from the Marshall Project also found no link between undocumented immigrants and increases in crime.

He said he would settle the war between Russia and Ukraine, questioning why Europe was not providing more aid to the Ukrainian military.

Since the beginning of the war the European Union (EU) has provided close to $107 billion in financial, military, humanitarian and refugee assistance, according to a statement from the EU Delegation to the United States.

According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, the U.S has provided more than $71 billion in aid to Ukraine. Biden also recently signed off on a $95 billion aid package, which includes about $61 billion for Ukraine.

The post In Freeland, Trump celebrates the fall of Roe v. Wade, promises mass deportations if hes elected appeared first on Michigan Advance.
Hundreds of Fresno State students, faculty and staff gathered in solidarity with Palestinians on Wednesday as the Israel-Hamas war entered its seventh month.

Around 250 people gathered for the peaceful sit-in organized by Students for Palestinian Liberation at California State University Fresno.

Organizers thanked university administrators Wednesday for their support and emphasized the event was a peaceful gathering to bring attention to the atrocities and devastation in Gaza.

Student protesters thanked the Fresno State Associated Students Inc. for signing a ceasefire resolution last month.

They also called for the university to speak out against the genocide in Gaza and for the CSU system to divest any investments that support Israel.

In a statement posted on Instagram, the SLP student group said the university has failed to stand with its students against injustice and ongoing genocide.

We just would appreciate a little more recognition of a genocide. Once again, it is a genocide. Theres no neutral stance on the genocide. A genocide is a genocide, said Rahaf, 20, a junior majoring in English who declined to share her last name due to fears of future professional repercussions.

She thanked her colleagues for coming out in solidarity Im getting goosebumps. Im about to cry (tears of) appreciation, she said.

I feel a peaceful sit-in is really sending a powerful message here, especially in the Central Valley where we dont really see any type of student activism like this standing up against the genocide and speaking up against international political issues, Haneen, a Palestinian student and leader of the SLP group, told reporters, who declined to share her last name with reporters for security reasons.

Protests have erupted at universities across the state and nationwide as over 34,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 77,000 have been injured in the war, according to local health officials.

The war started on Oct. 7, when Hamas  Palestinian militants  launched an attack into southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people, primarily civilians, and abducted around 250 hostages. Since the October attack, Israel has launched an offensive in Gaza. Nearly 1.7 million people in Gaza have been displaced, the United Nations reported last week, a humanitarian crisis that has left many without access to food, water and medical care.

Some Fresno State students shared testimonies of their families who have been impacted by the conflict. Others led the group in chants and passed out water and snacks to attendees.

Sean Gordon, a professor of English Literature at Fresno State, came out to support his students, holding a sign that read Faculty Against Genocide.

As we see at institutions of higher learning across the country, students have as powerful voice, Gordon said.

He said that his students are concerned about the destruction of universities and the possibility of higher education in Gaza, a phenomenon known as scholasticide.

The Associated Press reported that the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a news conference in Israel Wednesday to call for a cease-fire deal, saying the time is now.

An expert from the UN said last month there are reasonable grounds to believe Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

Members of the public and representatives from community groups such as Peace Fresno and representatives from CAIR California Sacramento Valley/Central California also attended the sit-in.

Most attendees were in support of the protest, though a few students were asking protesters whether they considered Hamas a terrorist organization and other questions related to the conflict.

Fresno State upholding free speech

Fresno State President Saul Jimenez-Sandoval came out to greet students during the first hour of the sit-in.

When asked by a reporter whether his presence at the protest indicated he was taking a side, Jimenez-Sandoval said: Im saying hello to my students.

He told reporters that the university has had a lot of dialogue with our students. He said the conversations have gone well and have been opportunities to share information.

In a May 1 email shared with The Bee by a Fresno State student, Jimenez-Sandoval said the university was committed to upholding free speech.

We firmly believe that a thriving academic environment is one where all perspectives are welcomed and respected and we want to reaffirm our commitment to ensuring the safety and well-being of every member of our campus community and upholding our Principles of Community, the email said.

The university also created a Free Speech website to answer frequently asked questions about the universities policies and students rights.

Students sit peacefully in the Fresno State Free Speech area on campus during a pro-Palestinian demonstration organized by Students for Palestinian Liberation on Wednesday, May 1, 2024.

Students share testimonies

Seja, 20, a Fresno State philosophy pre-law major and officer of the SPL student club, said she doesnt know much about her family in Gaza due to the lack of reliable communication.

My aunt had a stroke (but) theres no medical help that she can get, she said, declining to share her last name due to fear of retaliation against her family in Gaza. My cousin whos her daughter just had a baby... she had to give birth with no anesthesia, theres no way for them to check the health of the baby.

Seja said shes very sad for her family  but was grateful to the university leadership for the opportunity to gather on campus.

It does remind me that people are supporting me and people are in support of the genocide to end, she said.

A Palestinian-Mexican student who only gave her first name, Alia, said she still has family in Gaza. Due to the blockade, she said she was never able to meet many of her Palestinian relatives. I never met my grandma, I never met my cousins my aunts, my uncles, she said.

A first-generation Ukranian-American who did not share his name said he wanted to highlight the different response to the suffering of people in Gaza and Ukraine, which has experienced a full-scale attack by Russia for the past two years.

Humanity is granted to the people in Ukraine and humanity is not granted to the people in Palestine often, he said.

The sit-in was expected to wind down around 4 to 5 p.m. Students were not planning to hold an encampment like those on other college campuses.

Students and other supporters gather in the Free Speech area at Fresno State while holding Palestinian flags and signs during a peaceful pro-Palestinian sit-in organized by Students for Palestinian Liberation on Wednesday, May 1, 2024.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  As police officers continue to respond to the ongoing protests that surrounded the Portland State University campus Thursday morning, city officials are reacting to recent developments.

Protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and occupying Millar Library were spotted running from the building as police wearing riot gear entered the facility around 9 a.m.  days after the occupation started.

Police clearing Portland State Universitys library occupation, shelter in place declared

KOIN 6 News captured video of the Portland police making their way into the building, armed with 40mm less-lethal launchers. The agency previously said they did not plan to use tear gas on the protesters inside the building. However, chemical munitions appeared to be administered in the open air once the protest made its way outside around 10 a.m.

Portland police announced the library had been cleared by 10:30 a.m. Inside, police said they found caches of tools, what appears to be improvised weapons, ball bearings, paint balloons, spray bottles of ink, and DIY armor.

PPB Sgt. Kevin Allen said at least two police officers were minorly injured in the process of clearing the library. One had been sprayed with a fire extinguisher, and the person accused of spraying the fire extinguisher was immediately arrested.

Just after 11 a.m., police said that they had made 12 total arrests so far and that four of those arrests were PSU students.

Portland police Chief Bob Day said that the arrest of protesters, whether student or non-student, is not something he is happy about. He also lamented that the destruction has seemingly made the legitimate issue regarding Palestinians under bombardment in Gaza an afterthought.

This isnt a victory lap, Chief Day said. In fact, I see these events like this with a great deal of sadness, and the reason is because the criminal behavior that weve outlined and that weve seen demonstrates really co-ops the true message and the specific instances of what is trying to be accomplished.

Very unfortunate juxtaposition: Mayor Wheeler addresses PSU protest in budget press conference

But PSU isnt the only place that has seen unrest in the past 24 hours. More than a dozen Portland police training vehicles were damaged or destroyed at a training facility on Northeast Airport Way overnight.

When officers arrived, they said they found 15 vehicles inside the fenced training area burning. The fires were put out and no injuries were reported. However, police say this incident is being investigated as a separate arson.

Watch the entire press conference by Portland city leaders in the video player above.

Governor Tina Kotek released a statement condemning the acts of vandalism at Portland State University and at the Portland police training facility early Thursday morning.

I fully condemn the criminal actions taken Thursday morning that resulted in the burning of 15 Portland Police Bureau cars, endangering first responders and the surrounding community. I have absolutely no tolerance for discriminatory harassment, violence, or property damage. This includes the acts of vandalism seen this week at the Portland State University library and against nearby businesses. These actions are in direct opposition to Oregon values and threaten working people, families, businesses, and our community as a whole. The Oregon State Police have launched a response on the outer perimeter of Portland State University. The state is prepared to exercise the full extent of the law.

Wednesday night, police in downtown Portland also responded to smashed windows and thrown chairs near the Pioneer Courthouse.

Last nights events downtown were really just a tragedy, Chief Day said in an early morning interview with KOIN 6 News. It saddens me to see the unwillingness for people to exercise their First Amendment rights in a way that gets their message out but also protects the rights of others.

VIDEO: Protesters flee library as police make arrests at Portland State University

At a press conference intended to address a new budget proposal, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler also briefly addressed the ongoing disruption, saying the juxtaposition of these two issues is very unfortunate, and ordinarily we would not attempt to have a press conference on a budget matter as an ongoing police operation of this magnitude.

Later in the day, Mayor Wheeler as head of Portland police thanked law enforcement for their efforts to clear the library Thursday morning.

I want to stress that no one is declaring victory, Wheeler said. This is a fluid situation as youve just heard. There are still law enforcement folks who are deployed. There is still an active situation. We are viewing this as a fluid circumstance.

PHOTOS: Protesters take to Portland streets as PSU library occupation ends

He also questioned the rationale behind the decision to damage local businesses in an effort to protest the ongoing Gaza-Israel conflict.

If you believe that by damaging a business, which frankly harms the front line employees who work in those businesses  we have reports that they were frightened, that they were traumatized, Wheeler said. If you believe that damaging these businesses or trashing a library on a university campus will impact events in the Middle East, you are delusional.

District Attorney Mike Schmidt condemned the criminal acts of those who have spray painted, broken windows and set fires in the area. He, along with Portland police, said they would review photo and video evidence in the pursuit of charging more people with crimes.

We value the right for our voices to be heard, District Attorney Mike Schmidt said. Ill always work to protect that right. But unfortunately, we have seen that some people have resorted to destructive behavior which is not acceptable and will not be tolerated.

PSU President Ann Cudd said the library will not be open to students for quite some time. She previously offered no penalties for students and staff who were in the library if they vacated but now says thats off the table. Indeed, she said students and staff involved in the destruction would be subject to the universitys disciplinary process.

It is tragic that some of our students, along with others from outside, have so badly damaged our library and taken away that essential learning space, Cudd said. As a philosophy professor and the daughter of librarians, that space is a really sacred space to me. I am so sad to see what has happened to it.

When asked for a statement, the office of U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) gave the following statement about the recent protest activity in Portland:

Senator Wyden strongly supports everybodys First Amendment right to peaceful protest while recognizing that anybody crossing the clear line from peaceful expression into property damage and criminal acts can and should face arrest.

U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas (D-Ore.) also released a statement saying she supported free speech but condemned any vandalism and property destruction. Salinas also took the opportunity to call out antisemitism and Islamophobia on college campuses and elsewhere in the U.S.

I support the First Amendment, but free speech also has to remain within the boundaries of the law. I wholly condemn the vandalism and destruction of property that occurred at Portland State. I am also troubled by the rising antisemitism that we are seeing, not just on university campuses but in communities across the country. The same is true for increasing Islamophobia. We must make sure that all Americans can feel safe and protected. Violence is never the answer.

U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici followed suit with a statement condemning how the unacceptable actions of the protesters prevented students from receiving their education:

I respect and support the right to protest, but unfortunately what started as a peaceful protest at PSU evolved into destructive criminal activity. PSU and PPB took many steps to de-escalate the situation and give protestors, many of whom are not PSU students, the opportunity to leave before todays events. It is unacceptable that the actions of a few forced the campus to close and resulted in significant damage to the library, hindering the ability of students to learn and prepare for exams. As a federal policymaker, I am focused on finding solutions that will keep students safe on campus while balancing and protecting First Amendment and other civil rights.

On Thursday afternoon, a joint statement was also released by Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson, Sheriff Morrisey ODonnell and D.A. Schmidt:

As Chair, Sheriff and District Attorney of Multnomah County, we unequivocally condemn the criminal actions that damaged our public university, burned 15 Portland Police Bureau cars, and harmed local businesses.

We are united in our commitment to protect the right to freedom of speech and expression while ensuring the safety of our community. Those who engage in unlawful activity will be held accountable to the greatest extent of the law. Multnomah County will continue working in close coordination with the Portland Police Bureau and Oregon State Police to make sure we are prepared to respond to acts of violence and criminality.

Stay with KOIN 6 News as this story develops.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
MEMPHIS, Tenn.  The City of Memphis is struggling to get a grip on violent crime, and 2023 was listed as the deadliest year yet.

The former mayor introduced a program hoping it would help make a difference, but two years later, funding is running out and some policy makers are questioning it.

The Group Violence Intervention Program was implemented in 2022 as a collaboration between police and community groups. It targets the small group of people committing the majority of the deadly violence. The City of Memphis touted it as a proactive crime-fighting tool.

Memphis intervention program credited for dip in violent crime

When a shooting happens, they asses, try to intervene and offer supportive services.

The city partnered with 901 B.L.O.C. Squad to manage the intervention program within the streets and schools and even got them to scale up their staff to 100 people.

If you take our team away and others in the cities like us, our shootings would be triple, said 901 B.L.O.C.s Executive Director Delvin Lane told us when it launched.

The Public Safety Institute has been evaluating their work.

Today, they released their findings, stating last year 901 B.L.O.C. Squad made contact with more than 1,800 people at risk of committing violence and even more youth. Memphis police also reached out to those at risk for retaliatory violence and encouraged them to attend meetings where they could connect them to supportive services.

From the data that has been gathered, most people at those meetings were not rearrested.

The evaluation also stated the program is nearing successful implementation, and they will gather more data in the future to further gauge whether it is reducing violence.

MPD admitted to the council last week that they are tweaking their strategy, like requiring meetings.

The people committing the crimes arent necessarily the folks being touched, Interim Chief CJ Davis said.

Some council members questioned if they were getting a return on their investment.

Mayor in Orange Mound: We cannot give up on our city

Other cities have scaled up similar programs. Some have spent $10 million on street outreach, and cited significant crime reductions. Memphis has allocated $4.5 million, more than half coming from COVID relief funding, which is running out.

WREG Investigators found out 901 B.L.O.C. Squad had to furlough some of their employees, because the city could not pay them.

Mayor Paul Young said in his budget, he will propose to continue to fund violence intervention work.

We feel like its a critical part of our path to reduce violence in our community, said Young.

The mayor met with Councilman Jeff Warren on Wednesday, and they discussed the program.

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We are going to need more income at the city than we have right now, because weve already run out of money this year for them, said Warren.

Warren said he believes in the program, and theres evidence that shows it will work. He said the program needed two to three years to get going and is now on track to make a difference by lowering the homicide rate by 10%.

We are not going to cut our way to a lower crime rate. We have a problem and have to address it, and its going to take money for us to do that, he said.

We reached out to the mayors office to get more details as to the programs next steps while next years budget is being worked. We are waiting to hear back.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
There is much to be said for the brutality of a British general election, where a removals van turns up at No 10 within hours of a Prime Minister admitting defeat. In America, they manage these things differently, with a gap of two-and-a-half months between defeat and departure. Presidents become lame ducks; policies drift; decisive measures become harder to achieve.

When Abraham Lincoln was elected president in November 1860, the gap was even longer, with his inauguration the following March. Never in American history had the need for clear and effective decision-making been so great; for the drift in policy in this case was a drift towards an appalling civil war in which more than 600,000 soldiers would die.

Erik Larsons new book, The Demon of Unrest, is about that crucial period, plus the first five weeks of Lincolns presidency, after which a phoney war between North and South became a real one. So many volumes have been written about the origins of the American Civil War that one might heave a sigh at the thought of yet another, but Larson has found a genuinely original way of telling the story  and storytelling, on the basis of serious research, is what he does well.

Larsons central focus is on Fort Sumter, an artillery fortress with brick walls five feet thick, on a tiny man-made island at the entrance to Charleston Harbour, the large bay outside the port-city of that name in South Carolina. The fort, still under construction at this time, belonged to the federal government; like several other nearby forts, it was manned by the US Army. When South Carolina declared its secession from the Union in December 1860, the forts commander realised that Sumter was the only one that could not be quickly overrun. In a masterly night-time operation, he shipped all his men there, and then politely declined a request from the governor of South Carolina that he surrender and leave.

The stand-off that followed transfixed the nation. The commander, Maj Robert Anderson, was lionised by many in the North, who thought the vacillating treatment of him by the government in Washington was shabby and demeaning. In the South he was portrayed as an aggressor; the most hot-headed secessionists actually longed for him to turn his guns on Charleston, as they wanted not just a war, but one clearly blameable on the North.

A Civil War-era painting of Abraham Lincoln with the US flag - Alamy

In fact, Anderson was himself a Southerner and a former slave-owner, whose personal sympathies were on that side. But, as a Southern gentleman, he had a code of honour; his oath of loyalty to his army and government took priority. So he did his duty with calm determination. When he defied the final ultimatum from South Carolina in mid-April 1861, and underwent two days of heavy bombardment  the first actual fighting in the Civil War  before agreeing to surrender his burnt-out fortress, he was praised for his conduct by friend and foe alike.

Around the suspense-laden story of Fort Sumter, Larson weaves a larger account of the political forces at work: the prosperous, proud, self-deluding slave-owners of South Carolina; the firebrand abolitionists in the North; and, caught between the two, the government in Washington, shifting this way and that as it tried to placate and pacify. James Buchanan, lame-duck president for most of this period, did not help the cause of the Union by declaring that while states had no right to secede, he would never use force against them if they did.

As for Abraham Lincoln: wrongly denounced by the South as an anti-slavery fanatic, this lawyer-turned-politician reluctantly accepted that Southern slavery was in accordance with the law, and just hoped that it would eventually fade away. But his legalism also told him that because Fort Sumter was a federal outpost, he had every right to reinforce it; his botched attempts to do so, in fact, may even have hastened the conflict.

Lincolns resolute constitutionalism was never in doubt  though the key arguments about states rights and secession are mostly skipped over here. But as Larsons otherwise impressive account makes clear, in the first few weeks of his presidency he could be strangely irresolute in practical matters: another ditherer sliding down the slippery slope to war.

The Demon of Unrest is published by HarperCollins at 25. To order your copy for 19.99, call 0808 196 6794 or visit Telegraph Books

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Paying with an app might be easier than by with a card but it could add to the bill - Digital Vision /Alistair Berg

An Italian restaurant in east London is encouraging customers to pay via an app on their mobile phone  and charging them 2.99 to do so.

Gloria in Shoreditch has prompted anger among some diners who noticed a so-called checkout fee had been added to their bill on top of a 13.5 per cent service charge.

One customer posted a photo of their digital bill with the 2.99 charge to online forum Reddit, asking: Is Gloria in Shoreditch the only restaurant that charges you for the privilege of paying your bill?

The fee applies to customers who pay using the Sunday app, whereby people can scan a QR code at their table and settle the bill on their phone, with the aim of saving them time at the end of their meal. It is optional as customers can choose to pay their bill with a contactless card instead.

The green exterior of Shoreditch restaurant Gloria, which has angered diners by encouraging them to paying with an app that then adds extra cost

The app is used by several UK restaurants including Maison Francois, Angelina, Bancone, Dishoom, Bocca di Lupo, and Japes.

Sunday, which was set up by the founders of Big Mamma Group who own Gloria, previously confirmed to restaurant-industry specialists MCA that in some cases a small fee between 0.5 per cent and 2 per cent fees, capped for big checks, is applied to customers who wish to pay quickly with QR codes, not wait for the bill and get their digital receipt instantly.

This needs stamping out fast

The additional fees, however, have angered customers, with one saying it ruins the whole experience of eating out.

People are sick to the back teeth of booking places, bonkers service charges and still expecting tips, and now stupid things like this. Its for their own good they know about this! they said in response to the post on Reddit.

Another wrote: This needs stamping out fast before it spreads. I hope the restaurant gets boycotted until they see sense.

It comes after a Chinese restaurant in London replaced tips with a so-called brand charge that rewards bosses instead of staff.

Ping Pong, which runs a chain of restaurants across London, has removed the option to pay a 12.5pc service charge as customers face an optional 15pc brand fee instead.

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 also said it had increased employees wages to offset the removal of the service charge.

A spokesperson for Big Mamma Group said: Big Mamma does propose Sunday as a payment option for clients who wish to pay faster, and the fee is part of this software which allows customers to pay via their phone, split the bill and instantly receive their receipt.

Sunday is 100 per cent optional. Of course the traditional ways to pay (cash and credit card) are free of charge and are used by more than 60 per cent of our guests.

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UNITED NATIONS, May 1 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is deeply distressed to hear of the hundreds of lives lost and many others affected by heavy flooding in Burundi, Kenya, Somalia and Tanzania and other parts of East Africa, said his spokesman on Wednesday.

Guterres extends his condolences to the governments and people of the countries affected, especially the families of those who have died or been injured in this disaster, said Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman, in a statement.

The United Nations and its partners are working closely with national authorities to address humanitarian requirements. The secretary-general stresses that the UN stands ready to offer additional assistance at this difficult period, said the statement.

Guterres is extremely concerned about the impacts of El Nino-triggered extreme weather, which risk further devastating communities and undermining their livelihoods, it said. 
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) labeled the House antisemitism legislation as a ridiculous hate speech bill ahead of the vote Wednesday.

The House approved a bill that aims to crack down on antisemitism on college campuses amid ongoing pro-Palestinian protests taking place at U.S. universities across the country. Gaetz voiced his opposition to the bill ahead of the vote, saying some excerpts of the Bible would meet this bills definition of antisemitism.

This evening, I will vote AGAINST the ridiculous hate speech bill called the Antisemitism Awareness Act,' he wrote on the social platform X.

Antisemitism is wrong, but this legislation is written without regard for the Constitution, common sense, or even the common understanding of the meaning of words. The Gospel itself would meet the definition of antisemitism under the terms of this bill! he continued.

The bill, if enacted, would require the Department of Education to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism when enforcing antidiscrimination laws.

Gaetz said that one of the examples of IHRAs definition of antisemitism includes claims of Jews killing Jesus. He then pointed to excerpts from the Bible to back his argument, suggesting that the religious text would fall under the definition.

The Bible is clear. There is no myth or controversy on this. Therefore, I will not support this bill, he added on X.

The IHRA defines antisemitism as a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews and says Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.

The bill would also cover contemporary examples of antisemitism identified by the IHRA, including using the symbols and messages associated with classic antisemitism (e.g., claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterize Israel or Israelis and claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) made a similar argument Wednesday about the legislation, saying she would oppose the bill because it would define antisemitic behavior to include remarks about Jews killing Jesus. The Georgia Republican said in a social media post that the bill could convict Christians of antisemitism for believing the Gospel that says Jesus was handed over to Herod to be crucified by the Jews.

Reps. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) and Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) took aim at Greene for opposing the bill and her rationale for doing so during a joint appearance on CNNs The Lead with Jake Tapper on Wednesday.

Both lawmakers, who introduced the bill last year, said it would not make believing in the Gospel illegal. The bill passed the House Wednesday in a 320-91 vote to send to the Senate for consideration.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Rep. Matt Gaetz came under fire Wednesday from a powerful K Street lobbyist after the lawmaker voted against a bipartisan antisemitism bill  and defended his decision with an antisemitic trope.

Jeff Miller, a close ally of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, called Gaetz an anti-semite and a pedophile as he responded on X, formerly Twitter, to a post less than an hour earlier by the Florida representative.

The legislation, which comes in response to campus protests of the Israel-Hamas war, would require the Education Department to codify the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances definition of antisemitism. It passed in a 320-91 vote but is not expected to be taken up by the Senate.

In his post, Gaetz said antisemitism is wrong, but he said the bill violates the Constitution and common sense with its definition of antisemitic language.

The bill says the definition of antisemitism includes contemporary examples of antisemitism identified by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). One of those examples includes:  claims of Jews killing Jesus , Gaetz wrote. The Bible is clear. There is no myth or controversy on this. Therefore, I will not support this bill.

Claims that Jews are responsible for the execution of Jesus by Roman authorities have long been regarded as an antisemitic trope and rejected by historians and theologians.

The late Pope Benedict XVI, for example, wrote in a 2011 book that there was no basis in Scripture for the argument that Jewish people were collectively responsible for the death of Jesus.

Youre not just a pedophile but also an anti-semite the rhetoric like this statement that Jews killed Jesus is an anti semitic trope, Miller wrote on X.



Gaetz later issued a response to POLITICO. Antisemitism is wrong. I condemn it in any form," he said. "But if hastily approving a poorly drafted bill that could literally deem the Bible antisemitism is our response, then the antisemites win.

Gaetz has been accused of having sex with a teenager who was under 18 but has not been charged and denies the allegation. McCarthy has blamed the Florida representative for his loss of the speakership, saying "one person wanted me to stop an ethics complaint because he slept with a 17-year-old."

At the time, Gaetz tied the decision to force a vote to remove McCarthy to the California Republicans decision to work with House Democrats to avert a looming government shutdown.

Miller declined to comment further on the post.
GARY, Ind.  Roosevelt High School in Gary has been named one of the countrys most endangered places.

The school, located steps away from the Jackson family home on 25th Avenue, was closed in 2020 after pipes burst the previous year.

Roosevelt was built in 1930 exclusively for African American students as the United States was still segregated at the time. At its peak, it housed over 3,000 students  making it one of the largest African American high schools in the Midwest.

Repair costs for the school, which is already listed in the National Register of Historic Places, are estimated to be $20 million.

The school was recently named one of 11 most endangered historical places for 2024 by the National Trust of Historic Preservation. The annual list has included over 350 sites over the years with only a few lost, according to the organization.

Photos: Inside Beverly Shores Century of Progress tropical home; available for $2.5M in cash

A coalition, including the alumni association and Indiana Landmarks, announced Wednesday that theyre exploring feasible reuse strategies for Roosevelt now that it will no longer be used as a school.

Courtesy Indiana Landmarks

Courtesy Indiana Landmarks

Courtesy Indiana Landmarks

Courtesy Indiana Landmarks

Courtesy Indiana Landmarks

Courtesy Indiana Landmarks

Courtesy Indiana Landmarks

Hearing the stories of community members and alumni, we are inspired by Roosevelt High Schools lasting cultural importance. By including Roosevelt High School on the endangered list, we hope to support the new vision for the site, said President and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation Carol Quillen. The building was still a functioning school just five years ago, so by taking incremental steps, restoring and adapting the property is an entirely attainable goal. We stand behind the many incredible advocates determined to preserve the iconic property and adapt it for uses that serve the surrounding community.

Roosevelt was in the Gary School Corporation until 2012 when it was taken over by the Indiana Department of Education. It was a charter school at the time of its closure.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV.
About two dozen protesters sat in the middle of a roadway blocking access to one of the main gates at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, Thursday morning, waving flags and vowing to shut everything down over U.S. military support for Israels war in Gaza.

Base spokesman Rob Smith said Kirtland supports citizens rights to peacefully assemble and protest and that base security would monitor the situation throughout the day. Meanwhile, the gate would remain closed indefinitely and people who work on the base were advised to use other routes.

The protest comes just days after 16 people  including five students  were arrested at the University of New Mexico just a few miles away after they occupied the campus student union building and caused damage inside.

Kirtland, a base of around 22,000 employees in Albuquerque, is home to a range of air and space research-and-development programs, special operations units and the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, which manages acquisition and sustainment of the services nuclear enterprise.

Thursdays protest is the latest demonstration to target a U.S. military installation since Hamas militants attacked Israel in October, killing around 1,200 people and abducting around 250 hostages. Israels retaliatory invasion has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians as of the end of April, according to Gaza health officials.

In March, five protesters were arrested for blocking an entrance to Travis AFB, California, in opposition to Americas materiel support for the Israeli military. In November, hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters in Turkey tried to storm Incirlik Air Base, which houses U.S. troops, ahead of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinkens visit to Ankara for talks on Gaza.

Opposition to the war has come from within the U.S. Air Force as well.

Senior Airman Aaron Bushnell, a 25-year-old cyber defense operations specialist, died in February after setting himself ablaze outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington while declaring that he will no longer be complicit in genocide. Bushnell walked up to the embassy shortly before 1 p.m. on Feb. 25 and livestreamed his self-immolation on the video streaming platform Twitch, The Associated Press reported at the time.

Bushnells death has prompted at least one other airman  Senior Airman Larry Hebert, an integrated avionics journeyman  to publicly protest the war. Hebert began a hunger strike April 1.

He told Military.com he planned to consume only water and a juice supplement until my body cannot go any longer or we get the cease-fire and the end of unconditional aid to Israel.
Israeli fighter jets and artillery hit central Gaza on Thursday, the army said, as efforts to reach a new deal between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist Hamas group continue.

Israeli Air Force (IAF) "fighter jets struck armed terrorists, terrorist infrastructure, and operational tunnel shafts," the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Telegram. "The IDF continues to operate in the central Gaza Strip," it added.

The IDF said it launched its attack after "a number of launches" on Wednesday from central Gaza against Israeli forces. A mortar shell launcher was destroyed and several armed fighters were killed, the army said. It reported no Israeli injuries.

Meanwhile Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant discussed "operational developments" in northern and southern Israel in a phone call with his US counterpart, Lloyd Austin, a Gallant spokeswoman said. They also discussed efforts to release further hostages held by Hamas.

Austin also provided information about preparations for future Gaza operations. Israel has announced that it will go ahead with a controversial military operation in the city of Rafah in the south of the coastal strip if there is no early agreement on a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners.

In addition, humanitarian aid for the suffering population in Gaza and the opening of further crossings were also on the agenda. Aid deliveries have recently increased significantly, but the US is demanding a further increase.

The Gaza war was triggered by the unprecedented terrorist massacre of more than 1,200 people in Israel, killed by militants from Hamas and other groups on October 7.

Israel responded with massive airstrikes and a ground offensive. In view of the high number of civilian casualties and the catastrophic situation in the Gaza Strip, Israel has come under international criticism.

According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, 34,596 people have been killed and more than 77,800 others injured in Gaza since the war started. Their figures, which do not distinguish between combatants and civilians, cannot be independently verified.

A Palestinian young girl reacts in panic after the Israeli bombing of a populated residential building in Nuseirat. Omar Naaman/dpa

Palestinians help an old woman around after the Israeli bombing of a populated residential building in Nuseirat. Omar Naaman/dpa
Gazans thank U.S. campus protesters. Israel condemns what it sees as 'Nazi-like behavior'

A protester at UCLA sits in front of an encampment's particle-board wall after an order to disperse was given by law enforcement early Thursday morning. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times )

People across the Gaza Strip sent messages of appreciation to demonstrators on U.S. campuses, thanking them for their protests against the Israel-Hamas war.

Children, parents and medical staff assembled in the courtyard before Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza on Wednesday, with many of them unfurling banners carrying university insignia with Thank you for supporting our cause.

Others brandished signs that said, Your voices pierce the wall of silence and reach the victims in Gaza, The killing of children in Gaza must stop and Palestine is everywhere.

In recent days, as protests and encampments have spread on dozens of U.S. campuses, people in Gaza have taken note of the outpouring of solidarity, both in the United States and abroad.

They in turn have responded  on social media, in rallies, in videos, by words scribbled on tents  with messages of support of their own. Many view the protests as a positive omen in a time of unrelenting bleakness in Gaza .

At another event, in Deir al Balah, others hoped for similar protests to spread in European and Arab countries.

Read more: This 5-year-old from Gaza is learning to live with one leg and untold loss

This was a gathering of thanks and pride for the efforts by students in American universities, said Baraa Safi, an English teacher interviewed by a local broadcaster on Wednesday.

It makes a big difference in our lives and it gives us hope that people are still hearing us; that people want to help us, stand with us and end the war were living through every day.

Universities across the U.S. have been rocked since mid-April by demonstrations demanding universities endowments divest from Israel-linked investments and companies and calling on Israel to end its bombardment and ground attacks in the Palestinian territory.

Read more: After Hamas killed his mother, an Israeli man chooses peace over vengeance

Israels war on the Hamas militant group has lasted nearly seven months and has killed more than 34,000 people and wounded more than 77,000, according to Hamas health authorities in Gaza. The figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but officials, aid groups and activists say most of the casualties are women and children.

Israel launched its military offensive in Gaza Strip after the Oct. 7 attack , when Hamas operatives stormed more than 20 sites in southern Israel, killing roughly 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostage . Slightly more than half of the hostages are believed to remain in Gaza, including 34 that are presumed dead by Israeli authorities.

Israels ambassador to the United Nations characterized the U.S. campus protests as the murderous cries of the pro-Palestinian mobs and castigated universities for allowing Nazi-like behavior.

Read more: Israel's religious right has a clear plan for Gaza: 'We are occupying, deporting and settling'

We always knew that Hamas hides in schools, Gilad Erdan said in a speech to the U.N.s General Assembly on Wednesday. We just didnt realize that its not only schools in Gaza. Its also Harvard, Columbia and many elite universities.

He also accused the U.N. of spreading anti-Israel vitriol and said the organizations days were numbered.

Read more: Two friends, each with family trapped in Gaza, are united by anguish. 'I should be there to protect them'

The protests in the U.S. have added to domestic and international pressure on President Biden to push through a deal between Hamas and Israel that would end the fighting and release hostages and other detainees.

On Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said there is a proposal on the table and the time is now for a deal. He blamed Hamas for the delay, a charge the groups leaders denied.

On Thursday, Hamas said its negotiating team would return to Egypt soon for additional talks and a response to a proposal made this week.

The groups chief, Ismail Haniyeh, said in a call Thursday to Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani that Hamas was studying the cease-fire proposal with a positive spirit.

Negotiations have stumbled over the permanence of a cease-fire and whether the displaced will be able to return to their homes in Gaza. Mediators have offered a 40-day cease-fire and exchange of Israeli hostages and many Palestinian detainees.





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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Authorities are praising advances in DNA testing for helping to identify the dismembered victim of an unsolved homicide in western Massachusetts in 1989.

Constance Holminski Bassignani, 65, was identified by authorities as the victim in the decades-old case on Thursday.

Bassignanis dismembered remains were found off the road on Route 78 in Warwick on June 24, 1989, authorities said. At the time of her death, she had been living in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, and had previously lived in Franklin, Massachusetts.

Born in Hawaii in 1924, she was last seen alive on Memorial Day weekend in 1989. Her family and friends did not hear from her after that holiday weekend.

A short time later, her husband, William Bassignani, told family and friends at the time that she had moved back to Hawaii, authorities said. Investigators found no evidence that Constance Bassignani ever moved back to Hawaii.

William Bassignani, who died in 1993, is considered a person of interest in the unsolved homicide case that rattled the small town of Warwick in the late 1980s. The town, in Franklin County, listed a population of just 780 at the 2020 census.

Othram, a private forensic laboratory based in Houston, Texas, performed the genetic testing that led to the identification of Constance Bassignanis remains, authorities said.

In 2023, the same company helped to identify the remains of Patricia Ann Tucker, whose body had been discovered in November 1978 under leaves on a logging road off Amherst Road in Granby.

Once again, we are heartened to be able to identify and name the victim of a long unsolved homicide, Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan told reporters on Thursday. The Massachusetts State Police and Northwestern District Attorneys staff worked hard for this breakthrough. We hope it brings remaining family members one step closer to a sense of closure.

Since a suspect has not been identified, the case remains under investigation, officials said.

First Assistant District Attorney Steven Gagne told reporters that authorities held the press conference on Thursday to bring renewed attention to this case, and to hopefully trigger some additional leads in this ongoing investigation.

Now that we know Constances identity, who she was married to at the time she disappeared, and where she lived, we are hopeful there may be someone out there who knows something, no matter how seemingly small or insignificant, that could help push this investigation forward, Gagne said.

In both the Granby and Warwick homicide investigations, Othram used the victims DNA profile. Through forensic genetic genealogy, the company was able to identify and connect likely relatives to each of the women.

Investigators are asking anyone who may have any information about the case to call the State Police Detective Unit at the Northwestern District Attorneys office at 413-512-5361.

The public can also submit information through the Northwestern District Attorneys website.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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CANTON, Ohio (WJW)  The family of a man who died in police custody in Canton is getting help from a nationally known civil rights attorney.

Ben Crump represented the family of George Floyd.

Heavenly sighting? Local picture inspires hope

Crump joined the family of Frank Tyson and other local attorneys on Thursday in Canton for a press conference about the mans death.

Tyson, 53, died on April 18 after being handcuffed and restrained with a knee to his neck, which was seen on police video of the incident.

I cant breathe. Youre on my neck. I cant breathe, were Tysons last words, according to the video.

Police had responded to a report of a car accident.

The driver, identified as Tyson, went into a local AMVETS on Sherrick Road after the incident.

Hes screaming at our members, he wont leave, a 911 caller said. Can you hear him in the background? We have already called once before, he wont leave. He said somebodys trying to kill him in the parking lot, but theres nobody in the parking lot.

Courtesy: Canton Police Department

Courtesy: Canton Police Department

Officers arrived on scene at about 8:30 p.m. Tyson was pronounced dead just after 9:15 p.m. at the hospital.

Autopsy results are pending.

On Thursday, attorneys Ben Crump and Bobby DiCello held a joint press conference with Tysons family members to clear their opposition against systemic police violence in Canton, Ohio, that has led to yet another death in Northeast Ohio due to excessive deadly force by law enforcement.

Another Melt Bar & Grilled location closes

This is George Floyd 2.0, DiCello said. The whole world knew that case. And its our job to make sure they know Franks case.

DiCello represented the family of Jayland Walker, who was shot and killed by Akron police in June 2022.

I am eager to stand shoulder-to-shoulder again with my good friend and colleague, Ben Crump, DiCello said in a statement. Ben has led several high-profile cases, most notably George Floyd. With our teamwork, I am confident that we will find justice for Frank Tyson.

How many more Black men in America have to tell police officers, I cant breathe, before police actually believe these men? said Crump.

A knee on his neck? You got him! He aint going nowhere, Crump said.

Crump led the crowd in a chant. It could happen to my daughter, it could happen to my son. Thats why we have to get justice for Frank Tyson!

Tyson was recently released from prison for a kidnapping charge where he served 24 years in prison, according to records from the Stark County Court of Appeals.

Crump said Tyson was wrongfully convicted, saying that two people in the case recanted their statements.

Frank had been free for two weeks before he was robbed of his life by a racist criminal justice system, Crump said.

How many Black people do they kill and then try to assassinate their character? Crump said.

Dont put your knee on my neck! Crump said, adding the officers actions were complete inhumanity.

You know what killed him? Being Black, Tysons cousin Ronald Simmons said.

Justice for Frank Tyson! Simmons said as the crowd joined him.

Tysons fiance Sabrina Jones was emotional at the press conference. Crump said she stuck by him during Tysons time in prison.

Jones said the two had gone to meet a lawyer about the kidnapping case.

But the cops ended his life. They didnt give him a chance, Jones said.

The press conference was held at St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church in Canton.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW.
Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp on Wednesday signed immigration enforcement legislation pushed in the wake of nursing student Laken Rileys death.

Kemp said at the signing that the legislation, which was sent to his desk in late March, became one of our top priorities following the senseless death of Laken Riley, who was found dead on the University of Georgias campus in February.

After Jose Antonio Ibarra, an undocumented immigrant from Venezuela, was charged with the murder of Riley, Republican lawmakers have used the incident to push for stricter immigration policies.

If you enter our country illegally and proceed to commit further crimes in our communities, we will not allow your crimes to go unanswered, Kemp said at the signing.

The measure signed Wednesday, HB 1105, requires local and state law officials to verify the immigration status of those over the age of 18 who have been arrested, those in detention or those who an officer has probable cause to believe have committed a crime.

Local law enforcement agencies who do not cooperate with immigration officials could lose state funding, and local officials who do not work with immigration authorities could face misdemeanor charges.

Proponents of the legislation call it a public safety bill, and national Republicans have often tied crime and undocumented immigrants  though research has found no connection.

However, Latino organizations told CNN theyre concerned this may lead to racial profiling and cases where US citizens are mistaken for undocumented immigrants solely because of the color of their skin or their accent.

Pedro Marin, the longest-serving Latino member of the Georgia House of Representatives, said during debate that lawmakers are pursuing fear as a strategy

But our community cannot and should not be collectively punished for the horrific actions of one, he said in February.

Last month, Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee signed a similar bill requiring law enforcement in the state to inform federal officials of the immigration status of a person in their custody and to cooperate with efforts to detain and remove undocumented immigrants from the country.

Similarly, Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis signed three new bills in March targeting undocumented migrants that increase the maximum sentence for people driving illegally without a license; enhance penalties for a crime committed by an individual who returns to the country after deportation, and establish that Florida will not recognize identifications issued to undocumented migrants.

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ISLAMABAD, May 2 (Xinhua) -- The Pakistani military said on Thursday that three terrorists were killed in an operation in the country's northwest Tank district.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the military, said in a statement that security forces conducted a joint intelligence-based operation on Thursday in Tank district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The military reported that security personnel exchanged intense fire with the terrorists when the operation started, resulting in the killing of three terrorists, including a ring leader. 
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) signed a controversial bill Wednesday requiring cash bail for more offenses that require cash bail, according to a press release from his office.

The state Senate bill, S.B. 63, adds offenses including racketeering, sex trafficking and animal cruelty to the list of those that require cash bail in the Peach State. The bill was sponsored by five Republicans, including the states Senate majority whip, Sen. Randy Robertson.

This bill carries out important bail reforms that will ensure dangerous individuals cannot walk our streets and commit further crimes, Kemp said in a bill signing ceremony Wednesday, according to his office.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) chapter of Georgia heavily criticized the bill being signed in a statement Wednesday, describing S.B. 63 as cruel, costly, and counterproductive.

Research shows that sweeping people into incarceration only increases crime and taxpayer costs, and yet Georgia locks up a higher percentage of its people than any other state in the country, the statement said.

SB 63 doubles down on that position, forcing even more people to languish in jail because they are poor or mentally ill, it continued. We are very disappointed that Gov. Kemp has sacrificed the good of Georgia for political gain. The ACLU of Georgia will challenge SB 63 in the courts to stop it from going into effect.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Dana Pope, with her husband John by her side, holds a photo of her son, Ethan, as she speaks at a news conference at the Georgia Capitol on May 2, 2024, after Gov. Brian Kemp signed a bill to regulate kratom. Extracted from the leaves of a tropical tree native to Southeast Asia, kratom is used to make capsules, powders and liquids. It's often sold in gas stations or smoke shops, marketed as an aid for pain, anxiety and drug dependence.The Popes say their son died after using kratom and that they hope the newly signed legislation will prevent other families from having to go through what they did. (AP Photo/Kate Brumback)

ATLANTA (AP)  Georgia's governor on Thursday signed a bill putting new regulations on the production and sale of products containing kratom, a plant-based supplement.

The law, which takes effect Jan. 1, prohibits the sale of kratom to anyone under 21 and says it must be kept behind a counter or in a display area that is only accessible to store employees. It also limits the concentration of kratom's main chemical components in products sold in Georgia, imposes new labeling requirements and adds penalties for violations.

Extracted from the leaves of a tropical tree native to Southeast Asia, kratom is used to make capsules, powders and liquids. It's often sold in gas stations or smoke shops, marketed as an aid for pain, anxiety and drug dependence.

Proponents of kratom say its a safe, natural herbal supplement that can help manage pain and ease the effects of opioid withdrawal. An estimated 1.7 million Americans used kratom in 2021, according to a national survey by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

It acts as a stimulant in low doses and a sedative at high doses, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which says kratom can be addictive and can cause hallucinations, delusions and confusion. The DEA considers kratom a drug and chemical of concern," but it is not a controlled substance. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration hasn't approved any drug products containing kratom or its main chemical components.

State Rep. Rick Townsend, a Republican from coastal Brunswick, sponsored the legislation after he was contacted by Anne and Larry Rogers, a couple in his district whose son Wes died after using kratom.

It shook me pretty hard, he said of that phone call, which prompted him to do research on kratom. His initial plan was to try to ban it, he said, but he eventually settled on adding regulations.

This is a joyous day, but it's not a joyous day because we've lost loved ones because of it. But at least right now we can try to save some others in the process, Townsend said at a news conference after the governor signed the bill. He was joined by the Rogerses and two other families who say they lost loved ones who used kratom.

U.S. health officials said in a report released in 2019 that kratom was a cause in 91 overdose deaths in 27 states. While most of those who died had also taken heroin, fentanyl or other drugs, kratom was the only substance detected in seven of the deaths.

Dana and John Pope, whose son Ethan died after using kratom have filed a lawsuit against people, companies and organizations connected to the manufacturing, marketing and sale of kratom. Dana Pope said at the news conference that the product her son took would be illegal under the new law, so we're really hoping that his death prevents other families from having to endure the pain and the loss that we have.

The American Kratom Association, a trade organization and advocacy group, had urged people to contact Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp to ask him to veto the bill, saying it adds criminalization penalties for vendors, complicates product configurations, and will limit kratom availability for consumers in Georgia.

Mac Haddow, a senior fellow on public policy for the association, said Thursday that the organization supports regulations to protect consumers. But he said they're disappointed this law doesn't designate any state agency to make sure that kratom products are properly formulated and labeled. That could make retailers hesitant to sell kratom products if they're not sure they comply with the law, he said.

The association hopes to work with Georgia lawmakers during the next legislative session, which starts in January, to quickly address those issues, Haddow said.

The Georgia legislation raises the age to purchase kratom from 18 to 21. It also prohibits the use of kratom with any sort of vaping device or the sale of kratom intended for use in a vaping device.

The law clarifies the definition of kratom and caps the levels of the two main chemical components in kratom, mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, allowed in a serving of a kratom product. It also requires labels to include the recommended serving size and a time frame for safe consumption and limits the claims about benefits that can be made on labeling.

Violations of some parts of the law, including selling kratom to an underage person, will be a misdemeanor and carry a fine of up to $250 for a first offense, up to $500 for a second offense and up to $1,000 for each subsequent offense.

Processors and retailers who knowingly or with criminal negligence violate other sections of the law having to do with the production or labeling of kratom products can be charged with a felony punishable by one to 15 years in prison, a fine of up to $100,000 or both.
Georgia officer fired, arrested after police respond to disturbance call at his home

A Georgia police officer has been fired and arrested after a disturbance call was taken at his home over the weekend.

Early Sunday morning, Kingsland police were notified about a disturbance at the home of Glynn County officer Zachary Hampel.

After investigating for a few days, Hampel was officially dismissed by the Glynn County Police Department on Wednesday.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Glynn County officials said this decision was made to uphold the public trust.

All of Hampels company-issued equipment and property were taken. Hampel was placed on administrative leave without pay.

This news has been a burden for every officer in the GCPD, including me. However, as unfortunate as the chain of events have been, it is important that the investigation was completed thoroughly and swiftly and bolsters the trust the Glynn County public has in our department to do the right thing, to uphold the highest standards of integrity and accountability, said GCPD Chief Scott Ebner.

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IN OTHER NEWS:
Georgian PM refuses to visit US due to condition regarding 'foreign agents' law

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze will not travel to the U.S. because he was invited under the condition that Tbilisi suspend discussions on the controversial "foreign agents" law in parliament, the Georgian Foreign Ministry said on May 2.

The statement came after U.S. Ambassador to Tbilisi Robin Dunnigan said that Georgian officials had declined an invitation to the U.S. to discuss strategic partnership and Washington's assistance.

The ministry said that the invitation for Kobakhidze contained a clause to temporarily suspend consideration of the "foreign agents" draft law.

The ruling Georgian Dream party recently reintroduced the legislation in parliament, renaming it a bill on the "transparency of foreign influence" but keeping the intent of the previous law essentially identical.

The bill, which must be passed in three readings before it becomes law, would require organizations that receive foreign funding to be labeled as "foreign agents." The law mirrors repressive Russian laws used to crack down on Kremlin regime critics, and is popularly referred to in Georgia as the "Russian law."

"Conducting the visit with reservations is at odds with the spirit of partnership, which should be based on mutual respect and mutual trust, the ministry said, adding that Dunnigan received a detailed explanation.

For the past two weeks, thousands of protesters have gathered nightly in front of the Georgian parliament building in Tbilisi.

Georgian police violently attempted to disperse a demonstration in opposition to the "foreign agents" law on April 30 and May 1. At least eight protesters were reportedly injured.

A similar bill was retracted in 2023 following mass protests. EU officials have previously indicated that the enactment of the law would negatively impact Georgia's prospects for EU membership.

The European Parliament passed a resolution condemning the "foreign agents" law on April 25.

Read also: Georgian government holds massive anti-West rally as it aims to pass Russian-style law

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Georgia faces another week of political turmoil as MPs and protesters continue to clash over a controversial "foreign influence" bill that threatens the country's bid to join the European Union, and which critics say is an attack on the media and civil society.

Thousands have taken to the streets after the government announced on 4 April it was reintroducing the bill to parliament, having abandoned it last year following mass protests. This culminated in Sunday's "March for Europe" where at least 20,000 people filled Tbilisi's central Republic Square, with more pro- and anti-government demonstrations due to take place in the coming days.

The law has "ignited a political crisis in the polarised South Caucasus country," reported Reuters, with Georgia "at a crossroads now", said Kornely Kakachia, head of the Georgian Institute of Politics think tank, and facing the choice "between authoritarianism and the potential to become part of Europe".

'The Russian law'

The draft Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence would require all organisations  ranging from media outlets to human rights groups to NGOs  that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as agents of foreign influence, with fines for those who do not obey.

The ruling Georgian Dream party has said the bill is modelled on the US Foreign Agents Registration Act and is needed to promote transparency and combat "pseudo-liberal values" imposed by foreigners.

Bidzina Ivanishvili, the influential billionaire founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, accused a Western "global party of war" of meddling in Georgia in a rare speech at a rally in support of the bill on Monday. The former PM said that Georgia and Ukraine had been treated as "cannon fodder" by Western countries and that "the financing of NGOs, which presents itself as help for us, is in reality for strengthening (foreign) intelligence agencies, and for bringing them to power."

But critics, including Georgia's opposition and civil society groups, have dubbed the bill "the Russian law", comparing it to similar legislation that the Kremlin has used to suppress dissent and silence political opponents. In Russia, which ruled over Georgia until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, hundreds of journalists, politicians and rights groups have been listed as "foreign agents", which "carries connotations of spying", said Reuters and "has been used to create a climate of suspicion around people and organisations that the authorities want to portray as subversive".

Georgia at a crossroads

Once seen as "leading the democratic transformation of ex-Soviet countries," Georgia has in "recent years been criticised for perceived democratic backsliding", said France 24.

This, though, is a "decisive moment", agreed The Times, and could "wreck the country's hopes of joining the European Union and bring it back under the Kremlin's control".

Officials in Brussels, which awarded EU candidate status to Georgia in December, have said that the draft law is "incompatible" with EU values, while Britain, the US and Germany have all criticised the decision to reintroduce it.

But despite Georgia's bid for EU and Nato membership being enshrined in the constitution and backed by more than 80% of the population, according to recent polls, Georgian Dream has a commanding majority and so can pass laws and vote down a presidential veto without needing the support of any opposition MPs. Parliament is expected to approve the second of three readings in the next few days.

The ruling party insists it remains staunchly pro-European and Moscow has denied having any role in the ongoing turmoil but the unrest has "echoes of the Maidan revolution in Kyiv in 2013 and 2014, which began when President Yanukovych withdrew at the last moment from a deal to move Ukraine closer to the EU after pressure from Moscow", said The Times.

"Massive protest rallies later toppled Yanukovych and President Putin deployed troops to Crimea and eastern Ukraine in a move that laid the ground for Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022," warned the paper.

Putin sees the Caucasus, like Ukraine, as part of a lost greater Russia, and could use the current unrest as a pretext to intervene. But the West also has an "important stake in whether Georgia returns to Moscow's orbit or throws off Russian influence" concluded Reuters, and, crucially, "whether that can be done without triggering further conflict".
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is received at the airport by Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Australia Beate Grzeski, and Head of the Europe Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Australia Chris Cannan. Sina Schuldt/dpa

Germany's foreign minister arrived on Thursday evening in Australia for a trip that will also take her to New Zealand and Fiji.

Annalena Baerbock landed in Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, after a flight of almost 19 hours that was interrupted only by a refuelling stop in Bali.

She flew on an A350 German government aircraft named Konrad Adenauer, a former German chancellor.

Her flight was being closely watched. In August of last year, Baerbock's same three-nation trip had to be abandoned due to repeated technical malfunctions on an older government aircraft that has since been taken out of service. She never made it beyond Abu Dhabi.

On Friday, Baerbock plans to meet Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, visit a cybersecurity centre and an Australian Navy post in Adelaide.

From Adelaide, she is due to travel on to New Zealand on Friday evening and then on Sunday become the first German foreign minister to visit the island state of Fiji in the South Pacific.

In total, she will cover around 43,000 kilometres and spend more than 50 hours on the plane.

Baerbock noted before leaving Berlin that the region is becoming increasingly important to Germany for strategic and economic reasons, especially given tensions with China over espionage allegations, trade, Taiwan and the contested waters of the South China Sea.
French President Emmanuel Macron (L) and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speak during a press statement after their meeting in the Federal Chancellery. Christoph Soeder/dpa

French President Emmanuel Macron will receive German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Paris on Thursday evening, days before a visit by China's president and Communist Party leader Xi Jinping.

The Elysee Palace said that the meeting between Macron and Scholz would be a private dinner. No further details were disclosed.

Xi is visiting France on Monday and Tuesday for the first time in almost five years as part of a trip to Europe.

Macron and Scholz are expected to agree on joint positions regarding Xi's visit.

The German leader's brief stop in Paris is likely part of an ongoing effort to clear up disagreements that have arisen between the capitals over Ukraine, trade, nuclear energy and other issues.

On Thursday, Berlin and Paris announced that Macron now plans a state visit to Germany from May 26 to 28, to make up for a state visit which was cancelled at short notice last year due to unrest in France.

Xi's first stop in France on Monday will be Paris, where, in addition to bilateral talks with Macron, a three-way meeting with Macron and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is also planned, as announced by the Elysee Palace.

Scholz's participation in the talks with Xi is not planned, but France is coordinating closely with Germany, it said.

Prior to Macron's visit to China a year ago, the French president had also coordinated with Scholz in advance.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz shakes hands with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) during a press meeting. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, in yet another discussion with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, spoke on the phone about efforts to release all the hostages and obtain a ceasefire. Michael Kappeler/dpa

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, in yet another discussion with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, spoke on the phone about efforts to release all the hostages and obtain a ceasefire.

The two also spoke about further improvements to humanitarian aid for the people in the Gaza, German deputy spokesman Wolfgang Buchner said on Thursday. Additional details were not disclosed.

As part of mediation efforts in Cairo, the Palestinian Islamist Hamas, which abducted some 250 people from Israel on October 7, was presented with a proposal for a ceasefire in return for the release of hostages. A response is still pending.

Some of the hostages were released in an exchange in November but it is unclear how many of the remaining in captivity are still alive.

The Islamist organization has so far insisted on an end to the war and Israeli troop pullout as a basis for a hostage deal. Israel rejects this.

The Israeli government has said it would launch its controversial offensive in Rafah in the south on the border with Egypt if no agreement is reached.

The Gaza war was triggered by the unprecedented massacre of more than 1,200 people killed by Hamas terrorists and other groups in Israel on October 7.

Israel, which responded with massive airstrikes and a ground offensive, has come under heavy international criticism given the high number of civilian casualties and the catastrophic situation in the Gaza.

According to Palestinian authorities last week, more than 34,000 people have died since Israel launched the military operation.
Editors note: This report has been updated to clarify the Biden administrations efforts to empower the Palestinian Authority to replace Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The Biden administration and Israels supporters in Congress are lashing out at the International Criminal Court (ICC) over potential arrest warrants that could be issued for alleged crimes by Israeli officials in prosecuting the countrys war against Hamas.

The reports of forthcoming arrest warrants have reignited debate over the courts priorities, and poses a high-profile test of the bodys independence in the face of political pressure and influence from all sides.

Lawmakers on both sides of the U.S. political aisle have raised the prospect of consequences if the ICC goes ahead with the arrest warrants.

President Bidens officials and allies argue the court holds no jurisdiction over Israel, and that democratic nations with an independent judiciary should not be subject to the courts scrutiny.

My understanding of the ICC, first Im not sure they have jurisdiction. Secondly, If a country has a comparable system, its not an appropriate investigation by the ICC, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told The Hill.

But Biden officials have remained tight-lipped on whether they would seek to impose actions on the ICC if it went ahead with the arrest warrants. In April 2021, Biden revoked sanctions on ICC prosecutors imposed by the Trump administration.

Blowback from Israels supporters in the U.S. would likely chill American cooperation with the court, which can be carried out on a case-by-case basis.

Thats something that always worried us, because we wanted the ICC to be succeeding in Sudan or Ukraine or Uganda or Congo, wherever it was doing cases, said Stephen Rapp, who served as head of the Office of Global Criminal Justice during the Obama administration.

Thats one of the things I frankly fear from all of this, and something the ICC should be aware of, added Rapp, who also served as a prosecutor of war crimes for Sierra Leone and Rwanda.

Even as the U.S. is not a member of the ICC, its participation in certain cases gives it significant influence with the prosecutors on the court, which they use to elevate American concerns over how actions by the court can have a negative impact on sensitive diplomacy or the situation on the ground.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly courting U.S. influence to help kill ICC attempts to issue arrest warrants for himself and other senior Israeli officials over alleged war crimes committed in Gaza. The ICC is reportedly also looking to issue arrest warrants for Hamas officials over its Oct. 7 assault in Israel, which triggered the war.

It will  be the first time that a democratic country fighting for its life according to the rules of war is itself accused of war crimes, Netanyahu said on Tuesday.

Israel expects the leaders of the free world to stand firmly against the ICCs outrageous assault on Israels inherent right of self-defense. We expect them to use all the means at their disposal to stop this dangerous move.

The U.S. has a complicated relationship with the ICC that has drawn claims of hypocrisy. When the U.S. in 2022 engaged the court to investigate alleged Russian war crimes committed in Ukraine, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) called to revoke a Bush-era law that requires the U.S. to block the court from investigating Americans.

Its easy for people to see the hypocrisy in those two statements when weve said previously that we dont believe in the ability of the court to [be] unbiased, Omar told HuffPost at the time.

The criticism from Omar, a fierce critic of Israels policy toward Palestinians who has been condemned by her colleagues for trafficking in antisemitic language, speaks to the pressure faced by ICC prosecutor Karim A. A. Khan from both sides of the Gaza conflict.

Muslim-majority countries and developing countries, including many who support Palestinians, have long criticized the court as bowing to the whims of the U.S.

The most intense pressure and the criticism has come that hes  going after countries that arent liked by the U.S. rather than countries that are liked by the U.S. said Rapp.

The ICC launched its investigation into possible Israeli war crimes in Gaza at the request of ICC members South Africa, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Comoros and Djibouti.

I see it from both sides, Rapp said. On one hand, each prosecutor takes an oath not to take instructions from any government  on the other hand, the international courts do not succeed without state cooperation.

The U.S. and its allies are reportedly worried that the court moving ahead with arrest warrants could harm sensitive diplomacy being carried out to reach a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, which would allow the release of Israeli hostages and an increase in humanitarian aid for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

On top of this, the Biden administration is working to empower the Palestinian Authority to replace Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Further, the administration wants to use establishing ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia as a potential pathway for Israeli recognition of a Palestinian state.

Netanyahu has reportedly warned the U.S. that if the ICC goes ahead with the arrest warrants, he would be forced to impose consequences on the Palestinian Authority, which could trigger its collapse.

Rapp said a clear way for Israel to negate efforts by the ICC is to more publicly show its taking steps to alleviate the apparent merits of the case. The New York Times reported earlier this week that Israeli officials believe the arrest warrants will center on allegations of Israel preventing the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and pursuing an excessively harsh response to the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.

Frankly, one of the surefire ways to get the ICC off [the case] is to actually conduct genuine investigations  not that they have to have guilty verdicts  but do it in a transparent way, taking seriously their obligations, Rapp said.

Updated at 8:01 a.m. EDT

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
PHNOM PENH, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's Ministry of Defense said in a statement on Thursday that a technical issue combined with an extreme heatwave was blamed for a series of explosions at a military base that killed 20 soldiers and injured several others on April 27.

The blast burst out at an ammunition depot in the Third Regional Military Command in Chamkar Doung village of Kampong Speu province's Chbar Mon town when soldiers were unloading ammunition from trucks to warehouses.

"After a direct probe at the scene, the investigators from the Ministry of Defense found that the incident of the ammunition explosion on April 27, 2024 at the Third Regional Military Command in Kampong Speu province was a technical issue because the weapons were old and faulty, and the weather was hot," the statement said.

The ministry rejected fake news spread by the extremist opposition that claimed the blast was caused by rebellious soldiers or an act of terrorism.

Lieutenant General Yoeung Sokhon, commander of the Third Regional Military Command, said in a recent report that four buildings, three ammunition warehouses and one office facility, were totally destroyed and several military trucks damaged during the blast.

He added that 25 villagers' homes near the military base were also ruined.

Chan Yutha, a spokesman and secretary of state for the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology, said last week that Cambodia had recorded the highest-ever temperature in this hot season in about 170 years. 
Mountain goats that were airlifted from the Olympic Peninsula to the North Cascades are mysteriously dying, according to The Tulalip Tribes.

AIRLIFT GOATS:

Several agencies, including the National Park Service, The Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, Forest Service and local tribes translocated 325 mountain goats to increase the animals population in northern Washington and to remove the non-native animals from the Peninsula that were destroying endemic plants.

Planning for the project began in 2014, said Patti Happe, a retired wildlife branch chief of Olympic National Park, and translocation efforts started in 2018.

The last of the four operations ended in 2020.

A total of 381 mountain goats were captured in the Peninsula, Happe said. 325 were released in the North Cascades, 16 were taken to local zoos, while the remaining ones died.

Some goats died due to health issues, she said.

A number of the goats airlifted to the North Cascades were 10 years old, she said, and successfully reproduced in their new environment.

According to Dylan Collins, assistant wildlife biologist with The Tulalip Tribes Natural Resources Department, the average life span of a wild goat is around 10-12 years.

KIRO 7 News asked Happe how much money was used to fund the efforts.

She did not provide an answer.

Happe said she did not believe the efforts were a failure because the agencys main goal at the time was to remove the non-native animals, which were harming the environment, and to give the goat population in the North Cascades a jumpstart.

KIRO 7 News reached out to the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife to get more details.

Fewer than 3,000 mountain goats likely reside in Washington currently, the majority of those in the Cascade Mountains from the Canadian border south to around Mount Adams, the agency said.

A spokesperson for the agency said the recent decline is in the North Cascades is likely due to more severe winters and especially winters that are preceded by severe drought.

In general, climate change is impacting alpine and montane environments, and species like mountain goats that inhabit these landscapes, more rapidly than other ecosystems, a spokesperson added.

KIRO 7 News also reached out to the Stillaguamish Tribe, which is also tracking the mountain goats. Were still waiting to talk with a biologist.

TRACKING GOATS BY THE TULALIP TRIBES:

Biologists with The Tulalip Tribes have been tracking 115 of the airlifted mountain goats through their GPS collar technology.

Only three goats have been found as of Tuesday, Collins told KIRO 7 News.

I think our goats in the North Cascades are definitely in trouble, he said. Were very concerned about the steady decline of goats that we had been observing.

The goats were initially placed in the Peninsula to increase hunting opportunities in the area, Collins said, however, the population of the non-native animals began skyrocketing.

There are a lot of endemic plants on the Olympic Peninsula meaning that they occur nowhere else in the world so theyre pretty rare and theyre also not adapted to having that intense grazing effect that the goats are having there. And the goat population there really grew significantly more than anybody was expecting, he said.

Collins told KIRO 7 News that native mountain goats in the North Cascades have been steadily decreasing for more than a decade.

In the 60s and 70s, there were some severe overharvesting of mountain goats throughout the state and that caused a lot of our populations to crash and even today, some of those populations havent recovered, he said.

In the 1940s, there were over 80 goats detected there, and last year, we only counted four. We havent counted more than 10 in the last couple of years, he described White Chuck Mountain in the North Cascades.

The Tulalip Tribes main goal was to restore the native animals population in the treaty area of Tulalip, but the results were not promising, Collins said.

It was a huge disappointment. We get texts every single time when one of our collars dies. If it doesnt move in a certain amount of hours, it sends a mortality single. Were steadily getting texts every day almost, he said. The deaths just continue to happen.

The tribe recently lost three goats in December and January, he said.

KIRO 7 News asked Collins if his team has been able to find the dead goats to determine the reason behind the mysterious deaths.

For the vast majority of the goats, we just are never going to ever get to them. They die on very rugged slopes and even with a helicopter, we wont be able to access them, he said.

But his team was able to find a few goats, which had different causes of death.

There was no single cause for all of these. Some of these appear to be in pretty good health. Some of them look like their body condition deteriorated or a little bit older. One or two were predation events. But by the time we got there, it was impossible to tell if they died from natural causes or just simply scavenged on by something like a bear afterwards.

While its not clear on whats causing the mysterious deaths, Collins said there are several possible factors to consider, including climate change, disturbance from humans and habitat loss.

KIRO 7 News asked Collins if he believes the efforts were a failure.

I dont think its a failure. Weve been able to learn a lot from this and being able to combine the mortality data that we have with our translocated goats in addition to what were seeing on the decline of our counts on the native goats on our helicopter survey, I think those are validating each other and were missing huge numbers of goats and this is a big issue, whether the goat was native or translocated from the Olympics, he answered.

SOUTH CASCADES:

Collins told KIRO 7 News his team has seen contrasting data near Mt. St. Helens where mountain goats are doing fairly well.

His team has spotted more goats in the area than in the past, adding that many goats have naturally recolonized the area.

There are some insights we need to gain from areas like that with what the goats are doing well and figure out what exactly is going on in that landscape and how we can replicate that in the North Cascades, he shared.

NEW TECHNOLOGY:

The Tulalip Tribes, along with other tribes, are planning to use new technology to help track the remaining mountain goats.

Biologists will use camera traps, which captures movements in the wild, along with thermal imaging.

The new technology may uncover some missing data, Collins said.

Were trying to see if were missing goats on our normal helicopter survey. For example, if theyre hiding under the cover of some trees, we may miss them. However, the thermal imagery from a drone might be able to pick them up, Collins added.

A leader with the Stillaguamish Tribe shared a document that outlined details of the tribes new project to monitor the goats.

The monitoring effort will focus on how climate change and other stressors have impacted the goats by using thermal imaging drones and science. This project will take place in the Mt. Baker and Snoqualmie National Forests on the western slopes of the North Cascades Range.
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WNCN)  A GoFundMe established in recognition of UNC students who protected the campus American flag during Tuesdays protest raised close to $300,000 in the first 12 hours.

When we went in, we said, we will not let the headline of this day be An American flag falls at UNC,' said freshman Jason Calderon, who was one of several students who held up the flag Tuesday.

Ongoing protests against the war in Gaza intensified on campus Tuesday. At one point, pro-Palestinian protesters replaced the American flag at the center of the quad with a Palestinian one.

UNC Charlotte students host encampment while protesting Israel-Hamas conflict

After university administrators brought a new flag, protesters tried bringing that one down as well.

My friends and I looked at each other and then said, we should go over there,' Calderon explained.

Calderon and several of his fellow students worked to prevent the flag from touching the ground, all the while he says he and others were pelted with objects by protesters.

So many Americans in history have fought for the ideals of justice and freedom that that flag represents, and who are we if we dont take some water balloons and take some yelling and chaos to reap the benefits of what theyve sown for American society, he said.

The GoFundMe was established Wednesday, hoping to benefit fraternities whose members protected the flag. Around 9,000 people donated in the first 12 hours, raising well over a quarter of a million dollars.

So many people are seeing that UNC is a beacon of light, said Calderon.

On campus, work is being done to make sure it wont happen again. While the flagpole was surrounded by two layers of fencing after the protests Tuesday, the university has now put in a higher and more fortified boundary around the flag.

UNC Charlotte Palestine supporters ask trustees to divest from Israel project

It was really just inspirational for us to see everybody coming together and the chancellor coming in and saying, as long as Im chancellor that flag will stay up,' Calderon said.

CBS 17 reached out to the fraternities named in the fundraiser but has not received a response yet.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
Going Up: Dan Beard Council plans skilled trades center for Boy Scouts at Camp Friedlander

As Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky grapple with a tight labor market amid low unemployment, the Dan Beard Council is stepping in to familiarize youths with skilled trades as potential future careers.

Toward that end, the council plans to build a new skilled trades center at its 550-acre Camp Friedlander campgrounds. Named for the Boy Scouts co-founder, the Dan Beard Council is the regions chapter for the more than 110-year-old youth program.

A rendering of the planned Dan Beard Council's Skilled Trades Center.

The basics of the Dan Beard Councils planned Skilled Trades Center

Address: 581 Ibold Road, Loveland, Ohio (on the Camp Friedlander campgrounds)

Building type: Industrial

Developers/architect/contractor: BHDP Architecture

Size: 12,000 square feet

Estimated cost: $2.5 million

What you need to know about the project

The council said it's responding to a skilled trades crisis that leaves local businesses struggling to fill job openings even as many high school graduates seek alternative career paths. The council wants to build a dedicated facility to train youth in plumbing, electricity, welding, carpentry and automotive maintenance.

The center will feature more than eight to 10 bays or sections dedicated to various types of specialized training. Council leaders believe the initiative can educate and inspire thousands of scouts to consider skilled trades.

Dan Beard Council Scouting is the largest youth organization in the region and we believe workforce readiness starts with us, CEO Andy Zahn told The Enquirer.

The training center would stand among other key facilities at Camp Friedlander, including its dining hall, trading post, cabins, Lake Marge, and the Eagles Nest meeting room and pavilion. The facility would also be available to the community and offer participating organizations a chance to connect with potential future employees.

Andy Zahn, CEO of the Dan Beard Council

Where the project stands and whats ahead

The council is seeking final approval from local officials for their building plans. Construction is slated to begin late this summer or early this fall. The facility is tentatively scheduled to open in June of 2025.

A rendering of the planned Dan Beard Council's Skilled Trades Center.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Dan Beard Council wants a 'skilled trades' center for local Boy Scouts
Goodyear has more than 150 unlicensed group homes. Here's how the city is cracking down

Goodyear is moving to crack down on its skyrocketing number of unlicensed group homes through two changes in city ordinances.

The City Council unanimously approved new buffer requirements for group homes effective July 1 and discussed stricter business registration requirements, although that measure is tabled for now.

While current group homes can stay in place if they follow the new rules, city officials say the buffer requirement will prevent future clusters of group homes.

Sober living homes fall under the "group homes" umbrella, which can also include assisted living and behavioral health facilities. All will have to follow the new regulations.

Goodyear and other cities in metro Phoenix have seen a rise in illegal sober living facilities that exist largely to warehouse people for bogus therapy companies involved in a Medicaid scam that has ripped off taxpayers of an estimated $2 billion.

A Goodyear sign stands near Goodyear civic square on Feb. 19, 2023.

How many group homes operate in Goodyear?

Cities throughout the state have been working to combat the crisis, restricted by state laws that keep the exact locations of the homes secret. Police officers and other city officials only find out about them when calls for service are received from the homes or when neighbors file complaints.

Goodyear Police Officer Scott Daniel, who has been working to combat the issue since 2019, previously told The Arizona Republic the city currently has five licensed group homes, although officers are aware of a total of 156. The remaining homes are unlicensed.

Daniel said he's come across people living at the homes passed out in neighbors' yards. Often, no one running the home is present. And if there is someone present, Daniel said, it's often someone who is unqualified and is relying on police in case something goes wrong.

'Arizona's got it backward': Learn from Florida's sober living fraud, experts say

State and federal prosecutors have indicted six dozen therapy firms or owners, but scores of sober living homes have avoided criminal penalties.

Even when cities use new regulations to crack down or close the bogus homes, police discover they pop back up under a new name or company. They are sometimes reorganized as behavioral health facilities, often with the same clients who went untreated, and sometimes plied with drugs or alcohol, when they were fraudulently denied rehab services.

Cities use zoning ordinances to address crisis

Goodyear has a new plan to reduce group home numbers. David Williams, senior contract planner for the city, told council members about new buffer requirements and explained how the city proposed changing its business registration requirements.

The new regulations would align Goodyear with other cities in the Valley and the way the crisis is being addressed, Williams said. Other cities with similar zoning ordinances include Surprise  which Williams said has new regulations that likely caused group homes to move to Goodyear about a year ago  and Glendale.

Group homes are called "assisted living homes" in Goodyear's current zoning ordinance, although the new amendment will refer to them as "group homes."

Our voices as Navajo are not heard: Tribal members condemn sober living bill vote

Currently, homes with one to six residents do not need zoning clearance from the city in areas that are zoned for residential use. There also is no buffer requirement for homes with one to six residents.

For homes with seven to 10 residents, a zoning clearance is required, with the homes needing to be at least a quarter-mile away from any other homes with seven to 10 residents.

The new zoning ordinance will require all group homes to have a quarter-mile buffer requirement regardless of the number of residents. Currently, group homes often are concentrated in a particular area. But the buffer requirement will prevent that in the future, Williams said.

"What we've seen in many cases is we'll have one block that has four, five, six group homes. And that creates a very different dynamic for that neighborhood than having one within that community," Williams said.

This embedded content is not available in your region.

The new ordinance also will require all group homes to obtain a business license from the city, after business licenses are approved by the City Council. They also will need to apply for a zoning clearance, which then allows them to apply for a state license. They then will have to apply with the city's building safety department for a change-of-use permit. And a fire and building inspection must take place before the final zoning clearance is approved.

If businesses are not following the requirements, their licenses will be in jeopardy, Williams said.

The city plans to reach out to all known group homes to help them through the new process. The ordinance is expected to go into effect July 1.

Legal group homes can continue operating

While Williams said the ordinance is expected to result in group homes going out of business or moving, he emphasized that it was not an overnight solution to the problems residents have been experiencing.

The buffer requirement, for example, only covers new homes coming to the city.

The current ones will be allowed to operate as they are as long as all of the new requirements are met.

"If they are operating in a legal manner today, they will be allowed to operate in a legal manner tomorrow," Williams said.

Councilmember Sheri Lauritano reminded residents that, under the Fair Housing Act, the city cannot prevent group homes from coming to the city altogether.

City Manager Wynette Reed said that money is allocated in next year's budget to hire an additional person on the code enforcement team who will be dedicated specifically to group homes.

City Council delays vote on business license ordinance

In addition, all businesses in Goodyear will soon be required to obtain a business license. Currently, businesses are only required to register with the city.

After City Attorney Roric Massey presented the proposed requirements, the City Council unanimously voted to table the item.

Massey plans to bring back the item to the City Council as early as next week to maintain the July 1 timeline for both ordinances to take effect.

How to file a complaint against an unregistered group home

To report suspected code compliance issues, residents can download the Goodyear mobile app or use the city's website. Non-emergency criminal issues can be filed to the Goodyear Police Department through the city's website. Residents are encouraged to call directly to report crimes that need immediate attention.

Reach the reporter at ahardle@gannett.com or by phone at 480-259-8545. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @AlexandraHardle.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: New Goodyear ordinance targets unlicensed group homes
In the wake of destructive tornadoes across Oklahoma and tension between House and Senate leaders over the need for an income tax cut, Gov. Kevin Stitt is proposing an unusual summit next week to forge agreement on next year's state budget.

Speaker Charles McCall, left, welcomes President Pro Tem Greg Treat to the podium in 2023 as Gov. Stitt looks on.

The governor sent an email late Wednesday afternoon to Senate Pro Tempore Greg Treat and House Speaker Charles McCall inviting both to a meeting at 2 p.m. Monday to hammer out budget details.

"As session is coming to a close, its important that we get together to finalize a budget. Both of your transparency efforts have been very encouraging this session," the governor wrote.

With just 30 days remaining before the second session of the 59th Oklahoma Legislature adjourns, members of the legislature are truly beginning to feel the crunch of the budget writing process. House and Senate budget negotiators continue to wrangle over how to spend the roughly $13 billion available. Key issues include whether or not to cut the personal income tax, how to rewrite state funding policy and following through on efforts to make the entire budget process more transparent.

What seemed to be a smoothly moving legislative process earlier this session hit several snags this week, including the abrupt exit of Sen. Roger Thompson as the Senate's budget chair, the violent weekend storms that will call for significant state disaster assistance and the distraction of a controversial Republican bill to arrest and remove immigrants recaching Oklahoma without proper documentation. The immigration bill sailed through both the House and Senate with big majorities and was signed by the governor to a chorus of objections from Democrats, Hispanic leaders and churches.

Time, it seems, is running out for state lawmakers.

Coloring Monday's summit meeting will be a terse and difficult relationship between the governor and the Senate Republican leader Treat  a political fight that goes back several years and which came to an apex this year over Treat's refusal to hear legislation that would cut the personal income tax. With both Stitt and McCall in favor of the cut, Treat has said he favors keeping more money in the state's reserve accounts  and that was before the recent tornado damage.

"I know both chambers are working diligently to come to agreement on budget numbers, and will once again reiterate my priority to pass an income tax cut for all four million Oklahomans," Stitt wrote in his email to Treat and McCall. "I hope that continues to be a topic of conversation in your negotiations."

Giving the House and Senate just Thursday and Friday to come to a budget agreement, Stitt offered his help.

"Should both chambers not reach an agreement by the end of the week, I want to assist by facilitating a meeting between my office and the House and Senate budget negotiators to come to terms on the budget. I want to invite you to a meeting in my office on Monday (5/6/2024) at 2 p.m."

Stitt also said he would "invite the media in an effort to continue your transparency efforts."

Two hours later, shortly after 6 p.m. Treat replied to the governor  copying every member of the Legislature on his response.

"Governor, thank you for the invite. I look forward to the opportunity. The budget will not be complete this week, so I and the Senate team will be there at 2," he wrote. " Please know that you are welcome to use the Senate Assembly Room to better accommodate members of the legislature, public and the media to be able to observe and so it can be live-streamed, closed captioned and archived. My staff will be more than happy to assist in getting the word out to the media and the public."

Treat's email noted he had informed the Senate Chair and Vice Chair of Appropriations, the Floor Leader, and every member of the legislature, Republicans and Democrats alike, about the Monday conference, "because I hope this is a productive and insightful meeting."

Treat added: "We havent had an opportunity to visit this entire session, so I look forward to sharing the Senate perspective and getting your perspective and the House perspective Monday. I think it is a great idea and we will fully participate."

Treat's reply and his inclusion of every state legislator, ensures that several of the governor's budget proposals, including his call for cut in the personal income tax, won't go unchallenged.

Late Wednesday evening, McCall said House leaders would also accept the governor's invitation.

"The Houses current budget proposal has been posted for several weeks, and is available for anyone to access via the House Budget Transparency Portal," McCall said in a text message to The Oklahoman. "We accept the governors invitation to conduct joint budget negotiations. The House will send people authorized to negotiate a tax cut for the people of Oklahoma, support law enforcement and finalize a budget."

The House would also welcome members of the media to be in attendance, McCall said, and prefers that these negotiations be live-streamed.

The 2024 legislative session adjourns at 5 p.m. May 31.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Governor Stitt calls for leadership meeting on budget for Monday
SALEM, Ore. (KOIN)  With a variety of issues swirling, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek revealed she will be pulling the plug on plans to allow her wife to take on the role of First Spouse.

I am sorry for the way this conversation between my office and you has started, Kotek said during a press conference Wednesday afternoon. Her apology follows claims that she didnt correctly handle efforts to expand the role for her wife, Aimee Kotek Wilson.

PSU library occupation continues as some leave, number of non-students remain

This marks a major turnaround for the governor, who has faced sharp criticism both within her office and from the public  losing several top staff members who flagged her decision.

After listening to and reflecting on the concerns of Oregonians who have contacted my office, as well as the advice of staff, I want to be clear about next steps: There will not be an Office of the First Spouse. There will not be a position of Chief of Staff to the First Spouse. Other than staff that is assigned to support the First Lady in her official duties, no state staff will report to her or be supervised by her.

The governor said she alone makes all policy and personnel decisions for the governors office. However, Gov. Kotek did say her wife would still attend events representing the governors office in a more traditional First Spouse role.

New information came to light last week concerning Kotek and how the role of the First Spouse may be affecting government staffers in Salem after thousands of pages of documents were released by Koteks office.

Gresham High School staff blasts student safety, call for principals ouster

The Oregon Ethics Commission is also investigating multiple complaints about the duties Kotek Wilson assumed after the governor took office last year.

Backlash triggered the ghost of a previous scandal involving former Gov. John Kitzhaber, who resigned from office after it came out his fiancee was running her political consulting business out of his office  both getting fined by the Oregon Government Ethics Commission for influence peddling.

The governor met with members of the media as the state remains engrossed in multiple issues, including protesters who continue to camp at Portland State University and the expiration of the 90-day fentanyl emergency in Multnomah County.

The governors office confirmed theyve been in touch with PSU officials and Portland leaders about the protests over the Israeli-Hamas war and the demand for a ceasefire.

98-year-old Portland fountain donated by Jewish immigrant vandalized

The 90-day fentanyl emergency for the county ended Monday. But the declaration brought different organizations to coordinate with each other as well as an educational campaign and expanded outreach programs.

The full press conference van be viewed in the video player above.

Kotek will hold another press conference on the fentanyl emergency Friday along with Mayor Ted Wheeler and Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
During remarks at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice's 25th-anniversary gala on Wednesday night, Gov. Phil Murphy offered his support of legislation that would let formerly incarcerated individuals serve on juries.

Murphy said he was publicly announcing his backing for legislation that would restore the right to serve on juries to formerly incarcerated individuals in New Jersey and said it would allow New Jersey to join the group of states, including red states like Indiana and North Dakota, where this is currently the law.

What would proposed legislation do?

The bill is aimed at broadening the jury pool while also taking a step toward eliminating racial disparities on juries. New Jersey is one of just a handful of states that ban anyone who has been convicted of any indictable offense from jury service for life.

Trenton, NJ  February 27, 2024 -- Governor Phil Murphy's budget address for New Jersey's 2025 fiscal year.

Under current law, past convictions for violating the law, in New Jersey or any other state or on the federal level, are automatic disqualifiers for jury service. The bill eliminates the disqualifier.

A bill has been introduced in each legislative session since 2018 calling for the state to update the practice and restore jury eligibility to people who have been released from the prison system.

In this session the Senate bill is sponsored by Sens. Raj Mukherji and Angela McKnight and the Assembly bill is sponsored by Assembly members Verlina Reynolds-Jackson, Shanique Speight and Reginald Atkins.

It has not been heard before committee in either chamber in this session. The bill passed the Assembly on the last day of the last session.

It was on the agenda for the Senate Judiciary Committee in December, but the committee chair, Sen. Brian Stack  who had sponsored the bill  pulled it from the list before the meeting started.

Reentry in New Jersey: No job, no IDs, no housing: People struggle to move on after incarceration in NJ prisons

How many formerly incarcerated people could be affected?

The Murphy administration said about half a million New Jersey residents are barred from jury service for life, with the number disproportionately coming from communities of color.

Our administration believes in second chances, and restoring these individuals right to perform a fundamental civic duty is not just about ending an injustice that continues to plague our formerly incarcerated neighbors, Murphy said. It is also about defending the integrity of our democracy, our criminal justice system and the rule of law.

Murphy has taken other steps toward criminal justice reform during his time in office, including the creation of a petition process for clean slate expungements, restoration of voting rights to residents on probation or parole and the Fair Chance in Housing Act, which removed criminal history questions from most housing applications.

Katie Sobko covers the New Jersey Statehouse. Email: sobko@northjersey.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Phil Murphy wants formerly incarcerated people to serve on NJ juries
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen. April 18, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

LINCOLN  Gov. Jim Pillens office released a detailed list Wednesday of nearly 1,000 state employment positions slated for elimination June 1 because they have been vacant for more than 90 days.

Pillen signed an executive order Tuesday that calls for any state position that remains unfilled for 90 days to be removed following a periodic review, also every 90 days. According to the list, this includes 973 positions, with 37% coming from the states largest agency: the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.

The executive order will call for eliminating positions across 38 departments, offices, boards and commissions and is estimated to save nearly $40 million, according to the governor.

The order does not apply to certain critical positions, such as public safety or law enforcement, as well as exempt positions, which include employees of the University of Nebraska.

I promised to run state government like a business and this order delivers on that promise, Pillen said in a statement. We have proven we can work without them, so we will eliminate them and return the money to the taxpayers.

Any saved funds are meant to be redistributed, according to the state budget administrator, particularly for property tax relief. Any redistributions must be authorized by the Legislature if the budget administrator seeks to transfer funds outside agencies or certain programs.

State Sens. Robert Clements of Elmwood and Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn, the respective chairs of the Legislatures Revenue and Appropriations Committees, endorsed Pillens order.

I dont have a problem with eliminating vacancies as long as the level of service is maintained, which theyre telling me theyre making sure thats the case, Clements said.

The breakdown of 820 slated eliminations for state departments:

Department of Administrative Services  74

Department of Agriculture  7

Department of Banking and Finance  1

Department of Correctional Services  48

Department of Economic Development  25

Department of Environment and Energy  25

Department of Health and Human Services  362

Department of Insurance  5

Department of Labor  98

Department of Military  37

Department of Motor Vehicles  17

Department of Natural Resources  6

Department of Revenue  36

Department of Transportation  74

Department of Veterans Affairs  5

The slated 153 position eliminations for boards, commissions or offices:

Accountability and Disclosure Commission  1

Blind and Visually Impaired Commission  5

Crime Commission  12

Deaf and Hard of Hearing Commission  2

Educational Telecommunications Commission  9

Office of the Fire Marshal  6

Foster Care Review Office  1

Game and Parks Commission  46

Grain Sorghum Board  1

History Nebraska  13

Indian Affairs Commission  1

Nebraska Investment Council  1

Library Commission  4

Motor Vehicle Industry Licensing Board  1

Oil and Gas Conservation Commission  1

Racing and Gaming Commission  19

Real Estate Commission  1

Nebraska Public Employees Retirement Systems  3

Nebraska State Patrol  15

Tourism Commission  1

Wheat Board  2

Workers Compensation Court  8

The post Gov. Pillens office outlines 973 state positions slated for elimination this summer appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
GAZA, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Israel released on Thursday 64 Palestinians who were arrested during the military operations in the Gaza Strip, said the General Authority for Crossings and Borders in Gaza.

The Authority said in a press statement that the Israeli authorities released 64 Palestinians, including one dead and one seriously injured, through the Kerem Shalom crossing in the southern Gaza Strip.

During the ongoing Israeli ground operation in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army arrested hundreds of Palestinians and transferred them to unknown destinations, according to Palestinian human rights organizations.

The released prisoners were transferred to a hospital to check on their health status, according to Palestinian security sources.

Israel launched a large-scale offensive against Hamas in Gaza to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on Oct. 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage.

The ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip have resulted in extensive casualties and damages, with the Palestinian death toll rising to over 34,000 since the conflict started, according to the Gaza health authorities. 
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen (center) joins State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn in her district, visiting people in Douglas County who had homes damaged by the tornadoes that hit the area April 26, 2024. (Courtesy of the Governors Office)

LINCOLN  Gov. Jim Pillen has officially submitted a request to President Joe Biden for a federal disaster declaration, estimating $11.5 million for public infrastructure damage.

The Thursday request comes nearly one week after last weeks destructive Friday storms in eastern Nebraska. This includes Lancaster, Douglas and Washington Counties, for which Pillen has already issued an emergency proclamation, unlocking emergency state funds.

Relief costs include debris removal, emergency protective measures and individual assistance.

This is not normal for Nebraskans to ask for help, Pillen said at a Monday news conference. If you dont ask for help, we actually harm our neighbor because we need everybody to get to the level so that we can get the federal assistance.

The federal request comes in coordination between the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Nebraskas state counterpart, which have conducted multiple damage assessments, including flyovers of damaged areas.

Preliminary public infrastructure damage assessments total $11.5 million, of which more than $8 million is for damage in Douglas and Washington Counties.

The request states the cost will increase as damage assessments continue.

Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert on Thursday night announced a call to the Omaha City Council to approve $100,000 to assist families affected by the Arbor Day tornadoes.

Stothert requested that the council forgo the annual Neighborhood Grants program awards and instead reallocate the funds to organizations providing direct and immediate aid to families.

Omaha is a community of caring and we all want to help, Stothert said in a statement. That has been very apparent in the last week.

Under two nearly identical proposed resolutions, the relief funds would be divided between the Elkhorn Public Schools Foundation and Relevant Community Church, which Stothert said have helped to alleviate suffering and help the community heal from the storms.

While those who have applied for the neighborhood grants have worthy causes and projects, I cannot overlook the generosity and comfort [of the organizations assisting with storm recovery], Stothert wrote to the council.

The resolution will be considered at the May 7 City Council meeting.

FEMA has validated that nearly 400 homes were impacted in Douglas and Washington Counties, including almost 160 homes that were destroyed. Nebraska National Guard members are assisting with security and recovery efforts in Douglas County at Pillens deployment.

Pillen has said it could take every single weekend and opportunity between now the snow flying to get communities able to start rebuilding. Full recovery, he added, will take years.

The post Gov. Pillen requests federal disaster declaration, with estimated $11.5 million in storm damage appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)  While Governor Josh Shapiro was in Luzerne County Wednesday, he addressed the pro-Palestine protests taking place on college campuses across the nation.

He also talked about what he is doing in Pennsylvania to ensure the protests stay peaceful.

Gov. Shapiro speaks about gun violence in Luzerne County

My administration has been in close contact with universities here in PA both reminding them of their responsibilities under state law and federal law to keep their students safe and free from discrimination and making sure that the rules of the local community and the rules of the commonwealth of PA are adhered to every step of the way, Governor Shapiro explained.

He says there should be a place for peaceful protests, but what we are seeing in some cases are people using it as an excuse to engage in antisemitism.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PAhomepage.com.
This article was originally published in EducationNC.

Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper presented his $34.5 billion budget proposal for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024-25 on Wednesday, calling for approximately an additional $1 billion to go toward public education  including an average 8.5% raise for teachers, a $1,500 retention bonus, and reinstatement of masters pay.

His proposal includes a 5% raise for most state employees, which includes non-certified school employees, and most community college employees.

Cooper said his proposal presents lawmakers with a choice to invest in North Carolinas public schools, instead of prioritizing further tax breaks and the expansion of private school vouchers.

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Thats the billion dollar choice, Cooper said during a press conference in Raleigh. We have the revenue to do this  it is about priorities.

The governors proposal follows his declaration of a state of emergency for public education and proclamation of 2024 as The Year of Public Schools.

Cooper presented his budget proposal on the first day of the short session, during which lawmakers can adjust the two-year budget passed last fall. Most sessions, the governors proposal is released first, followed by the House and Senate. At that point, the two chambers work together to pass an updated compromise budget.

There is a Republican supermajority this session, meaning Republicans will drive fiscal and policy decisions.

This year, North Carolina has a projected one-time $1.4 billion surplus in state revenues through FY 2025, according to the latest state consensus revenue forecast. This essentially means there is $1.4 billion extra state dollars that lawmakers can choose to invest during the short session.

House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, has already told media that he would like to put $300 million more toward the Opportunity Scholarship program. The program, which funds private school vouchers at eligible schools, was expanded during the long session to all families regardless of income.

Moore also said he would like to see funding for child care subsidies, additional raises to school and state employees, and an additional $400 million toward Medicaid.

On Wednesday, Cooper said his proposal includes a moratorium on further expansion of public school vouchers. His proposal freezes the investment in the Opportunity Scholarship program at 2023-24 levels  adding about $174 million toward his investments in public school pay raises.

We are at a crossroads, he said. One path prioritizes giveaways to the wealthy over the well-being of our state. The other secures a future of success for everyone  lets hope we make the right choice.

Below, you can find an overview of the education investments included in Coopers proposal.

Educator pay, bonuses

Coopers proposal includes $322.7 million to raise salaries for educators by 8.5% on average. This includes the average 3% raise most educators are slotted to receive in FY 2024-25 under the 2023 budget.

Under the proposal, a $1,000 bonus would go to all state employees. An additional $500 bonus would go to employees making less than $75,000 per year. One half of the bonus would be paid in Oct. 2024; the second half in April 2025.

The budget lifts starting teacher salaries to more than $47,500  the highest in the Southeast, the proposal packet says. This number seems to include the $1,500 retention bonus the governor is proposing for most teachers.

Take a look at Coopers proposed teacher salary schedule for FY 2024-25, in the rightmost column.

Screenshot of Gov. Coopers proposed salary schedule for teachers.

The proposal also includes $10 million to restore 10% masters pay supplements for over 1,000 teachers whose advanced degrees are in the subjects they teach.

As mentioned above, the proposal includes a raise of at least 5% for all state employees, which includes non-certified school employees.

Most state employees would receive an additional 2% raise in FY 2024-25, on top of the raise approved in the 2023 budget. Employees paid on an experience-based salary schedule would receive an extra 3%.

Finally, the governors budget proposal includes a one-time 3% retiree supplement in FY 2024-25. The 2023 budget included a one-time 4% supplement.

Coopers proposal also includes:

$25.4 million to improve recruitment and retention for school-based administrators through salary increases. The budget includes a 6% total increase for existing principals.

$8.2 million to expand the North Carolina Principal Fellows Program to prepare up to 300 new principals annually.

$1.8 million to expand the Advanced Teaching Roles program.

$1.7 million to increase funding for district-level recruitment bonuses in small and low-wealth counties. With the allocation included in the 2023 budget, the net allocation for this item would be $6 million.

$1.6 million in recurring funds to expand supports for pre-service and beginning teachers in becoming fully licensed.

The proposal also increases supplemental funding for the states 69 eligible low-wealth counties by 13%, or $40 million.

$900,000 to cover the cost of National Board certification fees for 470 teachers each year, with priority to educators in high-need and low-performing schools. Board certified teachers earn a 12% supplement to their annual salary.

The proposal would also invest in many initiatives to strengthen the states teacher pipeline. During the 2022-23 school year, 11.5% of teachers left their role  up from 7.8% of teachers who left teaching the year before.

There is $4.7 million to expand the North Carolina Teaching Fellows program to up to 490 new candidates in FY 2024-25. The budget would extend eligibility for the program to all institutions with approved educator preparation programs (EPPs) and to students in any licensure area.

The proposal includes an additional $4 million to expand the North Carolina New Teacher Support program, which focuses on supports for beginning teachers at low-performing, high-poverty schools.

Another $5 million would establish a matching grant program for high-quality teacher preparation residency programs in high-need rural and urban districts, to be distributed by the State Board of Education.

There is $500,000 for statewide professional development from the N.C. Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT). Another $300,000 would expand teacher candidate recruitment programs and fund a study to improve recruitment strategies to reduce teacher vacancy rates. That study will include research and recommendations for a statewide system or entity to coordinate teacher recruitment and support.

Other funds for public schools, students

The governors proposal includes funding to hire 700 additional K-3 teacher assistants (TAs)  an increase of 11% from the current budget. The increase is funded by Education Lottery receipts.

Additionally, the proposal would fund about 575 new school health personnel, which includes school counselors, nurses, social workers, and psychologists.

The budget also proposes a $2.5 billion school construction bond, which would be voted on in November 2024. That bond could fund approximately 90 new elementary and middle schools, Cooper said during the press conference.

Over the next five years almost 1,600 schools report needing renovation and 131 new schools need to be built, the proposal says.

The proposal also addresses several of the Department of Public Instructions (DPI) legislative requests.

First, there is $35 million to expand Read to Achieve literacy programs to middle grade students.

There is also $19 million toward DPIs efforts to support low-performing schools. DPI asked the General Assembly for $4.5 million to continue that work after federal Covid relief dollars run out in September.

State Superintendent Catherine Truitt also advocated last long session for universal school meals for students.

Coopers proposal does not include funding for universal school meals, but does include an additional $900,000 to offset the co-pays for students eligible for reduced-price lunches in schools participating in the National School Lunch Program.

Research shows that receiving free lunch improves school attendances and decreases food insecurity and suspensions, the proposal says.

The 2023 budget included $3 million to permanently eliminate the reduced-price lunch copay for North Carolina students and eliminate penalties for unpaid student meal debt. The governors proposal makes that $3.9 million for FY 2024-25.

The proposal also includes required state matching funds for the federal Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer Program for Children (Summer EBT). The program, also known as SUN Bucks, will provide grocery-buying benefits to qualifying families to prevent child hunger during the summer months when school is out for children who rely on school meals for daily nutrition. SUN Bucks will launch this summer.

Additionally, the proposal includes:

$10 million to hire a Career and Postsecondary Planning Director at DPI and increase the number of school-based coordinators in sixth-12th grade.

The elimination of the 13% funding cap for Exceptional Children (EC) students to provide additional teachers and instructional support, instructional supplies and materials, and staff development. The 2023 budget instructed DPI to develop a weighted funding model for EC students to remove that cap and instead fund children on the basis of the reported cost of services provided.

The proposal also removes the 10.6% funding gap for students with Limited English proficiency. Under the proposal, schools for whom English learners make up more than 10.6% of their ADM would receive additional funds for classroom teachers, textbooks, staff development, and other supports needed to help these students thrive.

$70 million combined in the At-Risk and Disadvantaged Student Supplemental funds to fund teachers and instructional support positions, provide intensive in-school and after school remediation, and provide professional development for teachers serving disadvantaged students.

$6 million to create a pilot program to give funds to high-poverty schools that adopt a Community Schools or other evidence-based model to address out of school barriers to learning.

$12.8 million to the Uniform Education Reporting System (UERS) to increase statewide student reporting capacity. There is also nearly $5 million to support various cybersecurity initiatives across the states public schools.

The proposal also includes $400,000 to establish an equity office at DPI to direct the recruitment and retention of a diverse educator workforce that is representative of the states student population.

This comes after the UNC Board of Governors Committee on University Governance recently voted unanimously and without discussion to repeal and replace the UNC Systems current diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policy.

There is also $453,000 to fund positions to support DPIs central financial infrastructure. Recent financial challenges and budget shortfalls among North Carolina school districts have highlighted the importance of chief financial officers and sound financial systems.

Early child care

Federal funds stabilizing child care run out at the end of June. In response, child care advocates are asking state legislators for a one-time $300 million allocation to avoid closures and price increases for parents.

Advocates asked the General Assembly for the same amount last year without success.

The governors proposal includes $200 million for stabilization grants.

Access to affordable child care for parents, businesses, and educators is one of the most immediate threats to sustaining our momentum, the proposals introduction says. Nearly one-third of North Carolina child care centers are at risk of closure and only 26% of parents can afford child care costs.

There is also $129 million for child care subsidies to increase reimbursement rates for providers in rural and low-wealth communities, which the proposal says will secure child care for approximately 50,000 children per year by creating a statewide rate floor starting in July 2024.

These funds will allow about 3,500 child care sites in over 75% of NC counties to see an increase in their subsidy rate, the proposal says.

The proposal also includes $197 million to expand access to NC Pre-K, the states preschool program for eligible 4-year-olds. The program currently reaches about half of eligible 4-year-olds, or 30,000 children.

There is also $24 million to provide wrap-around summer care and learning programs for students once they complete NC Pre-K and before they enter kindergarten.

As EdNC has previously reported, child care teachers make some of the lowest wages of any industry.

The governors proposal would create a grant program to help child care teachers afford care for their own children. The $25 million program would provide free or reduced cost care for the children of roughly 2,200 child care providers, the proposal says.

There is also $26 million to provide educational attainment-based salary supplements, through expansion of the states Child Care WAGE$ program.

The budget also adds a fourth region to the states Tri-Share Child Care pilot program. That model splits the cost of child care between participating businesses, eligible employees, and the state government.

The governors proposal also includes:

$50 million toward start-up and capital grants for NC Pre-K and child care centers. There is also $10 million to expand Smart Start, which serves young children and families across the state.

$24 million to create a pilot program to incentivize the business community to contribute to employee dependent care flexible spending accounts.

$1.2 million to implement recruitment strategies and professional development for child care teachers.

The provision of a refundable child and dependent care tax credit.

Finally, the budget allocates $100,000 to the North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS) to evaluate the effectiveness of the Child Care Grant Program, which was appropriated $1.2 million in recurring funds in the 2023 budget.

The program, which has been in place since 1993, provides grants to community college students to use for child care while they are in school. The program needs more funding and wider eligibility, local administrators of the grants told EdNC in June.

The evaluation will assess the programs effectiveness and propose adjustments that would support more North Carolina parents seeking community college education, the governors proposal says.

Community colleges

During the press conference, Cooper said his proposal includes significant funding for community colleges.

There is about $28.5 million to give 5% across-the-board raises to most state-funded community college employees in FY 2024-25. Another $28.5 million goes toward the Enhanced Labor Market Adjustment Reserve, to give the system flexibility to address specific challenges for hard-to-retain and fill roles.

State-funded community college employees would receive the same retention bonus as state employees and educators, up to $1,500. Community college retirees would also receive the same one-time 3% supplement.

On top of the retention bonus, Coopers proposal includes $3.1 million to give a 10% per course bonus for full-time and adjunct instructors who teach courses inside correctional facilities.

Community colleges play a key role in education for incarcerated individuals. Obtaining an associates degree significantly reduces recidivism rates, the proposal says. Currently, over 75 community college courses are offered in prisons across the state.

This year, the NCCCS primary legislative request is funding for Propel NC, the systems new funding model proposal. The request includes a nearly $100 million price tag for FY 2024-25.

Propel NC would shift the current full-time equivalent (FTE) funding tiers to workforce sectors, with courses ranked and valued by statewide salary job demand data. The NCCCS says this will move the system toward a labor-market driven model of community college programs. The anticipated cost of this component of the model is approximately $68.6 million, according to the system.

The governors budget includes $34.3 million to implement Propel NC.

This new funding model will help streamline degree attainment and prepare a well-trained workforce to meet the demands of the States growing economy, the proposal says.

Propel NC also includes a request of $6 million to increase the enrollment increase reserve across the system. Per the systems proposal, those nonrecurring funds would go toward a fixed per-FTE amount for any colleges that go over the enrollment threshold set by their FTE for the fiscal year.

Coopers proposal allocates $3 million to establish that reserve.

The governors proposal did not including funding for the last component of Propel NC with a price tag  $24.4 million to increase the base allocation for colleges.

The proposal did include a $25 million enrollment growth adjustment for FY 2024-25, based on the increase in community college enrollment. Community college enrollment increased by 4.6%, or 10,435 full-time equivalent students.

The governors proposal also includes a number of investments in the workforce, funding many projects through the NCCCS.

The budget proposal includes $40 million to complete construction of Central Carolina Community Colleges Moore Center, which will be used as a shared training center by Advance NC to train staff for new and expanding employers in the electric vehicle manufacturing supply chain, semiconductors, and life sciences.

There is $4 million for the NCCCS to create a competitive grant fund for community colleges with electric vehicle workforce programs.

Finally, there is also $133,000 for ApprenticeshipNC to establish a whole system model of apprenticeships with the DPI and the Department of Commerce.

We recognize (community colleges) as a core anchor to economic improvement, Cooper said.

The budget also includes $3.25 million in nonrecurring funds to establish a rural youth apprenticeship program across five regions, to be distributed by the Department of Commerce. After two years, the funding of successful programs will depend on local funding sources.

The proposal packet says the program is modeled on the successful Surry-Yadkin Works model developed by Surry and Yadkin counties. That model is a work-based learning program created in 2021 to connect high school students in Surry and Yadkin counties with internship and pre-apprenticeship opportunities in local high-demand fields.

You can read the governors full proposal here.

This article first appeared on EducationNC and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Gov. Phil Murphy said he supports ending New Jersey's prohibition on jury service for those with felony convictions, which is among the strictest in the nation. Legislation now in the Statehouse would do that, excluding people with convictions for murder or aggravated sexual assault. (Getty Images)

Gov. Phil Murphy announced his support Wednesday for legislation that would restore jury service rights to New Jerseyans with felony convictions.

The bill would allow New Jerseyans convicted of nearly all indictable offenses  what New Jersey calls felonies  to serve on juries, a change that would add more than half-million residents to the states jury pool, Murphy said at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justices annual gala at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark.

These individuals, who are being denied the right to perform a fundamental civic duty, are predominantly Black and Latino. And all of us are being denied the opportunity to be judged by a jury of our peers, the governor said. Let me be clear: That is not justice. It is wrong  plain and simple.

Like all American states, New Jersey bars jury service for those convicted of serious crimes, but its prohibitions are among the nations strictest. Under current law, a conviction on any indictable offense prevents a person from sitting on a jury.

Under the bill, people convicted of murder or aggravated sexual assault and incarcerated people would remain barred from jury service.

This is not just about ending an injustice that continues to plague our formerly incarcerated neighbors, Murphy said. This is also about defending the integrity of our democracy, our criminal justice system, and the rule of law.

The bill has not advanced since it was introduced in both chambers at the start of the legislative session in early January. In the prior legislative session, it won Assembly approval despite concerns about its carveouts for people with murder and aggravated sexual assault convictions, but it did not reach a Senate committee.

Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (D-Mercer), the bills prime Assembly sponsor, said shed taken up the longstanding reform after a constituent who sought help filling jury duty paperwork found he was barred from serving because of a prior conviction.

He was like Ive already served my time. I dont understand why Im not able to participate,' Reynolds-Jackson said. It just became like that collateral consequence that keeps on marginalizing them, and its just not fair.

The post Governor Murphy backs jury service for those with felony convictions appeared first on New Jersey Monitor.
Governor says state will not allow pro-Palestine campus protests to go too far

A pro-Palestine event set for May 3-5 at the University of Iowa has drawn warnings against unlawfulness by state leaders. Pictured is a Nov. 4, 2023 protest at University of Iowa. (Photo by Brooklyn Draisey/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

As pro-Palestine protests on college campuses sweep the country and Iowans prepare for protests of their own, state officials are warning that unlawful activities will not be allowed.

Iowa City Students for Justice in Palestine will hold a three-day event on the University of Iowas campus to stand in solidarity with student encampments at other universities and reiterate demands that UI support a ceasefire in Gaza and end associations with companies and academic institutions with Israeli ties, among other items.

The organization is not affiliated with the university. It is made up of students, University of Iowa faculty and staff and community members with the shared goal of supporting Palestinian liberation according to its mission statement.

People will gather on the UIs Pentacrest from noon to 7 p.m. Friday through Sunday for the event, which will feature music, food, art and educational materials. according to an Instagram post. The organization emphasized that this event is not an encampment, and its intended goal is to highlight demands for divestment to the UI.

Gov. Kim Reynolds told reporters Wednesday that while it is important to protect peoples First Amendment right to protest, hate speech and destruction like what has been seen at other universities will not be tolerated.

As long as they abide by the laws and do it peacefully, then great, Reynolds said. But if it crosses that line, we will be ready.

She brought up protests at Columbia University as an example, where student activists set up a protest encampment that sparked more encampments and protests to take place on campuses all over the U.S. The university called in police Tuesday to take students out of an administration building they were occupying, and they made more than a dozen arrests, according to the Associated Press.

Columbia University has let things go way too far, Reynolds said, and as a result students may not be able to participate in graduation.

Theyre putting students at risk, she said.

Reynolds also recognized May as Jewish-American Heritage Month and joined Republican governors in standing in support of the Jewish community and the nation of Israel. She said at the press conference shes seen a tremendous increase in antisemitism.

According to the Associated Press, in the conflict following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel, which killed around 1,200 people, Israel has killed more than 34,000 people and displaced around 80% of its population. Two-thirds of those who have been killed were women and children.

Rep. Carter Nordman, R-Panora, posted on Facebook that he spoke with University of Iowa officials about the organizations event, which he called a potential encampment, and was told the universitys policies relating to protests and encampments and that laws will be enforced without delay.

In Iowa, if you break the law or violate university policy, you should be expelled, banned, and/or prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, Nordman said in his post. These unlawful pro-Hamas acts occurring around the country are unacceptable and should be met with immediate consequences.

UI Campus Safety Chief of Staff and Public Information Officer Hayley Bruce said in an email that Campus Safety is aware of the event and has protocols in place, but would not share details of procedures for safety reasons.

The primary goal of law enforcement during demonstrations is to protect free speech while ensuring the safety of both demonstrators and the community, Bruce said in her email.

According to a statement from the UI, community members can exercise their free speech rights on outdoor areas of campus as long as they do not impede access to facilities, walkways or roads, or otherwise disrupt the universitys ability to function. Conduct must be lawful and coincide with with reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions.

Several groups have reserved parts of the Pentacrest for events relating to the end of the semester, according to the statement.

Multiple protests and rallies have been held on the UI campus since the conflict began, as well as one rally that took place on the Iowa State University campus Wednesday. Pro-Palestine protests conducted at Grinnell College, and the universitys response, led to eight state lawmakers rejecting an invitation to attend a dinner in November.

Robin Opsahl contributed to this report.

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The post Governor says state will not allow pro-Palestine campus protests to go too far appeared first on Iowa Capital Dispatch.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD)  The public is getting a first look at the Grand Rapids Community Master Plan at a series of workshops next week.

From May 7 through May 9, community members are invited to review the drafted Community Master Plan and have discussions about it in small groups. Its the final round of Bridge to Our Future, a campaign to create a master plan with residents.

The draft of the Community Master Plan was drawn up based on public input gathered earlier in the campaign and other public outreach efforts, the city said. The final plan is set to be presented to the Grand Rapids Planning Commission and City Commission for adoption in the fall.

The meetings are scheduled as follows:

May 7 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at GRPS University, 1400 Fuller Ave. NE

May 8, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Ottawa Hills High School, 2055 Rosewood Ave. SE

May 9 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Sibley Elementary School, 943 Sibley St. NW

From 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., community members will review the draft recommendations at their own pace. From 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., they will break into small groups to discuss. The city encourages people from all over the city to attend.

What should GRs future look like? Residents give input

These recommendations came from a broad and diverse spectrum of community members and will serve as the foundation for which additional engagement and iterations will occur, City Manager Mark Washington wrote in a release. By encouraging public input and new ideas, we now have a draft plan that represents multiple perspectives and will allow bold, inclusive visioning of the future of our city.

They are family-friendly events, the city says, and dinner will be provided. You can RSVP at BridgeToOurFuture.com. RSVPs are not required but are recommended so the city can get an estimate for food and materials. Spanish-language interpretation will be available at all meetings.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
By Angeliki Koutantou

ATHENS (Reuters) - When firefighters arrived at a blaze in a pine forest on the Greek island of Rhodes last July, flames were already leaping above the trees into the night sky. The volunteers needed to act fast, but dense vegetation on the forest floor blocked access.

With crews unable to get close, the fire spread and within days had engulfed the Mediterranean island, forcing 19,000 people to flee - one of the biggest disaster evacuations in Greece's history.

"Have you ever tried walking through a forest that has not been cleared for more than 10 years? It's so difficult," said firefighter Nikos Karpathakis, who was at the scene.

As another summer approaches, and as climate change makes wildfires ever more deadly across southern Europe, Greece has developed a new doctrine to contain the damage, including deploying an extra fire truck to each new blaze, speeding up air support and clearing forests.

But five firefighters and three experts said the initiative doesn't address shortfalls in planning and prevention and more devastation awaits.

"We are clinging to a doctrine which insists on fire suppression instead of adopting an integrated fire management strategy," said Theodore Giannaros, a fire meteorologist at the National Observatory of Athens.

Heat waves triggered wildfires across swathes of Portugal, France, Spain and Italy last year and caused dozens of deaths.

The situation is especially dire in Greece, which has just recorded its warmest winter on record, creating ideal conditions for fires that threaten crops, homes and the booming tourism industry.

Last August, a fire in the northern Evros region destroyed an area larger than New York City and killed at least 20 people - the deadliest European blaze of 2023. Fires this year have begun earlier than expected, including one in March in a mountainous area normally blanketed by snow.

"It will be a very tough wildfire season. Climate change is here," Vassilis Kikilias, Minister for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, told Reuters.

MORE NEEDED

Greece has made strides to combat fires, including building firebreaks around power poles in forested areas and stepping up training.

Some 700 additional forest rangers were hired this year. Crews have cleared 12,000 hectares of forest since 2022 and another 7,000 hectares will be completed by the end of May, the environment ministry said.

"For the first time in 50 years, we're stepping into forests and building firebreak zones," Kikilias said. "Certainly it won't be done at once throughout Greece but it's a good start."

Under a 2.1 billion euro ($2.25 billion) plan, Greece has concluded tenders for more than 1,000 fire engines and seven DHC-515 aircraft, and plans to install sensors to detect smoke.

Experts worry it won't be enough.

The cleared forests make up only a tiny fraction of the nearly 7.5 million hectares of Greek woodland. Some of the tendered trucks and aircraft will not be delivered for years.

They said more money should be spent creating a corps of wildfire specialists who can draft risk maps and analyse how fires are likely to spread. They recommended embracing firefighting methods used in other parts of the world, such as "backfiring", where firefighters light new fires in the path of existing ones to starve them of fuel.

Volunteer firefighter Karpathakis is haunted by last summer. He said crews laid down 2 km of hoses to get closer to the Rhodes fire. It was too late. Gale force winds blew the blaze beyond their reach.

"I worked non-stop for so many days but the situation didn't get any better."

(Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Edward McAllister and Nick Macfie)
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greenes (R-Ga.) decision to force action on ousting Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has created a dilemma for some rank-and-file Republicans who will now face a tough choice: vote to boot a party leader endorsed by former President Trump, or join forces with Democrats to protect a figure loathed by many conservatives.

Greenes resolution, which is expected to reach the floor next week, is likely to fail given the promise from Democratic leaders to keep Johnson in power for the sake of chamber stability. But the Georgia firebrand is pushing ahead, arguing the importance of getting every House lawmaker on the record so voters are crystal clear where everyone stands on Johnsons leadership track record.

Every member of Congress needs to take that vote, she said. I cant wait to see Democrats go out and support a Republican Speaker and have to go home to their primaries.  And I also cant wait to see my Republican conference show their cards and show who we are.

Are they willing to actually fight? Or are they going to just keep going along to get along?

Many Republicans share Greenes frustrations with Johnsons penchant for bipartisan deal-making, but they were also hoping to avoid the motion-to-vacate vote. With that in mind, even some of Johnsons staunchest GOP critics have sought in recent weeks to defuse Greenes effort, wary of sparking an internal party clash heading into November, when control of the House is up for grabs.

These tools exist for reasons, but they should be deployed sparingly, Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) said this week. Right now, were six months out, ish, from the election and we need to focus on that.

But Greene and her army of two  Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.)  are plowing ahead with their mission to oust Johnson, a move that is poised to put many on the right flank in a tricky position as they grapple with a pair of undesirable options.

Hard-liners are furious with Johnson for his willingness to forge deals with President Biden and Democrats on big-ticket legislation, including the recent passage of bills to extend federal funding, reauthorize the U.S.s warrantless surveillance powers and muscle through a foreign aid package, which included roughly $61 billion for Ukraine.

Yet few Republicans on Capitol Hill want to put any daylight between themselves and Trump, the GOPs presumptive presidential nominee who has gone out of his way to praise Johnsons Speakership performance  a promotional campaign thats seemed to grow only more pronounced since Greene first filed her vacate motion last month.

I stand with the Speaker, Trump said as he hosted Johnson at Mar-a-Lago last month. Hes doing a really good job under very tough circumstances.

Plus, some hard-liners are concerned about plunging the House into chaos so close to the November elections  a disorderly display that could pull down the party when voters head to the polls and decide control of the chamber next year.

I dont think theres anything to be gained by having a motion to vacate the chair at this point in time, Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.) said.

Those Republicans inclined to keep Johnson in power also face political risks. Not only is the far right outraged with his legislative record  a message Republicans are hearing each time they return to their districts  but to preserve the Speakers power, theyll have to team up with Democrats, fueling charges that Republicans on Capitol Hill have abandoned their conservative roots to join the Uniparty.

You get to have the choice if youre a Republican, Massie said Wednesday. Are you going to embrace Hakeem Jeffries, like Mike Johnson has? Are you going to embrace the Uniparty, like Mike Johnson has, when you come back next week? Or are you going to fight for Americans who gave us the majority?

The promise by Democrats to cross the aisle to rescue Johnson marked an extraordinary development in the Speakership drama thats practically defined this Congress  an unprecedented case of the minority party vowing to save an opposing leader from political ruin.

Complicating the Democrats decision, theyve been fierce critics of Johnsons conservative record on Capitol Hill, particularly on the issues of abortion and gay rights, and there remains plenty of lingering animosity over his role as the architect of the legal argument for the Republicans effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Still, Democrats are framing their rescue mission not as a vote in favor of Johnson, but as a vote against Greene and the legislative stalemate that would follow if she were successful and Republicans were forced to conduct another long and chaotic search for a viable new Speaker. Those Democrats are voicing concerns that another Speaker fight would hobble Congresss ability to pass upcoming legislation such as the Farm Bill and reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration.

This has nothing to do with Speaker Johnson, said Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), head of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Their show of support, however, is opening up the visual of Republicans supporting a Speaker who is propped up by Democrats, an extraordinary dynamic that Greene and Massie are highlighting as they look to grow the support behind their motion to vacate.

During a press conference Wednesday morning, Greene and Massie displayed two large photos of Johnson and Jeffries, and the podium featured a new sign: Hakeem Jeffries endorsed Mike Johnson the uniparty Speaker.

Now we have Hakeem Jeffries and the Democrats coming out, embracing Mike Johnson with a warm hug and a big, wet, sloppy kiss, Greene said. They have endorsed him, they are ready to support him as Speaker, they want to keep it going, keep the band together. Why? Because Mike Johnson is giving them everything they want.

The pressure surrounding the looming motion-to-vacate vote is rising as Greene seeks to tie the outcome to next years House majority. The firebrand argued Wednesday that Republicans will lose the upper hand in the House if Johnson remains atop the conference from now until November.

We have to have a Republican majority in January, and under Mike Johnsons leadership were not going to have one, Greene said. Hakeem Jeffries is endorsing Mike Johnson because he knows Mike Johnsons leadership is going to hand the House majority to the Democrats in January.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Rick Weiland of Dakotans for Health announces on May 1, 2024, in Sioux Falls that the group is turning in petition signatures to put abortion rights on the ballot. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota  The group leading the effort to put abortion rights on South Dakotas November ballot said Wednesday it was turning in far more petition signatures than required, while an opposition group said it will challenge the legitimacy of the petitions.

The ballot-question committee proposing the measure, Dakotans for Health, held a press conference attended by about 50 people Wednesday morning at a Sioux Falls library before driving the petitions to the Capitol in Pierre. The deadline to submit the petitions is next Tuesday.

Meanwhile, about 20 anti-abortion activists associated with the Life Defense Fund protested outside the library. The Life Defense Fund is a ballot-question committee organized to oppose the abortion-rights measure.

After the U.S. Supreme Courts 2022 decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, a trigger law that the South Dakota Legislature had adopted in 2005 immediately banned abortions in the state except when necessary to preserve the life of the pregnant female.

As a result, weve been living in a state with the most restrictive abortion ban in the country, said Rick Weiland, chairman of Dakotans for Health.

He said the group collected about 55,000 signatures, well ahead of the 35,017 needed from registered voters to put the measure on the Nov. 5 ballot.

The ballot measure would amend the state constitution to legalize all abortions during the first trimester of pregnancy. It would allow regulations on abortion during the second trimester, but only in ways that are reasonably related to the physical health of the pregnant woman. In the third trimester, it would allow regulations up to a ban on abortions, with exceptions for the life or health of the pregnant woman.

During the press conference, Weiland referenced Republican Gov. Kristi Noems Freedom Works Here workforce recruitment campaign and said it really doesnt work for women.

Freedom doesnt work for a woman who has been raped, becomes pregnant, and is told it is illegal to choose an abortion, he said. Freedom doesnt work when there is someones daughter who is a victim of incest and is forced to carry her pregnancy to term.

Opponents allege deception

The Legislature passed a law in March allowing petition signers to withdraw their signatures after the fact, and anti-abortion activists are conducting a coordinated signature-withdrawal effort.

The Secretary of States Office said it does not have a count on the number of withdrawal requests received so far. The office stores the requests until a court challenge is filed against the validity of the petitions, in which case the withdrawal requests would become part of the challenge.

Leslee Unruh, Life Defense Fund co-chair, was one of the people protesting outside during the press conference. She said her volunteers have witnessed lies and deception from petition circulators.

And people being told that theyre signing a food tax petition, and really, it ended up being the abortion petition, she said. And we have hundreds of hours worth of video. We cant wait to get to court.

In addition to the abortion-rights petitions, Dakotans for Health also circulated petitions for a measure that would repeal state sales taxes on groceries.

Its unclear when the Life Defense Fund intends to file its legal challenge, but fellow Life Defense Fund Co-Chair and state Rep. Jon Hansen, R-Dell Rapids, said it will happen soon.

During the press conference, Weiland called the move a desperate charge by anti-abortion activists.

Sioux Falls resident Tiffany Campbell has gathered thousands of signatures to put the amendment on the ballot. She shared that when she was pregnant with twins, due to complications, her pregnancy was guaranteed to end with the death of at least one of her twin boys, if not both. Aborting one of the fetuses saved the life of the other.

Today, I would not be able to make that decision, Campbell said.

She told South Dakota Searchlight that neither she nor any of her fellow petition circulators engaged in the lies and deception that the Life Defense Fund is alleging.

In addition to the potential legal challenge from the Life Defense Fund, the petitions also must clear a check by the Secretary of States Office to verify enough of the signatures are from registered South Dakota voters.

SDs place in national debate

Some regional abortion-rights groups do not support the ballot measure, including Planned Parenthood North Central States and the American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota. The groups have alleged there are problems in the language of the measure resulting from a rushed process to draft it without sufficient input from interested people and groups.

Weiland said he hopes those groups will reconsider as the ballot measure moves forward.

If the measure makes the ballot, it will not be the first time South Dakotans have voted on abortion rights. South Dakota voters rejected abortion bans in 2006 and 2008.

The 2006 ballot measure would have banned abortions except to preserve the life of the pregnant woman, and the 2008 ballot measure would have banned abortions with the same exception plus additional exceptions for rape and incest.

According to KFF Health News, there are efforts underway to put constitutional amendments regarding abortion on the 2024 ballot in at least 13 states: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Pennsylvania and South Dakota.

Since the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, six states  California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Vermont and Ohio  have voted on abortion-related constitutional amendments, and the side favoring access to abortion prevailed in each state.

The abortion measure is just one of many questions that could appear on South Dakotas November ballot. Several other citizen-initiated petitions are circulating, including a measure to switch the state from political-party primary elections to open primaries.

The Legislature has already exercised its right to place two measures on the ballot: one would replace references to male officeholders in the state constitution with neutral language, and the other would ask voters to lift a prohibition against work requirements for Medicaid expansion enrollees.

This article first appeared in the South Dakota Searchlight, a sister site of the Nebraska Examiner in the States Newsroom network.

The post SD group submits abortion-rights ballot petitions as opponents pledge legal challenge appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
Lethal Benadryl dose used in murder of Ohio 3-year-old, investigators say

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)  A man who served eight years in prison for child endangerment was arrested Wednesday for his alleged role in the death of a three-year-old child.

According to court documents, 35-year-old Randy Mollett is charged with murder, reckless homicide and endangering children after a child in his care reportedly suffered a seizure and died on April 13.

A criminal complaint report states that Mollett called 911 at 6:18 p.m. to report a juvenile had stopped breathing at his home on London-Groveport Road, near Grove City. Medics took the three-year-old child to Nationwide Childrens Hospital, where they were pronounced dead.

UPDATE: Suspect in Benadryl death gets multi-million dollar bond

The toxicology report revealed that the child had ingested a lethal dosage of Diphenhydramine, which is commonly referred to as Benadryl. Parents told police that their child was in Molletts custody for a period of three days, but that they did not authorize the use of Benadryl.

Two bottles of Benadryl were found in Molletts home. During an interview, police said Mollett admitted to giving the medicine to the child.

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On Thursday, a Franklin County Municipal Court judge issued Mollett a $1 million bond and scheduled him to appear in court Friday on a murder charge. He is currently being held in Franklin County Jail.

It is the second time Mollett has been arrested on similar charges. In 2008 he received three counts each of felonious assault and endangering children from an incident in which a 23-month-old suffered broken bones in both hands. He later pleaded guilty to one count of endangering children and was sentenced to eight years in prison.

In 2013, a Franklin County Court of Common Pleas judge denied a motion for early judicial release.

The Franklin County Sheriffs Office asked anyone with information regarding this incident or Mollett to call 614-525-3351.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV.
HANOI, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's National Assembly (NA) adopted a resolution relieving Vuong Dinh Hue from NA chairmanship on Thursday, local media reported.

The 15th-tenure parliament also agreed to relieve Hue from being an NA deputy, according to Vietnam News Agency.

Hue became the chairman of the National Assembly in March 2021. 
Rhome doesnt have a grocery store or many restaurants, but those businesses are clamoring to come to the city which is poised for the inevitable growth as it sits at the confluence of two major highways in southern Wise County.

But Rhome has serious issues with its outdated west wastewater treatment plant that often overflows (especially when it rains) and is closely monitored by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality because it isnt in compliance. Rhome also needs to replace deteriorated sewer lines and drill more water wells to keep pace with the demand.

The three proposals to replace the Wastewater plant, drill new wells and replace deteriorating sewer lines are in a $17.5 million bond package on the May 4 ballot. The three proposals would cost 42.37 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, or $141 a month for the owner of a $400,000 home, according to the city.

Election day is Saturday. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Rhome Community Center.

Whats at stake for Rhome

During an April 17 town hall, city administrator Amanda DeGan told residents that developers, including a representative for companies including H-E-B and Taco Bell, are asking about the predicted growth in Rhome because of the new homes coming to the area.

The city of 1,773 sits at the intersection of U.S. 287 and Texas 114. Just outside the city limits, the 10,000-home Reunion development is under construction on the property known as Rolling V Ranch.

The plant on citys east side is in good shape and can be expanded for growth, but the west treatment plant cannot, DeGan said.

She said developers are looking at the west side of the city.

I cannot hook up one more toilet to that west plant, she said.

And so through that lens, I cant offer that developer anything to come here, she said. So, they will look at Boyd. If you compare Rhome with Boyd, which is fairly similar in size and demographics, what do you see thats different? They have businesses and restaurants and grocery and they are expanding the roadway with TxDOT that we havent had the advantage of. We need to know how to capitalize on that, how to pursue connections with development.

Peter Pincoffs, who bought the 3,500-acre Rolling V Ranch in 2019 from the late Wise County energy giant Johnny Vinson, told residents at the town hall that businesses are reluctant to come to Rhome because of the citys dysfunction.

Pincoffs said the Reunion development has its own waste treatment plant.

He also said in an interview that he finalized a contract with a grocery company that would be in the Reunion development but said he could not name the company yet.

Pincoffs said he intentionally has stayed away from politics but added: I have no choice but to speak up at this point. The dysfunction in this town is very, very widely known.

All around and businesses avoid coming here because of the very loud voices from a small number of people.

The City Council recently censured Mayor Patricia Mitchell after investigating an employees complaint alleging that Mitchell behaved in a rude, abusive manner and failed to sign important documents.

Pincoffs said Reunion wont directly benefit from the bond election, but he purchased signs urging people to vote and told residents to knock on their neighbors doors and ask them to support the bond.

Pincoffs said he is not trying to single anyone out but he has seen three city administrators since 2019.

People need to understand there are consequences, he said.

One of them is that large companies will go somewhere else, he said.

The west wastewater treatment plant, built in 1998, must be replaced because it is at capacity. Rhome spends thousands of dollars to haul off waste in tanker trucks when the system overflows.

DeGan estimated Rhome spent $25,000 in April for the cleanup, and those costs will keep increasing, she said.

The public works employees are often sent home to get rest when rain is in the forecast because they must be available to clean up sewage spills.

This city and its potential is endless, DeGan told the residents at the town hall. You are literally in the nexus of tens of thousands of cars that come through every day, and were not capturing nearly everything that we should be capturing.

She continues to get calls from developers.

Theyre just looking for some progress, she said.

Whats on the ballot

The ballot includes the three bond propositions, a tax rollback, mayor and city council races and Northwest school board places.

The tax rate increase depends on which propositions pass.

Proposition A: $3 million to drill two or three wells to address demand. Cost is approximately $750,000 per well. Storage tanks must also be repaired.

Proposition B: $11 million to replace the west wastewater plant, built in 1998. The plant is at capacity and cant expand to accommodate new homes and businesses in that portion of the city. The TCEQ is monitoring the treatment plant. When there are overflows, the city must bring in tanker trucks to haul the waste to landfills.

Proposition C: $3.5 million to replace clay sewer lines and manholes.
By Diana Novak Jones

(Reuters) - U.S. attorneys for a woman who claims her colon cancer was caused by the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac on Thursday told a jury in Chicago that pharmaceutical companies GSK and Boehringer Ingelheim knew the product could cause cancer if it was not handled properly but failed to warn the public.

Mikal Watts, who is representing 89-year-old Angela Valadez, said the companies knew that Zantacs active ingredient, ranitidine, would turn into a cancer-causing substance called NDMA as it aged or was exposed to extreme temperatures, but did not ensure it was properly handled by transporters, distributors and stores.

Valadez's case is one of tens of thousands against GSK, Boehringer Ingelheim and other pharmaceutical companies, which have worried investors in recent years. It will offer the first test of whether the cancer claims in the long-running litigation will persuade a jury, since all cases previously set for trial settled or were dropped.

GSK and Boehringer Ingelheim are the only defendants in the trial, after other companies settled.

Watts told the jury the pills would change color as they degraded, but the companies would cover it up.

They know were not going to take a product that looks bad, so they put a paint job on it, Watts said.

Attorneys for GSK, which developed the active ingredient in Zantac but later sold the brand to other companies, and Boehringer Ingelheim, which sold the drug from 2006 until 2017, countered that Zantac has been repeatedly proven to be safe and effective and that no scientific or medical study had connected Zantac to cancer.

There is no objective evidence linking Ms. Valadezs cancer to Zantac, GSKs attorney Tarek Ismail told the jury. No genetic test, lab report, imaging study nothing whatsoever.

Valadez, who said she took Zantac every day for at least 18 years, had a host of risk factors that made her more likely to develop colon cancer, Ismail said.

First approved in 1983, Zantac became the world's best selling medicine in 1988 and one of the first-ever drugs to top $1 billion in annual sales. It was originally marketed by a forerunner of GSK and later sold successively to other companies.

In 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration asked drugmakers to pull Zantac and its generic versions off the market after NDMA was found in samples of the drug. Thousands of lawsuits began piling up in federal and state courts.

A new version of Zantac now on the market has a different active ingredient and does not contain ranitidine.

The companies notched a significant win in 2022 when a judge dismissed about 50,000 claims centralized in federal court in Florida. That judge concluded that the opinions of the plaintiffs' expert witnesses that Zantac can cause cancer were not supported by sound science.

Story continues

More than 70,000 Zantac cases remain pending in the U.S., many of them in Delaware state court where a judge is considering similar arguments from drugmakers that plaintiffs' expert testimony should be kept out.

Some other cases were previously settled, including several individual cases just before trial, and about 4,000 state court lawsuits outside of Delaware against French drugmaker Sanofi SA.

(Reporting by Diana Jones; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Josie Kao)
By Luis Jaime Acosta

YARI PLAINS, Colombia (Reuters) - A group of children holding red, yellow and blue balloons  the colors of Colombia's flag  run to the playground of a newly-opened school built and paid for by the Estado Mayor Central (EMC) guerrillas.

The new school - which opened last month in a troubled area in the country's south - is just one example of how the group is consolidating control of certain regions, gaining social support and territorial dominance, and potentially stymieing already-fraught efforts by President Gustavo Petro to ink a new peace deal.

The 3,500-strong EMC are rebels who rejected a landmark 2016 peace deal with the government that largely put an end to decades of conflict. Dissidents from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), they remain armed and committed, they say, to Marxist ideals like wealth and land redistribution.

The EMC's construction of a pseudo-state  building clinics, roads and bridges  is a strategy to bring it closer to local people in places with minimal state presence, government officials, security sources and analysts say, giving the rebels a stronger position at the negotiating table.

Control of territory also allows the EMC to expand drug trafficking and illegal mining, funding its armed operations, the security sources said, hurting U.S. and Colombian anti-drug efforts and damaging fragile Amazon ecosystems.

As in other countries where guerrillas or criminal groups have filled a void of state presence, their efforts have sowed distrust of security forces, said a high-ranking army official who asked to remain anonymous.

But the EMC says they are bringing benefits to marginalized communities.

"It's a dream ... for the communities," EMC second-in-command Alexander Diaz Mendoza, better known by his nom de guerre Calarca Cordoba, told Reuters at the school opening. "Especially for this region which has been excluded by the state."

The EMC, which entered peace talks with the Petro government last year, inherited the pseudo-state building practice from its predecessor the FARC, which demobilized under the 2016 peace deal. It is now Colombia's third-largest armed group.

Around 13,000 people demobilized under the FARC deal, which mandated the group's leaders face war crimes investigations, but other armed groups - including crime gangs, dissidents like the EMC and the National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels - remain active, counting some 17,600 members between them.

Petro has promised to end the 60-year conflict, which has killed 450,000 people, through new peace deals, but he is confronting significant hurdles, including the partial suspension of a ceasefire with the EMC.

"The school is for the communities, for the children, who need it," Calarca said before inaugurating the building, whose 12 classrooms, computer room, dormitories and other facilities outclass many rural schools in Colombia.

Camilo Gonzalez, the government's head negotiator at the talks with the EMC, said such initiatives happened because the state was not present.

"If infrastructure is being constructed illegally it's because legally it doesn't happen," he said.

Petro's government has pledged to fight inequality with improvements to public services and healthcare in far-flung regions, but the president's reforms have struggled in congress and many programs have yet to come to fruition.

Gonzalez said the guerrillas' "substitution of the state" would be discussed at the peace talks, and that it made the talks harder.

Constructions like the school are a form of social control, said Crisis Group analyst Elizabeth Dickinson.

"The closer an armed group is to the population, the harder it is to move toward peace, because they are ever more a part of society," said Dickinson, adding that her group's investigations have shown that the EMC also imposes its own justice system in some regions.

It is more beneficial for the EMC to build infrastructure than it is for them to confront the state militarily, Dickinson said.

ILLEGAL FINANCING?

The construction of the school in the Yari plains, deep in Caqueta province in the Amazon Basin, cost some 3.2 billion pesos, about $800,000, said rebel leader Calarca.

Calarca said his group also spent some $900,000 on an agriculture and reforestation project, though he would not provide details of the funds' origin.

The armed forces accuse the EMC and other armed groups of drug trafficking, illegal mining, kidnapping and extortion.

As part of the 2016 deal, the FARC admitted their involvement in drug trafficking.

Groups like the EMC "oblige us to rethink our strategy," General William Salamanca, director of the national police, told Reuters, adding that where there was armed group presence the state needed to invest in local communities.

"The transition from war to peace includes public works beyond fighting criminal organizations," said the army official, adding that territorial control facilitates money laundering.

For residents, the pseudo-state brings clear advantages.

"This is an opportunity for young people, for the children," said farmer and Yari community leader Raul Avila, who said the state has traditionally been present in the area only through the military. "We have never seen community investment, we've always been abandoned."

"We've made a state within a state," said Avila, as 1,000 people gathered to celebrate the school opening.

The EMC is ready if the government tries to delay the school from functioning, rebel leader Calarca said.

"If they don't put it into operation, we will."

(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)
Gunman who shot a man outside Portsmouth daycare is sentenced to 18 years

PORTSMOUTH  A man who fatally shot another man outside a daycare center last year was sentenced Tuesday to 18 years in prison.

Ryheem Jasaun Hargrow Pugh was found guilty after a February jury trial of second-degree murder and two firearm charges.

Rocco Marcus Nixon, who had children that attended Gifted Minds Academy on King Street, was killed June 1 outside the center.

According to prosecutors, Hargrow Pugh drove to the center that morning with the mother of Nixons children, as well as the children. Nixon, 34, drove up in a separate vehicle. The two men got out of their cars, and Hargrow Pugh, 22 at the time, fired multiple shots at Nixon. He was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com
Where do allegations of election fraud originate? The answer can usually be narrowed down to a message board or a right-wing website, to be sure, but where do their claims come from? Who eases into consciousness in the slanting rays of the morning sun, or perhaps the early afternoon shadow of numerous empty cans of light beer, and says to him- or herself, on this day, in these vast and beautiful United States, I am going to allocate a meaningful portion of the seconds and minutes remaining in my one wild and precious life toward stating on the internet, as if I know it to be true with epistemological certainty, that Joe Biden is the president of America because the Chinese and Italian governments used compromised thermostats and satellite beams to strategically gain control of our voting machines?

Who does that? What kind of person are we dealing with who does that? Whats the deal with that?

Thanks to online anonymity, the answer is usually unclear, but because of a lawsuit filed by Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Mosswho were falsely accused, on the basis of specious video evidence, of manipulating data at a Fulton County, Georgia, ballot-counting center in 2020we may have part of the answer, as it pertains to their situation. And that answer, according to a filing in the lawsuit, is: A guy who was convicted of voyeurism and ordered to pay a massive sum of money because he videotaped people using his bathroom in Florida.

This development was noted by the Guardian, which explains that some of the allegations against Freeman and Moss were printed by the Gateway Pundit, a site notorious even by right-wing standards for publishing outlandish claims. Moss and Freemans attorneys are suing the Gateway Pundit, and their filing seeks to compel the site to turn over communications related to some of the sources for its stories. One of these sources was a man named Kevin Moncla, and Freeman and Moss allege on the basis of other documents that concerns about Monclas reliability were raised internally by a Gateway Pundit lawyer named John Burns. According to the filing, Burns called Moncla a goddamned fraud and a known fabricator and said he wouldnt touch/publish anything he produces. (Moncla says he stands behind his work.)

Moncla, who is active in right-wing election integrity work in Texas, is a former resident of Destin, Floridawhere, according to reporting by the Associated Press and the Ledger newspaper, he was convicted of a misdemeanor charge of voyeurism in 2004. During a subsequent lawsuit against him, a police officer testified in a deposition that he had wired a bathroom used by his houseguests for video recording; a jury ordered him to pay the guests $3.25 million. (In a February 2024 conversation with Talking Points Memo, Moncla dismissed the voyeurism charges as an issue that came up in a personal divorce case  and said his work should be judged on its own merits.)

So thats that. As to why Kevin Moncla would make things up about Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, or videotape his houseguests in the bathroom, the poets can only continue to speculate.
The Hagerstown Fire Marshal's Office has ruled an April 22 apartment fire in a South End duplex, in which two people were injured, to be accidental, Deputy Fire Chief Adam Hopkins said Wednesday.

Both of the injured occupants, who suffered smoke inhalation and some burn injuries, have since been released from hospitals, according to Hagerstown Fire Department officials.

A bystander helped one of those occupants, a man, get down the stairs and out of the apartment house at 710 Chestnut St., officials said.

Downtown Hagerstown redevelopment: If you like your living space both vintage and modern touches, check out The Updegraff

The fire was caused by a portable space heater that was used too close to combustibles, according to an email from Hopkins.

The temperature in Hagerstown around the time of the fire being reported was in the low 50s, according to Weather Underground.

Hopkins said smoke alarms alerted residents to the fire.

The fire was reported around 11:20 p.m. that Monday night with multiple reports that there were people trapped, according to a Hagerstown Fire Department post on Facebook.

About 40 firefighters responded the night of April 22, 2024, to an apartment house fire on Chestnut Street in which two occupants were injured, Hagerstown Fire Department officials said.

Hopkins and Fire Chief John DiBacco said a woman in the upstairs apartment was able to get out on her own, while the bystander helped the man from that apartment get out of the apartment house.

The man was transferred from Meritus Medical Center to Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore.

Firefighters arrived to find fire coming from second-floor windows, according to the Facebook post. They faced a "large volume of fire" upstairs that extended into the soffit area around the front and side.

About 40 firefighters responded, DiBacco said.

That includes firefighters from all city fire companies as well as from Halfway, Long Meadow, Funkstown and Leitersburg. Community Rescue Service and Washington County's air and rehab units also went to the call.

Early voting in Maryland: Maryland in-person, early voting period begins this week. Find your early voting center.

Safety tips for using portable heaters

About 40 firefighters responded the night of April 22, 2024, to an apartment house fire on Chestnut Street in which two occupants were injured, Hagerstown Fire Department officials said.

While temperatures are warming up this time of year, Hopkins shared several safety tips regarding space heaters.

They include:

Making sure space heaters are on a stable, level surface so they won't tip over easily.

Maintaining a clear area around the heater so it is not close to flammable materials such as curtains, bedding, furniture and papers. Those materials should be at least 3 feet from the heater.

Plug the heater directly into the wall outlet to prevent overheating.

Keep the heater's intake and exhaust areas unobstructed.

Do not leave an active space heater unattended. Turn it off when leaving the room or going to sleep.

Keep children and pets away from space heaters so they don't accidentally tip them over or get burned.

Clean the heater regularly according to manufacturer's instructions. This is to prevent dust buildup and ensure the heater is operating properly.

Inspect the heater's cord regularly for damage or fraying. If such issues are found, stop using the heater until the cord can be replaced or repaired.

When the heater isn't being used, store it in a dry, cool place away from moisture and direct sunlight.

Fire prevention officials also recommend using portable heaters that have an automatic shut-off feature in case they overheat or fall over.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Two people injured from Hagerstown apartment fire
By Harold Isaac

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - The majority of Haiti's transition council who had nominated an interim prime minister earlier this week has walked back the decision, exposing the internal turmoil of the group charged with leading the Caribbean nation out of a prolonged crisis.

Late on Wednesday, four of the council's seven voting members issued a statement saying they will go back to an original agreement to choose a prime minister from a pool of applicants, after having tapped former official Fritz Belizaire for the job.

In recent years, Haiti's political and social order has suffered repeated setbacks, from a presidential assassination to a major earthquake, aggravating a power vacuum increasingly filled by armed gangs vying for power.

Violence on the island nation has spiked in recent months, with more than one person killed in gang violence every hour over the first three months of this year, according to United Nations data.

On Tuesday, the majority bloc within the council tapped Belizaire as prime minister, with former Senate leader Edgard Leblanc picked to head the council.

A public vote had been expected to take place for both posts, but did not happen.

The four members who reversed course on the prime minister nomination call themselves the "Indissoluble Majority Bloc," and by Thursday afternoon they had not put forward a potential replacement.

The Montana Accord group, a faction which holds a seat on the council, has called for a rotating council presidency. Its representative, Fritz Jean, said in a Thursday radio interview that disagreements remained over the scope of the council president's role, with some believing it would act as interim president of the nation.

The council has also been tasked with appointing a cabinet and establishing a provisional electoral authority charged with paving the way to Haiti's first elections since 2016.

A vote for a new president is expected by early 2026.

(Reporting by Harold Isaac in Port-au-Prince and Kylie Madry in Mexico City; Editing by David Alire Garcia and Richard Chang)
Hakeem Jeffries isn't speaker yet, but the Democrat may be the most powerful person in Congress

FILE - In this image from video, House impeachment manager Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., answers a question during the impeachment trial against President Donald Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Jan. 29, 2020. (Senate Television via AP, File)

WASHINGTON (AP)  Without wielding the gavel or holding a formal job laid out in the Constitution, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries might very well be the most powerful person in Congress right now.

The minority leader of the House Democrats, it was Jeffries who provided the votes needed to keep the government running despite opposition from House Republicans to prevent a federal shutdown.

Jeffries who made sure Democrats delivered the tally to send $95 billion foreign aid to Ukraine and other U.S. allies.

And Jeffries who, with the full force of House Democratic leadership behind him, decided this week his party would help Speaker Mike Johnson stay on the job rather than be ousted by far-right Republicans led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

How powerful is Jeffries right now? said Jeffery Jenkins, a public policy professor at the University of Southern California who has written extensively about Congress. Thats significant power.

The decision by Jeffries and the House Democratic leadership team to lend their votes to stop Johnson's ouster provides a powerful inflection point in what has been a long political season of dysfunction, stalemate and chaos in Congress.

By declaring enough is enough, that it's time to turn the page on the Republican tumult, the Democratic leader is flexing his power in a very public and timely way, an attempt to show lawmakers, and anyone else watching in dismay at the broken Congress, that there can be an alternative approach to governing.

From the very beginning of this Congress, House Republicans have visited chaos, dysfunction and extremism on the American people, Jeffries said Wednesday at the Capitol.

Jeffries said that with House Republicans unwilling or unable" to get "the extreme MAGA Republicans under control, its going to take a bipartisan coalition and partnership to accomplish that objective. We need more common sense in Washington, D.C., and less chaos.

In the House, the minority leader is often seen as the speaker-in-waiting, the highest-ranking official of the party that's out of power, biding their time in hopes of regaining the majority  and with it, the speaker's gavel  in the next election. Elected by their own party, it's a job without much formal underpinning.

But in Jeffries' case, the minority leader position has come with enormous power, filling the political void left by the actual speaker, Johnson, who commands a fragile, thread-thin Republican majority and is constantly under threat from far-right provocateurs that the GOP speaker cannot fully control.

Hes operating as a shadow speaker on all the important votes, said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

While Johnson still marshals the powerful tools of the speaker's office, a job outlined in the Constitution and second in the line of succession to the presidency, the Republican-led House has churned through a tumultuous session of infighting and upheaval that has left their goals and priorities stalled out.

In a fit of displeasure just months into their majority, far-right Republicans ousted the previous speaker, the now-retired Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., last fall in a never-before-seen act of party revolt. He declined to specifically ask the Democrats for help.

Johnson faces the same threat of removal, but Jeffries sees in Johnson a more honest broker and potential partner he is willing to at least temporarily prop up  even though Johnson, too, has not overtly asked for any assist from across the aisle. A vote on Greene's motion to vacate the speaker is expected next week.

As Johnson sidles up to Donald Trump, receiving the presumed Republican presidential nominee's nod of support, it is Jeffries who holds what Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the speaker emerita, has referred to as currency of the realm  votes  that are required in the House to get any agenda over the finish line.

Pelosi said in an interview that Jeffries as the minority leader has always had leverage because of the slim House majority.

But its a question of him showing that hes willing to use it, she said.

Jeffries has been masterful, she said, at securing Democratic priorities, notably humanitarian assistance in the foreign aid package that Republicans initially opposed.

But Pelosi disagreed with the idea that Democrats lending support to Johnson at this juncture creates some sort of new coalition era of U.S. politics.

"Our House functions because were willing to be bipartisan in making it function, she said. Hes not necessarily saving Speaker Johnson  hes upholding the dignity of the institution."

Jeffries is a quietly confident operator, positioning himself, and his party, as purveyors of democratic norms amid the Republican thunderclap of Trump-era disruption.

The first Black American to lead a political party in Congress, Jeffries is already a historic figure, whose stature will only rise further if he is elected as the first to wield the gavel as House speaker.

Born in Brooklyn, Jeffries, 53, rose steadily through the ranks in New York state politics and then on the national stage, a charismatic next-generation leader, first elected to Congress in 2012 from the district parts of which were once represented by another historic lawmaker, Shirley Chisolm, the first Black woman elected to Congress.

A former corporate lawyer, Jeffries is also known for his sharp oratory, drawing on his upbringing in the historically Black Cornerstone Baptist Church, a spiritual home for many grandchildren and great-grandchildren of enslaved African Americans who fled to Brooklyn from the American South. But he also infuses his speeches and remarks with a modern sensibility and cadence, bridging generations.

Last year, when Republicans could not muster the votes on a procedural step for a budget and debt deal, it was Jeffries who stood intently at his desk in the House chamber, and lifted his voting card to signal to Democrats it was time to step up and deliver.

Repeatedly, Jeffries has ensured the Democratic votes to prevent a federal government shutdown. And last month, when Johnson faced an all-out hard-right Republican revolt over the Ukraine aid, Jeffries again stepped in, assuring Democrats had more votes than Republicans to see it to passage.

Ahead of the November election, the two parties are in a fight for political survival to control the narrowly divided House, and Jeffries would most certainly face his own challenges leading Democrats if they were to gain the majority, splintered over many key issues.

But Jeffries and Johnson have both been in a cross-country sprint, raising money and enthusiasm for their own party candidates ahead of November  the Republican speaker trying to keep his job, the Democratic leader waiting to take it on.
Halle Berry shouts from the Capitol, 'I'm in menopause' as she seeks to end a stigma and win funding

WASHINGTON (AP)  Halle Berry is joining a group of bipartisan senators to push for legislation that would put $275 million toward research and education around menopause, the significant hormone shift women go through in middle age.

The legislation calls for the federal government to spend more on clinical trials on menopause as well as the hormone therapy that is used to treat hot flashes and other symptoms.

Berry, 57, shouted about menopause outside the U.S. Capitol on Thursday. She said its a word her own doctor told her he was scared to say in front of her.

Im in menopause, OK? Berry yelled, eliciting chuckles from the crowd. The shame has to be taken out of menopause. We have to talk about this very normal part of our life that happens. Our doctors cant even say the word to us, let alone walk us through the journey.

In recent months, the leading Hollywood actor has been candid about the painful symptoms she experienced while going through perimenopause, which occurs before menopause when a womans estrogen levels start dropping. Her doctor initially misdiagnosed her with herpes, a sexually transmitted disease that both Berry and her partner tested negative for.

Under a proposal by Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington and Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, $125 million would be set aside for clinical trials, public health and medical research on menopause. The remaining money would help support menopause detection and diagnosis, train doctors on treating menopause and raising public awareness around it.

Menopause is not a bad word, its not something to be ashamed of, and its not something Congress or the federal government should ignore, Murray said.

The bill is backed by 17 senators  three Republicans, 13 Democrats, one independent and all of them women. Several senators said Thursday they hope the bill will also encourage doctors, women and men to speak more openly about the health milestone all women experience.

Besides Berry, other celebrities have started sharing more about menopause on talk shows and in interviews, while some have even started hawking products related to it. And last year, President Joe Biden came out with a new initiative to improve the federal governments research around womens health, including menopause. Dr. Monica Bertagnolli, director of the National Institutes of Health, has said that too little is known about womens health through all stages of life. Her agency is the federal government's leading medical research arm.

While the legislation has cleared what is typically one of Congress' biggest hurdles  getting bipartisan support  its prospects are uncertain. It's difficult getting bills through Congress at any time and the challenges are compounded now by the divisiveness on the Hill and the dwindling number of days on the legislative calendar before the November election.

The group of women will need to get buy-in from their male colleagues to make the money for menopause research a reality. Congress is overwhelmingly represented by men.

Murkowski said she was looking forward to getting support from her male counterparts. If men went through menopause we would have adequately and appropriately funded the research (into) menopause decades and decades ago."

__

Associated Press Medical Writer Lauran Neergaard contributed to this report.
Halle Berry shouts 'I'm in menopause' on Capitol Hill as she fights for funding to improve women's care

Actress Halle Berry was joined by a group of bipartisan senators on Capitol Hill Thursday to push for legislation that would put $275 million towards research and education around menopause.

The legislation calls for the federal government to spend more on clinical trials on menopause as well as the hormone therapy that is used to treat hot flashes and other symptoms.

Berry, 57, shouted about her own menopausal status outside the Capitol Thursday.

"I'm in menopause, OK?" Berry yelled, to laughs from the crowd. "The shame has to be taken out of menopause. We have to talk about this very normal part of our life that happens. Our doctors can't even say the word to us, let alone walk us through the journey."

PHOTO: Halle Berry joins female senators as they introduce new legislation to boost federal research on menopause, at the Capitol, May 2, 2024. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

Berry, a mom of two, spoke out earlier this year about her experience with perimenopause, describing a situation in which she said her doctor misdiagnosed her.

"My doctor had no knowledge and didn't prepare me," Berry said in a conversation with first lady Jill Biden at the Day of Unreasonable Conversation summit in Los Angeles in March.

"That's when I knew, 'Oh my gosh, I've got to use my platform,'" Berry said at the time. "I have to use all of who I am and I have to start making a change and a difference for other women.'"

Perimenopause, the period of time before menopause when ovaries make varying amounts of the hormones estrogen and progesterone can start as early as 40 years old and can last up to 10 or more years.

PHOTO: Halle Berry joins senators as they introduce new legislation to boost federal research on menopause, at the Capitol, May 2, 2024. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

The average age for menopause, when your periods stop permanently, is 52, according to the U.S. Office on Women's Health. Menopause is reached after it has been a full year since your last period.

Under a legislative proposal advocated for by Berry and introduced by Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington and Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, $125 million of federal funding would be set aside for clinical trials, public health, and medical research on menopause.

MORE: I went through menopause before I turned 40 and this is what I want women to know

The remaining money would help support menopause detection and diagnosis, train doctors on treating menopause and raise public awareness around it.

"Menopause is not a bad word, it's not something to be ashamed of, and it's not something Congress or the federal government should ignore," Murray said Thursday.

The bill is backed by 17 senators - three Republicans, 13 Democrats, one independent and all of them women.

Several senators said Thursday they hope the bill will also encourage doctors, women and men to speak more openly about the health milestone all women experience.

MORE: What to know about perimenopause after Halle Berry says she was misdiagnosed

Murkowski said she was looking forward to getting support from her male counterparts.

"If men went through menopause we would have adequately and appropriately funded the research (into) menopause decades and decades ago," she said.

Menopause and other women-only health conditions have traditionally lagged behind in research and understanding. As recently as the 1970s, few women were enrolled in clinical trials, and women's health needs were believed to be a low priority. One 2022 study found women still account for only between 29% and 34% of some early-stage clinical trials due to concerns about fertility.

In March, President Joe Biden signed an executive order on women's health research, which particularly focuses on increasing research on women's midlife health and improving management of menopause-related issues.

Halle Berry shouts 'I'm in menopause' on Capitol Hill as she fights for funding to improve women's care originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com
MANILA, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Government troops on Thursday killed two suspected rebels in two clashes in Iloilo province in the central Philippines on Thursday, a military report said.

The report said the first clash occurred in Leon town at 7:30 a.m. local time when soldiers were conducting combat operations following a tip-off from the villagers about the presence of around 20 New People's Army (NPA) rebels in the area.

The second clash broke out later between soldiers and about 10 NPA rebels in the same village, added the report.

Troops recovered three M16 assault rifles, an M14 rifle, an AK-47 rifle, and an anti-personnel mine from the encounter site. No soldiers were killed or wounded in the encounter.

NPA rebels have been fighting the government troops since 1969. They concentrate their attacks on rural areas and have skirmishes with the military.

Military data showed that the NPA is estimated to have 2,000 members, significantly lower than its peak strength in the 1980s. 
Hamas leader in exile positive about a ceasefire as negotiators head for talks in Cairo

Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas leader in exile, hailed the spirit of the ceasefire negotiations - Arif Hudaverdi Yaman/Anadolu via Getty Images

The leader in exile of Hamas has said the group is positive about the latest proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza as he dispatched a new delegation to Cairo for more talks.

Following days of mixed signals, Ismail Haniyeh on Thursday spoke to Egypts intelligence chief by phone, hailing the positive spirit of the movement in studying the ceasefire proposal.

Hamas negotiators will go back to Cairo to complete the ongoing discussions with the aim of working forward for an agreement, the terrorist group said.

Israel and Hamas appeared to be nearing a breakthrough in protracted negotiations on a deal that could put an end to the six-month war in Gaza and win the release of at least some of 133 Israeli hostages still believed to be held by Hamas.

A leaked copy of the proposal included a pledge to create sustained calm in Gaza once the first stage of the deal was implemented. The vaguely worded phrase is the closest Israel has come to signalling its willingness for a truce, while its leadership keeps publicly denying suggestions that it would stop the war in Gaza altogether.

The ultimate decision will be made by Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza and one of the masterminds of the Oct 7 massacre in southern Israel, according to reports.

According to a new report by two UN agencies, at least 370,000 housing units in Gaza have been damaged - AFP

Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 on Thursday quoted a source close to Sinwar saying that the proposal on the table was an Israeli proposal in an American disguise and it contains a series of booby-trapped clauses.

They also said exiled Hamas functionaries do not speak for the terrorist group.

Israeli media on Thursday morning cited unnamed security officials who said they were not optimistic about the outcome of the talks, despite high hopes from Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state.

Israels war cabinet met on Thursday evening to discuss the possible deal after a previous meeting was cancelled on Wednesday night.

Rafah or the hostages  choose life

Protesters and families of some of the hostages in Hamas captivity rallied in support of the deal, decrying remarks by Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, that Israel would launch an offensive on Gazas Rafah no matter what happened in the negotiations.

Families of several hostages and their supporters briefly blocked the main highway in Tel Aviv during the morning rush hour, demanding an immediate deal.

Israeli soldiers near the Gaza border.Mr Netanyahu has not said he would stop the war even if a deal was agreed - Amir Cohen/Reuters

They unfurled a banner saying Rafah or the hostages  choose life.

Mr Netanyahu reaffirmed his stance on Thursday, telling a memorial ceremony for fallen members of a 1930s-1940s paramilitary organisation that Israel will do what we must do in order to win and to triumph over our enemies, including in Rafah.

Meanwhile UN experts have published estimates of the damage done to the densely populated Gaza Strip.

A report by two UN agencies said at least 370,000 housing units in Gaza had been damaged, with 79,000 of them completely destroyed.

It would take until at least 2040 to rebuild all the destroyed homes without repairing the damaged ones.

On Wednesday, the head of the UNs mine clearing agency said there was more rubble, some of it contaminated with mines, to clear in Gaza than in Ukraine where the front line is 600 miles long compared to 25 miles in the Gaza Strip.

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The Hampton Township Police Department is mourning the death of a beloved sergeant.

Sgt. Robert Kirsopp died on Tuesday.

At this time we would ask that you keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers. He enriched the lives of all who knew him and will truly be missed, the township said in a Facebook post.

Multiple surrounding police departments have shared tributes to Kirsopp on social media after his death.

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HANFORD, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE)  A bar in Hanford has had its state license to sell alcohol revoked after employees sold controlled substances to undercover agents on multiple occasions, the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control said on Wednesday.

The action was taken against The Lacey in Hanford, located at 889 E. Lacey Boulevard.

15 arrested in Clovis Trap Door operation

According to ABC, the department originally opened an investigation at the bar after receiving a complaint that employees were selling illegal drugs. Undercover agents were able to obtain cocaine on multiple occasions from a premises bartender.

On another occasion, ABC says the premises bartender also helped supply a controlled substance via a patron at the bar. Two employees and a patron were ultimately arrested following the investigation.

Officials say that they posted a Notice of Revocation on the bar on May 1. The revocation is stayed for 180 days to permit the potential transfer of the license. In addition, no sales or consumption of alcoholic beverages can occur at the premises during the stayed revocation period, officials say.

The Hanford Police Department assisted ABCs Fresno District Office during the investigation.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com | KSEE24 and CBS47.
What happens to the Charlotte home at the center of the deadly standoff?

What happens to the Charlotte home at the center of the deadly standoff?

CHARLOTTE (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  The home that was the center of the deadly standoff Monday remains unlivable and surrounding homes along Galway Drive also have some damage.

Strangers have been passing by the home where a gaping hole remains after a U.S. Marshals Task Force attempted to serve a warrant Monday.

The house on Galway Drive was occupied by renters when a suspect who was inside shot eight officers, killing four of them. Witnesses say they saw a SWAT vehicle drive into the home.

It looked nice and clean; it wasnt like that with all the bullets through the window; it was nice and clean, said neighbor Saing Chhoeun.

Queen City News

SHANNON PARK SHOOTING

The more than three-hour standoff caused damage to multiple homes. Chhoeun lives next door. He pointed out damage to his front yard, back yard, and fence that he says was caused by a SWAT vehicle. He assumes his insurance can cover the damage.

I dont know; it was in my property; this is my house so, I have insurance to cover [it], Chhoeun said.

Looking through a Liberty Mutual insurance policy, Queen City News found an exception for destruction of property by order of any governmental or public authority.

Queen City News crews saw the City of Charlotte Code Enforcement appear to be assessing damage and taking pictures.

Chhoeun says a representative from the city stopped by his home and recorded the damage. Between the City and his insurance company, he hopes the damages are covered.

I dont expect for this to happen, Chhoeun said. I have lived here for 6 years; I dont expect it.

Officials from the City of Charlotte say Code Enforcement will be issuing notices and citations about the property soon in three steps.

First, inspectors will ask the property owners to address yard debris. The property owner will have 710 days after notice to remove yard debris. Next, Code Enforcement will tell the owners to secure the property and seal the hole. Homeowners will have 710 days to get that done.

Lastly, Code Enforcement will conduct a full inspection for structural violations.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
Hard-right Missouri senators early Thursday morning ended their hours-long filibuster of a crucial series of taxes that fund Medicaid, failing to achieve any of their stated demands.

Members of the Missouri Freedom Caucus sat down just before 3:30 a.m. Thursday morning after blocking renewal of the taxes for roughly 41 hours. That allowed the Senate to give initial approval to the package, called the Federal Reimbursement Allowance or FRA, before adjourning until Monday.

The bill that would renew the FRA needs one more vote in the Senate before it heads to the House with just two weeks left in this years legislative session.

The hours-long filibuster had sparked chaos among lawmakers of both parties who feared that it could blow up the session. It also delayed the Senate from taking up the states roughly $50 billion budget, which means that lawmakers will only have five days to debate and approve the spending plan before next weeks deadline.

Some in the Missouri Capitol fear that the General Assembly could be headed towards a special session.

Freedom Caucus members had vowed to block the tax renewal until two of their priorities were completed: Republican Gov. Mike Parson had to sign into law a bill to prohibit Planned Parenthood from Medicaid reimbursements and lawmakers must also pass a measure that would make it harder for Missourians to change the constitution.

In the end, neither of those demands were met. However, the bill now includes an expiration date of 2029, which the hard-right group had sought.

The series of taxes would effectively keep the states Medicaid program, which provides health coverage to roughly 1 million Missourians, operating.

Failure to renew the taxes would be devastating to the state and result in 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.

A chorus of health care groups and the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry had warned on Wednesday that blocking the tax renewal would hurt children with chronic illnesses, force nursing homes to close, shut down rural hospitals, collapse mental health care services, and jeopardize pharmacy and emergency services.

The Freedom Caucus, the groups said, was endangering the well-being of millions of Missourians.

The hard-right group has touted that they broke the record for the longest filibuster of a single bill. But Senate Democrats, who last broke the record in 2016, contend that because some of the Freedom Caucus filibuster was on procedural motions, the record has not been broken.
GENEVA COUNTY, Ala (WDHN)  A Geneva County man has been ordered to spend almost 50 years in the Alabama prison system after pleading out in the murder of a Graceville woman.

Brandon Waddell pled guilty to manslaughter in the 2022 death of 25-year-old Angel Nicole Stout, who was found dead in a home on Highway 167 and County Road 45 in Hartford.

Waddell was initially charged with murder but entered into a plea on the lesser charge in early April 2024.

On Thursday, Judge Kimberly Crawford sentenced him to 49 years in prison and ordered him to pay $5,000 in restitution.

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.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WDHN - wdhn.com.
Vice President Harris on Thursday marked the second anniversary of the leaked Supreme Court draft decision to overturn Roe v. Wade with a fresh round of attacks on former President Trump over abortion, in a video obtained exclusively by The Hill.

Two years ago, we learned in a leaked draft decision that the Supreme Court of the United States would overturn Roe vs. Wade, Harris said in the video. And in the two years since, in states across our nation, extremists have proposed and passed laws to criminalize doctors and punish women. Laws that make no exceptions even for rape and incest.

She noted 1 in 3 women of reproductive age live in a state with an abortion ban.

Be clear: Donald Trump did this. He handpicked three members of the United States Supreme Court because he intended for them to overturn Roe, and they did as intended, she added. And he says he is proudly responsible for it.

Harris went on to warn that Trump would sign a national abortion ban if elected in November, contrasting that with President Bidens pledge to sign abortion protections into law if a Democratic Congress votes to codify Roe v. Wade during a potential second term.

Because you see, we trust women. And women trust us to fight for reproductive freedom, Harris said.

Trump has said a national abortion ban is not necessary because states are able to implement their own policies restricting the procedure after the fall of Roe.

The video was published two years after Politico first reported on a draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito that held Roe v. Wade should be overturned. The Supreme Court and its conservative majority voted to overturn Roe in June 2022.

Harris has emerged as the top messenger for the White House and Biden campaign on the issue of abortion as Republican-led states have enacted laws restricting access to the procedure. She is set to travel to Pennsylvania, a key battleground in the upcoming election, for an event May 8 on reproductive rights, a campaign official confirmed to The Hill.

The vice president traveled Wednesday to Florida on the same day the states six-week abortion ban went into effect to blame Trump directly for the policy and to warn of the dire consequences of the Supreme Courts decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

As of this morning, 4 million women in this state woke up with fewer reproductive freedoms than they had last night. This is the new reality under a Trump abortion ban, Harris said during a campaign rally.

Abortion is a major issue heading into the 2024 election and a significant vulnerability for Trump, who is leading President Biden in battleground state polling.

Trump has been adamant that states should be left to decide their own abortion policies, either through legislation or through ballot measures. In an interview with Time magazine published this week, Trump said it should be left up to individual states to decide whether to monitor womens pregnancies or whether to prosecute those who illegally get an abortion.

States are deciding. And some people are unhappy because its too liberal a policy or too conservative a policy, but weve brought it back into the states, where it has to be, he said Wednesday at a Wisconsin rally. And over a period of time that works out. And its taken a lot of the controversy out, and its been a good thing.

You have to go with your heart. You have to do whats right. But you also have to get elected, Trump added. Because if you dont get elected, a lot of bad things will happen beyond the abortion issue. A lot of very bad things will happen from taxes, to military to everything else. So its been very interesting to see the process.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
As Florida bids farewell to beloved former Gov. Bob Graham, now is a good time for lawyers to ask why they were having more fun and making more money in the 20th century.

A Harvard Law School graduate and member of the storied family that owned the Washington Post and television stations in Miami and Jacksonville that were known for hard-nosed investigative reporting and for bringing the lawsuit that gave us cameras in the courtroom, Graham left us with clues as to how lawyers operated in a time when the profession commanded the public's confidence and respect.

Then-Florida Gov. Bob Graham speaks with Herb Peyton, president of Gate Petroleum Company, about the transfer of Guana Lake to the state.

As the term mouthpiece suggests, lawyers of Graham's generation were presumed fearless and entirely capable of speaking for themselves, and certainly for the people they represent. Their entire job was looking into the eyes of judges, jurors, and Rotary Clubs and pleading their case. There was no better and more successful practitioner of the persuasive power of personal contact than Bob Graham, but by the time he retired from politics, mass media was more interested in dishing up breathless "hot takes" from pollsters, pundits and practitioners of political theater than doing the drudge work of putting sustained attention on "old news."

So it was that 10 years after the al Queda attacks of September 11, 2001, and six years after Graham left public office, he was willing and eager to work with Florida Bulldog in keeping the heat on the FBI, whose leaders were working overtime to cover up connections between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the al Queda basecamp in Sarasota.

Graham was familiar with the byline of Bulldog editor Dan Christensen. His stories for The Miami Herald in 2006 about hidden and falsified court records in Broward, Miami-Dade, and other Florida counties brought about two unanimous Florida Supreme Court decisions outlawing those practices. Christensens stories about Broward County Sheriff Ken Jennes private business dealings sparked a federal corruption investigation that landed Jenne in prison in 2007.

So, it did not seem the least bit strange to Graham to take a two hour get-acquainted meeting with Christensen at Miami International Airport. No flacks. No entourage. No handlers young enough to be his grandchildren with degrees in "political communications" from his undergraduate alma mater. Just an opportunity for a committed public servant to bring a few more reporters and readers to the cause of justice for the 9/11 victims and accountability for Saudi Arabia's unimaginably cruel and ruthless government.

In the last decade of his life, Graham moved from reliable source to active participant in public forums aimed at raising awareness and funds for the independent journalism pioneered in Florida by Bulldog. Meanwhile, a remarkable number of lawyers, judges and elected public officials don't take meetings and don't return phone calls, having been convinced that they're too stupid to talk to the press and public the old-fashioned way.

Florence Snyder

Florence Beth Snyder is a retired lawyer living in Tallahassee, Florida.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Harvard lawyer Bob Graham had no fear of reporters
In Harvey Weinstein's first court hearing since his conviction for felony sex crimes was overturned, New York prosecutors told a judge Wednesday that they want to retry him as early as September.

We think early fall date, possibly as early as September, for a trial, Assistant District Attorney Nicole Blumberg told a Manhattan criminal court judge.

It was a strong case, and he was convicted and sentenced to 23 years," Blumberg said. "It remains a strong case.

Weinstein's 2020 conviction in New York was hailed as a pivotal moment for the MeToo reckoning, which exploded into the public consciousness in 2017 when multiple women came forward with allegations of sexual abuse against Weinstein. Last week, the New York state Court of Appeals overturned that conviction, ruling that the disgraced movie producer had not received a fair trial because the judge allowed prosecutors to present testimony from accusers whose allegations were not part of the criminal indictment.

Weinstein is still on the hook for a 16-year sentence in California, where he was convicted of sex crimes in 2022.

Shortly after the New York court ruling, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office said it intended to retry Weinstein. The hearing on Wednesday was the first time a possible timeline was floated.

Joining prosecutors at the hearing was actress Jessica Mann, one of the key witnesses against Weinstein. Blumberg said Mann was there "to show she is not backing down." Mann, who told a jury in 2020 about how Weinstein had raped her in wrenching detail, has said she is "ready" to go through another trial, even though her initial testimony put her in "a lot of pain."

Judge Curtis Farber remanded Weinstein to Bellevue Hospital, where he has been receiving treatment since the day after his conviction was overturned. Weinstein spokesperson Juda Engelmayer said last week that the 72-year-old had heart and auditory issues.

His next court hearing is scheduled for May 29.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
Reaction was swift after Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a bill authorizing state law enforcement officials to arrest people guilty of "impermissible occupation," those in Oklahoma without any legal authorization to enter the United States.

Opponents of the new law, which goes into effect July 1, said they would go to court to stop the measure, saying that it encourages racial profiling and attacks residents contributing millions in tax dollars to the state each year.

House Bill 4156, which passed through the heavily Republican Legislature with broad support, was signed by the governor, also a Republican, on Tuesday.

Stitt said the measure was necessary for public safety.

"Oklahomans are concerned by who could be lying in wait for an opportunity to bring harm to our country," he said in announcing approval of the bill.

Under HB 4156, a person charged with violation of the law could face a year in jail and a fine of up to $500 on their first offense. That person also would be required to leave the state within 72 hours of being released from custody. A second offense could result in a felony conviction that carries a punishment of up to two years in prison and fines of up to $1,000.

More: Oklahoma immigration bill: What does HB 4156 say? Does it promote racial profiling?

At the same time he signed the bill, Stitt announced the creation of the Oklahoma State Work Permits and Visas Task Force, which he said was tasked with finding ways to bolster Oklahoma's workforce and create opportunities for those who are here contributing to communities and the economy.

"As Ive said many times, governors should have more authority over the H1-B visa process so we can better address the workforce needs of our economies. This task force will be a step in that direction," the governor said.

State Rep. Arturo Alonso-Sandoval speaks to a crowd on the north Capitol plaza in late April. The group assembled to express opposition to the bill signed Tuesday by Gov. Kevin Stitt to give state law enforcement officials authority to arrest people without legal documentation to be in the United States. About 70% of Alonso Sandovals District 89 is Hispanic.

'It's gonna have consequence the governor isn't talking about'

State Sen. Michael Brooks, a Democrat from Oklahoma City, said the bill was a bad idea and targets hardworking residents of the state. Brooks said he had previously authored legislation that would allow undocumented workers who could provide proof they were paying taxes in the state to receive a state identification card. He said that legislation never made it out of committee.

"It's gonna have consequences the governor isn't talking about," Brooks said. "This bill doesn't discriminate based on where the immigrant is from. It will affect people from the Latino community."

Brooks said there is no provision in the bill to protect individuals who are wrongly charged. He said the Legislature's Latino Caucus was currently looking for partners to join them in a lawsuit against the bill and predicted the measure would have a negative economic impact in Oklahoma.

Opinion: Kids shouldn't have to worry about losing parents to 'ill-advised' immigration legislation

"This has happened in other states," Brooks said. "It happened previously in Alabama. In Alabama the impact to their gross domestic product turned out to be somewhere between $3 and $12 billion dollars and their undocumented population was similar to what we have now."

House Democratic Leader Cyndi Munson, D-Oklahoma City, said the new law was unconstitutional and an example of political pandering.

"This legislation is dangerous and scary, and I am saddened to see the governor overlook the many  progressive, conservative and religious  voices in opposition of this bill. Not to mention the voices of people who would be directly impacted," Munson said.

She added: "This legislation is all about partisan politics in an election year, not about solving real problems for Oklahomans. Border security is the responsibility of the federal government. This bill is hateful policy that does nothing to protect Oklahomans or bolster our workforce  simply put, it is politics at its worst."

Oklahoma law similar to Texas law that has faced legal challenges

Oklahoma's new law is similar to one passed in Texas, which was challenged in January by the U.S. Justice Department.

SB 4 is clearly unconstitutional, said Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta. Under the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution and longstanding Supreme Court precedent, states cannot adopt immigration laws that interfere with the framework enacted by Congress. The Justice Department will continue to fulfill its responsibility to uphold the Constitution and enforce federal law.

The state of Texas cannot disregard the United States Constitution and settled Supreme Court precedent, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton said. We have brought this action to ensure that Texas adheres to the framework adopted by Congress and the Constitution for regulation of immigration.

Editorial: Oklahoma already has laws to deal with criminals. New bill could harm immigrant communities more

On Wednesday, local law enforcement agencies said they would need to meet with legal counsel to discuss the new laws ramifications on their operations.

At this time there is no plan in place to change the way we operate, Master Sgt. Gary Knight told The Oklahoman. We dont check immigration status. We will sit down with our legal department and see what our legal requirements are. Well obviously meet with some of the leaders of the Hispanic community and talk with them.

Knight said law enforcement officials were concerned that with passage of the legislation some community members or crime victims might not come forward to report crimes theyve witnessed or were harmed by.

We dont want to put any member of our community in fear of calling the police because of something like immigration status, he said.

Similarly, the Oklahoma County sheriffs office doesnt check for immigration status, spokesman Aaron Brilbeck said. Brilbeck said the sheriffs office also will need to meet with its legal team to discuss how to move forward under the new law.

Oklahoma religious groups voice opposition to HB 4156

The leaders of several state religious groups said they, too, are opposed to the Oklahoma law.

"Unfortunately, some of the initiatives passed Tuesday by Oklahoma lawmakers fail to consider the humanity of the men, women and families immigrating to the United States," Archbishop Paul Coakley, the leader of the Oklahoma Catholic Church, said in a media statement.

"The immigration legislation  House Bill 4156  is deeply flawed," Coakley said.

He added that the bill, "harms communities, separates families and weakens our economy. It fails to address the real criminal issues we face in Oklahoma  seeking a misguided sense of justice at the expense of mercy."

Coakley said illegal immigration was wrong and "measures should be considered to protect Oklahomas borders, most especially against the influx of human and drug trafficking."

More: Group of Oklahoman faith leaders speak out against immigration bill

The archbishop said state officials must recognize that the vast majority of undocumented immigrants in Oklahoma are upstanding members of our communities and churches, not violent criminals.

"They assist their communities in many ways and provide needed services. They are our friends and neighbors. They happen to be some of the most vulnerable in our midst," Coakley said. "For these families, the proposed bill will only cause fear and trauma. There is a better way."

In addition to Coakley, 22 other religious leaders delivered a letter to Senate Pro Tempore Greg Treat and Stitt, saying the bill was unnecessary and punishes residents.

Oklahoma organizations are already planning to challenge the legislation in the courts, should it be passed, stated the Rev. Lori Walke, senior minister at Mayflower Congregational United Church of Christ. Chances are good that it would be struck down. Is this what our state should be doing with hard-earned tax dollars?

Tim Luschen, a pastor at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, said a majority of undocumented immigrants were contributing members to neighborhoods, schools, churches and businesses.

This bill is not what Oklahomans need," Luschen said. "We urge legislators to find a better way to address crime, one that reflects the Oklahoma Standard we so often speak of."

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: New immigration law 2024 in Oklahoma likely to face legal challenges
SYDNEY, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Police in Australia's southwestern state of New South Wales (NSW) have launched investigations after a male surfer was fatally stabbed on Thursday.

At about 6:40 a.m. local time, emergency services were called to Ocean Parade in Coffs Harbour following reports of a man having been stabbed.

Upon arrival, officers found the victim in his 20s suffering stab wounds at the scene before he was taken to a hospital.

"Officers attached to Coffs-Clarence Police District attended and established a crime scene. Police have now been advised the man has died," the NSW Police Force confirmed in a statement.

NSW police Chief Inspector Detective Guy Flaherty revealed to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that the man was believed to have recently come out of the surf, as he was wearing a black wetsuit at that time.

Earlier, a spokesperson from NSW Ambulance told Xinhua that the injured man sustained wounds to his chest and neck.

Coffs Harbour is a coastal city located in the state's mid-north, about 540 km north of the state capital Sydney. 
Some say they can hear an 'Asian American' accent. Others deny it exists.

Is there such a thing as an Asian American accent? Nobody can quite nail it down  or agree whether it exists  but apparently you know it when you hear it.

The existence of an Asian American accent has been debated on social media, sparking conversations on TikTok and many a Reddit thread, including one devoted to celebrities who purportedly have it  Ali Wong, Randall Park and Lucy Liu.

Adam Aleksic, 23, a Serbian American linguistics content creator who is based in Barcelona, Spain, created the TikTok video that many users are riffing from to give examples of the accent. Aleksic cites studies that suggest Asian Americans speak with a higher pitch, or breathier articulation, but raises questions about which of the many Asian identities this accent could cover.

Everyone seems to agree that, if it exists, the Asian American accent is hard to define. Its not that of first-generation immigrants; rather, its something in the speech of those who speak perfect English, but with a flavor that lets you know the speaker is of Asian descent.

I super hear it! I have it myself despite having grown up in California since I was 2, Howard Wang, a Northern Virginia-based political scientist who emigrated from Taiwan as an infant and grew up in a Taiwanese American enclave in Northern California, wrote in a direct message on X. He speaks with a standard American accent. Now in his early 30s, he described it as subtle, like a midwestern accent.

People with the accent tend to be a little more nasal and to have shorter, more direct tones when speaking English as opposed to people without the accent, who seem to lilt in tone more, Wang added, referring to the YouTuber Future Canoe as an extreme example.

Historian Carlos Yu described it in a tweet on X as a shared timbre and manner of enunciation among many  but not all  Asian Americans that reminds me a little of the overprecise way old-time sci-fi fans used to speak, e.g., the Comic Book Guy on The Simpsons.

beyond specific second-language accents?



there's a shared timbre and manner of enunciation among many (but not all) Asian-Americans that reminds me a little of the overprecise way old-time sci-fi fans used to speak, e.g., the Comic Book Guy on THE SIMPSONS. https://t.co/55phaJYIJS  Carlos Yu (@carloshasanax) April 25, 2024

Yu, 54  who is Filipino American, grew up in northern Wisconsin and now lives in Brooklyn, New York  said in an interview via direct message on X that he doesnt have it. Instead, he said he sounds like James Earl Jones doing an impression of William H. Macy in Fargo.

For those who hear it, its distinctive enough to hear it in non-Asians, like YouTube personality TextuallyCC. Others liken it to Canadian or northern or southern Californian speech.

Despite these testimonials, linguists arent convinced an Asian American accent exists.

Its a very complex question. I do think that its definitely true that some people speak English in a way where its possible to identify them as being some kind of Asian American. Whether we can call that an accent or not is a different question, Andrew Cheng, an assistant professor of linguistics at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, told NBC News. Everyone has an accent because everyone speaks in some way that identifies them as being from some place.

But when youre talking about Asian Americans, thats a broad swath of geography, ethnicities and languages.

People have not been able to really define the boundaries of what this is, said Cheng, whose research focuses on Korean Americans. Theres questions of whether it is stronger in some regions of the country, such as California, where theres a high Asian American population, or if its specific ethnicities  theres East Asians and South Asians and Southeast Asians. Is it specifically the Koreans and Chinese, for example, but not the Hmong Americans or Japanese Americans?

One phonetic distinction, particularly with Korean Americans, is the pronunciation of O  one syllable versus a drawn-out Ohh, Cheng said. But its not a strict definition.

I study the phenomenon behind the sounds that people hear to identify as Asian American or what sociological and sociolinguistic inner workings affect peoples perceptions, Cheng added, but when guessing if speakers are Asian American, I dont have the most accurate track record myself.

Speech is not solely determined by peoples parents or families, experts say. As kids start day care or school, peers have more of an influence. People also study other languages or travel or live in different states or countries, influencing how they talk.

Thats why even though my parents speak with a strong Taiwanese or Mandarin accent in their English, I dont sound like my parents. When I speak English, I sound like the people that I grew up with. It just so happens that the people I grew up with in the Bay Area were largely Asian American, Cheng said. Kids who grew up in [Los Angeles] Koreatown grew up with other Korean Americans. So the way that they speak is obviously influenced by Korean but not specifically the Korean of their parents, but the Korean American English that their peers were speaking. So theres a slight nuance where theyre sounding like each other.

Shekinah Deocares, who is Filipina and a little Chinese and grew up in Los Angeles, agrees.

There are 100 Asian American accents. I have a very strong [San Fernando] Valley and American accent, so when I speak to people in my Filipino community, a lot of times they dont think Im Filipino, Deocares said. My voice doesnt sound Filipino. The Asian American accent doesnt even necessarily sound like your motherland Asian tongue at all. Its a specific type of way that we talk.

The 27-year-old community organizer said she welcomes this conversation.

Being able to label that there is this accent, there is a power to it. Part of the power is that more people would be able to dissect it and study it and acknowledge it, Deocares said. I wouldnt be offended if someone was like, Oh, I could tell youre Asian from talking to you, but also Im extremely proud that Im Asian. Not to say that no one would be offended. Im sure there are people that would be and thats a deeper conversation.

Asela Kemper, 30, a writer in Ashland, Oregon, is one of them.

It does not exist and is another way to downplay Asian Americans like me for being Americans. Im half Korean and half Chinese, she said in a direct message on X.

Jerry Won Lee, the director of the International Center for Writing and Translation and director of the Program in Global Languages and Cultures at the University of California, Irvine, contends that accents are more perceived than they are real.

Lee cited a landmark 1992 sociolinguistics study in which undergraduate students listened to a recorded lecture with a photo of a white woman or Chinese American woman projected on a screen. Students reported difficulties understanding the lecture when they assumed the professor was Asian American, even though the speaker was actually the same person.

That proved empirically the possibility of accents being imagined, in the mind of the listener, Lee said.

However, the mainstreaming of Asian and American culture in the States over the past decade has created less of a stigma about Asian speech patterns, Lee said.

On a positive note, if there is such a thing as an Asian American accent, I dont think its going [to be] as pathologized as it would have been when I was coming up, because of things like K-pop. If there is an Asian American accent, its not a bad thing. Its just a thing.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Leonard King, president of the Baptist Ministers Conference of Cleveland, speaks Wednesday at a community forum at Mt. Olive Baptist Church in Canton about the death of Frank Tyson shortly after Tyson was arrested April 18 after he entered the AMVETS building on Sherrick Road SE.

CANTON  If city officers would have viewed Frank Tyson as a man having a mental-health episode  someone needing help  then Tyson may not have died face down on the floor after being handcuffed during his April 18 confrontation with police.

Many expressed that view or something similar during Wednesday night's community town hall.

"We must start treating each other like we're human beings," said Leonard King, president of the Baptist Ministers Conference of Cleveland.

Related: 'I can't breathe.' Canton police bodycam footage captures Frank Tyson's final words

The Stark County NAACP and Greater Stark County Urban League hosted the forum, entitled the "Social Justice Community Conversation," in response to Tyson's death.

The event came a week after the city released bodycam footage from the police officer who arrested Tyson, sparking national media coverage of his arrest. The cause of his death is unclear and remains under investigation.

The 53-year-old Canton Township resident had crashed his car against a utility pole on Sherrick Road SE and then gone into the private AMVETS club exhibiting erratic behavior, according to investigators and 911 calls. Police officers summoned about the crash tracked him inside AMVETS, where some inside were demanding he be immediately removed.

When police officers confronted him, Tyson called for someone to call the sheriff and said they were trying to kill him. They struggled to get him to the floor and handcuffed him face down on the ground with an officer applying his knee against Tyson's neck area for about a minute, according to the bodycam footage.

It took officers about 8 minutes to realize Tyson didn't have a pulse and then an officer removed the handcuffs and began administering chest compressions in a futile attempt to revive him.

Related: 'I weep for all of us.' Canton residents speak out on Frank Tyson's police custody death

Canton officials attend community conversation about Frank Tyson's death

More than 100 people attended Wednesday's forum, including members of Tyson's family and all four Black Canton council members: Crystal Smith, At-Large; Brenda Kimbrough, Ward 2; Chris Smith, Ward 4 and J. Nate Cooks, Ward 6.

Stark County Prosecutor Kyle Stone and Canton Law Director Jason Reese also attended. They declined to comment.

Thomas West, president and CEO of the Greater Stark County Urban League, said organizers had invited Mayor William V. Sherer II, Safety Director Andrea Perry and Police Chief John Gabbard to the forum, but they declined to attend because the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is still investigating the case.

Officers Beau Schoenegge and Camden Burch have been placed on administrative leave. The Stark County Coroner's Office sent Tyson's body to the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy.

Canton police officers' actions questioned

A resident called for keeping the mayor and city council members accountable.

In response, Council member Smith said she watched the bodycam footage two or three times and has spoken with Tyson's family members.

Smith said the first question she had was, "Why would they (the police officers) approach him like that (to forcibly remove him from the AMVETS) anyhow? They never said, 'Sir, can I talk to you? Sir? Is there a problem?' Sir? Were you the one driving that car? ... Why is (the police officer's) knee on him and he's already handcuffed and they still never turned him over?"

Sierra Mason, a local activist, said Tyson was entitled to mental health treatment.

"Had somebody asked Frank Tyson if he was OK that night, had they (the officers) walked into that door and said, 'Hey, what's going on? What's going on? I see there was an accident, was that you?' the outcome may have been different," Mason said.

"I want to say I'm very angry," said Monique Connor, a board member of the Ohio Conference NAACP. "They (Canton city officials) owe us an explanation."

She said the people who mention Tyson's criminal record unfairly did not allow for the possibility that Tyson had been reformed. Tyson was released in early April after serving 24 years in prison after he was convicted of kidnapping and other felonies in 2000.

A woman at the forum said, "We don't kill people because they had an accident and are having a meltdown. He didn't deserve to die."

"I saw the video. All 37 minutes of it. And my heart was broken," said Rev. Walter Arrington of Peoples Baptist Church. "But it was nothing new. We've seen it over and over and over and over."

"I saw that tape last night, and I became nauseous," said Dan Thompson, a pastor at Peoples Baptist Church. "I knew what the outcome would be. When you don't offer basic human dignity to human beings then you relegate them to something you can treat like that. The way that gentleman was treated. When (police officers) walked into the restaurant the first thing (Tyson) said was 'Call the sheriff,' and 'I'm not going to let you kill me.' And from that point, they killed him."

West said the city needs to require its police officers to undergo implicit bias training.

Hector McDaniel, president of the Stark NAACP, said the general counsel of the national NAACP, has submitted a letter to the U.S. Justice Department asking the agency to look into the practices of the Canton Police Department. He said the NAACP will release the letter at a press conference at 11 a.m. Thursday at St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church.

Last week, an attorney representing Tyson's family likened the circumstances of his death to George Floyd.

Both Tyson and Floyd's last words were "I can't breathe."

The death of George Floyd traumatized and galvanized the American people  it led to a decisive call for change and an end to systemic police violence against Black men," Bobby DiCello, an attorney for the Tyson family, said in a prepared statement released Friday.

"Its an unimaginable tragedy, that only four years later history repeats itself. Why tackle him? Why kneel on him? How could you know he lost consciousness and then do nothing? These questions demand answers. And so, we will get those answers for Frank and the whole Tyson family in this time of pain, grief, and disbelief."

Reach Robert at robert.wang@cantonrep.com. X formerly Twitter: @rwangREP.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Forum speakers blast Canton police actions over Frank Tyson's death
Ulbricht was convicted for his role in creating the darknet marketplace Silk Road. - Credit: FREEROSS.ORG

On March 27, 2024, Ross Ulbricht expressed a birthday wish from prison. Today, I turn 40, Ulbricht had his family post on the Twitter account he uses to communicate with the outside world. I pray Ill get a second chance at freedom before this next decade ends. He followed that up a couple of weeks later with a lament: Its been over 10 years since Ive seen the night sky. This is one of the simple things I miss the most.

Today I turn 40.



I pray Ill get a second chance at freedom before this next decade ends. More from Rolling Stone  Ross Ulbricht (@RealRossU) March 27, 2024

Generally, Ulbricht maintains a surprisingly positive attitude for someone who is facing the rest of his life in prison. He is always engaging, sharp, and intellectually curious in the many letters we have exchanged since 2015, when I first met Ulbricht as he prepared for his federal criminal trial.

My interest in his case began in 2013 when I was working on DEEP WEB, a documentary about the darknet black market and forum Silk Road, and the global hunt for its leader, known only as Dread Pirate Roberts, a.k.a. DPR. In October of that year, a young man named Ross Ulbricht was arrested in San Francisco on suspicion of being DPR. Ulbricht was an unassuming 29-year-old physics grad, beloved by his friends and family, and without anything resembling a prior history of wrongdoing, much less crime. From the beginning, the media portrayed Ulbricht as a murderous drug kingpin presiding over a vast global cartel, and for the community on Silk Road, that simply didnt add up. For starters, Silk Road was a relatively small site, and if Ulbricht was DPR, this description of a murderous drug kingpin didnt track with the DPR that everyone knew from the forums  a modest, relatable peer with whom they shared their lives.

Because of the flood lights, I cant see the stars from the prison rec yard.



Its been over 10 years since Ive seen the night sky. This is one of the simple things I miss the most.  Ross Ulbricht (@RealRossU) April 9, 2024

I was one of those community members, having joined the site early on to research the rise of Bitcoin. I immediately discovered that while inarguably a criminal operation, there was much more to Silk Road than its portrayal in the media. It was certainly a market for drugs, among other mundane and perfectly legal things, but contrary to erroneous news reports, it did not sell hitmen services, child porn, or guns. And while hyperbole made for eye-grabbing press reports, Silk Road was not a vast global cartel but a sparsely populated platform on a small, impenetrable corner of the internet. For many of its users, Silk Road was a vibrant and diverse community of people from around the world. They were not only there for drugs but for the freedom of an encrypted and anonymous space, to convene and discuss everything from politics to literature and art, philosophy and drugs, drug recovery, and the onerous War on Drugs. DPR was only one of the prominent voices in the active Silk Road forums.

The FBI shut down Silk Road at the same time as Ulbrichts arrest, and thus began an investigation and trial that I hoped would answer many questions: Was Ulbricht DPR? Was DPR responsible for all of the activities behind the scenes at Silk Road? Did DPR order hits on several enemies that, while never resulting in actual murders, would indicate a much darker side to DPR than the community understood? What was the role of the corrupt law-enforcement agents deep inside Silk Road who were profiting from drug sales?

Many of us eagerly anticipated a measured and thorough investigation, but a media circus ensued. The government and press no better understood the internet in those days than today. Added to that disconnect was the irresistible clickbait of a young, attractive, middle-class white kid from a good family, allegedly presiding over a global drug empire. A small cottage industry grew around Ulbricht and Silk Road, spawning countless magazine articles, books, and movie deals. A flurry of stories painted the picture of a young man that no one knew and had to be constructed, including a salacious piece in this publication. Despite some excellent reporting from a handful of reporters in the tech press, a skewed and often wildly inaccurate narrative formed around Silk Road and Ulbricht that followed him all the way to his brief trial.

I attended Ulbrichts trial and was dismayed to see the level of confusion  from judge to jury  struggling to comprehend the complex and alien landscape of the darknet, Bitcoin, and the workings of Silk Road. There were some clear-cut discoveries: Ulbricht was the creator of the site and was behind the moniker Dread Pirate Roberts, even if others were involved in running operations and making decisions. And whatever the facts were, behind encrypted keyboards and anonymous chats involving murders for hire that never resulted in anyones death, things had taken a dark turn on the site.

Ulbricht did not deny his involvement in Silk Road, though he continues to contest the allegation that he was the sole person in charge. At his sentencing on May 29, 2015, Ross made an impassioned statement of remorse to the judge, accepting responsibility for his part in the harm caused by Silk Road. He was then sentenced to double life imprisonment plus 40 years without the possibility of parole, a veritable death sentence usually reserved for cartel leaders and serial killers and more severe than what was requested by the prosecution. At the sentencing, every one of us in the crowded court and overflow room were stunned. Ross Ulbricht has been behind bars since October 2013.

I first met Ulbricht while he was incarcerated in a high-security detention center in Manhattan awaiting trial, and after he was transferred to federal prison, we formed a closer relationship. The Ulbricht I know is highly educated, insightful, remorseful, humane, and self-aware. He has been a model prisoner for these intervening years, teaching math and yoga and helping fellow prisoners get off drugs and prepare for release. Its my firm opinion, and the opinion of many prison-system and criminal-law experts, that his sentence is disproportionate to his charges and that he deserves clemency. This case indeed reflects just one of the millions of unjust sentences in the long and failed War on Drugs, but thats no excuse to ignore this case or any other that deserves to be heard and corrected. Our justice and carceral systems are long overdue for reform, and we can and should be arguing for clemency in all cases of unjust sentencing.

No matter what one thinks of Ulbricht, Silk Road, or the crimes that may have been committed, 10 years in prison is more than sufficient and customary punishment for those offenses or sins. Ross Ulbricht should be free.

Best of Rolling Stone
After their Bay St. Louis home flooded twice, artist Tami Curtis Guy and husband Perry Guy applied for a Swift Current grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency so they could elevate the house.

Generally, a city or county would apply for the grant. But when Tami Guy realized the city didnt have anyone available to write the grant, she did all the work herself, eventually compiling about 400 pages in three binders.

The city was notified in May 2023 that the Guys property qualified for $142,978.50 to raise the small brick home on a slab. At the same time, the city received notice of a second elevation grant award of $162,300 for a home owned by April Byrd. Byrd said that Tami Guy did the work on her grant, too.

Tami Guy said shes had to push the city every step of the way to get the grants awarded  and theyre still not a done deal. Her councilman, Josh DeSalvo, said questions still have to be answered and hurdles cleared. But the city is moving forward after long delays.

The program aims to prevent flooding through home elevations, property buyouts or other mitigation measures. The grants are available for repetitive loss properties insured for flooding through FEMAs National Flood Insurance Program. A repetitive-loss property is one that has flooded two or more times, with damage at or above 25% of the structures market value.

Tami Curtis Guy, her husband Perry Guy, and their dog Tippi at their home in Bay St. Louis on Monday, April 29, 2024. The Guys have been fighting to receive a FEMA grant that will cover most of the cost to elevate their home, which has flooded twice.

MS lags LA, other states in FEMA funding

The Swift Current grant program is available in localities with federally declared disasters. Mississippi, Louisiana, New Jersey and Pennsylvania qualified for the first round of funding in 2022, after Hurricane Ida.

The deadline has passed to submit applications for the 2022 round and Mississippi hasnt been included in subsequent rounds. A new round of funding was announced in April for 16 states and one tribal nation.

Mississippi has 5,995 repetitive loss properties, FEMA reports. But Bay St. Louis is so far the only locality in the state with grant awards. However, elevation grant applications are still under review for Lafayette and Jackson counties, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency says.

MEMA also said that Harrison and Pearl River counties, plus the city of Biloxi, declined to participate in the program.

Overall, Mississippis participation rate for the 2022 funding was far lower than that of the other three states.

FEMA lists these amounts awarded:

$38.9 million in Louisiana.

$9.9 million in New Jersey.

$3.5 million in Pennsylvania.

$305,279 in Mississippi.

Only one property in Lafayette County, where Oxford is located, qualified as a repetitive loss, Lafayette County Emergency Management Director Steve Quarles said. He said the county plans a buyout of the property if the grant is approved. The county has handled the grant application.

I think its a good program, Quarles said. Weve been working on it probably two and one half years, so its not swift.  Quarles said hes probably put in four solid months of work on the grant, so he can see why some localities dont pursue the funding. It raised legal questions, he said, because the money is going to fund work for individuals, not the local government submitting the application.

Tami Curtis Guy points out a hole behind her home in Bay St. Louis on Monday, April 29, 2024, where a resistance test had been done. The resistance test was required before officials would approve a FEMA grant to elevate the house.

Bay St. Louis residents persistence pays

The administration and City Council in Bay St. Louis were so concerned about applying for money for individuals that they refused for the longest to move forward with the project, Tami Guy said.

But legislation submitted for the city by state Rep. Timmy Ladner should resolve any issue, he believes. Guy says Ladner has been her champion through the process and is a true servant of the people in every sense of the word.

The office of U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith also got involved, Guy said, to support the grant awards. The council held a meeting Tuesday night to move the citys two projects forward.

Her councilman, Josh DeSalvo, said Bay St. Louis officials also are concerned about covering elevation costs while awaiting FEMA reimbursement. The city is considering a $6 million loan to make Hurricane Ida repairs to streets and the harbor, he said, until FEMA reimbursements arrive.

Guys grant would cover 90% of the elevation cost, while she and her husband would be responsible for the rest. Byrds grant is for 100% of elevation costs.

After putting in so much work, Guy is determined to continue her fight until the grants are awarded and their homes are elevated. Shes also started a YouTube channel to let other residents know about her experience.

Her husband said that her perseverance and tenacity got them this far.

I dont think anybody could have done what she did but her, he said.

Tami Curtis Guy, who is an artist, displays illustrations for a childrens book that her husband Perry Guy wrote. The Guys have been fighting to receive money they were granted through FEMA to elevate their home to protect from flooding.

Perry Guy stands in his garden at home in Bay St. Louis on Monday, April 29, 2024. Guys wife, Tami Curtis Guy, has been fighting to receive grant money that FEMA awarded to elevate the Guys home because it has flooded in two hurricanes, Zeta and Ida.
Sunday, May 5, is National Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples (MMIP) Awareness Day. Native communities and organizations across Indian Country will gather over the weekend to draw attention to the MMIP Crisis and honor those who have been impacted the most.

The first proclamation declaring May 5 MMIP Day was issued in 2017. The date was selected after the Montana congressional delegation persuaded the U.S. Senate to pass a resolution declaring the national day of awareness to honor the birthday of Hanna Harris, a 21-year-old member of the Northern Cheyenne tribe who went missing on July 4, 2013.

For generations, Indigenous women, girls, Two-Spirit individuals, and people have experienced high rates of violence and trauma caused by the devastating legacy of forced removal, boarding schools, broken treaty promises, and gross jurisdictional disparities. Responding with a sense of urgency is part of our nation-to-nation obligation, according to the Administration for Native Americans.

From marches and vigils to fundraisers and art exhibitions, here is our list of MMIP Awareness Day events happening across Indian Country.

National Day of Awareness for MMIW Event

Bemidji, MN

Sunday, May 5, 2024

MMIW 218 will host its annual walk/run event along with a full day of activities to raise awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives. Breakout sessions, educational information and awareness-building activities will follow this year's walk/run.

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Conference

Wilmington, NC

Friday, May 3- Saturday, May 4, 2024

The University of North Carolina Wilmington is hosting the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Conference conference from May 3-4 to highlight the ongoing issue plaguing Indigenous communities and to support families impacted. The event is free and open to the public.

MMIW 5k Walk/Run

La Crosse, WI

Sunday, May 5, 2024

Lace up your running shoes and show your support for the Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women 5k. This 5K is a great way to raise awareness and honor those who have been affected.

National Awareness Day for MMIW

Wilmington, NC

Friday, May 3, 2024

This event will feature Indigenous speakers and performers, as well as a lunch with indigenous cuisine. This event provides a safe space for healing, education, and solidarity. We encourage everyone to attend regardless of their background or knowledge on the subject.

MMIW/MMIP Awareness Event

Flagstaff, AZ

Friday, May 3, 2024

The NACA Lasting Indigenous Family Enrichment (L.I.F.E) Program invites you to join in for a morning of awareness and prayer, acknowledging the MMIWP epidemic's impact on Indigenous communities. Gather at the NACA Wellness Center for a Morning Prayer, Awareness Walk, and Restorative Yoga Session, with smudging available. Wear red, the symbolic color for the MMIW/MMIP movement, and feel free to wear ribbon skirts or traditional attire.

MMIW March

Santa Rosa, CA

Tuesday, May 7, 2024

Come together for an afternoon of community connection and action to enjoy lunch, visit and network with fellow advocates, create signs, and then march collectively to Santa Rosa City Hall.

2nd Annual MMIW Art Exhibition & Fundraiser

Sioux City, IA

Saturday, May 4, 2024

The 2nd Annual MMIW Art Exhibition & Fundraiser opens on Saturday, May 4th, from 10 am to 3 pm at Focused and Framed Portrait Studio and Art Gallery, nestled within the Ho-Chunk Centre. Light hors d'oeuvres will be available as you explore the powerful artworks on display. Proceeds directly benefit the MMIR/MMIW Powwow in Sioux City, IA.

MMIW Remembrance Walk

Shawnee, OK

Friday, May 10, 2024

The MMIW Remembrance Walk is dedicated to honoring those who have been murdered or are missing. The ceremony will commence at 10 am, followed by the walk. All members of the community are invited to attend, extending a warm welcome to families affected by these tragedies to set up tables adorned with pictures and information about their loved ones or to bring banners and signs. Attendees are encouraged to wear red as a symbol of remembrance, with T-shirts available on a first-come, first-served basis.

MMIW Community 5k and 1 Mile Awareness Walk

Antlers, OK

Saturday, May 11, 2024

This upcoming event is a community-driven initiative alongside a 5K/1M run designed to raise awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. Vendor booths will showcase a variety of offerings, including products from Choctaw Entrepreneurs, beadwork, artwork, and more.

5th Annual Walk & Vigil for MMIW

Cherokee, NC

Sunday, May 5, 2024

The 5th Annual Walk and Vigil for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives will open at 3:00 p.m. at the storyteller fire pit at Oconaluftee Island Park.

MMIW/MMIP Wallk

Mississauga, ON, Canada

Sunday, May 5, 2024

Scheduled to take place in Mississauga, the walk serves as a platform for community members to unite in support of this cause. Participants will embark on a walk, symbolizing solidarity and remembrance, while also fostering awareness and advocacy. This event provides an opportunity for individuals to show their support and solidarity with Indigenous communities impacted by these tragedies.

Red Dress Day

Dawson City, YT, Canada

Sunday, May 5, 2024

The Red Dress Day event, hosted by the Dawson Women's Shelter, highlights the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. Participants are urged to wear red to symbolize solidarity. The event includes activities to honor those lost and advocate for change, providing a vital platform for community support and awareness.

MMIWG2ST NYC+ East Coast Summit

New York, NY

Sunday, May 5, 2024

The MMIWG2ST NYC East Coast Summit, Vigil, and Prayer Walk, is a significant gathering aimed at honoring Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit individuals. Attendees are invited to join in a vigil and prayer walk to raise awareness and pay respects to those affected by this crisis. This event provides a meaningful opportunity for solidarity and advocacy, bringing attention to the ongoing issues faced by Indigenous communities.



Wrap the Capitol in Red

Madison, WI

Tuesday, May 7, 2024

Wrap the Capitol in Red, hosted by Gerald L. Ignace Indian Health Center, is a symbolic gathering aimed at raising awareness and advocating for Indigenous rights and issues. Participants will come together to adorn the Capitol in red fabric, representing solidarity and resilience in the face of challenges. This event serves as a visual reminder of the ongoing struggles and triumphs of indigenous communities, inviting allies to stand in support. Join us as we amplify indigenous voices and demand justice for all.

We March for Them: MMIP Wind River

Riverton, Wyoming

Sunday, May 5, 2024



MMIP Wind River invites all in Fremont County and the Wind River Reservation to participate in this years MMIP March. Participants are asked to wear red, decorate their vehicles, motorcycles, bicycles, etc. in red, gather in the FCSD #25 administration parking lot (121 North 5th Street) at 10:30 a.m., then assemble at the top of Main Street at 11:00 a.m. and proceed with a police escort to the Riverton City Park. At the bandshell, there will be a program of prayer, drums, dancers, guest speakers, and an open mic. Families and loved ones of victims, as well as those whose lives are and have been affected by crime and violence, are invited to share their stories.

Say Their Names Marathon and Marathon Relay

Crow Agency, MT

Sunday, May 5, 2024

"Say Their Names" Marathon is a 26.2 mile race along Montana Highway 212 running west from Busby, MT to the Crow/Northern Cheyenne Hospital parking lot in Crow Agency, MT with a full 8-hour time-frame to finish. The "Say Their Names" theme present along the course is to recognize MMIW / MMIP (Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women / Missing & Murdered Indigenous Peoples). There will be families from the state of Montana who are directly affected by MMIW/MMIP.







About the Author: "Native News Online is one of the most-read publications covering Indian Country and the news that matters to American Indians, Alaska Natives and other Indigenous people. Reach out to us at editor@nativenewsonline.net. "

Contact: news@nativenewsonline.net
Here's what's on the table for Israel and Hamas in the latest cease-fire plan

FILE - Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli strike on residential buildings and a mosque in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Feb. 22, 2024. Israel and Hamas appear to be seriously negotiating an end to the war in Gaza and the return of Israeli hostages. A leaked truce proposal hints at concessions by both sides following months of stalemated talks. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair, File)

CAIRO (AP)  Hamas has formally accepted a cease-fire deal that could end the war in Gaza. Israel, however, insists that its core demands were not met in the proposal mediated by Egypt and Qatar.

The Palestinian militant group says the cease-fire would unfold in three phases of six to seven weeks each, with Israeli hostages released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from all of the Gaza Strip and increased humanitarian aid.

Israel has previously said it would not agree to either a full withdrawal of its forces or a permanent cease-fire.

Heres what we know about the deal, according to a copy of the proposal published by Hamas.

HOSTAGES FOR PRISONERS

The first phase would pause fighting for 42 days.

During that time, Hamas would release 33 hostages, including the remaining Israeli women  both civilians and soldiers  as well as young people under age 19 who aren't soldiers, adults over 50, and people who are ill.

Hamas would free three hostages on the third day of the cease-fire, releasing three more captives every seven days. Priority would be given to women.

By week six, all civilian detainees in this stage of the agreement should be free. If there are not enough living hostages in this category, Hamas would release their remains.

At this point, thirty Palestinian prisoners held in Israel would be released in exchange for each Israeli civilian hostage and 50 in exchange for each female soldier. Hamas also wants assurances that prisoners wont be re-arrested on the same charges.

ISRAELI TROOP WITHDRAWALS

In the first phase, Israeli troops would withdraw from Gaza in a series of timed steps.

The military would pull back from a coastal road beginning on the third day after Palestinian prisoners start getting released.

Then, on day 22, Israeli forces would leave central Gaza, east of the main highway, to a nearby area along the border.

Displaced Palestinians could return to their home neighborhoods in the north.

Israel would not fly military or reconnaissance planes over Gaza for 10 hours each day, and for 12 hours on the days of release of detainees and prisoners.

HUMANITARIAN AID

Starting from the first day of the cease-fire, Israel would allow intensive and sufficient quantities of humanitarian aid, with 600 trucks entering Gaza daily  including 50 fuel trucks  with 300 trucks allocated to hard-hit northern Gaza.

There would also be supplies provided for temporary housing, and repairs to Gaza's damaged infrastructure.

HALT THE FIGHTING

In the meantime, no later than the 16th day of the cease-fire, talks would begin on restoring a sustainable calm, which the proposal lays out as a permanent cessation of hostilities by both sides and the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

PHASE 2

The parties would need to negotiate the exact terms of the second phase, which would also last 42 days.

Under the current proposal, Hamas could release all the remaining men, both civilians and soldiers. In return, Israel could free an agreed-upon number of Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

The releases wont occur until the sustainable calm takes effect and all Israeli troops withdraw from Gaza.

PHASE 3

The third and final stage would include the release of the remains of deceased hostages still in Gaza, more prisoners held by Israel, and the start of a five-year reconstruction plan. This is also when Hamas wants an end to the blockade on Gaza by Israel in cooperation with Egypt.

The plan says that Hamas would agree not to rebuild its military arsenal.

STICKING POINTS

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the Hamas proposal a failed attempt to torpedo Israels military operation in Rafah. Israeli troops seized control of the vital Rafah border crossing overnight Tuesday, just hours after Hamas said it had accepted the Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire plan.

Speaking Tuesday, Netanyahu said the latest proposal fell far short of Israel's demands. Israel will not allow Hamas to restore its regime of evil in the strip. Israel will not allow it to rebuild its military capabilities, Netanyahu said.

Hamas says it will not make further concessions under Israeli military pressure. The text we agreed to, before it was presented to us, was approved by all the mediators, including the American side, Hamas political official Osama Hamdan said Tuesday. The Associated Press could not independently confirm these details about the negotiations.

The threat of a full-scale ground operation into Rafah threatens to widen a rift between Israel and its main backer, the United States. But Netanyahus far-right coalition partners have threatened to bring down his government if he calls off the offensive or makes too many concessions in cease-fire talks.

POST-WAR UNCERTAINTY

The proposal calls for a reconstruction plan lasting for three to five years, supervised by Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations. It's unclear who will run Gaza during reconstruction, what will happen to Hamas during that time and who will pay for the daunting job of rebuilding.

The Biden administration says it wont accept a return of Israeli military occupation of the Gaza Strip.

As a precursor to Palestinian statehood, the United States has called for a political roadmap that includes a return of the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority, which Hamas ousted from Gaza in 2007.

Netanyahu and his right-wing government reject a role in Gaza for the Palestinian Authority, and say they will never allow a Palestinian state.

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Callister reported from New York. Associated Press writer Abby Sewell in Beirut contributed.

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Follow AP's coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Eastern Kentucky University is now the first college in Kentucky to accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits at its on-campus store, the university announced in April.

Students can use SNAP benefits at the POD convenience store on campus. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, one in four college students do not have adequate access to food products and experience food insecurity.

Part of being the School of Opportunity is making sure that students have access to basic needs and resources to support their personal and educational success, said EKU President David McFaddin. By becoming the first university in Kentucky to accept SNAP benefits on campus, we are keeping our promise to make higher education affordable and accessible for our region and the Commonwealth as a whole.

The university worked with Aramark, the food provider at EKU, to ensure they were in compliance with SNAP requirements. Staple food items, like pasta, cereal, milk and fruit are offered at POD. SNAP benefits can be used this semester, and the university plans to extend the acceptance of the SNAP benefits to other convenience stores across campus.

Have something that should be considered for the next round-up? Contact higher education reporter Monica Kast at mkast@herald-leader.com.

UK names new associate provost

The University of Kentucky has named Brandi Frisby as the associate provost for academic affairs, effective May 13.

Frisby will oversee academics, institutional effectiveness and accreditation, according to the university.

I look forward to leveraging my expertise to contribute to the academic programs and transdisciplinary collaborations and to support the mission of the university with my unique strengths, passion and talent while continuing the positive momentum of the university, Frisby said.

She has been the acting dean of the College of Communication and Information at UK since October, and has been a UK employee since 2010. Shes held several roles in the college, including senior associate dean and associate dean for student success.

As the associate provost for academic affairs, Dr. Frisby will use her extensive leadership experience to advance our mission to provide our students with the education and preparation they will need to be future leaders, said UK Provost Robert DiPaola. I know that she will continue positively impacting UK and our Commonwealth in her new role.

Transylvania announces three-year degree track

Transylvania University announced a three-year path to graduation to start this fall.

The program, called Accelerate, recognizes work and credits earned prior to enrolling, like dual credit, Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate. Students will work with their admissions counselor to apply prior credits to their Transylvania degree, allowing them to graduate in three years instead of four. Each student in the program will have a plan tailored to ensure a smooth three-year graduation path, the university said.

We know that some high school students complete a significant amount of college-level work, said Rebecca Thomas, vice president for academic affairs and dean. The Accelerate program lets these students take maximum advantage of what they have already accomplished, while still having the rigorous academic experience that Transylvania University is known for.
The increase in crossings this year contrasts with a 30 per cent fall in arrivals in 2023 - Gareth Fuller/PA Wire

Some 711 migrants crossed the Channel in small boats on Wednesday  the highest number on a single day so far this year, Home Office figures show.

The arrivals bring the total so far this year to 8,278, 34 per cent higher than the 6,192 at the same point last year and 19 per cent higher than the 6,945 at the same stage in 2022.

Some 14 boats were detected on Wednesday, suggesting an average of around 51 per boat, although the French coast guard had to rescue one dinghy with 66 people on board.

Men, women and children had to be taken off the boat after it got into difficulty as it tried to cross the Channel off the coast of Dieppe, a point where the straits are more than 65 miles wide.

The 711 migrants who arrived on Wednesday surpasses the previous high of 534 on April 14.

The Prime Ministers official spokesman said the number of migrants crossing the Channel was unacceptable, adding: That is exactly why we need to get flights off the ground to Rwanda to provide the effective deterrent, such that people know if they arrive here illegally they wont be able to stay here.

Downing Street said the Channel numbers this year would be even higher without Rwanda, but the spokesman added: Clearly, were yet to see the kind of significant impacts around the scheme given we havent got flights off the ground.

The figures come a week after five migrants  three men, a woman and a seven-year-old girl  died when they were crushed in an overloaded dinghy that left the north French shoreline with 112 people on board before getting into difficulty.

The increase in crossings this year contrasts with a 36 per cent fall in arrivals last year, down from a record 45,774 to 29,437, largely attributed to a huge reduction in the number of Albanian migrants using small boats to reach the UK.

Since the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act became law after receiving Royal Assent last Thursday, 1,611 migrants have made the journey in 32 boats. Vietnamese migrants have become the largest nationality to cross the Channel this year, accounting for the bulk of the increase.

Ministers from the UK and Vietnam met in London last month to discuss measures to crack down on the number of Vietnamese migrants travelling to the UK illegally.

Stephen Kinnock, shadow immigration minister, said: Small boat crossings are going up under this Prime Minister, with a 33 per cent increase on this time last year. There have been 10,000 crossings under the current Home Secretary alone, and he has only been in place over the wetter winter months.

For all the Governments fanfare, we know the unaffordable and unworkable Rwanda plan wont fix this chaos. It is costing half a billion pounds and will only cover a few hundred people a year, less than half of those who arrived on a single day this week.

This cant go on. We need Labours plan to smash the criminal smuggler gangs who are running our borders through a new cross-border police unit and a new returns unit to speed up the removal of people who have no right to be 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.
Hinds County Chancery Court Judge Dewayne Thomas issued two orders involving the remains of Dau Mabil on Thursday, days after a contentious hearing occurred Tuesday regarding the disappearance and death of Mabil.

An independent autopsy will be held, the judge ruled.

Judge's rulings

Thomas' first ruling stated that Mabil's widow, Karissa Bowley, will replace Dau's brother as the plaintiff in this matter in accordance with being the next-of-kin.

Thomas wrote in his first order, "The Court further finds that Bul Garang Mabil lacks standing to pursue further relief in this matter. Bul Garang Mabil is hereby dismissed as a party Plaintiff."

The second ruling stated an independent autopsy of Dau's remains will continue at the "direction and expense" of Bul Mabil, Dau's brother.

According to court records, the State Crime Lab will store the body until the investigation and the independent autopsy are completed. Both parties are said to be notified once the investigation is complete.

Thomas said the autopsy results will be released to the public upon Bowley's receipt of the findings.

"The Court concludes that each of the aforementioned seek to ensure the integrity of the investigation involving the death of Dau Mabil. The Court further finds that this matter is of substantial public interest. The Court further concludes that there is no case or controversy between Bul Garang Mabil and Karissa Bowley," Thomas wrote in his second order.

Hinds Court Chancery Judge Dewayne Thomas speaks to Karissa Bowley, Dau Mabil's wife, during the court case about Dau's death investigation at the Hinds County Chancery Court in Jackson, Miss., on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.

More on: Family of missing Belhaven resident urges the public for help in finding loved one

These rulings come after a series of fillings were submitted into court records by Bul, Bowley and the Mississippi Department of Public Safety.

What happened to Dau Mabil?

Dau Mabil disappeared March 25 after going on a walk. Three weeks later, authorities recovered his body in the Pearl River in Lawrence County.

According to Lawrence County Sheriff Ryan Everett, an initial autopsy revealed that no foul play was involved in Dau's death.

But Bul Mabil, Daus brother, rejected those findings and filed a motion for a preliminary injunction preventing Dau's remains from being released until an independent autopsy could be conducted. Judge Thomas granted Bul's request on April 18.

Shortly after Bul's motion was granted, Bowley followed-up with her own filing. In the filling, Bowley said she was never notified of the hearing where the petition was granted but said she would have supported the request for an additional autopsy had she been asked.

The Mississippi Department of Public Safety, meanwhile, filed a motion April 26 asking for the injunction to be dissolved.

Thomas was set to hear arguments on whether he should modify or dissolve his injunction during an April 30 court hearing, instead new details were revealed through court documents depicting a strained relationship between Dau and Bowley.

Court records show in the days leading up to when Dau went missing, texts messages revealed Bowleys concerns with Daus drinking and alleged verbal and physical abuse. Court records also show Dau considered leaving Bowley in a March 22 text, which was sent three days before his disappearance.

Bul Mabil stares across the courtroom before the court case about Dau Mabil's death investigation began at the Hinds County Chancery Court in Jackson, Miss., on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.

More on: Widow denies any connection to death of Dau Mabil. Texts show a strained marriage

Lisa Ross, Bul's attorney, asked several questions angled at implications about whether Bowley had something to do with Dau's disappearance. Bowley testified for nearly two hours.

The questioning closed with Paloma Wu, who is representing Bowley, asking Bowley if she killed Mabil or knew who did.

Bowley said no.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Jackson MS Dau Mabil, Belhaven man found in river autopsy ordered
NANJING, May 2 (Xinhua) -- China has launched a nationwide campaign of cultural activities for people with disabilities in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province.

From April to November, week-long cultural activities for the disabled will take place across the country. These activities will include reading sessions at service facilities for the disabled, book donations for disabled people at communities and in rural areas, and group outings to cultural venues.

A circular on the campaign previously issued by the China Disabled Persons' Federation, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the National Press and Publication Administration stressed the focus on the grassroots level, urging efforts to expand the forms and content of cultural activities to enrich the cultural lives of people with disabilities.

An average of over 6,000 exclusive cultural activities for disabled people are held every year in China, according to data.

Public libraries across China currently have a total of 35,176 exclusive seats for the disabled, with 146.64 million braille books and more than 2.28 billion items of audio-visual materials, data showed. 
Historic bathhouse in sleepy Sacramento Delta town for sale at $600K. Take a look inside

Inside Look is a Sacramento Bee series where we take readers behind the scenes at restaurants, new businesses, local landmarks and news stories.

The historic Miyazaki Bathhouse and Gallery in the quiet community of Walnut Grove on the banks of the Sacramento River is for sale.

The residence was originally built in 1916 after a catastrophic fire swept through the town and was later painstakingly restored over an eight-year period beginning in 2003.

The price tag is just under $600,000.

Miyazaki Bathhouse sits in the heart of Walnut Groves Japantown, at 1250 B St. When Walnut Grove was divided into Japanese and Chinese sections in the early 1900s, the Miyazaki family owned the two-story structure and operated the bathhouse behind a candy and ice cream shop in the front. They lived upstairs.

The living room of the Miyazaki Bathhouse in Walnut Grove is filled with Japanese decor earlier this month.

The upstairs once served as a bunkhouse for migrant farmworkers, but today the second floors light, bright, charming and refurbished apartments are rented, according to listing agent Paloma Begin of Compass.

Walnut Grove, population 814, is a Delta hamlet about 30 miles south of Sacramento, not far from Interstate 5. The town neighbors the community of Locke, home to about 100 people.

A new owner will find the turnkey property full of possibilities, either as a three-bedroom, three-bathroom private residence, a shop, museum, bed-and-breakfast, rental space or day spa.

One thing is certain, the buyer will own a historic bathhouse that is in much better shape than when San Francisco resident Eugene Phillips stumbled upon it while driving home along the Deltas back roads after erecting an art installation at Burning Man.

Long journey back to elegance

He and business and life partner Montserrat Wassam purchased the place in 2003, beginning a long journey of bringing the residence back to elegance after decades of neglect.

The bathhouse area proper had no walls or roof, and between the tile and the doorway that goes into the rest of (the house) was just dirt and it had trees growing out of it, said Wassam, an artist who ran the business side of the bathhouse beginning around 2010. Plants snaked around the bathing fixtures and the original arches suspended over the tubs were found buried in the dirt among the ruins.

Longtime partners Eugene Phillips, left, and Montserrat Wassam, co-owners of the Miyazaki Bath House, stand outside the historic business in the Delta town of Walnut Grove in 2014.

Phillips, an expert in Victorian home restoration, and Wassam salvaged and restored much of the original wood and the stairway leading to the upstairs boarding rooms. They repaired the cracked and crumbling tub tiles with attention to period details. The couple worked with the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency, Sacramento historian Barbara Takei and photographs from renowned photographer Pirkle Jones to try to match the look of the original facade and interior.

The countys housing and redevelopment agency provided a $70,000 grant, but Wassam estimated they pumped another $300,000 of their own money into the project.

What now stands is a beautiful property that is an integral part of the small and quirky riverside community.

The actual bathhouse is found in the rear of the building, where a large, open room with cedar walls is naturally lit by two skylights, one of them the original. The bathhouse has two deep soaking tubs adorned with vintage tiles of pinkish-beige with a green trim. There are two scrub stations and a shower/steam room.

Douglas fir floors and cedar beadboard walls span the large living/dining room area next to the baths on the first floor. A quiet, shady public park area is adjacent to the home.

Only functioning historic Japanese bathhouse

Miyazaki Bathhouse is believed to be the only functioning historic Japanese bathhouse left in the country, The Bee reported in 2014. While a few Japanese bathhouses can be found around the state, none seem to go back to the pre-World War II days when Japanese immigrants used them not only for cleansing and relaxation, but to socialize and even conduct business.

The Miyazaki Bathhouse dates back to at least 1916. Because it was illegal then for Japanese immigrants to own land, most owners in Japantown leased. When World War II started, the Miyazakis were incarcerated in detention camps as part of the Japanese internment. Sacramento County took over control of the buildings, The Bee previously reported.

The Miyazaki Bathhouse stands at 1250 B St. in Japantown in Walnut Grove.

When Wassam ran the bathhouse, she offered guests two baths, warm and cold, a steam room, a tatami area for tea service and meditation.

You come in for two hours, you get fresh hot ginger tea, the shades are drawn, the doors are locked, you get that area all to yourself for that time, Wassam told The Bee in 2014. Its a wonderful experience.

She set up an art gallery in the front part of the building that featured some of her own paintings and changed exhibits every couple of months.

After we had started our business, Walnut Grove exploded, Wassam said. All the storefronts were taken, there were little businesses everywhere. We had a First Friday Art Walk.

Artwork by longtime partners Eugene Phillips and Montserrat Wassam hangs in the gallery inside the Miyazaki Bath House in the delta town of Walnut Grove in 2014.

Now the time has come to sell the property because Phillips is dealing with health issues and the couple doesnt travel to Walnut Grove as much as they would like, Wassam said.

While Wassam sees many paths the next steward of the property might take, the ideal buyer in my mind would be a Japanese entity that would showcase it as a museum, she said.

De facto museum

As is, the building is a de facto Japanese American museum. It contains a large assortment of handmade kimonos hanging on the walls, kabuki masks, an antique rickshaw and a binder full of historic photos and original bathhouse tickets.

Begin, the listing agent, said the ideal buyer could be an artist who wants to run a gallery below while living upstairs, a holistic health practitioner, someone with a strong interest in the history of the Sacramento Delta and an appreciation for Japanese culture, or a homeowner who wants additional rental income from the upstairs apartments.

If you didnt want to run a bathhouse, but wanted a really sumptuous kick-a-- bathroom, then you could do that, she said. Im calling this a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I mean, this (property) is extremely rare.
Home-school curricula will still need state approval after La. House rejects changes

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A proposal that would have allowed parents to bypass state approval for home-schooling programs to obtain a state-recognized high school diploma was rejected Wednesday in the Louisiana House of Representatives.

Rep. Beryl Amedees House Bill 550 would have ended the required Board of Elementary of Secondary Education (BESE) approval of home-school curricula, meaning nonapproved, nonpublic programs could award diplomas state universities and agencies would have to acknowledge. The Republican from Terrebonne Parish taught her three sons, now adults, at home.

Amedees bill would have also removed the barrier for students from nonapproved home-school programs to receive college assistance from the state-funded TOPS program. Some lawmakers objected to making the scholarship available to students who havent earned a state-recognized diploma.

The process to submit home-school curricula for state review is complicated and dissuades parents from starting their own programs, according to Amedee. But not everyone in the home-school community agrees that assessment. Specifically, they have poked homes in Amedees claims that BESE for approval is difficult.

Rep. Roger Wilder, R-Denham Springs, confirmed as much when he took to the floor to tell lawmakers his children were home-schooled. The process to have their curriculum approved involved faxing two pages to BESE, he said.

But Wilder aligned with Amedees stance on state approval of home-school curricula being unneeded.

Theres some phantom belief that an approved system versus an unapproved system does something big. It didnt happen, Wilder told House members.

Amedees bill failed in a 43-51 vote, with only Republicans in support of the proposal but several joining Democrats in opposition.

The post Home-school curricula will still need state approval after La. House rejects changes appeared first on Louisiana Illuminator.
AUSTIN (KXAN)  On Wednesday, the Austin Commission for Women heard from the citys Homeless Strategy Office on the unique challenges women experiencing homelessness face and their efforts to provide relief.

According to Homeless Strategy Officer David Gray, Austin has a homeless population of approximately 6,600, and 40% identify as women. He identified four major problems these women may face: a greater risk of physical, psychological or sexual violence, a lack of access to feminine hygiene products, limited access to healthcare and difficulty finding safe and affordable childcare.

We try to operate with a level of intentionality, making sure that when we have the opportunity to tailor programs and services for women, that we do so, Gray said.

In December, the city bought a former Salvation Army shelter on Eighth Street and transformed it into a 160-bed facility specifically for women. There, they can meet with case managers and work to transition to permanent housing. Gray told KXAN that shelter is now full and has a substantial waitlist.

Record-breaking 3.3K people used Austin homeless shelters last year, city says

Whether the client is in the shelter, or were reaching them through an outreach team, were connecting them with medical professionals who can help them address the trauma of a domestic violence situation, or make sure theyre getting proper reproductive healthcare, Gray said.

The Homeless Strategy Office and Austin Public Health Department are also working to open a new domestic violence shelter in East Austin.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
(FOX40.COM)  The West Sacramento Police Department said it recently arrested a homicide suspect after he led officers on a pursuit from West Sacramento to Woodland.

According to police, Joseph Baker, 37, was booked into Yolo County Jail about two weeks ago after he was seen getting into a vehicle near the scene of a homicide in West Sacramento.

When officers tried to pull the vehicle over, police said a pursuit began from West Sacramento and continued into Woodland.

Homicide victim found under Tower Bridge identified as Sacramento-area teen

Police said they were able to successfully use spike strips to slow the vehicle down.

The vehicle eventually came to rest in a parking lot of a motel, where Baker then exited the vehicle and led officers in a short-distance foot pursuit before being taken into custody without further incident and booked into the Yolo County Jail, police added.

The agency continued, We are thankful for the partnership and collaboration with the following outside agencies that assisted with Bakers apprehension: CHP air support and ground units, Fish and Game, and Yolo County Sheriffs Office and Woodland Police Department.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40.
From the Boiling Frogs on The Dispatch

We start with a confession. At a press conference on Wednesday morning, Moscow Madge unveiled some new political merchand, to my surprise, Im eager to buy and wear it.

Who said populist demagoguery never produced anything good?

Marjorie Taylor Greene puts a MUGA hat on a picture of Mike Johnson pic.twitter.com/GyIFTap8Yi  Acyn (@Acyn) May 1, 2024

She called the presser to announce that shell force a vote next week on her motion to oust Speaker Mike Johnson, which has been pending in the House since late March. Greene filed that motion out of frustration after the speaker partnered with Democrats on a $1.2 trillion government funding package but held off on putting it on the floor, believing that it would be more useful held in reserve. She knew that Johnson would soon have to decide whether to support another round of military aid to Ukraine and hoped that the threat of being Kevin-McCarthy-ed would pressure him into opposing it.

It didnt. The speaker chose to try to Make Ukraine Great Again.

Her bluff having been called, Greene was left with two unhappy options. She could relent on her motion to vacate and admit defeat (hah!) or she could move forward with it and antagonize the great majority of her own conference by doing so. As she weighed that dilemma, however, Democrats threw her a curveball: On Tuesday morning, Hakeem Jeffries and his deputies announced that if Greene brings her motion, theyll side with Johnson by voting to kill it.

Defeat was now assuredbut you know how MAGA is. The important thing is to fight, not to win. Grievance is the lifeblood of the movement; the more populists win and get their way, the less they have to feel aggrieved about. Better to lose and retain the establishment as a foil than to win and risk becoming it.

So on Wednesday, Greene vowed to fight on and lose to The Uniparty that had come together to save Mike Johnson.

Marjorie Taylor Greene says she will calling the motion to vacate next week pic.twitter.com/tOavApRpz0  Acyn (@Acyn) May 1, 2024

Thats a cute talking point, but its not Democrats wholl need to worry about their next primaries after voting to save Johnson, especially with many House progressives destined to join the effort next week. The people whom Greene wants on the record with respect to the speaker are members of her own party, of course, which is in keeping with her politics. The populist project aspires to replace traditional conservatives with post-liberals more fervently than it does to replace Democrats with Republicans, as the results in GOP primaries frequently remind us. And Moscow Madge has been unusually candid about it.

Hence her framing of the coming vote on Johnson. Her Republican colleagues can choose to oust him and side with The Peoplewhich in this case means by my guesstimation something like one-quarter of the population scattered across mostly rural areasor they can choose to keep him and side with The Uniparty. Pretty straightforward. In theory.

In reality, the concept of The Uniparty isnt straightforward.

Uniparty is reminiscent of globalist insofar as each word has a generally discernible meaning yet is often swallowed by convenient exceptions, as the populist agenda requires.

For instance, any MAGA diehard would tell you that Western support for Ukraines defense against rampaging Russian fascists is a case of globalist warmongering, to borrow a term from one of the most odious Republicans in Congress. But ask them if support for defending Taiwan from communist China is similarly globalist and they might pause. Ask them if U.S. support for Israel against Hamas is globalist and some might get indignant at the suggestion.

If you doubt me, compare Donald Trumps comments this week to Time magazine on two theaters of foreign policy. Pressed about the fate of thousands of U.S. troops stationed in South Korea in his second term, he complained: Why would we defend somebody? And were talking about a very wealthy country. Pressed about whether hed intervene in a war between Israel and Iran, his tone changed: If they attack Israel, yes, we would be there.

The degree to which America First does and doesnt require resistance to interventions abroad depends on the degree of tribal affinity or antipathy that right-wing populists feel for the combatants in a particular conflict. When they start grumbling about globalism with respect to war, thats their way of saying that their affinity for the side backed by Washington is lacking.

Uniparty is similarly slippery. Lets consider: Among the many players in the conflict between Mike Johnson and Marjorie Taylor Greene, to whom does that term rightly apply?

Start with House Democrats. Are they truly Uniparty comrades of the speaker in this case?

Even before Jeffries and his deputies issued their statement on Tuesday, support for Greenes motion to vacate was weak among House Republicans. Only two of her GOP colleagues had stepped forward to endorse it; there were already at least that many House Democrats prepared to oppose the motion as of mid-April. Had Jeffries said nothing, Greene might have let the matter drop instead of forcing a House vote on the matter. Even if she did force a vote, he could have quietly allowed his members to vote how they wished instead of endorsing Johnson himself.

Instead, by bear-hugging the speaker, Jeffries deliberately inflamed populists impulse to demagogue their enemies within the Republican Party as cats-paws of the left. Fresh bait always finds a fish, a senior GOP official told Politico. Jeffries throwing that out there, its chum in the water. Everyone knows what he did. Greene took the bait, and now Democrats get to sit back and reap the benefits. A rift will open on the right over the speakers fate, pitting Republicans against each other. Johnson will be aggressively delegitimized as a Democrat Speaker of the House by right-wing critics, and hell theoretically owe House Democrats something for the favor theyve done him, which may translate into fewer messaging bills on the floor and more bipartisan legislation. No wonder Johnson has tried to make clear he had no idea Jeffries statement was coming.

Jeffries calculated coldly and cleverly that his party stands to gain more on balance by rescuing Johnson than by giving him the McCarthy treatment. The speaker did the right thing for Ukraine, and so Democrats are willing to reward him for it. If and when he stops doing the right thing legislatively, their willingness to rescue him from the rights Jacobins will stop as well. Its a matter of creating self-interested incentives, not a case of friendly back-scratching altruism between members of a Uniparty.

How about Greene herself? Where does she get off pointing fingers about The Uniparty?

If bipartisan support for Johnson is enough to make him an avatar of The Uniparty, she needs to explain how her own motion to vacate, if successful, wouldnt make her the same thing. She cant get the 218 votes needed to oust him without near-unanimous support from Democrats, after all; when Kevin McCarthy was deposed last fall, all but eight of the ballots to remove him came from Jeffries conference. Its a neat trick for Greene and her defenders to dub Johnson a de facto Democrat due to his temporary marriage of convenience with the left while she goes about trying to arrange the very same marriage for herself.

Greene would answer that, I assume, by noting that its not the mere fact of bipartisanship that makes Johnsons coalition a Uniparty, its the fact that that coalition was built around a Uniparty policy priority: funding Ukraine. The speaker is being rewarded with Democratic support because hes advancing the Democratic agenda. When Republicans join forces with the left to do that, thats The Uniparty.

But this too is more complicated than populists would have us believe.

Ask the average House Republican whos to blame for Democrats getting their way so often on legislation this term and theyll have very strong opinionsbut not about Mike Johnson. Time and again, theyd note, MAGA members have opposed GOP bills on important matters simply because the terms arent maximalist enough for their liking. Thats forced Johnson to choose between bowing to their unrealistic demandswhich risks a long stalemate with the Democratic Senate while leaving those important policy matters unaddressedor partnering with House Democrats to move bills that will necessarily be more liberal in substance than the GOP would prefer.

Simply put, populists have weakened their leaders hand in negotiations by proving themselves unreliable partners and engineered legislative outcomes that are even less conservative than the initial bills that Johnson has offered. Look no further than the Ukraine aid package, which the speaker sought to pair with new border security measures as a sop to the MAGA wing. Some House Democrats might have signed onto that, but it all went up in smoke when three populist Republicans on the Rules Committee voted against the border bill to protest Ukraine funding. That forced Johnson to try to pass it under suspension of the rules, which requires the support of a two-thirds majority of the House. The bill fell short.

So instead of getting modest improvement on immigration enforcement, the GOP got nothing. Theyre making us the most bipartisan Congress ever, one House Republican complained to Axios about the MAGA wing. Because they are unwilling to compromise just a little bit in a divided government, they force us to make bigger concessions and deals with the Dems. The numbers bear that out: To a freakish degree, the minority party has provided most of the votes on major legislation this term.

So tell me, whos leading The Uniparty? Mike Johnson, or the populists who keep handing Hakeem Jeffries leverage over policy on one must-pass bill after another?

What about  Donald Trump? Is he part of The Uniparty?

One would think the populist-in-chief cant be a member almost by definition. Hes the leader of the revolution; The Uniparty is what he and they are hoping to overthrow. But if The Uniparty is defined by the policy positions it takes, Im not sure what conclusion we can reach except that the Mao Zedong of MAGA has unofficially joined the establishment lately.

Trump now agrees with Democrats that blue states should remain free to legalize abortion. He agrees with them that Israels counteroffensive in Gaza is dragging on too long and that the devastation appears heinous and horrible. He agrees with them that the COVID-19 vaccines should be celebrated. He agrees with them that Ukraines survival is an important U.S. interest. And he agrees with them that Mike Johnson should remain speaker.

How many Uniparty positions is he permitted to hold before hes considered One Of Them rather than One Of Us?

His own handpicked chairman of the Republican National Committee, Michael Whatley, reportedly met face-to-face with Greene on Tuesday to try to talk her out of moving forward against Johnson. He said, one, this is not helpful, and two, we want to expand and grow the majority in the House, a source told Politico, recounting the conversation. He was clear that any disruption to the conference on these efforts, including filing this [motion to vacate], does not help the case for party unity.

An RNC stooge locking arms with the Republican speaker, the Democratic minority leader, and Donald Trump to try to preserve the status quo in the House amid bitter populist disappointment sounds pretty Uniparty to me.

We can repeat the analysis with lesser Republicans. Reps. Matt Gaetz and Eli Crane each voted to oust Kevin McCarthy last fall, as any populist who despises The Uniparty might be expected to do. Gaetz seemed poised to give Johnson the same treatment, reportedly warning the speaker before the vote on Ukraine aid that Republicans would move to remove him if he pushed the bill. Gaetz even threatened his GOP colleagues who planned to support the measure, according to the Washington Post, saying the far-right bloc would target them on social media and campaign against them.

Fast-forward to Tuesday and Gaetz now sounds opposed to trying to oust Johnson while Crane is a flat no. Maybe Trump prevailed upon them to back down lest there be another round of Republican chaos in an election year. Or maybe they reflected on the weeks-long agony of trying to replace McCarthy last year and concluded that, even as revolutionaries, they should probably have some idea of who might succeed Johnson before resolving to guillotine him.

Either way, it sounds like theyre prepared to vote with the speaker and with Jeffries. Matt Gaetz: Uniparty or no?

The more closely you scrutinize this populist argle-bargle, the shallower it appears.

Ask a Trumpist how they think The Uniparty feels about this weeks pro-Hamas protests and theyd likely land somewhere between indifference and outright support for woke agitation. At the very least, I expect, theyd accuse Uniparty members of wanting to distract the public from the ugly campus spectacle thats embarrassed the left and to refocus attention on some more trivial controversy.

But the reality is otherwise. Mike Johnson has immersed himself neck-deep in criticism of Columbia University, replete with a visit to campus last week where he was heckled. Thats smart politics, not only by amplifying an issue that plainly helps his party but by earning goodwill with populist Republicans who are disgruntled about the Ukraine package. The person whos drawing public attention away from the protests is  Marjorie Taylor Greene, by forcing a showy yet ultimately pointless vote on removing the speaker.

Which one is serving The Unipartys (alleged) interests?

Another thing: If Greene is serious about exposing how The Uniparty in Washington thwarts the will of the people whom it claims to represent, why has she chosen Ukraine as the issue to illustrate that point?

Its true that most Republican voters oppose further aid to Kyiv, but at least one recent national poll finds a narrow majority of Americans overall in favor. When The Uniparty does what most citizens want it to doespecially in an election yearthat sounds like democracy at work. As one Dispatch colleague put it, What if the Uniparty is just what a majority of Americans think, broadly speaking?

There is an issue, actually, on which Congress isnt currently representing what a majority of Americans think. That would be Israel, which just received a new U.S. aid package despite the fact that 55 percent of adults now disapprove of Israeli military actions in Gaza. Greene herself opposes all foreign aid on grounds that taxpayer money should be used to address the border crisis instead, but she supports Israel in principle and has had few complaints about Johnsons role in moving funding for Tel Aviv through the House. On the contrary: Its antisemitic to make Israeli aid contingent on funding Ukrainian Nazis, she tweeted in mid-April. These should be separate bills.

If Greene cares about The Uniparty following the peoples will instead of enacting its own preferences, why isnt she making more of a stink about Israel aid passing? And if the answer to that is because Republican voters strongly support that aid and she has a duty to represent them, then, er, how can she justify having voted no on the bill herself?

In the end, Uniparty is just populist shorthand for when some policy favored by the GOP base is thwarted in Congress with Republican help. It would be a defensible bit of sophistry if it were applied consistently, as one could argue (although I wouldnt) that a representative should always vote the way a majority of his constituents prefers. If most Republican voters oppose Ukraine aid, Republicans in Congress should oppose it too.

But it isnt used consistently, its used selectively, as Greens no vote on the Israel bill demonstrates. To take just one example, poll Americans on various forms of gun control and youll find huge majorities across all partiesRepublicans too!in favor of all sorts of new restrictions. Even so, if a bill proposing those restrictions hit the floor in the House, I promise youd never, ever hear Marjorie Taylor Greene complain about The Uniparty if members of both parties united to block it.

Uniparty is mostly demagoguery, as so much of modern Republican politics is. Its good for fundraising and TV hits and its a subtle way to inculcate in populists the sense that theres something untoward and conspiratorial going on when a bipartisan majority in Congress opposes their policy preferences. It also not very subtly implies that right-wing populists and traditional conservatives arent members of the same party in a meaningful sense: The former are Republicans, the latter are Uniparty.

Which is fine by me. The sooner conservatives come to see that Marjorie Taylor Greene isnt their ally, the better off well all be. Hooray for The Uniparty.

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.
ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC)  Abilene guests and members of the Laura W. Bush Institute for Womens Health (LWBIWH) met Wednesday night to hear from a woman whose name has been in national headlines for nearly two decades. Beth Holloway, mother of Natalee, who was murdered while traveling abroad in 2005, delivered a message of education and hope to the Abilene audience.

When I received the invitation to come and present for this wonderful event, I began thinking that we really have a lot in common, the Laura W. Bush Institute and what my mission has been, said Holloway.

Working to bring awareness to the differences women and girls face in healthcare matters, the institute provides resources to see to the proper care and safety of those affected. This mission resonated with Holloway Wednesday, since making those values her purpose nearly 20 years ago by educating teens and young adults on travel safety, and spreading a message of hope to those going through unthinkable tragedies.

I have spoken to tens of thousands of young adults across the country, delivering those personal safety, travel safety messages To hopefully prevent this tragedy from happening to another family or another young adult, Holloway told KTAB/KRBC.

Holloway said her experiences showed her that hope is not just something that happens to you, but a daily effort you make to keep yourself fighting.

In order to not give up and not just feel completely helpless, you have to recognize what you need to keep doing I had to get up every morning and try to work through the tragedy that was occurring in my family, recalled Holloway.

Her daughter Natalee disappeared in Aruba in 2005, and was pronounced dead in 2012. 18 long years later, her killer confessed to the crime. In that time, Holloway said hope was one thing she refused to give up. Keeping that hope with her even after her daughters passing, shes dedicated her life to bringing positivity from her pain, speaking to thousands in that time, and working with others to ensure their hope wont fade away.

Joran van der Sloots confession in Natalee Holloway case provides long-sought answers, mother says

Hope has to have action behind it. They have to be doing something To keep them moving through the journey, Holloway explained. When you really try to focus on those small steps, it will carry you a long way through your journey. To get to where you can now begin to either find resolution, or begin the journey of healing.

Knowing that her daughters death didnt have to be the end of her story, and through her efforts, the thousands of young people she first spoke to in 2005 have taken that message to heart, now continuing to radiate positivity in a new generation.

Through me they were able to share Natalees story And it just kinda hit me when I was at a speaking event a couple of weeks ago that, kind of, the torch is being passed from that first generation to their children now, added Holloway.

Her presentation Wednesday night was titled Faces of Hope, in which she shared her own experiences throughout the past 19 years of working to keep her hope strong and helping others in their struggles to retain their own.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTAB - BigCountryHomepage.com.
Thank you, Americans! Thank you, Californians! These are the exact words I have heard numerous times since April 23, during my daily phone therapy sessions with friends and relatives in war-torn Ukraine. They are the same words I heard from my second cousin, Oksana Pryshlyak, who lives in Californias brand new sister state of Lviv, Ukraine.

It is so reassuring to know that we have sisters and brothers who wont leave us alone to be killed by the Russians, Oksana told me.

Last week, the California Legislature approved Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 96, introduced by Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, which establishes a sister-state relationship between California and Lviv, Ukraine.

A second wave of restored optimism reached Ukraine last week. After six months of pessimism, anxiety, depression and panic attacks, a new hope was born for me and my family and friends back in Ukraine: Congress finally passed House Resolution 8035, a military aid package of $60.8 billion for the Ukrainian defense against an ongoing Russian onslaught.

Lviv is the capital city of the Lviv Oblast, a province in western Ukraine. Before the bloody war that Russia started on Feb. 24, 2022, this diverse region had a population of roughly 2.5 million, and the city of Lviv had close to 800,000 people. Now, the citys population has grown by 106,000, and the provinces population has grown by more than 700,000 war refugees from southeastern Ukraine where the devastating war still rages.

Opinion

The city of Lviv was founded in 1250 and has changed hands many times since, from the Austria-Hungarian empire to Poland, Germany, Russia and, finally, Ukraine. Lvivs long and stored history explains its rich linguistic, cultural, religious and ethnic diversity.

A cadet helps hold a huge Ukrainian flag during the National Anthem Day celebration at Rynok Square in Lviv, Ukraine, in March as the country celebrates the 159th anniversary of the first public performance of the National Anthem of Ukraine.

California and Ukraine began establishing people-to-people diplomacy even before the long-awaited collapse of the Soviet empire in 1991. Back in 1987, Modesto and Khmelnytsky signed an agreement of cooperation and friendship, which has resulted in hundreds of people participating in an exchange of teachers, students, farmers, doctors, artists, city officials and law enforcement. Now, there are many American-Ukrainian sister cities in California and the rest of the country.

Sister-state relationships, however, are relatively new. Curiously enough, Khmelnitsky took the lead again when, two years ago, in 2022, its province established a new form of cooperation and friendship with Mississippi. Americans visited Khmelnytsky only three months after the unprovoked war by Russia was started in a humanitarian mission to help people fleeing the Russian bombardment in the southeast of Ukraine.

Now, California has created another new sister-state relationship with Lviv, giving hope to Ukrainians both here and abroad.

So thank you, California!

Dr. Sergei Samborski is a lecturer at California State University Stanislaus. He was born, raised and educated in Khmelnitsky and Kyiv, Ukraine.
A horrible feeling: Domestic violence survivor says connected car was used to track her

Christine Dowdall said she knew it was time to leave her husband in 2022 after a violent fight.

Our last confrontation was pretty brutal, said Dowdall. Thinking God what am I going to do? If I stay here, this is not going to end well.

Deputies at the Bossier Parish Sheriffs Office in Louisiana investigated the domestic violence incident. Records show they reported seeing multiple areas of discoloration on her arms and face.

Dowdall got an order of protection and left the abusive marriage behind.

But even after getting away, Dowdall said she would get text messages from her estranged husband, then a DEA agent, taunting her with clues that he knew exactly where she was and sometimes who she was with.

Read: Only on 9: Witness speaks out about Cabana Live shooting

I kept wondering, how in the world does he know where Im at? said Dowdall.

Dowdall said she soon noticed a strange message pop up in her car that said: An authorized location-based service was turned on using mbrace.

It turned out to be a location tracker through her car. She then realized her estranged husband was using her Mercedes Benz to trace her.

Its a horrible feeling knowing somebody knows your every move, said Dowdall.

Records show a judge granted Dowdall exclusive use of the car during divorce proceedings.

Read: Magic look to regroup and even the series at home after tough game 5 loss on the road

Dowdall and Detective Kelly Downey said they repeatedly called Mercedes to try and get her estranged husband removed from the cars connected system. They said multiple requests to Mercedes went nowhere because he was the legally registered owner.

They said he had to be the one to disconnect it and that sort of thing and I said well, thats going to be kind of tough because I cant contact him and I dont want to contact him because were separated over a domestic abuse charge and Im telling you hes stalking me on this car, said Dowdall.

A spokesperson for Mercedes told our Washington News Bureau in a statement: This is a rather unfortunate case in which the MBrace system (this was the name of the system used when the subject vehicle was built, now MercedesMe) was used beyond its intended purpose We can acknowledge that upon contact with MBUSA, we worked with our provider partner (Verizon) who reportedly terminated the account within days of the initial contact with us. We cannot provide more specific details of individual customer matters, per company policy. However, we do consider exigent circumstances on an individual basis when supporting our customers.

Dowdall said Mercedes never told her anything about the account being terminated and to the best of her knowledge, that didnt happen despite repeated requests.

Mercedes said it could not provide further details because of policies to protect customer information.

Read: Boeings Starliner flight test: Meet the astronauts

Last year, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) made a rule that allows domestic violence survivors to separate a phone line from an account shared with an abuser. The agency is now taking a closer look at the law to see if it can enforce a similar rule with connected cars. The FCC is collecting public input and information from car makers.

The connected vehicle industry said car manufacturers are also taking their own steps to better protect customers.

The manufacturers are implementing stronger security measures to protect against unauthorized access to vehicle systems, said Scott McCormick, President and CEO of Connected Vehicle Trade Association. There are a number of automakers and tech companies that are partnering with domestic violence advocacy groups and human trafficking groups to understand what their survivors or victims needs are so that they can develop technology and provide safety without compromising privacy. Its not as pervasive as Id like to see across the industry.

We asked McCormick about what people can do in Dowdalls situation.

Fortunately, you can go to a third-party service center or garage, and theyll do it, said McCormick.

Read: Its our job: Veteran firefighter returns to duty after 2 months in burn unit

Thats what Dowdall ended up doing. She said she paid an independent mechanic $400 to disable the remote tracking system.

She said while she was disheartened over the lack of help from the car manufacturer, she was grateful she had Detective Downey in her corner.

She didnt give up. Just so thankful that she believed me, Dowdall said about Downey.

Domestic violence survivor advocates argue it shouldnt be that difficult or expensive for people to get the help they need. Theyre calling on manufacturers and the federal government to create more clear pathways for protection.

For Dowdall, the imminent danger in her life is now gone. Her estranged husband died by suicide last year.

But Dowdall said she worries for others who may unknowingly be traced while behind the wheel  and thats why shes speaking out.

Its just something that sticks with you, said Dowdall. Ive been trying to do what I can you know by talking about it.

Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
A Warren County grandmother was sentenced to prison Tuesday after pleading guilty to endangering children and tampering with evidence.

Lashawnda Walters, 51, was sentenced to 10  years in prison, according to Warren County Prosecutor David P. Fornshell.

On March 30, 2023, the two-year-old girl, who was living with Walters, had an accident and soiled her diaper, the prosecutors office said. In response to the accident, Walters assaulted the girl and placed her in a bath with water temperatures reaching up to 126 degrees.

>> Former Ohio high school girls basketball coach, accused of having sex with students, found dead

The toddler suffered second and third-degree burns to over 17 percent of her body, including her feet, calves, thighs, buttocks, and vaginal area.

More than five hours passed before the girl was taken to Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Liberty Campus. She was then examined and transported to Shriners Childrens Ohio in Cincinnati, where prosecutors say she underwent numerous procedures and a surgical skin graft to replace the damaged skin.

My heart goes out not only to this little girl, but to everyone involved in this case who had to view the photographs of the horrific injuries Walters caused to that precious child, said Fornshell.
Horry County Schools security coordinator has been placed on administrative leave, according to information from the district.

The decision came about a month after an incident at Myrtle Beach Middle School where a student managed to bring a gun in a see-through bag into the school. The incident prompted the school district to implement further security measures.

In addition, the district for the past week has been dealing with multiple bomb threats at one of its largest high schools, Carolina Forest, requiring multiple responses from Horry County Police.

David Beaty, coordinator of safety and security for the district, received a letter March 15 from Superintendent Rick Maxey saying that the school board would like a letter of resignation, retirement announcement or termination by March 18. The letter was a follow up from a conversation the two apparently had on March 14. In the letter, Maxey said since Beaty had informed him that he would not resign, Maxey would have to proceed with termination on March 18.

Beaty had replied to Maxey on March 15 saying that he would not resign but would be open to other solutions. Beaty said in his letter, My family obligations, among other reasons, prevents me from resigning my position especially given the fact that I have not been provided any type of explanation or justification for this adverse employment action.

In a follow up letter from Maxey on March 27, Beaty was told that the board did not take action during its meetings on March 18 and 25 to terminate his employment. However, he would be placed on administrative leave with full pay and benefits until further notice.

A number for Beaty could not be located.

Beaty began working for the district in 2012. His annual salary is $119,733 a year.

It is unclear what led to Beaty being placed on administrative leave. However, on March 11, the school board took a no-confidence vote on Horry County Schools security measures.

According to documents received from the district, his performance evaluations for 2022 and 2023 indicated he met his job duties.

Student brings gun to school in see-through bag

The Myrtle Beach Middle School student who brought a gun and ammunition into the school on Feb. 6 did so in a see-through bag, went through a metal detector and showed it to other students before the school realized there was a gun in the building, according to an email from Maxey.

Maxeys email said the school did a random search process that morning, which is used through the district, but the students bag was not chosen and he made it through the metal detector.

The student is facing criminal charges and expulsion.

The school learned about the firearm after a student found a bullet in the bathroom and reported it to administration.

On Feb. 29, the school board said the district is looking into weapons detection systems and would try to add at least one additional security staff member at every middle and high school.

Horry high school receives threats

Carolina Forest High School has received several bomb threats since last week, causing the school to be evacuated at one point and police to rush to the school when it was believed there was an active shooter incident.

The calls have all been determined to be hoax calls and no one was injured. Three people, including two students, have been charged with making at least two of the seven calls received.

Police remained at the school throughout the day and police were also placed at the school at night.
MACAO, May 2 (Xinhua) -- The just-concluded 12th Macao International Travel (Industry) Expo (MITE) witnessed the signing of 55 projects and facilitated 13,386 on-site and 1,482 online business matchmaking, the Tourism Office of the Macao Special Administrative Region Government said Wednesday.

According to the tourism office, the signed projects involved 107 domestic and foreign enterprises, covering such industries as tourism, healthcare and wedding.

This edition of MITE attracted more than 37,000 visitors, with the participation of 668 enterprises and entities from 54 countries and regions. Fifty-five promotional presentations and forums were also held during the MITE.

Starting from this year, the MITE will be held annually in April, noted the tourism office. 
Uniquely is a Bellingham Herald series that covers the moments, landmarks and personalities that define what makes living in Northwest Washington so special.

H. Leon Greene, a retired cardiologist turned author, likes to know about where he lives. That was the driving force behind his latest book, Lake Whatcom: A History.

We look out on Lake Whatcom every day, Greene said in a phone call with the Bellingham Herald. Initially, I thought, theres probably not too much to say about that, until I looked into it. And theres a real rich history of things going back into the mid-1800s, late-1800s.

C.H. Chandler of Pittsburgh and local real estate man W.F. Gwynn organized Silver Beach Amusement Co. to erect the White City amusement park on Lake Whatcoms north shore, near Academy Street. Attractions included a roller coaster, Ferris wheel, merry-go-round, dance hall, ice cream parlor and the Silver Beach Hotel.

Greene reached out to the local branch of the Washington State Archives, Western Washington Universitys Center for Pacific Northwest Studies and the Whatcom Museum. The Lake Whatcom of the past, he found, looked nothing like the calm lake he sees right near his home everyday.

The notion of a coal mine on the lake with barges and boats  steamboats  going up and down the lake, I mean, to me it was unheard of, Greene said.

While the book mentions Lake Whatcoms past as the center of a Salish village  its name is taken from a Nooksack word meaning noisy waters  Greene focuses on the late 19th and early 20th centuries. For much of that time, the lake was a hub of local industry. John J. Donovan, Julius H. Bloedel and Peter Larson brought large-scale logging to the lake; a railroad ran over its northern end; and 10 coal mines stood on its shores. One of the coal mines, the Blue Canyon mine, exploded in 1895, killing 23 people.

Eventually, the lake became a center for recreation. First a hotel opened in Silver Beach. It was followed a White City amusement park on the lakes shore, which stood between 1905 and 1916.

They had roller coasters and merry-go-rounds and ice cream stores and dance halls. And they had a bear cage, which of course today would never be accepted, Greene said.

Lake Whatcom is seen looking west from a viewpoint on the Chanterelle Trail on a sunny March 8, 2020.

The book, published by The History Press, dedicates 30 pages to the various boats that called Lake Whatcom home around the turn of the century. Among the most notable of those was the Edith, a 77-ton steamboat that took an eventful journey up Alabama Street to the lake from Bellingham Bay at the end of the 19th century.

In about 1890, they decided they needed some steamboats on Lake Whatcom and so they decided to transport a fairly large steamboat from Bellingham Bay over to Lake Whatcom, Greene said.

The boat was placed on wheels and pulled up the wooden plank covered street by four teams of horses.

Occasionally it got stopped by bears scaring the horses and [had] to shut down for the day until the bears ran away, Greene said.

In the end, the trek took far longer than anyone expected, and the company charged with transporting it lost money on the deal, according to Greene.

They initially thought that it would take about 10 days to take it from the bay to the lake, and it turned out being about 50 days.  It even became a metaphor for progress impeded, Greene said. They would say oh, thats as slow as the Edith.

The Edith wasnt the only steamboat to call Lake Whatcom home  more than a dozen others did, too. But nearly all of them met an unfortunate end.

There were 15 or so steamboats over the course of the history of the lake, and virtually every one of them burned at some time, or ran aground and sank, Greene said. But usually it was just the loss of the boat and there were a few where people were injured. I cant remember any where there was loss of life.

Local author H. Leon Greene wrote a book detailing the history of Lake Whatcom.

Even if the steamboats met a sad fate, the Silver Beach resident said he was constantly surprised by the feats of engineering involved in setting up industry on the lake.

There were some wooden pipes [that] were initially put in the northern end of the lake, that supply the town. And then back in the mid-1930s, they decided to move the intake pipe down to the southern end of the lake. But to imagine that, that, you know, theres a 6-foot pipe out of the middle of the lake, that its delivering all the water to the city of Bellingham, [is] pretty much lost on most people.

Greene understands that the local water supply doesnt exactly sound like must-read material at first, but thats why this kind of local history is so valuable.

I knew nothing about the water supply for Bellingham, Greene said. And the time somebody says something like that, you probably will start to yawn. But I mean, the entire Bellingham community and beyond is dependent upon Lake Whatcom for its water source, and the history of how that developed is really fascinating.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark.  Arkansas state officials said Thursday that the license of a medical marijuana dispensary in Hot Springs was revoked due to ongoing violations.

According to the Department of Finance and Administration, the Arkansas Alcoholic Beverage Control Division issued a license revocation for Green Springs Medical Dispensary. State officials said this is the first revocation issued since the medical marijuana industry launched in 2019.

Mixed opinions grow over move to reclassify marijuana

DFA officials said the dispensary has had ongoing violations, including selling expired items, sanitation issues, maintaining inventory, records and several others.

For the safety of the industry and patients, ABC has a responsibility to ensure compliance with the law, Trent Minner, leader of the Department of Finance and Administrations Regulatory Division, said. Despite receiving over 50 violations and warnings over the last four years, Green Springs has continued its pattern of noncompliance.

State officials noted that Green Springs can appeal the revocation to the ABC Board, in which it can remain open pending the appeal. If appealed, the ABC will determine whether to uphold the revocation. If the ABC Board revokes the dispensarys license, it can appeal to the Circuit Court.

$44.8 million spent on medical marijuana in Arkansas in last two months

Green Springs Medical Dispensary was the second to open in Arkansas in May 2019. There are 38 dispensaries in the state.

Since the first dispensary opened in the state, officials said that more than $1.10 billion has been spent on medical marijuana purchases. State officials said that 2023 was the biggest year for sales, bringing in $283 million.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK.
Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, speaks on the floor of the Alabama Senate on May 11, 2023. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)

The Alabama House Judiciary Committee Thursday approved a bill allowing parole applicants to participate in their parole hearings after a legislator delayed a vote on Wednesday.

SB 312, sponsored by Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road, requires the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles to allow applicants to participate in parole board hearings virtually through video conferencing or other electronic means.

Barfoot, who attended Thursday mornings committee meeting, said it is important to allow applicants to participate in their hearings.

More importantly, it gives the parole board another opportunity, or an opportunity, to question that inmate, to find out what, if anything, they have learned by being in DOC (Department of Corrections) custody, Barfoot said.

The measure passed by a vote of 10-2, with Rep. Russell Bedsole, R-Alabaster and Rep. Phillip Pettus, R-Killen voting against the proposal.

An amendment added in committee extends the ability to virtually participate in a parole hearing to a crime victim; a local district attorney; law enforcement and any other individual interested in the proceedings.

Rep. David Faulkner, R-Mountain Brook proposed a substitute Wednesday to amend the version passed by the Senate. Faulkners proposal would have allowed the Parole Board to exclude parole applicants from hearings. The proposal would also have allowed the parole board to have applicants use the telephone in the first year, giving the body time to work through the technology and logistics to eventually allow applicants to participate by video conferencing.

Faulkner was absent during Thursdays meeting.

We are still against it, said Wanda Miller, the executive director of Victims of Crime and Leniency (VOCAL), which advocates for the rights of crime victims, in an interview after the meeting. But we are having to look at it with the thought in mind it could pass. With that knowledge, we need to make sure that victims are protected.

Advocates are continuing to review the legislation to ensure that some stipulations are met to satisfy their concerns with victims.

Victims, what they say, the inmate wouldnt be able to hear, said Darlene Hutchinson, chair of the Alabama Crime Victims Compensation Commission. We also want to make sure that nobody is going to be putting victims out of the room, or that they have the right, if they want to, to stay in.

In the end, enough members were satisfied with the amendment and felt comfortable enough with the legislation to pass it.

It is important that the parole board hear the stories of the people who are up for parole directly from them, said Katie Glenn, senior policy associate with the Southern Poverty Law Center. We know that this parole board recently denied parole to someone who was dead. If this bill had been passed last year, that would not have been the case.

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The post House Judiciary Committee passes bill for Alabama parole applicants to attend hearings appeared first on Alabama Reflector.
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR)  Wednesday night the U.S. House passed a bill that would broaden the definition of antisemitism giving colleges and universities more cover to regulate discriminatory rhetoric on campus.

However, some opponents say the bill would violate free speech rights.

Its not clear whether concerns over free speech rights could doom the bills prospect in the narrowly divided Senate.

The proposal which codifies the definition of antisemitism sailed through the House Wednesday night with overwhelming bipartisan support.

Now its time for Senator Schumer, the highest ranking Jewish official in the history of the United States, to act and to put this bill up for a vote in the Senate, said Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.).

Its unclear when that might happen.

We havent seen what the House is sending us yet, said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

The bill relies on a definition of antisemitism established by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.

If passed it would give the Department of Education more leeway to enforce anti-discrimination laws as college campus protests spread.

It needs to be very clear: your students constitutional rights dont end when they enter your college campus grounds, said Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.).

Opponents say the bill violates protestors constitutional rights.

This bill threatens to chill constitutionally protected speech. Speech that is critical of Israel alone does not constitute unlawful discrimination, said Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.).

Others say the measure gives college administrators something they need at a critical moment.

Protests are nothing new in our country. Theyre constitutionally protected by the First Amendment but its also very clear that these institutions can regulate the exercise of those First Amendment rights based on time manner and place restrictions, said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas.).

Its not clear when the Senate might take up the bill for a vote.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
Houston County Sheriffs welcome new Bloodhound

DOTHAN, Ala (WDHN)  A new four-legged officer has joined the Houston County Sheriffs Office ranks.

On Thursday, the HCSO announced that K9 Lola had joined the force.

According to the HCSO, Lola is a bloodhound fully trained in Human Scent Evidence and specializes in tracking missing persons and fleeing criminals.

Lola will be partnered with Deputy Christian Allard.

Lola came from Find-M Friends, Inc., based in Crystal River, Florida, an organization that trains and gifts Bloodhound K9s to agencies nationwide.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WDHN - wdhn.com.
As climate change leads to a warmer planet with hotter days, experts say everything from chronic diseases to respiratory health to infectious diseases will be affected.

Heat can be deadly, killing more people every year than other weather hazards. But as hotter days become our new normal  or, as some climate scientists say, our new abnormal  the ill effects of higher temperatures on our bodies can persist a lot longer than you might think.

The World Health Organization says that climate change is the single biggest health threat facing humanity. And while that may sound like hyperbole, experts say its really not so far-fetched.

There are really direct relationships between climate and health, and what were seeing in many cases we could call climate-exacerbated disease, Dr. Christopher Tedeschi, director of emergency preparedness for emergency medicine at Columbia University, told Yahoo News.

Heat wave in U.S. strains power grid: People weren't ready for this heat (CBS News) >>>

Why extreme heat is bad for your health right now

A sign at Death Valley National Park on Monday, where the temperature was 120F and climbing. (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Walking outside on an oppressively hot day, its easy to see how excessive heat can do immediate harm. Heatstroke and heat exhaustion may be among the first conditions that come to mind. Heatstroke, which occurs when the body loses its ability to cool down and control its temperature, can cause permanent disability and even death, with body temperatures possibly rising to 106F or higher in under 15 minutes. Heat exhaustion, which includes symptoms like dizziness, nausea and headache, can lead to heatstroke unless treated immediately.

But extreme heat can also be damaging in less obvious ways, and may have a major impact on chronic diseases.

Heat puts stress on your body, and when your body is stressed it has a hard time dealing with other things like cardiac conditions or respiratory conditions, Tedeschi said. When you look at, for instance, emergency department visits during times of extreme heat, more people present with heart attacks, more people present with strokes, and that is frankly just a reflection of the stress on the body.

Higher temperatures also often lead to poorer air quality, with extreme heat and stagnant air increasing the amount of ozone and particle pollution. And after you've endured a scorcher, all that heat can harm your sleep too, with even mild heat exposure keeping body temperatures up, affecting sleep stages and hindering the ability to fall and stay asleep.

As Arizona and Texas experience extreme heat, how to protect yourself >>>

How high temperatures hurt your health in the long term

National Park Service rangers next to an unofficial heat reading at Furnace Creek Visitor Center in Death Valley National Park on Sunday. (Ronda Churchill/AFP)

On an individual level, I think its about that heat stress over a good amount of time, Tedeschi said. If you are continually exposed to extreme heat or hot temperatures that your body cant deal with, I think that frankly puts you at risk for things that your body might be able to fend off otherwise.

There are also more downstream effects. Wildfire smoke  which has become an all-too-familiar problem in much of the U.S. as fires continue to smolder in Canada and California  has harmful health consequences when those hazardous gases and fine particles are inhaled, and the impact of poor air quality caused by smoke may also be detrimental in the long term.

There are probably some longer-term effects of those small particles that we dont fully understand yet, Tedeschi said. They get deep into the lungs, they probably cause more inflammation, and may be responsible for more chronic diseases. Coupled with the heat, thats a really dangerous combination.

Heat and drought  which have been linked to climate change  are also prime conditions for a more intense wildfire season, and its expected to get worse as our planet warms, with Canada's natural resources agency saying that climate change may double the amount of area burned each year by the end of this century.

Smoke rises from the Texas Creek wildfire in British Columbia on July 9. (BC Wildfire Service/Handout via Reuters)

I think about kids that are exposed to poor air quality chronically, and that is absolutely a risk for chronic asthma, Tedeschi said. If you look at asthma rates and look at heat index and access to green spaces, theres a lot of correlation. And so I worry about kids, for instance, being exposed to poor air quality in such a way that either they develop respiratory problems, or the ones they already have, over the course of a lifetime, can get worse.

Those milder winters and earlier springs that make for a ripe wildfire season are also giving disease-carrying insects like mosquitoes and ticks the opportunity to thrive longer and expand their habitats to new, warmer corners of the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that between 2004 and 2018, reported illnesses from mosquito, tick and flea bites more than doubled to more than 760,000 reported cases nationwide.

And thats not all thats booming as temperatures rise. The emergence of new, sometimes deadly fungi with the ability to infect humans is now a major concern for the World Health Organization, with Dr. Andrej Spec, a fungal infections expert at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, telling Yahoo News, As we warm up, we lose one of our biggest protections against fungi: our body temperature.

Fungi, Spec explained, dont do well at 98.6F  the average body temperature of humans  and thrive best at temperatures around 77. But more instances of extreme heat are weeding out those fungi that can survive only a temperate environment and allowing more heat-resistant fungi to thrive.

A computer illustration of the fungus Candida auris, which causes drug-resistant infections and has high mortality rates. (Science Photo Library/Getty Images)

Hot bug summer: Tick, mosquito and spotted lanternfly outbreaks are making people crazy >>>

The myriad of health problems stemming from more and more extreme heat will also exacerbate another, separate problem thats been decried by doctors and medical professionals for years  the health care worker shortage.

Nationwide, our emergency departments are overwhelmed and overburdened and overcrowded, Tedeschi said. And when you think about an event that might drive lots of excess people to an emergency department, like a heat wave or bad air quality event, our ER overcrowding is probably one of our greatest risks when it comes to mitigating these climate disasters.
ULAN BATOR, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia has planted a total of 42 million trees across the country since the launch of its national tree-planting campaign in 2021, the country's presidential press office said Thursday.

In addition, at least 63 million seedlings have so far been stocked, it said, urging the public to actively take part in the upcoming National Tree Planting Day.

The land-locked Asian country is expected to observe the country's largest tree-planting and nature care event on May 11.

In October 2021, Mongolia launched the nationwide tree-planting campaign "Billion Trees" as the country's President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh told the United Nations General Assembly that the campaign aims to plant at least a billion trees by 2030 to combat desertification.

Desertification related to climate change has been the main factor behind the increasing frequency of yellow dust storms in Mongolia in recent years, the Ministry of Environment and Tourism said.

Desertification and land degradation have already affected 77 percent of Mongolia's total territory, and 11.89 percent of that is now covered by forests, according to the ministry. 
During the coronavirus pandemic, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy did not exactly emerge as one of the nations more prominent public health officials, despite the high status of his position.

Serious and soft-spoken, Murthy was frequently eclipsed on cable news and social media by the likes of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the presidents top pandemic adviser, and Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House pandemic response team coordinator.

But as the pandemic has subsided, Murthy has become increasingly vocal about the concerns that he first expressed in his 2020 book, Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World.

Published just weeks after the nation went into lockdown, Together seems geared toward a post-pandemic world, one in which the virus itself has receded for many people as a health concern, while the psychological challenges wrought by the pandemic have grown only more pronounced.

In recent weeks, Murthy has issued two notable advisories that seek to address a culture of cultural isolation fostered by an increasing reliance on the internet. While the work he outlines is far beyond the scope of a single office, Murthys focus represents what is likely to be a top concern for medical professionals and policymakers in the years to come.

How the American Dream convinces people loneliness is normal (Associated Press) >>>

The lonely American

"Ted Lasso" star Jason Sudeikis, with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and his fellow cast members, at a press briefing on March 20 to discuss the importance of addressing mental health to promote overall well-being. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

Loneliness is far more than just a bad feeling  it harms both individual and societal health, Murthy writes in a new advisory issued earlier this month, titled Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation.

The 82-page document is a frank acknowledgement that American adults have fewer and fewer meaningful relationships outside immediate family and work  and that the lack of those relationships has serious health harms, roughly akin to those of being a habitual smoker.

The lack of social connection, Murthy writes, is making Americans angry, sick, and alone. And if social networks were already being disrupted by economic, social and other forces before the pandemic took hold in 2020, lockdowns, school closures and the rise of remote work have only exacerbated the crisis.

Murthy calls for policymakers, business leaders and health care professionals to foster a culture of connection that treats chronic, unwanted solitude as a disease. Whether they will take heed remains an open question.

A loneliness 'epidemic' is affecting a staggering number of American adults (USA Today) >>>

Beyond the screen

Ninth grader Alani Rodriguez Martinez attends a virtual class in Louisville, Ky., in January 2022. (Amira Karaoud/Reuters)

Social habits dont arise spontaneously but, rather, are shaped by the values a society imparts to young adults.

In a second May advisory, titled Social Media and Youth Mental Health, Murthy says that an increasing reliance on social media is leading young adults to experience low self-esteem, as well as symptoms related to anxiety and depressive disorders. Social media platforms also routinely expose adolescents to inappropriate and dangerous content.

Murthy describes a study of 10,000 14-year-olds that found that greater social media use predicted poor sleep, online harassment, poor body image, low self-esteem, and higher depressive symptom scores with a larger association for girls than boys.

While the 45-year-old surgeon general and father of two acknowledges that social media platforms can foster the ability to form and maintain friendships online, he strongly suggests that we have not done enough to consider the harms of a heavily digital existence, a trend that was accelerated by the pandemic, when millions of children attended school and even summer camp online.

Our children and adolescents dont have the luxury of waiting years until we know the full extent of social medias impact, he writes. But the popularity of platforms like TikTok suggests that a neat policy solution is out of reach.

Social media has done extraordinary damage to democracy, public health, safety: Expert (Yahoo Finance) >>>

An uncertain future

Danny Reagan, a former residential patient of the Lindner Center of Hope in Mason, Ohio, in January 2019. (Maddie McGarvey/Reuters)

The number of stressors on the lives of Americans can seem overwhelming. From the cost of child care to the crisis of global warming, the kind of inner peace that is essential to mental well-being can be difficult to find, especially for people who lack the means to take a vacation or even a few days off work.

The rise of artificial intelligence programs like ChatGPT could act as an accelerant, potentially deepening social divisions while also displacing large segments of the workforce.

One answer: helping others. Recent studies have found that volunteerism can improve mental health, while also repairing some small piece of a fractured, broken world.

Service is a powerful antidote to loneliness, Murthy recently said.

Volunteering in your community could help with depression (NBC News) >>>
Since last December, Russian forces likely executed at least 15 Ukrainian soldiers who tried to surrender and possibly six who were already surrendering or had surrendered, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on May 2.

"These incidents should be investigated as war crimes," the NGO's statement read.

Over the past months, footage of several instances capturing Russian soldiers killing and surrendering Ukrainian soldiers has emerged online.

"Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, its forces have committed many heinous war crimes," said Belkis Wille, associate crisis and conflict director at HRW.

"The summary execution  or murder  of surrendering and injured Ukrainian soldiers, gunned down in cold blood, expressly forbidden under international humanitarian law, is also included in that shameful legacy."

HRW's statement mentions five incidents of group executions of Ukrainian soldiers by Russian troops, which the NGO investigated based on drone footage posted on social media, media coverage, and interviews.

The aforementioned incidents took place on Dec. 2 and Dec. 27 last year, as well as on Feb. 16, 19, and 25 of 2024 in Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. Collected evidence indicates that the Ukrainian soldiers were trying to surrender or had surrendered.

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Audio in some of the collected footage also captures orders by Russian soldiers not to take prisoners.

"Guys, kill everyone, the second (Ukrainian soldier) is wounded, shoot him from atop, shoot him, take no prisoners," one recorded voice said.

These are not the first executions of Ukrainian soldiers documented by international and Ukrainian organizations throughout the full-scale war.

Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office said on April 9 that at least 54 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) had been summarily executed by Russian soldiers during the war.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported back in March that it has documented at least 32 Ukrainian POWs being executed.

In a particularly deadly incident, over 50 Ukrainian military prisoners were killed in the Russian-occupied Olenivka in Donetsk Oblast in July 2022. According to Kyiv, Russia likely blew up the prison with a thermobaric munition.

Moscow has denied responsibility and blamed a Ukrainian HIMARS strike for the incident, but both the U.N. and Kyiv have rejected this version of events.

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Chinese tech giant Huawei has been secretly funding research in America despite being blacklisted, as reported by Bloomberg . The cutting-edge research is happening at universities, including Harvard, and the money is being funneled through an independent Washington-based research foundation, along with a competition for scientists.

Bloomberg found that Huawei was the sole funder of a research competition that has awarded millions of dollars since 2022 and attracted hundreds of proposals from scientists. Some of these scientists are at top US universities that have banned researchers from working with the company.

Whats the big deal? The fear is that this research could lead to innovations that give China a leg up with regard to both defense contracting and commercial interests, according to Kevin Wolf, a partner at the business-focused law firm Akin who specializes in export controls. Optica, the foundation behind all of this, has posted online that it is interested in high-sensitivity optical sensors and detectors," among other categories of research.

Its a bad look for a prestigious research foundation to be anonymously accepting money from a Chinese company that raises so many national security concerns for the US government, said James Mulvenon, a defense contractor who has worked on research security issues and co-authored several books on industrial espionage.

Its worth noting that this money funneling operation doesnt look to be illegal, as research intended for publication doesnt fall under the purview of the ban. Huawei operates similar competitions in other parts of the world, though openly. People who participated in the US-based research competition didnt even know that Huawei was involved, believing the money to come from Optica. The competition awards $1 million per year and Optica didnt give any indication that Huawei was supplying the cash.

A Huawei spokesperson told Bloomberg that the company and the Optica Foundation created the competition to support global research and promote academic communication, saying that it remained anonymous to keep from being seen as a promotion of some kind. Opticas CEO, Liz Rogan, said in a statement that many foundation donors prefer to remain anonymous and that there is nothing unusual about this practice. She also said that the entire board knew about Huaweis involvement and that everyone signed off on it. Bloomberg did note that the Huawei-backed competition was the only one on Opticas website that didnt list individual and corporate financial sponsors.

Huawei has been wrapped in a web of US restrictions these past several years. We cant buy the vast majority of Huawei products in America , as the companys been effectively banned. This all started in 2019 when President Trump signed an executive order that banned the sale and use of telecom equipment that posed unacceptable" risks to national security. At the time, Trump said that foreign adversaries were exploiting security holes that would eventually lead to "potentially catastrophic effects. Wait, Trump used the words potentially catastrophic effects? Wild.

To that end, the company has faced numerous claims that it installs backdoors in networks for the purpose of data theft, though theres no proof of actual theft and the company denies the accusations. Huawei has also been accused of employing Chinese spies to influence an investigation and documents seem to indicate Huaweis involvement in Chinas surveillance efforts .

Some expected President Biden to reverse Trumps executive order when it expired in 2021 , but he headed in the opposite direction. Not only does the order stand, but Biden signed a law that blocked Huawei from obtaining an FCC license and he banned American investments in Chinas high tech industries. We arent cozying up to China anytime soon, so Huawei will continue to be persona non grata on this side of the pond (the company still does booming business in Europe.)
Need for huge natural gas plant in question as solar energy rises across SC

South Carolinas effort to build a large natural gas plant between Columbia and Charleston has been justified as a way to meet future energy needs.

But testimony filed with the federal government last year shows that solar power and battery storage are cutting into the need for natural gas  and critics of the proposed natural gas plant say thats further evidence against a facility that could cost ratepayers up to $2 billion.

Government programs and initiatives, designed to reduce greenhouse gas pollution, have helped improve the renewable energy market at the expense of natural gas, according to testimony with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

The testimony is significant because it came from representatives of a company that provides pipelines to transport natural gas, instead of from opponents of the large plant in South Carolina. The testimony was offered as part of Carolina Gas Transmissions efforts to raise rates.

The pipeline representatives said improvements in solar energy and the rising success of batteries is expected to reduce the need for natural gas from Carolina Gas Transmission, a pipeline company that serves South Carolina and Georgia.

Market forces arising from the dramatic declines in the prices of wind and solar power and battery storage are likely to reduce the demand for the pipeline companys services, consultant Alexander Kirk said in written testimony to the FERC.

Kirks Washington, D.C., energy consulting firm offers technical and policy assistance to the natural gas pipeline industry.

Kirks statement is among multiple points made in Carolina Gas Transmissions effort to raise rates for operation of its pipeline in South Carolina and Georgia. The company says it has had to spend money during the past 12 years for pipeline expansion projects, upgrades, maintenance and cyber security. Among its pipeline expansion projects was one in Richland County about nine years ago.

Natural gas has become increasingly popular as a replacement for burning coal to make energy. It is less polluting than coal and is abundant for use by power companies.

But like other fossil fuels, natural gas still produces pollution and greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Environmentalists say its use should be ramped down as non-polluting renewable energy becomes more reliable.

Carolina Gas Transmissions rate increase, if approved by the FERC, would largely impact Dominion Energy since the utility is Carolina Gas Transmissions main customer. It was not known this week how a rate increase would affect individual power bills. Carolina Gas has been negotiating on a final rate proposal this spring.

But Kirk and Brian Wilson, vice president of commercial pipeline services with a Carolina Gas Transmission subsidiary, said federal and local efforts to sharply reduce greenhouse gas pollution by 2050 will put pressure on the gas industry.

Such targets to cut emissions will result in less use of fossil fuels, of which natural gas is one, they said.

Columbia, Charleston, Greenville and other cities have pledged to reduce their carbon footprint by 2050, as have utilities like Dominion Energy and Duke Energy, the major investor-owned power companies in South Carolina.

Wilsons testimony said meeting those goals could mean natural gas consumption would be required to significantly decline by 2050 or sooner.

Their testimony follows a report last winter by consultants for the state Public Service Commission that questioned the need for the 2,000-megawatt natural gas plant in the Canadys community of rural Colleton County.

The report by PA Consulting urged more examination of solar and battery storage before moving ahead with a gas plant. Perfecting batteries to store solar energy after the sun goes down is seen as a key to the future of renewable energy.

The PA Consulting report, which focused on state-owned Santee Coopers participation with Dominion Energy in the natural gas plant, said Santee should refrain from making any definitive and binding commitments to the gas plant while more studies are done.

Opponents of building an expansive natural gas plant said the testimony on behalf of a pipeline company provides insight about how the gas industry sees renewable energy and batteries affecting the need for natural gas.

Pipeline companies are reading the tea leaves correctly. They know their business is going to change over time, said Anne Tyler, who is with the Citizens Climate Lobby, a national organization with a Beaufort County chapter.

Legislators have been debating a massive energy bill that would make it easier for Santee Cooper and Dominion Energy to build a 2,000-megawatt gas plant in Colleton County.

Many of them say the state is growing rapidly and South Carolina should move aggressively to meet future energy needs. Paving the way for a large natural gas plant is a cornerstone of that strategy, backers of the legislation say.

The bill, however, ran into major opposition in the S.C. Senate, endangering its chances of passing before the Legislative session ends next week. The House, which had approved the bill previously, voted Wednesday to attach the legislation to several other bills, raising hope that some version of the measure could pass before the session ends.

State Rep. Bill Sandifer, a major supporter of the energy bill and a booster of the states utilities, said a natural gas plant is a clean, efficient way to generate power, when compared to polluting coal plants, which produce more carbon than natural gas. Solar and other forms of alternative energy are not as reliable, he said. Critics note that solar energy is not available at night.

There are detractors in no matter what we do, Sandifer, R-Oconee said of gas plant opponents. He told House members that it takes far more space to produce power from solar panels than a natural gas plant.

Despite that, opponents of the proposed Canadys natural gas plant said South Carolina is rushing to approve the facility without proper scrutiny. They make the point that solar energy has taken off in the state, and batteries to store the energy when it is dark are becoming a reality.

The Carolina Gas Transmission testimony reflects that, they said.

It shows more of the risk with the plant, said John Brooker, who tracks energy issues for the Conservation Voters of South Carolina, an environmental group.

Former state Public Service Commission member Tom Ervin said the state could be stuck with an expensive facility that may not be used for its expected 50-year life. Opponent of the proposed natural gas plant say the state should seek to use a greater mix of energy sources than putting so much reliance on a large plant.

The transition to other energy resources is going to occur in the next 15 to 20 years, said Ervin, who quit the PSC this year so he could speak out on the energy legislation. As utilities transition from fossil fuels to renewables and other sources of energy, theres not going to be a market for natural gas and certainly not for gas plants that have outlived their usefulness.

Carolina Gas Transmission, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, did not directly address questions from The State newspaper about renewable energys potential impact on the gas business. But a spokeswoman did say that natural gas is the ideal partner for intermittent renewables.

Officials with Dominion Energy and Santee Cooper, which would jointly participate in the Colleton County plant, declined comment.

Questions about whether solar and batteries will diminish the need for a large natural gas plant at Canadys are surfacing amid other concerns. New federal greenhouse gas rules that were recently finalized could make if difficult to run a major natural gas plant at full capacity.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  Human remains found in Eastern Oregon have been identified as an Idaho woman who was reported missing about 10 months ago.

On Wednesday, the Malheur County Sheriffs Office announced the human remains belong to 27-year-old Boise resident Gwendolyn Brunelle.

Police clearing Portland State Universitys library occupation, shelter in place declared

The Boise Police Department said the woman was last seen at a gas station and convenience store in Jordan Valley, Ore., on June 27. She left her home the previous day and planned to drive to Fresno, Calif.

MCSO joined the missing persons case later on June 30, before locating a vehicle at Highway 95 and Succor Creek Road that was registered under Brunelles name.

With assistance from Oregon and Idaho officials and agencies, the countys Search and Rescue team used cadaver dogs, drones, fixed wing aircrafts, helicopters, horses, UTVs and ground searchers to find her in the nearby area.

The search was suspended after multiple efforts to locate Brunelle failed.

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According to officials, her family later hired a private drone operator who recorded the search area  some of which hadnt been checked by ground searchers.

The footage was reviewed by Aloft Drone Search. On Apr. 8, the nonprofit organization sent the Sheriffs Office photos and coordinates of what it believed to be human remains.

Malheur County deputies responded to the area, which was about two miles away from where the womans vehicle was found.

And on Apr. 29, the Oregon State Medical Examiners Office identified the remains as Brunelles through dental records.

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The Malheur County Sheriffs Office offers condolences and gratitude to the Brunelle family, Sheriff Travis Johnson said in a statement. They are good-natured people and great to work with. We know this has been, and continues to be a very difficult time for this family. MCSO would like to sincerely thank all of the volunteers who helped in this search effort.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
Hundreds of thousands of fish die off in Vietnam as heatwave roasts Southeast Asia

A mass fish die-off in a reservoir in southern Vietnams Dong Nai province has shone a new light on soaring temperatures in Southeast Asia.

Fishermen have been working to wade through and collect the hundreds of thousands of dead fish that have blanketed the 300-hectare Song May reservoir amid a ferocious heatwave.

Intense drought swept through Vietnams south in April as temperatures soared to nearly 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), leaving farmers struggling to keep their crops alive.

Community members and local media are blaming the drought, heatwave and problems with the reservoirs management as contributing factors.

A cluster of dried, perished fish from Song May reservoir. - AFP/Getty Images

Recent photos show fish layered on top of one another, muddied, dry and disintegrated.

The water in the lake was reportedly too low for the animals to survive as there has been no rainfall for weeks, according to AFP.

Nghia, a resident from the provinces Trang Bom district, told AFP that the fish died for lack of water, adding: Our life has been turned upside down over the past 10 days because of the smell.

A fisherman in a boat with buckets holds up a fishing net to collect dead fish. - AFP/Getty Images

Even with numerous buckets and nets, removing all the fish appears to be almost an insurmountable task.

Local media has suggested that as many as 200 tons worth perished after a failed attempt to renovate the reservoir, according to AFP.

The dried-up Song May reservoir bed. - AFP/Getty Images

In images, the reservoir bed can be seen visibly dried up, cracked and muddied, with the clustered dead fish floating in the remaining water.

Nghia told AFP that the effort to renovate the reservoir included a pump being brought in to remove mud so that the fish would have more space to move.

A fisherman deep in the reservoir collecting the dead fish surrounding him. - AFP/Getty Images

The reservoir provides water for crops in the Trang Bom and Vinh Cuu districts, and its management had previously discharged water from it in an attempt to save crops downstream, Nghia said.

Tuoi Tre newspaper reported that extra water initially planned to be released into the reservoir for the fish was instead diverted downstream because of the unrelenting heatwave, according to AFP.

Authorities are investigating the mass die-off as efforts continue to remove the dead fish, AFP said.

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NUEVA YORK  A judge considered holding Donald Trump in contempt yet again on Thursday for more potential gag order violations as his hush money trial resumed in Manhattan.

Before jurors took their seats for the day, state Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan heard arguments from prosecutors and the former presidents attorneys concerning four more instances of Trump publicly commenting on witnesses and jurors in the case.

Prosecutor Chris Conroy alleged Trump had sought to infect and disrupt the proceedings by his repeated remarks, including comments just hours before the last contempt hearing on Tuesday, when he was fined $9,000 for nine offending posts on his Truth Social account and held in contempt.

Its not just any jurors, its these jurors in this case who are going to be sitting here in a few minutes, Conroy said, citing comments disseminated by Trump claiming the jury was picked so fast, 95% Democrats.

By talking about the jury at all, he places this process and this proceeding here in jeopardy.

Describing other comments Trump made about key witness David Pecker  calling him a nice guy  as deliberate and calculated, Conroy asked the judge to reject the ex-presidents claims that his remarks were innocuous, calling them deliberate shots across the bow.

Conroy said the prosecution was not yet requesting the judge jail Trump for repeatedly violating his order in the interest of efficiency and not bogging down the trial. Merchan on Tuesday said he would consider jailing Trump if he continues to cross the line.

Trump attorney Todd Blanche said his client had not willfully violated the order and was defending himself against criticism as a presidential candidate. He said constant jabs by his ex-fixer, Michael Cohen, whos expected to be the star witness, were essentially daring him to respond.

Blanche also cited President Bidens remarks about the trial at the White House Correspondents Dinner, which mentioned Trump facing stormy weather.

Stormy weather was an obvious reference to Stormy Daniels, Blanche said, later adding, He cant just say no comment repeatedly. Hes running for president.

Merchan said nothing in the gag order prevented Trump from responding to the president. He did not immediately issue a ruling but sounded particularly unconvinced by Blanches attempts to defend Trumps comments about the jury.

After the hearing, attorney Keith Davidson was expected to continue testifying about the hush money he negotiated for his client Stormy Daniels on the eve of the 2016 election. The lawyer is expected to face a brutal cross-examination by Trumps legal team.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felonies alleging he repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to cover up reimbursement to his ex-lawyer, Cohen, for a hush-money scheme to hide damaging information from the voting public in 2016.
WASHINGTON (DC News Now)  The United States Attorneys Office (USAO) for the District of Columbia said that a 30-year-old Hyattsville man pleaded guilty to 10 armed and attempted robberies that happened in D.C. between Aug. 22, 2023, and Jan. 8, 2024.

The USAO said that 30-year-old Roberto McBean admitted to committing all of the robberies.

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Court documents outlined the following robberies  both attempted and successful:

On Aug. 22, 2023, McBean used a hammer in a robbery at a Sunoco gas station on Wisconsin Avenue, NW.

On Aug. 31, 2023, he used a vegetable knife in a robbery at the Georgetown Wine and Spirits on P Street, NW. He stole cash and a bottle of red wine.

On Sept. 18, 2023, he pulled out a knife in the Universal Wine and Spirits on Florida Avenue but left without taking any money after a customer saw him and yelled at him to get out.

On Nov. 23, 2023, McBean used a gun to steal cash from the Glover Park Market on 37th Street, NW.

On Dec. 8, 2023, McBean used a gun to steal a small amount of cash from an Exxon gas station on Wisconsin Avenue in Georgetown.

Also on Dec. 8, 2023, McBean went back to the Sunoco gas station in his first robbery and threatened an employee with his gun, commanding them to empty the register into a bag.

On Dec. 16, 2023, he went back to the Glover Park Market and stole cash from the register and several lottery tickets.

On Dec. 20, 2023, he returned to the Georgetown Wine and Spirits shop and demanded that the employee empty the cash register. The employee did not have a key to the register, and McBean demanded money again, threatening the employee with a gun. The employee handed over the entire register, which McBean was unable to open. He handed it back and left.

On Jan. 4, 2024, he went to Saras Market and Dry Cleaners on Q Street NW. McBean went to the register with a bottle of wine and demanded that the employee hand over cash  but the employee said that the market only takes electronic payments. He left with just the wine.

On Jan. 5, 2024, he returned to the Glover Park Market for the third time. He had a gun and left with money, lottery tickets and two packs of cigarettes.

On Jan. 8, 2024, McBean went back to the Glover Park Market for a fourth time. The store employee recognized her from the robbery a few days earlier and the robbery in December.

FBI agents arrested McBean on Jan. 26, 2024.

The USAO said that each of the stores that he targeted were involved in interstate commerce, so McBeans robberies delayed, obstructed, or affected interstate commerce  which is a violation of the Hobbs Act.

McBean pleaded guilty on April 26 to four counts of interference with interstate commerce by robbery. His sentencing was scheduled for Sept. 5.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
Over 20 years ago, during my second pregnancy, I experienced a debilitating case of hyperemesis gravidarum (HG). Often given the misnomer morning sickness, the symptoms of nausea and vomiting are rarely limited to the morning, and with HG, are usually nonstop. The experience, one of the most horrific of my life, was made worse due to skepticism and derision from the healthcare professional who was supposed to be protecting me. Even today, this remains a common tale for women, with myriad studies showing that womens pain is more likely to be discounted than their male counterparts and their symptoms ignored. Over the last two decades, I have made it my mission to ensure that my experience becomes an outlier, rather than the normgenerating knowledge which will lead to better treatments for HG and, most recently, launching Harmonia Healthcare, a specialty womens healthcare platform focusing on commonly dismissed female-specific diseases.

It is unconscionable that so little time and funding goes into womens diseases, with only 1% of investment into healthcare research and innovation going toward female-specific conditions beyond oncology, according to a recent McKinsey study. For too long, womens suffering has been ignoredand Im so thrilled to be a part of research and innovation that will have an impact on improving reproductive health.

Approximately 14% of all pregnancies are affected by severe nausea or HG, with over one-third of HG pregnancies resulting in premature delivery, miscarriage, stillbirth or termination. The economic cost of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy in the US totals over $1.7 billion per year. Emergency room visits, a main contributor to this sum, represent a broken care model for HG treatment. The same study found that women with nausea and vomiting during pregnancy lost an average of 23 days of work, while their partner lost more than three days on average. In the future, this will no longer be the case due to new treatments that Harmonia plans to implement, which will be grounded in my research.

My battle with HG was one of the most challenging periods of my life. Faced with constant nausea, I was unable to eat or drink without throwing up, and was put on an IV drip. My doctor at the time was dismissive, even noting that women often claimed these symptoms as a method to seek attention. I was too weak to advocate for myself, and it wasnt until I had not kept any food down for over a month and tried 7 different medications at once, that a feeding tube was inserted. It was too late; I lost the baby.

I tore through medical journals, searching for information on what had happened to me, but few studies existed on this devastating disease. Driven by my own suffering and a desire to ensure better care for women in the future, I embarked on a quest to discover the root cause of HG and validate the experiences of countless women who, like me, had been disregarded.

My experience with HG and suggestion by my doctor that I was purposely exaggerating symptoms is an experience that likely rings true with many women, whose very real pain and suffering is often dismissed, leading to an unacceptable number of women in crisis throughout the country.

I spent the following two decades dedicated to the research of HG, identifying its causes and now searching for innovative treatments. Most recently, I helped to launch Harmonia as its Chief Scientific Officer. Harmonia, which opened its first center in New Jersey this May, will be a game-changer for HG patients by offering them better care now while simultaneously developing innovative methods to improve care in the future. Ive also been advising, collaborating and directing research with the HER Foundation since 2001.

A familial aggregation study I led found that if a patients sister had HG, they had a 17-fold increased risk of having it themselves. I worked with genetics company 23andMe, Inc. to conduct a genetic study, which found that the greatest genetic risk factor for the disease was a variant of the nausea and vomiting hormone gene GDF15. In a second study, I used an alternate genetic technique and found a rare mutation in GDF15 in some HG patients, providing further evidence for a causal role for GDF15. Most recently, I partnered with an international team of researchers and discovered that people with HG are predisposed to having lower levels of GDF15 prior to pregnancy, making them hypersensitive to the rise of the hormone during pregnancy.

In addition to new predictive capabilities, this opens healthcare providers up to innovative new treatments, as raising a patients GDF15 levels prior to pregnancy has the potential to prevent HG.

Harmonia endeavors to predict, prevent and treat HG with its extremely knowledgeable and versatile team. The center is grounded in the research Ive helped generate on the condition, but the true stars are our incredible group of patient advocates and leading clinicians. Our approach will combine cutting-edge treatments with compassionate care, offering solace to those who have long suffered in silence. It is paramount to our mission that in addition to innovative treatments, we are providing concierge care and a team of health advocates to our patients, so they no longer have to advocate for themselves while battling a debilitating disease.

Our mission extends beyond mere treatment; it encompasses a commitment to research, innovation, and advocacy. Wealong with other revolutionary centers, like The Morning Sickness & HG Clinic of Birmingham, ALstand at the forefront of a movement, championing the cause of womens health and challenging the status quo that has long relegated conditions like HG to the shadows.

Harmonias expert-led research, diagnostic and treatment programs will result in superior health outcomes. It is my hope that with our centers, no one experiencing pregnancy will ever have to go through what I went through, and we will play a critical role in improving wellbeing and quality of life for women.
For much of the twentieth century, the American right was suspiciously absent from historians grand narratives of the United States. In the early Cold War, social scientists and political theorists held that the United States was exceptional. Because the United States was not born out of a feudal tradition, Louis Hartz famously argued, the country lacked the extremes of left and right that were found in Western Europe. A liberal consensus bound the nation together, for better or worse. National debate perpetually took place within rigid ideological limits. As the renowned historian Richard Hofstadter observed in The American Political Tradition in 1948, contestants from the major parties shared a belief in the rights of property, the philosophy of economic individualism, the value of competition. However fiercely they competed, they accepted the economic virtues of capitalist culture as necessary qualities of man.



In this view of history, illiberal forcesranging from xenophobic and antisemitic Populists in the late nineteenth century to a nexus of Radical Right anti-communist organizations in the postWorld War II periodwere characterized as marginal elements that could never withstand the overwhelming power of liberal pluralism. The sociologist Daniel Bell recognized that there was a strain of the electorate that felt dispossessed and subscribed to Protestant fundamentalism  nativism, nationalism. Yet, as he wrote in 1955, he believed that the saving glory of the country was that politics has always been a pragmatic give-and-take rather than a series of wars-to-the-death.

Over the years, historians have chipped away at the liberal consensus. The baby boom generation of historians, coming out of the tumultuous 1960s, emphasized critiques of liberalism from the left, with bottom-up histories that explored the lives of workers, immigrants, Black and Native Americans, and other groups who had often been left out of earlier work centered on presidents, business leaders, and national elites. Indeed, few historians have done as much as Steven Hahn to trace political resistance from the leftward side of the political spectrum. His landmark book, The Roots of Southern Populism, provided a history of the changing political economy of Up-country Georgia, which fueled the rise of a Southern populism that challenged individualism and free-market principles. In his Pulitzer Prizewinning book, A Nation Under Our Feet, Hahn wrote the history of Black resistance to the different manifestations of white supremacy that took hold in the United States, from fighting against slavery to taking on Jim Crow.

And starting in the 1990s, historians of conservatism showed a vibrant right, buckling against the liberal tradition. Kim Phillips-Fein has examined the network of business leaders who directed the mobilization against the New Deal and its legacy. Thomas Sugrue captured the dynamics of the Northern white backlash in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Rick Perlsteins Before the Storm traced the evolution of the right from the activists who elevated Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater to the top of the Republican ticket in 1964 to Nixonland and Reaganland. Lisa McGirrs Suburban Warriors deals with the political power of places such as Orange County, California, while Matthew Lassiter and Joseph Crespino focus on Republican appeals to suburban voters just outside cities like Charlotte and Jackson.

Yet these new studies of the right mostly left intact the idea that liberalism was the dominant tradition in the United States; they just set out to document how the right fought against it. They primarily wrote about how a grassroots modern conservative movement in the 1970s and 1980s, sometimes earlier, finally broke the hold of the liberal consensusafter the New Left had already shaken it up as a result of Vietnamand pushed the nation rightward. In his new book, Illiberal America, Hahn aims to tell a different kind of story: one in which illiberalism is not a backlash but a central feature from the founding to today, and in which reaction is an ever-present mode of American political activity.





Hahns point is not to dismiss liberalism, which he characterizes as an ideology that imagines rights-bearing individuals, civic inclusiveness, representative institutions of governance, the rule of law and equal standing before it, democratic methods of representation, and the mediation of power through civil and political devices. His intention, he writes, is to unpack the shaky foundations on which liberal principles often rested and the ability of some social groups to use those principles to define their own communities while refusing it to others.

Hahn defines illiberalism as being founded, like its liberal adversary, on a key set of principles. Illiberalism emphasizes a suspicion of outsiders to the community that justifies the quick resort to expulsion. In this tradition, the needs of the community triumph over the individual, and rights are limited to both local geographic spaces and a small number of actions. Cultural homogeneity is prized over pluralism and difference, and enforced coercively. Illiberal politics demand resistance to some forms of authorityespecially to state functions like taxation and regulationwhile submitting to others, including religion.

To puncture the architecture of Louis Hartzs argument, Hahn begins the book by rejecting the assertion that the nation was born without a feudal tradition and was always moving in the direction of enlightened belief. The colonists, Hahn suggests, clearly expressed neo-feudal ambitions. He points to the harshness of indentured servitude in the Colonies: In the mideighteenth century, most Europeans in the American Colonial countryside were tenants, laborers, and servants as they lived in states of dependency (wives and children) in the households of property owners. Between 20 and 30 percent of the workforce in the Virginia and Maryland Colonies were indentured servants, treated as the property of their masters. Corporal punishment was a common way to control workers. The cost for trying to escape usually entailed whipping, lashings, and beatings. Few ever enjoyed the freedom dues that were promised when someone finished their contract, because the mortality rate was so high for servants as a result of disease and sheer exhaustion. Of course, the other forced labor pool available to wealthier whites were enslaved Africans who lived under brutal conditions and were stripped of their humanity. Hahns disturbing origins story is not just a tale of a people who were moving toward something more open, more tolerant and more liberally included, he writes, but also of a country shaped by neo-feudal dreams, regimes of coerced labor, social hierarchies, and strong cultural and religious allegiances.

In the 1830s, the era of Jacksonian Democracy, illiberalism inspired recurring bouts of white terrorism. Andrew Jackson made his name, Hahn reminds us, not just through the Battle of New Orleans in 1815 but with brutal assaults on the Seminole and Creek Nations, on fugitive slaves, and with the Indian Removal Act of 1830. The 1830s witnessed ferocious assaults on Native Americans, Black Americans, Roman Catholics, and Mormons. This period, Hahn writes, saw a political culture that thrived on sidearms, street gangs, truncheons, and fists as well as rallies, conventions, and grassroots mobilizations.

Hahn also emphasizes the intensity of the anti-abolitionist movement: Violence against abolitionist gatherings broke out in big cities like New York and Philadelphia as well as smaller towns such as Concord, New Hampshire. In October 1835, the abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison was violently heaved with a rope through the streets of Boston by an angry pro-slavery mob. Opponents of freeing slaves burned down the abolitionist meeting site at Pennsylvania Hall in Philadelphia in May 1838. These events, Hahn argues, were more than vigilante outbursts. Although some of the rioters came from the lower reaches of the social order, looking to vent their hostilities and dissatisfactions, the leadership came chiefly from the ranks of merchants, bankers, lawyers, and public officials, many from established, influential families. The idea of mobs and riots, Hahn points out, obscures what was really the persistence of older forms of political expression.

The atmosphere of illiberal violence even suffused the halls of legislative power. Even though Ohio and Illinois outlawed slavery in 1802 and 1848, Black Laws curtailed the ability of freed Black men to vote and otherwise participate in civic life. And, building on the work of the historian Joanne Freeman, Hahn recounts how physical altercations became a regular part of democratic and legislative politics at the state and local level. The speaker of the Arkansas House stabbed a colleague to death following a verbal insult in 1837. In 1838, a Maryland congressman named William Graves killed Maine Representative Jonathan Cilley in a rifle duel near the Anacostia bridge in Washington, following accusations of bribery. And, most famously, in 1856 South Carolinas Preston Brooks pummeled Massachusettss Charles Sumner into a bloody pulp on the floor of the United States Senate chamber.

While Hahn joins scholars who explain these clashes as manifestations of the hardening divide over slavery, he paints a broader portrait of a nation where brute force was an endemic element of an illiberal culture; where weapons, street gangs, and militias were a routine way of handling differences and maintaining control. The arenas of formal electoral politics and of intimidation and expulsion were more interconnected than we might imagine, he writes.

Illiberalism repeatedly proved its capacity to survive bursts of support for social rights and pluralism. In the postCivil War period, when the liberal commitment to social rights seemed to be gaining momentum with the end of slavery and the passage of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, dark clouds hovered over Reconstruction. Republicans separated the end of slavery from the guarantee of freedom for African Americans. The convict lease system, founded in the 1840s, was vastly expanded during the Reconstruction period, and carceral repression chipped away at the potential for genuine liberation. Radical Republicans in Congress saw their agenda thwarted by Southern Democrats. The contested election of 1876 was settled when Democrats agreed for Rutherford Hayes instead of Samuel Tilden to become president in exchange for ending Reconstruction. When Jim Crow laws were imposed in the South during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the promise of racial justice ended. In 1921, white mobs destroyed the vibrant Black community in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The lines between liberalism and illiberalism were not always easy to discern. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, illiberalism attached itself to a political movement that was theoretically committed to ameliorating social inequities. The ideas born out of the neo-feudal past were woven into a Progressive reform movement that promised to guide the United States in its transition into the modern era of industrialization and urbanization. While the Progressive era cast expertise and bureaucratization as the means to a more rational and prosperous future, it also produced social engineering, eugenics, and Theodore Roosevelts justifications for imperialism.

It wasnt much of a surprise that Mussolini was admired in many quarters of this so-called liberal nation. By the mid-1920s, the mainstream American press was publishing favorable stories about Il Duce. The American Legion lionized the Italian leader, inviting him to speak at its annual convention in 1923 (he declined). Mussolini, Hahn explains, likewise admired the United States, citing some of the nations great authors, such as Emerson and Twain, as inspirations. Adolf Hitler also drew on the United States, from the restrictive immigration laws of the 1920s to the Jim Crow system in the South, in crafting his regime. All of this was not hard to do. There was plenty of good, old-fashioned American illiberalism that they could tap into as they constructed brutal, fascist governments in Italy and Germany. As scholars such as Stefan Kuhl and James Q. Whitman have documented in their books The Nazi Connection and Hitlers American Model, German and American eugenic thinkers with ties to the burgeoning university system shared ideas and funding to promote a science of discrimination and, ultimately, genocide.

Even in the heyday of liberalism and of its left-wing critics in the Age of Aquarius, powerful elected officials embraced illiberalism with gusto. Alabama Governor George Wallace, who ran in 1968 as a third-party candidate for president, embodied the rising forces of postwar reaction. The ultimate practitioner of grievance politics, Wallace stitched together a campaign on the far-right American Independent Party ticket, gaining traction through opposition to the civil rights revolution. Whereas a decade ago Wallaces 1964 and 1968 campaigns were treated by historians as ugly sidebars to the main contests (Goldwater versus LBJ and Humphrey versus Nixon), Hahn brings together the recent literature that has shown how the governors racist, reactionary, populist, and often violent appeal tapped into a deep seam that ran throughout working- and middle-class Americafrom Selma to Detroit. Wallaces defeat at the ballot box in 1968 should not be confused with a defeat for the ideas he represented. Though on its own Hahns argument is not earth-shattering, in the context of the long history of illiberalism, we can see that in many ways it was Wallace rather than his competitors who, as Hahn puts it, anticipated the countrys political direction and defined the tenor of conservative politics for decades to come.

Nor was the postwar university immune from illiberal forces. Less famous than the leftist Students for a Democratic Society, though no less influential, was Young Americans for Freedom. Created in 1960, the organization proclaimed to stand against the power of the state and the threat of communism. YAFs Sharon Statement touted individual freedom, law and order, and federalism. YAF had chapters on campuses all over the country by the time that Richard Nixon was elected president in 1968. The student organization became a starting place for some of the most important conservative figures of the 1970s, such as Pat Buchanan, Richard Viguerie, and Terry Dolan.

Given illiberalisms deep roots in our political culture, the first few decades of the twenty-first century should not have come as a surprise. When Tea Party activists challenged the legitimacy of the first Black American president and conservative media hosts entertained the great replacement theory, they were tapping into some of our oldest national valuesthough not the ones we like to talk about. Illiberalism was never fringe, as Louis Hartzs generation believed it to be. Rather, illiberalism inspired law and elected officials, built political movements, and spawned mob action.





Seventy-six years since Richard Hofstadter published The American Political Tradition, Illiberal America mostly succeeds in showing the persistence of reaction, if not its dominance.

What Hahn, and the voluminous scholarship on which his book is built, make clear is that the notion of an inevitable liberal consensus that grew organically out of the nations founding was wrong. New Hahn, as well as old Hahn, have demonstrated clearly that modern liberalism had to survive in a fraught political culture, one where liberal values were hard to secure and often barely survived. Our national history has been much more layered and complex than Hofstadters generation understood. There has been no American Political Tradition. There are multiple traditions, each with strong roots in the polity.

Still, the fact that liberalism has been fiercely contested doesnt mean it has not exerted immense influence. From the Emancipation Proclamation to the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, to FDRs New Deal policies in the 1930s, to LBJs Great Society in the 1960s, to President Joe Bidens ambitious environmental programs since 2021, liberal ideas have thrived, and they have changed the United States.

More important, liberalism has been able to inscribe itself through enduring legislation (think Social Security and Medicare). It was funny but not a surprise that, when Tea Party activists protested President Barack Obamas health care proposal in 2010, which would have entailed spending cuts in existing programs, they held up placards that read KEEP GOVERNMENT OUT OF MY MEDICARE! Furthermore, grassroots movements from abolitionism, to unionism, to civil rights, to feminism and gay rights have been enormously successful in transforming liberal ideals that were initially dismissed as radical into conventional wisdom. Same-sex marriage now barely causes a stir, whereas back in 1977, orange juice spokeswoman Anita Bryant was able to whip up a storm against an ordinance in Dade County, Florida, that guaranteed civil rights for gay Americans.

And, unlike illiberal tenets, the ideas of liberalism have found much more success at becoming the avowed philosophy of mainstream political leaders. While a Democrat such as President Biden has no problem praising the value of a strong federal government and the protection of civil rights, Republicans until recently have relied on code words when they saw benefit in connecting themselves to illiberalism. As Thomas and Mary Edsall argued in their classic book from the 1990s, Chain Reaction, most leaders in the modern Republican Party relied on dog whistles. Their reluctance to directly invoke these kinds of ideas suggests that in many respects the pull of liberalism has remained stronger.

What Hahns provocative synthesis should stimulate is a new look at liberalism itself. We must rethink how we understand the success of a President Franklin Roosevelt or Johnson, given the intensity of the obstacles that they faced. Programs such as Medicare must not be treated as the obvious alternative to bolder social democratic options, or nothing, but as the product of grassroots activists, interest groups, and nonprofits, as well as elected officials. This was the story of the 2020 election, which Bidens campaignrunning on the liberal principles of the rule of law and the importance of democracywon on the shoulders of everyone who had started to mobilize four years earlier.

As we approach the 2024 election, the potent role of illiberalism in our politics has never been clearer. And, as Hahn demonstrates, upholding liberal values will require, as it long has, a serious and sustained fight.
HONG KONG, May 2 (Xinhua) -- More than 460,000 travelers arrived in Hong Kong from the Chinese mainland and elsewhere on Wednesday, the first day of the Labor Day "golden week" holiday, braving the rains.

Figures from the Immigration Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government showed that among the 460,000 travelers who entered Hong Kong through various control points, around 180,000 were from the Chinese mainland.

Of the land crossings in Hong Kong, most travelers entered Hong Kong via the Lo Wu checkpoint, with over 162,000 arrivals, followed by the Lok Ma Chau spur line, the Hong Kong International Airport and the West Kowloon Station.

The department also noted that over 340,000 people traveled out of Hong Kong on Wednesday, with some 195,000 of them being Hong Kong residents.

Timothy Chui, the executive director of the Hong Kong Tourism Promotion Association, said the number of mainland visits to Hong Kong on the first day of the Labor Day holiday was basically the same as that of last year, though affected by the rainy weather.

The Hong Kong SAR government has provided a number of measures to facilitate transport and better scenic spot services to cope with the tide of holiday tourists, such as an increased frequency of MTR and buses, and the extended service hours of the MTR to the Lo Wu checkpoint. 
Immigrant advocacy organizations hosted a rally on the terrace of the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines May 1, 2024 in opposition to the Iowa law making illegal immigration a state crime. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

Immigrant advocacy groups held five events in cities across the state Wednesday to oppose a new law that makes illegal immigration a state crime in Iowa.

In Des Moines, more than 70 people gathered under umbrellas and canopies on the terrace of the Iowa State Capitol, holding signs and listening to speakers with Latinx Immigrants of Iowa discuss the impacts of a new state law.

Gov. Kim Reynolds signed Senate File 2340 into law in April. The bill allows state law enforcement to charge people with an aggravated misdemeanor if they have been deported, denied admission or removed from the U.S., or if they have a standing order to leave the country, with higher penalties for people who are illegally in the state with prior criminal convictions.

The legislation would also allow state judges to order the deportation of undocumented immigrants. Law enforcement and state agencies would be able to transport migrants to U.S. ports of entry to ensure they leave the country or else face felony charges. The law is set to be implemented July 1.

Attendees at the Des Moines rally chanted no tengan miedo, meaning dont be afraid. Others held signs saying Por la dignidad humana, or for human dignity, as well as signs like Iowa is not Texas. The Iowa law is modeled after a 2023 Texas law that similarly making immigration a state crime in an effort to extend enforcement of immigration laws beyond federal enforcement.

The Texas law is being challenged in federal appeals court by the U.S. Department of Justice and civil rights organizations on constitutional laws.

Alison De Luna, a high school senior holding a sign with I should be worried about college not SF2340 written on it, said that since the laws first introduction, she and her loved ones have been scared about the potential impacts on her community. Many Latino Iowans, even those who are not undocumented immigrants, are worried the law could lead to discrimination by law enforcement and the larger communities they live in, she said.

Everything Im hearing about with my friends at home is, oh, is there any updates on the law? Have you heard anything? What does it mean for my family?' she said. Even I can be in danger, me driving, and they can just stop and ask questions, its terrifying. And it makes me just worried about whats going to happen in the state. Its just really unfair.

Jessica Rodriguez, a Des Moines mother who attended the event with her children, said she was worried about the bills impact on families  potentially splitting up family members on the basis of immigration status. She also said she hopes to see court action against the law in Iowa, or for the measure to be stopped from taking effect.

I would say, any way for everything to go back to normal, Rodriguez said. Because, you see, there is no better city to raise our kids. And were working to do that with the same people, with American people, were working hard to raise our kids. Its just a matter of the color of skin, nothing else.

Escucha Mi Voz, another immigrants advocacy organization organizing events Wednesday, released a statement saying the organization is looking into potential court challenges to the law.

We are also exploring legal action in the courts and have requested meetings with the U.S. Department of Justice, Iowa Department of Public Safety, and local police chiefs and county sheriffs, Ninoska Campos, a member of Escucha Mi Voz, said in a news release.

Speaking with reporters earlier Wednesday, Reynolds said making illegal immigration a state crime is the humanitarian thing to do.

When you look at whats taking place at the southern border, it is a national security issue as well as a humanitarian crisis, Reynolds said. These people are being  these women and these children  are being raped, they are being brutalized, they are being trafficked. They are dying, trying to cross a river. So we have a process in place, thats legal immigration, take a look at that, streamline it or reduce the costs. Or if theyre seeking asylum, theres a process for that. But thats not what this administration is doing, and I believe is the humanitarian thing to do to make sure that were not putting these individuals at risk by subjecting them to a cartel that is trafficking them, taking advantage of them and make no mistake, they are running the board right now.

She called for the Biden administration to increase border security and enforcement measures, in addition to saying Congress needs to take action on changes to the U.S. immigration system. President Joe Biden and his administration put together a bipartisan immigration reform package senators earlier in 2024 that was rejected by U.S. House Republicans.

In the absence of action from Biden, Reynolds said, governors across the country have an obligation to step in and do what we can protect our citizens.

I want to send a message that we welcome legal immigration, Reynolds said. We are a gracious country when it comes to that. But you know, again, if we are a country without a border and a country without laws, we might as well be a third world country  we are not a country. And it has to stop. It is a national security crisis.

The post Immigrants, advocates rally against law making illegal immigration a state crime appeared first on Iowa Capital Dispatch.
Impact of marijuana rescheduling on legal cannabis sales in New Jersey

Impact of marijuana rescheduling on legal cannabis sales in New Jersey

ROSELLE, N.J. (PIX11)  If the federal government moves forward with its plans to lower the scheduling of marijuana as a lower-risk drug, Janet from Garwood will be a proponent of it.

Janet regularly visits Joyleaf, a dispensary in Roselle, to buy products that she says help manage her chronic pain. Every day, said Janet. I got screws in my back, got a plate in my ankle.

New era for pot regulation leaves old problem: Many cannabis companies cant find a bank

Advocates say taking the drug from Schedule I down to Schedule III would bring welcome change.

Its impossible to do research on cannabis, said Jason Ackerman, co-owner of Joyleaf. Cannabis is an amazing medicine, and because it is a schedule I at the moment, you cant freely and easily do research on it to bring other forms of medicines.

Owners of Joyleaf say not only would the rescheduling of marijuana help from a research standpoint, it would also give a boost to New Jerseys dispensaries.

By taking it to a lower schedule, it eliminates a very large tax called 280E, which doesnt allow retail stores to deduct expenses below their gross profit margin, said Ackerman. That puts enormous financial stress on stores, so that rescheduling has a huge impact on the ability to operate successfully.

According to a March report from the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission, State cannabis sales topped $2 billion in the last 6 years, including more than $1 billion since the beginning of recreational sales in 2022.

What marijuana reclassification means for the United States

The Commissions Executive Director, Jeff Brown, told PIX11 news in a statement, If or when the announcement comes from the Drug Enforcement Administration, we look forward to facilitating conversations with cannabis business operators and consumers in New Jersey.

I think the Commission has a desire for this to be a successful program, said Ackerman.

On Wednesday, Democratic Governor Phil Murphy tweeted his excitement over to see the Biden Administrations move to ease restrictions on marijuana.

The rescheduling still has several hoops to jump through in Washington before becoming reality.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
(Bloomberg) -- Several parts of India will witness scorching heat in May, raising concerns about health risks for residents as well as power shortages.

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The number of heat wave days are also likely to be higher during the month, Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, director general of the India Meteorological Department, said at an online press conference in New Delhi on Wednesday.

The forecast comes as the worlds largest democracy is in the middle of a six-week long national election. Political parties have been organizing large outdoor meetings, but protection from the blazing sun is not always guaranteed. Scores of people died in eastern India last year, either directly due to heat waves or because their existing medical conditions were exacerbated by the hot summer.

Authorities have asked people to be vigilant about their health and avoid any unnecessary heat exposure. The weather department has asked the government to set up cooling centers and issue regular heat advisories.

As many as eight to 11 heat wave days are likely this month in some areas of of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat, compared with a normal of three days, according to the weather office.

Maximum temperatures in the range of 44C to 47C are expected to continue over some parts of eastern India until Friday, before abating, it said.

Efforts are essential for safeguarding public health and minimizing the adverse impacts of heat waves, Mohapatra said.

--With assistance from Sudhi Ranjan Sen.

(Updates to add details in fifth and sixth paragraphs.)

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Voters sign a petition to place an education amendment on the Nov. 5 ballot at a signing event April 8, 2024, outside Little Rock's Whitewater Tavern. Other groups sponsoring ballot initiative petition drives were also there. (Paige Eichkorn for Arkansas Advocate)

The Little Rock chapter of activist group Indivisible helped gather more than 1,800 signatures for five Arkansas voter initiatives last month and plans another signing event this weekend.

The ballot initiatives include proposed amendments to the Arkansas Constitution on abortion, education, the publics right to information and expanded access to medical marijuana. Two other citizen-initiated proposals would amend the states Freedom of Information Act and eliminate the sales tax on feminine hygiene products.

Constitutional amendments need a total of 90,704 signatures to qualify for the ballot. Initiated acts require 72,563 signatures and must be collected from at least 50 of the 75 Arkansas counties according to Act 236. The groups sponsoring the ballot initiatives have until July 5 to collect the requisite signatures. If the measures meet the requirements, they will appear on the Nov. 5 ballot.

Indivisible Little Rock and Central Arkansas board member Alison Guthrie said each proposed measure is about providing access to things people need.

Whether thats education or sterile products or essential healthcare, to being able to find out what our government officials and entities are doing, she said. These are about access for the public and for people who need it the most.

Representatives of the sponsoring groups said they are relying mostly on volunteers to help gather signatures.

Although the different organizations wouldnt normally directly work together, Guthrie said Indivisible has provided a space for them to do so at recent downtown Little Rock events.

I think the biggest thing we do is we try to give people action items, Guthrie said. How can you be resisting whats happening? How can you get involved and make a difference?

The organization will be helping collect more signatures on May 4 at the 501 Fest in the South Main District.

Abortion amendment

Supporters of Arkansans for Limited Governments Arkansas Abortion Amendment hope its passage will lift the full ban imposed by state law and untie doctors hands so they can provide routine procedures, said For AR People Executive Director Gennie Diaz.

The amendment would provide access to abortions up to 18 weeks of pregnancy. It would also provide exceptions to the states strict abortion ban in instances of rape, incest, fatal fetal anomaly and protect the health and life of the pregnant person.

Most people agree that our current law goes too far, Diaz said. So regardless, of whether or not somebody identifies a particular way, ideologically, the majority of Arkansas voters [say]  it should be allowed in some circumstances, and so we have experienced a lot of positive feedback.

Education amendment

April Reisma, president of the Arkansas Education Association, said the For AR Kids Educational Rights Amendment has more than 800 volunteers gathering signatures throughout the state.

The amendment would create free access to pre-K, afterschool and summer programs; education support for children in poverty; and quality special education.

Currently, these are the number one things that can help a student and we dont have those enshrined in the Constitution, Reisma said. Its time for us to be able to provide our students with the things that they need to be able to grow and thrive.

The proposed amendment would also establish minimum academic standards for Arkansas schools and require all schools accepting state taxpayer funds to follow the same rules.

The proposal arose in direct response to the LEARNS Act of 2023, the governors sweeping education legislation, and its creation of a school voucher program that allows parents to pay for private school tuition.

Reisma said she has seen special education children leave her school to take advantage of a voucher for a private school and then have to return to public school because teachers were not adhering to the students Individual Education Plans  legally required documents that define how a school plans to meet a childs educational needs that result from a covered disability.

Tax money had followed that child to that school, and we dont recoup those losses, she explained. And thats the biggest problem with having private entities that dont have to follow the same rules.

Several organizations promoting ballot initiatives gather signatures on April 6, 2024, near the White Water Tavern in Little Rock. (Paige Eichkorn for Arkansas Advocate)

Feminine hygiene, diapers

The Arkansas Period Projects proposed initiated act would eliminate the sales tax on menstrual products and all diapers, including those used for adults.

Voters see the Act to Remove the Sales & Use Tax for Menstrual Products and Diapers as a family issue, Shannie Jackson, the groups chair, said. The group believes period products should be available for free as a medical necessity.

The first step to hopefully making them free one day is getting rid of the tax on it, and making people aware that they are taxed as a luxury, the same as dog food or liquor, Jackson added.

Freedom of Information

Arkansas Citizens for Transparency developed a proposed constitutional amendment and an initiated act. Both deal with citizens right to public information and knowing what government is doing.

Arkansas Press Association executive director Ashley Wimberley said the Arkansas Government Disclosure Amendment would establish a constitutional right of Arkansans to government transparency and define government transparency as the governments obligation to share information with citizens.

It would also restrict the circumstances under which the General Assembly may make a law concerning government transparency and confirm that the state may be sued for failure to comply with such laws.

The Government Disclosure Act would be the nuts and bolts to protect the right the amendment re-establishes, Wimberley said. It would expand the definition of a public meeting, establish conditions for disclosure of a public record and strengthen disclosure policies for records related to security of government officials.

It would also establish the Arkansas Government Transparency Commission to ensure transparency and require all public meetings to allow public participation.

Government transparency is important to citizens, and thats exactly what were hearing in all of our grassroots efforts is that they want to know how their taxpayer money is spent and want to keep that right protected, Wimberley said.

Cannabis amendment

Bill Paschall, executive director of the Arkansas Cannabis Industry Association, said Arkansans for Patient Access had a huge weekend of signatures for its Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment on the 4/20 holiday.

We feel comfortable that were on course and on pace to meet the required 90,700 signatures, Paschall said.

The measure would expand who can prescribe medical marijuana and allow patients and caregivers the ability to grow their own plants. It also would allow prescriptions to be based on medical need rather than the current qualifying conditions.

Paschall said the major focus is to knock down barriers for patients to get a medical marijuana card.

There are a lot of folks that live in Arkansas that cant find a doctor, he said. So we think expanding who may certify a patient is going to be great for folks to help find a doctor  I think its going to be a game changer.

The post Indivisible Arkansas garners 1,800 signatures on ballot initiatives for November election appeared first on Arkansas Advocate.
A rendering of the Link 101 project. (From project website)

Gov. Eric Holcombs $200 million Link 101 road endeavor isnt moving forward, at least in its original form, following a gloomy cost-benefit analysis and sustained public pushback.

The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) announced Wednesday that it had pulled the plug on the project  meant to better connect southeastern Indiana  after it finished evaluating alternative options.

The milestone marked a logical point to reevaluate this project, the agency said in a news release, noting that it continuously reevaluates its priorities.

Sen. Jean Leising, R-Oldenburg, speaks in the Senate Chamber during session on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024. (Leslie Bonilla Muniz/Indiana Capital Chronicle)

The project wouldve created a new state road  101  going north-south between U.S. 50 and the Markland Dam Bridge on the Ohio River.

There is potential for great economic development in southeast Indiana, and I was encouraged that the extension of State Road 101 would spur that growth, Holcomb said in a statement. But after reviewing INDOTs project findings, I agree with the assessment that it is not the right time to move forward with the Link 101 project now.

Several factors have changed since I announced this project nearly three years ago, including projected costs and local opposition, he continued. Well continue to seek ways to invest in southeastern Indiana to unlock the great potential that exists there, and INDOT will prioritize updates to the current corridor.

Opponents of the project celebrated the news.

Sen. Jean Leising, R-Oldenburg, said Thursday she was pleased to learn INDOT listened to my concerns as well as those of community members and canceled the Link 101 Corridor Project.

She first publicly called for the projects cancellation in March, saying at the time, While I have tried to remain open-minded on the matter, I stand with the many constituents who have reached out to express their concerns about how the project will impact our communities and their quality of life.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Jamie Reitenour, a conservative activist, said the project was an example of overreach and poor planning.

Ultraconservative Jamie Reitenour, a candidate for governor, may not appear on several event stages in the next few weeks. (Whitney Downard/Indiana Capital Chronicle)

They wanted to build a highway that was estimated at $200 million to save 6 to 8 minutes of travel. That highway was targeting a rich area of Indiana land, taking over generational farms and homesteads, and clearly had no support from the people, Reitenour said in a Wednesday news release.

When I met with the hard-working residents that have protested for months against this highway, they were distraught and discouraged, but they were not going to give up! I applaud their Hoosier resolve! she added.

Agencys next steps

INDOT cited ballooning construction costs as a primary reason for the cancellation: past $450 million, up sharply from the original $200 million estimate announced in 2021. The agency said rising material and labor costs was a factor, as well as challenging terrain.

The agency indicated that the pricey project wouldnt have gotten enough use, noting, lower traffic volumes limit total benefits to users.

There has also been widespread opposition voiced to the project, both in public meetings and through project communication channels, the agency went on to acknowledge.

INDOT said it would reprioritize the money allocated to the project statewide, including in southeastern Indiana.

Leising said she hoped the agency would reconsider and use the funds exclusively to improve existing infrastructure in the area.

Correction: A previous version of this story indicated INDOT would consider two alternative alignments. Those options will not move forward.

The post INDOT scraps Link 101 road project appeared first on Indiana Capital Chronicle.
Inside the Disturbing Case of a N.Y. Couple Whose Remains Were Found Scattered Across 3 Locations

Malcolm Craig Brown, 53, and Donna Conneely, 59, were fatally stabbed and dismembered inside an Amityville, N.Y., home on Feb. 27, authorities say

Malcolm Brown/Facebook Malcolm "Craig" Brown, left, and Donna Conneely.

Four people have been indicted on a slew of charges after the remains of Malcolm Craig Brown, 53, and Donna Conneely, 59, were found scattered across multiple locations in Suffolk County, N.Y.

The victims were fatally stabbed and dismembered inside an Amityville, N.Y., home on Feb. 27, and shortly after, their remains were found in Southards Pond Park, Bethpage State Park and a wooded area in West Babylon, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney says

Police claimed they recovered knives and meat cleavers inside the home where the suspects had been staying

Four people have been indicted on multiple charges after the dismembered remains of a New York couple were found scattered across three locations, two of which were parks.

Jeffrey Mackey, 36, Alexis Nieves, 33, Steven Brown, 44, and Amanda Wallace, 40, were all formally charged by a Suffolk County grand jury, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced in a press release on Monday, April 29.

Mackey and Nieves are the only suspects currently charged with second-degree murder, according to the indictment reviewed by PEOPLE. They also face charges of conspiracy, robbery, hindering prosecution, tampering with physical evidence, and concealment of a human corpse.

While in court on Tuesday, April 30, Mackey and Nieves pleaded not guilty, The Journal News, KKTV, and ABC7NY reported. The other suspects, Brown and Wallace, also pleaded not guilty to charges including conspiracy, robbery, hindering prosecution, tampering with physical evidence and concealment of a human corpse, according to The Journal News.

According to the release, Mackey, Nieves and Brown allegedly planned to kill Malcolm Craig Brown, 53, and Donna Conneely, 59, both of Yonkers, N.Y., before they arrived at an Amityville, N.Y. home on Feb. 27.

The victims, who Tierney says were acquaintances of the suspects, were violently stabbed, per the release.

Tierney alleged that the victims were involved in the plotting of a knifepoint robbery at a gas station on Feb. 20, which may have resulted in their murders, KKTV reported. He added that Malcolm Craig Brown is a cousin of suspect Steven Brown, per the outlet.

Brown was stabbed once in the neck and once in the torso, while Conneely was stabbed multiple times in the neck and back, Tierney wrote in the release.

Malcolm Brown/Facebook Malcolm "Craig" Brown (left) and Donna Conneely

The defendants then allegedly dismembered the victims bodies in the bathroom of the home, and then dumped the remains in Southards Pond Park, Bethpage State Park, and a wooded area in West Babylon, the prosecutor added.

On Feb. 29, a witness discovered a dismembered male arm in the brush at Southards Pond Park in Babylon Village, according to the release. Once there, law enforcement recovered a second male arm near the first, as well as a female head and torso, a female arm, and parts of female legs on the opposite side of the park.

Investigators were then led to the Amityville home where all four suspects had reportedly been staying. Inside, police recovered a large folding knife, a large kitchen knife, and two meat cleavers, Tierney said. Authorities also claimed they found blood in multiple locations throughout the home.

James Carbone/Newsday RM via Getty (2) Jeffrey Mackey (left) and Alexis Nieves in court.

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All four suspects were arrested on March 4, but were released from jail without bail because the criminal offenses they were initially charged with were considered non-bail eligible under state law, according to the release. This meant that prosecutors could not ask for bail and judges could not set it.

Mackey's attorney, John Halverson, said this week per ABC7 NY, "I believe that the prosecution's witnesses at this point, as I've stated at the arraignment, have unclean hands and that's going to be our position going forward." Nieves' attorney, Christopher Gioe, maintained his client's innocence, according to the outlet.

Keith OHalloran, an attorney for Wallace, told KKTV, that he's glad his client hasn't been charged with murder. PEOPLE couldn't immediately identify an attorney for Brown.

James Carbone/Newsday RM via Getty Steven Brown (left) and Amanda Wallace arrive at court.

I would like to thank the hard-working men and women of the Suffolk County Police Department and my prosecutors for their tireless work in bringing this investigation to the point where we are able to charge the responsible individuals with murder and seek bail, District Attorney Tierney said in the release.

Those in law enforcement must do their jobs without fear or favor. Ethically, charges can and should only be brought when the facts and evidence are clear. I thank the team for ignoring the distractions and doing just that.



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Read the original article on People.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - There was standing room only for the volunteers gathered near the University of Florida on a recent afternoon to learn how they could campaign in favor of a referendum to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution.

Among the tips they got: Dont mention President Biden or Donald Trump by name. Describe abortion as a health-care issue, not a political one. And dont be afraid to get personal.

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We must not make this a partisan fight, said Julie Cantillo, one of the Yes on 4 campaign representatives leading the training. Our goal is to kick all politicians, regardless of party affiliations, out of private medical decisions.

Floridas six-week abortion ban went into effect Wednesday, making the state one of the most restrictive for reproductive rights in the nation. Simultaneously, another front in the battle over abortion has begun: the fight to convince voters for or against a referendum enshrining access to the procedure in the states constitution.

Though voters wont head to the polls until November, Democrats and Republicans have begun coalescing around two contrasting messages aimed at appealing to the sizable share of Floridians somewhere in the middle.

Sixty percent of voters will need to approve the referendum for it to pass, a threshold that cannot be met by Democratic votes alone. The state has increasingly veered right in recent years, and today, 65 percent of voters identify as either Republican or having no party affiliation.

Conservatives are painting the referendum - which would allow abortion up until a fetus is considered viable, a stage typically reached by 24 weeks of pregnancy - as radical. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) calls it extremist. A political action committee is putting out a similar message.

Florida voters are not in agreement with extreme abortion laws in states like California and New York, Sara Johnson, statewide grass-roots director for the Florida Voters Against Extremism PAC, said in an email. Yet if Amendment 4 passes, Floridas abortion laws would be among the most liberal in America.

Supporters of Amendment 4, meanwhile, are trying to navigate the hyperpartisan political waters in the state by keeping the issue nonpolitical.

Its a tall task at a moment when abortion rights are seen by Democrats as a way to energize voters and get them to the polls in November. The Biden-Harris campaign has pledged to spend more money in Florida, and the president and vice president both gave separate speeches in the state in the weeks following a court decision that allowed the issue to go before voters.

But in a state where Bidens favorability is consistently behind former president Donald Trumps, keeping the party at arms length is at the center of the Yes on 4 campaign.

At the Gainesville volunteer training, one instructor put it plainly: Supporters need to get more than 7 million voters to approve the amendment to put it in the constitution. That will inevitably mean talking to people who disagree with them

How do you change minds in increasing numbers if youre only talking to your echo chamber? Chanae Jackson told the crowd at the Civic Media Center, a nonprofit library. We stay focused on the ballot language, and we also stay focused on, this is absolutely health care, and its valuable for everybody.

Amendment supporters are buoyed by the fact that so many Republican and no-party-affiliation voters signed petitions to put it on the ballot. Floridians Protecting Freedom, the group behind the amendment, gathered petitions from 1.4 million voters across the state, including in conservative rural counties. They said more than 35 percent of the signatures came from Republicans and independent voters.

The state Division of Elections confirmed that enough voters from all of Floridas congressional districts - including places like rural Jackson County in the Panhandle, where Republicans outnumber Democrats nearly 2 to 1 - signed petitions to get the issue on the ballot in November.

Ibis Soto, 34, a server in Miami, is the type of voter Democrats are hoping to attract. She had never voted in an election before and is not affiliated with any party. But she said the six-week abortion ban has motivated her to act.

Some women dont even realize they are pregnant until they are at six weeks, she said. My parents never pushed voting, but honestly, I am planning to for the first time this November, to extend the time. I think its ridiculous.

A recent USA Today/Ipsos poll found that 57 percent of Florida voters favor expanding abortion access through the ballot measure, while 36 oppose it and 6 percent are unsure.

To persuade those on the fence, Democrats are planning to argue that abortion is an issue that transcends party lines.

Nobody asks for your party affiliation when youre seeking health care, said state Rep. Anna Eskamani, a Democrat who used to work for Planned Parenthood.

But abortion will, undoubtedly, be a rallying cry for Democrats up and down the ballot here in November. Democrats like Debbie Mucarsel-Powell have begun highlighting the issue. The challenger to Republican Sen. Rick Scott is noting his support for the six-week ban as part of her bid to attract voters.

Vice President Harris traveled to Jacksonville on Wednesday for a speech on abortion rights, and while she said the contrast between Biden and Trump could not be more clear, she didnt mention the proposed amendment by name.

Reproductive freedom is on the ballot, she said. And you, the leaders - you, the people, have the power to protect it with your vote.

Florida GOP leaders, meanwhile, are trying to make sure that every Florida voter knows the truth about Amendment 4 - that it is deceptive and extreme, said Johnson, of the anti-referendum PAC.

Anthony Pedicini, a GOP strategist in Florida, said most voters are in the middle on abortion rights, and if theyre convinced the amendment is extreme, theyll reject it.

The majority of voters think theres some middle-ground solution here, and I dont think the amendment finds a middle line, Pedicini said. Also, getting 60 percent of Floridians to agree on anything is a huge feat.

Michael Binder, a professor at the University of North Florida and the director of the schools Public Opinion Research Lab, said because Democrats in the state face a deficit of nearly 1 million voters, its a good strategy to separate the amendment from the party.

Its very reasonable to think that people can go in and vote for a Republican presidential candidate and Senate candidate and congressional candidate and still have a different perspective on specific issues, in this case, abortion, Binder said.

He noted that the six-week ban DeSantis signed could sway some Republican voters who may have supported the 15-week ban the governor signed two years ago but who see the new law as too extreme.

Thats a very sharp distinction people can point to, he said.

For volunteer Eve Myer, a Republican from deep red Marion County who attended the Yes on 4 campaign training session, making the issue nonpartisan is the only way to persuade her fellow conservatives to vote for it.

Do you support individual freedoms, limiting government responsibility and best medical practices? Myer said after attending the two-hour teach-in. Thats the message. And it is nonpartisan.

- - -

Jess Swanson in Miami contributed to this report.

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House Speaker Dan Hawkins introduced a new law that will require people who injure or kill police animals to spend 90 days in jail and pay restitution. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

TOPEKA  Posting a Wizard of Oz meme and accusing Gov. Laura Kelly of political spite, House Speaker Dan Hawkins led the charge to make those who severely injure or kill police dogs pay for their medical care or funerals.

House Bill 2583, known as Banes Law, was inspired by a Sedgwick County service dog named Bane that was killed last year by a fleeing suspect the dog had chased into a sewer drain.

Kelly vetoed the bill but on Monday was overridden 105-20 in the House and 29-10 in the Senate The law increases penalties for inflicting harm on law enforcement animals, including horses. The felony crime is now punishable by a minimum of 90 days in jail and a minimum fine of $10,000.

During the incarceration period, the perpetrator also will have to go through a psychological evaluation and completion of an anger management program as a condition of probation, although this provision is already included in Kansas statute.

The bill was introduced by Hawkins, R-Wichita, and Rep. Stephen Owens, R-Hesston, earlier in the session. Kansas statute previously required a minimum of 30 days in jail and a fine of more than $500 and less than $5,000 for the crime of severely harming or killing police dogs.

In her veto explanation, Kelly said the death of law enforcement animals is always a tragedy, but the heightened sentencing, psychological evaluation and anger management requirements were not mandated for other, more severe offenses.

House Bill 2583 imposes mandatory minimum sentences that disregard important factors that should be left to the discretion of a judge through the regular sentencing process, Kelly said. Second, the mandatory sentences are out of line with other, more severe crimes without justification for why that is required. Third, while the requirement for a psychological evaluation and anger management program are important, we do not apply this same standard to many other heinous crimes.

In response, Hawkins posted on X a meme of Kelly photoshopped into a picture of the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz, with the caption, Ill get you law enforcement, and your little dogs too! Underneath, he wrote: Dont forget Gov. Kelly vetoed a bill increasing penalties for killing or injuring police dogs out of pure political spite.

Others shared Kellys concerns about the implications of the bills heightened punishments.

Because people who harm or kill these animals under the law are now responsible for restitution to the law enforcement agency  paying for the injured animals medical treatment, as well as funeral expenses if the animal dies, and the cost of replacing and training a new animal  expenses can be thousands of dollars, adding an additional burden to the jail time and fine.

Rep. Ford Carr, D-Wichita, mentioned the historical use of police dogs to harm people fighting for equality during the Civil Rights movement in previous bill debate.

We should trust the police, but oftentimes we cant, and thats an issue, Carr said during Mondays House veto override debate.

Rep. Timothy Johnson, R-Basehor, who worked for decades in law enforcement and had experience with police dog training, pushed back on Carrs claims. Johnson said the dogs were highly trained for all circumstances.

They are not used as bite dogs. That is not their focus, Johnson said.  They become your family. I had one of the most wonderful German Shepherds in my entire life experience. We literally had a family funeral when he passed away. That animal would obey every and any command. I could walk in a schoolhouse among children and you would never know. Please, do not equate things that happened in the 1960s, in the 50s, with the way training is done now. Its not allowed.

Owens brought up the circumstance of Banes death in his defense of the bill, emphasizing K-9 officers role in protecting officers.

That defendant brutally kicked that dog and caused significant internal damage to the point it was so weak that that individual was able to strangle that dog to death, Owens said. I want you to think if we had sent a law enforcement officer down there, how that might have played out.

The post Inspired by death of beloved dog, Kansas police animal protection bill set to become law appeared first on Kansas Reflector.
BROOKLYN, N.Y. (PIX11)  On a rooftop in Brooklyn, Greg Crispin, an HVAC expert employed by Petri Plumbing, spent International Workers Day tending to an air conditioning unit, exemplifying the dedicated labor that keeps the city comfortable.

A lot of people dont know that these types of trades exist, Crispin remarked, reflecting on the often-overlooked workforce behind the scenes.

Crispins role highlights the diverse array of professions that contribute to the citys functioning.

You could work on different units such as boilers, HVAC equipment, chillers, refrigerant equipment. So, the skys the limit when it comes to this trade. Im glad they have a day for gentlemen like us, he added, appreciative of the recognition International Workers Day brings.

More Brooklyn News

International Workers Day serves as a reminder of the vital contributions made by people from diverse backgrounds and professions. From skilled tradespeople like Crispin, who ensures the smooth functioning of our infrastructure, to culinary artists like Giorgi Tabukashvili, the workforce is a tapestry woven by the dedication and resilience of countless unsung heroes.

Tabukashvili, a recent migrant from Georgia, found his culinary dream through a paid apprenticeship program offered by the nonprofit Emmas Torch in Brooklyn.

I came to the US about a year ago, he said. It was my dream from childhood, but in Georgia, I was in a different industry. As I came here, I decided to pursue my dreams.

According to the Department of Labor, private sector jobs in the city have risen by 34,000 in the past year, pushing the total to over four million in March. This growth is fueled by sectors like private education, health services, and leisure and hospitality  a testament to the diverse workforce that keeps the city running.

The citys unemployment rate also continues to dip, sitting at 4.9% in March, down 0.2% from the previous month. These numbers paint a picture of a thriving Brooklyn, but the real story lies beyond the statistics.

From resolving plumbing emergencies to crafting culinary delights, Brooklyns vibrant tapestry would unravel without the dedication of its invisible heroes.

On behalf of PIX11 News, we thank you, the essential workers who keep our communities thriving.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
HONIARA, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Foreign minister Jeremiah Manele was elected as the Solomon Islands' new prime minister by members of parliament on Thursday, Governor General of the Solomon Islands David Vunagi announced.

Manele defeated opposition leader Matthew Wale in a 31-to-18 vote in the newly elected 50-seat parliament, Vunagi said following a secret ballot on Thursday morning.

One member of parliament did not participate in the vote because she could not arrive in Honiara in time due to a long distance to the capital, a source from the governing Ownership, Unity and Responsibility Party (OUR Party) told Xinhua.

Manele will take over the office from Manasseh Sogavare, who announced on Monday his withdrawal from running for a new term. 
WAUKESHA  Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday didn't commit to accepting the results of Wisconsin's presidential election in November if he does not win and again promoted the falsehood that he won the Badger State in 2020.

In an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the former president said he would accept the results of the November election showing he lost "if everything's honest."

"If everything's honest, I'd gladly accept the results," Trump said in an interview Wednesday. "If it's not, you have to fight for the right of the country.

"But if everything's honest, which we anticipate it will be  a lot of changes have been made over the last few years  but if everything's honest, I will absolutely accept the results," he said.

He offered similar conditions when asked the same question by news outlets in 2016 and 2020.

Trump said Wednesday he would "let it be known" if he thought something was wrong with the election.

"I'd be doing a disservice to the country if I said otherwise," he said. "But no, I expect an honest election and we expect to win maybe very big."

Donald Trump makes his entrance at the Waukesha County Expo Center in Waukesha, Wisconsin for a campaign rally on Wednesday, May 1, 2024

As in 2020, voters this fall will have a choice between Trump and President Joe Biden, who unseated Trump four years ago. Wisconsin is one of a handful of swing states expected to determine the outcome this fall.

On Thursday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden would accept election results without conditions.

"Like President Biden has previously committed, he will accept the will of the American people," Jean-Pierre said Thursday when asked about Trump's comments. "That is a commitment from the president."

Trump's refusal to accept the results of the last presidential election in Wisconsin and his new comments placing conditions on when he would accept the results of the next election come as Republicans are seeking to persuade GOP voters to restore their trust in the state's system of elections and embrace absentee voting.

There's no evidence to support that Wisconsin's election was tainted by cheating or fraud in 2020. The results have been confirmed by recounts in Dane and Milwaukee counties that Trump paid for, court rulings, a nonpartisan state audit and a study by the conservative legal firm Wisconsin Institute of Law & Liberty, among other analyses.

When asked what constitutes an honest election result, Trump said he wants "high standards of voting."

"I want people that vote to cast an honest ballot. I want the ballots to be counted honestly. I don't want people going to legislatures and getting things not approved and then doing it anyway," he said, referring to pandemic-era absentee voting policies that have since been struck down by judges and are now under debate in new legal cases.

Donald Trump supporters cheer during a campaign rally on Wednesday, May 1, 2024 at the Waukesha County Expo Center in Waukesha, Wis.

In 2020, Trump's campaign sought to disqualify the absentee ballots of more than 238,000 voters in Dane and Milwaukee counties. Voters who would have been affected had cast their absentee ballots in person, known as early voting, and residents who identified themselves as "indefinitely confined," allowing them to vote absentee without meeting the state photo ID requirements.

"I want to see an honest election and I think we're going to have it this time," he said.

In 2016, Trump was the first Republican presidential candidate to carry Wisconsin in more than three decades  a victory over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that pushed him into the presidency.

In 2020, however, Trump lost the state to Biden by just about 21,000 votes. Even so, Trump has falsely claimed the result was wrong and a result of widespread voter fraud  a lie that has been repeatedly debunked since.

On Wednesday, Trump doubled down on the falsehood of winning Wisconsin four years ago and dismissed a question about whether he accepted the results of the two recounts he paid for in Dane and Milwaukee counties showing he lost those counties.

"If you go back and look at all of the things that had been found out, it showed that I won the election in Wisconsin," Trump said. "It also showed I won the election in other locations."

Joey Garrison of USA Today contributed to this report.

Alison Dirr and Molly Beck can be reached at adirr@jrn.com and molly.beck@jrn.com.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Trump doesn't commit to accepting Wisconsin election results
The Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing oversees nursing homes in the state of Iowa. (Photo via Getty Images; logo courtesy of the State of Iowa)

Several Iowa nursing homes are facing fines for resident abuse or failing to provide a safe environment.

The state has proposed a $9,000 state fine against the Happy Siesta Health Care Center for the lack of a safe environment and tripled that penalty to $27,000 due to the violation being a serious, repeat offense. The fine, however, is being held in suspension to allow federal officials to decide whether a federal penalty is warranted.

The safety violation is tied to a March 8, 2024, incident in which a resident was riding in the facilitys passenger van when the driver accelerated, causing the mans wheelchair to tip over backwards. The resident struck his head, sustaining three lacerations to the back of his skull.

According to state records, the man was taken back to Happy Siesta where the activities director, who had been driving the van, allegedly asked a colleague who was out a report on the incident, Can we not chart he wasnt buckled in correctly, as I dont want to lose my job?

Over the next several days, the residents head tilted increasingly to the left and he showed signs of severe neck pain. He also had to drink beverages through a straw because he was unable to lift his head or tilt it backward. The staff provided muscle relaxers and Tylenol, but the pain worsened over the next two weeks.

On March 21, two weeks after the injury, the residents wife took him to an urgent care clinic, where the staff was unable to complete an X-ray due to the residents pain, according to state records. On March 29, a CT scan confirmed that vertebrae in the mans neck were broken, and surgery was scheduled for March 31. After surgery, the resident was fitted with a halo brace to around his skull to keep his head immobilized.

According to inspectors, the administrator of home stated that an investigation concluded that the activities director was intentionally careless and so she was fired on April 5.

Other nursing home citations

Several other Iowa nursing homes have been recently cited for resident abuse, including:

The Grand Meadows, Asbury  This facility was fined $500 for resident abuse related to neglect by a caregiver. A licensed practical nurse at the home was alleged to have taken away the call light of a 65-year-old male resident who was cognitively intact but needed assistance to use the bathroom. The nurse had reportedly become frustrated with the mans frequent use of the call light, telling the man he was wearing an undergarment for incontinence and that he should just use that.

I was soaked head to toe and could not find the call light. It made me feel like I didn't matter at all.

 Resident of The Grand Meadows in Asbury, Iowa, as reported by state inspectors

When I went to hit the button it was gone, the man reportedly told inspectors. She came back in for some reason and gave me trouble about wanting to use the buzzer and said, Oh, there it is, and it was curled up on the end of the table too far away for me to reach. The rest of the night it was gone and I could not find it again. Someone came in first thing in the morning and said why dont you stay in bed for a few extra hours since (youre) feeling bad, and then it was past breakfast time and I had wet myself several times. And when they finally came in it was about time for lunch and I was soaked head to toe and could not find the call light. It made me feel like I didnt matter at all.

Mill Pond, Ankeny  This facility was fined $500 for failing to immediately report suspected resident abuse to the state and failing to immediately separate the alleged victim from the suspect. In an email to the facility administration, a male resident with polio had reported a very bad experience with two female nurse aides who worked for a temp agency. He stated the aides tried to take his leg brace off without unlacing it first, and so he told them to unlace his shoes first and then pull them off, but they refused, according to state records.

The man said the aides kept pulling and yanking until he thought his ankles were going to break, and then one of the aides looked down at his leg and said, Eee-ooo, what happened to your leg? The man complained that the aides were horrible and showed him no respect, adding that they were unbelievably rough when he asked them to slow down.

Wapello Specialty Care, Wapello  This facility was fined $500 for failing to prevent a male resident of the home from abusing three female residents by touching them in an inappropriate manner. In one instance, the man attempted to lift a womans dress, and in another he put his hand up a residents shirt, according to state records. The home was also cited for failing to immediately report resident abuse.

Berry Ridge House, Sioux City  This facility was fined $500 for failing to immediately report allegations of abuse, neglect and mistreatment. A direct support professional at the home was reported by a colleague to have left a 44-year-old man with intellectual disabilities on the toilet for roughly 40 minutes and, when confronted, said wasnt putting up with anyones -, according to state records.

The direct support professional had undressed a resident roughly, then moved the man  naked and seated in a shower chair  from the mans bedroom, down the hall, to another room, state records report. According to an employee, the direct support professional then poured water in the mans face and later threw a towel over him rather than dry him off.

Later that day, when the man used his call light to summon assistance in getting to the bathroom, the direct support professional threw the call light at the mans chest and handed him a portable urinal, according to state records. The abuse was reported by the staff to the homes qualified intellectual disabilities professional who later told inspectors they didnt report the matter to the homes administration.

Accura Healthcare, Lake City  This facility was fined $500 for failing to report an allegation of abuse to the state. A resident of the home who had no cognitive impairment complained that a nurse aide was exceptionally rough in handling him. The aide, he told inspectors, entered the room while I was in bed (and) started changing my brief. She rolled me over and pushed real hard on my right leg thigh area and I yelped, Ow. The aide reportedly threw up her hands and said, I am not dealing with this, and left the room without removing the mans soiled undergarment. The aide did not cover me up with anything, I laid there exposed, the resident told inspectors.

Blackhawk Life Care Center  This facility was fined $7,750 for failing to immediately report allegations of abuse involving two residents. A certified nurse aide at the home had reported that during the overnight shift of Jan. 26, 2024, a resident was combative, and was kicking and spitting at the staff.

The aide said a male CNA intervened and proceeded to slap the resident in the face, then stepped on her foot before grabbing the woman by the back of her pants and whipping her around while forcibly swinging her into a wheelchair, according to state records. The male aide later followed his colleague throughout the rest of their shift, asking, Are you going to tell on me?

Another worker at the home told inspectors she had reported concerns with the male CNAs anger issues and how he would yell at residents. The worker alleged that the administration didnt take the matter seriously and refused to investigate.

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The post Iowa care facilities cited for resident abuse, lack of safe environment appeared first on Iowa Capital Dispatch.
IRCSO: Man charged with murder in January stabbing of man outside funeral home

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY  An investigation into the January stabbing death of a 73-year-old homeless veteran led to the arrest of another homeless man.

Sheriff's deputies found the body of David Hippee Schultz outside a Gifford funeral home off Old Dixie Highway where he sought shelter following a round of storms Jan. 15.

At a Tuesday, May 1, 2024, news conference, Indian River County Sheriff Eric Flowers spoke about the arrest of a man charged with killing David Schultz, 73, (pictured) whose body was found with multiple stab wounds outside a Gifford funeral home in mid-January.

Deputies spoke with Schultz two days earlier at the Stone Brothers Funeral Home, where he told them he had permission from its owners to sleep under an awning, according to law enforcement reports.

Records show that just after midnight Jan. 16 deputies monitoring the area were alarmed by blood on the ground and found the body covered by a blanket with what medical examiners determined were 12 neck-area stab wounds.

Later that day around 2 p.m. detectives found Eugene Bain, 65, inside a storage area of an old fruit packing facility in the 4400 block of U.S. 1.

He actually had our victims cell phone in his hands, Sheriff Eric Flowers said Wednesday during a news conference at the Sheriff's Office.

Flowers said Bain confessed to detectives Monday in a hospital-room, roughly a month after his March 25 release from jail on charges of trespassing and failing to appear for a court date.

Flowers said theft was the suspected motive for the killing and that Bain was robbing (Schultz) as he slept and, (Schultz) woke up (and Bain) stabbed him.

According to records, a backpack, cell phone and a moped-style scooter, all belonging to Schultz, were found by detectives the same day. The scooter was abandoned off 39th Street.

Bain was charged with first-degree murder, burglary of a structure with assault or battery, grand theft and tampering with evidence.

The arrest was the result of what Flowers said was good, old-fashioned police work.

How detectives made their case

Indian River County Sheriff Eric Flowers shows a surveillance video detectives used in their case against Eugene Bain, 65, charged with killing David Hippee Schultz outside a Gifford funeral home Jan. 15, 2024.

An arrest warrant affidavit states that detectives spoke with several people who said they saw Bain the night of the homicide, including owners of a rooming house in the 4400 block of 31st Avenue where Bain was said to be that night.

A backpack was found in the backyard and inside the bag was a black shirt with writing Army Veteran David, and a cell phone charger.

The next week on Jan. 23 detectives returned to the home and further searched a wooded area behind the fenced yard and found a black handle steak knife said to be within throwing distance of the backpack.

Detectives gathered video surveillance from homes and businesses and constructed a timeline and map of his movements both before and after the suspected time of the murder, which was thought to be some time before 6 p.m.

Detectives spoke with Bain April 9, when they revealed Schultzs blood was found in a DNA profile match of samples taken from Bains fingernails.

Bain said Schultz's body was at the funeral home and covered by a blanket, and a backpack was on the scooter. He took the backpack and fled the scene. He took the phone that was in the backpack, then discarded the backpack.

He told detectives he went back a second time to the funeral home to take and sell the scooter. He said he had to get the keys off the body and lifted the (blanket). He said that might be how he got blood on his hands.

On April 30 detectives again met with Bain, and he told them he had seen Schultz before Jan. 15 at the funeral home. But on that day, he said he walked behind the building to ask for a cigarette with no intention of stealing anything, and Schultz began yelling and cussing.

Detectives asked Bain what happened and what he did with the knife. Bain said I dont know what happened, and, asked if he just snapped, he said: Seems like it. I just lost it.

Bain told detectives he was sorry and apologized for what happened, according to records.

In talks with those who knew Schultz, including family members, detectives learned he had lived in Wisconsin and after he left home  had been transient most of his life.

Flowers said Schultz was known in the area as Hippee Dave, and said he was allowed to sleep at the business because he did not litter and was considerate of the property owners.

Bain previously served 13 prison sentences on 21 felony convictions, Flowers said.

Corey Arwood is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow @coreyarwood on X, email corey.arwood@tcpalm.com or call 772-978-2246

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Arrest made in January fatal stabbing in IRC of homeless vet, 73
Senator Blaney fears there will be more anti-migrant protests like the one outside the International Protection Office in Dublin last May - Niall Carson/PA Wire

Ireland is asleep at the wheel on immigration, an Irish senator from a town where one in 100 people are asylum seekers has said.

Niall Blaney is running in Junes European elections to represent a Donegal constituency aking in twice the national average of asylum seekers in Ireland.

Theyve been asleep at the wheel as far as my government is concerned, said the 50-year-old centre-Right politician. I really think our taoiseach will have to stand up here, sooner rather than later, because were going to have more protests. Were going to have much more anti-immigrant sentiment.

On Thursday, Irish police arrested a man allegedly involved in intimidating builders at a closed hotel in Wicklow, which was falsely rumoured to be earmarked for asylum seekers. Social media footage showed a man telling a construction worker he and his crew had one hour to get the f--- out.

Last week, six people were arrested after police were attacked by protesters at a site for asylum seekers in County Wicklow, following a string of arson attacks at other centres.

There were far-Right anti-migrant riots in Dublin last year, the capital of a country in the grip of a housing crisis in which asylum seekers are now being housed in tents.

Mr Blaney, now a senator, was previously the MP for a Donegal constituency where one person in every 100 is an asylum seeker and which borders Northern Ireland. His party, Fianna Fail, is part of the coalition government in Dublin.

Protesters rioted in Dublin last year - Brian Lawless/PA Wire

He spoke to The Telegraph amid a diplomatic row between Simon Harris, the taoiseach, and Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, triggered by Irish claims that up to 90 per cent of asylum seekers arriving in Dublin had crossed the open border with Northern Ireland.

He insisted an agreement linked to the more than a century-old Common Travel Area between the two countries would eventually allow Dublin to return migrants to the UK.

But he said the impact on services such as healthcare and education was a much bigger problem than Mr Sunaks insistence that Britain would not take any asylum seekers back.

Its the amount of migrants that have come over the last two years, he said. Its impacting our schools, so theres no room left in primary schools and secondary schools. Its severely impacting the health services and access to them. Its the most vulnerable people who are being impacted first.

Some of the handouts that have been given to people coming from countries that are actually safe are also driving major anti-immigration sentiment.

In January, government figures revealed that Donegal was hosting 1,641 asylum seekers. The county, in the north of the island, had the highest concentration of asylum seekers, with 1,004 per 100,000 people, or one person in every 100.

Donegal also hosts 5,259 Ukrainian refugees, 8.9 per cent of the Ukrainian population in Ireland, which has welcomed more than 100,000 people fleeing the Russian invasion.

Migrants were not crossing into Donegal from Northern Ireland, said Mr Blaney, but heading to the International Protection Office in Dublin to claim asylum. From there, they can be sent to places around Ireland.

By April 12, more than 6,000 people had applied for asylum in Ireland, which has a population of about 5.1 million people, this year. If that rate continues, Ireland will have a record number of more than 20,000 asylum claims by the end of this year. The previous record was 13,000 in 2004.

Mr Blaney said he wanted Mr Harris, the leader of Fine Gael, to show leadership by ordering an analysis of all the Irish counties, identify which towns are full and either fund them or designate that they cannot take any more migrants.

He warned that immigration had the potential to be the number one issue in the European elections, which will precede an Irish general election that Sinn Fein is predicted to win ahead of both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail.

He admitted that Ireland had a healthy budget surplus, but the money had not been ploughed into services, telling The Telegraph: Im not about to kick the backside of my colleagues and government. Im just asking them to step up and take responsibility and look after our people.

Whats happening at the moment is driving anti-immigration sentiment  and its dangerous, to say the least, to not deal with it.

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Ireland has welcomed some 104,000 Ukrainian refugees since the war with Russia began - Halfpoint Images/Moment RF

Ireland is considering making further cuts to support and benefits for Ukrainian refugees, as it struggles to house rising numbers of migrants arriving in the country.

Ministers will discuss immigration in Dublin on Thursday afternoon, a day after Rishi Sunak and Simon Harris, the Irish Prime Minister, clashed over claims that asylum seekers were crossing the border from Northern Ireland to escape the Rwanda plan.

Tensions over immigration are high in Ireland, a country of about 5.1 million people, which is struggling with a housing crisis and has welcomed more than 104,000 Ukrainian refugees since Putins illegal invasion.

More than 6,000 people applied for asylum in Ireland by April 12 this year alone. If that rate continues, Ireland would have a record number of more than 20,000 asylum claims by the end of 2024. The previous record was 13,000 in 2004.

Ireland at limit of support

Dublin has claimed that up to 90 per cent of the asylum seekers have crossed the border with the UK, but that has been disputed.

Last year, Ireland slashed its allowance for newly arrived Ukrainian refugees, said it was at the limit of the support it could offer migrants and began using tented accommodation to house asylum seekers.

It cut payments for newly arrived Ukrainians in state accommodation to 33.19 a week from 188.19 and put a 90-day limit on the time they can have government housing.

It also tightened support for migrants to make it more similar to the UK and other Western European countries, amid fears the more generous offer was acting as a pull factor.

Shanty town dismantled

The Irish Times reported that further cuts in support for Ukrainians would be among the issues discussed at the meeting on migration, after police dismantled a shanty town of tents housing migrants that had sprung up around the asylum claims office in Dublin city centre on Wednesday.

The plan to reduce support further could cause tensions between Irelands three-party coalition government of the centre-Right parties Fine Gael and Fianna Fail and the Green Party. The Greens have reservations about the need for further cuts as increasing numbers of Ukrainians are returning home from Ireland.

Mr Harris has announced plans to send 100 extra police to border areas and called on Mr Sunak to uphold a UK-Ireland migrant returns agreement signed in 2020.

Simon Harris, the Irish PM, has called on Rishi Sunak to uphold a UK-Ireland migrant returns agreement signed in 2020 - Brian Lawless/PA

Irish sources said a single person had been returned to the UK since the post-Brexit return agreement, made as part of the arrangement over the Common Travel Area, was made four years ago.

Mr Sunak claims that the deal is not legally binding and wants Ireland to lobby Brussels for a UK-EU returns deal that will allow Channel migrants to be sent back to France.

On Wednesday, he accused Dublin of cherry-picking international agreements by sending the officers near the open border.

He said the UK had made commitments to avoid a hard border as part of the Good Friday Agreement, the Common Travel Area and the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, and that the Irish Government must uphold its promises.

No checkpoints on open border

Mr Harris has stressed there will not be checkpoints on the border and that the 300-mile frontier itself will not be physically policed.

Border infrastructure has been gradually removed from the Irish land border in the 26 years since the Good Friday Agreement was signed.

Dublin insisted the border had to remain open after Brexit created a UK land border with the EU for the first time to protect the peace process, which led to the creation of the Irish Sea border between Britain and Northern Ireland.

The only police unit dedicated to combating illegal immigration across the border has been all but disbanded in recent years, it was reported.

It also came to light that it would take the 100 extra officers up to a year before they could all be redeployed from desk duties to prevention and deportation.

Just two border control officers left

The Dundalk-based Immigration Border Control Unit was set up in 2004. The Irish Times reported it had 12 officers at its height but that that had now dwindled to just two, who were mostly desk-bound and didnt conduct checks.

Instead, other officers travel from Dublin to carry out intelligence-led routine checks on buses and trains. The police said this could be up to 300 checks a month depending on circumstances.

Immigration looks certain to dominate European Parliament elections in June in a country which must hold its next general election by March.

Mr Harris took over as Prime Minister from Leo Varadkar in April in a bid to avoid almost certain defeat by the poll-leading Sinn Fein.

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Island nation of Sao Tome and Principe to ask Portugal for colonial reparations

By Catarina Demony

LISBON (Reuters) - The government of the African island nation of Sao Tome and Principe will ask Portugal to repair the moral damages caused by colonialism, the country's education and cultural minister said on Thursday.

Speaking to Portugal's Lusa news agency, minister Isabel Abreu said the Sao Tome and Principe government would draw up a plan to negotiate reparations with Portugal, adding the process would take time.

Abreu said the issue was set to be discussed at a cabinet meeting on Thursday.

It comes after Portugal's President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, questioned by Reuters, said last week his country was responsible for crimes committed during transatlantic slavery and the colonial era, and suggested there was a need for reparations.

His comments sparked a national debate and strong criticism from right-wing parties.

The centre-right Portuguese government, which has executive powers, said it would not initiate any process to pay reparations, contrary to comments from Rebelo de Sousa, a conservative himself. It called for reconciliation instead.

For over four centuries, nearly 6 million Africans were kidnapped and forcibly transported across the Atlantic by Portuguese vessels and sold into slavery, primarily in Brazil.

Portugal's colonial era saw countries such as Angola, Mozambique, Brazil, Cape Verde, Sao Tome and Principe, East Timor and some territories in Asia subject to Portuguese rule.

Also reacting to Rebelo de Sousa's comments, Mozambique's ambassador to the United Nations welcomed the remarks and said that confronting the past was "already reparatory" but that "would be even better if we could go beyond that".

Cape Verde's President Jose Maria Neves said on Monday there was a need for discussions to take place in order to "reach an understanding and consensus on these matters".

Brazil's Minister of Racial Equality, Anielle Franco, told news portal G1 her team was in contact with the Portuguese government to discuss the issue.

Opponents of reparations argue, among other things, that contemporary states and institutions should not be held responsible for historical slavery. Advocates say action is needed to address the legacy of slavery on impoverished communities and contemporary states still benefit from the wealth generated by hundreds of years of unpaid labour.

The idea of paying reparations or making other amends for transatlantic slavery has a long history and remains deeply disputed, but has been gaining momentum worldwide.

The United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said last month reparations were need to overcome "generations of discrimination".

(Reporting by Catarina Demony; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
Israel's President Isaac Herzog waves during a visit to German President Steinmeier in Bellevue Palace. Herzog has issued a message of support to Jewish communities around the world in response to a "dramatic resurgence in anti-Semitism" and the "intimidation" of Jewish students on some protest-hit US university campuses. Carsten Koall/dpa

Israeli President Isaac Herzog has issued a message of support to Jewish communities around the world in response to a "dramatic resurgence in anti-Semitism" and the "intimidation" of Jewish students on some protest-hit US university campuses.

Herzog focused on the unrest, fuelled by the war in Gaza, that has rocked universities like Columbia in New York and the University of California, Los Angeles, where violent clashes broke out between opposing sides and police moved in to clear pro-Palestinian demonstrators' encampments.

The protests against Israel's war in Gaza have taken dark turns at times, including individuals making anti-Semitic and inflammatory remarks that have left some Jewish students feeling unsafe. Even so, there are also Jewish students among the protesters expressing solidarity with the plight of the Palestinians.

"I say to you: The people of Israel are with you," Herzog said in a statement. "We hear you. We see the shameless hostility and threats. We feel the insult, the breach of faith and breach of friendship. We share the apprehension and concern."

"We see prominent academic institutions, halls of history, culture, and education, contaminated by hatred and anti-Semitism fuelled by arrogance and ignorance, and driven by moral failings and disinformation. We watch in horror as the atrocities of October 7 against Israel are celebrated and justified," he continued.

"As they chant for intifada and genocide, we will work  together  to free our hostages held by Hamas, and fight for civil liberties and our right to believe and belong, for the right to live proudly, peacefully and securely, as Jews, as Israelis  anywhere."

The university protests against the Gaza war have included calls for a new intifada, or a violent Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation. A banner to this effect was unfurled by demonstrators at Columbia University in Manhattan, for example, on an occupied building.

"In the face of this terrifying resurgence of anti-Semitism: Do not fear. Stand proud. Stand strong for your freedom. Israel stands with you. Israel cares for you. We care for you. We are here for you," Herzog finished.
An Israeli airstrike on Al-Shaboura refugee camp in southern Gazas Rafah city late Tuesday killed two young children and injured several other people, according to the Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza and the Kuwait Hospital in Rafah.

Several people injured in the strike were brought to the medical facility just before midnight including a 4-year-old boy named Kareem Jarada and his 2-year-old sister Mona Jarada. The Kuwait Hospital said the two infants were declared dead by medics shortly after they had arrived.

Video obtained by CNN shows people in bloodied clothes being pulled out of civilian cars and rushed into the hospital. Other videos show some injured people being taken out of ambulances marked with the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) symbol into the hospital on stretcher beds.

Another video obtained by CNN from inside the hospital shows a doctor trying to treat Monas injuries. Her body appears to be covered in blood splatters with her left eye severely wounded. Her head and right leg are covered in bandages.

Video shot by a journalist working for CNN in the Kuwait Hospital courtyard shows a single small body bag with the bodies of both siblings inside it and their names written in marker on the outside and their date of death  April 30

Four men are seen praying over the body bag, as the childrens grandmother Um Rami Abu-Shalab crouches over, crying.

She is seen opening the bag and looking at her grandchildren, saying: they are going to heaven. The two lifeless heads of the children look bloodied and discolored.

Every time I saw her eyes, Id say she has eyes like a deersGod give your mother strength. God rest your souls my grandchildren, she says while sobbing.

Um Rami told CNN she spoke to her daughter on Tuesday after sunset, when she told her she put her kids to bed after they played with the neighbors and had dinner.

She put them to bed and then the treacherous ones cameGod will punish them, she said.

Pointing at the body bag, Um Rami told CNN they were her first and only grandchildren, calling them her first joy. She said their parents were injured in the airstrike and are now between life and death.

Kareem Jarada, aged 4, was taken to the hospital after the airstrike but was later pronounced dead. - Abu-Shalab family

Kareem's sister Mona, aged 2, also died in the airstrike. - Abu-Shalab family

We are going to bury them without their parents and without most of their loved ones, because they were either injured in the attack or displaced in different areas of Gaza, she said.

Um Rami told CNN the family has been displaced multiple times by the Israeli military, but that it didnt matter because this is all they want, this is their goal, she said, pointing at her dead grandchildren.

The childrens aunt, Maram Abu-Shalab told CNN from the hospital that the Israeli military struck the home her sister and her family were sheltering in without giving a warning.

Were still in a state of shock. What is one supposed to say? They are innocent. The babies went to bed last night, and they never woke up. They went to Godthis heartbreak will stay with us forever, she said.

Unable to hold back tears, she told CNN that Palestinian blood has been flowing like a waterfall that hasnt stopped since October 7, when Israel launched its war on Hamas following an attack by the terror group that killed more than 1,200 people. Israels subsequent devastating assault in the Palestinian enclave has killed more than 34,000 people, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

I didnt even have time to enjoy being called an aunt, said Abu-Shalab. They didnt even have time to grow. They were so youngwe are all so sadthere is nothing harder than the devastation of death, and the death of children, she said.

In response to a CNN request for comment, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) referred to a previous statement, that said the IDF is operating to dismantle the Hamas military and administrative capabilities, saying it follows international law and takes feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm.

Given the ongoing exchanges of fire, remaining in an active combat zone has inherent risks. The IDF will continue to counter threats while persisting to mitigate harm to civilians, the statement added.

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Israeli private eye arrested in London over alleged hacking for US firm

By Sam Tobin

LONDON (Reuters) -An Israeli private investigator wanted by the United States was arrested in London over allegations that he carried out a cyberespionage campaign on behalf of an unidentified American PR firm, a London court heard on Thursday.

But an initial attempt to extradite Amit Forlit to the United Sates was thrown out by a judge at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday on a legal technicality.

Amy Labram, a lawyer representing the United States, told the court Forlit "is accused of engaging in a hack for hire scheme".

Labram said that the U.S. allegations include that an unnamed Washington-based PR and lobbying firm paid one of Forlit's companies 16 million pounds ($20 million) "to gather intelligence relating to the Argentinian debt crisis".

Forlit and his lawyer did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

Forlit was arrested under an Interpol red notice at London's Heathrow Airport as he was trying to board a flight to Israel, according to the U.S authorities. It was unclear when Forlit was arrested.

Forlit is wanted in the U.S. on three charges: one count of conspiracy to commit computer hacking, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of wire fraud.

A judge ruled that the attempt to extradite Forlit by the United States could not continue as he was not produced in court within the timeframe required under British extradition law.

"He was not produced at court as soon as practicable and the consequences of that ... he must  I have no discretion  he must be discharged," Judge Michael Snow ruled.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation declined to comment.

Forlit has separately been accused of computer hacking in New York by aviation executive Farhad Azima. Azima, whose emails were stolen and used against him in a 2020 trial in London, is suing Forlit and others in federal court in Manhattan.

Forlit has previously acknowledged retrieving Azima's emails but has denied hacking, telling Reuters he innocently stumbled across the messages "on the web".

(Reporting by Sam Tobin in London, additional reporting by Raphael Satter in Washington and Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles, Editing by Alexandra Hudson and Michael Perry)
CAIRO, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Talks on a truce in the Gaza conflict are making progress as Cairo is conducting intensifying contacts with all concerned parties, Egypt's Al-Qahera News reported on Thursday, quoting a high-ranking Egyptian source. 
FILE PHOTO: Site of an Israeli strike on a house in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Top Israeli ministers were discussing on Thursday what a government source said was a Gaza truce proposal to free some hostages held by Hamas, as well as prospects for an army sweep of the southern tip of the enclave packed with displaced Palestinians.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's war cabinet meeting was slated to be followed by a meeting of the wider security cabinet, the source said. Israel does not generally publish information on sessions of the two groups.

Israel awaits a response from Hamas on the latest ceasefire offer, presented by Egyptian mediators, which would bring about the release of some of the 133 hostages still held by the Islamist group since the Oct 7 cross-border attack that triggered the Gaza war.

One of the hostages, Dror Or, 48, from the hard-hit southern Israeli community of Kibbutz Beri, was confirmed by Israel late on Thursday to have been killed and his body was being held in Gaza. Or's wife was also killed in the Hamas attack and two of his children were taken hostage and later released during a brief November truce.

Throughout the course of the war, Israeli authorities have declared a number of captives still in Gaza dead in absentia.

Past ceasefire efforts stumbled over a Hamas demand for a commitment to end the war by Israel, which insists on eventually resuming the now almost seven-month-old offensive to dismantle the faction.

Israel has also described as imminent a long-threatened push into Rafah, on Gaza's southern border with Egypt, which it says is the last bastion of Hamas. Rafah is the temporary home of around one million displaced Palestinians, whose fate worries the international community.

While Israel says it will work to ensure the safe evacuation of civilians from Rafah, visiting U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday he had yet to see such a plan.

(Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Peter Graff and Cynthia Osterman)
The UCLA Muslim student wears sunglasses, a kaffiyeh scarf and face mask to avoid recognition on campus. Shes asked to move her classes online to prevent others from knowing her route and following her. She will speak only on the condition of anonymity to protect herself and her future as an aspiring nurse.

But her caution has not helped her feel safe. She is terrified by the hate that has rained down on her and her fellow pro-Palestinian supporters since Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel retaliated with a massive and continuing assault on Gaza. She has been spat on and called a terrorist multiple times, she said. Men who have come to the encampment have threatened rape. A woman brandished a stun gun at her on campus, laughing.

But nothing was as chilling as Tuesday night, when a mob of counterprotesters began to attack the Palestinian Solidarity Encampment erected by students last week, tearing down barriers, assaulting campers and screaming epithets, as captured in videos by The Times.

I never felt more scared in my life, she said. I felt my life was in danger.

The violence at what had largely been a peaceful student protest at UCLA traumatized and angered pro-Palestinian supporters, who are demanding an end to Israeli actions in Gaza and divestment in the country  the biggest wave of campus demonstrations since the 1960s civil rights movement. It also highlighted the intense fears among college students across the country as the Israel-Palestinian conflict foments escalating campus protests and reports of physical and verbal assaults, doxxing and threats to academic and professional careers.

A new national study led by the University of Chicago has for the first time documented in detail the extent of those fears and reasons for them  along with student attitudes toward genocide, antisemitism, Islamophobia and possible ways to calm tensions.

Read more: After violent night at UCLA, classes cancelled, UC president launches investigation into response

The study found that 58% of students who identified as Jewish and 52% of those who said they were Muslim have feared for their safety since Oct. 7. An additional 16% of neither background also expressed fears. This represents as many as 3 million students across the country.

The campus fears are more intense and more widespread than what weve previously known, said Robert Pape, a University of Chicago political science professor and director of the Chicago Project on Security and Threats who wrote the report.

The nonpartisan analysis is based on a nationally representative sample of 5,000 college students at more than 600 four-year academic institutions included in two commissioned surveys between mid-December and mid-January  before the most recent clashes at numerous universities throughout the nation, including USC, the University of Texas at Austin and Columbia. The surveys were conducted at the University of Chicago by NORC, previously the National Opinion Research Center, and College Pulse, with narrow margins of error from 1% to 1.94%.

In one finding, about 10% of college students would permit student groups to call for genocide against Jews, and 13% of college students say that when Jews are attacked, it is because they deserve it. The same percentage would permit that call against Muslims.

The survey asked students to describe what triggered their fears. Jewish students' responses included death threats, vandalism of their fraternity house, swastikas painted on a nearby synagogue, harassment when walking by wearing a Star of David necklace and protest chants they interpret as a call for their peoples genocide.

Read more: Photos: Clashes at pro-Palestinian demonstrations on California campuses

One UCLA Jewish student, a senior who asked for anonymity to protect her safety, said she was terrified to walk through campus and broke down in tears when a pro-Palestinian supporter stood up in class and said Jewish students did not belong at the university.

Another senior, who asked to be identified only by her first name, Priel, said she has encountered screams to go home and kill Zionists.

The hate and violence thats been going on on campus has become way worse since Oct. 7, Priel said.

Dan Gold, executive director of Hillel at UCLA, said most students did not feel physically unsafe but were more concerned about being excluded from campus activities since the tensions escalated. He said Jewish students have been sidelined in clubs, intentionally shoved and frightened by protest chants and symbols.

In one instance, a ghoulish effigy of a pig holding a bag of money next to an image of the Israeli flag was erected on campus during the last University of California Board of Regents meeting to dramatize protester demands to divest from firms that supply weapons and services to Israel.

The current environment on campuses has created an unprecedented situation of antisemitism in all layers of campus life, Gold said. It happens every day, almost everywhere.

Read more: 'Unacceptable': Why it took hours for police to quell attack at UCLA pro-Palestinian camp

Muslims and others who sympathize with the Palestinian cause have reported more violent harassment. Students in the survey and at UCLA said aggressors have ripped off their kaffiyehs or hijabs, called them terrorists and whores, and threatened rape or murder. In one case, a student was almost run over in the street.

Many Palestinian supporters are particularly anxious about their academic and professional careers, as people have taken photos of them and posted the images on social media. One website, Canary Mission, blacklists those they accuse of being antisemitic.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights group, has been flooded with complaints of warnings and even workplace firings of those who express pro-Palestinian views.

Its worse than 9/11, said Hussam Ayloush, executive director of CAIRs Greater Los Angeles office.

Fourth-year UCLA student Hasan Mirza noted a dramatic increase in anti-Muslim hate directed toward students on campus since Oct. 7. As the president of the Muslim Student Assn., he was made aware of at least seven accounts of verbal harassment toward Muslim students wearing hijabs since then.

Theres always a concern of feeling like you have to look over your shoulder, said Mirza, who is Pakistani.

But he noted that most of the harassment and threats are not from members of the UCLA community and that he generally feels safe when surrounded by other students and faculty on campus. Its a diverse campus and were been glad to see that [choosing harassment] is not the case for most of our peers, he said.

Other students at UCLA, like fifth-year art history graduate student Benjamin Kersten, said they similarly feel safe on campus, outside the occasional Zionist protester walking through.

You never want to be called a traitor and have death wished upon your family, said Kersten, who is an anti-Zionist Jew. Its not fun; but otherwise, I havent felt unsafe on campus.

Pape, of the University of Chicago, said some fears are driven by a tragic misunderstanding of the other sides intentions. The most frequently used pro-Palestinian protest chant  From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free  is understood in dramatically different ways by various students.

The survey found that 66% of Jewish students interpreted it as a call for the expulsion and genocide of Israeli Jews, a perception closely linked to fears for their safety.

By contrast, 14% of Muslim students interpreted the chant that way. Rather, 76% of those surveyed understood it as a call for Palestinians and Israelis to live side by side in two separate countries or in one state.

Among all students, 42% understood the chant as a call for mutual existence, compared with 26% of those who believed it advocates for the expulsion and genocide of Israeli Jews.

Read more: Photos: Clashes at pro-Palestinian demonstrations on California campuses

The overwhelming share of students, including Jews and Muslims, said they abhor political violence and that calls for genocide were unacceptable.

The survey found that college students are not particularly antisemitic, as measured by agreement with such traditional tropes as that Jews have too much power and are unfair business competitors. But rather, they hold highly negative views of Israel as a state.

Campus anger is mainly against Israel as a state and not the Jewish people per se, Pape said.

Islamophobia is also relatively low among college students  lower than attitudes by American adults, the survey found.

The findings show strong support for calming actions, such as major public statements by university and national leaders that would condemn violence of any kind against any group of people. The study also said that university leaders should clarify policies on permissible political action on campus by students toward students and mechanisms and obligations to report and respond to incidents.

Others say campus administrators must be far more proactive and even-handed in protecting students  a call that intensified Tuesday after the violence against the UCLA student encampment.

One quick measure would be to publicize evidence that students on either side of the Israel-Palestinian divide are not as hostile to each other as commonly portrayed, Pape said.

Such work is going on in small ways, person to person, among many students.

Cecelia Fischer, a UCLA student majoring in history and Arabic whose honors thesis is on Jewish history, has been involved in promoting respectful conversations. She is participating in a campus dialogue across differences program that builds relationships, offers workshops on such topics as political polarization and invites speakers with various experiences and views.

She said hearing the deep pain that many of her classmates are feeling over the fallout of the conflict has been heartbreaking.

My hope is that this [Oct. 7] event will trigger more people to learn, and I hope they do it in dialogue with others  to listen and understand rather than respond.

Times staff writer Ashley Ahn contributed to this story.

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.
J.D. Vance walks out of the Senate Chamber on Capitol Hill on April 23, 2024 in Washington, D.C. - Credit: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Republicans are up in arms about students demonstrating against the war in Gaza on university campuses across the nation. The epicenter for the now weeks-long protest movement is Columbia University, where on Tuesday students occupied Hamilton Hall before the NYPD forcibly removed and arrested them. J.D. Vance, the Trump-loving Republican senator from Ohio, on Wednesday night told CNNs Kaitlan Collins that the students who took control of the campus building should face legal consequences.

So you agree that people who break into and vandalize a building should be prosecuted? Collins asked.

More from Rolling Stone

Exactly, Vance replied.

Collins then pointed out that this is whats happening to hundreds of Jan. 6 rioters who broke into an vandalized the United States Capitol, and that Vance, like many Republicans, is aghast that Trumps supporters are facing federal charges. You did help raise money for people who did so on Jan. 6, Collins said. Vance then lamented about the medias obsession with Jan. 6 and that people who didnt assault cops are having the full weight of the Justice Department thrown at them.

So you agree that people who break in and vandalize a building should be prosecuted?



J.D. Vance: "Exactly."



Im just checking because you did help raise money for people who did so on Jan. 6th. pic.twitter.com/74AzrHuXXx  Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) May 2, 2024

Vance isnt the only Republican who has been hypocritical on the issue.

House Speaker Mike Johnson last week gathered a group of House Republicans to travel to New York to lecture students protesting on Columbias lawn. You cannot censor and silence viewpoints you disagree with, Johnson told the crowed of demonstrators. Johnson this week replied to a video of protesters breaking windows in Hamilton Hall by calling the act terrorism.

Rioters broke windows in the Capitol, battered down doors, and assaulted law enforcement. Johnson is one of many Republicans trying to rewrite history about what actually happened on Jan. 6, pushing the idea that most of the people who stormed the building were innocent. He described some of them to Newsmax last month as people who were there and just happened to be walking through the building.

Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) both called for President Biden to send the National Guard to break up the Columbia demonstration late last month, before students occupied Hamilton Hall. Meanwhile, Cotton signed a brief backing Jan. 6 defendants, and Hawley was photographed holding up a fist in solidarity with the rioters as they marched toward the Capitol building.

Donald Trump has repeatedly denigrated pro-Palestine campus protesters  labeling them as worse than the neo-Nazis who rallied in Charlottesville in 2017 (whom Trump defended), and wondering whether theyd be punished like his supporters who rioted on Jan. 6. Trump has, of course, rallied behind those supporters, suggesting he will pardon all of them should he win back the White House.

The double-standard cuts to the core of the Republican worldview. They get to exercise their rights however they want while policing how others do so. They get to skirt the law while weaponizing it against others. They are real Americans while their opponents are, as Trump put it last year, savage animals.

Best of Rolling Stone
Police often get the call when a mental health expert would be the better answer. Thats why the Jacksonville Sheriffs Office created the Behavioral Crisis Response Unit and found the team is making a big difference.

Action News Jax rode along with the unit and while its not what you usually think of from policing, found it has made major inroads with people needing help.

We spent hours with Officer Chris Rousselle and mental health provider Bobbi. The pair often meets people on the worst day of their lives, or close to it.

On the day of our ride-along, they helped a woman whod been abandoned by her boyfriend, out of town and out of options.

He dropped me off, she cries, He never came back.

READ: We see things that cant be unseen: How JSO is breaking the stigma of officers asking for help

The special unit was created to help people in situations just like this, having a mental health crisis. She is bipolar and threatening to hurt herself. When she realized she was all alone, that triggered me, boy, she said.

In this unit, the officers are paired up with a provider from the Mental Health Resource Center. They respond when the police are called, but the situation really calls for another kind of expertise.

We avoided her being Baker Acted and taken to a hospital, Rousselle said about the woman he helped, In my personal opinion, my experience, I dont think she needed that today. I think she needed somebody to talk to.

READ: Florida Department of Law Enforcement creates first-ever mental health seminar to address trauma

So these officers and their counterparts listen. Then put the people in touch with the resources they need -- medication, therapy, or in this womans case, family.

We can actually secure a bus ticket for you to get back home, they tell the abandoned woman, and take her to Homeward Bound so she makes it there.

The Florida Mental Health Act, more commonly known as the Baker Act, allows officers to take people suffering a mental health crisis to the hospital whether they want to go or not. Thats with a courts order.

READ: Wolfson Childrens Hospital is expanding care for youth mental health

Its a temporary detention in order to provide them with emergency services, but for various reasons, thats not always the best option.

Chief Jaime Eason is in charge of the unit.

There is a real problem with mental illness, she said, and they do need case workers, they do need long-term care, they do need medication and further therapy. We cant police our way out of this.

READ: Jacksonvilles Pace Center for Girls partnering with community to combat youth mental health crisis

Thats where these teams come in. Theyre a bridge, responding to calls that are more of a cry for help, treating people like patients, not problems.

Like with the woman in crisis, their first response is a request to let them help here: What do you think we can do to help you today? Like, what do you need right now? they ask. And her response is clear Right now, I need, honestly, I have nowhere to go.

Last year alone, the unit was able to avoid using the Baker Act 287 times, instead, getting those people the help they needed without a forced hospitalization.

[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]

This program affords us another option, Eason said, and its a really, really good option for us to have.

The program started in 2019 with one officer and has grown to a team of twelve. In that time, the number of times the Baker Act has been used has dropped by 575 cases. In 2019, the first year of the program, Duval records show the Baker Act was used 2,965 times. Last year, it was only used 2,390 times.

When they arent responding to calls, the teams are following up with people recently home from a Baker Act hospital stay. They make sure the patients got what they needed and have the support so it doesnt happen again.

[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]

Its a win for everyone, Rousselle said. Resources at hospitals arent over-taxed, regular patrol can focus on police calls, and most importantly, people are getting the help they need.

At the end of the day, Rousselle said, the fact that our team has actually been able to serve someone  thats whats most important to me.

Its not just about responding to crime, he said, its helping to prevent it.

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.
A popular Dover restaurant forced to close after a five-alarm fire devastated the property in September will not reopen, the family owners announced on Facebook.

"It is with a heavy heart that I inform you all that we are closing the final chapter on our beloved Jai-Alai," the post reads. "There is substantial damage from the fire, financial restraints, and personal reasons that will prevent any possibility of reopening at this time."

Known for serving authentic Basque cuisine and its signature sangria, the Jai-Alai was founded more than four decades ago by Ignacio "Nick" Cenicacelaya after he immigrated to the U.S. from Spain. After the longtime Rockaway resident died in 2017, his family took over the business.

The Jai-Alai restaurant, at 73 West Blackwell Street in Dover, in a 2007 photo. The owners said that they would be closing after 43 years due to the devastating, five-alarm fire that tore through the building in September 2023.

Tucked into the far western corner of Blackwell Street, the Jai-Alai lured residents and visitors alike with a menu that reflected Cenicacelaya's roots in northern Spain, where the sport that gave the restaurant its name was developed.

"Ignacio was a master chef and took pride in his cooking," his obituary stated. "He was very skilled in many trades, including hunting, however cooking was his passion. Above anything else, his family was number one in his life."

The owners could not be reached for comment this week. On Facebook, fans posted tributes to the establishment, which would have celebrated its 43rd anniversary in February.

What made Jai-Alai so popular?

"So very sorry to hear this news. We loved your restaurant," Lois Vander Hort wrote. "The food and service were top-notch. Everything was beyond delicious. Everyone is raving about the sangria."

"We will miss those incredible stuffed mushrooms, great sangria, and Mariscada Roja," Diana Tracey posted. "Not to mention, the escargot, stuffed lobster and garlic shrimp. Nobody did it better."

"You guys set the bar that all restaurants were striving to reach. You will be missed," added Angel Cordero Jr.

September fire displaced 29

The business was forced to close after the blaze that broke out during the afternoon of Sept. 16. Fire officials said at the time that the fire appeared to have started on the second of two residential floors above 71, 73 and 75 West Blackwell St., where Jai-Alai and a tattoo parlor are also located. The restaurant, in particular, suffered extensive water damage, officials said.

Firefighters initially tried to extinguish the blaze from inside the three-floor structure behind the Jai-Alai's Blackwell Street entrance, near the corner of Dewey and Whitewell Street. But flames forced them to evacuate. A sagging roof complicated efforts to fight the fire from above.

The New Jersey Red Cross counted six families and 29 people displaced by the fire whom the organization was assisting. Including evacuated residents of neighboring buildings, who were let back into their apartments the next day, a total of 14 families and 71 people were aided by the Red Cross.

More: After 20 years, North Jersey memorial to clergy abuse victims still stirs strong emotions

"I'm devastated by the loss of a wonderful, longstanding business in our town," said Council Member Sandra Wittner, who represents Jai-Alai in Dover's First Ward. "I'm very sad for the family but I'm grateful for everything they gave to our community. They always offered up the best sangria in Dover, the best paella and were just always being so warm, welcoming and kind to everyone who walked through their doors."

Wittner was unsure of the status of the fire-damaged buildings, but more than eight months after the fire, the family has decided to move on.

Owners say goodbye 'until we meet again'

In the Facebook post, which was unsigned, the owners "thanked all of our family and friends for your support and kindness over the years."

Cathy Gonzalez, and her father, Ignacio Cenicacelaya, owner of the Jai-Alai, photographed on Dec. 13, 2007. Cenicacelaya took the restaurant's cuisine from Basque country in Spain, where he grew up, and named it after the sport developed in his homeland.

"My dad, Nick, passed away 7 years ago today and as many of you know, we suffered a devastating fire at the restaurant last year as well," it continued. "Over the years we have enjoyed meeting all of you and serving you as guests. We would have celebrated 43 years in the restaurant this past February and we enjoyed every single moment with our great customers and friends. But time moves on, and nothing is forever."

"We hope to keep in touch with the many, many, great friends we have met along the way. You have a special place in our hearts and always will. So it's adios, until we meet again. Thanks for the memories, the laughs and the love."

William Westhoven is a local reporter for DailyRecord.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: wwesthoven@dailyrecord.com

Twitter: @wwesthoven

This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: Dover's beloved Jai-Alai restaurant won't reopen after 5-alarm fire
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) slammed the petroleum industry on Wednesday as he pointed to experts who described Big Oils pattern of lying and evasion that has set the country back decades in its ability to address climate change.

Instead of acting like Paul Revere and sounding the alarm about climate change, they acted like Maleficent the evil fairy in Sleeping Beauty and cursed everyone to try to go to sleep for 100 years, said Raskin during a Senate Budget Committee hearing.

Raskins remarks came after that committee and the House Oversight Committee released a 65-page report following a three-year investigation into oil and gas companies evolving efforts to avoid accountability for climate change.

The Maryland Democrat described calling a House Oversight hearing in 2019 where scientists and experts testified that the companies knew that burning fossil fuels caused climate change as early as 1959.

The year the first Barbie Doll appeared in the United States, the year Alaska and Hawaii were admitted to the Union  by the 1960s, before Neil Armstrong even walked on the moon, the science of global warming was well understood by Big Oil, Raskin noted.

The report focused on several companies, including Exxon, Chevron, Shell, BP, the American Petroleum Institute and the Chamber of Commerce, described as having obstructed and delayed the committees investigation.

He said, Our investigation uncovered compelling evidence of aggressive industry deceit, which continued long after Big Oil gave up on its outright climate denialism.

You can read the committees report or listen to more of Raskins remarks in the clip below.

WOW: Jamie Raskin just reminded everyone that in a 2019 oversight hearing, oil and gas industry scientists and experts testified that the industry knew that the burning of fossil fuels caused climate change as early as 1959.



1959! pic.twitter.com/7MbLRaufCA  MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) May 1, 2024

Related...
By Akiko Okamoto

FUJI-KAWAGUCHIKO, Japan (Reuters) - Officials in a Japanese town are erecting a 2.5-meter (8.2 ft) high barrier to block a view of Mount Fuji and obstruct a photo spot that has been attracting so many visitors they have become a nuisance for locals.

Visitors have been flocking to Fuji-Kawaguchiko town, about 50 kilometres (31 miles) southwest of Tokyo, to capture the coupling of two symbols of Japan: the majestic, sloping inclines of Mount Fuji and the convenience store, a view which has gone viral on social media.

The crowds have led to complaints of litter, danger to road traffic and illegal parking. The 20-meter-wide black barrier to obscure the mountain is due for completion in the middle of this month.

The barrier is the latest sign of Japan's struggle to accommodate an unprecedented surge in visitors to the country amid a slump in the nation's currency to a 34-year low.

The weak yen has made Japan an irresistible bargain for travellers, which is good news for the economy, but the cost has been frictions with locals and concerns of "overtourism" in major cities and at popular locales.

At the site on Thursday, there were people running into streets, jay-walking and climbing poles to get a better view. At one point, a convenience store worker stormed out of the shop yelling at the tourists to shoo them away.

"I've seen people walk into roads, people using electronic kickboards without following traffic rules and get into accidents. There are many accidents involving foreign tourists recently," said 49-year-old local resident Haruhito Tsuchiya.

Mt. Fuji, a 3,776-metre volcanic mountain worshipped as sacred by the Japanese, has long been a popular site for domestic and foreign visitors. But locals and officials decried a surge in pollution, accidents, and environmental damage during an overcrowded climbing season last summer.

To cope, prefectural officials this year announced a series of hiking restrictions around Mt. Fuji and a new 2,000 yen ($12.83) trail fee. Hotels and resorts around the country are also having trouble keeping up with demand after many workers left the sector during the COVID-19 pandemic.

($1 = 155.8900 yen)

(Reporting by Akiko Okamoto and Mariko Katsumura, writing by Rocky Swift, editing by Alexandra Hudson)
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said Wednesday that Democrats pledge to shut down a motion to vacate against Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) wont become a habit, warning that the party could still remove him from the role in the future.

Democratic leadership in the House said the party will vote to table Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greenes (R-Ga.) motion to vacate in a vote expected next week, effectively saving Johnsons job. The move comes after the Speaker passed a bipartisan foreign aid spending bill, a months-long priority of Democrats.

Jayapal, in an interview Wednesday with MSNBCs Alex Wagner, said much of the party will not vote to save Johnson again.

I will say that Leader Jeffries has been clear, and Ive been clear to him and many of our members have been clear to him, that we are not going to consistently save the Speaker who is anti-choice, anti-immigrant, anti-democracy, she told Wagner. Went down to Mar-a-Lago to kiss Donald Trumps ring and talk about how  you know, all these lies about how people are voting that shouldnt be voting, anti-LGBTQ, and really using division, hatred, xenophobia to drive a political agenda.

I dont think we can be part of doing that again, Jayapal continued. But I do understand that this is a one-time opportunity to make sure that we continue the work of the House.

She added that despite the promise from Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), some Democrats will still vote to uphold Greenes motion to vacate resolution, including her.

Im not going to be voting to table that motion, Alex, but I know that there will be some in our party and Leader Jeffries has said we should feel free to vote our conscience, she said.

Despite opposition from both parties, Greene said Wednesday she will move ahead with the motion, intent on a roll call vote protecting Johnson that can hurt those who stick by him. Only two other GOP lawmakers  Reps. Thomas Massie (Ky.) and Paul Gosar (Ariz.)  have backed her effort to oust him.

Every member of Congress needs to take that vote, she said. I cant wait to see Democrats go out and support a Republican Speaker and have to go home to their primaries.  And I also cant wait to see my Republican conference show their cards and show who we are.

Greene added, Are they willing to actually fight? Or are they going to just keep going along to get along?

In an interview that aired Wednesday on NewsNations The Hill, Johnson shot back at the Georgia Republicans attacks.

I dont think she is proving to be, no, Johnson said in the interview, which was taped Tuesday night, when asked if he thinks Greene is a serious lawmaker.

I dont spend a lot of time thinking about her, the Speaker continued. I got to do my job, and we do the right thing, and we let the chips fall where they may. That is my philosophy. That is how we are governing.

He also suggested he would be willing to remain in the leadership position in the next Congress.

NewsNation is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also owns The Hill.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
JD Vance says he is skeptical Pences life was in danger on Jan. 6

Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) said Wednesday he is skeptical that former Vice President Mike Pences life was endangered during the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the Capitol.

CNNs Kaitlan Collins asked Vance on The Source whether the Ohio Republican had any pause about former President Trump potentially considering him to be his running mate due to how Trump treated Pence. Vance replied by pivoting to his concerns about President Biden before Collins repeated her question.

Collins said Biden did not approve of the chance to hang his vice president and didnt not call his vice president when their life was in danger on Capitol Hill when asking again if Vance had any pause on potentially being Trumps vice president. Vance noted earlier that he has not spoken to Trump about the possibility of being his running mate.

OK, well, Im truly skeptical that Mike Pences life was ever in danger. I think politics and politics people like to really exaggerate things from time to time, Vance replied.

Collins interjected, saying she thinks Mike Pence would disagree before Vance continued.

And a lot of folks the Democratic Party, Kaitlan, act as if January the 6th was the scariest moment of their lives, Vance continued. I think  look, Jan. 6 was a bad day. It was a riot. But the idea that Donald Trump endangered anyones lives when he told them to protest peacefully, its just absurd.

Collins then noted that some of the rioters were chanting Hang Mike Pence! The vice president was in the Capitol that day to oversee the certification of the 2020 election when a mob stormed the building.

Well, Kaitlan, did a few people say some bad things? Sure. But do we blame Donald Trump for every bad thing thats ever been said by a participant in American democracy? I think thats an absurd standard, Vance replied.

Secret Service confirmed in 2022 that Pence was taken to an underground loading dock on Jan. 6, where he waited with his wife and daughter for around five hours. The former vice president described in his book how he was angry but not afraid when rioters got into the Capitol.

Pence has denounced Trumps actions on Jan. 6 and has defended his own decision to certify the 2020 election results. The former vice president launched a long-shot bid for the White House last year but dropped out in October.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
UNITED NATIONS, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan's UN ambassador, Munir Akram, on Wednesday strongly advocated for the Security Council to reconsider and endorse Palestine's application for full UN membership, aligning with the majority of global opinions.

The Pakistani UN mission stated in a press release that this move "would rectify the historic injustice against the Palestinian people and pave the way for the establishment of the two-state solution."

During a council meeting on April 18, the United States vetoed a draft resolution recommending that the General Assembly hold a vote to allow Palestine full UN membership.

A 2022 initiative, resolution 76/262, calls for the UN's most representative body to meet within 10 days if the veto is used in the Security Council by one of its permanent members -- China, France, Russia, Britain, and the United States -- who are granted this extraordinary voting power. Palestine's recent attempt to become a full member of the United Nations was the focus of discussion in the General Assembly on Wednesday.

Highlighting the vetoed resolution presented by Algeria on behalf of the Arab Group, Akram underscored the ongoing injustice faced by the Palestinian people in their quest for full UN membership, saying the "diplomatic efforts for peace would gain considerable momentum if the veto was lifted and Palestine's admission was approved by the Security Council."

In his address to the UN General Assembly, he pointed out the disparity in treatment between Israel and Palestine, noting that "while Israel, one of the partitioned states in 1947, is now a UN member, Palestine continues to be denied admission despite meeting all criteria for membership."

Akram also detailed the hardships faced by the Palestinian people over the past seven decades, including denial of self-determination, expulsion from their homeland, and enduring a prolonged and brutal foreign occupation.

He criticized the recent statements by the Israeli prime minister, as well as Israel's recent actions in Gaza, which resulted in over 35,000 civilian deaths, indiscriminate bombings, and the blockade of humanitarian aid, actions that the International Court of Justice has described as "plausible genocide."

He also warned of severe consequences if Israel proceeded with its plans to attack Rafah.

Akram also condemned the "impunity granted to the apartheid Israeli regime," which, he said, had allowed it to disregard Security Council resolutions on ceasefires and overlook provisional measures set by the International Court of Justice.

He called upon the United Nations and the broader international community to enforce an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, ensure unrestricted access to humanitarian aid, prevent further escalation of the conflict, provide international protection for Palestinians, revive the peace process, and hold Israel accountable for its war crimes and crimes against humanity. 
A three-judge panel removed Jefferson County commissioners Jennifer Krouse and Tricia Jackson from office on Wednesday. (Greenleaf123 | Getty Images)

Two Jefferson County commissioners who conspired to stop the appointment of another county commissioner by refusing to attend meetings and withholding a quorum over a two-month period were removed from office Wednesday, according to a court order.

The order, issued by a three-judge panel, ruled that Jefferson County Commissioners Jennifer Krouse and Tricia Jackson, who is currently running as a Republican for state auditor, must immediately hand over all property from their time in office to another member of the county commission.

Krouse and Jackson were arrested in March on 42 misdemeanor charges each, including charges related to conspiracy for their coordination to keep the commission from meeting quorum, failure to perform their official duties and failure to fill the vacant county commission seat, among other charges.

The women intentionally missed every Jefferson County Commission meeting between Sept. 19 and Nov. 16 for what they called a protest against the procedure for filling a vacant commission seat. Over this time, they continued collecting their paychecks for serving on the commission, totalling nearly $8,800 in taxpayer funds each.

In social media postings throughout that time that are included as evidence in the order, Krouse said that missing the meetings was a purposeful tactic to keep the commission from filling its vacant seat with a candidate who was not a true conservative.

Id hoped three Republican commissioners would have little trouble agreeing on a conservative candidate to fill the spot. When that didnt happen, I counted on the Republican Executive Committee to select three actual conservatives for the commission to review, Krouse wrote on Facebook on Aug. 17, the last meeting she attended before starting the protest. Unfortunately, far too many of the elected Republicans in West Virginia seem to be either incompetent, self-interested, closeted liberal or some combination thereof.

According to the removal order, Krouse and Jackson continued to post on Facebook as they skipped county commission meetings every two weeks, doubling down on their intentions to keep the body from meeting a quorum and naming a replacement for the vacant seat despite mandates to do so in state code.

Without being able to meet a quorum throughout that time, the commission was unable to perform its codified duties to keep the county running, the order reads, endangering public safety and costing taxpayers thousands of dollars in lawsuits, fees and missed grant funding opportunities.

Over the time of their missed meetings, crucial county positions went unfilled and bills lapsed, as did critical contracts to keep the 911 center operational and responsive for emergencies. Per the order, all of these instances, and others, were a direct result of Jackson and Krouse intentionally missing meetings.

In the order, Judges Joseph K. Reeder, of the 29th Judicial Circuit; Jason A. Wharton, of the 4th Judicial Circuit and Perri Jo DeChristopher, of the 17th Judicial Circuit ruled that Krouse and Jackson were derelict in the duties they took an oath to perform when they took office.

Their personal beliefs, the judges wrote, have no place interfering with those duties.

[Krouse and Jackson] do not have a right to protest in violation of their duties because their duties are absolute. Their personal disagreements must yield to their duty as elected officials, the order reads. [Krouse and Jackson] have no right to use their office and their official acts to form a personal protest.

In March, Jefferson County Commission president Steve Stolipher said he had no question that the motive for the womens actions was political.

What they did was a political, illegal strategy, and it broke the law, he told West Virginia Watch following their arrests.

Per the order, judges wrote that the missed meetings were more than just casual disregard for their office and duties, and instead were a knowing refusal to comply and a weaponization of their ability to deny quorum and holdup county business.

Krouse and Jackson, through the two months of missed meetings, started applying conditions to their attendance, according to the order. They said theyd only participate in meetings if filling the vacancy wasnt on the agenda and, later, if Stolipher agreed to step down as commission president.

Eventually, on Nov. 30, Jackson and Krouse returned to the county commission after a judge ordered their attendance. At that meeting  and ironically, as the order reads  the commission vacancy was filled.

This refusal to meet until ordered to do so removes all doubt that [Jackson and Krouses] actions are a willful and deliberate disregard of law, according to the removal order.  The Court therefore finds [Krouse and Jackson]  prioritized their own agendas over the needs of the citizens of Jefferson County and weaponized their deliberate and intentional refusal to attend meetings and appoint a fifth commissioner in order for [them] to advance their own agenda.

The post Jefferson commissioners who weaponized positions to withhold quorum removed from office appeared first on West Virginia Watch.
JEFFERSON COUNTY, Ark.  Around 400 Jefferson County employees will be getting their paychecks after an ongoing controversy, although a day late.

Jefferson County Judge Gerald Robinson signed off on the county payroll Wednesday. The development came after the judge refused to sign off on payroll for the April 30 pay period multiple times because of two employees he said should not get paid.

Jefferson County assessor sues Judge Gerald Robinson for $750,000 in damages over employees not being paid

The day started with county employees coming into work at 8:30 a.m. but when the payroll hadnt been signed off by 9 a.m., they walked out.

Earlier Wednesday, the judge finally signed off but issued a court order directing the county clerk to hold the two paychecks that are in question.

We have a court order, directing the county clerk to issue paper checks so that all the employees can get their checks, and we withhold those two checks from the other two employees, Robinson said.

KARK 4 News contacted the county clerk Shawndra Taggert and she said her position remains the same as it was last week when the original court order was filed to withhold nearly $5,000 that includes payments to the two county employees, saying she doesnt have the authority nor does the county judge to remove, or make changes, to any elected officials payroll submission for their employees.

Community members speak out amid Jefferson County payroll controversy

A representative from her office said she did not withhold the two checks, and gave them to the department head, which in this case is County Assessor Gloria Tillman.

If she doesnt hold those two checks, then shes violating that court order, Robinson said.

The county judge said he wants the pay for those two employees, who work in the assessors office, withheld due to what he believes is nepotism and unwarranted sick leave.

Tillman spoke out, saying she believes her employee rightly accumulated the sick leave she is asking for.

The other employee is a relative of Tillmans but was employed by her office before Tillman took office, which she said Robinson agreed to at the time.

Robinson said he is following county ordinances that prohibit nepotism and has received complaints about the sick leave from other county workers. If the county clerk does not withhold the checks, he said he is pursuing legal action.

Jefferson County judge approves payroll after denying it 3 times, causing financial uncertainty for county employees

Justice of the Peace for District 5 Lloyd Franklin II said he is concerned with how Robinson handled it.

Im happy that the employees will receive payment today in the form of paper checks, but at the same time i still have concerns, Franklin said.

A class action lawsuit has been filed against Robinson by Tillman for damages caused by the delay of pay. Robinson said he never wanted other employees to get caught in the middle.

KARK 4 News contacted Tillman, who said she did give the paychecks to her two employees and added shes glad this has been resolved.

Dispute between judge and clerks office may delay pay to Jefferson County employees

We have also reached out to Attorney General Tim Griffin who said he is following the situation closely.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK.
DENVER (KDVR)  On Wednesday, the Arvada Police Department arrested a Jefferson County Schools employee on charges of child sexual assault and child abuse.

Police arrested Justin Martinez, 31, who was employed as a before and after-school provider and sometimes substitute teacher at several Jefferson County Schools.

Martinez worked in Jeffco Public Schools since 2011.

Police investigate Wednesday night homicide in the Green Valley Ranch neighborhood

During that time, he worked at Lawrence Elementary, Stevens Elementary School, Vivian Elementary School, Swanson Elementary, Secrest Elementary, West Woods Elementary and most recently, Red Rocks Elementary.

The district told FOX31 he was placed on administrative leave on April 22 and it is in the process of terminating his employment.

According to Arvada police, Martinez was arrested for the following charges:

Sexual assault on a child: position of trust  victim less than 15 and as a part of a pattern of abuse

Child abuse

The initial complaint was reported on April 22, 2024. Police said the investigation revealed probable cause for a warrant for arrest.

Martinez is currently in Jefferson County jail awaiting formal charges.

This is an active investigation and the department said it isnt releasing any further details at this time.

Police are asking anyone with information about this case or suspect to call the Arvada Police Departments tip line at 720-898-7171.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
Some so-called "dispensaries" sell delta-8 products, rather than state-regulated marijuana. (Photo by Sophie NIeto-Munoz | NJ Monitor)

New Jerseys recreational cannabis law is able to coexist with federal marijuana enforcement laws, a state appellate court said in a decision Wednesday.

Judge Jack Sabatino, writing for a three-judge panel, affirmed a lower courts ruling against a group of Highland Park residents who claimed the borough violated federal law by allowing the sale of recreational marijuana, which remains federally illegal.

At the center of the legal fight is an ordinance the council adopted in August 2021 that allowed cannabis retailers, consumption lounges, and delivery services to operate in the borough. A group of anti-cannabis residents claimed not just the ordinance, but the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance and Marketplace Modernization Act (CREAMMA), violated the federal Controlled Substances Act, New Jersey Municipal Land Use Law, and other state and federal laws.

But Sabatino said the states recreational law doesnt violate either section of the Supremacy Clause, which says state laws cannot violate federal laws.

He cited Hager v. M&K Construction, a 2021 New Jersey Supreme Court decision that found the Controlled Substances Act explicitly leaves room for state law to operate. In that case, the company was ordered to reimburse costs for a workers prescribed medical marijuana after he got injured at work. The company said if it reimbursed those costs, it could face federal criminal liability, an argument the court rejected.

The Highland Park plaintiffs argued that case doesnt apply because it focused on medical marijuana, but the Attorney Generals Office and borough officials disagreed.

Federal justice officials had advised local government officials to deprioritize prosecution of marijuana activities that are legal under state law, and Congress passed appropriations bills that barred the Department of Justice from using allocated funds to prosecute marijuana crimes in states where its legal, like New Jersey, Sabatino wrote.

If federal officials decided they wanted to pursue cases more aggressively for violating federal marijuana laws, the states law wouldnt get in the way, he said. The two can coexist simultaneously, he added.

CREAMMA does not require any person to possess, purchase, or use marijuana. The statute does not require any business to sell marijuana, or any municipality to adopt, as here, an ordinance to allow marijuana dispensaries within its borders, he said. The residents and marijuana businesses of this state act at the risk that their activities might be prosecuted by federal authorities.

Sabatino also noted the federal governments shifting tone on marijuana, saying the executive branch muddied the waters. On Tuesday, federal Drug Enforcement Administration officials confirmed they plan to reclassify marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III. (This wasnt mentioned in the decision.)

Its been over two years since recreational cannabis sales launched in New Jersey after voters approved legalizing marijuana through a 2020 ballot question. More than 100 dispensaries have opened since then, including at least one in Highland Park.

New Jerseys decision follows other state courts rulings, Sabatino said. Oklahomas high court held that the states 2020 constitutional amendment to allow recreational marijuana was not preempted by federal law. The Supreme Court of New Hampshire also ruled that statutes concerning reimbursement of the cost of medical marijuana did not conflict with the Controlled Substances Act. And most recently, a New York state court underscored Congress decision not to interfere with state marijuana laws.

We are mindful that some other state court opinions have adopted contrary approaches, but we find them less persuasive than the above cases, Sabatino wrote.

While the court affirmed the claims of preemption, the appellate court also reversed the dismissal of the complaint suing over the ordinance that a lower court had found untimely.

The trial court has 20 days to convene a case conference regarding the dismissed filing. Attorneys for the borough and the residents did not respond to requests for comment.

The post New Jerseys recreational cannabis law doesnt violate federal law, appellate court says appeared first on New Jersey Monitor.
Jewish Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) said she voted against the bill that would crack down on antisemitism on college campuses because, in her view, anti-Zionism is not inherently antisemitism, and the measure that passed through the House would stifle free speech rights.

Jacobs shared her explanation by drawing from her own experience of facing antisemitism in her personal life and adding that she is deeply concerned about its rise around the nation.

As a Jewish woman, Ive experienced antisemitism all my life, Jacobs said in a statement following the bills passage in the lower chamber. Ive been called a kike while I was waiting for a drink at a bar when I was at college. Ive heard too many jokes to count about my frizzy hair and my big nose.

I remember my classmates who thought it was funny to say people were being Jewed when someone was being frugal, she continued. I know the hatred and ignorance that lie behind all these comments, and how they can quickly escalate into violence  and Im deeply concerned about the rise of antisemitism in San Diego and across the country.

The California Democrat said she supports Israels right to exist but that she knows many who question that and are deeply tied to Judaism.

But I do not believe that anti-Zionism is inherently antisemitism. I support Israels right to exist, but I also know many people who question whether Israel should exist as a Jewish state who are deeply connected to their Judaism, Jacobs said.

She, along with 69 Democrats, voted against the Antisemitism Awareness Act. The bill would require the Department of Education, when applying antidiscrimination laws, to utilize the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances (IHRA) definition of antisemitism. The bill would codify the measures definition of antisemitism, and all institutions that receive federal funding would be obligated to comply.

The IHRA definition of it antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.

The bill passed with a 320-91 vote. The 70 Democrats were joined by 21 Republicans in opposing the measure that now heads to the Senate.

The bills passage comes as pro-Palestine protests have taken place on college campuses around the country, with some of the expression skewing toward antisemitism.

Jacobs said the bill does not effectively tackle the spike in antisemitism and restricts First Amendment rights.

Today, I voted against H.R. 6090, because it fails to effectively address the very real rise of antisemitism, all while defunding colleges and universities across the country and punishing many, if not all, of the non-violent protestors speaking out against the Israeli militarys conduct, she said.

Conflating free speech and hate crimes will not make Jewish students any safer, she continued. This bill would stifle First Amendment rights to free speech and free assembly. And it would distract from real antisemitism and our efforts to address it.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Although hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 remain low, the coronavirus has hardly disappeared

First lady Jill Biden speaks at a COVID-19 vaccination clinic for kids in Washington, D.C., in 2021. (Leah Millis/Reuters)

When the White House announced on Monday evening that first lady Jill Biden had tested positive for COVID-19, it was a reminder that, as much as Americans want to put the pandemic completely behind them, the coronavirus continues to circulate  and is doing so more aggressively now than it has in months, with new Omicron subvariants becoming more prolific throughout the summer.

For most people, the virus is not as terrifying or as deadly as it was three years ago, but it is still potent enough to make people sick for several days and disrupt their plans.

Read more via Yahoo Life: Can at-home COVID tests detect new variants Eris and Pirola? Heres what experts say.

White House hunkers down

President Joe Biden receives an updated COVID-19 vaccine as he backs a new plan for Americans to receive booster shots and vaccinations in 2022. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

In the summer of 2022, President Biden contracted COVID-19 for the first time. Because he was fully vaccinated and was being carefully monitored by White House physicians, he experienced only mild symptoms and recovered quickly.

First lady Jill Biden also tested positive at the time  and didnt get seriously sick. Since then, the Bidens have generally lived as if COVID-19 were behind them, traveling extensively and hosting large indoor gatherings.

President Biden allowed the COVID-19 national emergency to end last spring, a move decried by some public health professionals.

Now, the administration is intent on demonstrating that a high-profile infection like the first ladys is not a reason for alarm. We know that weve made historic progress in this nation, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Tuesday to reporters, who peppered her with questions about the presidents own status.

Read more on Yahoo Life: New poll finds only 12% of Americans typically wear a mask in public

Biden is negative (so far)

President Joe Biden walks in the Rose Garden as he returns from COVID-19 isolation to work in the Oval Office in 2022. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

Jean-Pierre said that Biden tested negative for COVID-19 on both Monday evening and on Tuesday. The president is expected to travel to India later this week for the G20 summit, but a coronavirus infection would obviously disrupt those plans.

During Tuesdays briefing, Jean-Pierre said that as a precaution, Biden would wear a mask for the first time in months  and would continue to get tested. He will be masking while indoors and around people, she said. Overall, she sought to project a sense of stability, despite the possibility of new infections in the White House.

We know how to move forward, Jean-Pierre told reporters. In essence, the White House believes that with masks, vaccines and tests widely available, Americans can take as many  or as few  precautions as they want.

Read more via Yahoo News: There will be a new COVID vaccine this fall, but will people get it?



Summer ends with miniwave

A sign advertises COVID-19 vaccine shots at a Walgreens pharmacy in Somerville, Mass., in August. (Brian Snyder/Reuters)

For the most part, Americans have sought to leave the pandemic in the past. By 2023, masking had become an increasingly rare practice. Vaccination and booster rates had flatlined. When the public health and national emergency both ended last spring, it seemed that the nation was finally done with the coronavirus.

But recent weeks have seen hospitalizations rise consistently nationwide, a trend that indicates something of a miniwave, driven by the new Pirola subvariant of Omicron, also known scientifically as BA.2.86.

The recent spike, however, may be nothing more than the new post-pandemic normal, with the coronavirus continuing to periodically show up.

This is what living with COVID is going to look like, Mark Woolhouse, an epidemiology professor at the University of Edinburgh, told Yahoo News.

Read more via Rolling Stone: Metallica Postpone Arizona Show as COVID Has Caught Up With James Hetfield
Joe Biden Responds To Campus Unrest: Theres The Right To Protest, But Not The Right To Cause Chaos

President Joe Biden weighed in on the unrest on college campuses as a wave of pro-Palestinian demonstrations has led to mass arrests, vandalism and some violent incidents, saying in brief remarks that order must prevail.

Theres the right to protest, but not the right to cause chaos, Biden said from the Roosevelt Room.

More from Deadline

The president had been urged to make some kind of statement after weeks of demonstrations. In recent days, the occupation of a building at Columbia University and an encampment at UCLA have dominated press coverage.

The White House has grappled with a response to divisions on the left, with Palestinian and Arab Americans protesting Bidens support for Israel in the aftermath of the Hamas terrorist attack. That has raised doubts about Bidens ability to hold the Democratic coalition that helped him win the White House in 2020. Demonstrators have referred to the president as genocide Joe.

Asked after his remarks if the protests have led him to reconsider his position on the Israel-Hamas war, Biden said, No. He also said he did not believe the National Guard should be called in to quell the unrest.

The protests have been seized upon by Donald Trump as a sign that Bidens presidency has created chaos in the country, adding to other issues like the border.

In his speech, Biden said that in moments like this there are always those who run in to score political points.

But this isnt a moment for politics. Its one for clarity. So let me be clear  violent protest is not protected. Peaceful protest is.

Its against the law when violence occurs. Destroying property is not a peaceful protest. Its against the law. Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations. None of this is a peaceful protest.

He added, Threatening people, intimidating people, instilling fear in people is not a peaceful protest. Its against the law. Dissent is essential to democracy, but dissent must never lead to disorder or denying the rights of others so students can finish their semester and their college education. The protests have led some universities to cancel events, including graduation ceremonies.

Biden also said that there should be no place on any campus, no place in America for anti-semitism and threats of violence against Jewish students. There is no place for hate speech or violence of any kind, whether it is anti-semitism, Islamophobia or discrimination against Arab Americans or Palestinian. It is simply wrong. There is no place for racism in America.

President Biden on college campus protests: "There's the right to protest, but not the right to chaos." pic.twitter.com/wtmvjOrLWH  CSPAN (@cspan) May 2, 2024

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John Fetterman named to TIMEs 100 most influential individuals in health

John Fetterman named to TIMEs 100 most influential individuals in health

(WHTM)  Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman has been listed among TIMEs 100 most influential people in health.

The senator was selected, the magazine says, for the handling of his own struggles with mental health and disability while in the public eye.

It was a private struggle that threatened to overshadow his political journey, yet Fetterman chose to confront it head-on, defying the stigma surrounding mental health and disability in the political arena, TIME magazine

Fettermans public health struggles entered the national spotlight in May 2022, when he suffered a major stroke while he was campaigning for Senate.

As he recovered and continued campaigning in subsequent months, Fetterman brought disability rights to the forefront of national conversation.

During abc27s October 2022 Pennsylvania Senate Debate against Republican candidate Mehmet Oz, Fetterman requested a few accommodations, including closed captioning.

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Months later, on February 15, 2023, Fettermans health made headlines again when he checked in to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland to receive treatment for clinical depression.

The senator later said publicly that he thought the move would end his political career.

Since seeking treatment, Fetterman has continued to advocate in interviews and at public events for those struggling with mental health to get the help they need.

Fetterman responds to 2028 presidential questions, says hes off X

At the 2024 Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg, he notably spoke to visitors about the importance of mental health.

Among the Time 100 Health honorees were Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman, the University of Pennsylvania scientists who saw the potential of RNA that led to the COVID-19 vaccines.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27.
Speaker Mike Johnson is zeroing in on the wave of pro-Palestinian protests that have rocked college campuses across the country as he looks to unify his fractured House Republican conference that has been bitterly splintered for months  all while exposing divisions within the House Democratic caucus.

Johnson, who is poised to face a referendum on his rookie speakership as soon as next week, has used the weight of the speakers office to launch a multi-faceted investigation into the tense clashes at American universities. That includes tapping committee chairs to beef up oversight of federal funding for schools; hatching plans to haul in college presidents for hearings; exploring additional legislation to address antisemitism; and dispatching key Republicans to visit campus encampments and demonstrations.

With multiple committees involved in the effort, Johnson is coordinating the work behind the scenes and making the House-wide investigation a new focal point of the GOP agenda, which has largely been stalled over the past few months.

Those plans started to come into sharper focus on Monday when the Louisiana Republican huddled with his leadership team and key committee chairs to discuss how they could expand their current probes, delineate the work across multiple committees and plan a press conference to roll out the new effort, according to multiple senior Republican sources.

It is morally the right thing to do to call it out, Johnson, who visited Columbia University last week, said of the new investigation on Wednesday.

The effort could not only shore up much-needed support for Johnson inside his fractured conference  which has struggled to pass even basic procedural votes and messaging bills  but could also appeal to key voter constituencies, including moderates, independents and suburban parents, ahead of the November elections.

And there are already signs that Republicans are looking to capitalize on the issue this fall: The House GOPs campaign arm cut a new digital ad this week tying Democrats to the chaotic scenes on college campuses and accusing them of not doing enough to protect Jewish students from some of the instances of antisemitism flaring up at protests.

Anti-Israel protests on college campuses threaten Jewish students, says the ad, which was shared first with CNN. And extreme House Democrats refuse to condemn it.

But the partys effort to make the fight against antisemitism front and center to the GOP legislative agenda, as well as in their campaign and messaging platforms, comes as Republicans have struggled with rhetoric from some of their own members.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who pushed anti-Muslim and antisemitic comments before she was elected to Congress, recently invoked an antisemitic trope while discussing her opposition to the bipartisan antisemitism bill, while former President Donald Trump hosted White nationalist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes at his Mar-a-Lago estate in 2022.

And Republicans, as well as Democrats, were not completely unified on Wednesday when 133 Democrats joined 187 Republicans in voting for the Antisemitism Awareness Act. The bill would mandate that when the Department of Education enforces federal anti-discrimination laws it uses a definition of antisemitism put forward by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.

While supporters of the legislation say it will help combat antisemitism on college campuses, opponents argue it overreaches and threatens to chill free speech. Twenty-one Republicans and 70 Democrats voted against it.

Some Democrats see the new investigative effort into college campuses and Johnsons recent visit to Columbia University as a divisive political ploy.

Mike Johnson went to the Columbia campus and it seemed designed to try to somehow make Democrats seem antisemitic and, you know, make the president come out and speak about this, House Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal told CNN.

We have constant resolutions that are not trying to get us all on the same page about something we should agree on, which is condemning antisemitism, but usually designed in a way that will divide, the Washington state Democrat added. It seems to me that the biggest threat to antisemitism is leaders who try to divide the country on antisemitism instead of uniting us.

Launching an initiative to crack down on antisemitism on college campuses also marks a key shift away from another top GOP investigative target: the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. Without the evidence or consensus to impeach, that Republican-led investigation is stalled, with even House Oversight Chair James Comer ready to end his work.

I see him much more out front on this issue, GOP Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan said of Johnsons work on the college campus probe compared to his role on the Biden impeachment inquiry.

A senior GOP aide told CNN Johnsons approach to both probes will be the same: letting the facts dictate where the committees go.

A high priority for him

Within an hour after his tense press conference at Columbia University, Johnson was on the phone with the White House trying to schedule a time to speak with Biden about what he had seen of the growing encampment of students and to urge the president to visit himself, a senior Republican aide told CNN.

Ive encouraged him to go and see it for himself, Johnson relayed to reporters on Tuesday about his eventual conversation with Biden.

As the House returned to Washington this week, Johnson was meeting with his leadership team and key Republican committee chairs to coordinate the multi-faceted investigation and unveil their plans with a press conference.

While the House Education and Workforce Committee had already been conducting oversight of how colleges are addressing antisemitism following Hamas attack on Israel in October, Johnson decided to elevate the issue to a conference-wide focus after his recent trip to Columbia.

Clearly its a very high priority for him, GOP Rep. Frank Lucas of Oklahoma, the chairman of the House Science Committee, told CNN. Whatever happened at Columbia made a real impression on him.

House Education Chairwoman Virginia Foxx of North Carolina announced this week that she has invited top officials from Yale University, the University of California Los Angeles, and the University of Michigan to testify before her panel later this month to discuss their handling of these most recent outrages and has made multiple document demands from various universities.

House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, who sits on the Education panel, is also expected to play a prominent role in the effort. After her December grilling of a trio of university presidents went viral and led to two of them resigning, the New York Republican posted what was a record fundraising haul at the time for her  with some Jewish Democratic donors contributing to the congresswoman.

The other prongs of the House GOP probe will include Judiciary Republicans investigating student visas; Oversight Committee Republicans looking into the money behind the protest groups; Science Committee Republicans probing whether schools that receive science grants are in compliance; and Ways and Means Republicans scrutinizing the tax status of universities.

I will go where we are needed. We felt like there was a vacuum of leadership there and that it was an important moment for us as the House, for the speaker of the House who represents the whole body to speak with clarity, conviction and consistency about what this is, Johnson told reporters on Tuesday about how he sees his role in this unfolding conflict.

House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan of Ohio described Johnsons motivations behind launching this broad investigation: I think it helps the country and thats why he is doing it. I mean, he is showing leadership.

The day after the probe was launched, Comer announced a hearing on Washington DCs response to encampments on college campuses and went to visit an encampment at George Washington University where he was met by protesters who chanted over his remarks.

While the Kentucky Republican told CNN the encampment appears to be peaceful, he said he has heard from many Jewish students who do not feel safe and declared the protesters as trespassing.

You have a right to protest, I respect that and we all respect the First Amendment. The problem is you dont have the right to trespass, you dont have the right to intimidate and that is why we are here today, Comer added.

As Comer made his way through the crowd, one protester shouted, We dont want you here, while another shot back, We absolutely want you here.

CNNs Haley Talbot contributed to this report.

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NAIROBI, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Fertilizer consumption in Africa has risen to 18 kilograms per hectare (kg/ha) from 8 kg/ha in 2006, but is still below the target of 50 kg/ha, the African Union (AU) said on Thursday.

Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko, commissioner for agriculture, rural development, blue economy and sustainable environment (ARBE) at the AU Commission, said that despite producing around 30 million metric tons of mineral fertilizer annually, many African countries still heavily rely on imports, particularly non-phosphate-based fertilizers, leaving them vulnerable to market shocks.

"As a result, African soils have reached a tipping point with low levels of soil organic matter and nutrient stocks," Sacko said during a virtual media briefing held in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, on the upcoming Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit that is scheduled to take place on May 7-9.

Sacko said that the optimized use of mineral and organic fertilizers, along with complementary inputs, can drive higher productivity, profitability, soil health improvement, and climate resilience.

In June 2006, the African heads of state and governments endorsed the Abuja Declaration on Fertilizer for the Africa Green Revolution, to boost fertilizer use in Africa.

Paul Ronoh, principal secretary for the Kenyan Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, said that Kenya has introduced a fertilizer subsidy program aimed at increasing fertilizer usage among smallholder farmers.

Ronoh noted that Kenya seeks to provide 7 million bags (50 kg per bag) of subsidized fertilizer to farmers, in order to improve the productive capacity of the soils and enhance food and nutrition security in the country. 
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) suggested this week that he wants to remain at the top of the GOP in the next Congress despite fierce pushback from conservatives who are furious with his leadership style and want him gone at the end of the term  or even sooner.

During an interview with The Hill on NewsNation that aired Wednesday, Johnson  who won the gavel in October following the ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)  sold himself as an effective leader who deserves another two years with the gavel.

Im doing my duty, as Ive been called by my colleagues to do. Ill continue to do it as long as were effective  and I think we have been  and I have big plans for the Congress and for the country, Johnson said when asked if he wants to be Speaker again in 2025.

I think Donald Trumps gonna win the White House. I think  Republicans will retake the Senate. And Im convinced were gonna grow the House majority, he continued. We have a lot of important work to do, and Ill serve in whatever capacity my colleagues think is appropriate.

The comments from Johnson come as he finds himself in hot water with hard-line conservatives, a clash that escalated Wednesday when Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) announced she will move to force a vote on the Speakers ouster next week. Only two Republicans  Reps. Thomas Massie (Ky.) and Paul Gosar (Ariz.)  have publicly joined Greene in backing the ejection push, a meager pool of support.

House Democratic leaders, nonetheless, announced Tuesday that they would vote to table an ouster resolution targeting Johnson, a vow that is all but certain to torpedo Greenes effort.

But even if that happens, hard-liners  including those who dont support the motion to vacate  have their sights set on blocking Johnson from the top GOP leadership position next Congress, hoping his days atop the GOP conference are numbered.

Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), the chair of the Freedom Caucus who has said now is not the time to remove the Speaker, suggested that a competitive race will be underway after the November elections to select a new GOP leader.

The prudent thing is to do as much as we can to influence the best possible outcomes over the next six months to the election and then have a contest in November for Speaker, he told reporters last month.

Those supporting Greenes resolution have been even more explicit about Johnsons leadership future.

We know that Mike Johnson cant get a majority of Republicans in January, Massie said Wednesday. Even our colleagues who arent co-sponsors of this have privately admitted there is no way in hell theyre gonna vote for Mike Johnson to be Speaker in January.

Greene echoed that sentiment last month, telling reporters Johnson is definitely not going to be Speaker next Congress if were lucky enough to have the majority.

Johnsons fate will likely hinge on the outcome of Novembers elections. If Republicans pick up seats in the House, he would be in a good position to take credit and argue his claim to another term. But the support threshold for securing the Speakership  218 votes  is a high bar to meet, especially in the face of his conservative critics.

Last January, a small band of conservatives blocked McCarthy from winning the gavel during several votes, forcing the election to stretch out to 15 rounds.

Alternatively, if Republicans lose control of the House in November, Johnson would face a lower bar to winning the minority leader spot, which requires the backing of only half the conference. But defeat at the polls would also undermine his claims he should remain the party leader.

I would be willing to bet that no matter what happens in the next election, hes not coming back as either Speaker or minority leader, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) said earlier in the year as Johnson was grappling with conservatives over Ukraine aid.

Hard-line conservatives have been up in arms with Johnson after he cut a number of deals with Democrats on high-stakes legislation, including a sprawling package to fund the government, a bill to reauthorize the U.S.s warrantless surveillance powers and legislation to send foreign aid to embattled U.S. allies, including Ukraine.

Johnson has pushed back on the criticism, pointing to the challenging dynamics he has been working through  leading a slim GOP majority in a divided Washington.

I have to do my job. We have to do what we believe to be the right thing, Johnson said Tuesday. What the country needs right now is a functioning Congress. They need a Congress that works well, works together, and does not hamper its own ability to solve these problems.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
JONESBOROUGH, Tenn. (WJHL)  Marc Kovac seemed like the perfect guy to do historic renovation work in Tennessees oldest town  at least on paper.

A member of Jonesboroughs Historic Zoning Commission, recommended by one of the towns most committed historic preservationists, a carpenter skilled (supposedly) in preservation with an all-female crew to boot.

Now Kovac faces several civil complaints and, as of Tuesday, three felony theft counts for abandoning contracted jobs and theft. Two of those theft counts are for $60,000 or more but less than $250,000, which is a class B felony carrying 8 to 30 years in prison.

ETSU professors killer gets life sentence

According to a couple of people who say Kovac and his company MEK Historical Restoration left them with incomplete, badly performed work, there was no substance behind the talk.

He was recommended by someone, a historic renovation person, and yes, he had a golden tongue, said Marat Moore, who with her husband hired Kovac to help them fulfill a retirement dream: renovating a farmhouse originally built in 1849.

Marat Moore in the 175-year-old farmhouse she still hopes to live in one day. (Photo: WJHL)

We wanted to bring this back to life, Moore said, walking around the unfinished interior of the home on Spring Street about a half-mile from downtown Jonesborough. We knew this was an important piece of history in Jonesborough. There was a cooper who lived here who made barrels, and he had his industry here.

By the time Moore realized Kovac wasnt delivering as advertised, she was out a lot of money. She said hed ask for additional payment for things and shed oblige.

He robbed my retirement, thats all Ill say, Moore said.

That was after Kovac had given her what she said were three reasons to bring him on.

He was recommended by someone I respect. He had an all-woman crew and since I had worked in nontraditional work earlier in my life, that appealed to me. And he lived right in the middle of historic Jonesborough and I could not imagine anyone in the middle of town who would do this. My mistake.

I knew I wasnt alone. And we organized

Moore said she felt devastated as the reality sunk in (she listed about 80 problems with Kovacs work).

The worst hit of my life. I blamed myself. I thought I was alone.

She wasnt. She learned several people were in the same boat, including Burgin Dossett III and his wife, Laura White-Dossett.

When I learned that  a whole group of people had been damaged, although I was sorry for them it was a happy day for me because I knew I wasnt alone. And we organized.

Dossett and White-Dossett are glad they did, and they shared a similar story of someone who seemed impressive on paper and had somehow developed a great reputation in a town that takes historic preservation very seriously.

A lot of people thought that he was legitimate and was a contractor and had a lot of familiarity with historic structures, said Dossett, who is renovating a 204-year-old house right on Main Street that was last occupied by his grandmothers antique shop and stood empty for 50 years.

Several people signed their names to a letter to the Attorney General, and eventually, a Jonesborough Police Department Investigator took on the case. It turns out Kovac had also fallen short as a subcontractor on a job restoring the post office at the Mountain Home VA.

We realized the extent of the damage that he had caused, not just in Jonesborough, where the criminal case was set, but in the county and at the VA, Moore said.

We knew that simply removing him from his position at the historic zoning board would not be enough. We wanted to stop him from harming others. We care about our neighbors in Jonesborough, but beyond that, I care about what happens to other people.

Moore even remembers going to a family she knew who was on the verge of hiring Kovac and convincing them not to do it. Along with that came a lot of work cooperating with the authorities.

I had to provide many photos. We all provided significant reports to the Jonesborough Police Department and to the attorney general.

Moore said she didnt lack material, including a kitchen addition where he took the wall down to the dirt with no foundation.

He cut blind[ly] into the attic for new attic access without checking, cut the new electrical line, the new HVAC line and the branch duct, hit it, and did not inform us. That could have caused a fire. Built on rotten beams. Some studs he left the rotten beam and simply faced it off, so the stud wasnt holding up anything or providing support.

That is just three out of, I think there were 80 problems in this house.

White-Dossett said Kovac had a lot of big, interesting ideas. It seemed pretty exciting to us.

But aside from the word-of-mouth reputation and the position on historic zoning, verifiable past work included just one house in Jonesborough where he had done the kitchen cabinets, he had done the millwork and the carpentry, Dossett said. He had done a good job and we saw photos of that.

So the couple paid. They paid advances. They paid when he said Things like I need an HVAC system and its going to cost a tremendous number of dollars, and that money went to Disney World or somewhere, White-Dossett said.

She said she took note when a very experienced plasterer who was set to do their work was tossed aside by Kovac in favor of an almost completely inexperienced crew.

Dossett said the couples loss is enough to say were playing in the major leagues. Theyre getting the home finished so they can move from Nashville to be closer to their grown children, but White-Dossett said the final product wont be the same.

He deceived all the way up the line

He was so good as a con man that he deceived all the way up the line, said Moore, who at this point isnt sure shell ever have enough funds to complete the work. Of our group, two people hired him because he was on the board (Kovac has since been removed).

Moore said a feeling that Kovac, who faces a number of civil suits as well but has not been convicted of any wrongdoing, would continue to seek and get jobs was one reason the group pursued a criminal investigation.

We decided to try to stop him from harming others, she said.

In a Feb. 5 letter to the Tennessee Attorney Generals Division of Consumer Affairs, Moore wrote that the group had met with Jonesborough investigators starting in December 2023.

My goal is that no other innocent homeowner suffer as we have as a result of the fraud of Mr. Kovac.

A grand jury returned a presentment, similar to an indictment, on March 11. Kovac is charged with three counts of willful abandonment of a home improvement project, with a theft of property count included in each. The smaller is for theft of more than $10,000 and less than $60,000.

The lead investigator was so good, so responsive, so thorough, Moore said. He presented the facts of the case to the grand jury and Im extremely grateful to him.

She said shes relieved Kovac has been arrested but wouldnt say whether she thought he deserved jail time.

Thats not my decision to make. I think he is an extremely gifted con man. I trust that the system will make that decision.

Moore, who turned 70 this year, said shes learned a hard lesson.

I would like to warn other people in our area that there are these kinds of people operating; and you need to be more careful than I was, less trusting than I was, because otherwise you can sustain significant damage.

Kovac has a hearing in his criminal case scheduled for July 1. He posted a $25,000 bond within a few hours of his arrest on Thursday and was released from custody.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP)  A judge declared a mistrial Thursday after a jury said it was deadlocked and could not reach a verdict in the trial of a military contractor accused of contributing to the abuse of detainees at the Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq two decades ago.

The mistrial came in the jurys eighth day of deliberations. The deliberations went far longer than the trial itself.

Its a very difficult case, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema told lawyers in the case Wednesday afternoon, outside the jurys presence. Im not sure were going to get a verdict.

The eight-member civil jury in Alexandria deadlocked on accusations the civilian interrogators who were supplied to the U.S. Army at Abu Ghraib in 2003 and 2004 had conspired with soldiers there to abuse detainees as a means of softening them up for questioning.

The trial was the first time a U.S. jury heard claims brought by Abu Ghraib survivors in the 20 years since photos of detainee mistreatment  accompanied by smiling U.S. soldiers inflicting the abuse  shocked the world during the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

Reston, Virginia-based CACI had argued that it wasnt complicit in the detainees abuse. It said that its employees had minimal interaction with the three plaintiffs in the case and that any liability for their mistreatment belonged to the government, not CACI.

Multiple jurors told The Associated Press that a majority of the jury sided with the plaintiffs, but they declined to give an exact numerical breakdown among the eight-member panel.

The jury sent out a note Wednesday afternoon saying it was deadlocked, and indicating in particular that it was hung up on a legal principle known as the borrowed servants doctrine.

CACI, as one of its defenses, has argued it shouldnt be liable for any misdeeds by its employees if they were under the control and direction of the Army.

The plaintiffs lawyers tried to bar CACI from making that argument at trial, but Brinkema allowed the jury to consider it.

Both sides argued about the scope of the doctrine. Fundamentally, though, if CACI could prove its interrogators were under the command and control of the Army at the time any misconduct occurred, then the jury was instructed to find in favor of CACI.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs introduced as evidence CACIs contract with the Army, which required CACI to supervise its own employees. Jurors also saw a section of the Army Field Manual that pertains to contractors and states that only contractors may supervise and give direction to their employees.

In their note explaining their deadlock, the jury said the Field Manual was one of the pieces of evidence over which they disagreed.

The jurors who spoke to AP said there was conflicting evidence in the case about whether CACI retained control of its employees while they were in Abu Ghraib.

The plaintiffs can seek a retrial.

Asked if they would do so, one of their lawyers, Baher Azmy with the Center for Constitutional Rights, said that the current expectation is that well continue to fight.

The work we put in to this case is a fraction of what they endured as survivors of the horrors of Abu Ghraib, and we want to honor their courage, Azmy said.

The lawsuit was first filed in 2008 and was delayed by 15 years of legal wrangling and multiple attempts by CACI to have the case dismissed.

CACIs lawyers declined comment as they left court. A company spokesperson did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Judge denies bail to teen charged with terror-related offenses after stabbings at Sydney church

FILE - Flores sit on a fence outside the Christ the Good Shepherd church in suburban Wakely in western Sydney, Australia, on April 16, 2024. A 15-year-old boy who claimed to be a friend of a teen accused of stabbing a Sydney bishop applied Wednesday, May 1, 2024 to be released from custody on bail on a charge of planning a terrorist attack. (AP Photo/Mark Baker, File)

SYDNEY (AP)  A judge denied bail Thursday to a 15-year-old boy alleged to be in a network planning terrorist acts and who claimed to be a friend of another teen accused of stabbing a Sydney bishop last month.

The attack on the bishop triggered an investigation that led to the arrests of six teens, ages 14 to 17, who were charged last week with a range of offenses including conspiring to engage in or planning a terrorist act. All remain in custody.

The 15-year-old boys lawyer Ahmed Dib had applied for bail Wednesday in the Parramatta Childrens Court, arguing there were exceptional circumstances that required his client's release.

But Magistrate James Viney ruled such circumstances did not exist. There is an unacceptable risk to the protection of the community, Viney said.

Viney said he found the boys alleged threats to stab Jewish or Assyrian people, a predominantly Christian ethnic group native to the Middle East, and an alleged assault to be gravely concerning.

The messages clearly set up the young person wanting to do something catastrophic, Viney said.

The boy was already in custody on an assault charge when the terrorism-related charge was added Friday.

Earlier last week, he was accused of being part of group that threw rocks at a liquor store employee. The boy allegedly threw a wooden plank that narrowly missed his intended target. The boy was allegedly carrying a knife at the time.

Prosecutor Rebekah Rodger said the boy had told associates in an encrypted chat group that the 16-year-old boy accused of stabbing an Assyrian Orthodox bishop and priest on April 15 was my mate.

Later, the boy's lawyer, Dib, told reporters he would apply for bail to the New South Wales state Supreme Court.

The documents Dib had submitted as evidence of his clients special circumstances showed the boy had a history of behavioral issues, lacked confidence and had low self-esteem.

The boy propped his head up with his hand for much of the hearing as he watched on from custody via videolink, as his parents sat in court.

Viney said he had no doubt the parents were both loving and supportive of their son, and had confiscated his phone after becoming concerned by his behavior.

They are genuinely shocked as to the charges hes facing, Viney said.

At the end of the hearing, the mother left the courtroom in tears.

Police alleged the six teens arrested last week all adhered to a religiously motivated, violent extremist ideology and were part of a network that included the boy who is accused of the stabbing in the Christ the Good Shepherd Church as a service was being streamed online. Neither the bishop nor priest suffered life-threatening injuries.

The boy arrested in the stabbings was charged with committing a terrorist act four days after the attack that triggered a riot outside the church.
Karissa Bowley, widow of Dau Mabil, a 33-year-old Jackson, Miss., resident who went missing on March 25 and whose body was found in April floating in the Pearl River in Lawrence County, is hugged by her father James E. Bowley, following a hearing on whether a judge should dissolve or modify his injunction preventing the release of Mabil's remains until an independent autopsy could be conducted, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Jackson, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

JACKSON, Miss. (AP)  A Mississippi judge granted a request Thursday by the widow of a deceased man who vanished under mysterious circumstances to set standards for a future independent autopsy of her late husband's body.

Hinds County Chancery Judge Dewayne Thomas formalized through a court order comments he made at a Tuesday hearing that the body of Dau Mabil would be preserved at the Mississippi state crime lab while investigators try to shed light on what happened to the man.

Im relieved to have more of an opportunity to grieve, Karissa Bowley, Mabil's widow, told The Associated Press. Now we can get back to what we were already doing, which is trying to find out as much as we can about whatever happened to Dau.

Mabil, who lived in Jackson with Bowley, went missing in broad daylight on March 25 after going for a walk. Mabil escaped a bloody civil war in Sudan as a child and built a new life in America. His disappearance prompted an outcry from civil rights organizations and is alleged to have sparked discord between local law enforcement agencies.

A legal conflict between Bowley and Bul Mabil, the brother of Dau Mabil, began after fishermen spotted a body on April 13 floating in the Pearl River in Lawrence County, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) south of Jackson. Days later, officials confirmed the remains were those of Dau Mabil.

A sheriff said an initial state autopsy did not uncover signs of foul play, but Bul Mabil has disputed those findings. Bul Mabil filed an emergency request that an independent medical examiner examine Dau Mabils body before releasing the remains to Bowley and her family.

Bowleys attorney said her client did not oppose an additional autopsy by a qualified examiner. But she asked the court to ensure the second autopsy takes place only after law enforcement finishes investigating to preserve the integrity of the evidence on her late husbands body.

In his Thursday order, Thomas wrote that there was no case or controversy between Bul Mubil and his sister-in-law because Bowley consented to an independent autopsy and agreed to make the results public.

He also ruled that Bul Mabil lacked the standing to pursue further legal action against Bowley related to the release of Dau Mabils body. Bowley is Dau Mabils surviving spouse, giving her primary legal authority over her late husbands body, Thomas found.

Bul Mabil's attorney, Lisa Ross, said Thomas' guarantee that an independent autopsy would be performed before the release of Dau Mabil's body was a first step toward justice. But they were disappointed that Thomas removed Bul Mabil as a plaintiff in the legal dispute over his brother's body.

Dau Mabils mother, who lives in the Kakuma Refugee Camp in northern Kenya, will attempt to travel to the U.S. for her sons funeral when his body is released. But that can't happen until after the investigation and independent autopsy.

In separate interviews, Bowley and Bul Mabil said officers with the Capitol Police had not told them whether the first state autopsy had been completed.

In April, Democratic U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, whose district includes Jackson, sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland requesting a Justice Department investigation into Dau Mabils disappearance.

-

Michael Goldberg is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow him at @mikergoldberg.
Donald Trump triedand failedto lure the judge overseeing his New York criminal trial into the position of greenlighting his angry screeds to ensure they dont violate a gag order that seeks to stop him from continuing to intimidate witnesses and jurors.

The move came after Trump got slapped with $9,000 in fines and a warning of a potential stay in the slammer on Tuesday, then had to fend off the risk of an additional $4,000 in penalties Thursday morning.

After a trial lunch break, the former presidents legal team approached New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan with a curious request: If Trump keeps getting into hot water for sharing news stories about the trial but still theoretically has a First Amendment right to speak about the case in general terms, would the judge be willing to review and OK posts before he makes them?

Donald Von ShitzInPantz Diss Makes Hush-Money Trial Debut

Defense attorney Susan Necheles told the judge she had a stack of newspaper articles shed like him to perusejust to be extra sure hed be all right with Trump sharing them with his MAGA followers.

Necheles said these were all articles that President Trump would like to post on his Truth, referring to the business tycoons Orwellianly named social media network.

He has some concerns, because they do mention witnesses, prosecutors by name, she said. We think they are perfectly fine, but we think there is some ambiguity with the gag order.

Merchan wouldnt take the bait.

Shortly after Manhattan District Attorneys Office prosecutor Christopher Conroy noted how it seems odd theyre asking the court for an advance order on these things, the judge explained he wouldnt play along.

Im not going to give advanced release Im not going to be in a position to read posts, Merchan said. There is no ambiguity.

However, Necheles pressed on.I hear what you're saying, she said, describing what she sees as the challenge in trying to thread a needle that would allow Trump to keep speaking out on the 2024 presidential campaign trail while not running afoul of a gag order that forbids the politician from directly discussing witnesses he rages over, like his once-trusted consigliere Michael Cohen and the porn star Stormy Daniels.

But he simply wouldnt budge.

I'm not going to argue with you, Ms. Necheles, Merchan said. I'm not going to give you an advanced ruling on this.

With that, the judge brought the jury back into the courtroom and continued the trial with more testimony from Keith Davidson, a b-list celebrity lawyer who represented two women who struck hush-money deals with Trump and was being cross-examined by defense lawyer Emil Bove.

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A judge in California turned down an urgent plea Wednesday from John Eastman  an architect of Donald Trumps bid to subvert the 2020 election  to allow him to keep practicing law while he fights an effort to permanently revoke his license.

Judge Yvette Roland recommended Eastmans disbarment in March after finding he repeatedly breached legal ethics in service of Trumps scheme to stay in power. Though her ruling is not the final word  and Eastman plans to appeal  it triggered an automatic suspension of Eastmans license.

In recent weeks, Eastman pleaded with Roland to consider delaying the impact of her ruling, noting that his inability to practice law would disrupt several ongoing federal cases  including a lawsuit brought by Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz against two California cities that denied their request to host a political event. Eastman also represents the Colorado Republican Party in an election-related suit and a Colorado teenager suing his high school over administrators refusal to allow him to display a Gadsden flag.

In his motion, Eastman included statements from Gaetz, Greene and other clients attesting to their desire to continue being represented by Eastman despite Rolands finding of misconduct.



Eastman also noted that these cases are an important source of income for him as he fights criminal charges in Georgia, alongside Trump and 13 other co-defendants. Eastman was among 18 people charged last week by Arizona prosecutors for their roles in seeking to subvert the 2020 election as well.

Roland, however, sharply rejected Eastmans rationales for maintaining his law practice while her disbarment ruling is pending. Even if she had the authority to restore his license, the judge said, she still views him as a danger to the public, not least because he has refused to accept responsibility for any of the misconduct she said he committed.

Eastmans motion fails to demonstrate that he no longer presents a threat to the public, Roland wrote in a three-page order.

Her decision comes as Eastman has urged federal judges presiding over his other cases to hold off on terminating his involvement until he can appeal Rolands disbarment ruling.
A judge has tentatively rejected a major piece of the district attorneys lawsuit against the city of Sacramento regarding homeless camps, but the case can still move forward.

The lawsuit, filed in September in Sacramento Superior Court by District Attorney Thien Ho, had alleged the city was creating a public nuisance by allowing homeless camps to exist on public property. The city argued that due to separation of powers between the government and the DA, that piece should be removed. Sacramento Superior Court Judge Jill Talley tentatively sided with the city on that.

A governmental entitys decision to enforce laws that are within its authority is a matter of prosecutorial discretion, Talley wrote in a tentative ruling released Thursday afternoon. The principle of prosecutorial discretion is rooted in the separation of powers and due process clauses of our Constitution.

Talley tentatively ruled that the piece that claims the city is violating the state Fish and Game Code by allowing the homeless to pollute creeks can remain in the suit, meaning the case will proceed on that ground only.

The city has failed to establish that it is not subject to liability under section 5650.1 (of state law), the tentative ruling stated.

A hearing on the judges tentative ruling is scheduled for Friday morning, during which Talley is expected to issue a final ruling after hearing arguments from both sides.

DA spokeswoman Shelly Orio stated on Thursday, The District Attorneys Office believes that the first amended complaint was valid and in full compliance with the law. After the court hearing tomorrow, we will have further comment.

City spokesman Tim Swanson did not immediately return emails seeking comment on the tentative ruling. Mayor Darrell Steinberg, through a spokeswoman, declined comment until the ruling is final.

Ho did not include the allegations about the Fish and Game Code violations in his original lawsuit in September, but added it in an amended complaint in December. The creeks that are on city property, such as Morrison Creek, flow to the Sacramento and American rivers, the lawsuit points out.

The county, which is in charge of large sections of the American River Parkway, where thousands of unhoused people camp on the river banks, is not named as a defendant in the complaint.

City officials have disputed the claims, saying under its interpretation of the 2018 U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Martin v. Boise ruling, the city cant legally move people off public property unless theres a shelter bed to offer them. The citys roughly 1,300 shelter beds are all typically full, with a wait list topping 2,400. The city has cleared people off certain public properties when they have fully blocked sidewalks or fire station entrances, or are near schools  places where its ordinances prohibit camping.

City Attorney Susana Alcala Wood has accused Ho of suing the city because he plans to run for attorney general, possibly against Steinberg  an allegation Ho has denied.

Ho will now have a chance to amend the complaint, which could mean reintroducing the public nuisance claims in a different way.
Jury convicts KY man in 2020 murder after three hours of deliberations

A jury convicted a Lexington man of all counts against him in connection to suffocating Lexington woman Ava Creech and hiding her body in a closet.

All parties agreed the evidence against 54-year-old William Parker Bill Brown was circumstantial  indirect evidence  but a jury decided Thursday afternoon it was enough to convict him after three hours of deliberations.

Brown was found guilty of murder, receiving stolen property and being a felon in possession of a handgun.

He did not react when the verdict was read.

Sometimes you dont have all the pieces, Assistant Commonwealth Attorney James Judge said during closing statements. But the question isnt whether you have all the pieces; it is whether or not you can tell by looking all the pieces, that you can tell what happened.

Prosecutors said Creech, 62, died September 11, 2020, but her body wasnt found by police until October 2 in her apartment closet. Creech had been bound with duct tape and had paper towels shoved down her throat.

Her cause of death was ruled as asphyxiation and blunt force trauma.

During closing statements on Thursday morning, Judge presented a bulleted list and related timeline which he said confirms Browns guilt.

Brown was found with Creechs pills in his possession after her death. Brown was driving Creechs car. Prosecutors allege he attempted to toss her keys in the woods and that he pawned Creechs jewelry.

Judge said the biggest proof of guilt was duct tape that tested positive for Creechs blood and Browns DNA.

For Dan Parker, Browns attorney, there were innocent explanations to all of the prosecutors claims.

Parker said Creech had a habit of falling asleep smoking with her apartment door open, so it was possible anyone could have come inside to harm or attack her.

Regarding the duct tape, Parker said Brown helped Creech box up her things to prepare for a bed bug exterminator, which is how his DNA got on the roll.

Brown took the stand Wednesday afternoon and denied any involvement in Creechs murder. His demeanor on the stand was calm, relaxed and conversational.

Not only was there an abundance of innocent explanations, Parker argued, but there were more questions left than answers, which cast a shadow of reasonable doubt on the commonwealths claims.

Parker said prosecutors witnesses were unreliable, evidence wasnt tested and other suspects werent investigated by police. One such example was a hammer found at the scene that was consistent with the trauma on Creechs head. Police opted not to send this evidence for testing.

There are way more questions than answers, Parker said. In this country when you are accused of a crime, it is not your job to prove your innocence.

The job of doing the proving, is from those who do the accusing.

Browns case began Monday. The jury began deliberating at 11 a.m. Thursday.
SHENZHEN, May 2 (Xinhua) -- A ro-ro ship under the name "BYD EXPLORER NO.1," first of BYD's "shipping fleet" with another seven transport ships under construction, set sail from Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, and arrived at the port of Bremerhaven, Germany, in late February.

More than 3,000 new energy vehicles (NEVs) manufactured by the Chinese NEV giant were unloaded.

BYD EXPLORER NO.1 is the epitome of the rapid development of China's auto industry and the continuous advancement of globalization in recent years, and it is also a portrayal of the advanced cooperation between China and Germany in automobiles.

For a long time, China has been the world's largest auto market for German auto companies such as Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, as well as an important global production and research and development (R&D) base. In recent years, Chinese cars have developed rapidly with electrification, constantly enriching global supply and expanding cooperation in Sino-German auto industry.

On Aug. 1, 2022, BYD announced a partnership with Hedin Mobility, a leading European dealership group, successfully introducing multiple NEV models into Germany, marking a promising start to localized operations. As of now, BYD has established stores in 23 cities across Germany, where consumers can test drive and purchase vehicles in cities like Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Cologne.

Furthermore, BYD has signed cooperation agreements with SIXT, a leading German car rental company, which will procure at least 100,000 new energy vehicles from BYD in six years. Additionally, BYD inked a global strategic cooperation agreement with Shell to jointly enhance the charging experience for BYD's European users.

According to Motor1.com, an automobile news website in Europe, there was a major change in the European auto market in 2023 as a result of the rise of Chinese auto brands.

On the basis of 23 Chinese car brands, the year 2023 saw another seven new brands enter the European market. Chinese brand cars registered in Europe reached 322,000, an increase of 79 percent, and its market share reached a record 2.6 percent.

A BYD spokesperson said that the company's performance in the German market is steadily improving, receiving positive affirmation from local mainstream media regarding product innovation design, excellent driving performance, and the safety of blade battery technology, along with enthusiastic feedback from consumers.

The European market, including Germany, is nurturing the growth of the Chinese auto industry while the Chinese market continues to provide a critical platform for the globalization of the German auto industry. The bilateral cooperation between the two countries' automotive sectors has entered a new phase.

On April 11, the Volkswagen Group said that it would invest 2.5 billion euros (around 2.68 billion U.S. dollars) to further expand the production and innovation center in the eastern Chinese city of Hefei, reinforcing its local research and development capabilities. They also plan to manufacture two Volkswagen brand models co-developed with Xpeng Motors, with the first model being a mid-size SUV scheduled for production in 2026.

BMW is confident in China's economic prospects and intends to scale up its investment in the country, said BMW Chairman Oliver Zipse in a statement.

For 30 years, BMW has been deeply rooted in China, benefiting from free trade and China's opening-up policy, he said.

Over the past three years, BMW's R&D team in China has tripled in size, now boasting over 3,000 talents in software development, autonomous driving, UI/UX design development, and participating in projects such as the BMW New Generation Models.

Chairman of the board of management of Mercedes-Benz Group Ola Kallenius also expressed his welcome toward China's continued pursuit of high-level opening up and optimism about the potential of the Chinese market.

"We will continue to invest in China, strengthen cooperation with our Chinese partners, promote electrification as well as digital transformation, and continue to contribute to Germany-China economic and trade cooperation," he said.

Sino-German automotive industries have been increasingly complementing each other. Notably, two of the largest shareholders of the Mercedes-Benz Group are Beijing Automotive Group from China, and Li Shufu, Chairman of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group. Geely is also the parent company of Swedish luxury carmaker Volvo.

In addition, the Volkswagen Group has been increasingly relying on large Chinese battery companies like Gotion High-Tech in battery development and manufacturing.

Fu Bingfeng, executive vice president and secretary general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said that the automobile industry is a typical global industry. With the improvement in China's automobile production standards, Chinese vehicles, in the process of 'going global,' have brought new technologies, low-carbon products, and concepts to international consumers. Concurrently, Chinese automakers establishing factories overseas and configuring supply chains have also contributed to the socioeconomic development of local communities. 
Kamala Harris parents, Shyamala Gopalan and Donald J. Harris, met as students at UC Berkeley

Kamala Harris/Facebook Kamala Harris poses for a photo with her mother Shyamala Gopalan Harris.

Kamala Harris parents, Donald J. Harris and Dr. Shyamala Gopalan, came to the United States to pursue their dreams  but never envisioned a future where their daughter would one day become vice president.

Over 60 years ago, Donald and Shyamala arrived in Northern California to study at the University of California, Berkeley. They had grown up on opposite sides of the world  Donald in Jamaica and Shyamala in India  but crossed paths thanks to their shared interest in civil rights.

The pair first met in 1962 while attending a study group for Black students, and their connection was instant, according to The New York Times. Just a year later, they were married. The couple welcomed daughter Kamala in 1964, followed by daughter Maya in 1967.

Related: All About Kamala Harris' Sister Maya Harris

While Kamalas parents pursued their careers after graduation  relocating to the Midwest where Donald landed his first teaching job  their marriage faltered, and by 1972, they filed for divorce. Shyamala moved back to Northern California and took on the primary responsibility of raising their children  and became the most influential person in Kamalas life.

Shyamala died of colon cancer in 2009, but Kamala still speaks of her fondly. After she was elected vice president in 2020, Kamala thanked her mother, crediting Shyamala with her success in her victory speech.

To the woman most responsible for my presence here today, my mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, who is always in our hearts, she said. When she came here from India at the age of 19, she maybe didn't quite imagine this moment, but she believed so deeply in an America where a moment like this is possible.

Now that Kamala has secured the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination after President Joe Biden announced his departure from the race, she hopes to continue honoring her family's legacy. While accepting her nomination at the 2024 Democratic National Convention on Aug. 22, Kamala spoke again about how her mother inspired her and her sister to work for positive change. Donald was not in attendance at the event.

"She taught Maya and me a lesson ... she taught us to never complain about injustice, but do something about it," the vice president said.

Heres everything to know about Kamala Harris parents, Donald J. Harris and Dr. Shyamala Gopalan Harris.

They met while studying at the University of California, Berkeley

Kamala Harris/Facebook Kamala Harris as a child and her mother Shyamala Gopalan Harris.

Donald and Shyamala were born across the globe from each other but met by chance when they were both studying at UC Berkeley.

Shyamala was raised in India, and at the time, there was little opportunity for women who wanted to study science. She applied to UC Berkeley to pursue a degree in biochemistry and her dreams of curing cancer. Despite never having left India, her father agreed to pay for her first year of tuition using some of his retirement savings, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Donald grew up in Jamaica  before the country gained independence from the U.K.  and had attended British-run schools all his life. By the time he decided to pursue a doctorate in economics, he was looking for something different and was drawn to the U.S., which appeared to be a lively and evolving dynamic of a racially and ethnically complex society, he recalled to The New York Times.

When Donald and Shyamala arrived on campus around the same time, they joined a Black students study group, later known as the Afro-American Association. Although Shyamala was not Black, she grew up as a British colonial subject in India and as a person of color, and members told The New York Times that she was accepted as part of the group.

During one of these meetings, Donald and Shyamala crossed paths for the first time. After he gave a speech about growing up under British colonial power in Jamaica, she introduced herself.

This was all very interesting to me, and, I daresay, a bit charming. At a subsequent meeting, we talked again, and at the one after that. The rest is now history, he told the outlet.

Donald and Shyamala married in 1963

Kamala Harris/Facebook Kamala Harris' parents Shyamala Gopalan Harris and Donald Harris.

After meeting for the first time, Donald quickly became Shyamalas first-ever boyfriend. While she had initially planned to return to India after finishing school, things changed when the couple tied the knot only a year later.

I came to study at UC Berkeley. I never came to stay. Its the old story: I fell in love with a guy, we got married, pretty soon kids came, Shyamala told SF Weekly in 2003.

They were involved in the Civil Rights Movement

Kamala Harris Instagram Kamala Harris' mother Shyamala Gopalan Harris.

As their relationship blossomed, the couple became involved in the Civil Rights Movement. In fact, Donald was convinced that he needed to attend UC Berkeley because he had read about student activists on campus who were fighting for civil rights. Through the years, Donald and Shyamala took part in marches and protests and shared their stories around the school.

In a speech at the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Kamala said that her parents fell in love in that most American way  while marching together for justice in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.

After starting a family, Donald and Shyamala continued their involvement in the movement. They took Kamala to events, with the vice president later sharing that they gave her a strollers-eye view of people getting into what the great John Lewis called good trouble  on the streets of Oakland and Berkeley.

My parents marched and shouted in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Its because of them and the folks who also took to the streets to fight for justice that I am where I am," Kamala wrote on Instagram in 2020. "They laid the path for me, as only the second Black woman ever elected to the United States Senate."

Shyamala was a prominent breast cancer researcher

After Shyamala earned a doctorate in nutrition and endocrinology from UC Berkeley, she became a distinguished breast cancer researcher.

According to her obituary published in the San Francisco Chronicle, she began her career conducting research at the schools zoology department and its cancer research lab. She published numerous notable research papers and spent time at many of the top research institutions in the U.S. and around the world.

Shyamala worked at the University of Illinois, the University of Wisconsin and abroad in France and Italy. She spent 16 years at McGill Universitys Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research at the Jewish General Hospital in Canada. During the last decade of her work, she returned to UC Berkeley to conduct research within the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

During her career, Shyamala made substantial contributions to the field of hormones and breast cancer and received numerous honors. The cancer advocacy organization Breast Cancer Action wrote that her work transformed the medical establishments understanding of the hormone-responsiveness of breast tissue.

She was also a National Institutes of Health peer reviewer and served on the Presidents Special Commission on Breast Cancer.

Donald is a professor emeritus of economics at Stanford University

Kamala Harris/Facebook Kamala Harris' father Donald Harris holding her as an infant.

Following Donalds graduation from UC Berkeley in 1966, he became an economics professor. He worked at several universities in the Midwest before returning to Northern California to work at Stanford University.

While he was only scheduled to stay at the university for two years as a visiting professor, students campaigned for the department to make more of a commitment to radical political economics. Donald, who was described as a Marxian economist by The Stanford Daily in 1974, was asked to remain at the school as a full-time professor in 1975.

Donald went on to teach at Stanford for more than two decades, during which he traveled around the world. He served as an associate fellow and a faculty fellow at Cambridge University and as a visiting professor at Yale University, among others. In 1998, Donald retired from his job at Stanford and retained the title of professor emeritus.

Throughout his career, Donald was also involved in policy work in his native Jamaica. He served as an economics policy consultant to the countrys government and an economics adviser to multiple Jamaican prime ministers. In 2021, he was honored with the Order of Merit, Jamaicas third-highest honor, for his outstanding contributions to national development, according to the Jamaica Observer.

In addition to his other honors, Donald has published numerous academic papers and books, including Jamaica's Export Economy: Towards a Strategy of Export-led Growth and A Growth-Inducement Strategy for Jamaica in the Short and Medium Term.

They welcomed two daughters

Kamala Harris/Twitter Kamala Harris with mom Shyamala Gopalan Harris and sister Maya Harris.

Donald and Shyamala welcomed their first child, Kamala, on Oct. 20, 1964, in Oakland, Calif. A few years later, they celebrated the arrival of their daughter, Maya, on Jan. 30, 1967, in ChampaignUrbana, Ill.

While talking to PEOPLE in September 2024, Maya spoke about Kamala and their childhood.

"We were raised by people who instilled in us values of faith, community, and collective responsibility," she said.

"I think when you understand the values we were taught and the community we were raised in, its not hard then to understand why Kamala says the things that she says, but more importantly, has her entire life fought for the things shes fought for. Because she knows personally what it means," Maya continued.

Donald and Shyamala divorced in 1972

When Kamala was nearly 5 years old, she knew her parents marriage was ending. Donald was teaching at Northwestern University in Illinois and when he was hired at the University of Wisconsin, Shyamala moved back to Northern California with their two children before the couple divorced in 1972.

In her 2019 memoir, The Truths We Hold, Kamala wrote that she knew even as a child that her parents loved each other very much, but it seemed like they had become like oil and water.

Had they been a little older, a little more emotionally mature, maybe the marriage could have survived. But they were so young, she wrote.

Shyamala went on to raise Kamala and Maya mostly on her own. In her vice presidential nomination acceptance speech, Kamala said her mother worked around the clock to make it work  packing their lunches in the early morning and helping them with homework when she returned from work.

As she was far from family, members of their community rallied around her, many of whom she had originally met through the Afro-American Association. One former classmate introduced Shyamala to his aunt, Regina Shelton, who became a huge part of Kamalas life.

Kamala referred to Shelton as her second mother" in her 2020 Democratic National Convention speech, and when the politician took the oath of office to become Californias attorney general, she laid her hand on Sheltons Bible, she told PopSugar.

While Kamala and Maya were primarily raised by their mother, they saw their father on weekends and during the summer after he moved back to Northern California to work at Stanford.

They often traveled with their children around the world

Kamala Harris/Twitter Kamala Harris and her sister Maya Harris pose for a photo as children.

Throughout her childhood, Kamala visited different countries with her family. Before the divorce, Donald brought Kamala and Maya to his native Jamaica to engage in life there in all its richness and complexity, a memory he recalled fondly in an essay for Jamaica Global Online.

The economist shared details about one of their trips to Orange Hill, Jamaica, in 1970. We trudged through the cow dung and rusted iron gates, up-hill and down-hill, along narrow unkempt paths, to the very end of the family property, all in my eagerness to show to the girls the terrain over which I had wandered daily for hours as a boy, Donald wrote.

Following the divorce, Shyamala ensured the girls had a culturally enriched life, often bringing them home to India and destinations around Europe. In India, Kamala spent time with family and joined her maternal grandfather, P.V. Gopalan, to discuss politics with his friends.

I remember the stories that they would tell and the passion with which they spoke about the importance of democracy, she said during a speech at the education nonprofit Pratham USAs New York Gala in 2018.

Kamala continued, As I reflect on those moments in my life that have had the most impact on who I am today  I wasnt conscious of it at the time  but it was those walks on the beach with my grandfather in Besant Nagar that had a profound impact on who I am today.

Shyamala died in 2009

Maya Harris Instagram Kamala harris with her mom, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, and her sister Maya Harris.

Shyamala died at the age of 70 of colon cancer on Feb. 11, 2009.

As she was not able to fulfill her "dying wish" of returning home to India after receiving her diagnosis the year prior, Kamala scattered her mothers ashes in the ocean near her mothers hometown, according to The New York Times.

Though I miss her every day, I carry her with me wherever I go, Kamala wrote in her memoir, an excerpt of which was published in The New York Times. I think of the battles she fought, the values she taught me, her commitment to improve health care for us all."

She added, "There is no title or honor on earth Ill treasure more than to say I am Shyamala Gopalan Harriss daughter.

Kamala has called her mother one of the greatest inspirations in her life

Kamala Harris Instagram Kamala Harris and her mom Shyamala Gopalan Harris.

As Kamala was primarily raised by her mother, she had a profound impact on her life. The vice president has often referenced Shyamala in speeches and on social media, once calling her mother the greatest source of inspiration in my life.

In her 2020 DNC nomination acceptance speech, Kamala reflected on all the values that her mother instilled in her.

My mother instilled in my sister, Maya, and me the values that would chart the course of our lives," Kamala said. "She raised us to be proud, strong Black women, and she raised us to know and be proud of our Indian heritage. She taught us to put family first  the family youre born into and the family you choose."

She continued, Even as she taught us to keep our family at the center of our world, she also pushed us to see a world beyond ourselves. She taught us to be conscious and compassionate about the struggles of all people. To believe public service is a noble cause and the fight for justice is a shared responsibility. That led me to become a lawyer, a district attorney, attorney general and a United States Senator."

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KANSAS CITY, Mo.  A Jackson County jury convicted a Kansas City man in the August 2022 deadly shooting of Leslie Taylor in Blue Hills Park in Kansas City.

A news release from the Jackson County Prosecutors Office says a jury found Timothy Green, 61, guilty of second-degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon and two counts of armed criminal action.

1 dead, 2 fighting for life after overnight shooting in Kansas City, Kansas

Green will be sentenced on June 28 by a Jackson County judge.

According to court records, Kansas City police went to 53rd and Brooklyn Avenue in Blue Hills Park on a reported shooting. Officers found the victim upon arrival, who was later identified as Taylor.

Witnesses told police that they saw Green shoot Taylor. One witness stated that Taylor and Green had been in an argument over money.

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Later, Green told police that Taylor had been following and harassing him for weeks. A witness told police the victim was not known to carry a gun.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
After Kansas civil asset forfeiture reform, lets funnel that money into communities it came from

Rep. Ford Carr, D-Wichita, said caution was warranted around civil asset forfeiture reform: They can still shake you down, he said of the police. Its just a little more difficult now. Theres a lot more work to be done. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

David Gilkey once asked a pair of police officers a profound question: What do you do with all the money you seize in drug busts?

One officer said, we put in back into law enforcement training. The other officer nodded.

Gilkey, a Wichita youth advocate, then asked, Why dont you put that money back into the community?

The officer who answered said, Thats not a bad idea. The other officer stayed quiet.

Those questions could prove timely. The Kansas Legislature unanimously passed a measure recently that fundamentally alters a common police practice known as civil asset forfeiture, which allows police to seize cars, cash, homes and more on mere suspicion.

The Kansas House and Senate voted 120-0 and 35-0 to pass Senate Bill 458, which exempts drug offenses related to possession or personal use from civil asset forfeiture. It also limits federal law enforcement taking part in local law enforcement forfeiture cases.

The resounding vote reflects at least a tacit belief among people in both parties that law enforcement has abused this power.

The Kansas Fraternal Order of Police did not respond to an email seeking comment about the new measure and whether Kansas law enforcement agencies have abused this practice.

The bill, which Gov. Laura Kelly just signed into law, requires judges to consider whether seizures were excessive, puts the burden of proof on prosecutors to show the seizure was proportional, and allows some property owners to recoup legal costs after successful challenges.

In 2017, the late Rep. Gail Finney pointed out how these seizures often took place without due process and without a trial or conviction. Even afterward, citizens sometimes have spent more than the property was worth trying to retrieve it.

Finney, D-Wichita, said police departments seize millions of dollars in property annually.

Kansans should be innocent until proven guilty, she said.

Finneys handpicked successor, Rep. Ford Carr, agreed with Gilkeys suggestion. Carr said hes working on legislation that would send a percentage of cannabis revenue into the communities around dispensaries, if Kansas were to approve medical marijuana.

That money could fund more treatment centers, create more in-patient beds, help communities, Carr said.

Carr also cautioned against overexuberance regarding the forfeiture reform.

They can still shake you down, he said of the police. Its just a little more difficult now. Theres a lot more work to be done.

According to Kansas Reflector, the Kansas Judicial Council reported that state law enforcement agencies seized $23.1 million in property from July 2019 to November 2023. Of that, $5.7 million was transferred to the federal government under a revenue-sharing agreement.

Only a fourth of the remaining $17.4 million made its way back to the owners. That property retrieval process took an average of 249 days.

This is why Gilkeys questions are so profound. Many Black communities and brown communities look as though theyve been strip mined  because they have. Imagine what millions in reinvestment could do for those neighborhoods?

We could open a trade school, build community centers, create jobs to get and keep kids off the street, Gilkey said. Some of this money has to go back into the community where it can make a real difference.

Gilkey scoffed at the idea of proceeds funding police training.

Theyve already got money in the budget for training, Gilkey said. Thats part of the budget every year. All theyre doing is buying more weapons, and who knows what else?

This money also could be used to bring some funding parity to public defender offices. Where district attorney offices gulp, public defender offices sip from the budget trough.

Law enforcement predictably pushed back on these reforms, conjuring images of Mexican cartels and Chinese syndicates. Law enforcements insistence that a provision for jury trials be stricken from the bill was telling. The watchers didnt want to be watched.

Gilkey said this question has long lingered in his mind.

Before he and his wife, Lynn, became nationally renowned mentors invited to the White House for their work with youths, they were on the wrong end of some of those law enforcement raids. He wondered even then where all the money and drugs went.

Police once arrested him after hand-to-hand purchases of crack cocaine. With each purchase, he said, undercover officers threw in a free bag of high-grade marijuana.

What do they do with all this money when they do drug raids? he recalled asking himself. What do they do with all of the drugs?

What better victims than neighborhoods of second-class Americans no one would believe, or worse, people whom authorities wouldnt fear disrespecting or disappointing?

Before he turned his life around, Gilkey worried about rival dealers, and gangs of armed youths.

In the dangerous environment he moved in, policing for profit created just another group of people he had to watch out for.

Mark McCormick is the former executive director of The Kansas African American Museum, a member of the Kansas African American Affairs Commission and deputy executive director at the ACLU of Kansas. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.

The post After Kansas civil asset forfeiture reform, lets funnel that money into communities it came from appeared first on Kansas Reflector.
Copies of the Aug. 16 edition of the Marion County Record rest on a countertop in the newspaper office. Staffers pulled an all-nighter to get the newspaper out after their equipment was seized by law enforcement. (Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

TOPEKA  Kansas special prosecutors have received a detailed synopsis of the Colorado Bureau of Investigations ongoing review of last years police raid on the Marion County Record.

The CBI since November has been investigating whether journalists, law enforcement officers or anyone else broke the law in the events surrounding the newsroom raid. The investigation has now generated nearly 10,000 pages of documents.

In early April, officials said the CBI would turn the case over to special prosecutors by the end of the month. But a CBI spokesman said Tuesday that the special prosecutors have asked for additional investigative steps.

In August 2023, Marion police teamed with sheriffs detectives and Kansas Bureau of Investigation agents to launch a criminal investigation into the conduct of newspaper editor and publisher Eric Meyer and reporter Phyllis Zorn. Their supposed crime involved looking up public records on the Kansas Department of Revenues website. Local authorities then orchestrated the newsroom raid, ignoring federal and state law, and seizing evidence beyond the scope of their search warrant.

The Marion County Record filed a federal lawsuit that accuses the towns mayor, police chief and sheriff of seeking revenge for critical news coverage.

Our stress level has been beyond high since the raid, Meyer said Tuesday. It certainly hasnt helped that almost nine months later, we still havent been cleared. We remain confident we will be.

Still, he added, having a sword hovering over your head for three-quarters of a year is not something I would wish on anyone  even the people who illegally raided us.

The KBI handed over the investigation to the CBI two days after Kansas Reflector revealed that KBI agents were involved in the investigation into journalists before the raid and knew that police planned to raid the newsroom.

On Tuesday, CBI spokesman Rob Low said the special prosecutors had asked us to take some additional investigative steps before they decided what they wanted to do and if they had a case worth proceeding with, so thats what we were doing.

Riley County Attorney Barry Wilkerson and Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett were appointed special prosecutors in the case.

Bennett said they traveled to Denver this month and spent the day receiving a detailed synopsis of the investigation.

Since that time, the assigned CBI agent has received additional investigative documents, which will be assessed and then forwarded to our attention, Bennett said.

Bennett said he and Wilkerson are reviewing nearly 10,000 pages of documents generated by the investigation and that their findings will be made public.

Meyer said he has not had contact with anyone from the CBI in nearly four months.

If the delay has been attributable to ferreting out whether the raid was the result of a conspiracy among elected officials to weaponize law enforcement against political enemies, the delay is at least tolerable, Meyer said. If, on the other hand, it has been part of an attempt to justify illegality against us and protect the city, county and others from legal liability for actions of its employees and officials, it is an awfully expensive and ill-conceived whitewash of a grievous abuse of power.

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The post Kansas prosecutors reviewing nearly 10,000 pages of documents in Marion newspaper raid appeared first on Oklahoma Voice.
A national survey indicated 36.1% of long-term care facilities in Kansas were experiencing staffing shortages that worsened since 2020. The state ranked fourth worst in terms of the staffing shortfalls. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)

Gov. Laura Kelly and House Speaker Dan Hawkins tangled again on the shape of property, sales and income tax reform after state officials reported Kansas tax revenue in April surpassed the monthly estimate by $101 million and added to the state's robust cash surplus. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector).

TOPEKA  An unexpected surge in individual income tax collections in April drove Kansas state revenue $101 million higher than projected for the month, state officials said, and added fuel to political debate about what constituted responsible tax reform.

The report led House Speaker Dan Hawkins, R-Wichita, to call on Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly to sign the Kansas Legislatures latest package of income, sales and property tax overhaul bill.

Kellys staff indicated she would veto the bill and call a special session of the Legislature to concentrate on an alternative to the five-year, $2.3 billion package adopted by the Legislature before adjourning Wednesday. Before the ink was dry on that bill, both Republican and Democratic state legislators shared the view it was dead on arrival.

The Kansas Department of Revenue reported tax collections for state government in April totaled $1.42 billion. That was $101 million, or 7.7%, above the monthly consensus projection by the states economic, budget and revenue analysts. The uptick in April surpassed by 9.6% the total tax revenue in April 2023.

These revenue numbers underscore how important it is to provide responsible tax relief now, Kelly said. I remain committed to cutting taxes in a fiscally responsible, comprehensive manner that doesnt jeopardize the progress weve made.

Hawkins, the Republican leader of the Kansas House, said the state continued to build, at an unprecedented level, cash reserves that ought to be returned to taxpayers.

The economic outlook is positive, Hawkins said. No more excuses. No more games. Governor, sign the bill. Give the people of Kanas the bipartisan tax relief they deserve.

Senate President Ty Masterson, R-Andover, said the latest monthly revenue report demonstrated the tax bill adopted by the Legislature was sustainable. He said further delay in providing tax relief would be an insult to Kansas families.

Its time for the governor to stop moving the goalposts and holding Kansas families hostage, Masterson said.

In April, Kelly vetoed House Bill 2036 because the tax revenue reductions carried forward would deplete the state treasury in a manner reminiscent of the aggressive state income tax cuts signed in 2012 and 2013 by then-Gov. Sam Brownback that ended up crippling the states budget for years before repealed.

I have said repeatedly that I will do everything in my power to prevent our state from the fiscal mismanagement of the previous administration, Kelly said.

The Kansas Senate fell one vote short of overriding Kellys veto of that bill, which would have created a two-bracket state income tax system, eliminated the states 2% sales tax on food by July 1, exempted Social Security benefits from state income tax, raised the standard deduction on income tax returns and elevated the residential property tax emption on the statewide mill levy.

In January, Kelly vetoed a tax reduction bill approved by the Legislature that would have imposed a single-rate state income tax that she considered reckless. She said House Bill 2284 would take us back to Brownback while doing next to nothing for the middle class. This flat tax experiment would overwhelmingly benefit the super wealthy.

Mark Burghart, secretary of the state Department of Revenue, said individual income tax collections were $740.3 million in April. That meant revenue from that source was $91 million, or 14%, more than anticipated. It was 24.7% greater than individual income tax revenue gathered in April 2023.

The overage for April is largely due to the fact that we are processing 63,000 more balance due checks from taxpayers this year than we were at the same time last year, Burghart said. A combination of two additional processing days and recently upgraded check remittance technology at the Department of Revenue have allowed payments to be processed faster and much more efficiently.

He said tax receipts in May would likely be lower than the estimate because the April tally captured payments that would normally have processed in May.

In April, state corporate income tax collections were $338.2 million in excess of the estimate. That was $6.3 million or 1.9% more than expected. However, the April total was 4.5% less than in April of last year. State retail sales tax receipts were $295.1 million in April  $3.1 million or 1.1% more than the estimate, but a decline of $13.5 million or 4.4% from April 2023.

The post Kansas revenue surges $101 million in April, triggering political debate on state tax reform appeared first on Kansas Reflector.
Karen Bass first act after taking the oath of office as Los Angeles mayor in December 2022 was to declare a state of emergency on homelessness.

Now, Bass, the first woman to lead the City of Angels, has also set her sights on tackling homelessness at the national level as chair of the U.S. Conference of Mayors Task Force on Homelessness.

This week, the former California congresswoman helped lead a bipartisan group of more than 50 mayors from across the country back to her old stomping grounds on Capitol Hill.

The mayors  together representing 17 million people  laid out a three-pronged national policy agenda to confront homelessness on the city, state and federal levels.

In order to make tangible change in the greatest crisis facing Los Angeles and hundreds of cities across the country, we know we must continue to work in partnership with leaders across the country, said Bass, who led the convening with the conference president, Hillary Schieve, mayor of Reno, Nevada.

The task force called for more funding for the Housing Choice Voucher program, a federal effort under the Department of Housing and Urban Development that assists low-income, elderly and disabled people with securing housing in the private market.

The mayors want to lift certain caps and restrictions of project-based vouchers for public housing, which they said would provide cities with greater flexibility to build more affordable housing.

Mayor Karen Bass speaks at a press conference (Office of Mayor Karen Bass)

The mayors also called for more robust housing assistance for military veterans during a news conference Tuesday organized with Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., the ranking member of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs.

The mayors explained that unintended barriers are preventing unhoused veterans from coming inside.

For instance, vets are sometimes unable to qualify for housing because of other benefits they receive, the mayors said. They want to ensure that at-risk veterans across the country dont have to choose between their disability benefits and housing.

The estimated number of veterans experiencing homelessness has halved since 2010. Still, the Department of Veterans Affairs has announced a goal to move at least 41,000 unsheltered veterans into permanent housing in 2024. Last year, the VA housed more than 46,000 veterans, including nearly 1,800 in Los Angeles.

Last May, Bass joined VA Secretary Denis McDonough and stakeholders at the West Los Angeles VA campus to celebrate two new housing buildings, part of ongoing development for formerly homeless veterans. Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., himself a veteran, co-authored the West Los Angeles Leasing Act legislation with the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., which helped facilitate the project.

Americans that fought on behalf of our country, the people who have defended us, should never sleep one night outside on our streets, Bass said this week. There are solutions to this crisis, so while were fighting day-in and day-out to get people off the street, we have to bring the fight here to Washington, D.C., so that we can look at rules and regulations that need to be tossed aside, given the magnitude of the problem that we have today.

More broadly in Los Angeles, Bass administration launched Inside Safe, a comprehensive strategy designed to get people off the streets. The mayors Field Intervention Team speaks with unhoused people and then works with outreach experts and multiple government, private and nonprofit partners to help move individuals and families to designated interim housing.

We will not hide people  instead, we will house people, she said in her State of the City speech last month. Inside Safe is our proactive rejection of a status quo that left unhoused Angelenos to wait  and die  outside, in encampments, until permanent housing was built.

To date, the Bass administration said the initiative has helped about half of the citys estimated homeless population of 44,000 people. The administrations goals include efforts to build more permanent housing for those experiencing homelessness.

Lacey Beaty, the first female mayor of Beaverton, Oregon, and the youngest at 39, is an Army veteran of the war in Iraq and said she feels a duty to give voice to people experiencing homelessness, particularly fellow service members.

Cities are on the front lines of this humanitarian issue, she told NBC News. We need help at every level of government. Its not just a big city issue, she added, explaining that homelessness is affecting her city of 96,000 people as well as the broader region and state.

In 2023, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, also a Democrat, declared a state of emergency over housing and homelessness. In January, a homeless man in Beaverton died after lighting a cigarette and accidentally setting himself on fire near a library. And in nearby Portland, NBC affiliate KGW reported that the fire chief shared data indicating that in 2023 some 46 percent of fire-related injuries and 50 percent of deaths were related to homeless individuals.

As mayor, Beaty was instrumental in establishing a year-round shelter in Beaverton. It has a health clinic and behavioral health resources to serve those experiencing homelessness.

Across the country, Shawyn Patterson-Howard is in her second term as the first female mayor of Mount Vernon, a suburb of New York City with 71,000 people.

A trained social worker and immediate past president of the African American Mayors Association, she has worked to house people for decades.

Homelessness is happening in major urban, suburban and rural communities. It might look different from city to city and state to state, she said. There are homeless encampments, and the hidden homeless sleeping in basements, alleys and their cars, and tripled up with family and friends. But its a nationwide crisis.

The mayors met Monday and Tuesday with several Cabinet secretaries in the Biden administration, as well as a bipartisan group of members of Congress, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both New York Democrats, and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La.

Last May, the Biden administration launched ALL INside, billed as a first-of-its kind initiative to address unsheltered people across the country. ALL INside is part of a federal strategy to address homelessness that aims to reduce homelessness 25 percent by 2025, and ultimately ensure every person in America has a safe and affordable home.

Federal, state and local partnership is essential for sustainable, systemic solutions to the homelessness crisis, said Tom Perez, a White House senior adviser and director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs who attended this weeks meetings with the mayors. In 2023, Bass took Perez on a tour of Skid Row, a section of downtown L.A. where thousands live in tent encampments.

People experiencing homelessness confront a wide array of challenges that require unprecedented levels of collaboration at every level of government, added Perez, who commented via a spokesperson.

Since Bass took office, Los Angeles has received at least $60 million through HUD to provide housing and supportive services. The mayor and City Council also worked with members of Congress to secure more than $35 million in the Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations bills to improve housing and support programs like Inside Safe.

In her State of the City address, Bass acknowledged the high costs associated with the citys efforts, but said they were necessary to end the crisis of homelessness.

It is far, far more expensive to leave people unhoused on our streets, she said. Beyond the human toll, we all pay the cost of the thousands and thousands of fire, paramedic and police calls. The cost of each overdose, of each emergency room visit, of each night in county jail  each of which is a human tragedy.

Bass thanked President Joe Biden and his administration for their strong partnership on the issue and members of Congress who regardless of party are willing to lock arms to save lives.

We must continue this fight to get the job done, the mayor said.

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When Kate Forbes ran for SNP leader last year, the reaction was instant: how could a Christian of her unapologetic, traditional persuasion run a modern, progressive government?

Its not just that she was born into the Free Church of Scotland: she converted into it, leaving the more liberal Presbyterian church. She disagrees with gay marriage, sex outside of marriage and even women ministers. Shed uphold everyones rights, she says  but her faith is real. And far more important to her than politics.

At the time, her stance struck me as brave but politically suicidal. Shed be torn apart, I thought, as surely as Tim Farron was when he led the Liberal Democrats into a general election. He ended up spending every interview dodging questions as to whether he believed gay sex was sinful then resigned, concluding that faith and politics had become incompatible.

But Forbes went on to almost beat Humza Yousaf, winning 48 per cent of the vote. She decided not to run this time and instead cut a deal with John Swinney, who will be seen as a caretaker first minister with her as the heir apparent.

The next few months will be odd in Holyrood: an SNP government led by the 60-year-old Swinney with the attention on his 34-year-old kingmaker. It will be his duty to lead his party into a Westminster election where it will lose perhaps half of its seats. She can then present herself as a new broom, cleaning out the Augean stables of an SNP still under police investigation of embezzlement. It is, for her, a smarter choice than running again now.

This time, the controversy over her faith was over almost as soon as it began. Attempts to cast her as the MSP for the 19th century drew instant condemnation with academics and opposition MSPs leaping to her defence.

Douglas Alexander, tipped to be a big player in Keir Starmers team if elected in East Lothian, called for tolerance towards sincerely-held religious beliefs. The Twitterstorms, which hold a depressing amount of sway in modern politics, were directed at her critics. The debate seems to have changed  and she may well have changed it.

A Cambridge graduate, appointed Nicola Sturgeons finance minister at the age of 29, Forbes has long stood out. Brought up in India to missionary parents, she first followed the normal pattern of dodging questions about her faith.

Three years ago, she changed tack. To be straight, I believe in the person of Jesus Christ, she told an astonished Nick Robinson. I believe that he died for me, he saved me. And that my calling is to serve and to love him and to serve and love my neighbours with all my heart and soul and mind and strength.

Many politicians think this, but none would dream of saying so in public  not in such language. Talking about religion can only alienate and damage your prospects, its argued: faith needs to be kept as a dirty secret. Not just in politics but the workplace or any public space. Youll be accused of bigotry and its best just to keep quiet.

This is the quiet-Christian consensus that Forbes wanted to challenge with her campaign, even if it cost her the race. But in the end, she ended up drawing more admiration than condemnation.

Its not true to say, as many do, that Yousaf was spared the secular inquisition because hes Muslim. He was asked, and answered. He agrees with gay marriage, so breaks from mainstream Islamic teaching. This is whats different: Forbes (and Farron) refused to break with their churchs position and were pilloried. But Forbes is the first person to come through it with her reputation enhanced.

After a faltering start, she learnt how to handle such questions. When LBCs Iain Dale asked her whether hes a sinner in the eyes of her church because he has a husband, she didnt hold back. I consider you as much of a sinner as I consider myself to be a sinner, she said. I am taught to believe that you are of greater value than I am and I am to serve you  and every citizen of Scotland  in that fashion. When it comes to legal rights, I will defend absolutely your right to live and love without harassment and fear.

She made another interesting point: that theyre both minorities and should back each other. I would defend to the hilt your rights in the hope that youd also defend other minorities rights, including people of faith. This is Kemi Badenochs point: that the equalities agenda is intended as a shield to protect people, not a sword to attack others or smear them as bigots.

Yousaf did his bit for faith in public life, releasing pictures of himself at prayer in Bute House. Rishi Sunak did the same when knelt prostrate at a temple in New Delhi. He sees Britain not as a secular country but a multi-faith democracy. One with a Muslim in London City Hall, a Hindu in No 10, a Buddhist in the Home Office (the now-departed Suella Braverman) and most importantly, voters who couldnt care less about how any of them pray.

The prayers and Diwali candles are rare and low-key but the lack of backlash (or interest) matters. The old Alastair Campbell line  we dont do God  now looks dated.

What we see now is a coming together of those seeking to promote diversity of opinion. The alliances are unusual. The Scottish Association of Mosques refused to back Yousaf and ended up praising Forbes. Joanna Cherry  a lesbian, feminist and gender-critical SNP MP  is a vocal fan of Forbes, who she admires for standing up to trans activists. Something is going on here that transcends party politics. And seems to be a rising political force.

Forbes may well never end up as first minister and, if she does, the SNP may still be doomed. But she has proven an important point: its OK, now, to do God.

Theres a hymn sung in her church about the need to dare to be a Daniel / dare to stand alone. Dare to have a purpose / dare to make it known.

Adding the word dont in front of each of these lines would have seemed useful advice to any politician in recent years but it seems Forbes has written a new rule book. She wont be the last to use it.

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Keep it alive: Outdoor dining begins in Boston, except for North End neighborhood

Restaurant owners were busy getting their patios built Wednesday now that outdoor dining season has officially begun in Boston.

Even though it was too chilly to start eating outside Wednesday, a lot of people are excited to see restaurants taking advantage of the citys program to block off parts of the street for outdoor patios from May through October.

Its so much nicer to be outside, its so great around here in the summer, said Judith Jackson-Pomeroy.

The concept started during the pandemic, but many hope its here to stay.

It does bring in a lot of business, people get excited, said Cynthia Adar, who works at Dirty Water Dough Co. on Newbury Street. It encourages people to sit, have a full meal, have a beer.

The patios draw in more foot traffic on Newbury Street, and it allows restaurants to increase their seating capacity for the summer.

We actually have really nice local people that they always wait and always ask for the patio, like when is the additional patio opening, so were really excited about it, said Sebastin Herrera, General Manager at Serafina on Newbury Street.

One area where you wont see outdoor dining this year is in the North End.

City leaders say the streets are too narrow, parking is tight and theres been too much trash from the outdoor dining there over the last few years.

I think they should try to work around that, keep it alive, said Kim Hodson, dining in the North End.

In the North End, youll see banners protesting the citys decision to not allow outdoor dining there this year, and a lot of diners agree, theyll miss dining al fresco in Bostons Italian neighborhood.

I dont think its fair, I think people enjoy that, its what the North End is all about, said Hodson.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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The Labour Party has made a great show of its opposition to the Rwanda deal, claiming the scheme is expensive, ineffective and unethical. In the latest attempt to undermine the Governments plan, Sir Keir Starmer this week said that he plans to consider the asylum claims of tens of thousands of illegal migrants who have arrived in the UK since the Illegal Migration Act was passed.

Despite vocal disapproval of the Rwanda deal, the Labour Party has always maintained that they are committed to tackling illegal migration, and that their concerns with this offshore processing and resettlement deal are practical rather than philosophical. But Starmer has suggested that he would scrap the scheme even if it works, betraying an ideological objection to the idea of creating an effective deterrent that would stop people choosing to get into small boats and cross the Channel from France.

The number  and visibility  of people arriving illegally on Britain shores has been a thorn in the side of the Conservative government. Voters are rightly dismayed by excessively high volumes of legal immigration, but they are particularly incensed by soaring levels of illegal immigration. When tens of thousands of mostly young men arrive on our beaches from a safe country and are handed hotel rooms and taxpayer-funded benefits, the British public rightly baulks at the cost, unfairness and serious security implications.

Self-evidently, the Conservative government has not yet solved this problem, but not for want of trying. The news this week that the Irish government is now concerned about illegal migrants diverting from Northern Ireland to the Republic because they dont want to risk being deported to Rwanda shows the deterrent may be starting to work. Yet Starmer has now all but admitted that he doesnt want a deterrent. In pretending that the problem can be solved by stopping people getting on the boats (as if this hasnt been tried) or by processing claims faster (which is already being done) Starmer reveals that, at its heart, Labour is still the party of open borders.

Of course it is. The new Left  an entirely different entity from the patriotic socialists of the past  doesnt believe in boundaries of any sort. The new Left seeks a world where everyone  except the oppressors  can have what they want, whether thats higher benefits, a change of gender, or to move to our country from anywhere in the world. The new Left dismiss concerns that such a liberal approach will be abused, outraged at the suggestion that migrants  like anyone else  might seek to exploit loopholes and weaknesses in the law. In this, they fundamentally misunderstand human nature. It is simply not possible for a society to be free or safe, or for the vulnerable to be protected, without clear boundaries that are consistently upheld. Deterring crime, whether thats theft, fraud, or illegal migration, is only effective when an offence is consistently met with a predictable and unacceptable consequence.

Rather than understanding that clear boundaries are the foundation of a flourishing society, the new Left thinks limits are cruel. In admitting that he would not keep even an effective deterrent to illegal migration, Sir Keir has given himself away. For the Labour Party, misguided ideology takes precedence over the security and integrity of our borders.

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RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN)  Kelly Daughtry, one of two candidates vying for the competitive Congressional 13th District of North Carolina, has announced she is suspending her campaign. It leaves Brad Knott as the almost-guaranteed winner of Republican Party primary runoff in for the district.

In an announcement on Facebook, Daughtry pointed to former President Donald Trumps endorsement of Knott as the reason for her campaigns suspension.

As a candidate, it is my duty to be transparent and honest with my team, supporters, and the voters. In light of President Trumps endorsement of Brad Knott for the Congressional seat in District 13, it has become clear that a pathway to victory is no longer feasible. I believe in the democratic process and respect the endorsement of our President, she said in her announcement.

Daughtry said Knott now has her full endorsement, adding she spoke with him prior to her announcement. The former District 13 candidate said it was time to bring the Republican Party together.

The future of our republic is too important to be divided by inter-party politics. I have always been a staunch conservative Republican, and I will continue to support the Republican nominee. It is time for us to redirect our resources and focus on countering the liberal democrats who threaten our nation, her announcement read.

Knotts team will continue to campaign. Under state law, there is no mechanism to remove Daughtry from the ballot. Early absentee ballot and votes are already underway. The Second Primary Election is still scheduled for May 14.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS17.com.
TAIYUAN, May 2 (Xinhua) -- One tourist was killed and five others injured by falling rocks in the Hengshan Mountain scenic area in north China's Shanxi Province on Thursday, according to the scenic area's administration center.

Those who sustained injuries are receiving hospital treatment and none are currently in life-threatening condition. 
Gov. Brian Kemp on May 1 signed a bill that expands the kinds of offenses requiring cash bail. Senate Bill 63 sparked debate among lawmakers over whether someone should be held in jail longer for misdemeanor offenses such as criminal theft if they cannot afford bail to get out of jail. Getty Images

This story was updated Thursday at 9:15 a.m.

Gov. Brian Kemp signed a law on Wednesday requiring law enforcement agencies in Georgia to notify federal authorities when undocumented immigrants are arrested.

HB 1105 creates a new immigration law that will result in local governments losing state funding and law enforcement officers and local officials being charged with a misdemeanor for ignoring the sanctuary laws. The catalyst for the new law came after the arrest of Venezuelan immigrant Jose Ibarra, who authorities say entered the country illegally, on charges that he murdered 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley, who was killed on Feb. 22 while jogging on a University of Georgia running trail.

The new law, which requires law enforcement to check the immigration status of detainees, was included in a package of criminal justice bills signed by Kemp at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center in Monroe County.

The Republican governor also signed a controversial law Wednesday that adds 30 more criminal charges requiring cash bail for release and creates new restrictions on charities that receive donations to bail people out of lockup.

Kemp said that HB 1105, which requires local and state police to identify, arrest, and detain undocumented persons, became a priority of Republican legislative leadership following the senseless death of Riley.

Failing to enforce the law could lead to state-administered federal aid cuts from local government budgets, and local officials or employees violating the law could be convicted of misdemeanors.

The Biden administration has failed in its duties to secure our southern border and as a result we do not know who has entered our country or where they are going, Kemp said. But in Georgia we will do everything in our power to ensure criminals are not allowed to walk free and terrorize communities.

Gov. Brian Kemp on May 1, 2024 signed a package of criminal justice bills during a ceremony at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center in Forsyth. Stanley Dunlap/Georgia Recorder

Republicans and Democrats were at odds in March near the end of the 2024 legislative session over immigration policy. Democratic legislators question the need to impose harsher penalties under a 2009 sanctuary law that already made it illegal for police and officials to withhold immigration status information from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. Critics accuse Republican lawmakers of unfairly demonizing Georgias Hispanic population that contributes to the states economy while raising families and paying taxes.

A majority of HB 1105s rules went into effect Wednesday with the governors signature. Several months from now, the Georgia Department of Corrections and local detention centers will be required to publish reports tracking undocumented immigrants.

Starting January 1, supervisors of county jails and municipal detention facilities must post quarterly reports accounting for incarcerated foreign-born inmates.

Additionally, HB 1105 requires the Georgia Department of Corrections to begin in October publishing reports on its website every 90 days an accounting of the immigration status, offenses, and home countries of inmates who are not U.S. citizens.

New law adds 18 misdemeanors requiring cash bail

Kemp also signed a new law on Wednesday that criminal justice reform advocates contend will result in more overcrowding in jails for people unable to afford bail and force many others to spend more time locked up before they can appear before a judge.

Under the law, a suspect is required to put up a specified amount of money or property as collateral if they are charged with a state crime punishable by jail or prison time. Supporters say the bill intends to curb the number of people who dont show up to court and are more likely to reoffend after being released from jail on a signature bond.

The new law means that a cash bail will be required for 30 additional charges, including 18 misdemeanors such as theft by taking, criminal trespass and forgery.

In Georgia, a judge has the discretion to determine the amount of bail by taking into account an individuals ability to pay.

The legislation has been criticized as a Republican-backed measure that runs counter to the strides made reforming Georgias criminal justice system under former GOP Gov. Nathan Deal.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia said the bill creates a two-tiered justice system based on wealth. SB 63 is cruel, costly, and counterproductive, the ACLU said in a statement. Research shows that sweeping people into incarceration only increases crime and taxpayer costs, and yet Georgia locks up a higher percentage of its people than any other state in the country. SB 63 doubles down on that position, forcing even more people to languish in jail because they are poor or mentally ill.

The bill also bans charities, corporations and individuals from donating to cash bail funds more than three times a year unless they register as a bail bond company.

Advocates for criminal justice reform say new restrictions on cash bail funds benefit a lucrative bail bond industry that keeps bail fees even after charges are dismissed or a person is cleared of guilt.

The Atlanta Police Department came under fire last summer after arresting several organizers with an Atlanta bail fund who used donations to bail out protesters fighting a planned Atlanta Public Safety Training Center. Atlanta Solidarity Fund organizers were arrested on money laundering and fraud charges, a move many criticized as payback for supporting the Stop Cop City movement that protests construction of the center.

The Bail Project said SB 63 would harm low-income Georgians in need by severely restricting charitable bail organizations.

By limiting judicial discretion through requirements that cash bail be set for a variety of misdemeanors, and by restricting charitable bail organizations, churches, and individuals from supporting members of their community with bail assistance, SB 63 will fuel mass incarceration while removing a lifeline to impoverished Georgians who are incarcerated solely because they cant pay bail, the Bail Project statement said.

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Kentucky public school teachers rallied at the Kentucky Capitol in April 2018 to protest proposed changes in their pensions. (Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

New reports highlighted by the Kentucky Education Association show that Kentucky educators salaries are losing ground to those in other states.

According to the annual reports released by the National Education Association looking at 2022-23 numbers, Kentucky dropped from 40th to 41st nationally in average teacher salary at $56,296 compared with the national average of $69,544.

Kentucky also dropped in starting teacher salary from 44th to 45th, with an average starting salary of $39,204. Nationally, average starting pay for teachers was $44,530

Kentuckys pay for education support professionals in K-12 schools increased in the rankings one spot, from 48th to 47th, with an average earning of $27,053. ESPs include bus drivers, janitors, cafeteria workers and more.

Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear had called on the legislature to fund an 11% raise for public school employees in the new state budget.

The Republican-controlled legislature rejected Beshears plan for a mandated pay raise. Republican lawmakers said salary changes should instead flow through Kentuckys Support Education Excellence in Kentucky (SEEK) formula and be determined by local school boards and superintendents.

KEA President Eddie Campbell

In a statement about the salary rankings, KEA President Eddie Campbell said Kentucky educators are not competitively compensated for educating our children, and KEA is deeply concerned about the general assemblys lack of investment in Kentucky educators pay. Campbell added that Kentucky school districts face a workforce shortage nearly every day of the school year.

It is a true shame that the legislature chose to squander this once in a generation opportunity to raise educator pay and move SEEK funding to meet the needs of a 21st century education, Campbell said. Its short-sighted to not directly and meaningfully address educator pay at levels that would make Kentucky the envy of our neighboringand competitorstates. Instead, surrounding states are devoting more and more resources to recruit and retain quality educators. It is disappointing that our elected representatives didnt take the same opportunity.

KEA is calling on local school boards in Kentucky to use the increased dollars from the SEEK formula to invest in our public school staff by meaningfully and permanently raising salaries and wages beginning next school year, or Kentucky will continue to fall behind.

Through the SEEK formula, Kentucky distributes state dollars to local school districts. Factors include transportation costs and number of special needs students as reported by districts.

Overall, the final budget passed by the Republican-controlled General Assembly at the end of the 2024 session included an increase in the SEEK per-pupil base of 3% to $4,326 in the next fiscal year and then a 6% increase in fiscal year 2025-26, to $4,586.

Robbie Fletcher, Kentuckys next education commissioner, speaks to reporters after being confirmed by the Senate. (Kentucky Lantern photo by McKenna Horsley)

According to the NEA data, Kentucky ranked 33rd in the nation on its per student spending, with an average of $13,599.

Robbie Fletcher, who will become Kentuckys next education commissioner in July, told reporters earlier this week that he would stop advocating for raises for teachers if we ever get to the point where were the top 10 in the nation.

Fletcher also said, Im very thankful for the investment that our legislators made already in our education system because it is an excellent education budget.

Fletcher said the SEEK formula should be reexamined  mainly the funding discrepancy between property rich districts versus property poor districts. He added that increasing the base amount of SEEK funding would be beneficial for all schools.

If you have a high property value, you dont get as much money per student, Fletcher said. Whereas, you have a lower property value, you get a higher amount per student.

Fletcher added that the General Assembly did invest more money into Tier 1 of the SEEK formula. The threshold increased from 15% to 17.5%. That tier allows the state to give more funding to districts with less property wealth.

The post Kentucky falls to 41st in average teacher pay appeared first on Kentucky Lantern.
HANFORD, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE)  After a contract deadlock lasting approximately 10 months, the firefighters of Kings County and the Board of Supervisors in Kings County have come to an agreement.

According to Kings County, the collective bargaining agreement with the Kings County Firefighters Association is in place of the one that expired on June 30, 2023. The new agreement between the two sides is effective retroactively to July 1, 2023 (with compensation increases effective April 29, 2024).

Kings County and its firefighters reach a deal over pay, end their stalemate

Im grateful that we have reached an agreement, and can once again focus on serving our

community, said Supervisor Doug Verboon, Chair of the Kings County Board of Supervisors.

The new agreement sets wages for all levels of firefighter ranging from a minimum of

$64,676 to a maximum of $97,319 annually (before overtime and benefits).

In a statement on social media, the Kings County Firefighters Association writes that they thank the Board of Supervisors for approving our new contract.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com | KSEE24 and CBS47.
Fox News

Two of the first words out of Kristi Noems mouth when asked Wednesday on Fox News to justify her strange decision to kill her puppy and her goat by shooting them in a gravel pit were fake news.

In the fashion of a typical Trump ally, Noem blamed the media for simply reporting on what she reportedly wrote in her forthcoming book.

Well, Sean, you know how the fake news works. They leave out some or most of the facts of a story, they put the worst spin on it, and thats whats happened in this case, said Noem, who had been considered a potential Trump running mate until her admission.

Noem then urged viewers on Sean Hannitys show to still buy her book to find out the truth.

The truth of this story is that this was a working dog and it was not a puppy, Noem claimed, despite having described the German Wirehaired Pointer in her book as about 14 months old. According to Gundog Journal, that breed doesnt reach full maturity until around 2 years of age.

Yet Noem maintained that she did the right thing because the dog was extremely dangerousand her choice actually shows how she can make tough decisions like keeping my state open during COVID-19. (In November 2020, Washington Post data showed South Dakota with the highest per capita death rate nationally.)

I had a choice between keeping my small children and other people safe, or a dangerous animal, and I chose the safety of my children, Noem said, as if giving the dog to a shelter simply wasnt an option.

Noem then resorted to saying that what she did was legal, while insisting she really is a dog lover.

For his part, Hannitys questioning of the governor was tame, introducing the segment by saying that she had to kill her dog, rather than that being a choice she willingly made.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Sen. Roger Marshall on Thursday claimed a Congressional push to combat antisemitism violates Christian scripture.

A bill that overwhelmingly passed the House by a 320-91 vote Wednesday evening, would require the Department of Educations division of civil right to consider the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances definition of antisemitism when investigating discrimination claims on campuses that receive federal funding.

That definition cites claims of Jews killing Jesus as an example of classic antisemitism, which sparked opposition from some conservative Republicans.

Religious leaders back home are very concerned about some of the language in that bill, that it pushes against what the scripture said, Marshall said. Obviously as a born again Christian I believe that the Holy Bible is the word of God. I think that were not supposed to alter the word. So Im just guessing the House overlooked something.

Marshall, a Kansas Republican, said Thursday that he opposes antisemitism, but if the bill comes up for a vote in the Senate he would offer an amendment that would strike the language.

The notion that Jewish people were responsible for Jesus crucifixion has been a source of tension between Jews and Christians for centuries, but has been rejected by historians. The Catholic Church disavowed the belief in 1965 and Pope Benedict XVI declared in 2011 that there was no scriptural evidence to back of the claim.

But some Christians maintain the belief.

Antisemitism is wrong, but this legislation is written without regard for the Constitution, common sense, or even the common understanding of the meaning of words, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Republican, wrote on social media. The Gospel itself would meet the definition of antisemitism under the terms of this bill!

The bill was written in response to protests on college campuses across the country, including the University of Kansas. Students have set up encampments in protest of Israels response to the Hamas attack on October 7. Several student groups have called on their colleges to divest from any endowment investments related to Israel.

President Joe Biden on Thursday addressed the protests in a speech, saying he supported the students right to peacefully protest, but opposed violence, vandalism and trespassing that disrupt other students ability to learn  a day after protesters at Columbia University barricaded themselves inside a campus building.

In moments like this, there are always those who rush in to score political points. But this isnt a moment for politics. Its a moment for clarity, Biden said. So, let me be clear. Peaceful protest in America  violent protest is not protected; peaceful protest is. Its against the law when violence occurs.

Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican who has called on Biden to send the National Guard to break up the protests, a decision typically made by state officials, criticized Biden for not denouncing the protesters more forcefully.

These people are pro-terrorists, Hawley said. They want to kill Jews. And they are a moral embarrassment to the universities and this country. You should just say it.

Several Democrats in the House voted against the bill under the belief that it curbed constitutionally protected speech by limiting criticism of Israel. Rep. Jerry Nadler, a New York Democrat who is Jewish, said he has spent most of his life fighting antisemitism, but urged his colleagues to oppose the bill.

This bill threatens to chill constitutionally protected speech, Nadler said. Speech that is critical of Israelalonedoes not constitute unlawful discrimination.

It is unclear whether Sen. Chuck Schumer will bring the bill up for a vote in the Senate.

How they voted

Heres how House members voted on the Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2023, which would require the Department of Educations civil rights division to consider the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances definition of antisemitism when investigating discrimination cases on college campuses.

Kansas

Rep. Sharice Davids (D)  Yes

Rep. Ron Estes (R)  Yes

Rep. Jake LaTurner (R)  Yes

Rep. Tracey Mann (R)  Yes

Missouri

Rep. Mark Alford (R)  Yes

Rep. Eric Burlison (R)  Yes

Rep. Cori Bush (D)  No

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D)  Not voting

Rep. Sam Graves (R)  Yes

Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R)  Yes

Rep. Jason Smith (R)  Yes

Rep. Ann Wagner (R)  Yes
BEIJING, May 2 (Xinhua) -- China launched the fourth monthly campaign promoting the Civil Code in May, focusing on optimizing the legal business environment, the Ministry of Justice said on Thursday.

According to a plan for the campaign this year, it will address urgent concerns of market entities and the people. It will continue to carry out publicity of the Civil Code and other related laws and regulations to promote the new quality productive forces and create a favorable environment for high-quality development.

The campaign will deepen the study and promotion of the Civil Code, focusing on issues such as equal protection, fair competition, and risk prevention. It will also facilitate the study and promotion of laws, regulations, and policies closely related to optimizing the legal business environment.

The plan requires all relevant departments and industries to implement the "who enforces the law, who popularizes the law" responsibility system and organize legal knowledge competitions and activities to enhance the legal literacy of private entrepreneurs. 
LAWRENCE (KSNT)  Students at the University of Kansas (KU) in Lawrence are joining in nationwide protests over the ongoing war in Gaza.

KU students are creating an encampment in Lawrence to stand together with fellow protestors at other college campuses nationwide over the treatment of Palestine in the Middle East. The group is protesting the alleged involvement of the university in what they call the ongoing genocide of Palestinian civilians in Gaza. Signs, sidewalk chalk and banners could be seen Wednesday, May 1 as the protest was underway.

The student group sent a letter to KU administrators saying they have demands that must be met. Theyre asking the university to contribute to the demilitarization of both the KU campuss and Lawrence abroad.

Comedian Jeff Dunham is returning to northeast Kansas

Part of the demands issued in the letter include a demand for the university to allow the activists to exercise First Amendment rights and guarantee amnesty for penalties they will place on protestors for exercising those rights. The group says students will not stop until their demands are met.

Last year, KUs campus was the site of controversy after the Graduate Teaching Assistants Coalition issued a statement in solidarity with Palestine shortly after hostilities erupted on Oct. 7, 2023. This prompted some within the organization to raise their voices over the statement over fears of what it would mean for Jewish students on campus. The American Federation of Teachers later issued its own statement on the situation, distancing itself from the GTACs controversial stance.

A KU fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Pi, was the sight of vandalism in November 2023. Frat members found their flag pole was damaged in an alleged anti-Semitic attack as their Israeli and American flags were cut down. The Israeli flag was reportedly torn to shreds during the incident.

Hes trying to stab me!: Topeka police say son stabbed dad 57 times

KUs Chancellor, Douglas Girod, responded to the attack with a statement in which he said the act of vandalism was likely meant to intimidate members of our Jewish community. The Lawrence-Douglas County Fire and Medical Department later helped the fraternity repair the damage in a show of solidarity with the students.

In recent weeks, Multiple protests have been ongoing across the U.S. in major cities like Washington D.C. and New York City. Police have been called on to break up the protests, such as the one at Columbia University, while students and other Pro-Palestinian activists are calling on officials to respect their right to to protest.

Pro-Palestinian protestors became active around the world in the days following the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas which included a rocket barrage, attacks on civilians and the taking of hostages, according to a report from The Associated Press. Israels retaliation strikes against Gaza and the terrorist organization Hamas have resulted in the deaths of 34,000 Palestinians.

Biden sends Kansas $28 million for replacement of lead pipes

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Lack of affordable housing is focus of May Day rally outside Worcester City Hall

Margot Barnet, right, and Janet Davis, both of Worcester, participate in the May Day Rally for International Workers Day at Worcester City Hall.

WORCESTER  Dozens of people gathered in front of City Hall Wednesday, rallying for fair, living wages, fair contracts and affordable housing in honor of "May Day," or International Workers Day, commemorated each year the first day of May.

Union carpenters stood together in hard hats near the stairs while other attendees held signs requesting fair wages and affordable housing.

Lew Finfer, director and community organizer at Massachusetts Communities Action Network, said that although progress has been made since the first May Day in the 1800s, there is still work to do.

According to a study from Forbes, Worcester was ranked as the third most competitive rental market along the East Coast, based on pricing, availability and population.

Worcester had the second-lowest rental vacancy rate among the areas Forbes looked at and local renters faced the third-highest year-over-year rent increases. Forbes put the median rental price in Worcester at $1,995 per month.

The publication said the ranking is due to "extremely low vacancy rates and some of the worst availability of rental units."

People cheer during the May Day rally outside Worcester City Hall.

The Worcester Together Affordable Housing Coalition was one of the groups that pushed for an inclusionary zoning law in April 2023. Rob Bilotta, co-chair of the coalition, said affordable housing should be a guarantee for city residents.

"What good is housing for all of us if none of us in Worcester can afford to live here?" Bilotta asked.

On a local level, Bilotta said, there needs to be a push for more affordable housing for seniors and disabled people, noting many of the new apartment complexes in Worcester do not qualify.

"We're not doing enough of that in Worcester and we need to do better," Bilotta said. "We need to be sure as we're building more housing that we're hiring local people. We also need to be sure that housing is affordable."

Kawanee Dozier spoke about her housing experience in Worcester. When she and her partner moved to the city they stayed with some "old friends," she said.

"We were in such a good place," Dozier said. "I was so proud of us."

April 24, 2023, everything changed. Her bed's headboard caught fire from a candle while she was napping. It spread quickly and Dozier lost everything.

"We ended up living with my mother-in-law for a while. We were looking for a new place to move to. Application after application, wasting money we didn't have," Dozier said. "No one was willing to take us. According to my research, landlords generally prefer a minimum credit score of 670 to 730. Imagine that for 20-year-olds trying to go out on our own."

Finfer also pushed for money from the Community Development Block grant and the Community Preservation Act to be used for affordable housing in the city.

"I think the groups really (should) look at those budgets and those two funding sources, and they're not majorly going to affordable housing," Finfer said. "You want to push them to change that because that's the top issue clearly in your city, how those funds should be used."

"We're in the middle of a housing crisis, not just here in Mass., but in the nation," Dalida Rocha, executive director of Neighbor to Neighbor Massachusetts, said. "On April 20, NBC reported that for a family of four to live comfortably in Massachusetts, you need to make over $300,000 a year. I'm a single mother of three, so a family of four, and I make nowhere near that."

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2021 the median household income in Massachusetts was $56,746. Median earnings for Worcester residents are in the bottom 5% of Massachusetts' 351 municipalities.

"Renters make up the bulk of Worcester residents," Dozier said. "If income increases remain stagnant and housing costs continue to soar, it's no wonder our unsheltered population continues to grow."

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: May Day rally focuses on lack of affordable housing in Worcester
Stefanie Lambert Junttila appears before Judge Jeffery S. Matis via Zoom. | Screenshot

Attorney Stefanie Lambert Junttila is slated to proceed to trial on Oct. 21 due to scheduling concerns with the previously scheduled trial date.

While Oakland County Circuit Judge Jeffrey S. Matis previously scheduled a trial for July 15, Lambert Junttilas attorney, Dan Hartman, objected to the date due to a potential conflict with another trial he had scheduled in late July, as Lambert Junttilas trial is expected to last two to three weeks.

Lambert Junttila is one of three individuals indicted as part of an investigation into alleged tampering with voting machines following the 2020 election that former President Donald Trump lost to President Joe Biden. Former state Rep. Daire Rendon (R-Lake City) and attorney and Republican former Attorney General nominee Matt DePerno are also facing charges.

Rendons and DePernos cases have been remanded to district court for preliminary examination, while Lambert and her attorney have opted to go directly to trial.

Matis also noted both parties had agreed to set a deadline for motions for one month prior to the case on Sept. 20, to ensure all motions are heard and avoid any last-minute curveballs in the case.

Prosecutor Tim Maat said they would be prepared to go to trial on July 15, which would be the prosecutions preference, but waived any right to a speedy trial. Lambert similarly waived her right to a speedy trial, with the October date marking the soonest date both attorneys and the court would be available.

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The post Lambert Junttila trial in voting machine tampering case set for October appeared first on Michigan Advance.
LANSING, Mich. (WLNS)  With a key election on the ballot Tuesday, May 7, Lansing City Clerk Chris Swope is predicting a turnout of about 15% of the citys registered voters.

Thats based on the November 2023 election as well as the trend of absentee ballots coming back.

Swope tells 6 News he mailed out 17,200 absentee ballots for this election. But just 43% of those have been returned, leaving 9800 ballots still outstanding. Voters can still return their ballot Tuesday  or during early voting, and feed it into a tabulator themselves.

Voting booths are seen at a polling station at Langley High School in McLean, Va., on Election Day, Tuesday, November 8, 2022. (Greg Nash/The Hill)

He says his office has begun processing some of the returned ballots, which a new state law allows, and his team has begun to find messages from the voters.

We had a couple of them, of voters, including notes with their ballots saying they didnt know any of the candidates and they didnt understand what it was they were voting on, Swope tells 6 News. So, I think the high number of ballots that have not been returned is reflective of that. Voters, you know, just this being such a unique thing to elect a Charter Commission and the fact of having 36 candidates to weed through, to select up to 9 candidates, I think for a lot of voters its just a little bit more time than theyre willing to dedicate.

Lansing voters in November voted to revisit the citys charter, which Swope compared to the municipalitys constitution. The document prescribes the formation and operation of the government.

Lansing City Council earlier this year approved a budget amendment for $500,000 for the commissions operations, including possible special elections. The 9 members elected Tuesday will have through November 2026 to present a new city charter to voters. If voters reject the proposed new charter, the commission could come back with an alternative option, or leave the current charter in place.

Swope says the charter was adopted in the mid-70s and voters have not opted to rewrite it until now.

When polls close Tuesday night, Swope anticipates 15% of the citys registered voters will have cast ballots. In November, when voters approved the commission and new city council members, the turnout was 16.3% of registered voters.

There are two dueling slates of candidates running in the race  accounting for half of the 36 candidates.

A slate backed by labor groups and the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce is made up of:

Stephen Purchase

Ben Dowd

Joan Bauer

Muhammad Qawwee

Elizabeth Driscoll Boyd

Brian Jeffries

Miranda Swartz

Keith Williams

Guillermo Lopez

That slate is backed by the Chamber and these labor groups:

Capital City Labor Program (Lansing Police Officers Union)

IAFF Local 421 (Lansing Firefighters)

Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 333

IBEW Local 665

IBEW Local 352

UAW Local 2256

Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce

Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters & MillwrightsMichigan

Building Trades Council

Michigan Laborers Local 499

Painters IUPAT DC1M

Operating Engineers Local 324

Steve Japinga is vice president of public affairs for the Chamber. When 6 News shared Swopes assessment of the turnout, his first response was, Wow.

This is a serious process this committee is going to go through, he says. That is a concern.

Samuel Klahn is one of the nine members of the Lansing Community Alliance. This slate formed, in part, as a protest over what Klahn says was a disingenuous endorsement process by the Chamber and labor unions.

That slate is made up of the following candidates:

Samuel Klahn

Heath Lowry

Randy Dykhuis

Layna Anderson

Jazmin Anderson

Erica Lynn

Ross Yednock

Julie Vandeboom

Jerry Norris

Klahn says the returned ballots and expected 15% turnout is what everybody expected.

He says his slate has been telling voters, Even if you dont vote for me, please go out and vote.

Elizabeth Driscoll Boyd made a career working for two Secretaries of State in Michigan, as well as for former Gov. Jennifer Granholm. She says voting is important to her. But the turnout was a problem for her.

Does it offend me? Does it surprise me? That people have not voted? she asks. Kind of.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WLNS 6 News.
UPDATE, 7 a.m. PT Thursday:

Hundreds of people were arrested early Thursday as Los Angeles police moved overnight to clear out UCLAs pro-Palestinian encampment, according to a CHP spokesman.

The exact number of arrestees and breakdown between students, faculty and nonaffiliated persons was not immediately known. Protesters who were detained were being booked at the Los Angeles county sheriffs downtown location.

Video of the confrontation showed protesters throwing water bottles, wooden pallets and traffic cones as police prepared to sweep in. According to multiple media reports, at least one officer was injured; it wasnt immediately clear whether any demonstrators were hurt.

PREVIOUSLY:

Following the declaration by authorities on Wednesday night that the Gaza war protest encampment at UCLA is an unlawful assembly, a large number of LAPD and California Highway Patrol officers have gathered at the campus and appear to be preparing to disperse the protesters.

LAPD issued a citywide tactical alert early Wednesday evening; officers began arriving on campus after 7:00 p.m.

In video posted to social media by Fox News national correspondent Bill Melugin around 8:20 p.m., LAPD officers in riot gear arranged themselves in a box formation near the encampment, as what appears to be many hundreds of people on campus shouted Shame on you.

Crowd chanting shame on you and LAPD KKK as a large number of LAPD officers continue to arrive just outside of the UCLA encampment on campus. Tension building bigtime. pic.twitter.com/MDBBW602Qb  Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) May 2, 2024

In a video posted by Melugin at 9:19 p.m., Highway Patrol officers could be seen with visible zip ties and assorted crowd control equipment.

California Highway Patrol with zip ties and crowd control gear beginning to gather outside of the UCLA encampment as people in the camp try to strobe them with flashlights and wave Palestinian flags. pic.twitter.com/iEyctTwHPq  Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) May 2, 2024

Eyewitnesses among the protesters on the scene also posted video.

The actions follow a brutal night of violence at UCLA late Tuesday night, when a group of pro-Israel counter-protesters  who according to UCLA chancellor Gene Block appeared to consist largely of outside instigators  attacked the encampment, unprovoked, using fireworks, pipes and tear gas against the encampment participants. The attackers also assaulted student journalists covering the event.

UCLA police and a private security service employed by the school proved unable or unwilling to intervene in the attack. For reasons that have not been adequately explained, it took outside law enforcement nearly 3 hours to arrive in numbers sufficient to stop the attackers. University administrators as well as LAPD and the LA Sheriffs department have been strongly criticized for the delayed response, including by California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Susan Bass.

In a statement, Block condemned the attacks, insisted he called LAPD to stop the attackers, quell the fighting and protect our community. He offered sympathy to victims of the attack and vowed the school will conduct a thorough investigation that may lead to arrests, expulsions and dismissals.

In a press conference Wednesday afternoon, representatives of the encampment protesters accused UCLA officials of informally sanctioning the attack in a manner thats very similar to the way that the Ku Klux Klan operated as a quasi-state, one student spokesperson said.

Witnesses also accused LAPD of standing back and allowing the attack to proceed rather than intervening.

The post Los Angeles Police Arrest Hundreds in Overnight Sweep to Clear Gaza Protesters From UCLA Campus | Video appeared first on TheWrap.
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  The driver accused of speeding and driving the wrong way in a deadly Las Vegas crash faces charges of DUI and reckless driving, according to documents obtained by 8 News Now. A witness said he was traveling at near 100 miles per hour.

On Sunday, April 28 at around 10:40 p.m., officers with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department responded to a collision near the intersection of South Buffalo Drive and Peacock Avenue.

The collision involved two black vehicles, a Honda driven by Juan De Leon, 23, and a Hyundai driven by Adolph Weiss, 78.

Juan De Leon faces charges of DUI resulting in death and reckless driving resulting in death or serious bodily harm. (LVMPD/KLAS)

Callers told dispatch that both drivers were stuck in their vehicles. Las Vegas Fire and Rescue arrived and extracted both drivers. Medical personnel took De Leon to a hospital with serious injuries to his lower body, the report stated.

Medical took Weiss took the hospital where he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead.

The investigation showed De Leon was driving south on Buffalo Drive and approaching the intersection with Peacock Avenue when he failed to negotiate a curve in the road and hit the raised median at a high rate of speed before crossing into oncoming traffic and colliding with Weiss vehicle, according to the report.

A witness to the collision told police that De Leon was driving at speeds she estimated to be near 100 miles per hour before jumping the median and crashing into Weiss vehicle, the report stated.

The posted limit on Buffalo Drive is 45 miles per hour.

Weiss vehicle was pushed 24 feet away against a concrete barrier from the collision point. According to the report, the vehicles entire drivers compartment was damaged from the collision.

De Leons vehicle traveled more than 200 feet after the collision. It was missing its front left tire assembly, the report stated.

Officers at the hospital observed that De Leons eyes were watery and detected a faint odor of an unknown alcoholic beverage coming from him. Police then got a search warrant to obtain blood samples from him, the report stated.

Police arrested De Leon in the hospital and booked him in absentia in the Clark County Detention Center. He faces charges of DUI resulting in death and reckless driving resulting in death or serious bodily harm.

His next court appearance was scheduled for May 16.

Court records show De Leons bail was set for $25,000. If he posts bail, he will be put on medium-level electronic monitoring and alcohol and drug monitoring, as well as have to stay out of trouble, abstain from drugs and alcohol, and not drive.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  Las Vegas police are asking for the publics help as they continue to investigate a mans death after he was found east of the Strip.

The Clark County coroner identified the man as Robert Rodriguez. He was found dead on Sunday, April 28 shortly after 9 p.m. in the 800 block of East Sahara Avenue near Maryland Parkway.

On Wednesday, police released a photo of Rodriguez and urged the public to call police if they recognize him, or have any information relating to his death.

This embedded content is not available in your region.

Police investigate man found dead near Las Vegas Strip, police say

Anyone with any information about this incident is urged to contact the LVMPD Homicide

Section by phone at 702-828-3521, or by email at homicide@lvmpd.com. To remain

anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers by phone at 702-385-5555.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  A Metro police officer cited their boss after Sheriff Kevin McMahill collided with another car on a freeway off-ramp, according to documents the 8 News Now Investigators obtained.

The crash was reported on April 25 around 8:30 a.m. at the Interstate 15 and Interstate 215 interchange south of the Las Vegas Strip.

McMahill, who was driving an LVMPD vehicle, collided with another car while attempting to change lanes on the ramp, documents said.

An LVMPD officer responded and cited McMahill for an improper lane change. Records show McMahill did not contest the ticket and paid a $415 fine.

A spokesperson for Metro declined to comment on the crash when it happened last week and directed the 8 News Now Investigators to file a public records request.

It was unclear why a Metro officer responded to the crash when it occurred on a freeway, which is in Nevada State Polices jurisdiction. Though the sheriff has conducted interviews with 8 News Now reporters in passing at Metro events, he has declined all sit-down interview requests since he assumed the role in January 2023.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  A Las Vegas teen murder suspect walked out of an apartment with a friend knowing two other people lay in wait to ambush them so they could steal a gun and shoot him, according to the arrest report for 17-year-old Jordan DaSharp Brown.

Brown was automatically certified as an adult in the court system due to the seriousness of the alleged crime. He is one of three suspects accused in the murder of AhShioni Henderson, 16, on April 9 at an apartment complex located on Buffalo Drive near Lake Mead Boulevard.

According to police documents, Brown conspired with Lennix Dockery and DeAjai Guaydacan, both 18, to steal a gun from Henderson. Brown posted a photo on his Instagram account of Henderson with a Glock-style handgun for sale. The report said, that on the evening of the shooting, a witness told police they were at a gathering in an apartment  in the complex where the shooting occurred  and witnessed Brown put a gun he was carrying into Hendersons pants pocket.

3rd teen arrested in Idaho after teen found shot to death in Las Vegas apartment

Documents said Brown told police he was contacted by someone named Jay who saw the photo and wanted to know Hendersons whereabouts and Brown told him at the homie house, which was the apartment. Brown told police Jay wanted to steal the gun due to a prior beef with Henderson.

Guaydacan and Dockery are accused of waiting outside of the apartment, hiding under the stairs, and ambushing Henderson when he left the apartment with Brown. Henderson was shot twice and later died at the hospital, the report said.

Lennix M. Dockery, 18, of Las Vegas was arrested in Idaho on charges related to a deadly Las Vegas shooting that left a 16-year-old dead. (Courtesy of the Kootenai County Sheriffs Office)

Surveillance video showed Brown leaving the crime scene in a vehicle with Guaydacan and Dockery. When questioned later by police, he couldnt explain why he changed his Instagram social media accounts following the shooting and why he didnt call police after Henderson was shot, the arrest report said.

Brown, Guaydacan, and Dockery all face charges of open murder with the use of a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit murder, robbery with the use of a deadly weapon, and conspiracy to commit robbery.

Brown is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on May 9.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
Lowcountry resident Taylor Shelton gets hugs after sharing her experience with reporters following a Circuit Court hearing on South Carolina's abortion ban. Behind her on the far left is Planned Parenthood attorney Kyla Eastling, who argued the case in court. (Seanna Adcox/SC Daily Gazette)

COLUMBIA  At what point in a pregnancy does South Carolinas so-called fetal heartbeat law ban abortions, at six weeks or nine?

Thats the question abortion providers are asking a Circuit Court judge to answer, noting it was South Carolinas Supreme Court who invited the legal query. Until thats settled, theyre seeking to suspend enforcement of the law, which took effect last August, before nine weeks gestation.

To put it simply, you cant have a heartbeat before you have a heart, Kyla Eastling, an attorney for Planned Parenthood, said Thursday to Judge Daniel Coble.

The law has been consistently called a six-week ban. But it does not actually say that.

Rather, it bans abortion once an ultrasound detects the sound of cardiac activity, or the steady and repetitive rhythmic contraction of the fetal heart, within the gestational sac. Its the clause between the commas thats the center of abortion providers latest challenge.

At six weeks, there is detectable cardiac activity.

But it is not steady; it is not repetitive; and it is not rhythmic, Eastling said at a hearing in the Richland County Courthouse.

The earliest that happens in the forming heart is nine weeks. At six weeks, whats heard are asynchronous electrical impulses bouncing back and forth in a tubelike shape, she said.

Lawyers for the state argued that may be medically true, but legislators intentions trump all.

In this case, there is no clearer evidence of what that intent is, said Grayson Lambert, attorney for Gov. Henry McMaster.

Through years of legislative debate and legal challenges, opponents and proponents alike referred to a six-week ban, he said, noting thats how Planned Parenthood referred to it more than 300 times in two prior court cases.

There is no evidence in the legislative record that anyone intended this to be a nine-week ban, Lambert said. The laws been applied exactly as the Legislature intended.

He also pointed to similar fetal heartbeat laws in other states that are six-week bans.

But Eastling argued South Carolinas law stands out as the only one with those commas in the definition of whats banned, which means it should be interpreted differently. The commas are akin to adding in other words to the definition, she said.

Whatever Coble decides will almost certainly be appealed. The case will likely be eventually settled by the state Supreme Court, which opened the door to a challenge on the bans timing but then refused to hear the case directly.

Justice John Few was the first to question the significance of the commas. Then, in a footnote of last Augusts ruling, its author, Justice John Kittredge  who will become chief justice this summer  said defining what constitutes a fetal heartbeat would have to be decided later. And, while the high court declined to reconsider the case on that ground, soon-to-be-retired Chief Justice Don Beatty encouraged the abortion providers to sue again.

Filed in February, the case questioning the legal timing stood out among other challenges to bans enacted since the U.S. Supreme Courts 2022 ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade. Others have sought clarity on medical exceptions in state bans.

The lawsuit recounts the experience of Lowcountry resident Taylor Shelton, who learned she was pregnant last September despite having an intrauterine device. Because of her IUD and regular menstrual cycles, she quickly realized shed missed her period. Home pregnancy tests confirmed she was pregnant. Still, she could not get an appointment for an abortion at a clinic in South Carolina before the six-week cutoff.

She was eventually able to get an abortion in North Carolina, she told reporters after the hearing, but it took three trips and more than 20 hours in a car.

Shelton, who gave her age as mid- to late-20s, was fortunate in knowing she was pregnant at the earliest possible point, unlike other women with irregular periods who wont know theyre pregnant until after the six-week cutoff. That she still couldnt get an appointment underscores the absurdity and cruelty of these restrictions, she said.

I stand before you angry, angry at a system that seeks to control our bodies and dictate our choices she said. But I also stand determined, fueled by the conviction that no one should go what I went through.

Let us know what you think...

The post How 2 commas could reset SCs abortion ban to 9 weeks appeared first on SC Daily Gazette.
Representatives vote on a draft resolution that recommends to the 193-member UN General Assembly that "the State of Palestine be admitted to membership of the United Nations" during a Security Council meeting at the UN headquarters in New York, on April 18, 2024.(Xinhua/Xie E)

In a letter dated April 26, Francis told member states that the resumption of the ESS was requested by Saudi Arabia, Mauritania, and Uganda, in their respective capacities as chair of the Arab Group, chair of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Group and chair of the Coordinating Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement.

UNITED NATIONS, May 1 (Xinhua) -- The UN General Assembly will resume its 10th emergency special session (ESS) on May 10, after Palestine's UN membership bid was blocked by the United States at the Security Council in April.

UN General Assembly President Dennis Francis has informed member states that he will convene a plenary meeting of the ESS on May 10, said Monica Grayley, his spokeswoman, on Wednesday.

In a letter dated April 26, Francis told member states that the resumption of the ESS was requested by Saudi Arabia, Mauritania, and Uganda, in their respective capacities as chair of the Arab Group, chair of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Group and chair of the Coordinating Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement.

The United States on April 18 vetoed a Security Council draft resolution that would have recommended to the General Assembly Palestine's full UN membership.

Riyad Mansour, the permanent observer of Palestine to the United Nations, expressed the hope that the General Assembly would ask the Security Council to reconsider the issue at the ESS.

"We will now bring the matter for consideration by the General Assembly on May 10 in a resumed 10th emergency special session and trust that this body representing the international community will unequivocally support the admission of the State of Palestine to the UN and call on the Security Council to reconsider our application for admission favorably," he told a General Assembly meeting on Wednesday on the use of veto by the United States.

Under UN rules, the admission of new members has to be recommended by the Security Council before a vote in the General Assembly. If the Security Council does not recommend the application or postpones its consideration of the application, the council then must submit a special report to the General Assembly, which in turn could ask the council to reconsider.

The 10th ESS on the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory was convened for the first time in April 1997. 
Members of the Latino community and their supporters rallied in Davenport against a new law in Iowa.

Governor Kim Reynolds signed Senate File 2340 into law last month. It classifies being an undocumented immigrant as an aggravated misdemeanor. People at the rally call the legislation unconstitutional and say it goes against American values. Republicans behind Senate File 2340 argue it addresses the failures of President Biden on immigration.

For more information, click here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHBF - OurQuadCities.com.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) received an embarrassing reminder during her visit on Wednesday to an encampment set up by George Washington University students who are protesting Israels war in Gaza.

The far-right congresswoman was greeted with chants of Beetlejuice, a clear reference to her booting from a Denver theater in September for vaping and groping her then-date during a performance of the hit musical.

Rep. Lauren Boebert used a bullhorn during a press conference at the George Washington University Gaza encampment. Hundreds of students opposed to the far-right Republicans who visited the camp chanted over and frequently drowned out the members of Congress. ALLISON BAILEY via Getty Images

Someone also stood behind Boebert with a sign bearing the productions name as she addressed protesters via a bullhorn.

Boebert toured the encampment with other Republican lawmakers. She accused the protesters of being very disrespectful to their fellow students and threatened that Congress could cut the schools funding.

At another point during Boeberts visit, she unsuccessfully tried to rip down a Palestinian flag that had been put on a statue of George Washington.

She said in footage that went viral on X, formerly Twitter, This is America, and that shit needs to come down.

Related...
Representative Lauren Boebert paid a visit to the Gaza protest encampment in Washington, D.C., at George Washington Universityand was quickly met with heckles of Beetlejuice.



Boebert arrived at the encampment on Wednesday with several other Republicans from Congress, as students sang The Imperial March from Star Wars. Then their attempt to grandstand at the encampment was overshadowed by student protesters yelling Beetlejuice, referencing the time Boebert and her date were kicked out of a Denver theaters performance of the play for disruptive and lewd behavior.



Members of Congress visited #GWU today and Lauren Boebert was met with BeetleJuice heckling pic.twitter.com/a0Gcz3dNQ5  Anarchy princess (@SatireAP) May 1, 2024

She toured the encampment and tried to pull a Palestinian flag off a statue of George Washington, coming into contact with protesters. She failed to remove the flag, and her security staff led her away.



Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert scuffled with protesters at George Washington University (GWU) when trying to remove a Palestinian flag from a statue during her visit today.



The protesters quickly maneuvered to block her from taking it down and her security ushered her pic.twitter.com/9ZBoGKJWtr  Art Candee  (@ArtCandee) May 1, 2024

Its not the first time Republicans visited one of the protest encampments set up by college students across the country to protest their institutions involvement with Israel and its brutal war in Gaza. Last week, Mike Johnson visited Columbia Universitys protest encampment to grandstand himself, attacking protesters and calling for the National Guard to clear the encampment.



Police would clear Columbias encampment days later, pushing students out of an occupied building in an overwhelmingly excessive response. A similar takedown took place Thursday morning at UCLA. At all of the protests across the country, the students demands are being ignored in favor of overblown allegations from critics. Currently, it seems protests will continue until something substantive happens, like an end to weapons shipments to Israel or a cease-fire.
MAGARepublican Rep Lauren Boebert was heckled by protesters with chants of Beetlejuice as she visited the campus of George Washington University on Wednesday.

In September, the lawmaker was infamously kicked out of a performance of the musical Beetlejuice in Denver after loudly singing along, vaping, and appearing to get intimate with her date.

After initially denying any bad behaviour, she later apologised citing her recent divorce.

On Wednesday, Ms Boebert visited the college campus in Washington DC along with fellow Republican representatives James Comer, Byron Donalds, and Anna Paulina Luna. The visit comes at a time when protests are spreading across US colleges, as students call on universities to divest from ties to Israel due to its ongoing war on Gaza.

As the group of Republicans arrived, chants of Beetlejuice could be heard.

At one point, Ms Boebert was seen trying to pull down a Palestinian flag.

This is America and that s*** needs to come down, she told students.

Rep Lauren Boebert speaks at the campus of GW University in Washington DC (Screenshot / CNN)

So this is what the students here at GW University are facing each and every day. Their learning activities are being disrupted, their finals are being disrupted, Ms Boebert told the assembled press and surrounding protesters.

The law school students are the only ones permitted on campus during finals and their learning and studying time has been completely disrupted by this 2024 Summer of Love.

She went on to claim that several Jewish students had approached her saying they fear for their lives.

As Boebert arrived at George Washington University, students were chanting 'Beetlejuice'. pic.twitter.com/3cf3X2CwEh  Andrew Leyden (@PenguinSix) May 2, 2024

Members of Congress visited #GWU today and Lauren Boebert was met with BeetleJuice heckling pic.twitter.com/a0Gcz3dNQ5  Anarchy princess (@SatireAP) May 1, 2024

Seven students have been suspended for trespassing and it's time that [DC] Mayor [Muriel] Bowser gets aggressive in keeping safety here on this campus and the surrounding perimeter, she added, before she was drowned out by chants of free Palestine.

Ive seen signs here today saying queer and trans folks for a liberated Palestine, gays for Gaza, from the river to the sea Palestine will be free, Chinese for Palestine, followed by all cops are bastards  this is not only disgusting..., she continued before the chants took over once more.

VIDEO: Cong @laurenboebert attempts to rip down Palestinian flag that was draped over George Washington statue on the GWU campus. pic.twitter.com/w7lAxcROKP  Andrew Leyden (@PenguinSix) May 1, 2024

Ms Boebert went on to say that almost every single person in the so-called liberated zone would be eviscerated by the very terrorists you're standing here supporting.

She accused faculty of being involved in the protests and called on the university and the mayor to take forceful action against the protesters or risk losing their federal funding.

Last week, House Speaker Mike Johnson was also heckled during a visit to Columbia University in New York, where he called for university President Minouche Shafik to resign amid protests on campus.

Police in riot gear entered the university on Tuesday night and arrested dozens of protesters.

The Independent has contacted the office of Ms Boebert for comment.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) packed her own bullhorn for a Wednesday trip to George Washington University, where protesters continue to occupy a liberation camp they erected in support of Gazans nearly a week ago.

But she didnt pack her running shoesotherwise she might have been able to get away from the heckling students repeatedly shouting Beetlejuice at her.

The jeers, of course, were in reference to the time that Boebert got kicked out of a September performance of the musical Beetlejuice in Denver for vaping, singing along, and feeling up her date. (The budding relationship did not survive the gleeful public shaming that followed.)

Boebert was filmed being led through the D.C. campus by her security team as members of the crowd sang Darth Vaders theme from Star Wars and chanted Beetlejuice.

As she traversed the encampment, the Colorado congresswoman came upon a statue of George Washington draped in a Palestinian flag. She grasped for the largest one, trying to rip it down. This is America, and that shit needs to come down, she can be heard saying in a video taken by a witness.

Members of Congress visited #GWU today and Lauren Boebert was met with BeetleJuice heckling pic.twitter.com/a0Gcz3dNQ5  Anarchy princess (@SatireAP) May 1, 2024

Eventually, Boebert let go and threw a hand up, unable to pull the flag off the statue.

The Republican, who was visiting with fellow Reps. Byron Donalds (R-FL), Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), and James Comer (R-KY), later addressed the campus community. Someone in the crowd standing behind her as she spoke held up a cardboard sign reading Beetlejuice.

Railing against the protesters and their 2024 Summer of Love, Boebert called them very disrespectful for disrupting other students learning.

Its time that Mayor [Muriel] Bowser gets aggressive in keeping safety here on this campus and the surrounding perimeter, she said.

When protesters broke out in cries of Free, free Palestine moments later, Boebert countered with: We bless Israel! Those who bless Israel shall be blessed!

Boebert then began reading out slogans on signs shed seen in the encampment, including Queer and trans folks for a liberated Palestine, Gays for Gaza, and Chinese for Palestine.

This not only disgusts meBoebert then turned and grabbed her bullhorn as the students chants grew louderNot only is this disgusting but let me be clear: Almost every single person in this so-called liberated zone would be eviscerated by the very terrorists you are standing here supporting.

Im sorry GW students I was unfamiliar with your game https://t.co/agIYeSgjaz pic.twitter.com/WcxHesiQa0  Isabelle Kravis  (@IsabelleKravis) May 1, 2024

The lawmakers speech then took a turn as she abruptly threatened that Congress could cut the schools funding should the protests continue to go unchecked.

If the faculty here, who, many are involved in this right nowI had people proudly saying that they are facultyand not wanting to remove a Palestinian sign from the George Washington statue, Boebert fumed. If they dont want to do something to address this? Well, then kiss your federal funding goodbye.

Her visit was presaged by Comers announcement that a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing next week would focus on the protests at George Washington University.

Several students at the school were suspended last Friday after defying an order to clear the encampment, according to The Washington Post. No arrests had been made or expulsions handed down as of Wednesday night.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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York County law enforcement officers were reminded of a searing, familiar feeling Monday when a gunman killed four and injured others during a shootout in east Charlotte.

Six years ago, four York County law enforcement officers were shot  one of them killed  while trying to apprehend a domestic violence suspect outside the town of York, South Carolina. Armed with a rifle, the suspect killed York County Sheriffs Office Sgt. Mike Doty and injured the three others.

The painful bond was shared by law enforcement officers in two different counties Monday as York County Sheriff Kevin Tolson and some of the officers who survived the 2018 shooting watched as another gunman shot and killed four officers and injured five others, this time in east Charlotte.

On Monday, that gunman, wanted on warrants out of Lincoln County, met a U.S. Marshals Service task force with an AR-15 and .40 caliber pistol and turned the warrant service into one of the most tragic days in Charlottes history.

Its hard to explain unless youve actually been through it and lost a friend or brother or sister in law enforcementIts as close to losing a family member as I think you can get, Tolson told the Observer.

A rainbow is seen behind the police vehicle that draped in an American flag outside the police station on North Tryon on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. Flowers have been placed on the hood in memory of CMPD officer Joshua Eyer, who was killed in a deadly shootout in East Charlotte.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings described the loss of the four officers on Monday as a scar that wont heal.

The past nearly 24 hours have been heavy on the CMS police department and marshal service but also heavy on our community and on our country, Jennings told reporters at a news briefing Tuesday morning. Were a resilient profession and a resilient city, and we will certainly get through this. But it will take time, and it will take support from all of our community as our officers continue to keep our community safe even through this tragedy.

Alongside Jennings, director of the U.S. Marshal Service Ron Davis grieved the lives lost, including a deputy U.S. marshal.

I dont think words can describe the amount of pain that the marshal service and all of its members, the court family, law enforcement in general, this community and communities around the country are feeling with such a loss, Davis said. Losing a deputy, losing a task force officer, is like losing a family member.

Back the Blue North Carolina, a nonprofit that provides monetary assistance to families of killed officers, says the Charlotte shooting left law enforcement of all departments in a state of shock. The group has assisted 16 fallen officers families around the state in the last four years.

I could only describe this as a massacre, a mass assault on our officers, said Lindsay LiCausi, a former police officer and founder of Back the Blue North Carolina. Whats so tragic about it is not only how it affects the departments but also the families that are left behind.

Tragedy still sits with Kyle Cummings, a former member of York Countys SWAT Team, who was shot during the 2018 incident in York.

York County officer shooting

The situation was still active, and part of me, I wanted to go and help, Cummings said of Monday afternoons Charlotte shootings.

Then he turned on the news at home and just watched.

I kinda lay there, numb, Cummings said.

Cummings understands the difficult path responding and now-grieving officers will go through.

You may have survivors guilt, you may have to find a new normal, Cummings said. You may never be the same.

Sgt. Randy Clinton, Det. Mike Dotys father Bob Doty, Sgt. Buddy Brown and Sgt. Kyle Cummings accepted York County Sheriffs Office Purple Heart awards Jan. 31.

Cummings is now 40 and pursuing a new career in nursing. Six years ago, he survived a gunshot wound to the left leg. Cummings had surgery after being shot and still cant do things he used to do such as skateboard with his three children.

Police officers are generally hard-chargers in a macho world and dont want to share their feelings with others, he said. Especially after something as life-changing as a shooting. But talking about it helps, he said.

If you dont talk to somebody and bottle your feelings inside, it can be ten times worse, Cummings said.

Cummings said he has not been contacted by any groups to talk to wounded officers or others involved in Mondays shooting, but would do so if asked.

If I can help anyone get through this, I will do it, Cummings said.

Twin brother killed

For one York County sheriff deputy, the loss from the 2018 shooting wasnt like family. It was family.

Mike Dotys twin brother, Sgt. Chris Doty, said Mondays shooting in Charlotte brought back unwanted memories for him and his family. Chris Doty, who joined the sheriffs office in 2004 two years before his brother, remains a deputy.

Our family extends our thoughts and prayers to all that were involved in the incident on Monday, he said Wednesday.

Chris Doty said he has spoken to some people from the Charlotte shooting to offer encouragement. He said days ahead will be difficult, especially for families and those close to the fallen, but a quiet time will come, Doty said.

I encouraged them to keep strong, keep talking about the fallen, Doty said.

Doty encouraged anyone associated with the Charlotte shootings to reach out - whether it is a fellow officer, spouse, pastor, mental health professional or a close friend.

How can I help?

A law enforcement processional for Deputy U.S. Marshal Thomas Tommy Weeks Jr. goes along Interstate 77 at exit 28 from Charlotte to Mooresville on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Weeks, a 48-year Mooresville father of four, died in Mondays Charlotte shooting where four law enforcement officers died and four more wounded.

As of Wednesday, Back the Blue North Carolina had raised almost $106,000 for the surviving families of the officers killed Monday. The organization has a total goal of $250,000, according to its GoFundMe page. Its not the only one. A fundraiser for fallen CMPD officer Joshua Eyers family reached $106,000. Another fundraiser has been organized by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 9.

LiCausi said shes already heard from several people at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, who say theyre shocked and devastated.

Aside from grief, what Im also hearing from people is How can I help? LiCausi said.

As of Wednesday, a total of 136 officers have been shot in the line of duty in 2024, 20 of whom were killed, according to the National Fraternal Order of Police. Thats on par with this time last year, but 10% higher than 2022.

First officer on the scene in York County

Randy Clinton of York was the first officer shot at the scene in 2018. Clintons left femur, the large bone in his upper leg, was shattered. The suspect, Christian McCall, was caught later that night and is serving life in a South Carolina prison.

Clinton said he was watching the news Monday and got teary-eyed. Clinton, now 62, retired a couple of years after the shooting with more than three decades in law enforcement.

I am just at a loss for words, Clinton said. My heart hurts for them.

As a retired officer, he wanted to be there to help in Charlotte, Clinton said. It was only because of his injuries to his leg that he later retired.

You still have that urge, you are a public servant, we were trained to run to it, not from it. You just do it. Clinton said. You never caught nobody by giving up.

Clinton said it is a sad period for the officers, their families and the Charlotte community.

Clinton said it is important for people involved to talk to others about what happened.

You can get through it, Clinton said. But it is not an easy road doing it.

Resources and support

SOUNDED LIKE VIETNAM OUT THERE': Charlotte residents describe shooting where officers killed

For those seeking support, organizations that offer free resources include:
Bipartisan lawmakers on Tuesday announced the start of a dog lovers caucus on Capitol Hill in the wake of a story about South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) shooting and killing a family dog.

In light of recent events, were launching the Congressional Dog Lovers Caucus today! Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) said in a post on the social platform X. This group dedicated to mans best friend aims to foster bipartisan cooperation and will help put paws over politics.

The post also featured photos of Reps. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) and Susan Wild (D-Pa.), alongside Moskowitz, each holding a dog.

While Congress might disagree on everything, we can all agree that dogs are beloved companions, bringing us all so much joy, Mace said in a press release obtained by The Hill. We started this caucus to champion legislation that protects the rights and well-being of dogs, ensuring they receive the care, respect, and recognition they deserve.

Wild also said that few unite Americans as much as our love for our dogs.

In a time of polarization and partisanship, Im proud to join my colleagues from both sides of the aisle and commit to working on behalf of our pets, who give us so much joy and comfort every day, Wild said in the press release.

The caucus announcement follows a whirlwind of controversy Noem has faced over a passage in an upcoming book in which she said she took a family dog to a gravel pit on her property and shot it. Noem, who has called the dog extremely dangerous, wrote that it was not a pleasant job but had to be done.

It was a dog that was extremely dangerous, Noem said Wednesday on Fox Newss Hannity. It had come to us from a family who had found her way too aggressive.

We were her second chance. And she was  the day she was put down was a day that she massacred livestock that were part of our neighbors, she continued. She attacked me. And it was a hard decision.

[I] had a choice between keeping my small children and other people safe, or a dangerous animal, and I chose the safety of my children, Noem said.

The controversy is ill-timed for Noem, who has seen rising speculation that she could be former President Trumps choice for a running mate in November. But in the wake of the controversy, many observers think her chances have plummeted.

The Hill has reached out to Noem for comment.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A view of the Byron White U.S. Courthouse, base of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, in downtown Denver. (Google Maps)

A federal appeals court in Colorado on Tuesday overturned a lower court ruling that dismissed a lawsuit brought against Rocky Mountain Classical Academy in Colorado Springs. The lawsuit, brought by a student and his mother, claimed that the schools dress code policy of allowing girls but not boys to wear earrings violated a students 14th Amendment equal protection rights.

The unanimous decision, which could have far-reaching implications for dress codes that treat girls and boys differently, came from three judges on the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Joel Carson, appointed to the court by former President Donald Trump in 2017, wrote that the lower court was wrong to rule that, because the code imposed a comparable burden on male and female students, the schools policy wasnt discriminatory.

For the last forty-seven years, the Supreme Court has recognized only one test for determining whether a sex-based classification violates the right to equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment, wrote Carson. In this case, a Colorado charter school urges us to replace that test with another. We decline the invitation.

Carson stated courts must evaluate sex-based classifications under an intermediate scrutiny standard. This test means that to impose a sex-based policy, the government entity must have an exceedingly persuasive justification for the rule or prove that it serves an important governmental objective.

Passing intermediate scrutiny is far more difficult than proving a comparable standard, which says a sex-based policy doesnt violate the equal protection clause if it imposes similar burdens on boys and girls, said Igor Raykin, attorney for the family that sued the school. This is why the Supreme Court hasnt ever adopted it.

This decision will ensure that schools that try to pass dress codes restricting transgender kids from wearing whatever they want will be fighting a losing battle.

 Igor Raykin, attorney for the family that sued the school

Raykin acknowledged that when the family filed the lawsuit in 2019, attacks against policies that protect students from gender identity discrimination werent on the national radar. The then-5-year-old plaintiff, listed as John Doe in the case, had been repeatedly disciplined, and the parents hoped to file an injunction so their son could stay at the school.

Although our client is not transgender, hes just a little boy who likes to wear earrings, this decision will ensure that schools that try to pass dress codes restricting transgender kids from wearing whatever they want will be fighting a losing battle, Raykin said.

So if there is a school somewhere out there that says boys cant wear skirts and girls can, the courts will look to this ruling. Theyll have to prove that the sex-based classification serves an important governmental objective. Good luck with that, said Raykin.

The case will return to the U.S. District Court of Colorado, where the school can argue whether its dress code policy justification is exceedingly persuasive or the dress codes treatment of boys is substantially related to its objectives.

Its unclear how much the school has spent on its legal defense, but Raykin noted it must be substantial. Should the school lose its case upon return to the lower court, Raykin said there is a provision where the school could be made to pay his attorney fees.

Rocky Mountain Classical Academy could also appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court or drop the case and change the dress code policy.

Rocky Mountain Classical Academy declined to comment on the courts ruling.

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The post Lawsuit over Colorado charter schools dress code should be reconsidered, court rules appeared first on Colorado Newsline.
Lawsuit wants to block creating City of Mulberry in Gwinnett County

A Gwinnett County man filed a lawsuit to try and block an attempt to create a new city in Gwinnett County called Mulberry, even though voters have already started to vote on the proposal.

I believe theyre being misled, said Stephen Hughes, who lives within the proposed city limits and filed the lawsuit. Im not against letting the voters decide. What I am for is letting the voters decide on a constitutional charter.

Supporters for the city are promising no city taxes along with a better way to have local control of planning and zoning decisions in the northeastern Gwinnett County region. Opponents have concerns that city taxes may eventually be implemented at some point in the future.

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Hughes told Channel 2 Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Matt Johnson he never believed promises of no new taxes.

Im not in favor of having another layer of government, more taxes, and not getting anything different than Im already getting, said Hughes.

The lawsuit cites a previous Georgia Supreme Court decision, Peacock v. Georgia Municipal Association, that argues the legislature can regulate every citys ability to tax but it cannot single out one city at a time.

Hughes believes the city charter would ultimately be amended to include city property taxes.

If many people, if they knew that, if they understood that, many would not vote for the referendum, said Hughes.

TRENDING STORIES:

City supporter and House Majority Leader Chuck Efstration says lawmakers reviewed the same arguments before they approved the Mulberry bill in February.

We debated this issue in the State Capital, he said. Its already been thoroughly vetted.

He questions whether Hughes is working with outside groups or developers to block the will of the voters.

The opposition here knows that its very popular, that its going to pass on the ballot, and they want to take it off the ballot, said Efstration.

Hughes says he researched the issue and reached out to attorney Allen Lightcap himself for representation on the lawsuit.

These are people in the community that dont want a city that are funding it, said Hughes.

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Dear LCS Community,



Im writing to share important updates about two separate incidents that occurred in our schools today. At Lynchburg City Schools (LCS), the safety and well-being of our students and staff is always our highest priority.



During morning arrival, the Lynchburg Police Department (LPD) responded to E.C. Glass High School (ECG) after two individuals were found to be trespassing on school property overnight. For the safety of everyone, students were kept outside while LPD investigated, and the decision was made to dismiss ECG early. Two students were found inside the building during the search, taken into custody, and charged with trespassing.



Later, in an unrelated incident, a threatening note was found by a student, prompting an evacuation at Linkhorne Middle School (LMS). For the safety of the students, the school was initially evacuated, then dismissed for the day. One student was taken into custody and charged with making a bomb threat.



Out of an abundance of caution, Linkhorne Elementary School (LES) was placed under Restricted Entry and Exit during the LMS dismissal. There were no safety concerns directly related to LES, and school activities resumed as normal.



LPD, along with LCS, Liberty University Police Department, and Virginia State Police, conducted thorough searches of both schools, confirming they were safe for everyone. We want to commend local law enforcement agencies for their quick response.



We understand that these events can cause anxiety and concern. I want to assure you that LCS is fully committed to protecting the safety of our students. These behaviors are unacceptable and disrupt the educational experience for all students. We ask for your support in speaking with your children about making smart choices and the significant consequences their actions may have.



Thank you for your patience and cooperation today. Together, we can maintain a safe and secure learning environment for all.

Superintendent Edwards
PHNOM PENH, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Low-cost carrier AirAsia Cambodia launched its daily domestic flight operations in the Southeast Asian country on Thursday, said its news release.

Its inaugural domestic flight KT102 departed from the capital Phnom Penh to the cultural province of Siem Reap with almost 100 percent passenger load, the news release said.

Subsequently, the airline also connected Siem Reap to the coastal city of Sihanoukville on the same day, connecting three domestic destinations.

Mao Havannall, minister in charge of Cambodia's State Secretariat of Civil Aviation, said the launch of AirAsia Cambodia marked a pivotal moment in the kingdom's aviation industry.

"As a bridge between people and cultures, this airline not only fosters economic growth and tourism, but also embodies the spirit of ASEAN collaboration," he said.

"With its focus on affordability and connectivity, AirAsia Cambodia embodies the potential for a brighter future for the country's aviation industry," he added.

Vissoth Nam, chief executive officer of AirAsia Cambodia, said these initial routes underscored AirAsia Cambodia's commitment to enhancing connectivity and providing affordable and convenient travel options for Cambodians and visitors alike.

"The timing of AirAsia Cambodia's domestic flight launch is also opportune, coinciding with the government's concerted efforts to attract more tourists to the culturally rich province of Siem Reap through the recently launched 'Visit Siem Reap 2024' campaign," he said.

Meanwhile, the Dubai-based Emirates Airline on Wednesday also resumed its daily flight to Phnom Penh via Singapore after a hiatus since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Cambodia Airports. 
Wayne Stenehjem (Photo provided by Office of Attorney General)

Emails released Wednesday show former Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem frequently used a private email for state business, but none of the messages related to ongoing criminal cases.

The Attorney Generals Office released another batch of Stenehjems emails in response to an open records request from the North Dakota Monitor and other media outlets.

Members of the media initially requested Stenehjems emails after cost overruns with a building project pursued by his administration were disclosed after Stenehjems death. The open records request revealed that Stenehjems executive assistant had ordered the deletion of his state email account immediately after he died in January 2022.

State officials initially thought the emails could not be recovered. However, in February the Bureau of Criminal Investigation discovered a cellphone extraction program had automatically copied and stored the contents of Stenehjems cellphone. In addition, the BCI requested Stenehjems personal laptop from his family in March.

Attorney General Drew Wrigley has said the cellphone data and laptop contents are being reviewed in the investigation of former Sen. Ray Holmberg, who is indicted on child sex tourism charges. Holmberg, who was a close associate of Stenehjem, left a voicemail for Stenehjem after investigators searched Holmbergs home, a transcript of a court hearing shows.

Wrigley said his office is fulfilling open records requests after staff review messages for potential information relevant to the criminal investigation.

About 95 emails made public Wednesday were recovered from Stenehjems private laptop. They are messages sent and received from Stenehjems AOL account that relate to state business. None of the emails mention Holmberg, according to a North Dakota Monitor review of the emails, which take up about 200 pages.

The batch of emails did not contain messages related to the building project, which is partially owned by Rep. Jason Dockter. The lawmaker is set to appear in court on Friday for a trial over a misdemeanor charge connected to the business deal. There is one email exchange between Stenehjem and Dockter related to campaign finance reporting. Dockter was Stenehjems campaign treasurer.

Many emails are related to the state Republican Party, including Stenehjems announcement in December of 2021 that he did not plan to seek reelection.

Other emails included messages related to the Board of University and School Lands, which Stenehjem served on, and emails related to a hydrogen project that was under consideration by the North Dakota Industrial Commission, another board he served on. Some emails from attorneys involved in an oil and gas lawsuit are redacted under an exemption for attorney work product.

Wrigley has said that emails in a private account are still public records if they relate to state business.

About 2,700 pages of emails were released at the end of March, containing mostly routine messages.

Wrigley told the North Dakota Monitor on Wednesday that no emails have been withheld from release, but thousands more are under review.

Theres still a volume more to go through, Wrigley said.

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The post Lease deal, criminal case not mentioned in latest batch of Stenehjem emails appeared first on North Dakota Monitor.
After leaving Iran, these two sisters are using art to speak out against religious tyranny

Shamim and Shima Aghaaminiha say artists couldn't make political statements with their work in Iran, but now that they live in Canada they've found a way to express their discontent with the Iranian regime. (Natascia Lypny/CBC News - image credit)

This story is part of a CBC Sask. series featuring artists' work in celebration of Asian Heritage Month. For more on this project, visit cbc.ca/lovesk, where you can see more of the art we'll be featuring.

Shamim and Shima Aghaaminiha may have left their home country of Iran, but the sisters say they've found a way to reflect the struggle of the Iranian people through art in their new home of Regina.

"In the past 45 years, the Islamic regime killed thousands of people. And in the first years, people were quiet. They didn't talk. They didn't complain," Shamim said, reflecting on the history of the country since the Islamic revolution of 1979.

She said a younger generation of people like her and her sister are now speaking out against brutal religious tyranny.

"It won't be easy anymore for the regime to suppress Iranians, because we decided to fight back."

The sisters created a display using ceramics, with red tulips signifying the blood from martyrs who spoke out against the Iranian regime, on a map of Iran, with a ladder rising from the ground to represent people uniting to overcome their repression.

The sisters created a display using ceramics, with tulips signifying the blood from martyrs who spoke out against the Iranian regime. There is also a map of Iran, with a ladder rising from the ground to represent people uniting to overcome their repression. (Natascia Lypny/CBC News)

Three years ago, when the sisters were 26 years old, they saw a chance to escape the Islamic Republic of Iran by coming to Saskatchewan to study.

Since coming to Regina, they've found ways to continue their passion for art, specializing in ceramics.

WATCH: Iranian sisters explain more on the art piece they've created for CBC Saskatchewan:

Iran has a rich history of ceramics. With clay, the sisters have found a way to shape their deepest thoughts and feelings in a way that can not be repressed.

"It's like a meditation for us. It feels good to touch clay and form it the way you want," said Shamim.

Their latest artwork on Iran is a multimedia display piece, featuring ceramics.

"Most of our recent artwork is inspired by the bravery of Iranian freedom fighters," said Shima.

The sisters say that tulips are a recurring motif in Persian art, referring to innocent lives or matyrs killed brutally.

The sisters say that tulips are a recurring motif in Persian art, referring to innocent lives or martyrs killed brutally. (Natascia Lypny/CBC News)

The work features red and white tulips, the flowers being a recurring motif in Persian art that reflects martyrdom and the loss of innocent life. Graves upon a map of the country are a tribute to lost lives, said Shima.

"They are a whole nation together, and so and all of their bodies now under the ground of this soil and this land belongs to all of them," she said.

A ladder stands at the centre of the display to represent people uniting against the repressive regime and rising above it.

"Iran belongs to these young people, not to the Islamic regime forces."

The Islamic regime may try to supress criticism, but the sisters said that as artists and activists, they now feel free to express their view that religion should play no part in governments  not just in Iran, but in every country, including Canada.

Leaving Iran brought some guilt, but this art piece has allowed the sisters to reflect the need for change in their home country, said Shamim.

"By doing this I feel that, OK, now I'm doing something now. I am contributing to my country," she said, fighting emotion.

"So if we don't do that, who is going to do that? And when I do that, I feel satisfied, I feel useful and I feel heard. Personally, for myself, it's like an emotional catharsis."
Republican legislative leaders praised UNC-Chapel Hill Interim Chancellor Lee Roberts for his handling of pro-Palestinian campus protests that grew chaotic on Tuesday, and said he should fill the position at the helm of the university permanently.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday evening, House Speaker Tim Moore said Roberts showed incredible leadership, a lot of backbone, patriotism, and a commitment to doing the right thing, as he directed the removal of protesters from an encampment that violated university policy and later oversaw the rehanging of an American flag on the main quad after protesters took it down and replaced it with a Palestinian flag.

Moore said 100% when asked if he supported Roberts filling the position of chancellor permanently. He said he told UNC System President Peter Hans and Board of Governors Chair Randall Ramsey that they ought to take that interim title off and name Lee Roberts the chancellor today.

Earlier on Wednesday, Senate leader Phil Berger also expressed his support for Roberts, who was tapped to serve as interim chancellor in December after chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz announced he was leaving UNC to lead Michigan State University.

Berger told reporters Wednesday that he thought Roberts did exactly what needed to be done and that he was as proud as I can be of him. Berger said there was no question that Roberts should continue to serve as chancellor, permanently.

The praise comes as police on the UNC campus face scrutiny for how they handled the arrests of protesters at a pro-Palestinian rally early Tuesday on campus.

The legislature does not have authority over the ongoing chancellor search at the university. But lawmakers appoint all members of the UNC System Board of Governors and some members of the campus-level Board of Trustees. Members of each board are serving on the search committee to find the next chancellor, and the full boards will each weigh in, to varying degrees, on the final selection, which will ultimately be approved by Hans.

Roberts, a former state budget director under Republican Gov. Pat McCrory, was appointed to the Board of Governors in 2021. He hasnt said publicly if he will seek a permanent appointment as chancellor.

Interim Chancellor Lee Roberts and police officers work to rehang an American flag after it was brought down by demonstrators and replaced with a Palestinian flag Tuesday, April 30, 2024 at UNC-Chapel Hill. About 1000 pro-Palestinian demonstrators rallied after a Gaza solidarity encampment was removed by police early Tuesday morning.

Police face criticism

Several Chapel Hill and Carrboro elected officials, among others, shared a statement that condemned aggressive police tactics used to detain the protesters.

Images of struggles on campus between protesters and law enforcement  both during the arrests and later at a flagpole  made national news. Video showed officers holding some protesters to the ground when they were detained.

UNC Police cited 10 students and 20 people not affiliated with the university with trespassing on Tuesday. Another six protesters were arrested and charged at the Orange County jail with trespassing.

Protesters have called on UNC to disclose investments related to Israel in its endowment and, if they exist, to divest from them. They also demanded the university end study-abroad programs to Israel and acknowledge the ongoing genocide in Palestine.

UNC interim chancellor Lee Roberts (center left), prepares to raise the United States flag after protesters replaced in with a Palestinian flag during protests on campus, Tuesday, April 20, 2024.

Later Tuesday afternoon, tensions escalated again at the flagpole. When Roberts arrived to raise the U.S. flag, protesters threw water on him and officers.

Moore, who is a UNC alumnus, said those protesters who threw water at Roberts and police officers were assaulting them and should be prosecuted. If they were students, they should be expelled, he said.

Assault is not right, and whats happening is improper, and its creating a hostile environment for Jewish students, Moore said. Its creating just a hostile environment all the way around.

Tammy Grubb contributed to this report.
Jennifer Hodges, right, of Saginaw, and her husband Brad Hodges raise their hands during a prayer during a rally for Donald Trump at Avflight Saginaw in Freeland on Wednesday, May 1, 2024.

Donald Trump supporters were out in force in Saginaw County Wednesday, lining up for hundreds of yards outside a hanger at MBS International Airport to see the former president.

My wife really wanted to see him and its kind of a once in a lifetime chance to see a president, or a former president, said Joe LaCasse, 63, of Flushing, who drove about 50 minutes and arrived early to get in line. He was wearing a T-shirt with a mugshot of Trump that read Wanted for President.

More: In Michigan, Trump promises 'historic effort' to prevent cheating in 2024 voting

LaCasse is a retired UAW member who worked for 26 years for General Motors in Flint. Hes voted for Trump three times, in two general elections and one primary, and he intends to for him again in November.

He said hes unbothered by Trumps current legal troubles, as evidenced by his T-shirt.

I havent seen any solid evidence, LaCasse said. I think theyre just trying to tie him down.LaCasse acknowledged Trump could get on his nerves.

Some of those Tweets in the middle of the night were a bit much, but he says what he thinks, he said.

Those werent enough to cost Trump LaCasses support, who hopes Trump wins to improve the economy and tighten the border.

His wife, Dianne LaCasse, 65, echoed her husbands discomfort with Trumps former Tweets, but said the economy was her top priority.

I was able to go and buy groceries for my whole family for about 200 bucks, she said. Now its like $400-500. Meat is outrageous and we try to supplement with venison.

She said her husband and other family members hunt deer on family property but even the deer are getting harder to find.

Trumps Michigan visit was timed for Wednesday, when hes not required to be in court for a trial on charges he paid hush money to a former porn performer. His supporters are aware of the cases against him but several insist they are politically motivated. Few had followed news last week that he was named an unindicted co-conspirator in a Michigan case that charges his supporters with being false electors.

The visit had all the trademarks of his previous stops in Michigan, including vendors hawking Trump hats, T-shirts and flags. Food trucks sold tacos and corn dogs but the crowd was large enough to slow down the internet service, crashing credit card readers.

Unlike his last visit when windchill factors dropped below zero, Wednesdays visit came under sunny skies and temperatures in the 70s.

A stiff breeze had flags fluttering loud enough to compete with the sound of country music playing over loudspeakers. Petition gatherers sought voter signatures for Ax the Tax, a measure to repeal property taxes in Michigan and a dozen portable toilets had their doors tagged with placards seeking election workers.

A QR code on the placards took visitors to Protect the Vote, a group recruiting Republican poll challengers.

Tegan Kogler, 21, lives in Brighton and attends Northwood University in Midland, about a 20-minute ride from the site of Trumps visit. He and three classmates drove over to get in line.

Kogler is graduating next year with a degree in supply chain management. He said Trump will be better for the economy.

I like that hes not afraid to say whats wrong with the country, Kogler said. Ive never met anyone in my entire life thats been super supportive of Biden. Maybe theyre closeted, I know I would be.

Kogler said he believes Trump will win a landslide and dismissed his legal troubles as politically motivated.

I think hes going to pass those things with flying colors, he said.

His roommate Gavin Wisniewski, is also 21 and from Brighton. Hes studying marketing communications.

America is still the greatest country on earth and Donald Trump represents it as well as anyone, Wisniewski said.He hopes Trump wins and does more to enforce the border.

The border is an important issue for Jordan Smith, 38, of Saginaw, who owns a notary and mortgage business.Smith is mixed race but says he identifies as a Black American or just an American.

More: As Trump visits, Michigan bellwether Saginaw County is feeling its political juice

Smith is a lifelong Democrat and said that through a family connection, he got to meet President Biden when he visited Saginaw in March. He wasnt awed by Biden, but wanted to hear him out.

He said thats what brought him to the Trump rally as well.

I want to hear what he has to say, I dont want soundbites, Smith said.

Smith said that he hasnt followed Trumps legal troubles closely enough to say whether he thinks crimes were committed but he said hes suspicious of judges, who can become arrogant.

Smith said he hasnt decided how hell vote in November, but he thinks Trump will win more Black votes in this election than he did in the last one. Biden hasnt improved life for Black people, Smith said.

There was record turnout last time for Biden, Smith said. People registered, got to the polls, voted and then they got nothing. He is losing support from Blacks because they feel like theyve been taken advantage of. Its voter remorse.

Alicia Wesolek, right, of Saginaw and Janice Hammond, of Freeland, cheer on a speaker during a rally for Donald Trump at Avflight Saginaw in Freeland on Wednesday, May 1, 2024.

The crowd at the rally was in good spirits, including two protestors who stood guard outside the entrance.Jake Malacos, 44, of Troy, works in a laboratory. He grew up in Saginaw and drove home to be at the Trump rally. He had a whiteboard hung over his stomach from suspenders around his neck. He used markers to change the message frequently as the crowd passed.

One iteration said: Remember when Trump promised to repeal Obamacare? Another read: Remember when Trump invited the Taliban to the White House?

Asked why he came, Malacos said: My dislike of Donald Trump. Hes a lifelong conman.

Malacos said many of his friends, including a group of buddies he ice fishes with each winter, are Trump supporters.

I dont think Ive lost any friendships over politics; I may have strained a few, he said. I dont mind people who trash talk Joe Biden but Ill probably vote for him.

Malacos said he saw his sister-in-law in line to see Trump and she came over and hugged him.

Malacos high school classmate, David McKinstry, 44, still lives in Saginaw and works in construction. He tagged along wearing a sign that read Trump sucks, but his supporters are alright.

He said being outnumbered by thousands to one was quasi-empowering. He said he wasnt super interested in politics but after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, he felt he had to get involved to prevent something that could have been far more scary.

He described Saginaw County as socially conservative with a large union presence that makes it politically split.

Most people I know are Trump supporters, theyre still good people, he said. Im not fond of Biden, but I cant stand Trump.

McKinstry said he cant stand Trump but hes not fond of Biden either. He said hes likely to leave the presidential line blank when he casts his ballot.

Contact John Wisely at jwisely@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Trump supporters pack airport hanger for visit
A shirt promotes the legalization of marijuana in Lubbock at the South Plains Fair in Lubbock on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. Credit: Justin Rex for The Texas Tribune

In conservative Killeen, it was apparently the veterans. In eclectic Denton, the college community. In left-leaning Austin, most likely the white liberals.

But who will show up at the polls to decriminalize marijuana in staunchly right, rural-adjacent, fiercely independent Lubbock?

The slow green wave of voter-driven marijuana decriminalization in Texas hits the largest city in the South Plains this weekend, as Lubbock residents vote on a proposed ordinance that would decriminalize small amounts of marijuana.

Its a test, not just for the movement, but for direct democracy in the Lone Star State.

The proposed ordinance  if approved  would instruct Lubbock police to stop arresting adults for possession of less than 4 ounces of marijuana in most cases.

Texas is one of 26 states that has not fully legalized marijuana. The 24 states that have include both liberal California and conservative Montana. For an issue like pot  which is nearly impossible to label politically  support in this city of 265,000 could come from anywhere.

We have people who would classify themselves as far right who are for this, said Adam Hernandez, a candidate for mayor and communications director for Lubbock Compact, the organization behind the local effort. We've got people obviously on the other side of the spectrum, and everybody in between, and theyre from every profession, every age group.

The opposition is easier to identify.

The outcry against Proposition A, as its called, appears to be pipelined largely through the megachurches and hard-right, pro-law enforcement GOP state leaders.

Where Hernandez sees evidence of widespread support  signatures for the ballot initiative came from all over the city, he said  his opponents carry huge bullhorns.

State Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, has come out strongly against the effort.

Burrows released a video recently calling Proposition A part of a nationwide effort by the left to undermine our public safety laws and saying they were funded by liberal mega-donor George Soros to change the fabric of our great nation and put our neighborhoods and values under siege.

Next well see local ordinances proposed to defund the police, to decriminalize shoplifting, to allow squatters to stay in houses rent free, and even Green New Deal ordinances to shut down our oil and gas industry, Burrows says in the video. Lets send a clear message that Lubbock is still a conservative beacon of hope in a country that is losing touch with morality and the rule of law.

State Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, examines a document at his desk on the House floor during a session at the state Capitol in Austin on April 25, 2023. Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune

Similar ordinances have passed in six other cities: Austin, Killeen, Harker Heights, Denton, Elgin and San Marcos. In some cases, city officials have resisted putting the voter-approved ordinances in place. And Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has taken steps to block them from going into effect.

Passage in Lubbock would signal support among the same voters who overwhelmingly banned abortion  by the same direct-democracy mechanism  in Lubbock even before Texas lawmakers did. It would illustrate favorable opinion for the issue in the same county that overwhelmingly turned out for President Donald Trump in the 2020 election.

And it would run counter to the stances of  and maybe even lay pressure on  most of the anti-marijuana GOP politicians the region sends to Austin, whom advocates have been unable to convince after years of awareness and lobbying campaigns.

We're building local movements that put pressure on City Hall to comply with the will of voters about marijuana reform, said Mike Siegel, political director for Ground Game Texas, which is pushing for similar ordinances across the state.

Perhaps, Hernandez said, if enough cities adopt such policies, state lawmakers will follow the will of their constituents.

Thats why decriminalizing marijuana in such a hard-to-crack conservative stronghold could dramatically boost the movement to pass similar voter-driven ordinances in other regions of Texas outside the liberal metropolitan areas, supporters say.

We think that Lubbock is a bellwether, if you will, or that it will at least be a wake-up call if it passes, Hernandez said. It would help the overall movement for sure. Because the state has ignored the citizens on this issue for several years.

Thats key to any effort to decriminalize weed across the state, because there is no process in Texas for a voter-driven statewide referendum that would let voters from the Rio Grande Valley to the Panhandle decide what they want their marijuana laws to be.

There is little hope for a law in favor of marijuana decriminalization or outright legalization while hard-right social conservatives are in charge of the state. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who presides over the Senate, and his allies have blocked legislation that would relax marijuana laws in the past.

Theres even less hope for a constitutional amendment, which would be the only way to put the question to voters across the state. Only lawmakers can pose a statewide question and to do that, it would need two-thirds support from a historically unenthusiastic Texas Legislature.

Support for varying levels of marijuana reform polls upwards of 65% statewide. The Texas House signaled its support for expanding access to medical marijuana by overwhelmingly supporting legislation last session that would have added a host of conditions allowed by the states medical marijuana program, including depression and anxiety.

But proponents have not been able to find enough support in the Texas Legislature to get anything to the governors desk.

Thats a breakdown of the democratic process, said Siegel, a candidate for Austin City Council. Texans want some sort of marijuana reform but a minority of Texas Republicans, led by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, are preventing this from happening.

Texas does allow direct democracy  voter-driven lawmaking, as opposed to politician-driven lawmaking  in municipal elections. Voters can collect signatures to force ballot measures that create or strike down city ordinances.

Historically, that right has been frequently exercised without pushback from legislative leaders, in cities large and small, on a host of issues ranging from texting bans to paper bag restrictions.

However, state leaders have begun to push back. During the last legislative session, the Legislature approved a law that effectively prohibits cities from putting in place certain policies that might go beyond state law, such as requiring employers to have paid sick leave. Burrows, the Republican House representative from Lubbock, led the effort to pass the bill. The law, while in effect, is being challenged in court.

More recently, Gov. Greg Abbott stopped short of taking a position on the Lubbock ordinance but took aim at the effort, saying the issue of cities trying to supersede state law was really bigger than just the issue about marijuana on the ballot.

They dont have the authority to override state law, Abbott told a KAMC reporter last week. If they want to see a different law passed, they need to work with their state legislators.

Abbott added: If we have every city in the entire state of Texas picking and choosing which laws the state has passed that they are going to enforce, that would lead to chaos legally in the state of Texas and so its an unworkable system.

State leaders took a similar position when city governments themselves began enacting ordinances to create sanctuary cities for undocumented immigrants, saying that cities may not enact statutes in direct opposition to state law.

We have had a lot of situations where cities have passed ordinances, but the state can come in and pass laws that supersede them and say, No, you can't do that, said Sherri Greenberg, an assistant dean at the University of Texas at Austin LBJ School of Public Affairs and a former state representative. So you have this issue of local control versus state preemption.

Usually, the state wins.

Paxton is suing five of the cities that have voted to decriminalize marijuana  Harker Heights ordinance was immediately repealed by the city council  and has threatened Lubbock with similar legal action if it follows suit.

To sidestep potential legal action, supporters included a section in Proposition A that ratchets it down to a budgetary suggestion  prioritize other crimes over marijuana violations  if courts decide that Lubbock cant decriminalize a substance without the blessing of state lawmakers.

But the proponents of marijuana decriminalization are determined to make a statement, even if it means that theyre testing the legal limits of what voters can demand of the laws in their communities.

The new ordinances, Siegel said, are about the voters telling the cities how to allocate their resources. The permissive laws around low-THC cannabis, known as hemp, in Texas offer a strong argument for allowing the ordinances to stick, he said.

The Texas Constitution allows for home-rule cities, and home-rule cities are allowed to set priorities of prosecutorial discretion, he said.

Unlike the discourse over similar propositions in places like Austin, where marijuana had already been unofficially decriminalized for years before it was voted on in 2022, the battle in Lubbock has been divisive, emotional, and personal.

Epithets hurled on social media, marquee politicians hitting the airwaves, and signage in front of megachurches highlight the intensity of the fight. Hernandez was even accused, by a pastor in the pulpit of a large local church, of trying to turn Lubbock into a sanctuary city for the cartel.

The City Council has already rejected a similar proposal. The mayor and the sheriff have come out against it. Locals are at powerful odds with each other.

Voters are hitting the polls early at double the rate they did in the 2022 municipal elections, and while its unclear at this point whats driving them, Hernandez and others who are watching the election say its likely Proposition A thats stirring up unusual interest.

Only about 10% of Lubbock registered voters have, for the past four decades, regularly turned out to municipal elections.

Residents in the citys more affluent southwest neighborhoods are voting early at a higher rate than those in Lubbocks lower-income east side communities, data from the Hernandez campaign shows.

Supporters point to statistics that show that while marijuana is used by a broad swath of people in all demographics, white and affluent included, arresting people for small amounts of marijuana creates huge disparities in the justice system and has bigger implications in the lower-income communities of color.

In Lubbock, for example, Black residents account for 8% of the population but 29% of the marijuana arrests, according to a report by Ground Game Texas. Similarly, Latinos make up 37% of the population but nearly half the arrests. Only one in five people arrested on marijuana charges in Lubbock are white.

Hernandez, who has been involved in community politics for years in Lubbock before his run for mayor, said Lubbock has plenty of challenges more important than marijuana  which he said criminalizes people for minor crimes.

We've got serious issues that we deal with here that are much more serious than somebody having a joint in their car or being in possession, he said. Property crime, sex trafficking, gang activity, gun violence, domestic violence.  And we dont have unlimited police resources.

Opponents say that Lubbock should stop the movement in its tracks.

Staff writer Jayme Lozano Carver contributed to this report.

Disclosure: University of Texas at Austin 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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Letters to the Editor: In a world with so much evil, why do protesters single out Israel?

A protester holds a Palestinian flag at the encampment at Columbia University in New York last week. (Yuki Iwamura / Associated Press)

To the editor: I find Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing cronies reprehensible. I detest what has happened to innocent Gazans while Hamas still holds more than 100 hostages. ("California college campuses become lightning rods for pro-Palestinian protests," May 1)

Having said that, where are the student protests over the Myanmar junta harassing and displacing the Rohingya? Where are the protests against China's genocide of the Uyghurs? Where are the protests against Russia for invading a sovereign nation, targeting civilians and kidnapping children to take to Russia?

I haven't seen any of those protesting students direct their animus against these evil government acts  it's only Israel that's the focus of student protests.

Could it be because Israel is a Jewish state? This is a serious question that needs answers.

Barbara H. Bergen, Los Angeles

..

To the editor: I am a proud Jewish academic. Antisemitism is horrible and should have no place in our society.

Nevertheless, nothing that is happening to Jews in this country is equal to or surpasses the devastation that has befallen the Palestinians in Gaza. Does acknowledging that make me an antisemite?

Fred Smoller, Orange

..

To the editor: The occupation of university facilities is a tactic from campus protests of the 1960s and 70s against the Vietnam War. But universities are missing a great opportunity to bring back another activity of that era: the teach-in.

What better place and time than this is there to invite professors to teach the area's history, along with contributions from political science, sociology and other departments, sharing points of view, from all sides of the debate?

It may not change minds, but it's doing what universities are supposed to do: teach critical thinking and the importance of context.

Debra Kaufman, Venice

..

To the editor: I'd like to ask those protesting the war in Gaza  what have you accomplished?

You have not changed the trajectory of the war. You have not convinced the United States to halt its support of Israel. You have not curried favor with chants of "from the river to the sea."

What you have done is ruined the joy of commencement exercises for students who deserve to celebrate their educational journey with all the pomp and ceremony they have rightfully earned.

Susan Grossman, Los Angeles

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
A Lexington firefighter is facing charges after allegedly damaging a door during an argument with a woman he knew, according to court records.

Nathan Bardeen, 28, has been charged with third-degree criminal mischief and menacing, both class B misdemeanor charges. Court records show Bardeen was arrested Tuesday but released the same day after posting a $500 bond.

The charges were filed in relation to an argument Bardeen had with the woman in April. Court documents say she insulted Bardeen and he reacted in a way that led her to believe he was going to hurt her.

The woman ran inside her home and locked the door to keep Bardeen away. Court documents say he screamed and kicked the door, causing $395 in damage.

Bardeen stopped and left the area after the woman threatened to call the police, according to court documents. She told investigators she was certain Bardeen wouldve assaulted her.

Bardeen has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, according to the Lexington Fire Department. Bardeen has been employed by the fire department since 2018.

If found guilty, punishments for class B misdemeanors include a maximum sentence of 90 days and a fine up to $250, according to Kentucky statute

Bardeen is due back in Fayette District Court for a pretrial conference on May 15, according to court records.
Lexington teacher who spent months on a machine, had two double lung transplants has died

A Lexington teacher who spent months attached to a machine and then survived two lung transplants has died.

Emily Presleys husband, Jeff Presley, confirmed her death to the Herald-Leader Thursday.

Time after time she defied the odds, Jeff Presley told the Herald-Leader. The biggest being an emergent second double lung transplant within just a few days of the first. Who could possibly overcome such a trial. Emily. Many would ask, how could this be? Its because she had been doing the hard work all along. The physical. The mental. The emotional. The spiritual. She was ready. She was prepared. And it took all she had.

Her sister, Leslie Cunningham, said she died at 4 a.m. Tuesday surrounded by her family and friends.

Emilys radiance went such a long way and impacted people so deeply, said Cunningham.

In May 2022, Presley was finishing teaching STEM  science, technology, engineering and math  at Wellington Elementary School in Fayette County when a cold developed into severe infections that led to 16 months in the hospital, including nearly a year in Chicago, and two lung transplants.

For four months at UK HealthCare, Presley was attached to ECMO, an advanced form of life support that does the work of the heart and lungs, but showed no signs of recovery. Additional infections compromised her lungs and other organs, and ARDS, or acute respiratory distress syndrome, continued to cause inflammation throughout her body.

In October 2022, surgeons at the Northwestern Medicine Canning Thoracic Institute in Chicago performed a double-lung transplant on Presley, whose lungs were destroyed by viral and bacterial infections that had compounded into ARDS. The life-threatening condition allows fluid to leak into the lungs, causing breathing to become difficult and depriving the organs of oxygen, hospital officials said.

Emily Presley and her husband, Jeff, are photographed at their home in Lexington, Ky., on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023. Emily will spend her first Thanksgiving at home with her husband and children since 2021 after returning home from Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago with new lungs. Ryan C. Hermens/rhermens@herald-leader.com

In the midst of agonythere was no defeat, Jeff Presley said. Instead, the nurses, the doctors, the (therapists) theyd see a smile. They would hear thank you. They would be inspired. They would tell others about this amazing, powerful, wonderful, gracious woman of God that would not give up. Because she was on a mission. A mission to return home with her family in Lexington, Kentucky.

In 2023, Presley spent her first Thanksgiving at home in Lexington with her family since 2021 after returning from Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago with new lungs.

Its been really, really difficult, but Ive been able to get through it because I have a ton of support with my family, including Jeff, my husband, support from my friends. I have a really great community and that really did get me through, Emily Presley told the Herald-Leader in November.

Presleys celebration of life on Saturday, May 4 includes an Open House from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and a service from 1-2 p.m. at Southland Christian Church, the Nicholasville location, Cunningham said.

In lieu of flowers, the family is asking that people donate to Presleys childrens college fund.

Cunningham said family members are requesting people wear bright colors to the ceremony to represent such a brilliant life.

Lexington teacher Emily Presley has been attached to a life-saving ECMO machine for 18 weeks after a bacterial infection ravaged her lungs. Photo provided by Jeff Presley
MANILA, May 2 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' debt reduced to 14.93 trillion pesos (roughly 259 billion U.S. dollars) as of end-March, 1.67 percent lower than the country's outstanding debt recorded in end-February, the Philippines' Bureau of Treasury said on Thursday.

The bureau attributed the decrease in March debt to the net redemption of domestic government securities.

Of the total debt stock, the bureau said 31.14 percent was sourced externally, while 68.86 percent were domestic borrowings.

The bureau said the country's external debt amounted to 4.65 trillion pesos (80.7 billion dollars) in March, 1 percent higher than the end-February level.

The increase resulted from the net availment of foreign loans, as well as local currency depreciation, added the bureau. 
UPDATE: 11:55 A.M. LYNCHBURG, Va. (WFXR)  The Lynchburg Police Department says a 14-year-old was taken into custody for allegedly making a bomb threat at Linkhorne Middle School.

Around 9:18 a.m. on May 2, officers were called to the school for a bomb threat. As a precaution, students and staff at Linkhorne Middle and Elementary Schools evacuated the building.

During the investigation, a 14-year-old was arrested and charged with Threat to Bomb a Building.

With the help of K9 units from Liberty University and state police, authorities searched the building. Once the search was determined to be safe, students at Linkhorne Elementary School returned to classes.

Two teens arrested at E.C. Glass High School for trespassing

However, all middle school students were dismissed early.

WFXR News will update this story as details are released.



LYNCHBURG, Va. (WFXR)  Officials with the Lynchburg City Schools say students at Linkhorne Middle School have been dismissed early due to a police investigation.

Details remain limited; however, WFXRs crew at the scene says students have evacuated the building, and school buses are lining up. K9 units are at the scene.

Were told E.C. Glass High School was also evacuated and students were sent home, due to a trespassing incident on campus.

Two teens arrested at E.C. Glass High School for trespassing

The high school and middle school are about three miles away from each other.

This a developing story. We are working to learn more and will update this story as details unfold.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFXRtv.
POLK COUNTY, Texas (KETK)  As stormy weather conditions return to East Texas Thursday morning, multiple areas are seeing flooded roads as a result.

Interactive Radar

The following East Texas counties have said travel is affected by the weather. A list of school closures, due to the weather, can also be found on our website.

Angelina County

The city of Lufkin in Angelina County and TxDOT said these streets are experiencing flooding across the area on Thursday morning:

Frank Avenue

Ellis at Raguet Street near Pineywoods Community Academy

Johnson Avenue

Pershing Avenue bridge near Chambers Park

SH 94 inside SL 287

FM 58 near the intersection of FM 1818

FM 324 at Hurricane Creek

FM 2497 at Jack Creek

FM 706 at Stevenson Brown Road

Vehicles did stall on Frank Avenue after driving through standing water, city officials said. If you encounter standing water do not drive through it. Please slow down and allow additional time for your morning commute and expect delays.

Houston County

FM 229 at Hurricane Bayou in Houston County. Photo courtesy of TxDOT.

Water was reported in Houston County over FM 227 at Bracken Creek, FM 231 and FM 1280, according to TxDOT. Trees were also reported downed in the following areas in the county:

FM 227 in several locations

FM 232

US 287 South

SH 7 East

Avoid these areas until water recedes and the scenes are cleared, officials with TxDOT said.

FM 227 at Bracken Creek in Houston County. Photo courtesy of TxDOT.

Nacogdoches County

The Nacogdoches County Sheriffs Office said the following roads are closed Thursday morning due to weather-related hazards:

CR 120

CR 122

CR 123

CR 124

CR 228

CR 230

CR 234

CR 250

CR 302

CR 317

CR 319

CR 381

CR 382

CR 408

CR 448

CR 524

CR 703

The majority of the closures are due to washouts and flooding, with some downed trees blocking access, officials said. Nacogdoches County Road and Bridge crews are currently assessing road conditions throughout the county.

Lilbert-Looneyville Volunteer Fire Department shared several photos of downed trees in there area on Thursday.

Tree fallen in roadway. Photo courtesy of Lilbert-Looneyville Volunteer Fire Department.

Tree fallen in roadway. Photo courtesy of Lilbert-Looneyville Volunteer Fire Department.

Tree fallen in roadway. Photo courtesy of Lilbert-Looneyville Volunteer Fire Department.

Tree fallen in roadway. Photo courtesy of Lilbert-Looneyville Volunteer Fire Department.

Tree fallen in roadway. Photo courtesy of Lilbert-Looneyville Volunteer Fire Department.

Hayden Belyeu of Sacul VFD and Cushing ISD Junior, Delaney Hancock and Jake Bunn, both of Lilbert-Looneyville VFD and Cushing ISD Seniors, spent a couple of hours out in the rain helping to clear the roadways before they headed to school. These kids deserve a pat on the back, a firm handshake and a thanks. More often than not, they show up to these calls. This is not easy work, out in the rain, the wind, the blazing hot, or the chilly cold, but they do it with smiles and laughs as they work together. Lilbert-Looneyville Volunteer Fire Department

Polk County

All lanes are closed on US 59 in Polk County on Thursday morning at Choates Creek due to high water. Officials said motorists should take alternate routes.

Polk County Emergency Management said at 9:15 a.m. on Thursday that at this time, all Polk County roadways are compromised. Please stay home and stay safe.

Photo of US 59 in Polk County courtesy of TxDOT.

Flooding has also been reported in the following areas of the county:

SH 146 at Providence Road

FM 1988 at Long King Creek

FM 350 South

Various other locations from the high school to Tempe Creek

Trinity County

FM 355 in Trinity County is closed, according to TxDOT, due to a broken dam on a mill pond near the roadway.

Photo of FM 355 in Trinity County courtesy of TxDOT.

Flooding was also reported at the following roads:

SH 94 near Boontown Road and at Due Road

FM 356 at multiple locations between Polk and Trinity counties

FM 357 at WH Tullos Road

FM 1280 near Little White Rock Creek

FM 3188 at Peach Island

FM 3188 at West Road, one lane has a wash out

FM 3154 near Walter Dial Road

Trinity County Sheriff Woody Wallace said around 9:30 a.m. on Thursday that they are preparing for an emergency mandatory evacuation of the end of Doug Bell Road.

You are more than willing to stay at home if you want to, but we are not coming back for you after today, Wallace said in a video posted to social media.

Water is expected to rise further, and Wallace said they are taking boats in for the mandatory evacuation.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KETK.com | FOX51.com.
U.S. Army Reserve Major Richard Star, a combat engineer who led route clearance and road construction missions during deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq, learned in 2018 that he had contracted lung cancer from exposure to burn pits and other toxic substances in the war zones. He was medically retired due to his illness.

Because of a quirk in U.S. law dating back to the 19th century, Major Star found he would not be entitled to whats known as concurrent receipt  in other words, he would lose a dollar of Defense Department retirement pay for every dollar of disability compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Its an unjust financial offset faced by more than 52,000 combat-injured veterans  including more than 1,000 Kentuckians  forced to retire before 20 years of service.

One of those Kentuckians who do not receive their full, earned retirement pay is retired Chief Warrant Officer-2 Phillip Scheil, who lives in Frankfort. He served in Vietnam as one of the famed Dustoff medivac helicopter pilots, who transported more than 900,000 casualties during the war under withering enemy fire over treacherous terrain, saving many lives.

During one of his missions, Scheil was struck by gunfire. His injuries ended his military career short of 20 years, leading to a medical retirement. Aside from a fraction of his pension received via a special compensation program, he receives none of his retirement pay, which is completely offset by VA disability compensation.

Fighting for change

Until his death in 2021, Major Star sought legislation to remedy this little-known provision. The work of Star and fellow advocates led to bills in both the House and Senate  The Major Richard Star Act  addressing this injustice.

The act has overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress, with 73 Senate and 326 House co-sponsors. These include U.S. Reps. Andy Barr, Thomas Massie, and Morgan McGarvey. Kentuckys other three representatives and two senators have yet to co-sponsor the bill.

The Major Richard Star Act would allow combat-injured veterans to receive earned retirement pay and their disability compensation without offset. These are two different payments for two different purposes  Congress acknowledged with a partial fix as part of its 2004 defense authorization bill, but the legislation did not cover combat-injured veterans who did not reach 20 years of service.

The Cost of War

Lawmakers who raise budgetary objections to the bill fail to consider the extraordinary sacrifice of our combat-injured veterans. Reducing retired pay due to a combat injury breaks faith with those who serve and will serve in the future. Compensation for these injured veterans is not the place to achieve savings.

The Military Officers Association of America (MOAA), along with 35 military and veterans service organizations who advocate on Capitol Hill for servicemembers, veterans and their families, have made the inclusion of the Major Richard Star Act in this years defense authorization bill a top legislative priority.

As MOAA members, we strongly encourage you to contact the legislators who are not co-sponsors of this bill and encourage them to support H.R. 1282 or S. 344.

Brig. Gen. Leslie E. Beavers, U.S. Army (Ret.) is President of the Kentucky Council of Chapters of the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) and was the first Commissioner of the Kentucky Dept. of Veterans Affairs. Col. John M. Shotwell, USMC (Ret.) is Secretary of the MOAA Bluegrass Chapter.
Little Rock man from LGBTQ community happy with United Methodist Church vote to lift ban on LGBTQ clergy

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.  A historic vote within the United Methodist Church passed on Wednesday put an end to the ban on LGBTQ clergy.

This vote cancels the rule that forbids people who are gay from being ordained as ministers. It passed 692-51 at the United Methodist Churchs general convention.

United Methodists repeal ban on LGBTQ clergy

The Quapaw Quarter United Methodist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas has been an advocate for this passage.

Its supposed to be a place for everyone, Harold Hughes, a member of Quapaw Quarter United Methodist Church, said.

Hughes said hes a proud gay man and multiple times in his life hes thought about disaffiliating with the United Methodist Church because of the LGBTQ ban.

To feel that you love a church that does not love you back is how it feels, he said.

But he said, from the first time I walked in the doors of the Quapaw Quarter United Methodist Church,  I was welcomed.

United Methodists endorse change that could give regions more say on LGBTQ and other issues

At the United Methodist Churchs general convention, the denominations first in five years, there were many votes in favor of LGBTQ unity, repealing the ban on LGBTQ clergy and same-sex marriages.

With emotion, Hughes said, its like weve been given a blank canvas, and we can paint it all over again and make it a much more loving and inclusive body.

From 2019 to 2023, over 7,000 congregations have disaffiliated from the denomination for not being strict on its LGBTQ bans. With this vote, many more are expected.

Also at the general convention, the official social principles of the United Methodist Church will be voted on for new wording.

If passed, this means the denomination will no longer say the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching and will label marriage as between two people of faith instead of between a man and a woman.

United Methodists repeal longstanding ban on LGBTQ clergy

Hughes shared a quote that sticks with him that he heard from a pastor who said, We cant be the church if we choose to overlook some members of the body of Christ.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLRT - FOX16.com.
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  The Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) held a news conference in Tampa on Thursday to denounce the Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office and University of South Florida Police Department for tear-gassing protesters at an on-campus demonstration on Tuesday.

CAIR aims to rally the community against what the organization called the brutal arrests of ten people. The arrested individuals included both students and non-students.

Tear gas deployed on USF protesters; 10 arrested

On Tuesday, a large group of students gathered on campus to call on USF to divest from companies like weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin, who they say supplies U.S.-made weapons to be used in Israels bombardment of the Gaza strip.

The Free Palestine protesters also called for a cease-fire between the Israeli military and Hamas and an end to the U.S. involvement in the conflict.

Police in riot gear fired tear gas canisters toward protesters after declaring the demonstration an unlawful assembly. Officers were also carrying guns that fire rubber bullets. USF police said the protesters umbrellas and plywood planks were considered potential weapons.

They unleashed the tear gas chemicals filled the air and our chants turned into screams, said Alina Atiq, a USF student who heads their USF Divest Coalition. I shut my eyes to prevent it from blinding me. I began coughing as I lost the ability to breathe and I fell to the ground.

The arrests violated protesters Constitutionally-protected right to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, according to CAIR.

A USF sociology professor said she was infuriated that the students lives were put in danger.

Parents around the country should be outraged and parents in Florida should be outraged, the professor said. These are our children that are attending these campuses and their lives have been put at risk.

USF protesters held another demonstration Wednesday along Fowler Ave. 8 On Your Sides Jeff Patterson reports that police kept their distance and even blocked traffic as several hundred people marched down the street and back onto campus.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
DeSantis signs pair of bills to strengthen protections for consumers

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  Governor Ron DeSantis signed a pair of bills while speaking to the media in Jacksonville on Thursday.

The governor signed HB 989 and HB 1291, which DeSantis said will strengthen Floridas protections for consumers, teachers, and employees from being forced to adopt ideologies or reflect a preferred political behavior.

According to the Governors office, the bills do the following:

HB 989

Increases protection for customers of financial institutions operating in Florida from unwarranted account cancellations and restrictions through a coordinated complaint and investigatory process within the Office of Financial Regulation.

Removes Floridas exclusive preference of holding public funds with banks, particularly with out-of-state big banks, by allowing community-based credit unions to hold public funds.

Permits the Chief Financial Officer to have a dedicated consumer-liaison for assistance dealing with the Federal Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

HB 1291

Prohibits teacher preparation programs from indoctrinating prospective teachers by teaching distorted versions of significant historical events; and

Prevents the infusion of identity politics in teaching methods and prohibits instructing that theories such as systemic racism, sexism, oppression, and privilege are inherent in Americas institutions.

We reject a global elite trying to force their ideology on us by capturing major institutions, said Governor Ron DeSantis. We are not going to allow big banks to discriminate based on someones political or religious beliefs, and we will continue to fight back against indoctrination in education and the workplace.

You can watch the full news conference on the video player above.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
Ayana Satyagrahi was five when she found herself playing in her bedroom closet and putting on her younger sisters yellow sundress.

Now 49, she lives in a cell at the mens prison in Leavenworth not much larger than that closet.

Satyagrahi is one of an estimated 2,170 transgender people under the supervision of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

While she has had access to hormones and mental health services in prison, she said shes often still subject to demeaning comments and threats to her safety.

Its hostile towards us in the BOP, she said during one of a dozen phone calls with The Star. The federal agency limits calls to about 15 minutes.

I live my truth within the best of my ability in this environment.

Satyagrahi has been in the system since her 2010 arrest. In 2012, she was sentenced to 30 years in a sex trafficking case and has been at several facilities since her conviction, including FCI Leavenworth for the past three years.

She said the prison system has made some positive changes, but its been a slow process. And even though prisons have established more rules and processes to accommodate trans people, Satyagrahi, other trans prisoners and advocates say theyre often not implemented or enforced. And in some cases, they say they dont go far enough to keep trans prisoners safe.

Scott Taylor, a spokesman with the BOPs Office of Public Affairs, said the agency utilizes a gender-affirming model in its provision of services and takes very seriously its duty to respect the dignity of all individuals in its custody including both those self-identifying as transgender and cisgender individuals.

Ayana Satyagrahi graduated from a personal growth program in May 2023 at the federal prison in Leavenworth.

I kinda lost myself

Satyagrahi was deeply confused about her gender identity from a young age.

Literally at five years old I knew that something was not right about being feminine, she said.

She was brought up in Black and Baptist cultures in Texas and felt like she had to hide who I was.

That was torment, she said.

There were times she went to school wearing guy clothes with female undergarments.

Throughout her upbringing, she questioned if she would be accepted, a struggle that forced her to fluctuate between her two identities and how to express herself. Back then, she didnt even have a name for it. But now she knows she was experiencing gender dysphoria, a condition where a persons sex assigned at birth differs from the gender they identify with.

She started acting out.

Eventually, Satyagrahi got into the sex industry in hopes that she could earn enough money to get on hormones, which she began taking in 2004, and undergo surgery.

But she still had bouts of apprehension about continuing to transition, and would stop and restart the hormones, which she said made her lash out at times. Her life spiraled. She didnt know who she was.

Then she began recruiting women into sex work.

I kinda lost myself because that was betraying another person, she said.

She was indicted in June 2009 in federal court on a dozen counts, including transportation for prostitution and laundering of monetary instruments, and pleaded guilty in March 2011, according to court records.

Navigating life in a mens prison

In prison, Satyagrahi has faced assaults and attempted to self-castrate, according to lawsuits filed in federal court. She said she is regularly subject to degrading language from corrections officers and other prisoners.

She said she has had to fight for accommodations, from getting female commissary items to showering separately. Sometimes shes had to file grievances to force changes.

Other transgender prisoners say her efforts made a positive impact.

Brooklyn Hughes was sent to Leavenworth in the spring of 2023 for about nine months on a parole violation.

Hughes, who began transitioning in February 2021, said she faced discrimination, threats, people who asked for sexual favors and violence.

Some staff members were respectful and used her correct pronouns, Hughes said, but most treated us like trash.

Released in March, Hughes said she still wakes up in cold sweats as memories of Leavenworth churn through her mind.

Brooklyn Hughes, left, is a transgender woman who was incarcerated at the federal prison in Leavenworth. She said she faced discrimination, threats and violence at the facility.

Satyagrahi was a bright spot. Shes an advocate, Hughes said.

Most but not all of Satyagrahis family is supportive of her, including her seven children and her younger sister, who said she worries about Satyagrahis safety.

According to Kris Tassone, policy counsel at the National Center for Transgender Equality, 30% of trans respondents to a survey said they had been physically or sexually assaulted by staff or other prisoners in the past year. Other research has found that transgender people who are incarcerated have problems accessing hormones, hygiene and personal items; using bathroom facilities; and being housed in the appropriate facilities. Some have been placed in solitary confinement because of their identity.

Each of these issues not only deny trans inmates their rights, but also create a culture of discrimination and increase the risk of violence against trans prisoners, Tassone said.

They said trans prisoners should also get adequate medical care, and those decisions should be made by the individual and their culturally competent medical provider.

Policies not always enforced

The BOP has a Transgender Executive Council comprised of senior level staff members that offers guidance on training, transfer requests and surgery referral requests to the health services division.

Staff also undergo training pertaining to transgender adults who are in custody, and guidelines say prisoners should be addressed by the pronouns they use or their last name.

But just because the BOP has policies, Satyagrahi said it doesnt mean they are implemented. In her experience, they havent been.

In January 2022, she legally changed her name, which was inspired by Buddhist teachings, in Leavenworth County District Court.

However, she said she is still called by her former last name. Her uniform still says her former name. She is listed in online BOP records by her dead name, the name she was assigned at birth, and as male.

She and others in her situation have suggestions they say would make them feel safer in prison.

Hughes said she would like to see transgender prisoners get their own recreation yard to have a safe haven.

Satyagrahi said she wants that and other changes, including pat downs conducted by female officers or a body scanner, the option for single-cell housing and access to surgery. Its an effort she calls the Transgender Accessible Prisons Initiative.

Ultimately, she said she would like to be transferred to a womens prison. Those requests have been denied. Every time she brings it up, she said, the goal posts for it to go through shift.

In addition to a transfer being considered a medical need, Satyagrahi said she has completed several programs, from conflict resolution to emotional regulation, as well as intensive therapy.

Im completely different from my past, she said.

Tassone said facility placement is one of the most critical decisions for trans people in prison and encourages prisons to make those calls on an individual basis, and not solely on identity documents or genital characteristics.

Taylor, with the BOP, said housing placements are assessed on an individual basis. The agency discourages single-cell placement because it can be isolating.

Finding ways to feel free

Despite the challenges, Satyagrahi said she has embraced her identity. A long time ago, she decided she was going to stop hiding herself.

Because of that, Im freer, she said.

She enjoys doing her makeup: eyeliner, foundation, brows and blush, which she is allowed to order through the commissary.

It makes me feel more conformed with my gender, she said.

She also has a job in the prison as a barber. Some of her clients are wary of her at first. But she said she has earned respect in the role and takes pride in making people look good, especially before family members visit.

But she still faces harassment at Leavenworth. Last week, another prisoner called her a slur. She tried to explain her identity as a transgender woman and then just let the situation go. When she gets questions about her gender identity, she explains, Im acting like me.
President Joe Biden traveled to Charlotte Thursday to honor the law enforcement officers killed in a mass shooting.

The presidents daily schedule announced hed be at Charlotte Douglas International Airport around midday to pay his respects to the brave law enforcement officers killed and wounded in the line of duty in Charlotte on Monday. He arrived around 1:10 p.m. and left Charlotte at 3:30 p.m. for an event in Wilmington.

Earlier in the week, Biden called on Congress to direct more funding to law enforcement and pass tougher gun regulations after the shooting.

The following are updates from the presidents visit, starting with the most recent:

CMPD chief thanks Biden for visit

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings thanked the president for visiting Charlotte in post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Thursday evening, calling this one of the toughest weeks in CMPDs history.

I have been so overwhelmed by the outpouring of support this entire week ... to know that we have the support of our country all the way up to the highest office means so much, he said.

Jennings added that hed been able to speak with three of the officers injured in Mondays shooting.

As we continue to heal, I ask that you keep the men and women of CMPD in your prayers, the post concluded.

Biden leaves CLT airport

Biden ascended back into Air Force 1 just after 3:20 p.m., this time with Gov. Roy Cooper in tow.

He made no comments or remarks to media after meeting with families of the fallen and injured officers.

Biden and N.C. officials met while reporters were brought to a nearby classroom in the Aeromedical Evacuation Training Facility from about 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

None of the federal, state or local leaders made remarks to media before leaving. Jennings declined to discuss his time with the president and families, but a department spokesperson anticipated more information would be released Thursday evening.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department posted on Twitter immediately after the visit that Biden met with families of officers killed and three injured officers. The president shared thoughts on the heroic actions our officers took on Monday and every day, CMPD said.

This afternoon, @POTUS stopped by Charlotte to visit the families of the fallen officers and three of our injured officers from the tragic event on Monday. He shared thoughts on the heroic actions our officers took on Monday and every day. Their service and sacrifice can never be https://t.co/vDsP83mgM3  CMPD News (@CMPD) May 2, 2024

Biden meets with families of slain officers

President Joe Biden arrives at North Carolina Air National Guard in Charlotte to meet with the victims families on Thursday, May 2, 2024

Biden at 1:17 p.m. shook Gov. Roy Coopers hand, then Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles. He took off his sunglasses off to address Jennings.

He addressed a group of five local and state leaders before being whisked away to meet the families of officers slain Monday.

At 2:45 p.m., 14 people exited Air Force 1 holding white bags with a White House seal.

Biden lands at CLT airport





Cooper, Lyles and Jennings, accompanied by a squad of Secret Service vehicles, approached Air Force 1 at 1:11 pm to welcome President Biden to Charlotte

President Joe Biden has landed in Charlotte, where he is expected to meet with the families of the law enforcement officers killed in this weeks east Charlotte shooting. @theobserver pic.twitter.com/sSjWey6Utr  Mary Ramsey (@mcolleen1996) May 2, 2024

Others who greeted Biden at the airport included:

Ronald Davis, U.S. Marshals Service director

Todd Ishee, North Carolina Department of Adult Correction Secretary

Col. Lisa Kirk, vice wing commander, 145th Airlift Wing, Charlotte Air National Guard Base

SMSgt Thomas Lazaroski, fire chief, 145th Airlift Wing, Civil Engineering Squadron, Charlotte Air National Guard Base

President Joe Biden arrives at North Carolina Air National Guard in Charlotte to meet with families of slain officers on Thursday, May 2, 2024. To the right is Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles and Gov. Roy Cooper.

Whos traveling with Biden to Charlotte?

The White House says the list of people traveling to Charlotte with Biden also includes:

Environmental Protection Administrator Michael Regan, the former secretary of the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality.

Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre

Senior Advisor Anita Dunn

Deputy Chief of Staff Natalie Quillian

Other advisors, including North Carolina native and UNC Charlotte grad Tori Taylor

Aboard Air Force 1, Jean-Pierre told reporters Biden believes we must do more to protect our law enforcement officers. That means providing them with the resources they need to do their jobs and keep us safe, and it means taking additional action to combat gun violence and prevent future tragedies.

CLT airport flights will be delayed

Biden is now expected to arrive at 1:10 p.m. instead of 12:50 p.m.

Flights out of the airport are expected to be held for about 15 minutes before the president arrives and 10 minutes after he lands.

Traffic impacts of President Joe Bidens visit

President Joe Biden will visit Charlotte Thursday following a shooting that killed four law enforcement officers and injured others. In this 2023 file photo, Biden touts the $23.7 million investment that North Carolina received from his American Rescue Plan during a visit to Nash Community College.

While official visits to Charlotte by the president, vice president or candidates often mean road closures or traffic delays for motorists across the city, impacts may be minimal Thursday.

Bidens schedule doesnt show travel to other locations in Charlotte. Hes scheduled to have closed meetings at the airport with families of those killed and wounded Monday.

The President will pay his respects to the brave law enforcement officers killed and wounded in the line of duty in Charlotte on Monday, the presidents daily schedule states. The President will meet with families of the fallen heroes, the wounded law enforcement officers, and other law enforcement officers and elected officials.

Gov. Cooper is set to join Biden in Charlotte.

Bidens event in Wilmington is set to begin at 4:30 p.m.
KUALA LUMPUR, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Microsoft announced on Thursday that it will invest 2.2 billion U.S. dollars over the coming four years in Malaysia to fuel Malaysia's cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) transformation.

The investment is expected to generate large amounts of AI training opportunities and build cloud and associated infrastructure in Malaysia, the company said in a statement following the launch of the AI National Leadership Forum here.

"The investment demonstrates Microsoft's commitment to developing Malaysia as a hub for cloud computing and related advanced technologies, including generative AI. This will support the nation's productivity, competitiveness, resilience, and economic growth," it said.

Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella reiterated the company's commitment to supporting Malaysia's AI transformation, assuring that the investments will benefit a broad range of Malaysians. 
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE)  Wednesday is International Workers Day and the community gathered in Albuquerque to honor immigrant workers. El Centro, a local immigrants rights and worker justice organization, held the event which highlighted the economic contributions of immigrant workers.

Airbnb opens replica Up house for stays in Abiquiu

Event organizers say they honored Albuquerque and Bernalillo Countys legacy of passing immigrant-friendly policies that promote public safety, keep families together, and help create a more inclusive city.

Every year we try to celebrate International Workers Day, so we try every year to have something for families, for workers, to show that workers are the engine of this country, they keep our economy going, said community organizer Fabiola Landeros.

According to El Centro, approximately 13% of New Mexicos labor force is made up of immigrants. They say undocumented immigrants in New Mexico pay nearly $68 million in state taxes a year.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos.
The protesters have set up camp in the Goldsmiths library

Pro-Palestinian protesters have forced their way into a university building in London, with Jewish students warning that the move was trying to replicate scenes of hatred from US campuses.

The library at Goldsmiths, University of London has been occupied by students who have barricaded themselves inside and placed banners reading From the river to the sea and Shut it down for Palestine in the windows.

Encampments in protest against Israels war with Gaza have begun springing up at British universities, with the Union of Jewish Students warning of a hostile and toxic atmosphere.

Anti-Israel banners and Palestinian flags have been raised at protests at universities including Bristol, Leeds, Manchester, Warwick, Newcastle and Sheffield.

It has led to Government concerns that the campus protests could escalate to the sort of scenes witnessed in the US, where pro-Palestinian protests at Ivy League universities turned violent.

Students have put up Pro-Palestine banners in the windows of the Goldsmiths library

Later this month, Rishi Sunak will ask university vice-chancellors to explain what they are doing to combat anti-Semitism and intimidatory behaviour.

Gillian Keegan, the Education Secretary, has already told them that they may need an increased police presence on or around campuses after some were slow to react to the problem.

She has written to vice-chancellors twice to outline their duties to prevent anti-Semitism on campuses and remind them that not all free speech is legal.

Overnight, the Goldsmiths for Palestine group pushed past security guards to occupy the library, where it has demanded a meeting with managers to call for more scholarships for Palestinian students.

On Thursday, the Union of Jewish Students said in a statement that its members were angry, tired and hurt by the continuous torrent of anti-Semitic hatred on campus since the Oct 7 terrorist attack by Hamas, which triggered the war.

The statement said: As Jewish students begin their exams, their peers seek to replicate scenes of hatred from US campuses, with protesters already having called to globalise the intifada, to support the Houthis in Yemen, and to not engage with Zionists.

While students have a right to protest, these encampments create a hostile and toxic atmosphere on campus for Jewish students. Let us be clear  we will not stand for this hatred. It is time that universities take their duty of care to Jewish students seriously.

Goldsmiths students hold banners saying 'From the river to the sea' and 'Goldsmiths for Palestine' in front of one of the university's buildings

The students protesting in the library are demanding a meeting with managers

Speaking in Parliament, Penny Mordaunt, the Leader of the Commons, said: I think, and I hope, all UK universities will be in no doubt about their responsibilities to all that attend their campuses and their facilities but in particular to those communities that are feeling particularly under attack.

That is what we expect of them, and we hope and expect that they will meet any such notion of similar protests with an extremely strict response.

A Department for Education source said there was serious concern that the protests could escalate after riot police were called in to disperse sit-ins at Columbia University in New York and the University of California in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

The department is liaising with universities and police forces to ensure that there are adequate levels of security on campuses, with one source saying most universities had done a good job, but others had been slow to react.

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Long-awaited Chicago policy doesnt do enough to protect migrating birds, advocates say

CHICAGO  Annette Prince peered between glossy downtown buildings: Theres a bird in that grate.

Sure enough, sitting very still in the rain was a tiny white-throated sparrow, so drenched you could barely make out its canary-yellow face markings. The bird was too dazed to move  an easy target for the hungry seagulls that were patrolling the area.

Prince looked up at the nearest skyscraper, with its rows of dark windows.

He probably hit the glass up there and fell down, she said.

A long-awaited policy update from the city of Chicago is supposed to help prevent such injuries and deaths, which occur by the thousands each year when migrating birds crash into local buildings.

But Chicago bird safety advocates say they are disappointed that the citys policy update, now in draft form, does not make bird safety measures mandatory.

Instead, anti-collision measures, which can include installing glass with tiny markings, are included in a menu of sustainable design options from which developers working on affected projects can pick and choose.

We feel its not adequate, said Prince, chair of Bird Friendly Chicago, a coalition of local birding and conservation groups thats been working for bird-safe building measures since 2016.

(These measures) are not just bonuses  theyre essential to protecting valuable bird lives and a healthy environment, that these birds are foundational to. Theyre good for people. Theyre good for birds, she said.

Chicago Department of Planning and Development Deputy Commissioner Peter Strazzabosco pointed out that the proposed policy update, available for public comment until May 15, gives additional weight to bird-safe building options.

Under the update, one category of bird safety measures would be awarded 30 points, compared with just 10 points under the current policy.

Those points count toward the 100 points that certain new buildings and renovations must earn  by choosing from a list of sustainability options  if the project developers want the citys permission to build.

(The new policy) has incentivized the bird-friendly design section by tripling the point total (in one category), and by including, for the first time, an implementation section that helps developers figure out how to use bird-friendly measures in their projects, Strazzabosco said.

The draft sustainable development policy update would typically apply to about 50 to 75 new or renovated buildings a year, many of them larger projects that are getting some form of assistance from the city, he said.

The proposed update, the first since 2017, comes less than a year after at least 960 birds died in a single day after crashing into McCormick Place Lakeside Center, a glassy, low-lying convention building on the lakefront.

Birds were crashing into windows even as monitors collected the casualties, according to David Willard, a retired bird division collections manager at the Field Museum.

It was just discouraging as can be, Willard told the Tribune. Youre looking at a rose-breasted grosbeak that, if it hadnt hit a Chicago window, would have made it to the Andes of Peru.

McCormick Place Lakeside sought expert advice immediately, and has set a goal of installing about $1.2 million worth of bird-safe film on all its windows in time for the fall migration season, according to Larita Clark, chief executive officer at the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, which owns the building.

But Chicago, which is located in the Mississippi Flyway  a major bird migration route  remains a perilous place for millions of birds that fly through each year, some from as far away as South America and northern Canada.

Prince, the director of Chicago Bird Collision Monitors, said the all-volunteer organization recovers 7,000 to 10,000 dead and injured birds a year  and thats just a small fraction of the citys casualties.

During a walk through the Loop, she pulled out her phone to show an array of birds, including an injured meadowlark and a deceased northern flicker with a spotted belly and bright yellow feathers on the undersides of its wings.

The losses come at a time of growing concern about North American birds, which are in the midst of a staggering population decline, according to a widely quoted 2019 study in the journal Science.

The study found a net loss of 2.9 billion birds since 1970, a 29% population decline.

A wide range of threats were cited in the study, including habitat loss, agricultural practices, coastal disturbances, climate change and deaths due to human activity, a category that includes collisions with buildings.

Through the years, Chicago has made some major efforts on behalf of the tiny visitors, including a seasonal late-night lights-out program.

Princes group patrols a high-risk section of downtown Chicago during spring and fall migration, rescuing birds as well as providing casualty counts.

The white-throated sparrow that Prince spotted on a grate was easy to catch: She came up behind him with a net, then gently placed him in a brown paper bag for transfer to the Willowbrook Wildlife Center.

He didnt seem harmed, just dazed, Prince said, and he was very likely to recover and be released back into the wild.

Despite such success stories, bird advocates say that the transparent and reflective surfaces of Chicago buildings, as well as certain gratings and landscape and lighting practices, continue to create peril.

Advocates began pushing the city for bird-safe building design measures in 2016, with early efforts focusing on an ordinance.

In 2020, advocates turned their focus to a planned update of the citys sustainable development policy.

Prince said she and her allies were clear, from the beginning of their discussions with the planning department, that they were calling for bird safety requirements, not options.

Its an understanding they had from us, and they continued to indicate that was the direction they were taking, said Prince.

She said the word required was used in the departments presentations and slides until the end of 2023, and then there was a reversal at the 11th hour.

We feel that we wasted four years, and in those four years, hundreds of buildings have gone up that in their lifetime are going to kill thousands of birds, she said.

Strazzabosco said that he wasnt going to dispute what bird advocates may have heard or what they thought they heard.

Im kind of uncomfortable talking about this he said, she said stuff because neither of us was in the room, but I can tell you that mandatory menu items were suggested, but anything presented was in the discussion phase; it wasnt final, he said.

Strazzabosco said that policy documents such as the sustainable development policy update dont have the authority to create mandates; that typically requires an ordinance with a City Council vote behind it.

At the nonprofit American Bird Conservancy, which tests and rates bird-safe building options, glass collisions program director Bryan Lenz said that point-based policies such as the Chicago sustainable development policy update are more effective than purely voluntary measures but less effective than requirements.

Faced with a menu of sustainable building methods and materials, developers tend to pick ones that are more familiar to them, such as water-conserving low-flow toilets, he said.

I dont think (Chicagos proposed policy) would have the impact anybody was hoping for in terms of reducing collisions, he said.

Since 2017, about 30 projects have chosen bird safety from Chicagos menu of sustainable building strategies, Strazzabosco said. Thats approximately 10% of the projects that had to choose from the menu.

Other menu options include energy efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions reduction, landscape and green infrastructure, public health and community benefits, stormwater management, sustainable transportation, waste diversion and water use reduction.

The policy update was released as a draft April 15. A final policy will be posted online July 1, and the policy will be fully implemented in January, according to the planning department.

The owners of McCormick Place Lakeside are finalizing a contract to apply bird-friendly patterns to all the buildings windows, according to Clark.

The glass will be marked with tiny dots  applied via a removable film  that will warn birds they are approaching a hard surface. Workers are also closing blinds at the building, unless customers request otherwise.

Prince said that regardless of what happens with the proposed policy update, bird advocates plan to pursue an ordinance with bird-safe building requirements.

New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Skokie and Evanston already have local laws with such requirements.

We think thats a direction thats going to put the strongest protections in place, Prince said.

____
Long Beach weighs new hiring process as almost a quarter of jobs sit vacant

A view of Long Beach from Hotel Maya. The Long Beach City Council plans to meet next week to discuss fixing its high job vacancy rate. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

With a hiring crisis on its hands, the Long Beach city council is scheduled to meet next week with the goal of streamlining the process.

Throughout the city, 22% of jobs are vacant, with some departments reporting vacancy rates over 35%, City Manager Tom Modica wrote to the council. It took the city 377 business days to approve a list of candidates for a clerk typist position and 362 calendar days for a position at the Long Beach port, he wrote.

The city "is grappling with a major organizational crisis with an inefficient and outdated recruitment and hiring process," Modica wrote.

He proposed that the council put a measure on the November ballot to merge two agencies in charge of hiring and prioritize local candidates, with the goal of reducing hiring times from seven months to 4.

The city council meeting will take place Tuesday, as originally reported by the Long Beach Watchdog.

Read more: L.A. looks at eliminating up to 2,000 vacant positions as the city's budget outlook worsens

Though the hiring process could be streamlined, a multitude of factors have driven the hiring troubles, said Brandon Nottingham, a business representative for the local chapter of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

In negotiations with the city, the union has argued that job vacancy rates are between 20% and 40% partly because pay was not competitive.

Long Beach can often be a "training ground" for city employees, Nottingham said. "People come into the city of Long Beach, they get trained up and realize they get paid better somewhere else."

The hiring process can take "seven to nine months," he said, and a new proposal to lower the process to 90 business days would equate to "five or so months."

Read more: Long Beach Post staffers laid off after moving to unionize and going on strike

"We understand that there is a hiring problem, a retention problem," Nottingham said. "We do need to pay our folks more in this city and that would help retain folks."

Additionally, Long Beach faces workforce issues that are common across cities, he said. A new generation of workers expects the flexibility to work from home and is more comfortable switching jobs, Nottingham said.

Ultimately, Nottingham said the city and the union have the same goal of hiring more people and solving the vacancy issue.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Longer speaking rules at Austin City Council meetings stand, for now, after ruling

Longer speaking rules at Austin City Council meetings stand, for now, after ruling

AUSTIN (KXAN)  People at Thursdays Austin City Council meeting will once again get three minutes to speak on every single item they signed up for after a judge extended an order in a lawsuit against the City of Austin.

That will be the case until July 1, according to Bill Bunch, the executive director of the Save our Springs Alliance, and the man suing the city.

PREVIOUS: Austin City Council public comment rules in limbo after judge ruling

We appreciate the courts time and will abide by the order issued by the court. Per the order, speakers will receive 3 minutes to speak on each item, a spokesperson for the City of Austin said.

There are 100 items on Thursdays agenda.

The background

If youve been to an Austin City Council meeting, chances are you know who Bill Bunch is. Hes one of the more regular speakers at City Hall.

During a city council meeting a couple of weeks ago  where the body was considering a city manager contract, among other items  Bunch used roughly half of his allotted two minutes to argue he should be given more time to speak during public comment. He then threatened to sue and followed through.

Judge Madeleine Connor  who KXAN has also previously reported on  ruled in favor of Bunch previously in issuing a temporary restraining order (TRO). This new ruling is a continuation of that decision.

Every resident deserves the opportunity to address the council on matters that affect our community, said Bunch previously. The Texas Open Meeting Act is intended to be liberally construed to ensure that residents have a voice in local government.

PREVIOUS ON JUDGE CONNOR: The wild race for 419th District Court

The two-week TRO required Austin City Council to give each speaker at Thursdays April 18 meeting at least three minutes to speak on each item for which the speaker has properly registered to speak. That will be the same at this weeks meeting.

As its worked previously, speakers signed up to speak on consent agenda items  as Bunch was  were given two minutes regardless of the number of items they signed up to speak on.

I am signed up for four items and I want two minutes on each of those four items, Bunch said in a council meeting on April 4. Under the law, that you understand, is what is required.

Mayor: Please go ahead.

Bunch: Do I get my 8 minutes?

Mayor: No, sir.

Bunch: I get two minutes for my four items?

Mayor: And youre down to 1:01.

Bunch: Okay. And I will sue you in court. Promptly. And we will have this foolishness put to an end.

Mayor: 51 [seconds]

Documents from the Texas Attorney General show state law did not require public testimony at all until Texas Government Code section 551.007 was enacted in 2019, though many local governments offered that option.

Current First Amendment precedent would allow rules that restrict speakers to the subject of the meeting, impose time limits on speakers, and prevent disruptions of the meeting, Assistant Attorney General William Hill wrote.

Hill continued: Three minutes is a common limitation, but whether a time limitation is reasonable may depend on the particular circumstances.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
May 2 (UPI) -- Workers at a New Zealand sawmill received an early morning shock when a particularly large kiwi bird decided to run through the shop.

Lucas James, who works at Rosvall Sawmill in Whareora, said he and his coworkers were perplexed when the bird showed up in the early morning.

"I was still bleary-eyed, early in the morning, and was using the drill press in the workshop when I heard a scuttle behind me," James told Radio New Zealand. "I turned around and there was a big kiwi running around the middle of the workshop. So I called all the guys, we had a look, and sort of panicked. We didn't know what to do."

James said it was the first time he had seen a kiwi in person.

"It really surprised me how big they are. I'm not a short guy and it came up to my knees, so it was quite a big creature," he said.

The workers contacted the Department of Conservation, which dispatched personnel to the scene.

"After a thorough check-up, the little adventurer was named 'Rosvall' after the sawmill she was found at," the department said on social media.

The kiwi was returned to the wild in the Mount Tiger area, officials said.
Louisiana bill requiring new school buses to have air conditioning, heating passes to the House

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD)  A proposed bill that would require school buses to have air conditioning and heaters is moving forward at the State Legislature this week.

SB26, introduced by Democratic Senators Cleo Fields and Joseph Bouie Jr., states that all new school buses bought after Aug. 1, 2024, that transport students to and from school are required to be equipped with heating and air conditioning.

The bill states that the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) should adopt new rules that enforce each school board system to equip all new school buses with passenger air conditioning and heating systems.

Gov. Jeff Landry signs new Supreme Court map with second Black-majority district bill into law

The bill passed the Senate and now heads to the House.

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BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD)  The Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services will submit a notice of intent to the USDA to participate in the Summer EBT program.

DCFS confirmed the move on Wednesday, May 1, and said additional information will be shared later.

In February, it was announced that Louisiana would not participate in the Summer EBT program this year. However, the state would continue to provide existing feeding programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

The Summer EBT program offers grocery-buying benefits to low-income families with school-aged children when schools are closed for the summer, according to the USDA.

Gov. Jeff Landrys administration cited cost as the main reason to skip offering the EBT program to Louisiana children.

Louisiana NAACP, others appeal state Congressional voting map decision to US Supreme Court

Elected officials across the state pushed back on the Landry administrations decision to turn down around $71 million in support that would benefit more than 594,000 children.

The issue was discussed at a DCFS budget presentation regarding House Bill 1, the state budget for fiscal year 2024-25.

I found it quite disturbing myself Rep. Freeman that we have state agencies come up here and stand here and tell them that the will of this legislature is to appropriate $3.6 million for a program that theyve operated for two years and now be told well we cant do it this summer we got to have this, we got to have that. Well, you didnt have to have the last two years, said State Rep. Jack McFarland, R-Jonesboro, in front of the Louisiana House Chamber on Thursday, April 25.

McFarland said this in response to Louisiana State Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley and DCFS saying they would not be able to get the EBT cards out until December.

McFarland also noted that the legislature has decided to make it a priority to fund the Summer EBT program through the budget process.

The Legislature decided to make it a priority to fund the Summer EBT program through the budget process, said McFarland. DCFS is working with federal partners and agency leaders to finalize plans and firm up timelines. We do expect eligible children to receive benefits in time for summer, with benefits being issued in phases beginning June 4, 2024. DCFS will provide more information next week.

Without this Summer EBT Program, Louisiana will serve over 1 million more meals in the summer of 2024 than in the summer of 2023. Louisiana will also serve 3 million more meals this summer than pre-pandemic summers. However, if the legislature through the budget process decides they want to prioritize the Summer EBT Program, then we certainly can respect their wishes, Kate Kelly, Landrys director of communications, said Wednesday.

The program is expected to begin in the summer of 2024, and families will get $40 per eligible child, per month, according to the USDA.

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The Louisiana House of Representatives passed its version of the budget last week, and it included some discouraging cuts for teachers and early childhood education. While the prospects are good that most of that funding will be restored by the Senate, it is unfortunate that the Legislature is sending a disturbing message about the states support for education.

Its one of the strange ironies at the Capitol that lawmakers all agree on the importance of education, and yet often dont seem to fund it as the priority they say it is.

A case in point is the current version of the state budget. House members, trying to balance various funding needs, voted to cut $24 million for early childhood education that was proposed in the governors budget. The impact is tangible. It would mean that almost 2,000 children from birth to age three would be ineligible for assistance to participate in high- quality early education programs.

Lawmakers also muddied the waters on the issue of teacher pay. Last year, they balked at giving teachers a $2,000 pay raise and voted instead to make it a one-time stipend with the promise that they would work to make it permanent. But the governors budget once again proposed to fund it as a stipend, and then the House reduced it to an average of just less than $1,700.

All of this sends a bad message.

Lawmakers completed a special legislative session in February focused on public safety. Theres no question Louisiana has a serious problem with crime, but all the data continues to show that the number one deterrent to crime is education.

This is particularly true for early education. The evidence shows that children who show up in kindergarten ready to learn and have mastered reading by third grade go on to have far better social outcomes than those without quality early learning experiences.

As for teachers, while there have been some positive developments in growing the educator workforce and retaining teachers in the classroom, the mixed signals the Legislature is sending over teacher pay arent helpful. Pay is not the primary reason why people choose to become teachers, but it is certainly a factor, especially in light of reports that show teacher pay in Louisiana is less than in many other Southern states.

To be sure, there are some positive things happening at the Legislature in terms of education. The House passed a new funding formula for public schools that includes a component to provide additional pay for teachers in high-need areas. It also targets funds for tutoring programs and apprenticeships for high school students. Other bills seek to expand interventions for students struggling in math.

While these are positive developments, we cannot lose sight of the fact even great initiatives still require good teachers and all of the interventions we are implementing become less necessary when students begin school with a strong foundation of early learning.

We are hopeful that the Senate will restore the cuts in these critical areas, but we must also acknowledge this will still be a band-aid. The teacher pay raise needs to be permanent and the restoration of the early childhood funding still leaves thousands of children on a waiting list.

The potential fiscal cliff coming next year wont make this any easier, but if we say we want to make Louisiana better, we know education is the key. We shouldnt be sending messages that might suggest otherwise.

The post Louisiana Legislature sends discouraging message on education appeared first on Louisiana Illuminator.
PHNOM PENH, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia currently has six automotive assembly plants, manufacturing various types of cars for the domestic market, Prime Minister Hun Manet said on Thursday.

The six plants included Daehan Auto manufacturing Ssangyong, RMA Automotive making Ford, Camko Motor producing Hyundai, HGB Motors Assembly manufacturing Kia, GTV Motor producing local brand cars GTV, and Toyota Tsusho Manufacturing (Cambodia) making Fortuner and Hilux.

Hun Manet said these domestic car assembly plants have not only helped reduce car imports but also supplied cars to the local market at a cheaper price.

"These auto assembly plants have been importantly contributing to the development of the automotive industry in Cambodia," he said in a speech during the launching ceremony of Toyota Tsusho Manufacturing (Cambodia) in the Royal Group Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone.

"We hope there will be more foreign carmakers coming to invest in auto assembly plants in Cambodia in the future," he added.

The Southeast Asian country imported vehicles worth 366.8 million U.S. dollars during the January-March period of 2024, down 15.6 percent from 434.6 million dollars in the same period last year, according to the latest report by the General Department of Customs and Excise. 
Residents shaken and traumatized by a catastrophic home explosion in a sleepy Broward County neighborhood days before Christmas are suing the propane company and homeowners they say are jointly responsible for the blast.

In three lawsuits filed this year, seven neighbors with homes in close proximity to the explosion reported hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages as well as mental anguish. Theyre seeking compensation for what theyve lost.

The Dec. 19 blast  detonating just after midnight  rocked one residence in the city of West Park at 5206 SW 20th Street. The two adults and two children inside the house were hospitalized, but miraculously survived and recovered despite the eruption leaving little left of the structure. Footage from nearby security cameras, released to Local 10, captured a fiery mushroom cloud when the blast detonated.

READ MORE: Two children, two adults hospitalized after blast levels their home, firefighters say

The state fire marshal concluded the explosion was an accident and likely caused by a leaking 200-pound propane tank .

Based upon the scene examination, physical evidence, witness statements, supporting documents and consideration of atmospheric conditions, this explosion has been classified as accidental, the report said.

The shock waves and debris flew through the neighborhood, damaging houses, cars and some residents revealed in recent lawsuits.

READ MORE: Investigators: Massive South Florida house explosion stemmed from accidental gas leak

Home devastated, cars destroyed

Annette and Devonaire Brown saw both of their cars destroyed when the massive explosion went off at the home next door, a lawsuit read.

Annettes 2019 Volkswagen Tiguan and Devonaires Toyota Corolla were both casualties of the explosion, and their home sustained more than $250,000 in damages.

On April 11, the pair filed a lawsuit against Redes Ledix, Pierre Claude Mertus and AmeriGas Propane Inc. in Broward County Circuit Court.

According to the suit, Ledix and Mertus owned the home that exploded and allowed AmeriGas to install a propane gas tank in the property.

Because of this, the pair alleged that Ledix and Mertus failed to maintain the tank and ensure that no gas was leaking. In turn, AmeriGas was negligent in not inspecting and servicing the tank they installed.

Annette Brown told NBC 6 that she lived in her home for 26 years before an explosion rocked her neighborhood.

Right now, Im just trying to live the best that I can, she said.

Neighboring family suffering after blast

Tangela Jordan, Tommie Jordan and Geneva Allen lived in a home across the street when the explosion occurred and suffered mental anguish and disfigurement, among other things, a lawsuit alleged.

On April 10, the trio sued Ledix, Mertus, and AmeriGas for the damage to the home and to themselves.

The explosion caused over $50,000 in damages to their house. That number may increase in price if the home is deemed a total loss by structural engineers, the lawsuit read.

The suit also claimed the trio were injured from the explosion and lost the capacity to enjoy life.

Additionally, [the Jordans and Allen] suffered bodily injury and resulting pain and suffering, disability, disfigurement, mental anguish, loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life, expense of hospitalizations, medical nursing care and treatment, loss of earnings, loss of ability to earn money and aggravation of a previously existing condition, the lawsuit read.

Tangela Jordan told NBC 6 she was living with her mother, Tommie, who has owned the home for the past 54 years. The home still has boarded-up windows.

Just having to get up to this every day, I dread getting up in the dark, she said. Im just really, really sick of it.

Tommie Jordan told the station she had a heart attack.

It just really affected my way of being, she said. I didnt realize how stressed I was until I had a heart attack. Just been in the dark for almost going on five months now.

Ongoing insurance woes

When Timothee Sonel and Michelet Joseph tried to file an insurance claim for the over $200,000 in damages their home sustained, which was right next door to the explosion, they made a terrible discovery, a lawsuit read.

Their insurance company, Citizens, told them their policy had been canceled, unbeknownst to Sonel and Joseph.

The pair filed a lawsuit in early March against Citizens, an insurance agent, a customer service representative and a business that sells homeowners insurance.

Similar to the other suits, Sonel and Joseph also named Ledix, Mertus, and AmeriGas as negligent parties they are seeking compensation from.

The lawsuit details that PAG, a for-profit business that sells insurance, and Pedro Sabatier, an insurance agent, acted as the middleman between Citizens and Sonel and Joseph.

When they first bought their homeowners insurance policy in July 2023, the pair were told they would have to fix a broken window or it would canceled.

In August, Sonel and Joseph sent proof to SAG and Sabatier that the issue was fixed and expected the documentation to be given to Citizens so their policy would stay up-to-date.

That proof never reached Citizens, the lawsuit said. The pairs policy was canceled even though they were never notified and their mortgage lender still paid the policy premiums.

Sonel and Joseph are asking a judge to order the alleged negligent parties to restore their home to its condition before the explosion, pay legal fees and other damages.
The noise  unsettling and dissonant  has been a constant inside the barricaded pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA.

Soon after protesters, most of them students at the Westwood campus, pitched tents on Dickson Court on April 25, pro-Israel counterdemonstrators showed up with megaphones. Some shouted racist, homophobic and anti-Islamic slurs, according to campers interviewed.

They set up a giant video screen near the camp that played and replayed videos of Hamas militants. They broadcast a running torrent of loud, disturbing sounds over a stereo  an eagle screeching, a child crying  and blasted a Hebrew rendition of the song "Baby Shark" on repeat, late at night, so that campers could not sleep.

They returned night after night.

A woman kneels in prayer before a line of CHP officers at a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles)

Inside the encampment, pro-Palestinian protesters, who occupied scores of tents on the grassy expanse, said they tried to maintain a tranquil space during the daylight hours when they felt some sense of control. They led Islamic prayers, observed Shabbat and hosted grief circles that included breath work and trauma therapy.

"It's still an emotional, heavy space, but it's also a very open, welcoming and loving space," said Marie, a 28-year-old graduate student who, like many protesters interviewed, declined to provide her full name because she feared for her safety, physically and online. "Unfortunately, we experience the harassment and the terrorizing at night, which can be really upsetting."

On Tuesday night, Dickson Court exploded into savagery and chaos. A large, mostly male crowd of masked counterdemonstrators tried to break into the encampment, ripping down wood and metal barriers, spraying bear mace, igniting stink bombs and tossing fireworks near the camp perimeter  and in at least one case inside the camp.

They aimed their green lasers at camper's faces, prompting shouts of, "Shield your eyes!"

They attacked us from physical and psychological fronts, said Mona, a third-year student who also declined to provide her last name. The outside aggressors have been working hard to create a harsh environment and make us feel unsafe.

A pro-Palestinian protester, second from right, is assaulted by pro-Israel counterdemonstrators at a UCLA encampment. (Michael Blackshire / Los Angeles Times)

After Tuesday's late-night melee  and a slow campus response that a spokesperson for Gov. Gavin Newsom's office called "unacceptable"  the encampment remained. And the pro-Palestinian protesters, who are demanding divestment from Israel and an end to the countrys military actions in Gaza, were defiant.

Kaia Shah, 23, a postgraduate researcher who has acted as a spokesperson for the encampment, said demonstrators got notice Tuesday from a university liaison that the encampment was unlawful and that students who continued to occupy the space could face suspension or expulsion.

Nonetheless, she said, We plan on staying here until we get UCLA to divest.

Shah described the scene Tuesday night as "violent and terrifying chaos," and said her throat burned from inhaling all the mace in the air. She and another female demonstrator said some of the counterprotesters threatened to sexually assault women inside the encampment.

Shah said that, at one point, she saw police cars  it was unclear from which agency  pull up, turn around in a circle and leave. "The cops came and left as we were getting violently attacked by the Zionists," she said.

Dueling chants rang out.

Pro-Palestinian protesters at UCLA huddle behind a makeshift barricade under attack by pro-Israel counterdemonstrators. (Michael Blackshire / Los Angeles Times)

From inside the camp, they shouted: "Free, free Palestine!" and "Hold the line for Palestine!"

Outside, some counterdemonstrators screamed: "Second Nakba!" referring to the mass displacement and dispossession of Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Others chanted: "USA! USA!"

As the violence unfolded, Citlali, a 25-year-old from Santa Ana who works for the organization Youth Organize! California and declined to provide her last name, said she frantically texted her younger brother, a student who was inside the encampment.

"Hey can you answer? Are you okay?? It's okay to retreat," she texted.

She said her brother was sprayed with bear mace and left the encampment Wednesday morning to wash up in his dorm room. "It's gut-wrenching," Citlali said. "I couldn't sleep until 4 a.m. when he texted me that he was OK."

After sunrise Wednesday, the UCLA chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine posted a list of their needs at the encampment: gas masks, skater helmets, shields, "super bright flashlights with strobe," EpiPens, inhalers, hot lunches, gluten-free food.

Read more: After violent night at UCLA, classes cancelled, UC president launches investigation into response

Campus security teams, faculty members and California Highway Patrol officers guarded entrances to the encampment Wednesday morning.

Hannah Appel, an assistant professor of anthropology, stood at one entrance, where people dropped off medical supplies, face masks and water bottles. Only students with wrist bands indicating they were previously in the encampment and those who had someone on the inside vouching for them were allowed to enter, Appel said.

Because of the escalated violence last night, we have to be very vigilant and careful about who can come in and out, Appel said, before stepping aside to let a student squeeze through the barricades.

Vanessa Muros, an archaeology researcher at UCLA, showed up outside the encampment with finger cymbals, maracas and a tambourine. She said a call was sent out to students and faculty who participated in a band during a 2022 UC academic workers' strike. The musicians were asked to help boost morale at the encampment.

Apparently morale is low in there, and playing music or just making noise will help rally people together," she said.

Pro-Palestinian protesters clash with pro-Israel counterdemonstrators at a UCLA encampment. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Muros has worked at UCLA for 19 years and said she has never seen such mayhem on campus. Its upsetting, and I feel like the administration will blame the chaos on the students who have been peacefully protesting, she said.

Renee Tajima-Pena, a senior faculty member, stood in a line outside Royce Hall to make a donation for the protesters: solar phone chargers, a poncho, some respirators.

The story has been that all these students are irresponsible or causing problems, she said. I teach here and this encampment has been beautiful.

Tajima-Pena was on campus Sunday when campers tussled with pro-Israel counterdemonstrators, who, she said, spit at students and shouted racial slurs.

"I was shoved by a guy a foot taller than me," she said. "Another woman, a colleague of mine, also got shoved by some guy.

"But the students  they were so stoic. They didn't want to engage and didn't want to escalate. I was so proud."

Times staff writer Safi Nazzal contributed to this report.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
France's President Emmanuel Macron has not changed his opinion on the deployment of Western troops in Ukraine. He considers such an approach correct and said that if the Russians break through the line of contact and Ukraine requests help, it is worth considering.

Source: European Pravda; Macron in an interview with The Economist

Details: Macron replied affirmatively that he still stands by his words regarding the possibility of deploying allies' troops in Ukraine.

Quote from Macron: "Im not ruling anything out, because we are facing someone who is not ruling anything out. We have undoubtedly been too hesitant by defining the limits of our action to someone who no longer has any and who is the aggressor!"

He insists that withholding from the adversary a full understanding of what actions can or should not be expected is also a deterrence tool.

"Otherwise we weaken ourselves, which is the framework within which we have been operating until now. In fact, many countries said that in the weeks that followed that they understood our approach, that they agreed with our position and that this position was a good thing," added the French president.

Macron noted that the French military has recently intervened in Africa, to fight terrorism at the request of other sovereign states.

Quote from Macron: "If the Russians were to break through the front lines, if there were a Ukrainian requestwhich is not the case todaywe would legitimately have to ask ourselves this question. So I think to rule it out a priori is not to learn the lessons of the past two years."

He added that the aggressive reaction from Moscow to his initial statements proved that they had the desired effect.

Quote from Macron: "I have a clear strategic objective: Russia cannot win in Ukraine. If Russia wins in Ukraine, there will be no security in Europe. Who can pretend that Russia will stop there? What security will there be for the other neighbouring countries, Moldova, Romania, Poland, Lithuania and the others?

And behind that, what credibility for Europeans who would have spent billions, said that the survival of the continent was at stake and not have given themselves the means to stop Russia? So yes, we mustnt rule anything out because our objective is that Russia must never be able to win in Ukraine."

He also explained he was talking about a number of threats, starting with direct military ones, when he said Europe "can fall apart" in a recent speech.

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Macron says he would consider sending troops to Ukraine in case of Russian breakthrough, Ukrainian request

French President Emmanuel Macron said he would consider sending troops to Ukraine in the case of a Russian breakthrough at the front or if Ukraine requested it, in an interview with the Economist published on May 2.

Macron added that such conditions did not currently exist.

In March, Macron called Russia's invasion of Ukraine "existential" for France and the rest of Europe. Later, Macron said he would not rule out the possibility of sending Western troops to Ukraine.

Macron reiterated this sentiment in his interview with the Economist, saying that Europe's "basic condition" of security depends on its ability to avoid defining concrete red lines.

"If Russia wins in Ukraine there will be no security in Europe," he said.

Kyiv has not appealed to the West to send its troops to Ukraine, instead asking for increased arms supplies to help Ukrainian soldiers fend off Russian aggression.

In a novel comparison, Macron said that France had sent troops to aid African nations in the Sahel when they had asked for help.

The French president also said Europe cannot always rely on the U.S. for defense and must learn to "get ready to protect ourselves."

The interview came ahead of a visit to France by Chinese President Xi Jinping in May. Macron is expected to try and convince Xi to use his influence over Russian President Vladimir Putin to seek an end to the full-scale war in Ukraine.

In recent months, Macron has become an increasingly outspoken advocate of European defense, championing increased defense production and military aid for Ukraine.

During his April 25 speech at the Sorbonne University, Macron urged other EU states to strengthen their defenses and reconsider their role on the global stage, stressing the risks that Europe is currently facing.

Read also: Opinion: Troops in Ukraine? France-Germany spat plays into Putins hands

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As Donald Trump weighs his running-mate options, its not a secret that House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik and Sen. J.D. Vance are among the contenders. The result has been an unfortunate race to the bottom, in which the New York congresswoman and the Ohio senator have gone back and forth for months, each trying to one-up the other in the hopes of impressing the former president.

This week, for example, Stefanik filed a ridiculous ethics complaint against special counsel Jack Smith with the Justice Departments Office of Professional Responsibility. The complaint is baseless, and theres no chance itll be taken seriously, but for the House GOP leader, thats irrelevant: The goal was to send a signal to Mar-a-Lago, not Main Justice.

It also meant, of course, that it was Vances turn to come up with a gesture that his partys presumptive presidential nominee might like. It was against this backdrop that, as The Hill reported, the Ohioan appeared on CNN last night.

In context, Kaitlan Collins asked a good question that well hopefully hear repeated in the coming weeks and months with other Republican contenders: You said youd certainly be open to [the vice presidential nomination] if he did offer it to you. Considering that, does it give you any pause whatsoever about taking that job when you see how he treated his last vice president?

In other words, given that Trump put his last running mate in danger, maybe others might be cautious about filling Pences shoes.

Vance not only disagreed, he challenged the premise of the question.

Okay, well, Im truly skeptical that Mike Pences life was ever in danger. I think politics and politics people like to really exaggerate things from time to time, the Senate Republican said.

As for the Jan. 6 rioters who literally chanted, Hang Mike Pence, Vance said last night that a few people said some bad things, but he insisted it was absurd to hold Trump accountable for his radical followers rhetoric.

Vances comments come three years after Trump personally defended rioters hang Mike Pence chants, describing the mantra as common sense.

But I was particularly interested in the idea that Pence might not have faced actual, life-threatening danger during the right-wing assault on the Capitol. To hear Vance tell it, perhaps politics people have exaggerated the whole story.

Reality tells a very different story. In fact, whether the senator realizes this or not, Vance has this backwards.

When the Hoosier was evacuated from his ceremonial office and directed to a secure location on Jan. 6, investigators ultimately learned that, at one point, Pence and the mob were only separated by 40 feet. A Proud Boys informant told the FBI that members of the right-wing group attacking the Capitol would have killed Mike Pence if given a chance.

A Washington Post analysis published two years ago highlighted the specific instances in which Pences life was in particular danger on Jan. 6, 2021.

In fact, rioters were eager to target Pence when they arrived on Capitol Hill, but Trump also lashed out at his then-vice president during the riot. As one former White House aide said in recorded testimony, that had the effect of pouring gasoline on the fire.

Maybe Vance ignored the revelations from the Jan. 6 investigation. Maybe Vance knows the truth and is choosing to ignore it in the hopes of boosting his national prospects.

Either way, the record is clear, and there's no reason for the GOP senator to be "skeptical" of the truth.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
During Donald Trumps 2016 presidential campaign, the Republican faced a dilemma. On the one hand, the economy was relatively healthy at the time, and the unemployment rate was steadily improving in the run-up to Election Day. On the other hand, Trump wanted voters to believe the United States was in the midst of an economic disaster that only he could fix.

The GOP nominee settled on a specific rhetorical strategy to resolve the tension: Trump would simply peddle nonsense and tell the public to believe him, instead of reality. As we discussed at the time, at different points during the campaign, the Republican publicly argued, for example, that the unemployment rate was 20%  or possibly 42%  even as reality pointed to a rate below 5%.

After the election, at a pre-inaugural press conference, Trump declared there are 96 million really wanting a job and they cant get, which was ridiculous, even for him. Around the same time, the then-president-elect declared that the unemployment rate was totally fiction.

Eight years later, as job growth under another Democratic president soars, the Republican is turning to a familiar message. The Biden job numbers are fake, the presumptive GOP nominee told a Wisconsin audience yesterday.

"They call them fake numbers. They call them bounce back numbers" -- Trump in Wisconsin simultaneously denies Biden's strong economic record and takes credit for it pic.twitter.com/mHm0aOfyp7  Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 1, 2024

In context, Trumps message wasnt exactly the same as the line he peddled eight years ago. This year, hes not saying the job numbers are fictional, so much as hes asking voters to believe that President Joe Biden doesnt deserve credit for the jobs boom that happened after he began implementing his economic agenda.

There are, however, a few problems with this.

First, Biden does, in fact, deserve credit. Hardly anyone expected the U.S. economy to be this strong, for such a sustained period, when the Democratic incumbent was first inaugurated, but the White Houses economic agenda has produced impressive results. Indeed, the United States has seen the strongest post-pandemic economic recovery on the planet thanks in large part to the success of Bidens policies.

Second, there was a contradiction at the heart of Trumps argument yesterday. On the one hand, he said the economy looked good, but Biden shouldnt get the credit. A minute later, Trump said the economy is a bust, and Biden should get the blame. It cant be both.

And finally, the former president has also spent recent months claiming that he deserves credit for Biden-era economic progress  which appears to be the same progress Trump wants voters to believe isnt real.

All of this is every bit as incoherent as it sounds, which is far from ideal given that the economy tends to be the top issue for much of the electorate.

This post updates our related earlier coverage.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
Republican Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas has earned a reputation for speaking candidly about his political beliefs. Take yesterday, for example.

Everything that we do in the House of Representatives should be in the best interests of getting Donald Trump re-elected, Nehls said  while wearing a necktie featuring images of the former president.

Nehls: Everything we do in the House should be in the best interest of getting Donald Trump re-elected pic.twitter.com/ZfsqY8vaLX  Acyn (@Acyn) May 2, 2024

In general, elected lawmakers tend to say that everything Congress does should be in the best interests of the American public, but the Texan apparently didnt feel the need to maintain the pretense. As Nehls described it, the House of Representatives shouldnt necessarily serve as part of a powerful branch of government. Rather, the House is effectively a super PAC, looking out for the interests of a twice-impeached suspected felon.

The comments led Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. to respond online soon after, Elected Republicans think their #1 job in office is helping Donald Trump. Not aiding the people, not protecting America, serving Trump. The Republican Party is unfit to govern America and doesnt give a damn about you.

Whats interesting about Nehls, however, is his indifference to appearances. The GOP congressman apparently realizes that he looks more like a sycophantic Trump superfan and less like an elected federal lawmaker, but he just doesnt seem to care.

This is, for example, the same Nehls who said a few weeks ago that he supports extending his partys failed 2017 tax cuts because, Trump is right all the time. Trump is right all the time. A few days prior, Nehls also said that House Speaker Mike Johnson should be consulting with Donald Trump on just about everything we do.

The month before that, Nehls attended President Joe Bidens State of the Union address while wearing a T-shirt featuring Trumps mugshot.

But perhaps most notable of all is the fact that the Texas Republican has reinforced his reputation as The King of Saying the Quiet Part Out Loud. In January, for example, Nehls said he wanted to derail a bipartisan border bill because it might help Joe Bidens approval rating.

It wasnt an isolated incident. Remember the congressman who tied Trumps re-election bid to the GOPs anti-Biden impeachment drive? That was Nehls. Remember the congressman who said the anti-Biden impeachment drive was about giving Trump a little bit of ammo? That was Nehls.

Remember the congressman who said the Ethics Committees findings related to then-Rep. George Santos looked pretty damaging, but the party should prioritize the size of its majority over propriety? That was Nehls, too.

And now the Texan is adding to his list, saying what other congressional Republicans might believe but are reluctant to say on camera: Everything that we do in the House of Representatives should be in the best interests of getting Donald Trump re-elected.

To be sure, the candor is welcome, though by any fair measure, these public comments dont exactly position the Texas Republican as a principled policymaker whos serious about his governing responsibilities.

This post updates our related earlier coverage.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
Todays installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.

* The latest national NPR/PBS/Marist poll found President Joe Biden narrowly leading Donald Trump, 50% to 48%. Among people who say they are definitely voting in November, Bidens lead expands out to 5 points, but when third party candidates are added to the mix, the race is tied.

* In an interview yesterday with The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Trump said hell gladly accept the results of the 2024 elections, but only if he considers the results honest. And what if he decides theyre not? If its not, you have to fight for the right of the country, the former president added.

* As her vice presidential prospects evaporate, Gov. Kristi Noem continues to defend her decision to shoot and kill her familys dog  a story she included in her new book. On social media, the South Dakota Republican added, Dont believe the #fakenews medias twisted spin.

* Though it looked like there would be a three-way congressional contest in Californias 16th district, a primary recount has now lowered that total to two: Former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo will face Evan Low, a member of the state Assembly. Both are Democrats.

* In Nevadas U.S. Senate race, Republican Sam Brown has repeatedly said he supports opening the controversial Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. This year, as The Los Angeles Times reported, the GOP candidate was asked whether hes changed his mind, and while he did not reiterate his support, Brown did say he favors increased efforts to diversify the states economy without sacrificing safety.

* Apparently hoping to expand his partisan reach, Trump is now scheduled to speak at the Libertarian National Convention later this month.

* And as reproductive rights advocates in Florida try to rally support for a ballot initiative that would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution, theyre getting a financial boost from Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzkers policy advocacy group  Think Big America  which is reportedly donating $500,000 to the Floridians Protecting Freedom campaign.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
Todays edition of quick hits.

* On campus protests: President Joe Biden on Thursday urged that order must prevail as pro-Palestinian protests rock college campuses across the country, emphasizing that violent protest is not protected under the law.

* In New York: Jurors in the criminal trial of Donald J. Trump heard a secret recording on Thursday of Mr. Trump and his longtime fixer, Michael D. Cohen, discussing a deal shortly before the 2016 election to buy the silence of a Playboy model who claimed to have had a 10-month affair with Mr. Trump. The existence of the recording, made by Mr. Cohen about two months before the election, was previously known. But it demonstrated for the jury the direct involvement of the future president in what prosecutors have said was a conspiracy to help him get elected.

* Important Senate testimony from Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines: China has helped shift the battlefield momentum in Russias favor in Ukraine by providing it with components and other material needed to sustain its defense industry, the top U.S. intelligence official told senators Thursday.

* The latest Jan. 6 sentence, Part I: Jack Wade Whitton, a Georgia man who dragged an officer down the steps of the U.S. Capitol while wearing a Trump 2020 hat on Jan. 6 and bragged he fed the officer to the mob, was sentenced to more than four years in prison on Thursday. Youre gonna die tonight! Whitton admitted yelling at officers during one of several assaults he committed on law enforcement at the lower west tunnel.

* The latest Jan. 6 sentence, Part II: A Donald Trump fanatic who assaulted officers with pepper spray and called for additional violence after the Capitol attack while confessing in the third person was sentenced to more than five years in federal prison and fined $200,000 on Thursday. Ryan Nichols pleaded guilty in November to one felony count of obstruction of an official proceeding and one felony count of assaulting officers performing their duties.

* In North Carolina: President Joe Biden detoured to Charlotte on Thursday to meet the families of law enforcement officers shot to death on the job, just a week after he sat down with the grieving relatives of two cops killed in upstate New York. Biden was headed to a speech in Wilmington, North Carolina, and added on the visit to see the families, as well as officers wounded in the shooting.

* Important research: Major oil companies have misled Americans for decades about the threat of human-caused climate change, according to a new report released Tuesday by Democrats in Congress. The 65-page report was the result of a three-year investigation and was made public hours before a Senate Budget Committee hearing about the role that oil and gas companies have played in global warming.

* They struck the wrong man: A U.S. drone strike in Syria last year killed a 56-year-old shepherd after confusing him for a terrorist leader, an internal investigation concluded, underscoring the Pentagons persistent struggle to avoid unintentional casualties despite the Biden administrations pledge to curb such incidents.

See you tomorrow.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
GUANGZHOU, May 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing has stressed sparing no effort in carrying out rescue and relief work after an expressway collapsed early Wednesday in south China's Guangdong Province.

Zhang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks on Thursday when guiding the emergency response work of the disaster in the city of Meizhou, Guangdong Province. 
Maddow Blog | Trump sheds fresh light on what he intended to do on Jan. 6

Donald Trump has spent recent months focusing on Jan. 6 rioters to an unsettling degree, offering them praise, support and vows of future pardons. A recent Associated Press report noted that the former president has positioned the violent siege and its failed attempt to overturn the 2020 election as a cornerstone of his bid to return to the White House. This coincided with a related Semafor report on the degree to which the Republican has put Jan. 6 rioters at the heart of his campaign.

But the presumptive GOP nominee hasnt just focused on his bond with suspected and convicted insurrectionists; Trump has also shed fresh light on his own actions and intentions related to the assault on the Capitol. NBC News reported:

The former presidents point was to push back against Cassidy Hutchinsons 2022 testimony, when the former aide described a scene, which had been described to her by Tony Ornato, in which Trump went a little berserk after his Secret Service detail told him he was being taken back to the White House after his speech at the Ellipse, not to the Capitol.

At his rally in Wisconsin, Trump described different details, but effectively confirmed the underlying claim.

Trump confirms he told the Secret Service to take him to the Capitol on January 6 but they refused to let him pic.twitter.com/GY5dzH43Ie  Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) May 1, 2024

I sat in the back, Trump told his supporters, describing his version of events. And you know what I did say? I said, Id like to go down there because I see a lot of people walking down. They said, Sir, its better if you dont. I said, Well, Id like to.

He added that an agent told him, Its better if you dont, at which point, in Trumps story, he told the Secret Service, All right, whatever you guys think is fine.

That, the former president concluded, was the whole tone of the conversation.

In other words, what Trump sees as important was his demeanor at the time. A great many sources have given sworn testimony that he was irate on Jan. 6 and fought desperately to join the rioters hed deployed to Capitol Hill, but the Republican would now have the public believe that he made a request, was given sound advice and he casually accepted the Secret Services recommendations.

Or put another way, Trump is missing the point.

Sure, its of interest whether the then-president lunged for a steering wheel and/or grabbed an agent around the neck, but lets not miss the forest for the trees: Trump fueled a mob with anti-election lies and deployed them to attack his own countrys Capitol.

And, by his own admission, he wanted to join them.

As for what Trump intended to do if he got his way  which is to say, if the Secret Service followed his directive and brought him to Capitol Hill  as weve discussed, its probably safe to say that once he was inside the halls, presidential oratory wasnt the plan. Its not like Trump intended to use his powers of persuasion to convince members of Congress to ignore the election results and give him illegitimate power he hadnt earned.

Its more likely he had a different kind of confrontation in mind, which is precisely what makes the acknowledgements such as the one he made yesterday important.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
Its hardly a secret that President Joe Biden has received criticism from the left for his administrations support for Israels government during its ongoing efforts in Gaza. That said, as weve discussed, the Democratic president has taken a variety of steps that might help mitigate the condemnations.

It was, after all, Biden and his team that shielded Palestinians in the United States from deportation, approved aid drops into Gaza, denounced Israels expansion of settlements in the West Bank, began construction of a port on Gazas Mediterranean coast to receive humanitarian assistance by sea, warned Netanyahus government not to launch an assault on Rafah, and overseen diplomatic efforts to negotiate a sustained cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war.

These steps do not appear to have had much of an effect deterring the White Houses critics from the left, and its not unreasonable to wonder about the political implications with Election Day 2024 on the horizon.

In theory, Donald Trump might recognize the electoral opportunity and try to appeal to those who disapprove on the incumbent presidents Israel/Gaza policy from the left. In practice, the former president has an unsubtle message for Bidens critics: If given the chance, the Republican intends to be vastly worse.

The Biden White House, for example, acknowledged this week that it is, as the Associated Press reported, weighing measures to help Palestinians living in the United States who want to bring family from the war-torn region.

Soon after, as Reuters reported, the presumptive GOP nominee shared his thoughts on the subject at a campaign rally.

Note, at one of his campaign events yesterday, Trump appeared to goad his followers in Wisconsin into booing Palestinian refugees.

"Under no circumstances should we bring thousands of refugees from Hamas-controlled terrorist areas like Gaza to America" -- Trump goads his fans in Wisconsin into booing Palestinian refugees pic.twitter.com/7oGl5BAOiD  Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 1, 2024

At the same event, the former president also vowed to restore and expand the Muslim ban he imposed during his first term.

Also in recent days, Trump celebrated police officers clearing out pro-Palestinian protesters  it was a beautiful thing to watch, the Republican said  and urged university presidents to vanquish the radicals.

The former president also endorsed ongoing Israeli military operations, saying, We have to let Israel complete their war on terror. Its a horrible thing, but they have to do it. Trump added that Israel must clean out the cancer.

Lets also not forget a New York Times report from March that said top members of Trumps team want to expel Palestinians from Gaza.

Its as if the Republican is going out of his way to alienate voters who, given their frustrations with Bidens policy, might be inclined to give Trump a second look.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
Gov. Jeff Landry's appointee to run the Office of Juvenile Justice, Kenny Loftin, said allegations of abuse and violence at a facility he used to oversee aren't true. (Photo by Julie O'Donoghue/Louisiana Illuminator)

Gov. Jeff Landrys controversial pick to run state juvenile justice services declared a news investigation that exposed dozens of allegations of abuse and violence at the juvenile detention center he ran for decades was full of lies.



I wish I could erase that article, but I cant, said Kenneth Kenny Loftin, during his preliminary confirmation hearing before the Louisiana Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee Wednesday. Thats a flat out lie. That did not happen.

In 2022, The New York Times and the Investigative Reporting Program at the University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism published a lengthy article describing rampant child abuse and neglect at Ware Youth Center in Coushatta over decades.

Loftin is not directly accused of committing abuse in the report, but his time overseeing the facility overlaps with many of the violent allegations reported in the article.



He ran Ware from 1983 to 2015 and again from 2021 to October 2023. Earlier this year, Landry gave him a bigger job running Louisianas Office of Juvenile Justice, which oversees multiple juvenile prisons, group homes and supervision services for minors.

Landrys decision has alarmed several state legislators, particularly members of the Black Caucus, who released a statement opposing Loftins appointment.



Mr. Loftins past reported actions have shown he cannot be trusted to protect the children of Louisiana, the caucus said in February.

The Times investigation said 42 people held at Ware over a 25-year period described being sexually abused in interviews and documents. Many of the instances of alleged abuse would have taken place when Loftin was in charge.

So they made it up? Sen. Gary Carter, a Black Caucus member from New Orleans, asked Loftin about the allegations.



Yes. They made it up, Loftin replied this week.

No information in inspector generals report



In his previous work running Ware, Loftin said he embraced the Missouri model for juvenile justice, which focuses on rehabilitation and discourages punitive measures. As head of the Office of Juvenile Justice, he also said would not be focused exclusively on disciplining youth.

During the hearing, Loftin announced plans to set up a separate facility for young adults incarcerated in juvenile prisons  those 18, 19 and 20 years old  where they can learn job skills. While people enter the juvenile justice system as minors, they can stay in those facilities until they reach 21.

That way, we can get them away from the younger youth that we have, he said.

Loftin didnt get to spend much of his confirmation hearing talking about his plans for the future of juvenile justice in Louisiana. Instead, he had to focus on defending his tenure at Ware.



During the hearing, Loftin repeatedly claimed he had been cleared of wrongdoing by the Louisiana Office of the Inspector General. The agency released a letter months ago under pressure from the governor, saying it had no information that would disqualify Loftin from serving in state government.



At the time, the inspector general had been wrapping up a two-year investigation into Ware, but the probe wasnt focused on Loftins tenure at the facility. Instead, the inspector general was focused on Wares history from 2018 to 2022, years when Loftin was mostly not working at the facility, according to a report released last week.

The inspector generals Ware investigation was prompted by The Times article but didnt necessarily look into most of the alleged abuse, which took place several years ago.

Their goal was to shut Ware down



Under questioning from lawmakers this week, Loftin said he doubted the abuse described in The Times article took place, in part because the former child detainees making the allegations didnt report it to authorities at the time.



There were multiple opportunities for kids to make complaints, and we never heard those, he told senators.

But the recent inspector generals report shows that, at least over the past five years, most complaints of sexual abuse at Ware are deemed unsubstantiated. Local law enforcement officials in Coushatta, who sit on the board that oversees Ware, only found six of 44 reports of sexual abuse from the incarcerated youth at Ware to be credible from 2017 to 2022.

At the confirmation hearing, Loftin characterized The Times investigation  which mostly focused on alleged violence from several years ago  as a hit piece. He said the story was only published because a woman whose son died by suicide at Ware, when Loftin wasnt running the facility, had pushed her agenda onto reporters.

Bridget Peterson, whose 13-year-old son Solan died at Ware in 2019, is quoted extensively in The Times story, though Loftin didnt mention her by name in his comments to lawmakers.

Their goal was to shut Ware down, Loftin said of the reporters who wrote the story.

Three children, including Solan, died by suicide at Ware between 2018 to 2022, according to the Office of the Inspector General, though none of those incidents took place when Loftin was in charge. When he ran Ware, there were no deaths by suicide at the facility, Loftin told the senators.

We had never had a negative article about us until that report came out, Loftin said.

Loftin also said he hadnt read The Times story personally.



I understand that the article was written. I didnt even read it. I read over it, he said.

Confirmation chances

Though his confirmation hearing took place this week, Loftin isnt expected to come up for a vote until later this month, when the full Senate considers hundreds of Landrys appointees to state jobs. The Senate confirmation process takes place in secret, and the public is not privy to their discussions about the governors picks.



Senators typically only reject a gubernatorial appointee if the senator who represents the district where the appointee lives opposes their nomination. In Loftins case, he is represented by Sen. Alan Seabaugh, R-Shreveport, who is a close ally of Landrys.



There are some indications Loftin will run into other problems during his confirmation, however.

Senate Pro Tempore Regina Barrow, a member of the Black Caucus, also sat in on Loftins hearing this week, an unusual move for the Senate leadership.



She questioned Loftin extensively about The New York Times report, asking about statements made by Glenn Holt, a former assistant secretary of the Office of Juvenile Justice, about Loftin that appeared in the news article.

[Loftin would] make comments like, If at any point I dont want to pay with these guys, Im not worried, Holt told The Times. Cause if I shut my doors, I guarantee you got sheriffs, you got local law enforcement, you got people, judges that are going to be screaming at D.C.F.S. What the hell are you doing? Youre jeopardizing public safety.

In response to Barrows questions, Loftin responded: The state of Louisiana knows him. Thats all Im going to say about Mr. Holt.

Perhaps sensing his confirmation faces some hurdles, Loftin gathered a large number of letters of recommendations from local law enforcement officials and juvenile justice experts in support of his appointment.



He also pointed out the Louisiana Senate had already confirmed him once before, in 2016, when former Gov. John Bel Edwards appointed Loftin to serve on the state pardon and parole board. The process took place five years before The Times investigation on Ware came out.



Theres a lot of things that happened between [2016] and present, Sen. Cleo Fields, a Black Caucus member, told Loftin at the hearing.



A few Republicans on the committee went out of their way to defend Loftin.

Sen. Mike Reese, R-Leesville, said David Burton, the former district attorney for his home Beauregard Parish, reached out to him specifically to support Loftin.



Reese said he was glad Loftin wasnt going to let one uncorroborated hit piece in the media derail his career.

I want to share with you the trust I have in Mr. Burton and the trust that I have in you, Reese said.

Ten people, including former Ware staff members and former child detainees, were identified by their full names when describing the alleged violence that took place at the facility in The Times report. Several also appeared in photos alongside the story.

You understand how its hard for us to just dismiss allegations, Carter told Loftin. I cant just dismiss them and say, Hey. I talked to the guy. He said its just flat lies.

The post They made it up: Landrys juvenile justice nominee rejects abuse claims at facility he ran appeared first on Louisiana Illuminator.
MADERA COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE)  A temporary local emergency for Madera County was declared on Wednesday due to fears about a virus that affects crops and poses a risk to public health.

Concerns about the Beet Curly Top Virus come after officials reported an increase in populations of the beet leafhopper (BLH) in the wildland and agricultural areas of Madera County. Officials say this has precipitated a concern for the spread of the Beet Curly Top Virus, a disease known to cause serious crop damage, as the beet leafhopper is known to help spread the virus.

Bees scattered across highway in Selma after crash

According to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, crops susceptible to the virus include:

Tomatoes

Sugar beets

Melons

Peppers

Beans

Hemp

Cucumbers

Squash

Pumpkins

Spinach

Impact of Beet Curly Top Virus (image courtesy of the California Department of Food and Agriculture)

The local emergency was declared by Madera County Director of Emergency Services, Tyson J. Pogue.

We will continue to closely monitor this evolving situation. The conditions amidst ongoing infestation activity require a high level of immediate attention. We ask residents, and our agricultural community in particular, to be vigilant as these circumstances progress, said Sheriff Pogue.

According to officials, the impending crisis has the potential to severely impair public health and safety, which necessitates a proclamation of a local emergency to obtain a standard level of public protection for the county.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com | KSEE24 and CBS47.
A high school science teacher holding a digital tablet and explaining a chemistry model to two of his students during class.

Most of my memory, which should be reserved for important facts and Bible verses, is instead junked up with a bunch of pop culture references and radio music.

One of those is another favorite scene from The Simpsons, where Bart is getting held back and put into a remedial class. He asks: So youre going to push me ahead by slowing me down?

Thats a funny quip on a cartoon television show. Its less amusing when it becomes your states official education policy.

But last month, the Montana Board of Public Education, which sets the standards for teacher qualifications, decided that in order to solve Montanas well documented teacher shortage that theyd lower teacher standards, allowing more alternative paths to getting a licensure.

Thankfully, the board stopped short of also lessening the standards for school psychologists, who deal with a multitude of technical issues, and are also the critical link to identifying more troublesome, nuanced problems.

With teacher shortages nearing four digits and a big state with lots of rural schools, its a profound problem, one in which the Gianforte administration has tried to help solve.

But pretending like licensure is the problem is a delusion.

Montana has ranked dead last in starting teacher pay (technically, it ranked 51 because the District of Columbia was also factored in). To its credit, the Gianforte administration prioritized boosting pay.

Nobody is saying: Well, Id sure like to teach, but darn it the paperwork is just too much for me. And if such a thing was uttered, its probably likely theyre not cut out for the work of, say, grading papers.

Those same teacher-less students are also the ones who will be asked to compete in a very global world where their work isnt just competing against the people in their community and country; the world is the competition. We dont need less education. We probably need more.

The Board of Education conflates doing something with making progress.

Part of the very real issue has nothing to do with licensure, paperwork or standards. It is simply a matter of pay: We dont pay our teachers competitively. The answer wont be found in the weedy and wonky policy discussions centering on licensure requirements. Its money. Raise the teacher pay scale, and youll generate more interest.

Truthfully, it should be a message that Republicans should understand well: This is simply evidence of free market at work. Too much work, not enough pay, to quote a Merle Haggard song (another thing that fills my memory).

Its also telling that the same leadership which has railed against the woke agenda infiltrating schools  OPI chief Elsie Arntzens words, not mine  cant find people willing to work at schools.

For the past eight years, Republican leaders have nearly universally disparaged and undermined public education. Theyve portrayed teachers and librarians as adults plying children with porn and sociological theories that were once the province of graduate school. Theyve repeatedly told their communities that public schools have failed the communities. They have sued to force kids back into the classroom during a public health emergency. Theyve tried to ban certain words and concepts, setting up, in some places, criminal liability. And, theyre ginning up faux outrage by perpetuating the notion that we need a parents bill of rights, as if parents dont already have quite a bit of control over what is happening in their childrens classrooms.

Its not surprising that weve seen an exodus from the teaching profession. Instead, we should be surprised that anyone is entering it with the kind of grief and turmoil theyre likely to encounter.

This attempt to weaken or erode our public schools risks becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy: If we lower the standards for teaching and teachers, our schools will become less academically successful. If that happens, it will continue to perpetuate the myth that our public education system is failing and should be replaced.

Instead of lowering standards, how about increasing pay?

The post Were making Montanas teacher shortage a lot harder than it really is appeared first on Daily Montanan.
Making the power grid 'smart' could save us all money and prevent blackouts. Chattanooga made the $280 million investment.

The power grid is too old and simple for the growth of extreme weather, EVs, and renewable energy.

Chattanooga's utility built a $280 million smart grid, creating $2.7 billion in economic value.

This article is part of "Transforming Business: Infrastructure," a series exploring the advancements reshaping US infrastructure.

It pays to be smart and Chattanooga, Tennessee, has put a whole new meaning to the phrase. The city is home to one of the nation's most advanced power grids.

The local utility, called EPB of Chattanooga, spent $280 million to refurbish its power system with smart technologies to make a "smart grid."

In its first 10 years, the project generated $2.7 billion worth of economic value, according to an EPB-funded study. That's not a bad return on investment.

The US grid needs its own internet

EPB workers deploy fiber optic cables across the Tennessee River. EPB of Chattanooga

Smart grids like this offer a cleaner, safer, and more efficient future with lower electric bills and fewer blackouts  which is great because the way our energy system has operated for the past century isn't going to cut it for the next one.

In most places, energy starts with a giant coal-fired power plant. From there, transmission lines zip the electricity to a substation, which lowers the voltage and pumps it into distribution lines to homes and businesses.

The traditional power grid carries electricity from a power plant to homes and commercial buildings. Illustrations: Tiago Majuelos for BI

Electricity flows one way, from the power plant to your home, and it doesn't do much else. It's simple  and that was fine for a long time. But it's becoming a problem as the climate crisis complicates our energy supply.

Increasingly extreme weather events are battering our electrical infrastructure and causing outages that cost American businesses an estimated $150 billion a year, according to the US Department of Energy.

Meanwhile, climate solutions put their own pressure on the grid. Wind farms and solar panels feed energy into the system inconsistently, making it harder to pace supply with the day-to-day fluxes of electricity use.

Renewables also complicate things by sheer numbers  rather than from 12,000 power plants, in just a few decades, the US could be drawing its power from 1 million dispersed sources, from hydropower dams to rooftop solar panels.

At the same time, electrification, including the rise of electric vehicles, is increasing demand.

A reporter with The Wall Street Journal went to over 100 electric vehicle charging stalls in California, and ran into issues at dozens of them. Monika Skolimowska/picture alliance via Getty Images

To cope, experts say, the grid needs its own internet, stat. They're calling for a digitized "smart grid."

"It's imperative," Kevin Schneider, the chief engineer studying power systems at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, told Business Insider.

Without smart technologies, the grid will be inefficient, leading to economic losses and slowing the transition to clean energy. An outdated grid could also fall victim to more and more blackouts.

"If people are really asleep at the wheel, and we keep pushing further, eventually you can get to the hyperbole of a third-world power system," Schneider said.

The American Society of Civil Engineers gave US energy infrastructure a C-minus grade in 2021, citing poor reliability and increasing threats from severe weather.

But a Chattanooga-like transformation nationwide could save us all money, reduce carbon emissions, and prevent blackouts.

What is a smart grid?

A key job of any power grid is to balance electricity supply and demand. Too much power could damage the system. Not enough could leave some people in the dark.

A smart grid automates this balancing act using a system of meters, sensors, controllers, and computers.

A smart grid uses sensors, controllers, and increased computing to collect data, send information and commands to all parts of the grid, and integrate renewables and EVs. Illustrations: Tiago Majuelos for BI

Smart grids can also help businesses, factory operators, or homeowners make better-informed decisions about when and how to use energy, whether they want to save money, reduce emissions, or both.

"It can send information along with electricity," Joshua Rhodes, a research scientist studying smart grids at the University of Texas at Austin, told BI.

For example, "it can control a fleet of air conditioners and maybe can turn them off for 15 minutes at a time" to optimize energy costs, he said.

How Chattanooga made its grid smart

EPB spent four years installing initial smart-grid technology, including a fiber optic network. EPB of Chattanooga

EPB of Chattanooga first needed a system to communicate with all the smart devices it would install. It couldn't make significant upgrades to its system without it.

"Everything that you looked to do, the limitation was communications," David Wade, the CEO of EPB of Chattanooga, told BI.

Fiber optics would do the trick  and allow EPB to start offering TV, internet, and phone services.

With the prospect of revenue and a mission as a public utility to improve quality of life, the EPB board of directors approved a plan in 2008.

With $169 million from a municipal bond issue for the project, workers started digging trenches and climbing poles to lay new fiber optic cables across Hamilton County.

EPB installed fiber optic cables across its power system. EPB of Chattanooga

The project was supposed to take 10 years, but a $111.5 million grant from the Department of Energy accelerated the process, basically cutting time to completion in half. The utility finished building its smart grid in 2012.

In just four years, EPB had laid its fiber-optic network and linked it to more than 180,000 smart meters in customers' homes and businesses. It also installed about 1,200 automated smart switches, which open or close the flow of power in response to automated software or remote commands from human operators.

The smart switches can rapidly reroute energy around fallen power lines that would otherwise cause a blackout. That means the system self-heals, restoring power in seconds.

EPB installed smart devices from S&C Electric Company to make its self-healing system for restoring power during blackouts. EPB of Chattanooga

As a result, EPB has reported a 55% annual decrease in outage minutes, or about 19 million outage minutes a year.

Previously, dispatchers had to drive to each switch to manually open or close it.

"It's making the same decisions that we were making as dispatchers and humans, only probably making them a multitude of times faster," Wade said.

In the following decade, EPB spent another $115.5 million expanding its smart grid to new housing and commercial developments.

Smart grids are more efficient

Smart grid infrastructure, like the substations that convert energy to a usable voltage, can be more efficient. Tiago Majuelos for BI

Because the smart grid automates the balance of supply and demand  helping ensure there's no more energy in the system than people are using at different times of the day  it's more efficient.

That reduces energy waste and emissions.

In the EPB-funded study period, 2014 to 2020, the EPB grid emitted 8,300 fewer tons of CO2 than it would have if it weren't smart. That's almost as much as Taylor Swift's private jet emitted in the first half of 2022.

Those carbon savings came partly from reduced energy use and partly because of reduced truck miles since dispatchers no longer had to drive to every switch for every outage.

It's not just blackouts. On a larger scale, a smarter grid could adapt better to the surge of renewables.

Wind turbines in Palm Springs, California. David Swanson/Reuters

For example, take the Pacific Intertie  a highway of transmission lines that carry hydropower from the Columbia River all the way down to Southern California. The system may need to send power in the other direction more often as solar energy proliferates in the state's south.

"We had a cold snap up north. It was relatively sunny down south, and suddenly power was flowing the other direction," Schneider said.

Having software and automated equipment to handle that process could make it much more efficient and help the system quickly adapt to unforeseen changes.

In other words, a smart grid is designed to do more than one thing.

"We're going to start to see more things like that, where the system was designed to do X, and we're seeing ABCDEFG," Schneider said.

Smart grids can bring huge economic benefits

Smart meters on homes can help efficiently manage electricity use, and the smart grid can help integrate renewables and EVs. Tiago Majuelos for BI

Even Congress knows the nation needs a smart grid. In 2007, it directed the Department of Energy to start doling out grants to make it happen.

That's the program that gave EPB a boost, and it has spent billions on smart-grid infrastructure nationwide.

It seems like the kick start worked. In 2020, the department estimated that smart-grid investments would rise to $16.4 billion annually by 2026  compared with about $6.4 billion in 2018.

Though a smart grid requires a big up-front investment, it can save a lot of money down the line.

The expenses of installing smart grid technology paid off for Chattanooga. EPB of Chattanooga

The study of EPB's smart grid, for instance, valued the benefits to each Hamilton County resident at about $646 a year in the project's first 10 years.

That's because the project created more than 9,500 jobs, helped attract new businesses with cost-efficient energy and high-speed internet, and kept customers' electric bills lower than they would have been without the smart grid, the study found. Each household saved about $93 a year on electricity bills.

Add it all up, and the smart grid with its fiber-optic internet provided $2.7 billion worth of economic value in its first 10 years, the study found.

The future of our power system

In an ideal future, each new wave of grid technology could integrate seamlessly into the smart system. Large-scale energy storage could provide backup to power communities when the sun isn't shining or the wind isn't blowing enough.

Someday, smart appliances in your home could weigh your personal schedule against peak electricity demand and pricing, as well as timing for minimal carbon emissions, to calculate the perfect time to wash your dishes or heat your house. That could translate into major savings on your electricity bill and your carbon footprint.

"I think tomorrow's grid really becomes: How do you take that massive proliferation of devices and optimize those for the good of the whole?" Wade said.

We're still far from that world, but some utilities are rising to the occasion. Nationwide, there are hundreds of microgrids  small, local areas that can operate independently of the larger grid if needed.

In the case of a major blackout, they can lock themselves out of the larger grid and rely on their own solar panels or backup batteries. Microgrids are key to a larger smart grid and unprecedented energy resilience.

Chattanooga is testing a microgrid around its police- and fire-department headquarters.

"Today, we are much better positioned than any utility I know of in adding distributed assets to the grid and creating microgrids," Wade said.

He added: "It'll get smarter."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Police are asking for the publics help in locating a person or persons responsible for the fatal shooting of a 19-year-old man Wednesday in Granada Hills.

Patrol officers with the Los Angeles Police Departments Devonshire responded to radio calls of the shooting just before 1 a.m. in the 17500 block of Rinaldi Street.

At the scene, police located the victim on the street, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.

Medical personnel with the Los Angeles Police Department responded to the location and rushed the man to the hospital where he succumbed to his injuries, an LAPD news release stated.

Details are extremely limited and its unclear what may have led to fatal shooting.

The mans identity is being withheld pending notification of his next of kin.

So far, police have no suspect information.

Anyone with information about this case is urged to contact LAPDs Valley Bureau Homicide Division at 818-374-9550.

Those wishing to remain anonymous can call L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or leave tips online at L.A. Crime Stoppers.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
Man accused of bringing large amount of drugs into city back in Pittsburgh after monthslong man hunt

A man whos been on the run for months is now back behind bars at the Allegheny County Jail.

Yan Carlos Pichardo Cepeda, 27, who failed to appear in court twice, was first arrested in September for allegedly bringing cocaine and what police thought was enough fentanyl to kill 35% of Pennsylvanians.

Its the first time Cepeda has stepped foot in Allegheny County, since he took off last September. His hands and feet were shackled, and he walked into the Sheriffs department after deputies transported him from New York City.

His case made headlines because Magistrate Xander Orenstein let him out of police custody on non-monetary bond  despite the serious drug charges, his criminal history, and having no ties to Pennsylvania. It brought the issue of no cash bail, and the justice system, to the center of the District Attorney and County Executive Race in November, as several law enforcement leaders criticized Judge Orensteins decision.

Channel 11 previously reported that sheriffs deputies traveled hundreds of miles to New York three separate times trying to find Cepeda.

In February, NYPD eventually arrested him after a traffic stop in the Bronx. He was held there to face charges for a previous sex assault case.

Months later, hes finally back in Allegheny County to face the charges from last year. Cepedas case will now be handled by the Attorney Generals Office.

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NEW DELHI, May 2 (Xinhua) -- The local government of southern Indian state of Kerala Thursday ordered the closure of educational institutions until May 6 amid sweltering heat, officials said.

Officials have directed people to minimize exposure to the direct sun and urged authorities to monitor situations to avoid fires.

India Meteorological Department has forecast that heatwave will continue to prevail over Alappuzha, Palakkad, Thrissur and Kozhikode districts until Friday. A yellow alert has been issued in these four districts.

The maximum temperature in Palakkad district is likely to rise to 40 degrees Celsius, and in Kollam, Thrissur and Kozhikode districts, it is likely to rise to 39 degrees Celsius.

According to local media reports, two people died earlier this week in Kerala due to the ongoing heat wave. 
MARION COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA)  A man was arrested after setting several fires in the Silver Springs Preservation Area just outside of Ocala on Tuesday, the Marion County Sheriffs Office said.

Around 2:30 a.m., deputies and fire rescue responded to a report of several fires being started near the 2000 block of Northeast Baseline Road.

Boaters caught dumping bags full of trash off boat in Florida

Jason Satterly, 47, was seen by aviation units actively lighting additional fires, and then fleeing southbound through the woods. Two people were camping nearby but were not injured.

Deputies were able to track Satterly in the woods and detained him.

Credit: Marion County Sheriffs Office / BODY CAMS+ /TMX

Credit: Marion County Sheriffs Office / BODY CAMS+ /TMX

Credit: Marion County Sheriffs Office / BODY CAMS+ /TMX

While in custody, he admitted to having an active out-of-state warrant. Officials later discovered he was an absconded sexual offender out of Kentucky.

WATCH: Car bursts into flames on I-75 in Riverview

Deputies said Satterly set a total of eight fires, with two of them growing to at least 30 yards in diameter. He claimed to set fires because people were chasing him.

Satterly was arrested for malicious burning of land and culpable negligence and exposure to harm. He was taken to the Marion County Jail, where he was also charged for failing to register as a sexual offender in the county.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
A man accused of shooting and killing a city bus driver in 2022 pleaded guilty on Thursday.

PREVIOUS: Suspect denied bond in shooting death of CATS bus driver in Uptown Charlotte

Darian Dru Thavychith was charged with the murder of Charlotte Area Transit System bus driver Ethan Rivera. Police said the 41-year-old was on the job Feb. 11, 2022 when Thavychith shot and killed him in Uptown Charlotte near West Trade Street.

#Breaking: Thavychith pleads guilty to second degree murder and shooting into an occupied vehicle, in the death of CATS bus driver Ethan Rivera. pic.twitter.com/4sVU8G4B14  Hunter Saenz (@Hunt_Saenz) May 2, 2024

Police said that Thavychith and Rivera got into an argument that night and the 22-year-old fired a shot into Riveras bus. Police called it an act of road rage.

Thavychith was later found and arrested in Kansas. In court Thursday, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and shooting into an occupied vehicle.

Thavychith faces a maximum sentence of 57 years in prison for those felonies. As part of the plea deal, he was sentenced to 157 to 201 months (about 13 to 17 years) for second-degree murder and 64 to 89 months (about five to seven and a half years) for other charge.

So, Thavychith will face a max sentence of 16.75 years in prison.



He will get time served already that will go towards that sentence. @wsoctv  Hunter Saenz (@Hunt_Saenz) May 2, 2024

The sentences will be served concurrently.

Thavychith will get credit for time served already that will go towards that sentence.

I hope that you rot

Ethan Riveras mother, Sylvia Rivera, addressed the court Thursday. She said she was appalled at Thavychiths sentence.

I just thought that maybe he would be getting more time because of what he did, because he didnt care, she said.

She brought a framed photo of her son to show the judge and, at one point, she showed it to Thavychith. She pointed to the photo while telling him he took her son away.

I hope that you rot, she said, looking at Thavychith.

She was stoic as she talked to her sons killer. Her relatives were crying in the pews as they listened.

He took my first born, she told the judge.



She says the sentence isnt enough. She told the judge that Thavychith will be able to get out and have a family one day. Her son wont have that. She explained how two kids dont have their father any longer. That its unfair.  Hunter Saenz (@Hunt_Saenz) May 2, 2024

No matter what, he will always be in my heart, she said, adding, The hurt that it brings is devastating.

He took my firstborn, she told the judge.

Rivera said Thavychiths sentence wasnt enough. She told the judge Thavychith will be able to get out and have a family one day, but her son will never have that.

When he comes out, hes going to be able to have a family, have children and have a life. Whereas my son wont be able to do that, Rivera said. Hes left two small children without a father, hes left me without a child.

Thavychith told Riveras family he takes full responsibility.

I apologize for everything I put you guys through. I wish this situation never happened, he said to Riveras family. I have you guys in my prayers as well. I want to say Im sorry.

To that, Rivera said, theres no forgiving. She said now, shes focused on remembering her late son.

Hes always going to be in our thoughts, she said.

The prosecutor on the case told the judge the plea deal was the best way forward, because if the case had gone to trial, much of the evidence would have been circumstantial and they didnt want to risk Thavychith getting away with murder.

Prosecutors narrative

On Thursday, prosecutors read their narrative of what happened on Feb. 11, 2022. They said that night, Rivera merged into Thavychiths lane to in order to turn from North Graham Street onto Trade Street.

As the two were waiting for the traffic light to change, Rivera opened the door of the bus and the two started arguing. Surveillance video caught Thavychith saying Rivera cut him off.

Rivera pulled up and closed the door, and thats when Thavychith shot into the bus, hitting Rivera in the head. He then drove off.

Prosecutors said while the CATS surveillance audio is clear, the video does not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Thavychith was the one driving the car near Rivera. In addition, only one of the three passengers on the bus could provide a description of the suspect.

Its also unclear if there was a passenger in the car with Thavychith.

An arrest warrant for Thavychith was drawn up when officers found a car matching the description of the suspects car. They used DNA evidence and a matching bullet casing found in the car to tie him to it.

Officers found his phone on Feb. 22, 2022 along the side of Interstate 85 in Bessemer City. Cellphone records placed it at various areas near the crime scene the night of the shooting.

Thavychith was arrested in Shawnee, Kansas after calling police from a gas station pay phone to ask questions about a North Carolina case.

Prosecutes concluded that the evidence was circumstantial, and those concerns could be amplified if it went before a jury. The plea Thursday ensures Thavychith is held accountable, prosecutors said, and also keeps the community safe from his actions.

(WATCH BELOW: Suspect denied bond in shooting death of CATS bus driver in Uptown Charlotte)
LAWRENCE (KSNT)  A man is under arrest after allegedly using a knife to attack a woman who was camping in Lawrence Wednesday night.

On Thursday, May 2 the Lawrence Kansas Police Department (LKPD) issued a press release regarding the incident. Police responded to the 800 block of Pennsylvania just before midnight on May 1 on a report of a stabbing.

The victim said she was camping at a nearby campsite when an argument started and a man she knew pulled a knife and stabbed her in the thigh. The victim was taken to an area hospital where shes expected to recover.

Images show destruction after tornado strikes NE Kansas town

Following an investigation, a suspect was later arrested at Ninth and New Hampshire and taken to the Douglas County Correctional Facility. The LKPD didnt immediately list the charges the suspect is facing.

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.
A man brought a spear to 7-Eleven. Then the clerk stabbed him, Bradenton police say

The Bradenton Police Department arrested a 7-Eleven store clerk in the case of a stabbing after an argument involving a spear and a pocketknife, the agency announced in a news release.

Police arrested 34-year-old Danny Waiters Wednesday morning on an aggravated battery with a deadly weapon charge following a series of arguments at the convenience store in the 900 block of 14th St. W., Bradenton, which led to Waiters stabbing a man, according to the release.

Detectives say Waiters told them he stabbed the man, who is in his 60s and frequently carries a spear, after the man approached him behind the 7-Eleven and they argued. During Tuesdays argument, police say the man displayed the spear but did not threaten Waiters with it.

At one point, the store manager told the man to leave the property, when Waiters intervened and began arguing with the man again, according to police.

When the man with the spear turned his back on employees, police say Waiters stabbed him once with a pocketknife.

Detectives said Waiters told them he believed the man was going to grab the spear.

The stabbing victim underwent surgery and is recovering, police say.

Waiters turned himself in to police Wednesday morning, according to the release.
NEW YORK (PIX11)  A man who was arrested during the Columbia University protests on Tuesday is also accused of stealing and burning an Israeli flag during a Manhattan protest last month, police and sources said Thursday.

James Carlson, 40, of Brooklyn, was arrested Wednesday and charged with criminal mischief, arson, and criminal possession of stolen property in connection to the April 20 incident, according to the NYPD.

NYPD cops take down Palestinian flag, put up American flag at City Collge: video

Carlson allegedly took the 22-year-old mans Israeli flag and lit it on fire during a protest near West 116th Street and Amsterdam Avenue at around 10 p.m., authorities said.

The victim followed Carlson and two accomplices into the crowd when one of the accomplices threw a rock at the mans face, police said. The victim suffered minor injuries and refused medical attention at the scene.

The other two suspects have not been arrested, police said.

Sources said Carlson was among the protesters arrested at Columbia University Tuesday night. He was charged with criminal trespassing.

Carlson was arraigned in the flag and protest incidents on Thursday and released without bail, according to court records.

Authorities arrested nearly 300 people at protests at Columbia University or City College on Tuesday, according to Mayor Eric Adams.

More than 40%  roughly 130  of those detained at the New York City campuses were not tied to the schools, according to a source close to the investigation. But the breakdown is much lower for Columbia, specifically, with just 29% of those arrested being unaffiliated with the school, the source said.

It was unclear if the unaffiliated arrests were considered outside agitators.

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.
SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)  One man is accused of multiple burglaries of University of Scranton students who live off-campus.

According to Scranton police, early in the morning on Sunday, February 11, officers received several reports of burglaries and thefts in the 400 block of Clay Avenue that occurred as off-campus students from the University of Scranton were either not home or distracted in the home.

Investigators say they gathered video surveillance of three suspects believed to be involved in the incidents, running from the back of a home after being discovered inside by a student.

According to a criminal complaint, police learned that the three suspects were on Clay Avenue earlier in the night attempting to get into parties.

Police say one of the suspects shared his Instagram page with another student who lives on Clay Avenue and this helped officers identify him as Dylan Womack (pictured below).

Courtesy: Lackawanna County Prison

Wanted man charged with selling 50 bags of fentanyl, fleeing

The criminal affidavit reads that police spoke with the students who discovered the theft suspects inside his home on Clay Avenue.

Police say sometime between 3:30 and 4:00 a.m. the student and his roommate were on the first floor of the home when he decided to go upstairs to charge his phone, running into one of the burglary suspects.

Investigators say the students asked who the suspect was and why he was inside the home, which prompted the suspect to immediately run from the home, followed by the other two suspects whom the student didnt initially see.

The affidavit states that police have footage of the burglary suspects fleeing the home and one of them falls, prompting the student to run and grab him, however, the suspect says, What [expletive] I have a gun, Ill shoot you, which causes the student to back away, allowing the suspect to escape.

Investigators say Womack was taken into custody on a warrant for criminal trespassing when he was interviewed by Scranton police.

Officers say Womack admitted to being chased from the house by a student, stealing items during the burglary, and that he and the other two suspects stole items and they all knew what they were doing.

Students at the University of Scranton are still shocked by the recent crimes and some have expressed that there is a strong presence of security on campus and off-campus housing.

I personally live on Clay, so Ive seen whats been going on and the police are always there right away, whenever we call them or need them. But, even during the day like, Ill see cop cars and things like that, said Lucy Berquist, a junior at the University of Scranton.

I do personally feel safe, I feel like the Scranton police and the university police have a presence on campus and I feel safe when theyre around, said Anna Donnellan, a sophomore at the University of Scranton.

Womack was taken into custody, arraigned, and remanded to Lackawanna County Prison, as he wasnt able to post the $30,000 cash bail.

Womack faces felony charges of burglary, criminal conspiracy engaging in burglary, criminal trespassing, theft by unlawful taking, and receiving stolen property.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PAhomepage.com.
Man charged with killing HPD officer looking to waive assistance from legal counsel

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT)  Juan Laws, the man charged in the shooting death of Huntsville police officer Garrett Crumby, has filed a motion asking to waive assistance from legal counsel.

According to court documents, Laws signed his Waiver of Counsel on April 10, 2024.

Man arrested following hours-long standoff, charged with 3 counts of capital murder

On March 28, 2023, the Huntsville Police Department responded to a shots fired call at the Governors House Apartments. There they located a female victim.

The department said two responding officers, Crumby and Albert Morin, were shot by Laws and taken to Huntsville Hospital with life-threatening injuries. Crumby later died from his injuries.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) charged 24-year-old Laws with capital murder of a law enforcement officer. He was booked into the Madison County Jail just before 11 p.m. that night.

At the time of the shooting, Laws was facing charges from another incident where he was accused of shooting two people outside of Sammy Ts in January 2022.

Laws does not have a hearing date set at the time of this reporting.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHNT.com.
CHARLOTTE (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  A man who was charged with fatally shooting a CATS bus driver in Uptown in 2022 pleaded guilty on Thursday inside a Mecklenburg County courtroom.

Darian Thavychith, of Charlotte, was charged with felony murder and felony shooting into an occupied vehicle in connection with the death of 41-year-old Ethan Rivera.

Thavychith pleaded guilty on Thursday, May 2, to second-degree murder in the case. He has been sentenced to a minimum of 13 years and a maximum of 16 years in prison.

Ethan Rivera (File)

Rivera was gunned down while on duty in a road rage incident on West Trade Street in uptown Charlotte on February 11, 2022, CMPD said.

Detectives were able to identify Thavychith as the suspect following a multi-state manhunt involving multiple agencies. Thavychith was on the run for more than two weeks after he was finally caught in Shawnee, Kansas.

Thavychith was extradited from Kansas to Charlotte in March 2022.

WATCH: Video released of fatal CATS bus driver shooting

Rivera, a father, had been working for CATS for a year.

He was coming into his own and he was doing his job driving a freaking bus, Ethans mother Sylvia previously told QCN. (Thavychith) didnt seem to care who Ethan was or who he was leaving behind.

On March 29, 2022, Thavychiths case went before the Grand Jury, which indicted him. The indictment transferred the case to Superior Court and negated the need for further hearings in District Court. In September 2022, QCN confirmed Thavychith would not face the death penalty.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
Man charged for statutory sex crimes with child with autism

A man from Yadkin County is facing charges in Rowan County for sex crimes with a child, according to the Rowan County Sheriffs Office.

Dustin Andrew Garrison, 38, was arrested on Tuesday for indecent liberties with a child and statutory sex offense.

READ MORE: Former Union County middle school teacher accused of sex crimes with student

Rowan County deputies began investigating the incident in March and found the acts Garrison is accused of happened at a relatives home.

According to deputies, Garrison knew the child, and the victim has autism.

Garrison is under a $250,000 secured bond in Yadkin County.

(WATCH: NC med student creates device for people living with epilepsy)
(BCN)  A man was convicted Wednesday in San Francisco for an assault and robbery in Pacific Heights last year, according to prosecutors.

Robert Curry, 31, was found guilty by a jury of first-degree residential burglary, assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury, and theft.

According to prosecutors, in June 2023, Curry saw a homeowner on Sacramento Street moving things from his porch into an attached garage, so he followed the victim into the garage. He was unable to take property from the homeowner, so he approached someone who was returning to his van parked on the street after completing a job in the neighborhood.

The Bay Bridge lights are coming back. Heres when

Curry pushed and punched the man in his jaw, causing him to fall to the ground and resulting in bruising and swelling. While the victim was on the ground, Curry swiped his van keys and his cellphone. Police soon arrived and arrested Curry and returned the mans property.

The jury also found that Curry carried out a hot prowl burglary and had a previous felony conviction. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 13 and is facing nearly twelve years in prison.

Copyright  2024 Bay City News, Inc.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
Chinese Ambassador to Serbia Li Ming speaks during an interview with Xinhua in Belgrade, Serbia, May 1, 2024. (Xinhua)

BELGRADE, May 2 (Xinhua) -- The ironclad friendship between China and Serbia has been strengthened over time amid the changing international landscape and has continuously shown new vitality, a Chinese envoy has said.

China and Serbia have worked hand in hand in the high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and in their stride toward modernization, Chinese Ambassador to Serbia Li Ming told Xinhua, adding that the development of the two countries have benefited their people.

At the invitation of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Chinese President Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to Serbia, eight years after his last visit to the European country.

Li said that the development of China-Serbia relations fully demonstrates that the personal attention and guidance from the two heads of state are the fundamental guarantee for ensuring that bilateral relations always run at a high level and make steady progress.

Xi visited Serbia in 2016, and Serbia became China's first comprehensive strategic partner in Central and Eastern Europe, he said, adding that the two presidents have met on many occasions and maintained correspondence and telephone exchanges in recent years, with bilateral relations continuously moving to new and high levels.

The ambassador noted that in recent years, under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, China-Serbia relations have achieved leapfrog development, maintaining a high-level operation and reaching historic highs.

China and Serbia always firmly support each other's core interests and major concerns, understand each other and share similar views on international and regional affairs, and maintain close coordination in multilateral fields, he said, noting that Serbia supports the three major global initiatives put forward by China.

Economic and trade cooperation between the two countries has yielded fruitful results, with bilateral trade soaring from 596 million U.S. dollars in 2016 to 4.35 billion U.S. dollars in 2023. In 2022, China became the largest source of direct investment for Serbia.

Guided by the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, Li said China will work with Serbia to leverage mechanisms such as the free trade agreement between the two countries and the Mid-Term Action Plan for Belt and Road Cooperation, deepen cooperation in traditional fields such as trade, investment, and infrastructure construction, and explore cooperation potential in emerging fields such as technological innovation, digital economy and green transition, so as to inject vigorous impetus into the economic development of the two countries and bring benefits to their people.

Since 2016, the number of mutual visits between China and Serbia has grown rapidly. The enthusiasm for learning Chinese and Chinese culture continue to rise in Serbia, with an increasing number of Chinese language learners. Moreover, the number of Chinese universities offering Serbian language courses has also increased significantly, and the Chinese Cultural Center in Belgrade is now in operation.

The ambassador said that people of the two nations will get closer in the context of the continuous deepening of bilateral relations.

Li noted that during his visit to Serbia, Xi will have an in-depth exchange of views with Vucic on international and regional issues of common concern, as well as bilateral relations, explore ways to upgrade bilateral ties, chart course for the future development of bilateral relations, and enrich practical cooperation between the two countries.

China looks forward to working with Serbia to take this visit as an opportunity to further consolidate the ironclad friendship between the two countries, deepen political mutual trust, expand practical cooperation, open a new chapter in bilateral relations, and make new contributions to the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, Li said. 
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET)  A man has been convicted of trafficking a Bakersfield 16-year-old for sex across California, the Kern County District Attorneys Office said.

A Kern County jury on Wednesday found Rico Herring, 32, guilty of human trafficking of a minor with an enhancement that he used force, fear or coercion during the trafficking, pandering or pimping of a minor, according to a release.

Woman gets 8 years in grisly claw hammer attack

Prosecutors said Herring began contact with a 16-year-old Bakersfield girl in December 2022. Days later, Herring got the teen a bus ticket to meet him in Sacramento.

Herring advertised the teen online and sold her for sex across the state, prosecutors said. After about a week, prosecutors say, the teen told Herring she wanted to stop, but Herring assaulted her and even stranded her for a week in Fresno.

Prosecutors argued Herring then picked up the teen in Fresno and brought her back to Sacramento where she was forced to commit multiple sex acts for money a day. Herring also threated to kill the teen and a family member, the DAs office said.

Never miss a story  Make KGET.com your homepage

Other evidence presented at trial showed Herring also trafficked additional victims.

Herring is due to be sentenced on May 30 and faces 15 years to life in prison.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17.
Man dies after being attacked by bull in Cherokee Co.

SMYRNA, S.C. (WSPA)  One of the men attacked by a bull Sunday evening in Cherokee County passed away Thursday morning.

We previously reported Brian Oliver and Mike Carroll were working in a cow pasture at DKs Creek and Pasture along McGill Highway.

Family members said a bull drug Oliver into a creek bed hole and began trampling him. Thats when Carroll stepped in, pulled out a knife, and started stabbing the bull to get it off of Oliver, firefighters said.

2 men stomped by bull while working in Upstate pasture

The bull then turned its attention to Carroll and started attacking him but not before he could call for help.

The fire department and EMS arrived at the scene and rendered aid to Oliver and Carroll, but due to the extent of their injuries, they decided to bring in two helicopters.

Carroll was flown to Lancaster and Oliver was flown to Greenville.

Olivers family said he is on life support in the ICU with broken ribs, two broken shoulders, and punctured lungs among other injuries.

The Cherokee County Coroners Office said Oliver died early Thursday morning at Spartanburg Medical Center.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
Man killed girlfriend and staged her death as suicide, Florida cops say. Hes charged

A man is accused of staging his girlfriends death as a suicide after a medical examiner said her injuries werent consistent with how she was found dead.

Gregory Shinn, 48, was booked in Pinellas County jail April 30 and charged with first-degree premeditated murder, according to case records.

His attorney declined to comment to McClatchy News.

On Feb. 20, investigators found 59-year-old Katrin Mari Simpson dead in her garage from an apparent hanging, St. Petersburg police said in an arrest affidavit.

Shinn told police he was the one who found her and went to the neighbors to call for help.

Medical examiners took her body, and in a preliminary review found injuries inconsistent with suicide, according to police. She had broken ribs, abrasions on her face and broken ligatures deep in her neck that made her death appear suspicious, officials said.

Shinn told police the two had been working on home improvement projects together and a rotten door frame hit her face, causing bruises, according to the affidavit.

In his first interview with investigators, Shinn said he had nothing to do with her death, police said.

The day after the womans death, detectives said they received a call from her neighbor. She told them that about a month prior, Simpson came to her home and said Shinn had assaulted her, according to police.

She told the neighbor that if she ended up dead, Shinn did it, police said in the affidavit.

Shinn had previously been arrested twice on accusations of domestic battery against her, police said.

When police brought up the womans unexplained injuries in a later interview with Shinn, he told them that the day she died, the two got in a fight and he dragged her down the hallway, according to police. He also said that Simpson had been taking his pills and he had to use Narcan on her, authorities said.

After collecting DNA and searching the home, police spoke with the medical examiner again on April 30 regarding the autopsy.

Thats when the medical examiner said Simpsons cause of death was strangulation, with contributing factors of blunt force trauma and multi-drug toxicity. The manner of death was homicide, the examiner said.

Shinn was taken into custody that day, more than two months after Simpsons death.

St. Petersburg is on the west coast of Florida, about a 25-mile drive southwest from Tampa.

If you are experiencing domestic violence and need someone to talk to, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline for support at 1-800-799-7233 or text START to 88788.

If you or someone you know need help, you can contact the NAMI HelpLine. The National Alliance on Mental Illness offers a free, nationwide peer-support service providing information, resource referrals and support to people living with a mental health condition, their family members and caregivers, mental health providers and the public. You can call 1-800-950-6264 or text "HelpLine" to 62640 each Monday-Friday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET.

If you need immediate help in a crisis, call 1-800-273-8255 to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

He told cops his wife died by suicide. Now Georgia man faces murder charge, police say

Officials ruled his death suicide in 2016. Now man charged with murder, GA cops say

Man calls 911 to report wifes mysterious death, cops say. Years later, hes charged
A man who shot and killed Ethan Rivera, a Charlotte Area Transit System bus driver, in 2022 pleaded guilty on Thursday.

Darian Dru Thavychith pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and shooting into an occupied vehicle, The Charlotte Observer news partner WSOC reported. Thavychith was sentenced to a maximum of 17 years in prison.

On Feb. 11, 2022, Thavychith shot into Riveras bus that night and killed him in what appeared to be the result of road rage, authorities previously said.

There were four other passengers on the No. 22 Graham Street bus, the Observer previously reported, but no one was injured. Thavychith remained in his vehicle during the shooting, CMPD previously said, and there was no other passenger with him.

Police picked Thavychith up in Shawnee, Kansas, after a two-week manhunt, in March 2022. In September, Mecklenburg County prosecutors said they would not seek the death penalty in the case. And in October, he received no bond.

For those felonies, the 22-year-old Thavychith faces a maximum sentence of 57 years in prison. Per his plea deal, WSOC reported, he was sentenced to 157 to 201 months, or about 13 to 17 years, for the second-degree murder charge. He was also sentenced 64 to 89 months, or about five to seven years, for the other charge.

The sentences will be served concurrently. Thavychith will get credit for time served already that will go towards that sentence.
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  A man was taken into police custody following a shooting investigation near Flamingo Road and the 215 in the west Las Vegas valley.

The investigation took place on Wednesday afternoon in the 9600 block of West Flamingo Road. When officers arrived they found a male suspect sitting in a vehicle. When officers made contact with the man they said he refused to exit his vehicle.

Las Vegas police take man into custody as they investigate shooting near Flamingo Road and 215 on Wednesday, May 1, 2024 (KLAS)

Las Vegas Metro police SWAT and crisis negotiators were then notified to assist in the matter. The man was then taken into police custody. No injuries were reported in the incident, according to police.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET)  A man struck by a train suffered major injuries Thursday morning on Truxtun Ave., according to Bakersfield Fire Department Battalion Chief Tim Ortiz.

Ortiz confirmed a man in his 60s was struck by the train and was transported to Kern Medical for medical treatment. The collision was reported at the intersection of Tulare St. and Truxtun Ave. at 7:15 a.m.

Man gets 18-month jail term for transporting fentanyl

Bakersfield and railroad police will be investigating the collision. Ortiz says motorists can expect delays in the area as officials continue to investigate.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17.
Man who took part in conspiracy to con victims out of $600,000 sentenced to prison

A man who had a role in conning people out of more than $600,000 has been sentenced to two years and eight months in federal prison.

Satishkumar R. Patel, 39, is liable for $631,336 in restitution.

Patel was part of group of people across the U.S. and in India who worked to defraud people of money through telephone scams, according to a sentencing memorandum from Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn M. Dieruf.

At its core, the scheme was usually simple  dupe unsuspecting, U.S. senior citizens into believing their life savings were in jeopardy, convince them to send said life savings to government officials for their protection, and then steal the money, Dieruf said in the memo.

The scammers sometimes posed as government officials and convinced victims they needed to send money to resolve legal or financial problems.

Patels plea agreement cited an example in which someone involved in the scam, posing as a federal official, told an older woman that her money was in danger of being seized by the government because her Social Security number had turned up in a drug investigation.

The California woman ultimately sent nearly $380,000 by Federal Express to addresses the scammers directed her to use, according to court documents.

The woman, identified only by initials, said in a victim statement that the scam had caused a total collapse and complete destruction of my finances, the prosecutor said.

At age 70, she has to constantly seek part-time work, though that is difficult because she had a kidney transplant and has kidney disease.

In other instances, scammers told victims that a company had mistakenly put money into their accounts and that they needed to withdraw the money and return it, according to a court document.

Patel provided fake names for other people in the conspiracy to use, as well as addresses to send money to, and picked up shipments of money, according to the court record.

He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud.

Patel worked out of the Chicago area during the scheme, and none of the victims cited in his case lived in Kentucky.

He was charged in Kentucky because the conspirators had victims send money to addresses in Kentucky at times.

In an example listed in the indictment, someone involved in the scam had an older woman in Texas send $48,000 to an address that was a Dollar General store in Pulaski County for someone to pick up.

Dieruf said others involved in the conspiracy are being prosecuted elsewhere around the U.S.

Patels attorney, Brandon J. Storm, said in a sentencing memo that Patels involvement in the conspiracy was out of character and was likely the direct result of his significant and then escalating gambling addiction, coupled with alcohol dependency and compounded by the need to provide for his family.

Patel crossed the Mexican border in 2010 to enter the U.S. illegally and could be deported after serving his sentence, according to court documents.

U.S. District Judge Robert E. Wier sentenced Patel Tuesday in federal court in London.

The Consumer Protection Financial Bureau, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and has information to help protect older people from financial scams, and the U.S. Department of Justice has a hotline to report elder fraud.
ST. LOUIS The man charged with the fatal shooting of St. Louis Officer Tamarris Bohannon and wounding another officer might receive his verdict today. Closing arguments were presented yesterday in the murder trial of Thomas Kinworthy.

Kinworthys defense argues that he is mentally ill and was not aware of his actions when he shot the officers. Dr. Rachel Springman, a forensic psychologist who examined Kinworthy, testified in court. She mentioned that Kinworthy seemed to be performing during their first meeting.

Superintendent strikes 108 sick day deal with school board

He was pacing around the room, crouching, dramatically looking over his shoulder, immediately making statements that his food was being poisoned, that people were after him, and that he was hearing voices. Ive worked for 12 years in patient psychiatric hospital, Ive conducted almost 1,300 forensic evaluations of individuals, many of whom have severe mental illness and that presentation was atypical for someone with serious mental illness, said Dr. Rachel Springman

Dr. Springman also noted that Kinworthy had previously been in prison in Missouri during his twenties, where he did not receive any mental health treatment or diagnosis. Additionally, she testified that Kinworthy showed no signs of mental health issues during his time in prison in Florida.

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Will Manatee County and Florida still buy Rattlesnake Key land? The deal has an issue

Time could be running out for Florida and Manatee County officials to conserve some of the last unspoiled wetlands in Tampa Bay.

Rattlesnake Keys 671 acres of mangrove swamps and flatwoods are a haven for fish, manatees, birds, anglers and boaters on Tampa and Terra Ceia bays, just south of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

Now its all for sale as part of a $75 million, 1,000-acre real estate package.

The state and county previously planned to buy the land, setting aside $26 million for the purchase. But the effort stalled when a state appraisal valued the island at $7.6 million, according to Honey Rand, a public relations representative for the property owners.

Despite the setback, state Rep. Will Robinson, R-Bradenton, believes a deal can be reached.

Overall, Im hopeful that we can figure out a way to permanently preserve this pristine piece of property, Robinson said in an interview with the Bradenton Herald. A lot of my constituents have reached out to me in support of this. Boaters, fishermen and those who enjoy our coastline.

Rand says the owners are still willing to sell Rattlesnake Key to the state and county for $25 million.

But with $23 million in earmarked state funding set to expire on June 30, the longtime plan to turn Rattlesnake Key into a state park and environmental preserve could be in jeopardy.

A sales brochure pitches the lands as an ideal location for a public park  but also for private endeavors like a commercial marina, cruise ship terminal, resort hotel or an island estate home.

Rattlesnake Key protects fishery, coastline

For decades, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection has included Rattlesnake Key and the surrounding islands on its list of desirable conservation areas.

The state has noted it as some of the last natural lands left on the southeast shore of Tampa Bay.

Why turn it into a state park?

The project will protect and restore this natural area, preserve the fishery and manatee feeding grounds in Terra Ceia Aquatic Preserve and give the public an area in which to fish, boat and enjoy the original landscape of Tampa Bay, FDEPs 2023 Florida Forever Plan says.

The current owners have allowed the property to function as a de facto public park for decades, which locals have enjoyed for fishing and kayaking.

Time could be running out for Florida and Manatee County officials to preserve Rattlesnake Key and surrounding wetlands on Terra Ceia Bay and Tampa Bay as the properties go up for sale to private buyers. The area is shown in this June 2021 Bradenton Herald file photo.

The land has also been identified for its ability to help curb the effects of climate change.

This category includes lands that provide opportunities to sequester carbon, provide habitat, protect coastal lands or barrier islands, and otherwise mitigate and help adapt to the effects of sea-level rise and meet other objectives of the program, according to FDEP.

Tampa Bay Estuary Program, part of the National Estuary Program, has also backed the effort to acquire Rattlesnake Key.

In a 2021 letter to state legislators, TBEPs policy board said it strongly supported the purchase for the public and environmental benefit of the Tampa Bay estuary.

The Key contains several important estuarine and coastal upland habitats that were striving to expand within the watershed, TBEP Executive Director Ed Sherwood said in an email Wednesday.

These marshes, mangroves, and other habitats sustain a variety of fish and wildlife species and support nature-based experiences that invite the community to build a deep connection to Tampa Bay, TBEP assistant director Maya Burke added.

Burke pointed to a 2023 report by the TBEP and the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council that estimated that coastal wetlands and mangroves in Manatee County provide over $70 million in flood protection benefits over a 30-year period.

Water quality advocacy group Suncoast Waterkeeper echoed the importance of Rattlesnakes mangrove habitat.

These mangroves are the backbone of our economy as they provide a productive fish nursery that supports recreational and commercial fisheries in our region, said Suncoast Waterkeeper Executive Director Abbey Tyrna in an email. The mangroves provide a buffer for storm surges that cannot be replicated or engineered.

As we lose these critical systems, we chip away at our well-being, forever spoiling what makes the Suncoast so special, Tyrna said.

Owners open to fair offer from state

Despite $23 million from state lawmakers in 2022 and a promise from Manatee County to contribute an additional $3 million, a deal for the purchase has not been reached.

An appraisal by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection valued the land at $7.6 million, far below what the owners expected to receive, according to Rand.

If they can get a fair offer, theyre ready to have discussions, Rand said.

Rand said the owners she represents would prefer to have the land go to conservation  but only if the price is right.

Rand claims that the states appraisal missed 30 acres of upland habitat and other factors about the island that resulted in sharply undervaluing the property.

FDEP officials acknowledged a request for comment but did not respond before Wednesday afternoon.

I get what the state is doing. Were dealing with taxpayer money, Robinson said. And (the property owners) have to do what they have to do, and we respect that.

These owners have a right to make money on the property, Rand said. If you have a willing seller, why would you slow walk it? Its just a matter of time until someone in the private sector decides they want this land.

Manatee County says conservation funds still available

Manatee County Government officials say that they still support efforts to buy Rattlesnake Key.

Preserving Rattlesnake Key is a high priority of the Manatee County Commission, a statement provided by county spokesperson Bill Logan said. We were happy to be partners with the State of Florida in the first attempt to purchase the island and we will continue to work hard to protect the Key from potential development.

The $3 million is in reserves and still available for any Environmental Lands Management and Acquisition Committee (ELMAC) project that goes through their process of prioritization, the statement said.

State Sen. Jim Boyd, R-Bradenton, led efforts to secure funding for the land purchase, with help from Robinson. Boyd did not respond to the Bradenton Heralds request for comment this week.

That funding is set to expire June 30. This years state budget, which has yet to be signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, allocates a decreased amount of $8 million for the purchase of Rattlesnake Key.

Folks just want a place to peacefully enjoy Old Florida, Robinson said. Every day we seemingly lose properties like this.

Suncoast Waterkeeper encouraged elected officials to keep their sleeves rolled up and make a deal to protect Rattlesnake Key.

Tyrna pointed to Manatee Countys recent land purchase to expand the nearby Emerson Point Preserve. When it looked like negotiations were close to failing, Tyrna said officials were able to get a higher appraisal that saved the deal.

We believe they can do it again for Rattlesnake Key, Tyrna said.
TEHRAN, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry on Thursday announced retaliatory sanctions on 25 U.S. and British individuals and entities for supporting Israel in its human rights violations against Palestinians.

The sanctions on the American individuals and firms were imposed for "their support and financing of Israel's terrorist acts, promotion of and support for terrorism and flagrant human rights violations against the Palestinian people, especially in the Gaza Strip," according to statements released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

The embargoes on the British individuals and entities were placed for their "deliberate support for and facilitation of Israel's illegal actions, including terrorist acts against regional and international peace and security, systematic violation of human rights, warmongering, use of heavy weaponry and prohibited weapons against civilians, siege of Gaza, displacement of the Palestinians, expansion of illegal settlements," the ministry added.

Among the five sanctioned U.S. entities were defense firms Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics Corporation, and Skydio, while the seven targeted individuals included Policy Director of United Against Nuclear Iran Jason Brodsky and the U.S. army general, Bryan P. Fenton.

Among the five targeted British entities were Elbit Systems and Parker Meggitt, all related to the defense industry, and the eight sanctioned individuals included British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps, Commander of the British Army Strategic Command James Hockenhull, and Chief of Defense Intelligence Adrian Bird.

The sanctions include the freezing of assets and bank accounts inside Iran and the prohibition of entry into Iranian territory, according to the statements. 
After calling Time magazines long interview with Donald Trump shocking and reprehensible earlier today, Joe Biden this evening doubled down on his predecessors dystopian second term plans.

Trump did a long interview with TIME magazine, the president told an Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander fundraiser at Washington DCs Mayflower Hotel on Wednesday. Its coming out, you gotta read it. Its a mandatory read.

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This election is about competing values and competing visions for America, Biden added to a crowd that had Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and US Trade Representative Katherine Tai among the attendees. Trumps values and visions are ones of anger, hate, revenge, retribution.

In case his audience didnt take his advice, the incumbent then cited a couple of the topics in the wide ranging How Far Would Trump Go? piece like letting the states control abortion rights, monitoring pregnant women, and whole scale pardoning of January 6th insurrectionists, according to White House Pool reports.

In that sense, Trumps talk with Times Eric Cortellessa, a rare sit-down with a non-conservative outlet, was both a coup for the former Celebrity Apprentice host and the once venerable magazine. Often garnering negative reactions, both Trump and Time got more attention than certainly the once omnipotent mag has received in years out of the interview.

Ever since the interview, which contains a full transcript and fact checking section, dropped on April 30, pundits and talking heads up and down the cable channels have been raging even more than usual than ever about the threat to democracy Trump embodies and the horrors hes said out loud.

While more focused than in 2016 and 2020 campaigns or during his White House years, Trumps vows of mass deportations, civil service gutting, political retribution and a more accommodating relationship with Vladimir Putin are pretty standard stuff for Trump. Still for many who havent been paying a lot of attention to the rematch with Biden this year so far, they could be blindsiding. Even then, the ease by which he told Cortellessa in two conversations last month how he would abandon Europe and NATO if he feels they are not paying their fair share and activate the military in the streets of America are truly chilling  as Public Enemys Chuck D said today:

45 basically saying hes returning with AdolfRules  Chuck D (@MrChuckD) May 1, 2024

Touching on his ongoing court cases, Ukraine, Covid-19 origins, violence if he loses again to Bien and unrest in the Middle East, Trumps most breathtaking line may be at the very end of the lengthy article. I think a lot of people like it, Trump tells Time and Cortellesa of his American dictatorship talk.

Out on the stump today in battleground states Wisconsin and Michigan while his Stormy Daniels hush money trial went dark Wednesday, the much-indicted Trump declared to his rallies that people are absolutely thrilled by conservative SCOTUS justices killing Roe v Wade and Red States imposing strict limits on abortion access

Of course, staying in their pugilistic mode of late, the Biden/Harris campaign responded earlier this week to Trumps Time Q&A with a hastily produced video and social media swipes.

NEW: President Biden responds to Trumps TIME interview.



[Trump] said states should be able to prosecute women This should be a decision between a woman and her doctor. pic.twitter.com/f87BUEyH7h  Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) May 1, 2024

This is reprehensible.



Donald Trump doesnt trust women. I do. https://t.co/L0JbgsFWvX  Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) April 30, 2024

Regardless of how many swing votes the interview gets or repells, you can be sure this wont be the last you heard of Trumps revelations.

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How many Delaware drivers have failed their license test? New data shows high rates of failure

If youve ever questioned whether the person who cut you off on Route 202 failed their drivers test, you might be on to something.

Delaware has one of the highest rates of drivers test failure in the United States, according to a new report.

The report from USA Today analyzed state drivers license test result data from the Department of Transportation to evaluate which states have the best drivers. Around 35% of people in the United States failed either their written or skills test in their drivers examination between 2020 and 2023.

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The study also found that more people nationwide pass the skills test (driving on the road) easier than the written exam.

Indiana, Missouri and Wyoming take the top three spots for the states with the highest rates of failure for the skill and knowledge drivers license tests. Delaware came in fourth, showing that just above 49% of participants fail their drivers test.

The report also found that Delaware residents had the worst performance rate in the country on the skills portion of the test, with only 41% of people passing.

The high rates of failure could also have to do with Delawares higher rates of licensed drivers. The First State showed the second-highest rate of licensed drivers in proportion to its population in the country, with 83,548 drivers per 100,000 residents.

States with the lowest percentage of passing results for skills and knowledge driver's license tests

Indiana, 48.1% pass rate Missouri, 48.7% pass rate Wyoming, 49% pass rate Delaware, 50.6% pass rate California, 52.6% pass rate Oklahoma, 51.2% pass rate Nevada, 55.8% pass rate Virginia, 57.8% pass rate Alabama, 61.9% pass rate Minnesota, 62.3% pass rate

Visitors came to Rehoboth Beach on Labor Day Saturday, Sept. 5, 2020, with crowds filling the beach and boardwalk, along with bumper-to-bumper traffic on Coastal Highway, as the summer season comes to a close.

Delawares Department of Motor Vehicles website lists the requirements for passing the skills and knowledge exams in Delaware, which are relatively standard.

A sample exam of the Rules of the Road Test can be found online for first-time test takers or people interested in testing their own knowledge. Questions relate to speed limit requirements on two-lane roads, what actions to take when you see a red signal ahead, how far away to park from a fire hydrant and more.

Driving tests in Delaware require drivers to operate the vehicle for around 30 minutes and demonstrate various skills like parallel parking, three-point turns, changing lanes and showing general knowledge of safe driving skills.

Molly McVety covers community and environmental issues around Delaware. Contact her at mmcvety@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @mollymcvety.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Delaware shows some of the highest rates of failure on drivers license tests
Many states are eager to extend Medicaid to people soon to be released from prison

Community health worker Ron Sanders, right, helps a patient at San Francisco's Southeast Family Health Center, part of the Transitions Clinic Network that assists former inmates navigate health care after release. A new policy allows states to provide Medicaid health care coverage to inmates for specific services 30-90 days before their release. Courtesy of Transitions Clinic Network

A new policy that allows states to provide Medicaid health care coverage to incarcerated people at least a month prior to their release has drawn bipartisan interest and a slew of state applications.

Federal policy has long prohibited Medicaid spending on people who are incarcerated in jails or prisons, except for hospitalization. As a result, when people are released, they typically dont have health insurance and many struggle to find health care providers and get needed treatment. In a population that is disproportionately likely to have chronic conditions such as heart disease and substance use disorders, that can be deadly.

Some states terminate residents Medicaid coverage when theyre incarcerated, while others just suspend it. Either approach can cause delays in seeking health care for people recently released from incarceration, with sometimes disastrous outcomes: A seminal 2007 study found that former prisoners in Washington state were 12 times more likely to die from all causes within two weeks of release, compared with the general population. The leading causes were drug overdoses, cardiovascular disease, homicide and suicide.

Because a disproportionate number of Black, Native and Hispanic people are incarcerated, lowering their death risk after release might reduce racial health disparities in the overall population.

In 2022, about 448,400 people were released from prison, according to the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Under federal guidance released a year ago, states can connect prisoners with case managers 30-90 days before they are released to develop plans based on their health needs. The case manager can help the person make post-release appointments with primary care doctors, mental health counselors, substance use programs, and housing and food assistance.

States that want to extend Medicaid coverage to people in prison or jail must request a federal waiver to do so. At a minimum, participating states must provide case management, medication-assisted treatment for people with substance use disorders and a months supply of medication upon release, though states are free to do more.

Imagine if we had three months to prepare. Having a plan of action and even having appointments already scheduled for their needs  its going to be game changing.

 Alfonso Apu, director of behavioral health services at Community Medical Centers Inc., in California

The Health and Reentry Project, a policy analysis organization focused on health care for former prisoners, called the new policy groundbreaking.

What these waivers enable states to do is build a bridge to access to health care  a bridge that starts before someones released and continues after their release, said Vikki Wachino, executive director of the Health and Reentry Project and a former deputy director of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Its about starting the process before they leave prisons and jails, so that they can have stronger connections to health care providers and treatment providers after they leave prison and jail.

As of last month, federal officials had approved waiver applications from four states  California, Massachusetts, Montana and Washington. Nearly 20 other states are waiting for approval, according to health research organization KFF.

Jack Rollins, director of federal policy at the National Association of Medicaid Directors, said states that want to participate are focusing on different incarcerated populations and medical conditions. Some would start with jails, others with state prisons or youth detention facilities. Some states would provide coverage to all inmates, others just to those with a substance use disorder.

Washington, for example, will cover people incarcerated in jails, prisons and youth correctional facilities beginning three months before they are released, an estimated 4,000 people each year. It will connect them to community health workers, bring in doctors and counselors for consultations, and provide lab services and X-rays.

Montana will limit its program to people in state prisons who have a substance use disorder or mental illness and will provide services beginning a month before release. It did not give an estimate of how many people would receive help each year.

California, where an estimated 200,000 people will be covered each year, also included community health workers in its plan. Dr. Shira Shavit, executive director of the Transitions Clinic Network, a California-based national network of clinics focused on formerly incarcerated people, said ex-prisoners are especially well suited for that role.

Shavit said her group consults them on where to locate new clinics and on strategies to reach recently released inmates, because the workers are adept at knowing where people are when they come out into the community and finding them there.

Research suggests that connecting recently released people with others who know what its like to be incarcerated makes it less likely that they will end up in the emergency room.

They know how to connect with people, and people trust them, and will follow them to come to clinic and feel comfortable coming, Shavit said.

Alfonso Apu, director of behavioral health services at Community Medical Centers Inc., a California network of neighborhood health centers that serves patients in San Joaquin, Solano and Yolo counties, said its easy to lose people once they are released.

The complexity of these patients is so intense that they are going to need three, four, five hours of encounters with primary care every month, at least, Apu said.

Imagine if we had three months to prepare, he said. Having a plan of action and even having appointments already scheduled for their needs  its going to be game changing.

Dr. Evan Ashkin is a physician who founded the Formerly Incarcerated Transition Program at the University of North Carolina, a network of community health centers that works with local health departments, clinics and community health workers to connect former inmates with health care. He agreed that employing community health workers who share the experience of previous incarceration is essential.

Im hoping well be able to expand this workforce, Ashkin said. In our state, North Carolina, theres not a lot of folks focusing on access to health care for people post-release.

North Carolina is awaiting word on its application.

Ashkin added that racial equity issues are really important.

We have to have our eyes wide open on the type of services we provide, that they are set up to bring in the communities most impacted, he said.

Editors note: This story has been updated to more accurately describe the Health and Reentry Project.

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Nearly half of the Marine Corps' barracks -- about 49% -- were found to have problems following a force-wide inspection earlier this year, but only a tiny fraction of those issues such as mold stemming from poor ventilation, temperature and moisture control resulted in Marines being moved, service officials said Wednesday.

Less than 1% were considered "non-mission capable," requiring 118 Marines to be moved from a total of 97 rooms. The rest of the barracks -- the other half -- had "no issues, no discrepancies," said Maj. Gen. David Maxwell, head of Marine Corps Installations Command, or MCICOM.

The inspection took place between February and March, a quick time frame for a herculean task that involved looking at hundreds of barracks buildings and roughly 60,000 rooms around the world. It was meant to better understand the state of the barracks, which have come under scrutiny in recent years for having dismal conditions across the military, and to make sure that leaders addressed immediate health and safety concerns for Marines who live in them.

Read Next: How to Think, Not What to Think: The Corps Is Trying to Change the Way Marines Learn and Teach

Ventilation, to include heating and cooling systems; water issues; and mold were primary factors that led to more than 100 Marines being relocated from their barracks rooms. Other issues were found in nearly half of the barracks, too, but were not severe enough to warrant relocation, officials said.

"It's not just the condition of the barracks," Maxwell said in a panel Tuesday at the Modern Day Marine Expo in Washington, D.C. "It's about the leadership that's happening on the ground, the small-unit leader level that is affecting that Marines readiness -- it's them taking looks at the barracks and making sure that the guarantees that the Marine Corps has said we owe to our Marines, that we're fulfilling them."

A spokesperson for MCICOM, Maj. John Parry, said that the service was still assessing the feedback as of Wednesday, but noted the urgency with which the Corps wanted to take account of the barracks issue. He also said that, of the 97 rooms that were deemed unlivable, 68 have been brought up to Marine Corps standards.

Maxwell said that two of the top problems inspectors discovered were ventilation and water issues. When combined, they led to "the beginning and varying degrees of growth," he told reporters after the panel. In a MCICOM memo, the Corps referred to mold as "unidentified biological growth" until tested by a hygiene specialist.

Other issues the inspectors looked at were lock functionality, doors being able to close and rooms being free of gas hazards, as well as water damage or "strong musty odors," according to a checklist used in the inspection provided to Military.com by MCICOM.

Maxwell was hesitant to describe the assessment on a "pass or fail" basis, describing rooms that were deemed to have issues, but minor ones, as still livable. He characterized the results of the inspection as being "mission capable" or "partially-mission capable," the latter meaning that there were issues, "but not to the extent that it required moving Marine[s] out of the barracks room," he said.

"What we found is that, out of those barracks that we inspected, by and large the vast majority of them" fell into those two categories, he said.

According to criteria provided to Military.com by MCICOM earlier this year, Marines were to be placed in temporary housing if certain issues -- such as no running water, broken door locks or unsecured window repairs -- would take longer than two days to fix.

If "unidentified biological growth" was discovered, service members were to be moved if it could not be assessed by professionals within 72 hours.

As the planning for the wall-to-wall inspection began, the Corps looked for a suitable checklist to assess the barracks. Maxwell said they used and modified a preexisting checklist focusing on health and safety, which included those pass or fail categories, as well as two others: "pass with condition" and "pass with non-environment, health and safety" concerns. When asked, officials did not immediately have the breakdown of how barracks fared in each of those categories.

"It's a yes or no question, that's been interpreted as a pass or fail," he said. "And I think one of the things that we learned as we walked through was that, 'Wait a minute, a leaky faucet?' Yes, it's a no, but it's not necessarily ... a fail."

The broad force-wide inspection's results were revealed following a panel at the Modern Day Marine expo with Marine leaders who have roles that directly impact quality-of-life issues for Marines, including Maxwell; Lt. Gen. James Glynn, deputy commandant for manpower and reserve affairs; Lt. Gen. James Adams, deputy commandant for programs and resources; and Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Carlos Ruiz.

That panel, which was in front of a packed house, faced some tough questions from the crowd, including from Marines themselves.

One sergeant out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, said that she and other Marines she knew had trouble making the barracks into a comfortable living place after moving from building to building so many times, adding that it's gotten to the point where she and others "don't unpack anymore."

"What can we do to really change the attitude of the barracks from it being an extension of the workplace to it being a home?" she asked.

One Marine major asked the panel, "Has anyone actually been held accountable, or going to be held accountable, for failures in the barracks in a formal manner?" He added, after being asked to clarify his question, that he believes the barracks issue to be an "organizational failure," rather than a unit-level one. He cited the wall-to-wall inspection as a symptom of that failure.

"So, I am the organizational failure that happened," Maxwell said, saying that he did not have the data collection tools to effectively assess and communicate up the chain of command the problems with the barracks, outside of anecdotal reports.

He referenced a 2023 Government Accountability Office report, which was covered by Military.com in September, that showed squalid living conditions across the force as a prologue to the wall-to-wall inspection.

"And the only way I was really able to come back and have a conversation with senior leadership about what we actually have was to go in and do the wall-to-wall inspection," he said. "And why is that? Well, because of the systems that we have, the information that we have, quite honestly, just isn't set up to provide that level of visibility at the enterprise level."

Related: The Marine Corps Completed Its Force-Wide Barracks Inspection. Here's How it Went.
WASHINGTON  Marines in Japan will receive the Corps new amphibious vehicles for the first time in the summer.

Twelve amphibious combat vehicles will arrive at the Okinawa, Japan-based 4th Marine Regiment in July, Col. Tim Hough, the Corps program manager for advanced amphibious assault, said on Wednesday at the Modern Day Marine conference in Washington.

Thats important because now well be in distinct geographical locations, Hough said, adding that the Corps was ready to handle the challenges that would arise from having the amphibious combat vehicles spread out for the first time.

The update about the movement of vehicles to Japan was one of several the Corps and manufacturer BAE Systems unveiled at the Modern Day Marine conference.

New variants of Marine amphibious combat vehicles coming soon

BAE Systems already has fielded 184 amphibious combat vehicles to the Marine Corps, but only to the 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion and the Assault Amphibian School, both located at Camp Pendleton, California, according to Hough.

The amphibious combat vehicle allows Marines to travel from the Navys amphibious ships to shore and then roll onto land. It is replacing the amphibious assault vehicle, which had been in service since the 1970s.

After the amphibious combat vehicles were involved in multiple rollovers in 2022, in which no injuries were reported, the Marine Corps temporarily pulled them from operations in the surf zone. The service determined the mishaps happened because Marines hadnt gotten sufficient training on how the amphibious combat vehicle differed from its predecessor vehicle, which has tracks rather than wheels, a flatter hull and a smaller size, among other design differences.

In 2023, the Marine Corps started recertifying vehicle operators and maintainers based on a new training curriculum.

The amphibious combat vehicle program is set to hit a few other milestones in the coming years.

The command-and-control-focused variant is scheduled to reach initial operating capability in fiscal year 2024s third quarter, which ends July 1, according to Hough. The Corps expects the variant with a 30-mm cannon will reach initial operational capability in 2026, Hough said.

The assistant Marine commandant, Gen. Christopher Mahoney, said in January that amphibious combat vehicles would deploy with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit from California in the spring.

Outfitting vehicles with new tech

At the same Modern Day Marine trade show where Hough delivered his update, the company showed off the amphibious combat vehicle variant with the 30-mm cannon  this time equipped with an integrated combat system, which takes in information from sensors linked to other platforms and gathers it all on one interface.

The idea is to assemble information instantaneously through a network rather than relying on radio communication, said Garrett Lacaillade, vice president of amphibious vehicles at BAE Systems.

When BAE Systems demonstrated the system from within the vehicle on Monday, the sensors were filming from drones and other platforms at locations around the trade show. The sensor arrayed the live feeds of exhibitors booths and unsuspecting attendees on one screen, as in a Zoom call.

After BAE Systems Jesse Swangnete selected a target on the screen, the cannon moved to the appropriate angle.

Lacaillade said the Marine Corps seems interested in the system but has not yet issued any contract.

Junior Marines have tested out the system, though, and they have been able to figure out how to operate it with a few hours of training, according to Swangnete.

Theyve grown up with the Xbox mentality, he said.
Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene speaks during a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, about removing U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson from the leadership office. Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, who supports the effort, stands to her left. (Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

WASHINGTON  Two U.S. House Republicans, aggrieved by Speaker Mike Johnsons bipartisanship amid divided government, said Wednesday they plan to force a vote next week on removing him from the leadership office  despite the extremely long odds of success.

Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie held a press conference just steps from the Capitol, calling for lawmakers and Johnson to use the weekend to think through how they want to vote on the so-called motion to vacate.

She also rebuked Democrats for their plans to support Johnsons speakership, implying it would be problematic for them when voters decide on whether to reelect lawmakers in November.

I cant wait to see Democrats go out and support a Republican speaker. And have to go home to their primaries and have to run for Congress again, having supported a Republican speaker, a Christian conservative, Greene said. I think thatll play well. Im excited about it.

Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie speaks during a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, about removing U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson from the leadership office. Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who launched the effort, stands to his left. (Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

I also cant wait to see my Republican Conference show their cards and show who we are because voters deserve it, she added. Have the Republican Party finally learned their lesson, have they finally heard the message from voters back at home?

Congress, which is split between Republican control of the House and Democratic control of the Senate, has passed too many bipartisan bills during Johnsons six months in leadership, Greene said.

That includes the government funding packages approved in March; a reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act; and the military and humanitarian assistance package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan approved in April.

Massie rejected the bipartisan legislation as well, pointing to two posters staff had set up at the press conference showing Johnson and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York holding the gavel and hugging.

The two leaders, Massie contended, should be archrivals, not working together to advance bipartisan legislation through Congress.

This is about who holds that gavel, Massie said. Right now, they are both holding that gavel. They are sharing power about procedures, about what bills will come to the floor, about how long we will debate those bills and which committees are comprised of which members.

Johnson: This motion is wrong

Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, released a written statement after the press conference saying the motion to vacate is not the right path forward.

This motion is wrong for the Republican Conference, wrong for the institution, and wrong for the country, Johnson wrote.

House Democratic Leaders released a statement Tuesday saying the party would support Johnson during a floor vote, likely dooming efforts to oust him from the speakers office given the slim GOP majority.

Arizona GOP Rep. Paul Gosar supports removing Johnson from the leadership post as well, but was unable to attend the press conference Wednesday due to a scheduling conflict, according to Greene.

Many of the Republican Partys other far-right members, including Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good of Virginia, have said the best time to have internal debates about House leadership is after the November elections.

Greene said during the Wednesday press conference that the vote will give all Americans the chance to see which lawmakers support Johnson remaining speaker and which want to remove him from leadership.

This vote will be called next week and I just want to urge all our colleagues to prepare for it, Greene said. Its the right thing to do for America. Its time to clean house and get our conference in order and get ready to support President Trumps agenda, God willing he wins in November.

Trump has publicly expressed support for Johnson remaining speaker in the last month, saying during a joint appearance at Mar-a-Lago that Johnson is doing a very good job and then, following the foreign aid vote, that hes a very good person.

The post Marjorie Taylor Greene to force vote next week on ousting U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson appeared first on Indiana Capital Chronicle.
Maryland plans to rebuild collapsed Baltimore bridge in just over four years

Maryland is expecting to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge in just more than four years, a process that could cost up to $1.9 billion, the Maryland Department of Transportation confirmed to The Hill.

The states estimated timeline for the rebuild is by fall of 2028, the department said. The plans announcement comes nearly five weeks since a 984-foot cargo ship crashed into the bridge, causing the structure to collapse into the Patapsco River.

The collapse shut down most traffic in the Port of Baltimore as crews work through the massive cleanup process. David Broughton, a spokesperson for the states transportation department, estimated the repair costs to equal between $1.7 billion and $1.9 billion, while noting the cost estimate is preliminary, per The Associated Press.

The cargo ship, called the Dali, was able to issue a last-minute mayday call to allow police to stop traffic moments before the crash, but eight construction workers were unable to get off and were thrown into the water.

Two workers were rescued and survived, and the bodies of five victims were later recovered. The fifth body was recovered Wednesday, state officials announced, leaving one victims body still missing.

The commands salvage team also found one of the missing construction vehicles Wednesday, Maryland State Police said.

One of the missing construction vehicles was also found Wednesday by the commands salvage teams, Maryland State Police said.

The broker for the bridges insurance policy, WTW, said Chubb will make a $350 million payout to the state of Maryland, the AP reported. Chubb is the company that insured the bridge. The Wall Street Journal first reported the plans for the payout.

Chubb declined to comment and The Hill has reached out to Broughton and WTW for further comment.

The Maryland Transportation Authority on Thursday told The Hill the states treasurer filed a claim shortly after the collapse against our $350 million property policy and put on notice our $150 million liability policy first tier carrier on behalf of MDTA.

We expect the full property policy to be paid very shortly, the Maryland Transportation Authority said.

Crews have opened multiple temporary channels near the wreckage to allow vessels helping with repairs to pass through, along with other cargo ships that were stuck in the port after the collapse.

Last week, the city of Baltimore filed court documents arguing the owner and operator of the Dali should not be able to avoid liability. The city claimed the vessel was unseaworthy when it left the Baltimore port last month and alleged Grace Ocean Private, the owner of Dali, and the ships operator, Synergy Marine Group, are grossly and potentially criminally negligent.

For more than four decades, cargo ships made thousands of trips every year under the Key Bridge without incident, the attorneys wrote. There was nothing about March 26, 2024, that should have changed that.

In the days following the collapse, Grace Ocean and Synergy asked a federal court to limit their legal liability to about $43.6 million. The city contended liability cannot be limited at this time without a trial, where the companies failures could be shown.

The Associated Press contributed.

Updated at 4:39 pm.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
FILE - A general view shows the aftermath of a wildfire in Lahaina, Hawaii, Aug. 17, 2023. Hawaii lawmakers on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, approved funds for more firefighting equipment and a state fire marshal after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century ripped through the historic Maui town of Lahaina and exposed shortcomings in the state's readiness for such flames. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

HONOLULU (AP)  Hawaii lawmakers on Wednesday appropriated funds for more firefighting equipment and a state fire marshal after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century ripped through the historic Maui town of Lahaina and exposed shortcomings in the state's readiness for such flames.

The House and Senate passed the measures during their first legislative session since the Aug. 8 wildfire killed 101 people. They now go to Gov. Josh Green for his consideration.

Climate change has been boosting drought in Hawaii, drying the archipelago's vegetation and increasing the risks of destructive blazes. Wildfires were once rare in Hawaii but they have grown in frequency in recent years.

Last year, just months after the Maui blaze, a wildfire burned a large part of the Oahu Forest National Wildlife Refuge about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Honolulu.

I think that the biggest game changer is now, Hawaii is viewed as a wildfire state," Rep. Kyle Yamashita, the chairperson of the House Finance Committee, told reporters after the bills passed. So we have to change our policies and procedures and what our departments have to do to mitigate some of the fuel and those kind of different things.

New funding includes:

Lawmakers also appropriated $1 billion to cover various costs stemming from the Lahaina disaster, including $500 million for emergency housing for displaced residents and $124 million in rental assistance for those ineligible for aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The budget includes $65 million for a victims relief fund established for those who lost family members or suffered severe injury. Hawaiian Electric Industries, landowner Kamehameha Schools and Maui County are also contributing to the fund.

House Speaker Scott Saiki, a Democrat, said his caucus addressed Maui's immediate needs and then the state's broader needs to face climate change.

Youve seen the maps - the fire zones, sea level rise, theres always a risk of hurricane, Saiki told reporters. "We need to learn how to deal with with these and prevent losses, mitigate losses, and just be prepared for the future.

The cause of the Lahaina wildfire is still under investigation. The U.S Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is expected to produce a report on the cause before the one-year anniversary of the blaze.
May Day protesters march through downtown Durham. Why they ended up at Duke University

More than 200 protesters stopped outside the stone walls surrounding Duke University after marching from downtown Durham in the late afternoon sun Wednesday.

Disclose! Divest! For Durham workers, reinvest! they shouted.

One day after pro-Palestinian protests at UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State escalated into arrests, Duke University also deployed police to face protesters. Officers blocked a Main Street entrance to campus as the group approached.

But the scene remained calm in Durham, with no one testing the boundary and marchers instead turning back toward downtown after a few speeches.

Mama Cookie of Durham, who worked in fast food for more than 20 years addresses the May Day Rally on the CCB Plaza, calling for a calling for a $25 an hour wage for all, on Wednesday, May 1, 20214 in Durham, N.C. Robert Willett/rwillett@newsobserver.com

Wednesdays march was organized by the Southern Workers Assembly to commemorate May Day, an international labor holiday, and the workers incorporated a protest of the Israel-Hamas war into their cause.

War is money. The more wars, the more we the working class suffer, said Ieisha Franceis, a member of the Union of Southern Service Workers.

The workers are calling for:

$25 an hour for North Carolina workers.

Affordable housing.

Duke to pay the city and county to make up for the local taxes lost to the university's tax-exempt status.





A cease-fire in Gaza and for American institutions and companies to divest from Israel amid the countrys ongoing war with Hamas.

Emily Lim Rogers, a professor at Duke University, leads a demonstration at the entrance to the Duke campus, chanting Free Palestine, on Wednesday, May 1, 2024 in Durham, N.C. Robert Willett/rwillett@newsobserver.com

The Durham Police Department blocked two major intersections near Duke, but most roads were closed by volunteers standing in front of cars as the crowd marched down Main Street, accompanied by drummers and a few honking vehicles with flags waving out of windows.

Duke University student Michael Cavuto, on behalf of two student groups supporting the protesters, shouted to the crowd they wouldnt be allowed on campus.

Cops have locked down the campus, which Ive never seen happen before, Cavuto said in an interview. It just shows that these administrations view us as enemies.

Should Duke pay more in local taxes?

Reverends Alex Stayer-Brewington and Molly Brummett Wudel said the May Day rally kicked off a campaign to demand Duke make a payment in lieu of taxes to Durhams local governments, which some universities do in the Northeast.

Duke doesnt pay property taxes on most of its land in Durham, and the Durham pastors argue that the universitys philanthropic endeavors dont make up for that lost money.

They hold wealth that can used for the flourishing of Durham, Brummett Wudel said. Its time.

So many small businesses do so much for the community and also pay taxes, Stayer-Brewington added.

Demonstrators march along N. Main Street calling on Duke University to divest and reinvest during a May Day March on Wednesday, May 1, 20214 in Durham, N.C. Robert Willett/rwillett@newsobserver.com

The Southern Workers Assembly proposed a $20 million figure for Duke to pay, but that could change as negotiations evolve. Durham City Council member Nate Baker has said he supports the concept.

Several local unions had representatives in the march, which blocked traffic from about 6:15 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. as it crawled through downtown. That included city government and public schools employees. Both groups have gone on strike in the past year for better pay.

Its important for us to be connected, said Symone Kiddoo, Durham Association of Educators president. Our fight for union recognition, our fight for our schools, is not separate from the fights of every other worker.

DAE is organizing a letter-writing campaign to urge county commissioners approve the interim Durham superintendents recommended budget  a $27.5 million increase over last years  even if it requires tax increases.

A large portion of the increase would help increase pay.

Demonstrators with signs calling for a cease fire in the Israeli Hamas War, divestment from war and fair wages for all during a May Day Rally on the CCB Plaza on Wednesday, May 1, 2024 in Durham, N.C. Robert Willett/rwillett@newsobserver.com

Leticia Zavala was there with a group from El Futuro Es Nuestro (Its Our Future), a North Carolina farmworkers union. She said they are advocating for access to water, consistent breaks and the right to medical attention when requested.

Weve had many deaths in the field since the pandemic. There hasnt been a season when bodies werent sent back to Mexico, Zavala said.

Franceis is now a certified nursing assistant, but she joined her union when the fast food restaurant she previously worked at went on strike. She said North Carolinas $7.25 minimum wage allows corporations to throw us crumbs and pay $9 or $10 an hour and we should be happy with that.

All of us, she said, pausing to take in the scene around her. We run these businesses.
LOUISIANA (KLFY)  On May 1, workers around the globe unite to celebrate International Workers Day, also known as May Day, an international holiday dedicated to raising awareness for working conditions and labor rights.

Every year on May 1 workers around the world unite to advocate for fair wages, better working conditions and labor rights. In many countries, labor unions and other worker organizations typically hold parades, rallies and other events to celebrate labor victories and call for further labor improvements.

Unlike the majority of countries around the world, the United States chooses to hold its own version of Labor Day in September, but that still does not stop American workers from showing solidarity with workers abroad on May Day. Although May Day is not an official holiday in the United States, worker organizations and labor unions in the here have historically used May Day to as a day to organize strikes and other labor movements.

Here are a few prominent labor victories American workers have secured over the last year:

2023

2024

Workers at the Chattanooga Volkswagen plant voted to unionize in April, and became the first auto plant to unionize in the South by election since the 1940s. Workers voted in favor of joining UAW with 73% of the ballots casted. UAW and Volkswagen are now engaging in contract negotiations.

Southwest Airlines flight attendants voted in favor of a new contract in April that includes an immediate 22% pay raise and an additional 3% raise every year until May 2028. This new contract for nearly 20,000 Southwest flight attendants now makes them the highest paid flight attendants in the industry.

The FTC announced rule banning non compete contracts nationwide. On April 23, the FTC announced employers will no longer be allowed to hold employees to noncompete clauses, protecting workers freedom to change jobs. The final rule will become effective 120 days after publication in the Federal Register.

Starbucks Workers United announced that the union and Starbucks would resume in person bargaining. For nearly two years Starbucks had been unwilling to negotiate with the Starbucks workers union. The two organizations made a joint statement in late April that they would attempt to seek a constructive path forward. Over 420 Starbucks stories across the nation have voted to unionize, including four locations in Louisiana.

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UNITED NATIONS, May 2 (Xinhua) -- The UN General Assembly on Thursday adopted a resolution to declare 2026 as the International Year of the Woman Farmer.

The resolution invites worldwide observation of the International Year, through activities aimed at raising awareness of and directing policy attention to the barriers and challenges that women farmers face across agrifood systems, as well as the initiatives, policies and actions that can and are being taken to address these issues and achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women in agriculture.

It invites the Food and Agriculture Organization, in collaboration with the other Rome-based UN agencies, to facilitate the implementation of the resolution and observe the International Year. 
Portland, Ore. (KOIN)  Mayor Ted Wheeler made a statement as police continue to make arrests at the Portland State University library Thursday morning.

At a press conference scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday morning, Mayor Wheeler discussed his proposed budget. However, the mayor also briefly addressed the ongoing disruption near PSUs campus.

Police clearing Portland State Universitys library occupation, shelter in place declared

This is an active police operation. It is one Im monitoring closely as the police commissioner, he said. I also want to make it clear that within the next couple of hours in partnership with the Portland Police Bureau, I will be holding a press conference to specifically address the operation at Portland State University.

Wheeler added that the juxtaposition of these two issues is very unfortunate, and ordinarily we would not attempt to have a press conference on a budget matter as an ongoing police operation of this magnitude.

Protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and occupying Millar Library were spotted running from the building as police wearing riot gear entered the facility around 9 a.m.  days after the occupation started.

KOIN 6 News captured video of the Portland police making their way into the building, armed with 40mm less-lethal launchers. The agency previously said they did not plan to use tear gas on the protesters inside the building. However, chemical munitions appeared to be administered in the open air once the protest made its way outside around 10 a.m.

VIDEO: Protesters flee library as police make arrests at Portland State University

It is not yet clear how many protesters have been detained. A shelter-in-place was established after 9 a.m. The situation is ongoing.

PPB previously said they did not plan to use tear gas on the protesters inside the building. However, chemical munitions appeared to be administered in the open air once the protest made its way outside around 10 a.m.

As the day progresses, PSU will be closed Thursday and the area from Southwest Broadway to Southwest 11th Street and between Southwest College Street and Southwest Mill Street the roads are closed off. Southwest Broadway is still open to pedestrian and vehicular traffic.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
From the Boiling Frogs on The Dispatch

Its been a bad week for libertarianism.

Actually, its been a bad decade for libertarianism. No, its been a bad century, a devout libertarian might counter, accurately enough.

Still, things seem to be going especially badly when the Libertarian Party excitedly announces as a guest speaker at their upcoming convention a guy who relishes tariffs, resents immigration, and has taken to chattering lately about deploying the U.S. military domestically if hes elected president again.

The Libertarian Party has often been a poor servant to thoughtful libertarianism. Its always had trouble resisting the temptation to ally itself with candidates who arent very libertarian in practice in hopes of gaining a wider audience. Its also always had a major kook problem, one thats gotten worse over the last few years as alt-righters have gained influence within the organization. Inviting Donald Trump to the convention feels like the culmination of both trends simultaneously. If you pine for a serious libertarian movement in the U.S., seeing the official party organ fall into the arms of an authoritarian miscreant feels like the moment to throw in the towel.

That wasnt the worst moment for libertarianism this week, though.

The worst moment came on Wednesday when the second-most popular populist in the GOP made an exciting announcement of his own. No more will the scourge of meat grown in labs trouble the Sunshine State, Gov. Ron DeSantis declared. Henceforth, producing or selling the stuff is an honest-to-goodness crime punishable by up to 60 days in jail.

TODAY: @GovRonDeSantis says "Take your fake lab grown meat elsewhere!" and signs legislation to keep the @wef's authoritarian diet designs OUT of FLORIDA. https://t.co/7vWAWIwuTc pic.twitter.com/2xI643PQ4N  Bryan Griffin (@BryanDGriffin) May 1, 2024

If you want to make a living peddling meat in Florida, you had better be hacking off pieces of a cow, pig, or chicken. Which makes this not just a grim week for libertarians in the GOP but an unusually grim one for animals as well.

A single states policy on meat may seem far afield from what this newsletter typically covers but it isnt. We typically concern ourselves with the excesses of populism and thats what Floridas new law demonstrates, in spades. With unusual efficiency, it combines the most loathsome elements of the sort of New Right politics that DeSantis has embraced to get ahead in his party. Its imperious, protectionist, deeply corrupt, and panders to the paranoia that animates so much of the GOPs crankish base.

Amid the crimes, coup attempts, and general amorality, its a nice reminder that populism is terrible for mundane policy reasons as well.

Every conservative will have the same intuition about Floridas dumb law. If there are people willing to try lab-grown meat (and there assuredly are) and there are people willing to sell it to them, by what right does the government interfere in that transaction?

In the free state of Florida, why shouldnt residents be free to participate in a market for fake meat?

The only good answer I can think of would involve safety concerns with the product. But there arent any. Even if there were, those concerns might plausibly be addressed by regulating production rather than criminalizing it. Nor is DeSantis seriously arguing that lab-grown meat poses a grave public health risk: How could he when just two companies have received FDA approval to produce the stuff thus far and neither one has stock available for purchase anywhere in the U.S.?

Floridas law is a solution in search of a problem, as bad legislation often is.

The pre-Trump Tea Party version of Ron DeSantis would agree with all of that emphatically, I suspect. The post-Trump populist version not only sees no problem with state paternalism in this matter, he reveled in it with authoritarian bombast at Wednesdays press conference. Take your fake lab-grown meat elsewhere. Were not doing that in the state of Florida, the governor crowed at one point. At another he compared eating the meat to eating insects and sneered that Florida has heard enough on that.

Individual Floridians could decide for themselves whether theyve heard enough. Why does DeSantis Augustus feel obliged to decide for them?

This episode reveals an ideological fault line between the two factions of the right. Conservatives believe that the government should override individual agency when a compelling public interest requires it to do so. Populists seem to believe that advancing a right-wing cultural agenda is always a compelling interesteven in cases like this one where the specific interest in question is anything but compelling.

Needless to say, that populist license to behave imperiously runs only one way. If Joe Biden signed a law passed by a Democratic Congress banning meat and declared that we Americans have heard enough about eating animals, the New Rights indignation at his contempt for individual agency would erupt like Krakatoa.

DeSantis own remarks in the clip above illustrate the point. Compare his disdain for the fact that the World Economic Forum recommends eating insects to reduce carbon emissions with his obliviousness to his own petty authoritarianism in banning lab-grown meat. At least the WEF is offering you a choice. In Florida, the governor chooses for you.

It would be bad enough if the fake meat ban were merely pointless and authoritarian, but its also terrible economic policy. It will be terrible for Florida and it might be terrible for America, depending on how many other red states are foolish enough to follow DeSantis lead. But its terrible any way you slice it.

The best-case scenario is that other Republicans ignore Floridas example and leave their own local fake meat industries alone. They have an incentive to do so: Every job and investment dollar in that field that isnt going to the Sunshine State is one that can come to their states. With any luck, innovation of lab-grown meat will flourish domestically and be gradually perfected until its healthier, tastier, and far more environmentally friendly than the real thing. Humans will benefit from consuming it, animals will benefit from not having to supply it. Everyone winsexcept Florida, which will be stuck playing catch-up with the other 49 states.

The worst-case scenario is that other Republicans emulate Florida and start banning the production and sale of fake meat in their own backyards. In that case, well risk the same problems Florida will face in the scenario I just described except on a national scale. This bill sends a terrible message to the investors, scientists, and entrepreneurs that have built Americas global leadership in alternative proteins, one executive at a company producing lab-grown meat told Green Queen, a website focusing on decarbonizing food systems. The fact that the U.S. isnt aggressively producing cultivated meat wont stop global competitors like China from doing so, and so jobs and dollars will flow there instead.

Eventually well either be dependent on imports to meet domestic demand or U.S. legislative efforts to choke off the global supply will succeed well enough to kill a promising industry in its crib. Thank Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature if it happens: The free state of Florida, forever boasting of its dynamism, will have led the way.

But wait. It gets worse.

Floridas fake meat ban is actually a grotesquely brazen case of rent-seeking lightly disguised in culture-war trappings to make it more palatable to populist suckers.

Theres nothing more high-minded behind the ban than shielding the states 15,000 cattle ranchers from competitive pressure and DeSantis administration isnt straining to pretend otherwise. We must protect our incredible farmers and the integrity of American agriculture, Floridas ag commissioner said in a news release. Lab-grown meat is a disgraceful attempt to undermine our proud traditions and prosperity and is in direct opposition to authentic agriculture.

The governor himself was explicit about the bans protectionist intentions. What were protecting here is the [cattle] industry against acts of man, against an ideological agenda that wants to finger agriculture as the problem, that views things like raising cattle as destroying our climate, DeSantis said at his press conference, reminding the audience that Florida has one of the top cattle industries in the country.

Exactly why that industry should be protected from a competitor that potentially might produce more jobs, more wealth, fewer hungry people, and a better environment is unclear except for the fact that Big Ag has vastly more money and political influence than the nascent fake meat industry does. Even important stakeholders in the current production chain stand to lose from the Florida ban: Some meat companies have chosen to invest in cultivated meat to complement conventional meat production, improve supply chain resilience, and ensure Americans access to meat as global demand for animal protein is projected to double by 2050.

To grasp how grim the state of the GOP is under the leadership of Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis, meditate on the fact that the following quote came from a Democrat rather than a Republican: I dont think the state of Florida should be choosing winners and losers and allow corporate capture to take place, where were basically bending laws to benefit specific industries, state Rep. Anna Eskamani said about banning lab-grown meat back in March, sounding every inch a Tea Partier circa 2012.

Still, even a politician as popular and powerful as DeSantis will struggle to sell a policy to his base if he cant find a justification more stirring than, Ive been bought and sold by a special interest. Trump understands that too, per his recent flip-flop on banning TikTok. He claimed that his newfound opposition to the ban is a matter of not wanting the dastardly Big Tech progressives at Facebook to benefit from having one of their chief competitors go dark in America, but the likely truth about his reversal is far more mundane. Culture war is a wonderful fig leaf for financial motives. Ask any populist demagogue with a presence online.

The fig leaf in the case of Floridas ban on lab-grown meat is that the stuff is being pushed by the expert class, the same highly educated left-wing foil DeSantis used when positioning himself as a bulwark against pandemic restrictions in 2020 and 2021. This is a guy, remember, who sold campaign merchandise with the slogan Dont Fauci My Florida on it. Anytime a scientist is encouraging people to do something or not do something for their own good, the governor is sniffing around for a way to argue the contrary.

You can draw a straight line from his reprehensible campaign against the COVID vaccines to his hyperventilating about fake meat. In both cases, elites are asking the public to put a novel substance into their bodies that will supposedly improve their health and the health of the wider population. And in both cases, DeSantis has demagogued those elites to oblivion by being egregiously alarmist about it. Its no coincidence that he referenced the World Economic Forumthe global upper crust who meet every year in Davosin his public remarks about Floridas new ban.

Sparring with the scientific expert class touches a lot of populist erogenous zones: resentment at the highly educated for telling the less educated what to do; annoyance at progressives for demanding that the rest of us remake our lives to suit their climate-change agenda; paranoia that a powerful elite class might be conspiring to tinker with the biology of average joes; anger at technocrats for meddling with the tried and true way things have always been done instead of bowing to tradition.

All of those impulses come together in the populist impulse to do things the natural way. One Republican state representative in Florida framed his interest in banning lab-grown meat explicitly in those terms last year, calling the substance an affront to nature and creation. Likewise, vaccine skeptics spent the better part of two years undermining trust in mRNA vaccine technology by insisting that natural immunity from a COVID infection was at least as good, if not better, than the immunity provided by the jabnever mind the greater risk of death it presented.

Real Americans do things the way Americans have always done them and so they prefer real meat, as nature intended. The fake Americans in blue states can dine on fake meat if they prefer. Theres even a touch of macho panic to that logic: Meat-eating is a hallmark of masculinity, of course, and so the lefts designs on curbing the practice seem of a piece with their support for feminism and gender-fluidity.

In sum, the populist argle-bargle about fake meat is a cynical play by Ron DeSantis to get grassroots Republicans to cheer him on as he does something thats plainly economically destructive and for plainly corrupt cronyist reasons. Anti-science, anti-business, anti-freedom, big government, self-owning, decel bullsh-t, said one critic of the new law, summing things up eloquently. The governors base will love it.

I confess to being biased about all of this.

Not in the sense that I dislike DeSantis and his brand of politics, although I do. And not in the sense that I love animals and would greatly prefer to see fewer of them killed for my dinner, although thats also true.

Im biased because I live in Texas. And increasingly, novel-ish technologies that were traditionally championed by the left and scoffed at by the right are keeping me and other Texans alive.

If the power grid in this state ever goes down during one of our infernal summers, many people will die. The heat is indescribable, routinely above 100 degrees for months on end. And with Americans moving here in droves every year, the odds of that grid failure happening are theoretically rising. More people means more demand for electricity means more stress on the grid.

But it hasnt happened yet. And the reason it hasnt happened is because green energywind and solaris meeting the rising demand and then some.

Texas, Americas paradigmatic red state, is now one of the countrys most robust producers of wind and solar energy. That surge in production kept the grid stable last summer as the state melted under relentless heat and power demand reached record levels. It also prevented a deep freeze earlier this year from causing any power crashes of the sort that killed hundreds of people in 2021.

If Republican lawmakers in Texas had treated green energy the way Ron DeSantis is treating fake meat, demagoguing it on populist grounds as some sort of hippie cultural affront to tradition or whatever, the state would be unlivable for months each year. Because they didnt, Texas is a powerhousein every sense.

Lab-grown meat wont change lives that dramatically anytime soon, but every useful technology begins as a fledgling. The governor of Florida would rather smother the latest one for political advantage than give it space to compete. Thats the sort of bad judgment that would make him a bad president, and should be held against himalong with numerous other thingswhen he runs again in 2028. Conservatives can do better.

Read more at The Dispatch

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Media: At least 8 injured in latest police crackdown on protests in Georgia

Georgian police again attacked protesters gathered by the parliament building in Tbilisi on the evening of May 1, injuring at least eight, authorities reported. The injuries were severe enough to require the hospitalization of the eight individuals, one of whom has already been discharged.

Tens of thousands of protesters gathered again the day after Georgian police violently attempted to disperse a demonstration in opposition to the controversial "foreign agents" law the ruling Georgian Dream party is attempting to pass.

Undeterred by the previous night's violence, protesters urged the parliament to abandon the law, which was ultimately approved by lawmakers in its second reading. It will require one more reading to be fully passed by the parliament.

Police escalated their violence toward the demonstrators, employing tear gas, water cannons, other chemical substances, and rubber bullets. Posts widely circulated on social media showed a protester who had been shot in the eye, likely with a rubber bullet, and another who was hit in the torso.

Health authorities also said that dozens of protesters were treated on the spot, most of whom had "headaches and burning eyes" resulting from the usage of tear gas.

Despite evidence from protesters of spent rubber bullet rounds, Deputy Interior Minister Aleksandre Darakhvelidze claimed that police did not use rubber bullets even though they had the "full legal basis" to do so. Darakhvelidze also said, without providing evidence, that protesters had used tear gas of an "unknown origin," which is not available for purchase.

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze defended the use of force and placed the blame on the protesters, saying in a speech that "violence begets violence."

Kobakhidze said that "violent youth groups" were responsible for instigating the unrest, singling out Tbilisi Pride, Students for European Future, and a group the prime minister appeared to mistakenly refer to as "Genzi" (Gen Z), among others.

Human rights groups again denounced the police crackdown of the past two nights, saying in a joint statement that the "physical force used (against the protesters) was tantamount to torture."

The sentiment was echoed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who wrote on X that she was "following the situation in Georgia with great concern and condemn the violence on the streets of Tbilisi."

Read also: Georgian government holds massive anti-West rally as it aims to pass Russian-style law

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After four years of planning, 400 interviews and securing more than $4 million in public and private funding, a Sea Islands-based charter school founded by a passionate teacher who earned her stripes teaching in some of New York Citys best charter schools is now accepting students in anticipation of its first day of school in August.

Sea Islands Heritage Academy promises to bring a new model of education to the Lowcountry that will be place-based, emphasizing Gullah/Geechee culture, its backers say.

The charter school will make its debut in temporary facilities on Ladys Island. But the permanent campus will fittingly be constructed on St. Helena Island, which is home to one of the largest contiguous Gullah/Geechee communities still practicing the traditions of their West African ancestors. It will be the islands first charter school.

Sea Island Heritage Academy, in so many ways, is the rallying cry of the community, says Alana Jenkins Marchel, the schools executive director. Theres a need and were trying to meet that need.

Jenkins Marchel founded the school calling on her teaching expertise earned while working 15 years in high-performing New York charter schools, which are known for innovation that may include themed programs.

The theme at Sea Islands Heritage Academy, the school advertises, will be providing equitable access to education that uplifts and celebrates Gullah Geechee heritage. The free public school will be open to anybody with South Carolina residency.

One example of the community-centered education will come in earth science class, where one of the environmental lessons will feature challenges faced by local fishermen, including one who will talk about the causes behind the demise of his oyster beds two years ago.

Place-based instruction allows the community to be brought into the classroom, Jenkins Marchel says.

Relentless leader

Others have tried to start a charter school on St. Helena but those efforts never got off the ground. Christina Washington, a member of the schools board of directors, called the creation of the school a huge undertaking and credits Jenkins Marchels Chutzpah for getting the school the point of enrollment.

Alana is a relentless, intensely committed leader and educator  and she has a keen ability to connect with people from all different walks of life all over this community, Washington said.

For her part, Jenkins Marchel is quick to credit residents, not-for-profits and other partners who are backing Sea Islands Heritage Academy with their ideas and funds. We didnt do this all alone, she says.

But Jenkins Marchel doesnt shy away from a challenge. The work of social justice, she says, is in my blood. One of the first photos ever taken of her shows a 2-month-old in the arms of her father at an NAACP meeting to discuss school desegregation in Yonkers.

Jenkins Marchel sees education as a necessary foundation to address inequalities of all kinds. She also believes in the power of charter schools. After graduating with an English degree from Middlebury College in Vermont, she worked as a 6th grade reading and writing teacher and later as a dean of students and vice principal at schools across New York.

At one of the schools, 30% of the students had some form of disability, but 100% performed well enough in the end to be accepted into college.

It happened because that school was truly rooted in community first, Jenkins Marchel said.

The welcome to St. Helena Island sign near the intersection of Oaks Plantation Road and Sea Island Parkway.

Funding a charter school

The education at Sea Islands, Jenkins Marchel says, will be rooted in community, too, with personalized, relevant lessons wrapped up in where you are from. Familiar groups such as the Gullah Kinfolk Theater, the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor and Gullah Farmers Co-op will be called on to assist in delivering those lessons.

Curriculum will follow state education standards and the school will offer a college preparatory program that includes advanced placement courses. But because Sea Islands Heritage Academy will have no ties to Beaufort County School District, it will have the flexibility to do things differently when it comes to its finances, personnel and instruction.

South Carolina charter schools must be authorized by a local school district, an institute of higher education or the South Carolina Public Charter School District. Sea Islands Heritage Academy is authorized by the state Charter School District through 2034.

As a result, it will not receive any funds from the Beaufort County district, academy officials and the Beaufort County School District confirmed. The academy has secured $3 million in state and federal funding through the Charter School District. School officials say it is also on track to receive an additional $1.5 million from four charities in its initial years of operation including $800,000 from the Coastal Community Foundation, a public charity serving nine Lowcountry counties. The CCF is the largest grant-making entity in South Carolina serving donors and not-for-profits.

The CCF award to the school was the largest gift ever from its catalyst grant program, which supports ideas with the potential to have large impacts. Sea Islands Heritage Academy is the only school in Beaufort County whose education model was co-designed by community members, CCF President Darrin Goss Sr. said when CCF awarded the grant. We believe its educational model emphasizing the close ties to culture and heritage will be transformational for students, Goss said of Sea Islands Heritage Academy.

The Walton Family Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Walmart founders Sam and Helen Walton, has contributed another $100,000.

Celebrating Gullah/Geechee heritage

People have been waiting for this school, says Washington, Its a new model.

Washington is a Washington D.C. native who moved to St. Helena Island with her husband Travis and their three children in 2018. Washingtons children went to a top school in Washington D.C. It had all the bells and whistles including the best infrastructure, equipment, software and musical instruments. But Washington felt as if her children, as Black students, were not being seen among the mostly white student body and teaching staff. Mr. Washington has family ties in the Lowcountry and the family moved to St. Helena, with the goal of finding a school that reflected the community where they reside.

Christina Washington jumped at the chance to work on the design team for the new St. Helena charter school after meeting Jenkins Marchel.

We appreciate the way of life, the celebration of Gullah/Geechee heritage and we wanted to preserve that for our own kids, Washington said.

Idea born of tragedy and hope

The foundation of Jenkins Marchels idea for a charter school serving the mostly rural communities of color in coastal South Carolina was her teaching experience and passion for education and equality, but outside forces were at work, too.

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Jenkins Marchel was living in Brooklyn, N.Y., with her home a half mile from a funeral home and two miles from a hospital. With body counts rising, it was a challenging place to live, and when her school sent students home, Jenkins Marchel packed up the car and drove 800 miles to St. Helena Island, where she would settle permanently in a second home she had previously purchased in 2018.

Not long after arriving in the Lowcountry, however, she received devastating news. A former student at a charter school where she had worked had been killed. A big factor in that student excelling in the classroom, Marchel remembered, had been the strong connection between the school and his family. As she sat on the porch of her new St. Helena home, Jenkins Marchels mind churned with thoughts of her former student and the unique place where she was now living. She decided to found a charter school and went to work.

Oftentimes, when outside interests pursue these types of endeavors in minority communities, says Washington, the board of directors member, they say, Lets totally change everything and make it great and wonderful. But community strengths, which are a local source of pride, can be overlooked, she adds.

A design team met with 400 residents over 10 months to avoid that mistake in planning for the St. Helena school, Washington said.

What residents wanted most, Jenkins Marchel learned, was a return to a community learning style in which students interact with local residents and businesses  and a school that communicates closely with parents. They also wanted to see the schooling impart the value islanders have for the seaside landscape and their traditions so children can see themselves living there for their entire lives, if they choose, Jenkins Marchel said.

Facilities focus on community, too

The physical set up of Sea Islands Heritage Academy will be different. Different ages of students, for example, will sharing classrooms to facilitate learning.

The academy also is working with a national charter school facilities development organization called Building Hope to design a campus that looks and feels like a family compound with multiple buildings.

Sea Islands Heritage Academy is in the process of closing on a parcel of land on St. Helena Island that will become its permanent home, with a projected opening for the 2026 school year. This is a design of the proposed facility.

The school is in the process of closing on the purchase of land along Sea Island Parkway on St. Helena where the permanent campus facilities will be constructed and ready for use in January 2026.

In the meantime, while the permanent campus is under development, a temporary site with modular units that can serve up to 126 students has been approved at Grace Chapel AME Church on Ladys Island.

During the first year, the school is accepting 6th and 7th graders but a grade level will be added each year thereafter with the eventual goal of serving 500 students in grades 6-12 at the new St. Helena Island facility.

My forever home

Jenkins Marchel decided to move from New York to the Lowcountry in the first place after the 2018 death of her grandfather, who was born in South Carolinas Whitehall area, a place she had visited while growing up in New York. She drew a 60-mile radius around Savannah and soon found herself driving along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive on St. Helena Island, past the live oaks nearly as old as the country. She stopped at a church where a woman was selling plates of fish and rice and beans. She passed the historic Penn Center, one of the countrys first schools for freed slaves  and where King would retreat in the 1960s to re-energize during the Civil Rights period. Jenkins Marchel was awestruck. I said, This is my forever home.

Martin Luther King Jr. Drive on St. Helena Island.

On May 26, she closed on a house purchase. The closing, by chance, happened to fall on the weekend of the Original Gullah Festival in Beaufort. Jenkins Marchel heard Aunt Pearlie Sue of the Gullah Kinfolk Traveling Theater  the creation of Anita Singleton-Prather, a Sea Islands native know as the keeper of the culture  entertaining audiences with Gullah-flavored stories. The timing of the purchase with the festival affirmed her decision.

A few years later, Jenkins Marchel was sitting on the porch of her St. Helena Island home hatching an idea for a new charter school that, in its own right, would celebrate Gullah/Geechee heritage.
DAUPHIN COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) A local fire company in Swatara Township, Dauphin County has been put out of service following reports of racial discrimination.

After a long meeting Wednesday night, May 1, the Swatara Township Board of Commissioners reached a 3-2 vote to close Friendship Fire Company of Bressler.

Racial discrimination had reportedly been an issue for years at the Friendship Fire Company of Breessler.

One of the complaints surrounding the allegation dates back to 2020, when an individual with 35 years of experience in the fire department and a membership in the companys affiliated social club stated that the station has a policy allowing only white people to join the fire company and the social club.

Previous coverage-> New details in Harrisburg-area fire company racial discrimination investigation

The following year, a member of the business community reported that while a Friendship Fire Company of Bressler representative was soliciting donations, they confirmed the discriminatory policy.

Additional complaints have been made and higher authorities  including the State Attorney Generals Office were brought in to address them. In 2022, the township says, Attorney Generals office also conducted an investigation in 2022 for similar allegations.

Warnings were given that if practices at the company did not change, the company could be forced to close. With complaints still coming in as recently as last month, the fire company was put on suspension.

After last nights vote, some residents were left concerned about the people who rely on the fire and rescue emergency services.

You got other fire stations which can respond, I acknowledge that but youre taking away additional personnel that might be able to respond also, community member Mike Farling said. Yeah they are cutting some costs because they are going to close two buildings and not pay for them or support them anymore but what about the people who are involved.

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Wednesday nights meeting was packed, and many of the people who attended were opposed to closing the company.

abc27 did reach out to Michael Ibberson  the director of fire and emergency services of Swatara Township  to ask him about the vote, but has not yet heard back.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27.
Member of ransomware gang sentenced to more than 13 years in prison over 2021 attack

A Ukrainian national was sentenced on Wednesday to more than 13 years in prison and ordered to pay $16 million in restitution for helping to conduct a 2021 ransomware attack that infected hundreds of businesses in the US and abroad.

Yaroslav Vasinskyi, 24, who is associated with the ransomware gang REvil, played a role in conducting over 2,500 ransomware attacks and demanding over $700 million in ransom payments, according to a Justice Department news release.

CNN reported in 2021 that Vasinskyi had been accused of deploying ransomware on Florida-based software firm Kaseya. Along with other alleged REvil operatives, he demanded millions of dollars in payment to stop the attack, prosecutors said.

The ransomware infected up to 1,500 businesses around the world, forcing some to shut down for days, in a hack that underscored how ransomware groups can exploit supply-chain dependencies to disrupt businesses.

Vasinskyi, also known as Rabotnik, was 22 when he was arrested in Poland and extradited to the US. He previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud and related activity in connection with computers, damage to protected computers, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, the department said.

Deploying the REvil ransomware variant, the defendant reached out across the globe to demand hundreds of millions of dollars from U.S. victims, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement, adding that the DOJ is committed to bringing to justice those who target U.S. victims, and we are disrupting the broader cybercrime ecosystem.

CNN reported in 2021 that Vasinskyi was charged alongside alleged fellow REvil operative, Russian national Yevgeniy Polyanin. Authorities seized at least $6 million in funds allegedly linked to ransom payments received by Polyanin as part of their investigation, US officials said at the time.

The Treasury Department also imposed sanctions on Vasinskyi and Polyanin in 2021, as well as on a cryptocurrency exchange that allegedly moved money for ransomware operatives.

CNNs Sean Lyngaas and Jack Forrest contributed to this report.

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Attorneys for Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) argued in a filing revealed Wednesday that the large trove of cash and gold discovered by law enforcement in a raid on his home isnt from corrupt deals, but instead a result of generational trauma and a habit to hoard reserves.

Menendez, his wife and two business partners were charged last year in a sweeping corruption case, alleging the senator sold influence and received hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, gold and gifts in return.

His defense argued last month that the discovery of $480,000 cash and 13 gold bars at his home was from a habit rooted in psychological trauma tied to his fathers suicide and a family history of confiscated property in Cuba.

His attorneys requested that a psychologist be called into the trial to question Menendez on the claims. Prosecutors resisted the idea in a response filed Wednesday.

The psychologist is expected to testify that Senator Menendez suffered intergenerational trauma stemming from his familys experience as refugees, who had their funds confiscated by the Cuban government and were left with only a small amount of cash that they had stashed away in their home, Menendezs filing reads.

Menendez also experienced trauma when his father, a compulsive gambler, died by suicide after Senator Menendez eventually decided to discontinue paying off his fathers gambling debts, the filing continued.

It describes hoarding cash and gold at home as a coping mechanism from trauma which never received treatment.

The filing follows similar claims from Menendez made short after the charges were filed last year. He initially explained away the cash and gold findings by saying the habit was common among immigrant families, adding it was intended for emergencies.

Prosecutors said the request for a psychologist is merely an attempt to bias the jury to engender sympathy based on his family background, in the guise of expert testimony.

Menendez and his wife face separate trials in the case. All four defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The senators trial is scheduled to start May 13.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
When community health workers from Fresno travel to the regions rural communities and disadvantaged urban neighborhoods to provide support, one issue keeps coming up again and again: Growing numbers of San Joaquin Valley residents say they are experiencing acute mental health challenges.

Whether they are worried about where their next meal will come from, the arrival of an unexpectedly high utility bill or the disappearance of the last anti-eviction programs from the COVID era, stress is mounting.

And in this region, it often doesnt have anywhere to go.

One out of every five Valley residents  including 25% of those with low incomes  say they tried to make an appointment for mental health care in the last year, according to a new regional survey released recently by the California Health Care Foundation.

But more than half of respondents  54%  said it was difficult to find a provider who takes their insurance. Among those who were able to find a doctor, 62% report waiting longer than they thought was reasonable to get an appointment. Fully half of Valley residents believe the region doesnt have enough health-care providers, especially for mental health issues.

Opinion

Theyre certainly not wrong. For years, the Valley has been a federally designated health professional shortage area, meaning Fresno and the surrounding communities have quantifiable shortages of doctors in nearly every medical specialty.

The region has limited access to mental health care services in particular, especially culturally and linguistically competent care from providers who speak the same language as their patients and who have firsthand experience with their lives.

Half of Latino residents says its somewhat or very important to find a doctor that shares their ethnic or racial background  but more than a third of Latinos, who make up 57% of the regions population, say it continues to be difficult to do so.

With these worries piling up, the question is: What can we do about it?

Cultiva La Salud is a community organization that works with partners across the region every day to connect residents to local resources and find mental health supports for those who cant find it anywhere else. This includes training community health workers in mental health first aid, and working with school districts to connect struggling families with school psychologists or social workers.

But community groups can fill only so many gaps. Local managed-care plans, health-care providers, county government and behavioral health agencies have critical roles to play in increasing access to mental health services. Its particularly important that they double down on their efforts to train and recruit racially diverse and multilingual mental health practitioners to serve our diverse communities.

Given the enormous health work-force shortages in California right now, the San Joaquin Valley cant do it alone. There is much the state must do to build the work force needed to ensure more people in the Central Valley can get the care they need.

Five years ago, the blue-ribbon California Future Health Workforce Commission identified 10 priority actions to close workforce gaps  and build a pipeline of health workers who look more like the Central Valley. Expanding the number of community health workers was one of the commissions top recommendations, since this culturally and linguistically diverse work force is uniquely equipped to provide care in Californias underserved communities.

State leaders have begun to embrace this approach, setting a goal of training 25,000 new CHWs by 2025. Advocates are working to increase Medi-Cal reimbursement rates for community health workers to ensure wages are high enough to attract workers into this important field.

Our elected representatives need to recognize that they also play a decisive part in prevention. Governments contribute to the socio-economic conditions that affect the mental health of their constituents. Reducing stress helps build resilience and keep people healthy; this requires dedicated efforts to promote food security and reduce hunger, income supports to alleviate poverty and real affordable housing options.

It may take time for these changes to be fully implemented and have an impact. But these are the right goals and the right investments. Only if we keep pushing for them can we find a way to assist everyone who may be quietly struggling in our communities.

Genoveva Islas of Fresno is the founder and executive director of Cultiva La Salud. She is also a Fresno Unified School District trustee. Carlina Hansen is senior program officer, Improving Access, the California Health Care Foundation.
Whoops.

A gag order hearing during Donald Trumps first criminal trial in New York went a bit sideways Thursday morning, as Trump attorney Todd Blanche entered into the record a series of tweets mocking his client  drawing laughs from the courtroom.

Blanche was attempting to persuade Judge Juan Merchan that Trump should be able to defend himself from such attacks, even if theyre made by witnesses in the former presidents hush money case.

But the argument didnt quite land.

One series of tweets from former Trump fixer Michael Cohen repeatedly employed a nickname for Trump, Von ShitzInPantz, which Blanche read aloud for those in attendance  including his client.

Todd Blanche displays a string of exhibits of Michael Cohen taunting Trump in tweets and retweets throughout April.



Cohen's nickname for him, "Von ShitzInPantz," has entered the public record.  Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) May 2, 2024

Blanche also said that Cohen had retweeted an edited image of Trump as a pudgy, bright orange superhero named Super Victim, with the image sparking laughter in the courtroom.

Everyone can say what they want in this case except President Trump, Blanche asserted.

Not buying the argument, Merchan fired back: Theyre not defendants in this case. Thats a very significant issue youre overlooking.

Thursdays hearing concerned the prosecutions belief that Trump has violated a gag order four times since Tuesday, when the court found him in contempt for nine such violations.

Trump is reportedly quite unhappy with the performance of his defense team in general and Blanche in particular, with insiders telling The New York Times that he thinks Blanche should be more aggressive.

Related...
NAIROBI, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Kenya is facing significant losses as heavy rains, reaching up to 200 mm a day, continue to inundate the country, leading to widespread flooding that has killed at least 188 people and displaced tens of thousands more.

The impact of the rains extends across various sectors, affecting everyone from small-scale traders to major businesses. The Kenyan capital of Nairobi has been particularly hard hit, with many once-thriving businesses now left in ruins due to flooding.

In Mbagathi, some 12 km from Nairobi, a once-busy fuel station remained underwater for the second day on Thursday. The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) has directed affected fuel stations to remain closed until they can ensure the safety and quality of their products.

"Any fuel station that is flooded should remain closed and monitored. Operators should assess the situation, clean up, and ensure the quality of their products before reopening," the EPRA said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that fuel station operators should anticipate and mitigate any environmental impact their businesses may cause due to the flooding.

The floods have also disrupted the operations of industries, such as the Karatasi paper factory in Nairobi Industrial Area, which was flooded, forcing workers to be stranded for hours and the factory to close indefinitely.

In the transportation sector, commuter buses, known as matatus, are facing losses due to impassable roads, increased maintenance costs and reduced passenger numbers. Many roads in Nairobi have been closed, including major routes like the Thika Superhighway, Kangundo Road and Namanga Road.

"I really hope the rain will end soon. It is bad for business. Before the rains, we would make at least 12,000 shillings (about 89 U.S. dollars) a day after deducting our expenses, but even collecting 59 dollars now is a challenge," said John Kariuki, a matatu driver.

As floods continue to affect homes and residential areas, families are grappling with the loss of household items and the need to find new accommodations.

"All my household items were destroyed when my house was flooded. I will also have to rebuild my fence and repair the house and some structures in my compound. For now, I am happy that we are safe as a family," said Jared Kuya, a resident of Kitengela, located 30 km south of Nairobi.

Many landlords are also facing challenges as tenants move away from flood-prone areas, leaving behind empty houses.

"We were 20 families at the flat where we were staying in Utawala, each paying 222 dollars. Three-quarters of us have moved due to floods," said government worker Rose Okoth.

More than 200,000 people across Kenya have been displaced from their homes by floodwaters, seeking shelter in schools, churches and other public facilities.

The tourism sector is also feeling the impact, with game parks, tourist camps and reserves being flooded. Masai Mara National Reserve, a popular destination for tourists, has been temporarily closed after the Talek River burst its banks on Wednesday.

The rains have also caused significant damage to critical infrastructure, including roads, schools and bridges, cutting off access to many areas.

Despite the challenges, the government remains committed to addressing the situation. Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has announced funds for the construction of bridges and roads destroyed by the floods.

The forecast from the Kenya Meteorological Department and the Climate Prediction and Applications Center of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development indicates that the rains are expected to continue until July, with most parts of the country likely to experience near-average to above-average rainfall. 
During an interview on Real Americas Voice Thursday, former national security adviser Michael Flynn claimed that he received eight subpoenas the night before, complaining that there was a massive effort to keep Donald Trump out of office and himself out of government.

Steve, a little breaking news here on your show, I received eight, count em, eight subpoenas last night, Flynn said in an interview with fellow Trump adviser Steve Bannon, claiming that the effort was part of a Marxist plot against Trump and himself.



So these people are going to do everything they can, these Marxists, this Communist takeover of the United States of America, he continued. And we are in the throes of a Marxist takeover of the United States of America.

Flynn resigned in disgrace from the Trump administration less than two months after Trump was sworn into office in 2017, after leaks emerged showing that he lied to colleagues about conversations with Russian officials. He later took a deal to cooperate with special counsel Robert Muellers investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 elections, but then withdrew from the deal and lobbied to have his charges dropped.

Ultimately, Trump pardoned him in the last few months of his presidency, and Flynn went on to advise Trump to respond to his election loss by suspending the Constitution, declaring martial law, and holding a new election, even arguing with fellow Trump advisers in the White House to support it.



But why would Flynn be facing subpoenas now, assuming he isnt exaggerating or lying? His activities since 2021 include pledging an oath to the QAnon conspiracy theory, preaching about Christian nationalism in tours around the country, and, as he mentioned in the interview with Bannon, touting the new movie Flynn, which portrays him as a victim of the so-called deep state. Perhaps hes been up to something as nefarious as what he accuses Trumps critics of doing.


GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD)  Police on the east side of the state are searching for a suspect accused of throwing a bag of rabbits out of a car window.

The Macomb County Sheriffs Office said Deputy Taylor Dibble was dispatched to a roadside in Macomb Township after a witness saw the suspect throw the bag out of a window and found the animals.

Upon arrival, the MCSO Deputy found the bag tied closed with multiple knots. There was one rabbits mouth and nose poking out of a hole in the bag, with a knot tied around the rabbits neck. The rest of the bag had an airtight seal, the agency said in a social media post.

Dibble used a key to rip a hole in the bag and untied the knots to give the rabbits more air. She then brought the rabbits to Detroit Animal Welfare Group, a no-kill animal sanctuary in Romeo.

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When she arrived, one of the rabbits had already died. The other seven are expected to survive. They are believed to be between 1 and 2 weeks old and would not survive on their own without care from their mother or an animal rehab team.

The Macomb County Sheriffs Office takes situations of animal abuse and mistreatment very seriously, Sheriff Anthony Wickersham said in a statement. I commend Deputy Taylor Dibble for diligently answering the call and giving these animals a chance at life.

Investigators say the suspect was described as a younger to middle-aged man and was seen driving a small red Chevy car.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
Michigan Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt (R-Porter Twp.) at a May 1, 2024 rally in support of Donald Trump's reelection. | Kyle Davidson

The Michigan Democratic Party (MDP) on Thursday filed a flurry of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests seeking details on how a recent trip to the U.S. southern border by state Republican leaders was paid for.

The requests, six in all, were sent to the Michigan Budget Office, Michigan House Business Office, Michigan Senate Business Office, the office of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, the Office of the Adjutant General for the Texas Military, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission.

They seek any records, including correspondence and receipts, related to the trip taken in April by House Minority Leader Matt Hall (R-Richmond Twp.) and Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt (R-Porter Twp.) to Eagle Pass, Texas, along the border with Mexico where they said they were joined by officials from other states, met with Texas officials and witnessed illegal aliens attempting to cross the border away from ports of entry.

A press release sent at the time included photos of Hall and Nesbitt interacting with border patrol officials and no other people visible. A Hall spokesman also sent the Advance a five-second aerial video allegedly showing an illegal border crossing.

Signed by MDP Chair Lavora Barnes, the FOIA requests note that both Republican legislators called for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to send National Guard troops to the southern border.

These demands  and this trip  appear to be part of a bad-faith political stunt, stated Barnes, who pointed out that Michigan already sent National Guard troops to assist at the southern border, both at the request of bpth former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden.

Moreover, last year, both Leader Hall and Leader Nesbitt voted against $94 million in funding for Michigans National Guard and military operations, said Barnes, referencing their votes against the $82 billion Fiscal Year 2024 budget that included National Guard funding.

Given Halls and Nesbitts apparent hypocrisy, the people of the State of Michigan deserve to know what political calculations went into planning this trip  and whether State public funds paid for these officials travels, wrote Barnes.

The FOIA to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission notes that according to a picture posted to Twitter, both Hall and Nesbitt met with commission officials who had been deployed to the border.

Requests for comment on the FOIA submissions were sent to the offices of both Hall and Nesbitt, but have yet to be returned.

Tommy Kubitschek, spokesperson for the Michigan Democratic Party, told the Michigan Advance called it an indictment of their ability to lead in Michigan if Hall and Nesbitt used taxpayer dollars for their trip. He also said the rhetoric surrounding use of Guard troops at the border continues to animate GOP politics in the state.

We cant forget that Matt Hall has already turned his back on the brave members of the Michigan National Guard when he and most of his caucus voted against funding for them, but is now calling on them to go down to the border, he said. He was just out at the rally in Freeland [at Wednesdays Trump rally] ranting and raving about the same thing. Michiganders have a right to know if he is using taxpayer dollars for such a political stunt and we must find out.

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The post Michigan Democratic Party seeks records related to border trip by GOP leaders appeared first on Michigan Advance.
FREELAND  Speaking at a Saginaw County airport, former President Donald Trump on Wednesday promised his campaign would mount "a historic effort" to prevent cheating in the 2024 election, working with the Republican National Committee and state parties "to ensure what happened in 2020 will never happen again."

He didn't provide details about the effort, including how it would be organized and what exactly it would be tasked with doing. But in the aftermath of the 2020 election he lost to President Joe Biden, Trump attempted to overturn that result, claiming fraud in several swing states including Michigan when court rulings, post-election audits and reviews upheld the outcome.

Trump is currently facing criminal charges brought by the Justice Department for efforts to overturn the election, being accused of leading an effort to arrange fake slates of electors in Michigan and other states, pressuring officials to reject the outcomes of the election and spurring a mob of his supporters to attack the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as Congress met to certify the election.

"They cheat like hell," Trump said in a speech at MBS International Airport in Freeland that lasted more than an hour and saw the former president portray Democrats as incompetent at anything but rigging elections and repeating a falsehood  as he has done on numerous occasions before  that in the 2020 election Detroit counted more votes than it had voters. "We're going to watch them like hawks," he said, this year.

It was a message that Michigan Republican Party Chairman Pete Hoekstra referenced before the former president spoke, urging supporters to volunteer as poll workers and observers. When we have election integrity, we will win, he said.

Portable toilets set up for the crowd included a flyer that read Election Workers Needed with a QR code to sign up. And large screens behind Trump directed supporters to Protect the Vote, the Republican National Committees election integrity initiative.

During the windy campaign rally in Michigan, Trump joked that if he fell off the stage, hed stand right back up as his supporters held up signs that read Trump 2024 and Joe Biden, youre fired.

The Republican crowd chanted Trump at several points. But chants of USA broke out when Trump told the crowd he was criminally indicted for them, promised to launch the largest deportation operation the first day he returned to the White House and ended his speech by telling supporters the country belongs to them.

Cynthia Bartman of Claire County hangs over a rail to get video as former President Donald Trump speaks to a crowd of supporters during a rally at Avflight Saginaw in Freeland on Wed., May 1, 2024.

In the meandering speech, Trump kept returning to his criminal trial, which he attempted to delegitimize as a political effort to undermine him and his false assertion that Democrats stole the 2020 election from him. Supporters' clothing touted his positions on both fronts. A man wore a black T-shirt featuring Trumps mug shot and a red hat that read not guilty. Trump called out a woman in the crowd sporting a jean jacket that in bejeweled text read Trump won 2016 2020 2024. Trump told the crowd he needed to win in a landslide to secure a victory this fall: We want to make our win too big to rig.

Trump's speech included many familiar falsehoods  on electric vehicles and suggestions that crime, especially that caused by immigrants, is rampant among other issues  that he has repeated at other Michigan rallies and events in recent weeks, with most recent polls generally showing him slightly ahead of Biden in a rematch between the two and the state expected to be a key determinant of which candidates wins.

But he also sounded a pragmatic, more politically attuned note on the subject of abortion, letting supporters know that even if they are in favor of stricter regulations in Michigan or nationwide, they have to look past that divisive issue in order to win. Michigan is one state where the issue played out well for Democrats in 2022, with a referendum guaranteeing access to abortion and other reproductive rights passing in a landslide following the Supreme Court's decision that summer to overturn Roe v. Wade and send the issue back to the states.

"Getting elected is also important," Trump said. "A lot of bad things will happen beyond abortion if you dont win."

Trump also backed away from his demands in 2020 that voters go to the polls rather than embrace absentee voting by mail, saying while he wants to reform voting practices nationwide to require everyone vote on the same day, and winning  by whatever voting practices are available to supporters  is most important this year.

Former President Donald Trump exits his plane before speaking to a crowd of supporters during a rally at Avflight Saginaw in Freeland on Wed., May 1, 2024.

Meanwhile, he repeated false claims that Democrats support rules that allow for infants to be "executed" after birth as well as one suggesting that "most people" wanted to see questions about abortion decided at the state level. While Michigan has guaranteed abortion rights, many more conservative states have enacted far tougher restrictions and there are still efforts to try to get Congress to pass a national ban on abortions beyond a certain week of pregnancy.

Trump has refused to say whether he would sign or veto such a ban if passed, though he did tell Time magazine in a recent interview that he did not think such a ban would pass the Senate.

Ahead of Trumps visit, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer  Bidens most prominent campaign surrogate in the state held a roundtable for the president's campaign in Flint focused on reproductive rights, referencing Trump's role in overturning a longstanding national guarantee that abortion would be available by appointing three conservative Supreme Court justices before his term ended.

Donald Trump overturned Roe v. Wade and that is exactly why we've got chaos across the country. Thats why women are dying, Whitmer said in a statement shared by the campaign.

Trump's rally in Michigan Wednesday marked his third visit to the battleground state this election year. In hopes of repeating his 2016 victory in Michigan, Trump has again tapped into anti-immigrant and economic grievances this cycle. Meanwhile, as Biden campaigns for reelection, he has argued that democracy is on the ballot this fall after Trump tried to overturn the results of the last presidential contest. Biden has also focused on abortion rights after the U.S. Supreme Court handed the issue back to the states.

Marge Dack, right, of West Branch and her granddaughter Cassondra Dupree, of Saginaw, hold their hats during the playing of the National Anthem before former President Donald Trump speaks to a crowd of supporters during a rally at Avflight Saginaw in Freeland on Wed., May 1, 2024.

Biden's campaign announced Wednesday that he would be back in Michigan soon as well  speaking at the Detroit Branch NAACP's Fight for Freedom Fund dinner on May 19  following other recent visits to Saginaw in March and to Warren in early February.

Michigan is one of several toss-up states in the presidential contest that could decide the election. Trump won the state in 2016 by less than 11,000 votes, or about two-tenths of a percentage point. Biden won it in 2020 by just over 154,000 votes, or just under 3 percentage points.

Trump made it to Michigan, and an earlier rally in the day in Wisconsin, under a legal cloud, however. On Thursday, he has another date in a New York City courtroom in a criminal case, facing charges of falsifying business records to conceal a hush money payment ahead of the 2016 election to a porn film actress with whom he was alleged to have had an affair. The hearing will focus on the prosecution's complaints that Trump has continued to violate a gag order the judge in the case imposed on Trump to not discuss people involved in the matter.

On Tuesday, before Trump hit the campaign trail again with a day off from that trial, Justice Juan Merchan fined Trump $9,000 fine for repeatedly violating the order and warned him that he will consider incarcerating him as punishment for future violations, if appropriate.

Four criminal cases, including two led by the U.S. Justice Department, have been brought against Trump, making him the first president in U.S. history to face criminal charges. The hush money case, however, may be the only one that goes to trial before the Nov. 5 election.

While Trump in the speech called Merchan a "corrupt and conflicted judge" and criticized prosecutors as taking orders from the Biden administration without any evidence that is true, he largely stayed away from other comments about the case that might be considered violations of the gag order. He did, however, continue to say the legal system has been weaponized against him, though he doesn't believe it has hurt him.

Calling it "an exercise in very stupid and evil politics," he said. "people get it, its a scam and people get it."

Trump maintained a combative  and often belligerent  tone throughout the speech, lapsing into cursing on several occasions, calling all four criminal cases against him bulls***."

During the speech, Trump called to the stage former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, who is running for the Republican nomination for Michigan's open U.S. Senate seat, calling him respected and urging supporters to vote for him. Rogers and Trump have endorsed each other but Rogers faces a somewhat crowded GOP field that includes former U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, businessman Sandy Pensler and west Michigan physician Sherry O'Donnell.

"Plain and simple, Trump is a fraud," Michigan Democratic Party Chairwoman Lavora Barnes said ahead of Trump's visit. "He has lied to Michiganders again and again  on jobs, on abortion and on every other promise hes made. These visits dont mask the fact that he has failed Michiganders for years and doesnt actually care about helping them in the future."

In concluding his remarks, Trump reiterated the upcoming presidential election as the most important day in American history. 2024 is our final battle, he said. Like those patriots before us, we will not bend, we will not break, we will not yield, we will never give in, we will never give up, we will never ever ever back down. We will never back down.

Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@tsspangler

Contact Clara Hendrickson at chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743. Follow her on X, previously called Twitter, @clarajanehen.

Looking for more on Michigans elections this year? Check out our voter guide, subscribe to our elections newsletter and always feel free to share your thoughts in a letter to the editor.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Trump repeats false fraud claims, vows to prevent cheating
Midstate school a recipient of grant to help undergrad students with children

LANCASTER, Pa. (WHTM)  Attending college while caring for a child is certainly difficult. A state grant program is hoping to make it a little easier.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) announced $1.7 Million in grant funding through the Parent Pathways Grant Program to fund scholarships and programming for undergraduate students with children.

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Those grants are being distributed to 12 colleges and universities, including one in the Midstate.

Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology, located in Lancaster, was awarded $150,000.

By addressing the significant burdens of parenting students, the Parent Pathways Grant Program will empower these learners and their families to chart their own course and succeed, said Secretary of Education Dr. Khalid N. Mumin.

The grant funding can be used to expand parent programming, resources, and supports or to implement parent programming, resources, and supports; for scholarships covering tuition, fees, housing, meals, books, childcare, etc.; and for the use of stipends/emergency funding up to a maximum amount as determined by the institution.

PDE says studies have shown that one in five undergrads balance the responsibilities of raising a child while pursuing higher education, and nearly half do not graduate.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27.
Migrant with alleged ISIS ties was living in the U.S. for over two years, officials say

Immigration and Customs Enforcement recently arrested an Uzbek man in Baltimore with alleged ISIS ties after he had been living inside the United States for over two years, according to two U.S. officials.

The man, 33-year-old Jovokhir Attoev, crossed the border into Arizona and was apprehended by Border Patrol in February 2022, the officials said. At the time, neither Customs and Border Protection nor ICE could find any derogatory information on Attoev. He was released inside the U.S. on bond.

Then, in May 2023, Uzbekistan put out an international notice that Attoev was wanted in his home country for his alleged affiliation with ISIS.

For more on this story, tune in to NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt tonight at 6:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. CT or check your local listings.

But it was not until March 2024, almost a year later, when the U.S. government was reviewing Attoevs application for asylum, that officials discovered the notice from Uzbekistan and connected it with the man living in Maryland.

After the connection was made, ICE arrested him on April 17 in Baltimore. Attoev is in custody in Pennsylvania, according to the ICE website. Hes awaiting trial in immigration court next week in New Jersey, where ICE lawyers will likely argue that they need to keep him detained in order to glean more information about his potential ties to ISIS.

Multiple former Department of Homeland Security officials interviewed by NBC News said the case raises concerns about how quickly and frequently the U.S. can do follow-up vetting on migrants who have already crossed the border.

While no derogatory information existed on Attoev at the time he crossed the border in 2022, the notice from the Uzbek government in 2023 was not initially checked against the list of immigrants living in the U.S. and awaiting court hearings.

Elizabeth Neumann, who served as assistant secretary for counterterrorism and threat prevention at DHS from 2017 to 2020, said Congress should pass the bipartisan border security legislation that was blocked by Republicans earlier this year and allocate more money for counterterrorism.

The concern I have is that in the last decade or so our counterterrorism budgets have drastically decreased, Neumann said. And that means we have [fewer] analysts doing this work. So it is harder to do things in a really timely manner when you have [fewer] resources.

She added that counterterrorism budgets decreased after the destruction of the ISIS caliphate in the Middle East. But since then, particularly because of the fall of the Afghan government in 2021, ISIS has reemerged as a threat. A branch of ISIS, Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K), claimed responsibility for a deadly gun attack in Moscow in March.

In February, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said at a Senate hearing that ISIS remains a significant counterterrorism concern for us.

There is no indication that ISIS has managed to organize a secret network inside the U.S., and militants who managed to cross over the U.S. border would be hard-pressed to organize an attack without such a network, according to Colin Clarke, a senior fellow at the Soufan Center, a nonprofit center focused on global security issues.

Multiple law enforcement officials told NBC News that the U.S. has not definitively determined whether Attoev is a part of ISIS or if he ever carried out or planned to carry out an attack. DHS continues to seek information and is questioning him further while he is in detention, the officials said.

In a statement, a DHS spokesperson said: DHS screens and vets individuals seeking to enter the United States to identify national security or public safety threats and takes appropriate action, to include preventing an individual from entering the country. Screening and vetting evaluates information available to the U.S. Government at that time. If individuals who have entered the country are later found to be associated with information indicating a potential national security or public safety concern, DHS and our federal partners investigate and we detain, remove, or refer them to other federal agencies for further vetting and prosecution as appropriate. In this case, the individual is in U.S. custody and there is no threat to public safety.

NBC News previously reported that another migrant, an Afghan named Mohammad Kharwin, 48, was on the U.S. terrorist watchlist but was released by CBP because they did not have enough information to connect him to the watchlist at the time he crossed. He spent nearly a year inside the U.S. before he was arrested in San Antonio. He was released again on bond after a court hearing and then arrested again hours after NBC News published a story on his case.

The national terrorist watchlist, which is maintained by the FBI, includes the names of 1.8 million people considered potential security risks. The database indicates Kharwin is a member of Hezb-e-Islami, or HIG, a political and paramilitary organization that the U.S. has designated a terrorist organization.

Attoev was not on the watchlist at the time he crossed the border in 2022 or at the time he was arrested in April, according to the U.S. officials.

The percentage of migrants with terrorist ties crossing the border remains extremely low. An NBC News analysis found that the percentage of migrants on the terrorist watchlist as a proportion of the total number of CBP encounters across U.S. borders was slightly lower during the Biden administration than during the Trump administration. It has averaged 0.02% during the Biden administration, lower than the 0.05% it averaged under Trump.

In fiscal year 2023, which ended in late September and saw a surge in border crossings, CBP had 736 encounters with migrants on the terrorist watchlist at U.S. borders, the most in the past six years. The second highest year was 2019, during the Trump administration, when CBP had 541 encounters with migrants on the watchlist.

It is not known whether any migrants on the watchlist or who were named in international notices as having suspected terrorist ties were released into the U.S. during the Trump administration.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Russian troops have continued to storm the town of Chasiv Yar and nearby settlements in Donetsk Oblast amid a "great battle" for control of logistics routes, Nazar Voloshyn, the Khortytsia Group of Forces' spokesperson, told Interfax Ukraine on May 2.

Chasiv Yar is situated in Donetsk Oblast, around 10 kilometers west of Bakhmut and 50 kilometers north of Avdiivka, cities Russia captured in May 2023 and February 2024, respectively.

Russian forces have been focusing their efforts near Chasiv Yar, which they see as crucial for further advances toward the nearby cities of Kostiantynivka, Kramatorsk, and Sloviansk, the Ukrainian military said in March.

Russian troops are trying to outflank through the villages of Bohdanivka and Ivanivske to capture Chasiv Yar, according to Voloshyn.

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Russia is trying to destroy Ukrainian strongholds, including the town of Chasiv Yar, so Ukrainian forces will have "nowhere to defend themselves," the spokesperson said.

"The (Russian) occupiers are trying in every possible way to gain dominant heights, where Chasiv Yar is located, in order to continue the battle for territory and attack further Kostiantynivka, Druzhkivka, Sloviansk, Kramatorsk," Voloshyn said.

"The second line of defense is fortified. Defense forces are ready to fight the enemy."

Voloshyn also refuted claims that Russian forces broke through to the Siverskyi Donets-Donbas Canal to advance to the Kramatorsk agglomeration.

As many as 20,000 to 25,000 Russian troops are attempting to storm Chasiv Yar and surrounding settlements, Voloshyn previously reported on April 22.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier in April that Russia is attempting to capture the town by Victory Day on May 9, a heavily militarized holiday in Russia marking the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.

Read also: Russia throws thousands of troops to capture Chasiv Yar. Why is it so important?

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Russia is flying its "kamikaze" drones over the reactors of the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, risking "catastrophic consequences," Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) said on May 2.

As evidence, the agency published intercepted camera footage of a Russian drone over the plant. Its flight path supposedly indicates a direction toward the Ukrainian-held communities of Nikopol and Marhanets.

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the largest nuclear power station in Europe, has been under Russian occupation since March 2022.

Ukraine has repeatedly accused Moscow of using the plant as a launching site for drone attacks, presenting a serious security hazard.

Military intelligence spokesperson Andrii Cherniak told the Babel news outlet that because Russia uses the nuclear power station as a drone launching ground, Ukraine cannot fire back in the area of 1.5 kilometers around the plant.

The plant lies at the mostly dried-up Kakhovka Reservoir, just across Nikopol and other settlements that are targeted by Russian drones and artillery on a nearly daily basis.

"The occupiers have established drone launch sites right next to the sixth reactor of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant," the military intelligence agency said.

Since the summer of 2023, Russia also began using the plant's territory to train its drone pilots, according to the statement.

"The listed facts are another evidence of the criminal and irresponsible behavior of the Russian aggressor state at the occupied nuclear facility, which could have catastrophic consequences," the agency said.

In April, Russian occupation authorities alleged that the plant and the surrounding perimeter suffered several drone strikes, a claim supported by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in some of the instances. Kyiv called it a "well-planned false flag operation by the Russian Federation."

Read also: Explainer: 38 years after Chornobyl, Ukraine relies on nuclear for more than half its energy production

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Military: Russia trying to break through front in 3 directions

Russia is trying to break through the front line in the east of Ukraine in three directions, Nazar Voloshyn, the spokesperson of the Khortytsia group of forces, said on May 2.

Ukraine has faced a worsening situation on the battlefield in recent weeks that has been compounded by delays in Western assistance. Russian forces have recently intensified offensive operations in the east of Ukraine following the capture of Avdiivka in February.

Heavy fighting is ongoing in the sections of the front line around Bakhmut, Avdiivka, and Novopavlivka in Donetsk Oblast, Voloshyn said on air.

Russia "is trying to seize the strategic initiative and break through the front line," concentrating its main efforts in these areas, Voloshyn said.

The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on May 2 that the Avdiivka section of the front came under attack 32 times, while the Novopavlivka and Bakhmut sections came under attack 22 and 20 times, respectively.

Ukraine believes that Russia aims to capture the town of Chasiv Yar, just west of the Russian-occupied Bakhmut, by May 9, known as Victory Day in Russia.

President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Western allies to speed up deliveries of critically needed military aid during his daily address on April 30, adding that Ukraine needs "a significant acceleration of supply" in light of the situation at the front.

Read also: Smelling weakness, Russia presses advantage in Donetsk Oblast

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
The U.S. Army Airborne & Special Operations Museum is honoring a military working dog in a memorial paver ceremony this weekend and the public is invited to attend, the museum said Tuesday.

Figo was a Czech shephard and Belgian Malinois military working dog who was trained in patrolling, explosive odor detection and tracking through the Special Operations Forces Multi-Purpose Canine program.

The U.S. Army Airborne and Special Operations Museum in Fayetteville, North Carolina, is honoring Figo, a military working dog, with a paver memorial ceremony Saturday, May 4, 2024.

After completing his training, Figo joined the Fifth Special Forces Group Airborne Division and deployed to Afghanistan in 2014 and Syria in 2017. During both deployments, Figo found several buried improvised explosive devices, cleared routes and was often the first American to encounter the enemy, according to the release.

His actions saved countless lives.

After retiring from active duty, Figo went on to represent the Whiteville High School JROTC program as their beloved mascot. Now, Figos tactical vest will be donated to the museum for the community to appreciate.

According to the release, Figo died in 2023 and his contributions will be celebrated with a paver memorial ceremony at 11 a.m. Saturday at the K9 Memorial located on the grounds of the museum. The public is invited to attend but should note that seating won't be available.

After retirement, Figo served as the mascot of the Whiteville High School JROTC program.

About the K9 Memorial

Located on the grounds of the museum, the K9 Memorial statue, which honors the service and sacrifice of all military working dogs with a plaque that reads, "Constant Vigilance  The Bond Between A SOF Handler & His K9 Is Eternal. Trusting Each Other In A Nameless Language. Here We Honor Our SOF K9s That Have Paid the Ultimate Price. The statue was created by Lena Toriton, according to the museum.

Reporter Lizmary Evans covers growth and development for The Fayetteville Observer. You can reach her at LEvans@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Figo the dog to be honored at Airborne & Special Operations Museum
ANKARA, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Turkiye halted all trade activities with Israel as of Thursday due to the latter's "non-stop violence" against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the Turkish Trade Ministry said.

The move follows Turkiye's imposition of restrictions on an array of exports to Israel since last month, which Ankara said would remain in effect until a ceasefire in Gaza is achieved.

In a statement, the ministry recalled that Ankara previously restricted the export of 54 product groups to Israel in April because the "massacre, humanitarian catastrophe and physical destruction caused by Israel continued," and the Israeli government "ignored" international ceasefire efforts and blocked humanitarian aid.

"It is observed that the Israeli government continues its aggressive behavior and the humanitarian tragedy in Palestine worsens," the ministry said.

"In this respect, the second phase of the measures taken at the state level has been initiated and export and import transactions with Israel have been suspended for all products," said the statement.

Turkiye will strictly and decisively implement these new measures until the Israeli government allows the uninterrupted and sufficient flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza, it added.

On the other hand, the Turkish Trade Ministry is coordinating with Palestinian authorities to ensure that Palestinian people "who are forced to live under occupation" are not affected by these restrictions, the ministry noted.

According to the Turkish Statistical Institute, trade between the two countries amounted to 6.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, with Turkish exports accounting for 76 percent of the total. 
Milwaukee's National Avenue will see its auto lanes cut. Other safety changes are coming

The intersection of West National Avenue and South Layton Boulevard is daunting for pedestrians. National Avenue will undergo major road work that includes safety improvements.

One of Milwaukee's largest road projects  featuring a reduction in auto lanes  is proceeding through the design stage, with construction to begin in 2026.

West National Avenue will be converted from four lanes to two lanes between South First and South 33rd streets. The portion between South 33rd and South 39th streets will remain four lanes  at least through the upcoming Interstate 94 widening project with the avenue to be a key alternative route.

Here's what to know about the project, which will cost up to around $40 million and is designed to reduce speeding and reckless driving.

It will be one of Milwaukee's biggest road projects

The project will replace the pavement and make other changes to all of West National Avenue within the Milwaukee city limits. That's 2.6 miles between South First and South 39th streets.

Construction is to run from 2026 through 2028, with one-third of the road to be rebuilt in each of those years, said Jesse Jefferson, a Milwaukee Department of Public Works project manager.

It will cost $35 million to $40 million, with most of that paid through state and federal funds, said Jefferson and Kevin Muhs, city engineer. The city's share of the project hasn't yet been determined.

The avenue, which is part of state Highway 59, was last rehabilitated in 1992 and is showing signs of failure, according to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

Most of the street will have its auto lanes cut in half

Most of National Avenue's four-lane portion in Milwaukee, east of South 33rd Street, will have its auto lanes reduced from four to two.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation, which is overseeing the project, agreed to that change based on the street's traffic counts.

But WisDOT didn't approve the city's request to continue that lane reduction west of 33rd Street.

WisDOT officials expect that portion of National Avenue to see increased traffic as an alternative to Interstate 94 when it's widened from six lanes to eight lanes on Milwaukee's west side.

That $1.74 billion project is scheduled to begin in late 2025 and run for six years. Muhs said it's possible National Avenue west of South 33rd Street could have its auto lanes reduced after the I-94 reconstruction is finished.

That would require a post-construction analysis "after sufficient time has passed for new traffic patterns to normalize on National Avenue and I-94," said Dan Sellers, WisDOT southeast region communications manager.

Protected bike lanes will be added to the avenue

Protected bike lanes will be added to the rebuilt National Avenue. They will be screened from auto lanes by being built at the sidewalk level with curbs serving as barriers, Jefferson said.

New trees  more than 100 are planned  will provide an additional level of protection from cars, he said.

The bike lanes will be differentiated from the sidewalks with different colored materials, Jefferson said. Also, a foot-wide strip will serve as a buffer.

The rebuilt West National Avenue will include reduced auto lanes, protected bike lanes and new trees.

Raised crosswalks, other safety measures are planned

Other measures to improve safety include raised crosswalks at National Avenue intersections that have traffic signals, Jefferson said.

Those raised crosswalks will be similar to those recently added on West Walnut Street between North 12th and North 28th streets.

They use built-in slopes on the traffic lanes that tend to force cars to slow down as they approach the intersections, Jefferson said.

Department officials are working on other changes, including creating more space at bus stops, Muhs said.

"It isn't just about the bikes," he said. "It's the pedestrian experience in general getting better."

Wisconsin Bike Fed pleased with the planned changes

Wisconsin Bike Fed members hope to see the lane reduction continue west of South 33rd Street. The group is pleased with the other planned changes.

"Thanks to the great work, creativity, and willingness to collaborate on the part of both City and WisDOT staff, as well as the support of engaged advocates and dedicated elected officials, it looks like we will get an impressive change to the road," said Jake Newborn, assistant director.

"We are excited to see this project happen," Newborn said, "and it is a testament to the fact that our roads are for people, and our leaders can make changes that will save lives and build a strong community."

National Avenue among a series of similar projects

National Avenue's planned changes are among a series of Milwaukee road projects which are reducing auto lanes, adding protected bike lanes and making other safety improvements.

A redesigned Michigan Street will swap some car lanes for protected bike lanes between North Eighth and North Water streets.

Construction on that $2.5 million project is to begin this fall  pending a final design based partly on community input. That work should be done by November.

West Villard Avenue will be reconstructed between North Sherman Boulevard and North Teutonia Avenue, with additional work between Teutonia Avenue and North 20th Street.

That project will include protected bike lanes, wider sidewalks and a pedestrian plaza. Construction is expected to begin in 2027, with a $14.3 million federal grant to cover the project costs.

Also, President Joe Biden visited Milwaukee in March to announce $36.6 million in federal funding to reconstruct a 2.6-mile stretch of Sixth Street, between West North and West National avenues. That project is to begin in 2027 and be completed in 2029.

Plans call for reducing the number of vehicle lanes, planting trees, and potentially adding fully separated bike lanes as well as transit lanes.

Tom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@jrn.com and followed on Instagram, X and Facebook.

Subscribe to get the BusinessWatch email newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: This Milwaukee road will have its auto lanes cut, and bike lanes added
Russia's full-scale war resulted in damage to 1,987 cultural facilities as of April 25, the Culture Ministry said on May 2. Some 16.3% of this number  324  were destroyed completely.

Ukrainian cultural sites have often become targets for Russian drone and missile attacks as Russia continues to attempt to erase the Ukrainian identity.

The latest figure accounts for almost 200 more institutions damaged or destroyed since the Culture Ministry's previous update from March.

The list of damaged sites includes 958 cultural and social clubs, 708 libraries, 153 art schools, 114 museums and galleries, 36 theaters, cinemas, and concert halls, 15 parks, zoos, and nature reserves, and three circuses.

This number does not include damaged or destroyed cultural heritage sites, which have amounted to 945 as of March.

Club establishments, libraries, museums, theaters, concert halls, and art schools were damaged on the territory of 281 communities.

According to available data, the most affected regions were Donetsk, Kharkiv, Sumy, Chernihiv, and Luhansk oblasts.

The Culture Ministry noted that it is currently impossible to fully account for damages in Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts, as they remain under partial Russian occupation.

Read also: Ihor Poshyvailo: Churches, religious sites play special role in Ukraines resistance

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
The union representing education support professionals in Minneapolis Public Schools has reached a tentative agreement on a new contract with the district.

The agreement came around noon Thursday  after 27 hours of negotiations and less than a day after the educational support professionals chapter of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers had filed an intent to strike.

"I'm so proud of what we've done together," Catina Taylor, president of the union chapter representing the district's support staff, said a statement announcing the tentative agreement. "We're raising wages and we're creating a compensation system that recognizes the value of experience in the district," she wrote, adding that the agreement will help attract more educators to the city's schools.

Last week, the teachers chapters of the union reached a tentative agreement on their contract with the district. Both the teachers and education support professionals will vote on the agreements May 8-10.

Union leaders have said that the details of the agreements will not be made public until union members have the chance to review them.

If the unions approve them, the contracts then go to the school board.

In a statement issued by the school district, Minneapolis Superintendent Lisa Sayles-Adams said, "Our education support professionals are essential and play an important role in our student's lives. I am excited that we have reached a tentative agreement and look forward to continued partnership with our ESPs as we work together to ensure that MPS is the district of choice for Minneapolis families."

The district's teachers and support staff have worked on an expired contract for 300 days. Both chapters of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers went on strike for nearly three weeks in March 2022.
CHICAGO  A man who was missing for over three weeks was found dead in the Calumet River on Wednesday morning.

Jovon JB Nelson, 24, was seen by a bridge worker near the Ewing Avenue Bridge on April 9, according to his mother Tangela Nelson.

Authorities recovered the body of Nelson at around 7:50 a.m. in the Calumet River Wednesday. The recovery took place in the 9100 block of South DuSable Lake Shore Drive, near the bridge.

His mother told WGN News last month that she believes Nelson was suffering from a mental health crisis at the time.

He sounded very distraught, scared and anxious, Tangela Nelson said.

Sounded very distraught: Mother seeking help finding son last seen near Calumet River

She said Nelson was staying at a residence in the 3200 block of East 92nd Street and called her before running out of the home wearing a black t-shirt and gray sweatpants.

He had no socks, no shoes, no ID and no phone.

A $3,000 reward was offered to help find him.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV.
A little over a year ago, Michael Ardizone complained to jail officials in Pike County, Mississippi, that hed been locked up for more than a year with no attorney and no indictment on his drug possession case.

I feel that I am being denied my right to legal counsel, Ardizone wrote in April 2023, according to documents he later filed in federal court in an attempt to get out of jail.

A jail official hand-wrote a brief response: You will receive counsel once indicted. If you want to see one sooner, youll have to hire one.

Two months later, in July, the Mississippi Supreme Court imposed new public defense requirements. In all 82 counties, people like Ardizone could no longer sit in jail without a lawyer even if they hadnt been indicted, the court said. Instead, counties had to provide free legal representation to poor defendants shortly after an arrest and throughout the time spent waiting for an indictment from a grand jury.

Yet Ardizone remained in jail without a lawyer for six more months. He was indicted in November and was finally provided legal counsel in January. He has pleaded not guilty.

Then, in February, Circuit Judge Michael Taylor found that the Pike County Jail was full of more people like Ardizone. After a review of jail records, Taylor appointed attorneys for 44 people without lawyers. The average time in jail for those defendants was 223 days. Three had been locked up for more than a year and 23 for more than six months, according to analysis by The Marshall Project - Jackson.

The number of defendants without lawyers in Pike County was pretty shocking, Taylor told The Marshall Project - Jackson.

As Pike and other Mississippi counties have struggled to implement last years new rule about when poor defendants should be provided lawyers, reporting by The Marshall Project, The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal and ProPublica identified even more fundamental public defense problems in the state. In one north Mississippi court, judges appointed lawyers for only 20% of felony defendants who appeared before them in 2022 and forced one defendant in 2023 to represent herself during a key hearing despite her requests for a court-appointed lawyer.

Statewide reform remains elusive.

Despite initial momentum in the Mississippi Legislature this year, lawmakers eventually rejected a bill to authorize the development of new public defense guidelines for local officials.

Mississippi requires that local governments bear almost the entire burden of creating, funding and managing indigent defense. Thats not a simple task. In Mississippis legal system, criminal defendants may move through as many as three different court systems, each with its own system of public defense, as they go from arrest to a plea deal or trial verdict.

The state, however, fails to evaluate or even monitor whether local governments and courts are providing lawyers to defendants who cannot afford them.

Mississippi is one of only eight states that rely on local officials to fund and deliver almost all public defense for people facing trial, according to the Sixth Amendment Center, a Boston-based nonprofit research center that advises states about how to strengthen public defense.

However, even some of those other states with local indigent defense systems like Mississippis have created some oversight measures, including similarly rural states with conservative political leadership, said David Carroll, director of the center.

This year, for example, South Dakota empowered a statewide commission to regulate how local indigent defense operates.

Mississippi, said Carroll, is really getting isolated.

In a complaint to jail officials in Pike County, Michael Ardizone wrote, I feel that I am being denied my right to legal counsel. In response, a jail official wrote, You will receive counsel once indicted.  If you want to see one sooner, youll have to hire one.

***

State officials are aware that local compliance with 2023s new rule from the state Supreme Court as well as older and even more basic public defense rules is often inadequate. A state high court justice and other expert witnesses said as much at a legislative hearing last fall.

But during this years session, lawmakers considered only the most modest of reforms  and even those failed.

Senate Bill 2260 would have authorized Mississippis state public defender  a gubernatorial appointee  to issue performance standards for local public defense systems throughout the state, subject to approval by the state Supreme Court.

The bills sponsor, Sen. Brice Wiggins, a Republican from the states Gulf Coast region, said during the legislative debate that the bill would have encouraged consistent, high-level indigent defense in the state.

Describing the current state of public defense in Mississippi, Wiggins, a former assistant district attorney, told fellow lawmakers that theres really no standards for indigent defense and so you get different levels of defense, to say the least, throughout the state.

State Public Defender Andre de Gruy told The Marshall Project - Jackson that had the bill passed, he would have convened an advisory panel and worked to standardize indigency criteria in addition to performance expectations for indigent defense counsel. He cited conversations with judges and reporting by The Marshall Project - Jackson as showing the need for such standards.

The bill, however, lacked an enforcement mechanism, a shortcoming Wiggins acknowledged during the Senate debate. It also failed to provide money to the counties to help meet the new standards.

State Sen. Daniel Sparks, a lawyer and Republican from the states northeastern corner, objected to the bill.

So were going to allow the state public defender, one individual, to promulgate and implement standards that are going to be binding on all 82 counties? Sparks asked.

The second-term lawmaker has for years represented indigent defendants for courts in Tishomingo County. He noted that the counties pay for public defense services, not the state.

Despite objections from Sparks, the bill passed the state Senate with a large, bipartisan majority  44 yes votes, with only five votes in opposition. Sparks, however, used a parliamentary procedure to halt the bills progress. The bill eventually died because Wiggins never moved for the necessary vote to overcome the stalling tactic.

De Gruy did suggest lawmakers amend the bill to empower a commission rather than let de Gruy alone craft the standards. He said he told Sparks as much to salvage the bill.

Wiggins told The Marshall Project - Jackson he may revisit the issue in a future session  which would be next year at the earliest.

For his part, Sparks told the news organization that while sitting in jail without an attorney for 223 days is not how the system is supposed to function, he does not believe statewide commissions or officials can most effectively address such problems in the local systems.

A version of the same bill has passed the state House in prior years, only to die without any vote in the Senate.

Another bill introduced this year would have exempted public defenders from the fees required to access the Mississippi Electronic Courts system. Prosecutors are already exempt from the fees. Despite being approved by a committee, the proposal later died.

Yet another failed proposal would have boosted pay for some of the lowest-paid lawyers who take on indigent defendants.

At least since the mid-1990s, some state judicial officials as well as prosecutors, defense attorneys and civil rights advocates have urged reforms while criticizing Mississippis public defense system, but the Legislature has never made changes. A little over two decades ago, some counties unsuccessfully sued to force the state to provide funding.

A view of the Pike County Law Enforcement and Justice Court Complex, which includes the Pike County Jail. In February 2024, Circuit Judge Michael Taylor appointed attorneys for 44 people without lawyers.

***

With no new laws, the Mississippi Supreme Court has tried to fill in some gaps, using its administrative power over lower courts to impose basic rules around public defense.

Last years rule from the high court, for example, was intended to prevent what happened to Ardizone, who spent almost 600 days in Pike Countys jail without a lawyer, held on a $4,000 bond for much of that time.

Legal advocates who asked the court for the new rule highlighted similar cases to support their claim that legal representation for poor defendants is important early in a case.

This March, Judge Taylor, who presides over three counties in southwest Mississippi, finally ordered Ardizone released without bail, pending trial on his charge of possessing less than two grams of methamphetamine.

If Ardizone had gotten a lawyer earlier, that lawyer could have asked a prosecutor why Ardizones indictment was taking so long, tried to negotiate an early plea deal or requested that a judge do what Taylor ended up doing  release Ardizone without bail.

According to Taylor, the senior circuit judge in his district, he has now imposed a system over Pike Countys tangle of local courts to ensure that poor felony defendants always have a lawyer before an indictment. He believes that cases like Ardizones have shown the benefit of such representation to the local public defenders, one of whom had asked the state Supreme Court not to issue the rule.

The public defenders have been very engaged, Taylor said. Once you laid it all out, they realized the importance of continuing representation.

Pike Countys chief public defender Paul Luckett, who also represents Ardizone, did not respond to requests for comment.

But Pike County is not the only county to delay implementation of new public defense protections. Last year, The Marshall Project, the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal and ProPublica found that after the high court required that indigent defendants always have legal representation, even before an indictment, many courts werent prepared to comply.

Its not the first time the state Supreme Court has had limited success in its efforts to reshape the landscape of public defense. The news organizations also found that a 2017 rule from the Mississippi Supreme Court, which was intended to boost transparency and accountability for local defense systems, has been ignored by almost all the states local courts.

Against this backdrop, a state Supreme Court justice said during a legislative hearing last fall that the high courts ability to enforce compliance with its own rules was limited.

Instead, Justice Jim Kitchens called on Mississippi lawmakers to finally take action and fix problems the Mississippi Supreme Court has been unable to remedy.

The playing field is far from level, Kitchens said. You are the great levelers.
Missouri governor says Democrat senator blocked appointments after seeking one for himself

State Sen. Steve Roberts says he didnt block the candidates because of their resumes but because of a lack of communication from the governors office (photo submitted).

Four gubernatorial nominations to state boards have been withdrawn by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson because of opposition by state Sen. Steve Roberts, the governors spokesperson said in an email Wednesday.

The email said Roberts, a St. Louis Democrat, had advocated for a paid position for himself on the Public Service Commission and for his father to receive an appointment to the UM Board of Curators.

Roberts said in an interview that he didnt block the candidates because of their resumes but because of a lack of communication from the governors office.

They have not contacted me about any of the appointments and they know that theres a process thats supposed to be followed, Roberts said in his Capitol office. Some of them were great candidates, but its a procedure that we follow and they (the governors office) didnt follow it. And anytime that happens, theyre going to be an automatic no.

That runs counter to the statement emailed to the Missourian by Johnathan Shiflett, the governors press secretary.

Sen. Roberts has suggested he had no communication from our office over these appointments, Shiflett said. We, in fact, have communicated with Sen. Roberts on multiple occasions over the last few months. However, the only constituent Sen. Roberts advocated on behalf of was himself to get a paid appointment to the Public Service Commission and his father to be appointed to the University of Missouri Board of Curators.

Presented with that information, Roberts claimed again that Parsons office never reached out to him about the people Parson was considering. He denied speaking to the governors office about his father.

When asked whether he reached out to the governors office about a paid position on the Public Service Commission Roberts said: Im focused on my next four years in the state Senate.

State Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer, a Republican from Parkville who serves on the Senate Gubernatorial Appointments Committee, said the governor doesnt always provide options or advance notice on who he recommends. He thinks the governors office has communicated well.

Roberts complained that the governors office handling of appointments has been incompetent and that because of that incompetence they will get no one onto a commission before the end of session.

The appointments were all from the St. Louis region and included former St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson to the University of Missouri Board of Curators. Traditionally the senator from the area where an appointee resides sponsors the appointment regardless of party affiliation.

These commissions consult and make recommendations to state agencies and, in some instances, approve expenditures.

Here are the comments from the governors office about the appointees whose names were withdrawn:

Yesterday, we withdrew four nominations, including Reverend Darryl Gray, Dan Isom, Winston Calvert, and Lyda Krewson, to various unpaid boards after Senator Steven Roberts refused to support them.

Rev. Gray has been an advocate for increasing workforce opportunities in the African American community, and we believe he would have been an excellent member of the Workforce Development Board.

Dan Isom and Winston Calvert were to join the Bi-State Development Agency of the Missouri-Illinois Metropolitan District. We chose among a list of 3 names submitted to us by the St. Louis County Executive and St. Louis Mayor, and believe Mr. Isoms background in public safety and Mr. Calverts experience in local government and nonprofit advocacy would have been valuable additions to the board.

Finally, former Mayor Lyda Krewson was withdrawn as a nominee for the University of Missouri Board of Curators. This appointment would have filled an expired term from the 1st Congressional District. Mrs. Krewson has been an advocate for the region and would have brought her valuable CPA skills to the board.

The email concluded, We will reassess our options during the interim and also look for nominees outside of Senator Roberts district who wish to serve their region and the state.

This story originally appeared in the Columbia Missourian. It can be republished in print or online.

The post Missouri governor says Democrat senator blocked appointments after seeking one for himself appeared first on Missouri Independent.
Missouri House members passed legislation that would prohibit the use of eminent domain to build solar and wind farms (Sirisak Boakaew/Getty Images)

With two weeks left in the Missouri General Assemblys session, lawmakers are weighing multiple bills that would bar developers from seizing land to build wind and solar farms.

One such bill, sponsored by state Rep. Mike Haffner, a Republican from Pleasant Hill, passed the House Thursday by an overwhelming 115-27 vote. It now heads to the Senate, where a similar proposal has been added to wide-ranging utilities legislation that awaits debate.

Haffners bill would prohibit wind and solar builders from using eminent domain, which allows utilities and governments to condemn land to build infrastructure that serves the public, including power lines and roads.

Wind and solar projects, however, have not sought to use eminent domain, which is often unpopular because of the intrusion on private property.

This has not happened, Haffner said before the vote Thursday morning. But property rights are so importantwe want to make sure that it doesnt happen.

Environmental advocates and lawmakers critical of Haffners bill, however, said it unfairly targets sources of renewable energy rather than reforming the use of eminent domain more broadly.

Its singling out this specific type of energy and saying we want them to have different constraints on the use of eminent domain than an oil pipeline or a coal-generating plant, said state Rep. Peter Merideth, a St. Louis Democrat, and thats where Ive got a problem.

Missouri Republicans for years have criticized the use of eminent domain to build high-voltage transmission lines  most significantly, the Grain Belt Express. That line, under development by Chicago-based Invenergy, will carry wind energy from southwest Kansas through Missouri and Illinois to the Indiana border.

To do so, Invenergy needs easements to construct towers and run the power line across private properties. In some cases, the company is able to negotiate a deal with willing landowners, but in the event a property owner wont agree to a voluntary deal, Invenergy has the authority to condemn land.

In either case, the company must compensate landowners.

Invenergys ability to use eminent domain was, for years, a source of controversy among lawmakers who repeatedly tried to bar transmission line builders from condemning land.

Haffners bill, however, specifically exempts transmission lines. His concern, he said, was that owners of wind or solar farms that wanted to expand would use eminent domain to strong arm their neighbors into giving up land.

We want economic development, Haffner said in an interview with The Independent. We just want to make sure that theres not an abuse of condemnation as it deals with property rights.

Haffner said the solar developers he has heard of are doing it right.

Theyre negotiating with every landowner; theyre not using condemnation, Haffner said. And thats the way it should be.

Haffners legislation was supported in committee by farm groups and rural landowners who have been critical of Grain Belt Express.

The Missouri chapter of the Sierra Club, a national environmental advocacy organization, objected to the singling out of renewable energy resources.

We just really feel like, as we move forward, were going to need more renewable resources, said Frances Klahr, a former Missouri Department of Natural Resources staffer and a Sierra Club member, because fossil fuel isnt going to last foreverand weve got to find a clean way to come up with energy.

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The post Missouri House approves bill prohibiting eminent domain for solar, wind energy projects appeared first on Missouri Independent.
MO lawmaker who led investigation into top House Republican likely subject of new complaint

The chair of the Missouri House Ethics Committee who investigated House Speaker Dean Plocher stepped away from the committee on Wednesday as it prepares to consider a new ethics complaint.

Ethics Chair Rep. Hannah Kelly, a Mountain Grove Republican, recused herself from the investigative committee, according to a Wednesday letter sent to House staff by House Speaker Pro Tem Mike Henderson, a Bonne Terre Republican.

The new complaint was filed on Wednesday but its contents are confidential and its unclear who filed it. But Kellys recusal indicates that she is likely the subject of the complaint. Plocher also recused himself from referring the complaint to the Ethics Committee in a letter to Henderson given the named respondent in the case.

Kelly declined to comment on her decision to leave the committee and the new complaint. Plochers staff told The Star that he wasnt available for comment.

The new complaint and Kellys recusal comes just days after the Ethics Committee dismissed a complaint of ethical misconduct against Plocher amid a slew of scandals.

While the complaint was rejected, Kelly has since raised serious concerns about Plochers alleged obstruction of the investigation. A draft report rejected by the committee last month found that Plochers office blocked subpoenas issued by the committee and Kelly has alleged that witnesses felt intimidated to testify.

It is deeply concerning that a member of our leadership has knowingly obstructed a fair and transparent process to serve their own political interests and shield themselves from the consequences of their actions, Kelly said in a statement earlier this week.

Wednesdays letter from Henderson provides little information about Kellys decision to step away from the committee. The letter, addressed to House Chief Clerk Dana Miller, temporarily removes Kelly from the committee, stating that she recused herself from handling the new ethics complaint.

Henderson appointed Rep. Rick Francis, a Perryville Republican on the Ethics Committee, temporarily replacing Kelly as chair.

In another letter sent to Miller on Wednesday, House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, a Springfield Democrat, stated that Rep. Paula Brown, a Hazelwood Democrat, had resigned from the committee. Quade appointed Rep. Yolanda Young, a Kansas City Democrat to replace her.

The Ethics Committee will review the new complaint likely connected to Kelly on Monday.

The series of moves comes just days after a chaotic meeting in which the secretive Ethics Committee voted in open session to dismiss the complaint against Plocher.

While the top House Republican has framed the move as a complete exoneration, questions remain about Plochers alleged obstruction of the investigation.

Members of the committee on Monday blocked a motion from Kelly that would have stated the investigation into Plocher could not be completed as a direct result of obstruction and intimidation of witnesses by Plocher.

The committee also prohibited Kelly from reading aloud a March email she had received from a top House employee that outlined alleged efforts by Plochers office to retaliate against House employees.

The email, obtained by The Star through a public records request, was sent to Kelly by Lori Hughes, the director of administration for the Missouri House. Hughes, in the email, described efforts by Plochers office that were intended to intimidate her and other House staffers.

In my over 21 years of state government service, I have never witnessed or even been involved in such a hostile work environment that is so horrible that I am living in fear every day of losing my job, Hughes wrote in the letter. I cannot continue to idly sit by and hope that the Speakers Office will stop harassing myself and other staff members.

Two weeks before dismissing the complaint, the Ethics Committee rejected a draft report about its investigation into Plocher. Because the vote happened in an open session, the report became public.

The rejected ethics report did not find direct evidence that Plocher committed ethical violations related to his bevy of scandals and the only punishment it recommended was a letter of disapproval.

But the report also detailed repeated attempts by Plochers office and his supporters to allegedly hamper the investigation, including letters showing how Plocher, through his office, fought against subpoenas issued by the committee to compel witnesses to testify.

The committees investigation included a probe on Plochers push for the House to issue a $800,000 contract for an outside company to manage constituent information, which is already handled by House staff members.

The committee also investigated the fact that Plocher, on eight separate occasions, received reimbursements on travel expenses that were already paid by his campaign. He received a total of $3,998 in public funds based on those false forms  funds that he has since paid back.

The committee also reviewed allegations that Plocher threatened House staff and dove into the firings of his former chief of staff and other staffers.
Countless brands, celebrities and influencers  established and aspiring  use The Met Gala as a springboard for publicity and new business opportunities. But the Model Alliance is focusing on the Metropolitan Museum of Art to draw attention to New York States Fashion Workers Act.

The group is leading a rally on the steps of the Upper East Side museum on Sunday morning to try to rev up support for the labor bill that would regulate management agencies in New York to provide models with more workplace protections in the $2.5 trillion fashion industry.

More from WWD

More than 30 people are expected, including a few models and representatives from the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, the Writers Guild of America, East, and the Conde Nast union, according to a spokesperson for the Model Alliance. Members of the Freelancers Union, National Domestic Workers Alliance and Workers United as well as some from other unions are also planning to attend. SAG-AFTRA, which represents more than 160,000 media professionals, and WGAE, which has 7,500 writers working in film, television, news, podcasts and online media, just declared their support for the legislation this week.

The bill is meant to regulate management agencies and provide oversight in the industry. Providing workers with contracts, ensuring payment within 45 days and protecting them from harassment, discrimination and unsafe working conditions are objectives. If approved, the legislation would ensure that agencies have a fiduciary responsibility to models, industry hairstylists, content creators, makeup artists and other creatives. It is also designed to prohibit any unreasonably high commissions and fees.

The Model Alliances founder Sara Ziff will be joined Sunday at The Met by fellow models Ambra Battilana Gutierrez, Kaja Sokola and Kenny Salel among others to draw attention to the Fashion Workers Act. The added muscle that SAG-AFTRA and WGAE are providing wasnt the only impetus for staging this weekends event. The recent news that Harvey Weinstein will be retried for an overturned rape conviction was huge for a lot of the models affiliated with the Model Alliance, a spokesperson said.

Weinstein, who was originally sentenced to 23 years in prison after being found guilty for various sexual abuse charges, sparked the #MeToo movement. He is due back in court in New York in September. The 72-year-old was also found guilty of sexual abuse crimes in California. Those decisions remain intact.

In a lawsuit filed last year in New York State Supreme Court, Ziff alleged that former head of Miramax Fabrizio Lombardo raped her when she was a 19-year-old aspiring model and actress. Ziff also sued Weinstein, Disney, and its subsidiaries Buena Vista and Miramax for abuse and negligence under the Adult Survivors Act.

The Model Alliance spokesperson made the distinction that Sundays event is not a protest of The Met Gala. It is designed to remind fashions biggest stars of those without any labor protection, the Model Alliance spokesperson said.

WGAEs executive director Sam Wheeler pledged its support in a memo that read, New York is home to a $10 billion fashion industry, and it is incumbent on our State to protect models and other fashion workers from exploitation. This legislation provides necessary protections for models and while the fashion industry may present the facade of glamour, its never in vogue to take advantage of workers.

A SAG-AFTRA spokesperson did not respond immediately to a request for comment Thursday.

Sundays rally will also be livestreamed on the Model Alliances Instagram account.

Best of WWD
ANKARA, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler on Thursday ruled out the possibility of transferring the Russian-made S-400 missile defense system to any other country, including Ukraine.

"Giving our S-400 system to any other country is out of the question," the minister said in an interview with the CNN Turk broadcaster when asked if Ankara had received any proposal to transfer the S-400 system to Ukraine.

The United States had proposed Turkiye to send the S-400 system to Ukraine, but Ankara rejected the proposal, former Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in May last year.

Tensions between the United States and Turkiye escalated in 2017 when Ankara and Moscow struck the S-400 deal. Washington claimed that the S-400 system would be incompatible with the NATO system and could expose its confidential military information to Russia.

Washington later halted the delivery of F-35 fighter jets to Turkiye and imposed sanctions on the country for purchasing a Russian-made defense system. 
Mom says she has new evidence in priest sex abuse case. But Californias AGs office denied her request

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.

Deanna Hampton was crushed last month after reading a letter, barely over a page long, that came in the mail from California Attorney General Rob Bontas office.

Last fall, The Sacramento Bee told the story of Father Michael Kelly, a Diocese of Stockton priest who fled to Ireland to avoid prosecution in a case of child rape involving Hamptons son, Trevor Martin. Kelly fled in 2012 in the middle of a civil trial and amid a criminal investigation.

Martin died in 2016 in a base-jumping accident. At the time, Kelly had been picked up by authorities in Morocco because of a federal flight warrant. The Calaveras Countys DAs office told Hampton it had to drop the charges. Kelly was released from custody and returned to Ireland.

Despite accusations by multiple other victims, Kelly remains a free man and over the years has worked as a tour guide in Ireland, according to depositions recently viewed by The Bee.

The Bees investigation revealed prosecutorial missteps by the Calaveras County District Attorneys Office, including losing grand jury testimony and taking no discernible steps to extradite Kelly. Bonta took the rare step of announcing that he would review the case for abuse of discretion by Calaveras County DA Barbara Yook.

In the letter to Hampton, Bonta said he found no cause that the DA abused her discretion. The AGs letter stated: We did not see anything in the materials provided to suggest that the Calaveras County District Attorneys efforts in this regard were less than diligent.

But Hampton called the scope of the AGs review shockingly narrow.

Hampton and a former official who worked for the DAs office said the AG should issue a more detailed report of what happened in the Kelly case, and examine what they describe as a systemic failure in Calaveras County to prosecute sex crimes in a timely fashion.

Monique McDevitt, now a senior deputy district attorney in Yuba County specializing in sex crimes, worked in Calaveras County from 2018 to 2020. I feel terrible for what Trevor Martins family has gone through, she said. But what happened in that case did not occur in a vacuum. I dont think that the AG is aware of just how screwed up things are in Calaveras County.

What happened in Morocco

Hampton, in her initial letter to Bonta requesting the review, asked for the attorney general to issue a report about what efforts the Calaveras DA took in the Trevor Martin case.

Bonta offered no details in his letter to Hampton about what efforts the DA undertook to extradite Kelly prior to Martins death, or the series of events that led to Kellys arrest and subsequent release in Morocco in 2016.

Hampton said she is disappointed that Bonta did not take her up on multiple requests to meet with her, especially because she said she had important evidence to share.

In other cases involving abuse of discretion, the Attorney General has issued a detailed report, she wrote Bonta in a letter April 24. Im calling on you to do the same in this case, which is important to my family and symbolically to the thousands of victims of sex abuse within the Catholic Church.

Hampton told The Bee that the attorney generals page-and-a-half letter reflects a general complacency about Catholic sex abuse. I would say to Mr. Bonta, they owe it to the people of California and to victims of church abuse to conduct a thorough investigation and explain what happened, she said. And he should look for a resolution.

Bontas office did not respond to questions about the review from The Sacramento Bee. The attorney generals letter to Hampton, signed by Deputy Attorney General David Lowe, did not focus on the broader facts about how Kelly had evaded justice by traveling to Ireland. It focused more narrowly on the question of whether Trevor Martins testimony to a grand jury was admissible.

Unfortunately, given the current state of the law, these statements and/or testimony would not be admissible in a court of law to prove the truth of the allegations, the letter stated.

Another case, new evidence

Hampton said she would have shared new evidence had Bonta met with her. This would have included, she said, the revelation of another victim with whom the diocese settled. The case involved another victim close to Martins age and was then, and still is, within the statute of limitations. That civil case was ultimately settled by the diocese for $4 million.

According to the complaint, the anonymous John Doe victim in the case was, like Trevor Martin, an altar boy at St. Andrews Parish in Calaveras County. It states: Michael Kellys physical and sexual abuse commenced in or around 2000 when plaintiff was twelve years old. ... Using his position as priest, Father Michael Kelly would travel to plaintiffs home (when parents were not home) and inside he would sexually abuse and harass plaintiff ...

Michael Hatfield, a spokesperson for the Calaveras District Attorneys Office, said that the sheriffs interviews concluded that Trevor Martin was the only person who reported sexual abuse by Kelly within the statute of limitations.

However, The Bee on Tuesday reached the victim in the second case through his attorney John Manly.

The victim said the assertion that he did not report the abuse to authorities is not true. He said he was living in Sacramento 13 years ago and reported Kellys abuse to the Calaveras County Sheriffs Office. He said a sheriffs deputy came to his apartment in Sacramento and he described, in detail, the serial abuse he suffered.

Asked if he would have wanted to see Kelly prosecuted, he said yes. He also said given Trevor Martins untimely death, if asked, he would have helped any way he could to bring Kelly to justice, including testifying in a criminal case.

Now 36, the man remains within the statute of limitations in California, which currently cuts off criminal cases for those abused as children at 40. Legal experts said the existence of another victim within the statute of limitations could have either augmented the case involving Trevor Martin, or been cause to file a new case.

Shan Wu, a former federal prosecutor experienced in prosecuting sex crimes and counsel to former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, noted that Kelly had been in custody and released.

The real issue here is, you have a guy in custody in Morocco, a serial pedophile who fled justice, he said. What was the rush to let him out?

Hamptons other assertions

The other evidence that Hampton said she wanted to bring to Bontas attention involves the flow of money from Kelly supporters to the Diocese of Stockton.

Documents from a 2013 civil case show a $150,000 payment between a group called Friends of Father Kelly and the Diocese of Stockton, which for years claimed Kelly to be innocent.

A spokesperson for the Diocese of Stockton last year told The Bee that FOFK was in no way affiliated with the diocese and that they have never reflected the dioceses opinions.

But the documents reviewed by The Bee show money changed hands between the two groups. The documents also show the diocese asked for regular updates from FOFK and then forwarded letters and documents from FOFK to the Calaveras DA containing attacks on both victims.

FOFKs letters argue that fraud was involved in the claims against Kelly, and the millions of dollars being paid in settlements was harming the dioceses ability to perform good works.

A March 2014 letter to Yook from FOFK attacks the second victims veracity, stating the civil lawsuit claims he was abused at home ... the parents were not even suspicious or they would have said something sooner.

Other letters cast doubt on the wisdom of extraditing Kelly. Wasting taxpayers money with an unnecessary extradition or delaying action will allow the fraud to continue with success, one states.

The documents include depositions that show Erika Robinson, one of the founding member of FOFK, had a conversation with Bishop Stephen Blaire, the highest official at the Diocese of Stockton, in which she communicated that FOFK raised approximately $170,000 on Kellys behalf that remained unspent.

I did not want to hand over  the group did not want to hand over  all the money, and wed be stuck with the liability with no funds, so we negotiated that we could keep some of the money and we would keep the liability of Friends of Father Kelly because the diocese did not want to  I was going to try and make them sign some paper saying that they would have  there would be conditions on the money.

According to the deposition, Blaire suggested an arrangement in which, We (FOFK) keep some of the money and all the liability.

In a phone interview, Robinson said she still believes that Kelly has been wrongfully accused. There have been a few priests who have done some terrible things, she said. Father Kelly is just not one of them.

Who is FOFK?

Friends of Father Kelly first emerged in 2007 to fight allegations against Kelly and an initial suspension, which the diocese rescinded. Brigid Jenkins, who was a church member at St. Joachim Catholic Church in Lockeford, Kellys last post, said last September that she was very active with Friends of Father Kelly, even helping him pack for Ireland.

She said she did not consider herself a full member of FOFK because those people have deep pockets and gave a lot of money.

The Bee reported last year how members of FOFK considered Kelly an unfairly prosecuted martyr after he was found responsible in a civil trial for sexually abusing Travis Trotter, a former combat Airforce and Southwest Airlines pilot.

Hours after the verdict in 2012, Jenkins, during a service at St. Joachim Catholic Church, said, We have a martyr here. We are blessed to see a martyr in our midst.

Parishioners stretch their hands out in prayer for Michael Kelly on Friday, April 6, 2012, at St. Joachim Catholic Church in Lockeford, hours after he was found liable in a Calaveras County civil trial of of assault, sexual assault and abuse. Kelly served served as priest at the church since 2004. Lodi News-Sentinel

Reached 11 years later, Jenkins stated that she has not changed her opinion one iota about Kelly.

Calaveras County initially told The Bee last summer that it had no communications involving FOFK or the Diocese of Stockton. But in November the prosecutor said it had found documents and provided them to The Bee.

Among the documents is a June 14, 2014 letter from Paul Balestracci, the Diocese of Stockton attorney, to the Calaveras County DA. Blaire was ccd.

I had previously provided all the information to Detective Whitney of the Sheriff department, Balestracci wrote, but since the case has been filed. I am now sending the information directly to you.

The communication from Balestracci was written six months after Kelly was indicted and a federal complaint for unlawful flight had been issued by the U.S. Attorney in Sacramento.

Attached were a series of letters from FOFK members also addressed to the Calaveras County District Attorney. So, I ask again, how is the fraud investigation coming along? one states. A man has to live with the fear of extradition and jail for something he did not do.

The Diocese of Stockton did not respond to recent emailed questions about its relationship with FOFK.

In her letter to Bonta sent last week, Hampton questioned the relationship between FOFK and the diocese. At a time when the dioceses only interest should have been aiding in bringing Kelly to justice, they instead forwarded letters from a group who was in touch with Kelly, she said. The letters to the DA from FOFK disparaged my son and suggested those seeking to bring Kelly to justice were guilty of criminal fraud.

Father Michael Kelly stands with Trevor Martin, then about 10 years old, during the time Kelly sexually abused Trevor when he was an altar boy at St. Andrew Parish in Calaveras County. Courtesy Deanna Hampton

Wu said another important revelation in the depositions is that members of FOFK visited Kelly in Ireland, bringing him cash and using his services as a tour guide in Ireland.

Kelly communicated with FOFK members regularly, according to emails turned over by Calaveras County DA to The Bee as part of a public records request. The priest remained defiant, claiming, the bishop believes me.

Kelly also pitched a tour: I am looking into organizing a bus trip with a travel company I have been working with the past number of years. ... If you know anyone interested, let me know.

Multiple members of FOFK attended a tour in Ireland led by Kelly in 2013, according to depositions.

In 2012, shortly after Kelly initially fled, Chris Hewitt of the Calaveras County Sheriffs Office, voiced frustration with FOFK interfering with his investigator. Friends of Father Kelly, Hewitt told the Calaveras Enterprise, is just piling on, emailing him, sending him letters, just hindering his investigation.

Wu said he finds the FOFK involvement troubling. From a criminal standpoint, the group and the church could be charged with whatever they want to call it under California law, Wu said. But its basically obstruction of justice where youre aiding a fugitive.

A major disappointment

Melanie Sakoda, Survivor Support Director for SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, called Bontas letter to Hampton a major disappointment, the AG really punted here.

Sakoda said in 2019, then-State Attorney General Xavier Becerra was gathering information about Catholic Church abuse. She said the hope was that, like other states such as Pennsylvania, the state would pursue holding-to-account report or grand jury.

But, she said interest from the AGs office appeared to fizzle.

When Bonta agreed to review Trevor Martins case, there was hope, at least in this one case, there is going to be some transparency, she said.

Sakoda, a Stanford Law graduate, said she believes that Bonta erred by looking at the case where something just does not smell right too narrowly.

Was Friends of Father Kelly a proxy group working for the Diocese of Stockton to keep Kelly from being extradited? she said. What impact did the group have on the DAs Office? Was there a chilling effect on the DA?

If you want victims to have faith in the system, then you need to provide true transparency, she added. What victims got here was more of the same.

Sakoda said the revelation that another victim is still within the statute of limitations and is willing to assist with a prosecution is significant.

There are thousands of victims in California of priest abuse and many are very discouraged, she said. If Attorney General Bonta could find a way to bring Michael Kelly back to California to face to justice, that would give victims hope.
Monument Health's flagship hospital in Rapid City, S.D., had the state's lowest safety and quality rating from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in 2023.

After two years with the lowest possible health and safety rating from the federal government, Monument Health's score will rise from a 1-star to a 3-star rating when the new results are released publicly in July, the Rapid City hospital said Wednesday.

These achievements demonstrate the effectiveness of our ongoing quality initiatives, and we will continue to strive for excellence in all aspects of patient care," Jill Tice, Monument Health vice president of quality, safety and risk management, said in a news release.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ratings range from the lowest, a 1-star overall rating, to the highest, a 5-star rating, based on dozens of criteria in five major medical safety and quality categories.

Monument also said its hospital in Spearfish will receive a 5-star rating. Its Rapid City hospital will also see an increase from a "C" grade to a "B" grade when updated ratings are released this summer by the Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit hospital evaluation firm, it said. Leapfrog rates hospitals on a scale of A-F, with "A" the highest and "F" the lowest qualify ratings.

South Dakota News Watch recently reported that Monument Health's Rapid City hospital received the lowest federal quality rating possible over the past two years, according to CMS, which evaluates hospital safety and quality of patient care.

No other hospital in South Dakota or within a 200-mile radius of Rapid City had a 1-star rating in 2023, the latest year the ratings were released, and only about 8% of U.S. hospitals reviewed by CMS received a 1-star rating last year.

Among the 14 South Dakota hospitals in the state that received a CMS quality and safety rating in 2023, no hospital had a 2-star rating, two had a 3-star rating, four had a 4-star rating and seven had a 5-star rating, according to the CMS Care Compare website.

Improvement programs appear to pay off

Monument said the CMS ratings are based on data that is often a year or even several years old, and that the poor CMS ratings in 2022 and 2023 did not fully reflect the outcomes of a broad, ongoing effort to improve patient care and quality.

In 2019, Monument implemented daily staff huddles to highlight challenges and successes, and a 5-tier improvement program that seeks to document and address any issues or problems in a systemic and immediate way.

Monument Health reinforced our commitment to high-quality, safe patient care in 2019, Tice said in the release. "While the CMS star rating is still based on information dating back to 2019, it shows progress on our quality journey and using the same measurement with todays data would result in higher ratings."

While updated CMS ratings are not yet available for other state hospitals, a spokeswoman from the Leapfrog wrote to News Watch in April noting that no hospital in either South Dakota or North Dakota will receive an "A" grade in the 2024 ratings that will be released soon.

Past ratings reveal quality concerns

According to the latest public CMS review of Monument, updated in October 2023, the hospital was at or above national averages in several key areas, including in mortality rates for patients with strokes, heart attacks and chronic pulmonary disease.

The hospital also scored well in regard to patients not requiring readmission for any reason after discharge, a low rate of "central-line" catheter infections and it had a low rate of complications following surgeries. Costs for many procedures were also in line with national averages.

However, Monument was below state and national averages for percentage of patients receiving appropriate care for severe sepsis, in regard to length of time of visits to the emergency room, in the rate of surgical site infections after colon surgeries and in percentage of patients that received advanced breast screening after an initial mammogram.

Leapfrog, in its last publicly available rating, noted that Monument performed above average in quality of nursing care, safe medication administration, and organization leadership and staff cooperation to prevent errors.

But Leapfrog scored Monument below national averages in several areas, including in sepsis infections after surgery, accidental cuts and tears, dangerous blood clots, surgical wounds splitting open, site infections after colon surgery, patient falls and injuries and "deaths from serious treatable complications."

Monument: Infection rates have fallen

In the news release, Monument said the hospital has seen safety improvements in at least three areas:

A 37% drop in colorectal surgical site infections in 2022, with a 74% drop in the same infections from 2022 to 2023.

A 92% reduction in central-line catheter bloodstream infections in 2022-2023, and two years without that type of infection reported.

A 75% decline in hospital-onset Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections over the past nine months.

"While these scores provide valuable insight, Monument Health acknowledges that they are just part of the story. There will continue to be a delay in reporting from CMS and Leapfrog, Jay White, Monument executive medical director of quality and safety, said in the news release. Over time, these scores will accurately reflect the dedicated and quality care Monument Health physicians and caregivers provide today, and every day.

Monument added that the health group will soon launch a public quality dashboard to inform the public about future quality improvement initiatives and results in real time.

This story was produced by South Dakota News Watch, a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization. Read more in-depth stories at sdnewswatch.org and sign up for an email every few days to get stories as soon as they're published. Contact Bart Pfankuch at bart.pfankuch@sdnewswatch.org.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Monument Health: Rapid City hospital ratings have risen
The strike on a Russian training ground in Luhansk killed as many as 116 troops, the largest single losses of life for the aggressor in months - Clash Report

More than 100 Russian soldiers were reportedly killed when a volley of Atacms missiles hit a training base in eastern Ukraine in one of the highest single losses of Russian lives in months.

Drone footage shared on social media appeared to show at least four of the short-range ballistic missiles, armed with cluster warheads, smash the gathering of Russian troops in as little as 95 seconds.

Ukraine has been begging the US for months to supply high-precision, long-range Atacms missiles, before they were secretly shipped to Kyiv last month.

Western analysts said the attack occurred on a Russian training centre in between the towns of Kuban and Mozhnyakivka, about 50 miles behind the front lines in the Donbas region of Luhansk.

The strikes reportedly killed 116 Russian troops, the US-based Institute for the Study of War think-tank wrote in a report on Wednesday.

Such strikes are crucial

Neither the Russian nor Ukrainian defence ministries have commented on the reported attacks. But the surveillance footage from a Ukrainian drone showed a grouping of Russian forces and at least three armoured vehicles.

At first a dud missile appeared to smash into a field in the vicinity of the troops, sending a plume of dark smoke into the air. Shortly after comes a rapid burst of three explosions that blanket the area, with the distinctive smoke trails from cluster bomblets being scattered and detonated.

The Russian troops were preparing for an offensive on the neighbouring Kharkiv region, Oleksandr Musiienko, head of Ukraines Centre for Military-Legal Studies, said.

Such strikes in the Luhansk region are crucial, he said. Its precisely in the territory of the northeastern part of the Luhansk region that Russia has been training and coordinating its units, which were specifically preparing for an escalation of hostilities in the Kharkiv region, where Russia plans to reinforce its advance.

The strike took place in the northeastern part of the Luhansk region that Russia has been training and coordinating its units - Clash Report

Newer missile can strike targets up to 190 miles away

Deep strikes on Russian training grounds and command centres are seen as an important part of Ukraines strategy to halt Moscows momentum in the war.

Such attacks make it harder for Russian forces to prepare for offensive munitions and for commanders to hand down orders, analysts say.

The goal is to slow down the enemys offensive actions, Mr Musiienko said. Not allowing them to deploy into combat formations. While we await more advanced weaponry, its crucial to use what we have, namely Atacms, to strike the enemy in their rear and prevent them from advancing to the front line.

Ukraine received a small number of the cluster warhead Atacms missiles from the US last October. The older model has a range between 25 and 100 miles compared to the new versions, which can strike targets up to 190 miles away, that were donated as part of Washingtons most recent military aid package.

Kyiv sparingly the first tranche of about 20 cluster missiles to hit Russian airfields in a bid to eat away at Moscows dominance in the skies.

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Telemundo News and the Latin American Center for Investigative Journalism (CLIP), together with other partners, corroborated through official records the journey of some 19,000 people who attempted to reach the U.S. border inside cargo trucks through Mexican roadways, including some 3,000 children.

The heat inside the cargo truck was suffocating. The women were squatting against the walls holding the children on their legs; the men sat in rows, one behind the other, at the center. About 170 people were traveling in the container, in the dark and in forced silence.

Two weeks earlier, on January 4, 2019, Yanira Chavez had closed the reddish wooden door of her house in Armenia, a small town in northern Honduras. She had paid $5,000  an amount she would have never been able to save with her salary at a banana packing house  to a local coyote (smuggler) who promised to take her to the United States along with her children, Samir, who was 9 years old, and Emely, 5. Her husband, Erling Rosales, had paid for the trip and was waiting for them in New Orleans, where he had been living for two years now.

Chavez was carrying two huge black suitcases with little wheels that she bought for 1,200 lempiras (about $48) in a nearby town because the coyote assured her that they were going to cross Mexico by plane and they couldnt look like immigrants at the airports. Upon arriving in the United States, the family would have to pay the smugglers another $5,000.

Yanira Chavez (Ronny Rojas / Noticias Telemundo)

From San Pedro Sula they traveled by bus to the Guatemalan border with Mexico, which they crossed through a river by boat. Im now a little closer to you, she wrote in a text message to her husband. We didnt know, it didnt cross our minds, everything we still had to go through, Chavez recalled last October in an interview with Telemundo News. She spoke from Long Island, New York, where her family lives in uncertainty, after their asylum request was denied.

In Mexico, she said, they were taken to Villahermosa, a city in the state of Tabasco, where they expected to finally catch a plane. But there they had their phones taken and were forced to throw away their suitcases and board a trailer truck.

We said: Were not going, Chavez recalled, but by then it doesnt matter if you want to get in or not: you have to go, because if you dont, they threaten to turn you over the cartel.

They hadnt gone two miles when the truck stopped at a checkpoint and a child, around 2-years-old, began to cry. Either you shut him up or I do, a coyote demanded of the mother, while outside the vehicle was being inspected, according to Chavez. The smuggler, who was armed, snatched the boy from her, held him dangling by his head, and put one hand on the back of his neck and another on his face, covering his mouth: The mother just started crying. Then the boy fell fast asleep, she recalled.

They had barely any food or water. There were plastic buckets at each end of the trailer for those who couldnt hold in their bodily needs: People were fainting. A young woman told me not to let the children fall asleep, Chavez said.

They crossed 900 miles (almost 1,500 kilometers) from Villahermosa to Reynosa, in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. In four days they got off the trailer only twice. At one of the stops, already near the border, they walked for several hours up a mountain until nightfall to go around a police checkpoint. It was so cold it was horrible, Chavez said, we felt so weak, I couldnt walk as fast since I had my daughter. We hadnt had water in two days.

The 36-year-old woman claims that when she arrived in Reynosa, the coyotes who greeted them kidnapped her along with her children and her sister-in-law, who was traveling with two children, and held them in a hotel for two weeks with almost no food while they extorted her husband in New Orleans. Rosales paid $14,000 to have them released, she said. Finally, on February 3rd, after traveling for almost a month, Chavez and her children crossed the Rio Grande and surrendered to the Border Patrol in McAllen, Texas.

Migrants freed from truck in Mexico (Felix Marquez / filepicture alliance via Getty Images)

I think about the people who die in those containers. Its horrible to have to beg them, because they could maybe open the door, but they dont care. They want the money and to deliver the package, because they dont look at you as a person. They look at us as if we were cattle or animals, Chavez said from Long Island, New York, where her family lives in uncertainty, after their asylum request was denied.

Chavez and her children survived the harrowing journey, but many others have not.

For seven months, Telemundo News and the Latin American Center for Investigative Journalism (CLIP, in Spanish), together with Pie de Pagina and its allies Chiapas Paralelo, En un 2x3 Tamaulipas, and reporters in Veracruz, Plaza Publica in Guatemala, Contracorriente in Honduras, ICIJ in Dominican Republic and Bellingcat, investigated the flourishing business of smuggling migrants in tractor-trailers across Mexican highways.

We interviewed survivors, researchers and former officials, and reviewed thousands of pages of documents. Based on statements from federal institutions and press reports, we created a database with more than 170 cases of trucks that were involved in traffic accidents or were detained or abandoned between 2018 and 2023, which offer important clues about how smugglers operate.

About 19,000 migrants have traveled in these cargo trucks, including more than 3,200 minors. At least 111 migrants who were traveling in tractor-trailers in Mexico have died in the last six years, suffocated to death by the heat and lack of oxygen, or in traffic accidents, among them the trailer that overturned in December 2021 in the state of Chiapas, when 56 people died.

Due to the inconsistent quality of the data, and because Mexican authorities only began tracking cases since 2022, following the Chiapas accident, the data reveals only a small portion of this form of human trafficking.

To continue reading the special report, click here.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
More than half of protesters arrested at Northeastern not affiliated with university, school says

More than half of the 98 protesters arrested at Northeastern University last weekend are not affiliated with the large urban school in Boston, university officials said Thursday.

The recent arrests on the Northeastern campus came amid pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses in the Boston area and across the nation.

Protesters who set up a tent encampment on Northeasterns campus are among campus protesters across the country who are calling for schools to cut financial ties to Israel.

The encampment was an unauthorized occupation of university space. Protesters not affiliated with Northeastern were trespassing on private property, Northeastern officials said in a statement on Thursday.

Northeastern University police remove and arrest protesters one by one as they sit in zip tie handcuffs at the tent encampment on campus in Boston, Saturday, April 27, 2024. Dozens of NU students and other protesters who set up tents with them on the NU campus were arrested by state, Boston and NU police. (John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via AP)

Additionally, Northeastern students involved in the protest were in violation of longstanding university policy on demonstrations. The policy is included in the Code of Student Conduct, university officials said.

According to the police report, 98 people were arrested last weekend, including 29 Northeastern students and 6 Northeastern faculty and staff, university officials said.

The balance, 63 individuals, are not affiliated with Northeastern, university officials said.

Protesters confront police at Northeastern University in Boston on Saturday, April 27, 2024. Officers arrested about 100 people on Saturday morning as demonstrators locked arms and chanted slogans. The encampment at Northeastern was one of several that demonstrators set up at universities in the Boston area this week. (Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via AP)

Northeastern officials said numerous attempts were made by the universitys Student Life staff to engage directly with the protesters but were repeatedly rejected.

The decision to disperse the encampment was made 24 hours in advance of Saturday mornings action by NUPD and its law enforcement partners, university officials said. Over the course of two days, a steadily growing number of protesters were not affiliated with the university. The Northeastern University Police Department concluded that the protest would soon present a threat to the safety of all involved.

Protesters were given several advance notices that the encampment would be dismantled, and they were offered multiple opportunities to leave and face no legal consequences, school officials said.

Several protesters that that opportunity, and those who refused to leave were detained by police, university officials said.

Students who produced a valid Northeastern ID before arrest were released and will face disciplinary proceedings in accordance with the Code Student of Conduct, not legal action, university officials said. Those not affiliated with Northeastern were arrested.

Police clear an encampment on the Northeastern University campus in Boston, early Saturday, April 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Casey)

The arrests and encampments at Northeastern came amid ongoing protests over the Israel-Hamas war seen at colleges and universities across the country, and reports of antisemitic activity on college campuses across America.

Tuesday night, violence erupted at UCLA in Los Angeles, hours after police forced their way into Hamilton Hall on New Yorks Columbia University campus and cleared the building that had been taken over by a pro-Palestinian group.

Last week, at Emerson College in Boston, more than 100 people were arrested and four officers were injured after police clashed with protesters and tore down an encampment protesting the Israel-Hamas war on Emersons campus.

Over in Medford, hundreds of Tufts University students are threatening to boycott the schools upcoming commencement on May 19 amid pro-Palestinian protests on the Tufts campus.

In an open letter addressed to Tufts President Sunil Kumar, more than 250 members of the graduating class have pledged to boycott commencement if the university employs police violence, sweeps the encampment or arrests students.

With the ongoing protests and violent clashes on campuses, concerns have grown about reports of antisemitic activity on college campuses across America.

House Republicans this week launched an investigation into federal funding for universities amid the campus protests and reports of growing antisemitism on college and university campuses, The Associated Press reported.

We will not allow antisemitism to thrive on campus, and we will hold these universities accountable for their failure to protect Jewish students on campus, House Speaker Mike Johnson said at a news conference on Tuesday.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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More and more Americans see China as an enemy

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A growing number of Americans see China as an enemy, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center that highlights mounting popular antipathy towards the Asian giant even as political relations appear to stabilize.

For the fifth consecutive year, most Americans have an unfavorable view of China, according to Pew. More than 80% of US adults view the nation unfavorably, including 43% who classified their views as very unfavorable.

Just 6% of Americans see China as a partner to the US, while 50% called it a competitor and 42% an enemy, compared with just a quarter two years ago.

Republican voters and right-leaning independents are about twice as likely as their liberal counterparts to hold a very unfavorable view of China and to classify the nation as an enemy of the US. Older Americans are also more critical of China; 61% of adults age 65 and older hold a very unfavorable view.

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Americans blame China for economic woes in possible boost for Trump

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Sources: Pew Research Center, The Council on Foreign Relations, The Wall Street Journal

About two thirds of Americans think China has a great deal or a fair amount of negative influence on the US economy, Pew found, and Americans who say the USs economic situation is bad are more likely to hold an unfavorable opinion of China.

As US trade with China has ballooned, US consumers have benefited from cheaper goods. But at the same time, competition over imports has led to US manufacturing workers losing their jobs. And in areas of the country particularly harmed by competition with China, political polarization has increased. Some experts argue that the China shock helped Donald Trump rise to power in 2016  raising the question of whether a growing negative sentiment towards the country could boost his candidacy in this years elections.

Despite unfavorable views from public, US-China relations are stabilizing

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Sources: CNBC, The United States Institute of Peace

Despite the surveys findings, China-US relations are slowly stabilizing, experts say. The relationship is becoming slightly more stable, even though fundamentally it remains a struggle, a Harvard University government professor told CNBCs Squawk Box Asia this week. The US has recently taken steps to increase dialogue with China; Last month, presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden talked on the phone for the first time in two years, and both Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visited the nation.

The good news, according to China researchers at the United States Institute of Peace, is that these recent visits show that both sides sincerely seem to want a more stable bilateral relationship. The bad news? Each side wants the other to take the first step.

It goes both ways: most Chinese hold negative view of US

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Source: The Carter Center

A 2021 poll conducted by The Carter Centers US-China Perception Monitor found that most people in China have a negative view of the US, with 62% reporting an unfavorable or unfavorable view versus 37% who held a positive view.

The Carter Center also found that most Chinese people (78%) think China is internationally viewed favorably or very favorably, suggesting a significant gap in perception. Experts pointed out that the discrepancy is noteworthy: Its important that those of us in the West dont assume that the world shares our narrative on Beijing, said Jude Blanchette of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

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SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI)  As a way to recognize the contributions of people of Asian and Pacific Islander descent in the state of California, May was recently declared by Governor Gavin Newsom as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Other parts of the country have expanded on it, referring to May as Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month.

However, a new survey conducted by Savanta Research found that a majority of Americans are largely unfamiliar with key events that happened in the history of the country involving people of Asian descent.

Governor declares May Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Additionally, it found that more than half of all Americans have limited knowledge about Native Hawaiians or Pacific Islanders.

The methodology behind the research included a survey of about 6,300 respondents across the U.S. over the age of 16. The survey was conducted between January and March, and is meant to build upon consecutive years of research. The full methodology can be found in the report here.

According to the study, 55% of Americans could not name an event or policy related to Asian Americans. Most of the people who struggled to give an answer belonged in the younger demographic, between the ages of 16 to 34.

Of those who did answer, 15% recalled the incarceration of Japanese Americans while 3% said blamed for COVID-19, Pearl Harbor, and Other WWII events. Two percent said building railroads.

Only 17% of Americans expressed they were familiar with the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, which was passed by Congress and implemented a 10-year ban on working immigrants entering the country from China.

Where to celebrate Cinco de Mayo in the San Diego area

The survey also showed many Americans are unaware of more recent events impacting Asian Americans, including last years mass shooting in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay (43%) and the Atlanta spa slayings in 2021 (39%).

When it comes to celebrities, more than half of all Americans could not name a famous Asian American, the study said. Nine percent said Jackie Chan and 5% said Bruce Lee. Other respondents were able to name Kamala Harris (2%), George Takei (1%) and Michelle Yeoh (1%).

Half of Americans also could not name a famous Native American or Pacific Islander, according to the survey. Of the people who were able to respond, the most common answers were The Rock/Dwayne Johnson (16%) and Jason Momoa (8%).

The results were determined using the STAATUS Index, which stands for social tracking of Asian Americans in the United States. The annual survey launched in 2021 to help researchers understand how perspectives of AANHPI people have changed over time.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News.
Janet Morrison-Heberling says shes grateful for the close and loving relationship she had with her daughter Brianna Sanner.

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She had an infectious laugh. A beautiful smile, said Morrison-Heberling. Loved her momma. We used to hug and smooch each other all the time.

Tragically, Briannas life was cut short in 2022 when she was just 30 years old. Brianna died from fentanyl-laced heroin, leaving behind her young son.

There comes a time in your grief that you have to find purpose and purpose for me now is advocating for these kids that could possibly end up like mine, said Morrison-Heberling. I had to find a purpose for her.

Read: Boeings Starliner flight test: Meet the astronauts

That advocacy is what brought the Pennsylvania native to Capitol Hill. Morrison-Heberling has been a strong supporter of a new law called the FEND off Fentanyl Act. Its a sanctions and anti-money laundering bill.

The law expands sanctions for fentanyl traffickers in Mexico and manufacturers in China. It also declares the international trafficking of fentanyl a national emergency.

The law was a rare case of having overwhelming support from both Democrats and Republicans in Congress.

Our Washington News Bureau spoke with Morrison-Herberling alongside Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA). Casey is one of 68 cosponsors in the Senate.

Read: Apple working on a fix for bug causing iPhone alarm issues

The main thing is going after those who are trafficking in fentanyl and hitting them at their bottom line where theyre making money, said Casey.

Casey praised the bipartisan effort in Congress to pass the law.

Its a devastating tragedy for the country that knows no political party, said Casey about the fentanyl epidemic.

We have to hit them where it hurts and thats their wallets, said Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) during a Senate hearing in January. The illicit money engine needs to be turned off.

Read: Biden cancels $6.1 billion in student debt for former Art Institute students

Scott is a lead sponsor of the Senate bill.

Morrison-Heberling said shes thankful for the new law, which she hopes can help save others from the same fate as her daughter.

It certainly is a huge positive step in the right direction, said Morrison-Heberling.

But she cautions the hard work is still not over. Shes focusing a lot on awareness about the dangers of fentanyl, as Congress debates other ways to combat the fentanyl crisis.

Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
TEHRAN, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and the European Union (EU)'s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, Josep Borrell, have recently exchanged views on ties between Tehran and the bloc as well as tensions in the Middle East.

In a phone call on Wednesday night, the two sides discussed the latest developments in the Gaza Strip, according to a statement by the Iranian Foreign Ministry on Thursday.

During the talks, Amir-Abdollahian highlighted the necessity to end Israel's "war crimes" against the people of Gaza as soon as possible, calling for serious regional and international measures and efforts to resolve the crisis, with the United Nations playing a "real role."

He also pointed to the "constructive role" of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in helping ensure sustainable security in the region and fighting terrorism, calling on the EU to "respect" Iran's armed forces within the framework of international law.

The Iranian minister added that he welcomed the continuation of dialogue between Iran and the EU to promote bilateral cooperation.

Amir-Abdollahian also confirmed to Borrell that the cooperation between Tehran and the International Atomic Energy Agency was on a "good track."

For his part, the EU foreign policy chief emphasized that the bloc did not seek tension with Iran, welcoming "constructive measures and positive steps" from Iran, concurrent with the ongoing diplomatic consultations between the two sides.

Borrell stressed extensive international demands for achieving, as soon as possible, a ceasefire in Gaza and exchanging captives, urging all parties to focus efforts on ensuring lasting peace and stability through the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

He also welcomed Iran's positive role in reducing regional tensions and restoring peace and stability to the region. 
In move to halt trade with Israel, Turkey reportedly blocks imports, exports at Turkish ports

On Thursday, Turkey ended trade with Israel, blocking Israeli imports and exports at Turkish ports. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz lashed out at Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (pictured 2023), accusing him of behaving like a dictator and violating trade agreements. File Photo by Jason Szenes/UPI

May 2 (UPI) -- Turkey on Thursday suspended trade with Israel as Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Turkish ports have blocked Israeli imports and exports.

According to media reports, two Turkish government officials with knowledge of the situation said that Turkey has completely suspended trade with Israel.

In a post on X, Katz lashed out at President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for cutting off commerce between the nations.

"This is how a dictator behaves, disregarding the interests of the Turkish people and businessmen, and ignoring international trade agreements," Katz posted on X.

He added that "Erdogan is breaking agreements by blocking ports for Israeli imports and exports."

Katz said Israeli Director General Yaakov Blitshtein has been ordered to create alternatives to trade with Turkey. Israel and Turkey have had free trade agreements from the mid-1990s.

Israel's Foreign Ministry did not immediately clarify which specific ports Turkey is using to block Israeli trade. Israel imports oil from Azerbaijan through Turkey's Ceyhan port on the Mediterranean.

Prior to Thursday's action, Turkey in April imposed trade restrictions on 54 product groups affecting Israel.

As of Thursday afternoon Turkey had not made a formal announcement on ending trade with Israel.

Israeli-Turkish relations have suffered amid the Gaza war.

This development affects billions of dollars in bilateral trade between the nations. According to the Turkish Statistical Institute, total trade with Israel was $6.8 billion in 2023.
MS official pleads guilty, admits buying kilo of drugs for CBD and kratom sales in MS, NC

Biloxi Councilman Robert Leon Deming III pleaded guilty to a federal drug charge Wednesday for selling products containing synthetic cannabinoids at his CBD and kratom stores in Mississippi and North Carolina.

Deming arrived at the federal courthouse in Gulfport early, and soon, over 20 supporters, including family and friends, followed him into the courtroom for his plea hearing.

Deming stood before U.S. District Judge Taylor McNeel and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance at his nine Candy Shop stores.

In his plea, he specifically admitted to selling products containing synthetic cannabinoids at his store on U.S. 90in Ocean Springs.

Had the case gone to trial, Assistant U. S. Attorney Jonathan Butler said prosecutors would have been able to show that Deming knew, or should have known, that synthetic cannabinoids had been added to some of the vape products sold at his stores.

In addition, Buckner said, investigators found that Deming personally paid $2,200 for a kilo of the synthetic cannabinoids added to some of his vape products.

Deming opened his CBD and kratom stores in Mississippi and North Carolina in 2019, the prosecutor said. Federal and state drug agents launched a year later, in 2020, because of reports of customers getting sick after using drug-infused vape products.

Authorities later obtained products sold at the stores and subsequent testing showed some of the products contained the Schedule I controlled substances.

Robert Deming III and his girlfriend arrive at Dan M. Russell Jr. Federal Courthouse in Gulfport on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, for Deming to plead guilty to selling products containing synthetic cannabinoids at his Candy Shop kratom stores.

During the two years that followed the launch of the criminal investigation, Buckner said, investigators determined that Deming had personally purchased some of the drugs that were used as additives in the products.

The sale of such products, the prosecutor said, brought in as much as $2 million from the stores.

Though the federal charge Deming pleaded guilty to carries a maximum sentence of up to 20 years, prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence ranging from 5 to 7 1/2 years in prison.

Judge McNeel pointed out that he was not bound to follow the recommendation.

In exchange for his plea, prosecutors dismissed two additional charges, one for drug conspiracy and another for the destruction, alteration or falsification of records in a federal investigation.

A public officials side job should not be running a business that distributes millions of dollars in illegal controlled substances and endangers the health and safety of its customers, said U.S. Attorney Todd Gee. We appreciate the hard work of investigators with the DEA, FDA, and MBN to put a stop to the distribution of these dangerous vape additives.

Robert Deming III

A deferred sentencing

After entering the plea, Judge McNeel deferred sentencing until Aug. 13 pending a pre-sentence investigative report.

Demings attorney then asked the judge to consider allowing Deming to remain free under house arrest pending his sentencing and assignment to a federal prison.

The judge agreed to do so because Deming, a longtime lawyer, needed more time to close out the cases of about 40 clients he had been representing before his guilty plea.

In addition, Deming is working to resolve any tax obligations before he is sent away to prison.

Deming told the Sun Herald, before and after court, that he was going to hold off on any comments, but would address the matter at a later date.

Because Deming is now a convicted felon, he is not eligible to serve in public office, though its unclear when he plans to resign from the City Council.

The investigation

After agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration clamped down on their criminal investigation into The Candy Shop and its owners, identified as Deming and Damion Fletcher, and employees, suppliers, and alleged co-conspirators, they soon confirmed the drug sales at the CBD and kratom stores.

Because authorities knew customers were getting sick from some of the products sold at the stores, they did a financial records check and learned that Demings stores were bringing in significantly larger profits from sales at the nine Candy Shop stores compared to businesses that sold similar products.

In addition, the investigators found it suspect that Deming had made high-end purchases with cash, like $500,000 he paid for a Biloxi home and other cash he spent on fancy cars.

Eight months after the January 2023 raids, authorities arrested Deming in a traffic stop in Biloxi.

Shuffling money around and co-mingling funds

After he got out of jail, Deming closed his personal bank accounts and his attorney trust account.

Robert Deming III, left, and Demings family members leave Dan M. Russell Jr. Federal Courthouse in Gulfport on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, after Deming pleaded guilty to selling products containing synthetic cannabinoids at his Candy Shop kratom stores.

Five days later, Deming opened new accounts at other banks and shuffled the money around. Federal investigators said the money had been co-mingled with proceeds from the illicit drug sales.

Seizing over cash and property

In the days ahead of the plea hearing, federal authorities outlined their plans to seize over $2 million in cash, and more, from Deming.

The forfeitures include over $1.8 million in cash seized for Demings Biloxi home, one personal vehicle and a 2000 Ford-350 Monster truck that was used for store promotions.

The federal investigators found the money and other items during the January 2023 simultaneous raids of his stores in two states and home.

Robert Demings attorney, W. Fred Dub Hornsby, arrives at Dan M. Russell Jr. Federal Courthouse in Gulfport on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, for Deming to plead guilty to selling products containing synthetic cannabinoids at his Candy Shop kratom stores.

In addition, federal authorities provided specifics about the other cash and property up for seizure, as listed below:

$73,328.24 in cash from the Candy Shop store in Ocean Springs.

$21,597 in cash from a Wells Fargo bank account in the name of Robert L. Deming.

$56,214 in cash from a Wells Fargo bank account in the name of Robert Deming Attorneys at Law.

$26,667 in cash from a Woodforest National bank account in the name of DK Marine LLC, a business for which Deming is listed as the registered agent and owner.

The DEA, MBN and the officers with U.S. Food and Drug Administration Office investigated the case.

Buckner and Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee Smith prosecuted the case.
MTA invests in cameras to crack down on cars parked in bus lanes

MTA invests in cameras to crack down on cars parked in bus lanes

NEW YORK (PIX11)  The MTA is expanding its high-tech crackdown on vehicles in designated bus lanes.

The agency invested $140 million in camera systems that automatically ticket owners of cars illegally parked in bus lanes.

MTA buses on Q54 route in Queens equipped with cameras to catch bus lane violators

The MTA says it plans to install cameras on 2,000 buses within three years. There are currently cameras on about 600 buses.

Drivers are facing a $50 for their first offense that can climb to $250 for multiple tickets.

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.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) cited one of the most prominent historical antisemitic narratives as her reason for not approving legislation aimed at combating antisemitism on Wednesday. Greene posted on the site formerly known as Twitter to explain her thinking.

Antisemitism is wrong, but I will not be voting for the Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2023 (H.R. 6090) today that could convict Christians of antisemitism for believing the Gospel that says Jesus was handed over to Herod to be crucified by the Jews, Greene wrote.

Greenes comment was accompanied by a photo of the bill text, which said it would use the definition of antisemitism adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance in 2016. The text noted this includes claims of Jews killing Jesus, which it described as classic antisemitism.

The belief apparently espoused by Greene is indeed one of the most well known forms of antisemitism. Various experts have described efforts to collectively blame the Jewish people for killing Jesus Christ as one of the major drivers of antisemitism for centuries. It is also  particularly in the way it was described by Greene  a false narrative.

Christ, who Christians revere as the son of God, was a Jewish religious figure who lived in the ancient Roman province of Judaea, which was largely located in what is currently Israel and the Palestinian territories. His teachings and growing following caused tensions with the established Roman and Jewish religious leaders in the province. Christ was ultimately crucified in the first century by the provinces Roman governor, Pontius Pilate.

While some Jewish religious leaders and people in the province urged on the crucifixion, it was ordered by the Roman leader. The Christian Bible also describes many Jews who were distressed by Christs execution.

Nevertheless, claims like Greenes collectively blaming all Jews, rather than focusing on individuals or including the Roman role, have persisted.

The role the narrative Greene cited as inspiring her opposition to the legislation has played in driving antisemitism  including violence  has led some Christian leaders to specifically clarify the matter. For example, in 2011, the late Pope Benedict XVI declared that there was no scriptural basis for the claim and wrote that Jews are not responsible for killing Jesus.

None of that stopped Greene, whose version of the classically antisemitic narrative was inaccurate on another level as well. Greene suggested Christ was handed over to be crucified by the Jews by Herod Antipas, who was the leader of a northern province that Christ was from. In fact, the Christian Bibles Gospel of Luke specifies that Herod sent him back to Pilate, who ordered the crucifixion, which was carried out by Roman soldiers.

The Antisemitism Awareness Act was led by Rep. Michael Lawler (R-NY) as a response to the protests against Israels war in Gaza, which have rocked college campuses in recent weeks. The legislation was mostly driven by Republicans, but it had 15 Democratic co-sponsors.

According to the Washington Post, backers described the bill as designed to help the federal government crack down on the protests, which they see as having antisemitic elements. Some Democrats objected and argued it was an effort to restrict political protest.

The measure passed by a vote of 320-91 on Wednesday.

Correction: Due to an editing error, an earlier version of this story referred to King Herod the Great rather than Herod Antipas, who was his son.
After Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) declared House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) the Democrat Speaker of the House on Twitter Tuesday, the newly-inducted Republican National Committee co-chair Michael Whatley sat Greene down and asked her nicely to cut it out with the whole motion to vacate thing.

He said, one, this is not helpful, and two, we want to expand and grow the majority in the House, a person familiar with the discussion told Politico. He was clear that any disruption to the conference on these efforts  including filing this  does not help the case for party unity.

The message was not received, according to Politico. She told the Donald Trump-handpicked RNC leader that there was plenty of time for another speakership ousting, and for Americans to then forget about it, before the election. She also reportedly mentioned that Trump himself had communicated the same message to her personally earlier in the day Tuesday and she had no plans of budging.

Greene is mad about a number of legislative moves that Johnson has made with Democrats to get bills through the House, including the recent passage of crucial aid to Ukraine. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) has since backed her up on this front, but thus far, hes the only Republican willing to support her efforts to oust the speaker in the same way her bud Matt Gaetz did with Kevin McCarthy last fall.

In announcing that she intends to file a motion to vacate against Johnson next week earlier today, Greene made it clear that a significant part of her interest in going through with the doomed-procedural move is so that she can revel in seeing Democrats give Johnson a warm hug and a big wet sloppy kiss.

Well I find it very satisfying that [Democrats] are ready to vote for Mike Johnson. And you wanna know something? I wanna see it happen, she said during a press conference with Massie outside the Capitol building Tuesday morning. Next week I am gonna be callin this motion to vacate. Absolutely calling it. I cant wait to see Democrats go out and support a Republican speaker.

The problem is, thats not quite the own that Greene thinks it is. On Tuesday, House Democratic leadership put out a statement announcing that if Greene files the motion to vacate, Democrats will vote to table it  in part due to an interest in moving onto other legislation now that foreign aid package has been passed.

Upon completion of our national security work, the time has come to turn the page on this chapter of Pro-Putin Republican obstruction, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said in the statement, alongside his deputies Reps. Katherine Clark (D-MA) and Pete Aguilar (D-CA).

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Multibillion-dollar plan to build luxury resorts threatens natural coastal area: 'This jewel is at risk of being lost forever'

A massive area of pristine land known for its incredible biodiversity  an "oasis for nature," as Inside Climate News called it  is under threat of being demolished for development into a tourist destination.

What's happening?

Albania's Vjose River feeds into a 59,000-acre delta that features a 10,000-acre lagoon. The delta was largely untouched by humans and is considered the largest and most pristine river delta along the Mediterranean. According to Inside Climate News, that could change thanks to the Albanian government and outside investors, including former senior White House advisor Jared Kushner.

The Albanian government is paving the way for the area's development by constructing an international airport close to the lagoon. The airport is just the first step in the European country's goal of turning the area into the "Albanian Riviera," lined with five-star resorts, per Inside Climate News.

Kushner's company, Affinity Partners, is one of the groups heavily invested in the area's future. Its investment pot is $3.1 billion, much of which comes from the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund. Kushner is reportedly focused on the uninhabited Sazan island and the Zvernec peninsula, hoping to add several resorts with up to 10,000 hotel rooms and villas.

Why the plans are concerning

"These developments are highly alarming, and we are strongly concerned about losing the last natural coastal areas in the Mediterranean," said Annette Spangenberg, head of conservation at environmental NGO EuroNatur, per Inside Climate News.

The tourist development will wipe out thousands of acres of natural land, destroying the area's rich biodiversity, the news outlet reported. The Narte lagoon is also a major migration stop between Europe and Africa for birds. It's an important breeding and feeding ground for birds like Dalmatian pelicans, flamingos, and spoonbills.

"This jewel is at risk of being lost forever," warns global NGO Birdlife International.

What is being done to protect the Vjose delta?

The Vjose River, which feeds into the delta, is one of the last undammed rivers in Europe outside Russia, running freely for around 170 miles.

"Its survival as an undammed river is largely thanks to international campaigners who have for the past decade successfully prevented the Albanian government from building large hydroelectric dams in its upper reaches," Yale Environment 360 journalist Fred Pearce wrote in the article for Inside Climate News.

The international pressure prompted the Albanian government to shut down any development in the newly created Vjose Wild River National Park, sometimes spelled as Vjosa. However, the protections only cover the river, not the delta.

According to Inside Climate News, the Sazan island and Zvernec peninsula  where Kushner's company is looking to develop  are protected areas, but the Albanian parliament recently changed a law to override existing protection laws.

EuroNatur and Protection and Preservation of Natural Environment in Albania are two of the conservation groups fighting to protect the delta and taking the government to court over the issue.

"The president [former military chief Bajram Begaj] ratified the law just three days after the Kushner plans became public," said PPNEA's pelican conservation coordinator, Zydjon Vorpsi. "We are in no doubt that the two are connected."

What can I do to help preserve natural areas?

Donating money to organizations like PPNEA is a great way to support preservation efforts. Even if you don't live in Albania, what's happening there is a good reminder to vote for pro-climate candidates to ensure that your government is working to protect these vital areas instead of exploiting them.

Join our free newsletter for cool news and actionable info that makes it easy to help yourself while helping the planet.
CHICAGO  A first-degree murder charge was approved by Cook County prosecutors Thursday in the fatal April shooting of off-duty Chicago police officer Luis Huesca.

Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxxs office said in a statement Thursday that 22-year-old Xavier Tate Jr. was charged with first-degree murder for allegedly killing Huesca on April 21 near the officers Gage Park home. Tate is scheduled to make his first court appearance Friday.

While we take this critical step, we will continue to gather and analyze further evidence, Foxx said in a statement. We extend our deepest sympathies to the family of Officer Huesca and recognize the courage of all our officers. We remain steadfast in our pursuit to ensure that justice is served for Officer Huesca and the city he served.

Tate was taken into custody Wednesday in west suburban Glendale Heights, police previously said. A CPD source said the arresting officers used Huescas handcuffs to arrest Tate. Authorities previously announced a combined $100,000 reward for public information leading to Tates arrest and conviction.

Cook County court records show Tate was arrested last March in south suburban Olympia Fields and charged with criminal trespass to a residence. That case remains pending.

Court records from Kane County, meanwhile, show Tate was arrested in February and charged with obstructing a police officer. He was also arrested in 2023 and charged with obstruction, and both those cases remain active, records show. In the last five years, Tate has been cited 10 times for alleged traffic violations in Kane County.

Huesca, a six-year veteran of CPD, was shot multiple times in the 3100 block of West 56th Street while off-duty but in uniform early on April 21. His gun and vehicle were also taken at the scene of the shooting but were later recovered.

Officers last week arrested a relative of Tates who allegedly had come to possess Huescas gun. That man, arrested in Morgan Park, now faces a charge of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, court records show.

On what wouldve been Huescas 31st birthday last week, the CPD announced that the officer died in the line of duty, entitling his family to survivors death benefits. At his funeral Monday, Huesca was remembered as an exceptional person with courage, bravery, humility and pride in your work.

____
N.C. man gets 18-month sentence for emailed threats to Charlotte Jewish organization in 2023

GREENSBORO, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  A 64-year-old Troy man received an 18-month sentence for his role in a 2023 email threat to a Charlotte Jewish organization on Wednesday.

Jeffrey Scott Hobgood must also serve a 3-year term of supervised release and 20 hours of community service weekly for twelve weeks. He pled guilty to communicating threats in interstate commerce on Jan. 3.

Take out every one of you. FBI arrests man accused of threatening Charlotte Jewish community center

On Oct. 11, 2023, Hobgood sent a threatening email to a Jewish organization located in Charlotte, North Carolina, addressing the recipients as Israeli jews of David star, and threatening to take every one of you out, writing that you semite [sic] pieces of s- will be annihilated. Two days later, the man sent a second threatening email to the same organization, again referencing the religion of the recipients.

In his plea agreement, the man admitted targeting the victims over religion.

The FBIs civil rights and public corruption squad, the Troy Police Department, and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department worked on the investigation.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
Former French Prime Minister Laurent Fabius speaks at the second China-France forum on global governance in Paris, France, on May 2, 2024. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

PARIS, May 2 (Xinhua) -- More than 100 Chinese and French experts gathered in Paris on Thursday to explore ways to build a multilateral future by deepening global governance reforms.

At the second China-France forum on global governance, former French Prime Minister Laurent Fabius said France and China "share certain close -- even identical -- visions on global governance."

He said that multilateralism appears as "the most effective way to address most issues in our multipolar world," in such areas as security, economy, environment, and many others.

Fabius called on the two countries to work together to tackle global challenges, adding that by practicing true multilateralism, France and China will benefit the entire world.

The forum, held in the year that marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of Chinese-French diplomatic relations, is aimed at upholding the "China-France spirit," pooling more consensus and wisdom, and building a more solid and dynamic bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership, Du Zhanyuan, president of China International Communications Group (CICG), said in his opening speech.

He said the forum called for true multilateralism and pushing forward global governance in a fairer and more equitable direction.

Experts from both sides held in-depth discussions on four modules including building and maintaining peace, science and technological innovation and development, low-carbon and sustainable development, and exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations.

They expressed their common belief that true multilateralism is essential in improving global governance and pushing forward the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

The forum was sponsored by the Academy of Contemporary China and World Studies and China-Europe-America Global Initiative, under the guidance of the State Council Information Office of China and the CICG. 

Du Zhanyuan, president of China International Communications Group (CICG), speaks at the second China-France forum on global governance in Paris, France, on May 2, 2024. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

Chinese and French experts attend the second China-France forum on global governance in Paris, France, on May 2, 2024. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)

Chinese and French experts attend the second China-France forum on global governance in Paris, France, on May 2, 2024. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)
The NAACP has called for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate the death of a 53-year-old Black man who died after repeatedly telling police officers he couldnt breathe as they arrested him.

Frank Tyson died after Ohio police officers confronted him in a bar at the American Veterans (AMVETS) post in Canton on April 18.

In a letter to Kristen Clarke, the assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Justice Department, NAACPs president and CEO Derrick Johnson said he was deeply troubled by this horrific tragedy.

Without federal intervention, the police officers may not be held accountable for their actions, Johnson said in the letter, first obtained by NBC News. We seek justice and accountability.

A spokesperson for the DOJ confirmed to The Hill that the department received the letter, but declined further comment at this time.

Video footage of the encounter showed that as Tyson was handcuffed, one of the officers placed his knee on Tysons upper body. Tyson proceeds to tell officers, I cant breathe, but officers dont appear to react.

After officers sit Tyson up, he stops moving and appears unresponsive. First responders administered CPR and multiple doses of Narcan before Canton Fire Department medics arrived.

Tyson was eventually transported to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 9:18 p.m.

Tysons death is reminiscent of the 2020 murder of George Floyd, a Black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for more than 9 minutes.

Floyd, too, told officers during his arrest, I cant breathe.

Frank Tyson should be alive today, Johnson posted Wednesday on the social platform X. Nearly 4 years after the tragic death of George Floyd, we are forced to bear witness to yet another unarmed Black man cry out for air at the hands of law enforcement.

Canton Police Department identified Beau Schoenegge and Camden Burch as the two primary officers on April 18. The two, assigned to the traffic bureau, are on paid administrative leave pending an investigation.

Bobby DiCello, an attorney for Tysons family, told NBC News that the Canton Police Department disregarded Tysons humanity.

It is outrageous that in 2024 an officer put their knee on anyone and that when he last spoke and said, I cant breathe, the last words he may have heard were, Youre fine, eff you, DiCello said. He may not have been able to discern that. Thats where the Canton officers said the quiet part of George Floyds death out loud. Theyre saying the quiet part out loud. You can do it by your actions or you could tell it to their face.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
NAACP calls for federal investigation into death of handcuffed Ohio man who told police 'I can't breathe'

The president of the NAACP is calling for a federal investigation into the death of a 53-year-old Black man who died after repeatedly telling officers from the Canton Police Department in Ohio I cant breathe as they pinned him to the floor of a bar while he was handcuffed prone.

The death of Frank Tyson has drawn comparisons to the killing of George Floyd, who died in Minneapolis police custody in May 2020.

In a letter first shared with NBC News and addressed to Kristen Clarke, the assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Justice Department, the NAACP said it was deeply troubled by this horrific tragedy.

Without federal intervention, the police officers may not be held accountable for their actions, NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson said in the letter. We seek justice and accountability.

The Canton Police Department declined to comment.

Aryele Bradford, a Justice Department spokesperson, confirmed receipt of the letter but declined to comment further.

A spokesperson for BCI, which has been asked to conduct an independent criminal investigation, did not comment on the NAACPs letter, but said in a statement that the agencys investigations are not administrative and do not address any potential policy or procedural violations.

In a nearly 36-minute body camera video of the April 18 encounter released last week by the police department, officers are seen apprehending Tyson at an AMVETS lodge. Officers had responded to a single-car crash nearby. When they entered the bar, officers were asked to remove Tyson, who refused to leave. He repeatedly said They are trying to kill me and Call the sheriff.

Police have said Beau Schoenegge and Camden Burch are the two primary officers who responded to the call. Both joined the department in 2022 and have been placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation under department policy.

Officers wrestled Tyson to the ground and handcuffed him. One of them is seen placing a knee on Tysons upper body for about 30 seconds, according to the video.

Tyson can be heard saying, I cant breathe. I cant breathe. You're on my neck.

After the officer removes his knee, Tyson again says he cant breathe, to which someone responds: Youre fine. Shut the f--- up.

The video shows Tyson lying motionless on the floor, face down for about six minutes, while at least one officer talks with bar patrons.

At one point the officer jokes: Ive always wanted to be in a bar fight. I dont know if this counts.

When the officers check on Tyson, he appears to be unresponsive. An officer checks him for a pulse, and officers later perform chest compressions on an unresponsive Tyson.

Canton police said in a news release that CPR and several doses of Narcan were administered before medics arrived and that Tyson was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 9:18 p.m. The police department contacted the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation to conduct an independent investigation, which the bureau has said is still pending.

The NAACP said the officers showed a callous disregard to Tysons pleas, which underscores the need for an urgent investigation.

Frank Tyson should be alive today, Johnson said in a statement Wednesday. Nearly 4 years after the tragic death of George Floyd, we are forced to bear witness to yet another unarmed Black man cry out for air at the hands of law enforcement.

Bobby DiCello, one of the attorneys for Tysons family, told NBC News his loved ones are very mindful of the importance of this case and the memories it may evoke of Floyds killing. DiCello said Canton police disregarded Tysons humanity.

It is outrageous that in 2024 an officer put their knee on anyone and that when he last spoke and said, I cant breathe, the last words he may have heard were, Youre fine, eff you, DiCello said. He may not have been able to discern that. Thats where the Canton officers said the quiet part of George Floyds death out loud. Theyre saying the quiet part out loud. You can do it by your actions or you could tell it to their face.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
The NAACP has partnered with ride-hailing company Lyft to help drive voters to the polls on Election Day.

The 2024 Lyft Up Voting Access Program will share critical voting access information and provide free and discounted rides to the polls. It will also help riders and drivers register, prepare to vote and understand voting ID requirements.

During a time where our most sacred right to vote is under attack, we must fight back with every tool at our disposal, said Derrick Johnson, NAACP president and CEO, in a statement.

For many advocates, access to ballot boxes is a top priority going into November.

Though 2020 saw record voter turnout, a number of states have since passed legislation making it harder to vote.

Some states have reduced drop box access. There have also been limitations placed on mail-in ballots.

Advocates like the NAACP have argued these laws disproportionately affect Black voters.

For many Americans, especially Black Americans, accessible and affordable transportation continues to impede access to the ballot box, Johnson said. The NAACP is proud to continue working with our partners at Lyft to create pathways to the polls through free and low-cost rideshare services. Together, we will make sure every vote is counted and every voice is heard.

The biennial non-partisan Lyft Up Voting Access Program has been in place for a decade. In that time, the company said, it has helped more than 3 million people exercise their right to vote. It hopes to grow the programs ride volume by 25 percent this year by offering discounted and free rides to polling places.

A 2021 study from professors at Harvard and Boston Universities found that 66 percent of voters with access to a car voted in the 2018 general election, compared to only 36 percent who did not.

Every American citizen should be able to exercise their right to vote without worrying about the cost or difficulty of getting to the polls, Lyft CEO David Risher said. Everyone  from a driver whos given a thousand rides to a rider who hasnt taken her first one yet  deserves to have their voice heard at the polls. Our Voting Access Program is a great way Lyft can be a force for good.

This year, the company is also targeting young voters in particular.

In addition to the NAACP, Lyft has partnered with Levi Strauss & Co. and Showtime/MTV to form a new coalition aimed at mobilizing community college students.

One study found that though community college students accounted for about one-third of U.S. college students in 2020, the demographics voting rate was nearly 10 percentage points lower than that for students at four-year universities.

Other nonprofit partners included in this years program include the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote) and the Hispanic Federation, among others.

These partners will be given ride codes to then distribute directly to people in their networks whom they identify as most in need of transportation.

The codes can be used for Lyft rides to polling locations, including registered dropbox locations.

The right to vote is one of the most quintessential rights that is afforded to American citizens, said Shavon Arline-Bradley, president and CEO of NCNW. The Black community and women have historically experienced the ills of voter suppression. NCNW proudly stands to advance this collaboration to ensure that no barriers prohibit any eligible voter the opportunity to exercise their right to participate in our democracy.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
In a surprising turn of events, Northland College will keep its doors open come fall under a new and smaller model with fewer majors.

The environmental liberal arts institution in Ashland announced a last-ditch fundraising campaign in March, saying it would shutter at the end of this school year if it couldn't raise $12 million in less than a month.

It is not lost on us that todays announcement could have gone a very different direction, Northland College Board of Trustees chairperson Ted Bristol said in a statement. Many colleges like Northland are being forced to make difficult decisions and weve seen many closures in recent years  even in recent weeks. We feel fortunate to be sharing a path forward despite the realities of declining enrollment and rising costs.

Under the new model, Northland will offer eight majors, including business, biology, education, psychology and four programs associated with the environment. That's down from the 29 majors currently offered.

The college will also "right-size" its employee base to save $7 million. Northland College President Chad Dayton said it was "too early to tell" how many of the roughly 45 faculty and 80 staff will lose their job.

The fundraising drive yielded $2 million to cover this school year's budget deficit and more than $4 million for next year's, Dayton said. The college did not secure additional loans and is "essentially debt-free."

With 439 students currently, Northland has faced several years of declining enrollment and budget deficits. But officials said long-range projections under their new model puts the college on track for long-term stability.

"We are very pleased ... that we have identified not only an alternative to closure, but a viable and vibrant path for Northland's next century," Dayton said.

Northland College delayed decision on closure twice

The decision announced Wednesday evening put an end to a seven-week period of stress, speculation and uncertainty for the campus.

Mallary Bade, a Northland sophomore studying outdoor education and writing, remembered joking with friends about the college announcing its closure as a possibility ahead of the ominous meeting university leaders called the campus to on March 11.

Then the punchline briefly became a version of reality. Northland made the alarming announcement it needed to raise $12 million in 24 days. The money would buy the college another year to find a more sustainable business model.

The campus and broader Ashland community offered their own ideas to salvage the institution. A faculty group proposed reducing enrollment to 350 students, cutting some employees and renting out underused campus spaces to the community for housing or business use.

Underclassmen, meanwhile, contemplated their futures. Bade said she hoped to remain at Northland if her academic programs remained but she said some other students started looking at transfer options.

An announcement on closure was expected in early April. The board instead declared a financial emergency delayed the decision another 2 weeks, vowing to use the extra time to explore all options.

The campus commuity then expected a decision in late April. The board delayed again, saying it was "hopeful about the future" after some last-minute donations materialized.

Ashland-based college is tiny, focused on environmental studies

Surrounded by forests and located along the shore of Lake Superior, Northland College was founded by members of the United Church of Christ. The only local four-year educational option in Ashland, it has been a part of the community since 1892. The school has focused its programming on the environment and sustainability.

That's what drew Kaelin Hall, a 2020 Northland graduate who studied geology. She grew up in the suburbs of the Twin Cities but fell in with the Ashland area during her time as a student. She is now an Ashland resident.

Hall recalled Northland facing some financial challenges back when she was a student but nothing beyond the normal headwinds of higher education.

"It was always on the periphery," Hall said of the school's financial stressors. "Northland is a small school. Its a niche school. But it never seemed when I was a student there that it was outside the norm. This was just part of higher education."

Unlike Northland, other Wisconsin colleges or campuses that have announced closures over the past two years did so with little warning. These include UW-Platteville Richland, Cardinal Stritch University, UW-Milwaukee at Washington County, UW-Oshkosh Fond du Lac, UW-Green Bay Marinette and UW-Milwaukee at Waukesha.

The reality is that Northland has been struggling for a long time to find a sustainable solution despite aggressively exploring options, the college said on a webpage established during the fundraising push. Northland is not alone in this struggle. Colleges and universities  especially private institutions  across the country are facing immense financial strain.

Northland College faced years of financial challenges

There were, however, some clues about Northland facing stressors beyond other institutions' challenges.

Northland spent down the majority of its endowment in recent years, ran budget deficits in nine of the last 10 years and was under financial monitoring by the U.S. Education Department. A 2022 audit underscored Northland's precarious position, noting its "ability to continue" was a "going concern."

Federal education data show Northland's enrollment held relatively small but steady over the past decade, with between 500 to 600 students attending. But enrollment dropped this school year to 439 students, according to the college.

The economies of scale are particularly challenging for small colleges. Regardless of an institution's size, the same jobs must be carried out  payroll, IT, fundraising, human resources, marketing and more. Maintaining each of these administration functions is more difficult when there are fewer students to fund them.

Under the new model, Northland is aiming to enroll 385 students next school year and grow its enrollment in future years, Dayton said.

In a Journal Sentinel interview last year, Dayton had expressed optimism about Northland rounding the corner after enduring significant leadership turnover and "catastrophic" cuts to the college's fundraising and marketing departments. He said the school had revamped its budget process, stopped drawing from its endowment and was trying new admissions strategies.

Still, he called the next two years critical to turning the tide.

"Were rebuilding," he said in 2023. "But its fragile. Northland is in a fragile moment."

For now, Northland made it through the moment. Bade credits the school's faculty and staff for pushing to salvage the school. Their dedication over the past two months left her in awe.

"A school as special as Northland, the spirit wont die down," Bade said.

Contact Kelly Meyerhofer at kmeyerhofer@gannett.com or 414-223-5168. Follow her on X (Twitter) at @KellyMeyerhofer.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Northland College in Wisconsin to remain open under new, smaller model
NASA astronauts to fly Boeing Starliner in Florida rocket launch: Where to watch on Treasure Coast

Godspeed, Starliner. Boeing's maiden crewed flight is scheduled next week.

Boeing is preparing to launch its Starliner capsule on its first crewed mission as soon as 10:34 p.m. EDT Monday, May 6, from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. And the Treasure Coast may get a peek at the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifting off into the sky.

On board the rocket will be two NASA astronauts. Flying this commercial crew mission are Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams, both Navy test pilots. They have each flown in space twice (more info about them below).

Day or night, watching a rocket launch on the beach is so Florida. But can you see a rocket launch liftoff from Cape Canaveral all the way in Sebastian, Vero Beach, or even up to Fort Pierce?

Weather permitting and depending on cloud cover, yes. We have suggestions on where and how to watch a rocket launch from Indian River County to Martin County below if you keep scrolling and information on the historic Starliner launch.

What is Boeing's Starliner?

Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore pose for the Starliner CFT crew portrait.

Boeing's Starliner spacecraft will transport NASA astronauts. The company calls it the Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 Starliner, or simply Starliner." Set to launch no earlier than May 6, 2024, it will make history as the first spacecraft to ferry humans from Space Launch Complex 41 in Cape Canaveral. The launch pad has been the site for historic missions beginning with the Titan rockets in 1965 and including the New Horizons deep space probe, the Voyager spacecraft, and even the Curiosity Mars rover.

Starliner will be launched with the help of a United Launch Alliance (a partnership between Boeing and Lockheed Martin) Atlas V rocket. The Atlas V rocket has launched from the site since 2002, but this will be the first time it carries astronauts to space.

What launches from where? Years after space shuttle retirement, Florida chases nearly 70 launches a year

Who are the NASA astronauts flying into space for Starliner launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida?

The two NASA astronauts flying this commercial crew mission are Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams. Both are Navy test pilots. They have each flown in space twice and both bring a wide variety of experiences to the flight.

Williams was originally a helicopter test pilot before switching to flying jets. She's preparing to fly to space for the third time, as the crew test flight pilot.

This will be Wilmore's third spaceflight as well. Before becoming a NASA astronaut, Wilmore was a U.S. Navy captain, fighter pilot, and test pilot, accumulating more than 8,000 hours of flight time. Wilmore flew the FA-18 Hornet and T-45 Goshawk, playing a role in missions during Operation Desert Storm, Desert Shield and Southern Watch.

Is there a rocket launch in Florida today? Rocket launch calendar for Florida

Here's what we know about the rocket launch missions, mentioned in FLORIDA TODAY's rocket launch calendar for the month of May, which is updated frequently. (Check that link often for rocket launch times and dates because they are routinely subject to change for a variety of reasons.)

Monday, May 6: NASAs Boeing Starliner crewed flight test

Mission: NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will fly aboard a Boeing Starliner spacecraft and a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket to the International Space Station.

Launch: 10:34 p.m. EDT Monday, May 6, 2024

Location: Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station

Live coverage: Starts at 6:30 p.m. at floridatoday.com/space

Where can I watch Florida rocket launches online?

If you want to watch live rocket launch coverage, FLORIDA TODAY's Space Team will provide updates at floridatoday.com/space, starting about 90 minutes before launch time. You can download the free app for iPhone or Android or type floridatoday.com/space into your browser.

Where can I see a Florida rocket launch in Indian River County, St. Lucie County and Martin County?

The best views to watch a rocket launch from neighboring Brevard County, aka the Space Coast, is here along the beach. Visibility in Indian River County, St. Lucie County and Martin County, part of the Treasure Coast, will depend on weather conditions, and people should make sure not to block traffic or rights of way on bridges and to follow posted rules at beaches. Look due north. Here are some recommended spots, from closest to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and Kennedy Space Center to farthest:

 Pretty much anywhere in Brevard, you'll get a view of the rocket launch. That includes Melbourne Beach, which borders Indian River County, or from Grant-Valkaria along the Indian River Lagoon.

 Sebastian Inlet Park, 9700 S. State Road A1A, Melbourne Beach (there is a cost to enter)

 Wabasso Beach Park, 1808 Wabasso Beach Road, Wabasso

 Ambersands Beach Park, 12566 N. SR A1A, Vero Beach (free parking)

 South Beach Park, 1700 Ocean Drive, Vero Beach (free parking)

 Merrill Barber Bridge in Vero Beach

 Alma Lee Loy Bridge in Vero Beach

 Fort Pierce Inlet, 905 Shorewinds Drive

 Blind Creek Beachside North and South, South Ocean Drive or SR A1A on Hutchinson Island in Fort Pierce

 Blue Heron Beach, 2101 Blue Heron Blvd., Fort Pierce

 Frederick Douglass Memorial Park, 3600 S. Ocean Drive, Fort Pierce

 Dollman Park Beachside, 9200 South Ocean Drive, Jensen Beach

 Herman's Bay Beach, 7880 South Ocean Drive, Jensen Beach

 John Brooks Park Beachside, 3300 S Ocean Drive, Fort Pierce

 Middle Cove Beach, 4600 South Ocean Drive, Fort Pierce

 Normandy Beach in Jensen Beach

 Pepper Park Beachside, 3302 N. SR A1A, Fort Pierce

 Walton Rocks Beach, which has a dog park, 6700 South Ocean Drive, Jensen Beach

 Waveland Beach, 10350 S. Ocean Drive, Jensen Beach

 House of Refuge and beach, 301 S.E. MacArthur Blvd., Stuart

 State Road A1A causeway in Stuart

Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here.) Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Florida rocket launch in Cape Canaveral: Can I see it in Vero, Sebastian?
NATO released a statement condemning Russian "hybrid actions" after multiple individuals were accused of working on behalf of Russia from within NATO territory.

Over the last few months, local authorities in Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czechia, and the United Kingdom have investigated or arrested numerous individuals accused of working on behalf of Russia. Some of the activities these individuals have been accused of include espionage, military sabotage, and even offering to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

"These incidents are part of an intensifying campaign of activities which Russia continues to carry out across the Euro-Atlantic area, including on Alliance territory and through proxies," the statement reads. "This includes sabotage, acts of violence, cyber and electronic interference, disinformation campaigns, and other hybrid operations. NATO Allies express their deep concern over Russia's hybrid actions, which constitute a threat to Allied security."

The uptick in arrests and deportations raises questions about the extent of Russia's influence inside Europe. In addition to mass cyberattacks reported across the region, Russian intelligence actively deploys agents and operatives across Europe.

NATO promised to strengthen its response to Russian hybrid actions. Earlier this week, NATO convened its largest cyber defense exercise, Locked Shields, to better prepare NATO allies against Russian cyber attacks. Representatives from Ukraine also participated in the exercises.

Tensions between Moscow and the alliance have been mounting since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. European leaders have more recently warned that Russia's expansionist threats may lead to an attack on NATO in the coming years.

Polish President Andrzej Duda said on March 19 that Russia may attack NATO as early as 2026 or 2027. That assessment falls in line with comments made by Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen, who estimated on Feb. 9 that Russia may attack NATO within three to five years.

Around the same time, French President Emmanuel Macron called Russia's invasion of Ukraine "existential" for France and the rest of Europe. Later, Macron said he would not rule out the possibility of sending Western troops to Ukraine.

Although the Chair of the NATO Military Committee later stated that there are currently no signs that Russia is planning an attack on NATO countries, he did warn that the alliance must be prepared for future escalation.

Read also: German authorities arrest 2 for allegedly planning military sabotage plot on Russias behalf

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
NATO accuses Russia of hostile actions in Allied territory and promises to respond

NATO is concerned with Russia's hostile acts on Allied territory and has promised to respond.

Source: NATO statement, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The Alliance reported that numerous people have been indicted in recent weeks in connection with hostile state actions in Czechia, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and the United Kingdom.

Quote: "These incidents are part of an intensifying campaign of activities which Russia continues to carry out across the Euro-Atlantic area, including on Alliance territory and through proxies. This includes sabotage, acts of violence, cyber and electronic interference, disinformation campaigns, and other hybrid operations. NATO Allies express their deep concern over Russia's hybrid actions, which constitute a threat to Allied security," the statement says.

NATO members expressed "deep concern" about Russia's hybrid measures, which they said threatened the Alliance's security.

"We support and stand in solidarity with the affected Allies. We will act individually and collectively to address these actions, and will continue to coordinate closely," the message emphasises.

They also promised to continue strengthening resilience to hybrid Russian threats and called on Russia to "uphold its international obligations, as Allies do theirs."

"Russia's actions will not deter Allies from continuing to support Ukraine," the statement concludes.

Last week, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the recent cases of espionage in NATO member states in favour of Russia will not prevent the provision of military assistance to Ukraine.

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The Navy will name its next amphibious assault ship in honor of the Marines, Navy corpsmen, allies and partners who served and died in Helmand province, Afghanistan, the Navy secretary announced Thursday.

In unveiling the name, Carlos Del Toro called back to his late 2022 announcement that the America-class amphibious assault ship LHA-9 would be named the USS Fallujah, after the Marines who fought in the first and second battles of Fallujah and more broadly who served in Iraq.

Naming a ship for Helmand province will recognize the bravery and sacrifice of our Marines and our sailors who fought for almost 20 years in the mountains of Afghanistan, Del Toro said in his remarks at the Modern Day Marine conference in Washington.

Trish Smith, the wife of Marine Commandant Gen. Eric Smith, will serve as the ships sponsor. She will see the ship through all its construction-related milestones and support the ship and its crew once it joins the fleet and begins operating around the world.

What naming a ship after Fallujah means to those who fought there

The Navy awarded HIIs Ingalls Shipbuilding a $130 million contract in November 2023 to begin buying long-lead materials for the ship.

Smith gave an emotional accounting of the meaning of the ships name on Thursday, following the secretarys announcement.

He called the region  which was the focus of Marines operations that at its height involved a full Marine expeditionary force forward, and more than 19,000 Marines and sailors  the heart of the opium trade, a Taliban stronghold, and a terrain as rugged and formidable as any on earth.

And yet, it was there that our Marines and sailors and allies and partners showed what it means to be at the tip of the spear, Smith said. It was there that another generation of warriors added to the storied history of our Marine Corps.

Smith spoke of Medal of Honor recipient Cpl. Kyle Carpenter, who used his body to shield others from a grenade explosion in Marjah, Afghanistan, on Nov. 21, 2010.

He spoke of Sgt. Christopher Farias, who refused treatment for his wounds when his patrol base was ambushed in 2010 in Kajaki, Afghanistan. With fragmentation from a 73 mm recoilless rifle in his neck and shoulder, Farias climbed to a rooftop to coordinate his Marines fire and maneuver to repel the assault, in true Marine fashion, Smith said.

And the commandant spoke of Lance Cpl. Donald Hogan, who was patrolling a road on Aug. 26, 2009, when he spotted an insurgent preparing to detonate a roadside bomb. He protected a nearby Marine from the blast and remained in the blast zone to warn fellow Marines. Hogan died in the explosion, but he saved the rest of his squad.

Three hundred and sixty-six Marines would lose their lives to hostile action in Afghanistan during the years of the Helmand campaign, and almost 5,000 more were wounded, Smith said.

But beyond fights on the battlefield, the commandant said they trained Afghan counterparts, supported local governance and helped develop infrastructure.

As we reflect on these years of hard-fought victories and painful losses, it is crucial to remember why we fought, Smith said. Our mission was to deny a safe haven to terrorists who would harm the United States, and support the Afghan people in their quest for peace and stability. It was about what they might one day become.

Smith did not directly address the fall of Kabul in 2021 or the emotional reaction by many Marines who had served there and families of those who died there.

But the commandant told the audience, The legacy of our Marines in Helmand is not defined merely by the ground that was gained or lost, but by the spirit they embodied and the lives they touched. They fought with honor, they served with compassion, they led by example, and they made a difference in this world.

To the families of the fallen, Smith said, Through the naming of LHA-10 as the USS Helmand Province, your sacrifices will never be forgotten and their legacy will endure through the generation of Marines that follow.

Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Carlos Ruiz said in a video posted to Instagram on Thursday, This name not only honors the battles won and the successes of our units in the Helmand province, but it also honors the names of those who left blood, sweat, tears and even their lives on the battlefield. The stories of what Marines did in combat are epic and more often today are not shared enough.

The legacy of the fighting in Helmand, Afghanistan, is personal for Ruiz, the senior enlisted Marine.

On Oct. 28, 2009, he was the first sergeant for Lima Company within 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines, in the province, he said in the video.

That day, he was the vehicle commander of a shock trauma platoon. While he was on his way to recover Marines who had been wounded by improvised explosive device attacks, the vehicle that was supposed to clear his way to the landing zone also was hit.

A Marine kicked open the hatch of the vehicle and pointed at Ruiz with his minesweeper. Undaunted by whatever injuries he may have sustained in the recent blast, the Marine told Ruiz to follow him to the landing zone, and he cleared the way.

There were 11 casualties from the explosions that day, ranging from routine injuries to deaths, the sergeant major said.

Its a story for me that Ill never forget, Ruiz said, adding, Thousands of you have your own stories to tell.

Marine veteran Cole Lyle, who served in Helmand province as a diesel mechanic and wrecker operator and volunteered at Camp Bastions trauma hospital, said in a statement to Marine Corps Times on Thursday, Todays announcement gives those Marines and partners that served in Helmand an ironclad symbol of our victories; a permanent memorial honoring our collective losses; and a commemoration of the individual experiences and unbreakable personal bonds we forged in fire.

Ill be proud to point at the U.S.S. Helmand one day and tell my son about the Corps role in Afghanistan and some of my personal heroes who served there, he added.

Editors note: This story was updated at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday with comment from Lyle.
Dr. Paulette Dillard,President of Shaw University, and other HBCU leaders discuss the need for increased support during a May 1, 2024 press conference. (Screenshot from NCGA feed)

St. Augustines University in Raleigh could be in line for support from the state legislature as it struggles with financial problems, but it may be in the form of technical help rather than money.

A news conference organized by the legislatures bipartisan HBCU Caucus emphasizing the importance of the states historically Black colleges and universities was notable for the presence of both private and public school leaders.

North Carolina has five private and five public HBCUs. NC A&T State University in Greensboro is the largest HBCU in the country. NC A&T released a study last year detailing the universitys $2.4 billion economic impact.

No entity, no single group of colleges do what they do, said Rep. Abe Jones, a Raleigh Democrat. Theirs is a mission that must always be supported.

HBCUs have been historically underfunded.

States underfunded Black land-grant universities compared to their predominantly white counterparts for decades, according to a 2023 federal report. It identified a $2 billion funding gap between NC A&T and NC State University.

Republican legislators praised the HBCUs in their districts and noted they have support from both parties. We might disagree on a lot of things, but this is not one of them, said Sen. Carl Ford, a Republican who represents Rowan and Stanly counties.

The legislature has a history of funding private universities, though public universities are the first priority, said Sen. Gladys Robinson, a Guilford County Democrat. Legislators cant promise St. Augs will receive money, but there are other kinds of support, she said.

The IRS filed a $7.9 million tax lien against the university, WRAL has reported. The university has other unpaid debts and is fighting to keep its accreditation.

Dont count us out, St. Augs interim president Marcus Burgess said at the news conference.

Burgess said the university needs funding for building renovations and construction and for students who need money to complete degree requirements.

Will Guzman, an assistant vice chancellor at NC Central University in Durham, asked to have the schools cap on out-of-state students lifted from 35% to 50%, if not eliminated altogether.

He asked for increased funding for the merit-based, four-year, Cheatham-White Scholarship.

He also asked that all high school students, regardless of citizenship status, be allowed to pay in-state tuition at public HBCUs.

The post NC legislators boost HBCUs as another state budget-writing season begins appeared first on NC Newsline.
CAMDEN COUNTY, N.C. (WAVY)  A Camden County, North Carolina family is mourning the loss of their dog after it was shot and killed. Doorbell video caught the shooting and now their neighbor faces charges.

I was at work in my office and I received a hysterical phone call from my daughter saying that my neighbor had shot my dog, Riker, Natalie McFadden said of the March 26 incident.

The neighbor, Mark Thompson, told police the dog was attacking his wife and that it was she who shot the dog.

But the doorbell camera on McFaddens house tells a different story.

In it, you see Riker coming onto the neighbors property and seemingly barking at their front porch. Their neighbor came out of the garage with a pistol and fired several shots at the dog. After the first shot, Riker heads back to his yard, but after the fourth shot, he is seen going down and begins screaming in pain.

Surveillance also picked up the immediate aftermath, when Thompson talked to Natalies daughter, Autumn, who was home alone at the time. In that video, he can be heard saying the dog was coming after his wife and that she was the one who shot him.

He was a really sweet dog, McFadden said. He went camping with us, he went to the beach, he loved the beach. He would play with other dogs.

McFadden showed the video to police, who arrested Thompson and his wife, Tonia. Mark Thompsons charges included possession of a firearm by a felon due to a 20-year-old drug charge from New York. 10 On Your Side called and asked him about the day of the shooting.

He told us the dog had bitten the cable guy and had even gotten inside his house and chased his wife around several times. He told us I have witnesses, a signed statement saying these dogs are over here and they are mean.

When 10 On Your Side asked for copies of those statements, Thompson refused to make them available.

When asked how many times the dog had bitten him, Thompson accused the reporter of turning this around on him. He said he has a six-year-old granddaughter and said hes literally thrown her in the car because the dogs were coming over.

McFadden said shes never gotten complaints or seen proof that Riker had bitten anyone. Now, she said her daughter is suffering from anxiety stemming from that day.

There are some things I feel really uncomfortable doing because I have anxiety with it now, Autumn said. I cant let the dogs outside anymore because Im scared the neighbors going to do something to them again. I dont like going over to the area where he was killed because it reminds me of him.

Said Natalie McFadden: I want justice for Riker. I dont think that this man should just be able to get by and not pay any consequences for taking his life unjustly like that. It was clear animal cruelty and my dog didnt deserve to die that way.

McFadden believes Thompson should serve more time behind bars than just a few hours. Thompson and his wife were arrested March 26 and bonded out the same day. Mark Thompson has a disposition hearing May 17.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com.
SANAA, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Houthi leader said Thursday that his group has launched a total of 156 attacks against Israeli-linked ships, as well as the Israeli southern city of Eilat since the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict broke out last October.

"The attacks against ships in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and the Indian Ocean were carried out with 606 ballistic and winged missiles and drones," Abdulmalik al-Houthi said in a televised speech aired by his group's al-Masirah TV, adding a total of 111 attacks have been carried out against Israeli targets in Eilat.

Meanwhile, the leader mentioned the economic toll on Israel from the group's attacks on the international shipping lines, saying, "Prices of food and medicine in Israel have been increasing due to our attacks on the ships."

"We are preparing for a fourth round of military escalation if Israel and the U.S. continue to be stubborn," the leader warned.

According to al-Houthi, the U.S.-led naval coalition has launched 452 strikes on Houthi targets since January, killing 40 people and wounding 35 others.

The leader, when talking about the latest development on the peace process between his group and the internationally recognized Yemeni government, said, "No clear agreement has been reached yet."

Yemen's protracted civil war erupted in 2014 when the Houthi group seized control over much of the country's north, compelling the Yemeni government to flee the capital. A Saudi-led military coalition intervened in 2015 in support of the government.

Since last November, the Houthis began to launch anti-ship ballistic missiles and drones targeting what they said were Israeli-linked ships transiting the Red Sea to show solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, insisting that they would not end the attacks until Israel stops its war against Gaza.

In January, the United States and Britain launched a military operation by carrying out airstrikes on Houthi military sites to deter the group. However, this only led to the Houthis escalating their attacks on commercial and military vessels from the U.S. and Britain in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. 
Jacqueline McNeill was heading home to get ready for her goddaughters funeral when the lights started flashing.

Even as five or six police cruisers surrounded her in the parking lot of a Fayetteville convenience store, she couldnt imagine they were there for her.

Just days before, cameras caught a white sedan at the scene of a shooting that left a 19-year-old man hospitalized. With the citys license plate readers, police spotted McNeills white Nissan Versa a few minutes away.

That link was enough for Fayetteville detectives to issue a be on the lookout alert for her car, according to a police affidavit.

With the chicken shed just picked up for the funeral steaming in her backseat, she was suddenly in handcuffs, accused of participating in a drive-by shooting.

I felt like I didnt have any help, McNeill told The News & Observer, describing that day in 2022. I felt like the moment I stepped out of my car, I was automatically guilty.

Automated license plate readers  whether its the Rekor system in Fayetteville or more than 100 cameras from NDI Technologies in Charlotte  are designed to gather evidence and help solve crime. But McNeills case is one of at least two in this state where plate readers resulted not just in mistaken identification and arrest, but thousands of dollars in settlements.

As the number of ALPR cameras grows along North Carolina streets, the devices can make mistakes by police more likely, privacy advocates and defense attorneys say.

They substitute the technology for thinking critically about the cases, said Patrick Anstead, the Fayetteville attorney who represented McNeill.

When those mistakes happen, they can be costly  not just to local governments, but to people wrongly accused.

Fayetteville police used an automated license plate reader camera to mistakenly link Jacqueline McNeill to a shooting in 2022. Police released her after several hours of interrogation when they realized they had the wrong person. Robert Willett/rwillett@newsobserver.com

All of this could have been avoided

Even before she was left waiting in a Fayetteville police interrogation room, handcuffed to a chair alone for an hour, McNeill could tell detectives were a bit unsure of their own theories of the case.

Their questions began with her own involvement in the shooting. Then, maybe her daughter was driving the car. The focus later shifted to McNeills son. Maybe he was the driver, they suggested.

But to her, there was no uncertainty.

I was dealing with the death of my goddaughter all that week, McNeill said. So I knew where I was. I knew where my vehicle was.

A sergeant told her that detectives had video from the crime scene of her car, sporting damage to the fender and riding on one of its spare tires.

But she insisted she had never been near the shooting. And she pointed out that her Nissan wasnt using a spare  she was just missing a hubcap. The vehicle they photographed at the scene and a separate one with her license plate, she argued, were two different cars.

They were lying to her about the state of the evidence, trying to get her to point the finger at one of her kids, Anstead said. That was what was so egregious about this whole thing.

After about four hours, police let McNeill go. Two officers apologized before they walked her out, which only made her more angry.

All of this could have been avoided, McNeill said. They could have looked at the car when they arrested me to see it wasnt a doughnut on the car.

Months later, Fayetteville officials settled with McNeill for $60,000 after she accused police of violating her civil rights. According to the settlement agreement, the city did not admit to any wrongdoing.

Fayetteville police spokesperson Rickelle Harrell declined to comment on the settlement, directing inquiries to the city attorneys office.

When asked in an interview with The N&O in late April whether the department took any disciplinary action in response to the incident, city spokesperson Loren Bymer declined to discuss details about personnel matters. But he said no one was demoted or fired as a result.

Were trying to sort it all out

Nearly a year before McNeills case, a license plate reader operated by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department picked up a black Buick Encore as it turned at a University Park intersection.

At least 10 police cars responded  enough that neighbors later said they expected either a drug bust or a murder arrest.

Resting in the drivers seat after a workout and parked in front of her grandmothers house, Jasmine Horne didnt hear any sirens as the cars approached from both directions.

But the second-grade teacher was shocked when a CMPD officer approached with his gun drawn, shouting instructions to put her hands up.

I live here, she repeated, hands raised, body camera footage shows.

She told the officer her name when he asked. But handcuffed and hyperventilating on the street, she got no immediate answers from the officers about what was going on.

In the back of a police cruiser, she said, officers asked her about someone named Jaselyn Horne  a person she didnt know.

I could tell by the way they were questioning me and by their faces that they were embarrassed and they had done something wrong, Jasmine Horne told The News & Observer in an interview. It was like, OK, whats happening?

Other officers in body cam footage asked similar questions of her grandmothers caretaker, who came out of the house with Hornes mother on the phone.

An officer explains to Jasmines mother that they received an email from a detective saying Jaselyn Horne, a suspect in a violent crime, was driving your daughters vehicle.

No. Thats my daughters car, her mother says.

Yeah, I know, the officer responds. Thats why were confused, and were trying to sort it all out.

In a later statement, CMPD said they were looking for a suspect in the brutal stabbing and attempted murder of a man the day before.

Witnesses on the scene identified the suspect as Jasmine Horne, the statement dated Sept. 15, 2022, said. As officers continued to investigate the attempted murder, they entered a vehicle registered to Jasmine Horne into the license plate reader system and received a hit that matched.

The statement does not address when police switched their focus from Jasmine Horne to Jaselyn Horne, the woman who was ultimately arrested and charged with first-degree attempted murder days later.

Jasmine Horne said she was in custody for less than 15 minutes that day in June 2021. But alone in the cruiser, she thought about her grandmother, who she was helping care for.

I really thought she was going to outlive me, Horne said. It was the worst day of my life.

She took her case to the citys Citizens Review Board, which in a rare move, rebuked a decision by CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings not to discipline officers involved in the incident. The chief clearly erred in that decision, the review board found. The board faulted two officers who detained Horne as well as two others who failed to notice and correct the suspects name.

CMPD did take additional action based on those recommendations from the review board, creating a unit to audit and revise internal policies, adding training and obtaining positive identification of the accused before searching for them in the ALPR system.

But the chief did not agree to sustain allegations against the officers.

They did what is expected of any officer with information about a dangerous, violent criminal, a CMPD statement said.

Yet like Fayetteville, Charlotte paid out for the mistake while admitting no wrongdoing. CMPD declined to comment on the case beyond its prior statements, but an agreement obtained by The N&O through a public records request showed the city settled with Horne over the case for $10,000 in July 2023.

Horne also got an apology from the department and from City Manager Marcus Jones.

But she didnt find it genuine.

Because if you are really apologetic towards the mistake, then the people who were involved would be publicly reprimanded for that mistake, she said.

Whats money?

Jacqueline McNeill never made it to her goddaughters funeral. When she arrived home, she retreated to her room.

I wanted to be there for the family, she said. I couldnt do that.

McNeill didnt work for the rest of the week. She had trouble focusing.

She avoids the area where she was arrested, the traffic circle where the shooting happened. Before selling it in recent weeks, she avoided driving her Nissan. She thinks about how things could have gone differently. How she could have gotten shot.

It was hurtful. And it was embarrassing, McNeill said. I should have never been in that situation.

Neither the settlement, nor a written apology from then police Chief Gina Hawkins, was enough, she said.

I got the money, but whats money? she said. It still doesnt change how I feel. It didnt make me happy.

In October, Jasmine Horne left a 6-year teaching career in North and South Carolina to work as an English instructor in Thailand, nearly 9,000 miles away. She needed a break from the United States, she said, and her arrest in 2021 was part of her motivation.

Its peaceful there, she said. Even though she misses home, she wanted to be somewhere safe.

As a woman of color in the United States, theres sometimes this hum of not feeling safe. Its like a shadow that follows you that you forget about. But things try to remind you of it, Horne said. That incident definitely reminded me of it.

Hornes attorney, Darlene Harris, said she has her own concerns about automated plate readers and how theyre used by law enforcement. With no particular justification for which cars are being scanned, she said, its kind of like a free-for-all.

Were taught if you follow the law, youll be OK, Harris said. But its seeming that with more and more technology, thats not whats happening.

Anstead, McNeills attorney, acknowledged that such devices can help solve crimes. But he said they can also violate civil liberties and create distrust in the community.

Despite her experience, McNeill said she isnt opposed to license plate reader cameras.

Theres too much going on, and they do pick up stuff that we need to know about, McNeill said. Yes, I was one that got caught up. But I feel like we need the cameras.

But she does want accountability  and for detectives to do their due diligence before taking people into custody.

I feel like the police should have a better way of doing things.
ICE office sign

Image: Adobe Stock

On Wednesday morning, the North Carolina Senate Committee on Rules and Operations approved HB10, a controversial bill requiring cooperation between all North Carolina sheriffs and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The bill now heads to the Senate floor for consideration from the whole chamber, which could happen as soon as Thursday morning when the Senate reconvenes. If approved, the measure will return to the House for concurrence in Senate amendments.

North Carolina sheriffs are already required under current state law to try and determine the legal status of people they arrest and inform ICE. However, current law doesnt require them to honor ICE detainer requests, which ask local authorities to hold someone believed to be in the country illegally for up to 48 hours while federal agents pick them up.

House Bill 10 will change that.

If it becomes law, the bill will require all 100 sheriffs in the state to notify ICE if they are unable to determine the legal status of a person charged with certain high-level offenses. It would compel sheriffs to honor ICE requests to detain individuals suspected of being in the country illegally for up to 48 hours.

Dozens of people and advocates opposed to the bill gathered at the legislature on Wednesday under the banner Todos Somos North Carolina (We Are All North Carolina) to urge lawmakers to reject the bill.

The event was organized by El Pueblo, the Alliance for Immigrant Rights and other local groups.

Speakers at the rally warned that if passed, the bill would lead to racial profiling of Hispanic drivers and discourage undocumented immigrants from contacting the police.

Misleading arguments have been used to justify this legislation, said Iliana Santillan, executive director of El Pueblo referring to statements by the bills primary sponsor Rep. Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, that 90 sheriffs voluntarily cooperate with ICE.

Santillan said only 15 sheriffs offices have signed agreements under the 287(g) program, which allows ICE to train local law enforcement officers for limited immigration duties.

It has also been said that it will only target those who have committed a crime and we know that many people are in jails only as suspects. This bill opens the door to racial profiling and abuse of power by law enforcement.

During the day, members of various groups visited 40 offices of House members and 25 Senate offices from 12 different counties to provide lawmakers with information about the contributions of immigrants in North Carolina, according to a release from El Pueblo.

Santillan, who is also a member of the Governors Advisory Council on Hispanic/Latino Affairs, told reporters that she plans to raise the issue at the councils meeting tomorrow in Charlotte, saying the best she can hope for is the governors veto, though it is likely to be overridden by Republican legislators.

She also expressed disappointment that some legislators on the committees that considered the measure failed to speak out on behalf of those they purportedly support.

Even if it passes, we just want legislators to really advocate for us and speak out when theyre needed to, Santillan told reporters. We saw in the committee hearings yesterday and today, and its a shame that legislators who have ones voice that they support us didnt stand up for our community members.

The post NC Senate panel OKs bill requiring sheriffs to cooperate with ICE appeared first on NC Newsline.
WESTMORELAND (KSNT)  A northeast Kansas community foundation is working to gather donations for the community after an EF3 tornado hit Westmoreland.

The Caring Community Foundation announced it is inviting the public to donate to help the community of Westmoreland after the deadly EF3 tornado that hit the town, leaving three residents injured and one dead.

A spokeswoman with the Caring Community Foundation said monetary gifts and donated goods are welcome. According to its website, 100% of donations made will go towards the Westmoreland Relief Fund.

Tornado damage: how to apply for assistance

Donations can be left at Farmers State Bank mailed to the Caring Community Foundation for the Westmoreland Relief Fund at 307 Leonard P.O. Box 54 Onaga, KS 66521. You can also donate through PayPal; all fees through the app will be covered when donating online, according to the Caring Community Foundation.

For more local news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News.
Nebraska Lt. Gov. Joe Kelly (right), along with both Federal Emergency Management Agency and Nebraska Emergency Management Agency officials, flew on a Nebraska Army National Guard UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter, May 1, 2024, to conduct damage surveillance and assessment over areas affected by April 24, 2024 storms and tornadoes. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Lisa Crawford)

LINCOLN  The Nebraska National Guard is stepping up to fulfill more requests Thursday to assist Douglas County in the wake of last weeks tornado outbreak  up to about additional 80 Guard members.

At the request of Douglas County officials and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Guard announced Thursday that Guard soldiers and airmen are preparing to deploy across Douglas County neighborhoods impacted by last Fridays severe weather. They will work in shifts managing traffic and conducting roving patrols to maintain safety and well-being.

Nebraska Lt. Gov. Joe Kelly, left, with Maj. Gen. Craig Strong, adjutant general and director of the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency, prior to flying over affecting neighborhoods impacted by April 24, 2024, storms and tornadoes. May 1, 2024. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Lisa Crawford)

Most of the Guard members are set to receive initial briefs and instruction Thursday, one day after Lt. Gov. Joe Kelly and officials from FEMA and the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency flew over damaged areas in one of the Guards UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters.

The Nebraska National Guard remains always ready with a robust team of professionals who are fully trained and equipped to accomplish all missions  including supporting local, state, and national partners whenever requested to aid our fellow citizens in need, Maj. Gen. Craig Strong, Nebraska adjutant general and NEMA director, said in a statement.

Gov. Jim Pillen, who described the affected areas as a war zone, deployed about two dozen Guard members to Elkhorn on Tuesday to assist with security at the request of Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer.

The governor also signed an emergency proclamation Sunday that will allow communities in Lancaster, Douglas and Washington Counties to access emergency state recovery funds.

The post Nearly 80 more Nebraska National Guard members deploying to assist with storm recovery appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
Nearly half of the protesters arrested at the Columbia University and City College campuses during violent anti-Israel demonstrations werent students, city officials said Thursday  a day after Mayor Eric Adams warned that outside agitators were radicalizing youngsters.

Of the 282 protesters cuffed and hauled away during a massive NYPD operation late Tuesday, 134 of them had zero affiliation with either school, Adams and Police Commissioner Edward Caban said in a statement.

Of the 112 protesters arrested at the Ivy League university, 80 were students and 32 were not affiliated with the school.

At the publicly-funded City College, only 68 of the 170 booked were students, while the remaining 102 were outsiders.

Of the 282 protesters cuffed and hauled away from Columbia University and City of New York campuses, 134 of them had zero affiliation with either school, according to law enforcement sources. John Angelillo/UPI/Shutterstock

As the anti-Israel protests began to escalate, it became abundantly clear that individuals unaffiliated with these schools had entered these different campuses and, in some cases, were even training students in unlawful protest tactics, many which we witnessed escalating into violent conduct, Adams said in a statement.

We will not be a city of lawlessness, and we will not allow our youth to be influenced by those who have no goal other than spreading hate and wreaking havoc on our city.

Hizzoner has repeatedly blamed this weeks on-campus chaos on professionals with a history of fueling non-peaceful protests, and earlier Thursday touted initial figures he said showed that more than 40% of the arrests were of outsiders.

What was given to me by my team, a preliminary review of the numbers, just the beginning process of analyzing, but it appears, though, that over 40% of those who participated in Columbia and CUNY were not from the school and they were outsiders, Adams told NPR during a media blitz.

The breakdown emerged after Adams repeatedly stated that agitators had descended on Columbia in the lead-up to Tuesdays operation that saw cops storm the Morningside Heights campus to oust a destructive mob that had illegally taken over the Hamilton Hall academic building.

At Columbia alone, almost a third of the 109 nabbed werent Ivy League students, the sources said. James Keivom

Mayor Adams claimed that professionals are radicalizing our children. James Keivom

There were individuals on the campus who should not have been there, the mayor insisted Wednesday. They were people who are professionals and we saw evidence of training.

The non-students arrested late Tuesday included a 40-year-old man previously busted at demonstrations in San Francisco and the Big Apple who was identified as a long-time figure in the anarchist world and anti-governmental extremist circles, police sources said.

In addition to facing burglary in the third-degree charges from his April 30 arrest at Columbia, James Carlson was also charged with burning a Jewish protesters Israeli flag outside Columbia University on April 21  in what is being investigated as a possible hate crime, Manhattan prosecutors said Thursday.

Not affiliated with school: 13

Students at affiliated institutions: 6

Undergrad students: 14

Grad students: 9

Columbia employees: 2

Follow The Posts live blog for the latest on anti-Israel protests on campuses across the US

In 2005, Carlson was charged with suspicion of attempted lynching and aggravated assault on a police officer after allegedly trying to set a cops car on fire during a protest in San Francisco, which left the officer with a serious head injury, NYPD sources said.

He was also allegedly involved in protests in January that blocked off entrances to the Holland Tunnel and the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridges, sources said.

AFP via Getty Images

Carlson was released on his own recognizance at his Manhattan Criminal Court arraignment Thursday and is due back before a judge on June 20.

Rudy Ralph Martinez, 32, who was nabbed at CUNYs Harlem campus on a burglary charge, is also a serial protester on the anti-Israel front, according to law enforcement sources.

He was captured on camera praising Hamas during a New York City protest in December, video circulating on social media shows.

One of the greatest days of my life, a smirking Martinez said as he described the deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Long live the resistance, he added, according to the clip.

Martinez, who cops believe may be currently employed at CUNY after recently graduating from there, has an extensive history of protest-related arrests to his name that date back to California in 2012, sources said.

In the Big Apple alone, Martinezs rap sheet includes a slew of arrests for disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, obstruction and refusal to disperse, according to the sources.

Another demonstrator arrested at CUNY Tuesday, Jacob Isaac Gabriel, 27, also has a slew of protest-related arrests to his name.

Gabriel often shows up to Big Apple protests clad in Black Bloc gear  a tactic used by protesters to shield their identity with ski masks or helmets, police sources said.

He was also allegedly among the hundreds of pro-Palestine protesters who stormed the Macys Thanksgiving Day parade, the sources said.

His rap sheet includes recent charges of resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, refusal to move, offenses against public administrators, fighting and trespassing, according to sources.

What we have seen, and what has been made clear by the evidence emerging after this weeks arrests, is that professional, external actors are involved in these protests and demonstrations, Caban said in the statement. These once peaceful protests are being exploited by professional outsiders, and our young people are the ones most at risk. 

The charges doled out at Columbia included burglary, obstruction, criminal mischief, resisting arrest, trespassing and disorderly conduct.

Those at City College also included assault on a police officer, officials said.

During the parade of arraignments in Manhattan Criminal Court on Thursday protesters used the clothes off their backs to hide their faces from reporters.

Supporters were also spotted outside the court house using their shirts and jackets to cover protesters faces as they were released. During the proceedings, court officers kicked out at least five supporters who disobeyed orders to remain quiet and off their cell phones.
This article was originally published in Nebraska Examiner.

LINCOLN  The state teachers union and other advocates for keeping public funds for public schools say they wont let supporters of Nebraskas revamped school choice law sidestep the voters this fall.

They said so while launching a petition drive Tuesday to repeal Legislative Bill 1402, the latest version of a scholarship or voucher program for K-12 students attending private schools. That law turned a tax credit program into a direct state appropriation to nullify a previous ballot initiative.

State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn. April 18, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

The Nebraska State Education Association and Support Our Schools Nebraska have argued that those who want to spend public dollars on private education are afraid of facing the voters  and that polling shows they should be.

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LB1402 was passed to silence voters, and their voices need to be heard and respected, said Jenni Benson, NSEA president and a Support Our Schools Nebraska sponsor. We were successful last summer, and with everyones help we can again gather enough signatures to put this latest voucher scheme on the ballot so Nebraskans are not denied their right to vote.

Money on both sides of fight

State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan, the sponsor of both school choice efforts, has said it is difficult, even with help from school-choice advocates like U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., and former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, to outspend public school supporters like Susie Buffett and national teachers unions.

Linehan, reached Tuesday, said she was not surprised.

The teachers union always puts the union first, not the kids, she said. The teachers union should be doing more to keep young teachers in the profession, fighting to make sure teachers get paid more. The Legislature, weve done several bills to address the teacher shortage, and weve passed bills to address funding for public schools. But their focus is on this. Its alarming.

Parents in North Omaha listen to the pitch from Keep Kids First, which advocates for protecting Nebraskas new Opportunity Scholarships Act. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)

She and other LB 1402 supporters have argued that advocates for public schools are ignoring low-income families who want more educational options.

Are they against low-income kids, kids who are bullied, are they against them getting scholarships? she has said.

Opponents of LB 1402 described the law as a costly voucher scheme that denies Nebraskans their right to vote on the issue of diverting public funds to pay for private schools.

Unprecedented step

The next president of the NSEA, Tim Royers of Omaha, criticized state senators for taking the unprecedented step of passing another bill that denied voters the opportunity to have a say on an issue after advocacy groups organized and fulfilled all legal obligations to give voters that chance.

We thought we had resolved this question last summer when we turned in 117,000 signatures, that Nebraska voters want to have their say on whether public dollars should go to private schools, Royers said.

NSEA President-elect Tim Royers of Omaha speaks about a new second effort to gather signatures to stop a school choice measure that was changed enough this year by lawmakers to require a second push to stop it at the ballot box. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)

He said the union was seeking a partial repeal of LB 1402, leaving intact the part that repeals the previous school choice program. It would also leave alone the separate appropriations bill. Without a program to fund, lawyers told the Examiner, that would send $10 million a year back to the general fund.

Royers disagreed with Linehan and others arguing that the choice to spend public dollars on private education leads to better educational outcomes. He said he has not seen evidence of that in the experiences of 48 other states with similar programs.

We dont want to find ourselves going down a road where theres a false promise thats also taking critical resources away from public schools, which makes it harder for us to deliver for the vast majority of Nebraska students that attend public schools.

Opponents of LB 1402 might also pursue legal action against the law, he said.

Addressing critics concerns

Linehan has said the new measure addresses opponents concerns about the tax credit provided by last years legislation, LB 753.

Critics of the original school choice law said it raided the state treasury of potential revenue from wealthy donors, many of whom might already have given to existing scholarship programs run on behalf of private or religious schools.

Benson said diverting millions of tax dollars to fund vouchers for private schools will hurt our public schools as well as other essential public services and infrastructure.

Support Our Schools faces a tight timeline to get the initiative on the ballot. The group has 90 days after the end of the legislative session to collect about 61,000 valid signatures. That would give signature gatherers until about mid-July.

The group plans to turn in the petition language to start gathering signatures at 4 p.m. Tuesday in Lincoln. Organizers say they have started receiving commitments from many of the 1,800 people who helped them with the first petition.

Last fall, teachers and other backers of Support Our Schools wheel out boxes of voter-signed petitions seeking to repeal the Opportunity Scholarships Act on the 2024 ballot. The vote would be cancelled if a new Opportunity Scholarship Act is passed by the 2024 Legislature, a move some have called underhanded. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)

LB 1402 directs a $10 million-a-year appropriation to the State Treasurers Office for the scholarship program, down from the $25 million a year tax credit in the original law, an amount that would have increased gradually up to $100 million a year.

Supporters hope to increase the amount appropriated under LB 1402.

State Sen. Dave Murman of Glenvil, chair of the Legislatures Education Committee, said it was shocking and saddening to see these groups attack even the humblest legislation aimed at giving low-income families a choice in their education.

He, like Linehan, highlighted increased state investment over the past two years in K-12 education, including the seeds of a $1 billion fund to offset local costs of special education and new baseline state aid to K-12 education.

With these recent investments in our public schools, it is surprising that the $10 million cost of LB 1402, which is about 0.2 percent of our total education funding, is such a concern to the teachers union.

Students applying for help

More than 1,500 students have applied for scholarships under the existing program, one local school choice advocate said, and organizers expect another 1,000 to apply this spring.

One mother of a program participant, Latasha Collar of Omaha, said her family needed the help to be able to re-enroll her daughter in a private school of her choosing, according to Opportunity Scholarships of Nebraska, a scholarship granting organization.

I cant tell you how much it means to see your child excited to go to school again, she said.

In other states that passed similar programs, state funding starts with help for needy students and expands to cover more students who want to attend private schools, with most of the benefits going to families already attending private schools.

Linehans end-of-session push to remake the scholarship program will render moot the first petition drive that Support Our Schools organized against the 2023 tax credit. LB 1402 repeals its predecessor once it becomes law in mid-July.

Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen, the states top elections official, who oversees ballot initiatives, has not yet issued a formal opinion booting that first initiative from the ballot. Political observers expect that to happen as soon as this week.

Nebraska Examiner is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nebraska Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Cate Folsom for questions: info@nebraskaexaminer.com. Follow Nebraska Examiner on Facebook and Twitter.
A railroad near I-80 in Tooele County, Utah is pictured on May 1, 2024. (Katie McKellar / Utah News Dispatch)

Tooele County residents and an activist group are asking the Surface Transportation Board to reconsider its approval of a planned railroad extension to serve a new industrial park, and hinting at a lawsuit if the board declines.

The Lakeview Business Park project, a Romney Group development plan, would transform 1,000 acres of Grantsville into a manufacturing, distribution and research hub.

One of the master plan highlights from the company is an 11-mile rail line from Savage Tooele Railroad Company, which would connect to Union Pacific trains for the business park tenants, and provide a link to the Utah Inland Port Authority.

The Surface Transportation Board approved those rail expansion plans in early April. A group of Tooele residents, along with Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, then filed a petition for reconsideration to the board, arguing it didnt account for the downstream negative environmental and public health consequences of approving Savages rail line.

If the board doesnt reverse its decision, the advocates wrote in a news release, they intend to pursue all options in opposing the rail line.

Though the company argued the rail is a more environmentally-friendly option to transport goods than roads, neighbors and climate advocates believe the project would accelerate the development of the industrial parks planned in Tooele, attracting tens of thousands of diesel-fueled trucks and substantially changing the agricultural nature of the area to heavier industrial zones.

This is a rural community. Its where people come to live and to retire. We dont want it to be a concrete jungle with warehouses and everything concrete and pavement, Kyle Mathews, a board member with the Erda Community Association, said. Its just not what this place is about.

For as long as Mathews has been alive, his hometown of Erda has been a rural community, where his neighbors keep acres with horses, cows, pigs and other farming activities. His home is in a 10-acre property that grows alfalfa that he sells to other locals.

His property is about a half mile away from the rail project.

Its just literally down the road a little bit. Theres nothing between me and the railroad. I mean, thats how rural it is out here, Mathews said. Its a farm community. Its not a warehouse district.

Horses graze in a pasture in Erda, Utah on May 1, 2024. The community could be impacted by a proposed railroad extension to a new industrial warehouse park. Existing warehouses in Erda are seen in the distance. (Katie McKellar / Utah News Dispatch)

Its not like the community is against growth, he said, they would just like to see smart and quality developments.

The project may have big environmental impacts to wetlands and affect the quality of life of farmers with increased levels of air, noise and light pollution, in addition to effects in water supply, traffic and infrastructure, Mathews said.

This isnt what we consider quality growth, he said.

The complaint

The Savage Tooele Rail Line would dramatically degrade quality of life in adjacent communities. Air quality and the ensuing public health impact would not be de minimis, the petition for reconsideration says, pointing out that the Surface Transportation Boards decision is based on material errors.

The proposed Savage Tooele rail line is contrary to the public interest, the petitioners wrote, arguing the environmental assessment of the project was severely deficient in meeting the legal requirements established by the National Environmental Policy Act, for protecting the public and the environment.

The assessment doesnt completely evaluate harms to biological resources, according to the petition. It also fails to accurately disclose the projects purpose and effects. Those omissions include the considerations of rail needs from the Inland Port Authority project areas, the industrial parks and other manufacturing sites.

In order to approve the project, this Board must find that the projects transportation merits, and therefore economic merits, outweigh its environmental harms, according to the document, citing past court decisions of similar cases. Here, this board erred in not considering all the pollution, public health and climate consequences of the new railway stimulating industrial development on both the upstream and downstream communities. The economic merits do not outweigh the environmental harms.

The environmental assessment didnt properly consider the repercussions of an area adjacent to the ailing Great Salt Lake, which has already been compromised with declining water quality and quantity, and air quality standards, the petition reads.

The rail line would be too close to many residents, the petitioners said, which would degrade their quality of life.

Horses graze in a residential pasture in a neighborhood in Erda, Utah on May 1, 2024. The community could be impacted by a proposed railroad extension to a new industrial warehouse park. Existing warehouses in Erda are seen in the distance. (Katie McKellar / Utah News Dispatch)

This kind of massive warehouse and industrial development has overwhelmed communities in other states, and the residents have nicknamed these developments diesel death zones, because of all the pollution that comes with them, Dr. Brian Moench, Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment president, said in a news release.

Jeff Hymas, director of public affairs at Savage, described the petition as inaccurate and without merit, and foresees that it will be rejected.

The Surface Transportation Boards independent Office of Environmental Analysis conducted a thorough and robust Environmental Assessment, and the Boards approval is subject to numerous environmental mitigations which Savage Tooele Railroad will incorporate in its design and operations, Hymas said in an email.

The rail line would divert traffic from trucks, increasing energy efficiency, reducing emissions, reducing traffic and improving road longevity due to less wear and tear from trucks, he said, citing the offices analysis.

No return

The project has made Mathews think about leaving Erda, as it would surround his property, he said. But, the possibilities of finding a similar spot, with a rural atmosphere while being a 30-minute drive away from Salt Lake Citys downtown are limited.

Plus, he added, while the Lakeview Business Park is in Grantsville and could generate tax income for that city, the roads leading to it are in Erda.

So Erda will be maintaining and fixing the roads that these large heavy trucks run on, Mathews said. And with no return.

Erda City Council member Clyde Christensen said in a news release that this is not what the community wants.

A few people will make a lot of money, completely undermining the quality of life that we enjoy in Erda. But growth for growths sake is what theyre trying to force upon us for their own benefit.

A sign at the intersection of Erda Way and Sheep Lane in the city of Erda, Utah is pictured on May 1, 2024 (Katie McKellar / Utah News Dispatch)

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The post Neighbors and environmental advocates file petition to reconsider building new Tooele rail line appeared first on Utah News Dispatch.
By all accounts, the controversy over surveillance at Princeton Manor began at a pool party last summer.

Personally frustrated by a string of car break-ins and a recent burglary in the Knightdale subdivision, a member of the homeowners association board struck up a conversation with a Knightdale police officer at the event, asking what else the neighborhood could do to fight crime.

Security cameras and doorbell cams are not picking the information up that we need to turn over to help identify these people, the board member, Chris Willis, recalled in a late summer HOA meeting video shared with The News & Observer.

The officer, Willis said, noted that Knightdale police and other neighborhoods nearby had recently turned to technology from Flock Safety to record license plates and other vehicle information. The private, Atlanta-based firm has grown rapidly since its founding in 2017, marketing its small cameras to law enforcement, companies and neighborhoods.

Before you know it, theres a camera at each entrance, said Keith Gibbs, whos owned a home in Princeton Manor for nearly 20 years. And people are starting to say, Well, what is this? Whats going on?

Keith Gibbs, a resident of the Princeton Manor neighborhood, has concerns about the Flock Safety cameras installed at both entrances to the neighborhood off Hodge Road in Knightdale, N.C. Gibbs has concerns about how the data is collected, used, shared and stored. He was photographed at his home on Jan. 24.

At a cost of $2,000 to $3,000 annually per camera, the devices capture license plates and other information on all vehicles that pass by, data thats retained for weeks and searchable by anyone with access. Their purpose, the company says, is to gather evidence police can use to solve crimes.

The move to install the cameras, though, did not sit well with many Princeton Manor residents, who like other neighborhoods across the country are divided over privacy concerns about the technology and how its used.

On Facebook and Nextdoor, Gibbs said, the conversation between Princeton Manor residents shifted from the usual gripes about on-street parking and chatter about social events to concerns about invasions of privacy.

I understand that we have to have safety and security in our neighborhoods, said resident Ray Rivera, a retired Wake County sheriffs deputy. But when you put a system in that is monitored by regular citizens that captures the comings and goings of over 400 people, 400 houses  to me, thats concerning.

Months later, the controversy is still simmering. And the cameras are still recording.

Ray Rivera, photographed at his home in Knightdale Jan. 24, said he thinks the Flock Safety cameras his homeowners association installed at entrances to his Princeton Manor neighborhood are kind of creepy. The retired Wake County sheriffs deputy says the HOA installed the surveillance equipment before addressing concerns about how data is collected, used, shared and stored.

Keeping a historical record

In its marketing materials, Flock Safety says its products are now active in more than 3,000 neighborhoods and HOAs nationwide. That includes subdivisions in Durham and the Mingo Creek community in Knightdale, right down the road from Princeton Manor.

Knightdale, Garner and Raleigh police departments use the cameras too, tracking tens of thousands of vehicles along city streets and collecting data they retain for 30 days.

But when the two cameras went up in Princeton Manor in the late summer of 2023, Gibbs said there was little clarity on who was able to access what the devices collected and how that data would be used.

Flock Safety cameras are installed at both entrances to the Princeton Manor neighborhood off of Hodge Road in Knightdale, N.C.

Im very much against an organization that Im a part of becoming a private police force and not having policies, procedures, very well trained individuals in place on how to use that data to protect our neighborhood, Gibbs said.

Skye Creech, who heads up the Princeton Manor HOA board, declined a request for an interview. He wrote in an email to The News & Observer that the board has addressed use of the system with the neighborhood and Gibbs on numerous occasions.

Both the Princeton Manor Homeowners Association and Flock operate within the laws of the State of North Carolina, and we are confident the system operates in such a way at all times, Creech said.

Knightdale Police Chief Lawrence Capps shared this screenshot with a local homeowners association board in August 2023. In it, a police vehicles license plate is captured by a Flock Safety camera near the police departments Steeple Square Court headquarters.

In the video of the HOA meeting held shortly after the cameras were installed, Willis told neighbors that the board moved forward with Flock not as a measure to track residents, but as a tool to address crimes  albeit petty, albeit theft and vandalism.

Nobody knows that this car belongs to this address or anything like that, Willis told meeting attendees in the video. This is simply a historical record so that we can participate, after the fact, if something happens in the neighborhood that we need to help Knightdale PD solve.

But Gibbs said its not hard to put together a pattern  which cars park at which houses  to find out whos who. And even if theres no nefarious intent now, he said, hes concerned about the power the system grants to privately police public streets.

If its a gated community? Sure. Those are your streets, do whatever you want, Gibbs said. But now every person that comes to my home  that I invite to my home  theres a record of them being in the neighborhood.

A street in the Princeton Manor neighborhood in Knightdale.

Kind of creepy

Gibbs and Rivera say they arent the only community members concerned.

In a neighborhood survey circulated after the cameras were installed, they said, 44% of the 149 residents who responded expressed opposition to the license plate reader system.

There are more effective ways to deter and address crime, Rivera argues. A block watch system, for example, would increase safety and bring the community together, he said.

This doesnt, Rivera said. All this did was put a wedge between us.

Once the deputy warden of a Connecticut prison, Rivera notes hes no stranger to surveillance. But he said many of his questions about the data have gone unanswered.

Now we have a system thats not being monitored by any government agency, Rivera said. Theres no oversight. Theres no regulation.

Traffic passes an entrance to the Princeton Manor neighborhood in Knightdale, N.C. Flock Safety cameras are installed at both entrances to the neighborhood off of Hodge Road.

Flock Safety spokesperson Holly Beilin said HOAs using the companys devices have much less capability than law enforcement  they cant receive alerts on stolen vehicles and missing persons, for example.

Theyre not investigating crime, she said. Theyre literally just providing evidence to law enforcement, and we encourage them to share directly with law enforcement.

But neighborhoods that use Flock technology do have the same auditing tools as police and sheriffs departments.

An HOA board can actually audit what their other board members  or whoever has access to the system  is searching on, Beilin said. She argues those features make Flock products superior to traditional video cameras, where there is no ability to understand what user is looking at something and who is searching, when theyre searching.

Beilin said the company provides sample policies when they sign up new HOA users. But she said its up to individual neighborhoods to create and enforce their own rules for how to use the system.

Gibbs, who ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the HOA board this year  prompted by his opposition to the boards handling of the Flock rollout  said hes not completely opposed to the technology. He generally trusts law enforcement to use license plate readers responsibly, he said.

A lot of positive policing activity has come from Flock when used in a fashion like it is in Garner or wherever, where it is on major roads and actively scanning databases for warrants that can be tied to a license plate, Gibbs said. Thats because you have an active police force doing that.

But hes not convinced that the two-year, $10,000 contract he said the neighborhood signed with Flock is worth it. Neither is Rivera, who said that the devices are just kind of creepy in addition to being money poorly spent.

Its just a stark reminder, every time you come in here, that somebodys watching you, Rivera said. Why? What the hell did I do wrong?
Newsmax Host: It's Illegal To Forbid People From Calling Trump 'President Trump' At Trial

Newsmax host Greg Kelly on Tuesday ranted about a prosecutor objecting to Donald Trumps attorney calling his client President Trump while questioning a trial witness in New York. The judge overseeing Trumps hush money case sustained the objection.

I think its, in a weird way, against the law, Kelly declared. (Watch the video below.)

On Greg Kelly Reports, the far-right anchor fixated on a Friday exchange between Trump defense lawyer Emil Bove and former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker about a 2016 meeting at Trump Tower. Bove referred to a phone call with President Trump before the meeting was to take place.

You talked to President Trump that day in connection with the meeting; right? Bove asked Pecker, according to a court transcript.

Objection, Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass said.

Whats your objection? Judge Juan Merchan asked.

He wasnt President Trump in June of 2016, Steinglass replied.

Sustained, Merchan said.

Kelly railed that this bit of testimony exposed the corruption and hideous bias of the proceedings, but saved perhaps his wackiest comment for later.

The judge is sustaining that objection, Kelly said. Now that is personal, that is mean, and also I think its, in a weird way, against the law. I think he [Trump] retains that title no matter what.

This embedded content is not available in your region.

It should be noted that Trumps defense team announced it would refer to him as President Trump as a sign of respect afforded ex-presidents. The attorneys have done so dozens of other times without objection.

But Kelly persisted in trying to make his point. He showed a White House website page of President Joe Bidens accomplishments that calls him President Biden, even for things he did before he was president.

The anchor conveniently forgot that Biden isnt a defendant in a criminal trial in which the title might prove problematic at times.

h/t Media Matters For America

Related...
A complaint filed by Syrian NGO Hand in Hand for Aid and Development (HIHFAD) on May 1 alleges that Russian forces deliberately bombed a hospital in Syria in 2019, killing at least two people, media reported.

Moscow deployed its troops to Syria in 2015, providing support to dictator Bashar al-Assad against multiple anti-government forces. Damascus has been supportive of the Kremlin during the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Russian forces operating in Syria have been accused by the U.N. and other organizations of committing war crimes in the country, including the intentional bombing of hospitals and the usage of "double-tap" attacks, a tactic Russia has repeated in Ukraine.

The newest complaint, filed jointly by HIHFAD and the cousin of one of those killed at the U.N.'s Human Rights Committee, accuses Russia of bombing the Kafr Nobol Surgical Hospital in Syria's Idlib province in 2019.

"Syrians are looking to the Human Rights Committee to show us some measure of redress by acknowledging the truth of this brutal attack, and the suffering caused," said Fadi al-Dairi, the director of HIHFAD, Reuters reported.

According to the Open Society Justice Initiative, which is involved in presenting the case to the U.N., "at least three other hospitals in the area were attacked by Russia in just 12 hours" on the same day.

Read also: Double-tap attack. Understanding one of Russias cruelest tactics in Ukraine

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
CAIRO, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Talks on a truce in the Gaza conflict are making progress as Cairo is conducting intensifying contacts with all concerned parties, Egypt's Al-Qahera News reported on Thursday, quoting a high-ranking Egyptian source.

There is a breakthrough in the truce talks as "Hamas shows more flexibility on the release of hostages," two security sources confirmed to Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

"Egypt is racing time to reach a ceasefire deal that is likely to be implemented in three stages," added the sources.

Meanwhile, Hamas said its delegation will visit Egypt soon to further ceasefire talks in the Gaza Strip.

In a phone call with Egyptian Intelligence Chief Abbas Kamel, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh appreciated Egypt's role and expressed the movement's "positive spirit" in studying the ceasefire proposal.

Qatar, Egypt and the United States are seeking to reach a deal for a prisoner exchange and a second ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, following the first one that ended last December.

Israel has been launching 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. 
New Hampshire House Republican lawmakers are moving to strip out major portions of a bipartisan bill aimed at addressing child hunger, arguing they are costly and unnecessary, in a decision that drew sharp criticism from Democrats and advocates.

The House Finance Committee Division III voted Monday to recommend eliminating most of House Bill 499, an omnibus bill that would create a program to provide families meal assistance in the summer as well as new programs to encourage breakfast take-up in school.

New Hampshire House Republican lawmakers are moving to strip out major portions of a bipartisan bill aimed at addressing child hunger.

Sponsored by Sens. Becky Whitley, a Hopkinton Democrat, and Denise Ricciardi, a Bedford Republican, the bill passed the Senate unanimously. But the proposed House amendment would eliminate most of those programs from the bill, including the summer meal program, which would allow the state to receive about $4.5 million per year in federal funding to distribute in the summer to families who qualify for free or reduced-price meals at school.

House Republicans have raised issues with required startup costs for the program: The state would need to provide $1.2 million in its first year for administrative expenses, and then about $259,000 every year after. That represents half the cost; the federal government would provide an equivalent in matched funds.

Some Republicans objected to spending federal money at all.

The federal government is very broke right now, said Rep. J.R. Hoell, a Dunbarton Republican. So counting on somebody whos very broke to continue to write checks is a fraught mission.

Supporters of the bill have countered that those costs are relatively low compared to the benefits low-income families would receive from the EBT program.

These are children that due to no fault of their own do not have healthy food in their kitchen cabinets and not enough of it, said Rep. Laura Telerski, a Nashua Democrat. And I think that for this division to throw out an opportunity for a relatively small investment from the state to enable this opportunity to bring that extra benefit to families who are struggling is really unfortunate.

Mondays recommendation is not final; Division III is a nine-member subcommittee of the full 25-member House Finance Committee, and the full committee will need to approve the measure in the coming weeks. But the amendment was supported by top Republicans on the Finance Committee, including Chairman Ken Weyler of Kingston.

And the recommendation comes as lawmakers have quarreled in recent years over whether and how to expand school meal assistance in New Hampshire. Earlier this month, House Republicans rejected a bill to raise the eligibility for free and reduced-price meals in school from 185 percent of the federal poverty level to 350 percent. Republicans have also voted down efforts to expand the number of participants in school meal programs by enrolling the state into Medicaid Direct Certification, which would allow schools to use Medicaid data to sign up families automatically.

A multi-pronged bill

HB 499 seeks to carry out a number of changes to boost meal services, both inside and outside schools.

The bill would require that school districts provide both breakfast and lunch during school hours; currently, they are obligated to provide only one meal. It would allow school districts to implement breakfast after the bell, in which students are allowed to eat breakfast after classes begin so they dont need to arrive early, and receive reimbursement from the state for extra costs.

The bill would require that school districts offer online applications for families to sign up for the free and reduced-price meal program. It would provide an opportunity for school districts to receive additional federal reimbursement for free and reduced-price lunches and breakfasts if they also adopt a school wellness policy as defined in the federal Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act.

It would join New Hampshire to the federal summer EBT program, allowing families making up to 185 percent of the federal poverty level  $57,720 for a household of four  $40 per child per month to help with groceries. That federal money would be distributed in the form of pre-loaded cards and would work with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

The Department of Education has estimated that 37,000 children in the state would qualify for the program if approved.

And HB 499 would also direct the state to adopt the Elderly Simplified Application Project, a federal effort to improve access to food stamps for people 60 years and older by waiving certain application requirements and reducing the need to re-apply.

At its meeting Monday, the House Finance Division III passed an amendment to eliminate all provisions from the bill except the Elderly Simplified Application Project, in a 5-3 vote along party lines.

Laura Milliken, executive director of New Hampshire Hunger Solutions, an advocacy group that has championed the bill, said HB 499 was intended to bridge gaps that some low-income families face when school is not in session and children dont have regular school meals.

While some school districts and private organizations provide food assistance in some areas of the state, Milliken said the summer EBT program would provide more steady support.

Many times families cant get their children to the place where the meals are being provided, she said. So its just a much more direct way of making sure that children are not hungry in the summer.

Philosophical differences

To Milliken and other supporters of the bill, the federal money would provide a return on investment and help stimulate local economies by encouraging more food spending. If the bill doesnt pass, the state Department of Education would not be able to participate in the program, Milliken said.

The federal government has provided these funding streams and to my mind, it doesnt make sense not to use them to feed hungry kids, Milliken said Monday.

But House Finance Republicans raised concerns over cost and implementation.

Weyler argued that the summer EBT program duplicated aid already available to families through SNAP, often known as food stamps, and that it would make more sense to increase federal funding to those programs. He also said the breakfast after the bell model raised logistical questions.

That whole arrangement of: what type of food, was it going to be in a refrigerator, were they going to pick it up going down the hall to the home room, or how was it going to work out? That wasnt carefully thought out, Weyler said.  It just seemed to needlessly complicate everything without really spelling out how it would be done.

And he said the bills supporters had not made the case that the bill is needed. Do we really have that big a hunger problem in this state? Weyler asked. I dont think they properly proved such a thing.

Advocates for the bill say the breakfast before the bell model has been successfully tested and implemented in schools in other states. A 2015 survey by the Food Research and Action Center that polled 105 high school principals that implemented alternative breakfast approaches found that 82 percent reported increased school breakfast participation and 46 percent reported improved student attentiveness.

But Rep. Erica Layon, a Derry Republican who was filling in on the committee for Rep. Jess Edwards, questioned whether students should be given meals after school begins. I have three young boys who cannot concentrate while they are eating, she said. Im just worried about the consequences on the actual instructional time.

Hoell had more fundamental objections. Support for food-insecure families should come from donations, organizations, and church groups, he argued.

What were doing is requiring other taxpayers to foot the bill when we do this, he said. It is not about generosity at this point. Generosity starts when it comes out of your own piggy bank. We cannot compel someone else to fund this.

As the debate unfolded, Democrats expressed alarm, accusing Republicans of gutting a broadly supported bill.

I just think its inhumane, said Rep. David Preece of Manchester. And maybe its just my values, but I think its inhumane.

Some raised issues with the process. The House Finance Committee has three subcommittees that are designed to work on distinct policy areas; Finance Committee III largely deals with health care spending, while Finance Committee II handles education spending. Democrats said Finance Committee III was recommending an amendment to eliminate provisions that should be examined by Finance Committee II.

I think its shameful that we are throwing the whole thing away and we did not actually have proper process to even get to this point, said Telerski.

The amendment will go to the House Finance Committee in the coming weeks; that committee has until May 16 to vote on whether to adopt the amendment and recommend the bill to the full House.

This story was originally published by the New Hampshire Bulletin.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: NH House Republicans recommend eliminating most of anti-hunger bill
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB)  A Niagara Falls man has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and other charges in connection to a killing during a robbery in 2022, the Niagara County District Attorneys office said Thursday.

24-year-old Rohmelo Lewis admitted to the killing of Cortez Galmore during a robbery on May 3, 2022. Lewis plea came on the eve of a trial where he faces charges of Hortons murder, and other robberies that occurred in the days before.

He pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter, first-degree robbery and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

Two of Lewis accomplices, 21-year-old Isaiah Christian and 20-year-old Shawn Bomberry, previously pleaded guilty to charges. Christian pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and first-degree robbery and is awaiting sentencing. Bomberry pleaded guilty to second-degree attempted robbery and is currently serving a prison sentence.

The judge in the case committed to sentencing Lewis to 25 years in prison when he returns to court on July 5.

Latest Local News

Aidan Joly joined the News 4 staff in 2022. He is a graduate of Canisius College. You can see more of his work here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to News 4 Buffalo.
Gov. Phil Murphy signed a bill into law on Wednesday that will codify an existing process for certifying LGBTQ+-owned businesses  a move proponents say unlocks local contracting opportunities for those employers and makes them eligible for state agency initiatives.

Although Murphy signed an executive order in May 2022 enacting such a process, supporters say the legislation gives it the power of state law, allowing it to remain in place after the current governor leaves office.

The law "sends a clear message to all businesses looking to invest in New Jersey that we are a welcoming state, said Gus Penaranda, executive director of the New Jersey Pride Chamber of Commerce.

The state already offered a certification program for businesses owned by women, minorities and veterans.

A new state law codifies an existing process for certifying LGBTQ-owned businesses  a move proponents say unlocks local contracting opportunities for those employers and makes them eligible for state agency initiatives.

Certified businesses contact information gets posted to public databases used by contracting authorities. So far, the New Jersey Treasury Department has certified 141 LGBTQ+ businesses.

By codifying this certification program in statute, we ensure that the opportunity to proudly identify as an LGBTQ+-owned business will last for many years to come, Murphy said in a Wednesday statement accompanying the bills signature.

Murphys office said the goal of the legislation and the executive order are to encourage LGBTQ+ companies to do business in New Jersey.

To qualify, businesses must be solely owned by an LGBTQ+ person, or at least 51% of owners in partnerships, joint ventures and corporations must identify as LGBTQ+. These owners must be substantially involved in ongoing affairs of the business. The businesses must also exhibit a need for resources.

The federal Small Business Administration estimated in 2022 that 1.4 million LGBTQ+-owned businesses contribute a combined $1.7 trillion to the U.S economy each year.

Daniel Munoz covers business, consumer affairs, labor and the economy for NorthJersey.com and The Record.

Email: munozd@northjersey.com; Twitter:@danielmunoz100

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ law provides certification to LGBTQ+ businesses
NEW MEXICO (KRQE)  Months away from a major presidential election, New Mexicos top election officials are trying to ward off what they think could be a confusing race full of misinformation created by a growing level of artificial intelligence (AI).

Study shows 65% of New Mexico voters very confident their vote counted

The New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver is launching what she calls the seeing is no longer believing campaign, designed to help people identify when something is AI-generated. These images and these voice reproductions and videos can be so realistic, but there are some things that are obvious that we as critical consumers of information can look for, Toulouse Oliver said.

The campaign is launching with ads focusing on educating voters about how computer-generated AI can manipulate or even create audio, video, and photos that are easy to miss. One example is deep fakes, which are faked audio, images, or videos that look like real people and are used to sway voters.

The new state campaign tells people what to look out for to identify fake creations and how to combat them.

We do anticipate an expect A.I. generated content to come up around this and so again we really want to urge voters to just have their critical thinking caps on and think, you know Im going to double check and see if this is right, Toulouse Oliver said.

The campaign launches this week ahead of the state of early voting next week. New Mexicos Primary Election is coming up on June 4. For more information about the campaign, click here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos.
No one is bigger than him: On the campaign trail with Indias popular yet divisive leader

The whir of the helicopter shakes the marquee tents roof and kicks up a plume of dust that swirls through the thronging crowd, announcing the arrival of the man theyve all come to see.

Chanting his name, waving his partys flag and quoting his slogans, in many of their eyes he can do no wrong. Narendra Modi, Indias hugely popular but deeply polarizing prime minister, has landed in the battleground state of Uttar Pradesh as he campaigns for a third consecutive term in power.

Arrival at the rally in Aligarh, a three-hour drive from New Delhi, was preceded by a cacophony of horn-honking cars, motorcycles, and trucks all muscling their way in and out of traffic with few discernible lanes.

Uttar Pradesh, Indias most populous state of 240 million people, is right in the heart of the nations Hindi belt, the predominantly Hindi-speaking Indian states where support for Modi and the devotion of his followers is especially strong.

Win UP, so they say, and you win India.

A Modi supporter at his rally in Aligarh, India, on April 22, 2024. - John Mees/CNN

As the sun glares down on the dusty field in Aligarh and temperatures soar to 38 degrees Celsius (100 Fahrenheit), the crowd dont seem to mind.

Modi! Modi! Modi! they chant, as the prime minister speaks about the BrahMos  a nuclear-capable, land-attack cruise missile jointly developed by Russia and India  that will soon be assembled in a local factory.

With nearly 970 million eligible voters, Indias ongoing weekslong election  the worlds largest democratic exercise  is seen as critical in shaping the South Asian countrys trajectory over the next five years, with Modi widely expected to win. And here in Uttar Pradesh, a sense of pride is evident among the thousands gathered to hear the prime minister speak.

We feel proud to have such kind of a leader, says math teacher Pramod Charma. Whatever he says, he does  thats why he calls it Modis guarantee. In politics, he is the biggest star right now. No one can replace him.

Modi supporters dress in saffron saris, the color of his Bharatiya Janata Party, in Aligarh, India, on April 22, 2024. - John Mees/CNN

In many ways Modi is part of the wider global wave of populist leaders with an authoritarian streak that have amassed a fervent voter base in recent years.

Modi projects himself as an outsider from humble origins. Born as the son of a tea seller in a small town in western Gujarat state, he does not fit neatly within the often privately educated, resolutely metropolitan, English-speaking template set by many previous Indian leaders.

To his devoted followers, hes a man who has transformed the lives of ordinary Indians with his welfare and social policies  while cementing India as a key power broker. But to his critics, hes a divisive leader, whose Hindu nationalist ambitions have given rise to growing religious persecution and Islamophobia, with many of the countrys more than 200 million Muslims fearing his re-election.

Just a day before this April 22 rally in Aligarh, Modi sparked a row over hate speech while campaigning in northwestern Rajasthan state when he accused Muslims  who have been present in India for centuries  of being infiltrators. He also echoed a false conspiracy voiced by some Hindu nationalists that Muslims are displacing the countrys majority Hindu population by deliberately having large families.

That speech stirred widespread anger and calls for election authorities to investigate the comments. BJP spokespeople subsequently said Modi was talking about undocumented migrants.

Modi supporters take selfies in Aligarh, India, on April 22, 2024. - John Mees/CNN

And Modis remarks did little to shake the faith of his devoted followers in Aligarh.

Lawyer Gaurav Mahajan says this is the fifth Modi campaign rally he has attended. (He is the) most powerful leader in the world, he says. Indians have faith in Modi.

With just two out of seven phases of voting complete, Indian politics remains unpredictable. But with no one in the opposition camp to possess the kind of brand name and star quality that Modi has, analysts say his re-election is widely expected.

Opposition leaders have meanwhile accused Modis right-wing government of becoming an electoral autocracy by attempting to rig the vote, weaponizing state agencies to stifle, attack and arrest opposition politicians, and undermining democratic principles. They also warn that Modis brand of Hindu nationalism is uncorking dangerous religious divides in a country with a long and tragic history of sectarian bloodletting.

The BJPs national spokesperson has previously said the party is not prejudiced against Muslims and that democracy is protected under the constitution.

Supporters wave the flag of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Aligarh, India, on April 22, 20224. - John Mees/CNN

Modi is expected to remain on the campaign trail until Indias next prime minister is named in early June, traversing the huge country, visiting city after city and delivering his roaring speeches that attract the masses.

In Aligarh, the mood feels like a jovial pep rally, and there is none of the divisive rhetoric that was on show in Rajasthan.

When the crowd spots our camera, as if on cue, they begin to chant: Modi! Modi! Modi!

Old and young, the sentiment in the crowd appears universal.

There are no words to express the goodness of Modi, says engineering student Narayan Pachaury, 17.

No one is bigger than him.

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Workers install anti-tank defenses known as dragon teeth during construction of new defensive positions close to the Russian border in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine, on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

KHARKIV, Ukraine (AP)  During pitched battles with far better-armed Russian forces, Ukrainian soldier Batyars unit has few options.

Devastating Russian aerial glide bombs that can drop up to 1.5 tons of explosives out of range of most of Ukraine's air defenses are gnawing away at his mens positions in a new tactic.

Yet, to retreat carries no promise of safety  the rear defensive lines meant to give them cover barely exist, he said.

Lack of ammunition is forcing the outnumbered Ukrainian soldiers to pull back, one village after another, including three surrendered Sunday, as intense fighting roils the countryside surrounding Avdiivka nearly three months after the strategic city fell to Russia.

It's necessary to increase the pace of building fortifications  so that when we retreat, we will retreat to a prepared position," said Batyar, a unit commander who gave only his military call sign in line with brigade protocols. "These fortifications are not enough.

Facing an outcry after Avdiivka's fall, Ukraine is rushing to build concrete-fortified trenches, foxholes, firing positions and other barricades on the front lines. But relentless Russian shelling, lack of equipment and crippling bureaucracy plague construction across the vast 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front, even as a new Russian offensive looms, according to a dozen Ukrainian soldiers, government officials and construction company directors interviewed by The Associated Press.

The much awaited aid package passed by the U.S. Congress last month is expected to help Ukraine close the firepower gap. But until replenishments arrive, which could take weeks, Russia will continue to exploit Ukraine's weaknesses.

DIG AND FIGHT

Ukraine has allocated nearly 38 billion hryvnias ($960 million) to build an extensive fortification network this year. Soldiers across the front line maintain that should have happened last year, when Ukraine had the upper hand in the fighting, not in the heat of battle now.

Besides trenches and other barricades, the layered system includes mines and anti-tank obstacles known as dragon's teeth, normally built in advance of fighting. Russia's preparedness paid off during Kyivs failed counteroffensive last summer: Ukraines momentum was slowed in the Zaporizhzhia region by Moscows extensive fortifications.

But Ukraine was slow to follow suit; it was not until this spring, when weather conditions improved, that any real progress was made. In March, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Ukraine was building 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) of fortifications across three lines of defense.

There was an absence of responsibility. ... People didn't understand that fortifications can save your life if you do it in advance," said Oleksandr, a deputy infantry commander with the 47th brigade in the Avdiivka area who gave only his first name in line with military rules.

"Many people thought we ... wouldn't need to prepare such lines. They didn't expect a new Russian offensive.

Unlike Russia, Ukraine does not have the option of forcing thousands of prisoners to do the work. That means Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines must both fight and dig their own trenches.

It's very hard to do both, Oleksandr said.

Building the second line, 2 to 5 kilometers behind the front line and within range of Russian artillery, is the responsibility of Ukraines poorly-resourced engineering force. The third line, at a greater distance from battle, is constructed by companies under military contracts.

The reasons for Ukraine's lack of preparedness are rooted in the years after independence when it began downsizing its military because it couldn't afford to maintain the large force inherited from the Soviet Union. Its engineering regiments were dismantled until there were only a handful left. Equipment, including excavators and plows so direly needed now, were sold off.

We entered the war with nothing, said a serviceman in Ukraines engineering force, who spoke on condition of anonymity to talk openly about the lack of preparation. When he arrived to build fortifications in Ukraines east in October, all his unit had were aging equipment from the 1960s and shovels, he said.

Accordingly, thats the kind of trenches we made.

DISCONNECTED PITS

Ukraine's lack of adequate defensive lines has helped Russia make significant military gains, and constant enemy fire hinders building.

Five commanders in Avdiivka and Chasiv Yar, which have been under relentless Russian assault, said without well-prepared positions they were unable to gain a foothold in unfamiliar terrain and defend without suffering huge losses.

In Chasiv Yar, a strategic hilltop town in Donetsk, the lack of fortifications helped turn the tables in Russias favor.

In mid-March, Ukraines 67th brigade was rotated in to hold positions roughly 3 kilometers from the town. I would be hard-pressed to describe them as 'positions,' said a Ukrainian serviceman who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the failings candidly.

He expected dugouts, a labyrinth of trenches and firing positions, but what he found were a series of pits, barely large enough to hide in during artillery barrages.

Under fire, soldiers would climb out of pits and start digging in each others direction so that there is at least some connection between them, he said. The soil was so sandy that whenever shells struck, the trenches they dug crumbled.

With nowhere to take cover and no means to match the Russian barrages, they retreated 2 kilometers back. Over 100 Ukrainian soldiers were killed or are missing, he said.

We lost department commanders, platoon commanders, company commanders and sergeants, he said. That is, we lost the entire skeleton of the brigade.

The unit's withdrawal in early April led to it being disbanded by Ukraines General Staff. The brigade was blamed for the loss, but commanders said they never had the resources to succeed.

TIME, MONEY, PRESSURE

To rush building across the third line, construction companies were awarded contracts without the usual bidding process.

There was no time, said Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Syniehubov.

The move speeded things up but raised concerns of potential corruption  a worry Syniehubov asserted was overstated. Believe me, we have so many checks-and-balances and government agencies overseeing the building, it is impossible to steal something, he said.

Finding companies willing to take the risk was another challenge. They faced layers of bureaucracy to get paid, while coming under enormous pressure to work fast.

A contractor in the Sumy region said he had to follow up with a half-dozen government officials to get funding.

Not many people are willing to do this, said a construction company director in the Marinka area of the Donetsk region. All the fortifications he is contracted to build should have been erected in 2014, when Russia first invaded Ukraine, he said.

"This is is all a big question for our leadership: Why didnt they purchase the equipment that military engineers needed to do their jobs? Why did they wait until they just gave it to us? said the director, who like other company officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military contracts.

The owner of another company supplying concrete for front-line fortifications said some regional officials, under pressure to build them quickly, were inflating progress. I saw the figures, and knowing what I know about the supplies, I know they can't be true, he said.

And then, there are the Russian attacks. Drones monitor building activity as far back as the third line and routinely attack workers.

In Kharkiv, at least four construction workers were killed in the last month, according to the governor. In addition, 10 pieces of equipment were destroyed.

The enemy sees everything, he said.

___

AP journalist Volodymyr Yurchuk contributed to this report.

___

Follow AP's coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
OURAY, Colo. (KREX)  Sexual assault victims in rural Colorado often face a lack of resources and support. A new nonprofit based in Ouray is looking to change that. A nonprofit called Ouray County Support and Advocacy Project or OCSAP.

When youre a victim of this kind of violence theres typically a lot of shame associated with this type of victimization, Heather Toth, board president of Ouray County Support and Advocacy Project told WesternSlopeNow.

In January, the Ouray Plaindealer reported charges involving rape against three teenagers. Then in February, the Telluride Daily Planet reported Brian Scranton, a Ridgway man, was charged with felony sexual assault. Its the second time Scranton has been charged with a sex crime. He was acquitted of the first charge in 2015.

Alleged Ouray rape case defendant appears back in Ouray County Court

What we would like to see with OCSAP is well have trained certified advocates who help a person going through the aftermath of that kind of violence. Heather Toth

Toth told WesternSlopeNow that while OCSAP isnt offering any services to victims right now, they plan to be functional by the end of this year. On May 2, the board plans to announce OCSAPs new executive director at one of their final fundraisers. You can buy tickets here.

What resources are available in Ouray County now?

Ouray County Commissioner and OCSAP Board Member Jake Niece told WesternSlopeNow that there is a law enforcement victim advocate housed in the Ouray County Sheriffs Office. [The] law enforcement victim advocate can only get involved once charges have been filed, Niece said.

Tabitha Champlin is the only full-time member of Ouray County Victim Services. Champlin said in addition to supporting victims her group can walk them through the legal system and help get them access to the Crime Victims Compensation Fund and other resources like safe houses. The resources we have available as far as what COVA (Colorado Organization of Victim Assistance) can cover and crime victims compensation can cover are system based, Champlin said.

This means some victims of sexual violence fall through the cracks. The National Sexual Violence Resource Center says in 2017 victims reported 40% of rapes and sexual assaults to police but only 25% reported in 2018.

It can be really isolating. Because you may feel, or get the sense that everybody knows what happened to you and that might have a very real impact on your life, your ability to get a job, your ability to feel safe when youre walking down the street. Heather Toth

Toth and Niece told WesternSlopeNow they hope OCSAPs impact goes beyond helping victims. Sending a message to the community that we take sexual assault and intimate partner violence seriously and hopefully, that will act as a deterrence, said Niece.

Learn more about OCSAP on their website.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WesternSlopeNow.com.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)  Sheriffs would be required to temporarily hold inmates in jail that federal immigration agents believe are in the country illegally under a bill passed by the North Carolina Senate on Thursday.

But unlike two previous versions of the bill successfully shot down by Democratic Gov. Roy Coopers veto in the last five years, the measure stands a strong chance of becoming law thanks to GOP seat gains.

The Senate voted along party lines for the measure in a 28-16 vote. Now the legislation returns to the House, where Speaker Tim Moore said Wednesday he supports the measure and that his chamber could vote on the Senate changes as soon as next week.

An affirmative House vote would send the measure to Cooper, who could veto it again. But a GOP supermajority in both chambers since last year means Coopers veto could be overridden and the bill enacted if Republicans stay united.

The bill, sponsored by several key House leaders, centers around the issue of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainers. Those are requests for local law enforcement to notify federal immigration agents about an inmate believed to be in the country unlawfully and maintain custody.

State Republicans have said the need for the bill is apparent as several sheriffs across the state, particularly from Democratic urban counties, havent cooperated with immigration agents.

Most sheriffs comply, but we have a few who dont want to, said Wilson County Republican Sen. Buck Newton on Thursday. This has been going on for years and years and years that its reached the point of critical mass.

Under the proposed changes, all sheriffs or jailers are required to hold inmates accused of serious crimes for up to 48 hours if a detainer is issued. It also mandates the involvement of judicial officials to order law enforcement to hold the inmate in question, according to the bill.

A Senate amendment to the bill would allow anyone to file a complaint with the state Attorneys General Office if they believe a jail administrator is not complying with the law. The legislation would go into effect on July 1.

Senate Republicans used a parliamentary maneuver to table another amendment from Sen. Mujtaba Mohammed, a Mecklenburg County Democrat, that would allow a district attorney to file an objection to a detainer on behalf of a crime victim who seeks prosecution against an inmate in North Carolina. A district judge would have the ultimate say over whether a jail administrator would comply with a detainer request.

You need to join me in supporting victims of crime and victims of domestic violence and prosecutors across our state by allowing them to seek justice by voting no, Mohammed said.

Current state law already asks sheriffs or other law enforcement officials to check an inmates legal status if they are charged with serious crimes. If the jailer cannot determine someones legal status, a query should be sent to ICE.

Two previous iterations of the bill failed to become law in 2019 and 2022 when Cooper vetoed them and Democrats held enough seats to block an override veto.

In response to the legislation, the governors office said Wednesday that Cooper was concerned if the bill was constitutional and effective in making communities safer. It would take away authority from sheriffs for purely political purposes, spokesperson Jordan Monaghan said.

As with previous bill versions, advocates for Latino immigrants spoke against the mandate in Senate committees this week and during a lobbying day on Wednesday.

They said the requirement would actually make communities less safe by instilling fear into immigrants, especially those who are undocumented, by discouraging them from reporting crimes or building trust with law enforcement.

The Republican majority in this legislature continues to push forward extreme laws that target immigrants and punishes our community for merely existing, Axel Herrera Ramos of Durham with the advocacy group Mi Familia en Accion said at a rally outside the old Capitol building. Dont tell me its about safety.

At least six states broadly outlaw local agencies ability to restrict federal immigration law enforcement involvement, National Conference of State Legislatures policy analyst Jay Gideon said in an email. These prohibitions aim to strike down sanctuary policies that do not enforce local cooperation with federal immigration agents.

Georgias Republican Gov. Brian Kemp also signed a bill Wednesday requiring jailers to check inmates immigration status and criminalizes the failure to do so.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS17.com.
A jury of 12 Johnson County residents voted Thursday to send 31-year-old Jerry Elders to death row, agreeing with prosecutors who requested the death penalty. The defense said he deserved life in prison without parole.

Jurors began deliberating toward a punishment verdict around 10 a.m. Thursday and delivered their verdict shortly before 5:30 p.m. At one point, the jury asked to listen again to audio of the defendants phone calls from jail. Jurors also asked for clarification on whether Elders intoxication when he committed the crime would be a mitigating factor in deciding the sentence.

Elders was found guilty of capital murder last week. He shot a Burleson police officer during a traffic stop then fled, abducted 60-year-old Robin Waddell in her truck, shot her and threw her out of her truck in the back lot of the Joshua Police Department, authorities have said. Waddell died from her wounds. The officer, Joshua Lott, was shot three times but survived.

Robin Waddell, 60, was killed in 2021 when authorities said a man fleeing from police kidnapped and shot her. Jerry Elders was convicted of capital murder in her death. A jury is deliberating on whether hell be sentenced to death row or life in prison without parole.

Defense attorneys said in closing arguments Thursday morning that Elders was under the influence of drugs when he committed the crimes, was put on the streets by his family as a teenager and was seen by the Johnson County District Attorneys Office as not being a threat to society because they previously let him out on probation.

The argument from prosecutors in the penalty phase of the trial that Elders is a danger to society, even if sentenced to life in prison, falls flat on its face, defense attorney Miles Brissette told the jurors.

In a courtroom filled with law enforcement, on the first day of the three-week trial when the gallery was standing room only, the defense started the day asking Visiting Judge Lee Gabriel to expel uniformed law enforcement from the courtroom. The concern was that the jury would be intimidated by the uniforms or feel a sense of community expectation to deliver a death penalty verdict.

Today's top stories:

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Gabriel denied the request, saying that if the general public is allowed in the courtroom that uniformed officers are as well.

Assistant District Attorney Matthew Staton argued in closing statements that not only would Elders continue to be a threat to the society in prison, but also he deserves the death penalty.

Nobody is giving this man the death penalty, Staton said. You will answer two questions but nobody in this courtroom is giving him the death penalty. He earned that.

Jurors asked to decide who Jerry Elders really is

Staton said that witnesses the defense brought in the punishment phase of the trial didnt know the true Elders. Family members talked about him being fun-loving, humorous and good with children, but Staton said they didnt know he was stealing catalytic converters, doing drugs and plotting to murder a police officer.

Who would want Jerry to babysit your kids? Staton asked.

The prosecution called Elders a coward and said that whats buried deep in his soul ... is hatred for the law and for law enforcement.

Burleson Police Officer Joshua Lott was injured when he was shot by a suspect during a traffic stop on April 14, 2021, police said.

The defense said Elders is a man who has been rejected by his family and put on the streets at 13 or 14 years old. Brissette said hes been in and out of jail since he was a kid, lacked support and faced jealousy from his sister, whose children he said liked Elders more than her.

The prosecution said Elders had support from his family. Staton said they gave him food to eat, money when he needed it and a place to stay when he wasnt incarcerated.

Both agreed that it is up to the jury to look at the evidence and decide which version of Elders is true.

This is a developing story. For the latest updates, sign up for breaking news alerts.
KIGALI, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Disasters triggered by heavy rains, including landslides and lightning, have killed at least 49 people and injured 79 others across Rwanda in the past two months, an official said on Thursday.

About 12 people were killed by lightning while others died after their dilapidated houses collapsed on them, Minister in charge of Emergency Management Albert Murasira told national television.

He added that the government has evacuated about 5,000 residents from high-risk zones to safer areas across the country.

The disasters also destroyed infrastructure, including homes, bridges, school buildings, road networks, and hectares of plantations.

The Rwanda Meteorology Agency has warned that several parts of Rwanda would experience heavy rains in the first 10 days of May.

The Rwanda Water Resources Board on Tuesday warned that heavy rains pounding the country are likely to cause some rivers to burst their banks and flood surrounding communities. As such, it advised people living near flood-prone areas to evacuate.

In May last year, floods and landslides hit western and northern Rwanda, killing 135 people. 
Northern California police arrest seven for stealing mail from community mailboxes throughout Sacramento area

(FOX40.COM)  Seven people were recently arrested by Northern California police officers after it was discovered they possessed mail that was stolen from various community mailboxes throughout the Sacramento region.

According to the Lincoln Police Department, 53 victims have been located along with 115 additional identified property owners of the mail that was stolen.

Over 500 pieces of stolen mail recovered in Sacramento County

On March 26, police said they arrested Violet Johnson, 38 from Marysville, and Christy Olson 45 year old female from Olivehurst.

A few days later on April 1, police arrested Mychale Lee, 38 from Elk Grove, and Mai Thao, 38 from Olivehurst.

Finally, on April 22, police arrested Tyler Biesemans 29 from Stockton, Jeffrey Byous, 28 from Lodi, and Jenakyleigh Crawford, 29 from Stockton.

During each stop, subjects contacted were found to be in possession of stolen mail, police said. Through evidence processing and contact with the rightful owners of the mail, it was determined that victims mail had been stolen from various community cluster mailboxes in the Sacramento, Olivehurst, and Lincoln areas.

The agency continued, The Lincoln Police Department is committed to holding criminals accountable for crimes committed in our city.

Burglary suspects found with stolen mail, mailbox keys after reversing into police car

Lincoln Police reminds residents to keep an eye out for suspicious activity and report it in a timely manner.

If you receive your USPS Mail via a community/cluster mailbox, please check your mail daily to lessen the risk of theft, police said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40.
Norwegian king in good form at first public appearance since surgery

King Harald V of Norway is pictured after the official opening of the sailing 8mR World Cup 2018. Felix Kastle/dpa

Norwegian King Harald V appeared to be healthy and in good spirits on Thursday during his first official appointment since being fitted with a pacemaker.

Harald was shown getting out of the car in the Norwegian town of Kongsberg on crutches, in video broadcast by NRK channel. He was accompanied by his wife, Queen Sonja.

Asked how he was doing, Harald said, "Not too bad for an 87-year-old. We're working on it, as they say."

He became ill during a holiday trip to Malaysia in late February and was taken to hospital there. He was fitted with a pacemaker in March.

He then took several weeks off to recover, and his son, Crown Prince Haakon, carried out his royal duties.

Last week, the Norwegian court announced that Harald would be stepping back somewhat in future, saying the king wanted to reduce both the number and the scope of his duties due to his age.

"I'll take it a little easier from time to time. Otherwise you won't notice much difference," Harald told NRK on Thursday.

King Harald, the oldest monarch in Europe, has been on the throne since 1991, but has been struggling with health issues for some time.
"We are not an authoritarian nation": Biden tries to strike middle ground on campus protests

Under pressure from the left and the right, President Joe Biden tried to strike a middle ground on Thursday, saying he respects college students' right to peacefully protest  and rejects deploying the National Guard against them  but arguing there is "not a right to cause chaos."

Biden's remarks came after dramatic scenes on campuses across the country, where thousands of students have been protesting the war in Gaza and their school's investments in Israel. At Columbia University, school administrators called in police this week after some students broke in and occupied a building on campus, while at UCLA police watched as a pro-Israel mob attacked a pro-Palestine encampment amid charges that some protesters have gone beyond criticism of Israel and engaged in antisemitism.

Speaking from the White House, Biden tried to balance protesters' "right to free speech" with the "rule of law."

"We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent. The American people are heard. In fact, peaceful protest is in the best tradition of how Americans respond to consequential issues," Biden said. "But neither are we a lawless country. We are a civil society and order must be prevail."

The president went on to distinguish between what he cast as legitimate protests and those that cross the line.

"Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduation -- none of this is a peaceful protest," Biden said. "Dissent is essential to democracy, but dissent must never lead to disorder or denying the rights of others so students can finish the semester and their college education.

But even as Biden appeared to offer support for police breaking down encampments, he chastised those on the right calling for further escalation. A number of Republican lawmakers have urged the president to deploy troops against the protesters.

"This isn't a moment for politics," Biden said, telling reporters "no," he would not call up the National Guard.
By Andrey Sychev and Ludwig Burger

(Reuters) - Novartis agreed to acquire U.S. radiopharmaceutical company Mariana Oncology for $1 billion upfront, boosting its portfolio of precision cancer treatments in development, the Swiss drug manufacturer said on Thursday.

The deal includes up to $750 million of further payments upon achieving certain milestones, it added.

Mariana Oncology is working on novel radioligand cancer therapies (RLTs) that have not yet been tested on humans.

"The transaction bolsters the Novartis RLT pipeline and expands the companys research infrastructure and clinical supply capabilities," Novartis said in a statement.

Radioligand therapy, based on cell-killing radioactive particles that are attached to tumour-seeking molecules, is one of three technologies that Novartis' development efforts are focused on, apart from cell and gene therapy as well as RNA.

The Swiss group's radioligand drugs include Pluvicto against prostate cancer and Lutathera against a rare group of gastrointestinal tumours.

Novartis has been cutting jobs and costs, and spun off its generic drugs business Sandoz last year, part of a focus on fewer therapeutic areas and geographic markets.

In February, it struck a deal to buy German cancer drug developer MorphoSys for 2.7 billion euros ($2.89 billion).

($1 = 0.9348 euros)

(Additional reporting by Paul Arnold,; editing by Matthias Williams and Elaine Hardcastle)
Karlee Clements is an inmate at Chesterfield County Jail and involved in its Helping Addicts Recover Progressively, or HARP program. (Jimmy Sidney/VCU InSight)

By Alyssa Hutton, Capital News Service

Video by Jimmy Sidney, VCU InSight

RICHMOND, Va.  Karlee Clements was six months pregnant, full on into addiction and begging to go to jail because she was afraid she would kill her child.

Soon after, she was incarcerated at Riverside Regional Jail for a violation. Because of her babys low heart rate, she was sent to Chippenham Hospital, where she spent the remainder of her pregnancy.

Zip-tied to a hospital bed, with a Riverside officer next to her, Clements gave birth to a baby girl and spent three days with her, per Virginia law. Restraints are no longer allowed on inmates during labor, except under certain circumstances.

Clements went back to jail, and her baby experienced withdrawal for 30 days. Once she was released, Clements gave her baby up for adoption and started using drugs again.

It became a way of living, Clements said. Thats the way I got through life.

She went to rehab, stopped using heroin, but began using methadone, a synthetic opioid often prescribed as part of recovery treatment and to combat withdrawal symptoms.

Even though I love that baby, and I dont want to hurt that baby, theres just something inside of me where I cant stop using, Clements said.

The number of jailed pregnant women fighting addiction has increased amid the skyrocketing opioid use in the past decade that led Virginia to declare a public health emergency in 2016. While the state has started to fund more recovery and treatment efforts, incarcerated mothers have fewer resources. Women in jail say facing motherhood and addiction is a specific struggle that needs more attention, in addition to more uniform prenatal care.

There is no official census of how many pregnant women are incarcerated, or their overall maternal health, a data gap the U.S. Department of Justice acknowledges and is addressing.

Approximately 3% of women admitted to U.S. jails are pregnant, according to a 2020 peer-reviewed study published in the Obstetrics & Gynecology journal. If that number was applied to the national jail population, there could be an estimated 55,000 pregnant women in jail.

Spike in Rates of Pregnant Women Using Opioids

Clements is now incarcerated at Chesterfield County Jail and involved in its recovery program, Helping Addicts Recover Progressively. She said security is the most beneficial thing shes gotten out of HARP.

Im actually learning to love myself, and my feelings are coming back, Clements said. Its okay to feel, Im not used to feeling at all.

The number of women with opioid-related diagnoses at the time of delivery increased by 131% between 2010-2017, according to a JAMA Network study. In Virginia, the number of infants exposed to a substance  including drugs and alcohol cases  rose 533% between 2000-2018, with a spike that also parallels the increased use of opioids.

Nearly 30% of females incarcerated at a state and federal level were charged with a drug offense, according to 2016 Bureau of Justice data, the most current available.

Almost half of incarcerated persons in the U.S. have a substance use disorder, according to the same 2016 data. And nearly half of state and federal inmates are parents of a minor.

Finding Recovery Behind Bars

Chesterfield County Sheriff Karl Leonard started the HARP program after annual overdose deaths in the county hit double digits on March 8, 2016.

People would get clean and sober in jail and then go back to the community. In reality, nothing was being done to help them, Leonard said.

We wanted to start releasing recovered addicts back into the community with the tools, the knowledge, the equipment to be able to deal with all those issues that led them to use drugs before they got into the jail, Leonard said.

HARP currently does not offer programs geared towards pregnant women, but does offer parenting classes.

The Chesterfield jail does not provide prenatal care, so pregnant inmates are sent to Riverside in Prince George County. Riverside had 475 pregnant inmates in a little over eight years, according to the jail.

HARP predates the Opioid Abatement Authority, an organization created by the General Assembly in 2021 to handle incoming opioid lawsuit settlement money. Virginia is beginning to receive millions of what will be an estimated $1.1 billion, according to the OAA.

One of the rules for the use of the funds, which we disagree with very much, is that the funds cannot be used for any existing programs, Leonard said.

A locality cannot use OAA money to supplant existing expenditures but can receive funding if they expand existing programs or implement new programs, according to its website.

Support for Incarcerated Pregnant Women

Many women do not even know they are pregnant when they enter jail, according to Henrico County West Jail Capt. Pamela Dismuke. Female inmates are required to take a pregnancy test when they enter.

I like to say a lot of the time jail kinda saved them, because had she not known she was pregnant shed probably still be doing drugs and hurting the baby even more, Dismuke said.

Dismuke started a program for pregnant inmates two years ago. She contacted someone who works for the Department of Corrections and is a doula, or a person who provides guidance and support to a pregnant woman during labor.

Incarcerated pregnant women need specific food, supplements, exercise and even postpartum help that is not common practice throughout the system.

The nonprofit Virginia Prison Birth Project pairs pregnant women in the Henrico jail with a doula and also shares nutritional food and information on a babys development and care, in addition to a weekly yoga class. Doulas also offer support by delivering breastmilk to the babys caretaker.

The organization provided the first doula-supported birth for a pregnant inmate in Virginia in 2019, according to its website.

Many women learn through the program how drugs hurt their babies, and it helps them take better care of themselves, Dismuke said.

Bobbie Jo Lashway, a pregnant inmate at Henrico County West Jail, said there are few programs aimed at her subgroup, despite large numbers of incarcerated pregnant women.

Lashway enjoys the yoga program and is thankful people take time out of their day to share experiences.

Its good on a human connection level that we dont get in here, Lashway said.

Funding Efforts to Combat the Epidemic

The OAA distributes 55% of incoming settlement funds to state agencies and localities that apply for funding, according to OAA director of finance Adam Rosatelli. A grants committee decides how to distribute the funds, in line with opioid abatement efforts and Virginia code.

The OAA has not funded any programs related to incarcerated pregnant or parenting women, but has funded jail programs, according to Rosatelli.

It was a pretty powerful thing to observe about the work we do and it being put into action, Rosatelli said, about a visit last year to an OAA-funded recovery center for women in Washington County.

The OAA has distributed about $34 million, which has been used for initiatives such as recovery homes, education and prevention efforts and marketing campaigns, according to Rosatelli.

Parental Drug Abuse a Top Cause of Child Home Removal

Henrico County received over $700,000 from the OAA to begin a treatment program for pregnant or parenting women with substance use disorders. The program will assist mothers and their children with housing costs, medical care and behavioral health support.

Henrico also received $100,000 from the OAA to study gaps in service and resources for pregnant and nursing mothers in the region.

Neglect is the leading cause of a childs removal from their home, followed by parental drug abuse. There was a 60% increase in children being removed from their homes due to parental drug abuse from 2010-2019, according to the Virginia Department of Social Services.

Over 1,600 kids were in foster care for this reason as of April 2024, according to VDSS data.

Clements has traveled a long road since she first stole pain pills from her mother. Now, she works through HARP to confront and heal the trauma that pushed her toward substance use. The program is helping her build back her self-esteem to face continued challenges.

This is literally the first time Ive ever even said that story, but Im able to say that without crying and feeling bad and feeling like it is my fault, Clements said.

VCU InSight journalist Jimmy Sidney contributed to this report. Video by Jimmy Sidney, VCU InSight

The post Number of incarcerated pregnant women increases amid opioid epidemic appeared first on Virginia Mercury.
UNITED NATIONS, May 1 (Xinhua) -- The UN General Assembly will resume its 10th emergency special session (ESS) on May 10, after Palestine's UN membership bid was blocked by the United States at the Security Council in April.

UN General Assembly President Dennis Francis has informed member states that he will convene a plenary meeting of the ESS on May 10, said Monica Grayley, his spokeswoman, on Wednesday.

In a letter dated April 26, Francis told member states that the resumption of the ESS was requested by Saudi Arabia, Mauritania, and Uganda, in their respective capacities as chair of the Arab Group, chair of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Group and chair of the Coordinating Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement.

The United States on April 18 vetoed a Security Council draft resolution that would have recommended to the General Assembly Palestine's full UN membership.

Riyad Mansour, the permanent observer of Palestine to the United Nations, expressed the hope that the General Assembly would ask the Security Council to reconsider the issue at the ESS.

"We will now bring the matter for consideration by the General Assembly on May 10 in a resumed 10th emergency special session and trust that this body representing the international community will unequivocally support the admission of the State of Palestine to the UN and call on the Security Council to reconsider our application for admission favorably," he told a General Assembly meeting on Wednesday on the use of veto by the United States.

Under UN rules, the admission of new members has to be recommended by the Security Council before a vote in the General Assembly. If the Security Council does not recommend the application or postpones its consideration of the application, the council then must submit a special report to the General Assembly, which in turn could ask the council to reconsider.

The 10th ESS on the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory was convened for the first time in April 1997. 
NEW DELHI, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Two workers were killed after a boiler exploded inside a rubber factory in the northern Indian state of Punjab, police said Thursday.

The explosion took place Wednesday night inside the factory in an industrial area of Jaspal Bangar village in the Ludhiana district of Punjab.

"Last night, a boiler blasted in the rubber manufacturing facility killing two workers," a police official said. "The bodies of the victims have been sent to the civil hospital for postmortem procedure and from there will be handed over to their families."

According to police, the blast triggered panic in the area.

Police have ordered an investigation to ascertain the reason behind the explosion. 
Fernando Bobis, a doctor based in Washington Heights, and Jesse Pape, a known anti-Israel protester, were among the 282 people arrested overnight at Columbia University and the City College of New York campuses following a massive police raid.

Several agitators busted Tuesday night when police raided encampments at Columbia University and the City College of New York are seasoned anti-Israel protesters who dont even attend the Big Apple schools.

More details about some of those taken into custody emerged Wednesday as Mayor Eric Adams blamed outside agitators for sowing chaos on the college campuses besieged by protests.

The massive police response that quelled the anti-Israel demonstrations at both Manhattan schools led to over 280 arrests.

Fernando Bobis, 42, a doctor based in Washington Heights, was one of 282 people arrested at Columbia University and the City College of New York last night. Paul Martinka

At Columbia, where rioters had broken into an academic building and others camped out on the South Lawn, at least 109 protesters were busted, authorities said. Others were taken into custody 20 blocks north at City College.

Among the non-students hauled away by cops was Fernando Bobis, 42, an internal medicine doctor in Washington Heights who whined Wednesday morning about the conditions he faced behind bars.

Five and a half hours in a holding cell with no bathroom, no water, no food. I had a hard time checking my insulin to make sure I was okay. Im Type 1 diabetic, Bobis, who was arrested at CUNY, told reporters after his arrest was processed at NYPD headquarters.

Jesse Pape, 47, was another adult arrested at the protest at the college. John Lamparski/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

He was among several protesters who were released from One Police Plaza  as hundreds of their comrades greeted them with cheers and handed out bottled water, food and sunscreen.

The Brown University graduate, who was charged with disorderly conduct, wasnt the only non-student arrested overnight.

Known anti-Israel protester Jesse Pape, 47, who has clashed with NYPD officers at other anti-Israel rallies, was also booked Tuesday night on two counts of assault after protesting at CUNY.

Pape had been previously arrested in a pro-Palestinian rally outside Columbia in February. Jesse Pape/Instagram

He allegedly threw a water bottle at a female cop when she and her fellow officers tried to clear one of the encampments, police sources said.

Pape was one of three individuals arrested over the chaotic All Out for Palestine rally that took place outside Columbia on Feb. 2, with the man charged with obstructing governmental administration and disorderly conduct.

He has cheered on the protests taking place at universities across New York and the nation on his Instagram page, which touts the slogan From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free  labeled by the Anti-Defamation League an antisemitic phrase promoting the end of Israel.

Maryam Iqbal, a student at Barnard College, was also arrested during the initial police raid on April 18. MaryamIqbal/linkedin

Another non-student, 40-year-old James Carlson, was arrested at Columbia on a burglary charge.

Carlsons previously been involved in protests that have blocked local bridges and tunnels, sources said.

He was also charged Wednesday with criminal mischief, criminal possession of stolen property and arson in connection to an incident last month when a Jewish counter-protester was targeted by three men outside Columbia, police said.

One suspect took the 22-year-old victims Israeli flag, another tossed a rock at the counter-protester while a third aggressor lit the flag on fire, cops said. Two other men are still being sought by cops in the April 20 attack.

Two more non-students with past troubling incidents, Nora Fayad, 22, and Amelia Fuller, 23, were arrested at City College. They were both charged with attempted burglary.

Police raided Columbias Hamilton Hall, taking a total of 109 people into custody. NYPD

Fayad was seen on video chanting, We are Hamas and We are all Hamas at an earlier protest, according to sources and videos posted on social media.

Meanwhile, Fuller was arrested Jan. 8 during a protest in which the Williamsburg Bridge was blocked, sources said.

Barnard College student Maryam Iqbal was also identified as one of the people arrested in the police raids.

Aidan Parisi (right), 27, was one of the Columbia students arrested overnight. Getty Images

Iqbal previously emerged as one of the 108 students who were arrested in Columbia during the first attempt to clear out the encampment on April 18, claiming it strengthened her resolve to keep protesting.

This has only strengthened my commitment to the movement for Palestinian liberation and I promise to continue fighting for divestment, she wrote.

Iqbal also claimed her first bust led to her suspension and eviction from Barnard, a punishment that the Columbia University-affiliated womens college handed out to at least 53 students following the first wave of arrests.

Parisi was previously suspended over ties to a Resistance 101 event that included pro-terror speakers. @itsaidanbitch/X

Another student, Aidan Parisi, 27, a postgrad student in social work at Columbia, was spotted being arrested in photos from the Tuesday night raid.

Parisi was suspended from the Ivy League school in March for hosting an event titled Resistance 101, which garnered backlash after one of the speakers insisted that there is nothing wrong with being a fighter in Hamas.

Parisi has repeatedly made anti-Israel social media posts in the past, most recently writing, Good night. Fk Israel, on X following the initial arrests at Columbia.

The postgrad is also the subject of a police probe for sharing images of a Columbia University message to encampment protesters with the text, Columbia will Burn, written over the notice in red marker, sources said.

It wasnt immediately clear how many of the 282 protesters arrested were students at either Columbia or City College.

But a City College spokesperson told The Post that of the 31 people whom school safety officers arrested before the NYPD arrived, only five were CUNY students or staffers.

Protesters were walked through the corrections department at 100 Centre St. William Farrington

At least 10 people didnt even live in New York, the school said.

A tent encampment sprang up on the university campus nearly two weeks ago as students demanded the school divest from Israel and provide full amnesty for those arrested and suspended at the encampment.

At around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, after talks between the demonstrators and school leaders broke down, a group of masked rioters stormed Hamilton Hall, an academic building on campus, and barricaded themselves inside.

Columbia and its leaders, including president Minouche Shafik, faced backlash from all sides for letting the situation deteriorate and ultimately said in a statement that the school had called in the NYPD for help.

Of those arrested, about 170 were given criminal summonses while the remaining 100 were either handed more serious desk appearance tickets or were waiting for their cases to make their way through the system, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said at a Wednesday afternoon press conference.

Footage from inside Hamilton Hall shows a swarm of officers entering the college building. NYPD

As my office does in every instance, in all of our work, we will look carefully at each individual case on our docket and make decisions based on the facts and the law. That will include a thorough review of bodycam footage, and interviews with witnesses, Bragg said.

Mayor Eric Adams insisted earlier Wednesday that the seizure of Hamilton Hall was led by individuals who were not affiliated with the university, though he conceded that some in the group were students.

He claimed outside agitators descended on the campus as part of a movement to radicalize young people.

One student, who only identified herself as Melissa, said Wednesday she and others were peacefully protesting when the raid occurred.

Last night we experienced extreme police brutality. Despite peaceful, peaceful protest, the police ambushed us, she said, adding that her pinkie was injured after being handcuffed.

The raid was the second large-scale attempt to clear out the anti-Israel protesters occupying Columbia University. REUTERS

Rashid Khalidi, a professor of Arab studies at Columbia, likened the current protest to the famed 1968 demonstrations on campus that saw students unite against segregation and the Vietnam War.

We honor the day students, who in 1968, oppose genocidal, illegal, shameful, war, Khalidi told The Post. Columbia University honors them  One day, what students did here will be commemorated in the same way.

Joseph Howley, an associate professor of classics, echoed the criticism against the school, claiming when the administration first called police on students on April 18, they made the encampment a flashpoint.

I am a devoted faculty, steward and servant of this university, and I could not be more furious that we are out here doing this again already, he said of the recent arrests.

Howley claimed the university was ultimately bowing to the demands of some Jewish students, even if it meant arresting other Jewish students who took part in the protest.

Theyve used the feelings of some Jewish members of our community as a fig leaf for suppressing all speech on this campus. so thats how we got here, he added.

The elite institution remained under a partial lockdown Wednesday, with only those with Columbia IDs and essential personnel being allowed on campus.

Additional reporting by Olivia Land, Georgett Roberts and Steven Hirsch
Melvin Arias, 57, was arrested Tuesday evening in connection to the slaying of his mom Francisca Trinidad, 79, who was found unconscious and unresponsive inside the apartment on Grand Concourse near East 156th Street in Concourse Village around 10:30 p.m. Monday, police said.

A Bronx ex-con was charged with murder after his elderly mom was found fatally battered with a black eye in their apartment this week, cops and law enforcement sources said.

Melvin Arias, 57, was arrested Tuesday evening in connection to the slaying of his mom Francisca Trinidad, 79, who was found unconscious and unresponsive inside the apartment on Grand Concourse near East 156th Street in Concourse Village around 10:30 p.m. Monday, police said.

Trinidad, who was found with a bruise on her right eye and cuts to her hand, was pronounced dead at the scene, cops and sources said.

Francisca Trinidad, 79, who was found with a black right eye and cuts to her hand, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Trinidads son, ex-con Melvin Arias, 57, was ordered held without bail on murder and other charges. Christopher Sadowski

Arias, who cops say was also charged with manslaughter, assault and criminal possession of a weapon, was ordered held without bail during his Wednesday arraignment, according to city Department of Correction records.

The circumstances leading up to the deadly domestic violence were unclear Wednesday.

Arias served about 2.5 years locked up in state prison on a weapon possession conviction  from April of 1993 to October of 1995, state DOC records show.
NEW YORK CITY (PIX11)  The citys worst landlord, Daniel Ohebshalom, was indicted Wednesday for allegedly harassing his rent-regulated tenants living in horrific conditions, officials said.

Ohebshalom allegedly neglected his buildings to force out rent-regulated tenants and filed fake documents with city agencies to hide his ownership of the buildings, court officials said.

He owned five Manhattan buildings that had a variety of violations including, no heat or hot water in the winter, persistent leaks that caused the roof to collapse, and building front doors without locks, officials said.

In March, Ohebshalom served a 60-day sentence at Rikers Jail for failing to address those violations.

As alleged, Daniel Ohebshalom took advantage of rent-regulated tenants living in five Manhattan apartment buildings by creating dangerous living conditions in an effort to push them out. New Yorkers deserve to live in their apartments without fearing for their safety, said District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

Ohebshalom was charged with eight counts of Harassment of a Rent Regulated Tenant in the First Degree, 29 counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, and three counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child.

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.
MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS, Manhattan (PIX11)  The tent encampment is gone, the classrooms and offices of Hamilton Hall are cleared, and NYPD officers are on campus at Columbia University after cops shut down pro-Palestinian protests on Tuesday night.

On Wednesday, though, protests continued just outside of campus. Members of the Columbia community expressed frustration over what had happened and wondered what the next two weeks leading up to commencement at the Ivy League institution would look and feel like.

At the central campus, which takes up about a third of a mile in this Upper Manhattan neighborhood, the scene looks very different than it has for weeks. On the lawn where the pro-Palestine encampment had been set up, there are now large, light green, square patches of grass, similar to the tents used to be.

More Manhattan News

Also, next to Hamilton Hall, from which the NYPD had removed about 100 protesters on Tuesday night, there was another protest late Wednesday morning. A couple hundred faculty members, graduate students and undergrads marched and held a rally.

Joseph Howley, an assistant professor of classics, was among the speakers at Wednesdays protest.

He said that the Hamilton Hall raid, which was on the 56th anniversary of the police raid of the same building during the anti-war protests in 1968, had only added to a volatile situation.

Weve got to get through exams, got to grade papers, weve got students who have been trying to graduate, he said, [all] while the university has been winding up to do what they did last night.

What happened on Tuesday night was discussed at a briefing at police headquarters Wednesday morning by NYPD top brass. Mayor Eric Adams attended the event, during which police officials said they had discovered clear and specific plans for campus takeovers like the one at Columbia circulating nationwide and online.

Just before that briefing, the NYPDs deputy commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism said that the department had arrested some people in their raid on Hamilton Hall who were not students.

We see Individuals, Rebecca Weiner, the deputy commissioner, began, who have been known to us over the years and whove been involved in professional protesting across a wide range of causes.

The NYPD has not named the people it claims were involved, which is one reason its claims are being disputed.

There is no evidence that we have yet found from our One Police Plaza sources, said Jennifer Lena, a professor at Teachers College at Columbia, referring to the address of police headquarters, that those [protesters] are outside [of the university] at all.

Current students describe the situation on and around campus.

Its been crazy, said Rory Wilson, a Columbia senior.

When protesters first took over Hamilton Hall, he confronted them to try to get them not to barricade the building. It didnt work, and cops swooped in Tuesday night.

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Now that that work is done, Wilson and many other students said that life around the college is a bit unsettled.

The administration, Wilson said, is recommending to either just cancel the finals, render them a lot smaller, easier. Theyre just slashing the workloads down.

Another student, Noemi Morrison, a first-year at Barnard College, Columbias sister institution, was trying to communicate in person with a friend who lives on the central campus behind its locked gates and tall, ornate iron fences.

She was trying to return a pair of sweatpants she borrowed from her friend, but because people werent even allowed to approach the fence surrounding campus, she had to shout a conversation from the sidewalk to her friend inside.

Morrison said she was not looking forward to the campus remaining closed off for the foreseeable future.

It has only one entry point; getting to it from the other side of campus can be a 10-minute walk.

I have like finals over there, Morrison said, referring to the other side of campus. I have to go all the way around, I have to go to the gate, and like see if my name is on the list [to allow entry]. Its just dramatic, for no reason.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
NYS developing best practices on early reading instruction and schools will have to comply

In addition to funding clean energy, gun violence prevention and housing, New York's state budget addresses a top concern in education: students' low reading scores.

Gov. Kathy Hochul pushed for schools to be required to use a phonics-based approach to teach reading, and the state budget directs the state Education Department to produce best practices for teaching reading, grounded in the so-called science of reading, by early 2025. School districts will have to verify annually that they are following the practices in the early grades.

Last school year, only 48% of students in grade 3 though 8 scored as proficient in reading on state testing, a statistic Hochul previously referenced when discussing her plans to address literacy.

Educators and experts have generally agreed with the need for a research-based approach to teaching reading, but some have expressed concern over the state mandating such a policy.

Lauren Banks, head of children's services, reads a book about the solar eclipse during an eclipse party at the Nanuet Library April 1, 2024.

"We did not hear strong objections to this particular proposal, but part of the concern is the precedent or the slippery slope," said Robert Lowry, deputy director for advocacy, research, and communications at the New York State Council of School Superintendents. "Would we see something on math next year or requirements to teach specific subjects or topics?"

The state Education Department's best practices on reading, due Jan. 1, 2025, will largely determine how much school districts might have to alter their reading instruction. Starting in September 2025, districts must annually verify they follow SED's best practices.

It is not yet known how specific the state's best practices might be or how much latitude the state will give districts. It's also unclear how compliance will be determined and enforced.

Asked about concerns over legislating changes to what educators teach, a spokesperson for Hochul said the initiative wasn't a mandate and is "its curriculum agnostic." The spokesperson said "school districts can decide what curriculum works best for their students, as long as they abide by the instructional best practices produced by SED."

The budget also includes $10 million train 20,000 students in the forthcoming best practices.

While the state Education Department works on its best practices, and upcoming training for teachers is still being developed, officials shared some details on both.

Training Teachers: NY schools await details on 'science of reading' training for teachers

Best practices, details on compliance, to come

Officials with the state Education Department said this week its best practices will build on a series of briefs it previously released to educators throughout the state.

The briefs, developed by Nonie Lesaux, an education professor at Harvard, outline the science of reading's six major pillars: phonics, vocabulary, comprehension, fluency, oral language (being able to speak and listen), and phonemic awareness (hearing and understanding spoken words). The briefs also covered classroom activities that support the development of the six pillars and how they differ by grade.

Gov. Kathy Hochul talks about the state budget on April 15. She pushed for the budget to require school districts to comply with the so-called "science of reading."

The budget says New York's best practices for teaching reading should focus on those concepts.

SED officials said that learning to read isn't achieved through any given curriculum and that curriculum decisions will remain up to school districts.

"We have no intentions of creating a list of approved curriculums," Angelique Johnson-Dingle, deputy state commissioner of P-12 instructional support, said in an interview. "Curriculums need to be based on the local contexts."

The Education Department said it will release a curriculum review guide before the end of June to help guide districts' conversations about their curriculums.

"New York, by law, is a local control state, leaving curriculum decisions to the local school board and district leaders," SED said in an emailed statement. "And this dichotomy exists for a reason: There is no 'one-size-fits-all' approach. Districts are able to create or adopt curricula that meet their specific, local needs."

Officials didn't yet know how school districts will show compliance. Some state directives require school districts to simply fill out forms verifying compliance, while others are more closely reviewed.

Asked what would happen if a district does not want to comply, Education Department officials said they did not yet know. They said they expect widespread compliance and that district officials who don't want to comply would likely face questions from their school boards.

Officials added that compliance will be obvious in districts when student performance improves.

School districts have concerns over autonomy, funding

Marc Baiocco, Clarkstown schools superintendent and president-elect of the Lower Hudson Council of School Superintendents, raised several concerns beyond the state's choice to mandate approaches to instruction.

Baiocco and other Lower Hudson superintendents support a research-based approach to teaching reading but still worry about what could be "one-size-fits-all" approach.

Then there's always the concern over costly state mandates that the state won't pay for. Lowry noted that districts that had changed their reading instruction said it could be expensive to do so.

After a tumultuous budget cycle during which legislators fought off proposed cuts to state "foundation aid," Baiocco wondered what future challenges to state aid to schools could mean for funding new literacy programs. Hochul had proposed dropping a guarantee that school districts get at least the same amount of foundation aid as the year before, but the final budget maintained that precedent.

Baiocco also noted that standardized testing would need to reflect the changes in reading instruction.

Learning to Read: Hochul pushed for phonics. Does 'science of reading' support it?

NYSUT developing training, SUNY training already offered

The state budget earmarked $10 million for New York State United Teachers, the statewide teachers union, to train 20,000 teachers on evidence-based reading instruction.

NYSUT said it has been in communication with SED, the state Division of Budget and the governor's office as it develops the training.

In emailed responses to questions, a NYSUT spokesperson said the goal was for the training to align with the best practices SED will release.

The training will be open to all educators, including administrators, and will be open to private school staff. It will focus on reading instruction for grades pre-K through 3.

The training will be free to participants. Details of how the training will count toward continuing education credits will be finalized in a state-approved plan, NYSUT said.

The budget also gave $1 million each to SUNY and CUNY for teacher "microcredential" programs on the science of reading.

SUNY New Paltz launched a science of reading microcredential for teachers in September last year. College President Darrell Wheeler said the remote program had already reached 6,000 teachers.

Wheeler said the 35-credit program provides teachers with the fundamental concepts of the science of reading  the same pillars outlined in SED's previously released briefs.

Dawn Brooks-DeCosta, deputy superintendent of Community School District 5 in Harlem, took the program in the fall. She said the strategies it provided could be applied under many curriculums.

Brooks-DeCosta pointed to a general lack of training for student teachers on how to teach reading. She said that unless an education student plans on becoming a reading specialist, they won't get enough instruction, or specific enough instruction, on how to teach kids to read.

"It's very basic things, but strangely enough it's not the way we've been teaching reading for so long," Brooks-DeCosta said.

Contact Diana Dombrowski at ddombrowski@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @domdomdiana.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: New York schools phonics plan, science of reading legislated by Hochul
DENVER (KDVR)  A police officer was stabbed in north Boulder on Wednesday night while responding to a woman armed with a knife inside a store.

It happened around 6:40 p.m. in the 3900 block of Broadway, according to the Boulder Police Department. FOX31s Greg Nieto went to the scene and learned the incident happened inside Luckys Market.

FOX31 Newsletters: Sign up to get breaking news sent to your inbox

The officer was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said. A police spokesperson confirmed the officer was stabbed in the upper torso.

The woman was taken into custody, according to police. No information was immediately released about the circumstances of the incident or what charges the woman may face.

FOX31 has a crew headed to the scene. Check back here and on FOX31 news at 9 p.m. for updates.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
Elected officials joined members of Los Angeles Jewish and Muslim communities on Wednesday in condemning the violence that erupted at the pro-Palestinian protest encampment on the campus of UCLA overnight.

There must be a full investigation into what occurred, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement after meeting with law enforcement officials, including University of California police. I want to make sure the message I delivered to law enforcement and other officials earlier today is clear: Free speech will be protected. Violence and bigotry will not.

Hostilities outside the encampment had been simmering since demonstrators took over Royce Quad last Thursday, setting up dozens of tents and surrounding themselves with metal fences and wood pallets.

As with campus protests in California and elsewhere, the demonstrators are calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war and demanding the university sever financial and educational ties with Israel.

Physical confrontations on UCLAs campus had been relatively minor until late Tuesday night when pro-Israel counter-protesters lobbed fireworks at the encampment and attempted to dismantle the barricades.

For at least two hours, campus police stood by as both factions traded punches, hurled items at each other, and dispersed pepper spray and fire extinguishers in a chaotic scene that wasnt contained until around 2 a.m. when LAPD officers arrived.

UCLA cancels classes after night of violence over pro-Palestinian encampment

The president of the University of California system, Michael Drake, said 15 people were injured, one of whom required hospitalization.

Those involved in launching fireworks at other people, spraying chemicals and physically assaulting others will be found, arrested, and prosecuted, as well as anyone involved in any form of violence or lawlessness, said Bass.

Demonstrators say they believe UCLA Chancellor Gene Blocks statement on Tuesday labeling the encampment as unauthorized provided an opening for counter-protesters to take matters into their own hands.

On Wednesday, Block expressed only condemnation.

However one feels about the encampment, this attack on our students, faculty and community members was utterly unacceptable, UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said in a statement. It has shaken our campus to its core.

Block also vowed a thorough investigation that could lead to arrests and expulsions and said the university is evaluating its security response.

The Jewish Federation of Los Angeles said it was appalled by the counter-protesters actions but ultimately blamed the university for allowing the encampment to remain.

Blinken presses Hamas to seal cease-fire with Israel, says the time is now for a deal

The abhorrent actions of a few counter-protestors last night do not represent the Jewish

community or our values. We believe in peaceful, civic discourse, the Federations statement read. Unfortunately, the violence at UCLA is a result of the lack of leadership from the Chancellor and the UCLA administration  We call on the Chancellor and UCLA to immediately close the encampment and reestablish deterrence.

UCLA canceled all classes Wednesday and increased security with the help of other agencies, including the California Highway Patrol.

The Pro-Palestinian demonstrators have largely avoided talking to the media throughout the week-long protest. A spokesperson, however, spoke out Wednesday to criticize the slow police response.

Many of us got injured. We could have died last night, an appointed spokesperson, Alicia Verdugo, told reporters. It was extremely, extremely dangerous.

UCLA Protests

Verdugo also shared her groups aim and was blunt with her views on the solution to the Mideast conflict.

People are dying in Gaza and the West Bank, and we will not rest until that stops  the destruction of Israel will put an end to the siege on Gaza and an end to the occupation, she said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
Ohio man arrested after attempting to steal airplane in Smyth County, sheriff says

SMYTH COUNTY, Virginia. (WJHL)  On Wednesday evening, deputies from the Smyth County Sheriffs Office (SCSO) responded to Mountain Empire Airport after an unknown person allegedly attempted to steal an airplane.

The sheriffs office identified Dwayne Louis Pope, 24, of Garfield Heights, as the suspect.

After attempting to steal the airplane, SCSO deputies reported that Pope fled the scene. While deputies were investigating, Virginia State Police (VSP) contacted SCSO to report that they had apprehended Pope in Wythe County. VSP reported that Pope was caught after a pursuit and crash.

SCSO: Scammer who convinced elderly woman to empty bank account arrested in Virginia

Pope was charged with attempted grand larceny and trespassing according to the SCSO.

Additional charges were filed in Wythe County by the VSP.

Pope is being held at the New River Regional Jail in Dublin, Virginia.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather.
HONIARA, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Foreign minister Jeremiah Manele was elected as the Solomon Islands' new prime minister by members of parliament on Thursday, Governor General of the Solomon Islands David Vunagi announced.

Manele defeated opposition leader Matthew Wale in a 31-to-18 vote in the newly elected 50-seat parliament, Vunagi said following a secret ballot on Thursday morning.

One member of parliament did not participate in the vote because she could not arrive in Honiara in time due to a long distance to the capital, a source from the governing Ownership, Unity and Responsibility Party told Xinhua.

Manele will take over the office from Manasseh Sogavare, who announced on Monday his withdrawal from running for a new term.

"I will discharge my duties diligently and with integrity. I will at all times put the interests of our people and country above all other interests," Manele told journalists outside parliament.

He also appealed for calm, noting the Solomon Islands has been periodically rocked by "violence and destruction" after elections.

"Past prime minister elections have been met by acts of violence and destruction. Our economies and livelihoods have suffered because of this violence," Manele said.

"However, today we show the world that we are better than that. We must respect and uphold the democratic process for electing our prime minister," he said.

Manele said the Government for National Unity and Transformation is working on its policies and a 100-day program which will be announced soon.

"Our immediate task now is to appoint Cabinet and will do that in the next few days," Manele said. 
COLUMBUS  North Central State College in Mansfield and Marion Technical College will share a portion of a $3 million grant awarded to the Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE) to help fund Ohio Strong Start in Science (OhioSSS).

Ohio Strong Start in Science is a comprehensive four-year program designed to improve student performance in gateway science courses and promote degree advancement in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields. NC State and MTC are among 17 Ohio colleges and universities currently participating in the initiative.

The OhioSSS grant was awarded by the Ascendium Education Group, a nonprofit organization that invests in initiatives designed to increase the number of learners from low-income backgrounds who complete postsecondary degrees, certificates, and workforce training programs.

MARION TECHNICAL COLLEGE LOGO

To meet the workforce demands of the 21st century economy, Ohio must increase the number of graduates from degree programs in STEM fields. Unfortunately, introductory-level courses in STEM majors too frequently act as barriers rather than entries.

Between 22% and 30% of students taking introductory chemistry, biology, and human anatomy and physiology courses do not successfully complete the course. Failure in these courses can lead to students leaving STEM fields or dropping out of college altogether.

The Ohio Strong Start in Science project will provide colleges and their science faculty support to review placement procedures, redesign curriculum, and institute academic supports in introductory chemistry, biology, and human anatomy and physiology courses. OhioSSS is intended to help keep students on the path to graduate with a degree in a STEM or healthcare field.

The goals of the Strong Start in Science program are to increase student momentum toward degree completion, decrease student dropout from STEM or higher education, and increase the percentage of students who successfully complete key introductory science courses.

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Ascendium Education Group grant to benefit North Central Ohio colleges
Oklahoma missed deadline to include test scores in US News Best High Schools in Oklahoma list

The Oklahoma State Department of Education missed a deadline to allow US News & World Report to include Advanced Placement test scores in its annual Best High School rankings.

Because those scores make up nearly a third of each school's cumulative ranking, the resulting list parents use to see which schools get their children ready for college doesn't show the full picture, educators say.

While the state Board of Education unanimously approved in November the release of Advanced Placement data, the letter granting permission sent to the College Board and US News was too late for the data to be included in the 2024 "Best High Schools" ranking, according to US News spokesperson Jeanette Colby. Because Oklahoma missed this deadline, Oklahoma schools who "administered AP exams were not able to be fully credited on their College Readiness," according to US News.

Data on schools with students who took and earned a qualifying score on an AP test help form the school's "College Readiness Index," or 30% of a school's overall score. College Board requires schools to send a signed letter granting permission to share this data every three years, Colby said.

State schools Superintendent Ryan Walters speaks during an Oklahoma school board meeting at the Oklahoma Capitol in Oklahoma City, on Thursday, April 25, 2024.

Colby said that OSDE missed the permission granting deadline twice - for both the 2023 and 2024 rankings - but Dan Isett, spokesperson for the education department, told The Oklahoman it was "a one-year issue." Colby confirmed the department has already sent a letter confirming permission for the data to be used in the 2025 Best High School rankings.

Isett said the missed deadline appeared to have been "caused by some sort of mail issue."

"Everything has been done to correct that moving forward," Isett said.

Colby declined to comment on questions pertaining to when the US News deadline is for accessing College Board's AP data, or when Oklahoma's department of education last granted that permission.

Of the top 10 "Best High Schools in Oklahoma," eight list "N/A" under their College Readiness Index.

According to a 2022 Best High Schools in Oklahoma list from KFOR, four of the now top 10 high schools in Oklahoma were not even in the top 20 in 2022.

KFOR also reported many of the top 20 schools in 2022 plummeted in their rankings this year, and some superintendents told the outlet they believe it's related to their AP scores not being available to US News.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: The 2024 Best High Schools in Oklahoma is missing AP test score data
"It's about time."

That thought bubbled to the surface on Wednesday when the Rev. Valerie Steele, of Oklahoma City, learned that her long-held hope had been realized: the United Methodist Church overturned a 40-year ban on ordination of LGBTQ+ clergy.

"I thought it's about time and then I thought, it's past time  and I'm grateful," Steele said.

Her colleague in the ministry, the Rev. Trina Bose-North, traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina, so she could witness what she anticipated would be a historic vote and the beginning of new era in the United Methodist Church. Wednesday, Bose-North, senior minister of Crown Heights United Methodist Church, said she celebrated in the hallways with other progressives after ballots were cast at the denomination's General Conference meeting. Their elation came after years of debate over LGBTQ+ full inclusion that resulted the splintering of the international denomination.

More: 'Historic' plan would allow United Methodists to establish standards according to region

"This is a big deal  it's a 'wow' moment," Bose-North said. "We gathered and sang, prayed and lifted up the names of people whose call (to the clergy) was denied due to the discriminatory language in our Book of Discipline."

Steele and Bose-North were among Oklahoma United Methodist leaders who expressed their joy after the United Methodist Church's lawmaking assembly voted overwhelmingly to remove from the denomination's Book of Discipline wording that prohibited a "self-avowed practicing homosexual" from becoming clergy.

The vote, they said, had been a long time coming since the denomination added the wording banning openly LGBTQ+ individuals from becoming members of the clergy. Steele, senior pastor of Quail Springs United Methodist, and Bose-North both lead congregations that are part of the Reconciling Ministries Network that has been advocating for LGBTQ+ full inclusion in the denomination.

Bose-North said she expected more anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and rules to be addressed on Thursday.

She said overturning the LGBTQ+ clergy ordination ban was a significant step toward full inclusion and she was happy that delegates also voted on Wednesday to remove penalties for ministers who choose to officiate at same-sex weddings. However, the Oklahoma City pastor said she hoped to see more "discriminatory" language removed from the denomination's Book of Discipline, particularly the statement that marriage is between a man and a woman.

"That's what we're waiting on," Bose-North said.

The Rev. Kathy Brown, senior pastor of another Reconciling congregation, Tulsa's St. Paul's, said she was celebrating.

"I am shedding happy tears," she said. "It has been a long hard fight for justice."

Chantelle Foster

Two General Conference delegates representing the Oklahoma United Methodist Conference weighed in on the historic day, as well. Chantelle Foster, a lay delegate from Edmond, said she was hopeful for the future of the denomination.

"I see us voting as if we are more concerned with our unity as followers of Jesus Christ instead of focusing on our differences," she said. "We are making decisions today that are moving toward removal of exclusionary language."

The Rev. Sam Powers

The Rev. Sam Powers, a district superintendent with the Oklahoma United Methodist Church, said Wednesday's action might result in some nervousness on the part of some small churches in rural Oklahoma, which he described as generally conservative. He said these congregations may wonder if their conference leaders may now appoint a member of the LGBTQ+ community as their pastor.

But he said bishops "would likely not send a gay clergyperson to a church that finds itself in opposition, so as to care for the church and the clergyperson. But we do celebrate with people that have felt God's call upon their lives and have been previously barred from serving"

Powers said removing the anti-LGBTQ+ clergy prohibition from the Book of Discipline simply neutralizes the clergy criteria.

'We knew this was coming'

Views varied among Oklahoma ministers who withdrew from the United Methodist Church as their congregations disaffiliated from the denomination.

The Rev. Mark McAdow, senior minister of Willow View Methodist Church in Enid, said he was saddened by news that the United Methodist Church had "moved in a direction away from scripture."

Willow View disaffiliated from the denomination in 2022, as part of the first of three groups of Oklahoma churches that disaffiliated over disagreements about the scriptural compatibility of same-sex marriage and LGBTQ+ clergy ordination. All total, 127 Oklahoma churches disaffiliated during special sessions held by the Oklahoma United Methodist Conference in 2022 and 2023.

More: Numerous Oklahoma churches left the United Methodist Church. How did other regions fare?

"I don't think the decision today was unexpected by those of us who have been involved in this ministry for a long time  that's the very reason that our church and some other churches disaffiliated from the United Methodist Church," McAdow said.

"We knew this was coming and this is where we had to take our stance because we don't believe it's scriptural in any regard and we wanted to be able to say that we trust God and His Holy Word that is unchanging and always reliable. So, we are sad for the United Methodist Church today."

Meanwhile, the Rev. D.A. Bennett, whose south Oklahoma CIty church also left the United Methodist Church in 2022, said he wasn't surprised that his former denomination had changed its stance regarding LGBTQ+ clergy.

"The issues have been divisive for decades, and the exit of a number of more conservative churches in the United States shifted the balance of a voting bloc to more progressive delegates," said Bennett, senior pastor of St. Andrew's Community Church.

Both Bennett's and McAdow's churches are currently affiliated with the Global Methodist Church, a relatively new Methodist denomination that launched in May 2022.

The overwhelming reason for our disaffiliation was the defiance of the Book of Discipline and defiance of rulings of the Judicial Council," Bennett said. "Thus, we believed the best future for St. Andrew's was to disaffiliate, and seek connection with the Global Methodist Church."

'A new day'

A former United Methodist pastor who was happy about Wednesday's historic vote was the Rev. Scott Spencer, senior minister of Mosaic Community Church.

Like Crown Heights United Methodist and Quail Springs United Methodist, Spencer's church had been part of the Reconciling Ministries Network and had been fighting for full inclusion for LGBTQ+ members for years. The church evolved from Epworth United Methodist (now defunct), one of the first Reconciling network congregations in Oklahoma. Nevertheless, Spencer and his congregation voted to disaffiliate from the denomination in 2023.

Wednesday, Spencer said he was glad to see General Conference delegates make what he considered long-awaited changes for his former denomination.

"It's a new day in the UMC!" he posted on his church's Facebook page.

"I, along with all of us at Mosaic Community Church, celebrate with our United Methodist siblings!"

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: United Methodist Church lifts ban on LGBTQ+ clergy ordination
Ashley Lemming, is one of Kevin Stitt's newest appointees to the State Textbook Committee.

Gov. Kevin Stitt has appointed five new members of the Oklahoma State Textbook Committee, a previously obscure state board that has drawn scrutiny in recent months under state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters.

From Oklahomas 2nd Congressional District, Stitt appointed Christina Hanvey, of Westville, and Joshua Allen of Tahlequah, and as an at-large selection, Stitt appointed Michael Bellew, a doctor from Broken Arrow. Stitt announced those appointments Tuesday afternoon.

On Wednesday, two more appointments were announced  Ashley Leming, of Tuttle, representing the 4th Congressional District, and Linda Diann Magnus, of Yukon, representing the 5th Congressional District. All five appointments are pending confirmation by the Oklahoma Senate.

If confirmed, Hanvey will fill the unexpired term of former committee member Kathryn Yarbrough, which will end March 1, 2025. Allen, Bellew, Leming and Magnus are scheduled to serve three-year terms that will end March 1, 2027. Even after the five appointments, two vacancies remain on the 14-person board  one from the 1st Congressional District and one at-large spot.

According to the Oklahoma State Department of Education website, the state Textbook Committee annually prepares a list of available textbooks that meet the academic criteria for Oklahoma's public schools. The committee typically reviews textbooks involving one or more subjects each year. Textbooks for computer education/instructional technology are supposed to be evaluated every three years, while textbooks for all other subjects are scheduled to be reviewed on a six-year cycle.

Walters, as state schools superintendent, is the committees chair, while Kendra Wesson, an appointed member of the Oklahoma State Board of Education, is the committees designated chair.

A law passed in 2020 made changes to the committees structure and review process in an attempt to strengthen the quality of state-level instructional materials reviews, according to the state Education Departments website. Under the new process, a three-tiered system of evaluation is used, with a review committee composed of subject-area experts assisting.

Board's actions in recent months have drawn attention to what's often an obscure process

The state Textbook Committee often operates far from the spotlight, but Oklahoma Voice reported that in November, it asked a major textbook publisher, McGraw Hill, to remove math thoughts sections from its Reveal Math books if the publisher wanted its textbooks to be approved by the committee. Those math textbooks are made for students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grades.

According to another report from Oklahoma Voice, at a previous meeting of the state Textbook Committee, a representative of Moms for Liberty  a politically conservative advocacy organization  had complained about the McGraw Hill math textbooks because of what she said were social-emotional learning concepts contained in the book.

Oklahoma Voice reported that of 17 companies asked to be considered as part of the states math textbook adoption process, eight withdrew and another was removed. Oklahoma school districts cannot use state textbook funds to purchase textbooks not approved by the committee.

According to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, social-emotional learning is the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions.

Who are the new appointees to the state Textbook Committee?

Allen serves on the Tahlequah City Council and teaches music at an elementary school in the Cherokee County city. According to his biography on the citys website, he attended school in the Tahlequah Public Schools system before obtaining a music education degree from Northeastern State University, also located in Tahlequah. Hes worked for 23 years as a band director for Tahlequah schools and also serves as an associate pastor at Love Light Christian Center in Tahlequah.

Hanvey is a choir, speech, drama and keyboarding teacher at Westville Public Schools in Adair County.

Reached by email on Tuesday night, both Allen and Hanvey referred comment to the governors office.

According to his LinkedIn page, Bellew is a vascular neurologist. On that page, Bellew said, Beyond my professional pursuits, I am an ardent advocate for classical education. In my spare time, I immerse myself in the timeless wisdom of classical literature, philosophy, and art. I believe that a well-rounded education extends beyond medicine and greatly enriches our understanding of the world, fostering a deeper appreciation for the humanities and the interconnectedness of knowledge.

According to the Classical Academic Press, classical education is a long tradition of education that has emphasized the seeking after of truth, goodness, and beauty and the study of the liberal arts and the great books. It defines the liberal arts as grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy. Walters has called classical learning imperative for Oklahoma.

Bellew didnt immediately respond to a message sent to his work email address.

Leming teaches art at Tuttle High School, and Magnus is a music teacher for Kingfisher Public Schools, according to her LinkedIn profile. Magnus didn't immediately respond to an email sent to her work address.

The state Textbook Committees next meeting is scheduled for June 7.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Gov. Stitt names 5 new members of Oklahoma State Textbook Committee
While many teenagers visit Kentucky's State Capitol during legislative sessions, they generally come in groups and make a solo appearance.

Not Kiera Dunk.

The North Oldham High School freshman has made the hour-long trip to Frankfort dozens of times, and her passion for advocacy led her to write her own bill  one that increased penalties for child abuse  and get it passed just before turning 13.

Kiera has met with some of the state's most powerful politicians to garner their support. She's successfully advocated for the passage of two bills, and she's working on a third.

House Speaker David Osborne said he's never encountered anyone like her.

"It's unusual to find someone that age who really likes to dig into the details  not just the policy itself but to do the work to make it pass," Osborne said of Kiera.

"She is certainly wise beyond her years," he said. "There's a lot of lobbyists that could learn from her."

To Kiera, though, there's nothing all that special about what she is doing. When asked why she spends hours researching policy, requesting meetings with politicians, to whom she brings cookies, and testifying during committee hearings, she doesn't see an alternative.

"If you feel passionate about something, you should do it," she said matter-of-factly.

Kiera's advocacy work goes back to 2018 when she and her mom started going to the Capitol with the Kentucky Home Birth Coalition. The grassroots group had been fighting to allow midwives to become licensed, and Kiera was eager to help.

She was there the day former Gov. Matt Bevin signed the law in 2019, and she even jokingly told him she would have his job one day, her mom, Brandi Dunk, said. On the way home after that victory, she started to cry.

"She was like, 'It's done now. We cant go to Frankfort now," Dunk recalled.

"I was like, 'No, if you find something you want to advocate for that you're passionate about, then we can do that." From then, "she was constantly just thirsting for knowledge. She just kept asking questions and wanted to understand the process."

Kiera Dunk poses with former LMPD lieutenant Joyce Keeley who presented her the Shine a Light Award on Thursday, March 14, 2024 at the State Capitol.

The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted Kiera's participation in the next two legislative sessions, though she watched them on KETV. By 2022, she'd honed in on her passion: children. She began advocating for Kami's Law  a bill named after a family friend who'd been physically abused as an infant. When Kiera learned the man responsible served less than five years, she decided something had to change.

Ed Massey, now a former state representative, sponsored Kiera's bill, which increased the penalties for those who abuse someone under age 12. The bill won approval in 2022.

"I was just so excited to have the opportunity to work with someone with the energy, desire and intellect to work through the process," Massey said of Kiera, noting how she didn't want to just write the bill and get it filed, but kept pushing for its passage by gaining more sponsors and testifying before both judiciary committees.

"Some people in the legislative world  they just go and vote," Massey said. "They are reactive, not proactive. To see a person be this proactive at such a young age is exciting."

Last year Kiera went to Rep. James Tipton about an issue in the state's Read to Succeed Act, which allowed Kentucky school districts to choose whether to use a structured literacy reading curriculum.

She testified on the House floor about why the act needed a one-word amendment  changing may to shall  which was ultimately approved. Now, all districts must align their instruction with structured literacy practices by the start of the next school year.

Ahead of this legislative session, Kiera wanted to focus on ways to prevent child abuse so it doesn't harm children like Kami and Kyan Higgins Jr., who her next bill is named after.

Acknowledging that harsher punishments don't always serve as a strong deterrent for abusers, Kiera said she "wanted to help kids by creating a law that would be more preventative and hopefully remove kids from harmful situations before it was too late," she wrote in a Kentucky Youth Advocates blog post.

Kyan was 10 years old when his mom killed him in their Louisville home. The brutality of his killing made headlines, but what was missing from those stories was a fact that Kiera later uncovered: There were signs Kyan was in harm's way.

A common correlation "most people don't know about," Kiera explained, is that in 88% of confirmed physical child abuse cases, pets had also been abused, one study found.

In the 18 months leading up to Kyan's death, animal control officers had been at his house two dozen times.

With this in mind, Kyan's Law would require that animal control officers have additional training to recognize signs of abuse.

I think this is another important piece of legislation to ensure we are getting kids out of dangerous situations sooner rather than later," Kiera said. "Maybe if this was in place beforehand, maybe Kyan would still be alive.

Her bill wasn't taken up during this session despite six meetings with legislators in just one day, but Kiera isn't discouraged. This year was a budget year, along with an election year, she explained, so she's confident it'll see success next year.

Outside of her advocacy work, Kiera is on the track team for North Oldham High, where she's looking forward to taking a pre-law course next year. She's into Anime and likes going to the mall and having sleepovers with her friends, though she said they "aren't really interested in politics."

She's becoming a regular at events focused on children's advocacy work, most recently speaking at a Kosair for Kids benefit dinner.

She's thankful for the success she's had in Frankfort and hopes it will help other kids.

She's also hoping it inspires other people to stand up for their beliefs.

"If I could get a law passed before I was 15, I think other people can make changes too," she said.

Contact Krista Johnson at kjohnson3@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: This Oldham County teen may be Kentucky's youngest lobbyist
TOPEKA (KSNT)  One person is dead, after a fatal crash in Emporia Wednesday afternoon.

According to the Emporia Police Department, at 12:30 p.m., officers were dispatched to an accident at 12th Avenue and Mechanic Street, near Emporia State University (ESU).

Officers say, when they arrived, they found a Toyota Camry that had crashed into a tree on ESU property. The car had been heading northbound on Mechanic Street and it failed to stop at the stop sign at 12th Avenue. The driver of the Toyota Camry was transported to Newmans Hospital where they were pronounced deceased.

KSNT 27 News spoke with a spokesman for the Emporia Police Department Wednesday, who said the death was impact-related, after the person hit the tree. Due to the nature of this accident, the Emporia Police said the drivers identification will not be released to the public.

For more weather 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.
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW)  A car crashed into a tree in Emporia on Wednesday, claiming the life of one person.

The Emporia Police Department said around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, officers were dispatched to the area of 12th Avenue and Mechanic Street in Emporia for a car crash. The Emporia Police Department was assisted by the Emporia State University Police Department.

Stolen church bus from Kansas found in Texas

Officers found a Toyota Camry that crashed into a tree on the Emporia State campus. It was heading north on Mechanic Street and failed to stop at the stop sign at 12th Avenue. The car crossed 12th Avenue and left the road, where it hit the tree.

The driver of the vehicle was taken to a local hospital, where they were pronounced dead. Due to the nature of this accident, the drivers identification will not be released to the public.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV.
Editors note: Due to the security protocols of the Ukrainian military, soldiers featured in this story are identified solely by first names and call signs.

SUMY OBLAST  Soldiers from one of Ukraines 117th Territorial Defense Brigade mobile air defense squads call themselves fowlers.

The units task is fending off Shahed kamikaze drones when Russia deploys these deadly birds to strike targets across the country, as well as watching the sky Ukraine shares with Russia over the border.

Their service is in constant demand: Russia deploys swarms of drones against Ukraine daily. When Shaheds breach Ukraines airspace in the north and head towards Sumy or Kyiv, the unit is the first to confront them.

Russia has launched almost 5,000 Iranian-developed loitering munitions since they were first shot down in Ukraine in mid-September 2022. The exact number of destroyed Shaheds remains unclear, but daily military reports suggest the majority have been intercepted.

Downing a $50,000 drone with Iris-T or NASAMS air defense systems worth $1 million each is considered profligacy. As Ukraines war-stricken economy is starved of expensive missiles, mobile fire units with heavy machine guns offer a cost-effective solution against Shaheds.

The Kyiv Independent embedded with the unit for a night shift of air defense duty in late March in northeastern Sumy Oblast near the border. Russia launched 60 drones along with dozens of cruise and ballistic missiles across Ukraine that night.

Sumy Oblast is Ukraines northern shield. We are the last defensive line (in the region), a soldier with the call sign Ranger told the Kyiv Independent.

Shahed danger

Minutes after picking up the Kyiv Independent at a hotel in downtown Sumy around 10 p.m., the units leader receives detailed intel that a group of Shaheds is approaching.

The squad leader, whose call sign is Dias  the modern Greek word for Zeus, the god of the sky and thunder  says a code meaning Shahed danger into a walkie-talkie and orders another soldier, call sign Ranger, to floor it.

The green pickup truck, mounted with an anti-aircraft gun, races toward a viewpoint where the unit can clearly see any incoming drones. Dias tells the Kyiv Independent to hold on tight as there is no seat belt in the back.

Dias is a tall sturdy man with blue eyes and a gray beard and is the sole squad member who had military experience before the start of the full-scale invasion.

Read also: Surviving through the darkness: How Kharkiv endures new wave of brutal Russian attacks (Photos)

Hes fought in several conflicts he was reluctant to name, only saying, I neutralized my first (enemy) and safeguarded my unit in 1989. A certified tactical shooting instructor in his civilian life, he has shared his knowledge with his subordinates in wartime.

I taught them to shoot and survive, he tells the Kyiv Independent when the truck stops in a field outside Sumy, the first viewpoint the unit went to that evening.

Besides Dias, the unit comprises 15 local civilians who joined the army in February 2022. They performed guerrilla warfare while Russian troops tried to encircle Sumy and advance towards Kyiv, and were later assigned to hunt drones.

Throughout Russias war, Moscow and Kyiv have heavily invested in drone technology, revolutionizing warfare. Its the first mass-scale drone theater, with each side deploying tens of thousands of airborne vehicles for recon and targeted strikes.

Dias and his right-hand man, Ranger, join four other soldiers at the viewpoint. All six wear the same patch: Three Cossacks from a popular Ukrainian cartoon on an SUV fending off a missile with an iron shield.

Call sing Ranger (L), a soldier within Ukraine's 117th Territorial Defense Brigade, stands alongside his squad leader, call sign Dias (R), after a night shift hunting Shahed loitering munitions and reconnaissance drones in Sumy Oblast, Ukra in late March 2024. (Alexander Khrebet / The Kyiv Independent)

Sounds of incoming artillery punctuate the clear and silent night as the soldiers stay glued to a map on a tablet running software that tracks Shaheds.

Our sector is close to the border, within a range of artillery, guided bombs, and FPV (first-person-view) drones here. 300,000 people in (the city of) Sumy are behind us, Dias said, adding they shot down their first two Shaheds here in July 2023.

Searching for Shaheds

After some time at the viewpoint, two soldiers, call signs Lynx and Scythian, get on to the back of the truck, which is mounted with loaded M2 Browning and KPVT heavy machine guns. A few minutes later, the air raid siren roars in the distance. The two watch the sky and prepare to shoot down any drones.

The U.S.-designed Browning, one of the oldest infantry weapons, is slightly older than the Soviet-made KPVT. Both boast a heritage spanning dozens of conflicts mostly after World War II.

The browning is reliable, user-friendly and has a higher fire rate, and less dispersion. But metal is metal, its effectiveness relies on the soldiers skills, said Dias.

Ukrainian servicemen of a mobile air defense unit of the 117th Mechanized Brigade wait for potential air threats at a position in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast, on April 6, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Roman Pilipey /AFP via Getty Images)

Lynx and Scythians team leader within the squad, call sign Abdullah, carries a lightweight machine gun. A soldier, nicknamed due to his resemblance to a character from a Soviet Ostern movie, told the Kyiv Independent he welded extra foregrip for easier shooting while standing.

Several searchlights beamed the sky in the area, looking for Shaheds that can fly at a maximum speed of 115 miles per hour at an altitude of a mile. Everyone in this position seems to be in an adrenaline rush, anticipating a formidable fight.

The precise shooting starts when Shaheds are 600 meters away, said Dias.

The tracking system the unit uses along all the Ukrainian military shows kamikaze drones are moving. Yet Shaheds arent the only danger the unit foresees and every night there are reconnaissance drones in the sky as well.

Meanwhile, Ranger points a drone detector towards the sky, scanning for telltale signs in the electromagnetic waves. He checks for any Russian reconnaissance drones  the kind able to carry out recon, and guide and correct attacks.

How fast Ranger can detect them, determines whether the unit survives the barrage or first-person-view (FPV) drone attack. The electronic intelligence device can sense a drone radar or electromagnetic waves, providing early warning.

Ukraine's 117th Territorial Defense Brigade soldier watching the sky while standing on a pickup truck mounted a heavy machine gun in Sumy Oblast, Ukraine as Russia launched dozens of Shahed kamikaze drones in late March 2024. (Alexander Khrebet / The Kyiv Independent)

Ranger, named so as a tribute to his pre-war job protecting forests, couldve avoided the draft as father of three. However, this tall man in his 30s joined the military, spending his free time studying drone detector manuals and mastering a first-person-view drone simulator.

Ill know if theres an enemy drone and where it goes, Ranger said, explaining the distinction between signals that can be wielded to overwhelm communication links and pinpoint targets.

Moving around

A few team members signal to the others when the tracking system shows Shaheds heading westward. Dias quickly analyzes their course and orders changing positions by calling out code names.

The placing of mobile air defense is crucial as Russian reconnaissance efforts strive to pinpoint fire teams and reroute Shaheds away. Another vital factor is ensuring the teams' positioning doesnt create the risk of stray bullets hitting nearby villages when they're shooting down drones.

There are sectors where shooting is strictly prohibited. Bullets would fall on peoples heads, Dias said as a bevy of Shaheds appear and reappear on the tablets screen.

The tracking system offers a real-time map of friendly and hostile troops positions, aircraft, and drones movements, creating an experience reminiscent of a strategy game, albeit with real-life consequences.

The soldiers of the Ukrainian Air Defense stand during combat duty in Kharkiv, Ukraine on Feb. 28, 2024. The mobile group of the Ukrainian Air Defense Forces includes fighters from the 50th Slobozhanska Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine - 'Vaha', 'Barber', and 'Chub'. The military calls them 'ghost hunters.' The military are on round-the-clock duty. (Denys Klymenko /Gwara Media/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)

We know where Shaheds will emerge if the system doesnt display them, he said, referring to the importance of knowing the local terrain.

Ranger, who worked in the same area before the war, drives the truck through the narrow forest trail and alerts Dias to a motion detector spotted on a tree. After a short talk, both are very much in sync on moving towards another viewpoint, as they assume the device belongs to the Ukrainian military.

Precautions are a necessity in these dense forests near the Russian border, especially on a clear night like this. The borderland is filled with Russian saboteurs penetrating into Ukraine to expose Ukrainian observation posts, where they often skirmish with border guards and the military.

Dias asks the Kyiv Independent to wear an armored vest as we approach a spot on the edge of a forest and a meadow in the moonlight. He also requests speaking softly and remaining vigilant, listening intently to the sounds that could signal the presence of FPV drones or the footsteps of saboteurs.

While Ranger serves steaming cups of pu-erh, a Chinese fermented tea, the stillness is intermittently shattered by the whirring of drone propellers and the crunch of footsteps in the sparse undergrowth. Each time, Ranger, a seasoned expert on the local forest sounds, dismisses them as merely the rustle of a bird, the sway of a branch, or the whisper of the wind.

Servicemen of one of the mobile air defense units of the 5th Slobozhanska Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine are seen on combat duty in unknown location in Ukraine on Feb. 27, 2024. (Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy / Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

The Kyiv Independent shares two available cups for three people, taking sips in turns with Ranger while Dias carefully listens to the silence of woods and sky.

In the wee hours of the night, a tablet running Shahed tracking software shows kamikaze drones scattering west and east, distancing from the units sector. Soon after, Russia deploys more drones from the south.

One of the worst things about this job is waiting, Dias says, interrupting himself as a signal for a cruise missile emerges on the tablet showing that it is flying just overhead. It wasnt audible.

Lack of manpower

While reaching another viewpoint to join Dias' third team, another air defense unit from the same 117th Brigade takes up a position nearby.

"Closer proximity means denser firepower," Dias said when asked about the distance between teams.

Achieving high fire density has proven challenging due to shortages in the manpower, weaponry, and transportation supplies needed for better interception rates.

Read also: Sumy Oblast fortifies amid looming threat of Kharkiv attack

Proper rest after drone hunting also remains elusive. While each team works in 24-hour rotations, everyone rushes to provide reinforcement when air raid alarms go off, which sometimes happens several times a day.

The day melts into the night. You try to sleep, but constantly wait for the signal, one soldier said, while others said they sleep with walkie-talkies and phones.

The government delivers enough basic supplies: uniforms and food. Yet, soldiers and volunteers have to crowdfund albeit old, but necessary trucks, vision, and detection gear.

The mission's success depends on reaction and vital advanced tech. The world advances, and we need to advance along with it, call sign Athene, a team member within the squad, told the Kyiv Independent.

Soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from the unit of the mobile air defense group shoot down enemy drones using the ZU-23-2 Soviet 23-mm twin anti-aircraft gun on April 16, 2024 in an undisclosed location in Ukraine. (Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty Images)

Although the soldiers praise their aging machine guns, their aspirations lean towards still old but younger weaponry. The squad leader enthusiastically lists the German-developed MG3 and Belgian-designed M240 machine guns, and the U.S.-made M6 Vulcan six-barrel rotary cannon and emphasizes the importance of shooting drills.

We're eager to take down Shaheds. We could cut them with such weapons, Dias said, adding his unit downed a total of six Shaheds and a dozen reconnaissance aircraft.

He described downing Russian drones as pure euphoria.

As dawn breaks, the Shahed danger has lifted. There were no casualties nor destruction in Sumy that night. Dias and the others exhale with relief.

Yet a hint of disappointment colors their emotions. They know they missed out on aerial combat.

We geared up for battle, yet the Shaheds evaded us today, leaving a physical and moral strain in their wake. Despite working tirelessly through the night, there's no satisfaction, Dias says at a gas station as he and the soldiers drink complimentary cups of coffee for their service, lightening their mood a bit.

Read also: Inside the Swedish ammunition plant at the forefront of Europes push to ramp up shell production

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
One suspect in custody after high-speed chase in NE Oklahoma City

UPDATE @ 4:30 P.M.

Oklahoma County Sheriffs Office stated that its warrants team was attempting to arrest 35-year-old Charles Coulter on a warrant for Domestic Assault and Battery/Strangulation when he took off in his car near I-35 and Hefner Road. The pursuit lasted approximately seven minutes before Coulter crashed.

Charles Coulter led sheriffs on chase for warrant.

Coulter struggled with the deputies during the arrest and kicked out a window on one of the patrol vehicles.

No one was injured during the crash.

Throughout the pursuit, we considered whether to terminate it or continue, Sheriff Tommie Johnson III said, But given how dangerous Mr. Coulter is and the time of day; when kids are being released from school, we knew for the safety of the public we had to stop Mr. Coulter.

Original Story

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR)  Oklahoma County deputies have arrested one person following a high-speed chase in northeast Oklahoma City on Thursday afternoon.

Suspect arrested after high-speed chase ends near NE 36th St. and N Martin Luther King Ave. Photo courtesy KFOR.

The chase began on the northeast side of the metro and ended near NE 36th St. and N Martin Luther King Ave. Speed reached up to 100 mph during the pursuit.

The suspect was arrested shortly after crashing into a pickup truck.

A woman and child, who were in the car at the time of the chase, are being checked out for injuries.

No information has been released on the events leading up to the chase at this time.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
Who were the masked men behind the UCLA camp attack? Online sleuths vow to find out

The online sleuths got to work within hours of violence sparking at UCLA this week.

They grabbed videos of the mostly masked rioters who attacked the pro-Palestinian student encampment near the quad and tried to zoom in on faces. They pored over each frame, waiting for the moment masks slipped and faces were exposed to take screen grabs. Then, they uploaded those faces to X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and other social media platforms and beseeched the internet to do its thing.

From across the country and around the world, people logged on and joined the collective research effort.

Soon, the alleged perpetrators' names, and in some cases identifying details such as places of employment, were posted online along with photos. License plates from cars owned by alleged pro-Israel counterprotesters were also posted.

A pro-Israel supporter throws a bottle of water at the Pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA early Wednesday morning. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles)

Law enforcement officials, including the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles, declined to comment on the tactic. But some who study extremism said the online effort to identify and expose the alleged perpetrators of the violence at UCLA is one more sign of the polarization of civil society in the current moment: People don't trust the justice system to investigate or deliver justice, and they are taking it upon themselves.

Read more: Photos: Clashes at pro-Palestinian demonstrations on California campuses

This is where were at now, said Brian Levin, the founding director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino. People feel for their own protection that they have to bring their own goggles [to protests to protect from tear gas], and they also have to find their own assailants.

He added, Heres the problem: Sometimes the doxing is wrong.

Doxing  posting someone's name, address and other identifying data  has been going on as long as people have been online. But it gained prominence as a tactic after the Unite the Right march in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017, when people crowdsourced the identities  sometimes incorrectly  of participants in the white nationalist rally.

Then came Jan. 6, 2021, when thousands of people stormed the U.S. Capitol. A loosely organized group of online sleuths  known as Sedition Hunters"  dedicated themselves to identifying them and turning their names over to the FBI.

Pro-Palestinian protesters get maced by a pro-Israel supporter at an encampment at UCLA early Wednesday morning. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles)

When a large group of men wearing black outfits and white masks stormed into the UCLA encampment Tuesday evening, pro-Palestinian groups almost immediately began trying to identify them.

Can anyone identify this man at @UCLA?, one post read . He struck an activist in the head with a wooden plank, before punching and kicking another person.

If you recognize this man, please dm me. He pepper-sprayed me, read another post on Instagram.

Read more: Timeline: UCLA's night of violence before police moved in

Identify this criminal, another person posted on Instagram, over a photograph of a man in a black T-shirt with a red scarf momentarily lowered to reveal his face. The main culprit behind the brutal assault on our allies at UCLA last night. *Note: Lawyers will deal with him once he is identified. NOT us. All we need is his name.

Shortly thereafter, the business website of a Los Angeles man who had been named as one of the attackers was mobbed with angry reviews. Others who had been identified rushed to make their social media profiles private, turned off comments on their business pages and set their phones to send all calls to voicemail.

In some cases, the online doxing was quickly followed by apologies for identifying the wrong person.

"Kindly disregard," one person wrote on Instagram after blasting out a name. Another photograph was tagged with a few different names (with no clarity on which name was the right one).

The Times is not naming any of the people identified online. Reporters attempted to reach several of them, but their messages were not returned.

Despite the risks of sending an angry online mob after innocent people, some students at the encampment said they felt they had no choice.

We would like to protect ourselves by making these people known," said 26-year-old Nicolette on Wednesday inside UCLA's encampment. She said she endured hours of terror as the men threw fireworks into the camp, blasted them with pepper spray and threw objects at them.

Nicolette added that many pro-Palestinian students have also been doxed, their names put on websites. For that reason  and to stave off repercussions from university officials many students in pro-Palestinian encampments around the country this week have also been masked. And, like Nicolette, they have refused to share their full names with reporters.

Jenna, a 21-year-old UCLA student, said that before things turned violent, a group of about 10 people showed up, all wearing white masks, an action she believed "was definitely coordinated." About 11 p.m., she said, black trucks pulled up, older men came out and a huge mob started heading toward the encampment.

Another woman, who referred to herself as Nicky and who had been at the encampment since Thursday, said students have turned to group chats to share photos and identify some of those responsible.

A Pro-Palestinian supporter is being hit by counterprotesters on UCLA's campus on May 1. Dueling groups of protesters have clashed at the campus, including fistfights and shoving, kicking and using sticks to beat one another. (Trevor Jackson / For The Times)

In part, she said, they took it upon themselves because they did not expect campus police or authorities to seek out and identify the counterprotesters.

Here, they allowed them to terrorize us all night long and did nothing, she said. The 37-year-old said law enforcement, possibly California Highway Patrol officers, showed up briefly and drove off like it was none of their business.

In group chats, people circulated addresses and phone numbers of counterprotesters. In the case of a man waving a large yellow flag that read "Moshiach"  Messiah  those on the pro-Palestinian side watched him walk to his car and were able to see his license plate. The man had worn a black mask as he shouted "we fear nobody but God. God's Army."

"We're going to see what his license plate is, because we're going to get his identity tonight," someone narrated on a video as they followed him to snap a picture. "He thinks that he's safe, that no one's going to find out what his identity is. That's why he was acting so bold."

Officials, including the UCLA Police Department and the Los Angeles Police Department, have said little about their efforts to identify and arrest the men who unleashed violence on the protesters at UCLA. Mayor Karen Bass, who rushed back to Los Angeles when the violence broke out, said she was demanding a "full investigation."

Read more: 'Unacceptable': Why it took hours for police to quell attack at UCLA pro-Palestinian camp

"Those involved in launching fireworks at other people, spraying chemicals and physically assaulting others will be found, arrested, and prosecuted, as well as anyone involved in any form of violence or lawlessness," she said in a statement.

Around the encampment, the theories on who was responsible spread fast and furious. Some believed that the counterprotesters were paid agitators. Others believed the melee was a crime of opportunity. The majority of those on the pro-Palestinian side insisted that the counterprotesters were not students.

Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations office in Los Angeles, called the agigators "pro-Israel extremists" and said attorneys at CAIR are "exploring all legal avenues to hold the perpetrators of these terroristic attacks accountable."

Ayloush said CAIR is asking for those who were harmed to contact its offices and submit reports and evidence, "so we can help take the necessary action."

Times staff writer Matthew Ormseth contributed to this report.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
HANOI, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam has target at around 1.8-2 billion U.S. dollars of cassava export value by 2030, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The country looks to have 11.5-12.5 million tons of the fresh roots by 2030, 85 percent of which will be deeply processed. Around 50 percent of the total farming area will apply a sustainable farming process, Vietnam News Agency reported Thursday.

By 2050, about 70-80 percent of the farming area will apply sustainable farming process, and over 90 percent of the fresh root output will undergo deep processing.

Vietnam's cassava exports reached 1.3 billion dollars last year.

The export target for this year has been set at 2.3-2.5 billion dollars. 
The Centre Region isnt accessible for working families.

Its considered rude to say it out loud, but its a reality we need to face. Take your pick of reasons. Median home listing prices are $409.9K, well over the statewide median of $265K. Too many residents make the right noise about affordable housing, provided its built a comfortable distance away from them. Too many employers take advantage of their workers, as weve seen in repeated and consistent reports of wage theft. Too many landlords take advantage of their tenants, as weve seen in repeated cases brought by the Attorney Generals office.

The difficulties facing working people shouldnt be a shock. When many of our leading employers, like Penn State, model a mode of management that treats employees as disposable, and treats workers organizing for dignity and a voice on the job as though its a threat, we cant be surprised when the result is decreased standards for workers and tougher times for working people.

But despite the wide range of reasons, the most recent one is the decision to cut Centre Area Transportation Authority services to Bellefonte, driving home just whos valued in the Centre Region.

CATA is a keystone for Centre County. It provides essential services for working people and for Penn State students, making the Centre Region and beyond accessible to residents. Not only that, CATA employs workers who benefit from good, union jobs organized with AFSCME, the largest union for commonwealth, county, municipal, and intergovernmental agency employees in Pennsylvania.

It can be a leader for what we want from our region, and a model for how providing services and good employment can make our community more accessible. But cutting service to Bellefonte doesnt do that. It makes jobs, good employment, and government services less accessible to working people.

Its even worse given the wildly unaffordable housing in the core parts of State College, which offers the widest range of employment opportunities in the area. Combine that with the attitude of indifference to the crisis by many well-heeled State College residents that protest about the character of our community in coded terms to preserve a State College inaccessible to working people, and you have a clear message: Happy Valley is only happy for those that can afford it.

It doesnt need to be that way. We have the tools to change it, and a community that increasingly recognizes the problem and is committed to fixing it.

But to do that, we need to work together. We need to talk about expanding public transportation services in a way that supports working people through increased service options and good paying union jobs. We need local government, like we now have in the State College Borough Council, that understands that Happy Valley needs to include everyone, and that services like CATA help make that happen. We need hard, public discussions about what employment looks like in our area, and what we can do to improve it. And we need unwavering support for workers organizing their workplace, and for their right to form and join a union of their choosing.

Most importantly, we need to continue building a community that prioritizes solutions for working families over the pearl-clutching of a minority willing to reap the benefits of working peoples labor, so long as those working people live somewhere else.

This is all achievable. We have the tools, the resources, the resolve, and the elected officials to make it happen.

What achieving it takes is confronting and naming the problem head on, and choosing to think differently about what our community can be. Right now, the character of our community is one that too often tosses working families aside. Its time for it to change.

Connor Lewis is a member of The NewsGuild-CWA Local 32035, and president of Seven Mountains AFL-CIO.
The potential for a fresh round of chaos has lingered over Washington for weeks now, as conservatives have seethed over Speaker Mike Johnsons willingness to rely on Democratic votes to prevent paralysis in the House. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., announced Wednesday that she will make good on her threatened ouster attempt against him next week. Theres just one thing standing in her way: House Democrats.

It may seem downright bizarre that Democratic leaders would put out a statement pledging to defend a Republican speaker. But their decision to publicly back Johnson, R-La., on Tuesday and the timing of their declaration show exactly the sort of long-term strategic thinking that Greene has struggled with. As it turns out, her choice to follow through on her threat is a major boost to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and his leverage over the Houses proceedings.

The catalyst for the latest tempest is last months series of votes to finally get a Ukraine aid package through the House. Greene had warned Johnson that this would be a red line for her, filing whats known as a motion to vacate in March. She followed that up with a five-page letter ripping into Johnson that my colleague Zeeshan Aleem described as more about her burnishing her credentials as a MAGA mutineer than it is about critiquing Johnson in a productive manner.

Greenes warnings went unheeded  and unsupported, it turns out. Only two co-sponsors have signed on to her motion. To be fair, that is more than initially put their names to the motion that removed Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., in October. But theres been little appetite from even the usually pugnacious House Freedom Caucus to back Greenes play.

But even if more of the GOPs far right wanted to oust Johnson, Democrats would still have to provide the bulk of the votes against him. Until this week, they kept their powder dry on what theyd do if Greene followed through on her threats. While some moderates had indicated they might be willing to support Johnson, officially the caucus was waiting for Jeffries to call the play. That was the case last year, as well, as McCarthy faced down a potential coup from a small band of GOP upstarts. It was Jeffries who made the call to have his members vote against McCarthy, alongside just eight Republicans, guaranteeing his removal.

McCarthy sealed his fate with a record of reneging on deals that earned him Democrats ire. In contrast, Johnson has been square in his dealings, even if it took longer than many preferred for him to pass the foreign aid package. Still, Jeffries took even House Democrats by surprise with how quickly the leadership team issued a statement of support for Johnson after a closed-door caucus meeting Tuesday. At this moment, upon completion of our national security work, the time has come to turn the page on this chapter of Pro-Putin Republican obstruction, the statement concluded. We will vote to table Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greenes Motion to Vacate the Chair. If she invokes the motion, it will not succeed.

The move seems to have incensed Greene enough for her to finally act. She accused Johnson of cutting a slimy backroom deal with Democrats to remain in power. Johnson, for his part, seemed unaware of the show of support, which was released as he was in the middle of a news conference, and he insisted that no deal had been made. But even with the new Republican National Committee chair, Michael Whatley, reportedly urging her not to proceed, Greene vowed to press forward.

Now we have Hakeem Jeffries and the Democrats coming out, embracing Mike Johnson with a warm hug and a big, wet, sloppy kiss, Greene said Wednesday. Why? Because Mike Johnson is giving them everything they want. Thats a bit of an exaggeration of where Democrats are coming from. They know that the current speaker isnt a long-term ally. If anything, the decision to back Johnson now had the effect of drawing Greene into a battle she cant win.

In the short term, the play from Democrats could easily have been to let them fight, basking in the chaos among their enemies. After all, theres nothing on the legislative calendar over the summer that stands a chance of getting through both houses of Congress that demands immediate attention. Democrats could have simply chosen to be absent for any vote, leaving it to Johnson to ensure he has a majority of the GOP caucus on his side. It would embarrass Greene if her fellow MAGA die-hards rallied to support him despite his supposed betrayal, and, should she somehow succeed, three more speaker-less weeks would only bolster the message that Republicans cant be trusted to govern.

But theres more than altruism at work here from Democrats. In pledging their votes to table Greenes motion, theyve managed to free up more Republicans who want to show their displeasure with Johnson to do so without consequences. That, in turn, will highlight once more how little hed be able to get done without the minority party between now and November. That matters because government funding for this current fiscal year  which was approved only in March thanks to the GOPs chaos  runs dry in September. By keeping Johnson in place now and the appropriations process moving through the summer, Democrats will have more of a hand in preventing the kind of deep cuts that conservatives have demanded.

I can imagine that Greene and other arch-conservatives might urge Johnson to hold out on shepherding spending bills that Senate Democrats and President Joe Biden can support through the House, in the hopes of a massive GOP win in the fall. But nobody who actually cares about winning or keeping a majority wants to be the reason for a federal shutdown right before Election Day. It will most likely fall on Democrats once again to save Johnson from his own caucus in that case. If thats the case, itll be yet another addition to the debt that Greenes latest stunt has only increased  and one that Jeffries will make sure Johnson pays.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
President Joe Bidens re-election campaign has been criticized for not being responsive to the countrys estimated 36.2 million eligible Latino voters. But the campaign can take some comfort in a new Pew Research poll released last week, which showed the incumbent creeping back to the 2020 levels of Latino support that helped put him in the White House.

Pews poll showed Biden winning 52% of Latinos to Donald Trumps 44%, an increase from other national polls that had him with some of the lowest Latino support of any Democratic presidential candidate since Jimmy Carters defeat in 1980. In the 2020 election, as Pew noted with a validated voter analysis, 59% of Latino voters chose Biden, with Trump earning 38%.

Democratic dreams of Biden matching the 70% share of Latinos that Barack Obama and Bill Clinton achieved are unrealistic in 2024. He would be hard-pressed even to attain the 66%-28% advantage Hillary Clinton had over Trump in 2016. Still, closing a 7 percentage-point gap from one cycle to another this early in the campaign is quite achievable. And while Democrats have had recent challenges with outreach to Latinos, its clear that Latinos will be central to a Biden victory, especially in six key toss-up states: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, Nevada and Georgia.

There are several factors to consider as to why such a scenario is plausible.

First, the number of new Latino voters continues to increase. Pew estimates there will be roughly 36.2 million eligible Latino voters by November 2024, which is 4 million more than in 2020. The expected 2024 Latino voter turnout is currently at around 17.5 million, which means that more than half of eligible Latino voters are persuadable.

As NBC News reported this week, In the western U.S., which includes the battlegrounds of Arizona and Nevada, Latinos are nearly 4 of every 10 newly eligible voters  defined as those who have reached ages 18 or 19 since the 2022 midterms. In the South, Latinos are 24% of newly eligible voters, and in the Northeast they make up 19%.

With so much in play, local outreach and messaging will be crucial in the fight to win over new voters and possibly bring some Latino voters back into the Democratic fold, especially in states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Although these states have Latino voter shares in the single digits (anywhere from 4% to 6%), a consistent campaign presence could make enough of a difference to win a states electoral votes.

Second, Republicans have had their own troubles with Latino outreach. As first reported by The Messenger before that outlet shut down, the Republican National Committee has cut back dramatically on community centers aimed at increasing Latino voter support. Plans to revive its outreach efforts to Black and Latino voters have shuttered completely, according to The Daily Beast.

Joe Biden speaks at a campaign event in a Phoenix restaurant. (Jacquelyn Martin / AP file)

Subsequent reporting has Republicans questioning if the Trump campaigns elusive push to win more Latino and Black support is just hyperbole. A story last Friday from The Keystone, a Pennsylvania-based outlet, said that while the Biden campaign opened up 10 offices across the state, Republicans have been non-existent. With the RNCs closure of community centers, one former Allentown location is now a cash-checking store and another in Philadelphia is a child care center, the outlet reported.

In a statement to The Keystone, Jose Munoz, a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said, While Democrats are trying to meaningfully and thoughtfully engage with these voters, Republicans are only interested in a publicity stunt.

There are other indications that Democrats and Biden can still do well with Latino voters. The campaign has reportedly made peace with Spanish-language network Univision, after last years interview with Trump caused friction. The presidents interview with the network in April didnt lead to any political disaster or fallout. In addition, while the April Axios/Ipsos poll conducted in partnership with Noticias Telemundo noted that Bidens approval ratings with Latinos were at just 41%, Trumps rating came in at a dismal 32%. The same poll acknowledged that 36% of Latinos believed Democrats better represent them, compared to just 16% who felt the same way about Republicans.

The Biden camp also continues to tout its Latino outreach efforts as coming earlier than in previous cycles. It knows it needs young Latino voters too, so reports that this segment of voters is disillusioned should be taken seriously.

I think that Latino voters know how much is at stake, but there is an information gap. Our job on this campaign is to reach folks and connect the dots, said Michelle Villegas, the Biden campaign Latino engagement director, to Politico in April.

As a result, it does appear that the strategy of approaching Latino voters with swing-state resources could finally be hitting home with Democrats. As I said in a post-2020 election appearance on NPR about Latino support and political parties, [Latinos] represent different ideologies. We come from different backgrounds, different demographics, economic status  working class, you know, middle class, upper class. Its changing. Were white. Were Black. Were Indigenous. Were mixed. Figure it out. Its like  theres no longer Hispanic media. Its what it is. Its like were swing states. Thats who we are.

Its premature to conclude that Democrats have lost the partys edge with Latinos forever. Democratic-leaning Latino voters remain a key reason why states like California, New York and Illinois are consistently blue. But real work will need to happen in swing states, engaging Latinos there to provide just enough support to win.

Fortunately for Democrats, it looks like the Biden campaign finally got the message.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
Editors Note: Robert Alexander is a professor of political science and founding director of the Institute for Civics and Public Policy at Ohio Northern University. He is also the author of Representation and the Electoral College. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. Read more opinion at CNN.

The plot to overturn the results of the 2020 election by calling on fake electors to cast ballots for former President Donald Trump  with the goal of having his vice president, Mike Pence, interfere with the legitimate counting and certification of electoral votes on January 6, 2021  is coming to a head.

Robert Alexander - Ohio Northern University

Last week, Trump was named an unindicted co-conspirator in Michigans case against 16 fake electors. That same day, Trump was assumed to be Unindicted Coconspirator 1 in an indictment released by the Arizona Attorney Generals Office charging 11 GOP fake electors and seven others  believed to include Rudy Giuliani, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and former White House aide Boris Epshteyn  with conspiracy, fraud and forgery related to a plot to keep Trump in office against the will of Arizonas voters.

Six fake electors in Nevada are scheduled to stand trial in January 2025, and Trump himself is among those indicted in Georgias sweeping investigation of the fake elector plot in that state.

Unsurprisingly, Trump has been dismissive of the charges in Georgia, proclaiming his innocence and accusing prosecutors of a witch hunt. Some high-ranking Republicans, such as Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, have suggested that Democrats have done similar things in the past. History suggests otherwise.

As a scholar who has studied presidential electors and the Electoral College for two decades, I believe it is important to cut through the noise of claims such as those floated by Johnson to understand just how pernicious Trumps actions were.

In December 2020, Trumps White House senior advisor Stephen Miller said on Fox News that an alternate slate of electors in the contested states is going to vote and we are going to send those results up to Congress. At the time, the argument was that because the Trump campaigns legal challenges to the election were winding their way through the courts, it was important to cast these votes in case any of their appeals prevailed. It is true that this argument is not without some precedent.

In 1960, both Republicans and Democrats submitted slates of electors to be counted before the joint session of Congress. An initial tally of the vote had then-Vice President Richard Nixon winning Hawaii by just 141 votes, which was certified by the states acting governor on November 28, three weeks before electors were to officially cast their votes in the state capitol. In the midst of a statewide recount on December 19, members of the Electoral College across the nation were required to meet. The previously certified Republican electors met and cast their votes in the official ceremony, while Democrats met separately and signed documents purporting to be the duly and legally appointed and qualified electors.

When Hawaiis recount concluded on December 28, then-Democratic Sen. John F. Kennedy prevailed by just 115 votes. On December 30, a judge weighed in and agreed with the finding of the recount. On January 4, the governor had the electors convene and sign new certificates that he also signed and sent to the joint session of Congress.

When Congress met to count the Electoral College vote just two days later, Nixon was in a similar spot as Pence. As former President Dwight Eisenhowers vice president, it was his duty to oversee the counting of electoral votes. Although he received three sets of certificates from Hawaii, he asked for unanimous consent that the votes for Kennedy be accepted as the legitimate electoral votes from the state. Congress did so.

What happened in Hawaii in 1960 will be closely scrutinized as prosecutors target fake elector schemes. While it could be argued that the Trump campaign was simply engaging in due diligence, with some precedent for their actions, what we have learned suggests something far more disturbing.

First, unlike the Hawaii situation, evidence produced by congressional investigators suggests the plan to have alternate electors cast votes in battleground states was formed at least a month before the November election and had been fueled by Trumps years-long attacks against our electoral process. Trump advisor and conservative attorney John Eastman, who is also believed to be among those indicted in Arizona, commented on a draft proposal regarding an alternate elector plan in October 2020 and was at the Ellipse with Trump as he addressed the crowd on January 6, 2021, when Trump proclaimed that if Mike Pence does the right thing, we win the election.

Yet, in that October draft letter revealed by the House committee investigating the January 6 insurrection, Eastman indicated that he did not believe that the vice president had the authority to single-handedly judge Electoral College votes: Nowhere does it suggest that the President of the Senate gets to make the determination on his own, he wrote. Moreover, Eastman admitted as late as January 4 that the plan would violate the law, according to testimony before the committee from Pences attorney.

Second, unlike the events in Hawaii in 1960, Trump pressed members of Congress  and, most importantly, Pence  to dispute electoral votes or reject electoral votes in order to change the outcome of the election in his favor. He did this even though he was advised that Pence did not have the authority to accept or reject electoral votes on his own. In 1960, Nixon accepted the second slate of electors the Democrats submitted, stating it properly and legally portrays the facts with respect to the electors chosen by the people of Hawaii. He did so even though the slate was not submitted fully in accordance with the Electoral Count Act of 1887. Trump pressured Pence to do the opposite.

Third, and this appears to be especially relevant to the legal case against Trump, is that special counsel Jack Smiths indictment of Trump relating to January 6 states that Trump knew his claims of voter fraud were incorrect and that he privately knew he lost, but continued to publicly state he had won. If these charges are proven to be true, it would establish that Trump knowingly sought to corruptly obstruct an official proceeding and engaged in various forms of fraud. This is what transforms Trumps actions from the political to the potentially criminal.

Trumps actions and the resulting crisis led Congress to swiftly consider and pass the Electoral Count Reform Act of 2022 (ECRA)  a bipartisan bill intended to prevent future attempts to seat fake electors. Amending the 130-year-old Electoral Count Act, which it replaced, appears not to have been on the legislative radar prior to Trumps shenanigans.

Given the political nature of the allegations against Trump, a knowledge of history and context is critical in evaluating his actions, as well as those of the supporters who acted on his behalf. Thus far, Trump has faced few political consequences for his alleged efforts to strongarm his vice president and overturn the will of voters. He currently is the presumptive nominee of his party and is in a tight race with President Joe Biden. Whether Trump and his GOP enablers see legal consequences for their behavior surrounding the January 6 plot will tell us a great deal about the health of the republic.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Editors Note: Hussein Ibish is a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. His most recent book is Whats Wrong With the One-State Agenda? Why Ending the Occupation and Peace With Israel is Still the Palestinian National Goal. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. Read more CNN Opinion.

An eerie relative calm has descended on the Middle East  Gaza obviously excluded  since a highly alarming exchange of missile, rocket and drone attacks by Israel and Iran in recent weeks. Fears of an imminent regional war have subsided, with both sides suggesting that, for now at any rate, they believe they have restored deterrence strategically and bolstered national morale enough to offset criticism from hawks and hardliners.

Hussein Ibish. - Courtesy of Hussein Ibish

For the meanwhile, it appears that neither Israel nor Iran wants a direct war with each other, and both appear ready to consider the recent exchange of attacks, although not their underlying causes, resolved. It certainly helps that no one appears to have been killed in either country, and that was undoubtedly intentional, since both sides have the clear ability to inflict far more destruction and deaths in each others territories if that was what they wanted.

But that doesnt mean the confrontation is over by any means. To the contrary, just as the October 7 Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel from Gaza sparked the tensions that ultimately led to the first-ever direct Iranian attacks against Israel and Israels retaliation against Iran, the struggle between the two powers appears set to move to the next stage and, more ominously still, the next level.

All eyes on Lebanon

The clock may be ticking for Lebanon, with a possible Israeli offensive looming in the coming weeks that would cause massive destruction in both countries and devastation to the Biden administrations policy of conflict containment in the Middle East.

Israel was already threatening, and appeared to be preparing for, a major offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon later this spring or in the early summer, according to American administration and intelligence officials. Now, the recent exchange of direct military attacks with Iran might have sealed Lebanons fate, unless team Biden can restrain Israel.

Its important here to recall how the recent IsraeliIranian exchange of fire originated. On April 1, Israel struck an Iranian diplomatic facility in Damascus, killing a number of senior Iranian officials including Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi; his deputy, Gen. Haji Rahimi; and, perhaps most significantly, Brig. Gen. Hossein Amirollah, chief of staff in Syria and Lebanon for Irans expeditionary Quds Force.

The destroyed Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, on January 20, 2024. - Louai Beshara/AFP/Getty Images

The Israelis insisted that these senior commanders were directing efforts by Irans extensive network of militia groups and armed gangs in the Arab world, led by Hezbollah, in helping Hamas fend off Israel in Gaza and the group Hezbollah to prepare for the long-threatened Israeli offensive in Lebanon.

That the accusation is almost certainly correct only underscores why Tehran felt deeply wounded by the attack on its consulate in Damascus, which it considered to be on part of its own territory, given international conventions and norms regarding extraterritorial jurisdiction in diplomatic facilities in other countries.

Laying the groundwork

Washingtons overriding prime directive regarding the post-October 7 crises has been conflict containment, preventing major fighting from spreading beyond Gaza, particularly into Lebanon.

The fear is that such an expansion could easily drag in the United States and/or Iran, leading to the first regional war in modern Middle Eastern history and potential direct conflict between Washington and Tehran. There are, of course, numerous hardliners in Israel, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who have long sought US strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities and who might be tempted to escalate simply in hopes of finally realizing that perennially frustrated aspiration.

But that wouldnt be the main reason for an Israeli offensive in Lebanon, which wouldnt guarantee any such eventuality. Instead, October 7 led many Israeli hardliners into a new and much more uncompromising attitude towards national security, especially regarding Iranian-sponsored groups directly on Israels borders.

As early as a few days after October 7, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was pressing for a major preemptive strike against Hezbollah because the Lebanese militia constitutes Israels most potent immediate threat. The Biden administration made American opposition crystal clear, at least postponing any such operation.

As Israels forces moved south through Gaza, obliterating Hamas brigades with relative ease, its thinking relatively quickly turned north again. Hezbollahs major threat against Israel is its massive arsenal of over 150,000 missiles and rockets, many with precision guidance, that are capable of striking anywhere in Israel and possibly overwhelming Iron Dome and other Israeli antimissile defense systems.

Acting on its post-October 7 sensitivity to border-area threats  including Hezbollah rocket attacks that have persisted since then  Israel evacuated about 80,000 citizens from its northern communities (a similar number of Lebanese relocated themselves from southern towns and villages), and the government began insisting that they could not return to their homes in safety and security unless Hezbollahs elite Radwan force commandos were permanently relocated approximately 18 miles north of the border area.

Kafr Kila is a southern Lebanon town that is  for the most part  deserted and one that has born the brunt of Israeli airstrikes in a series of back and forth exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah. - Charbel Mallo/CNN

However, the Radwan force, in my assessment, does not appear to be prepared for or capable of launching a meaningful, large-scale ground invasion of northern Israel, regardless of what Hezbollah says about the force. While its understandable for Israel to be concerned about the potential for a dangerous incursion by Radwan, the main purpose of the force is to justify Hezbollahs maintenance of its private army  and therefore its own foreign policy  by claiming it is defending southern Lebanon and the border area from Israel. Therefore, we should be skeptical about Israels motivations.

Even though Hezbollah has made it clear in both word and deed since October 7 that, with Irans backing, it does not want a broader war with Israel under current circumstances, despite ongoing tit-for-tat attacks, the Lebanese group would not simply capitulate to a major concession of withdrawing its elite fighters from the southern regions in which the group was formed and that are its heartland.

Israels war hawks real target in Lebanon is Hezbollahs missile, rocket and drone arsenal, which it would hope to damage and degrade while inflicting a humiliating blow against its most potent immediate foe.

Israeli leaders would also undoubtedly hope that another potential war in Lebanon would finally provide Israelis with a major victory, the win that has never been available in Gaza under any scenario. Hezbollah is much more of a conventional force than Hamas. Damage to its military and other capabilities would be readily quantifiable and, if the cost were tolerable, likely warmly applauded in Israel  and the country would not face the problem of any prolonged reoccupation of additional Arab territory.

In the process, Irans regional trump card would be severely degraded, Israeli leaders would hope. However, each time Israel has engaged Hezbollah anew, it has found the groups capabilities far exceed its expectations, and Israelis may come to regret another avoidable adventure in Lebanon.

Bidens worst nightmare

For the Biden administration, however, this scenario is a nightmare. One of the main purposes of the bear-hug of support from Washington to Israel in Gaza was to position the US to restrain friends as well as contain foes in the battle to prevent a catastrophic regional conflict.

After the recent exchange of bombardments with Iran, it may be down to the administration and even President Joe Biden personally to restrain the Israelis from moving forward with the threatened major offensive in Lebanon.

If this happens, a primary US goal regarding the Gaza war  conflict containment  would be shattered not by Washingtons adversaries, but ironically by its closest regional partner.

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In an age when a presidential candidate sells Bibles and members of Congress endorse Christian nationalism, it begs the question: What should be the relationship between religion and government? How should politicians bring their faith into their governmental positions? Is there a place for faith in governance? If so, what is it?

When I taught classes on the First Amendment, students often would tell me they knew that the Constitution stated that the United States was one nation under God. Or they would insist the Pledge of Allegiance was in the Constitution. Some would assert that the Constitution guaranteed that our nation was based on Christianity.

The Constitution does not say any of that. There is only one reference to religion in the original Constitution. That is the provision that no religious test can be used for federal office, meaning that no one can be denied a governmental office because of their religious views or affiliation. The only other reference is the First Amendment prohibition on an established religion (in other words, a state-sponsored religion) and a guarantee of the free exercise of religion. (Latter-day Saint history shows that religious freedom guarantee was not easy to enforce when a mob was raging.)

Why did the Framers of the Constitution say so little about religion in the nations primary founding document? It is not because the Framers were nonbelievers. Their writings and speeches suggest they believed in God, although in differing ways. Many attended church services. The vast majority were Protestants. So, why didnt they use the power they had in writing the Constitution to give their own religious views preference in the new nation?

Generally, they considered religion to be a matter for the states and not the federal government. However, there was support as well for the notion that faith was a personal matter and that government should not be used for imposing religious beliefs or practices. The Framers views on religion were shaped by European governments treatment of people who did not subscribe to the established church, whether it was Catholicism in France or Spain, Lutheranism in parts of Germany, or Anglicanism in England. They remembered that the United States, as English colonies, were settled by pilgrims leaving Europe because they were persecuted there.

Early American leaders did not want to repeat the mistakes of the nations from which their ancestors fled. James Madison, the primary author of the Constitution, wrote that: The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe in blood for centuries.

Even though most were personally religious, they did not want religion to play any formal role in government. They wanted to be careful not to allow any religion to harness political power to further their cause. Thomas Jefferson expressed this view succinctly that government should not be used to support religion when he stated: It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are 20 gods, or no God. Answering complaints that Christ was not mentioned in the Constitution, George Washington responded that the path of true piety is so plain as to require but little political direction.

Today, we have politicians who reject the Framers position that, although a politician may be personally faithful to a particular religious view, they should not use their political power to support a particular religious view or affiliation. They claim the United States should be a Christian nation and that government can be used to support Christian values. Some believe the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of religion applies only to Christians.

Politicians need not sublimate their faith while acting in their official duties. However, they also should not seek to use their power to impose religious beliefs or practices on others. There is a danger that the United States could turn back to those European nations where varying religious beliefs were not respected. Then, the Framers work in creating a nation where religious pluralism is cherished would be undone.

Richard Davis is the author of Faith and Politics (Deseret Book and the BYU Religious Studies Center, 2024).
Observers have documented multiple animal species using plants for self-medicinal purposes, such as great apes eating plants that treat parasitic infections or rubbing vegetation on sore muscles . But a wild orangutan recently displayed something never observed beforehe treated his own open wound by activating a plants medical properties using his own spit. As detailed in a study published May 2 in Scientific Reports , evolutionary biologists believe the behavior could point toward a common ancestor shared with humans.

The discovery occurred within a protected Indonesian rainforest at the Suaq Balimbing research site. This region, currently home to roughly 150 critically endangered Sumatran orangutans, is utilized by an international team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior to monitor the apes behavior and wellbeing . During their daily observations, cognitive and evolutionary biologists noticed a sizable injury on the face of one of the local males named Rakus. Such wounds are unsurprising among the primates, since they frequently spar with one anotherbut then Rakus did something three days later that the team didnt expect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_Sb4xwaDOA\u0026ab_channel=IsabelleLaumer,PhD

After picking leaves off of a native plant known as an Akar Kuning (Fibraurea tinctoria), well-known for its anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, and antioxidant properties, as well as its use in traditional malaria medicines, Rakus began to chew the plant into a paste. He then rubbed it directly on his facial injury for several minutes before covering it entirely with the mixture. Over the next few days, researchers noted the self-applied natural bandage kept the wound from showing signs of infection or exacerbation. Within five days, the injury scabbed over before healing entirely.

Such striking behavior raises a number of questions, particularly how Rakus first learned to treat his face using the plant. According to study senior author Caroline Schuppli, one possibility is that it simply comes down to individual innovation.

Orangutans at [Suaq] rarely eat the plant, she said in an announcement . However, individuals may accidentally touch their wounds while feeding on this plant and thus unintentionally apply the plants juice to their wounds. As Fibraurea tinctoria has potent analgesic effects, individuals may feel an immediate pain release, causing them to repeat the behavior several times.

[Related: Gorillas like to scramble their brains by spinning around really fast .]

If this were the case, it could be that Rakus is one of the few orangutans to have discovered the benefits of Fibraurea tinctoria. At the same time, adult orangutan males never live where they were bornthey migrate sizable distances either during or after puberty to establish new homes. So its also possible Rakus may have learned this behavior from his relatives, but given observers dont know where he is originally from, its difficult to follow up on that theory just yet.

Still, Schuppli says other active wound treatment methods have been noted in other African and Asian great apes, even when they arent used to disinfect or help heal an open wound. Knowing that, it is possible that there exists a common underlying mechanism for the recognition and application of substances with medical or functional properties to wounds and that our last common ancestor already showed similar forms of ointment behavior.

Given how much humans already have in common with their great ape relatives, its easy to see how this could be a likely explanation. But regardless of how Rakus knew how to utilize the medicinal plant, if he ever ends up scrapping with another male orangutan again, hell at least know how to fix himself up afterwards.
Orders worth over US$75,000 destroyed: Nova Poshta delivery company reveals aftermath of Russian strike on sorting depot

The aftermath of the Russian strike on the sorting depot. Photo: Nova Poshta

A total of 15.5 tonnes of orders worth almost UAH 3 million (roughly US$75,800) have been destroyed in the Russian strike on the Ukrainian private logistics company Nova Poshta sorting depot and office in the city of Odesa.

Source: press service of Nova Poshta

Details: "The depot and the office had 904 packages worth almost UAH 3 million," the statement said.

The aftermath of the Russian strike on the sorting depot. Photo: Nova Poshta

A Russian missile destroyed 15.5 tonnes of orders from online stores containing clothes, appliances, children's toys, pet treats, medicines and parcels.

Background:

No employees were injured in the Russian attack on the sorting depot and the Nova Poshta office in Odesa, and the company will compensate customers for the estimated value of their parcels.

On the evening of 1 May, Russian forces attacked Odesa with ballistic missiles, leaving 13 people injured.

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PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  The Oregon Court of Appeals has upheld Washington Countys total ban against flavored tobacco and nicotine.

The appeals court issued its decision on Wednesday morning, stating the countys ordinance doesnt conflict with state laws.

Oregonians over 60 lost more than $44 million to internet scams in 2023

Flavored tobacco and nicotine products and sales were first prohibited in November 2021, with a 3-2 vote from the countys board of commissioners.

At the time, Gwyn Ashcom  tobacco prevention specialist for the public health department  told KOIN 6 the county had made progress in preventing combustible tobacco use among the youth, but the emergence of vapes caused an increase of over 10% in just a few years.

Washington County Ordinance 878 initially went into effect in December 2021, and officials were expected to enforce the total ban the following month.

In enacting the ordinance, Washington County had joined nearly 350 localities nationally and five states that have passed flavor bans in an attempt to prevent teens and young people from getting addicted to nicotine by starting with vape flavors like bubble-gum, strawberry and tropical fruit fusion, County Spokesperson Philip Bransford said in a statement.

Although it is already illegal in Oregon to sell such products to youth, Ordinance 878 would remove the supply of flavored tobacco in the community altogether, reducing illegal sales and health risks to youth and adults alike, he added.

Gov. Kotek scraps plan to expand role of First Spouse after ongoing criticism

But in January 2022, the county announced that residents gathered enough signatures to put the ban on hold and add it to the next ballot.

In the following primary election, the ordinance was passed once again with support from 75% of voters. Officials then issued an injunction against the ban later that summer, months after tobacco businesses that were affected by it took legal action against Washington County.

The following September, Circuit Court Judge Andrew Erwin ruled in favor of the businesses, stating the county doesnt have authority over the state to prohibit flavored tobacco sales.

Tony Aiello Jr., who represented the 21+ Tobacco and Vapor Retail Association of Oregon in the case, is the lawyer who challenged Judge Erwins decision.

In response to the appeals courts recent decision to uphold Washington Countys total ban, the lawyer said he and his clients are disappointed and plan to take their case to the Oregon Supreme Court.

Gach Viet Tea House in Portland a love letter to design

We read the Court of Appeals decision to conflict with itself in several places and are optimistic that the Oregon Supreme Court will reach a different conclusion if our case is granted review, Aiello wrote in a statement.

He also said Oregons vaping retailers association will work alongside state and local governments to pursue policies that decrease the youths access to the products.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
YANGON, May 2 (Xinhua) -- One fatality and damage to at least 10 houses caused by strong winds were reported in western Myanmar's Sagaing Region, an official from the Monywa Rescue Organization said Thursday.

The incidents occurred on Wednesday afternoon in the Region's Monywa Township.

"As a result of this tragic incident, a 12-year-old boy died after a fallen tree branch struck him at his home. The boy died upon reaching the hospital," the official told Xinhua.

In addition, at least 10 houses were damaged, with the exact number still being determined as clearing activities continue, the official added.

"We are currently clearing fallen trees that have landed on houses, as well as removing fallen lampposts blocking roads due to the strong winds," he said.

Strong winds affected several townships in Sagaing Region, with Monywa being the worst hit, he said.

Seven townships in Sagaing Region were affected by strong winds, which caused casualties and damage to at least 300 houses, a local media report said. 
Representative Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, introduces an amendment to a bill that would ban abortions after six weeks at the South Carolina State House on Tuesday, May 16, 2023. Democrats have introduced hundreds of amendments to the bill.

As the fate of a contentious energy bill remains uncertain in the South Carolina Senate, the House used an obscure rule to revive and bolster the measure at the potential expense of suicide prevention.

In response to the Senates hesitation to debate the South Carolina Energy Security Act  H. 5118, state Rep. Bill Sandifer, R-Seneca, used a little known rule Wednesday to attach the energy bill to a Senate suicide prevention measure, S. 408. The maneuver ignited outrage by several Democrats who appeared shocked by the tactic, insisting that their colleagues not play politics with the lives of people struggle with suicide ideations. Still, the House voted 62-48 to adopt the amendment, and is poised to send the bill back to the Senate with the entirety of the House energy bill attached.

Effectively, the Senate will now be forced to reach a compromise on H. 5118 or reject a bill aimed at curbing suicide in the state.

The Senate has refused to take up (H.) 5118, and in continuing to do that, the only way I can get their attention is to take one of the bills that they sent to us and attach 5118, and I actually attached it to four of them, Sandifer told The State.

In addition to the suicide prevention bill, Sandifer, in his role as chairman of the House Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee, attached the energy bill that would greenlight Santee Cooper and Dominion building a natural gas plant at Canadys to bills relating to cancer coverage on firefighters insurance, fighting financial crimes and the duties of organizations that assist independent pharmacies.

I resent the action of this chamber in taking a bill as serious as suicide prevention and tagging on this (energy) legislation, said state Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg. Its a disservice to families who have been crushed by people who commit suicide.

As a social worker, who regularly deals with issues that bring people to the brink of suicide, Cobb-Hunter called the move personally offensive.

In having  the unmitigated gall to add (H. 5118) to (S. 408), you ought to be ashamed, she said.

The latest available data counted 823 suicides in South Carolina in 2021, according to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. Suicide rates have increased by 9.8% over the past 10 years, and is the 12th leading cause of death in the state.

Legislators appeared stunned at how Sandifer was able to amend the suicide bill with a completely unrelated measure.

This amendment is out of order because suicide prevention has absolutely noting to do with renewable energy or anything Sandier is speaking about, said state Rep. Chris Hart, D-Richland.

But Sandifer and House Speaker Pro Tempore Tommy Pope, R-York, cited House rule 4.7B as justification for the amendment. The little-used rule allows any bill the House has passed to be amended onto any legislation passed by the Senate in the House committee process.

It transcends germaneness and is a teachable moment for all of us, Pope said.

Hart, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who severed in Iraq, said Sandifers move was slap in the face to veterans suffering from severe injuries, and who may be contemplating suicide.

Ive seen soldiers with absolutely no rear-end, blown off, gone, but still alive, suffering, Hart said. Ive seen soldiers with their whole complete right side of their bodies gone, sill alive, suffering. Thats real. This what were doing now is politics. Youre playing politics with the lives of people who suffer every single day.

Sandifer said his decision to attach the House energy bill to S. 408 had nothing to do with impeding suicide prevention in South Carolina or to slight veterans.

Im using those bills regardless of what they are, as vehicles, he said. And they are vehicles because the rules allow me to do that, provided that those bills come through the committee that I chair. My committee adopted those amendments unanimously.

Following concerns voiced last month by Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, the Upper Chamber stalled H. 5118.

Sandifer finds that unacceptable.

H. 5118 is one of the most critical bills that we will see in a generation probably, and its imperative that we pass it, Sandifer said. The Senate is dragging their feet, and that doesnt satisfy me. So, Im gonna do everything I can to expedite it.

State Rep. Brandon Guffey, R-York, who lost his son to suicide in 2022 after he was sexually extorted, urged his colleagues to support the suicide prevention legislation.

As a parent that has lost a child to suicide, this pains me, Guffey said. But we are now at a point that if we want to have the chance for suicide prevention in is this bill, we must pass it, theres not another option.

Another Democrat told his colleagues that he, himself, contemplated suicide as a child, and was likewise personally offended by Sandifers tactic.

Individuals, like myself, have dealt with suicide ideations from the young age of seven years old, state Rep. Jermaine Johnson, D-Richland, said. When youre a young kid and youre dealing with food insecurities, and youre homeless, living in different motels, I (was) thinking about taking my own life. At seven years old, I grabbed knives and took medications because I didnt think life was valuable enough.
Facebook is a hotbed for conspiracy theories and dangerous organizing at critical moments, like the 650,000-plus posts arguing against President Biden's victory between the 2020 general election and the January 6 insurrection. Some users scattered following the latter and subsequent prosecutions, but a new report first published by Wired shows a resurgence, identifying about 200 groups and profiles across the platform organizing militia activity nationwide.

The research, conducted by the Tech Transparency Project, found these groups have ties to organizations such as the Three Percenters militia network, dubbed by Meta as an "armed militia group" in its 2021 Dangerous Individuals and Organizations List. Yet, groups such as the Free American Army have urged users to join their local militia or the Three Percenters without consequence (Meta took down the Free American Army group only after Wired enquired about it, calling Facebook an "adversarial space" that requires regular investment to stay safe).

Katie Paul, director of the Tech Transparency Project, has watched hundreds of these groups and people since 2021 and has seen an increased seriousness and focus on organizing over the previous year. "Many of these groups are no longer fractured sets of localized militia but coalitions formed between multiple militia groups, many with Three Percenters at the helm," Paul told Wired. "Facebook remains the largest gathering place for extremists and militia movements to cast a wide net and funnel users to more private chats, including on the platform, where they can plan and coordinate with impunity."

The Tech Transparency Project found users seek out "active patriots" to discuss anti-government ideology, attend meetings and take combat training. The latter lends itself to a common theme: being prepared for standing up against or even going to war against enemies such as drag queens, pro-Palestine college students and the government itself.

Take a recent post by the administrator of a group called the Pennsylvania Light Foot, which has over 1,000 members: "In light of the violence and uncertainty in the world, Covid 19 shortages, civil unrest, and potential for terrorist attacks and natural calamity, we exist to equip our members. Our aim is to equip them with the ability to defend themselves, whether it be a mugger on the street or foreign soldier on our lawn." These sentiments are echoed by other extremist organizers across Facebook.

Meta has attempted to at least create a facade of action and transparency. In 2019, it launched the Oversight Board as an independent reviewer of its content moderation. While the entity has pointed to Facebook's role in dangerous election rhetoric, including incidents outside the United States, critics argue it hasn't been impactful enough. Now, The Washington Post reports that layoffs at the Oversight Board could be imminent.

On August 14, Meta will shutter CrowdTangle, a tool it bought in 2016 that allowed journalists and academics to see how conspiracy theories and false information moved on Facebook and its sister site Instagram  often showcasing the platforms' shortcomings. The company is replacing it with the Meta Content Library, which not only appears to be less detailed but isn't available to for-profit news organizations.
Over 600 UT Austin faculty sign letter of no-confidence in President Hartzell

AUSTIN (KXAN)  Hundreds of University of Texas at Austin faculty signed a letter saying they no longer have confidence in President Jay Hartzell, following a series of pro-Palestinian protests on campus over the last week.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: UT students, faculty demand university president resign after protest response

The UT Austin chapter of the American Association of University Professors was behind the letter, which was signed by more than 620 UT faculty members.

What did the letter say?

The letter states, President [Hartzell] has shown himself to be unresponsive to urgent faculty, staff, and student concerns. He has violated our trust.

The letter said Hartzell put people in danger by bringing state troopers to forcibly disperse students gathering for a peaceful teach-in.

The AAUP said it sent the letter to both Hartzell and the UT Faculty Council on Monday.

The letter demanded the following:

Criminal charges be dropped against students and others

Students not face disciplinary action at UT for the protest

The university respects the First Amendment free speech rights of students and faculty

Hartzells explanation

In a statement released following the protest on April 24, Hartzell said, The protesters tried to deliver on their stated intent to occupy campus. People not affiliated with UT joined them, and many ignored University officials continual pleas for restraint and to immediately disperse.

Hartzell said the university was prepared, with the necessary support to maintain campus operations and ensure the safety, well-being and learning environment for our more than 50,000 students.

In a university statement following Mondays protest, UT said 45 of the 79 people arrested on campus were not affiliated with the university.

Law enforcement arrives at UT Austin campus as pro-Palestine protesters gather Monday, April 29, 2024 (KXAN Photo/Taryn Jones)

Law enforcement arrives at UT Austin campus as pro-Palestine protesters gather Monday, April 29, 2024 (KXAN Photo/Taryn Jones)

Law enforcement arrives at UT Austin campus as pro-Palestine protesters gather Monday, April 29, 2024 (KXAN Photo/Taryn Jones)

Law enforcement arrives at UT Austin campus as pro-Palestine protesters gather Monday, April 29, 2024 (KXAN Photo/Taryn Jones)

Law enforcement respond to pro-Palestine protest on UT campus Monday, April 29, 2024. (KXAN Photo/Andy Way)

Additionally, the university said guns, buckets of large rocks and bricks were confiscated during Mondays protest.

What is the impact of a no-confidence vote?

Texas State University Political Science Professor William DeSoto said no-confidence votes dont carry any legal or official power to remove officials.

The appointments of university administrators are done by the Board of Regents, DeSoto said. The board of regents are appointed by the governor, and so they must make decisions about campus administrators.

However, studies show they can lead to change.

Ive no doubt that its very uncomfortable for a president to get these kinds of statements. William DeSoto, Texas State Political Science Professor

The Chronicle of Higher Education looked at more than 230 no-confidence votes dating back to 1989. They found that a little more than half of presidents ended up leaving office within a year.

Ultimately, DeSoto said it speaks to the relationship between faculty and the president.

This relationship is really important, DeSoto said. When the relationship is broken, I think this is damaging.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
The message from the highest court in the state of New York was clear last week: No matter who they are or how unpopular they might be, defendants are entitled to a fair trial.

It was the central point in a decision handed by the New York State Court of Appeals overturning Harvey Weinsteins 2020 rape conviction. The 4-3 ruling concluded that the Weinstein jury was potentially prejudiced against the defendant because the judge allowed women to testify about allegations that were not part of the case, purportedly to prove Weinsteins intent.

It is our solemn duty to diligently guard these rights regardless of the crime charged, the reputation of the accused, or the pressure to convict, the majority declared.

The appeals court decision centered on two key rulings by the Weinstein court trial judge that it found problematic: his Molineaux ruling admitting testimony from three other accusers, and his Sandoval ruling permitting prosecutors to ask Weinstein about a host of loathsome but irrelevant misconduct if the defendant chose to testify.

Some legal observers believe the Weinstein decision could prove relevant as the hush money trial against former President Donald Trump unfolds in Manhattan. Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the trial and making day-by-day decisions about what evidence is allowed in court, is bound to the same guidelines as the Weinstein trial judge.

If I were representing Trump, I would have been in court that very morning waving this decision in front of the judges face saying that he needs to reconsider his Molineux and Sandoval ruling, attorney Douglas Wigdor, who has represented numerous Weinstein accusers, including a Molineux witness who testified during the 2020 trial, told CNN. I would be seeking a mistrial at this point  theyve already let in the evidence that the judge had relied on.

Although prior bad act witnesses like the three who testified in the Weinstein trial are not completely uncommon, the appeals court ruled they were used to infer guilt, which is not allowed.

Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records related to hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels. He has pleaded not guilty.

Its not clear yet whether prosecutors will call Karen McDougal to testify, but her testimony could be an issue because Trumps alleged sexual relationship with McDougal, and the hush money payment she received, is not part of the charges. (Trump has denied having an affair with her and Daniels.)

In March, Merchan ruled that McDougals testimony about the hush money payment can be introduced, but he prohibited the parties from exploring the underlying details of what allegedly transpired between her and Trump.

Stephen Gillers, professor of law at New York University, said the Weinstein ruling will certainly be important to Merchan.

This will be the most significant case he ever tries. He does not want to risk reversal in the event of conviction, Gillers said.

It shows the evidentiary rulings on the part of the trial judge  which seem to go very quickly and sometimes end up being in the rear-view mirror  can actually end up being very significant, said Deborah Tuerkheimer, a former Manhattan prosecutor and current law professor at Northwestern University.

Judge Madeline Singas dissented from the Weinstein appeals court ruling, saying the information was needed for the jury to consider.

This conclusion deprives juries of the context necessary to do their work, forecloses the prosecution from using an essential tool to prove intent, ignores the nuances of how sexual violence is perpetrated and perceived, and demonstrates the majoritys utter lack of understanding of the dynamics of sexual assault, Singas wrote. Because New Yorks women deserve better, I dissent.

Prosecutors said Wednesday they intend to re-try Weinstein later this year.

Why Sandoval is so important

The ruling on what happens if Trump takes the stand may be the most relevant, as the former president has claimed he would like to testify.

The appeals court slammed the Weinstein judges Sandoval ruling, which would have allowed the prosecution to bring up certain bad acts had Weinstein taken the stand, as breathtakingly inclusive of behavior that was loathsome but not the type of conduct that would assist the jury in measuring his credibility on the stand.

The routine legal process is specific to New York and allows the court to determine whether past wrongdoing can be brought up in the trial of a defendant and what prosecutors are allowed to ask if a defendant takes the stand. The hearing takes its name from the 1974 murder case against Augustin Sandoval, whose lawyer wanted to prohibit mention of his clients past crimes saying it would prejudice the jury. The judge ultimately put restrictions on what prosecutors could bring up when trying Sandoval.

Merchan issued his decision on the Sandoval hearing outlining the specifics of what prosecutors are allowed to cross examine Trump if he takes the stand. According to the ruling, prosecutors will be able to ask Trump about the civil court case that concluded he and others committed yearslong financial fraud; Trumps violations of a gag order in the same case; and Trumps loss in a civil defamation case brought by E. Jean Carroll.

[Merchan] said he would allow cross on the gag order violations, which may have been an imprudent decision. Trump will argue he wanted to testify but the overbroad Sandoval decision impeded his constitutional right to testify, Gillers said.

But Merchan ruled that prosecutors cannot ask him about two other proceedings.

Tuerkheimer said she believed Merchans ruling appeared to be fairly narrow and that the judge was careful to explain what particular acts the prosecution is allowed to question Trump on. In essence, she said, Merchan showed hes focused on evidence that is much closer to the criminal allegations Trump is facing.

The kinds of bad acts or misconduct at issue are different in Weinstein and Trump, and in Trumps prosecution you dont have the same parade of witnesses, Tuerkheimer added.

Weinstein wanted to testify, lawyer says

Attorney Arthur Aidala, who represented Weinstein in his conviction appeal, told CNN that Trump now faces the same dilemma Weinstein did during his trial.

Aidala said the witnesses and evidence that were allowed in the Weinstein case played a central role in Weinsteins ultimate decision not to testify.

No one in their right mind would testify based on the ruling of what prior bad acts he could cross examine on, Aidala told reporters during a press conference hours after the decision was first announced. Harvey will, under this new ruling, be able to take the stand, will be able to tell his side of the story.

Although Weinstein wanted to take the stand, Aidala said the decision over what he could be questioned on during cross examination forced him to stay off the stand.

The decision in the Weinstein case could offer clues about what a potential appeal might look like should Trump be convicted.

Gillers said the Weinstein decision is not just weighing on the judges mind. It has potentially given the prosecution a map of what pitfalls to avoid as they wait for a chance to cross examine Trump.

The smartest move for the People now is to agree not to introduce any prior bad act evidence if Trump testifies  call his bluff. He wont testify, but he also wont have a Sandoval argument on appeal.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  An owner of a Las Cruces daycare was recently arrested for allegedly sexually abusing a child, according to court documents obtained by KTSM.

According to court documents, the New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department investigated allegations of sexual abuse at Cardiel Childhood Services, located at 5532 Century Lane in Las Cruces.

After the investigation, the license for the daycare facility was suspended which was owned by Lorena Cardiel and Juan Cardiel, 78 who was listed as the secondary care provider, according to the affidavit.

Court documents say Juan Cardiel was responsible for assisting Lorena Cardiel when there were more than six children present at the daycare.

Cardiel was arrested and charged with four counts of criminal sexual contact with an unclothed child which reportedly happened at the daycare from Jan. 1 through April 16 of this year, according to court documents.

The victim told a forensics interviewer that she was four-years-old when the alleged incidents happened, according to court documents.

The victim said she knew Cardiel and was greeted by him inappropriately by kissing her when she arrived at the daycare, according to court documents.

The victim also stated Cardiel showed her inappropriate pictures and videos of obscene material, according to court documents.

Court documents say there were at least three incidents when Cardial inappropriately touched the victim under her clothing at the daycare.

The victim also stated that Cardiel exposed himself to her and had her touch him inappropriately, according to court documents.

Cardiel was arrested by the Las Cruces Police Department on Wednesday, May 1, and was booked into the Dona Ana County Detention Center with no bond.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
At the Royal azienki Museum, a package arrived from Canada.

The sender was unknown, and the box was accompanied by a letter.

When the package was opened, the museum curators were shocked by what was inside.

One dozen preserved tiles  missing since World War II  were packed neatly in the box.

One dozen original ceramic tiles, made around 1690, were found inside the package, museum officials said.

The Royal azienki Museum sits on the site of Ujazdow, an expansive estate turned private residence for the last king of Poland, according to the museum.

The property was purchased by Stanisaw Herakliusz Lubomirski in 1674, and on a small island Lubomirski decided to build a small bathing pavilion, the museum said.

Inside the bathhouse, walls of Dutch ceramic tile were installed to protect the building walls from moisture and to establish a certain level of financial status, according to an April 30 news release from the Ministerstwo Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyzszego, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education in Poland.

The tiles were produced in the Netherlands sometime between 1690 and the 1700s, officials said, mimicking the French Versaille style started by the royal court.

When King Stanisaw August, who ruled from 1764 to 1795 as the last king of independent Poland, later took over the property, he fell in love with the Baroque style of the baths and expanded the buildings into his private home, according to the release.

For centuries, the blue and white tiles decorated with trees and shepherds watched over the happenings in the home as time moved forward.

Then, disaster struck.

The tiles, which depict trees and shepherds, were lost during WWII after a fire at the residence, officials said.

In 1944, as World War II raged on and Poland was under Nazi occupation, a fire broke out at what is now called the Palace on the Isle, and much of the property was damaged, according to the release.

The tiles likely survived the flames, museum officials said, but were distributed, stolen and lost to time. The tiles were reconstructed inside the property, but the originals were so special they rarely turned up in art auctions or on the antique market, according to officials.

Now, 12 of the original tiles arrived literally at their doorstep.

Museum officials said the recovered tiles are extremely valuable, not only to the museum but to the history of Poland.

It is unknown how the tiles arrived in Canada, who they belonged to or what prompted their mysterious return to the baths of Poland.

The tiles are now on display in the museum until Sept. 1 in the Bacchus Room in the Palace on the Isle, museum officials said.

Google Translate was used to translate the news releases from the Ministerstwo Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyzszego and the Royal azienki Museum.

Metal detectorist spots green object  and finds rare 400-year-old artifact. See it

Workers unearth steelworks at medieval castle in UK  and find someones hidey-hole

Ancient walls  that served as Google Maps for the Mayans  discovered in Mexico

Metal detectorist stumbles on centuries-old artifact  once banned by tsar  in Poland
The fossil shark Ptychodus was first identified 190 years ago, but in the intervening centuries of paleontological inquiry, a comprehensive look at the ancient fish has been hard to come by. Until now. In a paper published last week in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, a team of researchers describe an exceptionally well-preserved Ptychodus, fossilized from its nose to the tip of its tail.



In their research, the paleontologists analyzed six near-complete Ptychodus specimens excavated from Vallecillo, Mexico, over the last decade. The specimens reveal the sharks skeletal components as well as their preserved body outlines. The team used the fossils to determine new information about the sharks anatomy and their place in the shark family tree.

This new study provides crucial information on the affinities [evolutionary relations] and the paleoecology of Ptychodus, said Romain Vullo, a paleontologist at the University of Rennes in France and lead author of the paper, in an email to Gizmodo. So far, this Cretaceous shark was only known from isolated teeth, dentitions [sets of teeth], and a few skeletal elements such as vertebrae.

An artists impression of Ptychodus as a shell-chomping mackerel shark. - Photo: F. Spindler

The complete specimens from Mexico reveal that Ptychodus was a fast-swimming open water shark (similar in shape to the living porbeagle), which likely used its grinding dentition to feed mostly on ammonites and sea turtles, Vullo added.

In 2021, Vullo was the lead author on a paper describing Aquilolamna milarcae, a bizarre-looking Cretaceous era lamniform shark that was excavated from the same sweep of eastern Mexico. In the recent paper, the team also classified Ptychodus as a lamniforma mackerel sharkand posit that the animals extinction may have occurred due to competition with mosasaurs, an extinct group of giant marine reptiles.

But the reality may be more complicated, as Tyler Greenfield, a paleontologist at the University of Wyoming, explained to Gizmodo. Instead of being a mackerel shark, Greenfield suggests Ptychodus belongs to an entirely different category.

Sharks of the order Lamniformes have specific patterns of the sizes and shapes of the teeth, the hollow sections in the jaws that hold the rows of teeth, and the cartilage structures inside the vertebrae that Ptychodus does not have, Greenfield, who is not affiliated with the new paper, wrote in an email. Those features were overlooked by the authors of the new paper and they instead used certain characteristics of the cranium and jaws, which are not unique to lamniforms, to classify Ptychodus.

Greenfield added that, based on similarities between Ptychodus and both Squalicorax and Ptychocorax (two other species of ancient shark), the shark family including Ptychodus and the one including the latter two species ought to be placed in a separate order, Anacoraciformes, or crow sharks.

Anacoraciformes was named by other authors before me, but it has not been used as valid since then nor has it included ptychodontids until now, Greenfield said, adding that the teeth built for crushing shelled prey would likely have evolved outside of Lamniformes. Overall, my hypothesis seeks to build a more accurate picture of the relationships and diversity of prehistoric sharks, Greenfield said.

One might assume that such immaculately preserved fossils would settle aspects of the sharks phylogeny, not complicate it. But regardless of how the dust settles regarding Ptychodus classification, it is refreshingand indeed, incredibly fortunatethat paleontologists have such well-preserved specimens to use in making their determinations.

More: Two Bull Sharks Swam Up the Mississippi River All the Way to St. Louis

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Palestinian Ambassador to Egypt Diab al-Louh speaks during an interview with Reuters at the Palestine embassy in Cairo

Palestinian Ambassador to Egypt Diab al-Louh speaks during an interview with Reuters at the Palestine embassy in Cairo

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Aidan Lewis

CAIRO (Reuters) - The Palestinian Embassy in Egypt is seeking temporary residency permits for tens of thousands of people who have arrived from Gaza during the war between Israel and Hamas, which it says would ease conditions for them until the conflict is over.

Diab al-Louh, the Palestinian ambassador in Cairo, said as many as 100,000 Gazans had crossed into Egypt, where they lack the papers to enrol their children in schools, open businesses or bank accounts, travel, or access health insurance - though some have found ways to make a living.

Louh stressed that residency permits would only be for legal and humanitarian purposes, adding that those who arrived since the war began on Oct. 7 had no plans to settle in Egypt.

"We are talking about a category (of people) in an exceptional situation. We asked the state to give them temporary residencies that can be renewed until the crisis in Gaza is over," Louh told Reuters in an interview.

"We have confidence that our Egyptian brothers will understand this. They have already provided a lot," he said. "But ... this is an issue of sovereignty being discussed at the highest level."

Egypt's State Information Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Egypt has been vocal in its opposition to any mass displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, framing this as part of wider Arab rejection of any repeat of the "Nakba", or "catastrophe", when some 700,000 Palestinians fled or were forced from their homes in the war surrounding Israel's creation in 1948. Palestinian leaders also reject settlement of their people in foreign countries.

During the current war, the Rafah Crossing on the 13-km (8-mile) border between Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and Gaza has been an entry point for aid deliveries, and has also remained largely open for passenger traffic.

But departures from Gaza, already strictly controlled before the war, have been limited to medical evacuees, foreigners and dual nationals, and Palestinians who pay fees to a company called Hala owned by a prominent Sinai businessman.

'THINGS ARE TOUGH'

Those leaving also need security clearance from Israel and Egypt, which together have upheld a blockade on the enclave since Hamas took power there in 2007.

"We are speaking of 100,000 who are looking forward to the day they can come back to Gaza ... maybe once a truce is reached or the war is ended," said Louh, a Palestinian Authority official who is himself from Gaza.

"But until this happens, people need to correct their legal status."

The embassy had already helped facilitate passage for some families to return to Gaza during the war, Louh said. Some Palestinians, including visitors and students enrolled at Egyptian universities, became stranded in Egypt when the war started.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians are thought to have settled after 1948 in Egypt, though numbers were lower than in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, where the United Nations set up refugee camps. As rules granting Palestinians equal rights to Egyptians were rescinded from around the time of Egypt's 1978 peace accord with Israel, Palestinians say they experienced increasing difficulties in obtaining documents.

The embassy's efforts to help Gazans in Egypt have been complicated by a lack of funds and staff. The Palestinian Authority, which has limited autonomy in the occupied West Bank, has been hit by drop in international donor funding and Israel's withholding of tax revenues it collects on behalf of Palestinians.

"Things are tough, dangerous, and they could become more dangerous," Louh said, referring to the possibility of a major Israeli incursion into Rafah, where more than a million Gazans have sought shelter near the border with Egypt.

(Reporting by Aidan Lewis and Nidal al-Mughrabi; Editing by Nick Macfie)
Palestinian group says Education Department has opened probe into discrimination at Columbia

The Department of Education is investigating anti-Palestinian discrimination at Columbia University amid the recent protests there, according to Palestine Legal.

Today @EDcivilrights announced @Columbia is under federal investigation for anti-Palestinian racism, including by inviting NYPD officers in riot gear to arrest Palestinian and associated students protesting Israels genocide in Gaza, Palestine Legal said Thursday in a post on the social platform X.

The Education Departments Office for Civil Rights has to review all complaints given to it, but Palestine Legal said it only opens a formal investigation when it determines the facts warrant a deeper look.

The probe comes a week after Palestine Legal filed the complaint alleging Columbia was discriminating against Palestinian students and those protesting for Gaza, making an unsafe environment for them.

The complaint decried the use of police officers to break up the protests and the alleged threat of bringing in the National Guard from school administrators, which the school says did not happen.

The announcement also comes two days after Columbia called the New York Police Department (NYPD) to take back Hamilton Hall and clear the encampment after protesters seized the academic building. Around 300 individuals were arrested in the process.

The law is clear, if universities do not cease their racist crackdowns against Palestinians and their supporters  they will be at risk of losing federal funding, said Radhika Sainath, senior staff attorney for Palestine Legal.

When reached for comment, the Education Department told The Hill it does not comment further on pending investigations and pointed to a list of open Title VI probes, which will not update until next Tuesday.

The Hill has reached out to Columbia for comment.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
NEW YORK, May 1 (Xinhua) -- The New York Police Department (NYPD) officers have arrested nearly 300 pro-Palestinian protesters from three campuses within 24 hours, according to the NYPD and media reports.

The NYPD arrested 173 protesters from the City College of New York and 109 from Columbia University in separate operations on Tuesday night, according to a press conference by the NYPD on Wednesday morning.

NYPD officers detained 15 pro-Palestinian protesters from Fordham University's Lincoln Center campus on Wednesday afternoon, reports said.

The NYPD cleaned an encampment on the campus which was set up on Wednesday as classes in both the City College of New York and Columbia University's Morningside Campus went fully remotely.

The NYPD employed drones before entering the Hamilton Hall of Columbia University once occupied by protesters and police radios were encrypted during the operation, said New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who served as a police officer in New York for over two decades.

Fordham University asked the NYPD to be on campus through at least May 22 while the NYPD was required to have their presence on Columbia University's Morningside Campus at least until May 17.

The NYPD responded to about 1,100 protests and demonstrations across the city since the outbreak of the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict on Oct. 7, 2023, accounting for 45.8 percent of the total in New York City, said New York City Police Commissioner Edward Caban.

Pro-Palestinian protests and encampments on U.S. university campuses were seen as part of the national protests against war and a call for peace in Gaza. 
FILE PHOTO: A resident waits for a bus as he stands on a footpath in the area called Poreporena Villages in the city of Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea

FILE PHOTO: A resident waits for a bus as he stands on a footpath in the area called Poreporena Villages in the city of Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea

By Kirsty Needham

SYDNEY (Reuters) - The World Bank has urged the largest Pacific Island nation, Papua New Guinea, to address a "human capital crisis" and invest more in educating children, who suffer high rates of stunted growth and illiteracy, as a way to boost economic growth and security.

An annual economic update for Papua New Guinea (PNG) released on Thursday shows economic growth was a modest 2.7% last year, half the previous year, because of delays in the reopening of the Porgera gold mine and lower liquefied natural gas production.

To free PNG from dependence on the resources sector, the report urged more investment in people.

PNG had a "human capital crisis" where nearly half of children show stunted growth which affects brain development, the fifth highest rate globally, and 70% of Grade 5 students are not reading at grade level after starting school late, it said.

The report recommended the government provide text books and toilets for schools, which lacked basic materials, and noted many children are too hungry to learn.

Absenteeism by poorly trained teachers impacted classroom learning, and could be overcome by providing structured lesson plans.

World Bank education specialist Lars Sondergaard said in an interview with Reuters the same problems were seen in PNG's urban communities and remote rural villages.

It is hard to build economic growth when children are leaving school too early and are not a productive force, he said.

"The message here is, you've got to get the foundations right and you have to start urgently," he said.

The number of 20-24 year olds would boom from 830,000 to 1.2 million by 2050, he said.

Located north of Australia, PNG has an official population of 9 million and experienced riots in the capital Port Moresby in January which destroyed some businesses.

PNG struck a deal with Australia to fund a boost in police numbers, has a defence pact with the United States to upgrade ports and airports, and also wants to increase trade with China.

"In a society with a high degree of violence and crime, having a 'youth bulge' population, without the stabilizing anchor of participating in training, in education, or in employment, would put future development at risk," the report said.

Education was a key ingredient in "creating more peaceful, prosperous and trusting societies", added Sondergaard.

World Bank education specialist Joy Wong said spending per student had fallen 20% over the past decade, as the number of students and schools grew.

"More resources need to be allocated," she said.

(Reporting by Kirsty Needham; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
Sabrina Donnellan of Girdwood, Alaska, sits with her 13-month-old, Blakely, on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., and talks with Candace Winkler, ZERO TO THREEs chief development and strategy officer, at the eighth annual Strolling Thunder, a child and family issues advocacy event on April 30, 2024, organized by the nonprofit ZERO TO THREE. (Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)

WASHINGTON  Families gathered outside the U.S. Capitol Tuesday to make a fuss for babies, who they believe are being left behind by lawmakers who direct only a fraction of U.S. resources to young children.

Parents and kids representing 50 states and the District of Columbia convened for the eighth annual Strolling Thunder. Moms and dads pushing strollers decked out in state license plates rallied on the Capitols East Lawn to lobby lawmakers to fund child care, establish national paid family leave, and permanently expand the child tax credit.

Matthew Melmed, executive director of ZERO TO THREE, the organization behind the event, rallied parents to tell their representatives that the 11 million babies in the U.S. make up 3.4% of our population, but 100% of our future.

Youre here with the pork producers and the insurance lobby and the pharmaceutical industry. Members of Congress dont normally see real people, and they rarely see babies and toddlers, particularly babies and toddlers who need to have their diapers changed on their desks. And thats what I encourage you to do if you need to have that happen, Melmed told the crowd.

The nonprofit ZERO TO THREE bases its advocacy on health and developmental research findings in infants up to age 3, the years the group describes as the most important for lifelong mental health and well-being.

Melmed praised top Democratic appropriators Sen. Patty Murray of Washington and Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut for achieving a $1 billion increase for child care block grants and Head Start in this years government funding bills.

DeLauro, who spoke to the crowd, said families deserve better.

The cost of living has increased year after year, and more and more Americans simply do not get paid enough to live on, let alone to raise a family, the Connecticut lawmaker said, promising to advocate for the reinstatement of a fully refundable child tax credit.

Diapers, child care, formula

Candace Winkler, a former Alaska resident and current ZERO TO THREE leader, sat on the Capitol lawn next to Sabrina Donnellan who traveled to D.C. from Girdwood, Alaska, with her 13-month-old Blakely to advocate for lower child care costs and paid family leave.

Winkler, the organizations chief development and strategy officer, said the group of families would divide up in the halls of Congress Tuesday to meet with their representatives about six key policy issues, including permanently expanding the child tax credit to pandemic levels.

Weve seen that time and time again that families are using those resources for diapers, child care, formula and things their babies and their family needs. And its really critical for their success, WInkler said.

The current child tax credit is $2,000 a year after tax liability, but the amount a parent could receive per child under 17 in a refund check is capped at $1,600 in 2023. The credit phases in at 15% on every dollar after earnings of $2,500.

As the U.S. was digging out from under the COVID-19 economic crisis, Congress approved a one-year expansion of the tax credit to $3,000 per child under age 18, and $3,600 for those under age 6  including for families who made $0 in income. Lawmakers made the entire amount refundable, and a portion of it was sent to families in monthly installments.

Advocates hailed the research findings that showed the temporary move was a game changer for lifting children from poverty in the U.S.

A current bipartisan proposal, widely supported by U.S. House lawmakers, to temporarily expand the child tax credit until 2025  though not to pandemic levels  is currently stalled by U.S. Senate Republicans who liken aspects of the bill to a welfare program.

The proposal, as passed by the House, would increase the credits refundable portion to $1,800 in 2023, $1,900 in 2024 and $2,000 in 2025. The legislation would also increase the phase-in rate to 15% per child, simultaneously  in other words, 30% for a family with two children, 45% for a family with three, and so on.

Credit card debt for child care

Cruz Bueno, a parent from Rhode Island, shared her story of racking up credit card debt to enroll her 11-month-old Rosie in child care, along with her 2-year-old sister Amalia.

Putting Rosie into daycare means that we must put a halt to our dream of buying a home, said Bueno, an economist who lives in Warwick with her husband, Xhuljan Meta.

One of the stipulations of our mortgage pre-approval was to keep our credit card balances low. Even so, we remain hopeful that one day in the not-so-distant future we will be able to buy a home to raise our girls and pass on wealth to them, she said.

When asked about the Strolling Thunder event at Tuesday mornings regularly scheduled House Republican press conference, House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana said, Theres lots of ideas out there. What we stand for, what our party stands for, is support of families. We support infants and children, and theres an appropriate role to play in that.

The devils always in the details on legislation, so Im not sure exactly what theyre proposing, but all of us are looking at those avenues. We want to support families. Thats good public policy, Johnson said. In our view, the best way often for the government to do that is to step back and allow the local and state officials to handle their business at that local level.

Rep. Elise Stefanik, House Republican Conference Chair, said the GOP is proud to be a pro-family conference.

There are many of our members who have proposed innovative solutions  one is rural child care. Home-based child care, thats an issue Ive worked with many of my colleagues on the Education and Workforce Committee, Stefanik, of New York, said. But the economy, the border, crime, these issues, these crises caused by Joe Biden, they impact every family.

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The post Parents tote toddlers to D.C. to press for expanded child tax credit, child care funds appeared first on Ohio Capital Journal.
Feeding Our Future trial: thousands of meals purportedly served at a park. It was closed.

The Feeding Our Future trial is being held at the Diane E. Murphy United States Courthouse in downtown Minneapolis. Photo by Max Nesterak/Minnesota Reformer.

FBI Special Agent Jared Kary heard a park in Circle Pines was closed due to construction, and yet people were getting reimbursed by the federal government after claiming to serve meals to 2,000 children per day there.

The FBI investigation would grow into a sprawling $250 million fraud case, the burly, silver-haired FBI agent told jurors Wednesday. The money was meant to feed hungry children as schools and child care centers closed during the pandemic, ending an important pipeline for healthy food.

Kary testified in the first case to go to trial in whats been dubbed Feeding Our Future  named after the nonprofit prosecutors say was at the center of the scheme. Seven people are charged with defrauding the federal government of over $40 million. In all, 70 people have been charged in the case; 18 have pleaded guilty.

The Minnesota Department of Education administered the program for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Emily Honer, MDE director of nutrition program services, testified that she became suspicious of big-dollar reimbursement requests and alerted her superiors, the USDA, and eventually, the FBI.

Kary said the FBI began by looking at the people getting the most money, and the drastic increase in payments going out.

It was massive, he said. It definitely warranted an investigation.

The number of meal distribution sites was huge, and their locations were questionable, he said.

Some of them were sort of on top of each other or right down the street, Kary said. You ask, How could this possibly be happening?

Prosecutors allege about 10% of the money was spent on food; the rest went to luxury cars, homes, travel, jewelry and property  covered up with bogus receipts, fake invoices, imaginary children, bribes and kickbacks,

Many of the bank records subpoenaed by a grand jury showed brand new accounts, filled solely with money from the federal government, Kary said, which led agents to believe corporations were created to get this money.

The FBI first zeroed in on Empire Cuisine & Market in Shakopee  a former beauty salon converted into a halal market  that was paid about $30 million in federal funds during its first 18 months of existence, from mid-2020 through January 2022.

Defendants Abdiaziz Shafii Farah and Mohamed Jama Ismail, both of Savage, incorporated Empire Cuisine & Market on April 1, 2020, and got permits to convert it into a grocery store. Eighteen days after incorporating the LLC, they told their sponsoring nonprofit, Partners in Nutrition, they were ready to distribute 250 meals at the Samaha Family Center in Shakopee  which Kary said has a parking lot big enough for about 10 cars.

They opened a bank account for their company on May 12, 2020, and began filing claims seeking reimbursement from the government for meals.

Kary spent hours Wednesday walking the jury through emails, incorporation papers and MDE documents showing how the number of distribution sites sprouted all over the state, with the number of meals served at each steadily increasing with time, spiking in March 2021.

There were red flags: Emails showed some imams reached out to Partners in Nutrition saying mosques were being registered as distribution sites without their knowledge.

The FBI looked at the Dar Al-Farooq mosque in Bloomington, which Kary said was a significant site due to the large meal counts and dollars being reimbursed to the site sponsor.

The mosque allowed the site to be used to distribute food to make money, which helped finance an East African cultural campus, developed by Afrique Hospitality Group. The attorney for Afrique CEO Mukhtar Mohamed Shariff said he never defrauded anyone in his pursuit of a dream to build the campus.

Emails and marketing materials with Shariffs name on them said the cultural campus would be buttressed by large, consistent revenue with high profit margins from 2,500 kids getting food through the nutrition program.

MDE official didnt visit any sites or even do desk audits

Defense attorneys have argued their clients actually provided all those meals and were merely making a fair profit off the government program. They portray the program as overly complex, and accuse the nonprofit sponsors and state bureaucrats of failing to make sure the program was run correctly.

Honer, the director of the states nutrition program, acknowledged Wednesday she was not aware of any MDE employees who went to the locations where people claimed to be serving thousands of meals per day  and getting reimbursed big bucks for it.

She said her employees didnt go to the sites because that was the responsibility of the nonprofit groups overseeing the vendors. And those sponsoring agencies  Feeding Our Future and Partners in Nutrition  now stand accused of enabling and sometimes participating in the fraud.

Honer said due to a very nasty lawsuit by Feeding Our Future, MDE employees were often being hauled into court and had to follow the protocol of working through concerns with the nonprofit sponsors overseeing the sites.

When the FBI investigation burst into public with raids in January 2022, Republicans blamed the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and Gov. Tim Walz for failing to prevent the fraud. Walz said the states hands were tied by a court order to resume payments, and an FBI request to continue the payments while it investigated.

Ramsey County District Judge John Guthmann didnt order MDE to stop payments, but said he thought the agency was not legally allowed to halt payments, so MDE resumed payments.

Honer testified that MDE opted to waive in-person monitoring of sites, but could still do desk audits. But Honer said she didnt do any desk audits and didnt ask any of her subordinates to do them  despite concerns that prompted her to go first to the USDA Office of Inspector General, and then the FBI, in April 2021.

Defense attorneys highlighted the fact that outside of a month where payments were stopped to some sponsors, MDE kept paying reimbursement claims until the FBI investigation went public.

They painted Honer as out of step with working class East Africans who lost jobs in restaurants and hotels and driving taxis and Ubers during the pandemic, and repeatedly asked her about Feeding Our Futures allegations that discrimination was at play.

Honer brushed off charges of racism and said shes a very proud member of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa, and has experienced racism.

I know how it feels, she said.

She kept pressing with her concerns because she said shes passionate about providing healthy meals to children, and worried that if the programs were abused, theyd be taken away.

Honer acknowledged the USDA had issued broad waivers to boost the programs during the pandemic, but she said there were no waivers allowing people to get rich off the program.

The post Feeding Our Future trial: thousands of meals purportedly served at a park. It was closed. appeared first on Minnesota Reformer.
Parkland High School student accused of assaulting teacher will be tried as an adult, attorney says

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (WGHP)  A Parkland High School student accused of assaulting a teachers case has been transferred from juvenile court to Superior Court.

FOX8 is told by the students attorney that his next court date is May 28 and he is set to be tried as an adult.

Forsyth County Sheriffs Office, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools investigating video showing alleged assault of teacher

The Forsyth County Sheriffs Office reports that a video posted last month allegedly shows a student at PHS attacking an educator. The sheriffs office did not release the video.

The video shows a student walking up to his teacher, cussing, yelling and slapping her in the face twice. Law enforcement officials wouldnt tell FOX8 what led up to this, but they said this type of behavior is not tolerated in Forsyth County.

On April 16, Juvenile Justice issued a secure custody order for one count of communicating threats and two counts of misdemeanor assault.

The case was transferred to Superior Court due to an indictment authorized by a grand jury.

A former PHS substitute teacher says he was also assaulted by the same student.

Larry Edwards has around 40 years of teaching experience and taught at PHS for about 13 years before retiring and becoming a substitute teacher at the school.

During his time there, he claims he was pushed in the head by the same student who was recently charged with assault.

I was appalled, Edwards said.

Edwards said he was disappointed after learning of a student being charged with communicating threats and assault after a video circulating on the internet showed a student shouting expletives and hitting a teacher.

Edwards says he was shocked to learn he knew that student. He claims he was assaulted by the student last year.

Edwards said he was subbing for a biology class in early May 2023 when the alleged assault happened.

He claims the student gave him another students name and was not supposed to have even been in the class.

Edwards said the student was disruptive leading up to the assault.

I walked up to the desk to get my phone to call the office, and he mockingly walked behind me, and I happened to turn around and see him, and the students started laughing, Edwards said. The next thing I know, he had taken his hand and smushed my head, and everybody started laughing, and he ran out.

Edwards said he began the process of reporting the alleged assault that day.

Former Parkland High School substitute claims student recently charged with assault also assaulted them

Edwards said he wrote an affidavit detailing what had happened and presented it to PHS administrators.

The principal was very apologetic  About a month later, I got this letter from downtown, the juvenile office  I anxiously awaited a day for the court so I could see him in the courtroom because I just wanted to face him, Edwards said.

Edwards said the day in court never came, and he was told they took another course of action.

Ive just sort of felt the incident with me  was sort of swept under the rug, Edwards said.

Regarding the claims, a spokesperson with Winston Salem/Forsyth County Schools said that under federal law, all student discipline records are private and cannot be shared. The district cannot comment on any of that information based on federal student privacy laws.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
The divide between Democrats and Republicans on abortion is at its starkest point in years, according to a survey on the issue, which is poised to play a big role in the 2024 presidential race.

Theres a 50-point gap between the two major parties, a figure that is larger than ever, according to research from the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI).

More than 8 in 10 Democrats think abortion should be legal in most or all cases  while just around a third of Republicans say the same.

Were seeing the largest partisan gap weve ever seen when it comes to Americans attitudes about abortion legality, Melissa Deckman, the CEO of the PRRI, told The Hill.

Notably, Republicans views on the procedure have stayed roughly the same across the last decade or so of trend data, while Democrats and independents approval of abortion rights have been on the rise over the last few years.

In general, Americans attitudes about abortion have become more supportive of abortion legality over time than not, but Republicans have really not shifted much. But the rest of Americans have, Deckman said.

This stark partisan divide poses problems for both parties as abortion is pushed further into the 2024 spotlight.

A strict six-week ban took effect Wednesday in Florida, the same day the Arizona state Senate voted to repeal a Civil-War era ban in its state. Organizers are also at work in several states to get measures on the ballot this fall that would enshrine reproductive rights in state constitutions.

President Bidens reelection bid has been battering former President Trump over abortion, blaming him for the fall of Roe v. Wade and the rise of subsequent state-level restrictions. Trump in a recent Time magazine interview suggested that states with restrictive abortion bans might monitor womens pregnancies.

At the same time, the research found that Republicans, though generally less supportive of abortion rights than Democrats, are not expressing widespread support for outright bans on the procedure.

Only 15 percent of Republicans in the poll said abortion should be illegal in all cases, down from around 25 percent who said the same in 2020. Just 3 percent of Democrats and 7 percent of independents also think the procedure should be banned.

A slight gender divide is also emerging, according to the research. Gender has not played a big role in determining support for abortion access over the last decade or so, Deckman said, but the PRRI found a 4-point split between men and women in the latest numbers.

Sixty-two percent of men in the poll said abortion should be legal in most cases, compared to 66 percent of women who said the same.

Republican women in particular are now more likely than men of their same party to say abortion should be legal  at 39 percent to 34 percent among Republican men  while no such gender gap exists among Democrats.

Broadly, the salience of abortion as a way to evaluate candidates is more prevalent among Democrats who support abortion rights than among Republicans who oppose it, Deckman said, and this is a change from when Roe was still the law of the land.

Half of Democrats who think abortion should be legal in all or most cases say theyll only cast their ballots for a candidate who shares their views  double the 25 percent who said the same back in 2018.

Among those who think abortion should be illegal in all or most cases, 44 percent of Republicans say theyd only vote for a candidate with shared views, compared to 34 percent in 2018.

This speaks to the role of abortion as being important to the bases of both parties, Deckman said. Its really animating their electoral calculus.

The survey was conducted between March 9 and December 7 of last year by the PRRI among 22,465 adults living in all 50 states. The margin of error for the national survey is plus or minus 0.82 percentage points.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A passenger travelling from Miami International Airport in Florida was stopped by security after he was found with a bag of snakes hidden down his trousers.

Alarms alerted security guards to an anomaly on the mans person and he was taken for a pat-down, where he admitted to concealing the reptiles, on Friday 26 April.

Pictures posted online by the Transportation Security Administration showed the two small, pink snakes that had been removed from a camouflage-coloured bag. Police and Customs and Border Patrol were called and the animals were safely turned over to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The post spawned several risque jokes from social media users, as well as a string of references to the 2006 film Snakes On A Plane, starring Samuel L Jackson.

A TSA spokesman told The Independent that the passenger was attempting to take an international flight but had basically admitted there were snakes in his pants when the alarms had sounded.

Two small, pink snakes were retrieved from a camouflage bag that was hidden down the passengers trousers at Miami International Airport, and turned over to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (@TSA_Gulf/ X)

Airport security uses Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) to detect irregularities.

It showed that there was an anomaly in the groin area and it marks it for a pat-down. When the passenger came through they said that they needed to do a pat-down and thats when he admitted that there were snakes in his pants, the spokesperson told The Independent.

At that point, they contacted law enforcement from there so I think that he knew that, you know, once the technology flagged him for a search that he was caught and he admitted to it.

Officers at @iflymia detected this bag of snakes hidden in a passengers pants at a checkpoint on Fri, April 26. @TSA called our @CBPSoutheast and Miami-Dade Police partners in to assist, and the snakes were turned over to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. pic.twitter.com/CggJob8IT8  TSA_Gulf (@TSA_Gulf) April 30, 2024

The man was subsequently forbidden to board his flight, the spokesperson said, adding that such incidents were not commonplace.

However, in January 2023, TSA agents in Tampa, Florida found a four-foot boa constrictor concealed in a passengers bag that they claimed was an emotional support animal.

At the time the agency shared a pun-laden post on Instagram which showed the danger noodle going through the airports X-ray machine.

Our officers at Tampa International Airport didnt find this hyssssssterical! Coiled up in a passengers carry-on was a 4 boa constrictor! We really have no adder-ation for discovering any pet going through an x-ray machine, TSA wrote.

It is understood that the boa constrictor was also turned over to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The Independent has reached out to the agency for comment about the condition of the snakes discovered in Miami on Friday.
DANVILLE, Ill. (WCIA)  The Vermilion County Sheriffs Department is investigating after a pedestrian was killed after being hit by multiple cars earlier this week.

The pedestrian strike happened in rural Danville on 2030 East Road north of East Voorhees Street. Captain Michael Hartshorn, the Sheriffs Office Chief Investigator, said the investigation determined the male victim was walking in the roadway around 4:40 a.m. when he was hit by multiple vehicles. Hartshorn said there are no streetlights where it happened, the night was foggy and the victim was wearing dark clothing.

Decatur crash leaves SUV dangling off overpass

One driver that struck the pedestrian stopped and reported the incident to law enforcement, Hartshorn said. A second vehicle that struck the pedestrian was located at 9 a.m.

The victim was pronounced dead on the scene. His identity remains unknown at this time.

The Vermilion County Sheriffs Department asks that anyone with information about this incident, or the victims identity, call their Investigations Division at 217-442-4080. Tipsters can also submit information anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 217-446-8477.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com.
As she copes with the death of her daughter, a mother sought solace from Penn State in what she views as a simple request: Acknowledge the student lives lost from the Class of 2024 during this weekends commencement ceremonies.

It could be an empty chair, a moment of reflection, saying their names or another gesture of remembrance. For Francoise Gross and other parents, graduation is more than a joyous milestone for thousands of students and their families.

Its a reminder of sons and daughters, like Justine Gross, who do not have the opportunity to walk across the stage with their classmates and become proud Nittany Lion alumni.

You definitely do not want to just shun the family away and shun her away, her mother told the Centre Daily Times. She meant something.

A university spokesperson said College of the Liberal Arts Dean Clarence Lang plans to ask those in attendance Saturday to honor the memory of students who were taken far too soon.

Their absence leaves a void during this weekend and we hold their families close in our thoughts, university spokeswoman Lisa Powers wrote in a statement Tuesday.

Its unclear when that decision was made, but Gross believes it came only after she asked Lang on Monday if the university had any plans to acknowledge those students. She said she was frustrated and disappointed it took, in her view, some prodding to get Penn State to acquiesce.

The most public way the university typically honors and remembers students who died during any given academic year is during its annual Night of Remembrance, where individual names are read. Each year, there are about 25 students or more who are memorialized at the event.

To the best of my knowledge, the University does not offer special acknowledgments of individuals in each class who have passed away, Lang wrote in a Monday email to Gross. As appropriate, however, I dont see why I could not make a comment in my remarks generally acknowledging the lives lost from the Class of 2024.

The National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles recommends that schools read the names of students in the graduating class, finding it may help people honor the memory of those with whom they formed close relationships.

The centers guidelines make clear that graduation ceremonies arent the best time to provide tributes, but brief acknowledgments can help with healing. Families, students and school staff should be notified beforehand.

Its also a good practice to consult with the student body to see what they prefer, Director David J. Schonfeld told the CDT, but he conceded that can be difficult at a large university.

Justine, a vibrant middle child and Penn State sophomore who was effective with her words, died in November 2021. She plunged 11 stories down a trash chute at her off-campus apartment in downtown State College. Borough police ruled out foul play.

Many in the Penn State and State College communities dont know more about her than that. But her mother will tell you there was so much more to the woman who was an honors student and varsity cheerleading captain at her northern New Jersey high school.

Justine, who would be 21, and her mother envisioned heading to a luxury resort and bar in Miami shortly after graduation. She planned to start her career on Wall Street, but Gross said fashion was her daughters true love.

Her missing these significant moments really makes you realize how tragic it is that shes gone, Gross said. We are still in shock.

She has not been satisfied with the borough police and Centre County Coroners Office investigation, which ruled Justines death accidental. No charges were filed, including against the man who gave her marijuana less than an hour before her fall.

Gross has also sought to hold the apartments property management company and the designer and manufacturer of the trash chute accountable through a wrongful death lawsuit. Her daughters death, the suit alleges, was easily preventable.

By sharing her daughters story, Gross said she hopes it sends a message to other grieving families that they are not alone. She understands the heartbreaking feeling that comes when a home feels and sounds different, but encouraged parents to fight.

Fight for change, she said, and to honor the legacies of students who were loved by so many.

Its her commitment that she went to them, to their school and the love of what she wanted to become from Penn State, Gross said when asked how an acknowledgment would honor her daughter. Thats Justine.
EYEWITNESS NEWS (WBRE/WYOU) The attorney general announced a Pennsylvania nurse, who allegedly killed and mistreated patients under her care, has been sentenced to life in prison.

According to Attorney General Michelle Henry, Heather Pressdee will spend the rest of her life in prison, without the possibility of parole, for intentionally administering lethal doses of insulin to patients at numerous skilled nursing facilities.

A Butler County judge sentenced Pressdee to three consecutive life sentences regarding three counts of first-degree murder, plus 380 to 760 years of consecutive incarceration for the 19 counts of criminal attempt to commit murder.

Pressdee, 41, was previously charged in May for her mistreatment of three patients. On Thursday, the Office of the Attorney General filed charges regarding the mistreatment of 19 additional patients at five different care facilities between 2020 and 2023.

Luzerne County coroner: Debra Fox death undetermined

Pressdee is accused of administering excessive amounts of insulin to these patients, some of whom were diabetic and required insulin, and some of whom were not. In total, investigators stated that 17 patients died who had been cared for by Pressdee.

Pressdee was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, 17 counts of attempted murder, and 19 counts of neglect of a care-dependent person.

The victims ranged in age from 43 to 104.

The alleged crimes happened while Pressdee was employed as a registered nurse at the following facilities:

Concordia at Rebecca Residence

Belair Healthcare and Rehabilitation (Guardian)

Quality Life Services Chicora; Premier Armstrong Rehabilitation and Nursing Center

Sunnyview Rehabilitation and Nursing Center

The AGs office said Pressdee typically administered the insulin during overnight shifts when staffing was low and the emergencies would not prompt immediate hospitalization.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PAhomepage.com.
Photo taken with a mobile phone on May 2, 2024 shows police officers arresting pro-Palestinian protesters at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), in Los Angeles, California, the United States. More than 130 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested Thursday morning at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as police moved to dismantle an encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles, one of the top public universities in the United States, according to authorities. (Photo by Yang Pingjun/Xinhua)

LOS ANGELES, May 2 (Xinhua) -- More than 130 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested Thursday morning at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as police moved to dismantle an encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles, one of the top public universities in the United States, according to authorities.

The California Highway Patrol said at least 132 people were arrested during the operation.

Hours before dawn, California Highway Patrol officers in riot gear broke through the encampment which was set up by protesters last week in support of Palestinians amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza. Officers from multiple agencies, including the California Highway Patrol and Los Angeles Police Department, took part in the action on the university's campus.

UCLA had declared the encampment "unlawful" on Tuesday and warned that protesters must leave the area. The university cancelled all classes for Wednesday after a night of violent clashes between pro-Palestinian protesters and pro-Israel counter-protesters on campus.

Police continued to arrest encampment protesters into early Thursday morning, with many ticketed for trespassing and loaded onto buses for further processing, reported Daily Bruin, the university's student newspaper.

Some arrested protesters appeared to be loaded into buses marked as Los Angeles County Sheriff prisoner transport, said the report, adding that it was not immediately clear what, if any, charges or processing detainees might face next.

Following the arrest of more than 100 student protesters last month at Columbia University in New York, pro-Palestinian demonstrations are spreading at colleges and universities across the United States.

Hundreds of protesters were arrested in crackdowns on pro-Palestinian protests and encampments on campuses across the country this week. 

Photo taken with a mobile phone on May 2, 2024 shows pro-Palestinian protesters confronting police officers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), in Los Angeles, California, the United States. More than 130 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested Thursday morning at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as police moved to dismantle an encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles, one of the top public universities in the United States, according to authorities. (Photo by Yang Pingjun/Xinhua)

Photo taken with a mobile phone on May 2, 2024 shows pro-Palestinian protesters confronting police officers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), in Los Angeles, California, the United States. More than 130 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested Thursday morning at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as police moved to dismantle an encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles, one of the top public universities in the United States, according to authorities. (Photo by Yang Pingjun/Xinhua)

Photo taken with a mobile phone on May 2, 2024 shows police officers breaking through the pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), in Los Angeles, California, the United States. More than 130 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested Thursday morning at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as police moved to dismantle an encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles, one of the top public universities in the United States, according to authorities. (Photo by Yang Pingjun/Xinhua)

Photo taken with a mobile phone on May 2, 2024 shows police officers arresting pro-Palestinian protesters at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), in Los Angeles, California, the United States. More than 130 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested Thursday morning at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as police moved to dismantle an encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles, one of the top public universities in the United States, according to authorities. (Photo by Yang Pingjun/Xinhua)
This article is made possible through Spotlight PAs collaboration with Votebeat, a nonpartisan news organization covering local election administration and voting. Sign up for Votebeats free newsletters here.

HARRISBURG  Pennsylvania House Democrats are again pushing to allow counties time to process mail ballots before the day of the election. But the effort appears doomed because of the Senate GOP majoritys insistence on pairing the measure with an expanded voter ID law.

A House bill passed Wednesday in a party line vote would allow counties up to seven days before election day to open ballot envelopes and run ballots through scanning machines, though results would still be tabulated on the day of the election. Currently, counties cannot begin processing mail ballots until the morning of the election, which means counties with large numbers of mail ballots may need additional days to finish counting and report complete results.

The extra time for the process, known as pre-canvassing, has been a priority for Democratic lawmakers this session and has drawn bipartisan support at the county level. But efforts to cut a deal with Republicans have repeatedly fallen apart, a fate that seems likely to repeat, even though this years bill is much more narrowly tailored than previous measures.

I believe this is the time, given that it is a presidential year and no one wants to go through the conspiracy theories, said Rep. Scott Conklin, D-Rush Township, the bills prime sponsor. This alone will clean up 99 percent of what the public is worried about.

County election officials have been advocating for more pre-canvassing time since the 2020 election, which saw the first high-profile use of no-excuse mail voting in the state. That year, it took some counties several days to completely count a large influx of mail ballots thanks to still-unfamiliar mail-counting processes coupled with enthusiastic adoption of the method during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was during the long wait for results that then-President Donald Trump and his supporters falsely alleged that Democrats were manipulating ballot counting in order to tip the election in Joe Bidens favor. Biden won the state by more than 80,000 votes.

Conklin said his goal is preventing such allegations from taking hold again. But House Republicans denounced the measure, arguing that pre-canvassing prior to the day of the election would tempt elections workers to leak results to campaigns for electioneering purposes, though Conklin pointed out his bill prohibits disclosure of results before polls close.

Lycoming Election Director Forrest Lehman told Votebeat and Spotlight PA there have been no known instances of early disclosure in the state even though ballot processing now begins before the polls close on the day of the election.

A statement from House Republican Leader Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster, said the bill distracts from reforms Pennsylvanians actually want, such as expanded voter ID requirements.

County officials have often complained that the legal restriction against pre-canvassing means they effectively run two elections on one day: one in-person and one by mail.

This simple change would significantly improve election administration without compromising ballot security, said Lisa Schaffer, executive director of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania.

Schaffer added that allowing for pre-canvassing would help counties manage their workloads, which would ultimately enable more timely reporting of results.

Any form of pre-canvassing is welcome, Dauphin County Elections Director Chris Spackman said separately.

The Pennsylvania Department of State also favors the measure, saying the commonsense reform would speed up the vote count.

Arguments against allowing earlier pre-canvassing ignore the longstanding pleas from on-the-ground election staff who are the real experts in how to administer Pennsylvanias elections, Communications Director Amy Gulli said. No-excuse mail-in voting was passed with bipartisan support, and providing county election officials an appropriate amount of time to process those ballots should not be a partisan issue.

Although the bills House passage marks progress for Conklins measure, which has been stalled since a House committee approved it over a year ago, it still faces Republican resistance in the state Senate, which has long taken the position that any election reform needed to be paired with an expanded voter ID measure.

In that chamber, Republicans control which bills come up for a vote, and when.

Ensuring voter confidence and the security of elections remain our top priorities, a spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman, R-Indiana, said. As such, any discussion of changes to the administration of elections in our commonwealth must also include a Constitutional voter identification requirement.

Senate Republicans have been pushing to get a constitutional amendment to expand voter ID requirements onto the ballot since the current legislative session began in January 2023, but the House has blocked the effort. Early in the session, many Capitol observers anticipated a deal in which Democrats would agree to an expanded voter ID law in exchange for Republicans acceptance of the pre-canvassing policy, but the bargain has yet to materialize.

Republicans also passed a bill that would have allowed for additional pre-canvassing time in 2021 when they controlled both chambers, but then-Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, vetoed the legislation due to the voter ID requirements. The current governor, Josh Shapiro, also a Democrat, has been more open.

Historically, the legislature has not passed election reforms in a presidential election year, especially in the period after the primary and before the general election, said Kyler Miller, a policy advocate with the nonpartisan group Protect Democracy and a former aide to a Democratic member of the state Senate.

But also I dont think there is the political will to enact any change, whether that would be helpful or not, Miller said. Well see. Weird things happen in June.

Miller pointed to an effort last fall to move the date of Pennsylvanias 2024 primary off of the Jewish holiday of Passover. That attempt was ultimately derailed by amendments  including pre-canvassing  that turned the bill into an election reform package, and Miller thinks the episode left the Senate without an appetite to move on election issues.

Conklin said he would reach out to his Republican colleagues in the Senate about his new bill and urge them to move it forward.

Asked if he would be open to a version of the bill that included both pre-canvassing and expanded voter ID, Conklin said that could be a conversation.

But what were trying to do is just run it through clean, he added. Our only obligation at this time is to try to run it through with pre-canvassing and give the county commissioners what they want.

Carter Walker is a reporter for Votebeat in partnership with Spotlight PA. Contact Carter at cwalker@votebeat.org.

BEFORE YOU GO If you learned something from this article, pay it forward and contribute to Spotlight PA at spotlightpa.org/donate. Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results.
In Pennsylvania, as anywhere else in America, private schools can do pretty much whatever they want. They can refuse to accept disabled or LGBTQ applicants. They can expel students for getting pregnant and even for merely having LGBTQ friends outside of school. At the same time, they can require applicants families to attend church, not to mention teach students that God created the universe in six days.

Some schools in the state do exactly thatwith the support of nearly a half-billion dollars worth of public funds, and with hardly any state oversight. And yet, even some Democrats, including Governor Josh Shapiro, want to direct more taxpayer dollarswhich otherwise would go to public schoolsto private schools.

Pennsylvania has two programs that provide students with tuition vouchers for religious and secular private schools: the Educational Improvement Tax Credit, or EITC, and the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit, or OSTC, programs. But a new report from the Keystone Research Center has found that these schools have a troubling track record and glaring lack of accountability, allowing taxpayer dollars to subsidize wealthy families and fund expensive schools that teach creationism and discriminate against students.

While proponents of vouchers claim they give better educational opportunities to underserved students with low test scores, the report highlights just how little information exists to even assess these programs impact on student achievement. What is known, however, is that these programs now have a combined annual budget of $470 millionup from $340 million the previous year. In the 20222023 school year, $240 million went to religious schools and nearly $17 million went to the 24 most exclusive, most expensive schools in the state, where the average tuition is about $41,000 a year.

What we really found is that these voucher programs that already exist in Pennsylvania are exclusive, Diana Polson, the Keystone Research Centers senior policy analyst and co-author of the report, told me. If you look at the average EITC and OSTC scholarship, its usually around $2,000 a year. That would barely make a dent in any of these schools.

While the income limit for scholarships is nearly $150,000 per four-person household, it is unlikely that low-income students make up the bulk of scholarship recipients. According to Susan Spicka, the executive director of Education Voters of PA, there is no auditing or reporting being done that would indicate this family income limit is being checked by private schools, let alone enforced. There really is no safeguard against very, very wealthy families being able to tap into this money, Spicka told me, adding there is real resistance in the state legislature to change this.

The Keystone report also cites Spickas research showing that 100 percent of OSTC-recipient schools have policies in place that allow students to be discriminated against on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, religion, pregnancy or abortion, academic performance, or right fit.

Since private schools are exempt from nondiscrimination laws, they can expel or refuse to admit any student for any reason, even if the school is receiving public funds through the voucher programs. At some schools, students families are required to go to church before enrolling or have a pastor reference, she said, and in others, you cant be even friends with kids who are in the LGBTQ+ community and be enrolled in the school.

At Providence Christian School in Chambersburg, the student application states that the school reserves the right to refuse admission of an applicant or to discontinue enrollment of a student for living in, condoning, or supporting sexual immorality; homosexual acts or sexual orientation; promoting such practices; or otherwise the inability to support the moral principles of the school.

Some schools violate students privacy by requiring them to report their pregnancies to the administration and attend Christian pregnancy counseling. At Clearfield Christian School, students who become pregnant or have a child will be expelled immediately with the option to appeal. Any student who becomes pregnant or fathers a child must report this information to the administration as soon as possible. A student will not be considered for readmission until a full semester after the birth of the baby, the policy reads.

Many schools also discriminate against students with disabilities and learning disorders by refusing to accept them or screening them out. St. Stephens Episcopal School in Harrisburg requires admissions testing, stating that all admissions are offered on a 30 day probationary period to determine if the school can meet the academic, social and emotional needs of the student.

These just dont seem to be the values that we would want to be funding with tax dollars in Pennsylvania, Spicka said.

The Keystone report also found that there is very little accountability in the teaching of creationism and biblical worldview education in religious private schools that receive vouchers. Rachel Tabachnick, an independent researcher and co-author of the report, told The New Republic that less expensive religious schools often cut costs by implementing education curricula from Abeka Book and BJU Press, which offer biblically based education materials that align with their religious beliefs. This is a type of curricula that would not pass state standards, Tabachnick said.

Since the schools are not subject to such standards, however, it is entirely up to them to decide what to teach in each subject; theyre only required to report the number of hours these subjects are taught. There is no oversight of what text theyre using, of how its taught, of whos teaching it, and so you have a lot of the kind of examples that we included in the report, including entire curricula series that are based on young earth creationism, she said. (Young earth creationism is the belief that the earth is only a few thousand years old and that the universe was directly created by God in six literal days.)

The Keystone report notes that both conservative religious leaders and libertarian thinkers have long been pushing for the privatization of schools and have been promoting school vouchers as a way to help achieve that, which helps explain the blatant lack of accountability.

The conditions that these religious schools put forward for participating is that there not be accountability because they dont want to change the nature of their school, Tabachnick said. And Polson noted to me that in 2005, the state actually passed a law that prohibits the Department of Community and Economic Development from gathering any more information from scholarship organizations.

Pennsylvanias public schools are currently underfunded by $6.2 billion and have a massive funding gap of $5.4 billion between wealthy and low-income school districts. The state, despite ranking in the top 25 for education overall, also has pretty wide opportunity achievement gaps based on race and socioeconomic status. Education advocates have long claimed that adequate and equitable funding for all public school districts would be instrumental in helping to close this gap, and Commonwealth Court Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer agreed, ruling in February 2023 that the states school funding system is unconstitutional. Students who reside in school districts with low property values and incomes, Jubelirer wrote, are deprived of the same opportunities and resources as students who reside in school districts with high property values and incomes. She also declared that its the state governments responsibility to come up with a plan to address these deficiencies.

Since the ruling, Governor Shapiro has proposed a $1.1 billion increase in public school funding, which would certainly help address the problems with the states school funding system. According to Education Secretary Khalid Mumin, however, there is apparently no guarantee that this money will only go to public schools. Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers and even Shapiro also pushed for a new voucher program that would pour an additional $100 million in taxpayer money into private schools and away from chronically underfunded public schools. The plan was eventually abandoned, but Mumin recently said its still on the table for the 20242025 budget. And, as noted above, the legislature added $130 million to the two existing voucher programs, a 38 percent increase in their combined budgets.

For every dollar that we invest in private school vouchers, whether that be our existing programs or new ones, thats a dollar not being spent on adequately funding our public schools, Polson said. Our number one priority needs to be adequately and equitably funding our public schools.
The Pentagon acknowledged Thursday that it mistakenly killed a civilian in a 2023 airstrike in northwest Syria after U.S. service members misidentified the man as a senior al Qaeda leader.

An internal investigation found American forces misidentified the intended Al Qaeda target and that a civilian, Mr. Lufti Hasan Masto (Masto), was struck and killed instead, according to a U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) statement on the findings.

The probe also concluded that while the strike was conducted in compliance with the law of armed conflict as well as Department of Defense and CENTCOM policies, it revealed several issues that could be improved.

CENTCOM said it could not publicly share many facts and findings of the investigation, as they involve classified information.

We are committed to learning from this incident and improving our targeting processes to mitigate potential civilian harm, CENTCOM said, adding that it acknowledges and regrets the civilian harm that resulted from the airstrike.

The U.S. military initially claimed that it had killed a senior al Qaeda leader in the May 3, 2023, strike in northwest Syria. Instead it targeted Masto, a 56-year-old shepherd.

CENTCOM ordered an investigation last June, weeks after The Washington Post published a May 18 report on the strike, in which Mastos relatives asserted he had no ties to terrorists.

U.S. officials quickly walked back the claims a senior al Qaeda figure had been killed and wrapped its probe in November, but did not publicly admit until Thursday that it had mistaken Masto as an al Qaeda official.

The Post reported that Masto was tracked by an armed Predator drone before U.S. forces fired a Hellfire missile at him behind his home and chicken farm.

The Pentagon pledged in January 2022 to work toward reducing such civilian casualties and increasing transparency should they happen.

The directive followed public outcry and scrutiny over several high-profile U.S. drone strikes, including a botched Aug. 29 attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, that killed 10 people, including seven children, and an attack in Syria in 2019 that killed dozens of women and children.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Dominion Energy provided this photo illustration of the proposed liquified natural gas facility -- LNG, for short -- in southeastern Person County. There is a large above ground tank that can hold 25 million gallons of LNG. There are five outbuildings and an injection point where the LNG would go into an underground pipeline. The facility is on concrete.

Dominion Energy provided this photo illustration of the proposed liquified natural gas facility -- LNG, for short -- in southeastern Person County. The large tank can hold 25 million gallons of LNG.

The Tomato Lady. An amateur astronomer. A doctor-turned-organic farmer.

Eight Person County residents have sued their county commissioners over an arbitrary and capricious rezoning that will allow a large liquified natural gas facility to be built near the southeastern community of Timberlake. The project would consume roughly 485 acres, with 50 to 60 accommodating the actual footprint of LNG site. The remaining area would serve as a safety buffer in case of a leak or explosion.

The Southern Coalition for Social Justice, which is representing the residents, is asking a court to nullify the rezoning. Attorney T.C. Morphis, who represents the county, has filed a motion to dismiss the case. A hearing is scheduled for July 15 in Person County.

The proposed Moriah Energy Center, owned by Dominion would store the gas in two 25 million-gallon tanks at 260 degrees below zero. At peak demand times, usually during the winter, the gas would be vaporized and re-injected into the pipeline system. Its unknown how often that would occur, although it could be as few as eight days a year.

Dominion would source the gas from fracking operations outside North Carolina and transport it via their transmission pipelines. Alternately, the LNG would be shipped to the Moriah Energy Center by tanker truck.

These large LNG facilities require significantly greater quantities of refrigerants to liquefy the natural gas than the amount typically used at a peak shavers or small-scale facilities, according to the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration.

The plaintiffs own property adjacent to the planned Moriah Energy Center, which will destroy the rural character of their neighborhood and Person County and subject them to increased pollution, noise, traffic, toxic and hazardous air emissions, endangered and threatened species impacts, water resource impacts and the loss of use and enjoyment of their properties, according to court documents. The concrete and pavement, land clearing and groundwater usage would also harm water quality and quantity, the plaintiffs allege.

This map shows the location of the Moriah Energy Center, in southeastern Person County, about two miles from the Durham and Granville county lines. (Map: Dominion)

The location of the Moriah Energy Center, in rural Person County, about two miles from the Durham and Granville county lines. (Map: Dominion)

James Dykes co-owns the Potluck Community Farm, which practices organic and regenerative agriculture, and where raises pigs, goats, cattle and other animals on pasture. He had planned to build a residential eco-village on part of the property, but fewer people will be interested in living in a farming neighborhood overshadowed by the industrial operations of the Moriah Energy Center, court documents read.

Several other plaintiffs raise bees, grow nursery plants and vegetables; at least two of the plaintiffs say they have chronic respiratory conditions.

In addition to leaking methane, a potent greenhouse gas, LNG plants emit carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and volatile organic compounds, according to the Environmental Health Project. Studies have shown that these pollutants are associated with a range of health impacts, including headaches, coughing, dizziness, and other respiratory illnesses. They can also irritate skin, eyes, nose, and lungs. Long-term exposure to these pollutants can lead to heart disease, certain types of cancer, and damage to the reproductive system and internal organs, according to the project.

The lawsuit also argues the Person County Commissioners erred on administrative grounds. For example, they did not notify by certified mail Camp Butner, a military base within five miles of the Moriah Energy Center, as legally required. Nor did the commissioners properly notify all of adjacent property owners of a public hearing within the legally required 10 days, the lawsuit alleges. Kristopher Clayton, who lives 78 feet from the rezoned property, alleged he did not receive his notice until five days before the commissioners public hearing.

Because the commissioners rezoned area from Rural Conservation and Residential to General Industrial, if the Moriah Energy Center is not built, other heavy manufacturing could be sited there.

Dominion Energy has tried, unsuccessfully, to appease neighbors. In mid-April, Roxboro Area Chamber of Commerce officials held a meeting at the Golden Corral, where a Dominion spokesperson explained the project to a standing room-only crowd. However, the spokesperson offered no new information about the project and declined to take questions from the audience. Concerned residents say they have submitted more than 100 questions to Dominion, but have not received meaningful, if any, response.

The post Person County residents suing commissioners over rezoning for Dominion LNG plant appeared first on NC Newsline.
The University of Massachusetts-Amherst has failed to address a hostile antisemitic environment against Jewish students on its campus, according to a federal complaint filed this week by the Anti-Defamation League.

The complaint, filed by the ADL and the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law on Tuesday with the U.S. Department of Educations Office for Civil Rights, comes amid ongoing protests over the Israel-Hamas war seen at colleges and universities nationwide and concerning reports of antisemitic activity on college campuses across America.

The complaint alleges that UMass-Amherst has failed to address severe discrimination and harassment of Jewish and Israeli students, including a violent assault against a Jewish student. The complaint seeks remedies under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Even after a violent antisemitic assault on campus, UMass has done nothing to make Jewish students feel safe and, infuriatingly, this assault is the tip of the iceberg  part of a persistent pattern of enabling hate against Jews, Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO and national director, said in a statement. This is a textbook example of an administration that is deliberately indifferent and negligent  the U.S. Department of Education must intervene immediately.

UMass is among several schools where concerns have been raised about antisemitism on campus.

In February, the co-chairperson of Harvard Universitys talk force on antisemitism resigned amid concerns that the prestigious Ivy League school would not act on the groups recommendations. That same month, Harvard condemned what it called a flagrantly antisemitic cartoon that an undergraduate group posted on social media.

House Republicans this week launched an investigation into federal funding for universities amid the campus protests and reports of growing antisemitism on college and university campuses, The Associated Press reported.

We will not allow antisemitism to thrive on campus, and we will hold these universities accountable for their failure to protect Jewish students on campus, House Speaker Mike Johnson said at a news conference on Tuesday.

UMass Amherst campus

Dylan Jacobs, a senior at UMass-Amherst, was called an antisemitic slur and then punched and kicked repeatedly by another student in an attack corroborated by multiple eyewitnesses, according to the complaint.

A small Israeli flag was ripped from his hand, stabbed and thrown in a trash can. While UMass-Amherst was quick to condemn the attack, it did little beyond that, the ADL said in a statement. Instead, it spent nearly six months ignoring the incident, despite requests from the victim to address the matter.

Jacobs was subsequently given a no-contact order and told he must stay away from members of Students for Justice in Palestine, who could still approach Jacobs, the ADL said.

This could effectively create a situation in which Mr. Jacobs is in violation of the directive through no fault of his own. But, without explanation, the SJP members were not subjected to a no-contact order, the ADL said. UMass-Amherst failed to provide Mr. Jacobs with any information regarding the basis of said no-contact directive and effectively established a potentially dangerous dynamic.

What kind of message does this send to the UMass community? It is no wonder anti-Semitic protestors continue to block entrances and exits to buildings, call for violence against Jews, harass and intimidate Jewish students, disrupt events and spew anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, stated

University officials have yet to hold Jacobs attacker accountable, Kenneth Marcus, chairman of the Brandeis Center and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights for George W. Bush and Donald Trump, said in a statement.

A Jewish student was charged at and repeatedly and violently punched and kicked for holding an Israeli flag at a Hillel Bring Them Home event, and what did the university do? They issued a statement urging peaceful advocacy and simultaneously condemned Islamophobia, Marcus said. Adding insult to injury, it took them five months to hold a hearing on the violent assault and they have yet to hold the attacker accountable.

What kind of message does this send to the UMass community? It is no wonder anti-Semitic protestors continue to block entrances and exits to buildings, call for violence against Jews, harass and intimidate Jewish students, disrupt events and spew anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, Marcus said. Following the law, holding perpetrators accountable and issuing consequences is not rocket science. Its beyond shameful that we have to call in the Department of Education to get a school to address a violent anti-Semitic assault and ensure other students arent similarly attacked.

The complaint cites additional examples of antisemitic incidents including genocidal chants, antisemitic slurs, and physical threats.

There were statements from UMass-Amherst student groups praising Hamass terrorism as justified resistance, and disruptive pro-Hamas protests that prevented people from physically entering or exiting buildings, working, or studying, the ADL said.

There was also online harassment of Jewish students in a group chat, which included derogatory, vile, and antisemitic language. This rhetoric was so egregious that a perpetrators account was banned from a UMass public school page, the ADL said.

The complaint urges the Office for Civil Rights to compel the universitys administration to implement a series of measures necessary to secure the safety of Jewish students at UMass, including issuing a public statement condemning antisemitic hostility and the BDS movement, urging the university to incorporate the IHRA working definition of antisemitism into its campus policies to better recognize the types of antisemitic discrimination confronting Jewish students, and providing mandatory antisemitism training to university administrators, faculty, students and staff.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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Petro Says Colombia Will Cut Diplomatic Ties With Israel

(Bloomberg) -- President Gustavo Petro said Colombia will cut diplomatic ties with Israel for having a genocidal president during a speech commemorating the Labor Day holiday on Wednesday.

Most Read from Bloomberg

If Palestine dies, humanity dies, and we will not let it die, Petro said from downtown Bogota, where he called for marches in support for his government.

Petro is looking to counter large anti-government rallies that took place on April 21 and said his administration will send a package of bills to congress meant to boost economic growth.

The package will include measures that force the financial sector to provide cheap financing to productive sectors, Petro said.

It will consist of bills that generate forced investment in the Colombian private financial system aimed at credits for small, medium, and large industries, agriculture, and tourism in Colombia, to reactivate the country, he said

While his disapproval reached 60% in a recent poll, Petro obtained a recent victory in the senates approval of the pension reform, which goes to the lower house next week.

Read More: Colombias Petro Threatens to Suspend Relations With Israel

(Updates with details on the governments economic reactivation package starting in the third paragraph.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

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(Bloomberg) -- The Philippines summoned Chinas envoy in Manila on Thursday to protest Chinas use of water cannons against its ships in the disputed South China Sea, prompting Beijing to accuse Manila of infringing on its territory.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The Southeast Asian nation slammed the harassment, ramming, swarming, shadowing and blocking, dangerous maneuvers, use of water cannons, and other aggressive actions of Chinas coast guard and maritime militia vessels against the Philippine vessels, the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

The nation demanded that Chinese vessels leave Bajo de Masinloc and its vicinity immediately, the agency said, after summoning Chinese Embassy of Manila Deputy Chief of Mission Zhou Zhiyong. Bajo de Masinloc is Manilas term for Scarborough Shoal.

Read More: Why China, Philippines Keep Clashing at Sea and What Comes Next

The Philippines said three Chinese coast guard ships fired water cannons at two Philippine vessels near Scarborough Shoal on Tuesday, in the latest flare-up of tensions between the two countries in the contested waters. The Philippine coast guard said Chinas actions damaged its boat which accompanied a government fisheries vessel on its way to provide assistance to Filipino fisherfolk in the area.

In response, China, which claims nearly the entire South China Sea, said it has indisputable sovereignty over Huangyan Dao and its adjacent waters, using its name for Scarborough Shoal.

The operations on the ground were professional, rational, reasonable and legitimate. The Chinese side has lodged solemn representations both in Beijing and in Manila to the Philippine side demanding the Philippines to stop its provocation and infringement immediately, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Manila said in a statement.

The latest encounter between Manila and Beijing comes as the Philippines and its longtime ally the US are holding their annual military drills that included maritime exercises near the South China Sea.

(Updates with comments from Chinese embassy in Manila.)

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The Philippines summoned a Chinese envoy in Manila to protest Beijings use of a water cannon that damaged a Filipino vessel in the disputed waters of the South China Sea.

The Philippines Foreign Ministry said it protested the harassment, ramming, swarming, shadowing and blocking of its vessel by the China Coast Guard and Chinese maritime militia.

Describing the use of water cannons and tactics as dangerous manoeuvres and aggressive actions, Manila called on the Chinese boats to leave the waters immediately.

The Philippines demanded that the Chinese vessels leave Bajo de Masinloc and its vicinity immediately, it added.

It marked the 20th protest by the Philippines against Chinese actions in the sea this year and one of 153 under the Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jrs administration as the encounters between the two armies became more frequent and serious.

The latest incident happened on Tuesday in Scarborough Shoal, referred to as Huangyan Island in China and is also known as Bajo de Masinloc inside Manilas exclusive economic zone.

A dramatic video shared by the Philippine Coast Guard showed two larger Chinese vessels encircling the Philippine ship and firing water cannons.

The Philippines Coast Guard said four China Coast Guard vessels and six Chinese Maritime Militia vessels were involved in the incident that badly damaged the vessel. It mangled the railings, smashed the awning in the stern, and damaged the electronic system and canopy.

Commodore Jay Tarriela, Philippines Coast Guards spokesperson on South China Sea matters, said their Chinese counterparts have elevated tensions after it directly used water cannon against one of its vessels for the first time.

This frame grab from handout video footage taken and released on April 30, 2024 by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) shows the Philippine Coast Guard ship BRP Bagacay being hit by water cannon from Chinese coast guard vessels near the chinese-controlled Scarborough shoal in disputed waters of the South China Sea (Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)/AFP)

"It just goes to show that Goliath is becoming more Goliath. They dont hesitate to use brute force to violate international law," Mr Tarriela told a briefing.

China has significantly raised the pressure of its water cannons which have caused heavy damage to the ships, he said.

A spokesperson at Chinas embassy in Manila said Scarborough shoal, which it calls Huangyan Dao, "has always been Chinas territory" and urged the Philippines to "stop making infringement and provocations at once and not to challenge Chinas resolve to defend our sovereignty".

However, no country has sovereignty over the Scarborough Shoal, a prime fishing patch close to major shipping lanes that is used by several countries.

The shoal falls inside the Philippines exclusive economic zone and has been a constant source of flashpoint between it and China.
Police officers clash with pro-Palestinian protesters who spray them with fire extinguishers on the UCLA campus early Thursday morning. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Police moved into the pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA on Thursday morning, dismantling tents, pushing out most of the protesters and arresting more than 200 people.

The operation followed two days of upheaval that began when UCLA declared the camp unlawful and continued when a mob attacked the camp Tuesday night, with police taking hours to stop the violence.

The Westwood campus became the first in the University of California system to move against an encampment. Others have been set up at UC campuses at Berkeley, Riverside and Irvine, along with colleges and universities across the nation, notably Cal Poly Humboldt.

At USC, access to campus remains restricted to students, faculty, staff and registered guests after more than a week of protests over the Israel-Hamas war.

(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)

Police officers take control of Royce Hall after pushing back pro-Palestinian protesters at UCLA early Thursday morning.

(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)

A protester climbs a makeshift barricade blocking a building entrance at UCLA.

(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)

Police officers arrest a protester after an order to disperse was given at UCLA early Thursday morning.

(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)

Police in riot gear stand off against protesters at a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA early Thursday.

(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

Protesters use plywood to brace barricades around the pro-Palestinian encampment on the UCLA campus

(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles)

Pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli activists clash at an encampment at UCLA early Wednesday morning.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

Pro-Israeli demonstrator Darren Levaton holds a flag surrounded by pro-Palestinian demonstrators at UCLA.

(Michael Blackshire/Los Angeles Times)

Israeli and Palestinian flags wave during protest outside UCLA's Royce Hall on Friday.

(Michael Blackshire/Los Angeles Times)

David Moritz and others hold protest signs outside Royce Hall at UCLA on April 25.

(Ringo Chiu/For The Times)

Pro-Palestinian protesters gather at an encampment on the campus of UCLA on April 25.

(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

Students and concerned citizens camp out in front of Sproul Hall in protest to end the war in Gaza and that the university's divestment from companies with ties to Israel on the UC Berkeley campus on April 26.

(Beau Saunders/For The Times)

Students protest Tuesday at Cal Poly Humboldt, where pro-Palestinian demonstrators have occupied a campus building for over a week.

(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)

USC students are arrested by Los Angeles police amid campus protests against the Israel-Hamas war on April 24.

Public safety officers confront pro-Palestinian demonstrators at USC on Wednesday, April 24, 2024 in Los Angeles, CA. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)

A USC public safety officer confronts a pro-Palestinian demonstrator during campus protest on April 24.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  Tensions are continuing to rise over the protests taking place at Portland State University.

Around 6:30 p.m. a group of pro-Palestinian protesters  plus some that were dressed in all black  left the South Park blocks and started marching through Downtown Portland.

Vandalism at Pioneer Courthouse Square (KOIN)

Vandalism at Pioneer Courthouse Square (KOIN)

Broken window at PSU Campus Safety Office (KOIN)

Broken windows at PSU Campus Safety Office (KOIN)

Vandalism at PSU Campus Safety Office (KOIN)

Broken window at PSU Campus Safety Office (KOIN)

A PSU student told KOIN 6 News that they saw people in black smashing the windows at the campus safety office and spraying graffiti on the building.

Another student journalist, Gabriel Elmosleh, recorded the video of people in black taking hammers to the windows at a Starbucks.

Police plan de-escalation tactics amid ongoing occupation at PSU library

The crowd regrouped outside the library soon after.

Some people started fighting, and a woman, Eily, said when she took her phone out to film, someone knocked her phone to the ground.

The incident escalated as both the woman and her boyfriend got assaulted by at least a dozen people.

They knocked me and my boyfriend to the ground and started kicking us and hitting us and we were kind of getting back up and some people came and repelled them, and they attacked those people. Everybody kind of scuffled for a while, and we were standing back up and walking out of it and they attacked us again and took my bag, she said.

Eilys boyfriend, Cletus, added, We didnt come down here to vandalize or instigate  nothing like that totally non-violent  but when we didnt follow the directives then violence found us.

Along with the vandalism, Portland police said that fireworks were also deployed.

It is important to remember that although arrests are not always made at the scene, when tensions are high, this does not mean that people are not being charged with crimes later, Portland police said in a press release.

Portland State University officials are saying to avoid the area near South Park Blocks due to police activity.

The university will be open on Thursday but officials say the library will remain closed.

Finally, I need to be clear about the status of the Millar Library. Our library is closed. No one is authorized to be in the library. This included PSU faculty, staff and students, said PSU President Ann Cudd. Anyone still in the library is committing criminal trespass, and must leave immediately. Portland State University is cooperating with law enforcement on this matter.

The Portland Police Bureau said a tremendous amount of work is being done in the background to find a resolution to this event  including de-escalation tactics and numerous attempts to begin a dialogue with the participants.

We will pursue all efforts at de-escalation, but make no mistake PPB will take appropriate action to do our part to hold individuals and groups accountable for their criminal conduct, Portland Police Chief Bob Day said.

Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt release a statement about the protest on Wednesday night.

The destruction occurring at demonstrations tonight is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Damaging property, making threats, and perpetrating violence are not acceptable, meaningful, or productive ways to make a point. These are destructive behaviors that harm community members and local businesses. My office stands ready to prosecute cases related to these activities after reviewing evidence gathered and provided to us by law enforcement.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
Description

The public is invited to attend an inspirational evening of music set to take place on May 2nd at 8 pm at the Tilles Center's Krasnoff Theater. Organizers emphasize that the concert is not just about beautiful music; it presents an opportunity to give hope and support to two vital organizations, The Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance (JAMD) and the Holocaust Memorial Tolerance Center (HMTC).

The concert will showcase special guests from JAMD, a school in Israel currently facing a funding crisis due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas War. Two students, one Jewish and one Arab, will accompany one of the music selections, sending a powerful message of unity through music. Michael Klinghoffer, the President of JAMD, will also attend the event, further emphasizing the importance of this benefit concert.

The Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center, a nonprofit educational organization, is another beneficiary. HMTC educates students on the atrocities of the Holocaust and the importance of tolerance and respect for all people. Funds from the concert will aid in their mission to enlighten minds and promote a world free from hate and prejudice.

Organizers strongly encourage sponsorship opportunities, which not only provide necessary funding for these organizations but also bring visibility to a commitment to tolerance, respect, and the arts. If a sponsorship is not possible, patrons are urged to purchase tickets for themselves and their loved ones.
Photos show Russia flaunting its war spoils, including a Howitzer, Leopard 2, Bradley, and other modern weapons from over a dozen NATO countries

Russia's monthlong open-air exhibition features more than 30 vehicles captured in the Ukraine war.

Many of them are NATO-made, including the US Bradley and Abrams, as well as the German Leopard 2.

The variety of vehicles also shows the sheer diversity of weaponry that Ukraine is using on the battlefield.

Russia launched an exhibition on Wednesday showcasing more than 30 military vehicles it's captured from Ukraine since the invasion began, in an open-air "trophy" display gloating over its seized NATO equipment.

The exhibition was packed with visitors on opening day, which coincides with Russia's International Workers' Day. It is being held for a month at Moscow's Victory Park, the capital's large memorial complex dedicated to the Soviet Union's triumph over Nazi Germany.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called the exhibition a "brilliant idea."

"The exhibition of trophy equipment will attract great interest from Moscow residents, guests of our city, and all residents of the country," Peskov said. "We should all see the enemy's battered equipment."

Photos of the "Trophies of the Russian Army" exhibition show equipment from over a dozen countries, giving a glimpse of the sheer diversity of weaponry used by Ukraine's forces since 2022.

Not all of them were recently obtained. Some vehicles, including American-made ones, were already displayed in an earlier exhibition in August.

Dutch-based open-source outlet Oryx reported that Ukraine has deployed more than 5,640 vehicles, about 1,000 of which were captured during the war.

A special focus of the exhibition was an Abrams M101 battle tank, a heavy tank-buster with a track record of punching through Soviet armor.

A US Abrams tank was put on display for Moscow residents to see in an open-air exhibition featuring equipment from nearly a dozen NATO countries. Russian Ministry of Defense

Reuters reported that the wrecked Abrams tank has been a favorite for Russian state media, with one TV correspondent saying it's not been the "wonder weapon" that the US thinks it is.

"But that was all nonsense  look at this  all of its reputation has been destroyed," he said, per a translation by the wire.

Ukraine received 31 of these from the Pentagon, five of which were lost in battle.

A special focus for the show was a US Abrams M101 battle tank. Ukraine received 31 of these from the Pentagon, five of which were lost in battle. Contributor/Getty Images

The US on April 26 said Ukraine is withdrawing its Abrams tanks from the front lines, over concerns that they were being undermined by drone attacks.

Russian surveillance drones can spot the prized armor more easily and make the tanks more difficult to protect.

Russia also displayed an American M2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle.

A Bradley IFV with a mounted dummy. Ali Cura/Anadolu via Getty Images

Ukraine was given 186 Bradleys, along with four Bradley fire support team vehicles, about 100 to 120 of which are actively deployed in operations. The rest serve for parts, training, or replacement when needed. Bradleys are armed with a 25mm gun that can fire 300 rounds per minute.

The Bradley has the ability to take out Russian tanks . In one battle, a Bradley took out two Russian T-72 tanks with its heavy TOW anti-tank missiles . The vehicle has been dubbed a "tank killer" as a result.

Around 63 Bradleys were captured or damaged by October 2023, though some have been repaired and returned to service, per Dutch open-source outlet Oryx.

Other US equipment showcased included a Humvee (with a Slovenian TAM-150 in the background)...

A Humvee with a cracked windshield on display in Moscow. Ali Cura/Anadolu via Getty Images

The US has delivered some 1,700 high-mobility multi-purpose wheeled vehicles to Ukraine since the war began.

... an M88 recovery vehicle...

A visitor walks past an M88 recovery vehicle captured by Russia. Ali Cura/Anadolu via Getty Images

Ukraine has since early 2023 been given M88 recovery vehicles to haul damaged tanks and heavy-duty weaponry off the battlefield.

... and an International Maxxpro, a hefty mine-resistant armor-protected vehicle.

A visitor snaps a photo of an International Maxxpro in Moscow. Contributor/Getty Images

The Maxxpro's armor has been lauded by Ukrainian troops, who they say say it can easily withstand heavy Russian fire. In late 2023, Ukraine was reported to have been using the vehicles in direct assaults on Russian positions.

Russia also showed off an M777 Howitzer, a prominent artillery piece used widely on the Ukrainian front.

Visitors take photos of an American M777 Howitzer. Russian Ministry of Defense

Kyiv says the towed artillery units have been key to staving off the Russian advance, but a lack of ammunition in recent months has severely affected the weapon's effectiveness on the battlefield.

Another highlight of the exhibition was a German Leopard 2A6 tank.

Visitors take a selfie at the "Trophies of the Russian Army" open-air exhibition, which paraded an array of Western-made military hardware captured by Russian troops. Contributor/Getty Images

Germany agreed in early 2023 to allow a European coalition to send 88 Leopard 1 tanks and about 80 advanced Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.

Leopard 1 tanks are Cold War-era tanks that Germany stopped using in 2000, while Leopard 2s are believed to be among some of the most advanced tanks used in the war by Ukraine.

According to Der Spiegel, Germany has given Ukraine 18 Leopard 2 tanks. Many of them have since been damaged in battle or significantly worn out from extended combat use.

Last winter, Ukraine's forces began using Leopard 2 tanks defensively as long-range artillery instead of attack vehicles, Agence France-Presse reported at the time.

Ukraine has received several dozen Leopard 2 tanks from several countries, including Portugal, Canada, Poland, and the Netherlands. At least 18 were delivered by Germany.

Oryx, the open source intelligence site. has confirmed that Ukraine has lost one Leopard 1A5, 18 Leopard 2A4s and 11 Leopard 2A6s.

A captured Marder, a German-made infantry fighting vehicle, was also put on display.

A captured infantry fighting vehicle made by Germany. Ulf Mauder/picture alliance via Getty Images

The Marder has been in service since 1971. It was notably used by Ukrainian forces to breach Russian lines and defenses during their counteroffensive.

Vehicles from the UK were also featured, like the Husky...

A man snaps a photo of a Husky with bullet holes in its windshield. Contributor/Getty Images

Some of the vehicles can be seen displayed with a NATO symbol. Russia continues to amplify its rhetoric that NATO's supplying of weapons to Ukraine essentially constitutes a war between the treaty organization and Moscow.

... a Saxon AT-105...

A Saxon AT-105 seized by Russia. Ali Cura/Anadolu via Getty Images

Dubbed, the "battle-taxi," the Saxon is a 44 vehicle that's low-cost and armored. Ukraine has been using these since before the start of the war.

... and the Mastiff, a heavily armored six-wheel drive vehicle that can typically carry eight troops.

A woman takes a photo next to a UK-made Mastiff. Contributor/Getty Images

The Mastiff counts among the 120 armored vehicles first sent by the UK to Ukraine in 2022.

The trophy exhibition also showed a Turkish Kirpi...

A mine-resistant, armor-protected Kirpi. Russian Ministry of Defense

The Turkish-made MRAP is an armored troop carrier, and 50 of them have been delivered to Ukraine.

... a Swedish Combat Vehicle 90...

A Swedish-made CV90 is seen behind a fence. Ali Cura/Anadolu via Getty Images

Sweden donated 50 of these armored fighting vehicles to Ukraine when the war began.

... a Finnish Patria Pasi armored personnel carrier...

A Finnish Patria Pasi APC sits in front of an information placard. Ali Cura/Anadolu via Getty Images

It's not immediately clear how many of these are deployed by Ukraine, but around 10 of them have been reported to be lost in combat in Ukraine, per Oryx.

... and the lightweight French AMX-10 RC fighting vehicle.

A French AMX-10 RC tank with a seemingly fresh paint job is shown off on Victory Park. Ali Cura/Anadolu via Getty Images

AMX-10RCs are generally considered armored reconnaissance vehicles, not tanks. They entered service in Ukraine in mid-2023 and are typically meant to provide fire support and push through weaknesses in the front lines. These vehicles also usually have large-caliber main guns, heavy-duty armor, and tracks.

The AMX-10RC has a 105-millimeter main gun and day-night optics. Oleksii Reznikov, then the Ukrainian minister of defense, described the vehicle as a "sniper rifle on ... fast wheels," after test-driving one of the vehicles.

However, they were reported to have performed poorly when used at the front of columns in Ukraine's counteroffensive. Oryx reports that at least four such vehicles have been lost in combat.

In January 2023, France promised to send Ukraine some AMX-10 RC scout vehicles. In February, Ukraine received 14 of the light tanks. In November, France said it would send a further 40.

According to Oryx, Ukraine has lost at least four of AMX-10 RC vehicles.

Non-NATO weapons were also on display. Like this Australian Bushmaster Protected Mobility vehicle...

A visitor takes a selfie in front of an Australian Bushmaster PMV, the left-most vehicle. Contributor/Getty Images

Australia has sent around 120 Bushmasters to Ukraine, and around 12 were reported by Oryx to be destroyed or damaged. In the first year of the war, Ukrainian troops said they were using the four-wheel drives as infantry fighting vehicles because they didn't have enough of the latter to go around.

... what Russia indicates is a Czech BMP-2...

A BMP-2 fighting vehicle from Czechia. Ali Cura/Anadolu via Getty Images

The BMP-2 is a Soviet amphibious infantry fighting vehicle that was typically produced in the 1980s.

... and South African Mamba 4x4 armored personnel carriers.

South African Mamba MK2 EE, likely donated from Estonia. Ali Cura/Anadolu via Getty Images

At least seven of these vehicles were donated to Ukraine by Estonia in 2022.

An array of smaller arms from countries like Bulgaria, Israel, and Czechia were also spotted at the exhibition.

Mines and grenades from various NATO countries on display. Ali Cura/Anadolu via Getty Images

Russia showed off everything from mines to grenades to scopes at the Victory Park exhibition.

Russia has long sought to portray the war in Ukraine as a battle against NATO itself, and it's telling that the exhibition is being held at Victory Park, which commemorates World War II.

A billboard with a masked Russian soldier. Contributor/Getty Images

The opening also comes as the US approved a $61 billion tranche of long-awaited aid to Ukraine, which Kyiv repeatedly said is vital to its fight against Russia.

Moscow has decried it as insignificant to the war's outcome, saying Russia is starting to win the war and the renewed inflow of US aid won't make a difference.

Meanwhile, international observers and Western authorities say Russia has been taking heavy casualties since the war began, at one point in the winter suffering a reported 1,000 losses per day.

But reports by think tanks like the Royal United Services Institute say Moscow can likely sustain these losses for years as it boosts its recruitment drive and production capacities.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Pittsburg elementary students get inspired about medicine in new health facility tour

PITTSBURG, Kan.  Lakeside Elementary School students take a peek into the health field by touring the John Parolo Education Center.



More than 70 fourth graders listened and learned about four different health career paths. Students read books, asked professionals questions, watched videos, and participated in hands-on activities.

The tour focused on different parts of the clinic, diagnostic imaging, the laboratory and behavioral health.

Executive director Rebecca Turnbull says the goal is to inspire students by exploring.

Thinking about what that future career might be, they obviously dont have to commit to a career at this point but its a great time to explore and really take part in hands on activities that show them what different parts of those jobs are like, said Turnbull.

Turnbull says the fourth graders were also the first group of elementary students to tour the new facility.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNF/KODE | FourStatesHomepage.com.
The posturing liberal progressive leaders are now having to face up to the consequences of their policies, which do not have strong electoral support.

On the latest Planet Normal podcast, which you can listen to using the audio player above, columnists Liam Halligan and Allison Pearson discuss why they think the progressive Left are losing the support of ordinary voters in Scotland and Wales, and why it could spread UK wide.

The resignation speech of First Minister Humza Yousaf, especially his claim that issues become part of a culture war every issue seems to descend into a toxic culture war, did not impress Allison: if anyone was responsible for toxic culture wars, its been Humza Yousaf.

I think the devolved countries, Scotland and Wales, have become fiefdoms of the progressive Left, and they are absolutely splenetic about the populist Right. But the chickens are very much coming home to roost now in all these countries... People like Leo Varadkar, Nicola Sturgeon, Humza Yousaf are being confronted with the consequences of their own policies and the only answer they have now is to shout down people like us. Apparently we are populists who are far Right, but you never hear the other side described as far Left.

Liam agrees with Allisons analysis of the devolved nations and thinks the Scottish National Party focused too much on younger voters: I think the SNP disappeared down a kind of wormhole of woke in an ill-advised bid, I would say, to attract younger voters. And not that we dont want young people to vote and be engaged in politics, but you cant assume that younger voters, by definition, vote a certain way.

Listen to Planet Normal, a weekly Telegraph podcast featuring news and views from beyond the bubble, using the audio player above or subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your preferred podcast app

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.
Photo by Jerod MacDonald-Evoy | Arizona Mirror

Just after the Arizona Senate voted to repeal a territorial-era abortion ban on Wednesday, Planned Parenthood of Arizona filed a motion asking the state Supreme Court to issue a stay, delaying the implementation of the ban until after the repeal takes effect.

The near-total abortion ban was originally implemented in 1864 and then made unenforceable in 1973, when the U.S. Supreme Court gave women the right to abortion via Roe v. Wade.

After the court voted to repeal Roe in June 2022, it became unclear whether the 1864 law would go into effect, or if a 15-week ban passed by Republicans just months earlier would supersede it.

On April 9, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that the 1864 law, which carries with it a 2 to 5 year prison sentence for doctors who perform an abortion for any other reason than saving a womans life, trumps that 2022 law.

The ban wont go into effect until June 27, at the earliest. But the repeal of the ban, which Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs is expected to sign on Thursday, wont take effect until 90 days after the end of the states legislative session. The legislative session doesnt have a set end date, but typically the last business of the body is completing the state budget, with a deadline of June 30.

But theres no certainty that the session would end once a budget is done. Last year, the budget was completed in May, but the session dragged on until the end of July.

In its motion on Wednesday, Planned Parenthood of Arizona asked the state Supreme Court to stay its final mandate on the 160-year-old ban until after the repeal takes effect, to avoid a temporary pause in the availability of abortions in the state between the implementation of law and its repeal.

The state Supreme Court wrote on April 9 that its decision largely rested on deferral to the Legislatures intent, citing its unwavering and unqualified affirmative maintenance of a statutory ban on elective abortion since 1864.

Planned Parenthood argued in its filing that, after the Senates vote Wednesday to repeal, the Legislature no longer maintains unwavering support for the ban, and that the high court should defer to that decision.

The Courts April 9 ruling was both tragic and wrong, but it rested on trying to discern legislative intent, Angela Florez, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Arizona, said in a statement. The Legislature has now spoken and clearly does not want the 1864 ban to be enforced. We hope the Court stays true to its word and respects this long-overdue legislative action, by quickly granting our motion to end the uncertainty over the future of abortion in Arizona.

Arizonas Supreme Court has already rejected a request from Democrats to reconsider its April 9 decision, and Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes on Tuesday asked the justices to delay their final ruling by 90 more days, until her office decides whether to seek review by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Planned Parenthood wrote in its motion that, while some prosecutors might voluntarily decide not to enforce the abortion ban, the threat of prosecution could have a chilling effect on the availability of the procedure.

The Courts issuance of the mandate will eventually trigger a months-long blackout period during which a since-repealed nineteenth century near-total abortion ban will technically be enforceable, Andy Gaona, an attorney for Planned Parenthood Arizona, wrote in the motion. Health care providers will be understandably reluctant to provide abortion care for fear of current or future prosecution, and pregnant patients will be left distressed, confused, and without access to critical care.

Mayes has already promised not to allow county attorneys to prosecute doctors for violating the abortion ban, and has also vowed that her office wont prosecute anyone for defying it.

The political branches have now spoken in bipartisan fashion to reject a reality in which the Territorial Ban controls, and their voice demands this Courts recognition and deference, Gaona wrote.

While a handful of Republicans sided with Democrats to repeal the ban, the vast majority of legislative Republicans voted against the measure, and some of them excoriated the members of their own party that voted to repeal.

The repeal passed through the House on April 24, by a vote of 32-28, with Republican Reps. Matt Gress of Phoenix, Tim Dunn of Yuma and Justin Wilmeth of Phoenix siding with Democrats.

The Senate on Wednesday voted 16-14 to repeal the ban, with Republican Sens. Shawnna Bolick of Phoenix and T.J. Shope of Coolidge voting alongside Democrats.

Apart from a weeklong period in 2022 between the trial courts order and the court of appeals emergency stay order, abortion care has been continuously available in Arizona for over 50 years, Gaona wrote. Issuing the mandate now would needlessly disrupt that status quo for several months until the repeal goes into effect. That disruption, although temporary, would have grave consequences that will almost certainly result in additional litigation meant to obtain a stop gap until the repeal takes effect.

In its statement, Planned Parenthood promised to continue providing abortions to those who need them through 15 weeks of gestation until the last possible legal moment.

In the November election, Arizona voters are expected to weigh in on a pro-abortion initiative that would enshrine the procedure as a right in the state Constitution.

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The post Planned Parenthood asks AZ Supreme Court to block the 1864 abortion ban until repeal takes effect appeared first on Arizona Mirror.
(WFRV)  The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources announced that a rare plant that has not been seen in Wisconsin since 1911 has recently been rediscovered.

According to the DNR, a population of Maryland Senna was rediscovered in southwest Wisconsin by George Riggin, a trained volunteer for the DNRs Rare Plant Monitoring Program, and Bridget Rathman, DNR Habitat Biologist.

This discovery and others are featured in the Rare Plant Monitoring Programs 2023 Annual Report. Almost 15% of Wisconsins 2,366 native plant species are considered rare, meaning they are listed as endangered, threatened, or of special concern.

In 2023, more than 50 trained volunteers from around the state submitted 178 reports of rare plants, including 31 populations in areas of Wisconsin where they had not been documented before.

I am continuously impressed by the botanical knowledge, enthusiasm, and commitment to conservation that we see from our volunteers. Their efforts play a significant role in helping us understand the state of rare plants in Wisconsin and inform how we might conserve them, said Jessica Ross, DNR Rare Plant Monitoring Program Coordinator.

Since 2013, the DNRs Rare Plant Monitoring Program has trained and sent volunteers to check on the health and size of rare native plant populations in nearly every county in the state.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFRV Local 5 - Green Bay, Appleton.
Poland's presidency over EU to focus on reconstruction and European integration of Ukraine  Polish President

Polish President Andrzej Duda has said that Poland's presidency of the Council of the EU in the first half of 2025 should focus on deepening EU contacts with the United States and the integration of Ukraine and Moldova into the EU.

Source: Duda in a speech on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Poland's accession to the EU, quoted by Ukrinform

Details: Duda stressed that Poland's priorities during its EU presidency should be cooperation between the EU and the US, support for the integration of Ukraine, Moldova and the Western Balkans into the EU, as well as energy transformation and climate protection.

He also noted that Poland should organise two major summits during its presidency of the Council of the EU: EU-US and EU-Ukraine, which will be dedicated to the reconstruction of Ukraine and its accession into the European community.

Duda expressed confidence that, due to the efforts and assistance of Poland in particular, Ukraine will be able to defend its sovereignty and independence and will be a reliable partner for Poland in the future.

Previously: In his address on the 20th anniversary of the country's accession to the EU, Duda focused on the positive aspects of Poland's membership but also included critical remarks ahead of the European elections.

Background:

On Tuesday, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of their EU membership, 10 EU states raised their flags outside the European Commission headquarters.

On 1 May 2004, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia joined the EU.

At the time of the accession of the 10 states, only 15 countries were members of the EU, so this enlargement is called the "big bang".

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Police: 22-year-old charged in fatal Providence triple shooting last summer. What to know.

PROVIDENCE  A 22-year-old Pawtucket man was arraigned Thursday after he was accused of participating in a drive-by shooting that killed one man, severely injured two others and brought a spray of bullets to an area of the Chad Brown housing complex on a summer evening last year.

Nathan Rodrigues faced a first-degree murder charge and nine other criminal counts in the death of 33-year-old Jhensen Baldayac  whose family members describe as a devoted father who delivered Amazon packages and was visiting his brother the night of the shooting.

Rodrigues is also accused of shooting and severely injuring 35-year-old Jack Baldayac and 28-year-old Jean Carlos Rodriguez on the night of Aug. 3, 2023.

Nathan Rodrigues, 22, of Pawtucket, faces a charge of first-degree murder and nine other criminal counts in the shooting death of Jhensen Baldayac.

Providence police announced Rodrigues' arrest Thursday morning and the defendant made an appearance before Judge Stephen M. Isherwood in District Court, Providence.

What happened the night of the shooting

The shooting happened on June Street, on the edge of the Chad Brown housing complex.

It left bullet casings in the street, and hours later police found a vehicle on Goddard Street. The vehicle, which police said was involved in the shooting, was pocked with bullets.

Providence police investigators process a crime scene on June Street at the Chad Brown housing complex on Aug. 3, 2023, after three young men were shot.

Jhensen Baldayac's cousin Angelica Jasso, 34, of Providence, said Thursday that she had hoped that media coverage of the arrest would shed greater light on the violence and lead to more awareness of her slain cousin.

Jasso said she had driven to the scene soon after the shooting and learned that Jhensen Baldayac had been outside in the company of children when the shooting had taken place.

Baldayac, of Cranston, had gone to visit family members at the housing complex, Jasso said.

"He was literally at the wrong place at the wrong time," she said.

Jhensen Baldayac, 33, of Cranston, was killed last summer in a drive-by shooting at the Chad Brown housing complex.

Jhensen Baldayac had spent time in prison but had turned a page after his time at the Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston.

He delivered Amazon packages and studied at the Community College of Rhode Island, Jasso said, adding that he took business management and marketing classes.

He had become a devout Muslim in prison and prayed regularly at a local mosque, she said.

Angelica Jasso, 34, of Providence, and Jessica Jasso, 31, of Providence, say that their cousin Jhensen Baldayac, a former convict, had turned a page, was focused on being a father and had nothing to do with a Pawtucket man now charged with his murder.

The young father had four children, ages 13, 11, 2 and 1. The younger ones, especially, kept him busy, she said.

"There's a lot of lives, a lot of families, that are hurt right now," she said.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Police charge Nathan Rodrigues in fatal 2023 Providence shooting
AUBURN, Ala. (WRBL)  The Auburn Police Department arrested a man within hours of a witness reporting seeing an unknown person breaking into and entering apartment units; causing substantial damage inside.

Auburn Police arrested 39-year-old Salvatore Giusppe Guerrero on felony warrants charging him with two counts of third-degree burglary and two counts of first-degree criminal mischief.

Guerreros arrest happened after the police department received a burglary report on Monday. A person reported to police that an unknown individual broke into two empty apartment units on West Longleaf Drive between April 26 and April 29. The person also told officers the suspect caused significant damage inside both units.

Police developed Guerrero as a suspect and found him several hours after the police department was alerted about the incident. After an investigation, Guerrero was arrested on felony warrants charging him with two counts of third-degree burglary and two counts of first-degree criminal mischief.

After his arrest, officers took Guerrero to the Lee County Jail, where he is held on a $12,000 bond.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WRBL.
Police arrest suspects accused of stealing mail from 53 victims in Sacramento, Placer counties

The Lincoln Police Department arrested seven suspects from across the capital region on suspicion of stealing mail from more than 50 victims.

Lincoln police officers conducted three enforcement operations in which the arrests were made from March to April. The arrested suspects included a man from Elk Grove and Lodi.

Each person arrested by police had stolen mail with them, police said.

The mail was taken from Sacramento, Olivehurst and Lincoln, police said.

Police have offered many tips to keep mail safe, including checking your mailbox daily to reduce the risk of theft.
A significant development has emerged in the ongoing saga surrounding Andretti Global's bid to enter Formula 1.

Twelve members of the US Congress have sent a letter to Liberty Media, F1's commercial rights holder, expressing strong concerns about the rejection of the American team's application.

In January 2023, Andretti Global, partnered with automotive giant General Motors, submitted an official bid to join the F1 grid as early as the 2024 season.

While the FIA, F1's regulatory body, approved their technical capabilities last October, their application was ultimately rejected by Formula One Management (FOM) earlier this year.

FOM cited the lack of value for Formula 1 that an eleventh team would bring to the sport and its skepticism towards Andrettis ability to be a competitive participant.

It also feared that accepting an additional team would risk placing a financial burden on F1s race promoters.

Read also:

F1 legend Mario Andretti, a vocal advocate for the American familys bid, visited Capitol Hill this week and met with Congressman John James, one of the twelve bipartisan signatories to the letter.

The US Congress members, in their letter addressed to Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei, raise critical questions about the true motives behind Andrettis rejection, hinting at potential anti-competitive practices.

"We write to express our concerns with apparent anti-competitive actions that could prevent two American companies, Andretti Global and General Motors (GM), from producing and competing in Formula 1."

We are grateful to the bipartisan members of Congress for their support in challenging this anti-competitive behavior. We remain committed to bringing the first US works team and power unit to F1 and to giving American fans a home team to root for. It is our hope that this pic.twitter.com/CyqqDhDzoa  Andretti Global (@AndrettiGlobal) May 1, 2024

The letter further emphasizes the potential violation of US antitrust laws, stating that the rejection appears to be driven by the current line-up of European Formula 1 race teams, many of which are affiliated with foreign automobile manufacturers that directly compete with American automotive companies like GM. It is unfair and wrong to attempt to block American companies from joining Formula 1, which could also violate American antitrust laws.

The letter also underscores the principle of a meritocratic entry into Formula 1.

Participation of all Formula 1 teams including any American teams should be based on merit and not just limited to protecting the current line-up of race teams.

"This is especially true considering Formula 1's growing presence in the United States, including three Grand Prix motoring [sic] racing events in Miami, Florida; Austin, Texas; and Las Vegas, Nevada.

The 12 members of Congress have asked for Liberty's responses to the following questions by May 3rd.

1. Under what authority does FOM proceed to reject admission of Andretti Global? What is the rationale for FOM's rejection, especially with respect to Andretti Global and its partner GM, potentially being the first American-owned and America-built race team

2. The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 outlaws unreasonable restraints on market competition to produce the best outcome for the American consumer. How does FOM's denial of Andretti Global and GM, American-owned companies, square with Sherman Act requirements, since the decision will benefit incumbent European racing teams and their foreign automobile manufacturing affiliates?

3. We understand that GM intends to re-introduce its Cadillac brand into the European market, which would support thousands of good-paying American automotive jobs, especially with Formula 1's worldwide audience and its halo effect on its teams and sponsors. How much did GM's and Andretti's entrance into racing competition taking a portion of the racing market share and GM's entry into the European market taking market share each play into the decision to deny admission to the Andretti Global team, given the public outcry of incumbent Formula 1 teams against a new American competitor?

We continue to exercise oversight on this matter, and with the appropriate Federal regulators, to ensure that any potential violations of U.S. anticompetition law are expeditiously investigated and pursued, concludes the letter.

The intervention by US Congress members clearly signifies a significant escalation in the Andretti-GM saga.

It demands transparency from FOM regarding their decision-making process and potentially paves the way for legal action if anti-competitive practices are confirmed.

The future of Andretti Global's F1 ambitions remains uncertain, but the involvement of Congress injects a new layer of complexity and potential legal ramifications into the situation.

Ill let you figure out if this is cartel-type behaviour; if this is anti-competition, monopolistic-type behaviour, Republican Congressman for Michigan John James told NBC News.

From the outside looking in, one can ask: Is this a money grab?.

One can ask: Is Formula 1, is Liberty Media kicking the can down the road to get a more juicy deal for themselves, so that they can go from $200 million to $1 billion dollars extracted from Andretti-Cadillac.

Meanwhile, the commitment has been shown by Andretti-Cadillac, I think, to the tune of millions of dollars a month in preparing for the standards of complying with everything.

We hope that we can resolve this to do business together for our mutual benefit, but particularly for America. But if not, we will have our questions answered.

Because we have an obligation to protect the American consumer, to protect American companies, and that is our first allegiance. And those who are seeking to take advantage will be held accountable.

Its not just supporting Andretti. Its about supporting Americans.

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
Joe Biden said that pro-Palestine protests would not change his stance on Israel as he criticised the chaos and violence breaking out across US campuses.

The US President, speaking at the White House, said he did not oppose peaceful protest, but condemned activists who have destroyed university property, intimidated Jewish students, and forced the cancellation of lessons.

Theres the right to protest, but not the right to cause chaos, he said shortly after an encampment at Californias UCLA was cleared by police in a pre-dawn raid this morning.

People have the right to get an education, the right to get a degree, the right to walk across the campus safely without fear of being attacked.

He added: There should be no place on any campus, no place in America, for anti-Semitism, or threats of violence against Jewish students.

Asked by a reporter if the demonstrations, which have seen hundreds of activists arrested at campuses across the country, had changed his stance on Israel, Mr Biden responded: No.

Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, claimed Mr Biden was failing to stop a radical left revolution taking place before heading to a New York court for his hush money trial.

Mr Biden made his intervention shortly after a clash between law enforcement and protesters at UCLA, when police dismantled a pro-Palestine encampment.

Officers stormed the university in the early hours of Thursday morning, arresting dozens of students while reportedly deploying stun grenades and rubber bullets.

Around 40 students made their last stand at the Powell Library in the north of the campus, where they linked arms as they were surrounded by riot police.



Some apparently tried to fortify their position by piling up metal barricades, pallets and traffic cones.

The encampment, which was the scene of violent clashes on Tuesday night when counter-protesters attacked the pro-Palestine group with fireworks, was left littered with collapsed tents and abandoned sleeping bags.

Police pin down a protester as they clear the camp - Anadolu/Anadolu

At least one police officer was injured from the confrontation with activists, a senior official told US media.

The source added that dozens of protesters had been arrested, and that it was not immediately clear whether any of them had suffered injuries.

Police dismantled the demonstration roughly three hours after launching their raid. Around 100 protesters, exiled to the edge of the destroyed encampment, chanted: We will rebound.

UCLA said classes would take place remotely on Thursday and Friday owing to an emergency on campus. It warned students to avoid the protest area.

Police break through the protesters' barricade - Jae C. Hong/AP

Police face off with protesters - ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP

Isaac Herzog, the Israeli president, said on Thursday that US universities had been contaminated by hatred and anti-Semitism following the wave of pro-Palestine protests.

Mr Herzog sent a message of support to Jewish students amid a dramatic resurgence in anti-Semitism and following the hostilities and intimidation on campuses across the US in particular.

We see prominent academic institutions, halls of history, culture, and education contaminated by hatred and anti-Semitism fuelled by arrogance and ignorance, he continued.

We watch in horror as the atrocities of Oct 7 against Israel are celebrated and justified.

05:51 PM BST

Thats all for now

Thanks for following our live coverage of the student protests that have spread across the US. This live blog is now closed.

05:51 PM BST

Columbia: Occupied building is a crime scene

Columbia University has said Hamilton Hall, the building taken over by pro-Palestine protesters on Tuesday, is an active crime scene being investigated by New York police.

The activists were removed from the building and arrested by police hours after occupying it.

04:50 PM BST

Student journalists take great personal risk covering protests

The Pulitzer Prize Board has paid tribute to student journalists who are covering pro-Palestine protests at campuses across the US at great personal risk.

It said in a statement: [We] would like to recognise the tireless efforts of student journalists across our nations college campuses, who are covering protests and unrest in the face of great personal and academic risk.

We would also like to acknowledge the extraordinary real-time reporting of student journalists at Columbia University, where the Pulitzer Prizes are housed, as the New York Police Depart was called onto campus on Tuesday night.

In the spirit of press freedom, these students worked to document a major national news event under difficult and dangerous circumstances and at risk of arrest.

04:44 PM BST

Biden dismisses calls to send in National Guard

Asked if the National Guard should be sent into universities to break up pro-Palestine protests, Joe Biden responded: No.

04:15 PM BST

No place for hate speech or violence

Joe Biden continued:

There should be no place on any campus, no place in America, for anti-Semitism, or threats of violence against Jewish students. There is no place for hate speech or violence of any kind, whether its anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, or discrimination against Arab Americans or Palestinian Americans. Its simply wrong. No place for racism in America. Its all wrong. Its un-American. I understand people have strong feelings and deep convictions. And America, we respect the right and protect the right for them to express that. But it doesnt mean anything goes. It needs to be done without violence, without destruction, without hate and within the law.

04:11 PM BST

Biden: Protesters have been intimidating others

Joe Biden accused protesters of threatening and intimidating others as he declared that America was not a lawless country.

He said: This isnt a moment for politics. Its moment for clarity. Let me be clear... violent protest is not protected. peaceful protest is.

Destroying property is not a peaceful protest. Its against the law. Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down, campuses forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations, none of this as a peaceful protest.

04:08 PM BST

Pictures: Police storm UCLA pro-Palestine protest

Law enforcement officials stand in front of demonstrators, as they try to enter UCLA's protest encampment - REUTERS/Aude Guerrucci

Police advance on pro-Palestinian demonstrators in an encampment on the UCLA campus - AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

Police make an arrest as they face-off with pro-Palestinian students at UCLA

03:56 PM BST

Biden to address protests

Joe Biden is expected to address the student protests in a briefing from the White House soon. You can follow the stream and our updates here.

03:03 PM BST

Police begin clearing Portland University protest

Police are starting to clear a library at Oregons Portland State University, which was occupied and barricaded by pro-Palestine protesters on Monday.

Those who do not leave voluntarily will be arrested and charged with second-degree trespass, police said in a message broadcast to demonstrators.

02:58 PM BST

How police cleared the UCLA protest  in pictures

Police officers took around three hours to clear a pro-Palestine encampment at UCLA early this morning, arresting dozens of protesters under the cover of darkness. You can see how the demonstration was broken up in our gallery.

Demonstrators line up behind makeshift shields as police prepare to advance on them on the UCLA campus - AP Photo/Ethan Swope

02:46 PM BST

What happened to the arrested protesters?

Police have loaded protesters onto buses to remove them from the UCLA campus, following a practice used by officers at the Columbia and the University of Texas, among others.

A large gathering of around 100 demonstrators is continuing to chant from the edge of the cleared encampment, where they are being watched by police.

02:38 PM BST

Watch: Police dismantle protest in pre-dawn raid

02:35 PM BST

Its going to get worse and worse

Donald Trump claimed the justice department should stop going after him and focus on tackling the radical left lunatics at student protests instead.

Moments before heading into a New York court for his hush money trial, the former president said of the demonstrations:

This is a movement from the left, not from the right. The right is not your problem, despite what law enforcement likes to say. The FBI director said that he worries about the right now, dont worry about the right, the rights fine. Worry about the left. This is a movement from the left. These are radical left lunatics, and they got to be stopped now because its going to go on and on and its going to get worse and worse. They take over countries and we are not letting them take over the USA. Were not letting the radical left morons take over this country. You cant let that happen. And the law enforcement and people at DOJ, instead of going after Donald Trump, they ought to look at whats happening in their own offices. Because offices, you loaded up with radical left people that want this country to fail and were not going to let this country fail.

02:26 PM BST

Reports: Police officer injured while clearing protest

At least one police officer was injured as they dismantled the UCLA encampment this morning, a senior official has told US media.

They added that dozens of protests had been arrested, and that it was not immediately clear whether any of them had suffered injuries.

02:22 PM BST

Herzog: Campuses contaminated by anti-Semitism

Isaac Herzog, the Israeli president, claimed that US universities had been contaminated by hatred and anti-Semitism as pro-Palestine protests swept across campuses.

Mr Herzog said he was issuing a message of support to Jewish communities amid a dramatic resurgence in anti-Semitism and following the hostilities and intimidation against Jewish students on campuses across the US in particular.

We see prominent academic institutions, halls of history, culture, and education contaminated by hatred and anti-Semitism fuelled by arrogance and ignorance, he continued.

We watch in horror as the atrocities of October 7th against Israel are celebrated and justified.

02:19 PM BST

Loud blasts heard as police cleared encampment

Police used stun grenades as they cleared pro-Palestine protesters from the encampment at UCLA in California on Thursday.

Loud blasts from the non-lethal weapons could be heard in footage of the pre-dawn operation, which began hours after officers threatened to arrest protesters if they did not disperse.

The standoff comes a night after the UCLA encampment was attacked by counter-protesters wielding sticks and throwing fireworks.

The demonstration is part of a nationwide college protest movement against Israels military campaign in Gaza.

02:02 PM BST

Trump: This is a revolution

Donald Trump claimed there was a radical left revolution taking place on student campuses before returning to his hush money trial this morning.

The former president, who is due back in court within minutes, wrote on his Truth Social platform: This is a radical left revolution taking place in our country.

Where is Crooked Joe Biden. Where is Governor Newscum [Gavin Newsom, Governor of California]?

The danger to our country is from the left, not from the right.

01:53 PM BST

Watch: Police use stun grenade to clear UCLA protests

01:52 PM BST

Remaining protesters gather by Powell Library

Much of the UCLA campus has been cleared of protesters, US media reports. Those that remain have linked arms in front of the Powell Library as riot police attempt to clear them.

01:23 PM BST

UCLA protesters ask for helmets, gas masks and knee pads  but no bagels

Pro-Palestine protesters embedded at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have appealed for helmets, goggles and zip ties  but no bagels or coffee  amid a tense standoff with police, writes Ed McConnell.

Their encampment came under attack on Tuesday night, with acts of horrific violence reported by the university.

In the wake of the scenes, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), who want the university to cut financial ties with Israel, released a list of supplies needed, some labelled urgent and all required to be BDS compliant  BDS, or Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions, is a movement shunning Israeli companies.

Headlamps, goggles, gas masks, skater helmets, shields, wood for barriers, knee pads and utility gloves without reinforced knuckles, especially for small hands were requested, alongside vegan and gluten-free food.

Read more here.

Police officers detain a protester at UCLA on Thursday morning - Mike Blake/REUTERS

01:10 PM BST

US universities contaminated by hatred, anti-Semitism, says Israeli president

Israels President Isaac Herzog has criticised US universities for campus unrest over Israels war in Gaza, saying institutions were contaminated by hatred and anti-Semitism.

We see prominent academic institutions, halls of history, culture, and education contaminated by hatred and anti-Semitism fuelled by arrogance and ignorance, he said on Thursday.

We watch in horror as the atrocities of October 7th against Israel are celebrated and justified, Herzog said in a statement offering support to Jewish students across these universities.

01:04 PM BST

Sciences Po rejects protesters demand to review Israel ties

Paris Sciences Po university has rejected demands from protesters to review its relations with Israeli universities, its interim director Jean Basseres has said.

The comments came after townhall meeting with students that was one of the conditions for protesters to call off their demonstrations over Gaza last week.

Many were also asking for the university to cut all ties with Israel, and Mr Basseres said he was aware that refusing to hold such a working group could anger some protesters.

Im calling on all to show a sense of responsibility, he said, urging all to allow exams to go on.

The elite political sciences university would work on how best to organise internal debate on major topics, he said.

The last ties that should be severed are the ones between universities, said Arancha Gonzalez, who heads Science Pos School of International Affairs. The university already has rules to review partnerships, she added.

12:48 PM BST

Police make 90 arrests at Dartmouth College

Police in New Hampshire have said 90 people were arrested as they dismantled a protest camp at Dartmouth College.

Video from the university showed officers leading pro-Palestinian protesters away.

12:38 PM BST

What are the protesters demands?

Students have rallied or set up tent encampments at dozens of schools across the US in recent days, calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and demanding schools divest from companies that support Israels government.

In rare cases, university officials and protest leaders have struck agreements to restrict the disruption to campus life and upcoming commencement ceremonies.

At Brown University in Rhode Island, administrators agreed to consider a vote to divest from Israel in October  apparently the first US college to agree to such a demand.

The demonstrations across the country have been met with counter-protesters accusing them of fomenting anti-Jewish hatred.

The pro-Palestinian side, which includes Jews opposed to Israeli actions in Gaza, say they are being unfairly branded as antisemitic for criticising Israels government and expressing support for human rights.

12:29 PM BST

Protesters rebuilt encampment after Tuesday nights attack

Demonstrators rebuilt the makeshift barriers around their tents after they were attacked by counter-protesters yesterday night.

By Wednesday afternoon a small city sprang up inside the reinforced encampment, full of hundreds of people and tents on the campus quad.

Some protesters said Muslim prayers as the sun set over the campus, while others chanted were not leaving or handed out goggles and surgical masks.

Others wore helmets and headscarves, and discussed the best ways to handle pepper spray or tear gas as someone sang over a megaphone.

A few constructed homemade shields out of plywood in case they clashed with police forming skirmish lines elsewhere on the campus. For rubber bullets, who wants a shield? a protester called out.

12:20 PM BST

Police begin detaining protesters

Police have detained several protesters as they tore down barricades at the camp.

Footage from the campus protest showed a handful of people being led away, with their wrists bound with cable ties.

Law enforcement officers detain a protester at UCLA - Mike Blake/REUTERS

12:12 PM BST

Pictured: Protesters spray police with fire extinguishers

A demonstrator aims a fire extinguisher at police as they try to storm the protest encampment - Aude Guerrucci/REUTERS

Protesters shone torches to try and fend off the advancing police - ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP

12:08 PM BST

UCLA urges students to avoid area around protest camp

UCLA students have been urged to avoid Dickinson Plaza, where the encampment has been fortified.

Police have ordered an evacuation of Dickson Plaza due to an unlawful assembly, UCLA said in a safety alert. DO NOT re-enter the area of Dickson Plaza & follow the direction of public safety personnel.

12:06 PM BST

University urged to protect students from police

Police had been criticised for being slow to act during violent clashes late on Tuesday night when counter-protesters attacked an encampment of pro-Palestinian students.

There is a large police presence from multiple law enforcement agencies after outside mobs attacked peaceful student protestors last night with no one protecting them, LA City Controller Kenneth Mejia posted on X from the campus.

Students now face police. We urge UCLA & City leaders to protect students, not do more harm.

12:02 PM BST

UCLA to move to remote learning on Thursday and Friday

UCLA said classes would be remote on Thursday and Friday due to the emergency on campus, and warned students to avoid the protest area.

The sight of helmeted officers at one of the most prestigious US universities left some students dismayed.

I dont think we should have a heavy police force on campus, UCLA student Mark Torre, 22, told AFP earlier as he surveyed the scene from behind metal barriers.

But more and more, day by day, I think its a necessary evil, to at least keep safety on campus.

11:49 AM BST

Pictured: Police move in on protest camp

Police moved in to clear protesters from the encampment on the UCLA campus early on Thursday morning - ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP

Police for hours warned protesters they faced arrest if they did not comply with an order to disperse - ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP

A person inside the encampment waves a Palestinian flag from the barricades - ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP

11:38 AM BST

300-500 protesters remain in reinforced protest camp

Between 300 to 500 protesters were hunkered down inside the protest camp at UCLA, local television station KABC-TV estimated.

Around 2,000 more had gathered outside the barricades in support, it said.

Some protesters had been seen donning hard hats, goggles and respirator masks in anticipation of the siege a day after the university declared the encampment unlawful.

Empty buses were parked near the university to take away protesters who refuse to comply with the order to disperse.

Police break through protest barricades - Jae C. Hong/AP

A symbol at the UCLA camp showing the swastika in the Star of David.

Police hold a demonstrator as they clear the camp - Anadolu/Anadolu

11:34 AM BST

Pre-dawn police raid is latest flashpoint in protests

The pre-dawn police crackdown at UCLA is the latest flashpoint amid mounting tensions on US university campuses.

Protests over Israels conduct of the war in Gaza have led to clashes across the country.

The chaotic scenes at UCLA came after New York police burst into a building occupied by anti-war protesters at Columbia University on Tuesday night, breaking up a demonstration that had paralysed the school.

11:29 AM BST

Police begin dismantling protest camp

Police have begun removing barricades at a pro-Palestinian demonstrators encampment on the UCLA campus.

Law enforcement made a massive display, sending in columns of officers who were closing in on all sides of the encampment. Members of the crowd flashed lights in the officers faces and screamed insults at them.

Officers had threatened the protesters with arrest if they did not disperse.

11:27 AM BST

Police and protesters face off at UCLA encampment

Protesters and police were locked in a tense stand-off at UCLA as officers prepared to clear out a pro-Palestine encampment, Raoul Simons writes.

Scuffles broke out after several hundred California Highway Patrol officers in riot gear arrived at the campus in several buses at around 530am on Thursday.

Bottles and other items were thrown at police officers amid chants of Were not leaving! You dont scare us!

An order for protesters to leave or face arrest was repeated over a loudspeaker by an officer.

While some obeyed the order and left, a large number of others refused to go.

In response, police formed a line to prevent any more protesters from entering the encampment.

The stand-off comes a night after the UCLA encampment was attacked by counter-protesters wielding sticks and throwing fireworks.

The demonstration is part of a nationwide college protest movement against Israels military campaign in Gaza.

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Thursday marked the first time President Biden has directly addressed the student protests since they started in mid-April.

President Biden on Thursday addressed the intensifying pro-Palestinian protests at American colleges, telling reporters that "dissent is essential for democracy" but that "dissent must never lead to disorder."

"There's the right to protest but not the right to cause chaos," Biden said of the protests, which have seen more than 2,000 arrests nationwide. His remarks at the White House were the first since April 22, when he made brief comments to reporters.

In moments like this, there are always those who rush in to score political points. But this isnt a moment for politics. Its a moment for clarity. So let me be clear. Violent protest is not protected, peaceful protest is, Biden said.

Whats the latest?

What sparked the protests?

After decades of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians living in the occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank, Hamas, Gazas militant government, launched an attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that killed nearly 1,200 people. The incident was the largest single killing of Jews since the Holocaust, and hundreds of hostages were taken.

In response, Israels right-wing government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, declared war on Hamas and launched an invasion that has so far killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to figures from the Hamas-run Health Ministry.

The scale of Israels retaliation for the Oct. 7 attack has received international condemnation, including by President Biden, as indiscriminate and responsible for a heavy civilian death toll.

What do the protesters want?

While there is no single group organizing all of the protests across the U.S., one recurring demand that has emerged among demonstrators is for American universities to divest themselves from companies that have a financial stake in Israels government, or from companies that supply Israel with weapons or military technology.

At Columbia University, for example, protesters have often chanted the slogan Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest.

In the 1980s, students protested at colleges across the country to pressure universities to divest themselves from companies that did business with South Africas apartheid government. That movement has been credited with the downfall of the regime.

What about free speech rights?

The arrests of protesters at U.S. college campuses can be controversial. After all, the First Amendment of the Constitution protects the right to free speech. The rub, however, comes when demonstrations disrupt the rights of others or put their safety at risk.

I condemn the violence at UCLA last night, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement issued Wednesday. The law is clear: The right to free speech does not extend to inciting violence, vandalism, or lawlessness on campus. Those who engage in illegal behavior must be held accountable for their actions  including through criminal prosecution, suspension, or expulsion.

Ultimately, it may be up to the courts to decide whether colleges that have brought in police to arrest protesters have gone too far.

At Arizona State University, some students arrested over the weekend have filed a lawsuit against the school for allegedly infringing on their free speech rights.

Political fallout

With a significant portion of his political base upset over his handling of the Israel-Hamas war, Biden has walked a delicate line regarding the pro-Palestinian campus demonstrations.

On Wednesday, Biden was content to let his press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, field questions about the recent arrests at American universities.

Americans have the right to peacefully protest, as long as its within the law, Jean-Pierre said. Forcibly taking over a building is not peaceful. Its just not.

Students have the right to feel safe, they have the right to learn, they have the right to do this without disruption, she added. They have the right to attend their commencement without feeling unsafe.

On Tuesday, former President Donald Trump, who has also been critical of Netanyahu, openly mused about whether the protesters detained so far would be treated better than his own supporters who rioted at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

I wonder if whats going to happen to them will be anything comparable to what happened to J6, because theyre doing a lot of destruction, a lot of damages, a lot of people getting hurt very badly, he wrote in a post to his social media site, Truth Social. I wonder if thats going to be the same kind of treatment they gave J6. Lets see how that all works out.

Cover thumbnail photo: Ethan Swope/AP
Police entered an encampment of pro-Palestinian demonstrators at the University of California, Los Angeles, early Thursday, after protesters ignored law enforcements orders to leave the area.

Officers removed barriers and began dismantling the encampment of tents after hours of threatening arrests by way of loudspeakers if there was not a dispersal of people, The Associated Press reported. The move also came after counterprotesters attacked an area of the camp, per the news service.

Multiple protesters were detained in the aftermath, some restrained with zip ties, according to the AP. The arrests were also reported by UCLAs student newspaper, The Daily Bruin. California Highway Patrol Sgt. Alejandro Rubio later said officers helped with the arrests of over 200 protesters, who will be processed by UCLAs police department.

Violence had previously erupted at the southern California school and on Columbia Universitys campus in New York City. The New York and Los Angeles police departments have since cracked down on the demonstrations after weeks of unrest sparked by aversions to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and the subsequent humanitarian crisis.

UCLA canceled classes Wednesday due to the tension.

Police tore apart the barricade of UCLAs encampment, made of plywood, pallets, metal fences and trash dumpsters, and created an opening in the way of demonstrators tents, the AP reported. Protesters held umbrellas in a way similar to shields and faced down officers.

Multiple universities this week have sent in law enforcement to arrest hundreds of protesters as administrators declare their demonstrations illegal, while at least two schools have been able to reach deals with activists to peacefully close down their encampments.

We are frustrated by media distractions focusing on inflammatory individuals who do not represent us, Columbia protest leaders said in a statement last month. Our members have been misidentified by a politically motivated mob.

We firmly reject any form of hate or bigotry and stand vigilant against non-students attempting to disrupt the solidarity being forged among students, they continued. Palestinian, Muslim, Arab, Jewish, Black and pro-Palestinian classmates and colleagues who represent the full diversity of our country.

Many of those protesting have also faced accusations of antisemitism. House Republicans, in particular, have in recent months made combating antisemitism  especially on college campuses  a pivotal part of their messaging.

The lower chamber of Congress approved a bill Wednesday, introduced by Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), that would crack down on rising antisemitism on campuses across the nation. If passed, the legislation would require the Department of Education to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances working definition of antisemitism when enforcing antidiscrimination laws.

The Hill has reached out to UCLA for comment.

The Associated Press contributed.

Updated at 2:36 p.m. EDT.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Law-enforcement officers reportedly fired rubber bullets into a crowd of pro-Palestine protesters during a chaotic night of demonstrations at the University of California, Los Angeles.

All told, at least 209 people were arrested by Thursday morning at the encampment in Dickson Plaza, the LAPD said, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Overnight, a large group of officers from the LAPD, California Highway Patrol, and UCLAs campus police, converged descended on the encampment in full riot gear, ordering the group of over a thousand protesters to disperse. Many protesters remained, despite the warnings.

As the night went on, the officers eventually resorted to more violent methods of dispersal. In addition to using tear gas and stun grenades, police officers fired non-lethal ammunition at the protesters in the form of rubber bullets, according to the Los Angeles Times.

According to the outlet, one man was shot in the chest by a rubber bullet, after officers warned protesters to stop throwing objects at them. It is not clear if the man was among those launching projectiles at the police.

In footage obtained by CNN, an officer tells the videographer to Move back, for your safety, before turning and firing a weapon into the crowd at close range. Several videos posted to X by reporters showed officers firing what appeared to be rubber bullets at protesters.

It is still unclear how many protesters were injured on Thursday morning. UCLA Health has not yet responded to media inquiry.

The violent efforts by law enforcement to clear the encampment come one day after pro-Israel counter-protesters tried to tear down the groups barricade, shot fireworks into the encampment, and attacked four student journalists, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Local and state officials have since condemned law-enforcement groups failure to respond to the incident in a timely way, allowing for the violent clash to grow, according to the Daily Bruin. Later on Thursday morning, groups of arrested protesters were rounded up into buses marked as Los Angeles County Sheriff prisoner transport, the outlet reported.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Police say 'Gilbert Goons' is a criminal street gang  but don't expect any new charges

The "Gilbert Goons" is officially a criminal gang, but that won't lead to new criminal charges or enhance existing ones, police officials announced Thursday.

After months of investigating whether the Goons could be designated as a criminal street gang, authorities said the classification does not mean there is evidence to show members committed crimes in furtherance of gang activities.

In other words, documented beatings and assaults by the Goons, who have ravaged East Valley communities for more than a year, weren't committed to prop up the gang, authorities said.

"Each of these law enforcement agencies here today have reviewed their investigations involving identified members of this gang, and based on the information available at this time, there is not sufficient evidence to submit additional charges of participating in or assisting a criminal street gang," Gilbert Police Chief Michael Soelberg said.

Soelberg, who appeared at a news conference alongside representatives from four other East Valley law enforcement agencies and the Department of Public Safety, said the Goons are considered a hybrid gang under the law.

A hybrid gang is characterized by social media use, a mix of races among participants, a lax or absent code of conduct, affiliation of members with multiple gangs or working with rival gangs, evolving or changing gang names and an absence of specific colors or symbols, police officials said.

A traditional gang has defined leadership, formal rules, particular colors and symbols, history and a lifelong commitment by participants.

There is no legal difference between a traditional and hybrid gang, Soelberg said.

Authorities decided sometime in 2024 to call the Goons a gang, Soelberg said. But police and prosecutors since February have referred to the Goons as a gang in police reports and court documents. Investigators also identified some of the teens and adults as gang members.

Prosecutors from the Maricopa County Attorney's Office were notably absent from Thursday's news conference. County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said the gang classification could be used at sentencing.

"Just having the name Gilbert Goons associated with a criminal street gang does not mean that a particular crime was committed," Mitchell said.

Soelberg's announcement comes a day after The Arizona Republic documented 95 assaults by the Goons in 18 attacks, most of which occurred in Gilbert. Authorities have so far made only 29 arrests in those attacks.

A Dec. 14 investigation by The Republic first detailed how the Oct. 28 fatal beating of Preston Lord, 16, at a Halloween party in Queen Creek was tied to the Goons, whose members recorded their blitz-style attacks on teens in parks and parking garages, outside fast-food restaurants and at house parties.

95 assaults, 29 arrests: 'Gilbert Goons' videos raise questions on lack of police action

Queen Creek police in March arrested three juveniles and four adults in connection with Lord's death. All seven are charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping charges and all have pleaded not guilty.

Two people charged in Lord's death were arrested in January for attacks on teens in Gilbert and Mesa. Another person charged in Lord's death appears prominently in Goons attack videos but has not been arrested in connection with them.

"I've mentioned numerous times, prior to Preston Lord, there was not a mention of the Gilbert Goons in any of our investigations," Soelberg said. "After Preston Lord was killed, there was an overwhelming amount of information not only provided to us but to the media about that term and that group and that association."

In addition to the Goons, authorities on Thursday identified a second hybrid gang called the Jack Boy Mafia, which police have dogged in the East Valley for about two years.

Authorities launched a joint investigation of the Goons in January. Gilbert police said at the time investigators would "thoroughly investigate any individuals self-proclaiming or affiliated by others as being associated with the term 'Gilbert Goons.'"

Sgt. Dave Gale of Gilbert's Street Crimes Unit said Thursday the gang originated in Gilbert but members live in various East Valley cities.

"In its early stages, this hybrid gang primarily consisted of individuals who attended East Valley schools and participated in underage drinking and use of illicit drugs," he said. "The group ranged in size, and initially its members participated in a fight club type of agreement. Over time, members engaged in other criminal behaviors."

Since November 2023, detectives have conducted more than 100 interviews and have spent hundreds of hours reviewing video footage, social media posts and other evidence, Gale said.

Records: Officials have called 'Goons' a gang, identified members

For months, Soelberg has stayed silent about whether the Goons were connected to any of his department's "group teen violence cases," citing the ongoing investigation into the group.

But police reports and court filings show that Gilbert police detectives and Maricopa County prosecutors have recognized the group as a gang and identified some members before Thursday's announcement.

Since Lord's death, residents of the southeast Valley have pointed fingers at the group as being responsible for his killing. The group was mentioned repeatedly in Queen Creek police's nearly 1,100-page investigative report, including in information that Gilbert police shared.

In mid-December, Queen Creek police noted in the report that Gilbert police communicated they had investigated two Goons cases and had interacted with people believed to be part of the group.

One of those cases was the Dec. 30 brass knuckles attack on Connor Jarnagan.

Gilbert police, in mid-February, provided more information about the Goons to Queen Creek investigators, including how members make hand signs such as a "G" with one or both hands and provoke fights while sometimes armed with weapons.

A list of some Goons members and associates was also shared, including William Owen Hines, 18, who is charged in Lord's death, according to the police report. Hines was listed as an associate. Some others charged in the Lord case were named as needing to be interviewed for a potential gang identification.

Prosecutors in Maricopa County have also identified in court files the existence of the gang and said some of its members have been arrested in connection with reactivated and newly reported assault cases in the East Valley.

In April filings, prosecutors noted that at least two people charged in Gilbert assault cases were part of a "documented gang" in Arizona. One of those individuals, Tyler Freeman, 17, was cited as an associate of the Goons.

The group, according to prosecutors in another court filing, is a "dangerous group of adults and juveniles within the city of Gilbert ... and several of its members and associates have been charged with violent crimes."

Jimmy Jenkins contributed reporting.

Elena Santa Cruz is a criminal justice reporter for The Republic. Reach her at elena.santacruz@gannett.com. Follow her on X @ecsantacruz3.

Robert Anglen is an investigative reporter for The Republic. Reach him at robert.anglen@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on X @robertanglen.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Gilbert Goons identified as a criminal street gang, police say
Police killed student outside Wisconsin school after reports of someone with a weapon, official says

MOUNT HOREB, Wis. (WFRV)  Police shot and killed a Wisconsin student outside a middle school after receiving a report of someone with a weapon while class was in session Wednesday, the states attorney general said in the first law enforcement briefing on the incident that sent children fleeing amid gunshots.

Authorities in Mount Horeb had previously said an active shooter who never got inside the building was neutralized outside the school in Mount Horeb. State Attorney General Josh Kaul said at the briefing Wednesday evening that no one else was harmed and that an investigation is continuing.

Authorities at the press briefing described the student as a juvenile male but did not provide further identification.

The law enforcement officers involved have been placed on administrative leave per agency policy. The officers were wearing body cameras during the incident.

DCI is continuing to review the evidence and determine the facts of this incident. When the investigation concludes, DCI will turn over investigative reports to the Dane County District Attorney.

For panicked kids and their parents, the initial incident and the wait to be reunited was terrifying. Parents described children hiding in closets and being afraid to communicate on cell phones. One middle schooler said his class initially fled the school gym on in-line skates.

The district used Facebook posts throughout the day to give updates, with the earliest coming around 11:30 a.m. and reporting that all district schools were on lockdown. Authorities in Mount Horeb said without giving details that the alleged assailant was harmed, and witnesses described hearing gunshots and seeing dozens of children running.

More than four hours later, school buses remained lined up for blocks outside the middle school, and authorities had used police tape to surround the middle school, the nearby high school, and the playing fields between the two buildings.

An initial search of the middle school has not yielded additional suspects, a post around noon said. As importantly, we have no reports of individuals being harmed, with the exception of the alleged assailant.

Earlier, the district posted that the threat has been neutralized outside of the building but didnt elaborate on what had happened at the school in Mount Horeb, some 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of the state capital of Madison.

Jeanne Keller said she heard about five gunshots while in her shop, The Quilting Jeanne, just down the block from the campus that includes the middle school.

It was maybe like pow-pow-pow-pow, Keller told The Associated Press by phone. I thought it was fireworks. I went outside and saw all the children running  I probably saw 200 children.

One middle schooler said his class was in the school gym practicing in-line skating when they heard gunshots.

Max Kelly, 12, said his teacher told the class to leave school. He said they skated to a street, ditched their in-line skates, ran to a nearby convenience store and gas station, and hid in a bathroom.

Kelly was reunited with his parents and sat on a hillside with them early Wednesday afternoon, waiting for his younger siblings to be released from their own schools. He still wore socks, and his shoes were left behind.

I dont think anywhere is safe anymore, said his mother, 32-year-old Alison Kelly.

Police in Mount Horeb said they could not provide information in the hours after the incident. The Dane County Sheriffs office directed reporters to a staging area but had not provided updates hours after the school district first alerted families about the incident.

The district had begun releasing some students of other schools by early afternoon and anxious parents gathered at a bus depot waiting for their kids.

Shannon Hurd, 44, and her former husband, Nathian Hurd, 39, sat in a car waiting for their 13-year-old son, Noah, who was still in the locked-down middle school.

Shannon Hurd said she first heard what happened via a text from Noah saying he loved her. She said she nearly fell down the stairs at her work as she ran to get to the school.

I just want my kid, she said. Theyre supposed to be safe at school.

Stacy Smith, 42, was at the bank Wednesday when she saw police cars rush by and soon got a school district text warning of an active shooter.

She initially could not reach her two children  junior Abbi and seventh-grader Cole. Finally, she reached Abbi by phone but the girl whispered that she was hiding in a closet and couldnt talk. She eventually connected with both children and learned they were OK.

Not here, she said in disbelief. You hear about this everywhere else but not here.

Schools nationwide have sought ways to prevent mass shootings inside their walls, from physical security measures and active shooter drills to technology including detailed digital maps. Many also rely on teachers and administrators working to detect early signs of student mental health struggles.

The Mount Horeb Area School Districts security protocols were not immediately clear Wednesday and there was no information known about the alleged assailants identity or condition.

The village is home to around 7,600 people and the central office of outdoor gear retailer Duluth Trading Company. Mount Horeb markets itself as the troll capital of the world, a reference to carvings of trolls stationed throughout its downtown district as a tribute to a Scandinavian gift shop that was a landmark for passing long-haul truckers in the 1970s.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFRV Local 5 - Green Bay, Appleton.
Police looking for 2 people accused of credit card thefts in Mount Lebanon

The Mount Lebanon Police Department is looking for two people accused of using stolen credit cards to buy hundreds of dollars in gift cards.

The suspects stole the credit cards from the Victorian Manner on Washington Road on April 30, police said. They then used the cards to buy the gift cards from Giant Eagle.

Anyone with information on the suspects is asked to call 911.

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ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo.  A man is accused of breaking into a north St. Louis County pharmacy in March to rob the business and holding an employee hostage.

According to the St. Louis County Police Departments probable cause statement, the robbery took place on March 31 at the Walgreens located at Chambers and Halls Ferry roads.

Employees told responding officers the store had been closed when a man broke the front glass door and forced his way inside.

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Police claim the man, identified as Joseph Williams Jr. (no age provided), threatened two of the employees and demanded they give him money from the cash register. Williams threw one of the employees to the ground, then placed a female employee in a chokehold and dragged her to a utility room in the back of the store. Williams threatened to kill the employee.

A witness tried talking Williams into surrendering, but he kept making threats. Police arrived a short time later and took Williams into custody.

The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorneys Office charged Williams with first-degree robbery, first-degree kidnapping, first-degree burglary, and three counts of armed criminal action.

Williams remains jailed on a $250,000 cash-only bond. Hes due in court on May 7 for a bond reduction hearing.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2.
Police Officer Who Confronted Sword-Wielding Attacker Almost Lost Her Hand, Commissioner Says

"It's going to be a long journey to recovery," said Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley following the incident in London's Hainault area

Marcin Nowak/LNP/Shutterstock Officers respond to the Tuesday, April 30 attack

A police officer almost lost her hand while responding to an attack by a sword-wielding man in Londons Hainault neighborhood.

While speaking on LBC Radio following the vicious Tuesday, April 30, attack, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley opened up about visiting the officer -- whose identity has not been released -- at the hospital.

"I was talking to the family and colleagues of the officer, woman officer, who [has] a really badly damaged arm, really seriously damaged, and the surgeon spent sort of many, many hours basically putting her arm back together," he said. "It's going to be a long journey to recovery."

Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley updates on the police response to the Hainault attack yesterday where a 14-year-old boy tragically lost his life.



Two officers received very severe injuries bravely confronting the attacker.



pic.twitter.com/dIC41k20aW  Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) May 1, 2024

Related: Miss. Mom Has Lost 2 Sons to Gun Violence in Span of Month: 'I Have to Remain Strong' (Exclusive)

After being asked if reports stating that the female officer was close to losing her hand were accurate, Rowley answered, "That's not a million miles away. It's really horrifically serious injuries."

Based on what the surgeon was saying yesterday we are increasingly optimistic with months and years and lots of physio a full recovery may be made possible, Rowley added, per The Telegraph.

Chief Superintendent Stuart Bell previously announced that the female officer, along with another law enforcement officer, were in the hospital with stab wounds.

"Both require surgery and have significant injuries but these are not life-threatening," his press release read.

Two members of the public were also injured, in addition to a 14-year-old boy who died after being taken to the hospital after being stabbed, per the press release.

ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Police forensic officers examine the scene following the Tuesday, April 30 attack

Related: 4 Babies Were Found in Freezer in Home of Mom Who 'Concealed Pregnancies.' Why Weren't Charges Filed?

The teen was identified as Daniel Anjorin in a Wednesday, May 1, press release. On the same day of the announcement, the department also shared that Marcus Aurelio Arduini Monzo, 36, had been charged with his murder.

"Monzo has also been charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of grievous bodily harm, aggravated burglary, and possession of a bladed article," a separate press release from the department reads.

This is a complex investigation due to the number of crime scenes, forensic evidence, hours of CCTV footage and witnesses we need to speak to. I know that many people will want answers and we are working to provide them as soon as we can," said Detective Chief Inspector Larry Smith in a press release statement.

Carl Court/Getty A male police officer is seen responding to the scene on Tuesday, April 30

"I would also echo previous calls for patience as my officers carry out a painstaking investigation to deliver justice for Daniel, his family, those injured and the wider community," his statement continued.

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Monzo is expected to appear at Barkingside Magistrates Court on Thursday, May 2.



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Read the original article on People.
Law enforcement moved in Thursday morning to break up a weeklong pro-Palestinian encampment on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles.



Pro-Palestinian students stand their ground after police breached their encampment at the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in Los Angeles, California, early on May 2, 2024. (Photo by ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP via Getty Images)

Police face-off with pro-Palestinian students after destroying part of the encampment barricade on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in Los Angeles, California, early on May 2, 2024. (Etienne LAURENT / AFP)

Police face-off with pro-Palestinian students after destroying part of the encampment barricade on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in Los Angeles, California, early on May 2, 2024. (Photo by ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP via Getty Images)

California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers clear a pro-Palestinian encampment after a dispersal order was given at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus, on May 2, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Police clash with pro-Palestinian students after destroying part of the encampment barricade on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in Los Angeles, California, early on May 2, 2024. (Photo by ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP via Getty Images)

Police make an arrest as they face-off with pro-Palestinian students after destroying part of the encampment barricade on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in Los Angeles, California, early on May 2, 2024. (Photo by ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP via Getty Images)

Police make an arrest as they face-off with pro-Palestinian students after destroying part of the encampment barricade on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in Los Angeles, California, early on May 2, 2024. (Photo by ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP via Getty Images)

Police make an arrest as they face-off with pro-Palestinian students after destroying part of the encampment barricade on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in Los Angeles, California, early on May 2, 2024. (Photo by ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP via Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA  MAY 02: A California Highway Patrol (CHP) officer detains a protestor while clearing a pro-Palestinian encampment after dispersal orders were given at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus, on May 2, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. The camp was declared unlawful by the university and over 100 protestors who refused to leave were detained during the operation. Pro-Palestinian encampments have sprung up at college campuses around the country with some protestors calling for schools to divest from Israeli interests amid the ongoing war in Gaza. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Cops face-off with pro-Palestinian students after destroying part of the encampment barricade on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in Los Angeles, California, early on May 2, 2024. (Photo by ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP via Getty Images)

Police react while pro-Palestinian students stand their ground after police breached their encampment at the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in Los Angeles, California, early on May 2, 2024. (Photo by ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP via Getty Images)

Pro-Palestinian students stand their ground after police breached their encampment the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in Los Angeles, California, early on May 2, 2024. (Photo by ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP via Getty Images)

Police breach the encampment of Pro-Palestinian students demonstrating on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in Los Angeles, California, early on May 2, 2024. (Photo by ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP via Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES CA MAY 2, 2024  Police and protestors face off on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES CA MAY 2, 2024  Police tear down the tents on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES CA MAY 2, 2024  Police near the protestors encampment on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES CA MAY 2, 2024  Pro-Palestinian demonstrators form a line on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES CA MAY 2, 2024  Pro-Palestinian demonstrators watch police break through the fence to their tent on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES CA MAY 2, 2024  Police at one of the buildings on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA  May 2: Police officers clash with pro-Palestinian protesters as a fire extinguisher is deployed at UCLA early Thursday morning. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA  May 2: Police officers arrest a pro-Palestinian protester after an oder to disperse was given at UCLA early Thursday morning. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA  May 2: Police officers clash with pro-Palestinian protesters as a fire extinguisher is deployed at UCLA early Thursday morning. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES CA MAY 2, 2024  Police tear down the tents on the UCLA campus Thursday, May 2, 2024. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Police officers arrived as a dispersal order was given to a large encampment of pro-Palestinian protestors gathered on the UCLA campus on May 1, 2024. (KTLA)

Police officers arrived as a dispersal order was given to a large encampment of pro-Palestinian protestors gathered on the UCLA campus on May 1, 2024. (KTLA)

Police officers arrived as a dispersal order was given to a large encampment of pro-Palestinian protestors gathered on the UCLA campus on May 1, 2024. (KTLA)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA  MAY 2: Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest at UCLA as the US Police attempt to disperse the crowd, in Los Angeles, California, USA on May 2, 2024. (Photo by Grace Yoon/Anadolu via Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA  May 2: A pro-Palestinian protester sits on a bench after an oder to disperse was given by law enforcement at UCLA early Thursday morning. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA  May 2: Police officers push pro-Palestinian protesters backwards after an oder to disperse was given at UCLA early Thursday morning. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA  MAY 2: Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest at UCLA as the US Police attempt to disperse the crowd, in Los Angeles, California, USA on May 2, 2024. (Photo by Grace Yoon/Anadolu via Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA  MAY 2: US Police arrests a Pro-Palestinian demonstrator as the people protest at UCLA, in Los Angeles, California, USA on May 2, 2024. (Photo by Grace Yoon/Anadolu via Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA  MAY 2: US Police arrests a Pro-Palestinian demonstrator as the people protest at UCLA, in Los Angeles, California, USA on May 2, 2024. (Photo by Grace Yoon/Anadolu via Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA  May 2: Police officers take control of Royce Hall after pushing back pro-Palestinian protesters after an oder to disperse was given at UCLA early Thursday morning. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA  MAY 02: A California Highway Patrol (CHP) officer detains a protestor while clearing a pro-Palestinian encampment after dispersal orders were given at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus, on May 2, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. The camp was declared unlawful by the university and over 100 protestors who refused to leave were detained during the operation. Pro-Palestinian encampments have sprung up at college campuses around the country with some protestors calling for schools to divest from Israeli interests amid the ongoing war in Gaza. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA  MAY 02: A California Highway Patrol (CHP) officer detains a protestor while clearing a pro-Palestinian encampment after dispersal orders were given at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus, on May 2, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. The camp was declared unlawful by the university and over 100 protestors who refused to leave were detained during the operation. Pro-Palestinian encampments have sprung up at college campuses around the country with some protestors calling for schools to divest from Israeli interests amid the ongoing war in Gaza. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA  MAY 02: A California Highway Patrol (CHP) officer detains a protestor near encampment graffiti while clearing a pro-Palestinian encampment after dispersal orders were given at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus, on May 2, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. The camp was declared unlawful by the university and over 100 protestors who refused to leave were detained during the operation. Pro-Palestinian encampments have sprung up at college campuses around the country with some protestors calling for schools to divest from Israeli interests amid the ongoing war in Gaza. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA  MAY 2: A Pro-Palestinian protestor barricades a door in an encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus on May 2, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. The camp was declared unlawful by the university and many protestors have been detained. Pro-Palestinian encampments have sprung up at college campuses around the country with some protestors calling for schools to divest from Israeli interests amid the ongoing war in Gaza. (Photo by Eric Thayer/Getty Images)LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA  MAY 2: <> on May 1, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Eric Thayer/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA  MAY 02: California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers detain protestors near encampment graffiti while clearing a pro-Palestinian encampment after dispersal orders were given at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus, on May 2, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. The camp was declared unlawful by the university and over 100 protestors who refused to leave were detained during the operation. Pro-Palestinian encampments have sprung up at college campuses around the country with some protestors calling for schools to divest from Israeli interests amid the ongoing war in Gaza. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA  MAY 2: Pro-Palestinian protestors build a makeshift wall in an encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus on May 2, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. The camp was declared unlawful by the university and many protestors have been detained. Pro-Palestinian encampments have sprung up at college campuses around the country with some protestors calling for schools to divest from Israeli interests amid the ongoing war in Gaza. (Photo by Eric Thayer/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA  MAY 1: Signs supporting Pro-Palestinian protestors are seen in an encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus on May 1, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. The camp was declared unlawful by the university and many protestors have been detained. Pro-Palestinian encampments have sprung up at college campuses around the country with some protestors calling for schools to divest from Israeli interests amid the ongoing war in Gaza. (Photo by Eric Thayer/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA  MAY 2: Pro-Palestinian protestors barricade a door in an encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus on May 2, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. The camp was declared unlawful by the university and many protestors have been detained. Pro-Palestinian encampments have sprung up at college campuses around the country with some protestors calling for schools to divest from Israeli interests amid the ongoing war in Gaza. (Photo by Eric Thayer/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA  MAY 2: A Pro-Palestinian protestor walks by signs in an encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus on May 2, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. The camp was declared unlawful by the university and many protestors have been detained. Pro-Palestinian encampments have sprung up at college campuses around the country with some protestors calling for schools to divest from Israeli interests amid the ongoing war in Gaza. (Photo by Eric Thayer/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA  MAY 02: A California Highway Patrol (CHP) officer detains a protestor while clearing a pro-Palestinian encampment after dispersal orders were given at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus, on May 2, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. The camp was declared unlawful by the university and over 100 protestors who refused to leave were detained during the operation. Pro-Palestinian encampments have sprung up at college campuses around the country with some protestors calling for schools to divest from Israeli interests amid the ongoing war in Gaza. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Remnants of the pro-Palestinian protest encampment at UCLA on May 2, 2024. (KTLA)

Remnants of the pro-Palestinian protest encampment at UCLA on May 2, 2024. (KTLA)

Remnants of the pro-Palestinian protest encampment at UCLA on May 2, 2024. (KTLA)

Remnants of the pro-Palestinian protest encampment at UCLA on May 2, 2024. (KTLA)

Workers clean up the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus after police evicted pro-Palestinian students, in Los Angeles, California, early on May 2, 2024. Hundreds of police tore down protest barricades and began arresting students early Thursday at the University of California, Los Angeles  the latest flashpoint in an eruption of protest on US campuses over Israels war against Hamas in Gaza. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)

Workers clean up the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus after police evicted pro-Palestinian students, in Los Angeles, California, early on May 2, 2024. Hundreds of police tore down protest barricades and began arresting students early Thursday at the University of California, Los Angeles  the latest flashpoint in an eruption of protest on US campuses over Israels war against Hamas in Gaza. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)

Workers clean up the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus after police evicted pro-Palestinian students, in Los Angeles, California, early on May 2, 2024. Hundreds of police tore down protest barricades and began arresting students early Thursday at the University of California, Los Angeles  the latest flashpoint in an eruption of protest on US campuses over Israels war against Hamas in Gaza. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)

Workers clean up the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus after police evicted pro-Palestinian students, in Los Angeles, California, early on May 2, 2024. Hundreds of police tore down protest barricades and began arresting students early Thursday at the University of California, Los Angeles  the latest flashpoint in an eruption of protest on US campuses over Israels war against Hamas in Gaza. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)

Police patrol as workers clean up the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus after police evicted pro-Palestinian students, in Los Angeles, California, early on May 2, 2024. Hundreds of police tore down protest barricades and began arresting students early Thursday at the University of California, Los Angeles  the latest flashpoint in an eruption of protest on US campuses over Israels war against Hamas in Gaza. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)

Workers clean up the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus after police evicted pro-Palestinian students, in Los Angeles, California, early on May 2, 2024. Hundreds of police tore down protest barricades and began arresting students early Thursday at the University of California, Los Angeles  the latest flashpoint in an eruption of protest on US campuses over Israels war against Hamas in Gaza. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)

Workers clean up the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus after police evicted pro-Palestinian students, in Los Angeles, California, early on May 2, 2024. Hundreds of police tore down protest barricades and began arresting students early Thursday at the University of California, Los Angeles  the latest flashpoint in an eruption of protest on US campuses over Israels war against Hamas in Gaza. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)

Workers clean up the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus after police evicted pro-Palestinian students, in Los Angeles, California, early on May 2, 2024. Hundreds of police tore down protest barricades and began arresting students early Thursday at the University of California, Los Angeles  the latest flashpoint in an eruption of protest on US campuses over Israels war against Hamas in Gaza. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown / AFP) (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)

Hundreds of officers from multiple agencies including the Los Angeles Police Department and California Highway Patrol were seen taking down wood and metal barriers around the encampment and then moving into the area of Dickson Plaza.

The demonstrators were being given multiple opportunities to leave the area but many were refused and were being detained by officers.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
In this article, we shall discuss the 12 most unfriendly cities in Canada. To skip our detailed analysis of the macroeconomic outlook of Canada, and the tourism and hospitality industry in Canada in 2024, go directly and see 5 Most Unfriendly Cities in Canada.

Canada's Economic Outlook 2024: An Overview

According to a review by S&P Global, Canada's economic outlook in 2024 is to remained subdued, with real GDP growth expected at only a sluggish 0.9% in 2024, which is only slightly better than 0.7% forecasts from November 2023. To measure economic growth whilst eliminating the statistical carry-over bias of the typically reported 'annual average', GDP is expected to grow at a little over 1% between Q4 2024 and Q4 2023. Despite this, the report predicts that the economy will do better in 2024 than it did in the final three quarters of 2023. Hence, although growth momentum has picked up slightly in Q1 2024, it has done so from an exceptionally low base. On the housing front, the economy seems to be in a bit of an uptick, with homes sales tracking higher than in Q4 2023 despite slowing down in February in many of the unfriendliest cities in Canada. The mortgage picked up during the first 2 months of 2024, which is expected to propel residential investment growth in Q2 2024. Furthermore, inflation has dropped to 2.8% in March 2024, just below the upper end of the Bank of Canada's1%-3% target with consensus forecasts surging through to 3.1%. The central bank's preferred core inflation plummeted in Q1 2024 to a 3.2% average year-on-year, down from 3.4% in December 2023.

Despite favorable indicators, even in many of the most unfriendly cities in Canada, investors are still wary of investing in Canada as they do not expect a sustained uptick in GDP growth unless monetary policies are relaxed. Aggregate outlays are still underperforming, especially on a per capita basis, causing unemployment to rise by 0.8 percentage points as compared to Q4 2023. This is also owing to an increased supply in the labor force fueled by a skyrocketing immigrant population in some of the unfriendliest cities in Canada. Employment rates have also been hovering around the pre-pandemic average as private players slowed down hiring processes during the second quarter of 2023. Today, employment growth has fallen behind population growth for more than 13 straight months. With domestic demand unfavorable at best, Canada's employment prospects continue to remain bleak, with unemployment set to increase to more than 6.3% by the end of 2024 after averaging at a little over 5.4% in 2023.

Story continues

Investor sentiment around the Canadian economy in 2024 can be accurately gauged by evaluating the performance of some of the ETFs we covered in our article 10 Best Canadian ETFs, like the iShares Core S&P 500 Index ETF (XUS.TO), which mirrors the performance of the S&P 500 Index, net of expenses. Incepted on April 10, 2013, the fund has 503 underlying holdings as of April 25. In the last five years, the fund is up 76.3% as of April 26. Another ETF worth considering is the Horizons S&P 500 Index ETF (HXS.TO), which is the fourth largest ETF operator in Canada with $20.28 billion of assets under management as of April 26. In the last five years, the ETF is up more than 88.14% as of April 26, signaling incredibly strong investor sentiment around the Canadian economy.

Business Travel in Canada: An Analysis

According to market research firm Mordor Intelligence, the Canadian tourism market is valued at $16.2 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach valuations of $17.2 billion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 1.17% during the five-year forecast period. At the end of 2023, nominal spending in Canada's tourism sector hit $109.5 billion, topping 2019 levels of roughly $105.1 billion. However, record inflation and high interest rates in a post-pandemic macroeconomic environment may have fueled this total, with the report predicting that the industry will have to generate spending of more than $122 billion to match pre-pandemic spending in real terms. In this vein, travel spending is not expected to reach pre-pandemic levels for another 2 to 3 years, especially in some of the most unfriendly cities in Canada.

A major trend affecting the Canadian travel industry in 2024 is the resurgence of business travel, with business travel expected to return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2024, which is one year later than the wider North American regions but in line with global recovery. For 2024, business travel spending is forecasted to reach $25.9 billion, representing an annual growth rate of 13.5%, especially in many of the most unfriendly cities in Canada. This outpaces global recovery, which stands at 11.8% and also lags recovery in the United States, which as we mentioned in our article on the 20 Most Visited Cities in the US by Foreign Travelers, stands at a mere 9.2%. According to pre-pandemic calculations, in 2019, Canadian business travel spending stood at $25.7 billion, before succumbing to COVID-19 closures. According to survey data by the GBTA, Canadian travel buyers expect to spend more on business travel in 2024, with more than 59% projecting higher spending by companies relative to 2023. More than 65% of Canadian business travelers expect their companies to take more business trips in 2024, with more than 55% of travelers reporting an average spending of $884 per business trip in 2023. In light of the resurgence of business travel in Canada, investors are seeming more enthusiastic about stocks like Airbnb Inc. (NASDAQ:ABNB), Marriot International Inc. (NASDAQ:MAR), and Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT).

One major way to gauge increasing investor interest in such stocks is to evaluate the performance of prominent travel ETFs like the Harvest Travel & Leisure Index ETF (TSE:TRVL), which provides investors with exposure to the growth trends in the travel industry driven by structural, demographic forces, even in the most unfriendly cities in Canada. With more than 30 equities under management including prominent major beneficiaries of business travel like Marriot International Inc. (NASDAQ:MAR), Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) and Airbnb Inc. (NASDAQ:ABNB), in the last five years, the fund is up more than 24.23% as of April 26. Another ETF which needs to be considered is the Defiance Hotel Airline and Cruise ETF (NYSE:CRUZ) which tracks the performance of 63 holdings of the BlueStar Global Hotels, Airlines, and Cruises Index. In the last one year, the fund is up more than 26.3% as of April 26, signaling strong investor interest in travel stocks. To read on more potential tourist destinations in the near future, check out our article on 20 Countries That Have The Potential To Be Major Tourist Destinations.

Most Unfriendly Cities in Canada

RuthChoi/Shutterstock.com

Our Methodology

To compile our list of the 12 most unfriendly cities in Canada, we decided to undertake a consensus-based approach using a diverse variety of credible sources like travel blogs, news articles and Reddit threads to ascertain some of the rudest, unfriendliest cities in Canada (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). We then shortlisted more than 30 cities which appeared most frequently during our research. Since unfriendliness is an incredibly multifaceted and complex phenomenon, we established a three-pronged criteria to measure the level of unfriendliness in each city using the index from our articles The Worlds 30 Unfriendliest Cities Heading into 2024 and Top 20 Unfriendliest Cities in the US: the criteria is premised on the frequency of unpleasant tourist interactions (15 points), lack of tourist infrastructure (10 points), and incidents of scams and crime (5 points). We then proceeded to award each city a cumulative score according to the aforementioned criteria and selected 12 cities which scored the highest points. Subsequently, we ranked each entry based on the total points scored, from lowest to highest. Where there was a tie, we broke it based on the frequency of unpleasant tourist interactions.

By the way, Insider Monkey is an investing website that tracks the movements of corporate insiders and hedge funds. By using a similar consensus approach, we identify the best stock picks of more than 900 hedge funds investing in US stocks. The top 10 consensus stock picks of hedge funds outperformed the S&P 500 Index by more than 140 percentage points over the last 10 years (see the details here). Whether you are a beginner investor or professional one looking for the best stocks to buy, you can benefit from the wisdom of hedge funds and corporate insiders.

As Asia emerges as home to some of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, you can get a more nuanced perspective on the market by checking out our coverage of 15 Most Unfriendly Countries in Asia.

12 Most Unfriendly Cities in Canada

12. Kitchener

Insider Monkey's Score: 16

Even though Kitchener is known as a student city because of two popular universities situated there, the transport system in the city is not thought to be effective. Many tourists find it difficult to move from one place to another within a city. There are various travel restrictions in Kitchener and the commute is generally known to be extremely expensive, making Kitchener one of the most unfriendly cities in Canada.

11. Edmonton

Insider Monkey's Score: 17

Edmonton is known for having one of the highest crime rates in Canada. Some of the main forms of crimes in the city include robbery and physical assault. Every year, the crime rate in Edmonton increases by a certain percentage. Due to this, many tourists find the city to be unwelcoming and many residents feel unsafe living in the city.

10. Winnipeg

Insider Monkey's Score: 17

In recent years, the crime rates have been increasing in Winnipeg. It is known to have the highest violent crime severity index in Canada. This is primarily because of economic instability, poverty, and marginalization of people. The high rates of crime in Winnipeg are seen as an unwelcoming trait by visitors, making it one of the most unfriendly cities in Canada.

9. Toronto

Insider Monkey's Score: 19

Many visitors report having unpleasant interactions with the locals in Toronto. The people of Toronto are generally described as rude, reserved, and self-centered. This may be because Toronto is a big city and so the people of Toronto may be occupied with the hustle and bustle of city life. However, outsiders still feel unwelcome while visiting the city.

8. Mississauga

Insider Monkey's Score: 21

Mississauga has a lack of social spaces, including green spaces and parks, which makes it difficult for tourists to visit the country and relax. Additionally, the transit system in the city is not known to be very effective, making it difficult for visitors to travel within the city. This makes Mississauga one of the most unwelcoming cities in Canada.

7. Ottawa

Insider Monkey's Score: 22

The infrastructure in Ottawa is considered to be extremely unsatisfactory, which makes it difficult for newcomers and tourists to travel across the city. The subway system specifically, is thought to be incredibly inconvenient to use. Primarily due to these reasons, many outsiders perceive Ottawa as one of the most unwelcoming cities in Canada.

6. Vaughan

Insider Monkey's Score: 22

Even though Vaughan is generally safe, many people consider it to be one of the most unfriendly cities in Canada. This is mainly because the people of Vaughan are thought to be extremely rude. Some of the recurring complaints by tourists include being disengaged from the environment, being too noisy in public, and not letting people merge into traffic.

Click here to continue reading and see 5 Most Unfriendly Cities in Canada. Suggested Articles

Disclosure: None. 12 Most Unfriendly Cities in Canada is originally published on Insider Monkey.
DENVER (KDVR)  Investigators believe there may be more potential victims who have not reported sexual assault incidents involving a businessman who is known in Denvers Grateful Dead bar scene.

Jay Bianchi, 55, was arrested last month on several counts related to three cases. The cases resulted in him facing two counts of sexual assault without consent, two counts of sexual assault with an incapable victim and two counts of sexual assault with a helpless victim, according to the Denver Police Department.

Businessman known in Denvers Grateful Dead bar scene arrested on sexual assault

One of the cases reportedly occurred on April 7, and two cases allegedly happened in 2020. Now, police said investigators received information indicating that there might be more victims who have not reported incidents with Bianchi to police.

Bianchi was a prominent figure in Denvers bar scene

Bianchi was a prominent figure in Denvers bar scene and is billed as part of Denvers tight-knit Grateful Dead scene.

He owned and operated the bar Be On Key Psychedelic Ripple, which closed in May 2020 after allegedly allowing consumers to eat or drink on the premises during COVID restrictions.

Another one of his bars, Sanchos Broken Arrow, was closed in April 2020 for similar violations. Bianchi has also owned and operated Quixotes True Blue, Owsleys Golden Road and So Many Roads Museum and Brewery.

Anyone who believes they may have been a victim of Jay Bianchi is asked to call the Denver Police Sex Crimes Unit at 720-913-6040.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
DURHAM  Police took action to remove and arrest pro-Palestinian protesters who started setting up an encampment in front of the University of New Hampshire's Thompson Hall Wednesday night.

UNH Police Chief Paul Dean said protesters were arrested after a rally led to demonstrators attempting to set up an encampment at the states flagship university, drawing local and New Hampshire State Police. Some demonstrators shouted at police, calling them "cowards" and chanting "free Palestine."

On Thursday, UNH announced there had been a total of 12 arrests: 10 students and two people not affiliated with the school. The charges were disorderly conduct and trespassing, according to UNH.The scene mirrored demonstrations on campuses across the United States in solidarity with Palestinians in the wake of Israels military response to a deadly Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

The Palestine Solidarity Coalition, a student group, held the rally on the lawn in front of Thompson Hall at 5 p.m. Wednesday. The May Day event, advertised on social media as a labor solidarity with Palestine on International Workers Day, was orchestrated alongside numerous university and non-school-affiliated organizations, including the Jewish Voice for Peace Vermont/New Hampshire and New Hampshire Youth Movement.

The peaceful event lasted until around 6:30 p.m. Then, Dean said, protesters rushed in to form an encampment and attempted to barricade their tents. Arrested protesters were taken to the Strafford County jail in Dover, according to Dean, who said he was not immediately aware of any injuries Wednesday night.

When they went to set up the tents, it was clear to me that the majority of people were not affiliated with the university, Dean said.

Police took action to remove and arrest pro-Palestinian protesters who started setting up an encampment in front of the University of New Hampshire's Thompson Hall Tuesday night May 1, 2024.

A student applied for a permit to hold the solidarity event, according to Dean. University spokesperson Tania deLuzuriaga said the permit barred tents.

It explicitly said that they're not permitted to have any tents with signs, she said. Thats standard for all the UNH permits that are issued.

Arrested protesters and their supporters at the jail late Wednesday night were approached for comment but declined to speak on the record.

A statement issued by deLuzuriaga on behalf of UNH Wednesday night cast doubt that all those who participated in the encampment attempt are students in Durham.

Over the past six months, students supporting Palestine have peacefully protested on campus at least seven times, she said. Despite much communication with organizers regarding the universitys expectations for conduct when exercising their free speech rights, those guidelines were ignored today. Protesters erected tents in an attempt to create an encampment on UNH property.

While we will always protect free speech on our campus, UNH belongs to every citizen of New Hampshire and we will not allow it to be co-opted by a small group of protesters, including outside agitators, de Luzuriaga added.

Students roamed up and down Main Street as protesters were met with law enforcement, with some demonstrators screaming at police before being forced into vans and driven away. Some passersby antagonized demonstrators and supporters of the encampment, some of whom were brought to tears by the removal of the encampment and the arrests.

Leftover tents and items on Thompson Hall's lawn were removed by police around 9 p.m., loaded onto a truck as dozens of students watched. As the encampment was cleared, fireworks were shot off in the distance.

Protests follow thousands of lives lost in Israel and Gaza

About 1,200 people in southern Israel were killed and more than 200 taken hostage in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7. The Israeli retaliatory assault has killed nearly 35,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, and obliterated much of the enclave's infrastructure. The humanitarian crisis has fueled outrage on some U.S. campuses and spurred demands for an end to investment in Israeli companies and amnesty for student protesters. There have also been reports nationally of outside groups getting involved with the campus protests.

At UNH on Wednesday night, police remained long after the encampment was cleared and students and passersby dispersed.

Shane Tilton, a sophomore, lives in a nearby residence hall and said he walked over to observe after hearing the commotion, as did student Armaan Sinha. They watched from beneath the Thompson Hall arches as the encampment was removed from the most well-known gathering spot on campus.

Ive never felt this much tension on campus, Tilton said. I feel like theres a lot of tension. From my perspective, it seems like the cops dont have much to do here. They seemed like they were here to jump at this opportunity and see some action.

Its surreal being here and seeing it, Sinha said.

ACLU of NH criticizes police response; UNH chief explains actions

Police took action to remove and arrest pro-Palestinian protesters who started setting up an encampment in front of the University of New Hampshire's Thompson Hall Tuesday night May 1, 2024.

The American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire condemned polices actions Wednesday night in Durham and at a similar protest at Dartmouth College in Hanover.

Devon Chaffee, executive director of the state ACLU, said police stepped in too rapidly on both campuses.

While the situation is still developing, we are highly concerned that police, many in riot gear, appear to have moved quickly and forcefully into protests at the University of New Hampshire and Dartmouth College campuses. Use of police force against protestors should never be a first resort, Chaffee said in a prepared statement.

Freedom of speech and the right to demonstrate are foundational principles of democracy and core constitutional rights," Chaffee added. "We urge university and government leaders to create environments that safeguard constitutionally protected speech. While the ACLU of New Hampshire does not take a position on the conflict in Israel and Palestine, we are committed to ensuring freedom of expression and association, including on college and university campuses in New Hampshire."

UNH's permit for Wednesdays event prior to the start of the encampment was issued to a graduate student of the university, according to Dean, the UNH police chief. There's nothing in the permit that allows for (encampments). This is a public space here for all and you can't take over a public space. They knew that."

Law enforcement arrived between 30-45 minutes after the encampment formed, Dean said, stating he was the only police officer in attendance at the 5 p.m. rally before the scene evolved.

We waited for support before we went in because that's the prudent thing to do, he said. We didn't want injuries. We didn't want to get into a fight with people. We simply wanted to enforce the law.

Dean said he was pushed and assaulted by a person involved with the encampment, who was then arrested.We revoked the permit. We declared it an unlawful assembly, and we asked them to pack up their encampment and leave, Dean said. "They chose to barricade themselves in here. We gave them three opportunities before the state police, UNH police and Durham police came in and moved them, and we made arrests.

Many of the demonstrators Dean believes to be non-students ran when we began to move them. Our hope is that this won't happen again. And there's some lessons learned. Peaceful protest is absolutely supported. This wasn't about peaceful protest in the end, up until the point where they took over this space here, for the rest of the university, for the rest of the public.

The tents in the brief encampment were set up around the flagpole in front of Thompson Hall, which demonstrators initially formed a human chain around before police moved in to disperse the crowd. Footage posted to social media shows police, some in riot gear, pushing back the crowd toward Main Street. Chants erupted, with protesters yelling at law enforcement, It is right to rebel! Terrorist pigs, go to hell!

All seized property from the encampment will be held on to by police to be returned to their owners, Dean said.

This is not how we expected this to happen, Dean said. We put our trust in the event organizers because theyve been trustworthy up until this point and Im just disappointed that this had to happen, but it was necessary to happen. My police officers did a great job tonight, and all of law enforcement that was there did a great job tonight. It was a difficult night.

The Palestine Solidarity Coalition at UNH posted on social media in the wake of the arrests, calling on activists to come to the county jail for support.

Classes will be held Thursday in Durham, Dean said.

USA TODAY reporting is included in this report.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Police at UNH arrest pro-Palestine protesters setting up encampment
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) signed into law Wednesday a bill that will result in sweeping bans of forever chemicals across a wide range of consumer products.

The law, SB-81, expands upon existing state legislation that prohibited the sale or distribution of certain products containing PFAS compounds, while laying out a specific timeline for the implementation of each ban.

PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are notorious for their ability to persist in the human body and the environment and have been linked to many cancers and other serious illnesses.

The compounds, of which there are thousands, are staple ingredients in industrial discharge, certain types of firefighting foam and many household items: waterproof apparel, cosmetics, dental floss, menstrual necessities, cleaning products and nonstick cookware.

Existing legislation, passed in 2022, prohibited the sale or distribution of PFAS-laden carpets, fabric treatments, food packaging, items marketed for childrens use and oil and gas products in Colorado as of Jan. 1. It restricted the use of certain firefighting foams on the same date.

The 2022 bill also stipulated that cosmetics, indoor textile furnishings and upholstery containing the compounds could no longer be sold on Jan. 1, 2025, while the same applied to outdoor textiles and upholstery on Jan. 1, 2027.

Wednesdays law takes these product prohibitions a giant leap forward, albeit with some compromises on the timeline for implementing the bans.

The new law determines that on Jan. 1, 2025, outdoor apparel used for severe wet weather  and that contains intentionally added PFAS  can be sold in Colorado only if the products have labels indicating they are made with the compounds.

The following year  on Jan. 1, 2026  the state will outlaw the sale or distribution of cookware, dental floss, menstrual products, and ski wax that contain intentionally added PFAS. Also included in this clause, revised from an initial version that set for 2025, is a prohibition on PFAS-containing cleaning products, aside from those used for floor maintenance in hospital or medical settings.

Also by Jan. 1, 2026  revised from an initially proposed July 1, 2024  the installation of artificial turf containing PFAS will no longer be allowed on any portion of property in the state, per the law.

On Jan. 1, 2028, Colorado will no longer allow the sale or distribution of several other categories of items with added PFAS: all textile articles, food equipment used in commercial settings and outdoor apparel for severe weather  thereby nullifying the 2025 labeling requirement. The January 2028 ban also extends to floor maintenance products used in hospitals and medical settings.

State legislators declared in the bills text that creating such a regulatory timeline is imperative for the health and safety of the states residents, as well as for the immediate preservation of the public peace.

When the bill passed the State Legislature at the end of March, its co-sponsor, state Sen. Lisa Cutter (D), celebrated its advancement as a HUGE lift  capitalizing her enthusiasm in a Facebook post that day.

We had around 70 stakeholders and several corporations even flew executives in to tell me why PFAS are fine, Cutter wrote at the time. That argument did not persuade me!

Cutter acknowledged that in the lead-up to the bills passage, she and her colleagues did address some very real concerns by clarifying language and extending dates to prevent supply-chain issues and enable unavoidable uses.

We made lots of concessions  some more reasonable than others, she added.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A sinkhole that opened up at the bottom of a retention pond used to store Apopkas reclaimed water was caused by the pond filling up in November, a geologist told city council members Wednesday.

The extra pressure  five million pounds of weight -- caused the relatively thin layer of soil to collapse into the Florida aquifer. The opening left the aquifer exposed.

Despite 200 million gallons of reclaimed water entering the drinking water supply, Devo Seereeram told council members there were no impacts to nearby wells, generally dug deeper than the upper feet of the aquifer.

Read: Investigation underway in Apopka after sinkhole drains retention pond

He said if anyones water had been impacted, they wouldve seen green algae in their toilets.

However, Seereeram said Apopka avoided a different type of disaster thanks to the ponds inclusion of a liner, which allowed the water to leak out over the course of 30 days at a rate of 6,000 gallons per minute.

Had the liner not been present, the volume of water rushing in wouldve been a catastrophe, he said.

Read: AdventHealth Apopka opens new floor for more patients

Seereeram recommended filling the hole with large and small rocks to form a new roof over the aquifer.

He said it would be a complex fix, but one that he has overseen before. He did not give an estimated price or timeline for the fix but said that would be a cheaper option than redesigning the pond.

Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
Salt Lake City Police and ICE agents arrest drug dealers and work to process any who may be in the country illegally, Nov. 8, 2007. | Scott G. Winterton

A potential serial killer has been apprehended for the murders of two women on separate occasions, allegedly brutally dumping their bodies at an intersection like trash, Orange County Sheriff John Mina said during a Monday morning press conference.

Carlos Yadiel Baez-Nieves, 25, was arrested in connection with the deaths of Fatia Flowers, 41, and Nichole Daniels, 44, whose bodies were found a month apart in March and April, Mina said.

Baez-Nieves, on separate occasions, picked up Flowers and Daniels, who both work as sex workers, in his white F-150 truck. He offered money for sex with both of the victims and then proceeded to strangle them to death afterward. He then drove them to the same intersection and pushed their lifeless bodies out of his truck, Mina stated.

He targeted women who he clearly thought would not be missed, Mina said.

The victims bodies were recovered at the same Orlando intersection within a month

Fox 35 Orlando reported, On March 14, Flowers naked body was found at the intersection of Trevarthon Road and Harrell Road, according to an arrest affidavit. Her cause of death wasnt immediately clear, but ruled suspicious in nature, according to Mina.

On April 17, Daniels nude body was found at the same intersection, according to the arrest affidavit, per Fox 35 Orlando.

How he was eventually caught by deputies who recognized his truck

The similarities triggered an investigation that ultimately uncovered surveillance footage of Daniels getting into Baez-Nieves white F-150 truck at a 7-Eleven on the night she was murdered, as disclosed by Mina.

Deputies were later able to catch Baez-Nieves because he listed the white Ford F-150 truck for sale, and they recognized the truck from the surveillance footage, according to WKMG-TV, a CBS affiliate.

He killed two women in a months time, so to me, that is the definition of a serial killer. But I think this is a person who is clearly capable of doing this, and may have done it in the past, and the fact that he targeted women that he thought would not be missed leads you to believe as well that he is a killer and probably would have killed again, Mina said, per Fox 35 Orlando.

Mina said Baez-Nieves confessed to the killing of Flowers and Daniels.

Because of our detectives relentless efforts in this case, they stopped Baez-Nieves from becoming a prolific serial killer, Mina said.

What we know about the victims Fatia Flowers, Nichole Daniels

The family of Flowers told NBC 6 Miami they were mourning her loss but are relieved he cant hurt or harm anybody else.

Her son Davaughn Whitehead described his mother as loving and told NBC 6 Miami, I get a lot of my happiness from her, she was smart, funny, she was a fighter.

He said he was at school in Orlando when he heard the news that his mother was murdered.

According to Daniels Facebook profile, she grew up in Orlando, but details of her life have not yet been reported in the media since her death.

Mina said he is very, very grateful and thankful for our great detectives, who knew that Fatias and Nicholes life were meaningful, and that they, of course, deserved justice like all of us, per WKMG-TV.
OYSTER, Va. (WAVY)  The stillness of rural Virginia only adds to the scenery that is life on the Eastern Shore. But this land now covered in yellow Rapeseed hides ghosts from the battlefields of the 20th century.

Mike Holvick moved to the small Northampton County town of Oyster two-and-half years ago to a house built on what was once Camp Ettinger, which held German prisoners-of-war brought to Virginia beginning in the summer of 1944.

Having that kind of history related to that place where you live is quite remarkable, Holvick said.

Camp Ettinger was one of 23 World War II prison camps in Virginia housing 17,000 POWs  many of them in Hampton Roads.

We obviously started taking lots of prisoners, was not really sure what to do with them, said Julie Spivey, a historian now living in the New Orleans area. And because of the fact that we had so many men overseas, they decided to bring them to the United States and in our case, Virginia Beach and the surrounding Hampton Roads area and use them as a labor force to help us and the agriculture mainly.

The German POWs on the Eastern Shore also became a local curiosity for those living in Oyster, outside of Cape Charles.

People would take their Sunday trips to, we call it Route 600 now, or just 600. Its one of our back roads, said Andy Dunton, who works as a tour guide with the Cape Charles Museum. And wed go in, I guess, for lack of a better term, gawk at the prisoners that were inside the fence.

And at least two went outside the fence.

A 1944 edition of the Eastern Shore News tells of two POWs who escaped Camp Ettinger. The article states they were recognized by the wife of a wounded American soldier and captured two days later. The Northampton County Sheriff said they offered no resistance and were perfectly submissive.

(Courtesy: Library of Virginia)

(Courtesy: Library of Virginia)

(Courtesy: Library of Virginia)

As a 10-year-old boy growing up in Pungo, in what was then Princess Anne County, Joe Burroughs remembers prisoners picking corn on the family farm for six hours a day, four days a week. They were each paid two dollars, 50 cents a day  half of what Americans earned. Burroughs recalled that the prisoners were closely watched.

Oh, yeah. Whenever they brought them out with a truck, theyd have him in the back of the covered truck, Burroughs said. Theyd have to get two guards, had rifles, automatic guns. And the guards told the landowners, We cannot have them within 100 yards of a building. So when you put them in the field, you had to make sure you were away from a building, and they had to have a place when they walk down the road and come back.

They were housed just off the road they helped build: Virginia Beach Boulevard, on the site of Willis Furniture and Mattress. Spivey received a grant award from the Virginia Beach Historic Preservation Commission to research German POWs. Her work led to a highway marker on Virginia Beach Boulevard in 2018 for Camp Ashby, which became the largest German prisoner of war camp in south Hampton Roads.

Camp Ashby (Courtesy: Julie Spivey)

Six-thousand POWs stayed at Camp Ashby from 1944-through the end of the war. Many of them fought in North Africa under a man known as the Desert Fox, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. Others were captured during the D-Day invasion.

They pretty much had every modern, convenience as you can imagine for the prisoners there. It was a very structured camp. The prisoners got up, they went to work, Spivey said.

After an Allied victory, Spivey said the POWs were repatriated, and that many left Virginia with a new impression of American life because of not what they had heard [and] not what they had been taught about us, but what it really was  individual freedom.

In Newport News, Fort Eustis hosted a re-education center for German POWs with a six-day course in American democracy. But Spivey believes German POWs learned a lot from how an ideal of what America could be, a vision vastly different from that of Nazi Germany.

(Courtesy: MacArthur Memorial)

(Courtesy: MacArthur Memorial)

(Courtesy: MacArthur Memorial)

(Courtesy: Julie Spivey)

(Courtesy: Julie Spivey)

(Courtesy: Julie Spivey)

(Courtesy: Julie Spivey)

(Courtesy: MacArthur Memorial)

I think what was more successful than the re-education program was the citizens and the Americans, Spivey said. And the way that they treated the soldiers when they got here, I think that had a profound effect on the German soldiers and their understanding of American life and the American way.

More information

Read more about Camp Ashby in south Hampton Roads and Prisoners of America.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com.
(PUEBLO, Colo.)  The Pueblo Police Department (PPD) is asking for the communitys help finding a suspect in a robbery at a Target.

According to PPD, the suspect is described as a white man around 6 tall with blonde hair and blue eyes. He was wearing all-black clothing and an American flag bandana. PPD said the suspect was involved in a robbery at Target located at 3300 Dillon Drive.

Courtesy: Pueblo Police Department

Courtesy: Pueblo Police Department

If you have any information, contact PPD at (719) 553-2502, or if you would like to remain anonymous, contact Pueblo Crime Stoppers at (719) 542-7867.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX21 News Colorado.
Pregnant Woman Told Husband She Was Fine. When He Arrived at the Hospital, She Was Dead (Exclusive)

Matthew Quinones tells PEOPLE their daughter Mia, whom doctors were able to save, will grow up knowing how much her mom wanted her"

Matt Quinones From left: Melissa Demiranda and Matthew Quinones.

When Melissa Demiranda was nearly 8 months pregnant, she woke up in the night gasping for air. Her OBGYN told the mom-to-be that it was normal to have difficulty breathing and trouble sleeping while pregnant, but referred her to a cardiologist.

On April 10, Demiranda, 34, visited a heart doctor, then called her husband and told him she was fine, but that he should meet her at the hospital. Tragically, she died in the ambulance, but doctors were able to save their daughter Mias life.

Although Mia never got a chance to meet her mom, Matthew Quinones, 35, tells PEOPLE their daughter will grow up knowing "how much her mom wanted her."



Related: Christian Musician Whose Wife Died After Giving Birth 'in Love' with Baby Girl: 'She's a Light in This Dark Time,' Says Friend

Quinones met Demiranda in music class their freshman year of high school  and their first date was way back in January 2005.

She was amazing, says Quinones. She had such a huge heart.

Matt Quinones

Demiranda, who worked from their New Jersey home as an insurance company supervisor, always wanted to be a mom, he adds. But her path to motherhood was complicated, and before she got pregnant with their daughter, she experienced two painful miscarriages.

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.

In December, when the couple learned they had conceived via IVF, they were overjoyed.

The parents-to-be made Christmas ornaments to announce the good news and Demiranda dove into baby preparations, from researching the best diapers to selecting the toasted marshmallow paint she wanted for her rainbow babys nursery.

Thats all she ever wanted, her husband says. She was all in.

Matt Quinones From left: Matthew Quinones and Melissa Demiranda.

As her pregnancy progressed, Quinones said Demiranda felt really tired, but at first, "everything seemed fine."

Then her blood pressure increased, so she was put in medication  and in April, she began having trouble breathing at night.

She would wake up at night gasping for breath. She would have to sleep on the couch, sitting up for the most part," her husband recalls. "Every night, I would be like, Melissa, we should definitely go to the hospital if youre having this much trouble.' And she kept saying, 'No.' "

Related: His Wife Died After Giving Birth in a Coma. Now Their 'Miracle' Baby Keeps Her Memory Alive (Exclusive)

On April 10, the couple planned to celebrate their three-year anniversary with dinner before coming home to share a dance to their wedding song, Safety Suits Never Stop, in their kitchen.

But that morning, Demiranda had an appointment with the cardiologist. Afterwards, she told her husband she was being rushed to the hospital.

She said, They just have some concerns,  he remembers, noting that she didn't seem concerned. Shes like, But Im completely fine. 

Matt Quinones From left: Melissa Demiranda and Matthew Quinones.

Related: Mom Who Died Just Days After Giving Birth Becomes 1 in a Million Organ Donor, Fulfilling Dying Wish

Outside the emergency room, Quinones waited for his wife. I expected to see her walk out of an ambulance and I would walk in with her," he says.

Instead, as the ambulance pulled up, he saw a group of doctors surround the vehicle. Then, he saw a woman carried off with her arm hanging limp.



I thought, That person looks like theyre gone already,  he says. I convinced myself, Thats definitely not my wife. I just spoke to her.' "

But inside the hospital, he was taken to a small room with a chaplain. They told me that my wife hasnt had a pulse in a long time and that my baby had no pulse, he recalls being told.

Although hospital staff weren't able to save his wife  Quinones says they still don't know her official cause of death and are awaiting an autopsy  doctors were able to resuscitate and deliver their child, daughter Mia, who was born at 31 weeks old, weighing only 2 lbs. and 15.6 oz.



Shes a fighter, he says of their daughter.

Matt Quinones Melissa Demiranda.

Related: Woman, 28, Dies 'Unexpectedly' Giving Birth to Her First Child: 'She Would Be the Best Mother'

Mia is still in the hospital, where she will likely be for another few weeks. In the meantime, a GoFundMe fundraiser has been established to help the dad and daughter.

As for the future, Quinones says his mother and his wifes sister will help him raise baby Mia.

Ill never be on my own, he says. Its ridiculous on both sides how much love there is and how much help I have.

I have great hopes for her, he adds of his daughter. I hope she can come home soon and we can really start this journey of healing together  and I dont believe that really begins until she comes home.



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Read the original article on People.
CHARLOTTE  President Joe Biden reprised his familiar role as consoler-in-chief on Thursday as he met privately with the families of four police officers killed in a shooting earlier this week in North Carolina.

Biden was already scheduled to travel to Wilmington, North Carolina, to deliver a speech on rebuilding infrastructure and creating good-paying jobs. The White House added a stop to Charlotte to his itinerary.

Biden met with family members at the North Carolina Air National Guard base, situated at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport, where Biden stopped for more than two hours during his North Carolina swing. It was not immediately clear how long Biden met with the families.

The four officers were killed Monday when a gunman with a high-powered rifle opened fire on them from the second floor of a residence while a task force made up of officers from several agencies was attempting to serve a felony warrant in Charlotte. Multiple officers were hit, and the other task force members called in reinforcements.

As local police arrived and began to rescue the downed task force members, more gunfire came from the house and additional officers were struck, police said.

Killed were Sam Poloche, 42, and Alden Elliot, 46, both with the state's Department of Adult Correction; Deputy U.S. Marshal Thomas M. Weeks Jr., 48, of Mooresville, North Carolina; and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Officer Joshua Eyer, 31.

Four other officers were wounded in the attack.

More: Investigators continue piecing together Charlotte shooting that killed 4 officers

Flowers were placed near the doorway to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department at 601 E Trade St. in Charlotte, N. C., on April 30, 2024.

The gunman, identified as 39-year-old Terry Clark Hughes Jr., exited the house with a firearm and was shot by police. He was pronounced dead on the front lawn.

In a statement on Monday, Biden described the fallen officers as heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice, rushing into harms way to protect us. The death of a police officer is like losing a piece of your soul, he said.

Biden's meeting with the families of the slain officers in Charlotte also included officers wounded in the shooting, along with other law enforcement officers and elected officials.

Biden has been forced to take on the role of consoler-in-chief multiple times during his presidency, comforting the families of hurricanes, tornados and other natural disasters, along with the victims of mass shootings in cities ranging from Buffalo to Las Vegas and Uvalde, Texas to Lewiston, Maine.

Contributing: Joey Garrison. Michael Collins covers the White House. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @mcollinsNEWS.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden consoles families of police officers gunned down in Charlotte
President Biden to visit Charlotte, NC in wake of deadly April 29 shooting, what to know

President Joe Biden will visit Charlotte, North Carolina today to visit the families of the four officers killed in a deadly Monday shootout.

The four officers were killed this Monday, April 29, in a standoff that occurred when law enforcement arrived at a Charlotte home to serve a felony warrant. The shooter fired on the officers with a high-powered rifle from a second-floor window, ultimately shooting eight and killing four over the course of the standoff before he was shot dead on the front lawn.

The slain officers were identified as Sam Poloche, 42, and Alden Elliot, 46, both with the state's Department of Adult Correction; Deputy U.S. Marshal Thomas M. Weeks Jr., 48, of Mooresville, North Carolina; and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Officer Joshua Eyer, 31.

More: How to support victims of Charlotte, North Carolina police shooting; community mourns

Biden's statements on 4/29 Charlotte police shooting

The president had previously made statements on the tragic shooting, condemning gun violence and calling for more funding for law enforcement to allow for needed resources.

"They are heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice, rushing into harms way to protect us," Biden said. "We mourn for them and their loved ones. And we pray for the recoveries of the courageous officers who were wounded." The president and vice president also individually called Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles in the wake of the shooting to express their support and solidarity.

From left, William Elliott, Samuel Poloche, Joshua Eyer and Thomas Weeks. All three men were among four officers who were killed on Monday during an incident that broke out when officers attempted to serve a warrant at a house in Charlotte, North Carolina, authorities said.

Biden visits Charlotte

Biden was already scheduled to visit Wilmington, N.C., to deliver a speech. A stop in Charlotte was reportedly added to the president's itinerary in the wake of the shooting.

It isn't the first time Biden has consoled Americans in the wake of tragedies. The president has made visits to families affected by hurricanes, tornadoes, and other natural disasters, as well as the victims of mass shootings in a variety of cities, including Buffalo, Las Vegas, Uvalde, Texas, and Lewiston, Maine.

More: Biden plans to drastically change federal rules on marijuana, here's where NC stands

Further support for families of slain Charlotte officers

The city mourns with you all. You are not alone, reads a card attached to a bouquet of flowers across the street from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department at 601 E Trade St. in Charlotte on April 30, 2024.

Along with Biden's visit and statements on the shooting, there has been a public outpouring of support for Charlotte law enforcement and families of the victims.

Several fundraisers are accepting donations for related causes including:

Memorials for the fallen officers have also been seen across Charlotte, including flowers placed in front of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department building and Federal Courthouse, visits from clergy members, and a Tuesday vigil at Little Rock A.M.E. Zion Church attended by local politicians and community members.

Iris Seaton is the trending news reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at iseaton@citizentimes.com.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Biden visiting Charlotte after April 29 police shooting
Thousands of 3M employees have been accidentally overpaid in recent years, often a few pennies or dollars, due to time card issues that didn't get resolved before paychecks were issued.

The Maplewood-based company made it a habit to claw back the overpayments with deductions from a subsequent paycheck, but without voluntary written consent from employees. That's illegal.

Now 3M will pay back more than $960,000 it deducted without that authorization in a settlement with the state Attorney General's Office announced Thursday.

"It was wrong for 3M to deduct money from workers' paychecks without their knowledge and agreement," Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a statement. "I am pleased that 3M was willing to cooperate with my office by returning money to workers and changing its deduction policies going forward."

Checks ranging between $1 and $300 will be sent to about 1,700 current and former employees.

The overpayments resulted from "COVID-19 pandemic-related absences, 3M's own incorrect calculations of employee salary base pay and 3M's own incorrect calculation of overtime wages owed," according to the settlement, which stemmed from 3M employee complaints and a state investigation that launched a year ago.

3M made a total of 5,978 unauthorized deductions from 4,204 employees between May 2020 and August 2023, according to settlement documents. More than half of the deductions were for less than $1 and are not included in the settlement.

3M recently adopted a policy to deal with overpayments and other deductions related to money owed to the company or for lost, stolen or damaged property.

"3M worked cooperatively with the Minnesota Attorney General's Office to resolve concerns regarding previous processes for correcting overpayments," the company said in a statement. "It is important to note that 3M did not take money away from employees for time they have worked but rather corrected an overpayment."

The settlement calls for a $1 million civil penalty if 3M violates the deduction policy over the next three years.
President Joe Biden arrives at North Carolina Air National Guard in Charlotte to meet with meets with families of slain officers on Thursday, May 2, 2024

During a Thursday visit to Wilmington, President Joe Biden touted a $3 billion federal program to help water utilities nationwide find and replace lead service lines.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law included $15 billion to identify and replace lead service lines. The Environmental Protection Agency has distributed those funds in $3 billion segments, with Thursdays announcement representing the third of those.

North Carolinas portion of the funds is $76.2 million, which will be disbursed by the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality. That brings the total amount of lead service line funds North Carolina has received to $250.55 million.

Im determined to fix it and were finally moving. Until the United States of America, God love us, deals with this, how can we say were a leading nation in the world? For Gods sake, were better than this, Biden said.

And while Thursday technically was an announcement of actions taken by the administration, it came against the backdrop of a close presidential race again pitting Biden against the presumptive GOP nominee, former President Donald Trump. Trump was forced to cancel a rally in Wilmington two weeks ago because of severe weather.

There is no safe level of lead in drinking water. Lead is a neurotoxin that can cause babies to be born early or too small; hinder learning in children and stunt their growth; and increase blood pressure and cause kidney problems in adults, according to the EPA.

No matter whether its lead or forever chemicals, this president has demonstrated that hes using every tool in the toolbox, whether it be resources from Congress or statutory authority form his agencies, to protect the drinking water for every single family in the country, EPA Administrator Michael Regan, a North Carolina native and former secretary of the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, told The News & Observer Thursday.

Biden has said all of the estimated 9 million lead service lines nationwide should be replaced by the early 2030s..

Ali Zaidi, the White Houses national climate adviser, told reporters the Biden administrations vision of infrastructure is broader than roads, bridges and high-speed rail projects.

Those are the projects above the ground that captivate our imagination. Whats equally important and perhaps more is us meeting our moral responsibility to our young people: delivering clean air and clean water, Zaidi said.

The Biden campaign has long planned to target North Carolina, which Trump won by 1.3% in 2020. Thats a narrower margin than the 3.66% by which Trump won the state in the 2016 presidential election.

While Thursday marked Bidens first visit to Wilmington this campaign season, he and cabinet secretaries have been frequent visitors to North Carolina in recent months. That includes a March 26 visit Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris made to Raleigh to tout the administrations health care plan and an April 10 visit Regan made to Fayetteville to announce the nations first-ever drinking water standards for some forever chemicals.

Before flying to Wilmington Thursday, Biden visited Charlotte, where he met with families of law enforcement officers killed and wounded on Monday.

Trump has visited the city at least three times during the 2016 and 2020 campaign seasons, including an official presidential visit in September 2020 to designate Wilmington the nations first American World War II Heritage City.

Looking for lead in North Carolina

At first glance, Wilmington seems like a curious choice for an announcement about replacing lead pipes. The Cape Fear Public Utility Authority, which provides drinking water to much of Wilmington and New Hanover County, has not identified any lead service lines in its system.

The utility has grappled more publicly with the challenge of forever chemicals, most significantly but not entirely GenX compounds coming down the Cape Fear River from Chemours Fayetteville Works plant.

Still, the Wilmington-area utility has obtained $4.16 million of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding from the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality to replace 300 service lines that are suspected to have lead gooseneck connectors between the public water system and the service line that runs into a home.

Thats one of 96 lead service line projects selected by DEQ. Many of the projects DEQ has identified so far are the initial inventory of finding and confirming there is lead in service lines, rather than replacements.

In Wake County, Fuquay-Varina has received $500,000 to find lead pipes that need to be replaced, while Durham and Orange counties each received $1 million to verify that suspected pipes or connections do contain lead.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

This story was produced with financial support from the Hartfield Foundation and Green South Foundation, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners, as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work. If you would like to help support local journalism, please consider signing up for a digital subscription, which you can do here.
President Joe Biden On College Protests: People Do Not Have The 'Right To Cause Chaos'

President Joe Biden has addressed the nation regarding the ongoing college campus protests across the United States over the Israel-Gaza war.

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested across U.S. campuses on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, which has raised concerns, especially regarding safety on college campuses.

While the exact number of arrests remains unclear, it was reported that more than 1,300 arrests have taken place in the last two weeks related to these protests.

Now, the President of the United States is speaking out.

President Joe Biden Says People Have 'The Right To Protest' But 'Not The Right To Cause Chaos'

MEGA

President Joe Biden addressed the nation in a press conference on Thursday, May 2, 2024, telling the public, "Theres the right to protest, but not the right to cause chaos."

"Destroying property is not a peaceful protest. It's against the law. Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows shutting down campuses, forcing the cancelation of classes and graduations, none of this is a peaceful protest," Biden said during the press conference.

"Threatening people, intimidating people, instilling fear in people is not a peaceful protest. It's against the law," he continued. "Dissent is essential to democracy, but dissent must never lead to disorder or to denying the rights of others so students can finish the semester and their college education."

"People have the right to get an education, the right to get a degree, the right to walk across a campus safely without fear of being attacked. Let's be clear about this as well  there should be no place on any campus, no place in America, for antisemitism or threats of violence against Jewish students," the President of the United States added.

College Protests Continue Across The Nation

University of Minnesota encampment strong (ft. sorority grad photos) pic.twitter.com/YFkDXtT52w  Octavia Butler predicted this ???? (@Lucyinthesky002) May 2, 2024

Video footage from Tuesday's protest at the City University of New York showed officers forcing some protesters to the ground, per The Guardian. 102 people were arrested at City College of New York Tuesday night, but NYPD analysis shows they were not affiliated with the university. 68 other people who were arrested were reportedly affiliated with the school.

Students at other schools, including Yale University, Columbia University, Harvard University, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Southern California, and many more, have also been protesting.

President Joe Biden Says The National Guard Should Not Intervene

MEGA

Following a brief address, a member of the press asked the President if the National Guard should intervene. The President simply said, "No."

Another reporter asked President Biden, "Have the protests forced you to reconsider any of the policies with regard to the region?"

Biden again answered, "No."

Arrest Count Climbs Regarding Protests At Colleges

I can confirm this was right at the entrance of UCLA tonight. I went there with a friend. The thing that shocked me was no one tried taking it down or stopping it. And people laughed at it as they walked by. pic.twitter.com/4N1A5DItNF  Luc Bernard (@LucBernard) May 2, 2024

According to ABC, the California Highway Patrol stated that at least 132 people were arrested on Thursday in protests at the University of California Los Angeles.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said approximately 300 people were arrested at Columbia University.

Plus, the New York Police Department arrested 15 people at Fordham Universitys Manhattan campus on Wednesday, April 1, according to the schools president, Tania Tetlow.

The University of Minnesota Ends Protests

University of Minnesota encampment strong (ft. sorority grad photos) pic.twitter.com/YFkDXtT52w  Octavia Butler predicted this ???? (@Lucyinthesky002) May 2, 2024

The University of Minnesota staff has been meeting to try to reach an agreement to end the student-led protests on campus.

"Our meetings have been grounded in listening, learning, and respect, and I believe they were a very positive first step in reaching mutual understanding," University of Minnesota interim President Jeff Ettinger said in a statement. "Though the original meeting was scheduled for 30 minutes yesterday, we engaged in constructive conversation for more than 90 minutes. We then met two more times to discuss the proposed agreements."

"We regret that these meetings did not happen sooner, and have committed to regular meetings moving forward to continue to discuss this coalitions concerns," he added.

The college protests come weeks after The Blast reported on a pro-Palestinian protest that shut down the Golden Gate Bridge.
Presidential debate commission defends schedule after Trump campaign pushes for new dates

The Commission on Presidential Debates is pushing back against criticism from the Trump campaign over its debate schedule.

The nonpartisan entity, which announced the dates and locations for three debates late last year, responded Wednesday to Trump campaign officials' calling the timeline "unacceptable."

"The CPD has only one mission: to sponsor and produce general election debates that inform and educate the public," it said in a statement. "Our schedule is designed with that single mission in mind."

The first debate is scheduled for Sept. 16 at Texas State University in San Marcos.

Trump's campaign said in a statement Tuesday that the commission's schedule does not begin "until after millions of Americans will have already cast their ballots."

The overwhelming majority of states will not have started mailing out absentee ballots by the first debate. While a handful of states start mailing absentee ballots in early September, most begin sending them within a month and a half of the election, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Election Day this year falls on Nov. 5.

"As it always does, the CPD considered multiple factors in selecting debate dates in order to make them accessible by the American public," the commission said. "These factors include religious and federal holidays, early voting, and the dates on which individual states close their ballots."

"The CPD purposefully chose September 16 after a comprehensive study of early voting rules in every state," it added, noting that the September debate will be the "earliest televised general election debate ever held."

Trump's co-campaign managers, Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, reacted to the commission's response by reiterating their criticism.

They said Tuesday they are "committed to making this happen with or without the Presidential Debate Commission."

The commission, launched in 1987, has sponsored all presidential debates for decades.

President Joe Biden said in an interview last week that he would be happy to debate Trump.

Trump, who skipped all of the 2024 GOP primary debates, later posted on social media about his willingness to debate, writing in all capital letters, anywhere, anytime, anyplace.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
The Commission on Presidential Debates is pushing back against suggestions from the Trump campaign that it move its general debate calendar up -- standing firm in its decision to hold the first broadcast on Sept. 16, 2024.

In a statement released on Wednesday, a day after Trump senior campaign advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles released their own statement urging earlier debates, the commission correctly noted that its September event is the earliest it's ever conducted a debate. The previous record was set in 1980, when Republican Ronald Reagan and Independent John Anderson went head-to-head on Sept. 21.

Trump senior advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles on Wednesday evening made an additional statement on the commission saying its general debate schedule will remain unchanged this cycle.

The Trump advisers reiterated the campaign's willingness to work directly with the Biden campaign in organizing earlier debates, calling on "every television network" to host them "with or without the stubborn Presidential Debates Commission."

The commission noted that, "as it always does, the CPD considered multiple factors in selecting debate dates in order to make them accessible by the American public," including religious and federal holidays, early voting, and the dates on which individual states close their ballots.

PHOTO: President Joe Biden and Former President Donald Trump (Getty Images)

The commission also pushed back against the Trump advisers' claims that "millions of Americans will have already cast their ballots" at the time of the first debate, noting that it "purposefully chose September 16 after a comprehensive study of early voting rules in every state," including taking into consideration North Carolina's Sept. 6 start to sending out mail-in ballots.

On Sept. 16, the day of the first debate, Pennsylvania voters can receive, complete and return ballots at their county boards of elections, CPD notes. Minnesota is one of the first states to offer in-person early voting, and voters there can begin to cast ballots on Friday, Sept. 20.

PHOTO: President Joe Biden and Former President Donald Trump (Getty Images)

MORE: Major media organizations urge Biden and Trump to debate

"The CPD has only one mission: to sponsor and produce general election debates that inform and educate the public. Our schedule is designed with that single mission in mind. The colleges and universities preparing to host these debates look forward to being part of an historic 2024 series of forums," the commission continued in its statement.

Following the first debate on Sep. 16 at Texas State University, the commission has announced plans to hold the second on Oct. 1 at Virginia State University and the third on Oct. 9 at The University of Utah in Salt Lake City. It plans to hold a vice presidential debate on Sept. 25 at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania.

MORE: President Joe Biden says he's 'happy to debate' Donald Trump. Trump says he's ready to go

Last week, President Joe Biden told Howard Stern on his Sirius XM show that he would be "happy" to debate former President Donald Trump, although he did not specify when. Trump and his campaign have used the moment to reemphasize their calls for earlier debates.

At rallies, before Trump speaks, the campaign directs supporters to turn their attention to the stage, where a second podium has been placed with a banner on it that says "Anytime. Anywhere. Anyplace," in reference to a previous statement from Trump regarding his willingness to face off against Biden.

Trump has previously attacked the commission, when in 2020 he claimed he would not accept any of their changes intended to enforce the rules and limit interruptions at the remaining 2020 presidential debates.

Presidential debate commission sticks to schedule despite Trump's urging originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
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NAIROBI  Kenyas president faces mounting criticism over his handling of the countrys worst floods in three decades, even as his government steps up its response to the devastation and subsequent political fallout.

President William Ruto, reacting to flooding in several parts of the country that has killed more than 150 people and displaced over 150,000, is under growing pressure to declare the situation a national disaster. It follows criticism over the speed of the governments response and its preparedness.

Those calling for the declaration of a national disaster hope to trigger a more efficient government response to the needs of victims nationwide, particularly with the countrys meteorological agency forecasting further heavy rains in the coming days.

Flooding has damaged transport infrastructure including roads and bridges, cutting off access to several areas. First responders, institutions, and political leaders are among those who have appealed to Ruto to declare a disaster. That would enable the channeling of more resources towards rescue and recovery efforts and an assessment of damage to key infrastructure including roads, bridges and railway lines.

But Ruto has expressed reluctance to declare a disaster, telling the BBC that providing resources for affected areas was the more urgent priority. Speaking during Labour Day celebrations in Nairobi on May 1, Ruto said the government would prioritize moving those in the citys badly hit informal settlements into new housing units currently being built under his administrations controversial affordable housing programme.

The government has been talking big on climate change, yet when the menace comes in full force, we have been caught unprepared, opposition leader Raila Odinga said on Tuesday, questioning why contingency plans were not put in place after the Meteorological Department offered early warnings of potential flooding in at least seven regions in the country.

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The Institute of Surveyors of Kenya (ISK) is among the groups calling for a disaster to be declared. It attributed the floods to factors including the disregard of planning and zoning regulations by property developers, resulting in blocking of waterways.

The association called for measures to prepare for the impact of climate change, including a review of zoning policies and aerial mapping of affected areas. We must proactively respond to this crisis with comprehensive measures, understanding that the likelihood of future, possibly more severe, flooding events cannot be ignored, said ISK President Eric Nyadimo.

Nearly two weeks since the flooding started, the military on Wednesday, May 1 began arriving in various affected areas to support rescue and recovery efforts following a directive from Ruto. The central Kenya town of Maai Mahiu, where 70 people died in landslides earlier this week, is among areas in which the military has been deployed.

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Martins view

The response of government agencies in areas affected by the flooding has been slow and inadequate in many cases.

Many people here who are now displaced still dont have anywhere to go, some dont even have food, Joseph Ndungu, a resident of Mathare, Nairobi, told Semafor Africa. He questioned the governments efforts. It is us (in the community) that have been helping each other.

Many residents of Mathare, an informal settlement, had to sleep on their roofs and now find themselves displaced. Community-based organizations, aid organizations such as the Red Cross, and residents within affected communities have played a major role in supporting the victims so far  filling the gaps where government agencies have been absent.

The engagement of the military is expected to offer response efforts a boost. It is, however, also important to find long-term solutions including the review and enforcement of planning and zoning regulations, which developers often get around by paying bribes to government officials at different levels.

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The View From Tanzania

Devastating heavy rains and flooding has also been experienced in the East African nations of Tanzania and Burundi. The death toll from the flooding in Tanzania currently stands at 155.

Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa told Parliament on April 25 that over 200,000 people and around 50,000 households had been affected by rains and flooding since January.

Warning of continued rain, he advised people in affected areas to begin moving to higher ground.

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Are pro-Gaza college protests free speech? Survivors of Hamas attack say no in lawsuit

Pro-Palestinian protests at U.S. universities are prompting constitutional questions  particularly questions of free speech  and law enforcement responses.

A new federal lawsuit says the demonstrators dont have the right to free speech when terrorism and violence against Jews are taking place at college campuses.

Nine American-Israeli survivors of Hamas Oct. 7 attack in Israel are suing two pro-Gaza groups: the American Muslims for Palestine and the National Students for Justice in Palestine.

The lawsuit filed May 1 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia argues both groups are doing Hamas bidding by having their army of college students take to American streets and college campuses.

AMP and NSJP have intentionally instigated a mass culture of fear, threats, violence, and overt hatred to intimidate politicians and institutions for Hamass substantial benefit, the complaint states in part.

AMPs attorney Christina Jump, of the Muslim Legal Fund of America, told McClatchy News on May 2 that once the group is served with the lawsuit, it will gladly demonstrate in any jurisdiction that it operates fully within the laws of the United States.

More than 2,000 people have been arrested at colleges nationwide over the past few weeks during the protests, including 200 people at the University of California, Los Angeles, within the past day, The Associated Press reported May 2.

Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) attorney Alex Morey, the non-profits vice president of campus advocacy, told CNNs Jake Tapper on April 30 that free speech experts never want to see campus peaceful protests devolve into violence.

She also said we want administrators, people in charge, even the governor in every situation to be looking at the facts and protecting peaceful protests whenever possible.

The lawsuit against AMP and NSJP is represented by Greenberg Traurig law firm, the National Jewish Advocacy Center, the Schoen Law Firm and the Holtzman Vogel law firm.

The complaint contends the suit does not seek to suppress speech, but to hold (the organizations) liable for acting as Hamas ministry of propaganda in the U.S.

It is deeply ironic that the same people carrying signs saying Death to America and Death to Jews claim they are protected by free speech. They are not, Greenberg Traurig vice chair Richard A. Edlin said in a news release issued by the firm.

Free speech has never included the active support of terrorism, and it has never protected the destruction of private property or the brutalization of innocent men, women, and children of many faiths, not just Jews, he said.

In her emailed statement, Jump extended her sympathies to the plaintiffs and said they absolutely have a right to redress against the perpetrators.

They do not, however, have any legal right to redress against law-abiding domestic nonprofits like AMP, that even their complaint fails to tie to terrorism.

She said it will be shown in court that AMP breaks no laws and falls within its legally protected rights to free speech and association.

The U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations, which supports Muslim advocacy groups across the country, denounced the lawsuit and called it a political stunt in a provided statement to McClatchy News on May 2.

In recent months, college students have been doxxed, attacked and arrested. Teachers, doctors and other workers have faced discrimination and termination. Protesters have been defamed and brutalized. Dozens of Muslim and Palestinian Americans have been violently attacked for wearing visible signs of their religion or culture, the statement said in part.

If Greenberg Traurig and its clients disagree with Americans advocating against the genocide in Gaza, they should debate those Americans in the court of ideas instead of misusing a court of law to smear and silence them, the statement continued.

Biden addresses the protests

On Thursday, President Joe Biden publicly addressed the demonstrations at college campuses, saying theyre testing two fundamental American principles.

The first is the right to free speech and for people to peacefully assemble and make their voices heard. The second is the rule of law. Both must be upheld, Biden said May 2.

We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent  But  but neither are we a lawless country.

He continued by saying peaceful protests are protected in the U.S., but protests that turn violent arent.

On May 1, 15 people were hurt during a pro-Palestinian protest that turned violent at the University of California, Los Angeles, according to campus officials, Axios reported.

Biden also said there is no place in America for antisemitism or threats of violence against Jewish students and that theres no place for hate speech or violence of any kind, whether its antisemitism, Islamophobia, or discrimination against Arab Americans or Palestinian Americans.

More on the campus demonstrations

From April 18 to date, arrests of protesters on U.S. university campuses have occurred in 24 states spanning from the East Coast to the West, according to a New York Times map.

The universities include Columbia, Yale, New York University, Princeton, North Carolina State, the University of Florida, Ohio State, University of Texas at Austin, Arizona State University and more.

At Stony Brook University in New York shortly after midnight May 2, a university spokesperson told Axios that 29 individuals including students, faculty members and others from outside our campus community were arrested.

The arrests were for violating various legal statutes and university policies, the spokesperson said, according to Axios.

As the protests persist, so does Israels war on Gaza, which has lasted nearly seven months, The Associated Press reported.

With their lawsuit, the plaintiffs suing AMP and NSJP seek an unspecified amount in compensatory damages and demand a jury trial.

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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  Pro-Palestine protesters held a news conference Wednesday to decry the use of tear gas against students on Tuesday on the University of South Florida campus.

Shame on all of admin at USF for putting their students in danger, one of the organizers said.

The group gathered at 56th Street and East Fowler Avenue on Wednesday evening.

When asked if the protesters had any intention to disrupt graduation ceremonies, organizers said no comment.

One student, Victoria Hinckley, said she was supposed to graduate on Saturday, but that has now been threatened because she was suspended and trespassed from the university for organizing a protest.

They are trying to withhold my graduation from me for asserting my right to free speech on campus, for asserting my right to organize, and asserting our right to free speech and to protest on our own campus as college students, who pay tuition to be there  who pay tuition to fund university administrators salaries who are trying to suppress our free speech.

Ten people were arrested on Tuesday after police used tear gas to disperse the protest on campus. Four of those people arrested were students.

The university said the protest was declared an unlawful assembly because the students set up a tent and had wood shields and umbrellas.

The University of South Florida values the right to free speech and protecting the constitutional right for individuals and groups on campus to express themselves, a USF spokesperson said in a statement to News Channel 8 on Tuesday. This includes peaceful protests and demonstrations that occur regularly on USFs three campuses without incident and are part of the public discourse of a university. However, the expression of free speech must remain peaceful and not violate the law or USF policies. The university has been clear the violence, threats, harassment and disruptions will not be tolerated.

The university said about 75 to 100 protesters  some students and some non-students  showed up with wood shields, umbrellas and tents. Staff members reportedly told the protesters what their expectations were for maintaining a peaceful event.

Video from Eagle 8 HD showed a group standing together in a circle with arms locked.

If youre out here peacefully protesting, why should you need shields and umbrellas? USF Police Chief Christopher Daniel said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
AMHERST, N.Y. (WIVB)  Protests and demonstrations over the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas have been happening all across the country.

On Wednesday there was a pro-Palestine protest at UB, following one that was held at SUNY Buffalo State College earlier in the day.

UB Norths event was peaceful until officers moved in to disperse the crowd around 8:20 p.m., following a campus march Wednesday originally organized by the UB chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine. More than 50 students and others gathered in a peaceful protest in front of Hochstetter Hall.

Over 15 UB and Tonawanda police vehicles and officers surrounded the protest after five tents were set up at the demonstration, going against UB and State University of New York policy.

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UB said in a statement that they recognize and respect students right to protest.

The university recognizes and respects students right to protest. It is our expectation that protests occur lawfully in public spaces, and protestors will not disrupt or prevent the orderly conduct of classes, lectures, events and meetings, the statement read in part. The university is deeply cognizant of the many ways in which the unimaginable loss of life and immense scale of human suffering have raised very important and complex issues. Grappling with these issues brings forward differing opinions, perspectives and impacts among the UB community.

Some protesters were taken away in handcuffs by police as the group was rushed away from the site and into a nearby parking lot to then be dispersed. Police said that the group has a right to assemble, but not set up an encampment.

Based on the information available, at this point, the university believes that individuals with no known affiliation with the university led the effort to set up an encampment, UB said Thursday morning. The university believes they made up a large portion of the protestors.

UB said that 15 people, including five students, were arrested. The others arrested are believed to be unaffiliated with the school.

The charges that stemmed from this included loitering, trespassing, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. All who were arrested were released on appearance tickets for Amherst Town Court.

While the decision to arrest individuals occurred after multiple discussions, communications and warnings to protestors, UB Police prioritized the safety and security of the university community by upholding and enforcing all applicable laws, SUNY rules and UB polices, the school said in an additional statement Wednesday night.

UB said it had an ambulance on site to evaluate those who were arrested. One person was taken to an area hospital with what is believed to be a minor injury, the school said. Two police officers were assaulted and treated for minor injuries on campus, they continued.

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Earlier in the day a student walkout took place at Buffalo State University which was peaceful, calling for a ceasefire and for SUNY to divest any interest that it may have with Israel.

Right now we are making demands to our government and to our schools to not support this genocide and they dont believe a genocide is happening, Buffalo State student Scarlett Hanley said.

A small group of Jewish students from UB also attended; they held signs saying Free the hostages.

Hamas started this war and its sad that innocent people are dying but its not a genocide from both sides. Its sad. Hamas is cancer they have to be eradicated, UB senior Brandon Meyer said.

Pro-Palestine protestors set up an encampment at the University of Rochester on Wednesday as well.

Latest Local News

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 load arrested protestors onto buses in front of the CUNY City College of New York in New York City, on May 1, 2024. Credit - Andres Kudacki for TIME

Student protests over the ongoing conflict in Gaza have become a thorny issue for President Joe Biden and many Democrats, drawing attention to his Administration's stance on Israel and highlighting divisions within the party.

The protests, which have erupted on campuses like Columbia University and UCLA, present a delicate balancing act for Biden as he navigates the complexities of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East while seeking to maintain support from key voting blocsincluding young progressivesahead of his reelection bid in six months.

We're divided, Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a New York progressive, tells TIME of the Democrats. We have many members of the party who are pro-Israel without equivocation, and others who take a more balanced and nuanced approach.

While the White House has affirmed its commitment to Israel's security, it has also called for restraint and humanitarian assistance in Gaza, where thousands of Palestinians have been killed. But Biden is yet to publicly endorse calls from progressive lawmakers to cut off U.S. support for Israel or express solidarity with the student protesters calling on his Administration to take a more forceful stance against its military operations in Gaza.

Read More: Why Colleges Dont Know What to Do About Campus Protests

Some prominent progressive lawmakers have noticed. I think he could say that this is a critically important moment, and people feel very strongly, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Washington Democrat and chair of the progressive caucus, tells TIME. They are protesting this war, and theyre protesting the United States involvement. And we have a long history of doing that in this country with students on campuses, and I think it would be great if [Biden] lifted up that history, while making sure that people understand that antisemitism is wrong.

For Biden, theres no easy political solution. On one side of the Democratic Party are those who advocate for a more assertive stance against Israel's actions, calling for sanctions and divestment from companies doing business with Israelsome even visiting the pro-Palestine encampments at colleges to show support. On the other side are those who emphasize Israel's right to defend itself and warn against actions that could strain U.S.-Israel relations.

As pro-Palestininan protests explode at colleges across the nation, Biden has largely stayed quiet about the issue. He is yet to address the protests in a speech and has not given any public remarks in more than a week. I can understand why he doesn't want to comment on this, Jayapal says.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was pressed repeatedly Wednesday on why Americans haven't heard from Biden on the protests. "The president is being kept regularly updated on what's happening," she said. "He is monitoring the situation closely."

Protestors block Hamilton Hall as they take over the interior of the building on Columbia University campus during a pro-Palestinian encampment, on April 29, 2024. Andres Kudacki for TIME

In its messaging throughout the Israel-Hamas war, which began when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the Biden Administration has emphasized the need for diplomacy and has continued to provide military aid to Israel, while also expressing concerns about civilian casualties and urging de-escalation. Jean-Pierre added that Americans have the right to peacefully protest, but that forcibly taking over a building is not peaceful. Bidens staff has come out strongly against illegal actions by the student protesters, with a spokesperson last week condemning an organizer of the Columbia protests for having said that Zionists dont deserve to live.

The tensions came to a head at Columbia University and at City College of New York on Tuesday night, where nearly 300 demonstrators were arrested. The NYPD was seen entering a window into a building occupied by the anti-war group, which had been demanding that the university condemn Israel's actions and divest from Israeli-linked companies. Hours later at UCLA, dueling groups of protesters had beat each other with sticks overnight after pro-Israel demonstrators tried to pull down barricades surrounding a pro-Palestinian encampment. Fifteen people were injured and one was hospitalized during the clash, university administration said, leading the school to cancel classes.

Reports of antisemitic chants and messages at the protests have raised concerns about the safety of Jewish students on campus, prompting calls for intervention from lawmakers.

Read More: Why Are Police in Riot Gear?: Inside Columbia and City Colleges Darkest Night

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive New York Democrat who visited the encampments at Columbia last weekend, tells TIME that it wouldnt be enough for the Biden Administration to simply express solidarity with the protesters. It's not even about solidarity, she says. This is about free speech protections The worst thing that you can do is send in police to violently escalate what is going on. Chuck Schumer of New York, the top Democrat in the Senate, said Tuesday that smashing windows with hammers and taking over university buildings is not free speech. It is lawlessness and those who did it should promptly face the consequences that are not merely a slap on the wrist.

Bowman also says he wants to hear more from Biden on protesters rights. This is Americawe are not a police state, Bowman adds. We are supposed to be the beacon of liberal values, the beacon of freedom of speech And so I would love for the President to use his bully pulpit to lean into who we are and the fabric of our country and our democracy.

"The President believes making your voice heard and participating in our democracy is fundamental to who we are as Americans, a Biden campaign spokesperson tells TIME. He shares the goal for an end to the violence and a just, lasting peace in the Middle East. He's working tirelessly to that end."

The protests at Columbia and UCLA have become a focal point for political debate, with Republicans seizing on the unrest to criticize Biden's handling of the crisis. Former President Donald Trump has sought to capitalize on the issue, blaming Biden for the protests and accusing him of weakness on Israel. Whats going on is a disgrace to our country, Trump said last week, and its all Bidens fault and everybody knows it.

The House voted on Wednesday to pass the bipartisan Antisemitism Awareness Act, which supporters say will help combat antisemitism on college campuses. The legislation would mandate that when the Department of Education enforces federal anti-discrimination laws, it uses a definition of antisemitism put forward by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. Twenty-one Republicans and 70 Democrats voted against the legislation, with many arguing that the definition is overly expansive and could threaten free speech.

How Biden handles the escalating protests could shape the political landscape in the months ahead. His ability to navigate the fault lines within his own party and forge a coherent strategy on Israel-Palestine relations could be crucial in determining his prospects for reelection. If Biden opts for a stronger stance in support of protesters' rights, he could provide ammunition for Trump and Republicans, who have sought to link the President to campus disorder and lawlessness. But if he doesnt, he risks alienating key groups of young progressive voters.

Bidens advisers don't believe the Israel-Hamas conflict is the main priority for young people in this election. A recent Harvard Institute of Politics Youth Poll shows that Gaza ranks 15th on the list of top issues facing young voters, well below the economy and immigration. The same poll found that 51% of young Americans support a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

The Middle East conflict could also hurt Biden politically with other voters, including Muslim Americans, especially in swing states like Michigan where more than 100,000 people voted uncommitted in February in protest of the presidents handling of the Israel-Hamas war. Our government isnt just complicit [in] this genocide, were actively participating, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Michigan progressive and the first Palestinian American woman to serve in Congress, said on the House floor Wednesday.

For now, Democrats are uneasily negotiating their partys tricky politics on the issue. I'm heartbroken that we have not done one vigil to honor the lives lost in Gaza, Bowman says. We've done a vigil for October 7, as we should, but we've not done one for the lives lost in Gaza. And what we're communicating there is that the lives lost on October 7 are far more important, more valuable, or more precious than the ones lost in Gaza since October.

That's just not the way we want to be governing, Bowman adds.

Write to Nik Popli at nik.popli@time.com.
Protesters chant as DPS officers look on at the University of Texas at Dallas on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators set up an encampment on the campus before dawn. At about 4 p.m., DPS and other police officers showed up and tore down the encampment and arrested several people. Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune

Police officers arrested 17 people, broke up pro-Palestinian protests and tore down tents at the University of Texas at Dallas in Richardson on Wednesday, 12 hours after students set up an encampment to demand university divestment from U.S. corporations that have ties to Israel's war in Gaza.

Footage by the NBC 5 in Dallas showed some people being taken away by officers. Kim Horner, a communications manager at UT-Dallas, said in an email that as of 5 p.m., there had been 17 arrests for criminal trespass made on campus.

Pro-Palestinian students had set up tents and food stations on a campus plaza at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday. They had also hung a banner saying "Welcome to Gaza Liberation Plaza." By noon, there were 10 tents set up and about 100 students at the encampment at the campus plaza, according to KERA.

Throughout the day, campus police officers surrounded the demonstration and observed from a distance, but after 4 p.m. the Department of Public Safety had officers on the ground dispersing the crowd.

Horner said arrests were made after UT-Dallas issued a statement earlier Wednesday stating that setting up an encampment, including tents and barricades, is not permitted under UT System policy.

"Individuals may peacefully assemble in the common outdoor areas of campus and exercise their right to freedom of speech, but individuals may not erect or maintain an encampment," the statement earlier on Wednesday said.

The statement also asked that all tents be removed immediately and failure to comply may lead to removal for criminal trespassing.

Horner said the university gave demonstrators "the opportunity to comply." But after these individuals refused, law enforcement officers removed the encampment with help from county and state law enforcement. She said UT-Dallas' police department continue to monitor campus.

The group that organized the protest, Students for Justice in Palestine, held a 10-hour sit-in earlier last week at UT-Dallas' administration building and were allowed to stay.

The organization then met with UT-Dallas President Richard C. Benson on Friday.

In a press release Wednesday morning SJP representatives said they were hoping to discuss how the university administration could meet their demands at the meeting, but were not satisfied with the universitys response and walked out of the meeting.

Benson was also organizing a meeting with a zionist organization, undermining the work of Palestinian and allied students and painting genocide as a two-sided issue, the SPJ statement said.

In a press release Wednesday morning, the group accused corporations like Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Northrop Gruman and Boeing of facilitating endless war, death and destruction in Palestine and around the world and called on their university to divest from those companies.

The Israel-Hamas war began last October when Hamas attacked Israel, taking about 250 people hostage and killing about 1,200 Israelis. Since then, more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 77,000 people wounded, two-thirds of whom were women or children, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.

DPS officers in riot gear march past supplies provided for a pro-Palestinian encampment that was set up before dawn on Wednesday. Several protesters were arrested and the encampment was torn down in the afternoon. Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune

The violence has sparked demonstrations at campuses across the country. UT-Dallas marks the second in the state that has resulted in arrests.

At least 136 protesters have been arrested at the University of Texas at Austin in recent days due to protests there. A peaceful student walkout was quickly broken up by DPS troopers in riot on April 24, resulting in 57 arrests. On Monday, 79 more people were arrested in Austin after students tried to set up an encampment on a campus lawn. Authorities used pepper spray and flash bangs to break up that demonstration. Many of the state's Republican leaders have cheered the police response in Austin.

At other campuses, the response has been more measured. Earlier this week, students walked out of class at the University of North Texas , but no arrests were made. Other demonstrations have taken place with little to no incident at Texas A&M University, the University of Texas at San Antonio and other schools.

After the arrests at UT-Dallas police took apart the tents, pulled down Palestinian flags and other equipment set up by the protesters and loaded them into trucks.

DPS officers in helmets stood side-by-side creating a human wall and held batons blocking people from the plaza, but some protesters were allowed to continue waving flags and chanting nearby. Campus staff in university trucks began to pack up tents and other items from the encampment.

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Attacks on two predominantly Christian villages in Egypt last week came after days of rising tensions, which the states security services did nothing to quell despite being notified of impending danger to Christians, according to a human rights group.

On April 23 and then again on Friday (April 26), hundreds of Muslims took to the streets and attacked Christians, first in Al-Fawakher and then in Al-Koum Al-Ahmar village, both in Minya Governate. Enraged villagers launched the attacks ostensibly to prevent construction of church buildings at each site.

Clergy from the Coptic Orthodox Church had notified security service officials four days prior to the first attack that hostilities toward the Christians had reached a breaking point, according to a statement issued Monday (April 29) by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights. On April 20, Muslim villagers in Al-Fawakher had attacked three houses with Molotov cocktails in response to a rumor that a Copts house was going to be used for worship, according to EIPR.

Security services failed to intervene to prevent attacks before they occurred, despite their prior knowledge of the existence of tensions and sectarian incitement, the group said.

The day of the firebombing, the principal of the Al-Fawakher elementary school began bullying several Coptic schoolgirls. When the girls parents confronted him, the principal expelled the students.



Moderate villagers had warned Christian friends that an attack was certain, and the Archdiocese of Minya requested help a second time but was largely ignored, according to EIPR. By 10:30 p.m., crowds were on the streets firing weapons into the air and chanting Islamic slogans.

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The villagers started attacking Christian-owned homes with bricks and stones and eventually more gasoline bombs. The homes that werent burned were looted by the rioters. They beat several Christian women, though none suffered serious injury. Videos of the attack later surfaced on social media with posts stating the attacks were against Christians trying to build a church in the village.

The attack on Christians in Al-Koum Al-Ahmar started on Friday (April 26) shortly after Islamic noon prayers. It was not publicly known if mosque leaders mentioned Christians or churches at the Friday prayers, but shortly afterward crowds chanting anti-Christian slogans began gathering in the streets.

The crowd swarmed through the Christian neighborhoods smashing doors and windows of Christian-owned homes with stones, according to EIPR. They then went to a plot of land that had been set aside by an evangelical church for the construction of a worship hall and destroyed building supplies stored there. They also damaged three cars.

An evangelical congregation bought the land in 2000 for a church building but tried unsuccessfully to obtain the required license until 2023. In January, after the congregation obtained permission to construct the building, roughly 100 villagers gathered at the site to prevent it. They had heard that some sort of agreement had been reached for the church construction.

Egypt has a long-standing practice of restricting or even forbidding construction or renovation of church buildings. In 2016, the government passed the Law for Building and Restoring Churches that brought welcome changes in approvals for construction and renovation of worship halls, but significant hurdles remain for Christians who want a dedicated building for their congregation. Even if a congregation receives government approval to build, Islamists willing to employ violence can put off construction indefinitely.

There is no church building in Al-Fawakher or surrounding villages. The closest church site is an hour away by car. The villages 40 Christian families rely on itinerant priests who meet with them in their homes. Al-Koum Al-Ahmar has a church building where Orthodox Christians meet but none for evangelicals.

The attacks were hardly the first to take place in the governorate and should not have come as a surprise to Egyptian authorities in Minya, according to EIPR. There were three other violent uprisings to stop the church construction in the governorate since September.

EIPR affirmed that the April 23 and 26 attacks were not individual incidents that were exceptional or coincidental, as government and Islamic apologists often claim, but were predictable events that could have been deterred.

State institutions should not be subject to the blackmail of aggressors, as it is not its responsibility to respect the feelings of those who may provoked by the existence of houses of worship for Christians, but rather the state is required to protect freedom of religion and the right to practice religious rites for all its citizens, the EIPR stated. Instead of intervening to protect the rights of their citizens to practice religious rites and redress the damage caused to them, official state institutions closed and prevented the construction of churches.

 2023 Morning Star News. Articles/photos may be reprinted with credit to Morning Star News. https://morningstarnews.org. Morning Star News is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation that relies solely on contributions to offer original news reports of persecuted Christians. By providing reliable news on the suffering church, Morning Star News mission is to empower those in the free world to help and to encourage persecuted Christians that they are not forgotten or alone.

Egypt ranked 38th on Open Doors 2024 World Watch List of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.
Key Insights

Institutions' substantial holdings in Avingtrans implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price

The top 10 shareholders own 52% of the company

Insiders have sold recently

A look at the shareholders of Avingtrans plc (LON:AVG) can tell us which group is most powerful. With 64% stake, institutions possess the maximum shares in the company. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

Since institutional have access to huge amounts of capital, their market moves tend to receive a lot of scrutiny by retail or individual investors. Hence, having a considerable amount of institutional money invested in a company is often regarded as a desirable trait.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Avingtrans.

Check out our latest analysis for Avingtrans

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Avingtrans?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

We can see that Avingtrans does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of Avingtrans, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

Since institutional investors own more than half the issued stock, the board will likely have to pay attention to their preferences. Avingtrans is not owned by hedge funds. Our data shows that Harwood Capital LLP is the largest shareholder with 12% of shares outstanding. With 7.2% and 6.0% of the shares outstanding respectively, BGF Investment Management Ltd. and Unicorn Asset Management Ltd. are the second and third largest shareholders. Furthermore, CEO Stephen McQuillan is the owner of 1.4% of the company's shares.

On further inspection, we found that more than half the company's shares are owned by the top 10 shareholders, suggesting that the interests of the larger shareholders are balanced out to an extent by the smaller ones.

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. There is a little analyst coverage of the stock, but not much. So there is room for it to gain more coverage.

Story continues

Insider Ownership Of Avingtrans

The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. 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 Avingtrans plc. In their own names, insiders own UK10m worth of stock in the UK133m company. Some would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board, though we generally prefer to see bigger insider holdings. But it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 15% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Equity Ownership

With an ownership of 7.2%, private equity firms are in a position to play a role in shaping corporate strategy with a focus on value creation. Some investors might be encouraged by this, since private equity are sometimes able to encourage strategies that help the market see the value in the company. Alternatively, those holders might be exiting the investment after taking it public.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. For example, we've discovered 3 warning signs for Avingtrans (1 is significant!) that you should be aware of before investing here.

But ultimately it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter future.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Protest in support of Palestinians, in New York City

(Reuters) -Pro-Palestinian protests demanding a ceasefire in Gaza and divestment from companies linked to Israel have spread across U.S. universities in the two weeks since Columbia University administrators called in police to dismantle an encampment on their New York City campus.

Below is a timeline of significant events in the biggest wave of U.S. student activism since the anti-racism protests of 2020.

APRIL 17 - Columbia University students set up a Gaza solidarity encampment on their Manhattan campus the same day the university's president tells the U.S. Congress she will protect Jewish students from a "moral crisis" of antisemitism.

APRIL 18 - Over 100 pro-Palestinian protesters are arrested at Columbia after university president Minouche Shafik asks New York police to clear the encampment.

APRIL 22- Police arrest hundreds of people at pro-Palestinian protests at Yale University in Connecticut and New York University in Manhattan after Columbia University canceled classes in response to its encampment.

APRIL 24 - Riot police are deployed against pro-Palestinian protesters at University of Texas, Austin with 57 arrests for criminal trespass. The level of force, until then unprecedented, is later seen at other campuses. All charges were later dropped for lack of probable cause.

APRIL 25 - In comments at Columbia University, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson portrays the campus as out of control and suggests U.S. military reserve forces should be brought in to restore order.

APRIL 27 - Arrest numbers swell over 1,000 on campuses as administrators call in police to break up encampments at universities from Massachusetts to Arizona.

APRIL 28 - Pro-Palestinian protesters tussle with pro-Israeli demonstrators at UCLA after an Israeli American advocacy group holds a counter demonstration near an encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters.

APRIL 29 - Clashes between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protests erupt at UCLA after Jewish student activist records himself being blocked from areas of campus by pro-Palestinian protesters and UCLA authorities declare the protest encampment unlawful. Columbia begins suspending pro-Palestinian student activists at encampment.

APRIL 30 - Brown University students agree to remove camp in return for vote by university trustees on divestment from firms supporting Israel, marking first such deal for protest movement. Pro-Israeli protesters attack UCLA Gaza solidarity camp, four UCLA student journalists among injured. Police arrest dozens of people at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt as they clear buildings occupied by pro-Palestinian protesters

MAY 1 - New York City police arrest dozens of pro-Palestinian demonstrators occupying an academic building on Columbia University campus and remove protest encampment.

MAY 2 - Police clear pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA.

(Reporting By Andrew Hay; editing by Diane Craft)
While the pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA was dramatically broken up in a law enforcement raid early Thursday morning, similar protests remained and in some cases grew at other universities throughout Southern California in the next several hours.

Pro-Palestinian protests, which appeared to be peaceful as of 1 p.m. Thursday, were visible at UC Irvine, Cal State Long Beach and Chapman University.

According to the Daily 49er, CSULBs student-run newspaper, protesters blocked the entrances to Brotman Hall fountain courtyard while demanding that the university divest from companies that do business with Israel. The newspaper said a small number of pro-Israeli protesters arrived at the scene, but no instances of violence have been reported.

CSULB pro-Palestinian protest

After the scene at UCLA early Thursday, UC Irvines encampment continued. There were no reports of counter-protesters as of the early afternoon as dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters camped out on campus.

Last week, the University of California released a statement claiming that divestment from Israeli-associated businesses was not an option.

The University of California has consistently opposed calls for boycott against and divestment from Israel, the statement reads. While the University affirms the right of our community members to express diverse viewpoints, a boycott of this sort impinges on the academic freedom of our students and faculty and the unfettered exchange of ideas on our campuses.

UC Irvine encampment

According to the OC Register, a spokesperson for UC Irvine said there were no updates on whether police would be called to disperse the encampment. The report said a similar encampment was taking place at nearby Chapman, in Orange, with about 50 students taking part.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
The community gathered Thursday to honor one of the four heroes who died Monday afternoon in a shootout.

Corrections officer Alden Elliott was brought back to Hickory in a procession Thursday morning. Dozens lined the roads as people showed their support for the brave men. Some even set up chairs and flags hours before the procession arrived in Catawba County.

PREVIOUS: Department of Adult Correction workers killed in Charlotte shootout

Chopper 9 Skyzoom flew over the long procession of police and emergency vehicles heading north on Highway 16 to Catawba County. Channel 9s Dave Faherty learned that deputies escorted Elliotts family, including his wife and son, to Charlotte and back to Newton.

A procession was held for Alden Elliott, one of the four officers killed in the line of duty Monday. Agencies and individuals saluted the cars that would take Elliott to his funeral in Catawba.

A procession was held for Alden Elliott, one of the four officers killed in the line of duty Monday. Agencies and individuals saluted the cars that would take Elliott to his funeral in Catawba.

A procession was held for Alden Elliott, one of the four officers killed in the line of duty Monday. Agencies and individuals saluted the cars that would take Elliott to his funeral in Catawba.

A procession was held for Alden Elliott, one of the four officers killed in the line of duty Monday. Agencies and individuals saluted the cars that would take Elliott to his funeral in Catawba.

A procession was held for Alden Elliott, one of the four officers killed in the line of duty Monday. Agencies and individuals saluted the cars that would take Elliott to his funeral in Catawba.

A procession was held for Alden Elliott, one of the four officers killed in the line of duty Monday. Agencies and individuals saluted the cars that would take Elliott to his funeral in Catawba.

A procession was held for Alden Elliott, one of the four officers killed in the line of duty Monday. Agencies and individuals saluted the cars that would take Elliott to his funeral in Catawba.

A procession was held for Alden Elliott, one of the four officers killed in the line of duty Monday. Agencies and individuals saluted the cars that would take Elliott to his funeral in Catawba.

A procession was held for Alden Elliott, one of the four officers killed in the line of duty Monday. Agencies and individuals saluted the cars that would take Elliott to his funeral in Catawba.

A procession was held for Alden Elliott, one of the four officers killed in the line of duty Monday. Agencies and individuals saluted the cars that would take Elliott to his funeral in Catawba.

A procession was held for Alden Elliott, one of the four officers killed in the line of duty Monday. Agencies and individuals saluted the cars that would take Elliott to his funeral in Catawba.

A procession was held for Alden Elliott, one of the four officers killed in the line of duty Monday. Agencies and individuals saluted the cars that would take Elliott to his funeral in Catawba.

A procession was held for Alden Elliott, one of the four officers killed in the line of duty Monday. Agencies and individuals saluted the cars that would take Elliott to his funeral in Catawba.

A procession was held for Alden Elliott, one of the four officers killed in the line of duty Monday. Agencies and individuals saluted the cars that would take Elliott to his funeral in Catawba.

A procession was held for Alden Elliott, one of the four officers killed in the line of duty Monday. Agencies and individuals saluted the cars that would take Elliott to his funeral in Catawba.

A procession was held for Alden Elliott, one of the four officers killed in the line of duty Monday. Agencies and individuals saluted the cars that would take Elliott to his funeral in Catawba.

A procession was held for Alden Elliott, one of the four officers killed in the line of duty Monday. Agencies and individuals saluted the cars that would take Elliott to his funeral in Catawba.

A procession was held for Alden Elliott, one of the four officers killed in the line of duty Monday. Agencies and individuals saluted the cars that would take Elliott to his funeral in Catawba.

A procession was held for Alden Elliott, one of the four officers killed in the line of duty Monday. Agencies and individuals saluted the cars that would take Elliott to his funeral in Catawba.

A procession was held for Alden Elliott, one of the four officers killed in the line of duty Monday. Agencies and individuals saluted the cars that would take Elliott to his funeral in Catawba.

A procession was held for Alden Elliott, one of the four officers killed in the line of duty Monday. Agencies and individuals saluted the cars that would take Elliott to his funeral in Catawba.

A procession was held for Alden Elliott, one of the four officers killed in the line of duty Monday. Agencies and individuals saluted the cars that would take Elliott to his funeral in Catawba.

The deputies all wore black bands over their badges to remember Elliott and the other officers killed Monday when they went to serve a warrant at an east Charlotte home.

Elliott and his family lived in Newton, where he graduated from Newton-Conover High School. He was a U.S. Marine and for the past 14 years, worked for the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction. He was also on the U.S. Marshals Carolinas Regional Task Force.

This photo provided by North Carolina Department of Corrections shows William Elliott, assigned with U.S. Marshals Carolinas Regional Fugitive Task Force. Elliott was killed after a shootout that killed four law enforcement officers and wounded four others on Monday, April 29, 2024 in Charlotte, N.C. (North Carolina Department of Corrections via AP)

Not only did people line the streets, but Faherty also saw truck drivers getting out of their big rigs to honor the officer.

Larry Bradham, whos from Charlotte, arrived early to honor Elliott.

This man gave his life. What could be more important than show some respect towards them? he said.

We need to come out and pay our respects. When things happen, these are the guys we called, said resident Stephanie Turner.

Tracy Newby came out with her teenage daughter. She has a friend who is a U.S. Marshal.

This really hit me where it hurts, she said. And I thought she should share in how patriotic the moment is.

Jeff Moore held a flag and his hat as the procession passed near his home.

Its more important for these folks than it is for me, he said. They just lost a loved one, I want to show that we respect them and love them as well.

Many still cant believe so many officers were killed and injured while doing their job.

We work alongside the law enforcement here in Catawba County and its just devastating, said Adam Caldwell with Midnight Special Towing.

A memorial service with military honors to celebrate Elliotts life will be held at 6 p.m. on May 9 at the Tarlton Complex on the campus of Catawba Valley Community College. That auditorium can hold as many as 2,000 people.

A sons recollection

Elliotts son, Theo, wrote the obituary for his father. The words shine a light on the relationship the two had and the hobbies they shared.

Read Theos obituary below:

My daddy is a hero.

He died getting the bad guys, thats what he was good at.

He is a Marine.

He is a Police Officer.

He is kind and patient.

He keeps my mom and I safe.

He is my daddy; the best daddy.

We love playing video games together. He really likes Mario, Zelda, and Metroid Return of Samus.

We collect Pokemon cards. I have a Charizard that he helped me get graded.

He and I have watched every Star Wars movie and series.

My daddy loves playing and watching baseball. His favorite team is the Dodgers.

He is an expert marksman, perfect score every time.

For my 12th birthday he bought me a dirt bike. He bought himself one too, so that we could ride together.

I will learn how to ride it and we will ride together one day, Daddy.

He was the best man I will ever know.

And I hope to be just like him.

(WATCH PREVIOUS: CMPD chief discusses investigation into deadly east Charlotte standoff)




A law enforcement procession is scheduled from Charlotte to Newton Thursday morning for slain officer Alden Elliott.

Elliott died in Mondays Charlotte shooting where four law enforcement officers were killed and four more shot and injured.

Elliott was a 14-year officer with the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction.He died getting the bad guys, thats what he was good at.

Elliott had a wife and a child.

The procession will leave the Mecklenburg County Medical Examiners Office, 3440 Reno Ave. in Charlotte, at about 10:30 a.m., State Highway Patrol Trooper Christopher Casey said.

The procession will travel on N.C. 16 to Bennett Funeral Home in Newton and last about an hour, Casey said.

A law enforcement processional for Officer William Alden Elliott, with the NC Department of Adult Corrections, leaves the Mecklenburg County Medical Examiners Office to Newton on Thursday, May 2, 2024. Four law officers died four wounded while serving a warrant in east Charlotte on Monday April 29, 2024.

On Wednesday, scores of residents held American flags on bridges over Interstate 77 during a law enforcement procession from Charlotte to Mooresville for Deputy U.S. Marshal Thomas M. Tommy Weeks Jr., also killed in the attack.

Weeks and Elliot belonged to a U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force. A third member of the task force, Sam Poloche, also died. Poloche also was a 14-year veteran of the Department of Adult Correction.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Joshua Eyer died late Monday at a hospital.

Members of the Lucia-Riverbend Fire Dept. and Gaston Emergency Medical Services stand at attention as the hearse carrying the body of slain officer Alden Elliott travels along N.C. 16 on Thursday, May 2, 2024. The procession traveled from Charlotte to Newton, NC. Elliott, a 14-year officer with the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction, died on Monday, April 29th, 2024 when serving a warrant in east Charlotte
Fallen Officer William Alden Elliott honored following Mondays horrific Charlotte shooting

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  A procession for fallen officer William Alden Elliott, one of the four officers killed in Mondays devastating shooting, took place on Thursday.

Elliott was transported from the Mecklenburg County Medical Examiners Office at 10:30 a.m. in Charlotte to the Bennett Funeral Home in Newton. The procession was expected to last an hour.

Flags were flown from overpasses in several areas along the route on Thursday.

William Alden Elliott Elliott (NC Dept. of Corrections)

Elliott served as a Department of Corrections officer for 14 years starting as a probation and parole officer. He then became a member of the Special Operations and Intelligence Unit assigned to the U.S. Marshals Carolinas Regional Fugitive Task Force.

Watch: Procession for fallen Deputy US Marshal Thomas Weeks

Elliott was one of four law enforcement officers killed on Monday when a US Marshals Task Force Unit attempted to serve a warrant on Terry Hughes, Jr, at a home in east Charlotte. Armed with an AR-15 rifle and a handgun, officers came under fire immediately and four officers were fatally wounded. Hughes later exited the front, continuing to shoot, and was fatally shot by officers.

What happens to the home at the center of the deadly standoff?

President Biden will be in Charlotte on Thursday visiting with family members of the fallen officers during a private event at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport.

Thursday is also National Day of Prayer where multiple churches in the Charlotte area are expected to recognize the fallen officers. Elliott leaves behind a wife and a child. A Celebration of Life service for Elliott is expected to be held on May 9 in Hickory.

Watch raw footage of Thursdays procession below:

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
Procter and Gamble descendant proposes bill to stop the type of animal testing P&G has done

State Rep. Sara Carruthers (R-Hamilton) speaks from the floor at the opening day ceremonies of the 135th General Assembly of the State of Ohio, January 3, 2023, in the House Chamber at the Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Graham Stokes for Ohio Capital Journal. Republish photo only with original story.)

A descendant of the founders of Procter and Gamble, a multi-billion dollar consumer goods company, is proposing legislation in the Ohio House to stop cosmetics testing on animals. P&G, although saying they are mainly cruelty-free now, continues experimenting on animals.

Plenty of makeup is tested on animals like rodents  and dogs and cats  something state Rep. Sara Carruthers (R-Hamilton) wants to change.

Some of this stuff is just inhumane, sick and unnecessary, Carruthers said. A lethal dose test involves forcing rats to swallow large amounts of chemicals until the subject dies, so that you can determine the dose that causes death.

She and state Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Cleveland) introduced House Bill 495, which would stop the majority of animal testing for cosmetics sold in Ohio.

Not only would this save animals, but it would also help the economy  since consumers want cruelty-free products, Carruthers said.

The vegan cosmetic market is growing exponentially, in part because of Generation Zs interest in ethically sourced products, according to UNiDAYS, a popular student shopping app that conducts market research.

But Carruthers background is what made her interested in animal rights.

My great, great grandfather did it  they did use animal testing, she said.

Carruthers is a descendant of the founders of Cincinnati-based company Procter and Gamble, and she wants companies like hers to stop animal experimentation. Although her family still has some influence, they no longer have a vote in the company policies and have no position on the board. She says her family no longer owns any part of the corporate giant, but their Procter-side of the family continues to be a fixture in the Cincinnati area.

I reached out to P&G whose spokesperson said in a statement that their PETA cruelty-free brands are not tested on animals. However, that is a small percentage. They have 79 brands, and only 13 are on the PETA-certified list.

P&G has invested over $480 million in non-animal test method development over decades and is partnering with groups like PETA and the Humane Society International & US, working closely with governments to end animal testing globally, the company said.

Some countries still mandate testing on animals, they added.

A significant portion of their products are made in China, according to 2018 testimony given to the U.S. Trade Representative, and Chinese regulations require testing on products like toothpaste, hair treatments and anything with sunscreen in it, like a moisturizer or foundation.

I asked for a multitude of clarifications on their cruelty-free policy, including data backing up their statements of being anti-animal testing. They were not addressed in their short statement.

It isnt just the United States and China that they have plants. They have factories on all continents, minus Antarctica. Some locations have rules against animal testing, some require it, and others have other types of restraints  such as Japan, which holds each institution responsible for self-regulation, according to researchers.

Lets go for made in America, right? Carruthers said. We have modern testing methods like human cell-based tests, sophisticated computer models.

But bioethics expert and law professor at Case Western Reserve University Sharona Hoffman says the change could be a huge blow to medical advancements.

Computer modeling is not a substitute for all animal studies  and also you have to worry about the expense, Hoffman said.

Carruthers responded that data has shown that animal alternatives are actually cheaper, but Hoffman is doubtful.

Growing tissue in labs is quite expensive, the professor said.

The bill language is broad, and it could seemingly impact research to help burn victims or patients who want reconstruction surgeries after cancer or trauma.

If youre talking about lipstick or blush, I would probably agree that you dont need to use animals, Hoffman said, acknowledging that makeup isnt the true concern of hers. But for other treatments, we have to remember cosmetic is very, very broad.

The National Association for Biomedical Research is also concerned, stating that the bill may have a negative impact on new compounds and molecules that are being developed for dual  cosmetic and medical  application.

NABRs full statement from spokesperson Eva Maciejewski:

Measuring the safety and efficacy of a new molecule or compound usually involves preclinical testing with animals and adjunct methods, and then phased human clinical trials. Scientists and regulators strive to reduce the number of animals used. They also prioritize the development and adoption of refinement methods. However, scientists cannot observe the combined effects of a new molecule or compound on the bodys interconnected systems over time by relying exclusively on artificial intelligence, organ chips, and other non-animal methods. They also need to use animals to determine if the new molecule or compound is safe enough to begin human clinical trials. It is therefore unclear whether the proposed state bill HB 495 could have a negative impact on new compounds and molecules that are being developed for dual  cosmetic and medical  application.

Animal studies do not proceed without any oversight, Hoffman added. This isnt just some scientist collecting rats in the garage and then experimenting on them.

Carruthers argued there are exceptions, such as when there is no non-animal method available.

This is a no-brainer, the lawmaker said.

This bill will likely be heard in the coming months. She also introduced another bipartisan bill to crack down and try to prevent puppy mills, which she said she talked to P&G about.

This article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and is published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content-sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication by other news outlets as it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland.

Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on X and Facebook.

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The post Procter and Gamble descendant proposes bill to stop the type of animal testing P&G has done appeared first on Ohio Capital Journal.
A prosecutor called a longtime pastor of a Wichita Falls church a "charismatic cult leader" who engaged in mental manipulation to commit indecency with three young girls in his congregation.

But a defense attorney said his client was targeted by a "family that blames the church for all the misery in their lives."

Ronny Allen Killingsworth, 78, is charged with six counts of indecency with a child involving three underaged girls between 2000 and 2011. Killingsworth is founder and "teacher-pastor" of Rephidim Church on Allendale Road.

Killingsworth

Killingsworth was free Thursday from jail on $150,000 in bail, according to online jail records.

Testimony was expected to continue Thursday.

The prosecution is led by attorneys from the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office to avoid any possible conflicts of interest because Killingsworth's son is a detective with the Wichita Falls Police Department  a fact that played in to Wednesday's testimony.

Lead prosecutor Bill Vasser outlined to jurors in his opening statement how the girls, now adults, would describe being taken to Killingsworth's church office to sit on his lap where he would fondle them, telling one 9-year-old girl, "This is where babies come from."

Attorney Ron Poole said the defense would point out inconsistencies in the girls' stories and show that they lied.

The first witness called in 78th District Court was a woman who left the church after becoming convinced Killingsworth had abused her daughter.

Under questioning by prosecutor Davye Jo Estes, she described life in the Rephidim Church.

She said attendance by members was mandatory, that services were styled as "lessons" and members were told not to read the Bible because Killingsworth understood it, and they would not.

She said some of the lessons where children were present dealt with sodomy, necrophilia, homosexuality and other topics she later decided were "absolutely not appropriate for children."

The woman said members were instucted to shun those who left the congregation, including their own relatives. She said as a result, she severed all contact with a daughter for a period.

She also said Killingsworth connected the Y2K scare at the millennium to the rapture  the end of times  and had the members erect houses out in the country and stock them with food, ammunition and medicine.

"It was definitely a letdown when it didn't happen," she said.

The woman said after 2015 she felt some of Killingsworth's doctrines were more questionable, such as Jesus returning to Earth on a spaceship.

On cross-examination, Poole asked the woman about her daughter one time saying she would like to see Killingsworth with his shirt off.

The woman said, yes. She also said her daughter went through some "tough times" when Poole asked her if the girl had mental issues.

All the witnesses on the stand Wednesday agreed Dec. 26, 2020, was a pivotal day. That's when one of the victims gave a cousin her account of what happened to her with Killingsworth.

On the stand, that victim testified she once idolized Killingsworth.

"I thought he was the only one to get me to salvation," she said.

She said she felt privileged to be invited into his office at the church, which she described as dark and filled with taxidermy trophies.

"I felt very special," she said.

She testified she was frightened as a child because church doctrine warned she would be separated from the people she loved if she disobeyed.

"I was scared my sister would die and go to hell," she said.

The woman testified that although Killingsworth had committed indecencies with her, she did not report it because Killingsworth's son, Allen, was a detective with Wichita Falls police.

The cousin who heard the victim's story said she later heard her sister profess to be another of Killingsworth's victims and had run away as a result.

"She wasn't in the cult anymore. She was a dead fly," the cousin said.

Texas Rangers later investigated the allegations made by the young women.

Anyone charged with a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.

Killingsworth founded Rephidim Church on Allendale Road in 1971 and has remained its pastor ever since. He also was a police officer in Iowa Park in the 1970s and did a short stint as their as chief. In addition, he has worked as a private investigator.

If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison on each count.

More: Jury seated in Wichita Falls pastor's indecency with children trial

More: Indicted Wichita Falls pastor no stranger to controversies

This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Prosecutor: Preacher accused of sex crimes "charismatic cult leader"
UPDATE: Jurors today heard a recording in which Donald Trump and his then-lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, discuss payments to Karen McDougal, the former Playboy model who claimed to have had an affair with The Apprentice host.

The recording was made by Cohen in September of 2016  and first reported on by CNN in 2018. In it, Trump and Cohen discussed buying the rights to McDougals story.

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I need to open up a company for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend David, Cohen said, referring to David Pecker, then-CEO of American Media, the tabloid publisher that bought McDougals story for $150,000 with the intention of burying it.

When Cohen turned to the subject of financing, Trump asked, What financing?

Well have to pay, Cohen said. It wasnt clear from the garbled audio at that point whether Trump agreed. Pecker, a prosecution witness last week, said he was never reimbursed for the $150,000 and cited that as one reason he wanted no part in a similar catch-and-kill agreement with Daniels.

Prosecutors played the recording shortly after the testimony of Keith Davidson, who represented McDougal as well as former porn actress Stormy Daniels, who also accused Trump of an affair.

Cohen also secretly recorded a phone call with Davidson of a conversation in October 2017. Cohen said, I cant even tell you how many times he said to me, you know, I hate the fact that we did it. And my comment to him was, But every person that youve spoken to told you it was the right move.

During his testimony this afternoon, Davidson faced a contentious cross examination by a lawyer for Trump, Emil Bove.

Bove sought to leave jurors thinking that Trump was a victim of extortion, and not the prime mover behind a hush-money scheme to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Bove highlighted Davidsons history of cutting deals for clients selling celebrity gossip. He repeated the word extortion several times during a cross examination that dredged up details of payments that Davidson had extracted, or tried to, from celebrities including Charlie Sheen, Hulk Hogan and Lindsay Lohan.

Davidson denied extorting anyone, but acknowledged he was investigated by Tampa, FL police and the FBI in connection with an offer to sell Hulk Hogan a video of him having sex with a friends wife.

Bove also had jurors listen to other recordings of phone calls between Davidson and Cohen. The calls were of conversations after Cohen had paid $130,000 to Daniels days before the 2016 election for her silence about a claim of a sexual encounter with Trump. The calls also were secretly recorded by Cohen.

In one call, Davidson recounted to Cohen what he told CNN during an April 2018 interview that hadnt yet aired. Davidson said he was asked, Was there ever, ever any indication that the money was coming from him? And I said no. The him referred to Trump.

You and I both want the truth out there, Davidson said.

I do, Cohen agreed.

Bove accused Davidson of trying to squeeze Trump for more money. He played back one phone call in which Davidson told Cohen, Sometimes people get settlers remorse, an apparent reference to Daniels. Hypothetically speaking, Davidson added.

Davidson told Bove that pornographer Larry Flynt had offered Daniels $1 million and lawyers fees to break the agreement.

Bove also suggested, without saying it outright, that Davidson and Cohen had effectively become partners in their own scheme to shake down then-President Trump, with Cohen acting out of revenge for not being appointed to a post in the Trump Administration.

Earlier, Davidson told a prosecutor about a phone call with Cohen the month after Trump was elected. Davidson said he was shopping that day in a warehouse with Alice in Wonderland-themed decorations, and on the call remembered Cohen saying, Jesus Christ, can you believe Im not going to Washington? After everything Ive done for that fing guy?  Ive saved that guys ass so many times you, dont even know.

Bove returned to that call, saying Cohen sounded disheartened.

I thought he was going to kill himself, Davidson replied. Cohen had thought he might be in line for White House chief of staff or U.S. Attorney General, Davidson said.

The prosecutors wrapped up Thursdays testimony with a digital data analyst who works for the Manhattan District Attorney. The forensic analyst, Douglas Daus, said he extracted data from two mobile phones belonging to Cohen.

One contained the September 2016 recording made by Cohen of his client Trump. Jurors also saw screenshots of contacts that Cohen kept on one phone for Trump, and learned that Cohen also had contacts for Trump aide Hope Hicks, Trump organization accountant Allen Weisselberg, First Lady Melania Trump, Peckers American Media deputy Dylan Howard, banker Gary Farro, and Davidson, among others.

The phone contained 39,745 contacts in all, Daus testified, the most hed ever seen on a single phone. Daus was being cross-examined by Bove about the chain of custody of the phones and the risk of their data being manipulated when Judge Juan Merchan ended court for the day. Daus is expected to return to the stand on Friday.

PREVIOUSLY: The lawyer representing Stormy Daniels in her $130,000 settlement with Michael Cohen  who prosecutors say was acting on behalf of Donald Trump  was confronted on the stand today with his past dealings in earlier cases involving Hulk Hogan, Charlie Sheen, Lindsay Lohan and Tia Tequila.

Keith Davidson, cross examined by Trump lawyer Emil Bove, acknowledged that hed been investigated in 2012 by Tampa, FL police and the FBI in connection with a video of Hogan  whose real name is Terry Bollea  having sex with a friends wife. The tape was ultimately published by the now-defunct gossip site Gawker.

Davidson, a prosecution witness in the Manhattan hush-money trial of Trump, also acknowledged that hed been the target of a law enforcement sting operation where, in a meeting with Bollea about the video, the conversations were secretly taped.

Bove said that Tampa police were concerned about extortion based on past statements he attributed to Davidson, including telling Bolleas representatives that the Gawker revelations were a shot across the bow and that he wanted $1 million to keep the tape under wraps. Davidson, who was never charged, denied trying to extort anyone and said he was offering to sell Bollea the sex tape.

Davidson said repeatedly during cross examination that he couldnt recall specific statements he might have made.

That experience gave you familiarity with extortion law, correct? Bove asked.

Perhaps, I dont know, Davidson replied.

Bove was seeking to connect that experience to Davidsons handling in 2016 of negotiations for Karen McDougal to sell  and conceal  her story of an affair with Trump.

One of your concerns was staying on the right side of the law with respect to extortion, right? Bove asked.

I suppose, Davidson replied.

In exchanges that grew testy, Bove also raised Davidsons connections to a TMZ revelation that actress Lohan was undergoing rehab, a sex tape involving model and actor Tequila, and clients who received settlements from actor Sheen.

Is it fair to say that your memory seems a little fuzzy around these issues? Bove asked. Davidson replied that he had more than 1,500 clients and he was being asked to remember events from several years ago. He also declined to discuss a $2 million settlement paid to a client by Sheen, citing attorney-client privilege.

Davidson objected to Bove saying he had extracted money from Sheen. And if youre not here to play legal games, he retorted to Bove, then dont say extract.

During a discussion of the Tequila sex tape, Bove asked, You dont recall at the time of that transaction you were on a 90-day bar suspension?

I dont recall, Davidson replied.

In his second day on the stand, Davidson finished direct examination by explaining how a statement he drafted for Daniels was technically true even though it read, Rumors that I have received hush money from Donald Trump are completely false.

It was January 10, 2018, one year into Donald Trumps presidency, and The Wall Street Journal was two days away from publishing an expose headlined, Trump Lawyer Used Private Company, Pseudonyms to Pay Porn Star Stormy Daniels. Before then, The Journal had asked Daniels to comment. The Journal had already revealed the existence of a $150,000 agreement regarding Trump between former Playboy model Karen McDougal and American Media, publisher of the National Enquirer.

But Daniels was bound by the $130,000 confidentiality agreement that she had struck with Cohen, and believed she would have to repay the money plus $1 million in damages if she went public with her claim of a long-ago sexual encounter with Trump, when he was a famous real estate mogul with a newborn child by his second wife.

So Davidson drew up a statement for Daniel to put out. As he explained it to Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass, It wasnt a payoff. It wasnt hush money. It was a consideration in a civil settlement.

In the statement, Daniels also denied having a romantic sexual relationship with Trump. I think youd have to hone in on the definition of romantic sexual affair,  Davidson said. I dont think anybody ever alleged any interaction between she and Mr. Trump was romantic. He said the statement was technically true with an extremely fine reading of the language.

As the secrecy around the arrangements with Daniels unraveled, lawyer Cohen was becoming increasingly agitated, Davidson testified, especially as Daniels went on a round of talk show interviews including Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The View to discuss her new-found fame. As Daniels was getting makeup and hair done at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood for the Kimmel interview, Davidson said he sat in the hotels Marilyn Monroe suite  where Kimmels producers had put Daniels up  on January 30, 2018 and typed up another statement of denial for Daniels.

PREVIOUSLY: Donald Trump was the subject of another contempt hearing this morning in his Manhattan hush-money trial.

In a repeat of an earlier courtroom debate that led to a contempt ruling and a $9,000 fine for Trump, prosecutors argued that the defendant had committed still more violations of the judges gag order restricting attacks on trial jurors and witnesses.

Trump has willfully and knowingly violated the lawful order of this court, assistant District Attorney Christopher Conroy told Judge Juan Merchan, citing four more instances of Trump sounding off against witnesses and jurors. The instance that appeared to interest Judge Merchan most was a comment by Trump to a radio show on April 23: That jury was picked so fast95 percent Democrats. The area is mostly all Democrats.

Trumps lawyer, Todd Blanche, explained Trumps remark by saying, We very much believe that this is a political trial, and part of President Trumps belief is the location of the trial.

Merchan cut Blanche off, asking, Did he violate the gag order? Blanche replied that he was making an argument that Trump did not violate the gag order and laying the foundation for his argument. Im not accepting your argument, Merchan snapped.

Blanche insisted Trump was talking about the political climate that the jury represented, not attacking the jury or individual jurors.

The 30-minute hearing ended with no ruling. Prosecutors said they want fines, not jail, for Trump, but allowed that they could ask for stronger penalties if the gag order violations continue.

The judge found Trump in contempt on Tuesday for online posts in April targeting jurors and witnesses  specifically, Cohen and Daniels  and fined him $9,000. Merchan warned Trump that jail is a possibility if he keeps up the attacks, and prosecutors have already teed up four more instances where they say Trump violated the gag order, including during one of his hallway press encounters.

The gag order leaves Trump free to harangue Merchan and Bragg, but forbids any statements against jurors, witnesses, other trial participants and members of Merchans own family  including a daughter of the judges who has worked for Democratic campaigns and was a target of pre-trial Trump complaints tying Merchan to Trumps political opponents.

Blanche argued this morning that Daniels and Cohen  frequent Trump antagonists  dont need the gag orders protection if the orders aim is to keep trial witnesses from feeling intimidated.

In the trial itself, prosecutors are not done yet with the Beverly Hills lawyer who represented Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal in their six-figure payouts for silence about Trump. Keith Davidson, who could face cross-examination today by the defense, returned to the stand this morning after spending much of Tuesday in court talking about his distaste for dealing with Trumps personal lawyer, Michael Cohen.

In the middle of Trumps 2016 White House campaign, Davidson and Cohen were negotiating the sale of exclusive rights to both womens claims of intimate extramarital encounters with the GOP nominee, with the intent of burying both stories.

Jurors saw a text exchange between Davidson and his contact at the National Enquirer tabloid, editor in chief Dylan Howard, confirming that Cohen had wired $130,000 to Davidson in late October 2016 after a long struggle to get Daniels paid.

Money wired, I am told, Davidson wrote.

Unbelievable, Howard replied.

He was an excitable, sort of pants-on-fire kind of a guy, Davidson said on Tuesday of Cohen as he was questioned by Joshua Steinglass, one of a handful of Manhattan assistant district attorneys trying the hush-money case against Trump. Davidson elaborated, saying Cohen reminded him of Dug, the high-strung, talking dog in Pixars animated hit movie, Up  where the dog says, Squirrel! Squirrel!  Davidson remarked.

Cohen, who pleaded guilty to federal charges tied to his payment of $130,000 to Daniels, is expected to testify for the prosecution. The indictment of Trump broke state and federal law by disguising the hush money reimbursement to Cohen with dozens of falsified check receipts and ledger entries. Trump was en route to winning the presidency in 2016 when the payment was made. He has denied any sexual involvement with Daniels and said he paid Cohen for standard legal work.

Jurors on Tuesday saw reams of texts between Davidson and Howard. In one text to Howard after the infamous Access Hollywood tape emerged a month before the election, Davidson wrote, Trump is fd. Howard replied with a white flag emoji, apparently signaling surrender despite their best efforts to contain bad news about the candidate favored by Howards boss, American Media CEO David Pecker. I think he was seconding my opinion, Davidson testified.

On his way into the courtroom this morning, Trump gave another free-ranging speech about his presidential campaign and the criminal case, which is in its third week.

It was nice to be able to campaign one day without being in this ridiculous show trial  Biden trial, I call it, Trump said.

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i-80 Gold, a Nevada, US-based mining company, has closed its bought deal public offering, raising around C$115m ($83.8m).

This transaction included offering 69,698,050 units at C$1.65 each, with the full exercise of the over-allotment option. The infusion will be utilised to enable the development of the company's mineral properties and for general corporate requirements.

Each unit issued in the offering comprises one common share and a half warrant of i-80 Gold. The warrants are exercisable for one common share at C$2.15 each over a period of 48 months from the offering's closure.

The transaction was spearheaded by National Bank Financial, acting as the lead underwriter and sole bookrunner.

The consortium of underwriters, including Canaccord Genuity and Stifel Nicolaus Canada as co-leads, and others such as BMO Nesbitt Burns, RBC Dominion Securities, Scotia Capital, Cormark Securities and PI Financial, received a cash commission of 5% of the gross proceeds, with certain exceptions.

Notably, certain directors and officers of i-80 Gold demonstrated their confidence in the company by purchasing an aggregate of 300,000 units during the offering.

The company was exempt from the requirements to obtain a formal valuation or minority shareholder approval for the insiders' participation in the offering.

Last year, in November, i-80 Gold signed a non-binding term sheet agreement with an arms-length third party to establish a potential joint venture for its Ruby Hill gold and silver property in Eureka County, Nevada, US.

i-80 Gold offered the potential partner an exclusivity period of 120 days, subject to an extension for a further 60 days, during which the partner can conduct metallurgical due diligence and negotiate definitive documents.

"i-80 Gold completes $84m bought deal offering" was originally created and published by Mining Technology, a GlobalData owned brand.







The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
While all eyes in the nation are fixed on the police response to pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University and the University of California, Los Angeles, this week, demonstrations are spreading beyond the Ivy Leagues and universities on the East and West coasts.

Students at several colleges and universities in the Midwest have orchestrated pro-Palestinian demonstrations, including encampments and protests, joining students at numerous schools across the country in calling for divestments from companies that do business with Israel. Part of their demands include increased transparency about university ties to Israel and a public denouncement of Israels attacks on Gaza as a genocide.

On Oct. 7, the militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel in which 1,200 Israelis were killed and about 240 people were taken hostage. In retaliation, Israel has repeatedly launched strikes on the Gaza Strip, resulting in more than 30,000 deaths so far, the displacement of nearly the entire population and a growing famine. The deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians at the hands of the Israeli military have prompted a mobilization of college students across the U.S. and the world.

Protests at Ivy League schools and larger institutions in major cities have been met with forceful pushback from university officials, many of whom have called in law enforcement to crack down on the demonstrations.

Meanwhile, pro-Palestinian rallies at many universities in the Midwest have been able to continue without much police escalation or incidents.

On Wednesday, hundreds of demonstrators, including faculty and students, gathered on Ohio State Universitys campus for a protest in which they chanted, prayed and waved Palestine flags. According to The Columbus Dispatch, the gathering remained peaceful and nonviolent with minimal confrontation with police officers, a contrast to a smaller demonstration at OSU last week that resulted in 36 arrests.

Students at the University of Nebraska, University of Kansas and Iowa State University also held protests at their campuses on Wednesday, which remained peaceful and calm throughout the day without any major police intervention, localnews outletsreported.

Our positionality in the Midwest is important in this movement because there is a shared fallacy that non-white bodies do not exist, KU Students for Justice in Palestine said in a social media post. Midwest is often dismissed as a region of little significance in elections; however, our voices today align and express the same disgust for the ongoing financial support that the U.S. provides toward the genocide of the Palestinian people.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators gather Wednesday on the campus of Ohio State University. Protesters returned after 36 people were arrested last week. Andrew Spear/Getty Images

Similar reports were given of a protest at the University of Missouri earlier this week, in part because of lessons learned by the college nearly 10 years ago.

In 2015, students camped out at the university to protest its failure to address the culture of racism on campus, KMIZ-TV in Columbia, Missouri, reported. Black student athletes also refused to play until then-President Tim Wolfe resigned. Mizzou saw lower applications from prospective students for years following the protests.

After the 2015 protest, the University of Missouri changed its policies to prohibit camping on school grounds. On Monday, campus protesters were expected to follow school policies as well as city ordinances.

Yesterday we felt was a very large success for everyone involved, University of Missouri spokesperson Christian Basi told KMIZ-TV. The student groups were able to hold their protests. They were able to have their march. They were able to utilize the routes that they wanted to take. At the same time, the university was able to continue its operations.

At the DePaul University in Illinois, students have gathered for a second day at their Chicago encampment, which has not faced police intervention. According to WLS-TV in Chicago, university officials are making a concerted effort not to have their college join the list of schools where violent clashes have occurred, and local police are aiming to keep the campus calm.

With our universities here, people are protesting peacefully. Were not engaging them in a way that is going to inflame what they are trying to do, Chicago Police Department Supt. Larry Snelling said, according to WLS-TV.

Many right-wing pundits and some news outlets have cast the protests at Ivy League schools and other universities on the coasts in recent weeks as being violent, pointing to graphic scenes of police interventions and unrest.

CNN reporter Dana Bash faced backlash on Wednesday for claiming that protesters lost the plot, and she compared the fear that Jewish students feel on campus to the treatment of Jewish people in Europe in the 1930s.

Destruction, violence and hate overtake college campuses across the country with Jewish students feeling unsafe at their own schools. It is unacceptable, and harkening back to the 1930s in Europe, she wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Yesterday we felt was a very large success for everyone involved. The student groups were able to hold their protests. ... At the same time, the university was able to continue its operations.Christian Basi, University of Missouri spokesperson

It is unclear whether violence was instigated before or after police intervened at the protests across the country. Some reports indicate that there were clashes between pro-Palestinian protesters and pro-Israel counter-protesters.

Many students, faculty and witnesses have claimed that they were attacked by police and counter-protesters, accounts that appear to be corroborated by photos and videosonline.

Some politicians have called out the police escalation at universities and in cities across the country, pointing out how de-escalation plans have been successfully carried out at protests in other areas.

If any kid is hurt tonight, responsibility will fall on the mayor and univ presidents, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) wrote Tuesday on X. Other leaders and schools have found a safe, de-escalatory path. This is the opposite of leadership and endangers public safety. A nightmare in the making.

Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) also voiced her support for student protesters.

The continued repression and violence against anti-war student activists and their allies by Columbia University, NYPD, and Mayor Adams is abhorrent and barbarous, she wrote on X. The nationwide crackdown on protesters must end.

Related...
TURBOT TOWNSHIP, NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)  Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) announced Wednesday that state police are investigating a reported dirt bike theft.

According to PSP, sometime between October 1, 2023, at 9:00 a.m. and April 23, 2024, at 6:00 a.m., troopers were contacted regarding a stolen dirt bike in Turbot Township.

State police say the victim identified the dirt bike as a 2006 blue Yamaha YZ250.

Teen charged with Edwardsville apartment shooting

Investigators say the dirt bike was taken from an unoccupied home that the victim owned in the 2000 block of Broadway Road in Turbot Township, in the area of North Bridge Road.

Police say this is an ongoing investigation and 28/22 News will bring you the latest information as it becomes available.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PAhomepage.com.
Public advised to stay out of these Los Angeles County beaches

Officials are asking the public to avoid several Los Angeles County beaches due to high levels of bacteria on Wednesday.

The ocean water warnings will remain in effect beginning May 1 until further notice.

Excessive bacteria and debris can seep from nearby city streets and mountain areas and contaminate ocean waters, especially around discharging storm drains, creeks and rivers, said the L.A. County Department of Public Health.

The warning also includes any runoff that may flow onto or pond on the beach sand.

People who enter the ocean during this period could become ill, especially children, the elderly or those who are immunocompromised, officials said.

The public is asked to stay out of these L.A. County beaches:

Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica  100 yards up and down the coast from the pier

Santa Monica Canyon Creek at Will Rogers State Beach. Near Will Rogers Tower 18- 100 yards up and down the coast from the creek

Malibu Lagoon at Surfrider Beach  100 yards up and down the coast from the public restrooms

Leo Carrillo State Beach in Malibu  100 yards up and down the coast from the public restrooms

Inner Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro  The entire swim area

Latigo Shore Drive in Malibu  100 yards up and down the coast from the public access steps

Malibu Pier in Malibu  100 yards up and down the coast from the pier.

Marie Canyon Storm Drain at Puerco Beach  100 yards up and down the coast from the public access steps

Sweetwater Canyon Storm Drain at Carbon Canyon Beach  The entire swim area

Las Flores Creek at Las Flores State Beach  The entire swim area

Castlerock Storm Drain at Topanga County Beach  The entire swim area

Puerco Canyon Storm Drain at Puerco Beach  100 yards up and down the coast from the storm drain

These warnings have been issued due to bacterial levels exceeding health standards when last tested, the health department said.

Visitors should avoid swimming, surfing, and playing in ocean waters at this time.

A previous warning for these beaches was lifted after testing showed the water quality fell within safe standards:

Redondo Beach Pier in Redondo Beach

Mothers Beach in Marina Del Rey

Inner Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro

The health department tests ocean water bacteria levels regularly and advisories will be lifted once the levels meet standards set by the state of California.

For a map and the latest information on beach closures and warnings, check the L.A. County Department of Healths website or call the countys hotline at 1-800-525-5662.

To report a beach emergency or issue, call the L.A. County Operator at 626-430-5360 or during after-hours at 213-974-1234.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
A map showing the location of the State 44 bridge where improvements are planned to begin in fall 2026.

OSHKOSH  The public will get to shape the eventual design of the State 44 bridge online after the Wisconsin Department of Transportation created a website for the bridges proposed improvements.

The website, at https://wisconsindot.gov/Pages/projects/by-region/ne/44oshkosh/default.aspx, will feature a comment form with a prepaid mailer to reply to the project team.

The public also can email the project team or call them directly with comments about the bridge, which is also known as the Wisconsin Street bridge, or the Wisconsin-Ohio street bridge, crossing the Fox River near the UW Oshkosh campus

The website includes maps of the project limits and location, scope and schedule, traffic impacts, displays and exhibits, and temporary business signing information.

I-41 lane closure: Full I-41 lane closures expected nightly this week as expansion project continues

According to the DOT, the proposed project is aimed at preventing the deterioration of the structure caused by corrosive effects of the natural environment.

The project team is proposing a new paint system that will preserve the structures integrity, extend the service life for the bridge along State 44 and reduce future maintenance costs.

Work will include the removal of the deteriorating paint system, the repainting of the structural steel members and the replacement of the existing gate arms.

Bridge closures: 5 area bridges will be closed temporarily. Here's when and what to know.

Construction is set to begin in fall 2026 and will finish in spring 2027.

Lane and sidewalk closures will be in place on the bridge throughout construction, but the bridge will remain open to marine traffic and motorists.

Have a story tip or public interest concern? Contact Justin Marville at jmarville@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Oshkosh Northwestern: Wisconsin DOT State 44 bridge project in Oshkosh: Where to learn more
The Pulitzer Prize Board issued a statement Thursday recognizing the tireless efforts of student journalists across the country who have covered the campus protests at great personal and academic risk to themselves.

As we gather to consider the nations finest and most courageous journalism, the Pulitzer Prize Board would like to recognize the tireless efforts of student journalists across our nations college campuses, who are covering protests and unrest in the face of great personal and academic risk, the statement read.

The Board highlighted Columbia University student journalists coverage of unfolding events Tuesday evening in particular, as the New York Police Department (NYPD) moved onto campus to retake a building that had been seized by pro-Palestinian protesters.

We would also like to acknowledge the extraordinary real-time reporting of student journalists at Columbia University, where the Pulitzer Prizes are housed, as the New York Police Department was called onto campus on Tuesday night, the statement continued.

In the spirit of press freedom, these students worked to document a major national news event under difficult and dangerous circumstances and at risk of arrest.

In recent weeks, protests on college campuses have grown across the country, and some university administrators have called in police officials to try to manage the situation. Student journalists and national media alike have played a key role in covering the unfolding unrest.

Columbia University administers the Pulitzer Prize, which is considered the nations most prestigious award for achievement in journalism.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Who put $400 million into Florida budget for new reservoir? No one will say

Site of the Grove Land Reservoir project via St. Johns Riverkeeper.

Quality Journalism for Critical Times

Dont you love a good mystery? I sure do. From Perry Mason to Poker Face, if its a whodunnit, Im hooked.

So when I heard about the Mystery of the $400 Million, I couldnt resist trying to sort through the clues about how it all happened.

The mystery isnt where the money would go.

In the 2024-25 state budget now awaiting the governors signature, the Legislature told the St. Johns River Water Management District to use that $400 million to buy land for the proposed 7,500-acre Grove Land Reservoir and Storm Water Treatment Area project in Okeechobee and Indian River counties, and then design and build it all.

No, the mystery is who wanted it.

The most obvious suspect, the St. Johns River Water Management District, didnt ask for all those millions.

Why would they? The reservoirs not even close to ready to start construction. No state agency has even approved a permit for the privately owned Grove Land project.

In fact, in their most recent comments on the proposal, the state permitting folks wrote that as currently proposed, a beneficial use could not be verified.

So where did that decision to hand over so much money come from?

Lisa Rinaman via St. Johns Riverkeeper

I dont know, Lisa Rinaman of the Jacksonville-based environmental group St. Johns Riverkeeper told me. It was really shocking to us, the way it happened at the end of session. Its mind-boggling, just the sheer magnitude of the appropriation.

The Legislature offered no bills or resolutions about Grove Land before stuffing this wad of taxpayer cash into the budget like a burglar cramming loot into a bag.

There was no discussion of it in pre-session delegation meetings that the public could attend, nor in the weeks of open committee meetings prior to the final rounds of budget bargaining. Only then did it emerge, like a snake slithering out from under a rock.

Even a politically savvy adviser to the folks who have been pushing for this project, former Florida Park Service director Eric Draper, told me he had no idea this budget bonanza was in the works.

Eric Draper. when he was Florida State Parks director. via Eric Draper.

Draper is one of several environmental advocates who support the reservoir, while Rinaman is not. Draper believes that it could help with the Indian River Lagoons terrible pollution problems. Rinaman is worried it will simply transfer that pollution to the St. Johns.

If Grove Land moves forward as currently designed, she told me, it will increase phosphorous loads in the Upper St. Johns twenty-fold.

She pointed out that this is not the first time this shift-the-burden move has happened.

This is just another attempt by the Legislature to solve South Floridas problems by dumping them on North Florida, she said.

Turning green

The St. Johns is the longest river in Florida and one of only three in the nation that flows north. It has borne many names over the years.

The Native Americans called it Welaka, meaning river of lakes. The French, who built Fort Caroline on its banks almost 50 years before the settlement in Jamestown, referred to it as Riviere de Mai, because they settled there on May 1. The Spanish, who wiped out the French, called the river Rio de San Juan after a mission near its mouth named San Juan del Puerto. Then the English took over and anglicized San Juan as St. Johns, which stuck.

Lately, the most accurate name has been Dont Even Think About Swimming Here.

I know youll be shocked to hear that this river, much like all the other waterways under the purview of our Florida Department of Environmental Whoopsie-Daisy  er, excuse me, I mean Protection  has some pretty serious contaminant challenges.

Pollution  especially in the tributaries  threatens human health, the economy, and the ecosystems that support plants, animals, and recreation, noted the most recent State of the River report on the lower St. Johns. Run-off from roads, development, failing septic tanks, past industrial activities, and agriculture pollutes the river.

What makes this situation worse, in 2007 the Legislature banned farmers near Lake Okeechobee, the Kissimmee River, and the Everglades from accepting the nearly 100,000 tons of South Floridas sewage sludge that theyd been using to fertilize crops. Since that ban, the South Florida sewer systems have been trucking that stinky slop north so they can dump it on farms in the watershed of the St. Johns.

As a result, parts of the St. Johns keep turning green, and not because its perpetually St. Patricks Day, me boy-o. State officials have issued warnings about toxic blue-green algae blooms in the river in 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023.

This is why the idea of funneling in even MORE pollution to fuel those blooms is such a horrific thought for anyone like Rinaman who cares about the St. Johns. Its a slow death by poison and you dont have to be Sam Spade or Miss Marple to spot the murderer. Its us.

But theres more than one victim here, so lets take a look at whats killing the Indian River Lagoon.

Death of a lagoon

Once regarded as North Americas most productive estuary, the Indian River Lagoon had 79,000 acres of seagrass beds that helped it achieve that thriving reputation.

Over the past decade, its lost an estimated 75% of that seagrass. Now the lagoons on life support.

Who left it knock-knock-knocking on heavens door? No need to call in Columbo or Kojak. Theres little mystery here.

In cold weather, manatees in Florida cluster together and seek warmer water. Credit: Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission

Like other estuaries all over the state, it was done in by leaking septic tanks and sewer lines, as well as clueless property owners putting too much fertilizer on their lawns. Toxic algae blooms wiped out the seagrass beds and a couple thousand manatees starved to death.

One of the lagoons problems, Draper told me, is that its been deluged with polluted water that it wasnt supposed to get. That water historically went to the St. Johns but had been diverted by the construction of the Florida Turnpike and drainage canals.

The Grove Land project would fix that error of history, he said. If designed properly, the stormwater treatment areas to be built around the reservoir could then clean up the pollution before it gets into another waterway, he said.

As the name implies, the Grove Land property has been used for citrus production for decades. But the disease of citrus greening put an end to that, according to Ron Edwards, CEO of property owner Evans Properties of Vero Beach as well as a long-time board member of The Nature Conservancy.

Ron Edwards, via The Nature Conservancy

The company is now looking for other things to do with the 40,000 acres it controls across the state.

Florida has a big water problem and we may be located in some of the right places to solve some of those issues, Edwards told Florida Trend in 2018.

The idea of converting some of that land into a reservoir has been around since something called the Central Florida Water Initiative. And folks, heres where it gets interesting.

Overbooking the aquifer

The Central Florida Water Initiative, a cooperative effort involving three of Floridas five water districts, grew out of a colossal bureaucratic screwup. Heres how Draper explained it:

Basically, the three water management districts were handing out water use permits as if they were the ONLY ones handing out water use permits.

You can probably guess what happened. Because they werent considering cumulative impacts, they overbooked the aquifer. Waaaaay too many people received permits, exceeding the amount of water thats actually available.

The prospect of new suburbs with dry faucets and sputtering lawn sprinklers was not one anyone wanted to contemplate. Even worse, from the developers point of view, was to be told they couldnt keep building because there was no water anymore.

In 2015, the Legislature created the controversial initiative as a regional water-supply planning effort to straighten it all out. This includes coming up with new sources of water other than pumping it out of the dwindling supply underground.

Hence the legislative interest in building a 5,000-acre reservoir on the Grove Land property: It boosts the water supply so fast-growing Central Florida can continue growing.

And I do mean fast. Central Florida is booming like a Fourth of July party at the fireworks factory. Its to the point now where even preserved land is being targeted for new roads and other developer-friendly uses.

Floridas Old Capitol and New Capitol, viewed from the Leon County Courthouse on March 21, 2022. Credit: Michael Moline

While this project is being considered in the budget, it was a worthy investment to plan for water needs decades from now, Andres Malave, spokesman for House Speaker Paul Renner, told me via email.

During budget negotiations, the House Agriculture & Natural Resources Appropriations subcommittee pitched the idea of spending $200 million on surface water storage and treatment, Malave said.

The Senate countered with a line item for Grove Land Reservoir and Storm Water Treatment Area Project for $400 million. That counteroffer had the backing of outgoing Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, according to Senate spokeswoman, Katherine Betta.

The president (a land use and real estate attorney) reviewed an appraisal and supported the Senate offering the remaining $200 million, Betta told me.

But why do this without any state agency asking for the money? Because, she said, the leaders saw a need and appropriated funds to address that need.

Still, I couldnt get an answer from Betta or Malave for my main question: Who first proposed spending so much taxpayer money on a project that has yet to prove it wont harm the St. Johns?

So far, no ones claiming credit.

But maybe that silence tells us what we need to know.

The real mystery

Im not saying my children were ever anything but perfect little angels, but I learned early on that a good rule of parenting is, When the kids are quiet, thats when you should check on them. Theyre most likely up to something.

The same holds true for politicians. If theyre doing something quietly, its not because theyre so darn modest. Its because theyre up to something.

The fact that no one is jumping up and down to claim credit for steering this moolah into the budget tells me the intentions behind it were less than honorable.

By that I mean this elected official doesnt give a hoot about pollution. Whats important to him or her (and important campaign contributors) is increasing the water supply so developers can keep on developing.

Now, maybe the Grove Land reservoir is a worthy project. Maybe its stormwater treatment areas will be designed to capture every single smidgen of pollution before it flows into the St. Johns. And maybe Ill hit the Powerball jackpot.

Cash. Credit: Svetl.

Royalty-free

Collection:

iStock / Getty Images Plus.

But the secrecy bothers me, as does the source of the $400 million.

If its such a good project, then it should be able to withstand public scrutiny instead of being smuggled in like contraband. And it seems to me that the current taxpayers shouldnt have to pay the full price of a project that primarily benefits new growth.

Last year Gov. Ron Ill Kiss Trumps Posterior If It Makes Him Stop Mocking Me DeSantis quietly vetoed a far smaller amount  $6 million  for this project. Hes usually in favor of whatever benefits developers, but maybe hell veto this $400 million too.

If he does, then it would give legislators a chance to do this the right way, out in the open where everyone can see whats happening.

Then maybe some smart person will suggest they impose impact fees on new development to pay for at least half the cost. That way, the taxpayers from all over the state dont have to bear the entire burden for Central Florida.

Why didnt they do it this way in the first place? That, my friends, is the real mystery.

The post Who put $400 million into Florida budget for new reservoir? No one will say appeared first on Florida Phoenix.
Missiles from North Korea, drones from Iran, and a massive amount of technical assistance from China. Russian President Vladimir Putin may complain about the backing Ukraine is receiving from its Nato allies, but it is doubtful that Russia would be able to maintain its military offensive without the help it is getting from its motley collection of autocratic friends.

In the latest indication of the support Moscow is receiving for its war effort in Ukraine, a team of UN investigators has concluded that debris from a missile that landed in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on January 2 was from a North Korean Hwasong-11 series ballistic missile.

The weapon was supplied to Moscow by Pyongyang, despite North Korea being subjected to a wide range of sanctions imposed in 2006 over its ballistic and nuclear programmes. The missile, moreover, will have been part of the massive consignment of weapons North Korea has sent to Russia in recent months, with South Korean security officials estimating that nearly 7,000 shipping containers filled with missiles, artillery shells and other ammunition have been dispatched since December.

Iranian drones, too, have become a familiar feature of the Ukrainian battlespace, with Russian forces using them regularly to conduct swarm attacks against key Ukrainian infrastructure. Chinas support for Putins war effort is, by contrast, focused more on helping Russia to rebuild its military industrial base to a level not seen since the Soviet era.

The latest assessment conducted by the Biden administration prior to US Secretary of State Antony Blinkens visit to Beijing last month found that China was providing significant quantities of machine tools, drone and turbojet engines, and technology for cruise missiles, as well as helping the Russians to expand their satellite capabilities on the Ukrainian battlefield. Chinese and Russian organisations are also coordinating efforts to develop drone production within Russia.

As Blinken commented following his inconclusive visit, China is providing components that are powering Russias brutal war of aggression against Ukraine, without which it was dubious that the Kremlin would be able to maintain military operations at their current level.

The help Russia is receiving from this unholy alliance of hostile states is certainly having a tangible impact on the battlefield, where Ukraines plight was recently described as being desperate by senior Ukrainian security officials. This parlous state of affairs, moreover, does not appear to have improved to any significant extent, despite the US and its European allies  including Britain  recently reaffirming their commitment to addressing Kyivs dire need for extra munitions.

Ukrainian forces defending the strategic eastern stronghold of Chasiv Yar, for example, are struggling to counter the intensifying number of attacks they are facing from Russian forces and drones, despite the pledges for fresh ammunition made by the US and its allies.

The Russians have identified Chasiv Yar as their next strategic target in eastern Ukraine following their capture of Avdiivka in February. They believe its capture would allow them to command higher ground and target towns and cities further to the west.

Ukrainian commanders on the ground point out that they succeeded in repulsing a previous assault in the region mounted by Russian Wagner mercenaries because they had adequate supplies of artillery shells and long-range missiles. But the Ukrainians ability to hold off another Russian push will be severely compromised if further supplies of weapons are not forthcoming very soon.

The shortages facing Ukrainian forces in the east are even more concerning given that the Russians are said to be assembling a 150,000-strong force to launch a fresh offensive in the coming months. The prospect of Russia making further gains, moreover, will be greatly boosted by the fact that the Russians continue to enjoy air superiority, with still no sign of the long-promised F-16 fighters, which the Ukrainians first requested 18 months ago, becoming operational.

At a time when Western leaders believe helping Ukraine to achieve victory is vital to securing their own long-term prospects, the current plight of the Ukrainian forces is not just a matter for concern. It should serve to spur them into action, making sure as a matter of urgency that Kyiv has the firepower it requires to defend itself.

For, as the alliance Moscow has assembled to support its war effort in Ukraine graphically demonstrates, the conflict is, from the Wests perspective, no longer a war against Russia: it is a war against a potent combination of autocratic regimes that, in their different ways, are totally opposed to the concept of liberal western democracy.

Ensuring that Russia is roundly defeated in Ukraine is vital not just in terms of deterring Putin from launching future acts of aggression in Europe: it is essential if the likes of China, Iran and North Korea are also to be made to understand that their antagonistic attitude towards the West will meet with the same resolute response as Russias unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

Just as Russia must be denied victory in Ukraine, so Irans attempts to destabilise the Middle East must be resisted, and Chinas plan to conquer Taiwan be denied.

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.
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has joined forces with AI companies G42 and Presight Partner to accelerate AI solutions in the energy sector.

As part of the alliance, the companies have announced a restructuring of the shareholding of AIQ, an AI joint venture between ADNOC and G42.

The deal will see Presight acquire a 51% stake in AIQ, while ADNOC will maintain the remaining 49% share.

ADNOC and G42 launched AIQ in 2020 to focus on developing and commercialising AI solutions for the oil and gas industry.

At the time, ADNOC owned a 60% stake in AIQ and G42 owned the remaining 40%.

Now valued at more than $1.4bn, AIQ is set to continue as an independent entity, with a focus on developing AI-powered solutions that can revolutionise energy operations.

As part of the transaction, ADNOC will exchange 11% of its AIQ shareholding for a 4% stake in Presight, currently owned by G42.

The completion of this deal is contingent upon approval from Presight's shareholders and regulatory bodies.

The collaboration is expected to synergise AIQ's oil and gas-focused AI capabilities with Presight's expertise in big data analytics and product development.

It aims to position AIQ as a leading organisation in energy-centric AI solutions, expanding its reach into international markets and enhancing its product offerings.

AIQ's portfolio includes more than 20 AI applications and 16 patents, with its AI tools already being deployed by ADNOC across its operations.

These tools are said to aid in emissions reduction, safety improvements and operational efficiency, laying the groundwork for AIQ's future growth and commercial success.

ADNOC managing director and group CEO and United Arab Emirates (UAE) Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber said: The UAE has embraced AI to drive productivity, economic growth and social advancement, with ADNOC laser-focused to become the worlds most AI-enabled energy company, delivering smarter, cleaner and safer energy to the world.

Our partnership with Presight will further AIQs capabilities, advance ADNOCs ambition to pioneer technology and AI to build the energy system of tomorrow, with data integration from the control room to the board room. Through this collaboration, I am confident that AIQ will become the energy industrys leading AI company, delivering enhanced value to Abu Dhabi and the UAE.

Earlier this week, ADNOC Gas awarded a contract to Gecko Robotics to deploy the latters robotic technology and AI-powered data platform across ADNOC Gas operations.

Story continues

"ADNOC partners with G42 and Presight to advance AI solutions for energy sector " was originally created and published by Offshore Technology, a GlobalData owned brand.







The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (DC News Now)  Health officials said that a rabid raccoon was found in College Park in April.

The Prince Georges County Health Department said that the College Park Animal Service Division captured the raccoon alive in the 9500 block of 50th Pl. on April 23 between 1 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. The raccoon seemed to be very ill and weak.

Officials said that on April 25, the Maryland Department of Health said that the raccoon had tested positive for rabies.

MCDP released body-worn camera footage after shooting, killing coyote that attacked 2 women

The Health Department said if you know of any people or animals who may have had contact with a raccoon in the area between April 13 and April 23, you should call (301) 583-3751 immediately.

If anyone is bitten by a rabid animal or exposed to its saliva, they need to prevent the disease by getting four doses of the rabies vaccine over 14 days. If someone contracts the disease, it is almost always fatal.

Another raccoon had tested positive for rabies earlier in April.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
The raccoon dog did it: That was the explosive takeaway of a genomic analysis conducted in March by a trio of scientists who had scrutinized data from a market in Wuhan, China, where the pandemic was thought to have begun.

Until then, evidence for that conviction had been scant.

This is a really strong indication that animals at the market were infected, virologist Angela Rasmussen told the Atlantic, which was first to report on the raccoon dog study. Theres really no other explanation that makes any sense.

Others similarly felt it was a landmark moment. For months, momentum had been behind a countervailing hypothesis that a laboratory accident, not an animal, had caused the pandemic. The new raccoon dog analysis appeared to rule out that possibility.

The COVID lab leak theory is dead, declared Edward Holmes, one of the researchers involved in the raccoon dog study.

Only his assessment appeared to be premature.

New evidence for market origin

A raccoon dog, or Nyctereutes procyonoides, foraging in a forest. (Getty Images)

In January, a trove of data from the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan appeared on the international database GISAID, seemingly by accident. In this batch were genetic samples from swabs taken in market stalls in early January 2020, before most of the world had even heard of the coronavirus.

An evolutionary biologist in France named Florence Debarre spotted the new data and, according to the Atlantic, notified colleagues around the world. With their enormous collection of genetic material from different species, the GISAID samples were a chronicle of the Huanan market in the earliest days of the pandemic. Here, possibly, in the endless string of genetic sequences, lay hidden the origin story of SARS-CoV-2.

Chinese scientists had already analyzed all the Huanan swabs, surmising that the market may [have] acted as an amplifier of transmission due to the high number of visitors every day. Their study explicitly discounted the possibility that the virus had jumped from an animal to humans.

Now, working with the raw data, Kristian Andersen, Michael Worobey and Holmes came to an entirely different conclusion. They believed that the pandemic had begun in stall 29, on the southwestern edge of the market.

In that stall sat caged raccoon dogs.

The Strongest Evidence Yet That an Animal Started the Pandemic, said the headline of the Atlantic article that broke the news.

A 3-year debate seemingly settled

Security guards stand in front of the closed Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in the city of Wuhan on Jan. 11, 2020. (Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images)

From the start, the debate about how the pandemic began was as ferocious as it was inconclusive.

At first, pangolins sold at the Huanan market were thought to have been the intermediate species. Bats, which are susceptible to coronaviruses, were another obvious suspect.

Andersen, Worobey and Holmes were part of a group that had maintained from almost the start of the pandemic that only a market origin made sense, a conviction that detractors thought had an oddly dogmatic quality. And for all their confidence, the proponents of a market origin lacked the one thing that could convince skeptics: evidence.

Another group of virologists maintained that a more likely candidate was the nearby Wuhan Institute of Virology, which was well-known to conduct research on bat coronaviruses  and where, in November 2019, three researchers had come down with a mysterious illness.

Biosecurity at the Wuhan institute was reportedly lax (a common problem in Western laboratories as well), making an accident all too plausible.

To the proponents of this lab leak hypothesis, searching for an intermediate species was futile at best, misdirection at worst. Making their case was difficult, however, with then-President Trump regularly launching vituperative attacks on China, baselessly suggesting that the virus was intentionally created as a bioweapon. Few scientists sought association, however indirect, with the likes of Alex Jones and other figures on the conspiratorial fringe.

Still, proponents of a market origin failed to produce any convincing clues, such as a reservoir of animals in the wild infected with the original, wild type SARS-CoV-2 strain. It seemed less than plausible that only a single animal had been infected with a virus as highly transmissible as SARS-CoV-2.

The raccoon dog study was, as the Atlantic pointed out, the most persuasive argument in favor of a market origin.

That is, if its conclusions held.

A single molecule among millions

A lab technician prepares a solution that will be used to process coronavirus test samples at a molecular diagnostics laboratory in Rockville, Md., in August 2020. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

In 2021, computational virologist Jesse Bloom of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center gained acclaim (and notoriety) by discovering that coronavirus genetic sequences from the early days of the pandemic had been deleted from a National Institutes of Health archive  at the request of Chinese scientists, it would turn out. Those sequences, Bloom noted in a paper, bore unusual similarity to bat coronaviruses.

Unlike some other researchers looking for the pandemics origins, Bloom was not a self-promoter. He did not attack critics on Twitter or make wild, unsupportable claims. He is the most ethical scientist I know. He wants to dig deep and discover the truth, a fellow scientist told Vanity Fair.

The raccoon dog revelation gave Bloom a new project. The data used by the Worobey group had been removed from GISAID, only to materialize there again in more fulsome form in late March. Whereas the raccoon dog group had worked with 227 FASTQ files  the format used to store long strings of genetic code  there were 696 FASTQ files in the Huanan sequences that reappeared on GISAID several weeks later.

Working with the bigger database, Bloom processed an astonishing three terabytes of data from the Huanan Market  genetic sequences from the same swabs taken in early 2020 that Worobey and his collaborators thought pointed to raccoon dogs.

Blooms analysis did not merely look at where coronavirus and animal genetic material commingled but also at how thorough that commingling had been. And while the Worobey group had only examined mammalian DNA, Bloom sifted through every strand of genetic material, regardless of whether it came from a chicken, a human or a cut of beef.

In a paper published in late April, Bloom wrote that the samples that contain abundant material from raccoon dogs and other non-human susceptible species generally contain little or no SARS-CoV-2 reads.

Bloom paid particular attention to sample Q61, which had been collected on Jan. 12, 2020. That day, Chinese investigators had taken 70 samples from the western edge of the market, a hot spot of viral activity, including from the infamous 29th stall that housed raccoon dogs.

Six of those samples had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. And of the six, a single one  Q61  also contained the DNA of raccoon dogs, as well as ducks.

It seemed that the raccoon dog claim originated from Q61. But in his own sequencing, Bloom found that out of 200 million reads, or discrete viral samples, on the swab, only a single one was positive for the coronavirus. Given that the coronavirus was already spreading throughout Wuhan for several months by then, that particle was far more likely deposited by an unsuspecting human than by a sick animal.

In other words, the Chinese researchers who had been the first to study the swabs, and had concluded that humans carried the virus to the market, appeared to have been correct all along.

As for the raccoon dog, it was unquestionably innocent. There is a negative correlation between the abundance of SARS-CoV-2 and mitochondrial material from raccoon dogs, Bloom wrote.

The most viral material came from swabs with DNA from stalls where seafood such as catfish and largemouth bass were sold.

Obviously largemouth bass did not start the pandemic, Bloom told Yahoo News. What these findings suggest is simply that by the time the Huanan market environmental samples were collected, the virus had been spread widely across the market by humans, so colocalization of viral and animal genetic material in samples cannot indicate whether or not any animal was infected.

Worobey, Andersen and Holmes did not respond to a request for comment. Nor did several other researchers listed as co-authors on the raccoon dog paper. Alexander Crits-Christoph of Johns Hopkins was the sole respondent. He sent Yahoo News an insulting email in response to questions raised by the new study.

So what about the raccoon dog?

Two white raccoon dogs in the woods. (Getty Images)

From the start, skeptics maintained that there were scant grounds for the assertion that raccoon dogs were the pandemics intermediate species, if the only evidence for that claim was the presence of viral and animal DNA in the same market stall.

In a crowded marketplace, there were myriad ways for the DNA of different species to end up in the same place, mixed in with genetic traces of the coronavirus.

The raccoon dog team made a big fuss out of what is most likely a contaminated sample, molecular biologist Alina Chan of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard told Yahoo News.

Not only is there no correlation between raccoon dog and virus genetic material, but even the only sample with both raccoon dog and virus was likely cross-contaminated during the sample processing, she said.

In his paper, Bloom argues that his study does not contradict the raccoon dog hypothesis but, rather, merely points out the near impossibility of using the market swabs to reach any meaningful conclusion about viral origins.

A careful analysis of these samples does not prove or disprove any particular scenario for how the virus entered the market, Bloom told Yahoo News, but does suggest that genetic analysis of the samples is not directly informative for answering that question.

The medias role

Then-President Trump at a news conference with members of the coronavirus task force, including Vice President Mike Pence, left, on Feb. 26, 2020. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

From the start, the narrative of how the coronavirus originated was a media story, one shaped in large part by attitudes about Trump. The heated and at times ugly rhetoric he deployed at the start of the pandemic  the new virus was a kung flu, he was fond of saying in the pandemics early days  made it difficult to scrutinize China without fueling what was then a rising tide of animosity toward Asian Americans.

FactCheck.org labeled the notion that the coronavirus originated in a laboratory a baseless conspiracy theory, putting credible questions about a lab leak into the same category as obviously untrue claims that the SARS-CoV-2 virus contained strains of HIV.

But then President Biden took office, promising to more thoroughly and systematically address the pandemic  including the question of how it began. Two months into his presidency, he ordered the intelligence community to examine whether the coronavirus could have emerged from a laboratory experiment gone horribly awry.

Several months later, comedian Jon Stewart appeared on Stephen Colberts late night talk show. As the conversation turned to the pandemic, Stewart joked about how implausible it was that the virus had originated from animals: Maybe a bat flew into the cloaca of a turkey and then it sneezed into my chili and now we all have coronavirus?

Colbert seemed uneasy but Stewart persisted, pointing out that a coronavirus outbreak originating just a few miles away from a laboratory investigating coronaviruses seemed an odd coincidence, at least to him.

Theres been an outbreak of chocolatey goodness near Hershey, Pennsylvania, what do you think happened? I dont know, maybe a steam shovel mated with a cocoa bean, Stewart said with his signature outrage. Or its the f***ing chocolate factory!

Republicans takeover of the House of Representatives the following year all but assured that, even as the pandemic became a background concern for many Americans, its source would remain a topic of intense contention on Capitol Hill  and in the news media.

Chan of the Broad Institute, one of the earliest and most outspoken proponents of a lab leak, told Yahoo News that the raccoon dog controversy was evidence of how badly an authoritative investigation was needed.

The origin of COVID-19 debate has gotten so fierce that there are solid scientists on both sides who will take any chance to say there is new evidence bolstering their preferred hypothesis, she said. A formal commission should be established to bring scientists from both sides to put out a joint analysis of the available evidence. This would help the public to see what the facts are, free from extrapolation and exaggeration.

She and others faulted the media for continuing to favor the market origin  and for not applying sufficient scrutiny to the raccoon dog claim.

Dissenting opinion

The raccoon dog is indigenous to East Asia. (Getty Images)

In his paper, Bloom makes no conclusions about how the pandemic began. If anything, he cautions against doing so. We are unlikely to get conclusive answers about origin of an outbreak that started in Nov 2019 (or earlier) by looking at samples collected in Jan 2020, he wrote on Twitter.

Still, some scientists have challenged his conclusions.

Frederic Bushman, a University of Pennsylvania microbiologist, told the New York Times that Bloom had set overly aggressive thresholds for deeming a sample virus-positive. I dont think the Bloom paper changes my thinking that much, he told the Times.

Christopher Mason, a geneticist at Weill Cornell Medicine, told the Times that Blooms analysis may not have fully accounted for the rapidity with which coronavirus RNA may have degraded in the days or even weeks before researchers came to the Huanan market to swab for samples.

Those criticisms underscore how difficult it is to re-create the path SARS-CoV-2 took from a market stall, or a laboratory cubicle, into the human population.

Whats next?

House Republicans are continuing to investigate the origins of the pandemic, though their hearings have thus far yielded little new insight.

Meanwhile, a new report from the COVID Crisis Group (an independent consortium of 34 experts), Lessons From the COVID War, argues that both theories remain plausible and offer urgent insights for action.

Universal laboratory safety guidelines are badly needed, especially when it comes to the riskiest type of viral research. At the same time, the interactions of animals and humans also deserve greater scrutiny. And when an outbreak does occur, open and honest communication is a must.

In effect, both models of how the coronavirus spread should be treated as plausible, because both scenarios will almost certainly materialize during a future outbreak.
CHARLESTON, WV (WVNS)  West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner traveled to Raleigh County to present five high schools with the Jennings Randolph Award for Civic engagement last week.

Jennings Randolph Award-winning schools must have a student-led endeavor to register to vote at minimum 85 percent of their eligible senior class. Only thirty schools statewide have qualified to obtain this prestigious recognition for the 2023-2024 academic year.

WVU Tech biology students plant a pollinator garden

For the current school year, Raleigh County has emerged as the leader of all 55 counties with the most Jennings Randolph Award-winning schools in the state.

Those schools receiving the honor include:

Woodrow Wilson High School

Shady Spring High School

Independence High School

Greater Beckley Christian School

Victory Baptist Academy

Independence High School hosts Prom Promise event to show students the dangers of drunk driving

Jennings Randolph Award-winning schools also give recommendations for student leaders instrumental in the voter registration effort to receive the special designation of Honorary Secretary of State (HSOS). Students selected for this honor receive special recognition during the award ceremony and the opportunity to visit the State Capitol as guests of Secretary Warner during the legislative session.

The Jennings Randolph Award, created by the West Virginia Secretary of States Office in 1994, celebrates the legacy of the late U.S. Senator Jennings Randolph, considered the Father of the 26th Amendment. The Amendment, which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18, was passed in 1971.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WVNS.
[table-of-contents] stripped

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force just issued new breast cancer screening guidelines.

The guidelines recommend starting mammograms at age 40.

Some doctors say the recommendations dont go far enough.

Screening guidelines for breast cancer just got a major overhaul. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), which makes recommendations that influence doctors decisions about care (as well as insurance coverage), now recommends that women start mammograms at age 40.

The updated recommendations, published in JAMA on Tuesday, mark a big change from previous guidelines, hoping that this will help more people catch breast cancer at an earlier stage.

About 240,000 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed in women in the U.S. each year and around 42,000 women die of the disease annually, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Research shows that women who have regular mammograms are more likely to detect breast cancer early, are less likely to need aggressive treatments like surgery to remove the entire breast and chemotherapy, and are more likely to be cured, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS).

Meet the experts: Ethan Cohen, M.D., associate professor of Breast Imaging at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center; Natasha Monga, M.D., a breast radiologist with The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer CenterJames Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute; Dana Ataya, M.D., a board-certified breast radiologist at Moffitt Cancer Center

More women in their 40s have been getting breast cancer, with rates increasing about 2% each year, so this recommendation will make a big difference for people across the country, Task Force chair Wanda Nicholson, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., said in a statement. By starting to screen all women at age 40, we can save nearly 20% more lives from breast cancer overall.

But some doctors who treat women with breast cancer say the new recommendations dont go far enough. Heres what the new recommendations say, plus why theyre slightly controversial.

What are the updated mammogram guidelines?

The new USPSTF recommendations suggest that women get mammograms every other year, starting at age 40 and until age 74. (The previous recommendations said that women should start mammograms every other year, starting at age 50, leaving the decision to start in their 40s up to women.)

The recommendations apply to everyone who is assigned female at birth with an average risk of breast cancer, along with people who have a family history of breast cancer or dense breasts. However, the recommendations dont apply to people with a personal history of breast cancer, a genetic marker or syndrome that could put them at a higher risk of breast cancer, or those who have a history of high-dose radiation therapy to the chest or high-risk breast lesions. (In those cases, the USPSTF says you should stick with what your doctor recommends.)

Is there other breast cancer screening guidance?

There are other recommendations for breast cancer screening outside of the USPSTF, which can make this a little confusing. While the new recommendations put the USPSTF more in line with what other major medical organizations suggest, there is still a difference.

The ACS recommends that women have the option to start mammograms between age 40 and 44, and to start them by the time they reach 45. The ACS also says that women should get mammograms each year.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommends starting mammograms at age 40, too, with follow-ups done every year or every other year, based on shared decision-making with a patient and the doctor.

Should I get a mammogram every year?

Reactions to the updated guidelines are mixed. An accompanying editorial published in JAMA Oncology said that the new recommendations do not go far enough. Among other things, it says that more frequent screening is needed, and that there needs to be specific recommendations for women with dense breasts, who have an estimated lifetime risk of breast cancer of at least 20%.

These recommendations are slightly clearer than previous ones, but they are not enough, says Ethan Cohen, M.D., associate professor of Breast Imaging at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The best way to save the greatest number of lives is to screen women every year, beginning at the age of 40.

Natasha Monga, M.D., a breast radiologist with The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer CenterJames Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, agrees, saying that the new USPSTF guidelines do not go far enough.

While the Task Force recommends screening every two years, annual screening mammography saves the most lives and is recommended by many major medical organizations, she says. In fact, the USPSTF, American Cancer Society, and many others agree that annual screening mammography decreases breast cancer mortality.

Should I get a mammogram at 40 or 45?

It depends. Ultimately, its up to you and your doctor. But, starting annual screening at age 40 also helps detect breast cancers when they are smaller and more easily treatable, which may lead to less aggressive treatment, Dr. Monga says.

Decades of research have shown us that yearly mammograms beginning at age 40 save the most lives, says Dana Ataya, M.D., a board-certified breast radiologist at Moffitt Cancer Center. So, although the updated USPSTF guidelines now support screening mammography beginning at age 40, its surprising that the recommendation is only for biennialrather than annualscreening.

But some doctors have already been recommending that women have mammograms starting at age 40and say this wont change the way they practice medicine. This announcement underscores what we in the breast imaging community have been supporting for many years, says Claire L. Streibert, M.D., site chief of breast imaging at, Fox Chase Cancer Center.



The bottom line

The USPSTF change was a long time coming, says Janie Grumley, M.D., breast surgical oncologist and director of the Margie Petersen Breast Center at Providence Saint Johns Center and Associate Professor of Surgery at Saint Johns Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, CA. The recommendations before were not ideal, she says. We never stopped telling patients that they needed to do screenings at age 40.



Dr. Cohen says his organization also already recommends that women are screened for breast cancer annually, starting at age 40. Patients should also discuss breast cancer risks with their doctor to create a personalized plan, he says.



Ultimately, doctors say its important to have a conversation with your doctor to understand your risks and next steps. Women should speak with their primary care physician, especially those with an elevated risk of breast cancer, Dr. Cohen says. For those who face further risk, additional screening may be beneficial.

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Remembering Quincy's Bertha Glavin, who honored all the other Rosie the Riveters of WW II

QUINCY  They were the two Pascucci sisters, part of a large family of nine children in Dorchester who would both become known as "Rosie the Riveters" for their jobs on the home front during World War II.

Mary, the oldest, started working at age 19 as a welder at the Fore River Shipyard in Quincy. She was one of 2,000 women hired by the Bethlehem Steel Corp. from 1942 to 1945 to take the place of men who had enlisted or been drafted into the military.

Bertha Pascucci Glavin in her early 20s in Dorchester, MA. In her 90s, she founded the state chapter of the Rosie the Riveter Association and died on April 11, 2024 at age 97.

Bertha, four years younger, graduated at age 16 from Jeremiah E. Burke High School in 1943 to aid more quickly in the war effort. She was assigned to work as a bookkeeper at Loyal Manufacturing in South Boston, which made raincoats for the U.S. Navy.

After the war ended, each married and raised families. Mary Kennedy and Bertha Gavin remained proud of their country and the contributions they made during the war years.

This Rosie saw the solar eclipse before she passed

Mary Kennedy died in 2019; Bertha Glavin died on April 11 at age 97. Her youngest son, Mitchell, reported, "She did get to see the solar eclipse up in Vermont!" on April 8.

Today, the cultural icon Rosie the Riveter, shown as a shipyard worker flexing her muscles, has come to represent more than 16 million women who worked during both the war years and the post-war period of the 1940s.

In 2014, at Bertha's lead, the sisters founded the Bay State Chapter of the American Rosie the Riveter Association, based in Birmingham, Alabama. Kennedy, 91, lived at the Royal Braintree Rehabilitation and Nursing Center; Glavin, 87, lived in Quincy.

As a result of their advocacy, Gov. Deval Patrick declared May 25, 2014, as Rosie the Riveter Day in Massachusetts. It was also National Rosie the Riveter Day.

In the official proclamation he sent to Glavin and Kennedy, Patrick declared: The women left their homes to work or volunteer full time in factories, farms, shipyards, airplane factories, banks and other institutions in support of the military ... (the women) worked with the USO, Red Cross, drove trucks, riveted airplane parts, collected critical materials, rolled bandages and served on rationing boards."

As she became active in the Rosie movement, Glavin, once active in the Dorchester Historical Society, enjoyed her new role. She joked that it had taken over her life.

'We all pulled together to get something done'

"It's a way of remembering how we all pulled together to get something done," she said. "We proved that when (women) get behind a cause, they can make a difference."

The late-in-life mission began when Glavin's son gave her a newspaper clipping about the American Rosie the Riveter Association. Glavin asked the national group to send her sister an honorary certificate as a former welder. Glavin learned that she was also considered a Rosie for her factory work during the war.

The sisters decided to start the Bay State Chapter of the national association. Glavin served as state president and planned events to inform younger generations on the important roles the Rosies had played in WWII.

With a flair for publicity, Glavin found one event soon led to another. In 2015, Glavin and family members went to New York City to a wreath-laying ceremony on the 70th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge to honor the troops. In May of that year, the Quincy City Council honored the sisters with certificates of appreciation for the work they had done during the war.

The Netherlands also honored the American Rosies

That same year, the sisters traveled to Washington to an event held by the Royal Netherlands Embassy, honoring American women who helped win World War II. That coincided with the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands at the end of the war.

And, before 2015 was finished, Glavin also participated in a national campaign to send letters to American troops who were deployed overseas; nearly 500 letters were written.

Closer to home, in 2016, Glavin organized a local bell-ringing event for Labor Day, as the national Rosie association had asked. She contacted the United First Parish Church, the Church of the Presidents, in Quincy Center with a request.

The Church of the Presidents had installed a new bronze bell in 2011 and had also refurbished the bell tower. At 1 p.m. on Labor Day 2016, the church bell rang out to honor the "Rosies" and other women who worked on the homefront during WWII.

The Church of the Presidents rang out for the Rosies

Glavin had brought her own hand bell to ring along with the church's bronze bell. She invited others to join her, which they did; she and her family repeated this event for the following three years.

To celebrate the 100th birthday of the National Park Service in 2016, the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston had a far-reaching Rosie the Riveter program. Glavin and her family were there.

A schoolgirl comes to meet a Quincy Rosie

Glavin was especially excited about the opportunity to reach young people and in 2017, Chloe Brin, an 8th grader from West Newbury came to Quincy to interview Glavin about the Rosies for a school documentary film project at Berwick Academy in Maine.

Chloe, 14, and her mother Erin met Glavin at the Thomas Crane Library where they filmed the interview.

That same year, Gov. Charlie Baker proclaimed March 25 as Rosie the Riveter Day in Massachusetts.

The national Rosie association published a book, Rosie the Riveter Stories: How They Did It, and Glavin ("A Bobby Soxer Reports to Work") and Kennedy ("I wielded a Torch for Victory") were included in it.

The Pascucci sisters set wonderful examples of not only how to serve one's country, but also how to ensure that the legacies of so many others are passed along to future generations.

And don't forget the Hingham Rosies

Veterans Bob Fournier and Joe Correnti, of Hingham, flank Margaret Spalluzzi, 100, of Kingston, as they walk to a birthday celebration honoring Spalluzzi at the Hingham Shipyard on Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021. Spalluzzi was a welder at the shipyard during World War II.

In 2021, the Hingham Shipyard held its own Rosie ceremony, where Margaret Spalluzzi of Kingston, who worked as a welder in Hingham yard during the war, was honored on her 100th birthday.

In her obituary, Glavin's family noted that, very fittingly, "the very day before she passed away, she was happy to see on television how on April 10 the U.S. Congress had awarded, collectively and symbolically, a Congressional Gold Medal to all of the millions of Rosies throughout the country."

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: How 2 Dorchester sisters were Rosie the Riveters & kept history alive
Annette Insdorf is synonymous with Columbia University, at which she has been a film professor since 1987 and served as director of undergraduate film studies for decades. A former translator for Francois Truffaut, she is also the longtime moderator of the 92nd Street Ys Reel Pieces series, the author of numerous important books on film (most notably Indelible Shadows: Film and Holocaust) and a regular presence at film festivals like Cannes and Telluride.

Insdorf agreed to share with The Hollywood Reporter her perspective about recent unrest on Columbias campus over the Israel-Gaza conflict, which in the last 24 hours resulted in the NYPD raiding Hamilton Hall (which had been occupied by pro-Palestinian protesters), resulting in many arrests.

More from The Hollywood Reporter

* * *

Things have indeed been tense on Columbia Universitys campus, but Im trying to keep a sane perspective. Since the number of protesters is a tiny fraction of the student population, I feel like the media has blown the situation out of proportion, especially when focusing on demonstrations outside the gate. Journalists were covering the loudest and most dramatic voices, not the majority who quietly do our work.

I share Columbias core values of free speech, mutual respect among diverse groups and civil discourse displaying lucidity as well as empathy. I therefore appreciated President Minouche Shafiks rejection of both antisemitism and Islamophobia  from back in October til now.

My priority has been to teach and support my students. Inside campus, the primarily peaceful demonstrations of the past few weeks did not disrupt my classes. Last week, almost all of the students showed up, whether for my seminar on Kieslowskis films or my lecture course Analysis of Film Language. Their concerns were closer to home, like whether the demonstrations could lead to the cancellation of graduation ceremonies (like USC) or of Columbias annual MFA student film showcase in early May.

Yesterday opened a new and distressing chapter after Hamilton Hall was occupied by protesters who barricaded themselves inside. As I watched the news on TV last night, I couldnt help but flash back to 1968, and especially to Kent State 44 years ago. Thankfully, there was no evidence of students being injured by the NYPD. I was relieved that the police behaved much more respectfully than the National Guard, who beat student protesters decades ago.

Over the past few months at Columbia, and elsewhere, valid concerns should have become conversations, but turned into confrontations. I dont envy President Shafik, who has to balance the constitutional guarantee of the right to protest with the essential pedagogical mission of a university.

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Its infrequent that House Republicans and Santa Fe Public Schools agree on anything. This week, however, has demonstrated politics sometimes does make strange bedfellows. On April 18th, 60% of New Mexicos school districts  including Santa Fe - filed a lawsuit against the Public Education Department (PED) for mandating 180 instructional days beginning next school year.

New Mexico House Republicans have been banging the drum on this very issue for more than 5 months because this new rule is unworkable, unfunded, and will likely lead to fewer teachers in the most rural parts of the state. In fact, House Republicans objected to the proposed rule when it was first proposed in 2023 and just weeks ago asked PED to delay implementation until the 2025-26 school year.

The lawsuit essentially says PED violated state law and enacted the 180-day mandate contrary to decades of legislative intent to allow school districts to determine how many instructional days to schedule each year.

New Mexico Rep. Gail Armstrong.

This 180-day mandate should never have happened. My colleagues and I - along with thousands of parents, students, teachers, and administrators - have been calling on PED and the Governor to rescind the rule as it will have zero impact on statewide student performance. We even passed legislative language that prohibited PED from enforcing this new rule during the 2024 legislative session, but the Governor vetoed it.

The Governor and PED simply do not want to hear what their constituents and lawmakers are saying. In other words, the executive has ignored elected legislators and school board members, school districts, teachers, parents, and students for so long that the only option districts had was to file a lawsuit.

Many may be asking: Whats the big deal? Our proficiency rates are terrible. Isnt more class time a good thing? These are the fallacies the Lujan Grisham administration wants the public to believe  that the rule will require more class time and will have a significant impact on student learning across the state. The Governor has characterized districts opposition to the new rule as a pathetic attempt to avoid accountability for delivering a high-quality education. The executive, in fact, is making a pathetic attempt to mislead the public.

The new policy doesnt require more class time - it will only result in more school days that are shorter. And while our proficiency rates are unacceptable, the rule will have very little impact on student achievement because it only targets around 4 percent of New Mexicos students. Even if all these students achieved proficiency, the statewide proficiency needle barely moves.

More class time is good if it is done in a way that has proven benefits  that was what the Legislature intended when it mandated more instructional hours in 2023. On the contrary, this new rule will negatively impact schools across the state that rely on a four-day schedule, creating budget shortfalls for most districts statewide, and likely causing an exodus of teachers we critically need in rural communities.

Rather than admit they made a mistake, PED and the Governor pressed on, ignoring clear directives from the Legislature to abandon the policy that is now being litigated. This type of action by any executive causes a lack of confidence in governmental institutions. PED should be working with our schools to identify real reform that supports learning, not unilaterally implementing hollow promises.

My colleagues and I will continue to fight for the districts and students adversely affected by this rule and look forward to our day in court.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Rep. Armstrong: Hollow promises are pathetic
CARTHAGE, Mo.  The Missouri House Budget Chair responded Thursday in a debate over whether an education funding bill is good for Joplin Schools.

State representative Cody Smith, of Carthage, voted in favor of Senate Bill 727. He says it adds extra funding for education statewide  on top of a fully funded foundation formula  which is how the state distributes money for K-12 schools.

But earlier this week the Joplin School Board voted to ask the governor to veto the bill, saying they worried the state couldnt afford to pay for costs connected to the bill.

That total would be about $500 million by 2031. Smith disagrees.

I believe that the General Assembly can prioritize public education by $500 million more annually. And I also think that over the course of that implementation, that revenues will grow enough to absorb these costs, said Rep. Smith.

Among other requirements: the bill would raise the base salary for a starting teacher from $25,000 a year to $40,000 for the 2025-26 school year and also add cost of living increases.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNF/KODE | FourStatesHomepage.com.
U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat representing Maine's Second Congressional District, in his office. (Robin Bravender/ States Newsroom)

U.S. Democratic Rep. Jared Golden of Maine introduced six bills this week aimed to increase transparency in and limits on political spending.

Some of the legislation specifically limits elected officials from using their positions for personal profit, including by permanently banning former members of Congress from working as federal lobbyists and prohibiting some federal office holders and their close family from earning a salary or holding investments in foreign businesses while in office.

Other legislation looks to reduce the influence of mega-donors and foreign actors in American politics, such as by placing stricter limits on dark money spending through nonprofits.

These latest proposals build on Goldens Government Integrity and Anti-Corruption Plan, an existing package of nine bills with similar objectives that the representative has introduced or co-sponsored during the 118th Congress, though they have yet to receive votes.

Goldens plan has the support of Maine Citizens for Clean Elections, a state nonprofit that works to keep big money out of politics.

Golden is leading crucial efforts to strengthen our democracy and restore Americans faith in our government, said the groups executive director Anna Kellar.

Kellar highlighted two pieces of legislation in particular that they said reflect the will of Maine voters, who overwhelmingly backed in November a ballot initiative to ban foreign spending in elections.

Last year, Golden co-sponsored legislation to prohibit contributions and donations by foreign nationals in American elections, and amend the U.S. Constitution to overturn the Citizens United decision, which is also co-sponsored by his fellow Democratic colleague from Maine, Rep. Chellie Pingree.

Overlapping efforts to regulate campaign spending

In Citizens United v. Federal Election Campaign Act, the Supreme Court ruled in 2010 that campaign spending can only be regulated when there is a risk of quid pro quo corruption. Essentially, if there is a risk someone could be making a donation to a candidate in exchange for a favor, only then can Congress regulate that contribution.

While Golden is backing legislation at the federal level to eliminate these restrictions on Congress ability to limit campaign spending, Mainers are expected to vote on the issue in the upcoming November election.

On its face, the Maine ballot question asks whether voters want to set a $5,000 limit for giving to groups that spend money independently to support or defeat candidates for office. The ultimate goal, however, is to get the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that political action committees should be regulated  not by reversing Citizens United but because of an alleged flaw in the lower court decision that came a few months after.

In SpeechNow.org v. FEC, the D.C. Circuit Court upheld that contributions to groups making independent expenditures cant corrupt or create the appearance of corruption  essentially creating the super PAC, which can receive unlimited contributions but cant contribute directly to candidates.

By seeking to limit contributions, the Maine ballot question is expected to be challenged in court, if passed. The scholar behind the initiative, Lawrence Lessig, and others argue the courts will find that large contributions to PACs inevitably create a risk of quid pro quo corruption, given that donors and candidates have the opportunity to collaborate even if a PAC is independent.

For example, this is the pattern alleged against New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez.

Congressman Golden has been leading efforts to end Citizens United and get big money out of politics since he was first elected to office, and this will remain a priority for him, a spokesperson for Golden told Maine Morning Star. While he is unfamiliar with the specific efforts underway at the state level in Maine, he recognizes that overturning this decision is an all-hands-on-deck priority for Mainers.

Tiffany Muller, president of End Citizens United, a political action committee working to reverse the high court decision, said Goldens package of bills would put Mainers voices front and center in government.

Hes seen, first-hand, how corporate special interests and shadowy mega-donors have silenced the power of working families by spending unfathomable amounts of money to buy access and influence in Washington, Muller said. His comprehensive package of anti-corruption reforms builds on his promise to restore power back to the people.

Proposed limits on elected officials

In addition to supporting an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to overturn the Citizens United decision, Golden is supportive of another amendment to establish term limits for Congress. This proposal, introduced last year, would establish a three-term limit for members of the House and a two-term limit for senators.

This week, three of the bills Golden introduced focus on regulating the actions of current and former elected officials.

Currently, there is a one- or two-year waiting period for former members of Congress to work as federal lobbyists. The Lifetime Lobbying Ban Act would repeal and replace this waiting period with a permanent ban. Golden attempted similar proposals in previous congressional sessions, as well.

Separate legislation, the Congressional and Executive Foreign Lobbying Ban, focuses on retired members of Congress, senior executive branch officials and high-ranking military officials. The ban would prohibit these retired officials from lobbying on behalf of foreign interests.

Another practice Golden intends to prevent is elected officials and their close family members collecting salaries or holding investments in foreign businesses. The Stop Foreign Payoffs Act would specifically ban members of Congress, presidents, vice presidents and Cabinet secretaries, as well as their close family members, from these practices for as long as the official is in office.

While members of Congress are in office, they are also privy to information that raises the potential for conflicts in stock trading  a conflict both Golden and Pingree want to address.

Introduced at the start of this Congress in 2023, a bill they co-sponsored would only allow members, their spouses and dependent children to own stocks while the member is in office if they place their investments in a qualified blind trust, meaning in someone elses control, until 180 days after the end of their tenure.

Earlier this session, Golden also co-sponsored legislation that would eliminate pension payments for members of Congress convicted of felonies or offenses related to their work in office.

Proposed limits on mega-donors and foreign actors

The other three pieces of legislation Golden introduced this week aim to increase transparency by adding requirements for the disclosure of donors.

Mega-donors are the focus of the Crack Down on Dark Money Act, which would reduce the cap on political activity by nonprofits from 50% of all spending to 10%, as well as require the organizations to disclose all donors of $5,000 or more if they spend any money on politics.

Related, Golden is also supportive of another effort introduced during this Congress to fight dark money by requiring organizations that spend money on elections to disclose major donors each election cycle.

Foreign influence in elections in another issue Golden intends to fight with the Fighting Foreign Influence Act introduced this week. This act would require tax-exempt organizations to disclose high-dollar gifts from foreign governments or political parties and require political campaigns to verify online donors have a valid U.S. address. It also takes aim at foreign lobbying by imposing a lifetime ban on the practice by former presidents, vice presidents and senior military officials.

Golden also wants to make donations behind political advertising online more clear with the Consistent Labeling for Political Ads Act. While paid content on social media is labeled sponsored or promoted, those labels often disappear when users share a post. The legislation would require social media platforms to ensure these labels remain attached to posts regardless of sharing.

This measure complements another that Golden introduced in January, which would prevent foreign nationals, governments and organizations from funding political ads on social media and other online platforms.

The post Rep. Golden doubles down on campaign finance reform with new legislation appeared first on Maine Morning Star.
AerCap Holdings N.V. (NYSE:AER) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript May 1, 2024

AerCap Holdings N.V. beats earnings expectations. Reported EPS is $3.29, expectations were $2.34. AER isn't one of the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds at the end of the third quarter (see the details here).

Operator: Good day and welcome to the AerCap Holdings NV Q1 2024 Financial Results. Todays conference is being recorded and a transcript will be available following the call on the companys website. At this time, Id like to turn the conference over to Joseph McGinely, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, sir.

Joseph McGinely: Thank you, operator and hello, everyone. Welcome for our first quarter 2024 conference call. With me today is our Chief Executive Officer, Aengus Kelly; and our Chief Financial Officer, Pete Juhas. Before we begin todays call, I would like to remind you that some statements made during this conference call which are not historical facts may be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. AerCap undertakes no obligation, other than that imposed by law, to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect future events, information or circumstances that arise after this call.

A commercial jetliner taking off, highlighting the advanced airframe and engine parts produced by the company.

Further information concerning issues that could materially affect performance can be found in AerCaps earnings release dated May 1, 2024. A copy of the earnings release and conference call presentation are available on our website at aercap.com. This call is open to the public and is being webcast simultaneously at aercap.com and will be archived for replay. We will shortly run through our earnings presentation and will allow time at the end for Q&A. As a reminder, I would ask that analysts limit themselves to one question and one follow-up. I will now turn the call over to Aengus Kelly.

Aengus Kelly: Thank you for joining us for our first quarter 2024 earnings call. I am pleased to report that the AerCap platform has delivered another quarter of consistent earnings and profitability. During the first quarter, we generated $3.29 of adjusted earnings per share, up 40% over last year and adjusted net income of $658 million. Importantly, we continued our consistent increases in book value per share, which was up 27% year-on-year to $87.47. As a result of this strong first quarter performance and the improving outlook, we are increasing our full year 2024 guidance to approximately $9.20 per share. As I mentioned on our last call, the focus of the entire AerCap management team is on maximizing value for you, our shareholders.

Story continues

To earnings per share and book value per share growth not just for an individual quarter, but for the long-term. On the operational side which underpins everything we do, the platform continues to work well, executing 152 transactions in the quarter. Demand for travel continues to rise particularly in China where new passenger records were set in the first quarter. Airlines in China flew almost 180 million people in Q1, including 14 million international trips, which is still 22% behind the 2019 international levels. The continued supply/demand imbalance creates significant pricing tensions where we regularly have multiple bidders for available aircraft. On the used aircraft side, we signed lease agreements for A320ceos, Embraer E1s, 737 Freighters and 777s.

See also

10 Stocks Hedge Funds Are Talking About and

12 Best Growth Stocks to Buy and Hold in 2024.

To continue reading the Q&A session, please click here.
Leader of the Palestinian Islamic Movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip Yehya al-Sinwar attends a rally marking the 46th anniversary of the Land Day. Mohammed Talatene/dpa

The leader of the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Yehya al-Sinwar, still has three demands in the current negotiation offer for a hostage deal, according to a media report.

He continues to demand a guaranteed end to the war, a source close to the Hamas leader told the Israeli television station Channel 12 on Thursday evening. Israel has so far denied this.

Sinwar reportedly wants a written commitment for an "unconditional end to the fighting".

According to the broadcaster, al-Sinwar is also demanding that Israel does not prevent the return to the West Bank of Palestinian prisoners who are to be released in return for hostages kidnapped from Israel.

According to the latest draft of a deal, Israel wants to send those serving life sentences to the Gaza Strip or abroad.

Furthermore, the Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip wants details of materials that Israel will not allow to be delivered to the coastal area for reconstruction.

According to the report, the assumption in Israel is that Hamas will not give a clearly negative response to the proposal due to international pressure. Egyptian mediators, with US support, are currently trying to reach an agreement.

The militant Islamist organization Hamas had previously announced that it would once again send a delegation to Egypt to conclude the ongoing, indirect negotiations with Israel on an agreement to release hostages and a ceasefire.

The state-run Egyptian television station al-Qahera News reported that a Hamas delegation is due to arrive in Cairo within the next two days to continue the negotiations.

The Israeli government has announced a rapid start to a controversial offensive in Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip on the border with Egypt if no agreement is reached.
A view of a Polish police vehicle parked on a street. Polish police have detained a 16-year-old boy suspected of having thrown a Molotov cocktail at the historic Nozyk Synagogue, a police spokesman told the Rzeczpospolita newspaper on Thursday. Doris Heimann/dpa

Polish police have detained a 16-year-old boy suspected of having thrown a Molotov cocktail at the historic Nozyk Synagogue, a police spokesman told the Rzeczpospolita newspaper on Thursday.

The motive behind the Wednesday attack on the only Warsaw synagogue to have survived the Nazi onslaught during World War II, remained unclear. The suspect refused to make a statement.

On Wednesday, the Israeli ambassador to Poland, Yacov Livne, published a photo on X, formerly Twitter, showing burn marks on the Nozyk Synagogue in the centre of the city.

"Outrageous anti-Semitic attacks such as this can not be tolerated today," Livne wrote. "The perpetrators must be found and punished."

President Andrzej Duda also condemned the offence. He wrote on X: "There is no place for anti-Semitism in Poland! There is no place for in Poland for hatred!"

The 1902 synagogue, in the city centre on the left bank of the Vistula, is Warsaw's main synagogue today.
an image shows the word "public" becoming the word "private" in front of the word "school"

Photo: Getty Images

The North Carolina Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday approved a preferred committee substitute of House Bill 823 to add an extra $463.5 million over two years to the states controversial private school voucher program.

Sen. Michael Lee, R-New Hanover, explained that $248 million of the $463.5 million will help to clear the wait list for this year and that another $215.5 million would fund school vouchers in future years.

Lee and other bill supporters said the money is needed to clear a wait list of more than 55,000 people who want state-funded Opportunity Scholarships to send children to private and religious schools.

Sen. Michael Lee (Photo: Screen grab NCGA video stream)

The first day [of the application period] more applications were received than the entire priority application period in 2023, Lee said. It was really amazing.

The number of families seeking private school vouchers exploded after the Republican-led legislature expanded the school voucher program to make it accessible to the states wealthiest families.

The program was created a little more than a decade ago with the stated purpose of helping low-income families escape low performing schools and districts. Now, there are no income restrictions.

Sen. Natasha Marcus, D-Mecklenburg, called the additional spending on the voucher program welfare for wealthy families whose children already attend private schools. Marcus said top earners make up 23% of parents on the wait list.

Theyre already paying their private school tuition and can afford it quite well, so I think its disingenuous to say that theyre somehow waiting on this bill to save them in order to decide if their kids can continue to go to Greensboro Day or Providence Day or the fanciest private schools that money can buy, Marcus said. Those kids are already there and I think we know that.

She noted that every Tier 1 family  lower-income families eligible for the maximum award of $7,468 per child  who applied for school voucher money received it.

Seventy percent of the people on the wait list earn more than $115,000 a year, Marcus said.

She asked why further expanding school vouchers is such a high priority when there are many other unmet needs around education.

Marcus said $197 million would clear the NC Pre-K wait list, $200 million would provide much-needed childcare subsidy grants to working parents or the money for voucher could be used for teacher pay raises.

Can you justify this welfare to the wealthiest families in some way that makes some sense to the taxpayers of North Carolina? Marcus asked.

Sen. Natasha Marcus (Photo: Screengrab NCGA video)

Lee responded that he doesnt consider helping a $115,000, two-income household send children to private school helping the wealthy.

Sen. Amy Galey, R-Alamance, said its inappropriate to discuss school vouchers in terms like welfare.

Its really insulting to people who actually need public assistance to cover those gaps in their lives when theyre having times of trouble, Galey said.

Galey also took issue with Marcus criticism of the GOPs decision to make wealthy families eligible for private school vouchers.

They are the taxpayers, Galey said emphatically. This is not welfare if its actually their own money. Theyre the ones who pay the taxes and if you have a high-income earner, a family with over $260,000 in income and if theyre receiving back an opportunity scholarship of around $3,360, I would submit thats well below the amount of taxes theyre paying into the state of North Carolina and into the public school system.

Lee noted that the states voucher program has had a marketing problem that resulted in millions of dollars going unused.

It was really hard to get the message out to families that they had the opportunity to send their child to the school of their choice irrespective of income as long as they could get that opportunity scholarship, Lee said.

This year was different, he said, noting that Gov. Roy Cooper, one of the programs most vocal critics helped to spark interest in the voucher program while condemning it during visits across the state.

I have to thank the governor [Roy Cooper], Lee said. The governor went around the state telling everybody about Opportunity Scholarships, I mean everybody.

Cooper has called for a moratorium on school vouchers until the states public schools are fully funded.

Under the voucher program, he contends, taxpayer money is spent on private schools that arent required to hire licensed teachers, provide meals, transportation or services for the disabled.

They [private schools] dont have to tell taxpayers what they teach, how their students perform, which students they will reject or whether students even show up at all, Cooper said in March during a State Board of Education meeting. That is a reckless, reckless waste of taxpayer money.

The post Republican lawmakers back $463 million in additional spending on private school vouchers appeared first on NC Newsline.
Republican who led inquiry of Dean Plocher may be subject of new ethics complaint

State Rep. Hannah Kelly, R-Mountain View, speaks during House debate in early March (Tim Bommel/Missouri House Communications).

Days after ending an investigation into Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher, the Republican who led that inquiry has recused herself from the committee as it prepares to discuss a new complaint.

According to a letter to legislative staff from House Speaker Pro Tem Mike Henderson, a member of Plochers leadership team, state Rep. Hannah Kelly requested she be temporarily removed from the ethics committee as it looks into a new complaint filed Wednesday.

Although the complaint itself, as well as who filed it, are confidential under House rules, Kellys decision to step away from the committee is an indication she may be the subject.

Kelly declined comment Thursday morning.

Plocher also appears to have recused himself, leaving Henderson to appoint state Rep. Rick Francis of Perryville as the committees new chair. The committee will hold a hearing about the new complaint Monday evening.

Plocher declared victory this week after the ethics committee voted to end its months-long investigation in his alleged misconduct without recommending any punishment.

Yet despite avoiding a formal reprimand, Plocher still faces questions surrounding accusations that he intentionally delayed and obstructed the investigation  including by intimidating potential witnesses.

To bolster the allegations, Kelly released an email she received in early March from the director of administration for the Missouri House detailing a series of actions by the speakers office over several months allegedly designed to intimidate nonpartisan legislative employees.

In my over 21 years of state government service, I have never witnessed or even been involved in such a hostile work environment that is so horrible that I am living in fear every day of losing my job, the March 5 email stated.

An attorney hired by the ethics committee to collect evidence in the Plocher investigation wrote to the committee that she had never encountered more unwilling witnesses in any investigation in my career.

The level of fear expressed by a number of the potential witnesses, the attorney wrote, is a daunting factor in completing this investigation.

And on three occasions in March and April, Plocher refused to sign off on subpoena requests by the committee.

Plocher has vehemently denied any wrongdoing  including that he obstructed the investigation.

He noted that the committee admitted it could not find any evidence of wrongdoing in any of the litany of charges against him  his unsuccessful push for the House to sign an $800,000 contract with a private software company outside the normal bidding process; alleged threats of retaliation against nonpartisan legislative staff who raised red flags about that contract; purported firing a potential whistleblower; and years of false expense reports for travel already paid for by his campaign.

Im thankful that my family will no longer have to endure the hardships caused by these false allegations and this investigation, Plocher said, later adding: I adamantly deny that I obstructed anything.

State Rep. Brian Seitz, a Branson Republican, said the entire ordeal was much ado about nothing.

What was once a committee hearing became an inquisition, he said. It went from an inquisition to a witch hunt.

House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, a Springfield Democrat running for governor, said she was most troubled by the allegations of staff intimidation, most notably the letter from the House director of administration, calling the situation deeply concerning.

Though she said shed heard rumblings about staff mistreatment over the last few months, it was all second or third hand.

Its one thing to hear rumors, Quade said. Its another to see an itemized list from a respected, longtime nonpartisan staff member.

The allegations are serious enough to warrant action, Quade said. But with only two weeks left before adjournment and a long list of unfinished legislative business, she admits its unlikely anything happens this year. It will ultimately be up to the next leadership team that takes over in January when Plochers time in office is over.

The nonpartisan staff are the skeleton of democracy. I mean, it sounds cheesy to say that, but it is true, Quade said. These people are all underpaid and overworked, and the leadership in the building need to recognize all that these folks give to our state as public servants.

The post Republican who led inquiry of Dean Plocher may be subject of new ethics complaint appeared first on Missouri Independent.
Washington State Capitol (Laurel Demkovich/Washington State Standard)

Employees of the Washington Legislature could start pursuing union representation Wednesday and two groups of workers did.

Both are Republican.

Legislative assistants for GOP members of the state House and Senate want the recently formed Legislative Professionals Association to represent them. Petitions on behalf of workers in each chamber were filed with the Public Employment Relations Commission, which will certify the bargaining unit and conduct an election.

More than 60% of the House and Senate assistants signed cards showing interest, said Jami Lund, association president and legislative assistant for Sen. Jeff Wilson, R-Longview. As of Wednesday, there were 39 House assistants and 21 Senate.

Lund acknowledged the irony of Republican employees emerging as the first to take advantage of a labor law most of their bosses opposed.

Legislative assistants want to ensure their concerns are heard in a workplace where they are in the minority, Lund said. The workers dont want to risk living with a contract they disagree with and have no say in negotiating. Nor do they want to be pulled into a union and see their dues funneled outside the state to a national group.

It really is a defensive effort, said Lund, a longtime staffer and former education policy analyst with the Freedom Foundation. We dont want to yield to somebody else capturing our voice. The only way to prevent that is to get your own voice at the bargaining table.

Sen. Derek Stanford, D-Bothell, who helped craft many details of the collective bargaining law, didnt find the action surprising.

I welcome workers making their voices heard. Thats what its about, he said. We know that when workers voices are heard through shared decision-making, it improves morale, performance, and everything about the workplace.

Most expansive law in the nation

A 2022 law laid the foundation for employees of the House, Senate and legislative agencies to pursue collective bargaining. Washington has now joined Oregon, Maine and a handful of other states offering legislative employees the opportunity to unionize.

Washingtons law set May 1 as the date to begin the petition process. If a union vote is successful, those workers can begin bargaining on July 1, the same date as other state employee unions. Any completed agreements would take effect on July 1, 2025.

This past session, lawmakers passed Stanfords legislation filling in details such as which workers are eligible to unionize and what topics can and cannot be collectively bargained.

With this law, we will have the most expansive collective bargaining law for any Legislature in the country, House Majority Leader Joe Fitzgibbon, D-Burien, said during the session.

Full-time partisan employees in the state House and Senate  which include staff of lawmakers and the Democratic and Republican caucuses  plus any additional partisan staff hired each session, are eligible to be in a union.

However, House and Senate employees cannot be in the same bargaining unit. Employees of the Democratic and Republican caucuses in each chamber must keep separate as well unless a majority of each caucus votes to be in the same unit. Similar rules apply for legislative assistants.

Employees of the House and Senate administration are able to unionize. So too are non-managerial workers in Legislative Support Services, Legislative Service Center and Office of the Code Reviser, who do not work full-time on drafting and finalizing legislation.

But employees of those three agencies cannot form units together or with House or Senate employee units.

When bargaining begins, several subjects are off-limits to negotiate, such as the length of the work day during a legislative session, as well as in the 60 calendar days before a session and the 20 days afterward.

And the law specifically bars legislative employees from striking, participating in work stoppages, or refusing to perform job duties.

Kind of curious

On Tuesday afternoon, Michael Sellars, executive director of the Public Employment Relations Commission, said he hadnt heard of any active union organizing campaign though it didnt mean it wasnt happening. He refrained from predicting what might happen in the first few weeks.

Theres no deadline on when to petition for a unit. Well deal with each petition when it comes in, he said. Were all kind of curious what unions will be interested in this.

Now he knows one  the Legislative Professionals Association. It has two petitions.

The commissions role for those, and any others received, will be to certify the bargaining unit, oversee elections for union representation, and resolve disputes that may arise in the course of negotiating agreements. The commission is the independent state agency that carries out Washingtons collective bargaining laws and resolves disputes involving employees of the state, local governments and schools.

By law, the chief clerk of the House and secretary of the Senate are the employers for the purpose of contract talks.

Chief Clerk Bernard Dean and Secretary of the Senate Sarah Bannister said Tuesday they are preparing in part with training for managers and supervisors to make sure we are all aware of these new employee rights.

This new process will be a significant change for the Legislature, they said in a joint response to questions. There are not many models within the Legislative branch across the country that can be looked at so we are mindful in our approach.

The post Republican legislative staff move first to unionize under new WA law appeared first on Washington State Standard.
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House Republicans say they arent worried about paying a political price for backing Speaker Mike Johnson now that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green has promised to force a vote on ousting him.

Even if it did, I wouldnt care, Texas Rep. Jake Ellzey said when asked if backing the speaker could cost him votes back home. There is no support for this.

Greene announced Wednesday that she intended to trigger a motion to vacate Johnson some time next week. During a morning press conference, she stood beside a blown up picture of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries handing Johnson the speakers gavel and accused Johnson of giving Democrats everything they want by compromising on issues like the budget and Ukraine.

The effort to topple Johnson is almost universally expected to fail after Democratic leaders said this week they would back him. Only two other Republicans have officially signed onto Greenes motion, one of whom  Rep. Thomas Massie  joined Greene at her presser. Nonetheless, Greene argued that the American people need to see a recorded vote so they could tell who supported the uniparty in Washington.

Republicans who spoke with Semafor on Wednesday expressed weary irritation with Greenes push, but little concern that saving Johnson could cost them politically. Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon, a moderate who faces a primary this month, described Massie and Greene as just two people being dumb and hurting the whole team. A senior House GOP aide allowed that while the crazies wont like it, they didnt think siding with the speaker would be the nail in the coffin for any members.

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Hardline Republicans also seemed unworried about backlash from conservatives. In this business you get some happy, you can get some mad. That what comes with the territory, said Rep. Ralph Norman, a member of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus, who said hed vote against Greenes motion.

Even members who helped oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy last year say they arent thrilled about a repeat of that experience. Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good, whos facing a tough primary, told reporters he doesnt support a motion to vacate and suggested the effort is a distraction.

We have a three-vote margin. We should be focused on reelecting President Trump. This does not help President Trump, Good said

Prior to Wednesday, even some of Johnsons harshest House GOP critics had doubted that Greene would actually trigger a vote on her motion. Trump himself reiterated his support for Johnson after last months Ukraine vote, giving the speaker a critical boost.

Still, Greene appears determined to see her effort through.

We have Hakeem Jeffries and the Democrats coming out and embracing Mike Johnson with a warm hug and a big wet sloppy kiss, she said Wednesday. I find it very satisfying that they are ready to vote for Mike Johnson. And you want to know something? I want to see it happen.

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Room for Disagreement

Massie isnt so sure Republicans are safe voting to keep Johnson.

I think it could, he said when asked if backing the speaker might cost his colleagues with voters. Theres some primaries that still havent settled out yet and I think it could be consequential in those.

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New research raises questions about potentially toxic components of popular bandage products: 'It doesn't make sense for these companies to use it'

Although there are many laws in place regulating what chemicals can go into which products, there is still a long way to go. A recent analysis of 40 types of adhesive bandages found that 65% of them contain PFAS, also known as toxic "forever chemicals," the Guardian reported.

What happened?

The Mamavation blog commissioned independent testing of 40 different bandage varieties from brands including Band-Aid, Curad, Walmart, and CVS. Researchers tested the adhesive strips and the absorbent pads that touch wounds separately. The findings were analyzed by Linda Birnbaum, a former senior Environmental Protection Agency official, who described the results as a "wake-up call," per the Guardian.

In 26 bandage varieties, or 65%, testing discovered high levels of a marker that indicates the presence of PFAS. Specifically, many of the bandages had PFAS in the absorbent pads as well as the adhesive.

PFAS are a class of around 15,000 chemicals used in a wide range of products. If it's stain resistant, heat resistant, waterproof, or nonstick, it's likely that PFAS are involved  and even when they aren't in the finished product, they're often used in manufacturing.

However, about one-third of the bandages tested did not contain PFAS, which Birnbaum pointed out to the Guardian, saying that it indicates effective bandages can be made without them.

Why does it matter if there are PFAS in bandages?

PFAS appear in many products, even in hygiene and beauty items that go directly on skin  even though PFAS are toxic. They've been linked to cancer, asthma, thyroid disease, and decreased fertility.

"This stuff can directly enter the body from the bandage and it doesn't make sense for these companies to use it," Birnbaum said. The Guardian clarified that not only can PFAS enter through wounds, but they're also easily absorbed through the skin.

What can be done about PFAS?

"PFAS are everywhere and unless we stop using them unnecessarily they are just going to continue building up in the environment and our bodies," Birnbaum said.

Better regulation is the only way to get companies to stop putting dangerous chemicals in products  and that starts with awareness. This round of testing was a step in the right direction.

Lawmakers in many states are working to ban different applications of specific PFAS  but because there are so many, it's an uphill battle, and greater change will be needed.

Join our free newsletter for cool news and actionable info that makes it easy to help yourself while helping the planet.
After residential backlash, Cape Coral chooses not to go forward with meeting time changes

Cape Coral council member Jessica Cosden. Cape Coral city council members held a third meeting Wednesday, April 13, 2022 on a proposed storm shutter ordinance. Members of the public were in attendance to voice their opinions during the open session.

Cape Coral will keep regular meetings in the afternoon as a majority could not approve a swap to mornings, with council saying it could hinder community participation.

Councilmember Jessica Cosden introduced a city council start-time discussion on April 10 and got a majority consensus to continue work on changes.

The change would have shifted Wednesday's regular meeting times to 9 a.m. from 4:30 p.m. The city has at least two regular meetings where the council holds public hearings and votes on items.

Cosden previously said the change would make the city's regular meetings consistent with its Committee of the Whole meetings, which they have every other week, and truly make it a business meeting.

She also said it would help keep employees who participate during meetings from working overtime.

Previous coverage Cape Coral council debates pay raise, hurricane recovery, Sun Splash, boats. What to know

Recent Cape news Cape Coral slapped with a second lawsuit that challenges residential removal, "ban"

Council and residents against change

A few residents spoke against the change before and during the meeting, with a notable dissent by former councilmember Kevin McGrail.

"I am very strongly opposed to this," he said.

Having been a resident of the city for more than 34 years, he said the morning meeting will be "adding a distance" between residents and the council.

"It is going to cause some real problems with the working families in Cape Coral and you students, the youth council, who won't be able to attend these meetings," McGrail said.

He recommends shifting staff hours to combat overtime concerns for those who attend the meetings.

Another resident, Dave Kalish, said only a "minimal" amount of people will see the benefit of this change.

"Most of the people are either working, or at doctor's appointments, so if you are looking for a way to get less people to come, I'll always be here," Kalish said.

Cape Coral council member Dan Sheppard. Cape Coral city council members held a third meeting Wednesday, April 13, 2022 on a proposed storm shutter ordinance. Members of the public were in attendance to voice their opinions during the open session.

Councilmember Dan Sheppard opposed the change after numerous residents expressed their opposition.

He also brought up the possibility of an important item brought to the council and residents not being able to attend because they were working.

"I don't want to make it difficult to be involved," Sheppard said.

Cosden maintained that her intention was not to hamper public participation.

Councilmember Keith Long supported the changes, saying they'll always get people who express displeasure when the council meets in the afternoon or morning.

The regular meeting changes for 2024 failed in a 4-4 vote, with Councilmembers Tom Hayden, Richard Carr, Sheppard, and Steinke in opposition.

Candidate Richard Carr answers questions from the council as they seek to fill the vacant District 4 seat during a city council meeting at Cape Coral City Hall in Cape Coral on Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023.

Carr introduced the idea of alternating the regular meeting between mornings and afternoons, and Cosden made a motion to explore these changes for 2025.

However, several council members opposed the idea because of worries of "confusing" residents with the start times.

Cosden countered this by saying other Florida cities like Port St. Lucie have alternating times for their regular meetings.

The changes failed in a 5-3 vote, with Mayor John Gunter joining in the opposition.

Next meeting

Cape Coral will hold a regular meeting next week at 10:30 a.m., replacing the planned committee of the whole meeting.

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 keeping regular meetings in the afternoon
Cars enter and leave the new 7 Brew Coffee at Sunshine Street and Jefferson Avenue on Wednesday, May 1, 2024.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the city's assistant director of building development services, Brad Musick.

Cody Hicks lives behind the new 7 Brew Coffee at Sunshine Street and Jefferson Avenue, and his backyard is lit up with blue neon 24 hours a day. Early on Saturday morning, he and other members of the Seminole-Holland neighborhood awoke to loud music shaking their houses as the drive-thru coffee shop celebrated its grand opening. On the street, a line of cars was backed up on Jefferson Avenue from Sunshine all the way to Whiteside Street.

Traffic has calmed after the giveaways and special events marking the store's opening week, but residents of the Seminole-Holland neighborhood still aren't happy with their new neighbor. Hicks said he had to call the police three times Saturday in order for 7 Brew employees to turn the music down. He's not happy about the lights, either.

"I cannot go in my backyard and look at the building because it blinds you, it's so bright," Hicks said.

According to Bruce Adib-Yadzi, president of the Seminole-Holland neighborhood association, the neighborhood was worried about disruptions before the new coffee shop opened. Originally, residents were concerned about the influx of traffic a new coffee shop would bring to the corner of Sunshine Street and Jefferson Avenue. The new store is across the street from an elementary school and just a few blocks away from Bass Pro Shops and the Wonders of Wildlife Aquarium. Now, the problem is the lights and speakers.

"I don't think anybody's measuring that or enforcing it," Adib-Yadzi said.

The new 7 Brew Coffee at Sunshine Street and Jefferson Avenue on Wednesday, May 1, 2024.

When the proposal for the 7 Brew came before City Council in June 2022, council members allowed the lot at the southeast corner of Sunshine Street and Jefferson Avenue to be rezoned from residential to a Limited Business district, which allowed a food and drink establishment to operate there. They denied, however, further designation to allow a drive-thru to operate at the site. The developer, Royce Reding, made several changes to the project's design before the drive-thru coffee shop was approved with a conditional use permit in late 2023.

"My biggest concern right now is that the specific items in the conditional use permit are not being adhered to," said Adib-Yadzi, an architect with considerable experience working with city code.

Rezoning for the project was denied by city council three times before finally being approved with a conditional use permit. Conditional use permits are required when a development plan for a site does not fit the zoning district and has to include a site plan with more detailed information. The permit outlines the requirements 7 Brew must meet to operate at the intersection. These include, but are not limited to:

The drive-thru establishment must comply with the city's standards for safety, traffic, development, and neighborhood character.

The glare of vehicular lights and stationery lights shall not affect the established character of the neighborhood.

A sidewalk, which complies with Public Works design standards, shall be constructed along Roanoke Avenue at the time of development.

Hours of operation shall be limited to 5:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

Outside speakers shall be pointed north towards Sunshine Street and away from the residences to the south and east. The noise levels shall not exceed 80 decibels at the property line.

The new 7 Brew Coffee at Sunshine Street and Jefferson Avenue on Wednesday, May 1, 2024.

The Seminole-Holland Neighborhood Association originally opposed the conditional use permit. In a statement provided to the News-Leader from January 2023, then-board member William Cooper wrote:

"The Seminole Holland Neighborhood Association is disappointed in the Councils decision to approve the 7-Brew drive-thru. We believe the planned use of the property does not satisfy the basic requirements of a limited business zoning designation to allow development that provides goods and services to the neighborhood. Going forward, we will expect the 7-Brew coffee shop to be a good neighbor."

According to Hicks, 7 Brew might also be violating the conditional use permit with south-facing speakers.

Hicks says the speakers face directly toward the neighborhood, which is why they were woken up so early on Saturday morning. He said there was a DJ at the 7 Brew event that day, with a post facing his house. After he asked them to turn the music down, Hicks said they kept turning the volume back up. He said he called the police three times Saturday, and employees finally turned the music down.

"They don't care about being good neighbors," Hicks said.

Hicks was also hoping the new 7 Brew would have tables and chairs so members of the community could walk up to the coffee shop. He doesn't like that the 7 Brew is designed for cars and drive-thru traffic not necessarily for people in the neighborhood.

The new 7 Brew Coffee at Sunshine Street and Jefferson Avenue on Wednesday, May 1, 2024.

According to Brandon Sebald, 7 Brew franchisee for the company's Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas markets, they are following guidelines set in the conditional use permit when it comes to speakers. He said the speakers at the Sunshine Street location are arranged differently than they would be at other 7 Brew locations so the sound stays under the level of 80 decibels outlined by the city. There are, however, speakers on the south side of the building.

"We're not trying to be troublesome to anybody," Sebald said. "But it is a commercially zoned district, which, whether it's us or Burger King or somebody, the same issues are going to be present for anybody right on that commercial use lot."

Brad Musick, assistant director of building development services, said the city has been monitoring the situation at 7 Brew. He said within the next week, zoning inspectors should be looking at speakers, lighting and outdoor seating areas to make sure the business is abiding by requirements outlined in the conditional use permit.

"If they're in violation of the zoning code or that conditional use permit, we'll have to enforce it, which just means we will send the notices," Musick said. "If they don't respond to the notices, we'll end up having to have a hearing over it."

Sebald said the 7 Brew team takes pride in being part of a community and giving back, and he hopes to work with the neighborhood to be a part of it. After speaking with the News-Leader, Sebald said he would instruct the operations team at the new 7 Brew to turn off the blue neon lights after closing.

"I personally hope that they become a good neighbor," Hicks said. "I just don't want to have to stay on top. It's not my responsibility."

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: New Springfield 7 Brew's neighbors complain about blue neon, speakers
An investor checks his stocks value at a stock exchange market in Shanghai. Nir Elias/Reuters

AI stocks plunged on Wednesday after AMD reported guidance that put a cloud over future AI chip demand.

AMD said it expects its MI300 AI chips to generate $4 billion in revenue in 2024, which was below some Wall Street forecasts.

Shares of Super Micro Computer, AMD, and Nvidia erased a collective $143 billion in market value.

AI stocks plunged on Wednesday after AMD offered analysts 2024 revenue guidance for its AI chip that was below analyst estimates.

Shares of AMD fell 10%, helping drag down its peer Nvidia by about 5% in Wednesday trades. Meanwhile, Super Micro Computer, which sells AI-enabled servers using products from Nvidia and AMD, dropped 15% after it reported mixed earnings results.

The three companies wiped out a collective $143 billion in market value in Wednesday's trading session.

AMD's failure to meet Wall Street's lofty AI sales expectations led to concerns that AMD is suffering from a demand problem, though AMD CEO Lisa Su dismissed those concerns and said that supply is the bigger issue for its AI chip sales.

"We are tight on supply. So there's no question in the near-term that if we had more supply, we have demand for that product," AMD CEO Lisa Su said on the company's earnings call.

AMD raised its 2024 revenue guidance for its MI300 AI chip by $500 million to $4 billion. Despite the increase, that figure failed to meet lofty investor expectations, with some expecting upwards of $8 billion in revenue from the AI chip this year, according to Bloomberg.

While supply constraints seem to be a headwind for AMD's AI chip business, so too could be competition. The company's MI300 chip is a direct competitor to Nvidia's immensely popular H100 chip, and AMD claims that its chip outperforms Nvidia's.

But according to Goldman Sachs, Nvidia's next generation H200 chip is 2-times more powerful in inference than its older H100 chip, so AMD may already be behind the ball with its AI chip offering.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang sure seems to think so.

In an interview last month, Huang said his competitors would essentially have to pay its customers to use their AI chips as they aren't comparable to the compute power offered by Nvidia's GPUs.

"Our total cost of operations is so good that even when the competitor's chips are free, it's not cheap enough," Huang said at the Stanford Economic Summit.

Whether Nvidia will be able to meet Wall Street's lofty sales and profit expectations won't be known until the company reports earnings on May 22.

Story continues

AMD shares over the past week. Markets Insider

Read the original article on Business Insider
The city of Sacramento has backed off on a plan to close a tight-knit city-sanctioned homeless camp on May 16.

The decision, which the city detailed in a letter received Thursday morning by the camps lawyer Mark Merin, comes after homeless people came to City Council Tuesday in tears begging officials to not close the camp until they all get permanent housing. Several even said they were prepared to be arrested.

Today, the City of Sacramento notified Safe Ground Sacramento that it would hold off on the termination if various conditions were met, states a post to the citys public relations blog titled Sacramento City Express. The post included a link to the letter sent to Merin which lists the conditions: ensuring that people are living in vehicles parked on the pavement and that leaders must negotiate in good faith as the city plans to develop affordable housing on the site.

Since 2022 the city has allowed roughly 50 residents of Camp Resolution in North Sacramento to live on a city lot, and gave them trailers to live in. But when some people were camping in tents on the dirt, which is against the lease for environmental reasons, the city announced plans to close it by the middle of this month.

The people in the camp, many of whom are women, want to be moved into housing units, claiming theyve been promised that for years by city, county and nonprofit representatives. Several attended Tuesdays council meeting to say they wont leave the site, at Colfax Street and Arden Way, until they get housing.

Were not going nowhere, Twana James, who lives at Camp Resolution, told the council. Theres mostly women out there. Theyre dying out there and you dont have any heart for us? Thats sad. Because were somebody. We are somebody in this world ... we dont cost you guys nothing. We get our own food, people come in there and give us food.

Camp Resolution is unique because its self-governed, and the city does not have to pay costly contractors for operations. By contrast, the citys 100-bed shelter at X Street and Alhambra costs the city about $10 million a year.

Mayor Darrell Steinberg promised the residents Tuesday the city would offer each of them an indoor shelter bed before clearing them off the site.

We will not displace you from Camp Resolution without some other alternatives that are safe, dignified and indoors, Steinberg said. And we will work with you to try to figure this out. You are not the problem at Camp Resolution, but there are serious problems at Camp Resolution, in and around Camp Resolution. And so we have to work together.

Since the camp opened, several tents have sprung up nearby, just outside the gate, along the bike trail, including some people who are among the 800 on the waiting list to live in Camp Resolution.

Anthony Prince, attorney for the Sacramento Homeless Union, said under his interpretation of the lease between the city and Merins nonprofit, the city cannot close the camp until they give everyone permanent housing. If that does not happen, Prince, who was sued the city in the past, threatened legal action.

Camp Resolution was created on the basis of struggle and determination, Prince said. If they think theyre going to come out and tear that camp down and push people back onto the homeless streets of Sacramento without a fight, they havent been paying attention.

City spokesman Tim Swanson did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

The city is trying to find another location for the residents to go while they keep waiting to receive affordable housing, which may be built on the site that Camp Resolution now sits on, officials have said.

I understand the frustration that housing options havent manifested so far but I believe the city is genuinely trying to to figure out a situation that works for residents given the situation were in, Councilwoman Katie Valenzuela said Wednesday.

Since the camp opened, 16 people have been moved from there into permanent housing, said Crystal Sanchez of the Sacramento Homeless Union said during a Thursday news conference.

The city in 2022 signed a variance with the Central Valley Regional Water Board that allowed people to camp in trailers on the site, but prohibited them to camp in tents, due to vapor contamination. The type of contamination thats present is not harmful to people in vehicles because theyre raised off the ground, the water board said at the time. Some people lived in tents anyway, prompting District Attorney Thien Ho to threaten to sue the city, as he has in the past.

The state variance is expiring, and the city did not ask for an extension.

Nobody is living in tents at the site anymore, said Joyce Williams, one of the camps leaders, on Thursday.

Most of the residents are over 45 and all of them have at least one chronic medical illness, Sanchez said. All but four have a documented disability.

Camp Resolution gives us the safety and the security we need to get on our feet again. Its given us time to heal from the trauma of being out on the streets so long, said Sharon Jones, one of the camps leaders.

The city be trying to avoid a similar scene to the infamous sweep in 2019 when dozens of Sheriffs deputies went to clear a camp on Stockton Boulevard public land. They were met by a line of homeless residents and activists blocking access. The camp was ultimately cleared and is planned for housing but still sits empty, now with a locked gate.
A bill by Sen. Rick Edmonds, R-Baton Rouge, would allow the state school board to create an education savings account program after it obtains the results of a statewide survey on how public money spending is spent at K-12 schools and other pertinent data. The accounts would be made available to students who want to use state money on private education. (Greg LaRose/Louisiana Illuminator)

A broad survey of K-12 schools and how they use the public resources at their disposal would be undertaken before Louisiana implements a program that would allow families to use state money for private education, including tuition and tutoring, according to legislation advanced Thursday.

The Senate Committee on Finance voted 4-3 in favor of Senate Bill 313 from Sen. Rick Edmonds, R-Baton Rouge. It calls for the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) to use those survey findings to inform its creation of an education savings accounts (ESA) program.

The time needed for the survey puts off, for at least one year, a decision from lawmakers on how much money they want to spend on ESAs, which have become a popular but expensive public education measure in Republican-led states. Indications are that the Legislature is very wary of spending big on a program with no defined ceiling.

In its original version, Edmonds bill would have made ESAs available universally to all families, regardless of income, by the 2028-29 school year provided the Legislature funded the program. A legislative staff estimate placed the cost of the program at that point at $260 million annually. The nonpartisan Public Affairs Resource Council of Louisiana puts that number closer to $520 million.

These nine-figure dollar amounts led to resistance from lawmakers, who are bracing for a projected state revenue decrease of $558 million a year once a 0.45% portion of the state sales tax expires on June 30, 2025.

Seeing unfavorable writing on the wall, Edmonds inserted the survey into his proposal to come up with a more precise cost figure for ESAs. The expense for BESE and the Louisiana Department of Education to conduct the study is unknown, but $1.8 million would be needed for the state school board to develop the ESA program, according to the bills updated fiscal note.

Edmonds proposal also calls for the states existing school voucher program to lapse after the 2024-25 school year. It pays for about 5,600 K-12 students from low-income families at poor performing public schools to attend private schools. ESAs would first be available to only these voucher recipients starting with the 2025-26 academic year. They could use the money to stay at their current schools or enroll at another nonpublic campus.

The following year, the program would be open to kindergarten and existing public school students from families with income at or below 400% of the federal poverty guidelines, which was $31,200 for a family of four as of March 1.

The updated Edmonds bill does not include a date to make all students eligible for ESAs.

Sen. Katrina Jackson-Andrews, D-Monroe, proposed an amendment to Edmonds proposal that included what she called accountability measures for the ESA program. It would require students who use the money at private schools to take the same end-of-course tests administered to their counterparts at public schools. Schools that accept ESA proceeds would then be given letter grades based on the students performance on state tests.

Edmonds opposed the amendment, saying the updates to his bill allowed BESE to take steps toward accountability when its members build the framework for ESAs. Jackson-Andrews insisted she had been proactive about wanting the performance stipulations in the proposal, as opposed to waiting until the last minute.

I didnt play hide the ball with this amendment, she said.

Edmonds promised to consider such changes before his bill was advanced to the full Senate.

The House has approved a similar ESA proposal, House Bill 745, from Rep. Julie Emerson, R-Carencro, that doesnt include the survey in Edmonds version. It awaits a hearing in the Senate Education Committee.

The post High price tag for education savings accounts leads to proposal overhaul appeared first on Louisiana Illuminator.
RFK Jr.'s enormous sense of entitlement prompts call for Biden to drop out of the race

The conventional wisdom for a solid year had been that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s vanity campaign for president would be a spoiler, helping former President Donald Trump defeat President Joe Biden in November.

But recent polling reframed that insight, suggesting that Kennedy is as much  if not more  of a threat to Trump than to Biden.

Then there is Kennedy's view, which he shared Wednesday  Biden is the real spoiler in the race and should drop out so that Kennedy can go head-to-head with Trump.

Earth to RFK Jr.: This view has some serious flaws.

RFK Jr.'s delusion is matched only by his audacity

Biden has way more money than Kennedy (or Trump) to fund his campaign. He's an incumbent president who won the electoral college in 2020 by defeating Trump. And he is polling much, much stronger than Kennedy, even as he trails or ties with Trump.

Just imagine the absurd sense of entitlement it takes for Kennedy to see all those factors and then suggest that an incumbent president should get out of his way.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. officially announces his candidacy for President on April 19, 2023 in Boston.

Kennedy on Wednesday was hawking a delusional proposal for Biden that he pitched as a no-spoiler pledge during a speech in Brooklyn, where he took no questions from the stage.

Here's how he said things should work: Biden and Kennedy would co-fund a 50-state poll in mid-October of at least 30,000 likely voters, surveying the race in one-to-one matchups, Biden versus Trump and Kennedy versus Trump. The candidate who performs better against Trump stays in the race while the other guy drops out.

Did Biden say he wouldn't run in 2024?

Kennedy justified this by touting a 50-state poll conducted last month by John Zogby Strategies that asked 26,408 likely voters about the race for president and found Biden losing to Trump in a rematch and Kennedy beating them both in head-to-head races.

For reference, an average of polls compiled from January to April by RealClearPolitics shows Trump leading Biden in a three-way race, 41.7% to 36.3%, with Kennedy far behind at 10.7%.

US President Joe Biden walks to Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on April 30, 2024, in Washington, DC. Biden is travelling to Wilmington, Delaware for a campaign event. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP) (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images) ORG XMIT: 776139674 ORIG FILE ID: 2150347312

Kennedy considers his new poll superior. Politicians always feel that way about polls that please them.

Kennedy and his campaign manager, daughter-in-law Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, also repeatedly referenced a pledge they claimed Biden made during the 2020 election to only serve one term as president.

There were rumblings about that in 2019, suggesting Biden was open to the idea. But Biden publicly shot that down more than once, long before the 2020 voting started.

Trump's hush money trial: Trump is likely to violate his gag order again. Jail him if he does.

You can't hold a guy to a pledge you can't prove he ever made.

Biden did tell supporters in December that "if Trump wasnt running Im not sure Id be running." But Trump is going to be the Republican nominee. Biden is very much in this race.

Kennedy thinks abortion isn't an issue voters care about

Kennedy used his event Wednesday to cast Biden and Trump as similar politicians, even while citing key differences between them about abortion, guns, border security and transgender issues. He shrugged those off as "culture war issues" that are not as "existential" as the dissatisfaction Americans feel with the way the country is run.

Push pause there.

Abortion has been a major motivating factor for Democratic voters since the U.S. Supreme Court undid nearly five decades of constitutional protections for the medical procedure in June 2022. But to Kennedy, who started his campaign in April 2023 as a Democrat before going independent in October, abortion is a throw-away line in a long speech about spoilers.

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.

There is one way Biden and Trump are similar. They both see Kennedy as a spoiler.

Biden and Trump are united in their dislike of Kennedy. The polls show why: He's a spoiler.

Biden and the Democratic National Committee have been trying to push him to the margins for months. The DNC has noted that one of Trump's biggest donors, conservative billionaire Timothy Mellon, gave $20 million to a super PAC backing Kennedy.

Former President Donald Trump talks to reporters as he leaves the courtroom at the end of the day in his criminal trial at New York State Supreme Court in New York on April 30.

Trump had been friendlier to Kennedy, praising him last year as a "commonsense guy." Those days are over. Trump, on his social media site Truth Social on Friday, accused Kennedy of being a Democratic Party "Plant" on the ballot to help Biden win in November.

What changed? A national NBC poll released last week showed Trump leading Biden by 2 percentage points in a head-to-head race but losing to Biden by 2 points when other candidates like Kennedy, Jill Stein of the Green Party and independent Cornel West are on the ballot.

RFK Jr.'s VP: Kennedy's VP pick shows his presidential bid for what it is  a vanity project all about him

A Florida Atlantic University Poll released Tuesday suggested that Biden benefits from Kennedy being on the ballot as the former Democrat saps support from Trump.

Kennedy wrapped up his Wednesday pitch by presenting himself as the only viable alternative to another four years with Trump in the White House.

It takes all kinds of ego to run for president. But a grip on reality helps, too. What we know from all the information available is that Kennedy will play spoiler in November. We don't know yet if that helps or hurts Biden or Trump.

But Kennedy's conception that he would be the inevitable victor if Biden would step aside defies logic and should raise serious questions for voters about how this guy thinks of himself and the race.

Follow USA TODAY elections columnist Chris Brennan on X, formerly known as Twitter: @ByChrisBrennan

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: 'No Spoilers'? RFK Jr. wants Biden to drop out. He's delusional
Sen. Dawn Euer introducing her bill on the floor of the Rhode Island Senate on May 2, 2024. (Screencap/Capitol TV)

The Rhode Island Senate passed a bill Thursday that would defend doctors ability to provide reproductive health services and gender-affirming care, which includes therapies, surgeries and other medical services for transgender and nonbinary people.

The 29-7 vote passed largely along partisan lines, with every Republican senator  Jessica de la Cruz, Anthony DeLuca II, Elaine Morgan, Thomas Paolino and Gordon Rogers  voting against the bill. Sens. Roger Picard and Leonidas Raptakis were the only two Democrats to vote against it, and Sen. Victoria Gu was not present.

The Healthcare Provider Shield Act, sponsored by Sen. Dawn Euer and nine fellow Democrats, broadly states that it would stop any individual from interfering with access to reproductive or gender-affirming health care services in Rhode Island. More specifically, that means protecting doctors and other health care providers from legal action originating outside state lines  from places where abortion and other reproductive or gender-related health care services have been limited because of the Supreme Courts 2022 overturn of Roe v. Wade.

Any public act of a foreign jurisdiction that prohibits, criminalizes, sanctions, or authorizes a person to bring a civil action against or otherwise interferes with a person, provider, payer, or other entity in this state that engages in legally protected healthcare activityshall be an interference with the exercise and enjoyment of the rights secured by this chapter, the bill reads.

In Euers own words on the Senate floor: What this bill does is it makes sure that Rhode Island gets to regulate our doctors, she said. We get to regulate and determine the standards of care here in Rhode Island for our Rhode Island professionals.

The shield in question casts a wide shadow. Among the bills provisions: Public agencies would be forbidden from using any time, money or other resources on interstate investigations. The states courts would not enforce any penal measure from another state involving the specified health services. The governor could not extradite a person to their home state on the basis of their receiving an abortion or gender-affirming surgery in Rhode Island.

Shield laws, a 2023 article in NEJM Evidence argues, are one of the bright spots for abortion access in this new environment where there is no national right to abortion.

But their true utility has not been tested. So far, given how new abortion bans and shield laws are, they have not yet needed to be used, the article led by David S. Cohen, a Drexel University law professor, continues. However, even if these laws are never used, their mere existence can be an important countervailing force against states that may otherwise consider imposing their abortion bans across state lines.

But things may have already changed since that article, especially in regards to transgender medical care, as evidenced by points Euer made when she introduced the bill to her senate colleagues  like a legal battle between Texas and Seattle Childrens Hospital over a transgender patients medical records.

The newness of shield laws and the slightly-less-new threats to reproductive health and transgender health care has not stopped other states from forging their own defenses. Regionally, shield laws involving transgender care and abortion have been enacted in Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, Vermont, New York and New Jersey. New Hampshire and Rhode Island lack shields in both categories.

Sen. Pam Lauria, a primary care nurse practitioner, rose in support of Euers legislation: It might seem a little strange that I would complain about politics, but politics does not belong in my exam room, or any health care providers exam room.

Denouncing science denialism, Lauria posed the bill as an economic good. Youve heard me talk a lot about the need for health care workforce bills, she said. Well, this is a health care workforce bill, because if we want to keep our providers here in Rhode Island or providers to come to Rhode Island. We have to protect the job that theyre trained to do.

A 2023 article in Columbia Law Review makes clear the unclarity in interstate litigation: The Constitutions general prohibition of state restrictions on interstate travel, burdens on interstate commerce, or application of a states law outside its borders should make it difficult for antiabortion states to enforce these laws, the article reads. Yet, these constitutional defenses are underdeveloped and subject to debate, leaving courts as the ultimate arbiters of these interstate battles.

Euers bill first appeared for public discussion at a March 7 meeting of the Senate Committee on Judiciary. Testimonies that night ranged from supportive to skeptical, with doctors and other health providers showing up in support.

But the bill only headed for the Senate floor last week on Thursday, April 25, when the Senate Committee on Judiciary passed an amended version that lead sponsor (and the committees chair) Euer said made no substantial changes, other than moving the bills public policy portion from general law into public law. Sen. Anthony DeLuca, a Warwick Republican, was the sole committee member who voted against the bills passage out of Judiciary.

I rise today in support of this bill, and in an unintended coincidence, today marks 11 years since the governor signed marriage equality into law. Euer said Thursday. And so this bill is incredibly important. The timeliness of us having this on the floor today is not lost on me, because I got my start in the real world of politics in Rhode Island on that marriage equality campaign.

The companion House bill  H7577, led by Democratic Rep. John Edwards of Tiverton and nine other Democrats  has stagnated since a March 5 meeting of the House Committee on Judiciary.

The post Rhode Island Senate passes Healthcare Provider Shield Act appeared first on Rhode Island Current.
What are the rights of protesters in Utah?

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4)  This week brought pro-Palestinian protests to Utah campuses, and the demonstrations dont show any signs of stopping. It begs the question: What are protesters rights in Utah?

You have a right to protest under the First Amendment, said Clayton Simms, a Utah criminal defense attorney. You can peaceably assemble and you can engage in free speech.

RELATED: 19 arrested, officer injured during pro-Palestine protest at University of Utah

This protects demonstrations in public areas, such as sidewalks, parks and areas considered a public forum, such as in front of the Utah State Capitol. For students and others at a public university, this includes open spaces of state schools, and perhaps certain areas of campus buildings.

If youre peacefully protesting, expressing even unpopular views but not threatening, that would be allowed, Simms said.

The First Amendment protects protesters spoken words, signs, symbolic clothing, the passing out of flyers, and picketing under certain circumstances, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

BACKGROUND INFO: Students hold pro-Palestine sit-in at Utah State University

Aaron Welcher, communications director with the ACLU of Utah, said that controversial pro-Palestinian political slogans  that have been said at this weeks protests in Utah and across the country  are also protected free speech.

I know there has been a lot of conversations about certain slogans and chants being said at these protests and whether that would then become reasonable threats, he said. We really want to make it clear that their political rhetoric is not material support [of terrorism].

What protesters cant do

The First Amendment doesnt protect protesters if they incite or call for violence or lawless action. Protesters also arent allowed to infringe upon the First Amendment rights of others, such as counter-protesters who speak or pass out flyers.

While public spaces generally have robust free speech protections, there are still restrictions as far as time, space and manner of protest, Welcher said. Free speech protections on private property are much more limited, as the property owner can limit public protests.

Under Utah law, the creation of encampments as part of a protest is not allowed in public areas. This is what prompted the arrests of 19 people overnight Monday at an otherwise peaceful protest.

In a statement following the arrests, University of Utah President Taylor R. Randall said students have a right to express their opinions, but do not have the right to violate the law or university policy.

It is unlawful to set up structures or camp overnight on university property, he said. The University of Utah will continue to support free expression and enforce the rule of law.

Interactions with police

Welcher, with the ACLU, said that if protesters are interacting with police, its important for them to remain calm, dont argue, resist, or obstruct what police are doing, even if someone believes officers are violating their rights.

Whats really important though is trying to remember everything within the interaction, write down everything you remember when you can, including an officers badge, name and patrol car, he said.

Filming police is also allowed under the law in Utah as long as its in a public forum, Welcher said. He noted that anyone who finds themselves under arrest should remember they have the right to remain silent until they have a lawyer present.

When permits are needed

In general, permits are not required for spontaneous demonstrations in Utah if they dont impede another groups reservation or event, the ACLU said. However, events with an amplifying device or that may block traffic could require a permit.

If there is a permitting process in the city or government, it must be applied equally to all forms of protest and free speech without discrimination.

In Salt Lake City, demonstration permits must be submitted at least 30 days ahead of the event or event set-up.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
EVANSVILLE  "RINO."

Its one of the saltiest insults one Republican can hurl against another in todays GOP  and a new attack mailer in Vanderburgh County uses it twice. Three times, if you count the photo of an actual rhinoceros.

Amy Canterbury's mailer attacking incumbent County Commissioner Cheryl Musgrave proclaims in capital letters that Musgrave's "RINO RECORD HAS NO PLACE IN VANDERBURGH COUNTY." On its other side is the rhinoceros photo and black and red letters proclaiming Musgrave's "RINO RECORD IS BAD FOR VANDERBURGH COUNTY."

For the uninitiated, RINO stands for "Republican in Name Only." It is a disparaging term, according to Mirriam-Webster, that means, "a member of the Republican party who is disloyal to the party or insufficiently conservative."

More: Musgrave-Canterbury race in Vanderburgh could be a nailbiter

Musgrave called the use of the word against her ridiculous, pointing out that she has voted in every single Republican primary election since moving to Vanderburgh County in the 1980s. Voting data confirms she hasn't missed voting in a GOP primary, city or county, since 1986. Canterbury's voting history dates back to 1988, but she has voted in just two Republican primaries and one Democratic primary.

Canterbury's vote in the 2022 Democratic primary election has been a key talking point for Musgrave, who dropped a mailer this week showing images of Democratic President Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton smiling down on a photograph of Canterbury.

"My opponent voted Democrat and now says she's Republican!?!" the mailer says.

Canterbury has said she voted in the 2022 Democratic primary to weigh in on the contest between sheriff candidates Noah Robinson and Jason Ashworth.

Cheryl Musgrave

It's not that Musgrave and Canterbury haven't talked issues in their mailers.

A recent Musgrave mailer includes a full page of "impressive achievements," including facilitating raises for sheriff's deputies, bringing fiber internet to the unincorporated county, road expansion and reconstruction projects and trails at Burdette Park, Green River and Baseline roads and others.

Canterbury is more general, pledging to support law enforcement and "stop woke policies in our community." She calls herself, "pro-life," "pro-gun" and ready to "cut taxes." She pledges to lead "new initiatives that will attract high-paying jobs."

More: Anti-Musgrave mailer ignites Vanderburgh GOP primary

But in a springtime intraparty contest that is expected to attract anywhere from 10,000 to 25,000 Republican voters, Musgrave and Canterbury have waged war over what it means to be a loyal Republican. Each describes herself as a conservative Republican and the other a liberal.

In a recent text to the Courier & Press, Canterbury added color. Musgrave, she charged, is "a tax-and-spend liberal who has too many bad votes to even keep track of."

As evidence for her charge that Musgrave is a RINO, Canterbury offers this:

Musgrave "was removed as a Republican Party official for her work against the party," the Canterbury mailer charges.

It is a reference to the day in 2017 when then-GOP Chairman Wayne Parke  then and now an outspoken critic of Musgrave  spearheaded the removal of Musgrave's husband from his position as an elected Republican precinct committeeman.

Amy Canterbury

Robert Musgrave had donated $500 to Democratic mayoral candidate Gail Riecken two years earlier. Indiana Republican Party rules prohibited ranking Republicans from donating outside the party.

More: Q&A: Vanderburgh County Commission candidates talk utility costs ahead of primary

When Parke learned of the donation, a three-person Republican board voted to remove Robert Musgrave from his party role. Since Cheryl Musgrave served as Robert Musgrave's vice precinct committee person, she too was removed from her position.

Leading the charge to remove the Musgraves from their positions in the party was one in a series of jabs by Parke against Cheryl Musgrave, who in turn called him heavy-handed and a bully.

In April 2017, Parke called for Cheryl Musgrave's resignation from her position as Vanderburgh County Commissioner in connection with the termination of Burdette Park's director. In the county commissioner's race the previous year, Parke had endorsed a candidate in the GOP primary election over Musgrave. She won that primary race. Then a day before the general election, Parke said she would lose to the Democratic incumbent. She didn't.

Parke removed Musgrave from her role as precinct committee member in 2014 after she called Parke out of touch with the GOP rank-and-file. Parke had helped Marsha Abell in that year's primary election against Bruce Ungethiem for county commissioner. Ungethiem beat Abell by a 55-45% margin.

More: By the numbers: What really happened in Evansville's mayoral election

In an incident Parke later acknowledged, he also asked her to leave a Republican Party dinner. She said Suzanne Crouch, who's now lieutenant governor, overheard the conversation and offered to let her be her guest.

Parke continued working against Musgrave when she ran for mayor of Evansville in 2023, pouring $5,000 into the campaign of her GOP primary opponent, Natalie Rascher. Musgrave lost that primary and Rascher then lost the general election to Democrat Stephanie Terry.

This year, Parke had contributed $5,000 to Canterbury's campaign by the time she turned in her pre-primary fundraising report on April 18.

Canterbury's mailer says Musgrave "funded and supported several Democrat candidates over Republicans." It cites the Courier & Press story chronicling Musgrave's 2017 run-in with Parke and an August 2014 Courier & Press story on a date when archives show no story was published that mentioned Musgrave.

But Canterbury has pointed out several times that Musgrave supported two Democratic colleagues on the three-member Board of Commissioners against Republican election opponents, a fact Musgrave does not deny. Musgrave backed Democrats Ben Shoulders and Jeff Hatfield in their 2020 and 2018 campaigns, respectively, and both defeated Republican opponents.

Current GOP Chairman Mike Duckworth lost the 2018 campaign to Hatfield by just 224 votes out of nearly 58,000 cast. Shoulders in 2020 defeated Republican Zac Rascher.

Hatfield, who was chairman of the Vanderburgh County Republican Party from 1997 until 2000, and Musgrave have long been political allies. Hatfield publicly supported her against Parke, then-Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke and other establishment Republicans in her bitterly contested but victorious 2016 GOP primary campaign.

Hatfield also strongly backed Musgrave when she was county assessor, as well, Musgrave said. Hatfield's father was Paul Hatfield  former Pigeon Township assessor, Evansville City Council member and Democratic Indiana state senator. Musgrave says Paul Hatfield worked closely with her when they were both involved in assessments.

Musgrave said her reasons for supporting Democrat Shoulders against a Republican in 2020 were grounded in a mix of policy and political realism.

"Ben and I worked well together on the commission," she said. "It's a three-member board, and you need a minimum of two votes to get anything done.

"We backed some key projects, including the Green River Road trail. It was project-specific support that the two of us worked on, and it takes two votes to get anything done. Ben and I drove projects. I drove, Ben was there voting with me."

It's got nothing to do with the Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners' projects or work, but the use of the word, RINO, has been popularized of late by former President Donald Trump, undeniably the central figure in the Republican Party of today.

Did Musgrave and Canterbury support Trump against his Republican primary opponents before the former president effectively wrapped up the GOP's 2024 presidential nomination?

It's a question neither of them particularly wanted to answer. Both answered at first that there is no opportunity for them to vote for Trump in a contested primary since there is no longer any seriously contested race for the GOP's presidential nomination.

But Canterbury eventually conceded that she had preferred former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley over Trump. If Trump is the party's nominee, she said, she will vote for him. Musgrave said she preferred Trump all along.

Primary election day is May 7. Early in-person voting continues until noon May 6 at Central Library in Downtown Evansville.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: 'RINO' charge appears in Vanderburgh commissioner race attack mailer
GHENT, WV (WVNS)  When you call a plumber, or a construction worker, you may notice there are not as many of them as there used to be. That is why a focus on trade jobs is vitally important.

To help with that, New River Community And Technical College hosted a Skills & Trade Expo Wednesday afternoon.

With collaboration from Workforce West Virginia, the expo brought in more than 40 different businesses across the county.

Students got the chance to meet representatives from each booth and chat about their upcoming careers.

Joshua Combs, Advancement & Improvement Specialist with New River CTC, said in all more than 100 students showed up for the expo.

The Greenbrier Resorts Concours dElegance returns

Combs said an event like this is not only great for local businesses, but it allows students to get some exposure as they begin the next stage in their careers.

Getting exposure to the businesses that were able to come out today. We were able to connect our students to valuable resources and then we were able to get our students faces in front of employers as well to get them ready for the job market Joshua Combs, Advancement & Improvement Specialist with New River CTC

When asked about the most popular booth, Combs said a lot of students lined up in front of the booth hosted by the West Virginia Department of Highways.

He said he hopes New River is able to host more events like this one in the future.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WVNS.
Robert Kraft says elite schools are to blame for 'hate' on campus

Robert Kraft says top schools' leadership and faculty have "failed" students as protests continue.

The Patriots owner and megadonor to Columbia University pulled his support for the Ivy last week.

Protests over the Israel-Gaza war have ripped through campuses across the US.

Robert Kraft isn't holding back.

The billionaire owner of the New England Patriots, who was a major donor to Columbia University, took out full-page ads Thursday in major cities' newspapers blasting elite universities.

"The leadership and faculty of so many of our leading educational institutions have failed their students," the 82-year-old sports exec wrote.

"They have not only given up their positions of authority but also their moral compasses in upholding the core missions of these colleges and universities  to protect their students and the principles of critical thinking and free speech  to teach how to think, not what to think," Kraft said in the ad.

Demonstrations have gripped campuses across the US in recent weeks as pro-Palestinian organizers protest Israel's war in Gaza. Jewish leaders on major college campuses, including Columbia, have accused protesters of targeting Jewish students with hateful rhetoric.

The demonstrators are demanding the schools divest from Israel and companies that have ties to the country, calling the war with Hamas a "genocide" against Palestinian civilians. At Columbia, students broke into a campus building and occupied it.

Meanwhile, police have responded to the universities' requests for help with force, arresting hundreds of demonstrators.

Kraft has weighed in before, announcing last week that he'd pull his support for Columbia over the protests.

But with his comments Thursday  part of a campaign by his organization Foundation to Combat Antisemitism  Kraft went further to put the blame on college leadership.

Kraft said he supported the right of students to protest but wrote that threats of violence and "vicious hate speech" were "completely unacceptable."

He added that the schools' faculty and administrators were responsible.

"Unfortunately, today, hate is exactly what is being learned and taught on campuses across our country," the megadonor wrote.

The NYPD arrested over 300 protesters at Columbia University this week. Anadolu / Getty

Kraft didn't sympathize with protesters, calling for them to face consequences "when this ends."

"They need to be held accountable in order to send a message to future generations of students  that it is necessary to adhere to the rules of civil society and the codes of conduct of academic communities and that free speech means standing behind your words and accepting the consequences of your actions," he wrote in the ad.

The FCAS said in a press release it also planned to put up billboards and launch TV ads as part of its campaign.

The ad campaign is the latest pushback by powerful financial backers of leading academic institutions over the Israel-Gaza demonstrations on college campuses. Kraft is one of Columbia University's largest donors; the campus' Jewish-life center is named after him (and will still be getting his support).

Another top Columbia donor, the billionaire Leon Cooperman, denounced the protesters as kids with "shit for brains" but didn't blame the faculty.

Campaigns led by other top university donors pushed the presidents of Harvard and UPenn to resign.

Meanwhile, politicians have also weighed in, with House Speaker Mike Johnson calling for Columbia president Nemat "Minouche" Shafik to step down. Republicans are planning an ad blitz of their own to use the protests to target vulnerable Democrats by tying them to antisemitism, Axios reported.

It's unclear whether the protests are working. Before police removed protesters from Columbia's campus, Shafik flatly said the school wouldn't divest from Israel.

The demonstrations don't appear to be influencing US policy either just yet. On Thursday, President Joe Biden said he wasn't reconsidering his stance on Israel despite polling showing that young voters disapprove of his handling of the Israel-Gaza war.

Read the original article on Business Insider
JOPLIN, Mo.  The Childrens Center of Southwest Missouri receives a nice gift.

Roper KIA of Joplin donated $9,000 along with a bevy of new childrens toys.

In the last 16 years the dealership has donated more than $100,000 and thousands of toys to the nonprofit. Those are collected by employees, their family members and the general public.

The toys play a big role in helping comfort kids at the center  ones who have suffered abuse and are seeking recovery.

Jack Frost says the involvement of his employees and community members in this initiative pays dividends in the success of simply helping local kids.

One of our core values is to invest in our employees  and invest in our community. And so, we thought that getting the both together in one  to involve our employees with investing in the community  would be a great solution this year, said Frost.

You know, it means a lot to us every year when Roper Kia does their toy drive. It just means a lot that the community comes together to support our cause  as well as Roper Kia supporting our cause, said Matt Stewart, Childrens Center of SMWO Exec. Dir.

Stewart says the $9,000 will go toward services the center provides for kids along with yearly operating costs.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNF/KODE | FourStatesHomepage.com.
ROWAN COUNTY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  A man accused of committing indecent liberties with a child at a home in Rowan County is under arrest, the Rowan County Sheriffs Office announced on Thursday.

The sheriffs office received an indecent liberties with a child report in March involving East Bend, North Carolina resident Dustin Garrison, 38.

An initial investigation stated that the incidents occurred at a relative of Garrisons home in Rowan County and at Garrisons home in Yadkin County. The child is autistic and is known to Garrison, according to the sheriffs office.

Following the investigation, Garrison was arrested in Yadkin County and faces indecent liberties with a child charges. He is being held at the Yadkin County Detention Center on a $250,000 secured bond.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
By Ilona Wissenbach, Charlotte Van Campenhout and Essi Lehto

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Air France, its Dutch arm KLM, Norwegian, SAS and several Lufthansa Group airlines are among 20 carriers being investigated by the European Union for potential greenwashing, the companies said on Thursday.

The EU said airlines needed to make clear to what extent claims about tackling aircraft CO2 emissions - whether by offsetting them with climate projects or using sustainable fuels - can be substantiated by sound scientific evidence.

The Lufthansa Group airlines under investigation are Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Air Dolomiti and Eurowings, the group said on Thursday, while a spokesperson for Air France-KLM confirmed the group was also part of the probe.

Norwegian said in a reply to a Reuters request: "We received the letter, and are now working to familiarize ourselves with the case material and will answer this within the deadline."

Nordic carrier SAS also confirmed it had received a letter from EU authorities.

Industry group Airlines for Europe (A4E) said in a statement that it recognised the importance of clear information about sustainability, but that current regulations in the EU "vary significantly between countries and are still evolving".

It is unclear which other airlines are being investigated. The EU has said it will not disclose the names while investigations are at a preliminary stage.

However, the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC), which alerted the EU to the possible greenwashing, said it targeted the following 17 airlines in its complaint: Air Baltic, Air Dolomiti, Air France, Austrian, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings, Finnair, KLM, Lufthansa, Norwegian, Ryanair, SAS, SWISS, TAP, Volotea, Vueling and Wizz Air.

TAP did not confirm it was part of the probe when contacted by Reuters but referred to a statement by the A4E group of airlines issued in reaction to the EU probe.

The other carriers listed by BEUC did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment.

Reuters is seeking comment from the other airlines.

It is not clear how closely BEUC's list matches the EU's list, which contains three more airlines.

(Additional reporting by Andrey Khalip, editing by Frances Kerry)
Every year, the Orlando Sentinel asks community members to help us identify the heroes who make the biggest difference in local lives: The ones whose leadership, innovation and courage provide an inspiration to others. And from these nominees, we choose a group, those whose talents and dedication demand recognition, to honor as Central Floridian of the Year finalists. Over the coming weeks, well introduce you to these remarkable individuals  and at the end, well introduce you to our choice for Central Floridian of the Year.

At the New Image Youth Center on Parramore, Ruben Saldana is leading a dozen or so young people in a series of exercises that combine calisthenics with something that looks almost like dancing  but isnt. Instead, they are learning the forms and maneuvers of a mixed-martial arts style known as hands down that Saldana hopes they will soon be competing in.

Its the kind of thing that Saldana  who heads up Central Floridas Credible Messenger program  could delegate to the mentors his organization has hired as part of one of the areas most successful anti-violence youth initiatives. But its clear that theres no place Saldana would rather be. As he encourages, critiques and celebrates the kids accomplishments, he seems nearly buoyant with the joy he feels to be working with them, and the dreams he has for their futures. Some of those dreams are already coming true: This weekend, he took one of his charges to an international competition in Colombia  an opportunity that was an accomplishment in itself , even though Saldanas protege lost his fight.

Its a setback. But powering through setbacks is something Saldana excels in. That resilience has taken him on a remarkable journey, though nearly half his life was spent on the wrong path  elevated as a teenager to royalty in one of Floridas most notorious street gangs, he ended up serving nearly two decades in prison after being convicted as a conspirator in the murders of two fellow gang members. The fact that Saldana, who just celebrated the 10th anniversary of his release, has been trusted to head the Credible Messenger Program speaks volumes about his determination to keep local youth from making the same mistakes he did  and explains why the Orlando Sentinel has chosen him as a finalist for Central Floridian of the Year.

Saldana doesnt offer any excuses for his own dramatic slide off-track  though he does see the irony in the fact that, as a gang leader, he took charge of an effort to recruit and support young teens. I was misleading others, but I was being misled myself, he says. Now hes putting that rapport to work for good, telling young people that he understands the gang life better than they ever could  and its a path they dont want to travel.

Thats the basis of the national Credible Messenger program, and Orange County deserves credit for being the first region in Florida to adopt it after a recommendation by Mayor Jerry Demings Citizens Safety Task Force. Saldanas Gloves Up. Guns Down training, is already operating in five locations in the county  including the backyard of his own home, which has been outfitted with a fighting ring and other training equipment as well as beautiful murals created by some of his participants.

The most negative reaction Saldana hears comes from people who say Oh yeah, youre teaching bad kids to fight, he says. His response: Martial arts discipline actually encourages its followers to seek nonviolent responses, as opposed to picking up weapons, something too many Central Florida youth have easy access to.

The Credible Messenger program is showing the same kind of success its had in other communities. Saldana is rightly proud of the fact that  across the five Orange County locations  none of his active participants has been arrested, and nobody has been seriously injured.

Hes alreadty working to expand opportunities for local participants. This summer he expects to launch a breakdancing initiative under the leadership of celebrity dancer Mr. Wave, a pioneer of the New York break scene  keeping in mind the reality that breakdancing is now an Olympic sport.

Theres one more thing Saldana is happy to announce: Hes reviving his own fighting career, planning two bouts in the coming months. Its not full-contact, he says. What brains I have I wanna keep. But for the local teens who have learned to look up to him and the mentors he recruits, its Ruben Saldanas heart they appreciate the most.

kfluker@orlandosentinel.com
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said Thursday morning that pro-Palestine protests on college campuses across the United States highlight a complete breakdown of law and order.

You have hundreds of thousands of American students who cant go back on campus, who feel threatened, who, in the middle of finals, are being disrupted, Rubio said during an appearance on Fox Newss Americas Newsroom.

[They] paid a lot of money to go to these schools, [but are being disrupted by] a few thousand antisemitic zombies who have been brainwashed by two decades of indoctrination in the belief that the world is divided between victimizers and victims, and that the victimizers in this particular case, the ones that are oppressing people, are Jews in Israel, he said.

Rubios comments come after pro-Palestine protests have popped up on university campuses across the country, with students protesting Israels war in Gaza. Protests at schools like Columbia University and the University of California, Los Angeles, have been in the spotlight with rising tensions and law enforcement breaking up encampments.

These people are out there disrupting all of this, Rubio said. Its a complete breakdown of law and order, and the president is not doing anything about it. The left is caught in this vise now.

The Florida senators remarks came just hours before President Biden spoke from the White House, where he criticized facets of the protests and condemned vandalism and trespassing, but emphasized support for peaceful demonstrations.

In moments like this, there are always those who rush in to score political points. But this isnt a moment for politics. Its a moment for clarity. So let me be clear  violent protest is not protected. Peaceful protest is, Biden said Thursday.

Rubio said the students should bear the responsibility, arguing that a small portion of the body is rattling school proceedings for everybody else on campuses.

But the students have to be [held] responsible for this, Rubio said. Its important to point out that even if you said  its a small percentage of the student body [protesting], theyre disrupting [college] for everybody else.

Rubio, who has been mentioned as a contender for former President Trumps vice presidential pick, praised New York and California law enforcement for their response to the protests.

I think they did a great job, the NYPD. I think that  great job by police in California as well, and we thank them for stepping in the line of duty on that regard, Rubio said.

Trump praised the response from New York law enforcement officials who cleared demonstrators at Columbia. The former president praised their action after they entered Hamilton Hall and arrested dozens of people on Tuesday.

But they did an incredible job, Trump said Wednesday. They went into one of the big buildings, a beautiful landmark building. Boy, it got the hell beat out of it last night. You know youre supposed to take care of those buildings. It took a beating. But the police came in and in exactly two hours everything was over. It was a beautiful thing to watch. New Yorks finest.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Russian forces attacked Sumy Oblast 130 times in 31 separate attacks throughout the day, the Sumy Oblast Military Administration reported on May 1.

The communities of Khotin, Yunakivka, Myropillia, Bilopillia, Krasnopillia, Esman, Seredyna-Buda, Svesy, Velyka Pysarivka, and Shalyhyne were targeted.

Throughout the day, Russia assailed the border communities with mortar, artillery, drone, and rocket launcher attacks. Explosives were also dropped by drones onto a community.

The town of Velyka Pysarivka, with a pre-war population of about 4,000 residents, experienced the bulk of the attacks reported with 45 explosions recorded in the area. The community is located directly on Ukraine-Russia border.

No casualties or injuries were reported throughout the region.

Russian strikes against Sumy Oblast have become increasingly destructive in recent months. Amid intensified attacks, Ukrainian authorities ordered increased evacuations from the region.

Read also: Update: Russia reportedly attacks postal depot in Odesa, injuring at least 14





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Russian forces attacked nine border areas and settlements of Sumy Oblast on May 2, firing 40 times and causing at least 215 explosions, the Sumy Oblast Military Administration reported.

The communities of Mykolaivka, Khotin, Miropillia, Bilopillia, Krasnopillia, Velyka Pysarivka, Esman, Seredyna-Buda, and Novo Sloboda were targeted.

No casualties or damage to civilian infrastructure were reported.

The Russian military struck the communities using artillery fire, AGS attacks, FPV drones, and mortar shelling, while also dropping mines.

The town of Miropillia experienced the most attacks, with 54 explosions recorded in the area. Miropillia, located about five kilometers from the Ukraine-Russian border, frequently comes under attack.

Residents in Sumy Oblast have been experiencing daily threats of shelling, but attacks have intensified in recent weeks, prompting large-scale evacuations from the region.

Read also: Russia throws thousands of troops to capture Chasiv Yar. Why is it so important?

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MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Thursday that Western claims that it was cooperating militarily with North Korea were inaccurate and said its relationship with Pyongyang was neither directed against third countries nor threatening to the security of the region.

Reuters on April 25 reported from Washington that China was providing moorage for a U.S.-sanctioned Russian cargo ship implicated in North Korean arms transfers to Russia, according to satellite images obtained by Reuters from Britain's Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).

The ship had conducted at least 11 deliveries between the North Korean port of Rajin and Russian ports from August 2023, according to RUSI, which has been tracking its movements as part of a project to use open source data to monitor North Korea's sanctions evasion networks.

In response to a request for comment on the story, Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that "the accusations against Moscow and Pyongyang in military cooperation are unfounded and unsubstantiated."

"As for the British analytical center RUSI, we do not consider ourselves obliged to report to anyone for inaccurate information disseminated by such structures, which no one authorised or endowed with supervisory functions to monitor compliance with the international sanctions regime."

Moscow, the ministry said, was building relations with North Korea on the basis of mutual interests.

"This cooperation is not directed against third countries and does not threaten security in the region and the world as a whole," the foreign ministry said.

"At the same time, our country, being a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, pays increased attention to the problems of peace and security in the Korean Peninsula and the implementation of U.N. Security Council decisions that would help reduce the level of threats."

(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Andrew Osborn and William Maclean)
Russian forces shot down a Ukrainian drone over occupied Crimea on May 2, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed.

Russian air defense shot down a drone at around 6:30 p.m. local time, according to the ministry. No casualties or damages were reported.

The Crimean Bridge was closed to traffic and a siren went off in military units in occupied Sevastopol, the Crimean Wind Telegram channel wrote.

The Kyiv Independent could not verify these claims.

In recent months, Ukraine has intensified its attacks on occupied Crimea, targeting Russian military assets in and around the Black Sea.

A Russian proxy claimed on April 30 that air defenses had intercepted Ukrainian missiles over the cities of Dzhankoi and Simferopol overnight.

While Kyiv has not officially commented on the attack, Russian Telegram channels claimed a missile strike on a military airfield in Dzhankoi, the second in recent weeks. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's (RFE/RL) shared satellite images on May 2 purported to show damaged Russian equipment.

Ukraine destroyed several units of military equipment in an attack on a Russian military airfield in Dzhankoi on April 17, Ukraine's military intelligence reported.

Two days earlier, Ukrainian forces carried out a missile attack on a command post in Crimea where top Russian officers were deployed, an intelligence source told the Kyiv Independent.

Read also: State department confirms US began secretly providing Ukraine long-range ATACMS missiles in March

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Russia is displaying its war 'trophies'  an array of captured Western hardware like Abrams and Leopard tanks  saying 'victory is inevitable'

Russia is using an open-air exhibition to boast about its "trophies" from the war in Ukraine.

The exhibition featured more than 30 NATO vehicles taken from Ukrainian forces, like an Abrams tank.

Russia has sought to portray NATO's supplying of Ukraine with arms as an act of war.

Russia launched an open-air exhibition on Wednesday showing off more than 30 North Atlantic Treaty Organization vehicles that it captured from Ukraine.

Among the seized assets on display were a US-made Abrams tank, a German Leopard tank, a British Husky support vehicle, and dozens of vehicles from countries like France, Sweden, and Australia.

Photos of the opening showed visitors snapping selfies with an M1A1 Abrams main battle tank, its nose gun pointed toward the ground, and armor visibly burned and cracked.

"Our victory is inevitable. No Western military equipment will change the situation on the battlefield," the Russian Defense Ministry wrote in a Telegram post announcing the exhibition.

Reuters reported that state media placed special emphasis on the captured Abrams tank, which TV hosts said wasn't the "wonder weapon" touted by the US.

"But that was all nonsense  look at this  all of its reputation has been destroyed," a state reporter said, per Reuters' translation.

Visitors look at a M1A1 Abrams main battle tank, made in the USA, and captured in Ukraine, at the Trophies of Russian Army exhibition, while celebrating the International Worker's Day, at the Poklonnaya Hill, May 1, 2024, in Moscow, Russia. Contributor/Getty Images

The exhibition, named "Trophies of the Russian Army," is being held for a month at Victory Park, a memorial dedicated to the Soviet Union's defeat of Nazi Germany during World War II.

A range of other military assets was present, including a Ukrainian T-72A tank, a US Bradley fighting vehicle, a French AMX-10 RC fighting vehicle, and an M777 Howitzer.

Smaller arms, such as American mortars, German mines, and an Israeli launcher, were also flaunted.

The BBC's Russia editor, Steve Rosenberg, wrote that he saw a "long line of German armor" when visiting the exhibition, including a sign saying: "History is repeating itself."

Russia has sought to cast its invasion of Ukraine as a defense of its sovereignty against NATO. It repeatedly says that Western equipment sent to Ukraine means that nations like the US are already at war with Russia.

The exhibition also comes as the Pentagon said Kyiv withdrew its Abrams tanks from the front lines due to concerns about Russian drone attacks. The US has given 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, and five have been reported lost in combat.

Each costs around $10 million, and the US tanks were once seen as a key tool for Kyiv's attempted retaking of its invaded lands. However, the widespread use of drones on the battlefield has undermined the Abrams' effectiveness because the tanks are more easily detected and attacked.

The US has recently confirmed another $61 billion in aid for Ukraine, resupplying its forces with vital ammunition and arms to resist a grinding but advancing Russian push on the eastern front.

In response, Russia's representatives have said that the Kremlin has already gained the upper hand in the war and that the new tranche of aid "will not change this dynamic."

Read the original article on Business Insider
(Bloomberg) -- Amazon.com Inc. Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy made comments to the media in 2022 that violated federal labor law, a US National Labor Relations Board judge ruled Wednesday.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Remarks that Jassy made to reporters about the downsides of unionization told employees that, if they selected a union, they would become less empowered and would find it harder to get things done quickly, NLRB administrative law judge Brian Gee wrote.

Gee cited various comments Jassy made, including telling CNBC that making workplace improvements is much slower with a union and saying at a New York Times conference that employees without a union are better off because its not bureaucratic.

Gee also cited Jassy for telling the Bloomberg Technology Summit that in a union shop, if you see something on the line that you think could be better for your team or you or your customers, you cant just go to your manager and say, Lets change it.

While precedent establishes that a manager can make factually based predictions about demonstrably probable consequences beyond his control, Gee wrote that Jassy offered no objective basis for his assertions.

The judge said Amazon should be forced to post a notice at its US facilities informing employees of their rights and committing not to threaten them.

Amazon said it strongly disagrees with the ruling and plans to appeal. The decision reflects poorly on the state of free speech rights today, and we remain optimistic that we will be able to continue to engage in a reasonable discussion on these issues where all perspectives have an opportunity to be heard, spokesperson Mary Kate Paradis said in an email.

The Amazon Labor Union, which brought the case to the NLRB, celebrated the ruling. It sends a clear message that attempts to dissuade workers from exercising their right to organize and bargain collectively will not be tolerated, the unions attorney, Seth Goldstein, said in a text message.

US law allows companies to oppose and argue against unionization, but not to threaten to punish workers if they organize.

Rulings by NLRB judges can be appealed to labor board members in Washington, and from there into federal court. The agency lacks the authority to hold executives personally liable for violations or make companies pay punitive damages.

Story continues

(Updates with Amazons response starting in seventh paragraph.)

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Russia dropped more than 3,200 guided aerial bombs on Ukraine in April

Russia fired more than 300 missiles of various types, launched almost 300 Shahed kamikaze drones, and dropped more than 3,200 guided aerial bombs on peaceful Ukrainians in April 2024.

Source: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on social networks

Quote: "Over the course of April, Russian terrorists used more than 300 missiles of various types, almost 300 Shahed drones and more than 3,200 guided aerial bombs against Ukraine.

Our cities and hromadas from Sumy Oblast to Odesa Oblast, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Donetsk oblasts, Mykolaiv and Kherson suffer from this deliberate and vile terror every day and every night." [A hromada is an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town, and their adjacent territories  ed.]

Details: The head of state noted that 1,000 Ukrainian lives were saved thanks to the help of state leaders and countries that have already supported Ukraines air defence and are putting pressure on sanctions against the Russian military machine.

At the same time, many lives, unfortunately, were taken by the Russians with these attacks.

Zelenskyy called on the world to increase pressure on Russia and help Ukraine increase its air defence capabilities.

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Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has ordered for an increase in weapons production, with the goal of delivering weaponry to Ukraine's easter front quicker, Russia's Defense Ministry shared on May 1.

"To maintain the required pace of the offensive ... it is necessary to increase the volume and quality of weapons and military equipment supplied to the troops, primarily weapons," Shoigu said in a statement released by Russia's Defense Ministry.

In addition to the newly ordered production, Shoigu, during a meeting with Russias top military leaders, directed the repair of units on the front lines in Ukraines eastern and southern regions to improve their efficiency.

No details were provided regarding Russia's plan to increase production or the timeframe for when Russia may begin to observe faster deliveries to Ukraine's eastern front.

Russia's plan to increase arms production comes amid an anticipated Russian offensive campaign, which Kyiv expects will begin at end of May or the beginning of June.

Ukrainian officials have warned that the country faces a "difficult" but "not catastrophic" situation on the front in the near future, amid delays in delivering U.S. aid.

After months long delays, the U.S. finally signed off to a $61 billion aid package for Ukraine, with weapons expected to flow into Ukraine over the upcoming weeks and months. Some potential items of military aid will also need to be purchased or even manufactured, which will take even longer.

Ukraine has struggled to maintain its positioning along the country's eastern front amid significant ammunition and air defense shortages. In recent months, Russian has been intensifying assaults near the Russian-occupied cities of Bakhmut and Avdiivka in Donetsk Oblast in attempts to advance in this front-line sector.

Chasiv Yar, which lies 10 kilometers west of Bakhmut, remains one of Russia's main targets - with Russia allegedly setting a goal to capture the town by Russia's Victory Day on May 9.

Meanwhile, 50 kilometers south of Bakhmut, near Avdiivka, Ukrainian troops have continued to make marginal retreats. On April 28, Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi said that Ukraine's Armed Forces retreated west from the villages of Berdychi, Semenivka, and Novomykhailivka in Donetsk Oblast.

Read also: Zelensky: Ukraine preparing 7 more bilateral security agreements

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Russia kills 8 and wounds 23 residents of Ukraine's Donetsk and Kharkiv oblasts over past day

Aftermath of a Russian attack on Zolochiv in Kharkiv Oblast on 1 May. Photo: Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration

A total of eight people were killed and 23 injured as a result of Russian attacks on Donetsk and Kharkiv oblasts on 1 May.

Source: Vadym Filashkin, the Head of Donetsk Oblast Military Administration; Oleh Syniehubov, the Head of Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration

Quote from Filashkin: "The Russians killed four residents of Donetsk Oblast on 1 May: two in Hirnyk, one in Kalynove and one in Krasnohorivka. Another eight people were wounded in the oblast over the day."

Details: This is the total number of people who were killed or injured in Donetsk Oblast, excluding Mariupol and Volnovakha. Syniehubov also noted that the Russians killed four people in Kharkiv Oblast over the past day.

Syniehubov reported that two women aged 66 and 78 were killed in Russian attacks on the villages of Leliukivka and Lyptsi, and the Russians killed two more people in Zolochiv.

In addition, 13 people were injured in Zolochiv, one more elderly woman was injured in the village of Borova, and a 46-year-old man came across an unknown explosive device while driving a tractor near the settlement of Hlynske.

Background:

On 1 May, the Russians attacked the village of Zolochiv in Kharkiv Oblast with guided bombs.

On 1 May, Russian forces used Uragan multiple-launch rocket systems to attack the city of Hirnyk in Donetsk Oblast.

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Firefighters work at the site of a Russian missile strike in Odesa - REUTERS

Russia has claimed victory over a village in eastern Ukraine after bitter fighting amid Moscows renewed offensive.

The village of Berdychi in the Donetsk region of Ukraine reported earlier that it had repelled 39 Russian attacks in one day.

But today Russias defence ministry said they had successfully broken through the Ukrainian defences.

Recently Russia has focused its bombardment in other eastern areas like Chasiv Yar and Bakhmut.

The victory in Berdychi is the latest in a series of Russian gains in Ukraines east in recent weeks.

It comes after The US State Department last night confirmed that Russia is using chloropicrin, a chemical deployed in the First World War.

Use of the agent on the battlefield is banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention, which Russia has signed and ratified.

The State Department said that the use of the gas was not an isolated incident.

The announcement followed a Telegraph investigation which revealed the use of chemical weapons earlier this year.

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed he did not rule out sending troops to Ukraine, saying the issue would legitimately arise if Russia broke through Ukrainian front lines and Kyiv made such a request.

Mr Macron told the Economist that he is not ruling anything out because Europe is facing someone who is not ruling anything out when asked if he stood by comments earlier this year not excluding the sending of Western troops.

Some analysts believe that Russia could be on the verge of launching a major new offensive in Ukraine.

Follow the latest updates below

04:15 PM BST

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Todays live coverage on the war in Ukraine has ended. Thank you for following. We will be back tomorrow with the latest updates.

04:08 PM BST

Finland army chief urges Europe to be prepared for Russia testing unity

Finlands new armed forces chief said Russia was unlikely to test Natos mutual defence clause by attacking a Nato member state in the coming years, but may well continue what he said were hybrid attacks such as jamming and election interference.

Of course testing the Article 5 is always possible, but if we take correct action and maintain unity, I consider an attack unlikely, General Janne Jaakkola said told Reuters.

Mr Jaakkola, whose job is to closely watch what Russia does behind the long border it shares with Finland, said right now Moscow was too busy preparing for its new summer offensive in Ukraine to consider an attack against Nato.

The point for the Russians is that they wish to cause as much division in Europe as possible, so that our unity and cohesion is a bit weaker, Mr Jaakkola added.

03:25 PM BST

More than 100 soldiers killed in Atacms strike

03:05 PM BST

Ukraine war not likely to end anytime soon, says top US spy

Russia is likely to press its aggressive tactics in its war in Ukraine but the conflict is unlikely to end anytime soon, the top US intelligence official said on Thursday.

Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines testified to the Senate Armed Services Committee that Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraines infrastructure to hamper Kyivs ability to move weapons and troops to the front and slow its defence production.

02:46 PM BST

Russian guided bombs injure six children

Russian guided bombs struck civilian infrastructure and private houses in Ukraines northeastern Kharkiv region, injuring at least six children and one adult, local officials said.

The town of Derhachi, a frequent site of Russian aerial strikes, came under another attack on Thursday.

Two of the children received minor injuries to their limbs, and four - moderate injuries, regional governor Oleh Synehubov said on Telegram.

Kharkiv, which lies about 18 miles from the border with Russia, and the surrounding region have long been targeted by Russian attacks but the strikes have become more intense in recent months, hitting civilian and energy infrastructure.

Moscow denies deliberately targeting civilians.

02:34 PM BST

Trenches dug near Russian border

Workers have been seen digging trenches close to the border with Russia amid fears that Moscow will soon launch a renewed offensive.

A worker constructs new defensive positions close to the Russian border in Kharkiv region - AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka

Workers construct new defensive positions close to the Russian border in Kharkiv region - AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka

02:14 PM BST

More than 60,000 lost in Odesa attack

More than 60,000 worth of packages were destroyed during the missile strike on a postal depot last night.

A large fire broke out as a result of the Russian attack in Odesa.

It was reported that 14 people were injured during the strike.

In a post on social media, the postal company said a total of 904 packages were destroyed.

Not only our depot and branch was destroyed by the Russian rocket, but also 15.5 tons of your orders from online stores with clothing, appliances, kids toys, treats for pets, medicines, parcels with care for family members, it wrote.

01:54 PM BST

Kyivs forces are up against a concerted Russian push in eastern Ukraine

The situation on the front line in eastern Ukraine is worsening but local defenders are so far holding firm against a concerted push by Russias bigger and better-equipped forces, a senior Ukrainian military official said on Thursday.

Russia has amassed troops in the Donetsk region in an effort to punch through the Ukrainian defensive line, according to Nazar Voloshyn, spokesperson for Ukrainian strategic command in the east of the country.

The enemy is trying to seize the strategic initiative and breach our defence, Voloshyn said on national television.

The enemy is actively attacking along the entire front line, and in several directions, they have achieved certain tactical advances, he said. The situation is changing dynamically.

01:22 PM BST

Watch: Russian strike hits postal depot in Odesa

01:12 PM BST

More than 100 Russian soldiers killed in Atacms strike

More than 100 Russian soldiers were reportedly killed in an Atacms strike in one of the highest single losses of Russian lives in months.

Drone footage shared on social media purportedly shows the moment the US-supplied ballistic missiles smashed into a training ground in the Russian-held area around Mozhnyakivka, Luhansk, in eastern Ukraine.

As many as four, including one dud, cluster munition versions of the weapon, which scatters ballbearings over a wide area, were used in the strike.

At least one of the missiles appeared to strike a cluster of at least 100 Russian troops, according to open source analysis of the video.

The Institute for the Study of War, the US-based think-tank, highlighted the strike in a recent battlefield report, saying Kyivs forces had hit a Russian training ground some 50 miles behind the front line in Luhansk.

Ukraine was given short-ranged versions of the Army Tactical Missile System (Atacms), which are armed with a cluster warhead, last Autumn. The older version disperses deadly cluster bomblets as it hits its target. It is one of the only weapons in Ukraines arsenal that can deliver a cluster strike at ranges over 50 miles.

12:50 PM BST

Russia claims victory over eastern village

Russia has claimed victory over a village in eastern Ukraine, claiming that its troops seized the area after bitter fighting.

The village of Berdychi in the Donetsk region of Ukraine reported earlier today that it had repelled 39 Russian attacks in one day.

Recently Russia has focused its bombardment in other eastern areas like Chasiv Yar and Bakhmut.

The Russian defence ministrys claims have not yet been independently verified.

If true, the move would be the latest of a series of gains for Russia in recent weeks.

12:28 PM BST

Kremlin rejects US claims Russia used chemical weapon in Ukraine

The Kremlin on Thursday rejected allegations by the United States that Russian forces had used a chemical weapon in Ukraine and blasted new sanctions targeting Moscows key trading partners.

The US State Department said Wednesday that Russia used the chemical weapon chloropicrin against Ukrainian forces.

As always, such accusations sound completely baseless and unsubstantiated, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked about the claims.

The US said that Moscow had violated the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).

12:11 PM BST

Macron refuses to rule out sending troops to Ukraine

French President Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed he did not rule out sending troops to Ukraine, saying the issue would legitimately arise if Russia broke through Ukrainian front lines and Kyiv made such a request.

Mr Macron told the Economist that he is not ruling anything out because Europe is facing someone who is not ruling anything out when asked if he stood by comments earlier this year not excluding the sending of Western troops.

Some analysts believe that Russia could be on the verge of launching a major new offensive in Ukraine.

Mr Macron said if Russia decided to go further, we will, in any case, all have to ask ourselves this question of sending troops, describing his refusal to rule out such a move as a strategic wake-up call for my counterparts.

He described Russia as a power of regional destabilisation and a threat to Europeans security.

Who can pretend that Russia will stop there? What security will there be for the other neighbouring countries, Moldova, Romania, Poland, Lithuania and the others? he asked.

11:49 AM BST

Analysis: What a Trump win could mean for Ukraine

Donald Trump could reshape the United Statess foreign policy monumentally if he wins a second White House term in the November presidential election.

But what does it mean for Ukraine?

Mr Trump has been outspoken against US support for Ukraine and said that he could end the war in 24 hours if elected - but he hasnt said how he would manage this.

Though he has put forward few tangible policy proposals, he told Reuters in an interview last year that Ukraine may have to cede some territory to reach a peace agreement.

For months, Mr Trump has objected to a $61 billion aid package for Ukraine and some Republicans refused to back it.

Since Congress finally approved the package in late April, he has suggested that Ukraines security is an important US interest.

If Mr Trump is victorious, the White Houses relationship with Nato and its future could hang in the balance.

Mr Trump has pledged to fundamentally rethink Natos purpose and Natos mission.

11:31 AM BST

Pictured: Ukraine boosts defensive positions

Workers are installing dragon teeth as they boost their defensive positions close to the Russian border in the Kharkiv region.

Workers install dragon teeth - AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka

Dragon teeth are seen in a field - AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka

11:12 AM BST

Georgian lawmakers move closer to passing Russian law targeting the media

Georgias Parliament moved a step closer on Wednesday to passing a law that critics fear will stifle media freedom and endanger the countrys European Union membership bid, as police used water cannons, tear gas and pepper spray against the tens of thousands of protesters who thronged surrounding streets.

Dozens of people were arrested the night before, and mass rallies have continued daily in the capital, Tbilisi. Protesters denounce the bill as the Russian law because neighbouring Russia uses similar legislation to stigmatize independent news media and organizations critical of the Kremlin.

The law would require media and noncommercial organizations to register as pursuing the interests of a foreign power, if they receive more than 20 per cent of funding from abroad. The ruling Georgian Dream party withdrew a similar proposal last year after large crowds protested.

Eighty-three of Georgias 150 lawmakers approved the bill in its second reading, while 23 voted against it. A third and final vote in Parliament is needed before it can be signed into law. Georgian lawmaker Irakli Kobakhidze told reporters on Wednesday that he expected the final vote to happen in mid-May.

Russia-Georgia relations have been complicated and turbulent since the Soviet Unions collapse in the early 1990s.

10:50 AM BST

German public opposed to sending Taurus missiles to Ukraine

The German public is opposed to sending Taurus missiles to Ukraine, according to a new poll which may prompt a sigh of relief from Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

A survey by German broadcaster RTL found that 56 per cent of Germans oppose sending the missiles while 37 per cent are in favour.

However, the survey also marked a shift in overall opinion towards the Taurus, with a nine per cent increase for those in favour compared to the same study in March.

The findings come as Mr Scholz faces increased pressure from the UK and the US, who are providing further deliveries of long-range missiles, to follow suit with the Taurus system.

Mr Scholz has so far firmly refused to provide Taurus missiles, which are powerful enough to strike Moscow.

He is concerned that this would prompt a severe retaliation against Germany by Vladimir Putin which could potentially drag Germany into the war.

Western leaders are sceptical of this claim, pointing out that their own deliveries of long-range missiles have not caused any significant escalations with Moscow.

10:26 AM BST

Russia not invited to Swiss peace talks

The Swiss government this morning said that Russia is not invited to talks set to be held mid-June aimed at bringing peace between Moscow and Ukraine at this stage.

Switzerland is convinced that Russia must be involved in this process, the Swiss government said in a statement. A peace process without Russia is not possible.

Switzerland has often shown openness to inviting Russia, but Moscow has repeatedly made it clear that it has no interest in participating in the first summit.

As part of their argument, Russia has pointed towards Switzerlands adoption of EU sanctions against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine and argued it therefore lacks credibility as a neutral broker.

Switzerland in January said it would host a peace summit at the request of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

The invited delegations include members of the G7, G20, BRICS groups, the EU, international organisations and two religious representatives, the Swiss government said.

10:06 AM BST

The choking chemical first revealed by The Telegraph

The US state department last night confirmed that Russia is using chloropicrin, a chemical deployed in the First World War and used in crown control.

Use of the agent on the battlefield is banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention, which Russia has signed and ratified.

Front-line troops told The Telegraph earlier this year how their positions have been coming under near daily attacks from small drones, mainly dropping the gas but also other chemicals.

Here is a snippet from our reporting at the time:

Ihor, the commander of a Ukrainian reconnaissance team who is deployed near the front line city of Chasiv Yar, in Donetsk Oblast, told The Telegraph: Nearly every position in our area of the front was getting one or two gas grenades dropped on them a day.

He said that because of how embedded many Ukrainian troops are now it was difficult for the Russians to attack with conventional artillery or drones firing missiles, adding: The only way for them to successfully attack us was with gas.

Even when not lethal or immediately incapacitating, these gas attacks usually cause panic. Their first instinct is to get out, Ihor said. They can then be attacked with more conventional weapons.

The U.S. Department of State confirms my earlier investigation for The Telegraph on the Russian use of chemical weapons in Ukraine - particularly the use of the choking agent "Chloropicrin" - and imposes additional sanctions against entities involved. https://t.co/5ZGImcr7vN pic.twitter.com/aXlfkaaNL9  Jimmy Rushton (@JimmySecUK) May 2, 2024

Read the full story here

09:56 AM BST

Recap: Russian offensive intensifies

Russian generals are directing troops, weapons and firepower towards key towns like Chasiv Yar in the hope of making more gains - and a possibly breakthrough.

Ukrainian forces say they are outgunned and out-manned, and are complaining that US weapons are not arriving quickly enough to fend off the advances.

The defence of the hilltop city of Chasiv Yar in particular is vital to preventing Russia making more widespread gains in the region.

Images from the city today, taken by news agency AP, show a town almost completely flattened by Russian bombs.

Rows of mid-rise apartment blocks are blackened by blasts, punched through with holes or reduced to piles of timber and masonry.

Houses and civic buildings are heavily damaged. The golden dome of a church remains intact but the building appears badly damaged.

Time will tell how long Ukraine can defend the outpost, protected from Russia by the canal shown in the map above.

09:48 AM BST

Postal workers flee to bomb shelter in attack on sorting office

The ballistic missiles that struck Odesa hit a post office run by Nova Poshta, a private courier and delivery service.

It was the third missile attack on the city in as many days.

The head of the Nova Poshta postal and courier company, Volodymyr Popereshniuk, said on Facebook that all 18 employees on duty had made their way safely to a bomb shelter before the missile hit a loading section of the depot.

Pictures and video posted online showed flames and billowing clouds of smoke engulfing buildings and firefighters training their hoses on areas still ablaze. Most of the loading area appeared to have been reduced to a shell.

One Odesa media outlet posted an unverified video showing the moment of impact, with debris flying inside the facility.

09:39 AM BST

Russian missile attack injures 13 in Odesa

A Russian missile attack injured 13 people in Ukraines southwestern city of Odesa, its mayor said early on Thursday, after similar strikes this week killed at least eight.

Another Russian ballistics attack on Odesa, the citys mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov said on Telegram.

A total of 13 people were injured, he said, adding that rescuers were fighting a large-scale fire without providing details.

Oleg Kiper, governor of the Odesa region, said on Telegram early Thursday that a Russian missile attack on Odessa had injured 14 people.

Civilian infrastructure, including postal warehouses, was damaged, he added.

Odesa, a Black Sea port vital for Ukrainian exports, has been regularly targeted by deadly missile and drone attacks.

Local authorities said Wednesday at least three people had died in a Russian missile attack on the city.

Firefighters try to extinguish a large-scale fire broke out in the area after a Russian missile strike

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As Ukraine desperately awaits the arrival of new U.S. weapons and equipment approved last month, Russia is seeking to make the most of the remaining window.

Moscows forces in the past week have taken several villages in eastern Ukraine after Kyivs threadbare army ceded ground, and they are positioned to secure additional territory in the days ahead.

Russias relentless missile and drone strikes have also been increasingly effective as Ukraine runs short on defensive weapons to counter the attacks.

But Russias window for exploiting Ukraines weakness is swiftly closing, with limited time before American weapons flood the battlefield and reinvigorate the Ukrainian forces, experts say.

Knowing that the renewed aid is on the way, Ukraines stiffening up their defenses. I think [Russians] are still trying to sort of push as the window closes, Steven Horrell, a nonresident senior fellow with the Center for European Policy Analysis, told The Hill.

And Michael OHanlon, an expert with the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington, said Russias forces could pick up the pace, and the carnage, by 10 to 20 percent in the gap between the U.S. announcing new aid last week and when those weapons reach Ukrainian troops.

The Defense Department last week announced a $1 billion package for Ukraine shortly after President Biden signed a national security supplemental into law. Much of the weapons tranche, which aims to deliver critical artillery rounds and air defense munitions to Kyiv, was already pre-positioned in Europe to be able to quickly move it into Ukraine, according to the Pentagon.

As soon as we were able to announce that $1 billion  we were ready to support Ukraine almost immediately, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said Wednesday.

She was not able to say, however, whether the lethal assistance had reached the front lines and the units that need them the most.

Another $6 billion package announced last week was not from U.S. stocks, and could take months if not years to get to Ukraine.

U.S. and Ukrainian officials and lawmakers lauded the passage of the $95 billion supplemental, which includes roughly $61 billion to support Kyiv, but Congresss months-long delay before sending the bill to Bidens desk proved damaging to the embattled country.

Most U.S. assistance to Ukraine dried up at the end of 2023, making Ukrainian troops desperate for ammunition and air defenses as Russia pressed forward on the battlefield and pummeled key cities and energy infrastructure with artillery, drones and bombs.

It is good that Congress finally passed the aid package to Ukraine. The months of delay were very costly, Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) said during a House Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday.

Shortly after the latest U.S. assistance was announced, Ukrainian troops pulled back from several villages captured by Russias army in the eastern Donetsk region, including Berdychi, Semenivka and Novomykhailivka.

Ukraines commander in chief, Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, said Sunday that the situation at the front has worsened and that Russia had used its advantage in men and ammunition to push toward the towns of Kurakhove and Pokrovsk, also in the Donetsk.

In addition, Moscows military is pressing to capture Ocheretyne, a small rural town in eastern Ukraine where Kyivs forces are struggling to hold the defensive line, according to a battlefield assessment released Wednesday by Hudson Institute.

Last week, Moscows widening artillery advantage and Kyivs stumbling mobilization efforts allowed Russian forces to make significant battlefield advances and tactical gains on multiple fronts, the assessment found.

In the meantime, Russian air and missile strikes continued to pound major Ukrainian population centers.

And the Institute for the Study of War reported Monday that Russian forces will likely continue to make tactical gains around the major town of Avdiivka in the coming weeks.

Russia has been pushing ahead more aggressively this spring, in part to seize the initiative after the delay of U.S. aid to Ukrainian defenders.

John Herbst, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, predicted Russia may speed up its offensive  which was launched in mid-fall  given the speed with which the U.S. is flowing its aid into Ukraine.

It certainly is a greater period of danger until a good bulk of the aid arrives, said Herbst, now a senior director of the Atlantic Councils Eurasia Center.

But he added that he believes the most dangerous moment has already passed, given that the Ukrainians, in turn, have stepped up their use of weapons they have rationed since last fall, with the knowledge that they will soon be backfilled.

I think theyll lose very little or no territory, starting in two to three or four weeks, Herbst said of the Ukrainians.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The United States wants to impose new sanctions on Russia because Moscow is secretly selling oil products to North Korea in volumes that may violate UN Security Council restrictions.

Source: Reuters with reference to an unnamed US official, as reported by European Pravda

Details: According to the US official, Russia sent about 165,000 barrels of oil products to North Korea in March alone. Given the close proximity of Russian and North Korean commercial ports, Russia can continue these deliveries indefinitely, they said.

According to Reuters, Pyongyang is only allowed to import 500,000 barrels of refined products each year under United Nations restrictions.

The American official recalled that at the end of March, Russia blocked the renewal of the mandate of a group of experts who monitor compliance with UN sanctions against North Korea  probably to hide their own violations of Security Council resolutions.

Quote: "At the same time that Moscow vetoed the panel's mandate renewal, Russia has been shipping refined petroleum from Port Vostochny to the DPRK (North Korea)," the US official told Reuters.

They also stressed that the United States will continue to impose sanctions "against those working to facilitate arms and refined petroleum transfers between Russia and the DPRK".

The US has previously voiced concerns that the close link between the Russian Federation and North Korea may encourage DPRK leader Kim Jong-un to take risks on issues such as threats to South Korea, arms exports, and rejecting calls for negotiations on nuclear arms.

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Joe Biden has warned Russia against the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine - AFP/Andrew Caballero-Reynolds

The US state department confirmed that Russia is using chloropicrin, a prohibited chemical deployed in the First World War.

Use of the agent on the battlefield is banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which Russia has signed and ratified.

The state department on Wednesday night said that the use of the gas was not an isolated incident.

It added that Russia has also used riot control agents [tear gas] as a method of warfare in Ukraine, also in violation of the CWC.

Front-line troops told The Telegraph earlier this year how their positions had been coming under near-daily attacks from small drones, mainly dropping the gas but also other chemicals.

We would respond if Putin uses chemical weapons

President Joe Biden has previously warned Vladimir Putin against using chemical weapons in Ukraine. Just weeks after Russias invasion, Mr Biden said Putin would pay a severe price if he did authorise their use.

We would respond if he uses it. The nature of the response would depend on the nature of the use, Mr Biden said.

On Thursday, Russia denied the US accusations, calling them baseless. Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, told reporters that Moscow remained bound by its obligations under the treaty that bans chemical weapons.

As always, such announcements are absolutely unfounded and are not supported by anything. Russia has been and remains committed to its obligations under international law in this area, Mr Peskov said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov insists Russia has not used chemical weapons in Ukraine - AFP/Gavriil Grigorov

Ukraine claims 626 gas attacks have been carried out by Russian forces

During a Telegraph investigation, Ihor, the commander of a Ukrainian reconnaissance team who was deployed near the front line city of Chasiv Yar, in Donetsk Oblast, said Russia was dropping one of two gas grenades every day.

He said that because of how embedded many Ukrainian troops were, it was difficult for the Russians to attack with conventional artillery or drones firing missiles. The only way for them to successfully attack us was with gas, he added.

Even when not lethal or immediately incapacitating, these gas attacks caused panic.

Their first instinct is to get out, Ihor said. His troops could then be attacked with more conventional weapons.

The choking agent chloropicrin is an oily substance that was widely used during the First World War. Once released into the air, it irritates the lungs, eyes and skin and can cause vomiting, nausea and diarrhoea.

Officially, the Ukrainian military has claimed that 626 gas attacks have been carried out by Russian forces since the start of the war.

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American Express (NYSE:AXP) is one of the few stocks that offers growth at a reasonable price (GARP). For instance, the companys 19.1x P/E ratio isnt overstretched, and financial growth is strong for the credit and debit card giant. While the company has been a GARP play for quite some time, its recent earnings report offers additional optimism. Therefore, I am bullish on this stock.

Rising Revenue and Profit Margins

American Express has consistently increased its revenue and profit margins. The companys profit margin currently sits in the double digits, and that trend continued in the first quarter of 2024.

Revenue increased by 11% year-over-year, which was within expectations. However, the fintech firm shined with its net income. This metric grew by 34% year-over-year, which resulted in a 15.4% net profit margin.

The company started 2024 on a strong note and is attracting younger generations. Notably, more than 60% of the companys new customers were Millennials or Gen Z consumers, and new card acquisitions came to 3.4 million in the quarter.

Sure, American Express doesnt have profit margins as high as Visa (NYSE:V) or Mastercard (NYSE:MA). Visa is the leader, with profit margins regularly above 50%, while Mastercard has profit margins above 40%. Still, American Express has a much lower valuation and similar revenue growth. Plus, American Express net income growth comfortably exceeded its competitors growth rates.

An Enticing Multi-Year Growth Plan

Investors shouldnt only look at one quarter. They should assess how a company is likely to perform over several years. A long-term approach can help investors find winners. Luckily, American Express has spelled out its long-term growth ambitions.

Leadership anticipates 9% to 11% revenue growth and EPS growth in the mid-teens beyond 2026. The company achieved both of those benchmarks in the first quarter of 2024 and in previous quarters. For example, the company reported 15% year-over-year revenue growth and 14% year-over-year diluted EPS growth in full-year 2023.

The fintech companys ambitious growth plans are realistic and suggest that shares are fairly valued. Even after a 9% post-earnings pop, shares look attractive. Long-term gains have also been enticing for patient investors. AXP stock is up 26% year-to-date and has more than doubled over the past five years.

AXP Has Impressive Dividend Growth

American Express regularly rewards its long-term shareholders with buybacks and dividend distributions. It has the elements of a dividend growth stock that can make sense for retirement portfolios and growth-oriented funds.

Story continues

The stock has a 1.18% yield, which is decent on its own. However, it gets better. American Express has maintained an annualized dividend growth rate of 10.51% over the past decade, and the company recently hiked its quarterly dividend by 17%. The quarterly dividend currently stands at $0.70 per share.

A Stable Business Model

Investors who are worried about the economy slowing down may want to park some of their funds into stable picks like American Express. People trim their spending during economic slowdowns. Furthermore, fads will come and go, and some businesses will go under, but people will always use their credit and debit cards to buy goods and services.

These cards are more convenient than paper cash and offer rewards. Consumers can borrow more money than what they currently have in their checking accounts. People will continue to use credit cards during any economic cycle. For American Express investors, that means more cash flow and long-term gains.

Is AXP Stock a Buy, According to Analysts?

Most analysts feel differently from this thesis. Based on AXP stocks average price target of $234.20, analysts only expect 1.2% upside potential. Overall, the stock comes in as a Moderate Buy based on 10 Buys, seven Holds, and two Sells assigned in the past three months.

Analysts have been mixed after the companys earnings report. BMO Capital believes the stock can fall to $175 per share, which represents 24% downside. However, Wells Fargo offered a Buy rating and a $265 price target. This price point suggests 14.5% upside for the stock.

The Bottom Line on American Express Stock

American Express looks like a promising investment opportunity for long-term investors due to its rising profit margins, revenue growth, and reasonable valuation.

The companys multi-year growth projections should excite investors, and American Express is hitting its benchmarks of 9% to 11% year-over-year revenue growth and EPS growth in the mid-teens.

Investors who are worried about an economic slowdown may also want to consider this stock. While consumer spending will get hit during a slower economy, people will still use their American Express cards to make purchases.

Most of the giants in the credit and debit card industry offer solid value propositions for long-term investors. However, American Express has the best yield and net income growth among the leaders in the industry. The fintech stock has more than doubled over the past five years, and it looks like its due for more gains.

Disclosure
The Russian ballistic missile attack on a postal depot in Odesa on May 1 destroyed 15.5 metric tons of shipments worth almost Hr 3 million ($76,000), Nova Poshta, Ukraine's largest privately owned parcel delivery service, reported on May 2.

Several explosions were reported in the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa at 10 p.m. local time almost immediately after an air raid alert went off in the region.

Photos and videos published on social media and by the State Emergency Service showed a large warehouse on fire.

Russia claimed the warehouse was a weapons storage facility, Nova Poshta said.

The attack "destroyed not only our depot," but also 904 shipments "from online stores with clothes, appliances, children's toys, goodies for pets, medicines," and parcels from relatives, Nova Poshta said.

The costs of the destroyed parcels will be compensated, according to the company.

The attack injured 14 people, but none of the 18 employees working in the depot were among the casualties because they managed to reach the bomb shelter in time, Nova Poshta co-owner Volodymyr Popereshniuk said on Facebook.

A postal depot of Nova Poshta was hit by Russia in the village of Korotych in Kharkiv Oblast in October 2023. The attack killed seven people and injured over 10 others.

Popereshniuk announced that Nova Poshta would arrange additional bomb shelters in its depots following the strike.

Read also: Russian attacks kill 8, injure 40 in Ukraine over past day

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Russian attacks against Ukraine killed eight people and wounded another 40 over the past day, regional authorities reported early on May 2.

Officials reported civilian casualties in Odesa, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Donetsk oblasts.

Russia carried out an attack against Odesa using ballistic missiles, injuring 14 people and causing a large fire to break out, Odesa Oblast Governor Oleh Kiper reported.

Russia hit a postal depot of Ukraine's largest privately-owned postal service Nova Poshta, the company reported on social media. No employees were among the casualties.

Attacks against settlements in Kharkiv Oblast killed four people and injured 14 over the past day.

The attack with the most casualties took place in the village of Zolochiv, where two people were killed and 13 people were injured, Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported.

Administrative buildings, a bank, and over 20 cars were damaged, and one house was destroyed in the attack.

A Russian attack against Nikopol in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast injured four people, according to Governor Serhii Lysak.

Russia carried out the strike with artillery and a drone, injuring two women and two men.

Donetsk Oblast Governor Vadym Filashkin reported that Russian attacks had killed four people and injured eight others in the region due over the past day.

A 57-year-old woman and a 64-year-old man were killed in the town of Hirnyk, where Russia used Uragan multiple rocket launchers to carry out the attack.

Russian attacks were also reported in Kherson, Mykolaiv, Sumy, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, without mention of civilian casualties.

Read also: Smelling weakness, Russia presses advantage in Donetsk Oblast

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Russian troops attacked the villages of Novoosynove and Memryk in Kharkiv and Donetsk oblasts on May 2, injuring two people and killing three others, including a child, local authorities reported.

Settlements in Ukraine's Donetsk and Kharkiv oblasts suffer from daily Russian strikes due to their proximity to the front line.

Russian Grad rockets damaged seven houses in Memryk in Pokrovsk district, Donetsk Oblast Governor Vadym Filashkin said, citing preliminary information.

A 12-year-old child is among those killed, according to the governor. Two people were hospitalized for their injuries.

Novoosynove in Kupiansk district came under Russian attack at 7 p.m. local time, Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov said. A 66-year-old man was reportedly killed near a household.

Russian forces attacked a town of Derhachi in Kharkiv Oblast with UMPB D-30SN glide bombs earlier in the day. Seven children and an elderly man were injured, and another eight-year-old boy reportedly suffered from shock, according to prosecutors.

Read also: Smelling weakness, Russia presses advantage in Donetsk Oblast

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FILE - Supporters of Niger's ruling junta gather for a protest called to fight for the country's freedom and push back against foreign interference, in Niamey, Niger, Aug. 3, 2023. Russia has moved some troops onto an airbase in Niger where a small number of U.S. forces remain after most American troops left the base in Niamey, the nation's capital, a U.S. official said Thursday, May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)

WASHINGTON (AP)  Russia has moved some troops onto an airbase in Niger where a small number of U.S. forces remain, but Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he doesn't see it as a significant issue. Most American troops left that base in the nation's capital, Niamey, a U.S. official said.

The arrival of Russian trainers in the West African country about three weeks ago came in the wake of Nigers decision to order out all U.S. troops. The order dealt a blow to U.S. military operations in the Sahel, a vast region south of the Sahara desert where groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group operate.

The Pentagon has said the U.S. troops will depart but has not provided a timeline.

When Russian troops arrived last month, it was unclear where they were staying. The Niamey base, Austin said late Thursday, is located at the capital city's Diori Hamani International Airport, and the Russians are in a separate compound and dont have access to U.S. forces or access to our equipment.

He said the U.S. will continue to watch the situation but he doesn't see it as a significant force protection issue.

A U.S. official said the Russian forces are on the other side of the Niamey facility, known as Airbase 101, and that other international forces  such as the Germans and Italians  also reside. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss troop movements. It's unclear how many U.S. troops remain at the Niamey base.

The Russian presence on the base comes as tensions remain high between Washington and Moscow over the ongoing U.S. support for Ukraine's military.

About 1,000 U.S. troops are still in Niger, but the bulk of them moved to what's called Airbase 201 near Agadez, some 920 kilometers (550 miles) away from the capital, not long after mutinous soldiers ousted the countrys democratically elected president last July.

A few months later, the ruling junta asked French forces to leave and turned to the Russian mercenary group Wagner for security assistance.

In October, Washington officially designated the military takeover as a coup, which triggered U.S. laws restricting the military support and aid that it can provide to Niger. Since then, diplomatic efforts to restore ties with Niger have been unsuccessful.

Until recently, Washington considered Niger a key partner and ally in a region swept by coups in recent years, investing millions of dollars in the Agadez base, which has been critical to U.S. counterterrorism operations in the Sahel. The U.S. also has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in training Nigers military since it began operations there in 2013.

The Pentagon also has said the U.S. will relocate most of the approximately 100 forces it has deployed in neighboring Chad for now. Chad is also considering whether to continue its security agreement with the U.S.

Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, told reporters that the departure from Chad "is a temporary step as part of the ongoing review of our security cooperation, which will resume after Chads May 6th presidential election.
Russian troops operating out of same base in Niger that hosts some US troops, 2 officials say

Russian military personnel are operating out of an air base in Niger that is still hosting a small number of American troops, two U.S. officials tell ABC News.

One of the officials said the Russian trainers arrived several weeks ago at Niger's "Airport 101" near the capital of Niamey, and do not present an immediate security concern to U.S. troops.

The Russian forces are operating out of a hangar at a location far away from U.S. forces and not on any property owned or being used by the United States, the officials said Thursday.

PHOTO: In this April 16, 2018 file photo a U.S. and Niger flag are raised side by side at the base camp for air forces and other personnel supporting the construction of Niger Air Base 201 in Agadez, Niger. (Carley Petesch/AP, FILE)

"The Russians are housed in a separate compound and do not have access to US forces, spaces, or equipment," one official said.

Still, the development -- first reported by Reuters -- speaks to U.S. concerns that Russia is aggressively trying to gain a foothold in West Africa, and specifically Niger where U.S. troops have been asked to leave after building a remote $150 million counterterrorism drone base in Agadez.

Following a coup in July 2023, the ruling junta in Niger demanded the exodus of U.S. troops. Talks between the two countries broke down this spring, and the Pentagon said it would comply by withdrawing forces but didn't say how soon.

MORE: US to withdraw troops from Niger after military deal revoked

The Russian military instructors arrived in Niger about three weeks ago, citing an agreement between the junta and Russian President Vladimir Putin to increase cooperation, according to several media reports citing Niger state television.

A U.S. official declined to say how many American troops remained at Airport 101 within proximity of the Russian forces there, but said the footprint was minimal.

The Biden administration had already begun consolidating troops in the region last fall as a precautionary measure, relocating troops at Airport 101 to the U.S. drone base in Agadez some 571 miles away.

Russian troops operating out of same base in Niger that hosts some US troops, 2 officials say originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Russians attack Sumy Oblast with FPV drones and mortar bombs: 130 explosions over past day

Aftermath of Russian attacks on Sumy Oblast. Stock photo: Sumy Oblast Military Administration

Russian forces fired on Sumy Oblast (in Ukraine's northeast) 31 times over the past 24 hours, using FPV drones and dropping mortar bombs.

Source: Sumy Oblast Military Administration

Quote: "A total of 130 explosions were recorded. The hromadas of Khotin, Yunakivka, Myropillia, Bilopillia, Krasnopillia, Velyka Pysarivka, Esman, Shalyhyne, Svesa and Seredyna-Buda were bombarded." [A hromada is an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town, and their adjacent territories  ed.]

Details: The Russians attacked Bilopillia hromada with mortars and artillery. There was also an attack with an FPV drone. In total, there were 30 explosions.

The Russians attacked Esman hromada with FPV drones, and six explosions were recorded there.

In Velyka Pysarivka hromada, artillery and mortar attacks were recorded, as well as the dropping of explosives from a UAV  in total, 45 explosions occurred there.

Russian forces dropped nine mortar bombs on the territory of Krasnopillia hromada.

They bombarded Yunakivka hromada with FPV drones, and two explosions were heard there.

There was artillery shelling as well as FPV drone attacks on Khotin hromada, with 11 explosions.

The Russians attacked Shalyhyne hromada with artillery (10 explosions) and fired from automatic firearms.

In Seredyna-Buda hromada, attacks with tubed artillery and MLRS were recorded (13 explosions).

The Russians attacked Myropillia hromada with an FPV drone.

There was a mortar attack on Svesa hromada with three explosions.

Background: Sumy Oblast Military Administration has introduced additional temporary restrictions in the 5-km border zone near the border with Russia.

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Russian forces struck the town of Derhachi (Kharkiv Oblast) with a guided aerial bomb. Early reports indicated that eight children and a man, 75, had been injured.

Source: Oleh Syniehubov, Head of Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration, on Telegram; Ukraines Air Force

Quote: "The invaders hit the civilian infrastructure in Derhachi, Kharkiv Oblast.

As of now (16:38 p.m.  ed.) as a result of hostile bomb strikes on Derhachi, seven people have been injured, six of them children. Two of the children received light injuries to their limbs, and four  injuries of moderate severity. All seven have been hospitalised."

Details: The Air Force reports a repeated threat of the Russians using guided aerial bombs in Kharkiv Oblast.

Syniehubov urged locals not to leave their shelters until the all-clear is given.

Updated: At 17:40, Syniehubov reported that the number of children affected by the attack increased to eight: one of the boys has an acute reaction to stress, and the other has minor injuries.

Quote: "The casualties include two 11-year-olds, two 12-year-olds and two children aged 13 and 15. Their condition is of moderate severity. Additionally, one boy has an acute stress reaction, and another boy has light injuries that do not require hospitalisation."

Details: In addition to the children, a man, 75, was injured and was treated at the scene.

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Russians kill 1 person in Kharkiv Oblast and 2 people in Donetsk Oblast on 2 May  photo

The Russian army killed one person in Kharkiv Oblast and two people in Donetsk Oblast, including a child, in its attacks on 2 May.

Source: Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutors Oblast; Vadym Filashkin, Head of Donetsk Oblast Military Administration

Quote: "The investigation reports that on 2 May at about 19:00, the Russians struck the village of Novokalynove in the Kurylivka hromada [a hromada is an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town, and their adjacent territories  ed.]. A 66-year-old man was killed.

Private households and outbuildings were damaged in the village."

Details: In the evening, it was reported that two people were killed and two more injured in the village of Memryk in the Novohrodivkahromada of Donetsk Oblast.

Photo: Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutors Oblast

Quote by Filashkin: "There is a 12-year-old child among the people killed. Two injured people were taken to hospital.

Today in the evening, the Russians struck Memryk with a Grad multiple-launch rocket system. Early reports say seven private houses were damaged."

Photo: Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutors Oblast

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Bangladeshi cargo is slamming Indian airports in what has become a concern for local businesses across the worlds most populous countrywhile also delivering yet another headwind for Indias already contracting textile economy as exporters fight for air capacity.

According to a report from Indian newspaper The Hindu Business Line, tons of garments out of Bangladesh are being shipped out via Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport in Delhi, cornering space in aircraft bound for Europe and the U.S.

More from Sourcing Journal

From April to December 2023, IGI handled 260,000 metric tons of export cargo, with Bangladesh accounting for just 5,000 metric tonsor less than 2 percent of total air cargo traversing through the airport.

However, this percentage increased dramatically in the January-to-March quarter, with the Bangladeshs share jumping to 9 percent of total air cargo, or 8,000 metric tons.

The led to congestion and spikes in air freight rates by nearly 300 percent, says Israr Ahmed, vice president of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO).

The scenario is a likely result of a February 2023 trade agreement between the south Asian countries, which allows sealed export cargo from Dhaka to arrive directly at IGI with minimal border checks. Earlier, these goods would exclusively be shipped out of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata.

And more recently, companies from both countries shifted more goods from ocean freight to air freight in the wake of the ongoing Houthi attacks on vessels traversing the Red Sea, forcing container ships to take an extra week or two to instead travel around southern Africas Cape of Good Hope.

Apparel is the lifeblood of Bangladeshs economy, exposing manufacturers in the country to higher risk when the Red Sea crisis began and freight rates started to escalate. In 2023, Bangladesh exported $47.4 billion in total apparel, representing 85.3 percent of the $55.6 billion in total goods shipped out of the market, according to the countrys Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).

On the other hand, Indias textile sector has seen better days, making the combined pressure of the Bangladeshi-originated cargo and the Red Sea shipping diversions even tougher to endure.

In the 2023-2024 fiscal year, textile exports out of India amounted to $34.4 billion, marking a decline of more than $1 billion, or roughly 3 percent, compared to the previous fiscal year. On a two-year basis, the drop is even more pronounced, with exports plummeting 16.3 percent from 2021-2022 levels, when India reported exports worth $41 billion.

Story continues

To prioritize Indian air cargo and reduce potential cost pressures on Indian shippers, FIEO is calling on the government to bring in corrective measures, including a landing charge on Bangladeshi cargo.

FIEO isnt the only association seeking government intervention to assist Indian shippers.

In February, Indian apparel exporters body The Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) urged the government to suspend last years order that allowed Bangladesh exports to move through IGIs air cargo complex.

The association argued that the Red Sea crisis has already increased transportation costs of domestic exporters, and also forced the continued shift of export shipments from ocean to air freight.

APEC also believes that allowing Bangladeshi export cargo through Delhi is only going to lead to more backlogs, with chairman Sudhir Sekhri telling The Hindu Business Line that 20 to 30 loaded trucks now arrive to the airport from Bangladesh every day.

Although Indian airports are getting congestion in the short term,

An October report from Bangladesh newspaper The Business Standard said that the countrys air cargo industry is likely to double within the next five years due to growing capacity development in Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA), which is currently undergoing expansion.

HSIA can handle up to 900 metric tons of cargo in a day, but typically handles in a 400 to 500 metric tons on average.

If we can change our policy and improve service quality, the cargo industry will be multiple times bigger by 2041, compared with the current status, Kabir Ahmed, president of the Bangladesh Freight Forwarders Association (BAFFA), told the publication in October.

He attributed the increase in shippers exporting their goods through Indias Kolkata Airport to the low service quality within Bangladeshs wider ground operations.

The BAFFA president noted that state-owned air carrier Biman Bangladesh, which handles more than 8 percent of the countrys total export air cargo, still has an opportunity to increase their export share.
Russian officials and the Ministry of Defence have claimed that energy infrastructure in seven Russian regions was attacked by drones on the night of 1-2 May.

Source: Latvia-based Russian media outlet Meduza; Telegram-based news outlet Astra; Smolensk Oblast Governor Vasily Anokhin

Details: Anokhin claimed that the drones attempted to strike a "civilian energy infrastructure facility" in the region. He gave no details on the consequences of the attack but noted that emergency services were working at the site.

Astra, citing local residents, reported that a fire broke out in the Roslavl district of Smolensk Oblast due to the UAV attack, and posted a video apparently shot in Smolensk Oblast.

The Russians have reported drone attacks in a total of 7 regions.

In particular, Russia's Defence Ministry claimed that air defence systems had shot down 12 drones over 5 Russian regions on the night of 1-2 May. These are Bryansk Oblast, Krasnodar Krai, Rostov, Kursk and Belgorod oblasts.

In addition, an attack on Oryol Oblast had been reported earlier. Oryol Oblast Governor Andrei Klychkov reported that energy infrastructure facilities had been damaged in the Glazunovka and Sverdlovsk districts.

Furthermore, Roman Starovoyt, Governor of Kursk Oblast, reported power supply problems due to the drone attack. Starovoyt said the village of Ponyri had lost power due to damage to a power line.

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The Russians may deploy their airborne divisions from Zaporizhzhia Oblast to the east.

Source: Institute for the Study of War (ISW)

Details: ISW reported that Russian military forces may be transferring elements of the 76th and 7th Airborne Divisions from Zaporizhzhia Oblast toward Ukraine's east, likely to bolster and intensify current offensive operations.

Despite this, ISW still has to find confirmation that units of the 76th and 7th Airborne Divisions were redeployed to other fronts, although Russian and Ukrainian reports about this are significant and any redeployment of airborne forces from Zaporizhzhia Oblast to Ukraine's east will need further scrutiny in the coming days.

The report noted that any redeployment of these units would allow Russian forces to intensify their offensive operations and therefore increase pressure on Ukrainian forces, regardless of their location.

ISW does not provide an assessment of which area is most likely for the redeployment of the Russian Airborne Forces, if it occurs at all.

However, ISW will continue to monitor reports on the possible redeployment of units from the 76th and 7th Airborne Divisions, as it poses a significant risk to Ukraine's ability to slow ongoing Russian offensive operations in Ukraine's east in the coming weeks before the US security assistance arrives.

To quote the ISWs Key Takeaways on 1 May:

The Russian military is reportedly redeploying elements of the 76th and 7th airborne (VDV) divisions from Zaporizhzhia Oblast in the direction of eastern Ukraine, likely to reinforce and intensify ongoing offensive operations.

The Russian military may seek to redeploy elements of the 76th or 7th VDV division or both to eastern Ukraine to support Russias offensive operations in Donetsk Oblast and to capitalise on the current window of vulnerability before American military aid begins reaching the frontline at scale.

Ukrainian forces struck an oil refinery in Ryazan Oblast for the second time in less than a month on the night of 30 April to 1 May.

Russian state-run news outlets appear to be amplifying anti-Western rhetoric from former Georgian Prime Minister and founder of the Georgian Dream party Bidzina Ivanishvili and are negatively portraying Georgians protesting against Georgias "foreign agents" bill, likely in an attempt to destabilise and divide Georgia.

The United Nations (UN) and Western organisations continue to demonstrate how North Korea and the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) are directly and indirectly helping Russias war effort.

Russian insider sources speculated that the criminal investigation into Russian Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov may also implicate another deputy defence minister, Ruslan Tsalikov.

Bloomberg reported that four sanctioned Russian oil tankers have changed their names and are sailing under new flags.

Russian forces made confirmed advances near Chasiv Yar and Avdiivka and in the Donetsk-Zaporizhzhia Oblast border area.

Russian authorities continue recruiting convicted criminals to fight in Ukraine.

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The Russian Ministry of Defence has claimed that there was a drone attack on temporarily occupied Crimea on the evening of 2 May.

Source: Russias Defence Ministry on Telegram

Details: The ministry claimed that two drones had been downed over the peninsula.

Prior to that, the Crimean (Kerch) Bridge was closed to traffic. Local Telegram channels had reported the missile threat.

Ukraine has not commented on this report.

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(FOX40.COM)  The Sacramento areas annual Big Day of Giving charity drive is underway Thursday to raise millions of dollars for local nonprofit organizations.

The yearly 24-hour drive is now in its 12th year and includes nearly 800 organizations from the counties of Sacramento, Yolo, Placer and El Dorado that people can donate to.

Here are some of the changes the City of Sacramento is proposing to close its $66 million budget deficit

The event has broken its fundraising record every year since it started, including during the pandemic, when community service groups were in high demand.

Donations made on this day have a chance to be boosted by prizes, and the events website maintains leaderboards of organizations raising the most funds.

The Big Day of Giving ends at 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, but the public is encouraged to continue to support local organizations the rest of the year.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40.
Sadiq Khan Hits Back At Donald Trump Over His Latest Attack On London

Sadiq Khan has hit back at Donald Trump. Nicola Tree via Getty Images

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has hit back at Donald Trump over the former presidents latest criticism of London.

Trump said the capital was unrecognizable after Europe opened its doors to jihad.

His comments, at a campaign rally, have re-ignited his long-running feud with the London mayor, who is seeking reelection for another four-year term in todays local elections.

Khan said: Today is an opportunity to show Donald Trump and my Tory opponent that London will always choose hope over fear and unity over division.

Trump said: Weve seen what happened when Europe opened its doors to jihad. Look at Paris, look at London, theyre no longer recognizable.

His comments echo those he made ahead of a visit to the U.K. in 2018, in which he personally attacked London mayor Khan over the London Bridge terror attack the previous year.

The then president said: I think allowing millions and millions of people to come into Europe is very, very sad. I look at cities in Europe, and I can be specific if youd like. You have a mayor who has done a terrible job in London. He has done a terrible job.

In response, Khan told HuffPost UK: Im happy to meet President Trump and to explain to him, in a respectful, courteous manner where I think hes wrong on a number of issues, to hear him out, see what his explanation is for holding me responsible for the attacks we saw in London last year.
What security measures are in place for the 150th Kentucky Derby? This is what to know

A crowd of more than 150,000 people at the Kentucky Derby is part of what makes Derby Day so fun. But bringing that many people into one space also makes safety a concern, especially in light of incidents like the shooting after the Super Bowl parade in Kansas City this year.

Heres what we know about plans to keep Derby-goers safe.

What kind of planning is involved?

Josh Ball, senior director of security, safety and first aid for Churchill Downs said at a news conference Tuesday that planning for security at the Kentucky Derby is a year-long process.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security gives a rating to special events like the Derby, Super Bowl and Indianapolis 500 based on the threat, vulnerability, and consequences for each event to determine how much federal involvement is necessary.

Ball said the Department of Homeland Security has given the Kentucky Derby, Thurby and Oaks festivities a Special Event Assessment Rating of 2, the second-highest.

That means a federal coordination team helps state and local authorities with security and response plans for the event and maintains situational awareness of the event throughout the planning and execution phases, according to the Homeland Security website.

In the past, the Department of Homeland Security says events have received federal supports such as explosive detection canine teams; cyber risk assessments; venue screening and field intelligence teams; and air security and tactical operations support.

Deputy Chief Steven Healey of the Louisville Metro Police Department said at Tuesdays news conference that he was not aware of any major threats that had been identified.

What security measures are in place?

Churchill Downs says it uses its own security staff and partners with local, state and federal law enforcement to ensure our event runs smoothly and safely.

There will be hundreds of resources from the federal government, the state level and local law enforcement but also our emergency management, fire, EMS and other services, Ball said. Really it takes thousands of people to make this happen, to provide this safe and secure environment.

Given the many attendees at the Kentucky Derby, we take the safety and security of all of our guests very seriously, the Churchill Downs website states.

The Louisville Metro Police Department considers the days of the Kentucky Derby Festival Pegasus Parade, Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby an all-work day, so every officer will be on duty, LMPD spokesman Aaron Ellis said in an emailed statement.

Parade-goers and those attending the races will notice an obvious presence of uniformed officers and other public safety personnel (as they do every year), he wrote.

Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said at the news conference that Louisvilles Emergency Operations Center would be open Saturday and in the days leading up to the Kentucky Derby.

What about fire safety?

Louisville Fire Department Chief Brian ONeill said fire prevention personnel have been working closely with Churchill Downs making sure that the area is safe.

When you think about the size of crowds and the occupancy in a large area like that, thats what we are concerned with. How quickly can we get people safely out of an area in the case of an emergency, he said at the news conference.

He said the fire department will have large numbers of personnel and all their equipment on site well before Derby in the event of a fire.

When youre talking about crowds of about 150,000 people that are trying to exit an area, we would never be able to get resources in there, so everything has to be in place, he said. All of our fire apparatus, our hoses, our equipment and appliances and everything are there.

He said a crew will be on site full-time from Thursday until Sunday morning to protect the stables and the backside of the track.

What should Derby-goers expect in terms of security?

Everyone will be scanned with a metal detector, and guests will be limited to one bag measuring no more than 12 inches by 6 inches by 12 inches, according to the Churchill Downs website.

Oaks and Derby patrons are advised to arrive early to accommodate search procedures at all admission gates, the Churchill Downs website states.

Churchill Downs has a long list of items guests are prohibited from bringing in during Derby week. Some of the prohibited items include umbrellas, tents, wagons, coolers, Thermoses, glass containers, cans, alcoholic beverages, illegal substances, poles and sticks, selfie sticks, tripods, hoverboards, skateboards, scooters, drones and more.

Weapons of any kind, including firearms, knives, mace and pepper spray, are among the items prohibited at Churchill Downs.

People who show up with prohibited items will have to take them back to their cars or throw them away before going inside the track, according to the website. Theres no re-entry at Churchill Downs  people who leave after going inside cant return on the same ticket.

Churchill Downs said it makes exceptions to its bag policy for visitors entering the frontside gates with baby and diaper bags, as long as the attendee has a child with them.

John Aigner, Boise, Idaho, wore a Kentucky Derby hat he made himself, when he was wanded by John Severa at the security checkpoint near the Derby Museum at Churchill Downs in Louisville Saturday, May 07, 2016.

How can I plan for a safe visit to the Kentucky Derby?

Prepare now, Jody Meiman, executive director of Louisville Metro Emergency Services, said at the news conference Tuesday.

He said visitors can text the word DERBY to 67283 to receive emergency alerts and important information from the Louisville Emergency Notification System during Derby week.

Ball suggested that visitors download the Churchill Downs app, which the track uses to push out important information.

If were trying to redirect lines for crowds and other information that could be critical, he said.

He said visitors should know whats permitted and whats prohibited for the area where their tickets are located.

Ball also urged people to stay hydrated. He said everyone can bring two clear, sealed and unopened bottles of water.

Motorists should plan ahead for road closings and parking.

Know your access route home and park accordingly, Meiman said.

ONeill reminded people to avoid drinking and driving.

If you are enjoying any of that Kentucky bourbon, do not get behind the wheel of a car, he said.

And Major Jill Bates, of the police departments special operations division, had some words of advice that could apply in many situations on Derby Day.

Please be patient, she said. Be patient with our officers, and be patient with each other.

Patrons are screened with wands as as they entered gate 1 before the 139th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. Saturday May 4, 2013. Security measures have been increased this year to include closer inspections of bags, purses, and the use of security wands. Photo by Charles Bertram | Staff

What should I do if I see something suspicious?

Louisville Police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel said the community is key to helping make sure the event is safe.

If you see something, say something, she said at Tuesdays news conference.

The Louisville Metro Police Department will have a strong visual presence around the track, so people should alert an officer if they see any suspicious activity, Bates said.

She said people can also call 911 or provide an anonymous tip by calling 502-574-5673.

Louisville Metro Police Department is asking for the public to be vigilant and to be our eyes and ears, Bates said.

Who will be available if I need help?

In addition to uniformed law enforcement officers, fire and emergency medical services personnel will be on site.

ONeill, the fire chief, said the fire department will have crews inside the track, and he noted that all firefighters are also trained as EMTs.

Meiman, the emergency services director, said Alpha Event Medical is the contractor hired by Churchill Downs to respond to medical needs, but Louisville Metro EMS will also be there and will have personnel on bikes and UTVs outside the track to respond to medical problems.

Churchill Downs has more than 14,000 employees on site on Derby Day, according to its website. In addition to uniformed security personnel, Churchill Downs guest services representatives and gate staff wear red shirts or coats, and ushers wear bright yellow, according to the facilitys website.

Kentucky Derby

When: 6:57 p.m. Saturday

Where: Churchill Downs

TV: NBC and Peacock.

Purse: $5 million (Grade 1)

Distance: 1 1/4 miles

For: 3-year-old Thoroughbreds

Favorite: Fierceness (5-2)
As NASA prepares to send astronauts to the Moon as part of the upcoming Artemis 2 mission, the space agency still needs to resolve a few lingering issues with its Orion capsule that could jeopardize the safety of the crew on board, according to a new report.

The NASA Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report on Wednesday that assessed the space agencys readiness to launch a crew on board the Orion spacecraft in September 2025. The report examined anomalies with the spacecrafts heat shield and other hardware components, all of which were discovered after the uncrewed Artemis 1 mission in late 2022.

The Artemis I test flight revealed critical issues that need to be addressed before placing crew on the Artemis II mission, the report read. In particular, the test flight revealed anomalies with the Orion heat shield, separation bolts, and power distribution that pose significant risks to the safety of the crew.

The most significant issue has to do with Orions heat shield. Weve covered this issue before, but its really becoming a big headache for the space agency. During Orions reentry through Earths atmosphere, the spacecraft traveled at speeds reaching 24,600 miles per hour (39,590 kilometers per hour) and its heat shield endured temperatures above 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Thats the fastest speed at which any crew-rated spacecraft has returned to Earth.

Although NASA engineers had anticipated that some charring would occur, the report revealed that the space agency identified more than 100 locations where protective material from Orions heat shield chipped away unexpectedly during its reentry.

Orions heat shield endured some unexpected damage during Artemis 1. - Image: NASA Office of Inspector General

Portions of the char layer wore away differently than NASA engineers predicted, cracking and breaking off the spacecraft in fragments that created a trail of debris rather than melting away as designed, the report read. The inspector general added that the heat shields performance creates a risk that the heat shield may not sufficiently protect the capsules systems and crew from the extreme heat of reentry on future missions.

NASA is working to resolve the issue either by replacing heat shield components or altering Orions reentry trajectory. In late 2023, the space agency stated that it expects a resolution to the heat shield issue by late spring of this year.



The report also addressed an issue with the crew capsules separation bolts, which revealed unexpected melting and erosion that created a gap leading to increased heating inside the bolt. NASA mitigated the issue by making minor modifications to the separation bolt design and adding additional thermal protective barrier material in the bolt gap.

Following Artemis 1, NASA also recorded 24 instances of power distribution anomalies in Orions Electrical Power System. NASA determined that the power distribution issue was caused by radiation and is developing software changes for the Artemis 2 mission. The report, however, warns that without a permanent hardware fix, there is increased risk that further power distribution anomalies could lead to a loss of redundancy, inadequate power, and potential loss of vehicle propulsion and pressurization.

NASA wasnt too happy about the inspector generals audit, writing a rather snappy response to reassure that the space agency is already addressing the recommendations cited in the report. Being audited in the middle of a development process presents several challenges including disruptions to ongoing workflow and priorities, the space agency wrote. NASA is concerned that the reports tone might suggest that the OIG identified the risks discussed, when in fact, all recommendations were already being addressed by NASA through forward risk-based disposition prior to the audit.

Okay, we hear you. NASA has seemingly got this under control.

Want to know more about humanitys next giant leap in space? Check out our full coverage of NASAs Artemis Moon program, the new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft, the recently concluded Artemis 1 mission around the Moon, the four-person Artemis 2 crew, NASA and Axioms Artemis Moon suit, and the upcoming lunar Gateway space station. And for more spaceflight in your life, follow us on Xand bookmark Gizmodos dedicated Spaceflight page.

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About 18 million people live within an hour's drive of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument. The range's peaks were capped with snow  as seen here from Huntington Harbour in February  several times this winter. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

For the record:

11:05 a.m. May 2, 2024: This article previously said Molok Luyuk makes up about .2% of Californias acreage. It makes up about .02% of the states acreage.



President Biden on Thursday expanded San Gabriel Mountains National Monument by nearly a third in an action that was widely praised by the Indigenous leaders, politicians, conservationists and community organizers who had long fought for the enlargement of the protected natural area that serves as the backyard of the Los Angeles Basin.

The president also signed a proclamation expanding Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument by adding the 13,696-acre Molok Luyuk, or Condor Ridge, to the 330,000-acre swath of rolling oak woodlands, lush conifer forests and dramatic rock formations along Northern Californias inner Coast Range.

Bidens actions put in place stronger federal protections for areas that were left out when each monument was initially set aside by then-President Obama, in 2014 in the case of the San Gabriel Mountains and the following year for Berryessa Snow Mountain . Advocates say the designations will expand underserved communities access to open space and better preserve sacred and historic Indigenous cultural sites. The move also came as Biden has sought to boost his conservation record heading into the presidential election .

Its a huge deal on so many levels, said Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), who had introduced legislation that would have expanded both national monuments. That legislation remains active, but it lacks the Republican support in Congress to bring it to the finish line, he said.

As a result, Padilla and Rep. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park) last year urged Biden to bypass Congress and instead issue a presidential proclamation under the Antiquities Act of 1906, which the president did Thursday.

Im exceptionally proud to have worked in Congress with Sen. Padilla, other local, state, and federal elected officials, and many local advocacy groups for over a decade to highlight the significance of the San Gabriel Mountains to our environment, economy and health, Chu said in a statement.

Millard Falls, at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains near Altadena, is part of the expanded national monument. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

The expansion of each monument was the culmination of years-long grassroots campaigns by conservation organizations, community groups and tribes, Padilla said.

A lot of work went into the initial monument designations under President Obama, but the areas that are being added now were part of the initial vision, just not included in the initial designation, he said. So its finally completing the vision.

The move adds nearly 106,000 acres to the 346,000-acre San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, which sits within an hours drive of 18 million people, extending its boundaries to the edge of San Fernando Valley neighborhoods including Sylmar and Lake View Terrace, as well as the city of Santa Clarita. Those are some of the hottest regions within L.A. County, and home to communities of color that have historically lacked access to nearby green spaces, said Belen Bernal, executive director of Nature for All, a coalition of environmental and community groups that has long campaigned for more parks and safe outdoor opportunities, including the expansion of the monument.

As a Latina, I believe that we, people of color, given our income status and that a lot of our family members are immigrants to this country, we have been deprived of nearby nature in our neighborhoods, Bernal said.

Read more: Chuckwalla National Monument would protect swath of California desert and preserve a sacred land

Stretching from Santa Clarita to San Bernardino, the San Gabriel Mountains watershed provides Los Angeles County with 70% of its open space and roughly 30% of its water. Already, Angeles National Forest attracts nearly 4.6 million visits a year  more than the Grand Canyon or Yosemite National Park. The added protections will help ensure equitable access to the San Gabriels cool streams and rugged canyons while also preserving clean air and water, Bernal said.

Leaders of Indigenous groups  including the Fernandeno Tataviam Band of Mission Indians and the San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians Gabrieleno/Tongva  were part of the coalition that pushed for the expansion.

Expanding the monument helps protect lands of cultural importance to my people, who are part of this nations history and who have cared for these lands since time immemorial, said Rudy Ortega Jr., president of the Fernandeno Tataviam Band of Mission Indians, in a statement heralding the announcement. It also further protects areas that are critical for our environment and the wildlife and plants that depend on this landscape.

The expansion will protect Bear Divide, a slot in a ridgeline overlooking Santa Clarita that is used by migrating birds as they make their way from Central America toward the Arctic. It will also preserve habitat for black bears, mountain lions, coyotes and mule deer, along with rare and endangered species, including Nelsons bighorn sheep, mountain yellow-legged frogs and Santa Ana suckers .

Though the initial designation of San Gabriel Mountains National Monument was intended to foster a cleaner and safer wilderness, it came with no new government money to manage crowds or clean up trash. Park officials and volunteers have since been struggling to cope with the consequences of surging visitation, particularly in summertime, and complaints about blight have persisted .

To that end, Thursdays announcement included a commitment from the federal government that it would step up funding and staffing for the monument, including hiring additional field rangers and visitor engagement positions, and investing $2.3 million from the Great American Outdoors Act to renovate barracks and provide other housing for National Forest staffers.

A coalition of philanthropies and businesses, with support from state agencies, also announced a $1-million commitment to the San Gabriel Mountains Community Collaborative, the nonprofit partner of the U.S. Forest Service that works to promote sustainable recreation within the monument.

The California State Water Resources Control Board said it would fund efforts to reduce trash and other pollutants along the East Fork of the San Gabriel River, a spot thats popular for its idyllic swimming holes but has also garnered attention for graffiti and garbage in recent years. And the San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers and Mountains Conservancy announced a $2.5-million investment to improve access along the East Fork by building more dedicated trails and installing amenities such as stairs, restrooms, trash bins, picnic tables and formal parking areas. Construction is expected to start this year.

The Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, seen here at Lake Berryessa in Northern California, was first designated in 2015. (Eric Risberg / Associated Press)

Newly included in Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, Molok Luyuk is the sacred ancestral home of the Patwin people  who include the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, the Kletsel Dehe Wintun Nation and the Cachil Dehe Band of Wintun Indians  that also served as a trade and travel route for other Indigenous groups. As part of the agreement, the ridge will be officially renamed from Walker Ridge to Molok Luyuk, which means Condor Ridge in the Patwin language.

The expansion provides the Patwin tribes with the opportunity to co-steward Molok Luyuk with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which manages the monument, Anthony Roberts, tribal chairman of the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, said in a statement.

Notably, the renaming of Walker Ridge to Molok Luyuk recognizes the Patwin ancestry of this area of California, whose traditional territory stretches south from these hills to the shores of San Pablo Bay and east to the Sacramento River, he said in written remarks. It also highlights the restoration effort being made by our Tribes to reintroduce the California Condor to the ridge."

Molok Luyuk was initially left out of the 2015 monument designation because of multiple attempts to put a wind energy project on the ridge. The project was eventually shelved over a variety of issues, said Sandra Schubert, executive director of Tuleyome, a conservation nonprofit that has been trying to win protections for the land for more than 20 years.

As the spot where two tectonic plates meet, Molok Luyuk has unique soils, plants and geological features that make it a popular spot for scientists to study, Schubert said.

Think of walking like 100 yards, and youre literally walking through millions of years of history because of the geology, she said. That unique geology also leads to unique, rare species, especially of plants.

Although Molok Luyuk makes up about 0.02% of Californias acreage, it supports a staggering 7% of the states native plant diversity, including rare plants like the adobe lily and Purdy's fritillary, as well as the worlds largest known stand of MacNab cypress, said Jun Bando, executive director of the California Native Plant Society, which was also key in pushing for the expansion.

The designation also paves the way for the land to be included in the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument plan, which helps ensure it is adequately protected, she said.

Molok Luyuk is an area that is sacred to the local tribes and its also really unique in terms of the degree of biodiversity that it supports, Bando said.

Read more: Yes, beavers can help stop wildfires. And more places in California are embracing them

Vice President Kamala Harris said in a statement that she fought for public land protections as a U.S. senator from California and thanked Biden and local advocates for making the expansions a reality.

These expansions will increase access to nature, boost our outdoor economy and honor areas of significance to tribal nations and Indigenous peoples as we continue to safeguard our public lands for all Americans and for generations to come, she said.

Big picture, the national monument designations are key to the goal  put forward by a team of international scientists and adopted by California  of protecting 30% of lands and coastal waters by 2030, Bando said.

This goal isnt a nice to have, she said. Its part of urgent international action to address the intertwined crises of climate change and extinction.

Advocates are also petitioning Biden to set aside other California lands as national monuments. In the eastern Coachella Valley, conservationists and Indigenous groups including the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians want the president to designate 627,855 acres of desert as Chuckwalla National Monument, and to expand neighboring Joshua Tree National Park by 17,915 acres.

In Imperial County, the Fort Yuma Quechan Indian Tribe is pushing for the protection of more than 390,000 acres of their homelands with the creation of the Kwtsan National Monument. And the Pit River Tribe has called on Biden to invoke the Antiquities Act to designate as a national monument about 200,000 acres of their ancestral homelands and spiritual sites in Sattitla, or the Medicine Lake Highlands, that sit within the volcanic formations of Northern California.

Read more: California wants to harness more than half its land to combat climate change by 2045. Here's how

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
(BCN)  San Jose police will take a different approach with Cinco de Mayo festivities to mend the relationship between law enforcement and residents after last years actions, which some deemed racist.

The community has organized a 300-vehicle lowrider parade on Sunday to pay homage to the Latino roots and history of East San Jose, a hub for lowriding since its initial popularity in the 1940s. The San Jose Police Department will take part in the cruise with its own lowrider  a far cry from last years highway ramp closures which city and state leaders called racist and discriminatory for singling out Mexican Americans during the cultural event.

SJPD has been working collaboratively with the United Lowrider Council of San Jose in creating a safe and vibrant Cinco de Mayo celebration this year, a police spokesperson told San Jose Spotlight.

Last year, SJPD, Caltrans and California Highway Patrol closed 10 highway ramps, jamming traffic and making it nearly impossible for residents to get to and from festivities. Councilmembers Peter Ortiz, Domingo Candelas, Sergio Jimenez and Omar Torres called for increased communication between police and the community in the wake of the city lifting its decades-long cruising ban in 2022. SJPD officials spoke against lifting the ban at the time, saying it helped stop dangerous activities such as sideshows.

Ruben Mendez, president of lowrider club Eastside Riders SJ who has been cruising for more than 35 years, said he has hope this years festivities will go better than last year.

I understand that theres a few knuckleheads that are ruining it for everybody, but we just (have) to learn to not single out the whole group for one person, he told San Jose Spotlight. Theres a lot of good people out there that go out there with their kids, their grandkids, their girlfriends or wives.

Evan Low emerges as winner in District 16 recount, will advance to November ballot

There will still be road closures this year along Barack Obama Boulevard, West Santa Clara Street and part of South Market Street encircling Plaza de Cesar Chavez on Saturday. Partial closures are also planned Sunday for East Santa Clara Street, South Market Street and South King Road, including the Highway 680 ramps. Caltrans and CHP will help with the ramp closures.

But Councilmember Ortiz said the police have kept their word and increased communication with residents. He has met with the community regularly, including the office of San Joses Consulate General of Mexico and the United Lowrider Council of San Jose, to prepare for the event. He said police have worked with stakeholders along the way. SJPD began sharing maps of the planned closures a month before the celebrations.

Were expecting it to be a smooth event and we encourage everyone to come out and experience the east side, enjoy tourism and make an event that everyone can remember, Ortiz told San Jose Spotlight.

In addition to road closures, residents could see diversions to reduce traffic along East Santa Clara Street, South Market Street, South Fourth Street, South 10th Street, Alum Rock Avenue, King Road, Story Road, South Jackson Avenue, Ocala Avenue and Tully Road. Ramps along Highways 87 and 101 and Interstate 280 could be affected. Roosevelt Park will also be fenced off as usual due to resident concerns of vandalism and public drunkenness.

Mendez, whose dedication to lowriding began with a 1964 Chevrolet Impala, said his club will cruise the streets in the parade this weekend. He said the event is meaningful to him and the community, especially after they put so much time and money into their cars.

Its been in my blood. Its in my family. Its a thing that my uncle taught me that Ive been involved with ever since, he said. Its a passion for me.

Copyright  2024 Bay City News, Inc.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
On April 13, Iran launched an unprecedented retaliatory drone and missile attack on Israel, leading the U.S. and its allies to reach once again for their favorite weapon of warsanctions.

This knee-jerk reaction was as predictable as it was ill-founded, according to the scholarly research. In Nicholas Mulder's 2022 treatise The Economic Weapon: The Rise of Sanctions as a Tool of Modern War, he traces the history of sanctions from the blockades in World War I to today's morass of economic sanctions. Mulder concludes that "the historical record is relatively clear: most economic sanctions have not worked."

Mulder's treatise was followed by the book Backfire: How Sanctions Reshape the World Against U.S. Interests by Agathe Demarais. Drawing on her experience as an economic policy adviser for the diplomatic corps of the French Treasury, Demarais observes that sanctions tend to unite rather than isolate countries that are at odds with the U.S. and its allies, thereby transforming the geopolitical landscape and global economy to the detriment of U.S. influence.

The case of Iran is particularly illustrative of these points. In the recent How Sanctions Work: Iran and the Impact of Economic Warfare, authors Vali Nasr, Narges Bajoghli, Djavad Salehi-Isfahani, and Ali Vaez present a detailed study on the long-term impacts of economic sanctions on Iran. Nasr is an Iranian-born distinguished professor of international affairs and Middle East studies, a veteran diplomat, and a member of the U.S. State Department's Foreign Affairs Policy Board. He and his collaborators studied the economic data and conducted long-form oral history interviews with 80 residents of Iran. The authors demonstrate that decades of Western sanctions, including the Trump administration's "maximum pressure" campaign of 2018, have neither modified Iran's international behavior in ways intended by policy makers nor precipitated any semblance of regime change.

Instead, sanctions have inflicted severe hardships on ordinary Iranians. The middle class has shrunk significantly from 45 percent in 2017 to 30 percent in 2020. If that wasn't bad enough, Nasr and his colleagues estimate that the death toll attributable to the humanitarian catastrophes triggered by sanctionssuch as food shortages and the breakdown of critical medical systemshas amounted to "hundreds of thousands."

By imposing sanctions, the U.S. sought to crush Iran's economy and make life so difficult for ordinary Iranians that they would rise up and either change the regime's behavior or overthrow it altogether. However, this strategy relied on the assumption that Iranians would blame their misery on their own government and not those imposing the sanctions. Rather than blaming their government, Iranians have experienced a classic rally-'round-the-flag effect with sanctions inadvertently solidifying support for the regime. By creating animus against the U.S., sanctions have turned Iran's hurting middle class into either de facto or de jure supporters of Iran's leaders.

This is reflected in the interviews conducted by Nasr and his colleagues. Hamid, an interviewee and a disaster management specialist in Iran's civil society sector, said of sanctions: "All they've done is make the Revolutionary Guard more powerful. Those of us in civil society are suffocating."

Reza, a disillusioned university professor, echoed Hamid's concerns: "If it's not the nuclear issue, it's our ballistic missiles. If it's not our ballistic missiles, it'll be human rights. If it's not human rights, [the U.S.] will find another reason [to sanction Iran]."

Furthermore, Nasr and his co-authors contend that sanctions have driven the Iranian government to adopt more defensive and aggressive posturesthe very behaviors that spurred the U.S. to impose sanctions on Iran in the first place. This pattern of behavior, where a sanctioned state becomes more militaristic and risk-taking, is well-documented and aligns with what economic theory predicts about actors with "nothing to lose." This was highlighted by William L. Silber in The Power of Nothing to Lose: The Hail Mary Effect in Politics, War, and Business, in which he elucidates how extreme pressure during times of "war" can lead nations to take bold, often reckless actions.

It's clear that the sanctions landscape is littered with failurenot just in Iran but also in Syria, Venezuela, North Korea, Cuba, and, most recently, Russia. Despite their dismal track record, a 2021 Treasury Department report showed that the use of sanctions had surged by a stunning 900 percent since 2000. The persistence in using this tool highlights a disconnect between expected and actual outcomes in U.S. foreign policy strategy.

If the U.S. and its allies had aimed to create a more moderate Iran or change the regime with sanctions, they have failed. What is needed is a more nuanced and effective foreign policy that rests on diplomacy and does not inadvertently strengthen the very behaviors and regimes the U.S. aims to modify.

The post Sanctions Are for Losers appeared first on Reason.com.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) suggested Thursday the cancellation of all student debt and making public colleges and universities free would help solve the countrys shortage of Black, Latino and Native American health care workers.

In my view, we need to cancel student debt and make all public colleges and universities tuition free, so that all people  regardless of background  can get the education they need, including medical school, Sanders said in a Senate committee hearing on lack the of minority health care workers and the U.S.s high maternal mortality rate.

Strides have been made to boost the number of minority health care workers that practice in the field, but the rates of Black, Latino and Native American providers remain strikingly low.

The overwhelming majority of doctors and nurses in the U.S. are white, followed by Asian Americans, according to data from the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Only 5.7 percent of U.S. doctors are Black, according to the National Medical Association, the countrys largest organization representing Black physicians, despite about 14 percent of Americans identifying as Black. About 6 percent of doctors in the U.S. identify as Latino, and fewer than 1 percent identify as Native American.

The percentage of practicing registered nurses in the country who are Black, Latino and or Native American are almost the same.

In 2022, about 6 percent of registered nurses in the country were Black, 0.4 percent identified as Native American or Alaska Native and about 7 percent identified as Hispanic, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.

One of the largest barriers to pursuing careers in health care for many Black, Latino and Native Americans is the financial burden of college and medical school tuition.

Jaines Andrades, a nurse practitioner at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Mass., told members of Congress at the hearing that when she graduated from high school, she wasnt sure how she was going to afford higher education.

After high school, she enrolled in a cosmetology program but had dreams of becoming a lawyer, she said.

As time passed, I struggled to figure out how to make that dream come true, coming from a single-parent home, where my mother didnt have the means to save for college or law school, she said at the hearing.

Eventually, Andrades became more interested in nursing, completed prerequisite coursework and entered a nursing program at Elms College, just outside of Springfield.

Andrades said she worked as a custodian at Baystate Medical Center while pursuing her degree. She said her colleagues there offered incredible insight into where she could apply for scholarships or interest-free loans to fund her education.

Without my colleagues, I would not have been able to find such resources, which I believe were instrumental to my education, Andrades said. These resources need to be made more visible and accessible to students.

Sanders all called for the expansion of similar resources like the National Health Service Corp at the hearing, as well as for the increase in the size of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, which produce most of the countrys Black physicians.

The unequal racial and ethnic makeup of the health care workforce, particularly among physicians, is hurting Americans of color because research shows that patients experience better health outcomes when treated by health care providers who share their racial and ethnic background.

Black physicians and health care providers are more likely to understand the unique challenges that influence Black patients health outcomes, said Yoland Lawson, an OB-GYN and president of the National Medical Association, who spoke at the hearing.

Black patients are more likely to trust the advice of a Black physician or provider and comply with the physicians recommendations.

Financial constraints and limited access to medical school, along with discrimination within academic and health care settings, are all barriers that hinder the retention and advancement of Black medical students, residents and practitioners, Lawson added.

Samuel David Cook, a third-year internal medicine resident at The Morehouse School of Medicine, gave a poignant example during the hearing of how Black physicians better serve Black patients.

Cook said that he was once told about how a Black woman in an Atlanta-area hospital was placed into a psychiatric hold after health care workers observed her furiously hitting her head.

When a Black female psychiatrist at the hospital visited the womans bedside, she immediately told the rest of the medical team that the patient was, in fact, not harming herself, but simply patting her head because that is how you scratch an itchy scalp without messing up your hair, said Cook.

Had a Black physician not intervened in this instance, that patient was on a pathway to being chemically or physically restrained, and that hospital and staff would have justifiably faced a malpractice lawsuit.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
An amendment to the bill that would prohibit minors from receiving gender transition procedures would require public school administrators to notify a minors parent or legal guardian of non-derivative name changes, pronoun titles not aligned with a minors sex or confirming their gender is inconsistent with his or her sex.

Teachers, public school employee advocates and some lawmakers, however, have major concerns.

H. 4624, dubbed as the Help not Harm bill, has sparked widespread criticism from the medical community, parents, teachers, public school employees and others. The bill would prohibit anyone under 18 from receiving gender transition surgery or using puberty blockers for transitioning.

A Senate amendment would require a principal, vice principal or counselor to immediately notify a minors parent or legal guardian if the minors gender is inconsistent with his or her sex, requests a school employee to address the minor by a name other than the minors legal name or if a minor uses a pronoun or title that doesnt align with the minors sex.

A version of this amendment requiring parental notification was shot down in the House after multiple people, including one of the bills sponsors, Majority Leader Rep. Davey Hiott, R-Pickens, spoke against it.

Ill never apologize for standing up for our school teachers, Hiott said Jan. 17, when the House passed the bill, but voted against the amendment. This amendments important to me. At the end of the day, youre putting extra work on our public school teachers. My teachers back in Pickens County are great people. They make our community roll. Theyre teaching our young people. Were not teaching our young people.

The amendment was altered and added back in Senate Medical Affairs committee to require counselors, principals and vice principals alert parents.

The concern from educators stems from public school employees already having a number of responsibilities, and the added pressure to intervene in personal matters can be burdensome.

Patrick Kelley, teacher and lobbyist, said, under the proposed amendment, in theory, a teacher would have to report to an administrator or a counselor any of the three things identified in the amendment and then the principal or counselor would have to contact the parents, so teachers still would have unnecessary involvement.

Kelly said one of the most discouraging aspects of the amendment is the requirement for a principal or counselor to call home if a child requests to go by a nickname that is not a derivative of their name.

Ive taught for 19 years, Im pretty sure every year Ive had at least one student that is using a non-derivative nickname. Under this bill, the principals got to call home every year for that student at the start of the year. That is a waste of the principals time, thats a waste of the parents time.

The amendment was debated in the Senate on Wednesday afternoon, where Sen. Mike Fanning, D-Fairfield, said the section could create some heartburn for educators.

Fanning said as a former teacher, bubba, precious, booger, skeeter, mullet, drumstick, pudding, and more were nicknames that his students had him call them in school.

Im being serious, Fanning said. One fourth of the students that I have taught and in schools that I have been in use names that are not their names.

Sen. Richard Cash, R-Anderson, who is in favor or the bill, said students should be called by their names, and that parents usually wanted that anyway.

Kelley said schools are going to have to err on the side of caution to ensure they are in compliance with the law. Because the language in the bill is vague, it will create even more paperwork and unnecessary confusion, he added.

At the start of the year, weve got 100,000 things going on to make sure that kids are safe and that they are set up for academic success during the year. We wonder in this state why we have an educator shortage, yeah, its some big picture, big ticket items like salaries and like testing and like class size, but its also the proverbial 1,000 paper cuts from these one more things that we layer on top of teachers and administrators. We just dont need this.

Sherry East, President of the South Carolina Education Association, said the organization is concerned about multiple aspects of the bill, one of which is the perception that public school employees are hiding secrets from parents. They are already mandatory reporters, she added.

Another concern is the potential danger that could come to children. East said if a child was outed to their parents and they were kicked out, sent away to camps, physically harmed or even committed suicide, the root would have started from the administrators or teachers actions, which is another weight they shouldnt have to deal with.

What would that do? We dont want to go down that road, East said. We dont know what would happen if you misdiagnosed a child and then they were abused. Were really taught to stay away from those kinds of things. We definitely oppose that part of the bill.

East added that medical decisions should be between the child, parents and doctors, not the state. She said it was ironic that a majority of the members of a party that wants less government intervention were the ones pushing for the bill in the first place.

Every person, students and employees, deserve a safe place to go to school and work. And these attacks on the LGBT community are unwarranted and unnecessary. And we really need to focus on things that really matter in South Carolina such as academics, and get the culture wars out of our classroom.

If the bill passes as written, it would have to be sent back to the House for approval, since the Senate made changes in committee. If the House disagrees with these changes, the bill will head to conference.
State lawmakers took action on Thursday to get legislation that would provide teachers more flexibility and help tackle the teacher shortage signed into law before a legislative deadline.

The S.C. House of Representatives unanimously approved two bills that now include measures to give teachers more freedom to change jobs without running the risk of having their teaching certification suspended, among other measures meant to put more teachers into classrooms.

This weeks moves were meant to get the teaching measures passed into law before the Legislatures biannual session comes to an end next Thursday, at which point any pending bills that havent become law will die.

Last year, the state House passed a measure to ensure South Carolina teachers have greater contract flexibility by a 111-0 vote. The move came as teachers have called for change to strict rules that can leave teachers blackballed from classroom positions if they leave a teaching job early.

A review by The State found that 166 teachers had their certifications suspended last year, most for breaking a teacher contract because a spouse had to move for work or a relative experienced a health crisis.

The Educator Assistance Act would give teachers more ability to get out of a contract with a school district without facing a year-long suspension. But since its passage out of the House in 2023, the bill has failed to be taken up for action by the Senate.

So on Thursday, the House approved two other education-related bills that already passed the Senate: S.124 would create a pilot program for hiring non-certified teachers, while S.305 would count some prospective teachers prior work experience outside of education toward getting their certificate. But after action taken by the House Education and Public Works Committee, those bills now also include the full text of the Educator Assistance Act as well.

Were trying to give the Senate opportunities to reconsider, Rep. Shannon Erickson, R-Beaufort, said in introducing one of the bills on the floor Thursday. So we add the entirety to this bill as well.

Erickson is the chair of the education committee.

The amended bills will have to be reconciled with the Senate version to ultimately become law, but supporters of the Educator Assistance Act hope attaching them to bills that already have Senate approval will improve its chances of becoming law.

We dont want teachers to make a habit of flip-flopping, but this treats teachers as professionals, and give them a chance to explain their reasons and why they would leave, Erickson said on the House floor Thursday.

If ultimately passed into law this year in whatever form, the Educator Assistance Act bill would:

 Allow teachers to opt out of their contracts within 10 days of the publication of the districts salary schedule, which often comes after teachers have already signed their contracts for the next year;

 Limit the amount of time a school district has to report a breach and give the State Board of Education more flexibility in issuing suspensions;

 Move the starting date of a suspension from the date of the state boards action to the day a teacher quit, which would allow a suspended teacher to return to the classroom sooner;

 And cut the maximum suspension for a breach of contract from a year down to six months.
MSNBC host Joe Scarborough warned that the discourse surrounding demonstrations against the war in Gaza across college campuses are helping former President Trumps election chances.

Scarborough compared the current protests to those of the anti-war movement in the 1960s.

I remember my parents asking, what in the world is going on in this country? And of course, you know, they were raised in the Great Depression and rural Georgia, he said Thursday on Morning Joe, adding Kind of hard for them to hear rich kids on the campus of Harvard are taking over, or taking over campuses at Columbia.

The host continued, insisting the outrage the demonstrations are receiving from conservatives in America are helping Trump politically.

If youre offended by this, please, Im trying to help you, he said. I dont want Donald Trump to get elected. All right? Im trying to help you. If youre too stupid to figure that out, you can change to another channel.

The hosts comments were first highlighted by Mediaite.

The demonstrations have broken out in the wake of Israels ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands in the region since Hamass Oct. 7 attack.

Trump has suggested the demonstrations against the war have been treated more gently than those involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. He also made unfounded claims that earlier this week that Columbia Universitys protesters included paid agitators and called the interference by police a beautiful thing to watch.

Scarborough reiterated his belief that the continued demonstrations are not helping.

This is not helping the people of Gaza, he said. And this is not helping those of us who want to help fight fascism in America.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)  Lackawanna College and the University of Scranton have formed articulation agreements, which will make it easier for students to start at one school and easily transfer to another to finish their four-year degree.

The two schools have formed over 30 program articulation agreements, which provide degree-specific pathways allowing the credit transfer of Lackawanna College graduates to the University of Scranton to complete their bachelors degrees.

These agreements represent a new chapter for The University of Scranton, allowing us to grant access to a Jesuit education, through our liberal arts tradition, to a broader student demographic. This is at the core of our mission, creating pathways to our Catholic and Jesuit educational tradition for a diverse student body and providing financial support to students through our merit scholarships. This is a proud moment in the history of the University, allowing us to embody our founding mission to provide affordable educational opportunities to the Scranton community, said Dr. Michelle Maldonado, Ph.D., provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at The University of Scranton.

The articulation agreements were signed for 33 bachelors degree programs, including accounting, finance, operations management, history, political science, social media strategies, communication advertising, public relations and journalism and electronic media tracks, counseling, and human services, human resources and occupational therapy, among other degrees.

The number and variety of agreements represents the Universitys commitment to offer Lackawanna students an extensive portfolio of degree offerings, Dr. Maldonado added.

Gov. Shapiro addresses protests on college campuses

To be considered for the credit transfer, Lackawanna College students must earn their associates degree from Lackawanna with a minimum GPA of 2.75 and enroll at The University of Scranton within one year of their graduation date. They may not attend another institution between the time they graduate from Lackawanna College and their enrollment at the U of Scranton, and they must meet other requirements as specified.

A full-time student who has completed the appropriate associate degree program at Lackawanna may be able to complete a bachelors degree at the University within four regular semesters, except for programs with extended internship and clinical experience requirements.

Also, eligible Lackawanna College students will have the opportunity to earn nine credits at Scranton while attending Lackawanna at one-half of the university tuition rate.

Lackawanna College graduates with a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or greater accepted into a degree program through a program-specific articulation agreement at Scranton, will be eligible for a University of Scranton merit scholarship with a minimum award of $20,000 per academic year for full-time students matriculating at the University. Non-traditional students enrolled through these programs at Scranton on a part-time basis may also be eligible for a merit scholarship. The merit scholarship is in addition to any need-based financial awards for which students may also qualify.

Merit scholarships may be renewed to students who maintain a minimum cumulative University GPA of 2.50 and meet other eligibility requirements.

For more information about the articulation agreements, visit Lackawanna Colleges website or call 570-961-7898 or visit The University of Scrantons website or call 1-888-SCRANTON.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PAhomepage.com.
A scroll for the king, a website for the people: Coronation document to be released digitally

Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla are shown Coronation Rolls of previous monarchs after being presented with their own Coronation Roll, an official record of their Coronation, at Buckingham Palace, central London, Wednesday May 1, 2024. King Charles III gaped at the 70-foot-long (21.4-meter) hand-lettered scroll as it was presented to him earlier this week at Buckingham Palace, thanking the artisans who produced the document that serves as the official record of his coronation almost a year ago. (Victoria Jones/PA via AP)

LONDON (AP)  It is a record fit for a king, but its going online for everyone to see.

King Charles III gaped at the 70-foot-long (21.4-meter) hand-lettered scroll as it was presented to him earlier this week at Buckingham Palace, thanking the artisans who produced the document that serves as the official record of his coronation almost a year ago.

Known as the Coronation Roll, the document is the latest edition in a tradition that stretches back to the coronation of Edward II in 1308. But for the first time ever, a digital version of Charles scroll will be available to view online beginning Friday.

Thank you very much, Charles told heraldic artist Tim Noad and calligrapher Stephanie Gill, who worked on the project for 56 days straight. I cannot tell you how grateful I am.

The scroll, which consists of 56 pages stitched together by hand and contains about 11,600 words, is the first to be printed on paper, rather than vellum, reflecting the kings views on animal welfare. Vellum, made from animal skins, was long prized for manuscripts because of its texture and durability.

The document gives a detailed description of the coronation ceremony on May 6, 2023, from the procession into Westminster Abbey, to the anointing and crowning of the king, as well as a list of all those who took part and the official guests.

The online presentation includes a video and photos from the event, together with interviews with some of the participants, such as Penny Mordaunt, who as lord president of the Privy Council held the sword of state throughout much of the two-hour ceremony.

The physical scroll will be stored at the National Archives, alongside the 17 historic Coronation Rolls that have survived.

Originally, they captured who came, what claims they had to perform at the service at the coronation; this is all part of establishing that relationship between the King and the leading subjects, said Sean Cunningham, head of medieval records at the National Archives. So the new roll is kind of the final version of this, in that it takes elements of those earlier allegiances, oaths and homages and incorporates a kind of narrative story of what happened on the day.

When the document was unrolled for the king to inspect on Wednesday, Queen Camilla peered at it and said: Goodness me, I wont attempt to read it without my specs.

Charles, who noted that past rolls were written in Latin and French, replied: At least its in English.

___

www.coronationroll.gov.uk
SULLIVAN COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL)  A Virginia man has been arrested after he allegedly scammed a Sullivan County resident out of more than $130,000 and convinced the victim to empty her bank account.

According to a news release from the Sullivan County Sheriffs Office (SCSO), the victim contacted investigators on April 8 to tell them of the scam. She said she had been online shopping on April 4 when she received a pop-up message on her screen telling her she should contact Microsoft due to illegal activity on her computer.

Pratts BBQ property listed for sale

The release states the victim called the provided number and was told child pornography was on her computer and that she had to pay to have it removed. The victim bought and provided the information for $900 worth of Apple gift cards that night as the scammer requested.

She was reportedly told it would be $4,000 to completely fix the issue but that she could resolve it all the next morning.

On April 5, she was called by another person telling her she needed to provide information for another $3,000 in gift cards to settle the balance. The victim bought and shared the requested card information that day.

The SCSO reports that after the victim provided the information, she was told her bank account had been compromised and she would have to withdraw all of its contents in order for her account to be encrypted.

A scammer allegedly told her someone would pick up the withdrawn money from her and that a new account would be made and the funds deposited.

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The victim reportedly went to multiple bank branches and withdrew $130,000 while the scammers stayed on the phone with her, telling her to say she was buying a vehicle if anyone asked.

On April 6, a man arrived at the victims home to get the withdrawn money, according to the SCSO. She gave it to him, and he left on foot. She noticed, however, that the man went a few streets over and got into a gray vehicle that left the area after.

After the SCSO was notified of the scam, patrol deputies told investigators they had answered a call in the area on April 6 about a suspicious gray BMW. The driver was then identified as Hang Zhan, 29, of Glen Allen, Virginia.

The victim identified Zhan as the man shed given the $130,000 to.

The SCSO obtained an arrest warrant, charging Zhan with theft of property over $60,000, financial exploitation of an elderly or vulnerable person and fraud. Virginia State Police found Zhan during an April 16 traffic stop and arrested him.

A spokesperson for the SCSO told News Channel 11 that as of Thursday, none of the stolen money had been recovered. However, investigators are still actively working the case and are attempting to determine if others were involved in the scam.

As of Thursday, Zhan is being held in the Prince William  Manassas Regional Adult Detention Center while awaiting extradition to Sullivan County.

Sullivan County Sheriff Jeff Cassidy provided a statement on the arrest:

We take the financial exploitation of senior citizens very seriously and will seek swift justice in these cases. Our older residents are the most vulnerable, and scammers do not hesitate to use fear tactics to get what they want. Most of those victimized have worked their entire lives for what they have and are left to struggle financially due to these criminals. I want to encourage residents to speak with their elderly relatives and neighbors regarding these types of scams and make sure they call law enforcement immediately if they feel they are being targeted. Sullivan County Sheriff Jeff Cassidy

The investigation was still ongoing as of Thursday. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, United States Secret Service, United States Marshals Service and Homeland Security Investigations assisted the SCSO in the case.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather.
Six out of ten Uruguayans prefer to invest more in the rehabilitation of inmates and their social reintegration than in allocating money for the construction of more prisons, a recent issue of Prison Insider, an Uruguayan publication, stated. But at the same time, only one in four see it possible to rehabilitate all or, at least, most of the people who commit crimes, according to a study on Justice, Prisons and Rehabilitation.

Yet, an evangelical ministry seeks to help change attitudes as they bring hope and spiritual freedom to prisoners  and the impact has been remarkable.

Unit 7 of Uruguay's National Rehabilitation Institute (INR) is known as the Canelones Prison. For its director Ana German, there is no them and us. It is all of us. The difference? The country's penitentiary ministry allowed the construction of a chapel inside the prison and a group of evangelical Christians regularly visit and provide spiritual counseling to the inmates.

The effort is led by Pastor Eduardo Vignoli, accompanied by his sons, Pablo and Juan, all of whom are leaders in the Uruguayan pastoral ministry. The Vignoli family is considered the spiritual authority in charge of chaplaincy to those who have been deprived of liberty. And thanks to their work, there is now a place of worship within the prison.

We started in February 2002. But there have always been brothers who have been interested in this ministry, Vignoli told Diario Cristiano, Christian Daily Internationals Spanish edition. The Prison Fellowship has brothers from different congregations working in all the penitentiary units of the country. There are about 33 in total. There are churches that take care of the 'liberated' who have made a decision for Christ in the prisons.

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The pastor remarked that "the director of the INR, on which the prisons and penitentiaries depend, firmly believes in and supports the work of the churches. There is a protocol of religious attention in the prisons drafted by the different religious expressions and approved by the INR, which endorses spiritually accompanying and assisting the inmates.

Within the premises of the Canelones Prison, there is a simple church with the necessary facilities to hold meetings, some private spaces for counseling, and a place where inmates can worship God together. From the beginning of the construction of the church, the response from and relationship with the prison authorities has been very good. And it continues to be excellent with the current leadership of the Unit, says Vignoli, who took the lead in requesting the construction of the prison church.

The chaplain says that the land was obtained with the Ministry of the Interior, through the Division of Architecture and with the authorization of the director at that time, who was a great promoter of the project. Brethren from the churches and inmates participated in obtaining the money. A miracle that is still unexplainable. There was no contribution from the outside.

Vignoli adds that they started with a few coins, and highlights that several inmates learned the construction trade as they helped build the church. And today several of them make a living as bricklayers.

The general population, those in construction trades, and others looked at it positively and supported the work in various ways. The older officials viewed it with skepticism and some apprehension. The inmates were curious," the pastor recalls.

Asked how he relates to the prison population, Vignoli emphasizes that the work he does as chaplain is very personal and that he simply invites the inmate to have a better life. He explains to them that the prison is not the place for them and so Jesus is presented as the one who can help them in their situation. If he accepts that, he is invited to approach a real church or participate in rehabilitation groups.

Families, too, are approached sensitively, if and when those who remain in confinement request it. To the extent that they allow it, we work with the inmates families wherever possible. If he has family and if they accept him, we work with them towards restoring broken relationships, Vignoli says.

The total population currently held in the Canelones Prison is approximately 1,000 men, although officially it is only prepared for about 800. This is something that prison authorities and the ministry have some disagreements about.

Although they didnt specify the exact number of people who attend the evangelical service, the ministry says that members of the spiritual ministry led by Vignoli visit all those who have agreed to receive spiritual help at least once a week. We go on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, each day a different group, but coordinated. During the week we see practically everyone once and some of them twice, says the pastor.

In the rehabilitation of the inmates, the shift to seeing themselves as a dignified person is a process that often requires changes that they themselves do not want to address, Vignoli explains.

But when they manage to cross those boundaries, they understand that Jesus came to them so that they may have life and have it in abundance, even inside the prison serving a sentence as a result of their sinful acts, for which they are no longer condemned by God.

There are those who have already come to enjoy a spiritual freedom that only God can offer to human beings, and there are those who are in the process of getting to know what this freedom is all about, he says.Originally published in Spanish on Diario Cristiano
A sea of law enforcement was seen filing into a Methuen funeral home on Thursday afternoon to pay their respects to fallen Billerica Police Sergeant Ian Taylor.

Aerial video showed hundreds of police officers walking in a single-file line into Cataudella Funeral Home on Pleasant Valley Street at 2 p.m. Public calling hours will follow from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.

A police escort will transport Sgt. Taylor from the funeral home to St. Patrick Parish in Lawrence for a funeral service on Friday morning.

Taylor, 49, was struck by an excavator while helping to move a large tractor-trailer at a roadside construction site at the intersection of Boston Road and Pollard Road on April 26, authorities said.

Taylor was rushed to Lahey Hospital in Burlington, where he was pronounced dead.

Billerica Police Chief Roy Frost said that Taylor was a 21-year law enforcement veteran and had been with the department since 2011.

Sergeant Taylors life made an impact while he was here, Frost said after Taylors passing. His life had meaning. Hes helped so many people. Hes saved so many people. His life had an impact, it had meaning and Im proud to have had him working for me here in Billerica.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration confirmed earlier this week that it has launched an investigation into N. Granese & Sons, Inc., the general contractor linked to the construction accident.

Facts and circumstances surrounding the deadly incident remain under investigation by Massachusetts State Police troopers assigned to Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryans Office and Billerica police.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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Search underway for critically missing teenager last seen on Forrest Road

COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL)  The Columbus Police Department is asking for the publics help with finding a missing teenager.

Police say Leroy Strong III, 15, was last seen in the 5000 block of Forrest Road on Thursday at about 1 p.m.

MISSING: Search underway for man last seen near Milgen and Flat Rock Road

According to police, Strong was last seen wearing green Jordans, grey pants and a black hoodie.

Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or Cpl. Zaman at (706) 587-7158.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WRBL.
SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage)  On the morning of May 2, a criminal search warrant was issued near the area of San Jacinto Elementary.

According to Tom Green County Sheriff Nick Hanna, the scene is secure and there is no threat to the public.

San Jacinto Elementary was made aware of the search warrant being conducted by the Texas Department of Public Safety, FBI and the TGSO due to the suspects residence being near the school.

Sheriff Hanna explained appropriate precautions were taken and the scene was secure.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ConchoValleyHomepage.com.
A former quality auditor who accused a Boeing supplier of ignoring manufacturing defects on the 737 Max jetliner died Tuesday at age 45.

Joshua Dean had alleged that he was fired in April 2023 for bringing up poor standards at Spirit AeroSystems manufacturing plant in Wichita, Kansas. He died following a sudden illness, The Seattle Times first reported Wednesday.

Dean had developed a fast-spreading bacterial infection, MRSA, and was hospitalized before his death. Deans aunt, Carol Parsons, shared a Facebook post with a message from Deans mother, dated Monday, that said his condition was deteriorating.

His lungs are totally whited out from infection, the mothers message said. Josh is very depressed, frightened, and doing a lot of sleeping and not responding as much as he was a few days ago and has not been on any sedation or pain meds.

Dean filed a complaint with the Labor Department following his termination from Spirit last year, alleging that he was fired in retaliation for raising safety concerns. He alleged that mechanics were improperly drilling holes in the aft pressure bulkhead of the Max, and that management didnt take his complaints seriously, according to The Seattle Times.

In this March 27, 2019, photo taken with a fisheye lens, a Max 8 airplane sits on the assembly line during a media tour at Boeing's 737 assembly facility in Renton, Washington. Ted S. Warren via Associated Press

Dean gave a deposition and filed a complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration alleging serious and gross misconduct by senior quality management of the 737 production line at Spirit AeroSystems.

News of Deans death comes as Boeing faces criticism followingmultiplereports of plane failures.

So far this year, there have been over 40 incidents, accidents and occurrences involving Boeing planes, according to the National Transportation Safety Boards Case Analysis and Reporting Online tool. However, that number nearly matches the data for the same period in 2023, and experts say that Boeings issues arent actually on the rise.

Dean is now the second Boeing whistleblower to die this year. In March, former Boeing employee John Barnett, 62, was found dead in his car from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Barnett, who was a quality control engineer before retiring in 2017, had been testifying in a deposition against Boeing prior to his death. In a 2019 interview with The New York Times, Barnett alleged that he found metal shavings hanging over wiring that commands the Boeing 787 Dreamliners flight controls, putting the wires at risk of catastrophic injury during flight.

Barnetts attorneys, Robert Turkewitz and Brian Knowles, told HuffPost at the time of his death that the case was nearing the end.

He was in very good spirits and really looking forward to putting this phase of his life behind him and moving on, the attorneys said in a statement. We didnt see any indication he would take his own life. No one can believe it.

Knowles and Turkewitz also represented Dean.

Whistleblowers are needed. They bring to light wrongdoing and corruption in the interests of society. It takes a lot of courage to stand up, Knowles said this week in a statement to The Seattle Times. Its a difficult set of circumstances. Our thoughts now are with Johns family and Joshs family.

Last month, another former Boeing employee who worked on the companys 787 Dreamliner went public with claims that the planes fuselage could fall apart midflight.

I literally saw people jumping on the pieces of the airplane to get them to align, whistleblower Sam Salehpour told reporters on a call. Thats not how you build a plane.

Salehpour alleged that after bringing his concerns to management, he was transferred to another division. In a statement to HuffPost at the time, the Federal Aviation Administration said that it was thoroughly looking into Salehpours complaint.
Joshua Dean, a former quality auditor at Spirit AeroSystems, tragically died due to an infection. He raised concerns about defects in Boeing 737 Max parts, leading to his termination.

Dean's passing follows Boeing whistleblower John Barnett's death, which is currently under investigation for alleged suicide.

The passing of the two whistleblowers within a short period has raised eyebrows among people online, with many suspecting foul play.

Boeing Whistleblower Joshua Dean Dies Of Infection

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Dean, 45, passed away on Tuesday morning after battling a sudden and aggressive infection.

Reports by the Seattle Times suggest that Dean, who had been in good health until recently, was admitted to the hospital about two weeks ago with a mysterious illness and had tested positive for influenza B, MRSA, and pneumonia.

Despite efforts to save him, including intubation, dialysis, and airlifting to another hospital in Oklahoma City, his condition deteriorated rapidly. Doctors even considered the possibility of amputating his hands and feet due to severe infection, which had turned them black.

His family, along with medical professionals, were left baffled by the sudden onset and severity of his illness, with his sister-in-law, Kristen Dean, writing on Facebook, "He is in the worst condition I have ever known or heard of. Even the hospital agrees."

Sadly, Joshua Dean succumbed to his condition on Tuesday morning.

Netizens Are Alarmed By The Shocking Death

#BREAKING: Another Boeing whistleblower Joshua Dean dies suddenly after accusing supplier of ignoring safety flaws in 737 Max production. pic.twitter.com/LP2SDu4HG7  War Intel (@warintel4u) May 2, 2024

Over on X, social media users were stunned by the news of Dean's death shortly after Barnett's passing. Several wondered about the coincidence of two Boeing whistleblowers dying within the space of two months.

One person wrote, "Just to be clear, flying is still statistically 10,000 times safer than being a Boeing whistleblower."

Another said, "If I had a nickel for every time a Boeing whistleblower mysteriously died, I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice."



A third person noted, "Another Boeing whistleblower has died suddenly. Two expert witnesses trying to hold Boeing accountable have now died suddenly in less than two months. Does anyone else find this strange?"

Joshua Dean Called Out Defects In Boeing 737 Max Planes

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After joining Spirit Aerosystems in 2019 as a quality auditor, Dean raised concerns about defects in parts for Boeing 737 Max planes, specifically improperly drilled bulkhead holes. Despite bringing the issue to management's attention, no action was taken, and Dean felt his concerns were dismissed.

Unfortunately, his dedication to addressing the drilling problem caused him to overlook another issue involving fittings between the vertical tail fin and the fuselage, which was later discovered and led to his termination less than a year later.

In an interview with NPR following his firing, Dean speculated: "I think they were sending out a message to anybody else. If you are too loud, we will silence you."

Eventually, Spirit Aerosystems acknowledged the issues Dean had raised, but not before they caused delays in Boeing manufacturing plants.

Joshua Dean: 'At Spirit, If You Cause Too Much Noise, You Will Be Moved'

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According to the New York Post, Dean, who testified that he and fellow workers were instructed to downplay identified problems, took further action by filing a complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration, alleging he was made a scapegoat in Spirit's efforts to conceal Boeing production issues.

Additionally, in November 2023, he lodged a complaint with the Department of Labor for wrongful termination, a case that remained unresolved at the time of his untimely passing.

His assertions gained support from a former colleague following a January incident involving a door hatch detaching from a Boeing 737 Max 9 during an Alaska Airlines flight.

Dean explained to the Wall Street Journal: "It is known at Spirit that if you make too much noise and cause too much trouble, you will be moved. It doesn't mean you completely disregard stuff, but they don't want you to find everything and write it up."

Attorney Brian Knowles Notes That 'Society Does Not Need People In Fear To Speak Up'

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Dean's tragic death comes less than two months after Boeing whistleblower John Barnett passed away from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in March.

Barnett's death remains under investigation by local authorities, prompted by concerns raised by his legal team, who expressed disbelief and called for a thorough inquiry, noting that they "didn't see any indication he would take his own life  no one can believe it."

Brian Knowles, the attorney representing both Barnett and Dean, emphasized the significance of Dean's contributions to aviation safety and lamented his loss, stating to The Time: "Josh's passing is a loss to the aviation community and the flying public. He possessed tremendous courage to stand up for what he felt was true and right and raised quality and safety issues."

When asked about the speculation surrounding the consecutive deaths of his clients, Knowles stressed the importance of "evidence" from "investigating authorities," noting that "What society does not need is people in fear to speak up."
Law enforcement officers exposed a perpetrator who was feeding information about the location of Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel and equipment in the Kramatorsk district to the Russians.

Source: Prosecutor General's Office; Security Service of Ukraine (SSU)

Quote from SSU: "During counter-sabotage measures, an enemy informant who tracked the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kramatorsk district was detained.

He received the task from militants of the Russian private military company Wagner, which is now part of the regular troops of the aggressor country."

Details: Following the investigation, in autumn 2023, a resident of a village in Donetsk Oblast agreed to work for the Russians. They remotely contacted him through the perpetrator's ex-wife, who now lives in Russia.

The man informed her about the deployment of personnel and equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the territory of Kramatorsk and its surroundings. In addition, he indicated the area where he saw combat aircraft flying.

In addition, on the instructions of the Wagner mercenaries, the perpetrator had to identify and send them the exact coordinates of the airfields where the Ukrainian military helicopters were based. The Russians planned to use this information to prepare for combat operations on the Kramatorsk and Sloviansk fronts.

To gather the intelligence, the man walked around the area on foot and covertly took photographs of the territory. During the search, a mobile phone with evidence of intelligence and subversive activities in favour of Russia was seized from the detainee.

Law enforcement officers served the man a notice of suspicion. He is currently in custody, facing up to 8 years in prison.

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Drug cartels and human traffickers arent the only people dodging border patrol officers these days in southern New Mexico. The states cannabis businesses  which operate legally under state law  are also desperately trying to evade border checkpoints.

Thats because U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers have seized more than $300,000 of state-licensed cannabis in New Mexico in the last two months. These seizures occurred at border patrol checkpoints, some of which lie as far as 80 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border.

The crackdown has created tension between the Biden administration and Democratic Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham  who championed marijuana legalization and touted it as an economic boon for the state. The enforcement actions are occurring as the Justice Department is preparing to loosen federal restrictions on marijuana, which would mark the biggest liberalization of drug policy in more than half a century.

It doesn't feel like this really has anything to do with what their role is, said Ben Lewinger, executive director of the New Mexico Cannabis Chamber of Commerce. They're supposed to detain people entering the country illegally, and then detain narcotics and other dangerous items also entering the country illegally.

The wave of seizures mark a clear departure from long-standing federal policy, wherein law enforcement officials have largely taken a hands-off approach to enforcement in the 38 states that have legalized medical or recreational cannabis possession in conflict with federal law.

Cannabis growers and producers residing south of the checkpoints are now scrambling to find ways to get their product north. Some have discussed moving their operations north to Albuquerque, the states largest city. Others are using tactics to bypass checkpoints that originate in a time when the cannabis world was still entirely off the books. And still others are looking to the skies: considering drone transport for small amounts of product.

In a recent phone conversation with an unnamed senior Biden administration official, Lujan Grisham called Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas response to the crackdown inappropriate. In audio of the call, which was recorded by a third party and posted on X, the governor also pushed the official  its unclear which branch of the federal government they work for  to take action.

Either you have to adjust it or I have to send you a letter saying youre persecuting the states, you are not using your discretion, youre not working with me on immigration, said Lujan Grisham, whose office confirmed the authenticity of the recording but would not identify the administration official. And I dont want to send that letter, but Im boxed in.

A spokesperson for Customs and Border Protection acknowledged that some states have legalized marijuana, but told POLITICO that because it remains illegal under federal law, individuals violating the Controlled Substances Act encountered while crossing the border, arriving at a U.S. port of entry, or at a Border Patrol checkpoint may be deemed inadmissible and/or subject to, seizure, fines, and/or arrest.

Las Cruces is at the intersection of two highways, about an hour north of El Paso, Texas. There are CBP checkpoints along U.S. Route 70 to the east, I-10 to the west and I-25 to the north  according to local companies whove been stopped along those routes. At least 15 licensed cannabis producers in the southern part of the state have lost product at CBP checkpoints along these highways, according to data gathered by a coalition of operators in the southern part of the state.

POLITICO was recently given the audio of a discussion between a cannabis business owner and a CBP agent at a stop on U.S. Route 70  east of Las Cruces.

Weve been instructed to seize all cannabis  all illegal products  going in this direction, the CBP officer can be heard telling Rob Duran, founding partner of Head Space  a cannabis company based in Las Cruces. When Duran repeatedly reminds the officer that cannabis is legal in New Mexico, the officer does not acknowledge state law and brings the conversation back to federal law.

The fact is that I have a federal job to do, the officer says. Marijuana is federally illegal.

Congress has given CBP powers within a border zone that stretches 100 miles inland from the border, all the way around the country. Nine of the nations 10 largest cities lie within that border zone, according to Harpers Magazine. Federal law gives CBP officials the power to stop individuals  including American citizens  and search them and seize their belongings without a warrant in that zone.

This entire border zone thing really has no statutory basis, said Patrick Eddington, a senior fellow focused on homeland security and civil liberties at libertarian think tank the Cato Institute, which has been joined by the ACLU in opposing the enforcement authority given to federal officials at such checkpoints. The whole border zone is based essentially on administrative fiat that the federal government has engagement in since the 1950s.

Cannabis producers south of the checkpoints are hustling to find a solution. In order to keep their businesses rolling, producers are falling back on pre-legalization tactics to ensure the safe delivery of their product. One such strategy involves sending multiple lead cars through a checkpoint before the shipment van, to see if the checkpoint is currently stopping vehicles. They also have opted to run deliveries late at night or very early in the morning, when the checkpoints are closed.

It's nothing super advanced, Lewinger said. It's kind of what was happening at the very beginning of the medical days, or even in the illicit days.

He adds he wouldn't be surprised if people are maybe paying off officers.

Businesses have also discussed more extreme options.

When POLITICO first began speaking to industry members late last week, there were plans to push the state government to change regulations in order to allow private pilots to fly cannabis over the checkpoints into northern New Mexico. Part of the impetus for this idea was stories of pilots doing the same in Alaska. However, this plan could run them into hot water with the Federal Aviation Administration.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit on April 22 upheld the decision of the FAA to strip an Alaska pilot and cannabis farm owner  James Fejes  of his pilots license after he delivered cannabis a handful of times via plane to remote parts of Alaska.

In the petition, Fejes argued that the FAA could not strip his licensed because the federal government cant regulate purely intrastate commerce. The three-judge panel, however, rejected Fejes argument and his petition for reinstatement, determining that Congress regulates all airspace.

Now, Lewinger tells POLITICO, the state is no longer open to changing the rules to permit delivery by plane. The producers airborne plans are now limited to drones  which could be used to transport small amounts of cannabis to testing facilities.

Testing is a state licensing requirement, but there are no testing facilities in the Las Cruces area. Companies in the south of the state have to send off small samples  usually about five grams  to testing facilities on the other side of the checkpoints. Even that small amount can be confiscated, and has been on at least one occasion, according to Lewinger.

Lewinger said some companies are having a harder time getting the testing required by state law  which would put companies out of compliance and could potentially harm consumers. But a short drone flight may be able to move the small samples for testing past a checkpoint.

An act of the federal government would be the fastest way to ensure state-licensed cannabis businesses do not experience seizures of regulated cannabis.

The office of Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.), a former Las Cruces councilmember, said he requested a briefing with DHS on the issue, and Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) questioned the use of federal resources to seize cannabis.

Stopping the flow of illicit fentanyl into our country should be the Department of Homeland Securitys focus at these checkpoints, not seizing cannabis thats being transported in compliance with state law, Heinrich told POLITICO in a statement. Our resources should be used to maximize residents safety, not distract from it.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), the top Republican on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, sent a letter to Senate HELP Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on Thursday urging him to convene a hearing on the uptick in antisemitism on college campuses.



Cassidys letter, obtained exclusively by Jewish Insider, marks the second time in six months that the Louisiana senator has written to Sanders requesting that he allow for a full committee hearing on ensuring safe learning environments for Jewish students, as required by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Cassidy released a statement last week re-upping his call for a hearing, though he told JI that effort got no response.



It is our duty to ensure federal officials are doing everything in their power to uphold the law and ensure students are not excluded from participation, denied the benefits of, or subject to discrimination at school based on race, color, or national origin, Cassidy wrote to Sanders. In the six months since my last letter requesting a hearing, the situation has only gotten worse.





Sanders step Bernie Sanders declined to call hearing on campus antisemitism, GOP senator claims Read more

Cassidy asked that Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and Catherine Lhamon, the Department of Educations assistant secretary for civil rights, be invited to testify, saying that the committee must engage in a direct discussion with both about the actions they are taking to address antisemitism on college campuses.



Cassidy also noted that there has been bipartisan interest in this issue, pointing to the strong attendance from HELP members on both sides of the aisle to the roundtable he hosted on the matter last November.



This issue certainly demands the full Committees direct attention and engagement from the Senate-confirmed Department of Education officials we oversee, Cassidy said.



The Republican senator, who is a frequent participant in bipartisan policy efforts, referenced Columbia Universitys campus being overrun last month by an anti-Israel encampment where dozens of antisemitic incidents were reported. He also noted the subsequent encampments popping up on university campuses across the country and the uptick in antisemitic activity.



Since I requested a hearing last week, the antisemitism on college campuses is worsening. I am sending a second letter to again ask the HELP Chairman to call a hearing to address antisemitic attacks and harassment of Jewish students, Cassidy told JI in a statement. It is the Committees responsibility to hold schools and the Department of Education accountable for the safe learning environment of all students. Now is the time for vigorous Committee action.



While Republicans have generally been more vocal about their concerns on the issue of antisemitism on college campuses, there have been bipartisan calls for action in the upper chamber.



Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and James Lankford (R-OK) have also asked Sanders to hold a hearing on antisemitism on college campuses in his capacity as HELP chairman. Similar to Cassidy, they have also not heard back from the Vermont senator.



Asked by JI in the Capitol on Wednesday about organizing a hearing about antisemitism on college campuses, Sanders replied that, Well, the issue of bigotry on campus is something that we are concerned about before abruptly entering a senators-only elevator.



Cassidy told JI in November that Sanders had declined to call a hearing on campus antisemitism, so he instead organized a bipartisan roundtable on the issue, which the HELP chairman did not attend.



For his part, Sanders delivered a Senate floor speech on Wednesday largely expressing support for anti-Israel protests on college campuses and rejecting many of the accusations of antisemitism leveled at anti-Israel demonstrators.



Protesting injustice and expressing our opinions is part of our American tradition. And when you talk about America being a free country, whether you like it or not the right to protest is what American freedom is all about. Thats the U.S. Constitution, Sanders said.



I share those concerns about violence on campuses, or, for that matter, any place else, and I condemn those who threw a brick through a window at Columbia University. That kind of violence should not be taking place on college campuses, he continued. I am also concerned and condemn the group of individuals at UCLA in California who violently attacked the peaceful encampment of anti-war demonstrators on the campus of UCLA.



Let me be clear: I condemn all forms of violence on campus whether they are committed by people who support Israels war efforts or those who oppose those policies, Sanders said before pivoting to his issues with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus handling of the war in Gaza.



Sanders office did not respond to JIs subsequent requests for comment on the matter, nor did they respond to a request for comment on Cassidys letter. A spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) also declined to comment on whether he believes a hearing on antisemitism is needed.



Marc Rod contributed to this report.




Image: Adobe Stock

The state Senate moved quickly to pass legislation requiring local sheriffs to hold people they arrest at the request of federal immigration agents.

Republicans supporting the bill say requiring sheriffs to hold people they arrest and whose legal status they cannot determine for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to pick up would make communities safer. Opponents said such a requirement would make crime victims afraid to call police.

Sheriffs compliance with ICE detainers became an issue about six years ago after candidates for sheriff who said they would not comply with ICE detainers won office in some of the states urban counties.

Republicans say that the legislation was based in their opposition to the policies of a few sheriffs, those Sen. Buck Newton of Wilson called stubborn, hard-headed sheriffs who didnt want to work with ICE.

Republican legislators in 2019 and 2022 pushed bills requiring sheriffs to hold people they arrested in jail if ICE requested it. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed both bills, and Republican leaders did not try to override those vetoes. This year, Republicans have enough votes to negate Coopers vetoes, giving it a much better chance of becoming law.

And this year, the issue is entangled with national politics, the presidential election, and public concerns about illegal crossings at the southern border.

Sheriffs are already required to try to determine the legal status of people they arrest and tell ICE. Sheriffs are not required to hold people thought to be in the country illegally for 48 hours to give federal agents time to pick them up. The bill would make 48-hour ICE hold mandatory for people arrested for certain crimes.

The bills opponents rallied in Raleigh on Wednesday to deliver the message that the bill would lead to racial profiling and discourage undocumented people from contacting the police, NC Newsline reported.

To us, it just sends a message of hate, it sends a message of racism, El Pueblo executive director Iliana Santillan said in a radio interview with NC Newsline editor Rob Schofield.

In Thursdays Senate debate, Sen. Mujtaba Mohammed, a Mecklenburg County Democrat, argued that the bill would allow criminal defendants to evade prosecution in our state courts, and violate a victims rights constitutional amendment and the promise that victims would be notified about court proceedings.

Republicans sidelined an amendment that would have allowed victims or their families to have a say in whether a defendant is transferred to ICE custody, with a district judge deciding if a sheriff should comply with a detainer request. The amendment would also have also set aside $10 million in grant funds to compensate sheriffs offices for complying with the law, and $15 million for the Crime Victims Compensation Fund.

Sen. Danny Britt, a Lumberton Republican, said no victims rights groups have ever raised these questions.

The Senate passed the bill with a vote of 28-16. The House passed the bill last year, but must take at least one more vote before the bill goes to Cooper.

The post Senate approves bill requiring sheriffs honor federal immigration requests to hold people in jail appeared first on NC Newsline.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla., May 02, 2024--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Big Bend Hospice (BBH) and Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare (TMH) announced a partnership today to improve patient navigation within the healthcare system. This collaboration aims to streamline transitions between hospitals, doctor's offices, rehabilitation centers, and home care. The signing of the Affiliation Agreement creates a governance structure that will develop a transformative approach to improving transitions of care in the Big Bend community.

Transitions of care involve a patient's movement between healthcare settings, such as doctor's offices, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, long-term care, home health, hospice, etc. This partnership establishes a network of connected healthcare services, creating a seamless patient journey regardless of specific needs.

TMH offers existing home-based healthcare services, while BBH is a hospice and palliative care leader. Combining expertise allows BBH and TMH to provide a more comprehensive and patient-centered approach to healthcare across the Big Bend region.

The ultimate goal is improved patient outcomes. Working together, BBH and TMH can offer a broader range of in-home services, including physical therapy, chronic disease management, and hospice care. This integrated approach can improve overall health and potentially reduce hospital stays.

By leveraging the strengths of both organizations, the partnership will expand access to high-quality in-home care for families across the Big Bend region, with a particular focus on supporting those in rural communities.

"Meeting the healthcare needs of our region necessitates strategic alliances," said Mark OBryant, President & CEO of Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare. "We are proud to partner with Big Bend Hospice to develop innovative care models that allow people to receive excellent care at home, where they feel most comfortable."

This partnership will expand its offerings over time, finding ways to collaborate with other providers to meet the unique needs of local communities. BBH and TMH will jointly provide strategic guidance, with Big Bend Hospice leading operations, business development, and clinical programming.

"Big Bend Hospice has over 40 years of providing 24/7 in-home care and hospice services to the communities in Franklin, Gadsden, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Taylor, and Wakulla counties, "said Bill Wertman, CEO of Big Bend Hospice. "We look forward to leveraging our expertise in home-based care while continuing to provide the compassionate care our community has come to know us for."

Story continues

The partnership has already achieved success in opening the First Commerce Center for Compassionate Care (FCCCC), a new inpatient hospice unit at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital. Read more here.

Big Bend Hospice and TMH also look forward to growing and providing critically needed services in Panama City Beach. TMH, the St. Joe Company, and Florida State University are partnering on a new campus in Panama City Beach.

The expert care teams at BBH and TMH are dedicated to quality, compassionate care that extends throughout a patients life, ensuring they receive the proper care in the right place at the right time.

About Big Bend Hospice:

Big Bend Hospice (BBH) is a more than 40-year-old nonprofit agency and leading provider of end-of-life care. We expertly serve the following eight counties in the Big Bend area of Florida: Franklin, Gadsden, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Taylor, and Wakulla. Our entire team is fully committed to providing comprehensive and compassionate care that meets the needs of the whole patient and family. For more information, call 850-878-5310 or visit bigbendhospice.org.

About Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare

Founded in 1948, Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare (TMH) is a private, nonprofit community healthcare system committed to transforming care, advancing health and improving lives with an ultimate vision to elevate the standards of healthcare practice, quality and innovation in the region. Serving a 21-county area in North Florida and South Georgia, TMH is comprised of a 772-bed acute care hospital, a surgery and adult ICU center, a psychiatric hospital, multiple specialty care centers, three residency programs and 38 affiliated physician practices. For more information, visit TMH.ORG.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240502629185/en/

Contacts

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Stephanie Derzypolski

Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare

850-228-3799

Stephanie.Derzypolski@TMH.ORG

Erica Schrag

Big Bend Hospice

850-756-7204

ESchrag@BigBendHospice.ORG
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR)  Three months after a cyber-attack on Change Healthcare exposed patients personal health records, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) criticized UnitedHealth for failing to have two levels of security on all servers.

There was a cyber security failure, Wyden said.

UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty apologized for the cyber-attack on their subsidiary and assured lawmakers they are working to address this.

We will not rest, I will not rest, until we fix this, Witty said.

The hack impacted millions of Americans as UnitedHealth Group shut down Change Healthcares systems, cutting off access to hospitals, healthcare providers, and pharmacies.

All of our core systems are up and fully functional, Witty said.

But Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) says providers in her home state are struggling, as they are still waiting to be paid.

It is like you all cant figure this out, Blackburn said.

UnitedHealth is a monopoly on steroids, said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)

Warren accused the company of trying to take advantage of the data breach.

To snap up doctors practices that have been driven to the edge of bankruptcy by that same data breach, Warren said.

Despite the multiple attacks, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) wanted to remind everyone that UnitedHealth did not ask to be hacked.

UnitedHealth, you were the victim of a crime, correct? Johnson asked.

That is correct sir, Witty replied.

The company paid a more than $20 million ransom to the attackers.

The FBI is currently investigating.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
Senators are right to scrutinize UnitedHealth, Minnesotas most powerful company

UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty testified before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, about a cyberattack on Change Healthcare, a subsidiary. Screenshot from committee webcast.

I hope Minnesotans read about the testimony of UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty at the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance Wednesday. Its an eye-opener about the corporate practices of our Eden Prairie health insurance/big data/whatever behemoth.

Witty was on the receiving end of scathing comments from a bipartisan group of senators  and justifiably so.

The health insurer  which keeps growing like a voracious weed, encompassing physician groups, pharmacy benefits management and payments technology  has become too big to fail, evidenced recently by a major hack of its Change Healthcare systems.

The hack disabled a network that handles $2 trillion (not a typo) in insurance claims annually. The fallout has been especially harmful for small medical providers because they had no alternative way to get paid.

That has real impact on access to care that people need, Emily Gee, a vice president of the Center for American Progress, told me during the worst of the meltdown.

Bloomberg reported that pharmacy computer systems used to check insurance coverage and process prescriptions went down. While large chains found workarounds, the outage roiled others, and interrupted dispensing at military facilities.

Gee highlighted the tiny margin for error when it comes to health care. Its not like buying a couch, she said.

The company has extended billions in interest free loans to try to keep the American health care system from collapsing, but thats hardly comforting. As American Prospect noted during the hack, health insurers were in a perverse way benefitting from the chaos because they were not sending out the huge sums they reimburse medical providers on a typical day.

Every dollar in revenue that has disappeared from hospitals, medical practices, and pharmacies in the aftermath of the outage corresponds to an extra dollar sitting in the coffers of the nations health insurers, so UnitedHealth, which pays out roughly $662 million in medical claims each day, is presumably sitting on a mountain of unexpected cash.

And guess who is going around the country buying medical practices? Thats right: UnitedHealth.

The hack also likely exposed the personal information of a substantial portion of people in America, according to the company.

What was the security weakness? The hackers got through a portal that didnt use multi-factor authentication  meaning they didnt use the, uhh, sophisticated technology that you and I use for our bank and social media accounts.

Witty told the Senate Finance Committee hes deeply, deeply sorry, which is an easy thing to say when you made $25 million last year.

And the Change Healthcare debacle is just one tentacle of the sprawling, $450 billion company that deserves serious examination.

The Justice Department has opened an antitrust investigation of UnitedHealth.

Given the companys size and influence, the feds could be investigating any number of issues, but Bloomberg gives a potential hint. Optum, a UnitedHealth company, has clinics, home-care services, drug plans and pharmacies (that) frequently provide services to UnitedHealthcare members, allowing the company to turn expenses in its insurance business into revenue for Optum But it has also drawn criticism from antitrust regulators.

Spencer Waller, director of the Institute for Consumer Antitrust Studies at Loyola School of Law, told me were now seeing a small number of highly vertically integrated companies with strong incentives to favor their own corporate chain members over the interests of the users of the system.

Meanwhile, UnitedHealth still excels in an old standby: denying health care they deem unnecessary to their policy holders. A 2023 investigative report by ProPublica revealed a trove of internal correspondence showing the company relentlessly fought to reduce spending on care, even as its profits rose to record levels.

In addition to being skilled in business, UnitedHealth top brass are apparently very lucky when it comes to timing stock sales, as Bloomberg reported recently: UnitedHealth Group Inc. Chairman Stephen Hemsley and three senior executives netted a combined $101.5 million from stock sales made over four months leading up to when the public became aware of a federal antitrust investigation.

Where does all this end?

Antitrust has not been asleep but has been a caged tiger for 40 years, said Waller, the antitrust legal scholar, citing conservative legal theory that served as the padlock on the cage.

As a result, You have companies with great power, with huge impact on important things in our lives, like medical care, insurance, drug benefits, he said.

President Joe Biden and his appointees seems to have let the tiger out of the cage, and thats a good start.

Closer to home, Minnesotans should try to educate ourselves about the leviathan in the west metro and demand accountability from our most powerful corporate citizen.

The post Senators are right to scrutinize UnitedHealth, Minnesotas most powerful company appeared first on Minnesota Reformer.
Senators are trying to add bills that are aimed at boosting kids online safety into a must-pass Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization act.

Two bills aimed at increasing safety of minors online through data privacy updates and rules to limit potentially harmful features are being put forward as amendments to be added to the FAA reauthorization that must pass ahead of a May 10 deadline.

Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) filed their bill COPPA 2.0, which would update the Childrens Online Privacy Protection Act, as an amendment to the FAA bill Thursday.

Today, Senator Cassidy and I filed COPPA 2.0 as an amendment to the FAA bill because we have waited far too long to protect children and teens privacy in this country, Markey said in a statement.

We need to stop Big Techs invasive and pernicious business model that tracks and targets our young people online. Big Tech has contributed to the youth mental crisis, and its time Congress did something about it, he added.

The bill aims to increase data privacy for children online by adding regulations around how data from users aged 16 and under is collected and used by tech companies. It would also ban targeted ads for minors.

Another bill, the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), was put forward as an amendment to the FAA by Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) on Wednesday, a spokesperson for Blackburn confirmed.

The spokesperson said the two senators are pursuing all possible paths to see KOSA signed into law, including by attaching it to the upcoming FAA reauthorization.

KOSA targets the design of platforms, and would add regulations that aim to mitigate concerns about certain tools and features that could be harmful to childrens mental health.

It has rare broad, bipartisan support  with more than 60 senators listed as co-sponsors, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

The bill gained momentum after a hearing on kids safety featuring the CEOs of Meta, TikTok, Discord, Snap, and X in January, but it has yet to be called to a floor vote.

A bipartisan House version was introduced in March, adding a more clear pathway for the bill to pass both chambers.

The FAA reauthorization is one of the last must-pass pieces of legislation lawmakers need to consider before September, so it could lead lawmakers to push for unrelated priority bills to be added to pass ahead of the November elections.

Kids online safety advocates, including parents and teen-led groups, have been pressing Congress to act on KOSA after years of inaction toward regulation tech platforms and their impacts on teens. Lawmakers have held a series of hearings about the harms but have yet to pass legislation to add enforceable rules that aim to hold tech companies accountable for their impact on kids.

The Senate voted 89 to 10 Wednesday to overcome the first procedural hurdle to move toward consideration of the overall package.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A Tesla electric vehicle charging station sits ready for use in Bismarck on Feb. 19, 2024. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)

Two more North Dakota elected officials are showing no love for the electric vehicle.

Republican U.S. Sens. Kevin Cramer and John Hoeven on Thursday issued news releases announcing they are co-sponsoring a bill to eliminate tax incentives for electric vehicles.

Cramer, Hoeven and co-sponsor Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., are calling it ELITE, which news releases said stands for the Eliminate Lavish Incentives to Electric Vehicles Act.

The bill would eliminate a tax credit of up to $7,500 for electric vehicles. The news release said it also would close a leasing loophole that allows wealthy buyers to bypass income caps and domestic manufacturing restrictions on EV incentives.

The news release says China makes most of the EVs and the batteries they use.

Were funneling taxpayer money to a supply chain controlled by China, Cramer said in the release.

Data from the U.S. Department of Energy shows that as of 2022, North Dakota (640) and Wyoming (840) were the only states with fewer than 1,000 EVs as registered vehicles. The Dakotas, Iowa and Nebraska are among the states with the lowest per capita ownership and market share of EVs, Stateline.org reported in 2023.

Earlier this week, another North Dakota Republican, Gov. Doug Burgum, questioned why the state should fund a regional plan for EVs, saying they dont make sense in cold-weather states. Burgum also said the incentives artificially inflate demand for EVs at the same time federal policies are making it harder for baseload power facilities like coal-fired power plants to provide affordable energy.

State Sen. Merrill Piepkorn, the Democratic nominee for governor, called that horse and buggy thinking, referring to the resistance of adopting the gas-powered automobile.

Even as we currently enjoy the financial benefits of our current coal and oil industries, weve got to look to the future, Piepkorn said in a news release.

He advocated for EV charging stations as necessary for North Dakota tourism.

Earlier this year, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe began using electric vehicles for a transit program on the reservation that straddles the North Dakota-South Dakota state line.

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The post Sens. Cramer, Hoeven call for killing EV tax credits appeared first on North Dakota Monitor.
PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY)  Sentara Health is expanding their services for behavioral health as more patients seek treatment at emergency departments, or EDs.

As the number of inpatient beds for psychiatric hospitals have become more scarce, patients are being boarded in hospitals EDs instead of having full access to the necessary resources. The new protocols Sentara plans to implement for its outpatient services is meant to help reduce the demand for ED services.

Sentara is joining with community providers across the state to improve access to care and services, said Nedra Moncrief-Craig, director of behavioral health services for Sentara Health. Virginias hospitals are also working together to address the growth in the behavioral health population in order to serve our most vulnerable patients better.

Some of the ways Sentara plans to improve its services are:

Implemented a BH TelePsych service for quicker evaluations and treatment plans

Centralized call center

Redesigned BH spaces in emergency departments (EDs) to enhance safety for patients and staff

Increased Staffing

SOBR opioid program

Quick access to addiction treatment

ED triage protocol

Expanded Intensive Outpatient Therapy

Expanded Partial Hospitalization Program

Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS)

Childrens mental health research grant

A multi-disciplinary Sentara team has been working across 12 hospitals, five free-standing EDs and Sentara outpatient programs to make lasting enhancements to BH services.

Check with WAVY.com for more updates.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com.
A Natrona Heights woman and former nurse pleaded guilty Thursday to harming and killing patients she was supposed to care for.

It comes nearly a year after Heather Pressdee, 41, was first arrested and charged with harming and killing patients. As the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General continued to investigate, it found more victims going back to late 2020.

Pressdee, who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the deaths of James Bartoe, Gerald Shrum Sr. and Nicholas Cymbol, received life in prison with no possibility for parole.

Investigators said Pressdee admitted to unnecessarily injecting her patients with insulin, killing them or attempting to kill them and even injecting some patients on more than one occasion if they did not die.

The incidents happened at nursing home facilities in Allegheny, Armstrong, Butler and Westmoreland counties.

Pressdee faced a long list of charges including two counts of murder and two counts of criminal homicide. Criminal complaints and wrongful death lawsuits link her to at least 17 deaths.

She was also charged with criminal attempt homicide, neglect of a care-dependent person, recklessly endangering another person, aggravated assault and murder.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: She has remorse: Attorneys for nurse accused of giving patients lethal doses of insulin speak out

Pressdee worked at 11 different nursing homes and hospitals over the course of about 4.5 years. Her career began in October 2018 and ended with her arrest in May 2023.

Her alleged victims range in age from 43 to 104 years old.

Channel 11 has been investigating how this happened, and one advocacy group is urging state lawmakers to get involved.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Questioning the system that allowed nurse linked to 17 patient deaths to go undetected for years

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Downtown Anchorage is seen on Wednesday. Anchorage and the rest of Southcentral Alaska face a looming natural gas shortage that state lawmakers are trying to address. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Three months after a severe cold snap put Alaskas most populated region at risk of rolling blackouts, state lawmakers are sifting through bills intended to prevent a repeat occurrence.

To address Southcentral Alaskas dependence on dwindling supplies of deliverable natural gas, lawmakers may focus in the final two weeks of the legislative session on a series of bills that seek to encourage more gas production, make delivery through existing systems more reliable and spur development of renewable energy that can supplant hydrocarbons. On Wednesday, the House passed a bill intended to make storing Cook Inlet natural gas more affordable.

Because the issue is so important, several bills are making progress, said Senate Majority Leader Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage. Even as lawmakers in both the House and Senate debate the details, they are united in a common search for solutions, she said.

I think theres considerable alignment, Giessel, who co-chairs the Senate Resources Committee, said at a news conference on Tuesday. We see the urgent need.

Though the problem became acute in January, when regional utilities scrambled to deliver enough natural gas to users, it has been in the making for years.

The Alaska Railbelt, the corridor that runs from Fairbanks, the states second-largest city, through Anchorage, the largest city, and down to the Kenai Peninsula, needs about 70 billion cubic feet a year to meet demands for heat and electricity.

Under current production schedules and utility contracts, the supply of deliverable natural gas will fall short of that total as early as 2027, according to a recent state analysis. Unless more energy is produced at home, pricey imports of liquefied natural gas are inevitable very soon, experts say.

Officials with the Alaska Division of Oil and Gas, testifying at an April 26 hearing of the Senate Resources Committee, present their economic case to for reduced royalties on new Cook Inlet production. Speaking to the committee are, from left, Derek Nottingham, the division's director, Jhonny Meza, an economist and commercial manager for the division, and John Crowther, deputy commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Officials with the Alaska Division of Oil and Gas, testifying at an April 26 hearing of the Senate Resources Committee, present their economic case to for reduced royalties on new Cook Inlet production. Speaking to the committee are, from left, Derek Nottingham, the divisions director, Jhonny Meza, an economist and commercial manager for the division, and John Crowther, deputy commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

One effort to stimulate more at-home production of natural gas focuses on slashing state royalty rates for Cook Inlet petroleum from the usual 12.5% to 5%. That is the approach taken in Senate Bill 194 and House Bill 276, legislation introduced in January by Gov. Mike Dunleavy that would improve companies rate of return and shorten their time for payback from development, thus enticing more investment, supporters argue.

As we all have seen, the Railbelt utilities are facing a gas supply shortfall. We think one of the quickest ways to fill that gap, if not the quickest way to fill that gap, is more gas from the Cook Inlet. And really, probably in the immediate term, in the next five years or so, its the only solution, Derek Nottingham, director of the Alaska Division of Oil and Gas, told lawmakers at an April 26 Senate Resources Committee hearing.

He and other division officials and legislators pointed to estimates of abundant natural gas in Cook Inlet that has yet to be produced, as described in a 2011 U.S. Geological Survey resource assessment that had a mean estimate of 19 trillion cubic feet remaining in the basin.

We know the gas is there. It just hasnt been developed yet, Nottingham said.

The 5% rate in Senate Bill 195 would be applicable to the first 10 years of production from pools not previously used for commercial sales, and it would apply to oil as well as gas, under the bill as proposed.

Lowering royalties in that way is a bit of a gamble, Jhonny Meza, an economist and commercial manager for the Division of Oil and Gas, admitted to the committee.

If it works, he said, there would be enough Cook Inlet gas supply to last through the mid-2030s and, thanks to new production that would not otherwise have occurred, an extra $136 million in state revenues through the same period. If it fails, it will not provide sufficient new gas and will also cost the state $26 million in lost revenues, he said.

But there is skepticism about whether royalty reductions will result in more gas supplies. Some legislators say they need more evidence of that result in Cook Inlet, where the market is challenged by its isolation.

I dont think its worth just giving our state dollars away and not knowing if its going to have any impact at all, Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, said at the Tuesday news conference.

To get that information, the Legislature just hired a consulting firm, Gaffney, Cline and Associates, to analyze and model the royalty-relief options and potential effects.

There are limits to how far the state may go with royalty relief.

One bill under consideration and sponsored by House Energy Committee Chair George Rauscher, R-Sutton, House Bill 223, would eliminate royalties entirely for new Cook Inlet gas production.

Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage, in his office on April 25, 2024, reviews a printout of a 1987 Alaska Supreme Court decision that found elimination of state mineral royalties to be a violation of the Alaska Statehood Act. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage, in his office on April 25, 2024, reviews a printout of a 1987 Alaska Supreme Court decision that found elimination of state mineral royalties to be a violation of the Alaska Statehood Act. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

That approach is not legal, contends Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage. He pointed to a 1987 Alaska Supreme Court ruling that concluded elimination of mineral royalties would violate the Alaska Statehood Act. You cant, as a sovereign, take zero percent. Sovereigns cant do that, Josephson said.

Other legislation seeking to spur new exploration and production is more specifically targeted.

One bill, as crafted, could benefit a specific field of known but unproduced natural gas: the Cosmopolitan Unit offshore from Anchor Point on the Kenai Peninsula. The measure, House Bill 388, would establish a system for Cook Inlet reserve-based lending, a practice used in the oil and gas industry that allows parties to take out loans by using petroleum reserves as collateral. The bill would create a Cook Inlet reserve-based lending fund to be administered by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, a state-owned economic development agency.

The bill would not require any lending, but it would set up a system to make that possible, said its sponsor, Rep. Tom McKay, R-Anchorage.

Theres absolutely no risk whatsoever to the state with House Bill 388. What House Bill 388 does is it enables AIDEA to go out and look at what the situation is in Cook Inlet officially and come back to the state with recommended  potentially recommended  projects, with economics, McKay said during an April 19 House Finance Committee hearing.

The idea has some bipartisan support. Such reserve-based lending could be useful to help BlueCrest Energy, the small Texas company that operates Cosmopolitan but has been scrambling for money to develop it, Wielechowski said.

The Cosmopolitan Unit is a massive unit, by all accounts, he said in an interview. The problem is theyre capital constrained.

A different bill working its way through the committee process, House Bill 257, would make Cook Inlet seismic information free and more quickly available to potential producers. That information is already available, but there is a fee.

Eliminating wheeling and pancaking to gain efficiencies

In the second category of Cook Inlet and Railbelt energy bills are efforts to make utilities nimbler and more responsive to customer and emerging producers needs.

Rep. Tom McKay, R-Anchorage, is seen at an April 25, 2024, hearing of the House Energy Committee. Seated next to him are Rep. Tom Baker, R-Kotzebue, and Rep. Stanley Wright, R-Anchorage. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Rep. Tom McKay, R-Anchorage, is seen at an April 25, 2024, hearing of the House Energy Committee. Seated next to him are Rep. Tom Baker, R-Kotzebue, and Rep. Stanley Wright, R-Anchorage. McKay is urging his colleagues to pass legislation that would potentially help raise money needed more more Cook Inlet natural gas development. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

One idea with wide support would create some uniformity in the management of the power transmission system in the Railbelt.

Legislation to that end, Senate Bill 217 and House Bill 307, was introduced at the start of the session by Dunleavy. It seeks to change the way the transmission system is managed from the current practice, which is segmented, to an integrated and unified approach. To do that, it would remove the wheeling rates, the charges that compound costs for energy shippers using different segments of the system. Under the current system, those per-section charges can be compounded as energy moves from one part of the Railbelt to another, a situation referred to as pancaking. That creates unnecessary costs, the bills supporters say.

The bill also proposes extension of the same tax exemptions that utility cooperatives enjoy to independent power producers, a category that includes recently established renewable energy operators like the 8.5-megawatt solar farm in that Matanuska-Susitna Borough community of Houston. And it makes some changes in the state entities that oversee or support the transmission system, the Regulatory Commission of Alaska and the Alaska Energy Authority.

Both the Senate and House versions have been moving through the committee, with lawmakers embracing the overall concept. However, both bills are complex, with finer details about management structures that are drawing debate.

Another push being made in separate bills, HB 394 and Senate Bill 220, is to make storage of Cook Inlet natural gas more affordable. The House bill is sponsored by that bodys resources committee, while the Senate bill is sponsored by Giessel. The House version is moving faster; the chamber passed it on Wednesday.

The bill would extend the Regulatory Commission of Alaskas authority over natural gas storage systems to keep storage rates at levels deemed reasonable. The RCA already oversees the Cook Inlet Natural Gas Storage Alaska system, known as CINGSA, which has been operating on the Kenai Peninsula since 2012, but other gas storage is not regulated by the commission. The goal is to encourage expansion of natural gas storage capacity while ensuring that costs are reasonable, according to a bill sponsor statement.

A different legislative effort to strengthen power delivery in the Railbelt is embedded in the pending capital budget.

The budget includes matching money, from a variety of sources, that is needed for a $206 million grant awarded to Alaska in October by the U.S. Department of Energy through its Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnership, or GRIP. The grant, made possible by the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, would be used to build an undersea power cable in Cook Inlet, along with new battery storage, to prevent power outages that frequently occur in severe weather or natural events like earthquakes. To access the federal money, the state must provide a dollar-to-dollar match, though not necessarily in a single year.

Our transmission system on the Railbelt would not even be permitted in the Lower 48 because its not a redundant system, he said.

Renewables as an alternative to natural gas

While they consider numerous bills to increase supplies of natural gas or make deliveries of gas-fueled energy more efficient and reliable, lawmakers are also working on bills to help stimulate solar energy, wind energy and other sources of energy to displace the need for natural gas.

Atop Elizabeth Place, a mixed residentail-retail building in downtown Anchorage, panels collect solar energy on May 26, 2022. The building is owned by Cook Inlet Housing Authority, is one of many tapping into solar energy in the Cook Inlet region. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Atop Elizabeth Place, a mixed residentail-retail building in downtown Anchorage, panels collect solar energy on May 26, 2022. The building, owned by Cook Inlet Housing Authority, is one of many tapping into solar energy in the Cook Inlet region. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

One bill that passed the Senate unanimously on April 23, Senate Bill 152, would enable customers to save money through power generated through their own solar arrays or other renewable-energy systems, through whats known as net metering.

Net metering, which is a system that credits utility customers for the renewable energy they produce and feed into the grid, is already allowed in Alaska. But under current regulations it is limited to single meters. Under the bill approved by the Senate, customers could pool resources and get collective net-metering benefits from renewable-energy projects. The bill is now working its way through the House.

At about the same time that senators were approving that bill, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that it had awarded about $125 million in grants for solar energy development in Alaska under a national Solar for All program.

Other state bills focused on renewables have not progressed as far.

One measure, House Bill 368, would establish a statutory framework for leasing state land for production of renewable energy similar to what exists for oil and gas. The bill was introduced in February by Rep. Cliff Groh, D-Anchorage. It has cleared the House Resources Committee but had not been heard in any other committees as of Monday.

A geothermal bill introduced by the governor last year has yet to reach either floor of the Legislature. The bill would redefine geothermal energy, expand the size of leasable tracts on state land and extend the duration of leases. The House version, House Bill 74, had cleared one committee as of Wednesday. The Senate version, Senate Bill 69, passed out of that bodys Resources Committee on Wednesday.

While some bills may be stalled in the short term, renewables have a bright future in Cook Inlet and in the Railbelt in the long term, according to recent studies by the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the National Renewable Energy Laboratories.

The Railbelt could produce nearly all of its electricity from renewable sources by 2050, according to the study by UAFs Alaska Center for Energy and Power. That would require billions of dollars in upfront investment, but the cost over time would be no more than the cost of continuing with the current natural gas dependence, the study found.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratories study found that Alaskans will save money in the long term by investing in renewables to power the Railbelt. The study compared scenarios that range from business as usual, with heavy dependence on natural gas, to varying levels of renewable energy use in the future. It found the lowest-cost scenario was investment that made renewables that, by 2040, would make them the source of 75% of power to generate electricity.

Correction: This article has been updated to include the time period over which the new revenue estimate for the royalties bill has been estimated.

The post As session end looms, Alaska lawmakers juggle bills addressing Southcentral natural gas crunch appeared first on Alaska Beacon.
Several people displaced after house fire in McKees Rocks

A house in McKees Rocks was damaged by a fire Thursday.

Allegheny County 911 said crews were called to the 110 block of Helen Street at around 2:10 p.m.

There are no reports of injuries at this time, dispatch said.

The Red Cross has been called for several people who are displaced because of the blaze.

Helen Street is closed between Sproul Street and Catherine Street.

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NACOGDOCHES, Texas (KETK)  A professor at Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA) has been named a Fulbright Scholar for the 2024-2025 academic year.

Panola College announces first female sole finalist for president

According to a release, Dr. Roslyn Fraser, an associate professor of sociology at SFA, was named a Fulbright Scholar. According to the university, the Fulbright Program is the United States Governments flagship program for international educational and cultural exchange, the program selects university faculty members and professionals to do research, teach and produce projects in other countries.

Photo of Dr. Roslyn Fraser, courtesy of Stephen F. Austin State University.

According to the university, Frasers research examines womens international labor migration through a qualitative study of the experiences of Bangladeshi women working in the Mauritian garment sector.

As a Fulbright Scholar, SFA said Fraser will spend 10 months in Port Louis, Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean, researching and teaching graduate courses at the University of Technology, Mauritius.

Voters to decide on $116M school bond with no tax increase, Mabank ISD says

It is an honor to be selected to travel to another part of the world to represent our university, our country and the discipline of sociology, Fraser said. That level of recognition has real weight to it. It feels like being told Youre doing good things. Keep it up.

I first became interested in Mauritius after looking at some migration data out of Bangladesh, Fraser said. I noticed large waves of women migrating there for industrial jobs in clothing factories.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KETK.com | FOX51.com.
Sheriffs Department: Missing woman last seen on Viking Mountain in Greeneville

GREENE COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL)  The Greene County Sheriffs Department is searching for a missing woman. Jennifer Elliott, 31, was last seen on March 22 on Viking Mountain in Greeneville, Tennessee.

Elliott is described as a white female who is 5 feet 2 inches tall and has brown hair.

SCSO: Scammer who convinced elderly woman to empty bank account arrested in Virginia

According to the sheriffs department, Elliott contacted her mother on March 22 and said she was stuck on Viking Mountain and needed a ride. Officers responded to the scene and spoke with an acquaintance of Elliotts who said she had run into the woods nearby.

Officers searched for Elliot in the surrounding area but were unsuccessful. She has not been seen since.

The Greene County Sheriffs Department asks anyone who sees Elliot or has information on her disappearance to please contact Detective Sgt. Toby Price at 423-798-1800 or call the department.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather.
New York and Prague-based fintech, Birdwingo, argues that society is failing the young when it comes to financial literacy. It is on a mission to get young Europeans aged 11-17 suitably informed so that they might be able to start investing from an early age.

Specifically, it is launching the first investing app designed for young Europeans. It has been founded by two brothers who wish they had such a tool when they were growing up.

Birdwingo: first-of-its-kind platform in EU

The Birdwingo app represents a first-of-its-kind platform in the EU that allows underage teenagers to invest.

It offers access to popular stocks and ETFs, including Apple, Nvidia, and the S&P 500, among over 12,000 additional options. To teach teens how to work with these assets, Birdwingo created a "Duolingo for finance" academy. It is designed to capture the imagination of current teens by resembling formats of Duolingo, Instagram and TikTok rather than a corporate finance textbook.

The initiative is supported by a 1.2m investment from US-based VC fund Bienville Capital, other company founders, and bank executives.

In the US, companies like Greenlight, Copper, Bloom, and Fidelity started empowering teens with investing opportunities and financial education with great success. However, such offerings are currently unavailable in Europe. Investing is becoming mainstream, so why should European teens be excluded when time is their greatest asset? said Andrej Hano, Birdwingo's co-founder.

Adam Hano, co-founder, added: "Birdwingo addresses the gap in financial education. This is not adequately covered by schools and is often left to questionable financial influencers or scammers online. We step in to enable teenagers to actively invest under full parental supervision, combining high-quality theoretical knowledge with real-world practice.

A new era for the next generation of investors in Europe

Birdwingo has developed a gamified learning experience akin to the popular language learning app, Duolingo. This engaging academy teaches essential financial skills such as investing, budgeting, and scam awareness through interactive lessons and real-life investing scenarios, all under the watchful oversight of parents. Additionally, Birdwingo motivates teens with cash rewards for learning through its 'learn to earn' feature.

Designed with the safety and education of young investors in mind, Birdwingo provides a fully controlled environment. Parents can set investment restrictions, manually or automatically approve trades. In addition, they can contribute to their children's financial future through regular account deposits. They can also track their children's learning progress and even learn a thing or two themselves, enhancing their own financial knowledge.

Story continues

A vision supported by results

Statistics from the platform's beta testing phase reveal positive results. 94% of teens completing the Academy reported increased confidence in managing their money. 79% started saving and investing money for the long-term, and 84% of parents believe their kids' financial literacy improved significantly.

The Birdwingo user base has grown to over 20,000, Birdwingo The platform now plans to partner with high schools and non-profits to broaden its reach and impact. The app is already available on both the App Store and Google Play.

"Birdwingo launches EUs first investing app for under-18s, lands 1.2m investment" was originally created and published by Private Banker International, a GlobalData owned brand.







The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
Shoppers evacuated from Wisconsin Rapids Walgreens Thursday after store filled with haze

WISCONSIN RAPIDS  Shoppers and staff were evacuated from Walgreens Thursday morning after haze filled the store.

Wisconsin Rapids Fire Chief Todd Eckes said the call came in about 11:02 a.m. Thursday, and when they arrived fire crews found a burned motor on the roof coming from the air handling unit.

The crew was on the scene for between a half hour and 45 minutes, Eckes said, and Walgreens staff members were able to reopen the store.

Wisconsin Rapids Streetwise: Hawaiian Tanning Studio relocates and more local business news

More local news: After 10 years with the Grand Rapids Police Department, Chief Melvin Pedersen is retiring

Contact Caitlin at cshuda@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @CaitlinShuda.

This article originally appeared on Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune: Shoppers evacuated from Wisconsin Rapids Walgreens store Thursday
How the showdown at Columbia University between protesters and NYPD unfolded

The first sign that the weekslong standoff at Columbia University was nearing a dramatic finale came after dusk, when New York City police officers clad in riot gear began massing south of the east gate of the venerable Ivy League school.

It was around 9 p.m. Tuesday and the pro-Palestinian protesters standing in front of the wrought-iron gate could see the police gathering, and they were defiant.

We will not move. We will not bend, they chanted. The occupation has to end.

The protests had erupted April 17 when students  demanding a cease-fire in Gaza and insisting that Columbia divest from corporations that could be profiting from the war  set up 50 tents on campus and refused to leave. The police cleared them out the next day, but the protesters returned.

This time, the NYPD was back at the request of school administrators after a group of protesters had taken over Hamilton Hall, an on-campus building beside the gate at Amsterdam Avenue and 116th Street.

Preparing for a long occupation, the protesters had festooned the facade with pro-Palestinian banners, set up a rope system by which they would get supplies into the building and renamed the building Hind's Hall after a 6-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed in Gaza.

Three hours earlier, at about 6 p.m., Mayor Eric Adams and top NYPD brass declared that professional outside agitators had most likely engineered the seizure of the ornate building.

This must end now, Adams said.

Adams, himself a former NYPD police officer, presented no proof at that moment that somebody off campus was pulling the strings of the students, who had, for weeks, repeatedly rebuffed the universitys calls to end the protests.

As of Wednesday, city officials had identified only one person who might have been involved in the Hamilton Hall takeover, and she has not been arrested.

NYPD officers in riot gear march onto Columbia University. (Kena Betancur / AFP - Getty Images)

But the die had been cast.

Within hours, Columbia would become the setting for a confrontation that ended before midnight with police carting more than 100 protesters off to jail, 40 to 50 of whom had been in Hamilton Hall, which after the protest and raid was left in shambles.

Another police action almost simultaneously at City College of New York resulted in the arrests of more than a hundred more protesters. Final data on the total number of people who were arrested and their university affiliations is pending.

Its unconscionable, said Debbie Becher, a sociology professor at Barnard College, which is part of Columbia, as the police rousted the protesters from Hamilton Hall. Theyre sending hundreds of police after our students.

NYPD officers in riot gear enter Columbia University's encampment. (Julia Wu / AFP - Getty Images)

In a statement, Columbia said the takeover of Hamilton Hall overnight Monday was the final straw.

We regret that protesters have chosen to escalate the situation through their actions, it said Tuesday. After the University learned overnight that Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalized, and blockaded, we were left with no choice.

Police and protesters collided for the first time at 9:01 p.m. Tuesday, three blocks south of the gate at 113th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, where the police had erected barricades, according to NBC News reporters on the scene.

"Free Palestine! Free Palestine!" the protesters chanted as the police officers drew closer, many of them holding plastic zip ties.

Then police ordered them to leave.

If you refuse to disperse, you will be placed under arrest on the charge of disorderly conduct, the disembodied voice echoed through the street.

The NYPD arrest protesters outside the gates of Columbia University. (Alex Kent / Getty Images)

While protesters heckled the police and yelled "Shame! Shame!" the first phalanx of officers who got to the intersection began cuffing their hands behind their backs with the zip ties.

Four minutes later, at roughly 9:05 p.m., when a much bigger contingent of police in riot gear came marching up Amsterdam Avenue, the angry cries of protesters turned into a roar.

Some tried to use the barricades police had erected earlier to pen them in to keep the approaching officers from advancing, to no avail. Others formed human chains and collapsed on the pavement to make it harder for them to be moved.

"I watched as the police kenneled us in and began brutally pushing, shoving us," said protester Soph Askanse, a junior who is Jewish. "One of them elbowed me in the chest trying to force us apart. "

By 9:12 p.m., the police breached their own barricades and were nearing the east gate of the campus at Amsterdam Avenue and 116th Street. By 9:18 p.m., they were face to face with the protesters gathered by the gate.

Demonstrators link arms. (Alex Kent / Getty Images)

For about two minutes, the sides stared each other down.

Fifty-six years earlier, Columbia students protesting the Vietnam War had occupied Hamilton Hall and clashed with police near this very spot. Back then, the police fought their way up the steps of the stately building to roust the protesters holed up inside.

On Tuesday, as night fell, protesters linked arms outside Hamilton Hall and listened as one of their own sang. By the time police arrived, the protesters held a Palestinian flag in the middle of their ranks and chanted as officers cleared bystanders from the steps.

The NYPD breached the building using a flash-bang device to roust the 40 to 50 protesters on the first floor who had barricaded the front door with furniture.

The NYPDs Emergency Service Unit also used an armored vehicle that was equipped with a MARS  a Mobile Adjustable Ramp System  sending another group of officers to gain access to the upper floors of Hamilton Hall. In helmets and bulletproof vests, they filed inside a second-floor window, one after another, starting around 9:20 p.m.

NYPD officers in riot gear break into a building at Columbia University. (Kena Betancur / AFP - Getty Images)

Perhaps sensing that the tide was turning against them, people in the crowd outside the gate suddenly began thinning out. But they didnt go quietly.

How do you f-----g sleep at night? a protester screamed at the police.

"Go back to Staten Island," yelled another, referring to the New York City borough that is home to many police officers and firefighters.

As that was going on, the first of the police buses packed with arrested protesters pounding on the windows with their bound hands departed for downtown.

Meanwhile, the police action at Hamilton Hall was underway.

Members of the NYPD detain protesters from the pro-Palestinian protest encampment. (Stephanie Keith / Getty Images)

The protesters inside Hamilton Hall had also blocked the inside stairs and entryways with furniture, including vintage wooden school chairs with attached writing surfaces that looked like they had been there the last time the building was taken over in 1968.

Police officials told NBC News they had expected the protesters to move to the upper floors. Instead, they stayed on the first floor, where they were all arrested.

But to reach them, the officers had to dismantle the barricades and pass the furniture from officer to officer to clear their path inside, images supplied by the NYPD showed.

Officers breached locked doors using hammers and chisels to break the locks.

Police! the officers announced as they barged inside the rooms with their flashlights out and their guns drawn, video supplied by the NYPD showed.

NYPD officers in arrest pro-Palestinian students. (Julia Wu / AFP - Getty Images)

By 11 p.m., police could be seen marching arrested protesters with their hands bound out of Hamilton Hall.

It wasnt immediately clear whether the protesters put up a fight. Only two were transported to a nearby hospital with what were described as minor injuries, and one was treated at the scene, the New York City Fire Department reported.

Later, after the siege of Hamilton Hall was over, the NYPD released images of what was left behind  furniture stacked in elevators, overturned tables, smashed windows, the jetsam of discarded clothing and food that the protesters had managed to accumulate in just one day.

Students who had been trapped in their dorms during the police action were allowed to leave their buildings around 11 p.m.

Chris Mendell, who lives in Ruggles Hall, told NBC News earlier that the police blocked their doors and warned they would be arrested if they ventured outside.

So theyre not letting us do anything but sit here, he said.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Since December 2023, Russians execute at least 15 Ukrainian soldiers who were trying to surrender  HRW

The international human rights organisation Human Rights Watch (HRW) has found that since December 2023, Russian troops have presumably executed at least 15 Ukrainian soldiers who were trying to surrender, and possibly six more who were about to surrender or had already surrendered. Human rights activists emphasised that these cases should be investigated as war crimes.

Source: the HRW report published on 2 May

Quote: "Human Rights Watch investigated three instances of the apparent summary execution of at least 12 Ukrainian soldiers by verifying and analyzing drone footage posted on social media on December 2 and December 27, and on February 25, 2024. In these cases, the soldiers demonstrated a clear intent to surrender and, since they were no longer taking part in hostilities, were considered hors de combat and not targetable under international humanitarian law, or the laws of war."

Details: Human rights activists identified the locations where two of the three incidents took place, but due to the lack of accurate geo-data in the videos, they were unable to establish the exact location of the third one. Human Rights Watch was also unable to determine who owned the drone that was filming the incident.

HRW also verified the fourth case by analysing another video that appeared on social media on 19 February. It shows two Russian soldiers shooting three unarmed Ukrainian soldiers who had surrendered. Although the owner of the account where the video was posted indicated the location of the incident, Human Rights Watch was unable to independently verify it.

The investigation into the fifth incident was based on an interview with a Ukrainian soldier, a video posted on a Telegram channel on 16 February, and media reports, including interviews with family members of one of the deceased. Six soldiers were reportedly executed in this case, although the circumstances of the incident were less clear.

In one of the five incidents that took place on 25 February, a verified drone video, which was widely posted online, including on X (Twitter), shows at least seven Ukrainian soldiers emerging from a dugout located among trees between two fields, removing their body armour, and at least one removing his helmet. All of them lie face down, and five Russian soldiers aim their machine guns at them. The Russian soldiers can be identified by the clearly visible red bandages on their arms and legs. The three Russian soldiers then shoot from behind and on both sides in the direction of the Ukrainian soldiers, who have apparently surrendered.

Six Ukrainian soldiers remain face down, visibly reacting to the shots, while one tries to return to the dugout but is hit by a bullet before he can. The incident took place near the village of Ivanivske in Donetsk Oblast. The exact location was first confirmed by GeoConfirmed volunteer EjShahid, and later by Human Rights Watch researchers.

Human Rights Watch noted that "the apparent executions do not appear to be isolated instances."

Human Rights Watch researchers also identified a Russian drone video released on 5 February 2024 that shows a single moment of the battle. In this case, Human Rights Watch researchers were unable to determine whether Ukrainian soldiers surrendered, but a male voice heard in the video, which is not in obvious doubt as to its authenticity, appears to be giving orders to Russian soldiers during the battle in Donetsk Oblast. The voice says in Russian: "Take no prisoners, shoot everyone!" The audiovisual analysis of the video footage confirms the conclusion that it was a Russian drone.

Background:

Earlier, Yurii Bielousov, Chief of the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Department for Combating Crimes Committed during Armed Conflicts, said that the Prosecutor Generals Office had 27 criminal cases related to the killing of Ukrainian prisoners of war by the Russians, involving the murder of 54 soldiers.

The Prosecutor General's Office cooperates with the International Criminal Court, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission, intelligence agencies, and non-governmental organisations that also collect information.

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Health officials in eight states urged people in sensitive groups, such as children, people with heart or lung disease or those over the age of 65, to limit their time outdoors.

The sun rises in a hazy sky behind the Empire State Building in New York City as seen from Jersey City, N.J., on Tuesday. (Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)

Smoke from Canadian wildfires blanketed a large swath of the Midwest and northeastern United States on Monday and Tuesday, casting a thick haze that experts warned was a significant health threat.

Air quality alerts were issued in at least eight states, with health officials warning those in sensitive groups, such as children, people with heart or lung disease or those over the age of 65, to limit their time outdoors.

According to AccuWeather, air quality alerts were issued for Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont and New Hampshire.

How is it dangerous?

Smoke blankets the New York City skyline on Tuesday. (Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)

Smoke is made of gases and particles, the same pollutants which are responsible for poor air quality, explained Boris Quennehen, an air quality scientist with Plume Labs who spoke to AccuWeather.

In New York City, the Air Quality Index (AQI)  which measures the amount of pollutants in the air on a 0 to 500 scale  is currently the second-worst in the U.S., at 166, a level that is considered unhealthy.

Its enough smoke particulate in the air that this could be a concern for air quality, not only for sensitive groups but for just about everybody that lives in the Northeast, Britta Merwin, a meteorologist for Fox Weather, told viewers.

The air quality in Indianapolis and Dayton, Ohio, was only slightly better, with an AQI of 161, but still considered unhealthy.

Where are the fires exactly?

Thick plumes of smoke fill the sky as an out-of-control fire in a suburban community quickly spreads, engulfing multiple homes and forcing the evacuation of local residents in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on May 28. (Kelly Clark/The Canadian Press via AP)

There are currently 414 active wildfires burning across Canada, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center, with more than half (241) considered to be out of control.

So far, the fires have charred more than 9 million acres and forced more than 100,000 people to evacuate.

Read more on Yahoo News: Canada on track for its worst-ever wildfire season (Reuters)

Last week, smoke from at least 14 wildfires in Nova Scotia spread across the Northeast, with residents from Vermont to Connecticut reporting that they could not only see it but also smell it.

Is there a threat of wildfires in the U.S.?

In New York City, the Air Quality Index reading of 166 is currently the second-worst in the U.S. (Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)

Yes. According to the National Weather Service, five states  Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Michigan, Washington and Alaska  were under red flag warnings Tuesday due to hot, dry and unstable conditions.

Such warnings are issued when weather conditions in an area are ripe for the spread of wildfires due to a combination of strong winds, low relative humidity and dry fuels.

The weather service warned people in those states to avoid any activities that could potentially lead to a wildfire, such as outdoor grilling, smoking and cutting down trees.

Camping, outdoor grills, smoking materials, chain saws and all-terrain vehicles all have the potential to throw a spark and ignite a dangerous and destructive fire, the weather service said, adding that any fires that develop will likely spread quickly.
Novia Scotia is suffering the biggest forest fire in the province's recorded history

Smoke fills the sky in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Sunday as an out-of-control fire in a suburban community quickly spreads, engulfing multiple homes and forcing the evacuation of local residents. (Kelly Clark/The Canadian Press via AP)

A spate of early season wildfires in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia are spreading smoke across the Northeast. News outlets from Massachusetts to southeastern Pennsylvania are reporting that residents can smell smoke and see it in the sky, and experts are warning that the diminished air quality is posing health risks for residents.

The fires

There are a total of 14 fires in Nova Scotia, the largest of which, covering 43,095 acres, is the provinces largest wildfire in recorded history, according to the provincial government. The fires have destroyed 200 homes and caused evacuation orders for 16,000 residents, and they are now threatening to spread into Halifax, the provincial capital.

Early season wildfires in Nova Scotia are causing the evacuation of thousands of people from their homes. (Yasin Demirci/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Residents in neighboring New Brunswick have also had to evacuate 400 homes. The province saw an unprecedented 15 fires break out on Saturday, New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs said earlier this week.

Its really been heartbreaking, theres really a lot of helplessness, Tim Houston, the premier of Nova Scotia, said at a news conference on Wednesday.

The effects in the U.S.

Due to winds pushing the smoke to the south and west, air quality alerts from the National Weather Service have gone up in southern Michigan and Wisconsin, northern Ohio and parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.

Massachusetts, especially in the Boston area, experienced cloudy skies from the wildfires on Wednesday. That day, and again on Thursday, the National Weather Service issued a Code Orange air quality alert for Philadelphia and its suburbs. The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said Tuesday that air quality would be unhealthy for sensitive groups, and a similar report was issued that day for the state of Massachusetts.

The health effects of particle pollution exposure can range from relatively minor (e.g., eye and respiratory tract irritation) to more serious health effects (e.g., exacerbation of asthma and heart failure, and premature death), according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Smoke from the Tantallon wildfire rises over houses in nearby Bedford, Nova Scotia, on Sunday. (Eric Martyn/Reuters)

The role of climate change

It is unusual to see such significant wildfire activity before the beginning of summer in Nova Scotias generally cold and wet climate, but increasing temperatures due to emissions of greenhouse gases are making springtime warmer and intensifying dry spells.

Nova Scotia had below average snow this past winter, and in April it had less than half of its average rainfall for that month  making it the driest April on record.

What is unique about this situation is the time of year  the fact its occurring in May and that it spread so rapidly, said Anthony Farnell, chief meteorologist of the Canadian outlet Global News.

Climate change contributes to volatility, Dave Meldrum, Halifaxs deputy fire chief, said at a news conference on Monday.

The risk of early season wildfires is expected to increase in the future as climate change continues.

Canada as a whole has warmed, including eastern Canada, and were projecting more warming in the future. So that warming, yes, would be expected to increase fires in eastern Canada as well, Nathan Gillett, a research scientist at Environment and Climate Change Canada, a department of the Canadian federal government, told Global News.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has urged governments to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030 and by 60% by 2035 to limit the extent of global warming.

Plumes of smoke rise from a wildfire raging in Nova Scotia's Upper Tantallon community. (Ben Britton/via Reuters)

The outlook

Scott Tingley, Nova Scotias forest protection manager, said most of the fires were very likely human-caused.

Much of it probably is preventable, he said.

Dry and windy weather in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick this week has fed the fires. The possibility that rain will arrive on Friday night gives locals some hope for help, but experts cautioned that lightning from thunderstorms can actually make matters worse by starting more fires when striking dried-out trees.

Nova Scotia has banned activity in wooded areas, with particular concern for any kind of burning.
The Snohomish County Jails drug detection dog is on duty

For the first time ever there is a drug detection K-9 dedicated to the Snohomish County Jail.

Wednesday was K-9 Harleys first deployment into the jail.

Harley, along with Corrections Deputy Brandon Gloor, searched 32 cells and the shared jail module. No drugs were found.

With the rise of the fentanyl crisis, the Snohomish County Jail has had an increased in overdose incidents, as have many jails in Washington State and across the country.

Almost a year ago an inmate brought powdered fentanyl into the jail, leading to 7 inmate overdoses.

Harley and Gloor graduated from the Washington State Department of Corrections K-9 Drug Detection Academy April 11.

Harley is certified to detect the more commonly seen drugs including fentanyl. She is one of the few dogs trained to detect fentanyl in the state.
As political comebacks go, this one is pretty impressive.

John Swinney voluntarily stepped down after four lacklustre years as his partys leader back in 2004. Today it was confirmed that he will now become Scotlands seventh first minister.

Whats more, this is no interim or caretaker position. Swinney was insistent that he would fill the vacancy created by Humza Yousaf last week only on condition that this was a long-term gig. How permanent Swinneys tenure in Bute House is not for him or his party to say  the voters will decide that in due course. But for now, Scotlands party of government will breathe a sigh of relief as the latest in a long line of political crises comes to an end.

Its not the first time in recent years that a leader of the main nationalist party has been appointed by acclaim. Nicola Sturgeon, Swinneys friend and ally, pulled the same trick in 2014 and stayed at the top for the next eight years. But those were different times. The danger for Honest John Swinney is that when it comes to unelected leaders, he may soon draw more parallels with Gordon Brown than with his partys most electorally successful leader.

Which might explain the curious announcement by Kate Forbes, Scotlands former finance secretary and Yousafs main opponent in last years leadership contest, that she doesnt intend to stand this time round.

She is known to be ambitious for the top job, which partly explains why she has ruled herself out this time. For one of her chief qualifications for the leadership is, reportedly, her intelligence. She graduated from Cambridge and did a post-grad qualification at Edinburgh. That same intelligence that attracts a degree of support from her party (she was only narrowly defeated by Yousaf by a margin of four per cent) has been deployed to assess critically her partys current prospects of success.

And her conclusions may not be encouraging. Although the SNPs poll ratings have been remarkably resilient, given the sea of troubles against which the party has been forced to take up arms, a significant loss of Westminster seats is in prospect whenever the general election is called, even with modest bounce that any new leader can be expected to bestow on his or her partys popularity.

Would Forbes really want to take the blame for that? Better, surely, to express full support for Swinney (which she has duly done), accept a senior cabinet role (which he will surely offer her in gratitude for being able to avoid a messy contest) and be safely out of the firing line when (if?) everything falls to pieces.

Aside from the prospect of losing a number of constituencies to Scottish Labour, making the next Holyrood elections in 2026 harder to call, there are many poisoned chalices awaiting the tastebuds of the new first minister. Does Forbes really want to take responsibility for the continuing farce of unbuilt, undelivered and over-budget ferries? Does she really want to take the fall for Yousafs most toxic legacy, the Hate Crimes Act, which only came into force three years after it was passed by MSPs because the police couldnt work out how to enforce it?

And what about the Scottish Greens? In the absence of an SNP majority at Holyrood, they remain an important part of the political arithmetic there. Surely far better to leave it to Swinney to fret about the partys relationship with Patrick Harvie and his various extremist, whacky political priorities, not to mention the consequences of his and co-leader Lorna Slaters continuing hurty feelings after being unceremoniously dumped by Yousaf last week.

In fact, there are virtually no positive reasons for Forbes to risk another attempt to wrest control of the party from those who have been running it for the last 20 years  she is decidedly an outsider when it comes to the SNPs pro-Sturgeon establishment.

And yet. It is quite possible that the SNP not having Forbes as its next leader now is a terrible mistake. To put it bluntly, the SNP may need her, marking a clear break from the past, in a way Swinney never can. On social issues, she is far more in tine with many Scots when measured by the radical policies pursued by Sturgeon, Yousaf, and supported by Swinney.

It is worth saying that Swinney is a highly-regarded and well-liked figure across all the parties and the media. Bu being first minister, leading a party into a key general election and, perhaps, a Scottish Parliament election, presents altogether different challenges than simply being the trusted uncle figure to whom successive leaders turn for advice.

Swinney turned 60 last month. His return to the back benches on Sturgeons departure suggested he was preparing to go gently into that good night when the next Holyrood elections arrived. Instead he is returning to the fray late in life.

Forbes need be in no hurry, given she is 26 years Swinneys junior. In an age when ambitious politicians seem to see no virtue in delaying their gratification, Forbess decision to play the long game may well reap benefits  and confirm that she has another quality that many of her rivals dont possess: judgement.

Either that, or it will be mistake the SNP will rue for a generation.

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(Bloomberg) -- Solomon Islands Foreign Minister Jeremiah Manele has secured the support of lawmakers to become the nations new prime minister, reinforcing Chinas influence in the Pacific country even after the departure of pro-Beijing leader Manasseh Sogavare.

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Fifty lawmakers voted by secret ballot on the next prime minister in the capital, Honiara, on Thursday, a little over two weeks after a national vote saw Sogavares Ownership, Unity and Responsibility party fail to win a majority in parliament.

Speaking after the result, Manele thanked lawmakers for their support while foreshadowing difficult times ahead for the nations economy which would need a more focused and aggressive approach.

Maneles election as prime minister is likely to be well-received in China as it offers the prospect of continuity in the Pacific nations foreign policy. Beijing had faced a possible scaling back of ties under the leadership of opposition candidates Matthew Wale and Peter Kenilorea Jr.

Yet despite being the Solomon Islands foreign minister for almost five years, Manele is unlikely to strictly follow the pro-China policy of his predecessor, according to Mihai Sora, a former Australian diplomat and research fellow at the Lowy Institute think tank.

There was a personal touch to Sogavares leadership, and he clearly had an ax to grind against countries like Australia. He made it difficult for the US to rebuild that relationship, Sora said.

What we can expect from Manele is that he will be more receptive to offers of cooperation and assistance from a range of partners.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese moved quickly to congratulate Manele on his win, saying Thursday that he looked forward to working closely with him. Australia and Solomon Islands are close friends and our futures are connected, he said.

A former diplomat, Manele worked with Australia and other nations during a Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands which helped maintain order in the country between 2003 and 2017.

He is a soft-spoken politician but a smart leader with a vast experience as a career diplomat, a former opposition leader, minister of planning and aid coordination and foreign affairs, said former Solomon Islands journalist Priestley Habru, now a PhD candidate at the University of Adelaide.

The Solomon Islands switched its diplomatic recognition to China from Taiwan in 2019. But the biggest development came in 2022 when it was announced that Sogavare had signed a controversial security pact with China, provoking alarm in Washington and Canberra.

A leaked draft version of the agreement would have allowed Chinese warships to enjoy safe harbor some 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) from the Australian coast.

Some opposition candidates for prime minister had raised the possibility of renewing closer ties with Taiwan and re-examining the security pact with China.

(Updates with acceptance speech.)

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From new accommodations for pregnant workers, to 'optimal' reading times, to malaria  here some health stories you may have missed this week from Yahoo News partners.

Here are the top stories in health news this week from Yahoo News partners.

'Theres no doubt in my mind these people were suffering.'

Some people who have been legally euthanized in the Netherlands in recent years cited autism or intellectual disabilities as the only reason or a major reason for seeking euthanasia, saying they could not lead normal lives.

The findings were published last month by researchers at Britains Kingston University, who reviewed documents released by the Dutch government's euthanasia review committee, related to 900 of the nearly 60,000 people killed at their own request between 2012 and 2021.

iStock / Getty Images Plus

Most of those 900 people were older and had conditions such as cancer, Parkinsons and ALS. But the group also included five people under 30 years old, who cited autism as either the only reason or a major contributing factor for euthanasia, the Associated Press reported. Thirty of the people included loneliness as a cause of their unbearable pain, and eight said that the only causes of their suffering were factors linked to their intellectual disability or autism  social isolation, a lack of coping strategies or an inability to adjust their thinking.

Theres no doubt in my mind these people were suffering, Irene Tuffrey-Wijne, a palliative care specialist who led the research, said. But is society really OK with sending this message, that theres no other way to help them and its just better to be dead?

In 2002, the Netherlands became the first country to legalize euthanasia. Other countries, including Belgium, Canada and Colombia, have also adopted the practice, but the Netherlands is the only country that shares detailed information about potentially controversial deaths, according to the Associated Press.

New law grants more 'accommodations' for pregnant and postpartum workers

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The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act went into effect on Tuesday, with an estimated 2.8 million pregnant and postpartum workers per year anticipated to benefit from the policy change, NBC News reported.

The act, which was signed into law by President Biden in December, requires that employers with at least 15 employees provide "reasonable accommodations" to workers who need them. Examples of possible accommodations include flexible hours, closer parking and being excused from strenuous activities and/or exposure to chemicals not safe for pregnancy, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The new law does not guarantee paid parental leave, and employers can opt out of providing accommodations if they can show that accommodations present an undue hardship on their business operations.

Malaria spread locally in U.S. for first time in 20 years

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a Health Alert Network Health Advisory on Monday related to cases of malaria in Florida and Texas, marking the first time in 20 years in the United States that the disease has spread through locally contracted cases, the Associated Press reported.

The CDC said that there was no evidence to suggest that the cases in the two states are related. The Florida Department of Health issued a statewide mosquito-borne illness advisory, after four residents in Sarasota County, which is along the states Gulf Coast, reportedly received treatment and recovered from the disease, with the first case reported in late May. A case was also reported in Cameron County, Texas, which lies along the Gulf Coast at the southernmost tip of the state.

Malaria is caused by a parasite that spreads through bites from Anopheles mosquitoes, and not through person-to-person contact. Symptoms include fever, chills, sweats, nausea and vomiting, and headaches. About 2,000 U.S. cases of malaria are diagnosed each year, but the majority of those cases are among travelers coming from countries where malaria commonly spreads.

Children should be reading this many hours per week for 'optimal' results, study says

Peter Cade / Getty Images

A study of more than 10,000 children in the U.S. found that those who read for pleasure at a young age also performed better at school and on mental health assessments as teenagers.

The study published on Wednesday by researchers from the Universities of Cambridge and Warwick in the U.K., and Fudan University in China, compared children who read for enjoyment before they were 9 years old to children who started doing so later, or not at all. They found that children who started reading for pleasure earlier performed better at academic achievement and in tests measuring verbal learning, memory and speech development as teenagers.

They also slept longer and tended to use screens less, and had better mental well-being, showing fewer signs of stress and depression, as well as improved attention, and fewer behavioral problems such as aggression and rule-breaking, PA Media reported.

Reading isnt just a pleasurable experience  its widely accepted that it inspires thinking and creativity, increases empathy and reduces stress, Professor Barbara Sahakian of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge said. But on top of this, we found significant evidence that its linked to important developmental factors in children, improving their cognition, mental health and brain structure, which are cornerstones for future learning and well-being.

For optimal results, researchers concluded that children should be reading for pleasure for about 12 hours every week.
South Dakota abortion-rights initiative supporters submitted enough signatures Wednesday to make the ballot in November.

The signatures were submitted by Dakotans for Health, an abortion-rights group leading the effort in the state. The organization filed the petition with more than 55,000 signatures, which is higher than the 35,000 necessary to get the petition on the ballot.

The push to get the amendment on the ballot is likely to be met with legal challenges in the state where currently there is a near-total abortion ban in place following the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022. South Dakotas law prohibits almost all abortions except in cases to save the life of the mother.

[We] feel pretty good about our chances of qualifying, and weve done our own internal validation and reference thing with voter files and the like and feel that well have plenty signatures and well be on the ballot this November, Dakotans for Health co-founder Rick Weiland told The Hill.

Dakotans for Health and other in-state backers hope to have the constitutional amendment on the ballot that would make abortion, in the first trimester, legal in all instances.

And what our amendment does, its just a reinstatement of Roe v. Wade, Weiland said. The language is almost identical, and it would allow for access to abortion rights through the second trimester and the language of Roe, which indicates that the state can regulate, but not prohibit in the second trimester and the regulations are things like making sure that its a licensed medical professional and licensed facility.

Abortions would only be allowed in the third trimester for reasons like saving the life of the mother, he added. So basically, were trying to codify Roe v. Wade in our state constitution, Weiland said.

Weiland said the group has been collecting signatures since November 2022.

The language from Dakotans for Health is similar to measures approved by voters in other states, namely in Vermont, Michigan, California and Ohio. A number of additional states are looking to put abortion protection measure on the ballot in November.

The signatures now head to the states Secretary of State Monae Johnson, whose office has until mid-August to validate the push.

Today, we proudly present this petition to the Secretary of State, affirming our commitment to letting the voters, not the politicians, determine the course of reproductive rights in our state, Weiland said in a press release.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Houses under construction. (Getty Images)

South Dakota Housing will launch its Grants for Grads program Friday, aiming to help college and technical-college graduates purchase their first home in South Dakota. The program is available for a limited time.

The program existed under former Gov. Dennis Daugaards administration in an effort to attract workers to the state, but ended in 2019, South Dakota Housing Director of Homeownership Programs Brent Adney told board members on Thursday.

I wouldnt be surprised if we had quite a few commitments right away, Adney said.

The timing is good, added Director of South Dakota Housing Chas Olson, and itll help first-time homebuyers enter the market.

Average first-time homebuyers can expect to spend about two-fifths of their pre-tax income on a monthly payment for a house in South Dakota, according to Dakota Institute research.

Any kind of affordability relief we could provide is good at this time, Olson told board members.

The program will also help with South Dakotas workforce development initiatives, added Housing Development Authority Board President Scott Erickson.

If someone graduated three years ago, moved to a major city and found that housing is really expensive, it would be the draw to bring them back, Erickson said.

First-time homebuyers will be eligible if theyve earned a degree from an accredited university or technical college in the last five years, select a South Dakota home costing $385,000 or less, and meet income requirements. According to Zillow, the median home sale price in South Dakota is $290,833.

Materials from the prior iteration of Grants for Grads said the program provided 5% percent of a participants loan amount as a grant to be used for a down payment or closing cost assistance.

Interested participants must contact a lender to set an appointment and apply for the program.

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The post South Dakota Housing launches homebuying assistance program for recent grads appeared first on South Dakota Searchlight.
By Hyunsu Yim and Sebin Choi

SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea's National Assembly voted on Thursday to approve a bill backed by the ruling and opposition parties to launch a fresh investigation into a deadly Halloween crowd crush in the capital Seoul in 2022.

An earlier bill, which was backed by the opposition-led parliament without the support of the ruling People Power Party (PPP), was vetoed by President Yoon Suk Yeol in January.

The latest bill is a compromise that removes granting full investigative power to the panel, which Yoon had objected to, according to his office.

Under the bill, a committee made up of members recommended by two major parties and a chair chosen by them will look into the tragedy, in which nearly 160 people were killed.

The passage of the bill comes after Yoon met opposition leader Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party for talks on Monday following the PPP's crushing general election defeat last month.

It also comes amid growing pressure on authorities, including from relatives of the victims, to hold those responsible for the fatal crush to account.

"The Yoon Suk Yeol government must respond earnestly and ... not try to hide or minimize anything," said Joung Mi-ra, the mother of one of the mostly young people who were killed.

Relatives of the victims as well as the United Nations Human Rights Committee have called for an independent inquiry into the circumstances of the crush among a crowd of Halloween partygoers in Seoul's Itaewon district.

A police investigation published early last year concluded that a lack of preparation and an inadequate response were the main factors behind the deaths.

In January, South Korean prosecutors indicted the former head of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, charging him with contributing through negligence to the crush.

No senior government figures, including the interior and safety minister, have resigned or been sacked so far over the crush.

Parliament separately voted to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the death of a marine while conducting a search and rescue operation during last year's massive floods in South Korea. Members of the ruling PPP boycotted the vote.

Opposition party members allege the government has attempted a cover-up in an internal investigation by the Marine Corps. Yoon's office said the vote was politically motivated.

(Reporting by Hyunsu Yim, Jack Kim, Sebin Choi and Dogyun KimEditing by Ed Davies and Ros Russell)
Children rest in the shade by the train tracks in the Khlong Toei district of Bangkok as the region broils in extreme heat - Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images

Inside the small classroom, 50 teenagers are struggling to keep cool. One of the two ceiling fans is broken, and the free-standing alternatives reach only a handful of the students.

Imagine all 50 people, sharing those fans, says Heart Cona, a grade 11 pupil in General Santos City, on the southern tip of the Philippines, where a punishing heatwave has driven temperatures above 40 degrees.

The heat here is like standing under the blazing sun on a scorching summer day, except it lasts from morning till evening, the 17-year-old adds. Its the kind of heat that makes you feel like youre melting, where seeking shade provides little relief as even the air feels hot to breathe.

The temperatures have not only given Heart and her classmates headaches and heatstroke, but left their education in disarray because in-person lessons have been frequently suspended due to the heat and humidity.

Students at a school in Cambodia use desktop fans to keep cool in class - Chan Tha Lach/REUTERS

Theyre not alone: across south and southeast Asia, millions of children have been hit by Covid-style school closures and health warnings as the region suffers from a deadly, weeks-long heatwave thats rewritten climatic history, according to analysts.

Hundreds of records [have been] brutalised all over Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Philippines and all Asia, Maximiliano Herrera, a climatologist and weather historian tracking temperatures, wrote on X (formerly Twitter). We are seeing what three centuries of climatology never saw.

Total insanity

The torrent of records are being set thick and fast. In Vietnam  where one reservoir is blanketed by dead fish  temperatures hit 44C on Tuesday, its hottest April day in history. Neighbouring Laos has hit a new high of 43.2C, while the mercury has surpassed 48.2C in Myanmar.

And in Thailand its been total insanity, with records beaten and re-beaten every day, Mr Herrara says. A high of 44.2C was seen in the northern region of Lampang and temperatures have risen above 43C in 16 provinces.

But temperature alone does not capture the intensity of the weather: also factoring in humidity, it is the heat index that reflects how hot it really feels outside.

When humidity is high, its much harder for our bodies to stay cool as it hinders the evaporation of sweat. This can lead to exhaustion, heat stroke and death.

A fisherman collects dead fish from a reservoir in southern Vietnam's Dong Nai province - STR/AFP via Getty Images

According to the heat index, cramps and exhaustion are likely if the value tops 40C; anything above 50C is considered very dangerous, given the risk of heat stroke. The elderly are especially vulnerable as their internal regulators for body temperature control are less effective than the young.

In the Philippines  where authorities have cancelled in-person classes at 47,000 schools  the index registered 53C on Sunday in Iba, a small city 150 miles north of the capital Manila. Readings have surpassed 40C in more than 30 regions.

Meanwhile in Bangkok  where air-conditioned shopping centres are crowded, shade-providing umbrellas are a hot commodity, and the Telegraphs recent motorbike taxi driver wore oven gloves to protect against hot handlebars  the heat index hit 52C this week.

The entire Indo-Pacific [is] in a frying pan, says Dr Roxy Koll, a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology.

Sun parasols have become a hot commodity in Bangkok - RUNGROJ YONGRIT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

April is traditionally a hot season for the region, but this year the El Nino weather phenomenon has pushed temperatures to record highs, says Prof Theepakorn Jithitikulchai, an economist and climate expert at Thammasat University in Bangkok.

El Nino also contributes to delayed rainfall, potentially leading to droughts, he adds.

This is on top of climate change. According to the World Meteorological Organizations latest report, released last month, Asia is warming faster than the global average  almost doubling since the 1961-1990 period. The agency added that the continent was the most disaster-hit region from weather, climate and water-related hazards in 2023.

Unfortunately the world, including southeast Asia, is not prepared for the impacts that are coming, says Nicholas Rees, a climate change programme manager at Unicefs regional office for East Asia and Pacific in Bangkok.

It will take collective effort at a large scale to put in place the systems that are needed to manage the impacts of climate change.

A railway worker sprays water on tracks warped by the heat in the southern Thai province of Nakhon Si Thammarat - HANDOUT/State Railway of Thailand/AFP via Getty Images

Widening the gap

But with resources and funding to tackle these issues limited, there are concerns that the varied regions infrastructure will struggle. Energy grids are a particular concern  in countries including Vietnam and the Philippines, there have been outages as cooling devices have driven huge demand for power.

The hot temperatures will also worsen already entrenched inequalities.

While the wealthy work in air conditioned offices, study in air conditioned schools and live in air conditioned houses, this is simply unavailable or unaffordable for millions.

Ive never experienced this before, I feel I am sat with a hot hair dryer at my face, says Ann, 51, who sells lottery tickets on the side of the busy Phahonyothin Road in west Bangkok. With two children at home she has no choice but to work in the punishing heat.

It is very difficult to sit here all day in this temperature, she says, holding a colourful rattan fan. I am very, very hot.

Vendors prepare large blocks of ice at a chipping station in Bangkok - Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images

High temperatures are also proven to slow down the brains cognitive functions. In one 2020 study from the United States, researchers found pupils performed worse on standardised tests if they had been exposed to high temperatures in the year before the exam.

The paper concluded that a 0.55C warmer school year reduced that years learning by one per cent  an impact that could be almost entirely eradicated if the classroom had air conditioning.

Climate change will widen the learning gaps between hot and cool countries, Josh Goodman, an economist at Boston University and co-author of the report, told Reuters.

Jay-Em Estrella, a science teacher at a private school in Quezon City in the Philippines, agrees.

While his classes have struggled, the outlook for public schools reliant on fans has been even worse, and hes concerned about the long-term consequences for human development.

We just barely recovered from the lockdowns  and now classes are getting suspended for something that we couldve been a bit more resilient about, he says. Were already regressed so much in our education system  [the heat] is like having another dent in an already beat up car.

A school in Juba, closed by the South Sudan government in March due to extreme heat - Ikilass Henry/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Of course, such challenges are not unique to southeast Asia. The outlook is similar in South Asia: India saw its longest April heatwave, with a code red warning issued for Kolkata as temperatures reached 46C; in Bangladesh, where the mercury rose to 43.8C on Tuesday, 33 million pupils have been affected by school closures.

This spring, Africa has also suffered severe heatwaves.

In South Sudan, schools closed to some 2.2 million students in late March when temperatures soared to 45C, with similar temperatures recorded in Burkina Faso last month. On April 3, Kayes in Mali recorded 48.5C.

Local hospitals reported a surge of deaths in the sweltering heat. Gabriel Toure hospital in Bamako, Mali, recorded 102 deaths over four days in early April, compared with 130 deaths over the entire month in 2023. Many of the dead were aged over 60, while power cuts and the Ramadan fast added to peoples vulnerability.

Rising heat-related mortality is of particular concern. Ko Barrett, deputy secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organization, told a recent conference that extreme heat had become a global silent killer, adding that it is widely under-reported.

So the true scale of premature deaths and economic costs  in terms of reduced labour productivity, agricultural losses, and stress on the power grid  is not accurately reflected in the statistics, she said.

Passengers use portable electric fans to themselves on a jeepney in Manila - TED ALJIBE/AFP via Getty Images

The extreme temperatures reported in Mali and Burkina Faso were a 1-in-200 years event, but if global temperatures warm further, they could become much more common, according to researchers at the World Weather Attribution, a collective of international climate scientists.

This will bring more disruption, ill-health and death.

In the Philippines, Heart says her only option is to endure.

The intense heatwave has thrown our education off track  because of it, we cant conduct classes like we used to. Many of us are falling ill, she says. Plus, not everyone has the means to access education online.

My classmates and I arent wealthy at all, so whether were at school or at home, the situation remains equally difficult. We dont have any choice but to endure all of it.

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LAKEWOOD, Ohio (WJW)  The speed limit on a portion of Lake Avenue in Lakewood will be reduced from 35 mph to 30 mph, starting Monday, June 3.

The speed limit change along the primarily residential avenue goes from the West 117th Street intersection to its end at Webb Road, according to a Thursday news release from the city.

Weekend sobriety checkpoint: Heres where

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The speed reduction on Lake Avenue will decrease risk for everyone  from walkers to cyclists to drivers and everyone in between, Mayor and Safety Director Meghan George is quoted in a news release. We see this change as another example of Lakewoods holistic approach to safety.

Drivers should notice prominent signs about the change, which will be up for a whole month before the new speed limit takes effect, according to the release.

There are no changes for the similarly named Lake Road farther west, which will keep its 25 mph speed limit, officials noted.

The decision was based on years of traffic studies and was a complex undertaking, officials said.

The city needed state approval for the change and before that, collected and analyzed data along the avenue in 2021 and 2023, according to the release.

Smoke near CLE Hopkins  Heres what sparked it

You cant just snap your fingers and change a speed limit, and that is a good thing, city Engineer Mark Papke is quoted in the release. In Ohio, its a complex, data-driven, multi-jurisdictional effort, which makes sense given how important these laws are for protecting the public.

One of the main factors for the decision was the addition of bicycle lanes on the avenue in 2020. Residents also requested the change for the safety of cyclists and pedestrians, according to the release.

After the bike lanes were painted, the citys traffic data showed drivers were already being more cautious, traveling at an average speed of 30 mph.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW.
SPRINGDALE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA)  Springdale police arrested a man on April 28 for allegedly shooting at a pregnant woman and threatening to kill her and her family.

Jose de Jesus Ortiz, 20

(Courtesy: Washington County Sheriffs Office)

Jose de Jesus Ortiz, 20, of Rogers is facing charges of first-degree attempted murder, first-degree terroristic threatening, and second-degree criminal mischief.

According to a preliminary report, a woman told police she had been in a verbal and physical argument with De Jesus Ortiz with whom she had a sexual relationship. The woman said the argument began in Fayetteville when she told De Jesus Ortiz of her pregnancy and her belief that he was the father.

The woman told police that De Jesus Ortiz began to get upset and physical with her. The woman then left De Jesus Ortiz in Fayetteville.

The woman said De Jesus Ortiz began to message the woman in Springdale. In the messages, he told the woman he was going to kill her and her family several different times.

Farmington police arrest woman after seizing drugs, gun, money

The report says the woman had one of De Jesus Ortizs guns while in Springdale, and parked at a gas station. De Jesus Ortiz found her at the gas station and shattered one of the windows in her car. The woman told police she then drove away.

According to the report, De Jesus Ortiz told the woman that if she returned his gun, he would not kill her. She agreed and met up with him to return the gun.

The woman told police De Jesus Ortiz got out of his vehicle with three other men who were wearing masks. De Jesus Ortiz then pulled a mask over his face and pulled out a gun. He pointed the gun at the woman and fired several times.

The report says the woman was able to escape unharmed. Police found 9mm casings at the location.

De Jesus Ortiz is being held at the Washington County Jail on a $500,000 bond. He has a court appearance set for May 31.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KNWA FOX24.
CHICAGO, Ill.  A Spanish Lake, Missouri, man was arrested earlier this week in connection with a double shooting in Chicago.

According to a Chicago Police Department spokesperson, the shooting happened Monday, April 29, at a residence in the 7400 block of South Ellis Avenue, which is located in the Great Grand Crossing community.

Police claim Craig Messiah-Smith, 24, shot and seriously injured two women, ages 30 and 31, inside a home.

Messiah-Smith was still at the scene and taken into custody, police said.

Messiah-Smith was charged with two counts of first-degree attempted murder, one count of aggravated battery, and one count of aggravated domestic battery.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2.
Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs Group Inc., in the midst of boosting its exchange-traded fund business, has hired JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s former head of ETFs Bryon Lake, sources familiar with the matter told etf.com.

Lake joins Goldman Sachs Asset Management this summer, in a broad role across the company's asset management business, the source said. The client-facing role will cover all of Goldman's investment capabilities, the source said.

Lake's arrival at Goldman would follow high-profile departures in Goldman's ETF business. In February Ryan O'Connor, who ran all aspects of its ETF product platform, departed to join rival ETF firm Global X as chief executive. Goldman's global ETF head Mark Crinieri, left earlier this year, the FT said.

New York-based Goldman Sachs has launched a handful of ETFs in the past year as well as starting a so-called accelerator aimed at helping other firms get their exchange-traded funds to market. The company, with $34 billion in 40 ETFs, is a top 20 ETF issuer, while JPMorgan, with $150.5 billion in 61 U.S. exchange-traded funds, is the sixth-largest issuer, according to etf.com data.

Lake led JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s ETF business for the past three years while its JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF (JEPI) soared in popularity. Goldman last year launched a pair of funds aimed at replicating JEPI's success.

Lake had most recently overseen the growth of New York-based JPMorgan's active ETFs, as demand surges for that type of fund that typically charges higher fees than their passive counterparts. Active funds are grabbing customer assets from mutual funds, and in recent years have grown at 20% annually, according to Morningstar.

In October, it announced the launch of the JPMorgan Active Bond ETF (JBND), which has grown to $218.9 million in assets. Lake also announced in July that the company was converting four mutual funds to active ETFs. The conversions coincide with the company becoming the No. 1 firm year-to-date in net active flows across U.S. active ETFs, according to data from JPMorgan.

Bloomberg Intelligence senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas yesterday said Lake had been on a hot streak with low-cost active funds, and another firm may be quick to grab him.

If you were looking to lead your ETF business, he has to be on a very short list of people you think of, he told Bloomberg News. He really combined high-quality brand-name active for a more Vanguard-ian fee and that is a powerful combination.

Vanguard Group, the No. 2 U.S. ETF issuer, on March 1 said that Chief Executive Officer Tim Buckley will retire from the company after six years in the role and 33 years at the asset manager.

Story continues

Lake's LinkedIn page said he spent 7 years at JPMorgan, all of them in the ETF business, and most recently as Managing Director, Global Head of ETF Solutions. He was at Invesco for 11 and-a-half years before that. He earned a Bachelor's degree in International Business at Taylor University in Indiana in 2002.





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Stark Parks will not renew its lease at Whitacre Greer. What's next for the park system?

Whitacre Greer Park in Rose Township will no longer be managed by Stark Parks beginning in June. A sign by the entrance of the park says it will return to private property.

ROSE TWP.  Whitacre Greer Park, an equestrian park in Carroll County, will no longer be managed by Stark Parks beginning in June.

Sarah Buell, capital projects and planning manager at the park district, said they decided not to renew their lease on the land because of limitations with the lease agreement and the park's location.

The park will return to private property, according to Whitacre Greer Co., which owns the land. John Whitacre, secretary at the company, said they do not have any plans for the property.

"We're just going to lock the gates now," he said. "We have no plans on developing or anything like that."

He said the company would consider leasing the land again in the future, but there are no interested parties at the moment.

Pike Ridge Park: Stark Parks chooses name for newest park. Hint: It honors Pike Twp. and the terrain

A Stark Parks sign by the entrance of Whitacre Greer Park in Rose Township in Carroll County. The park will return to private property in June.

Buell said the park district originally intended to open Whitacre Greer park for hiking, biking and other uses, but couldn't because of constraints of the lease.

"The goals of the [Whitacre] family I think evolved over time, and we were really limited with what we could do at the site," she said. "It was really equestrian only, that was the only access allowed, and only 500 of those acres were in Stark County. The [other] 1,500 that were usable were in Carroll County."

She said there were concerns about putting additional Stark County tax dollars into the park because of its location outside of the county.

The park was originally 2,000 acres, which the park district leased from Whitacre Greer for $4,000 per year. In 2022, the area managed by Stark Parks was reduced to 500 acres for $1,000 annually. Stark Parks is not renewing the lease this year when it comes due June 1.

The park, located at 4290 Irish Road NW in Rose Township, has five equestrian trails, a small pond and a picnic area.

Stark Parks will continue to maintain the Sandy Valley Trail, which goes through part of the Whitacre Greer property. The trail will remain open.

The park district will be opening up a new park this summer in Pike Township, also geared toward equestrian trails.

Dan Moeglin, director of Stark Parks, said the new park is also 500 acres and presents more opportunities for development and recreation moving forward.

"We could just do a little swap there, acre for acre," he said.

The new park will be geared towards hikers and horseback riders, with potential for kayaking and canoeing in the future, he said.

Mary Alice Kuhn, president of Ohio Horseman's Council, said the new Pike Ridge Park will be larger and in a better location.

She said some people will be disappointed in losing Whitacre Greer "because of the convenience of where that trail system was located, but there's so much more opportunity for trail riding, even with the loss of Whitacre Greer."

Kuhn said Pike Ridge will have 13 miles of trails and is located near a highway and camping sites as well as other equestrian trails, such as the Tri-County Trail System and trails at Camp Tuscazour.

Stark Parks has an ongoing relationship with the Stark County chapter of the Ohio Horseman's Council. Kuhn said they have been able to give input on the new park as it is being developed.

"I've been on that property with Dan Moeglin and other horse people hiking it, and it's a beautiful property. Lots of woods, lots of ponds," she said. "It's really a great location for trails."

An equestrian trail through the woods at Whitacre Greer Park in Rose Township.

Kuhn said she anticipates the new park will bring many visitors interested in horseback riding to the county and could be an economic driver.

"We drive big diesel trucks that use diesel gas, and we like to eat so we're stopping at restaurants," she said. "It's an economy boost around the state of Ohio where we've got these kinds of trail systems."

Where does development on Pike Ridge Park stand?

The first step to opening the new park in Pike Township is to work on temporary parking, Moeglin said.

"We're getting quotes from contractors right now to construct that," he said. "We're in the process of getting that underway in the next month or month and a half."

The park will first be open to limited access this summer. Moeglin anticipates taking small public groups for walking tours of the property starting in June.

Maintenance teams have begun mapping the property and marking some trails at Pike Ridge.

"We're making progress, but we're taking our time because we want to do it right," Moeglin said.

Reach Grace at 330-580-8364 or gspringer@gannett.com. Follow her on X @GraceSpringer16.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Whitacre Greer park closing in anticipation of new Pike Ridge Park
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN)  A new bill filed in the state legislature is calling for human trafficking awareness training for some people in the hospitality industry.

Sanford man charged with human trafficking in Cumberland County: Sheriff

State representative Timothy Reeder (R-Pitt), who attended the conference Thursday, told CBS 17 he and Rep. Kevin Crutchfield (R-Cabarrus) just filed a bill that would require training for hotel workers and vacation rental home owners on how to identify human trafficking victims.

Hotels are an important part of that continuum of how people are human trafficking. And if we can identify them in those areas and try to break that cycle would be very important, Reeder said.

Reeder is one of dozens of lawmakers, sheriffs and other community leaders who attended the North Carolina Demand Reduction Task Forces first Human Trafficking Prevention Conference Wednesday and Thursday at N.C. State Universitys McKimmon Center.

Leaders and advocates discussed how to cut down on the number of people trying to buy other people. Task force co-founder Pam Strickland believes part of the solution is to change how children see themselves and others at a young age so they dont fall into this system.

Train kids from a very young age about concepts like consent and bodily autonomy and healthy relationships, Strickland said.

The National Human Trafficking Hotline says North Carolina ranks in the top 15 for human trafficking cases.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to CBS17.com.
Rep. Bud Williams, D-Springfield, addresses advocates and colleagues at a legislative briefing held in Nurses Hall Wednesday to promote his bill, which would create an Ebony Alert.

BOSTON  Lawmakers proposing to address the issue of missing Black women and girls through the institution of an Ebony Alert system are hopeful that it will send the message: In Massachusetts, their lives matter.

The proposal, sponsored by Rep. Bud Williams, D-Springfield, and Rep. Chyna Tyler, D-Boston, stems from the idea that collective action and preventive measures are needed to protect Black women and girls in Massachusetts from gender- and racial-related violence.

When Black women and girls are kidnapped, murdered or trafficked for commercial sex exploitation, or even when Black girls leave adult supervision, Williams said, their circumstances and fates are largely ignored.

When Black girls go missing, it falls on deaf ears, very little attention is paid, Williams said as he addressed a legislative briefing Wednesday where he urged colleagues to support the bill, still in committee.

Williams contrasted the attention they receive from law enforcement and the mainstream media against the attention paid to white women with blond hair and blue eyes. Your background, where you come from, where you live, what you look like, shouldnt matter.

What's in the bill?

The measure would establish an executive office devoted to preventing and ending the targeting of Black women and girls. The bill would also establish a data bank to track and record reports of murdered and missing Black women and girls, maintain records and follow their cases across Massachusetts.

The bill would also establish an Ebony Alert system for missing and kidnapped Black children, similar to the nationwide Amber Alert that is activated when youngsters under 17 are reported kidnapped and details of their abductors are known.

The database would also track those missing children who are classified as runaways  children who are not under adult supervision and in danger.

In supporting the bill, Sen. Liz Miranda, D-Boston, talked about two of her friends who were reported missing and ultimately found slain. Their attackers were arrested and charged in their deaths.

They were my friends, members of my community, Miranda said. Jassy Correia, 22, of Boston, was kidnapped outside of a city nightclub in Feb. 2019. She was found days later in the trunk of a car; her abductor had kidnapped, sexually assaulted and killed her.

Louis D. Coleman, 36, of Providence, Rhode Island, was arrested in Delaware and charged with the kidnapping and murder of Correia. Coleman was convicted June 1, 2022, by federal jury in Boston and sentenced by U.S. Chief District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV to life in prison without parole.

Sherell Pringle, 40, of Woburn, was reported missing by her family after failing to return home from a date in Dec. 2021. Her family found her remains in a Saugus swamp. The man she had been dating, Bruce Maiben, was arrested and charged with her death.

They were not found in time, Miranda said.

40% of those reported missing are of color

Thousands of women are reported missing every year, Miranda said, also citing the disparities in response to their plights when comparing white women and women of color. It is the Legislature's job to protect us.

Nationwide, roughly a half million people are reported missing every year, according to information compiled by Williams staff and the World Population Review. Of those, about 40% are people of color when only 13% of the U.S. population identifies as of color.

Thats unconscionable, Miranda said, pointing out that characteristics attributed to Black women and girls  the perception that they are more independent, more resilient and more mature  works against them when reported missing or victims of violence.

Black girls are adultified, sexualized, criminalized and dehumanized, Miranda said, suggesting there needs to be a cultural shift to ensure proper response, both socially and in law enforcement, to their victimization.

I am honored to support this bill and work together to bring our girls home, Miranda said.

From left, Crystal Hayes of Basic Black GBH, State Police Det. Lt. Ann Marie Robertson, Alexandria Onuoha, a doctoral student at Suffolk University, and Mayowa Osinubi, co-founder of Mics for the Missing, attend a legislative briefing Wednesday in Nurses Hall.

Also attending the legislative briefing was interim Massachusetts State Police Superintendent Lt. Col. John Mawn and a panel of advocates and organizers supporting the measure. Alexandria Onuoha, a doctorate candidate at Suffolk University, and Mayowa Osinubi, co-founder of Mics for the Missing. and Det. Lt. Ann Marie Robertson, officer in charge of the state police unresolved cases, attended to lend their expertise and advice.

Robertson suggested that family and loved ones report missing people with alacrity and provide as many details of their appearance, clothing, hair and the circumstances of their lives as possible. Speed, she said, is of the essence.

This is a crisis, said Williams. This is an issue of equity.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: State legislators back Ebony Alert, missing Black women database
HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM)  In Pennsylvania State Polices 119-year history, 104 State Troopers have lost their lives in service to the Commonwealth. Those troopers were recognized Thursday.

Our fallen troopers make the ultimate sacrifice for Pennsylvania  and while today we gather and honor their life in service, we must also reaffirm every day that we never, ever forget, said Governor Josh Shapiro. The men and women of the Pennsylvania State Police go to work every single day to protect and serve our communities.

Trooper Jacques Rougeau Honored at Pennsylvania State Police Memorial Ceremony

Trooper Jacques Rougeau Honored at Pennsylvania State Police Memorial Ceremony

Trooper Jacques Rougeau Honored at Pennsylvania State Police Memorial Ceremony

Trooper Jacques Rougeau Honored at Pennsylvania State Police Memorial Ceremony

The troopers were honored at a memorial ceremony at the departments headquarters near Harrisburg, where they are listed on a memorial wall.

Thursdays ceremony focused especially on the newest name on that wall: Trooper Jacques Rougeau, who served in the Lewistown barracks when he was shot and killed. He was 29 and had been with the State Police for three years.

Last month, an interchange in Juniata County was dedicated in his honor.

Thursday, State Police Colonel Christopher Paris presented the Pennsylvania State Police Cross to Rougeaus wife. The cross is presented to the next-of-kin of fallen troopers.

I am humbled and honored to pay tribute to Tpr. Jacques Rougeau Jr. and the 103 other members of the Pennsylvania State Police who have made the ultimate sacrifice, said Colonel Christopher Paris, Commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police. Their dedication and service will always be remembered.

Each name was read aloud, along with the playing of Taps, a rifle salute, and a moment of silence.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27.
NEW FREEDOM, Pa. (WHTM)  Two men have been taken into custody in York County after an hours-long search by State Police on Thursday morning.

According to the police, the search began when the two men fled on foot from a stolen vehicle at around 2:45 a.m.

Police say the search was focused on the area of East Main Street and North Constitution Avenue. Both a K-9 and drone were used to assist in the search.

An investigation is ongoing. Anyone with relevant information should contact the Pennsylvania State Police York Station at 717-428-1011.

This is a developing story. Stay with abc27 News as more information becomes available

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27.
A proposal to build large a Foster Farms chicken grow-out facility between Jefferson and Scio, like this one under construction in 2023 near Auora, had its water permit pulled for further review as part of a court case.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture has pulled a water permit for a proposed Foster Farms chicken complex between Scio and Jefferson, putting on hold for at least six months the controversial confined animal feeding operation for some 3.5 million chickens a year.

A farmer and environmental groups in Linn County filed a lawsuit against the state, alleging the Department of Agriculture-issued water quality permit for the proposed facility was given in violation of of state and federal laws.

The state filed a notice on April 19 that it removed the permit, saying it will affirm, modify or reverse the order by Oct. 31, according to court filings.

Were pretty proud of ourselves, but I say we cant celebrate too early, said Christina Eastman, a farmer who lives next to the proposed site and is the plaintiff in the lawsuit

I cant say that we have a win," Eastman said. "But we have the possibility of a win. We have to wait for six months to see what the state does.

Large Foster Farms chicken ranch proposed for Scio

In 2021, Eric Simon, a Foster Farms contract grower from Brownsville, applied to the state for a permit to build a large chicken feeding operation on a piece property he purchased at 37225 Jefferson-Scio Drive.

Simon proposed building 11 large barns on farm land less than 500 yards from the North Santiam River. The barns would house 580,000 chickens at a time and about 3.5 million per year. It would make it the second largest facility of its kind in Oregon.

In 2022, the Oregon Department of Agriculture approved a Water Pollution Control Facilities permit for the proposed J-S Ranch after a public hearing where nearly all people who testified were opposed to the facility.

Neighbors of proposed chicken facility sue the state

Eastman lives on a multi-generational farm that is just yards from the proposed ranch. She and groups including Friends of Family Farmers and Willamette Riverkeeper sued the states departments of agriculture and environment quality in Linn County Court in October 2022.

They alleged the state agencies failed to consider the potential groundwater impacts from air emissions specifically ammonia  produced by the chicken complex.

They also said the North Santiam River could be impacted by waste from the site and the groundwater could be impacted from the barns.

The North Santiam River is a major tributary of the Willamette River and a drinking water source for cities including Salem, Stayton and Albany.

The state filed for summary judgment, arguing aerial emissions of ammonia from the ranch was not under its purview and that chicken manure produced onsite would not be applied there.

Linn County Circuit Court Judge Rachel Kittson-MaQatish denied that motion in April.

The proposed site of Foster Farms' chicken facilitiy near Scio.

The ruling put off indefinitely a trial scheduled for May, as the parties wait to see what the Department of Agriculture does next.

An attorney for Eastman said the plaintiffs could still proceed with the case if they don't like what the Department of Agriculture decides to do.

The states Department of Agriculture still shows J-S Ranch is approved.

A spokesperson for the department said ground cannot be broken on the operation while the application is being reconsidered.

If permit is revoked, CAFO likely wont go forward

A new state law in 2023 stopped the unlimited amount of ground water CAFOs got to use under previous state laws.

At that time, there were two similarly planned large CAFOs in the area, one in Stayton and one between Scio and Mill City. After that law went into effect, both properties were put up for sale, meaning they likely will never happen.

Another piece of the new law allowed counties to create their own setback requirements. Linn County in December 2023 used the law to reuire a one-mile setback.

The proposed J-S Ranch between Scio and Jefferson was allowed to go forward under the previous law. But if the approved permit is revoked, they would have to reapply under the new law. That could end the proposed ranch, Eastman said.

I think that this is the beginning of the end for big chicken to come to Oregon, Eastman said. I think that they really thought if they started in these little podunk counties, they could get their foot in the door.

They just started in the wrong place.

Bill Poehler covers Marion and Polk County for the Statesman Journal. Contact him at bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Oregon pulls water permit for proposed Foster Farms chicken farm,
High-voltage transmission lines provide electricity to data centers in Loudon County, Va., home to the worlds largest concentration of data centers. Lawmakers in Virginia and other states are rethinking how incentive programs for data centers may impact the electric grid, clean energy goals and utility rates for other consumers. Photo by Ted Shaffrey/The Associated Press

State Sen. Norm Needleman championed the 2021 legislation designed to lure major data centers to Connecticut.

The Democratic lawmaker hoped to better compete with nearby states, bring in a growing industry, and provide paychecks for workers tasked with building the sprawling server farms.

But this legislative session, hes wondering if those tax breaks are appropriate for all data centers, especially those with the potential to disrupt the states clean energy supply.

Particularly concerning to him are plans for a mega data center on the site of the states only nuclear power plant. The developer is proposing an arrangement that would give it priority access to electricity generated at the plant, which would mean less carbon-free power for other users.

That affects our climate goals, he said. Its additional demand of renewable energy that we would have to replace.

Needleman, co-chair of the Senate Energy and Technology Committee, is now reconsidering details of the state incentive program as he works on legislation to study the impact of data centers on the states electric grid. Mistakes now, he said, could lead to a real crisis.

Compared with other employers that states compete for, such as automotive plants, data centers hire relatively few workers. Still, states have offered massive subsidies to lure data centers  both for their enormous up-front capital investment and the cachet of bringing in big tech names such as Apple and Facebook. But as the cost of these subsidy programs balloons and data centers proliferate coast to coast, lawmakers in several states are rethinking their posture as they consider how to cope with the growing electricity demand.

From the outside, data centers can resemble ordinary warehouses. But inside, the windowless structures can house acres of computer servers used to power everything from social media to banking. The centers suck up massive amounts of energy to keep data moving and water to keep servers from overheating.

Data centers are the backbone of the increasingly digital world, and they consume a growing share of the nations electricity, with no signs of slowing down. The global consultancy McKinsey & Company predicts these operations will double their U.S. electric demands from 17 gigawatts in 2022 to 35 gigawatts by 2030  enough electricity to power more than 26 million average homes.

Some states, including Maryland and Mississippi, continue to pursue incentives to land new data centers. But in other states, the growth of the industry is raising alarms over the reliability and affordability of local electric grids, and fears that utilities will meet the demand by leaning more heavily on fossil fuel generation rather than renewables.

In South Carolina, lawmakers have started to question whether these massive power users should continue to receive tax breaks and preferential electric rates.

In Virginia, home to the worlds largest concentration of data centers, a legislative study is underway to learn more about how those operations are affecting electric reliability and affordability.

And Georgia lawmakers just passed legislation that would halt the states tax incentives for new data centers for two years. Georgia is home to more than 50 data centers, including those supporting AT&T, Google and UPS, according to the state commerce department.

Georgia Republican state Sen. John Albers, a sponsor of the Senate bill, said the significant growth of data centers in his state has helped communities and schools by boosting property tax revenues. But, considering factors such as water and electric use, he said the return on the states investment is not there and that initial findings do not support credits from the state level.

Nationwide, data center subsidies were costing state and local governments about $2 million per job created, according to a 2016 study by Good Jobs First, a nonprofit watchdog group that tracks economic development incentives. That figure has certainly ballooned in recent years, said Kasia Tarczynska, the organizations senior research analyst, who authored the report.

The Georgia bill now sits on the desk of Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, whose office did not respond to a request for comment.

The Data Center Coalition, a trade group representing tech giants including Amazon, Google and Meta, is urging a veto.

Josh Levi, president of the organization, said data center companies are investing billions in new Georgia data centers, making metro Atlanta one of the nations biggest industry hubs.

Levi noted that lawmakers in 2022 extended the states tax credit program through 2031.

The abrupt suspension of an incentive that not only has been on the books, but that was extended two years ago, I think signals tremendous uncertainty, not just for the data center industry, but more broadly, he said.

Levi said the data center industry has been at the forefront of pushing clean energy. As of last year, data center providers and customers accounted for two-thirds of American wind and solar contracts, according to an S&P Global Market Intelligence report.

Fundamentally, data is now the lifeblood of our modern economy, he said. Everything that we do in our personal and professional lives really points back to data generation, processing and storage.

Electricity hogs

In fast-growing South Carolina, lawmakers have pointed to data centers as a major factor in rising electricity demand.

As part of a broader energy bill, the legislature considered a measure that would prevent data centers from receiving discounted power rates.

Republican state Rep. Jay West said inducements such as reduced power rates are appropriate for major, transformational endeavors. He pointed to the BMW factory in Spartanburg, which employs 11,000 people, draws in major suppliers and pumps millions into the state economy.

While data centers boost local property taxes receipts, they dont do much for the state, he said, and shouldnt receive preferential rates. And they are being built faster than new energy generation can be added.

I do not speak for my caucus or the [legislative] body in saying this, he said, but I dont think South Carolina can handle more data centers.

The House provision on data center utility rates was quickly struck in a Senate committee, the South Carolina Daily Gazette reported.

Lynn Teague, vice president of the League of Women Voters of South Carolina, said that change was made with no public discussion.

Teague, who lobbies the legislature, said South Carolinians, including more than 700,000 people living in poverty, shouldnt have to pick up the tab for tax or utility breaks for major data center firms.

We have companies like Google with over $300 billion in revenues a year wanting these folks to subsidize their profit margin at the same time that theyre putting intense pressure on not just our energy, but our water, she said.

Lawmakers saw data centers as a possible successor to South Carolinas declining textile industry when they approved the data center incentives in 2012, The State reported at the time. One Republican bill sponsor, then-state Rep. Phyllis Henderson, also cited North Carolinas success with data center incentives, saying South Carolina was just losing projects right and left to them.

But on the Senate floor earlier this month, Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, a Republican, described data centers as electricity hogs that arent really providing a whole lot of jobs.

Rippling effects

Virginia has been a hub for data centers for decades, touting its proximity to the nations capital, inexpensive energy, a robust fiber network and low risk of natural disasters. Now, Virginia lawmakers are increasingly scrutinizing the industry.

Thats in part because data centers have moved into traditionally residential areas, said Republican state Del. Ian Lovejoy, who represents a Northern Virginia district.

Theres no way to power the data center inventory thats being proposed and is likely to be built without substantial increases to the power infrastructure and power generation.

 Virginia Republican state Del. Ian Lovejoy

He sponsored two pieces of legislation this year affecting data center land use issues. One would have prevented data centers from building too close to parks, schools or neighborhoods; another would have altered land use disclosure rules for developers.

Theres no way to power the data center inventory thats being proposed and is likely to be built without substantial increases to the power infrastructure and power generation, he said. And thats going to have rippling effects far away from where the data centers are being sited.

Aaron Ruby, spokesperson for Dominion Energy in Virginia, the states predominant electric provider, said data centers, like other classes of customers, pay for the costs of their electric generation and transmission.

He said the company forecasts consumers monthly bills to grow by less than 3% annually over the next 15 years. That increase, he said, is due to the companys significant investment in renewable energy projects. While Dominion is all in on renewables, Ruby said it doesnt foresee being able to meet increasing demand with only renewables.

Thats just not physically possible, he said.

Dominion has pointed to data center growth as a key driver of its increasing electricity demand. In one state filing, the company said Virginias data centers had a peak load of almost 2.8 gigawatts in 2022.That was 1.5 times the capacity of the companys North Anna nuclear plant, which powers about 450,000 homes.

It is heart-stopping  just the scale at which these things are growing and the power theyre sucking up, said Kendl Kobbervig, the advocacy and communications director at Clean Virginia, a well-funded advocacy group pushing for renewable energy, campaign finance reform and greater oversight of utilities.

She said the state must address how data centers could undercut its clean energy goals and how the industry is affecting the utility bills of everyday households and small businesses.

Over the past two years, Clean Virginia has tracked more than 40 proposed bills related to data centers.

Most of those efforts stalled this session as some lawmakers elected to wait on the results of a study announced in December by the states Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission.

The lack of action frustrated many lawmakers and residents.

I dont know exactly what the study is going to say that we dont already know, said Democratic state Sen. Suhas Subramanyam, who sponsored a bill that would have required data centers to meet certain energy efficiency and clean energy standards to be eligible for the states lucrative sales tax exemptions.

I think we already know that data centers take up a lot of power and present a lot of challenges to our grid.

Like Minnesota Reformer, Stateline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org. Follow Stateline on Facebook and Twitter.

The post States rethink data centers as electricity hogs strain the grid appeared first on Minnesota Reformer.
Donald Trump keeps getting in trouble for what he posts online, already racking up $9,000 in contempt charges for attacking jurors and witnesses in violation of the gag order in his Manhattan criminal trial. Faced with the prospect of jail if he keeps offending, and following another contempt hearing Thursday morning, Trump's defense team tried a novel approach: asking the judge if he could sign off on some of Trump's Truth Social posts before he ever posts them.

Susan Necheles, a criminal defense attorney representing Trump in the hush money case, made the request Thursday afternoon, explaining to Judge Juan Merchan that her client would like to post articles about the trial but isn't sure that's allowed.

"These articles are all articles which [former] President Trump would like to post on his Truth [Social], but they discuss this case," Necheles said, per NBC News.

Necheles argued that, while the articles are "perfectly fine," in her view, there is "ambiguity in the gag order."

Neither the prosecution nor the judge seemed to buy the argument.

Chris Conroy, with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, described the request as "odd," according to CNN. Merchan was a little more diplomatic, saying he "appreciates what you're bringing to my attention" but affirming that he does not wish to be Trump's social media editor.

"If in doubt, steer clear," he told Trump's defense counsel. "There is no ambiguity, I believe, in the [gag] order."
The Sacramento School of Engineering and Science, a new charter high school is being established in Alamogordo by STEM enthusiasts and professionals.

Mechanical engineer and founder of the Sacramento School of Engineering and Science, Cynthia Stong said the new charter school is making great progress.

"We just filed our preliminary facility document with the state on April 17 and our final application is due June 1. That final application will include classes, teacher hiring plans, school hours and calendar. We are still fleshing out details and we will soon be holding public forums for community input," Stong said.

A Notice of Intent must be filed "no later than the second Tuesday in January of the year the application will be filed," according to the New Mexico Public Education Department.

The school will be free to attend and will be a public school. The charter school will have an open enrollment system, meaning any student will be able to attend. There is not yet a specified location or address for the school.

Logo for upcoming charter school, Sacramento School for Engineering and Science. The school will be focused on engineering and science for grades 9-12.

More: Bonito Lake will see fish this summer, but here's why it needs more time before it reopens

Stong said there will be two public forums in May at the Alamogordo Chamber of Commerce to present a brief overview to community members and to answer any questions they may have. The first will be held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 15. The second will be at noon on Tuesday, May 21.

She said the goal of the Sacramento School of Engineering and Science is to offer an educational option that will benefit the community and Holloman Air Force Base by graduating skilled students who are workforce ready.

"The goal is to start the school in August of 2025," she said.

The charter school will offer classes for freshmen through seniors, prioritizing science and engineering classes, according to the notice of intent (NOI) filed by Stong.

The engineering and science classes offer support concentrations in the field such as robotics, computer science/engineering, computer software and hardware engineering, aeronautical and aerospace engineering, industrial engineering and biomedical engineering.

The school estimated it could enroll 156 students during its first year. That is just 10% of Alamogordo High School's 1,562 graduating class, according to Stong.

Students will also receive core curriculum in English, language arts and math by 11th grade in order for students to prepare for the College Board SAT that must be administered by their junior (11th grade) year.

The school will not operate under Alamogordo Public Schools nor will it receive oversight from them.

Notional plan for the new charter school, the Sacramento School of Engineering and Science

More: Alamogordo Police report two fatalities in crash at White Sands Blvd. and 10th St.

"Obviously students who wish to perform better in math may be interested in selecting a new school which provides targeted instruction regarding math and technology, as these are elemental to the engineering and science concentrations. Specifically, students who are demographically performing poorly may be better served within a smaller school setting, where more interaction between students and teachers will provide scaffolded support and equip students with targeted skills to close achievement gaps," the notice of intent stated.

The charter school's intentions are to target students that wish to focus on a core curriculum and teach them about it in a smaller school setting, as opposed to Alamogordo High School. Students expected to enroll at the charter school are currently enrolled at AHS, according to the notice of intent.

"By emphasizing a curriculum aligned with students' career interests, integrating subjects, and providing targeted support for specific populations, the Sacramento School of Engineering and Science aims to address the shortcomings observed in the current academic performance data at Alamogordo High School," Stong stated in the NOI.

"US News states that out of the top 20 public high schools in New Mexico, almost half are charter schools (nine out of 20). Our goal for Alamogordo is to offer a charter high school choice for the community."

Juan Corral can be reached at JCorral@gannett.com or on twitter at @Juan36Corr.

This article originally appeared on Alamogordo Daily News: STEM charter school expected to open in Alamogordo in 2025
Key Insights

Using the 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity, Altice USA fair value estimate is US$1.77

Altice USA's US$2.03 share price indicates it is trading at similar levels as its fair value estimate

The US$3.54 analyst price target for ATUS is 100% more than our estimate of fair value

Does the May share price for Altice USA, Inc. (NYSE:ATUS) reflect what it's really worth? Today, we will estimate the stock's intrinsic value by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to today's value. We will use the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model on this occasion. Before you think you won't be able to understand it, just read on! It's actually much less complex than you'd imagine.

Remember though, that there are many ways to estimate a company's value, and a DCF is just one method. For those who are keen learners of equity analysis, the Simply Wall St analysis model here may be something of interest to you.

Check out our latest analysis for Altice USA

The Model

We use what is known as a 2-stage model, which simply means we have two different periods of growth rates for the company's cash flows. Generally the first stage is higher growth, and the second stage is a lower growth phase. In the first stage we need to estimate the cash flows to the business over the next ten years. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.

Generally we assume that a dollar today is more valuable than a dollar in the future, so we discount the value of these future cash flows to their estimated value in today's dollars:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) estimate

2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 Levered FCF ($, Millions) US$86.3m US$266.7m US$379.0m US$144.0m US$61.6m US$37.4m US$27.4m US$22.4m US$19.8m US$18.3m Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x8 Analyst x5 Analyst x2 Analyst x1 Est @ -57.19% Est @ -39.32% Est @ -26.81% Est @ -18.05% Est @ -11.92% Est @ -7.63% Present Value ($, Millions) Discounted @ 12% US$77.3 US$214 US$273 US$92.9 US$35.6 US$19.4 US$12.7 US$9.3 US$7.4 US$6.1

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)

Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = US$748m

We now need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all the future cash flows after this ten year period. 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 (2.4%) 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 12%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2033  (1 + g)  (r  g) = US$18m (1 + 2.4%)  (12% 2.4%) = US$203m

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= US$203m ( 1 + 12%)10= US$68m

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$816m. In the final step we divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of US$2.0, the company appears around fair value at the time of writing. Valuations are imprecise instruments though, rather like a telescope - move a few degrees and end up in a different galaxy. Do keep this in mind.

dcf

Important 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 Altice USA 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 12%, which is based on a levered beta of 2.000. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business.

SWOT Analysis for Altice USA

Strength

No major strengths identified for ATUS.

Weakness

Earnings declined over the past year.

Interest payments on debt are not well covered.

Expensive based on P/E ratio and estimated fair value.

Opportunity

Annual earnings are forecast to grow for the next 3 years.

Threat

Debt is not well covered by operating cash flow.

Total liabilities exceed total assets, which raises the risk of financial distress.

Annual earnings are forecast to grow slower than the American market.

Looking Ahead:

Valuation is only one side of the coin in terms of building your investment thesis, and it is only one of many factors that you need to assess for a company. The DCF model is not a perfect stock valuation tool. Instead the best use for a DCF model is to test certain assumptions and theories to see if they would lead to the company being undervalued or overvalued. For instance, if the terminal value growth rate is adjusted slightly, it can dramatically alter the overall result. For Altice USA, there are three further factors you should further research:

Risks: Every company has them, and we've spotted 5 warning signs for Altice USA (of which 2 are a bit unpleasant!) you should know about. Future Earnings: How does ATUS's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart. Other Solid Businesses: Low debt, high returns on equity and good past performance are fundamental to a strong business. Why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals to see if there are other companies you may not have considered!

PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every 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.
Pinning down what Trump would do on abortion, if returned to the White House, has become an unnecessarily convoluted affair. His recent interview with Time magazine has not done much to clarify the matter, thanks to his typical evasive answers. But two things in it should be taken seriously: that Trump is entertaining federal policies that would criminalize people for their own abortions and that one of them is the Comstock Act of 1873. When Trump himself said in 2016 that there has to be some kind of punishment for having an abortion, he walked it back swiftly. Now, he is contemplating how to punish them.

Trumps abortion agenda, regardless of his meandering and inconsistent answers, is pretty clear. He appointed three Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe. He continues to claim that abortion law is a matter for the states, no matter what specifically he is asked about the topica nonsensical response not uncommon when Trump is pushed on policy specifics. But as the transcript of the Time interview shows, Trump is considering what levers of punishment he can pull.

Heres an example of both the evasive answers and the punitive underlying message. Time reporter Eric Cortellessa asked Trump whether he would veto a federal law recognizing the rights of embryos and fetuses, the Life at Conception Act. Such legislation is part of a decades-long effort to give legal weight to the notion of fetal personhood. Trump answered, Im leaving everything up to the states.

On its face, this is a nonanswer. But to understand its significance, one must take into account the success the fetal personhood movement already has had in the states. An analysis by Pregnancy Justice found that state laws granting a fetus rights are already being used to criminally punish people for alleged harm to their fetuses. State supreme courts in Alabama, South Carolina, and Oklahoma have ruled that child protection laws apply to fetuses, and those three states alone contributed to almost three in five pregnancy criminalization arrests from Roe until Dobbs, according to the report. More than a third of states recognize fetal personhood in their law in some way, Politico reported. That means a person who is pregnant can be charged with a crime for alleged harm to a fetus, including abortion or anything deemed harmful.

This is an important point, one that is lost in debates over six-week versus 15-week versus 20-week bans, as well as the anxiety over a possible federal ban. I think people understand abortion bans, Lourdes Rivera, president of Pregnancy Justice, told me this week. Yet in those same states, she added, the fact is, people have been criminalized because of their pregnancy all along. Pregnancy Justice identified around 1,400 such cases between 2006 and 2022. With the various ways states can charge someone with a crime under the logic of fetal personhood, any pregnancy can be suspect, Rivera said, but policing is selective, often starting with the people who are most easily stigmatized: poor people, people of color, and Black and Indigenous people, in particular.

The criminalization often begins when a pregnant person seeks health care. They are drug-tested most of the time without their informed consent, Rivera explained. Health care providers may disregard medical privacy rights under the incorrect presumption that its their job to report such cases to law enforcement or child and family policing agencies. We found a third of cases where pregnant people are charged emanate from a health care setting, Rivera said. Were also seeing the fact patterns. You fall down the stairs and youre pregnant and you can be potentially criminalized. You take a prescription medication that your doctor prescribes for you. You could be potentially criminalized  you have a miscarriage or stillbirth and you get criminalized. This health care to criminalization pipeline ends up driving pregnant people away from care.

Trump is very likely considering such punishment at the federal level. When Trump was asked about mifepristone and the Comstock Act in this recent interview, he actually offered some new information, although it was characteristically vague. Of mifepristone, Trump told Time he was not going to explain his opinion but then added he had pretty strong views on that, which he would be releasing probably over the next week. In a follow-up question about how the Comstock Act might be used to criminalize abortion medication, Trump was asked directly if his Department of Justice would enforce the Comstock Act. Trump replied succinctly but vaguely, I will be making a statement on that over the next 14 days. I have a big statement on that. I feel very strongly about it. I actually think its a very important issue.

Well, about that: This interview was conducted on April 12, and published more than two weeks later. Trump has made no such statements on mifepristone or on the Comstock Act on the schedule he promised. Thats not a surprise. As recently as February, Trumps own attorney Jonathan Mitchell was publicly hoping that Trump doesnt know about the existence of Comstock, because I just dont want him to shoot off his mouth. Mitchell helped craft the Texas vigilante abortion law Senate Bill 8 and is one of the apparent thought leaders advancing this idea that the Comstock Act was currently enforceable as an abortion banbanning not only pills sent directly to those self-managing abortion but all materials required for surgical abortions in a clinic. If Trump is now not only acknowledging the Comstock Act when reporters ask him about it but claiming to feel strongly, thats a shift worth noting. If hes entertaining the idea of enforcing the Comstock Act, that means hes considering how to punish people for having an abortion.

Last, Trump was asked directly, Are you comfortable if states decide to punish women who access abortions after the procedure is banned? Trumps first response was, Are you talking about number of weeks? From there, the line of questioning shifted to the question of how many weeks, and if he thought states should monitor womens pregnancies so they can know if theyve gotten an abortion after the ban. The questioning misses something significant: Trump doesnt have to rely on the states to punish people for abortions, not if hes considering using the Comstock Act as a federal ban. (I asked Trump via his campaign if he supports criminally punishing people for having abortions, using the Comstock Act, and got no response.)

Politicians who say they support abortion rights should now be thinking about how to remove some of these levers Trump might pull. One such move might be the Department of Health and Human Servicess recently announced new rule under HIPAA, meant to protect pregnant peoples medical privacy. It is supposed to prevent law enforcement action against people for their pregnancies. Pregnancy Justices research reveals that more than 9 in 10 pregnancy criminalization cases involve allegations of substance use as a pretext to strip pregnant people of their rights, the group said in a statement in response to the HIPAA changes. But, as Pregnancy Justice pointed out, it lacks clarity on how records related to pregnancy and substance use would be protected. Given that using a drug test as pretext to investigate someones pregnancy is extremely common, any rule that doesnt specify how this would be prevented might not mean much for many pregnant people.

The other lever of criminalization we could dismantle before a Trump administration gets to it is the Comstock Act. A full repeal would end the prospect of it being used as a national abortion ban. Though the Department of Justice has issued a memo saying they dont believe it is enforceable against mailing abortion medication, theres little chance that would carry over to a Trump-picked Justice Department.

We can continue trying to divine Trumps position on abortion, but we dont need to in order to start reducing the ways people are currently criminalized or could be criminalized in the future.
Student charged for bringing handgun to Marvin Ridge High School, sheriff says

A student at Marvin Ridge High School was caught with a handgun Thursday morning, according to the Union County Sheriffs Office.

Authorities said a school resource officer got a tip that a student had a firearm, and it was found within five minutes.

UCSO said a loaded 9mm handgun was concealed on the student, and he was taken into custody. The student wasnt identified because of his age, but the sheriffs office said he was a boy.

According to the sheriffs office, the student didnt harm or threaten any other students or staff members before the gun was found.

UCSO said the student is facing a felony charge of possession of a weapon on a school campus.

(Photos: The top 20 high schools in the Charlotte area for 2024)

These are the top high schools in the Charlotte area, according to U.S. News & World Report's rankings for 2024.

N.C. rank: No. 57 National rank: No. 1,982 Local rank in 2023: No. 20

N.C. rank: No. 55 National rank: No. 1,884 Local rank in 2023: No. 15

N.C. rank: No. 51 National rank: No. 1,692 Local rank in 2023: No. 18

N.C. rank: No. 50 National rank: No. 1,613 Local rank in 2023: No. 17

N.C. rank: No. 46 National rank: No. 1,452 Local rank in 2023: No. 11

S.C. rank: No. 12 National rank: 1,383 Local rank in 2023: No. 14

S.C. rank: No. 11 National rank: No. 1,369 Local rank in 2023: No. 19

N.C. rank: No. 39 National rank: No. 1,096 Local rank in 2023: No. 13

N.C. rank: No. 38 National rank: No. 1,093 Local rank in 2023: No. 8

S.C. rank: No. 7 National rank: No. 1,041 Local rank in 2023: No. 12

National rank: No. 914 Local rank in 2023: No. 16

N.C. rank: No. 32 National rank: No. 849 Local rank in 2023: No. 10

N.C. rank: No. 29 National rank: No. 820 Local rank in 2023: No. 3

N.C. rank: No. 26 National rank: No. 751 Local rank in 2023: No. 6

N.C. rank: No. 21 National rank: No. 663 Local rank in 2023: No. 5

N.C. rank: No. 19 National rank: No. 589 Local rank in 2023: No. 4

N.C. rank: No. 15 National rank: No. 518 Local rank in 2023: No. 9

N.C. rank: No. 13 National rank: No. 505 Local rank in 2023: No. 2

N.C. rank: No. 12 National rank: No. 500 Local rank in 2023: No. 7

N.C. rank: No. 10 National rank: No. 334 Local rank in 2023: No. 1

Marvin Ridge High School Principal Matt Lasher said students were safe in class, and the school would continue on a normal schedule for the rest of the day.

The principal sent a reminder to parents that guns and weapons arent allowed in school.

Authorities said theyre investigating how the student got the weapon.

(WATCH: 3 juveniles charged in deadly Mooresville home invasion)
Student journalists are covering their own campuses in convulsion. Here's what they have to say

Staff members of the Columbia Daily Spectator, the college newspaper, work into the night as police cleared out demonstrators from Columbia University's campus, late Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. Left to right; Isabella Ramirez, editor in chief; Esha Karam, managing editor; Yvin Shin, head copy editor; Emily Forgash, deputy news editor; and Shea Vance, university news editor. (AP Photo/Jake Offenhartz)

NEW YORK (AP)  Ordered by police to leave the scene of a UCLA campus protest after violence broke out, Catherine Hamilton and three colleagues from the Daily Bruin suddenly found themselves surrounded by demonstrators who beat, kicked and sprayed them with a noxious chemical.

On American campuses awash in anger this spring, student journalists are in the center of it all, sometimes uncomfortably so. They're immersed in the story in ways journalists for major media organizations often can't be. And they face dual challenges  as members of the media and students at the institutions they are covering.

Across the country from the University of California, Los Angeles late Tuesday, a student-run radio station broadcast live as police cleared a building taken by protesters on the Columbia University campus, while other student journalists were confined to dorms and threatened with arrests.

Hamilton's attackers wore masks. But she recognized the voice of one as a counter-demonstrator sympathetic to Israel's cause because of prior reporting when some of them filmed her working and harassed her by name. She checked out of a hospital Wednesday after learning that injuries to her arms and chest were bruises.

While it was terrifying and, honestly, will take a lot of mental processing, the experience confirmed for me the importance of student journalists because we know our campus better than any outside reporter would," said Hamilton, 21. "It has not deterred me from wanting to continue this coverage.

COVERAGE THAT IS UP CLOSE  AND PERSONAL

Fear and anger were obvious in the voices of students narrating the action on Columbia's WKCR radio on Tuesday. The station's website briefly went down because so many people were listening to an audio stream, and its announcers recommended people tune in to FM radio instead.

Even though he wore a badge identifying him as a member of the press, police ordered Chris Mandell and other reporters for the Columbia Daily Spectator into a dormitory. When he tried to open the door, Mandell said he was told he'd be arrested if he did it again.

Mandell has been covering the demonstrations and the planning for months. While he considers it a learning experience, he said it has been breaking my heart to see the police presence on campus and how the story has been covered by outside journalists.

At Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, two student journalists with The Dartmouth were arrested Wednesday night while covering a campus demonstration. Charlotte Hampton and Alesandra Dre Gonzales were both wearing identification as reporters when taken into custody, according to the newspaper.

Columbia's Daily Spectator has been on the story every step of the way and hasn't hesitated to confront the university's leadership in print. In an editorial late last month, the students sharply condemned university President Minouche Shafik and said administrators have been uncommunicative except for ominous late-night emails.

This is your legacy, the Spectator wrote  a president more focused on the brand of your university than the safety of your students and their demands for justice.

At campuses across the country, around-the-clock reporting from protests and student disciplinary hearings have meant overnight vigils at encampments blurring into morning classes, homework and final projects crammed in between interviews.

Student-run news websites at Yale and the University of Texas-Austin cover the action with innovative live blogs. The Daily Trojan's print editions have stopped for the semester at the University of Southern California, but Editor-in-Chief Anjali Patel tries to keep a reporter and photographer available at all hours to feed its website, post news on X and Instagram and do live streams. All during final exam season.

We are still students at the end of the day, Patel said.

The Columbia-based Pulitzer Prize Board, meeting this weekend to decide on its annual prizes, issued a statement on Thursday recognizing the tireless efforts of student journalists across our nations college campuses, who are covering protests and unrest in the face of great personal and academic risk.

At Columbia, whose journalism school is considered one of the country's finest, Dean Jelani Cobb wrote a memo Wednesday to the population of budding journalists who are his students: You are a part of history now. Your perseverance during a confusing and challenging moment cannot be understated. You told the stories the global public deserved to hear. You helped the school to meet its mission.

LEARNING SKILLS OF THE PROFESSION IN REAL TIME

The protest movement has become a training ground for students grappling with complicated editorial decisions for some of the first times in their careers. They confront the awkwardness of reporting on their peers and the challenge not to get swept up in emotion.

This is a moment in our campus history, said Arianna Smith, editor-in-chief of The Lantern at Ohio State University. Being able to contribute to its coverage is a privilege we dont take lightly. Were under a lot of pressure to get it right, to be accurate, so thats what were striving to do.

Over three dozen Ohio State University students and demonstrators face misdemeanor charges after a Thursday night crackdown by the university on protests about investments in Israel.

Lantern staff members are having meetings about balancing the experiences of pro-Palestinian protesters and Jewish students or counter-protesters, Smith said. They debate whether to publish the names of students who face discipline, compare language choices to other news organizations and reflect on what viewpoints are missing from stories. Editors instruct reporters to keep opinions to themselves.

At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hills newspaper, The Daily Tar Heel, student journalists are also making difficult decisions about anonymous sourcing. Managing Editor Liv Reilly said photographers are being mindful not to take photos that show faces of people who fear being arrested.

Josie Stewart, managing editor for content at Ohio State's Lantern, said she recognizes classmates on both sides of the protest. The newspaper's coverage is discussed in her classes, and friends are regularly asking her about it.

Its definitely difficult, she said. Every journalist has to balance ethical concerns, but it is more difficult when youre staring someone in the face in class.

Sometimes Reilly feels the instinct to say hello to classmates involved in the protest, but stops. She's worried about saying their names out loud if they fear being identified, and is mindful of the boundaries between classmate and reporter. She makes sure to identify herself as a reporter, but peoples demeanors sometimes change when you say youre with the media.

Annika Sunkara, social media editor for The Huntington News at Bostons Northeastern University, said it has been emotional talking to fellow students, some in tears, about their experiences with law enforcement. Around 100 people were arrested there Saturday morning when police broke up pro-Palestinian encampments on the campus.

But as national news outlets descend on campuses nationwide, student journalists say their connection to their campuses is their greatest asset. They've built relationships with student groups, faculty and administrators. They follow many of their peers, now turned protest leaders, on social media.

Were the ones on the ground seeing whats happening with our own eyes, Stewart said. We have a different level of access, of trust on our campus and of understanding.

Some universities, including UCLA, have also seen scattered protests and student organizing since October. The Daily Bruin has been there at every step, Hamilton said, so the staff understand the demands of the students, the different perspectives on campus, the stakeholders in a way other news outlets cant.

Wearing a Daily Tar Heel hoodie, Reilly watched national news reporters stand in front of cameras for live shots before heading home one recent evening. She sat down with water bottles and blankets, ready for a 14-hour shift.

This is a monumental piece of history for my generation and my peers, she said. And its been hard to navigate, to make the right editorial calls, to stay as neutral as possible while also not causing harm to any community. But we are here and were learning, and were ready to keep covering.

___

Bauder reported from New York, Fernando from Chicago. AP journalists Jake Offenhartz and Mallika Sen contributed to this report.

___

The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about APs democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Student killed after carrying weapon outside middle school, Wisconsin attorney general says

Police officers in a Wisconsin village shot and killed a student who brought a gun near a middle school Wednesday morning, according to Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul.

The student from the Mount Horeb Area School District, who was a minor and not identified, never made entry into the school, Kaul told reporters at an evening news conference. No one else was injured, officials said.

This could have been a far worse tragedy, said District Superintendent Steve Salerno.

On Wednesday morning, Mount Horeb police officers responded to reports of a person with a weapon outside the school.

Police officers responded to the threat and used deadly force, according to a news release from the state Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation, which is leading the investigation into the shooting. This incident took place outdoors.

After the shooting, police checked but found no evidence of any other suspects, officials said.

The officers involved were placed on administrative leave, per agency policy, the release said.

Officers were wearing body cameras, according to the release.

Students were still being reunified with family after the middle school went into an hourslong lockdown, Kaul said.

Schools will remain closed Thursday and officials will reassess reopening Friday, Salerno said.

On Facebook, the district said it will release information about support services on Thursday morning.

The village of Mount Horeb is about 23 miles southwest of Madison.

CNNs Taliah Miller contributed to this report.





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At the student protest at UPenn, passions are clear and dialogue is lacking

The chants, banners and tents announce the presence of the student protest camp at the University of Pennsylvania from several blocks away.

Unlike other colleges witnessing demonstrations around the Israel-Hamas war, UPenns campus is open and accessible to all.

Visitors may approach the encampment thats grown under the new leaves of the trees on College Green in recent days, but that does not mean they are welcome.

Dont talk to him, a person advised passersby on Monday, whether they are connecting with a reporter or a lone counter protester. Dont engage.

There is little, if any, spirit here of trying to change hearts or minds.

Inside the barriers

Theres been a lot of harassment, like doxxing, said Sarah, a designated media liaison representative for the protesters, as she explained why she does not want to give her last name for fear her private information would be found and spread online.

As for the motives of the protest in the park, she said: We like to center ourselves in this space and that centering comes with solidarity with the people who are being innocently killed in Gaza.

Sarah, who said shes a UPenn senior, wore a Star of David necklace over her T-shirt and linked her Jewish faith to her action. My Jewish values tell me that innocent people being killed in my name is something that I want to fight against.

Getting Penn to divest from Israel and weapons manufacturers  that is, selling all investments linked to these sectors and stopping any university work supporting them  is a key demand of the protesters in the encampment as on campuses nationwide.

Sarah acknowledged they have to start with more information. Our first demand is about disclosure. So its disclose the investments in the endowment because Penn actually does not release them. We do realize theyre probably invested in weapons manufacturing, and wed like to know exactly where.

She pointed to the universitys Pennovation Works program and its support for Ghost Robotics, which has produced robot dogs for the US Air Force and Department of Homeland Security and, through a partnership, to Israels forces. A way to start, she said, is to divest from that project and no longer fund it.

Less than five minutes into the interview, she said she had to go.

No one else inside the barriers seemed willing to talk. Some told CNN, Youre not for the cause. On the pathway outside, a man wearing a fluorescent safety vest, balaclava and a traditional black-and-white Palestinian keffiyeh headscarf wanted to pose questions, not answer them.

Whats your personal definition and the difference between a freedom fighter and a terrorist, whats the definition? he demanded of a reporter while declining to give his own views of the situation in the Middle East.

Protesters at the University of Pennsylvania flank a statue of Benjamin Franklin. - Evelio Contreras/CNN

A 19-year-old who was not part of the encampment did speak to CNN.

When asked if Israel had a right to defend itself, Sultan Smalley countered with: I think that October 7 wouldnt have happened in the first place if Palestinians werent living in an open-air prison. That doesnt mean that it was OK, but it means that there was an issue that was ongoing and nobody was addressing and it was going to be inevitable, regardless, because you cant just oppress a group of people for 75 years and think theyre never going to do anything back.

On some campuses, protests that may have started out as opposition to Israels military action or support for civilians in Gaza have also seen outbursts of antisemitism.

But Smalley, a student from the nearby Community College of Philadelphia, said many of the protests hed been to had Jewish organizers.

I think that thats awesome because theres been a history of Black and Jewish solidarity in activism. And I feel Im continuing that legacy by joining a lot of awesome Jewish people and protesting this genocide. I dont see that as antisemitic.

Silencing a lone counter protester

The person who was most obviously ready to engage in conversation was not a student but a man standing next to the barriers waving an Israeli flag.

He said he was not Israeli or Jewish, but a Christian who believed the God of the Old Testament followed by Jews was also his God, the father of Jesus Christ.

A tarp is held up to shield the encampment from a counter protester. - Evelio Contreras/CNN

I think Israel does wrong, but not all the time, he told one of the student organizers who questioned him holding Israels flag.

Students recognized him from earlier protests on College Green, also known as Blanche P. Levy Park, across the Schuykill River from the business heart of Philadelphia and tourist hotspots like Independence Hall and the Philadelphia Museum of Art with its Rocky Steps.

Young people on the other side of the barrier held up a tarp to block him from the students inside the encampment.

Another took out chalk, drawing a circle around him they them labeled as the Designated Dingus Area.

At least I get this, the counter protester said of the circle, because if what Im saying was being said in Gaza, I wouldnt even have this  At least you support a little bit of freedom here.

He told CNN he thought some of the students had picked up and repeated chants from the protests without being fully aware of what they meant.

When they chant From the river to the sea, theyre talking about they want all of it, they dont want a two-state solution, unfortunately, he said.

An older man who said he was from an Arab village inside Israel told the pro-Israel demonstrator that was wrong, that the meaning of From the River to the Sea was for everyone living in the area to have freedom and the same opportunities as each other.

But as the two men tried to win concessions from each other, a marshal encouraged the older man to walk away.

A circle drawn by a protester around the counter protester, labeled as the Designated Dingus Area. - Evelio Contreras/CNN

A second tarp was held up as a barrier between the Israeli flag and the student encampment. A bearded man started playing tambourine right in front of the protester, apparently to drown him out. Im just playing music, he said when asked why he picked that spot. Can you please walk away?

An administrator from the school came and asked the man with the flag and the student-led protesters to keep their distance.

Hate on display

As the sun began to set, the energy seemed to ramp up inside the encampment. Chanting, clapping, drums and percussion drowned everything out around the statue of Benjamin Franklin.

A protester holds a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine flag at the University of Pennsylvania on May 1. - CNN

As joggers and dog walkers made their way through the park, one woman behind the barrier was waving a bright red flag with a white insignia: the banner of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, one of the groups blamed for the 1976 hijacking of an Air France flight forced to land in Entebbe, Uganda, and other attacks. It is designated as a terrorist organization by the US and the European Union.

Im not talking to media, she told CNN. Another protester came forward, physically blocking the way as the first woman left. Others came out from behind the barriers and tried to cover the camera. Asked if they were OK with someone carrying the flag of a terrorist organization, one student responded, We dont engage, and everyone walked away.

That evening, the Muslim call to prayer was sung through loudspeakers and two men led chants on a microphone. We just got more energy than other people, one says after he approached CNN to see what pictures were taken.

Neither of the men was a student at Penn, he said, before deflecting and saying he could be and could be not  that was only a question for the police.

As the protesters moved away, one said, Theyre not on our side.

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As multiple colleges and universities across the country are grappling with how best to ease tensions with pro-Palestine protesters, a group called The New Schools Students for Justice in Palestine is calling upon The New Schools board of trustees to vote to divest from 13 Israeli-related entities.

In a press release circulated Thursday, the TNS SJP organization claimed that the university is invested in 65 funds that have positions in 13 companies including Google, General Electric, Boeing, Hewlett-Packard, Lockheed Martin, Motorola Solutions and the Raytheon Co. among others. That tally was said to be based on an April 26 meeting with The New Schools vice president of business operations Mark Diaz. The other companies that The New School is allegedly tied to are Axa, Caterpillar Inc., Cemex, the Chevron Co., Elbit Systems Ltd., and Northrop Grumman Corp.

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A spokesperson for The New School had not responded to requests for comment Thursday afternoon.

TNS SJP claimed that it is the first group in the U.S. to win partial disclosure  an unsubstantiated claim given the dozens of protests underway on college campuses and varying demands that are being made of school officials and their respective boards. TNS SJP alleged that The New School has invested in the aforementioned companies that are actively involved in, and benefiting from, the genocide in Palestine. Supporters also claimed that [some members of] The New School community have united to demand that the universitys board of trustees hold an emergency vote Thursday to divest. The release stated, Based on votes that closed this morning, the overwhelming majority of faculty have joined students to call for the universitys immediate divestment from these corporate beneficiaries profiting from war crimes.

TNS SJP claimed that faculty members in The New Schools Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts, School for Social Research, and Schools of Public Engagement have voted overwhelmingly  from 81 percent to 90 percent across divisions in favor of supporting a resolution to immediately divest.

Representatives did not respond to requests for further comment Thursday.

The release referenced a statement by Jaskiran Dhillon, associate professor of global studies and anthropology at The New Schools Schools of Public Engagement, who reiterated the need for an emergency vote. Dhillon said, At a time when so many universities have invited brutal police repression against their own faculty and students and as multiple authoritative international bodies have stated that Israels ongoing war against Gaza constitutes the commission of multiple war crimes, this is not a decision that should be determined by economic exigency. The university has the capacity. Anything less would be an insult to the institutions legacy.

Dhillon did not respond immediately to a media request Thursday afternoon.

TNS SJP claimed that the schools leadership like many universities across the country, consistently said that divestment is practically difficult, if not impossible. Supporters referenced how The New School committed to divest from all fossil fuels in 2015, but Chevron Corp. remains in the schools investment portfolio. The universitys financial objectives are not foreclosed by upholding previous divestment commitments, nor, in fact by expanding them to include funding to the 13 companies directly complicit in Israels state violence, according to TNS SJP.

Paulo L. dos Santos, associate professor of economics at the New School for Social Research, said in the release that a decision not to divest from the 13 companies will be rightly perceived not as a financial decision, but as an endorsement of those corporations and of their involvement in Israels actions in Gaza. Dos Santos did not respond immediately to a media request Thursday afternoon.

While protests and in some instances, encampments, have consisted of large groups at major schools like UCLA, USC, Harvard University, the University of Texas at Austin, Northeastern University and MIT, smaller groups have rallied at schools with smaller student bodies such as The New School and the Fashion Institute of Technology. As of Thursday night, a small outdoor encampment of student protesters remained at F.I.T., according to a school spokeswoman.

Earlier this week more than 100 protesters were arrested at Columbia University after school officials called in the New York City Police Department. Taking a different tack, officials at Brown University agreed to allow student protesters to present a proposal to divest its endowment from companies that are profiting from the war in Gaza, on the condition that they suspend all protests and clear their encampment on the College Green on the Providence campus. The vote is scheduled for October.

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Three Arlington schools were ordered to shelter in place Thursday as police were responding to a domestic violence incident in a nearby neighborhood, according to authorities and the Arlington Independent School District.

At around 2:50 p.m., officers responded to an apartment complex in the 2200 block of Elmwood Drive to investigate a domestic violence incident. While at the scene, officers learned that a suspect involved in the incident ran from the apartment complex and may have been armed, according to police.

Due to the proximity to the area where officers were searching for the suspect, police placed Adams Elementary, Atherton Elementary and Sam Houston High School on shelter as a precaution, police said.

The shelters at Sam Houston High and Atherton Elementary have been lifted.

Arlington ISD is conducting a controlled release of students from Adams Elementary on Thursday afternoon. Students will be released in small groups to their parents, according to the district.

Students who walk home are being held at the school until their parents can pick them up as Arlington police continue to work near the elementary school, the district said.

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Protest encampment in support of Palestinians at McGill University in Montreal

Protest encampment in support of Palestinians at McGill University in Montreal

By Anna Mehler Paperny

TORONTO (Reuters) -Quebec Premier Francois Legault said on Thursday the encampment at Montreal's McGill University should be dismantled as more students erected pro-Palestinian camps across some of Canada's largest universities, demanding they divest from groups with ties to Israel.

The Canadian protests come as police have been arresting hundreds on U.S. campuses and the death toll in Gaza has been mounting.

While McGill had requested police intervention, law enforcement had not stepped in Thursday to clear the encampment and said in a statement Thursday evening it was monitoring the situation.

Students also set up encampments at Canadian schools including the University of Toronto, the University of British Columbia and the University of Ottawa.

"We want the camp to be dismantled. We trust the police, let them do their job," a spokesperson for Legault said.

There was also a pro-Israel counter-protest in Montreal Thursday. The two sides were kept separate.

On Thursday morning, students at the University of Toronto set up an encampment in a fenced-off grassy space at the school's downtown campus where some 100 protesters gathered with dozens of tents.

According to a statement from organizers the encampment will stay until the university discloses its investments, divests from any that "sustain Israeli apartheid, occupation and illegal settlement of Palestine" and ends partnerships with some Israeli academic institutions.

Israel says it does not participate in apartheid and that its assault on Gaza does not constitute genocide.

A university spokesperson told Reuters it was "in dialogue with the protesters" and that, as of midday, the encampment was "not disruptive to normal university activities."

University of Toronto graduate student and encampment spokesperson Sara Rasikh told Reuters they will remain until their demands are met.

"If public disruption is the only way to get our voice heard, then we are willing to do that," she said.

Some Jewish groups have accused protesters of being antisemitic. Organizers deny that charge, noting that some protesters are Jewish.

Asked to comment on the encampments, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office pointed to a statement he made on Tuesday, saying "Universities are places of learning, theyre places for freedom of expression ... but that only works if people feel safe on campus. Right now ... Jewish students do not feel safe. Thats not right."

The protests follow the deadly Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel by Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip, which killed 1,200 people and saw dozens taken hostage, and an ensuing Israeli offensive that has killed about 34,000 and created a humanitarian crisis.

(Reporting by Anna Mehler Paperny; Editing by David Gregorio and Diane Craft)
Growing an Emerging North American Gold Producer with an Industry Leading Pipeline of High-Grade Gold Deposits located in Alaska, USA

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 2, 2024) - Contango ORE, Inc. (NYSE American: CTGO) ("Contango" or the "Company") and HighGold Mining Inc. (TSXV: HIGH) (OTCQX: HGMIF) ("HighGold") are pleased to announce that they have entered into a definitive arrangement agreement (the "Agreement") pursuant to which Contango will acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of HighGold by way of a court approved plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) (the "Transaction").

Under the terms of the Agreement, each HighGold share ("HighGold Share") will be exchanged for 0.019 shares of Contango common stock (each whole share, a "Contango Share") (the "Exchange Ratio") based on the respective volume weighted average price ("VWAP") of Contango for the five-day period ending on May 1, 2024. The Exchange Ratio implies total consideration of C$0.55 (approximately US$0.40) per HighGold Share and total HighGold equity value of approximately US$37 million (Cdn$51 million)1. The consideration represents a premium of 59% based on Contango's and HighGold's 20-day VWAP2.

Upon completion of the Transaction, existing Contango shareholders will own approximately 85% and HighGold shareholders will own approximately 15% of the combined company3.

In connection with the Transaction, Contango will grant to HighGold the right to appoint one (1) director to its board of directors.

CONFERENCE CALL AND WEBCAST

Contango and HighGold management will host a joint conference call and webcast to discuss the Transaction on May 2, 2024, at 12:00pm EST / 9:00am PST. Participants may join the webcast using the following call-in details: Contango ORE Announces Acquisition of HighGold (6ix.com)

TRANSACTION HIGHLIGHTS

Creation of a leading Alaskan gold company with a low-risk and properly sequenced portfolio - Manh Choh is Alaska's next gold mine with first gold pour expected in the second half of 2024. Organic path to +100 thousand ("k") ounces ("oz") in annual gold production with the potential to apply the direct ship ore (" DSO ") model used at Manh Choh to both HighGold's Johnson Tract Project and Contango's Lucky Shot Project.

Addition of a third high-quality deposit with long term upside potential - Immediately increases Contango's current resources threefold by adding +1 million ("M") oz of gold equivalent ("AuEq") @ approximately 9.4 grams per tonne ("g/t") AuEq 4 . Further exploration potential along the Johnson Tract Project's highly prospective 7.5-mile mineralized trend.

Management of Contango is ideally positioned to unlock value at Johnson Tract - Consistent with the development of Manh Choh, which is on schedule and on budget, Contango expects to unlock value from the Johnson Tract Project without the burden of large upfront capital requirements. The Johnson Tract Project's strategic seaside location expands opportunities for applying the DSO model.

Financial flexibility to fund growth through existing balance sheet capacity and near-term cash flow - Contango has the ability to progress the Johnson Tract Project with enhanced financial capacity underpinned by organic cash flow to be generated at Manh Choh and a track-record of successful project development and execution in Alaska.

Partnerships with Cook Inlet Region, Inc. ("CIRI") and the Alaska Native Tetlin Tribe ("Tetlin Tribe") - HighGold has a lease agreement with CIRI, a regional corporation established by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971, authorizing the exploration and development of the Johnson Tract Project while Contango, through its joint venture with Kinross, has an existing partnership with the Tetlin Tribe authorizing mining and exploration activities at Manh Choh.

Compelling re-rate potential - Re-rating to be driven by multiple near-term catalysts, led by achieving commercial production at Manh Choh, and an enhanced combined capital markets profile.

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Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse, President and CEO of Contango, said, "Darwin Green and his team have done an excellent job adding value to the Johnson Tract Project in a very tough market. The combination of HighGold and Contango makes a tremendous amount of strategic sense for both sets of shareholders - it is a true win-win for all. With the cash flow expected in the second half of 2024 from our high grade Manh Choh operation achieving commercial production, we will be able to continue to create value for the Johnson Tract Project and advance this high-quality project through to production. When combined with our Manh Choh and Lucky Shot projects, the Johnson Tract Project represents another asset that meets our criteria to be a run-of-mine, direct shipping ore operation. Contango will now develop a growth plan to advance these three assets to a production decision and target producing well in excess of 150,000 ounces of gold per year."

"We believe that a model of focusing on assets that meet three specific criteria: 1) located near existing or amenable to new infrastructure; 2) sufficient grade to directly transport run-of-mine ore to an existing third party processing facility; and 3) inclusive of a simple ore body - specifically in terms of permitting; will enable Contango to continue to build a significant production profile while minimizing our environmental footprint. As demonstrated, this business model would result in low permitting and execution risk, low initial capital outlay and shorter timelines to production. This model has worked well for Manh Choh and we believe it will work well for the Lucky Shot and Johnson Tract projects."

"We look forward to working closely with CIRI to rapidly advance the Johnson Tract Project to a production decision. In addition to the three projects discussed, Contango has assembled an impressive group of exploration stage properties in Alaska including: the 675,000 acres of highly prospective ground in the Tintina Gold belt and under lease from the Tetlin Alaska Native Tribe by our Peak Gold JV partner Kinross; our early stage assets (Eagle-Hona, Triple Z, and Shamrock); most of the Willow district surrounding the Lucky Shot Project; and now a large tract of private land owned by CIRI, a very successful Alaska Native Corporation based in Anchorage, Alaska."

Darwin Green, President and CEO of HighGold said, "HighGold believes this transaction with Contango represents a compelling value creating opportunity for our shareholders, with obvious synergies, an enhanced capital markets profile, financial strength, and a robust platform for future growth. It is a union that brings together three of Alaska's most compelling high-grade gold deposits in one company with ability to self-fund growth out of cash-flow."

"Contango's unique business model sets it apart in the mining sector. Focusing on assets with potential for DSO development, in which mineralized material is shipped to an existing off-site facility for processing mitigates much of the risk of conventional stand-alone mines. Advantages of the DSO model include lower capital costs, lower execution risk, lower environmental impact, and potential for significantly shorter timelines to achieve production. Contango's management has a strong track record of achievement in Alaska, most recently with their near-production Manh Choh project, in partnership with Kinross, which was permitted and built in 2.5 years. With Contango's experience, financial capabilities, and projected robust cash flow we are confident in their ability to propel the Johnson Tract Project forward. We extend our gratitude to our shareholders, stakeholders and the entire HighGold team for their dedicated efforts and support. We look forward to joining with Contango as it enters production and moves forward with the leading development pipeline in Alaska."

BENEFITS TO CONTANGO SHAREHOLDERS

The Johnson Tract Project is a high-grade +1 M oz AuEq polymetallic deposit (grade of approximately 9.4 g/t AuEq) with an opportunity for near term production and excellent exploration potential.

Strengthens Contango's the core portfolio and positions it to continue executing its strategy of building Alaska's next gold mines and growing annual gold production to +150 k oz Au.

Significant potential to unlock value by leveraging Contango's expertise, resources and projected cash flow to accelerate the development of the Johnson Tract Project.

Opportunity to execute Contango's proven low-risk development strategy using its DSO platform. Contango has developed Manh Choh on schedule and on budget with production expected in the second half of 2024.

Highly accretive to Contango on an in-situ basis with HighGold's ounces being acquired at ~US$30/oz AuEq with potential for a re-rating within Contango's portfolio as Manh Choh achieves commercial production.

Expanded platform for Contango to continue its growth strategy in Alaska and elsewhere in the US and Canada.

BENEFITS TO HIGHGOLD SHAREHOLDERS

Significant upfront premium of approximately 59% and 79% based on both companies' respective 20-day and 5-day VWAP.

Early participation in an emerging growth-focused gold mining company with a mission to become a low-risk multi-asset producer.

Elevated capital markets profile, improved trading liquidity and NYSE American listing and inclusion in the Russell 2000 index.

Ability for Contango to progress the Johnson Tract Project with enhanced financial capacity, supported by projected organic cash flow and the teams impressive project development track-record in Alaska.

Manh Choh projected to generate US$54 million per year in free cash flow at a gold price of $1,920/oz (based on Contango's 30% interest).

Near-term re-rating potential once transitioned into a producer, with first gold pour from Manh Choh expected in the second half of 2024.

Potential to apply DSO model successfully utilized at Manh Choh to both the Johnson Tract Project and Contango's Lucky Shot Project.

Continued exposure to exploration upside with lower execution and funding risk.

TRANSACTION STRUCTURE AND TERMS

The Transaction will be carried out by way of court-approved Plan of Arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) and will require approval by 66 2/3% of the votes cast by HighGold shareholders and option holders, and 66 2/3% of votes cast by HighGold shareholders and option holders, voting together as a single class at a special meeting (the "Meeting") expected to be held in late [June] 2024. Directors and officers of HighGold, representing an aggregate of approximately 1.9% of the issued and outstanding HighGold Shares, have entered into voting support agreements pursuant to which, among other things, each director and officer has agreed to vote in favor of the Transaction at the Meeting.

In addition to HighGold securityholder approval, the Transaction is subject to other applicable regulatory approvals and closing conditions which are customary for a transaction of this nature. The Agreement contains customary provisions including non-solicitation, "fiduciary out" and "right to match" provisions, as well as a C$2.0 M termination fee payable to either company under certain circumstances. Subject to the satisfaction of these conditions, Contango and HighGold expect the Transaction to be completed in July 2024.

Full details of the Transaction are set out in the Agreement, which will be made available on SEDAR+ under the issuer profile of HighGold at www.sedarplus.ca and will also be contained in an information circular that will be mailed to HighGold shareholders in May 2024.

SUSTAINABILITY AND INDIGENOUS

Contango will continue to honor HighGold's lease agreement with CIRI, a regional corporation established by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971. This lease agreement authorizes the exploration of the Johnson Tract Project by HighGold, which was granted to CIRI under the terms of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 and the Cook Inlet Land Exchange of 1976.

Contango understands that respect and partnership with Native communities and organizations, including CIRI, are central to operating in Alaska. Contango is committed to advancing sustainable mining operations through environmental, social, and governance practices. Contango's efforts in this regard have been demonstrated through an existing partnership with the Tetlin Tribe, and will also encompass the lease agreement of the Johnson Tract Project and continued collaboration with CIRI going forward.

BOARDS OF DIRECTORS' RECOMMENDATIONS

The Agreement has been unanimously approved by the Contango board of directors and the HighGold board of directors. The HighGold board of directors recommends that securityholders vote in favor of the Transaction at the Meeting.

Agentis Capital Mining Partners and Evans & Evans, Inc. have provided fairness opinions to the Board of Directors of HighGold stating that, as of the date of such opinion, and based upon and subject to the assumptions, limitations and qualifications stated in such opinion, the consideration to be paid under the Transaction is fair from a financial point of view, to HighGold shareholders.

ADVISORS AND COUNSEL

Contango has engaged Cormark Securities Inc. as financial advisor, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP as Canadian legal counsel and Holland & Knight LLP as US legal counsel in connection with the Transaction.

HighGold has engaged Agentis Capital Mining Partners as financial advisor and DuMoulin Black LLP as legal counsel in connection with the Transaction.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION

Contango has appointed John Sims, C.P.G. of Sims Resources LLC as its Qualified Person as defined in subpart 1300 of Regulation S-K; he has approved the scientific and technical information related to Contango operations contained in this news release.

Ian Cunningham-Dunlop, P.Eng., Senior VP Exploration for HighGold Mining Inc. and a Qualified Person as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information related to HighGold contained in this release.

ABOUT CONTANGO

Contango is a NYSE American listed company that engages in exploration for gold and associated minerals in Alaska. Contango holds a 30% interest in the Peak Gold, LLC (the "Peak Gold JV"), which leases approximately 675,000 acres of land for exploration and development on the Manh Choh Project, with the remaining 70% owned by an indirect subsidiary of Kinross, operator of the Peak Gold JV. The Company also has a lease on the Lucky Shot Project from the underlying owner, Alaska Hardrock Inc. and through its subsidiary has 100% ownership of approximately 8,600 acres of peripheral State of Alaska mining claims. Contango also owns a 100% interest in an additional approximately 145,000 acres of State of Alaska mining claims through its wholly owned subsidiary, which gives Contango the exclusive right to explore and develop minerals on these lands. Additional information can be found on our web page at www.contangoore.com.

ABOUT HIGHGOLD

HighGold is a mineral exploration company focused on advancing the high-grade Johnson Tract Gold-Zinc-Copper Project located in accessible Southcentral Alaska, USA. HighGold's experienced Board and senior management team, are committed to creating shareholder value through the discovery process, careful allocation of capital, and environmentally/socially responsible mineral exploration. Additional information can be found on its web page at www.highgoldmining.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains forward-looking statements and certain "forward-looking information" (within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation) regarding Contango, HighGold, the Transaction, the terms of the Transaction, the expected benefits of the Transaction, the completion of the Transaction, the timing of the Transaction, the development timeline of the Man Choh Project, expectations with respect to the development of the Johnson Tract Project post-Transaction, Contango's growth plans post-Transaction and the continued cooperation of Contango with CIRI, that are intended to be covered by the safe harbor for "forward-looking statements" provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, based on Contango and HighGold's current expectations or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events and includes statements regarding future results of operations, quality and nature of the asset base, the assumptions upon which estimates are based and other expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions, strategies or statements about future events or performance (often, but not always, using words such as "expects", "believes", "targets", "approximately", "projects", "anticipates", "plans", "estimates", "potential", "possible", "probable", or "intends", or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "will", "should", or "could" be taken, occur or be achieved). Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those, reflected in the statements. These risks include, but are not limited to: risks related to the ability of the parties to close the Transaction; risks inherent to the exploration and mining industry (for example, operational risks in exploring for and, developing mineral reserves; risks and uncertainties involving geology; the speculative nature of the mining industry; the uncertainty of estimates and projections relating to future production, costs and expenses; the volatility of natural resources prices, including prices of gold and associated minerals; the existence and extent of commercially exploitable minerals in properties acquired by Contango or the Peak Gold JV; ability to realize the anticipated benefits of the Peak Gold JV and the Johnson Tract Project; potential delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures; the interpretation of exploration results and the estimation of mineral resources; the loss of key employees or consultants; health, safety and environmental risks and risks related to weather and other natural disasters); uncertainties as to the availability and cost of financing; Contango's inability to retain or maintain its relative ownership interest in the Peak Gold JV; inability to realize expected value from acquisitions; inability of our management team to execute its plans to meet its goals; the extent of disruptions caused by an outbreak of disease, such as the COVID-19 pandemic; and the possibility that government policies may change, political developments may occur or governmental approvals may be delayed or withheld, including as a result of presidential and congressional elections in the U.S. or the inability to obtain mining permits. Additional information on these and other factors which could affect Contango's exploration program or financial results are included in Contango's other reports on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Investors are cautioned that any forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from the projections in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the estimates and opinions of management at the time the statements are made. Contango does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements should circumstances or management's estimates or opinions change.

CONTACTS:

Contango ORE, Inc.

Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse

President & Chief Executive Officer

(907) 888-4273

www.contangoore.com

HighGold Mining Inc.

Darwin Green

President & Chief Executive Officer

(604) 629-1165

Or

Nicole Hoeller

Vice-President, Communications

(604) 629-1165

nicole@highgoldmining.com

1 Equity value presented on a fully diluted in-the-money basis

2 Based on trading on the NYSE American for Contango and trading on the TSXV for HighGold

3 Presented on a basic basis

4 Based on commodity prices of US$1,650/oz Au, US$20.00/oz Ag, US$3.50/lb Cu, US$1.50/lb Zn and US$1.00/lb Pb

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/207749
LOGAN, Utah (ABC4)  Students gathered at Utah State University on Wednesday to hold a public demonstration in support of Palestine, just days after a pro-Palestine protest at the University of Utah in Salt Lake was met with police response.

Roughly 20 people were arrested on Monday and Tuesday in connection to the U of U protests. On Tuesday, the U of U passed out flyers on how to keep protests lawful and there were fewer arrests made on the second day of protest.

The USU demonstration had rules for public demonstrations posted on the campus when students gathered on Wednesday. People attended the event both in support of Palestine and in support of Israel, and protesters with both viewpoints provided numbers and statistics to back up their perspectives.

RELATED: University of Utah commends pro-Palestine protests for peaceful nature

Its not an issue between Judaism or Islam. Its not one side or the other, one protester said. Its humanity.

The first rule on the list at the USU demonstration was to not disrupt the universitys events or operations. There were also rules against unlawful harassment and destroying/defacing university property.

Rules are posted as students at Utah State University hold a pro-Palestine sit-in on May 1, 2024. The USU demonstration took place days after students and community members were arrested at the University of Utah demonstrations. (KTVX/Kade Garner)

Demonstrators were also warned against placing tents or other structures on campus and told to not block sidewalks, building entrances, roads and walkways.

Samson Calderon Diltz was one of the organizers of Wednesdays protest, saying the group that organized the protest was inspired by other student movements across the county and across the world.

We wanted to focus specifically on Palestinians and the martyrs in solidarity with people here to build a community, Calderon Diltz said. We didnt want anything that could potentially cause issues, and we want to have safety so that no one here can feel like theyre at risk.

Calderon Diltz said the demonstration at USU was designed to coincide with graduation, and was not intended to disrupt the ceremonies but provide passersby the chance to stop and learn more if they wanted to.

We want to build a space where people can eventually feel safe coming to events like these, Calderon Diltz said.

Students at Utah State University hold a pro-Palestine sit-in on May 1, 2024. The USU demonstration took place days after students and community members were arrested at University of Utah demonstrations. (KTVX/Kade Garner)

Students at Utah State University hold a pro-Palestine sit-in on May 1, 2024. The USU demonstration took place days after students and community members were arrested at University of Utah demonstrations. (KTVX/Kade Garner)

Students at Utah State University hold a pro-Palestine sit-in on May 1, 2024. The USU demonstration took place days after students and community members were arrested at University of Utah demonstrations. (KTVX/Kade Garner)

People with various opinions attended Wednesdays event, including Steve and Ona, members of the Jewish community who recently returned to Utah after spending time volunteering in Israel. Ona said she believes protests should have two sides of an argument.

I dont want to argue, I just want to be a kind of quiet presence to say that we dont agree, Steve said.

Ona said she wanted to hear what people had to say at the protest.

You can be critical of Israel without being antisemitic, Steve said.

A pro-Palestine protester told ABC4.com that they dont want to hurt anyone or cause any pain.

We want to spread our message, Mahmoud Ghabayen said. We want to speak truth on the matter and nothing but the truth.

Ghabayen was born in Gaza and now resides in North Logan. He and his immediate family permanently came to the United States in 2013, but he said all his extended family still resides in Gaza.

Ghabayen said he is protesting to fight for more opportunities to be spread to Gaza. He said his extended family is suffering from famine and a lack of electricity.

Communications between the U.S. and his family in Gaza are significantly delayed, Ghabayen said. He said it took almost 10 hours for him and his parents in Utah to learn about 25 of their family members dying in an airstrike in Gaza.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE)  A look back at the 2022 election reveals that 65% of voters were very confident that their vote counted as intended in the general election. New study reveals 7%, or around 50,000 voters, were not at all confident.

The study comes from the University of New Mexico and was supported by the New Mexico Secretary of State. Its an in-depth look at 2022 voter turnout and voter attitudes during the general election.

The most important thing is that New Mexico has a system that is fundamentally working, study author Lonna Rae Atkeson told KRQE. [Officials] have, over the past decade and a half, committed to improving that system.

What does federal cannabis rescheduling mean for New Mexico?

The report shows evidence that New Mexico is solidly blue. For years, more voters in New Mexico have registered as Democratic than Republican or another option. From the year 2000 to 2022, both Democratic registrations and Republican registrations have declined, while other and decline-to-state registrations have increased. Still, Democratic voters made up 44% of registered overs in 2022.

Some people are very concerned about the two-party system, and I think that as the system ages and we are not realigning around particular issues or events, you just see this decline in party identification, Atkeson said. But because we have created more accessibility, we have put a lot more people into the voter file via the DMV  the opt-out and opt-in procedures there  and a lot of those people are sort of chronic non-voters.

In other words, the rise in decline-to-state voters coincides with both a real feeling of wanting to leave the traditional parties behind as well as an overall increase in the number of voters who really never identified with a party in the first place.

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A chart from the report shows how voter registration has changed over time in New Mexico.

When it comes to voter confidence, New Mexicos voters were more confident in state and county elections than in national elections. In 2022, 40% of New Mexico voters were very confident in the results of the national election, while 50% of voters were very confident in the state-level results. Despite this, only 17% of New Mexico voters were not at all confident in the results of the national election. Most New Mexico voters had at least some confidence in their elections.

But confidence varied with political party association. Republicans were, on average, less confident in their elections than Democratic voters, the report notes. Confidence also varied with voter race  90% of white voters were very or somewhat confident that their ballot was properly counted, while only 75% of Hispanic voters were confident.

While noting progress New Mexico has made towards building access and confidence in elections, the study also makes a few recommendations to the state for further improvements.

One of [the recommendations] is around getting information out to people about the privacy of their ballot. People are very uncertain about whether their ballot is private or whether it can be determined who they voted for, Atkeson said. No one can tell who you voted for, whether you vote by mail or youre voting in person. The procedures and processes are set up to ensure that your vote is private and secret.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos.
Editors note: This commentary describes a young teen using the n-word on social media. In Toriano Porters investigation of this matter, he does not name the girl, nor her parent, a school board member. In crime stories, The Star does not identify perpetrators who are charged as juveniles. In this story, the middle school student did not commit a crime under Missouri law, but we are choosing to follow this general practice.

I dont come to this conclusion lightly: But a white Summit Christian Academy student seen on video using the n-word deserves grace and a chance at redemption.

My oldest son, General, graduated from SCA in Lees Summit in 2017. When I saw videos circulating online of a current SCA student using the n-word, he was the first person I thought of. As a family, we hadnt experienced racism at the Christian-based school. But I called my son to ask if hed ever witnessed what I saw on two short clips posted to social media.

No, he told me. I was relieved. Still, I had to remind myself its been seven years since General graduated from the school. Just because our time there was exceptional doesnt mean current minority students have had the same experience. And that saddens me.

I write this column with a level of compassion and forgiveness for the student in question. But school leadership must take bold action steps to address the racist language she used. Otherwise, its more than fair to question the Christian values officials claim the school operates by.

More than a week has passed since videos surfaced online of the middle school student using hateful and racist rhetoric. At least one of them was recorded on campus, according to SCA officials. The videos were first published April 23 by the online publication Kansas City Defender. In one, the student looks into the camera and laughs as she says: You stupid n****r. It is unclear who the unidentified student is referring to in the short clip  not that it matters. The footage is disheartening.

In a second clip, the student laughs and utters the despicable word again.

SCAs policy against such harmful rhetoric is, quite frankly, useless. It does little to deter a student from promoting hate. This week I spoke with several people associated with the school  each of them assured me the school will not tolerate the use of the n-word or any other language that demeans a group of people.

In a statement sent to me from spokeswoman Sarah Coates, school officials condemned the hateful language.

The video with inappropriate and hateful language recorded in a restroom by a young student who attends SCA was brought to the attention of the administration a couple of weeks ago, school officials wrote. It was immediately handled by the SCA administration with disciplinary action according to the SCA discipline matrix. At SCA, any form of racism is not tolerated, nor overlooked. What was said on video by one student is not reflective of our school community and our schools standards. We will work to continue providing education and training that words and actions matter and that hate speech is inappropriate, inexcusable, and will not be tolerated. We continue to closely monitor this situation and encourage students and staff who hear inappropriate comments to let teachers or administrators know.

Student who used slur daughter of board member

The student in question is the daughter of a school board member, according to three school officials I spoke with. I dont know the family at all or what they stand for. Attempts to reach out to the parent for comment were unsuccessful. I did speak with Chris Hahn, SCA head of school, and board member Fel Bagunu, whose son attended SCA with my child.

Both expressed disappointment in what the video shows. Neither was willing to give up on the student. And for good reason. Shes young and made a terrible mistake. Racism in any form must be called out and condemned. And I have to credit the Kansas City Defender for exposing this story. Without its reporting, this video may not have come to light. But we shouldnt give up on young people.

Shes going to have to live with this for a really long time, Hahn told me. Later, he added: When I saw the video I was saddened, hurt, disappointed and frustrated because I believe we are better than this.

Bagunu, a pastor at Commission Church in Kansas City, is Asian American. Two of his children have graduated from SCA and another child is currently enrolled there.

Much like my familys experience, Bagunus family never encountered any kind of hate speech.

Were saddened by this, he said. Its disheartening that those comments were made. We have to move forward to educate our students, faculty and staff  hate speech is not going to be tolerated on our campus.

In the days since the videos became public, Hahn said he has spoken with stakeholders within the school community, including some African American students and their families. SCAs enrollment is about 1,250 pupils, Hahn said, and the minority student population is about 19%. All students deserve to attend a school free of racism, harassment or bullying. SCA is no different. The school is on the clock. Actions must mirror the words spoken to me and other members of the media.

School policy on racism, discipline outdated

Each year, SCA students sign a compact that asks them to avoid gossip, derogatory speech, harmful teasing and bullying, school officials told me. That may be well and good, but the schools discipline policy used to address these situations is woefully inadequate.

Because of laws governing student privacy, officials were unable to tell me what discipline the student received. Coates did share with me the infraction for the use of racial remarks  a one-day, in-school suspension, which basically amounts to detention, or one-day, out-of-school suspension and parent meeting.

That wont cut it. Im hesitant to call for automatic expulsion for the use of racist language, but the punishment must be much more severe than a one-day ban from school. The way I see it, any student using hateful, harmful or racist language should be sent home for at least 10 days. A second offense warrants a 90-day suspension and expulsion for a third.

If extracurricular activities are involved, the punishment should be zero tolerance  meaning offenders should lose their privilege to play ball or participate in after-school activities for the remainder of the school year.

If SCA leaders really want to send a message that racism will not be tolerated, they must show us and not tell us.

Both Hanh, the head of school, and board member Bagunu acknowledged the Summit Christian Academy policy on these matters is outdated. There will be changes to the student discipline code, they tell me. I believe them to be sincere.

But as Hahn told me before we ended our interview, school officials will be judged by their actions and not their words.
This post may contain graphic images or details. Reader discretion is advised.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, Utah (ABC4)  A woman was arrested on Tuesday after she allegedly shot and killed her best friend as part of an apparent suicide pact, according to arrest documents.

Heavenly Faith Garfield, 21, was arrested for one count of murder and one count of felony discharge of a firearm, both of which are first degree felonies.

READ NEXT: Tim Ballards victims claim connection between him and late LDS apostle

Officers responded inside the residence where they found a 21-year-old female who was obviously deceased, an affidavit of probable cause said.

At the scene, detectives found one 9mm bullet that was fired from a handgun, and the gun was found near the victims body, according to arrest documents.

According to arrest documents, officers went to a home in Saratoga Springs after a caller  later identified as Garfields father  told officers that a 21-year-old woman died from a gunshot wound in the house. He told dispatchers that his daughter shot the victim as part of a pact.

Officers interviewed numerous family members of Garfield, according to documents. Through those interviews, they learned that the woman they found dead allegedly had a suicide pact with Heavenly Faith Garfield, the affidavit said.

Detectives also made contact with a friend of the victim, and the friend showed text messages from the victim that said she wanted to commit suicide but was too scared to kill herself, the affidavit said.

The friend told Detectives that the victim had also told him that she intended to commit suicide with her friend, whom he identified as Heavenly Faith, and that one of them would kill the other, and then kill themselves, the affidavit said.

The pair had reportedly been planning on taking their own lives together for multiple weeks, the affidavit said.

If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, call the suicide prevention hotline at 988. National Alliance on Mental Illness Utah: namiut.org

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.
(Getty Images)

The Bedford County School Board is deescalating its efforts to sue a parent with a history of hostile interactions with school staffers about accommodations for his special needs son. But an attorney for the father involved blasted the statement the board issued this week and suggested the case may not be over yet.

The board announced Wednesday that its earlier request for at least $600,000 in damages has been reduced to just $1 after the parent, David Rife, agreed to new ground rules on how he and school personnel would communicate.

A court hearing in the case had been scheduled for Wednesday. That hearing was called off after the two sides indicated they were trying to resolve the dispute less formally. Court records show the case hasnt been fully dropped.

In a news release Wednesday afternoon, Bedford County Public Schools said the lawsuit was never about collecting money from the parent.

While our lawsuit remains active, as a measure of good faith, we have instructed our attorney to reduce the monetary component of the lawsuit to $1, the school division said. If the Communication Plan is adhered to, we intend to dismiss the lawsuit.

The school divisions statement said its leaders remain strongly committed to parents rights.

We strongly encourage parents to actively participate and oversee the public education of their children, the statement said. However, we also strongly support our many excellent educators and staff. No parent has the right to inappropriately threaten or profanely abuse educators.

Though the school divisions statement suggested things were being worked out, Rifes attorney, David Whitehurst, issued his own statement Thursday accusing school officials of backtracking and continuing to malign his client.

These are unsubstantiated allegations made in their lawsuit, which we have refuted, and on which no judge has yet ruled, Whitehurst said. To repeat them in a public statement is a continued effort to smear and tarnish Mr. Rife and his reputation.

Whitehurst also questioned the schools claim the suit wasnt about money, saying the high damages sought from Rife caused great stress and anxiety to both the parent and his son.

Their claim for damages included $350,000 in punitive damages, the maximum amount allowed under state law, Whitehurst said. This does not comport with a suit never being about money.

The school board, which serves a mostly rural county located between Lynchburg and Roanoke, filed the civil lawsuit against Rife in late March, alleging the frequency and tone of his calls, emails and in-person conversations with school employees amounted to unlawful intimidation and harassment. The school systems court filings listed several examples of Rife using profanity and threatening to call the police on staffers whom he felt werent taking his concerns seriously and werent adequately educating his son.

In response, Rife and his attorney acknowledged Rife had used impolite language but portrayed the school boards lawsuit as an effort to punish a parent for passionately advocating for their child. Rifes concerns about how the school was handling his sons learning disability were partially vindicated after he filed a complaint with the Virginia Department of Education early this year. The state agency ruled Bedford school officials werent in compliance with several elements of the individualized education program (IEP) designed to help Rifes son improve his reading skills. Rife filed his own legal claims against the school division asking the court to require compliance with the IEP.

The case sparked blowback locally. After news stories about the litigation were published, a Facebook page dedicated to discussion of Bedford County school issues lit up with questions about why the division felt it had to go as far as suing a parent for more than half a million dollars. Multiple school board members claimed the board wasnt aware of the suit, according to reporting by regional news outlet Cardinal News. However, the school board itself was listed as the plaintiff bringing the case with assistance from attorneys in the Richmond office of the Sands Anderson law firm.

Whitehurst said the new rules on how Rife and school staff would interact was a joint agreement by both parties. Despite the boards statement calling it a communication plan, Whitehurst said the two sides had previously agreed not to use that term.

Rifes lawyer also pointed out school officials dont have the final say on whether the legal fight proceeds or not because Rife has filed competing claims about their failure to comply with the IEP.

Two days ago, we felt hopeful that things were moving forward in a positive way in this case, Whitehurst said. The statement issued by the board has greatly dimmed that hope.

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The post After suing parent for $600K, Bedford School Board reduces case to $1 appeared first on Virginia Mercury.
Tonight features mostly clear skies, with temperatures dipping back into the mid 50s. A light westerly breeze will allow for some instances of fog to develop but nothing like what some of us saw this morning.

Thursday continues with the great weather, as high pressure heads off to our northeast. This will enable our wind flow to switch to coming out of the southeast, which will warm us up into the mid 80s  a few western towns will push into the upper 80s, as yet another summer-like day arrives.

Itll be slightly cooler in the mountains and Greenbrier River Valleys with highs in the 70s with some cooler air damming up against the eastern facing slopes with more of an easterly breeze. Its a mild night in store Thursday night, with lows in the upper 50s and a southwest breeze. This change in wind direction is a sign of changes for the weekend.

Best facial sunscreens that wont leave residue behind

Friday sees an increase in our chances for thunderstorms as a cold front approaches from the west. With a few peaks of sunshine out ahead of our front, there is enough juice for a few embedded thunderstorms among showers pushing through. However, aside from the threat for brief locally heavy rainfall, severe weather is not expected. High temperatures will still reach summer-like levels despite afternoon showers and storms with low 80s expected.

Saturday continues our threat for scattered showers and thunderstorms as our cold front slows down and takes its sweet time crossing through the area. Again, much like Friday, though severe weather is not expected, the threat for locally heavy rainfall will once again be something to watch within scattered showers and thunderstorms that push through the area, as storms will be working in a humid airmass. In addition, there isnt much wind in the mid to upper levels of the atmosphere to steer storms that do pop up, so theyll be slow movers. With numerous showers and a few storms expected, high temperatures will be a little cooler in the low 70s.

Sunday continues our chances for scattered showers and thunderstorms, though the coverage of those storms will be not as widespread as on Saturday. However, downpours will once again be slow-moving, so the threat for very localized heavy rainfall will continue. High temperatures will be in the mid 70s.

Monday continues the risk for at least a few showers with a secondary cold front approaching and then stalling. As a result, with clouds and occasional showers around, we will see high temperatures in the mid 70s.

Tick season is here: Heres how to protect yourself and your pets

Tuesday will provide more of an isolated chance for showers and storms, as Mondays stalled front lifts to the north as a warm front That will also open the gates for some warmer weather to return, as well see high temperatures spike into the low 80s.

Wednesday will keep the risk for a few isolated showers and storms with a warm and humid air mass in place as our next cold front approaches. Well see high temperatures in the 80s.

Looking ahead, its an unsettled weather pattern that continues Thursday but drier air returns with high pressure taking control of the weather in our region Friday into Saturday. Thursday will feature a cold front pushing through, with showers and storms possible. Highs will still be in the upper 70s. We will cool down behind the front into the low to mid 70s for Thursday into Friday with plenty of sunshine.

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!

TONIGHT

Mostly clear. Patchy fog. Lows in the mid 50s.

THURSDAY

Mostly sunny. Highs in the mid 80s.

FRIDAY

Afternoon scattered downpours. Highs in the low 80s.

SATURDAY

Scattered showers and storms likely. Highs in the low 70s.

SUNDAY

Scattered showers and storms. Highs in the mid 70s.

MONDAY

Shower chances continue. Highs in the mid 70s.

TUESDAY

Isolated shower, mostly dry. Highs in the low 80s.

WEDNESDAY

More isolated showers and storms. Highs in the low 80s.

THURSDAY

Few showers. Highs in the 70s.

FRIDAY

Mostly sunny. Highs in the 70s.

SATURDAY

Mostly sunny. Highs in the 70s.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WVNS.
A gif animation showing a bright spark of light emitted from the top right corner of the sun's disk. There is a white circle highlighting the active region.

Last night (April 30), the sun released an extremely powerful solar flare triggering widespread radio blackouts across the Pacific region. The flare peaked at 7:46 p.m. EDT (2346 GMT) and ended shortly after at 7:58 p.m. EDT (2358).

Solar flares are eruptions from the sun 's surface that emit intense bursts of electromagnetic radiation. They are created when magnetic energy builds up in the solar atmosphere and is released. Solar flares are categorized by size into lettered groups, with X-class being the most powerful. Then there are M-class flares that are 10 times less powerful than X-class flares, followed by C-class flares which are 10 times weaker than M-class flares, B-class are 10 times weaker than C-class flares and finally, A-class flares which are 10 times weaker than B-class flares and have no noticeable consequences on Earth .

Within each class, numbers from 1-10 (and beyond for X-class flares) describe a flare's relative strength. The recent April 30 flare clocked in at M9.53, according to Spaceweatherlive.com , measured by NASA's GOES-16 satellite, which puts it just a fraction below an X-class solar flare.

Related: Watch 4 solar flares erupt from the sun at nearly the same time in extremely rare event (video)

Shortwave radio blackouts like the one witnessed over the Pacific are common shortly after powerful solar flare eruptions due to the strong pulse of X-rays and extreme ultraviolet radiation emitted during the event. The radiation travels toward Earth at the speed of light and ionizes the top of Earth's atmosphere when it reaches us.

A gif animation showing a bright spark of light emitted from the top right corner of the sun's disk. There is a white circle highlighting the active region.

This ionization causes a higher-density environment that the high-frequency shortwave radio signals must attempt to navigate through to support communication over long distances. The radio waves that interact with electrons in the ionized layers lose energy due to more frequent collisions, and this can lead to radio signals becoming degraded or completely absorbed according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center .

Radiation from the April 30 solar flare affected those on the sunlit portion of Earth at the time of the eruption, the Pacific regions. "Mariners and ham radio operators may have noticed loss of signal below 20 MHz for as much as 30 minutes after the flare's peak," according to Spaceweather.com.

A map showing where the sunlit portion of the Earth was at the time of the eruption and the high frequency radio blackouts indicated by red patches. All of the high frequency blackouts are located across the Pacific regions.

Solar activity is ramping up as we approach solar maximum, the peak of solar activity during the sun's approximately 11-year solar cycle , indicated by the frequency of sunspots .

Despite the large number of sunspots currently visible on the sun's surface, our star has been relatively quiet in recent weeks. But not anymore.

The near X-class solar flare erupted from the sunspot region AR3654, the most powerful eruption from this region yet.

"It is always exciting when a sunspot region lives up to its potential. AR3654 has just done that." solar scientist Alex Young posted on X.

"Despite high sunspot numbers for the last couple of weeks, tonight's near X-class #SolarFlare is the first decent-sized flare in some time! When and where will the next X-class event come from?" solar astrophysicist Ryan French posted on X.

Solar scientists are keeping a watchful eye on the sun as it approaches solar maximum because solar activity can impact our lives on Earth.

Related stories:

 How to observe the sun safely (and what to look for)

 Wild solar weather is causing satellites to fall. It's going to get worse.

 Satellites can disappear in major solar storms and it could take weeks to find them

Powerful flares can significantly affect spacecraft, satellites and ground-based technologies, traveling at the speed of light, and they don't give a lot of notice before striking. That's why numerous organizations  including NASA, NOAA and the U.S. Air Force Weather Agency (AFWA)  are monitoring the sun closely. These organizations can send out warnings to technology and infrastructure sectors vulnerable to solar flare activity so that appropriate precautions can be taken in the event of potentially harmful space weather.

"We can't ignore space weather , but we can take appropriate measures to protect ourselves," NASA says.

But there is no need to worry; so-called "killer flares" do not exist and although solar flares have the potential to significantly disrupt the technological world, they don't contain enough energy to do any lasting damage to Earth itself.

"Even at their worst, the sun's flares are not physically capable of destroying Earth," NASA says.
A man carries a globe with a miniature Eiffel Tower and the 1.5-degree target of the Paris climate protection agreement during a demonstration in front of the Alte Oper. Around one in five people in Germany worry about climate change every day, a survey by the auditing firm PwC has revealed. Boris Roessler/dpa

Around one in five people in Germany worry about climate change every day, a survey by the auditing firm PwC has revealed.

According to the survey, 19.8% of Germans said climate change worried them on a daily basis. Internationally, about 28% of those surveyed felt the same.

PwC surveyed around 20,000 people twice a year in 31 countries across Europe, Asia, North and South America and Africa.

Of those surveyed in Germany, 60% said climate change worried them but they did not think about it regularly. Internationally about 57% felt that way.

Around 19% of people in Germany were not at all worried about climate change, compared to an international average of just under 14%.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Earth has already warmed by around 1.1 degrees Celsius due to human activities.

The so-called Paris Agreement aims to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels to avoid the worst consequences of climate change, such as extreme droughts, storms, crop failures and rising sea levels.

According to the IPCC, emissions would have to be 43% lower in 2030 than in 2019 if global warming is to be stopped at 1.5 degrees as targeted.

In its representative survey, PwC surveys around 20,000 people aged 18 and over in 31 countries twice a year on the topics of health and nutrition as well as climate change and sustainability, including more than 1,000 consumers from Germany.
It cant have been easy for Holocaust survivor Herbert Rubinstein to read aloud the words that a Holocaust denier posted online. We have all been cheated, lied to, and exploited, the post says. The Holocaust did NOT happen the way it is written in our history books. In no uncertain terms, Rubinstein sets the record straight. That is a lie, he says.

Ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day on May 6, several survivors are taking part in a powerful campaign seeking to address the ongoing spread of Holocaust denialism online by reading posts dismissing the real atrocities that they lived through. The #CancelHate campaign, organized by the Claims Conference, features a series of videos of survivors speaking the words of Holocaust denial and distortion that still proliferate on social media platformsand debunking those smears with the testimony of their own lived experiences.

U.S. Is Home to the Most Holocaust Survivors Outside Israel

One of the survivors taking part is Hedi Argent. Born into a Jewish family in Vienna in 1929, she was expelled from school the day after the Anschluss, Adolf Hitlers annexation of Austria into a union with Nazi Germany. Soon she and her family would also be forced out of their home. Eventually, 17 of her family members would be murdered in the Holocaust.

The Holocaust was a lie, she reads, quoting a denial post in her campaign video. Stop spreading misinformation please. Now that is Holocaust denial, Argent says in response. The Holocaust is not a lie, she says in response. Despite the antisemitic persecution she faced, Argent says she considers herself among the lucky ones. The 17 members of my family who were murdered were not lucky, she said.

Holocaust denial remains a depressingly persistent issueone recent poll estimated that 3 percent of Americans across all age groups over 18 agreed with the statement: The Holocaust is a myth. Another 2022 study led by UNESCO looking at Holocaust-related posts from five different online platforms found that denial and distortion was a significant cause of concern across all platforms.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1164967921602267&ref=sharing

There were no gas chambers, Abraham Foxman, a child survivor of the Holocaust and former director of the Anti-Defamation League, reads from one online post. Every single thing we know about World War II is a lie. The author of the post goes on to say they share the same goals as Hitler: Exile the Jews and keep their degeneracy and corruption and lies out of society.

This is Holocaust denial, says Foxman, who lost 13 relatives in the Holocaust. Whether inspired by ignorance or hate, it doesnt matter, because words matter. Words of hate matter. They matter, he explains, because the gas chambers at Auschwitz did not begin with bricks, they began with wordswith ugly, evil words about the Jews.

The world is a volatile place right now, said Gideon Taylor, the president of the Claims Conference. Social media offers individuals a place to hide while they spread words of hate. This campaign shows that these are not victimless poststhese mean and vile words deny the first-hand testimony of each and every Holocaust survivor, their suffering and the suffering and often loss of their families.

Claims Conference Executive Vice President Greg Schneider adds that survivors are now being confronted by a tremendous wave of denial and distortion.

Holocaust survivors from around the world are participating in this campaign to show that hate will not win, Schneider says. Those who read these depraved posts are putting aside their own discomfort and trauma to ensure that current and future generations understand that unchecked hatred has no place in society.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Suspect accused of dragging Lawrence officer with car tracked down by State Police

Authorities arrested a Springfield man Monday morning who allegedly dragged a Lawrence police officer with his car after a report of a shooting in the city.

31-year-old Junior Arias Lara is charged with failure to stop for police, resisting arrest, and unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.

According to State Police, Trooper Connor Hendry of the Andover Barracks was working the midnight shift when he heard a radio call for a shooting near Fitz Street in Lawrence. Officials say a Lawrence Police officer stopped the suspected vehicle involved but was dragged a short distance when the car fled the scene.

Trooper Henry began searching for the vehicle and located it taking the ramp from Route 93 to Route 495 southbound just after 3 a.m.

The trooper conducted a traffic stop and reportedly issued commands for the shooting suspect, later identified as Arias Lara, to get out of the car. However, officials say Arias Lara fled on foot into a nearby swamp.

Arias Lara allegedly ignored troopers commands to exit the swamp and even at one point reached into his waistband, according to police.

Authorities say Trooper Hendry approached Arias Lara and then took him to the ground utilizing defensive tactics.

He was subdued and transferred into Lawrence Polices custody to face charges connected to the initial shooting incident.

Arias Lara will be arraigned in Lawrence District Court.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

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LITTLE ROCK, Ark.  Two bills aimed at regulating cryptocurrency mining have advanced to the final step before becoming law in Arkansas.

SB78 and SB79 both address consequences that came as a result of a state law (Act 851) that passed last year and provided some additional protections for sites in Arkansas.

Arkansas cryptocurrency mining law to face possible changes in 2025 regarding foreign ownership

The first bill passed Wednesday by House members addresses the noise and water complaints, requiring mine owners to install more soundproofing measures and regulating the use of water needed for servers. The second ensures the sites stay a certain distance away from nearby structures. It also prevents any ownership by certain foreign entities.

Two of the men behind these bills, one living near a site and the other serving as mayor in a city neighboring a town with a site, told KARK 4 News theyre pleased with Wednesdays outcome.

The water, they use a lot of it to keep the fans cool, thank goodness we have a supply in that area and can support that, but it takes away from the consumer, Wooster Mayor Terry Robinson said

Wooster provides the water to a neighboring town that has a site.

Community members in DeWitt gather to stop cryptocurrency mining site from going in

Jerry Lee Bogard has property in Arkansas County near a site and has spent the last few weeks at the capitol working with state lawmakers to find solutions for the new problems created under state law. He and a lobbyist working on behalf of those impacted by the sites told KARK 4 News they are very pleased with the outcome of Wednesdays House session.

It is going to give the citizens of Arkansas what we didnt have under (Act) 851, which was protection against it was referred to in the legislature as bad actors that moved in here, Bogard said.

Bogard added that this is only the beginning of the work he and others will be doing to address crypto sites in Arkansas, but it is a good start.

Arkansas cryptocurrency mining law to face possible changes in 2025 regarding foreign ownership

Both bills will now go to Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders for her signature before becoming law.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK.
Suspect accused of socking mother of 3 and breaking her jaw cut loose again in NYC court despite upgraded felony charge

A deranged suspect accused of sucker punching a 57-year-old mother-of-three and breaking her jaw was cut loose again by a Brooklyn judge even after prosecutors upgraded the assault charge to a felony Wednesday.

Franz Jeudy, 33, remained on supervised release after he was indicted on charges including second-degree assault  a bail eligible offense  more than a month after he randomly attacked bus aide Dulche Pichardo in Crown Heights, prosecutors said.

The Brooklyn District Attorneys Office requested $25,000 cash bail or $50,000 bond on the upgraded charges, but Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Matthew Sciarrino turned down that request.

A deranged suspect accused of sucker punching a 57-year-old mother-of-three and breaking her jaw was cut loose again by a Brooklyn judge even after prosecutors upgraded the assault charge to a felony.

Jeudy allegedly socked Pichardo in the face unprovoked, leaving her with fractures on both sides of her face and knocking out several of her teeth on March 24, prosecutors said.

After Pichardo was hit, she ran into her brothers restaurant nearby and pointed out the alleged attacker.

The sibling chased down Jeudy for several blocks and held onto him before police arrived.

Random attacks against strangers, especially women, are beyond senseless and completely unacceptable, District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement.

A grand jury that heard all the evidence returned an indictment for felony assault and we will now seek to hold the defendant accountable, so he will not repeat this outrageous and criminal conduct.

Jeudy initially was slapped with a misdemeanor assault charge  that was not bail eligible  before he was hit with the heftier criminal count that could land him in jail for up to seven years if convicted.

He also is facing second-degree attempted assault, third-degree assault and related counts.

A review of the evidence and the extent of her injuries helped boost the charges to a felony, the district attorneys office said.

This is terrible. I dont want this to happen to anybody else, Pichardo told The Post in March.

Franz Jeudy, 33, remained on supervised release after he was indicted on charges including second-degree assault  a bail eligible offense  more than a month after he randomly attacked bus aide Dulche Pichardo in Crown Heights.

A spokesperson with the Office of Court Administration referred The Post to the court transcript when asked about Judge Sciarrinos decision to keep Jeudy out of jail ahead of trial. The transcript was not immediately available.

Sciarrino faced heat last year after he ignored a prosecutors request to keep a career criminal in jail and instead granted bail in an attempted murder case.

The suspect, Ousmane Diallo, then allegedly wounded two in a shooting once he was freed on $500,000 bond, authorities said at the time.

Jeudy allegedly socked Pichardo in the face unprovoked, leaving her with fractures on both sides of her face and knocking out several of her teeth on March 24, prosecutors said. James Messerschmidt

Jeudy was arrested for two other random punches  one on a law enforcement officer in 2018 and the other on a security guard in 2019, police sources previously told The Post.

He was charged with misdemeanor assault charges that were later dismissed because Jeudy, who has an apparent history of schizophrenia, was found unfit to stand trial, Manhattan prosecutors previously said.

His next court date in Brooklyn is July 2.
CHICAGO  The suspect wanted in connection with last months fatal shooting of off-duty Chicago police Officer Luis Huesca was taken into custody in the west suburbs late Wednesday, according to CPD.

A Cook County judge last week issued an arrest warrant charging Xavier Tate, 22, with murder in the April 21 killing of Huesca, 30, near Huescas home in the Gage Park neighborhood on the Southwest Side.

In a statement released Wednesday night, police said Tate was taken into custody in Glendale Heights by CPD officers and members of the Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force.

A CPD source familiar with the investigation told the Tribune that officers took Tate into custody using the handcuffs that belonged to Huesca. Authorities previously announced a combined $100,000 reward for public information leading to Tates arrest and conviction.

A CPD spokesperson said it was unlikely that Tate would appear in court Thursday.

Cook County court records show Tate was arrested last March in south suburban Olympia Fields and charged with criminal trespass to a residence. That case remains pending.Court records from Kane County, meanwhile, show Tate was arrested in February and charged with obstructing a police officer.

He was also arrested in 2023 and charged with obstruction, and both those cases remain active, records show. In the last five years, Tate has been cited 10 times for alleged traffic violations in Kane County.

Huesca, a six-year veteran of CPD, was shot multiple times in the 3100 block of West 56th Street while off-duty but in uniform early on April 21. His gun and vehicle were also taken at the scene of the shooting but were later recovered.

Officers last week arrested a relative of Tates who allegedly had come to possess Huescas gun. That man, arrested in Morgan Park, now faces a charge of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, court records show.

On what wouldve been Huescas 31st birthday last week, police announced it had been determined the officer died in the line of duty, a classification entitling his family to survivors death benefits.

At his funeral Monday, Huesca was remembered as a bright light in his personal life and on the job: an exceptional person with courage, bravery, humility and pride.

____
A first-degree murder charge was approved by Cook County prosecutors Thursday in the fatal April shooting of off-duty Chicago police Officer Luis Huesca.

Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxxs office said in a statement Thursday that 22-year-old Xavier Tate Jr. was charged with first-degree murder for allegedly killing Huesca on April 21 near the officers home in the Gage Park neighborhood. He also faces one count of aggravated vehicular hijacking and one count of possession of a stolen firearm, according to police. Tate is scheduled to make his first court appearance Friday.

While we take this critical step, we will continue to gather and analyze further evidence, Foxx said in the statement. We extend our deepest sympathies to the family of Officer Huesca and recognize the courage of all our officers. We remain steadfast in our pursuit to ensure that justice is served for Officer Huesca and the city he served.

Tate was taken into custody Wednesday in west suburban Glendale Heights, police said. A Chicago Police Department source said the arresting officers used Huescas handcuffs to arrest Tate. Authorities previously announced a combined $100,000 reward for public information leading to Tates arrest and conviction.

Cook County court records show Tate was arrested last March in south suburban Olympia Fields and charged with criminal trespass to a residence. That case remains pending.

Court records from Kane County, meanwhile, show Tate was arrested in February and charged with obstructing a police officer. He was also arrested in 2023 and charged with obstruction, and both those cases remain active, records show. In the last five years, Tate has been cited 10 times for alleged traffic violations in Kane County.

Huesca, a six-year veteran of CPD, was shot multiple times in the 3100 block of West 56th Street while off-duty but in uniform early on April 21. His gun and vehicle were also taken at the scene of the shooting but were later recovered.

Officers last week arrested a relative of Tates who allegedly had come to possess Huescas gun. That man, arrested in Morgan Park, now faces a charge of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, court records show.

On what wouldve been Huescas 31st birthday last week, the Police Department announced that the officer died in the line of duty, entitling his family to survivors death benefits. At his funeral Monday, Huesca was remembered as an exceptional person with courage, bravery, humility and pride in your work.
Xavier L. Tate Jr. was arrested May 1 in connection with the April 21 killing of Chicago police officer Luis Huesca

Chicago Police Department Luis Huesca

A suspect was arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of an off-duty Chicago police officer who was killed while driving home from work, authorities said.

Xavier L. Tate Jr. was taken into custody by members of the Chicago Police Department and the U.S. Marshals Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force this evening in Glendale Heights, Ill. for the murder of CPD Officer Luis Huesca, the Chicago Police Department announced in a statement posted its Facebook page on Wednesday, May 1.

We thank all of our law enforcement partners who assisted in the apprehension of this suspect as we work to bring justice to Officer Huesca and his family, the department added.

Related: Off-Duty Chicago Police Officer Fatally Shot While Driving Home from Work Days Before 31st Birthday

Its unclear which exact charges Tate is facing or if he has retained an attorney to speak on his behalf. Police said in the statement that the investigation remains ongoing and the department will not be releasing further information at this time.

Huesca, 30, was still in his uniform when he was shot multiple times during a carjacking just before 3 a.m. on April 21 near his home, police previously said, according to ABC7 Chicago, NBC Chicago, and ABC News.

Huesca, a six-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department, was pronounced dead at the hospital, police said, per ABC News.

Police previously released security footage of a person of interest who they warned should be considered dangerous. It was not confirmed whether this individual was Tate.

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.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker called Huescas death a terrible loss in a post shared to X, formerly Twitter, on April 21, noting the slain officer was just two days shy of his 31st birthday.

Hundreds of fellow cops and loved ones gathered on the streets of Chicago on Monday, April 29 for Huescas funeral, according to the Chicago Tribune. Huesca was remembered by his older brother, Emiliano Huesca Jr., as an exceptional person with courage, bravery, humility and pride in your work," according to the outlet.

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Marcus Arduini Monzo appeared in a London court today after being charged with killing 14-year-old Daniel Anjorin, pictured here, and injuring four other people with a samurai sword. Photo courtesy Metropolitan Police

May 2 (UPI) -- A 36-year-old London-based man made an initial appearance in court on Thursday after being suspected of killing a 14-year-old boy with a sword earlier this week while injuring several others.

Marcus Arduini Monzo, of dual Spanish-Brazilian nationality, confirmed his name at Westminster Magistrates' Court and was remanded in custody.

Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring scheduled his next appearance for May 7 at the Old Bailey unless a hearing is available on Friday.

Along with a murder count, Monzo has also been charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of causing grievous bodily harm, aggravated burglary and possession of a bladed article in the attack in which 14-year-old Daniel Anjorin was killed and four other people including two police officers were seriously injured.

Prosecutors said Morzo crashed a van into a fence in Laing Close on Tuesday morning, striking a person before getting out of the vehicle, saying he would kill the man and slashing his neck with a samurai sword.

He then broke into the bedroom of a nearby home and attacked a man who was in bed with his family including a 4-year-old child, they said.

Prosecutors said this was when he attacked Anjorin, who was walking to school.

He then hid behind a bush but emerged when officers tried to help the boy, attacking them and leaving a female office with "horrifically serious" wounds on her arm.

Students and staff at the Bancroft School in Woodford Green, where Anjorin attended classes, said they were crushed by the loss, calling him a "true scholar" and "an amazing young man."

Authorities said they responded to the call of a vehicle crash Tuesday morning in Hainault in East London initially, where witnesses said a man got out of a car and started stabbing people with a long sword.

In all, five people needed medical attention at hospitals after the attack, including Anjorin who died shortly after arriving to a medical facility.
An investigation in Sweden has revealed that police employees have been leaking confidential information to gang members with whom they have had sexual relations.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Monday admitted he was concerned about the very serious revelations by newspaper Dagens Nyheter.

In a report published over the weekend, the paper claimed that the leaks included information about enemies of gang members involved in the relationships. The report alleged that in four cases, the leaks were followed by revenge attacks, including murders.

At least 30 police employees had for different reasons been considered security risks and either resigned or were forced to quit, the newspaper reported.

Dagens Nyheter said that in several cases, criminals had begun sexual relations with strategically selected police officers.

A second pattern was also revealed where police employees of international backgrounds have given in to pressure from criminal family members.

Gangs are also reported to have exploited vulnerabilities such as gambling debts or drug abuse to manipulate officers and staff into giving up information.

Louise Brown, Director of the Financial Crime Prevention agency, Advisense, compared the tactics to "mafia methods, when criminals have infiltrated the public sector, our most important authorities and influence decisions, enabling more crime".

Sweden's Minister of Justice, Gunnar Strommer, will meet with the police leadership to discuss the leaks on Tuesday.

"It shows that there are vulnerabilities throughout our society, including the justice system. And we must look at it with open eyes and take action," said Strommer.

"We will discuss the information that has now emerged, what measures the police are already taking to counteract this type of infiltrators, whether there are further measures to be taken, and whether we have reason to request further measures from the government and politicians," he added.

Sweden has struggled to contain a surge in violence in recent years as criminal gangs feud for control of drug markets, with bombings and shootings recorded weekly.
Switzerland: Russia not invited to Peace Summit "at this stage", but process unthinkable without it

The Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that at this stage, Russia has not been invited to the Global Peace Summit in June in Burgenstock.

Source: European Pravda; Switzerlands Foreign Ministry

Details: Nonetheless, the Swiss side expressed the belief that Russia must be included in the peace process.

"Russia has not been invited at this stage. Switzerland has always shown openness to extending an invitation to Russia for this Summit. However, Russia has said repeatedly and also publicly that it has no interest in participating in this first Summit," the statement said.

The Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasised that the summit aims to initiate the peace process.

"Switzerland is convinced that Russia must be involved in this process. A peace process without Russia is unthinkable," the ministry said.

Background:

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba explained that Ukraine currently sees no point in inviting Moscow to the Global Peace Summit in Switzerland, adding that contacts with Russia will still be necessary after the international community consolidates its position.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the West, by supporting Ukraine, is sending a message to Vladimir Putin that for ending the war from his side, a "sincere desire" to engage in peaceful negotiations in accordance with the basic principles of international law is necessary.

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These TAD board candidates want to cap your appraisal. But thats not what the law allows

In Reality Check stories, Star-Telegram journalists dig deeper into questions over facts, consequences and accountability. Read more. Story idea? RealityCheck@star-telegram.com.

While nearly every candidate in the race for the Tarrant Appraisal District board mentions fixing the IT issues, some also aim to change the way value appraisals are done.

Tarrant Taxpayer Advocates, the PAC supporting Callie Rigney, Eric Morris and Matt Bryant, said the slate plans to move appraisals to every three years and cap residential appraisal Increases at 5%.

But limiting appraisal increases is not a function of appraisal boards. The Legislature set the cap of 10% for homesteads in the tax code.

The adoption of a board policy capping or limiting appraised values at 5% is not currently allowed by law, Joe Don Bobbitt, chief appraiser of the Tarrant Appraisal District, said in a statement to the Star-Telegram.

He said the Legislature might be inclined to make changes in the future but that caps may be less necessary as the real estate market cools.

Election day is Saturday. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Bryant, however interprets the law from a different perspective.

There is no state law expressly prohibiting a 5% appraisal cap, Bryant said in a statement. Pairing that reform with moving appraisals to every three years will provide a welcome pause to aggressive annual value increases that have become the norm for TAD  leading to one of the highest protest rates in the state of Texas.

Chandler Crouch, a Fort Worth real estate agent and tax consultant, said he supports capping the increase on property values in theory but the appraisal district doesnt have the power to do that.

Im not aware of any mechanism that the board could use to limit appraisals, Crouch said. The current tax code requires the appraisal district to value property at 100% of market value.

Crouch said the appraisal district would be breaking the law by valuing property under market value, however, he does support board members advocating for a policy change on the issue to the state.

A three year cycle on appraisals is allowed by state law, however appraising property once every three years instead of every year could potentially create difficulty for school districts, which receive funding from local property taxes.

The Tarrant Appraisal District conducts appraisals every year.

Crouch said he thinks moving to a three year cycle is a bad idea because it puts the school districts at risk of failing the state comptrollers yearly property value study.

If the appraisal district doesnt value the property accurately, it could negatively affect school funding, Crouch said.

He added that he does support reappraising property less often, recommending a bi-annual system  similar to neighboring Parker County  but also wonders how feasible it is in a county of over 2 million.

They are a much smaller appraisal district than Tarrant County so I dont know that we would have the same success, Crouch said. I think Its an idea worth exploring as long as theyre not putting our school districts in jeopardy of losing funding.

Bryant, does not seem worried about this.

Other counties across the state of Texas already conduct appraisals every three years, I am sure the experts are aware of this and are aware this is done without placing undue burden on local entities, Bryant said.

The appraisal district seems open to discussing the idea.

Most appraisal districts reappraise annually in order to stay within the market value range required by law for schools to receive their full share of state funding, Bobbitt said. The appraisal district will comply with any reappraisal plan or policy adopted by the board of directors and will assist in determining any potential benefits of a 1, 2 or 3 year cycle for the taxpayers and entities we serve.

Chuck Kelley, running against Bryant in Place 3, said he also is not opposed to shifting to the three year appraisal system but would like to examine the effect it has had on other counties.

He also mentioned that he was aware that capping the value of residential property was not allowed by state law.

I am all for anything that gives taxpayers relief. But, those are not things that Tarrant Appraisal Board can do by themselves, Kelley said.

Kelley also said he would rather spend his time focused on making changes and improving the security of the districts IT department.

The appraisal district suffered a ransomware attack in March, with roughly 300 Tarrant taxpayers information now posted on the dark web. That followed a cyberattack in October 2022.

Lee Henderson also a candidate for Place 3, said he has concerns about the three year appraisal system and thinks state law doesnt necessarily allow for the three years system.

TAD is not going to freeze values for they years. They still have to issue a market value appraisal on Jan 1. Your appraised value that you are taxed on will still go up as much as 10% each year. This is what the law says, and this board cannot change the law, Henderson said.

When addressing the 5% cap, Henderson took aim at the candidates proposing it.

My opponents love to cling to these single talking points, because theyre deceivingly simple. The truth is that archaic processes and many other failings have put our appraisal district in dire straits; high taxes is just the result, Henderson said.

But Henderson does want to see a change in the way appraisals are done.

We need a system where taxpayers have redress, transparency, and accountability for unfair appraisals and a top to bottom overhaul of how the district does business.

Rigney and Morris did not immediately return requests for comment.
Comprehensive SWOT analysis based on Clean Harbors Inc's latest SEC 10-Q filing.

Financial overview highlights growth in service revenues and a robust Environmental Services segment.

Detailed examination of the company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Strategic insights into Clean Harbors Inc's market position and future outlook.

On May 1, 2024, Clean Harbors Inc (NYSE:CLH), a leader in environmental and industrial services, disclosed its financial results for the first quarter of the year through a 10-Q filing with the SEC. The company, known for its parts cleaning and environmental services, reported a total revenue increase to $1,376.7 million from $1,307.4 million in the previous year, indicating a solid growth trajectory. Service revenues, a significant component of the company's income, saw an uptick from $1,053.2 million to $1,151.9 million. Despite a slight dip in net income from $72.4 million to $69.8 million, the company's earnings per share remained strong at $1.29. The Environmental Services segment continues to be the primary revenue driver, showcasing the company's robust position in the market. This SWOT analysis aims to dissect the intricate details of Clean Harbors Inc's financials and strategic positioning to provide investors with a comprehensive understanding of the company's potential.

Decoding Clean Harbors Inc (CLH): A Strategic SWOT Insight

Strengths

Robust Service Revenue Growth: Clean Harbors Inc's strength lies in its consistent growth in service revenues, which climbed from $1,053.2 million to $1,151.9 million year-over-year. This growth is a testament to the company's ability to expand its service offerings and adapt to market demands. The Environmental Services segment, in particular, has shown resilience and adaptability, contributing significantly to the company's top-line growth. This segment's success is underpinned by a diverse range of services, including waste management and disposal, which are essential to various industries, thereby ensuring a steady demand for Clean Harbors Inc's services.

Strategic Acquisitions: Clean Harbors Inc's strategic acquisitions, such as those of Thompson Industrial and HEPACO, have bolstered its service capabilities and market reach. These acquisitions not only contribute to revenue growth but also enhance the company's competitive edge by expanding its service portfolio and geographic footprint. The integration of these companies into Clean Harbors Inc's operations has allowed for cross-selling opportunities and operational synergies, further solidifying the company's market position.

Story continues

Weaknesses

Decline in Product Revenues: A notable weakness for Clean Harbors Inc is the decline in product revenues, which decreased from $254.2 million to $224.8 million. This decline may indicate challenges in the product segment, such as pricing pressures or reduced demand. It is crucial for the company to analyze the underlying causes of this decline and implement strategies to revitalize its product offerings or adjust its pricing models to remain competitive in the market.

Interest Expense and Debt Management: The company's net interest expense increased from $20.6 million to $28.5 million, highlighting a potential area of concern regarding debt management. As Clean Harbors Inc continues to leverage acquisitions for growth, it is imperative to maintain a balanced approach to financing to ensure long-term financial sustainability. Effective debt management strategies will be crucial in mitigating financial risks and maintaining investor confidence.

Opportunities

Increasing Environmental Regulations: Clean Harbors Inc stands to benefit from the growing emphasis on environmental regulations and sustainability initiatives. As industries face stricter compliance requirements, the demand for environmental services is likely to rise. Clean Harbors Inc, with its comprehensive suite of services, is well-positioned to capitalize on this trend by offering solutions that help customers meet their environmental goals and regulatory obligations.

Expansion into New Markets: The company has the opportunity to expand its reach into new markets and sectors. By leveraging its expertise in environmental services, Clean Harbors Inc can tap into emerging markets that are increasingly prioritizing sustainability and waste management solutions. Strategic partnerships and targeted marketing efforts can aid in capturing market share in these new areas, driving further revenue growth.

Threats

Competitive Market Landscape: Clean Harbors Inc operates in a highly competitive industry, where it faces competition from both large corporations and specialized firms. To maintain its market position, the company must continuously innovate and offer superior services at competitive prices. The threat of new entrants and the bargaining power of customers also necessitate a focus on customer retention and value creation.

Economic Fluctuations: The company's performance is susceptible to economic fluctuations that can impact industrial production and, consequently, the demand for environmental services. Economic downturns or industry-specific recessions could lead to reduced spending by clients, affecting Clean Harbors Inc's revenue streams. It is essential for the company to diversify its client base and develop contingency plans to mitigate the impact of economic volatility.

In conclusion, Clean Harbors Inc (NYSE:CLH) exhibits a strong financial foundation with significant growth in service revenues, bolstered by strategic acquisitions and a robust Environmental Services segment. However, challenges such as a decline in product revenues and increased interest expenses highlight areas for improvement. Opportunities for expansion in response to environmental regulations and new markets present avenues for growth, while competitive pressures and economic fluctuations pose threats that require strategic management. Overall, Clean Harbors Inc's SWOT analysis reveals a company with the potential to leverage its strengths and opportunities to overcome weaknesses and threats, positioning itself for continued success in the environmental services industry.

This article, generated by GuruFocus, is designed to provide general insights and is not tailored financial advice. Our commentary is rooted in historical data and analyst projections, utilizing an impartial methodology, and is not intended to serve as specific investment guidance. It does not formulate a recommendation to purchase or divest any stock and does not consider individual investment objectives or financial circumstances. Our objective is to deliver long-term, fundamental data-driven analysis. Be aware that our analysis might not incorporate the most recent, price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative information. GuruFocus holds no position in the stocks mentioned herein.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.


FILE PHOTO: Members of Taiwan's Navy in a drill part of a demonstration for the media at a navy base in Kaohsiung

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan's defence ministry on Thursday said that China had carried out a "joint combat readiness patrol" near the island for the second time in a week.

Over the past four years, China's military has significantly ramped up its activities around democratically-governed Taiwan. Beijing views the island as its own territory, a position the government in Taipei strongly rejects.

The ministry said that starting from 4 p.m. (0800GMT) on Thursday it had detected 15 Chinese military aircraft, including Su-30 fighters, carrying out "joint combat readiness patrols" with Chinese warships around Taiwan.

Ten of the aircraft crossed the Taiwan Strait's median line, or areas nearby, and flew into air space to the island's north, centre and southwest, the ministry said.

The median line used to serve as an unofficial border between Taiwan and China, but Chinese military aircraft now regularly cross it. China says it does not recognise the line's existence.

China's defence ministry did not answer calls seeking comment on Thursday, the country being in the middle of its Labour Day holiday.

Taiwan reported a similar Chinese combat patrol on Saturday.

The island's top security official said on Wednesday that Taiwan is on alert for China to carry out military exercises following the inauguration of President-elect Lai Ching-te later this month.

Taiwan National Security Bureau Director-General Tsai Ming-yen said China had begun using unusual new tactics, including staging night time combat patrols.

China has a strong dislike of Lai, believing him a dangerous separatist. China's government has rejected his repeated offers of talks, including one made last week.

Lai says only Taiwan's people can decide their future.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; editing by Christina Fincher)
Taiwan says may be hard to attend WHO assembly, Blinken offers support

WHO logo seen near its headquarters in Geneva

By Ben Blanchard

TAIPEI (Reuters) -It will be hard for Taiwan to attend this year's World Health Organization annual assembly, and it hopes more countries will support its presence, the island's foreign minister said on Thursday after the United States pressed for an invite.

Taiwan is excluded from most international organisations because of objections by China, which considers the democratically governed island its own territory.

Taiwan attended the World Health Assembly (WHA) as an observer from 2009 to 2016 under the administration of then-President Ma Ying-jeou, who signed landmark trade and tourism agreements with China.

But Beijing began blocking Taiwan's participation in 2017 after President Tsai Ing-wen won office for her refusal to agree to China's position that both China and Taiwan are part of "one China".

Speaking to reporters in parliament, Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu noted a Wednesday statement from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in which he said the United States "strongly encourages" the WHO to reinstate Taiwan's invitation.

"When it comes to attending this year's WHA there may be some difficulties, but we are continuing to work hard, as before, to get more countries to support us," Wu said, without elaborating on those problems.

This year's WHA starts May 27, just a week after Taiwan president-elect Lai Ching-te takes office. China has a strong dislike of Lai, who it believes is a dangerous separatist and has rebuffed his repeated calls for talks.

Taiwan, which is allowed to attend some technical WHO meetings, says its exclusion hindered efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

Blinken's statement said the United States commended the WHO for taking steps to engage Taiwan more meaningfully in its technical work over the past year and for improving lines of communication.

"Yet Taiwan's continued exclusion from this preeminent global health forum undermines inclusive global public health cooperation and security," he added. "Inviting Taiwan to observe the WHA is a critically important step toward affirming the WHO's goal of 'Health for All'."

China's foreign ministry said it was "strongly opposed" to Blinken's comments, which it said in essence condoned and supported Taiwanese separatism.

"The Democratic Progressive Party authorities stubbornly adhere to the separatist position of Taiwan independence, which has led to the disappearance of the political basis for Taiwan to participate in the WHA," the ministry said, referring to Taiwan's ruling party.

The WHO did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

China has in recent years ramped up diplomatic and military pressure against Taiwan to force the island to accept Chinese sovereignty.

Taiwan's government rejects China's claims and says only the island's 23 million people can decide their future, and that Beijing has no right to speak for or represent Taiwan on the international stage.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Ryan Woo in Beijing. Editing by Gerry Doyle and Bernadette Baum)
FILE PHOTO: Taliban's acting commerce minister Haji Nooruddin Azizi speaks during an interview with Reuters, at the Embassy of Afghanistan in Beijing

By Mohammad Yunus Yawar and Charlotte Greenfield

KABUL (Reuters) - The Taliban has agreed with Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to build a logistics hub in western Afghanistan aimed at making the war-torn nation a major logistics point for regional exports, including oil from Russia to South Asia, the country's commerce minister said.

Following a meeting between representatives of the three countries in the Afghan capital last week, Taliban acting commerce minister Nooruddin Azizi told Reuters that technical teams would draw up a written agreement within two months on the formal plans for the hub, which all three countries would invest in after six months of talks.

As foreign aid to Afghanistan falls and the predominantly agricultural economy is marred by persistent drought, its officially unrecognised Taliban government has faced questions over how to fund development and avoid economic stagnation.

Azizi said the new hub was part of broader efforts to take advantage of Afghanistan's strategic location, once a thoroughfare for the ancient Silk Road trade route, lying between South and Central Asia and sharing borders with China and Iran.

"Based on our discussions, a logistics centre is going to be established in Herat province, which can connect the north to South Asia," Azizi said, adding that the Taliban were eyeing the millions of tons of oil they expected Russia would be selling in coming years to South Asian countries, particularly Pakistan, to pass through the new hub.

"The three countries have done their best to prove Afghanistan's claim as a connectivity point," he said.

"Reaching Pakistan through Afghanistan will be the best option," Azizi added, saying they were focused on Russia's petroleum exports and that Kazakhstan was also planning to export goods through Herat into South Asian markets.

Kazakhstan's trade ministry said in a statement to Reuters that it wanted to develop roads and a railway through Afghanistan to connect with South Asia and the Gulf, with the hub serving as an important logistics point.

"The creation of the hub will allow for the development of multi-modal services by consolidating truck shipments in the dry port where they will be sorted and sent along railroads on the North-South corridor to sea ports in the Gulf, Pakistan, and Indian Ocean, towards India," the statement said.

Azizi said the logistics hub's initial capacity would be one million tons of oil but he did not give a date for when it would be operational.

Turkmenistan's government did not immediately respond to a request for comment and the Russian government did not respond to a request for comment during a national holiday.

Pakistan's foreign office and energy minister did not respond to a request for comment. Pakistan is a major trading partner with Afghanistan and has signed on to regional energy connectivity agreements.

However, Islamabad has had strained relations with the Taliban in recent years over accusations Afghanistan is harbouring anti-Pakistan militants, which Kabul denies.

Cash-strapped Pakistan last year became Russia's latest customer, snapping up discounted crude that has been banned from European markets due to Russia's war on Ukraine.

Afghanistan also buys oil, gas and wheat from Russia at discounted rates.

Azizi said that the Taliban were also speaking with Chinese authorities on building a road through the remote, narrow Wakhan corridor that connects Afghanistan with China and that they hoped Afghanistan would eventually develop into a route for trade between China and Iran. He said Afghan commerce ministry officials had been recently been sent to China for training.

(Reporting by Mohammad Yunus Yawar in Kabul and Charlotte Greenfield in Islamabad; Additional reporting by Tamara Vaal in Astana; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  After a city council meeting last month began with some fireworks over a new contract for Tampa Police Department Chief Lee Bercaw, council members on Thursday will discuss the contract again, with some updated information and documentation.

The contract would allow Bercaw to stay on as chief of police with a $36,000 pay raise over his current salary and collect his annual $96,000 retirement pension at the same time.

This is an issue that people have come from the public to hear about, Council member Bill Carlson said at the April 4 meeting. I think the public deserves to have a minute to talk about it.

Im going to talk about it eventually, Carlson continued later. 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 blindsiding 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.

It appears the administration was listening. In a memo dated April 25 from the Chief of Staff and City Attorney to City Council, the administration explained Bercaw is retiring on September 22, 2024, because he elected to participate in the Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP) and selected that date as his retirement.

However, the city explains it wants to retain him as chief because he has been working on numerous initiatives at the Tampa Police Department to improve community relationships, reduce crime, address difficult issues that have arisen during his tenure as Chief, and provide sound leadership at the Tampa Police Department.

The city added that keeping him on allows the city to save time and money searching for a new police chief.

As for his salary and raise, the city said his current salary of about $204,000 is below the current average salary for similar-sized cities in Florida and major cities around the country, and thus wants to give him a raise. The city said St. Petersburgs police chief receives about $227,000, Orlandos receives $236,000 and Miamis chief collects $273,000.

The memo also said the chief can lawfully receive both his pension and salary at the same time, and it is not double-dipping, since his pension is for work previously performed, and his salary is for work currently performed. It said if Bercaw is retained as chief, he would not re-join the pension plan.

The memo said the majority of the new contract council might approve today is the same as the contract it reviewed last month, except it replaced the term contract employee in the agreement since Bercaw would not be an independent contractor  he would still be a city employee. The memo explained some other headings have been adjusted to provide clarity.

In response to the new contract and information, Carlson told 8 On Your Side in a statement, I still have some concerns about the contract and I remain disappointed that the administration has not handled this in a transparent way. But, he added that he continues to support Chief Bercaw so he will vote yes for the contract.

The city said Bercaw is also requesting another residency waiver, since he does not live in the city, but plans to move this summer.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
As Tallahassee Community College prepares for an evening of pomp and circumstance, this springs commencement marks its final graduation ceremony before officially becoming Tallahassee State College in July.

The commencement celebration will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday at Florida State Universitys Tucker Civic Center, where 1,375 graduating students will receive their degrees.

We are so proud of our graduates, TCC President Jim Murdaugh said in a prepared statement. It has been an honor to be part of their educational journey. This graduating class marks a historical moment as the last graduating class of Tallahassee Community College.

During a Board of Trustees meeting on campus, TCC President Jim Murdaugh signs a resolution on April 15, 2024 in recognition of the rebranding of the college as it will be named Tallahassee State College beginning July 1, 2024.

The graduation ceremony comes just a few weeks after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the state legislation that will allow TCC to be renamed Tallahassee State College in the colleges efforts of having the new name match its increased national recognition.

TCC alumna Dana Brooks, a shareholder with Fasig Brooks Law Offices, will deliver the keynote address as the commencement speaker.

Dana Brooks

As an attorney, an advocate for women and a small business mentor, Brooks was named one of Tallahassees 25 Women You Need to Know in 2021.

Brooks has also been recognized in the past as a Persister: A Woman Who Fights all Forms of Discrimination by TCC for Womens History Month, and she is an active supporter of Springtime Tallahassee, 2-1-1 Big Bend, Wakulla County Senior Center and the Tallahassee Memorial Foundation.

In addition to Brooks speaking to the graduating class Thursday evening, TCC Student Government Association President Jullion Griffin  a Jacksonville native  will give student remarks.

TCC's 2023-2024 Student Government Association President Jullion Griffin, a Jacksonville native.

Griffin will be graduating with his peers in the spring class of 2024 and plans to transfer to Florida A&M University to major in broadcast journalism and public relations.

While TCCs commencement ceremony will not be livestreamed, it is open to the public and tickets are not required to attend.

Contact Tarah Jean at tjean@tallahassee.com or follow her on X: @tarahjean_.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: TCC holds graduation ceremony for last time before TSC name change
Teacher arrested on child sex charges found dead after being washed out to sea while surfing

(KRON)  A teacher who was arrested on Tuesday in connection to child sex charges was found dead Wednesday after apparently being washed out to sea off the Marin County coast. Darren Michael Smith, 55, of Fairfax was arrested and charged with lewd and lascivious acts with a child and continuous abuse of a child.

Smith was an employee of the Mill Valley School District, but was on administrative leave at the time of his arrest. He was booked into the Marin County Jail on Tuesday and bailed out.

The following day, a 9-1-1 call came in around 2:36 p.m. Wednesday reporting a surfer washed out to sea within the Point Reyes National Seashore at Drakes Beach, the Marin County Sheriffs Office said.

The surfer was reportedly last seen around 10 a.m. Smiths surfboard washed ashore at Drakes Beach around 1 p.m., officials said.

Patient steals ambulance in Santa Rosa

Witnesses who located the surfboard were unable to locate its owner and contacted authorities. The report led to a multi-agency response from the U.S. National Park Service, U.S. Coast Guard, Marin County Sheriffs Deputies, Marin County Sheriffs Search and Rescue Team, and the Sonoma Couty Sheriffs Henry-One Helicopter.

An exhaustive search was conducted by land and sea for the missing surfer. A lifeless body was found floating in the water about two and a half miles northwest of the Drakes Beach parking area at around 5:33 p.m. Wednesday, officials said.

The surfers body was recovered by a Coast Guard helicopter. He was pronounced dead at 5:35 p.m. and no resuscitative aid was provided.

The deceased, who officials identified as Smith, was transported to an alternate location so an investigation into his death could be undertaken. Forensic postmortem examinations and toxicology testing will be completed on Friday, officials said.

Cause and manner of death will remain pending until the conclusion of the investigation.

The subject had been recently arrested and was facing filed criminal charges, the Marin County Sheriffs Office said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
The Department of Transportation announced a new final rule last week that would require airlines to automatically refund passengers whose flights are canceled or significantly delayed. There are some exceptions, but in general, its a huge win for passengers who are tired of airlines giving them the runaround. As with anything that benefits normal people, though, this new DOT rule has reportedly upset Senator Ted Cruz enough that the New Republic reports hes proposed legislation to put a stop to this whole consumer protection nonsense.



Senators Cruz and Maria Cantwell, along with Representatives Sam Graves and Rick Larsen have proposed legislation that would only allow passengers to get a refund if they submit a written or electronic request after their flight is canceled or significantly delayed. Who this would help other than the airlines, we have no idea, but its probably safe to assume that American or United isnt exactly going to make it easy to find and properly fill out the appropriate form  and lets be honest, itll probably end up being multiple forms  wherever they decide to hide it on their site.

It also goes against the whole concept of holding airlines accountable and ensuring that displaced passengers dont have to jump through hoops to get their money back. As Secretary of Transportation Mayor Pete Buttigieg said in a statement last week, Passengers deserve to get their money back when an airline owes themwithout headaches or haggling. Our new rule sets a new standard to require airlines to promptly provide cash refunds to their passengers.

Considering this is Ted Cruz  a man who multiple Republican presidents have said they hate  were talking about here, this kind of screw the people, the corporations need to make more money tomfoolery is probably to be expected. Senator Cantwell and Representative Larsen, however, are Democrats who you wouldnt expect to undermine their constituents like that. Could it perhaps have something to do with Boeings presence in their home state of Washington?

Even if the proposed legislation somehow passed both the House and Senate, which seems incredibly unlikely despite its bipartisan support, Biden would still have to sign it into law, which is probably even more unlikely. Assuming it goes nowhere, though, hopefully, a couple of people who actually care about the people they represent will primary Cantwell and Larsen over this ridiculous attempt to minimize the number of owed refunds that airlines end up being forced to pay out.

This article originally appeared on Jalopnik.

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TROY, Mo.  One teenager was arrested after he allegedly made a bomb threat Wednesday at the Walmart store in Troy, Missouri.

The Troy Police Department reports that the suspects was a man in his late teens and is from the Troy area. He is now behind bars, but has not yet been formally charged.

Superintendent strikes 108 sick day deal with school board

As people inside the store learned of a bomb threat, the store was evacuated. Officers also rushed to the scene, set up a perimeter and performed an extensive safety check around the store.

Authorities did not find any evidence of explosives or a bomb. As police learned more about the suspect, they responded to his home and eventually placed him under arrest.

Police have not yet disclosed the suspects identity or any potential motives behind the threat.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2.
DENVER (KDVR)  Boulder police are searching for a driver in a hit-and-run crash that sent a 15-year-old boy to the hospital.

According to the agency, the crash occurred on the night of Friday, April 26, at about 10 p.m. The teenager was walking across Canyon Boulevard in the eastbound lanes near 14th Street and was struck by a car.

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The teen was transported to a hospital with serious injuries. The suspect vehicle did not stop and is described as a dark or black vehicle.

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Anyone who saw this incident or has information is asked to contact Officer Steve Coon at CoonS@bouldercolorado.gov or 720-626-9749. The case number to reference is 24-03939.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
Teenager who drowned in South Mississippi river identified, sheriff says

Divers sent Saturday afternoon to search a river in George County found an 18-year-old drowning victim, the sheriffs office said.

George County Coroner DeeAnn Murrah identified the victim as Jose Garcia of Mobile.

The George County Sheriffs Office responded to a possible drowning call just after 4 p.m. Saturday near the Escatawpa River Bridge on Highway 612, authorities said.

Authorities searched the waterway and rescue divers from George County Search and Rescue Dive Team found the body, the sheriffs office said.

Authorities did not release more information.
ELS showcases robust revenue growth, with a notable increase in rental income and comprehensive income.

Strategic property operations and home sales drive profitability, reflecting a strong market position.

Legal proceedings and market risks are carefully managed, maintaining operational stability.

Future outlook remains positive with a focus on demographic trends and operational efficiency.

Equity Lifestyle Properties Inc (NYSE:ELS), a residential REIT specializing in manufactured housing, residential vehicle communities, and marinas, has reported its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024. The company's portfolio comprises 451 properties across the U.S., with a significant presence in the Sunbelt region. The recent 10-Q filing reveals a solid financial performance, with total revenues climbing to $386,568 from $369,952 in the previous year. This increase is primarily driven by a rise in rental income from $296,451 to $316,599. Net income available for common stockholders also saw a healthy jump to $109,905 from $82,371, and earnings per share improved from $0.44 to $0.59. These figures underscore ELS's financial resilience and its ability to generate shareholder value amidst a competitive market landscape.

Decoding Equity Lifestyle Properties Inc (ELS): A Strategic SWOT Insight

Strengths

Robust Portfolio and Geographic Presence: ELS's strength lies in its expansive portfolio of properties, strategically located in regions with high demand for retirement and vacation destinations. The company's significant presence in the Sunbelt region, particularly in Florida, Arizona, and California, positions it well to capitalize on the growing trend of retirement migration and the increasing popularity of lifestyle-oriented communities. This geographic focus not only enhances the company's brand but also provides a stable revenue stream, as evidenced by the consistent rise in rental income.

Demographic Advantage: ELS benefits from a demographic tailwind, with over 70% of its properties catering to an age-restricted segment or boasting an average resident age over 55. The company's focus on serving the needs of baby boomers and retirees aligns with the demographic shift towards an aging population, which is expected to drive demand for manufactured housing and RV communities. This strategic positioning is a testament to ELS's foresight and adaptability, allowing it to tap into a growing customer base with specific lifestyle preferences.

Weaknesses

Dependency on Economic Cycles: While ELS's business model is robust, it is not immune to economic downturns that can affect discretionary spending on vacation and retirement properties. The company's performance is tied to the health of the broader economy, and any downturn could impact occupancy rates and the ability to increase or maintain rental income. This inherent vulnerability requires ELS to maintain a cautious approach to financial management and market analysis.

Story continues

Legal and Regulatory Risks: ELS faces legal and regulatory challenges, as indicated by the ongoing Datacomp Litigation. While the company believes the litigation to be without merit and intends to defend its interests vigorously, such proceedings can result in unforeseen expenses and reputational damage. Moreover, the company must navigate a complex regulatory environment, particularly concerning environmental compliance and zoning laws, which can impact property development and operations.

Opportunities

Expansion and Acquisition Prospects: ELS has the opportunity to grow its portfolio through strategic acquisitions and development of new properties. The company's strong financial position, as reflected in its increased net income and comprehensive income, provides the capital necessary to pursue such expansion. By targeting properties in high-demand areas and leveraging its expertise in property management, ELS can further solidify its market position and drive long-term growth.

Technological Integration: The integration of technology into property management and customer engagement presents a significant opportunity for ELS. By adopting advanced data analytics, IoT solutions for smart property management, and digital platforms for customer interaction, the company can enhance operational efficiency, improve the customer experience, and create additional revenue streams through innovative services.

Threats

Competitive Landscape: ELS operates in a highly competitive market, with numerous players vying for a share of the lucrative retirement and vacation property sector. The company must continuously innovate and improve its offerings to retain and attract customers, as competitors may offer similar amenities or more attractive pricing. Staying ahead of the competition requires ongoing investment in property enhancements and marketing initiatives.

Environmental and Climate Risks: As a property owner with a significant number of sites near water bodies and in regions prone to natural disasters, ELS is exposed to environmental and climate-related risks. These risks can lead to property damage, increased insurance costs, and potential disruptions to operations. Proactive risk management and investment in resilient infrastructure are crucial to mitigate these threats.

In conclusion, Equity Lifestyle Properties Inc (NYSE:ELS) exhibits a strong financial foundation and strategic advantages that position it well for future growth. The company's focus on demographic trends, geographic presence, and operational efficiency are key strengths that underpin its success. However, ELS must navigate economic sensitivities, legal challenges, and a competitive market, while seizing opportunities for expansion and technological advancement. Environmental risks also pose a threat that requires vigilant management. Overall, ELS's strategic approach and market foresight suggest a positive outlook, with the potential to leverage its strengths and opportunities to address its weaknesses and threats effectively.

This article, generated by GuruFocus, is designed to provide general insights and is not tailored financial advice. Our commentary is rooted in historical data and analyst projections, utilizing an impartial methodology, and is not intended to serve as specific investment guidance. It does not formulate a recommendation to purchase or divest any stock and does not consider individual investment objectives or financial circumstances. Our objective is to deliver long-term, fundamental data-driven analysis. Be aware that our analysis might not incorporate the most recent, price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative information. GuruFocus holds no position in the stocks mentioned herein.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.


That's a no for me. Audience members make the feelings clear about Gov. Bill Lee's school voucher plan. (Photo: John Partipilo)

That's a no for me. Audience members make the feelings clear about Gov. Bill Lee's school voucher plan. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Editors note: This article has been updated to correct a political action committee affiliation.

More than 25 Tennesseee state House and Senate Republicans seats have more than one challenger in the primary this year, while about half-a-dozen of those have no incumbent running.

These seats, which include several pro- and anti-school voucher Republicans, are the next frontier in the debate over whether state lawmakers should adopt a universal plan to provide parents with $7,200 in cash to subsidize private school tuition.

Two years ago, pro-charter and school voucher groups spent $1.3 million on the Tennessee state elections, campaign finance records show, backing the winning candidate in several open seats and defeating two pro-public school House Republicans.

After last cycles spending, everyones antennas are up for sure, said J.C. Bowman, the executive director of Professional Educators of Tennessee. Most people believe in some version of school choice. But its whether the advertisements from these groups will be honest that the plan is a universal, no means-tested, school voucher plan, which isnt that popular.

The money to back these candidates will come in the form of independent expenditures, which allow political action committees to sidestep campaign finance limits and spend unlimited money in races.

Americans for Prosperity (through the Americans for Prosperity Action Fund), Tennesseans for Student Success (Team Kid PAC), TennesseeCan (Tennesseans for Putting Students First PAC) and Tennessee Federation for Children (PAC with the same name) were some of the largest independent spenders in the 2022 election, and are gearing up to be again.

Americans for Prosperity operatives stand outside a committee room during the voucher debate in Nashville, Tenn. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Americans for Prosperity operatives stand outside a committee room during the voucher debate in Nashville, Tenn. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Tennesseans for Student Success spent the most money in 2022. The political advocacy organization previously said it was only a pro-charter school group but backed all the same candidates as other pro-voucher groups.

Most of these groups are formed in a way that kept their donors hidden.

The Federation for Children is the only group that has released some of its donors. A list of the largest donors to the groups Tennessee political action committee (PAC) dating back to 2012 are Arkansas-based Walmart heir Jim Walton, Nashville lawyer Lee Barfield, Nashville businesswoman Dorothy Scarlett, Nashville businessman Lee Beaman and former U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy Devos, a Michigan Republican.

The last election cycle boosted pro-voucher voices

The 2022 state election results delivered optimism for voucher advocates that the new makeup of the Republican-controlled state general assembly, which narrowly passed a plan allowing the private school subsidies in the states two Democratic-controlled counties home to Nashville and Memphis in 2019, would approve a further expansion of the plan.

This proved true in 2023 when state Republicans passed legislation with nearly 60% support to add a third county, home to Chattanooga, to the list of places allowing school vouchers. The Chattanooga GOP delegation supported the bill.

The election results and the relatively easy passage of voucher expansion then gave Gov. Bill Lee enough confidence to introduce a universal statewide school voucher program during the 2024 legislative session.

But that plan never received a final vote, failing because of differences in the House and Senate versions that couldnt be hammered out, particularly around the plans final cost.

There werent enough votes for it to pass the finance committee, said Rep. Sam Whitson, a Franklin Republican and committee member. It would have been close, but several members were concerned about the plans price tag.

Flipping votes

The 2024 elections, in which every House member and half the Senate are up for reelection, provide pro- and anti-school voucher groups with a chance to make a statement about the future of vouchers.

Republicans Reps. Dale Carr of Sevierville, Bryan Richey of Maryville and Whitson all opposed school vouchers and are not running for reelection in their House seats.

Whitsons retirement provides an opportunity to replace him with a pro-voucher member no matter the outcome of the race to replace him. Whitson said two candidates in the crowded primary for his seat have already praised the concept of vouchers.

In the upper chamber, Sens. Ken Yager of Kingston, Becky Massey of Knoxville, and Frank Niceley of Strawberry Plains face Republican challengers. All three didnt vote in favor of the 2019 initial voucher bill or the 2023 expansion. But, Massey did sponsor the 2024 statewide voucher legislation.

For anti-voucher supporters, Republican Rep. Scott Cepicky of Culleoka faces a primary challenge from a local county commissioner. Cepicky was one of the loudest supporters of vouchers.

Other members who face opposition are Republican Reps. Mark White of Memphis and Johnny Garrett of Goodletteslville, who sponsored the voucher legislation, and Mike Sparks of Murfreesboro who supported the bill. Each has a Democratic challenger.

White faces Noah Nordstrom, Garretts challenger is Alison Beale and Sparks goes up against Luis Mata.

The post Tennessees school voucher debate turns to competitive Republican state House and Senate primaries appeared first on Tennessee Lookout.
As pro-Palestinian protesters removed the American flag from the Polk Place flagpole at UNC-Chapel Hill, a smaller group stood at the northern end of the quad, watching and holding Israeli flags on the steps of South Building.

The removal of the flag around 2 p.m. Tuesday marked the beginning of an hours-long standoff over which flag would fly above campus  the Palestinian flag, which the protesters raised, or the American flag, which interim Chancellor Lee Roberts reinstalled under a police escort and was then quickly removed once more by the protesters.

The scene, and others throughout the Gaza solidarity encampment that stood on campus for four days, also illuminated the varied reactions Jewish students, faculty and community members displayed throughout the protest.

Both the encampment and counter-protests included Jewish participants, and some of those on both sides described their Jewish identity as central to their views on the protest and the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

Throughout the life of the encampment, which was dismantled Tuesday morning after police detained 36 protesters, counter-protesters were sparse. At times, none were seen. At other times, they came in handfuls  typically no more than 25 people.

Jewish counter-protesters who spoke to The News & Observer said they came in small groups because many others were afraid to be near the protest.

Jewish faculty, Jewish students, many of them are scared to be here, UNC School of Medicine professor Adam Goldstein said Monday, standing on the outskirts of the encampment as he held a sign depicting a news article about hostages being held by Hamas. Theyre scared theyre gonna be accosted.

For several minutes Monday, Goldstein stood outside the encampment while a pro-Palestinian demonstrator inside its boundaries held a sign that, using profane language, denounced Zionism.

Brendan Rosenblum, one of the students who held the Israeli flag at South Building Tuesday, described students feeling unsafe on campus and having trouble concentrating on their schoolwork during the encampment and associated protests.

Its very hard to focus and be happy to be on campus when this is going on, Rosenblum said.

But some Jewish students, faculty and groups vocally supported the encampment, with organizations hosting a Shabbat service on the evening that the gathering began and later denouncing the polices actions in disbanding the encampment.

Where some Jewish people saw threats, others saw such claims as part of a strategy to undermine the movement for Palestinian liberation, as described by the national and Triangle chapters of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP). The organization is self-described as the largest progressive Jewish anti-Zionist organization in the world.

Campus was calm Wednesday as students prepared for their final exams of the academic year.

The American flag remained barricaded by chain-link fencing, and workers installed additional fencing  made of metal and rising about 8 feet up from the ground  around the grassy area that surrounds the Polk Place flagpole.

People sing The Star-Spangled Banner while holding Israeli and American flags on the steps of South Building at UNC-Chapel Hill on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. UNC-Chapel Hill police charged 36 members of a pro-Palestinian Gaza solidarity encampment Tuesday morning after warning the group to remove its tents from campus or face possible arrest, suspension or expulsion from the university. Kaitlin McKeown/kmckeown@newsobserver.com

Timing of encampment

By Monday, the fourth and last full day of the Gaza solidarity encampment, the gathering had grown to hundreds of students from UNC, NC State University and Duke University, as well as faculty, staff and people not associated with the university. It spanned nearly one-third of the Polk Place lawn.

The UNC chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine formed the encampment on April 26, after an initial effort by the group to do so disbanded April 19 in a matter of hours. The group formed the encampments, like those seen on college campuses nationwide in recent weeks, to protest the ongoing war in Gaza and to call on UNC to disclose and divest any investments it holds related to Israel, among other demands.

The war began Oct. 7 when Hamas, which has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007, launched a terrorist attack that killed more than 1,200 Israeli civilians, with 240 hostages being taken. Since then, Israel has dropped thousands of bombs in Gaza, killing over 32,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

The encampment came during the Jewish holiday of Passover, which some Jewish people and groups denounced. North Carolina Hillel, which includes campus chapters for Jewish students at universities across the state, claimed in an April 27 social media post that the timing was intentional. Passover, a major holiday in the religion, celebrates the ancient Hebrews liberation from slavery in Egypt.

This happened during Passover, which is one of the most sacred holidays of the Jewish calendar, Jewish religion, Rosenblum told The N&O. Its also during finals week. And the truth is: this, as Jewish students, is not something that we can just put in the back of our heads.

Jewish Voice for Peace denied assertions that the encampment was tied to the Passover holiday.

Rather than intentionally planned during Passover, the encampment at UNC-CH, supported by students and faculty from Duke University, NC State, Meredith College, and other NC institutions of higher ed, is part of a student-led, nationwide movement protesting our campuses complicity in the murder of over 35,000 Palestinians in Gaza, JVP said in a news release.

UNC-Chapel Hill senior Max Pollack poses for a portrait on the universitys campus as law enforcement maintains a presence following the detainment of members of a pro-Palestinian Gaza solidarity encampment early Tuesday morning, April 30, 2024. Pollack said he walked through the quad to observe the situation and see how safe it would be for Jews on campus Tuesday. Kaitlin McKeown/kmckeown@newsobserver.com

Feeling threatened on campus

The timing of the encampment remained unsettling for some on campus, including Rosenblum.

He noted that the pro-Palestinian protesters sometimes chanted to promote intifada, a term roughly meaning rebellion or uprising in Arabic  but one that the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) says is generally understood as a call for indiscriminate violence against Israel, and potentially against Jews and Jewish institutions worldwide. The phrase also refers to two specific uprisings marked by attacks against Israelis.

Thats, from a Jewish perspective, a very violent revolution. It was a time where there were bombings and terrorist attacks, Rosenblum said. And if thats what they want worldwide, thats a scary idea for us, especially on campus, and it doesnt make us feel safe.

Max Pollack, a senior at UNC who is Jewish and wears a kippah  a traditional Jewish headcovering that is also known as a yarmulke  denounced another popular chant among the pro-Palestinian protesters: from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. The phrase has become a rallying cry, but the ADL considers it an antisemitic phrase seeking the elimination of Israel and the removal of Jewish people from the area.

Trevor Lan, another student who held an Israeli flag at South Building, said the encampment and the removal of the American flag marked the first time that he felt threatened on campus since the war and associated protests began.

Members of the encampment consistently described the gathering as peaceful during the four days that it stood on campus.

This is about peace, SJP member Sylvie, who would not give their last name, told The N&O on April 26. This is about envisioning the world the peaceful world that we want to create.

In a message to campus Tuesday, Roberts and Provost Chris Clemens said they were alarmed that were hearing more accounts of antisemitic speech, and we categorically denounce that and any other incidents of prejudice. The university leaders urged students, faculty and staff who feel they have experienced conduct that goes beyond free speech and is discrimination or harassment based on protected status to contact the UNC Equal Opportunity and Compliance Office.

Professor says antisemitism is being weaponized

While some Jewish people viewed the encampment and associated pro-Palestinian protests on campus as threatening, others denounced such accusations.

Signs staked throughout the encampment indicated that the group had the support of some Jewish people and groups. One sign read: Jews for a free Palestine.

UNC-Chapel Hill students demonstrate during a pro-Palestinian protest at an encampment at UNC-Chapel Hill on Monday, April 29, 2024. Students for Justice in Palestine urged students to join the encampment, saying that university officials had told them that the tents are coming down tonight. Travis Long/tlong@newsobserver.com

Michael Palm, a UNC communications professor who is Jewish and a member of the campus Faculty for Justice in Palestine, spoke at a rally Tuesday about the administrations response to the encampment and the violent arrests that had taken place that morning.

These administrators are failing in their duties to their institution, their faculty, their students and their obligation to our democratic society, said Palm, who is also the president of the UNC chapter of the American Association of University Professors. In other words: shame on them.

Jewish Voice for Peace, in its news release Tuesday, highlighted the groups focus on collective liberation for all people by working to dismantle antisemitism alongside racism and Islamophobia.

UNCs Gaza Solidarity encampment has demonstrated our commitment to and vision of inclusivity and safety for all, hosting Jummah prayers, Christian communion, and Shabbat services and havdalah, the release stated, pointing to the Islamic, Christian and Jewish religious ceremonies, respectively, that were practiced in the encampment.

The organization cited the groups Jewish religious beliefs as central to its mission of speaking out against the war and Israels actions.

Jews, Muslims, and people of all faiths should be safe to express their full identities on campus, the release stated. As members of the UNC-CH Jewish community, we assert our right to define ourselves  as both Jewish and in support of Palestinian liberation. Judaism is more than 5,000 years older than the state of Israel and, for many of us, political Zionism does not figure into our practice or identity.

JVP called on other Jewish people to join the group in its support of the encampment and other pro-Palestinian efforts.

We renew our commitment to the student movement and invite people of all or no faiths, to participate in calls for UNC to disclose their investments and divest from products that support Israeli apartheid, the group stated. We invite other Jewish Tar Heels to imagine that our freedom is connected to Palestinian freedom, to choose solidarity instead of fear.

Palm, speaking about his own identity as a Jewish person who also supports Palestinians, said Tuesday: As a Jew, I refuse to let them weaponize antisemitism.

While protests had died down at UNC  at least for the time being  they continued on campuses across the country. From the White House Thursday, President Joe Biden addressed the debates over antisemitism and other forms of discrimination that have unfolded at universities in recent weeks.

There should be no place on any campus, no place in America for antisemitism, or threats of violence against Jewish students. There is no place for hate speech or violence of any kind, whether its antisemitism, Islamophobia, or discrimination against Arab-Americans or Palestinian-Americans, Biden said. It is simply wrong.

Washington correspondent Danielle Battaglia contributed.
Law enforcement officers in riot gear converged on the UCLA campus Wednesday night, ordering a crowd of over a thousand pro-Palestinian supporters gathered at a student encampment to disperse.

Social media videos captured police warning those on a loudspeaker that those who did not leave would face arrest, though no arrests had yet been made.

Late Wednesday night, live video from the Associated Press showed a large crowd applauding and listening to various speakers, while chanting, Free, free, free Palestine and, We will not stop, we will not rest. The outlet reported students, alumni, and neighbors mostly remained after the police warning. Speakers could be heard assuring protesters, with one claiming, Were making history tonight.

Here is a sampling of police resources along the perimeter of #UCLA pic.twitter.com/2i8ZaHTRZo  Chris Cristi (@abc7chriscristi) May 2, 2024

Students could be seen wearing goggles and helmets to protect themselves from tear gas and pepper spray. Medical stations had earlier been set up and scattered throughout the camp, according to one local journalist.

Students in support of Israel had also gathered nearby on Wednesday, voicing their support for the Jewish community.

The scene was a quieter version of events the night prior, when counter-demonstrators clashed with the pro-Palestinian encampment. No one was arrested in the melee, though it was hours until police intervened. The polices presence on Wednesday night appeared to quell a repeat.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed it responded on campus on Tuesday night as well as several other state and local law-enforcement agencies after UCLA requested mutual aid after reports of violent clashes between protesters.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called out the absolutely detestable violence on campus, in a post on X and confirmed she had been in talks with authorities on next steps to ensure our students and campus are safe. She promised those who launched fireworks at other people, sprayed chemicals and physically assaulted others will be found, arrested, and prosecuted, as well as anyone involved in any form of violence or lawlessness.

I want to make sure the message I delivered to law enforcement and other officials earlier today is clear: Free speech will be protected. Violence and bigotry will not, Bass said.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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(Bloomberg) -- Police in riot gear dismantled the barricades and tents erected by pro-Palestinian protesters at the University of California at Los Angeles after violence erupted the previous night with counter-protesters.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Early Thursday, police lined up in rows and began closing in on the protesters, hours after ordering them to leave their encampment in front of the schools Royce Hall theater. More than 200 people were arrested, the Los Angeles Times reported.

UCLA emerged as a West Coast flashpoint as colleges from New York to Texas turned to police this week to shut down escalating campus protests. Demonstrators have been demanding that universities sever financial ties to Israel and grant amnesty to students for rule-breaking, among other goals. The showdowns have grabbed headlines worldwide and sparked both recriminations and support from politicians, faculty and billionaire donors.

Richard Leib, the chair of the University of California Board of Regents, warned late Wednesday that an unsafe environment on the UCLA campus had to be resolved.

Protests that interfere with university operations or threaten the safety of students require immediate enforcement of university policies so that violent situations are prevented, he said in a statement. It is our priority to ensure the safety of all students and allow equal access to education.

Read: Biden Warns Against Violence in Student Protests Over Gaza

Elsewhere in the state at UC Berkeley, the first violent incident at an encampment of more than 100 tents occurred Wednesday evening, as pro-Palestinian protesters clashed with counter-demonstrators.

Dan Mogulof, a university spokesperson, said there was a brief skirmish between the sides that left three people with minor injuries.

We are urging everyone to avoid engaging in pointless provocation and physical conflict, he said in a statement.

In contrast to many other campuses, UC Berkeley hasnt called in law enforcement to shut down its encampment. Protest organizers met with Chancellor Carol Christ to discuss their demands and a potential end to the encampment, the school newspaper reported Wednesday, citing students present. Mogulof declined to comment on the meeting.

The UCLA crackdown lifted the arrest tally to more than 2,000 at college campuses nationwide since New York Citys Columbia University first cleared an encampment in mid-April, according to the Associated Press.

In Los Angeles, police shut down the UCLA encampment about a day after pro-Palestinian protesters were attacked by counter demonstrators, starting a melee. University of California officials said 15 people were injured in that scuffle, including one who was hospitalized.

There must be a full investigation into what occurred on campus, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement. Those involved in launching fireworks at other people, spraying chemicals and physically assaulting others will be found, arrested, and prosecuted, as well as anyone involved in any form of violence or lawlessness.

Read: US College Campuses On Edge as Police Move In: Protest Tracker

Classes were canceled Wednesday, with remote learning Thursday and Friday. Even as a sense of normalcy returned to the campus, UCLA students faced a new wave of disruptions from last-minute exam cancellations and rescheduling.

I had a final today that was actually canceled, said Shawn Im, a 20-year-old junior studying math and computer science. Now, its the same day as my other final next week.

With commencement quickly approaching at many schools, the pressure is on administrators to keep order.

At Columbia, more than 100 people were arrested April 18 but protesters reestablished an encampment, spurring a new confrontation with the schools leadership. This week, after the demonstrators barricaded themselves in a university building, police officers entered the campus again, breaking up the escalating protest and arresting 119.

Columbia President Minouche Shafik said she asked police to maintain a campus presence through at least May 17, two days after graduation.

At the University of Texas at Dallas, more than a dozen protesters were arrested Wednesday afternoon after law enforcement broke up an encampment that pro-Palestinian students set up in the morning hours, where hundreds of people had gathered, according to the Dallas Morning News.

Police also made arrests earlier in the week at the Texas schools flagship campus in Austin.

--With assistance from Bill Faries, Janine Phakdeetham, Eliyahu Kamisher and Kevin Whitelaw.

(Updates with arrest total in second paragraph)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
Tensions rise in Las Vegas after pro-Palestine protests, Jewish community speaks on rise in anti-semitism

LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  Tensions over the Israel-Hamas war took center stage in Las Vegas Wednesday after pro-Palestine demonstrations on the UNLV campus and the local Jewish community spoke about what some referred to as a concerning rhetoric.

Tension was building on the UNLV campus this week as a group of pro-Palestine demonstrators made their voices heard.

Demonstrators gather at UNLV over Middle Eastern conflict

We are here because we are anti-war, one demonstrator who did not want to share his name said. We dont want to see children bombed.

Tensions over the Israel-Hamas war took center stage in Las Vegas Wednesday after pro-Palestine demonstrations on the UNLV campus and the local Jewish community spoke about what some referred to as a concerning rhetoric. (KLAS)

Many who identified as students, but didnt want to show their faces told 8 News Now they were standing with others around the country, demanding the university disclose and stop any potential pro-Israel investments.

We are not going to tolerate this anymore, the demonstrator added.

Hours later, city leaders, including Las Vegas City Councilwoman Victoria Seaman and Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman met with members of the Jewish community to mark Jewish American Heritage Month.

Many who attended also shared the fear they said they have felt at home since Hamas attack on Israel last October.

On Wednesday, city leaders, including Las Vegas City Councilwoman Victoria Seaman and Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman met with members of the Jewish community to mark Jewish American Heritage Month. (KLAS)

I have been living here for 23 years, Ofra Etzion, Regional Director of the Israeli American Council said. I dont think Ive ever felt as unsafe as I did today on campus.

Ethan Cohen, President of the Jewish Student Union at his high school, cited what he called historic anti-semitism sparked from protests in Southern Nevada and around the country.

Ive seen a lot of antisemitism, he said. Like swastikas being spray painted and carved into places and things like that.

Passionate pleas for change were heard on each side of this fight.

I think any human with a good heart should be able to stand up, a pro-Palestenian demonstrator said. And say enough is enough.

On Wednesday, city leaders, including Las Vegas City Councilwoman Victoria Seaman and Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman met with members of the Jewish community to mark Jewish American Heritage Month. (KLAS)

We see what is happening now on college campuses, Etzion said. Takes us back as a community to what happened in the 1930s and 1940s.

This, as a simultaneous push for safety continues across Las Vegas.

We cant have it happen again to our community, Etzion concluded.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
WCIA  A motion has been filed by Terrence Shannon Jr.s attorneys to exclude the testimony and reports of Kansas Bureau of Investigation DNA findings by Jennifer Hewitt in his criminal rape case, per a public court document obtained by WCIA 3.

Shannon Jr.s legal team filed the motion on Wednesday in Douglas County (KS) District Court, ahead of next Fridays scheduled preliminary hearing. After hiring their own forensic scientist, Stephanie Beine to conduct testing, his legal team is making multiple claims around the scientific validity of DNA results and the presence of male DNA evidence on the complainant. It all stems from a felony rape charge in December, following an alleged September incident in a Lawrence bar.

Ms. Stephanie Beine is a senior forensic scientist and a renowned expert in her field. Our legal team filed this Motion based on her review of the raw data and her scientific conclusions relative to the DNA evidence in this case, Shannon Jr.s attorney, Mark P. Sutter, said in a comment to WCIA 3.

DG-2023-CR-300181-Terrance-Shannons-Motion-for-Daubert-Hearing-and-to-Exclude-Expert-TestimonyDownload

Citing the Supreme Court case Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 509 U.S. 579 (1993), and Kansas case law K.S.A. 60-401 (b), Shannon Jr.s lawyers are requesting a Daubert hearing prior to trial, refuting the findings of KBI DNA testing. Theyre asking the court to be the gatekeeper to assess the reasoning and methodology underlying a proposed experts opinion. It includes a determination whether the opinion is scientifically valid and applicable to a particular set of facts. It also requires the Court to ensure the reliability and relevancy of expert testimony.

JUST IN:



I just obtained this document where Terrence Shannon Jr.s lawyers say there is no DNA evidence from him. pic.twitter.com/2Ksw9UeOKT  Amanda Brennan (@amandabrennantv) May 2, 2024

According to the motion, The State provided Mr. Shannon with a KBI report indicating that male DNA was located on swabs from the accusors (M.N.s) underwear. The defense anticipates that the State will seek to admit this report to corroborate M.Ns claim that that Mr. Shannon digitally penetrated her vagina as she stood near him in the bar (essentially, suggesting that because M.N. claims Mr. Shannon, a male, touched her vagina, the fact that there is male DNA on her underwear lends credibility to her claim). However, other confirmed- scientific evidence belies any such suggestion by the State. The claim that male DNA was located on the underwear swabs is not scientifically valid and should be excluded.

A SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner) examination was done on the complaining witness body and clothing the day after the alleged incident. Police later collected a mouth swab on Shannon Jr. for DNA comparison. According to the KBI report, cited in the motion, no male DNA was found on the vagina or external genital. The motion claims no further testing was done on underwear, due to an insufficient amount of male DNA.

From the motion:

The KBI did not (or was unable to) scientifically confirm the presence of male DNA. Further, the KBI report did not indicate whether the male DNA is the same on the two underwear swabs or whether it could be from more than one male. Even assuming what was found was, in fact, male DNA there is no evidence that it is a match to Terrence Shannon.

WCIA 3 reached out to the Douglas County District Attorneys Office for their response to the motion.

Our office does not comment on any case beyond the courtroom and case filings while the case remains pending, Douglas County District Attorneys Office Public Information Officer said.

The preliminary hearing is scheduled for Friday, May 10 at 9 a.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com.
The founder of a major dealership group in Texas has been arrested for a second time within the short span of two months for allegedly starting a series of fires. Investigators with the Austin Fire Department and Austin Police believe that Dorsey Bryan Hardeman, the 75-year-old founder of Continental Automotive Group , started multiple fires targeting homes and businesses going back to December 25, 2023, in order to clear out locations that "were hindering the sale or development" of properties that Hardeman was interested in. Yeah, this is not how you expand your car dealership network.

Hardeman was arrested on arson charges on April 24 in connection with multiple fires set on Christmas Day last year, as well as fires he allegedly started on February 17 and 20. He's now being charged with two counts of first-degree arson and one count of second-degree arson, as the Austin Business Journal reports. Hardeman had previously been arrested on February 29 on charges of felony arson and a state jail felony offense of burglary for a fire set on February 25.

The founder and owner of the large dealer group had posted bail for the first arrest, only to be arrested again after AFD investigators found surveillance video of Hardeman breaking into a location in downtown Austin, which was once the site of a local bicycle shop. The owner of Mellow Johnny's Bike Shop, Bart Knaggs, told arson investigators that Hardeman was the owner of a property next door and had previously asked about buying the property where the LBS stood.

The AFD responded to the fire downtown in the afternoon, and local news outlet FOX7 cites investigators who say that Hardeman forced his way into the building while holding a can of gasoline. Investigators found metal shavings on the floor, which they said came from the lock Hardeman apparently drilled out to gain access to the building. Once inside, Hardeman "poured the gasoline, lit matches, and watched it burn," per FOX7. About ten minutes later, the man walked back to his Mercedes-Benz GLS 580 and drove away before firefighters arrived on the scene. The building's sprinkler system thwarted the arson attempt, however, and firefighters were able to contain what was left of the fire.

The February 25 date suggests Hardeman went on a serial arson spree that began two months prior on Christmas Day and ended four fires later. AFD Investigators said the December fire was connected to a business deal, as it was intentionally set at a property Hardeman was trying to buy. Investigators also say the other fires Hardeman allegedly set in early February were an attempt to clear the area of two mobile homes, which were the only things standing in the way of a real estate deal Hardeman was pursuing.

The prominent Austin businessman is being held at the Travis County Jail and awaiting trial. Hardeman founded Continental Automotive Group in 1966, according to a profile in the Austin Business Journal . He retired in 2017 but still manages a "portion of the group's real estate portfolio," according to Automotive News . Upon retirement, he mostly transferred ownership of the dealer group to his children, who oversee its operations at eight dealerships spread out across the Lone Star Statefrom Dallas, to Austin, and San Juan in South Texas. Their dealerships sell cars from luxury brands such as Infiniti, Audi and Mercedes-Benz, as well as downmarket cars from Honda, Subaru, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram.

Continental Automotive Group
The Austin City Council sent a message Thursday reaffirming its stance against the Republican-led Texas Legislature's passage last year of gender-affirming care restrictions on minors. With a near-unanimous vote, the council approved a resolution that de-prioritizes the city's enforcement of state laws that restrict or criminalize access to gender-affirming care.

The council's resolution comes on the heels of Senate Bill 14, a law that went into effect in September and bans puberty blockers, hormone therapy and other gender-affirming care for minors in Texas. The law also prohibits medical professionals from administering such procedures for minors and requires the Texas Medical Board to revoke the license of any physician who provides that care.

"Obviously we're subject to those laws as a city within the state of Texas, but we just want to make it clear to our Police Department that these are not a priority for enforcement," Council Member Jose Chito Vela, who sponsored the resolution, told the American-Statesman.

The resolution states that if any state law or regulation comes with criminal punishment, civil liability, administrative penalties or professional sanctions related to gender-affirming care, its enforcement will be the lowest priority for city personnel.

Maxine LaQueene reacts in the crowd at the Austin City Council's meeting Thursday during a statement about gender-affirming care.

Council Member Mackenzie Kelly, the City Council's lone conservative, was the only "no" vote on the resolution.

"While I respect the motivations behind this resolution, I believe it is fundamentally flawed in terms of legal authority and fiscal responsibility," Kelly said.

Vela said this resolution is similar to the GRACE Act  Guarding the Right to Abortion Care for Everyone Act  which he authored and was passed by the City Council a month before Texas' abortion ban went into effect in 2022.

"We're still subject to the laws ... there's no question about that," Vela said. "As a community, these types of criminal offenses are not a priority for us, and we want to make sure that the targeted communities understand that as well."

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton responded Thursday after the City Council's vote, saying in a news release that it was "no more than an empty political statement."

"If the City of Austin refuses to follow the law and protect children, my office will consider every possible response to ensure compliance," Paxton said. "Texas municipalities do not have the authority to pick and choose which state laws they will or will not abide by. The people of Texas have spoken, and Austin City Council must listen.

The resolution has also drawn pushback from some Republican state lawmakers, such as Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, who quoted a post about the resolution on X before it was passed, formerly Twitter, and said he would be refiling his "District of Austin" bill.

A 2021 bill that Cain authored sought to turn Austin into a district that would be overseen by the Legislature  an arrangement analogous to Washington, D.C., and its relationship with the federal government. House Bill 4521 in the 87th Legislature did not make it out of committee.

Michelle Evans read a statement on behalf of state Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Midlothian, at Thursday's council meeting that also alluded to the "District of Austin" legislation.

"Actions like the one being proposed today, if passed, make it abundantly clear that this council is unfit to manage the capital city of the greatest state in the country," Evans read aloud before the City Council voted to approve the resolution.

Editor's note: This story was updated after the Austin City Council voted to pass the resolution.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin to weigh enforcing gender-affirming care law as low priority
Thanks to drones and small army of volunteers, remains of Boise woman found in Oregon

The mysterious disappearance of a Boise woman has come to a close after a group of volunteers studied tens of thousands of drone images until they spotted human remains in the Owyhees.

The remains belonged to Gwen Brunelle, 27, and were found in April on Succor Creek Road, off of U.S. Highway 95 in eastern Oregon, according to the familys website dedicated to her search. She went missing nearly a year ago.

Her parents, Betsy and Andy Brunelle, said the exact cause of death is still being determined, but we believe no foul play is suspected. The Oregon state medical examiner confirmed Brunelles identity through dental records, according to the family.

There were periods of time in Gwens life when she encountered mental health issues, the family wrote on the Find Gwen website. We feel she suffered from an undiagnosed psychotic illness. We believe these factors may have created a state of anxiety and confusion in her final days and ultimately contributed to her passing.

Brunelle left Boise on June 26, 2023, with 11 of her show rabbits, telling her boyfriend she was driving to California to meet a show judge for training. The judge said he had never been in contact with Brunelle, the Malheur Enterprise previously reported.

She was last seen June 27 at the Sinclair gas station in Jordan Valley, Oregon, according to the Malheur County Sheriffs Office.

Gwen Brunelle of Boise enters a Jacksons in Nampa on Monday, June 26, wearing different clothes than when she left home just hours earlier. The photo is a screenshot of store video later recovered by police.

A sheriffs deputy found her vehicle on June 30 with the rabbits still inside and Brunelles bathrobe folded on the ground nearby, the Malheur Enterprise previously reported. Her parents estimated on the website that she died around that same day.

In the months that followed, law enforcement, volunteers and search dogs were part of a large-scale but ultimately unsuccessful search for Brunelle.

In early April, with the help of drones and a nonprofit that has people pore over images, that changed.

Terravatta, a Homedale-based drone company, was hired by the Brunelles to grid search and take footage of about 4,000 acres of Malheur County, gathering tens of thousands of images, according to the familys website.

The family then contacted Aloft Drone Search, a Portland nonprofit that uses drone footage to assist law enforcement and families with missing person searches, to review the Terravatta footage.

John Jones, founder of Aloft Drone Search, told the Idaho Statesman that volunteers spent hundreds of hours studying each individual drone image. Many people incorrectly assume his nonprofit uses image-analyzing software, but hes found that technology still isnt as accurate as the human eyes of his small army of volunteers, Jones said.

A volunteer spotted what looked like human remains on April 7, and Jones contacted the Malheur County Sheriffs Office, which sent deputies out the same day. They found the remains, but it took some time to positively identify them as Brunelles, according to Jones.

Jones called the confirmation bittersweet.

Were so happy that we were successful, Jones told the Idaho Statesman in a phone interview. At the same time, we also know that this is basically confirming to family that their loved one is gone and theyre not coming back.

Gwen Brunelle of Boise poses for a photo with her boyfriend Gerald Sanderson in August 2022.

Betsy and Andy Brunelle described their daughter as a beautiful, intelligent, and talented person who had the drive and determination to achieve mastery in the things that interested her.

Her greatest passion was raising rabbits, and she taught many 4-H students the art of rabbit showing.

To our family and friends and volunteers who helped in so many ways over the past 300 days, please know you have our eternal gratitude, her parents wrote on the Find Gwen site. This has been and will continue to be a difficult journey, but with your support we know we will get through it.

The family said it would provide details soon about a Boise memorial service for Brunelle.
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will allow the federal public health emergency for the COVID-19 pandemic to expire, but not everyone sees it as a cause for celebration. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra had renewed the emergency for 90 days in February, signaling at the time that this would be the last extension.

Coming one month after President Biden signed a Republican-backed bill repealing a separate national COVID emergency declared by President Trump in March 2020, and six days after the World Health Organization declared the global COVID health emergency over, the latest news seems like the capstone on a building consensus that COVID-19 is no longer a crisis.

But over 1,000 Americans continue to die from COVID each week, and countless more are developing debilitating long COVID, so disability advocates are arguing that allowing the protections associated with the public health emergency to lapse is dangerous and irresponsible.

We've called off the fire department while the house is still burning, because the neighbors want it to be over, said Laurie Jones, executive director of #MEAction, an organization that advocates for people with myalgic encephalomyelitis, a chronic fatigue condition that a large share of long COVID sufferers develop, in a Wednesday press briefing.

Heres a guide to what the expiration means and what some say should not be forgotten.

What already had changed

The national emergency that ended last month had given the federal government a broad range of powers over the economy. For example, it gave the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) the ability to create the COVID-19 mortgage forbearance program. That program will expire at the end of May, and the Department of Veterans Affairs has returned to requiring in-home visits to determine eligibility for a program that pays home caregivers.

What will change now

A COVID-19 antigen home test indicates a positive result. (Patrick Sison/AP)

The public health emergency ending on May 11 allowed the federal government to freely provide COVID-19 tests, treatments such as Paxlovid, and vaccines. Americans with Medicare or private insurance plans have been able to get up to eight COVID tests per month from pharmacies with no copay. (Medicaid rules varied by state.) Therapeutic treatments such as monoclonal antibodies have been fully covered by Medicare and Medicaid.

All of that is about to change. Medicare beneficiaries will now have to pay a portion of the cost of at-home COVID tests and for COVID treatments. Essentially, COVID will be covered the same way as other conditions. People with Medicaid coverage will get cost-free vaccines and COVID tests when ordered by a doctor, but they will have to pay out of pocket for at-home tests. Those with private insurance may have to pay for tests, even when ordered by a physician, and for COVID treatments.

People will have to start paying some money for things they didnt have to pay for during the emergency, Jen Kates, senior vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation, told CNN when the May 11 deadline was first announced. Thats the main thing people will start to notice.

Tests will remain free until the supply purchased by the government runs out.

There will also be less comprehensive tracking of the spread of COVID-19. Infections will no longer be monitored, only hospitalizations, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will no longer offer a color-coded rating of the severity of COVID-19 in each county.

Perhaps most controversially, Title 42, a Trump-era component of the public health emergency that allowed the U.S. to quickly remove migrants, will expire. Officials expect a subsequent surge in migrants at the southern border. In response, congressional Republicans are pushing a bill to bring back some of Trumps immigration policies, including the construction of a border wall.

What wont change

Colleen Dempsey, 54, receives a COVID-19 booster vaccine in 2022. (Hannah Beier/Reuters)

Vaccines will remain free to anyone with health insurance, due to federal laws, including the Affordable Care Act and pandemic-relief bills.

For those without insurance, all of these benefits have already become costly, as federal funds for free COVID-related health care to uninsured people ran out at the end of last year.

What is separate from the emergency

In a March 2020 COVID-relief law, states were prohibited from removing anyone from Medicaid during the public health emergency, but Congress already reversed that last year, with states being able to revoke Medicaid coverage as April 1 of this year. Millions of people, including an estimated 6.7 million children, may lose coverage as a result.

Food stamp benefits were also increased as part of a 2020 relief measure, but that expired in March.

Expanded access to telehealth that was created during the public health emergency will be separately kept in place through the end of 2024.

What high-risk populations might still need

Many people with disabilities are at greater risk of contracting COVID-19 or having severe symptoms because of prior conditions such as a weakened immune system. Advocates for disabled people are concerned that without free access to tests and treatments, some people wont be able to protect themselves. They note that free access could be extended through separate legislation rather than an extension of the emergency.

To protect those who are most vulnerable to infection, disability rights activists argue that mask mandates should still be in place in health care facilities  although that is managed at the state level  and that the CDC should still track COVID rates so that people can make informed decisions about how much to go out in public.

A disabled woman and man get off a Miami-Dade County Metrobus. (Jeffrey Greenberg/UCG/Universal via Getty Images)

The pressure to end the public health [emergency] was enormous, but it didnt have to be an either/or situation, Jones said on Wednesday. It could have both/and. We couldve helped people reenter the world while still masking in hospital settings, tracked COVID rates and warned people of spikes in their area. We could still offer free testing and free treatments.

Some public health experts agree, warning that new variants of the coronavirus could prove more transmissible or more deadly. The need for active management of the virus continues. Many thought the pandemic was over in the spring of 2021, Boston University public health professor Julia Raifman told Yahoo News in April. Unfortunately, we were not prepared for new variants, and we lost hundreds of thousands of lives in the following months. By actively tracking COVID, continuing the work to help people get vaccinated and boosted, and having policies and supplies in place to address new variants, we can help ensure we do not see such a high preventable toll again.
Christian faith motivates believers to seek social justice and live more ecologically sustainable lifestyles, according to a scientific study presented at a StopPoverty (StopArmut) conference in Switzerland.

Findings from the research were presented to 300 attendees at a 20th anniversary of the StopPoverty awareness campaign in Biel, according to a Swiss Evangelical Alliance (SEA) statement on April 8. The Unit Empirical Economic Research and Sustainable Finance at the YMCA University of Kassel presented the results of the Ge-Na study during the conference with the theme, Does faith make a difference?

It is arguably the first known scientific analysis looking at the link between social justice and ecological sustainability among the sociological target group of religious and highly religious people, according to the SEA.

"I did not expect such a high level of agreement that faith motivates people to work for justice and sustainability, and that the church should get involved here, said Matthieu Dobler Paganoni, the main organizer of the StopPoverty conference. In StopPoverty's awareness-raising work in the churches, we also find that the topic is sometimes rather difficult to address in practice."

The research on behalf of StopPoverty looked at justice and sustainability based on the views of 2,500 people with an average age of 49 in Germany and Switzerland (1,574 in Germany and 782 in German-speaking Switzerland, and 205 French-speaking Swiss).

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The three-year study examined the attitudes and behaviors of practicing Christians towards the importance of social justice and ecological sustainability.

Eric Nussbaumer, a member of the National Council, the lower chamber of the Swiss Parliament, addressed the issues in an opening speech at the event. He acknowledged the issue for Christians of putting knowledge into action with social justice and sustainabilitywhen someones values do not line up with their actions.

"The study shows that many people attach great importance to social justice, Nussbaumer said. Nevertheless, the majority admit that they do not always act accordingly in everyday life. This dichotomy is also evident when it comes to sustainability."

Nussbaumer told the conference that closing the gap between mere knowledge about sustainability and taking practical action can happen partly via financial incentives and new laws. Yet there has been little progress in this regard, he opined.

"Our consumption habits play a role here. It takes energy and willpower to do something about it," Nussbaumer said, and he added that there was still hope for people of faith to to take practical action.

"A gap that is recognized can also be closed. There is no lack of good will, as the survey has shown. I hope that the study will help to close the gap, so that the discrepancy between knowledge and action disappears."

Two questions in the survey received 90 percent approval by respondents: "Does your Christian faith encourage you to work for social justice?" and "Should the Church work for sustainability?"

Half of the study participants showed awareness of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals by the United Nations. A third of the respondents could even explain the meaning of the goals.

Tobias Faix, head of the Ge-Na study and professor of practical theology, called the figure well above the comparable figure for the Swiss population.

Meanwhile, concerns about climate change were given a mixture of yes and no responses.

"Either faith reduces worries or there is little interest in the issue, which is why people are less concerned about it, said Faix. What is surprising is that there is no significant correlation with age. Young Christians are not more concerned about climate change."

Salome Richir-Haldemann, campaign coordinator for StopPoverty in French-speaking Switzerland, explained the reasons for conducting the study. "We wanted to know how Christians position themselves on the issues we have been raising awareness of for 20 years," she said.

The research will feed into future awareness campaigning, including in the political sphere, on justice and sustainability by StopPoverty. The campaign offers resources to help churches seeking to put faith into action on social issues. The inspiration comes from their lead verse in Micah 6:8, which reads: He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Garmin Ltd (NYSE:GRMN) reports a 20% increase in net sales for Q1 2024, with significant growth in fitness and outdoor segments.

Operating income surged by 51%, reflecting efficient cost management and robust sales performance.

Strong cash position with $3.3 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities, ensuring ample liquidity for strategic initiatives.

Garmin's diverse product portfolio and global presence continue to drive its competitive edge in the GPS-enabled technology market.

Garmin Ltd (NYSE:GRMN), a global leader in GPS-enabled devices, has released its 10-Q filing for the quarter ended March 30, 2024. The company's financial performance showcases robust growth, with a 20% increase in net sales compared to the same period last year. This growth is attributed to strong demand across its fitness and outdoor segments, as well as contributions from strategic acquisitions like JL Audio. Garmin's operating income has seen a significant uptick of 51%, indicating effective cost management and a favorable product mix. With a solid cash reserve of approximately $3.3 billion, Garmin is well-positioned to fund its operations, capital expenditures, and strategic investments. This SWOT analysis delves into the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats as revealed by Garmin's latest financial filings, providing investors with a comprehensive understanding of the company's strategic position.

Decoding Garmin Ltd (GRMN): A Strategic SWOT Insight

Strengths

Diversified Product Portfolio and Market Leadership: Garmin's diverse range of GPS-enabled devices across fitness, outdoor, aviation, marine, and auto OEM segments has solidified its market leadership. The company's ability to cater to niche markets, such as scuba diving and sailing, has created a loyal customer base. Garmin's fitness segment, in particular, saw a 740 basis point increase in gross margin, driven by strong demand for advanced wearables. This diversity not only mitigates risks associated with market fluctuations but also allows Garmin to capitalize on multiple growth avenues.

Strong Financial Performance and Liquidity: Garmin's financial health is robust, with a 23% increase in gross profit dollars and a 120 basis point improvement in consolidated gross margin. The company's disciplined approach to cost management has resulted in lower operating expenses as a percentage of revenue, contributing to a 51% increase in operating income. Garmin's substantial cash reserves provide the financial flexibility to pursue growth opportunities, fund R&D, and manage economic uncertainties effectively.

Story continues

Weaknesses

Dependence on Third-Party Suppliers: Garmin's reliance on various third-party suppliers for raw materials and components introduces risks related to supply chain disruptions. As of March 30, 2024, the company had inventory purchase obligations of $773.5 million, with a significant portion payable within 12 months. This dependence could impact Garmin's ability to meet demand or control costs in the event of supplier issues or global trade tensions.

Segment-Specific Challenges: Despite overall strong performance, certain segments such as auto OEM experienced a decrease in gross margin due to unfavorable product mix. This indicates potential vulnerabilities in Garmin's ability to maintain profitability across all segments, especially in rapidly evolving markets where consumer preferences and technology standards can shift quickly.

Opportunities

Expansion into Emerging Markets: Garmin's global presence, with operations in 100 countries, positions the company to tap into emerging markets where demand for GPS-enabled devices is growing. The company's strong brand and established distribution channels can be leveraged to capture market share in regions with rising disposable incomes and increasing interest in outdoor and fitness activities.

Strategic Acquisitions and Partnerships: Garmin's acquisition of JL Audio has already contributed to revenue growth in the marine segment. The company's strong cash position enables it to pursue further strategic acquisitions and partnerships that can enhance its product offerings, technology capabilities, and market reach.

Threats

Intense Competition and Technological Advancements: Garmin operates in a highly competitive market where rapid technological advancements can quickly alter the competitive landscape. The company must continuously innovate and invest in R&D to maintain its edge, as reflected by the 10% increase in research and development expenses. Failure to keep pace with technological changes could result in loss of market share to competitors.

Currency Exchange Rate Fluctuations: Garmin's international operations expose it to currency exchange rate risks. The company recognized a $2.3 million currency gain in Q1 2024, primarily due to the U.S. Dollar strengthening against the Taiwan Dollar. However, such fluctuations can also lead to significant losses, impacting Garmin's financial results and operational stability.

In conclusion, Garmin Ltd (NYSE:GRMN) exhibits a strong financial and strategic position as of Q1 2024, with a diversified product portfolio, robust sales growth, and a solid liquidity profile. The company's ability to innovate and expand into new markets presents significant opportunities for growth. However, Garmin must navigate challenges such as supply chain dependencies, segment-specific vulnerabilities, competitive pressures, and currency risks. By leveraging its strengths and addressing its weaknesses, Garmin is well-equipped to capitalize on opportunities and mitigate threats in the dynamic GPS-enabled technology market.

This article, generated by GuruFocus, is designed to provide general insights and is not tailored financial advice. Our commentary is rooted in historical data and analyst projections, utilizing an impartial methodology, and is not intended to serve as specific investment guidance. It does not formulate a recommendation to purchase or divest any stock and does not consider individual investment objectives or financial circumstances. Our objective is to deliver long-term, fundamental data-driven analysis. Be aware that our analysis might not incorporate the most recent, price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative information. GuruFocus holds no position in the stocks mentioned herein.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.


Former President Donald Trump attends a campaign rally in Waterford Township, Mich., Feb. 17, 2024. Trump will headline the Libertarian Party presidential nominating convention later this month. | Paul Sancya

Former Republican President, and presumptive GOP nominee, Donald Trump will speak at the Libertarian Party presidential nominating convention later this month.

Trump will address the top 10 concerns of Libertarian national delegates who may ask him to defend past policy decisions and explain how a second Trump administration would align with Libertarian principles of limited government, free markets and non-aggression in foreign policy and personal interactions.

Libertarians are some of the most independent and thoughtful thinkers in our Country, and I am honored to join them in Washington, D.C., later this month, Trump said in a statement released Wednesday by the Libertarian Party. We all have to remember that our goal is to defeat the Worst President in the History of the United States, BY FAR, Crooked Joe Biden. If Libertarians join me and the Republican Party, where we have many Libertarian views, the election wont even be close. We cannot have another four years of death, destruction, and incompetence. WE WILL WORK TOGETHER AND WIN!

Libertarian National Committee chair Angela McArdle told the Deseret News the event will attract unprecedented levels of media coverage to the Libertarian Party and will give Libertarians an opportunity to influence the Republican Party standard-bearer.

For 50 years weve been trying to get our candidates on the main stage with major party POTUS candidates and its never happened. ... And so we finally succeeded in bringing one of the major candidates to our stage, McArdle said. This is a huge opportunity for us. ... Theres no downside.

But many within the party fear the decision to associate libertarianism with a political figure who does not espouse its principles will taint public perception of libertarian policies and will serve only to help Trump remove an electoral obstacle.

Is Donald Trump libertarian?

I think its ridiculous, said Barry Short, chair of the Utah Libertarian Party, in an interview with the Deseret News. Theres nothing in his track record thats appealing to Libertarians.

Short pointed to the former presidents response to COVID-19  allowing lockdowns, elevating Anthony Fauci and encouraging mass vaccination  as well as his proclivity for spending  increasing deficit spending by trillions while in office  as evidence that Trump has nothing to offer Libertarians.

A Trump keynote speech is totally a money move, according to Short. Since the Libertarian Partys national leadership was replaced by members of the controversial Mises Caucus in 2022, the party has faced historic fundraising shortfalls, Short said. Bringing Trump on stage  even if that means platforming an opposing party  could mean an influx of attention for an organization that has historically existed on the fringe of American politics.

This reeks of desperation to me, Short said.

Desperate though it may be, Short said it could have a long-lasting effect on the future direction of the party. But that direction could be toward increased irrelevance if Libertarian voters cast their ballot for Trump instead of the Libertarian nominee, or their ideas become conflated with the anti-establishment rhetoric of Trump and other populist candidates like Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Is Donald Trump influencing the Libertarian Party?

This is the intended outcome of the planned Trump speech, according to Joshua Eakle, a longtime Libertarian political operative and founder of the Project Liberal PAC. There is evidence Trump blames Libertarians for his 2020 loss in key swing states, Eakle alleged in a post on X, and since the Mises Caucus takeover, Libertarian Party messaging has become more extreme and friendly toward some Trump talking points.

Asking Trump to headline their presidential nomination event, including selling Trump-themed merchandise, further supports the influence of Trump on the Libertarian Party, Eakle said.

This speech is engineered to pull Libertarian Party support from their own party and and get them to support the opposition, Eakle said. The Libertarian Party will effectively be over at that point in the minds of the public. It will be an extension of MAGA authoritarianism. I dont see any upside to this at all  I see the upside for Trump. But I dont see the upside for the Libertarian Party.

Brian Doherty, senior editor at the libertarian Reason magazine, said the quote Trump gave to the Libertarian Party explicitly states that Trumps goal in being there is to ... win votes for himself. So that kind of speaks for itself.

Dohertys colleague at Reason, Liz Wolfe, said even if the speech does attract media attention to Libertarians, that wont necessarily be a good thing.

I think what will happen is the word libertarian will increasingly be associated with RFK Jr. and Donald Trump. And these are two celebrity politicians who, as far as I understand it, do not really stand for libertarian values, Wolfe said.

McArdle, who was elected to chair the national party as part of the Mises-Caucus wave in 2022, pushed back, saying Trumps appearance will not serve as a typical stump speech.

We need to be moving the Overton window in the direction of liberty. We need to be exposing people to the ideas of libertarianism, that is why the party was founded. And if we have the opportunity to influence a potential future president were gonna do it, McArdle said.

President Joe Biden was also invited to speak at the partys national convention but has not agreed to do so.

At the Libertarian national convention, delegates from across the country, including 14 from Utah, will select a presidential nominee from a crowded field of over 30 candidates.

Trump will not participate in the debate  Theres no talk about him becoming our nominee, McArdle said. Instead, he will take the stage immediately after Libertarian Party hopefuls argue over which is the most viable candidate to bring libertarian ideas to the White House.
Third suspect arrested in connection with Jamilla Smith death

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF)  The Aiken County Sheriffs Office has announced a third arrest in connection with the murder of Jamilla Smith.

46-year-old Clyde James Hendley II of Bath, South Carolina, was taken into custody Thursday morning, after investigators served a search warrant of his home on Front Street.

He is being held at the Aiken County Detention Center on the charge of Accessory after the Fact to Murder.

The warrant states that Hendley helped dispose of Jamillas body and other evidence of the crime.

Jamilla Smith

Jamilla, a mother of two, went missing last December. Her ex boyfriend is behind bars for murder.

Investigators previously arrested 34-year-old Gabriel Harmon, Jamillas ex-boyfriend, on December 23, charging him with Murder.

On April 19, 35-year-old Alexander Hampton Jr. turned himself in on charges of Accessory after the Fact to Murder.

If you have any further information on this case, youre asked to contact investigators at 803-648-6811

Anyone wanting to help the family with legal services or share encouragement can email them at justice4jamilla@gmail.com.

Jamilla Smith Disappearance Investigation Timeline:

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJBF.
Third suspect arrested in gang-related shooting that killed 3-year-old boy in Athens

A third suspect in the March 8 shooting that killed a three-year-old boy in Athens has been arrested.

Desmontrez Mathis was arrested in Augusta and charged with malice murder, felony murder, four counts of aggravated assault, and violation of the Georgia Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act.

He also faces a federal charge for unlawful flight.

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Mathis was booked into the Clarke County Jail.

The fourth suspect in the shooting, Dakious Echols, is still at large.

Investigators say Mathis was involved in a gang-related shooting at a mobile home park in Athens in March that killed Kyron Zarco, 3.

Two other teens were previously arrested for the shooting, Julian Cubillos, 17, and Jayden Brown, 16.

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FAYETTE COUNTY, WV (WVNS)  Three men were sentenced to prison for felony drug crimes in Fayette County.

49-year-old Christopher M. Carver (left), of Bluefield, West Virginia, 45-year-old Demetran D.D. Gray (middle), of Oak Hill, and 44-year-old Michael L. Grimmett (right), of Russellville, were sentenced to prison on Thursday, May 2, 2024 for drug related felony offenses.

Three people found guilty of felony drug crimes in Fayette County

Gray and Carver were found guilty of the felony offenses of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute between five and 50 grams of methamphetamine, and possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine. Grimmett was found guilty of the felony offense of possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine and misdemeanor conspiracy.

Mercer County woman charged with Second-Degree Murder

Carver and Gray had four previous felony convictions, one of which was a drug related felony conviction. They were sentenced to 40 years in prison for the conspiracy conviction, and one to 15 years in prison for the possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine conviction, and will need to spend 11 years in prison before becoming eligible for parole. Gray and Carvers conspiracy sentence was doubled due to their previous drug related felony conviction, and their sentences will be served back-to-back.

Grimmett was sentenced to one to 15 years in prison for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and one year in prison for the conspiracy misdemeanor. His sentences will be served at the same time, and he was also referred to the GOALS program. The GOALS program, managed by the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, is an in-patient substance use disorder treatment program. Once Grimmett finishes the GOALS program he will be eligible for parole, however he will stay in prison while finishing the program.

Mercer County woman faces multiple charges after shooting man

A traffic stop was held on U.S. Route 19 during the evening hours of January 21, 2023 when a member of the Fayetteville Police Department noticed a car driving without registration lights or taillights on. Carver was the driver of the car, and could not give the officer a drivers license, registration, or proof of insurance.

After an investigation, it was revealed that Carver did not have a valid drivers license and that he was in possession of drugs. Carver also admitted to the officer that there were other drugs in the car.

Beckley man pleads guilty to federal drug crime

Demetran D.D. Gray and Michael L. Grimmett were passengers in the car, and when officers performed a pat down for their safety, more than $1,800 in cash and drugs were found on Gray, and drugs and digital scales were found on Grimmett.

When officers searched the car, they found another set of digital scales, a small amount of suspected methamphetamine, suspected marijuana, and packing materials. The discovery led to Carver, Gray, and Grimmett being arrested, and a large amount of suspected methamphetamine was found after searching Gray. Lab tests later revealed that the officer seized more than 43 grams of methamphetamine.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WVNS.
Signage at an early voting center on Sept. 23, 2016 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

In less than two weeks, Nebraskans will vote in a primary election for local, state and federal offices. Even though every Nebraska taxpayer pays for the administration of these public elections, not every Nebraska voter will be able to fully participate in them.

Our states current system of closed political party primaries tells more than 270,000 registered independent voters, almost a quarter of all Nebraska voters: Thanks for your help printing and processing all these ballots, too bad you cant vote on one that matters.

While we dont limit primary election participation by party in municipal elections or in races for the Nebraska Legislature, we do in races for the states top posts  governor, other state constitutional offices, federal offices and certain local offices. Being a registered Republican or Democrat gives you automatic access to vote in these elections to decide who advances to November, while nonpartisan voters are able to obtain a Democratic primary ballot if they know to request one

Nebraskans for Better Governance  a coalition of Nebraskans seeking reforms to make democratic processes more open, politics and policy more innovative and elections more competitive  takes issue with this status quo. The closed primary system is wasteful of tax dollars (equating to taxation without participation) and has led to an uncompetitive political environment.

The Platte Institute recently published a white paper ( https://platteinstitute.org/the-cost-of-voting-in-nebraska-a-platte-institute-study/ ) highlighting the waste issue. It examines the costs of administering elections to county governments, large and small, across the state.

What it found is that the duplicative, convoluted process of printing and processing multiple versions of partisan and nonpartisan ballots makes primary elections cost on average as much or more than general elections, even though far fewer people typically vote in primary elections. The greatest costs, proportionally, are borne by smaller, rural counties.

To us, this begs the question: Why are we subsidizing political party election processes with public tax dollars in the first place?

The exclusionary nature of closed primaries is also limiting the number of qualified candidates running for office and leading to terribly uncompetitive outcomes in general elections. For the last three decades, races for the top offices in our state have effectively been decided in the May primary. Theres not been a general election race for governor, for example, decided within 10 percentage points since Mike Johanns beat Bill Hoppner 53-45 in 1998.

Our primary elections are complicated and costly, inefficient affairs, resulting in general elections that have become lopsided coronations.

We think a practical solution to saving taxpayer dollars and reforming the status quo is opening primaries to all registered voters, just as we do already in legislative and municipal elections. All candidates on one ballot, accessible to all registered voters. The top two vote earners, regardless of party, advance to the general election. Fair. Simple. Efficient.

Open primaries tend to alter the risk-reward calculus for candidates, and consequently, the ways in which they run their campaigns. Today, candidates are incentivized to be most responsive to the most extreme factions of their respective party bases. In open primaries, candidates are well-served not to alienate any part of the electorate and appeal to the broadest base of voters.

States all over the country are recognizing the deficiencies of closed primaries, and efforts are underway in places as politically diverse as South Dakota, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Oklahoma and Idaho to make the change to open primary systems.

In Nebraska, its time to let all voters vote in the elections they fund with their tax dollars. Its only fair, and open primaries will help make our democracy more accessible and our politics more practical and competitive.

Editors note: This commentary has been revised to clarify that independent voters can request a Democratic ballot in the primary election.

The post Time to open Nebraskas closed primary election system appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
At time of rising antisemitism, Holocaust survivors take on denial and hate in new digital campaign

Holocaust survivor Herbert Rubinstein talks during an interview with The Associated Press at his home in Duesseldorf, Germany, Thursday, April 25, 2024. Holocaust survivors from around the globe participating in a new digital campaign called "#CancelHate" which features videos of them reading Holocaust denial posts from different social media platforms. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

DUESSELDORF, Germany (AP)  Herbert Rubinstein was 5 years old when he and his mother where taken from the Jewish ghetto of Chernivtsi and put on a cramped cattle wagon waiting to take them to their deaths. It was 1941, and Romanians collaborating with Germany's Nazis were rounding up tens of thousands of Jews from his hometown in what is now southwestern Ukraine.

It was nothing but a miracle that we survived, Rubinstein told The Associated Press during a recent interview at his apartment in the western German city of Duesseldorf.

The 88-year-old Holocaust survivor is participating in a new digital campaign called #CancelHate. It was launched Thursday by the New York-based Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, also referred to as the Claims Conference.

It features videos of survivors from around the globe reading Holocaust denial posts from different social media platforms. Each post illustrates how denial and distortion can not only rewrite history but perpetuate antisemitic tropes and spread hate.

I could never have imagined a day when Holocaust survivors would be confronting such a tremendous wave of Holocaust denial and distortion, but sadly, that day is here," said Greg Schneider, executive vice president of the Claims Conference.

We all saw what unchecked hatred led to  words of hate and antisemitism led to deportations, gas chambers and crematoria, Schneider added. Those who read these depraved posts are putting aside their own discomfort and trauma to ensure that current and future generations understand that unchecked hatred has no place in society.

The Claims Conferences new digital campaign comes at a time when antisemitic incidents, triggered by Hamas deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7 and Israels ensuing military campaign in Gaza, have increased from Europe to the U.S. and beyond, to levels not seen in decades, according to major Jewish organizations.

Hamas and other militants abducted around 250 people in the attack and killed around 1,200, mostly civilians. They are still believed to be holding around 100 hostages and the remains of some 30 others. The war has ground on with little end in sight: Israels offensive in Gaza has killed over 34,000 Palestinians, displaced around 80% of the population and pushed hundreds of thousands of people to the brink of famine.

The war has inflamed tensions around the world and triggered pro-Palestinian protests, including at college campuses in the U.S. and elsewhere. Israel and its supporters have branded the protests as antisemitic, while critics of Israel say it uses such allegations to silence opponents.

The launch of the Claims Conference campaign also comes days before Yom HaShoah  Israels Holocaust Remembrance Day  next Monday.

In one of the videos, Rubinstein reads out a hate post  only to juxtapose it with his personal testimony about his familys suffering during the Holocaust.

'We have all been cheated, lied to, and exploited. The Holocaust did not happen the way it is written in our history books,' he reads and then says: That is a lie. The Holocaust happened. Unfortunately, way too many members of my family died in the Holocaust.

Rubinstein then continues to talk about his own persecution as a Jewish child during the Holocaust.

While forced into the ghetto of Cernisvtsi, his family managed to obtain forged Polish identity documents, which were the only reason he and his mother were taken off the cattle train in 1941.

They fled and hid in several eastern European countries until the war ended in 1945. After that, they briefly went back to his hometown, only to find out that his father, who had been forced into the Soviet Red Army during the war, had been killed. They moved on to Amsterdam, where his mother married again, and eventually settled in Duesseldorf.

I lived through the Holocaust. Six million were murdered. Hate and Holocaust denial have returned to our society today. I am very, very sad about this and I am fighting it with all my might, Rubinstein says at the end of the video. Words matter. Our words are our power. Cancel hate. Stop the hate.

Even at his old age, Rubinstein, who calls himself an optimist, says he will continue fighting antisemitism every single day. And he has a message, especially for the young generation of Jews.

Dont panic," Rubinstein says. The good will win. You just have to do something about it.

___

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content
Jimmy Carter Credit - Drew AngererGetty Images

I never expected the likes of former President Jimmy Carter to traffic much in vanity, but the one time I spoke to him, back in 2006, he allowed himself a tiny flicker of it. At the time, the then-octogenarian was preparing for a journey to Africa to help pursue his mission of eradicating Guinea worm, and, impressed that a man his age would be making such a journey, I said to him, Im sure you hear this all the time, Mr. President, but its an inspiration to talk to you. He responded with a laugh. Thats OK, he said, I dont mind hearing it.

Carter, now 99, comes by his pride rightly. In 1986, when the Carter Center launched its Guinea worm eradication program, the parasitic diseasewhich creates agonizing lesions on the skin from worms that are ingested as larvae in contaminated water and grow up to a meter in length inside the human bodywas endemic in 21 countries, striking 3.5 million people per year. Last year, thanks to Carters leadership and decades-long dedication to the cause, there are thought to have been just 14 cases worldwide. Much of the Carter Centers work has involved public educationespecially teaching residents of endemic countries to filter all drinking water before consuming it, and to keep infected people out of rivers and other water sources to prevent them from shedding worm larvae. If the Center is successful in its mission, Guinea worm will be only the second human disease, after smallpox, to be pushed over the cliff of extinction. Carter, who will turn 100 on Oct. 1 and is already the oldest former U.S. President, has made it clear that that is a goal he wants to live to see happen.

Write to Jeffrey Kluger at jeffrey.kluger@time.com.
Tulio de Oliveira Credit - Tommy TrenchardPanos Pictures/Redux

South Africa may not spring immediately to mind as a hub for virus hunting, but thanks to Brazilian, Portuguese, and South African virus expert Tulio de Oliveira, its quickly becoming one. De Oliveira led the group that confirmed the COVID-19 variants Beta and Omicron, days after they first appeared in hospitals, and participated in the early trials testing the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines for the country. He has since created two major scientific institutes in South Africathe Kwazulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform and the Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation (now the largest genomics center on the continent)that train the next generation of genetic sleuths, as well as conduct cutting-edge genetic sequencing and analysis of disease-causing culpritsfrom SARS-CoV-2 to HIV, TB, chikungunya and dengue. The people who currently head the genomics labs in most of the African countries came from de Oliveiras lab. At the moment we are not only on par with the best [genomics] systems in the world, but I think we are more advanced than the best systems in the world, he says.

In 2024, the U.K.s Wellcome Sanger Institute asked de Oliveira to become its chief scientific officer; the institute is the worlds leader in genomic sequencing and analyzed about 30% of global COVID-19 samples during the pandemic. Convinced he had more work to do in establishing Africa as a leading player in the genomics world, de Oliveira instead proposed that the institutes merge their talentsde Oliveiras for quickly identifying and characterizing new pathogens, and Sangers for scaling up massive genetic sequencing and analysis of samplesto better prepare the world for the next big public-health threats. Their groups will now attempt to expand the network of genomic monitoring de Oliveira started in Africa to create a more robust global system of disease trackers. In coming years, that will include keeping an eye on climate changes effect on infectious diseases and human health. Pathogens do not respect borders. We have to think about pathogens as not just a national problem, but as a global problem, de Oliveira says.

Contact us at letters@time.com.
Portland, Ore. (KOIN)  Portlands ongoing protests for a ceasefire in Gaza began nearly one week ago as the movement began to spread to university campuses around the U.S.

The rallies started with a few dozen people gathering in the South Park Blocks on the Portland State University campus. The movement grew by hundreds in the following days and eventually led to the occupation of PSUs Millar Library, which the Portland Police Bureau raided Thursday morning, resulting in at least 22 arrests so far.

Although the library was cleared, protests have continued around Portland. KOIN 6 News has outlined a summary of the past week of protests and will continue to cover the latest developments.

April 25

The nationwide movement reached Portland State University as demonstrators gathered at the South Park Blocks to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. As many as 35 people were reported to have been in the park until 1 a.m.

PSU President Ann Cudd issued a statement as protesters and university students called for PSU to stop accepting donations from Boeing due to the companys financial backing of the Israeli government.

The passion with which these demands are being repeatedly expressed by some in our community motivates me, as a scholar of academic ethics and a university leader responsible for the wellbeing of our campus constituents, to listen and ask additional questions, Cudd said.

Biden: Violent protests not protected

April 29

Roughly 200 protesters marched along the Parks Blocks Monday and issued a list of demands to the university. Most of the protesters left the campus by 7 p.m. However, 50 to 75 people began to occupy the school in a makeshift camp near the librarys front entrance, despite the universitys request for them to leave. The lingering crowd defaced buildings with graffiti and ultimately broke into the PSU library.

At 11 p.m., Mayor Ted Wheeler, PPB Chief Bob Day, Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt and PSU President Ann Cudd held a joint press conference at 11 p.m., stating that the once peaceful protest has transitioned to acts of crime. During the conference, District Attorney Mike Schmidt pledged to prosecute those arrested in connection to the illegal occupation of the library.

Fully condemn the criminal actions: City officials react as PSU protest escalates

April 30

PSU canceled classes as the occupation of the Millar Library continued. A group of students and non-student protesters were seen fortifying the library encampment with wooden pallets and crates delivered by the truckload. Cudd officially asked police to remove the protesters from the building. PPB remained publicly silent about its plans to evict the protesters from the library.

A report by KOIN 6 News Elise Haas later that evening showed the extensive damage protesters caused to the inside of the library. The visible vandalism included graffiti, broken glass, smashed computers and library tables and haphazardly piled into makeshift blockades.

May 1

The PSU campus remained closed. Cudd announced that roughly 50 protesters agreed to leave the library peacefully by 1:30 a.m. that morning. PSU administration announced that the campus would reopen Thursday as Portland Police prepared to clear the library Thursday morning.

Rioters dressed in all black tore through Downtown Wednesday night, smashing the windows of businesses and university buildings. KOIN 6 witnessed multiple physical and verbal fights as rioters caused havoc around the city.

May 2

The morning began with news that 15 PPB training vehicles were torched shortly before 2 a.m. The fire is being investigated as arson, though it remains unclear if the fire was related to the ongoing protests.

PPB officers dressed in riot gear arrived at the library at 6 a.m. and began clearing occupiers from the building at 9 a.m. However, they ran into trouble when officers encountered a slick substance on the floor, which police said they suspected was put there intentionally to make them slip. It also took a couple of hours to take down barricades and other obstacles placed in the library to slow officers down, police said. At least 12 protesters were arrested during the raid, including four PSU students.

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PPB previously said it did not plan to use tear gas on the protesters inside the building. However, chemical munitions were used by officers outside that library at approximately 10 a.m. Protesters were seen fleeing the building  including some equipped with makeshift shields cut from trash cans  as police charged forward. At one point, around 10 protesters were chasing a van holding arrested protesters in it.

PPB announced that the library was cleared by 10:30 a.m. Inside the building, officers said they found caches of tools, what appears to be improvised weapons, ball bearings, paint balloons, spray bottles of ink and DIY armor.

The remaining protesters have gathered around the South Park Blocks where officers have sectioned off the campus with police tape. KOIN 6 News also saw some protesters on the street fighting among themselves.

KOIN 6 News will continue to follow the story as it develops.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
Republic Services Inc (NYSE:RSG) exhibits robust revenue growth and operational efficiency.

Strategic acquisitions and investments in renewable energy projects signal growth opportunities.

Challenges include managing high operational costs and navigating environmental regulations.

Competitive landscape and economic fluctuations pose potential threats.

Republic Services Inc (NYSE:RSG), a leading provider of traditional solid waste services in the United States, has released its 10-Q filing on May 1, 2024. The filing provides a comprehensive view of the company's financial performance for the first quarter of 2024, revealing a revenue increase to $3,861.7 million from $3,581.1 million in the previous year. The company's net income also saw a significant rise to $453.8 million, up from $383.9 million, showcasing a strong financial position. This SWOT analysis aims to dissect the financial nuances and strategic positioning of Republic Services Inc, offering investors a detailed perspective on the company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Decoding Republic Services Inc (RSG): A Strategic SWOT Insight

Strengths

Financial Performance and Operational Efficiency: Republic Services Inc has demonstrated a solid financial performance, with an increase in revenue and net income in the first quarter of 2024. The company's operational efficiency is evident from its Group 1 Adjusted EBITDA of $558.8 million and Total Adjusted EBITDA of $1,164.5 million. This financial stability is a testament to the company's effective cost management strategies and its ability to leverage economies of scale within its operations.

Strategic Acquisitions: The company's recent acquisitions, such as Advanced Chemical Transport LLC and Central Texas Refuse, LLC, indicate a strategic expansion into new markets and service lines. These acquisitions not only enhance Republic Services Inc's geographic footprint but also provide additional growth opportunities in the environmental solutions sector, which is increasingly important as sustainability becomes a global priority.

Weaknesses

High Operational Costs: Despite strong revenue growth, Republic Services Inc faces high operational costs, with a cost of operations totaling $2,283.2 million for the first quarter of 2024. These costs, including expenses related to depreciation, amortization, and depletion, could impact the company's margins if not managed effectively. The challenge lies in balancing the need to invest in infrastructure and technology with the imperative to control expenses and maintain profitability.

Story continues

Dependence on Economic Cycles: The waste management industry is sensitive to economic cycles, and Republic Services Inc is not immune to these fluctuations. Economic downturns can lead to reduced waste generation from commercial and industrial clients, potentially affecting the company's volume of business and, consequently, its revenue streams.

Opportunities

Investments in Renewable Energy Projects: Republic Services Inc's investment in a landfill gas-to-energy project in Illinois and its engagement in 77 landfill gas-to-energy and renewable energy projects underscore the company's commitment to sustainability and present significant growth opportunities. These initiatives not only align with global environmental trends but also offer potential revenue streams through energy production and tax credits.

Technological Advancements: The ongoing redesign of the company's asset management and customer and order management software systems represents an opportunity to enhance operational efficiency and customer service. By leveraging technology, Republic Services Inc can streamline processes, reduce costs, and improve the customer experience, thereby strengthening its competitive position.

Threats

Regulatory Compliance: As a provider of environmental services, Republic Services Inc must navigate a complex regulatory landscape. Changes in environmental regulations can lead to increased compliance costs and operational adjustments, which could impact the company's profitability and strategic planning.

Competitive Landscape: The waste management industry is highly competitive, with numerous players vying for market share. Republic Services Inc must continuously innovate and improve its services to maintain its position as the second-largest provider in the industry. The competitive pressure could lead to price wars, margin compression, and the need for ongoing investment in technology and infrastructure.

In conclusion, Republic Services Inc (NYSE:RSG) exhibits a strong financial foundation and operational efficiency, bolstered by strategic acquisitions and investments in renewable energy. However, the company must manage its high operational costs and remain agile in the face of economic cycles. The opportunities presented by technological advancements and sustainability initiatives are promising, but regulatory compliance and a competitive landscape pose ongoing threats. Overall, Republic Services Inc is well-positioned to navigate these challenges and capitalize on the opportunities ahead, provided it continues to focus on innovation, efficiency, and strategic growth.

This article, generated by GuruFocus, is designed to provide general insights and is not tailored financial advice. Our commentary is rooted in historical data and analyst projections, utilizing an impartial methodology, and is not intended to serve as specific investment guidance. It does not formulate a recommendation to purchase or divest any stock and does not consider individual investment objectives or financial circumstances. Our objective is to deliver long-term, fundamental data-driven analysis. Be aware that our analysis might not incorporate the most recent, price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative information. GuruFocus holds no position in the stocks mentioned herein.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.


A two-year-old who was killed in a tragic accident after a bounce house they were playing in became airborne by a strong gust of wind has been identified as the toddler of a Phoenix firefighter.

The child, Bodhi Naff, has been named the son of Arizona firefighter Karl Naff and his wife Cristy, by the United Phoenix Firefighters.

Bodhi and other children were playing on a bounce house on Saturday when a strong gust of wind sent it into the air, leaving the toddler with life-threatening injuries, the Pinal County Sheriffs Office said.

Bodhi was transported to the hospital, where he later died.

Today, I write with a heavy heart for our brother Karl Naaf and his family. On April 27th, a tragic accident occurred when Karls two-year-old son, Bodhi, was fatally injured by a gust of wind lifting the bounce house he was playing in, the United Phoenix Firefighters wrote in a statement.

The firefighter union said that while they are dealing with this unimaginable loss, the couple are expecting their second child on 31 May 2024.

A GoFundMe page was set up to raise funds for the parents also wrote how Cristy is in the final month of her pregnancy with the couples second baby.

Amidst their sorrow, they face the daunting task of preparing for the arrival of their newborn, the page wrote, which has amassed over $170,000 in donations.

This devastating loss has left Karl and Cristy grappling with unimaginable grief, the donations organiser, Ashley Al-Khouri, wrote.

Ms Al-Khouri added that Karl works alongside her husband at Phoenix Fire Station 40, who also posted on their social media the announcement of Bodhis passing in a bounce house accident.

Karl and Cristy have been an integral part of Firehouse 25 family for many years, including Rescue 25 and paramedic precepting, the fire station wrote on Instagram.

Officers from the Pinal County Sheriffs Office were called to a residence near Casa Grande in Arizona at around 5pm on Saturday after the bounce house became airborne while a group of children were playing on it.

That afternoon, several children were playing in a bounce house when a strong gust of wind sent it airborne into the neighbouring lot, the Pinal County Sheriffs Office said in a statement.

A two-year-old child was transported to the hospital, where he passed away. A second child received non-life threatening injuries and was also transported to the hospital for care.

The Pinal County Sheriffs Office also offered their heartfelt thoughts and prayers to the grieving family.

At this stage, police say the incident appears to be a tragic accident, but an investigation into what caused the death is ongoing.
WASHINGTON  The top Marine leader wont apologize for the years of underinvestment in the Marine Corps barracks even though he has made improving those living facilities a top priority now that he is in charge.

When we geared up for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, we focused on weapons systems, training and technology, Commandant Gen. Eric Smith said Thursday at the Modern Day Marine conference in Washington. And that focus kept a lot of Marines alive in Helmand province, kept a lot of Marines alive in Iraq, in the Sunni Triangle.

So, again, I cant apologize for previous generations of Marines to prioritize training and equipping over quality of life, he continued. But now the tide has to turn, and we have to get back to quality of life.

Smiths comments came the day after the Corps budget chief also attributed barracks issues to investments in weapons systems over quality of life.

How the Marine Corps barracks got to be so bad, according to 2 generals

We didnt have the data to say, How are we tracking the facilities condition in detail to defend more than $200 million a year for that? Lt. Gen. James Adams, the deputy Marine commandant for programs and resources, said Wednesday at the conference. But we did have the data to say, We need this Force Design weapons system or this modernized vehicle or this modernized weapon platform.

Adams said in response to a Marine Corps Times question about who was at fault for the previous underinvestment in the barracks that he didnt see it as a fault.

A Government Accountability Office report published in September 2023 found widespread problems  including mold, dysfunctional plumbing, and poor heating and cooling  in barracks across the military services, including the Marine Corps.

Photos reveal vermin, filth and disarray at one Marine Corps barracks

A recent Corps-wide inspection found approximately half of barracks rooms were only partially mission-capable, meaning they were deficient in at least one aspect of living standards, Maj. Gen. David Maxwell, commander of Marine Corps Installations Command, said Wednesday at the Modern Day Marine conference.

Smith has served as the commandant since September 2023, although he became the acting commandant in July 2023 following the retirement of Commandant Gen. David Berger. For the two years before that, he was the assistant commandant, serving as the Corps No. 2 leader.

Quality of life, especially barracks improvements, has been central to Smiths stated agenda during his time as commandant. Under the leadership of Smith and Assistant Commandant Gen. Christopher Mahoney, who served as acting commandant during Smiths monthslong recovery from a cardiac arrest, the Corps has rolled out a barracks overhaul initiative.

That Barracks 2030 initiative entails consolidating Marines in the best barracks, professionalizing barracks management and speeding up maintenance. It also means making barracks restoration a priority in the services budget.

The Marine Corps has asked in its official fiscal year 2025 budget request for $274 million for barracks restoration, a $65 million increase from previous year. It signaled in its unfunded priorities list it would like an additional $230 million for that purpose if there were room in the budget.
Top US justice department official says she is domestic abuse survivor

Kristen Clarke speaks during a news conference at the justice department in Washington DC in August 2022.

Kristen Clarke speaks during a news conference at the justice department in Washington DC in August 2022. Photograph: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

A top US justice department official revealed on Wednesday that she is a survivor of domestic abuse and was once arrested for an expunged offense, which has sparked calls for her resignation among rightwing politicians and commentators.

Kristen Clarke, who leads the justice departments civil rights division, told CNN in a statement that she had been subjected to years-long abuse and domestic violence at the hands of my ex-husband nearly 20 years ago.

This was a terrorizing and traumatizing period that I have sought to put behind me to promote my personal health, healing and wellbeing, Clarke said. The physical and emotional scars, the emotional abuse and exploitation, and the lying, are things that no woman or mother should ever have to endure.

The revelation of Clarkes 2006 arrest, which has since been removed from her record, prompted demands for her resignation on the right. Clarkes critics accused her of lying during her 2021 confirmation process, when she was asked by Senator Tom Cotton about any past arrests.

Cotton, a Republican of Arkansas, asked in a questionnaire given to Clarke: Since becoming a legal adult, have you ever been arrested for or accused of committing a violent crime against any person? Clarke responded: No.

A number of rightwing commentators, including the New York Post editorial board, have insisted this week that Clarke must resign for withholding information from the senators who confirmed her.

She told an unambiguous lie to Congress, the board wrote in an editorial published on Thursday. Was she thinking shed never get caught, or that if she did, her political connections would protect her?

Senator Mike Lee, a Republican of Utah, similarly lambasted Clarke, writing on X: She lied under oath during her confirmation proceedings, and should resign.

But in her statement to CNN, Clarke said she was not obliged to disclose the arrest because it had been expunged from her record.

When given the option to speak about such traumatic incidents in my life, I have chosen not to, Clarke wrote. I didnt believe during my confirmation process and I dont believe now that I was obligated to share a fully expunged matter from my past.

Other legal experts rallied to Clarkes defense, echoing her argument and pillorying her critics for attacking an accomplished Black woman who had disclosed a painful episode from her personal life.

The whole point of expungement is [that] the record no longer exists. This is wrong, Joyce Vance, a University of Alabama law professor and former US attorney, wrote on X. Shes a thoughtful [and] decent public servant. The misogyny [and] racism that underlie this attack on the victim of a serious crime is appalling.

Clarke herself appears to be brushing off the attacks from her rightwing critics, giving no indication that she plans to resign from her post.

She told CNN: As I have done at every stage of my career as a life-long public servant, I will continue working to ensure that we carry out our work in a way that centers the experiences and needs of crime victims.
TOPEKA (KSNT)  Topeka police have arrested a local man for allegedly stealing a law enforcement vehicle in April.

The Topeka Police Department (TPD) announced in a press release that officers arrested a 36-year-old Topeka man around 10:30 p.m. on May 1 in the 4400 block of SE Michigan Avenue in connection to the reported theft. He was booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on the following charges:

Theft $25,000 < $100,000 motor vehicle

Theft of firearm with value less than $25,000

Two counts of possession of stolen property

Theft > $1,500 < $25,000 motor vehicle

Eight warrants

Topeka police say son stabbed dad 57 times

Police initially were called to investigate a law enforcement vehicle burglary and theft around 7:30 a.m. on April 17 in the 1800 block of SE Maryland Street. The TPD later asked the public for help in generating leads in the investigation.

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Follow Matthew Self on X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/MatthewLeoSelf

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News.
PACOLET, S.C. (WSPA)  The Town of Pacolet has around 2,200 residents according to Town Administrator Patrick Kay. Since April just one sanitation worker has been servicing the entire town.

As of right now, weve got an absolutely amazing truck driver, said Kay. If it wasnt for him. I would be down-right desperate [for another sanitation worker], but because of him, I feel much better about the situation.

Ready to share the road with a driverless tractor-trailer?

However, Kay said, the 1:2,200 worker/customer ratio cant go on forever and the town is fervently searching for an extra hand.

Were trying to get a temporary employee to come in and work for the Town of Pacolet during this time to alleviate some of the demand and need for trash pick-up, said Kay.

According to Kay for years, two sanitation workers have acted like a well-oiled machine and picked up garbage around the town every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

One worker drives the garbage truck and another worker collects the garbage and throws it in the back.

In April, one of the two workers suffered an undisclosed injury and took medical leave, forcing one sanitation worker to do the job of two people.

They should be able to do it in three days, but right now were doing it in four to four and a half days, said Kay. Thats just the situation were in right now.

At first, Cherokee County offered the town one of its employees to help out.

Cherokee County [has] been amazing, said Kay. They came out in the first week, week and a half, and provided an employee to work alongside our current staffing out there. But Cherokee County couldnt do that forever and on April 30, the Town of Pacolet put out a message saying trash services may be delayed.

Celery stalk in trash, luck, lead to lost wedding rings

Trash Service Update: The Town of Pacolet is currently down an employee, so service may be behind until we can get another employee added to the crew. We are currently working with a temp agency to try to get another employee to assist our sanitation driver. A neighboring county has been assisting the town when they are able to provide the staffing. Please be patient with us as we try to find someone else to assist. With only one employee picking up trash, your service may be delayed a day or two but it will be picked up. If you have any questions, please call 864-474-9504 or email pkay@townofpacolet.com. If you know of someone that might be interested in working with the Town of Pacolets Sanitation, please have them contact APS Staffing: APS Staffing and HR Solutions 1114 West Floyd Baker Blvd Gaffney, SC 29341 (864) 649-1448 Town of Pacolet, April 30, 2024

According to District 1 council member Jason Wright: Last fall, I recommended to the council that we hire a third sanitation employee who had CDL class B or who could obtain that certification. This would allow the sanitation department to have an extra driver to fill in in case someone was sick or needed vacation. It would also speed up their services so they could have more time to do limb pickup which had to be contracted out last year. We have two sanitation employees, and one of them is close to retirement. He is the same employee who is currently unable to work due to his health.

Wright said an amendment to the fiscal budget was introduced last Fall which would create room to hire an extra driver. It needed to be passed twice per council rules, but it only got through the first vote on November 2, 2023.

When we had the second reading on the agenda in December, a council member invited Spartan Waste to speak to the council about their services, which took place at the beginning of the meeting, said Wright. After listening to Spartan Wastes presentation, a council member proposed getting proposals from sanitation companies when we were discussing passing the second reading of the budget amendment. I made a motion to approve the second reading, but the motion failed to move due to the lack of a second motion. If the motion had passed, the town would have an employee to fill in for our employee who is out sick.

Wright added the council is preparing the FY2024-2025 budget and with that, room for a new Public Works/Landscaping department which would create a position for a floating employee who holds a CDL.

Several residents said they didnt notice a disruption in their trash collection service, while one said her trash hadnt been picked up in two weeks. That resident admitted she had not yet contacted the town about her issue.

Recycling crew finds womans lost wedding ring in nearly impossible task

But Wright also admits frustration about trash collection delays might be due to a lack of communication between the town and the residents.

It was close to three weeks before a notice was put on the towns Facebook page after several complaints had been posted, said Wright. It is our duty as public servants to be open and transparent with our citizens while allowing them to know that we are doing everything in our power to continue the services they deserve.

For now, Kay encourages anyone interested in becoming a temporary sanitation worker for the Town of Pacolet to contact the third-party, APS Staffing and HR Solutions at (864) 649-1448. No prior experience is required and all relevant training, gear and equipment will be provided according to Kay.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
A couple of years ago, I noted in passing on Twitter (as it then was) that there was an international border between the UK and Ireland on the island of Ireland. To my surprise, Irish nationalists piled in to deny this objective legal reality. I couldnt help recalling George Orwells comment that, for nationalists, a known fact may be so unbearable that it is habitually pushed aside  or on the other hand it may enter into every calculation and yet never be admitted as a fact.

Or indeed both of those things. Such doublethink is evident in the Irish governments handling of the current migration row with Britain. In fact, it is not at all clear that the asylum and immigration problem in Ireland has been much boosted, let alone created, by our Rwanda policy. But it suits the Irish establishment to claim that its the Brits fault, and certainly one can empathise, if not exactly sympathise, with their wish to outflank the Sinn Fein monster  even if they do expect us to put up with it in Belfast.

The problem this gives the Irish is that, having decided to blame us, they must try to control movement of asylum seekers south across the border, while maintaining their long-standing position that there must be no controls at that border. Not surprisingly, this is hard to carry off and they can only do so by claiming that the necessary controls are non-intrusive and dont need to be at the border.

This probably all sounds wearisomely familiar. Its certainly awkward for the Irish, because it is the same as the British position on customs and trade in late 2019 and again in the abandoned Northern Ireland Protocol Bill. We argued that the customs border could be at the land border, managed through exactly such behind the border checks and appropriate legal enforcement. We were told that this was simply impossible, a unicorn, and would risk violence. In 2019, Parliament forced us to back down. In 2023, it was the British Government that backed down and signed the Windsor Framework instead. Thats why we have the current mess.

In responding to this latest crisis, the British Government, from the Prime Minister down, has chosen to enjoy the turned tables and lecture the Irish about the value of maintaining an open border. Irish self-righteousness makes this totally understandable, but it still misses the point. It is a feel-good tactic not an actual strategy.

For one thing, we arent immune to the same problems. One might forget, from the PMs comments, that the British Government will soon require an ETA, a travel authorisation, for non-resident third country nationals travelling from Ireland to Northern Ireland. Presumably, we intend to police this in some way  and indeed who can really doubt that, if for some reason, the flow of illegal migrants was in the other direction, we would seek to make that requirement bite as close to the border as we could?

For another, how can it possibly be in our interests now to be arguing for an open border, when Irish and EU demands for this have caused so much damage to our interests? We want, or should want, a meaningful land border. We really shouldnt be arguing for it to become even less significant than it is now, with third country nationals able in practice to wander across it at will.

So, even if it goes against the grain, the correct course of action is to let the Irish do what they want, noting that this is entirely achievable without fences and border posts. In an ideal world, we would then go on to argue the same could be done for goods and customs arrangements, too, but unfortunately the Government, at least under current leadership, has sold that pass with the Windsor Framework.

Still, the precedent is set; and just because we cant do the latter doesnt mean we have no interest in the former.

Like it or not, the United Kingdom and Ireland are deeply entwined as countries and as people for a whole raft of historical and political reasons. The Common Travel Area, the fact that anyone born in Northern Ireland may choose Irish citizenship, the common voting rights, all this is highly unusual among two independent countries. But it is precisely this deep intertwining that means we have to be clear about fundamentals.

One of those fundamentals is clarity about the border. We currently have a border for people in one place, a border for customs in another place, and both British and Irish governments denying that one or other of them really exists at all. This Schrodingers border isnt going to work. The current arrangements may be intended to avoid friction but will in fact generate endless anomalies, instability, and conflict. They cant last.

In the end, the legal border can only be in one place not two, and everyone must agree on where. The only long-run stable situations are for it to be at the current land border or in the Irish Sea. If we dont want it to be the latter, we must show it can work when its at the former.

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Tri-tip tacos and waffle sandwiches: These 22 restaurants just opened around Sacramento

April showers brought new food to devour, as 22 restaurants opened around the Sacramento region throughout the month.

Three new restaurants opened in Folsom, and Elk Grove and Roseville each added two. Rancho Cordova, West Sacramento, Rocklin, Davis, El Dorado Hills, Woodland, Galt and El Dorado all saw one new restaurant open.

 Akame Sushi (1902 Taylor Road, Roseville): An all-you-can eat Japanese concept with varying prices based on whether you want rolls, hibachi or nigiri, Akame replaced Maneki Sushi on April 6.

 Biryani & Chaat (4800 Granite Drive, Suite B-11, Rocklin): South Indian specialties from Andra Pradesh show up on Biryani & Chaats menu, including gutti vankaya (stuffed eggplant biryani) and a country-style chicken curry called natu kodi, along with Northern Indian dishes such as paneer lababdar (cashew-tomato curry with cheese).

 Boomba Tea (2784 East Bidwell St., Suite 300, Folsom): Pair ramen, popcorn chicken, bubble waffles or Spam musubi with your milk tea of choice at Broadstone Marketplaces new boba cafe, which opened April 20.

 Bruxie (500 First St., Suite 9, Davis): Fried chicken sandwiches with waffles for bread define this Davis Commons restaurant, which opened its first Northern California location (and 11th overall) in April 8.

 Chick-N-Burger (2770 E. Bidwell St., Suite 400, Folsom): Halal fried chicken or Wagyu beef patties come on brioche buns at this Broadstone Plaza fry shop, which replaced short-lived Japanese concept Hibachi Town.

 Cozy Oaks Cafe (5787 Pleasant Valley Road, El Dorado): French toast, seasonal fruit salads and hefty burgers greet customers at this rural outpost, the successor to COVID-controversial Cafe El Dorado.

 Engawa Fusion (7301 Stockton Blvd., Sacramento): Alvin Zhangs modern yet homey Japanese restaurant is your place for mackerel in plum sauce, eel-and-tamagoyaki donburi or sushi tacos filled with tuna, salmon or vegetables.

 Express Sushi & Teriyaki (10113 Folsom Blvd., Rancho Cordova): Alex Smbatyan opened Express Sushi & Teriyakis second location in Rancho Cordova on April 19, expanding its sesame chicken and deep-fried rolls beyond the original Carmichael restaurant.

 Formaggio Pizza Express (3377 Bass Lake Road, Suite 110, El Dorado Hills): Sedrak Galstyans second El Dorado Hills pizzeria debuted its pies, strombolis, wings and more in Sienna Ridge shopping center, including a unique Armenian Combo pizza (bacon, sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, red onions, mozzarella, crushed red pepper and jalapenos with white garlic sauce).

 Grand Hot Pot Lounge (2346 Florin Road, Sacramento): A sleek Chinese hot pot and karaoke staple in San Francisco and Pacifica, Grand Hot Pot Lounge opened its first Sacramento-area dining palace in Florin Square shopping center.

 Las Catrinas Restaurant & Bar (520 N. Lincoln Way, Galt): Fill your mulitas, burritos or tortas with a choice of meat at this taco-truck-turned-Mexican-restaurant in southern Sacramento County, or opt for antojitos such as empanadas de tinga.

 Le Macaron French Pastries (1011 7th St., Sacramento): A wide range of macaron flavors  Sicilian pistachio! Basil white chocolate! Cassis jam!  are supplemented by eclairs, pains au chocolat and gelato at this chain patisserie across from Downtown Commons.

 Licious Chinese Cuisine (9160 E. Stockton Blvd., Elk Grove): Clay pot lamb stew, sampan congee, Hong Kong-style barbecued noodles and other eye-catching dishes from across China dot the menu at Licious, an eye-catching restaurant where Hidden Sichuan once was.

 Masa Masa (2310 Pleasant Grove Blvd., Suite 130, Roseville): Opened April 15 in Village Westpark shopping center by Emily Torres, Ashlie Millington and Juli Hilton, Masa Masa donates proceeds from each taco to specific charities  beer battered shrimp for the Housing Industry Foundation, say, or lobster supporting United Farm Workers.

 Melty (486 Howe Ave., Sacramento): This Utah-based dairy emporium began serving loaded grilled cheese sandwiches, cheeseburgers and fries on April 9 in The UV shopping center.

 Octopus Peru (980 9th St., Suite 170, Sacramento): The newest restaurant from local Mexican food magnate Ernesto Delgado, Octopus Peru elegantly offers seafood such as ceviche or crab tostadas across from Cesar Chavez Plaza in downtown Sacramento.

 Pho Namdo (1837 E. Gibson Road, Suite A, Woodland): Woodlands lone Vietnamese restaurant serves up 16 styles of pho, including vegan and seafood options as well as many chock-full of beef.

 Poke House (8211 Bruceville Road, Suite 103, Sacramento): A popular Hawaiian-inspired chain in the South Bay, Poke House opened its first Sacramento-area shop near the Elk Grove border on April 18.

 Prime Gyro & Grills (704 E Bidwell St., Suite 1, Folsom): Hop into Hamid Sayeds halal Mediterranean restaurant for a quick gyro or falafel wrap, or stick around for ground shami or chapli kebab plates.

 Roundhouse Deli (1914 Alhambra Blvd., Sacramento): Known for tri-tip tacos at its Elk Grove and Roseville locations, Roundhouse Deli opened its East Sacramento sandwich shop on April 3 where Casa Tulum once stood.

 Taco Exxpress (9146 Harbour Point Drive, Elk Grove): Elk Grove residents and visitors can now get their fill of drippy quesabirria tacos at Taco Exxpress, as can people near preexisting Rocklin, Folsom, Hollywood Park and southeastern Sacramento locations.

 Taqueria Mi Querido Michoacan (1235 Harbor Blvd., West Sacramento): This West Sacramento taqueria might be the only restaurant around to find chavindecas, quesadilla-like specialties from the Mexican state of Guerrero that sandwich cheese and meat between two flour tortillas, or vegetarian enchiladas Michoacanas in red sauce.
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET)  Trial is expected to begin this month for two men charged with murder in the shooting of a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation counselor outside a southwest Bakersfield Target.

Robert Pernell Roberts, 31, and Sebastian Parra, 24, are charged with murder and attempted robbery in the death of Benny Alcala Jr., 43.

Bakersfield police announce DUI checkpoint taking place May 3

Sebastian Parra, file image

Parras attorney, Timothy Hennessy, said in court Thursday there may be a slight delay while a prosecutor continues to gather documents, but both he and Deputy Public Defender Gordon Lake, Roberts attorney, said they felt confident confirming May 13 as the start of whats expected to be a 20-day trial.

The case may be assigned a courtroom on that day for pretrial motions followed by jury selection.

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Alcala was shot Aug. 24, 2022, in the area of the Target on Stockdale Highway, where hed been charging an electric vehicle.

Initially only Roberts was charged. Parra, the prosecutions key witness at Roberts preliminary hearing, said hed met Roberts that night and had nothing to do with the killing. A grand jury later indicted Parra.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17.
Free healthcare is a military benefit and major recruiting attraction. What could be the downside?

With limited expense comes limited options. Limited options can come at a staggering personal price, especially for women in service. And womens health is critical to military recruitment, retention and our nations readiness to fight.

In 2020, after a long infertility journey, my husband and I were overjoyed to see our daughters heartbeat on the screen. My maternity care was initially directed to the civilian clinic of my choice, due to the lack of obstetric care on base. However, that changed when I relocated for my next assignment and my care was directed to my local military treatment facility. I was skeptical. I had heard anecdotal stories of poor maternal care on military installations, particularly the one I was assigned.

I requested a referral to a civilian practice during my first appointment but was informed that as an active duty service member, I could not be seen off-installation. Had I been the wife of a service member, I could have enrolled in Tricare Select to see an in-network obstetrician of my choice. But by law, active duty members must enroll in Tricare Prime, and Prime must direct referrals to local military installations when care there is available. I was stuck.

Unfortunately, I started experiencing worsening complications over several weeks  spotting, then bleeding, then passing clots  all dismissed as normal pregnancy symptoms. At 17 weeks, after waking up in soaked bedding, my trip to the base emergency room ended with me being kicked out. The ER doctor neither took my concerns seriously nor followed medical protocol to test for amniotic fluid. On follow-up, the OB counseled me against crying wolf and even wrote in my record that my water did not break  without ever conducting an exam.

Eight days later, my husband drove me an hour away to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center as I bled through my pants. The OB team there rushed down to the ER and immediately found there was zero amniotic fluid around my daughter. My water had broken a week prior. Three days shy of 20 weeks, her cord prolapsed, and I was given no choice but to wait for the pressure on the cord to claim her life.

I felt the moment she died. I didnt need doctors to check, but they did. Her heart was silent.

After 17 hours of labor, I delivered my perfect little girl, Liliana. Her life had been claimed, in part, by delayed and inadequate care. The Tricare Prime system which held me hostage to limited options became complicit in her death. I will forever wonder if getting a referral off-installation could have altered the outcome  if other physicians or better equipment would have detected the placental abruption in time to give her a fighting chance.

Liliana Beatrice Rebhi's headstone at Arlington National Cemetery. (Rebhi family)

Unfortunately, my experience is not an anomaly. Multiple studies indicate there is a larger number of obstetric complications at military hospitals compared to civilian care. Tricares own surveys consistently show dissatisfaction with on-base obstetric care, and less than half of 2,000 postpartum women would not be willing to recommend a military hospital to family or friends.

With over 222,000 women in active service (nearly 18% of the force) and around 12,000 babies born each year to active duty women, the implication of these studies is critical, given the confinement of obstetric care to the base.

Military hospitals have the right of first refusal (ROFR), which allows them to decide whether to treat a patient or send them to an in-network Tricare provider instead. While the policy can enhance the military medical education program, hone military providers skills, optimize clinics and contain health care costs, it does not prioritize womens care and denies active duty women options for care.

In fact, the military hospitals purpose is to ensure active duty readiness for military contingency operations, and Tricare Primes purpose is to support the operation of the military hospital. This system makes sense for most active duty medical care, but does it align with the unique needs of obstetric care?

Pregnant active duty women are automatically placed on limited duty and unable to deploy. Arguably, obstetric care has little to do with readiness for military contingency operations. Certainly, exceptions exist, such as for women who voluntarily pursue waivers to continue flying. In these cases, obstetric care should remain under the care of the military hospital. This is fitting to their personal choice and the military hospitals purpose. However, given that active duty women have higher risks of preterm labor, intrauterine fetal death, and postpartum hemorrhage, women should otherwise have the autonomy to choose the obstetric care setting that best suits their needs.

Women comprise the fastest-growing demographic in the DOD and represent a higher percentage of the recruitable population, so reproductive healthcare is critical to recruitment and retention. In fact, the federally funded think tank Rand Corp. recommends addressing miscarriage rates among active duty women and improving standards of care to better meet womens health care needs.

Yet evidence of substandard obstetric care and gaps in research on womens health is a significant bulwark to overcome. Until such inadequacies are fully addressed, women in service should have more options for their obstetric care.

Fortunately, Tricare referral management already has a procedure to waive the ROFR. I have successfully received this waiver of ROFR for my subsequent pregnancies due to the circumstances of my first. However, a woman should not have to first lose a child for her referral request to be granted.

The ROFR waiver should be accessible and available without question to any woman in service who requests a referral off-installation for her obstetric care. When a woman signs up to defend her countrys freedoms, she should not be sacrificing her own freedom in pregnancy care decisions. Until such changes are made, the consequences of the current military health system and the autonomy forfeiture it forces can have tragic consequences, as I am all too familiar.

Amanda Rebhi is an active duty major in the U.S. Air Force, a 2024 strategic communication fellow at George Mason University and Lilianas mother. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not represent the views of the U.S. Air Force or DOD.
Triple shooting kills one and injures two early Thursday in Kansas City, Kansas

One man died and two were injured following a shooting early Thursday in Kansas City, Kansas.

Officers responded around 12:47 a.m. to the 1700 block of Cleveland Avenue, where they found three men who had been shot, according to Officer Jovanna Cheatum, a spokesperson for the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department.

One of the men, who police found outside a residence, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The other two victims were taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries.

The KCKPD major case unit is investigating the homicide. Police ask anyone with information to call the anonymous TIPS Hotline at 816-474-8477.
In the fall of 1986, divestment was a hot topic on the campus of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. The university endowment board had already pulled funds from companies doing substantial business with the all-white apartheid government of South Africa, but student and faculty groups demanded a complete divestment.

At the time, the university had invested about $7.5 million of its $100 million endowment in businesses with economic ties to South Africa. A year later, following ongoing student pressure, the UNC board agreed to sell the rest of its stock of companies that conducted business in the country.

Today, Pro-Palestinian advocates  at UNC and colleges nationwide  call for colleges to similarly divest from Israel amid the Israel-Hamas war. However, significant shifts in endowment management over the past 40 years make it much harder for the public  and even the universities themselves  to know precisely where endowment investments go.

I dont think you could get that fact today, said Holden Thorp, who served as chancellor of UNC-Chapel Hill from 2008 to 2013.

Demonstrators occupy an encampment during a pro-Palestinian protest at UNC-Chapel Hill on Monday, April 29, 2024.

Since the 1980s, colleges have changed who invests their endowments and how. First, most large schools no longer manage endowments in-house but instead delegate this task to external firms. For example, the University of North Carolina System endowment is managed by a nonprofit called the UNC Management Company, which oversees more than $10.6 billion in the UNC Investment Fund.

Modern endowment managers embrace an investing approach known as the Yale Model, which emphasizes private market assets  including private equity, hedge funds, venture capital buyouts and private debt  in addition to traditional stock and bond holdings.

The whole idea behind the endowment model was that universities have infinite time horizon, and therefore they should be in assets that maximize return over much longer time periods, Thorp said.

Divesting from long-term assets is trickier. North Carolina State University spokesperson Mick Kulikowski said it would be very difficult to divest from a country or industry given the long-term duration of our portfolio and the highly diversified allocation of our portfolio.

Adding to the challenge: Private market investments operate with less transparency. At NC State, Kulikowski said, 75% of our long-term portfolio is invested in the UNC Investment Fund for which we do not have insight to individual allocations.

UNC management would know for sure if they owned any (Israel stocks) directly, said Brad Briner, a UNC Board of Trustees member who is running for state treasurer as a Republican and opposes the current divestment calls. What they would not know is if one of their hedge funds owns them or trades them. The hedge fund wont tell them. Its part of trade secrets, according to that group.

Story continues

Interim Chancellor Lee Roberts and police officers work to rehang an American flag after it was brought down by demonstrators and replaced with a Palestinian flag Tuesday, April 30, 2024 at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Universities could place restrictions on how asset managers can invest, like banning certain industries or countries, but the most reputable funds may balk at these terms says Greg Brown, a finance professor at the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School.

A top venture capital fund would probably not take a restriction that would prevent them from being able to make an investment on say an Israeli tech startup or something like that, Brown said. Then there is a further complication of disentangling what constitutes an economic link to any given country in a global digital economy.

Investing in difficult-to-track assets is a conscious decision, Thorp points out, one universities take to maximize returns. They could stop doing this, but it would mean accepting less. When UNC, Duke University and many other colleges sold off stock with South Africa ties in the 1980s, they had a clearer sense of how these actions linked to the nation they were protesting.

NC Reality Check is an N&O series holding those in power accountable and shining a light on public issues that affect the Triangle or North Carolina. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email realitycheck@newsobserver.com
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  Police are investigating an east valley shooting that sent one man to the hospital Thursday morning and closed the westbound lanes of Tropicana Avenue at Nellis Boulevard.

According to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, just before 5 a.m. a ShotSpotter activation alerted officers gunshots were detected in the 4900 block of E. Tropicana.

Westbound E. Tropicana Ave. is closed at Nellis Blvd. for a shooting investigation on May 2, 2024. (Credit: RTC)

Officers found a man suffering from a gunshot wound. He was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
TROY, Ala (WDHN) A Troy man has been ordered to spend the rest of his life behind bars after pleading guilty to several charges, including rape.

Antonio Price was charged with one count of rape, unlawful inprisonment, and theft, all in the first degree.

Price pled guilty to the charges on Wednesday May 1, and Pike County Judge Shannon Clark sentenced him to life in prison.

District Attorney James Tarbox said in a release has Price gone to trial and been convicted, he would have face life without parole due to his past criminal history. The release did not go into detail on Prices past arrests.

The charges stemmed from an incidnt in August 2023.

According to DA Tarbox, Price was with a group of friends at the victims house on Mulberry Street in Troy when the victim decided to go to bed, assuming everyone would leave soon after. The victim later awoke in her bed with Price standing over her

DA Tarbox says Price then raped the woman and tied her to the bed before going outside and stealing her car.

The victim was able to break free from the ties and went to a neighbors house to call police. DNA evidence was later taken during a sexual assault exam at the hospital, which matched Price.

I appreciate the work of the Troy Police Department and the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences in investigating this matter. The plea by Defendant Price ensures that our victim is protected from having to relive this awful matter in public, and it also ensures that Defendant Price will serve a substantial amount of prison time, said DA Tarbox in a statement. Our office will appear at any future parole hearings for Defendant Price and work to ensure that Life means Life and that he deserves to be incarcerated for the rest of his life for the actions for which he has now pled guilty.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WDHN - wdhn.com.
Trumps alleged gag order violations in hush money trial were response to insults, his lawyer says

NEW YORK  A judge considered holding Donald Trump in contempt yet again on Thursday for more potential gag order violations as his hush money trial resumed in Manhattan.

Before jurors took their seats for the day, state Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan heard arguments from prosecutors and the former presidents attorneys concerning four more instances of Trump publicly commenting on witnesses and jurors in the case.

Prosecutor Chris Conroy said Trump should be fined another $4,000 for public remarks he made about the jury and witnesses like David Pecker and his former fixer, Michael Cohen.

But Trumps lawyer Todd Blanche said his client had not willfully violated the order and was defending himself against criticism as a presidential candidate. He said constant taunts by Cohen, like recently calling Trump Von Sh--zInPantz, were essentially daring him to respond.

On Tuesday, the judge imposed $9,000 in sanctions for similar comments Trump made and reposted in nine offending Truth Social posts. Merchan did not immediately rule on the latest alleged violations but sounded unconvinced by arguments by Trumps lawyer, Todd Blanche, defending his comments about the jury.

After the hearing, attorney Keith Davidson continued testifying about the hush money he negotiated for his clients Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal on the eve of the 2016 election. The Los Angeles lawyer repped the two women as they mulled coming forward with allegations of extramarital trysts with Trump early into his marriage to Melania.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felonies alleging he repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to cover up reimbursement to his former fixer for a hush-money scheme to hide damaging information from the voting public in 2016. Trump denies the affairs or that he did anything illegal.

Davidson in shock over Trump White House win: What have we done?

Davidsons descriptions of his chaotic eleventh-hour negotiations with Cohen to buy Daniels silence on the eve of the election stood in contrast to team Trumps position that efforts to silence the women were executed to protect his reputation and his family rather than win him the election.

Prosecutors displayed a text Davidson sent Dylan Howard, the former editor-in-chief of the National Enquirer, the night Trump was elected, reading,

What have we done?

Oh my god, Howard replied.

Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass asked Davidson what he meant.

This was, eh, this was sort of gallows humor. It was on election night as the results were coming in. There was sort of surprise among the broadcasters and others that Donald Trump was leading in the polls and  there was a growing sense that folks were about ready to call the election, Davidson said.

I think that there was an understanding that  our activities may have in some way assisted the presidential campaign of Donald Trump.

Davidson Tuesday walked the jury through how he helped negotiate a $150,000 payment for McDougal and $130,000 for Daniels story in the months and days before the election.

The attorney said the McDougal payment came after he tipped off Howard about her allegations of a monthslong affair with Trump around 2006 and that they inked the deal in August 2016 with the understanding that her story would never be published.

The lawyer testified that a deal reached between the supermarket tabloid, and Daniels fell apart in the weeks ahead of the election, with David Pecker, the head of its parent company, American Media Inc., worrying an association with a porn star could hurt his brand.

Davidson said that left him forced to deal directly with Cohen, Trumps fixer.

When the lawyer returned to the stand Thursday, prosecutors displayed a copy of the finalized agreement with Daniels, which he said was for attorneys eyes only. It included Trumps name, with an earlier version referring to him and Daniels under pseudonyms.

Davidson describes Trump fixer as suicidal after 2016 election

Davidson said Cohen  who hes described as a pants on fire kind of guy  became increasingly frantic after the election when his boss still hadnt paid him back for paying Daniels $130,000 to stay silent.

Recalling a phone call he received from Cohen in December 2016, Davidson said Trumps then-personal lawyer sounded depressed and despondent, later saying he sounded suicidal.

Jesus Christ. Can you f--king believe Im not going to Washington after everything Ive done for that f--king guy? I cant believe Im not going to Washington. Ive saved that guys ass so many times you dont even know, Davidson quoted Cohen.

Davidson, who rejected descriptions of the payments to his clients as hush money  preferring a consideration  said he was in an impossible position by January 2017, when Cohen, enraged by articles including Daniels allegations, wanted Daniels to deny rumors Trump cheated on his wife with her, and his client wanted to talk.

Jurors saw a flurry of texts Cohen sent Daniels lawyer in rapid fire when she appeared on Jimmy Kimmel that month and claimed it wasnt her signature on a statement denying an encounter with Trump.

Cohen can be a very aggressive guy, aggressive in his pursuits to protect his client, Davidson testified when asked by Steinglass whether he ever threatened to sue Daniels  recalling Trumps fixer threatening to rain legal hell down upon her.

Dont f--k with us. You dont know who youre f--king with, he quoted him.

Davidson later testified that Cohen would ask him to pen a statement to then-CNN anchor Chris Cuomo claiming Cohen had paid off Daniels, not Trump. Trumps side has previously claimed that Cohen went rogue in paying off the porn star.

Trump, wearing a navy blue suit to court and a yellow tie, reclined back in his chair at the defense table as jurors listened to the testimony.

Prosecutors want more sanctions

Conroy alleged Trump had sought to infect and disrupt the proceedings by his repeated remarks, which he said included comments just hours before the last contempt hearing on Tuesday. Merchan at the time said further violations could result in jail.

Its not just any jurors, its these jurors in this case who are going to be sitting here in a few minutes, Conroy said, citing comments disseminated by Trump claiming the jury was picked so fast, 95% Democrats.

By talking about the jury at all, he places this process and this proceeding here in jeopardy.

Mechan imposed a gag order before the trial started prohibiting Trump from making public statements  or directing others to  about trial participants, later expanding it to include the judge and District Attorney Alvin Braggs relatives in light of Trumps history of threatening, inflammatory, denigrating comments about people involved in his myriad cases.

Describing other comments Trump made about key witness David Pecker calling him a nice guy  as deliberate and calculated, Conroy asked the judge to reject the ex-presidents claims that his remarks were innocuous, calling them deliberate shots across the bow.

Conroy said the prosecution was not yet requesting the judge jail Trump for repeatedly violating his order in the interest of efficiency and not bogging down the trial.

Blanche said his client had not willfully violated the order and was defending himself against criticism as a presidential candidate. He said constant taunts by Cohen, like recently calling Trump Von ShzInPantz, were essentially daring him to respond.

Blanche also cited President Bidens remarks about the trial at the White House Correspondents Dinner, which mentioned Trump facing stormy weather, which he called an obvious reference to Stormy Daniels.

He cant just say no comment repeatedly. Hes running for president, Blanche said.

Merchan said nothing in the gag order prevented Trump from responding to the president. He did not indicate when he would rule on the prosecutions request.

-------
A leading contender for Donald Trumps national security adviser has accused Lord Cameron of panda hugging China and says he would rather work with Labour than the Conservatives.

Elbridge Colby, who worked for the US defence department in the first Trump administration, also criticised the former prime minister for lecturing Americans and for foreign interference in their political system over funding for Ukraine.

In contrast, Mr Colby held a meeting with David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, as part of Sir Keir Starmers recent charm offensive with Trump allies and concluded that they share a compatible vision.

Mr Colby, who runs a foreign policy think tank, was a vocal critic of the $61 billion aid package for Ukraine passed by Congress last month despite steadfast opposition from many Republicans.

The funding was supported by the UK Government and endorsed by Lord Cameron who made a personal trip to Congress and visited with Mr Trump at his Mar-a-Lago home ahead of the vote.

Astounding intervention

In an interview with Politico, Mr Colby described the Foreign Secretarys trips as an astounding intervention into the American system, I mean, talk about foreign interference.

He added: Cameron finds every opportunity to come and moralise to the Americans after he was responsible for cutting the British military and the panda hug of China in the early 2010s. So its really the height of audacity for such a person to be coming and lecturing us.

During his time as Prime Minister between 2010 and 2016, Lord Cameron hosted Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, for a friendly pint in a pub and encouraged closer political and economic ties between the two countries.

Mr Colby is a longstanding critic of China and, as a frontrunner for national security adviser, he could become an influential voice on foreign policy in the White House should Mr Trump win Novembers presidential election.

This year could also see a change in Downing Street and Mr Colby welcomed the prospect of working with Mr Lammy.

Lammy preferable to Cameron

He told Politico: Based on what I can see, David Lammy is far preferable to David Cameron, obviously. I mean absolutely.

Lammy is laying out a more compatible vision to what people like me are talking about, which is an increase in defence, spending more of a UK focus on Europe. Id rather have a lot less talk and haranguing and more delivery.

The Telegraph revealed last week how Sir Keirs efforts to curry favour with Trump world are being spearheaded by Mr Lammy.

Since being appointed to the shadow cabinet role in 2021, Mr Lammy has been to the US six times.

In addition to Mr Colby, he has met with Mr Trumps former national security duo, Robert OBrien and Matt Pottinger.

Mr Colby also criticised the levels of Britains defence spending despite Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks recent commitment to raising it from two to 2.5 per cent of GDP.

Fake accounting trickery

He said: The Poles are going to four percent defence spending, including over a transition of government.

Britain is giving us this fake accounting trickery and then yet coming in and haranguing us.

On wider relations between the two countries, he added: You just need a lot more realism in the UK Government. I find the gap between British conservatives and American conservatives must be at an all-time high. Maybe going back to, I dont know, 1812.

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.
Two Donald Trump-appointed federal judges handed down a ruling Tuesday that would block Louisiana from using a newly authorized voter map that established an additional majority-Black district. The judges decision forbids Louisiana from using the map in this falls elections  a potential boon for Republicans, who hold a slim majority in the House of Representatives.

Black Louisianans and a number of civil rights organizations have already filed an appeal to the Supreme Court. And Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, a Republican, told the USA Today Network, We will of course be seeking (Supreme Court) review, adding, Ive said all along the Supreme Court needs to clear this up.

 NEW: Black intervenors in the Louisiana racial gerrymandering case have filed their notice appealing yesterday's ruling on the congressional map to SCOTUS. https://t.co/h8dlPubE6f pic.twitter.com/k98ITgT9Rg  Michael Li  (@mcpli) May 1, 2024

The 2-1 decision out of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana effectively undercuts a previous federal court ruling that found that a map proposed by the state Legislature unlawfully diluted Black voter power. Or put another way: It was effectively racist. The states Republican governor even signed off on the new map, over some objections from the far right.

Tuesdays ruling deploys a perverse logic to claim that establishing another majority-Black voter district to correct this racist wrong was itself a violation of laws designed to protect people from ... racist voter dilution. The two Trump-appointed judges argued that Louisianas new map violated a clause in the 14th Amendment that guarantees equal protection under the Constitution. It's worth noting that the 14th Amendment was used to give voting rights to formerly enslaved Black folks and others whod been deliberately disenfranchised.

The conservative justices argument is a tired rehash of right-wing arguments against affirmative action: that things done to remedy racist harms are inherently racist because they take race into consideration.

For example, the justices wrote:

It stands to reason that a clear attempt to dilute Black voters' representation  as the map initially proposed by Louisiana Republicans did  would require, in response, taking race into consideration to empower those voters. But not according to District Judges Robert Summerhays and David Joseph.

This is just the latest example of right-wing judges putting their thumbs on the scale for Republicans in the lead-up to the 2024 elections. Clearly, Republicans would want all the help they can get to maintain, if not grow, their House majority. State-level Republican lawmakers and their ideological kin on state and federal benches seem happy to oblige. Unless the conservative-packed Supreme Court steps in, Louisiana is set to join South Carolina and Florida as states using maps previously deemed racist by federal or state courts.

And this kind of blatant illiberalism poses a legitimacy crisis for American electoral politics. When scores of Black people are voting in districts that have been gerrymandered to dilute their power, our elections cannot possibly be considered free or fair.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
Donald Trump attorney Alina Habba is getting mocked on social media for some over-the-top praise of the former president.

Theres literally nobody tougher or more energetic than President Trump, I can tell you that, she recently told Eric Bolling of Newsmax. Im pretty sure if it was me Id be resting.

Theres just one problem with her claim: Trump has, by most accounts, been resting.

A lot.

Reporters at his criminal trial in the Stormy Daniels hush money case say Trump keeps falling asleep during the proceedings, with MSNBCs Lisa Rubin saying his attorneys are even trying different tricks to keep the former president awake, but to no avail.

Trump may not be quite as tough as Habba thinks, either: The former president has repeatedly complained that hes cold in court, and his attorneys have asked the judge to turn up the heat.

Habba is not representing Trump in the hush money case but is frequently on TV defending the former president.

Critics fired back on X, formerly Twitter:

Even Kim Jong Un doesnt expect this level of sycophantic nonsense https://t.co/VaZXIRou1o  Spiros Ghost (@AntiToxicPeople) May 2, 2024

That's - literally - an incorrect use of the word "literally."  The Shallow State (@OurShallowState) May 2, 2024

Trump has spent the last 2 weeks complaining about being cold and falling asleep in court.



But sure, go on TV and talk about how tough and energetic he is.



Considering she has made millions losing court cases for him, its the least she could do. https://t.co/aoqdi0OaLp  Peter Henlein (@SwissWatchGuy) May 2, 2024

The guy sleeping during trial?  The Saurus (@TheSaurus831) May 2, 2024

Alina needs to read @MerriamWebster to get a clear grasp of the term literally. https://t.co/M1ZP4DfyDY  Mz. Cabibi (@SoulofDemocracy) May 2, 2024
Trump claims US is headed for its own October 7 attack in anti-migrant rally speech

Donald Trump has claimed that the US is heading for its own October 7 style attack, in a fiercely anti-immigration campaign speech at a rally in Wisconsin on his day off from court.

The former president, speaking in the battleground state on Wednesday, told supporters that President Joe Biden was planning to bring massive numbers of Gazan people from the Middle East to towns across the nation.

He said that Mr Biden was determined to create the conditions of an attack, similar to that which occurred in Israel last year, which has since sparked a vicious and ongoing conflict.

On October 7 2023 militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in Southern Israel, abducting around 250 hostages. Israel says the militants are still holding around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others.

More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed so far in the conflict, according to local health officials, with around 80 per cent of Gazas population of 2.3 million driven from their homes.

The former president told supporters in Wisconsin that the Biden adminstration was planning to bring massive numbers of people from the Middle East to towns across America (AP)

During the rally, Mr Trump claimed that thousands of refugees from the Middle East, including Gaza, would soon be brought to the US.

It should be no surprise that in addition to the millions and millions of people invading our country from the border, crooked Joe is now reportedly planning  this is wonderful news for young people in Wisconsin  to bring massive numbers of Gazans from the Middle East to your American towns, your towns and villages, he told supporters

Your towns and villages will now be accepting people from Gaza. Lots of people from Gaza and various other places, Yemen, lots of other places.

Joe Biden seems determined to create the conditions for an October 7 style attack right here in America. Its gonna happen with all of these people coming in from the southern border.

It comes after reports that the Biden administration is considering bringing certain Palestinians to the US as refugees, in order to offer a permanent safe haven to some of those fleeing the embattled territory.

According to internal federal government documents obtained by CBS News, several federal US agencies have discussed the practicality of different options to resettle Palestinians from Gaza who have immediate family members who are US citizens or permanent residents.

At a campaign rally in Wisconsin on Wednesday Mr Trump railed against all forms of immigration (AP)

The White House has not commented publicly on such plans.

In Wisconsin on Wednesday, Mr Trump continued to rail against all forms of immigration, telling crowds Were a country thats so troubled and that a thing like that could happen, they will be impossible to vet and as a result of chain migration the numbers will quickly explode beyond your control.

Its going to be out of control because under chain migration, they can bring everybody they ever touched.

He added: Under no circumstances shall we bring thousands of refugees from Hamas-controlled terrorist epicenters like Gaza to America. We just cant do it.

You know we also have to run our country. And its nice to be nice, its nice to be good. But weve got to run our country.
NEW YORK  The jury in Donald Trumps criminal trial on Thursday were introduced to a coterie of 2010-era celebrities that included Tila Tequila, Charlie Sheen, Lindsay Lohan, and Hulk Hogan. It came as attorneys for Trump sought to discredit the latest witness for the prosecution.

That list of celebrities is also a partial list of parties with which that witness dealt in his capacity as an attorney to porn stars, sex tape bearers, and many others. The witness was Keith Davidson, the Los Angeles attorney who represented Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal as they negotiated hush money agreements with Trump in the run-up to the 2016 election.

Davidson testified as a prosecution witness on Tuesday and for several hours into Thursday, presenting himself as a surprisingly boring attorney focused on representing the discrete interests of his clients, regardless of who they may be. The result was to set up some key moments in the prosecutions story which Michael Cohen is best positioned to describe in detail. (The ex-presidents former fixer is expected to testify, potentially in the coming days.)

During cross-examination on Thursday, Trump attorney Emil Bove placed demolition charges around the dull image of Davidson that the prosecution had managed to build.

Bove cast Davidson as a serial extortionist who made coercion of the rich and famous his business model, with Trump as a victim whose status as a presidential candidate in 2016 made him uniquely vulnerable.

Its a clear bid by the defense to muddy the waters. Trump faces felony charges of falsifying business records in furtherance of a campaign finance conspiracy; Bove elicited hours of testimony from Davidson about his work as an attorney negotiating catch-and-kill agreements and about the manner in which he approached Trump representatives about the McDougal and Daniels stories.

The result was a heap of lurid detail that succeeded in damaging whatever credibility Davidsons professional demeanor had established over his two days of testimony.

Take the audio of one phone call that Bove played towards the end of his cross-examination of Davidson. Michael Cohen made the recording in April 2018 during a call with Davidson in which the latter complained about Stormy Daniels.

She wanted this money more than you could ever imagine, Davidson said on the recording, played for the gallery. I remember hearing her on the phone, you fucking Keith Davidson, you better settle this goddamn story, because if he loses this election, and hes going to lose, if he loses this election, we lose all fucking leverage. This case is worth zero.'

Bove had been trying to reframe the period in October 2016 when Davidson was prodding Cohen  and Trump, by extension  to transfer the hush money payment to Stormy Daniels. Boves counter-narrative insinuated that Davidson had to prod Cohen not because Donald Trump, notorious cheapskate, refused to pay for his own hush money deal, but because Davidson and his clients leverage to extort was at its peak in the immediate weeks before the election.

Much of the questioning also sought to turn the tables, repositioning Davidson and Cohen as defendants, with Bove leading the examination. Davidson, Bove said, had led a life of extortion as an attorney, securing agreements to suppress or sell rights to various seamy stories including a Tila Tequila sex tape, allegations around Charlie Sheen, a theft relating to Lindsay Lohans rehab records, and the Hulk Hogan-Gawker imbroglio.

Its a familiar theme for the defense, and one weve hit on repeatedly in our coverage of the trial. Why hold Trump accountable for this if everyone else in his world is filthy, and potentially deserving of prosecution themselves?

The idea takes aim at the concept of accountability, and also seeks to wear down jurors who are being asked to distinguish between the specific set of allegations  that Trump falsified business records while reimbursing Michael Cohen for the Stormy Daniels payment as part of a campaign finance conspiracy  and the tidal wave of muck Bove has unleashed.

Davidson did struggle during cross-examination by Bove. At one point, Bove questioned Davidson about an extortion investigation regarding Charlie Sheen, asking if he had sought to extract money from the celebrity.

Bove, a Georgetown Law graduate and former federal prosecutor, said to Davidson, look, were both lawyers. Im not here to play lawyer games with you. Im just here to ask you questions and get truthful answers.

After a brief exchange, Davidson growled back: If youre not here to play legal games, then dont say extract.'

At another point, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass, on redirect, played another recording that Cohen secretly made of a 2018 conversation with Davidson.

This hewed closely to the allegation that Trump directed the hush money scheme  central to the prosecutions claim that Trump was then forced to reimburse his attorney.

I cant even tell you how many times he said to me, you know, I hate the fact that we did it,' Cohen said on the recording.

Davidson testified that he understood Cohen to be referring to Trump himself.
If a U.S. Rep. Donald Jones (hes fictitious) was on trial for falsifying business records to hide a payment to a mistress to keep quiet about an affair before a 2016 election, he would have already had his trial, been convicted, and served his time in prison.

And if during this fabricated pols trial, he violated gag orders by trashing the case, vilifying the judge, threatening witnesses, and all other manner of gag-worthy gag order violations, the judge would have thrown him in jail. Jones would have learned a hard lesson about keeping his mouth shut.

My fictitious Joness seedy scenario is steeped in the reality of how our criminal justice system should work. Were all getting a continued lesson on how it should not work with the on-again, off-again, on-again trial of former President Donald Trump for paying off his alleged mistress to keep quiet about an affair before the 2016 presidential election and faking business records to make the payment look like a legitimate expense.

In short order , we all know what happened. Trump became president. The feds began an investigation and charged Trump fixer Michael Cohen, who pleaded guilty to the payoffs of Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal and went to prison. Trump was as an unindicted, unnamed co-conspirator.

Former Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance started an investigation. In 2018, Vance declined to run again, current DA Alvin Bragg was elected, and before he left office, Vance inexplicably decided not to bring charges against Trump. Vances two top prosecutors resigned in protest. One wrote a tell-all book about Vances decision.

Bragg then picked up the dormant case. Trump was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury in March of 2023. Trump initiated delay tactics, stalling the trial. And here we are today, May of 2024, and the trial has begun  nearly eight years after the fact.

Do you think my fictitious Jones would have been able to delay and elongate this storyline?

We can all call B.S. on the axiom that under the eyes of the law, everyone is treated equally. Its a load of crap, and Trump knows it and exploits it. Im not even going to get into the three other impending trials that are turtling their way toward their start dates  if they ever start. Trump is being treated differently, always has been, but even more so since hes become an ex-president. Its not a surprise, but its disappointing how shy those who are in charge are toward bringing down Trump.

Its time for that to come to some sort of conclusion  even symbolically. Trumps hush money judge, Juan Merchan, is in the perfect position to demonstrate that he wont be insidiously intimidated by Trump  and Trumps position as a former president with a horrid cult following.

Merchan did the requisite minimum this week when he fined Trump $9,000 for repeatedly violating the judges gag order. Thats a drop in the bucket for Trump, even if hes not the billionaire he pretends to be. After he recognized Trumps First Amendment rights, Merchan wrote, Defendant is hereby warned that the Court will not tolerate continued willful violations of its lawful orders and that if necessary and appropriate under the circumstances, it will impose an incarceratory punishment.

That means that Merchan will throw Trump in jail if he continues to violate the gag order. And sure enough, Trump took to that spitoon of social waste, Truth Social, and spit out this tortured snootful of snuff:

This Judge has taken away my Constitutional Right to FREE SPEECH. I am the only Presidential Candidate in History to be GAGGED. This whole 'Trial' is RIGGED, and by taking away my FREEDOM OF SPEECH, THIS HIGHLY CONFLICTED JUDGE IS RIGGING THE PRESIDENTIAL OF 2024 ELECTION. ELECTION INTERFERENCE!!!

Does anyone else agree that reading this is comparable to sticking your fingers down your throat? I cant think of anything more gag-worthy than GAGGED, RIGGED, CONFLICTED. Therefore, Merchan needs to quit playing games with Trump, stop treating him differently than he would my phony Jones, and put Trump in jail.

Everyone talks about why that would be such a bad idea. First, some say, mainly Trump, that it would start riots in the streets. Really? Each day outside of the Manhattan courthouse where the hush money trial has been taking place, theres been a dozen  or fewer  protesters outside supporting Trump. Trumps been lying online, saying there have been massive crowds outside, but thats not the case  at all.

Many of his supporters have seen how guilty insurrectionists have gone to jail (because they are being treated like everyone else who breaks the law), so the MAGA crows are not in a hurry to flood the streets if he goes to jail  because they will go to prison.

Sure, there might be pockets of uprising here and there that rage on Trumps behalf  but that should not even be a consideration when considering whether to jail Trump for violating a gag order.

Others, mainly Trump, say he will be a victim if jailed, and that victimization will be a catalyst supporting his campaign. I beg to differ. Before he was justly made to pay tens of millions of dollars for slandering E. Jean Carroll and hundreds of millions of dollars in fines to New York State for the dirty deeds of the Trump Organization, some pundits said that the overkill on the fees would create sympathy for Trump. Does anyone believe that happened?

Jailing or not jailing Trump has nothing to do with this election. Its about him breaking the law. If Trump violates the gag order again  as he did this week  Judge Merchan must commence the incarceration process. Another fine will be treated as a joke by Trump and as a nondeterrent. No lessons will be learned.

If Trump is put in jail, the majority of Americans will understand that he pushed the judge too far, that he didnt do what he was told, that he broke the law. It will demonstrate that Trump isnt above the law. Its high time that Trump is treated like an ordinary citizen. Then, there'll be no need to create a fictitious Jones.

John Casey is a senior editor for The Advocate.

Views expressed in The Advocates opinion articles are those of the writers and do not necessarily represent the views of The Advocate or our parent company, equalpride.
JEA interim CEO Vickie Cavey, seated between board members Bobby Stein and John Baker, speaks to the audience at a special meeting when the board picked her to replace Jay Stowe as CEO.

An initial draft contract for hiring Vickie Cavey as JEA's top executive showed a three-year term and a $575,000 salary for her employment, but that contract did not come up during the April 15 special meeting when the board hired her as interim CEO.

The board left up in the air how long she will serve in that role, what her compensation will be, and what plan the board will use to search for the next CEO of the agency that provides electric and water service to several hundred thousand customers.

The Florida Times-Union made a public records request on April 12 for any contracts, including in draft form, for hiring someone to replace Jay Stowe as CEO. JEA provided the draft employment agreement to the Times-Union on Monday that showed potential terms for hiring Cavey.

The utility's human resources department drafted the contract for Cavey's employment after Stowe told board members he intended to resign as CEO. He had lead the agency since late 2020.

Cavey has been working since the April 15 board meeting as interim CEO without an employment agreement. The board had hired her on March 26 as a board advisor for a term of up to six months at a compensation rate of $200 per hour. She has continued to work under that professional services contract until the board reaches an agreement with her on terms of her employment as interim CEO.

The draft contract showed a three-year term for Cavey to be CEO without "interim" in the title. However, the board decided to hire her as interim CEO. Cavey did not see the draft agreement, according to a summary JEA gave on the background of the draft contract.

An agreement for employing her as interim CEO could be different when the board votes at a future meeting on a contract with her.

Cavey retired from JEA in 2016 after working 32 years for the utility. She came out of retirement in 2020 when the board brought back former CEO Paul McElroy to serve as interim CEO. She was special assistant to McElroy during his time as interim CEO.

McElroy's contract as interim CEO was for a six-month term and the board simultaneously started a national search for a CEO that resulted in hiring Stowe in November 2020.

When the JEA board hired McElroy as interim CEO in May 2020, board members said they could only employ him as a full-time employee for six months while he continued to draw his pension from his previous service at JEA. After the six-month period, McElroy would have had to revert to being a part-time employee.

The model of hiring an interim CEO while embarking on a search is typically how agencies handle that kind of transition. The Jacksonville Housing Authority also named an interim CEO after the recent departure of its CEO and the housing authority is moving towards conducting a national search for that position.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Records reveal JEA draft agreement for new CEO hire
Donald Trump still cant give a straight answer on whether hed accept the results if he loses the election.



In an interview with the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Wednesday, the former president said hed only accept a loss in Novembers presidential election if everythings honest.



If everythings honest, Id gladly accept the results, Trump said. If its not, you have to fight for the right of the country. But if everythings honest, which we anticipate it will bea lot of changes have been made over the last few yearsbut if everythings honest, I will absolutely accept the results.

Thats a big caveat, leaving him plenty of wiggle room to claim dishonesty! if Joe Biden gets more votes. Trump has never said that hed accept election results where he didnt win. In 2016, he complained of a rigged election in August, which he would repeat often on the campaign trail, and then just weeks before Novembers election, he again claimed hed accept the results if I win.

In 2020, Trump didnt concede in his loss to Biden and fought the results every step of the way, from his lawyers attempting fake elector schemes to arguably inciting an insurrection at the Capitol building on the day the countrys election results were certified. Trumps refusal to acknowledge his election loss spawned what is known as the Big Lie: that he was the legitimate winner in 2020 and the election was stolen from him. Many of his faithful supporters still believe it in earnest.



Trumps historical and recent comments do not bode well for November. He has hinted at another insurrection attempt if he loses, and he still hasnt faced consequences for his last attempt, thanks to the Supreme Court. The far right has signaled its willingness to react with violence, including even some politicians. Whether Trump wins or loses, the scenarios dont look good.


Two days after a judge slapped Donald Trump with a $9,000 fine for violating a gag order, the former president faces a new contempt hearing Thursday over four more comments that prosecutors claim also breached the order intended to stop him from attacking jurors, witnesses, and others connected to his hush money trial.

The four alleged violations happened before Judge Juan Merchan warned Tuesday that the court will not tolerate continued willful violations of its lawful orders and would, if necessary, impose an incarceratory punishment. Prosecutors are asking for a new $4,000 fine$1,000 for each alleged breachthough its not yet clear when Merchan will rule on the issue.

Donald Trump Piles on Hush-Money Judge After Jail Time Warning

On the weekly day-long break from the trial Wednesday, Trump wheeled out a favorite insult to publicly criticize Merchan. There is no crime. I have a crooked judge, Trump told supporters at a rally in Wisconsin. Hes a totally conflicted judge.

As well as the new contempt hearing, well also be hearing more testimony Thursday from Keith Davidson, the attorney who represented two women who claimed to have had affairs with Trump (which Trump denies): Playboy model Karen McDougal and porn star Stormy Daniels.

The prosecution claims that hush-money payments were used to bury embarrassing stories about Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign. Last week, former AMI chief and National Enquirer publisher David Pecker testified about the so-called catch and kill scheme used to stop the sordid stories from coming to lighta fear that was exacerbated by the emergence of the Access Hollywood tape in which Trump boasted about groping women.

Michael Cohen, Trumps onetime lawyer and personal fixer, paid Daniels $130,000 to keep her claims of a 2006 affair with Trump under wraps. When Trumps company reimbursed Cohen, the prosecution claims the former president falsified business records to hide the purpose of the payment. Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts.

Davidson on Tuesday told jurors about how the deals came to be and explained that Cohen initially didnt make the Daniels payment. When asked why he thought the payment was being delayed, Davidson said: I thought he was trying to kick the can down the road until after the election.

Its not yet clear when well be hearing from Cohen, a star witness for the prosecution.

The next big peak in this trial will be the appearance of Cohen, John Coffee, a professor at Columbia Law School, tells The Daily Beast. I think they want to put a number of witnesses on to make it all clear that Cohen is surrounded by a stream of players and hes just part of an assembly line. They dont want to give Cohen the ability to look like he could have made this all up.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Trump Gets Quick Lesson In Recent History After Awkward Error During Rally Rant

Donald Trump on Wednesday seemed to forget who was president in 2021 as he called on voters to remember better times.

Three years ago, we were a great nation, Trump said at a rally in Michigan during an off day in his criminal trial in the Stormy Daniels hush money case. And we will soon be a great nation again.

Trump also praised hard-working patriots, claimed the the nation is being laughed at around the world, and launched into his usual attacks on the media, globalists, the deep state, etc.

But it was his choice of three years ago as a measure of greatness that struck many as curious given that he wasnt president three years ago.

President Joe Biden had already been in office more than three months.

Biden by this point three years ago had signed dozens of executive orders reversing Trump policies, and signed into law the American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion stimulus package aimed at helping the nation out of the COVID-19 pandemic as vaccines became widely available.

Trump lost the 2020 election, and wasnt president three years ago  and his critics were quick to offer a history lesson:

Oh, look Trump is campaigning for Joe Biden.



Welcome to the resistance.  CB (@ConservBlue2020) May 1, 2024

Thats true. Trump had been voted out of office for 4 months. Thats how we made America great again. https://t.co/2y3Coqy3wv  Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) May 1, 2024

Donald Trump is really confused. He think he was still in office in mid-2021. If Joe Biden had said something similar, the media coverage would be breathless and merciless. But Old Man Trump says it and it's just shrugs all around. pic.twitter.com/0fVEiDWflp  Russell Drew (@RussOnPolitics) May 1, 2024

No wonder Trump is terrible in numbers. Now I can see why he always is in some type of fraud in all his business ventures.  DeBunk MAGAs (@DebunkM9790) May 1, 2024

Wow, hes actually right about something  Common Sense (@Cmmnsensedspnsr) May 1, 2024

Math Is Hard Ken https://t.co/GjkjMQtWsU  KevinlyFather  (@KevinlyFather) May 2, 2024

Holy shit he didnt lie for a change  my journey to prison will be bigly (@LetTheBirdDie) May 1, 2024

We werewe had just fired you https://t.co/rR9oiWzWhb  Puppy (@liberalpuppy) May 2, 2024

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Trump grumbled he needed more support at trial. Now his allies are showing up.

In the first two weeks of his hush money criminal trial, Trump largely sat alone, without allies, in a drab Manhattan courtroom. He listened to strangers deliver stinging criticism and former friends reveal unflattering details. And he grew frustrated, convinced his supporters could be doing more to help him.

He complained that no one is defending me, according to a source who is familiar with some of the former president's private conversations. He grumbled outside the courtroom that there were no protesters supporting him outside.

On Tuesday, there were signs that his allies are listening to his concerns.

Trumps son Eric Trump joined him in court  the first time a family member had appeared with him for the trial at 100 Centre St.

Also with him for the first time Tuesday were his strategist and de facto campaign chief Susie Wiles and longtime adviser Dan Scavino. Trumps legal strategist Boris Epshteyn was by his side two days last week. And Natalie Harp, a communications aide, has been present.

Two of Trump's higher profile surrogates also attended court  Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Club for Growth Chairman David McIntosh. After the trial, Paxton spoke to the press in Trump's defense.

Campaign staff will be mobilizing to Trumps side, the source said, traveling more frequently to New York as he ramps up his campaigning while out of court.

politics political politician (Eduardo Munoz / Pool/AFP - Getty Images)

Trump has complained for days that there were no protesters assembled outside the courthouse, blaming the lack of support on New York police  falsely asserting that protesters were being prohibited from gathering outside the building. (Police have set aside a designated zone across the street in a park for protesters.) On Tuesday, the largest crowd of Trump supporters yet assembled in the morning.

Trump's lawyers have appeared to adjust his courtroom optics, too. Trump now has a stack of papers before him, which he marks up during testimony and brings out to cite during remarks to the press. When lawyers huddle with the judge at the bench, one attorney often remains at the defense table so Trump isn't seen sitting alone  which some have said makes him look small.

Trumps allies in Washington have stepped up their efforts by going after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who brought the case against Trump and who has been spotted a few feet away from the former president in the courtroom.

Bill White, a Trump fundraiser, said he had reached out to the chairs of the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees urging them to do more to show support for Trump and defend him. He said he received a polite message from Judiciary Chair Jim Jordans office thanking him. Soon after, Jordan, R-Ohio, in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, attacked the prosecution as politicized and questioned the hiring of a former Justice Department prosecutor who now works for Bragg.

The people who arent defending him, were all watching that and remembering, White said. Anybody that endorsed President Trump should be out there every day defending him. And hes right to question why theyre not.

The source said Trump had praised Jordans efforts in recent days.

Some of his allies also say they're paying close attention.

Trump spokesman Steven Cheung, calling the case against the former president "partisan," said the show of support was because of the case.

"President Trump and his allies know the truth is on their side and they will fight these hoaxes at every turn," he said in a statement. "President Trumps supporters and allies are out in full force, including House leadership on Tuesday, battling against partisan, illegal warfare.

Robert Hirschhorn, a lawyer and trial consultant, said addressing the optics is important for Trump.

Here are the choices: One is he continues to be a grumpy old man, or he can do things to diffuse the jurys attention, said Hirschhorn, who helped select the jury in the Robert Durst case (of HBO's "The Jinx" fame) that ended in an acquittal. And somebody has got the message to him.

Hirschhorn pointed to the effect of having Eric there, and of Trump sitting up straight in court as ways to reframe the jurys perception. But theres more he could be doing, he said.

If this guy was smart, he would have this beautiful, smart, wife in court every day, Hirschhorn added. The fact that shes not there, that sends a message. You can do all that righteous indignation all day long, but youve got to walk the walk and talk the talk.

Hirschhorn said the recent flurry of family and aides and allies alongside Trump could be setting up a dynamic to help bolster his defense in the face of allegations of extramarital affairs.

Lets see if on Thursday theres another family member that shows up, he said. Because if Im his jury consultant, Im saying how do we convey to the jury that these people are not telling the truth: have your wife in the courtroom.

Trump has also appeared, at times, to be sleeping in the courtroom, an optic that could work against him with the jury if some begin to believe he isn't taking the case seriously or is wasting their time.

Giving Trump papers to read and notes to take may help offset that.

When you have a client on trial, its an extraordinarily stressful experience, said Tim Parlatore, an attorney who previously worked on Trumps defense team in the federal election interference case. And so you want to make sure that they are as comfortable as you can, within reason, because ultimately, the way that theyre sitting and what their demeanor is something that the jury sees.

Everything youre doing, the jury is watching, he added. Its smart tactics.

Trump is facing 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to payments that were made to adult film star Daniels during his 2016 presidential campaign. He has pleaded not guilty to all the counts.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Former President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at the end of the sixth day of his criminal trial at Manhattan criminal court on Thursday. Trump's trial is in its third week on charges he allegedly falsified business records to cover up a sex scandal during the 2016 presidential campaign. Pool photo by Doug Mills/UPI

May 2 (UPI) -- The sixth day of Donald Trump's hush money trial concluded Thursday with more testimony from the attorney of the two women at the center of the case.

Judge Juan Merchan did not issue a ruling on four allegations that Trump violated a gag order in the trial after he was fined for nine other violations earlier this week.

During the hearing, Merchan heard arguments focused on statements Trump made to reporters in the courthouse hallway referring to his former lawyer Michael Cohen, a witness in the case.

There are four new instances of alleged gag law violation, including two comments about Cohen, one about the jury and one about witness David Pecker

Prosecutors told the judge Trump is creating "an air of menace" with his public comments they say violate the gag order. They said his public comments corrode the trial's fair administration of justice.

Judge Juan Merchan did not deliver a decision on four new alleged violations of a gag order placed on Donald Trump in his New York hush-money trial. Pool Photo by Mark Peterson/UPI

Attorney Todd Blanche told Merchan that Cohen uses his podcast for repeated attacks on Trump.

Blanche displayed Cohen's posts showing Trump in an orange jumpsuit.

Donald Trump was previously fined $9,000 for nine violations of the gag order. Pool Photo by Charly TriballeauUPI

"Cohen has been inviting and almost daring President Trump to respond to almost everything he's saying," Blanche said.

He also said Trump telling Pecker to "be nice" wasn't a willful violation of the gag order on comments about witnesses.

Todd Blanche, attorney for former President Donald Trump, defended Trump's comments referring to Michael Cohen and David Pecker. Pool Photo by Jeenah Moon/UPI

Merchan, however, said the comments could impact other witnesses.

"It's about what everybody else ... sees Mr. Trump saying and not saying. It goes to the integrity of the proceedings," Merchan said.

Former President Donald Trump leaves the courtroom during a break in his criminal trial at Manhattan criminal court in New York on Thursday. Pool Photo by Jeenah Moon/UPI

Blanche told the judge the defendant's statements were part of a presidential campaign and not aimed at influencing the trial.

Blanche referenced President Joe Biden's comments at the White House correspondent's dinner making a joke about "stormy weather" referring to Trump. He said Trump can't comment on that in the campaign without mentioning witness Stormy Daniels.

Former President Donald Trump waits for his criminal trial to begin at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York on Thursday. Pool Photo by Doug Mills/UPI

Merchan had previously ruled Trump violated the order nine times and has imposed the maximum fine of $1,000 per violation.

The gag order prevents Trump from statements that attack jurors, witnesses, counsel in the case other than the district attorney, court staff, district attorney staff, and family members of any counsel or staff member.

The order is designed to protect those named from statements made to interfere with work in the case. The aim is to protect the integrity of the criminal proceeding and to shield trial participants from threats often made in the wake of Trump's public attacks.

Following the gag order hearing, testimony continued in the trial with Keith Davidson, a lawyer who negotiated hush money deals to pay Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels to keep their stories from going public and hurting Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.

Davidson began his testimony by saying Cohen signed an agreement on Trump's behalf to pay Stormy Daniels. Prosecutors asked him about a reference to "David Dennison" on the payment document, which they allege was an alias for Trump.

Davidson said he never saw a copy of that agreement document with a signature on the line for "David Dennison."

Prosector Joshua Steinglass presented Davidson with a side agreement that includes Trump's real name and not the Dennison pseudonym. Davidson explained from the stand that that side agreement letter in his handwriting "decodes" the agreement using the pseudonyms.

Davidson said he took a $10,000 cut of the $130,000 hush money payment to Daniels and later told prosecutors he wouldn't call the payment "hush money." He instead likened it to a person signing a contract to pay for a service.

"It wasn't a payoff. It wasn't hush money. It was consideration," Davidson said.

Davidson testified that his dealings were with either National Enquirer staff or Cohen.

During cross-examination, Trump attorney Emil Bove asked Davison about his past dealings with celebrities, insinuating Davidson helped eak information to TMZ about Lindsay Lohan's treatment at a rehab facility.

Davidson denied doing so, but admitted to to helping broker Tila Tequila's sex tape. He denied involvement with other celebrities, including Charlie Sheen and Hulk Hogan.

Prosecutors then called as a witness Doug Daus, a forensic analyst with the district attorney's office. Daus testified he conducted an analysis of two smartphones Cohen used.

Daus confirmed one of the phones had nearly 40,000 contacts saved on it, which he said was "unusual."

Prosecutors then played a recording from September 2016, in which Trump can be heard discussing with Cohen over the phone how to pay McDougal for her story of their affair.

Daus is expected to resume his testimony Friday.

Trump was charged with falsifying business records to cover up the hush-money payments to McDougal and Daniels to suppress the news of the alleged affair with Daniels to protect his 2016 election campaign.

New York law makes it a felony to falsify business records to cover up another crime, like campaign finance or tax law.

Davidson testified Tuesday just ahead of the 2016 election he was hustling to get Cohen to wire the hush money to Daniels in return for her silence in the last days of the campaign.

Davidson testified that he thought Cohen was trying to "kick the can down the road until after the election."

Trump denies breaking the law.

Prosecutors allege the money paid to Daniels was disguised as payments to Cohen for legal services, which constitutes falsification of business records under New York law.

Cohen pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme and served time. He also became a cooperating witness against Trump.

Since Cohen decided to cooperate with prosecutors to testify against Trump, Trump has publicly attacked Cohen as a liar. Cohen was convicted of lying to Congress.

But in a video clip played in court Tuesday Trump is shown saying "Michael Cohen is a very talented lawyer. He's a good lawyer in my firm." Dr. Robert Browning, executive director of C-Span archives, verified that the video showing Trump saying that was authentic,
NUEVA YORK  A judge considered holding Donald Trump in contempt yet again on Thursday for more potential gag order violations as his hush money trial resumed in Manhattan.

Before jurors took their seats for the day, state Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan heard arguments from prosecutors and the former presidents attorneys concerning four more instances of Trump publicly commenting on witnesses and jurors in the case.

Prosecutor Chris Conroy alleged Trump had sought to infect and disrupt the proceedings by his repeated remarks, including comments just hours before the last contempt hearing on Tuesday, when he was fined $9,000 for nine offending posts on his Truth Social account and held in contempt. Merchan at the time said further violations could result in jail.

Its not just any jurors, its these jurors in this case who are going to be sitting here in a few minutes, Conroy said, citing comments disseminated by Trump claiming the jury was picked so fast, 95% Democrats.

By talking about the jury at all, he places this process and this proceeding here in jeopardy.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felonies alleging he repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to cover up reimbursement to his ex-lawyer, Michael Cohen, for a hush-money scheme to hide damaging information from the voting public in 2016.

Describing other comments Trump made about key witness David Pecker  calling him a nice guy  as deliberate and calculated, Conroy asked the judge to reject the ex-presidents claims that his remarks were innocuous, calling them deliberate shots across the bow.

Conroy said the prosecution was not yet requesting the judge jail Trump for repeatedly violating his order in the interest of efficiency and not bogging down the trial. Merchan on Tuesday said he would consider jailing Trump if he continues to cross the line.

Trump attorney Todd Blanche said his client had not willfully violated the order and was defending himself against criticism as a presidential candidate. He said constant jabs by his ex-fixer, Michael Cohen, whos expected to be the star witness, were essentially daring him to respond.

Blanche also cited President Bidens remarks about the trial at the White House Correspondents Dinner, which mentioned Trump facing stormy weather.

Stormy weather was an obvious reference to Stormy Daniels, Blanche said, later adding, He cant just say no comment repeatedly. Hes running for president.

Merchan said nothing in the gag order prevented Trump from responding to the president. He did not immediately issue a ruling but sounded particularly unconvinced by Blanches attempts to defend Trumps comments about the jury.

After the hearing, attorney Keith Davidson was expected to continue testifying about the hush money he negotiated for his client Stormy Daniels on the eve of the 2016 election. The lawyer is expected to face a brutal cross-examination by Trumps legal team.

-------
Trump rants London is unrecognisable and has opened its door to jihad during wild rally speech

Donald Trump has claimed that London is unrecognisable because it has opened its doors to jihad in a bizarre rally speech.

The former president ranted about pro-Palestine college protests and the idea of letting Palestinian refugees into the country from war-torn Gaza, before declaring that he would never let America become unrecognisable as he claims London and Paris have become.

Weve seen what happened when Europe opened their doors to jihad, he told his supporters at the event. Look at Paris, look at London - theyre no longer recognisable, he said offering no evidence whatsover for his wild statements.

His remarks came while speaking at a campaign rally in Wisconsin on Wednesday afternoon while on a break from court proceedings for his criminal hush money trial in New York.

And Im going get myself into a lot of trouble with the folks in Paris and the folks in London, but you know what, thats the fact, Trump continued. They are no longer recognisable, and we cant let that happen to our country.

We have incredible culture, tradition - nothing wrong with their culture, their tradition - we cant let that happen here, and Ill never let it happen to the United States of America.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan and his wife Saadiya arrive with their dog Luna to cast their vote in the London mayoral election on Thursday (Getty Images)

The former president and current London mayor Sadiq Khan have often criticised each other over the years, fuelled at one point by Mr Khans office giving anti-Trump activists permission to fly a blimp of Trump as a crying baby in a nappy during a protest in 2018. During Trumps state visit to the UK that year, he said that Mr Khan had done a very bad job on terrorism.

Responding to Trumps latest comments Mr Khan told the Daily Mail as voting in Londons mayoral election took place on Thursday that today is an opportunity to show Donald Trump... that London will always choose hope over fear and unity over division.

Trump brought up the European cities at his rally after he took aim at the administration of President Joe Biden for reportedly weighing up measures they could possibly take to welcome Palestinians who already have relatives living in the United States into the country.

Donald Trump speaks to supporter at a Wisconsin MAGA rally on Wednesday, telling the crowd London and Paris have opened their doors to jihad (Getty Images)

"Your towns and villages will now be accepting people from Gaza and various other places," Trump said, with the crowd responding with a chorus of boos. Under no circumstances shall we bring thousands of refugees."

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Wednesday that the administration is constantly evaluating policy proposals to try and support Palestinians who have American citizen family members, but have no further details on how the procedures may work.

More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed amid the war in Gaza, according to health officials in the besiged strip, after Israel launched a bombing campaign and ground assaults in the wake of the brutal Hamas attack inside Israel on 7 October. Around 1,200 people were killed in that attack, with another 250 people taken hostage.

The situation in Gaza has sparked pro-Palestine protests on college campuses across the US. Trump also touched on the college demonstrations, referring to protestors as raging lunatics and Hamas sympathizers and lashed out at MrBiden for not stepping in.

To every college president, I say remove the encampments immediately, he said in Wisconsin.

Vanquish the radicals and take back our campuses for all of the normal students who want a safe place from which to learn.

It is thought that more than 1,000 people have been arrested across US universities.
Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics teams latest reporting and analysis from the campaign trail, the White House and Capitol Hill.

In todays edition, we report on how Donald Trump's recent meetings with foreign leaders are rubbing President Joe Biden's allies the wrong way. Plus, chief political analyst Chuck Todd explains why Biden's climb this November may be even steeper than it first seems.

Sign up to receive this newsletter in your inbox every weekday here.

Trumps sit-downs with foreign leaders are annoying some in Bidens camp

By Jonathan Allen, Carol E. Lee and Katherine Doyle

As Donald Trump rolled out the red carpet for a parade of foreign dignitaries in recent weeks, some aides to President Joe Biden took notice  and umbrage  at what they saw as the former president playing pretender-in-chief.

In less than two months, Trump has hosted Polish President Andrzej Duda, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, former Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso and David Cameron, the former British prime minister who now serves as the U.K.s foreign secretary. Hes also talked with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and others by phone.

Do you have a news tip? Let us know

Its not unusual for a party nominee to meet with foreign officials  but thats typically done overseas and with leaders below the level of president or prime minister. Trump has made a show of bringing these dignitaries to his homes  Mar-a-Lago for some, Trump Tower for others  and treating them to some of the trappings of a state visit. That, in particular, has stuck in the craw of some Biden aides, according to three people familiar with the frustrations.

A picture of a delicate power dance emerged in interviews with more than a dozen people familiar with aspects of U.S. foreign policy and the Biden and Trump campaigns. Biden and Trump are tussling over which of them has more clout at home and overseas, while foreign leaders seek to influence American policy, bolster their own standing at home and hedge their bets by cozying up to both candidates.

While the pomp and circumstance of visits to Trumps homes arent official, the political and policy implications of the meetings are real, and that has presented a conundrum for Bidens team.

On the official side, it might be helpful, one longtime Biden ally said of Trump hearing from the likes of Duda and Cameron, who advocated for the Ukraine aid bill that Biden signed last month. On the political side, its annoying to see it happen because [Trump] tries to capitalize.

For some of the same reasons, Trumps allies love the optics of his series of sit-downs. As he defends himself against criminal charges in federal and state courts, these foreign officials  most of them far-right politicians  are providing validation for Trump. The meetings may also suggest to voters that the world sees a Trump comeback as a real possibility.

At some level, one Trump aide said, they believe [Trump] can win  will win.

Read more 

Bidens challenge is much greater than we realize

By Chuck Todd

If Biden is to win a second term, hes going to have to do it while having a near majority of the country wishing it could elect someone else.

The most recent Pew Research Center survey had a fascinating question that produced one of the more compelling analyses Ive seen about the true nature of Biden voters and Trump voters.

Half of all voters surveyed said they would like to see both Biden and Trump replaced on the ballot. But note how those voters break when theyre forced to choose between two candidates they wish werent running. A whopping 62% of Biden voters would prefer that both Biden and Trump werent on the ballot. Thats a lot of hold your nose voters.

For Trump, the mix of double-haters versus core supporters is more of a 1-to-1 ratio.

What does that mean? Bidens challenge is even greater than we realize.

As Biden himself is fond of saying: Dont judge him against the almighty but against the alternative. Well, its clear the only way he wins at this point is if he convinces enough people that a second Trump term isnt worth the risk no matter how disappointed theyve been in Bidens first term.

Its something that isnt easy to pull off as an incumbent. Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, did win re-election despite arguably being even more unpopular than Biden. But the threat of a Marine Le Pen-led far-right government was enough to move Frances disgruntled middle to reluctantly re-elect Macron.

Outside of that recent French example, Im struggling to think of many elections in which someone has won with such tepid support. Trump has more supporters who are more enthusiastic about a second term than Biden does. In a lower-turnout election, thats a huge advantage, and as I wrote last week, the possibility of a lower-turnout election is higher than we think, given the countrys lack of interest in this presidential rematch.

Bottom line: The country would prefer a new president, and it might have already given up on Biden. But neither party is offering the country anything or anyone new.

Read more from Chuck here 

Thats all from The Politics Desk for now. If you have feedback  likes or dislikes  email us at politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com

And if youre a fan, please share with everyone and anyone. They can sign up here.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Former President Trump declined to commit to accepting Wisconsins November election results in an interview Wednesday, the latest instance of Trump hedging over whether he will contest the results of the election.

If everythings honest, Id gladly accept the results, Trump told The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in an interview Wednesday. If its not, you have to fight for the right of the country.

But if everythings honest, which we anticipate it will be  a lot of changes have been made over the last few years  but if everythings honest, I will absolutely accept the results, he added.

Trump falsely claimed to the outlet that he won the election in Wisconsin in 2020, doubling down on his disproven claims of widespread fraud in the Badger State and elsewhere. President Biden won Wisconsin by 21,000 votes in 2020.

Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, has repeatedly declined to commit to accepting the election results dating back to the 2020 race. After losing to Biden, Trump repeatedly claimed there was widespread fraud, though those allegations were dismissed in numerous court cases. Rioters then stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to try to stop the certification of Bidens victory.

Despite the violence that followed the 2020 election, Trump has wavered about accepting the 2024 results.

If I think its an honest election, I would be honored to, Trump said in a 2023 CNN town hall when asked about accepting the 2024 results.

In an interview with Time magazine that published this week, Trump did not shut down the potential for political violence after Novembers election if he doesnt win, saying it depends on the fairness of the vote.

I think were going to win, Trump said. And if we dont win, you know, it depends. It always depends on the fairness of an election. I dont believe theyll be able to do the things that they did the last time. I dont think theyll be able to get away with it. And if thats the case, were gonna win in record-setting fashion.

Trump and the Republican National Committee (RNC) have invested heavily in election integrity efforts ahead of the 2024 election, including through a program that will train poll watchers and have attorneys ready to respond to any potential claims of fraud.

The former president told supporters in Michigan on Wednesday that he needed a commanding victory in November so that the election was too big to rig.

The Biden campaign, responding to Trumps comments about accepting the election results, called the former president a danger to the Constitution and a threat to our democracy.

President Biden has said, You cant love your country only when you win. But for Donald Trump, his campaign for revenge and retribution reigns supreme, campaign spokesperson James Singer said in a statement.

In his own words, he is promising to rule as a dictator on day one, use the military against the American people, punish those who stand against him, condone violence done on his behalf, and put his own quest for power ahead of what is best for America, Singer added.

Updated at 11:34 a.m. EDT

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
(Bloomberg) -- Dropbox Inc. said its digital-signature product, Dropbox Sign, was breached by hackers, who accessed user information including emails, user names and phone numbers.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The software company said it became aware of the cyberattack on April 24, sought to limit the incident and reported it to law enforcement and regulatory authorities.

We discovered that the threat actor had accessed data related to all users of Dropbox Sign, such as emails and user names, in addition to general account settings, Dropbox said Wednesday in a regulatory filing. For subsets of users, the threat actor also accessed phone numbers, hashed passwords, and certain authentication information such as API keys, OAuth tokens, and multi-factor authentication.

Dropbox said there is no evidence hackers obtained user accounts or payment information. The company said it appears the attack was limited to Dropbox Sign and no other products were breached. The company didnt disclose how many customers were affected by the hack.

With more than 18 million paying users, San Francisco-based Dropbox is one of the best-known companies in the cloud storage industry and reported $2.5 billion in revenue in 2023. Many of those users are consumers or small businesses, but it also touts corporate customers such as Dentsu Group Inc. The company has worked to expand beyond storage with document management services and video-specific tools.

The hack is unlikely to have a material impact on the companys finances, Dropbox said in the filing. The shares declined about 2.5% in extended trading after the cyberattack was disclosed and have fallen 20% this year through the close.

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Fresh off an interview with Time magazine published this week, during which he would not rule out the possibility of violence if he doesnt win in November  If we dont win, you know, it depends.  It always depends on the fairness of the election  Donald Trump is giving himself wiggle room to cry rigged in a key swing state this fall.

Trump was in Wisconsin for a campaign rally Wednesday night, ahead of his appearance back in court in Manhattan today, and gave an interview to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. During the conversation, he not only refused to commit to accepting the result of the presidential election in the state, but also repeated his consistently and thoroughly debunked belief that he didnt actually lose Wisconsin in 2020.

If you go back and look at all of the things that had been found out, it showed that I won the election in Wisconsin, he told the newspaper. It also showed I won the election in other locations.

President Biden, of course, won Wisconsin by about 21,000 votes four years ago.

Trumps been on a tear this week, and has in public remarks repeatedly created an opening for himself to revive 2020-era claims about the election results in the fall. During a rally in Michigan this week, he resurrected his Democrats rigged the presidential election in 2020 line and warned that were not going to allow them to rig the presidential election  the most important day of our lives  in 2024.

His remarks to the Journal Sentinel were even more sinister. Trump placed conditions on what kind of election results he would accept in the state.

If everythings honest, Id gladly accept the results, Trump told the newspaper Wednesday. If its not, you have to fight for the right of the country.

But if everythings honest, which we anticipate it will be  a lot of changes have been made over the last few years  but if everythings honest, I will absolutely accept the results, he continued, before reassuring that he would let it be known if he thinks there is something wrong with how Wisconsin conducts its elections this fall. When asked to clarify what an honest election means to him, he said high standards of voting, making it quite obvious hed rather that part of the conversation remain vague.

The time for speculation about how Trump will handle a 2024 loss is over. Hes telling us in real time.

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Trump Spends Day Off From Court Ranting About Judge: 'He Gagged Me!'

Even though Donald Trump had the day off from criminal proceedings in his hush money trial Wednesday, he spent the day grumbling about the judge overseeing his case.

I dont think theres ever been a more conflicted judge  crooked and conflicted, Trump said of New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan at a campaign rally in Freeland, Michigan. And Im unconstitutionally gagged.

On Tuesday, Merchan fined the former president $9,000 for violating a gag order surrounding his case, which prohibits Trump from making any public remarks about jurors, lawyers, witnesses, court staff and their families. If he continues to violate the terms of the gag order, Merchan warned Trump, jail may be a necessary punishment.

Trump falsely suggested at his rally that the gag order was intended to stop him from speaking to his supporters about anything, not just the trial.

Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Freeland, Michigan, on his day off from court. via Associated Press

He gagged me, so Im not even supposed to be talking to you  because he gagged me! the presumptive GOP nominee for president proclaimed.

I have a judge who gagged me! Im not allowed to talk about things, he continued.

Merchan first placed Trump under the gag order in March after prosecutors pointed out his long history of making public and inflammatory remarks about people connected to his legal cases. The original order barred him from speaking about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors. Merchan expanded it in weeks later to include both his own family and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Braggs family members, after Trump assailed Merchans daughter on social media with false attacks.

At his rally Wednesday, Trump insisted the whole trial is a farce and that its only increasing his popularity.

What youre witnessing in New York is not a legal proceeding, he said. Its an unlawful exercise in very stupid and very evil politics. But heres the good news. Its driven the poll numbers higher than weve ever had before. Because people get it  its a scam.

Related...
WASHINGTON  Joe Bidens advisers believe that tensions over U.S. support for Israel in the war in Gaza spreading through college campuses will soon flame out and that there is neither a need nor an upside for him to weigh in more directly.

For now, Biden is taking a hands-off posture toward the unrest and has no plans to step up his involvement in escalating clashes between police and protesters, White House and campaign advisers said, even as Donald Trump looks to capitalize on the issue.

Biden's view is that its up to university leaders to decide how to cope with campus demonstrations that are emerging as the latest flashpoint in the presidential race, advisers said. In keeping with that approach, he didnt intervene or publicly object as police swept onto the Columbia University campus Tuesday night and arrested about 230 protesters, including about 40 whod seized a building and erected an encampment calling attention to their demand for a cease-fire in Gaza.

Inside the Biden re-election effort, advisers seem hopeful that the protests wont distract from their message that the economy is improving and that Biden is providing more competent and stable leadership than Trump did as president.

The academic calendar may play a role as classes come to an end for the summer. Whats more, a White House official said that the overall number of protesters is relatively small and that the war between Israel and Hamas is far from a top-of-mind concern of young voters, who were a key part of Bidens 2020 electoral coalition.

A survey last month of voters ages 18-29 found that the Gaza conflict ranked 15th on their list of important issues, the official noted.

Trumps political operation sees an opening, however. Corey Lewandowski, a consultant to the Republican National Committee who previously worked for Trump, said in an interview: This is not good for the young vote for Biden. Historically, the Democrats have outperformed Republicans among younger voters. If it is perceived that Joe Biden is soft, meaning not standing up to the people who are protesting, its going to hurt him.

Speaking Wednesday at a campaign event in Wisconsin, Trump derided the protesters as raging lunatics and Hamas sympathizers" and called on Biden to speak out  accusing him of being definitely against Israel.

Trump also took aim at Columbias president, Minouche Shafik, one of the university leaders whom Biden is deferring to as the campus protests unfold.

In a reference to the school, Trump said: The person that heads it up  a woman  she waited so long. She was so weak. She was so afraid. She was so bad.

A Biden adviser said, "Donald Trump has repeatedly fanned the flames and encouraged civil unrest as a political strategy, and it has repeatedly failed to be effective."

The campus protests pose a dilemma for Biden as the pace of the general election campaign quickens. Trumps stance is simple enough for a bumper sticker: People have to respect law and order in this country, he wrote Tuesday on social media.

Bidens stance is more nuanced and more difficult to explain to a mass audience. He says he supports peaceful protests consistent with the First Amendment but not demonstrations that result in vandalism, trespassing and other crimes.

Like the protesters, Biden says he believes Israel has inflicted too much carnage in Gaza. Unlike some of them, he defends Israels sovereignty and recoils at the notion of Jews losing a homeland.

Alan Kessler, a Democratic fundraiser who is Jewish, said Biden spoke up for Israel in a speech he attended in recent months. As they chatted afterward and Kessler praised the address, Biden told him: That wasnt a speech; that came from the heart. Thats what I truly believe, he recalled, adding: He didnt smile at that. He looked at me intensely.

Biden seems most at ease when he is decrying antisemitic harassment on campus. He is set to give a speech Tuesday at a ceremony commemorating the Holocaust.

Senior White House officials have been amplifying his message. Douglas Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, said Wednesday at an event in New York: "Were in favor of the right to protest. But when that crosses into violence  when that crosses into calls for genocide, calls for Jews to be murdered  thats completely unacceptable and must be stopped.

Critics in both parties, though, insist that the Biden administration hasnt been proactive enough in creating a safe atmosphere for students on campus. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., sent a letter last week calling on Bidens education secretary, Miguel Cardona, to be more aggressive in investigating complaints of campus antisemitism.

After a meeting with Jewish students at Columbia last week, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told NBC News that Biden has not taken decisive action.

He is the president of the United States," Johnson said. "He has the biggest megaphone in our country, and he needs to use it. He needs to call out what is wrong and what is dangerous. I think hes derelict in his duty if he doesnt.

The campus protests of 2024 bookend another set of protests that bedeviled Trump in the final year of his term. In 2020, Trump fumed over demonstrations that broke out nationwide over a white police officers killing of a Black man, George Floyd, in Minneapolis.

Trump believed the protests made the U.S. look weak, and he wanted to call in the military to rout the demonstrators, former appointees said.

Biden, a candidate at the time, seized the moment both to rally Black voters and to showcase his temperamental and managerial differences with Trump.

Four days after Floyds murder, Biden delivered a live address from his home and then did a series of television interviews to condemn his death and discuss systemic discrimination against African Americans.

This is no time for incendiary tweets. Its no time to encourage violence. Its a national crisis. We need real leadership right now, leadership that will bring everyone to the table so we can take measures to root out systemic racism, he said in his address.

A day later, Biden left his home in Wilmington, Delaware, for just the second time after the Covid pandemic lockdowns began to visit an area of Wilmington that had seen some rioting during Floyd demonstrations.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Trump wants to influence who runs elections in Miami Dade. What else could go wrong? | Opinion

The spreader of election lies and inciter of riots now wants to influence who will be the chief of elections in the most voter-rich county in Florida.

The irony is no doubt lost on Miami-Dade Republicans who wear a Donald Trump endorsement as a badge of honor. The latest to receive his backing is state Rep. Alina Garcia, a Republican running to be the countys next supervisor of elections. Last week, Trump  who faces four criminal cases  endorsed a Miami-Dade sheriffs candidate as well.

Alina Garcia has done an incredible job, Trump wrote on his Truth Social site Tuesday night. Now, Alina is running to be Miami-Dades Supervisor of Elections and protect Voters Rights. Alina has my Complete and Total Endorsement.

Garcia posted a screenshot of Trumps post on her account on X, formerly Twitter, and said in a statement she was humbled by the endorsement, the Herald reported on Wednesday. Garcia is running against lawyer Megan Pearl in the GOP primary. Two Democrats have filed to run as well.

A Trump endorsement may go a long way with some voters in South Florida, where hes grown more popular since 2016. But it comes with a price: Its a connection to the former president who not only denied he lost in 2020 but tried to subvert the results, even though judge after judge has ruled there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud. Trump faces two criminal cases over his efforts to overturn his loss and several of his allies have been indicted in Arizona over an alleged fake-electors scheme.

Most importantly, Trump has a history of pressuring election officials.

After the 2020 election, he called Georgias secretary of state to ask him to change the results in the state he narrowly lost to Joe Biden by invoking false claims of fraud  telling him, I just want to find 11,780 votes. His lies led his supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, balked at doing Trumps bidding and later said he felt threatened by the then-presidents request. But if Raffensperger had been a Trump-endorsed elected official, would he have acquiesced? Its impossible to know. We can only imagine thats the outcome the former president would have hoped for. Its no wonder he endorsed election deniers running for election offices in battleground states in 2022.

Trump never challenged the results in Florida, which he won in 2020 by larger margins than in 2016 despite losing Miami-Dade County. Trump is favored to carry the Sunshine State again in 2024, according to polls. So, in the near future, he might have no interest in meddling with our elections.

Its anyones guess whether he will win Miami-Dade, where Republicans have invested significant resources, especially to court Hispanic voters. If he loses this prime electoral jewel of a county, could Trump turn on the office of the supervisor of elections? Its possible. And the 2024 election is certainly not the only one that the countys new election supervisor, whomever it is, will have to handle.

To be extremely clear, Garcia herself has not given any indication she would use the office to Trumps advantage, if elected. Based on her comments to the Herald, she doesnt appear to be an election denier, though shes been unnecessarily evasive when asked about the topic at times.

She said in February that elections are overwhelmingly fair but people dont always feel that theyre fair. On Wednesday, she said: In reference to the 2020 elections, I can only speak to how the elections were conducted in Florida and in Miami-Dade County, which were fair, transparent and the results reported timely.

For the record, Biden won and Trump lost in 2020.

Trump understands how valuable his support is, and any candidate running with a MAGA stamp of approval must know that Trumps support comes with strings attached. Its now up to Garcia to prove that an endorsement is just an endorsement and not an indication of shared undemocratic values.

Click here to send the letter.
Trump's campaign emails more panicked during his Manhattan trial

President Biden and Donald Trump are trying to win over two very different publics with their respective campaigns. What story is President Biden telling in his fundraising and other campaign emails? Bidens emails are calm, reasonable, factual and emphasize actual policy achievements and a positive vision while still communicating the historic nature of the 2024 election. Given Bidens temperament, experience and mature leadership, such an approach is to be expected and makes sense.

And in what is almost a parody of the nice, sane, and normal politics that President Biden is modeling for his voters and other supporters, he recently announced a contest where one of his donors could win an ice cream date with him and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden.

Bidens respectable communications style is both a strength and a weakness: his campaign emails are often so calm that they risk not communicating the extreme dangerousness of Dictator Trump and what will happen if he and his MAGA movement take power in 2025. President Biden sometimes raises his metaphorical voice in his campaign emails, but he needs to be screaming much louder and much more frequently. Ice cream dates will likely be no match against an opposition that is offering a political version of a steel cage death match and the terror dome.

To that point, what story is Donald Trump telling his voters, donors, and other supporters?

His fundraising and other campaign emails are a relentless onslaught designed to create fear and terror about a doomed and ruined America that is being destroyed from within by vermin i.e. the Democrats, liberals, non-white people, Muslims, George Soros, the Deep State, woke, Black Lives Matter, President Obama and Hillary Clinton, those who are not White Christians, the evil news media that are in league with nebulous forces to turn the country into a Stalinist-Maoist-Communist hellhole equipped with gulags and prisons where the MAGA people, "real Americans (meaning White people), and their Dear Leader Trump will be imprisoned.

Compared to President Biden and the Democrats, Trumps emails are thrilling, exciting, and a type of horror movie made real. Trump and his spokespeople know their supporters anxieties and pain points and are adept at triggering them.

With the beginning of Trumps first criminal trial in New York, his emails have only become more extreme  and will only continue to  as the 2024 election and potentially three other criminal trials are closing in on him.

For example, in this recent fundraising email, Trump declared that he is being held hostage:

Im being held hostage! CONFIDENTIAL MEMO FROM DONALD TRUMP: BIDENS CORRUPT COURT IS HOLDING ME HOSTAGE, YET AGAIN! What Biden is doing is a blatant WITCH HUNT and an absolute SHAME. Making me sit in court every day when I should be FIGHTING FOR AMERICA. Now is the time to help me SAVE AMERICA, chip in NOW Everybody knows this is ELECTION INTERFERENCE orchestrated by Crooked Joe. BUT I WILL NEVER STOP FIGHTING TO SAVE AMERICA! I WILL NEVER SURRENDER. END THE WITCH HUNT So, Friend, I need to know while my name is being DRAGGED through the mud every day, that I still have you by my side. Because I know with your support, we will peacefully TAKE BACK THE WHITE HOUSE. Im counting on every MAGA Patriot to chip in and say: END THE WITCH HUNT!

Trumps claims of being a hostage are part of a much larger pattern of victimhood: at his rallies and other events he has elevated his Jan. 6 MAGA terrorists to the level of political prisoners and hostages as well.

On Monday, Trump told his followers that All Hell Will Break Loose from the court hearing in Manhattan that Judge Juan Merchan convened in response to the corrupt ex-presidents repeated threats against the judges, their family members, jurors, witnesses, and the other people who are trying to hold him accountable for his alleged crimes under the law.

ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE IN 24 HOURS! Friend, in 24 hours, the hearing on my GAG ORDER will begin. I COULD BE THROWN IN JAIL AT THAT VERY MOMENT! This is what the Hate-America Deep State has always dreamed of. STAND WITH TRUMP I wont be able to campaign. I will be muzzled and silent. And Democrats will have free rein to destroy our country. We need a HUGE outpouring of support before the day is over, because tomorrow, all hell could break loose for our MAGA Movement. Hell did not break loose after Donald Trumps hearing on Tuesday. Judge Merchan plainly and forcefully told Trump and his legal team that the threats and other bad behavior must stop or there will be serious consequences.

In this recent email, Donald Trump says his constitutionally guaranteed right to free speech is being taken away:

A highly conflicted judge has erased my constitutional rights. CROOKED JOE BIDEN CAN SPREAD LIES LIES LIES - AND IM NOT ALLOWED TO DEFEND MYSELF! Democrats want to throw me in prison and silence me FOR GOOD, but only because of YOUR SUPPORT, our campaign is alive. I would be nothing without you in my corner - THANK YOU!

In a post on his Truth Social disinformation platform, Trump made similar claims.

Instead of an ice cream date, Donald Trump is inviting his most loyal MAGA people to some type of love festival/support group at his Mar-a-Lago resort headquarters to meet with him before President Biden and the Democrats have him locked away:

Friend, before they lock me up. Radical Left Democrats want to TAKE EVERYTHING FROM ME, but theyll never take YOU! And to show my appreciation for your unwavering support in the face of Crooked Joes RELENTLESS attacks, Im inviting you to be my special guest at Mar-a-Lago. Hosting one of my beloved supporters during this dark time would mean SO MUCH TO ME. It gives me something to look forward to while Im sitting in BIDENS SHAM TRIAL. This could be your LAST CHANCE to tour Mar-a-Lago, Friend. Enter to meet me there BEFORE ITS TOO LATE!

Of course, Donald Trump is lying. There is no substantive evidence to support his fabulist conspiratorial delusions-fantasies of persecution and other harm. The corrupt ex-president is in no way a victim, except perhaps of his own apparent sociopathy if not outright psychopathy, and other parts of his obviously diseased mind.

As I am writing this essay, Donald Trump sent out another fundraising email. This time, Trump is (again) threatening President Biden with jail for committing the crime of opposing him and the neofascist MAGA movement:

CROOKED JOE DESERVES LIFE IN PRISON! PUT BIDEN ON TRIAL Now is the time to help me SAVE AMERICA and chip in The White House is currently occupied by the most CORRUPT, INCOMPETENT, AND WORST president in American history - BY FAR! Crooked Joe is using his ENDLESS witch hunts against me to hide his many ACTUAL CRIMES, including illegally peddling influence to Foreign Countries. So before I spend another day in court fighting the BIDEN HOAX, I need to hear from YOU: SHOULD CROOKED JOE BIDEN BE THE ONE ON TRIAL FOR SELLING OUT AMERICA? >> YES NO
Andrew Landowski, the band teacher and music coordinator at Black Hills High School in the Tumwater School District, has been named Regional Teacher of the Year by the Capital Region Educational Service District (ESD) 113.

Landowski will now be one of nine candidates chosen by their respective ESDs who will be considered for Washington State Teacher of the Year. The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction will select and announce the state winner in the fall.

The selection committee chose Landowski for the award because his dedication to students and the arts stands out, according to the ESD news release.

Among his winning attributes, Landowski has had nearly 20% of his students selected for All-State ensembles this year, according to a news release from the ESD. He has had students compete in state solo and ensemble events every year of his teaching career. And he has served in multiple roles and on committees that foster and support music education and development at district and statewide levels.

Mr. Landowski is not only an outstanding educator but also a compassionate mentor, a collaborative team player, and an inspirational leader, Black Hills principal Dave Meyers said in a statement. His unwavering commitment to student success and his tireless efforts to create a positive and inclusive learning environment make him an exceptional candidate for the Washington Teacher of the Year award.

Student Catherine Meierbachtol said in a statement that Landowski works hard to help students thrive as a group of peers. We learn skills from each other, and when we get older, we teach the younger kids what we were taught.

Mr. Landowski creates incredible leaders, especially in our drum majors, but mostly, he creates an incredible team. He gives us reasons to want to do well. Im really thankful that, before I get too old, I get to learn how to be on a team that truly takes care of each other.

The Capital Region Educational Service District 113 includes school district in Thurston, Mason, Grays Harbor, Lewis and Pacific counties.
Turkey halts all trade with Israel over military actions in Gaza

FILE - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a joint statement to the media in Baghdad, April 22, 2024. Turkey on Thursday, May 2, suspended all imports and exports to Israel citing the country's ongoing military action in Gaza and vowed to continue to impose other measures until the Israeli government allows the flow of humanitarian to the region. (Ahmad Al-Rubaye/Pool Photo via AP, File)

ANKARA, Turkey (AP)  Turkey on Thursday suspended all imports and exports to Israel citing the country's ongoing military action in Gaza and vowed to continue to impose the measures until the Israeli government allows the flow of humanitarian aid to the region.

A Turkish Trade Ministry statement said export and import transactions in relation to Israel have been stopped, covering all products.

Turkish officials would coordinate with Palestinian authorities to ensure that Palestinians are not affected by the suspension of imports and exports, the ministry said.

The ministry described the step as the second phase of measures against Israel, adding that the steps would remain in force until Israel allows an uninterrupted and sufficient flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Last month, Turkey  a staunch critic of Israels military actions  announced that it was restricting exports of 54 types of products to Israel, including aluminum, steel, construction products and chemical fertilizers. Israel responded by also announcing trade barriers.

Earlier on Thursday, Israels Foreign Minister Israel Katz accused Turkey of blocking Israeli imports and exports from Turkish ports.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is breaking agreements by blocking ports for Israeli imports and exports, Katz wrote on the social platform X.

Katz said he had instructed officials to immediately engage with all relevant parties in the government to create alternatives for trade with Turkey, focusing on local production and imports from other countries.

Erdogans government, which suffered major setbacks in local elections in March, is faced with intense pressure at home to halt trade with Israel. Critics accuse the government of engaging in double standards by leveling strong accusations against Israel while pressing ahead with commercial relations.

Turkey recognized Israel in 1949. Under Erdogan, tensions have ebbed and flowed between the countries. The Turkish leader stepped up his criticism of Israel following its military offensive in Gaza, accusing it of carrying out war crimes and genocide. He has described the Hamas militant group, considered a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union, as freedom fighters.

This week, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Turkey had decided to join the legal case filed by South Africa against Israel at the International Court of Justice and would soon submit a formal request to intervene in the case.

South Africa filed a case at the ICJ accusing Israel of breaching the Genocide Convention with its military offensive against Hamas. Israel denies that its military campaign in Gaza amounts to a breach of the Genocide Convention.

___

Find more of APs Israel-Hamas coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Amkor Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMKR) came out with its quarterly results last week, and we wanted to see how the business is performing and what industry forecasters think of the company following this report. It looks like a credible result overall - although revenues of US$1.4b were what the analysts expected, Amkor Technology surprised by delivering a (statutory) profit of US$0.24 per share, an impressive 123% above what was forecast. This is an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance in its report, look at what experts are forecasting for next year, and see if there has been any change to expectations for the business. So we collected the latest post-earnings statutory consensus estimates to see what could be in store for next year.

Check out our latest analysis for Amkor Technology

After the latest results, the eight analysts covering Amkor Technology are now predicting revenues of US$6.54b in 2024. If met, this would reflect an okay 2.3% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to increase 8.4% to US$1.64. Before this earnings report, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$6.46b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$1.55 in 2024. So the consensus seems to have become somewhat more optimistic on Amkor Technology's earnings potential following these results.

The consensus price target rose 5.5% to US$38.34, suggesting that higher earnings estimates flow through to the stock's valuation as well. There's another way to think about price targets though, and that's to look at the range of price targets put forward by analysts, because a wide range of estimates could suggest a diverse view on possible outcomes for the business. The most optimistic Amkor Technology analyst has a price target of US$45.00 per share, while the most pessimistic values it at US$33.70. This is a very narrow spread of estimates, implying either that Amkor Technology is an easy company to value, or - more likely - the analysts are relying heavily on some key assumptions.

Taking a look at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can understand these forecasts is to see how they compare to both past performance and industry growth estimates. We would highlight that Amkor Technology's revenue growth is expected to slow, with the forecast 3.1% annualised growth rate until the end of 2024 being well below the historical 12% p.a. growth over the last five years. By way of comparison, the other companies in this industry with analyst coverage are forecast to grow their revenue at 17% per year. Factoring in the forecast slowdown in growth, it seems obvious that Amkor Technology is also expected to grow slower than other industry participants.

Story continues

The Bottom Line

The biggest takeaway for us is the consensus earnings per share upgrade, which suggests a clear improvement in sentiment around Amkor Technology's earnings potential next year. On the plus side, there were no major changes to revenue estimates; although forecasts imply they will perform worse than the wider industry. We note an upgrade to the price target, suggesting that the analysts believes the intrinsic value of the business is likely to improve over time.

With that in mind, we wouldn't be too quick to come to a conclusion on Amkor Technology. Long-term earnings power is much more important than next year's profits. We have estimates - from multiple Amkor Technology analysts - going out to 2026, and you can see them free on our platform here.

And what about risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 2 warning signs for Amkor Technology you should know about.

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.
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan waded into the debate over U.S. college campus protests on Thursday, saying authorities were displaying "cruelty" in clamping down on pro-Palestinian students and academics.

Demonstrations have spread on campuses across the United States over Israel's conduct of the war in Gaza, prompting police crackdowns and arrests at some venues such as Columbia University in New York.

"Conscientious students and academics including anti-Zionist Jews at some prestigious American universities are protesting the massacre (in Gaza)," Erdogan told an event in Ankara.

"These people are being subjected to violence, cruelty, suffering, and even torture for saying the massacre has to stop," he said, adding that university staff were being "sacked and lynched" for supporting the Palestinians.

Turkey, a NATO ally of the United States, has sharply criticised Israel's assault on Gaza and what it calls the unconditional support it receives from Western countries.

The U.S. is a top supplier of military aid to Israel and has shielded the country from critical United Nations votes.

"The limits of Western democracy are drawn by Israel's interests," Erdogan said. "Whatever infringes on Israel's interests is anti-democratic, antisemitic for them."

More than 34,000 people have been killed in Gaza during Israel's nearly seven-month military offensive, Palestinian health officials say, after Hamas militants killed some 1,200 people and took 253 hostages during an Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel, according to Israeli tallies.

(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Jonathan Spicer and Gareth Jones)
After a year of turmoil, Jasper Co. wants millions from SC for new animal shelter

The state legislature is taking steps to give millions to help Jasper County fund a new multi-million dollar animal rescue facility even as the nonprofit groups leadership has undergone widespread turnover and dysfunction for nearly a year.

As the 2024 session of the General Assembly wraps up this month, Jasper Countys legislators are considering whether  and how  to include money in the state budget for the shelter. Money also would come from the county and other sources.

Few, if anyone, disagree that the dilapidated Jasper County-owned building suffers from issues such as overcrowding, a backed up sewer system, rat infestation, and natural wear and tear. In November, a representative from a Florida nonprofit animal group inspected the Jasper Animal Rescue Mission shelter and offered several suggestions for improvements.

One solution proposed by county officials is construction of an $8 million facility that would be an expansion to the Beaufort County Animal Campus in Okatie. Officials want the state to pay $6.4 million; Jasper County taxpayers would put up the remaining 20%.

The countys push for a new shelter came as the animal rescue boards vice president, president, and at least five other members resigned during the last year. At one point, the board had just one member. Also, the former board president, who resigned earlier this year, said in an email that the agencys director was about to be put on probation, but later recanted that claim.

The director said she was never put on probation.

Currently, the shelters board is reorganizing. The shelter staff are getting more training. They say these are steps in a positive direction, with the hopes of leaving behind months of dysfunction and miscommunication.

Changing board dynamics

The mass board resignations began last year when former board vice president Robin Artz left. In a July 30 email, Artz said she was tired of listening, making excuses and no actions being taken while I was on the board.

Why would we or should we hide the reality and make it all seem like it is perfect and shiny? Artz wrote. Its a 3rd world country up at the shelter, with the staff just trying to survive. No longer can we make excuses for the shelter and the lack of the county being held accountable.

This week, Artz reiterated that her resignation was largely caused by the former board not taking action or making changes as it related to the shelters betterment and the animals welfare.

Nobody wanted to work together, Artz said Monday. Nobody wanted to reach out. There was no fundraising... Really, just nothing was happening.

Between August and September, the board had six new members. By the first week of October, five of the six new board members had resigned.

After a February meeting this year, three of the then-four board members resigned, including its president, Cindy Abernathy.

Abernathy, who was at the helm for six years, said she resigned because she felt attacked by several former board members who attended the Feb. 16 meeting unannounced.

Im not gonna sit there and have people attacking me when the only thing I tried to do was help, Abernathy told The Island Packet through tears.

She said she left the meeting after former board member Keith Hughes yelled at her, but Abernathy said she couldnt recall what he said. According to Abernathy, the controversy that night was over her six-year tenure as the board president.

Im going to emphatically say that I did not yell at Cindy, Keith Hughes said. It just didnt happen that way.

Abernathy said she acknowledged shed been on the board too long, but its because the president has to stay on until somebody takes the position. But she said the way they were coming at me (during the meeting), they basically wanted (positions) on the board.

Michelle Hughes, now-interim board chair who attended the Feb. 16 meeting, said her husband was speaking loudly but he wasnt yelling at Abernathy.

About 45 minutes into the meeting, Michelle Hughes asked how Abernathy was going to handle the annual board member elections in June. Abernathy said she planned to change the boards bylaws to require that a board member train for a board officer position for a year before being elected to one of those positions, according to Michelle Hughes. Disagreement followed about whether it was possible to change the nearly 20-year-old bylaws.

It was over in a blip, Michelle Hughes said. The only loudness was when she started speaking over me. And then thats when I said, Well, if you want to get louder, you want to talk over me, I can get louder.

Michelle Hughes said Abernathy then got up, packed up her things and said she resigned. Keith Hughes asked when her resignation was effective. Abernathy said immediately.

Nobody said anything to her. Nobody said stop, dont do that, wait, Michelle Hughes said. She may have felt attacked, but she was not attacked.

Keith Hughes said after Abernathy left, everyone was sitting in awe because they didnt expect Abernathy to resign during the meeting. Following her departure that evening, the meeting then turned into a discussion of what are we going to do now? Keith Hughes said.

The two other board members who left, Judy Cromer and Theresa Wall, did not respond to The Island Packets requests for comment. Abernathy did not respond to follow-up requests for comment in response to the Hughes comments.

Resignation and rebuilding

On Feb. 20, four days after the meeting, Abernathy penned an email of meeting minutes to several people active with the animal rescue. Michelle Hughes forwarded the email to the county administrator to notify him of Abernathys resignation.

A paragraph of Abernathys initial email said that during an executive session, members would present the rescue missions executive director, Caitlyn Schake, with a final written warning and put her on a 90-day probationary period. Abernathy told The Island Packet that the action would have been taken because Schake was not working the number of hours required under state law.

The Island Packet obtained a copy of the email through the states Freedom of Information Act.

But Abernathy now says the executive session was never held. In her email, Abernathy did not clarify that she left in the middle of the meeting. She said the email with the meeting minutes also contained the meeting agenda, which was not delineated from the minutes. The executive session had been scheduled for the end of the meeting.

Schake said shes never been given a verbal or written warning by the board, which, under its bylaws, has authority over the executive director position. She said her work days last between 12 and 14 hours.

I may not be here bright and early in the morning, but I come later and work later at night, because I need the peace and quiet (to get work done), Schake said. (I work) way more than 40 hours a week. And my employees can vouch for that. My family can vouch for that. Anybody can vouch for that.

On April 9, Schake and shelter employees attended a three-day training with a national organization called Best Friends Animal Society. It gave the rescues staff updated training and guidance on how to improve adoption policies.

Michelle Hughes said nine new board members were sworn in during an April 25 board meeting, giving the board 11 members. Under its bylaws, it should have at least seven members and no more than 15. Board members are chosen by incumbent members, who receive applications and interview potential candidates.

I only want to go in a good direction and move in the right direction, Michelle Hughes said. Theres so many good rescues and shelters that are running successfully that all we have to do is look at them and follow their lead. And theres no reason we shouldnt be successful.

During Thursdays meeting, standing committees were also formed. Currently, raising money through events and grants is top priority of the board.

Weve got so much to do, Keith Hughes said. But weve got a group of people that seem to be passionate about making changes out there. I think if you look back a year from now, its going to be a total and completely different organization than what it is now.

Plans for a new facility

As the rescues board rebuilds and shelter staff retrain, the county is seeking funding for a new shelter.

The shelter is bursting at the seams, at times housing over 300 animals. The county, which leases the building to the nonprofit for $1 annually, is pushing to find outside funding to construct a new shelter.

Securing funding and completing construction of a new facility will take at least three to four years, said Rose Dobson-Elliot, the countys director of engineering services.

The countys request to the state Senate for financing proposes designing and constructing a Regional Animal Services Complex with Beaufort County. It would also include a Wildlife Resource Center and a sheriffs department K-9 housing unit.

Due to Jasper and Beaufort counties rapidly growing population, wildlife habitats are shrinking and more animals are displaced, the document said.

(The facility) was satisfactory ten years ago, the document said. But its too small and has gotten into an extremely poor physical condition.

The current occupancy of animals is higher than available space. The site has poor drainage and there is limited space for outdoor needs.

The proposed facility would be an expansion to the Beaufort County Animal Campus in Okatie. The two counties are exploring ways to work cooperatively, but Beaufort County will not be taking over Jasper County services, Dobson-Elliot said April 8.

The project proposal is available for public knowledge, Dobson-Elliot said, but that doesnt mean the details are ironed out or its a done deal.

Where the budget request stands

On April 10, the Senate Finance Committee appropriated $1.5 million for Jasper Countys facility. But when the full Senate approved the budget last week, the $1.5 million wasnt included, according to Senate documents. But the House may try to add the money next week when state representatives consider the budget again, said state Sen. Margie Bright Matthews, D-Colleton, whose district includes Jasper County.

State Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, said three factors are considered when prioritizing requests for funding local efforts. The money must be related to a core function of government; the project must have a significant local appropriation; and local and county governments need to show how they would work together.

Another factor to consider is the competency of the governing entity at the local level, Davis said. The General Assembly wants to see and have confidence that the local entity that will be handling the appropriation is a functioning entity, or is a functioning board.

Despite recent upheavals of the animal rescue missions board, Davis said money is being considered for the new facility because the need is greater.

Still, its not certain the Jasper County project would get any state funding this year, especially because its competing with many other infrastructure projects with funding request.

If the money is allocated, safeguards for the expenditure would be put in place by the new state Department of Public Health, Davis said.
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL)  Several schools in the Tri-Cities were awarded school improvement grants by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).

On Thursday, the TVA announced more than $3 million in grant funding to 106 schools in the Southeast. The grants were part of the TVAs School Uplift program and ranged from $10,000 to $400,000.

SCSO: Scammer who convinced elderly woman to empty bank account arrested in Virginia

The program helps schools save roughly 10% on their energy bills.

Grants were awarded based on the scores achieved by schools for cutting their energy waste, engaging their school community and assessing which school buildings could see the most significant energy savings.

In the Tri-Cities, South Side Elementary School in Johnson City received the largest grant. South Side was awarded a $25,000 grant from the TVA.

The following local schools received $10,000 grants:

Anderson Elementary

Cherokee Middle

Chuckey-Doak Middle

Chuckey Elementary in Chuckey

Glenwood Educational Center

Tennessee Middle

Tusculum Elementary

West Greene High

The TVA launched the School Uplift program in 2021.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather.
BELLVILLE  The Mansfield post of the Highway Patrol is investigating a five-vehicle fatal crash that occurred Wednesday at 10:49 p.m. on Interstate 71 near in Perry Township. in Richland County, killing two people, including a Mansfield woman and a Fairlawn man in two separate vehicles.

Shawna E. Smith, 60, of Mansfield, the driver of a Chevrolet Uplander, and Ronald Smith, 62, of Fairlawn, the driver of a Ford Escape, each suffered fatal injuries at the scene, according to a news release from the patrol Thursday afternoon.

According to the preliminary investigation, a Nissan Rogue, operated by Michael L. Albaugh, 60, Lewis Center, was traveling southbound on I-71 when it struck a deer. The collision caused the SUVs hood to come unlatched, blocking the windshield.

At the same time, a Freightliner commercial tractor-trailer, driven by Ahmed M. Ahmed, 28, of Coon Rapids, Minnesota, was following behind the SUV. Ahmed swerved to avoid the Nissan as it slowed in the roadway. He then drove off the left side of the roadway, through the media, and into the northbound lanes. His tractor-trailer struck a northbound Chevrolet Uplander, operated by Shawna E. Smith, and a Ford Escape, driven by Ronald Smith, and then caught fire, according to the release.

An Ohio State Highway Patrol cruiser.

A Freightliner commercial tractor-trailer, operated by Elvedin Hanusic, 43, of Jacksonville, Florida, struck Ahmeds commercial tractor-trailer that came to rest in the northbound lanes and then overturned, the patrol said.

The drivers of the remaining vehicles; the passenger of the Nissan, Lynette D. Albaugh, 51, Lewis Center, and the passenger of Hanusics tractor-trailer, Hebib Meril, 41, Jacksonville, Florida, all sustained minor injuries and were transported by ambulance to OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital.

Northbound lanes were closed for about nine hours, and some southbound lanes were closed for four hours while the scene was cleared and an initial investigation was completed.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol was assisted on the scene by the Richland County Sheriffs Office, Richland County Coroners Office, Bellville Police Department, Jefferson Township Fire Department, Troy Township Fire Department, Washington Township Fire Department, Johnsville Fire Department, Mikes Towing & Repair, Laurence's Towing & Repair and Westside Towing.

lwhitmir@gannett.com

419-521-7223

X (formerly Twitter): @LWhitmir

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Two people die after five-vehicle crash related to deer in I-71
EAST LAMPETER TWP., Pa. (WHTM)  Two men in the same apartment complex were arrested for separate drug operations in Lancaster County.

Keith Thompson, 43, and Jan Abreu-Vizcarrondo, 24, both of the 1600 block of Old Philadelphia Pike in East Lampeter Twp., were arrested on April 18, according to the Lancaster County District Attorneys Office.

Both men were the subject of separate drug investigations undertaken by the Lancaster County Drug Task Force and law enforcement partners.

Thompson is accused of selling cocaine, including to undercover law enforcement officers, as well as possession of methamphetamine, cocaine, oxycodone pills, and more.

A search warrant at his apartment, officials said, found 144.3 grams of meth, 40 grams of cocaine, 14 oxycodone pills, 2,351.5 grams of marijuana, drug paraphernalia, a handgun, and $55,990 in cash.





He was arraigned on charges of possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine, cocaine, and marijuana; possession of oxycodone pills; possession of drug paraphernalia; and person not to possess a firearm and committed to Lancaster County Prison on $750,000 bail.

The Drug Task Force had also been investigating Abreu-Vizcarrondo, who was allegedly selling large amounts of marijuana brought to the area from Philadelphia.

Police found 10,247 grams, or 22 pounds, of marijuana in his apartment along with drug paraphernalia, a handgun, and $9,248 in cash in his apartment.

He was charged with possession with intent to deliver marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia and is free after posting $50,000 bail.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27.
(GOLDEN, Colo.)  Two local officers will be added to the Law Enforcement Memorial in Golden, CO in a ceremony to be held on May 3, 2024. Officer Julian G. Becerra and Parole Officer Christine Guerin-Sandoval will be honored at the ceremony along with 8 other fallen officers from around the state, as the ten new names are added to the memorial.

On September 28, 2023, Officer Guerin-Sandoval was killed in the line of duty during an auto-pedestrian crash in Colorado Springs.

Photo of Parole Officer Christine Guerin-Sandoval. Courtesy: FOX21 News photojournalist Dez Rowe

Before joining the Department of Corrections, Sandoval worked for 12 years with the Pueblo County Sheriffs Office and earned the honor of 2018 Law Enforcement Officer of the Year. She was deeply loved and respected by her friends, family, and fellow officers.

RELATED: Community mourns fallen parole officer Christine Guerin-Sandoval

Christine was one of the most dependable and loyal deputies I have ever worked with, said Undersheriff Steve Bryant of the Pueblo County Sheriffs Office. She has shown humanity towards people who some might say deserved none.

Photo of Officer Julian G. Becerra with K9. Courtesy: Tunnel to Towers Foundation

RELATED: Officer Julian Becerra dies of injuries after on duty incident

On February 11, 2023, Officer Becerra died from injuries sustained when he fell 40 feet from a bridge while attempting to arrest car-jacking suspects. It was the first time an officer with the Fountain Police Department (FPD) died in the line of duty in over 100 years. K-9 Officer Becerra was with FPD for four-and-a-half years. He is survived by his wife and two children.

The annual memorial ceremony is held every first Friday in May, which will be May 3 of this year. The Colorado State Patrol (CSP) has invited all to attend the memorial ceremony, and said in a Facebook post on April 29, Help us remember the fallen and salute the lives of these heroes.

The memorial ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. at the State Patrol Academy near Golden, Colorado.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX21 News Colorado.
Two Republicans to challenge state Rep. Pat Haddad. Who else is running for office?

The state Legislature races are shaping up, now that the deadline has passed for nominees to seek a place on the September primary ballot. And one state rep race could be a repeat of 2022.

For those seeking a seat on Beacon Hill in November, April 30 was the deadline to submit their nomination papers to local election officials.

Two Republicans squaring off to challenge state Rep. Haddad

In the 5th Bristol District state representative race, incumbent state Rep. Patricia Haddad, a Democrat, and Republicans Justin Thurber and Melissa Terra of Somerset all returned nomination papers.

Haddad has represented the 5th Bristol District since 2000, winning 12 general elections. In her time in office, she has faced a primary challenger only her first time, and has faced a challenger in the general election only three times. Before winning state elective office, Haddad was a teacher; she served on town offices in Somerset for years, including the School Committee from 1993 to 2001.

She is a member of the board of delegates on the New England Board of Higher Education. She has cited among her achievements securing funding to ease the loss of Brayton Point Power Station to Somersets tax base, obtaining revitalization funds for Swansea Town Beach, and working to bring offshore wind projects to Somerset.

A voter casts her ballots at Precinct 7B, at Fall River Government Center, for the presidential primary on March 5, 2024.

Thurber challenged Haddad in the 2022 general election. An Air Force Reserves veteran, he mounted a successful write-in campaign to get on the Republican ticket in the primary. He ran on a platform of conservative economics including lowering taxes and supporting businesses, and opposition to COVID vaccine and mask mandates.

Terra served two terms as a Somerset School Committee member. She did not seek re-election when her second term expired in 2020. In 2020, Terra ran an unsuccessful campaign to be a member of Massachusetts' Republican State Committee.

The 5th Bristol District represents Somerset, Dighton, and parts of Swansea and Taunton.

Schmid stepping away: Westport state rep. announces he won't seek re-election in fall

Two Fall River incumbent state reps. face no challengers

According to the Fall River Elections Department, no candidates returned nomination papers to challenge incumbent state Rep. Carole Fiola in the 6th Bristol District race or state Rep. Alan Silvia in the 7th Bristol District race.

Fiola, a Democrat, returned nomination papers to seek re-election to the seat she has held since 2013. The 6th Bristol District encompasses parts of Fall River and Freetown.

Silvia, a Democrat, has been a state representative since 2012. His district encompasses the South End of Fall River.

State Rep. Schmid's seat is up for grabs

In February, state Rep. Paul Schmid III, a Westport Democrat representing the 8th Bristol District, announced he was not seeking re-election in February. Five candidates have returned nomination papers for this seat:

Manuel Soares Jr., independent, of 316 Gifford Road in Westport, who is a Westport select board and planning board member;

Laura Hadley, independent, of 1 Narrow Ave. in Westport;

Gabriel Amaral, Republican, of 901 Indian Town Road in Fall River, who ran an unsuccessful race for Fall River City Council in 2023;

Steven J. Ouellette, Democrat, of 25 Maple St. in Westport, who is a Westport select board member;

Jesse W. St. Gelais, independent of 32 Gammons Road in Acushnet.

The 8th Bristol District encompasses parts of Fall River, Freetown, Acushnet and New Bedford, and all of Westport.

When is the Massachusetts state primary?

The state primary election is set for Sept. 3. The deadline to register to vote is Aug. 24. The general election will be held Nov. 5, with a voter registration deadline of Oct. 26.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: 2 Somerset Republicans return papers to challenge state Rep. Haddad
Two teens arrested in connection to deadly Baton Rouge shooting

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD)  The Baton Rouge Police Department arrested two teenagers in connection to a deadly shooting that took place in the 5200 block of Longfellow Drive on April 28.

According to BRPD, Daon Scott, 23, was found with multiple gunshot wounds around 3:18 a.m.

Police said two 16-year-old males were arrested and booked into the East Baton Rouge Juvenile Detention Center. They face charges of second-degree murder and illegal use of a weapon.

The Baton Rouge Constables Office assisted in the arrests, police said. The identities of the suspects were not immediately available.

Baton Rouge police arrest man accused of deadly April shooting on Scotland Avenue

If anyone has information about a crime in Baton Rouge, contact police at 225-389-4869 or Capital Region Crime Stoppers at 225-344-7867.

Latest News

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to BRProud.com.
Two teens arrested at E.C. Glass High School for trespassing

LYNCHBURG, Va. (WFXR)  Police in Lynchburg say two teens are in custody after a trespassing incident at E. C. Glass High School on Thursday morning.

According to the Lynchburg Police Department, around 7 a.m. on May 2, officers were called to the high school campus for two trespassers.

Once at the scene, police began searching the campus and found a 17-year-old and an 18-year-old. Police confirmed they are both students at the high school.

Both students were arrested and charged with:

Trespassing on School Property

Entering Property of Another for Purpose of Damaging

Linkhorne Middle School dismissed early due to police investigation

Out of precaution, Lynchburg City Schools dismissed students and staff just after 8 a.m.

As police continued their investigation, officers requested K9 units from the Liberty University Police Department and Virginia State Police. The K9 units are trained in explosive detection to assist with searching the school grounds.

After a thorough search of the building, officers determined the school was safe.

WFXR News will update this story as more details are released.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFXRtv.
California Highway Patrol officers patrol at a pro-Palestinian encampment, the morning after it was attacked by counter-protestors at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus, on May 1, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON  U.S. House Republicans Wednesday passed a bill, with heavy support from Democrats, that would define antisemitism for the Department of Education, amid nationwide college campus protests in which students are calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The 320-91 vote would codify the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances definition of antisemitism in Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964  with which all schools that receive federal funding are required to comply.

But some Democrats raised concerns that the language is too broad and could chill freedom of speech at schools.

Speech that is critical of Israel alone does not constitute unlawful discrimination, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York, said during debate of the bill, H.R. 6090.

All of Pennsylvanias 17 House members voted in favor except for Democrats Dwight Evans (PA-03), Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05) and Summer Lee (PA-12), who voted against it. Republican Glenn Thompson (PA-15) did not vote.

Republicans have slammed the leaders of higher education institutions that are the sites of protests, calling for them to resign and to send in law enforcement to crack down on the students protesting.

House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana is also rolling out a Congress-wide effort to address the protests, such as tougher oversight of university presidents and pulling funding.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York in a Wednesday press conference did not commit to putting the House bill on the Senate floor.

We havent seen what the House is sending us yet, he said.

Lawmakers have focused on Columbia University in New York, where students set up a Gaza Solidarity Encampment.

Students are demanding that the university cut financial ties, such as endowments, with companies that do business with Israel or those that make weapons used in the war in Gaza. More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

The New York Police Department was deployed on the campus early Wednesday by Columbia University President Minouche Shafik, who authorized the NYPD to sweep the campus after students took over one of the buildings that has a history of student activism, Hamilton Hall, according to the Columbia Spectator.

However, students occupying the building have drawn criticism from Democrats as well.

Smashing windows with hammers and taking over university buildings is not free speech  it is lawlessness, and those who did it should promptly face the consequences that are not merely a slap on the wrist, Schumer said on the Senate floor Tuesday.

More than 300 students were arrested by the NYPD, according to The Associated Press.

Cotton calls for protection of Jewish students

Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton held a press conference Wednesday, where he was joined by several Senate Republicans in urging university presidents to crack down on the encampments and to protect Jewish students.

Cotton called for the State Department to pull the visas of international students who have participated in the protests and for the Department of Education to withhold federal funding to those schools where protests are taking place.

They have a right if they want to go out and make fools of themselves, and protest on behalf of Hamas, but they dont have the right to build little Gazas in violation of the laws, Cotton said, referring to protesters and encampments.

Cotton was joined by Sens. Rick Scott of Florida, James Lankford of Oklahoma, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Deb Fischer of Nebraska, Joni Ernst of Iowa and Roger Marshall of Kansas.

Lankford said that the protesters have crossed a line and have made Jewish students feel unsafe.

Every university and every student has the right to be able to speak their mind, to be able to test out new ideas  its the nature of being on a college campus to be able to speak out and be able to think through different things, Lankford said.

Were a nation that prides ourself on the right to speak out, but were also a nation that says, You cannot go and intimidate someone else in the process.

Kennedy and Marshall said policies on diversity, inclusion and equity resulted in the protests on college campuses.

Kennedy said he blamed some of the faculty members at those higher education institutions for the protests.

There are members of the faculty at some of these universities who believe in diversity, equity, inclusion, he said.

Ernst said the universities need to put an end to this.

If they dont, they should kiss their federal funding goodbye, she said.

Argument against bill

Nadler was the sole Democrat to speak out against the bill during Wednesdays floor debate.

He argued that the language is too broad and would curtail freedom of speech.

While there is much in the bill I agree with, its core provision would put a thumb on the scale in favor of one particular definition of antisemitism to the exclusion of all others to be used when the Department of Education assesses claims of antisemitism on campus, Nadler said.

He took issue with some of the examples the definition provides that can be considered antisemitic, such as criticism of the state of Israel.

That definition would be: Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.

GOP Rep. Tom McClintock of California said the bill was needed because there has been a spike in antisemitism since Oct. 7, the start of the Hamas-Israel war, when Hamas staged an attack against Israeli civilians.

You cannot fight antisemitism if you cannot define it, he said.

Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, who sponsored the bill, said without a clear definition of antisemitism, the Department of Education and college administrations are having trouble discerning what is considered antisemitic.

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not protect students from discrimination based only on religion. If a student does bring up a complaint, the civil rights division in the Department of Education refers those complaints to the Department of Justice, according to the Department of Education.

Nadler argued that the bill would threaten freedom of speech, while doing nothing to combat antisemitism.

The chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, said the definition is needed to ensure the safety of Jewish students.

Foxx has held several hearings throughout the year where she and Republicans on the committee grilled the leaders of universities about the pro-Palestinian protests on their campuses. Another is set for May 23 for the heads of Yale, UCLA and the University of Michigan.

The post U.S. House approves definition of antisemitism as campus protests continue appeared first on Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
Elon Musk is on the warpath. Now that the electric vehicle industry is no longer growing exponentially, hes pivoting toward robotics, having sacked more than a tenth of his workforce, shelved plans to build a low-cost car, and fired his head of fast charging.

While adjustments in headcount are inevitable, Musks decision to also sack Rebecca Tinuccis entire Supercharger teamwhile at the same time plowing $10 billion this year alone into an AI strategysparked confusion and bewilderment in the ranks of a Tesla community that once believed the company would grow EV sales tenfold from current levels by 2030.

What this means for the charging network, [Teslas proprietary charging standard] NACS, and all the exciting work we were doing across the industry, I dont yet know, wrote Will Jameson, formerly Teslas lead of strategic charging programs, who confirmed a report by The Information. If Tesla is yielding the charging crown, who will step up?

But also what a unique opportunity for the industry to capitalize on the newly available talent and expertise in the space. If Tesla is yielding the charging crown, who will step up?  willjameson (@willjameson) April 30, 2024

Musks Supercharger network was long considered an unbeatable asset that would insulate Tesla from competitive pressures. Particularly in EV laggard North America, no other brand had access to such an extensive and, more important, reliable network of fast chargers.

The process was also seamless: All Tesla owners had to do was plug in, and everything else was taken care of at the back enda premium no-hassle experience that set a benchmark for the market.

Musks decision to scrap the team deepened the rift between proponents of Teslas stated mission to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport and Musk acolytes, who choose not to question a CEO who built the worlds most valuable carmaker from scratchagainst all odds.

The latter argue Tesla can afford to take its foot off the accelerator now that the rest of the U.S. industry adopted his plug and charging standard to grant their customers access to his network.

Plenty of heavy lifting still to be done

Responding to concerns from critics, Musk signaled he merely believes its time to adopt a different approach.

Tesla still plans to grow the Supercharger network, just at a slower pace for new locations and more focus on 100% uptime and expansion of existing locations, he wrote on the social media platform he owns, X.

Story continues

Tesla still plans to grow the Supercharger network, just at a slower pace for new locations and more focus on 100% uptime and expansion of existing locations  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 30, 2024

Challenges remain, however, as the other half of the EV market in the U.S. that Musk doesnt control is reliant on Teslas existing third-generation chargers and rollout of its new, fourth-gen service.

Competitor models are not compatible with the Supercharger V1 and V2 available at 12,000 stations around the country, meaning waits at the stations for those who need the newer ports.

Christoph Sturmer, an electric mobility expert with Berlin-based Charging Interface Initiative (CharIN), pushed back against the notion that the hard part for Tesla was over, especially as more carmakers will now be directing their U.S. customers to its Superchargers.

The heavy lifting hasnt been done, since EVs are less than 2% of the existing fleet in the U.S. That leaves 98% still yet to be electrified, and the investment needed will be enormous, he told Fortune.

Teslas charging business needs to service twice as many customers, while complexity will effectively quadruple as it seeks to accommodate a range of different brands. So its team needs more resourcesnot less.

Tesla did not respond to a Fortune request for comment.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers patrol at a pro-Palestinian encampment, the morning after it was attacked by counter-protestors at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus, on May 1, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. A group of counter-protestors attacked the camp overnight leaving some demonstrators wounded. The camp was declared unlawful by the university yesterday and classes have been cancelled today due to the violence. Pro-Palestinian encampments have sprung up at college campuses around the country with some protestors calling for schools to divest from Israeli interests amid the ongoing war in Gaza. | Mario Tama/Getty Images

WASHINGTON  U.S. House Republicans Wednesday passed a bill, with heavy support from Democrats, that would define antisemitism for the Department of Education, amid nationwide college campus protests in which students are calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The 320-91 vote would codify the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances definition of antisemitism in Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964  with which all schools that receive federal funding are required to comply. All members of Michigans congressional delegation vote yes except for U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit).

U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib | Ken Coleman photo

Some Democrats raised concerns that the language is too broad and could chill freedom of speech at schools.

Speech that is critical of Israel alone does not constitute unlawful discrimination, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York, said during debate of the bill, H.R. 6090.

Republicans have slammed the leaders of higher education institutions that are the sites of protests, calling for them to resign and to send in law enforcement to crack down on the students protesting.

House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana is also rolling out a Congress-wide effort to address the protests, such as tougher oversight of university presidents and pulling funding.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York in a Wednesday press conference did not commit to putting the House bill on the Senate floor.

We havent seen what the House is sending us yet, he said.

Lawmakers have focused on Columbia University in New York, where students set up a Gaza Solidarity Encampment.

Students are demanding that the university cut financial ties, such as endowments, with companies that do business with Israel or those that make weapons used in the war in Gaza. More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

The New York Police Department was deployed on the campus early Wednesday by Columbia University President Minouche Shafik, who authorized the NYPD to sweep the campus after students took over one of the buildings that has a history of student activism, Hamilton Hall, according to the Columbia Spectator.

However, students occupying the building have drawn criticism from Democrats as well.

Smashing windows with hammers and taking over university buildings is not free speech  it is lawlessness, and those who did it should promptly face the consequences that are not merely a slap on the wrist, Schumer said on the Senate floor Tuesday.

More than 300 students were arrested by the NYPD, according to The Associated Press.

Cotton calls for protection of Jewish students

Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton held a press conference Wednesday, where he was joined by several Senate Republicans in urging university presidents to crack down on the encampments and to protect Jewish students.

Cotton called for the State Department to pull the visas of international students who have participated in the protests and for the Department of Education to withhold federal funding to those schools where protests are taking place.

They have a right if they want to go out and make fools of themselves, and protest on behalf of Hamas, but they dont have the right to build little Gazas in violation of the laws, Cotton said, referring to protesters and encampments.

Cotton was joined by Sens. Rick Scott of Florida, James Lankford of Oklahoma, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Deb Fischer of Nebraska, Joni Ernst of Iowa and Roger Marshall of Kansas.

Lankford said that the protesters have crossed a line and have made Jewish students feel unsafe.

Every university and every student has the right to be able to speak their mind, to be able to test out new ideas  its the nature of being on a college campus to be able to speak out and be able to think through different things, Lankford said.

Were a nation that prides ourself on the right to speak out, but were also a nation that says, You cannot go and intimidate someone else in the process.

Kennedy and Marshall said policies on diversity, inclusion and equity resulted in the protests on college campuses.

Kennedy said he blamed some of the faculty members at those higher education institutions for the protests.

There are members of the faculty at some of these universities who believe in diversity, equity, inclusion, he said.

Ernst said the universities need to put an end to this.

If they dont, they should kiss their federal funding goodbye, she said.

The student encampment on the University of Michigan campus. April 26, 2024. Photo by Jon King.

Argument against bill

Nadler was the sole Democrat to speak out against the bill during Wednesdays floor debate.

He argued that the language is too broad and would curtail freedom of speech.

While there is much in the bill I agree with, its core provision would put a thumb on the scale in favor of one particular definition of antisemitism to the exclusion of all others to be used when the Department of Education assesses claims of antisemitism on campus, Nadler said.

He took issue with some of the examples the definition provides that can be considered antisemitic, such as criticism of the state of Israel.

That definition would be: Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.

GOP Rep. Tom McClintock of California said the bill was needed because there has been a spike in antisemitism since Oct. 7, the start of the Hamas-Israel war, when Hamas staged an attack against Israeli civilians.

You cannot fight antisemitism if you cannot define it, he said.

Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, who sponsored the bill, said without a clear definition of antisemitism, the Department of Education and college administrations are having trouble discerning what is considered antisemitic.

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not protect students from discrimination based only on religion. If a student does bring up a complaint, the civil rights division in the Department of Education refers those complaints to the Department of Justice, according to the Department of Education.

Nadler argued that the bill would threaten freedom of speech, while doing nothing to combat antisemitism.

The chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, said the definition is needed to ensure the safety of Jewish students.

Foxx has held several hearings throughout the year where she and Republicans on the committee grilled the leaders of universities about the pro-Palestinian protests on their campuses. Another is set for May 23 for the heads of Yale, UCLA and the University of Michigan.

The post U.S. House approves definition of antisemitism as campus protests continue appeared first on Michigan Advance.
A person records New Mexico State Police shove protesters that set up with tents inside the University of New Mexico Student Union Building on April 30, 2024. (Photo by Shaun Griswold / Source NM)

WASHINGTON  U.S. House Republicans Wednesday passed a bill, with heavy support from Democrats, that would define antisemitism for the Department of Education, amid nationwide college campus protests in which students are calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The 320-91 vote would codify the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances definition of antisemitism in Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964  with which all schools that receive federal funding are required to comply.

But some Democrats raised concerns that the language is too broad and could chill freedom of speech at schools.

Speech that is critical of Israel alone does not constitute unlawful discrimination, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York, said during debate of the bill, H.R. 6090.

Republicans have slammed the leaders of higher education institutions that are the sites of protests, calling for them to resign and to send in law enforcement to crack down on the students protesting.

House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana is also rolling out a Congress-wide effort to address the protests, such as tougher oversight of university presidents and pulling funding.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York in a Wednesday press conference did not commit to putting the House bill on the Senate floor.

We havent seen what the House is sending us yet, he said.

Lawmakers have focused on Columbia University in New York, where students set up a Gaza Solidarity Encampment.

Students are demanding that the university cut financial ties, such as endowments, with companies that do business with Israel or those that make weapons used in the war in Gaza. More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

The New York Police Department was deployed on the campus early Wednesday by Columbia University President Minouche Shafik, who authorized the NYPD to sweep the campus after students took over one of the buildings that has a history of student activism, Hamilton Hall, according to the Columbia Spectator.

However, students occupying the building have drawn criticism from Democrats as well.

Smashing windows with hammers and taking over university buildings is not free speech  it is lawlessness, and those who did it should promptly face the consequences that are not merely a slap on the wrist, Schumer said on the Senate floor Tuesday.

More than 300 students were arrested by the NYPD, according to The Associated Press.

Cotton calls for protection of Jewish students

Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton held a press conference Wednesday, where he was joined by several Senate Republicans in urging university presidents to crack down on the encampments and to protect Jewish students.

Cotton called for the State Department to pull the visas of international students who have participated in the protests and for the Department of Education to withhold federal funding to those schools where protests are taking place.

They have a right if they want to go out and make fools of themselves, and protest on behalf of Hamas, but they dont have the right to build little Gazas in violation of the laws, Cotton said, referring to protesters and encampments.

Cotton was joined by Sens. Rick Scott of Florida, James Lankford of Oklahoma, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Deb Fischer of Nebraska, Joni Ernst of Iowa and Roger Marshall of Kansas.

Lankford said that the protesters have crossed a line and have made Jewish students feel unsafe.

Every university and every student has the right to be able to speak their mind, to be able to test out new ideas  its the nature of being on a college campus to be able to speak out and be able to think through different things, Lankford said.

Were a nation that prides ourself on the right to speak out, but were also a nation that says, You cannot go and intimidate someone else in the process.

Kennedy and Marshall said policies on diversity, inclusion and equity resulted in the protests on college campuses.

Kennedy said he blamed some of the faculty members at those higher education institutions for the protests.

There are members of the faculty at some of these universities who believe in diversity, equity, inclusion, he said.

Ernst said the universities need to put an end to this.

If they dont, they should kiss their federal funding goodbye, she said.

Argument against bill

Nadler was the sole Democrat to speak out against the bill during Wednesdays floor debate.

He argued that the language is too broad and would curtail freedom of speech.

While there is much in the bill I agree with, its core provision would put a thumb on the scale in favor of one particular definition of antisemitism to the exclusion of all others to be used when the Department of Education assesses claims of antisemitism on campus, Nadler said.

He took issue with some of the examples the definition provides that can be considered antisemitic, such as criticism of the state of Israel.

That definition would be: Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.

GOP Rep. Tom McClintock of California said the bill was needed because there has been a spike in antisemitism since Oct. 7, the start of the Hamas-Israel war, when Hamas staged an attack against Israeli civilians.

You cannot fight antisemitism if you cannot define it, he said.

Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, who sponsored the bill, said without a clear definition of antisemitism, the Department of Education and college administrations are having trouble discerning what is considered antisemitic.

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not protect students from discrimination based only on religion. If a student does bring up a complaint, the civil rights division in the Department of Education refers those complaints to the Department of Justice, according to the Department of Education.

Nadler argued that the bill would threaten freedom of speech, while doing nothing to combat antisemitism.

The chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, said the definition is needed to ensure the safety of Jewish students.

Foxx has held several hearings throughout the year where she and Republicans on the committee grilled the leaders of universities about the pro-Palestinian protests on their campuses. Another is set for May 23 for the heads of Yale, UCLA and the University of Michigan.

The post U.S. House approves definition of antisemitism as campus protests continue appeared first on Source New Mexico.
California Highway Patrol officers patrol at a pro-Palestinian encampment, the morning after it was attacked by counter-protestors at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus, on May 1, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

California Highway Patrol officers patrol at a pro-Palestinian encampment, the morning after it was attacked by counter-protestors at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus, on May 1, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON  U.S. House Republicans Wednesday passed a bill, with heavy support from Democrats, that would define antisemitism for the Department of Education, amid nationwide college campus protests in which students are calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The 320-91 vote would codify the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances definition of antisemitism in Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964  with which all schools that receive federal funding are required to comply.

But some Democrats raised concerns that the language is too broad and could chill freedom of speech at schools.

Speech that is critical of Israel alone does not constitute unlawful discrimination, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York, said during debate of the bill, H.R. 6090.

Republicans have slammed the leaders of higher education institutions that are the sites of protests, calling for them to resign and to send in law enforcement to crack down on the students protesting.

They have a right if they want to go out and make fools of themselves, and protest on behalf of Hamas, but they dont have the right to build little Gazas in violation of the laws.

 Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas

House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana is also rolling out a Congress-wide effort to address the protests, such as tougher oversight of university presidents and pulling funding.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York in a Wednesday press conference did not commit to putting the House bill on the Senate floor.

We havent seen what the House is sending us yet, he said.

Lawmakers have focused on Columbia University in New York, where students set up a Gaza Solidarity Encampment.

Students are demanding that the university cut financial ties, such as endowments, with companies that do business with Israel or those that make weapons used in the war in Gaza. More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

The New York Police Department was deployed on the campus early Wednesday by Columbia University President Minouche Shafik, who authorized the NYPD to sweep the campus after students took over one of the buildings that has a history of student activism, Hamilton Hall, according to the Columbia Spectator.

However, students occupying the building have drawn criticism from Democrats as well.

Smashing windows with hammers and taking over university buildings is not free speech  it is lawlessness, and those who did it should promptly face the consequences that are not merely a slap on the wrist, Schumer said on the Senate floor Tuesday.

More than 300 students were arrested by the NYPD, according to The Associated Press.

Cotton calls for protection of Jewish students

Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton held a press conference Wednesday, where he was joined by several Senate Republicans in urging university presidents to crack down on the encampments and to protect Jewish students.

Cotton called for the State Department to pull the visas of international students who have participated in the protests and for the Department of Education to withhold federal funding to those schools where protests are taking place.

They have a right if they want to go out and make fools of themselves, and protest on behalf of Hamas, but they dont have the right to build little Gazas in violation of the laws, Cotton said, referring to protesters and encampments.

Cotton was joined by Sens. Rick Scott of Florida, James Lankford of Oklahoma, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Deb Fischer of Nebraska, Joni Ernst of Iowa and Roger Marshall of Kansas.

Lankford said that the protesters have crossed a line and have made Jewish students feel unsafe.

Every university and every student has the right to be able to speak their mind, to be able to test out new ideas  its the nature of being on a college campus to be able to speak out and be able to think through different things, Lankford said.

Were a nation that prides ourself on the right to speak out, but were also a nation that says, You cannot go and intimidate someone else in the process.

Kennedy and Marshall said policies on diversity, inclusion and equity resulted in the protests on college campuses.

Kennedy said he blamed some of the faculty members at those higher education institutions for the protests.

There are members of the faculty at some of these universities who believe in diversity, equity, inclusion, he said.

Ernst said the universities need to put an end to this.

If they dont, they should kiss their federal funding goodbye, she said.

Argument against bill

Nadler was the sole Democrat to speak out against the bill during Wednesdays floor debate.

He argued that the language is too broad and would curtail freedom of speech.

While there is much in the bill I agree with, its core provision would put a thumb on the scale in favor of one particular definition of antisemitism to the exclusion of all others to be used when the Department of Education assesses claims of antisemitism on campus, Nadler said.

He took issue with some of the examples the definition provides that can be considered antisemitic, such as criticism of the state of Israel.

That definition would be: Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.

While there is much in the bill I agree with, its core provision would put a thumb on the scale in favor of one particular definition of antisemitism to the exclusion of all others to be used when the Department of Education assesses claims of antisemitism on campus.

 U.S. Rep. Gerry Nadler, D-New York

GOP Rep. Tom McClintock of California said the bill was needed because there has been a spike in antisemitism since Oct. 7, the start of the Hamas-Israel war, when Hamas staged an attack against Israeli civilians.

You cannot fight antisemitism if you cannot define it, he said.

Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, who sponsored the bill, said without a clear definition of antisemitism, the Department of Education and college administrations are having trouble discerning what is considered antisemitic.

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not protect students from discrimination based only on religion. If a student does bring up a complaint, the civil rights division in the Department of Education refers those complaints to the Department of Justice, according to the Department of Education.

Nadler argued that the bill would threaten freedom of speech, while doing nothing to combat antisemitism.

The chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, said the definition is needed to ensure the safety of Jewish students.

Foxx has held several hearings throughout the year where she and Republicans on the committee grilled the leaders of universities about the pro-Palestinian protests on their campuses. Another is set for May 23 for the heads of Yale, UCLA and the University of Michigan.

The post U.S. House approves definition of antisemitism as campus protests continue appeared first on Tennessee Lookout.
California Highway Patrol officers patrol at a pro-Palestinian encampment, the morning after it was attacked by counter-protestors at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus, on May 1, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON  U.S. House Republicans Wednesday passed a bill, with heavy support from Democrats, that would define antisemitism for the Department of Education, amid nationwide college campus protests in which students are calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The 320-91 vote would codify the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances definition of antisemitism in Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964  with which all schools that receive federal funding are required to comply. North Dakota Republican Kelly Armstrong supported the bill.

But some Democrats raised concerns that the language is too broad and could chill freedom of speech at schools.

Speech that is critical of Israel alone does not constitute unlawful discrimination, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York, said during debate of the bill, H.R. 6090.

Republicans have slammed the leaders of higher education institutions that are the sites of protests, calling for them to resign and to send in law enforcement to crack down on the students protesting.

House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana is also rolling out a Congress-wide effort to address the protests, such as tougher oversight of university presidents and pulling funding.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York in a Wednesday press conference did not commit to putting the House bill on the Senate floor.

We havent seen what the House is sending us yet, he said.

Lawmakers have focused on Columbia University in New York, where students set up a Gaza Solidarity Encampment.

Students are demanding that the university cut financial ties, such as endowments, with companies that do business with Israel or those that make weapons used in the war in Gaza. More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

The New York Police Department was deployed on the campus early Wednesday by Columbia University President Minouche Shafik, who authorized the NYPD to sweep the campus after students took over one of the buildings that has a history of student activism, Hamilton Hall, according to the Columbia Spectator.

However, students occupying the building have drawn criticism from Democrats as well.

Smashing windows with hammers and taking over university buildings is not free speech  it is lawlessness, and those who did it should promptly face the consequences that are not merely a slap on the wrist, Schumer said on the Senate floor Tuesday.

More than 300 students were arrested by the NYPD, according to The Associated Press.

Cotton calls for protection of Jewish students

Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton held a press conference Wednesday, where he was joined by several Senate Republicans in urging university presidents to crack down on the encampments and to protect Jewish students.

Cotton called for the State Department to pull the visas of international students who have participated in the protests and for the Department of Education to withhold federal funding to those schools where protests are taking place.

They have a right if they want to go out and make fools of themselves, and protest on behalf of Hamas, but they dont have the right to build little Gazas in violation of the laws, Cotton said, referring to protesters and encampments.

Cotton was joined by Sens. Rick Scott of Florida, James Lankford of Oklahoma, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Deb Fischer of Nebraska, Joni Ernst of Iowa and Roger Marshall of Kansas.

Lankford said that the protesters have crossed a line and have made Jewish students feel unsafe.

Every university and every student has the right to be able to speak their mind, to be able to test out new ideas  its the nature of being on a college campus to be able to speak out and be able to think through different things, Lankford said.

Were a nation that prides ourself on the right to speak out, but were also a nation that says, You cannot go and intimidate someone else in the process.

Kennedy and Marshall said policies on diversity, inclusion and equity resulted in the protests on college campuses.

Kennedy said he blamed some of the faculty members at those higher education institutions for the protests.

There are members of the faculty at some of these universities who believe in diversity, equity, inclusion, he said.

Ernst said the universities need to put an end to this.

If they dont, they should kiss their federal funding goodbye, she said.

Argument against bill

Nadler was the sole Democrat to speak out against the bill during Wednesdays floor debate.

He argued that the language is too broad and would curtail freedom of speech.

While there is much in the bill I agree with, its core provision would put a thumb on the scale in favor of one particular definition of antisemitism to the exclusion of all others to be used when the Department of Education assesses claims of antisemitism on campus, Nadler said.

He took issue with some of the examples the definition provides that can be considered antisemitic, such as criticism of the state of Israel.

That definition would be: Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.

GOP Rep. Tom McClintock of California said the bill was needed because there has been a spike in antisemitism since Oct. 7, the start of the Hamas-Israel war, when Hamas staged an attack against Israeli civilians.

You cannot fight antisemitism if you cannot define it, he said.

Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, who sponsored the bill, said without a clear definition of antisemitism, the Department of Education and college administrations are having trouble discerning what is considered antisemitic.

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not protect students from discrimination based only on religion. If a student does bring up a complaint, the civil rights division in the Department of Education refers those complaints to the Department of Justice, according to the Department of Education.

Nadler argued that the bill would threaten freedom of speech, while doing nothing to combat antisemitism.

The chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, said the definition is needed to ensure the safety of Jewish students.

Foxx has held several hearings throughout the year where she and Republicans on the committee grilled the leaders of universities about the pro-Palestinian protests on their campuses. Another is set for May 23 for the heads of Yale, UCLA and the University of Michigan.

The post U.S. House approves definition of antisemitism as campus protests continue appeared first on North Dakota Monitor.
California Highway Patrol officers patrol at a pro-Palestinian encampment, the morning after it was attacked by counter-protestors at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus, on May 1, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

U.S. House Republicans Wednesday passed a bill, with heavy support from Democrats, that would define antisemitism for the Department of Education, amid nationwide college campus protests in which students are calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The 320-91 vote would codify the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances definition of antisemitism in Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964  with which all schools that receive federal funding are required to comply.

But some Democrats raised concerns that the language is too broad and could chill freedom of speech at schools.

Speech that is critical of Israel alone does not constitute unlawful discrimination, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York, said during debate of the bill, H.R. 6090.

Republicans have slammed the leaders of higher education institutions that are the sites of protests, calling for them to resign and to send in law enforcement to crack down on the students protesting.

House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana is also rolling out a Congress-wide effort to address the protests, such as tougher oversight of university presidents and pulling funding.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York in a Wednesday press conference did not commit to putting the House bill on the Senate floor.

We havent seen what the House is sending us yet, he said.

Democratic Reps. Jared Golden and Chellie Pingree of Maine split on the bill, with Pingree, who has joined the call for a ceasefire, voting against its passage.

Lawmakers have focused on Columbia University in New York, where students set up a Gaza Solidarity Encampment.

Students are demanding that the university cut financial ties, such as endowments, with companies that do business with Israel or those that make weapons used in the war in Gaza. More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

The New York Police Department was deployed on the campus early Wednesday by Columbia University President Minouche Shafik, who authorized the NYPD to sweep the campus after students took over one of the buildings that has a history of student activism, Hamilton Hall, according to the Columbia Spectator.

However, students occupying the building have drawn criticism from Democrats as well.

Smashing windows with hammers and taking over university buildings is not free speech  it is lawlessness, and those who did it should promptly face the consequences that are not merely a slap on the wrist, Schumer said on the Senate floor Tuesday.

More than 300 students were arrested by the NYPD, according to The Associated Press.

Cotton calls for protection of Jewish students

Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton held a press conference Wednesday, where he was joined by several Senate Republicans in urging university presidents to crack down on the encampments and to protect Jewish students.

Cotton called for the State Department to pull the visas of international students who have participated in the protests and for the Department of Education to withhold federal funding to those schools where protests are taking place.

They have a right if they want to go out and make fools of themselves, and protest on behalf of Hamas, but they dont have the right to build little Gazas in violation of the laws, Cotton said, referring to protesters and encampments.

Cotton was joined by Sens. Rick Scott of Florida, James Lankford of Oklahoma, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Deb Fischer of Nebraska, Joni Ernst of Iowa and Roger Marshall of Kansas.

Lankford said that the protesters have crossed a line and have made Jewish students feel unsafe.

Every university and every student has the right to be able to speak their mind, to be able to test out new ideas  its the nature of being on a college campus to be able to speak out and be able to think through different things, Lankford said.

Were a nation that prides ourself on the right to speak out, but were also a nation that says, You cannot go and intimidate someone else in the process.

Kennedy and Marshall said policies on diversity, inclusion and equity resulted in the protests on college campuses.

Kennedy said he blamed some of the faculty members at those higher education institutions for the protests.

There are members of the faculty at some of these universities who believe in diversity, equity, inclusion, he said.

Ernst said the universities need to put an end to this.

If they dont, they should kiss their federal funding goodbye, she said.

Argument against bill

Nadler was the sole Democrat to speak out against the bill during Wednesdays floor debate.

He argued that the language is too broad and would curtail freedom of speech.

While there is much in the bill I agree with, its core provision would put a thumb on the scale in favor of one particular definition of antisemitism to the exclusion of all others to be used when the Department of Education assesses claims of antisemitism on campus, Nadler said.

He took issue with some of the examples the definition provides that can be considered antisemitic, such as criticism of the state of Israel.

That definition would be: Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.

GOP Rep. Tom McClintock of California said the bill was needed because there has been a spike in antisemitism since Oct. 7, the start of the Hamas-Israel war, when Hamas staged an attack against Israeli civilians.

You cannot fight antisemitism if you cannot define it, he said.

Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, who sponsored the bill, said without a clear definition of antisemitism, the Department of Education and college administrations are having trouble discerning what is considered antisemitic.

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not protect students from discrimination based only on religion. If a student does bring up a complaint, the civil rights division in the Department of Education refers those complaints to the Department of Justice, according to the Department of Education.

Nadler argued that the bill would threaten freedom of speech, while doing nothing to combat antisemitism.

The chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, said the definition is needed to ensure the safety of Jewish students.

Foxx has held several hearings throughout the year where she and Republicans on the committee grilled the leaders of universities about the pro-Palestinian protests on their campuses. Another is set for May 23 for the heads of Yale, UCLA and the University of Michigan.

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The post U.S. House approves definition of antisemitism as campus protests continue appeared first on Maine Morning Star.
California Highway Patrol officers patrol at a pro-Palestinian encampment, the morning after it was attacked by counter-protestors at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus, on May 1, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Mario Tama | Getty Images)

WASHINGTON  U.S. House Republicans Wednesday passed a bill, with heavy support from Democrats, that would define antisemitism for the Department of Education, amid nationwide college campus protests in which students are calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The 320-91 vote would codify the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances definition of antisemitism in Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964  with which all schools that receive federal funding are required to comply.

But some Democrats raised concerns that the language is too broad and could chill freedom of speech at schools.

Speech that is critical of Israel alone does not constitute unlawful discrimination, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York, said during debate of the bill, H.R. 6090.

Republicans have slammed the leaders of higher education institutions that are the sites of protests, calling for them to resign and to send in law enforcement to crack down on the students protesting.

House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana is also rolling out a Congress-wide effort to address the protests, such as tougher oversight of university presidents and pulling funding.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York in a Wednesday press conference did not commit to putting the House bill on the Senate floor.

We havent seen what the House is sending us yet, he said.

Lawmakers have focused on Columbia University in New York, where students set up a Gaza Solidarity Encampment.

Students are demanding that the university cut financial ties, such as endowments, with companies that do business with Israel or those that make weapons used in the war in Gaza. More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

The New York Police Department was deployed on the campus early Wednesday by Columbia University President Minouche Shafik, who authorized the NYPD to sweep the campus after students took over one of the buildings that has a history of student activism, Hamilton Hall, according to the Columbia Spectator.

However, students occupying the building have drawn criticism from Democrats as well.

Smashing windows with hammers and taking over university buildings is not free speech  it is lawlessness, and those who did it should promptly face the consequences that are not merely a slap on the wrist, Schumer said on the Senate floor Tuesday.

More than 300 students were arrested by the NYPD, according to the Associated Press.

Cotton calls for protection of Jewish students

Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton held a press conference Wednesday, where he was joined by several Senate Republicans in urging university presidents to crack down on the encampments and to protect Jewish students.

Cotton called for the State Department to pull the visas of international students who have participated in the protests and for the Department of Education to withhold federal funding to those schools where protests are taking place.

They have a right if they want to go out and make fools of themselves, and protest on behalf of Hamas, but they dont have the right to build little Gazas in violation of the laws, Cotton said, referring to protesters and encampments.

Cotton was joined by Sens. Rick Scott of Florida, James Lankford of Oklahoma, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Deb Fischer of Nebraska, Joni Ernst of Iowa and Roger Marshall of Kansas.

Lankford said that the protesters have crossed a line and have made Jewish students feel unsafe.

Every university and every student has the right to be able to speak their mind, to be able to test out new ideas  its the nature of being on a college campus to be able to speak out and be able to think through different things, Lankford said.

Were a nation that prides ourself on the right to speak out, but were also a nation that says, You cannot go and intimidate someone else in the process.

Kennedy and Marshall said policies on diversity, inclusion and equity resulted in the protests on college campuses.

Kennedy said he blamed some of the faculty members at those higher education institutions for the protests.

There are members of the faculty at some of these universities who believe in diversity, equity, inclusion, he said.

Ernst said the universities need to put an end to this.

If they dont, they should kiss their federal funding goodbye, she said.

Argument against the bill

Nadler was the sole Democrat to speak out against the bill during Wednesdays floor debate.

He argued that the language is too broad and would curtail freedom of speech.

While there is much in the bill I agree with, its core provision would put a thumb on the scale in favor of one particular definition of antisemitism to the exclusion of all others to be used when the Department of Education assesses claims of antisemitism on campus, Nadler said.

He took issue with some of the examples the definition provides that can be considered antisemitic, such as criticism of the state of Israel.

That definition would be: Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.

GOP Rep. Tom McClintock of California said the bill was needed because there has been a spike in antisemitism since Oct. 7, the start of the Hamas-Israel war, when Hamas staged an attack against Israeli civilians.

You cannot fight antisemitism if you cannot define it, he said.

Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, who sponsored the bill, said without a clear definition of antisemitism, the Department of Education and college administrations are having trouble discerning what is considered antisemitic.

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not protect students from discrimination based only on religion. If a student does bring up a complaint, the civil rights division in the Department of Education refers those complaints to the Department of Justice, according to the Department of Education.

Nadler argued that the bill would threaten freedom of speech, while doing nothing to combat antisemitism.

The chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, said the definition is needed to ensure the safety of Jewish students.

Foxx has held several hearings throughout the year where she and Republicans on the committee grilled the leaders of universities about the pro-Palestinian protests on their campuses. Another is set for May 23 for the heads of Yale, UCLA and the University of Michigan.

The post U.S. House approves definition of antisemitism as campus protests continue appeared first on New Jersey Monitor.
California Highway Patrol officers patrol at a pro-Palestinian encampment, the morning after it was attacked by counter-protesters at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus, on May 1, 2024, in Los Angeles, California. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON  U.S. House Republicans on Wednesday passed a bill, with heavy support from Democrats, that would define antisemitism for the Department of Education, amid nationwide college campus protests in which students are calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The 320-91 vote would codify the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances definition of antisemitism in Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964  with which all schools that receive federal funding are required to comply.

But some Democrats raised concerns that the language is too broad and could chill freedom of speech at schools.

Speech that is critical of Israel alone does not constitute unlawful discrimination, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York, said during debate of the bill, H.R. 6090.

Republicans have slammed the leaders of higher education institutions that are the sites of protests, calling for them to resign and to send in law enforcement to crack down on the students protesting.

House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana is also rolling out a Congress-wide effort to address the protests, such as tougher oversight of university presidents and pulling funding.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York in a Wednesday press conference did not commit to putting the House bill on the Senate floor.

We havent seen what the House is sending us yet, he said.

Lawmakers have focused on Columbia University in New York, where students set up a Gaza Solidarity Encampment.

Students are demanding that the university cut financial ties, such as endowments, with companies that do business with Israel or those that make weapons used in the war in Gaza. More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

The New York Police Department was deployed on the campus early Wednesday by Columbia University President Minouche Shafik, who authorized the NYPD to sweep the campus after students took over one of the buildings that has a history of student activism, Hamilton Hall, according to the Columbia Spectator.

However, students occupying the building have drawn criticism from Democrats as well.

Smashing windows with hammers and taking over university buildings is not free speech  it is lawlessness, and those who did it should promptly face the consequences that are not merely a slap on the wrist, Schumer said on the Senate floor Tuesday.

More than 300 students were arrested by the NYPD, according to The Associated Press.

Cotton calls for protection of Jewish students

Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton held a press conference Wednesday, where he was joined by several Senate Republicans in urging university presidents to crack down on the encampments and to protect Jewish students.

Cotton called for the State Department to pull the visas of international students who have participated in the protests and for the Department of Education to withhold federal funding to those schools where protests are taking place.

They have a right if they want to go out and make fools of themselves, and protest on behalf of Hamas, but they dont have the right to build little Gazas in violation of the laws, Cotton said, referring to protesters and encampments.

Cotton was joined by Sens. Rick Scott of Florida, James Lankford of Oklahoma, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Deb Fischer of Nebraska, Joni Ernst of Iowa and Roger Marshall of Kansas.

Lankford said that the protesters have crossed a line and have made Jewish students feel unsafe.

Every university and every student has the right to be able to speak their mind, to be able to test out new ideas  its the nature of being on a college campus to be able to speak out and be able to think through different things, Lankford said.

Were a nation that prides ourself on the right to speak out, but were also a nation that says, You cannot go and intimidate someone else in the process.

Kennedy and Marshall said policies on diversity, inclusion and equity resulted in the protests on college campuses.

Kennedy said he blamed some of the faculty members at those higher education institutions for the protests.

There are members of the faculty at some of these universities who believe in diversity, equity, inclusion, he said.

Ernst said the universities need to put an end to this.

If they dont, they should kiss their federal funding goodbye, she said.

Argument against bill

Nadler was the sole Democrat to speak out against the bill during Wednesdays floor debate.

He argued that the language is too broad and would curtail freedom of speech.

While there is much in the bill I agree with, its core provision would put a thumb on the scale in favor of one particular definition of antisemitism to the exclusion of all others to be used when the Department of Education assesses claims of antisemitism on campus, Nadler said.

He took issue with some of the examples the definition provides that can be considered antisemitic, such as criticism of the state of Israel.

That definition would be: Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.

GOP Rep. Tom McClintock of California said the bill was needed because there has been a spike in antisemitism since Oct. 7, the start of the Hamas-Israel war, when Hamas staged an attack against Israeli civilians.

You cannot fight antisemitism if you cannot define it, he said.

Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, who sponsored the bill, said without a clear definition of antisemitism, the Department of Education and college administrations are having trouble discerning what is considered antisemitic.

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not protect students from discrimination based only on religion. If a student does bring up a complaint, the civil rights division in the Department of Education refers those complaints to the Department of Justice, according to the Department of Education.

Nadler argued that the bill would threaten freedom of speech, while doing nothing to combat antisemitism.

The chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, said the definition is needed to ensure the safety of Jewish students.

Foxx has held several hearings throughout the year where she and Republicans on the committee grilled the leaders of universities about the pro-Palestinian protests on their campuses. Another is set for May 23 for the heads of Yale, UCLA and the University of Michigan.

The post U.S. House approves definition of antisemitism as campus protests continue appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act that requires the Department of Education to apply federal anti-discrimination laws to quell anti-Semitism on the nation's college campuses. File photo by Julia Nikhinson/UPI

May 1 (UPI) -- The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a bipartisan measure requiring the Department of Education to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of anti-Semitism.

House members voted 320-91 to approve the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act in an effort to end anti-Semitism on college campuses as pro-Palestinian protests throughout the United States have grown in number in recent weeks.

Supporters said the measure would help quell anti-Semitism on the nation's college campuses, while opponents said it would violate free speech rights.

The proposed act would require the Department of Education to enforce federal anti-discrimination laws based on the IHRA's definition of anti-Semitism.

The IHRA defines anti-Semitism as a "certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews" and "rhetorical and physical manifestations" directed "toward Jewish and non-Jewish individuals and their property and toward Jewish community organizations and religious facilities."

The IHRA also says anti-Semitism might include targeting Israel and accusing Jews of "conspiring to harm humanity" and blaming Jews for things going wrong in speech, writing, visual formats and action while employing "sinister stereotypes and negative character traits."

The IHRA also says anti-Semitism could include calling for, assisting or justifying killing or harming Jews in the name of radical ideology or an extremist view of religion and falsely claiming a global Jewish conspiracy exists to control media, national economies, governments and other societal institutions.

Denying the Holocaust occurred and blaming Jews as a whole for real or imagined bad acts committed by individuals, groups and non-Jews also qualifies as anti-Semitism, according to the IHRA, as does claiming the state of Israel is a "racist endeavor."

The proposed act goes to the Senate for consideration.
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge sprawls to the shoreline of the Beaufort Sea, seen here in 2006. The U.S. House passed a bill May 1, 2024 to allow oil and gas leases in the refuge. (Photo by Steve Hillebrand/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

The U.S. House passed a bill Wednesday to counter an Interior Department order canceling oil and gas leases in a section of Alaskas Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, taking aim at the Biden administrations conservation agenda that Republicans say weighs environmental concerns too heavily at the expense of economic opportunity.

But the Republican majority also suffered a setback on the House floor. Democrats, with the help of six conservative Republicans, killed a separate bill seen as benefiting the mining industry because it would have made it easier for companies to develop sites that lack a documented mineral deposit.

The votes marked the second straight day the Republican-led chamber focused on messaging bills on public lands and natural resources issues, emphasizing an election-year theme that President Joe Bidens energy and conservation policies are out of touch with rural voters.

How much of our land do we have to lock up and say, You cant have access, you cant manage it, you cant produce energy off of it, you cant mine on it, House Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman said. And it seems like as time goes on, the answer is, We want to lock all of it up.

Westerman, of Arkansas, and other Republicans argued that environmental and labor standards are higher in the U.S. and blocking domestic mining and fossil fuel development only pushes the industry to countries with worse standards.

Democrats said Republican lawmakers appeared to be working to help industry instead of focusing on the climate crisis.

Last year was the hottest on record and saw natural disasters proliferate, but House Republicans were uninterested in addressing the crisis, Rep. Jared Huffman, a California Democrat, said.

Its as if Republicans were sitting in the front row with the popcorn in their hands, leaning over to ask their oil and gas buddies what they needed, Huffman said.

Alaska vote

The House approved, 214-199, a bill authored by Minnesota Republican Pete Stauber to reverse an Interior Department order canceling oil and gas leases in a section of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Democrats Sanford Bishop of Georgia, Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, Jared Golden of Maine and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington voted in favor. Pennsylvania Republican Brian Fitzpatrick voted against.

Alaska Democrat Mary Peltola, who was an original cosponsor of the bill and was the only Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee to vote in favor at the committee level, voted present on the floor. Virginia Republican Morgan Griffith also voted present.

Peltola took to the House floor ahead of the vote Wednesday.

She remained in support of the bills aims to promote an all-of-the-above energy approach and bring down Alaskans substantial energy costs, she said, but added the measure had insufficient protections for the Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area and Alaska Natives fishing rights.

Alaskans face many challenges and threats to our unique ways of life, she said. Were on the brink of being forced to import natural gas from a foreign country and our fishermen are in the midst of an economic free fall coupled with depleted fish stocks. Unfortunately, the way this bill was written pits energy development against fisheries and for that reason I will be voting present today.

Republicans argued that the bill was needed to counteract the Biden administrations moves to discourage energy development in deference to environmental and climate concerns.

Biden has paused some liquified natural gas exports and came into office promising to stop oil and gas development on federal lands, Westerman said. Oil and gas leasing on federal lands resumed after a federal court order.

Lets just call it what it is, Texas Republican August Pfluger said.  Its not a big secret that the Biden administration hates American energy.

Democrats said the measure, like other bills the Republican-led chamber considered this week, was meant to appease the powerful energy lobby.

The bill has no chance of becoming law, Florida Democrat Kathy Castor said.

But it does provide a glimpse of the GOPs alliance with polluters over the best interests of the American people, she said. Whether were talking about the Arctic Refuge, or my beautiful part of the country along the Gulf of Mexico, Republicans simply are aiming to sell out Americas public lands and waters to their friends in big oil and the NRA.

Mining debate

Democrats also argued that a separate mining bill was a favor to industry.

But that bill, authored by Nevada Republican Mark Amodei, died on the House floor on a 210-206 vote to recommit the bill to committee.

Six Republicans, Andy Biggs and Eli Crane of Arizona, Dan Bishop of North Carolina, Bob Good of Virginia and Matt Gaetz and Anna Paulina Luna of Florida voted with all Democrats to block the bill.

The bill, one of the few Natural Resources Committee bills considered on the floor this week that did not specifically respond to Biden administration action, would have clarified that mining companies did not have to document a mineral deposit before developing roads and other infrastructure.

During floor debate, Republicans argued the bill was needed to clarify a 2022 federal appeals court decision that blocked approvals for mining support facilities at an Arizona copper mine.

The bill would respond to the ruling by removing a provision in an 1872 federal mining law that mining companies must show a mineral deposit is present before building roads and other support facilities at a potential site.

The decision limited the ability of the Forest Service to approve necessary mining support facilities and activity, which is necessary for mining operations, Stauber said Wednesday. The decision put virtually every new domestic mining project in jeopardy.

Democrats said the bill would give too much power to  and provide too little accountability for  mining companies that already work in a favorable regulatory environment.

New Mexico Democrat Melanie Stansbury said mining companies operate under an 1872 law that provides nearly unfettered access to lands that other extractive industries could only dream of.

Congress should be adding environmental protections to the 19th-century law, but the bill considered Wednesday would only weaken existing protections, she said.

This bill removes the one frail safeguard that we have, she said. Under this bill, any American  or frankly any American subsidiary of a foreign company, including those that are located in adversarial countries  can put four stakes in the ground and on open public lands pay less than $10 an acre per year to have exclusive rights to that land, forever. Forever. This bill would create a free-for-all on our public lands.

This story has been corrected to clarify the bill approved by the House would counter an Interior Department order canceling oil and gas leases in a section of Alaskas Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

The post U.S. House splits on GOP-led Alaska and mining industry bills aimed at Biden agenda appeared first on Iowa Capital Dispatch.
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge sprawls to the shoreline of the Beaufort Sea, seen here in 2006. The U.S. House passed a bill Wednesday to allow oil and gas leases in the refuge. (Photo by Steve Hillebrand/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

The U.S. House passed a bill Wednesday to counter an Interior Department order canceling oil and gas leases in a section of Alaskas Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, taking aim at the Biden administrations conservation agenda that Republicans say weighs environmental concerns too heavily at the expense of economic opportunity.

But the Republican majority also suffered a setback on the House floor. Democrats, with the help of six conservative Republicans, killed a separate bill seen as benefiting the mining industry because it would have made it easier for companies to develop sites that lack a documented mineral deposit.

The votes marked the second straight day the Republican-led chamber focused on messaging bills on public lands and natural resources issues, emphasizing an election-year theme that President Joe Bidens energy and conservation policies are out of touch with rural voters.

How much of our land do we have to lock up and say, You cant have access, you cant manage it, you cant produce energy off of it, you cant mine on it, House Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman said. And it seems like as time goes on, the answer is, We want to lock all of it up.

Westerman, of Arkansas, and other Republicans argued that environmental and labor standards are higher in the U.S. and blocking domestic mining and fossil fuel development only pushes the industry to countries with worse standards.

Democrats said Republican lawmakers appeared to be working to help industry instead of focusing on the climate crisis.

Last year was the hottest on record and saw natural disasters proliferate, but House Republicans were uninterested in addressing the crisis, Rep. Jared Huffman, a California Democrat, said.

Its as if Republicans were sitting in the front row with the popcorn in their hands, leaning over to ask their oil and gas buddies what they needed, Huffman said.

Alaska vote

The House approved, 214-199, a bill authored by Minnesota Republican Pete Stauber to reverse an Interior Department order canceling oil and gas leases in a section of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Democrats Sanford Bishop of Georgia, Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, Jared Golden of Maine and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington voted in favor. Pennsylvania Republican Brian Fitzpatrick voted against.

Alaska Democrat Mary Peltola, who was an original cosponsor of the bill and was the only Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee to vote in favor at the committee level, voted present on the floor. Virginia Republican Morgan Griffith also voted present.

Peltola took to the House floor ahead of the vote Wednesday.

She remained in support of the bills aims to promote an all-of-the-above energy approach and bring down Alaskans substantial energy costs, she said, but added the measure had insufficient protections for the Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area and Alaska Natives fishing rights.

Alaskans face many challenges and threats to our unique ways of life, she said. Were on the brink of being forced to import natural gas from a foreign country and our fishermen are in the midst of an economic free fall coupled with depleted fish stocks. Unfortunately, the way this bill was written pits energy development against fisheries and for that reason I will be voting present today.

Republicans argued that the bill was needed to counteract the Biden administrations moves to discourage energy development in deference to environmental and climate concerns.

Biden has paused some liquified natural gas exports and came into office promising to stop oil and gas development on federal lands, Westerman said. Oil and gas leasing on federal lands resumed after a federal court order.

Lets just call it what it is, Texas Republican August Pfluger said.  Its not a big secret that the Biden administration hates American energy.

Democrats said the measure, like other bills the Republican-led chamber considered this week, was meant to appease the powerful energy lobby.

The bill has no chance of becoming law, Florida Democrat Kathy Castor said.

But it does provide a glimpse of the GOPs alliance with polluters over the best interests of the American people, she said. Whether were talking about the Arctic Refuge, or my beautiful part of the country along the Gulf of Mexico, Republicans simply are aiming to sell out Americas public lands and waters to their friends in big oil and the NRA.

Mining debate

Democrats also argued that a separate mining bill was a favor to industry.

But that bill, authored by Nevada Republican Mark Amodei, died on the House floor on a 210-206 vote to recommit the bill to committee.

Six Republicans, Andy Biggs and Eli Crane of Arizona, Dan Bishop of North Carolina, Bob Good of Virginia and Matt Gaetz and Anna Paulina Luna of Florida voted with all Democrats to block the bill.

The bill, one of the few Natural Resources Committee bills considered on the floor this week that did not specifically respond to Biden administration action, would have clarified that mining companies did not have to document a mineral deposit before developing roads and other infrastructure.

During floor debate, Republicans argued the bill was needed to clarify a 2022 federal appeals court decision that blocked approvals for mining support facilities at an Arizona copper mine.

The bill would respond to the ruling by removing a provision in an 1872 federal mining law that mining companies must show a mineral deposit is present before building roads and other support facilities at a potential site.

The decision limited the ability of the Forest Service to approve necessary mining support facilities and activity, which is necessary for mining operations, Stauber said Wednesday. The decision put virtually every new domestic mining project in jeopardy.

Democrats said the bill would give too much power to  and provide too little accountability for  mining companies that already work in a favorable regulatory environment.

New Mexico Democrat Melanie Stansbury said mining companies operate under an 1872 law that provides nearly unfettered access to lands that other extractive industries could only dream of.

Congress should be adding environmental protections to the 19th-century law, but the bill considered Wednesday would only weaken existing protections, she said.

This bill removes the one frail safeguard that we have, she said. Under this bill, any American  or frankly any American subsidiary of a foreign company, including those that are located in adversarial countries  can put four stakes in the ground and on open public lands pay less than $10 an acre per year to have exclusive rights to that land, forever. Forever. This bill would create a free-for-all on our public lands.

The post U.S. House splits on GOP-led Alaska and mining industry bills aimed at Biden agenda appeared first on Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
Image source: The Motley Fool.

Emergent BioSolutions (NYSE: EBS)

Q1 2024 Earnings Call

May 01, 2024, 5:00 p.m. ET

Contents:

Prepared Remarks

Questions and Answers

Call Participants

Prepared Remarks:





Operator

Good afternoon, everyone. I'm the operator for today's call. Thank you for joining today as Emergent discusses their operational and financial results for the first quarter of 2024. As is customary, today's call is open to all participants, and the call is being recorded and is copyrighted by Emergent BioSolutions.

In addition to today's press release, there is a series of slides accompanying this webcast available to all webcast participants. Turning to Slide 3. During today's call, Emergent may make projections and other forward-looking statements related to their business, future events, their prospects, or future performance. These forward-looking statements are based on their current intentions, beliefs, and expectations regarding future events.

Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this conference call and except as required by law, Emergent does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, events, or circumstances. Investors should consider this cautionary statement, as well as the risk factors identified in Emergent's periodic reports filed with the SEC when evaluating their forward-looking statements. During today's call, Emergent may also discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures that involve adjustments to GAAP figures in order to provide greater transparency regarding Emergent's operating performance. Please refer to the tables found in today's press release.

Turning to Slide 4. The agenda for today's call will include Joe Papa, president and chief executive officer, who will comment on key business and product updates; Rich Lindahl, executive vice president and chief financial officer, who will speak to the current state of the company and financials for first quarter fiscal year 2024 and Q2 2024 guidance. This will be followed by a Q&A. Finally, and for the benefit of those who may be listening to the replay of this webcast, this call was held and recorded on May 1st, 2024.

Since then, Emergent may have made announcements related to topics discussed during today's call. And with that, I would now like to turn the call over to Joe Papa, chief executive officer, for opening remarks. Joe?

Joe Papa -- President and Chief Executive Officer

Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining us to discuss our first quarter 2024 results. I'm joined today by Rich Lindahl, our chief financial officer. Following my opening comments, Rich will detail our Q1 performance, provide updated guidance for the second quarter, as well as our full year outlook for 2024. I'll then talk about future growth drivers and catalysts at Emergent.

Story continues

First, I want to begin by addressing the announcement made earlier today to reduce our enterprise footprint, consolidate operations, and prioritize the capabilities most critical to executing Emergent's core business. When I stepped into the role of CEO in February, talk about a multiyear plan to stabilize, turn around, and transform our company. Also, we identified a near-term challenge surrounding our debt position as a critical component of our stabilization plan. We understood that reducing our total debt would require improving operating performance, reducing working capital, and evaluating product or asset sales.

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I've seen firsthand that our employees are inspired and driven by the company's mission to protect, enhance, and help save lives. And that is why any type of impact on our workforce is very difficult. However, after a careful review by our Board and management team, we need to restructure the way we operate, create a customer-focused, leaner, more flexible team and a streamlined manufacturing footprint that will still allow us to supply all the products needed by our customers. Beyond the business restructuring on Page 6, we highlight the plans in Q1 2024 achievements in our first phase or stabilization of our multiyear transformation plans.

Going forward, we will focus on key business areas and implement a simplified organization to improve our cost structure and enable key actions, including meeting the opioid crisis demand and exploring opportunities to grow NARCAN Nasal Spray, protecting our medical countermeasures business and identifying new growth opportunities, support our existing customers in our CDMO services business, and always ensuring patient safety and product quality underpin everything we do. An item that will not change is Emergent's focus on making challenging, difficult products that are needed by our customers. As I mentioned during our last earnings call, we reviewed the moat around our business, and we believe the unique products and capabilities we offer across significant public health threats, underscores the value we deliver. We'll continue to focus on executing our multiyear plan to bolster our position as a leader in global public health.

During the first quarter, we also achieved significant improvements in a number of business performance metrics, including revenue, which is ahead of internal and consensus expectations, adjusted gross margin, reduced operating expenses, and adjusted EBITDA. Overall, it was a great first quarter and a great start to 2024. As you know, last quarter, we entered into a forbearance agreement with our lenders through April 30. Our conversation with the bank group continued and just yesterday, we were delighted to announce a new bank amendment.

This amendment will extend our runway to execute on our go-forward business plan and stabilize our financial position. We also strengthened our relationship with key stakeholders during the quarter. Over the last three months, we've held over a dozen collaborative meetings with key stakeholders across the US and international government agencies, including BARDA, Department of Defense, Strategic National Stockpile, and the White House to gain clarity on their needs for medical countermeasures products. These meetings have been incredibly productive and the results are reflected in our improved revenue guidance.

These conversations also reflect a renewed willingness to engage with Emergent to improve planning and communications, which are critical to driving long-term success. Consistent with our comments in March, we also initiated efforts to divest products and/or sites. We've already received multiple orders for one of our sites, albeit one of our smaller sites. We hope to have more to say about this initiative in the near future.

Our prioritization commitment to instilling a culture of quality and compliance across the company was also evident in the first quarter as we announced our Baltimore Bayview manufacturing facility received No Action Indicated or NAI status classification from the FDA. We are proud of our colleagues who have worked relentlessly to achieve this status and will continue to hear the highest standard of quality and compliance across the organization. I'll now turn it over to Rich to review our Q1 2024 business and our revised 2024 full year guidance.

Rich Lindahl -- Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Thanks, Joe. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining the call. As Joe has just discussed, we're making significant progress against our near-term priorities of stabilizing the business and strengthening our financial foundation. Our report today reflects several key accomplishments.

We delivered strong first quarter results with all parts of the business delivering year-over-year growth. We're taking aggressive actions to further improve our operating performance as we seek to reduce our debt. We further amended our credit facility to support our ability to execute against our 2024 priorities, and we are significantly raising our profit outlook driven by increased clarity on near-term US government procurement combined with reduced operating expenses. Turning to our results.

We had strong revenue in the quarter, which exceeded our first quarter guidance. As indicated on Slide 8, highlights in the first quarter include total revenues of $300 million, an increase of 83% versus the prior year driven by NARCAN and Anthrax MCM, Smallpox MCM, and BAT. Total segment adjusted gross margin of 51% versus 5% in the prior year. Adjusted EBITDA in the quarter of $67 million, a material improvement over the negative $102 million reported last year, and adjusted net income of $31 million also materially improved compared to negative $163 million last year.

Diving deeper into quarterly revenues. Important items on Slide 9 include NARCAN sales of $118 million, up 18% year over year, demonstrating the continued strength and durability of this product driven by higher branded NARCAN sales to US public interest channels and sales of OTC NARCAN, partially offset by lower Canadian retail sales of branded NARCAN. Anthrax MCM sales of $56 million, an increase of 155% versus the prior year, driven by CYFENDUS deliveries to the US government's Strategic National Stockpile, including final shipments under the $75 million contract option provided by BARDA that we announced on November 28 of last year. Smallpox MCM sales of $50 million, up $43 million year over year, driven by ACAM2000 and VIGIV.

Other product sales of $49 million, an increase of $41 million versus the prior year, primarily related to BAT and RSDL. And total bioservices revenues of $18 million, reflecting our continued transition to focus on existing customers. Turning to operating expenses on Slide 10. Cost of commercial product sales in the quarter was $52 million, driven by strong sales of NARCAN.

Cost of MCM product sales in the quarter was $62 million, driven primarily by CYFENDUS sales volume and other medical countermeasure products, partially offset by a decrease in shutdown costs. Cost of bioservices of $30 million, reflecting actions taken to improve profitability. R&D expense of $15 million, reflecting the impact of the Travel Health divestiture to Bavarian Nordic, as well as the impact of cost management activities taken in 2023. And SG&A spend of $85 million, including expenses supporting key NARCAN initiatives, offset by reduced expenses related to restructuring initiatives.

Of note, total operating expenses were down 16% compared to the prior year as we focused on improving profitability and cash flow to manage our debt position. With that, let's move to Slide 11 and review segment performance during the quarter. In the commercial segment, revenues were $118 million, comprised entirely of NARCAN, and segment adjusted gross margin was $66 million or 56%. In the MCM segment, revenues were $155 million driven by anthrax, smallpox, and BAT.

The segment adjusted gross margin was $94 million or 60%. As for the services segment, revenues were $18 million, and segment adjusted gross margin was negative $12 million. I'll now turn to Slide 12 and touch on select balance sheet and cash flow highlights. We ended the first quarter with $78 million in cash and liquidity, including availability under our revolving credit facility.

The change in cash and liquidity versus the prior quarter was due to sales timing and collection of AR. Operating cash flow was negative $63 million, which improved significantly versus the prior year. Capital expenditures were $11 million in the first quarter, which is a 28% reduction versus the first quarter of 2023. And as of March 31st, 2023, our net debt position was $827 million.

Earlier today, we announced a set of strategic actions to improve our cost structure, enable turnaround efforts, and support our key priority to reduce our debt. These actions include the difficult decision to reduce our organization footprint effective July 1st, 2024, prioritizing only those capabilities most critical to executing our core MCM and NARCAN nasal spray businesses. We estimate that the changes we're making will result in annualized savings of approximately $80 million when fully implemented. The costs associated with these actions are estimated to be approximately $18 million to $21 million and are expected to be incurred in the third quarter of 2024.

We are confident that these efforts, let me amend that, they are expected to be incurred in the second quarter of 2024. We are confident that these efforts are an important step to achieving greater consistency in operating performance and improving future profitability. We also announced yesterday that we have entered into another amendment to our senior secured credit facilities. This amendment will support our ability to execute against our 2024 priorities by granting certain waivers [Technical difficulty]

Questions & Answers:





Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, please stand by.

Rich Lindahl -- Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Howard, can you hear us?

Operator

I can hear you, sir. I can hear you now.

Rich Lindahl -- Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

I am going to start at the beginning of the guidance section. Is that where we dropped?

Operator

Yes.

Rich Lindahl -- Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

So, turning to 2024 guidance, please see Slide 13. While our efforts to improve operating performance will not happen overnight, we're making significant progress toward those goals, which is giving us the confidence to raise our 2024 outlook at this time. As announced in our press release this evening, we're providing guidance for full year 2024 as follows. Total revenues of $1 billion to $1.1 billion.

We're forecasting commercial product sales of $460 million to $500 million as we expect continued strong demand for NARCAN in the US public interest channel and Canada, combined with further growth with OTC NARCAN in the retail channel. We're forecasting MCM product sales of $440 million to $490 million. Since our last report on March 6, we've continued to engage with our US government stakeholders to improve the procurement visibility for CYFENDUS and other medical countermeasure products. As a result of those conversations, we have a better understanding of the US government's intention for the near and medium term and are therefore narrowing the range of potential 2024 revenue outcomes in this segment.

We're forecasting services segment revenue of $70 million to $80 million, reflecting our commitment to serve our existing customers. Shifting to profitability metrics. We're forecasting adjusted EBITDA of $125 million to $175 million, reflecting the impact of our 2023 cost reduction actions, the additional organizational changes announced today, our capacity utilization profile, and the range of revenue expectations across our segments. For the full year of 2024, we're forecasting total segment adjusted gross margin of 44% to 47%, an increase over the 2023 level primarily reflecting the full year impact of our profitability improvement efforts.

Finally, we're forecasting Q2 revenue in a range of $160 million to $210 million. We've also included some additional assumptions around our full year guidance. Interest expense is forecasted to be $82 million, reflecting terms around our new credit agreements. Total R&D spend as a percentage of revenues is anticipated at approximately 6%.

Weighted average fully diluted shares of $52 million. Capex spend of approximately $32 million and $111 million on depreciation and amortization. That is all for the financial update. I'll now turn the call back over to Joe for some further thoughts.

Joe Papa -- President and Chief Executive Officer

Thank you, Rich. As I mentioned last quarter, another key element of our turnaround is driving long-term profitable growth. One of the first steps we announced earlier today is the initiation of a search to bring Emergent chief scientific officer reporting to me. This individual brings together all of our science innovation efforts, improving our long-term product pipeline.

This search will include both internal and external candidates. Let me now provide an update on our core products and future growth drivers, starting with NARCAN Nasal Spray. Turning to Slide 15, a vital way Emergent health saves lives is through our efforts to combat the opioid crisis by expanding access, awareness, and the availability of NARCAN Nasal Spray. The opioid epidemic continues to have a devastating impact across the world.

As the leader of opioid reversal space, we remain committed to getting NARCAN to everyone who needs it. To be clear, we do expect NARCAN share market will be impacted by generic competitors over time. However, we also expect market forces like opioid settlement funds, continuing opioid overdoses, and the need for increased NARCAN access will continue to expand total NARCAN demand. Year-to-date, NARCAN Nasal Spray is tracking to plan with strong performance driven by the US public interest channel, Canada.

Since the OTC launch, hundreds or thousands of NARCAN are made available to purchase at mass drug grocery online retailers and e-commerce sites. And we continue to be well prepared to meet anticipated demand from a supply and manufacturing perspective. This quarter, we also expanded access to NARCAN by creating a direct ordering platform called narcanworkplace.com. This facilitates getting the life-saving treatment directly into the workplace.

We have engaged with new partners like the National Safety Council to educate and reach businesses around the importance of workplace safety. In addition, the Emerson Group has been brought on to support penetration to a broader set of retailers. Sadly, there is still an immense need for NARCAN Nasal Spray to reduce the number of lives lost. The data from our recently completed survey that we just released today suggests the number of opioid deaths is unacceptable to Americans especially looking at the impact on younger adults.

We are seeing continued bipartisan support to address the opioid crisis and have ongoing engagement with leaders across government, retail, and advocacy groups to increase access and the availability of naloxone. On Page 16, we highlight several of the catalysts and future drivers of NARCAN growth. We continue to prioritize efforts to reduce barriers to access for NARCAN. This includes encouraging businesses and school districts to carry naloxone, supporting policy to ensure health spending accounts and flexible savings accounts are eligible for naloxone, and working with state Medicaid agencies prior to coverage.

We've been working closely with Health Canada with a goal to distribute naloxone convenience kits containing NARCAN. Finally, we're exploring opportunities to expand access internationally beyond the US and Canada, either internally or through partnerships that we believe will increase NARCAN growth. Turning to Slide 17 to review our MCM business. We continue to deliver on our commitments to the US and allied governments maintaining open lines of communication and engaging in discussions by how we can support their plans for long-term sustainable public health threat preparedness.

During the last few months, we also received clarity from the government regarding future purchase orders for CYFENDUS, our post-exposure anthrax vaccine. For the Strategic National Stockpile, we are finalizing a modification on our ACAM contract. In addition, we have received notices of intent to procure from the US government in 2024 for BAT, our botulism antitoxin product, and VIG, which is a treatment use following complications resulting from smallpox. This level of clarity demonstrates continuous US government support across our portfolio.

On Page 18, review MCM catalyst and growth drivers. As referenced on our last call, as a leading biodefense contractor, we're addressing the most pressing threats around the world, including anthrax, smallpox, botulism, Ebola, and chemical threats. We believe that our role in global public health preparedness remains vital. Finally, on Slide 19, I'd like to take a few moments to focus on future growth drivers for the organization based on the potential expansion of our in-line products.

First, we believe international expansion will be an important growth driver across our business. Global public health and preparedness have never been more vital in our collaboration with international partners is a key factor in improving global health security. We are seeing increased focus on public health preparedness and believe we're well-positioned to fulfill the needs of our international partners with our critical products. In the year ahead, we will continue building these partnerships to expand access to our products across the globe.

Our product portfolio today has significant impact to help protect, enhance, and saves lives against public health threats around the world. With a refreshed life cycle management initiative, we are well-positioned to fuel future growth drivers to meet customer and patient needs. In summary, although it's early in our transformation process, I'm encouraged by the progress we are making to execute our turnaround strategy. Importantly, we have more stability, clarity, and financial flexibility than just a few months ago.

This progress is reflected in our first quarter results and our full year 2024 guidance improvements. We believe there will be significant opportunities to partner with domestic and international partners to address the public health crisis with our important and innovative products. We look forward to continuing to work with key stakeholders to prepare for and respond to a range of public health threats while returning Emergent to greater profitability for our shareholders. With that, we'll open up the call for questions.

We also invited Paul Williams, our head of NARCAN and the medical countermeasures business to join us for the Q&A. Operator, let's open up the line for questions, please.

Operator

[Operator instructions] Please stand by while we compile the Q&A roster. Our first question or comment comes from the line of Jessica Fye from J.P. Morgan. Ms.

Fye, your line is open.

Unknown speaker -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst

Hey, this is Nick on for Jess. Congrats on the quarter and thanks for taking our questions. First one on NARCAN. You guys are showing continued growth from that product kind of year over year, quarter over quarter.

But maybe can you provide some additional details on the breakdown of that 1Q sales by the PIP channel and OTC Narcan? And maybe also provide some color on how you're thinking about any generic competition that could come in to either of those two segments throughout the course of this year.

Rich Lindahl -- Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

So, thanks, Nick. I'll take the first one. This is Rich. Yeah, I mean, certainly, the majority of the sales remain from the PIP channel.

We are still moving forward with our OTC rollout, and it's gaining traction, but the majority is coming from the PIP channel with some contribution from Canada as well.

Paul Williams -- Head of NARCAN and the Medical Countermeasures Business

And I think the question relative to generic entrants, I think we've anticipated and expect there'll be additional competitors entering the space this year. I think we continue to believe that our ability to service the PIP channel and the retail OTC channel uniquely with the specific capabilities that we have like NARCANDirect through the partnerships we're building on the retail side, we can support the forecast that we have for the rest of the year.

Joe Papa -- President and Chief Executive Officer

And finally, just to put a couple of other future-looking comments. I think what we look at NARCAN, we look at a couple of important points. Number one, the importance of the NARCAN brand. And obviously, that brand is very important when you're talking about the years of experience with NARCAN and importantly, you're dealing with life-threatening situations that NARCAN is used.

Number two, we have a strong distribution capability, and we believe that's an important part of what Paul and the team has built that allows us to make sure that we get to the thousands of customers around the United States and Canada, that order our products. And then finally, clearly, we've built up the manufacturing capabilities to be automated and able to compete with anybody in this space. So, yes, we may see some inroads over time. More importantly, we think the market growth is still going to be very significant that allow us to have long-term opportunities with our NARCAN business.

Unknown speaker -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst

Great. And then maybe on the guidance, can you just provide a bit more color on the pushes and pulls that went in to raising the MCM product guidance to $440 million to $490 million, I believe, from the $340 million to $490. Is that just more clarity around anthrax or are there other assumptions baked in there?

Rich Lindahl -- Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

That's really the primary driver as we commented back in -- on our March call. There was less clarity, we had less visibility at the time. So, we had a much wider range about potential outcomes there. Based on the conversations that we've had, we have a better visibility into where we see CYFENDUS procurement this year.

And as a result, we were able to narrow the range by raising the low end of the range.

Unknown speaker -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst

Great. And maybe if I could just squeeze in one more. Understanding that this is not an easy decision around the two facilities. Can you maybe just provide some additional details on why you chose Rockville and Bayview as part of that restructuring announcement? And I know you said that there was some interest that you mentioned that you'll talk about later.

But of those two facilities, can you provide any color on which, if any, you're seeing maybe strategic interest to date?

Joe Papa -- President and Chief Executive Officer

Yeah. Let me start with maybe the big picture, and I'll get to your question. I think the big picture is, first and foremost, we made the decision to focus our future in the areas of Lansing and Winnipeg. We think that that's probably the most important thing that was our first decision on what sites have the most flexibility that we can run a leaner company with streamlined facilities and still make sure we can provide all of our products availability.

So, I think that was probably the first thing we went into our decision. Once we did that, we looked at the other sites and just made judgments as to -- based on what we saw in terms of the opportunity, what the expenses were, we made decisions to reduce our total operating expenses, but make sure that we can still provide access to the products that are so important to the US government, governments around the world and obviously to treat and be ready to be able to help the opioid crisis. And when we went through that, the sites that Bayview and Rockville came out as sites that we would close down, wind down, and close the site. And that was really the way we went through this process.

I will say that we did make mention that we had multiple offers on one site, albeit it was a small site, I wanted to be clear in saying that. I do hope though that we will continue this process and potentially have more to say about that in the future, but I'm going to probably restrict my comments to not going that far in terms of what we've had interest in so far. I think I've got all the parts of the question.

Unknown speaker -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst

Yeah, thank you so much.

Operator

Thank you. [Operator instructions] I am showing no additional questions in the queue at this time. I'd like to turn the conference back over to Mr. Papa for any closing remarks.

Joe Papa -- President and Chief Executive Officer

Well, thank you very much, everyone, for your interest in Emergent. We look forward to having more to comment in the future as we make progress on our multiyear turnaround transformation. Obviously, the team has done a great job in this first quarter, and look forward to having more to say as we continue down the path for 2024 and beyond. But thank you, everyone, for joining us today.

Have a great day.

Operator

[Operator signoff]

Duration: 0 minutes

Call participants:

Joe Papa -- President and Chief Executive Officer

Rich Lindahl -- Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Unknown speaker -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst

Paul Williams -- Head of NARCAN and the Medical Countermeasures Business

More EBS analysis

All earnings call transcripts

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Emergent BioSolutions (EBS) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge sprawls to the shoreline of the Beaufort Sea, seen here in 2006. The U.S. House passed a bill Wednesday to allow oil and gas leases in the refuge. (Photo by Steve Hillebrand / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

The U.S. House passed a bill Wednesday to counter an Interior Department order canceling oil and gas leases in a section of Alaskas Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, taking aim at the Biden administrations conservation agenda that Republicans say weighs environmental concerns too heavily at the expense of economic opportunity.

But the Republican majority also suffered a setback on the House floor. Democrats, with the help of six conservative Republicans, killed a separate bill seen as benefiting the mining industry because it would have made it easier for companies to develop sites that lack a documented mineral deposit.

The votes marked the second straight day the Republican-led chamber focused on messaging bills on public lands and natural resources issues, emphasizing an election-year theme that President Joe Bidens energy and conservation policies are out of touch with rural voters.

How much of our land do we have to lock up and say, You cant have access, you cant manage it, you cant produce energy off of it, you cant mine on it, House Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman said. And it seems like as time goes on, the answer is, We want to lock all of it up.

Westerman, of Arkansas, and other Republicans argued that environmental and labor standards are higher in the U.S. and blocking domestic mining and fossil fuel development only pushes the industry to countries with worse standards.

Democrats said Republican lawmakers appeared to be working to help industry instead of focusing on the climate crisis.

Last year was the hottest on record and saw natural disasters proliferate, but House Republicans were uninterested in addressing the crisis, Rep. Jared Huffman, a California Democrat, said.

Its as if Republicans were sitting in the front row with the popcorn in their hands, leaning over to ask their oil and gas buddies what they needed, Huffman said.

Alaska vote

The House approved, 214-199, a bill authored by Minnesota Republican Pete Stauber to reverse an Interior Department order canceling oil and gas leases in a section of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Democrats Sanford Bishop of Georgia, Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, Jared Golden of Maine and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington voted in favor. Pennsylvania Republican Brian Fitzpatrick voted against.

Alaska Democrat Mary Peltola, who was an original cosponsor of the bill and was the only Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee to vote in favor at the committee level, voted present on the floor. Virginia Republican Morgan Griffith also voted present.

Peltola took to the House floor ahead of the vote Wednesday.

She remained in support of the bills aims to promote an all-of-the-above energy approach and bring down Alaskans substantial energy costs, she said, but added the measure had insufficient protections for the Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area and Alaska Natives fishing rights.

Alaskans face many challenges and threats to our unique ways of life, she said. Were on the brink of being forced to import natural gas from a foreign country and our fishermen are in the midst of an economic free fall coupled with depleted fish stocks. Unfortunately, the way this bill was written pits energy development against fisheries and for that reason I will be voting present today.

Republicans argued that the bill was needed to counteract the Biden administrations moves to discourage energy development in deference to environmental and climate concerns.

Biden has paused some liquified natural gas exports and came into office promising to stop oil and gas development on federal lands, Westerman said. Oil and gas leasing on federal lands resumed after a federal court order.

Lets just call it what it is, Texas Republican August Pfluger said.  Its not a big secret that the Biden administration hates American energy.

Democrats said the measure, like other bills the Republican-led chamber considered this week, was meant to appease the powerful energy lobby.

The bill has no chance of becoming law, Florida Democrat Kathy Castor said.

But it does provide a glimpse of the GOPs alliance with polluters over the best interests of the American people, she said. Whether were talking about the Arctic Refuge, or my beautiful part of the country along the Gulf of Mexico, Republicans simply are aiming to sell out Americas public lands and waters to their friends in big oil and the NRA.

Mining debate

Democrats also argued that a separate mining bill was a favor to industry.

But that bill, authored by Nevada Republican Mark Amodei, died on the House floor on a 210-206 vote to recommit the bill to committee.

Six Republicans, Andy Biggs and Eli Crane of Arizona, Dan Bishop of North Carolina, Bob Good of Virginia and Matt Gaetz and Anna Paulina Luna of Florida voted with all Democrats to block the bill.

The bill, one of the few Natural Resources Committee bills considered on the floor this week that did not specifically respond to Biden administration action, would have clarified that mining companies did not have to document a mineral deposit before developing roads and other infrastructure.

During floor debate, Republicans argued the bill was needed to clarify a 2022 federal appeals court decision that blocked approvals for mining support facilities at an Arizona copper mine.

The bill would respond to the ruling by removing a provision in an 1872 federal mining law that mining companies must show a mineral deposit is present before building roads and other support facilities at a potential site.

The decision limited the ability of the Forest Service to approve necessary mining support facilities and activity, which is necessary for mining operations, Stauber said Wednesday. The decision put virtually every new domestic mining project in jeopardy.

Democrats said the bill would give too much power to  and provide too little accountability for  mining companies that already work in a favorable regulatory environment.

New Mexico Democrat Melanie Stansbury said mining companies operate under an 1872 law that provides nearly unfettered access to lands that other extractive industries could only dream of.

Congress should be adding environmental protections to the 19th-century law, but the bill considered Wednesday would only weaken existing protections, she said.

This bill removes the one frail safeguard that we have, she said. Under this bill, any American  or frankly any American subsidiary of a foreign company, including those that are located in adversarial countries  can put four stakes in the ground and on open public lands pay less than $10 an acre per year to have exclusive rights to that land, forever. Forever. This bill would create a free-for-all on our public lands.

This story has been corrected to more accurately describe the bill affecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The bill would lift an order canceling oil and gas leases.

The post U.S. House splits on GOP-led Alaska and mining industry bills aimed at Biden agenda appeared first on Source New Mexico.
Two loons swim with their chick on Clear Lake in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in 2021. (Photo by Max Nesterak/Minnesota Reformer.)

The U.S. House approved four bills focused on natural resources and land management Tuesday, promoting a Republican message of dissatisfaction with the Biden administrations approach to conservation.

The four bills would force the withdrawal of a recent Bureau of Land Management rule that would allow leases for conservation, remove mining restrictions near Minnesotas Boundary Waters, delist the gray wolf from the Endangered Species Act and block federal bans on lead ammunition.

The bills passed with few members of each party crossing the aisle.

They are unlikely to become law  or even receive a vote in the Democrat-controlled U.S. Senate  but their passage is an election-year message that Republicans support extractive industries in rural communities and oppose what they describe as an overreaching environmental agenda.

Whether its the new BLM rule that fundamentally threatens the western way of life, or the decision to lock up enormous deposits of increasingly scarce minerals, its clear Biden and his bureaucrats have no interest in properly stewarding our federal lands or listening to local stakeholders, House Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman, an Arkansas Republican, said in a statement following the votes.

Democrats blasted the bills, saying they were ideological rather than practical.

The entire House schedule this week misses the mark, California Democrat Jared Huffman said. It elevates right-wing ideology over the actual needs of the American people.

Huffman managed Democratic speakers during much of Tuesdays floor debate in place of House Natural Resources ranking Democrat Raul Grijalva of Arizona, who announced a cancer diagnosis last month.

Biden has signaled strong opposition to the bills.

BLM rule

The House voted 212-202 to pass Utah Republican John Curtis bill to withdraw the recent BLM rule. Democrats Henry Cuellar of Texas, Jared Golden of Maine and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington voted yes, along with all Republicans except for Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania.

The rule creates a new type of lease for conservation, putting it on the same level as extractive industries like mining, energy development and livestock grazing.

Republicans have vocally opposed it since it was first proposed last year, saying it upends the agencys decades-long multiple-use framework.

BLM lands should be reserved for productive uses, several House Republicans said Tuesday.

Conservation is not a use, Westerman said on the House floor Tuesday. Its a value and an outcome that can be generated by the uses that are already in place on BLM lands.

Democrats said the rule did not block any other use, but simply elevated conservation, which they said was an important consideration.

The rule will protect clean water, clean air and wildlife habitat, Colorado Democrat Joe Neguse said. Itll promote the restoration of degraded landscapes. It will ensure that decisions are based on the best available science and collaboration with tribal, local and rural communities.

But here is what the bill does not do, he added. It does not disallow or preclude any one of the multiple uses that the chairman referenced during the opening of this particular debate.

Boundary Waters

The House passed, 212-203, a bill to rescind an administration ban on mining operations near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Northern Minnesota. Golden and Perez voted in favor along with all Republicans.

Pete Stauber, the representative from the area who introduced the measure, said it would promote the economy of the mineral-rich region.

Stauber, a Republican who chairs a mining subcommittee, criticized the Biden administrations approach to extractive industries. Boosting domestic mining would give U.S. policymakers more control over environmental and labor protections than importing critical minerals from overseas.

Bidens mining policy of anywhere but America, any worker but American must be stopped, Stauber said. We can find these minerals domestically under the best labor and environmental standards in the world. We know this all too well in Northern Minnesota, where mining is our past, our present and our future.

Democrats objected to the bill, saying it endangered the Boundary Waters separating Minnesota from Canada. The wilderness area is a beloved destination for many in the state.

This piece of legislation would revoke key protections for a watershed that contains some of the purest, freshest water in the nation, in the world, Minnesota Democrat Betty McCollum said.

Gray wolf

The House voted 209-205 to pass a bill authored by Colorado Republican Lauren Boebert that would remove the gray wolf from the federal endangered species list.

Republicans Fitzpatrick, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Mike Garcia of California and Nancy Mace of South Carolina voted against the bill. Democrats Yadira Caraveo of Colorado, Cuellar, Golden and Perez voted in favor.

Under the bill, states would be empowered to manage wolf populations, Boebert said on the House floor.

During floor debate, Republicans said wolves have fully recovered and no longer needed federal protections. They also said the predators were a nuisance to livestock and the ranchers whose livelihoods depend on cattle and sheep.

I stand here today celebrating the success story of the Endangered Species Act, seeing that the gray wolf has been fully recovered, Boebert said. I also stand today  in defense of our farmers and our ranchers.

Democrats argued that while gray wolves numbers have increased, they are still in danger of extinction if federal protections were to disappear.

Virginia Democrat Don Beyer noted that states such as Montana, Wyoming and Idaho that have delisted wolves saw overhunting.

Were in the midst of a biodiversity crisis, Beyer said. We should be supporting current scientific efforts by fully funding the agencies that carry out ESA extinction preservation work.

Beyer also took a veiled shot at South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican who described in a recently published memoir killing her 14-month-old hunting dog in a gravel pit.

Dogs kill twice as many cattle as wolves, Beyer said.

Yet we dont say that all good dogs should go to the gravel pit, he said.

Lead bullets

The House also passed, 214-201, a bill sponsored by Virginia Republican Rob Wittman to block the Department of Agriculture and Department of Interior from regulating the use of lead ammunition or lead fishing equipment on federal lands or waters.

Republicans Fitzpatrick, Gatez and Vern Buchanan of Florida voted against it.

Democrats Cuellar, Donald Davis of North Carolina, Robert Garcia of California, Golden, Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, Mary Peltola of Alaska and Perez voted in favor.

Each side accused the other of indulging special interests on the issue.

Democrats said Republicans were more concerned about blocking regulations on guns than promoting hunting and fishing.

When it comes to guns, and now ammo, any type of restriction is too much for Republican ideology, Huffman said.

Westerman said the bill probably is more aimed at fending off any kind of attack they can take on our Second Amendment rights, but said that Democrats opposition was due to their loyalty to extreme environmentalists.

Manage these lands for the public, not for your special interest, radical environmental groups, he said. I think Congress has to take the lead on that.

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Rep. Rob Menendez, right, is being challenged by Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla in the Democratic primary for the House seat in the 8th District. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/Danielle Richards for New Jersey Monitor)

About eight months ago, it seemed likely Rep. Rob Menendez would be seeking his second term in Congress with only nominal Democratic challengers, if any.

But the indictment of his father, Sen. Bob Menendez, on Sept. 22 turned the Menendez name, once a selling point for the young congressman, into a potential liability. It not only spurred a challenge from a politician familiar with the bare-knuckles politics of Hudson County  Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla  it also gave Bhalla a chance to spend months trying to tie the senators alleged crimes to his son.

Im not surprised that folks feel the sharks are circling the water, thinking he might be vulnerable enough to be taken out as an incumbent. This is the election to do it, said Fran Moran, chair of the political science department at New Jersey City University.

The race in the 8th Congressional District  a heavily Democratic one made up mostly of Hudson County towns  is perhaps the states nastiest 2024 contest, with Rep. Menendez trashing Bhalla as unethical and criticizing his stewardship of Hoboken and Bhalla tarring Menendez as the entitled son of corrupt Bob Gold Bars Menendez. The elder Menendez is accused of accepting gold bars and other gifts in exchange for favors, an accusation the senator has denied. His trial is expected to begin May 13.

In interviews with the New Jersey Monitor, the candidates, including businessman Kyle Jasey, offered similar policy positions: expanding pathways to citizenship for immigrants, addressing the housing crisis, funding community projects, making health care more affordable, and tackling climate change.

But the accusations against Sen. Menendez remain Bhallas chief attack line against Rep. Menendez. Bhalla said the younger Menendez is a replication of the same apparatus  supported by same major donors, such as Don Scarinci, who donated the maximum amount to Menendez and was a key advisor to his father, overlapping advisors including Mike Soliman of Mercury Public Affairs, and backing from the same Hudson County political bosses.

We need to change, to get to a place with people who are not anointed by way of their connections with powerful people, but are elected with the qualifications, Bhalla told the New Jersey Monitor.

Bhalla served on the Hoboken City Council from 2009 until he was elected mayor in 2017. He touted the citys economic upgrades from investors and traffic safety  the city has had no traffic deaths for seven years, which Bhalla attributed to the citys vision zero initiative. He also pointed to the citys resiliency parks as innovative methods to fight climate change.

Bhalla feels this is the kind of track record voters should reward with a promotion to Congress.

Menendez, who won election to Congress two years ago, said hes addressed over 1,500 constituent concerns, primarily immigration issues in a district where about 40% of residents are foreign-born.

He pointed to $11 billion in federal investments for the district, largely through funding for the Gateway project and other rail projects. Menendez joined Congress when control of the House flipped from Democratic to Republican. If it flips again, he said, he could help bring more investment to the 8th.

If you look at the money that we brought back through all the community funding projects, brought back money to almost every single municipality for critical projects that they need to make their residents lives better  we did the work, said Menendez.

Menendez is not named in any of the indictments and maintains he has no connections to his fathers alleged crimes. He said Bhalla has no bottom when it comes to how low he can go to score what he thinks are political points. He noted Bhalla endorsed him two years ago.

Ravi used to text me and thank me for what we were doing and what good advocates we were for Hoboken. So clearly, only one thing has changed, and thats the one thing Ravi wants to talk about, Menendez said.

Moran said its doubtful competitors would have jumped into the race without the backdrop of Sen. Menendezs corruption case tarnishing the family name. The younger Menendez won his seat in a landslide  carrying more than 70% of the vote  despite cries of nepotism from challengers who said he won only because of his fathers connections.

Its strange because I think Rob benefitted from the name during the first election, and now its coming back to haunt him. Its just odd that youd see a challenge like this for no real reason besides, I think I can beat him because his names weak, Moran said.

The county lines impact

New Jersey Democrats will see a different ballot in the June primary, with a federal judge in March barring the use of county-line ballots.

Political observers believe the new ballot  which groups candidates by the office theyre seeking, instead of whether they received backing from county party officials  will give candidates not backed by party leaders a better chance at winning. In this race, Menendez has the support of the Hudson County Democratic Organization.

Kyle Jasey (Courtesy of Jasey)

Moran said its unclear how the new ballot will affect the race, but he believes the county partys support of Menendez will give him an advantage because its get-out-the-vote teams will help in this dense part of the state.

In the neighborhood, theyre ringing the doorbells, theyre coming in groups, theyre speaking Spanish, Moran said. Its like, theyre ready to deal with the population and its really, really effective.

Unlike during Menendezs first run, he has a competitor this time who is fundraising at roughly the same pace. Bhalla reported raising $649,077 in the first three months of the year, with about $991,000 on hand, campaign filings show. Meanwhile, Menendez reported raising $677,775 in that same period, with a war chest of about $1.2 million.

Jasey is a businessman from Jersey City who hasnt held public office. He raised just $4,648 last quarter. On paper, it looks like hes going to get crushed, he conceded, but there are a lot of unknowns this year.

He had his name drawn to be placed first on the ballot  the best ballot position, regardless of how much money they raised, he said.

Whats that worth? I dont know, but I definitely would rather be there than the other two spots, he added.

The post U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez seeks reelection as his fathers corruption trial looms appeared first on New Jersey Monitor.
U.S. sanctions nearly 300 targets in Russia; accuses Kremlin of using chemical weapons

The Treasury under Secretary Janet Yellen sanctioned some 200 entities and companies Wednesday accused of aiding Russia's war against Ukraine. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI

May 2 (UPI) -- The United States is sanctioning nearly 300 targets in Russia, as it accuses the Kremlin of using chemicals "as a method of warfare" against Ukrainian troops.

The Biden administration unfurled the sanctions Wednesday, as it seeks to degrade the Kremlin's military industrial complex over its war in Ukraine.

"The United States will continue to use the tools at its disposal to disrupt support for Russia's military-industrial base and curtail Russia's use of the international financial system to further its war against Ukraine," the State Department said in a statement.

"We continue to stand in solidarity with Russians striving for a more democratic future and with Ukrainians defending their homeland from Russia's aggression."

A breakdown of the punitive measures sees the Treasury hitting nearly 200 targets, including more than 100 entities operating in Russia's military-industrial base, while the State Department blacklisted more than 80 entities and individuals engaged in sanctions evasion and in connection to Moscow's use of chemical and biological weapons.

According to State Department, Russia has deployed chemical weapon chloropicrin against Ukrainian forces in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states chloropicrin is a soil fumigant that has been used as a chemical warfare and riot control agent, particularly during World War I.

The State Department said Russia's use of the chemical is not isolated to a single incident "and is probably driven by Russian forces' desire to dislodge Ukrainian forces from fortified positions and achieve tactical gains on the battlefield."

Several entities in China were also sanctioned on accusations of developing and supplying dual-use aerospace, manufacturing and technology equipment to Russian-based companies, in particular companies that produce items critical to Russia's defense-industrial base.

The sanctions come as the United States has sought to improve stressed relations with China by bolstering communication between the two countries, several sending high-level delegations to Beijing over the last year.

However, the Biden administration has simultaneously grown concerned over China's willingness to support Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.

Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Beijing said they have "serious" concerns over China providing components that are "powering" Russia's war.

He said that without China's support, the Kremlin "would struggle to sustain its assault" on Ukraine.

Last month while in Beijing, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned Chinese officials that there would be "significant consequences" if companies in the Asian nation were found providing material support for Russia's war.

"Today's actions will further disrupt and degrade Russia's war efforts by going after its military industrial base and the evasion networks that help supply it," Yellen said Wednesday in a statement. "Combined, our support for Ukraine and our relentless targeting of Russia's military capacity is giving Ukraine a critical leg-up on the battlefield."

Entities in Azerbaijan, Belgium, Slovakia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates were also sanctioned for their support of Russia's war effort.

To coincide with the sanctions, the Justice Department on Wednesday filed a forfeiture complaint against the landing gear of a Boeing 737-800 that was detained at Miami International Airport in September 2023. Prosecutors said the gear was purchased for a Kyrgyz Republic-based transhipper of dual-use items servicing Russia.
(Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

Leading U.S. Senate Democrats reintroduced a bill Wednesday to remove marijuana from the list of federal controlled substances, following the Biden administrations move a day earlier to significantly ease regulations on the drug.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden of Oregon and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, on Wednesday at a press conference applauded the Justice Departments announcement it would move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the federal Controlled Substances Act.

But they said it didnt solve problems, including race-based discrimination, created by federal prohibition.

Instead, they promoted a bill that would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act entirely, while adding new federal regulations and oversight.

The bill will help our country close the book once and for all on the awful, harmful and failed war on drugs, which all too often has been nothing more than a war on Americans of color, Schumer said. In short, our bills about individual freedom and basic fairness.

Most Americans believe cannabis should be legalized, Schumer said.

The move announced Tuesday by the Justice Department and Drug Enforcement Administration will ease some of the harshest restrictions on marijuana use under Schedule I, which lists the most dangerous and easily abused drugs without any medicinal value.

Schedule III drugs, which include Tylenol with codeine and anabolic steroids, are allowed to be studied and dispensed under certain guidelines.

DOJ move not enough, Dems say

The Tuesday announcement from the Justice Department didnt go far enough, the trio said at a Wednesday press conference, and should be seen as a potential launching pad for further reforms.

We want to disabuse people of the notion that because the White House moved yesterday, things are at a standstill here in the United States Congress, Wyden said. I look at this as a chance to get new momentum for our bill, for action on Capitol Hill.

Fifteen other Senate Democrats have cosponsored the bill.

The senators said that federal prohibition, even as many states have legalized medicinal or recreational use, has disproportionately harmed communities of color.

I think its a great step that the Biden administration is moving in the direction of not making this a Schedule I drug  the absurdity of that is outrageous, Booker said. But honestly, the bill that we are reintroducing today is the solution to this long, agonizing, hypocritical, frankly unequally enforced set of bad laws.

Federal prohibition has also blocked tax breaks for marijuana-related businesses, including small independent enterprises that Wyden, who chairs the tax-writing Finance Committee, said he is eager to help.

Wyden said he was excited about a provision in the bill to allow state-legal marijuana business access to a common tax break that allows small businesses to deduct business expenses.

With marijuana classified as a Schedule I substance, the federal tax break has not been allowed even for businesses that operate with a state license. Wyden said that small independent businesses really get clobbered under the current system. He indicated that his committee would look at more ways to reduce the tax burden for small mom-and-pop businesses.

The senators did not answer a question about if the legalization bill should be considered in tandem with a separate bill to allow state-legal marijuana businesses greater access to the banking system. Many banks refuse to do business with marijuana businesses out of fear they will be sanctioned as an accessory to drug trafficking.

New regulatory framework

The bill would automatically expunge federal marijuana-related convictions, direct the Department of Housing and Urban Development to create a program to help people who lost access to housing benefits because of marijuana convictions and establish a Cannabis Justice Office within the U.S. Justice Department.

It would direct funding to an Opportunity Trust Fund to help people and individuals most harmed by the failed War on Drugs, according to a summary from Schumers office. It would disallow possession of cannabis to be used against any noncitizen in an immigration proceeding and prevent withholding of other federal benefits from people who use the drug.

While the bill would remove cannabis from regulations under the Controlled Substances Act, it would add new federal oversight, making the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau the federal agency with jurisdiction over the drug.

The bill would establish a federal Center for Cannabis Products to regulate production, sales, distribution and other elements of the cannabis industry, instruct the Food and Drug Administration to establish labeling standards and create programs to prevent youth marijuana use.

It would also retain a federal prohibition on marijuana trafficking conducted outside of state-legal markets, ask the Transportation Department to develop standards on cannabis-impaired driving and have the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration collect data and create educational materials on cannabis-impaired driving.

The post U.S. Senate Dems launch renewed push for full marijuana legalization appeared first on Washington State Standard.
Tim Blakeley, manager of Sunset Junction medical marijuana dispensary, shows marijuana plant buds on May 11, 2010, in Los Angeles. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

Leading U.S. Senate Democrats reintroduced a bill Wednesday to remove marijuana from the list of federal controlled substances, following the Biden administrations move a day earlier to significantly ease regulations on the drug.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden of Oregon and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, on Wednesday at a press conference applauded the Justice Departments announcement it would move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the federal Controlled Substances Act.

But they said it didnt solve problems, including race-based discrimination, created by federal prohibition.

Instead, they promoted a bill that would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act entirely, while adding new federal regulations and oversight.

The bill will help our country close the book once and for all on the awful, harmful and failed war on drugs, which all too often has been nothing more than a war on Americans of color, Schumer said. In short, our bills about individual freedom and basic fairness.

Most Americans believe cannabis should be legalized, Schumer said.

The move announced Tuesday by the Justice Department and Drug Enforcement Administration will ease some of the harshest restrictions on marijuana use under Schedule I, which lists the most dangerous and easily abused drugs without any medicinal value.

Schedule III drugs, which include Tylenol with codeine and anabolic steroids, are allowed to be studied and dispensed under certain guidelines.

DOJ move not enough, Dems say

The Tuesday announcement from the Justice Department didnt go far enough, the trio said at a Wednesday press conference, and should be seen as a potential launching pad for further reforms.

We want to disabuse people of the notion that because the White House moved yesterday, things are at a standstill here in the United States Congress, Wyden said. I look at this as a chance to get new momentum for our bill, for action on Capitol Hill.

Fifteen other Senate Democrats have cosponsored the bill.

Communities of color and small businesses

The senators said that federal prohibition, even as many states have legalized medicinal or recreational use, has disproportionately harmed communities of color.

I think its a great step that the Biden administration is moving in the direction of not making this a Schedule I drug  the absurdity of that is outrageous, Booker said. But honestly, the bill that we are reintroducing today is the solution to this long, agonizing, hypocritical, frankly unequally enforced set of bad laws.

Federal prohibition has also blocked tax breaks for marijuana-related businesses, including small independent enterprises that Wyden, who chairs the tax-writing Finance Committee, said he is eager to help.

Wyden said he was excited about a provision in the bill to allow state-legal marijuana business access to a common tax break that allows small businesses to deduct business expenses.

With marijuana classified as a Schedule I substance, the federal tax break has not been allowed even for businesses that operate with a state license. Wyden said that small independent businesses really get clobbered under the current system. He indicated that his committee would look at more ways to reduce the tax burden for small mom-and-pop businesses.

The senators did not answer a question about if the legalization bill should be considered in tandem with a separate bill to allow state-legal marijuana businesses greater access to the banking system. Many banks refuse to do business with marijuana businesses out of fear they will be sanctioned as an accessory to drug trafficking.

New regulatory framework

The bill would automatically expunge federal marijuana-related convictions, direct the Department of Housing and Urban Development to create a program to help people who lost access to housing benefits because of marijuana convictions and establish a Cannabis Justice Office within the U.S. Justice Department.

It would direct funding to an Opportunity Trust Fund to help people and individuals most harmed by the failed War on Drugs, according to a summary from Schumers office. It would disallow possession of cannabis to be used against any noncitizen in an immigration proceeding and prevent withholding of other federal benefits from people who use the drug.

While the bill would remove cannabis from regulations under the Controlled Substances Act, it would add new federal oversight, making the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau the federal agency with jurisdiction over the drug.

The bill would establish a federal Center for Cannabis Products to regulate production, sales, distribution and other elements of the cannabis industry, instruct the Food and Drug Administration to establish labeling standards and create programs to prevent youth marijuana use.

It would also retain a federal prohibition on marijuana trafficking conducted outside of state-legal markets, ask the Transportation Department to develop standards on cannabis-impaired driving and have the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration collect data and create educational materials on cannabis-impaired driving.

The post U.S. Senate Dems launch renewed push for full marijuana legalization appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
Tim Blakeley, manager of Sunset Junction medical marijuana dispensary, shows marijuana plant buds on May 11, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

Leading U.S. Senate Democrats reintroduced a bill Wednesday to remove marijuana from the list of federal controlled substances, following the Biden administrations move a day earlier to significantly ease regulations on the drug.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden of Oregon and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, on Wednesday at a press conference applauded the Justice Departments announcement it would move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the federal Controlled Substances Act.

But they said it didnt solve problems, including race-based discrimination, created by federal prohibition.

Instead, they promoted a bill that would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act entirely, while adding new federal regulations and oversight.

The bill will help our country close the book once and for all on the awful, harmful and failed war on drugs, which all too often has been nothing more than a war on Americans of color, Schumer said. In short, our bills about individual freedom and basic fairness.

Most Americans believe cannabis should be legalized, Schumer said.

The move announced Tuesday by the Justice Department and Drug Enforcement Administration will ease some of the harshest restrictions on marijuana use under Schedule I, which lists the most dangerous and easily abused drugs without any medicinal value.

Schedule III drugs, which include Tylenol with codeine and anabolic steroids, are allowed to be studied and dispensed under certain guidelines.

DOJ move not enough, Dems say

The Tuesday announcement from the Justice Department didnt go far enough, the trio said at a Wednesday press conference, and should be seen as a potential launching pad for further reforms.

We want to disabuse people of the notion that because the White House moved yesterday, things are at a standstill here in the United States Congress, Wyden said. I look at this as a chance to get new momentum for our bill, for action on Capitol Hill.

Fifteen other Senate Democrats have cosponsored the bill.

Communities of color and small businesses

The senators said that federal prohibition, even as many states have legalized medicinal or recreational use, has disproportionately harmed communities of color.

I think its a great step that the Biden administration is moving in the direction of not making this a Schedule I drug  the absurdity of that is outrageous, Booker said. But honestly, the bill that we are reintroducing today is the solution to this long, agonizing, hypocritical, frankly unequally enforced set of bad laws.

Federal prohibition has also blocked tax breaks for marijuana-related businesses, including small independent enterprises that Wyden, who chairs the tax-writing Finance Committee, said he is eager to help.

Wyden said he was excited about a provision in the bill to allow state-legal marijuana business access to a common tax break that allows small businesses to deduct business expenses.

With marijuana classified as a Schedule I substance, the federal tax break has not been allowed even for businesses that operate with a state license. Wyden said that small independent businesses really get clobbered under the current system. He indicated that his committee would look at more ways to reduce the tax burden for small mom-and-pop businesses.

The senators did not answer a question about if the legalization bill should be considered in tandem with a separate bill to allow state-legal marijuana businesses greater access to the banking system. Many banks refuse to do business with marijuana businesses out of fear they will be sanctioned as an accessory to drug trafficking.

New regulatory framework

The bill would automatically expunge federal marijuana-related convictions, direct the Department of Housing and Urban Development to create a program to help people who lost access to housing benefits because of marijuana convictions and establish a Cannabis Justice Office within the U.S. Justice Department.

It would direct funding to an Opportunity Trust Fund to help people and individuals most harmed by the failed War on Drugs, according to a summary from Schumers office. It would disallow possession of cannabis to be used against any noncitizen in an immigration proceeding and prevent withholding of other federal benefits from people who use the drug.

While the bill would remove cannabis from regulations under the Controlled Substances Act, it would add new federal oversight, making the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau the federal agency with jurisdiction over the drug.

The bill would establish a federal Center for Cannabis Products to regulate production, sales, distribution and other elements of the cannabis industry, instruct the Food and Drug Administration to establish labeling standards and create programs to prevent youth marijuana use.

It would also retain a federal prohibition on marijuana trafficking conducted outside of state-legal markets, ask the Transportation Department to develop standards on cannabis-impaired driving and have the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration collect data and create educational materials on cannabis-impaired driving.

The post U.S. Senate Dems launch renewed push for full marijuana legalization appeared first on Rhode Island Current.
Tim Blakeley, manager of Sunset Junction medical marijuana dispensary, shows marijuana plant buds on May 11, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

Leading U.S. Senate Democrats have reintroduced a bill to remove marijuana from the list of federal controlled substances, following the Biden administrations move a day earlier to significantly ease regulations on the drug.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden of Oregon and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, on Wednesday at a press conference applauded the Justice Departments announcement it would move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the federal Controlled Substances Act.

But they said it didnt solve problems, including race-based discrimination, created by federal prohibition.

Instead, they promoted a bill that would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act entirely, while adding new federal regulations and oversight.

The bill will help our country close the book once and for all on the awful, harmful and failed war on drugs, which all too often has been nothing more than a war on Americans of color, Schumer said. In short, our bills about individual freedom and basic fairness.

Most Americans believe cannabis should be legalized, Schumer said.

The move announced Tuesday by the Justice Department and Drug Enforcement Administration will ease some of the harshest restrictions on marijuana use under Schedule I, which lists the most dangerous and easily abused drugs without any medicinal value.

Schedule III drugs, which include Tylenol with codeine and anabolic steroids, are allowed to be studied and dispensed under certain guidelines.

DOJ move not enough, Dems say

The Tuesday announcement from the Justice Department didnt go far enough, the trio said at a Wednesday press conference, and should be seen as a potential launching pad for further reforms.

We want to disabuse people of the notion that because the White House moved yesterday, things are at a standstill here in the United States Congress, Wyden said. I look at this as a chance to get new momentum for our bill, for action on Capitol Hill.

Fifteen other Senate Democrats have cosponsored the bill.

Communities of color and small businesses

The senators said that federal prohibition, even as many states have legalized medicinal or recreational use, has disproportionately harmed communities of color.

I think its a great step that the Biden administration is moving in the direction of not making this a Schedule I drug  the absurdity of that is outrageous, Booker said. But honestly, the bill that we are reintroducing today is the solution to this long, agonizing, hypocritical, frankly unequally enforced set of bad laws.

Federal prohibition has also blocked tax breaks for marijuana-related businesses, including small independent enterprises that Wyden, who chairs the tax-writing Finance Committee, said he is eager to help.

Wyden said he was excited about a provision in the bill to allow state-legal marijuana business access to a common tax break that allows small businesses to deduct business expenses.

With marijuana classified as a Schedule I substance, the federal tax break has not been allowed even for businesses that operate with a state license. Wyden said that small independent businesses really get clobbered under the current system. He indicated that his committee would look at more ways to reduce the tax burden for small mom-and-pop businesses.

The senators did not answer a question about if the legalization bill should be considered in tandem with a separate bill to allow state-legal marijuana businesses greater access to the banking system. Many banks refuse to do business with marijuana businesses out of fear they will be sanctioned as an accessory to drug trafficking.

New regulatory framework

The bill would automatically expunge federal marijuana-related convictions, direct the Department of Housing and Urban Development to create a program to help people who lost access to housing benefits because of marijuana convictions and establish a Cannabis Justice Office within the U.S. Justice Department.

It would direct funding to an Opportunity Trust Fund to help people and individuals most harmed by the failed War on Drugs, according to a summary from Schumers office. It would disallow possession of cannabis to be used against any noncitizen in an immigration proceeding and prevent withholding of other federal benefits from people who use the drug.

While the bill would remove cannabis from regulations under the Controlled Substances Act, it would add new federal oversight, making the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau the federal agency with jurisdiction over the drug.

The bill would establish a federal Center for Cannabis Products to regulate production, sales, distribution and other elements of the cannabis industry, instruct the Food and Drug Administration to establish labeling standards and create programs to prevent youth marijuana use.

It would also retain a federal prohibition on marijuana trafficking conducted outside of state-legal markets, ask the Transportation Department to develop standards on cannabis-impaired driving and have the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration collect data and create educational materials on cannabis-impaired driving.

The post U.S. Senate Dems launch renewed push for full marijuana legalization appeared first on Oregon Capital Chronicle.
Tim Blakeley, manager of Sunset Junction medical marijuana dispensary, shows marijuana plant buds on May 11, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images)

Leading U.S. Senate Democrats reintroduced a bill Wednesday to remove marijuana from the list of federal controlled substances, following the Biden administrations move a day earlier to significantly ease regulations on the drug.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden of Oregon and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, on Wednesday at a press conference applauded the Justice Departments announcement it would move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the federal Controlled Substances Act.

But they said it didnt solve problems, including race-based discrimination, created by federal prohibition.

Instead, they promoted a bill that would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act entirely, while adding new federal regulations and oversight.

The bill will help our country close the book once and for all on the awful, harmful and failed war on drugs, which all too often has been nothing more than a war on Americans of color, Schumer said. In short, our bills about individual freedom and basic fairness.

Most Americans believe cannabis should be legalized, Schumer said.

The move announced Tuesday by the Justice Department and Drug Enforcement Administration will ease some of the harshest restrictions on marijuana use under Schedule I, which lists the most dangerous and easily abused drugs without any medicinal value.

Schedule III drugs, which include Tylenol with codeine and anabolic steroids, are allowed to be studied and dispensed under certain guidelines.

DOJ move not enough, Dems say

The Tuesday announcement from the Justice Department didnt go far enough, the trio said at a Wednesday press conference, and should be seen as a potential launching pad for further reforms.

We want to disabuse people of the notion that because the White House moved yesterday, things are at a standstill here in the United States Congress, Wyden said. I look at this as a chance to get new momentum for our bill, for action on Capitol Hill.

Fifteen other Senate Democrats have cosponsored the bill.

Communities of color and small businesses

The senators said that federal prohibition, even as many states have legalized medicinal or recreational use, has disproportionately harmed communities of color.

I think its a great step that the Biden administration is moving in the direction of not making this a Schedule I drug  the absurdity of that is outrageous, Booker said. But honestly, the bill that we are reintroducing today is the solution to this long, agonizing, hypocritical, frankly unequally enforced set of bad laws.

Federal prohibition has also blocked tax breaks for marijuana-related businesses, including small independent enterprises that Wyden, who chairs the tax-writing Finance Committee, said he is eager to help.

Wyden said he was excited about a provision in the bill to allow state-legal marijuana business access to a common tax break that allows small businesses to deduct business expenses.

With marijuana classified as a Schedule I substance, the federal tax break has not been allowed even for businesses that operate with a state license. Wyden said that small independent businesses really get clobbered under the current system. He indicated that his committee would look at more ways to reduce the tax burden for small mom-and-pop businesses.

The senators did not answer a question about if the legalization bill should be considered in tandem with a separate bill to allow state-legal marijuana businesses greater access to the banking system. Many banks refuse to do business with marijuana businesses out of fear they will be sanctioned as an accessory to drug trafficking.

New regulatory framework

The bill would automatically expunge federal marijuana-related convictions, direct the Department of Housing and Urban Development to create a program to help people who lost access to housing benefits because of marijuana convictions and establish a Cannabis Justice Office within the U.S. Justice Department.

It would direct funding to an Opportunity Trust Fund to help people and individuals most harmed by the failed War on Drugs, according to a summary from Schumers office. It would disallow possession of cannabis to be used against any noncitizen in an immigration proceeding and prevent withholding of other federal benefits from people who use the drug.

While the bill would remove cannabis from regulations under the Controlled Substances Act, it would add new federal oversight, making the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau the federal agency with jurisdiction over the drug.

The bill would establish a federal Center for Cannabis Products to regulate production, sales, distribution and other elements of the cannabis industry, instruct the Food and Drug Administration to establish labeling standards and create programs to prevent youth marijuana use.

It would also retain a federal prohibition on marijuana trafficking conducted outside of state-legal markets, ask the Transportation Department to develop standards on cannabis-impaired driving and have the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration collect data and create educational materials on cannabis-impaired driving.

The post U.S. Senate Dems launch renewed push for full marijuana legalization appeared first on Source New Mexico.
Evertec (EVTC) reported $205.32 million in revenue for the quarter ended March 2024, representing a year-over-year increase of 28.5%. EPS of $0.72 for the same period compares to $0.69 a year ago.

The reported revenue represents a surprise of +2.28% over the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $200.75 million. With the consensus EPS estimate being $0.67, the EPS surprise was +7.46%.

While investors closely watch year-over-year changes in headline numbers -- revenue and earnings -- and how they compare to Wall Street expectations to determine their next course of action, some key metrics always provide a better insight into a company's underlying performance.

Since these metrics play a crucial role in driving the top- and bottom-line numbers, comparing them with the year-ago numbers and what analysts estimated about them helps investors better project a stock's price performance.

Here is how Evertec performed in the just reported quarter in terms of the metrics most widely monitored and projected by Wall Street analysts:

Revenues- Payment Services - Puerto Rico & Caribbean : $53.03 million versus the three-analyst average estimate of $50.62 million. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of +9.5%.

Revenues- Payment Services - Latin America : $74.22 million compared to the $72.40 million average estimate based on three analysts. The reported number represents a change of +110.1% year over year.

Revenues- Merchant acquiring, net : $43.10 million versus $41.64 million estimated by three analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a +6.8% change.

Revenues- Business solutions : $58.13 million versus the three-analyst average estimate of $57.17 million. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of +4.4%.

Revenues- Corporate and Other: -$23.16 million versus the three-analyst average estimate of -$21.43 million. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of +15.9%.

View all Key Company Metrics for Evertec here>>>



Shares of Evertec have returned -2.3% over the past month versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's -4.1% change. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), indicating that it could perform in line with the broader market in the near term.

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Tim Blakeley, manager of Sunset Junction medical marijuana dispensary, shows marijuana plant buds on May 11, 2010, in Los Angeles, California. (Kevork Djansezian | Getty Images)

Leading U.S. Senate Democrats reintroduced a bill Wednesday to remove marijuana from the list of federal controlled substances, following the Biden administrations move a day earlier to significantly ease regulations on the drug.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden of Oregon and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, on Wednesday at a press conference applauded the Justice Departments announcement it would move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the federal Controlled Substances Act.

But they said it didnt solve problems, including race-based discrimination, created by federal prohibition.

Instead, they promoted a bill that would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act entirely, while adding new federal regulations and oversight.

The bill will help our country close the book once and for all on the awful, harmful and failed war on drugs, which all too often has been nothing more than a war on Americans of color, Schumer said. In short, our bills about individual freedom and basic fairness.

Most Americans believe cannabis should be legalized, Schumer said.

The move announced Tuesday by the Justice Department and Drug Enforcement Administration will ease some of the harshest restrictions on marijuana use under Schedule I, which lists the most dangerous and easily abused drugs without any medicinal value.

Schedule III drugs, which include Tylenol with codeine and anabolic steroids, are allowed to be studied and dispensed under certain guidelines.

DOJ move not enough, Dems say

The Tuesday announcement from the Justice Department didnt go far enough, the trio said at a Wednesday press conference, and should be seen as a potential launching pad for further reforms.

We want to disabuse people of the notion that because the White House moved yesterday, things are at a standstill here in the United States Congress, Wyden said. I look at this as a chance to get new momentum for our bill, for action on Capitol Hill.

Fifteen other Senate Democrats have cosponsored the bill.

Communities of color and small businesses

The senators said that federal prohibition, even as many states have legalized medicinal or recreational use, has disproportionately harmed communities of color.

I think its a great step that the Biden administration is moving in the direction of not making this a Schedule I drug  the absurdity of that is outrageous, Booker said. But honestly, the bill that we are reintroducing today is the solution to this long, agonizing, hypocritical, frankly unequally enforced set of bad laws.

Federal prohibition has also blocked tax breaks for marijuana-related businesses, including small independent enterprises that Wyden, who chairs the tax-writing Finance Committee, said he is eager to help.

Wyden said he was excited about a provision in the bill to allow state-legal marijuana business access to a common tax break that allows small businesses to deduct business expenses.

With marijuana classified as a Schedule I substance, the federal tax break has not been allowed even for businesses that operate with a state license. Wyden said that small independent businesses really get clobbered under the current system. He indicated that his committee would look at more ways to reduce the tax burden for small mom-and-pop businesses.

The senators did not answer a question about if the legalization bill should be considered in tandem with a separate bill to allow state-legal marijuana businesses greater access to the banking system. Many banks refuse to do business with marijuana businesses out of fear they will be sanctioned as an accessory to drug trafficking.

New regulatory framework

The bill would automatically expunge federal marijuana-related convictions, direct the Department of Housing and Urban Development to create a program to help people who lost access to housing benefits because of marijuana convictions and establish a Cannabis Justice Office within the U.S. Justice Department.

It would direct funding to an Opportunity Trust Fund to help people and individuals most harmed by the failed War on Drugs, according to a summary from Schumers office. It would disallow possession of cannabis to be used against any noncitizen in an immigration proceeding and prevent withholding of other federal benefits from people who use the drug.

While the bill would remove cannabis from regulations under the Controlled Substances Act, it would add new federal oversight, making the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau the federal agency with jurisdiction over the drug.

The bill would establish a federal Center for Cannabis Products to regulate production, sales, distribution and other elements of the cannabis industry, instruct the Food and Drug Administration to establish labeling standards and create programs to prevent youth marijuana use.

It would also retain a federal prohibition on marijuana trafficking conducted outside of state-legal markets, ask the Transportation Department to develop standards on cannabis-impaired driving and have the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration collect data and create educational materials on cannabis-impaired driving.

The post U.S. Senate Dems launch renewed push for full marijuana legalization appeared first on Wisconsin Examiner.
(Carol Yepes/Getty Images).

Leading U.S. Senate Democrats reintroduced a bill Wednesday to remove marijuana from the list of federal controlled substances, following the Biden administrations move a day earlier to significantly ease regulations on the drug.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden of Oregon and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, on Wednesday at a press conference applauded the Justice Departments announcement it would move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the federal Controlled Substances Act.

But they said it didnt solve problems, including race-based discrimination, created by federal prohibition.

Instead, they promoted a bill that would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act entirely, while adding new federal regulations and oversight.

The bill will help our country close the book once and for all on the awful, harmful and failed war on drugs, which all too often has been nothing more than a war on Americans of color, Schumer said. In short, our bills about individual freedom and basic fairness.

Most Americans believe cannabis should be legalized, Schumer said.

The move announced Tuesday by the Justice Department and Drug Enforcement Administration will ease some of the harshest restrictions on marijuana use under Schedule I, which lists the most dangerous and easily abused drugs without any medicinal value.

Schedule III drugs, which include Tylenol with codeine and anabolic steroids, are allowed to be studied and dispensed under certain guidelines.

DOJ move not enough, Dems say

The Tuesday announcement from the Justice Department didnt go far enough, the trio said at a Wednesday press conference, and should be seen as a potential launching pad for further reforms.

We want to disabuse people of the notion that because the White House moved yesterday, things are at a standstill here in the United States Congress, Wyden said. I look at this as a chance to get new momentum for our bill, for action on Capitol Hill.

Fifteen other Senate Democrats have cosponsored the bill.

Communities of color and small businesses

The senators said that federal prohibition, even as many states have legalized medicinal or recreational use, has disproportionately harmed communities of color.

I think its a great step that the Biden administration is moving in the direction of not making this a Schedule I drug  the absurdity of that is outrageous, Booker said. But honestly, the bill that we are reintroducing today is the solution to this long, agonizing, hypocritical, frankly unequally enforced set of bad laws.

Federal prohibition has also blocked tax breaks for marijuana-related businesses, including small independent enterprises that Wyden, who chairs the tax-writing Finance Committee, said he is eager to help.

Wyden said he was excited about a provision in the bill to allow state-legal marijuana business access to a common tax break that allows small businesses to deduct business expenses.

With marijuana classified as a Schedule I substance, the federal tax break has not been allowed even for businesses that operate with a state license. Wyden said that small independent businesses really get clobbered under the current system. He indicated that his committee would look at more ways to reduce the tax burden for small mom-and-pop businesses.

The senators did not answer a question about if the legalization bill should be considered in tandem with a separate bill to allow state-legal marijuana businesses greater access to the banking system. Many banks refuse to do business with marijuana businesses out of fear they will be sanctioned as an accessory to drug trafficking.

New regulatory framework

The bill would automatically expunge federal marijuana-related convictions, direct the Department of Housing and Urban Development to create a program to help people who lost access to housing benefits because of marijuana convictions and establish a Cannabis Justice Office within the U.S. Justice Department.

It would direct funding to an Opportunity Trust Fund to help people and individuals most harmed by the failed War on Drugs, according to a summary from Schumers office. It would disallow possession of cannabis to be used against any noncitizen in an immigration proceeding and prevent withholding of other federal benefits from people who use the drug.

While the bill would remove cannabis from regulations under the Controlled Substances Act, it would add new federal oversight, making the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau the federal agency with jurisdiction over the drug.

The bill would establish a federal Center for Cannabis Products to regulate production, sales, distribution and other elements of the cannabis industry, instruct the Food and Drug Administration to establish labeling standards and create programs to prevent youth marijuana use.

It would also retain a federal prohibition on marijuana trafficking conducted outside of state-legal markets, ask the Transportation Department to develop standards on cannabis-impaired driving and have the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration collect data and create educational materials on cannabis-impaired driving.

The post U.S. Senate Dems launch renewed push for full marijuana legalization appeared first on Missouri Independent.
Tim Blakeley, manager of Sunset Junction medical marijuana dispensary, shows marijuana plant buds on May 11, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

Leading U.S. Senate Democrats reintroduced a bill Wednesday to remove marijuana from the list of federal controlled substances, following the Biden administrations move a day earlier to significantly ease regulations on the drug.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden of Oregon and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey on Wednesday at a press conference applauded the Justice Departments announcement it would move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the federal Controlled Substances Act.

But they said it didnt solve problems, including race-based discrimination, created by federal prohibition.

Instead, they promoted a bill that would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act entirely, while adding new federal regulations and oversight.

The bill will help our country close the book once and for all on the awful, harmful and failed war on drugs, which all too often has been nothing more than a war on Americans of color, Schumer said. In short, our bills about individual freedom and basic fairness.

Most Americans believe cannabis should be legalized, Schumer said.

The move announced Tuesday by the Justice Department and Drug Enforcement Administration will ease some of the harshest restrictions on marijuana use under Schedule I, which lists the most dangerous and easily abused drugs without any medicinal value.

Schedule III drugs, which include Tylenol with codeine and anabolic steroids, are allowed to be studied and dispensed under certain guidelines.

DOJ move not enough, Dems say

The Tuesday announcement from the Justice Department didnt go far enough, the trio said at a Wednesday press conference, and should be seen as a potential launching pad for further reforms.

We want to disabuse people of the notion that because the White House moved yesterday, things are at a standstill here in the United States Congress, Wyden said. I look at this as a chance to get new momentum for our bill, for action on Capitol Hill.

Fifteen other Senate Democrats have cosponsored the bill.

Communities of color and small businesses

The senators said that federal prohibition, even as many states have legalized medicinal or recreational use, has disproportionately harmed communities of color.

I think its a great step that the Biden administration is moving in the direction of not making this a Schedule I drug  the absurdity of that is outrageous, Booker said. But honestly, the bill that we are reintroducing today is the solution to this long, agonizing, hypocritical, frankly unequally enforced set of bad laws.

Federal prohibition has also blocked tax breaks for marijuana-related businesses, including small independent enterprises that Wyden, who chairs the tax-writing Finance Committee, said he is eager to help.

Wyden said he was excited about a provision in the bill to allow state-legal marijuana business access to a common tax break that allows small businesses to deduct business expenses.

With marijuana classified as a Schedule I substance, the federal tax break has not been allowed even for businesses that operate with a state license. Wyden said that small independent businesses really get clobbered under the current system. He indicated that his committee would look at more ways to reduce the tax burden for small mom-and-pop businesses.

The senators did not answer a question about if the legalization bill should be considered in tandem with a separate bill to allow state-legal marijuana businesses greater access to the banking system. Many banks refuse to do business with marijuana businesses out of fear they will be sanctioned as an accessory to drug trafficking.

New regulatory framework

The bill would automatically expunge federal marijuana-related convictions, direct the Department of Housing and Urban Development to create a program to help people who lost access to housing benefits because of marijuana convictions and establish a Cannabis Justice Office within the U.S. Justice Department.

It would direct funding to an Opportunity Trust Fund to help people and individuals most harmed by the failed War on Drugs, according to a summary from Schumers office. It would disallow possession of cannabis to be used against any noncitizen in an immigration proceeding and prevent withholding of other federal benefits from people who use the drug.

While the bill would remove cannabis from regulations under the Controlled Substances Act, it would add new federal oversight, making the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau the federal agency with jurisdiction over the drug.

The bill would establish a federal Center for Cannabis Products to regulate production, sales, distribution and other elements of the cannabis industry, instruct the Food and Drug Administration to establish labeling standards and create programs to prevent youth marijuana use.

It would also retain a federal prohibition on marijuana trafficking conducted outside of state-legal markets, ask the Transportation Department to develop standards on cannabis-impaired driving and have the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration collect data and create educational materials on cannabis-impaired driving.

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The post U.S. Senate Dems launch renewed push for full marijuana legalization appeared first on Maine Morning Star.
Tim Blakeley, manager of Sunset Junction medical marijuana dispensary, shows marijuana plant buds on May 11, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images.

Leading U.S. Senate Democrats reintroduced a bill Wednesday to remove marijuana from the list of federal controlled substances, following the Biden administrations move a day earlier to significantly ease regulations on the drug.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden of Oregon and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, on Wednesday at a press conference applauded the Justice Departments announcement it would move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the federal Controlled Substances Act.

But they said it didnt solve problems, including race-based discrimination, created by federal prohibition.

Instead, they promoted a bill that would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act entirely, while adding new federal regulations and oversight.

The bill will help our country close the book once and for all on the awful, harmful and failed war on drugs, which all too often has been nothing more than a war on Americans of color, Schumer said. In short, our bills about individual freedom and basic fairness.

Most Americans believe cannabis should be legalized, Schumer said.

The move announced Tuesday by the Justice Department and Drug Enforcement Administration will ease some of the harshest restrictions on marijuana use under Schedule I, which lists the most dangerous and easily abused drugs without any medicinal value.

Schedule III drugs, which include Tylenol with codeine and anabolic steroids, are allowed to be studied and dispensed under certain guidelines.

DOJ move not enough, Dems say

The Tuesday announcement from the Justice Department didnt go far enough, the trio said at a Wednesday press conference, and should be seen as a potential launching pad for further reforms.

We want to disabuse people of the notion that because the White House moved yesterday, things are at a standstill here in the United States Congress, Wyden said. I look at this as a chance to get new momentum for our bill, for action on Capitol Hill.

Fifteen other Senate Democrats have cosponsored the bill.

Communities of color and small businesses

The senators said that federal prohibition, even as many states have legalized medicinal or recreational use, has disproportionately harmed communities of color.

I think its a great step that the Biden administration is moving in the direction of not making this a Schedule I drug  the absurdity of that is outrageous, Booker said. But honestly, the bill that we are reintroducing today is the solution to this long, agonizing, hypocritical, frankly unequally enforced set of bad laws.

Federal prohibition has also blocked tax breaks for marijuana-related businesses, including small independent enterprises that Wyden, who chairs the tax-writing Finance Committee, said he is eager to help.

Wyden said he was excited about a provision in the bill to allow state-legal marijuana business access to a common tax break that allows small businesses to deduct business expenses.

With marijuana classified as a Schedule I substance, the federal tax break has not been allowed even for businesses that operate with a state license. Wyden said that small independent businesses really get clobbered under the current system. He indicated that his committee would look at more ways to reduce the tax burden for small mom-and-pop businesses.

The senators did not answer a question about if the legalization bill should be considered in tandem with a separate bill to allow state-legal marijuana businesses greater access to the banking system. Many banks refuse to do business with marijuana businesses out of fear they will be sanctioned as an accessory to drug trafficking.

New regulatory framework

The bill would automatically expunge federal marijuana-related convictions, direct the Department of Housing and Urban Development to create a program to help people who lost access to housing benefits because of marijuana convictions and establish a Cannabis Justice Office within the U.S. Justice Department.

It would direct funding to an Opportunity Trust Fund to help people and individuals most harmed by the failed War on Drugs, according to a summary from Schumers office. It would disallow possession of cannabis to be used against any noncitizen in an immigration proceeding and prevent withholding of other federal benefits from people who use the drug.

While the bill would remove cannabis from regulations under the Controlled Substances Act, it would add new federal oversight, making the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau the federal agency with jurisdiction over the drug.

The bill would establish a federal Center for Cannabis Products to regulate production, sales, distribution and other elements of the cannabis industry, instruct the Food and Drug Administration to establish labeling standards and create programs to prevent youth marijuana use.

It would also retain a federal prohibition on marijuana trafficking conducted outside of state-legal markets, ask the Transportation Department to develop standards on cannabis-impaired driving and have the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration collect data and create educational materials on cannabis-impaired driving.

The post U.S. Senate Dems launch renewed push for full marijuana legalization appeared first on Minnesota Reformer.
Tim Blakeley, manager of Sunset Junction medical marijuana dispensary, shows marijuana plant buds on May 11, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

Leading U.S. Senate Democrats reintroduced a bill Wednesday to remove marijuana from the list of federal controlled substances, following the Biden administrations move a day earlier to significantly ease regulations on the drug.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden of Oregon and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, on Wednesday at a press conference applauded the Justice Departments announcement it would move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the federal Controlled Substances Act.

But they said it didnt solve problems, including race-based discrimination, created by federal prohibition.

Instead, they promoted a bill that would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act entirely, while adding new federal regulations and oversight.

The bill will help our country close the book once and for all on the awful, harmful and failed war on drugs, which all too often has been nothing more than a war on Americans of color, Schumer said. In short, our bills about individual freedom and basic fairness.

Let us know what you think...

Most Americans believe cannabis should be legalized, Schumer said.

The move announced Tuesday by the Justice Department and Drug Enforcement Administration will ease some of the harshest restrictions on marijuana use under Schedule I, which lists the most dangerous and easily abused drugs without any medicinal value.

Schedule III drugs, which include Tylenol with codeine and anabolic steroids, are allowed to be studied and dispensed under certain guidelines.

DOJ move not enough, Dems say

The Tuesday announcement from the Justice Department didnt go far enough, the trio said at a Wednesday press conference, and should be seen as a potential launching pad for further reforms.

We want to disabuse people of the notion that because the White House moved yesterday, things are at a standstill here in the United States Congress, Wyden said. I look at this as a chance to get new momentum for our bill, for action on Capitol Hill.

Fifteen other Senate Democrats have cosponsored the bill.

Communities of color and small businesses

The senators said that federal prohibition, even as many states have legalized medicinal or recreational use, has disproportionately harmed communities of color.

I think its a great step that the Biden administration is moving in the direction of not making this a Schedule I drug  the absurdity of that is outrageous, Booker said. But honestly, the bill that we are reintroducing today is the solution to this long, agonizing, hypocritical, frankly unequally enforced set of bad laws.

Federal prohibition has also blocked tax breaks for marijuana-related businesses, including small independent enterprises that Wyden, who chairs the tax-writing Finance Committee, said he is eager to help.

Wyden said he was excited about a provision in the bill to allow state-legal marijuana business access to a common tax break that allows small businesses to deduct business expenses.

With marijuana classified as a Schedule I substance, the federal tax break has not been allowed even for businesses that operate with a state license. Wyden said that small independent businesses really get clobbered under the current system. He indicated that his committee would look at more ways to reduce the tax burden for small mom-and-pop businesses.

The senators did not answer a question about if the legalization bill should be considered in tandem with a separate bill to allow state-legal marijuana businesses greater access to the banking system. Many banks refuse to do business with marijuana businesses out of fear they will be sanctioned as an accessory to drug trafficking.

New regulatory framework

The bill would automatically expunge federal marijuana-related convictions, direct the Department of Housing and Urban Development to create a program to help people who lost access to housing benefits because of marijuana convictions and establish a Cannabis Justice Office within the U.S. Justice Department.

It would direct funding to an Opportunity Trust Fund to help people and individuals most harmed by the failed War on Drugs, according to a summary from Schumers office. It would disallow possession of cannabis to be used against any noncitizen in an immigration proceeding and prevent withholding of other federal benefits from people who use the drug.

While the bill would remove cannabis from regulations under the Controlled Substances Act, it would add new federal oversight, making the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau the federal agency with jurisdiction over the drug.

The bill would establish a federal Center for Cannabis Products to regulate production, sales, distribution and other elements of the cannabis industry, instruct the Food and Drug Administration to establish labeling standards and create programs to prevent youth marijuana use.

It would also retain a federal prohibition on marijuana trafficking conducted outside of state-legal markets, ask the Transportation Department to develop standards on cannabis-impaired driving and have the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration collect data and create educational materials on cannabis-impaired driving.

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The post U.S. Senate Dems launch renewed push for full marijuana legalization appeared first on Utah News Dispatch.
Tim Blakeley, manager of Sunset Junction medical marijuana dispensary, shows marijuana plant buds on May 11, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

Leading U.S. Senate Democrats reintroduced a bill Wednesday to remove marijuana from the list of federal controlled substances, following the Biden administrations move a day earlier to significantly ease regulations on the drug.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden of Oregon and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, on Wednesday at a press conference applauded the Justice Departments announcement it would move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the federal Controlled Substances Act.

But they said it didnt solve problems, including race-based discrimination, created by federal prohibition.

Instead, they promoted a bill that would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act entirely, while adding new federal regulations and oversight.

The bill will help our country close the book once and for all on the awful, harmful and failed war on drugs, which all too often has been nothing more than a war on Americans of color, Schumer said. In short, our bills about individual freedom and basic fairness.

Most Americans believe cannabis should be legalized, Schumer said.

The move announced Tuesday by the Justice Department and Drug Enforcement Administration will ease some of the harshest restrictions on marijuana use under Schedule I, which lists the most dangerous and easily abused drugs without any medicinal value.

Schedule III drugs, which include Tylenol with codeine and anabolic steroids, are allowed to be studied and dispensed under certain guidelines.

DOJ move not enough, Dems say

The Tuesday announcement from the Justice Department didnt go far enough, the trio said at a Wednesday press conference, and should be seen as a potential launching pad for further reforms.

We want to disabuse people of the notion that because the White House moved yesterday, things are at a standstill here in the United States Congress, Wyden said. I look at this as a chance to get new momentum for our bill, for action on Capitol Hill.

Fifteen other Senate Democrats have cosponsored the bill.

Communities of color and small businesses

The senators said that federal prohibition, even as many states have legalized medicinal or recreational use, has disproportionately harmed communities of color.

I think its a great step that the Biden administration is moving in the direction of not making this a Schedule I drug  the absurdity of that is outrageous, Booker said. But honestly, the bill that we are reintroducing today is the solution to this long, agonizing, hypocritical, frankly unequally enforced set of bad laws.

Federal prohibition has also blocked tax breaks for marijuana-related businesses, including small independent enterprises that Wyden, who chairs the tax-writing Finance Committee, said he is eager to help.

Wyden said he was excited about a provision in the bill to allow state-legal marijuana business access to a common tax break that allows small businesses to deduct business expenses.

With marijuana classified as a Schedule I substance, the federal tax break has not been allowed even for businesses that operate with a state license. Wyden said that small independent businesses really get clobbered under the current system. He indicated that his committee would look at more ways to reduce the tax burden for small mom-and-pop businesses.

The senators did not answer a question about if the legalization bill should be considered in tandem with a separate bill to allow state-legal marijuana businesses greater access to the banking system. Many banks refuse to do business with marijuana businesses out of fear they will be sanctioned as an accessory to drug trafficking.

New regulatory framework

The bill would automatically expunge federal marijuana-related convictions, direct the Department of Housing and Urban Development to create a program to help people who lost access to housing benefits because of marijuana convictions and establish a Cannabis Justice Office within the U.S. Justice Department.

It would direct funding to an Opportunity Trust Fund to help people and individuals most harmed by the failed War on Drugs, according to a summary from Schumers office. It would disallow possession of cannabis to be used against any noncitizen in an immigration proceeding and prevent withholding of other federal benefits from people who use the drug.

While the bill would remove cannabis from regulations under the Controlled Substances Act, it would add new federal oversight, making the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau the federal agency with jurisdiction over the drug.

The bill would establish a federal Center for Cannabis Products to regulate production, sales, distribution and other elements of the cannabis industry, instruct the Food and Drug Administration to establish labeling standards and create programs to prevent youth marijuana use.

It would also retain a federal prohibition on marijuana trafficking conducted outside of state-legal markets, ask the Transportation Department to develop standards on cannabis-impaired driving and have the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration collect data and create educational materials on cannabis-impaired driving.

The post U.S. Senate Dems launch renewed push for full marijuana legalization appeared first on West Virginia Watch.
Tim Blakeley, manager of Sunset Junction medical marijuana dispensary, shows marijuana plant buds on May 11, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

Leading U.S. Senate Democrats reintroduced a bill Wednesday to remove marijuana from the list of federal controlled substances, following the Biden administrations move a day earlier to significantly ease regulations on the drug.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden of Oregon and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, on Wednesday at a press conference applauded the Justice Departments announcement it would move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the federal Controlled Substances Act.

But they said it didnt solve problems, including race-based discrimination, created by federal prohibition.

Instead, they promoted a bill that would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act entirely, while adding new federal regulations and oversight.

The bill will help our country close the book once and for all on the awful, harmful and failed war on drugs, which all too often has been nothing more than a war on Americans of color, Schumer said. In short, our bills about individual freedom and basic fairness.

Most Americans believe cannabis should be legalized, Schumer said.

The move announced Tuesday by the Justice Department and Drug Enforcement Administration will ease some of the harshest restrictions on marijuana use under Schedule I, which lists the most dangerous and easily abused drugs without any medicinal value.

Schedule III drugs, which include Tylenol with codeine and anabolic steroids, are allowed to be studied and dispensed under certain guidelines.

DOJ move not enough, Dems say

The Tuesday announcement from the Justice Department didnt go far enough, the trio said at a Wednesday press conference, and should be seen as a potential launching pad for further reforms.

We want to disabuse people of the notion that because the White House moved yesterday, things are at a standstill here in the United States Congress, Wyden said. I look at this as a chance to get new momentum for our bill, for action on Capitol Hill.

Fifteen other Senate Democrats have cosponsored the bill.

Communities of color and small businesses

The senators said that federal prohibition, even as many states have legalized medicinal or recreational use, has disproportionately harmed communities of color.

I think its a great step that the Biden administration is moving in the direction of not making this a Schedule I drug  the absurdity of that is outrageous, Booker said. But honestly, the bill that we are reintroducing today is the solution to this long, agonizing, hypocritical, frankly unequally enforced set of bad laws.

Federal prohibition has also blocked tax breaks for marijuana-related businesses, including small independent enterprises that Wyden, who chairs the tax-writing Finance Committee, said he is eager to help.

Wyden said he was excited about a provision in the bill to allow state-legal marijuana business access to a common tax break that allows small businesses to deduct business expenses.

With marijuana classified as a Schedule I substance, the federal tax break has not been allowed even for businesses that operate with a state license. Wyden said that small independent businesses really get clobbered under the current system. He indicated that his committee would look at more ways to reduce the tax burden for small mom-and-pop businesses.

The senators did not answer a question about if the legalization bill should be considered in tandem with a separate bill to allow state-legal marijuana businesses greater access to the banking system. Many banks refuse to do business with marijuana businesses out of fear they will be sanctioned as an accessory to drug trafficking.

New regulatory framework

The bill would automatically expunge federal marijuana-related convictions, direct the Department of Housing and Urban Development to create a program to help people who lost access to housing benefits because of marijuana convictions and establish a Cannabis Justice Office within the U.S. Justice Department.

It would direct funding to an Opportunity Trust Fund to help people and individuals most harmed by the failed War on Drugs, according to a summary from Schumers office. It would disallow possession of cannabis to be used against any noncitizen in an immigration proceeding and prevent withholding of other federal benefits from people who use the drug.

While the bill would remove cannabis from regulations under the Controlled Substances Act, it would add new federal oversight, making the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau the federal agency with jurisdiction over the drug.

The bill would establish a federal Center for Cannabis Products to regulate production, sales, distribution and other elements of the cannabis industry, instruct the Food and Drug Administration to establish labeling standards and create programs to prevent youth marijuana use.

It would also retain a federal prohibition on marijuana trafficking conducted outside of state-legal markets, ask the Transportation Department to develop standards on cannabis-impaired driving and have the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration collect data and create educational materials on cannabis-impaired driving.

The post U.S. Senate Dems launch renewed push for full marijuana legalization appeared first on Michigan Advance.
Tim Blakeley, manager of Sunset Junction medical marijuana dispensary, shows marijuana plant buds on May 11, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

Leading U.S. Senate Democrats reintroduced a bill Wednesday to remove marijuana from the list of federal controlled substances, following the Biden administrations move a day earlier to significantly ease regulations on the drug.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden of Oregon and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, on Wednesday at a press conference applauded the Justice Departments announcement it would move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the federal Controlled Substances Act.

But they said it didnt solve problems, including race-based discrimination, created by federal prohibition.

Instead, they promoted a bill that would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act entirely, while adding new federal regulations and oversight.

The bill will help our country close the book once and for all on the awful, harmful and failed war on drugs, which all too often has been nothing more than a war on Americans of color, Schumer said. In short, our bills about individual freedom and basic fairness.

Most Americans believe cannabis should be legalized, Schumer said.

The move announced Tuesday by the Justice Department and Drug Enforcement Administration will ease some of the harshest restrictions on marijuana use under Schedule I, which lists the most dangerous and easily abused drugs without any medicinal value.

Schedule III drugs, which include Tylenol with codeine and anabolic steroids, are allowed to be studied and dispensed under certain guidelines.

DOJ move not enough, Dems say

The Tuesday announcement from the Justice Department didnt go far enough, the trio said at a Wednesday press conference, and should be seen as a potential launching pad for further reforms.

We want to disabuse people of the notion that because the White House moved yesterday, things are at a standstill here in the United States Congress, Wyden said. I look at this as a chance to get new momentum for our bill, for action on Capitol Hill.

Fifteen other Senate Democrats have cosponsored the bill.

Communities of color and small businesses

The senators said federal prohibition, even as many states have legalized medicinal or recreational use, has disproportionately harmed communities of color.

I think its a great step that the Biden administration is moving in the direction of not making this a Schedule I drug  the absurdity of that is outrageous, Booker said. But honestly, the bill that we are reintroducing today is the solution to this long, agonizing, hypocritical, frankly unequally enforced set of bad laws.

Federal prohibition has also blocked tax breaks for marijuana-related businesses, including small independent enterprises that Wyden, who chairs the tax-writing Finance Committee, said he is eager to help.

Wyden said he was excited about a provision in the bill to allow state-legal marijuana business access to a common tax break that allows small businesses to deduct business expenses.

With marijuana classified as a Schedule I substance, the federal tax break has not been allowed even for businesses that operate with a state license. Wyden said that small independent businesses really get clobbered under the current system. He indicated that his committee would look at more ways to reduce the tax burden for small mom-and-pop businesses.

The senators did not answer a question about if the legalization bill should be considered in tandem with a separate bill to allow state-legal marijuana businesses greater access to the banking system. Many banks refuse to do business with marijuana businesses out of fear they will be sanctioned as an accessory to drug trafficking.

New regulatory framework

The bill would automatically expunge federal marijuana-related convictions, direct the Department of Housing and Urban Development to create a program to help people who lost access to housing benefits because of marijuana convictions and establish a Cannabis Justice Office within the U.S. Justice Department.

It would direct funding to an Opportunity Trust Fund to help people and individuals most harmed by the failed War on Drugs, according to a summary from Schumers office. It would disallow possession of cannabis to be used against any noncitizen in an immigration proceeding and prevent withholding of other federal benefits from people who use the drug.

While the bill would remove cannabis from regulations under the Controlled Substances Act, it would add new federal oversight, making the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau the federal agency with jurisdiction over the drug.

The bill would establish a federal Center for Cannabis Products to regulate production, sales, distribution and other elements of the cannabis industry, instruct the Food and Drug Administration to establish labeling standards and create programs to prevent youth marijuana use.

It would also retain a federal prohibition on marijuana trafficking conducted outside of state-legal markets, ask the Transportation Department to develop standards on cannabis-impaired driving and have the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration collect data and create educational materials on cannabis-impaired driving.

The post U.S. Senate Dems launch renewed push for full marijuana legalization appeared first on Iowa Capital Dispatch.
Tim Blakeley, manager of Sunset Junction medical marijuana dispensary, shows marijuana plant buds on May 11, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Kevork Djansezian | Getty Images)

Leading U.S. Senate Democrats reintroduced a bill Wednesday to remove marijuana from the list of federal controlled substances, following the Biden administrations move a day earlier to significantly ease regulations on the drug.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden of Oregon and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, on Wednesday at a press conference applauded the Justice Departments announcement it would move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the federal Controlled Substances Act.

But they said it didnt solve problems, including race-based discrimination, created by federal prohibition.

Instead, they promoted a bill that would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act entirely, while adding new federal regulations and oversight.

The bill will help our country close the book once and for all on the awful, harmful and failed war on drugs, which all too often has been nothing more than a war on Americans of color, Schumer said. In short, our bills about individual freedom and basic fairness.

Most Americans believe cannabis should be legalized, Schumer said.

The move announced Tuesday by the Justice Department and Drug Enforcement Administration will ease some of the harshest restrictions on marijuana use under Schedule I, which lists the most dangerous and easily abused drugs without any medicinal value.

Schedule III drugs, which include Tylenol with codeine and anabolic steroids, are allowed to be studied and dispensed under certain guidelines.

DOJ move not enough, Dems say

The Tuesday announcement from the Justice Department didnt go far enough, the trio said at a Wednesday press conference, and should be seen as a potential launching pad for further reforms.

We want to disabuse people of the notion that because the White House moved yesterday, things are at a standstill here in the United States Congress, Wyden said. I look at this as a chance to get new momentum for our bill, for action on Capitol Hill.

Fifteen other Senate Democrats have cosponsored the bill.

Communities of color and small businesses

The senators said that federal prohibition, even as many states have legalized medicinal or recreational use, has disproportionately harmed communities of color.

I think its a great step that the Biden administration is moving in the direction of not making this a Schedule I drug  the absurdity of that is outrageous, Booker said. But honestly, the bill that we are reintroducing today is the solution to this long, agonizing, hypocritical, frankly unequally enforced set of bad laws.

Federal prohibition has also blocked tax breaks for marijuana-related businesses, including small independent enterprises that Wyden, who chairs the tax-writing Finance Committee, said he is eager to help.

Wyden said he was excited about a provision in the bill to allow state-legal marijuana business access to a common tax break that allows small businesses to deduct business expenses.

With marijuana classified as a Schedule I substance, the federal tax break has not been allowed even for businesses that operate with a state license. Wyden said that small independent businesses really get clobbered under the current system. He indicated that his committee would look at more ways to reduce the tax burden for small mom-and-pop businesses.

The senators did not answer a question about if the legalization bill should be considered in tandem with a separate bill to allow state-legal marijuana businesses greater access to the banking system. Many banks refuse to do business with marijuana businesses out of fear they will be sanctioned as an accessory to drug trafficking.

New regulatory framework

The bill would automatically expunge federal marijuana-related convictions, direct the Department of Housing and Urban Development to create a program to help people who lost access to housing benefits because of marijuana convictions and establish a Cannabis Justice Office within the U.S. Justice Department.

It would direct funding to an Opportunity Trust Fund to help people and individuals most harmed by the failed War on Drugs, according to a summary from Schumers office. It would disallow possession of cannabis to be used against any noncitizen in an immigration proceeding and prevent withholding of other federal benefits from people who use the drug.

While the bill would remove cannabis from regulations under the Controlled Substances Act, it would add new federal oversight, making the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau the federal agency with jurisdiction over the drug.

The bill would establish a federal Center for Cannabis Products to regulate production, sales, distribution and other elements of the cannabis industry, instruct the Food and Drug Administration to establish labeling standards and create programs to prevent youth marijuana use.

It would also retain a federal prohibition on marijuana trafficking conducted outside of state-legal markets, ask the Transportation Department to develop standards on cannabis-impaired driving and have the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration collect data and create educational materials on cannabis-impaired driving.

The post U.S. Senate Dems launch renewed push for full marijuana legalization appeared first on New Jersey Monitor.
Tim Blakeley, manager of Sunset Junction medical marijuana dispensary, shows marijuana plant buds on May 11, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

Leading U.S. Senate Democrats reintroduced a bill Wednesday to remove marijuana from the list of federal controlled substances, following the Biden administrations move a day earlier to significantly ease regulations on the drug.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden of Oregon and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, on Wednesday at a press conference applauded the Justice Departments announcement it would move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the federal Controlled Substances Act.

But they said it didnt solve problems, including race-based discrimination, created by federal prohibition.

Instead, they promoted a bill that would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act entirely, while adding new federal regulations and oversight.

The bill will help our country close the book once and for all on the awful, harmful and failed war on drugs, which all too often has been nothing more than a war on Americans of color, Schumer said. In short, our bills about individual freedom and basic fairness.

Most Americans believe cannabis should be legalized, Schumer said.

The move announced Tuesday by the Justice Department and Drug Enforcement Administration will ease some of the harshest restrictions on marijuana use under Schedule I, which lists the most dangerous and easily abused drugs without any medicinal value.

Schedule III drugs, which include Tylenol with codeine and anabolic steroids, are allowed to be studied and dispensed under certain guidelines.

DOJ move not enough, Dems say

The Tuesday announcement from the Justice Department didnt go far enough, the trio said at a Wednesday press conference, and should be seen as a potential launching pad for further reforms.

We want to disabuse people of the notion that because the White House moved yesterday, things are at a standstill here in the United States Congress, Wyden said. I look at this as a chance to get new momentum for our bill, for action on Capitol Hill.

Fifteen other Senate Democrats have cosponsored the bill.

Communities of color and small businesses

The senators said that federal prohibition, even as many states have legalized medicinal or recreational use, has disproportionately harmed communities of color.

I think its a great step that the Biden administration is moving in the direction of not making this a Schedule I drug  the absurdity of that is outrageous, Booker said. But honestly, the bill that we are reintroducing today is the solution to this long, agonizing, hypocritical, frankly unequally enforced set of bad laws.

Federal prohibition has also blocked tax breaks for marijuana-related businesses, including small independent enterprises that Wyden, who chairs the tax-writing Finance Committee, said he is eager to help.

Wyden said he was excited about a provision in the bill to allow state-legal marijuana business access to a common tax break that allows small businesses to deduct business expenses.

With marijuana classified as a Schedule I substance, the federal tax break has not been allowed even for businesses that operate with a state license. Wyden said that small independent businesses really get clobbered under the current system. He indicated that his committee would look at more ways to reduce the tax burden for small mom-and-pop businesses.

The senators did not answer a question about if the legalization bill should be considered in tandem with a separate bill to allow state-legal marijuana businesses greater access to the banking system. Many banks refuse to do business with marijuana businesses out of fear they will be sanctioned as an accessory to drug trafficking.

New regulatory framework

The bill would automatically expunge federal marijuana-related convictions, direct the Department of Housing and Urban Development to create a program to help people who lost access to housing benefits because of marijuana convictions and establish a Cannabis Justice Office within the U.S. Justice Department.

It would direct funding to an Opportunity Trust Fund to help people and individuals most harmed by the failed War on Drugs, according to a summary from Schumers office. It would disallow possession of cannabis to be used against any noncitizen in an immigration proceeding and prevent withholding of other federal benefits from people who use the drug.

While the bill would remove cannabis from regulations under the Controlled Substances Act, it would add new federal oversight, making the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau the federal agency with jurisdiction over the drug.

The bill would establish a federal Center for Cannabis Products to regulate production, sales, distribution and other elements of the cannabis industry, instruct the Food and Drug Administration to establish labeling standards and create programs to prevent youth marijuana use.

It would also retain a federal prohibition on marijuana trafficking conducted outside of state-legal markets, ask the Transportation Department to develop standards on cannabis-impaired driving and have the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration collect data and create educational materials on cannabis-impaired driving.

The post U.S. Senate Dems launch renewed push for full marijuana legalization appeared first on North Dakota Monitor.
(This May 2 story corrects U.S. official's quote to say annual cap is 500,000 barrels, not 500, in paragraph 3 and to say Ukraine, not North Korea, in paragraph 8)

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Russia has been quietly shipping refined petroleum to North Korea at levels that appear to violate the mandates of the United Nations Security Council, a U.S. official said on Thursday, adding the U.S. is planning new sanctions in response.

The disclosure came on the first day after a U.N. panel of experts monitoring enforcement of longstanding U.N. sanctions against North Korea for its nuclear weapons and missile programs was disbanded after a Russian veto.

"At the same time that Moscow vetoed the panels mandate renewal, Russia has been shipping refined petroleum from Port Vostochny to the DPRK (North Korea). Russian shipments have already pushed DPRK imports above the 500,000-barrel annual cap mandated by the U.N. Security Council," the U.S. official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The official said that in March alone, Russia shipped more than 165,000 barrels of refined petroleum to North Korea and that given the close proximity of Russian and North Korean commercial ports, Russia could sustain these shipments indefinitely.

Russia blocked the annual renewal of the panel in late March in what the U.S. official described as a calculated move by Moscow to hide its own violations of UN Security Council resolutions.

The official said the United States will continue to impose sanctions "against those working to facilitate arms and refined petroleum transfers between Russia and the DPRK."

"We have previously worked to coordinate autonomous sanctions designations with our partners  including Australia, the European Union, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, and the United Kingdom  and we will continue to do so," the official said.

North Korea has been helping Russia in its war against Ukraine by supplying ballistic missiles.

(Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Heather Timmons and Chizu Nomiyama)
Workers sort packages at the Amazon AGS5 facility on October 27, 2022, in Appling, Georgia. Two U.S. Senate Democrats plan to introduce a bill to address quota systems they say lead to injuries for warehouse workers. Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images.

WASHINGTON  Two Democratic U.S. senators announced Thursday they plan to introduce a piece of legislation that would require large companies to disclose quota practices to workers and prevent those quotas from interfering with a workers health.

The Warehouse Worker Protection Act would put an end to the most dangerous quotas that plague warehouses, Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, a sponsor of the bill, said.

There is no published bill text yet.

Markey said the bill would require companies to notify workers of the quotas they need to meet and ban quotas that rely on 24/7 surveillance or are likely to lead to violations of health and safety laws. He added that companies that dont comply would be investigated by the Department of Labor and could face fines and penalties.

Injuries at Amazon

Markey was joined outside the U.S. Capitol by workers who shared their stories of being injured on the job at Amazon warehouses, along with Democratic Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith and Sean OBrien, the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

Smith said that big companies like Amazon care about efficiency and cost savings and maximizing their profits.

Theyre experiencing record profits at the same time that the people whose labor they are earning profits on the backs (of), are experiencing completely unacceptable levels of injuries, she said.

Sen. Tina Smith in a Reformer file photo by Michelle Griffith/Minnesota Reformer.

The speakers singled out Amazon for quota practices that endanger workers, though Markey said the Seattle-based e-retail giant is not the only company that engages in a quota system that harms workers.

Amazon may be at the front of the pack with an injury rate double the national average, but the rest of the big warehousing companies are close behind, he said.

Some of Amazons quota practices include constant monitoring to measure how many items a worker scans, with automatic flags for workers below a certain percentile, and monitoring how long employees take on bathroom breaks and other time off task, according to a Thursday report by the National Employment Law Project.

The Amazon warehouse injury rate is twice that of the private-sector average for all industries and tens of thousands of warehouse workers each year experience serious injuries requiring medical treatment, according to the report.

OBrien said that Amazons business model pushes workers to the brink and creates a culture of fear.

Warehouses can be very dangerous places to work if safety isnt made a priority, he said.

Wendy Taylor, an Amazon worker in Missouri who is organizing for a union, was injured at work in March.

I was injured at work because of Amazons inhumane work rates, because of the exhausting pace in the physical work me and my coworkers do, she said.

Taylor said she fell and hurt her knee, but when she went to the company medical center, she said they (refused) to let me see a doctor when I asked, sending me back to work.

She eventually went to her own doctor, who diagnosed her with a torn meniscus in her knee.

This experience (shows) how hard it is to get timely, adequate medical treatment from a company that breaks down my body and speeds up my aging for shareholder profits, she said.

Spokespeople for Amazon did not immediately return a message seeking comment Thursday.

Brian Wild, a spokesperson for the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors, said in a statement that the industry group does not support the bill, arguing that it could lead to delays and price hikes.

The bill includes provisions that inappropriately tip the scales to union bosses at the expense of employees and employers by inviting labor organizations to participate in investigations, essentially granting union leaders access to potentially coerce or harass worksites under the guise of worker safety, Wild said.

Seeking bipartisan support

Markey said there is bipartisan support in the Senate for the bill, as well as the House.

We just want to build this out, Markey said. It should not be a Democrat or Republican thing, its a worker safety bill.

A warehouse protection law went into effect in Minnesota last year, but advocates have raised concerns that Amazon is not complying with the law.

Several other states, including California, New York, Oregon and Washington, have passed legislation similar to what Markey and Smith are proposing.

The post U.S. Senate Dems Smith, Markey to push warehouse worker safety bill appeared first on Minnesota Reformer.
Amazon may be at the front of the pack with an injury rate double the national average, but the rest of the big warehousing companies are close behind, said Sen. Ed Markey. (Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

WASHINGTON  Two Democratic U.S. senators announced Thursday they plan to introduce a piece of legislation that would require large companies to disclose quota practices to workers and prevent those quotas from interfering with a workers health.

The Warehouse Worker Protection Act would put an end to the most dangerous quotas that plague warehouses, Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, a sponsor of the bill, said.

There is no published bill text yet.

Markey said the bill would require companies to notify workers of the quotas they need to meet and ban quotas that rely on 24/7 surveillance or are likely to lead to violations of health and safety laws. He added that companies that dont comply would be investigated by the Department of Labor and could face fines and penalties.

Injuries at Amazon

Markey was joined outside the U.S. Capitol by workers who shared their stories of being injured on the job at Amazon warehouses, along with Democratic Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith and Sean OBrien, the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

Smith said that big companies like Amazon care about efficiency and cost savings and maximizing their profits.

Theyre experiencing record profits at the same time that the people whose labor they are earning profits on the backs (of), are experiencing completely unacceptable levels of injuries, she said.

The speakers singled out Amazon for quota practices that endanger workers, though Markey said the Seattle-based e-retail giant is not the only company that engages in a quota system that harms workers.

Amazon may be at the front of the pack with an injury rate double the national average, but the rest of the big warehousing companies are close behind, he said.

Some of Amazons quota practices include constant monitoring to measure how many items a worker scans, with automatic flags for workers below a certain percentile, and monitoring how long employees take on bathroom breaks and other time off task, according to a Thursday report by the National Employment Law Project.

The Amazon warehouse injury rate is twice that of the private-sector average for all industries and tens of thousands of warehouse workers each year experience serious injuries requiring medical treatment, according to the report.

OBrien said that Amazons business model pushes workers to the brink and creates a culture of fear.

Warehouses can be very dangerous places to work if safety isnt made a priority, he said.

Wendy Taylor, an Amazon worker in Missouri who is organizing for a union, was injured at work in March.

I was injured at work because of Amazons inhumane work rates, because of the exhausting pace in the physical work me and my coworkers do, she said.

Taylor said she fell and hurt her knee, but when she went to the company medical center, she said they (refused) to let me see a doctor when I asked, sending me back to work.

She eventually went to her own doctor, who diagnosed her with a torn meniscus in her knee.

This experience (shows) how hard it is to get timely, adequate medical treatment from a company that breaks down my body and speeds up my aging for shareholder profits, she said.

Spokespeople for Amazon did not immediately return a message seeking comment Thursday.

Brian Wild, a spokesperson for the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors, said in a statement that the industry group does not support the bill, arguing that it could lead to delays and price hikes.

The bill includes provisions that inappropriately tip the scales to union bosses at the expense of employees and employers by inviting labor organizations to participate in investigations, essentially granting union leaders access to potentially coerce or harass worksites under the guise of worker safety, Wild said.

Seeking bipartisan support

Markey said there is bipartisan support in the Senate for the bill, as well as the House.

We just want to build this out, Markey said. It should not be a Democrat or Republican thing, its a worker safety bill.

A warehouse protection law went into effect in Minnesota last year, but advocates have raised concerns that Amazon is not complying with the law.

Several other states, including California, New York, Oregon and Washington, have passed legislation similar to what Markey and Smith are proposing.

The post Amazon singled out by backers of federal warehouse worker safety bill appeared first on Nevada Current.
Michael Drake, the University of Californias systemwide president, has opened an investigation into how UCLA handled the violence that unfolded at a pro-Palestinian encampment on Tuesday night.

In a letter to UCs board of regents, Drake said he requested a detailed accounting from the campus about what transpired and ordered an independent review of the universitys planning, its actions and the response by law enforcement.

I believe such a review can address many of my immediate questions but also help guide us for possible future events, Drake wrote in the letter, which was first reported by the Los Angeles Times.

UCLAs night of violence in photos

The investigation comes after about 50 counter-protesters wearing dark clothing, hoods and white masks covering their faces stormed the barricade surrounding the encampment, trying to tear it down.

Unarmed security guards were forced to flee as fireworks were launched at the encampment, exploding near the tents that had overtaken Royce Quad.

Aerial footage from Sky5 captured the chaotic scene, including countless clashes between the two sides.

At the request of UCLA officials, LAPD was sent to the campus early Wednesday morning to restore order and maintain safety.

State officials like Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued statements deploring the violence.

UCLA acknowledges violence on campus as Israel-Hamas War protests escalate

I condemn the violence at UCLA last night. The law is clear: The right to free speech does not extend to inciting violence, vandalism, or lawlessness on campus, a portion of the governors statement said.

The Jewish Federation of Los Angeles also issued a statement Wednesday denouncing the violent attacks on the encampment.

We are appalled at the violence that took place on the campus of UCLA last night. The abhorrent actions of a few counter-protestors last night do not represent the Jewish community or our values. We believe in peaceful, civic discourse, a portion of the statement read.

Crackdowns and concessions: Student protests enter new phase

Pro-Palestinian protesters are demanding UCLA divest all interests in Israel and are calling for an immediate halt to the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Counter-protesters are calling for the release of Israeli hostages taken captive on Oct. 7 by Hamas have used screens and speakers to blast images and stories of survivors just feet away from the encampment.

UCLA declared the encampment unlawful in a letter issued just hours before the violent confrontations began. Officials also asked demonstrators to leave the area and stated that those who decide to stay could face disciplinary measures, including suspension or expulsion, the Daily Bruin reported.

School officials also announced that Royce Hall will be closed through Friday and that Powell Library wont reopen until Monday. All classes were canceled Wednesday morning.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
With the help of bulldozers, items including tents, chairs and yoga mats were removed Thursday morning from the UCLA encampment occupied by pro-Palestinian protesters and shoved into a large gray dumpster.

Packages of unopened plastic water bottles lay on the grass. Nearby, two white trucks held pieces of wood that had been used by protesters to barricade the camp. A group of four UCLA graduate students walked over to Dickson Court, the area on campus where the encampment once stood, only to learn the camp had been taken down. The action followed the arrests early Thursday of more than 200 protesters by officers in body armor, helmets and face shields.

The grad students came bearing donations; they had brought water, chips, masks and protective eyewear to the protesters throughout the week. They decided they would give the items to one of the other Southern California universities with encampments.

Such camps have spread to college campuses across the nation in a student movement unlike any other this century. Protesters are calling on universities to stop doing business with Israel or companies they say support the war in Gaza. On Tuesday, police arrested at least 25 protesters at Cal Poly Humboldt, where antiwar demonstrators had taken over buildings, spurring school officials to close the campus.

But with the UCLA camp now razed, some protesters told The Times on Thursday they feared the pro-Palestinian protest's momentum in Westwood might have stalled.

Read more: Gazans thank U.S. campus protesters. Israel condemns what it sees as 'Nazi-like behavior'

Theres a lot of anger and frustration and desire to keep protesting, but were really still figuring out what that would look like, said a 19-year-old UCLA freshman who declined to give her name.

Outside Dickson Court, pro-Israeli students also gathered, watching the cleanup process.

A 20-year-old UCLA undergrad, who requested anonymity because he said he feared being attacked, participated in a counterprotest on Sunday. A crowd of people from the Jewish community gathered in front of the camp and sang the Israeli national anthem, brought out a DJ and held a dance party, he said.

The undergrad, who said he is Jewish, was disheartened by the encampment, he said. But he stressed that he didnt participate in any of the other counterdemonstrations and condemned the violence that began Tuesday night just before midnight.

Over several hours, counterdemonstrators hurled objects  including wood and a metal barrier  at those inside. Fireworks were launched into the camp, and some counterprotesters tried to force their way in. Fights broke out, and the pro-Palestinian side used pepper spray to defend themselves.

It was deplorable, the undergrad said of the attack on the encampment. Violent counterprotesters need to be punished under the maximum extent of the law. They do not represent our movement, and as such they must be punished for not acting in accordance with the law and the values they purport to uphold.

Read more: UCLA struggles to recover after 200 arrested, pro-Palestinian camp torn down

He said hed lost a lot of friends since the Israel-Hamas war broke out because of their different perspectives.

Its unfortunate because, for me, this is quite personal because I am from the Middle East," he said. "I have family in Israel, I have family in Iran, and seeing the chaos break out in the region where my ancestry is from, its cutting to see individuals who have no connection to the ongoing violence say that I dont know what Im talking about or they cant be friends with me because of their political stance.

Meanwhile, as Gaza activists who took part in the UCLA camp assessed the future, many seemed eager to return. What awaited them, however, was unclear. A current and former student from Occidental College said theyd heeded a call for bodies at UCLA put out Wednesday night but figured they wouldnt be called again with the encampment gone.

Some staff seemed more optimistic the protests would quickly be revived.

I might go back on Friday, said a staff member who was arrested Thursday, though she noted her plans might be dampened by sleep deprivation. When she was arrested, she said she was standing with 10 to 15 faculty or staff who were booked along with her.

Like many on Thursday, the staff member declined to give her name due to fear of retaliation from the university, saying she worked in a part of the school where some colleagues seemed wary of the protests.

Some students said they were unclear whether they would face academic repercussions from protesting  although they said they'd seen some unambiguous emails from the university saying there could be disciplinary action including suspension or expulsion.

Despite the uncertainty and fear, one of the graduate students who brought donations Thursday morning did not express regret.

I think its really important to stand up for what you believe in, said the student, who requested anonymity because of fear of reprisals. "Ive been here a few times to give donations ... and every single time, people have met me with grace and a lot of respect."

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The historic campus of UCLA was left trashed on Thursday morning in the wake of the dismantling of the pro-Palestinian encampment overnight, KTLAs Annie Rose Ramos reports.

In a chaotic scene, officers from multiple agencies began tearing down the encampment around 3 a.m., several hours after the initial dispersal order was given at 6 p.m. Wednesday. The order came after confrontations between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protesters became violent on Tuesday.

Officers appeared to use force on the protesters in the early morning hours. Reports of flashbangs and the use of rubber bullets flooded social media on Thursday.

The law enforcement raid on the encampment lasted well into the daylight hours on Thursday morning as detainees awaited transportation to county jail. According to CHP Officer Alec Pereyda, arrests were in the hundreds.

In-person classes were canceled for the rest of the week.

UCLA Protest Encampment Cleared

The aftermath of the raid left a massive mess of debris from the encampment on campus. Dismantled tents, leftover food and trash scattered the quad area of campus after officers forcibly cleared the encampment.

Remember students are going through midterms right now. Its a facility [Powell Library] that many would be accessing to study in, but of course, it is completely trashed, Ramos said.

Meanwhile, the walls and floors of Royce Hall were vandalized by spray paint reading phrases such as from the river to the sea and Free Palestine, alongside more explicit and profane messages.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
More than 200 people were arrested Thursday morning as police moved into the pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA, dismantling tents and pushing out protesters in a clash that lasted hours.

The operation capped two days of upheaval on the Westwood campus that began when UCLA declared the encampment "unlawful" and continued when a group of pro-Israel counterprotesters attacked the camp Tuesday night, with police taking hours to stop the violence.

Early Thursday morning, officers wearing body armor, helmets and face shields methodically pulled apart the barricade as protesters tried to hold together the assemblage of plywood and metal fencing. Police launched flares that arced over the encampment, igniting with piercing blasts, and smoke filled the air from fire extinguishers that demonstrators sprayed at police. At least one officer is seen on video shooting rubber bullets into the crowd.

Police clash with pro-Palestinian protesters after an order to disperse was given at UCLA early Thursday. ( Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Many protesters left on their own, but others were arrested. Los Angeles Police Department officials said 209 people were taken into custody. Many were booked on suspicion of failing to disperse, a misdemeanor, a law enforcement source told The Times.

By mid-morning, students, staff and other protesters had begun trickling out of the jail in downtown Los Angeles, carrying plastic bags filled with their belongings and yellow citations.

As they left the jail one by one, they were greeted by cheers from students and legal advocates across the street. Many chanted, "Free Palestine," as they emerged from the building.

Ella, a UCLA sophomore who declined to give her last name out of fear of retaliation from the university, said it had been an exhausting and disappointing night.

Its nothing compared to what the kids in Gaza are going through, she said.

UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said in a statement Thursday the community is in "deep pain." The university's approach to the encampment was guided by the desire to support students, free expression and to minimize disruption, Block wrote.

"We had allowed it to remain in place so long as it did not jeopardize Bruins safety or harm our ability to carry out our mission," Block wrote. "But while many of the protesters at the encampment remained peaceful, ultimately, the site became a focal point for serious violence as well as a huge disruption to our campus."

Thursday morning, the last vestiges of the encampment were swept away by workers. Crews picked up trash strewn across the lawn. Tents were upended, and nearby buildings had been spray-painted with words in support of Gaza. Bulldozers rolled onto the campus to clean up debris, and workers placed tents, chairs, food and other supplies into large trash bins.

Police tussle with demonstrators at a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA as authorities breach and break up the camp on Thursday. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

In recent weeks, UCLA, like other universities across the country, has emerged as a hotbed of pro-Palestinian activism.

Students, faculty and staff have erected makeshift camps and demanded an end to Israels war in the Gaza Strip and that their universities divest from companies that sell weapons or services to Israel.

The future of the protest on the UCLA campus remains unknown. The university has moved all classes online for the rest of the week. Some protesters leaving jail said they planned to return to campus as early as Thursday evening.

Were definitely not done, said one woman, carrying a carton of orange juice and pumping her fist as she walked out. Ive never felt more proud of myself.

Others said they were exhausted by the events of the past two days.

Police began arriving in significant numbers to break up the encampment early Wednesday evening, and students lined up arm in arm in an effort to prevent law enforcement from reaching the area.

Demonstrators shout at a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA on Thursday. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

UCLA police repeatedly announced over loudspeakers that protesters should clear the area "immediately" and that those who failed to do so would be subject to arrest.

There were several fronts to law enforcement's pre-dawn operation, with police using flash-bang devices that echoed across campus and disoriented the crowd. Other officers watched from the high windows of Royce Hall, infuriating protesters who shone lights in their eyes and challenged them to come down.

Meanwhile, in the road across from the encampment, dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters flowed into the driving lanes in front of Dickson Plaza, chanting, "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free."

Read more: Photos: Clashes at pro-Palestinian demonstrations on California campuses

A man was struck in the chest with a rubber bullet after California Highway Patrol officers told protesters to stop throwing boards and other objects at them. It is not clear whether the man was throwing anything or how many others were injured. One officer suffered an eye injury, authorities said.

Demonstrators occupy a pro-Palestinian encampment on the UCLA campus late Wednesday. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Yaas Farzanefar, a 23-year-old UC Berkeley alum, said she watched many faculty members get arrested first  including a neurogenetics professor  followed by her and her friend.

It is not clear how many of those arrested are UCLA students and whether they will face academic repercussions for their participation in the encampment. The university did not respond to a request for comment.

Four Occidental College students were also taken into custody at UCLA, according to Matthew Vickers, a member of the Occidental chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine.

Read more: 'I've been terrified.' Student fears triggered by Israeli-Palestinian conflict skyrocket

The encampments at other California universities, including UC Irvine and UC Riverside, are continuing.

President Biden on Thursday addressed the ongoing protests on college campuses, saying that while he understands Americans have strong feelings, "it doesn't mean anything goes."

"Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations  none of this is peaceful protest," Biden said. "Dissent is essential to democracy, but dissent must never lead to disorder or to denying the rights of others so students can finish the semester and their college education."

He reiterated that discrimination should never be tolerated.

"There is no place for hate speech or violence of any kind, whether it's antisemitism, Islamophobia or discrimination against Arab Americans or Palestinian Americans. It's simply wrong," he said.

A day earlier, violence erupted on UCLA's campus after a group of pro-Israeli counterprotesters attacked the camp, hurling racial epithets and attempting to rip down barricades surrounding the encampment. The situation heightened concerns and criticism about the university's handling of the protests over the Gaza war.

Citing "sufficient confusion" surrounding the events, UC President Michael V. Drake said he was ordering an independent review of the university's actions and the response by law enforcement.

Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur (D-Los Angeles), whose district includes the UCLA campus, sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights requesting an investigation into potential violations of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Demonstrators occupy a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA as authorities breach and break up the encampment on Thursday. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

"On all accounts, UCLA has failed to uphold its most important responsibility, which is to protect the safety, well-being and civil rights of all of its students," Zbur wrote.

UCLA faculty on Wednesday circulated a letter with about 360 signatures to Block demanding no police or disciplinary actions be taken against students.

Garrett Miller, president of the union representing the L.A. County public defender's office, called on the district attorney and city attorney to decline filing criminal charges against the protesters.

"What happened last night at UCLA is absolutely shameful and a complete failure of leadership," Miller said in a statement. "Police officers wearing body armor, helmets and face shields deployed flash-bang grenades, rubber bullets and batons against student protesters. We will always support the right to protest. We will always condemn the use of police violence and mass arrests to suppress free speech."

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who was at the incident command post at UCLA overnight, said that "every student deserves to be safe and live peacefully on their campus."

Police officers take control of Royce Hall after pushing back pro-Palestinian protesters after an order to disperse was given at UCLA early Thursday. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles)

"Harassment, vandalism and violence have no place at UCLA or anywhere in our city," she said. "My office will continue to coordinate closely with local and state law enforcement, area universities and community leaders to keep campuses safe and peaceful."

A 20-year-old UCLA undergrad, who is Jewish and requested anonymity because he fears being attacked, said he participated in the counterprotest Sunday, but condemned the violence against the encampment Tuesday night.

He said hes parted ways with a lot of friends since the war began because of differing opinions.

Its unfortunate because for me, this is quite personal because I am from the Middle East, I have family in Israel, I have family in Iran and seeing the chaos break out in the region where my ancestry is from, its cutting to see individuals who have no connection to the ongoing violence say that I dont know what Im talking about or they cant be friends with me because of their political stance, he said.

Some protesters worry the momentum of the pro-Palestinian demonstration may have stalled with the encampment gone. The logistics of the next several days, they said, were murky.

Theres a lot of anger and frustration and desire to keep protesting, but were really still figuring out what that would look like, a 19-year-old UCLA freshman, who declined to give her name, told The Times.

Times staff writer Ashley Ahn and staff photographer Jason Armond contributed to this report.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Red brigade makes last stand at UCLA as police shut down campus protests across US

Many of the demonstrators in LA said they were willing to be arrested for their cause - JAE C HONG/AP

As they prepared for the most violent clash with police since the student protests began, demonstrators at UCLA in California separated themselves into three groups.

The green team was formed of day trippers, who planned to leave as soon as things got ugly. The yellow team would stay as long as possible, but avoid arrest, while only the hardcore reds would stay until the bitter end to defend the ramshackle pro-Palestine encampment on the universitys central plaza.

By dusk, the green team already had cause to go home, while the others fortified the walls around their makeshift fortress with plywood, nailed together and draped in Free Palestine banners.

Hundreds of police gathered in formation outside of the encampment, blaring a recorded message for the crowds to disperse. The police line was a mixture of patrol officers, specialist riot police and traffic cops, pulled in on overtime to boost the numbers.

Hearing the order to leave the area, the protesters called back: F you! You dont scare us! Free Palestine!

The encampment at UCLA became the flagbearer for the student protest movement after the original demonstration at Columbia in New York was dismantled by police on Tuesday.

Many of the demonstrators in LA said they were willing to be arrested for their cause  the divestment of their university from Israeli-linked companies in light of the war in Gaza.

Students donned helmets, goggles and respirators that paled in comparison to the riot gear worn by police - ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP

A barricade of metal barriers, bins and planks of wood was formed behind the doors of Royce Hall, the 1920s architectural centrepiece of the campus where the protesters planned to hold their last stand against police.

The doors were nailed shut, and a banner hung between the buildings columns, declaring: No genocide, end apartheid.

The students still outside in the encampment donned helmets, goggles and respirators that paled in comparison to the riot gear worn by police. Some carried fire extinguishers raided from a nearby building, to be used in self-defence.

What began as a ring of tents in the centre of campus had become a makeshift fortress of protesters prepared for the police onslaught they had witnessed in New York the previous day.

The first salvo came shortly after nightfall, as the LAPD entered the encampment and were met with fierce resistance. As some wooden barriers were torn down, some pushed back with their hands in an attempt to keep the police line from breaching their defences.

A retreat was ordered, while the students repaired their barriers and prepared for the second wave.

At 3am, police launched a volley of flashbang grenades at what had already become known as the front line to scare the students away from their defences.

Lights mounted on police rifles illuminated the heads of the students  some clad in construction helmets and others in keffiyehs.

Then, at 4.06am, officers with shields and batons breached the encampments outer wall  tearing down the barriers and clashing with the protesters.

A police loudhailer warned that anyone remaining in the camp risked being shot with rubber bullets. Moments later, an officer fired several of the non-lethal rounds into the crowd.

In total, police said around 200 people had been arrested in Los Angeles - ETIENNE LAURENT/AFP

Another advancing officer pointed his weapon at a cowering female protester at point-blank range.

After hours of preparation, the police invasion of the encampment was over very quickly. Officers encircled the students and advanced into the camp, dismantling tents and other constructions as they went.

Within an hour, the first arrests were made, and the last of the tents had been removed. Students fell back to the steps of Royce Hall to watch the remnants of their protest be removed. Those who refused to leave were dragged away to face charges.

Around 40 students made their last stand at the Powell Library in the north of the campus, where they linked arms as they were surrounded by riot police. They chanted: We will rebound.

One bearded protester, his hands bound with a zip-tie, tried to reason with police as he was taken away. Im a student here! Im an English major! he said. Then, as his thoughts turned to his grades: Please! Dont fail us!

As the sun rose over LA, it was clear that the police intervention had successfully subdued the protest, but not without several well-publicised student injuries and the need for a lengthy clean-up operation. Tents, blankets, pizza boxes, a bicycle and a bunch of red roses littered the quad. One lone Free Palestine banner was flanked by two Israeli flags, presumably erected by a counter-protester celebrating that the encampment had been destroyed.

UCLA said classes would take place remotely on Thursday and Friday owing to an emergency on campus. It warned students to avoid the protest area.

In total, police said around 200 people had been arrested. The majority were charged with misdemeanour offences and released.

Americans waking up to cable news footage of the clash turned their attention to how Wednesdays battle would be perceived on the national political stage.

As the sun rose over LA, it was clear that the police intervention had successfully called time on the protest - AUDE GUERRUCCI/REUTERS

Since the Columbia protest began on April 17, both university administrators and national politicians have struggled to strike a balance between the requirement to protect free speech on campus, and concern about anti-Semitism and the disruption to student learning.

That uneasy compromise has been overlaid with division over the conflict in Gaza itself, and Joe Bidens decision to issue the United Statess ironclad support for Israel in its war against Hamas.

The war risks turning away many young liberals who voted for Mr Biden in 2020 and volunteered on his campaign to convince others to do the same.

In the face of opposition to his stance on Gaza, the US president has doubled down. Speaking from the White House before leaving for a campaign event on Thursday morning, the president told reporters he felt the need to address the nights events.

Weve all seen the images, and they put to the test two fundamental American principles, he said.

The first is the right to free speech and for people to peacefully assemble and make their voices heard. The second is the rule of law. Both must be upheld.

In his most strident comments yet on the protests, which have consumed the US news cycle for close to a fortnight, Mr Biden spoke for three minutes to condemn the actions of the protesters while defending their right to assemble peacefully.

Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations  none of this is a peaceful protest, he chided the students.

Threatening people, intimidating people, instilling fear in people is not peaceful protest. Its against the law.

No place for hate speech

Taking on the tone of a disappointed father, he added: There should be no place on any campus, no place in America for anti-Semitism or threats of violence against Jewish students.

There is no place for hate speech or violence of any kind, whether its anti-Semitism, Islamophobia or discrimination against Arab-Americans or Palestinian-Americans.

His impromptu speech was echoed by Isaac Herzog, president of Israel, who said he was concerned that US universities had been contaminated by hatred and anti-Semitism.

Mr Herzog sent a message of support to Jewish students amid a dramatic resurgence in anti-Semitism and following the hostilities and intimidation on campuses across the US in particular.

So prominent was news coverage of the UCLA protests on Thursday morning that it all but eclipsed the other story that has riveted the country for weeks: Donald Trumps first criminal trial in New York.

Before heading to the courtroom on Thursday, Mr Trump warned of a radical Left revolution taking place in the US, and placed responsibility at Mr Bidens door.

These are radical-Left lunatics, and they have got to be stopped now because its going to go on and on, and its going to get worse and worse, he said.

They take over countries, and we are not letting them take over the USA. Were not letting the radical-Left morons take over this country. You cant let that happen.

As Thursday wore on, it seemed the approach taken by UCLA and Columbia in clearing the demonstrators had become the blueprint for colleges across the US.

Dozens of pro-Palestine demonstrators at Portland State University in Oregon had established their own encampment, fortified with wooden pallets in the same style as the protesters at UCLA. Police surrounded them and moved in to make arrests, as Dartmouth College in New Hampshire announced it too had sent in officers to remove protesters on Wednesday night.

From the White House down, the message to the latest wave of student protesters has become clear: leave the encampments, or expect to feel the weight of the law.

Sergio Olmos is a reporter with the non-profit news organisation CalMatters

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UCLA students ask for helmets, gas masks and knee pads for Gaza protest  but no bagels

A protest at an encampment in support of Palestinians in Gaza at the University of California, Los Angeles - Aude Guerrucci/Reuters

Pro-Palestine protesters embedded at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have appealed for helmets, goggles and zip ties  but no bagels or coffee  amid a tense standoff with police.

Their encampment came under attack on Tuesday night, with acts of horrific violence reported by the university.

In the wake of the scenes, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), who want the university to cut financial ties with Israel, released a list of supplies needed, some labelled urgent and all required to be BDS compliant  BDS, or boycott, divestment, sanctions, is a movement shunning Israeli companies.

Headlamps, goggles, gas masks, skater helmets, shields, wood for barriers, knee pads and utility gloves without reinforced knuckles, especially for small hands were requested, alongside vegan and gluten-free food.

But supporters were urged not to send packaged food, bagels, coffee, bananas and nuts. The reasons were not immediately clear  many were quick to point out bagels are of Jewish origin, although one supporter said it was because protesters had been inundated with them already.

Before you freaks lose your mind over the no bagels on the request list, tweeted Emily Wilder, a human rights activist fired from Associated Press for pro-Palestine tweets, I was there today, there are many Jewish participants, there are dozens of bags of donated bagels. They dont need any more bagels.

Violence erupted on Tuesday when students at the UCLA Palestine Solidarity Encampment in Dickson Plaza on Westwood Campus, Los Angeles, came under attack by a masked, ostensibly pro-Israel, group.

Black-clad demonstrators threw missiles and began dismantling barriers, with students rushing to defend their makeshift camp.

Pro-Palestine protesters and reporters were attacked, with the Daily Bruin student newspaper saying four of its journalists had been sprayed with an irritant.

SJP described the mob as zionist aggressors and said what they experienced during two hours of fighting was a microcosm of the genocide in Gaza.

The university would rather see us dead than divest, it added, before accusing the police of standing by and security of laughing as its members were beaten.

The office of Gavin Newsom, Californias governor, called the limited and delayed police response unacceptable.

Mr Newsom, a Democrat, tweeted: The law is clear. The right to free speech does not extend to inciting violence, vandalism or lawlessness. Those responsible must be held accountable, he added.

After two hours police moved in and by daybreak on Wednesday counter-protesters had left. Its unclear if any were arrested.

The encampment in front of Royce Hall was declared illegal by the university in the hours before the clash but hundreds of protesters remained there on Thursday, with supporters surrounding them locking arms and police poised to move in.

Empty buses were ready to take supporters away, but protesters seemed determined to stay, clad in body armour and clutching plywood shields. Some were overheard discussing the best ways to withstand pepper spray.

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The United Methodist General Conference has voted to remove a decades-old ban on ordaining pastors in romantic same-sex relationships after thousands of conservative congregations left the denomination in recent years.

At the UMC General Conference Wednesday, delegates approved without debate a measure removing the language from the Book of Discipline as part of a broader consent calendar, passing it by a final tally of 692 to 51.

Since 1984, the UMC Book of Discipline has prohibited the ordination of "self-avowed practicing homosexuals," with many progressives in the mainline Protestant denomination openly refusing to enforce or follow the restriction.

Applause from General Conference attendees was heard after the vote, with retired Bishop Hope Morgan Ward, a longtime proponent of removing the language, offering a prayer.

"You every day are great God, and every day You are working for good in the world. Stir up in us a desire to serve You, to live peacefully with our neighbors and all creation, and devote this day to your service," Ward said, as quoted by UM News.

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Over the past several years, the UMC has experienced intense debate over whether to change various rules in its Book of Discipline regarding LGBT individuals, which included barring the ordination of noncelibate homosexuals, prohibiting clergy from performing same-sex unions and barring church bodies from funding LGBT advocacy groups.

Although efforts to change the rules at the General Conference have failed in past years, many theological liberal leaders within the UMC have ignored the rules and allowed individuals who were in same-sex relationships to be ordained or even promoted to bishop.

For example, Karen Oliveto was elected bishop in 2016 by the UMC Western Jurisdiction despite being in a same-sex marriage. Although her election was deemed invalid by the United Methodist Judicial Council, the denomination's highest court, in 2017, she remains a bishop to the present day.

Oliveto gave a sermon at General Conference on Monday, asking those gathered if they were "willing to meet and serve Jesus in the queer clergy person who has been faithful to God's call even when the Church has tried to deny that call?"

At a 2019 special session of the General Conference, delegates approved a temporary measure that created a disaffiliation process for congregations that wanted to leave the UMC due to the debate over sexuality, with more than 7,500 churches doing so by the end of 2023.

On Tuesday, as part of another consent calendar, delegates voted 667-54 to remove the Book of Discipline's ban on funding LGBT advocacy groups and mandatory punishments for clergy who blessed same-sex unions.



Originally published by the Christian Post.
UFOs above Boise? Six reports since 2023  see them here. West leads U.S. in sightings

Idaho is as great a place as any to find a pollution-free zone and spend a night gazing at the stars, looking for meteors and watching the constellations cross the sky.

But every so often, a mysterious flash might streak across the sky, leaving you puzzled. In the past, these were labeled as Unidentified Flying Objects, or UFOs, conjuring images of little green men and flying saucers.

Nowadays, theyre referred to as Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon, or UAPs, following a 2023 report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office.

It doesnt happen to many of us. Still, the reports are common enough for the United States government to take notice and for organizations like the National UFO Reporting Center and Mutual UFO Network to track sightings.

Interestingly, a 2024 study by University of Utah geographers studied approximately 98,000 UAP reports between 2001 and 2020, and found that areas west of the Rocky Mountains tended to report a much higher quantity. The Northeast, with many areas free of light pollution, was the only area east of the Rockies to produce similar numbers.

Most of Central and Southwest Idaho  including Boise and Ada County  is in the highest hot-spot classification level.

The West has a historical relationship to UAP  Area 51 in Nevada, Roswell in New Mexico, and here in Utah, we have Skinwalker Ranch in the Uinta Basin and military activity in the U.S. Army Dugway Proving Ground, Richard Medina, lead author of the study, said in a news release. Plus, theres a robust outdoor community that recreates in public lands year-round. People are out and looking skyward.

UAP reports in Idaho

Idaho isnt the most active state for UAP reports, with a 2022 study showing that the Gem State ranked 32nd in the nation since 1974.

But that could just be because of the states low population. In the same period, Idaho reported more UAP per 100,000 residents (420) than other states. Neighboring Montana was just behind Idaho in 3rd, with 223 per 100,000 people.

UAP reports in Idaho often come from the west-central mountains, where skies are typically darker and lend to better conditions for spotting bright objects in the sky. But people do report seeing things above Boise, too.

The National UFO Reporting Center tracks UAP reports for every state in the U.S. Here are the six from Boise since the start of 2023. Local residents make these reports. Some attached photos and videos, which can be viewed on NUFORCs website.

Dark object moving slowly after dusk

Date and time: Feb. 20, 2024 - 7:06 p.m.

Duration: 3-4 minutes

Shape: Changing

Color: Black with no lights

Estimated Speed: 30 mph

Media: Yes

Description: A dark, slow-moving object, looking longer in a vertical direction. I watched for about a minute, trying to figure out what I was seeing. I went out on the deck, watched, and then tried to take a photo. Using the night mode setting on my cellphone I did capture the object.

The picture quality is not good, but it appears the object had rotated, now looking longer in a horizontal direction. My husband also saw the object. When I first saw it, it was moving parallel to our house, coming from the West. As it got closer to our house, it slowly turned North and gained altitude.

Strange object with smaller elements hanging below

Date and time: Jan. 16, 2024 - 5:33 p.m.

Duration: 2 minutes

Shape: N/A

Color: Black and gray

Estimated speed: 25mph

Media: Yes

Description: Object was observed at higher elevation first and slowly moved west to east. Object moved lower in a continuous motion until it was no longer visible behind buildings. There are several videos and photos of the entire sighting. No sound noted. Difficult to describe the shape.

Vertical, slow-moving, then quickly moved toward the mountains

Date and time: Dec. 31, 2023 - 5:19 p.m.

Duration: 5 minutes

Shape: N/A

Color: Black

Estimated speed: N/A

Media: Yes

Description: Noticed this tall, black, metallic-looking object in the air. It looked like it was just floating along and almost not moving at all at one point. Then, I could tell it was moving northeast. We lost sight of it behind clouds or over the mountains, or it just disappeared altogether.

Two red star-sized traveling from lightning-filled storm cell

Date and time: Sept. 7, 2023 - 9:30 p.m.

Duration: 5 seconds

Shape: Star

Color: Red

Estimated speed: N/A

Media: No

Description: Went outside to watch a lightning storm go by. I saw a red star-shaped object travel out of a lightning-filled storm cell into clear skies for 5 seconds, and then it went into another cell. Seconds later, another red object followed in the same direction. Traveling south to north.

V-shaped formation, very silent

Date and time: July 5, 2023

Duration: 30 seconds

Shape: Formation

Color: Silver/white

Estimated speed: N/A

Media: No

Description: V-shaped formation moving south to north, low altitude, silver/whitish look to the craft. When passing overhead, everything went silent. We have a water pump running nearby, and then as they passed over, it was like a cone of silence passed over us as well. Witnessed clearly by myself and my wife. This is the second time we have seen a similar formation and the same silent effect as it passed overhead.

Seven lights in a V-shape moving west to east, totally silent

Time and date: May 27, 2024 - 11:45 p.m.

Duration: Approximately 30 seconds

Shape: Formation

Color: White

Estimated speed: N/A

Media: No

Description: While sitting outside, my wife and I noticed seven lights in a v shape moving west to east, totally silent. The lights appeared to be at an altitude that was very similar to what local airplanes on approach to the Boise airport. The moon was bright despite being a half-moon. The night was calm, and there werent many clouds. It was a great night for star gazing.

At first, I thought it was a satellite, but then I noticed other lights as it came into view. It went almost directly overhead which is how I could see the v shape but again no sound. The night was strangely quiet. Lights were white, and all appeared to be part of the same craft.
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.

The University of Kentucky university senate will consider a resolution of no confidence in President Eli Capilouto at its meeting on Monday.

The vote comes after months of disagreements with the president over the role of the senate, and a vote from the board of trustees last week that will restructure the universitys governance. Under the new structure, the university senate loses its policy-making power and moves to an advisory role, which faculty members have said removes their role in shared governance.

Though staff and student groups support the changes, faculty members have said they worry about the long-term implications of the moves. A resolution of no confidence has been added as an agenda item for the university senates meeting on Monday, the last meeting of the semester. The resolution also calls on the board of trustees to redo the process of shared governance reform to address the senates concerns, and to develop new recommendations.

In formulating his recommendations, the President made significant, repeated management errors that have created unnecessary confusion, anxiety, and risk within the UK community, the resolution reads.

The resolution also says Capilouto created unnecessary and harmful division when he amplified false narratives that faculty members on the University Senate do not prioritize student needs or value diverse representation.

A no confidence vote is largely symbolic, and does not immediately result in the removal or firing of a university president. It signals from the voting faculty that they find some aspect of the senior leaders behavior, management style openness, and decision-making problematic, according to research published in the Journal of Research on the College President.

A 2022 analysis by the Chronicle of Higher Education found the number of no-confidence votes at universities has increased in recent years, and about 51% of the time, a president who receives a no confidence vote leaves the position within a year.

Hundreds of UK faculty attended the April 26 board meeting, where nine people spoke in opposition of the proposed changes. Five people spoke in favor of the changes, with three of them being college deans. The proposed changes were approved almost unanimously by the board, with one faculty trustee, Hollie Swanson, voting against.

Capilouto has been the president of UK since 2011, and holds the longest tenure of any other current public university president in the state. Hes one of the highest-paid public university presidents in the country, according to U.S. News and World Report. Capilouto has been praised for his job performance by trustees, but in his most recent performance evaluation, the board listed strengthening relationships with faculty and shared governance as areas for improvement.

The UK Board of Trustees unequivocally supports President Eli Capilouto and the work of the UK community to meet Kentuckys needs, board of trustees chair Britt Brockman said in a statement. We respect those among our faculty who are speaking out. That is a hallmark of a healthy community. But we will keep going. The efforts underway are too important. They are supported by the UK community. And they align with our mission to advance this state in everything that we do. The UK Board of Trustees has full confidence in President Capilouto.

How did we get here?

Capilouto presented the new governance structure to the board of trustees last week, which moves the university senate, established in 1917, from a policy-making body to an advisory faculty senate. The Student Government Association and the staff senate will remain as advisory bodies at UK. A presidents council, made up of students, faculty and staff who will advise the president, will also be created.

The driving force behind the changes has been to streamline decision-making at UK and to include more voices, university administrators said. Additionally, Capilouto said hed heard from staff and students throughout this process that they often felt left out of the decision-making process at the university. Both the staff senate and SGA passed resolutions in favor of the changes to governance.

Capilouto spent the weeks after receiving the directive from the board meeting with students, faculty and staff. He said he met with over 1,000 people in that time, and reviewed feedback forms submitted online before forming the proposed changes.

While faculty have said they support bringing additional student and staff voices into decision-making, the university senate has opposed the process used to propose changes to the board. Additionally, members of the senate have repeatedly voiced concerns about losing policy-making power. Under the new structure, university policies that previously were made in the senate, like admissions standards and approving new courses and degrees. Now, new courses, curriculum and academic programs will instead be proposed by departments or colleges, then go to the provost, before going to the board for approval.

In addition to changes to the senate, the board also approved a slate of changes to the universitys governing regulations, which lay out how the university operates and what authority is given to the president, board of trustees and other university bodies.
The urgent need for secure communications in the Russia-Ukraine war is drumming up new levels of interest in L3Harris Technologies equipment among European militaries, according to the defense contractor.

More than 30,000 of the companys radios and accessories have been shipped to the front lines, with much of the gear tied to handheld communication and coordination aboard vehicles. The U.S. has highlighted secure data-sharing devices in its pledges to Ukraine, at this point totaling approximately $44 billion.

Samir Mehta, the president of communications systems at L3Harris, on May 1 told reporters in Washington the company is seeing unprecedented demand among our NATO partners and allies for secure, resilient, tactical communications. Close to $1 billion of business is on the books.

I think one only needs to look at a map to understand exactly what is driving that demand, said Mehta, who spent the previous week meeting with officials in the Czech Republic and Poland, among other locations. If you cant communicate, you can fight but you cant win.

Reliable, low-profile means of relaying battlefield information have become a linchpin for fighting in Eastern Europe, where drones saturate the skies and sensors cue onto even the smallest electronic signal.

U.S. defense leaders have long warned of the risks of using unencrypted or rudimentary tools, citing the ease at which they can be traced, targeted and shot.

Lockheed to supply Australia with air battle management system

If theyre not armed with the right equipment, the enemy will use transmissions, scanning the electromagnetic spectrum, to be able to find, locate and kill you any time you try to communicate, Mehta said. Every time that you take your non-high-assurance communication device out, whether it be a cell phone, whether it be Starlink, and use it to communicate, you are sending an emission that allows the Russians to find out exactly where you are.

Indiscriminate cell phone use has been blamed for casualties on both sides of the war. Russian forces likely bombarded a Ukrainian base housing foreign fighters after detecting devices with British country codes, the London-based Telegraph reported. Dozens were killed in the strike.

Theyve had too many unfortunate incidents where that happened, Mehta said, which is why theyve adopted our technology and our radios as their primary communication device.

L3Harris is the ninth largest contractor in world when ranked by defense-related revenue, reaping nearly $14 billion in 2022, according to Defense News Top 100 analysis.

The U.S. Army tapped the company years ago for its combat net radio endeavor worth up to $6 billion. An initial order was valued at $20 million.
President Joe Biden scored a massive foreign policy win with the passage of a foreign aid bill last week that included $60 billion for Ukraine.

But now, having cleared that hurdle, his team is poised to make Americas ongoing commitment to the Ukraine war less of a public focus, as it addresses an electorate preoccupied with economic concerns.

The cause of democracy will remain a central component of Bidens reelection campaign  as a unifying thread to discuss everything from Ukraine and Donald Trump to abortion, gun safety and education  so White House and campaign aides said they do not foresee a relentless public relations push to bolster support for the war in Ukraine in the months ahead.

Biden gave remarks after the aid bill passed and national security adviser Jake Sullivan went to the White House briefing room, too. But, one senior administration official added, now that the supplemental passed Congress, its naturally less of a salient issue.Yet failing to focus the country on why Americas continued backing of Ukraine matters  how it remains an existential concern for countries far beyond Eastern Europe  runs real risks, foreign policy experts warn. It could further erode domestic support for the war itself, all but close the door on any additional funding, and complicate a key component of Bidens own presidential legacy: maintaining Americas longstanding role as the central pillar of the global democratic order.

Its important for the Biden administration not to cede public messaging on Ukraine to the people who are skeptical of U.S. support, said Rachel Rizzo, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. By not talking about it, he runs that risk, especially given that its already an election talking point for those who are anti-Ukraine aid.



And yet, Democrats and committed transatlanticists who agree with Bidens view largely believe the most important element for continued U.S. support for Ukraine and NATO is the president securing a second term. For them, emphasizing other issues of greater immediate concern for American voters makes sense.

The issues that are most important for the world are not necessarily urgent matters for voters, said Jennifer Palmieri, who served as communication director on Hillary Clintons 2016 campaign. It's extraordinarily important that we got the Ukraine funding. But in terms of what people are concerned about in their everyday lives, it's not going to register.

Publicly, Bidens team insists that the debate isnt an either-or; that the president can navigate doing two things at once.

It's a stark contrast to Trump who couldn't manage the day job when he was in office and can't seem to WAKE UP to the fact that he's running on a deeply toxic agenda that will lose him the election again this November, said Kevin Munoz, a campaign spokesman.

But the reality of campaigns and presidencies is that time is a limited resource. Having portrayed the war as an existential moment that demands a massive, ongoing commitment from the West, the Pentagon and the American treasury, Biden will enter a stretch of the political calendar in which, allies argue, he would be better off discussing his work tackling junk fees and job creation. Ukraine plays a role, but it is mainly as a vehicle for attacking Trump.

Usually foreign policy matters very little in an election, but it is essential that the Biden campaign and Democrats raise concerns about Trump's temperament and erratic behavior, said Dan Pfeiffer, former senior adviser to President Barack Obama. In that vein, he added, foreign policy crises and his tendency to bow down to dictators like Putin are good data points.

When Biden himself has communicated about the Ukraine campaign, he often has chosen to use limited but dramatic strokes. That included in early March, when he opened his State of the Union address with a rousing call to pass Ukraine aid, urging Republicans to seize the Ronald Reagan legacy and act in defense of democratic principles abroad.

Going forward, it appears likely that the big stages are where Biden will return to war. The president is expected to travel to France in early June to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, where he is likely to commemorate the sacrifices of the Greatest Generation and draw parallels to the current response by Europe and the West to Russias war in Ukraine.

Another tentpole moment will come a month later at the NATO summit in Washington, D.C., which will mark the organizations 75th anniversary, providing another opportunity to emphasize security issues and the cause of freedom for a domestic audience.

But even before those speeches take place, a shift in messaging has been detectable.



When the supplemental security bill stalled in Congress, Biden largely eschewed the bully pulpit to allow the lobbying for Ukraine aid to occur in private. White House aides white-knuckled through the final weeks of negotiation  its outcome in doubt until House Speaker Mike Johnson was swayed by intelligence, Ukrainian lobbying, his staff and his own convictions.

While the specifics of the aid are worth touting, Democrats also see the fact that legislation passed at all as a selling point for Biden.

This is the first time in a long time a Democratic president can argue hes gotten a lot done, and a lot of it was done with bipartisan support, Palmieri said. Not all of the benefits are hitting people in their everyday lives, but it's another proof point that democracy can work, Congress can function and that experienced people can solve problems.

In recent campaign appearances, meanwhile, Biden has centered his speeches on economic issues. Major legislative achievements are often lumped together in support of a competency argument. With the Ukraine war, he has been keen to point out the positive impact of aid would have on jobs in the U.S. given how much of the funding goes to American weapons manufacturers.

Further tying himself to the war carries some political risks. The delays in sending U.S. assistance have already been costly, with Russia making recent advances and expected to make more gains in the coming weeks before the aid reaches the combat zone. And even if the tide does eventually turn, few expect it to happen in the months before Novembers election.

Russia has captured or begun operations in multiple villages over the past week, leading Ukraines top military commander to warn about an increasingly dire battlefield situation.

The situation at the front worsened, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi said in a Sunday statement on Telegram. Trying to seize the strategic initiative and break through the front line, the enemy concentrated the main efforts in several directions, creating a significant advantage in forces and means.

Even with the new military package, Ukraine will still fight an uphill battle with a significant weapons and manpower disadvantage. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently noted that Russia fires 10 artillery shells for every one shot by Kyivs forces. Russia has long signaled it will embark on a major offensive this spring, starting in May or June.

Still, Bidens team believes it has weathered some of the more difficult political patches around the war effort. Recent polls reflect an uptick in support for Ukraine among Americans as the Russians have bombarded its cities with missiles and made slow, grinding progress on the battlefield. A Gallup poll released this month showed only 36 percent of Americans felt the U.S. had not given enough aid to Ukraine, up from 25 percent in October. Another 36 percent of respondents said the U.S. had given too much assistance to Kyiv while 26 percent said the amount was just right.

As for why that is the case, aides note that unlike other wars that have consumed presidents during election years, the one in Ukraine does not involve U.S. soldiers' boots on the ground, reducing the urgency of the day-to-day impact on Americans.

Its the presidents responsibility to make the case to the American people why Ukraine, and our support, matters. While he has done this a few times, the narrative has not been clear enough to most Americans, said Alina Polyakova, president and CEO of the Center for European Policy Analysis.

Jennifer Haberkorn contributed reporting.
The new class of Senate GOP candidates are lining up against aid to Ukraine, underscoring how the tide is slowly shifting against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and his allies in the upper chamber.

A number of Republican Senate candidates, headlined by those in some running for the seats most likely to flip, have said in recent days that they would have voted against the $95 billion package signed by President Biden last month that included aid to Ukraine Israel and Taiwan.

The package was a major win for McConnell, who helped muscle it through Congress and sees support for Ukraine against Russia as one of his final battles as a legislator.

He won majority support for the bill form his caucus, as 30 Senate Republicans sided with him, including a number who had voted against aid in February.

But McConnells defectors are coming from the newer classes of GOP senators; 11 of the 17 Senate Republicans in their first term voted against Ukraine aid.

We certainly have seen a change in the last six years, partly because you see  a generational shift in the country thats being reflected, said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), one of the six Senate GOP members in their first term to vote for the aid bill.

At least four GOP candidates  Tim Sheehy in Montana, Bernie Moreno in Ohio, Kari Lake in Arizona and Rep. Jim Banks in Indiana  have said or indicated they would have voted against aid to Ukraine.

No, said Sheehy, when asked for his stance on Ukraine aid in a local TV interview. Sheehy is set to take on Sen. Jon Tester (D) this fall in a race that could decide the Senate majority.

We lumped all these aid packages of completely different geopolitical issues together like we do everything in Congress now, and we lump it all together and vote on it in one single bill. The issues facing Taiwan, the issues facing Ukraine, the issues supporting Israel  theyre all different, Sheehy said.

We need to be supporting our allies, no question about it, Sheehy continued. Im not against supporting our allies at all. But each of those scenarios, the American people deserve a real discussion on those, and they should be able to choose, frankly, between them. Because what Ukraine is facing, and what Israel is facing in sending billions of dollars to Gaza, which will end up in the hands of Hamas and Hezbollah, and supporting Taiwan are very distinct and separate geopolitical issues that should be voted on separately.

A spokesperson for Moreno, who is running against Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) told The Hill that while Moreno backed the aid for Israel in the package, he would have opposed the larger bill.

Sheehy and Moreno are backed by former President Trump, who has been skeptical of aid to Ukraine.

As for Lake, another Trump ally, she panned the package during a recent interview for prioritizing support for Ukraine instead of the U.S.-Mexico border. Its a stance she shares with a number of conservatives who voted against the bill.

Youre representing the people of America, and its about time you start caring about the people of this country instead of caring so much about the border in Ukraine and the people of Ukraine, she told Newsmax. Americans are suffering, and we demand that you start representing us.

The Senate majority will run through Montana and Ohio this fall, as those seats  along with West Virginias, which Gov. Jim Justice (R) is a heavy favorite to flip  represent the GOPs best chances to claw back seats from Democrats.

Republicans only need to gain two seats to win the Senate majority, or one if they also win back the White House.

Banks, who is favored to win an Indiana seat that is already in the GOPs hands, voted against the Ukraine portion of the bill, but greenlighted the Israel and Indo-Pacific aid bills. The legislation was brought up in the House for different votes before being packaged together in the Senate.

The rising opposition to Ukraine will only make it harder for supporters of aid to win votes in a future Senate, should some of the Republicans win.

I think it gets to be heavier with each iteration, Cramer said. Its not going to get easier.

Some candidates declined to say how they would have voted one way or another.

Im very pleased that Congress passed assistance for Israel in their war against Hamas. I would have preferred if aid to Ukraine was tied to securing the border  the two should not have been separated and should not have included $10 billion of non-military aid to Ukraine, David McCormick, the Pennsylvania Senate GOP nominee, told The Hill in a statement. At the end of the day, it remains important to stand up to Putin, but it should have been done differently and more effectively.

McCormick will face Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) this fall.

The campaigns of former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) and Wisconsins Eric Hovde declined to comment.

Justice and Nevadas Sam Brown did not respond to a request for comment, but Brown has indicated to the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he was against tying aid for Israel with other legislative items.

Most of the GOP leadership team voted for the final supplemental bill, including National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Steve Daines (R-Mont.), who is leading the effort to end the GOPs four-year hiatus in the minority.

On the other side, at least two Republican candidates backed the supplemental. Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) lauded the package and called on members shortly before the vote to send a strong and unified message that will help secure peace through strength.

Hogan hopes to give the GOP a fighting chance to win a seat in Maryland, which has not elected a Republican senator in decades.

Rep. John Curtis (R-Utah), one of the leading candidates to replace outgoing Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), also voted for all four individual bills that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) cobbled together.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Exxon Mobil's $60 billion deal to buy Pioneer Natural Resources on Thursday received clearance from the Federal Trade Commission, but the former CEO of Pioneer was barred from joining the new company's board of directors.

The FTC said Thursday that Scott Sheffield, who founded Pioneer in 1997, colluded with OPEC and OPEC+ to potentially raise crude oil prices. Sheffield retired from the company in 2016, but he returned as president and CEO in 2019, served as CEO from 2021 to 2023, and continues to serve on the board. Since Jan. 1, he has served as special adviser to the companys chief executive.

Through public statements, text messages, in-person meetings, WhatsApp conversations and other communications while at Pioneer, Sheffield sought to align oil production across the Permian Basin in West Texas and New Mexico with OPEC+, according to the FTC. It proposed a consent order that Exxon won't appoint any Pioneer employee, with a few exceptions, to its board.

Dallas-based Pioneer said in a statement it disagreed with the allegations but would not impede closing of the merger, which was announced in October 2023.

Sheffield and Pioneer believe that the FTCs complaint reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of the U.S. and global oil markets and misreads the nature and intent of Mr. Sheffields actions, the company said.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said it was disappointing that FTC is making the same mistake they made 25 years ago when I warned about the Exxon and Mobil merger in 1999.

Schumer and 22 other Democratic senators had urged the FTC to investigate the deal and a separate merger between Chevron and Hess, saying they could lead to higher prices, hurt competition and force families to pay more at the pump.

The deal with Pioneer vastly expands Exxons presence in the Permian Basin, a huge oilfield that straddles the border between Texas and New Mexico. Pioneers more than 850,000 net acres in the Midland Basin will be combined with Exxons 570,000 net acres in the Delaware and Midland Basin, nearly contiguous fields that will allow the combined company to trim costs.
In Ukraine war, China is helping tilt momentum in Russias favor, top U.S. spy says

China has helped shift the battlefield momentum in Russias favor in Ukraine by providing it with components and other material needed to sustain its defense industry, the top U.S. intelligence official told senators Thursday.

Beijings assistance comes as Russian forces make incremental progress in Ukraine and Moscow attempts to ratchet up pressure on Kyiv by bombing the countrys critical infrastructure, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Although China has stopped short of delivering lethal weaponry to Russia for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it has provided crucial technology and tools for its military machine, she said.

Chinas provision of dual use components and material to Russias defense industry is one of several factors that tilted the momentum on the battlefield in Ukraine in Moscows favor, while also accelerating a reconstitution of Russias military strength after their extraordinarily costly invasion, Haines said.

The move was part of Chinas aim to deepen its ties with both Russia and Iran, she said.

U.S. officials have said previously that China is supplying Russia with dual-use drone and rocket technology, satellite imagery and machine tools needed for its defense production. Dual use refers to items that can be used for civilian or military purposes.

On the war in Ukraine, Haines said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is calculating that current domestic and international trends are working in his favor compared to the challenges facing Ukraine, including the political difficulties for Kyiv as it tries to secure additional military aid from the United States and Europe.

Still, the war is unlikely to end anytime soon, she said.

Although Russia has indicated it is open to peace talks, Putin has made no indication that he is willing to make significant concessions, Haines said.

Russia also has remained focused on trying to influence and interfere with Americas elections, she said. Asked by Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, if there were signs of increased activity by Russia aimed at the November election, Haines said We continue to see them focused on this and increasingly so.

China reluctant to escalate trade war

As for China, the leadership in Beijing appears focused on bolstering its sluggish economy and is unlikely to pursue major economic retaliation against the U.S., according to Haines.

We remain of the view  that in the coming months, they are likely to limit the level of economic retaliation they engage in in order to avoid the domestic costs of such actions, she said.

In particular, the significant decline in foreign direct investment in China, down 77.5% in 2023, is likely to prompt the PRC to be more measured in their responses absent an unexpected escalation by the United States, rather than engaging in direct economic retaliation that might result in such negative domestic economic consequences, Haines said, using the initialism for the People's Republic of China.

She added that Chinese President Xi Jinping is increasingly concerned about the United States' ability to interfere with Chinas technological goals.

The Biden administration has imposed tough restrictions on the export of semiconductor technology to China, arguing it could be used to build up that nation's military.

Asked about the threat posed by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, Haines said the groups appear to have suspended attacks on U.S. forces in the region, though it remains unclear how long the pause will last.

Haines said the groups actions would depend in part on the role of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, whose government maintains friendly relations with both the U.S. and neighboring Iran.

A series of retaliatory U.S. airstrikes against the militia groups in Iraq and Syria in February, which followed dozens of attacks by the militias on American troops, also had helped deter further attacks, Haines said.

We do think, obviously, that the pause reflects a certain amount of deterrence thats been established during this period, she said. But again, these factors can adjust.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Ukraine war latest: Russia trying to break through front in 3 directions; 7 children injured in Kharkiv Oblast attack

Key developments on May 2:

Military: Russia trying to break through front in 3 directions

Authorities: Russian attack on Kharkiv Oblast town injures 7 children, elderly man

Switzerland peace summit to take place on June 15-16, Russia not invited "at this stage"

Zelensky: Russia drops over 3,200 guided aerial bombs on Ukraine in April

HRW: Russia executes surrendering Ukrainian soldiers in possible war crimes

Russia is trying to break through the front line in eastern Ukraine in three directions, Nazar Voloshyn, the spokesperson of the Khortytsia group of forces, said on May 2.

Ukraine has faced a worsening situation on the battlefield in recent weeks that has been compounded by delays in Western assistance. Russian forces have recently intensified offensive operations in the east of Ukraine following the capture of Avdiivka in February.

Heavy fighting is ongoing in the sections of the front line around Bakhmut, Avdiivka, and Novopavlivka in Donetsk Oblast, Voloshyn said on air.

Russia "is trying to seize the strategic initiative and break through the front line," concentrating its main efforts in these areas, Voloshyn said.

The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on May 2 that the Avdiivka section of the front came under attack 32 times, while the Novopavlivka and Bakhmut sections came under attack 22 and 20 times, respectively.

Ukraine believes that Russia aims to capture the town of Chasiv Yar, just west of the Russian-occupied Bakhmut, by May 9, known as Victory Day in Russia.

President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Western allies to speed up deliveries of critically needed military aid during his daily address on April 30, adding that Ukraine needs "a significant acceleration of supply" in light of the situation at the front.

Read also: Smelling weakness, Russia presses advantage in Donetsk Oblast

Authorities: Russian attack on Kharkiv Oblast town injures 7 children, elderly man

Russian troops attacked the town of Derhachi in Kharkiv Oblast on May 2, injuring at least eight people, including seven children, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said.

Settlements in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv Oblast suffer from daily Russian attacks due to their proximity to the front line and the border with Russia.

Civilian infrastructure came under Russian attack, Syniehubov said. Russia dropped two UMPB D-30SN glide bombs, targeting the area near the sports complex and residential houses, according to the Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutor's Office base on preliminary information.

Seven children between the ages of nine and 15 (six boys and a girl) and a 76-year-old man, are among the injured, according to prosecutors. Another eight-year-old boy reportedly suffered from shock.

"Two children suffered light injuries to their limbs, and four sustained moderate injuries. All the victims were hospitalized," the governor reported.

Derhachi is located 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) northwest of Kharkiv's city center and about 45 kilometers (28 miles) south of the Russian border.

Russia has recently intensified its attacks against Ukraine's second-largest city, dealing multiple casualties and severe damage to Kharkiv's energy infrastructure.

Read also: Why does everyone have 2 legs but me? Children learn to live with prosthetics after being injured by Russias war

Switzerland peace summit to take place on June 15-16, Russia not invited 'at this stage'

Ukraine's peace summit in Switzerland will be held on June 15-16, based on an agreement between Kyiv and Bern, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on May 2.

The Swiss news agency Swissinfo reported on the date already on April 10. The meeting will take place in the Burgenstock resort above Lake Lucerne in central Switzerland, and 160 national delegations will be invited to the talks.

Russia, the aggressor in the ongoing war, will not be invited "at this stage" of the talks, the Swiss government said.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba justified the decision not to invite Russia in a comment for the Foreign Policy magazine, saying: "Our approach comes from reality, and from the experience that we (have) gained... Between 2014 and 2022, we had almost 200 rounds of talks with Russia in different formats, with mediators and bilaterally."

"But nothing worked. It ended up in the large-scale invasion (of 2022)," he said.

Switzerland has said that Moscow should be involved in the process "sooner or later."

"A peace process without Russia is not possible," the Swiss authorities said. Russia commented it would not participate even if invited.

Zelensky said that the summit will serve as a dialogue platform to "achieve a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace for Ukraine in accordance with the U.N. Charter and the norms of international law."

The founding principles of the event were developed in a series of international meetings and centered around Ukraine's 10-point peace formula.

Read also: Zelensky: Russia planning to disrupt global peace summit in Switzerland

Zelensky: Russia drops over 3,200 guided aerial bombs on Ukraine in April

Russia attacked Ukraine with over 3,200 guided aerial bombs, nearly 300 Shahed-type drones, and over 300 missiles in April alone, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on May 2.

In recent months, Moscow has intensified its attacks against Ukraine's infrastructure and population centers, inflicting severe damage and civilian casualties. In March, Russia attacked Ukraine with over 400 missiles of various types, 600 Shahed drones, and 3,000 guided aerial bombs.

Ukrainian officials have warned that Russian aerial bombs represent an increasingly serious danger both for Ukrainian front-line troops and cities.

"Our cities and communities from Sumy region to Odesa region, Dnipropetrovsk region, Kharkiv region, Donetsk region, Mykolaiv, and Kherson are suffering from this deliberate and vile terror every day and night," the president said on social media.

"Thousands of our people's lives have been saved thanks to the help of leaders and countries that have already supported our air shield and that are already effectively exerting sanctions pressure against Russia's war machine.

"However, unfortunately, many lives have been taken by these attacks. And it is only through strength that can we stop this terror."

Kyiv has appealed to its partners to provide additional air defenses to help the country repel Russian attacks. Germany has taken the lead, pledging to deliver its third Patriot air defense system and launching an allied air defense initiative for Ukraine.

After the U.S. Congress finally approved additional assistance to Ukraine, the Pentagon also announced the delivery of new Patriot missiles.

Read also: Russian strikes overwhelm Ukraines overstretched air defense amid Western aid delays

HRW: Russia executes surrendering Ukrainian soldiers in possible war crimes

Russian forces likely executed at least 15 Ukrainian soldiers who tried to surrender and possibly six who were already surrendering or had surrendered since December 2023, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on May 2.

"These incidents should be investigated as war crimes," the NGO's statement read.

Over the past months, footage of Russian soldiers killing Ukrainian soldiers who have surrendered has emerged online.

"Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, its forces have committed many heinous war crimes," said Belkis Wille, associate crisis and conflict director at HRW.

"The summary execution  or murder  of surrendering and injured Ukrainian soldiers, gunned down in cold blood, expressly forbidden under international humanitarian law, is also included in that shameful legacy."

HRW's statement mentions five incidents of group executions of Ukrainian soldiers by Russian troops, which the NGO investigated based on drone footage posted on social media, media coverage, and interviews.

The aforementioned incidents took place on Dec. 2 and Dec. 27 last year, as well as on Feb. 16, 19, and 25 of 2024 in Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. Collected evidence indicates that the Ukrainian soldiers were trying to surrender or had surrendered.

Audio in some of the collected footage also captures orders by Russian soldiers not to take prisoners.

"Guys, kill everyone, the second (Ukrainian soldier) is wounded, shoot him from atop, shoot him, take no prisoners," one recorded voice said.

These are not the first executions of Ukrainian soldiers documented by international and Ukrainian organizations throughout the full-scale war.

Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office said on April 9 that at least 54 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) had been summarily executed by Russian soldiers during the war.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported back in March that it has documented at least 32 Ukrainian POWs being executed.

In a particularly deadly incident, over 50 Ukrainian military prisoners were killed in the Russian-occupied Olenivka in Donetsk Oblast in July 2022. According to Kyiv, Russia likely blew up the prison with a thermobaric munition.

Moscow has denied responsibility and blamed a Ukrainian HIMARS strike for the incident, but both the U.N. and Kyiv have rejected this version of events.

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Ukraine war not likely to end anytime soon, says top US spy

By Jonathan Landay and Idrees Ali

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin sees domestic and international developments trending in his favor and likely will press on with aggressive tactics in Ukraine, but the war is unlikely to end soon, the top U.S. intelligence official said on Thursday.

Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Russia has intensified strikes on Ukraine's infrastructure to hamper Kyiv's ability to move arms and troops, slow defense production and force it to consider negotiations.

"Putin's increasingly aggressive tactics against Ukraine, such as strikes on Ukraine's electricity infrastructure, are intended to impress Ukraine that continuing to fight will only increase the damage to Ukraine and offer no plausible path to victory," she said.

"These aggressive tactics are likely to continue and the war is unlikely to end anytime soon," Haines said.

She and Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse, the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, were testifying before the committee on the intelligence community's 2024 assessment of the threats facing the United States.

On China, considered by the United States as its main global rival, Haines said Chinese President Xi Jinping and his top leaders expect some future instability in relations with Washington.

But, she continued, they will seek to project stability in those ties as their top priority is grappling with China's troubled economy.

Rather than pursue policies to stimulate consumer spending or encourage investment, they appears to be doubling down on a long-term strategy driven by manufacturing and technological innovation, she said.

That approach, however, will almost certainly deepen public and investment pessimism over the near term, she said.

China is grappling with economic headwinds, including tepid domestic demand, high youth unemployment, and a property crisis. Beijing has ramped up infrastructure investment and turned to investing in high-tech manufacturing, but some economists warn that could exacerbate long-term imbalances.

Xi and his top leaders are growing concerned about the U.S. ability to disrupt Chinas technological goals and have modified their approach to economic retaliation against the United States by imposing at least some tangible costs on U.S. firms, Haines said.

She apparently was referring to raids on U.S. companies that have chilled China's foreign business environment, and Beijings expansion of restrictions on U.S. technology applications over national security concerns.

However, U.S. intelligence agencies assess that over the coming months, China likely will limit such economic retaliation to avoid damaging its domestic economy, she said.

In particular, the significant decline in foreign direct investment in China, down 77 percent in 2023, is likely to prompt the PRC (Peoples Republic of China) to be more measured in its responses absent an unexpected escalation by the United States, she said.

(Reporting by Jonathan Landay and Idrees Ali; additional reporting by Michel Martina; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
The 115th Separate Mechanised Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine recounted how it held the defence of Ocheretyne, Donetsk Oblast, despite the outnumbering Russian forces.

Source: 115th Separate Mechanised Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on social media

Details: Reportedly, the brigade was deployed along the defence line in front of settlements from Ocheretyne to the village of Keramik. The Russians launched 20 to 30 attacks with guided aerial bombs and 60 to 90 artillery attacks on brigade's positions daily, struck the Ukrainian forces with Grad multiple-launch rocket systems, mortars and a large number of FPV drones and dropped munitions, including chemical ones, from drones.

As a result, several Ukrainian positions and personnel were destroyed by the Russians.

Quote: "Nonetheless, all soldiers of the 115th Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who were on the positions, did not flee and engaged in fights with the Russian troops, which exceeded our forces by 10-15 times, defending every metre of the Ukrainian land. Thus, they gave the brigade the opportunity to gain foothold in more favourable positions on the outskirts of the settlement of Ocheretyne, to protect the settlement, and to give the opportunity to a new brigade, which replaced the 115th Brigade, to further defend the settlement of Ocheretyne."

Details: Ukrainska Pravda reports that the 115th Brigade was replaced by the 100th Mechanised Brigade.

The 115th Brigade reports that its members killed a huge amount of Russian personnel every day, but the Russians deployed new units to conduct the assault, changing the tactics of assault operations: if before it used assault groups of up to five soldiers, now one assault group consisted of up to 15 members, and such groups were attacking from two or three directions.

Over the course of the offensive on the Ocheretyne front, the Russians conducted a rotation of three brigades. During the offensive, the Russians constantly deployed new troops, which were being killed by a small number of Ukrainian soldiers.

Quote: "We want to stress once again that the 115th Brigade passed the line of responsibility in the vicinity of the settlements of Ocheretyne and Keramik to another brigade. At the time, these settlements were controlled by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

So we firmly state that no regular unit of the 115th Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine abandoned their positions and fled, as claimed by Russian media, but heroically held the defence."

Details: The brigade explained that a commission is currently working on these events and an internal investigation is underway, after which a detailed comment will be provided.

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The moment of hitting a missile in the skies. Photo: Getty Images

Vitalii Kim, the Head of Mykolaiv Oblast Military Administration, has said that air defence units shot down a Russian Kh-59 cruise missile over Mykolaiv Oblast on 1 May.

Source: Kim on Telegram

Quote: "A Kh-59 air-launched cruise missile was shot down yesterday, 1 May. As a result of the downing, the missile debris damaged transport infrastructure. There are no casualties."

Details: Kim also said that the water area of Ochakiv hromada came under artillery fire at 16:54 on 1 May; fortunately, there were no casualties (a hromada is an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town, and their adjacent territories  ed.).

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Ukraine's ambassador to US reveals content of large-scale package of US sanctions against Russia's military industry

Oksana Markarova, Ukraine's Ambassador to the United States, has revealed the contents of a large-scale package of sanctions imposed by Washington against Russia's military industry.

Source: Markarova on Facebook

Details: Markarova noted that the United States has imposed sanctions on over 280 entities targeting Russia's military industry, development and production programs, as well as the production of chemical and biological weapons. It also affects entities from third-country jurisdictions that assist Moscow in acquiring essential resources for arms production.

In particular, nearly 60 subjects from Azerbaijan, Belgium, China, Russia, Slovakia, Turkiye and the UAE, which provide Russia with the necessary technologies and equipment for its military industry from abroad, are among the entities affected by US sanctions.

Over 100 entities working in the economy's technological, defence, manufacturing and transportation sectors have fallen under the sanctions in Russia itself.

In addition, the US has imposed restrictions on companies representing various jurisdictions in the energy sector and those involved in implementing the Russian Arctic LNG 2 energy project.

The sanctions also targeted companies associated with metallurgical coal producers and those in the aircraft and aerospace sectors.

Furthermore, three officials from Russian penal colonies, who are linked to the death of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, have also been subject to the restrictions.

Background:

On 1 May, the US Department of the Treasury announced sanctions against nearly 200 individuals and legal entities that assist Russia's military-industrial complex and help it evade the restrictions already imposed.

The US announced the last large-scale sanctions against Russia on 23 February. Then, US President Joe Biden announced that the US imposed more than 500 sanctions against the Russian Federation and new export restrictions against almost 100 organisations on the eve of the second anniversary of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and after Navalny's death.

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Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has explained that Ukraine currently sees no point in inviting Moscow to the Global Peace Summit in Switzerland, adding that contacts with Russia will still be necessary after the international community consolidates its position.

Source: Kuleba in an interview with Foreign Policy, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The host asked the Ukrainian official why it makes sense for Ukraine to hold the Global Peace Summit in Switzerland to bring the war to an end if the party that started the war is not present.

Kuleba noted that this is a logical question from the point of view of textbook approaches to diplomacy, but they will not work in the current circumstances.

Quote: "Our approach comes from reality and from the experience that we gained between 2014 and 2022... [Back then], we had almost 200 rounds of talks with Russia in different formats, with mediators and bilaterally. But nothing worked. It ended up in a large-scale invasion. So we know that it doesn't make sense to have Russia at the table if you cannot ensure that they sit at the table and act in good faith," the foreign minister said.

Kuleba noted that he saw only two ways to achieve a situation where the Kremlin would start to act in good faith.

"The first one is the success on the battlefield. The second is having a coalition of countries who share the same principles and the same approaches. So this is why the first summit does not intend to have Russia, because the goal of this summit is to unite countries who share principles and approaches that they will build their further actions on. And then communication with Russia may take place, and Russia can be part of [the] talks. Because you are right: in the end, you cannot put the war to an end without both parties," Dmytro Kuleba explained.

Background: Poland's foreign minister believes that the war will end when Putin realises that he cannot win.

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Ukraine's Special Operations Forces destroyed the transporter erector launcher (TEL) of the Russian Buk anti-aircraft missile system on the Sumy front.

Source: press service of the Special Operations Forces of Ukraine

Details: According to reports, operators of one of the Ukrainian SOF units spotted a Russian Buk-M1 anti-aircraft missile system while conducting combat operations on the Sumy front.

The SOF operators then used assault drones to strike the target.

The Russians tried unsuccessfully to extinguish the fire and salvage the equipment. The hit destroyed the TEL, which contained six missiles, and damaged the Buk-M1 system's target acquisition radar.

Previously: On 30 April, the Special Operations Forces reported the destruction of two Russian Buk anti-aircraft missile systems during reconnaissance on the Sumy front.

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US oil and gas giant ExxonMobil will shut down two offshore oil production projects in Guyana for two weeks each between July and August to connect a natural gas pipeline.

According to Reuters, Alistair Routledge, president of Exxons Guyana business, said that the 225km gas pipeline will feed Guyanas $1.9bn gas-to-power Stabroek project, which aims to end the countrys reliance on imported fuels and lower energy costs for residents.

Offshore production vessels will be connected to a power plant and a natural gas processing facility by the proposed pipeline, with the power plant and transmission lines not becoming fully operational until the end of 2025.

Routledge added that the offshore portion of the pipeline that is under construction is 70% complete. He also said that the company no longer estimates potential recoverable resources, and will only work to quantify actual reserves, as this considers how much of the oil and gas underground can be commercially developed.

Exxons project in Guyana, known as the Stabroek Block, has been explored since 2008, but the company has not updated its estimate of 11 billion barrels in recoverable resources for two years, despite many new oil discoveries.

Our greater focus now is on how do we move resources to reserves, because that is what generates revenue for the country, Routledge said.

According to GlobalData, Offshore Technologys parent company, Exxon currently has the largest presence in Guyana out of all of the worlds biggest oil majors. In 2024, Exxons capital expenditure has been $102m so far, compared with Hess $68m and China National Offshore Oil Corps (CNOOC) $57m (412.74m yuan).

Last October, Chevron agreed to buy Hess for $53bn, but this year Exxon and CNOOC filed an arbitration case claiming they hold a right of first refusal on Hess Guyana assets. The dispute is currently being considered by the International Chamber of Commerce and will not be resolved until later this year.

"Exxon to shut Guyana oil project for two weeks" was originally created and published by Offshore Technology, a GlobalData owned brand.







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Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has spoken about the key ideas of the strategy that he would advise the United States to apply in the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war and support for Ukraine.

Source: European Pravda; Dmytro Kuleba in an interview with Foreign Policy

The host recalled that Congress, while adopting a package of legislation on further support for Ukraine and other US partners, put forward a demand for the Biden administration in the next month and a half to provide Congress with a strategy for further support for Ukraine. The host asked what Kuleba would advise the White House to add to this strategy if he were an adviser.

"First, be ambitious if you lower your expectations and your ambition. If you start with what is usually called plan B, you will end up with plan B. So, you have to start with Plan A," Kuleba said.

Secondly, he suggested that the White House not consider Ukraine through the prism of American relations with Russia.

"Im aware that in some offices, there are still thinkers, there are still ideas that whatever the outcome of this war will be, we will have to maintain relations with Russia and therefore we have to avoid burning all the bridges with them. But you will not have any proper relations with Russia under President Putin because he made his choice, and this choice is war. And if someone thinks that he is ramping up his defence industrial base only to fight against Ukraine, he is completely wrong. So, consider Russia under Putin as an enemy," Kuleba said.

Thirdly, he advised the United States to develop strategies "to look for problems on your side, and not on the side of Ukraine."

"Ask yourself a question: What are we doing wrong that we cannot help our ally prevail?". Putting all the responsibility on the shoulders of Ukraine means waving yourself of responsibility. But every Russian missile that hits Ukrainian energy facility and deprives Ukrainians of electricity  that kills civilians. It does that because someone didn't supply an air defence system or interceptor to help Ukraine avoid that. This calculation should be present in all strategic calculations," the Ukrainian foreign minister said.

He also explained why Ukraine sees no point in inviting Russia to the Peace Summit in Switzerland.

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Ukrainian President's Office still to decide who will chair Agricultural Ministry, sources say

The President's Office has not yet decided who will head Ukraine's Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food instead of Mykola Solskyi.

Source: Ukrainska Pravdas article A small government with a great prime minister. How Shmyhals team wants to change the Cabinet of Ministers

Details: Within the next 2 weeks, the parliament is expected to dismiss the Minister of Agriculture, Mykola Solskyi, who was served with the notice of suspicion by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau on embezzlement related to land on the sum totalling 500 million hryvnias (US$12.5 million).

Ukrainska Pravdas several sources said the position was considered for Taras Vysotskyi, the First Deputy Minister of Agriculture, but he also faces a criminal case related to misappropriation of over 62 million hryvnias (US$1.5 million) in procurement. Therefore, there is currently no final decision.

At the same time, the President's Office considered merging the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food with the Ministry of Economy, as was the case during the government of Oleksii Honcharuk. However, sources within the government say they ultimately rejected this idea. One reason cited is the previous unsuccessful experience with the merger of these ministries.

Background:

On 23 April, Mykola Solskyi, the-then Minister of Agrarian Policy, was exposed for embezzlement of state land worth 291 million hryvnias (approx. US$7.2 million) and attempted appropriation of another 190 million hryvnias (approx. US$4.7 million) worth of land.

Solskyi commented on the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine's announcement of suspicion and confirmed that the case against him relates to the period 2017-2018.

Solskyis deputy, Markiian Dmytrasevych, who is currently on a working trip abroad in connection with Ukraine's negotiations on accession to the EU as part of the agricultural bloc, was also served with a notice of suspicion.

Solskyi submitted his resignation statement on 25 April.

On 26 April, the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine ordered that the Minister of Agriculture be placed in pre-trial detention as a preventive measure.

On the same day, Solskyi was released from custody on bail of UAH 75.7 million (approx. US$1.9 million).

Solskyi was released from custody on 26 April on bail of UAH 75.7 million (approx. US$1.9 million). He continued to carry out his ministerial duties.

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Good morning!  Heres what you need to know in North Carolina politics today.

The families of North Carolina law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty will get a visit today from President Joe Biden.

The White House confirmed Wednesday evening that Biden will go to Charlotte to meet with families of those killed while serving a warrant Monday, and officers who were wounded.

Its his first of two stops in North Carolina. Read on for more.  Stephanie Loder, correspondent

Interim Chancellor Lee Roberts and police officers work to rehang an American flag after it was brought down by demonstrators and replaced with a Palestinian flag Tuesday, April 30, 2024 at UNC-Chapel Hill. About 1000 pro-Palestinian demonstrators rallied after a Gaza solidarity encampment was removed by police early Tuesday morning. Travis Long/tlong@newsobserver.com

MOORE AND BERGER BACK ROBERTS TO SERVE AS UNC CHANCELLOR, PERMANENTLY

House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger praised interim Chancellor Lee Roberts of UNC-Chapel Hill for his handling of pro-Palestinian protests that grew chaotic Tuesday, and said he should permanently fill the position at the helm of the university.

Both GOP legislative leaders criticized protesters for taking down an American flag that hung from a flagpole in the main quad on campus, and replacing it with a Palestinian flag.

Moore said that Roberts showed incredible leadership and a lot of backbone, while Berger said there was no question that Roberts should continue serving as chancellor on a permanent basis.

Get the full story from Korie Dean and me here.  Avi Bajpai

SCHOOL VOUCHER FUNDING FAST-TRACKED

Extra funding for school vouchers is on the fast track in the General Assembly.

A bill backed by one Senate committee Wednesday and on its way to another one today would provide more than $460 million for Opportunity Scholarships, with the goal of providing the vouchers for all 72,000 new applicants.

Republicans want to clear the wait list for the vouchers. The legislation is moving before the state budget does so parents and schools have time to plan for the fall, Senate leader Phil Berger said.

With support from Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore, Republicans are likely to be able to pass the bill and overturn a veto from Gov. Roy Cooper.

Democrats said that money could go to other needs such as teacher raises, child care or prekindergarten.

Read more from T. Keung Hui and Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan here.

PRESIDENT TO VISIT FAMILIES OF OFFICERS KILLED IN CHARLOTTE

Following the line- of- duty deaths of four law enforcement officers in Charlotte and the wounding of several more, President Joe Biden will come to Charlotte today to meet with victims and families.

Biden will also stop in Wilmington, where hell tout infrastructure investments.

Biden issued a statement Monday night calling on Congress for stricter gun laws. Police recovered an AR-15 and a .40 caliber handgun following the shootings, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings said at a Tuesday news conference.

They are heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice, rushing into harms way to protect us. We mourn for them and their loved ones, said Biden, who has made visiting North Carolina a priority ahead of the 2024 election.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Thomas Weeks, two veterans of the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction, Sam Poloche and Alden Elliott, and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Officer Joshua Eyer died in the line of duty and four others were injured after Terry Clark Hughes Jr. opened fire as the officers were trying to serve a warrant. Hughes, wanted for firearms possession by a felon, was shot and killed.

Calling the killings of four law enforcement officers in Charlotte a horrific act of violence, U.S. Rep. Jeff Jackson, a Democrat from Charlotte, led colleagues in a moment of silence on Tuesday on the House floor.

Jackson said he was acting on Charlotte Rep. Alma Adams behalf in asking for a moment of silence Tuesday as Adams was at home standing with the community. Jackson was joined by Rep. Dan Bishop, who represents a district near Charlotte, as well as Reps. Richard Hudson, Don Davis, Deborah Ross, Kathy Manning, David Rouzer and Chuck Edwards.

Read more from Danielle Battaglia here, here and here.

JUDGE SAYS SOME NC ABORTION DRUG RESTRICTIONS UNLAWFUL

A federal judge ruled this week that some of North Carolinas restrictions on the abortion drug mifepristone are unlawful.

Dr. Amy Bryant, an OB-GYN with UNC Health, sued the state to challenge its regulations for prescribing the first pill in a two-pill regimen that is used to end a pregnancy within 10 weeks of gestation.

U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles, an appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama, ruled on Tuesday that several of the states laws are contrary to a congressional mandate that the FDA create a plan for safe drug use. Among the state laws cited by the judge were:

Mifepristone be prescribed, dispensed and administered in person.

Only physicians prescribe the drug.

The requirement of an in-person follow-up appointment.

Any complications the drug caused be reported to the FDA.

The ruling may be appealed to higher courts.

Get the full story from Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi here.

CORRECTION: In reporting on a trip by North Carolina legislators to a Kentucky distillery, Wednesdays newsletter incorrectly described where Rep. Jason Saine made a comment Tuesday about hearing no complaints about the trip. He said it in a phone interview.

Thats all for today. Check your inbox tomorrow for more #ncpol news.

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Dont forget to follow our tweets and listen to our Under the Dome podcast for more developments.
The church formerly known as Seddon United Methodist in Maysville painted over part of its name as members decided to leave the denomination. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Jack Brammer)

After decades of intense debate that led to about half of their churches in Kentucky leaving the denomination, United Methodist delegates voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to no longer forbid gay clergy and same-sex marriage.

The vote by the delegates at the United Methodist General Conference in Charlotte, N.C., was 692-51. The conference was the churchs first legislative gathering in five years.

The historic vote removed the churchs 1984 ban on ordaining or appointing clergy who are self-avowing practicing homosexuals.

Another measure winning approval forbids district superintendents  regional administrators  from penalizing clergy for performing a same-sex wedding or declining to perform one.

Also, superintendents can not forbid a church from hosting a same-sex wedding.

The changes on ordination will take effect immediately after General Conference concludes on Friday, while the changes on marriage policy permissions will begin Jan. 1, 2025.

The churchs news agency reported that delegates and observers applauded after the vote. Many hugged and more than a few cried, in a mass release of joy for those who had pushed, some for decades to make the United Methodist Church fully inclusive.

Bishop Leonard Fairley (Photo submitted)

In a Facebook Live video posted on the Kentucky Conference website, Kentucky Bishop Leonard Fairley said he knows that some are disappointed, and some are rejoicing. But I pray that this is a way we can stay at the table and continue to work together and do the ministry and the mission of Jesus Christ.

Fairley added, The consultation of the district superintendents and the bishops and the local church have always been important and that does not change with this decision.

He appeared in the video with two of the five Kentucky clergy delegates  Tom Grieb, retired pastor from Goshen, and Tami Coleman, pastor of Hanson United Methodist Church near Madisonville.

The other clergy delegates from Kentucky, according to the Kentucky Conference, were Andrew Singh, pastor of Erlanger United Methodist Church; Iosmar Alvarez, senior pastor of St. Johns United Methodist Church in Louisville, and David Grout, retired minister and formerly of Florence Methodist Church.

Lay delegates from Kentucky were listed on the website as Mark Stallions, president and chief executive officer of Owen Electric Cooperatives; John R. Denham, Mason County beef cattle farmer; Michael Watts, member of Shelbyville United Methodist; Elaine Daugherty, member of Morgantown United Methodist Church, and Linda Underwood King, retired educator who is a member of Christ Church in Louisville.

Cathy Bruce, a spokeswoman for the Kentucky Conference, said the delegates voted by secret ballot and that she did not consider it appropriate to ask them how they voted.

The LGBTQ issue certainly has been controversial.

At a special session of the United Methodist General Conference in 2019, delegates made it possible for a church to disaffiliate for reasons of conscience around issues of human sexuality and keep its property after fulfilling certain financial obligations.

The disaffiliation process in the United Methodist Church ended Dec. 31.

The Kentucky United Methodist Conference had 749 churches in 2019, says the Lewis Center for Church in Washington, D.C., in a report issued earlier this year.

Of them, 366  or 49 percent  left the church, the report said.

Of the conferences nationwide that recorded more than 30 percent church disaffiliations, the report said, Kentucky ranked fourth highest. It trailed Northwest Texas with 81 percent disaffiliations, North Alabama with 51 percent and Texas with 50 percent. Indiana had 30 percent disaffiliations.

The Lewis Center report did not analyze the financial impact of disaffiliations on the conferences, but it said it can be expected to vary with the percentage and size of congregations lost. Obviously, the impact is not felt equally across conferences. Some face minimal impact while others must make major realignments.

Asked about any belt-tightening moves by the Kentucky Conference such as reducing its number of superintendents, spokeswoman Bruce said the conference now has five superintendents. She did not say how many the conference had a year ago.

I would not say it was in a cost-cutting move. It is just how the appointments worked out this year, she said.

Mike Powers

She did note that the Lexington district and the Northern Kentucky district are being served by the same superintendent and that Kevin Burney, who is the conferences director of ministerial services, will be superintendent for the Heartland district in the Louisville area beginning July 1 while retaining his current position.

The New York Times reported that the policy changes in the denomination could prompt departures of some international churches, particularly in Africa, where more conservative sexual values prevail and where same-sex activity is criminalized in some countries.

Before the disaffiliations, the United Methodist denomination was the third largest in the United States with a 5.4 million membership and presence in almost every county. It has about 4.6 million members in other countries, mainly in Africa.

Mike Powers, an elder in the Global Methodist Church who is serving as president pro tem of its MidSouth Provisional Annual Conference, is helping with efforts in Kentucky to attract disaffiliated churches to the two-year-old denomination. Global Methodist doctrine does not recognize same-sex marriages or the ordination of openly gay Methodists.

Powers said Global Methodist policy is to respond to requests initiated by any church, pastor or lay person interested in the new denomination but not to reach out to members and churches unless invited. He said Wednesday that more than 100 of the disaffiliated churches in Kentucky have been approved, applied or are inquiring about joining the Global Methodists.

The Global Methodist Church, based in Fredericksburg, Virginia, said in a release that it was aware of the vote at the United Methodist General Conference but that it operates independently of other denominations, has no affiliation with any of the United Methodist decisions and does not want to comment on the actions of other religious organizations.

It added that it has more than 4,500 members worldwide.

Chris Hartman, executive director of the Fairness Campaign based in Louisville that advocates for gay rights in Kentucky, said of the United Methodist vote, Its such a wonderful move in the right direction in the tenets of the faith.

This story has been updated with new information.

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The post United Methodist delegates vote to end bans on gay clergy, same-sex marriage appeared first on Kentucky Lantern.
ExxonMobil's nearly $60bn purchase of Pioneer Natural Resources is on the verge of receiving approval from the US FTC, reported Bloomberg, citing sources.

The FTC's nod is expected following an agreement that Pioneer's co-founder and ex-CEO, Scott Sheffield, will not join Exxon's board.

This development comes amid scrutiny over Sheffield's alleged attempts to discuss oil pricing and output with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

The $59.5bn all stock deal, first announced in October 2023, is expected to position Exxon as one of the key producers in the Permian Basin, North America's largest oilfield.

It has been closely watched, especially as Pioneer was recently implicated in a lawsuit alleging collusion with OPEC to manipulate crude output.

Both Exxon and Pioneer refused to comment on the pending approval, the publication said.

The potential FTC approval occurs against a backdrop of heightened regulatory scrutiny.

In March, more than 50 lawmakers called for increased oversight of a $230bn wave of consolidation in the oil and gas sector.

The concern is that such mergers could lead to higher energy prices, supply squeezes and suppressed wages.

The FTC, under Chair Lina Khan, has been particularly vigilant, examining several significant transactions including Diamondback Energy's $26bn bid for Endeavor Energy Resources.

Oil industry leaders, however, argue that these mergers are beneficial.

Exxon CEO Darren Woods has stated that the Pioneer acquisition would reduce production costs, making US oil more competitive internationally and benefitting consumers.

Exxon has also committed to achieving net-zero emissions from Pioneer operations by 2035, advancing its previous goal by 15 years.

"ExxonMobils $60bn Pioneer acquisition nears FTC approval " was originally created and published by Offshore Technology, a GlobalData owned brand.







The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty testified before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, about a cyberattack on Change Healthcare, a subsidiary. (Screenshot from committee webcast)

WASHINGTON  Capitol Hill lawmakers from both parties on Wednesday grilled UnitedHealth Groups CEO over the largest-ever cyberattack on the U.S. health care industry, which has crippled payments to providers and pharmacies and left millions of patients clueless about whether their information is now on the dark web.

A Russia-linked cybercrime organization dubbed BlackCat infiltrated a vulnerable server in February belonging to Change Healthcare, a subsidiary of the massive Minnesota-based UnitedHealth. The hackers demanded ransom for stolen data.

UnitedHealths CEO Andrew Witty told the Senate Committee on Finance the decision to pay the $22 million ransom in Bitcoin was mine (and) was one of the hardest decisions Ive ever had to make.

To all those impacted, let me be very clear: I am deeply sorry, Witty said in his opening testimony.

The company warned in its latest update in late April that a preliminary ongoing investigation revealed compromised personal health and identifiable information that could cover a substantial proportion of people in America.

Mr. Witty owes Americans an explanation

Wittys apology did little to stop lawmakers from demanding that he answer for basic cybersecurity missteps, significant revenue losses and delays in notifying patients whether their personal information was among data stolen by the cyber criminals.

Sen. Ron Wyden, the committees chair, said failure starts at the top.

Mr. Witty owes Americans an explanation for how a company of UHGs size and importance failed to have multi-factor authentication on a server providing open door access to protected health information, why its recovery plans were so woefully inadequate and how long it will take to finally secure all of its systems, the Oregon Democrat said.

UnitedHealth Group, which ranks among the nations largest companies, acquired Change Healthcare in a controversial 2022 deal that added to its behemoth footprint in the American health care industry.

Change Healthcare is an information superhighway for payments, requests for insurers to authorize care and roughly a third of Americans medical records. It processes 14 billion clinical, financial and operational transactions annually, according to the company.

Witty told lawmakers that with the Change purchase came the companys legacy technology that UnitedHealth has been in the process of upgrading.

Both Wyden and the committees ranking member, Mike Crapo of Idaho, criticized the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for not playing a larger role after the attack.

Wyden panned the agency for not conducting a proactive cybersecurity audit in seven years.

HHS, which has published recommended cybersecurity standards for the health care industry, did not respond to a request for comment. It released a statement and guidance about the cyberattack on March 5.

That wasnt soon enough, Crapo said, and the administrations delay exacerbated an already uncertain landscape, leaving providers and patients with reasonable concerns about access to essential medical services and life-saving drugs.

Not a rosy picture

The cybercriminals that attacked Change Healthcare allegedly accessed a server using stolen credentials.

The server did not have multi-factor authentication  a widely used two-step log-in process  and hackers were in the system for nine days before being detected, Witty confirmed for the committee.

Wyden said the attack could have been stopped by using cybersecurity 101.

I dont believe there are any excuses for that, Wyden said.

The company immediately contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation and disconnected Change from the rest of its network after discovering the breach, Witty said.

Cutting off the system halted billing, insurance authorizations and other activities for weeks, costing providers more than $100 million a day, according to the American Medical Association.

UnitedHealth maintains medical claims are flowing again at near normal levels, and payment processing has reached 86% of pre-incident levels and is increasing as additional functionality is restored, according to Wittys submitted written testimony.

Witty told lawmakers that as of Friday the company had issued $6.5 billion in payments and no-interest loans to medical providers.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn said her office has been inundated with calls about the Change attack. The reality patients and providers are describing is wildly different from the rosy picture that you have painted, she said.

The Tennessee Republican said shes hearing from hospitals and doctors who are facing weeks of backlogged claims and payments.

Heres a good for instance for you: a small, independent, private hospital in West Tennessee. They have diligently submitted all of their claims, and they are burdened with a backlog of Medicare claims that is equivalent to 30 days revenue, and theyre waiting for these things to be transmitted to Medicare, Blackburn said.

This is all because of the missteps you all have had.

Sen. James Lankford, an Oklahoma Republican, asked Witty for a target time when everyone will be made completely whole.

I would hope that thats in the next month or six weeks, Witty said.

Patient data

Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina held up the book Hacking for Dummies, which he said hes used as a resource on various Senate committees, and told Witty this is basic stuff.

Your entire enterprise is based on the movement and exchange of data, Tillis, a Republican, said during his questioning. Thats how you create value.  When you have a breach, its gotta be your problem, not my problem. So everything that you do to keep those folks whole for any damage in the brief is just a function of doing business. Do you agree with that?

I do sir, Witty responded. And weve (leaned) in to take full responsibility on notification, and we are waiting for that notification. Weve already stood up credit protection, identity theft protection, and they can reach us through a 1-800 number and through our cyber support.

The company has provided a call center at 1-866-262-5342 and a website changecybersupport.com.

Witty told Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto that the timeline for notifying providers and patients whether their data has been breached  as required by federal and state law  will take several weeks.

Youve been saying several more weeks since what, this attack was how long ago, 69 days ago? asked Cortez-Masto, a Nevada Democrat.

Yes, and thank you for the question. We only were able to start this process about a month after the attack when we got the dataset back and were able to start to interrogate it, a very complex process, Witty replied.

Protesters briefly stood after the hearing adjourned and chanted Andrew Witty, you cant hide. We can see your greedy side.

Witty also testified before the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce Wednesday.

The Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment on the investigation into the attack.

The post UnitedHealth CEO savaged for failings in massive cyberattack thats crippled health care appeared first on Michigan Advance.
UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty testified before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, about a cyberattack on Change Healthcare, a subsidiary (Screenshot from committee webcast).

WASHINGTON  Capitol Hill lawmakers from both parties on Wednesday grilled UnitedHealth Groups CEO over the largest-ever cyberattack on the U.S. health care industry, which has crippled payments to providers and pharmacies and left millions of patients clueless about whether their information is now on the dark web.

A Russia-linked cybercrime organization dubbed BlackCat infiltrated a vulnerable server in February belonging to Change Healthcare, a subsidiary of the massive Minnesota-based UnitedHealth. The hackers demanded ransom for stolen data.

UnitedHealths CEO Andrew Witty told the Senate Committee on Finance the decision to pay the $22 million ransom in Bitcoin was mine (and) was one of the hardest decisions Ive ever had to make.

To all those impacted, let me be very clear: I am deeply sorry, Witty said in his opening testimony.

The company warned in its latest update in late April that a preliminary ongoing investigation revealed compromised personal health and identifiable information that could cover a substantial proportion of people in America.

Mr. Witty owes Americans an explanation

Wittys apology did little to stop lawmakers from demanding that he answer for basic cybersecurity missteps, significant revenue losses and delays in notifying patients whether their personal information was among data stolen by the cyber criminals.

Sen. Ron Wyden, the committees chair, said failure starts at the top.

Mr. Witty owes Americans an explanation for how a company of UHGs size and importance failed to have multi-factor authentication on a server providing open door access to protected health information, why its recovery plans were so woefully inadequate and how long it will take to finally secure all of its systems, the Oregon Democrat said.

UnitedHealth Group, which ranks among the nations largest companies, acquired Change Healthcare in a controversial 2022 deal that added to its behemoth footprint in the American health care industry.

Change Healthcare is an information superhighway for payments, requests for insurers to authorize care and roughly a third of Americans medical records. It processes 14 billion clinical, financial and operational transactions annually, according to the company.

Witty told lawmakers that with the Change purchase came the companys legacy technology that UnitedHealth has been in the process of upgrading.

Both Wyden and the committees ranking member, Mike Crapo of Idaho, criticized the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for not playing a larger role after the attack.

Wyden panned the agency for not conducting a proactive cybersecurity audit in seven years.

HHS, which has published recommended cybersecurity standards for the health care industry, did not respond to a request for comment. It released a statement and guidance about the cyberattack on March 5.

That wasnt soon enough, Crapo said, and the administrations delay exacerbated an already uncertain landscape, leaving providers and patients with reasonable concerns about access to essential medical services and life-saving drugs.

Not a rosy picture

The cybercriminals that attacked Change Healthcare allegedly accessed a server using stolen credentials.

The server did not have multi-factor authentication  a widely used two-step log-in process  and hackers were in the system for nine days before being detected, Witty confirmed for the committee.

Wyden said the attack could have been stopped by using cybersecurity 101.

I dont believe there are any excuses for that, Wyden said.

The company immediately contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation and disconnected Change from the rest of its network after discovering the breach, Witty said.

Cutting off the system halted billing, insurance authorizations and other activities for weeks, costing providers more than $100 million a day, according to the American Medical Association.

UnitedHealth maintains medical claims are flowing again at near normal levels, and payment processing has reached 86% of pre-incident levels and is increasing as additional functionality is restored, according to Wittys submitted written testimony.

Witty told lawmakers that as of Friday the company had issued $6.5 billion in payments and no-interest loans to medical providers.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn said her office has been inundated with calls about the Change attack. The reality patients and providers are describing is wildly different from the rosy picture that you have painted, she said.

The Tennessee Republican said shes hearing from hospitals and doctors who are facing weeks of backlogged claims and payments.

Heres a good for instance for you: a small, independent, private hospital in West Tennessee. They have diligently submitted all of their claims, and they are burdened with a backlog of Medicare claims that is equivalent to 30 days revenue, and theyre waiting for these things to be transmitted to Medicare, Blackburn said.

This is all because of the missteps you all have had.

Sen. James Lankford, an Oklahoma Republican, asked Witty for a target time when everyone will be made completely whole.

I would hope that thats in the next month or six weeks, Witty said.

Patient data

Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina held up the book Hacking for Dummies, which he said hes used as a resource on various Senate committees, and told Witty this is basic stuff.

Your entire enterprise is based on the movement and exchange of data, Tillis, a Republican, said during his questioning. Thats how you create value.  When you have a breach, its gotta be your problem, not my problem. So everything that you do to keep those folks whole for any damage in the brief is just a function of doing business. Do you agree with that?

I do sir, Witty responded. And weve (leaned) in to take full responsibility on notification, and we are waiting for that notification. Weve already stood up credit protection, identity theft protection, and they can reach us through a 1-800 number and through our cyber support.

The company has provided a call center at 1-866-262-5342 and a website changecybersupport.com.

Witty told Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto that the timeline for notifying providers and patients whether their data has been breached  as required by federal and state law  will take several weeks.

Youve been saying several more weeks since what, this attack was how long ago, 69 days ago? asked Cortez-Masto, a Nevada Democrat.

Yes, and thank you for the question. We only were able to start this process about a month after the attack when we got the dataset back and were able to start to interrogate it, a very complex process, Witty replied.

Protesters briefly stood after the hearing adjourned and chanted Andrew Witty, you cant hide. We can see your greedy side.

Witty also testified before the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce Wednesday.

The Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment on the investigation into the attack.

The post UnitedHealth CEO savaged for failings in massive cyberattack thats crippled health care appeared first on Missouri Independent.
UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty testified before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, about a cyberattack on Change Healthcare, a subsidiary. (Screenshot from committee webcast)

UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty testified before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, about a cyberattack on Change Healthcare, a subsidiary. (Screenshot from committee webcast)

WASHINGTON  Capitol Hill lawmakers from both parties on Wednesday grilled UnitedHealth Groups CEO over the largest-ever cyberattack on the U.S. health care industry, which has crippled payments to providers and pharmacies and left millions of patients clueless about whether their information is now on the dark web.

A Russia-linked cybercrime organization dubbed BlackCat infiltrated a vulnerable server in February belonging to Change Healthcare, a subsidiary of the massive Minnesota-based UnitedHealth. The hackers demanded ransom for stolen data.

UnitedHealths CEO Andrew Witty told the Senate Committee on Finance the decision to pay the $22 million ransom in Bitcoin was mine (and) was one of the hardest decisions Ive ever had to make.

To all those impacted, let me be very clear: I am deeply sorry, Witty said in his opening testimony.

The company warned in its latest update in late April that a preliminary ongoing investigation revealed compromised personal health and identifiable information that could cover a substantial proportion of people in America.

Mr. Witty owes Americans an explanation

Wittys apology did little to stop lawmakers from demanding that he answer for basic cybersecurity missteps, significant revenue losses and delays in notifying patients whether their personal information was among data stolen by the cyber criminals.

Sen. Ron Wyden, the committees chair, said failure starts at the top.

Mr. Witty owes Americans an explanation for how a company of UHGs size and importance failed to have multi-factor authentication on a server providing open door access to protected health information, why its recovery plans were so woefully inadequate and how long it will take to finally secure all of its systems, the Oregon Democrat said.

UnitedHealth Group, which ranks among the nations largest companies, acquired Change Healthcare in a controversial 2022 deal that added to its behemoth footprint in the American health care industry.

Change Healthcare is an information superhighway for payments, requests for insurers to authorize care and roughly a third of Americans medical records. It processes 14 billion clinical, financial and operational transactions annually, according to the company.

Witty told lawmakers that with the Change purchase came the companys legacy technology that UnitedHealth has been in the process of upgrading.

Both Wyden and the committees ranking member, Mike Crapo of Idaho, criticized the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for not playing a larger role after the attack.

Wyden panned the agency for not conducting a proactive cybersecurity audit in seven years.

HHS, which has published recommended cybersecurity standards for the health care industry, did not respond to a request for comment. It released a statement and guidance about the cyberattack on March 5.

That wasnt soon enough, Crapo said, and the administrations delay exacerbated an already uncertain landscape, leaving providers and patients with reasonable concerns about access to essential medical services and life-saving drugs.

Not a rosy picture

The cybercriminals that attacked Change Healthcare allegedly accessed a server using stolen credentials.

The server did not have multi-factor authentication  a widely used two-step log-in process  and hackers were in the system for nine days before being detected, Witty confirmed for the committee.

Wyden said the attack could have been stopped by using cybersecurity 101.

I dont believe there are any excuses for that, Wyden said.

The company immediately contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation and disconnected Change from the rest of its network after discovering the breach, Witty said.

Cutting off the system halted billing, insurance authorizations and other activities for weeks, costing providers more than $100 million a day, according to the American Medical Association.

UnitedHealth maintains medical claims are flowing again at near normal levels, and payment processing has reached 86% of pre-incident levels and is increasing as additional functionality is restored, according to Wittys submitted written testimony.

Witty told lawmakers that as of Friday the company had issued $6.5 billion in payments and no-interest loans to medical providers.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn said her office has been inundated with calls about the Change attack. The reality patients and providers are describing is wildly different from the rosy picture that you have painted, she said.

The Tennessee Republican said shes hearing from hospitals and doctors who are facing weeks of backlogged claims and payments.

Heres a good for instance for you: a small, independent, private hospital in West Tennessee. They have diligently submitted all of their claims, and they are burdened with a backlog of Medicare claims that is equivalent to 30 days revenue, and theyre waiting for these things to be transmitted to Medicare, Blackburn said.

This is all because of the missteps you all have had.

Sen. James Lankford, an Oklahoma Republican, asked Witty for a target time when everyone will be made completely whole.

I would hope that thats in the next month or six weeks, Witty said.

Patient data

Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina held up the book Hacking for Dummies, which he said hes used as a resource on various Senate committees, and told Witty this is basic stuff.

Your entire enterprise is based on the movement and exchange of data, Tillis, a Republican, said during his questioning. Thats how you create value.  When you have a breach, its gotta be your problem, not my problem. So everything that you do to keep those folks whole for any damage in the brief is just a function of doing business. Do you agree with that?

I do sir, Witty responded. And weve (leaned) in to take full responsibility on notification, and we are waiting for that notification. Weve already stood up credit protection, identity theft protection, and they can reach us through a 1-800 number and through our cyber support.

The company has provided a call center at 1-866-262-5342 and a website changecybersupport.com.

Witty told Sen. Catherine Cortez-Masto that the timeline for notifying providers and patients whether their data has been breached  as required by federal and state law  will take several weeks.

Youve been saying several more weeks since what, this attack was how long ago, 69 days ago? asked Cortez-Masto, a Nevada Democrat.

Yes, and thank you for the question. We only were able to start this process about a month after the attack when we got the dataset back and were able to start to interrogate it, a very complex process, Witty replied.

Protesters briefly stood after the hearing adjourned and chanted Andrew Witty, you cant hide. We can see your greedy side.

Witty also testified before the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce Wednesday.

The Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment on the investigation into the attack.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post UnitedHealth CEO savaged for failings in massive cyberattack thats crippled health care appeared first on Utah News Dispatch.
UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty testified before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, about a cyberattack on Change Healthcare, a subsidiary. (Screenshot from committee webcast)

WASHINGTON  Capitol Hill lawmakers from both parties on Wednesday grilled UnitedHealth Groups CEO over the largest-ever cyberattack on the U.S. health care industry, which has crippled payments to providers and pharmacies and left millions of patients clueless about whether their information is now on the dark web.

A Russia-linked cybercrime organization dubbed BlackCat infiltrated a vulnerable server in February belonging to Change Healthcare, a subsidiary of the massive Minnesota-based UnitedHealth. The hackers demanded ransom for stolen data.

UnitedHealths CEO Andrew Witty told the Senate Committee on Finance the decision to pay the $22 million ransom in Bitcoin was mine (and) was one of the hardest decisions Ive ever had to make.

To all those impacted, let me be very clear: I am deeply sorry, Witty said in his opening testimony.

The company warned in its latest update in late April that a preliminary ongoing investigation revealed compromised personal health and identifiable information that could cover a substantial proportion of people in America.

Mr. Witty owes Americans an explanation

Wittys apology did little to stop lawmakers from demanding that he answer for basic cybersecurity missteps, significant revenue losses and delays in notifying patients whether their personal information was among data stolen by the cyber criminals.

Sen. Ron Wyden, the committees chair, said failure starts at the top.

Mr. Witty owes Americans an explanation for how a company of UHGs size and importance failed to have multi-factor authentication on a server providing open door access to protected health information, why its recovery plans were so woefully inadequate and how long it will take to finally secure all of its systems, the Oregon Democrat said.

UnitedHealth Group, which ranks among the nations largest companies, acquired Change Healthcare in a controversial 2022 deal that added to its behemoth footprint in the American health care industry.

Change Healthcare is an information superhighway for payments, requests for insurers to authorize care and roughly a third of Americans medical records. It processes 14 billion clinical, financial and operational transactions annually, according to the company.

Witty told lawmakers that with the Change purchase came the companys legacy technology that UnitedHealth has been in the process of upgrading.

Both Wyden and the committees ranking member, Mike Crapo of Idaho, criticized the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for not playing a larger role after the attack.

Wyden panned the agency for not conducting a proactive cybersecurity audit in seven years.

HHS, which has published recommended cybersecurity standards for the health care industry, did not respond to a request for comment. It released a statement and guidance about the cyberattack on March 5.

That wasnt soon enough, Crapo said, and the administrations delay exacerbated an already uncertain landscape, leaving providers and patients with reasonable concerns about access to essential medical services and life-saving drugs.

Not a rosy picture

The cybercriminals that attacked Change Healthcare allegedly accessed a server using stolen credentials.

The server did not have multi-factor authentication  a widely used two-step log-in process  and hackers were in the system for nine days before being detected, Witty confirmed for the committee.

Wyden said the attack could have been stopped by using cybersecurity 101.

I dont believe there are any excuses for that, Wyden said.

The company immediately contacted the FBI and disconnected Change from the rest of its network after discovering the breach, Witty said.

Cutting off the system halted billing, insurance authorizations and other activities for weeks, costing providers more than $100 million a day, according to the American Medical Association.

UnitedHealth maintains medical claims are flowing again at near normal levels, and payment processing has reached 86% of pre-incident levels and is increasing as additional functionality is restored, according to Wittys submitted written testimony.

Witty told lawmakers that as of Friday the company had issued $6.5 billion in payments and no-interest loans to medical providers.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn said her office has been inundated with calls about the Change attack. The reality patients and providers are describing is wildly different from the rosy picture that you have painted, she said.

The Tennessee Republican said shes hearing from hospitals and doctors who are facing weeks of backlogged claims and payments.

Heres a good for instance for you: a small, independent, private hospital in West Tennessee. They have diligently submitted all of their claims, and they are burdened with a backlog of Medicare claims that is equivalent to 30 days revenue, and theyre waiting for these things to be transmitted to Medicare, Blackburn said.

This is all because of the missteps you all have had.

Sen. James Lankford, an Oklahoma Republican, asked Witty for a target time when everyone will be made completely whole.

I would hope that thats in the next month or six weeks, Witty said.

Patient data

Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina held up the book Hacking for Dummies, which he said hes used as a resource on various Senate committees, and told Witty this is basic stuff.

Your entire enterprise is based on the movement and exchange of data, Tillis, a Republican, said during his questioning. Thats how you create value.  When you have a breach, its gotta be your problem, not my problem. So everything that you do to keep those folks whole for any damage in the brief is just a function of doing business. Do you agree with that?

I do sir, Witty responded. And weve (leaned) in to take full responsibility on notification, and we are waiting for that notification. Weve already stood up credit protection, identity theft protection, and they can reach us through a 1-800 number and through our cyber support.

The company has provided a call center at 1-866-262-5342 and a website, changecybersupport.com.

Witty told Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto that the timeline for notifying providers and patients about whether their data has been breached  as required by federal and state law  will take several weeks.

Youve been saying several more weeks since what, this attack was how long ago, 69 days ago? asked Cortez-Masto, a Nevada Democrat.

Yes, and thank you for the question. We only were able to start this process about a month after the attack when we got the dataset back and were able to start to interrogate it, a very complex process, Witty replied.

Protesters briefly stood after the hearing adjourned and chanted Andrew Witty, you cant hide. We can see your greedy side.

Witty also testified before the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce Wednesday.

The Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment on the investigation into the attack.

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Universities are making it worse with their 'overreaction' to pro-Palestinian protests, expert on American dissent says

Universities are making it worse with their 'overreaction' to pro-Palestinian protests, expert on American dissent says

Pro-Palestinian protests on American campuses are escalating.

Some universities have resorted to militarized police responses to clear encampments.

History professor Ralph Young, an expert on dissent, said that reaction may be counterproductive.

As anger among young Americans with Israel's war in Gaza spreads, so are protests on college campuses.

At Columbia University and City College of New York, New York City Police Department officers clad in riot gear faced off with protesters occupying a university building for several hours this week. They made over 300 arrests.

At the University of Texas at Austin, local police and state troopers from the Texas Department of Public Safety cleared an encampment on the university's main mall, making dozens of arrests.

Similar scenes unfolded at the University of Southern California, Emory University, George Washington University, the University of Arizona, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Portland State University, the University of California, Los Angeles, and many more.

The protesters are calling on their universities to boycott and divest from  companies that do business with Israel. They are also calling for a cease-fire in Gaza, where tens of thousands of Palestinians, many of them civilians, have died during Israel's scorched-earth response to the October 7th Hamas terror attack that killed at least 1,200 Israelis.

Members of the New York Police Department outside the main gate at Columbia University in New York as demonstrators protest the Israel-Hamas war. Aaron Morrison/AP

Ralph Young, a Temple University history professor who has studied and written extensively about American dissent and protest movements, said universities are shooting themselves in the foot with their response.

"The overreaction that the universities are having is only going to magnify these protests. They're going to spread more rapidly and grow larger," Young told Business Insider. "Maybe instead of forcibly removing protesters, they should be listening to them and listening to why they are upset about the Gaza war."

A common refrain from those opposing the pro-Palestinian protests is that they are anti-Jewish or antisemitic, though many of the pro-Palestine protests have been attended by Jewish people. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has referred to the protests as "antisemitic mobs."

"The antisemitic stuff is... it may be isolated cases of it, and there tends to be somebody, maybe like Fox News picks up on it, and then kind of emphasizes the examples of that," Young said. "Whereas most of the demonstrators, from what I've seen and heard, are not doing that, and there are quite a few Jewish students that are part of the protests, too."

Police arrest more than 100 students at New York University protesting Israel's attacks on Gaza. Fatih Aktas/Anadolu via Getty Images

The campus protests reminded Young of students protesting the Vietnam War in the 1960s, when he was among them.

"I was one of the protesters, and you were just so outraged at the terrible loss of life that was going on in Vietnam and that the United States was responsible," Young said. "So many of the students today, even though they're not being threatened to be drafted and sent over there, they see this as a humanitarian crisis."

The outrage is compounded by the fact that the United States is sending funds and weapons to Israel, Young said.

"Back in 1968 in Columbia, where they took over the president's office, they stopped the university from functioning," Young said. "The protests were much more militant, really, than what's going on now. And the response right now is disproportionate. They're setting up an encampment. That's basically a peaceful protest."

Since the initial arrests, there have been reported incidents of violence at some campuses.

"To do things like calling the National Guard or do military-style tactics in removing protesters is definitely not a good thing," Young said. "We don't have a good history of that. When you think of Kent State, when the National Guard was brought in there, four students were killed, and quite a few others were seriously wounded. And that, of course, just infuriated students all over the country."

The result then, and possibly now, could be even more protests, Young said.

"The way the universities are responding to them, they're not even that upset about the fact that the universities might disagree with their point of view," Young said of students. "What they're really getting upset about is that their right to free speech, the right to protest, is being stifled."

Read the original article on Business Insider
University administrators are falling into a tried and true trap laid by the right

Student demonstrators occupy the pro-Palestinian "Gaza Solidarity Encampment" on the West Lawn of Columbia University on April 24, 2024 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Interrogations of university leaders spearheaded by conservative congressional representatives. Calls from right-wing senators for troops to intervene in campus demonstrations. Hundreds of student and faculty arrests, with nonviolent dissenters thrown to the ground, tear-gassed and tased.

Weve been here before. In my book Resistance from the Right: Conservatives and the Campus Wars in Modern America, I detail how, throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s, conservative activists led a counterattack against campus antiwar and civil rights demonstrators by demanding action from college presidents and police.

They made a number of familiar claims about student protesters: They were at once coddled elitists, out-of-state agitators and violent communists who sowed discord to destroy America. Conservatives claimed that the protests interfered with the course of university activities and that administrators had a duty to guarantee daily operations paid for by tuition.

Back then, college presidents routinely caved to the demands of conservative legislators, angry taxpayers and other wellsprings of anticommunist outrage against students striking for peace and civil rights.

Today, university leaders are twisting themselves in knots to appease angry donors and legislators. But when Columbia University President Minouche Shafik called in the NYPD to quell protests, she was met with a firm rebuke from the American Association of University Professors.

If the past is any indication, the road ahead wont be any easier for college presidents like Shafik.

Lawfare from the right

Throughout the 1960s, students organized a host of anti-war and civil rights protests, and many conservatives characterized the demonstrators as communist sympathizers.

Students spoke out against American involvement in the Vietnam War, the draft and compulsory ROTC participation. They demanded civil rights protections and racially representative curricula. The intervention of police and the National Guard often escalated what were peaceful protests into violent riots and total campus shutdowns.

From 1968 into the 1970s, conservative lawyers coordinated a national campaign to sue indecisive and gutless college presidents and trustees whose approach to campus demonstrations was, in conservatives estimation, too lenient.

The right-wing organization Young Americans for Freedom hit 32 colleges with lawsuits, including private Ivy League schools like Columbia, Harvard and Princeton, as well as public land-grant universities like Michigan State and the University of Wisconsin.

The legal claim was for breach of contract: that presidents were failing to follow through on their end of the tuition agreement by not keeping campuses open and breaking up the protests. Young Americans for Freedom sought to set legal precedent for students, parents and broadly defined taxpayers to be able to compel private and public institutions to remain open.

Conservative students further demanded that their supposedly communist peers be expelled indefinitely, arrested for trespassing and prosecuted.

Expulsions, of course, carried implications for the draft during these years. A running joke among right-wing activists and politicians was that protesters should be given a McNamara Scholarship to Hanoi, referencing Robert McNamara, the U.S. secretary of defense and an architect of the Vietnam War.

Meanwhile, right-wing activists hounded college leaders with public pressure campaigns by collecting signatures from students and alumni that called on them to put an end to campus demonstrations. Conservatives also urged donors to withhold financial support until administrators subdued protesting students.

Cops on campus

Following the massacre at Kent State in 1970, when the National Guard fired at students, killing four and wounding nine, nearly half of all colleges shut down temporarily amid a wave of nationwide youth outrage. With only a week or two left of the semester, many colleges canceled remaining classes and even some commencement ceremonies.

In response, conservatives launched a new wave of post-Kent State injunctions against those universities to force them back open.

Lauren Lassabe Shepherd is an instructor at the University of New Orleans School of Education.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

With protests ongoing  and continued calls from the right to crack down on them  many university administrators resorted to calling on the police and the National Guard, working with them to remove student protesters from campus.

In fact, this very moment brought about the birth of the modern campus police force.

Administrators and lawmakers, afraid that local police could not handle the sheer number of student demonstrators, arranged to deputize campus police  who had historically been parking guards and residence hall curfew enforcers  with the authority to make arrests and carry firearms.

State and federal lawmakers attempted to further stifle student dissent with reams of legislation. In 1969, legislators in seven states passed laws to punish student activists who had been arrested during protests through the revocation of financial aid, expulsion and jail sentences.

President Richard Nixon, who had excoriated campus disruptions during his successful White House run in 1968, encouraged college presidents to heed the laws and applauded them for following through with expulsions.

Is antisemitism the new communism?

As the U.S. presidential election approaches, Ill be watching to see how the Trump and Biden campaigns respond to ongoing student protests.

For now, Trump has called the recent protests antisemitic and far worse than the 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville. Biden has similarly condemned the antisemitic protests and those who dont understand whats going on with the Palestinians.

Both are repeating the false framework laid out by GOP Reps. Elise Stefanik and Virginia Foxx, a trap that university administrators have fallen into during House inquiries since Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

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There indeed have been antisemitic incidents associated with pro-Palestinian demonstrations on university campuses.

But in these hearings, Stefanik and Foxx have baited four women presidents into affirming the rights politicized framing of the protests as rife with antisemitism, leading the public to believe that isolated incidents are instead representative and rampant.

Like their association of civil rights and peace demonstrators with communism throughout the Cold War, politicians on both sides of the aisle are now broadly hurling claims of antisemitism against anyone protesting Israels war in Gaza, many of whom are Jewish.

The purpose then, as it is now, is to intimidate administrators into a false political choice: Will they protect students right to demonstrate or be seen as acquiescent to antisemitism?

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More than 100 demonstrators at the University of Montana protest Israel's bombing of Gaza in a march around the Oval. (Keila Szpaller/The Daily Montanan)

More than 100 people at the University of Montana demonstrated Wednesday to protest Israels bombing of Gaza and to show solidarity with protesters arrested this week on other campuses.

Israel, Israel. Stop the slaughter. Gaza must have food and water, they chanted.

The UM demonstrators asked spectators to keep their focus on children who are dying, a count the Washington Post put at 13,000 this week.

While you are here watching us, children are being murdered with your tax dollars, said one demonstrator with a bull horn.

Nearly 1,000 arrests had taken place on campuses across the country as of Monday including in violent clashes between police and pro-Palestian protestors from New York to California, according to a count from the Associated Press.

UM student Journey Lynn said their values in social work align with supporting the lives of innocent people in Gaza. (Keila Szpaller/The Daily Montanan)

The demonstration at UM in Missoula was peaceful. A law enforcement SUV was parked near the Oval but rolled away after the group started marching.

The death toll in Gaza has surpassed 34,000, according to a report this week from the Wall Street Journal citing health authorities. However, the story said its becoming difficult to keep up with the number of fatalities because many hospitals arent functioning, and people are buried under rubble.

Students from UM and also high schools were among those demonstrating with chants, chalk art after the rain subsided, and signs.

Some signs called on the UM Foundation to divest, joining calls at more than 80 other campuses across the country to redirect higher education investments from funding war, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.

The UM Foundation is the universitys fundraising nonprofit, and in a statement, it said its board is committed to responsible investment stewardship to generate the highest levels of returns to support UM for generations.

The Foundations endowment portfolio has no direct investments with weapons manufacturers, said the UM Foundation board in a statement.

Journey Lynn, a UM graduate student in social work, said they joined the demonstration because the crisis in Gaza is deplorable: I think that calling attention to the genocide is imperative.

Lynn also said as a student pursuing a masters in social work, they believe the protest aligns with the code of ethics from the National Association of Social Workers.

The essence of a lot of those values are to honor and value all life, Lynn said.

Jon Murphy said he wanted to support Israels right to exist as a country. (Keila Szpaller/The Daily Montanan)

At least one legislator, Rep. Zooey Zephyr, a Missoula Democrat, joined the protest. Demonstrators started the action in front of Main Hall and then marched around the Oval carrying signs raised with their messages.

Free Palestine. Israel Bombs Hospitals. Food Is Not A Weapon. Ceasefire NOW. Fund Schools Not Genocide.

As the demonstration began, one man carrying a flag of Israel walked in front of the group and yelled at them. Jon Murphy stayed with the demonstrators in their march around the Oval.

He told the Daily Montanan he wanted to stand up for Israels right to exist as a state. Murphy said he is not a student at UM but lives in the community.

I dont agree with everything that Israel does, but it has a right to exist, and the people have a right to live there without getting the rockets and missiles sent at them, Murphy said.

Demonstrators drew messages with chalk around the Oval. (Keila Szpaller/The Daily Montanan)

The recent war started in October 2023 after Hamas, a Palestinian militant group, attacked Israel and killed at least 1,200 people. Israel then launched military strikes in Gaza, a small strip of land 25 miles long between Israel and the Mediterranean Sea.

A recent food insecurity analysis said famine is imminent in at least the north of Gaza, and it projects more people will die. The report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Famine Review Committee (FRC) said the entire population of 2.23 million faces acute food insecurity.

The FRC concludes that famine is imminent unless there is an immediate cessation of hostilities and full access is granted to provide food, water, medicines, and protection of civilians as well as to restore and provide health, water, and sanitation services, and energy (electricity, diesel, and other fuel) to the population in the northern governorates, the report said.

The IPC describes itself as an initiative to improve food security and analysis based on science and one led by a global partnership of 15 organizations.

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Protesters gathered at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in solidarity with Palestinians, joining a host of other campus protests nationwide, demanding dislcosure and divestment of university investments into Israel. May 1, 2024.(Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

LINCOLN  More than 100 University of Nebraska-Lincoln students and community members gathered on campus in support of Palestine on Wednesday, joining a host of universities nationwide.

Protesters sit during the solidarity protest with Palestinians at the University of Nebraska-Lincolns campus. May 1, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

UNLs 10-hour Liberated Zone for Palestine, organized as a one-day event by Lincoln and UNL local chapters in support of Palestinians, set a different tone than other campus protests, which have featured multiple days of encampments and students barricading themselves inside school buildings. Many protests faced arrests or condemnation from local, state and federal leaders.

Instead, the Lincoln event focused on short teach-ins, dances, chants and four demands made throughout the peaceful, daylong protest:

Disclose any university investments into Israel.

Divest from those commitments.

End a UNL-sponsored study abroad program in Jerusalem.

Prohibit future acceptance of grants or funds from Israel.

Were here because there are students, professors, administration and staff in Gaza who are experiencing a genocide, Anna Synya, a UNL senior, told the Nebraska Examiner.

Were here for people in Gaza

Synya, outreach coordinator for Lincoln for Palestine and a member of UNLs chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, said the event was important because of the education it offered. She said that everyone got to leave safely, which hasnt been true at other campuses.

I couldnt really have asked for a better day when it comes to how things ran, Synya said.

This sign was placed on the University of Nebraska-Lincolns campus featuring a watermelon, which has been symbolic of freedom for Palestinians in Gaza. May 1, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

She also emphasized that while protesters are concerned about students at other campuses, the reason UNL students came out was for Gaza, where every university has been bombed.

People seem to think were doing it in solidarity with Columbia (University) or something  I mean, I guess, were for freedom of speech, and its concerning when certain things happen  but really, were here for people in Gaza, Synya said.

As of May 1, at least 34,568 Palestinians had been killed and another 77,765 wounded since Israels retaliation began after the Oct. 7 terrorist attack by Hamas, according to the Gaza health ministry.

A small group of counter-protesters, one wearing an Israeli flag, briefly showed up at the protest but quickly left. The UNL Police Department maintained a minimal presence all day.

Balancing expression and UNLs mission

UNL Chancellor Rodney Bennett, in a campuswide email just before the 9 a.m. gathering, said the leaders of the event met with campus administrators and were told they could not jeopardize public safety, disrupt academic activities and campus operations or destroy property. He said UNL would also not allow tents or the formation of an encampment.

It has been my determination, and that of other university leaders, that this is the kind of careful, deliberate and nuanced balance of interests called for by our university policy, Bennett said.

My commitment to you is that both today, and in the days and weeks to come, we will work diligently to protect the freedom of expression, which we hold so dear, while ensuring that we continue to advance our mission of teaching, research and service, Bennett continued. Doing so is central to our identity and vital to our future.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chancellor Rodney Bennett speaks to Nebraska lawmakers on his campus. Dec. 7, 2023. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

University officials declined to comment on the protesters specific demands because they had not been presented to administrators and officials didnt want to discuss how UNL would respond before that time, although the demands were publicly available before Wednesday morning.

Synya said the demands were shared in person with campus leaders so she doesnt know if they were maybe just misremembering.

As students were stakeholders in this community  were the customer here  so wed like a response, Synya said.

Disclosures and investments

Melissa Lee, a spokesperson for NUs central administration, pointed to the universitys endowment holdings posted online and said anyone could review those reports.

The Fund N reports  the portion of investments that NU has direct control over and includes donations and gifts made directly to the university  started in December 2020 in response to calls that year for NU to divest from fossil fuel industries. Other investments are managed by the NU Foundation.

The most recent Fund N report was issued Dec. 31, 2023.

The endowment exists to support all students and the broad mission of the university, Lee said. It is not an advocacy tool.

Thousands of people attend the March for Israel on the National Mall on Nov. 14, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Courtesy of Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

The Jewish Virtual Library details some of the State of Nebraskas partnerships with the Middle East nation. It also outlines grants and research UNL faculty have collaborated on with researchers overseas, which came under fire from at least one protester.

That protesters demands mirrored the information listed through the library, including for UNL to end ties with the US-Israel Binational Science Foundation. They also called for UNL to fire certain faculty and end partnerships with various companies and departments, saying they are working with war criminals.

In one case, a grant from the Israel National Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Water Commissioners Office, Israel Ministry of Science and the binational foundation supported research on toxic algal blooms in Nebraska lakes.

In total, the virtual library states, Nebraska has received nearly $1.8 million in binational foundation grants, and exports from the Cornhusker State to Israel in 2022 totaled $53.8 million.

Study abroad to Jerusalem

Ari Kohen, a political science professor and director of the Norman and Bernice Harris Center for Judaic Studies, which hosts the one-month study abroad at Jerusalems Hebrew University, said the program was designed by multiple Harris Center faculty over many years before its debut in 2019. Students went again in 2022.

It is a study abroad experience that you cant really get anywhere else, Kohen said. We have curated this education for UNL students, and Im really proud of it.

A general view over the Gaza Strip as seen from the Israeli side of the border on Jan. 8, 2024, in southern Israel. (Amir Levy/Getty Images)

Kohen said that while he teaches about the Arab-Israeli conflict in Lincoln, the program means students have a window into the conflict, people, cultures, religions, traditions and more and can form opinions for themselves. He said this is better than the Lincoln course.

He encouraged those interested in Arab-Israeli relationships to sign up and learn firsthand.

However, Synya said, the program is not equitable for all students. She said Palestinians, for example, might not be able to go to Israel or, if they did, they might not be as safe.

The university cant ethically provide any sort of academic opportunity thats not equally accessible to students, Synya said.

Kohen said he postponed the 2024 trip because he didnt want to compromise on its goals. Travel in the region is significantly hindered, and many people remain displaced in the north and south.

As a result, it wouldnt be the same trip, he said.

When theres so much attention and interest, Kohen said, it would be a shame to limit education to one day of protest and cancel the trip, which he hopes a ton of people will want to enroll in.

Congressman speaks out against antisemitism

U.S. Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., whose district includes UNL, said in a statement Wednesday that antisemitism has no place in America and that the message of the national protests arrived at UNL on Wednesday.

University leadership must be decisive and clear that Nebraska will not tolerate the violent and dangerous rhetoric that has shown up on college campuses across the country, Flood said on X, formerly Twitter.

A Palestinian flag with the phrase from the river to the sea is etched with chalk onto the sidewalk outside UNLs Nebraska Union. May 1, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

Flood, in a followup statement to the Nebraska Examiner, said the national message he referred to is antisemitic rhetoric and policies, which he said includes the chant from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.

Congress last month voted 377-44, with all Nebraska representatives in favor, to condemn that phrase as antisemitic.

The phrase was featured at the protest in chants and artwork, along with other chants aimed at Nebraskas congressional delegation and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by name, saying, you cant hide, we charge you with genocide.

Protesters also encouraged Nebraska voters to write in ceasefire against President Joe Biden during Nebraskas May 14 primary election.

Synya said her response to Flood or others with concerns is to come on down and see for yourself and have conversations because such accusations are taken seriously.

We denounce all forms of antisemitism, she said. Thats not what were about at all.

Existence of the human being

Steve Laravie Jr., a descendant of Standing Bear, joins with two other Indigenous leadersand speaks during a solidarity protest for Palestinians at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. May 1, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

Multiple Jewish students and community members were also part of the protest, including Jewish Voices for Peace and a woman who said she was a descendant of Holocaust survivors.

Other speakers included a pediatric surgeon who worked in Gaza, professors who spoke about the Arab Spring, artists, the local NAACP chapter and Indigenous brothers and sisters.

Steve Laravie Jr., a descendant of Standing Bear, was one of three Indigenous members who encouraged Nebraskans to pray for Gaza and Palestinians. He said everyone must think of moving forward as human beings because the division is not about race, creed or religion.

This is about the existence of the human being, Laravie said.

You are the majority, remember that, he told Wednesdays crowd. You determine the reality, the life that you want.

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A solemn student vigil in support of Palestine on the University of Tennessee campus May 1 stands in contrast with the images of police tearing down encampments at other campuses across America.

Like their peers at other campuses, Students for Justice in Palestine called for Knoxville campus leaders to disclose any investments tied to Israel and divest from them.

"It's really tough to know that the money you earn and the money that you spend goes to oppress the people of Palestine. And the United States, as well as especially the University of Tennessee, should have no part in any of (this)," Students for Justice in Palestine co-founder Hamzah Saleh told the crowd of about 100.

Saleh and the group also asked UT leaders to cancel a study abroad trip to Israel.

Hamas launched a surprise attack from Gaza on Oct 7, 2023. The attackers killed more than 1,100 people, most of them civilians, and took hostage about 250 civilians and soldiers. Israel has released evidence showing the attackers committed rape during the assault, and a United Nations envoy told the UN Security Council in March she found "reasonable grounds to believe that conflict-related sexual violence  including rape and gang-rape  occurred across multiple locations of Israel and the Gaza periphery during the attacks" and may be ongoing against the hostages Hamas is holding.

Israel launched a massive counterattack that has claimed the lives of more than 34,500 Palestinians, the Gaza Health Ministry told Reuters on April 30. Palestinian health officials say two-thirds of those killed were women and children. Since June 2007, Israel has enforced an enhanced land, sea and air blockade of the Gaza Strip. UNICEF and other international aid organizations report the blockade has caused patients to die from lack of emergency medical attention, severely curtailed shipments of food and medicine, strangled construction and reconstruction efforts, and created crises in education, unemployment and the provision of critical health care and basic services such as clean drinking water and electricity.

"Today, it's just all the students really coming together to show the University of Tennessee that, as students, we don't support any investments abroad for the state of Israel, or anything that can help facilitate the apartheid that's being imposed on the Palestinian people, and that they need to disclose the investments to the students here and the community here so we can make sure they align with our core values as an institution," Saleh said.

"That's not just our right to know, that's also the administration's responsibility."

College campuses have been hot spots of activism marked by encampments and demonstrations demanding an end to the Israel-Hamas war and often divestment in Israel. Columbia University has dominated national headlines, particularly after police raided a student-occupied building April 30.

Hamzah Saleh speaks during a Vigil for Palestine near the Pedestrian Walkway on the University of Tennessee's campus May 1.

What is Students for Justice in Palestine and what are its demands?

UT recognized Students for Justice in Palestine as an organization in January, Saleh told Knox News. The group hosts events educating students about Palestine and its history.

"Our main goal isn't protest. A lot of times our voices isn't heard, but our number one goal is to educate our fellow student body," Saleh said.

The group posted an April 30 list of demands on Instagram, including a call for transparency on investments and donations, for divestment of endowments from corporations directly or indirectly involved in wars or conflicts, cancelation of the study abroad program trip to Israel and rejection of threats to free speech.

Advocates gather for a Vigil for Palestine hosted by the Students for Justice in Palestine on the University of Tennessee campus.

Separate protest on campus ended at the College of Law

A demonstration by students and community members separate from the vigil later formed at the Torchbearer statue, according to The Daily Beacon student news organization. A group in support of Israel gathered as well and the two groups moved from Circle Park to Cumberland Avenue.

As the demonstration continued into the night near the College of Law building, administrators warned the group after midnight to disperse, the Beacon reported. University and local police arrived but demonstrators had already left.

The university released this statement:

"The university values freedom of speech and expression and is committed to the safety of all members of our campus community. Everyone on campus is expected to follow applicable laws and university policy for freedom of assembly and demonstration. A group of administrators from divisions and offices across campus had been communicating with the group gathered on the outskirts of campus all day and returned this evening to reiterate permissible and impermissible activities, including the state law prohibiting camping on state property, like the universitys campus. No arrests were made," UT spokesperson Kerry Gardner sent Knox News via email.

Keenan Thomas is a higher education reporter. Email keenan.thomas@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter @specialk2real.

Support strong local journalism by subscribing to knoxnews.com/subscribe.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: University of Tennessee students host vigil for Palestine
Former drywall finisher Matt Algas bought the Emack & Bolio's ice cream shop in Peoria Heights late last year. He's added homemade waffle bowls to the menu and has plans for a mobile version of the shop.

Matt Algas had thought of a good way to spend his time after retiring from his job as a drywall finisher: owning his own ice cream shop.

He just didn't think the opportunity was going to come so quickly.

"We had heard that (Emack & Bolio's) was for sale," Algas said. "I had considered in the future doing something like this once I retired from the union. When my wife, who is a realtor, heard that this was for sale, we decided to make an appointment to take a look at it and see if we were interested in it or not."

After seeing an article in the Journal Star about the sale, Algas and his wife decided to take the jump into the ice cream business, buying the Peoria Heights store of the Emack & Bolio's ice cream chain from local business owner Kati Faletti last November.

Emack & Bolio's at 4534 N. Prospect Road in Peoria Heights is now under new ownership.

Emack & Bolio's has a second store in the former Peoria Riverfront Visitors Center that opened in 2015 after reaching an agreement with the city of Peoria, which owns the Water Street building that houses it.

Algas didn't have a ton of time with the store open last winter. He made sure everything was open during the holiday season before closing for a few months to make some changes and make the store his own.

More: 'Well worth the wait': Peoria lounge opens as father-son team navigates challenges

For instance, the shop now serves homemade waffle bowls to go along with traditional bowls and cones. Most of the equipment needed to make the bowls  and sprinkle on the chocolate sauce and other toppings  was available in the store, so Algas decided to put it to good use.

"I don't know if those were utilized before," Algas said. "I know the equipment was here, but I don't think they were too popular. We decided we were making them weekly and they go like crazy."

New owner Matt Algas makes his own homemade waffle bowls at Emack & Bolio's in Peoria Heights.

In addition, Algas has adorned the walls with artwork and installed a whiteboard where people can write down whatever they are thinking at any given point in a day.

"I included that whiteboard for kids to entertain their brains while their parents are eating ice cream," Algas said.

More: 'It feels like a harvest': Peoria business owner overcomes barriers with new restaurant

The board changes from day to day, with Algas erasing the prior day's work to start anew the next day. In some cases, people can find inspiration from what is already on the board, with Algas' nephew, Noah, starting a bit of a trend through asking customers to write their name on the board, which many of them proceeded to do.

"His name was covered at the end of the day by everybody (else's) name," Algas said. "It's just so random. It can be anything from kids drawing ice cream cones (to) anything (else)."

Story continues

A mural by prolific Peoria artist Devin McGlone graces the wall above a white board for customers at Emack & Bolio's in Peoria Heights.

Algas is quick to remind people that the content on the board is "very G-rated," although there have been times where the line has been crossed.

"There was just a 'For a good time' kind of thing up there," Algas said. "(I) was like, 'No, that doesn't belong there.'"

Those more familiar with Emack & Bolio's won't find that too much has changed under Algas' ownership. Their traditional ice cream flavors remain available, with the same rock 'n' roll vibe that permeates the chain, which also has stores in Massachusetts, New York and even in China.

For the future, Algas is thinking about making the brand a bit more mobile, allowing people to bring the Emack & Bolio's flavor to parties and other social events. He also plans to be a regular visitor to Peoria Heights' Friday Night in the Heights with his mobile shop.

Chocolate sprinkles cling to a cone at Emack & Bolio's ice cream shop, now under new ownership, in Peoria Heights.

"Every first Friday of the month, there's a band and a social gathering," Algas said. "We're going to be doing a lot of the (Peoria) Park District stuff, PrideFest, the drone fest, all kinds of things at the riverfront. We're going to be doing a lot of mobile stuff."

More: New chocolate business offers the Peoria area 'a mouthful of bliss'

A resident of Peoria Heights, Algas just wants to continue making Emack & Bolio's a vital part of the community through his entrepreneurship. While he's still getting his feet wet in the ice cream business, he feels that he's been able to adapt to just about anything it will throw at him.

"I adapt to just about any job that I ever have," Algas said. "Even though I've been doing drywall for the last 30 years, I can adapt to just about anything. I just learned it (and) there's really not that much to it. You just have to be aware of your allergy stuff (and) the law side of it, but for the most part, it's just (about) having a good time.

It's always a fun job. There's people in here that I just chat with. It's a fun job."

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Emack and Bolio's in Peoria Heights looks to future with new owner
UpLift project managers said that the guaranteed income program will continue until its planned conclusion in the spring of 2025 with private funding support following the new law's signing. (Photo by BetterPhoto/iStock/Getty Images)

Although Iowa has a new law preventing local governments from funding guaranteed income programs, the UpLift program in Iowa plans to continue through outside support.

Gov. Kim Reynolds signed House File 2319 into law Wednesday. The measure prevents cities and counties from implementing programs that support supplemental incomes to residents with no work requirements or restrictions on how the funds are spent. The new law gives the state attorney generals office the ability to send cease-and-desist letters to local governments that attempt to violate the ban.

The new law will largely affect funding for the UpLift pilot program currently underway in central Iowa. The 24-month study provides 110 people  individuals in Polk, Dallas and Warren counties with household incomes at or below 60% the area median income and with at least one dependent in their household  with $500 per month.

The program, led by the Harkin Institute for Public Policy & Citizen Engagement, was launched as a research project evaluating the impact of guaranteed income on participants health, quality of life and financial security. The Center for Guaranteed Income Research at the University of Pennsylvania and Des Moines Universitys public health team is leading research on the results.

Currently, the cities of Des Moines, Urbandale and Windsor Heights, and Polk County are partially funding the program, in collaboration with private partners including Wells Fargo, Principal and Mid-Iowa Health foundations and groups like the United Way of Central Iowa.

Under the new law, UpLift will no longer be able to receive funding through the cities and counties the program is currently working with beginning Jan. 1, 2025. The program, launched in May 2023, is set to conclude in May 2025  meaning there will be at least five months when UpLift planned to receive local government funding that will no longer be available.

However, Ashley Ezzio and Michael Berger, project coordinators with UpLift, said in a statement that the team behind the program plans to continue the project and publish results on the original schedule.

With an 11-member funder group, the investment in UpLift is diverse, Ezzio and Berger said in a statement. Due to multiple funding streams, the pilot will continue under its full design of 24 months of payments and the sharing of final research findings in the summer of 2026. UpLifts Project Coordination Team and Research Teams will publish and share these findings widely with the Central Iowa community to inform policy and resource discussions regarding potential solutions to address the growing needs of low-income, working families in our communities.

While the UpLift program is continuing on its original schedule, supporters of the program have decried the new law for preventing local governments from researching and investing in different ways to address issues like poverty in their own communities. Matthew Reed, executive director of The Harkin Institute, called the new law a mistake.

We supported UpLift  The Central Basic Income Pilot to find out if a basic income program would work in Iowa, Reed said in a statement after the law was signed. To judge the program before seeing results from the research study is a mistake.

During debate on the bill, Democrats argued the measure overrides local control. Sen. Janice Weiner, D-Iowa City, said local governments should have the authority to test methods like guaranteed income programs, especially as no state funding is being used by local governments to finance initiatives like UpLift.

This is the province of local government  to experiment, to see what works, to run pilot programs, Weiner said. If it doesnt work, if people dont like them, they wont be elected the next time. Its the place for these sorts of of experiments.

However, Republicans argued that guaranteed income programs have been researched and tested elsewhere in both America and abroad  and said results have shown government incomes do not help alleviate poverty. In the House, floor manager Rep. Steven Holt, R-Denison, cited studies that suggest guaranteed income programs effectively subsidize employers paying low wages and offering inconsistent work, as well as citing research on guaranteed income from the the 1960s and 1970s finding that people who receive such benefits work fewer hours than people who do not.

Holt has also called guaranteed income programs socialism on steroids and an attack on American values. He said problems with these benefit programs mean state action was necessary.

In this case, the importance of protecting our work ethic and preventing an increase in government dependence trumps the local control argument, Holt said. Just as we do not allow cities and counties to have differing laws on murder, were not going to allow cities and counties to murder our work ethic.

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The post UpLift to continue despite new law banning local government funding appeared first on Iowa Capital Dispatch.
ESCANABA, Mich. (WJMN)  Dozens of Upper Peninsula veterans and their guardians are headed for Washington, D.C. on Thursday.

The group is made up of Vietnam and Korean War veterans. They were welcomed Wednesday night with a reception at the Quality Inn in Escanaba. Along with sharing poems and words of gratitude, the names of every veteran on the flight was read aloud. Part of that effort was for recognition, the other was to possibly help them reconnect with their brother and sisters in service who they may have lost touch with.

This will be the 23rd honor flight since the program started in 2015. The veterans will spend the day visiting memorials around D.C.

U.P. Honor Flight Mission XXI complete

They are with other people who understand, who are of like minds and understand what they went through. They are with other people who never got the welcome home just like them. They feel finally to shed those tears and to start the healing process, said Upper Peninsula Honor Flight Vice President, Kim Knauf Wyckoff.

Upper Peninsula Honor Flight is all volunteer run and relies on donations and fundraisers in the U.P. to support these trips. Volunteer organizers shared with us their reason for continuing these missions.

The stories that we get after the flight. A lot of the veterans will stay at the hotel again tomorrow night. We like to come down the following day and ask them what they thought about the honor flight. And in many cases the transformation of these veterans in just a very short period of time, that they finally got the recognition, the thank you, the honor, the welcome home that they never got when they came home from service. That is what keeps Honor Flight going. That is so unbelievable. We call those Honor Flight miracle and we have so many Honor Flight miracles that happen, said Knauf Wyckoff.

If youre a veteran interested in future flights, would like to attend as a guardian or are looking for ways to support honor flights, learn more about Upper Peninsula Honor Flight here.

There is also a welcome home celebration for the veterans Thursday night at the Delta County Airport. Doors open at 7 p.m. The return flight was originally scheduled to arrive at 8:30 p.m. It is now expected to arrive at 9:30.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJMN - UPMatters.com.
US accuses Russia of using chemical weapons in Ukraine

The State Department accused Russia on Thursday of using chemical weapons in Ukraine, following a new set of sanctions against the country.

Russia violated the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act by using the chemical weapon chloropicrin against Ukrainian troops, the department said. The lung-damaging chemical was used as a poison gas in World War I.

The new sanctions come after Ukrainian military leadership first accused Russia in February of using the gas in more than 800 attacks over the course of the war. Moscow denied the allegations at the time, countering that Ukrainian forces are the ones that used banned chemical weapons.

The State and Treasury Department sanctions announced Wednesday include some targeted to Russias chemical and biological weapons programs. The sanctions also target about 80 other companies involved in the Russian defense industry and more than 280 individuals assisting the war effort, the State Department said.

Individuals targeted include those associated with the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in prison under suspicious circumstances earlier this year. The Biden administration has said Russian President Vladimir Putin is responsible for the death.

The sanctions also target Chinese companies accused of assisting Russian military efforts.

Yesterdays action specifically reflects the concern of the United States and our international partners with entities based in the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) that both produce and provide critical inputs to Russias military-industrial base, the State Department wrote in a statement.

Wednesdays sanctions separately ban the import of Russian uranium for use in nuclear energy production.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the sanctions further disrupt and degrade Russias war efforts by going after its military industrial base and the evasion networks that help supply it.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
US appeals court will not rehear case over Pa. mail-in ballots. Will SCOTUS take it on?

A federal appeals court has refused to revisit its ruling over mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania, leaving the U.S. Supreme Court as the next possible stop for a case that originated in Erie and that could influence the outcome of the 2024 presidential election.

The Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has declined to reconsider its March 27 ruling that election officials in Pennsylvania are barred from counting mail-in ballots that arrive in time but that have inaccurate dates or no dates handwritten on their exterior envelopes.

The 2-1 decision by a three-judge panel reversed a Nov. 21 decision by U.S. District Judge Susan Paradise Baxter, of the Erie Division of the Pittsburgh-based U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Baxter held that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires election officials to count mail-in ballots without dates or accurate dates handwritten on their exterior envelopes if the ballots are received in time.

Mail-in ballots from the 2022 midterm election that were not dated, shown at left, or incorrectly dated, at right, are displayed at the Erie County Courthouse on Election Day, Nov. 8, 2022. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has refused to reconsider a decision that said incorrectly dated or undated ballots must be invalidated in Pennsylvania, even if the ballots are received in time.

The Pennsylvania State Conference of the NAACP and other civil rights groups sued before Baxter in 2022 to challenge the Pennsylvania law that requires the invalidation of mail-in ballots due to misdated or undated forms.

After those groups won, the Republican National Committee appealed Baxter's decision, sending the case to the Circuit Court.

Following the 3rd Circuit panel's decision, the NAACP and other groups on April 10 petitioned the Circuit Court to rehear the case before a panel or the full 14-judge court.

Only four of the judges voted for a rehearing, leading the Circuit Court to deny the request, according to a one-line order docketed on Tuesday.

Could an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court be next?

The next option would be for the voting rights groups to petition the Supreme Court, which first would have to grant a request to hear an appeal for the case to go forward. The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania is leading the representation of the groups.

"We are reviewing our options," ACLU of Pennsylvania spokesman Ian Pajer-Rogers said in an email.

The case hinges on the what is known as the Materiality Provision of the Civil Rights Act. The provision prohibits states from disqualifying voters because of a failure to provide unnecessary information on a voting application or ballot.

The mail-in ballot case that went before the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals originated with a decision by U.S. District Judge Susan Paradise Baxter, of Erie. The Circuit Court reversed Baxter's decision.

In her decision, Baxter found that elections officials do not use the date on the outer envelope of a mail-in ballot to determine whether to count a vote. Baxter said officials know when a mail-in ballot is returned by scanning a barcode on the return envelope.

On appeal, majority of the 3rd Circuit panel acknowledged that the date requirement "serves little apparent purpose." But the majority said the Materiality Provision does not override Pennsylvania law that "undated or misdated ballots are invalid."

A then-Republican-controlled General Assembly passed Act 77, the state law that authorized mail-in ballots, in 2019, and it took effect in 2020.

Ruling spotlights regulations for mail-in ballots

The 3rd Circuit's ruling will remain law unless the Supreme Court rules otherwise. The decision has heightened awareness of the rules for mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania, considered a swing state in the presidential race.

One million voters used mail-in ballots in the November 2022 election, and 10,000 of those ballots were not counted because of problems with the dating requirements, even though the ballots were returned in time.

U.S. Circuit Judge Patty Shwartz cited those statistics in her dissenting opinion in the Circuit Court panel's 2-1 decision in the mail-in ballot case.

The majority ruling that reversed Baxter's decision "is a clear reminder that all voters must carefully review and comply with every instruction and requirement imposed upon them," Shwartz wrote in the dissent. "If they do not, they risk having their otherwise valid votes discounted based on even the most inconsequential mistake."

Senior U.S. Circuit Judge Thomas Ambro wrote the majority decision. U.S. Circuit Judge Cindy Chung joined the majority.

Democratic presidents appointed Ambro, Chung and Shwartz. Bill Clinton appointed Ambro, Joe Biden appointed Chung and Barack Obama appointed Shwartz.

Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com or 814-881-0238. Follow him on X @ETNpalattella.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: 3rd Circuit declines to rehear case on PA mail-in ballots. What's next
By Daphne Psaledakis and Simon Lewis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. on Thursday called on both Israel and Hamas to ensure that aid bound for civilians in Gaza is not disrupted, after a shipment from Jordan was attacked by Israeli settlers and subsequently diverted by Palestinian militants.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken viewed the aid on Tuesday just before it departed from the headquarters of the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization in Amman bound for the newly opened crossing into Gaza at Erez.

The visit was part of a U.S. push to increase the aid getting to civilians in Gaza amid warnings of imminent famine after nearly seven months of war stemming from Hamas's Oct. 7 attacks in southern Israel.

Before the shipment reached the crossing, however, Jordan said it was attacked by Israeli settlers.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters that Blinken raised the incident with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Wednesday, and credited Israel for arresting three people involved in the attack.

"That's the step that they ought to take whenever there are attacks on aid convoys," Miller said. "Furthermore, they ought to prevent these attacks from happening in the first place."

The same aid convoy was later transferred to a humanitarian aid group to be distributed inside Gaza but was "intercepted and diverted" by Hamas, Miller said, adding that he believed the United Nations either had or was in the process of recovering the aid.

"It was an unacceptable act by Hamas to divert this aid to begin with, to seize this aid," Miller said.

"If there's one thing that Hamas could do to jeopardize the shipment of aid, it would be diverting it for their own use, rather than allowing it to go to the innocent civilians that need it. So they certainly should refrain from doing that in the future," Miller added.

(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis and Simon Lewis; additonal reporting by Jasper Ward; Editing by Chris Reese and Paul Simao)
US intelligence chief: Russia's war against Ukraine 'unlikely to end anytime soon'

Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine is unlikely to end anytime soon, Director of U.S. National Intelligence Avril Haines said on May 2, according to Reuters.

Moscow is likely to continue its "increasingly aggressive tactics" against Ukraine, including attacks on energy infrastructure, according to Haines.

Russia's recently intensified missile and drone strikes against Ukraine's critical infrastructure reportedly damaged half of the country's energy system.

Moscow attacked Ukraine with over 3,2000 guided aerial bombs, nearly 300 Shahed-type drones, and over 300 missiles in April alone, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin believes that domestic and international events are developing in his favor, according to the top U.S. intelligence official.

"(Increasingly aggressive tactics) are intended to impress Ukraine that continuing to fight will only increase the damage to Ukraine and offer no plausible path to victory," Haines said.

After months of delays and political infighting, the U.S.passed the $61 billion foreign aid package last week. The funds are urgently needed as Russian forces gain ground at the front lines and massive aerial attacks erode Ukraine's air defense capacity.

Kyiv has vowed to liberate all of the territories occupied by Russia, including Crimea. The long-awaited U.S. military aid gives Ukraine"a chance at victory" against Russia's war, Zelensky said.

Read also: Russian strikes overwhelm Ukraines overstretched air defense amid Western aid delays

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
The US military has finally acknowledged that it mistakenly killed a civilian man in an airstrike in Syria nearly a year ago after misidentifying him as a senior al Qaeda leader, according to the findings of an investigation ordered by US Central Command last summer.

The investigation was completed in November, but CENTCOM did not publicly disclose its findings until Thursday.

The probe concluded the strike was conducted in compliance with the law of armed conflict as well as Department of Defense and CENTCOM policies but revealed several issues that could be improved, according to a summary of the findings obtained by CNN.

The summary declined to detail the issues, saying that many of the facts of the investigation remain classified. We are committed to learning from this incident and improving our targeting processes to mitigate potential civilian harm, the summary says.

Questions about who was actually killed in the May 3, 2023, airstrike were raised almost immediately, with the mans family insisting he was not an al Qaeda leader but a farmer and father of 10 named Loutfi Hassan Mesto. Still, the US did not launch an official investigation of the strike until nearly 8 weeks later after the strike that killed him.

Mohammad Mesto sits next to the grave of his brother Lutfi, who was killed on May 3 in a suspected US military strike in northern Syria. - Omar Albam/AP

Asked about the nearly six month delay to making the conclusions public, a defense official pointed to the need to coordinate with multiple organizations, including the Syrian White Helmets, a non-governmental emergency response organization.

Multiple extensions were requested in order to ensure this investigation was thorough, accurate, and included all relevant information, the official said.

The investigation was ultimately ordered by General Erik Kurilla, the senior general in charge of US forces in the Middle East. Kurilla ordered that his command announce on Twitter that a senior al Qaeda leader had been targeted in the May 2023 drone strike, despite not yet having confirmation of who was actually killed in the strike, CNN previously reported.

Mestos family was not offered a compensation payment, known as an ex gratia payment, following his killing, the defense official told CNN.

A compensation payment was considered, but determined not appropriate, the official said. The family will not be receiving monetary compensation given the facts of this situation and both policy and practical limitations.

It is unclear what about the deadly drone strike led the military to conclude an ex gratia payment was not appropriate in this case.

The incident raised questions about how thoroughly CENTCOM had implemented the militarys civilian harm mitigation policy, a process for preventing and responding to civilian casualties as a result of US military operations.

The policy was developed in 2022 after a botched US drone strike in Kabul that killed 10 civilians in the final days of the withdrawal from Afghanistan. In that case, CENTCOM opened a formal 15-6 investigation into the strike within a week of the operation. Family members of the victims were offered ex gratia payments.

The investigation of Mestos death, which concluded on November 15, 2023, was carried out by senior service members and civilian employees not directly involved with the strike, with extensive subject matter expertise in intelligence, law of armed conflict, operations, and targeting matters, the CENTCOM summary says. The team, led by Brigadier General John P. Cogbill, interviewed more than 40 witnesses, visited sites in Iraq, Jordan and the US, and solicited information from non-governmental organizations.

Mestos family previously told CNN that he had been out grazing his sheep when he was killed. Loutfi never left his village during the Syrian uprisings and did not support any political faction, his brother said.

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The American military battalion stationed in Lithuania will remain in the country indefinitely, not just until 2025 as previously planned, Lithuanian Defense Minister Laurynas Kasciunas said on May 2.

During my visit to Washington, I received firm and clear confirmation from the US National Security Council and the Pentagon that the U.S. presence in Lithuania is indefinite and the deployment of forces in the region will remain unchanged, Kasciunas told the Baltic News Service (BNS).

The three Baltic countries are Washington's NATO allies bordering Russia. Tensions between Moscow and the alliance have been mounting since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The U.S. has maintained a force presence in Lithuania on a rotational basis since 2019. Following the outbreak of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, these battalions were reinforced with more troops and equipment. Lithuania's American battalion was originally expected to remain in the country until 2025.

Kasciunas said the decision to allow the American battalion to remain indefinitely was made in recognition of the value of military presence in Lithuania as a means to defend and strengthen the NATO alliance against Moscow.

During the meetings, I made it clear that the US presence in Lithuania is necessary, and together with NATO, the German brigade, and national forces, this is precisely the necessary combat power that can reliably deter Russia."

Since 2020, the U.S. Defense Department has been developing military capability and interoperability of the Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian militaries through the Baltic Security Initiative (BSI). Washington allocated $225 million to the initiative in 2023 and $169 million a year before that. The focus of the funding is on developing air defense, maritime situational awareness, and land forces.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Congress passed a bill allocating $228 million in military aid to Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia.

A Lithuanian intelligence report from earlier this month says that even as Moscow keeps allocating huge resources to war against Ukraine, it also keeps preparing for a long-term confrontation with NATO, including in the Baltic Sea region.

Read also: Poland, Lithuania, other NATO allies begin military exercise around Suwalki Gap

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Willie Walsh claims Germany's 'short-term cash grab' will damage the economy's long-term growth - Reuters/Dilara Senkaya

Germany has been accused of policy madness over its decision to increase airline passenger taxes by nearly a fifth.

A group of the worlds largest airlines have warned that a 19pc jump in Germanys aviation levies will damage the countrys economy and erode the industrys ability to hit net zero.

The change, which came into force on Wednesday, will mean that each passenger flying to and from German airports must now pay between 15.53 (13.28) and 70.83 in tax on their fares.

Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) lobby group and former boss of British Airways, said: When Germanys economic performance is anaemic at best, denting its competitiveness with more taxes on aviation is policy madness.

The Government should be prioritising measures to improve Germanys competitive position and encouraging trade and travel.

Instead, they have gone for a short-term cash grab which can only damage the economys long-term growth.

IATA said the tax rise  first announced in December  will make German exports, tourism and jobs market less competitive, while also holding back the recovery of the countrys air transport sector.

The recovery of Germanys air sector post-Covid has been one of the slowest in Europe, as the countrys international passenger numbers are still down 20pc compared to pre-pandemic.

The tax increase will also hamper the airline industrys goal of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050, Mr Walsh warned, as it will make it harder for carriers to invest in sustainable fuels.

He said: Money taken out of the industry means that it has less money to invest in other decarbonisation measures.

It comes as German policymakers propose the introduction of a Europe-wide jet fuel tax, which the industry says would make it more expensive to do business in Germany.

Mr Walsh added: The German Government appears to have an unhealthy obsession with aviation taxes.

In February, Tuis group chief executive Sebastian Ebel hit out at Germanys regulatory madness and bureaucracy.

Mr Ebel criticised the Government particularly because the increase in aviation tax was announced after passengers had already booked tickets.

The German Government was contacted for comment.

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The US military's massive unmanned 'Manta Ray' submarine cleared its first sea test

The US military is developing a huge underwater drone called the "Manta Ray."

The unmanned system passed its first major test at sea earlier this year.

Drones like the Manta Ray can function like a torpedo, mine, or small submarine.

A US military submarine that looks like a giant metal manta ray and is currently under development passed its first major test at sea.

The unmanned prototype aptly named "Manta Ray" completed "full-scale, in-water testing" off the coast of Southern California in February and March, the Pentagon's research arm, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) said in a statement on Wednesday.

The Manta Ray, built by defense contractor Northrop Grumman, is an uncrewed underwater vehicle, a type of drone that can essentially function like a torpedo or small submarine but can also double as a mine.

According to DARPA, the five-year-old Manta Ray program looks to build a "new class of long-duration, long-range, payload-capable UUVs" that can operate in various maritime environments around the world. It didn't really elaborate further on the function.

Testing earlier this year evaluated the Manta Ray's different modes of propulsion and steering  its buoyancy, propellers, and control surfaces  while submerged at sea.

The Manta Ray being towed in preparation for testing. Courtesy of Northrop Grumman

"Our successful, full-scale Manta Ray testing validates the vehicle's readiness to advance toward real-world operations after being rapidly assembled in the field from modular subsections," Kyle Woerner, the DARPA program manager for the Manta Ray, said in the statement.

"The combination of cross-country modular transportation, in-field assembly, and subsequent deployment demonstrates a first-of-kind capability for an extra-large UUV," he added.

One photograph of the Manta Ray shows it sitting adjacent to a support boat, and another shows it with people standing on top of it. These underscore just how large this drone actually is. Despite its large size, the underwater system can be easily shipped and assembled, DARPA said, which allows for the vehicle to be quickly deployed anywhere without crowding up the piers at US naval facilities.

DARPA program manager Dr. Kyle Woerner (right) talks with a member of the Northrop Grumman team while standing atop the Manta Ray vehicle. Courtesy of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

Also, "shipping the vehicle directly to its intended area of operation conserves energy that the vehicle would otherwise expend during transit," Woerner said.

"Once deployed, the vehicle uses efficient, buoyancy-driven gliding to move through the water," he continued. "The craft is designed with several payload bays of multiple sizes and types to enable a wide variety of naval mission sets."

DARPA noted that it is working with the US Navy on next steps for testing the Manta Ray.

The Navy already operates various types of UUVs  alongside unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)  for reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering missions.

US Navy Sailors launch an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) from an 11-meter rigid hull inflatable boat. US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class John Paul Kotara II

In the Middle East, for example, a first-of-its-kind Navy initiative known as Task Force 59 is working to merge unmanned systems and artificial intelligence with maritime operations in the region. This program is intended to give the US more surveillance and deterrence options and is becoming an increasingly important job as wars become more dependent on autonomous platforms.

The US, however, is not the only one to operate maritime drones; it has seen friends and foes alike use USVs and UUVs to conduct operations amid conflicts in the Red Sea and Black Sea.

In recent months, Iran-backed Houthi rebels have attempted to use USVs and UUVs to hit ships off the coast of Yemen. These threats, however, are either destroyed by US and coalition forces in the water, or in preemptive strikes on land before the weapons can even be launched.

Ukraine, meanwhile, has relied heavily on USVs to target Russian warships in the Black Sea. Kyiv has been quite successful with this asymmetric style of warfare, which Moscow has been unable to consistently defend against.

Read the original article on Business Insider
FILE PHOTO: Scott Sheffield, CEO of Pioneer Resources, speaks during the IHS CERAWeek 2015 energy conference in Houston

By Sabrina Valle

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A U.S. regulator's censure of a top U.S. oil executive over private meetings with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) group of oil producers has put a spotlight on dinners attended by dozens of shale executives.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Thursday barred former Pioneer Natural Resources CEO Scott Sheffield from joining the board of Exxon Mobil, which is acquiring Pioneer for $60 billion in stock.

The FTC accused the 72-year-old executive of leading a coordinated effort with other U.S. oil firms and with OPEC "to keep production artificially low" and increase oil companies' profits.

In its complaint, the FTC pointed to meetings that shale and OPEC officials held over several years, including a series of private dinners at a Houston energy conference.

Executives who attended previously had described to Reuters the meetings as discussing oil demand, spare production capacity and shareholder requirements.

Pioneer said Sheffield had acted in the best interests of the oil industry, its investors, and said his actions helped lift U.S. oil production and exports.

"The FTC's complaint reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of the U.S. and global oil markets and misreads the nature and intent of Mr. Sheffields actions," the company said, defending its former chief as "a leading and internationally respected industry authority."

The first shale-OPEC dinner, in March 2017, was organized by then-OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo after OPEC had failed in a price war to halt U.S. shale's rapid market share gains and wanted to understand how the industry operated, the FTC said.

Subsequent dinners at the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston brought OPEC together with shale executives including Hess CEO John Hess, Occidental Petroleum CEO Vicki Hollub, Devon Energy CEO Rick Muncrief, and Chesapeake Energy chief Domenic Dell'Osso, among others.

Spokespeople for the companies did not respond to requests for comment.

"Im seeing a series of meetings where OPEC is reaching out and spending more time with US independents than I have seen over my entire career, Sheffield said in 2017, according to the FTC complaint.

OPEC members had been perplexed by how quickly U.S. companies had recovered from losses during an OPEC-initiated price war between 2014 through 2016 that had led to dozens of U.S. energy bankruptcies.

But the shale industry quickly bounced back with heavy investments and led the U.S. to become the world's largest oil producer in a few years. It produced a record 12.9 million barrels per day last year.

In 2017, OPEC cut its production, reducing a market glut that reduced global prices, and handed a victory to U.S. producers. The glut returned in 2020 after demand plummeted on COVID-19 shutdowns.

Sheffield was vocal about his desire to move away from the boom-bust cycles that plagued the U.S. oil business, and became an outspoken advocate for prioritizing shareholder returns over production gains.

He spoke about his contacts with Saudi Aramco officials and other members of the shale dinners attended OPEC meetings in Vienna. In a March 2023 Reuters interview, Sheffield said Pioneer had twice hosted Saudi officials and explained the company's operations and business practices to them.

"They can get the same information from most service companies," he said. "But they like to talk to producers... we have so much data."

(Reporting by Sabrina Valle and Liz Hampton; editing by Gary McWilliams and Deepa Babington)
By Humeyra Pamuk, Alexander Cornwell and Matt Spetalnick

WASHINGTON/DUBAI (Reuters) -The Biden administration and Saudi Arabia are finalizing an agreement for U.S. security guarantees and civilian nuclear assistance, even as an Israel-Saudi normalization deal envisioned as part of a Middle East grand bargain remains elusive, according to seven people familiar with the matter.

A working draft lays out principles and proposals aimed at putting back on track a U.S.-led effort to reshape the volatile region that was derailed by Hamas Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the outbreak of war in Gaza, according to two sources who have seen the document.

It appears to be a long-shot strategy that faces numerous obstacles, not least the uncertainty over how the Gaza conflict will unfold.

U.S. and Saudi negotiators have, for now, prioritized a bilateral security accord that would then be part of a wider package presented to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who would have to decide whether to make concessions to secure historic ties with Riyadh, five of the sources said.

Were very close to reaching an agreement on the U.S.-Saudi portion of the package, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Thursday, predicting that details could be ironed out in very short order.

That part of the plan is likely to call for formal U.S. guarantees to defend the kingdom as well as Saudi access to more advanced U.S. weaponry in return for halting Chinese arms purchases and restricting Beijings investment in the country, according to foreign diplomats in the Gulf and sources in Washington.

The U.S.-Saudi security accord is also expected to involve sharing emerging technologies with Riyadh, including artificial intelligence, according to people familiar with the matter.

The terms are expected to be finalized within weeks, a U.S. official said on condition of anonymity.

The conditions that Netanyahu will face to join a broader deal are expected to include winding down the war in Gaza and agreeing on a pathway to Palestinian statehood, both of which Netanyahu has steadfastly resisted.

U.S. officials hope Netanyahu will not want to pass up the historic opportunity to open relations with Saudi Arabia, guardian of Islams holiest sites, but are mindful of the domestic political pressures he is under, including keeping Israels most right-wing government ever from collapsing.

A broader pact giving the world's biggest oil exporter U.S. military protection together with normalization with Israel would unite two long-time foes and bind Riyadh to Washington at a time when China is making inroads in the region.

A normalization deal would also bolster Israel's defenses against arch-foe Iran and give U.S. President Joe Biden a diplomatic victory ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election.

Overhanging these efforts is Netanyahus threat to launch a military offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians are sheltering, despite U.S. entreaties to refrain from an operation that could mean further heavy civilian casualties.

NO NORMALIZATION WHILE GAZA CONFLICT RAGES

Saudi Arabia has called for an immediate truce leading to a permanent and sustainable ceasefire in Israel's war against Hamas and concrete steps toward establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

Putting a proposal on the table, that's one thing, a proposal that we could take to Israel (for normalization), Miller said. But Saudi Arabia, he added, has made clear there will be no normalization deal "while the conflict in Gaza is still raging.

He spoke just a day after Secretary of State Antony Blinken returned from a Middle East trip in which he held separate talks with Netanyahu and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

While the Biden administration may be near to unveiling its plans, time is running short to make it a reality as the U.S. heads deeper into the presidential election campaign.

What Bidens aides originally envisioned, in three-way negotiations before the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, was for the Saudis to gain U.S. security commitments in exchange for normalization with Israel. Now the administration is negotiating with Riyadh on a separate track and seeking to finalize the offer of a "grand bargain," which would leave Netanyahu to decide whether to join or miss out.

Miller said the components of the broader package - the U.S.-Saudi deal, potential normalization with Israel and a pathway to Palestinian statehood - would all be linked together. "None go forward without the other," he said.

It remains unclear whether U.S. defense guarantees for Saudi Arabia, which are expected to fall short of a full NATO-style pact, would be enshrined in a treaty requiring congressional ratification. But any agreement on nuclear cooperation is likely to require approval from Capitol Hill.

A proposed Saudi deal would face opposition in Congress, where many lawmakers have denounced Riyadh for intervention in Yemen, moves to prop up oil prices and its role in the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Senator Edward Markey, a longtime advocate for nuclear nonproliferation safeguards, said in a letter to fellow Democrat Biden on Wednesday that Saudi Arabia, "a nation with a terrible human rights record," cannot be trusted to use its nuclear program purely for peaceful purposes and will seek to develop nuclear weapons.

However, congressional aides said the right agreement could attract enough support to gain the two-thirds Senate majority needed to ratify a treaty, winning the support of Democrats for something that is a Biden priority, and Republicans, if Israel's government is on board.

(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Matt Spetalnick in Washington and Alexander Cornwell in the Gulf; Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle, Steve Holland, Simon Lewis, Jonathan Landay and Daphne Psaledakis; Writing by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Don Durfee and Daniel Wallis)
(Bloomberg) -- The US and Saudi Arabia are nearing a historic pact that would offer the kingdom security guarantees and lay out a possible pathway to diplomatic ties with Israel, if its government brings the war in Gaza to an end, people familiar with the matter said.

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The agreement faces plenty of obstacles but would amount to a new version of a framework that was scuttled when Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, triggering the conflict in Gaza. Negotiations between Washington and Riyadh have sped up recently, and many officials are optimistic that they could reach a deal within weeks, according to the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations.

Such an agreement would potentially reshape the Middle East. Beyond bolstering Israel and Saudi Arabias security, it would strengthen the USs position in the region at the expense of Iran and even China.

The pact may offer Saudi Arabia an arrangement strong enough to need US Senate approval and even give the worlds biggest oil exporter access to advanced US weapons that were previously off-limits. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman would agree to limit Chinese technology from his nations most sensitive networks in exchange for major US investments in artificial intelligence and quantum-computing, and get American help to build out its civilian nuclear program.

Once the US and Saudi Arabia settle their agreement, they would present Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with a choice: either join the deal, which would entail formal diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia for the first time, more investment and regional integration, or be left behind. The key conditions for Netanyahu would be no small feat  ending the Gaza war and agreeing to a pathway for Palestinian statehood.

The proposal is fraught with doubt and may not come to fruition, which people familiar with the planning readily acknowledge.

The latest conversations amount to a shift in approach for Biden and Prince Mohammed. As originally conceived, the agreement would have been a three-way deal that forged Saudi-Israeli diplomatic relations along with greater investment and integration in the region.

Now, the US and Saudi Arabia see a deal with each other as central to ending the war between Israel and Hamas, which has ramped up tension in the wider Middle East and led to huge protests in the West. At home, Saudi Arabia has stepped up the arrest of citizens for social-media posts related to the war.

Read more: Saudi Arabia Steps Up Arrests Of Those Attacking Israel Online

The US and Saudi Arabia would offer Israel a series of economic, security and diplomatic incentives if it scales back plans for an invasion of Rafah, the southern Gaza city where more than 1 million Palestinians have taken refuge, and quickly concludes its war with Hamas.

For Netanyahu, another advantage is that a pact would help counter Irans aggression. Since the war in Gaza erupted, Israel and Iran have exchanged their first-ever direct fire and Tehrans proxy militias such as Hezbollah have regularly attacked the Jewish state.

Hurdles and Incentives

Persuading American lawmakers to approve a deal that commits the US to protecting Saudi Arabia militarily would be a daunting prospect for the White House, especially if Israel opts not to join. Many lawmakers remain wary of Prince Mohammed, the kingdoms 38-year-old de facto ruler, after the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents in 2018. Theyre also uneasy about the Saudi strategy of lowering oil production, along with other members of the OPEC+ cartel, to prop up prices.

From the Israeli side, Netanyahu leads the most right-wing government in the countrys history and has all but ruled out a two-state solution. His coalition says it still plans to attack Rafah, which the US and Arab states fear would lead to thousands more deaths among Palestinian civilians. Such an attack would also jeopardize prospects for a short-term cease-fire that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken  who met Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Wednesday  says is a priority for President Joe Biden.

Still, the leaders of the three countries have plenty of incentives to reach an agreement soon. For Biden, its a chance for a foreign-policy victory before the US presidential election in November. The crown prince would avoid the uncertainty about whether former President Donald Trump would accept a deal if he wins that race, even though Trumps administration initiated the Abraham Accords that envisioned such alliances between Israel and its neighbors.

Netanyahu, the biggest wild card, could take credit for normalizing relations with the biggest economy in the Middle East and guardian of Islams holiest sites  a goal hes long coveted.

US officials said talks are underway but declined to comment on specifics. Saudi Arabias government didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. Netanyahus office declined to comment. Earlier Wednesday, the Guardian reported the US and Saudi Arabia had drafted a set of agreements linked to a broader Palestinian peace deal.

We have done intense work together over the last months, Blinken said on Monday while in Saudi Arabia. The work that Saudi Arabia and the United States have been doing together in terms of our own agreements, I think, is potentially very close to completion.

At the same event, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan said an agreement was very, very close.

Aspects of the deal would mirror agreements the US has made in recent months with other regional partners, including the United Arab Emirates. In that case, Abu Dhabis top artificial intelligence firm, G42, agreed to end cooperation with China in exchange for an investment from Microsoft Corp.

In the case of Saudi Arabia, which is also eager to develop artificial intelligence and semiconductors locally, the US has said it cant do so with American help if it keeps Chinese technology. Saudi Arabia would need to agree not to pursue cooperation on advanced technology with US adversaries, a person familiar with the matter said.

And Saudi Arabia would get to fulfill its long-sought wish for a civilian nuclear program. In exchange, the US would gain access to the kingdoms uranium, the person said.

Israel may be running out of time for a deal. International support for Netanyahus position is waning the longer the war continues. US polling backs that up. Roughly a third of Republicans in seven swing states oppose continued aid to Israel, as do four in 10 Democrats and independent voters, according to a recent survey.

This is a strategic act between Saudi Arabia and the United States thats meant to secure and cement Americas position in the Middle East at a time when the kingdom, but also others, have been diversifying their foreign-policy options away from Washington, said Firas Maksad, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute.

--With assistance from Courtney McBride, Donato Paolo Mancini, Henry Meyer, Mackenzie Hawkins and Iain Marlow.

(Updates with arrests in Saudi Arabia in 8th paragraph)

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US says Russia used chemical weapons in Ukraine

The U.S. State Department said on May 1 that Russian forces have used the chemical agent chloropicrin in Ukraine.

The announcement was part of a larger statement about the introduction of new U.S. sanctions against more than 280 individuals and entities.

Ukrainian military officials have previously accused Russia of using chloropicrin and other chemical weapons.

Chloropicrin is often used as an herbicide. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), exposure to its vapors can cause severe irritation to the skin, eyes, and, if inhaled, internal organs.

Although less lethal than other chemical weapons, it was used extensively in World War I before the 1925 Geneva Protocol prohibited the use of chemical and biological weapons in war.

Ukrainian military officials have also said that Russia is deploying tear gas and other riot control chemicals, which are banned under the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), of which Russia is a signatory.

"The use of such chemicals is not an isolated incident, and is probably driven by Russian forces' desire to dislodge Ukrainian forces from fortified positions and achieve tactical gains on the battlefield," the State Department said.

The State Department also announced sanctions against three Russian government entities and four Russian companies in connection with the usage of such chemical weapons.

Separately, the U.S. Treasury Department announced it was sanctioning around 200 companies and individuals, including Chinese businesses, for supporting Russia's war machine and its chemical weapons program.

Read also: The Counteroffensive: Russias rising chemical weapons use in Ukraine

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The US State Department accused Russia of using chemical weapons in Ukraine in violation of an international ban.

The use of such chemicals is not an isolated incident and is probably driven by Russian forces desire to dislodge Ukrainian forces from fortified positions and achieve tactical gains on the battlefield, the department said.

Russia is accused of using chloropicrin, a choking agent that is banned by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

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Russia has previously claimed it destroyed weapons

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Sources: BBC, The New York Times

The Kremlin has denied it has used chemical weapons in Ukraine, and claimed in 2017 that it had destroyed the remainder of its Cold War-era weapons stockpile, the BBC reported. But Moscow has previously been accused of making incomplete claims about its stockpiles. According to Britain, it has used chemical weapons at least twice since 2017  once to poison political dissident Alexei Navalny in 2020, and in the 2018 nerve agent poisoning of Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, England. Lt. Col. Artem Vlasiuk told The New York Times that there were an estimated 250 incidents where chemical weapons were used in Ukraine in February, five times higher than March 2023.

Moscow may be directing GPS jamming

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Source: New Scientist

A Finnish airline has paused flights to Estonia following a GPS jamming attack in the Baltics, New Scientist reported. Those attacks, which can make planes veer off course, are believed to be directed by Moscow and have targeted Estonia. GPS jamming incidents have increased since the beginning of this year, one analyst told New Scientist, and officials receive reports of as many as 30 incidents per day. Its really never been a question of whether or not this is Russia  who else could it be? Dana Goward, of the Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation, told the outlet. Its incumbent upon folks to resolve this before it devolves into an aircraft or ship accident, or people shooting each other.

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The US spent so much time fighting insurgents that it forgot 'what it means to actually fight a war,' a US vet in Ukraine says

An American veteran who fought in Ukraine said the US "kind of forgot what it means to actually fight a war."

He said US training has long been heavily focused on fighting insurgents in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.

He said his own training wouldn't have prepared him for a war like Ukraine.

An American veteran who fought in Ukraine said the US military spent so long focused on fighting insurgents that it forgot "what it means to actually fight a war."

"We have neglected a lot of the training" on "how to fight and survive in a peer-on-peer adversary war," the veteran, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Business Insider.

He said that "in the US military, we mostly have been focusing on a guerilla war" and battling insurgents, with places with Iraq and Afghanistan in mind. The US military invested decades, billions of dollars, and thousands of lives into fights in these places.

The former soldier spoke about how his training with the US military a number of years ago compared to what he saw in Ukraine, where he started fighting when Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022 and left last December.

He said he fought in Iraq as a contractor after leaving the US military, and in Ukraine, he fought in hotspots like Kharkiv and Bakhmut. He served as his unit's combat medic, treating comrades when they were injured in the fight.

An aerial view of the city of Bakhmut totally destroyed from heavy battles in September 2023. Libkos/Getty Images

"We've gotten so used to the idea of just fighting guerilla wars and fucking fighting terrorists and everything else that we kind of forgot what it means to actually fight a war," he said.

The conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan were real wars that came at a severe cost in human lives, but the war in Ukraine is industrial warfare at levels of destruction like the world has not seen in a long time.

With the focus on the wars in the Middle East during much of this century, the US and some of its NATO allies in Europe allowed the skills needed for this kind of conflict to atrophy.

The veteran said that when he went through training, he never got any real training for peer-on-peer conflict. "A little bit of talking about it and just a little bit of training, but nothing to the point that would have prepared me for the war in Ukraine," he recalled.

He said that he has seen a lot of Western soldiers struggle in Ukraine as "they already have a set idea about how things should be and everything, and it's just not that way out in Ukraine."

He said that US soldiers are used to fighting at an equipment and manpower advantage, but against Russia in Ukraine, "a lot of time I've fought at a disadvantage compared to the enemy."

In the US military, he explained, "I believe that a lot of the training that we have is tailored more to fighting in a guerilla warfare nowadays than it is to actually fighting a near-peer adversary like it would be with Russia or China." He said that it is an issue that many NATO members face.

Another American veteran in Ukraine told BI this month that he had similar concerns. He said that his friends still in the US Army ask him for tips on how to fight with drones or in trenches, as they aren't getting training that fully reflects what is happening in Ukraine.

A Ukrainian serviceman walks in a trench at a position near the frontline town of Bakhmut, Ukraine, in May 2023. REUTERS/Yevhenii Zavhorodnii

Questions about Western training

Multiple NATO countries have trained Ukrainian soldiers, but the veteran said that some of the Ukrainians he fights with described some of that training as irrelevant or inadequate.

The veteran said that some Ukrainian soldiers who were trained in the UK told him that when they asked how to get through Russia's vast minefields, they were told to just go around them.

But the problem is that Ukraine says that some of Russia's minefields stretch for miles, making such a strategy all but impossible. Furthermore, open areas that are not mined may already be targeted by artillery or other battlefield threats.

He described some of the training that Ukrainians have gotten as making sense on paper, but it "doesn't work [in Ukraine] because it's not the same type of warfare."

A sapper of the State Emergency Service carries an anti-tank mine as he inspects an area for mines and unexploded shells in Ukraine's Kharkiv region in March 2023. REUTERS/Viacheslav Ratynskyi

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has repeatedly led to questions about Western training. Some Ukrainian soldiers trained abroad said the training they received was not suited to the kind of fighting needed for this war.

A Ukrainian commander who was trained by US, British, and Polish soldiers said last year that if he had followed those countries' advice exactly, he would have been killed.

Many Ukrainian units used NATO training and tactics when Ukraine launched its counteroffensive last summer, but some of the approaches, such as an overemphasis on maneuver warfare without air support in the face of dense minefields and other daunting barriers, ultimately failed. The Ukrainians then changed their tactics after experiencing serious losses in a switch praised by some war analysts, but it wasn't enough.

Another US Army veteran who has been fighting and training soldiers in Ukraine told BI last year that Ukraine's forces would have been worse off if they had followed US battlefield doctrine.

He said the Ukrainians were actually better at understanding some aspects of modern fighting than the US, though they have also made costly mistakes at times in their execution, but such can be the nature of any war.

A different type of war

The veteran said that a lot of foreign fighters have come to Ukraine expecting the same advantages they have had in previous conflicts and that many have been killed as a result of having the "wrong mindset."

Other US veterans who have fought in Ukraine said they found the fighting there far worse than in Afghanistan and Iraq, describing Ukraine as being at a disadvantage the US never was and recalling ceaseless attacks by Russia.

One previously told Business Insider that the relentless fighting in Ukraine often means that, unlike in Afghanistan and Iraq, there is no break or chance to relax. It's a kind of fighting that takes a severe toll, both mentally and physically, on a soldier.

He said that in many places where he fought in Ukraine, "there is nowhere that is safe," while when he was in Afghanistan and Iraq, if you were half a mile behind the front line, "you could stand outside and have a barbecue, a sandwich, and drink."

Ukraine is fighting in conditions very different from what the US and its NATO allies have fought through in recent decades. And while there is renewed interest in readying for a near-peer or even peer-level fight against an adversary like China or Russia, rebuilding the skills for great power conflict isn't something that happens overnight.

Lessons from the Cold War and World Wars have to be relearned, and some modern developments demand learning new ways of war from scratch.



Ukrainian soldiers fire a M101 howitzer towards Russian positions at the frontline, near Avdiivka, in Ukraine's Donetsk region in March 2024 AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky

The war has often devolved into a grinding fight that features trench warfare and both sides relying on decades-old equipment.

Many soldiers have described the war in Ukraine as resembling World War I and II more than any modern conflict, though there are also modern elements like drones and missiles.

It's a comparison the veteran made, too. He said that fighting to clear Russian trenches made him feel like he was "fighting World War I." The overwhelming role of artillery speaks to that as well.

Ukraine has largely been praised for its ability to fight back against Russia, which has a much larger military, and many experts say Ukraine has a lot it can teach the West about fighting Russia.

The veteran said that "I believe that the Ukrainians could teach some things to the Western militaries, to NATO, just because we haven't fought a conventional war in fucking forever."

Read the original article on Business Insider
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  Graduation weekend begins at USF-Tampa on Thursday, April 2, and after years of hard work, some parents told 8 On Your Side theyre worried protestors could negatively impact the celebration.

USF officials told 8 On Your Side they will not tolerate inappropriate behavior at the ceremonies.

They said there will be an increased police presence at the Yuengling Center for Thursday night and the rest of the weekend.

Pro-Palestinian protesters at the University of South Florida have been unclear if they will make their movement known at graduation.

Do we have plans to disrupt? No comment, a protestoer said.

USF officials said all graduates have been reminded they will be kicked out of the Yuengling Center if they interfere with graduation.

If the university wants graduations to proceed, if the university wants fundraisers and fairs and places where people spend lots of money then they need to divest, another protestor said.

When the school told the Students for a Democratic Society they were suspended from holding protests on campus, students picked up their picket signs.

When the school instructed them not to set up camp, protestors took out their tents.

When police used tear gas on Tuesday to make 10 arrests, protesters didnt back down.

They tried to suppress us. They tried to silence us but were back, a demonstrator shouted through a bullhorn during Wednesdays protest.

Wednesdays protests were peaceful with no arrests as a large group marched to campus.

Every day since Monday, students and non-students have come together demanding change.

They want the university to stop funding companies they say support the genocide in Gaza.

Some parents fear what will happen when they come to campus to celebrate their childs major milestone on Thursday and throughout the weekend.

Im worried it could get disrupted or canceled, a USF parent told 8 On Your Side. Or maybe you know students who feel really passionate about the issue decide to demonstrate during commencement.

Graduation ceremonies begin Thursday night at 6 at the Yuengling Center on USFs Tampa campus.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
The call for state police to help wrangle protesters came from the universitys own president, Jay Hartzell.

Across campus, many had assumed that Gov. Greg Abbott deployed the intense show of force on April 24, as hed been vocal about his opposition to the pro-Palestinian protests elsewhere.

But Hartzell told a state senator he called for backup because he was unwilling to let the University of Texas at Austin become the next Columbia University, which was making headlines as protesters erected encampments across campus.

[Protesters] indicated their desire to mimic what happened at Columbia and elsewhere, which we are doing our best to avoid for obvious reasons. Our police force couldnt handle it alone, he said in an April 25 text with State. Sen. Sarah Eckhardt, D-Austin, first reported by the Austin American-Statesman.

That was music to many Texas Republicans ears.

President [Hartzell] is exactly the right man at the right time to lead our states flagship university, said state Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, in a social media post that derided the hundreds of radical and feckless faculty members who signed a letter of no confidence over Hartzells protest response.

Rep. Cody Harris, R-Palestine, said on X the vast majority of us think (Hartzell) is doing a fantastic job and referred to student protesters as snot-nosed, entitled, mindless brats.

A group of prominent alumni and donors, including former U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and energy magnates Harlan Crow and Robert Rowling, published an op-ed in the Houston Chronicle on Friday praising Hartzell and the board of regents.

UT-Austin has joined the ranks of other universities in the national spotlight as hoards of protesters have been recorded being dragged, pepper sprayed and tear gassed by officers wearing riot gear. But Hartzells strategy, which so far has netted more than 130 arrests, has prevented encampments or building occupations that have forced presidents of other elite universities into protracted negotiations with students. This refusal to cede any ground earned him rare praise from Republican officials in an environment where university presidents are increasingly becoming punching bags for conservatives angry over their handling of pro-Palestinian protests.

Unrest on college campuses has contributed in part to the resignations of the former presidents of Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania. And last week, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson called on Columbias president to resign if she could not immediately bring order to this chaos.

As other university leaders have struggled to strike a balance between respecting students right to protests while preserving safety  Columbia University this week enlisted the New York Police Department to retake an academic building from demonstrators and the University of Southern California canceled its main commencement ceremony over safety concerns  UT-Austins approach has been refreshingly bold, Republicans say.

I'm glad to say the response there was far different than what you've seen in many other parts of the country, Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn said in a statement. As hundreds of protesters attempted to occupy the campus, the university hasn't wavered in its commitment to preserve a safe environment for all of its students.

But the approach has also earned Hartzell who did not respond to request for comment  intense blowback from his faculty and students, some of whom feel he too often capitulates to the desires of state leaders rather than standing up for the independence of the university.

In a Tuesday video posted to social media platform X, a group of protesters  considerably smaller than the group that had gathered on campus earlier in the week  can be seen yelling shame and chanting Hartzell, Hartzell, youre a clown, we demand that you step down outside of the presidents home.

I don't know how many times in the history of UT that the president of the university has had protesters show up at their house, but I think that just gives you a sense of how enraged people are, said Sam Law, a graduate student at UT-Austin who was among those arrested on Monday.

Law is among the 825 graduate students  as of Thursday midday  who signed a petition that expresses solidarity with the protesters and demands that Hartzell resign.

We demand the resignation of Jay Hartzell and the appointment of a president that upholds the constitutional right of students to free speech," the petition reads.

On Thursday, faculty with UTs chapter of the American Association of University Professors published a letter expressing their loss in confidence in Hartzell. The letter, which was signed by more than 600 faculty members , calls out Hartzells management of the previous days protest and his actions to ban diversity, equity and inclusion programs earlier this month.

On April 2, UT disbanded the Division of Campus and Community Engagement and laid off dozens of employees who worked in DEI programs to bring the university into compliance with Senate Bill 17, a state law passed last year that bans DEI initiatives in public universities.

The President has shown himself to be unresponsive to urgent faculty, staff, and student concerns, the letter states. He has violated our trust. The University is no longer a safe and welcoming place for the diverse community of students and scholars who until now have called this campus home.

AAUP members were motivated to sign the letter because they see the administrations response to the protests as violations of First Amendment free speech protections, said Pauline Strong, president of the UT-Austin chapter of AAUP and a professor of anthropology.

Academic freedom benefits everyone, Strong said. I think it should be possible to come to a nonpartisan consensus on this issue. Strong pointed to universities that have managed to quell campus protests through negotiation. Northwestern University reached an agreement with anti-war protestors this week, as did Brown University and others.

House Democrats also said that bringing state troopers to UT-Austin was unnecessary. In a statement released after last weeks student walkout, Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa called the response a gross misuse of state funds.

Political finesse

Hartzell was selected president in 2020 after 19 years on the faculty of the universitys McCombs School of Business. He serves at the pleasure of the board of regents, each of whom is appointed by Abbott.

The job requires political finesse as Republicans who control the Legislature increasingly view state universities  especially the states flagship, UT-Austin  as out-of-touch institutions where leftist faculty indoctrinate students to hate traditional American values.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in 2022 proposed eliminating faculty tenure at public universities to combat professors who he said corrupted students by teaching critical race theory. Hartzell pushed back against the idea  without criticizing the lieutenant governor directly  by arguing that ending tenure would limit UTs ability to recruit the most talented professors.

A watered-down tenure reform bill still passed, which allows professors to be fired for misconduct including "professional incompetence" and "conduct involving moral turpitude."

But on other issues, Hartzell has attempted to placate state leaders. He defended the mass layoff of university DEI staff last month as a way to build goodwill with Republican lawmakers. He had previously closed a multicultural center and ended a scholarship for undocumented students.

The legislative climate toward higher education has been moving, Hartzell said. We have to make choices to worry about the long-run future of the university.

The protests have only inflamed the tension between lawmakers and the universities who rely on them for funding.

Rep. Tom Oliverson, R-Cypress and a candidate for speaker of the House, said he supported using the revised tenure law to fire faculty who skipped class to attend protests.

We thought you heard us when we passed (Senate Bill) 18, Oliverson said on X.  I guess not.

Rep. Carl Tepper, R-Lubbock, said in an interview that Hartzell has succeeded in quelling the protests on campus in part because he knows the Legislature supports him. Tepper, who wrote a letter opposing the protests signed by 35 fellow House Republicans, said all of the students demonstrating are, in his view, either ignorant, terrorist sympathizers or terrorists.

Tepper said he is more broadly concerned that some students at Texas universities are not loyal to the United States and said these protests make many Texans question why their tax dollars should support their education.

"I think (Hartzell) has a more sympathetic constituency than you might have in New York, or Michigan or California, Tepper said. And he's got a sympathetic governor who has the power of the forces who are armed, you know, the peace keepers."

Another protest is planned for Sunday. The university, which plans to hold its graduation ceremonies next week, said it would continue to rely on police to regulate demonstrations.

Board of Regents Chairman Kevin Eltife said the university would call on DPS as needed, and would make every effort to ensure those who are arrested are fully prosecuted.

Stephen Simpson, Sneha Dey and William Melhado contributed reporting.

Disclosure: Northwestern University - Medill School of Journalism, University of Texas at Austin, University of Texas at Austin - McCombs School of Business and University of Texas at Austin - Texas Enterprise - McCombs School of Business 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.

Weve got big things in store for you at The Texas Tribune Festival, happening Sept. 57 in downtown Austin. Join us for three days of big, bold conversations about politics, public policy and the days news.
The sign for a womens bathroom at the Capitol in Salt Lake City is pictured.

The sign for a womens bathroom at the Capitol in Salt Lake City is pictured on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)

Utahs public schools, state agencies and other publicly owned or controlled facilities must now start complying with Utahs new law that restricts transgender people from accessing the bathrooms and locker rooms of the gender they identify with.

While the law, HB257, took effect immediately when Gov. Spencer Cox signed it in January, certain provisions had a delayed effective date to give government entities a few months to comply with the law. On Wednesday, those measures took effect.

Starting this week, the Utah State Auditor is now required to receive and investigate alleged violations of government entities not complying with the law. A new page on the Utah State Auditors complaint hotline website went live on Wednesday, where Utahns can file complaints of government violations.

The Utah State Auditor is limited to assessing a government entitys compliance with HB257, the auditors website notes, and does not review or make any determination on the actions of private individuals, nor does the State Auditor investigate or determine an individuals sex or gender.

The law requires government agencies to contact law enforcement if they receive complaints or allegations about criminal behavior in a privacy space, which includes going into a sex-designated changing room that doesnt correspond with their biological sex, according to the bill.

The alleged violation must have occurred at a publicly owned or controlled facility, program, or event, the auditors website states. When possible, citizens should make a good faith effort to address and resolve concerns with the government entity before submitting a complaint to the State Auditor.

If an auditors investigation substantiates a violation and if a government entity fails to cure it within 30 days, the auditor could refer the violation to the Utah Attorney Generals Office, and the school or agency could face a fine of up to $10,000 per violation per day, according to the bill.

Utah Auditor John Dougall told Utah News Dispatch on Wednesday afternoon his office had not yet received any official complaints. But given Utahs government agencies only now are required to comply, time will tell whether his office will receive any.

Allegations would not be made public unless the auditors office investigates and details the findings in an audit report, Dougall said. Thats a standard practice for how his office handles complaints.

How are schools and students responding?

In the weeks leading up to the May 1 effective date for state agencies, public schools have been scrambling to prepare students and teachers for the laws requirements.

Like many of the other 10 Republican-controlled states with similar bathroom restrictions, Utahs rollout has been roiled in confusion for Utah families amid a patchwork of plans that differ across districts, the Associated Press reported.

The Utah Legislature left it up to individual school districts to determine how to communicate the bills new restrictions and requirements. The law also requires schools to create privacy plans for students uncomfortable with using group bathrooms.

Boys must use the boys bathroom/locker room and girls must use the girls bathroom/locker room, the bills sponsor, Rep. Kera Birkeland, R-Morgan, posted on X ahead of Wednesdays deadline. If for some reason that doesnt work for a student, they need to use a single occupancy bathroom/locker room.

Schools have until May 1st to create and implement their protocol to enforce the law passed in HB257. Failure to do so would mean a $10,000 fine per day, per incident. Boys must use the boys bathroom/locker room and girls must use the girls bathroom/locker room. If for some https://t.co/E3zrkDNtiU  KeraBirk (@KeraBirk) April 18, 2024

The states largest school districts (Granite, Alpine, Davis and Salt Lake City) told the AP their principals have been trained to address bathroom concerns on an individual, case-by-case basis with discretion and empathy for LGBTQ+ students.

However, Graham Beeton, a Salt Lake City fifth grader who uses he/they pronouns, told the AP the need to create a privacy plan with the school district can be isolating, and he doesnt understand why the government cares which bathroom he uses.

It hurts me, Beeton told the AP. I might be uncomfortable going into that restroom, so I want to go into a different one, but the law doesnt say that I can.

During the bills debate on Capitol Hill, Birkeland and other Republican supporters argued it wasnt meant to target transgender individuals. Rather, they said its intended to protect Utahns, especially women, from uncomfortable encounters while creating more privacy spaces for everyone. (The law also requires government agencies to include single occupant facilities in new construction, as well as consider the feasibility of retrofitting or remodeling existing buildings to include unisex bathroom facilities).

Critics of the bill, which included a handful of Republicans and all Democrats, argued it singles out transgender individuals, an already vulnerable population, by forcing many of them to use facilities where they dont feel safe or comfortable while painting them in a criminal brush.

What does the law do?

HB257 includes no explicit penalties to punish a transgender person for simply entering a government-owned bathroom they identify with  unless there are circumstances or behavior that cause affront or alarm. Then they could face enhanced criminal penalties if they get charged with lewdness, trespassing, unlawful loitering or voyeurism.

The law, however, does make it a crime for a person to simply enter a sex-designated changing room that does not correspond with their biological sex and they could also face increased criminal penalties for other crimes committed in that situation.

The bill defines stand-alone bathrooms separately from changing rooms, which include fitting rooms, locker rooms, communal shower rooms and restrooms that are attached to changing rooms, according to a page Equality Utah and the ACLU of Utah created to address frequently asked questions about the complex bill.

The law applies only to public schools and government-owned buildings, such as the Utah Capitol, and city or county buildings. In K-12 public schools, the law restricts access to bathrooms, changing rooms and locker rooms. In other government-owned facilities like country recreation centers or public universities, it only explicitly restricts access to sex-designated changing rooms.

The laws restrictions do not apply to privately owned buildings.

The law also includes exceptions: if a person has legally amended their birth certificate to correspond with the sex-designation of the changing room and has undergone a primary sex characteristic surgical procedure.

Equality Utah and the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah pointed out on their fact sheet that HB257 does not require Utahns to show documentation or paperwork to access a bathroom or privacy space. However, they also noted the law requires government entities to contact law enforcement in response to complaints or allegations about criminal behavior, which could include simply accessing a sex-designated changing room that doesnt correspond with someones biological sex.

Accordingly, people that others suspect do not belong in a particular privacy space might be subjected to interactions with law enforcement even when those spaces are not covered by the law, Equality Utah and the ACLU of Utahs fact sheet says, which included a link to resources to help Utahns know their rights when interacting with law enforcement.

They also note the law does not include a measure for individuals other than law enforcement officers to investigate or otherwise confront anyone for any purpose in relation to the bills prohibitions.

If you are confronted by someone other than law enforcement about your use of a restroom or changing room, we advise you to use your best judgment about how to react and stay safe given all of the circumstances in that situation, Equality Utah and the ACLU of Utah said.

For more answers to frequently asked questions, read the entire FAQ sheet here:

HB267 FAQ SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post How is Utah enforcing its new transgender bathroom law? appeared first on Utah News Dispatch.
EDITORS NOTE: This post has been edited for clarity

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4)  With all appeals exhausted, a death row convict in Utah could face the firing squad after the state has decided to move forward with his execution for a murder dating back to the 1990s.

On Tuesday, May 1, the Utah Attorney General s Office signed the states application for the execution for Taberone Dave Honie, who was convicted on May 18, 1999, for the aggravated murder of Claudia Benn.

According to court documents, Honie committed the murder while also attempting to commit object rape, forcible sodomy, aggravated sexual assault, burglary, aggravated burglary, and aggravated child sex abuse. The jury in the case found Honie guilty of the first five of those additional charges but could not reach unanimity on the aggravated child sexual abuse.

Honie used a rock to smash through a glass patio door before he cut Benns throat four times and slashed her with a kitchen knife. She also faced bites and sexual assault. Police arrested Honie, who was covered in blood. Three children were in the home at the time of the killing. Firth District Judge Robert Braithwaite was quoted as saying at the time, It was not a sentence I gave to the defendant; he earned it. If this isnt a death penalty case, I dont know what is.

Honie waived the right to a jury for the penalty phase of the proceedings and on May 24, 1999, was sentenced to death.

Honie attempted to appeal his case, but both the Utah Supreme Court and the federal 10th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld his original conviction. In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear his case. Honie and four other death row inmates attempted to sue the state to overturn Utahs death penalty in 2023, but a Utah judge dismissed that suit.

Utah judge upholds death penalty after five death-row inmates sued to overturn it

Officials stated in this weeks execution warrant application that Honies appeals have been exhausted, which means theres no reason for the state to continue to stay his execution.

Honie has no pending action challenging either his capital murder conviction or his death sentence, stated the warrant. He has exhausted state and federal remedies challenging his conviction and sentence.

Firing squad

Honie, along with death row inmates Ralph Menzies, Troy Kell, Douglas Carter and Michael Archuleta  all sentenced prior to 2004  attempted to overturn the states death penalty last year. In their suit, they claimed that Utah no longer has lethal injection capabilities, meaning the convicts will have to be executed by a firing squad under Utahs current laws.

While the five attempted to argue the firing squad was cruel and unusual punishment, the states 3rd District Court dismissed that suit in December 2023.

Utah is one of only four U.S. states that still allow executions by firing squads, including Mississippi, South Carolina, and Oklahoma. As of 2015, Utah made lethal injection the states primary method of execution but kept the firing squad as a backup method if the drugs needed for lethal injection are unavailable.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
ROY, Utah (ABC4)  Four Roy High School students are facing charges after being found near the high school on Tuesday with a loaded gun and drugs.

This is the fourth incident this month.

READ NEXT: Who was Bangerter  and why is there a highway named after him?

The charges include:

Possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person

Possession of a firearm on school premises

Possession of a dangerous weapon (firearm) by a minor

Fail to stop at the command of a Peace Officer

Threat of violence

Possession of a controlled substance (marijuana)

Just before 9 a.m. on Tuesday, April 30, a group of boys were walking around 2025 W 4800 S and flashing gang signs at passing vehicles, the Roy City Police Department said.

One motorist reportedly stopped to inquire what the boys were doing and noticed one of them had a handgun. The motorist then called 911, the police department said.

Three Roy police officers were at Roy High School at the time the incident was reported, and, due to the boys close proximity to the school, contacted the high schools administration to activate their Lockout Status Protocol.

A few minutes later, officers said they located the boys in the neighborhood just east of the high school. The boys reportedly ran west, but were quickly apprehended before getting onto school property.

A loaded handgun was found on one of the boys, the police department confirmed.

All of the boys involved were found to be students at Roy High School and were taken into custody for questioning. Police said one of the boys has been booked into Weber Valley Detention on gun-related charges.

Four separate gun incidents at Roy High School

There have been four separate gun incidents related to Roy High School in recent weeks, and the police department said they have found no evidence students were carrying guns due to bullying.

This latest incident is believed to be gang-related, the police department said, but their investigations remain ongoing.

The Roy City Police Department will be investigating how the juvenile came to possess the firearm, and the intended purpose of the possession of the firearm and methods to ensure we continue to keep your kids, our teachers and school staff SAFE, the police department said.

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.
Legislators in the House Chamber are pictured on the first day of the legislative session at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)

In the Utah Foundations recent release about what matters most to Utahns, the issues of politicians (not) listening to voters and government overreach ranked in second and fourth place. This should come as no surprise.

Currently, the Utah legislature is painfully out of step with the people they are meant to serve. While everyday Utahns worry about housing affordability and making ends meet, our state elected officials focus on manufactured controversies like critical race theory and the dangers of diversity.

The 2024 legislative session was very bad in this regard. The 2025 session will be worse.

Unfortunately, as the Legislature becomes increasingly disconnected from voters, its leaders have worked hard to ensure that there will be no consequences for their failure of representation.

Specifically, legislators have worked quite deliberately to make the ballot measure process next to impossible in our state. There are tight deadlines, extensive handwritten signature requirements, public hearings to hold across the state, and many more barriers to clear before a ballot initiative can appear on the election ballot.

A ballot measure is an opportunity for community members to put issues of public importance before their fellow voters. It is one of very few direct democracy tools we have available to us. It is a way to hold our elected officials accountable for ignoring us.

In 2007, Utah voters overwhelmingly passed a referendum to veto the first statewide school privatization program in the nation, after the legislature created a highly unpopular voucher program. The veto referendum passed with 62% of the vote. Voters in every county rejected the legislatures school privatization program.

Sixteen years later, with private school patrons and homeschoolers posing as overwhelming public support, the legislature finally got its voucher program, using tens of millions of public tax dollars to fund it. And now, in 2024, changes to the initiative process have made it extremely unlikely that Utahns will be able to reject this disastrous idea via popular vote again.

Even if voters did have the opportunity, it is virtually guaranteed that the legislature would immediately set to work undoing the impact of that vote.

In 2018, advocates successfully passed three ballot measures: Proposition 2 legalized the medicinal use of cannabis; Proposition 3 opted the state into Medicaid expansion through the Affordable Care Act; and Proposition 4 established an independent redistricting commission to counteract legislative gerrymandering.

The Legislature did its best to undo or forestall all three.

In the case of medical cannabis and Medicaid expansion, legislative leaders dragged out and complicated implementation as much as possible. This created unnecessary confusion and delays for people seeking to benefit from either program. Thankfully, community advocates persevered, and both measures were eventually implemented.

Three months after voters asked for an independent redistricting commission, the legislature passed bipartisan legislation, nearly unanimously, that rendered the fledgling commission completely powerless.

Ballot referendums arent specifically mentioned in the Constitution  but we are granted the general right to petition our government. And in Utah, we are running out of ways to realize this constitutional guarantee. Legislative leaders have successfully strangled the normal avenues by which we should be able to express our displeasure with their lack of substantive work on our behalf.

In Utah, legislators from gerrymandered districts can win an election by appealing to a very small group of political extremists. Increasingly, legislators resign before the end of their term, and essentially designate a successor to be picked by that same small group of partisans in a special election. When in office, they tightly control our ability to engage with the legislative process, to perpetuate an illusion of public support for their personal projects.

It seems, though, that there is no such thing as too much or even enough control for our legislature. We should absolutely expect more bills, similar to those from Rep. Jason Kyle (R-Huntsville) this past session, that seek to increase barriers to community-initiated ballot measures.

Your legislators may not want to hear from you, but it is their constitutional obligation to listen. Let them know that you care about preserving the peoples right to petition their government. Tell them to stop creating new barriers to our ballot.

The post Utah voters need their ballot back appeared first on Utah News Dispatch.
Jesus Ruiz-Hernandez, a Vashon Island resident and owner of Brothers Landscaping, has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for human trafficking, labor trafficking, and money laundering.

Ruiz-Hernandez was found guilty of 21 felonies in January 2024, for using his business to lure people from Mexico to work.

His business model was premised on enticing vulnerable persons from Mexico to come to the United States to work for his company  and then exploiting them by forcing them to work for him for little to no money while using their debts and immigration status to keep them tethered to him as his source of cheap labor, U.S. Attorney Gorman said.

A closer look revealed that Ruiz-Hernandez was using smugglers to bring victims from his hometown of Vista Hermosa, Michoacan, Mexico with the false promise of a better life for the victims and their families. In exchange, Ruiz-Hernandez would then charge them for housing, food, and other expenses.

Ruiz-Hernandez and his brother deposited money earned from their victims labor into their bank accounts. Some of the money was then wired to Mexico or used to purchase properties on Vashon Island.

Authorities seized his properties after he was convicted.




New Vermont poet laureate Bianca Stone follows in the footsteps left by her grandmother

The new poet laureate of Vermont is following in the footsteps left by her grandmother less than 20 years earlier.

Gov. Phil Scott signed a May 1 proclamation naming Bianca Stone as the states poet laureate for the next four years. Stone, who lives in Brandon, has had her work published in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Nation and other publications. She has written five books, with her most recent, 2022s What is Otherwise Infinite, winning that years Vermont Book Award.

Stones grandmother, Ruth Stone, was named the states poet laureate in 2007. Ruth Stone, who died at her home in Ripton in 2011 at age 96, won a National Book Award in 2002 and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 2009.

Bianca Stone is co-founder of the nonprofit Ruth Stone House, where she teaches classes on poetry and hosts the Ode & Psyche podcast.

Bianca Stone of Brandon, the Vermont poet laureate for 2024 to 2028.

Poetry brings the inner and outer world together and translates consciousness itself onto the page. It is not only relevant to our lives, but crucial in exploring what it is to be in this world, Stone said in a news release from the Vermont Arts Council announcing her May 1 appointment. It is perhaps one of the most playful and serious mediums we have. But it is often misunderstood.

The best-known poet with ties to Vermont, Robert Frost, served as the states first poet laureate from 1961 until his death in 1963. The position was left unfilled until Gov. Madeleine Kunin reinstated the poet laureate in 1988.

The full list of Vermont poet laureates includes:

- 1961-63, Robert Frost

- 1989-93. Galway Kinnell

- 1994-98, Louise Gluck

- 1999-2002, Ellen Bryant Voigt

- 2003-07, Grace Paley

- 2007-11, Ruth Stone

- 2011-15, Sydney Lea

- 2015-19, Chard deNiord

- 2019-24, Mary Ruefle

- 2024-28, Bianca Stone

Contact Brent Hallenbeck at bhallenbeck@freepressmedia.com.

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Vermont poet laureate follows in footsteps of grandmother Ruth Stone
LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) On Monday, May 6, Vice President Kamala Harris plans to visit Detriot for the second stop on her nationwide Economic Opportunity Tour.

This will be her second visit to Michigan this year, and her fifth overall since being sworn into office.

Officials say the Economic Opportunity Tour will consist of a series of events that will focus on investing in communities, building wealth, and ensuring every American has the freedom to thrive.

President Biden and I are committed to creating an economy in which every person has the freedom to thrive. That is why we have taken historic steps to advance economic opportunity by increasing access to capital, investing in small businesses, addressing housing costs, forgiving student loans and medical debt, investing in infrastructure, and championing additional policies that put money in peoples pockets and build wealth, said Vice President Harris in a news release. Our economic approach has delivered great progress, and we will continue to invest in you, your family, and your future.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WLNS 6 News.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD)  Vice President Kamala Harris will visit Detroit next week as part of her Economic Opportunity Tour, the White House says.

According to the Detroit News, the vice president will visit Detroit on Monday.

The Economic Opportunity Tour will highlight how the Biden-Harris Administration has built economic opportunity and delivered for the American people, according to a White House news release.

VP Harris in GR: Elections matter for abortion access

It will mark Harris second visit to Michigan this year. During her visit to Grand Rapids in February, the vice president discussed reproductive rights, which Democrats are using as one of their key platform issues.

New poll shows tight presidential race in MI

Michigan is expected to be an important battleground in this years presidential election. A recent poll showed a tight race in Michigan between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, with the former president having a one-point lead.

President Biden to visit Detroit

The White House announced Biden would be visiting Detroit on May 19.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
Reckless act of violence: Victim hospitalized after daytime shooting in Dorchester, police say

A shooting in broad daylight Thursday sent one person to the hospital and prompted a large police presence in Bostons Dorchester neighborhood.

Officers responding to the area of Washington Street and Glenarm Street for a report of shots fired found a person suffering from a gunshot wound, according to Boston Police. The victim was transported to an area hospital with injuries not considered to be life-threatening.

Several bullet holes could be seen in the drivers side of a car being towed from the scene.

Ballistics were reportedly recovered on Erie Street and Greenwood Street, which is around the corner from where the victim was found. Bullets even ricocheted off a porch and the side of a home on Erie Street. Several people were inside the home at the time of the shooting, but no injuries were reported.

It was a reckless act of violence, one neighbor said after hearing the commotion. Its a very busy street.

Police believe the scene on Washington and Glenarm Street are connected to the ballistics on Erie and Greenwood Street.

There were no reports of any arrests. A description of any potential suspects was not immediately available.

The investigation remains active and ongoing.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
By Phuong Nguyen and Francesco Guarascio

HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam's legislature approved on Thursday the resignation of its chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, it said in a statement, the latest top official to step down amid an intensifying anti-graft crackdown by the ruling Communist Party.

Hue's departure, which had already been announced last week by the party's central committee, leaves Vietnam with no permanent holders for two of its four top leadership positions, after president Vo Van Thuong quit in late March. That raises questions about the country's political stability - but foreign investment has not been immediately affected.

Both Hue, 67, and Thuong, 53, were publicly accused of unspecified violations and shortcomings, after corruption cases entangled people close to them, or under their supervision. Thuong's predecessor also had to quit in the middle of his term last year. None of them made any public comment in response to the accusations.

The resignations have been linked to a wide-ranging "blazing furnace" anti-bribery campaign, which was launched in 2016 by the now ageing general secretary of the party, Nguyen Phu Trong.

The crackdown has intensified over the past two years, as the party moves closer to its five-yearly Congress and a reshuffle of its top positions in 2026.

The legislature appointed Hue's deputy, Tran Thanh Man, as his temporary replacement, according to state media.

Man, 58, who holds a doctorate in economics, is also in the powerful Politburo, which now has only 13 of its 18 statutory members, following resignations linked to the anti-bribery drive.

Hue had been touted as a possible candidate for the party's general secretary position, Vietnam's most powerful job. As head of parliament, he was one of the four "pillars" of the country, together with the party chief, president and prime minister.

The National Assembly is set to hold a regular, month-long meeting from May 20, when it could appoint a new president and chair of the parliament after the Communist party names them.

FOREIGN INVESTMENT, CORRUPTION

Foreign investors, on which Vietnam is highly dependant, cite its political stability as a major draw but the upheaval does not appear to have significantly changed their mood.

A survey from the European Chamber of Commerce conducted after the resignation of the president in March found that business confidence was rising.

Pledges of foreign investment slightly fell in March to $1.9 billion, according to Vietnam's statistics office, but rose again in April to $3.1 billion, driven by China and Hong Kong.

The impact of political turmoil is not immediate and may be hard to measure, said a Vietnam-based foreign consultant who declined to be named because the matter is sensitive in Vietnam.

Investors usually cite slower administrative procedures and reforms as possible negative outcomes of political turbulence and of the intensification of the anti-corruption campaign, but none questions the communist party's grip on power.

For some investors fighting corruption is positive for business, although results of the campaign are unclear.

In some Vietnamese provinces, up to 80% of citizens surveyed in a 2023 study co-sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme and published in March said they offered kickbacks to access public health services while "bribes for employment in the public sector remain common."

(Reporting by Phuong Nguyen and Francesco Guarascio; Editing by Martin Petty, Alexandra Hudson)
FILE PHOTO: A man rides past journalists reporting on the aftermath of the Shady Fire after it advanced into the Skyhawk neighborhood of Santa Rosa

By Natalia A. Ramos Miranda

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Journalists who report on environmental issues face increasing violence around the world from both state and private actors, UNESCO said on Thursday, highlighting that 44 of these journalists have been murdered between 2009 and 2023.

More than 70% of the 905 journalists the agency surveyed in 129 countries said they had been attacked, threatened or pressured, and that the violence against them had worsened - with 305 attacks reported in the last five years alone.

UNESCO, the U.N. cultural agency, listed in its report physical attacks such as injuries, arrests and harassment, as well as legal actions, including defamation lawsuits and criminal proceedings, among others.

At least 749 journalists, groups of journalists and media outlets have been attacked in 89 countries across all regions, its report said, with state actors being responsible for at least half and private for at least a quarter.

"State actors - police, military forces, government officials and employees, local authorities - are responsible for most of the attacks for which perpetrator information is available," the report said.

These journalists were covering a wide range of topics, including protests, mining and land conflicts, logging and deforestation, extreme weather events, pollution and environmental damage, and the fossil fuel industry.

Men were more frequently attacked in general and women more frequently digitally, the report said.

Of the 44 journalists that were murdered in 15 countries while reporting on environmental issues, the report said only five cases resulted in convictions. Perpetrators remain unidentified in 19 of the 44 murders.

At least 24 journalists survived murder attempts.

(Reporting by Natalia Ramos; Writing by Stefanie Eschenbacher; Editing by Sonali Paul)
Goldman Sachs London office

Goldman Sachs has scrapped the bonus cap for its British bankers in a move that will allow star traders and dealmakers to earn up to twenty five times their salary in performance-linked awards.

The Wall Street bank said its decision to bring back multimillion-pound bonuses was driven by a desire to better manage costs and reward success. It said the change would help make the UK more attractive to star bankers.

It comes after the Government last year abandoned European Union rules that limited bonuses to a maximum of double base pay, as part of an attempt to reinvigorate the City after Brexit.

Goldman is the first major bank to change its rules as a result, though HSBC has also proposed scrapping the limit. Other investment banks are consulting on a similar change and most are now expected to follow Goldmans lead to avoid losing talent to a rival.

Around 6,000 bankers work at Goldmans London office. Key employees likely to benefit from the changes include Mark Sorrell, son of advertising executive Sir Martin Sorrell. Mr Sorrell co-heads the banks mergers and acquisitions team and has been helping Royal Mail and Anglo-American fend off takeover approaches.

The banks co-heads of investment banking, Anthony Gutman and Gonzalo Garcia, may also benefit from the axing of the bonus cap.

Replicating New Yorks bonus culture could mean huge payouts. British-born trader Ed Emerson earned an estimated $100m in three years running Goldman Sachss commodities arm in New York before leaving the bank last year.

A Goldman spokesman said: This approach gives us greater flexibility to manage fixed costs through the cycle and pay for performance. It brings the UK closer to the practice in other global financial centres, to support the UK as an attractive venue for talent.

It comes amid a broader debate about executive pay in Britain, with some bosses blaming lower pay in the UK compared to the US for the decline of the London Stock Market.

Harvey Knight, a partner at City law firm Withers who oversees its financial services regulatory team, said: This is a welcome boost to the international competitiveness of London as a market in which senior executives can live, work and prosper.

UK Finance, a trade body for banks, said: Having the option to make changes following the removal of the regulatory bonus cap is something that supports the UK financial services industry in being more globally competitive.

The bonus cap was introduced across the EU in 2014 to crackdown on the perceived excesses in banking in the aftermath of the financial crisis.

Story continues

Barclays investment bank head Rich Ricci pocketed 18m in bonus shares in 2013, the year before the bonus cap was introduced. That year Barclays paid more than 400 bankers over 1m split between pay and bonuses, including five who received more than 5m.

Rather than curb rewards, the bonus cap pushed up base salaries. Banks increased base pay to ensure they could still compete internationally for talent. Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey previously described the policy as misguided.

Governor Andrew Bailey labelled the cap 'misguided' - Pool/REUTERS

Bankers have generally preferred having a larger proportion of their pay fixed rather than dependant on their bonuses, as it helps with regular costs such as mortgage payments and private school fees.

Canice Hogan, chief executive of executive recruitment firm Shadowhound, said: London has higher fixed pay compared to New York and that becomes a great advantage to bankers. If your fixed pay is high theres far less risk for you and much greater risk for the investment bank.

However, banks themselves did not like the policy as executives were less able to cut pay during downturns, when staff would ordinarily have been forced to accept a doughnut bonus of zero.

The changes announced by Goldman Sachs on Thursday will mean bankers salaries will be lowered as the company makes a greater proportion of rewards performance-linked.

The adjustment will be gradually phased in from July 1, employees were told in an update from Richard Gnodde, head of Goldman Sachs International.

The Telegraph has previously reported that some top bankers were unhappy at the prospect of having their base pay lowered.

Mr Hogan said: The first bank that turns around and says were reducing all bank salaries by 25pc will be the one making a bold move. Thats more likely to cause conflict and attrition.

Other investment banks have been reviewing their bonus policies and a source at one said they were likely to have to speed up their decision in light of Goldmans announcement.

They described Goldmans decision to cap bonuses at 25 times base pay as punchy but suggested rivals would now have to offer a similar level of reward to stay competitive.

HSBC is expected to scrap its bonus cap later this week. Chief executive Noel Quinn said on Tuesday that axing the policy was an opportunity to get a better balance between salaries and bonuses for the bank.

Barclays has refused to remove the cap.

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After violent California campus clashes, lawmakers weigh in. Where is the governor?

Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!

LAWMAKERS RESPOND TO CAMPUS PROTESTS, VIOLENCE

Tensions boiled over into violence late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning, when hundreds of pro-Israel counter-protesters stormed a Palestinian solidarity encampment at UCLA and assaulted the protesters gathered there.

According to Al-Jazeera, police stood by and watched the violence transpire for hours before stepping in. The Los Angeles Times has a timeline of events here.

The shocking violence drew the attention of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, whose office posted on X that he condemned the violence.

The law is clear: The right to free speech does not extend to inciting violence, vandalism, or lawlessness on campus. Those who engage in illegal behavior must be held accountable for their actions  including through criminal prosecution, suspension or expulsion, Newsom said in a statement.

It also drew the attention of state lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, made several posts on X about the violence at UCLA, criticizing Newsom for a lack of leadership in handling the matter.

Anyone harassing and assaulting students, taking over buildings, or blocking access to education on our state campuses should be arrested and removed. Period. Full stop. Where is the Governor? Gallagher wrote in a post on X.

The Republican leader criticized UCLA for its decision to cancel classes Wednesday to help assure student safety.

Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones, R-Santee, issued a statement Wednesday condemning the protesters.

Actions involving illegal activities including erecting illegal encampments, blockading entrances, vandalizing property, obstructing campus access, holding individuals hostage, or instigating violence, harassment, and intimidation are not protected by free speech, but are criminal offenses. Perpetrators must face immediate accountability such as suspension and arrest, he said.

Neither Gallagher nor Jones specifically addressed the pro-Israel attack that took place at UCLA.

Assemblyman Rick Chavez Zbur, D-Hollywood, in a statement Wednesday called the violence horrific and abhorrent and said it has no place in Los Angeles or in a democracy.

No matter how strongly one may disagree with or be offended by the anti-Israel demonstrators messages, tactics, or goals, violence is never acceptable and those responsible must be held accountable, Zbur said in the statement.

The assemblyman said that UCLAs administration has failed in their most important duty  to protect the safety, well-being and civil rights of all students on campus.

Assemblyman Isaac Bryan, D-Los Angeles, wrote in a post on X, What UCLA students and Daily Bruin journalists experienced in the encampment last night is unlike anything Ive ever seen at a demonstration. It was not a counter-protest. It was not peaceful. It was violently unacceptable in every possible way.

California lawmakers also have weighed in on the student encampment protest at Cal Poly Humboldt, where dozens of students were arrested.

The two lawmakers whose district includes that university, Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, and Assemblyman Jim Wood, D-Healdsburg, released a joint statement Tuesday calling this an extremely challenging week in Humboldt.

Protesting peacefully in America is a fundamental, Constitutional right  its what our nation is about and, lets be candid, protesting is part of the fabric of the North Coast, the two lawmakers said in the statement. That said, there is a clear line and it starts and stops with destruction of school property, vandalism, and antisemitic hate speech.

The lawmakers referenced law enforcements efforts to clear the campus of protesters, saying damage to the school is estimated to be more than $1 million.

Lets be clear  its going to take time to heal. Trust is earned, and it is going to take all sides coming together to have the difficult conversations needed to move forward. Cal Poly Humboldt must be a campus where all faiths and students of all backgrounds feel safe, respected, and included. This has not been the case for Humboldts Jewish students and others over the past week, the lawmakers said.

They added reasonable ideas dont have to be in conflict, and that people can support the return of hostages taken by Hamas and mourn every single of of the thousands of innocent lives lost.

Were stronger as a community when we learn from our differences and where weve been, and move forward together, they said.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Apropos of nothing, I feel like the Cybertruck was designed by people who spend way too much time playing Minecraft.

- Sen. Dave Min, D-Irvine, via X.

Best of The Bee:
(Getty Images / ferrantraite)

Normally by this time of year, students planning to attend Virginia Commonwealth University  and every other American college  in the fall are committing to schools and sending in deposits.

But as many families with a college-bound high school senior know, this isnt a normal year.

Delays in processing the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) form have students across the country stressed out, and understandably so. Typically, May 1 is the national college deposit deadline  but this year, many students havent yet received need-based financial aid offers from schools because of the federal delays in processing applications.

Typically, students file their FAFSA forms starting in the fall, meaning that by January or so, schools are receiving those forms and are able to create financial aid packages based on the forms.

This year, the issues with the new forms meant that students couldnt even start their applications until the end of December. That means schools like VCU are just now receiving financial information we need to process financial aid packages. This week VCU is starting to offer need-based aid packages to new students  nearly four months later than we usually do.

Without knowing how much financial aid theyll receive to cover the cost, it could be challenging for some families to decide which college their student will attend.

At VCU, our message to students is that the most important thing is to remain committed to their college education. This years FAFSA issues are stressful, yes  but theyre a glitch in the system, which is not the norm. We want students to understand that VCU and college administrators around the country are working to help them. Well get through this!

We applaud the federal governments intent, which was to make the FAFSA form simpler and easier to use, especially for lower-income and middle-income students.

According to the Department of Education, simplifying the form should allow 610,000 more students to qualify for Pell grants, which go to low-income students, and almost 1.5 million more students will qualify for the maximum Pell grant. These are laudable goals.

This is an issue which especially impacts VCUs students, because so many of them rely on need-based financial aid.

In the current academic year, about 65% of VCUs student body, and 71% of our undergraduates, are enrolled with a FAFSA. More than 30% of our student body is Pell-eligible, meaning their families have low incomes, and another third is made up of first-generation students.

The FAFSA delay has a greater impact on those groups, but it also impacts middle-income families, who also often rely on need-based financial aid. In addition, the FAFSA is the first step toward other ways of paying for college, such as direct loans.

Comparing the applications we received last year at this time to the ones weve received so far for next year, weve seen about 14% fewer FAFSA applications  which is still a better rate than the state and national averages. According to the National College Attainment Network, FAFSA submissions are down 23.8% in Virginia and down 29% nationally.

Our expectation is that well see that number tick up as the federal government processes more applications. While VCU, like many schools, has a May 1 deadline for commitments and financial deposits for the coming academic year, weve extended our deposit deadline to May 15. We understand the position our students are in.

In the meantime, there are proactive steps both VCU, other Virginia institutions of higher learning and students can take.

On VCUs end, we are processing aid packages as quickly as possible for the applications weve received. And this year, were also awarding merit-based financial aid earlier than we usually do, so students who qualify can use that to start making decisions. Weve also made additional institutional aid available.

We encourage students  and potential students  to reach out to their financial aid counselors at the college they are considering, via phone or email.

And we encourage students to visit campus if they havent yet, to also speak in person with their financial aid counselor. Incoming students can connect with VCUs financial counselors face-to-face and get a feel for the school, as well.

We also want students to remember: every student who applies for FAFSA, and every college, are facing the same delays. A lot of students are just like them, waiting anxiously for their forms to process. And that will happen  later than wed all like, but it will happen. Colleges are working with students to help make this process a little easier.

And the most important thing is that students not give up on college because of these delays. Their future is too important to let it be sidelined by what is ultimately a temporary timing issue. The FAFSA is just one step toward the bigger goal  getting an education that will allow them to pursue their dreams.

The post How Virginia college students can navigate this years unique FAFSA challenges appeared first on Virginia Mercury.
Some elementary school students in Davenport will be seeing things differently now, thanks to new eyeglasses.

Members of the Vision To Learn program marked the end of its first school year with a glasses celebration at Fillmore Elementary School. A partnership between United Way Quad Cities and Vision To Learn provided eye exams and glasses for students at title one schools in Davenport. There was no charge for students or their families. Grants from organizations like the Delta Dental of Iowa Foundation made it possible.

Vision to Learn provided nearly 2,000 kids with vision exams and two pairs of glasses to 515 students in the QCA. For more information, click here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHBF - OurQuadCities.com.
Staff and visitors have been left stranded and buildings submerged at Kenyas famous Maasai Mara nature reserve, as the death toll in catastrophic flooding in the countrys southwest rose to at least 188 people.

Local authorities ordered some tourist facilities in the National Reserve to close after River Talek, one of the tributaries of the Mara River, burst its banks and swept through more than a dozen riverside tourist lodges and camps.

Videos on social media showed some buildings and vehicles fully submerged inside the popular park as tourists scrambled to leave affected areas.

Weeks of heavy rain and flash flooding has ravaged parts of Kenya for days, leaving dozens of people missing around the capital, Nairobi, and causing a devastating mudslide in the town of Mai Mahiu.

Two more bodies were retrieved from the site of the mudslide, bringing the total number of deaths there to 50, government spokesman Isaac Mwaura said on Thursday, revising down the earlier figure of 71 reported due to an error, Nakuru County governor Susan Kihika told CNN.

In Maasai Mara, camp owners were told to leave the affected properties and move to higher ground further away from River Talek, governor of Narok county Patrick Ole Ntutu said on Wednesday.

Parts of Maasai Mara National Reserve were left submerged by the flooding. - Bobby Neptune/AP

The death toll from a mudslide in Mai Mahiu stood at 50 on Thursday. - Luis Tato/AFP/Getty Images

But local administrators went even further in their warnings, threatening legal consequences for people still left behind, even accusing those who stay of attempting suicide.

We will forcefully evacuate anybody left in any homes or lodges along the river. We will take action against them because that is considered attempted suicide, Narok county commissioner Kipkech Lotiatia told reporters.

Authorities said they had deployed two helicopters to rescue stranded tourists and local staff around the national reserve after receiving distress calls. The flooding was caused by swollen rivers after several days of continuous rainfall, the county said on X.

A tour guide told CNN he was awoken by sounds of rushing water after 1 a.m. on Thursday. When he left his tent, flood waters rose to his waist and the entire Talek Bush Camp had been surrounded.

My driver and I were the first to wake up, so we woke up all the 14 international tourists and 25 staff and climbed ladders to some water tanks that are raised, 27-year-old James Apolloh Omenya told CNN via telephone.

We were being rained on from around 2 a.m. to 5.30 a.m. but we couldnt get out and the planes coming to rescue us couldnt get in one time.

The Kenya Red Cross said it had rescued more than 90 people and at least 14 camps around River Talek had been closed.

While parts of the Mara have flooded before in Kenyas so-called long rains season, locals say the scale of this years deluge has been unprecedented.

The country has deployed corps from the Paramilitary Academy of its National Youth Service to Narok to join the multi-agency team for search and rescue operations following the heavy downpour, a statement on X said.

The Horn of Africa, a region of East Africa that includes Kenya, is one of the most climate-vulnerable regions in the world. Heavy rains have also affected Tanzania and Burundi.

Kenya is facing a worsening flood crisis due to the combined effects of El Nino and the ongoing March-May 2024 long rains, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) CEO Jagan Chapagain said in a post on X earlier this week, referring to the climate pattern that originates in the Pacific Ocean along the equator and impacts weather all over the world.

The unfolding devastation highlights the governments obligation to prepare for and promptly respond to the foreseeable impacts of climate change and natural disasters, said Nyagoah Tut Pur, Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement Thursday. Kenyan authorities should urgently ensure support to affected communities and protect populations facing high risk.

CNNs Isaac Oyombe contributed reporting

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
As a Florida law took effect Wednesday preventing abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned in Jacksonville --- another sign of the political importance of abortion issues in the 2024 elections.

Floridas six-week law dramatically restricts access to abortions and aligns with similar laws enacted in Republican-led states throughout the South after a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned the decades-old Roe v. Wade abortion-rights decision.

Democrats have embraced abortion rights as a top-line issue heading into November, with candidates up and down the ballot blaming former President Donald Trump for the Supreme Courts ruling. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee this year, appointed three justices who were part of the court majority that overturned Roe.

Harris hammered Trump throughout her roughly 20-minute speech at the Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center in Jacksonville, warning that he would sign a national abortion ban into law if he defeats President Joe Biden.

This is a fight for freedom. The fundamental freedom to make decisions about ones own body and not have their government tell them what theyre supposed to do, Harris said.

Critics of laws like the one approved in 2023 by the Republican-dominated Florida Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis say the restrictions effectively equate to a near-ban on abortion, because many women are unaware they are pregnant at six weeks.

Read: Only on 9: Witness speaks out about Cabana Live shooting

As of this morning, 4 million women in this state woke up with fewer reproductive freedoms than they had last night. This is the new reality under a Trump abortion ban, Harris said. Starting this morning, women in Florida became subject to an abortion ban so extreme it applies before many women know they are pregnant.  This truly is a health care crisis, and Donald Trump is the architect.

Harris Jacksonville trip came less than a week after Biden traveled to Tampa and discussed abortion rights.

Trump won Florida in 2016 and 2020, and Republicans have built a commanding voter-registration lead in the state. But the Biden campaign contends that the six-week abortion restriction, coupled with a proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would enshrine abortion rights in the state Constitution, have put the state in play in 2024.

Donald Trump may think he can take Florida for granted. It is your power that will send Joe Biden and me back to the White House. And when Congress passes a law that restores the reproductive freedoms of Roe, our president will sign it, Harris said.

Read: Magic look to regroup and even the series at home after tough game 5 loss on the road

Republicans, however, shrugged off Democrats efforts to portray Florida as winnable for Biden.

Joe Biden is losing in Florida, and he knows it. Despite Biden and Harriss best attempts to gaslight voters, they know exactly who is to blame for soaring costs, a spiraling border crisis and staggering crime rates across the country, Republican National Committee spokeswoman Rachel Lee said.

Trump, meanwhile, has taken credit for the U.S. Supreme Courts 2022 ruling in the case known as Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization, which said that policies about abortion should be left to the states.

President Trump has long been consistent in supporting the rights of states to make decisions on abortion. Joe Biden and the Democrats are radically out of touch with the majority of Americans in their support for abortion up until birth and even after birth and forcing taxpayers to fund it, Trump campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Wednesday.

Democrats hope the abortion issue will help drive turnout among women and younger voters and, in Florida, boost support for the proposed constitutional amendment. The abortion restrictions also have energized conservative Republicans and evangelical voters, who are throwing their support behind Trump and fighting the Florida ballot measure.

Read: Boeings Starliner flight test: Meet the astronauts

The proposal, which will appear on the ballot as Amendment 4, says, no law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patients health, as determined by the patients health care provider. The measure, as with all proposed constitutional amendments, would require 60 percent voter approval to pass.

DeSantis on Tuesday railed against the proposal, saying it is vaguely worded and fails to define what a health care provider is.

That amendment does not require a physician. You can have abortion up till the moment of birth without a physician being involved, DeSantis said at an event in Tampa. That is really, really extreme, and I dont think weve seen anything like that. And then I think when you have an amendment they want to go in Floridas Constitution that will eliminate parental consent for minors  why would you take away parental consent? How is that something that people are going to want to do? "

As the six-week limit took effect Wednesday, Democrats held a number of press conferences, flew a banner over Mar-a-Lago, Trumps Palm Beach residence, saying, Trumps Plan: Ban Abortion, Punish Women, and launched billboards in English and Spanish linking Trump with the six-week restriction in Gainesville, Hollywood, Orlando and Tampa.

Harris painted a grim portrait of a second Trump term.

More bans, more suffering, less freedom. But we are not going to let that happen, because you see we trust women, we trust women to know what is in their best interest and women trust us to fight to protect their most fundamental freedoms, she said.

Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
In an effort to decide who owns the rights to water across Whatcom County and how much water they can use in wet and dry years, the state Department of Ecology filed a lawsuit Wednesday  called an adjudication  that requires a judge to rule on that issue.

Ecologys lawsuit could affect 30,000 people with wells and other water users in the Nooksack River Basin, which the state calls Water Resource Inventory Area 1. It includes the rivers, creeks, ponds, lakes and groundwater in all of Whatcom and part of northwestern Skagit County.

Affected parties include local governments, including Lummi Nation and the Nooksack Tribe, farmers, businesses and rural residents with wells. People who get their water from a utility such as the city of Bellingham wont be affected, Ecology said in a statement announcing the lawsuit Thursday.

A Whatcom County Superior Court judge was appointed to handle the case. Ultimately, the lawsuit could have broad impact on local agriculture, development and the environment.

Water rights in the Nooksack River basin have been a topic of discussion for more three decades, culminating with a 2016 state Supreme Court ruling that said Whatcom County officials werent following state Growth Management Act requirements to protect water resources.

That court ruling told Whatcom County to establish a policy for water availability that:

 Satisfies the needs of farmers, businesses, developers and homeowners.

 Addresses environmental concerns, especially with regard to flood management and salmon protection.

 Respects the treaty rights of Lummi Nation and the Nooksack Tribe.

Since the Department of Ecology is responsible for managing water resources statewide, and county officials couldnt agree on local management plans, the state began preparing legal action to decide local water rights once and for all.

No action is required at this time. In the coming months, water users will receive a summons by certified mail with instructions for filing their claims. Water users will be directed to file with the court within one year. Those who do not file their claims with the court risk losing their ability to legally use water, Ecology said in a statement announcing the lawsuit Thursday.

An adjudication process prioritizes individual water rights, including federal, tribal and instream flow rights under Washington law, which put those who were using the water first at the head of the line, Ecology said.
Update, 6 p.m.: Protestors met before the University of Utahs commencement ceremony to hold a pro-Palestinian rally.

One person was arrested toward the beginning of the rally, and according to the university, charges for that person are pending and stem from Mondays incident.

Additionally, the university said that person is not affiliated with the school.

Though the University of Utah police, Unified police, and Utah Highway Patrol were all in attendance, the university said those who chose to walk out of the commencement ceremony would not be arrested if they remained peaceful.

ORIGINAL STORY: SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4)  A University of Utah student group is planning a walkout during Thursday nights graduation commencement ceremony as part of the ongoing pro-Palestinian protests that started on campus earlier this week.

In an Instagram post, Mecha de U of U called on students, graduates, faculty, staff, and commencement attendees to walk out during the speech of Taylor Randall, the universitys president.

Taylor Randall turned his back on students, the post said. Turn your back on Taylor Randall.

RELATED STORY: 19 arrested, officer injured during pro-Palestine protest at University of Utah

The commencement event is slated to begin at 6 p.m. at Huntsman Center. Before this, Mecha is planning to hold a rally at the arena at 5:30 p.m. as attendees will be filing in.

In a statement, Randall said that 8,652 students will graduate from the university this week, which has so far been marked by protests on campus involving hundreds of people. Mecha is the group that organized these demonstrations.

I ask our campus community to support our graduates by expressing views in a dignified, peaceful, and legal manner, Randall said, referring to commencement night.



University spokesperson Chris Nelson said that while the walkout protest isnt expected to become unruly, the universitys police force is on standby. He noted that commencement attendees are restricted in what they can bring inside Huntsman Center.



Nelson also disagreed with Mechas assertion that the universitys president turned his back on students.



In fact, this university exists to support students, he said. We are on the side of students regardless of where they stand politically. We want them to have a great experience here, graduate and go into the world and be successful.



Soledad Martinez, who graduated Thursday morning, took note of the increased security at the arena.



I noticed so many officers, she said, adding that at first it made her nervous. But overall they were just there congratulating me a lot, so I was like, OK, great!

During the first night of protest on Monday, police arrested 19 people, none of whom were part of Mecha. The following day, a student organizer was arrested, and protesters followed them to the Salt Lake City Metro Jail.

According to the university, five of the 20 people arrested this week were current students, one was a current employee, and 14 were unaffiliated. Per jail records, most were booked for trespassing, disorderly conduct, and failure to disperse.

In his statement, Randall said those arrested this week violated school policy by putting up tents on campus, which is against both state law and university policy.

At the University of Utah, you have an absolute right to express your opinion, Randall wrote. You do not have the right to violate law or university policy.

Like other protests at college campuses across the nation, the protesters in Utah are calling for the university to cut ties with Israel and companies that might supply weapons in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
Wallygator Is Still Missing And Owner Joie Henney Needs The Public's Help!

Beloved emotional support alligator, Wallygator, is still missing nearly two weeks after being taken from his pen while visiting friends in Georgia.

Wally's owner, Joie Henney, has taken to social media to ask for help finding his sweet friend before it's too late.

Joie Henney Needs Help To Find Wally!

TikTok | Wallygator

A few days ago, Henney shared the devastating news that his emotional support gator was taken from an outside pen at a friend's house in Georgia.

"Help is needed!!!! Wally has been stolen, no this is not a joke. He was taken from his pen on Sunday the 21st sometime between 4:30 am to 7:00 am while in Brunswick Georgia. Walking searches have been being conducted to no avail. If anyone sees or hears anything please contact Joie directly," a Facebook status a few days ago reads.

The following day, Henney shared an update on Facebook.

"Wally was stolen by some jerk who likes to drop alligators off into someones yard to terrorize them. Once discovered they called DNR, DNR then called a trapper. The trapper came and got Wally and dropped him off in a swamp with about 20 other alligators that same day," the post reads.

"The swamp is very large and the trapper said the chances of them finding Wally is slim to none. But this is Wally..Joie and friends are currently headed to the swamp to search and will continue daily. We just pray with other alligators present that Wally is ok."

Another update that same day shared, "A positive update is that Paul Benard from Gatorboys has offered his help in finding Wally and we are very grateful. We have been unsuccessful as of yet getting even an approximate location where Wally was released by the trapper, Paul has left a message so we are hoping to hear something soon. All we know is that it was private property not the swamp area we were originally told."

Joie Henney Has Been Keeping His Social Media Followers In The Loop

Facebook | Wallygator

A few days ago, Henney shared another update, and sadly, this one wasn't any better than the last few.

"I really dont have much of an update unfortunately to give. What I can tell you is Demi Ruppert and Paul Bedard have placed calls to DNR and a callback was requested since we have been unsuccessful in getting specific information about a location to begin a search," he shared on Facebook.

"Even the original swamp we were told is so large it would take months with an army to search. We are desperately trying to obtain even an appropriate location. We are trying to keep this professional and friendly even though we want results immediately. Please try to follow suit with that so we can get answers."

Henney posted another Facebook status explaining how people can help because he's in dire need of assistance.

One thing Henney said the public can assist with is contacting the "commissioner in charge of DNR."

"Email~call be nice and let them know who Wally is and lets try to get help from the head. If that doesnt work we can move on to the governor, state representatives, the senate, whoever you can think of," he wrote on Facebook. "If anyone out there can think of anything else that can help we will take it."

One of Wally's fans shared her experience calling the DNR line from wildlife and being told that they are "out of it."

"I said you have the DNR you can help us with the location of Wally. I pleaded this, but she just gave a giggle and said they're out of it," she wrote on Facebook.

Joie Henney Also Shared Information On TikTok

In addition to taking to Facebook to share the news of Wally's disappearance, Henney also shared a video on TikTok hoping to get more people aware of the situation.

"Between 4:30 a.m. and 7:00 a.m., someone came in and stole Wally," he said tearfully. "He is missing. He was taken out of the enclosure while we were visiting friends in Georgia. We need all the help we can get to bring my baby back."

Fighting through tears, Henney pleaded for the public's help. He said he knows he's nearby, as he was told he was "supposed to be in somebody's house."

Wally's Fans Are Heartbroken Over This Situation And Hope Wally Is Found Safe

Facebook | Wallygator

Tons of Wally's online fans took to Henney's social media posts to share their thoughts and well wishes for Wally's safe return.

"Omg my heart is breaking! You brought Wally to my school 3 years ago, he is pure sweetness," one person wrote on TikTok. Another added, "So sorry. My heart hurts so much for you as someone who would dream of snuggling Wally! Praying for his return."

Over on Facebook, the vibe is the same.

"Thats a special kind of evil to do that to an alligator that has only ever known quality care and has never known the wild! I hope he is found safely Im so sorry that some could be so heartless!" one person wrote.

Another said, "I really hope you find Wally. Cant believe the nerve of some people. This person should be charged! Its not right!"

Wally Is Known For Being Gentle And Sweet To Everyone He Meets!

Facebook | Wallygator

Henney often shares photos and videos of Wally meeting his fans everywhere he visits. At a recent visit to Bass Pro Shops in Harrisburg, PA, Wally met tons of happy fans.

Wally also tailgated at a Philadelphia Eagles game with some fans, and was a big hit with everyone!

"My life goal is to meet and hug Wally," one fan wrote in the comments of a TikTok video. Another said, "Wally!! We met Wally at the Fairy Fest last year. I have a picture of him and my daughter. She loved Wally!!"

Another fan shared, "I need a Wally hug so bad."
(Getty Images)

An election season thick with intrigue gets formally underway in Washington on Monday when candidates can begin filing for hundreds of local, state and federal offices.

Retirements and redistricting assure new faces will be behind the levers of power in Olympia and, in at least two cases, Washington, D.C. Hot-button issues of abortion rights, climate policy and public safety could be factors in who prevails.

Statewide, voters this fall will pick a new governor, attorney general, state lands chief, and insurance commissioner.

In the Legislature, all 98 House seats and 25 of 49 Senate seats are on ballots. Fifteen lawmakers  seven in the House and eight in the Senate  are not seeking reelection. A court-ordered redrawing of the states district map opens the door wider for newcomers.

Republican Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, an influencer in the U.S. House, is not seeking reelection. Several Republican and Democrat hopefuls are already scrapping to be her successor representing a swath of eastern Washington including Spokane.

In western Washington, U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer is tapping out after six terms. Thats set up a match between two Democrats and one Republican who now hold state elected offices.

Voters are also getting a rare opportunity to put someone on the state Supreme Court. Justice Susan Owens is turning 75 and Washingtons Constitution requires justices retire at the end of the year in which they reach that age.

Finally, in November, atop all ballots and above the battle between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, will be citizen initiatives to repeal the states capital gains tax, roll back a major climate law, and rewrite the rules for Washingtons new long term care insurance program to let people more easily opt-out.

Candidates for federal, state, and judicial positions file with the Office of the Secretary of State. Online filing begins at 8 a.m. Monday and ends at 5 p.m. Friday, May 10. Candidates for a local office should check specific deadlines with their county auditor as they may differ.

This years primary is Aug. 6 and the general election is Nov. 5. In each primary race, the two candidates with the most votes will advance regardless of their party affiliation.

The post Washington election season kicks into gear with candidate filing appeared first on Washington State Standard.
Hours before he planned to end Passover with a Martin's Potato Roll, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro visited the Franklin County bread manufacturer Tuesday to promote its $120 million expansion project.

Standing before an audience of Martin's executives, local politicians, business leaders and others outside the plant's 260,000-square-foot addition off Wayne Road east of Chambersburg, Shapiro said his administration, through the Department of Community and Economic Development, was giving Martin's a $635,000 Pennsylvania First grant to support the cost of construction, plus $35,000 for employee training and equipment.

"We were proud to not only provide some resources but we were also proud to cut through the red tape and make government work in concert with Martin's and not in opposition to it," Shapiro said.

Martin's has expanded its Chambersburg facility multiple times since the company's humble beginnings as a bakery in a garage in 1955, as President Tony Martin described. His father's vision to put products in grocery stores "propelled us to where we are today," but government bureaucracy and red tape have been hurdles, he said.

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As the company enters its next chapter with a new production line, it will serve as a model of how Pennsylvania's government can help businesses grow more quickly.

Investing in a company like Martin's creates a ripple effect throughout our economy," Shapiro said. "It boosts our agricultural enterprise and it also boosts our transportation sector across the commonwealth. More farmers are getting paid for their potatoes and their produce, more truckers are getting called on to get these really good rolls to market.

"It shows us what is possible here in Pennsylvania when a family has a vision and works together with the government and investors and the local community and the county in order to make it grow and succeed. This is the type of success I want to see us replicate all over Pennsylvania."

Fatal collapse: OSHA says Martin's Potato Rolls 'failed to protect employees'

Production line supports international growth

Tony Martin, president of Martin's Famous Pastry Shoppe, speaks outside the company's Chambersburg headquarters during Gov. Josh Shapiro's visit on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.

The new production line, for which construction began about two years ago, is expected to go online on May 15, Martin's President Tony Martin said in response to a question from the Public Opinion. Shapiro previously said the company was adding 27 employees.

"We saw our food service business was growing, primarily on the international side, and our expertise here is local, so we felt the best thing to do was build it here," he said. "We also built at the same time a freezer location for product that is shipped here in the US and overseas. So that is primarily what this line is designed to do. Basically we built half a line and it has room for us to continue to expand as that market continues."

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Mike Ross, president of the Franklin County Area Development Corp., said he anticipates the company will need to expand again in about five years if all goes well.

"This is one of the more important expansions that have been undertaken," he told the Public Opinion after the event. "The capital investment  it's a homegrown company making an investment. They're a stalwart for the community. And to have the governor come down and celebrate their success is impressive."

Chambersburg business: The future of coffee is brewing in Franklin County

Martin's expansion highlights bipartisanship

The building housing a new production line could be seen in the background as Gov. Josh Shapiro spoke at Martin's Famous Pastry Shoppe, Chambersburg, on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.

"This is a moment to come together, Democrats and Republicans alike, to be able to lift up (this) example of what's possible," Shapiro said in his prepared remarks.

Notably, Martin's was the target of a nationwide boycott after it was reported that Martin's leaders and family members donated to Republican Doug Mastriano, a Trump supporter and election denier who ran against Shapiro for Pennsylvania governor. Mastriano, of Greene Township, is also a state senator for Franklin County.

Martin and Shapiro both described putting business over politics.

Rick Siger, secretary of the Department of Community and Economic Development, speaks during Gov. Josh Shapiro's appearance at Martin's Famous Pastry Shoppe, Chambersburg, on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.

"I don't care who Tony supported. ... I'm a governor for all Pennsylvanians, and Martin's is a critically important business in Pennsylvania," Shapiro said in response to a reporter's question about the political divide. "They had a great plan, we were proud to work with them to execute on it and I hope more and more people around the commonwealth, the country and the world get a chance to eat these darn good rolls as a result of their expansion."

Martin commended Shapiro and his team for their work with the company.

"We may not agree on everything. But we agree on business. And we agree on helping Pennsylvania," Martin said. "And it's more important than politics when you want to help the people you're serving. We have customers, we want to serve them well and his customers are the people here in Pennsylvania."

Franklin County commissioners Dean Horst, a Republican, and Bob Ziobrowski, a Democrat, were among the politicians and local leaders present at the event. Martin said they, as well as attendees Don Clapper, Guilford Township supervisor, Greater Chambersburg Chamber of Commerce President Steve Christian and Ross were key to connecting Martin's with the state resources.

Worker died during construction of addition

Kenneth Hott, a production lead at Martin's Famous Pastry Shoppe, talks about how the company supports its employees. He was a guest speaker during Gov. Josh Shapiro's appearance on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.

Martin's expansion was the site of a construction worker's death nearly two years ago.

Steven Garrett Graby, a 30-year-old from Lancaster County, was found dead in the rubble hours after several interior walls collapsed on Aug. 30, 2022.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration did not cite Martin's or any of the companies involved in the construction. However, OSHA did recommend Graby's employer, High Structural Erectors, of Lancaster, take steps to improve safety.

Amber South can be reached at asouth@publicopinionnews.com.

This article originally appeared on Chambersburg Public Opinion: Pennsylvania governor: Martin's Potato Rolls expansion 'model' for Pa.
WCSO asking for publics help in Eastern Star Road trailer theft

WASHINGTON COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL)  Authorities are asking for the publics help identifying two men involved in a trailer theft on Eastern Star Road on April 24.

According to the Washington County, Tennessee Sheriffs Office (WCSO), deputies responded to the 200 block of Eastern Star Road regarding a theft.

Jonesborough preservation-oriented contractor indicted for abandoning jobs, theft

Security cameras reportedly showed two men unhitching a trailer from a white Toyota truck and hitching it to a single-cab, red Chevrolet truck with black wheels and steel side steps.

The theft happened around 2 a.m., the WCSO stated.

Courtesy of the Washington County, Tennessee Sheriffs Office

Courtesy of the Washington County, Tennessee Sheriffs Office

Courtesy of the Washington County, Tennessee Sheriffs Office

Courtesy of the Washington County, Tennessee Sheriffs Office

The two men were wearing face coverings and gloves during the theft, the sheriffs office stated. One man had on a white hooded sweatshirt and jeans. The other man was wearing a black jacket and jeans.

The two then got into the Chevrolet truck and left the area towards Kinchloe Mill Road, the WCSO reported.

The stolen trailer reportedly has welded spots on the metal mesh on the back, a new spare tire on the front, a black frame, silver wheels and a wooden floor.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the sheriffs office at (423) 788-1414. Anonymous tips can also be sent by texting WCSOTN and their tip to 847411. Tips can also be submitted online here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather.
(WJW)  A Northeast Ohio police department has released plans for a weekend sobriety checkpoint.

The Brook Park Police Department has not yet said what day and time the checkpoint will take place but said the location will be announced the morning of the checkpoint.

Man with whipped cream on hands and lips found inside NE Ohio school

If you plan to consume alcohol, designate a driver or make other travel arrangements before you drink. Dont let another life be lost for the senseless and selfish act of getting behind the wheel impaired, read a Thursday morning press release.

In 1990, the Supreme Court upheld the use of sobriety checkpoints as long as they meet certain guidelines which include public notification.

Heavenly sighting? See the local picture inspiring hope

You can learn more about the legality of checkpoints in Ohio in the video player above.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW.
Some say the party on the Weeki Wachee River is over, but others, including the Florida agency charged with protecting waterways, say its restoration is about to begin.

This week, after years of campaigning by residents who have lived along the water, signs go up telling people to stay in their boats and to keep them afloat and moving when visiting the river. Hernando officials invited the news media on Thursday to see the signs installed, which will allow the start of enforcement of new rules.

In recent years social media images of locals and visitors barbecuing in the middle of the river, spreading beach blankets beside kayaks pulled up on the shore and sandbars and jumping from tree stands and rope swings into the water have become as commonplace as the proliferation of vacation rentals along the Weeki Wachee.

Eight years ago, concerned citizens gathered to call for action. They said the waterway was overrun and the crowds were changing the natural order there. They engaged with then-state Sen. Wilton Simpson, Florida and Hernando County officials to try to remedy the situation.

Since then there have been many discussions at the local and state level and a detailed study done showing that the rapidly growing public use has indeed changed the river. It has grown wider and more shallow. Trees and vegetation that support wildlife have been decimated. Water quality has suffered.

Much of that has been attributed to visitors trampling the shoreline and sandbars where previously vegetation kept the riverbank healthy.

The new Springs Protection Zone, approved last summer by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, forbids mooring, grounding, anchoring and beaching watercraft along the banks and sandbars of the river for 5.61 acres from the main spring within the Weeki Wachee Springs State Park to Shoal Line Boulevard at Rogers Park.

Shannon Turbeville, who was at the center of pushing for the protection zone and other related Weeki Wachee projects, said he was happy to see the day come that the rules go into place.

I applaud the Hernando County Commission for taking the lead in working with our Legislature and various state agencies in finding a way to help protect a precious natural resource that we are only guilty of loving to death Turbeville said. The signs not only make this springs protection zone enforceable, but are a testament of Hernando Countys commitment to this natural resource and our state taxpayer-funded restoration project.

The law will be enforced by the Hernando County Sheriffs Office and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and violations could result in a $140 fine.

Nearly all of the Weeki Wachee shoreline is off limits already. Inside the boundaries of the Weeki Wachee Springs State Park, no exiting of watercraft is allowed and signs are posted throughout that area up to where the park boundary ends. Some say that is why the river is healthier inside the park because people stay in their kayaks, allowing vegetation along the banks and aquatic grasses under the water there to thrive.

Once boaters leave the confines of the park, much of the remaining stretch of river inside the protection zone belongs to the Southwest Florida Water Management District as the Weekiwachee Preserve. The district does not allow boaters to enter the preserve from the water to protect the shoreline.

Private land owners along the rest of the river, including the largest private landowner George Foster, have posted No Trespassing signs for years. He told the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission last year that the signs have been ignored and he has lost 20 feet of shoreline due to the trampling. He also said that in recent years crowds have done much damage along the waterway.

Im here to tell you that the river has been destroyed, Foster said.

The Weeki Wachee River has also been the focus of other projects, including dredging that has been underway since last year and is wrapping up soon. The $2.1 million project was designed to clear sediment from the water body, allowing underwater vegetation to again grow, providing wildlife habitat, bringing back depth where sediment had collected and improving water quality.

Area residents have also been concerned recently that six manatees have died in the Mud River, which is adjacent to the Weeki Wachee. Manatee deaths there are rare. Three of those deaths were attributed to natural causes and the others were undetermined. There was also an alert last month for a potential toxic blue green algae bloom, raising additional water quality concerns.

The river protection discussion continues on Friday when a coalition of local conservation groups is sponsoring the Weeki Wachee River Summit at the Pasco Hernando State College in Spring Hill. More than 80 people have signed up to hear updates on protection zone, water quality, the dredge, manatees and other related issues along the river from a group of experts who have been involved in river monitoring and protection.
NEW CONCORD  Debra Clausing Sudan from the Class of 1985 will be the commencement speaker for ceremonies at 2 p.m. Saturday for Muskingum University at the Anne C. Steele Center. The university has more than 300 graduate and undergraduate students who will have degrees conferred.

Muskingum will start the day with a baccalaureate ceremony at 10 a.m. in Brown Chapel. It will be followed by a hooding ceremony for Muskingums graduate students who are earning masters degrees in applied leadership, business and information systems, education and teaching.

Debra Clausing Sudan

Sudan is a transplant surgeon. She serves as division chief of abdominal transplant in the department of surgery, professor of surgery and professor of pediatrics at Duke University and, in 2020, was the first woman honored with Dukes Master Surgeon Award. Her clinical interests encompass all abdominal organ transplants  kidney, liver, pancreas and intestine transplant. She is especially dedicated to efforts toward improving graft preservation and long-term graft function and patient survival.

In 2018, she completed North Carolinas first-ever abdominal wall transplant. She previously served as professor of surgery and director of the living donor transplant program at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. While in Nebraska, she developed pioneering techniques for successful living donor liver transplantation and for intestinal transplantation. In addition, she was the first female surgeon in the world to perform an intestine transplant in 1996.

Sudan began her academic career at Muskingum University, where she earned a bachelor's degree summa cum laude in chemistry with minors in biology and German. While on campus, she played the flute in the orchestra and band and was a member of F.A.D. and a resident assistant. She completed her medical degree and general surgery residency at Wright State University. She was honored with a Muskingum alumni Distinguished Service Award in 2023.

The Commencement ceremony will air live on Orbit TV and WMCO Radio. To listen or view the ceremony, go to orbitmediaonline.com.

This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Debra Clausing Sudan speaking for Muskingum University commencement
This article was originally published in West Virginia Watch.

Citing issues with the federal governments rollout of a new application for student aid, Gov. Jim Justice on Tuesday declared a state of emergency and suspended a requirement that college-bound high school seniors fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid in order to receive state financial aid, including the Promise Scholarship and the Higher Education Grant Program.

The FAFSA form is required for applying for federal student aid and used to determine a students financial need. The form recently went through a top-to-bottom overhaul  its first massive revamp in more than 40 years  in an effort to streamline the process.

The changes are supposed to result in more students being eligible for financial aid, especially low-income students. The new FAFSA went live in January, three months later than the application is typically available, and has been plagued by a number of glitches and problems that have caused further delays.

Help fund stories like this. Donate now!

Justice said Tuesday the issues with the FAFSA have resulted in a 40% reduction in West Virginia high school FAFSA completion rates and have left students wondering if theyll be able to go to college.

So the way around this is for the governor to declare a state of emergency  in education that we can bypass this FAFSA stuff and we can at least get on with getting our kids the state funding, Justice said during his administration briefing Tuesday.

Under the emergency proclamation, students who apply for and qualify for the Promise Scholarship by Sept. 1, 2024, will receive an award of up to $5,500 for the 2024-25 academic year. Students who completed a 2023-24 FAFSA who qualify for the need-based Higher Education Grant, will receive up to $3,400 for the fall semester.

Students who dont have a previous FAFSA on file but are eligible for SNAP, TANF, Medicaid, CHIP, Child Care Subsidy Program or WIC can show their eligibility letter to their higher education institutions financial aid office to receive the Higher Education Grant.

In a news release, Sarah Tucker, the states chancellor of higher education, said the cost of college is one of the biggest hurdles students  especially low-income students  face when planning for education after high school.

Thats why our state has invested so strongly in our own financial aid programs  which, combined, total more than $100 million each year for West Virginia students, she said. I thank Governor Justice for his strong leadership and allowing students to access these funds this year despite their FAFSA status. And I encourage students to continue working to complete the FAFSA so that they can get as much money from other sources, including the federal government, as possible.

The federal Department of Education on Tuesday encouraged students to fill out the FAFSA, saying that issues with the application have been resolved, the Washington Post reported.

Justice encouraged students and parents to call a state hotline at 1-877-987-7664 or visit https://www.collegeforwv.com for more information and assistance with applying for aid.

West Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. West Virginia Watch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Leann Ray for questions: info@westvirginiawatch.com. Follow West Virginia Watch on Facebook and Twitter.
HAGERSTOWN, Md. (DC News Now)  Maryland senators and delegates have returned to their districts following the latest legislative session.

The western Maryland delegation held a town meeting of sorts on Wednesday at Hagerstown Community College, sponsored by the Washington County-Greater Hagerstown Chamber of Commerce.

The lawmakers shared their perspectives from their months in Annapolis this winter.

Delegate Brooke Grossman (D  Hagerstown) said affordable housing is one of her top concerns, not just for the homeless and underhoused, as she put it, but for the middle class.

The median price for a home in Washington County is $350,000 but the median annual household income is $75,000, said Grossman. I would like to see Maryland drive a housing policy for homes to be affordable.

Female entrepreneurs rally in Hagerstown to celebrate National Small Business Week

Delegate William Wivell (R  Washington County) said he is glad that a lid was kept on taxes this past session, but he was unhappy that doing so came with a catch.

Governor Moore made a commitment that he didnt want to raise taxes, said Wivell. But fees were raised for motor vehicles and state agencies had free reign to raise fees. Fees are just another term for taxes, said Wivell.

Delegate William Valentine, a retired police officer, helped take the lead to give Maryland judges privacy protections and fortify courthouse security after Judge Andrew Wilkinson was shot and killed last October.

My colleagues at the State House know the tragedy that our community went through, said Valentine. They dont want that to happen in their counties or their districts.

Senator Mike McKay (R  Washington, Allegany and Garrett counties) said he fears that a possible lifting of the gas tax in neighboring West Virginia will have repercussions for Maryland.

Its going to be devastating for the Maryland business community, says McKay.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
Rescue workers help residents evacuate from a flooded neighborhood in Kherson, Ukraine, on Tuesday. (Libkos/AP)

The destruction on Tuesday of the massive Soviet-era Kakhovka dam on the Dnipro River in the Ukrainian city of Nova Kakhovka has damaged homes and is posing a threat to residents, animals, crops and public infrastructure. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the dams collapse, which he attributed to Russia, an environmental bomb of mass destruction.

The dam is part of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant in Ukraine's Kherson region, which has been occupied by Russia as part of war against its smaller neighbor. The Dnipro River is the frontline between Russian and Ukrainian forces.

The governments of Russia and Ukraine are blaming each other, saying the dam was destroyed by an explosion orchestrated by their enemy. U.S. agencies have intelligence suggesting that Russia is the culprit and a senior NATO official told NBC News that Russia, rather than Ukraine, would stand to benefit from the disaster.

According to Reuters, the dam is 98 feet tall and 2 miles long and the reservoir it created holds 4.3 cubic miles of water  roughly as much as the Great Salt Lake in Utah. Releasing that much water will have massive repercussions.

Flooding, property damage

A view of the damaged Kakhovka dam. (Ukraine's Presidential Office via AP)

The Ukrainian government says that more than 40,000 people along the Dnipro are at risk of flooding. Both the Russian and Ukrainian governments have ordered evacuations.

Footage from Kherson showed rooftops floating down the river and other homes half submerged, and floodwaters are expected to peak by Wednesday, Yahoo News reported.

Ukrainian officials said evacuations were underway, USA Today reported. The Russia-installed mayor of Nova Kakhovka, a city of about 45,000, said his town was underwater, state media reported.

"Residents are sitting on the roofs of their homes waiting to be rescued, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Telegram.

Water levels are expected to peak Wednesday morning.

Threats to human health

Kherson residents take what belongings they can during an evacuation. (Libkos/AP)

Aside from the risk of drowning, flooding creates a range of health hazards. Because floodwaters pick up debris from the buildings they invade, they contain many things that may harm health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns.

Those include downed power lines, human and animal waste, dangerous chemicals from industrial facilities, and sharp or heavy objects. Contact with any of these may result in wounds, skin rashes, gastrointestinal illness and tetanus.

Floodwater can also contaminate wells, aquifers and reservoirs, making drinking water unsafe to consume.

More and more water is coming every hour. Its very dirty, Yevheniya, a woman in Nova Kakhovka told Reuters.

Polluted water supplies and wider environmental consequences are anticipated as a result of the incident, in Ukraine, Time magazine noted.

Damage to key infrastructure

Red Cross volunteers assisting an elderly woman in Kherson. (Vladyslav Musiienko/Reuters)

According to CNN, Ukraines Energy Ministry said that almost 12,000 people in the Kherson region had lost power due to the flooding and that there may be problems with water supply.

We understand that there will be big problems regarding the delivery of drinking water, Zelensky said. There will be big problems with drinking water even where there is no flooding. In the whole region.

Then there is the nearby nuclear power plant.

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant relies on water from the Dnieper River to cool its emergency diesel generators and reactors, Time reported. Currently, the water reservoir is falling by two inches per hour, meaning that the supply of cooling water should last at least a few days. The U.N.s International Atomic Energy Agency wrote in a statement that there is no immediate risk to the safety of the plant.

There is also the water supply for the Crimean Peninsula that comes from the river.

The destruction of the dam risks lowering the water level of the Soviet-era North Crimean Canal, which has traditionally supplied Crimea with 85% of its water needs, Reuters reported. Most of that water is used for agriculture, some for the Black Sea peninsula's industries, and around one-fifth for drinking water and other public needs.

Animals and crops

A local resident negotiates a flooded street in Kherson. (Libkos/AP)

An unknown number of farm animals and pets have already drowned due to the dam breach. According to a Facebook post by the animal rescue group UAnimals, all of the 260 animals at the Kazkova Dibrova zoo in Russian-occupied Nova Kakhovka died in the flood except for the swans and ducks.

Ukraine is a major exporter of wheat, and the flooding of farms is expected to damage crops. Wheat and corn futures rose on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange as a result.

The short-term impact is the damage of grain silos and other equipment situated in the low banks of the river, Sergey Feofilov, head of UkrAgroConsult, told Bloomberg News. Exactly which silos, whether grains are in the silos, and how much of the grain might be rotting is unclear immediately now. The long-term impact will be much more dramatic.
What's being built across the street from Mike's Dance Barn in Brown County?

The location of the construction site at 2150 Ind. 46W in Nashville.

The Nashville Jehovahs Witness congregation is building a bigger place of worship.

The congregation is building a nearly 3,000-square-foot, single-story Kingdom Hall on the north side of Ind. 46, across the highway from Mikes Music & Dance Barn.

Chris Kimball, a regional spokesman for Jehovahs Witnesses, said the organization calls places of worship Kingdom Halls.

The new hall, at 2150 Ind. 46W, is being built about 4 miles south of Nashville, past a hilly section of the state highway and the West Gate of Brown County State Park. The hall will be about 11 miles east of Bloomington.

A rendering of the house of worship being built across the street from Mike's Dance Barn in Nashville.

County documents list as the propertys owner the Nashville Congregation of Jehovah's Witness, based at 2123 Greasy Creek Road.

Kimball said via text the existing hall, which the congregation has been using for many years, was getting too small.

The new facility "will allow room for more people to enjoy a modern, comfortable learning environment in a great location," he said.

The construction site includes a cafe, set up in a tent, to provide nourishment for the workers.

The nearly 2-acre property has been in possession of the congregation since 2006. The warranty deed shows that in that year, Michael J. Robertson, Jennie L. Robertson, Michael Joseph Robertson, Jonathan Craig Robertson and Randall Ray Robertson deeded the property to the congregation.

The Robertson family also owns and runs Mikes Dance Barn, a venue that offers live music, dance lessons and can be rented for events.

The building permit for the new hall was issued by the Brown County Area Plan Commission/Building Department in May 2023, and some work was done last year. Brown County Building Commissioner Lonnie Farlee said the property sat idle over the winter, but construction has picked up again this spring.

Kimball said hundreds of volunteers will travel from across the Midwest to help with construction.

"In some cases, they will come from other parts of the country," he said. "For example, one family with specialized construction skills will travel from Florida to work on the project."

Kimball said construction is expected to be completed in August.

He said Kingdom Halls "are always open to the public and visitors. Study sessions are free, and no collections are taken."

Farlee said the property did not need to be rezoned.

People will enter the property from the state road. Kimball said a passing lane on the south side of the highway allows eastbound traffic to pass drivers who are turning left into the Kingdom Hall parking lot.

Boris Ladwig can be reached at bladwig@heraldt.com.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: What's being built across Ind. 46 from Mike's Dance Barn in Nashville?
Guardian office

The Guardian has launched a redundancy programme as the newspaper grapples with a sharp slowdown in advertising.

Katharine Viner, the left-leaning newspapers editor-in-chief, sent an email to staff on Thursday outlining plans for a small number of voluntary redundancies as it seeks to cut costs.

The note, seen by The Telegraph, said an advertising recession and challenging market conditions are impacting negatively on all media companies, including the Guardian.

The email added that The Guardian was now 60pc funded by its readers through sales and donations, cutting its reliance on advertising and newsstand sales.

However, it said the business still had to make difficult decisions over budgets after warning the ad slump would drive the business to a 39m loss in 2023.

We have sought to protect editorial budgets where possible, but, after careful consideration we have decided to open a limited voluntary redundancy scheme within the UK editorial department, the note said.

Ms Viner added: Overall we are in a much stronger position than we were during the last downturn, with a well-established and successful digital reader revenue income stream.

This is really positive but there is still work to do to make our business digital-first, truly global, confidently sustainable.

The redundancy program is open to any employee in the UK editorial department who has been employed on a permanent or fixed-term contract for at least two years.

It will not apply to its journalists in the US or Australia.

Staff were warned of looming job losses in March as part of broader cost-cutting that has seen budgets trimmed across the media group.

The Guardian has seen its headcount rise sharply since completing a three-year turnaround plan in 2019.

The company employed 1,014 journalists last year, up from 860 in 2019, while staff costs increased by more than 30m over the same period.

It comes as the newspaper is also locked in a dispute with unions over pay.

The company has offered all staff a 2,000 salary uplift alongside a further 1pc increase for 2024. It said this represented an average pay increase of 3.7pc.

However, the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and Unite have refused the offer.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
A protest against the Israel-Hamas war at Columbia University that began in mid-April has sparked a wave of demonstrations at campuses across the country, including one at UCLA that was broken up by hundreds of police officers.

On May 6, Columbia University in New York announced they were canceling their main commencement ceremony over security concerns related to the protests on campus, a university official told NBC News.

Demonstrations against Israel's war in Gaza have popped up at nearly 60 colleges and universities around the U.S., several of which have ended with police storming protest sites and arresting students.

The wave of campus activism has drawn parallels to the anti-Vietnam War protests that swept universities in the late 1960s.

Here's what to know about the rapidly spreading demonstrations.

Why are students protesting?

Student groups at dozens of universities have spoken out against Israel's military action in Gaza, while calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war and demanding a halt of U.S. military aid to Israel.

Hamas killed about 1,200 people and took more than 200 hostages in an attack against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, according to Israeli officials. Israel has responded by killing more than 34,000 Palestinians, health officials in Gaza say.

Student protesters are also calling on their universities to divest from any weapons manufacturers or companies with ties to Israel. That means they do not want the university investing any of its endowment funds from donations, which are billions of dollars in the case of some schools, in those companies.

Whats happening at UCLA?

Police detain a demonstrator (Ethan Swope / AP)

Los Angeles police officers in riot gear forcefully entered a barricaded encampment set up by pro-Palestinian demonstrators on UCLA's campus in the early hours of May 2, arresting dozens of protesters, a senior official familiar with the operation to dismantle the encampment told NBC News.

Earlier that night, the pro-Palestinian encampment was attacked by pro-Israel counter-protesters, who threw fireworks and tear gas at them, UCLA student journalist Dylan Winward told NBC News. The counter-protesters did not appear to be student led," according to Winward.

Police pulled down barricades and tents after a tense standoff. Its not immediately clear how many of those arrested were students, faculty or people not affiliated with the university.

What happened at Columbia?

The initial protest at Columbia took place on April 17, when students set up an encampment in front of the Manhattan campus' Butler Library. The demonstration coincided with university President Nemat Shafik being called before Congress to be questioned about concerns over antisemitism at the school.

New York police were called to the campus on April 18 to disband the encampment, and they arrested more than 100 protesters. Other protesters remained in the encampment for more than a week, demanding the university divest from Israel.

On April 30, dozens of demonstrators took over Hamilton Hall on Columbia's campus, vowing not to leave until their demands were met. They hung a banner outside the building that said Hinds Hall" in reference to a 6-year-old girl, Hind Rajab, who was found dead in Gaza days after being trapped under Israeli fire.

NYPD officers in riot gear break into a building at Columbia University. (Kena Betancur / AFP - Getty Images)

Hours later, police stormed the building via a makeshift ramp into a second-floor window, clearing the historic hall where students also barricaded themselves in 1968 to protest the Vietnam War. The NYPD also swept out the encampment on the campus.

We regret that protesters have chosen to escalate the situation through their actions, the university said in a statement. After the University learned overnight that Hamilton Hall had been occupied, vandalized, and blockaded, we were left with no choice.

One of the people involved in the protest was identified as Lisa Fithian, 63, a veteran activist the NYPD labeled as a "professional agitator," NBC News reported.

At a press conference on April 30, New York City Mayor Eric Adams condemned "external actors who attempted to hijack this private protest." It remains unclear how many involved were students, professors, or people unaffiliated with the university.

On May 6, the school announced it was canceling its main, university-wide commencement ceremony on May 15 in favor of "smaller-scale, school-based celebrations."

A university official told NBC News that security concerns were a factor, and the decision was made after discussions with student leaders.

Our students emphasized that these smaller-scale, school-based celebrations are most meaningful to them and their families, the university said in a statement on May 6. They are eager to cross the stage to applause and family pride and hear from their schools invited guest speakers.

What other colleges have protests on campus?

Pro-Palestinian demonstrations have been held at nearly 60 colleges and universities across at least 28 states through May 2.

The protests have been held at large state schools like Arizona State and the University of Texas, multiple Ivy League universities, city schools like George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and smaller schools like Emerson College in Boston and Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania.

Hundreds of people have been arrested across numerous demonstrations.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
Disclaimer: The article contains mentions of death. Reader discretion is advised.

In November 1987, authorities apprehended nurse Richard Angelo for giving a high amount of muscle-paralyzing drugs to his patients. Reportedly, Angelo gave the injections to the patients so that they would go into respiratory arrest, only to revive them afterward. By doing this, he wanted to be seen as a hero. However, during the process, some of his patients died due to the overdose.

Following his arrest, Richard Angelo, aka Angel of Death, admitted to administering a drug named Pavulon to one of his patients. As a result, police charged him with first-degree assault. Citing the authorities, The New York Times reported that Angelo gave similar kinds of drugs to his patients in October 1987 as well. Additionally, the surviving victim testified in front of the authorities, which led to Angelos arrest. Meanwhile, Angelos attorney questioned the authenticity of Angelos confession.

Per the outlet, the defense team said the biggest issue in this case revolved around validating the claims of confession. The defense attorney said, Whether or not he has confessed is the issue. What is written on those pieces of paper may not be what the man said. Moreover, in 1988, a grand jury indicted him on several counts of murder and assault. After eight weeks of trial, the jury deliberated for eight days before announcing a guilty verdict in December 1989. The following year, the court sentenced Richard Angelo to 50 years to life in prison for killing four patients, reported The New York Times.

According to New Yorks Department of Corrections, Richard Angelo is serving his sentence at the Great Meadow Correction Facility in New York.

Richard Angelos case explored

During the trial, Richard Angelos attorney admitted that the injections given by his client might have caused some deaths. However, he made it clear that the nurse didnt know how lethal those injections could have been for his patients. Citing his closing arguments, The New York Times requested the jury to find his client guilty of a much lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide.

On the other hand, the prosecution team called Richard Angelo a monster. Additionally, they told the jurors that the accused must have known about the drug and its consequences. The prosecutor said, Im not saying he intentionally killed anyone. Im saying he just didnt give a damn.

The jury found Richard Angelo guilty of murder, manslaughter, and criminally negligent homicide. The court sentenced him to 50 years to life in prison.

The post Where Is Richard Angelo aka Angel of Death Now? appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More.
A whistleblower who accused a Boeing supplier of turning a blind eye to defects has died after a sudden illness: reports

Joshua Dean was a quality auditor at the Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems.

Dean died on Tuesday, months after testifying against his former employer.

In March, a Boeing whistleblower was found dead with what appeared to be a "self-inflicted gunshot wound."

A whistleblower who accused a Boeing supplier of ignoring manufacturing defects on the 737 Max died on Tuesday.

The former Spirit AeroSystems employee Joshua Dean, 45, died after contracting a sudden illness, The Seattle Times reported on Wednesday. Dean's aunt, Carol Parsons, told the outlet that Dean went to the hospital after he had trouble breathing some two weeks ago.

Parsons said her nephew was intubated, and his condition began to worsen. Dean developed pneumonia and MRSA, a serious bacterial infection, The Seattle Times reported.

"Our thoughts are with Josh Dean's family. This sudden loss is stunning news here and for his loved ones," Joe Buccino, a spokesperson for Spirit AeroSystems, told The Seattle Times.

Dean testified against Spirit in a shareholder lawsuit last year, with the former quality auditor accusing the company of poor quality control in the production of Boeing's 737 Max.

The company's unorthodox engineering practices came under scrutiny after The New York Times reported in March that the Federal Aviation Administration had seen it use liquid Dawn soap to lubricate a 737 Max door seal.

Spirit later said it tried using other household products such as Vaseline and cornstarch as lubricants before it settled on using Dawn soap, The New York Times reported. It told the outlet that Dawn soap was documented under the FAA's standards as a viable factory tool.

Dean told The Wall Street Journal in January that Spirit fired him for pointing out wrongly drilled holes in fuselages.

"It is known at Spirit that if you make too much noise and cause too much trouble, you will be moved," Dean told the Journal. "It doesn't mean you completely disregard stuff, but they don't want you to find everything and write it up."

Spirit told the Journal it disagreed with Dean's assertions, adding that it would defend itself in court.

Dean's death came after the death of the Boeing whistleblower John Barnett, 62. Barnett died in March, in the middle of his deposition against Boeing.

The Charleston County coroner's office told Business Insider in a statement that the former Boeing manager died from "what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound." No further details were provided.

Dean's lawyer, Brian Knowles, told The Seattle Times that he didn't want to speculate about the timing and circumstances of Dean's death. Knowles also represented Barnett.

"Josh's passing is a loss to the aviation community and the flying public. He possessed tremendous courage to stand up for what he felt was true and right and raised quality and safety issues," Knowles said in a joint statement with his co-counsel Rob Turkewitz to BI.

For its part, Boeing has come under heightened scrutiny following repeated quality-assurance lapses.

During its earnings call last month, Boeing disclosed it had posted a net loss of $355 million in its latest quarter. The company said it burned through $3.9 billion in cash in the year's first quarter.

"Near term, yes, we are in a tough moment," Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said in a letter to his employees on April 24.

Representatives for Spirit AeroSystems didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours.

May 3, 1:00 a.m.  This story has been updated with a statement from Knowles.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Russia has been shipping refined petroleum to North Korea in volumes that may violate the U.N. Security Council's restrictions, U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on May 2, according to Reuters.

The reports came after the Financial Times wrote that Moscow was defying U.N. sanctions by supplying North Korea with oil, likely in exchange for weapons. Pyongyang is subject to a strict cap on oil transfers, imposed by the U.N. Security Council in 2017 after a series of nuclear weapons tests.

Moscow supplied over 165,000 barrels of refined petroleum to North Korea in March alone, Kirby said.

North Korea is limited to importing 500,000 barrels of petroleum products per year under U.N. sanctions.

Moscow vetoed in late March the annual renewal of the panel of experts monitoring U.N. sanctions against Pyongyang over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, presumably to hide its own violations of Security Council resolutions, Reuters wrote.

The move was condemned by several other U.N. members, who accused Russia of shielding its purchases of North Korean arms for its war effort against Ukraine.

Washington would continue to impose sanctions "against those working to facilitate arms and refined petroleum transfers" between Moscow and the Pyongyang, Kirby said.

Pyongyang has been shaping up as Russia's leading weapons supplier, reportedly providing Moscow with extensive military packages, including ballistic missiles and over 3 million artillery shells.

There have also been concerns about what Russia may be providing North Korea in return for the shipments of military hardware and ammunition. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned that Russia has been assisting North Korea in upgrading its military capabilities, potentially including ballistic missiles and nuclear technology.

There has been at least 10 cases of Russia using North Korean missiles to strike Ukraine, said Jung Pak, the U.S. Senior Official for North Korea, in late March.

Read also: US, South Korea launch task force to combat illegal shipment of oil to North Korea

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John Kirby, Strategic Communications Coordinator for the White House National Security Council, said on 2 May that he does not regard China as ready to accept the Ukrainian Peace Formula  a key factor in influencing Russia.

Source: European Pravda citing Voice of America

Details: Kirby was asked to comment on the likelihood of China attending the Global Peace Summit that is set to be held in Switzerland in mid-June. He said the United States welcomes participation in the conference by countries that respect the plan for a just peace for Ukraine.

"And if China is a country that is willing to help work for a just peace and is willing to fully respect President Zelenskyy's goals and objectives and his prerogatives, then my God we will support this," he said.

However, the White House spokesperson noted that he has not seen Beijing taking any steps in this direction, so the United States will continue to provide Ukraine with what it needs to fight.

"And now we have received supplemental funding to repel Russian aggression, regain the territories that the Russians took from Ukraine, and work on achieving a peace that meets the objectives not just of his administration, but also the Ukrainian people," Kirby concluded.

The Global Peace Summit will take place on 15-16 June in Burgenstock. Switzerland has invited more than 160 countries and international organisations, but not Russia.

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba explained that Ukraine sees no point in inviting Russia to the Global Peace Summit at this stage, but that contact with the Russian side will still be necessary after the international community has consolidated its position.

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Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday in Brooklyn, N.Y. (Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Whats happening

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is running for president as an independent  and both Democrats and Republicans are worried that he could spoil the election by siphoning more votes from one side than the other.

Kennedy did not meet CNN's threshold  garnering 15% support in four reliable national polls by June 20  to qualify for Thursday night's presidential debate.

At first, the thinking was that RFK Jr.'s candidacy posed a bigger threat to President Biden than to his Republican rival, former President Donald Trump.

He is Crooked Joe Bidens Political Opponent, not mine, Trump wrote on Truth Social in March. I love that he is running!

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Trumps logic wasnt hard to follow. Kennedys father was Democratic icon Robert F. Kennedy, a U.S. attorney general and senator who was shot and killed just as he was closing in on his partys 1968 presidential nomination. Kennedys uncle, John F. Kennedy, was one of the most beloved Democratic presidents of the 20th century. He was assassinated, too.

A lifelong Democrat, RFK Jr. spent much of his career as an environmental lawyer fighting large corporate polluters. (He later pivoted to anti-vaccine activism.) Last year, he chose to challenge Biden in the 2024 Democratic primary before deciding to pursue the presidency as an independent instead.

In recent weeks, however, something seems to have shifted, and Republicans who initially welcomed Kennedys bid (at least one of whom became his top donor) have started to openly disparage him.

RFK Jr. is a Democrat Plant, a Radical Left Liberal whos been put in place in order to help Crooked Joe Biden, Trump wrote last Friday on Truth Social. A Vote for Junior would essentially be a WASTED PROTEST VOTE.

So how big a factor could Kennedy be in November? And who should be more afraid of him, Trump or Biden?

Why theres debate

The 2024 election is almost certain to be very close. For months, the Yahoo News/YouGov poll has shown Biden and Trump locked in a statistical tie; a few thousands votes in key swing states could tip the White House one way or the other.

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At the same time, voters have made it abundantly clear that theyre unhappy with having to choose  again  between Biden and Trump, who both suffer from historically low approval ratings.

Kennedy is trying to capitalize on Americans discontent. So far, polls suggest he is doing a decent job. The numbers vary from survey to survey, but he has consistently averaged about 10% support nationwide, with slightly lower  but still substantial  backing in the battleground states.

No independent or third-party candidate has hit double digits on Election Day since businessman Ross Perot in 1992, so it makes sense for Kennedys rivals to be concerned.

Adding to their fear, experts say, is the sense that Kennedy is uniquely positioned to poach from both sides.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has two things going for him. One is a Democratically known last name, which could play to low-informed Democratic voters who are looking for an additional option beyond Biden, Republican strategist Matthew Bartlett recently told Politico. But beyond that, he has a lot of interesting if not conspiratorial ideas, from vaccines to autism to a wide range of fringe ideas that certainly play more to the right than to the left.

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Reinforcing the latter point, Yahoo News and YouGov recently tested five false conspiracy theories that Kennedy has promoted  and without mentioning the candidates name, all five generated far more agreement among Trump voters than among Biden voters: that COVID-19 vaccines are more harmful than the virus itself (55% vs. 8%); that climate change is being used as a pretext for imposing totalitarian controls on society (68% vs. 7%); that Prozac and other antidepressants have led to a rise in school shootings (35% vs. 12%); that vaccines cause autism (25% vs. 5%); and that chemicals in the water supply could turn children transgender (8% vs. 4%).

For now, the Yahoo News/YouGov poll suggests that Kennedy pulls equally from Trump and Biden, who are tied at 44% apiece among registered voters in a head-to-head matchup and 42% apiece against a full field of alternatives (including Kennedy at 5%, up from 2% earlier this year).

But at least one other recent survey, by NBC News, found Biden coming from 2 points behind to lead Trump by 2 when Kennedy and two other third-party candidates were added as options  largely because 15% of respondents who initially picked Trump against Biden defected to Kennedy in the five-way matchup (vs. just 7% of those who initially chose Biden).

Elsewhere, an April CNN poll showed Kennedy with a much higher favorable rating among Trump voters (42% favorable vs. 16% unfavorable) than among Biden voters (19% favorable vs. 53% unfavorable), while a Politico analysis revealed that Kennedy has raised about twice as much money from 2020 Trump donors than from 2020 Biden donors.

Both of these data points suggest that Kennedys candidacy might have more upside on the right than on the left. But whether the candidate himself ever manages to transform that potential into votes  and whether those votes are plentiful enough to affect the outcome in November  remains to be seen.

Whats next

The main factor that will determine the size and scope of Kennedys impact is ballot access, which isnt guaranteed to independent candidates running outside the party system.

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To date, Kennedys campaign has managed to collect the requisite signatures and jump through the requisite hoops in only four states: Utah, Michigan, Hawaii and (as of Wednesday) California.

Utah is a solid red state; Hawaii and California are solidly blue. But Michigan could be tight enough for Kennedy to swing  and its unlikely to have that category all to itself.

According to CBS News, Kennedy's campaign says it has completed signature gathering in  Nevada, Idaho New Hampshire, North Carolina, Nebraska and Iowa  while a super PAC supporting Kennedy, American Values 2024, says it has collected enough signatures in Arizona, Georgia and South Carolina.

Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Arizona and Georgia were all decided by narrow margins in 2020.

And I think [Kennedy] has a very good chance of getting onto all 50 ballots," Bernard Tamas, an associate professor of political science at Valdosta State University who studies third parties, told CBS. "It looks like he's on track for it."

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To prepare for that possibility  and for the uncertainty about which side Kennedy will hurt more  Democrats have been rolling out Biden endorsements from Kennedy family members and aggressively linking RFK Jr. to Trump, while Trump is trying to encourage liberals to vote for Kennedy instead of Biden.

If I were a Democrat, Id vote for RFK Jr. every single time over Biden, because hes frankly more in line with Democrats, Trump said last month.

Kennedy, meanwhile, seems to be reveling in his newfound relevance. "Our campaign is a spoiler, he said in March. I agree with that. It's a spoiler for President Biden and for President Trump.

Perspectives

To be clear: Kennedy has no chance of winning the presidency.

Under our system, electoral votes are awarded winner-take-all to the candidate who gets the most votes in each state, with the exception of Maine and Nebraska. That means there is no prize for second place. So unless you can actually win a plurality in the state, your impact on a race is likely to be just pulling votes away from the other candidates. Now, that could change at any point. Kennedy and West are trying. But opinion polls so far do not show them with a clear shot at winning any state.  Michael Scherer, Washington Post

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And polls are probably overstating Kennedys support.

Historical precedent  suggests that third-party and independent candidates election performances rarely live up to their polling. ... Those who treat being polled as an opportunity to vent their discontent with the system  are likely to far outnumber those who are fully committed to backing a specific alternative."  Ariel Edwards-Levy, CNN

Kennedy just is looking for money and attention  and MAGA voters are better targets.

It appears the more voters learn about Kennedy  that he's anti-vaccine, a conspiracy theorist, and an all-around weirdo  the more Democrats are turned off and the more MAGA voters are intrigued. ... If you're looking for gullible people who will give you money to lie to them, you will be far more successful appealing to Trump voters than Biden voters.  Amanda Marcotte, Salon

But Democrats still seem more spooked than Republicans.

If Kennedy and [his running mate, tech entrepreneur Nicole] Shanahan represent a bigger threat to Trump, why are Democrats trying to get them to quit the race? The Kennedy-Shanahan ticket is a wild card, and its possible their primary appeal is to voters who arent particularly interested in supporting either Biden or Trump. But right now, a lot of Democrats are acting like Kennedy and Shanahan will hurt Bidens campaign more.  Jim Geraghty, National Review

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And Trump  unlike Biden  has always relied on third-party candidates to eke out a win.

Trumps campaign isnt premised on winning a majority, something a Republican has managed only once in the past eight presidential elections, (George W. Bush in 2004). Trump took 46% in 2016 and 47% in 2020. His campaigns best bet is to sufficiently hold Bidens vote down in the key swing states to allow 46% or 47% to prevail. That scenario requires third parties to win a significant vote. By contrast, Biden, who won 51% of the vote last time, knows that Trumps core vote is solid. Rather than try to chip away at Trumps total, his goal has to be to get past him. Kennedy stands as a threat to that.  David Lauter, Los Angeles Times

In such a close election, the Kennedy effect could go either way  and thats the scariest part.

[Recent polls suggest that] Kennedys presence on the ballot in swing states would pull voters from both major-party candidates. The effect of doing so, however, is uncertain, and its not clear that Kennedy would shift the winner in any state from Trump to Biden or vice versa. But, also? He might. For the major-party campaigns, the takeaway is simpler: Kennedys candidacy constitutes the worst kind of wrench in the system  one with an unclear outcome.  Philip Bump, Washington Post

None of this would be a problem if America used ranked-choice voting.

By awarding voters the power to rank the field in order, [ranked-choice voting] fixes the spoiler effect that emerges in any race with more than two candidates.  If someone wins a majority of first-place support during the first round, they win, as in any other election. If not, the last-place finishers are eliminated, one by one, and their supporters' second choices come into play to identify a majority winner. In other words, voters this fall could choose to rank RFK Jr. first (or another third-party candidate), and if that candidate fares poorly, the voters ballot would be counted for a backup choice instead.  David Daley, Salon
WhoaHOW Did This Ex-Cop Who Shot a Black Man in The Head Walk Free??

A Black Georgia family is outraged that a court granted bond to the indicted former Woodstock, Ga., police officer who fatally shot their son in the head, raising questions about devalued Black life in the criminal justice system.

Former Woodstock officer Grant Matthew Shaw surrendered to authorities on April 22 after a grand jury indicted him on an involuntary manslaughter charge in the shooting death of 20-year-old Emmanuel Millard. Shaw was held in jail for a week before the courts granted him a $50,000 bond.

According to the police, Millard led officers on a car chase on Oct. 12, 2023 when they attempted to pull him over for a series of traffic offenses, including failure to maintain his lane, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Millard crashed his gray Hyundai after the pursuing officers used a PIT maneuver (precision immobilization technique). During the attempted arrest, Shaw, 23, shot Millard in the head. He died two days later from his injuries.

Andrew Lampros, an attorney representing Millards family, told the AJC that he watched police video of the incident and that it was unclear to him why Shaw fired his weapon.



At the time of the shooting, he was complying with the officers commands. Theres no explanation at all. He was unarmed and not a danger to anyone, Lampros stated.

The court and the legal system seems to give more value to the life and death of a police officer than they give to a 20-year-old Black man whose life was just beginning, Akil Secret, attorney for Emmanuel Millards family, told WSB-TV, adding that his family is extremely devastated by the news that Shaw was released.

It really devalues the life of Emmanuel Millard, Secret said about the bond, adding, It sends a very poor message to the community as to how safe they can feel.





A grand jury indicted the Woodstock police officer accused of killing 20-year-old Emmanuel Millard during a police pursuit. https://t.co/QlWcUuVAJe  WSB-TV (@wsbtv) April 20, 2024













The indictment states that Shaw while in the commission of reckless conduct, an unlawful act, did cause the death of Emmanuel Malik Millard, a human being, without any intention to do so, by pointing a Glock model 34, 9 mm firearm at Emmanuel Malik Millard while his finger was on the trigger, thereby endangering the bodily safety of Emmanuel Malik Millard...





Former Woodstock police officer Grant Matthew Shaw surrendered Monday, days after being indicted on an involuntary manslaughter charge in the shooting of 20-year-old Emmanuel Millard six months ago, according to the Cobb County district attorney. https://t.co/rLlJabSxWI  Atlanta Journal-Constitution (@ajc) April 23, 2024





Shaw has since resigned from the police department.





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Why are the BBC weather maps on fire? Is it none too subtle climate propaganda?

It was back to northerly winds this morning where I live in the Fens, so much so that I had to go back upstairs and put on a thermal vest before venturing outside. But thats not the impression you would have got from the weather map on last nights BBC weather forecast.

Where I live was coloured a rather fetching shade of orange. Britains attempt at spring so far this year has been like a barrel of water sitting atop a camping stove  it has taken an age even to become lukewarm. But already the weather maps seem to depict scorching heat waves.

It turns out that BBC weather maps switch to yellow at a less than toasty 11 celsius and on to orange when the temperature is expected to reach 13 celsius. From 20 celsius upwards it is ever deeper shades of red. In the other direction, the weather only descends into blue when it is below freezing.

The BBC, to be fair, is not the only offender in this respect  and nor is it the worst. I have just been looking at Sky TVs weather map for July 18 2022, which shows the entire western half of France, along with patches of southern England, apparently suffering under conditions of white heat.

The accompanying figures suggest that the temperature was going to be 38 celsius. Actual white heat, by the way, ensues when metals start to become incandescent at temperatures above 1500 celsius.

It is hard not to conclude that the BBC and others have been swept along by efforts to catastrophise the weather in order to exaggerate global warming.

It used to be tabloids with their Phew, Wot a Scorcher headlines which were accused of sensationalising ordinary British summer days. Now, every TV weather forecast seems to be at it. We have to be made to feel guilty whenever it is pleasant enough to sit outside in shirt sleeves.

Weather maps with lurid colours are part of an armoury of propaganda weapons designed to convince us that we are at 10 minutes to midnight in tackling climate change.

Another of those weapons is to use the word normal instead of average. Temperatures are 50 degrees above normal in parts of Antarctica may sound dramatic, yet in a continental climate like Antarctica it is perfectly normal to experience wild swings either side of average.

Naming storms is another trick. It used to be only hurricanes which had names; now it is any half-hearted squall. Hence we have all these references to a record-breaking stormy winter  based on the assertion that the Met Office chose to give a name to more Atlantic depressions than in any of the other nine winters it has using the practice.

The BBCs own explanation for the colours in its weather maps  that they have been redesigned in order to help viewers with colour-blindness  seems a little odd given that the most common form of the condition comes with people being unable properly to see reds and greens. That would make it difficult for sufferers to see temperatures between 3 and 10 degrees and anything over 20 degrees.

It makes you pine for the days of black and white television (which lasted until 1983 in my house), when weather forecasters were stuck with monochrome, magnetic symbols. That is how I remember the 1976 heatwave  as something to be enjoyed rather than feared.

I hate to think how it would be depicted on weather forecasts now.

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Why the best meteor shower of the year promises to be extra special

(WJW)  The stars have aligned for one of 2024s best meteor showers.

The Eta Aquariid meteor shower is caused by debris from Halleys Comet, according to Space.com. We have a chance to see the Eta Aquariid meteors every May as Earth crosses through the orbit of Halleys Comet.

This year, the shower is expected to be extra special as it reaches peak as we have a new moon, NASA explains.

That means the skies will be extra dark just before dawn.

A new star will appear in the sky this summer: What to know

In the Southern Hemisphere, NASA says viewers could see as many as 40 meteors an hour. For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, however, we can expect 10 to 20 an hour.

When to watch the Eta Aquariid meteor shower

The shower is already underway (it started in mid-April) but is expected to peak over the weekend on May 4 and 5.

Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower, Babcock Wildlife Refuge, Florida (Getty)

The best time to see the meteors, which can appear extra long and bright, is an hour or two before dawn, NASA explains. The Eta Aquariids meteors often appear at the horizon, giving them the nickname Earthgrazers.

Sams Club now using AI to check receipts at more than 120 stores. Heres how it works

For the best viewing, NASA recommends looking straight skyward while lying on the ground with your feet toward the east.

Researchers say this years Eta Aquariid meteor shower could be the best we see this entire century. You have until May 27 to take it in.

Earth will cross through the Halleys Comet orbit again in October, giving us the chance to see the Orionid meteor shower.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
Originally appeared on E! Online

A Boston woman will not be charged after four of her babies were found dead in a freezer.

Police have been investigating the case since the bodies of four infantstwo male and two femalewere discovered frozen solid in shoe boxes wrapped in tin foil within a South Boston apartment back in November 2022, according to an April 30 press release from the Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden.

DNA testing determined that all four siblings were the biological children of Alexis Aldamir, 69, and an unnamed man who died in 2011. Aldamir had purchased the South Boston apartment in October 1983, and worked at accounting firm in the city from 1980 until October 2021.

All the babies were full term (between 37 and 40 weeks of gestational age) and had no signs of trauma or injuries, per the release. The medical examiner said there is no method to determine how long the babies had been frozen and investigators were not able to establish their cause of death, which is listed as "undetermined."

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"This investigation, which is one of the most complex, unusual and perplexing that this office has ever encountered, is now complete," District Attorney Hayden said in a statement. "While we have some answers, there are many elements of this case that will likely never be answered."

"We will never know exactly where or when the four babies found in Alexis Aldamir's apartment were born," Hayden continued. "We will never know if the four babies were born alive, and we will never know exactly what happened to them. We will never know how Alexis Aldamir concealed her pregnancies, or why she chose to do so."

Matt Stone/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images

Authorities said they were able to locate Aldamir at a residential healthcare facility and question her about the tragic case. However, the woman "appeared confused and demonstrated a lack of understanding about where she was and who she was speaking to," per the press release. She ultimately wasn't able to provide any significant information.

The District Attorney's office decided not to charge her with any crimes because, in order to file charges for a homicide, they would need evidence that the victims had once been alive and would also need their cause of death determined, according to officials. And based on her cognitive ability, investigators don't believe Aldamir would be able to stand trial.

Additionally, they could not file charges against the father since he is no longer alive.

Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

There were no records of Aldamir giving birth to the four children, according to the office. She and the same father did, however, welcome a baby girl in April 1982, who they gave up for adoption, per paperwork obtained by authorities. Investigators added that none of Aldamir's coworkers at the accounting firm ever knew she had been pregnant at any point.

The infants' bodies were only discovered in November 2022 after a man and his wife found them while cleaning out his sister's apartment and called 911.

E! News was not able to locate a lawyer on file to speak on Aldamir's behalf.

For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News App
Last Tuesday, April 30, international punk band Gogol Bordello unveiled their Casa Gogol Fall US Tour alongside special guests Puzzled Panther and Crazy & The Brain, kicking off performances at the Iron City venue in Birmingham, Alabama on Aug. 8.

As for ticketing, the members-only presale already started on the band's new inaugural and official fan site "Wonderlust Kingdom" last Wednesday, this May Day, with the public sale opening this coming Friday, May 3.

About the New 'Wonderlust Kingdom' Website

The new online community is designated to be a place of connecting with the band, offering exclusive perks and access for $10 a month.

Upon signing up, fans will receive a special "Wonderlust Kingdom" t-shirt, early entry to shows, live chats with Gogol Bordello and fans, unheard demos, live recordings, and collaborations from the archives, alongside unreleased Gogol Bordello video footage.

For more info on the website and the community, register now by clicking here.

The "Wonderlust Kingdom" exclusive presale last Wednesday was a members-only event that was walled off by a code given upon signup, which will follow the site's first-ever event later this Tuesday, May 2 at 6:00 PM ET: a live Q&A with frontman Eugene Hutz.

Don't bide your time and brainstorm your questions now to post later in chat!

As for the Casa Gogol Fall US Tour, more information can be found in the band's official website: https://www.gogolbordello.com/. The full routing can be found right below.

2024 Casa Gogol Fall Tour Dates

8/30 Birmingham, AB - Iron City*

8/31 Cookeville, TN - Muddy Roots

9/1 Asheville, NC - The Orange Peel*

9/2 Charleston, SC - Music Farm*

9/4 Virginia Beach, VA - Elevation 27*

9/6 Charlottesville, VA - Jefferson Theater*

9/7 Wilmington, DE - The Queen*

9/8 Harrisburg, PA - XL Live*

9/10 Albany, NY - Empire Live*

9/11 Huntington, NY - The Paramount*

9/13 New Haven, CT - Toad's Place*

9/14 Providence. RI - The Strand Ballroom & Theatre*

9/15 Asbury Park, NJ - Sea.Hear.Now Festival
The Northern Territory (NT) Government in Australia is making investments to expedite the construction of two key health facilities in the region.

Aimed to improve healthcare services for residents and alleviate hospital pressures, the investment has been made as part of the A$2.2bn ($1.4bn) 2024 Health Budget.

The NT government is allocating A$32m to open more healthcare facilities, which also includes planning and early works for an elderly care facility in Palmerston and a health centre in Borroloola.

Almost A$10m of this A$32m will be used to service the land in Palmerston Regional Health Precinct, supporting the preparation works for the Palmerston elderly care facility, which will have 120 beds.

Around A$2m will be provided for the design of this facility, which aims to meet the needs of the local ageing population.

Increasing aged-care beds is seen as a critical step to reduce emergency department demands, with the number of residents aged 65 years and older projected to reach 35,000 by 2041.

The Borroloola health centre is being developed with A$20m of funding and aims to improve primary care in the Roper Gulf region.

It will feature emergency bays, consulting rooms, dental and x-ray facilities, renal facilities, a hearing booth and a morgue.

The development is expected to attract healthcare professionals to the Northern Territory and provide care closer to residents' homes.

In addition, the government's operational Health Budget will receive increases of A$200m in 2023-24 and A$100m in 2024-25.

NT Health Minister Selena Uibo said: Given the unique health pressures the Northern Territory faces, primary health needs to be strategically sustained by addressing areas of pressure with long-term solutions.

These new facilities will ease hospital pressures across the Territory and provide modern facilities for our front line workers, as well as support workforce attraction, retention and training to grow our own workforce.

"Health facilities to be built in Australias Northern Territory" was originally created and published by Hospital Management, a GlobalData owned brand.







The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
New York City police, dressed in riot gear, descending on Columbia University, breaking up protests and arresting college students. Its hard not to have flashbacks to 1968.

And if youre part of Joe Bidens presidential campaign, it should feel like political PTSD.

Most media retrospectives of the 1960s celebrate the marchers, the protests, the peace signs along with the compulsory Buffalo Springfield lyrics (Theres something happening here/ But what it is aint exactly clear). The reality is those upheavals were an enormous in-kind contribution to the political fortunes of the right. And if history comes even close to repeating itself, then the latest episode will redound to Donald Trumps benefit.

Begin with this, unfortunately accurate, generalization: Protests of any kind, even those most justified, produce a sense of unease among the public. Even when the civil rights movement was entirely peaceful, a plurality of Americans thought they did more harm than good. A 1963 Gallup poll found that shortly before Martin Luther King Jr.s March on Washington, only 27 percent of people believed mass demonstrations were likely to help the cause of racial equality, with 60 percent saying the protests would hurt it.



When upheaval began on college campuses, largely triggered by the escalation of the Vietnam War, this sense of disapproval grew sharply, and so did the political consequences.

Ronald Reagan centered much of his 1966 campaign for governor of California on attacking the Free Speech Movement at the University of California, Berkeley. He pledged to clean up the mess at Berkeley, and denounced the beatniks, radicals and filthy speech advocates who fueled anarchy and rioting.

And  in a stance that would be echoed six decades later by todays congressional Republicans  Reagan also blamed university administrators who press their particular value judgments on students and condemned a leadership gap and a morality and decency gap on campus. He proposed that a code of conduct be imposed on faculty to force them to serve as examples of good behavior and decency. He won election by a million votes.



The backlash against the left was a key part of the 1968 presidential race. Richard Nixon famously ran a campaign on law and order  highlighting both urban and campus unrest. One commercial featured scenes of protest, as Nixon argued that in a system of government that provides for peaceful change, there is no cause that justifies a resort to violence.

Alabama Gov. George Wallace was a lot more direct that year in his third-party bid. While racism was at the heart of his message, he also denounced student protesters as silver spoon brats who advocated treason and said of protesters, Some of em lie down in front of my automobile, itll be the last thing theyll ever wanna lie down in front of.

The scenes of violence in Chicago outside the Democrats 1968 presidential convention, meanwhile, further contributed to the notion that left-wing lawlessness had gotten out of control. It was a nightmare event for Hubert Humphreys beleaguered presidential campaign, one where the public overwhelmingly sided with the Chicago police, not the demonstrators. (And, of course, guess where Democrats are holding their 2024 convention: Chicago.)

The political consequences of the upheaval became clear. While the doomed liberal campaigns of Eugene McCarthy and Robert Kennedy draw most of the focus in retrospectives of the era, the fact is that in November of 1968, Nixon and Wallace combined for 57 percent of the vote, close to the levels of historic landslide wins of LBJ in 1964 and Reagan in 1984.

Even after the Vietnam War faded as an issue with the end of the draft and the withdrawal of most American troops, the impact of those campus protests retained political heft  and gave a boost to the right.

In November of 1968, a professor of semantics named S.I. Hayakawa became interim president of San Francisco State University, a campus beset by protests and strikes. Two weeks later he climbed onto a sound truck used by the demonstrators and ripped the wires. That image, and his subsequent efforts to break student and faculty strikes and restore normal classes, made him something of a folk hero  so much so that years later, in 1976, he won a seat in the U.S. Senate as a Republican.

It would be folly to draw exact parallels between todays unrest and those of 60 years ago. But some do resonate. Peaceful and lawful protests are out there, but they dont have the same visual impact as police tangling with demonstrators; seeing protesters replacing American flags with Palestinian flags does bring back images of Americans waving the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese flags; and the sight of students attending an $80,000 a year university making it impossible for anyone to teach or study gives a very different meaning to the word privilege.



Trump, no surprise, has sought to score political points from the campus unrest, calling the protests a disgrace, and blaming Biden for sending the wrong signal and wrong tone. Trump has long sought to attack Biden for being soft on crime and general disorder. Dont forget his 2020 ad warning, You Wont Be Safe in Joe Bidens America. (For its part, the Biden White House has condemned the more violent and disruptive of the current campus protests.)

It may be that the months of summer, or a meaningful cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, will dampen the heat on American college campuses. But if the turmoil continues, history suggests that it will be another significant burden on Bidens fight for a second term.
Why Gaza protests are gripping US campuses and what it could mean for the rest of the world

Campus demonstrations across the US have descended into violence as riot police forcibly shut down encampments at several universities.

The demonstrations began in the US last month to protest against Israels offensive in Gaza, which followed Hamas launching a deadly attack on Israel on Oct 7.

In recent days, tensions between students and police have erupted, resulting in the arrest of more than 1,000 protesters.

Why are college students protesting in the US?

The protest movement was sparked on April 17 2024 at New Yorks Columbia University when students pitched tents on a lawn to demonstrate their opposition to the war in Gaza.

They called on the leadership of Columbia to sell off the universitys investments in Israeli companies, declare its shareholdings and cancel a planned global centre in Tel Aviv.

Following the lead of the Columbia protesters, encampments sprung up at around 30 campuses across the US.

Harvard, Yale and UCLA are among the most high profile but there have also been significant demonstrations at the universities of Wisconsin, Arizona and Texas.

Police made arrests at UCLA as clashes broke out between counter protesters - Etienne Laurent/AFP via Getty Images

The protesters, who are a mix of students and activists, are typically demanding that colleges and universities stop doing business with Israel or companies that are connected to the Israeli militarys war in Gaza.

In a major escalation of tensions on Wednesday, demonstrators at the UCLA encampment were attacked by a gang of counter-protesters wielding sticks and throwing fireworks.

The following day, Los Angeles police in riot gear cleared out the encampment and arrested dozens of protesters.

Are the US college student protests legal?

The First Amendment of the US Constitution protects protests but there are restrictions such as time, place and manner. If violated there can be legal repercussions.

Demonstrators have been hit with charges from violating city ordinances and university codes of conduct to trespassing, assault, disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace.

At least 1,300 people are estimated to have been arrested since the tented protests began in mid-April 2024.

Some universities, such as Brown and Northwestern, have successfully reached deals with the protesters bringing a peaceful end to the encampments without calling in the police.

Police officers confront protesters at UCLA - Etienne Laurent/AFP via Getty Images

Have the protests spread outside America?

A handful of occupations and protests have sprung up at UK universities including Leeds, Warwick and University College London.

Demonstrations have also taken place at universities in Canada, France, New Zealand, Australia, France and Italy.

What are Joe Biden and Donald Trump saying?

Traditionally a strong supporter of Israel, Mr Biden has faced criticism from fellow Democrats over unwavering US support for its ally in the wake of civilian deaths in Gaza.

In late April 2024, Mr Biden condemned anti-Semitic protests and those who dont understand whats going on with the Palestinians.

He has also indicated that dealing with the protesters is a matter for each universitys leadership.

On Wednesday, Karine Jean-Pierre, White House press secretary, said some demonstrations had crossed the line from free speech to unlawful behaviour.

Forcibly taking over a building is not peaceful, she said. Its just not.

At a campaign event in Wisconsin the same day, Mr Trump called the protesters raging lunatics and Hamas sympathisers and accused Mr Biden of being definitely against Israel.

What happened at Columbia University and why does it matter?

A band of keffiyeh-clad students pitched their tents on the front lawn of Columbias New York campus in mid-April and refused to leave.

They claimed to be exercising their protected speech rights under the First Amendment which states there shall be no law abridging the freedom of speech or the right of the people peaceably to assemble.

The university authorities initially allowed the demonstration despite criticism from Jewish groups who said the protest had provoked anti-Semitism on campus.

However, after the protesters stormed a building on Tuesday April 30 and refused to let staff leave, the university said it was left with no choice but to call in the New York Police Department (NYPD) to forcibly remove them.

Images of the police clashing with demonstrators made headlines across America.

Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg said 282 arrests had been made at Columbia and nearby City University of New York campuses.

Universities across the world will be informed by Columbias experience

By Tony Diver, US Editor

The decision to by Columbia University to call in the police has secured the protests place in history alongside demonstrations over the Vietnam War and South African apartheid.

The protesters got what they wanted in the form of endless media coverage of their antics and a major row over the heavy-handedness of the NYPD, which had already begun as police stormed the building on Tuesday night.

Claims circulated online that the police used tear gas have been denied. One sympathetic professor, posting a video from his window, cried: These were peaceful protests!

What is clear is that Baroness Shafik, Columbias president, had been left in an impossible position. With dozens of recent examples of anti-Semitism, pressure from the White House and a looming graduation ceremony planned on May 15, she could not allow the situation to continue.

But by acting to remove them, she has added fuel to the protesters argument that Columbia is an authoritarian institution that sympathises with what they claim is a genocide-supporting state.

As the dust clears and police officers take up residence to prevent the demonstrators returning, other universities will be watching.

Columbias experience may well be instructive to the dozens of institutions in the US, Britain and France that are already facing similar student demands and tactics.

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.
Donald Trump will be a headline speaker at the 2024 Libertarian National Convention, the nominating contest for one of the USs highest-performing non-major political parties.

The surprise announcement made by the conventions organizers on Wednesday pointed to one major issue of the 2024 race. Both Democrats and Republicans fear that third-party candidates could tilt the scales in favor of the other candidate this November.

The Libertarian partys convention is set for later this month in Washington, DC. A Twitter post from the organization indicated that Trumps address will take place on May 25. Should he go through with the plans, Trump would become the first major-party candidate in modern history to speak at a convention run by a party other than the Democratic or Republican parties.

Libertarians are some of the most independent and thoughtful thinkers in our country, and I am honored to join them in Washington, DC, later this month, Trump said in a statement shared by the party on Twitter. We must all work together to help advance freedom and liberty for every American, and a second Trump administration will achieve that goal. I look forward to speaking at the Libertarian event, which will be attended by many of my great friends.

He added: We all have to remember that our goal is to defeat the worst president in the history of the United States, BY FAR, Crooked Joe Biden.

President Trump to Address Libertarian Party Concerns at National Convention May 25th



Washington, D.C., May 1, 2024  The Libertarian National Party, the Party of Principle, announced today that President Donald J. Trump has responded to an invitation, and challenge, from the  Libertarian Party (@LPNational) May 1, 2024

His address may cause further consternations for the Libertarians themselves, who have grappled with a pro-Trump and rightward shift that not everyone in the party is happy about.

In 2020, the Libertarian candidate Jo Jorgensen wrote in an op-ed for The Independent that Libertarians welcome free trade and open immigration, and encourage peace and diplomacy in foreign affairs, adding that he wanted to unite Americans behind the cause of personal responsibility and individual liberty. He said that he wanted to improve the healthcare system and take an stance that would stop the US invading other countries.

However, in 2023, the partys chairwoman rushed to the former presidents defence after he was criminally charged for his attempts to stop the peaceful transfer of power and the certification of Joe Bidens 2020 election victory.

Trump wont receive the Libertarian partys nomination for president, as three candidates are running for that slot: Dr Charles Ballay, Lars Mapstead and Mike ter Maat. Those three candidates held a debate in April.

But this is a crucial year for Trump to court Libertarian voters regardless, as polls indicate that Americans are flirting with voting third-party in numbers not seen in decades. A recent CNN national poll showed Robert F Kennedy Jr winning 16 per cent in a vote in a matchup between Joe Biden and Donald Trump which also factored in third-party candidates Kennedy, Dr Jill Stein and Dr Cornel West.

Kennedy has been quietly backed by pro-Trump figures including Steve Bannon, Mr Trumps former chief White House strategist. But now some figures in Trumpworld reportedly fear that Kennedy may pick up more disaffected voters who otherwise could have ended up voting for the former president.

Previous reporting indicated that Kennedy was flirting with a run for the Libertarian nomination, but he put that speculation to bed in April after claiming that he would be able to attain ballot access without the partys help.

"We're not gonna have any problems getting on the ballot ourselves so we won't be running Libertarian," he told ABC News.

His spokesman later added to The Hill: Mr Kennedy has many areas of alignment with the Libertarian party, including a strong stance on civil liberties and keeping the country out of foreign wars. Mr Kennedy, however, is not contemplating joining the Libertarian ticket. He is running as an independent candidate and will be on the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
A Wichita used car dealership that was previously fined for not telling a customer that the vehicle they purchased had a blown airbag now faces a roughly $418,000 penalty after it was discovered that 13 more customers were sold vehicles without airbags, the Sedgwick County District Attorneys Office said Thursday.

The DAs office learned about a dozen of those customers after another one bought a vehicle and later found an airbag simulator device installed in the car which disabled the airbag light on the dash, concealing the fact that the airbag had been deployed, a news release from the DAs office says. Those 12 vehicles were purchased in the first quarter of 2023.

CarNation LLC at 1301 E. Lincoln is also now banned from doing business.

A man who answered a phone at the business and said he was an owner said the $418,000 would put them out of business and they plan to sue for the money they will lose out on. He did not say who they would sue.

The man said his name is spelled Kaydee and hung up after being asked to spell his last name. A 2023 filing with the Kansas secretary of state says the business is owned by Kayode D. Ajibolade of Park City and Abidemi M. Aluko of Bel Aire.

Court records list Ajibolade, who also goes by Olukayode Ajibolade, and CarNation as the defendants.

The man said customers know and are given paperwork showing that the vehicle had been in a accident.

It clearly shows that, he said. We dont hide that.

He said some customers dont feel comfortable buying a wrecked vehicle, so he recommends they buy a new vehicle or a certified used from another dealership.

About reportedly disabling the light on the dash, he said the people who make the car look as good as it can be, they do all of that. They make the car look and feel like there is nothing wrong with that.

He added: I have no knowledge of any lights. I do my due diligence. I check if there is any mechanical faults with the car, but as far as airbags, we always tell them that we dont guarantee anything with the airbags. Airbags are not part of what we fix.

He said they buy the vehicles wrecked then we make them look a little better and drive the way its supposed to drive. Thats the only thing we guarantee the customer, mechanical reliability.

He said the dealership signed the $20,000 consent judgment back in 2019 because they didnt know any better.

The first time they got us because we are a minority owned company and didnt have adequate legal representation, he said, adding he believes they were targeted ever since and again had trouble finding a lawyer.

The 2019 agreement came after a customer took their 2006 Honda Accord to a shop for routine maintenance and learned the airbag had been deployed and replaced and that the frame of the car was damaged. It happened after they had the car for several months.

The latest incident started after an Olathe man purchased a 2015 Lincoln MKX for his daughter from CarNation in Feb. 2023. He paid about $12,400. Ajibolade told him it had an easy hit to the drivers door, according to court records.

The father later tried to replace the lift gate strut motor and found an airbag simulator diagnostic tool hanging from a wire harness, court records show, adding that disabled the airbag light on the dash. It was later discovered both side curtain airbags had been deployed, the records say.

Defendants did not disclose the missing airbags ... verbally or in writing on the bill of sale, court records say.

The case was filed in February. The other victims involved were discovered when the DAs office ran a search of vehicles sold by CarNation between Jan. 1, 2023 through March 31, 2023, court records say.

Thursdays announcement says the $418,197 default judgment happened after the business engaged in deceptive acts and willfully violating (the) previous court order. The case was investigated by the DAs Consumer Protection Division.

(CarNation) failed to disclose these blown airbags when selling the cars to consumers, the release says.

The money includes $2,000 to 12 customers; the Olathe family already got a partial refund of $1,600 from CarNation, court records show. About $390,000 will go to civil penalties, court costs and investigation fees.

The court also revoked (CarNation LLC)s license to do business in the State of Kansas and issued a permanent injunction against (CarNation LLC) from selling any motor vehicles within the State of Kansas, the release says.
MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS, Manhattan (PIX11)  The wife of a well-known terrorist allegedly participated in the protests at Columbia University, NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell claimed.

Officials held a news conference on Wednesday, blaming outside agitators for escalating pro-Palestinian protests at college campuses around New York City. Chell said that the woman trained the students in new demonstration tactics and accused her of radicalizing them.

People who werent from the school infiltrated the campus, causing problems for our students, radicalizing them and teaching them how to do things they normally wouldnt do, he said.

The woman, identified by the Associated Press as Nahla Al-Arian, told the news organization that she was not at the Columbia protest when the arrests took place but had visited the campus on April 25. The NYPD and Adams did not name the woman they accused of radicalizing the students.

Police officers cleared out the lobby of Fordham Universitys Lincoln Center campus on Tuesday night after about a dozen students set up camp and refused to leave, according to the NYPD. The school said that the students were trespassing at Lowenstein Hall and called the NYPD for assistance.

Protesters take over school building on Columbia University campus

Officers also responded to City College on Wednesday despite the more than 200 arrests at the school on Tuesday night. Demonstrators ransacked an administrative building, according to CUNY.

At least 280 people were arrested during the protests on Tuesday night. About 170 of those arrests were summonses, while the remaining 110 were either desk appearance tickets or cases this making their way through the system, according to the NYPD.

Nahla Al-Arian is the wife of Sami Al-Arian, a former professor and Palestinian activist who was charged with supporting the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group back in the 1980s and 1990s. He was later acquitted of those charges.

I sat and I felt happy to see those students fighting for justice for the oppressed people in Palestine, she told AP. Then I was tired, so I left.

Students have called on their schools to divest from companies that support Israel. The NYPD and Columbia University have faced criticism for their response to student protests, which students and faculty have called brutal.

This story comprises reporting from The Associated Press.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission rescued the cub, who is currently living with an orphaned baby bear at the Appalachian Wildlife Refuge

Appalachian Wildlife Refuge Bear cub at the Appalachian Wildlife Refuge

A baby bear pulled from a tree by a group of people taking selfies in North Carolina was later rescued by an animal refugeand now the cub has a friend.

The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission rescued the female cub and placed her with the Appalachian Wildlife Refuge (AWR) on April 16, the same day as the selfie incident. On April 30, the refuge shared in a press release obtained by PEOPLE that the little animal is "doing well." AWR expects the baby bear to be ready to return to the wild this fall.

The female bear is living with an orphaned male cub at the refuge. The bears have a small team dedicated to preparing for life in the wild.

Appalachian Wildlife Refuge Bear cub that was pulled from tree in North Carolina

"Both cubs are thriving and doing well in care. They are eating well and interacting with enrichment, doing all the things we hope to see with young cubs," the refuge's executive director, Savannah Trantham, said in the release. "Our team has no reason to believe that they won't make full rehabilitation care to be released as wild bears in the fall."

Related: North Carolina Group Caught on Camera Pulling Black Bear Cubs from Tree to Get Selfie

Earlier this month, the female cub was one of two baby bears pulled from a tree outside a North Carolina apartment complex by a group of people taking selfies. By the time authorities arrived, only one of the cubs was still there. The commission decided not to press charges against those who removed the bears from the tree.

Since then, the young black bear has been in the refuge's care. Trantham acknowledged that the original video of the bears being pulled out of the tree by the selfie-seeking humans "understandably brought up feelings of frustration, sadness, and anger for many viewers."

Appalachian Wildlife Refuge Baby bear cub at the Appalachian Wildlife Refuge

"We hope the act of witnessing these shocking visuals prompts people to reflect on the very real challenges that wildlife face every day, Trantham said. The silver lining is that this cub was rescued by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC). It is now safe and being well cared for despite being separated from its mom."

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.

Related: Pet Rescue Shares Warning About Wild Baby Animals After Family Brings in 4 Coyote Pups

The refuge noted that it is sadly all too common for wildlife to be mistreated by members of the public, adding, "If all of the turtles, snakes, rabbits, opossums, squirrels, birds, raccoons and fawns got the same reaction when people harass, steal and harm them, then we would be winning."

The Appalachian Wildlife Refuge advised people to be mindful that it's not uncommon for wild mothers to leave their young alone for periods during the spring and summer as they forage for food.

Appalachian Wildlife Refuge Bear cub at the Appalachian Wildlife Refuge

"It's not unusual or necessarily concerning for baby animals to be away from their mothers during the spring and summer," Trantham added. "Please leave them where you find them and call our hotline or other professionals with questions and guidance for the next steps."



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Read the original article on People.
(Nevada Department of Wildlife photo)

Policy, politics and progressive commentary

For more than a decade, hunters in Nevada have been limited to killing 20 bears a year. But in recent years that number has climbed, and on Friday, the Nevada Wildlife Commission is expected to vote to allow hunters to kill 42 bears come September.

Nevadas first bear hunt in 2011 authorized the sale of 45 tags and permitted that 20 bears be killed, including six females, according to wildlife commission documents. The quota  the number of tags sold to prospective hunters  was later increased to 50 tags but the hunting limit remained at 20 bears.

Last year, despite a recommendation from the Department of Wildlife that hunters be limited to killing 20 bears, the commission voted to decrease the quota to 37 tags but increase the number of bears that could be killed to 37.

On Friday, the commission will vote on a proposal to make 42 tags available and permit hunters to kill 42 bears, this time in accordance with the departments recommendation.

Since the commission drastically increased these limits to match the quota, it seems the department has followed their lead, says Cathy Smith, a board member of No Bear Hunt Nevada.

The move is a surprise to animal advocates, given recent criticism of the commission for failing to represent the vast majority of Nevadans who do not hunt and favor coexisting with wildlife over their slaughter.

We are not commenting on this at this time as it will be thoroughly addressed at tomorrows Commission meeting, where an NDOW bear biologist will be providing a comprehensive presentation on current bear populations, NDOW spokeswoman Ashley Zeme said via email. All NDOWs recommendations are based on current population sizes. NDOW only makes recommendations, and then the Commission will make the final decision on quotas after reviewing and hearing input from the public and County Advisory Boards.

This hunt has always been about hunter convenience, opportunity and success and flouts the Commissions responsibility to protect wildlife.' as required by state law, says activist Fred Voltz of the Nevada Wildlife Alliance.

The commission and the department of wildlife have made it perfectly clear they dont care that the majority of Nevadans are against the bear hunt and particularly against the use of dogs in the bear hunt, says animal rights activist Carolyn Stark, noting that last year, all 19 bears killed in the hunt were chased by hounds and then shot dead out of a tree.

Stark says the department and commission made it perfectly clear that they could care less that bear hunters killed two lactating females in last years hunt. This undoubtedly orphaned the dependent cubs as well.

The commission is dominated by hunting and ranching interests under a statutory scheme that requires it to have five sportsmen, i.e. hunters, fishermen or trappers who have purchased a license in three of the past four years, one rancher, one farmer, one conservationist, and one member of the public.

The lopsided membership, critics say, renders the board ineffective and preoccupied with looking out for ranchers and hunters at the peril of the wildlife it is charged with protecting.

Less than 3% of the population hunts. Yet, 8 of 9 (89%) of commissioners making decisions about wildlife, hunt, says Stark. They make decisions based on their own biases and preferences.

I knew where the commission is regarding changing wildlife values  the majority dont believe it, says Smith. She says the recommendation to allow more bears to be killed illustrates the commissions lack of concern for public sentiment regarding trophy hunting.

Wildlife, particularly bears, mountain lions and now moose will never get a fair shake in this state under the current system, says Stark.

The post Wildlife Commission expected to allow hunters to kill more bears appeared first on Nevada Current.
Hudson Pacific Properties (HPP) reported $214.02 million in revenue for the quarter ended March 2024, representing a year-over-year decline of 15.2%. EPS of $0.17 for the same period compares to -$0.14 a year ago.

The reported revenue compares to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $220.61 million, representing a surprise of -2.98%. The company delivered an EPS surprise of +6.25%, with the consensus EPS estimate being $0.16.

While investors closely watch year-over-year changes in headline numbers -- revenue and earnings -- and how they compare to Wall Street expectations to determine their next course of action, some key metrics always provide a better insight into a company's underlying performance.

As these metrics influence top- and bottom-line performance, comparing them to the year-ago numbers and what analysts estimated helps investors project a stock's price performance more accurately.

Here is how Hudson Pacific performed in the just reported quarter in terms of the metrics most widely monitored and projected by Wall Street analysts:

Revenues- Office - Rental : $171.43 million compared to the $183.32 million average estimate based on three analysts. The reported number represents a change of -15.4% year over year.

Revenues- Studio - Rental : $13.60 million versus the three-analyst average estimate of $13.08 million. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of -16.3%.

Revenues- Studio - Service revenues and other : $25.35 million versus the three-analyst average estimate of $21.64 million. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of -13.7%.

Revenues- Studio - Total : $38.95 million versus $34.72 million estimated by three analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a -14.6% change.

Revenues- Office - Total : $175.08 million versus $184.15 million estimated by two analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a -15.3% change.

Revenues- Office - Service revenues and other : $3.65 million versus $4 million estimated by two analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a -8.3% change.

Net Earnings Per Share (Diluted): -$0.37 versus -$0.45 estimated by three analysts on average.

View all Key Company Metrics for Hudson Pacific here>>>



Shares of Hudson Pacific have returned -6.3% over the past month versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's -4.1% change. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), indicating that it could underperform the broader market in the near term.

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Laurence Fox, the controversial British actor-turned-political activist, could be facing a police investigation after he allegedly posted an explicit upskirt image of a broadcaster on X without her consent.

Fox on Wednesday posted an old paparazzi shot showing Narinder Kaur sitting in a car without underwear on, according to The Daily Mirror. This is now a police matter, Kaur wrote in a post Thursday morning along with a link to an article about the incident.

Right-Wing Brit Broadcaster Arrested Over Rumble Rant

The image no longer appears on Foxs X account as of Thursday morning. According to the Mirror, the photograph was taken without Kaurs consent or knowledge and was scrubbed from online photo libraries after upskirting was made a criminal offense in Britain.

The Reclaim Party leader allegedly shared the photo in response to criticisms that Kaur had made of a former beauty pageant champion, Leilani Dowding, in a debate about modesty. We need standards in public life, Fox reportedly wrote alongside the photo.

Replying to one X user describing his actions as low, Fox wrote: She can go cry victim all she wants. Its not my fault she forgot to put her pants on, the whining cry bully hypocrite, he added. In response to another users criticisms, Fox said: I dont [sic] take the photo and I didnt forget to put my pants on. Jog on.

We have been made aware of a post on social media regarding an up-skirting [offense] and we are currently working to establish the circumstances, a Metropolitan Police spokesperson told the Mirror.

News of the police report comes on the day that Brits are voting in local elections. Fox is himself running for a seat in the London Assembly after his original plans to contest the London mayoralty fell through owing to errors with his candidacy paperwork. He came in sixth place at the last London mayoral election, in 2021, with 2 percent of the vote.

The alleged wrongdoing also comes just days after Londons High Court ordered him to pay around $225,000 in libel damages to two people he defamed in another X row. The order was made after he lost the civil case in January in which he was found to have libeled the pair by calling them pedophiles after they had branded him racist.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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The Florida influencer behind the right-wing Instagram meme account Snowflake News was arrested Wednesday on charges related to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Michael Hennessey, 38, is accused of assaulting cops after he breached the Capitolwith a Dont Tread on Me flag in handand spent nearly an hour roaming and recording inside.

Michael Hennesseys Instagram page had 211,000 followers as of Thursday. Instagram

Hennessey was allegedly at the forefront of multiple charges against police, helping lead Donald Trump supporters past cops lines to occupy restricted areas of the Capitol. After police were overwhelmed, federal prosecutors said Hennessey stopped in the House majority leaders office to take pictures during his 58 minutes inside the building.

A statement of facts obtained by The Daily Beast alleges that Hennessey first breached the Capitol at 2:15 p.m., putting him among the first rioters to enter the building through its Senate wing.

Once inside, Hennessey allegedly joined the mob in chanting Our House and Fight for Trump. He was also spotted at the front of a group that chanted Nancy, Nancy before they pushed past two officers and entered the Senate Chamber.

Michael Hennessey wearing a black mask and beanie in the U.S. Capitol. Department of Justice

Prosecutors wrote that Hennessey picked up a black mask and put it on once inside the building. Any efforts to stay anonymous appear to have been thwarted by the ample footage obtained by federal investigators from Jan. 6, with Hennesseys statement of facts including 19 photos of him in and around the Capitollargely from security cameras.

In a 2022 interview with investigators, Hennessey said his phone was dead while he was in the Capitol. Prosecutors poured cold water on that claim this week, however, alleging they have video evidence that Hennessey pulled out his phone to record rioters lighting equipment on fire that was abandoned by reporters after they were threatened.

An arrest affidavit was sealed Thursday, but records showed Hennessey was slapped with a slew of charges that included a felony count of civil disorder. If convicted, he could spend up to five years behind bars.

Hennessey, whose arrest was first reported by the Tampa Bay Times, is among 1,385 alleged rioters to be arrested in connection with the Capitol riot.

The Floridian has posted clips spreading misinformation and railing against woke politics for years on his Instagram page, which boasted nearly a quarter million followers on Thursday morning. His account was named a repeat spreader of misinformation related to the 2020 election in a report by Stanford and University of Washington academics.

When the Times reported on his account being listed in that report, he appeared to wear the designation as a badge of honor.

Nice! Hennessey told the Times. If theyre putting their false information about me out there then Im stepping on somebodys toes whos doing something they shouldnt be.

Records show Hennessey was released on bond, but he has yet to address his arrest on his social media. A future court date is yet to be scheduled.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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(WFRV)  Authorities in central Wisconsin say one man with an expired license was arrested after he led police on a 28-mile pursuit Monday night.

According to a release from the Adams County Sheriffs Office, a deputy attempted to stop a vehicle at 6:11 p.m. on the 800 block of County Highway J in the town of Adams for the registered owner of the vehicle having an expired drivers license.

Officials say the deputy activated her emergency lights, however, the vehicle refused to pull over and failed to stop at multiple stop signs before leading the deputy on a pursuit that saw the vehicle drive at speeds over the posted limit.

Armored vehicles used after Brown County shooting that left teenager hospitalized, one taken into custody

The vehicle was able to continue fleeing until tire deflation devices were successfully used to deflate its tires. The vehicle continued to flee while on its rims and the 28-mile pursuit ended after the vehicle pulled into an address on the 1100 block of Czech Drive in Preston Township.

The driver of the vehicle, 41-year-old Charles J. Botcher from Adams, was then arrested without any further incident and booked into the Adams County Jail on the following charges:

Knowingly Fleeing An Officer

Warrant  Department of Corrections (DOC)

Warrant  Dodge County

Officials say Bothcer has also been issued a number of citations for his actions in the 28-mile police pursuit.

At this time, no other information is available and an investigation into the incident is ongoing.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFRV Local 5 - Green Bay, Appleton.
Wisconsin man charged after shooting victim in the head following physical altercation

THORNAPPLE, Wis. (WFRV)  A 56-year-old Wisconsin man was taken into custody and is being charged with attempted first-degree homicide after allegedly shooting someone in the head.

According to the Rusk County Sheriffs Office, deputies received a call around 10:30 p.m. regarding a man with a possible gunshot wound to the head at Marshfield Medical Center-Ladysmith.

Wisconsin man escapes with minor injuries after scary rollover crash on State Highway 56

Authorities responded to the hospital and learned the victim was involved in a physical altercation at a residence in the township of Thornapple.

Due to the seriousness of the crime and the possible usage of a firearm, the Barron/Rusk County Emergency Response Team was activated. Together, they took 56-year-old William Irvin II into custody.

Court records show that Irvin II is charged with:

Attempt 1st-Degree Intentional Homicide Domestic Abuse  Infliction of Physical Pain or Injury

1st Degree Reckless Injury Domestic Abuse  Infliction of Physical Pain or Injury

Possess Firearm-Convicted of a Felony

Substantial Battery-Intend Bodily Harm Domestic Abuse  Infliction of Physical Pain or Injury

Disorderly Conduct

Irvin II made his first court appearance on Thursday, May 2, for a bail/bond hearing. During court, prosecutors argued for a $25,000 cash bond while the defense countered with a $2,000 bond. Ultimately, the Judge opted for a $20,000 cash bond with conditions of no contact with the victim.

Burglars take $100K+ worth of valuables & cash from Algoma home, part of possible nationwide criminal network targeting jewelry store owners

Following Thursdays court appearance, Irvin II was scheduled for an initial appearance on May 6. There was no update regarding the victims status.

No additional details were provided.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFRV Local 5 - Green Bay, Appleton.
Witness says Alaska plane that crashed had smoke coming from engine after takeoff, NTSB finds

FILE - Smoke rises after a Douglas C-54 Skymaster plane crashed into the Tanana River outside Fairbanks, Alaska, Tuesday, April 23, 2024. A witness who saw the vintage military plane loaded with fuel for delivery shortly after it took off from an airport in Fairbanks, last week said the far-left engine of the aircraft was not running but trailing a small, white plume of smoke, according to a preliminary crash report released Thursday, May 2. (Gary Contento via AP, File)

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP)  A witness saw smoke coming from one of the engines of an old military plane that crashed last week shortly after taking off on a flight to deliver fuel to a remote Alaska village, according to a preliminary crash report released Thursday.

The witness said that shortly after the plane took off from a Fairbanks airport on April 23, he noticed that one of its engines wasn't running and that there was white smoke coming from it, the National Transportation Safety Board report states. When the plane turned south, he saw that the engine was on fire, it says.

Not long after that, the 54D-DC airplane  a military version of the World War II-era Douglas DC-4  crashed and burned, killing the two pilots.

Before the crash, one of the pilots told air traffic control that there was a fire on board and that he was trying to fly the 7 miles (11 kilometers) back to Fairbanks.

Surveillance video showed white smoke behind the engine, followed by flames, the report states. Seconds later, a bright white explosion is seen just behind the number one engine followed by fragments of airplane wreckage falling to the ground, it says.

The roughly 80-year-old airplane then began an uncontrolled descending left turn, with the engine separating from the wing.

The plane landed on a slope above the Tanana River and slid down to the bank, leaving a trail of debris. The engine, which came to rest on the frozen river, has been recovered and will undergo a detailed examination, the report says, noting that much of the plane burned after the crash.

The probable cause of the crash will come in a future report.

The plane was carrying 3,400 gallons (12,870 liters) of unleaded fuel and two large propane tanks intended for the village of Kobuk, a small Inupiat community about 300 miles (480 kilometers) northwest of Fairbanks. Earlier reports said the plane was carrying 3,200 gallons (12,113 liters) of heating oil.

Air tankers deliver fuel to many rural Alaska communities, especially those off the road system and that have no way for barges to reach them.

The state medical examiners office has not yet positively identified the two people on board, Alaska Department of Public Safety spokesperson Austin McDaniel said in a Thursday email.

The plane was owned by Alaska Air Fuel Inc., which did not offer immediate comment Thursday.

___

Thiessen reported from Anchorage, Alaska.
A woman developed lesions and was diagnosed with a life-threatening bacterial infection after buying 30 injections of a weight loss drug from a person on TikTok, according to federal prosecutors.

She was one of several people who trusted TikTok videos made by Isis Navarro Reyes, a New York woman accused of using her social media platform to sell misbranded and contaminated weight loss drugs, including Ozempic.

Reyes, 36, who lives on Long Island, is not a doctor and was not qualified to promote prescription medications to her online followers, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York.

She also had no business instructing the woman who ended up with lesions to inject herself every three days with a weight loss drug she shipped to her home, prosecutors said.

On May 1, Reyes was arrested and charged with one count of smuggling; one count of receipt of misbranded drugs in interstate commerce; one count of dispensing of a misbranded drug while held for sale; one count of conspiracy to introduce and deliver for introduction a misbranded drug in interstate commerce; and two counts of dispensing of misbranded drugs while held for sale, the U.S. attorneys office announced.

A federal defender representing her didnt immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News on May 2.

Reyess alleged unlawful dispensing of these drugs caused significant, life-threatening injuries to some victims and put all of her victims in harms way, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.

Adulterated weight loss drug leads to lesions

For a year, prosecutors said Reyes shared dozens of detailed videos on TikTok about weight loss drugs.

In the videos, she instructed her viewers on how to use Ozempic  a semaglutide, injectable diabetes medication that some doctors prescribe to patients for weight loss  and other medications, according to prosecutors.

Ozempic has become increasingly popular in the U.S. for weight loss, and the demand for prescriptions is high, according to a Pew Research Center report published March 21.

Other drugs Reyes promoted on her TikTok account beralyreyes88 included Axcion, weight loss pills sold in Mexico, and Mesofrance, another injectable weight loss drug made by a Mexican pharmaceutical company, court documents state.

Her TikTok does not appear to be active as of May 2.

In her videos, Reyes told her followers they can buy the weight loss drugs by contacting her over an encrypted messaging application on her cellphone, according to prosecutors.

She got the drugs  none of which were approved for sale or dispensing in the United States by the FDA  from Central and South America, prosecutors said.

The woman who later got lesions from Mesofrance ordered from Reyes had called her in November 2022 after watching her TikTok videos, according to prosecutors.

A few months later, the woman bought 30 injections of Mesofrance, which Reyes mailed to the womans home in White Plains without asking her to provide a prescription, prosecutors said.

Between February 2023 and June 2023, she self-administered 28 injections as instructed by Reyes, according to prosecutors.

By July 13, lesions appeared on the womans body, and she sent photos to Reyes, prosecutors said.

In October, her doctor diagnosed her with a mycobacterium abscessus infection, the U.S. attorneys office said.

Mycobacterium abscessus is a multidrug-resistant pathogen and requires aggressive management, including prompt surgical intervention and prolonged combination antimicrobial therapy, according to a case report published in 2018 in the National Library of Medicine.

An infection can prove deadly, the report says.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, these infections are usually caused by injections of substances contaminated with the bacterium.

In November, after the womans diagnosis, the New York Department of Health tested the Mesofrance she bought from Reyes

It tested positive for mycobacterium abscessus, prosecutors said.

In January, an undercover law enforcement officer purchased Ozempic from Reyes for $375, according to the U.S. attorneys office.

She mailed a package with the Ozempic that had labeling in Spanish and was intercepted by authorities in Manhattan, prosecutors said.

Selling misbranded prescription drugs, particularly injectable products that should be sterile, in the U.S. marketplace puts all consumers health at risk, Fernando P. McMillan, the special agent in charge of the Food and Drug Administrations office of criminal investigations, said in a statement.

Dead embryos implanted into aspiring moms hoping to start families, California suits say

Nurse swaps patients medicine with tap water, then he dies in pain, lawsuit says

Risky gas station heroin sold online as mood enhancer made man $2.2 million, feds say

Hotel hot tub closed after 2 developed Legionnaires disease and 1 died, officials say
DENVER (KDVR)  A man and his girlfriend were arrested Wednesday after allegedly failing to care for his mother, leaving her in a situation that resulted in her death.

The two suspects, identified as Brian Seitz, 36, and Laura Prats, 53, were arrested on charges of crimes against an at-risk person resulting in death, according to a press release from the Jefferson County Sheriffs Office.

7 deaths in 9 months: Improvements planned for stretch of I-225

The couple also each face a charge of crimes against an at-risk person resulting in serious bodily injury. Seitz faces a charge of tampering with physical evidence.

Victim identified as mother of one suspect

An investigation began Monday when the Arvada Fire Department responded to the 6400 block of Kendall Street for a sick person at an Airbnb. The sheriffs office said paramedics found a disabled woman covered in filth and maggots on an air mattress in the garage.

The woman, identified as 58-year-old Sheryl Seitz, was taken to a hospital where she died on Tuesday.

Hospital documentation indicated that she had maggots burrowing into her body when she arrived at the hospital, according to the sheriffs office. She was suffering from bed sores, two hip fractures, a loosely connected wrist, ulcers and septic shock.

The suspects had become the mothers caretakers for the last six or seven years due to her declining medical condition and inability to walk or care for herself. According to the sheriffs office, the two were receiving 83 hours worth of state funding each week for her care through a home healthcare company.

Investigation into caretakers

The Arvada Police Department learned that the alleged crimes likely happened at an RV storage lot in unincorporated Jefferson County, located in the 5800 block of West 56th Avenue, where the victim and the two suspects lived separately.

At that point, the sheriffs office took the lead on the investigation and executed search warrants at the victims residence, the trailer where the suspects live and their vehicle.

Police investigate Wednesday night homicide in the Green Valley Ranch neighborhood

Investigators noted that Sheryl was living in an RV without running water or a bed, and the only source of heat was a space heater.

After their first court appearance Thursday morning, Prats and Brian both received $25,000 cash-only bonds. Their next court date for the filing of charges is scheduled for May 8 at 10 a.m.

The mothers death is still under investigation. Her autopsy is pending and the coroners office will determine the official cause and manner of death.

Exclusive jailhouse interview with accused son

FOX31s Vicente Arenas had an exclusive opportunity to sit down with Brian Seitz at the Jefferson County Jail on Thursday.

Brian said he had taken his mother to the Airbnb from the RV storage park to get her cleaned up before seeking additional help. Arenas also went to the Airbnb in an attempt to contact the owner, but they were not there. Owners of the RV park said they did not have a comment.

Brian told Arenas that his mother had been facing a number of medical issues and was bedridden for the last year. Specifically, he said she was battling chronic pain due to severe arthritic conditions. FOX31 was also told Sheryl suffered from sarcoidosis, a condition that causes immune systems to overreact.

Investigators said Brian and his girlfriend were being paid as caregivers for Sheryl. When Arenas asked if the pair tried to help her and why there were maggots on her body, Brian said she wouldnt let them touch her.

Yes we were we were trying to, but she wouldnt allow us to take the blankets off of her after a certain amount of time she didnt want us to touch her, Brian said. I didnt tell her she had to do anything because thats my mom. She was of sound mind. I let her make her own choices. I offered to call an ambulance for her every day and I offered to get her help every day.

Arenas pressed Seitz and asked why he didnt work harder to get his mother the help she needed.

I dont know if you dont understand. But I did try to get help back in December we tried to get her help, Brian said.

Brian said he tried to call an ambulance a number of times and that he loved his mother. He also said she said she wanted to die because she no longer wanted to be a burden.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
Taylor Shelton, who lives in the lowcountry, speaks to reporters at the Richland County Courthouse on Thursday, May 2, 2024, about how she had to travel to North Carolina to have an abortion because she could not schedule an appointment in time to have an abortion in South Carolina.

Taylor Shelton, a Lowcountry woman in her mid to late 20s, wasnt planning to get pregnant. She took precautions including having an intrauterine device.

But it wasnt full proof and she discovered she was pregnant at the four-week mark.

Shelton went to a crisis pregnancy center in Charlotte, which refused to give her an ultrasound because she wanted an abortion.

She went to her OB/GYN at the five-week mark who refused to perform an abortion because of the states fetal heartbeat law.

With only three abortion providers in South Carolina, the soonest she would have been accommodated in the Palmetto State was just after the six-week mark.

I immediately called an abortion provider only to be confronted by the cruel reality of our states abortion ban. Because South Carolinas law is unclear about exactly when abortion is banned, providers had to assume a ban at the earliest possible time, Shelton said. Even though I use contraception, and tested as early as I could, and called as quickly as I could, there still wasnt enough time for me to get an abortion and it is not enough time for the vast majority of South Carolinians.

South Carolina bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected. Abortion providers interpret that point at the six-week mark, when many dont know they are pregnant.

The state Supreme Court ruled in August that the states fetal heartbeat law is constitutional, but said there is confusion over when a babys heartbeat begins.

South Carolinas ban defines fetal heartbeat as cardiac activity, or the steady and repetitive rhythmic contraction of the fetal heart, within the gestational sac.

Planned Parenthood South Atlantic is seeking to have the states fetal heartbeat law interpreted at nine weeks, rather than six weeks. An unborn childs heart isnt fully formed until the ninth week, Planned Parenthood South Atlantic attorney Kyla Eastling said.

You cant have a heartbeat before you have a heart, Eastling told Richland County Judge David Coble during a hearing Thursday.

Planned Parenthood is asking for an injunction to have the law enforced at the nine-week mark of a pregnancy. Lawyers for the governors office and attorney generals office also have asked the judge to dismiss the case as well. Coble did not rule Thursday but his ruling will mostly likely be appealed and the case may end up in front of the state Supreme Court.

Lawyers for the governors office and attorney generals office argued that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle repeatedly acknowledged the ban would go into effect at the six-week mark of a pregnancy.

Our Supreme Court has said over and over again that the cardinal rule of interpreting a statute ascertaining and effectuate the intent of the legislature, said Grayson Lambert, an attorney for the governors office. I am not aware of any legislative record that presents a clearer evidence of what that intent is. Every instance we can find from someone in the General Assembly debated the 2023 act during the time of it talked about as a six-week act. Thats the supporters and the opponents.

Lambert also argued the heart begins to form at the six-week mark, has an initial shape and is emitting cardiac activity.

Everyone in the General Assembly understood that this law was protecting unborn life of approximately six weeks of pregnancy, Lambert said.

Lambert argued Shelton still could have had an abortion in South Carolina when she was learned she was pregnant.

She didnt get one for whatever reason because apparently she couldnt get an appointment as the plaintiffs allege, Lambert said. But thats not a fault of state law. Thats whatever issues were going on with scheduling at that particular time she had.

Shelton however put the blame on the states law as she the soonest she could get an appointment was after the six-week mark of her pregnancy.

This ban is causing doctors to be weary of performing because they dont want to go to jail or whatnot, Shelton said. Then also its a matter of scheduling and so I dont think thats Planned Parenthoods fault. I think its our bans fault.

Eastling, while speaking to reporters, said the states fetal heartbeat law does not say six weeks.

It is not a six-week ban in the text of the statute, Eastling said. They dont say six weeks anywhere in the statute, and its the courts job to read the text of the law not to make policy decisions. Its a legislators job to codify their policy decisions within the text of the law.

Planned Parenthood said 86% of its patients seeking an abortion who are being turned away would be able to have an abortion if the law was at nine weeks.

That is when fetal cardiac development is sufficient to actually meet the definition of fetal heartbeat within the statute, and that is the point at which the ban sets in is when there is a detectable fetal heartbeat, Eastling said. Based on its definition, that can only happen as early as nine weeks of pregnancy.

For Shelton, she said she was fortunate she was able to afford to travel to North Carolina to have an abortion even though she still face barriers.

Abortion is healthcare and the right to access it shouldnt be contingent on geography or socio-economic status, Shelton said. Were not asking for special treatment. Were demanding our fundamental rights to bodily autonomy and self determination.
Woman pleads guilty in East St. Louis federal court to scamming her own grandmother

A woman has pleaded guilty in the U.S. Court for the Southern District of Illinois to scamming her own grandmother out of more than $300,000.

Tanya M. Aboseada, 38, of Pompano Beach, Florida, pleaded guilty to 12 counts of wire fraud Wednesday at the federal courthouse in East St. Louis. Her grandmother, a Cahokia Heights resident, was identified in court records only as M.A.

According to the indictment against her, Aboseada convinced her grandmother to wire money into her bank account under false pretenses on at least 12 occasions between November 2021 and August 2022.

Aboseada lied to her grandmother about needing money to transfer a truck title into her name, owing money to the IRS, paying attorney fees and fines for a vehicular accident she was in, and paying the family of an alleged child she killed in a vehicular accident to avoid going to jail.

To obtain the funds, wire transfers were made from multiple banks in both the metro-east and Chesterfield, Missouri.

She used the money to purchase items for herself and friends and to pay off other expenses, the indictment alleged.

In total, Aboseada admitted to stealing $317,049 from her grandmother.

Older Americans are too often the target of scammers who hide behind computer screens while stealing money. But criminals who steal the hard-earned life savings of their own family members demonstrate an even greater disregard for this vulnerable population, said FBI Springfield Field Office Special Agent in Charge David Nanz in a news release.

Wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison per count. Aboseadas sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 13.

This case was brought as part of the Department of Justices Elder Justice Initiative.

The FBI Springfield Field Office conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Scott Verseman and Kathleen Howard are prosecuting the case.
In England, a woman was told repeatedly by healthcare providers that she was dead  even though she was, obviously, very much alive.

As the BBC reports, Susan Johnson of Scarborough was perplexed upon being told by multiple institutions that per their records, she was deceased and couldn't access her government benefits.

The morbid mixup began in March 2023, when Johnson  a caretaker for her disabled husband  went to a routine appointment at nearby Bridlington Hospital.

"I gave them my letter and their first words were, 'ooh you're dead,'" the 62-year-old woman said.

"I said, 'pardon?' I was in shock," Johnson continued, per the BBC. "Then they put something on the computer so I could have the scan and then they just said, 'bye' and that's it."

The retired housekeeper said that after that interaction she was "shaking like a leaf"  but it only got worse from there.

After contacting her general practitioner, Johnson was told that the issue had been fixed  but when she got in touch with the UK's Department for Work and Pensions, an apparently-bemused agent informed her that "on the computer, you're dead"

"I said, 'I'm not, I'm still talking to you,'" the woman recounted to the British broadcaster.

"I shut down completely," she added. "I didn't talk or anything, I was in my own little bubble."

In the aftermath of the maddening mixup, Johnson's benefits were reinstated, but the confusion continued when the BBC began trying to piece together what exactly had happened.

Scarborough Medical Group, the woman's GP, said in a statement that it had received electronic instructions from the support service Primary Care Support England to remove her from their records  but when the news wire contacted PCSE, it said that it had nothing to do with the erroneous death declaration.

As a PCSE spokesperson told the BBC, the service's only involvement was an automated email to Scarborough Medical Group that was sent after the issue had been resolved.

Meanwhile, neither the kingdom's National Health Services nor the Department for Work and Pensions have been able to figure out who's responsible either, leaving Johnson in the lurch as she tried to move on with her life and get closure from the ordeal.

"I need to find out why it happened, how and by whom," she told the BBC. "And that person, whoever has pressed a button, shouldn't be working wherever they are."

More on not-deaths: Mom Stunned to Get Text Message From Son After He Died at the Hospital
Shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) have soared nearly 35% so far in 2024 and are only a few points away from doubling over the last 12 months. The company reigns as the biggest drugmaker in the world based on market cap. It's also the largest company in the entire healthcare sector.

But has Lilly peaked? I don't think so. Here's why Lilly stock remains a screaming buy.

1. Tremendous growth ahead for Mounjaro and Zepbound

The expression "selling like hotcakes" might need to be changed to "selling like Mounjaro and Zepbound." Lilly can't make enough of its type 2 diabetes and weight loss drugs to keep up with demand -- and that's after significantly ramping up its production capacity.

In the first quarter of 2024, the two products (which are the same drug, tirzepatide, sold under different labels) generated sales of over $2.3 billion. Zepbound is now beating Novo Nordisk's Wegovy, capturing nearly 57% of new-to-brand prescriptions at the end of Q1.

This is only the beginning. Lilly CEO Dave Ricks said in the Q1 earnings call that Zepbound had access to 67% of the U.S. commercial market as of April 1, 2024. Medicare will only pay for obesity drugs that are approved for other indications. Lilly plans to file for regulatory approvals this year for tirzepatide in treating obstructive sleep apnea, which should open up the big Medicare market.

More additional indications for tirzepatide could also be on the way. Lilly expects to file for U.S. approval of the drug in treating heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) later this year. It's also evaluating tirzepatide in a phase 2 study targeting metabolic-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), which is also known as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Some analysts think the NASH/MASH market presents a $100 billion-plus annual opportunity.

2. Potentially better weight-loss drugs in the pipeline

As good as Mounjaro and Zepbound are, Lilly could have even better weight-loss drugs in its pipeline. The company is evaluating orforliprin (a once-daily oral therapy) and retatrutide in late-stage testing, and bimagrumab and mazdutide are in phase 2 studies. Lilly has DACRA QW II in phase 1 testing.

Chief Scientific Officer Dan Skovronksy said in the Q1 call that the company is "excited about the portfolio of earlier-stage obesity molecules." He thinks these programs have the potential to improve upon tirzepatide by increasing the quality of weight loss, reducing side effects, and requiring less frequent administration.

Story continues

3. Many more promising candidates

Lilly's obesity programs alone will be major growth drivers for a long time to come. However, the company has many more promising candidates in the hopper. Two of them -- donanemab and mirikuzumab -- already await regulatory approval.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plans to convene an advisory committee to review the submission for donanemab in treating early-stage Alzheimer's disease. Anne White, president of Lilly Neuroscience, said in the Q1 call the company remains "incredibly confident" in the potential for the drug. She noted that Lilly isn't sitting still while it waits for the advisory committee and is doing all it can to ensure a successful launch, pending approval.

Lilly filed for approval in the U.S. and European Union for mirikizumab in treating Crohn's disease. It also resubmitted for FDA approval of the drug in treating atopic dermatitis following a complete response letter from the agency due to issues with a third-party manufacturer.

But what about valuation?

The main criticism some investors will have about Lilly is its valuation. The drugmaker's shares trade at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 62.5. That's seemingly at a nosebleed level.

However, forward P/E multiples only look one year into the future. Lilly should deliver significant growth through the rest of the decade and beyond.

No, the stock isn't cheap. But valuation isn't a major concern, in my view, considering Lilly's tremendous growth prospects.

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Here's Why Eli Lilly Stock Remains a Screaming Buy was originally published by The Motley Fool
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE)  The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) says 60-year-old Evelyn Bustamante, from Shiprock, will spend five years in prison after a fatal rollover crash. The 2021 crash involved Bustamantes grandchildren, who were not wearing seatbelts or in car seats, the DOJ says.

Bustamante was driving from Shiprock to Farmington, New Mexico when the crash occurred. At Northern Navajo Medical Center, Bustamante admitted to consuming both alcohol and methamphetamine, the DOJ says. Five days after the crash, one of Bustamantes grandchildren died at the University of New Mexico Hospital. The other grandchild recovered.

6th officer resigns APD amid DWI Unit investigation

Bustamante took a plea deal in 2023. Now, a federal court has sentenced Bustamante to five years in prison and three years of supervised release afterwards.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos.
A woman serving in the National Guard is charged with shooting and killing her boyfriend in their Leominster home Wednesday night, court documents show.

Documents from Leominster District Court show that 28-year-old Jami Parker was arrested after requesting an ambulance for her boyfriend around 10:30 Wednesday night. Officers responded to a Main Street residence and found her boyfriend, 53-year-old Jeffrey Carr, lying on the kitchen floor with a single gunshot wound to the head.

Investigators pronounced Carr deceased at the scene.

Parker was placed under arrest and investigators who reviewed the 911 call determined there was a domestic argument at the home before Parker allegedly retrieved a gun from the bedroom and shot Carr, court documents show.

Parker is facing charges of armed assault with intent to murder and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury, court documents show.

John Roemer, Parkers court-appointed attorney at the moment, nonetheless brought up that his client has never had any legal trouble before. He said she was a Sergeant in the Army National Guard and that Parker also aspired to a career in law enforcement.

Roemer said he has yet to study the evidence, which would include the 9-1-1 call and toxicology reports.

I want to see the facts, he said. Whether theres a history of restraining orders against the alleged victim. Women are battered every day. Some of them die. In any fight, its hard to say, without going into the evidence, who the real victim is.

Parker entered the courtroom while quietly sobbing Thursday. Her aunt refused to talk with the media after her court appearance -- answering every question with the same three-word answer: Shes a victim.

Members of the Leominster Police Department and Massachusetts State Police Detectives with the Worcester County District Attorneys office are investigating the incident.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

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Have you really stayed in the Maldives if you havent checked into an over-water villa?

Wed say that would be a definite yes, although theres no denying that a stilted, over-water hideaway is the first thing many people picture when they think of this Indian Ocean paradise.

That said, were also firm believers that there are fantastic examples of over-water opulence elsewhere in the world  and weve got the proof.

Theres nothing quite like the serenity and luxury of staying over the water on private islands, in beach resorts or even just in the middle of the ocean, whether youre on an island off the coast of Africa, a picturesque tropical retreat in Latin America or by the side of a dam in southeast Asia.

But while you can go as far as Mexico and Mauritius, there are plenty of enticing stays closer to home, including a waterside retreat on a Swiss lake and a log cabin in Cornwall. Read on to find out more.

Cayo Espanto

Location: Belize

Cayo Espanto (Cayo Espanto)

There are just seven over-water villas on this pint-sized Belizean island, so the chances of your view being ruined by a fellow guest floating past your villa on an inflatable pink unicorn are slim. Put even more space between you and your fellow guests by opting for Casa Ventanas, a one-bedroom villa perched on the end of a pier. The tiny island covers just four acres, although keeping boredom at bay is easy  theres a shuttle service between Cayo Espanto and the mainland (5km away) and activities on offer including diving excursions, bird-watching and day trips to other parts of Belize.

From 1,679 per villa per night, all-inclusive.

Book now

Hotel Palafitte

Location: Lake Neuchatel, Switzerland

Hotel Palafitte (Hotel Palafitte)

Say hello to Swiss engineering at its finest  38 sleek wooden cabins, many of which are perched over the Alpine waters of Lake Neuchatel. Floor-to-ceiling windows makes it easy to soak up the views of the Swiss Alps, and you can even shimmy down the ladder at the rear of your villa and take a dip in the lake  although you should banish any notions of bath-warm water. On the plus side, cold water therapy is apparently all the rage.

Banyan Tree Mayakoba

Location: Playa del Carmen, Mexico

Banyan Tree Mayakoba (Banyan Tree Mayakoba)

The Banyan Tree Mayakoba Resort, which opened in 2021, was one of the first resorts in Mexico to offer over-water accommodation. What sets the property apart is that its villas arent located off sandy beaches but along the wildlife-filled waterways which weave through the Riviera Maya area. This beautiful ecosystem is home to a number of species, including agoutis (ridiculously cute fruit-munching rodents), tiger herons and iguanas. Its also a seriously sustainable property  all organic waste is sent to a local pig farm, and the property even has its own authorised turtle field, where 4 of the 7 worldwide species come to nest.

Constance Prince Maurice

Location: Mauritius

Constance Prince Maurice (Constance Prince Maurice)

The Constance Prince Maurice is sandwiched between the Indian Ocean and a natural lagoon, and the latter is where youll find the over-water villas. The lagoon is a fish conservation reserve and fantastic snorkelling spot, and the property is located at the tip of a peninsula, so there are plenty of gorgeous beaches to explore, and theres also an on-site kite-surfing school. Our favourite spot is the resorts floating restaurant  just try to ignore the guilt pangs when a shoal of rainbow-hued fish swims past as youre tucking into your seafood carpaccio.

Bawah Reserve

Location: Indonesia

Bawah Reserve (Bawah Reserve)

The over-water villas at Bawahs private island reserve offer uninterrupted idyllic views across crystal-clear turquoise waters to the surrounding Anambas islands. Each with their own deck and stairs into the sea, the villas feel private and exclusive while only being a short walk to the islands restaurants and the Aura wellness centre and spa. Bawah stands out for its commitment to conservation and sustainability  its home to Indonesias largest floating solar panel farm  and is designed so that guests feel part of the nature of the island, rather than disrupting the environment. Visitors also have access to some of the best snorkelling in the world thanks to the protected coral reefs that surround the island.

From 1,213 per night, all-inclusive

Book now

The St Regis Langkawi

Location: Malaysia

The Royal Sunset Villa at St Regis, Langkawi (St Regis)

Less over-water villa and more over-water palace, the St Regis Langkawis accommodations come with private infinity pools, separate living and dining rooms, kitchenettes and walk-in wardrobes. Great views come as standard here (the resort is tucked between a lush rainforest and the Andaman Sea) but if you cant quite stretch to an over-water villa, the next best thing is dinner at the resorts Kayuputi restaurant, where you can drink (and dine, if you dare) while reclining in the restaurants over-water hammocks.

Underwater Room, The Manta Resort

Location: Zanzibar

Manta Resort (Manta Resort)

Dont be fooled by the name  this floating villa (dont worry, its securely tethered so the chances of you waking to find youve floated halfway across the Indian Ocean are slim) has both an over-water section and a glass-walled underwater room, although the best spot for views is the rooftop, with its supersized day bed. The vibe is seriously laidback here  the main resort (within swimming distance of the Underwater Room) has a gorgeous sun lounger-dotted beach, although theres also a PADI dive school for guests keen to explore underwater. We recommend asking a member of staff to teach you how to play bao  a traditional Tanzanian boardgame.

From 880 per night, all-inclusive.

Book now

The Boat House, Pengelly Retreat

Location: Cornwall

The Boat House, Pengelly Retreat (The Boat House, Pengelly Retreat)

Were all for more over-water accommodation in the UK. Admittedly, youre more likely to spot beavers than batfish during a stay at the Boat House in Cornwall, but theres something fabulously cosy about its wooden cabin, complete with log burner, Scandi-inspired decor and tangle of wooden beams. Step out onto the veranda and youll be able to row your very own boat around the lake before watching the sunset from either the patios bathtub or the firepit.

From 129 per night.

Book now

Misool

Location: Raja Ampat, Indonesia

Misool (Derrick Thomson)

This is admittedly one of our more expensive over-water options, but we promise its worthy of your hard-earned cash. Located in Indonesias remote Raja Ampat archipelago, Misool was founded by keen divers Marit and Andrew, who built their eco-lodge on an island which was once home to a shark-finning camp. Their subsequent achievements include the creation of the Misool Marine Reserve, the recruitment of local rangers (many of whom are former shark finners) to prevent illegal fishing and the founding of the Misool Foundation, which tackles problems such as plastic marine waste. Oh, and the construction of what might just be the most beautiful over-water villas weve come across.

From 2,777 per person for seven nights, all-inclusive.

Book now

Panvaree resort

Location: Khao Sok National Park, Thailand

Panvaree Resort, Thailand (Panvaree Resort, Thailand)

Over-water accommodation in national parks is few and far between, but thats not the only thing which sets the over-water villas at Panvaree resort in Thailands Khao Sok National Park apart. The villas are located on a lake, rather than over the ocean, so the views are a definite upgrade: instead of endless sea youll get forested mountains, bird-dotted limestone cliffs and the lakes emerald-green water.

Read more on the best destinations to visit in Southeast Asia
Worried about erosion along Lake Michigan's coast impacting your home? We want to hear from you.

Erosion on the shoreline of Lake Michigan has left homes and other property at risk.

SHEBOYGAN  Homes along Sheboygans lakeshore could be vulnerable to erosion, with climate change further impacting Lake Michigan year-to-year and in the future.

Lake water levels are expected to fluctuate, reaching lower lows and higher highs.

Do you have a property along the lakeshore? Has land on your property already been affected by rising water levels? Do you have concerns about how future water levels and erosion could impact your home?

Share your concerns with us: Know a student who uses Metro bus services for school? We want to hear from you.

If so, wed like to hear from you.

Id like to learn about your unique experience as a homeowner on the lake and the benefits, drawbacks and challenges youve faced for a future story.

Reach out to me, Alex Garner at 224-374-2332 or agarner@gannett.com to share more of your experience and concerns.

This article originally appeared on Sheboygan Press: Sheboygan Press seeks homeowners on Lake Michigan with erosion worries
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW)  The Wichita Police Department is investigating an unattended death in south Wichita.

Police were in the 2100 block of S. Volutsia, near Mount Vernon and Hillside, after receiving an anonymous tip that a person had been dead inside the house for two weeks.

WPD attempted a welfare check at the home around 11 a.m. Wednesday, but officers were unable to enter the house. They learned that multiple propane tanks were inside.

Authorities obtained a search warrant and requested assistance from WPDs Ordinance Disposal Unit to ensure the home was safe to enter.

Sams Club now using AI to check receipts at more than 120 stores. Heres how it works

Once inside, officers found an unresponsive victim. Sedgwick County EMS declared the person dead.

The identity of the individual, as well as the cause and manner of death, are still pending further investigation and confirmation from the Sedgwick County Medical Examiners Office.

Investigators are looking into the circumstances surrounding the incident and are asking anyone with relevant information to contact the WPD Homicide Unit at 316-268-4407. Tipsters can also remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at 316-267-2111.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV.
FILE PHOTO: "Senior Chinese Leader Event" on the sidelines of the APEC summit, in San Francisco

By Laurie Chen and Michel Rose

BEIJING/PARIS (Reuters) -Chinese President Xi Jinping heads to Europe for the first time in five years next week in a visit that may lay bare European divisions over trade with Beijing and how the continent positions itself as a pole between the United States and China.

Xi travels to France, Serbia and Hungary at a time when the European Union is threatening to hammer China's electric vehicle and green energy industries with tariffs over huge subsidies the bloc says gives manufacturers in China an unfair edge.

With China's economy facing headwinds and the U.S. closing itself off to Chinese firms, the European Union could have some leverage over Beijing. But the bloc's 27 members are not neatly aligned, undermining their ability to shape Chinese thinking, analysts say.

Overshadowing the visit are European concerns over Chinese support for Russia's wartime economy two years into its military campaign in Ukraine.

Lin Jian, a spokesman for China's foreign ministry, said Xi's visit would "inject stability into the development of China-Europe relations and make new contributions to peace and stability in the world".

Xi's goal would be neutralising the EU's economic security agenda, including its tariff threats, by exploiting internal differences, said Mathieu Duchatel, senior fellow at the Institut Montaigne.

"There's a very strong divide and rule element," Duchatel said of China's strategy towards Europe. "That's not hidden but in plain sight."

European companies and governments have long complained of restricted access to the Chinese market and unfair competition. A Kiel Institute study estimated China's subsidies for its firms range between three to nine times other major economies.

The European Commission has the exclusive right to run trade policy for the whole collective EU, but within the bloc member states have struggled to agree how to fix the trade imbalance.

Macron seeks a more aggressive EU stance on subsidies and warned that the bloc risked falling behind if it did not permit exemptions to its own competition rules in the face of 'oversubsidies' by China and the U.S.

'WE DON'T PROTECT ENOUGH'

"We regulate too much, we don't invest enough, we don't protect enough," Macron told The Economist in an interview published on Thursday.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in April pressed Xi for better market access for German firms. But on the EU anti-subsidy investigations, apparently anxious to avoid antagonising Beijing, he said the bloc should not act out of protectionist self-interest although competition should be fair.

Some French government officials say privately that they are concerned Berlin will try to undermine the electric vehicle probe, which has zeroed in on Chinese carmakers BYD, Geely and SAIC. China is a key market for Germany's export-led economy and its carmakers such as BMW and Mercedez-Benz.

Scholz is due to dine with Macron and the two leaders' wives in Paris on Thursday, two sources involved in the planning said.

Noah Barkin, a senior adviser at the Rhodium Group and close follower of EU-China relations, said Macron would encourage Scholz to join him and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, for four-way talks with Xi in the French capital, as Paris seeks to present a united front. The Elysee Palace declined to comment.

"A worrying gap has opened up between the German position on China, on the one hand, and the position of the French and the European Commission, on the other. There is simply a greater readiness in Paris and Brussels to push back against Beijing on the trade front than there is in Berlin," Barkin said.

RUSSIA CONCERNS

"Europe has quite a bit of leverage, but that leverage flies out the window if European lenders are sending different messages to Xi," Barkin added.

Xi will be in Europe from May 5-10.

A Macron aide said the French leader would add his voice to calls from Washington, Brussels, Berlin and elsewhere for China to stop exports to Russia of "dual-use" and other technologies propping up Russia's war effort.

In Serbia and Hungary, any public comments by Xi on Russia will face close scrutiny. Xi is due to host Russian President Vladimir Putin in China later in May.

Observers said Xi's choice of Serbia and Hungary was designed to pull closer two European countries that are pro-Russia and large recipients of Chinese investment, including financial aid for a delayed rail project linking their capitals.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said he was honoured by Xis visit, and he expected a free trade agreement between the two countries signed last October to come into force on July 1.

Chinese analysts said Xi could use his stopover in Belgrade, which coincides with the 20th anniversary of NATO's bombing of the Chinese embassy there, to play up China's anti-NATO agenda.

China has amplified Russian efforts to blame the U.S. and NATO for escalating the Ukraine war by supplying arms to Kyiv.

Hungary has also in the past blocked EU statements criticising China on human rights.

Shen Dingli, a Shanghai-based international relations scholar, described the outreach to Serbia and Hungary as part of China's efforts to deepen divisions within the West.

(Reporting by Laurie Chen in Beijing and Michel Rose in Paris; Additional reporting by John Irish in Paris, Andreas Rinke in Berlin and Daria Sito-Sucic in Belgrade; Editing by Richard Lough, William Maclean)
A frozen lake landscape with large cracks in the ice showing the deep blue water beneath. There are snow-capped mountains in the distance.

In an unexpected discovery, scientists find climate change is yet to alter the ice cover on Yellowstone Lake. However, a tipping point may be coming for North America's largest high-altitude lake, researchers suggest in a new study.

Located roughly 7,733 feet (2,357 meters) above sea level in the heart of Yellowstone National Park and spanning 132 square miles (342 square kilometers), the lake usually freezes over in late December or early January and thaws toward the end of May.

Yet despite increasing ambient temperatures, the lake  unlike many others around the world  has not yet lost any of its ice cover during the colder months. While this may seem like cause for hope, researchers behind the new study have said it could be a sign that the lake may be due to cross a threshold where most of its ice is irreversibly lost.

Related: Climate change and polar ice melting could be impacting the length of Earth's day

Their peer-reviewed findings are due to be published in the journal Environmental Research Letters.

"We show that contrary to expectation, the ice phenology [seasonality] of Yellowstone Lake has been uniquely resistant to climate change," the scientists wrote in the study. "The unchanging ice phenology of Yellowstone Lake stands in stark contrast to similar lakes in the Northern Hemisphere."

Researchers used the full records of the lake's ice going back to 1931. By pairing these records with climate data from the same period and comparing them to similar high-altitude lakes in Europe, they were able to study how Yellowstone Lake had changed over time.

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And it changed surprisingly little compared to others, despite temperatures at the lake increasing by 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit (2.5 degrees Celsius) between 1980 and 2018, and air temperature being a key driver of ice formation and break-up.

To explain the discrepancy, the researchers looked at the rate of spring snowfall over the lake. To their surprise, they found it had nearly doubled over the same timeframe. They believe that the increased snowfall has had a "buffering" effect on the region's ice loss.

But this may not be good news for the lake in the long term. If snowfall is maintaining the lake's ice cover, temperatures are likely to reach a point where the snow melts and the effect disappears  causing a sudden and irreversible tipping point in the lake's ice.

"Our results, paired with recent analyses of climate projections, suggest a 'tipping point' may be coming when ice phenology abruptly changes for Yellowstone Lake," they wrote. "This tipping point will largely stem from the ongoing shift from snow to rain-dominated precipitation regimes in the fall and spring."
Manhattan prosecutors keep objecting to Donald Trumps alleged gag order violations, but they still dont want him to go to jail over them. And while that is understandable from a practical perspective, it raises the question of why they keep pressing the issue.

Assistant District Attorney Christopher Conroy told Judge Juan Merchan on Thursday morning that the office isn't seeking jail time "yet" because it prefers to minimize disruptions to the proceeding. Conroy made the remark at a hearing over the latest alleged violations of the gag order.

Merchan already found Trump in contempt on Tuesday for violating the order nine times. The judge imposed a $1,000 fine for each violation  the legal maximum. Even Merchan effectively conceded the punishment was relatively minor, but in his ruling Tuesday, he warned Trump that he could send him to jail if he keeps testing the limit.

Ahead of Thursdays hearing over additional alleged violations, I wrote that fines might be all that come out of this latest hearing, too. Thats because Merchans jail warning in Tuesdays ruling might be read to apply only to violations that come after that ruling, and the alleged violations at issue in Thursdays hearing happened earlier. Theres no legal bar to Merchan jailing Trump over these latest alleged violations  he couldve done so with the nine violations in Tuesday's ruling  because state law gives him the option of fines up to $1,000 and/or jail up to 30 days.

Trump didnt need any special warning, but Merchan gave him another one anyway, probably to delay the momentous decision of whether to jail a former president and presumptive presidential nominee.

But with the states latest concession Thursday, Merchan may not have to truly grapple yet with whether to send Trump to jail, since even prosecutors say they don't want that yet. That is, if the judge even finds any violations over the latest contested statements about witnesses Michael Cohen and David Pecker and the jury. Merchan didnt immediately rule Thursday, as testimony resumed in the criminal case charging Trump with falsifying business records. (Trump has pleaded not guilty.)

Lets assume Merchan only imposes fines again if he finds further violations. What does the prosecutions position mean for the additional violations by Trump that will almost surely come? Prosecutors said theyre not seeking jail yet, implying there may come a point when they will. And by their logic, jailing Trump risks disrupting the trial. Maybe so.

But that raises the question of the purpose of the gag order in the first place. It's to protect the proceedings, by stopping Trump from going after witnesses, jurors and others involved in the case (he can still rail against the judge and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg himself). The prosecution seems to think thats an important interest to protect because they keep raising it with Merchan. But if Trump keeps violating the order in the face of $1,000 fines, its clear that the order isnt serving its purpose.

Prosecutors likely dont want to risk messing up the underlying case itself, which seems to be moving along well for them. And jailing Trump would raise unprecedented issues, at least from a practical perspective. But if theyre confronted with further violations, theyll have to weigh the risks of Trumps disruption to the proceedings against whatever disruption holding him accountable for that would bring. Ultimately, the weighty decision will fall to Merchan, who had to know that hed be faced with such a decision when he imposed the order in the first place.

Subscribe to the Deadline: Legal Newsletter for weekly updates on the top legal stories, including news from the Supreme Court, the Donald Trump cases and more.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
You'll think aliens have...abducted your beautiful kids and replaced them with terrorists: John Kennedy to Buttigieg.

Sen. John Kennedy on Thursday gave his unique brand of parenting advice to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

They'll be teenagers before you know it, the quirky Louisiana Republican senator said to Buttigieg. You'll think that aliens have come down, and abducted your beautiful kids, and replaced them with terrorists. But you'll get through it.

The context: Kennedy had been asking Buttigieg during his testimony at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing how his toddler children were doing.

Thanks for asking. They have figured out how to get out of their beds, which means they now control when we get up instead of the other way around, but they're healthy and happy, Buttigieg said.

Buttigieg at the hearing also acknowledged concerns about airline practices and that the business lines between banking, credit card, and airplane companies have blurred. He said the Transportation Department shares Americans concerns, and launched a review of U.S. airline companies rewards programs to determine if there are any unfair and deceptive practices.
Reported Net Income: $48.2 million for Q1 2024, falling short of the estimated $59.31 million.

Earnings Per Share (EPS): Reported at $0.95, below the estimated $1.15.

Year-over-Year Comparison: Net income decreased from $56.1 million in Q1 2023 to $48.2 million in Q1 2024.

Customer Growth: Contributed an increase of $4.7 million to operating income, with customer numbers growing by approximately 15,800 or 2.5%.

Usage per Retail Customer: Decreased by $9.1 million, primarily due to milder weather reducing energy use for heating.

Depreciation and Interest Expenses: Increased by $8.6 million and $1.8 million respectively, impacting net income negatively.

2024 Earnings Guidance: Reaffirmed in the range of $5.25 to $5.45 per diluted share, assuming normal weather conditions and power supply expenses.

On May 2, 2024, Idacorp Inc (NYSE:IDA) disclosed its first-quarter earnings for 2024, revealing a net income of $48.2 million, or $0.95 per diluted share, a decline from $56.1 million, or $1.11 per diluted share, reported in the same period last year. This performance fell short of analyst expectations, which had estimated earnings of $1.15 per share and a net income of $59.31 million. The company released these figures in its recent 8-K filing.

Idacorp Inc (IDA) Q1 Earnings: Misses Analyst Forecasts Amid Operational Challenges

Idacorp Inc, headquartered in Boise, Idaho, operates primarily through its subsidiary, Idaho Power. This utility company engages in the generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electric energy across the Northwestern United States. With a significant portion of its energy produced from hydroelectric and coal-fired plants, Idacorp serves a diverse customer base, including residential, commercial, and industrial sectors.

Operational Highlights and Financial Performance

Idacorp's President and CEO, Lisa Grow, noted that the quarter reflected a mixed performance with benefits from rate changes and customer growth being offset by lower usage per customer due to milder weather, alongside rising depreciation and interest expenses linked to system investments. The company also continues to navigate through a request for proposal process to address rapid customer and load growth, potentially leading to higher capital expenditures.

The detailed financial results show a decrease in net income primarily due to lower performance at Idaho Power. Despite a 2.5% increase in customer numbers, reduced energy usage, particularly among residential customers due to warmer temperatures, significantly impacted revenues. Additionally, increased expenses related to pension and wildfire mitigation efforts further strained the financial results.

Story continues

Challenges and Strategic Measures

The first quarter saw Idacorp grappling with several challenges. Key among these was the impact of weather conditions on energy usage. The company's operational costs also rose, notably from pension-related expenses and investments in wildfire mitigation, which are critical for maintaining service reliability and safety but have immediate financial impacts. Moreover, depreciation expenses increased due to expanded plant services, reflecting ongoing investments in infrastructure to support long-term growth.

Future Outlook and Earnings Guidance

Looking ahead, Idacorp reaffirms its full-year earnings guidance for 2024, projecting earnings per diluted share in the range of $5.25 to $5.45. This forecast assumes normal weather conditions and stable power supply expenses. The guidance also includes the utilization of $35 to $60 million in additional tax credits under the Idaho earnings support regulatory mechanism, which will aid in offsetting some of the financial pressures.

Idacorp's strategic focus remains on enhancing its operational efficiency and financial stability. The company is committed to navigating the complexities of the energy market, ensuring reliable service delivery, and pursuing sustainable growth initiatives aligned with its long-term objectives.

Conclusion

Despite the challenges faced in the first quarter, Idacorp is poised to continue its trajectory towards sustainable growth. Investors and stakeholders are encouraged to monitor the company's progress as it implements strategic initiatives to enhance shareholder value and maintain its competitive position in the utility sector.

Explore the complete 8-K earnings release (here) from Idacorp Inc for further details.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.


Young voters are mad about Gaza. But many don't see it driving their 2024 votes.

Young voters are mad about Gaza. But many don't see it driving their 2024 votes.

Young people are deeply critical of the Biden administration's handling of the war between Israel and Hamas, as some college students participate in pro-Palestinian protests on campuses across the country.

But a pair of new focus groups of politically independent college students in Wisconsin highlighted a key distinction that's also evident in public polling: Few of the participants believe the issue could actually change their vote for president this fall, though some questioned whether it would push them not to vote at all. And they almost unanimously believe former President Donald Trump would do no better (or even worse) on the issue than President Joe Biden has.

The interviews with a total of 16 students in the University of Wisconsin system shed light on the intensity of support for the protests among these potential voters, as well as a sense of relative apathy on politics in general. Many are considering supporting third-party or independent candidates, as theyve soured on both Biden and Trump.

I dont think Biden is doing a great job; I dont think Trump would do a better job, said Cooper M., a 19-year-old University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire student who is currently backing Biden.

As it stands, I cant see it changing how I vote.

More than half of the participants  interviewed as part of the NBC News Deciders Focus Group series in collaboration with Engagious, Syracuse University and Sago  singled out the war as the issue in the news that concerns them the most. Virtually all of the participants signaled some degree of support for the protests, and six of the 16 said they have been protesting themselves.

I think its completely unfair for students who are paying tuition to not have a say in where their money goes, said Suchita H., a 19-year-old student who is backing Biden and goes to school at the flagship University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. There, protesters are calling for the university system to divest from companies that have sold military equipment to Israel, which launched military operations in the Gaza Strip following an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

On a bigger scale its just indiscriminate bombing and war and the debts have just not been equal on both sides, Suchita H. continued, criticizing Israel's conduct in the war.

Sophia K., an 18-year-old UW-Madison student who says she would vote for Green Party candidate Jill Stein, called the protests educational.

The protests are very empowering to see a lot of young people on these campuses rising up together in solidarity with Gaza and the Palestinian people," Sophia K. continued.

The students broadly saw the protests as a necessary tool to shine light on their side of the debate over the war between Israel and Hamas and put pressure on their schools and the White House. Some compared the protests to the student dissent in America over the Vietnam War, and the majority said they did not believe the protests were antisemitic.

Only four of the 16 said they backed protesters occupying buildings, however, an escalation taken by protesters on some campuses, like Columbia University.

I would not prefer it, but I do think thats almost the only way. A lot of people who talk about peaceful protest dont realize that the point of protest is to carry out radical change, and as long as its peaceful and not getting in anyones way, thats exactly when no one cares about it, Suchita H. said.

But Angelina J., a 19-year-old University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh student who says shed vote for independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr., voiced disagreement that others on the panel shared.

The buildings didnt create the problem, and my Wisconsin school personally is already underfunded, she said. Its going to make the tuition rates go up even more if we start destroying the resources that we have already. I just think its unproductive to be destroying what we already have.

And while some students said they had visited encampments on their campuses and are protesting, none are living there.

Due to my class schedule, I just cant do it. I also dont have the appropriate supplies to live in the encampment, said Emma S., a 20-year-old UW-Madison student who says shed back Biden in a head-to-head against Trump but would support Kennedy if given the opportunity on her ballot.

Amara V., a 19-year-old University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee student who would back Trump in a head-to-head with Biden but would support Stein if given the opportunity, said shes not joining the encampments because she says they send an inappropriate message.

I kind of dont appreciate how lax the rules are there. I feel like if youre going to protest and live somewhere, I feel like you should commit to what youre doing and you shouldnt be able to play yard games and go and leave as you wish, she said.

I feel like thats almost like a mockery of the people who are actually suffering right now and the people who cant find a home and actually have to live in tents and actually are struggling, Amara V. continued. And I feel like thats a little inappropriate.

Not one of the 16 students said they supported how Biden is handling the war.

Overall, registered voters under 30 gave Biden a 17% approval rating on the issue in the most recent NBC News national poll, compared to 70% who disapproved.

But none of the focus group participants said they thought Trump would handle it better, even among the four out of 16 who expressed more general support for him.

Thats why the majority said the issue would not have a major effect on their presidential vote. While the same recent NBC News poll found that younger voters were more likely than older voters to say the Israel-Hamas war was the single most important issue to them, the overall share who felt this way was still small.

Another recent survey of only young voters, the Harvard Youth Poll, showed respondents ranking other issues facing the U.S. as more important to them.

I dont feel like either of them would really handle it in a way that I would like them to handle it. So its not really a factor, said Ryan H., a 20-year-old University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee student who supports Biden over Trump but would back independent Cornel West if given the opportunity.

Sophia K., the Stein supporter who said she wouldnt vote if given only the choice between Biden and Trump, said both candidates support for Israel is part of whats driving her to not back them.

If Joe Biden does not change what hes doing, Im not going to vote for him. And Im not going to vote for Trump, she said.

Addressing the protests Thursday, Biden was asked by a reporter whether the protests have compelled him to reconsider his policies in the region.

No, he replied, before leaving the podium.

Distaste for Biden and Trump opens door for third-party candidates

The 16 students had broadly negative views of both Biden and Trump  leading to significant interest in third-party or independent candidates. They panned Bidens age and follow-through on certain campaign promises, painting him as someone who couldnt deliver while framing Trump as radical and an ally of the rich.

Just three participants said they were paying a lot of attention to the presidential race. Given the option between only the two major party candidates, seven backed Biden, three backed Trump and six said they wouldnt vote.

But that Biden support crumbled when they were given the choice of choosing Kennedy, Stein and West as well. In that five-way scenario, Biden won just three votes, Trump won two and Kennedy won seven, with Stein and West each winning two.

Kevin Y., a 19-year-old UW-Madison student who backed Biden over Trump, said hed choose Kennedy if given the opportunity to, even though he wasnt super familiar with his policies.

Hes not Biden; hes not Trump. I think both presidents have done some bad for this country, so Id like to see what a non-Democrat or -Republican president can do, he added.

RFK Jr., and to a lesser degree Cornel West and Jill Stein, give these young voters a place to park their profound dissatisfaction with Biden and Trump  rather than not voting at all, said Rich Thau, the president of Engagious and moderator of the sessions.

That said, 11 of the 16 students said they were more scared of a second Trump term than a second Biden one, panning the former presidents rhetoric and record.

I dont want somebody representing our country whos going to attack other people for what they believe instead of fixing problems, and hes creating more, Angelina J., the Kennedy supporter who said she wouldnt vote if she had to choose between Trump and Biden, said of Trump.

Thats why those who chose Biden over Trump framed their choice largely not as support for the Democrat, but a repudiation of the Republican.

Just Trumps overall plan if he gets in the office, I couldnt vote for that. So Id rather vote for Biden, not for Biden specifically, but for the Democratic Party and what it stands for and stances that theyve taken before, said Maxwell B., a 20-year-old UW Oshkosh student.

TikTok ban frustrates young voters

Ten of the 16 students said they use TikTok, and that same number said they opposed the new law that would ban the social media platform if its Beijing-based parent company does not sell it. Only two said they supported the law.

The TikTok supporters praised how small businesses and content creators rely on the app for their livelihoods and noted that they use the app themselves.

"I use TikTok every day; it's what I use to relax at the end of the day. So if I didn't get to have TikTok, I don't know. It's just been a part of my life for so long that I love it," said Cecilia M., a 21-year-old student at UW-Eau Claire who backs Trump.

Those who oppose the ban were broadly dismissive of the privacy concerns around the Chinese company potentially having access to American user data, arguing the fight over data privacy ended long ago (with users losing) and not differentiating between an American or Chinese company having that data.

And of the seven that said they'd hold the law against Biden when deciding how to vote in the fall, six said they were backing a candidate other than the Democrat.

"They don't care that our data's being stolen. They care that it's being stolen by a Chinese company. If it was sold to an American company, nothing would change. They'd still be stealing our data. It just wouldn't be Chinese," Maxwell B. said.

That sentiment stood out to Margaret Talev, the director of Syracuse Universitys Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship in Washington.

"Several of these young voters said outright that Bidens signing of a law that could lead to TikTok being banned in the U.S. could make them less likely to vote for him  and some said if Trump protected their TikTok access, that might sway them to support him," she said.

"I was struck by how most did not view TikTok, with its ties to China, as a national security threat  they simply saw the motivation behind data collection as tied to moneymaking and equated it to what any U.S. tech company might be after," Talev continued.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
(Bloomberg) -- New Zealand is seriously concerned by Chinas increased interest in the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said.

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China has a long-standing presence in the Pacific, but we are seriously concerned by increased engagement in Pacific security sectors, Peters said in a speech to the New Zealand China Council Friday in Wellington. We do not want to see developments that destabilize the institutions and arrangements that have long underpinned our regions security.

New Zealands new center-right government, which took office late last year, is seeking to deepen its ties with like-minded western nations such as Australia, the US and UK amid concerns about Beijings growing ambitions in the Pacific. In doing so it runs the risk of antagonizing China, its biggest trading partner.

New Zealand, Australia and the US were shocked when the Solomon Islands announced in early 2022 that it had signed a security agreement with Beijing. Wellington is now exploring joining Pillar Two of the Aukus security pact between Australia, the US and UK, and has said it is also working on a new partnership with NATO.

Peters acknowledged China as a vital economic partner and noted the rebound in Chinese tourists and students to New Zealand now underway. But he said New Zealand will continue to share its concerns with China.

Sometimes we do this in private, but there are also times when we communicate openly with the public and the international community about our concerns, he said. This is an important part of our commitment to speaking openly and transparently about the foreign policy issues and challenges that affect New Zealanders.

Human rights was one such issue, he said. Cyber-attacks and interference efforts intended to influence, disrupt, or subvert New Zealands national interests was another.

These are deeply concerning and completely unacceptable, Peters said. We remain vigilant to all such threats.

Read More: New Zealand Joins US, UK in Accusing China of Cyber Attacks

Peters said New Zealand is also concerned to see stability tested in the South China Sea and growing tensions and hardening rhetoric across the Taiwan Strait.

With great power comes great responsibility, so we think that China has a responsibility to play a constructive role to address international security challenges, encourage de-escalation, and ease tensions, such as in ongoing conflicts between Russia and Ukraine, and Israel and Hamas, he said. Now, we believe, is a time where China leadership and diplomacy would materially help to ease global tensions.

Peters said New Zealand will continue to align and work with partners where this helps advance its common interests, all the while being steadfast in our independent assessment of our national interests.

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Switzerland peace summit to take place on June 15-16, Russia not invited 'at this stage'

Ukraine's peace summit in Switzerland will be held on June 15-16, based on an agreement between Kyiv and Bern, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on May 2.

The Swiss news agency Swissinfo reported on the date already on April 10. The meeting will take place in the Burgenstock resort above Lake Lucerne in central Switzerland, and 160 national delegations will be invited to the talks.

Russia, the aggressor in the ongoing war, will not be invited "at this stage" of the talks, the Swiss government said.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba justified the decision not to invite Russia in a comment for the Foreign Policy magazine, saying: "Our approach comes from reality, and from the experience that we (have) gained... Between 2014 and 2022, we had almost 200 rounds of talks with Russia in different formats, with mediators and bilaterally."

"But nothing worked. It ended up in the large-scale invasion (of 2022)," he stressed.

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Switzerland has said that Moscow should be involved in the process "sooner or later."

"A peace process without Russia is not possible," the Swiss authorities said. Russia commented it would not participate even if invited.

Zelensky said that the summit will serve as a dialogue platform to "achieve a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace for Ukraine in accordance with the U.N. Charter and the norms of international law."

The founding principles of the event were developed in a series of international meetings and centered around Ukraine's 10-point peace formula.

The formula envisages withdrawing all Russian troops from the territory of Ukraine, the restoration of Ukraine's territorial integrity, release of all prisoners of war and deportees, preventing ecocide in Ukraine, and punishing those responsible for war crimes.

Read also: Swiss FM: Russia has to be at peace summit sooner or later

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Russia attacked Ukraine with over 3,2000 guided aerial bombs, nearly 300 Shahed-type drones, and over 300 missiles in April alone, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on May 2.

In recent months, Moscow has intensified its attacks against Ukraine's infrastructure and population centers, inflicting severe damage and civilian casualties. In March, Russia attacked Ukraine with over 400 missiles of various types, 600 Shahed drones, and 3,000 guided aerial bombs.

Ukrainian officials have warned that Russian aerial bombs represent an increasingly serious danger both for Ukrainian front-line troops and cities.

"Our cities and communities from Sumy region to Odesa region, Dnipropetrovsk region, Kharkiv region, Donetsk region, Mykolaiv, and Kherson are suffering from this deliberate and vile terror every day and night," the president said on social media.

"Thousands of our people's lives have been saved thanks to the help of leaders and countries that have already supported our air shield and that are already effectively exerting sanctions pressure against Russia's war machine.

"However, unfortunately, many lives have been taken by these attacks. And it is only through strength that can we stop this terror."

Kyiv has appealed to its partners to provide additional air defenses to help the country repel Russian attacks. Germany has taken the lead, pledging to deliver its third Patriot air defense system and launching an allied air defense initiative for Ukraine.

After the U.S. Congress finally approved additional assistance to Ukraine, the Pentagon also announced the delivery of new Patriot missiles.

Read also: Skynex: The German drone destroyer reinforcing Ukraines air defense

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Zelenskyy on Peace Summit in Switzerland: heads of states from all continents invited

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced that heads of states and governments from all continents have been invited to attend the Peace Summit in Switzerland on 15-16 June.

Source: Zelenskyy on Twitter

Quote: "As Swiss President Viola Amherd and I previously agreed, the first Peace Summit will take place on June 15-16 in Burgenstock, near Luzern, Switzerland.

Heads of state[s] and government[s] from all continents are invited and expected to attend.

The summit will serve as a platform to discuss ways to achieving comprehensive, just, and lasting peace for Ukraine in accordance with the UN Charter and international law. All states invited to the summit have demonstrated their commitment to these principles."

Details: Zelenskyy is adamant that every peace-loving country is interested in attending the summit, as it is of utmost importance not only for Ukraine.

The president stressed that the summit is about each country's global role and genuine respect for international law and peaceful coexistence around the world: "These common rules, enshrined in the UN Charter, protect all nations from attack and violence. It is thus our shared global responsibility to protect them through real action rather than just words. This is what the first Peace Summit in Switzerland is all about."

Background: Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba noted that Ukraine currently sees no point in inviting Russia to the Global Peace Summit in Switzerland, adding that contacts with Moscow will be necessary after the international community consolidates its position.

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Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, believes that Vladimir Putin will try to disrupt the work of the Peace Summit that will be held in Switzerland in the middle of June.

Source: Zelenskyy in his evening address

Details: He stated that Ukraine and Switzerland had finished sending out invitations to the Peace Summit, which will be held on 15-16 June.

Zelenskyy believes that this summit will be the first real chance to start restoring a just peace.

Quote: "All of us should understand that it is only global power that can force Russia into peace, and that is why we are working to involve as many participants as possible in the Summit in Switzerland and the corresponding communication. We must also be aware that Putin will try to disrupt this work, our efforts, and weaken Ukraine's positions through various manipulations and attacks by his terrorists.

All our positions  on the battlefield, in diplomacy and the information sphere  must be equally solid. For us to be able to exert pressure and achieve our goals, the occupiers must lose their ability to put pressure and gain anything for themselves. Hence, our strength, our capabilities, our weapons, our unity with partners must all work as one. And they will."

Background:

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that heads of states and governments from all continents had been invited to attend the Peace Summit in Switzerland on 15-16 June.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba explained that Ukraine currently sees no point in inviting Moscow to the Global Peace Summit in Switzerland, adding that contacts with Russia will still be necessary after the international community consolidates its position.

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Zero tolerance will be enforced in San Jose over Cinco de Mayo weekend, police say

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON)  For the Cinco de Mayo holiday in San Jose, police will be enforcing a zero tolerance policy toward criminal activity and some major roads will be blocked for crowd control enforcement.

On Thursday, the San Jose Police Department said its objective is to facilitate a safe environment during the Cinco de Mayo weekend. Historically, San Jose has drawn large crowds of people who gather in celebration of the cultural holiday and the City is anticipating similar attendance in 2024. SJPD will continue to employ zero tolerance for criminal behavior.

City officials and police are encouraging the public to safely and responsibly attend four sanctioned events:

Cinco de Mayo Show: May 4, 9 a.m.  4 p.m., on Santa Clara Street between Stockton Avenue and Barack Obama Boulevard. Salsa Festival: May 4, 1 p.m.  8 p.m. in Plaza de Cesar Chavez at 1 Paseo de San Antonio. East San Jose Cinco de Mayo Parade and Festival: May 5, parade from 10 a.m.  noon, festival from noon  4 p.m. in Emma Prusch Park at 647 South King Road. Downtown Cinco de Mayo Parade and Festival: May 5, parade between 9 a.m.  11 a.m.. festival from 11 a.m.  4 p.m. in Plaza de Cesar Chavez at 1 Paseo de San Antonio.

SJP Acting Chief of Police Paul Joseph said his department is deploying additional officers and resources to simultaneously minimize crime and maximize celebrations at sanctioned events.

The police department said it welcomes and embraces cultural celebrations. The Department looks forward to working with our community to create a safe and fun environment to celebrate the festivities.

Arrest numbers usually surge every year on Cinco de Mayo in San Jose. During last years Cinco de Mayo holiday, police arrested 115 people and responded to more than 2,500 emergency 911 calls.

This year, Sgt. Jorge Garibay said officers will issue citations or arrest anyone who attends or participates in illegal sideshows. Sideshow spectators can face fines up to $1,000. Drivers participating in sideshows can expect $3,000-$4,000 in fines and their vehicles towed.

SJPD released maps of potential traffic diversions, freeway off-ramp closures, and road blocks that could be enforced between May 3-5. The locations were based on historical data of impacted areas and are subject to change based on congestion and day-of needs, Garibay wrote.

If implemented, drivers will be diverted to freeways or other surrounding streets to decongest roadways and address criminal activity, Garibay wrote. (Maps can be viewed below):

Cinco-de-Mayo-traffic-planDownload

Mayor Matt Mahan said, As we do with many large events, SJPD will be closing several roads over the Cinco De Mayo weekend. I am grateful to our Police Department for keeping us safe every single day  and ensuring we can celebrate safely.

2023 crowd control enforcement decisions made by Caltrans and police on Cinco de Mayo were blasted by state political leaders as racist and fear-driven. Many residents who went out to celebrate the Mexican holiday were funneled away from downtown by extensive highway closures.

San Jose police will cruise with lowriders on Cinco de Mayo

State Senator Dave Cortese (D-San Jose) wrote after the 2023 holiday, Normal traffic controls are one thing  but shutting down major highway access on the pretense of fear of multicultural celebrations of Cinco de Mayo is racist targeting, and blatantly unconstitutional as it violates First Amendment rights to freedom of assembly. We cant allow government agencies to stereotype our community and its residents.

2023 Cinco de Mayo Crime Stats from SJPD:

Total Calls for Service: 2,642

Total Arrests: 115

Total Vehicle Impounds: 30

Total Citations Issued: 407

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
This visualization shows the solar system trajectories of asteroids discovered by ADAM and THOR. (Credit: B612 Asteroid Institute / Univ. of Wash. DiRAC Institute / OpenSpace Project)

A team of asteroid hunters that includes researchers at the University of Washington says it has identified 27,500 new, high-confidence asteroid discovery candidates  not by making fresh observations of the night sky, but by sifting through archives of astronomical data.

The weeks-long database search was conducted by the Asteroid Institute, a program of the nonprofit B612 Foundation, in partnership with UWs DiRAC Institute and Google Cloud.

The two institutes developed a program called THOR, which stands for Tracklet-less Heliocentric Orbit Recovery. THOR runs on a cloud-based, open-source platform known as ADAM (Asteroid Discovery Analysis and Mapping). The program can analyze the positions of millions of moving points of light observed in the sky over a given period of time, and link those points together in ways that are consistent with orbital paths.

Google Clouds Office of the CTO collaborated with the Asteroid Institute to fine-tune its algorithms for Google Cloud. The project analyzed 5.4 billion observations drawn from the NOIRLab Source Catalog Data Release 2.

What is exciting is that we are using electrons in data centers, in addition to the usual photons in telescopes, to make astronomical discoveries, Ed Lu, executive director of the Asteroid Institute, said in a news release.

Most of the 27,500 asteroid discovery candidates are in the main belt, between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. But the candidates also include more than 100 apparent near-Earth asteroids.

The candidates identified by the Asteroid Institute and Google Cloud would represent a significant addition to the minor-planet database once the discoveries have been confirmed. (B612 ASteroid Institute Graphic)

The Asteroid Institutes long-term goal is to create an observational system that can flag potentially threatening near-Earth objects long before they approach our planet. Confirming the detections can be a laborious task, but the institute is exploring the use of Googles artificial-intelligence tools to streamline the process.

Astronomers are expecting the flow of data to turn into a flood once the Vera C. Rubin Observatory begins science operations in Chile in 2025.

Asteroid Institute results are more than exciting for the Vera C. Rubin Observatory: They may help us re-optimize our observing strategy and obtain gains for some science programs, such as cosmologically important supernovae explosions, equivalent to cloning another Rubin Observatory, said UW astronomer Zeljko Ivezic, who serves as the observatorys construction project director.

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Illinois Tool Works (NYSE:ITW) First Quarter 2024 Results

Key Financial Results

Revenue: US$3.97b (down 1.1% from 1Q 2023).

Net income: US$819.0m (up 15% from 1Q 2023).

Profit margin: 21% (up from 18% in 1Q 2023). The increase in margin was driven by lower expenses.

EPS: US$2.74 (up from US$2.34 in 1Q 2023).

All figures shown in the chart above are for the trailing 12 month (TTM) period

Illinois Tool Works EPS Beats Expectations, Revenues Fall Short

Revenue missed analyst estimates by 1.4%. Earnings per share (EPS) exceeded analyst estimates by 16%.

Looking ahead, revenue is forecast to grow 3.8% p.a. on average during the next 3 years, compared to a 3.5% growth forecast for the Machinery industry in the US.

Performance of the American Machinery industry.

The company's shares are down 3.8% from a week ago.

Risk Analysis

We should say that we've discovered 1 warning sign for Illinois Tool Works that you should be aware of before investing 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.
In the coming decades, the Space Coasts booming commercial space economy may prompt a $2.1 billion northward expansion near Port Canaveral, creating a new large-scale wharf stretching parallel with the Banana River shoreline along Cape Canaveral Space Force Station property.

Thursday morning, Space Florida released a 67-page feasibility study detailing the ambitious proposal, which could require seven construction phases across a 50-year span to accommodate the space industry's future maritime needs.

Why build the wharf? Led today by SpaceX, the Cape's future launch providers will use drone ships, marine vessels and smaller boats to transport and retrieve rocket boosters, fairings and capsules. For example, one Falcon 9 launch can generate ocean recovery operations for all three of these components.

"You start to project out what SpaceX is doing now. Then you start to add other launches by companies like Blue Origin, and increasing launches from ULA with Vulcan. Plus, all of the other players like Relativity and Stoke and Firefly and Vaya, and all the companies that are out there in development right now," Space Florida President and CEO Rob Long said.

This artist's rendering depicts a future wharf expansion near Port Canaveral's north side, stretching northward from the Middle Turning Basin to accommodate the Cape Canaveral space industry.

Cape Canaveral: Is there a launch today? Upcoming rocket launch schedule for SpaceX, ULA, NASA in Florida

Describing Port Canaveral's projected wharf demand by the commercial space industry, Long said, "if you're an airport, and you have too few runways to support the demand, you would add another runway."

What large-scale Port Canaveral expansion would include

Funding and timeline estimates for the conceptual expansion remain undetermined, Long said. The study proposes a long-term, large-scale expansion that would:

Create a new wharf cutting northward through the Middle Turning Basin (Poseidon Basin) that runs along the Banana River shoreline.

Remove some buildings and infrastructure used by the Space Force and U.S. Army  including the Sands Space History Center  which would be rebuilt elsewhere. Space Force officials declined comment.

Realign State Road 401 along the west side of the expanded basin.

The ambitious studys project area encompasses land or channels under the jurisdiction of Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and the Canaveral Port Authority, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and NASAs Kennedy Space Center.

Today, SpaceX fairing recovery vessels and drone ships  some bearing Falcon 9 first-stage boosters  are routinely seen in the vicinity of cruise ships along Port Canaveral's North Cargo Berth area.

However, the Space Florida study projects the commercial space industry may outgrow this port area within five years because of limited space, potential congestion and lack of shipyard operations, among other factors.

Story continues

Port Canaveral CEO John Murray made that clear in his latest annual State of the Port presentation to community leaders.

"This port can't handle everything," Murray said. "We alone cannot accommodate the projected maritime needs. It's that simple."

In his presentation, Murray said the port is "committed to the space industry," but also has its other cargo and cruise operations to consider. Port Canaveral is the world's second-busiest cruise port, and also has a growing cargo business, handling commodities ranging from petroleum to lumber.

"We've always grown up with them, side by side, since the 1950s," Murray said, referring to the space industry. "We do support the launch recovery operations right now from SpaceX. We have other parties that are getting ready to do the same. There could be as many as 10 more launch service providers with maritime assets."

A SpaceX Falcon 9 first-stage booster arrives at Port Canaveral before dawn last December on the drone ship Just Read the instructions.

Port expansion study involved many space companies

A kickoff meeting for the Space Florida port study took place in February 2023. Eleven commercial space companies provided input, ranging from SpaceX, Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance to young ventures like Vaya Space, Phantom Space and Stoke Space.

Space companies will need cranes, office space, equipment storage space and room for other functions along the wharf. Due to the proprietary nature of operations, most companies recommend they will need 5 acres to 15 acres landside, the study said.

The Space Florida study projected that there would be a demand for 197 launch recovery operations by 2028; 571 by 2053; and 1,252 by 2073. It said each operation would require the use of four marine vessels, on average.

These projections also include potential sea-based launches from launch pads atop marine vessels. Example: Space Perspective, a Titusville company, hopes to soon start launching tourists to the edge of space aboard its hydrogen-balloon-lifted Spaceship Neptune capsule from the deck of its 294-foot ship MS Voyager.

The study also examined proposed oceanfront turning basins along the Atlantic coast at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and KSC, along with proposed basins in the Banana River. However, these options were eliminated from consideration because of environmental-permitting constraints, military operations, access issues and other challenges.

What's next with port study

Next, Space Florida said it will do a full environmental analysis of the study's near- and long-term options still on the table. Space Florida also plans to conduct a statewide study to determine how other Florida seaports can support the space industry.

Murray said it is crucial to have a solution for the space industry, and he pledged the port's cooperation toward that goal.

He said the port appreciates Space Florida taking on this study, and supports "the comprehensive effort to address the industrys growing maritime needs. We look forward to continued collaboration with federal and state partners to realize solutions to ensure the industrys continued success.

This year, the Florida Legislature unanimously approved an amendment to the Canaveral Port Authority's charter specifying that the port will "take reasonable measures to support the commercial space launch industry at Port Canaveral."

Murray said the ultimate plan for accommodating launch recovery operations "could be quite complex." But he is hopeful that "there will be some positive way forward" that comes out of the Space Florida initiative.

Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale at Rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1

Space is important to us and that's why we're working to bring you top coverage of the industry and Florida launches. Journalism like this takes time and resources. Please support it with a subscription here.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Space industry may trigger $2.1 billion expansion near Port Canaveral
Even with a stock exhaust, you and your performance car of choice could have the privilege of paying the City of New York $800 for a noise violation. Thanks to a new noise violation pilot program aimed at curbing loud exhausts and excessive honking with smart cameras and microphones, the potential for punitive punishment is on the rise for enthusiasts across all five boroughs.

Certainly, there is a decibel limit to the pops and crackles that even us enthusiasts can endure, and the tolerance of the general public often falls far below that line. Particularly in the wake of the pandemic, the prevalence of gun-shot-like backfires has turned public perception sour on modified cars, leading local officials in both New York and California to take action on such quality-of-life issues.

picture alliance - Getty Images

Specifically, New York City approved a pilot program of noise-monitoring cameras in December 2023, arming each borough with at least five of the newly developed cameras.

The program is young, but it has the potential to be a major pain even for drivers of unmodified cars.

Operated jointly by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Transportation, the conjoined camera and microphone operate much like speed or red light cameras, snapping pictures of the offender's license plate and issuing a fine to the registered owner. Unlike speed light cameras, however, the locations of the noise-monitoring cameras have not been initially disclosed to the general public.

Road & Track

Fitted with sensitive microphones, the $35,000 cameras detect and capture everything from loud exhausts and backfires to honking and blasting music. Eighty-five decibels is the threshold for receiving a fine, which starts at $800 for a first offense and rises to $2,500 for repeat offenders. For reference, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention places the average environmental noise level of city traffic inside a car at 85 decibels, indicating that City officials are targeting those who go above and beyond a normative sound level.

"Were going after those who are potentially using an illegal vehicle, a modified vehicle, some that are really acting loudly," NYC Council Majority Leader Keith Powers said in a statement last year. "Even in the city that doesnt sleep, New Yorkers deserve some peace and quiet."



Officials like Powers assured everyday drivers that the program isn't about penalizing unmodified vehicles or the occasional honk. In practice, however, that promise hasn't exactly panned out for people like Jerry H (who wished to keep their last name anonymous), who received an $800 noise violation ticket in his bone stock 2010 Porsche 911 Carrera S.

Gary Hershorn - Getty Images

Traversing across the east end of Manhattan's 36th Street and funneling into the blue-and-yellow tiled Queens-Midtown Tunnel, Jerry was commuting home to the outer reaches of Queens. Making the light-to-light slog that is Manhattan traffic, Jerry accelerated to the penultimate light before hitting the tunnel, focused on getting home. Weeks later, he received a notice in the mail that he had been caught violating the Stop Spreading the Noise Act.

With a 3.8-liter flat-six, a stock exhaust, and on a relatively slow section of road, Jerry was initially puzzled by the violation. Sure, he admits to hitting 35 mph in a 25 mph zone, but he wasn't speeding excessively or wringing out the rear-mounted engine, either. With $800 on the line and a car that he thought would be exempt from such fines, Jerry built a defense and filed an appeal with the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings.

Porsche

Armed with an independent decibel test, certified documents proving the 997 was stock, and questions about the calibration of the cameras, Jerry appealed the violation and lost not once but twice. Up against lawyers for the Department of Environmental Protection, he queried them about the once-a-year calibration of the camera, the sonic combination of rear-engine induction and exhaust noise, and even the gearing in his car.

On the other side of the virtual bar, lawyers for the City mounted a defense with video footage not previously provided to the owner of the 911. The footage, analyzed by Road & Track, shows a 997-generation 911 accelerating up to a light and a series of red dots marking sound waves exceeding 85 decibels. The dots lock onto the car as well as the street, scaffolding, and buildings beside it. According to the documents provided by the DEP, the 997's signature flat-six rose to 90.4 decibels at its loudest.

In the judge's eyes, that was evidence enough to uphold the violation against Jerry in both appeals, regardless of the stock exhaust fitted to the car. This sets a precedent much like a California case involving a stock Hyundai Elantra N, in that owners can be heavily penalized for simply buying and owning a factory vehicle. No matter the age or factory status of the vehicle, New York City's pilot program can and will get you for being too loud.

"It just makes no sense to not have exemptions," Jerry said in an interview with Road & Track. "And it's pretty clear that automakers don't want to get involved with this. They want nothing to do with this."

Jerry is not alone in this frustration, either. Prior to the official approval of the pilot program in 2023, the DEP has been running a small noise camera test program since 2021, issuing as many as 218 noise violations for allegedly modified mufflers last year. Additionally, court documents cite another case of a stock car, a 2018 Jaguar F-Type, receiving and being held to the $800 violation fine for making 86 decibels of noise earlier this year. That's one decibel over the limit.

California's current noise enforcement standards are actually looser than NYC's, with a standard of 95 decibels for cars and 80 for motorcycles built after 1985 . Similarly, California's enforcement standards don't charge first-time offenders and even offer payment waivers for those not able to pay the fine or adequately repair their car. No such exemptions or caveats exist in the text of the NYC Council bill. Globally, Berlin, Paris, and the United Kingdom have also trialed such decibel monitoring devices, and other U.S. cities are considering it, too.

picture alliance - Getty Images

"The NYC Noise Code has a strict standard of 76 dB(A). DEP enforces if the vehicle creates noise of more than 85 dB(A) at 50 feet," a spokesperson for the DEP said in a statement to Road & Track. "Stock vehicles that emit excessive levels of noise result from actions taken by the driver. That is why the standard of law is no person shall cause or permit the exceedance of the decibel standard."

While the precedent set by Jerry's experience is a worrying one for car enthusiasts, motorcyclists, and anyone ready to test the limits of their sound system this summer, it's worth noting that noise pollution is indeed a major problem in New York City, too. Research from 2014 estimated that around 90 percent of New York City residents are exposed to levels of noise exceeding the Environmental Protection Agency's noise limit guidelines. The results of this aren't catastrophic in the short term but can develop into cognitive issues over time.

Specifically, research shows that prolonged sleep disruption, hearing loss, hypertension, and heart disease are all linked to consistent noise pollution. Additionally, the impacts of noise are specifically detrimental to children, yielding decreased memory, struggling reading skills, and lower test scores when consistently exposed to high levels of noise. With noise monitored by New York Citys Department of Health and Mental Hygiene as well as 311 noise complaint data, the top sonic offenders in NYC are unsurprisingly traffic, sirens, and construction.

As the year continues, the DEP and DOT will be tasked with presenting an annual report on the program, which will include the locations of the noise cameras, the number of violations detected, and any expenses incurred in connection with the program. With the pilot program legislated in place and no plans to issue exemptions to stock vehicles, car enthusiasts in NYC will have to follow their own set of noise abatement procedures going forward.

"You could drive at 100 mph and it's nowhere close to the same fine," Jerry said emphasizing that many of the modified cars and license-less dirt bike groups initially targeted by this bill will likely skirt accountability by removing or covering their plates. "You drive a stock car at 35 mph and you get an $800 fine that doubles every time."

When queried about the future of the pilot program, NYC Council Majority Leader and champion of the Stop Spreading the Noise Act, Keith Powers, did not respond to a request for comment from Road & Track. Following the initial appeal and out of fear of racking up thousands in fines, Jerry has since traded his 997 Carrera S for an Acura Integra Type S.

If you've received a noise violation ticket with a stock exhaust in NYC, we'd love to hear your story. Please email me at emmet.white@hearst.com.

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Technology aimed at improving road safety in metro Phoenix will get a boost from federal grants awarded to Phoenix and the Arizona Commerce Authority.

Both the city and the economic development agency were chosen as recipients of Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) grants, part of the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The grants were about $2 million each.

Grants focus on pedestrian safety, connected vehicles

Phoenix was chosen for a project that will integrate technology into stoplights along the Grand Canal to detect pedestrians and cyclists passively, so they could be given a walk sign without having to press a button to alert the light they are there.

The Grand Canal on Sept. 14, 2023, near Seventh Street in Phoenix.

The Arizona Commerce Authority is partnering with the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, Verizon, the Arizona Department of Transportation, Maricopa County Department of Transportation, Maricopa County Association of Governments, Valley Metro and Chicanos Por La Causa on its project. Its project involves technology called vehicle to everything.

The technology, which is being developed around the country, communicates through mobile networks with other vehicles, emergency services and other entities that could affect the vehicles performance. In this program, drivers would be alerted through their cell phone of an upcoming hazard, similar to how some of the smartphone mapping apps alert for crashes ahead while on a route. This technology would be able to communicate hazards like crashes, slowed traffic, blocked roadways or other dangers to drivers who opt in for the notifications.

The program is not specifically designed for autonomous vehicles, but vehicle to everything technology is a crucial part of autonomous vehicle infrastructure.

Officials from the U.S. Department of Transportation toured the Maricopa County Traffic Management Center in April.

First phase of grants focused on scope, planning

The city and ACA were awarded phase one grants, which fund planning and readying infrastructure for the improvements. They can then apply for phase two grants to fund implementation.

The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded grants to 59 projects in the first round of funding, including the two in Arizona. Of those projects, 10 were related to smart traffic signals and seven were related to connected vehicles. Other grants nationwide focused on a wide variety of projects, like drone delivery of medication to rural areas, or equipping public transit vehicles with driver assist technology for collision avoidance.

Robert Hampshire, deputy assistant secretary for research and technology for the U.S. Department of Transportation, speaks with students while touring the Maricopa County Traffic Management Center in April 2024.

Robert Hampshire, deputy assistant secretary for research and technology for the U.S. Department of Transportation, said the grants were disbursed based on projects that demonstrated need and potential to impact safety, and projects that were developed at the local level. Hampshire visited the Maricopa County Traffic Management Center in April to discuss the grants and see the plans.

The local projects will be used as proof of concept for some of the ideas, which could then be replicated across the country at a wider scale, he said. Municipalities and organizations with similar projects will be put in touch with one another to share their experiences.

The first phase of the grants will undergo an 18-month performance period to determine the scope and infrastructure needed to get the idea going, Hampshire said. Eligible grant recipients can apply for grants for the next phase, which focuses on deploying the technology.

Reach the reporter at cvanek@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, @CorinaVanek.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Federal grants aim to boost technology for road safety in metro Phoenix
The as yet unnamed successor is in the final stages of development

Ferrari has previewed a new V12 supercar ahead of a full unveiling on Friday, 3 May.

The new model is expected to be the latest entrant into the brand's flagship grand tourer line, taking up the mantle from the 812 Superfast, which has been in production for seven years.

The Italian marque has posted a piece of archive footage to X, in which its founder Enzo Ferrari celebrates the trademark soundtrack of his 12-cylinder engine.

"One day [celebrated Austrian orchestra conductor] Herbert von Karajan said to me: 'Listening to your 12-cylinder brings forth a harmony that no maestro will ever be able to interpret'," Enzo recalls.

This is followed by a blurred film of the new car accelerating away from the camera, accompanied by an unmistakable 12-cylinder roar. Listen to it below.

As Enzo Ferrari recounted, the V12 is a timeless symphony that transcends replication.#Ferrari pic.twitter.com/FXhhD1jUE4  Ferrari (@Ferrari) May 2, 2024

Another clip gives a brief look at what appears to be a rear decklid, before confirming the wraps will come off at 1am British time tomorrow.

Ferrari is marking its 70th anniversary in the US at this weekend's Miami Grand Prix, so it's likely the new car's reveal will form part of those celebrations.

Spotted on numerous occasions testing in Italy  initially dressed as a Roma but more recently wearing production-spec bodywork  Ferraris new grand tourer is set to pack more than 800bhp from the latest iteration of Maranello's atmo 12-pot.

The Italian firm has long been vocal about keeping its 12-cylinder engine alive for its flagship cars, deploying it most recently in the Daytona SP3 supercar and Purosangue SUV, even as it ramps up its electrification initiative with the 296 and SF90 hybrids, and its first pure EV, due in 2025.

Speaking to Autocar previously, Ferrari head of design Flavio Manzoni said: I personally believe we have to fight for this engine. From a technology point of view, its not the most efficient.

"A V8 turbo could make it better in terms of performance. But from an emotional point of view, its the best you can have.

The firm has not given any details of the 812's replacement, but a source at the company recently hinted to Autocar that it will be launched this year: If you look at the lifetime of the cars gone previously, that will give you a good idea to speculate when we will deliver a new car.

Ferrari launched the 812 in 2017, with the F12 arriving five years before and the 599 six years before that, suggesting the next instalment in the front-engined V12 GT lineage is due an imminent unveiling.

Heavy camouflage has so far kept the design largely under wraps, although early signs indicate it will be an all-new proposition, rather than a major update of the 812.

Visible cues include new-look headlight designs and reshaped quad-exit exhausts. But Ferrari will no doubt seek to make its GT an obvious relation to the new Purosangue SUV with a similar treatment at the front and rear ends, and muscular, elegant styling that points to its dual billing as a luxury GT thats engineered to perform on track.

Ferrari has announced no plans to electrify its V12 engine, with the 296 GTB and SF90 hybrids using a V6 and a V8, respectively.

In 2022, the firm outlined plans for 40% of its sales to still be of pure-combustion cars by 2026, falling to 20% by the end of the decade.

But last year, Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna suggested that Ferraris ICE cars could remain on sale for several years beyond that if the European Union allows e-fuel-powered cars to continue on sale after 2035.

He hailed the expected exemption for e-fuel-powered cars as very, very good for us  for us and for the world, I believe  because it gives life to a technology that still has a long way to go. There are many things that can be done in terms of efficiency, in terms of emissions.

However, Vigna stopped short of detailing what these emissions-reduction measures could be.

It also remains to be seen whether Ferrari intends to make its naturally aspirated V12 more powerful in its next iteration.

The most potent version of the 812  the track-focused Competizione  produces 819bhp, and the SP3 Daytona supercar ramps that up to 829bhp, making it the firms most powerful pure-combustion car yet  but no doubt any boost for the 812s successor would take it past this point.

]]>
Pages from the United Healthcare website are displayed on a computer screen, Feb. 29, 2024, in New York. UnitedHealth says files with personal information that could cover a substantial portion of people in America may have been taken in the cyberattack on its Change Healthcare business. The company said Monday, April 22, 2024, after markets closed that it sees no signs that doctor charts or full medical histories were released after the attack. | Patrick Sison

UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty told a congressional committee Wednesday that hackers breached a subsidiary of his company, the countrys largest health insurer, by stealing a password and gaining access through a system that lacked multifactor authentication.

Two months after Russian hacker group BlackCat gained access to Change Health Systems and troves of sensitive patient data, UnitedHealth says its investigation has found hackers accessed files containing protected health information (PHI) or personally identifiable information (PII), which could cover a substantial proportion of people in America.

When pressed by lawmakers on the issue of exactly how many patients were impacted by the data breach, Witty said, I think, maybe a third (of Americans) or somewhere of that level, per TechCrunch.

Multifactor, or two-step, authentication requires users to enter information, in addition to a username and password, to confirm the identity and authorization to access a particular service or software system.

Paying ransom

According to Wittys written testimony, on Feb. 21, BlackCat locked up Change Healthcares systems and demanded a ransom to unlock them.

Witty confirmed that UnitedHealth paid a $22 million ransom to BlackCat, a decision he said he made on his own, according to a report by CBS News. The same report notes the scale of the attack  Change Healthcare processes 15 billion transactions a year, according to the American Hospital Association  meant that even patients who werent customers of UnitedHealth were potentially affected.

Last month, UnitedHealth issued a press release stating that given the ongoing nature and complexity of the data review, it is likely to take several months of continued analysis before enough information will be available to identify and notify impacted customers and individuals. The company has created a website to provide additional information to customers and is offering two years of free credit monitoring to those impacted by the breach.

We know this attack has caused concern and been disruptive for consumers and providers and we are committed to doing everything possible to help and provide support to anyone who may need it, Witty said in the release.

A February report from Chainalysis finds ransomware activity on the rise with payments made to hackers in 2023 hitting an all-time high of $1.1 billion. According to the report, ransomware attacks were carried out by a varied group of actors from large criminal networks to individuals, and the number of incidents is increasing.
Microsoft to invest $2.2 billion in cloud and AI services in Malaysia

By Danial Azhar and Rozanna Latiff

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) -Microsoft said on Thursday it will invest $2.2 billion over the next four years in Malaysia to expand cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) services in the company's latest push to promote its generative AI technology in Asia.

The investment, the largest in Microsoft's 32-year history in Malaysia, will include building cloud and AI infrastructure, creating AI-skilling opportunities for 200,000 people, and supporting the country's developers, the company said.

We want to make sure we have world class infrastructure right here in the country so that every organisation and start-up can benefit, Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella said during a visit to Kuala Lumpur.

Microsoft will also work with the Malaysian government to establish a national AI Centre of Excellence and enhance the nation's cybersecurity capabilities, the company said in a statement.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who met Nadella on Thursday, said the investment supported Malaysia's efforts in developing its AI capabilities.

Microsoft is trying to expand its support for the development of AI globally. Nadella this week announced a $1.7 billion investment in neighbouring Indonesia and said Microsoft would open its first regional data centre in Thailand.

(Reporting by Danial Azhar and Rozanna Latiff; Editing by John Mair and William Mallard)
Northrop Grummans massive Manta Ray underwater test bed completed at-sea trials this year, validating its ability to operate below the waves and with minimal human contact.

In a photo first shared with C4ISRNET, the prototype is seen just below the surface of the water, with one fin and part of its almond-shaped body breaking through. The grey unmanned underwater vehicle  considered to be extra large, in military parlance  dwarfs the boat trailing it as well as the person aboard.

Those working on the secretive project declined to provide specific measurements about its size, but said the UUV is modular. It was separated into pieces on the East Coast and shipped cross-country where a small team was able to reassemble the vehicle on a standard Navy concrete pier using only common support equipment and a single crane, according to Brian Theobald, a principal investigator and chief engineer at Northrop.

I think it is striking in its size and scale, even for those folks that have been there throughout the design process, he said in an interview May 2. We see everything in model-based views, in CAD, et cetera, and its not until you see it actually built, full scale, that it truly hits home.

Its first dunk and subsequent trials off the coast of California revealed no leaks or ground faults or other build issues, he added. I think we can all relate: Water is going to go into every single crevice and place that it can get to.

Northrops offering is years in the making. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in 2020 kicked off the program with the thought of creating a large underwater drone that can operate independently of manned vessels and ports once underway. It was also meant to shepherd critical tech for a new class of what the agency called payload-capable UUVs.

Northrop last month teased its prototype during the Sea-Air-Space naval conference in Maryland. The image the company shared was darkened and showed little more than its rounded nose and glider-like body.

Marine Corps eyeing more recon boats from Australian Whiskey Project

Key considerations for Manta Ray development include threat detection, classification and communications capabilities, high-efficiency propulsion systems, and the ability to withstand the taxes of undersea environments. Having a drone that can survive on its own for protracted periods of time would reduce logistical demands and free up manpower.

The design goal is to be completely autonomous, requiring little human interaction or maintenance to achieve its mission goals, Joseph Deane, Northrops Manta Ray program manager, said in an interview. What makes it stand out is its low power usage, the ability to go very long distances, the autonomous aspect of it, to operate without human interaction for long periods of time. Those capabilities dont exist right now.

The Department of Defense is increasingly interested in uncrewed technologies and their battlefield application. The Navy is seeking to establish a so-called hybrid fleet, empowering sailors and Marines with smart machinery and the sensors or weapons they carry. The Manta Ray prototype features multiple bays for payloads of different types and sizes.

Defense News previously reported the service was fleshing out its manned-unmanned teams in three phases: prototyping and experimenting from fiscal 2024 to 2028; buying and using in fiscal 2029 through 2033; and becoming fully operational in the years thereafter.

The Navy and DARPA are expected to discuss next steps for the Manta Ray program, including additional testing and potential technology transfers.
The craft is several times larger than a small boat and is part of a US navy project to develop a new class of underwater drone capable of carrying out longer missions - Northrop Grumman

The United States has completed the first full-scale test at sea of a futuristic underwater drone able to hibernate on the seabed.

The Manta Ray prototype, produced by US aviation giant Northrop Grumman, is part of a US navy project to develop a new class of underwater drone capable of carrying out much longer missions.

The giant autonomous craft, which is several times larger than a small boat, has been designed to move through the ocean for very long periods of time without supervision or the need to refuel.

Once deployed, the vehicle uses efficient, buoyancy-driven gliding to move through the water, said Dr Kyle Woerner, Manta Ray programme manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, better known by its acronym, Darpa.

Defence analysts have speculated that the US navy wants to develop a drone capable of long missions to scour the seas for Russian and Chinese submarines.

The craft is designed with several payload bays of multiple sizes and types to enable a wide variety of naval mission sets, said Dr Woerner.

The Manta Ray prototype, produced by US aviation giant Northrop Grumman, in tests taking place off the coast of southern California - Northrop Grumman

The craft is also capable of anchoring itself on the sea floor and hibernating in a low-power mode, according to Northrop Grumman.

It has also been designed to be easily transported around the world for rapid deployment.

The testing took place off the coast of southern California over the past three months.

Race to dominate underwater warfare

But the United States is not the only country pressing ahead with development of newer and better underwater drones.

The Russian navy in January last year announced plans to acquire 30 of its Poseidon drones  a torpedo-shaped robotic mini-submarine that Russia claims can hit speeds of 100 knots.

Russian sources also claim its nuclear propulsion system would give it a range of 6,200 miles, while it is also said to be capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

Ukraine has also raced ahead with the development of unmanned underwater vehicles, or UUVs, for its fight against Russias Black Sea fleet.

It has also revealed footage of the successful test of an underwater suicide attack drone, called Marichka.

Both the Russian and Ukrainian UUV projects differ from the Manta Ray because they are armed.

A closer analogue could be Australias Ghost Shark, a large underwater drone it hopes will fill the gap until it can get its hands on crewed, nuclear-powered submarines through the Aukus defence pact with Britain and the US.

Meanwhile, Britain is also developing a similar vehicle.

Ben Wallace in 2022 announced a plan for the Royal Navy to acquire a new robotic submarine within two years, to help Britain dominate underwater warfare.

Designed to work alongside the Royal Navys crewed submarines, Cetus is intended to be able to cover up to 1,000 miles in a single mission, which could last up to a week.

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.
Wearable device could aid dogs in helping to predict earthquakes, but more research needed, critics say

Can dogs help predict when earthquakes occur?

The company behind the PetPace biometric collar says the health data it tracks may also have the capability of forecasting earthquakes.

A dog's pulse, heart rate variability, temperature, respiration and activity are recorded and sent to the PetPace cloud in real-time, according to Asaf Dagan, chief scientist and cofounder of PetPace, the parent company of Animal Alerts, told ABC News. An AI algorithm then determines the dogs overall stress level.

"The idea is that if we can track the behavior and the anxiety levels of animals ... then we use AI and machine learning advanced models to correlate that with geophysical data like earthquakes of different magnitudes," Dagan said.

MORE: What scientists discovered after simulating an earthquake on a 10-story wood building

There is currently no conclusive evidence, however, to show that dogs can accurately predict tremors.

Earthquake geologist Wendy Bohon expressed skepticism that a smart collar for dogs could aid in predicting earthquakes.

"I have never seen a convincing study that shows that animals can predict earthquakes, or that animals know that an earthquake is going to happen before it happens," Bohon told ABC News, adding that earthquakes are difficult to predict.

PHOTO: Researchers say a wearable device placed on dog collars could help predict earthquakes by measuring physiological changes in dogs. (PetPace)

The earliest-ever reference to unusual animal behavior prior to a significant earthquake occurred in 373 BC in Greece, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Varying species -- such as rats, weasels, snakes and centipedes -- reportedly left their homes and headed for safety several days before a destructive earthquake struck the region, according to the USGS.

A 2012 paper found that 49% of dogs showed a significant increase in anxiety the day before a 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck the Pacific Northwest in February 2001. The dogs may have picked up on foreshocks, the smaller earthquakes that occur before a larger one, or acoustic waves generated by the movement of the tectonic plates.

"Sometimes animals might feel the arrival of the waves from far away that are too small for us to feel," Bohon said. "And so we don't notice those first small waves arriving ... it may seem like the animals are predicting the earthquake, when in reality they're reacting to the first arrivals of the waves that we're just not tuned into."

MORE: How regional fault lines led to such a destructive earthquake in Turkey, Syria

These primary, or "P" waves, travel at a rate of several miles per second from the epicenter, which could make them more noticeable to animals, according to the USGS.

Very few humans notice the smaller "P" waves, which arrive before the larger "S" waves, the USGS said.

PHOTO: Researchers say a wearable device placed on dog collars could help predict earthquakes by measuring physiological changes in dogs. (PetPace)

Other historical anecdotal evidence points to fish, birds, reptiles and insects exhibiting strange behavior anywhere from weeks to seconds before an earthquake, the USGS said. Cats, elephants and toads have also been observed to exhibit behavior changes before a seismic event, according to the American Kennel Club.

Evidence in recent decades has largely been anecdotal, according to a 2018 paper published in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America that examined 180 previous studies.

Researchers from Germany filmed red wood ants that nest along a fault line in the Neuwied Basin, a seismically active region in Eifel, Germany. They studied the ants behavior hours before the earthquake. The scientists found that the ants' nocturnal rest phase and daily activity was suppressed ahead of seismic activity, and their standard daily routine did not resume until the next day.

PHOTO: Researchers say a wearable device placed on dog collars could help predict earthquakes by measuring physiological changes in dogs. (PetPace)

In a 2020 study, researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior and the University of Konstanz in Germany wrote that they precisely measured an increase in activity in a group of farm animals prior to seismic activity.

The scientists measured the activity of multiple cows, dogs and sheep at a farm near the epicenter of the 6.6 magnitude earthquake that struck near the Norcia Basin in central Italy in October 2016. They found strong reactions among the animals before a magnitude 3.8 or greater earthquake when they were housed together in a stable, according to the study. Prior to the earthquake, the animals were outfitted with biologgers and GPS sensors, highly sensitive instruments that record accelerated movements in any direction.

The farm animals appeared to anticipate tremors anywhere from one to 20 hours ahead, according to the study. They reacted earlier when they were closer to the origin, the researchers said.

MORE: Extreme wave in Marshall Islands highlights dangers of climate change, experts say

Dogs are uniquely suited to behavioral response observation. They can smell odors and hear high-pitched noises undetectable to humans, giving them the ability to sense things outside human perception, according to the American Kennel Club.

"Dogs are particularly useful models of this phenomenon due to their acute senses and their close proximity to humans," Rachell Grant, behavioral ecologist at London South Bank University and lead for the Animal Alert project, said in a statement.

MORE: Cat pulled from rubble 15 days after Italy earthquake

The idea that observational data could be used to predict an oncoming earthquake has been touted in the past. Researchers in 2018 proposed that crowdsourcing and social media might help to predict earthquakes and developed a prototype for social media users to upload posts about abnormal animal behavior.

Social media users claimed that animals behaved strangely in the hours before a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Turkey in February 2023, killing more more than 21,000 people. The behavior reported included birds flying erratically and dogs howling loudly, The Washington Post reported.

In 2015, researchers noticed changes in animal behavior three weeks before a 7.0 magnitude quake in an Amazon region of Peru in 2011, a study published in the journal Physics and Chemistry of the Earth found.

PHOTO: Researchers say a wearable device placed on dog collars could help predict earthquakes by measuring physiological changes in dogs. (PetPace)

PetPace, maker of the biometric dog collar, is conducting a study in Lima, Peru, which experiences 90% of all seismic activity around the world due to its location along the Pacific Ring of Fire. If all of the dogs in the study respond in the same timeframe, the algorithm can likely identify a pattern that an earthquake may be on its way, Dagan said. Dogs in a region with little seismic activity will also be monitored as a control group.

MORE: Dog rescued after spending 9 days trapped under rubble left by Italy earthquake

Scientists want as much data as they can get, and this approach could increase the sample size of animal behavior prior to an earthquake that have already been studied, Bohon said.

"We want all the data and information that we can get, so that we can explore every possibility," she said. "But extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."

Wearable device could aid dogs in helping to predict earthquakes, but more research needed, critics say originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
You are the owner of this article.
Quite a few insiders have dramatically grown their holdings in Entain Plc (LON:ENT) over the past 12 months. An insider's optimism about the company's prospects is a positive sign.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

Check out our latest analysis for Entain

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Entain

The Interim CEO & Non-Executive Director Stella David made the biggest insider purchase in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for UK1.4m worth of shares at a price of UK7.36 each. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, at around the current price, which is UK7.85. While their view may have changed since the purchase was made, this does at least suggest they have had confidence in the company's future. While we always like to see insider buying, it's less meaningful if the purchases were made at much lower prices, as the opportunity they saw may have passed. The good news for Entain share holders is that insiders were buying at near the current price.

Entain insiders may have bought shares in the last year, but they didn't sell any. The average buy price was around UK8.70. This is nice to see since it implies that insiders might see value around current prices. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

Entain is not the only stock that insiders are buying. For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket.

Insiders At Entain Have Bought Stock Recently

It's good to see that Entain insiders have made notable investments in the company's shares. Specifically, Interim CEO & Non-Executive Director Stella David bought UK1.4m worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any sales whatsoever. This makes one think the business has some good points.

Does Entain Boast High Insider Ownership?

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Insiders own 0.2% of Entain shares, worth about UK9.7m. This level of insider ownership is good but just short of being particularly stand-out. It certainly does suggest a reasonable degree of alignment.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Entain Insiders?

It is good to see the recent insider purchase. And the longer term insider transactions also give us confidence. However, we note that the company didn't make a profit over the last twelve months, which makes us cautious. We would certainly prefer see higher levels of insider ownership but analysis of the insider transactions suggests that Entain insiders are expecting a bright future. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. For example - Entain has 2 warning signs we think you should be aware of.

Story continues

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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

Institutions' substantial holdings in InterContinental Hotels Group implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price

A total of 11 investors have a majority stake in the company with 50% ownership

Insiders have been selling lately

If you want to know who really controls InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (LON:IHG), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. We can see that institutions own the lion's share in the company with 80% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Losing money on investments is something no shareholder enjoys, least of all institutional investors who saw their holdings value drop by 3.1% last week. However, the 44% one-year return to shareholders might have softened the blow. They should, however, be mindful of further losses in the future.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of InterContinental Hotels Group.

View our latest analysis for InterContinental Hotels Group

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About InterContinental Hotels Group?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

We can see that InterContinental Hotels Group does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. 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 InterContinental Hotels Group's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in InterContinental Hotels Group. BlackRock, Inc. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 7.5% of shares outstanding. With 7.5% and 5.9% of the shares outstanding respectively, Capital Research and Management Company and FMR LLC are the second and third largest shareholders.

Looking at the shareholder registry, we can see that 50% of the ownership is controlled by the top 11 shareholders, meaning that no single shareholder has a majority interest in the ownership.

Story continues

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. There are a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.

Insider Ownership Of InterContinental Hotels Group

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Management ultimately answers to the board. However, it is not uncommon for managers to be executive board members, especially if they are a founder or the CEO.

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.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own less than 1% of InterContinental Hotels Group PLC. But they may have an indirect interest through a corporate structure that we haven't picked up on. As it is a large company, we'd only expect insiders to own a small percentage of it. But it's worth noting that they own UK28m worth of shares. Arguably recent buying and selling is just as important to consider. You can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 14% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 5.2%, of the shares on issue. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the 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. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with InterContinental Hotels Group , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

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.
Hungarys government projects an economic growth rate of 2.5% for this year and 4.1% in 2025, a state secretary of the finance ministry said.

Hungarys economy is able to grow by around 4% in the medium term, Tibor Toth told public broadcaster Kossuth Radio.



The first-quarter growth rate indicates that the country has returned to a growth path, Toth said, noting that the economy expanded by 0.8% in a quarter-on-quarter comparison.



The factors behind the economys growth are continuously getting stronger, the state secretary said, noting that real wages have been growing since September last year, fuelling household consumption.



Higher volumes of exports and further investments will also contribute to the countrys economic growth, he said.



The government is also reducing the public debt, Toth said, noting that in line with the current Convergence Programme, it was set to drop in 2026 to below 70% of GDP from last years 73.5%.



Hungary will keep reducing the debt after 2026, too, and its public debt-to-GDP ratio will reach 60%, he said.



Toth emphasised the governments commitment to reducing the budget deficit, noting it targets a deficit of 4.5% of GDP in 2024, 3.7% in 2025 and 2.9% in 2026.



MTI Photo: Lajos Soos



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The people of Hungary have made Europe stronger; their vibrant culture and economic dynamism rippled through the entire EU, the president of the European Commission said, marking the 20th anniversary of Hungary's EU accession.

Twenty years ago today, our family was finally united in a common home. Hungary has always been at the heart of Europe, Ursula von der Leyen said in a video address on social media. But behind the Iron Curtain, she said, generations of Hungarians had fought bravely to reconquer their freedom.



Twenty years ago you chose to reclaim your rightful place at the centre of our continent. You chose Europe, the EC president said. Europe has grown stronger ever since, she said, adding that Hungary had also flourished in countless ways with new schools, hospitals and highways built and home-grown renewable energy developed mostly with the help of EU funding.



She noted the two Nobel Prizes Hungarian scientists won last year. Katalin Karikos discoveries helped develop the mRNA vaccines that helped beat Covid and saved countless lives.



And Ferenc Krausz brought us closer to understanding how matter around us is made, she said, adding that both prizes are the result of Hungarian ingenuity. We are stronger together. Happy anniversary and long live Europe! said von der Leyen.



Govt Official: 'This Isnt the Kind Of EU We Dreamt About'

Hungarys twenty years of EU membership can be summed up by saying that this is not the kind of European Union we dreamt about, a state secretary of the prime ministers office said, marking the 20th anniversary of Hungarys accession to the bloc.



Csaba Domotor said in a video on Facebook that 20 years ago many had felt that after a 20th century beset by tragedies, EU membership could play a key role in having the 21st century be the century of the Hungarian people.



Back then EU membership came with the promise of greater prosperity, the state secretary said, adding that after centuries of others deciding on Hungarys fate, we could finally feel that we could be an equal member.



He said the old motto of unity in diversity had since disappeared, with many now questioning the right of nations to exist, while minority opinions were being persecuted.



Domotor said they had thought that the EU would continue to build on the Christian traditions that had helped Europe survive, but today there were barely any signs of Christian Democratic policies.



He said they had also hoped that EU enlargement would end the divide in Europe, but instead we got a large dose of double standards, as well as a lot of experience about how a given measure is perfectly acceptable if it comes from a large member state, but is destructive to democracy if it comes from us.



It had also been naive to think, he said, that decision-makers in Brussels would have accountability. Instead, he added, harmful decisions barely had any consequences.



Europe by today had also forgotten about the importance of peace, Domotor said, arguing that instead of hearing voices of peace, were now seeing preparations for war, with Brussels at the centre.



Hungarys EU membership is a national interest, and the Hungarian government believes in European cooperation, the state secretary said.



But Brussels today, in the political sense, is not synonymous with Europe, so criticising its decisions does not go against the confidence in European cooperation, he added.



The reason the Hungarian government raises its voice is exactly because whats being done in Brussels today endangers not just Hungary, but all of Europe, he said. Domotor said change was needed in the EU.



Meanwhile, Barna Pal Zsigmond, parliamentary state secretary of the European affairs ministry, also called for change in Brussels, saying that at stake in the June EP election was whether there would be war or peace.



Marking the 20th anniversary of Hungarys EU accession, Zsigmond said in a Facebook video that the question after two decades in the EU was not whether or not Hungary wanted to remain a part of Europe, but rather whether Europe wanted to remain what it was and what kind of a Europe the people wanted.



We Hungarians want neither a war-torn continent, nor a continent of immigrants, he said.



We want a peaceful Europe where nations and our families live in peace, a Europe which doesnt go to war irresponsibly, doesnt take in tens of millions of immigrants, one which believes in the power of nation states and stands up in defence of Judeo-Christian culture.



Zsigmond said Brussels had sought out to wind up what Europe had been up until now without receiving a mandate to do so from the people.



Change is needed in Europe, but it is us who have to make it happen; we must preserve our national sovereignty, he said.



Menczer: Brussels 'Pro-War', Building War Instead of Peace

Brussels is pro-war, and instead of building Europes peace, it is building war, Tamas Menczer, the communications director of ruling Fidesz, said.



Marking the 20th anniversary of Hungarys EU accession, Menczer said in a video on Facebook that at the time of joining the bloc, Hungary and the EU had two shared goals that there should be peace and prosperity in Europe.



But today were missing two of these: peace and prosperity, he said. Thats why we say that change is needed in Brussels.



Menczer said Brussels had promised that we would respect each other; that member states would respect each other and the Brussels-based institutions would respect member states.



Yet we Hungarians are not respected. They blackmail and pressure us because of our pro-peace stance, he said.



Brussels is pro-war and isnt building Europes peace, but war. Thats why we say that change is needed in Brussels.



He said all of the decisions taken by Brussels on sanctions affecting the economy and the energy sector were destroying the European standard of living, and urged voters to send MEPs to Brussels on June 9 who truly valued Europes peace and prosperity.



Meanwhile, Dobrev Says: 'Strong Europe Needed'

Klara Dobrev, the leader of the opposition Democratic Coalition, Socialist and Parbeszed parties for the EP elections, said she wanted European wages, pensions and health care, at the three parties joint celebration of International Labour Day and the 20th anniversary of Hungarys EU accession, in Budapest.



I want a strong Europe, one that is able to care for all Hungarian people, even if it requires defending them against the [incumbent] government, Dobrev said in City Park, arguing that Hungarys EU membership and the prestige of labour are under attack from the right.



Although Hungary is there, in Europe, the country has been shamed, Hungarians have the lowest wages and pensions in Europe, their country has the worst level of health-care services and the level of public education has deteriorated most here while the family circles of [Prime Minister] Viktor Orban have stolen the unprecedented amount of money pouring onto the country, she said. This must be stopped, the DK politician said.



The Hungarian government, Dobrev said, had also intimidated Hungarian workers by threatening to replace them with cheaper foreign labour if they dare to complain.



Only a left-wing, green, social-democrat government will be able to pull Hungary out of this nightmare, she said, urging opposition parties to join forces.



Gergely Karacsony, the mayor of Budapest and a Parbeszed politician, said that twenty years after Hungarys EU accession, the tone of the anniversarys celebration is bitter-sweet.



Although we must value and should not forget that we are a member of Europes most peaceful and most progressive political alliance, we must also see that the other countries that joined 20 years ago along with Hungary have made better use of the opportunity to lift their nation, he said.



The EU, Karacsony said, was not perfect either. It is not strong enough, gives too much to the elite and too little to the people, the mayor said, adding that we want a stronger Europe, because we believe in the notion that only a stronger Europe could ensure Hungarys national sovereignty.



A parasite state will never use EU funds in a smart way, Karacsony said. Those monies are missing from the education and health-care sectors, from the city of Budapest and the smallest Hungarian villages. The state must be changed, service must be chosen instead of ruling over a country.



Imre Komjathi of the Socialists pledged to strengthen trade unions, which are the immune system of working people and society



EU Affairs Minister Calls for Clearer, More Transparent Rule-Of-Law Conditionality Regulation

European Union member states agreed at the meeting of EU affairs ministers on Tuesday that the standards of the EUs conditionality procedure regarding the rule of law should be clearer and more transparent, the Hungarian minister said.



Janos Boka said the ministers had backed a proposal, which Hungary has tabled several times, that the Court of Justice of the European Union should engage in structured dialogue with member states constitutional courts when making declarations on general standards of the rule of law.



Standards of the rule of law are shaped in member states, not at an EU level, he said. The EU treaties currently ensure sufficient tools for the EU to handle issues on the rule of law, Boka said.



He noted that the meeting tabled expanding the dialogue on the rule of law to issues such as disinformation, but many felt the EU would come close to censorship if it was to review the statements allowed in an election campaign or political discussion.



The ministers also agreed that the EU had no exclusive jurisdiction on issues concerning the blocs fundamental values, he said.



Regarding EU enlargement, the ministers backed the proposal to involve the candidate countries furthest along in the accession procedure in the dialogue on the rule of law.



We hope that the agreement will be completed under the Belgian presidency, and Hungary will be the first to conduct talks on the rule of law with the participation of four member candidates, Serbia, Albania, Montenegro and North Macedonia, he said.



Leaders of the member states will adopt an itinerary on the enlargement process at the next EU summit, he said. Hungary will play an important role in the process during its presidency, he added.



Boka also met the Secretary-General of the European Parliament on Tuesday, to discuss preparations to the transition to the Hungarian presidency.

.

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Website 444 has obtained information that the Amarone company is conducting a public opinion poll on behalf of the government.

The survey covers various topics, including willingness to vote, what the respondent considers to be the most important problem in Hungary, what they fear and worry about within their family, and what they think about their financial situation.



Respondents are also asked who they would vote for in a Gergely Karacsony-Alexandra Szentkiralyi contest or a Karacsony-David Vitezy match in the Budapest mayoral election.



They are asked about their awareness of recent events, such as last week's incident in Brussels when venues refused to host a hard-right conference to be addressed by Orban.



Other questions suggest to respondents that Budapest housing prices and rents are less affordable since Karacsony became the mayor, that homelessness is worse, there is more traffic, and that Karacsony transferred the leadership of the city to Ferenc Gyurcsany and his friends and supporters.



Another aspect includes assessing perceptions of Orban's leadership in maintaining peace and family values.



Respondents were also asked who they thought was the stronger defender of family values: Orban, Ferenc Gyurcsany or Peter Magyar.



In February, the Call Express Public Opinion Research Institute, a division of Amarone, gauged public sentiment regarding Katalin Novak's involvement in the presidential pardon scandal and whether she should resign.



Telex has inquired at Antal Rogan's Cabiet Office to find out whether the government commissioned the research and, if so, how much it cost.



The Government Information Centre has denied commissioning this particular survey.



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Parliament on Tuesday adopted the law on the economic cooperation agreement between Hungary and the United Arab Emirates with 134 votes in favour, 43 against and 6 abstentions.

The agreement comprises cooperation in industry, trade, investments, tourism, logistics and related sectors, and specifically mentions the property development at the Rakosrendezo railway station in Budapest.



Under the agreement, the government pledged to sell the area to the company assigned for the project by the UAE and to ensure the necessary infrastructural development. The UAE, meanwhile, will incite the company to invest 5 billion euros in the area, including the construction of a railway station.



Commenting on the law, David Vitezy, the opposition LMPs mayoral candidate for Budapest, said Budapest needed affordable housing and high-quality green surfaces rather than new shopping malls and luxury areas.



He said parliament gave 130 hectares to Arab investors without conditions or expectations, or without stating the function or the height of the district to be built there.



Most of the necessary transport investments are not ensured in the agreement, and will partly be built from taxpayers money, he said.



MTI Photo



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A woman from Beavercreek was indicted on 36 counts including securities fraud and theft.

65-year-old Beverly Ann Kirk of Beavercreek was indicted on 36 charges on April 24. She was taken into custody on April 30.

Between 2019 and 2021, while working as an insurance agent, Kirk allegedly solicited three of her agencys clients to invest at least $235,000 in various investments.

The investments include non-existent jumbo CDs and investments allegedly issued by an insurance underwriter. One of the three people she solicited was elderly.

>> Thinking outside the box; Church expected to open inside Dayton Mall next year

Kirk allegedly misappropriated the investments for her own personal use, according to the indictment.

Kirk is charged with Securities Fraud, Unlicensed Securities Activity, Theft, Theft from a Person in a Protected Class, and Security Writings by Deception. These charges include felonies of the second, third, and fourth degrees.

The case was investigated by the Ohio Department of Commerce, Division of Securities.

Ms. Kirk exploited the trust that these victims placed in her and must now face the consequences for her greed, said Ohio Securities Commissioner Andrea Seidt. We urge investors to call the Ohio Division of Securities to make sure they are working with properly licensed professionals and investing in legitimate products before they hand over their hard-earned money.

Kirk is being held in the Greene County Jail without bail. Her arraignment and bond hearing is scheduled for Thursday, May 2.
HENDERSON  It was a full house, or church (or actually agriculture building) at Henderson Mennonite Heritage Park for the Living the Anabaptist Story presentation. The evening started out in the Country Mennonite Church, a replica of a typical country church, which unfortunately was not built to house the size of crowd this particular event drew. All told, around 170 people attended Sunday evenings reenactment of the Anabaptist story.

As the crowd shuffled and squirmed looking for a spot to perch in the standing room only space, Henderson Mennonite Heritage Committee President Suzanne Ratzlaff took to the pulpit and announced that due to the large turnout the first portion of the evening would have to be moved to the parks Agriculture Building for the sake of space.

When first approached to put on this event we were thinking maybe 50 people would show up. So this is a wonderful problem to have, Ratzlaff said.

While the crowd made its way over to the ag building, a portion of them were given individual cards with the name and information about an actual Anabaptist from the 1500s. The cards would come back into play at the end of the evening.

Once inside the ag building Pastor Andrea Wall of Bethesda Mennonite Church welcomed attendees and explained that the evenings reenactment was based on a play written by Kathy Wismer-Epp of Henderson. The play was first produced many years earlier when Wall was a high school student.

Fast forward to 2013 when Wall, now a pastor, rediscovered the play and decided to put on the production for her catechism students. The play became a tradition for her catechism classes and Wall often had adults inquiring if they could also view the production. So this year, in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the first Mennonite immigrants arrival in the Henderson area in 1874, it was decided to present it to the public using the buildings and backdrop of Heritage Park.

Attendees were in the middle of singing the German hymn Gott ist Die Liebe (God Loves Me Dearly) when Martin Luther, played by Leroy Goertzen, interrupted the gathering with a loud knock at the door before he came inside to post his Ninety-five Theses on the door of the church at Wittenberg, Germany. This signified the early years of the Reformation, a turning point in history that would transform not only the Christian faith, but also the politics and society of all of Europe.

The group next became members of a town hall meeting where a debate was staged between Conrad Grebel, played by Kim Siebert, who was against infant baptism and Huldrych Zwingli, played by Pastor Seth Miller, who believed in infant baptism. Following a vote by the townspeople, during which infant baptism was wholeheartedly rejected, the group was split into three smaller groups and sent out into the park to witness various reenactments from the Reformation movement.

The East Side Cafe housed two women, Elizabeth Dirks, who suffered a martyrs death by drowning, and Hadewyck, who was imprisoned for her religious beliefs but escaped. Dirks and Hadewyck shared their testimony of faith and the tortures they endured while never recanting or betraying the names of their brethren.

It was then on to the visitors center where the crowd witnessed a reenactment of the first adult baptism of George Blaurock (Arlin Hiebner) by Conrad Grebel (Kim Siebert) and Felix Manz (Norm Yoder). Afterwards each man shared with the group the way in which they met their deaths by burning at the stake, drowning and imprisonment.

Throughout the evening the crowds were warned to be careful as the authorities were all around and constantly watching. The groups luck ran out following the baptism and all were arrested by a government official (Ethan Hall) and marched to the train depot and jailed by a black-cloaked jailor (Lynn Hall). During the Dungeon and Torture scene visitors learned of the hardship and terror of the Anabaptists who were persecuted and martyred for their religious beliefs.

Once released from prison it was on to the barn where participants were introduced to Menno Simons (John Quiring), the Roman Catholic priest who was excommunicated from the Catholic Church and became an influential Anabaptist religious leader. It is from his name that his followers became known as Mennonites.

Upon the groups return to the ag building all were asked to take out the cards handed out at the start of the evening. Heritage Park volunteer Aldena Siebert explained that the cards were marked with a certain number of dots. As each number of dots was called out attendees raised their hands and were informed of their fate: beheaded, burned at the stake, drowned in the sea, executed, hanged or death in prison. Of all the papers handed out only one individual died of natural causes.

Following a short question and answer time a freewill offering was taken using the antique offering baskets housed at the park. Coffee and cookies were then served in the Country Church where the crowd discussed all that they had learned during the highly spiritual event.

Upcoming events at Heritage Park in celebration of 150 years since the first Mennonites arrived in Henderson include the Russia to America Inter-Generational Camp on June 4 and the More Fun Facts & Stories of Henderson Luncheon and Presentation to be held June 22, along with Storytelling Tours to be held July 12 and 13 and the unveiling of the 1974 Time Capsule on July 13 during Henderson Community Days.

PHOTOS: 'Living the Anabaptist Story' in Henderson 'Living the Anabaptist Story' in Henderson Henderson Mennonite Heritage Committee president Suzanne Ratzlaff welcomes the crowd to "Living the Anabaptist Story" night at Heritage Park i Debate between Conrad Grebel and Huldrych Zwingli over infant versus adult baptism The crowd listens to the reenactment of the debate between Conrad Grebel and Huldrych Zwingli over infant versus adult baptism. Freewill offering Norm Yoder uses one of Heritage Parks antique offering baskets to take a freewill offering from the crowd following the evenings performance. 'Living the Anabaptist Story' in Henderson Story of survival Elizabeth Dirks, played by Cindy Friesen and Hadewyck, played by Marcia Regier shared their story of survival inside the East Side Cafe. Special guests Two van loads of Amish families from the Dannebrog area traveled to Henderson to enjoy the live reenactment. 'Living the Anabaptist Story' in Henderson Burt Thieszen of Henderson enters the East Side Cafe during the Living the Anabaptist Story night at Heritage Park. Martyrs The crowd listens as George Blaurock (Arlin Hiebner), Conrad Grebel (Kim Siebert) and Felix Manz (Norm Yoder) describe their deaths as martyrs 'Living the Anabaptist Story' in Henderson Attendees of the Living the Anabaptist Life wait in line to leave the historic barn loft at Heritage Park after listening to Menno Simons (J The cloaked jailer A cloaked jailer (Lynn Hall) describes the many methods of punishment endured by the early Anabaptists. Marched off to jail The group is marched off to jail in the park train depot after being discovered witnessing the first adult baptism. 'Living the Anabaptist Story' in Henderson It was a full house, or church (or actually agriculture building) at Henderson Mennonite Heritage Park for the Living the Anabaptist Story p 'Living the Anabaptist Story' in Henderson As the crowd shuffled and squirmed looking for a spot to perch in the standing room only space, Henderson Mennonite Heritage Committee Preside 'Living the Anabaptist Story' in Henderson Henderson Mennonite Heritage Committee President Suzanne Ratzlaff said about moving to accomodate a large turnout, When first approached to p 'Living the Anabaptist Story' in Henderson Upcoming events at Heritage Park in celebration of 150 years since the first Mennonites arrived in Henderson include the Russia to America Int 'Living the Anabaptist Story' in Henderson Pastor Andrea Wall of Bethesda Mennonite Church welcomed attendees and explained that the evenings reenactment was based on a play written by 'Living the Anabaptist Story' in Henderson 'Living the Anabaptist Story' in Henderson 'Living the Anabaptist Story' in Henderson 'Living the Anabaptist Story' in Henderson 'Living the Anabaptist Story' in Henderson 'Living the Anabaptist Story' in Henderson 'Living the Anabaptist Story' in Henderson 'Living the Anabaptist Story' in Henderson 'Living the Anabaptist Story' in Henderson 'Living the Anabaptist Story' in Henderson 'Living the Anabaptist Story' in Henderson 'Living the Anabaptist Story' in Henderson 'Living the Anabaptist Story' in Henderson 'Living the Anabaptist Story' in Henderson 'Living the Anabaptist Story' in Henderson 'Living the Anabaptist Story' in Henderson 'Living the Anabaptist Story' in Henderson 'Living the Anabaptist Story' in Henderson 'Living the Anabaptist Story' in Henderson 'Living the Anabaptist Story' The 'Living the Anabaptist Story' in Henderson on Sunday, April 21.
Singapore Airlines has recently been ordered to compensate an Indian couple with over Rs 2 lakh due to the 'mental agony' they experienced during a flight. Ravi Gupta, a police chief from Telangana, and his wife Anjali Gupta were traveling from Hyderabad to Australia via Singapore when they encountered a problem with their business class seats.

Despite paying Rs 66,750 each for business class seats, the couple found that the automatic recline function was not operational. This forced them to recline their seats manually, leading to discomfort throughout the five-hour journey. According to media reports, the couple felt like they were treated as economy-class passengers despite paying for a premium experience. Hence, the couple refused the airline's initial offer of 10,000 flyer miles points each and decided to take legal action against Singapore Airlines.

Their case was heard in a Hyderabad court, which ruled in their favour. The court ordered Singapore Airlines to reimburse Rs 48,750 each to the couple, along with 12% interest from May 23, 2023, until the settlement was reached. Additionally, the airline was directed to compensate the couple with Rs 1 lakh each for mental agony and physical discomfort, as well as Rs 10,000 to cover the expenses related to the complaint.



A similar case happened last year with some other Airlines where a man was not allowed to board a connecting flight even though he had a round-trip ticket. In response to this, the Delhi State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission asked the airlines to pay Rs 6 lakh to the man as compensation for mental harassment and litigation expenses.
New Delhi: Alphabet Incs subsidiary, Google has fired nearly 200 employees from its core team and shifted some positions abroad to cut costs during its restructuring. The company plans to hire replacements in India and Mexico, as per internal documents seen by CNBC. Around 50 engineering roles were cut from its California headquarters.

Asim Husain, Vice President of Google Developer Ecosystem recently informed his team about the layoffs through an email. He further discussed the details during a town hall meeting and stated that this would be the biggest planned reduction for his team this year, as per the internal document. (Also Read: Read The Inspiring Journey Of Mira Kulkarni From Single Mother To Becoming One Of India's Richest Women)

We intend to maintain our current global footprint while also expanding in high-growth global workforce locations so that we can operate closer to our partners and developer communities," He mentioned in the email. (Also Read: Embattled Byjus Links Sales Employees Salaries To Weekly Revenue Generation)

A google spokesperson stated that employees affected by the layoffs will have the opportunity to apply for other available positions within the company. The tech giant is also offering outplacement services and severance packages to those impacted.

Google spokesperson said to The New York Post Were simplifying our structures to give employees more opportunity to work on our most innovative and important advances and our biggest company priorities, while reducing bureaucracy and layers,.

Googles parent, Alphabet has been reducing its workforce since early 2023. The company announced plans to eliminate about 12,000 jobs which represents 6 percent of its total workforce in response to decreasing revenues in the online advertising market.
New Delhi: Indias food safety regulator FSSAI has ordered all spice mix manufacturers to undergo testing and inspections after contamination concerns arose in MDH and Everest spice blends. The move follows Hong Kongs suspension last month of three MDH spices and an Everest spice mix for fish curry due to high levels of ethylene oxide which is unsafe for human consumption and can pose a cancer risk with prolonged exposure.

MDH and Everest, these are both well-known brands of India. Their products are also available abroad such as Europe, Asia, and North America. The companies claim that their products are safe to use. However, the food authorities in the United States and Australia are seeking more information on it. India has ordered further testing of both these brands due to concerns about contamination. (Also Read: Girish Mathrubootham Steps Down As Freshworks CEO; Dennis Woodside To Take Over)

"The Centre for Food Safety in Hong Kong has issued a notification on the recall of Everest Fish Curry Masala from India due to the presence of ethylene oxide at levels exceeding permissible limit," the Singapore Food Agency said in a statement last week. (Also Read: Google Layoffs: Tech Giant Fires 'Core' Employees, Shifts Positions To India, Mexico)

The Indian food safety regulator has directed officials to carry out "extensive inspections, sampling, and testing at all manufacturing units" producing powdered spices with a particular focus on those that make curry powders and mixed spice blends for both local and international markets. "Each of the products sampled will be analysed for compliance with quality and safety parameters," Food Safety and Standards Authority of India said in a statement.
New Delhi: Delhi ministers Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj on Thursday attacked Lt Governor V K Saxena and the BJP over the sacking of 'illegally' appointed contractual employees of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), alleging that the saffron party is the "biggest threat" to women in the country.There was no immediate reaction from the LG office.

The Women and Child Development (WCD) Department of the Delhi government terminated the services of 52 "illegally" appointed contractual staff of DCW, officials said on Thursday. The termination has been carried out on the basis of a report submitted by a committee way back in June, 2017.

The WCD Department sent a proposal on the basis of the recommendations of the committee to Saxena, who approved it, following which the department issued the termination order, the officials said.

In a post in Hindi on X, Atishi said, "The staff of the Delhi Commission for Women, who helped thousands of rape victims, acid attack survivors, domestic abuse victims, and provided justice to lakhs of women through its helpline, has been ordered to be removed from the commission by the LG."

"The BJP-led central government gives tickets to rapists by garlanding them, and ruins the commission that fights for the rights of victimized, helpless women. The whole country should know: The biggest threat to women in this country is BJP," she said.

Her cabinet colleague Bharadwaj accused the LG of stopping all the good work of the Delhi government. "LG sahab has rendered thousands of people unemployed in Delhi in the last one-and-a-half years. His aim is to stop all the good work of the Delhi government. Empowering these oppressed girls is true patriotism, humanity, the ultimate religion.

"In July last year, nearly 400 fellows, advisors, consultants, specialists and research fellows were removed. These young people had come after studying in big universities, and were making big contributions in government work. In this way a conspiracy was hatched to stop the work of the elected government, MLAs and ministers," Bharadwaj alleged in a series of posts on X.

Responding to the allegations, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said "the unconstitutional working" of the entire Aam Aadmi Party government and especially the DCW's former chairperson Swati Maliwal is responsible for the development.

Delhi minister Bharadwaj also said for the safety of women in Delhi buses, the Kejriwal government had appointed around 8,000 bus marshals. "LG sahab's favourite officers even got the marshals fired from their jobs. Thousands of poor families in Delhi were able to run their households, now they are dying of hunger. And the women of Delhi are at the mercy of God, he said.

Hitting back, Sachdeva said Maliwal should explain why she never tried to get new posts sanctioned."It is unfortunate that Swati Maliwal treated DCW as her personal fiefdom and kept volunteers of her NGOs mostly from other states on contractual jobs in DCW without following administrative procedure like Arvind Kejriwal did while employing volunteers in Delhi government," he alleged.

Meanwhile, Social Welfare Minister of Delhi government Raaj Kumar Anand, whose resignation from the post is yet to be accepted, met LG Saxena and handed over a memorandum alleging irregularities in social welfare, labour and SC/ST departments that came under him earlier.

Talking to media after the meeting, Anand who resigned from the post of minister last month, said that he met the LG to know about the status of his resignation. He also suggested for appointing a woman from Dalit community to the post of DCW chairperson.
New Delhi: The political fate of Afzal Ansari, who is the brother of the late gangster-turned-politician, Mukhtar Ansari, will be decided on Thursday by the Allahabad High Court. The Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate from Uttar Pradeshs Ghazipur seat is facing a trial in the death of Krishna Nand Rai, the then BJP MLA from Mohammadabad. The HC will declare the verdict today. If Ansari gets more than two years of imprisonment, his candidature from the Ghazipur seat will be cancelled until he gets a stay order from the higher courts.

According to current laws, individuals convicted and sentenced to a prison term of two years, or more are automatically disqualified from contesting elections for six years following their release. Earlier, the MP-MLA court had imposed the four-year sentence on Afzal and now he is contesting this decision in the HC.

The Gangster Case Against Afzal

In a gunned-down murder on November 29, 2005, in UPs Basniya, seven individuals, including the then BJP MLA Krishna Nand Rai, who had previously defeated Afzal in the 2002 elections, were killed.

Following the massacre, the Ansari brothers with others were implicated in the conspiracy. Although acquitted in the case, Afzal and Mukhtar faced legal ramifications when the police filed a gangster case against them in 2007, stemming from the same incident.

The decision in the matter came on April 29, 2023, when the MP-MLA court delivered its verdict. The court sentenced Afzal to four years and Mukhtar to ten years in prison, followed by termination from parliamentary membership.

SC Restores Parliamentary Membership

On December 14, 2023, the Supreme Court suspended Afzal's sentence indefinitely and restored his membership.

Afzal, who was released on bail on the orders of the High Court, filed an application in the Supreme Court and argued that since he had been acquitted in the MLA murder case, the lower court's decision under the gangster was unacceptable.
Bareilly/Budaun: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday attacked Rahul Gandhi, suggesting that his party will get such a drubbing in election that he will have to take out a 'Congress Dhoondho Yatra' after June 4. Addressing an election rally in Bareilly, Shah alleged that Rahul, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and SP's Akhilesh Yadav did not attend the Ram Temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya fearing this may alienate their vote bank.

"The 'shehzade' (prince) of 'ghamandia' INDI Alliance started his election campaign with Bharat Jodo Yatra but on June 4 (counting day), it will end with a 'Congress Dhoondho Yatra'," Shah said. "In the first two phases, Congress is nowhere, while Narendra Modi has made a century and taken a lead in the '400 race' (race to 400 seats)," he said.

He said that this election is for ending terrorism and Naxalism and making India the third major economy globally. Shah hit out at the INDIA bloc partner Samajwadi Party, saying it indulges in dynastic politics, for its president Akhilesh Yadav has given tickets to five members of his family in the current election. He said that while Akhilesh is contesting from Kannauj and his wife Dimple Yadav is in fray from Mainpuri, Akshay Yadav, Aditya Yadav, and Dharmendra Yadav, all three his family members, are contenders from Firozabad, Budaun, and Azamgarh.

"Had he given a ticket to some Yadav youths, it would have been better," he said. Shah said that for the past 70 years, Congress had been stalling the Ram Temple construction, a task the BJP finished. "When you made Modi PM for the second time, within five years, we won the case, did the groundbreaking, and performed the consecration ceremony of the temple on January 22. Samajwadi Party chief Akhliesh Yadav, Dimple, Rahul and Priyanka, all were invited by the temple trust but they did not attend the consecration ceremony because of the fear of their vote bank," Shah said.

"You all know who their vote bank is," he added. On revoking Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, he said, "Congress president asks what do people of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have to do with Kashmir. He doesn't know that for Kashmir, every child of Bareilly can sacrifice his life  In Kashmir, our tricolour is flying with pride."

On the "surgical strike" after Pulwama attack, Shah said that under the past Congress governments, there was no reprisal for such acts and anyone could enter the country and do bomb blasts. "We did a surgical strike inside Pakistan to get rid of terrorists." Shah claimed that Uttar Pradesh was riven with communal riots till 2017, when Yogi Adityanath came to power, made it riot-free, and stopped residents' exodus from western UP. "In Yogi's regime, it is the hooligans who are migrating," he said.

In Samajwadi Party's UP, factories forged country-made pistols, but now they manufacture tanks and missiles that will be fired on Pakistan, he said. Claiming that the Opposition's INDIA bloc is torn with internal differences, he said, "Akhilesh wants to become a chief minister. Sonia ji wants his son (Rahul Gandhi) to become the prime minister. Those who are working to make their family members PM and CM, can they think of the poor's welfare?"

In Budaun, Shah referred to renovation and other work done on religious places by the Modi government. "Be it 'Mahakal ka darbar', Kedarnath Dham, Badrinath Dham or covering with gold of Somnath temple, Modi made places of faith more energetic. Will SP, BSP and Congress do that?" Shah said.

Referring to Akhilesh and Rahul, he said when he stood up in Parliament to introduce the bill to abolish Article 370, "do ladke" stood against it and claimed the bill will lead to bloodshed in the valley.

"No one has the courage to pelt a stone there. At Lal Chowk, where no one could go  a Krishna Janmashtami procession was taken out," Shah said on the post-Article 370 Kashmir. He said that the Congress government did not have courage to counter terrorism due to fear of erosion of its vote bank.

Rahul's grandmother (Indira Gandhi) gave the slogan of 'Garibi Hatao' but did nothing to see that it happens on the ground, he alleged. He said Rahul and Akhilesh called COVID vaccine "Modi ki vaccine" and "did politics" on it when the country was battling a pandemic. "Akhilesh himself went in the night and took the vaccine with Dimple Bhabhi," he said. Bareilly and Budaun will go to poll in the third phase on May 7.
Kolkata: Hours after a temporary female staff at the Raj Bhavan filed a written complaint with the police accusing West Bengal Governor C.V. Bose of 'outraging her modesty', the latter denied the charges on Thursday night, calling the accusation an attempt to gain electoral benefits.

Truth shall triumph. I refuse to be cowed down by engineered narratives. If anybody wants some election benefits by maligning me, God bless them. But they cannot stop my fight against corruption and violence in Bengal, read a brief statement issued by the Governor's office on Thursday night.

On Thursday afternoon, a temporary female staff at the Raj Bhavan, reportedly attached to the Peace Room in the Governor's House, approached the officer-in-charge of the police outpost located inside the Raj Bhavan and accused C.V. Ananda Bose of molesting her on the pretext of providing her a permanent job.

Later, she submitted a written complaint at the Hare Street police station, under which the Raj Bhavan falls. Reacting to the matter, the leader of opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, said it must be probed if the allegation is genuine or part of a conspiracy.

"Around 26,000 individuals have lost their jobs in state-run schools following an order by the Calcutta High Court. The Trinamool is cornered over the developments in Sandeshkhali. It is to be seen whether the allegation is part of a conspiracy in the middle of the Lok Sabha elections. If the allegation is true, the Union government will surely look into the matter, Adhikari said.
New Delhi: The Delhi Police has arrested an 18-year-old youth in connection with the death of a gym trainer in a violent attack that took place in south Delhi's Tigri area in March, an officer on Thursday said. Lakshay, a resident of south Delhi's Deoli area, was allegedly hired by the father of the victim, the officer said. The teen had been on the run since committing the crime and was arrested from Mumbai on April 26, he said.

On March 7, a day before his wedding, Gaurav, a gym trainer by profession, was attacked with an iron rod and scissors in the Tigri area. He was rushed to a hospital where he was declared dead on arrival. "During the probe, it was revealed that Gaurav's father was the main conspirator. He engaged three boys namely Lakshay, Sahil and Abhishek in his plan to kill his son following a property dispute," Deputy Commissioner of Police (crime) Amit Goel said.

With arrest of Lakshay, all the accused in the crime have been arrested, he said. "We got a tip-off that a wanted criminal Lakshay is hiding somewhere in Mumbai. Later it was found that Lakhshay was coming from Mumbai to Delhi and would meet his sister," said the DCP.

On April 26, a trap was laid near a hospital and he was arrested. Lakshay revealed that he the victim's father had offered to pay him Rs 75,000 to kill his son, the DCP said. Lakshay, Sahil and Abhishek killed Gaurav on the intervening night of March 6 and 7, he said.
HPBOSE HP Board Class 10th Result 2024: The Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education (HPBOSE) is set to release the HP Board Class 10th Result 2024 within the upcoming week. Importantly This update follows the earlier announcement made by HP Board officials during the declaration of the 12th results on April 30, indicating that the Class 10 results would be released within a week.

Once released, the students can access their results via the official HPBOSE website  hpbose.org. It's noteworthy that the Class 12th Board result 2024 has already been declared through a press conference on April 30.

The HP Board examinations took place from March 1 to March 28, 2024, in a single shift from 8:45 am to 12 pm, conducted in a pen-and-paper mode. To check their results online, students will need their login credentials, including date of birth and roll number. It's important to recognize that the online mark sheet is provisional, and students should retrieve their original mark sheet from their respective schools.

In the previous year, a total of 91,440 students appeared for the Class 10 final exam, with 81,732 students passing, leading to an overall pass percentage of 89.7%.

How to Check HPBOSE 10th Result 2024?

-Visit the official HPBOSE website -- hpbose.org

-Click on the HPBOSE Matric 2024 Result link on the homepage (link will be activated upon result announcement)

-Enter your date of birth and other required details

-Your HPBOSE 10th Result 2024 will be displayed

-Print out your Himachal Pradesh 10th Result 2024 for future reference.

HP Board Class 10 Result 2024 Link

The link for the Himachal Pradesh HP Board Class 10 Result 2024 will be activated after the results are officially announced. Students can also check their results through other websites such as indiaresults.com and results.shiksha; however, it is advisable to download results from the official website - hpbose.org.

HPBOSE 10th Results 2024 Via Roll Number

HPBOSE 10th Results 2024 will be declared via a press conference. Students are advised to keep their admit cards ready as their HPBOSE 10th Roll Number will be necessary to download the results upon declaration.

HPBOSE Class 10th Results 2024 Via SMS

Students can also access their results via SMS. For this, they need to write a text message - HP10 (space) Roll Number and send it to 56263. The result be sent back to the registered mobile number.

HPBOSE Class 10th Results: What's The Passing Criterion?

To qualify, the students need to secure a minimum of 33% marks in practical and written exams separately. Those who fail to score minimum marks will have to appear in compartmental exams.
With the campaigning intensifying for the Lok Sabha polls, the Abdullah father-son duo have alleged that the Election Commission of Indias decision to defer the polls is aimed at depriving nomads of their voting rights. Both Farooq and Omar made these remarks while campaigning on opposite sides of the Pir Panjal hills. Abdullah, on Wednesday, stated that the people of Anantnag-Rajouri would deliver a significant blow to those plotting to deprive the Gujjar-Bakarwal population of their voting rights. He made these comments while addressing a series of election rallies in Kotranka and Thanamandi in Rajouri.

Farooq Abdullah said, "BJP and its proxies have developed cold feet due to the groundswell of support for the NC. BJP is in panic mode as it is losing badly in the ensuing elections. It has already lost Udhampur & Jammu seats. BJP stands wiped out in the plains of Jammu. They fear that they are losing this election too and are scared of it, their only strategy is now to defer the polls."

"Deferring polls is to benefit the BJP and its allies but all such nefarious designs will not yield anticipated results as people will dust their plans and vote against them," Farooq said.

He cautioned people to remain alert against the BJP & its communal designs. "They can go to any extent to grab power. They will create divisions between communities to achieve their end. BJP is leaving no stone unturned to grab power by playing the communal card to prevail upon common and poor masses through exploitative means, but people are determined to give them a befitting reply and will never allow them to grab power. Our people understand their designs. They will not allow them to weaken JK's secular fabric, unity, and integrity. People have made it a point to bid goodbye to BJP," he said.

On the other side of the Pir Panjal, Omar Abdullah asserted that the Election Commission of Indias decision to defer the polls for the Anantnag-Rajouri Parliamentary seat was aimed at depriving the nomadic community of their right to vote.

Omar told reporters, The decision of the ECI taken yesterday was a glaring example of conspiracy. The commission was silent when incessant rains lashed J&K, but when favourable weather conditions were restored, they rescheduled the polling. This was aimed to deprive the nomadic community of the Pir Panjal region of their right to vote."

"The rescheduling of polls was aimed to deprive nomadic people of exercising their right to vote, but we are hopeful those who hatched conspiracy at this juncture will be dusted on polling day, said Omar. He alleged that the BJP believes in the divide-and-rule policy like the British were playing, but the National Conference and its cadre wont give up and will continue to represent the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Patna: RJD president Lalu Prasads eldest daughter Misa Bharti on Thursday drew flak from the BJP-led NDA in Bihar for an uncharitable reference to the "old" age of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Bharti, who is the RJD candidate from Patliputra, made the remarks while canvassing in the constituency where she attacked the NDA government at the Centre for bringing in the Agniveer scheme of recruitment in armed services.

In a video clip, purportedly of Wednesday, now viral on social media, the Rajya Sabha MP can be heard as saying: "What did this government do in 10 years? It brought in Agniveer. Young people fighting for the country will be retired at the age of 22. On the other hand, we have an old Prime Minister who at the age of 75 wants a third consecutive term".

Predictably, the BJP flew in rage and sought to remind the RJD leader that her father, too, was at a ripe age. "PM Modi is much younger than Lalu Prasad. Misa Bharti should keep this in mind and think before heaping insults in this manner," said BJP national spokesman Syed Shahnawaz Hussain.

JD(U) chief spokesperson Neeraj Kumar, whose party is headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and is an NDA partner, asked, "Does Misa Bharti speak of her father in a similar tone?".

Referring to Bharti's rival in Pataliputra, the JD(U) leader added: "She will learn her lessons. The blessings of Ram are with Ram Kripal". Ram Kripal Yadav, a former close aide of the RJD supremo, had joined the BJP ahead of Lok Sabha polls in 2014 when he defeated Bharti and was rewarded with a berth in the Union council of ministers.

Five years later, Bharti suffered defeat at the hands of her father's disgruntled close aide for a second time. Covering areas of rural Patna, Patliputra, where voting is scheduled in the final phase, is set to witness yet another straight contest between Bharti and Yadav.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi came under fire on Thursday from Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who made an emotional speech in which she discussed bringing parts of her father's body home and claimed former PM Rajiv Gandhi's mother gave him "martyrdom" rather than wealth. The Congress general secretary also stated that Modi will not understand her family's sacrifices. "Modi ji will not understand that my father did not inherit wealth, he inherited martyrdom from his mother," she said, criticising the prime minister for his relentless attacks on the Congress over the party's "wealth redistribution" promise in its manifesto.

Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi's mother and former prime minister, was killed by her two Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984, at her Delhi home. With a voice choked with emotion, Priyanka said, "When Modiji utters nonsense about a woman like Indiraji, when Modiji, after seeing this feeling of patriotism, only sees dynastic politics, he cannot understand this sacrifice." She was speaking at a Madhya Pradesh election rally in Morena.

#WATCH | Morena, Madhya Pradesh: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra says, "When I brought the pieces of my father, I was angry with this country. I sent my father to you safely, and you returned him in pieces. But gradually, I understood the meaning of martyrdom. I know what pic.twitter.com/AM8y3AhOj0  ANI (@ANI) May 2, 2024

During a rally in Morena last week, PM Modi had claimed that Rajiv Gandhi had removed the inheritance tax after he came to power in order to avoid paying taxes on the wealth he had inherited from his mother. He had previously stated that the government was legally entitled to half of a deceased person's wealth.



"At the time, there was speculation that Indiraji had left her fortune to her son Rajiv Gandhi. To save money for the government (after her death), PM Rajiv Gandhi abolished the inheritance tax," the prime minister stated. Congress had stoutly refuted Modi's claim.



"But now I understand that this type of rage is directed at someone you care deeply about. How can I explain my love for this country when Modiji calls my father a traitor? When Modiji claims that my father changed the law to receive inheritance from his mother, Priyanka added. Priyanka also touched upon the barrage of attacks faced by the Gandhi family from BJP leaders.

"I want to say that whether you call us traitors, whether you kick us out of our homes, tie us up in legal cases... Do what you want. Kill us. Nobody can take away our sense of patriotism." The Congress leader also recalled Rajiv Gandhi's assassination in 1991.



"I was 19 years old when I brought my father's remains home, and I was angry with my country. I was angry because I had sent my father away, and it was your responsibility to keep him safe. You returned him to me in pieces.

"And these pieces were bundled in the national flag. I understand the meaning of martyrdom. "I am 52 years old today, and this is the first time I am speaking about it publicly," Priyanka said. On May 21, 1991, a female suicide bomber killed Rajiv Gandhi during a poll rally in Sriperumbudur.



Priyanka also mentioned her meeting with the families of the victims of the Pulwama terror attack to emphasise the sense of sacrifice.



"Many of the Pulwama martyrs were from Uttar Pradesh. I visited their homes and met their families and children. The children also expressed a desire to join the army. One girl whose father was a pilot said she wants to join the air force and become a pilot."

On February 14, 2019, a suicide bomber carried out a terrorist attack in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir, killing 40 CRPF personnel. On other issues, Priyanka challenged Modi to build shelters for stray cattle in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.



"PM Narendra Modi has said today, beware, if you have two buffaloes, the Congress will steal one of them," she said, referring to Modi's claim that the opposition party intended to reintroduce inheritance tax and seize people's property.



"I throw a challenge to Modiji; collect stray cattle in UP and MP, and put them in 'gaushala' (cow shelters)," the leader of the opposition party said.

"Solve the problem of stray cattle. Build cowsheds, strengthen them, like the previous Congress government in Chhattisgarh did." Gaushalas in Chhattisgarh provided income for women, and the government purchased cow dung from them, according to Priyanka.



The country's unemployment rate was at a 45-year high, and government recruitment exams were hampered by paper leaks, while the Modi government was also closing available job opportunities, according to the Congress leader. She claimed that the Modi government waived loans totaling Rs 16 lakh crore to 20 to 22 businessmen.



"Under the Modi government, the poor have become poorer in the last ten years," she said.


Maldives was a favourite tourist destination for Indians. However, things have taken a bitter turn of events since the pro-China government led by Mohamed Muizzu came to power in Maldives. Muizzu came to power riding on 'India Out' campaign. The relations between India and Maldives turned sour in January this year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Lakshadweep in a bid to promote domestic tourism. However, Maldivian leaders mocked India and made insulting remarks against PM Modi. Since then, the number of Indian tourists visiting the Maldives has declined but still, many Indians are visiting the island nation.

However, the country doesn't look safe as radical elements have become more active there, show some recent incidents and various reports. In a recent incident, a couple of Indians were attacked by Maldivians after a minor altercation near Central Park in Hulhumale. In another incident, an Israeli woman was targeted in the Maldives and was forced to leave the country, according to reports.

Israeli tourist tried to enter one of the islands in the Maldives for a holiday while her country commits genocide. She was kicked out by local island community and last reports indicate she was on her way back to the airport after realizing humanity does not welcome them anymore pic.twitter.com/PsKcUYp9UB  Muad M Zaki (@muadmzaki) April 30, 2024

While the tensions between India and Maldives have increased, Maldivian foreign minister Moosa Zameer is likely to visit India next week. If Zameer visits India, it will be the first high-level tour by either side since Muizzu took office last year. Muizzu has already visited China but is yet to visit India. As per reports, a request regarding his visit is pending with New Delhi.

According to reports, Zameer is likely to take up debt payment issues with India seeking leniency on the repayment term. Successive Maldivian governments have taken loans from India from time to time. Muizzu, since taking over power, has limited defence ties with India while leaning towards China.
A businessman from Anand Vihar in Sector 32 was arrested on Friday in connection with a cybercrime case where Rs 6.1 crore was siphoned off from a software development company's account. According to police, the defrauded amount was transferred to 141 bank accounts and e-wallets using a VPN service to evade IP detection. Harmeet Singh Malik, the alleged mastermind behind the crime, was detained by immigration officials at Mumbai airport when he was about to fly out to Dubai. Six accused have so far been arrested.

In Dec, Kushal Singh, director of Witzeal Technologies Pvt Ltd, had filed a complaint alleging that Rs 6.14 crore had been fraudulently transferred from the company's account between Dec 6 and 19, 2023. "Ours is a software development company which also operates in online gaming. We make transactions via online platform Razorpay. No SMS alert or email was received when the amount was debited from the company's bank account," the complainant alleged.

An FIR was then registered under sections 419 (cheating by personation) and 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the IPC on January 17. "The five arrested accused revealed that Harmeet Singh was the key player in the fraud. He operates from India as well as Dubai. We had issued a lookout circular (LOC) against him, and he was arrested at Mumbai airport on April 19 while leaving for Dubai. He is currently in police remand until Tuesday," Siddhant Jain, DCP cybercrime, said.

During the preliminary probe, it was found that Rs 10 lakh from the defrauded amount was deposited in the ICICI bank account of UdaanpeInfoserve, a telecommunication company in Sector 65. The firm's CEO, Shantanu Anand, was then nabbed on Jan 25, and based on his statement, four others were arrested.

According to reports, UdaanpeInfoserve's then-chief technology officer (CTO), Tarun Kumar Dudeja, Karthik Sharma and his brother Yash Sharma of Hari Nagar in Delhi, and Rakesh Sharma, an alleged hawala operator from Rajasthan's Bikaner, were subsequently arrested.

"From Udaanpe Infoserve's account, the defrauded amount was transferred to other bank accounts. From there, it was converted to USDT cryptocurrency and transferred to crypto wallets in Dubai," a cybercrime official said. Karthik, a furniture shop owner, used to operate Udaanpe's bank account, and a debit card linked to the account has been recovered from his possession. Yash has been accused of converting the amount to cryptocurrency and sending it to Dubai-based fraudsters.

Cops said Rakesh is a hawala operator and was providing bank accounts to the Dubai-based suspect. They are looking for two more accused, Mohit Malik and Ketan, who are currently on the run.
The statement of Pakistan's former Information and Broadcasting Minister, Fawad Chaudhary, has sparked a controversy in India. Chaudhary shared a post on social media praising Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, prompting the BJP to attack Congress and even Prime Minister Modi to accuse Congress of siding with Pakistan. Without naming Rahul Gandhi, PM Modi stated that Pakistan wants to see him as Prime Minister. Fawad Chaudhry has now launched a new attack on PM Modi via X (formerly Twitter).

"A friend advised me to balance and say something positive about #Modi since hours I am thinking what can be a positive in an Extremist, dogmatist and hater? Someone who take pride in ghus k Marna someone who justify killing people only because of faith? Who is demolishing mosques to change history and taking pride in extremist ideology?," Chaudhary said in a X post.

Earlier on Wednesday, Fawad shared a video clip of Rahul Gandhi's speech and praised the Congress leader. He captioned the post, "Rahul on fire."

Rahul on fire . https://t.co/6pi1mL0bQN  Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) May 1, 2024

During his election rally in Gujarat's Anand, PM Modi also mentioned Fawad Chaudhry's post and accused the Congress and Pakistan of collaboration. While PM Modi accused the Congress of directly colluding with Pakistan under the guise of Fawad's post, Rahul Gandhi demanded an explanation from PM Modi regarding Prajwal Ravanna's sex scandal.



Rahul Gandhi did not respond to Fawad Chaudhry's question, but BJP leaders are questioning why a Pakistani leader who spews venom against India would support Rahul Gandhi. Meanwhile, the Congress has criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and accused him of diverting attention away from the election issues by dragging Pakistan.

With just five days left for the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections, it is clear that, after issues like mangalsutra, wealth redistribution, and Muslim reservation, the mention of Pakistan will dominate BJP and PM Modi's election campaign.
The Police forces in the United States are taking stern action against students protesting against Israel over the Gaza war. While NYPD police in riot gear cleared the campus of protesting students, their teams have been deployed at the campuses in Los Angeles and New York. As per reports, dozens of police cars patrolled the Los Angeles campus of California University in response to violent clashes between counter-protesters and pro-Palestinian students.

Police Commissioner Edward Caban said that around 300 arrests were made in Columbia and New York. While Mayor Eric Adams blamed outsiders for creating tensions, students at Columbia University denied the involvement of any outsiders. The police reached the campus after receiving a call from Minouche Shafik, the university's president. Shafik has come under fire over her decision to call in police. She expressed sadness over the turn of events.

Protesters have assembled across a minimum of 30 US universities in the past month, frequently setting up tent encampments to voice their dissent against the escalating death toll resulting from Israel's conflict in the Gaza Strip. These protests have presented a dilemma for university administrators as they navigate between upholding free speech rights and addressing concerns of criminal behaviour, anti-Semitic rhetoric, and hate speech.

The Biden administration, whose backing of Israel has sparked ire among many demonstrators, is also grappling with finding a delicate balance in this regard.

The action against students has exposed the double face of the United States on how it treats protests in countries like India compared to in its own country. America often cites freedom of speech and expression when it comes to any protests in India but now it has been contradicting its own stand by taking action against the students.
The United States on Wednesday claimed that Russia is violating the international chemical weapons ban. The US accused Russia of using, chloropicrin, a chocking agent on Ukrainian military and using riot control agents "as a method of warfare" in Ukraine.

"The use of such chemicals is not an isolated incident and is probably driven by Russian forces' desire to dislodge Ukrainian forces from fortified positions and achieve tactical gains on the battlefield," reported Reuters quoting the US State Department statement. Russia has violated the Chemical Weapons Convention's (CWC) ban on employing riot control agents as a means of warfare, according to the statement.

As per Reuters, the Russian embassy in Washington did not immediately responded to a request for comment, regarding these allegations.

What is Chloropicrin?

Last used during World War I, Chloropicrin has been designated as a prohibited choking agent by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), headquartered in The Hague. This organization was established to enforce and oversee adherence to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) of 1993. During World War I, German forces deployed this gas against Allied troops, marking one of the earliest instances of chemical warfare.

While civilians typically can evade riot control gases during protests, soldiers confined to trenches without protective masks must either retreat amidst enemy gunfire or face the possibility of suffocation.

Use Of Chemical Weapons

As per a report by Reuters published earlier this month, The Ukrainian military claimed that Russia has intensified its offensive by upping its illegal use of riot control agents while advancing in eastern Ukraine.

Alongside chloropicrin, Russian troops are reported to have employed grenades containing CS and CN gases. The Ukrainian military claims that over 500 of its soldiers have required treatment due to exposure to these toxic substances, with one casualty reportedly resulting from suffocation due to tear gas.

Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC)

The CWC prohibits making and using chemical weapons. It also tells all 193 countries that signed it, including Russia and the U.S., to get rid of any banned chemicals they have.

The State Department was supposed to tell the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), its determination that Russia broke the CWC.

Russia and Ukraine have blamed each other for breaking the rules in meetings at the OPCW. But the OPCW says it hasn't been asked to start looking into the use of banned stuff in Ukraine.
US President Joe Biden has labelled two of his QUAD partners, India and Japan, and two of his adversaries, Russia and China, as "xenophobic" nations, claiming that none of these countries, unlike the United States, welcome immigrants. "This election is about liberty, America, and democracy. That's why I bady need you. You and many others have contributed to the growth of our economy. Why? "Because we welcome immigrants," Biden told supporters at a fundraiser here Wednesday evening.

"We look to the reasonlook, think about it. Why is China's economy stalling so badly? Why is Japan having trouble? Why is Russia? Why is India? Because they are xenophobic. Biden, the Democratic Party's candidate, stated that they do not want immigrants.

Immigration is a hot topic in the upcoming presidential election on November 5, when Biden will face former President Donald Trump, the Republican Party's presumptive candidate.



Their nominations will be confirmed during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July and the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August.

"Immigrants are what give us strength. This is not a joke. That's not hyperbole, because we have an influx of workers who want to be here and contribute," the president said at the Democratic Party fundraising event. India and Japan are members of QUAD, a four-member strategic security dialogue that includes the United States and Australia.



Last year, Biden hosted Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a state visit, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida paid an official visit to the White House last month. Biden has come under fire from his opponents and the Republican Party for his immigration policies, as hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants enter the United States each month.






Ipsen Pharma



PARIS, FRANCE, 2 May 2024 - Ipsen (Euronext: IPN; ADR: IPSEY), a global specialty-driven biopharmaceutical company, announced today the appointment of Keira Driansky as EVP, President of North America, effective May 13, 2024. She will serve on the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) and report directly to Ipsens Chief Executive Officer (CEO), David Loew.

We are thrilled to welcome Keira to Ipsen as our new President of North America as she brings extensive experience in the life sciences industry and a proven track record of leadership to our team, said David Loew, CEO Ipsen. As we continue to navigate the complexities of the pharmaceutical landscape, Keiras strategic vision will be instrumental in guiding our company toward a future of bringing groundbreaking medicines and enhanced outcomes to patients.

Keira will be joining Ipsen from AstraZeneca, where she spent the last 13 years leading teams across the US, Europe and global functions. Most recently Keira served as Country President of AstraZeneca for Belgium and Luxembourg, where she oversaw 14 launches across various therapeutic areas, leading AZ to become the fastest-growing pharma company in Belgium. Previously, she served as VP, Global Commercial Head for Tagrisso across more than 90 countries. She also spent more than five years in AZs US Oncology business leading multiple sales and marketing teams through six launches.

A former science researcher, Keira brings broad experience across the healthcare industry, from commercial leadership to healthcare investing and business development. She received her MBA from Harvard Business School and an MPhil in Bioscience Enterprise from the University of Cambridge. Keira also conducted breast cancer epidemiology research at the University of Oxford as a Marshall Scholar and conducted biochemistry research at Yale under a Howard Hughes Medical Fellowship.

Im excited to join the talented and established team at Ipsen at this time of dynamic growth, with four innovative launches across therapeutic areas, including the latest in first-line pancreatic cancer, said Keira Driansky. I look forward to partnering with Ipsens employees, customers, and stakeholders across the healthcare ecosystem to deliver breakthrough solutions for some of the most pressing global health challenges of our time."

Stewart Campbell, who as Ipsens President of North America for three years led the acceleration of Ipsens growth, will leave Ipsen to pursue other opportunities.

ENDS

About Ipsen

We are a global biopharmaceutical company with a focus on bringing transformative medicines to patients in three therapeutic areas: Oncology, Rare Disease and Neuroscience.

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Our pipeline is fueled by external innovation and supported by nearly 100 years of development experience and global hubs in the U.S., France and the U.K. Our teams in more than 40 countries and our partnerships around the world enable us to bring medicines to patients in more than 80 countries.

Ipsen is listed in Paris (Euronext: IPN) and in the U.S. through a Sponsored Level I American Depositary Receipt program (ADR: IPSEY). For more information, visit ipsen.com.

Ipsen contacts

Investors

Craig Marks | +44 (0)7584 349 193 | craig.marks@ipsen.com

Nicolas Bogler | +33 6 52 19 98 92 | nicolas.bogler@ipsen.com

Media

Amy Wolf | +41 79 576 07 23 | amy.wolf@ipsen.com

Elizabeth Kalina | +1 857 331 0060| elizabeth.kalina@ipsen.com

Disclaimers and/or Forward-Looking Statements



The forward-looking statements, objectives and targets contained herein are based on Ipsens management strategy, current views and assumptions. Such statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those anticipated herein. All of the above risks could affect Ipsens future ability to achieve its financial targets, which were set assuming reasonable macroeconomic conditions based on the information available today. Use of the words believes, anticipates and expects and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, including Ipsens expectations regarding future events, including regulatory filings and determinations. Moreover, the targets described in this document were prepared without taking into account external-growth assumptions and potential future acquisitions, which may alter these parameters. These objectives are based on data and assumptions regarded as reasonable by Ipsen. These targets depend on conditions or facts likely to happen in the future, and not exclusively on historical data. Actual results may depart significantly from these targets given the occurrence of certain risks and uncertainties, notably the fact that a promising medicine in early development phase or clinical trial may end up never being launched on the market or reaching its commercial targets, notably for regulatory or competition reasons. Ipsen must face or might face competition from generic medicine that might translate into a loss of market share. Furthermore, the research and development process involves several stages each of which involves the substantial risk that Ipsen may fail to achieve its objectives and be forced to abandon its efforts with regards to a medicine in which it has invested significant sums. Therefore, Ipsen cannot be certain that favorable results obtained during preclinical trials will be confirmed subsequently during clinical trials, or that the results of clinical trials will be sufficient to demonstrate the safe and effective nature of the medicine concerned. There can be no guarantees a medicine will receive the necessary regulatory approvals or that the medicine will prove to be commercially successful. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results may differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Other risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to, general industry conditions and competition; general economic factors, including interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations; the impact of pharmaceutical industry regulation and healthcare legislation; global trends toward healthcare cost containment; technological advances, new medicine and patents attained by competitors; challenges inherent in new-medicine development, including obtaining regulatory approval; Ipsens ability to accurately predict future market conditions; manufacturing difficulties or delays; financial instability of international economies and sovereign risk; dependence on the effectiveness of Ipsens patents and other protections for innovative medicines; and the exposure to litigation, including patent litigation, and/or regulatory actions. Ipsen also depends on third parties to develop and market some of its medicines which could potentially generate substantial royalties; these partners could behave in such ways which could cause damage to Ipsens activities and financial results. Ipsen cannot be certain that its partners will fulfil their obligations. It might be unable to obtain any benefit from those agreements. A default by any of Ipsens partners could generate lower revenues than expected. Such situations could have a negative impact on Ipsens business, financial position or performance. Ipsen expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements, targets or estimates contained in this press release to reflect any change in events, conditions, assumptions or circumstances on which any such statements are based, unless so required by applicable law. Ipsens business is subject to the risk factors outlined in its registration documents filed with the French Autorite des Marches Financiers. The risks and uncertainties set out are not exhaustive and the reader is advised to refer to Ipsens latest Universal Registration Document, available on ipsen.com.

Attachment




The New York Police Department (NYPD) reportedly arrested a total of 282 individuals at Columbia University and the City College of New York from Tuesday night until Wednesday morning.

The demonstrations surged across American university grounds amid escalating worries about Israel's military actions in Gaza. As per a report from ANI citing Al Jazeera, multiple arrests have been made in New York, along with a concerning episode of aggression from counter-protesters in California.

The action comes amidst authorities dispersing students who had been occupying Columbia University's Hamilton Hall since April 30.

Police forces have been deployed on US college campuses amid unrest from protests. At Columbia University and the City University of New York, demonstrators were cleared out overnight.

Meanwhile, at the University of California, Los Angeles, numerous police cars patrolled the campus following violent clashes triggered by counter-protesters attacking a group of pro-Palestinian students.
A Ryanair passenger plane is parked at Cologne/Bonn Airport. Irish budget airline operator Ryanair Holdings reported guests of 17.3 million for the month of April, 2024, compared to 16.0 million, a year ago, an increase of 8%. Thomas Banneyer/dpa

Irish budget airline operator Ryanair Holdings reported guests of 17.3 million for the month of April, 2024, compared to 16.0 million, a year ago, an increase of 8%.

Load factor was 92% compared to 94%, prior year, down 2 percentage points. The airline operated over 98,400 flights in April.

Almost 700 flights were cancelled due to Israel/Gaza conflict and over 340 flights cancelled due to the French ATC strike.

For the rolling period, guests were 185.0 million, an increase of 9% from prior year. Load factor was 93%, a decline of 1 percentage point.
RENO, NV - (NewMediaWire) - May 02, 2024 - Itronics Inc. (OTC: ITRO) ("Itronics" or the "Company), the Cleantech "Zero Waste Energy Saving" Technology Company that produces GOLD'n GRO fertilizers and silver, today announces to investors that its majority owned subsidiary, Auric Gold & Minerals, Inc. ("Auric"), has launched its newly updated website www.auricgoldandminerals.com.

Auric is delighted to welcome investors to visit the new website to learn more about its large polymetallic copper gold prospect, the Auric Fulstone project, which is strategically located in the Yerington Mining District in Yerington, Nevada. As Auric pursues a listing for a crowdfunding offering, its website will serve as a key source of information for investors to get acquainted with Auric and the significant opportunity the Auric Fulstone project presents. Additionally, the newly updated website will serve as a "go to" location for progress updates on the advancement of the project.

"We are pleased with the progress that Auric has made on its activation and are excited about what the future holds for this promising polymetallic gold prospect," said Itronics President, Dr. John Whitney. "The newly launched Auric website contains plenty of never-before-seen information about the Auric Fulstone property that new and existing investors alike will find quite compelling. We encourage all investors to visit the website and thoroughly browse the information that is presented within," concluded Dr. Whitney.

About Itronics

Headquartered in Reno, Nevada, Itronics Inc. is a "Zero Waste Energy Saving Technology" Company that produces GOLD'n GRO multi-nutrient liquid fertilizers, silver bullion, and silver-bearing glass. The Company's environmentally friendly award winning GOLD'n GRO liquid fertilizers are used extensively in agriculture in California. Information about the fertilizers is available at www.goldngro.com.

VISIT OUR WEB SITE: http://www.itronics.com

GOLD'n GRO Fertilizer Information: www.goldngro.com

Auric Gold & Minerals, Inc. www.auricgoldandminerals.com

Contact us (775) 689-7696

("Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This press release contains or may contain forward-looking statements such as statements regarding the Company's growth and profitability, growth strategy, liquidity and access to public markets, operating expense reduction, and trends in the industry in which the Company operates. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are also subject to other risks and uncertainties, including those more fully described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changes in risks, uncertainties or assumptions underlying or affecting such statements, or for prospective events that may have a retroactive effect.)

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Contact:

Kyle Graham

888-795-6336
PARIS (AP)  Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida unveiled an international framework for regulation and use of generative AI on Thursday, adding to global efforts on governance for the rapidly advancing technology.

Kishida made the announcement in a speech at the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Generative AI has the potential to be a vital tool to further enrich the world, Kishida said. But we must also confront the dark side of AI, such as the risk of disinformation."

When Japan chaired the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations last year, it launched a Hiroshima AI process to draw up international guiding principles and a code of conduct for AI developers.

Some 49 countries and regions have signed up to the voluntary framework, called the Hiroshima AI Process Friends Group, Kishida said, without naming any. They will work on implementing principles and code of conduct to address the risks of generative AI and promote cooperation to ensure that people all over the world can benefit from the use of safe, secure, and trustworthy AI, he said.

The European Union, the United States, China and many other nations have been racing to draw up regulations and oversight for AI, while global bodies such as the United Nations have been grappling with how to supervise it.
Jaspreet Singh / Jaspreet Singh

When you were a kid, you might have learned from parents, teachers or friends that the best way to earn a high income in adulthood is to get a college degree and become a doctor, lawyer or some other type of professional.

While those roles can undoubtedly earn you a decent salary, they come at a high cost. In fact, according to SoFi, the average physician graduates with over $205,000 in student loan debt  an eye-popping amount that can make would-be doctors completely reevaluate their life plans. Lawyers dont fare much better, as their student loans can reach $180,000 or more.

Find Out: Mark Cubans 5 Best Passive Income Ideas

Try This: How To Get $340 Per Year in Cash Back on Gas and Other Things You Already Buy

So, what can you do if youd like a nice salary but want to avoid going back to school or taking on massive student loans? Jaspreet Singh, host of Minority Mindset, has some advice: Start by learning five basic high-income skills.

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What Is a High-Income Skill?

In his YouTube video, Singh defines a high-income skill as something that can make you at least $10,000 a month without going back to school to get a degree to learn this knowledge.

While theres no guarantee that such skills will put $10,000 in your pocket each month, Singh says it is possible if you do the work.

5 High-Income Skills That Can Earn You Big Bucks

Here are the five high-income skills that ambitious entrepreneurs should add to their professional toolbox, according to Singh.

1. Learn How To Sell

As Singh says, Sales are the backbone of business.

And thats 100% true. After all, a company with no customers will never make a dime, no matter how great its products or services are. That company will fail pretty quickly. Thats why businesses rely on their sales and marketing teams to attract clients and build their revenues.

But, theres an art to selling. People hate to be sold to, says Singh. Instead, true salesmanship requires relationship development. You work to build trust with your audience, learn what its pain points are and grow the relationship.

Singh learned how to sell when he worked in real estate. He learned how to cold call and deal with rejection and what it felt like to close a client. He says, You dont need a fancy degree to learn sales skills. You can take your sales skills anywhere and use them in any industry.

Read Next: Tony Robbins: 10 Passive Income Ideas To Build Your Fortune

2. Familiarize Yourself With Digital Marketing

Another high-income skill to learn, according to Singh? Digital marketing.

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Digital marketing encompasses a wide range of strategies, including SEO, online ads, social media, email marketing, content creation and more. Theres a lot to it, and grasping all of the concepts can take lots of trial and error.

Many people get into digital marketing, and they think they have to learn how to do Facebook ads or Google ads, says Singh.

But its more than that  you must learn the whole system. Figure out how to capture an audiences emotions through an ad and transition them from a follower to a customer.

3. Get Good at Money Management, Investing and Building a Financial System

Too often, people overspend and get caught in a cycle of living paycheck to paycheck. Thats a mistake  it can blow your chances of becoming financially independent. Instead, Singh advises others to learn how to live below your means and spend in a way that grows you.

What grows you? Things like learning new skills to increase your income or investing in stocks.

You can build a rewarding financial system for yourself at virtually any income level. To make it a reality, spend less than you earn and put the money you save into investments or other assets that build value over time. However, getting into that saving and investing mindset can be tricky. But, Singh says, You have to know how to spend less, earn more and invest like crazy.

4. Know How To Write

Writing is something anyone can master, says Singh. He grew up learning English as a second language to his native Punjabi but never actually enjoyed it. However, he beefed up his skills when he realized how important writing was to his business goals.

Now, I spend a lot of my time writing, he says. Nearly every part of his business requires writing of some type, including video scripts, blog posts and sales pitches.

He suggests learning how to write in a way that connects with others emotions. People buy products because of how you make them feel. You need to know how to keep them engaged. Think of writing as an essential high-income skill that pairs well with digital marketing and sales.

5. Learn How To Take Risks

The final high-income skill that Singh suggests is learning how to take risks. Many of his friends are engineers, and one thing that hes noticed among them is their tendency toward black-and-white thinking, or seeing things as all good or all bad. Black-and-white thinking can hinder someones ability to take risks, even if theres a potential to earn money.

Thats something thats hard to break out of, but you have to if you want to take risks, says Singh. Most entrepreneurial and investment opportunities present some degree of risk, and being open to them  whether they end up being a success or not  is essential if you want to make a lot of money.

Says Singh, When you take risks, theres no guarantee something will succeed. You have to be willing to fail, screw up and look stupid. Singh has experienced both ends of the spectrum  ventures that didnt go well and others that thrived. He notes that if you never take a risk, youll always wonder what would have happened if you had tried.

Final Take

Can learning Singhs five high-income skills really help you earn $10,000 each month? Its entirely possible  but like he says, You have to do the work. There is no easy path to wealth, and most people who become monetarily successful experience some setbacks along the way, even if theyre great sellers or have mastered the art of digital marketing. But with every setback comes a new opportunity if you put your mind to it.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Jaspreet Singh Says Learning 5 High-Income Skills Will Help You Make More Money
Kite Realty Group Trust (NYSE:KRG) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript May 1, 2024

Kite Realty Group Trust isn't one of the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds at the end of the third quarter (see the details here).

Operator: Thank you for standing by. Welcome to the first quarter 2024 Kite Realty Group Trust earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in listen only mode. After the speakers presentation, there will be a question and answer session. [Operator Instructions]. As a reminder, today's program is being recorded. And now I'd like to introduce your host for today's program, Bryan McCarthy, Senior Vice President at Corporate Development and Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Bryan McCarthy: Thank you and good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to Kite Realty Group's first quarter earnings call. Some of today's comments contain forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions of future events and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from these statements. For more information about the factors that can adversely affect the company's results, please see our SEC filings, including our most recent Form 10-K. Today's remarks also include certain non-GAAP financial measures. Please refer to yesterday's earnings press release available on our website for reconciliation of these non-GAAP performance measures to our GAAP financial results. On the call with me today from Kite Realty Group, are Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, John Kite; President and Chief Operating Officer, Tom McGowan, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Heath Fear; Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer, Dave Buell and Senior Vice President Capital Markets and Investor relations Tyler Henshaw.

I'll now turn the call over to John.

John Kite: Thanks Bryan and thanks everybody for joining today. KRG has maintained our momentum into the first quarter of 2024, delivering exceptional execution across our platform and further strengthening our already best in class balance sheet. Heath will walk you through the details of our quarterly results and increase guidance. And I'll focus on recent sector trends, our operating priorities, and the series of strategic, well-timed initiatives that have allowed KRG to earn the highest total return in the open-air retail space over the past five years. Open air retail has demonstrated strong fundamentals and rapidly accelerated recognition of its essential role in each community we serve. The reappreciation of open air's critical role as the most convenient and profitable distribution channel has resulted in consistent demand across our portfolio from both our tenants and shoppers.

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The renaissance of open-air retail is amplified in the Sunbelt, where our portfolio benefits from migration trends out of higher cost living -- at a higher cost of living metros and to warmer lower tax states. The top 10 MSAs for population growth in 2023 account for over 30% of our revenue and include cities like Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, or Orlando, Tampa and Phoenix. On the operational front, we remain laser focused on creating the best experience possible at our centers by selectively adding high-quality tenants to our portfolio. Since the beginning of 2022, we've executed 53 anchor leases to 36 different brands, over 90% of which were national tenants, and we increased our grocery exposure by 400 basis points to nearly 80%. We've generated 46% comparable cash spreads and 26% returns on capital, and we're very confident in our ability to continue the robust leasing efforts.

Our thoughtful approach prioritizing quality and value creation will continue to enhance the merchandising mix at our centers and improve the credit profile of our tenant base. On the small shop side, we continue to have success pushing higher embedded growth for new and non-option renewal shop leases signed in the first quarter of 2024. The average annual growth was 3.4%, and 70% of these leases had fixed rent bumps greater than or equal to 4%. To illustrate the tremendous progress we've made in 2022, the average annual growth was 2.7%, and only 3% of the leases had fixed rent bumps greater than or 4%. The benefit of negotiating higher fixed rent bumps will take time to materialize, but our efforts are on track to provide tangible improvements to our long-term embedded growth profile.

Maintaining a disciplined leasing approach by keeping quality and growth at the forefront will further strengthen our durable cash flow stream, while generating strong risk adjusted and absolute returns. Our sign not open pipeline increased to $32 million and we expect 76% of the NOI to commence in 2024. On pages six and seven of our latest investor deck, we detail the commencement timing of the of the sign not open pipeline and the compelling opportunity for investors based on current share price at various capitalization rates. These pages do not account for the future opportunity to allocate free cash flow, which we expect will significantly ramp up as our elevated leasing spend normalizes. Along with our increased free cash flow, we expect meaningful AFFO and dividend growth While the opportunity for investors is very compelling right now, we believe the future holds an even more convincing case for KRG with better growth and more capital to allocate.

View of a mall entrance, showcasing the retail experiences offered by the company's REIT.

Over the last five years, KRG has earned the highest total return in our sector. We were able to accomplish this by improving the quality and location of our portfolio, fortifying our balance sheet, executing on a transformational merger, improving our credit ratings and rerating our cost of debt. These very well-timed successes could not have dovetailed better with the open-air retail supply and demand imbalance, the acceleration of consumer trends spurred by the pandemic and the increased commitment to physical retail. Our continued execution has allowed us to raise the midpoint of our 2024 FFO guidance by $0.02 and our same property NOI growth assumption by 50 basis points. Our team has produced solid results and collectively we've positioned the company to continue outperforming.

We have an experienced group across all departments of the organization and I hope each of you will get to spend time with our various team members at our remaining four and 24 events in Dallas, Washington DC and Las Vegas. Thank you as always to our incredible team. And now Ill turn the call to Heath.

Heath Fear: Thank you and good afternoon. Following John's remarks about our four and 24 series, our initial event last February was very well received and showcased the strength of the Naples market, the underlying quality of our bread and butter assets and the intensity of our operating platform. We are anticipating a great turnout for our next event in Dallas, which is our largest market in terms of ABR and GLA. In Dallas we will tour over 5% of KRGs total NOI, while demonstrating the prowess of our leasing team using Southlake Town Square as our case study. Southlake is one of the nation's premier mixed-use lifestyle centers and we can't wait to show you the tremendous progress we have made. Turning to our results for the first quarter of 2024, KRG earned $0.50 of NAREIT FFO per share, which was slightly higher than anticipated due to outperformance in same property NOI and an unbudgeted termination fee.

Same property NOI grew by 1.8%, bolstered by increases in minimum rent and lower bad debt as offset by a decrease in net recoveries, primarily due to the timing of recoverable operating expenses. Based on the first quarter outperformance and our revised outlook for the balance of the year we are increasing our 2024 FFO guidance by $0.02 at the midpoint to a range of $2.02 to $2.08. At the midpoint we assume a full-year bad debt assumption of 80 basis points of total revenues and a full-year same property NOI growth assumption of 2%. This represents a 20-basis point bad debt improvement and a 50-basis point improvement in same property NOI growth as compared to our original guidance. The improvement in the full-year bad debt component is a function of combining the actual bad debt we experienced in the first quarter, which was approximately 30 basis points of first quarter revenues with the continuing assumption of 100 basis points of bad debt, of total revenues for the remaining three quarters.

As we detailed last quarter, our same property growth for 2024 was adversely impacted by our disproportionate exposure to Bed Bath, the unexpected departure of a large feeder tenant and the extremely low bad debt we experienced in 2023. Absent these three items our same-store growth assumption for 2024 would be 3.5%. In terms of the trajectory for 2024, we expect same property NOI growth to accelerate in the back half of this year, providing a solid foundation for growth into 2025 and 2026. As always, our goal with giving guidance is to prudently set expectations while leaving room to outperform. With that in mind, our guidance does not include certain recurring, but unpredictable items including lease termination fees, land sale gains, or prior period collections unless and until the same are committed.

Following our well-timed bond issuance, Moody's upgraded KRG to BA2 and Fitch revised our outlook to positive. Furthermore, we are optimistic that S&P's positive outlook will mature into a full upgrade to BBB in the next few quarters. On page 14 of our investor presentation, we show the complete overhaul in our cost of debt relative to the BBB REIT index. As we continue to demonstrate our commitment to maintaining a strong balance sheet and show the same commitment to the unsecured debt market, we expect our debt pricing will continue to compress. As a reminder, we continue to hold the proceeds from our $350 million January bond offering in an investment account earning interest in excess of the yield on our 2024 maturities, which we intend to retire in late June and Mid-July, at 5.1 times net debt to EBTIDA, approximately $1.2 billion in available liquidity, a debt service coverage ratio over 5 times, and healthy operating fundamentals.

Our credit profile is one of the best in the sector. As highlighted on page seven of our investor debt, the current stock price of KRG represents an extremely compelling entry point. The recent private market transactions serve to solidify our current value proposition. We believe that the catalysts for a change in our equity multiple are clear in the form of outsized occupancy gains over the next two years. Strong pricing power, higher embedded growth, low leverage, improved cost of debt, and significant free cash flow in the outer years. Thank you all for joining the call today. Operator, this concludes our prepared remarks. Please open the line for questions.

See also

25 Easy Pranks Guaranteed to Get Laughs and

30 Most Dangerous Cities in the US.

To continue reading the Q&A session, please click here.
LONDON (Reuters) - Lloyd's of London insurers Hiscox and Lancashire do not expect large insurance claims from the collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge in March that caused widespread disruption, they said on Thursday.

Some estimates for the total insured losses from the bridge collapse run into billions of dollars, given the loss of lives, bridge repair costs and traffic re-routing.

Hiscox does not have direct exposure to the business interruption policy of the port, which is the busiest in the United States for auto shipments, or the property policy covering the bridge, the insurer said in its first-quarter trading statement.

Hiscox said it was one of the reinsurers on the International Group of P&I Clubs' ship reinsurance policy, but said it expected its net loss to be "moderate", without giving further explanation.

Lancashire said in its first-quarter trading statement that "our potential exposure will be within our expectations for an event of this type".

French insurer AXA has also said it does not expect "material" losses from the bridge collapse. AXA's commercial insurance unit AXA XL is lead underwriter on the International Group $3.1 billion reinsurance policy.

Grace Ocean Private Limited, the owner of the Dali container ship that hit the bridge, and its manager Synergy Marine Pte petitioned to limit their liability to a maximum of $43.6 million in an April 1 filing.

The mayor and city council of Baltimore last week filed a lawsuit against the two firms, accusing them of negligence in operating the ship, and saying the loss of the bridge has caused the citys economic engine to "grind to a halt".

Chubb, which had insured the bridge is getting ready to pay $350 million to the state of Maryland, a spokesperson for WTW, the broker for the bridge's insurance policy, said on Thursday. Chubb declined to comment.

(Reporting by Carolyn Cohn; editing by Barbara Lewis)
(COLORADO SPRINGS)  Driving through downtown, there is a unique element in recognizing the wide range of locally run businesses that fill the streets. From good books to cozy sweatshirts and even vibrant tattoos, these establishments have a little something of everything for the southern Colorado community.

Several of these local treasures have been around for decades like Poor Richards, which opened its doors in 1977 and is a unique blend of a restaurant and bookstore. Richard Skorman, alongside his wife, are the owners of Poor Richards and have seen the business evolve into four different entities.

Its very important that people support small businesses, and you know there are lots of times where you have to go to a national chain or go to Amazon or whatever but we give back more to the community, Skorman said. They say $0.06 of every dollar that people spend in the small business stays in the community.

In the heart of Colorado Springs, these mom-and-pop shops have stood strong despite the challenges that might come their way. These businesses not only contribute to the citys unique character but also show a sense of community and supportive spirit among them.

One little girl inside of Little Richards held up her newly purchased toy.

Theres a lot of small business owners and downtown, I think, is 90% small business, Skorman explained. We are friends with our competitors downtown, we all help each other out and its a nice feeling, really, of all of us working together.

Heebee Jeebees Tattoos also has been serving southern Colorado for decades, helping bring the creative visions of customers to life in ink. On Wednesday morning, Rick Keene, one of the tattoo artists, could be found hard at work, fulfilling those dreams.

I think it is the people, like, I definitely enjoy that, Keene said. We have a lot of military people in this town too. Id say a big majority of my clientele [is] of military people its cool to hear the stories.

On Wednesday, Rick Keene was busy working on a tattoo for a customer.

Welcoming both new and longtime customers to the store holds significant value for Keene, who cherishes the opportunity to work at a place that has been a part of the community for generations.

Our owner, Karen Knight, she has been a tattoo shop owner and owner of Heebee Jeebees for over 30 years now, Keene said. I think we just had 31 years, actually, so its pretty cool to be able to work at a place thats been around for so long.

The tattoo was done on one customers hand by Rick Keene.

Mayor Yemi Mobolade signed a proclamation on Wednesday morning at the Catalyst Campus Harvey House, recognizing April 29 to May 3 as the official small business week in Colorado Springs.

Our small businesses and our small business owners are the backbone of our economy, Mobolade said. What I mean is, in the same way, the spine gives structure and support to the body, small businesses give structure and support to our entire city.

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Mayor Yemi Mobolade signed a proclamation on Wednesday officially recognizing April 29 to May 3 as Small Business Week.

This week also serves as an opportunity to show these small businesses just how valued they are within the southern Colorado community.

Let our small business owners and let our small business people know that you see them, and you care for them, Mobolade said. If you have a favorite restaurant, maybe you go this week. If you have a favorite barber hairstylist, go support, send a message, send emails.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX21 News Colorado.
Feverpitched / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Home prices have spiked along with the cost of living in recent years, but that bubble could burst in some states. GOBankingRates spoke with Colten Claus, an associate broker with 8z Real Estate in Colorado Springs, Colorado, about the states where he predicts home prices could plummet within the next five years.

Explore More: 8 States To Move to If You Dont Want To Pay Taxes on Social Security

Find Out: How To Get $340 Per Year in Cash Back on Gas and Other Things You Already Buy

For buyers in these states, it may be best to sell sooner rather than later.

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States at Risk of Declining Home Prices

Claus identified these three states as the most at-risk for price declines:

New Jersey

High property taxes and an aging population could contribute to a stagnating or declining housing market as demand decreases, he said.

Trending Now: In Less Than a Decade, You Wont Be Able To Afford Homes in These ZIP Codes

Connecticut

Like New Jersey, Connecticut faces high taxes and population exodus challenges, which could lead to lower housing demand and prices, Claus said.

Illinois

The state is grappling with significant fiscal issues, high taxes and population decline, particularly in the Chicago area, which could suppress home values, Claus said.

Reasons for Potential Price Declines

Claus outlined the typical reasons why a state would experience a drop in home prices:

Economic stagnation: States struggling with economic challenges, like job losses or poor economic growth, may see reduced demand for housing.

Population decline: States experiencing net population loss due to outmigration may face reduced demand for homes, putting downward pressure on prices.

Tax burden: High property taxes can discourage buyers, potentially leading to a glut in the housing market and lower prices.

Overvalued markets: Areas that have experienced rapid price increases in recent years might not sustain these levels as buyers reach affordability limits.

What Homeowners Should Do

If you currently live in one of the states Claus mentioned or another state experiencing some of the characteristics of states with declining home prices, you may want to start taking action. Claus suggests starting by assessing local market conditions.

Homeowners should monitor local economic indicators, migration patterns and housing supply dynamics, Claus said.

If possible, consider selling your home within the next five years.

Those in states at risk might consider selling in the short to medium term before potential declines, Claus said.

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When in doubt, consult a professional.

Engaging with real estate professionals to get tailored advice based on specific local market conditions is crucial, Claus said.

Dont Panic

Even if it seems like your home value could be at risk, its important to note that this isnt cause to panic.

Real estate markets are inherently local and volatile, Claus said. Predictions are not guarantees and should be taken as part of broader analytical considerations. Some markets may rebound or stabilize after initial declines, depending on economic recovery, demographic shifts and policy changes.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Im a Real Estate Agent: 3 States Where You Should Sell Your Property in the Next 5 Years
Californias favourite fast food chains have been raising their prices after a divisive state law was passed last year raising their workers minimum wage to $20 an hour.

Enacted on 1 April, a new California law signed by Democratic governor Gavin Newsom last September made it mandatory for fast food chains to pay their employees at least $20 per hour.

Fast food workers in California now have one of the highest minimum wages in the country after the wage was increased, despite already having one of the highest  $15.50 per hour  in the United States before the law took effect.

While workers have won more money for their paycheques, this has had a knock-on effect on the prices that restaurant patrons now have to pay to buy their favourite fast food of choice.

Whether it is burritos, burgers, chicken or fries, customers who visit Californian fast-food chains may have to splurge a little extra on their lunch.

Prices at Chick-fil-A, Dominos, McDonalds, Burger King, Pizza Hut and Jack in the Box, among other restaurants, have seen an increase in Californian prices since September, according to data from market research firm Datassential, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Chipotle also told World that their chain has implemented a statewide price increase after the legislation was put in place.

In an investor call on Wednesday, it was revealed that prices in nearly 500 California Chipotle restaurants climbed from six per cent to seven per cent during the first week of April, the WSJ said.

Chick-fil-A has raised its prices by 10.6 per cent (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

The state isnt making it easy, Chipotle chief executive Brian Niccol told the outlet.

Prices at fast food eateries have increased by 10 per cent overall, outpacing all other states, the firm found after analysing thousands of US restaurants across 70 large chains.

Between mid-February and mid-April, Chick-fil-A raised its prices by 10.6 per cent, Starbucks raised them by 7.8 per cent, Shake Shack by 7.7 per cent, Chipotle by 6.9 per cent and Taco Bell by 4.1 per cent, according to Gordon Haskett Research Advisors.

Some chains preempted this price hike before the legislation came into effect, such as the restaurant El Pollo Loco, which has the majority of its US chains within California.

Michaela Mendelsohn, the CEO of Pollo West Corporation, told ABCs Good Morning America that they preempted their price raises to test the waters in February and saw a three per cent decline in transactions.

Its become really clear to us that our customers are [experiencing] sticker shock and price fatigue, Ms Mendelsohn told the show.

We quickly shifted from being profitable to losing money on April 1, the CEO said. Were in a tough position right now where were pretty much having to accept the fact that were making no money for a while until we figure this out.

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Chipotles chief executive Brian Niccol said that the state isnt making it easy after California upped minimum wages for fast food employees (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

To cut costs, the restaurant had to reduce hours by more than 10 per cent, simplify menus and implement automated ordering kiosks.

The law has also affected how consumers choose to spend. The Golden State already had some of the highest fast food prices in the country before the rise, market research firm Revenue Management Solutions says, but now customers are having to fork out even more of their money to buy fast food.

Consumers told The WSJ that they now swap their favourite meals for cheaper or independent restaurants or have limited their visits to fast food chains altogether.

However, for fast food workers, this law was a chance for extra financial security for themselves and their families in the state.

In California, most fast food workers are over 18 and the main providers for their families, according to Enrique Lopezlira, director of the University of California-Berkeley Labor Centers Low Wage Work Program, the Associated Press reports.

At the time the law was signed, Mr Newsom was flanked by a group of cheering workers and labour leaders after he upped the wage of more than half a million fast food workers in the state.

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, the governor said in September.
US tech giant Microsoft has announced plans to build a new regional data center in Thailand

According to Microsoft chairman and CEO Satya Nadella, the company will invest $1.7bn in Indonesia over the next four years to build new cloud and AI infrastructure.

"Thailand has an incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future," said Nadella, adding that the investments will help drive impact and growth in Thailands public and private sectors.

Companies in Thailand are increasingly focused on cloud computing services and, according to Microsoft, the commitments will allow the country to take advantage of the economic and productivity opportunities offered by artificial intelligence.

Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said: Todays announcement with Microsoft is an important milestone in the journey of our Ignite Thailand vision  one that promises new opportunities for growth, innovation and prosperity for all Thais.

The company announced that it will provide AI skills training for over 100,000 individuals and offer assistance to local developers. However, they have not revealed the exact amount of investment.

In 2021, Microsoft revealed its intentions to build new data centers in both Malaysia and Indonesia, showing its commitment to expanding its presence in Southeast Asia. The company already operates a data center in Singapore, which serves as its hub for the region.

On Tuesday, Microsoft announced that they will offer AI training to 2.5 million people in Southeast Asia by 2025. This includes countries like Thailand and Indonesia. The goal is to help people in these nations learn about artificial intelligence and its applications. Microsoft aims to empower individuals in the region through these educational opportunities.

"Microsoft to open new data centre in Thailand" was originally created and published by Investment Monitor, a GlobalData owned brand.







The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
Many investors consider Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) the ultimate artificial intelligence (AI) stock for two solid reasons: The company dominates the AI chip market and has turned this leadership into explosive revenue growth. As a result, Nvidia stock has soared in recent years. Just in 2024, it's climbed more than 70%.

Even though all of this sounds fantastic, it's reasonable to hesitate for a moment before hitting the buy button right now. It's important to consider the long-term picture and determine whether Nvidia can maintain its massive lead -- and continue translating this into earnings growth.

After all, rival chip companies such as Advanced Micro Devices and Intel are releasing better and better chips and could gain ground in the market. Is Nvidia still a buy?

Image source: Getty Images.

From video games to AI

First, let's talk about why Nvidia is such an AI giant. The company started out primarily serving the video game industry with its graphics processing units (GPUs). These chips' ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously produced all of the spectacular effects on the screen that gamers appreciated. And it became clear this ability could be valuable in many other areas -- including AI.

Nvidia created the parallel computing platform CUDA to adapt GPUs to general computing, and in recent years, the company's business in AI took off. Today, Nvidia still serves the gaming industry, but its AI revenue far surpasses gaming revenue. In the most recent quarter, data center revenue, which includes the AI business, soared 400% to more than $18 billion, while gaming revenue rose 59% to $2.9 billion.

Today, the company holds more than 80% of the AI chip market, with its chips and other related products and services available through the biggest cloud providers. Rivals are going after Nvidia, though. They're introducing new chips at a lower cost that could offer the company a run for its money.

For example, Intel recently announced the Gaudi 3 AI accelerator, which may outperform Nvidia's H100 on certain large language models. And rivals, including Intel and Alphabet as part of a consortium, are developing open-source software to support AI chips from different makers. While CUDA may only be used with Nvidia GPUs, this new open-source software will give customers a choice across chip brands.

Taking market share from Nvidia

This clearly could take some market share from Nvidia, but I'm not overly worried. First, rivals may launch chips that could match or beat Nvidia's H100, but this chip leader isn't standing still. Later this year, the company will launch its Blackwell architecture, which boasts six major innovations including its most powerful chip ever.

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It remains well ahead of rivals in the premium chip market, so if customers need top performance, they'll likely turn to Nvidia. And the company continues to innovate, pouring investment into research and development, so it should continue along the path a few steps ahead of its rivals.

Second, there's room in this market for Nvidia to keep growing in leaps and bounds and for rivals to succeed, too, serving customers that don't necessarily need the power of Nvidia's latest GPU. That's because the market is forecast to grow at a double-digit compound annual growth rate to reach more than $1 trillion by the end of the decade. A rival's win isn't necessarily Nvidia's loss.

There's reason to be confident that Nvidia's growth is far from over. On top of that, the stock today looks reasonably priced, trading at 35x forward earnings estimates -- especially considering analysts predict 37% annual growth for the company over the next five years.

All of this means that even after Nvidia's enormous gain, the stock has plenty of room to run. This makes it a buy -- and the ultimate AI stock to hold on to for the long term.

Should you invest $1,000 in Nvidia right now?

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Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Adria Cimino has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Alphabet, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends Intel and recommends the following options: long January 2025 $45 calls on Intel and short May 2024 $47 calls on Intel. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Up More Than 70%, Is Nvidia Stock a Buy Right Now? was originally published by The Motley Fool
NEWPORT  Tax rate decreases and school funding shortfalls are just a few of the topics of conversation currently underway at City Hall as city officials work toward finalizing its budget for Fiscal 2025.

Newport produces an annual budget each year to manage the money flowing in and expenses flowing out of city hall. It also produces a biennial budget every two years. The council is currently holding workshops to better understand the city administrations budget proposal for FY25. They will then hold three separate public hearings on the budget, scheduled for May 8, May 22 and June 12. The last hearing will also include a vote on the adoption of the budget.

Heres a rundown on five main points to take home from this years budget proposal:

1. Tax rates drop to account for staggering property value increases

The city has proposed an increase in General Fund revenues by 3.4%. This is a smaller increase than it proposed a year prior, which increased revenues by 6.11%. About 77% of the General Fund is funded by property taxes. The city establishes the property tax rates each budget cycle and applies them to the total assessed value of properties throughout the city to figure out what the tax levy, the total amount of property tax dollars the city will collect, will be.

This year, Newport homeowners received news of massive value increases in their property through the latest citywide property assessment. The average home increased in value by over 50% in just three years, causing many to panic over how this may affect their tax bills.

A sign on the first floor of Newport City Hall informs visitors of the Tax Assessor office.

With the total assessed value of all residential properties in Newport jumping from $5.9 billion to $8.57 billion, the city could not maintain its current tax rate without raising the total tax levy more than 4%, which goes against state law. Instead, the city is proposing a lower tax rate: $6.98 per thousand for owner-occupied residential properties, $8.22 per thousand for non-owner-occupied residential properties and $10.46 per thousand for commercial properties.

Through these new rates, the total tax levy increases by $3.4 million, an increase just shy of 4%.

This is also the second fiscal year that uses the citys new two-tier tax system, which discounts the rates for residential properties occupied by Newport residents. This year, owner-occupied properties have a tax rate thats 24% less than non-owner-occupied properties. Last year, it was just 15%.

2. School department faces $2.6 million budget deficit

The City of Newports contribution to the School Department budget makes up about 60% of the total funds that go into the citys public schools. This year, the city is proposing to increase the amount it gives to the school by 2% for a total of $28.38 million. This suggested appropriation is $276,737 less than the School Department proposed in its own draft budget.

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The School Department had hoped the city would increase its contribution by at least 3%, if not 4%, to help tackle the impending $2.6 million budget deficit it has predicted for Fiscal 2024. Part of the reason the department faces this deficit is a $250,000 reduction in the amount it will receive from the State of Rhode Island as a result of declining enrollment. Additionally, the district expects to pay $2 million more in salaries and benefits through its union contracts and $834,694.72 in tuition and transportation costs for students attending schools outside the district.

3. City department restructuring includes new department, new titles

During discussions on the citys Capital Improvement Plan, city administration proposed a plan to restructure its various departments into three umbrella departments: the Department of Public Safety, led by the police chief; the Department of Administration, led by the director of finance; and the Department of Resilience and Sustainability, led by a new director of resilience and sustainability.

The new Resilience and Sustainability department adds $529,096 to the budget through its new director position, a resilience assistant position and a grant writing position. The Planning and Economic Development, Zoning and Building Inspections, Public Services and Utilities Departments will all report directly to the Director of Resilience and Sustainability. The Public Safety Department will be in charge of the Police Department and Fire Department while the Administration Department will head the Finance, City Clerk and Canvassing offices.

The only departments not impacted by this restructuring are the City Managers office, the City Solicitors office, also referred to in the budget as the law department, Human Resources and the newly established Communications Department, although the latter is also referred to as a division within the City Managers office. While the city has had a communications manager for years, the FY25 budget adds the new "Director of Communications" title and a new communications assistant position.

In total, the city is proposing to add 8 new positions to its roster of executive, administrative and professional employees through this budget cycle. In addition to the new titles of Director of Communications, Director of Public Safety and Communications Assistant, the city has budgeted for an administrative assistant for the Fire Department, a city principal accountant, a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer, a deputy city manager, a deputy police chief, a deputy public services director, an executive assistant for the utilities department, a grant writer, a resilience assistant, a school principal accountant and a special project assistant for the utilities department. The positions of Harbormaster and Laboratory Supervisor were also moved to this list from the list of N.E.A Supervisory Employees.

4. Few departments to receive major increases/cuts

Many city departments were allocated very minor increases or decreases to their budgets through the proposed FY25 budget. However, a few standout departments still remain. The City Councils budget increased by 113.8% from FY2024, mostly due to an additional $104,000 in contract services and doubling of Sister City expenses. The City Managers Offices budget increased by 26.57%, which includes the new communications division expenses and an additional $50,000 in contract services. Finally, the Police Departments budget increased by 13.75%, as a result of a 14% increase in Police Administration and 15% increase in Uniform Patrol expenses.

5. The city is planning to spend more than it originally planned in 2023

The City of Newport has a biennial budget development process. Every two years, the city will put together a massive two-year budget that includes the proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year, as well as expectations and assumptions for the next fiscal year. The Biennial Budget for Fiscal Years 2024 and 2025, for example, was developed and approved by the city in Spring 2023.

Newport's top earners: Who are Newport's top municipal, school department earners? A look at salary data

There are several key differences between the new proposed budget for FY25 and the citys proposed FY25 budget from last year. The citys new FY25 budget for the general fund is $1.4 million than it was when initially proposed in 2023, and the city is planning to spend more than projected on expenditures in most departments. Heres a breakdown of the main differences between the two FY25 proposed budgets.

Increased allocation between the original biennial budget and the current proposed budget:

Total General Fund Expenditures, current proposal: $115,073,223 Initially proposed at $113,663,017

City Council, current proposal: $332,839 Initially $173,086

City Manager, current proposal: $2,219,109 Initially $1,692,394

City Solicitor, current proposal: $661,085 Initially $573,809

Finance, current proposal: $5,641,349 Initially $5,564,757

Police, current proposal: $21,512,205 Initially $19,163,160

Fire, current proposal: $22,741,351 Initially $22,389,445

Planning and Development, current proposal: $1,364,613 Initially $932,527



Decreased

Public School Operations, current proposal: $28,381,115 Initially $28,518,815

Public Services, current proposal: $12,845,471 Initially $12,853,952

Building and Inspections, current proposal: $653,819 Initially $757,000



This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Newport FY25 budget includes adding personal to city departments
(Bloomberg) -- Elon Musks Starlink service is still operating in multiple unauthorized regions, defying warnings issued by the company last month that its satellite internet will be shut down by May 1 in areas where it doesnt have a license to operate.

Most Read from Bloomberg

SpaceXs Starlink sent emails to customers in several African nations last month warning that it would restrict roaming where the service wasnt allowed.

Despite the vow to cut access, Adam Mohamed, a resident of El-Fasher in conflict-hit Sudan was able to answer Bloombergs questions in an interview conducted Wednesday. Im currently talking to you through the Starlink connection, its the only way of connecting between people, especially those who fled the war, he said.

Starlinks notices came after a March investigation by Bloomberg News, which first revealed the extent to which Musks satellites are being used in countries around the world where it is illegal to operate, including in territories ruled by repressive regimes. The ease of smuggling the kits and the sheer availability of Starlink on the black market suggested its misuse was a systemic global problem and raised questions about the companys control of a system with expansive national security dimensions.

Read more: Elon Musks Starlink Terminals Are Falling Into the Wrong Hands

Following the investigation, as well as a similar report weeks later in The Wall Street Journal, Starlink sent emails to account holders warning if you are operating your Starlink Kit in an area other than areas designated as - available - on the Starlink Availability Map, we would like to remind you that this is in violation of the Starlink terms and starting April 30th, 2024, you will be unable to connect to the internet, according to communications seen by Bloomberg and first reported by the Journal.

Bloomberg has viewed emails sent to users in South Africa and Botswana, following the earlier reports that people in Sudan were to be among those affected.

Yet an online poll of nearly 100 Starlink customers in South Africa showed that 73% could still access the service after the cut-off date. Some Starlink users Bloomberg spoke to in Sudan said their service had been cut off, while others reported being able to access the internet without interruption.

Starlink can deploy virtual barriers to prevent unauthorized users from connecting to its network in restricted areas, according to Manuel Ntumba, an Africa geospatial, governance and risk expert based in New York. Still, he said, successfully implementing these measures requires collaboration with regulatory bodies.

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SpaceX, the parent company of Starlink, didnt immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. Nor did the South African telecommunications regulator or a spokesperson for the Sudanese military.

In its emails to users the company said its roaming services are only intended for temporary travel and transit, and not for permanent use in an unlicensed location. It advised those who accessed the terminals in a different jurisdiction for more than two months to change your account country or return to the country in which your service was ordered, at risk of having their service restricted.

Read more: StarLink Halts Internet Service to Zimbabwe Pending Licensing

Starlink delivers broadband internet beamed down from a network of roughly 5,500 satellites that SpaceX started launching in 2019. With more than 2.6 million customers already, Starlink has the potential to become a major moneymaker for SpaceX, a company that began as Musks way to fulfill his ambition of exploring Mars and has now become the most important private-sector contractor to the US governments space program and a dominant force in national security.

Musk, until recently the worlds richest person, has said there will be a cap to how much money SpaceXs satellite launch services business will make, while Starlink could eventually reach revenue of $30 billion a year.

But given the security concerns around a private American company controlling internet service, SpaceX first needs to sign agreements with governments in each territory.

The company, which recently struck a deal to operate in Israel, said it plans to launch tens of thousands of additional satellites to connect places that are too remote for ground-based broadband, or that have been cut off by natural disasters or conflict.

Read more: Musks Starlink Inches Closer to Yemen License, Official Says

Humanitarian organizations in Sudan, for example, have warned restricting the service will undermine their work across the country, which has been embroiled in civil war since April 2023.

We have contacted Starlink in order to consider the situation in Sudan and not cut services. The majority of the emergency rooms, the public kitchens and thousands of people are using Starlink internet to survive, Hadreen, a local charity organization called said in a statement.

Residents in Al-Jazeera state said that local Starlink shops, which are mainly operated by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been suspended in some areas since last week.

The majority of local Starlink shops have been shut down, Musab Mahmoud from Al-Hasahesa locality in western Al-Jazeera state told Bloomberg.

But others, including Khalid Hassan from Khartoum, told Bloomberg that he is still using Starlink.

I have received a transfer from my brother who is based in Uganda just today. RSF soldiers are still running Starlink shops, he said.

--With assistance from Loren Grush and Eric Johnson.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
Neptune Flood, a US-based insurtech company, has announced the acquisition of Charles River Data, a data science consulting group, for an undisclosed sum.

The acquisition is expected to enhance Neptune's Triton underwriting system with advanced data science, machine learning and AI.

Charles River Data, headquartered in Boston, is known for its expertise in big tech and academia, specialising in the development of analytical tools and models.

These tools are designed to empower businesses to leverage data for strategic decision-making.

The integration with Neptune is expected to refine the company's ability to analyse and underwrite flood risk with increased precision and speed.

As the new chief data science officer of Neptune, Mike Dezube, the CEO of Charles River Data, brings with him eight years of experience working as a data scientist at Google.

His co-founder, Gleb Drobkov, previously a consultant at BCG X, will take on the role of chief strategy officer at Neptune.

Neptune Flood CEO Trevor Burgess said: "The integration of Charles River Data's expertise will enable us to expand our analytical capabilities, ensuring faster and more accurate flood risk assessments for our customers.

Dezube added: "We are thrilled to join Neptune and contribute to a platform that is transforming an industry through data and AI. Our expertise in data science aligns seamlessly with Neptune's vision of accuracy and efficiency in underwriting flood risk, and together, we will bring the industry forward, setting new standards as we go".

Earlier in February, Neptune introduced its excess flood insurance product catering to residential, commercial and condominium properties.

This policy offers coverage beyond the maximum limit available through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), allowing customers to maintain their NFIP policy while still receiving market rate coverage.

It also aims to fill coverage gaps and safeguard against losses that exceed NFIP limits.

"Neptune Flood acquires data science company Charles River Data " was originally created and published by Life Insurance International, a GlobalData owned brand.







The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
Scott Sheffield has been accused of coordinating with US shale oil producers to restrict output and raise prices - REUTERS/Daniel Kramer

A leading US energy executive has been barred from the board of ExxonMobil over allegations he colluded with Opec+ to raise oil prices.

Scott Sheffield, the former chief executive of Pioneer Natural Resources, coordinated with US shale oil producers to restrict output and raise energy prices, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alleged.

The FTC also claimed he used that position of influence to align oil production across the Permian Basin in West Texas and New Mexico with Opec+, the organisation dominated by Middle Eastern countries and Russia.

FTC said the collaboration between Opec and American rivals would have decreased oil production and pushed up fuel prices.

The US watchdog made the claims as it gave the go-ahead for ExxonMobils $60bn (47.9bn) purchase of Pioneer but effectively blocked Mr Sheffield from further involvement.

Kyle Mach, deputy director of the FTCs Bureau of Competition, told Reuters: Mr. Sheffields past conduct makes it crystal clear that he should be nowhere near Exxons boardroom.

Mr Sheffield and Pioneer reject the allegations.

In a statement, they said the regulator had a fundamental misunderstanding of the US and global oil markets and misreads the nature and intent of Mr. Sheffields actions.

Opec members control an estimated 79pc of the world's oil reserves - Akos Stiller/Bloomberg

A spokesman added: During Mr Sheffields career, it was neither the intent nor an effect of Mr Sheffields communications to circumvent the laws and principles protecting market competition.

On the contrary, Mr. Sheffield focused on legitimate topics such as investor feedback on independent oil and gas company growth and capital reinvestment frameworks; unfair foreign practices that threatened to undermine US energy security; and, through dialogue with government officials, the need to sustain a resilient, competitive and economically vibrant oil and gas industry in the United States.

When asked whether the FTC was referring the collusion allegations to the US Department of Justice for further investigation, a spokesman said only: The FTC has a responsibility to refer potentially criminal behaviour and takes that obligation very seriously.

Exxon said it would not add Mr Sheffield to its board. A spokesman said the lengthy FTC investigation raised no concerns with our business practices.

Pioneer is a large independent oil and gas exploration and production company, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, with operations in the US.

The Pioneer acquisition will make Exxon the largest oil and gas producer in the biggest shale basin in the US, doubling its output there to more than 1.3 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.

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Opec, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, was founded in 1960 by Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Venezuela to strip control of global oil production from the UK and the British companies that then dominated.

Members control an estimated 79pc of the worlds oil reserves, and the ability to influence prices by controlling production has showered huge wealth on Opec members, particularly in the Middle East.

This has prompted other countries to join and now has 12 members, as well as a wider network called Opec+ launched in 2016 that involves another 10 oil-producing states, including Russia.

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Orion Innovation (Orion) has announced it has signed a deal with BNI Madagascar to improve the bank's digital banking experience for their customers. As part of the agreement, Orion will implement Temenos' cloud-based core banking platform into BNI's operations, modernising its product portfolio to bring customers personalised, digital-first banking solutions.

As one of the nation's premier banking network, BNI Madagascar stands as a pivotal entity in the national banking sector with an extensive network spread across all 23 regions of the country.

Alexandre Mey, CEO of BNI Madagascar, said: "We are committed to reinforcing our leadership in the banking sector while steering the digital revolution in Madagascar. Our vision is to create an integrated banking ecosystem that not only meets the current market needs but also anticipates them."

Thibault Huvelle, Head of Digital at BNI Madagascar, added: "By advancing towards a comprehensive digital ecosystem, we are transforming every digital interaction into an exceptional customer experience. We work closely with cutting-edge external partners like Orion, to ensure that our solutions are advanced and tailored to the specific needs of the Malagasy market. It marks a new era for banking, where technology continually enriches the user experience."

BNI Madagascar, a banking and financial services corporation, is embarking on a digital modernisation journey for both Small/Medium-sized enterprises and retail customers. Orion's suite of digital services and technology solutions will empower BNI to modernise legacy systems, design innovative products, and tap into new business opportunities.

This deal marks a significant achievement for Orion in the region

The deal reaffirms Orion's commitment to investing in Africa's digital transformation journey, enabling a unified banking experience across various touchpoints, spanning online banking, mobile banking, and in-branch services.

Suchen Janjale, Orion's Head of Financial Services in Europe, commented: "This is another deal that continues our success in Africa and the Middle East as we expand our services in the region. Our strong track record for providing banking transformations is what motivated BNI to select Orion as their trusted partner for their modernisation efforts.

"Orion Innovation signs deal with BNI Madagascar" was originally created and published by Retail Banker International, a GlobalData owned brand.







The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
Four years after a medical supplier saw a surge in demand during the pandemic in North Carolina, its Charlotte-area distribution center is closing, and throwing over 200 people out of work.

Medline Industries, based in Illinois, is closing its Charlotte distribution center in Lincolnton resulting in 220 job cuts, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) filed recently with the North Carolina Department of Commerce. The 917 E. Powell Drive facility is 42 miles northwest of Charlotte.

The first of four rounds of layoffs began March 25, Medlines attorney Kristin Carter said in a letter to the state agency.

Medline is consolidating operations at its new Mebane facility, and about 20 jobs will be relocated there, Carter said in the letter.

The transition will be completed by this summer, Medline told The Charlotte Observer. All Lincolnton workers are eligible to apply for other open positions at Medline.

Medline will offer employees severance packages and outplacement services to assist in their transition, according to the company.

Last year, Medline Industries permanently closed its Salisbury facility at 3310 S. Main St., resulting in 97 layoffs. The plant manufactured surgical procedure kits.

Thursday has been a roller coaster day for jobs in Lincoln County.

News of the layoffs comes as Gov. Roy Cooper announced lithium battery parts manufacturer Green New Energy Materials Inc. will invest $140 million in its first U.S. facility in Lincolnton, creating 545 jobs. The Denver area facility, just northwest of Charlotte, will manufacture battery separator components for North American customers.

Medline Industries, the largest privately held manufacturer and distributor of medical supplies in the U.S., is consolidating its North Carolina facilities resulting in 220 layoffs in Lincolnton. Medline Industries

More about Medline

In 2019, Medline Industries said it would create 250 jobs in Orange County by investing $65 million to build a 1.2 million-square-foot distribution center in Mebane, west of Durham. For its investment, Medline received a performance-based grant of $500,000 from the One North Carolina Fund.

Medline was at the forefront of the COVID pandemic crisis, manufacturing and distributing advanced medical equipment to hospital systems in the Charlotte region, The Observer previously reported.

In 2020, Medline had two North Carolina distribution centers  a 400,000-square-foot center in Lincolnton with 300 workers and 350,000-square-foot Concord facility with 75 employees  that were running 24/7 shifts to meet demand.

The Concord site was expected to be temporary until Mebane opened.

Medline Industries Charlotte distribution center in Lincolnton, shown in a file photo, saw medical supply demand increase 300% at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. Medline Industries/Observer file photo

Medline is the largest privately held manufacturer and distributor of medical supplies in the U.S.

It reported $21.2 billion in sales in 2022. The family-owned business manufactures more than 65,000 products and distributes more than 300,000 medical products, according to the companys website.

The healthcare company has more than 30,000 employees worldwide and does business in more than 125 countries and territories.
Net Sales: Reached $933 million, up 4% year-over-year, surpassing estimates of $839.69 million.

Net Income: Grew 16% to $35 million, exceeding the estimated $28.73 million.

Earnings Per Share (EPS): Reported at $1.59, up 18% from the previous year, surpassing the estimated $1.32.

Operating Margin: Increased by 20 basis points to 6.4%, reflecting improved operational efficiency.

Adjusted EBITDA: Rose 14% to $111 million; adjusted EBITDA margin expanded by 110 basis points to 11.9%.

Cash Flow: Operating cash flow improved significantly to $35 million, compared to a cash use of $1 million in the same period last year.

Acquisitions: Completed the acquisition of Sportech, LLC, marking a significant expansion into the powersports industry.

Patrick Industries Inc (NASDAQ:PATK), a prominent manufacturer and distributor of building products for the recreational vehicle (RV) and manufactured housing markets, released its 8-K filing on May 2, 2024, revealing a robust financial performance for the first quarter of 2024. The company reported a significant increase in net sales and earnings, outperforming analyst estimates and demonstrating effective strategic growth initiatives.

Patrick Industries Inc (PATK) Surpasses Analyst Expectations in Q1 2024 Earnings

Company Overview

Patrick Industries, headquartered in Elkhart, Indiana, operates primarily in two segments: manufacturing and distribution. The company's manufacturing segment, which contributes the majority of its revenue, offers a wide range of products including furniture, cabinets, and countertops primarily for the RV and manufactured housing industries. The distribution segment provides essential components like electrical and plumbing products. One of Patrick's RV customers accounts for a significant portion of its revenue, highlighting the importance of the RV market to its business model.

Financial Highlights and Performance

For Q1 2024, Patrick Industries reported net sales of $933 million, a 4% increase from $900 million in the same quarter the previous year. This growth was primarily fueled by a 15% increase in RV revenue and a 5% rise in housing revenue, alongside the strategic acquisition of Sportech, LLC. This acquisition marks the company's largest to date and significantly bolsters its market position in the powersports industry.

Net income for the quarter stood at $35 million, up 16% from $30 million in Q1 2023, with diluted earnings per share (EPS) increasing 18% to $1.59, surpassing the estimated EPS of $1.32. Adjusted EBITDA also saw a notable rise, increasing 14% to $111 million, reflecting an improved EBITDA margin of 11.9%.

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Operational and Strategic Developments

Patrick Industries' operational success in the quarter can be attributed to its disciplined management and strategic growth through acquisitions. The acquisition of Sportech not only diversifies Patrick's product offerings but also strengthens its foothold in the outdoor enthusiast market. Additionally, the company benefited from higher fixed cost absorption within its RV businesses and ongoing cost-saving initiatives.

The company's balance sheet remains robust, with net leverage at 2.8x. Cash flow from operations was significantly positive at $35 million, compared to a cash use of $1 million in the prior year, driven by a substantial reduction in working capital utilization and an increase in net income.

Market Sector Performance

The RV sector, representing 45% of total revenue, saw a revenue increase of 15% to $421 million. However, the marine sector experienced a 35% decline in revenue to $155 million, reflecting a decrease in wholesale powerboat industry unit shipments. The housing sector, comprising manufactured housing and industrial components, reported a 5% revenue increase to $275 million.

Looking Ahead

CEO Andy Nemeth expressed optimism about the company's future, citing the first quarter's performance as evidence of Patrick's resilience and strategic positioning. The company anticipates continued growth in the RV and manufactured housing markets and expects stabilization in the marine sector in the latter half of 2024.

As Patrick Industries continues to navigate through market fluctuations with a strong focus on innovation and customer service, it remains well-positioned to capitalize on future growth opportunities in the outdoor enthusiast and housing markets.

Conclusion

Patrick Industries' first-quarter results for 2024 reflect a company that is not only managing to navigate challenges but is also strategically positioning itself for sustained long-term growth. With a solid performance that surpasses analyst expectations, Patrick Industries is reinforcing its status as a key player in the industries it serves.

Explore the complete 8-K earnings release (here) from Patrick Industries Inc for further details.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.


Net Income: Reported at $210 million, falling short of the estimated $304.34 million.

Earnings Per Share (EPS): Achieved $3.16, below the estimated $4.55.

Revenue: Totalled $5.4 billion, surpassing the estimated $4558.43 million.

Adjusted Operating Income: Reached $401 million, with an EPS of $6.02, reflecting growth from the previous year's $349 million and $5.16 respectively.

Premium Growth: Experienced a significant increase of 58.8% year-over-year, amounting to $5.4 billion.

Book Value Per Share: Increased to $143.92 from $114.60 the previous year.

Return on Equity (ROE): Reported at 10.2%, with an adjusted operating ROE of 14.8% for the trailing twelve months.

Reinsurance Group of America Reports Q1 Earnings: A Detailed Comparison with Analyst Projections

On May 2, 2024, Reinsurance Group of America Inc (NYSE:RGA) released its 8-K filing, unveiling the financial results for the first quarter of the year. The company, a prominent global provider of life and health reinsurance, reported a net income available to shareholders of $210 million, translating to $3.16 per diluted share. This marks a decrease from the previous year's $252 million, or $3.72 per diluted share. However, adjusted operating income saw an increase, reaching $401 million or $6.02 per diluted share, up from $349 million or $5.16 per diluted share in the prior year.

Company Overview

Reinsurance Group of America Inc is an insurance holding company with a diverse global presence, including operations in the United States, Latin America, Canada, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. The company's offerings encompass a wide range of services such as life reinsurance, living benefits reinsurance, group reinsurance, health reinsurance, financial solutions, facultative underwriting, and product development. RGA operates through two main business segments: traditional and financial solutions.

Financial Performance and Market Challenges

The first quarter saw RGA achieving a significant premium growth of 58.8% year-over-year, amounting to $5.4 billion, with a notable $1.9 billion contribution from a single premium pension risk transfer transaction in the U.S. Financial Solutions business. Despite this growth, the company's net income available to shareholders fell, influenced by various market and operational factors. The adjusted operating income, however, suggests a robust underlying performance, excluding notable items.

The return on equity (ROE) stood at 10.2%, with the adjusted operating ROE at an impressive 14.8% for the trailing twelve months. These figures highlight RGA's effective capital deployment and operational efficiency. The company also reported deploying a record $737 million into in-force transactions, reflecting strong momentum in organic new business activity.

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Segment-Wise Performance

The U.S. and Latin America segments showed mixed results. Traditional business in these regions experienced favorable claims experience in Individual Life and Health, contributing to a pre-tax adjusted operating income of $128 million. However, the Financial Solutions segment underperformed due to lower variable investment income, with a pre-tax adjusted operating income of $90 million.

In Canada, both the Traditional and Financial Solutions segments performed well, reflecting favorable claims experience and alignment with expectations. The EMEA and Asia Pacific regions also reported positive outcomes, with slight variances due to foreign currency exchange rates.

Strategic Outlook and Dividend Declaration

Tony Cheng, President and CEO of RGA, expressed optimism about the company's trajectory, citing strong performance in the Traditional business and a successful quarter in Financial Solutions. The company's balance sheet strength was underscored by an excess capital of approximately $0.6 billion at the quarter's end. Furthermore, the board of directors declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.85, payable on May 28, 2024, to shareholders of record as of May 14, 2024.

In conclusion, while the net income for Reinsurance Group of America has seen a decline, the adjusted operating income and substantial growth in premiums paint a promising picture of the company's operational strengths and market positioning. With strategic capital deployment and a focus on high-growth areas, RGA is well-positioned to navigate the complexities of the global reinsurance landscape.

Explore the complete 8-K earnings release (here) from Reinsurance Group of America Inc for further details.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.


Crafting a budget for the 2024-25 budget has been a battle for leaders in Leland this spring, with residents pushing back against an originally proposed tax hike, seemingly unwilling to compromise with town officials.

When town staff originally proposed the draft budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year, which begins in June, it included a 16-cent increase to the towns property tax rate  bringing the rate up 70% from 23 cents per $100 in valuation to 39 cents. Residents showed up by the hundreds to voice their opposition to such a hike.

Town staff argued the increase was necessary to fund various infrastructure projects in the rapidly growing town. The 2023-24 budget totaled $42.8 million, which was increased in the originally proposed 2024-25 budget by 30% to $56 million, with property taxes making up the biggest revenue source for the town.

The Leland Town Council directed town staff to draft a new budget, this one keeping the property tax rate below 30 cents. Town Manager David Hollis presented a new draft budget in April, this one with a 4-cent increase to the property tax rate, a 17% increase to 27 cents.

The originally proposed draft budget totaled $56 million, with $52 million making up the general fund balance. Accounting for the lower property tax revenue at just a 4-cent increase, the newly proposed budget totaled $50 million, with the general fund coming in at $46 million.

The major sources of municipal revenues are property taxes and sales tax, according to the North Carolina League of Municipalities, a member-driven organization that represents the interests of the states municipalities. Municipalities can also receive funding through various state and federal grants, which largely fund or help support specific projects.

Heres how Lelands revenues break down

Even with the smaller increase to the property tax rate, property taxes remain the largest stream of revenue for the town of Leland.

At the originally proposed 39-cent tax rate, the town would have generated $25.9 million in property taxes, making up nearly 50% of the town's anticipated revenues. At the 27-cent rate, the town estimates generating roughly $18.1 million in property tax revenue, making up 39.5% of the town's revenues.

The towns continues growth and development has led to an increase in the property taxes the town has collected over the last five fiscal years. In the 2019-20 fiscal year, the towns real property tax rate revenue was roughly $6.1 million. The property tax rate that year was 21 cents, which remained in the 2020-21 fiscal year, keeping the property tax revenue relatively consistent at $6.4 million.

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The town raised the property tax rate to 25 cents in the next fiscal year, generating some $8.4 million in revenue. The rate stayed the same for the 2022-23 fiscal year, generating $9 million in revenue.

Protestors from a group called Better Government for Leland took part in a rally Tuesday April 30, 2024 outside of the Leland Town Hall to protest a proposed tax increase. KEN BLEVINS/STARNEWS

In the current 2023-24 fiscal year, Leland lowered the property tax rate to 23 cents, but it was a revaluation year, so the lower rate still generated millions more in taxes when properties were revaluated to reflect their current value. The town expects $13.5 million in property tax revenue this year.

Raising the tax rate to 27 cents for the upcoming fiscal year, the town estimates it would generate $17.1 million in property tax revenue  a 180% increase from the $6.1 million generated in the 2019-20 fiscal year.

Sales and use tax makes up the next-biggest slice of the towns revenue pie, at an estimated $13.4 million or 29% of revenue.

The sales tax revenue the town has seen has steadily grown over the years, which Hollis attributed both to the growth of the economy and the growth in population of the town.

In the 2019-20 fiscal year, the town saw $5.8 million in sales tax revenue, which has increased steadily by roughly $1.3-1.8 million each following fiscal year. The town estimates $13.4 million in sales tax revenue in the upcoming fiscal year.

Sales taxes are collected by businesses, submitted to the North Carolina Department of Revenue, which distributes those funds back to the counties, Hollis said. The county then distributes funds to the individual municipalities, not based on what areas saw the most sales, but based on population.

With the growth of the economy, the pie gets bigger, he said. And with growth in population, the towns slice of the pie gets bigger.

Hollis said Leland sees about 12% of the countys sales tax pie.

Fire fees makes up another 13.4% of the towns revenue at $6.1 million. Property tax, sales tax and fire fees total around $37.7 million in anticipated revenue for the town, with the rest of the $46 million budget coming from various, smaller revenue streams that together total some $8.2 million.

According to the North Carolina League of Municipalities, there are 552 incorporated municipalities and 100 counties in the state. These municipalities are established to provide residents in an area with government and urban services like water, sewer, police, streets, transportation, recreation and more. The governing bodies in those municipalities adopt the annual budget, setting the property tax rate for the year.

STAY CONNECTED: Keep up with the areas latest Brunswick County news by signing up for the Brunswick Today newsletter and following us on Facebook and Instagram.

Leland Town Council is set to hold a budget public hearing on May 2 at 6 p.m. at Leland Town Hall.

Jamey Cross covers Brunswick County for the StarNews. Reach her at jbcross@gannett.com or message her on Twitter/X @jameybcross.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Leland, NC looks for compromise on 2024-25 budget
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD)  The Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation is ending its work after 54 years.

The foundation said it supported more than 1,000 nonprofit organizations in the arts, economic development, education, faith and health care.

From the beginning of their lives together, Mom and Dad were motivated to give by their Christian faith, and that faith was always the foundation of their giving, daughter Cheri DeVos said in a news release. They also had an overwhelming belief in the potential of all people, and their desire to partner with others has left a lasting positive impact, especially in their hometown.

Rich and Helen DeVos are credited with $1.1 billion in financial philanthropic support over their lifetimes, with much of it given in Grand Rapids and West Michigan.

They wanted people in their home community to have all they might need right here, son Dick DeVos said in a news release. That was a key driver of their health care giving, the desire for those who needed care to not have to travel elsewhere. They knew people would do better closer to family and home.

The foundation said its work will be carried on by many others, including the foundations created by Helen and Rich DeVos children.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
Tru Independence (tru), a Portland, Oregon-based company that assists 30 RIA companies in managing $12.5bn in client assets, has been acquired by Sanctuary Wealth.

Sanctuary and tru, both firms with a transformational impact on the evolving RIA channel, have joined forces to reshape independence in wealth management.

The merged enterprise creates a unique platform for advanced financial advisers by providing the widest range of independent business model affiliation options and capabilities throughout the industry spectrum.

Following the merger, the firms - each supporting financial advisers who serve high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients, will operate as separate entities, retaining their existing established companies and management groups while collaborating to provide the most effective of each enterprise's services.

The unified group will help around 120 independent wealth management firms handle over $42bn in client assets across 30 states.

Craig Stuvland, CEO of tru Independence, provides investment advisers with a platform to manage and expand their firms. Since its inception, the firm has been an innovator in RIA.

Sanctuary and Tru are a hybrid wealth management firm that caters to expert advisers looking for a hybrid model.

Moreover, they provide regulatory obligations as well as guidance on the appropriate independent model for their business, integrating experience and objectivity.

Stuvland said: Separately, both firms have successfully attracted top-tier advisers and practices, albeit using slightly different approaches. Together, we are confident top-quintile advisers across the wealth management space will quickly appreciate everything our expanded enterprise represents and will be eager to take advantage of affiliation options that best suit their practices, staff, and clients.

Sanctuarys presidents, Vince Fertitta, and Robert Walter have made important contributions to the company's prosperity and development as essential members of the senior leadership team.

In a joint statement, Fertitta and Walter added: It has been a privilege to shape Sanctuarys strategy, commitment to our Partner Firms and unique value proposition from the outset. We look forward to working closely with tru to build further on our shared industry leadership when it comes to delivering an exceptional service experience and growth results to the financial advisers we support.

Adam Malamed, CEO of Sanctuary Wealth concluded: Our industry has reached a unique inflection point where there are exponentially greater growth opportunities than ever for elite financial advisers who aspire to be independent wealth management business owners. Through Sanctuarys comprehensive ecosystem of solutions and capabilities, our expanded community of Partner Firms will be well-positioned to maximise these opportunities. We look forward to utilising the unique offerings and expertise tru brings to the table, and we are excited to work closely with Craig, Amit Dogra and the entire tru management team as we lead the way forward in our industry's ongoing evolution."

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"Sanctuary Wealth acquires Tru Independence" was originally created and published by Private Banker International, a GlobalData owned brand.







The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE:SMG) Second Quarter 2024 Results

Key Financial Results

Revenue: US$1.53b (flat on 2Q 2023).

Net income: US$157.5m (up 44% from 2Q 2023).

Profit margin: 10% (up from 7.1% in 2Q 2023).

EPS: US$2.77 (up from US$1.95 in 2Q 2023).

All figures shown in the chart above are for the trailing 12 month (TTM) period

Scotts Miracle-Gro Revenues Beat Expectations, EPS Falls Short

Revenue exceeded analyst estimates by 1.0%. Earnings per share (EPS) missed analyst estimates by 18%.

Looking ahead, revenue is forecast to grow 3.6% p.a. on average during the next 3 years, compared to a 4.4% growth forecast for the Chemicals industry in the US.

Performance of the American Chemicals industry.

The company's share price is broadly unchanged from a week ago.

Risk Analysis

It's necessary to consider the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with Scotts Miracle-Gro (at least 1 which is a bit unpleasant), and understanding these should be part of your investment process.

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.
British oil and gas company Shell has withdrawn from China's power market, including power generation, trading and marketing, effective from the end of 2023.

The company stated: We are selectively investing in power, focusing on delivering value from our power portfolio, which requires making difficult choices.

We will work with our partners and customers to contribute to China's energy transition.

The move is part of the company's strategy to prioritise more profitable ventures, particularly in the natural gas and oil sectors.

Shell Energy China was one of its first subsidiaries to actively participate in China's carbon emissions and power trading markets.

Despite its exit, Shell's electric vehicle (EV) charging business in the country remains operational and is identified as a significant growth area, according to Reuters.

The company's broader cost-saving measures include divesting from the European retail power sector, offshore wind and low-carbon initiatives.

It is also considering the sale of its US solar assets and reviewing its large refining and petrochemical complex in Singapore.

Shell has implemented company-wide staff reductions, including in its low-carbon solutions division, as it seeks to save $3bn annually.

The company is intensifying its focus on natural gas, anticipating increased demand in the 2020s, 2030s and beyond. Shell's strategy shift also involves exiting retail power markets to reinforce its oil and gas business.

In March 2024, Shell reiterated its commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2050, albeit with a relaxed carbon intensity goal for 2030.

In September 2023, Shell agreed to sell its UK and German retail home energy businesses to the Octopus Energy Group, with plans to partner internationally in EV charging. The deal was completed in December.

"Shell exits China power market to refocus strategy" was originally created and published by Power Technology, a GlobalData owned brand.







The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
Chief executive Wael Sawan says Shell has a 'continued focus on delivering more value with less emissions' - Ryan Lim/AFP

Shell has unveiled a $7.7bn (6.2bn) profit driven almost entirely by its oil and gas operations as the business prepares for a showdown with green activists.

The company earned $7.5bn from oil, gas and petrochemicals in the first three months of the year, compared with just $163m from renewables.

It also said its products generated 517m tonnes of CO2 in 2023  far more than the entire UK economy.

The results were released as Shell braces for a turbulent annual meeting next month, with green activists expected to demand a host of changes by the company.

The overall financial results are stronger than expected  analysts had predicted total earnings of around $6.5bn because of falling European gas prices. The company earned $9.6bn a year earlier.

Todays announcement also includes another $3.5bn of share buybacks by August in a boost for shareholders.

However, the business is likely to face a backlash from activist investors, who are said to hold up to 5pc of the companys shares, and are concerned about a decision to reverse its pledges to cut oil production and move towards greener energy.

They point out that even Shells oil and gas marketing budget is bigger than its spend on renewables.

George Dibb, of the Institute for Public Policy Research, a progressive think tank, said: For every 1 Shell spent on renewables in the last quarter, they spent 11 transferring excess cash to shareholders.

One group, led by Follow This, has put forward a resolution for Shells meeting on May 21 urging it to align all its medium-term emissions reduction targets with the Paris Agreement on keeping global temperature rises below 1.5C.

The resolution, backed by investors including Amundi, Axa IM and Scottish Widows, would make it hard for Shell to expand fossil fuel production.

Sinead Gorman, Shells chief financial officer, said Shell already planned to cut the emissions released by consumption of Shells oil and gas from 517m tonnes of CO2 last year to 483m tonnes or less by 2030. However this would still be about 150m tonnes more than the UKs entire current emissions.

Gorman asked other investors to vote against the resolution.

She said: We ask our shareholders to vote against By doing so, our shareholders will be endorsing this management team, our Board and Shells aim of being THE investment case through the energy transition.

More than half the latest earnings  around $3.7bn  came from Shells integrated gas operations, with another $1.9bn from upstream oil and gas production and $1.6bn from chemicals and products. Renewables and other low-carbon operations, by contrast, delivered just $163m.

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Wael Sawan, chief executive, said: Shell delivered another quarter of strong operational and financial performance, demonstrating our continued focus on delivering more value with less emissions.

Mr Sawan took over the company in January 2023 and said last summer that he planned to refocus the business on oil and gas in an effort to win over investors.

He dropped a pledge to cut oil production each year for the rest of the decade, and said Shell would instead increase output  a move that will add to the pressure from environmentalists.

Projects which came onstream in 2023 will, at their peak, add over 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day. Along with other projects they will eventually add more than half a million barrels of oil equivalent a day to Shells production.

Alexander Kirk, fossil fuel campaigner at Global Witness, said Shells profits came at the expense of damage to the planet.

He said: Shell continuing to rake in huge sums of money shows us that huge polluter profits were not a one-off but are the twisted reality of an energy system that benefits climate-wrecking companies to the cost of everyone else.

Shares rose 1.1pc in early trading.

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Guests attend as Hertz kicks off one of the countrys largest electric vehicle test drives at the companys Los Angeles International Airport location on July 19, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Drivers had the chance to test drive an EV and see the newest EV models showcased by Tesla, Chevrolet, Polestar, and Kia. - Photo: Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images (Getty Images)

Good morning! Its Wednesday, May 1, 2024, and this is The Morning Shift, your daily roundup of the top automotive headlines from around the world, in one place. Here are the important stories you need to know.



1st Gear: Substantial Depreciation Forces Hertz To Offload EVs

If youre looking to pick up a used electric car bargain, then your luck may be in as Hertz is about to offload thousands of electric vehicles from its fleet. The rental giant will sell an additional 10,000 EVs that it initially promised as a result of substantial depreciation seen by its EVs.

Hertz initially announced plans to sell some of its electric vehicles last year, after it initially pledged to purchase 100,000 Teslas to clean up car rentals after the pandemic. Now, however, its found out the hard way that EVs arent the solid investments it first thought, so is offloading them at an alarming pace to try and cut its losses, according to Autoweek. As the site explains:

Nominally, Hertz aims to make money on selling its used rental cars after they accumulate a certain mileage. At least, it has generally made money in the past via this business model with internal-combustion vehicles. But the same has not been true for used EVs. The culprits, once again, have been high maintenance costs and depreciation of EVs it has purchased for its fleets, while on the consumer side the EV charging experience has seen its own issues. The result has been a loss of $392 million in the first quarter, despite a 2% growth in revenues over the same period in 2023 amid overall revenues of $2.1 billion.

Hertz initially planned to sell 20,000 electric models from its fleet, however an additional $195 million charge last quarter as a result of depreciation across its fleet left it with no choice but to sell even more electric cars.

The 30,000 Hertz is now selling are the latest black spot in its experiment with EVs, which some reports estimate have cost the American rental giant as much as $440 million.

2nd Gear: Aston Martin Losses Grow Due To Low Sales, High Spending

Despite the successful rollout of its first luxury SUV kick starting a sales revolution at Aston martin, and a whole heap of cash being thrown at the brand by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, the British supercar maker still isnt out of the woods just yet. Now, the company has posted greater than expected losses for the start of 2024 as a result of slowing sales and higher spending at the company, reports Reuters.

Aston Martin sold just 945 cars in the first three months of the year, which was down on analysts average expectations of 1,024. The slowdown was hampered by a drop in sales of the DBX SUV as well as higher costs, reports the Financial Times. As the site explains:

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The company had previously flagged that it expected a weaker start to the year but anticipated that a wave of new car launches would help drive sales and profitability in the second half. The figures, which are worse than expected, demonstrate the scale of the challenge facing Astons incoming chief executive, Adrian Hallmark, who has been poached from Volkswagens Bentley and will start later this year. Philippe Houchois, an automotive analyst at Jefferies, said the company was going through a painful transition, with a similar performance expected in the coming quarter as well.

The transition for the company is one thats being felt across the automotive industry and brands make the switch to hybrid power and electrification. For Aston Martin, however, plans to electrify the lineup have been put on hold, with Reuters reporting that the brands first EV has been pushed back by a year.

Instead of pivoting to electric power, Aston Martin today announced that a new flagship, V12-powered supercar will hit the market at the end of 2024.

3rd Gear: Carvana Could Be On The Up

While Aston Martin is struggling, cursed sales platform Carvana seems to have finally rid itself of its bad luck and is on the way up. After months of sky-high losses, the automotive retailer might be ready to grow once again.

Carvana was forced to dial back its car retail business last year after it struggled with sale bans in several states, sky-high costs and dwindling sales. Now, the company looks ready to bounce back as it prepares to report its latest financial results, reports Automotive News. As the site explains:

Chris Pierce, a senior research analyst at Needham & Co., said he expects analysts will want more specificity about Carvanas growth plans  such as whether it plans to ramp up vehicle marketing soon to drive sales  when it holds its first-quarter earnings call Wednesday. Pierce estimated Carvana sold about 83,200 vehicles in the first quarter. In first-quarter 2023, it sold 79,240 vehicles. If they do turn on growth, then what does that mean? Pierce said. Is it just more marketing or are they going to buy more cars?

The next question for Carvana will be how does it turn its shrinking loses into profitability? That will all hinge on how many cars it expects to sell this year and what markets it could potentially break into. One things clear though, the tumultuous history for the retailer looks to finally be behind it.

4th Gear: UAW To Vote On Stellantis Strike Action

After historic industrial action saw workers walk out at plants operated by Ford, General Motors and Stellantis last year, the United Auto Workers Union looks to be getting ready for round two. Now, UAW workers at one Stellantis plant in the U.S. are preparing to vote on strike action in the coming weeks.

Employees at Stellantis Warren Stamping Plant are preparing to vote on industrial action over health and safety concerns at the site, reports the Detroit Free Press. The results of the vote could have wide-reaching impacts on Stellantis assembly plants everywhere from Windsor, Ontario to Saltillo, Mexico, according to the union. As the Free Press explains:

The union, which said the vote would cover about 1,100 members, listed a range of concerns that it said the company has failed to address, involving ventilation fans, flooding, personal protective equipment, restrooms, oil leaks, sanitation, and basement lighting and flooring. Were standing up for health and safety at Warren Stamping, UAW Local 869 President Romaine McKinney III said in the release. When it rains, the facility floods because the ceiling is leaking. We have to fight for every single pair of work gloves, while we handle metal and materials to build world-class vehicles for Stellantis. The list goes on, and were putting an end to it. Our union grievance procedure gives us the power to stand up for safety on the job, and we intend to take action if necessary.

Workers will vote for or against strike action at the site on Monday (May 6). If the strike goes ahead, production of Stellantis models like the Dodge Durango, Chrysler Pacifica and Jeep Gladiator could all be affected.

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Choosing when to apply for Social Security is one of the most influential retirement decisions you'll make. There's not a wrong call per se, but there are definitely some claiming ages that could net you a better quality of life than others.

Understanding how the government calculates your checks is crucial for maximizing your benefits, but that's where a lot of people get tripped up. For example, some believe they'll get a benefit boost at 65, maybe enough to offset the early claiming penalty for signing up at 62. But the truth is more complicated.

Image source: Getty Images.

What happens to your Social Security benefit at 65?

There's actually nothing special about age 65 when it comes to Social Security, at least not anymore. The three big claiming ages are:

62: This is when you become eligible for Social Security benefits. About 23% of Americans claim within a year of becoming eligible.

Full retirement age (FRA): This is when you become eligible for the full Social Security benefit you've earned based on your work history, also known as your primary insurance amount (PIA). It used to be 65, but now it's between 66 and 67, depending on your birth year. Fifteen percent of workers claim then.

70: This is when you become eligible for your largest Social Security checks. Less than 9% of workers manage to claim these.

You can claim Social Security at other ages as well. How much you'll get depends on where you're at relative to your FRA. Claiming under your FRA, including at 65, reduces your benefit. You lose 5/9 of 1% per month for up to 36 months of early claiming. That amounts to a 6.67% to 13.33% reduction for 65-year-old applicants. It would knock about $128 to $255 off the $1,931 average Social Security benefit as of March 2024.

But that's a small reduction compared to those who apply immediately at 62. They'll face a 20% penalty for claiming three years early, plus an additional penalty of 5/12 of 1% per month for an extra one to two years. This brings the total benefit reduction to 25% for those with an FRA of 66 or 30% for those with an FRA of 67.

Looking at things from this angle, you could say that claiming at 65 increases your Social Security checks compared to starting right at 62. But this only counts for those who haven't signed up yet. Once you apply for Social Security, your checks are usually locked in for the rest of your life. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule.

How to boost your Social Security checks if you applied early

There are three ways you can boost your future Social Security checks if you claimed early and regret penalizing yourself:

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Withdraw your Social Security application

This is only an option for those who applied for Social Security less than a year ago. You must contact the Social Security Administration and notify it of your wishes. Then, you have to pay back all the money you and any family members claiming on your record have received from the program to date.

If you manage that, the government will treat you as if you've never claimed before. When you apply again later, you'll get larger checks. But this is a one-time option.

Earnings test

The Social Security Administration automatically withholds some benefits from workers who claim under their FRA if they earn too much from a job. This is known as the earnings test. You'll lose:

$1 for every $2 you earn above $22,320 if you're under your FRA all year, or

$1 for every $3 you earn above $59,520 if you'll reach your FRA in 2024 and exceed this amount before you reach your FRA

This will shrink your checks in the short term, but the money comes back to you when you reach your FRA. The Social Security Administration recalculates your benefit then and increases it to make up for what it withheld previously.

Suspend your benefits at your FRA

You can also voluntarily suspend your benefits when you reach your FRA. If you do this, the government won't send you any more checks until you request that they start again or reach 70. Your benefit will grow by 2/3 of 1% per month, or 8% per year, during the time it's suspended.

You don't have to take any of the above steps if you don't want to. If you're happy with your decision to claim at 65 or earlier or you cannot afford to give up your checks, that's OK. Everyone's situation is unique and even if you claim early, you could still wind up with hundreds of thousands of dollars in benefits over your lifetime.

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Will My Social Security Benefit Increase When I Turn 65? was originally published by The Motley Fool
A South Mississippi salon owner owes the federal government more than $900,000 after it found she stole thousands of dollars in benefit funds by falsely claiming to teach classes to veterans, a judge ruled last month.

April Tucker Beard, who owns Aprils Mane Attraction and the barber academy that shares its name, must pay the United States $916,392 for fraudulent veterans assistance claims she made at her Moss Point salon and barber school, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi announced this week.

The U.S. filed a civil complaint against Beard in October. It did not charge her with criminal wrongdoing but said she knowingly defrauded a federal assistance program for veterans because she falsely claimed to teach 1,500 hours of classes to veterans.

The federal government says the veterans in her program never finished her classes.

But Beards business still raked in $235,734 in veterans benefits.

Todd Gee, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi said the veterans program is an important part of our promise to aid our military veterans and their families for honorably serving our country.

This type of fraud drains funds from vital veterans programs, he said, and this office remains committed to holding offenders who abuse and exploit these programs accountable.

The government says Beard took advantage of the Post-9/11 GI Bill education assistance program  which gives veterans tuition benefits, fees, monthly housing allowances and stipends for books and supplies.

The program exists to help veterans afford school and job training after they serve the country.

Beard exploited that program by maintaining false attendance records and payment ledgers to hide the fact that her school did not follow the programs requirements, the U.S. Attorneys Office said. The government also said she falsely claimed to charge the same tuition to VA and non-VA students but really charged $22,400 in tuition to VA students and $2,400 to non-VA students.

That helped her gain more veterans assistance benefits, the federal government says.

Last month, a federal judge in Gulfport told Beard and her businesses she owes the government $916,392. That amount is more than triple what she cost the government. But federal law says the U.S. is entitled to triple its loss, plus penalties.

Beard earned approval to join the veterans assistance program in May 2017, the U.S. Attorneys Office said. She made the false claims from July 2017 to November 2019.
Southwest Airlines is cutting back on flights to some airports  and pulling out of a few others  because of a disappointing financial start to 2024 and delays in receiving new planes.

During its first-quarter 2024 call with investors on Thursday, April 25, Southwest said it would end service at four airports and cut the frequency of routes at two others. Some of those cuts affects flights at Jackson Medgar Wiley Evers Airport.

"To improve our financial performance, we have intensified our network optimization efforts to address underperforming markets," Southwest President and CEO Bob Jordan said in a statement on the airline's first-quarter 2024 earnings call.

Beginning in June, Southwest will reduce its daily flights in Jackson to four. However, it is maintaining service to all current markets of Atlanta, Baltimore/Washington, Houston, and Orlando. This adjustment represents a change from their usual five to seven daily flights.

Renovations to airport: JMAA to use an $8 million grant on infrastructure improvements. See the projects

Why international? Why is the Jackson airport designated as 'international'? Curious Mississippi answers

"Southwest Airlines, impacted by the shortage of newly built airplanes, has conducted a thorough review of its network schedules and implemented necessary changes across many cities they serve," JMAA said in a statement to the Clarion Ledger. "Despite this adjustment, JAN continues to be well-served by the four largest U.S. carriers (American, Delta, Southwest, and United). With flights to eight major global hubs, Jacksonians and travelers from central Mississippi retain access to worldwide destinations with one-stop connections to cities across six continents."

Southwest started back service in Jackson in June of 2021 after a seven year layoff.

The airline's departure in 2014 after 17 years of service also dealt a blow to the Jackson airport, as it provided 27% of available seats out of Jackson at the time, according to a Jackson State University study.

The Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport, located in Jackson, is the busiest airport in Mississippi.

What airports is Southwest cutting?

Southwest said it will end service at four airports:

Bellingham International Airport in Bellingham, Washington.

Cozumel International Airport in Cozumel, Mexico.

George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas. (Southwest will continue to fly to Houston Hobby)

Syracuse Hancock International Airport in Syracuse, New York.

Why is Southwest Airlines cutting flights and airports?

Jordan, Southwest's CEO, said in the earnings call that the airline posted a net loss of $231 million in the first three months of 2024, despite record operating revenues. A net loss is when a company's expenses are higher than its income.

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Southwest also expects to fly fewer planes than it planned because of Boeing's delays in delivering new aircraft. He said the delays present "significant challenges for 2024 and 2025." For instance, he now expects Boeing to deliver about 20 737-8 planes in 2024; the airline previously expected 46 planes.

Ross Reily can be reached by email at rreily@gannett.com or 601-573-2952. You can follow him on Twitter @GreenOkra1.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Southwest Airlines to cut back on Jackson MS flights
The stewards of the skies have long petitioned for a bit of cushioning under their wings. And thats what Southwest Airlines flight attendants just received, thanks to their efforts with the Transport Workers Union (TWU). Last week, Southwest flight attendants ratified a new four-year contract that stipulated a greater than 33% pay raiseand starting Wednesday, Southwest flight attendants will get a 22.3% raise, followed by 3% raises in the next three years.

Their success means Southwest attendants are now the highest paid in the industry, making 14% more than the second-best paid in their role, the Delta flight attendants, according to the TWU. United, Alaska, and America Airlines all are in contract negotiations as well.

This is a significant victory for Flight Attendants industrywide and the TWU has once again proven that we are an incredibly effective voice for Flight Attendants, TWU International President John Samuelsen said in a statement.

The contract also outlines paid maternal and paternal leave, something TWU notes is an industry-first. It will also provide healthcare coverage for a flight attendant looking after a newborn and $364 million in retroactive wages that occurred during contract negotiations.

During the pandemic, the flight attendant's job took a nosedive. It was an already difficult job that was marked by low pay, extended hours, and a history of lawsuits related to the entrenched sexism attendants were subjected to. But pilot-staffing issues, new regulations, and hostile customers made the job even more trying.

I always tell people that when Covid happened, all of the fun parts of being a flight attendantall of the satisfying, exciting parts of being a flight attendantwere stripped from the job, flight attendant Rich Henderson told CNN. Difficulty in hiring and retaining employees meant those who were left working had greater leverage when bargaining with employers over new contracts. In the quest to bounce back, though, airlines have found their hands forced towards their workers. For instance, Delta paid employees a 5% raise and a $1.4 billion bonus this year (which is 10 times greater than what was issued in 2022).

Were proud of the new collective bargaining agreement that goes into effect today, providing our dedicated Flight Attendants with industry-leading compensation and quality of life enhancements, while also providing key efficiencies to Southwests operations, a Southwest Airlines spokesperson told Fortune, who added the company hasnt had any issues with hiring or retaining flight attendants, and is instead limiting hiring this year.

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This deal provides significant raises and critical quality-of-life improvements for TWUs Southwest Flight Attendants who worked through historic operational meltdowns and a global pandemic, TWU International EVP Alex Garcia said in a statement. TWU Local 556 won quantifiable compensation throughout all phases of the day that will put real money into our Flight Attendants paychecks. This is the least they deserve after years of hard work and negotiations.

Flight attendants quest for better pay and conditions stretches back decades, as Mary Longobardi, the former president of the unionized Flight Attendants of Southwest Airlines and a flight attendant herself, has noted. Southwest flight attendants became the second unionized workgroup at the airline, after the mechanics, in the 1970s.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
Earlier this week, news emerged that Tesla CEO Elon Musk had let go of the entire 500-person team working on its Supercharger network, the company's flagship network of chargers that's significantly set it apart from its EV competitors.

The company has even already begun pulling out of key Supercharger location leases, as Electrek reports.

And Tesla owners, who had long been compelled by Musk's vision for a more reliable, nationwide fast-charging network, are furious.

To many, a convenient and significantly faster way to charge their vehicles was why they chose to buy a Tesla in the first place. With Musk seemingly abandoning ambitions to expand the network, many owners  who have otherwise turned a blind eye to his racist antics and questionable behavior  are starting to turn against the mercurial billionaire.

"Superchargers are what convinced me on Tesla," one user wrote on the TeslaMotors subreddit. "Hopefully this isnt the beginning of the end."

It's a major reversal for Musk, who showed off sleek renders of a Tesla Hotel, a 24-hour diner, and a drive-in theater at a Los Angeles Supercharger station a mere seven months ago.

Musk, who once daydreamed of trendy burger joints adorning the company's charging stations, is ready to double down on the company's driver-assistance software instead  a puzzling and characteristically hard-to-read decision that may or may not pay off.

The stakes are considerable. Tesla is staring down the barrel of a disastrous financial year: sales are down and the company's reputation has tanked, in large part due to the CEO's own behavior. Meanwhile, Tesla's competitors are rapidly catching up.

Heads are rolling, with Musk hitting the automaker with two rounds of mass layoffs, reportedly affecting up to 20 percent of Tesla's global headcount. Several senior executives have since left the company, alongside the head of EV charging Rebecca Tinucci and her team.

Tesla is giving up on a considerable lead when it comes to EV charging infrastructure. The number of new Tesla charging stations has outstripped its competitors; according to EVAdoption, installations are up roughly 19 percent between January and March of this year. The company operates 5,682 locations and 27,257 ports across the US, numbers that are only beaten by ChargePoint, an EV infrastructure company that operates the largest online network of independently owned charging stations.

But now that Tesla is greatly scaling back its ambitions to extend its signature network of Superchargers, customers are becoming wary of longer lines. And that's not to mention Tesla's decision to open up its network to its competitors, which will likely only worsen overcrowding.

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The company's North American Charging Standard is quickly becoming ubiquitous across other car brands, with the likes of General Motors and Ford agreeing to adopt the plug for future vehicles.

In other words, all hell is about to break loose at Tesla's existing Supercharger stations  and Tesla owners are irked.

Musk's decision to not only fire the entire Supercharger team, but also to pull out of several key charging station leases, has led to plenty of Tesla enthusiasts scratching their heads.

"I dont see what the point is of them opening the network to other manufacturers and then scaling back expansion?" one user wondered in the TeslaMotors subreddit. "Theres already many stations in my area that are very busy with just Teslas. I cant imagine how that looks with additional cars from other manufacturers."

Others pointed out that the company's Supercharger department was actually making money. According to Bloomberg's estimates, the Supercharger network generated around $1.74 billion in revenue last year, roughly 17 percent of Tesla's "Services & Other" segment.

Many wondered what Musk's intention was behind the move. Is he trying to slim down the company's ranks to stay solvent, or is he weeding out executives who aren't loyal enough?

"He stirs the pot and creates these frenzies all the time," one Reddit user suggested. "It's his way of getting the blood flowing at his companies."

Others have squarely turned against the mercurial CEO, echoing the sentiments of many investors who have long argued that Musk is the main thing standing between Tesla and success.

"Im over Elon's 'break shit' philosophy," wrote another enraged Reddit user. "Tesla at this stage should be operating as a mature company, not a pet project. Hes gotta go."

"Musk is making this brand so toxic," one user wrote. "Really sad to see."

Musk's decision to fire the company's entire Supercharger team could send reverberations across the industry and have real consequences for EV adoption.

"This is really bad news not only for Tesla, but for the EV industry in the US," one Reddit user argued. "This will mean less supercharger maintenance and expansion, more congestion, and less access for new users."

"Its almost like they dont want to be a car company anymore," another added.

Musk has promised that Tesla isn't abandoning its efforts to expand its Supercharger network entirely, tweeting that it'll do so "at a slower pace for new locations and more focus on 100 percent uptime and expansion of existing locations."

But whether that'll be enough for the company's most diehard customers, who have complained for years about overcrowded stations, remains to be seen.

"The truth is that I only got Tesla due to the Supercharger network," one user on the TeslaMotors subreddit wrote. "I still dont love the interior fit and finish. If the others catch up then thats it."

More on Tesla: As Tesla Crisis Deepens, Head of Human Resources Leaves Company
Tesla has signed a deal with Baidu giving the US battery electric vehicle (BEV) manufacturer access to the Chinese internet giants mapping and data services, while also clearing a major regulatory hurdle in the worlds largest vehicle market.

The deal followed last weeks visit to China by Teslas main shareholder and CEO Elon Musk, during which he met Chinese premier Li Qiang.

The agreement with Baidu paved the way for Tesla to introduce its semi-autonomous driving technology in China.

Elon Musks successful trip to China helped lift the companys flagging share price by a third to US$194, valuing the company at US$615bn, before giving up some of the gains in the last few days.

Tesla wants to step up the roll out of its 'full self driving' (FSD) system in major markets, including China, as competition from Chinese automakers including BYD Auto continued to intensify.

Tesla vehicles have now been included in a list of 70 models tested for data security compliance in China by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers but had yet to be formally given compliance certification.

Connected, smart technology, including driver assist systems, was becoming essential content in BEVs sold in China while demand for fully autonomous vehicles from transport companies such as taxi operators was expected to surge once the technology was proven and accepted.

Foreign automakers in China were required to source their mapping and navigation systems from one of around 20 approved local suppliers. All manufacturers of vehicles with self driving technology were also required to store user data, which is used to improve these systems, in China.

Teslas Shanghai plant shipped 948,000 vehicles last year, accounting for more than half the companys global vehicle output, including 604,000 units for sale locally, accounting for 11% of the countrys domestic BEV market.

"Tesla signs mapping deal with Baidu in China" was originally created and published by Just Auto, a GlobalData owned brand.







The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
Toll Brothers is ready to start vertical construction at its latest Charlotte development in lower South End.

The Pennsylvania-based builder will bring 82 four-story townhomes to the site off South Tryon Street, between Yorkshire and Blairhill roads. It will begin construction on the first buildings there in June and start delivering the townhomes later this year, said Ryan Switzer, Toll Brothers division president in Charlotte.

Asian restaurant Yama to be reinvented

Toll Brothers acquired the 3.45-acre site in March for just shy of $16 million, according to Mecklenburg County real estate records. It purchased the property from a limited liability company linked to Kairoi Residential.

Read more here.
tonies SE proposes five existing members for re-election by the upcoming Annual General Meeting

Anna Dimitrova steps down as Chairwoman and hands over to current Vice Chairman Christian Bailly

Dr. Thilo Fleck steps down as Supervisory Board member LUXEMBOURG, Germany - (NewMediaWire) - May 2, 2024 - tonies SE ("tonies"), the leading international digital audio platform for children with the award-winning Toniebox, 24 April 2024 sent out the invitation to this year's Annual General Meeting on May 29, 2024, and proposes re-election of five of its existing members. Simultaneously, tonies announced that Anna Dimitrova, Chairwoman of tonies SE's Supervisory Board, has decided not to stand for re-election to the company's Supervisory Board. Dimitrova commented on her decision: "In the last two and a half years I was very privileged to serve tonies as the first Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board. Right from the start of my mandate external crises and geopolitical shocks created a number of headwinds for the young and newly listed company. And yet we recorded strong revenue growth leading to the company becoming profitable in 2023 and paving the way to be cash positive in 2024. In parallel, we enabled the transition from the founders to the new CEO, Tobias Wann. In this backdrop, I have decided that now is the time for me to move on. While it is with a heavy heart that I step down from this role, I am confident that our new CEO and an experienced Supervisory Board, the company is in an excellent strategic position and poised for continued success and growth. I also learnt something for life: As long as you can continuously amaze children you can outlast all challenges." Anna Dimitrova served in various leadership roles over more than 20 years with Vodafone, including CFO of Vodafone Germany and Group Financial Controller of Vodafone Plc. As of January 1, 2024, she has been appointed Chief Financial Officer of Deutsche Glasfaser. Since tonies SE's IPO in 2021, Dimitrova has played a key role in the success story of tonies as Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board. Thanks to her extensive experience, she brought invaluable insights and made significant contributions, especially during the formative years of the company's journey as a public company. tonies SE would like to express its sincere gratitude to Anna Dimitrova for her guidance and dedication. Dimitrova's successor as Chairman of the Supervisory Board shall be Christian Bailly, subject to his re-election by the Annual General Meeting and his subsequent election by the newly formed Supervisory Board. Bailly is currently Vice Chairman of the Supervisory Board and, like Dimitrova, a member of the Supervisory Board since 2021. He is also Managing Partner of Armira, tonies SE's largest shareholder. In addition to Dimitrova, Dr. Thilo Fleck, a tonies companion from the very early days and a member of the Supervisory Board since 2021, will leave the Board. tonies SE would like to thank Thilo Fleck for everything he has done for the tonies. With his extensive legal experience and personal commitment, he has delivered outstanding service. Thilo Fleck explains: "It has been an honor to serve tonies since its inception by its two Co-founders and former Co-CEOs, Patric Fassbender and Marcus Stahl. Witnessing the company's growth from its early stages to its successful IPO and the impressive international growth since then has been a truly rewarding journey. I am grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of this incredible story, and I leave with cherished memories and deep appreciation for the dedication and passion of the two Co-founders and the entire team at tonies." About tonies tonies(R) is the world's largest interactive audio platform for children with around 6.8 million Tonieboxes and 82 million Tonies sold. The intuitive and award-winning audio system has changed the way young children play and learn independently with its child-safe, wireless, and screen-free approach. Tonieboxes have been activated in over 100 countries, the content portfolio includes more than 1,100 Tonies figurines in several languages. Investor Relations Contact Manuel Bsing Head of Investor Relations Phone: +4915157846012 Mail: ir@tonies.com
3M (NYSE: MMM) has been a dividend stalwart. The industrial conglomerate has paid dividends to its shareholders for over a century without interruption and has raised its payout annually for more than 60 straight years. The company's dividend-growth streak currently qualifies it as a Dividend King, a term for companies that have increased their payouts for at least 50 years in a row.

However, 3M is about to make a big change to its dividend policy, which will see it give up its crown. The company plans to reset its dividend now that it has completed the spin-off of its former healthcare business, Solventum. As a result, the company's dividend, which currently yields 6.3%, is about to head a lot lower.

The great reset is near

3M recently reported its first-quarter results, which was its first report since spinning off Solventum. Included in that report was an update to its 2024 guidance to reflect the expected earnings of the go-forward business. The forecast puts its adjusted earnings between $6.80 and $7.30 per share. That's down from $9.24 per share in 2023, due largely to the loss of Solventum's earnings.

Given that range, 3M can't comfortably afford to continue paying its current annualized-dividend rate of $6.04 per share. While the company hasn't announced the reset rate yet (it will likely do that later this month), it provided a framework. It plans to have a dividend-payout ratio of 40% of its adjusted free cash flow following the Solventum spin-off.

That policy has big implications for the dividend. Barron's recently did a little back-of-the-envelope math on what this ratio means for the payout. The company's guidance implies its 2024 adjusted free cash flow will be around $4 billion. Apply a 40% payout rate, and the company would make $1.6 billion of annual-dividend payments, which works out to around $2.85 per share. That suggests 3M would cut its dividend by over 50% from the recent level. This reset would drive its dividend yield into the 3% range. While that's a significant change for existing investors, it's still double the broader market (the S&P 500's current yield is 1.4%) and is in line with the yields of other large blue chip dividend stocks.

Resetting to repair the financial foundation

3M isn't resetting the dividend solely because it spun off Solventum. The company has been battling legal issues related to water pollution and potentially faulty earplugs sold to the military. It agreed to settle those matters last year for a total of $18 billion that it will pay out over several years.

While the settlement structures will help lessen the impact of those costs, the company needs to bolster its financial flexibility so its legal liabilities won't harm its balance sheet or impact its ability to grow. It will now retain 60% of its adjusted free cash flow, increasing its financial flexibility. On a positive note, the company started from a strong position (it has A-rated credit) that has improved over the past year. 3M's net debt was down 13% year over year in the first quarter to $10.4 billion.

The company can also use its retained cash to make new growth investments. 3M's legacy businesses have struggled to grow in recent years. Even after stripping out the impact of Solventum, adjusted organic-sales growth will only be flat to up to 2% this year. It could potentially reinvigorate sales growth by reinvesting more of its retained earnings into expansion initiatives, including mergers and acquisitions (M&A).

3M's reign as an elite dividend stock is nearing an end

3M confirmed it will be resetting its dividend following the spin-off of Solventum. While that's a disappointment for long-term dividend investors, it's no surprise since its healthcare business was a meaningful contributor to its cash flow. On top of that, the company has to fund its large legal settlements and address its sluggish growth. The move could end up being a net positive over the long term because it could free up cash it could use to reinvigorate its growth.

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Matt DiLallo has positions in 3M and Solventum. The Motley Fool recommends 3M and Solventum. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

This Ultra-High-Yield Dividend Stock Is About to Lose Its Crown was originally published by The Motley Fool
Washington has one of the most expansive financial aid programs of any U.S. state, the Washington College Grant. But according to Governor Jay Inslee, few students are aware that they can apply. They often assume the program is reserved for low-income students, or dont know about it at all.

To apply, students need to submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. But last year, 44.9% of seniors filled out the FAFSA according to the Washington Student Achievement Council, the fourth-lowest rate of any state. So far, 34% of seniors have applied this year.

On May 1, Gov. Inslees office published a call for students to apply before next months deadline. Heres what you need to know.

What is the Washington College Grant?

As its name suggests, the Washington College Grant is a need-based financial aid package that the state offers to students. The grant is open to students at a four or two year college, as well as trade schools and career training programs. Its separate from the federal Pell Grant or any aid an individual college offers.

Whos Eligible?

The grant is open to Washington residents attending college or a career training program in the state, as long as their income falls below a certain amount. Families of four need to make less than $120,500 to qualify for the minimum award. That number drops to $101,000 for families of three, and rises to $139,500 for families of five.

In order to qualify for the maximum grant, a family of four has to make $78,500 or less, while a family of five has to make under $91,000 and a family of three cant make more than $65,500.

A detailed breakdown of income requirements for families of each size can be found on WSACs website.

What does WA college grant cover?

The maximum award covers in-state tuition at a public college. That amounts to roughly $12,400 for the University of Washington and $11,900 for Washington State University. The grant is capped at $9,739 for students at non-profit private colleges and $8,517 for students at for-profit colleges.

The minimum grant is much lower  around $1,000 for both public and private four-year schools.

If youre still not sure how much aid youd receive, you can use the states grant calculator to get a personalized estimate.

How can you apply?

To apply, you just need to fill out the FAFSA. The application deadline is June 30. For those who cant fill out the FAFSA due to their immigration status, primarily undocumented students, the state offers the Washington Application for State Financial Aid.
This Monday, construction equipment specialist Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) became a bit less of an international company. It withdrew its listing from a prominent stock exchange overseas, and investors weren't happy that its presence was shrinking. They traded the company's main (i.e., U.S.-listed) shares down by 4.4% in price the following day, which was a steeper dive than the S&P 500 index's 1.6%.

The French delisting

Caterpillar will no longer have a presence on the Euronext Paris, the company announced. This follows what it characterized as a "comprehensive review," of its Paris-listed stock, which it said suffered from notably low trading volume. Citing the costs and requirements of administering those shares, it requested they be delisted. The request was granted by Euronext Paris's board of directors.

The delisting is to occur on May 28, with the last day of trading set for May 27.

This appears to be the start of a general retreat from European equity markets. Caterpillar added that it plans to make a similar move to delist its shares from the SIX Swiss Exchange. It hopes this will be finalized by the end of this year.

Caterpillar emphasized that foreign investors wanting to remain or become its shareholders purchase its New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)-listed shares. It added that holders of the Paris-listed stock can sell it via the NYSE by going through a "centralizing agent," tasked with handling these transactions. This entity is storied French bank Societe Generale, and the window for effecting the sales will be open from May 3 through May 16.

No real negative impact on operations, but...

While this move won't impact Caterpillar's core business, if at all, it doesn't do wonders for its prestige and reputation. The most important blue chips on the U.S. market are also popular overseas, with more than a few being traded on foreign bourses. Now, Caterpillar looks less of a world-beater than those peers.

Should you invest $1,000 in Caterpillar right now?

Before you buy stock in Caterpillar, 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 Caterpillar wasnt one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, youd have $508,797!*

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 quadrupled the return of S&P 500 since 2002*.

Story continues

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*Stock Advisor returns as of April 30, 2024

Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Why Caterpillar Stock Crawled to a 4% Loss On Tuesday was originally published by The Motley Fool
Earl Robert Sr., a 79-year-old San Antonio man with dementia, was sentenced Thursday to 18 months in prison for his role in a financial scheme that defrauded investors of $800,000. His son had previously been sentenced in the same case. Bill Oxford/Getty Images A 79-year-old San Antonio man with dementia was sentenced Thursday in federal court in San Antonio to 18 months in prison for his part in a financial scam. Jessica Phelps, Staff photographer / Jessica Phelps

A 79-year-old San Antonio man with dementia received an 18-month prison sentence for his role in a financing scheme that defrauded 11 investors of more than $800,000.

Earl Roberts Sr., who ran a factoring company called Factac Inc. but now lives in an assisted-living facility that takes the entirety of his Social Security check, also must pay $784,169 in restitution. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud.

U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia issued a prison sentence below the guideline range of 33 to 41 months. Roberts also must serve three years of supervised release.

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Mr. Roberts, I want you to know I take no pleasure in sentencing a (79)-year-old person, Garcia said. Sentencing is the most distasteful part of my job. Its horrible.

Im sure the victims would have preferred that I had given you a lot longer, he added. Had you been 30 or 40 years old, it would have been a lot longer.

Garcia gave Roberts until Oct. 1  a few days after Roberts turns 80  to turn himself in and begin serving the sentence.

I dont believe anyone should be in prison on their birthday, the judge said.

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Roberts originally was set to be sentenced in October but Garcia postponed it to learn if the Bureau of Prisons could humanely deal with an inmate in his condition.

Roberts son, Larry Roberts. pleaded guilty to the same crime and in November received a 25-month prison sentence hes supposed to begin serving Friday. He also must pay the same amount in restitution.

The elder Roberts sentencing hearing took longer than usual because the judge had to repeatedly ask him if he was comprehending what was happening.

You understand you were sentenced today? Garcia asked near the end of the hearing.

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Sir, I dont understand, Roberts replied.

Im not buying that, Mr. Roberts, the judge said. Ive been very patient with you today, as I should be of everyone regardless of age.

His court-appointed lawyer, Dan McCarthy, told the judge that because of Roberts dementia condition, what Roberts hears sometimes doesnt completely register right away.

McCarthy told the judge he believed Roberts understood what occurred during the sentencing.

At one point, Garcia asked McCarthy to summarize for Roberts what was happening.

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Youre going to go to jail for 18 months, do you understand that? McCarthy asked.

I understand that, but I dont want to be there, Roberts answered, drawing a few laughs in the courtroom.

Earlier, Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Chung had recommended Roberts get a sentence at the low end of the federal sentencing guidelines.

His actions and his sons actions caused a lot of financial harm and devastation to people throughout this community, Chung said. He added there were a number of other victims that couldnt be included in a presentence report for legal reasons.

Factacs business was buying invoices and accounts receivable from other businesses at a discount. Factoring companies make their money on the difference between what it pays for the debts and what customers owe. The father and son raised money from investors with promises of minimum annual returns of 10%. Factac operated for 16 years before it stopped buying invoices and receivables in late 2016.

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But the pair continued to solicit investors for money for more than a year  defrauding them in what prosecutors said was a Ponzi scheme.

Larry Wollny, who had been Larry Roberts brother-in-law, told the judge he lost $140,000.

Weve been waiting for several years for justice to come around, Wollny said. Ive not seen remorse from either one.

But McCarthy told the judge his client set aside $192,000 for the victims rather than spend it on a criminal defense lawyer.

Hes very sorry to these investors for what happened, McCarthy said. He lost all his money, too.

Im not concerned about his money, Garcia said.
Howmet Aerospace (NYSE: HWM) easily topped quarterly expectations, raised full-year guidance, and telegraphed a big boost to its dividend later this year. Investors are buying in, sending shares up 16% as of 11:15 a.m. ET.

Strong results despite Boeing's issues

Howmet is a collection of jet engine and aerospace component businesses that were cobbled together by Alcoa before being spun out as an independent. The company earned $0.57 per share in the first quarter, it reported today, on revenue of $1.824 billion, topping Wall Street's consensus estimate for $0.52 per share in earnings on sales of $1.7 billion.

Commercial aerospace sales were up 23% year over year, and companywide EBITDA margin at 24% was 100 basis points better than what Howmet had guided for. Free cash flow in the quarter was $95 million, the first time in the company's four-year history as a stand-alone that it has generated positive cash flow in the first quarter.

Howmet is a supplier to Boeing and warned that the aerospace giant's ongoing manufacturing issues mean Howmet is assuming "sharply lower" parts for new 737 MAX planes in 2024. But the company said it expects to offset the weakness at Boeing thanks to strong demand in other areas, leading it to boost full-year 2024 revenue guidance by $200 million.

Is Howmet Aerospace stock a buy?

Boeing's woes are actually helping fuel demand, forcing airlines to operate their existing fleet for longer and creating a need for more spare parts. CEO John Plant said that the company is feeling confident enough about its outlook and its ability to generate cash that he expects the board to approve a 40% increase in the dividend in the second half of 2024.

The assets that became Howmet went through some turbulent times first as part of Alcoa and then as part of Arconic, however, the shares are up 485% since the aerospace business was separated as a stand-alone in April 2020.

The stock is no longer the hidden gem it once was, but with commercial aerospace demand expected to remain strong for the foreseeable future, Howmet shares can still go higher from here.

Should you invest $1,000 in Howmet Aerospace right now?

Before you buy stock in Howmet Aerospace, 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 Howmet Aerospace wasnt one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, youd have $508,797!*

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 quadrupled the return of S&P 500 since 2002*.

Story continues

See the 10 stocks 

*Stock Advisor returns as of April 30, 2024

Lou Whiteman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Why Howmet Aerospace Stock Is Soaring Higher Today was originally published by The Motley Fool
A major window manufacturer promises to create 501 jobs over the next five years in the Johnston County town of Selma after the state approved an incentive deal worth just over $4 million in future tax benefits.

Headquartered in New York City, Crystal Window and Door Systems boasts being one the top 25 window producers in North America. It has five U.S. facilities in New York, Illinois, California, Pennsylvania and Missouri. The plant it pledges to build in Selma, a town of 6,800 people about 30 miles southeast of Raleigh, would specialize in aluminum and vinyl window extrusions, which can include frames and surrounding panels to increase stability.

Demand for the companys products has surged, Mark Poole of the N.C. Commerce Department said during an Economic Investment Committee meeting Thursday, including with customers in the southeastern U.S.

Crystal Windows manufactures for both residential and commercial buildings.

Under its agreement with the state, the company will pay average wages of at least $56,200 at the site and invest just over $83 million by the end of 2028. Crystal will receive $4.15 million in payroll tax benefits from North Carolina if it reaches its hiring and investment targets through 2036, according to its job development investment grant, or JDIG.

Johnston County and the town of Selma will offer a combined $3.7 million for the windows project.

About JDIGS

JDIGs are the chief economic incentive North Carolina offers employers to come to or expand in the state.

While most JDIG-backed projects historically havent achieved their original hiring goals, state officials say the program has helped recruit large-scale employers since 2003. In the past month alone, North Carolina has approved JDIGs for a solar panel maker in Pitt County, a construction firm in Chatham County, and Fujifilm Diosynth to expand its incoming plant in southern Wake County.

After approving its incentive for Crystal Window on Thursday, the N.C. Economic Investment Committee voted to award a JDIG for Green New Energy Materials, which is owned by a Chinese parent company, to build its first U.S. facility north of Charlotte in Lincoln County. This plant, which promises to create 545 jobs, would produce a component for lithium-ion batteries.
Nvidia's (NASDAQ: NVDA) H100 data center graphics processing unit (GPU) has been a game changer for the company since it was launched a couple of years ago, which is not surprising as the chip arrived just in time for the beginning of the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution.

Nvidia announced the H100 processor in March 2022. The chip went into full production in September of that year, and was made available for customers the following month. Assuming you invested $1,000 in Nvidia stock in October 2022 -- when the sales of the H100 began -- your investment would now be worth just over $7,000.

NVDA Chart

Let's look at the reasons why the H100 chip has made Nvidia a multibagger investment in the space of just a year and a half.

Nvidia's data center business has skyrocketed thanks to the H100

The H100 went on sale toward the end of Nvidia's fiscal year 2022 (which ended on Jan. 30, 2022). The chipmaker finished that fiscal year with $27 billion in revenue, a solid jump of 61% from the previous year. Its non-GAAP gross margin stood at almost 67% in fiscal 2022. The data center business specifically produced a record $10.6 billion in revenue for Nvidia that year, and it grew a solid 58% year over year.

The gaming segment was Nvidia's biggest business at that time, followed by the data center segment, which accounted for 39% of its top line. However, the arrival of the H100 has changed Nvidia's revenue mix big time by supercharging its data center business. In fiscal 2023, for instance, the company's data center revenue increased 41% to $15 billion. It accounted for 55% of Nvidia's top line, and was its biggest source of revenue.

Fiscal 2024, which ended in January this year, was even bigger for the data center business, as Nvidia generated a massive $47.5 billion in revenue from this segment, more than triple the previous year. The company now gets 78% of its revenue from selling data center chips. What's more, its non-GAAP gross margin stood at 73.8% last year, a nice improvement from fiscal 2022 levels when the H100 was launched.

The H100 can be given the majority of the credit for this remarkable surge in Nvidia's revenue and margins. The company sold an estimated $38 billion worth of these GPUs last year as companies lined up to buy the H100 for training large language models, catapulting Nvidia to the pinnacle of the AI chip market with a market share of more than 90%. Demand for the chip was so hot that the waiting period stretched to as long as a year.

Also, reports that Nvidia makes a profit of almost 1,000% on each H100 GPU explains why its margins and earnings have simply taken off.

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NVDA Profit Margin Chart

What next after the H100?

Nvidia's H100 will be a couple of years old in a few months, so it is not surprising that the company is all set to bring out a couple of upgrades to the chip. In November last year, Nvidia announced the H200 GPU.

Equipped with the latest generation of high-bandwidth memory (HBM), the H200 offers a bandwidth of 4.8 terabytes per second, compared to the H100's 3.35 terabytes per second. Additionally, the H200 has 141 gigabytes of HBM3e compared to 80 gigabytes of the previous-generation HBM on the H100. Nvidia plans to start the initial shipments of the new chip in the second quarter of this year, and in its latest earnings conference call described demand for this new chip as "strong."

However, the bigger upgrade will arrive when Nvidia launches the Blackwell architecture-based GPUs later this year. These new chips are based on a more advanced process node, which explains why the upcoming B200 processor is expected to deliver a 4x jump in AI training performance and a whopping 30x jump in inference.

Multiple Nvidia customers have already announced that they will be deploying the B200 chips, which is not surprising as this processor will allow them to train even bigger AI models and even run generative AI models in real time. All this indicates that Nvidia is making the right moves to maintain its dominant position in the AI chip market. Not surprisingly, the company's data center revenue is expected to continue growing at a nice pace.

Market research firm Omdia is forecasting $87 billion in data center revenue for Nvidia this year. The company could witness even stronger data center revenue in the long run thanks to AI, with Japanese investment bank Mizuho forecasting $280 billion in revenue from this segment in 2027.

So if you didn't buy Nvidia when the H100 was launched, you should consider buying it right now as the arrival of its next-generation chips could help sustain its impressive stock market rally. Another reason to do that is the fact that Nvidia is currently trading at 36 times forward earnings, which is a discount to its five-year average forward earnings multiple of 39. Investors are getting a good deal on this AI stock, which they may not want to miss considering that it seems built for more upside.

Should you invest $1,000 in Nvidia right now?

Before you buy stock in Nvidia, 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 Nvidia wasnt one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, youd have $529,390!*

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 quadrupled the return of S&P 500 since 2002*.

See the 10 stocks 

*Stock Advisor returns as of April 30, 2024

Harsh Chauhan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

If You'd Invested $1,000 in Nvidia When the H100 Was Launched, This Is How Much You Would Have Today was originally published by The Motley Fool
A thief In DeKalb County turns something that was meant for good into a crime.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Caden Harris is a young entrepreneur who has a passion for financial education so he founded a financial literacy bus that travels all over Atlanta teaching kids about money.

While away in Washington, D.C. speaking at the U.S. Department of Treasury, Harris said he received a phone call from his dad that his bus had been broken into.

Harris stated that the thief stole the generator which powers the interior workings of the bus.

In a video shared on Facebook, Harris said hes enraged because this incident delays kids learning about financial literacy.

BUS BREAK IN!  While I was in Washington, DC speaking at the Treasury Department sharing about financial literacy making a global impact, when unfortunately, my dad received a phone call that while I was on stage speaking, my bus had been broken into and my generator which powers the interior workings of the bus,was stolen!!! This delays tons of kids learning about financial literacy. When youre doing Gods work negativity will always come against you. Im going to replace what was taken and keep it moving. I have a nation of kids to inspire. FOX 5 Atlanta Buck Lanford FOX 5 Lori Wilson Cheryl Preheim Posted by Caden Harris on Saturday, April 27, 2024

When youre doing Gods work negativity will always come against you. Im going to replace what was taken and keep it moving. I have a nation of kids to inspire, Harris said.

TRENDING STORIES:

Last Friday, Stonecrest District 2 Councilman Terry Fye said he plans to donate his council salary to help replace Harriss stolen generator. Fye hopes the funds will help Harris and his team avoid such costly fees and get him back in business.

As a young black man operating in our community, Mr.Harris and his family continue to set a great example for his peers. Now more than ever, we need men like Caden to continue the good work, Fye said.

On Thursday, Harris said its going to cost just over $4,500 to replace the generator and repair the damage.

If you would like to donate, click here.

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IN OTHER NEWS:
Early voting starts Friday for the June 18 primary elections, which feature a crowded field of candidates.

Seven Democrats and six Republicans are in the running for the 7th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat from Henrico County, has held the post since 2018 and is running for Virginia governor in 2025.

Looking to replace her on the Democratic side are: Eugene Vindman, Briana Sewell, Elizabeth Guzman, Carl Bedell, Cliff Heinzer, Margaret Angela Franklin and Andrea Bailey.

Republicans contending for the spot are: Jon Myers, Derrick Anderson, Cameron Hamilton, John Prabhudoss, Maria Martin and Terris Todd.

Republican voters also will choose a candidate to go up against incumbent U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine in the Nov. 5 election. Those on the ballot for the GOP primary include Hung Cao, Edward Eddie Garcia Jr., Jonathan Emord, C.L. Chuck Smith Jr. and Scott Thomas Parkinson.

Fredericksburg-area residents interested in voting early can request that a ballot be mailed to them or they can vote in-person. Locations for early voting have changed since last year in Spotsylvania and Stafford counties.

Spotsylvania voters can cast their ballots at its Office of Elections at 4708 Southpoint Parkway in Massaponax. Stafford voters will go to the new location of the General Registrars Office at 124 Old Potomac Church Road, Suite 205 in Stafford. Thats in the Germanna Community College Building.

Early voting will continue through Saturday, June 15, which is one of two Saturdays  the other is June 8  when registrar offices will be open, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

May 28 is the last day to register or to make changes to existing voter registration information, and June 7 is the last day to request an absentee ballot by mail.

Drop boxes for absentee ballots are available during business at the registrar offices through June 17. On June 18, the day of the primary, drop boxes will be available at all polling locations from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Those with questions about their precinct can visit the Virginia Department of Elections website or search online to find my polling place in Virginia.

Local registrars also are available by phone:

Caroline County: 804/633-9083

Fredericksburg: 540/372-1030

King George County: 540/775-9186

Spotsylvania County: 540/507-7380

Stafford County: 540/658-4000
Voters in two of Colorado's eight congressional districts will be faced with historically long primary ballots in June, when half a dozen candidates in each primary will vie for the Republican nominations to replace Lauren Boebert and Ken Buck.
SwRI Staff Engineer Yvette Tyler integrates electronics for the MASPEX instrument, which will sample gases in Europas atmosphere and possible plumes of materials escaping from surface cracks to determine the chemistry of the moons surface and suspected internal ocean. Ian McKinney, Specialist Engineers monitor test results from a satellite called, Polarimeter to UNify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH), that will track and measure solar winds that emanate from the sun. Southwest Research Institute (SWRI) is nearly complete in building a $35 million, 74,000-square-foot facility scheduled for completion in June. For years, SWRI has been developing satellites for NASA missions. Kin Man Hui, San Antonio Express-News / Staff photographer From left, research engineers Tyler Marr, David Spielman and Yolnan Chen work together to program a robot for a demonstration project at Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. Sam Owens, San Antonio Express-News / Staff photographer "The High Reliability Systems Laboratory at Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio develops computing and network solutions for spacecraft operations and satellite communications. SwRI recently developed a micropatching algorithm to remotely update and repair spacecraft software using less time and data than conventional techniques." Courtesy of SwRI Southwest Research Institute develops small satellites. Courtesy of Ian McKinney

Southwest Research Institute is growing again, this time in Warner Robins, Ga.

The research hub headquartered on San Antonios West Side has acquired more than 8 acres about 3 miles from Robins Air Force Base where its planning to build an $18.5 million, 33,000-square-foot facility to support national defense with intelligence research and development.

SwRI officials broke ground on the project Wednesday. According to a statement, more than 50 SwRI staffers and consultants will work at the facility, a single-story office building with labs for developing advanced aerospace and defense technology.

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Construction is expected to be completed by mid-2025.

We currently manage some of our government projects off-site at Robins Air Force Base, said Winfield Greene, director of SwRIs Advanced Electronic Warfare Department. The new facility will allow us to handle this type of work in our own space to expand our support of the United States Air Force.

Most SwRI staffers at Warner Robins are developing electronic warfare technology including countermeasure systems to protect aircraft from enemy weapons fire. They now work in a leased 15,000-square-foot building.

The new facility will continue the Warner Robins offices mission  by adding laboratory and meeting spaces as well as the capability to test equipment that, right now, we can only test on-base, said Nils Smith, vice president in SwRIs Defense and Intelligence Solutions Division. The facility will also have more conference space and areas for future development as our work for the military in Warner Robins grows.

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SwRI has operated in Warner Robins for more than three decades. The Georgia site will be among the 76-year-old research institutes 10 U.S. locations outside of San Antonio. Others are in Boulder, Colo.; Hanover, Md.; Ann Arbor, Mich.; Minneapolis; Durham, N.H.; Beavercreek, Ohio; Midwest City, Okla.; Austin and Hill Air Force Base in Utah.

It has international locations in Beijing and the United Kingdom.

The institute typically leases office and lab space at its locations outside San Antonio. It said the Georgia project is the first time it has purchased land and is building its own facilities.

Purchasing property and building was the best solution to meet client needs in Warner Robins, SwRI said in a statement.

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Its announcement comes about two weeks after the San Antonio Express-News reported SwRI is building a $27 million facility at its West Side campus. The 36,600-square-foot concrete building will house the Center for Accelerated Materials and Processes, providing additional workspace for SwRIs mechanical engineering division. The division supports government and industry work in engineering dynamics, fluids engineering, machinery, materials and structural engineering.

The growth spurt comes after SwRI posted record revenue of $844 million in 2023, up nearly 6% from its previous record.
A panel of legislators approved a measure to create "standards" for public libraries in assessing contested materials after a similar proposal failed to pass through committee earlier in the session.

Diving into an issue that has divided communities across America and enraged parents and activists on both sides of the debate, Senate Bill 216 requires a library's board of trustees to establish written policies governing the acquisition, retention, display and usage of resources, such as books, movies and CDs.

The bill mandates libraries to publicize their reconsideration process, share the outcomes of each reconsideration request with the public and ensure that challenged materials remain on shelves until a final decision is made.

In addition, the bill seeks to inoculate library employees from termination, discipline or discrimination if they refused to remove a resource before it undergoes proper review.

Proponents argued it's "important" to show library patrons, including parents and children, "a world wider than the one they might see in everyday life," and ensure libraries "reflect the diversity of the communities they serve."

Critics countered that some materials are simply not suitable for children, noting that many of the books that have been challenged contain topics that include rape, incest and pedophilia.

In February, the Senate Education Committee rejected Senate Bill 049, which would have created an official process for parents, students and the public to object to materials in a school or public library.

Sen. Lisa Cutter, D-Littleton, and Rep. Junie Joseph, D-Boulder, who sponsored SB 049, are also backing SB 216, which passed through the Senate Education committee via a party-line vote of 4-3. It's next stop is a debate on the Senate floor.

Cutter pointed to a recent surge in book challenges and bans nationwide and said she wants to ensure that Coloradans have the freedom to access resources that expose them to different cultures and viewpoints. She added that the bill prohibits a "resource" from being reconsidered more than once within a five-year period and requires reconsideration requests come from individuals residing in the library district to avoid what she called "ban-bombing," which she described as multiple individuals flooding a library with requests to reconsider the same resource.

"While librarians work to provide their patrons with an inclusive array of materials, culture war extremists are attacking them and accusing them of distributing things that may not be appropriate and trying to deny other library-goers materials and programming," she said. "I want to make sure here that we affirm our commitment to those freedoms and let parents and children and all library patrons make choices for themselves and not for others. It's important to show them a world wider than the one they might see in everyday life." Erin Meschke, a Boulder resident, contended that no one is trying to ban books. Rather, she said, concerned parents want to ensure their children aren't being exposed to content they deem inappropriate. Meschke said most of the resources that have been challenged center on topics like rape, incest, and pedophilia, which "have nothing to do with the majority" of LGBT individuals or people of color. "To protect children from pornography and advocate for protected classes, we must not conflate their rights with the depravity aimed at our children," she said. Meschke raised similar arguments during the debate in committee over SB 049, the measure that failed to advance. During that hearing, Meschke said she believes that the public library committees would be biased, citing a 2018 poll that found 93% of librarians to be Democrats. "Senate Bill 49 would impose new controls on the content of libraries without sufficient input from parents or without providing avenues for parental involvement in the decision-making process," she said. Supporters of SB 216 insisted that such books reflect diversity in "perspectives" and they should be welcomed.

"Public libraries need the protections offered by this bill to strengthen the opportunities to include books and content that represent a wide range of perspectives, enhance wellbeing, and contribute to community cohesion," said Mark Fink from Anythink Libraries in Adams County, adding Adams County is one of two minority-majority counties in the state and added he wants his libraries' collections to reflect the diversity of the communities they serve.

Fink praised the bill's provision to inoculate library workers, who, he said, have been retaliated against and fired for refusing to censor content before it is properly reviewed.

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"It's important for public library workers to be afforded protections to continue to provide people of all ages with access to a wide variety of reading materials," he said.

Alanna Hunter-Lawley of the Interfaith Alliance of Colorado also claimed the true "motivation" behind banning books is not a "desire to protect the most vulnerable among us," but rather to "(ensure) that minds remain closed."

"The banning of books represents both a surrender to ignorance and an arrogance to assume that our own experience supersedes the experiences of others," she said, adding that banning books dampens democracy and puts religious and intellectual freedoms at risk.

Donna LaBelle, who testified against SB 049 in February, reiterated her concerns that certain resources available in public libraries may not be suitable for children.

"This and other bills focus on issues that are adding to our children's confusion and pain, instead of helping them," she said, adding that the "peripeteia in our culture is forcing more parents and community members to become more involved" in debates about materials they believe should or shouldn't be available in their libraries.

In her closing comments, bill sponsor Sen. Dafna Michaelson Jenet, D-Commerce City, noted that there has been a 143% increase in challenged books in Colorado since 2022. She reiterated that the majority of those books were written by or about LGBT individuals or people of color, and argued that banning books is a "a common first step to suppress the literature of marginalized groups", one that has "dire consequences, especially for children, who research shows benefit greatly from culturally and racially responsive representation."

"The freedom to read is one of our most precious rights," she added. "Regardless of background, zip code, or socioeconomic status, we have the right to read a wide range of materials that provide us with the knowledge base and the critical thinking skills that we need to be informed citizens who will contribute positively to our democracy. Our communities deserve to be represented in public spaces like public libraries, and codifying those legal standards demonstrates our commitment to protecting all Coloradans."

Minority Leader Sen. Paul Lundeen of Colorado Springs and Janice Rich, R-Grand Junction expressed concerns about the bill's proposed five-year reconsideration window, which they thought is too long. Sen. Mark Baisley, R-Sedalia, advocated for the reconsideration process to be solely managed by the library board, rather than the state.

The two bills  SB 216 and SB 049  have differences but also share similarities. Notably, both measures would prohibit the removal of a "resource" under certain conditions. In the case of SB 216, removal is prohibited until a public library has established a reconsideration policy or if that policy does not comply with the provisions of the bill.

In the case of SB 049, a material cannot be removed while a request for reconsideration is pending.

In addition, both bills say it is unlawful and a "discriminatory practice" to discriminate against individuals or groups in acquiring, retaining, displaying, using or "reconsidering" a library resource.
Progressive House Democrats didn't wait until the last day of the session, as they did last year, to accuse their caucus leaders of slow-walking their priority legislation and coddling Republicans  one, in particular  who, they said, have bullied members.

The same scene unfolded at the last day of session last year, when a progressive Democrat accused House Speaker Julie McCluskie of not doing enough to "defend" Black lawmakers and not calling out Republicans' alleged offensive remarks.

Unlike last year, the Democratic leaders pushed back, suggesting their party isn't all innocent.

During Wednesday's meeting, the progressive Democrats took aim, in particular, at Rep. Brandi Bradley, R-Roxborough Park, describing her as a bully.

Bradley replied she had been at the receiving end of a barrage of labels coming from Democrats, including being described as a bigot and racist.

Thirteen Democrats  almost all lawmakers of color  met with House McCluskie and Majority Leader Monica Duran behind closed doors on Wednesday morning. The meeting was not announced, so reporters from Colorado Politics and The Denver Post entered the room to observe.

The members said they are frustrated by the leaders' decision to remove two bills from Wednesday's calendar: House Bill 1460, which deals with police misconduct, and House Bill 1373, which delves into alcohol beverage licenses.

Both were slated for a debate but were pulled off the calendar.

Duran told the group she needed more time to understand HB 1460, partly because of a phone call she received from her county's district attorney on Tuesday night.

That did little to appease the group, which called for more accountability and communications.

"This is the hardest part of the session," McCluskie said in response to frustrations over delaying the bills. "We have to hang in there with one another, keep talking to each other about the bills that are in front of us. There are never enough hours in the day."

McCluskie then asked for patience.

Rep. Leslie Herod, D-Denver, replied, We are struggling. Some of us are very hurt, some of us feel we continue to be harmed. We want to give you all the opportunity to support us now.

Duran responded that she will have to impose House rules  presumably, House rule 14 that limits debate  on HB 1460, despite a previous agreement with House Republicans to not do that.

Duran said she felt ambushed by the accusations.

"This is not an indictment of you and your leadership," said Assistant Majority Leader Jennifer Bacon, D-Denver. "This is saying that we have things on the table that we need to understand how we're going to resolve because of the consequences of how it's impacting us."

She added that this is an urgent request to resolve issues.

"We cannot do everything that we set out to do, but we do keep working, and that is the strongest commitment I can make right now," responded McCluskie.

Rep. Naquetta Ricks, D-Aurora, one of the sponsors of HB 1373, pleaded for her bill to get a vote. Time is running out and she described the bill as big for minorities, small business owners and people in her district. She said she has the votes to advance the bill but she worries the clock would run out and the alcohol industry would be devastated.

'Enough blame to go around'

The Democratic rank-and-file didn't just complain about the state of their legislation.

Led by Rep. Stephanie Vigil, D-Colorado Springs, they said that some  she didn't specify who  are out to physically harm them and argued that such individuals shouldn't get any of their legislative priorities passed.

"It is my belief that people who inspire violence against us outside of this building should not be rewarded with legislative wins," a reference to Rep. Bradley.

In the back of the room, Rep. Jenny Willford, D-Northglenn, sat quietly, tears running down her face. This did not go unnoticed.

Willford and Bradley have been sparring on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, for weeks, with Bradley accusing Willford of protecting pedophiles because she voted against one of Bradley's bills.

It has led to threats from Bradley's followers against Willford, her husband, and her children, according to Bradley.

Rep. Ryan Armagost, R-Berthoud, also has attacked Willford on X. Willford responds to those attacks but with much less vitriol.

"This thing has been toxic in a way that I don't understand. What are you two doing between (Willford and Bradley) to help, I don't know, find a solution, reach the gap, or however it is so that I don't have colleagues who are just devastated about being here," Rep. Junie Joseph, D-Boulder, said.

Two Democratic lawmakers resigned last year, citing the toxic environment in the state House.

These interactions have happened not only on social media, according to Rep. Elisabeth Epps, D-Denver, who also criticized the Democratic leadership for "embracing" Bradley after she took a moment of personal privilege last year to complain about people being unkind to her online.

Epps was reprimanded for joining pro-Palestinian protesters in the House gallery back in November, a move that halted the chamber's business. At the time, Epps called fellow lawmakers "fascist." The reprimand from House Speaker Julie McCluskie included a sternly-worded warning that such actions in the future could lead to more serious consequences.

During the meeting, Epps said Bradley takes pictures of lawmakers when they're in committee in a way that is not normal. Epps called it "insidious."

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"There's enough blame to go around on both sides," Duran responded.

Duran noted that the lawmakers appeared to be asking for Bradley's bills not to proceed. Bradley has legislation awaiting a floor debate this week.

Willford replied: "It's more than that."

"The reality is that our workplace harassment policy does not cover any activities outside of this building," she said, adding, "The term means absolutely nothing in these halls anymore. And that is a travesty."

Epps added that it's not just social media. It's also about Armagost, who chairs the workplace harassment committee, and how he interacts with people online, she said.

She said how Armagost behaves online is why people are not safe reporting what goes on at the state Capitol.

It's cyberbullying, Willford said.

McCluskie said they've talked to Armagost and are not ignoring the problem.

"We are holding our schools to a higher account when it comes to bullying and harassment than we are holding ourselves," Herod said, adding that some members have faced such harassment that they don't want to be "on this planet."

Rep. Regina English, D-Colorado Springs, who has been a co-sponsor on some of Bradley's bills and who had listened to the interaction silently, said the relationship she has with Bradley is different than anyone else.

But that doesn't mean she doesn't care, she said, adding she advocates for Bradley to treat people with dignity and respect, even telling her Republican colleague to knock off her attacks on Twitter. English added she cannot dictate how someone behaves, but she does not condone Bradley's "bullying and harassment."

All this fight on social media needs to stop, she added.

Rep. Lorena Garcia, D-Adams County, concluded that there are two key issues  accountability and communications. It's almost impossible to hold people accountable for their actions outside the Capitol, she said, adding the second issue is communicating to members where their bills are in the process and the decisions being made.

As for harassment, Garcia said there is an expectation that people who serve in the House come with a "level of maturity and decency on how you want to treat people and how you want to respect each other."

"That goes a long way when were not being given the same respect or treatment that we believe that we deserve," she said.

Garcia pressed Democratic leaders on their next steps.

Herod pointed out that the House has acted on controversies that erupted outside of the state Capitol, most notably, the expulsion of Rep. Steve Lebsock, D-Thornton, for sexual harassment of a fellow House member and lobbyists.

"We just pick and choose when that's acceptable, and it's not acceptable," Herod said.

As for bills getting delayed or moved, Duran said she communicates that with each member.

"I never just take a bill off the calendar without telling the member and calling them first," including on Wednesday, she said.

To Garcia, Mccluskie said, "Point heard, point taken."

Another unannounced meeting

But the speaker also pleaded with the group to "show up on social media at the level of respect and civility that we're expecting of our colleagues, even if they fail. And they have been awful."

It's been challenging to address what happens on social media in the House, and she asked them all to "rise above" it.

McCluskie also aired her own gripes, one of which was about the meeting itself.

"I would've preferred this happened in a different way. But we've had the conversation, and for that, I will express my own respect and gratitude to each of you for showing up here. I would've preferred a much more constructive way. Let's try to do that moving forward," she said.

Reporters learned about the unannounced meeting by noting that several Democrats walked off the floor during a third reading vote. Several were fined for missing the vote. They then were joined by about 10 more for the meeting, along with McCluskie and Duran.

When asked for a response, Bradley told Colorado Politics she had been called names and Democrats have shut down Republicans' speech.

"(Rep. David Ortiz) "called me xenophobic in committee last year on the record and since they have called me transphobic, bigot, racist, and come after my parenting ability and called me a bully," she said.

She said Democrats have stripped out the Republicans' First Amendment rights to speak for their districts, using certain House rules, but that Democrats "stand up for the rights of people chanting 'from the river to the sea.'"

The river is the Jordan and the sea is the Mediterranean, between which lie Israel and the Palestinian territories. Palestinian activists say its a call for peace and equality after 75 years of Israeli statehood and decades-long Israeli military rule over millions of Palestinians. Jews hear a clear demand for Israels annihilation.

Editor's note: Rep. Elisabeth Epps' comments have been updated in this current version.
Gov. Jared Polis signed three bills into law on Wednesday, including one that advocates claimed could stop shootings before they happen.

Guns and merchant codes

Senate Bill 066 mandates payment networks, such as credit card companies, to provide processors with a newly developed merchant category code, or MCC, that will specifically be assigned to firearms and ammunition.

Its sponsors  Sen. Tom Sullivan, D-Thornton, and Reps. Meg Froelich, D-Englewood, and Javier Mabrey, D-Denver  argued that requiring a code for firearms would align the industry with every other industry in the country and enable law enforcement to track suspicious activity that could lead to crime.

Republicans asserted that requiring MCCs for firearms and ammunition constituted government overbearance, particularly given the constitutional protections of gun ownership. They also expressed doubts that the bill would do anything to stop shootings.

While the bill through both the Senate and House Judiciary committees along partisan lines, several House Democrats  including Reps. Shannon Bird of Westminster, Majority Monica Duran of Wheat Ridge, Matthew Martinez of Monte Vista, and Barbara McLachlan of Durango  joined their Republican counterparts in voting against the legislation on the floor.

Sen. Dylan Roberts of Frisco was the sole Democrat to oppose the bill on the Senate floor.

Read more about SB 066 here.

Uncertified potatoes

Senate Bill 137 mandates individuals planting "uncertified" potatoes to have their seed stock tested and approved by the state's certifying authority.

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Additionally, it requires that those potatoes cannot be more than one generation removed from certified or qualified "parent potatoes."

The legislation was brought forth by sponsors Sens. Cleave Simpson, R-Alamosa, and Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, as well as Reps. Matthew Martinez, D-Monte Vista, and Richard Holtorf, R-Akron, in an effort to stop diseases from spreading through potato crops.

It passed unanimously in its assigned House and Senate committees, as well as on the Senate floor. Rep. Stephanie Luck, R-Penrose, was the sole opposition in the House.

Potato growers are a big part of the agricultural landscape in House District 63, Holtorf said in a news release following the passage of the bill. This is a grassroots bill borne by potato growers to maintain a healthy and marketable product world wide. I am proud to be on this bill supporting agriculture."

Lease-purchase agreements for university projects

House Bill 1231 authorizes the treasurer to enter a lease-purchase agreement to help fund the University of Northern Colorado's new Osteopathic Medical College, Metropolitan State's Health Institute Tower, Colorado State's Veterinary Health Education Campus, and the expansion and renovation of the main building at Trinidad State College's Valley Campus.

The bill is sponsored by Reps. Mary Young, D-Greeley and Lindsey Daugherty, D-Arvada, and Sens. Barbara Kirkmeyer, R-Brighton, and Kyle Mullica, D-Northglenn.

The bill advanced through the House Health & Human Services Committee on a vote of 12-1, with Rep. Ron Weinberg, R-Loveland, dissenting. It cleared the House floor on a vote of 52-7, with Republican Reps. Brandi Bradley of Littleton, Scott Bottoms of Colorado Springs, Ken DeGraaf of Colorado Springs, Lisa Frizell of Castle Rock, Don Wilson of Monument and Weinberg voting in opposition.

In the Senate Finance Committee, HB 1231 received a 6-1 vote, with Sen. Kevin Van Winkle, R-Highlands Ranch, in oppositino. Van Winkle also cast the sole opposing vote on the Senate floor.

Im so excited that Colorado will now have a new medical school in Greeley," Polis said. "With this investment, Colorado will train more world-class doctors, nurses, veterinarians, and other health professionals to provide Coloradans with the care they need. These new opportunities will attract students from Colorado and across the country to our communities, strengthening our healthcare workforce and supporting our economy."
The federal appeals court based in Denver agreed Tuesday that a boy could pursue his claims of sex-based discrimination against a Colorado Springs charter school after he was disciplined for wearing earrings under a boys-only prohibition on the accessory.

A three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals determined a trial judge relied on the wrong legal standard to dismiss the claims of John Doe against Rocky Mountain Classical Academy. It is not appropriate to ask whether the dress code imposed comparable burdens on girls and boys, wrote Judge Joel Carson III, but instead whether the government had an important objective in treating the sexes differently.

The allegations do not reflect that RMCA has an exceedingly persuasive justification for its sex-based classification or that its classification serves important governmental objectives through means substantially related to those objectives, wrote Carson, a Donald Trump appointee, in the panels Tuesday opinion.

Igor Raykin, the attorney who brought the case on behalf of Doe, said he had never encountered a school district in Colorado that attempted to disenroll a boy for wearing earrings, as occurred with Doe.

Were talking about kicking out a 5-year-old boy for the horrible crime of wearing earrings to school. Normally, who cares? he said. This was really about equal protection.

The attorney for the school did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Doe enrolled in Rocky Mountain Classical Academy in the fall 2019. Although the dress code only allowed girls to wear earrings, Doe, who identifies as male, wore small, blue earrings that were otherwise consistent with school policy.

School staff allegedly told Does mother that Doe could not wear earrings, and he accumulated oops slips for violating the dress code. In December 2019, the school suspended him and then began disenrolling Doe for violating the earring prohibition for boys. Doe filed suit, alleging violations of his constitutional right to equal protection under the laws and of Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in educational programming.

In September 2022, U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Domenico dismissed Does claims. Domenico, also a Trump appointee, noted the 10th Circuit never struck down a school dress code on discrimination grounds.

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Instead of analyzing whether Doe had claimed the school lacked a persuasive justification and an important interest in treating the sexes differently, as the U.S. Supreme Court requires, Domenico looked to the Chicago-based 7th Circuit. Specifically, he cited the 7th Circuits determination that dress codes imposing comparable burdens on men and women were permissible.

Ultimately, the uniform policy places the same essential burden on both boys and girls: they must limit their individuality and adhere generally to a traditional, conservative appearance, Domenico wrote. While that means girls have a few more options than boys when it comes to dresses, capris, earrings, and haircuts, that is simply a reflection of the community norms for what constitutes a traditional, conservative appearance for boys and girls.

Doe appealed to the 10th Circuit, where the three-judge panel was concerned about Domenicos dismissal of the case without exploring the schools justification for prohibiting boys earrings specifically.

So, a girl can get a good education with earrings, but when you put the earrings on a boy, he cant learn? Doesnt that have to be explored on more than what we have? asked Judge Carolyn McHugh, a Barack Obama appointee.

The school doesnt want the students  I think this is implicit in any dress code  to attract attention by dressing differently, observed Judge Harris Hartz, a George W. Bush appointee. In other words, limit expression so you dont create any controversy or youre not saying, Look at me, Im special. Schools can do that, cant they?

Earlobes are earlobes, responded Raykin.

The panel concluded Domenico incorrectly looked at the comparable burdens the Rocky Mountain Classical Academy dress code broadly imposed on boys and girls. He should have instead scrutinized the exceedingly persuasive justification for the boys earring ban.

Until RMCA provides a justification for their sex-based classification, wrote Carson, we cannot evaluate whether RMCAs justification is exceedingly persuasive or whether the dress codes treatment of boys is substantially related to their  at this point unstated  objectives.

Based on the 10th Circuits directive, Raykin said he did not expect future proceedings to focus, as Domenico did, on the dress codes overall aim of fostering a conservative appearance among its students. He added he had no idea what the schools important objective was in maintaining the boys earring ban.
A man arrested Sunday for allegedly starting three separate fires that evening did so because he was "angry," according to a recently released arrest affidavit obtained by Gazette media partner KOAA.

The affidavit reveals more about what led investigators to take the man, identified as Bernie Hidalgo, into custody.

Read more on this story at KOAA.com.

According to the affidavit both the Colorado Springs Fire Department and police responded to a fire at 2711 W. Pikes Peak Ave., around 9:10 p.m. Sunday. After arriving , more fire-related calls began to come in along West Pikes Peak Avenue, prompting a police officer to get in touch with CSFD arson investigators, who believed the fire calls were arson-related.

Police followed up with the two brothers living at 2709 West Pikes Peak Avenue who were displaced as a result of a fire that started inside their garage. CSFD rescued a dog from that fire.

The homeowner provided surveillance footage which showed a man entering the garage through a door. Later video allegedly shows the man doing something in the vehicle before smoke and flames are seen coming from the Jeep. Police said that a later video shows the man leaving with what was identified as the rifle case for a bolt-action rifle belonging to one of the other brothers living at the house.

The serial arsons, combined with the theft of a firearm, led police to issue a shelter-in-place order for the surrounding neighborhood until the man could be arrested.

With the homeowner's assistance, police officers located the man and identifie Hidalgo as the one who had started the fire outside the townhome.

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The affidavit stated that in the course of a Mirandized interview with police, Hidalgo said he started the fire at one property in the Jeep using a lighters and a paper receipt found in the vehicle. Hidalgo allegedly stated that he set fire to other vehicles after finding them to be unlocked. His reasoning: because he was "angry."

Hidalgo is facing the following charges:

Three counts of fourth degree arson

Two counts of second degree burglary

Two counts of second degree arson

Two counts of theft

He was in court on Tuesday where a judge set his bond at $10,000 and is set to appear again in court on May 7 at 2:15 p.m.
A pro-Palestinian demonstration attracted around 250 students, faculty and alumni at Colorado College's Tava Quad after a class walkout Wednesday morning.

The student-led event featured multiple speakers expressing concerns against perceived economic support of the college to Israel amid the war with Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups .

Since its start nearly seven months back, Israel's offensive in Gaza has killed more than 34,000 people, roughly 1.5% of the total pre-war population in Gaza, according to Associated Press reporting. Hamas launched an assault on Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people while taking more than 250 as hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

About 30 participating CC faculty members canceled their Wednesday morning classes to allow the walkout. Students and faculty expressed concern about a lack of support from administration for previous demonstrations of Palestinian solidarity.

"Im here for Palestinian liberation, and I dont agree with the efforts of CC (Colorado College) to disband our actions, and Im hoping that they can divest from Israel, as well," said one student demonstrator, who declined to share their name with The Gazette.

Student protesters were unwilling to provide their names to Gazette reporters, they said, over fears of retaliation from the college.

Since the war began, students organized a "teach-in" in support of Palestinians, protested outside a work session featuring the Anti-Defamation League and staged a sit-in at the Charles L. Tutt Library.

Colorado College's student newspaper, The Catalyst, previously reported that students who participated in the sit-in were met with pushback from administration due to violations of the college's "Freedom of Expression" policy. Multiple students received conduct cases that are ongoing. Some faculty members in turn said they felt their right to peaceful assembly was being violated.

The college's policy states that students, staff and faculty can participate in protests and demonstrations as long as they don't disrupt any college business or activities.

The policy also specifies that faculty may participate in protests, as long as they "ensure that they in no way represent themselves as a spokesperson for the College."

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CC Dean of College Pedro de Araujo confirmed to The Gazette that multiple student conduct cases are underway connected to past on-campus demonstrations.

He added that the administration became aware last week of plans for Wednesday's walkout and made preparations to deescalate any situation. Students were given permission for the demonstration on the quad as long as policies were followed.

After the rally, Araujo said that no policies appeared to have been violated and that administration will prepare accordingly for any future demonstrations.

"Really, it went beautifully, I think," he said. "Especially different than some of the other colleges recently."

In the preceding weeks, college campuses nationwide cracked down on student protesters, with dozens arrested at Columbia University, and thousands of others across the U.S., according to national reports.

On Denver's Auraria campus, home to the University of Colorado Denver, Community College of Denver and Metropolitan State University of Denver, pro-Palestinian protests have persisted since last week resulting in student arrests and meetings between protest organizers and campus leaders.

Wednesday's walkout at Colorado College is the only recent pro-Palestinian demonstration at a Colorado Springs-based college to date. Jennifer Sobanet, chancellor of the Colorado Springs campus of the University of Colorado, told The Gazette on Wednesday that there have been no planned demonstrations thus far.

Nothing has happened on campus, and we are not aware of any activities, she said. In some instances, college administration has threatened expulsion of students who are refusing to abandon organized encampments.

"We are here today in solidarity and in commitment to continue to fight for a free Palestine. We are here to refuse our colleges investments and colonial and White supremacist violence," a student organizer said to the crowd at CC.

"Were walking out of our classes, out of our jobs, out of refusing to continue operating in our daily lives as if nothing is happening, as if the status quo doesnt allow and in fact perpetuate extreme violence against Palestinians, the significance of this refusal must be acknowledged."
University of Colorado Boulder pro-Palestinian activists walked out of class on Wednesday to protest the war in Gaza, prompting pro-Israel counterprotesters to join as well, according to university officials.

The protest was peaceful and "both sides were respectful," CU Boulder spokesperson Nicole Mueksch said.

"They followed all policies and procedures on campus," she said, adding that protests were "quiet and lasted an hour. The university supports the campus communities right by peaceful protests."

This is the latest in what has been a wave of pro-Palestinian rallies on college campuses across the United States and a few in Colorado in the past several days, increasing worries by some Jewish students for their safety.

Class walkouts and rallies have been reported at Colorado College, Colorado State University-Pueblo and the Auraria Campus in Denver that's home to Metropolitan State University of Denver, University of Colorado Denver and Community College of Denver.

While protests on Colorado campuses Wednesday were more muted than the violent clashes in California and elsewhere in the country, the situation remained tense.

Oh, yeah, theyre scared," said Daniel Bennett, executive director of Hillel Colorado, referring to Jewish students. An affiliate of Hillel International, the Colorado group serves more than 2,000 Jewish students in metro Denver and northern Colorado.

In Denver, protesters began occupying the Auraria Campus last Thursday. The next day, the police dismantled tents and arrested about 40 protesters. Auraria Campus officials defended the arrests by noting the encampment violates campus policy. They also suggested that "national disruptors" had infiltrated the protest.
Annasofia Scheve covers trending news for the Express-News. She can be reached at Annasofia.Scheve@express-news.net.

Annasofia has bachelor's degrees in journalism and political science from the University of Missouri. She is an Ohio native, and wrote for Cincinnati Magazine and the Cincinnati Enquirer before joining the Express-News in 2023.
Two major divisions at the Colorado Springs campus of the University of Colorado are being consolidated in a reorganizational effort to streamline operations, save money, improve student experience and lead the way to a new focus on innovation and creativity, Chancellor Jennifer Sobanet said Wednesday.

We know the landscape of higher education is changing, and we can change with it, choose not to change or get ahead of it, she said. As part of our focus on student success, we know we need to create an environment where students can survive and programs that help transform their lives.

Sobanet, who became the permanent chancellor in December, announced the changes to the campus Wednesday afternoon.

The Division of Student Affairs and the Division of Enrollment Management are merging into the new Division of Enrollment Management and Student Affairs, effective June 1.

The entity will oversee the entire student journey from admissions through graduation, providing a continuum of services for students, Sobanet said.

We want to create an experience for students where they feel engaged in this community, where they feel a sense of belonging, where were supporting them in their well-being, where were caring for them and theyre staying with us through graduation and cross-back stages, she said.

Enrollment management covers new student recruitment, outreach and precollegiate programs in local schools, transferring students and returning students, as well as financial aid services and the admissions process.

Student affairs encompasses health and wellness programs including the recreation center, student support and engagement, veterans and military affairs, various student groups and auxiliary businesses, such as dining, housing, hospitality and the campus store.

The merger also will help address a $4 million budget shortfall the campus is projecting for the fiscal year that begins July 1 by saving a net of about $400,000, according to Sobanet.

Currently, 351 employees, not counting student employees, work in the two divisions. But other cost-savings measures will lower the staff count.

The vice chancellor of enrollment management is resigning at the end of this semester, Sobanet said, and the position will be dropped. A filled associate vice chancellor position also is being eliminated.

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Other ways in which the campus plans to close the gap between expected revenue and expenses for the 2024-25 fiscal year include not filling open positions, offering early retirement incentives and decreasing operating expenses.

Also in the works is honing the campus strategic plan, realigning resources to priorities, and reinvesting in research and growth, Sobanet said.

Faced with declining enrollment and low student retention rates, the chancellor said she has been canvassing the campus to figure out ways to improve services and build a culture of belonging, inclusion and engagement among the student body. A visioning exercise this year also helped shape the new direction, Sobanet said.

This is an opportunity for us to create that student experience we want students to have by bringing these groups together so they can connect in a more meaningful way, she said. Itll make it easier for students to interact with us and make it a more beautiful culture thats filled with caring and support.

The 2024-25 state budget Gov. Jared Polis signed on Monday provides for an increase of about 9% in UCCS coming operating budget.

In addition to general fund operating dollars, state lawmakers approved nearly $2 million in funding for controlled maintenance and $2.8 million, for three more years, for UCCS legislatively mandated cybersecurity activities.

Through funding from 2018 legislation state lawmakers passed, UCCS has established academic programs, attracted students at K-12 and university levels, developed cybersecurity events and programs nationwide, and mapped cybersecurity industry needs to close workforce gaps, Sobanet said.

UCCS also has led a coalition of six higher education institutions, along with the National Cybersecurity Center in Colorado Springs, to turn the annual $5.1 million in state funding into more than $72 million in additional funds to fulfill the requirements of the state statute and also build a cybersecurity network that has been replicated across the nation, she added.

We are thrilled with the support we are getting from state government this year, with ongoing operational funding and our cybersecurity funding, Sobanet said.

The $40.6 billion state budget also earmarked $140 million to cap in-state tuition increases to 3% and out-of-state to 4%.

The approved state budget did not alter any of the expense reductions and consolidation announced Wednesday, as UCCS officials had been forecasting the shortfall and planning for it, Sobanet added.

The CU systems Board of Regents still needs to approve each campus budget, which will happen during the June meeting.
COMAL COUNTY  Les Dischinger and Barbara Moore watched as a team from the Edwards Aquifer Authority hiked past them, weaving between trees and stepping carefully over the rocky, damp ground.

The group was headed for a nearby spring, preparing to take measurements and make plans to install monitoring equipment to track water quality and quantity.

The spring is one of two on the Dischinger-Brehmer Ranch, an 1,186-acre property that the siblings own in Comal County, west of New Braunfels and south of Canyon Lake.

Jessica Quintanilla, aquifer science research supervisor, takes a water sample April 29 from a well at the Dischinger-Brehmer Ranch in Comal County. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News A team from the Edwards Aquifer Authority visits the Dischinger-Brehmer Ranch on April 29. They were there to take measurements and make plans to install monitoring equipment to track water quality and quantity. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Frogs mate in a spring on the Dischinger-Brehmer Ranch, one of two springs on the property. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Chuck Crawford, data collection supervisor at the Edwards Aquifer Authority, measures the depth of a spring on the Dischinger-Brehmer Ranch. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News In the reflection of still water from a spring, Chuck Crawford, data collection supervisor at the Edwards Aquifer Authority, from left; Barbara Moore; and Ben Youngblood talk while checking out the Dischinger-Brehmer Ranch. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News The nearly 1,200-acre Dischinger-Brehmer Ranch in Comal County is in the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone. Its owners have agreed to a conservation easement that will ensure the property is never developed. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News A honeybee hovers over a cactus bloom on the Dischinger-Brehmer Ranch. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Cacti bloom bright yellow flowers in the sunshine at the Dischinger-Brehmer Ranch. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Barbara Moore chats with Thomas Marsalia of the Edwards Aquifer Authority on the Dischinger-Brehmer Ranch in Comal County. Moore and her brother Les Dischinger, who own the ranch, have agreed to a conservation easement that will ensure the property is never developed. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Water puddles in rock surrounding a spring on the Dischinger-Brehmer Ranch. Its owners have agreed to a conservation easement that will ensure the property is never developed. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News A gravel road winds through the Dischinger-Brehmer Ranch. The nearly 1,200-acre property is in the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Barbara Moore walks with a team from the Edwards Aquifer Authority during an April 29 visit to her familys ranch in Comal County. Moore and her brother have agreed to a conservation easement that will ensure the property is never developed. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Siblings Les Dischinger and Barbara Moore co-own the nearly 1,200-acre Dischinger-Brehmer Ranch in Comal County. The property is in the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone, and they have agreed to a conservation easement that will ensure the land is never developed. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News A map of the Edwards Aquifer. San Antonio Express-News

On the west and north sides of the property, rooftops of a neighboring subdivision have covered the hills. To the south, cars and trucks speed up and down Texas 46. But this parcel remains nearly empty  exactly how the siblings want it to stay.

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Under a new conservation easement, held by the Edwards Aquifer Conservancy, Moore and Dischinger have guaranteed that the land will remain as it is in perpetuity, preventing it from being turned into more suburban sprawl. The agreement also protects vital acres on the Edwards Aquifers recharge zone, where water enters the underground cavern system that provides water for more than 2 million people.

The Edwards Aquifer Conservancy is a nonprofit that supports the Edwards Aquifer Authority, the agency tasked with managing and protecting the aquifer in an eight-county area that stretches from Uvalde through San Antonio and into Hays County.

Brent Doty and Jessica Quintanilla of the Edwards Aquifer Authority set up to do research work on the Dischinger-Brehmer Ranch in Comal County. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News

This latest conservation easement is part of a new focus for the authority, aimed at protecting more land in the eastern part of the recharge zone to preserve and protect the water quality in the aquifer.

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Protecting a family legacy

Moore, 75, said conversations about the future of the ranch have been ongoing for years, but one thing was always certain: I did not want a subdivision, she said.

Dischinger, 71, who lives on the land in the house he grew up in, gets calls regularly from people wanting to purchase or rent the property, he said, including developers from out of state and people looking for land for battery storage facilities.

The siblings werent interested. Instead, they wanted to find a way to protect the land and the familys legacy on it.

The property has been in their family for more than a century, since Moore and Dischingers great-grandfather, Karl Brehmer, started buying land in the area in the late 1800s. Holdings changed over time, but almost 1,200 acres ultimately passed through the generations to Moore and Dischingers parents, who then left it to their children.

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Brent Doty and Jessica Quintanilla of the Edwards Aquifer Authority fill water bottles from a well on the Dischinger-Brehmer Ranch in Comal County. The nearly 1,200-acre ranch is in the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News

Ranching was a constant on the site. Cattle, sheep and goats have grazed there, and Moore recalls hundreds of hens when she was a child. Until 2022, they were still raising cattle on the property. They sold the last of the herd that December because drought conditions made it too difficult to keep feeding the cows, Moore said.

Moores first memories are of growing up in what had been a hunting cabin, until the summer of 1959, when her parents tore it down and replaced it with a three-bedroom house, which still stands on the property.

Their parents taught them that if they wanted to earn a living off the land, they needed to take care of it, Moore said, and theyve carried that with them. While there have been some changes on the property over the years  the Lower Colorado River Authority has a utility easement and road on the lot, for one  most of the acreage remains close to its natural state.

Im not sure that we consider it our land, she said. Legally its our land, but isnt it part of a larger system?

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Theyll retain ownership of the land, but the new conservation easement details strict rules for how it can be used and modified, protecting it from major changes. The conservancy and authority can enforce the easement, and it runs in perpetuity, ensuring any future owner has to follow the same rules.

The regulations in the agreement include limiting the amount of impervious cover, or surfaces that water cant pass through, to no more than 6 acres, or about half of 1% of the land.

The time is right

The agreement has been in the works since 2020, when Moore met Ben Youngblood, a lawyer and member of the aquifer authoritys board.

While she initially reached out to Youngblood to discuss updating her will during the COVID-19 pandemic, they started talking about her hopes for the property and possible opportunities to connect with the aquifer authority.

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The siblings dont have children to pass the land on to, and Moore was wary of gifting or donating it to an entity that could turn around and sell it for a profit, she said.

Her conversations with Youngblood ultimately led to the formal agreement by the siblings, the authority and the conservancy that was signed last summer  after Youngblood recused himself from both the boards decision and from representing Moore there.

On Monday, he visited the property for the first time, watching as the authoritys researchers took water quality samples and discussed research plans, including locations for a weather station in an open pasture and equipment to provide data on spring flows.

Preserving land to protect the aquifer isnt new. The city of San Antonio has been doing it for more than two decades through its Edwards Aquifer Protection Program. Because water enters the aquifer in the recharge zone through karst features, such as caves and sinkholes, development in that area can threaten water quality and affect runoff, so the city has prioritized conserving land to secure its largest water supply.

Jessica Quintanilla of the Edwards Aquifer Authority fills bottles from a well on the Dischinger-Brehmer Ranch in Comal County. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News

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In 2000, voters approved a 1/8-cent sales tax for the program, which was used primarily to pay for conservation easements. In 2020, the city changed the funding mechanism, reallocating the sales tax revenue and instead using money that the San Antonio Water System transfers to the city each year, which is 4% of the utilitys revenue. In total, the city has preserved more 178,000 acres in the aquifers recharge and contributing zones.

But most of that land has been to the north and west of the city, said Roland Ruiz, the Edwards Aquifer Authoritys general manager, leaving much of the eastern part of the recharge zone, in fast-growing Comal and Hays counties, open for development.

The time is right for someone to take that on and play that role, he said. The authority also saw a need to expand its attention from not just the aquifers outputs  the amount and quality of the water extracted from it  but also the inputs, or how water gets into the system, he said.

Thats just the natural next step, if were going to look at the aquifer as a complete system, Ruiz said.

The roofs of a nearby subdivision can be seen from the Dischinger-Brehmer Ranch in Comal County on April 29. The nearly 1,200-acre property is in the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone. Its owners have agreed to a conservation easement that will ensure the property is never developed. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News

But the elephant in the room was money. Conservation easements are expensive because they limit how owners can develop and profit from their property, and the legal process of reaching an agreement also adds up for both parties.

Before the conservation easement took effect, an appraiser determined that the market value of the ranch was $29.7 million, Moore said. After the easement, that was estimated to drop to about $13.5 million.

The aquifer authority started looking for financial partners for the effort, and found its first one in Microsoft. The company, which operates data centers in Bexar and Medina counties, is funding water-related projects in areas it has identified as having high water stress and high operational water consumption, according to its website.

Siblings Les Dischinger and Barbara Moore ride a golf cart around their familys ranch in Comal County on April 29. The nearly 1,200-acre property is in the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone. Moore and Dischinger have agreed to a conservation easement that will ensure the property is never developed. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News

Microsoft doesnt have a permit to pump directly from the aquifer, according to the authority, but it is a large water user in the region. Its one of the largest consumers of recycled water from SAWS, using the treated wastewater for cooling.

While much of the transaction was a donation from Moore and Dischinger, Ruiz said, Microsoft provided $850,000 to the conservancy for the project. He said he hopes that signals to other interested landowners that there are more possibilities in the future.

In addition to the eastern part of the recharge zone, theres also a need to protect more land in the contributing zone, he said, farther to the north and west. Water flows from the contributing zone into the recharge zone, where it enters the aquifer, so water quality there affects users downstream.

Combined, the two zones make up more than 4.2 million acres. Of those, about 250,000 are currently conserved under easements or other protections, said Mark Hamilton, the aquifer authoritys executive director of aquifer management services. Currently, about 4,000 of those acres are in the contributing zone.

Mark Hamilton and Thomas Marsalia of the Edwards Aquifer Authority visit the Dischinger-Brehmer Ranch on April 29. The nearly 1,200-acre ranch is in the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News

Research opportunities

While the primary goal of the easement on the Dischinger-Brehmer Ranch is to prevent development, the agreement also allows the aquifer authority to conduct research on the ranch, helping gather more information about the recharge zone.

One of the things thats super, super valuable when it comes to research is having adequate background data before you change any natural system, Hamilton said.

Initial research will focus on tracking how the springs behave and how water levels and chemistry change over the next five to 10 years, he said. That will give the authority baseline information about how the system responds to drought or rainfall, for example, before testing out land management strategies or modifications.

The Dischinger-Brehmer Ranch in Comal County is in the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone, and its owners, siblings Les Dischinger and Barbara Moore, have agreed to a conservation easement that will ensure the property is never developed. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News

At the aquifer authoritys Field Research Park, another property under a conservation easement on the north side of San Antonio, researchers are studying how different vegetation, berms and swales affect water runoff. They could test out similar projects at the ranch, or other methods of protecting water quality and improving recharge, and because theyll have more background data, it will produce better science, Hamilton said.

If research finds those practices effective, they could be implemented elsewhere in the recharge zone.

The nearly 1,200-acre Dischinger-Brehmer Ranch in Comal County is in the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone, and its owners have agreed to a conservation easement that will ensure the property is never developed. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News

Moore, a retired biology professor, started her career in water treatment research before earning a doctorate in virology, so watching the authoritys research staff felt like coming full circle, she said.

Ive always had an interest in water use and reuse, she said. If this can be used to generate information, its a good fit.
Jimmy Sengenberger is an investigative journalist, public speaker, and longtime local talk-radio host. Reach Jimmy online at Jimmysengenberger.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @SengCenter.
Among the decor items in the house is this restored, 1929 burl walnut Hamburg Steinway piano. Clint Datchuk

At a time when its fashionable for the interiors of high-end new builds and redos to feature vast expanses of minimalist, museum-style white walls, Carol Adamson prefers maximalism.

So she filled the recently renovated Shavano Park home she shares with husband Jim Speights opulently  some might say outrageously  with dramatically ornamental furniture, crystal chandeliers, family heirlooms, artifacts and art, an ornate, 1929 burl walnut Hamburg Steinway and more.

Take the custom molding that borders the ceilings and doorways of almost every room. Neoclassic to the max, she, along with San Antonio designer Mary Beth Edgerton and contractor Peter Stainken, took their inspiration from the dentil molding on a large Habersham armoire Adamson bought for the primary bedroom.

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Together they designed molding thats 16 inches wide, consists of five separate pieces  some computer carved, some cast plaster  and was faux-finished with a hand-painted glaze and sealer coat.

The renovation of Jim Speights and Carol Adamson's Shavano Park home was done in stages and took about two and a half years to complete. Clint Datchuk Jim Speights and Carol Adamson, sitting at their 1929 Hamburg Steinway piano with their dog, Bo, have been married since February. Clint Datchuk While the renovation retained the open kitchens footprint, they gave it a French country-style makeover, complete with a custom copper and iron rack to show off Carol Adamsons collection of pots and pans. Courtesy Carol Adamson The newly redesigned kitchen has a French country-style look. Courtesy Carol Adamson Carol Adamson and Jim Speights' Shavano Park home is opulently filled with ornamental furniture, family heirlooms, artifacts and art, an ornate, 1929 burl walnut Hamburg Steinway piano and more. Courtesy Carol Adamson This is the kitchen before the renovation. Billy Calzada/San Antonio Express-News The kitchen prior to the renovation. Billy Calzada/San Antonio Express-News Custom neoclassical molding borders the ceilings and doorways in almost every room. Sixteen inches wide, it consists of five separate pieces  some computer carved, some cast plaster  and was faux-finished with a painted glaze and sealer coat, all applied by hand. Clint Datchuk Carol Adamson said she prefers to decorate her home with items that have a history, such as these antique lamps that adorn the foyer. A lot of what I have came from my father, who was in the military, and that my mother would share stories about. I figure if she hung onto these things for all these years, shouldnt I as well? Clint Datchuk The renovation was driven by Carol Adamsons style and taste, such as this dining table located just off the kitchen. Clint Datchuk The hutch near the dining room table is filled with Adamson's collection of colorful Penzo tableware. Clint Datchuk The foyer displays several framed Hermes scarves. Clint Datchuk Above the bed in primary suite, Carol Adamson hung a custom made crest of her fathers family coat of arms. Clint Datchuk Adamsons walk-in closet resembles the sales floor of a high-end boutique, with a full dressing table, rows of exposed shoe racks, a hutch with glass shelving holding perfume bottles and other tchotchkes meticulously laid out, even a motorized clothing carousel that drops down from above so she can easily access her wardrobe. Courtesy Carol Adamson The first iteration of Adamson's walk-in closet with little more than a lot of built-in shelving, but she wanted it to be a place where she could sit and relax, too. Courtesy Carol Adamson A comfortable seating area in the Speights main bedroom. Clint Datchuk In keeping Jim Speights' first wife's memory alive, the couple keep a framed, handwritten love note she sent him some years ago. Clint Datchuk

For Adamson, such details give the home a touch of class.

I dont like modern things, she said. A lot of what I have came from my father, who was in the military, and that my mother would share stories about. I figure if she hung onto these things for all these years, shouldnt I as well?

Prior to the renovation, the house was what Edgerton calls contemporary but not modern. Working together, Adamson, Edgerton and Stainken completed the renovation in about 2  years.

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5 COOL THINGS: What's generating design and decor buzz in San Antonio homes

During the renovation of Carol Adamson and Jim Speights' Shavano Park home, they gave the kitchen a complete French country-style makeover, adding a custom copper and iron rack to show off Carols collection of pots. Clint Datchuk

While they retained the open kitchens footprint, they replaced the cabinets, the matte-finish gray glass tile backsplash and the charcoal gray quartz-composite countertops that had given the space a contemporary look.

They gave the area a French country-style makeover, complete with a custom copper and iron rack to show off Adamsons collection of pots.

Carols a throwback to another time, Edgerton said. She loves what she loves and she doesnt care what anybody thinks about it.

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Although Adamson and Speights have been married only since February, theyve known one another for years, as Adamson was caretaker for Speights wife, Ima, who for a long time had Alzheimers disease.

I had a private care home where Ima lived and Jim used to come there every night for dinner to see her, Adamson explained. When we were forced to put Ima in a nursing home, he said, You know, I miss coming and seeing you. 

Ima passed last year, and Adamson has helped Speights keep her memory alive, saving, for example, a sweet, handwritten love note shed sent him.

The renovation, according to Edgerton, was driven by Adamsons style and taste.

If Carol said she didnt like something, hed say, Then let's do whatever you want.' And thats how this house got transformed, Edgerton said.

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While Adamson took the lead, Speights insisted on keeping a few favorite features, including the 4-foot round, black walnut butcher block at one end of the kitchen island.

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I like wood, and I like that walnut wood, Speights explained. And its round, so its just, I guess, different for most kitchen islands.

The partial limestone wall that Jim Speights calls the ruin is original to the home. Following the renovation, it displays family photos, heirlooms and other artifacts. Clint Datchuk

Another feature that stayed is the partial limestone wall (Speights calls it the ruin) that separates the dining table from the TV area.

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When Jim and Ima built the four-bedrooms, 3--bathroom house in 2010, I was involved with the project, and that wall was original, Edgerton said. We kept it because Carol liked it, and because when you look at her youre looking at a girl who was raised on a ranch in Edwards County. She appreciates the look."

The wall is hung and decorated with numerous family heirlooms, including photos of her fathers days in the military when he served with Gens. George Patton and Omar Bradley.

Over time, Adamson and her design team developed an easy rapport that made the project effortless to complete. When Adamson decided she needed a light for her office, for example, she didnt have to explain what, exactly, she wanted; Edgerton knew her taste and quickly found one that fit the bill.

A close up of the family crest surrounded by a silk corona made in England. Clint Datchuk

Above the bed in the primary suite, Adamson hung a crest of her fathers custom-made family coat of arms.

It was made in England and I wanted it gold-leafed, she said. It took six months to get the silk for the corona that surrounds it. I told Mary Beth Id just pick another fabric, and she said youre going to stick with this. So we waited.

Adamsons walk-in closet resembles the sales floor of a high-end boutique as much as a typical walk-in, containing a full dressing table, rows of exposed shoe racks, a hutch with glass shelving holding perfume bottles and other tchotchkes meticulously laid out, even a motorized clothing carousel that drops down from above so she can easily access her wardrobe.

The first iteration we showed her was just a closet with a lot of built-in shelving, Edgerton said. And she said,  Oh, no, I need a place to sit and to relax, too. 
Denver police and sheriffs officers with Auraria campus police in riot gear engage in a shoving match with hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters at Metropolitan State Universitys Tivoli Quad.
Demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war have grown increasingly confrontational at colleges in recent weeks, with pro-Palestinian students nationwide, including this week at Portland State University, establishing encampments and occupying college buildings.

But Oregon State University has so far escaped that fate, with students recently hosting a temporary sit-in on campus on Wednesday, May 1 that saw them pack up and leave by evening.

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That event attracted hundreds to the lawn outside the Learning Innovation Center and Austin Hall between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. where attendees, holding banners, cardboard signs and Palestinian flags, demanded the university issue its own call for a ceasefire and divest from companies supporting Israel.

The sit-in was largely organized by Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights at OSU, and according to one member, the group was planning to bring their demands directly to administration officials at 3 p.m. on Thursday, May 2, in a meeting with students. They also planned to host a rally outside the administrative building the same day.

In a statement, OSU spokesperson Rob Odom said the university followed "established practices" to ensure the event's safety and support the free expression rights of OSU community members, echoing a message earlier this week from OSU president Jayathi Murthy.

Wednesday nights campus sit-in, which saw students mingling on the grass, dancing and writing messages on pavement with chalk, was as stark contrast to scenes at UCLAs campus the night before, when pro-Palestinian protesters were attacked by counter-protesters in an hourslong frenzy.

Earlier this week, New York police officers arrested Columbia University students who had been occupying the colleges administration building.

Closer to the mid-valley, in Portland this week, students took over the Portland State University library  before police cleared the building on Thursday  making similar calls for the college to disinvest from companies like Boeing, for example, because of its weapons divisions and connections to Israel.

The Israel-Hamas war, which began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, has sparked numerous protests against Israels response. Israel has killed over 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the local health ministry.

In Corvallis, tensions had been most visible between supporters of Jewish and Palestinian communities over a laboriously debated City Council ceasefire resolution, which was finally approved earlier this year.

Despite a friendly atmosphere among students and others who participated in the sit-in, which included a food table, music blasted from a speaker, craft supplies like colored markers  and signs suggesting students bring their homework while demonstrating  many wore masks or bandanas to cover their faces and were reluctant to share their names with media outlets.

According to one OSU student, who's name Mid-Valley Media chose not to disclose, many are fearful of facing in-person and online harassment from counter-protesters and of being labeled antisemitic, a sentiment the student said sit-in organizers do not hold.

Multiple OSU officers were seen wandering the space around 6:30 p.m., though there appeared to be no confrontation with students. The event, which was scheduled to end at 7 p.m. according to the group's May 1 Instagram post, indeed ended on time, with students packing up canopies, blankets and other supplies while leaving behind rain-soaked chalk drawings.

As for what comes next for on-campus demonstrations, that may be up to how administrators respond to the sit-in's demands, according to the OSU student.

Depending on how it goes, well come protest their response, or well celebrate their response, she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this reporting.

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Looters are shot point blank with pepper balls by San Antonio Police Officers on Houston street after they looted Mar Imports jewelry store in downtown San Antonio, Texas, U.S. on Saturday, May 30, 2020. People took to the streets of San Antonio to protest the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota while he was in police custody. Looting took place in downtown Houston street as police fired tear gas and pepper balls at protestors as they looted stores. Matthew Busch/For The San Antonio Express-News A man, front white shirt, is confronted by San Antonio Police Officers and a pedestrian after he looted Mar Imports jewelry store on Houston Street in downtown San Antonio, Texas, U.S. on Saturday, May 30, 2020. People took to the streets of San Antonio to protest the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota while he was in police custody. Looting took place in downtown Houston street as police fired tear gas and pepper balls at protestors as they looted stores. Matthew Busch/For The San Antonio Express-News Alex Lance, 23, bleeds after being shot by a non-lethal projectile by San Antonio Police in downtown San Antonio on May 30, 2020. Lance filed a lawsuit against the City of San Antonio and the unidentified police officer, alleging excessive use of force. Matthew Busch /For The San Antonio Express-News Alex Lance, 23, is grabbed by a police officer in downtown San Antonio on May 30, 2020. Lance filed a lawsuit against the City of San Antonio and the unidentified police officer, alleging excessive use of force. Josie Norris /Staff Photographer

The city of San Antonio is paying $118,800 to settle a lawsuit brought by a man who accused a SWAT officer of using excessive force against him during a protest that followed the 2020 murder of George Floyd.

In his 2021 suit, Alexander Lance alleged the officer shot him twice with paintballs after he told the officer that the rifle he was carrying better have the safety on.

Lance, who was shot in the arm and leg, spent three days in the hospital, according to his lawsuit.

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City Council members OKd the settlement with Lance, who was 23 at the time of the incident, without discussion on Thursday.

Although the City of San Antonio and Defendant officers have vigorously contested this matter, it is in the Citys best interest to settle this matter to avoid the uncertainties and risks associated with further litigation, states an ordinance authorizing the settlement.

The ordinance said the SWAT officer believed Lance was about to throw an object at police, so he shot Lance twice with sponge rounds, which are essentially rubber bullets.

Other officers rushed over to the scene, the lawsuit states. Not to provide medical attention to the badly injured Plaintiff, but to surround the Defendant and use flashlights in an attempt to blind the cell phones of other citizens recording the aggravated assault.

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The lawsuit accused the city of failing to adequately train its officers in the constitutional right of peaceful assembly and protest.

The downtown protest Lance attended on May 30, 2020, drew about 5,000 people. The mostly peaceful demonstrators were met with scores of police, including officers in riot gear.

After the protest march in memory of Floyd, rioters looted several stores and pelted a police car with eggs. The San Antonio Police Department cleared the crowd with tear gas. Three protesters were arrested that night.

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The demonstration was one of many that cropped up across the country after Floyd was killed by Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer, on May 25, 2020. Chauvin kneeled on Floyds neck for more than nine minutes while the handcuffed suspect lay on the pavement, crying out repeatedly: I cant breathe.
(Guampedia)

Etitors note: The U.S. territory of Guam is comprised of 19 villages, many with their own distinct character, history and points of interest. Stripes Guam and Guampedia have joined forces to present this weekly feature on each of them in the hopes that it will help our readers get out  and get to know  our gracious hosts. To learn more about Guams people, history, culture and places, visit: guampedia.com

The village of Agat may have been named by the first clan who came to settle in the area from the northern part of Guam. It is also possible that the village name Hagat originally was derived from the word Aga, which is the Chamorro name of the Marianas crow which is a large black bird that makes the sound aga while flying low over the jungle. The villages name, too, could be derived from the Chamorro word haga, meaning blood.

Village history

It is believed that Chief Coroo headed the first clan of Agat. Beloved by his people, he was also the eldest in the clan. Chief Coroo divided the village into families, each with its own surname. Many of these survive today but are referred to as Chamorro family names, such names as Koroo, Kamachili, Dechi, Dagu, Kusiu, Min, Ato and Gotgohu, to name a few.

Spanish Governor Don Jose Quiroga then designed Old Agat between 1680 and 1684 as a settlement for rebellious Islanders whose homes he had destroyed during the Chamorro rebellion. Many of its citizens were brought from the interior village of Fena. The first church in Agat was established in late 1680. In the early 1700s this church was one of only six parishes on Guam.

Pre-war Agat was a small village with coasts lined with coconut trees that produced copra (coconut meat). The village also supported farming, ranching, and fishing. Rice paddies existed on the coastal flats as well as the flat inland areas.

Throughout the years of Japanese occupation from 1941 to 1944, new rice paddies were developed in Agat to support the Japanese troops. Local people were forced into labor with little or no subsistence rations. Thirty days before landing on Guam on June 11, 1944, American air forces bombed the beaches of Agat to clear Japanese positions. These bombings continued throughout June and July, destroying Japanese fortifications and virtually all of the structures of the village.

The beaches of Agat and Asan were selected by the U.S. forces for entry into the island, with two Marine Regimental Combat Teams and an Army Infantry Division landing at five points along the Agat coast. They faced a seventy-five-millimeter gun and a thirty-seven-millimeter gun mounted by the Japanese in a concrete blockhouse at Gaan Point. In just the first day of the American invasion of Agat beach on July 21, 455 Marines were killed and 536 were wounded. By nightfall, the Americans secured the Agat beachhead, but were heavily assaulted by Japanese tanks that night. Heavy fighting ensued, and by the morning of July 22, the Americans had won the area and pressed onward toward Orote Point, eventually joining the forces that had landed in Asan.

After the Americans secured Agat beach, a refugee camp was established for Chamorros freed from Japanese-made camps. At its peak, 18,000 people were housed in the Agat camp. Following the return of American forces, residents of Agat lived in temporary houses before a new Agat village was established at a location farther south. Both the military government and Chamorros built homes at the new site.

In August 1978, the US National Park Service established the War in the Pacific National Historical Park on Guam, which included sites at the Agat invasion beaches.

POINTS OF INTEREST

HISTORICAL

Agat Beach Unit of the War in the Pacific National Historic Park The Agat Beach Unit of the War in the Pacific National Historic Park is one contiguous unit with four segments managed by the National Park Service. Two of these segments, Apaca and Gaan Point, have visitor facilities including interpretive displays, picnic pavilions, barbecue grills, restrooms, and parking areas. Memorials and monuments have been added throughout the park.

Mount Alifan This mountain rises 871 feet above the Agats beaches and contains remains of the fighting between US and Japans armed forces at the end of WWII during the recapture of Guam. For the most part, the remains are craters, foxholes, emplacements, caves, and rifle-pits. Only two small features are constructed of concrete. Following capture of the mountain, American demolition teams sealed many caves on the forward slopes. The slopes contain many artifacts from the battle, including shell and bomb fragments and bullets.

Taleyfac and Taelayag Spanish bridges These two stone bridges are reminders of Guams Spanish-colonial era. They are a couple of the few remaining bridges built using Spanish stone and mortar construction, and are listed on the Guam and National Registers of Historic Sites.

The Taleyfac bridge, the more commonly known of the two, can still be seen just off the main road south of the main village, and was constructed by Governor Alexandro Parreno in 1785 over Talifac Creek (then called Muja Creek).

RECREATIONAL

Agat Commercial Point Center Located at the entrance of the village across Inn on the Bay, the Agat Commercial Point Center houses restaurants and businesses for the southern community.

Agat Sagan Bisita The Agat Sagan Bisita, next to the Mayors Office, is a series of pavilions lined around a courtyard with a large stage. This facility hosts the Tuesday Night Market from 5pm to 8pm, the Annual Agat Mango Festival and is available for reservations.

Agat Small Boat Marina The marina is a modern facility for docking small boats. The facility includes a sea rescue operation, restaurant and icehouse. The marina is a popular location for annual fishing derbies and daily charter fishing trips for local residents and tourists.

Agat Senior Citizens Center The Agat Senior Citizen Center is located on Calle Delos Marteres Road and is a place where the manamko in the village can go to to relax, play bingo, cards or mahjong.

Haps Reef Located just off Agat Bay, Haps Reef is a popular site for divers and snorkelers to enjoy different marine life. Pilot whales can also be spotted from this location.

Haya Youth Center Haya is located between the Agat Gymnasium and Agat Senior Citizens Center. It holds various after school programs. In addition, Haya Youth Center hosts the Agat Community Youth Summer Camp.

Inn on the Bay A seventy-room hotel completed in 1989, Inn on the Bay offers an array of amenities and guest services.

Mango Festival The village of Agat held the first annual Agat Mango Festival in May 2007 at Nimitz Beach. The event includes a canoe paddling race, displays, vendors booths, and a mango culinary competition. It is hosted by the Agat Municipal Planning Council and the Guam Visitors Bureau.

Nimitz Beach Located at the south edge of Agat, Nimitz Beach is a popular public beach and recreational area with pavilions.

INSTITUTIONS

Marcial A. Sablan Elementary School One of the twenty-seven elementary schools within the Department of Education system (as of 2010). Sablan Elementary consists of Kindergarten through 5th-grades, and a Head Start program.

Oceanview Middle School Oceanview is one of eight public middle schools of the Guam Department of Education (as of 2010). It was constructed in 1959 as Agat Junior High School. Later the school was modified into Oceanview High School but has since reverted to a middle school.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church Mt. Carmel was first dedicated in 1937. It was rebuilt in its present location after World War II and is the center of village activities. A procession and village fiesta, or feast-day celebration, are held in July for the churchs patron saint, along with a procession for Santa Ana, the patron saint of Christian mothers. The village also holds another procession in honor of Santa Rosa.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel School This Catholic school, located in the heart of Agat, has pre-Kindergarten to 8th grade classes. In 2007 the threat of a closure loomed because of low enrollment rates, prompting the community and school alumni to rally in effort to keep the school open. Supporters coordinated events to raise funds and pushed for increased enrollment, which kept the school open.

St. Andrews By the Philippine Sea One of three Episcopal churches on Guam, St. Andrews, was constructed in the 1960s initially serving as a day-care center, but eventually became a parish.

Santa Ana Chapel The Santa Ana Chapel was built in the 1950s and dedicated in 1968. In 2008, the Chapel was rebuilt and is currently maintained by the Santa Ana Lancheros Association of Agat. Mass is held every first Saturday of the month at 7am and 4pm.

Southern Christian Academy This Agat school is one of nearly a dozen non-Catholic private schools on Guam. The school offers courses from preschool to grade 12th.

- Guampedia

This village at a glance

Population: According to the U.S. Census in 2000, the population of Agat was 5,656. As of November 2010 official census population figures are unavailable.

Village officials: The current mayor, Carol S. Tayama, first elected into office in 2005 is the first woman elected as mayor of the village and is the granddaughter of Agats first commissioner, Antonio P. Carbullido, who served from 1930-1934 and from 1945-56. Augustin G. Quintanilla is the vice mayor.

Village description: While many regard Agat as the western gateway to the south, it is also the commercial center of the south. Numerous businesses  from merchants and restaurants to the seventy-room Inn on the Bay  have sprung up in the once-quiet seaside village in the last twenty-five years. Despite Agats thriving business center, the old heart of the village that includes Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church, Convent and School, still exists.

The seaside village of Agat lies just south of Naval Base Guam. The villages main road, Route 2, meanders through several commercial and residential areas. The road also leads to a group of public buildings, such as the Agat Community Center and mayors office and a community library and police station. Farther south, Route 2 runs along the coast of some of the finest beaches on Guam including Nimitz Beach. Nearby is the popular Agat Marina.

The village of Agat is also home to several parks dedicated to the events of World War II. These parks are part of the National Park Services War in the Pacific National Historical Park.

Village description: Carol S. Tayama, Mayor, 2005-Present; Johnny M. Reyes, Mayor, 1997-2005; Joaquin G. Topasna, Mayor, 10/1/96-01/06/97; Antonio C. Babauta, Commissioner/Mayor, 1981-9/30/96; Antonio R. Terlaje, Commissioner, 1977-1981; Jose S. San Nicolas, Commissioner, 1973-1977; Thomas F.P. Muna, Commissioner, 1965-1969; Jose B. Guevara, Commissioner, 1963-1965; Juan L.G. Leon Guerrero,Commissioner, 1956-1963; Antonio P. Carbullido, Commissioner, 1945-1956; Francisco C. Sablan, Commissioner, 1941-1944; Francisco R. Chaco, Commissioner, 1937-1940; Tomas C. Charfauros, Commissioner, 1934-1937; Antonio P. Carbullido, Commissioner, 1930-1934; Agustin G. Quintanilla, Vice Mayor, acting Dec. 2009. Officially elected into office November 2010; Jesus B. Chaco, Vice Mayor, 1997-2009; Jessie S. Pendon, Vice Mayor, 10/01/96-01/06/97; Joaquin G.Topasna, Vice Mayor, 1993-1996; John A. Quidachay, Assistant Commissioner/Vice Mayor, 1989-1993; Joseph R. Reyes, Assistant Commissioner, 1981-1988; Antonio C. Babauta, Assistant Commissioner, 1977-1981; Vicente Q. Guerrero, Assistant Commissioner, 1973-1977; Jose S. San Nicolas, Assistant Commissioner, 1970-1973; Vicente M. Salas, Deputy Commissioner, 1934-1937; Pedro C. Charfauros, Deputy Commissioner, 1931-1933; Jesus Carbullido, Deputy Commissioner, 1903-1908; Jose Pereda, Deputy Commissioner, 1898-1903.

 By Konsehelon Mahot Guahan/ the Mayors Council of Guam
Helena colleges will have their moments to highlight graduates in their programs in the coming days in May.

Helena College will have three ceremonies with its first on Friday at the college's airport campus, 2300 Airport Road.

This ceremony begins at 5 p. m. and will be compiled of graduates in the school's trade programs including aviation maintenance, automotive technology, diesel technology, computer numerical control machining, industrial welding and fabrication and fire and emergency services.

At 10 a.m. Saturday, at the Donaldson Campus, 1115 N. Roberts St., will be the college's second ceremony for graduates in the nursing, accounting and business, information technology and programming and associate's of the arts and sciences programs.

Helena College's third ceremony is 10 a.m. Monday at the Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge where a small cohort of automotive technology students will receive their certificate in applied science.

Another Helena-based college will have its graduation the following week on May 11 at the P.E. Center at 1 p. m.

This Carroll College commencement will be the school's 114th and doors to the event open at 12 p.m. for seating and students will gather at the Hunthausen Activity Center at 12:30 p. m.

This ceremony will be live-streamed for those to attend virtually.
CHICAGO  Annette Prince peered between glossy downtown buildings: Theres a bird in that grate.

Sure enough, sitting very still in the rain was a tiny white-throated sparrow, so drenched you could barely make out its canary-yellow face markings. The bird was too dazed to move  an easy target for the hungry seagulls that were patrolling the area.

Prince looked up at the nearest skyscraper, with its rows of dark windows.

He probably hit the glass up there and fell down, she said.

A long-awaited policy update from the city of Chicago is supposed to help prevent such injuries and deaths, which occur by the thousands each year when migrating birds crash into local buildings.

But Chicago bird safety advocates say they are disappointed that the citys policy update, now in draft form, does not make bird safety measures mandatory.

Instead, anti-collision measures, which can include installing glass with tiny markings, are included in a menu of sustainable design options from which developers working on affected projects can pick and choose.

We feel its not adequate, said Prince, chair of Bird Friendly Chicago, a coalition of local birding and conservation groups thats been working for bird-safe building measures since 2016.

(These measures) are not just bonuses  theyre essential to protecting valuable bird lives and a healthy environment, that these birds are foundational to. Theyre good for people. Theyre good for birds, she said.

Chicago Department of Planning and Development Deputy Commissioner Peter Strazzabosco pointed out that the proposed policy update, available for public comment until May 15, gives additional weight to bird-safe building options.

Under the update, one category of bird safety measures would be awarded 30 points, compared with just 10 points under the current policy.

Those points count toward the 100 points that certain new buildings and renovations must earn  by choosing from a list of sustainability options  if the project developers want the citys permission to build.

(The new policy) has incentivized the bird-friendly design section by tripling the point total (in one category), and by including, for the first time, an implementation section that helps developers figure out how to use bird-friendly measures in their projects, Strazzabosco said.

The draft sustainable development policy update would typically apply to about 50 to 75 new or renovated buildings a year, many of them larger projects that are getting some form of assistance from the city, he said.

The proposed update, the first since 2017, comes less than a year after at least 960 birds died in a single day after crashing into McCormick Place Lakeside Center, a glassy, low-lying convention building on the lakefront.

Birds were crashing into windows even as monitors collected the casualties, according to David Willard, a retired bird division collections manager at the Field Museum.

It was just discouraging as can be, Willard told the Tribune. Youre looking at a rose-breasted grosbeak that, if it hadnt hit a Chicago window, would have made it to the Andes of Peru.

McCormick Place Lakeside sought expert advice immediately, and has set a goal of installing about $1.2 million worth of bird-safe film on all its windows in time for the fall migration season, according to Larita Clark, chief executive officer at the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, which owns the building.

But Chicago, which is located in the Mississippi Flyway  a major bird migration route  remains a perilous place for millions of birds that fly through each year, some from as far away as South America and northern Canada.

Prince, the director of Chicago Bird Collision Monitors, said the all-volunteer organization recovers 7,000 to 10,000 dead and injured birds a year  and thats just a small fraction of the citys casualties.

During a walk through the Loop, she pulled out her phone to show an array of birds, including an injured meadowlark and a deceased northern flicker with a spotted belly and bright yellow feathers on the undersides of its wings.

The losses come at a time of growing concern about North American birds, which are in the midst of a staggering population decline, according to a widely quoted 2019 study in the journal Science.

The study found a net loss of 2.9 billion birds since 1970, a 29% population decline.

A wide range of threats were cited in the study, including habitat loss, agricultural practices, coastal disturbances, climate change and deaths due to human activity, a category that includes collisions with buildings.

Through the years, Chicago has made some major efforts on behalf of the tiny visitors, including a seasonal late-night lights-out program.

Princes group patrols a high-risk section of downtown Chicago during spring and fall migration, rescuing birds as well as providing casualty counts.

The white-throated sparrow that Prince spotted on a grate was easy to catch: She came up behind him with a net, then gently placed him in a brown paper bag for transfer to the Willowbrook Wildlife Center.

He didnt seem harmed, just dazed, Prince said, and he was very likely to recover and be released back into the wild.

Despite such success stories, bird advocates say that the transparent and reflective surfaces of Chicago buildings, as well as certain gratings and landscape and lighting practices, continue to create peril.

Advocates began pushing the city for bird-safe building design measures in 2016, with early efforts focusing on an ordinance.

In 2020, advocates turned their focus to a planned update of the citys sustainable development policy.

Prince said she and her allies were clear, from the beginning of their discussions with the planning department, that they were calling for bird safety requirements, not options.

Its an understanding they had from us, and they continued to indicate that was the direction they were taking, said Prince.

She said the word required was used in the departments presentations and slides until the end of 2023, and then there was a reversal at the 11th hour.

We feel that we wasted four years, and in those four years, hundreds of buildings have gone up that in their lifetime are going to kill thousands of birds, she said.

At the nonprofit American Bird Conservancy, which tests and rates bird-safe building options, glass collisions program director Bryan Lenz said point-based policies such as the Chicago sustainable development policy update are more effective than purely voluntary measures but less effective than requirements.

Faced with a menu of sustainable building methods and materials, developers tend to pick ones that are more familiar to them, such as water-conserving low-flow toilets, he said.

I dont think (Chicagos proposed policy) would have the impact anybody was hoping for in terms of reducing collisions, he said.

Since 2017, about 30 projects have chosen bird safety from Chicagos menu of sustainable building strategies, Strazzabosco said. Thats approximately 10% of the projects that had to choose from the menu.

Other menu options include energy efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions reduction, landscape and green infrastructure, public health and community benefits, stormwater management, sustainable transportation, waste diversion and water use reduction.

The policy update was released as a draft April 15. A final policy will be posted online July 1, and the policy will be fully implemented in January, according to the planning department.

The owners of McCormick Place Lakeside are finalizing a contract to apply bird-friendly patterns to all the buildings windows, according to Clark.

The glass will be marked with tiny dots  applied via a removable film  that will warn birds they are approaching a hard surface. Workers are also closing blinds at the building, unless customers request otherwise.

Prince said regardless of what happens with the proposed policy update, bird advocates plan to pursue an ordinance with bird-safe building requirements.

New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Skokie and Evanston already have local laws with such requirements.

Photos: A sampling of food available at the 2022 Illinois State Fair
Vivek Ramaswamy, a Republican presidential hopeful, speaks at the Turning Point Action USA conference in West Palm Beach, Fla., a gathering of student conservatives. A San Antonio man pleaded guilty to threatening violence against those attending the 2022 version of the conference. He was sentenced Wednesday to five years in federal prison. GIORGIO VIERA/AFP via Getty Images

A San Antonio man linked to the extremist "incel" movement has been sentenced to five years in prison for threatening violence against a gathering of conservative students in Florida.

Alejandro Richard Velasquez Gomez, 20, posted a message to his public social media profile promising a day of retribution against the Student Action Summit, sponsored by Turning Point USA and held in Tampa, Fla., in July 2022. Turning Point is a nonprofit that advocates for conservative values on high school and college campuses.

Prosecutors said Velasquez obtained a ticket to the summit and booked a flight from Austin to Tampa. But the U.S. Secret Service and Tampa Police Department were informed of his threat, and Tampa police obtained a warrant for his arrest.

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Velasquez pleaded guilty to a federal charge of interstate threatening communication. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Jason Pulliam said Velasquez exhibited "absolutely no remorse" and handed down the highest possible sentence under federal guidelines.

The FBI linked Velasquez to the extremist incel movement, short for involuntarily celibate, which consists of online, mostly male groups whose members believe they cant enter into sexual relationships. Incel ideology endorses violence against women and sexually active people.

According to the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force in San Antonio, Velasquez used the online names LatinoZoomer and MestizoZoomer, and his social media posts were similar to those of Elliot Rodger, a self-described incel who killed six people and injured more than a dozen near the University of California at Santa Barbara campus in 2014.

Velasquez shared far right-wing and antisemitic views online with hundreds of followers, mostly young adults and teenagers. He was an avid follower of white nationalist Nick Fuentes, who has disavowed any connection to Velasquez.

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In a statement to the court Wednesday, Velasquez began with an apology but went on to dispute the evidence against him and claim that his social media posts were taken out of context.

"I wanted to apologize to anyone for my behavior that may have harmed. ... I apologize to my parents for bringing them pain," he said. "I apologize to anyone that took the post as a threat, Turning Point USA. Anyone that saw the post as a threat and, just really, I feel like I definitely shouldn't have done this, you know."

He then ranted about a young woman he's accused of stalking and threatening. And he insisted  contrary to prosecutors' assertions  that he did not direct any of his followers to delete online evidence that could be used against him.

The judge called it "one of the worst  one of the worst  statements before a judge in this entire courthouse! There was absolutely no remorse."

Rodger, who carried out the mass killing in Santa Barbara, used knives, handguns and his car to cause mayhem before taking his own life. Before the attack, Rodger posted a video on YouTube called Elliot Rodger's Retribution, which showed him sitting in the driver's seat of his black BMW, delivering a hate-filled, sexist tirade.

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Rodger is a symbol and avatar for the incel movement, an FBI agent wrote in an affidavit.

The agent remarked on similarities between Velasquezs and Rodger's rhetoric. On the eve of his killing spree, Rodger said, Tomorrow is my day of retribution. The day in which I will have my revenge against all of humanity. Against all of you.

Velasquezs threat against the Student Action Summit concluded with, SAS will be the turning point of the LatinoZoomer lore, and he posted a video of himself in his car.

It was not immediately clear why Velasquez targeted the conservative student group. Most of his social media accounts have been canceled or deleted for violating the platforms' rules.

In a YouTube video, Velasquez is portrayed as a follower of Fuentes. The video shows Fuentes trying to gain admission to Turning Points student summit in Dallas in summer 2021.

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Fuentes, 25, an Illinois native, is a white nationalist whose America First movement advocates pulling the Republican Party to the furthest reaches of right-wing politics, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks extremist groups.

He is an outspoken admirer of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. He emerged on the national stage during the Stop the Steal movement, which promoted former President Donald Trumps false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him through massive fraud. Fuentes dined with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

Last year, Fuentes created a furor in Texas when he visited the Fort Worth offices of Jonathan Stickland, a former state representative who has raised millions of dollars for the campaigns of Attorney General Ken Paxton, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and other Republican politicians.

After Velasquez's arrest was made public, Fuentes disavowed him.

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For the record, Alejandro Velasquez had nothing to do with me or America First, Fuentes posted in August 2022 on the Telegram social media platform. Claims on social media that he was part of our team in any way are completely untrue.

Velasquez's threats against the unidentified young woman emerged for the first time during Wednesday's sentencing hearing. The information is detailed in a presentencing report for Velasquez, which remains sealed.

According to statements made in court, the woman was about the same age as Velasquez and gave him a ride to a conference in Dallas. The statements suggested Velasquez was infatuated with her and felt rebuffed. Velasquez allegedly stalked and harassed the woman for months and continued to do so even after he was arrested in August 2022.

Prosecutor Kelly Stephenson said Velasquez, while in custody, "sent a video to her flashing a gun."

In another instance, two of his followers went to the woman's home and told her, "You broke his heart."

Stephenson said Velasquez also told followers to delete evidence from online accounts and provided his username and password. In a message to a member of the far-right group the Proud Boys, Velasquez identified the lead FBI agent investigating him and said, "Do what you will."

Assistant Federal Public Defender Molly Roth told the judge that Velasquez's viewpoints were influenced by spending an "inordinate amount of time online."

Velasquez denied being an incel. He told a psychiatrist that he was "volcel" because he chose to be celibate voluntarily, the psychiatrist testified. The psychiatrist said Velasquez was intelligent but had not matured "psychosexually."
SALISBURY  The Rowan County Sheriff's Office has arrested one person and seeks four others who used a stolen credit card for a skydiving trip.

The sheriff's office said on Dec. 26, 2023, it began an investigation into credit card fraud that occurred at Piedmont Skydiving, 500 Airport Road in Salisbury. Investigators received information that in November 2023, multiple people had booked skydiving trips online using credit cards that did not belong to them. These same individuals arrived at Piedmont Skydiving for the trip and completed liability waivers listing out their real information to include, name, date of birth, address, and driver's license numbers.

The business also took photographs of the offenders as a part of their experience.

In December 2023, Piedmont Skydiving received notice from credit card companies that the real card holders were disputing the charges. Investigators went to the business and obtained the evidence already collected and later confirmed the identities of the suspects.

Arrest warrants were obtained for Shyia E-Money Gatlin, 23, Maurice Dermont Hunter Jr., 31, Jaylah Simone Hyter, 24, and Alexis Monique Chisholm, 25, all of Charlotte, for one count of obtaining property by false pretenses. Another suspect, Michael-Chase Gregory Gatling, 24, also of Charlotte, has warrants for two counts of obtaining property by false pretenses.

Chisholm was located and arrested on April 24 in Anson County. She was placed in the Anson County Jail under a $1,000 secured bond. The other four suspects are still wanted and are currently being sought for arrest.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of these subjects are asked to call Detective Daniel Fero 704- 216-8702 or Lt. Ryan Barkley 704-216-8711.
All Peoples Church of Jesus Christ

Worship at 11 a.m. Sunday at American Legion Post 172. Pastor: Prophet Roland Jordan delivers the message.

Ann Street United Methodist Church

335 Ann St., Concord. Pastor: Rev. Randy L. Wall. In person and Facebook Live worship at 11 a.m. Sermon: Hungry and Thirsty, but Happy. Scripture: Matthew 5:1-6.

Bethpage United Methodist Church

109 Fellowship Ave. at West C St., Kannapolis. 704-932-5296. Pastor: Rev. McKenzie Sefa. Christian Education at 9 a.m. Worship at 10 a.m.

Bogers Chapel United Methodist Church

1775 Flowes Store Road East, Concord. Pastor: Pastor Eric Shaver. Sunday school 9 a.m. Worship Service 10 a.m. (In person or Facebook). Opening Scripture: Psalm 98. Scripture: John 15:9-17. Sermon: To Live or To Exist.

Calvary Lutheran Church

950 Bradley St., Concord. 704-782-6923. Pastor: Rev. Debbie Frye. Special 10 a.m. blended worship (with Childrens Church) as we celebrate Preschool Sunday. Everyone is invited to a light reception following the service. Childrens Area and nursery available at all times. All services live-streamed and available anytime on the Calvary Lutheran Concord Youtube channel  easy access through our website www.clconcord.org or church app Calvary Lutheran ChurchNC. Sermon Series: Faith Forward. Sermon Topic: Love One Another As I Have Loved You.

Center United Methodist Church

1119 Union St. S, Concord. Pastor: Rev. Brian Crady. Sunday school for In Betweens and young adults at 9 a.m. Worship at 10 a.m. Nursery is provided during the worship service. Website is www.centerumcconcord.org. Look forward to you joining us for our service. Sermon: Even Better Blessings without Proof. Scripture: John 20:24-29.

Cold Springs Global Methodist Church

2550 Cold Springs Road, Concord. Pastor: Rev. Cliff Wall. Worship at 10 a.m. on Sundays. Visit online at https://youtube.com/@coldspringschurchconcord.

Crossroads Church

220 George W. Liles Parkway, Concord. Pastor: Lowell McNaney. Live worship streamed on Facebook, Crossroads Concord Church app or mycrossroads.co website at 9:30 a.m. and 11:11 a.m.

Crown Pointe Baptist Church

703 Tennessee St., Kannapolis. Pastor: Rev. Doug Crawley. Sunday School at 9 a.m. Worship at 10 a.m. in the sanctuary, or view online at our Facebook page. Series: Five Smooth Stones. Sermon: God Gets the Glory. Scripture: 1 Samuel 17:12-28 ESV.

Eastside Missionary Baptist Church

199 Elgin Drive, Concord. Pastor: Rev. Stephen Burrow. In person services: Sunday school 9:30 a.m. Worship services 10:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Recorded worship services and other information at EastsideMissionaryBaptist.org. You will be welcomed. Practice social distancing.

Epworth United Methodist Church

1030 Burrage Road NE, Concord. Pastor: Rev. Dennis Marshall. Sunday school at 9 a.m., followed by worship at 10 a.m. We welcome all to join us in person, or you may livestream or watch the recorded service at our website at www.epworthnc.com.

First Presbyterian Church

201 Vance St., Kannapolis. 704-938-4623. Pastor: Eddie Spencer. Coffee fellowship 9:30 a.m. Sunday school 10 a.m. Worship service 11 a.m. in person and also live streamed on YouTube. www.firstpresb.org.

Forest Hill United Methodist Church

265 Union St. N, Concord. Senior Pastor: Rev. Mandy Jones. Associate Pastor: Rev. Wes Judy. We are open for in-person worship. Contemporary worship, 9 a.m. Sunday school/small groups, 10 a.m. Traditional worship, 11 a.m. Both the contemporary and the traditional worship services will also be live-streamed at foresthillumc.org or facebook.com/foresthillumc, in case you dont feel like being here in person.

Grace Church of Concord  A Global Methodist Community

28-B Branchview Drive NE, Concord. Lead Pastor: Michael Dominick. Worshipping every Sunday at 10 a.m. Sermon: The Secret of a Non-Anxious Life. Scripture: John 14:25-27 and Romans 8:26-27. Series: Dynamics of a Spiritual Life. Topic: The Holy Spirit is our comforter and intercessor. You are cordially invited to join us over the next several weeks for Pastor Mikes sermon series on the Dynamics of a Spiritual Life. To learn more about the church, visit www.graceconcord.org where you will find links to our Sunday Morning LiveStream and more.

Harmony Church Concord

101 White St. NW, Concord. Pastor: Thad Brown. Our Sunday school begins at 10 a.m. followed by our worship service at 11 a.m. Sermon: Jesus is the Change. Scripture: John 8:31-33. We welcome Everyone to come worship with us! Our service is broadcast live on Facebook.com/HarmonyChurchConcord. For more information, you can call 704-791-2883 or 704-467-0179.

Jackson Park United Methodist Church

715 Mable Ave., Kannapolis. Pastor Laurie Knoespel. Adult Sunday School 9:30 a.m. Worship at 10:30 a.m. Nursery will be provided during worship service.

Kirkwood Presbyterian Church

900 Klondale Ave., Kannapolis. Pastor: Rev. Dennis B. Craft. Worship at 11 a.m. in church sanctuary on Sundays. No mask restrictions.

McGill Baptist Church

5300 Poplar Tent Road, Concord, in-person services. Pastor: Rev. Steve Ayers. McGill will stream a worship service Sunday at 10 a.m. on www.facebook.com/mcgillbaptistchurch/ and on YouTube. The services will be live and also available on recording afterwards. Sixth Sunday of Easter. Sermon: Abide in My Love. Scripture: Psalm 98, 1 John 5:1-6, John 15:9-17.

Midway United Methodist Church

108 Bethpage Road, Kannapolis. Pastor: Rev. Craig Allen. Come join us on Sunday morning at 9 a.m. for Sunday school and 10:30 a.m. for worship. Our service is also livestreamed on the web at midwayunitedmethodistchurch.org or facebook.com/midwayUMCWorship. Sixth Sunday of Easter. Communion. Worship theme: Learning to overcome selfishness when we pray. Message: Knowing What to Ask For. First Reading: Philippians 4:4-7. Second Reading: Matthew 26:36-46. Suggest Hymns: TFWS 2272, Holy Ground, TFWS 2040, Awesome God.

Mt. Mitchell Global Methodist Church

6001 Old Salisbury-Concord Road, Kannapolis. Pastor: Joel Locklear. Office phone: 704-933-0155. Sunday school at 9:45 a.m. (Adult and children classes.) Worship at 11 a.m. in person or Facebook. Nursery for children up to 5 years old. Sermon: Faith that Overcomes. Scripture: 1 John 5:1-5.

Multiply Church Concord

150 Warren C. Coleman Blvd. N, Concord. Pastor: Rev. Douglas Witherup. 8:30 a.m. service held at 280 Concord Parkway S, Suite 15, Concord. Services at 150 Warren C. Coleman Blvd. N, are worship and sermon at 9:30 a.m. and worship and sermon at 11:15 a.m.

New Gilead Reformed Church

2400 Old Salisbury-Concord Road. 10 a.m. Sunday school followed by 11 a.m. worship in the sanctuary or worship live on YouTube. We hope that you can connect with us online if you cant be with us in person.

Oak Grove Baptist Church

200 Sims Parkway, Harrisburg. Pastor: Rev. Franklin D. Watkins. 10 a.m. In-person worship service. Also available on Facebook Live and YouTube Live. Sermon: What Do You Want Jesus To Do For You? Scripture: Matthew 20:29-34 (NIV).

Rodgers Park Baptist Church

309 E 24th St., Kannapolis. Weekly message from KJV Bible, by Pastor Joel Ervin. Sunday school at 9:45 a.m. Worship at 10:45 a.m. Facebook Live at 11 a.m.

Second Presbyterian Church

1578 Dale Earnhardt Blvd., Kannapolis. Pastor Sue Black, Minister. Assistant Minister: Rev. Aaron Price. Sunday school at 10 a.m. Worship at 11 a.m. Sermon: Jesus is God. Scripture: John 1:1-14.

St. Johns Reformed Church

901 N. Main St., Kannapolis. Pastor: Rev. Chris King. Sunday school for all ages, 9 a.m. Worship service, 10:30 a.m. Website  www.ourstjohns.org. Email/Phone- ourstjohns@gmail.com / 704-932-3656. Sermon: The Light of the World. Scripture: John 8:12.

Trinity United Church of Christ

38 Church St., Concord. Pastor: Rev. Nathan King. Worship at 11 a.m., in person or Facebook (live or watch later). Website: commachurch.com.
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar detailed the timeline in the 'murder-suicide' of Savannah Kriger, 32, and her 3-year-old son Kaiden. Courtesy Bexar County Sheriff's Office

Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar detailed Wednesday what happened the last few hours before Savannah Kriger and her 3-year-old son were found dead in March.

On March 19, an Amber Alert was issued for 3-year-old Kaiden Kriger. Hours later, Kaiden was found dead alongside his mother, Savannah Kriger, 32, from apparent gunshot wounds. The sheriffs office is investigating it as a murder-suicide.

The mother and son were found in a drainage easement behind Tom Slick Park on the West Side. Just this week, the Bexar County Medical Examiners Office ruled Krigers death a suicide. Kaidens death was quickly ruled a homicide.

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At a news conference, Salazar revealed what took place before the Krigers died.

On March 18, at 12:49 p.m., Savannah left her job in her 2023 Lincoln Aviator and headed to her ex-husbands house.

Salazar said she arrived at his Southeast home at 1:15 p.m. and began damaging items in it, such as clothes and other miscellaneous items. She left at 1:24 p.m.

Kriger then drove to her Northwest Side home and arrived at 1:57 p.m.

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During her time at home, she laid out her wedding dress and two wedding portraits on the bed. She then grabbed a gun and shot the portraits. Salazar said the shell casing found in the home matched the ones found at the crime scene.

After more than 20 minutes, Savannah left her home at 2:18 p.m. to head to Kaidens day care.

She arrived at the day care facility at 2:32 p.m., and surveillance footage showed her getting out of her Lincoln Aviator to head inside. Kriger is seen putting her son into the vehicle and leaving at 2:42 p.m.

At 2:46 p.m., Kriger called her ex-husband, who recorded the conversation simultaneously.

Salazar said that Kriger stated during the two-minute and 13-second call, You dont have anything to go home to now. And you wont have anything at the end of today.

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Kriger and her son arrived at Tom Slick Park at 3:03 p.m. At the same time, her ex-husband reported criminal mischief to San Antonio police.

At 3:19 p.m., Kriger attempted to call her ex-husband, but he did not answer. She then sent her last text message saying, Say goodbye to your son.

Two minutes later, Kriger attempted to call her ex-husband again, but there was no answer. She then recorded a 21-second video where she and Kaiden appear to be sitting in the drainage ditch where they would later be found dead.

In the video, Kriger told Kaiden to say Bye to Daddy, which he did. She also apologized to her son for his dad not being there and kissed him.

Salazar said around 3:29 p.m., Kriger was found looking up childrens content on YouTube on her phone.

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Several hours later, authorities began the search for the mother and son at Tom Slick Park. Their bodies were not found until the morning of March 19 in the drainage easement behind the park.

On March 22, the Bexar County Medical Examiners Office confirmed that Kaidens death was ruled a homicide after he was found with a gunshot wound to the head.
A controversial bill that would force all North Carolina sheriffs to cooperate with federal ICE officers has advanced to the Senate floor.

The Senate Rules and Operations committee recommended House Bill 10 after minimal debate from members, but with opposition from some Democrats.

The bill could be addressed by the full Senate as early as Thursday's session.

Senate Republican leadership has wasted little time in reviving HB10 during the 2024 short session.

ICE stands for the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement division of U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The legislation requires all sheriffs to hold suspects in certain crimes for at least 48 hours when their immigration status is unknown or they are in the country illegally.

Although more than 90 sheriffs in North Carolina voluntarily comply with ICE requests, several Democratic sheriffs in metro counties  including Bobby Kimbrough of Forsyth County and Danny Rogers of Guilford County  have limited their cooperation.

Efforts this week to reach Kimbrough and Rogers for comment on HB10 have not been returned.

Public speakers opposed to the legislation expressed concerns to the Senate Rules committee that HB10 could be used by ICE to hold Hispanic individuals on detainer requests for minor traffic violations.

The bill was amended Tuesday in the Senate Judiciary committee to allow any person, including a federal agency, to file a complaint to the state attorney general alleging that an administrator has failed to comply or is failing to comply with the law.

The person would be required to provide evidence in support of the complaint.

If the attorney general determines there is sufficient evidence that a sheriff has failed to comply with the law, the attorney general can file a petition for declaratory or injunctive relief, either in Wake County Superior Court or the appropriate local Superior Court.

"It is no surprise that Republicans in the N.C. General Assembly are taking up this immigration bill in this year's short session," said John Dinan, a political science professor at Wake Forest University and a national expert on state legislatures.

"This is an example of Republicans in North Carolina seeking to set the legislative agenda in ways that may respond to constituent concerns, but also may shape upcoming elections and campaigns."

Background

Upon passage in the Senate, the House would need to accept or reject Senate changes to HB10. If rejected, a concurrence committee likely would be formed to reach a compromise.

If HB10 clears the legislature, and the Republican supermajority overrides a likely veto from Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, it is scheduled to go into effect July 1.

Cooper successfully vetoed versions of the ICE legislation in 2019 and 2022 when Republicans did not have supermajorities in each chamber.

Cooper has expressed concerns about potential criminal penalties for sheriffs who decline to cooperate with ICE in detaining inmates. Bill sponsors said HB10 contain language they believe addresses Coopers concerns.

Rep. Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, and HB10s primary sponsor, has said that non-cooperating sheriffs are putting partisan politics ahead of public safety.

This bill (HB10) would end that controversy because I believe they will follow the law if this (bill) is passed.

But, if they wont, there are a number of remedies already in law, including potential removal from office, and a judge can require a sheriff to follow the law.

Hall has said HB10 only affects an ICE inquiry when someone is accused of a serious crime, such as murder, homicide, rape and other sex offenses, kidnapping and abduction and human trafficking.

They would be held long enough for ICE to come in and do their job in a more controlled environment, rather than in local communities in a much more dangerous environment, Hall told the Judiciary committee Tuesday.

The sheriffs not currently complying with ICE detainee requests have stated their opposition to the previous ICE legislation.

Bill opponents say voters in those counties elected Democratic sheriffs knowing their stance on ICE cooperation, and HB10 is an attempt to usurp their authority.

The N.C. Sheriffs Association has taken no position on HB10, said its general counsel Eddie Caldwell.

However, the association did support an earlier ICE bill with high priority during the 2019 session that was vetoed by Cooper.

Hall said ICE officials have said that some sheriffs simply dont even communicate with ICE at all.

Critics of the ICE legislation say the measure could increase jail time for suspects who have otherwise met the conditions for release. They also point out it would force sheriffs offices to investigate the immigration status of anyone booked into the jail.

Hall summed up his support for HB10 by saying it is a common sense bill and it is amazing that we even have to have a bill like this ... that law enforcement should cooperate with one another and their first goal should be public safety.

Common sense has become a catch-all term used by many state Republican legislators when trying to pitch cultural war bills to North Carolinians, particularly when it comes to immigration and transgender public-health issues.

The Forsyth Sheriffs Office issued a statement after a similar bill cleared the legislature on July 1, 2022, that included a quote from Kimbrough. S101 was vetoed successfully by Cooper.

We will continue to do what is moral, what is legal and what is right, Kimbrough said. We have been and will continue to be a law-abiding law enforcement agency.

A statement from Wake County Sheriff Willie Rowe was read to the Judiciary committee in which he stated his opposition to HB10, and that the legislation would hinder his offices ability to build relationships with the community by making the Hispanic community in particular more leery of cooperating with his office.

Rowe also expressed his concern that HB10 would take authority away from the sheriff to set local law-enforcement priorities.

I want to make our communities safer, but HB10 will make us less safe by fermenting distrust for local law enforcement, according to the statement.
Businesses have to pivot with the times, all the time. But SMBs agree the AI era is different, with three in four businesses saying they've evolved more in the past four years than previous twenty. In 2024, businesses are navigating a new reality whereby keeping pace with technological disruption and innovation is critical to business success.

In the AI era, Australian businesses are the most likely globally to feel the pressure to do more with less. According to HubSpots research, 70 per cent of local businesses agree that the introduction of AI has required them to reinvent. But that doesnt necessarily mean starting from scratch.



"A combination of rising business costs, new technology and evolving customer expectations have impacted the effectiveness of conventional growth tactics among Australias businesses, accelerating a need for reinvention. Our research shows that the majority of local businesses believe delivering streamlined, personalised customer experiences is key to growth and success in 2024. Long term success will be determined by the ability of businesses to effectively engage with their audiences across multiple channels, and deliver more value to customers to maximise retention, said Kat Warboys, Senior Marketing Director - APAC, HubSpot.

Rethinking content marketingagain

Today, customers are everywhere. Their purchase path is fragmented across multiplying channels and marketers are left facing two major challenges: reach and relevance. Businesses need to efficiently meet customers wherever they are, and do it with quality content thats personalised, unique and valuable.



However, marketers are struggling to meet demands for multi-channel content, with 70 per cent saying they need tools to help them remix their content from one format or channel to another. Australia is also the second most likely country, behind Singapore, to cite an increasing number of channels as a pain point (32 per cent).



"The data reveals that a majority of Australian businesses need to review and reset their go-to-market strategies, but its not a case of one size fits all. This is a journey that many businesses are on, or need to commence, in order to understand the content that best engages customers. For marketing teams wanting to effectively reach and engage their audiences, they must focus on personalised content, on the channels customers are showing up on, to build deeper connections with customers , shared Warboys.

To help local businesses meet demands for remixed, multi-channel content, HubSpot has launched Content Hub. The all-in-one marketing solution, powered by HubSpot AI, helps to create and manage content across the entire customer journey, through tools like AI Content Creation, Content Remix, Brand Voice, audio tooling, Members Blog and Gated Content Library (among others).



"As a small business with big growth goals, Content Hub enables us to have a complete content marketing solution that grows with us. Content marketing is the growth engine of our business, and we now spend 60 per cent less time repurposing content across platforms because the workflows are so much simpler. While the paid media landscape is becoming increasingly challenging to navigate, were experiencing returns on organic content growing 150 per cent year on year. Theres no doubt that Content Hub has been a game changer for our business and connecting with new customers, added Colm Walsh, Managing Director at Swimming Pool Kits Direct.



Transforming support teams into revenue drivers

Beyond acquisition, SMBs must focus on retention and customer experience for growth. Personalised, responsive support and alignment across an organisations go-to-market teams are essential components of retaining and delighting customers. With three in five (62 per cent) Australian businesses agreeing that its important to have one platform for their go-to-market teams to work in, rather than many separate tools within an organisations tech stack. To meet this need, the all-new Service Hub, powered by HubSpot AI, is the only solution that brings together customer support and success functions for the first time.

"Service Hub aligned perfectly with our desire to introduce a new support ticketing system to our business. We can now effectively track how our support teams manage client queries. Not only does this grant us greater visibility into the type of customer feedback were receiving, but it also helps us understand opportunities for improvement at a product level so that we can constantly improve as a business. Service Hub has become a central resource to our business, and our new ticketing system produced savings of nearly half a million dollars per year, explained Catriona Hay, Head of Platform Success at Archipro.



"In todays climate, change is happening in days and weeks, not years. Maintaining the level of business innovation that the Australian community is known for will require adaptation to this reinvented environment. Transformation can be daunting, but having access to the right tools will empower businesses to harness change, maintain pace with customer needs and better connect with their target market, concluded Warboys.



Learn more about these launches and the over 100 updates made across the customer platform at hubspot.com/spotlight.

About Spotlight
NSW police have arrested a man over an alleged data breach of more than a million people who are members of clubs and pubs in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.

The data that has been leaked includes names and addresses which had been collected by a company known as Outabox, a technology provider used by a number of clubs and pubs, including the big hospitality firm Merivale.

A website called Outaboxed offered those who fear their data has been stolen a chance to check and see whether this is the case. The site claims it has 1,050,169 records which include the data of Premier Chris Minns, Deputy Premier Prue Car and Police Minister Yasmin Catley.

The site provides a list of some of the venues that are affected, and warns that anyone who has visited any of these venues since 2020 is likely to have had their data stolen.

The website isas being hosted inin Antarctica and the DNS details say the owner's details are "REDACTED FOR PRIVACY, REDACTED FOR PRIVACY, REDACTED FOR PRIVACY, REDACTED FOR PRIVACY, KN".

The home page of the website. Police are working to take it down. Screenshot by Sam Varghese

Detectives arrested a 46-year-old man after executing a search warrant in Fairfield West on Thursday.

On its website, ClubsNSW said it had been made aware of a cyber security incident involving a third-party IT provider commonly used by hospitality venues, including 16 clubs.

"While limited information is currently known, we understand that some personal information of patrons of the clubs that use this IT provider may have been compromised. If you are a member club and have any concerns, please call ClubASSIST on 1300 730 001 or at enquiries@clubsnsw.com.au."

Contacted for comment, Brett Callow, a senior ransomware threat researcher with the New Zealand-based security firm Emsisoft, said: "Insiders - and former insiders - can represent a security risk, especially when pissed off.

"Treating employees and contractors well can help mitigate those risks, as can proper internal controls, of course."
COMPANY NEWS: Secure Code Warrior, the global, developer-driven security leader, today unveiled SCW Trust Score, the industrys first benchmark that quantifies the security posture of organisations developer teams. SCW Trust Score provides a vital baseline of the impact of their learning programs, assesses its effectiveness, and enables security, developer and engineering teams to more effectively collaborate and recalibrate skills training.

The demand for faster application development and integration of AI technologies is at an all-time high leading to higher probabilities of introducing more vulnerabilities and risks. The pressures on organisations to create and maintain a security-ready and high-performance software team necessitate the creation of a real-time quantifiable benchmark that can define the bell curve of their organisations security program and their developers' security skills.

"Modern CISOs need to be able to measure the effectiveness of every part of their security program, yet, to date, tangible insights into developer skill levels in security have proved elusive," said Secure Code Warrior co-founder and CEO Pieter Danhieux. "However, this changes today. The SCW Trust Score is the only data-driven skill score that directly links to favourable security outcomes, with some clients reporting a 53% reduction in vulnerabilities and twice faster fixing of critical security bugs."

The rollout of SCW Trust Score follows a milestone year for Secure Code Warrior. In 2023, the completed a US$50 million Series C funding round led by investor Paladin Capital Group. Secure Code Warriors customer base includes more than 600 enterprises from around the world that are powering the global economy including JPMorgan Chase, HSBC, Colgate-Palmolive, Netskope, Workday, and more.

Software supply chain security demands ever-evolving developer skills. The rise of AI copilots generating vast amounts of code, alongside human developers, underscores the critical need for personalised developer education and a scalable training program, said Constellation Research vice president and analyst Chirag Mehta. Unlike infrequent, standard, and static trainings, security and technology leaders are increasingly exploring training tools, content, and programs that are grounded in quantifiable benchmarks and personalised delivery.

SCW Trust Score - underpinned by 20 million learning data points from more than 250,000 developers around the world - is available to organisations starting today with:

Three industry-specific benchmarks: Global; Banking and Financial Services; and Technology

Grades against a wide variety of security categories, especially OWASP 1-10.

Scores that improve with concept coverage and increased participation. Factors like inaccuracy or hint usage reduce it, and it also degrades over time

Scoring ranges from 0-1000

In the ensuing months, further innovation, capabilities and algorithm enhancements built upon the SCW Trust Score will give organisations and developer teams even more ways to quantify the effectiveness of their learning programs.

Secure Code Warrior will demo and discuss SCW Trust Score at the 2024 RSA Conference in San Francisco 6-9 May.

To learn more about SCW Trust Score, join us for a webinar on 22 May at 8:30am Pacific and visit our SCW Trust Score landing page.

About Secure Code Warrior

Secure Code Warrior gives your developers the skills to write secure code. Our learning platform is the most effective secure coding solution because it uses agile learning methods for developers to learn, apply, and retain software security principles. More than 600 enterprises trust Secure Code Warrior to implement agile learning security programs, build safer software, and create a culture of developer-driven security.
Connectivity provider Telxius opened its extended SAm-1 submarine cable route between Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico.

The route is a vital link between the Caribbean and the US, as well as wider Latin America via the Brusa, PCCS, and SAm-1 cables.

Telxius said the extension bridges the gap between the Caribbean and the Americas with capacity connectivity.

This new route will accelerate digital transformation in key regions, allowing them to fully participate in todays digital economy, said Telxius CEO Mario Martiin.

The extension will benefit countries like Dominican Republic, providing residents with connectivity and smoother communication.

Telxius network includes eight next-generation fibre optic submarine cables and terrestrial backhauls that span more than 100,000km.

It provides capacity, colocation, and security services, as well as direct internet connectivity through its Tier-1 IP network, providing connectivity around the world.

This first appeared in the subscription newsletter CommsWire on 01 May 2024.
Microsoft decided to invest in OpenAI after a warning from a company official that Google had taken a big lead in the technology, Ars Technica reports .

Microsoft chief technology office Kevin Scott, who is also executive vice-president, sent an email to chief executive Satya Nadella in June 2019, saying he was very worried about what Google was doing with Deep Mind and Google Brain.

Reporter Ashley Belanger linked to the email in question, which had the subject line "Thoughts on OpenAI" and was also copied to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.

Scott wrote: "The thing that's interesting about what OpenAI and Deep Mind and Google Brain are doing is the scale of their ambition, and how that ambition is driving everything from datacentre design to compute silicon to networks and distributed systems architectures to numerical optimisers, compilers, programming frameworks, and the high-level abstractions that developers have at their disposal.

"When all these programs were doing was competing with one another to see which RL system could achieve the most impressive game-playing stunt, I was highly dismissive of their efforts.

"That was a mistake. When they took all of the infrastructure that they had built to build NLP models that we couldn't easily replicate, I started to take things more seriously.

"And, as I dug in to try to understand where all the capability gaps were between Google and us for model training, I got very, very worried."

Belanger said Microsoft had tried to keep this internal email hidden, but it was made public on Tuesday US time as part of the US Justice Department's anti-trust trial over Google's alleged search monopoly.

She wrote that the email was "initially sealed because Microsoft argued that it contained confidential business information, but The New York Times intervened to get it unsealed, arguing that Microsoft's privacy interests did not outweigh the need for public disclosure".

Scott wrote: "Turns out just replicating BERT-large wasn't easy to do for us. Even though we had the template for the model, it took us ~6 months to get the model trained because our infrastructure wasn't up to the task.

"Google had BERT for at least six months prior to that, so in the time that it took us to hack together the capability to train a 340M parameter model, they had a year to figure out how to get it into production and to move on to larger scale, more interesting models.

"We are already seeing the results of that work in our competitive analysis of their products. One of the Q&A competitive metrics that we watch just jumped out by 10 percentage points on Google Search because of BERT-like models. Their auto-complete in Gmail, which is especially useful in the mobile app, is getting scarily good."

And he added: "We have very smart ML people in Bing, in the vision team, and in the speech team. But the core deep leaning teams within each of these bigger teams are very small, and their ambitions have also been constrained, which means that even as we start to feed them resources, they still have to go through a learning process to scale up. And we are multiple years behind the competition in terms of ML scale."

The rest of the email was redacted based on an order issued by Judge Amit Mehta; he said this portion included "sensitive statements in the email concerning Microsofts business strategies that weigh against disclosure".

This, Belanger wrote, included most of Scott's musings on OpenAI. Justice Mehta wrote that other statements should be disclosed "because they shed light on Googles defence concerning relative investments by Google and Microsoft in search".

During the trial, Google has tried to convince Justice Mehta that Microsoft had not put enough money into mobile, for example, giving Google an advantage in mobile search that it still has.

Scott's email appears to show that Microsoft was also dragging its feet on inventing in AI.

Nadella forwarded Scott's email to Microsoft chief financial officer Amy Hood, recommending that Scott's ideas be implemented.

A few weeks later, Microsoft invested US$1 billion (A$1.53 billion) in OpenAI, followed by billions more. Earlier this year, the European Union suspected Microsoft was controlling OpenAI, so closely mixed were the two companies finances.

The EU later dismissed this idea, deciding that Microsoft's US$13 billion investment did not mean an acquisition, according to a Reuters report.

Officially, Microsoft has said that its OpenAI partnership was formed "to accelerate AI breakthroughs to ensure these benefits are broadly shared with the world"not to keep up with Google".

Nadella told the court about the email, adding that joining with firms like OpenAI ensured Microsoft could continue improving its search, as well as other services.

He admitted he had overhyped AI-powered Bing as being able to shake up the search market, backing up the DoJ by testifying that in Silicon Valley, Internet search is "the biggest no-fly zone".

Nadella said even after partnering with OpenAI, for Microsoft to compete with Google in search, there are "limits to how much artificial intelligence can reshape the market as it exists today".

According to Bloomberg, the DoJ has argued that Google's alleged search market dominance had also hindered OpenAI's efforts to innovate.

"OpenAIs ChatGPT and other innovations may have been released years ago if Google hadnt monopolised the search market," the DoJ claimed.

The closing arguments in this trial begin on 3 May.

Thanks to Ars Technica for the links to the email and the court order.
COMPANY NEWS: Global location intelligence specialists, GapMaps, has launched its premium point of interest (POI) and demographics datasets on Amazon Web Services (AWS) Data Exchange to help AWS customers securely find, subscribe to and use third-party data in the cloud.

This means AWS customers can discover and license GapMaps data products via AWS Data Exchange, providing a self-service mechanism to easily access the data needed to fast-track and strengthen location decision-making in markets that include Australia, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and North America.

GapMaps data products provide organisations such as consultants, developers, commercial real estate groups and brands in Quick Service Restaurant (QSR), Fast Food, Cafe, Fitness, Supermarket & Grocery with access to accurate and granular demographics and POI datasets, which they can easily merge with their own datasets to develop optimal location strategies.

GapMaps managing director and founder Anthony Villanti said: In todays always on digital world, customers expect self-service environments to easily procure their data products and, for businesses like GapMaps, AWS Data Exchange provides a seamless experience to extend the reach of our premium datasets to AWS customers.

Until now, up-to-date and granular demographics and POI datasets are often inaccessible in countries across Asia, India and the Middle East. So, instead of investing valuable time and costly resources sourcing or building these datasets, organisations looking to expand their store networks in these markets can easily access GapMaps latest premium datasets on AWS Data Exchange, empowering them to make more informed location decisions.

Furthermore, in these regions demographics data is often limited to state level, failing to provide insights into specific neighbourhoods or suburbs. Unlike other providers, GapMaps uniquely provides detailed insights into consuming class distribution at 150 metre grid levels utilising the latest mobile device data, a factor that has shown significant correlation with store performance for the majority of brands that we work with, adds Villanti.

Basic Demographics Dataset packages available on AWS Data Exchange on annual subscriptions include the latest estimates on resident population size along with demographics metrics based on published census data available in each region such as age profile, education status and occupation. These estimates are available at 150 metre grid levels across India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia or the lowest grid level supported in Australia (Statistical Area 1).

Premium packages available for India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Malaysia include Consuming Class datasets, delineating the distribution of individuals capable of purchasing non-essential goods, alongside Worker Population datasets, are also available at 150 metre grid levels. Additionally, retail spend estimates for various categories like food & beverage, supermarket/grocery, and apparel are provided. These insights help businesses understand household spending patterns within a catchment area. The Premium dataset package for Australia includes the latest estimates on daytime worker population along with age and population projections to 2031.

GapMaps also recently partnered with Applied Geographic Solutions, a leading supplier of high quality demographic datasets in North America and will offer their basic and premium packages on annual subscriptions via AWS Data Exchange. These datasets include more than 40,000 attributes covering population, demographics, neighbourhood segmentation, consumer spending, crime estimates/ projections and environmental risk available at a census block level.

The POI datasets offered on quarterly or annual subscriptions, monitor leading competitor brands across key sectors like QSR, fast food, cafe, fitness and supermarket/grocery. Regular updates via the AWS Data Exchange provide brands with crucial insights on store openings and closures, aiding in tracking competitor activity within specific catchment areas. GapMaps also tracks schools, universities, hospitals, public transport and shopping malls, crucial for driving traffic to nearby retail outlets.

GapMaps provides datasets that enable businesses to assess the potential of a market, not only in the major cities, but in outlying suburbs and regions, adds Villanti.

This helps them quickly prioritise which markets to enter, and in those markets, where to locate stores using high quality and granular data. Key to our success and the success of our clients is that we provide uniform data quality, whether it's in Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, India, or Australia.

About GapMaps

Founded in 2013, GapMaps is an Australian-built and owned company with global capabilities, empowering decision makers in multiple industry sectors refine their network strategies with location intelligence and demographics. Its dynamic products can be easily adapted for any market or industry and today is being effectively used by more than 500 brands in Australia, New Zealand, Asia, the Middle East and Africa to make location intelligence data easily obtainable for more accurate business decision-making.
COMPANY NEWS: Signature Security Group (Signature Security) has announced its relaunch in Australia under the parent company, Intelligent Monitoring Group (IMG).

IMG acquired Adeva Security effective 1 May 2024 and will integrate Adeva into IMGs Mammoth Security subsidiary under the iconic Signature Security Group brand. Director of Adeva Security, Evan Comb, will transition into the role of General Manager at Signature Security Group effective immediately.

This significant strategic move will re-establish Signature Security as a well-known Australian brand and marks an important milestone in delivering enhanced, business-focused security services tailored to the specific and continually growing needs of Australian customers.

The Signature Security brand will see Adeva Securitys national technician team leverage IMGs state-of-the-art monitoring technology to offer full-service business security solutions that meet the highest standards of efficacy and reliability. The relaunched Signature Security brand will immediately become the largest bureau customer of IMG Connect, IMGs advanced security monitoring platform. This platform operates with Patriot-based A1-graded security monitoring facilities, ensuring robust and reliable security monitoring around the clock.

Dennison Hambling, Managing Director of IMG, said, Signature Securitys original vision was to introduce an unprecedented level of professionalism and customer service in the security industry. IMG is proud to bring this vision back to life in Australia, updated with the latest technological advancements and a strong focus on business security. The Signature Security brand has always been synonymous with quality and reliability and this move is not just about reviving a brand; its about setting a new benchmark for business security solutions.

A burgeoning demand for advanced security solutions across Australia and worldwide means this acquisition and the revival of the Signature Security brand are timed perfectly to address local businesses evolving security requirements. The relaunch of Signature Security will bring an unmatched level of professionalism and customer service back into focus.

Evan Comb, General Manager of Signature Security, said, Joining forces with IMG and being at the helm of the Signature Security re-launch is a tremendous opportunity to revitalise and grow the brand across Australia. The team is committed to provide exceptional quality business security services to the Australian market, focusing on innovative solutions and outstanding customer service.

The strategic acquisition and brand revitalisation are part of IMG's broader growth strategy to lead the market through technological innovation and exceptional service. As Signature Security re-enters the Australian market, it brings with it a legacy of trust and excellence that is now enhanced by IMG's innovative technology and strong operational foundation. This combination promises to deliver seamlessly integrated and effective customer-focused security solutions.

About Signature Security Group

Signature Security Group was originally formed with one simple goal in mind: to bring an unmatched level of professionalism and customer service to the business security industry in Australia.

About Intelligent Monitoring Group Limited

Intelligent Monitoring Group Limited (ASX: IMB) provides monitored security and IOT solutions that ensure the safety and protection of Australian businesses, homes and individuals 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

The Company operates with the highest security accreditation from its two significant monitoring centres.
GUEST OPINION: Are you dreaming of working in the United States? The following is an introduction to the American H2B Visa Program.

The American H2B Visa Program might just be your ticket to making that dream a reality! This comprehensive guide will walk you through everything you need to know about the ins and outs of the H2B visa, from eligibility requirements to application tips. So, grab a cup of coffee and let's dive into this exciting opportunity together!

Eligibility Requirements for the H2B Visa

To be eligible for the American H2B visa program, applicants must meet specific requirements set by the U.S. government. One key requirement is that the job offered to you in the United States must be temporary and non-agricultural in nature. This means that seasonal work like landscaping or hospitality services could qualify under this category.

Additionally, employers applying on behalf of foreign workers must demonstrate that there are not enough local candidates available to fill the positions being offered. This ensures that hiring foreign workers will not negatively impact American job opportunities.

Furthermore, H2B visa applicants need to show proof of a valid job offer from a U.S.-based employer who has obtained labour certification from the Department of Labor. This certification serves as evidence that hiring foreign workers will not undermine local wages and working conditions.

Meeting these eligibility requirements is crucial for a successful H2B visa application process. Its important to thoroughly understand and fulfil all criteria before proceeding with your application submission.

The Application Process: Steps and Documents Needed

The application process for the American H2B visa can seem daunting, but with proper preparation, it can be manageable. To start, employers must submit a temporary labour certification application to the Department of Labor to show that there are no willing and able U.S. workers available for the job.

Once approved, the employer needs to file Form I-129 with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) along with supporting documents like proof of need for foreign workers and employment contracts. Additionally, applicants must pay all required fees and undergo background checks.

After USCIS approves the petition, individuals must schedule an interview at a U.S. consulate in their home country. There, they will present additional documentation, such as valid passports and medical exams, proving they are fit for travel and work in the United States.

Duration and Renewal of the H2B Visa

The duration and renewal of the American H2B visa are essential aspects to consider for those seeking temporary work opportunities in the United States. Initially, the visa is granted for a specific period, typically up to one year, depending on the employer's needs.

For individuals looking to extend their stay beyond the initial period, they must go through a renewal process. This involves submitting a new application with all required documents and proving that there is still a need for their skills and expertise in the U.S.

The H2B visa can be renewed for up to three years but is subject to annual limitations set by immigration authorities. Adhering to all guidelines and deadlines during the renewal process is crucial to avoid any disruptions in employment status.

Understanding the duration and renewal procedures of the H2B visa program is vital for foreign workers navigating through this temporary work opportunity in America.

Benefits and Limitations of the H2B Visa Program

The H2B visa program comes with its own set of benefits and limitations that applicants should consider. One major benefit is the opportunity to work legally in the United States for a temporary period, allowing individuals to gain valuable international work experience. This can enhance their skills and broaden their professional network.

On the other hand, one limitation of the H2B visa is that it is a temporary non-immigrant visa, meaning recipients are required to return to their home country once the visa expires. This can pose challenges for those looking for long-term opportunities in the U.S. Additionally, there are limits on how many visas are issued each year, which could impact an individual's ability to secure this type of visa.

Despite these limitations, many individuals find success through the H2B program by utilizing it as a stepping stone in their career development or seasonal employment opportunities. It's essential for applicants to weigh both sides before deciding if this visa option aligns with their goals and aspirations.

Tips for a Successful H2B Visa Application

Navigating the process of applying for an H2B visa can be overwhelming, but with the right approach, you can increase your chances of success. Here are some tips to help you prepare a strong application.

First and foremost, thoroughly review all eligibility requirements before starting your application. It's essential to ensure that you meet all criteria set by the program to avoid any unnecessary delays or rejections.

Gather all necessary documents well in advance and double-check them for accuracy. Missing or incorrect paperwork could lead to setbacks in the processing of your visa application.

Provide clear and concise information in your application forms. Avoid leaving any sections blank, and be honest in all responses. Any inconsistencies or discrepancies may raise red flags during the review process.

Consider seeking assistance from an immigration attorney or consultant who specializes in H2B visas. Their expertise can provide valuable guidance throughout the application process, increasing your chances of approval.

Stay organized and proactive throughout the process. Track deadlines, follow up promptly on any requests for additional information, and remain patient as you wait for a decision on your visa application.

Common Misconceptions about the H2B Visa Program

One common misconception about the H2B Visa program is that it's easy to obtain. In reality, the application process can be complex and time-consuming, requiring thorough documentation and meeting specific requirements. Another myth is that the H2B visa leads directly to permanent residency in the U.S., but this visa is temporary and does not provide a direct path to a green card.

There is also a misunderstanding that only certain types of jobs are eligible for the H2B visa. While there are limitations on which industries can apply, a wide range of seasonal or peak-load positions across various sectors may qualify for this program.

Some individuals believe that they can work any job with an H2B visa once approved, yet recipients must adhere strictly to their approved employment terms outlined in their petition. It's crucial to understand these nuances before applying for an H2B Visa.

Conclusion and Final Thoughts

In navigating the ins and outs of the American H2B Visa Program, understanding its eligibility requirements, application process, duration, benefits, and limitations is crucial. By following the guidelines set forth by the U.S. government and preparing a thorough application with all necessary documents, individuals can increase their chances of securing an H2B visa successfully.

As with any visa program, there are complexities and challenges that applicants may face along the way. However, with proper preparation, attention to detail, and adherence to regulations, obtaining an H2B visa can open up opportunities for temporary employment in the United States.

Staying informed about any updates or changes to the H2B visa program is important to ensure compliance with current policies. Seeking guidance from immigration experts or legal professionals can also provide valuable assistance throughout the application process.

For those seeking temporary work opportunities in the U.S., understanding the nuances of the American H2B Visa Program is essential for a successful experience. With determination and knowledge on your side, the possibilities that come with an approved H2B visa await you.
GUEST RESEARCH: Nutanix, a leader in hybrid multicloud computing, announced the findings of its sixth annual global Public Sector Enterprise Cloud Index (ECI) survey and research report, which measures enterprise progress with cloud adoption in the industry. The research showed that Public Sector IT leaders expect substantial near-term adoption of multiple IT operating models (87%), yet current usage (57%) is slightly behind the average compared to other industries (60%).

This years Public Sector ECI report revealed that the use of hybrid multicloud models in the industry is forecasted to quadruple over the next one to three years as IT decision-makers at public sector organisations look to modernise data centres into private clouds and preserve choice in public cloud deployments. Primary drivers for IT infrastructure investments in the next year include ransomware prevention, IT modernisation, and AI strategy support to gain flexibility and access new capabilities to improve operations and enable mission success.

The public sector is faced with regulatory and compliance mandates regarding where and how end user data can be stored, which creates complexity as organisations work to modernise their IT infrastructure. Hybrid multicloud solutions provide key benefits to public sector organisations including simplifying operations, improving data privacy and security, optimising where apps and data live, and preparing for technologies like AI. The Public Sector ECI report found the adoption of hybrid multicloud varied significantly from across sub sectors, with public education leading the way, while federal and state governments lagged.

Much like other industries, public sector organisations are eager to modernise their IT infrastructure and lay the foundation to adopt new technologies to deliver better services and experiences for constituents, said Nutanix senior director sales public sector Greg OConnell. In fact, 80% of the public sector said they expect to increase their investments in AI technology in the next year.

Public sector survey respondents were asked about their current cloud challenges, how theyre running business and mission critical applications today, and where they plan to run them in the future. Key findings from this years report include:

Hybrid multicloud deployments lag behind other industries. The vast majority of both public sector organisations (85%) and all sectors (90%) agreed that their organisations now embrace cloud-smart IT deployment strategies. However, just 8% of global public sector organisations reported using a hybrid multicloud approach.

The vast majority of both public sector organisations (85%) and all sectors (90%) agreed that their organisations now embrace cloud-smart IT deployment strategies. However, just 8% of global public sector organisations reported using a hybrid multicloud approach. When public sector organisations are investing in IT infrastructure, protection from ransomware is the primary driver. Respondents in the public sector most often chose the infrastructures ability to protect against ransomware and other malware as their single top priority (17%). This factor was followed by the infrastructures performance/response time potential (15%) and its ability to allow IT to flexibly move workloads across private and public cloud platforms (14%).

Respondents in the public sector most often chose the infrastructures ability to protect against ransomware and other malware as their single top priority (17%). This factor was followed by the infrastructures performance/response time potential (15%) and its ability to allow IT to flexibly move workloads across private and public cloud platforms (14%). Security and compliance are the biggest drivers of application relocation and the top priority for CIO/CTOs, as public sector organisations recover from high rates of ransomware attacks. The vast majority of ECI respondents92% in the public sector group and 95% globallysaid they had moved one or more applications to a different IT environment in the past 12 months. The ramp-up of moving workloads to best support each applications requirements is creating the need for simple and flexible inter-cloud portability. Shifting security-related requirements, in particular, are largely fuelling the movement of applications.

The vast majority of ECI respondents92% in the public sector group and 95% globallysaid they had moved one or more applications to a different IT environment in the past 12 months. The ramp-up of moving workloads to best support each applications requirements is creating the need for simple and flexible inter-cloud portability. Shifting security-related requirements, in particular, are largely fuelling the movement of applications. AI use is ramping up, though issues concerning data privacy and best practices persist. Though AI support ranked fairly low on public sector infrastructure purchasing criteria, respondents expressed high levels of interest in the technology elsewhere. 80% of the public sector said they expect to increase their investments in AI technology in the next year. About a third (32%) said that those investment increases would be significant. A third (33%) also said integrating with cloud-native services, such as AI, was a reason that they moved one or more application(s) to a different infrastructure during the past year.

Though AI support ranked fairly low on public sector infrastructure purchasing criteria, respondents expressed high levels of interest in the technology elsewhere. 80% of the public sector said they expect to increase their investments in AI technology in the next year. About a third (32%) said that those investment increases would be significant. A third (33%) also said integrating with cloud-native services, such as AI, was a reason that they moved one or more application(s) to a different infrastructure during the past year. Top challenges involve multi-environment storage, operations, security, and sustainability. Managing multiple IT environments creates operational challenges often related to interoperability and data management across infrastructures with dissimilar underlying technologies. When asked to name their number one data management challenge today, the greatest percentage in the public sector identified complying with data storage/usage guidelines (19%) as the top factor. Increasingly, data storage strategies are driven by privacy regulations about where end user data can be stored, such as data sovereignty requirements.

For the sixth consecutive year, Vanson Bourne conducted research on behalf of Nutanix, surveying 1,500 IT and DevOps/Platform Engineering decision-makers around the world in December 2023. The respondent base spanned multiple industries, business sizes, and geographies, including North and South America; Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA); and Asia Pacific Japan (APJ) region.

To learn more about the report and findings, please download the full Public Sector Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Index, here.

About Nutanix

Nutanix is a global leader in cloud software, offering organisations a single platform for running apps and data across clouds. With Nutanix, companies can reduce complexity and simplify operations, freeing them to focus on their business outcomes. Building on its legacy as the pioneer of hyperconverged infrastructure, Nutanix is trusted by companies worldwide to power hybrid multicloud environments consistently, simply, and cost-effectively. Learn more at www.nutanix.com or follow us on social media @nutanix.
San Antonio city manager Erik Walsh speaks Monday, Feb. 7, 2022 during a press conference at city hall to promote the city's sales-tax-funded Ready to Work job training program. William Luther, Staff U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh (second from right) gets a tour of St. Philips Colleges Transportation and Manufacturing Technologies programs with St. Philips College President Adena Williams Loston (right) along with Alamo Colleges Chancellor Dr. Mike Flores, Congressman Joaquin Castro and Mayor Ron Nirenberg before taking part in a roundtable discussion on Monday, Aug. 29, 2022. The labor secretary was here to talk about the city's Ready to Work job training program which received $2.9 million in a grant from the Department of Labor. Kin Man Hui/Staff photographer

Some City Council members patience with Ready to Work, the citys $240 million job-training program, is wearing thin.

District 7 Council Member Marina Alderete Gavito said Ready to Works performance was way off  particularly the slow pace at which its enrollees land good-paying jobs.

The sales tax-funded program, which launched two years ago, has never met its goal of placing 80% of graduates in full-time jobs paying at least $15 an hour within six months of completing their training. Its current rate is 52%.

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The program we sold to voters is not what were seeing, Alderete Gavito said during a Wednesday briefing on Ready to Works next annual budget.

In November 2020, San Antonio voters approved a 1/8-cent of city sales tax  collected from December 2021 to December 2025  to pay for authorized programs related to job training and the awarding of scholarships.

Ready to Work leaders are looking to add seven new employees to its 12-person staff as they scramble to put graduates to work at a faster rate.

Five of the seven new employees will be tasked with learning what jobs area employers most need to fill and relaying that information to the organizations training Ready to Work participants, said Workforce Development Executive Director Mike Ramsey.

The other two hires will include an assistant director and an accountant.

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The cost of the new positions is about $600,000 out of a proposed $49.5 million annual budget that City Council is set to vote on May 16. Ready to Works next fiscal year begins July 1.

Ramsey said it could take about six months for the new hires to start making significant improvements in the rate at which participants land jobs. He added the program will keep pushing other efforts to put graduates in jobs faster, such as job fairs, the creation of a jobs board and internship and apprenticeship programs.

Still waiting for takeoff

District 2 Council Member Jalen McKee-Rodriguez  after criticizing Ready to Works job-placement rate  said hes concerned that even after completing the program, many participants arent earning a livable wage. The mean hourly wage for graduates whove found jobs is $20.80.

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Im going to think optimistically about what were being told today that the steps that were taking are going to get us the numbers were expecting, McKee-Rodriguez said. But it feels like every time we receive this presentation its 'were just getting started,' and I dont know how long we can do that.

Other council members voiced support for Ready to Work, while noting that its off to a slower, rockier start than anticipated.

San Antonio has been funneling much of the tax revenue for the program to Project QUEST, Restore Education, Workforce Solutions Alamo and the Alamo Colleges District, which are under contract to provide job training and case management services.

Participants can earn industry-recognized certificates or an associates or bachelors degrees.

Mayor Ron Nirenberg pitched Ready to Work to voters as a response to pandemic-driven job losses and as a solution to the citys high poverty rate. Participants have to be at least 18 years old, San Antonio residents or Bexar County residents with military ties, and their household income cannot exceed 250% of the federal poverty line.

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As of Thursday morning, 6,880 San Antonians were enrolled in training and 1,356 had completed training. About 800 people have been placed in jobs that pay at least $15 an hour, which works out $31,200 per year, plus benefits.

Budget breakdown

Ready to Works proposed budget includes $1 million to pay for child care for participants who are waiting to receive a state-funded voucher to cover those costs. Ramsey said its unclear how many enrollees would benefit.

The budget also includes a $6 million subsidy for area employers to train new and current workers, which is double the amount currently set aside for private companies.

It is unclear how many companies that $6 million will be split between. City Council will make that determination in a motion separate from the Ready to Work budget vote.

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In April, the City Council decided to divide this years $3 million subsidy between 31 companies to provide on-the-job training for 1,371 area workers.

District 5 Council Member Teri Castillo criticized the inclusion of large companies, such as Holt Cat, auto parts maker Toyotetsu Texas Inc. and aircraft maintenance and repair firm StandardAero, over smaller employers. However, she ultimately voted to approve the subsidies.

Ramsey said officials havent decided yet which companies will be eligible to apply for a slice of the $6 million. Theres a chance some of the businesses that got part of the $3 million this year will be able to snag additional dollars.
Google launches new course to help put Australians on fast track to AI skills and jobs

Nine out of ten Australians believe AI will change some or most jobs or industries in the next five years, according to research by Ipsos for Google Australia.

Australians also tend to be more optimistic about the positive impacts of AI on their work (42% positive impact vs 22% negative impact on their job over the next five years), outpacing less positive countries including the United States and Japan, where the perceptions are more split.

The research found that positive perceptions towards AI in Australia are being driven by workers who have talked about AI at their jobs (65% positive vs 16% negative) and workers who have used an AI application in the past 12 months (58% positive vs 17% negative).

The shift to AI will create new opportunities for economic impact and mobility, with demand for AI-related professional skills increasing across virtually every sector. Demand for advanced AI and machine learning specialists jobs is expected to grow by 40% over the five years to 2027.

Google has launched AI Essentials  a new self-paced, online course taught by AI experts at Google. This course requires no previous experience with AI, and is designed to help teach people across roles and industries through hands-on experience with a variety of AI tools.

With this course, people will learn how to use generative AI tools to brainstorm ideas and speed up daily work tasks, how to write effective prompts, and use AI responsibly. Graduates earn a skill badge they can show employers.

The course is taught by AI experts at Google. It includes the following study modules:

An introduction to AI

Maximising Productivity With AI Tools

Discovering the Art of Prompt Engineering

Using AI Responsibly

Staying Ahead of the AI Curve

One of the biggest barriers that organisations face to digital and AI transformation is a lack of relevant skills and the ability to maintain them. The Ipsos research found that more than 4 in 10 (43%) workers say they will need to learn how to use AI in the next 5 years, while 1 in 3 (31%) anticipate needing to re-skill or pursue additional coursework to adapt.

AI will have a transformative impact on how we work, said Melanie Silva, Managing Director of Google Australia. It can help people and organisations make decisions, solve problems, and be more productive and creative. Many existing jobs will be complemented by these technologies in different ways, and entirely new jobs and sectors will be created too.

Googles goal is to ensure that everyone can benefit from AI and the opportunities it creates. We want Australians to feel confident about how AI can benefit their future careers - this starts with practical training from industry experts who are innovating with this technology everyday. We are combining our expertise in AI with our proven ability to help people gain the skills they need to grow their careers and businesses.

Stela Solar, Director of the National Artificial Intelligence Centre (NAIC), coordinated by CSIRO, said: "More individuals, businesses, and industries are recognising the critical need to uplift their AI understanding. Education is vital to take advantage of AI opportunities and establish responsible AI practices, which, in turn, contribute to building a resilient, equitable, and competitive industry in Australia. Through AI education, Australians gain the knowledge and skills needed to harness AI's benefits while proactively addressing associated challenges and risks.

Google AI Essentials is available via the Coursera platform, can be completed in 15 hours, and costs US$49 (approx AUD$76).

In 2021, Google Australia launched its Digital Future Initiative - a $1 billion investment in Australian infrastructure, research and partnerships, which continues to support many of the AI educational opportunities available to Australian workers today.
It's not often that you find someone writing about open source software and not bothering to make mention of the licences being used. But that's precisely what Albert Zhang of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a lobby group for big tech and foreign agencies, has done.

In an article titled Chinas use of foreign open-source software, and how to counter it, Zhang shows that he has little knowledge about this genre of software, how it is used around the world and how its use is governed by licences and not the whims and fancies of any government.

His takeoff point is an article in the Rupert Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal which provided details about a Beijing directive to government agencies asking them to replace proprietary foreign software by 2027.

As with many other articles which are published by ASPI, this is also an anti-China screed masquerading as a discussion about the use of open-source software.

Zhang writes that China began pursuing the use of open source software in the 1990s, adding that software can be a risk if vulnerabilities are not patched. This is a fairly obvious thing, something like stating the sun rises in the east.

In this context, Zhang offers the example of Eternal Blue, an exploit developed by the NSA, and used in numerous attacks over the years.

"Thats why Beijing has long been suspicious of foreign operating systems such as Windows and macOS, worrying that foreign governments could be hoarding vulnerabilities that they could exploit to cripple the Chinese governments computer networks," he writes.

Zhang appears to be blissfully unaware of the fact that back in May 2017 Microsoft released a version of Windows 10 for use in China after the source code had been vetted by Chinese authorities. It was named Windows 10 China Government Edition.

But this level of ignorance is not surprising when ASPI staff write about software. Elise Thomas, then an ASPI researcher, made similar uninformed claims about Huawei back in June 2019.

Given the amount of money that Microsoft makes in China, it is highly unlikely that the company would do anything to jeopardise its business there. And it is notable that no matter whether the Democrats or Republicans are in power in the US, Microsoft has enough lobbying power in Washington to keep selling to China.

The best example of the clout Microsoft has is its continued sales of Windows to Huawei, despite the American bid to isolate the Chinese company. When Donald Trump was in the White House, Google was unable to obtain a waiver on software exports so it could sell its Android mobile operating system to Huawei. But Microsoft obtained a waiver and continued to sell Windows to Huawei.

Zhang also seems unaware of the close relationship that Apple chief executive Tim Cook has with China. Had he been aware, he would not have made a statement about China fearing bugs in macOS.

Zhang refers to Android as open-source software when only part of the system belongs to this genre. "For example, the first version of Huaweis mobile operating system, HarmonyOS, had no discernible differences from Googles Android," he writes, clearly ignorant of the fact that Android contains several Google apps that are proprietary and not available unless one pays a licence fee. Gmail, Maps, YouTube, Photos, Drive and Wallet are some of the closed-source apps that are part of Android.

Another false statement by Zhang is this: "And OpenKylin is considered to be a remix of Ubuntu, an open-source version of the Linux operating system." Linux is not an operating system, it is only the kernel. There are a host of other packages which go in to make a Linux distribution. Ubuntu is one distribution, but it is no more or less open source than any other.

Again Zhang writes: "Linux has been one of the most secure operating systems, thanks to a global open-source community of engineers hunting for vulnerabilities and patching software bugs." This is high-grade BS. If one is talking of software that is secure, then OpenBSD, NetBSD and FreeBSD rate much higher than Linux. But then has Zhang even heard of these operating systems? One doubts it.

Zhang wants democracies to restrict developers from contributing to projects on the Chinese platform Gitee (something like GitHub). How does one do this? Zhang clearly does not know, else he would have told us.

He writes: "This will prevent developers from supplying the next generation of critical software and AI technologies and unwittingly helping Beijing gain a military advantage. At a minimum, democratic governments should raise public awareness of the involvement of China and other authoritarian regimes in emerging open-source software platforms.

"For global open-source communities, there should be an international code of conduct that promotes transparency about project funding sources and contributors, supports ethical decisions and addresses concerns about open-source technologies being used for harmful purposes."

This is something of a joke; the licences that govern the use of different free or open source software are non-restrictive. Had Osama bin Laden used Linux to plan the bombing of the Trade Centre in 2001, Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, could not have done a thing to prevent it.

Zhang ends with this: "Democratic governments also need to reassess which products should not be made open-source because theyre at risk of being weaponised by malign actors. Some cutting-edge software, such as generative AI, is already being co-opted by the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] against democracies in disinformation campaigns."

There is more than a certain irony in Zhang using the word "disinformation" after all the incorrect data he has provided.

"Lastly, governments should protect and foster the global open-source community of software developers, who are a critical resource in cyber security and other key areas, and do more to challenge authoritarian governments when they ban or censor open-source platforms like Hugging Face and GitHub," is Zhang's final note.

Any country can decide what software to use or not use within its own borders. Unless, of course, Zhang asks the US to force some country to do its bidding.

ASPI often makes a song and dance about misinformation. It would be good for the organisation to get its own house in order first. Charity, it has long been said, begins at home.
Homegrown smartphone brand Aspera Mobile has launched two new phones, the F50 flip phone ($99) and F48 candy bar phone ($69) as a response to the 3G network shutdown.

This year will see Telstra and Optus, Australias two major telecommunication companies, shut down their 3G. Telstra will end its 3G on 30 June 2024 while Optus will follow suit on September 2024.

Many are also concerned that hundreds and thousands of phones risk being blocked from making Triple Zero calls altogether, once Optus and Telstra shut down their networks. The government plans to overhaul the Triple Zero system as part of its reforms in the wake of the Optus outage last year.

Aspera Mobile said to avoid confusion, it launched two new phones that can still make calls despite the absence of 3G as they naturally have 4G connectivity and VoLTE.

The F50 and F48 satisfy the demand for those users who do not want a smartphone. The F50 is more advanced, featuring USB-C charging, a 2MP camera, and a SOS button on the back.

The F48, on the other hand, is more basic with a micro USB charging and 0.3 camera. Both devices have a 2.4-inch display and 1000mAh battery.

We also usually associate 4G networks with smartphones and fast data speeds, but not everyone is looking for these things, said Aspera Mobile managing director Allan Robertson.

Our view is, with the added function of one-touch SOS calls and a USB-C charging cradle the F50 offers something completely different to a smartphone, especially for older people who want to keep things simple.

Robertson said the charging cradle is a real bonus particularly for less dexterous people as it offers the convenience of a permanent location to place the phone for charging.

The phones are available now from Big W, Mobileciti, Mobile Experts, Retravison, and convenience stores around the country.
CHARLESTON  Eastern Illinois University will celebrate its latest graduates on Saturday, May 4.

Commencement ceremonies for the universitys various colleges will take place at 10 a.m., 1:30 p.m., and 5 p.m. in Groniger Arena in the Lantz Complex on Eastern Illinois Universitys campus, 600 Lincoln Avenue in Charleston.

More than 1,450 students are eligible to participate in Saturdays ceremonies.

Undergraduates from the Colleges of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Education will march in the morning ceremony, while undergraduates from the Lumpkin College of Business and Technology and the College of Health and Human Services will march in the 5 p.m. ceremony. Graduate degree students from all four Colleges will march in the 1:30 p.m. ceremony.

EIU President Jay Gatrell will preside over the days ceremonies.

Special recognition will be given to Julie Campbell, professor of English, as recipient of EIUs Distinguished Faculty Award. This award is presented annually by the Faculty Senate to a full-time faculty member who has demonstrated excellence in teaching, professional research/creative activity and service.

Honorary degrees will be issued to Adrienne Coleman, director of DEI at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Aurora, Illinois, and Joseph Dively, former member of the EIU Board of Trustees and chair and CEO of First Mid Bancshares Inc., based in Mattoon.

Because of the increased traffic around the university, motorists not taking part in the festivities are being encouraged to consider alternate routes. The Eastern Illinois University Police Department will be helping to coordinate traffic outside and around the Lantz Complex throughout the day.

20 artists who played at Eastern Illinois University  The Carpenters The 5th Dimension Ted Nugent Styx Sly and the Family Stone REO Speedwagon Kool and the Gang Kansas James Taylor James Brown Howie Day Goo Goo Dolls Foreigner Creedence Clearwater Revisited Counting Crows Commodores Ciara Cheap Trick Bachman Turner Overdrive Aerosmith
Spending in the North East Independent School District board election for five seats has exceeded $138,000. Jerry Lara/Staff photographer

Political action committees backing candidates in the election battle to control North East Independent School District have spent nearly $70,000 as of last week to see their sides win.

Its part of a $138,000 total that is unprecedented for NEISD, though its scale is becoming the new normal in the areas larger school districts.

Theres nothing normal about the kind of rhetoric that money is amplifying.

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Saturdays election will fill five seats on a board now split 3-3 between social conservatives who engineered a controversial rewrite of the districts popular sex education program and veteran trustees who say the newcomers have encouraged a damaging cultural war.

Both camps are represented in each race, mostly by candidates who either blame the current administration for declining enrollment and academic performance and for assaults on parents rights  or who celebrate NEISD as a great school district whose teachers are being pushed around by a vocal minority.

The money comes from a range of groups and donors, among them a pair of conservative PACs that have outspent a committee formed to oppose them by more than 7 to 1, according to campaign finance reports filed with the Texas Ethics Commission.

Despite largely aligning on hot button issues such as what kids should and shouldnt be taught about sex, gender or race relations  and accusing moderate candidates of grooming or indoctrinating kids toward sexual deviance  the two conservative groups have not cooperated and have endorsed different candidates.

Parents United for Freedom, a PAC launched in reaction to the districts pandemic-era face masking requirement, has vowed to reclaim schools from harmful agendas and backs former math teacher Michael Gurwitz in District 1, retired Air Force officer Dick Rasmussen in District 5 and incumbent Steve Hilliard in District 6.

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The San Antonio Family Association, active in religious conservative causes and a plaintiff in a so-far unsuccessful lawsuit against San Antonio over the citys willingness to help residents access abortions out of state, supports Rhonda Rowland in District 2, Jack Hoyle in District 4 and Chris Evans in District 5.

Opposing them are teachers unions and the newly formed Bexar County Champions for Public Education, fighting what they see as an intrusion of political partisanship into school governance. They endorse Lisa Thompson in District 1, businesswoman Tracie Shelton in District 2, incumbent David Beyer in District 4, school volunteer Melinda Cox in District 5 and retired educator Terri Chidgey in District 6.

Deep pockets, deep roots

The biggest spender is Parents United for Freedom, which contributed $32,102 to its favored candidates during the reporting period covering March 26 to April 24.

Of that, $17,114 has funded mailers and nearly $5,000 has paid for text messaging.

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It takes resources to work campaigns, and its even more important in an election like this that a lot of people are not really aware of, PUFF founder Crystal Keen said.

School board elections are generally low-turnout contests. Only about 1.5% of registered voters showed up for early voting or returned mail-in ballots in the various local races that will be decided Saturday, according to the Bexar County Elections Department.

Paul Berry, however, the PACs volunteer communications director, said he has never seen so much campaigning in NEISD.

PUFF came into this election cycle with $21,075 on hand and has raised nearly $20,500 since. The donations come from local parents who share our values and believe in the work that were doing, Keen said.

Its larger donations include $10,000 from local surgeon Nitin Kukkar, $5,000 from wealth management firm CEO Devin Elder, $5,000 from attorney and Chief Financial Officer Jessica DeSouza and $2,500 from retired insurance broker Gilbert Hine.

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The San Antonio Family Associations PAC, called Texas Family Action, reported spending $21,250 on yard signs, mailers, text messaging, marketing, consulting and video production for its three candidates, with $17,586 still in the bank.

Its the most money the group has spent on a school board election but necessary to combat the indoctrination and brainwashing happening lately in schools, SAFA founder Patrick Von Dohlen said. He donated $19,500 of the $34,000 the PAC raised.

An additional $10,250 came from its president, Mike Knuffke, who called the group a grassroots operation. Campaign finance reports, he said, dont account for the volunteers knocking on doors and calling voters to boost support.

The Bexar County Champions for Public Educations finances are miniscule by comparison. Overall, its political expenditures have been $8,311. Besides its five NEISD hopefuls, a chunk also went to candidates in the Southwest ISD board race.

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One of three unions that represent district employees, the North East American Federation of Teachers, gave each of the same five NEISD candidates $500 and are providing volunteers.

Of course, we would have liked more money, but the candidates that we support all have deep roots within the North East school district, said Tom Cummins, its executive director. Were going to work hard these last few days because we think these candidates are whats best for the students.

Insiders, outsiders, errors

From campaign signs to data analysis, the NEISD candidates themselves have spent $69,449 so far. Chidgey has spent the most  just under $14,600 in the last reporting period.

The district says it doesnt have finance reports due last week from Rowland and Gurwitz. Gurwitz said by email Thursday that he messed up when checking the due dates on the Ethics Commission website. Rowland said she mailed the report and was surprised to hear it was not received.

There is a transparency factor to me that I think is obviously absent, and its ironic when thats what they are campaigning on, said Jacqueline Klein, the other conservative in the three-way race in District 2.

In a recent Facebook post, Klein displayed a photo of a Rowland mailer that listed her late husband as her campaign treasurer.

Rowland, through tears, said she had no words when told about that Thursday. She said the mailer was likely from her 2022 campaign and that her current treasurer is Windcrest resident Tresa Fey.

Von Dohlen said the post was classless and proved that Klein is ill-suited for the role of trustee, but hours later he said Klein was right, and he took the blame for it.

We made the mistake on printing Rhonda Rowlands campaign materials. It was an unintentional oversight, as we used the same format and card basics as in 2022, and it got overlooked, he said.

Klein, a political consultant who chairs the mostly inactive Bexar County chapter of Moms for Liberty, a national right-wing group, is the only candidate not endorsed by any PAC, possibly because of media attention to her failure to pay property taxes in 2019 and 2020 and her detention by police after an Uber driver complained that she verbally abused and spat on him during a ride home from a bar a year ago.

She denied spitting on the driver, issued a public apology for being intoxicated that night and has paid her tax bill.

Klein spent just under $10,000 during the latest reporting period, raised from donations that include individuals who have helped other NEISD candidates. She said she has knocked on every hard conservatives door in all but three precincts and has invested in a series of TV commercials echoing one of her main talking points, the need for improved safety on campuses.

Most candidates have agreed that voters are tired of the NEISD boards factionalism. Klein said she understands how people might see her as a political person but added that applying political strategy in a campaign is not the same thing as being political in the trustee role.

We are definitely in a heated battle with the moderate candidates, but the money difference was not stark because the candidates backed by Bexar County Champions for Public Education and the teachers unions get the help of insiders who work with the district, Klein said.

Other conservative candidates make the same distinction, proudly calling themselves outsiders at a school district they consider to be vaguely corrupt.

Cummins, the union director, called that idea silly and said there was nothing unusual or wrong with people having professional relationships that also become political unless it affects their ability to do their jobs effectively.

Sidewalk war

Klein has regularly used social media to call attention to what she perceives as conflicts of interest in the district. In a recent post, she accused Cox, the District 5 candidate, of being an NEISD employee. Cox said she did five months of contract work for the district in 2021 and that her name wasnt removed from a district directory afterward.

Theres a lot of misinformation being put out right now, Cox said, citing an ad from Texas Family Action that accused her and other union-backed candidates of being sexual groomers and supporting porn on campuses.

People supporting Rasmussen in District 5 are knocking on doors where my sign is to try to talk people out of voting for me, have hauled down some of her signs and occasionally have scared her volunteers during in-person confrontations, she said.

Shelton, in District 2, said the same thing is happening to her. (Klein said none of her people have interacted with Sheltons.)

Cox said that its a very concentrated sort of campaign effort, and I honestly feel like I have a target on my back.

She raised $5,412 this period from donors who include current trustee Sandy Hughey and City Council Member John Courage. The Champions group contributed $500. Most of the $3,559 that Cox spent was for mailers.

Shes concerned about the moderates being outspent, particularly on texting campaigns and paid block walking efforts to urge support for the conservatives.

I dont have the same resources, she said. I just have moms and dads block walking, kids calling, retired teachers volunteering and a very small texting program because I dont have the funding.

A few years ago, $1,000 was enough to fund a school board race, but no longer, and the money the conservatives have access to can make a real impact, Cox said.
Sweltering Thursday. That whirring noise would be air-conditioners snapping on.

Dont look now, but the hippies, the jokers, the smokers and the midnight tokers are closing in. Were nearly surrounded.

A series of unrelated and interconnected events, unlikely until very recently, that have occurred over the past few days have signaled to some that full legalization of marijuana may arrive in North Carolina sooner rather than later.

The horror.

In reverse chronological order, those events begin with a move by the Biden administration to reclassify cannabis  the scientific (and more dignified) name for the devils lettuce  as a Schedule III drug.

That would put marijuana on par with Tylenol with codeine in the eyes of the federal government. A drug, yes, but with recognized therapeutic benefits and nothing for the pearl-clutchers to fear.

Doing so would remove cannabis in all its modern forms from the same Schedule I class as heroin, methamphetamine and LSD. Those drugs can be deadly.

Too much weed, either eaten or inhaled, might cause a user to wake up with orange fingers after nodding off with her (or his) hand in a bag of Cheetos.

And if various federal agencies with a say in the matter  the FDA, at Bidens request, recommended the reclassification and the DEA will have to sign off  agree, it will mean that scientists can begin studying cannabis in a serious way free of restrictions that made them handle a dime bag with the same caution as Ebola in a lab setting.

Businesses heavily invested in what has been estimated as a $34 billion industry in the 24 states that have legalized cannabis would be able to deduct from taxes certain expenses.

Growers, manufacturers and retail dispensary owners would be treated like grown-ups that contribute to the economy by adding to the tax base and gainfully employing people.

(An aside: President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris both tweeted that they supported reducing criminal penalties for pot users at precisely 4:20 p.m. on April 20  4/20  a 50-year-old wink-wink, nudge-nudge code for the smoke and toke set.)

Closer to home, also on April 20 by the way, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians opened a cannabis superstore on tribal land not far away from casinos.

The tribe, as is their right, voted overwhelmingly in favor last September to allow adult use of cannabis on their land. That led directly to the new store.

For the time being, the superstore is limited to those who hold a medical marijuana patient card issued by a tribe-controlled Cannabis Control Board and out-of-state visitors who have a medical card issued by their home states.

But, and this is a mighty big but, the Cherokees reserve the right to open sales to adult recreational use anytime its members see fit.

For those curious about economic impact on the 57,000 acre Qualla boundary reservation, estimates provided to Cherokee voters set gross sales revenue projections in year one at $206 million if limited to medical only patients and $385 million if sold recreationally to adult users.

The third item involves the right honorable Legislature who last week opened the 2024 short-session.

Lawmakers in the state House might take up the question of whether to make medical marijuana legal in North Carolina.

A proposal to do just that was approved in the state Senate. One senator, conservative Republican Bill Rabon of New Hanover County, even described for colleagues the therapeutic effect marijuana had on him as he went through cancer treatments.

Locally, District Attorney Jim ONeill shocked plenty of observers at a community gathering when he threw his support behind medical marijuana. Hed watched helplessly, he said, as his mom suffered with chemotherapy and knew that marijuana could have eased the symptoms.

Those events, when coupled with numbers, indicate that full legalization for cannabis may be closer than many realize.

Polling consistently finds large majorities of Americans in favor of legalization; a 2023 Gallup poll, the most recent one I could find in a frenzied 90 seconds of Internet research, showed 70 percent of the country favored legalization.

The number drooped, though, along party lines with 55 percent of Republicans in favor and just 52 percent of self-identified conservatives.

Still, majority rule used to be the law of the land and may again someday.

Even holdouts convinced that the laughable 1936 propaganda film Reefer Madness was sound science have to see whats coming.

Regular motorists can relax

GREENSBORO  The sky  actually the Gorrell Street bridge  is not falling. Not yet anyhow.

Relying on careful study and deliberation by qualified experts, city officials have determined that the bridge spanning Morrow Boulevard is in fact safe for pedestrians, bikes, sedans and pickup trucks.

A couple months ago, after inspectors found cracks and pieces of concrete at the bridge, city officials put up barricades along the adjacent greenway and warned the public of possible danger.

(It really doesnt take a degree in civil engineering to understand that pieces of concrete and cracks in the structure of a bridge might be reasons for concern.)

Now comes word that the Gorrell Street bridge is OK for vehicles weighing less than 10 tons.

That will mean reroutes and detours for truckers bringing goods to market and firefighters moving hook-and-ladders around the city.

Greensboro Fire Department brass has said that faults in the bridge and the time needed to make repairs might affect some 1,400 calls for service. Routing software has taken Gorrell Street into account and calls with the potential for driving disruption will be dispatched to different stations to avoid using it.

But for the rest of us not operating with CDL licenses and equipment, the bridge is sound.
On Dec. 4, 2022, Jacob Hild was tired. Short-staffed at work, he was going to fill in on an extra shift that started at 3:45 the next morning. He decided to take a nap, but he was restless and couldnt sleep. He tried everything, but still, rest eluded him. Frustrated, he got out of bed to try a new location, but after three steps he crumpled to the floor, unable to move.

Hild was having a hemorrhagic stroke, which happens when a blood vessel inside the brain ruptures and bleeds into the surrounding brain. Unable to move, Hild lay on the floor for several hours trying to figure out how to get help.

Eventually, he was able to reach his phone and call 911 for help. First responders were on the scene quickly and transported him to CHI Health Good Samaritan hospital, which happens to be where Hild works in facility management.

For Hild and the 1 in 4 adults over the age of 25 who will experience a stroke in their lifetime, there is life  and hope  after stroke. Rehabilitation can build strength, capability and confidence. It can also help someone who experiences a stroke continue daily activities, despite the effects of their stroke.

There are more than 7 million stroke survivors living in the U.S. today. But not all strokes  and not all stroke survivors  are the same. Finding the right rehabilitation plan is vital to recovery after stroke. The American Stroke Association has developed standards to help rehabilitation facilities provide consistent, high-quality care for individuals as they recover from stroke.

Facilities that have agreed to participate in the associations post-acute stroke standards program agree to follow the associations treatment guidelines and have made a commitment to providing care that is based on standards aligned with American Stroke Association science and vetted by stroke rehabilitation experts.

Thanks to a wonderful therapy team at CHI Health Good Samaritan in Kearney, one of several Nebraska facilities participating in the associations post-acute stroke standards program, Hild was able to make a full recovery.

After spending a week in the ICU, Hild transitioned to in-patient rehab, where he spent the next six weeks in therapy sessions, three hours each day. Once he was discharged, he continued in outpatient rehab, as well.

He is back to working full-time at CHI Health Good Samaritan, but now he brings a little something extra to his experience: the perspective of a stroke survivor. He uses his experience in patient interactions and has joined the peer-to-peer support group, which he finds very rewarding.

Hild said his work with patients is what keeps him getting out of bed in the morning and what has solidified his passion for wanting to help people.

I try to help patients see theyre not alone, Hild said. To help them see theyre not the only one and to encourage each other. Were all in the same boat and we can rally behind each other and connect on a human level.

For more information, visit heart.org.

This content was produced by Brand Ave. Studios. The news and editorial departments had no role in its creation or display. Brand Ave. Studios connects advertisers with a targeted audience through compelling content programs, from concept to production and distribution. For more information contact sales@brandavestudios.com.
New PlayStation 5 Feature Will Make it Easier for Friends To Join Multiplayer Sessions

A new PlayStation 5 feature will make it easier for users to join multiplayer sessions with friends by letting them send out shareable links.

The update will allow users to generate the shareable links that, when given to other people, let them join multiplayer sessions without needing to be friends on PSN.

After the new feature is launched, at some point in "the coming months," players will be able to create the links directly or indirectly on their PlayStation 5 console.

PlayStation 5 Shareable Links

They will also be able to generate the shareable links using the PlayStation app and it can then be shared as a simple URL or a scannable QR code via the social media or messaging platform of players' choice.

Furthermore, Sony is also reportedly working on a Discord widget version of the shareable link feature that will dynamically refresh to show the multiplayer session's status when posted into chat.

This is so that recipients can immediately see whether or not the session is still active and worth jumping into, according to Eurogamer.

The company's announcement noted that the new shareable link feature was designed to complement existing methods of joining a multiplayer session within a PlayStation 5 game. It added that the feature will be consistent for any supported PlayStation 5 game.

Read Also: Kerbal Space Program 2: Take-Two Confirms Sequel's Safety Amid Layoffs, Closure in Seattle

However, Sony warned that a "small percentage" of titles may require an update before the multiplier session joins will work seamlessly. The company is supposedly also working on making it possible to generate a link that will point directly to a player's PlayStation Network profile.

This is so that the recipient can, for example, send a friend request to that particular player without having to manually look them up. This is another feature that Sony said will be released "in the coming months" as well.

Making It Easier To Join Multiplayer Sessions

Despite the announcement, Sony has not revealed exactly how you can get from tapping a link on your phone to playing a multiplayer game on your PlayStation 5 console. Many assume that players will have to have the PlayStation APP installed and logged in for it to work, said The Verge.

The new feature is coming as the PlayStation 5 is already four years old and Sony has confirmed that the console is in its later life cycle. This is despite many players feeling like the console was only released recently.

This also means that Sony has a new strategy regarding its latest-gen gaming hardware. The company's financial arm is planning to go public by October 2024. The PlayStation 5 being in its late life cycle means that new features and tweaks to the system will seek to enhance the experience of playing on the console.

While the new feature does not have a clear release schedule, it could arrive in time for this year's new Call of Duty. This is because this particular title would benefit greatly from the easier multiplayer session joining that the shareable links provide.

But for now, players will have to use the currently existing online features if they want to join other people to play their beloved multiplayer games, according to ComicBook.



Related Article: GTA 6 Publisher Terminates Partnership with Roll7, the Talent Behind Rollerdrome and OlliOlli
A 69-year-old Alma man has been sentenced to three years of probation for lying to federal law enforcement officers looking for his son, who was wanted.

Senior United States District Judge John M. Gerrard sentenced David Sikes to the probation term Wednesday and ordered him to pay a $1,000 fine.

United States Attorney Susan Lehr said that in January 2018 a warrant went out for Jeffrey Sikes, David Sikes' son, when he failed to appear for sentencing in federal court for wire fraud crimes.

Federal law enforcement contacted David Sikes on multiple occasions in an attempt to determine his son's whereabouts.

Lehr said Sikes told them he didn't know where his son was, but they later learned he not only knew where he was hiding out, he also financially supported him and visited him in Alabama at least once before Jeffrey Sikes was arrested in a plot to start fires inside Walmart stores throughout the South.

Top Journal Star photos for May 2024
When Winter Porto submitted a federal financial aid application in February, she believed she had taken another step in her quest to go to college.

Then, the Lincoln High School senior waited, and waited.

Eventually, Nebraska Wesleyan University, where Porto plans to study history and social sciences education, told her that her Free Application for Financial Student Aid (FAFSA) information was missing.

I thought it was all done, but we found out my mom missed a button on the form, Porto said. We didnt get an email saying anything was wrong until a few weeks ago.

In a panic, Porto tried to log onto the U.S. Department of Educations website to click the button allowing the Education Department to access her mothers tax information to automatically fill in that information on the FAFSA, but the website was down.

Its been really stressful, she said. Ive been worried that I wont get a Pell Grant or any other financial assistance and will have to take out a bunch of student loans.

Porto is among thousands of Nebraskans who have been frustrated by the process to apply for federal student aid this year after the rollout of a simplified version has been rife with processing delays and technical glitches.

At this time in the college application process last year, for example, there were 9,804 graduating seniors in Nebraska who had started the FAFSA, and 9,451 who had completed it, according to the Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education.

In this college admission cycle, amid technical problems that have led students and parents unable to complete the form, affix their signature, or correct errors, just 8,922 graduating Nebraskans have started the form  a 9% drop from the previous year.

Of those, 8,842 have completed the FAFSA form  a 6.4% decline from the previous cycle  which has allowed them to receive financial aid letters from the colleges they hope to attend, allowing families to make informed decisions for their students, the coordinating commission said.

Those drops come as there are roughly equal numbers of public school graduates this year compared to last, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Across the country, only 30% of graduating seniors have completed a FAFSA, which marks a precipitous 36% drop in completions from the same point last year, the Education Department said last week.

And the problems have also affected returning students as well. Of the 45,883 new and continuing students who have submitted a FAFSA this year, 9,764 were rejected because the applicants had missing information, while 17,962 have had to be reprocessed because of technical issues.

Jodi Vanden Berge, the director of college planning and outreach at EducationQuest, a nonprofit organization that works to improve access to higher education, said Congress goal of simplifying the FAFSA and reducing the number of questions it asked from 100 to about 30 was admirable, but the implementation has been flawed.

(Congress) wanted to simplify it so there were less questions and it was less daunting for parents and students to complete, Vanden Berge said. They also wanted to make the transition easier for pulling (Internal Revenue Service) information over into the FAFSA.

(The U.S. Department of Education) made some good changes, I just think they released it before they actually had time to properly test the system and make sure it was going to work, Vanden Berge added.

The problems have forced many colleges and universities to push back the traditional May 1 deadline for accepted students to commit  whats known as National College Decision Day.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln, for example, extended its enrollment deposit deadline to May 15 to provide students and their families with necessary time to evaluate financial aid offers.

Although the delays are beyond the universitys control, UNL is doing its utmost to minimize confusion and disruption to the financial aid process for Husker students and their families, the university said in a statement. We fully expect the issues to be resolved in ample time for students to make informed decisions about their college choices.

UNL said it did not expect the delays in FAFSA submissions to affect enrollment figures for the 2024-25 school year, although other colleges and universities have expressed concern that some students might not matriculate if they do not have a financial award letter in time.

Nebraska Wesleyan has seen the delay in FAFSA processing affect the number of students who have received a financial aid award this year amid a strong first-year applicant pool that has exceeded previous years by several hundred students.

Bill Motzer, vice president for enrollment management, said the liberal arts university in northeast Lincoln has sent financial aid award letters to about 900 new students so far this year. Normally, NWU would expect to make offers to 1,300 by this point in the enrollment process.

My biggest concern is students are dissuaded from completing the FAFSA, particularly students most at risk: low-income, first-generation students who would benefit the most, Motzer said.

But Nebraska Wesleyan hasnt been sitting idle. While the university did not move its May 1 deadline, it has hosted events and conducted outreach to help students and parents navigate the FAFSA, even developing its own FAFSA form to help families in making a decision.

Tom Oschner, director of scholarships and financial aid, repurposed an old early action program form used by Nebraska Wesleyan to give students and their families an idea of what kind of financial aid they could expect before the FAFSA filing window was opened.

He also used worksheets detailing how the Education Department planned to calculate its Student Aid Index  formerly known as Expected Family Contribution  to create his own spreadsheet giving families a preview of what their financial award letters would look like.

Families want to make decisions and they need time to look at that and are being left in limbo, Oschner said. The biggest problem is if those families are waiting for offers from other schools who are waiting on FAFSA information.

The mock award letters from Nebraska Wesleyan spell out to families that the information is preliminary and could change based upon the actual FAFSA information, Oschner said.

We hope its helpful for those who want to make a decision, he added.

On Tuesday, Education Department officials said they are continuing to make progress in correcting the issues that many students and families have faced while also partnering with regional and local leaders to bring FAFSA completions up.

Deputy Secretary of Education Cindy Marten, a former school administrator, said the department has reached out directly to 700 superintendents nationwide to offer support and resources for the FAFSA as part of an awareness campaign.

We want to continue to raise awareness about the importance of encouraging all high school seniors to submit FAFSA forms so they dont leave money on the table, Marten told reporters in a conference call.

James Kvaal, undersecretary of education, said its been a challenging year for the FAFSA, but the department has made strides in recent weeks, processing 8.3 million submissions, and has made 1 million corrections, mostly to the most commonly seen issues.

Education Department officials said students can expect their FAFSAs to be processed and information to be sent to prospective colleges within 1-3 days.

Porto said she was able to complete the FAFSA on Sunday evening, a milestone she thought would arrive a lot sooner in her college-going process. Other soon-to-be college students have said the same thing.

Were all kind of struggling in the same way, she said. "I thought it all was going to be super easy. I knew (the FAFSA) was kind of complicated before these changes, but this has made me really nervous.

Top Journal Star photos for May 2024
Dozens of student demonstrators gathered at the Nebraska Union on Wednesday to demand the University of Nebraska cut economic and social ties with Israel in protest of the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

But unlike other protests across the country in recent weeks that have resulted in violent clashes between pro-Palestine and pro-Israel sides, or the mass arrest of students and faculty both in public spaces and campus buildings, Wednesdays event at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln was peaceful.

During a rally scheduled to last from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., students listened to speakers discuss the role of activism in enacting social change as well as the recent history of Palestine following the Arab Spring.

They also participated in chants including from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free  which Palestinians say is a call for peace while Jews argue it advocates for the destruction of Israel  and danced on the Union Plaza.

Organizers made it clear that, unlike protests at other universities, there would be no encampment or attempt to occupy space on campus in the long-term, instead choosing to use the daylong event to push NU to change its financial relationship with Israel.

Were a public university, we have a great academic space, said organizer Anna Synya. There are Palestinian students here and we believe that its fundamentally unfair that if they want to attend this university, that that money is going to fund the genocide of their own people.

Synya, a senior criminology major from Lincoln, said Students for Justice in Palestine issued four express demands to NU administrators ahead of Wednesdays event:

* End a study abroad trip sponsored by UNL to Israel.

* Disclose information about NUs investments in Israel.

* Divest any investments NU has in Israel.

* Cease accepting any grant money from Israel to NU.

Synya said the demands originated in the anti-apartheid movement that took hold at UNL in the 1980s, which led to Nebraska becoming the first state in the U.S. to divest from South Africa in protest.

Weve drawn on what theyve done, she said. We want all economic interaction with Israel to stop.

Karima Absy of Nebraskans for Peaces Palestinian Rights Task Force said investments by U.S. institutions, including public and private universities, into weapons manufacturers and defense contractors were harmful not only to the people of Gaza, but to other areas of the world as well.

NU leaders did not directly respond to any of the demands put forward on Wednesday, but a UNL professor who leads the study abroad trip to Israel said the benefits of the program are available to all  contrary to what demonstrators claimed.

Its not fair to offer a scholastic opportunity thats not adequately accessible to everyone on campus, Synya said.

Ari Kohen, a professor of political science and the director of UNLs Harris Center for Judaic Studies who teaches Israel and the Middle East, said the monthlong trip to Jerusalem covers the same curriculum as his classroom in Nebraska.

The difference in Israel as opposed to Lincoln is students can experience firsthand the place were talking about, Kohen said Wednesday. Its one thing to talk about the West Bank in Lincoln, Nebraska, and its another to look out your window and see the suburbs of Jerusalem, which are classified as settlements.

The study abroad experience has been available to students since 2019, Kohen said, and was designed as an academic tour with academic goals. Students and faculty spend time among Christians, Jews and Muslims living together in Israel, and spend time at various faiths holy sites.

Its not designed to propagandize, its not to tell people what they should think, he added. I had never heard from a student about a concern with the program."

If you really want to chop it up, if you really want to debate and argue, read the books, go to the place and see what the people are saying on the ground, Kohen said. I think thats one of the most powerful things we can offer.

NU also signaled the university would not acquiesce to demands that it provide more information about its investments and divest from any companies that have ties to Israel.

The endowment exists to support all students and the broad mission of the university. It is not an advocacy tool, spokeswoman Melissa Lee said in an email. The primary purpose of the endowment is to generate returns to support the university over the long term.

The NU Board of Regents adopted a policy that gives administrators flexibility to consider environmental, social and governance or ESG factors when choosing how to invest the roughly $377 million directly controlled by the university.

The change to Fund N was made at the urging of student activists who, following efforts across the country, pushed regents to divest from fossil fuel companies.

NU reduced its exposure to gas and oil companies from 6.5% of Fund Ns holdings to about 2.9% as of December 2023, the most recent report on the endowment.

But the rest of NUs $2.3 billion endowment is managed by the NU Foundation, an independent nonprofit organization. A spokesperson for the foundation said it has its own ESG metrics it considers.

Absy, of Omaha, called the universitys response to a demand from demonstrators to divest disturbing.

To have a response from a university that educates young people that they dont care where their money is coming from doesnt feel good, she said.

While Wednesdays event went off without any major incidents, the presence of a pro-Palestinian rally on university property prompted warnings from some elected officials.

Rep. Mike Flood, in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, said Wednesdays rally meant the message of the national protests, which he said included anti-Semitic remarks, had arrived in Lincoln.

University leadership must be decisive and clear that Nebraska will not tolerate the violent and dangerous rhetoric that has shown up on college campuses across the country, Flood posted.

Asked for further clarification about what he meant by decisive and clear, Flood said: Protesters who break the rules or threaten violence need to be held accountable. University of Florida President Ben Sasse laid out clear consequences for bad actors, and NU can do the same.

Sasse, a former president of Midland University and U.S. senator representing Nebraska, said the University of Florida was not a day care after pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested there earlier this week.

UNL Chancellor Rodney Bennett, in a message to students, faculty and staff Wednesday morning, said the university would work to find a balance between protecting and promoting free speech and expression and ensuring the health and safety of the campus community.

He said administrators had outlined parameters for the demonstration, including that UNL will not allow the use of tents or establishment of an encampment, but that the activists had a right to gather in a public venue on campus to share their message.

Undoubtedly, not everyone will agree with this assessment, Bennett said. However, my commitment to you is that both today, and in the days and weeks to come, we will work diligently to protect the freedom of expression, which we hold so dear, while ensuring that we continue to advance our mission of teaching, research and service.

Those on either side of the Israel-Palestine debate said they believed UNL set an example for other institutions regarding free speech and expression.

Kohen, who is Jewish, said higher education should have a commitment to academic freedom and a learning environment where people can come together and explore ideas and opinions that are different from their own.

Today at UNL was a great example of that, he added. The university worked really hard to make sure people with different opinions can come to our campus and spend a whole day there, make themselves heard, and there were no issues or adverse consequences.

Synya said UNL played fair and hinted that more demonstrations could be planned in the near future.

We created this event because we want to show what demonstrations can look like on the UNL campus, she said. We went to great lengths to ensure this could be a safe, positive event.

This is not the end for us. Youll see more demonstrations that look like this one.

Top Journal Star photos for May 2024
Five months after a federal appellate court reversed his convictions for making false statements to FBI agents investigating foreign campaign contributions at a fundraiser, Nebraska Rep. Jeff Fortenberry faces no new charges.

And the window to try him again soon will be closing.

On March 25, 2022, a federal jury in Los Angeles found Fortenberry guilty of one count of concealing conduit campaign contributions and two counts of lying to federal agents during an investigation into $30,000 Fortenberry had gotten from a controversial Nigerian billionaire, Gilbert Chagoury, at a fundraiser in Los Angeles in 2016.

Fortenberry didnt initially know it, but he later learned about the money and donated it to charity because it is illegal for U.S. elected officials to accept foreign money.

But it was the statements he made to FBI agents in interviews at his home in Lincoln and at his counsel's office in Washington, D.C., in 2019 that got him charged. Fortenberry resigned from the House of Representatives a week after his conviction.

And a federal judge in California later sentenced him to probation, community service and a $25,000 fine for it. That sentence was canceled out by the appeal.

In a Dec. 26 decision, a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel overturned Fortenberry's three felony convictions saying he should have been tried in Nebraska or Washington, not in California where the fundraiser took place.

Fortenberrys convictions are reversed so that he may be retried, if at all, in a proper venue, Judge James Donato said then.

Following the ruling, Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Northern District of California in Los Angeles, said they were "evaluating potential next steps before deciding how best to move forward.

In January, an attorney with the office asked the court for more time to consider requesting a rehearing.

When the deadline passed with no motion, a mandate was issued on March 19, just four days before the five-year statute of limitations ran out to bring charges against Fortenberry in Nebraska over the statements he made at his home March 23, 2019.

This week, Public Affairs Officer Lecia Wright of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Nebraska said any prosecution in their office begins with a referral from a law enforcement agency, which includes investigatory reports and evidence upon which the charge would be based.

"Without a referral, we cannot proceed with a prosecution. Our office has not received a referral, nor anything else, related to the Jeff Fortenberry investigation," she said.

The statute of limitations hasn't run out yet on the statements Fortenberry made during an interview July 18, 2019, at his counsel's office in Washington.

As of Wednesday, he faced no federal charges there. About two and a half months remain before prosecutors would be barred from going forward.

This week, Patty Hartman, a public affairs specialist at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, told the Journal Star in an email: "We do not comment on charging decisions, nor can we confirm referrals."

Fortenberry's attorney, Kannon Shanmugam, declined to comment.
RACINE  Ten first responders from the Racine Fire Department and the Racine Police Department completed a Spanish for First Responders course through Gateway Technical College on April 22.

RFD Assistant Chief Brian Wolf said RFD and RPD worked with the City of Racine to enroll first responders from each department in the semester-long class.

Theres a need for it in all communities because you really just dont know who youre going to run into or whos going to need help in the community, Wolf said.

Kyle Kendall, the courses instructor and GTCs world languages chair, said the Racine City Clerks Office reached out to him seeking a Spanish course that Racines first responders could enroll in.

Id already developed and written Spanish for First Responders, which was absolutely what they were looking for, Kendall said.

Kendall created the class in time for the fall 2023 semester, but the class did not run due to low enrollment numbers. This spring, he was able to teach the class for the first time, to both Racine first responders and traditional Gateway students.

In the course, students learned functional vocabulary related to responding to emergency situations, such as vocabulary for street drugs, emergency medical procedures and commands police officers might use like Stop! or Show me your hands, Kendall said.

Its not the finer points that you would learn in a (traditional) language course. Its basic Spanish that allows the first responder to get the job done, he said.

The course is about 70% language and 30% culture, according to Kendall. He said communication happens at a cultural level, as well, so it benefits first responders to know cultural behaviors that may differ from their own.

People often, especially when theyre emotionally vulnerable or under a lot of pressure, revert back to the behaviors that theyre most comfortable with, Kendall said. So the 30% of culture is understanding and not misinterpreting those cultural communications.

The culture aspect of the class teaches first responders how to establish a relationship with citizens, put citizens at ease and build trust and respect, according to Kendall.

Once you have that relationship, youre just more effective at your job, he said. People will tell you things, people will not be afraid to call you right away when they need you.

When creating the course, Kendall went on ride-alongs with the Kenosha Police Department, Kenosha Fire Department and the Bristol Fire Department to get an idea of what first responders jobs entail and which Spanish skills would be useful. He said he also plans to do ride-alongs with RFD and RPD in the near future.

I can do all the Spanish parts, but Im not a first responder, he said. So having those experiences to see what they need has been essential for me to create and design the course that is useful to them.

Nine firefighters and one police officer finished the course, according to Kendall.

Aaron San Juan, a firefighter at RFD who completed the Spanish for First Responders course, said he found the class very useful. He said that prior to taking the class, he encountered many situations on the job where knowing Spanish would have been helpful.

Im definitely not fluent after a short semester, but I think that I feel more confident, San Juan said. When the time comes (to use Spanish), Ill be more ready.

Wolf said all RFD firefighters who took the class did well and enjoyed taking it.

Theyre all very busy with their schedules, and their time away from (work) with their families and stuff, but everybody made the time to go to the class, Wolf said. So I think that speaks volumes, considering how busy they all are.

Wolf said if there is funding for it, he wants more RFD firefighters to take the course in the fall.
KENOSHA  The Kenosha Symphony Orchestra is performing May The 4th Be With You 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 4, at Reuther Central High Schools Ralph J. Houghton Performance Center, 624 57th St.

The concert has a Star Wars theme, in keeping with May 4 being Star Wars Day.

The program features music from those movies, along with music from Amadeus, Batman, Schindlers List and Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Offering a mix of moods from exotic to classic, this performance promises to excite and inspire everyone, symphony officials said.

Costumes are encouraged.

Pieces on the program include: Three Pieces from Schindlers List, Selections from Star Wars, Episode 1: Phantom Menace, and Raiders of the Lost Ark: Raiders March  all composed by John Williams  along with Cavalleria Rusticana: Intermezzo by Pietro Mascagni.

Tickets are $30; free for ages 17 and younger. For tickets and more details, go to kenoshasymphony.org. Tickets are also available at the door.

The symphony, which formed in 1940, enjoys a long history in Kenosha and has a high level of musicianship, said Pete Rodriguez, the symphonys president and a French horn player. We really have a high-caliber group, and the vast majority of players perform with this group and others, like the Milwaukee Ballet and Festival City Orchestra.

The symphonys programs are designed to appeal to the whole community, Rodriguez added.

The symphony is always looking for volunteers and for board members.

If you dont want to be on the board, Rodriguez said, you can join a committee and work on a project. Were always looking for new ideas and more connections to the local community.

(For more details on volunteering, or performing, with the group, send an email to admin@kenoshasymphony.org.)
1. Yes. They look better and require less maintenance. Most high-end housing areas have them.

2. Yes. Wood fences can weather and look unsightly, plus masonry walls help to block sound.

3. No. Residents should have a choice of what kind of barriers are put up near their homes.

4. No. Allowing a variety of materials will be better for aesthetics, and costs may be lower.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say. Masonry walls may be sturdier, but mandating them is problematic.

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Ukraine has wasted little time putting secretly-acquired American weapons to use.



On Tuesday morning, Ukraine reportedly launched a wave of U.S. made, long-range missiles across Crimea.The newly acquired weapons pounded air bases and air defense installations, the Kyiv Post reported.

Russia claims it shot down six of the U.S.-produced Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) involved in the attack, Reuters reported. Ukraine's military did not confirm if it had launched any attacks or used the new weaponry.

It was unknown if any missiles hit their targets.

The United States secretly shipped the long-range missiles to Ukraine recently. The missiles were part of a $300 million aid package U.S. President Joe Biden approved on March 12. On top of that, Biden also signed a $95 billion foriegn aid package last week, which will send $61 billion to Ukraine.

"Ten Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, six ATACMS tactical missiles manufactured by the United States and two guided 'Hammer' aircraft bombs manufactured by France were shot down by air defenses," the Russian Defense Ministry said on Telegram.
An Oregon man who once told a judge to "go to hell" was sentenced to life in prison for the second of two killings he committed more than 20 years apart.

But former steelworker Christopher Lovrien, 57, had nothing to say in court Friday when he received the maximum punishment for a grisly, 2020 crossbow slaying, the Oregonian reported.

A jury in Multnomah County, Oregon, convicted Lovrien earlier this month of second-degree murder and first-degree abuse of a corpse in the death of Kenneth Griffin, 53.

Griffin's dismembered remains were found in a shed on Lovrien's property on May 19, 2020, nearly three months after Griffin disappeared from a bar in Portland, Oregon.

Lovrien, who represented himself during the trial after firing his court-appointed lawyers, claimed self-defense for shooting Griffin five times with a crossbow and hacking his face with an ax in Lovrien's basement, according to the Oregonian.

Lovrien then sawed apart Griffin's body and hid the parts in crates in his shed.

The discovery of Griffin's remains came after Lovrien was arrested on May 4, 2020, in the cold-case killing of Mark Dribin, who disappeared in July 1999 and whose body has never been found.

Authorities said DNA evidence evidence from cigarette butts tied Lovrien to Dribin's slaying and he pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in January.

But after getting a 20-year sentence in that case, Lovrien complained that he could have beat the rap if he'd had the money to hire a lawyer.

"As far as the court is concerned I'm 100% in protest of this entire situation," he told Judge Heidi Moawad, the Oregonian reported at the time. "The court can go to hell."

On Friday, Multnomah County Chief Deputy District Attorney Kirsten Snowden produced records that showed Lovrien had more than $173,000 in the bank.

That prompted Judge Christopher Ramras to order that he pay $63,000 in court-appointed attorney fees, $25,000 in restitution to Griffin's family and $4,000 for his funeral.

Lovrien will be eligible for parole after 46 years, according to the Oregonian.

With credit for time served, he would be nearly 100.
While the views of the Democratic candidates seeking the nomination for Wisconsins 3rd Congressional District vary on several issues, they collectively agree on one goal: defeating U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden in November.

The three candidates vying to challenge Van Orden honed in on Republican messaging they said overshadowed the issues that matter most, such as womens reproductive rights and LGBTQ+ issues, at a Democratic candidate forum hosted at UW-La Crosse on Wednesday.

Rebecca Cooke of Eau Claire initially ran for the seat in 2022, but lost the nomination in a tight Democratic primary against state Sen. Brad Pfaff. If elected, she intends to focus on kitchen-table issues, especially those related to expenses and increasing access to affordable health care.

I think I am best positioned to be able to defeat Derrick Van Orden in particular because my lived experiences really connect with swing, moderate and independent voters that we have to win over in the general, said Cooke. Weve got the infrastructure, weve got the resources and have raised more than anybody in this race  $1.2 million raised so far, and weve got a message that resonates and that cuts through that people really see themselves.

State Rep. Katrina Shankland of Stevens Point has represented the 71st Assembly District since 2013. If elected to Congress, one particular issue Shankland hopes to address is access to safe and clean drinking water.

The town of Campbell really is facing steep costs with a $25 million municipal drinking water treatment plant and Derrick Van Orden isnt delivering on getting them a full $25 million, and as a member of Congress, thats something Ill be a champion in achieving, said Shankland. We know outside money is going to be coming in to help Derrick Van Orden get re-elected, and itll be special interest money. We need a candidate who has won elections before, who knows exactly what to expect, and who is willing to marshal the resources and grow a winning coalition to win in November, and thats me.

Eric Wilson of Eau Claire is the only first-time candidate running and hopes to bring more progressive policy initiatives to Washington, DC. As a candidate with a progressive platform, he hopes his stances, such as Medicare for All, resonate with people in western Wisconsin.

If you dont have your health, and you dont have a place to live, its really hard to do anything. We are seeing these systems deteriorate and continue to fall apart because there are corporations that are taking advantage of us, said Wilson. We need a leader, and we need someone thats talking about the issues that people want to hear and actually providing solutions, not just running around screaming at people. My commitment is that everyone will have a seat at the table, and everyones voices will be heard.

The three candidates will appear on the Aug. 13 primary ballot. The winner will face incumbent Van Orden in November.

Several issues on voters minds going into election season were discussed, many of which the candidates agreed on.

Reproductive rights

One issue all candidates agreed on was codifying Roe v. Wade into law and ensuring access to reproductive care for all. However, they also addressed several other concerns that go beyond abortions.

Our freedoms are on the ballot this November, and every person should have the freedom to make their own medical decisions  codifying Roe v. Wade into law is one of the most important things that we can do in Congress, said Shankland. I also believe we need to ensure that were codifying the right to privacy and ensuring that fertility treatments are not only allowed but covered by health insurance. I am a co-author of a bill in the Capitol right now that would require all Wisconsin insurance companies to cover IVF treatment for fertility.

All candidates echoed the importance of advancing access to reproductive health care. Wilson said he has no right to make a decision that should be discussed among women and their doctors, and Cooke blasted Van Orden for calling for a nationwide abortion ban.

This is who were running against; I think how far to the right he is. I think he is a threat to all women, said Cooke. Weve got to be on offense here.

Protecting the LGBTQ+ community

All candidates called for the protection of LGBTQ+ rights, and called Republicans out for using LGBTQ+ youth as pawns in political gamesmanship.

We have seen our right wing extremists in Wisconsin and across the country use trans kids, especially, as political pawns, said Shankland. It is sickening, and its harmful, and it is wrong.

Cooke and Shankland said the tactics are intended to create chaos and fight against progress.

Eric Wilson, who is a member of the LGBTQ+ community himself, said he joined the race because of the attack on the community at Club Q in Colorado Springs in November 2022.

My community is under attack, said Wilson. We need people that are going to step up, that understand and are willing to fight for everyone. We need to be providing people the resources to be themselves. Thats all were asking for.  As an elected official, I will make sure that we are advocating for those resources  making sure that rural communities are not being left behind, that colleges, that public schools have the resources to provide for everyone.

The candidates agreed on several other issues, including supporting unions and the Protecting the Right to Organize Act  as they all come from families with union workers  improving the immigration process, offering an easier pathway to citizenship, banning assault weapons, and ensuring access to clean and safe water.

While the candidates held similar ideas on many of the issues, there were issues in which the candidates stances varied.

Education

The costs associated with higher education have been on voters minds for years, and all three candidates acknowledge the issue but offer different approaches.

Wilson supports eliminating student loan debt and making college free, and argues it would allow people to invest in the economy and stimulate it.

We need to be getting rid of student loan debt that has been skyrocketing. You have to work three jobs for jobs to try to pay for what you used to be able to do on a part-time job, said Wilson. Its an economics issue too  $1.4 trillion into our economy over the next 10 years. People can afford houses, they could buy new cars, they can add to our economy. Get rid of student debt, make our education free. Its an investment in our community and in our society.

While the other two candidates recognized the issue of student debt, they focussed on restructuring systems already in place, such as making higher education more affordable and offering more need-based financial aid, as opposed to making college free.
In a historic move in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Wednesday, the United Methodist Church lifted its 40-year ban on gay clergy.

The church has long contested the issue, having divided into factions and splitting the church in two over its position on homosexuality and gay clergy.

Since 1984, the church has held the ban on clergy members who were "self-avowed practicing homosexuals" and later included performing or celebrating same-sex unions on a "list of chargeable offenses that could result in a church trial," according to a timeline of the church's history per CNN News.

Wednesday's vote signaled a pronounced adjustment in the United Methodist Church's outlook on homosexuality.

The church's legislative body passed multiple rules without objection, including overturning both its ban on gay clergy and the penalties for holding same-sex marriages in an overwhelming 692-51 vote.

In a post on X, Pastor Matt Patrick expressed his delight over the momentous transformation, writing,

"This morning I cried... because a fight I've been in for so long found justice."

"We are no longer saying that being gay is a sin, and we no longer ban LGBTQ people from serving as ministers... Praise be to God."

Church members, overcome with joy, cheered, cried, and hugged following the outcome.

Marilyn Murphy, an observer from the church's South Carolina conference, told the United Methodist News service,

"We've been going on like this since the '70s, and, finally, in just a brief few minutes with no debate, it was gone. And now we can get on with the business of the church."

Additional revisions are expected as the legislative conference continues.
The academic workers' union at the University of California Los Angeles will hold a vote on whether they will side with pro-Palestinian protestors, potentially bringing grading and research for all students on campus to a screeching halt.

The union's executive board held an emergency meeting on Wednesday morning, during which they voted to hold a strike authorization vote as early as Monday - which would give the union the authority to call an official strike.

A UCLA PhD student, speaking to HNGN on the condition of anonymity, said that she "strongly supported" the union taking a strike authorization vote.

"As a student worker I believe it is past time that UCLA entered negotiations with the pro-Palestinian demonstrators," she said. "Their failure to protect students from violent counter-protestors last night shows that further direct action is necessary."

In an email to union members obtained by HNGN, the UCLA academic researchers and post-doctoral students said that the university's "failure" to protect pro-Palestinian students and employees from the counter-protestors, who stormed their encampment early Wednesday morning, was an abdication of responsibility.

"Management has employed police violence or allowed violence to be used against students, faculty and academic workers exercising their right to free speech, the executive board of UAW 4811 wrote. "The use and sanction of violent force to curtail peaceful protest is an attack on free speech and the right to demand change, and the university must sit down with students, unions and campus organizations to negotiate, rather than escalate."

UAW 4811 represents nearly 50,000 academic researchers and post-docs across 10 public universities and one laboratory in California. In the fall of 2022, it was part of the largest strike in the history of American higher education, when academic workers walked off the job for more than a month.



While it's not clear what the immediate impact of this strike could be, the 2022 strike delayed grading during final exams and brought the majority of university research to a halt.

UCLA classes were canceled Wednesday and police helicopters lingered above the university, after 200 counter-protestors stormed the encampment overnight, ripping away wooden pallets and metal barricades. Individuals could also be seen throwing fireworks towards the encampment, in footage shared to social media by the UCLA student newspaper. Members of UAW 4811 were inside the encampment as the violence unfolded, according to the union's executive board.

The incidents went on for several hours before police wearing riot gear formed lines and slowly separated the groups. Academic workers criticized the university - claiming that it failed to ensure the security of students and university employees. Undergrad and graduate students, including some union members, rebuilt the encampment barricade in the light of day, while volunteers distributed food to the activists.

In their communications with union members, the executive board wrote that a strike would be justified "should the university decide to curtail the right to participate in protected, concerted activity; discriminate against union members or political viewpoints; and create or allow threats to members' health and safety."

"UAW 4811 members will take any and all actions necessary to enforce our rights," executive board wrote.
On 1 May thousands took to the streets in Argentina to mark International Workers Day and protest against Presidents proposed labour reform.

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On 1 May Mexicos Presidentsigned a decree to create a new pension fund, a key part of his plans to overhaul the pension system.

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On 1 May Colombias Presidentannounced that he will sever diplomatic ties with Israel in response to the war in Gaza.

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A recent American law requires TikToks Chinese owner, ByteDance, to sell the companys U.S. operations within nine months or face a nationwide ban.

But the video sharing service remains popular among Americans. It remains unclear if ByteDance will agree to sell the business. It also is not known whether the law can survive expected legal challenges related to freedom of speech.

Here is a look at how TikTok has developed its technology and expanded its business to include more than one billion users worldwide.

ByteDance was launched in China in 2012 by businessman Zhang Yimin. Its first product was a news collection service for Chinese users. In 2016, ByteDance launched a video sharing app called Douyin. The popularity of Douyin led the company to launch a foreign version of that app called TikTok.

ByteDance bought a video sharing service called Musical.ly for $1 billion in November 2017. The company then combined that app with TikTok in August 2018.

Technology experts have widely considered TikToks predictive algorithms a main driver of its success. The artificial intelligence (AI)-powered system seeks to identify what new videos users will likely be interested in based on what they have watched before.

TikTok offers users videos of many different interests. These could include users demonstrating dance moves, food preparation videos or personal care advice. Some TikTok users also take part in physical challenges that start on the app. Videos can discuss serious subjects like politics or war but could also include humorous performances or information about music or movies.

A recent report by Reuters news agency examined TikToks technology and operating methods. It suggests the companys use of algorithms has played a major part in its success. Industry experts said the apps algorithm is particularly good at working with the short video format used by the app.

Before TikTok, many industry experts believed the most important element to having a successful social media app was linking a user's social connections. Such a model was successfully demonstrated by Metas Facebook and Instagram services.

But TikTok showed that an algorithm, driven by data from what a user looks for and watches on the service, could be more powerful. Rather than building an algorithm to connect large social groups, TikTok has sought to develop what it calls users interest signals.

Some TikTok competitors use similar interest-based algorithms. But TikTok has been able to perfect its system because it uses short videos, said Catalina Goanta. She is an associate professor at Utrecht University in the Netherlands who studies how social media services make money.

Goanta told Reuters that while the kind of algorithm TikTok uses is common among similar social apps, what really distinguishes TikTokis the design and the content," she noted.

Experts say the short video format permits TikTok's algorithm to identify in greater detail specific user interests and favorites. This enables the app to predict what kind of content TikTok users will want to see at different times of the day.

Jason Fung is the former head of TikTok's gaming activities. He told Reuters the apps short video format permits TikTok to learn what users want to see at a much faster rate.

"You're able to collect data about a user's preference a lot faster than YouTube, where maybe the average video is just less than 10 minutes long," Fung said. "Imagine you're collecting data about a user on average every 10 minutes versus every couple (of) seconds," he added.

Industry experts say TikTok's early entry into the short video market supported its success. Instagram did not launch its short video service Reels until 2020, while YouTube introduced its Shorts service in 2021.

TikTok has also been effective at getting its users to form groups by establishing certain hashtags, said Ari Lightman. He is a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania. These groups that users form help TikTok learn more details about members behaviors, interests and personal beliefs.

Lightman said that if TikTok is banned in the U.S., he thinks it will be difficult for any existing technology company to reproduce the strong user culture that the app has built.

Im Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.

Quiz - How TikToks Technology Makes the Service Popular Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

_______________________________________

Words in This Story

challenge  n. something difficult that tests ones ability or determination

app n. a computer program that carries out one or several closely linked tasks

algorithm  n. a set of steps that are followed in order to solve a mathematical problem or to complete a computer process

format  n. the way something is designed, arranged or produced

distinguish  v. to recognize the differences between two people, things, etc.

preference  n. the feeling of liking something or someone more than another person or thing

hashtag n. a special word marked by a # symbol that search engines use to find information on the internet
The Mediterranean Joint on Williamson Street, which opened last August in the former Poke Poke, offers not only reasonable prices, but my new favorite chicken shawarma wrap.

The tender, juicy chicken ($10.99) was exquisitely marinated and tucked in a super thin, delightfully grilled lavash flatbread the owners get from a Turkish bakery in Chicago.

The wrap had a delicious tzatziki sauce and lots of red onion. The amount of onion might be too much for some people, but I was there with my mom and we were undaunted.

Another great option was the shepherd salad ($5.99) with fresh greens and a lot going on. That included feta, Kalamata olives, tomato and again, tons of red onion. The pomegranate dressing was perfect.

My mom heard a woman at the next table describe something as awesome and it turned out to be that salad. That description was no exaggeration.

Owner Ender Erk, who is running the place with his brother, Bunyamin Erk, said the salad recipe comes from their mother. He called it a side salad, but it was plenty big.

The meze plate ($12.99) lets you to pick three appetizers and came on a heavy-duty wooden platter. They were out of the carrot tarator, described on the chalkboard menu as Turkish-style yogurt with pan-fried carrots. Ender said the carrots are shredded and cooked with olive oil for about 30 minutes, until it gets creamy. Then its mixed with yogurt, lemon, spices and labneh, a soft Middle Eastern cheese. We sell a lot of those, he said.

Instead, we got the restaurants unusual babaganoush that had a slightly orange hue from grilled red pepper, smoked paprika and smoked cumin. Ender later told me he uses smoked eggplant, smoked onion, tahini, mint, basil and parsley. It was slightly spicy, which Ive never experienced in a babaganoush and took a little getting used to.

The homemade hummus was lighter and thinner than most hummus. The best part of our meze plate was the four dainty, tightly wrapped grape leaves. Ender said an Algerian woman used to roll their grape leaves and taught them. Now theyre rolling their own. The platter came with a generous helping of fantastic grilled pita.

The thin lentil soup ($5.99) was disappointing, so I brought it to the counter and asked if it was supposed to be served hot, because it wasnt. The helpful counter person, whom Ender later told me was likely Bunyamin, offered to heat it up. When he brought it to our table it was much improved. It had an interesting mix of spices, but still wasnt as good as many other lentil soups in town. We appreciated that it came with more of that great grilled pita.

Another high point was the moist, homemade pistachio baklava ($5.99). My mom told me she didnt eat baklava, but changed her mind when she tried this version. It was served in two small pieces with fresh, crisp phyllo that wasnt sticky or too sweet, like many lesser versions. Had I known my mom would like it so much, I wouldve also tried the walnut one ($4.99).

What did disappoint my mom was that there was no tea on the menu, so she asked for a cup of hot water with lemon. But once we were done eating, Ender brought over two little elegant glasses of lightly sweet Turkish tea. My mom never sweetens her tea, but appreciated the gesture. It was the right sweetness for me.

When we ordered, I asked for tap water and the counter person pointed to a cooler in the corner and told me to take two bottled waters without charge. For water, its free, he said.

Ender said later they give out bottled water to anyone who wants it, although its on the menu board for 99 cents.

Soft, pleasant instrumental Middle Eastern music came from the corner of the room. It was subtle and nice.

I also appreciated how there was a napkin holder on each table.

My mom commented on the open kitchen being the focal point of the room. I like the setup where you see people working, preparing the food, she said.

Ender said business is going so well that hes opening a restaurant in Milwaukee near the Milwaukee Public Market hopefully by July 1. He said they are thinking about calling it Mediterranean Kuzina. Ender said his brother will soon have joint ownership in both restaurants.

He said they had people coming from Milwaukee who kept telling them to open there. Milwaukee has fewer Mediterranean restaurants, specifically Turkish restaurants, than Madison, he said.

Ender, 25, and Bunyamin, 30, got culinary degrees in their native Turkey. Ender said he worked in five high-end hotels in Turkey, a steakhouse in Italy for a year, and at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in New Orleans for a year.

He said he came to Madison in 2020 during the pandemic because Bunyamin was here.

Bunyamin, who goes by Benji, spent three years in Wisconsin Dells before coming to Madison in 2015. He was a sous chef for Gordon Dining and Event Center at UW-Madison, and left that job about two months after the restaurant opened.

Ender said theyve tried to make their food affordable and on weekends they see a lot of families with children. That was our goal, to bring middle class people and everyone. I think its worked out.

Diner's scorecard Restaurant: The Mediterranean Joint Location: 600 Williamson St. Phone: 608-205-7969 Website: themediterraneanjoint.com Hours: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day Prices: Appetizers $4.99 to $12.99, wraps, gyros and pitas $9.99 to $12.99, plates $16.99, soup $5.99 salad $5.99, desserts $4.99 to $8.99 Reservations: Yes, but not necessary Noise level: Low Credit cards: Yes Accessibility: Yes Outdoor dining: Hopefully some tables in front soon Delivery: Through third-party apps Online ordering: Through third-party apps Drinks: No alcohol Gluten-free: All proteins are GF, can sub pita for hummus on the plates Vegetarian offerings: Many vegetarian and vegan items Kids menu: No Parking: Small lot Service: Good Bottom line: Good food, some outstanding, for a reasonable price in a comfortable space.
A California company is recalling shelled walnuts that have been sold in dozens of states over E. Coli concerns.

Gibson Farms recalled Organic Light Halves and Pieces shelled walnuts.

The E. Coli can cause a diarrheal illness often with bloody stools. Although most healthy adults can recover completely within a week, some people can develop a form of kidney failure, especially in young children and the elderly.

The condition can lead to serious kidney damage and even death.

The walnuts were sold to distributors in California and Washington and then shipped to more than 300 stores nationally, including some Whole Foods locations.

Gibsons Farms Organic Light Halves and Pieces shelled walnuts were sold in bulk boxes in Net Wt. 25 lbs quantities and can be identified by lot 3325-043 & 3341-501 with expiration dates 5/21/25 & 6/7/25.

The CDC of 12 recorded illnesses allegedly linked to the consumption of organic halves and pieces of shelled walnuts.

The FDA says stores in Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. The people stricken in the outbreak are in California and Washington received the nuts.

An investigation continues to find the source of the contamination.

The nuts are often sold in bulk bins. The company is telling retailers to clean and sanitize bulk bins before refilling them with other nuts.
Two days after it went up, a pro-Palestinian encampment on Library Mall was largely dismantled by police early Wednesday, with 34 people arrested and some protesters and police officers injured in the noisy fracas that followed.

But hours later, UW-Madison officials were back to square one after protesters erected a new batch of 16 tents in the same spot between Memorial Library and the fountain on the mall.

It was unclear late Wednesday if or when UW Police and the administration would take further action to remove the new encampment. In a statement, UW-Madison administrators said the new encampment poses serious safety concerns and UW Police will continue to monitor it.

UW-Madison remains supportive of peaceful protest compliant with the law and campus protest policies and deeply values the constitutionally protected right to free expression, the statement said.

The morning began peacefully under clear skies, with few protesters and other students, many of them preparing for final exams, milling about. Shortly before 7 a.m., a large contingent of law enforcement officers descended on the mall playing a recorded message over a loudspeaker warning protesters the encampment was illegal. Twenty minutes later, at about 7:15 a.m., about 60 police officers, some with riot shields but not dressed in full riot gear, moved in and began removing most of the nearly 30 tents.

As police formed a perimeter around the area where other officers were striking tents, word spread and more protesters gathered, many of them just feet away, yelling and chanting slogans. In the close quarters, some stumbled, others pushed or fell against the police shields, leading to several arrests. Most were led away in handcuffs or zip-ties to a police staging area inside Memorial Union across the street and released.

Some complained of heavy-handed tactics by the police.

They hit me. They specifically targeted me, and I think its racially motivated, said UW-Madison professor Samer Alatout, a Palestinian native who has been a steady presence at the protest and was nursing a cut to his forehead and a smaller one on the bridge of his nose.

My main position actually is that we as faculty are responsible for the safety of the students, Alatout said. I feel it very much in my bones that the students have a right to express their wishes. They have a right to (take) part in the governance of an institution, and that institution is not the administration. The university is made of students, of faculty and staff, and of administration, and all of us together make the institution.

Protesters detained

Among those arrested was Sami Schalk, a professor in the Gender and Womens Studies department, who was seen being led off the mall in zip-tie cuffs. Writing on X, Schalk said she was ultimately released but was at the hospital to be checked for injuries.

A cop grabbed my dress & ripped it half off my body, injuring my arm, she wrote Wednesday. Another put his hands around my throat from behind to get me on the ground.

UW Police spokesperson Marc Lovicott said four officers were also injured. Three deputies from the Dane County Sheriffs Office sustained injuries directly related to the physical resistance, while a trooper with the Wisconsin State Patrol was struck over the head with a skateboard. Lovicott said he did not know the extent of their injuries.

Lovicott stressed that the raid, which was ordered by UW administrators in consultation with UW police, was only aimed at removing the tents, which are prohibited by university policy and state law. We are not asking protesters to leave. We support their constitutional right to be here, he said.

While most of those arrested Wednesday were released without citations, four people were booked into the Dane County Jail on tentative charges that included attempt to disarm a police officer and battery to a police officer. Only one of those booked, Leo A. Randle, appears from the schools directory and his LinkedIn page to be a UW-Madison student. He is tentatively charged with battery to a police officer.

The other three are: Caleb A. Brown, on tentative charges of attempting to disarm a police officer and resisting arrest; Karl M. Schultz, on tentative charges of battery to a police officer and resisting arrest; and Trevor H. Carter, on tentative charges of battery to a police officer. None is affiliated with the university.

Demands for UW

Protesters had six demands of the university leadership. They included divestment from companies and organizations that support Israel, ending an exchange student fellowship with an Israeli university and ending study-abroad programs in Israel. In a statement earlier this week, UW-Madison said leaders would engage with the protesters once the tents were taken down.

In a statement to parents of students Wednesday, Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin said students have the right to protest but encampments are not allowed. She she also expressed concern about people not affiliated with the university who have been attracted to campus by the encampment and causing trouble.

Such an increased risk to the safety of our community, which would be expected to grow over time, was a significant contributing factor to todays action to address the illegal encampment, Mnookin wrote. A small number of blatantly antisemitic actions on the grounds of the encampment have been credibly reported, but we have no evidence that any members of our UWMadison community engaged in this odious activity.

Dahlia Saba, a first-year graduate student who is a member of Students for Justice in Palestine, one of the organizers of the protest and encampment, said the university has the option of sanctioning the encampment but chose not to.

I think that goes to show that the issue here is not the means of protest itself, it is the message of the protest, she said. The University of Wisconsin-Madison is refusing to end its participation in this genocide on-going in Gaza.

On Tuesday, Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, told a Milwaukee television station that at some point in time, the encampments have to end ... whether thats done voluntarily or not.

The move to remove the encampment brought praise Wednesday from state Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, who has criticized the university for what he contends is hostility to conservative speech.

Good move, Vos wrote Wednesday on X. Thank you @uwchancellor for doing the right thing by enforcing campus policies and standing up to the unruly mob.

Tents reappear

In her statement Wednesday, issued shortly after the encampment was removed but before a replacement encampment appeared, Mnookin said protesters were given multiple warnings before police moved in.

I cannot emphasize strongly enough our support for free expression and peaceful protest, Mnookin said. Now that the illegal activity has been resolved, students and others are free to resume peaceful protest that abides by campus protest guidelines today or at any time in the future. Our operation focused only on the tents and the encampment.

But the tents werent gone for long. By 10 a.m., protesters had two orange tents up, securing the damaged parts of them with blue painters tape. About 45 minutes later, nine tents had been erected with only a handful of police overseeing the mall. By 3 p.m., 16 tents were set up on the mall, replacing those that had been carted away in a small dump truck and trailer.

Ald. MGR Govindarajan, who represents the area on the City Council and has been actively involved with protesters and police this week, said he was disappointed and appalled by the move to strike the encampment.

My goal has always been to deescalate any tensions and ensure the safety of all those on Library Mall. The actions seen this morning were beyond what was necessary, Govindarajan said in a statement. The First Amendments right to protest should never be met with the response weve seen today. Campuses have always been a place to express ideas, even those that may be uncomfortable to some. Students have led some of the most powerful movements within our country. The chilling effect from todays actions will leave a stain on UWs legacy.

State Journal reporters Sadie Frankel, Anna Hansen, Nicole Pollack, Kimberly Wethal and Ed Treleven contributed to this report.
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Your story lives in the Magic Valley, and our new mobile app is designed to make sure you dont miss breaking news, the latest scores, the weather forecast and more. From easy navigation with the swipe of a finger to personalized content based on your preferences to customized text sizes, the Times-News app is built for you and your life. Dont have the app? Download it today from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
Jesse Leitch, a father from Grand Rapids, Michigan, was taken aback when he found a time capsule with all sorts of trinkets dating back over 100 years while contractors were installing new pipes in his bathroom.

Among the 12 items were newspaper clippings, rusty toys, photographs, and a handwritten letter from the early 1900s.

As the workers were cutting into the ceiling above the bathroom, they stumbled across souvenirs seemingly left there by previous residents from over a century ago.

"I've always kind of thought about doing stuff like that. You know, if we renovate the place, leave something in the wall for the next guy", Leitch commented.

"I just thought it was extremely cool, and it gave me a connection to the house."

The newspaper clipping was published in 1913, while a business card for a local music shop revealed it had closed its doors in 1907, according to The Daily Mail.

A handwritten letter was among the pile of items, written by someone named Gertrude and addressed to another named Ruth.

The capsule of sorts also included a tiny cast iron pan, which Leitch believed must have belonged to a doll set based on its size, part of a music box, and several dominoes.

'I think we want to clean the rust out of it and try cooking some tiny food with it and see how that works,' said Leitch.

Inspired, he too intends to make his own time capsule to put in the ceiling before patching up the hole.

"I've made some music that we put onto vinyl records. And I think that might be a good way to preserve music for the future."

Leitch disclosed his plan to display some of the ornaments in his home while offering the remaining items to the Grand Rapids Public Museum.
It was a day for celebrating heroes.

At a packed Twin Falls County commissioners room on Monday, three deputies were honored for actions taken earlier this year that led to lives being saved.

The dedication exhibited by the trio demonstrates that a job in law enforcement isnt just a profession  its a calling, said County Commissioner Don Hall.

Unlike paramedics or even search and rescue groups, uniformed law enforcement officers or detention officers arent called upon regularly to save lives in situations the three found themselves in, said Sheriff Tom Carter, but when they do, it is considerably more personal. It can be a one-on-one deal, and God willing you will be successful, he said.

Law enforcement officers and detention deputies face perils each day and night they go to work, and when situations arise and lives are saved, it makes us all proud of you, Carter said.

It makes the officers feel good inside, too. Capt. Dennis Clark of the Jerome Police Department should know. Since 2011, the department has issued four lifesaving awards to officers; Clark has been the recipient of two of them, one of them for helping to save the life of good friend Capt. Gary Taylor of the Jerome County Sheriffs Office, in an incident Clark said was one of the most emotional ones of his law enforcement career.

Generally, a police officer feels a great sense of fulfillment after saving a life, Clark wrote to the Times-News. The core of most officers is public service and making a difference in the community. Preserving life is one of the greatest accomplishments someone can experience.

But Clark, along with deputies honored Monday in Twin Falls County, downplay any hero status, and just say they were happy to help and grateful to have received the training that helped them make a difference.

Being in the right place at the right time and the benefit of working somewhere that makes training a priority is important, according to Clark. Thats the equation that seems to work, he said.

In the awards issued Monday in Twin Falls County, one of the deputies, Derek Thompson, responded quickly the afternoon of Jan. 4, when he heard a call for service for a newborn baby boy who wasnt breathing. He was just blocks away from the Twin Falls address that was called out over his radio, and was the first at the scene.

The baby, Sheriff Tom Carter said, had just come out of the mothers womb during a home delivery.

The baby made gurgling sounds as his head emerged and then stopped breathing, Carter said, recounting the incident.

Thompson, arriving just two minutes after the call for help went out, quickly administered CPR, breathing life back into his fragile body, Carter said.

Carter noted the unusual nature of the incident. Other deputies on the force have saved young children, but not as young as the one Thompson saved that day.

There you go, sir. Very well done, Carter said as he presented Thompson a certificate.

The other two deputies, Gerald Haye Jr. and Charles Hurtt, working in detention at the Twin Falls County Jail, responded Jan. 23 to a female inmate at the jail who was exhibiting extreme medical stress due to a drug overdose.

She was in dire need of help. Unconscious, she had lost color in her face and there was a gray tint to her skin. She lay face up, between two bunkbeds. Hurtt and Haye couldnt determine whether she was breathing.

One found a faint but steady pulse on her right wrist, and one deputy performed a sternum rub.

Again, both deputies looked for signs of breathing but found none.

The body showed agonal breathing, a reflex the body does when it is not getting the air it needs. It is actually not true breathing, and a sign that the person is near death.

An automated external defibrillator was brought to the scene by medical staff, but once hooked up to the inmate, it indicated CPR was required, Carter said, prompting Haye to give chest compressions while Hurtts supplied rescue breaths. EMS arrived just seven minutes from the time the emergency began, and took over CPR.

Due to the deputies quick response, efficient actions and evaluating an medical emergency, and immediately providing CPR, this womans life was saved, Carter reported.

Haye said he was personally thanked by the inmate for his life-saving action.

Making a difference in Jerome

Since 2011, the Jerome City Police Department has issued four lifesaving awards to its officers, although Clark is certain there were more incidents prior to that time.

The first, issued in 2013 to Clark, who was then a sergeant, when he responded to a call of an unresponsive man at Walmart. Clark arrived just minutes after the call and found an unresponsive male subject in a pool of blood with no pulse. Clark immediately started and continued CPR, until the arrival of paramedics. Clark assisted with life-saving measures until the man regained a pulse.

Needing a reason: CSI law enforcement students prepare for challenging careers Someone can help people in a lot of ways, so why do some choose a career in law enforcement?

The man made a full recovery.

Its really great to hear from him every year on the anniversary. Im glad I was fortunate enough to be close and able to really make a difference that day, Clark said.

Then-Sgt. Anthony Gratzer was instrumental in saving a life in 2018 when the Jerome County Sheriffs Department was dispatched to an unresponsive subject.

Although the call was in the county, it was close to the city, and Gratzer realized he would be able to arrive long before any of the deputies. Gratzer responded to the situation and conducted CPR and assisted paramedics with life saving measures. The subject made a full recovery.

The third and fourth recipients were issued in 2022 to Clark and Reserve Officer Miguel Noriega. Clark, again at the right place at the right time, heard a call of an unresponsive subject just a quarter mile from where he was driving.

After hearing the name and address of the call, Clark couldnt get there fast enough. The subjects name was Capt. Gary Taylor of the Jerome County Sheriffs Office  a man Clark had known from his first day in law enforcement.

Clark arrived just after the call came out and immediately started CPR. Clark continued CPR with the help of Taylors wife until the arrival of Jerome County Deputy Miguel Noriega. Clark and Noriega conducted CPR on Taylor, rotating back and forth, for what felt like an eternity, Clark said. Taylor regained a pulse and was rushed to the hospital. Taylor made a full recovery.

Ive known Gary since my first day in law enforcement. It was a series of strange events that led to me being just down the road from his house, but Im very thankful I was, Clark said. This was, without a doubt, one of the most emotional calls I have ever been to. Gary is a friend, his family are friends, and all the JCSO and JPD Officers who responded are close to Gary.

But again, Clark downplayed his role, just saying It was nice to be able to help him for once.

Your news on your smartphone Your story lives in the Magic Valley, and our new mobile app is designed to make sure you dont miss breaking news, the latest scores, the weather forecast and more. From easy navigation with the swipe of a finger to personalized content based on your preferences to customized text sizes, the Times-News app is built for you and your life. Dont have the app? Download it today from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
Every business, interest group, civic organization, legal group, education entity, government agency and living-and-breathing human being in the Gem State should take heed of the chronic shortage of experienced and competent lawyers seeking to be district judges. It has become harder each year to recruit good candidates for district court positions because of a variety of factors  low pay, high stress, burnout and the prospect of having to gain the office through a contested election. The situation will only get worse if Senate Bill 1347 is approved by the Legislature this session.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pursuing measures designed to discourage accomplished lawyers from applying for district court positions, where they are needed the most, does not make sense. The Stand up for Courts group, composed of Butch Otter, Patti Anne Lodge, Denton Darrington, Phil Reberger and a host of other concerned citizens, is urging that Senate Bill 1347 be stopped in its tracks in the Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee to help preserve Idahos excellent judiciary.
Thailand is now ready to stage Bangkok RHVAC 2024 and Bangkok E&E 2024, the largest trade show in Southeast Asia for refrigerators, air-conditioners, electrical and electronic products under this years theme ONE STOP SOLUTION for NET ZERO Future in Bangkok this September.

Ms. Nittayanee Khawtepawan, representative of Thailands Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP), Ministry of Commerce revealed that Bangkok RHVAC 2024 and Bangkok E&E 2024 is a major event that shines a spotlight on Thailand as a significant sourcing hub of the industries in Asia. It will feature new environmental friendly technology trend that answering the needs of both manufacturers and consumers with a goal to achieve NET ZERO emissions.

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Bangkok RHVAC 2024 will feature the most comprehensive array of RHVAC products from downstream-midstream to upstream such as copper tube, motor, compressor, coil, to finished products in all size and all fitting (floor standing or wall air conditioners) as well as other innovative items. Meanwhile, Bangkok E&E 2024 will be highlighted on latest innovation and cutting-edge technologies of electric and electronics products covering home-use products, to IT and OA, equipment and parts for industrial use.

Bangkok RHVAC 2024 and Bangkok E&E 2024 offers endless business opportunities for both exhibitors and visitors. For exhibitors, Thailand is recognized as a hub of ASEAN and Oceania so the event is a perfect marketing and publicity tool in introducing cutting-edge technologies and products to core target buyers. For visitors, Thailand is the worlds second-biggest producer of air-conditioning units and the sixth-largest for refrigeration. Moreover, the country is internationally-recognized as one of the worlds largest manufacturer of hard disk drives (HDDs) and Southeast Asias production hub and sourcing center for E&E products.

Building on its latest success in 2022 with 114 exhibitors and 6,500 visitors from 50 countries, generating 8,500 million baht of sales value with 99% of the visitors showing intention to visit Bangkok RHVAC 2024 and Bangkok E&E 2024, Bangkok RHVAC 2024 and Bangkok E&E 2024 promises to be the largest trade show in Southeast Asia for refrigerators, air conditioners, electrical and electronic products. The trade shows are targeted to have 300 manufacturers of air-conditioning products, refrigerators, freezers, compressors, experts in cold storage design and construction as well as leaders in electrical and electronic products including home appliances, IT, lighting, parts and accessories in 1,000 booths over 20,000 square meter exhibition space. This year, the event is expected to attract more than 11,000 visitors from ASEAN, China, Japan, Southeast Asia, Australia, Middle East, Europe and USA.

Mr. Athit Thienlikit, representative of Thailands Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Industry Club said that This year, the export forecast of Thailands electric and electronics products is still favorable with a 5-6% growth rate. This favorable trend is driven by the fact that Thailand is a significant manufacturing base of environment friendly products with international

standard quality. Moreover, Thai manufacturers also take into account the global drive towards Net Zero emissions by developing products with higher efficiency and less energy, using alternative ozone-friendly refrigerant, encouraging the use of cold storage to minimize food lost which in turn reduce methane from food waste, among other things.

Visitors can get updated with the latest trends in the industry with activities and seminars featuring renowned speakers presenting an insight on hot issues in the industries. Exciting activities at Bangkok RHVAC 2024 and Bangkok E&E 2024 include exhibitions and Product Showcase from leading manufacturers which present cutting-edge technologies and a business matching.

One of the highlights in Bangkok RHVAC 2024 and Bangkok E&E 2024 is a showcase of Dedicated Outside Air System or DOAS, which is built for the health of those who live in a building by bringing in fresh, outside air to maintain indoor air quality and create positive pressure to protect the residents from pollution and PM2.5 particles as well as reduce Co2, VOC, Radon, smell and volatile substances in the building. Moreover, there will be innovations from leading brands that use Thailand as their production base for export to all over the globe as well as products from the supply chain parts manufacturers will be also on display, said Mr. Athit.

Bangkok RHVAC 2024 and Bangkok E&E 2024 will be held during 4-7 September, 2024 at BITEC, Bangkok. This trade show will be open for trade visitors during 4-6 September, while the public day is on 7 September. For further information, please visit www.bangkok-rhvac.com.
SunBine music festival returns for a fifth year of using a musical experience to support arts scholarships for high school students.

The festival offers three days of music, 18 bands, two stages, vendors, live art performance, on-site camping, craft beer and more  all situated in an inclusive, scenic and family friendly venue located on the property of Mountain Valley Brewing in Axton.

Both the brewery and the festival are run by Peggy Donivan and Herb Atwell, who started the festival to shine a spotlight on established and emerging talent and celebrate the diversity of music.

Little bit of something for everybody, Donivan said. This includes rock, Celtic, jam band, blues and folk to name a few.

This years lineup includes: Christian Q & the Groove, Drew Holgate, In the Meantime, Jesse Ray Carter Band, Lucid Evolution, Phat Anchovies, Jennifer Alvarado, For Lack of A Term, Kinnfolk, Drew Holgate Trio, Tanjo & Crow, Sugar Lime Blue, Disco Risque, Desmond Jones, Soul Acoustix, Broken Strings Band, Barefoot & Sunshine and Jake Retting & G.

In previous years weve kind of closed out the festival, really wound everything down Sunday afternoon but this year were going till 5 oclock on Sunday, Donivan said.

There will also be childrens activities, craft vendors and fire performers.

Vendors will include: Pickle & Ash, Lost Highway Pizza, Taqueria La G and cool desserts like ice cream and snow cones. Beer from Mountain Valley Brewing will be available along with some additional beverages like ciders and wine as well.

Also new this year is the formation of the SunBine Music Foundation, a 501c3, which is the recently formed foundation backing the festival with the mission to promote music and the arts in southwest Virginia.

Previously, proceeds had been donated through other nonprofit organizations, but this year things will begin to run a little differently.

Proceeds from SunBine Music Festival 2024, and future festivals, will directly fund scholarships for local high school students that aspire to pursue their education in music and the arts.

We just dont know where that goes and it was hard to find a nonprofit to partner with locally, Donivan said. We had a vision where we wanted to further music and music education in the area and the only way to do that was to be in charge and make sure that our donations were impactful. So thats what we did.

The foundation will aim to support students further their music and arts education via scholarships in Martinsville, Henry County, Pittsylvania County and eventually southern Virginia as a whole, but will start more locally in Martinsville and Henry County until the foundation gets on its feet.

Donivan said that this year she is most excited to make a profit so that they can fund scholarships.

We have got a lot of local support this year, Donivan added. Their two major presenting sponsors are Invenergy and Playing for Purrs and the top next level contributor is Duncan Monroe at the 3D Shop in uptown Martinsville.

They can expect to have a very intimate, up-close kind of festival experience, Donivan said. The typical capacity is from 300 to 500 attendees.

Early bird tickets are now available at sunbine.org. Early bird weekend tickets offer the best pricing on the festival experience, but other options are available including early bird couple & camping, general camping and youth tickets. Price will increase on May 15.

Since the scholarships are geared for high school students, there is also a student discount for ages 12 to 18.

We want students who are interested in the arts to attend, she said. Theres just so much talent in this area  Theres so much local music here.

The resources arent always there for younger students who want to pursue an education in that, she added. We thought if we were going to give back in a meaningful way and know where it goes, wed just try to further that cause and help some kids out with their schooling.

We want to keep it going, Donivan said. We want to keep the music and arts in Martinsville and Henry County and surrounding areas vibrant and viable, especially for talented people who may not have the means.
Tourists were airlifted from Kenyas Maasai Mara National Reserve on Wednesday as heavy rains caused flooding, impacting over a dozen hotels, lodges, and camps. Accommodation facilities for tourists were submerged after a river in the reserve overflowed early Wednesday. Situated in southwestern Kenya, the Maasai Mara is renowned for its annual wildebeest migration from Tanzanias Serengeti.

The Kenya Red Cross conducted over 90 rescues, while the Narok County government deployed two helicopters for evacuations in the vast conservation area. Since mid-March, Kenya has witnessed over 180 fatalities due to flooding and landslides, with infrastructure damage being widespread. The Meteorology Department forecasts further rainfall this week.

In Nairobi, three major roads were temporarily shut due to flooding, with the Kenya Red Cross rescuing 11 individuals from flooded homes in Kitengela on the citys outskirts. A river breakthrough in Mai Mahiu, western Kenya, on Monday, resulted in 48 deaths and over 80 people missing. Search and rescue operations are ongoing, with President William Ruto ordering military involvement.

Residents have criticized the slow rescue efforts, attributing them to a lack of suitable equipment. The government has advised people in flood-prone areas to evacuate promptly, warning of rising water levels in major hydroelectric dams.
The autonomy plan offered by Morocco for the Sahara under its sovereignty, UKs support and the huge untapped business opportunities offered in Moroccan Saharan provinces were at the centre of a meeting held Wednesday in London.

Speaking during the event, organized by Moroccan embassy in coordination with All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), Conservative MP Liam Fox, who voiced last year support for Moroccos autonomy plan, urged the British government to follow the footsteps of UK allies including France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and the U.S. which all strongly back the Moroccan initiative.

Mr. Fox, a former UK trade secretary, said Morocco is our main ally in the region which offers major cooperation opportunities in matters of security and defence.

Sir Simon Mayall, a retired Lt. General, stressed the need to support Moroccos growth, security, prosperity and autonomy plan offering a credible, realistic and constructive solution to the humanitarian crisis in the Polisario-controlled Tindouf camps (Southern Algeria), a breeding ground of terrorists, extremists, human traffickers, drugs & arms dealers.

The Gulf maritime routes have shown their limits and vulnerability to terrorist attacks, said the British military advisor, stressing the need to preserve the Atlantic coast for global maritime traffic.

Morocco is building in Dakhla the largest container port on Africas Atlantic coast, while Tangiers has already the largest port in the Mediterranean, said Mr. Mayall, affirming that the Dakhla Atlantic port will have positive impact on the whole Sahel region.

For his part, Conservative MP Daniel Kawczynski lauded the strategic importance of the projects launched by Morocco on its Atlantic coast, offering huge investment opportunities for UK companies.

Morocco stands out in the region as a model in womens empowerment, religious tolerance, the rule of law and democracy, said the British MP.

President of the Dakhla-Oued Eddahab Regional Council, El Khattat Yanja, said the major social and economic projects launched in the region have contributed to spurring inclusive development serving the interests of the local population in line with the Royal vision seeking to make the Kingdoms southern provinces a geostrategic hub for exportation and investment in Africa.

Moroccos ambassador to UK Hakim Hajoui said the autonomy plan proposed by Morocco for the Sahara under its sovereignty is the ONLY realistic solution to this regional dispute.

The event, which gathered several British MPs, Lords and businessmen, comes as the Morocco-UK Xlinks power project is gaining momentum with a growing capital investment injected in this ambitious undertaking expected to provide affordable, reliable, clean energy from Morocco to Britain.
Ethiopian Airlines is poised for a substantial increase in passenger traffic, expecting a 30% surge in the fiscal year ending in June, buoyed by expanded routes and a global travel resurgence, according to its CEOs statement to Reuters. Despite its status as Africas largest airline, it grapples with challenges including delayed aircraft deliveries and plane groundings due to engine shortages stemming from supply chain disruptions. Particularly, Boeings delay in delivering narrow-body passenger jets and grounding wide-body aircraft for long-haul travel pose significant operational hurdles. However, Ethiopian Airlines does not operate the variant of Boeings MAX jets facing safety concerns, expressing confidence in Boeings capability to address such issues effectively.

With a fleet of 146 planesbelow its optimal level of 150due to delivery delays, the airline holds firm orders for 70 Boeing and Airbus planes and options for 54 more, part of its ambitious plan to double fleet and route network by 2035, projecting a 400% revenue and 440% passenger number increase by then.

In the first nine months of the current fiscal year, Ethiopian Airlines shows promising progress toward its growth targets, with passenger numbers indicating advancement and a notable 20% revenue surge to $7.3 billion. The airlines expansion strategy encompasses introducing new destinations like London Gatwick, Madrid, and Bangui while bolstering frequencies on existing routes. Additionally, its investing in its cargo business, notably with the launch of a $55 million e-commerce shipment handling facility in Addis Ababa, catering to the rising demand for e-commerce services across the African continent.
Prosecutors have reiterated their intent to retry Harvey Weinstein on recently overturned rape charges, as Judge Curtis Farber has scheduled a tentative date for Weinstein's retrial after Labor Day.

Prosecutors revealed that they are aiming for the trial to take place in the fall, possibly in September, according to The Daily Mail.

Farber remanded Weinstein in custody, as the disgraced film producer, 72, will face previous charges that he forcibly performed oral sex on a TV and film production assistant in 2006 and raped an aspiring actor in 2013.

In a move last week that has shocked the public, specifically survivors of sexual assault, the New York Court of Appeals ruled that the Oscar-winning producer did not receive a fair trial in 2020, ultimately voiding his 23-year prison sentence.

Weinstein had been serving his sentence in a New York jail for the two sex attacks against aspiring actress Jessica Mann and product assistant Mimi Haleyi.

He was also sentenced to 16 years in 2022, following a guilty verdict in a Los Angeles court on three rape and sexual assault charges.

The conviction still stands.

Last week's ruling found that a trial judge had allowed jurors to see and hear too much evidence that was not directly related to his charges.

"We believe in this case and will be trying this case", Prosecutors told the court.

Haleyi, one of Weinstein's main accusers in the case against him, disclosed that she is unsure if she is ready to testify again in a retrial.

The reversal of his conviction is the second major #MeToo setback in the last two years.

A lawyer for Harvey Weinstein says the former movie mogul's California sex crime convictions should also be tossed after his rape conviction in New York was overturned.

Weinstein continues to deny the allegations, insisting that his relations with the victims were consensual.
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Simplified diagrams of the language models used in this work. a The bag-of-words model counts word occurrences in a document, which is then used by a traditional machine learning algorithm. b The convolutional neural network model understands a document in small adjacent clusters of words called convolutions (one is shown with black lines). The model can then learn to predict from combinations of these convolutions. c The long short-term memory model updates the prediction by reading the document one word at a time. It has a memory cell that allows it to remember some prior context (dotted lines). In this work, we used a bidirectional implementation, which combines the forward long short-term memory layer shown with another layer reading words in reverse order. d The bidirectional encoder representations from transformers model can understand how each word is connected to all other words in the document but can only read small portions of text. One words possible connections are indicated by a black line. Credit: Communications Medicine (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s43856-024-00495-x

Researchers at UBC and BC Cancer have developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) model that can accurately predict if a person receiving cancer care will require mental health services during their treatment journey.

The AI uses natural language processing and advanced neural networks to analyze an oncologist's notes from their first consultation appointment with a patient. While these appointments are typically highly focused on a patient's medical history and treatment options, the AI picks up on subtle clues hidden within the medical language that suggest a patient may benefit from early psychiatric or counseling interventions.

According to findings recently published in Communications Medicine, the AI can predict with greater than 70% accuracy whether a patient will see a psychiatrist or counselor within a year. It is the first time AI has been used to predict mental health outcomes from non-psychiatric medical documents.

"Battling cancer can be a harrowing experience, affecting not only our bodies but our minds and emotions," said principal investigator Dr. John-Jose Nunez, a psychiatrist and clinical research fellow with the UBC Mood Disorders Centre and BC Cancer.

"These findings demonstrate the tremendous potential of AI to act as a personal assistant to oncologists essentially, enhancing patient care by helping identify mental health needs sooner and ensuring more patients receive the support they need."

Mental health has been shown to have a profound impact on treatment outcomes and quality of life for people with cancer. On average, patients with significant depression and anxiety have poorer survival outcomes. Experts believe it's because these patients have more difficulties following through with treatment recommendations and tolerating side effects.

The Canadian Association of Psychosocial Oncology estimates that approximately 15% of cancer patients require psychiatric services, while another 45% would benefit from seeing a counselor. However, barriers such as stigma, lack of awareness of services, and difficulties diagnosing mental health conditions can prevent people from accessing psychosocial care.

As a next step, Dr. Nunez hopes to work with oncologists and patients to explore how such an AI tool could be implemented to improve early access to these important services.

"Perhaps the AI prompts the oncologist to talk with their patient about psychiatric services, or it could trigger an email to patients with a tailored list of available services," said Dr. Nunez. "There are a lot of possibilities, but it's important that we work with health professionals and patients to ensure the AI is meeting people where they need it."

The AI was developed by an interdisciplinary team with expertise in computer science, medical oncology, and psychiatry. The researchers trained and tested the model using data from 59,800 patients across all six BC Cancer sites located across geographically diverse regions of British Columbia.

To protect privacy, patient data remained stored securely at BC Cancer and was presented anonymously. Unlike patient chart reviews by human research assistants, the new AI approach has the added benefit of maintaining complete confidentiality of patient records.

The researchers also made significant advances in AI interpretability, developing a new technique that allowed them to peer inside the model to see how it was making predictions. Common themes arose, with certain keywords and topics suggesting a greater need for mental health services: family history of cancer, patterns of alcohol or substance use, and certain types of aggressive cancers and treatment strategies.

"Neural models have been commonly called black boxes because it's difficult to interpret how they arrive at an answer," said study co-author Dr. Raymond Ng, a professor in UBC's Department of Computer Science. "These cutting-edge techniques allow us to unravel these mysteries for multiple documents at a time, which could further empower researchers and clinicians to understand the complex intersections of oncology and mental health."

The team envisions expanding the tool's use beyond oncology to other fields of medicine where psychosocial factors significantly impact patient outcomes. This could pave the way for a broader application of AI in health care, targeting early intervention across various medical disciplines.

More information: John-Jose Nunez et al, Predicting which patients with cancer will see a psychiatrist or counsellor from their initial oncology consultation document using natural language processing, Communications Medicine (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s43856-024-00495-x Journal information: Communications Medicine
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The 2024 results of the American Psychiatric Association's annual mental health poll show that U.S. adults are feeling increasingly anxious. In 2024, 43% of adults say they feel more anxious than they did the previous year, up from 37% in 2023 and 32% in 2022. Adults are particularly anxious about current events (70%)especially the economy (77%), the 2024 U.S. election (73%), and gun violence (69%).

When asked about a list of lifestyle factors potentially impacting mental health, adults most commonly say stress (53%) and sleep (40%) have the biggest impact on their mental health. Younger adults (1834 years old) are more likely than older adults (50+) to say social connection has the biggest impact on their mental health.

Despite the increasing anxiety, most adults have not sought professional mental health support. In 2024, just one in four (24%) adults say they talked with a mental health care professional in the past year. Notably, younger adults (1834) are more than twice as likely as older adults (50+) to have done so.

"Living in a world of constant news of global and local turmoil, some anxiety is natural and expected," said APA President Petros Levounis, M.D., M.A. "But what stands out here is that Americans are reporting more anxious feelings than in past years.

"This increase may be due to the unprecedented exposure that we have to everything that happens in the world around us, or to an increased awareness and reporting of anxiety. Either way, if people have these feelings, they are not alone, and they can seek help from us."

Among adults who have used mental health care this year, more than half prefer to meet with a mental health professional in person (55%) rather than via telehealth; 30% prefer telehealth; and 15% have no preference.

Also among adults who have used mental health care this year, more than half (59%) are worried about losing access to mental health care, and 39% of insured adults are worried about losing their health insurance, as a result of the election this year.

Americans perceive broad impacts of untreated mental illness: 83% of adults say it negatively impacts families and 65% say it negatively impacts the U.S. economy. Also, 71% of adults feel that children and teens have more mental health problems than they did 10 years ago. That said, more than half of adults (55%) think there is less mental health stigma than 10 years ago.

"Over the past 10 years, we've grown more comfortable talking about mental health, and that's absolutely key to helping us through the current crisis," said APA CEO and Medical Director Saul Levin, M.D., M.P.A. "The continued work of APA is to ensure that people can access care when they need it, especially in areas that need it badly, like child and adolescent psychiatry."

Other issues people said they were anxious about include:

Keeping themselves or their families safe, 68%.

Keeping their identity safe, 63%.

Their health, 63%.

Paying bills or expenses, 63%.

The opioid epidemic, 50%.

The impact of emerging technology on day-to-day life, 46%.

In addition, 57% of adults are concerned about climate change.

This annual poll was conducted April 9 to 11, 2024, among a sample of more than 2,200 adults. This annual survey is complemented by APA's Healthy Minds Monthly series, conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of APA.
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Texas health officials last month confirmed a case of bird flu in a person. Now, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported that it has found evidence of the virus in commercially sold milk.

The FDA said one in five samples tested positive for traces of the highly pathogenic avian influenza, but added that the samples did not include any live virus, meaning it's safe to consume, likely thanks to pasteurization.

Cooking meat and limiting yourself to pasteurized milk will help consumers reduce the likelihood of illness, said Northeastern food safety expert Darin Detwiler.

"If we are properly cooking chicken, beef, eggs and dishes with eggs in them, I don't think that there is any difference in concern than if there was not a bird flu," Detwiler said. "In the case of milk, I would always say that pasteurized milk is safer than unpasteurized milk, but especially in this kind of situation, it's perhaps even more of a significant precaution that people should be taking."

Darin Detwiler says cooking meat and avoiding unpasteurized milk can reduce the likelihood of bird flu. Credit: Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

But the problem is some people are unwilling to stop drinking raw milk.

According to the FDA, pasteurization was adopted as a way to kill bacteria in milk that could cause illness. But a very small number (fewer than 1%) of Americans prefer to drink raw milk for the taste and purported health benefits. (Detwiler said there is no scientifically substantiated evidence that this is better.)

The regulations around the sale of raw milk vary state by state, Detwiler said, but consuming raw milk is legal in all 50 states.

"I'm not saying we have a federal law that bans the sale and consumption of unpasteurized milk," Detwiler said. "I'm just saying we can make educated decisions and  perhaps now is a better time to consider pasteurized milk."

Even people who aren't drinking unpasteurized milk are likely to still be affected in other ways as the bird flu spreads. As more animals get infected, there's likely to be an increase in meat and dairy supplies and an increase in prices, Detwiler said.

"The likelihood of you becoming impacted by this has grown," he said. "This is a much larger-scale issue, and the more information that investigators are finding out, the more questions are now unanswered.  This is not a couple of cows in that one farm in that one state. Because of the way that the product is distributed and goes to retailers, we are now seeing so many states and so many areas of retail are impacted by this."

In addition to traces of the virus being found in milk, scientists reported 26 species of mammals have been infected. Millions of wild birds have died around the globe, including in the Arctic. Another half-billion farm birds were culled as were millions of mink on fur farms in Denmark. The infection also was found in seals and sea lions, wild bears and even a bottlenose dolphin.

On April 24, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it would be testing cattle for the virus before allowing them to move between states after microbiologists found spread between cows, including those that were asymptomatic.

This spread from mammal to mammal is cause for concern, Detwiler said.

"(These safety measures) are how we can make sure that our most vulnerable consumers are protected," Detwiler said. "We're not just making changes to protect a specific group of people, we're increasing the safety of all consumers."

This story is republished courtesy of Northeastern Global News news.northeastern.edu.
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In light of the United States Food and Drug Administration's announcement that bird flu has been discovered in cow's milk, board-certified infectious disease physician Carl Abraham, M.D., assistant professor at New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYITCOM), shares insights on what the general public should know.

Abraham, a faculty member at NYITCOM's Jonesboro, Arkansas location (NYITCOM-Arkansas) and a practicing physician, explains how the virus is transmitted and whether parents should be concerned about the dairy products in their homes.

What is bird flu?

Bird flu, or avian influenza, infects more than 100 species of wild birds. It is rare for these strains of influenza to infect humans, although there are increasing reports of bird flu cases in other mammals such as tigers, polar bears, elephants, seals, mink, and pet dogs and cats. In birds, it causes a respiratory illness that is categorized as either highly pathogenic or low pathogenic. Pathogenicity relates to how sick the infected animal is, and highly pathogenic avian influenza has the ability to spread beyond the respiratory tract to infect multiple organs, often resulting in death in birds within 48 hours.

How does it spread?

Birds, including wild birds and farmed and industrial poultry, spread avian influenza in nasal mucus, saliva, and feces. Avian influenza is very contagious in birds, and wild birds can infect domesticated birds and vice versa. Migratory birds distribute the infections globally, making prevention extremely difficult. Infections spread rapidly in dense populations, for example in industrial poultry growers.

In 2022, an outbreak in the U.S. killed more than 50 million chickens, not including many more million that were killed (culled) by farmers to prevent spread. There have been two human avian influenza documented in the U.S. Both cases had extensive exposure to infected mammals and the spread in the mammals listed above has been occurring more frequently and widespread over the last several years. Spread to mammals other than humans appears to occur after eating infected birds.

Why is the virus now being discovered in cow's milk?

The genes of influenza viruses frequently mix in each animal that is infected with different strains of the virus. This gene mixing, or recombination, can result in influenza viruses that are able to act in new ways, for example, infect new species, cause new symptoms, and worsen the severity of illness. Presumably, a recent recombination event has made an avian influenza transmissible to and between domesticated cattle.

Since this is a highly pathogenic strain (H5N1), it is not surprising that the virus is spreading beyond the respiratory tract into mammary glands and thus cow's milk. Since pasteurization destroys influenza viruses, it's also not surprising to find fragments of the virus in milk, but these fragments contain too little of the virus to cause illness or spread infection. H5N1 influenza is not the only virus that can have fragments present in cow's milk, and that is why pasteurization is so important.

What might this discovery tell us about disease transmission?

Influenza has a complicated replication cycle within multiple species that frequently causes recombination events. Even those influenza viruses that normally infect humans (not avian influenzas) begin their replication cycles in birds and pigs. The new abilities gained by viruses after recombination events can contribute to the spread among new species and this is apparently what has occurred this year in domesticated cattle. Not only has H5N1 gained the ability to infect and spread beyond the respiratory tract in cattle, but it has also gained the ability to spread among cattle to infect the herd.

The outbreak is spreading rapidly in the U.S. This is very worrisome. The more cattle that are infected, the more recombination events occur. If the right recombination event or series of recombination events increases the severity of illness or death rate in cattle, the supply of dairy products and beef would likely be affected.

Should parents be alarmed, and are there any proactive steps they can take?

There is so far no evidence to suggest that pasteurized cow's milk or dairy products are unsafe for humans. Certainly, everyone should avoid unpasteurized milk or dairy products. This is especially true in newborns, those with suppressed immune systems, and those who are pregnant.

There is a lot we don't know, and parents should stay alert for notifications from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as recommendations may change based on newly available information. Dogs and cats should not eat wild birds, especially waterfowl, although the risk to hunting dogs appears low. A frightening scenario would be a recombination event that allows H5N1 to cause severe illness and spread rapidly in people, which would have the potential to cause a pandemic. Thankfully, this has not occurred.
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Schematic depiction of the learning phase on Day 1, showing representative M+ and M trials, as well as the pictorial rating scales encountered by participants (color codes in A are for illustrative purposes in this figure; participants see black letters over a white background). Credit: Developmental Science (2024). DOI: 10.1111/desc.13513

New research led by academics at Royal Holloway, University of London, published in Developmental Science, suggests that children and adolescents remain excited by learning new words, all the way until adulthood.

The study, led by Professor Saloni Krishnan from the Department of Psychology, investigated how much children and adolescents enjoy learning the meaning of new words, as well as how well they retain them over time. This would suggest that such learning can be intrinsically motivating.

Recent research has demonstrated that adults experience a feeling of reward or "buzz" when they successfully learn new words which significantly enhances long-term memory retention of newly acquired words. This is linked to a dopaminergic circuit in the brain, which typically lights up for external rewards such as money.

The researchers in this study set out to apply these findings in children, to see if they feel the same way about learning and remembering new words.

The study involved 345 children between the ages of 10 to 18. The children were given 40 self-paced trials, which involved pairing two sentences to make sense of the new word they were learning.

Children were tasked with working out the meaning of a new word by making a prediction based on the sentence context. They were then asked to rate their emotions, including confidence, happiness, and excitement, after every question.

The research found that not only did the children and adolescents learn and retain the words, but they also found the experience of successfully learning to be enjoyable. This is the first demonstration that language learning is intrinsically rewarding in children and provides clues to why we seek out and enjoy learning words (unlike our closest evolutionary cousins the chimpanzees).

Professor Saloni Krishnan, from the Department of Psychology at Royal Holloway, said, "It was important to carry out this rigorous research to understand why children learn words.

"Our findings conclusively demonstrate children find such learning intrinsically rewardingand don't need external rewards like validation. I think the experience of enjoyment is an important signal to seek out new knowledge and build our vocabulary.

"This helps us identify the aspects of learning that children find rewarding, and in the future, could help us to design more engaging programs. For example, in my lab, we're now assessing if neurodivergent children, such as children with dyslexia, experience reward in the same way."

More information: Amrita Bains et al, The role of intrinsic reward in adolescent word learning, Developmental Science (2024). DOI: 10.1111/desc.13513 Journal information: Developmental Science
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New research focusing on heart attacks, specifically STsegmentelevation myocardial infarctions (STEMIs), has uncovered that socioeconomic, racial, and gendered disparities are associated with greater risk and that those affected are less likely to receive certain procedures. The data were presented at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions (SCAI) 2024 Scientific Sessions.

STEMI, caused by a nearly total blockage of a coronary artery, is the most dangerous type of heart attack and can be deadly if not treated. Early diagnosis and treatment of STEMI is crucial for survival yet historically underrepresented groups have not received equal access leading to higher mortality rates.

"Advancing science in focus areas that bring to light disparities that exist is important to understand where we, as health care innovators, need to do more," said George D. Dangas, MD, Ph.D., MSCAI, SCAI President. "As the leading organization representing interventional cardiologists, it is up to us to start the conversation on these injustices, so we can address them and provide equitable care for all."

Low-Income patients at greater risk of STEMI despite STEMI incidence decreasing nearly 50% in 15 years

Analysis of demographic trends in STEMI hospitalizations across the United States found that lower-income patients are at greater risk of suffering from STEMI-related heart attacks. The study analyzed nationwide inpatient data from 2004 to 2020. The research team calculated annual hospitalization per population rates and assessed trends through regression analysis.

In total, 3,426,898 eligible patients were analyzed. The overall incidence of STEMI steadily decreased from 98.7 per 100,000 inpatient hospitalizations per population in 2004 to 49 in 2020 (p<0.01), primarily among older individuals. STEMI incidence increased in small and medium-sized hospitals but decreased in large hospitals. Mortality decreased for individuals over 85 from 25% to 22% and from 13% to 10.5% for those aged 6584.

In the 45-65 age group, mortality slightly rose from 4% to 5.5%, and patients aged 1844 maintained a consistent mortality rate around 2.53%. Higher STEMI incidence and mortality were observed in the lower-income population. On average, the incidence of STEMI was relatively 20% lower in higher-income populations than lower-income populations, and this trend remained consistent from 2004 to 2020.

It decreased from 107 to 54 per 100,000 population among those with low household income, while in the high household income group, it decreased from 85 to 42 per 100,000 population. The study also observed higher mortality in lower-income population, with adjusted odds of 1.12 (1.101.14, p<0.01).

"Seeing a decline in STEMI overall was surprising," said Fares Ghanem, MD, cardiovascular disease physician at Southern Illinois University, and lead author of the study. "However, the disparities uncovered by our study emphasize there is a gap in care. We encourage clinicians to focus on providing equitable access to high-quality care through increased education and implementing targeted interventions for vulnerable populations. Our goal is for our data to be used to help create better, more tailored care plans for patients across the country."

Women, Black, and Hispanic patients up to 25% less likely to receive potential life-saving procedures after heart attack

A new retrospective analysis found that women, Black, and Hispanic patients were less likely to receive certain cardiovascular operations when compared to men and white patients. This retrospective analysis used National Inpatient Sample data from 2016 to 2020 and included adult patients with specifically type 1 NSTEMI, a certain type of heart attack. Patients who underwent coronary angiography (CA) or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for NSTEMI were identified using ICD-10 procedural codes.

Among 2,153,124 NSTEMI patients, females had 18.4% lower adjusted odds of undergoing CA/PCI compared to males (p<0.001). Black and Hispanic patients had 25.4% and 16.9% lower adjusted odds of undergoing CA/PCI compared to white patients, respectively (p<0.001 for both). Similar disparities were observed with early interventional management (intervention within <24 hours) in white and male patients when compared to another cohort.

"As health care professionals, we are trained to care for all our patients equally regardless of race or gender," said Mandvi Devendra Pandey, MD, resident physician at Texas Health Resources, and lead author of the study. "Yet, our study observed disparities in the interventional management of type1 NSTEMI patients. It is crucial to address these disparities not only to enhance individual patient outcomes but also to advance health equity and social justice. Our study can serve as a positive catalyst by raising awareness, advocating for targeted quality improvements, and health care system reforms so everyone can have better cardiovascular care."

More information: "Identifying Gender and Racial Disparities in Interventional Management of NSTEMI: A Nationwide Analysis" Wednesday, May 2, 2024; 10:40 AM12:10 PM PT. "Demographic Trends in ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction Incidence and Mortality in the United States" Thursday, May 3, 2024; 12:05-12:10 PM PT.
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For sexual-minority (SM) females, cardiovascular health (CVH) varies across race and ethnicity, according to a study published online May 1 in JAMA Network Open.

Nicole Rosendale, M.D., from the University of California San Francisco, and colleagues used the American Heart Association Life's Essential 8 measure to examine differences in CVH at the intersection of race, ethnicity, and sexual identity. The cross-sectional study used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2007 to 2016. The primary outcome was overall CVH score, which is the unweighted mean of eight CVH metrics.

The sample included 12,180 adults. The researchers found that Black, Hispanic, and white SM female adults had lower overall CVH scores compared with their heterosexual counterparts in analyses adjusted for age, survey year, and socioeconomic status ( = 3.2, 5.9, -and 3.3, respectively).

For female adults of other race and ethnicity and for SM male adults of any race and ethnicity, there were no statistically significant differences seen compared with heterosexual counterparts.

"This study highlights the importance of incorporating intersectionality into CVH health equity studies and interventions," the authors write. "Tailored interventions to improve the CVH of SM individuals, particularly Black and Hispanic SM female individuals, are needed."

More information: Rosendale N, et al. Differences in Cardiovascular Health at the Intersection of Race, Ethnicity, and Sexual Identity. JAMA Network Open. (2024) DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.9060 Journal information: JAMA Network Open

Copyright  2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
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The COVID-19 fluorescent protein developed by JCU researchers. Credit: James Cook University

A study by James Cook University researchers, and published in Talanta, has produced damning findings on several COVID-19 rapid antigen tests (RATs) available in Australia and overseas.

The joint study by JCU and National Research Council Canada analyzed 16 RATs approved by Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and 10 by Health Canada, using a JCU-developed COVID-19 protein and its Canadian counterpart as reference materials.

Out of the total 26 RATs compared, only six were found to be effective at detecting the lowest concentration of the COVID-19 reference proteins in the dilution series used for benchmarking.

One of the Canadian RATs, which had its approval revoked by the TGA in 2022, failed to detect the COVID-19 protein entirely at any level of concentration used in the dilution series.

It follows a world-first study last year by JCU researchers which found significant differences in the analytical performance of TGA-approved RATs.

Study co-author and JCU Associate Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology Patrick Schaeffer said the study findings underscored an absolute need for independent evaluation of RATs both in Australia and overseas.

"What was most shocking in this study was not only that we have some poorly-performing RATs but that there seems to be no easy way to get them off the shelves," he said.

"There's no point in having these underperforming RATs sold to people, especially those which can only detect COVID-19 in people who are at the peak of their infection."

Associate Prof Schaeffer said the study had also shown the two different types of proteins used by each lab in Australia and Canada to test the RATs were superior to using viral cultures as a testing standard.

"We used two differently engineered nucleocapsid proteins produced in two different labs on different sides of the planet and we got exactly the same results," he said.

Associate Prof Schaeffer said he now wanted to broaden his study to analyze RATs capable of detecting different strains of Influenza A and B viruses.

"There were actually two RATs in this latest study which are designed to detect Influenza A and B as well as COVID-19, but neither of them detected influenza proteins particularly well," he said.

"We'd like to look at how well influenza RATs can detect subtypes like H3N2, H5N1 'bird flu' and H1N1, otherwise known as swine flu.

"We have all of those proteins produced and the next stage is to start a review of these particular RATs."

More information: Casey J. Toft et al, Comparison of the analytical sensitivity of COVID-19 rapid antigen tests in Australia and Canada, Talanta (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2024.126147
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The US maternal mortality rate in 2022 returned to the same level as two years prior, after a spike in 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, health authorities announced Thursday.

The "positive news" is however also "sobering," said Verda Hicks, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).

"We are reminded, again, that we are nowhere near resolving the issue of maternal mortality, particularly when trying to close the gap on health care disparities," she said.

Maternal mortality is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a death occurring during pregnancy or within 42 days of the end of pregnancy, from a cause related to or aggravated by pregnancy or its management.

In 2022, US health authorities recorded 817 deaths falling under that definition, a sharp drop from the 1,205 in 2021and around the same number as 2020, which was 861.

The maternal mortality rate, expressed as the number of deaths per 100,000 births, was therefore 22.3 in 2022, compared with 32.9 in 2021.

However, the rate remains much higher than that reported by other advanced-economy countries.

As noted by Hicks, disparities between populations also remain considerable: the rate was 49.5 deaths per 100,000 births among Black Americans in 2022, compared with 19 deaths among white people.

Hicks said that the overall spike observed during the pandemic was linked to difficulties in accessing care for patients, but also "worsening racial health inequities."

She also warned of a "worsening state of reproductive health care" following the US Supreme Court's decision to overturn the nationwide right to abortion in summer 2022.

"ACOG remains concerned about a potential increase in maternal deaths in states where pregnant people are unable to access care," Hicks said, citing "tragic reports of maternal morbidities that have resulted from untreated pregnancy complications."

Women in several states where abortion has been outlawed have filed lawsuits after being denied the procedure despite serious health issues, saying their doctors feared prosecution.

"When treating pregnancy complications, abortion care can be lifesaving, and withholding that care unquestionably compromises patient lives and outcomes," Hicks added.

On Monday, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced $100 million in funding to support around 100 organizations working to improve maternal and child health in the country.

"Maternal health is a fundamental human right and every mother deserves access to quality care and support. Having a safe and healthy pregnancy and birth shouldn't depend on the color of your skin, what language you speak at home, or where you live," HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement.

 2024 AFP
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When its six-week abortion ban went into effect on May 1, 2024, Florida joined nearly two dozen other U.S. states that ban abortion or greatly restrict it.

These laws came into effect after the Supreme Court's 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade ended nearly 50 years of the constitutional right to abortion in the United States.

Florida health officials in 2023 reported more than 84,000 abortions statewide, including nearly 7,800 from out-of-state residents.

The Tampa Bay Times recently reported that about 2 in 5 abortions in Florida over the past six years occurred in the first six weeks of pregnancy, meaning that roughly 60% of the procedures performed over that time frame would be illegal under the new restrictions.

The new laws in Florida and other states are sending some Americans across the border into Mexico to access an abortion, where the procedure was legalized in recent years.

Clinics in Mexico do not require proof of residency, so solid numbers about who they are treating are hard to come by. But providers in Mexico report they have been seeing more Americans.

In 2022, Luisa Garcia, director of Profem, an abortion clinic in the border city of Tijuana, told NPR that the percentage of patients coming from the United States had jumped from 25% to 50% in just the two months following the Dobbs decision.

My research and teaching focuses on gender and sexuality in Latin America and the Caribbean. I often ask students to think about the differences between the United States and Latin Americaand the struggles the two regions share.

Different paths

In recent years, the U.S. and Mexico have each struggled over access to abortion care, with the two countries moving in opposite directions.

The year before the U.S. Supreme Court reversed Roe, the Mexican Supreme Court ruled the criminalization of abortion by the northern state of Coahuila unconstitutional. This decision set a precedent that led to decriminalization at the federal level in 2023.

Change has since been slow. Only 13 of Mexico's 31 states have modified their penal codes to reflect the court's resolution, with Jalisco being the latest state to do so, in April 2024.

Unlike in the U.S., federal laws in Mexico do not automatically overrule local ones. But Mexican women living in states where abortions are illegal can still have one in a federally run hospital or clinic. And the federal statute protects the staff of those facilities from punishment.

Marea Verde movement

A crucial force behind the legalization of abortion care in Latin America is a movement called Green Tide, or Marea Verde, which emerged in Argentina and expanded across the region over the past two decades.

Although it began as a collective fight for abortion rights, Green Tide has grown to encompass issues such as the prevention of violence against women and members of the LGBTQ+ community, as well as femicidethe violent death of women motivated by gender.

Expansion of abortion access in Mexico

Following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in 2022, Mexican organizations offering abortions have expanded locations to increase choices for Mexican and U.S. residents seeking care. For example, Fundacion MSI opened its newest clinic in Cancun late last year.

It chose this location intentionally, MSI's Latin America regional managing director told the health news website Stat. Cancun's status as a popular tourist destination means that multiple U.S. airports offer direct flights for about US$400 round trip. In-person abortion services range from $250 to $350. MSI's website caters to Americans by offering information in English and featuring links to search for flights.

To assist those traveling to Mexico, Mexican and American abortion rights groups created the Red Transfronteriza, a transnational network that supports those crossing the border in search of care but whose primary mission has become the shipping of misoprostol and mifepristone, the pills generally used to induce abortions, into the United States.

One group that is part of the network on the Mexican side of the border is Guanajuato-based Las Libres, or The Free Ones. In September 2023, its founder estimated that her organization had sent abortion pills to approximately 20,000 women in the U.S. since the Dobbs decision.

Red Necesito Abortar, or I Need to Abort Network, was founded in 2017 by Sandra Cardona and Vanessa Jimenez in the northern city of Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, to help those seeking abortion services.

History of abortion, US-Mexico border

Although the Dobbs decision brought renewed attention to the issue, the relationship between the United States and Mexico and people from both countries seeking abortions has a long history.

Women's studies professor Lina-Maria Murillo, who studies the U.S.-Mexico borderlands and teaches a course on global reproduction, explains that abortion in the United States was legal and performed by midwives before the Civil War. In the following decades, declining birth rates and gender inequality led to restrictions across the country and a nationwide ban in 1910.

As Murillo's research has documented, criminalization led women seeking abortions to travel to Mexico more than a century ago.

These border crossings ultimately declined as Mexican abortion restrictions were enforced and clinics shut down by the late 1960s. At the same time, U.S. activists and doctors contributed to the narrative that portrayed Mexico as a dangerous place where "back alley" abortions were performed by "butcher" physicians. Murillo argues that these myths contributed to a loosening of abortion restrictions in several U.S. states like California and New Mexico, helping set the stage for Roe v. Wade.

As elections loom closer in the United States, abortion will likely take center stage once againincluding in Florida, where a referendum to reverse the six-week ban will be on the November ballot.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Duane Eddy, who became the first stand-alone rock 'n' roll guitar star with a string of instrumental hits in the late '50s and early '60s, including the theme to TV series' Peter Gunn' and 'Rebel Rouser,' died at 86.

Eddy's wife, Deed Abbate, told the Associated Press that the Grammy-winning musician passed away from cancer at Williamson Health Hospital near his home in Franklin, Tennessee.

A representative said that Eddy has inspired a generation of guitarists the world over with his unmistakable signature "twang" sound. He was the first rock and roll guitar god, a genuinely humble and incredible human being.

Eddy developed the "twangy" rock and roll sound that influenced guitarists from Bruce Springsteen to George Harrison. He did this using hand claps, hollers, and his unique rhythmic sound.

He also established that the guitar's lower strings recorded better than its higher ones.

Between 1958 and 1963, the guitarist scored 16 top 40 hits, nearly single-handedly solidifying his rock 'n' roll guitar icon status.

Kyle Young, chief executive of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, said to Variety that instrumentalists only sometimes become famous but noted that Eddy's electric guitar was a voice all its own.

Young described his sound as muscular and masculine, twangy and tough. He shared that Eddy scored more than 30 hits on the pop charts.

Furthermore, he claimed that his style had inspired thousands of hillbilly cats and downtown rockers, including the Ventures, George Harrison, Steve Earle, Bruce Springsteen, and Marty Stuart, to learn how to rumble and move people's hearts.

Eddy recorded more than 50 albums throughout his lifetime, including reissues, most of which were completed before his retirement in the mid-1980s. He was admitted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.
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Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Interest in psychedelics like psilocybin, mescaline, and LSD is on the rise for the first time in 50 years, as influencers, scientists, and entrepreneurs promote their therapeutic potential. Some municipalities have stopped enforcing criminal bans on their possession, and at least one state has legalized medicinal use of certain psychoactive substances.

In his review article titled "Observations on 25 Years of Cannabis Law Reforms and Their Implications for the Psychedelic Renaissance in the United States," drug law expert Robert Mikos, LaRoche Family Chair in Law at Vanderbilt Law School, draws lessons from the marijuana reform movement that proponents of psychedelic legalization should heed in their efforts to win public support.

The research is published in the journal Annual Review of Law and Social Science.

Federal legalization is not a short-term possibility

Mikos outlines three potential routes to legalizing psychedelics at the federal level, but he warns that each face "daunting obstacles that will be difficult to overcome in the short term."

Administrative action

Psychedelics are placed on Schedule I under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 (CSA), defined as substances with the most potential for abuse and harm, with no recognized medical uses. The manufacture, distribution, and possession of psychedelics is a federal crime, outside of federally approved clinical research studies.

The Attorney General has some authority to reschedule drugs, with significant restrictions. A petitioner would first need to demonstrate that a particular psychedelic has a currently accepted medical use. The CSA offers a double-edged challenge for petitioners: It requires large-scale, well-controlled clinical trials to prove efficacy of Schedule I substances, while simultaneously limiting the supply of such substances and requiring burdensome licensing and handling procedures.

Petitioners for marijuana (also a Schedule I substance) have been unable to meet the CSA's standards for proof; Mikos cautions that current research on psychedelics would suffer a similar fate. "No studies that would satisfy the CSA's lofty criteria for demonstrating medical efficacy have yet been completed," he writes.

The challenge of rescheduling doesn't end there. The Attorney General must comply with international law when making scheduling decisions, a long-time issue for advocates for marijuana, which is governed under the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. The 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances requires tight controls on psychedelics, likely making it impossible for an AG to reschedule them farther than Schedule II, which would do little to increase availability (for perspective, cocaine is a Schedule II drug).

An alternative to rescheduling exists for the AG: The Department of Justice (DOJ) could adopt a nonenforcement policy toward psychedelics akin to their posture with marijuana. This, as Mikos describes it, "is not a perfect substitute for legalization," as psychedelic suppliers would have to contend with the punitive tax rules, limited banking services, and other obstacles that marijuana suppliers face today. The DOJ has also indicated no willingness to consider such a policy for psychedelics or any other CSA-defined drugs besides marijuana.

Congressional legislation

While Congress could legalize psychedelics with no regard for the CSAalcohol and tobacco, for example, have been exempted from the statute's scheduling and regulatory regimesuccessful legislation appears unlikely. Marijuana enjoys widespread support from Americans for recreational and medical use, yet "proposals to reform federal marijuana laws have repeatedly stalled in Congress," Mikos writes. By some polling estimates, psychedelics enjoy less than half of the support that marijuana does among the public, and one study shows that only 2.2% of Americans aged 12 or older used any psychedelic in 2019, vs. 18% who used marijuana.

Constitutional challenges

Challenges to the federal ban on marijuana on constitutional or statutory grounds have failed several times over, casting doubt on similar potential efforts for psychedelics. Mikos notes that plaintiffs have find success challenging the federal psychedelics ban under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, but "those victories have been quite narrow." Similarly, the 2018 Right to Try Act authorizes medical use of otherwise banned drugs that have completed Phase 1 clinical trials in case of life-threatening medical conditions. Right to Try Act lawsuits are working their way through the courts now.

"In sum, pursuing legalization at the federal level is unlikely to bear fruit in the short run," Mikos writes. "Proponents face formidable obstacles in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches."

States are an alternative pathway to legalization, with drawbacks

Nearly 40 states have legalized the possession, cultivation, and distribution of marijuana for medical or recreational use, increasing access to marijuana while reducing the legal exposure for growers, sellers, and users. State lawmaking procedures (like ballot initiative), combined with the variance in public opinion across states, could smooth the path to psychedelic reform, the way it did for marijuana.

Mikos warns that the state reform approach is not without challenges. The threat of federal crackdowns may compel states to prohibit private firms from selling psychedelics, allowing only users to supply their own needs (i.e., "personal cultivation"). Many states opted for this approach with marijuana before the DOJ announced its nonenforcement policy in 2009. While such reform comes with limitations, "personal cultivation was arguably the best supply option available while the federal government remained hostile to state marijuana reforms," he writes.

Reforming states might also forgo regulating psychedelics, to avoid federal prosecution for manufacturers and distributors.

"In the past, the federal government has used information gathered by state regulators (e.g., state medical marijuana registries) to assist its own criminal investigations and thereby bolster its limited law enforcement capacity," Mikos writes. This could negatively affect consumer safety for a set of drugs that many advocates say requires a knowledgeable guide and carefully crated environment.

"The experience of the marijuana reform movement suggests that proponents may need to take an incremental approach, pursuing narrow reforms at first, even if they fall short of a grand psychedelic renaissance," Mikos cautions.

Reform comes with many questions

Policymakers seeking to legalize psychedelics will need to make several critical decisions that may or may not come with public support. Which psychedelics should be legalized (naturally occurring, lab-created, all), and for what uses (spiritual, medicinal, recreation, personal growth)? How will they be supplied? Marijuana reform suggests that narrowing the scope of legalization across all of these factors may be the best approach.

"A psychedelics renaissance may be afoot, but it remains a work in progress, and many of its key features will be determined only in the months and years to come," the paper concludes. "Policymakers interested in expanding access to psychedelic substances would be wise to heed lessons gleaned from the past 25 years of marijuana reforms."

More information: Robert A. Mikos, Observations on 25 Years of Cannabis Law Reforms and Their Implications for the Psychedelic Renaissance in the United States, Annual Review of Law and Social Science (2022). DOI: 10.1146/annurev-lawsocsci-120621-012645
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A family nurse practitioner prepares a syringe with the Mpox vaccine for inoculating a patient at a vaccination site in the Brooklyn borough of New York, on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022. Scientists say a new form of mpox detected in a mining town in Congo might more easily spread among people. Already, Congo is seeing its biggest mpox outbreak with more than 19,000 suspected infections and 900 deaths. . Credit: AP Photo/Jeenah Moon, File

Congo is struggling to contain its biggest mpox outbreak, and scientists say a new form of the disease detected in a mining town might more easily spread among people.

Since January, Congo has reported more than 4,500 suspected mpox cases and nearly 300 deaths, numbers that have roughly tripled from the same period last year, according to the World Health Organization. Congo recently declared the outbreak across the country a health emergency.

An analysis of patients hospitalized between October and January in Kamituga, eastern Congo, suggests recent genetic mutations in mpox are the result of its continued transmission in humans; it's happening in a town where people have little contact with the wild animals thought to naturally carry the disease.

"We're in a new phase of mpox," said Dr. Placide Mbala-Kingebeni, the lead researcher of the study, who said it will soon be submitted to a journal for publication. Mbala-Kingebeni heads a lab at Congo's National Institute of Biomedical Research, which studies the genetics of diseases.

The lesions reported by most patients are milder and on the genitals, Mbala-Kingebeni said, making the disease trickier to diagnose. In previous outbreaks in Africa, lesions were mostly seen on the chest, hands and feet. He also said that the new form seems to have a lower death rate.

This 1997 image provided by the CDC during an investigation into an outbreak of monkeypox, which took place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), formerly Zaire, depicts the dorsal surfaces of the hands of a monkeypox case patient. Scientists say a new form of mpox detected in a mining town in Congo might more easily spread among people. Already, Congo is seeing its biggest mpox outbreak with more than 19,000 suspected infections and 900 deaths Credit: CDC via AP, File

In a report on the global mpox situation this week, WHO said the new version of the disease might require a new testing strategy to pick up the mutations.

With experts pointing out that fewer than half of people in Congo with mpox are tested, Mbala-Kingebeni said, "The risk is that unless patients themselves come forward, we will have a silent transmission of the disease and nobody will know."

Mbala-Kingebeni said most people were infected via sex, with about a third of mpox cases found in sex workers. It was not until the 2022 global emergency of mpox that scientists established the disease was spread via sex, with most cases in gay or bisexual men. In November, WHO confirmed sexual transmission of mpox in Congo for the first time.

There are two kinds, or clades, of mpox, which is related to smallpox and endemic to central and west Africa. Clade 1 is more severe and can kill up to 10% of people infected. Clade 2 triggered the 2022 outbreak; more than 99% of people infected survived.

Vials of single doses of the Jynneos vaccine for monkeypox are seen from a cooler at a vaccinations site on Aug. 29, 2022, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. Scientists say a new form of mpox detected in a mining town in Congo might more easily spread among people. Already, Congo is seeing its biggest mpox outbreak with more than 19,000 suspected infections and 900 deaths. Credit: AP Photo/Jeenah Moon, File

Mbala-Kingebeni and colleagues said they have identified a new form of clade 1 that may be responsible for more than 240 cases and at least three deaths in Kamituga, a region with a significant transient population traveling elsewhere in Africa and beyond.

Dr. Boghuma Titanji, an infectious diseases expert at Emory University who is not connected to the research, said the new mutations are concerning.

"This suggests the virus is adapting to spread efficiently in humans and could cause some pretty consequential outbreaks," she said.

Although the mpox epidemics in the West were contained with the help of vaccines and treatments, barely any have been available in Congo. Congo's minister of health has authorized the use of vaccines in high-risk provinces, said Cris Kacita Osako, coordinator of Congo's Monkeypox Response Committee. He said officials are in talks with donor countries like Japan to help buy the shots.

This image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) shows a colorized transmission electron micrograph of monkeypox particles (red) found within an infected cell (blue), cultured in the laboratory that was captured and color-enhanced at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Md. Scientists say a new form of mpox detected in a mining town in Congo might more easily spread among people. Already, Congo is seeing its biggest mpox outbreak with more than 19,000 suspected infections and 900 deaths. Credit: NIAID via AP, File

"Once a sufficient quantity of vaccines is available  vaccination will be implemented as part of the response," Kacita Osako said.

Dr. Dimie Ogoina, an mpox expert at Niger Delta University, said the new research is an unsettling reminder of an earlierbut differentoutbreak.

"The notable spread among sex workers is reminiscent of the early stages of HIV," he said, explaining that prejudices attached to treating sexually transmitted infections and the reluctance of people with mpox to come forward were worrying.

WHO's emergencies chief, Dr. Michael Ryan, said last week that despite the ongoing spread of mpox in Africa and elsewhere, "there has not been a single donor dollar invested."

 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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The team that performed the operation succesfully: Dr. Schoneveld, Prof. Nistor, Dr. Giunta, Prof. Hamdi. Credit: UZ Brussel

UZ Brussel is the first hospital worldwide to perform dual-robot assisted lymphedema surgery. The main advantage of this approach is that it is much less invasive for the patient, resulting in less pain and less time spent in hospital. Moreover, robot-assisted surgery is significantly more accurate than conventional surgery.

In so doing, UZ Brussel is building on its expertise in robot-assisted surgical lymphedema treatment after Professor Moustapha Hamdi performed the first-ever robot-assisted lymph node transplant in Europe in 2018.

During the surgery on Wednesday, April 17, the Da Vinci Xi surgical system was combined with MMI's Symani surgical system. In collaboration with abdominal surgeon Dr. Martijn Schoneveld, the plastic and reconstructive surgery team performed a fully robotic lymph node transplant, overseen by Professor Hamdi, Head of Department of Plastic Surgery at UZ Brussel.

Dr. Schoneveld, abdominal surgeon, explained, "First, we use the Da Vinci Xi to remove a part of the peritoneal fold at the level of the stomach in a patient suffering from lymphedema after breast cancer surgery. With the robot, we can harvest the necessary tissue from the stomach with tools that offer more dexterity and finer motor control, leaving little scarring.

"The magnified 3D image on the console helps us carry out this surgical procedure which requires a great deal of precision, ensuring minimal damage to blood vessels and lymph node tissue before reimplantation in the armpit, which is important for the successful outcome of the surgery."

Professor Hamdi, Head of Department of Plastic Surgery at UZ Brussel, continued, "Afterwards, the plastic surgeon transplanted this flap to the armpit using MMI's Symani surgical system. This procedure facilitates lymphatic drainage from the upper limb. The aim is also to prevent future swelling of the arm and thus reduce the swelling and pain caused by lymphedema."

Professor Alexandru Nistor, plastic surgeon, added, "The microsurgery robot is used for super microsurgery and other complex plastic and reconstructive procedures, e.g., connecting the finest anatomical structures together, such as blood vessels or lymphatic vessels. Lymphatic vessels have a diameter of less than 0.8 millimeters.

"We use this advanced technology on patients with lymphedema and/or breast cancer, among others. The Symani robotic surgical system allows us to achieve the greatest possible precision when connecting two small delicate vessels during microsurgery, ensuring the best possible transplant success rate. The risk is minimal for the patient, guaranteeing the best results."

Credit: UZ Brussel

New step in robot-assisted lymphedema treatment

In 2018, UZ Brussel was the first European hospital to perform a robotic-assisted lymph node transplantation. A multidisciplinary team, led by Professor Hamdi and abdominal surgeon Dr. Van Eetvelde, removed lymph nodes from the abdomen for transplantation to the armpit.

Last year, the team took another step forward, with the introduction of a robot for micro- and super microsurgery, also for lymphedema treatment, for a bridge between the lymphatic vessel and the vein. These types of interventions, on the very smallest blood vessels in the body, require extreme precision. MMI's Symani surgical system can scale down the surgeon's hand movements 20x, filtering out even minimal vibrations from the surgeon's hand.

This game changer means surgeons can now perform complex procedures with even greater precision, resulting in less risk of tissue damage and a faster recovery for patients.

Lymphedema is swelling in an arm or leg. It can be congenital or occur because of cancer treatment, radiation, or infection. Lymphedema remains a significant quality of life issue.

The swelling is caused by an accumulation of lymph fluid in the connective tissue. Usually, this fluid is drained through the body's lymphatic vessels and glands, but if this process is disrupted by malfunctioning lymphatic vessels or removal of lymph nodes, fluid can build in the body's tissues. Up to 30% of breast cancer patients have lymphedema, which can cause severe functional impairments.

Provided by Vrije Universiteit Brussel
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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

A new study titled "A retrospective analysis of mission reports in the national Swedish Police Registry on mountain rescue 20182022: here be snowmobiles," published in the Scandinavian Journal of Trauma, Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine, analyzes Swedish Police mountain rescue data and describes all known mountain rescue missions during the past five yearsa total of 1,543 mountain rescue operations.

The results show that Jamtland had the highest proportion of missions (38%), followed by Norrbotten county (36%). Two percent of the missions involved  4 casualties, and 44% involved  4 mountain rescuers. Foreign nationals were rescued in 12% of missions, and 37% of victims were women, which is a higher proportion than in corresponding international records (17% in France).

Fourteen percent of those affected were  66 or  12 years of age, i.e., can be considered vulnerable. The most common cause of death was cardiac event (14 deaths), followed by trauma (10 deaths) and drowning (8 deaths). Twenty percent of all mountain rescue missions were for snowmobiling incidents, and eight fatalities occurred in connection with snowmobiling. One fatality was an avalanche accident.

"Increased mountain activity and climate change, which among other things may lead to washed away trail bridges, a longer snow-free season and weather that complicates helicopter operations, point to general development needs for Swedish mountain rescue," says one of the authors, Anton Westman.

"The results of the study indicate the need for work with snowmobiling, cardiac events and drowning in the mountains, as well as increased preparedness for multi-casualty incidents with several simultaneously injured people in extremely sparsely populated areas," says co-author Johanna Bjornstig.

More information: Anton Westman et al, A retrospective analysis of mission reports in the national Swedish Police Registry on mountain rescue 20182022: here be snowmobiles, Scandinavian Journal of Trauma, Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine (2024). DOI: 10.1186/s13049-024-01210-4
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Credit: CC0 Public Domain

For many years, Rose Sims had no idea what was going on inside a nondescript brick building on Florida Street a couple of miles from her modest one-story home on the southwestern side of town.

Like other residents, she got an unwelcome surprise in October 2022 at a public forum held by the Environmental Protection Agency at the historic Monumental Baptist Church, known for its role in the civil rights movement. The EPA notified the predominantly Black community that Sterilization Services of Tennessee which began operations in the brick building in the 1970shad been emitting unacceptably high levels of ethylene oxide, a toxic gas commonly used to disinfect medical devices.

Airborne emissions of the colorless gas can increase the risk of certain medical conditions, including breast cancer. Sims, who is 59 and Black, said she developed breast cancer in 2019, despite having no family history of it, and she suspects ethylene oxide was a contributing factor.

"I used to be outside a lot. I was in good health. All of a sudden, I got breast cancer," she said.

Local advocates say the emissions are part of a pattern of environmental racism. The term is often applied when areas populated primarily by racial and ethnic minorities and members of low-socioeconomic backgrounds, like southwest Memphis, are burdened with a disproportionate amount of health hazards.

The drivers of environmental racism include the promise of tax breaks for industry to locate a facility in a heavily minority community, said Malini Ranganathan, an urban geographer at American University in Washington, D.C. The cheaper cost of land also is a factor, as is the concept of NIMBYor "not in my backyard"in which power brokers steer possible polluters to poorer areas of cities.

A manager at Sterilization Services' corporate office in Richmond, Virginia, declined to answer questions from KFF Health News. An attorney with Leitner, Williams, Dooley & Napolitan, a law firm that represents the company, also declined to comment. Sterilization Services, in a legal filing asking for an ethylene oxide-related lawsuit to be dismissed, said the use of the gas, which sterilizes about half the medical devices in the U.S., is highly regulated to ensure public safety.

Besides southwest Memphis, there are nearly two dozen locales, mostly small citiesfrom Athens, Texas, to Groveland, Florida, and Ardmore, Oklahomawhere the EPA said in 2022 that plants sterilizing medical devices emit the gas at unusually high levels, potentially increasing a person's risk of developing cancer.

The pollution issue is so bad in southwest Memphis that even though Sterilization Services planned to close shop by April 30, local community leaders have been hesitant to celebrate. In a letter last year to a local Congress member, the company said it has always complied with federal, state, and local regulations. The reason for its closure, it said, was a problem with renewing the building lease.

But many residents see it as just one small win in a bigger battle over environmental safety in the neighborhood.

"It's still a cesspool of pollution," said Yolonda Spinks, of the environmental advocacy organization Memphis Community Against Pollution, about a host of hazards the community faces.

The air in this part of the city has long been considered dangerous. An oil refinery spews a steady plume of white smoke. A coal plant has leaked ash into the ground and the groundwater.

The coal plant was replaced by a natural gas power plant, and now the Tennessee Valley Authority, which provides electricity for local power companies, plans to build a new gas plant there. A continual stream of heavy trucks chug along nearby highways and roads. Other transportation sources of air pollution include the Memphis International Airport and barge traffic on the nearby Mississippi River.

Lead contamination is also a concern, not just in drinking water but in the soil from now-closed lead smelters, said Chunrong Jia, a professor of environmental health at the University of Memphis. Almost all the heavy industry in Shelby Countyand the associated pollutantsare located in southwest Memphis, Jia added.

Sources of pollution are often "clustered in particular communities," said Darya Minovi, a senior analyst with the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit that advocates for environmental justice. When it comes to sterilizing facilities that emit ethylene oxide, areas inhabited largely by Black, Hispanic, low-income, and non-English-speaking people are disproportionately exposed, the group has found.

Four sites that the EPA labeled high-risk are in low-income areas of Puerto Rico. Seven sterilizer plants operate in that U.S. territory.

The EPA, responding to public concerns and to deepened scientific understanding of the hazards of ethylene oxide, recently released rules that the agency said would greatly reduce emissions of the toxic gas from sterilizing facilities.

KeShaun Pearson, who was born and raised in south Memphis and has been active in fighting environmental threats, said he is frustrated that companies with dangerous emissions are allowed to create "toxic soup" in minority communities.

In the area where the sterilization plant is located, 87% of the residents are people of color, and, according to the Southern Environmental Law Center, life expectancy there is about 10 years lower than the average for the county and state. The population within 5 miles of the sterilizer plant is mostly low-income, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Pearson was part of Memphis Community Against the Pipeline, a group formed in 2020 to stop a crude oil pipeline that would have run through Boxtown, a neighborhood established by emancipated slaves and freedmen after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863.

That campaign, which received public support from former Vice President Al Gore and actress-activist Jane Fonda, succeeded. After the ethylene oxide danger surfaced in 2022, the group changed the last word of its name from "pipeline" to "pollution."

Besides breast and lymphoid cancers, animal studies have linked inhaling the gas to tumors of the brain, lungs, connective tissue, uterus, and mammary glands.

Last year, with the help of the Southern Environmental Law Center, the south Memphis community group urged the Shelby County Health Department to declare the ethylene oxide situation a public health emergency and shut down the sterilizing plant. But the health department said the company had complied with its existing air permit and with the EPA's rules and regulations.

A health department spokesperson, Joan Carr, said Shelby County enforces EPA regulations to ensure that companies comply with the federal Clean Air Act and that the agency has five air monitoring stations around the county to detect levels of other pollutants.

When the county and the Tennessee Department of Health did a cancer cluster study in 2023, the agencies found no evidence of the clustering of high rates of leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, or breast or stomach cancer near the facility. There were "hot and cold spots" of breast cancer found, but the study said it could not conclude that the clusters were linked to the facility.

Scientists have criticized the study's methodology, saying it did not follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendations for designing a cancer cluster investigation.

Meanwhile, several people have sued the sterilizing company, claiming their health has been affected by the ethylene oxide emissions. In a lawsuit seeking class-action status, Reginae Kendrick, 21, said she was diagnosed with a brain tumor at age 6. Chemotherapy and radiation have stunted her growth, destroyed her hair follicles, and prevented her from going through puberty, said her mother, Robbie Kendrick.

In response to proposed stricter EPA regulations, meanwhile, the Tennessee attorney general helped lead 19 other state AGs in urging the agency to "forgo or defer regulating the use of EtO by commercial sterilizers."

Sims said she's glad her neighborhood will have one less thing to worry about once Sterilization Services departs. But her feelings about the closure remain tempered.

"Hope they don't go to another residential area," she said.

2024 States Newsroom. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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Eleven participating countries and estimated age-standardized incidence rates of clear cell renal cell carcinomas.Incidence of clear cell renal cell carcinomas (ccRCC), men and women combined, age-standardized incidence rates (ASR) per 100,000, data from GLOBOCAN 2020. Markers indicate countries included in this study (number of participating ccRCC patients per country). Credit: Nature (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07368-2

Researchers analyzing the DNA of people with kidney cancer worldwide have found evidence of an unknown trigger that could explain the longstanding mystery of why some countries have a higher incidence of the disease.

In a paper published in Nature, scientists from the Mutographs Cancer Grand Challenges team, based at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, and a large group of international collaborators, describe how they analyzed tumor and blood samples from 962 people with kidney cancer from across the world and discovered the genetic mutations or 'fingerprints' of an unknown mutagen present in a high number of them.

This trigger may be something in the environment, such as a chemical, although the researchers were not able to identify it as part of this research.

The cancers contained more of the mutations in countries with a higher incidence of kidney cancer. The researchers suggest the mutationlabeled SBS40b by the teamcould be caused by a mystery environmental factor.

"This finding is remarkable. It is like being unaware that smoking exists as a habit, yet finding the mutational signature caused by tobacco smoke in cancer genomes from around the world. From here, we will extend and refine our understanding of the international geographical differences in signature SBS40b," says Professor Sir Mike Stratton, Mutographs team leader, Wellcome Sanger Institute.

"We will study the habits, lifestyles and environments of patients who have generously donated their samples, to track down what exposure causes this signature and explore whether it can be avoided in future."

There are around 13,800 new cases of kidney cancer diagnosed each year in the UK, and the disease is responsible for about 4,800 deaths annually.

This study spanned 11 countries, including over 100 samples from the UK. Other participating countries included the Czech Republic and Russia, which have some of the highest kidney cancer incidence rates globally.

Kidney cancer has high incidence rates in Central and Northern Europe, particularly in the Czech Republic and Lithuania, and case numbers have risen in high income countriesincluding the UKin recent decades. While obesity, hypertension, and tobacco smoking are known risk factors for kidney cancer, they do not account for the geographical variation of the disease.

Most cancers contain thousands of mutations that have occurred over the course of an individual's lifetime. These mutations can be caused by mistakes made by cells during processes such as cell division, or by exposure to carcinogens such as ultraviolet light or tobacco smoke. Each of these processes causes its own distinct pattern of mutations, known as a "mutational signature."

By analyzing these signatures, we can understand more about what caused the cancer in the first place.

In the paper, the Cancer Grand Challenges team describe how they investigated the mutations by examining 962 cases of clear cell renal cell carcinomas, the most common type of kidney cancer, from 11 countries. As well as the cancer genome sequences, data on sex, age at diagnosis, and important risk factors such as high BMI, hypertension and tobacco smoking were analyzed.

They extracted the mutational signatures from the genome of each patient's cancer and compared them to those found in the Catalog of Somatic Mutations in Cancer (COSMIC) database, the world's largest database of cancer mutations.

One mutational signature that was not in the database was SBS40b. It was present in cancers from all 11 countries, and the average mutational burdenthe number of mutations in each cancerin each country correlated with kidney cancer incidence in that country.

This means that the more SBS40b mutations found in the kidney cancer samples from a country, the more people are diagnosed with kidney cancer in that country. The highest mutational burdens were in the Czech Republic and Lithuania.

The Mutographs program seeks to make radical progress against cancer's toughest challenges. One of those challenges is developing ways to examine the fingerprints left on our DNA to identify unknown causes of cancer and help prevent more people from developing the disease.

"These incredible findings are a culmination of almost seven years of painstaking research by the Mutographs team, using tumor samples taken across four continents to develop a rich genetic dataset, and one of the largest of its kind," says Dr. David Scott, director of Cancer Grand Challenges.

"Understanding more about how kidney cancer develops and what causes it through research like this is critical to developing preventative interventions and improving public health measures. Cancer Grand Challenges unites the world's brightest minds against cancer's toughest challenges."

Further findings point to large scale exposures to mutagens in southern Europe and East Asia

The Mutographs team also report that they've found evidence in patient samples of widespread exposure to aristolochic acid, a known carcinogen produced by some flowering plants in parts of south-eastern Europe, in particular, Romania and Serbia.

The carcinogenic effect of aristolochic acid was first unearthed in the early 2000s, but researchers have found that the extent of exposure is much greater than previously thought, likely affecting millions and possibly tens of millions of people. One known route of exposure to aristolochic acid is through the consumption of unregulated herbal products.

Use of Aristolochia species in herbal medicines is prohibited in the UK. The researchers caution that they still do not know the full extent of the exposure, nor when it took place or whether it is still happening now. It is also unclear if mutations linked to exposure are enough to cause cancer.

The team also uncovered a particular mutational signature caused by exposure to an unknown mutagen in Japan. This was present in about 70 percent of kidney cancer cases, as well as some liver cancers. The nature and source of the mutagen is unknown, although it is also likely to be affecting tens of millions of people in the East-Asia region.

"These findings are pointing to the presence of strong mutagen exposures affecting many millions of people, that have not been detectable using previous epidemiology studies. This new type of study, linking genetics and epidemiology across multiple populations, will hopefully lead to uncovering new and important causes in cancer that have so far remained hidden," says Dr. Paul Brennan, lead author from the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

More information: Sergey Senkin et al, Geographic variation of mutagenic exposures in kidney cancer genomes, Nature (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07368-2 Journal information: Nature
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

Bacterial vaginosis (BV) affects about one-quarter of reproductive-age women and is linked to adverse health outcomes, such as increased HIV risk. Yet for decades, BV treatment in the United States has largely relied on antibiotics, and BV recurrence is common following antibiotic therapy.

Now, two European clinical trials have shown limited success with a different type of medication used to treat BV called dequalinium chloride (DQC). DQCan antiseptichas been in use for several decades in countries throughout Europe as an alternative treatment for BV.

It is not currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In a commentary published May 2 in JAMA Network Open, researchers from the Institute for Genome Sciences (IGS) within the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) have called for more robust clinical trials in the United States to confirm if DQC is as good or better than existing BV treatments.

"For women suffering from BV, there is a critical need for more effective treatments," said corresponding author Rebecca Brotman, Ph.D., MPH, a researcher at IGS and UMSOM Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health. "We need more robust clinical trials to fill in the knowledge gaps of what we know about DQC from the European studies."

In the commentary, the authors discuss three main knowledge gaps from the European trials.

"First, we know that vaginal microbiota may vary regionally and the DQC clinical trials so far have only been conducted in Europe," said first author Kayla Carter, Ph.D., MPH, a postdoc in the Brotman Lab at IGS.

"In addition, the trials did not last longer than five weeks, so we don't know long-term outcomes after DQC treatment; and, finally, there's very limited data on its use and its safety during pregnancy."

DQC works differently than current treatments because it is an antiseptic with antibacterial and antifungal activity, rather than an antibiotic. It also is an intravaginal tablet, not an oral treatment.

The antibiotic treatments currently available to U.S. women are metronidazole and clindamycin as first-line medications, with alternatives of secnidazole and tinidazole.

While these treatments are generally effective in the short term, as many as 50% of women will have a BV recurrence by six months after treatment.

"We've seen a growing investment in innovative BV treatments in recent years, including live biotherapeutics and vaginal microbiome transplants, but those are still in relatively early stages of development," said Dr. Brotman.

"In the meantime, the European trials indicate that DQC could be a viable, well-tolerated alternative BV treatment. That's why it deserves further investigation with well-funded clinical trials."

Susan Tuddenham, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine also contributed to this commentary.

More information: Women Need Better Treatments for Bacterial Vaginosis, JAMA Network Open (2024). DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.8606 Journal information: JAMA Network Open
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Members of the academic workers' union at the University of California Los Angeles were arrested when the Los Angeles Police Department raided the Palestine Solidarity Encampment just hours after the union leadership voted to hold a strike authorization vote.

"[The university] had the option to deescalate and negotiate with the protestors, but it chose instead to tear down the Palestine Solidarity Encampment using flash bang grenades and rubber bullets," UAW local 4811 posted to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday morning. "Arrests have been made including of UAW 4811 members."

UAW 4811 represents nearly 50,000 academic researchers and post-docs across 10 public universities and one laboratory in California. In the fall of 2022, it was part of the largest strike in the history of American higher education, when academic workers walked off the job for more than a month.

The union's executive board held an emergency meeting on Wednesday morning, during which they voted to hold a strike authorization vote as early as Monday  which would give the union the authority to call an official strike. While it remains unclear how a strike would impact university operations, the 2022 work stoppage delayed final exams and brought the majority of research to a halt.

In an email to union members obtained by HNGN, the UCLA academic researchers and post-doctoral students said that the university's "failure" to protect pro-Palestinian students and employees from the counter-protestors, who stormed their encampment early Wednesday morning, was an abdication of responsibility.

"Management has employed police violence or allowed violence to be used against students, faculty and academic workers exercising their right to free speech, the executive board of UAW 4811 wrote. "The use and sanction of violent force to curtail peaceful protest is an attack on free speech and the right to demand change, and the university must sit down with students, unions and campus organizations to negotiate, rather than escalate."

The union's co-president, Rafael Jaime, was among the students who allegedly experienced violent harassment at the hands of counter-protestors.

"Dozens of my coworkers and I were physically attacked and maced by outside agitators while the university stood idly by," Jaime posted to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, on Wednesday. "This escalation will not stand-our union will take swift and decisive action."

Jaime did not immediately respond to HNGN's request for comment.
A Billings man was sentenced in federal court Wednesday morning to two years and six months in prison for leaving voicemails threatening to kill Sen. Jon Tester at his Billings and Washington, D.C., offices.

Anthony James Cross, 30, was also charged with threatening to kill President Joe Biden. That charge was dropped as part of his plea agreement.

Zeno Baucus, the prosecutor with the U.S. Attorneys Office, connected these charges with todays increasingly uncivilized political climate. Baucus called this kind of behavior poison to community discourse and said that Cross has contributed to an increasing climate of fear, distrust, and anger. Cross blamed his brothers ideology for his conduct, according to court documents.

Additional context revealed in court shows that Cross's case connects to several other issues impacting the Billings community, including mental illness, alcohol abuse and gun violence.

Court documents detail Crosss struggles with mental illness, including depression, anxiety, PTSD, hallucinations, suicidal thoughts and alcoholism. His lawyer, Gillian Gosch, said that he was drunk when he left his voicemails, at around 5:30 a.m. on Apr. 17, 2023, and that he does not remember the incident.

I swear to God, you and your family will suffer such a horrendous deathIm gonna kill every single one of your fing family members, Cross said.

The threats also contained detailed descriptions about how he was going to kill the President of the United States and a United States Senator, according to sentencing documents filed by Baucus. One of the voicemails alleged that Pres. Biden sexually abused children.

Cross also left threatening comments on YouTube in the same month, threatening to kill Biden and writing that he would kill every trans.

We are actively hunting down and killing any trans in our major cities. You wont hear about it until Trump overcomes his indictment and Biden loses the re-election, Cross wrote.

Other threats written on YouTube include slitting Bidens nieces throat and killing his son, Hunter Biden, in a manner that will make Auschwitz and Sinaloa look like a fing puppet show.

Cross has a history of violent behavior beyond his YouTube threats.

To casually dismiss Crosss words as mere hyperbole would be a mistake, Baucus wrote in a sentencing document.

Cross posted a video on YouTube in which he approached a homeless man sleeping in a vehicle and said youre about to fing lose your life, motherfer.

In 2019, Cross was convicted of criminal endangerment, for an incident in which he threatened himself, his mother and law enforcement while in possession of a shotgun. He pled guilty to the charge.

In April 2023, the same month that he left the voicemails and YouTube comments, he assaulted a woman with what she believed to be a firearm while she was walking her dog near his residence. The weapon was actually a Glock-style air gun. These charges are still pending in district court.

Gosch, his lawyer, said that Cross does not remember many of these incidents. She argued that his conduct stems from his mental illnesses and substance abuse disorders, triggered by a traumatic accident in 2012 in which he killed somebody in a car accident.

The accident assisted in the downward spiral we see here today, Gosch said. She argued that a psychological evaluation demonstrated that he is highly intelligent, and that he can be rehabilitated.

Cross also spoke on his own behalf in court Wednesday morning.

I have no right to threaten anybody, he said. They have a right to live peacefully just like everybody else does.

Cross said he was sick to (his) stomach when he learned what he had said on the phone.

Theres no excuse for my actions, but alcohol and mental health definitely play a role, he said. I dont know where that hate and resentment came from, but I think its towards myself. I lashed out in a vile manner.

Cross called the incident a call for help. He said his mom was trying to get him to seek treatment at the time. He had previously struggled with the stigma associated with mental health problems, describing a deep sense of guilt and shame for previous psych unit visits.

I couldve just simply asked for help, he said. I was trying to get through it by myself, but its plain and simple that I cant.

Baucus, the prosecutor, said that even if these incidents can be explained by mental illness, that does not materially discount the threat that Cross poses to society.

In fact, it likely amplifies it, Baucus wrote in a sentencing document.

Judge Susan Watters expressed similar concerns.

If you dont get your alcohol use under control, theres no telling what might happen, Watters said. The danger to the public is very real, given how angry you are.

Watters mentioned that Cross had previously posted on Facebook about a group which sounds like a militia group.

Im not sure they advocate for violence, but they advocate for machine guns and tactical gear, all that kind of stuff that can later be used to harm other people, she said.

Apparently youre not afraid to threaten people with firearms, she added, referring to the criminal endangerment and pending assault cases.

Anger like this has led to serious incidents in this country, she said, referencing the threats made to politicians.

People like Sen. Tester have devoted their lives to public service and theyre going to do things that dont please people all the time, she said. Thats the nature of the work.

Charges such as those Cross is facing are in place because we cant have citizens doing this, she said.

Watters gave Cross the full sentence requested by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
An investigation is underway after a police officer shot a man dead in downtown Billings on Tuesday afternoon.

State law enforcement has been assigned to examine the circumstances surrounding the Billings Police Department's response to a man wielding a machete outside of a bank, which escalated to an officer firing five rounds. The officer, Zach Wallis, has been placed on paid administrative leave.

The incident was in the middle of the day and in a heavily-traveled area, said BPD Chief Rich St. John during a Wednesday press conference. I would request that anyone who may have any type of video to contact our detective division. Wed like to gather as much information as we possibly can.

At around 1 p.m. on Tuesday, BPD received multiple calls of a man waving a machete outside of the First Interstate Bank building at the intersection of North 31st Street and Fourth Avenue North. The man was also yelling at people on the street, St. John said, prompting seven officers to initially respond.

Those officers spent the next seven minutes trying to de-escalate the situation, according to St. John. When the armed man tried to leave the area, a BPD officer used a Taser, which brought him to the ground. While officers worked to restrain the man, he started reaching for the machete, St. John said.

Based on the proximity of officers and the threat posed from the machete, St. John said Officer Wallis fired five rounds from the patrol rifle he was carrying. Emergency crews brought the man to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead. The man and Wallis were standing within a few feet of one another at the time of the shooting, according to St. John, and there was no indication that the man had any other weapons aside from the machete.

Understand the danger of edged weapons, St. John said. I think even our officers really underestimate how dangerous somebody with even the smallest knife can be.

Earlier this year, a 17-year-old boy was fatally stabbed at a Billings home. Another man is facing a felony assault charge after allegedly stabbing a man outside of St. Vincent de Paul on Monday.

Wallis, an 11-year veteran of the department and current member of BPD SWAT, had previously been placed on administrative leave following a 2021 standoff that ended with five law enforcement officers opening fire on a homicide and shooting suspect. Wallis was among the five people who entered a home invaded by a man armed with a handgun. When they breached the attic, the man pointed the gun at officers, who responded with lethal force.

Per department protocol, the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation will review all of the available evidence surrounding Tuesdays shooting. An internal investigation will coincide with DCIs, St. John said, spearheaded by BPDs Office of Professional Standards.

The evidence gathered for BPDs report will include testimony from witnesses and any available recordings. Those recordings will come from dashboard cameras inside police cruisers, body cameras and any submitted by witnesses. BPDs report of the fatal shooting will be provided to DCI for a final review before that report is turned over to the Yellowstone County Attorneys Office. Camera footage of the shooting will become available following the conclusion of the investigation, which could result in a coroners inquest.

There have now been six homicides investigated in an around Billings so far this year. Four of those victims died due to gunfire.

Nobody else was harmed during Tuesdays brief standoff and subsequent shooting, St. John said.
The Mai Wah Society will hold a traditional Chinese Tomb Sweeping Day, known as the Qingming Festival at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 18 at Mount Moriah Cemetery (Section R). The Mai Wah welcomes community members to join in the celebration.

The Qingming Festival is both a solemn remembrance of ancestors and a happy celebration of spring and the renewal of life. The Mai Wah Society will mark the occasion by sweeping and placing flowers on the historic graves of Buttes Chinese population; making offerings of fruit and wine; burning incense and joss (fake) money; sharing traditional snacks; and flying kites.

We can only imagine the lively celebration of the Qingming Festival in the late 1800s, when about 1,000 Chinese people lived in Butte, says David Stonehocker, President of the Mai Wah Society. The funerary burner and ceremonial platform at the cemetery still hold these memories, as do the graves of those buried nearby. We are proud to honor the memory of the many Chinese merchants, restaurateurs, miners, and sundry laborers who made Butte great.

Community members are encouraged to bring brooms and kites to the ceremony. The Mai Wah Society will provide incense, joss (fake) money and ceremonial food. The Chinese portion of the cemetery is in Section R, which is located in the southwest corner of Mount Moriah Cemetery. If the back road in the cemetery to Section R is muddy, please park where the pavement ends and walk.

The Mai Wah Society is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization established for educational, charitable and scientific purposes, including research and public education about the history, culture and conditions of Asian people in the Rocky Mountain West. Learn more about the organization at maiwah.org/.
The Wideman Company, a Florida-based real estate firm, has purchase the iconic downtown Houston complex known as Jones on Main (formerly the Gulf Oil Building).BayBridge Real Estate Capital worked with Wideman to secure an investment from an undisclosed family office to close the deal. Colvill Office Properties The Jones on Main Street is one of the citys best examples of Art Deco architecture. It was the tallest building south of Chicago when it opened in 1929. The Wideman Company, an Orland-based real estate firm, recently bought the former Gulf Oil Building in downtown Houston. Jim Parsons Costumers enjoy happy hour at Swallows Nest Cocktail Bar in Finn Hall in this file photo from 2022. Finn Hall will keep its operations at Jones on Main under the new owners. Godofredo A. Vasquez, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer Exterior of the Great Jones Building at 708 Main Street. The coworking firm WeWork previously leased the whole building, but now its furnished spaces are available for lease. Karen Warren/Staff photographer Jones on Main, one of downtown Houston's most iconic art-deco buildings, is set for more upgrades after Orlando-based The Wideman Company recently purchased the complex at 708 and 712 Main. Gustavo Ortega/Courtesy The Wideman Company Jones on Main, one of downtown Houston's most iconic art-deco buildings, is set for more upgrades after Orlando-based The Wideman Company recently purchased the complex at 708 and 712 Main. Gustavo Ortega/Courtesy The Wideman Company Jones on Main, one of downtown Houston's most iconic art-deco buildings, is set for more upgrades after Orlando-based The Wideman Company recently purchased the complex at 708 and 712 Main. Gustavo Ortega/Courtesy The Wideman Company Jones on Main, one of downtown Houston's most iconic art-deco buildings, is set for more upgrades after Orlando-based The Wideman Company recently purchased the complex at 708 and 712 Main. BayBridge Real Estate Capital worked with Wideman to secure an investment from an undisclosed family office to close the deal. Gustavo Ortega/Courtesy The Wideman Company

A Florida real estate firm has purchased Jones on Main, a mixed-use complex that has been a landmark in downtown Houston for about 100 years.

The deal is a sign that some investors are still willing to bet on Houston office space in spite of the broader challenges facing landlords post-pandemic.

The Wideman Co., an Orlando-based real estate firm, paid an undisclosed, all-cash price for the complex on April 30, the company said. The acquisition includes the JPMorgan Chase Bank Building, a 34-story, 794,000-square-foot tower at 712 Main as well as its companion building, the Great Jones Building, a 10-story, 95,000-square-foot tower at 708 Main.

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Wideman plans to renovate much of the vacant offices in the complex while retaining its historic character, retail spaces and one of downtowns first food halls, Finn Hall. The buildings were constructed in stages in about 1908, 1929 and the 1950s.

You just dont build buildings like this anymore and that uniqueness is what we want to lean into with modern touches, amenities and services, said Matthew Wideman, CEO of The Wideman Co. This wont be your grandfathers stodgy office building.

The seller was an entity tied to Lionstone Investments, which also has headquarters at 712 Main. The former building owner previously renovated Jones on Main in partnership with Houston real estate firm Midway. Lionstone declined to comment.

Finn Hall was one of the first true food halls that opened in downtown Houston in late 2018. The new owners of Jones on Main plan to maintain Finn Hall operations. Finn Hall

The sale comes after coworking giant WeWork previously shut its 95,000-square-foot location at 708 Main. The space now is a fully furnished office space available for direct lease, Wideman said.

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In recent months, the economic development group Downtown Houston included 708 Main as a hypothetical example for what an office-to-residential conversion could look like as part of its analysis of potential tax incentives to spur more.

Wideman didnt rule out a conversion potential, but he said its not in his firms immediate plans for 708 Main.

About 30% of the office space in the complex is vacant. Wideman is examining a variety of possible new uses.

At 712 Main, roughly 100,000 square feet of offices will be converted into speculative suites. The turnkey suites  ranging from 2,000 square feet to more than 10,000 square feet  would allow tenants to move in quickly. Spec suites have become a popular solution for many tenants navigating changing office space requirements since the pandemic.

Its no question the future of office is changing, and owners that dont adapt to the future of remote work and the flexible workweek will be left behind, Wideman said.

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Although Houstons office market is struggling with stubbornly high vacancies, Wideman said, the uniqueness of the Jones on Main complex, coupled with its desirable location, made the firm more confident in its future.
Former Muranga Governor Mwangi Wa Iria is remanded at Industrial Area Prison after pleading not guilty to various corruption charges, including abuse of office, conflict of interest, unlawful acquisition of public property, and money laundering.

In a statement by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), Chief Magistrate Thomas Nzioki granted Wa Iria a bond of Kes.20 million and an alternative cash bail of Kes.10 million, which the accused person failed to raise.

The charges facing Mwangi wa Iria, his wife Jane Waigwe Kimani, brother-in-law Solomon Mutura, Personal Assistant Peter Muturi Karanja and others relate to tenders for media and publicity irregularly awarded to a company linked to them known as Top Image Consultants at a cost of Ksh.562 million during the Financial Years 2014/2015 and 2015/2016. EACC reported.

The antigraft watchdog identified Jane Wanjiru Mbuthia and David Maina Njeri as directors of Top Image Consultants company, both known to be close associates of the former Governor.

According to the Commission, Mwangi wa Iria and his wife directly profited from the Kes.562 million payment made by the Muranga County Government to Top Image Media Consultants Limited, whose directors are Jane Wanjiru Mbuthia and David Maina Njeri.

Part of the money was reportedly sent to Mwangi wa Iria foundation and another part was used to settle Wairias loan at CFC Stanbic Bank.

Furthermore, Wa Irias wife, Jane Waigwe Kimani, and brother-in-law, Solomon Mutura Kimani, serve as directors of Value View Limited, a company that allegedly gained from funds transferred to Top Image Media Consultant through the acquisition of valuable land in Nairobi and Mweiga, as well as two holiday homes in Nanyuki.

Apart from the criminal charges, the EACC has initiated a civil suit in the High Court to reclaim all misappropriated public funds.
Security forces on Wednesday killed at least six suspected members of the Al Shabaab terror group in an ambush in the Kumba area of Lamu County.

Police also reported seizing substantial logistical supplies during the operation. The ambush took place in the expansive Boni Forest, a known hideout for terrorists planning attacks on the Kenyan side.

The Kenya Defence Forces, as part of a multi-agency team operating in the area, conducted the ambush, with some of the terrorists managing to evade capture.

The public is advised to remain vigilant as the operation may lead to increased activity from the group, particularly as the number of injured terrorists is reported to be high, an official said.

One of the individuals killed was identified as a light-skinned man, suspected to be a foreigner by authorities.

The raid was launched based on intelligence indicating the groups plans for an attack in the area.

Community members are urged to report any suspicious behavior or individuals seeking assistance in the region.
The Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) has awarded actor Paul Ogola Kes.1.4 million in compensation for the unauthorized use of his image in advertising campaigns.

The Sense 8 actor lodged a complaint against Shalina Healthcare Kenya Limited after the pharmaceutical company continued using his images following the expiration of their contract.

The ODPC established that Shalina used Ogolas images for their billboards, posters, moving pictures, websites, and printed calendars without his knowledge or consent.

The contract between Ogola and the company allowed them to use his image for an online campaign advertising their Pharmasal product for only six months, from February 12, 2022, until August 12, 2022.

Data Commissioner Ruling

In the ruling issued by the Data Commissioner Immaculate Kassait, it was found that Shalina Healthcare had violated the terms of the original contract and infringed upon Ogolas data protection rights.

The Nairobi Half Life star was awarded compensation of Kes.500,000 for images displayed on billboards (outdoor advertising), Kes.500,000 for images featured on calendars, websites, and social media pages.

Ogola secured a further Kes.200,000 for infringement of the right to be informed under Section 26(a) of the Data Protection Act.

The total compensation ordered to be paid to Ogola by Shalina Healthcare Kenya Limited amounts to Kes1,450,000.

Both parties have the option to appeal the decision to the High Court of Kenya within 30 days.
Pope Francis has conveyed sympathy for Kenyans affected by the devastating floods, which have claimed over 170 lives.

In a post on X, the Pope acknowledged the devastation caused by the severe floods and assured that he stands spiritually close to the people of Kenya. He also called for prayers for all those affected.

I am spiritually close to the people of #Kenya at this time when a severe flood has claimed many lives and destroyed vast areas. Let us pray together for all those who suffer the effects of this natural disaster.

I am spiritually close to the people of #Kenya at this time when a severe flood has claimed many lives and destroyed vast areas. Let us #PrayTogether for all those who suffer the effects of this natural disaster.  Pope Francis (@Pontifex) May 1, 2024



The Popes message comes amid intensified search and rescue operations by multi-agency teams, including the military, across the country.

The death toll from the Mai Mahiu tragedy had reached 46 on Wednesday, with 75 people reported missing. The incident occurred on Monday morning in Old Kijabe town when the walls of an old railway tunnel filled with water collapsed, sweeping homes downstream.

The weather forecast from April 30 to May 6 predicts continued heavy rainfall over several parts of the country.

Nearly 200,000 individuals have been affected in 36 counties, with Nairobi, Tana River, West Pokot, and Homa Bay counties among the hardest hit. Landslides and mudslides have also affected residents of Muranga and Nakuru Counties.

Meanwhile, a search and rescue operation is underway for tourists trapped by floodwaters in over 14 tourist camps in Talek, Narok, after the Talek River overflowed.

Yesterday, the Kenya Red Cross airlifted 36 people to safety and rescued another 25 through an aqua rescue team.
Members of a folklorico dance group perform during a Cinco de Mayo parade presented by LULAC District 8 in Downtown Houston, TX on Saturday, May 5, 2018. Tim Warner/For The Chronicle

Viva Mexico Viva America!

Miller Outdoor Theatre celebrates Cinco de Mayo. Courtesy of Miller Outdoor Theatre

The Cinco de Mayo celebration at the Miller Outdoor Theatre features Ballet Folklorico de Los Angeles and Mariachi Garibaldi. Presented in partnership with the Consulate General of Mexico in Houston.

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When: May 3: 8:15 p.m.

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Where: Miller Outdoor Theatre, 6000 Hermann Park Drive

CINCO DE MAYO IN HOUSTON: What is Cinco de Mayo and how can I celebrate?

Cinco de Mayo Parade

Melissa Lopez and other members of the Danzas Folkloricas de Solei dance group perform during the Cinco de Mayo Parade Saturday, May 4, 2019, in Houston. Godofredo A. Vasquez/Staff photographer

Organized by Houston's LULAC District 8, the event brings together elected officials, community members, businesses, schools to celebrate Mexican culture and heritage.

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When: May 4: 10 a.m.

Where: Route begins at Dallas and Bagby, passing through Louisiana, Walker, Smith and Lamar streets.

East End Street Fest

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Manuel Sanchez, right, and Marisela Orozco perform with Danza Azteca Taxcayolutl at the East End Street Fest on Navigation Boulevard, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2015, in Houston. ( Jon Shapley / Houston Chronicle ) Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle

The East End festival celebrates art, music and heritage with dance performances, live bands, artwork and plenty of kid-friendly fun at the Plaza de los Ninos.

When: May 4: Noon-6 p.m.

Where: Navigation Esplanade, 2600 Navigation

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Houston Margarita Festival

The Houston Margarita Festival returns to Water Works in Buffalo Bayou Park. Michael Minasi/Houston Chronicle

The annual event returns to Water Works Park, promising a day filled with Cinco de Mayo festivities. Attendees can enjoy live music, DJs, dancing and a variety of food vendors.

When: May 4: 2-10 p.m.

Where: Water Works Park, 105 Sabine

Soul Flower Music Fest

Festival goers at Discovery Green in Houston, Saturday, April 1, 2023. Jamaal Ellis/Contributor

The single-day affair showcases soul and R&B performances from both local talents and nationally recognized artists.

When: May 4: 2-9 p.m.
Its a switch for agriculture-preserving Napa County  possibly rezoning 5 acres of farmland for multi-family housing.

True, those lands are not vineyards, but rather grassland just southwest of the city Napa that the city intends to annex someday. Yet the location gave rise to claims the proposed rezoning could lead to urban sprawl.

On Wednesday, the Napa County Planning Commission recommended rezoning the 5 acres from agricultural watershed to residential multiple-family housing. The county Board of Supervisors will make the final call at a future meeting.

Also, the commission recommended rezoning 10 acres at Spanish Flat near Lake Berryessa in the remote eastern county for affordable housing. The land is presently zoned for commercial neighborhood uses.

Driving the moves is a California mandate that Napa County make available rural land for at least 106 housing units, many for those with low incomes. The state Department of Housing and Community Development wants the rezoning done quickly.

County staff noted the county has held 20 public meetings since December 2021 on the housing issue. The chosen sites have been approved by the state.

"This is where we've landed with all of the work we've done so far," Commissioner Megan Dameron said.

Opposing the proposed rezoning for the Foster Road site is the group Keep Napas Gateways Green. In a letter to the county, it said it supports the smart growth of infill development, not urban sprawl.

The 5 acres being looked at by the county is only a piece of the larger Foster Road-area puzzle. The city of Napa is looking at someday annexing 144 acres there for housing and other uses.

Napa County wants to get credit from the 5 acres toward its state home-producing mandate. But it wouldn't be the one to provide the water, sewer and other services necessary for development.

Rather, the county announced last year that the county, the Ghisletta family that owns the land and the city of Napa have agreed to work together. The 5-acre site is to be integrated into a Napa city plan for the Foster Road area and ultimately be absorbed by the city.

Keep Napas Gateways Green wants the area to be designated a greenbelt.

"The decision to elevate widely disavowed urban sprawl and expansion over the preservation of agricultural heritage represents a grievous misstep, an affront to the delicate balance of nature and a betrayal of the county's self-professed stewardship responsibilities," the group said.

In addition, the group expressed concern that the countys proposed rezoning of 5 acres for multi-family units could open the door to by-right development, without use permit approval by an elected body.

The proposed rezoning at Spanish Flat for affordable housing also generated public comments.

Meadow Creek Group LLC owns the 10 acres near Lake Berryessa. Trent Sanson, speaking on behalf of the owners, supported the county's affordable housing efforts there.

But Berryessa Highlands resident Carol Kunze called Lake Berryessa an "economic desert," an area where running out of gas can be a crisis. There is no food, no health clinics, no schools, no public transportation and no jobs, she wrote.

"Now is not the time to be developing affordable housing in the Lake Berryessa area," she wrote. "We have no services!"

Napa County officials have pointed to county efforts to redevelop several Lake Berryessa resorts.

The county also has listed 5 acres in lower Skyline Wilderness Park along Imola Avenue just east of Napa as a possibility for apartments. County Supervising Planner Trevor Hawkes said rezoning there isnt necessary because the state owns the property, giving it land-use authority.

PHOTOS: Napans celebrate Brock Bowers' NFL draft selection at Napa High watch party
In honor of its bicentennial milestone, George Ranch Historical Park is hosting a special rodeo event slated for Friday, May 3rd, and Saturday, May 4th. George Ranch Historical Park Cody Kalinowksi has been a George Ranch cowboy for four years working on the ranch daily to manage the herd of longhorns and participate in demonstrations for student education. Chona, the George Ranchs official mascot, came to the ranch last fall. George Ranch Historical Park

In honor of its bicentennial milestone, George Ranch Historical Park is hosting a special rodeo event slated for Friday, May 3, and Saturday, May 4.

Located at 10215 FM 762 in Richmond, the George Ranch is a popular destination for both tourists and locals interested in learning about the Texass rich heritage.

Guests will enjoy saddle bronc and bareback riding, tie down calf roping, team roping, bull riding, mutton bustin, womens barrel racing and break away calf roping, as well as a performance by award-winning cowboy Charro Jerry Diaz.

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Bringing an affordable, family-friendly rodeo to the community is the perfect way to celebrate the George Ranchs 200th anniversary, said Susan Vanderford, director of education and operations for George Ranch.

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Whats happening this weekend?

This year, 2024, marks the 200th anniversary of Richmonds George Ranch, one of the oldest and largest ranches in Texas.

The George Ranch 200th Anniversary Cowboys Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA) Rodeo will take place on the ranch on Friday and Saturday.

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On both days, the rodeo starts at 7:30 p.m.

On Friday, food trucks open at 6.30 p.m.

On Saturday, doors open at 4:30 p.m., with childrens games, a petting zoo, pony rides, longhorn photos, food trucks, living history displays, and more.

Ticket information

Theres not a bad seat in the house at the George Ranch Arena, according to their website. Tickets for 200th Anniversary CPRA Rodeo range from $10 to $40, and VIP tickets are priced at $100.

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Standing Room: $10 adult, $5 children ages 4-12, ages 3 and under free (ticket still required)

General Admission: $20 adult, $10 children ages 4-12, ages 3 and under (ticket still required)

Mezzanine Seats: $20 adult, $10 child ages 4-12, ages 3 and under free (ticket still required)

Action Seats  Bucking or Roping Chute: $40 adult, $20 child ages 4-12, $10 ages 3 and under.

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VIP Seats: $100 adult, ages 21 and up only. VIP seating includes hors doeuvres, private bar, two drink tickets, premium seating and access to Midway.

History of George Ranch

Established in 1824 by Henry and Nancy Jones, members of the Original 300 settlers, George Ranch is older than the state its in. At that time, Texas was part of Mexico and known as Coahuila y Tejas.

Everyone at the ranch is excited to open our gates and host this exciting tribute to both the George Ranch and legacy of the sport of rodeo, said Vanderford. The very origins of the rodeo are similar to the ranch emerging from the early Spanish and Mexican cattle ranching practices blending horsemanship and livestock handling skills. These skills are still utilized today by the George Ranch cowboys.
The Turn Around Dont Drown slogan serves as a powerful reminder that, when faced with floodwaters, it is always safer to find an alternative route or wait for the water to recede rather than risk ones life by attempting to cross. Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo called a mandatory evacuation of areas along the east fork of the San Jacinto River and pleaded for people in the area to leave their homes before flooding worsens tonight.

We need you out of that area, Hidalgo said

Hidalgo said that flood waters are expected to rise to levels high enough to flood even raised homes and could touch power lines. Officials described a "bulge of water" that is expected to come down over the next 48 hours, driving water levels higher.

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LIVE STORM UPDATES: Houston Mayor Whitmire warns the 'worst is yet to come' with flooding tonight

Please evacuate as soon as possible, Hidalgo said Certainly before nighttime if at all possible.

The evacuation area includes areas from FM 1485 to Lake Houston, she said. The expected flooding could impact areas half a mile away from the river's banks, she said.

The evacuation area includes streets in the Idle Glen/Idle Wilde subdivision, Northwood Country Estates, River Terrace, Cypress Point and the Commons of Lake Houston.

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She urged people to call 9-1-1 if they needed help evacuating. People in the evacuation areas were expected to be alerted by cell phone messages this afternoon, Hidalgo said.

The order affects hundreds of homes, she said.

"There's significantly higher water that's going to impact mobility, and not only that, it's going to impact your ability to take care of yourself and your ability to take care of your family," Hidalgo said. "This is a life-threatening situation."

The river is typically 50 feet above sea level. The coming floods are expected to raise the floodwaters to 78 feet above sea level, close to the levels it reached during Hurricane Harvey in 2017.

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Hidalgo urged other residents near the river, but not along the east fork, to leave or prepare to be stuck in their homes for two to three days.

Flooding is expected to affect the Kingwood, Forest Cove, North Shore, Bellawood, River Crest, Kingspoint and Atascocita Shores areas of Harris County Thursday night into Friday, Hidalgo said. The flooding in those areas is expected to be less severe than near the east fork of the river but could still trap people in their homes, Hidalgo said.

Flooding is expected to peak in the Rio Villa neighborhood on Friday night and early Saturday morning, according to the county.

Officials also issued a disaster declaration in Harris County because of flooding caused by Thursdays rain, she said during an afternoon press conference.

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The disaster declaration allows the county to access more resources as it continues to respond to the flooding and later in recovery.

Hidalgo also announced the locations of shelters that are open to people who people who needed to evacuate their homes.

The shelters are located at:

Philippian's New Faith Baptist Church, 7858 Angus St, Houston

Greenhouse International Church, 200 West Greens Road, Houston

Leon Grayson Community Center, 1328 Corpus Christi St, Houston

Calvary Baptist Church, 816 North Blair Avenue, Cleveland, Houston

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The shelters have food and are accommodating pets, Hidalgo said.

The locations of the shelters will be posted on readyharris.org. The website will also have maps of where the flooding is supposed to worsen, Hidalgo said.

Power outages in areas affected by the storms and flooding could also be out for days, Hidalgo said.

Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough issued a voluntary evacuation order for areas near the San Jacinto River Thursday.

Those who live in the River Plantation, Mosswood, Woodloch and Idle Wilde/Idle Glen areas should evacuate as officials expect "another 10-12 feet of rise in the river over the next several hours," Keough said.
A new grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will allow the Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) network to leverage its laboratory capacity and partnerships in Africa to identify and document causes of death among adults who were living with HIV.

CHAMPS collects, analyzes and shares evidence to prevent child mortality in regions where it is highest in the world. The CHAMPS program office at Emory Global Health Institute coordinates a network of 19 catchments across nine countries.

Despite significant progress in scaling access to antiretroviral therapy for people living with HIV, HIV-related deaths remain unacceptably high in low-resource communities across the CHAMPS network.

Approximately 40% of the WHO-estimated seven million AIDS-related deaths over the next decade could be prevented by addressing advanced HIV disease (AHD). While it is well-established that tuberculosis is a leading cause of death in AHD, the contribution of other underlying causes for most adults who were living with HIV (PLHIV) remain unknown across the African region.

CHAMPS network data can be used to close critical gaps in understanding the causes of deaths among persons living with HIV, including deaths related to advanced HIV disease, says Victor Akelo, CHAMPS senior director for science, site strategy and implementation, who will direct the study for the network and lead the Kenya site.

Since 2015, CHAMPS has worked with communities and built local capacity to determine definitive causes of stillbirths and child deaths across its network in Africa and South Asia, two regions that account for 82% of under-five child mortality worldwide. The work funded by this new grant will support network partners in CHAMPS sites in Kenya, Sierra Leone, Mozambique and South Africa to enroll and investigate deaths in adults aged 18-64 years with HIV. The study will use CHAMPS procedures and methods with additional tests to investigate markers of AHD.

CHAMPS identifies and analyzes specific causes of death using minimally invasive tissue sampling, histopathology, molecular and microbiologic diagnostics, clinical data abstraction and verbal autopsies. Over the three-year study period, timely, open access to data and expert analysis will be available to local and global health programs, policymakers and practioners to evaluate and guide existing HIV programs, while informing service delivery to underserved communities.

More from CHAMPS network leadership in participating countries

Mozambique

Mozambique has made remarkable progress in the battle against HIV, as the prevalence rate has decreased from 16.2% in 2009 to 11.5% in 2019. Nonetheless, the limited availability of health care and the stigma associated with HIV still pose significant challenges for the country. Our studys launch in Mozambique demonstrates our unwavering commitment to evidence-based health care strategies. By utilizing state-of-the-art laboratory facilities and fostering collaborative partnerships, we are well positioned to generate essential insights into the factors contributing to mortality among adults living with HIV. This will help drive progress toward more effective interventions and improved health outcomes.

 Inacio Mandomando, CHAMPS Mozambique co-director

Sierra Leone

Recently, we have seen a disproportionately high prevalence of HIV (24%) among adult deaths in Sierra Leone, despite the current prevalence among living adults being estimated at 1.7%. The study to be conducted in Sierra Leone is a significant step in our collective efforts to better address a possible hidden HIV epidemic in the country, as well as tackle the complex challenges faced by individuals living with HIV. With the help of rigorous data collection and analysis and existing strong partnerships established across the CHAMPS Sierra Leone platform, we aim to identify factors associated with advanced HIV disease, further explore the root causes of HIV mortality and co-create targeted interventions for saving lives and promoting health equity.

 Ikechukwu (Ike) Ogbuanu, CHAMPS Sierra Leone site director

South Africa

With a national HIV prevalence rate of 19.6% among adults aged 15-49, South Africa has the highest absolute number of people living with HIV in the world, totaling 8.45 million in 2022.

This study in South Africa represents a significant opportunity for advancement in comprehending and tackling the challenges encountered by adults living with HIV. Through granular investigation of the causes of death in persons who were living with HIV in the era of antiretroviral therapy, the insights from the study can be instrumental for informing what additional interventions are required to address the ongoing disproportionately higher incidence and mortality rate in this population.

 Ziyaad Dangor, CHAMPS South Africa co-director
Pakistan''s sprawling megalopolis, Karachi with over 20 million inhabitants (some estimates go up to 30 million), faces a severe water shortage. Both business owners and the general public struggle to afford and manage this most basic essentiality for themselves. Ashfaq a resident of the city stated, "We have been struggling with this issue for a long time, frequently either there is no water for us or the water that comes in the government-laid pipelines is not fit for any usage. And there is no proper timing of when the water will be given. Sometimes there is sewer water mixed with the water pipelines which causes health problems." "We are often forced to buy water tanks for high prices throughout the month. We are often left with no option and we are forced to make do with packaged drinking water, moreover, several people in our family have fallen ill because of using this dirty water," Ashfaq added. Najam another resident of Karachi mentioned several other issues related to water, he said, "Either there is no water to drink, or it is unfit for any use, the government has not even bothered to look into the subject, our family members are repeatedly falling ill, and we are forced to use packaged drinking water." "Either we suffer from thirst or are ignored. And there is no other option left for us. Now, we can only urge the government to please give us basic amenities like water frit for use," Najam added. Another citizen of Karachi Mauhaumad Yameen who has been living for almost 70 years mentioned some other problems as well and said, "I need to know what resources the general public gets in Pakistan. We don''t have electricity, we don''t have water, we don''t have food and what we can do about it, is leaving the country''s only option for us." "I am worried about the future generation as they also will suffer the same fate that we are suffering today. And in this regard, the biggest problem is the tanker mafia. They are involved in deep-pocketed corruption with the authorities, and that is why the authorities are also not bothering to look into the matter. And because of this we have to suffer and there is no option left with us," added Yameen. Another youngster stated, "We are now fed up as we raise the same matter before every government every time and they give us fake promises every election. They promise to solve the matter in every election but the problem persists regardless, and there is no solution." "For once, the government must understand that this is not just a matter of vote bank politics, it is a matter of buying costly water, it is a matter of diseases, it is a matter of fulfilling promises and most importantly it is a matter of ensuring basic amenities for the people," he added. (ANI)
Tel Aviv [Israel], May 2 (ANI/TPS): Israel reopened the Erez Crossing with Gaza for the first time since October 7 with the passage of 30 trucks delivering food and medical supplies from Jordan to the northern area of the Strip. It is the only crossing located on Gaza''s northern border. Before the war, it served as the only crossing point for pedestrian traffic. Before the attacks of October 7, it was primarily used by international personnel such as diplomats, aid workers, and journalists and also Palestinians with work or medical permits, while trucks used the Kerem Shalom crossing at the southern end of the Strip. The entry of humanitarian aid through the Erez Crossing was made possible after engineering work was carried out in the area by the Engineering Units and additional IDF forces. Using engineering tools, the renewed crossing was built, having previously been used only as a civilian crossing. The forces constructed inspection and protection infrastructure in the area and paved roads on both the Israeli and Gaza sides of the border, enabling the entry of substantial amounts of aid to the northern part of the Gaza Strip. In March, Israeli soldiers completed the demolition of the largest tunnel found in Gaza, which led up to the Erez border crossing and was adjacent to Moshav Netiv HaAsara. At least 1,200 people were killed and 240 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas''s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Around 30 of the remaining 133 hostages are believed dead. (ANI/TPS)
NPCI International Payments (NIPL), the international arm of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), has signed an agreement with the Bank of Namibia (BoN) to support them in developing an instant payment system like Unified Payment Interface (UPI) for the Southwest African country. As per a release from NPCI on Thursday, this collaboration marks a strategic leap towards strengthening Namibia's financial infrastructure and fostering inclusive economic growth. By leveraging technology and experiences from India's UPI, the partnership seeks to help Namibia modernize its financial ecosystem. This includes improving accessibility, affordability, connectivity with both domestic and international payment networks, and interoperability. Through this collaboration, the Bank of Namibia will gain access to best-in-class technology and insights from NIPL, enabling the creation of a similar platform in Namibia for the digital welfare of its citizens. Johannes !Gawaxab, Governor of the Bank of Namibia, said, their objective is to enhance accessibility and affordability for underserved populations, achieve full interoperability of payment instruments by 2025, modernize the financial sector, and ensure a secure and efficient National Payment System. "This system aims to connect individuals, businesses, and government entities across Namibia, including the payment of social grants, enabling more efficient economic interactions and supporting the growth of digital entrepreneurship," the Namibia central bank governor said. Speaking on partnership, Ritesh Shukla, CEO, NPCI International said, "We are excited about this partnership, which will enable Namibian citizens to transact instantly leveraging technology and experiences from India's UPI. By enabling this technology, the country will gain sovereignty in the digital payments landscape and stand to benefit from enhanced payment interoperability and improved financial access for underserved populations." Once live, the platform will facilitate digital transactions in Namibia, driving financial inclusion and reducing cash dependency by catering to underserved populations. As the international arm of NPCI, NIPL is devoted for deployment of NPCI's indigenous, system outside of India. Payments through digital means in India are hitting fresh highs, as its citizens are increasingly adopting the emerging modes of transacting on the internet. UPI is India's mobile-based fast payment system, which facilitates customers to make round-the-clock payments instantly, using a Virtual Payment Address (VPA) created by the customer. The UPI payment system has become hugely popular for retail digital payments in India, and its adoption is increasing at a rapid pace. A key emphasis of the Indian government has been on ensuring that the benefits of UPI are not limited to India only; other countries, too, benefit from it. So far, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, France, UAE, and Singapore, among others, have partnered or intending to partner with India on emerging fintech and payment solutions. (ANI)
PNN Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], May 2: SMS-Lucknow, known for its commitment to holistic student development and academic excellence, continues to make headlines with its unparalleled achievements in placements, company visits, infrastructure, and prime location advantage. In a region where graduate placements of many institutes are becoming increasingly challenging, SMS Lucknow stands out as a champion for its students. The institute's exceptional placement record, coupled with its commitment to holistic development and industry-aligned education, empowers graduates to confidently navigate the job market and carve their own path to success. By consistently exceeding expectations, SMS Lucknow is not only shaping future-ready professionals but also solidifying its position as a premier educational institution in Central Uttar Pradesh. In a period of economic uncertainty, SMS Lucknow stands as a beacon of hope for aspiring students. By consistently delivering exceptional placements, SMS Lucknow is emerging as a frontrunner in Central Uttar Pradesh's educational landscape. This focus on excellence empowers students to confidently navigate the ever-evolving job market and forge successful careers. Dr Ashish Bhatnagar, Director informs "SMS Lucknow's remarkable placement record and commitment to holistic education set us apart. Our graduates are equipped to thrive in a challenging job market, positioning us as a leading institution in Uttar Pradesh." Applicable Students Scheme: SMS-Lucknow Institute stands out not only for its academic excellence but also for its commitment to empowering students through specialized schemes: SMS Lucknow recognizes the financial constraints faced by students, especially those from underprivileged backgrounds. The institute actively promotes schemes like the Bihar Student Credit Card Yojana (BSCCY) and the Jharkhand Guruji Student Credit Card Scheme (GSCC), making quality education more accessible. This commitment to inclusivity ensures that talented students from across the region have the opportunity to pursue their academic aspirations. 1) Bihar Student Credit Card Yojana (College code: 22669): This scheme offers financial assistance to eligible students from Bihar, enabling them to pursue education at SMS-Lucknow Institute. 2) Jharkhand State Guruji Student Credit Card Scheme: Providing financial support to deserving students, this scheme reflects the institute's dedication to inclusive education. NAAC A+ Accreditation: The institute holds the prestigious NAAC A+ accreditation, a testament to its rigorous curriculum and world-class faculty. This accreditation signifies that SMS Lucknow adheres to the highest educational standards, ensuring students receive a well-rounded and industry-relevant education. Top-of-the-Line Infrastructure: Fostering a Conducive Learning Environment The institute boasts modern classrooms, well-equipped laboratories, extensive libraries, and recreational spaces designed to foster learning and collaboration. This top-notch infrastructure complements the institute's academic offerings, creating an environment that is conducive to learning, innovation, and overall student well-being. Nurturing the Whole Student SMS Lucknow recognizes that success goes beyond just academic prowess. The institute prioritizes holistic student development by fostering a vibrant learning environment that encourages critical thinking, communication skills, and leadership qualities. Through a diverse range of extracurricular activities, workshops, and guest lectures, SMS Lucknow empowers its students to become well-rounded individuals, prepared to not just excel in their chosen fields but also to contribute meaningfully to society. According to Sharad Singh, Secretary and CEO - SMS "Our industry-aligned education has resulted in unparalleled placement success, making us a top choice for students seeking a well-rounded , career ready experience. At SMS Lucknow, we not only prepare students for the job market but also equip them to be responsible, impactful contributors to society. We are honored to lead the way in fostering the next generation of professionals and look forward to continuing our legacy of success." As SMS-Lucknow continues to raise the bar in terms of academic excellence and placement success, it remains a shining example of educational leadership and stands tall as one of the finest educational institutions in Central Uttar Pradesh, distinguished by its remarkable placement achievements and unwavering commitment to holistic student development. With a prime location, top-notch infrastructure, prestigious accreditation, and dedication to inclusivity, SMS-Lucknow continues to inspire and empower students, paving the way for a bright and prosperous future. For more information about admissions at SMS-Lucknow Institute, visit - https://www.smslucknow.ac.in/admissions And for further details on SMS Lucknow's programs, awards, and admissions process, visit the institute's website- https://www.smslucknow.ac.in (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
Mike Morris is an investigative reporter for the Houston Chronicle, focusing on local government and holding elected leaders to account.

Morris has dedicated more than a decade to explaining the roots of Houston's complex problems and exposing public corruption and failing programs. Before joining the Chronicle's investigative team, he covered local government for the paper, including a six-year stint at City Hall and two years covering Harris County. Before coming to Houston, he worked for daily and weekly newspapers in the Midwest.

He has been a finalist for several national journalism awards, including the Gerald Loeb Awards (in 2022, for coverage of a Texas tax break program), Investigative Reporters & Editors awards (in 2020, for coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic) and the Livingston Award (in 2012, for coverage of mismanagement at the Harris County Housing Authority).
Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL) announced on Thursday that it has secured USD 400 million in financing from a consortium of five international banks for its 750 MW solar projects in Rajasthan and Gujarat. According to a company statement, the projects are expected to commence operations from November 2024 onwards. One of the projects is being developed in Rajasthan with 500 MW capacity and has a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), the statement said. The second project, with 250 MW capacity, is a standalone merchant power project being implemented at the world's largest renewable energy (RE) cluster in Khavda, Gujarat. The consortium of lenders includes Cooperative Rabobank U.A., DBS Bank Ltd., Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A., MUFG Bank, Ltd., and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. "With confidence in the evolving merchant energy market, AGEL is diversifying revenue streams, along with traditional PPAs, to enhance project revenue and position itself favorable for sustained value creation. Following AGEL's lead, banks are becoming more comfortable with financing merchant projects with the transaction marking a sentiment shift in the international banking market," the statement said. The green loan, housed under subsidiaries of AGEL supports the company's growth trajectory and aligns with its commitment to sustainability, it said. The USD 400 million construction facility along with the funding solutions also provides the syndicated guarantee-backed assurance program in sync with AGEL's procurement strategy. The transaction paves the way for a sustainable debt structure, developed as part of AGEL's capital management plan, for financing merchant exposure, the statement said. "It marks a milestone for the Indian RE sector as it steers the industry's transition to the next phase of market integration, with the commitment to deliver the low-cost green electrons through promotion of merchant market projects with right financing structure demonstrating overall trust and competitiveness for the Indian renewable energy sector to drive clean energy transition and decarbonisation," the company said. AGEL has 10,934 MW operational portfolio, largest in India, delivering reliable, affordable, and clean power to the national grid. AGEL's operational portfolio consists of 7,393 MW solar, 1,401 MW wind and 2,140 MW wind-solar hybrid capacity, it said. (ANI)
The agreement aims to enhance collaboration and exchange of expertise in the field of auditing between the two countries' Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs).

The signing ceremony, held in the presence of dignitaries from both nations, marks a milestone in promoting closer ties and collaboration in auditing practices.

Through this MoU, a platform will be established for capacity development, knowledge exchange, and mutual assistance in conducting audits.

During the signing ceremony, Murmu expressed his confidence in the partnership between the SAIs of India and Nepal, stating that it reaffirms the shared values and goals of both institutions.

He emphasized the importance of this agreement in developing and strengthening professional capacity, marking a new phase of collaborative engagement to improve work methodologies and exchange knowledge of public sector auditing.

Murmu further elaborated on the benefits of the MoU during his meetings with Nepalese officials.

He called on Prime Minister C M Prachanda and Finance Minister Barsaman Pun, briefing them about the cooperation between the SAIs of both countries and the signed MoU.

He highlighted the initiatives taken by SAI India in adopting new technologies in its working model, including digitizing accounting processes and adopting IT-enabled audit.

Additionally, Murmu met with the Hon'ble Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of the Nepal Parliament, Mr. Rishikesh Pokharel, discussing mutual cooperation in the field of public sector audit.

He emphasized the efforts made by SAI India to engage productively with PACs at both central and state levels.

The partnership between the SAIs of India and Nepal is expected to pave the way for enhanced collaboration in training programs, knowledge exchange, and assistance in audits. (ANI)
A special fast-track court in Thiruvananthapuram sentenced a man to triple life sentences, 21 years rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 90,000 for sexually assaulting his six-year-old daughter. "If the accused fails to pay the fine amount, he has to stay an extra year in jail," said the court. The court said that the defendant's credibility as a father is tarnished. The father who was supposed to protect his daughter has committed a heinous crime. "Such an act can never be justified. A child's childhood is lost through such abuse, which can never be justified," the court added. Judge R Rekha has expressed in the verdict that the accused who dared to do such a heinous act should be put in bars. The trial followed the incident in July 2023, highlighting the judicial commitment to justice and the importance of safeguarding children from abuse. The minor's mother used to work in the Gulf, and she lived in the house of the accused with her grandmother (mother's mother). He molested the child during the days when the child stayed at his home. After the minor complained about some health issues, her grandmother took the minor to a private hospital where she revealed to the doctor about her father's act. Following the doctor's instructions, the family complained to the Valiyathura Police. The minor's 15-year-old sister testified in court that the father used to behave inappropriately when he came home drunk. Three life sentences were awarded under the three sections of assaulting the minor more than once, assaulting a child under the age of 12, and the father who is responsible for protecting the child assaulting the child. He was sentenced for each of the offences under sections 5(l) (penetrative sexual assault on a child repeatedly), 5(m) (penetrative sexual assault on a child below 12 years) and 5(n) (sexual assault of child by a relative through blood or adoption..) of the POCSO Act. The father was also additionally sentenced to varying sentences under various provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) and the IPC for a total of 21 years. The trial started on March 29, 2024, and was completed within a month. The prosecution produced 17 witnesses and 19 documents. The court also ordered that the minor be compensated by the District Legal Service Authority. (ANI)
Following the Supreme Court's order, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has come out with a new protocol for handling and storage of symbol loading units, the officials said on Wednesday. In its latest order on the EVM-VVPAT row, the apex court had ordered that the machines should be sealed and secured in a container and stored in a strongroom along with the EVMs at least for 45 days post-declaration of results. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the apex poll body said that all state chief electoral officers have been directed to create the necessary infrastructure and provisions to implement the new protocols for handling and storage of the symbol loading units (SLUs). "All CEOs have been directed to create necessary infrastructure and provisions to implement the new protocols for handling and storage of SLUs," the ECI said, adding that as mandated by the Supreme Court, the revised protocols are applicable in all cases of completion of the symbol loading process in the VVPATs undertaken on or after May 1, 2024. The SLU uploads the name and symbol of the candidates contesting on a particular seat on VVPAT or paper trail machines. So far, the EVMs and VVPAT slips were stored for 45 days post results. In these 45 days following the declaration of an election result, people can file an election petition in the concerned high court challenging the election. The EVM and VVPAT slips can be called by the court while hearing the plea. On Friday, the top court issued directions to seal and store symbol loading units and also paved the way for verification of micro-controllers embedded in the electronic voting machines (EVMs) at the request of the candidates who stand second and third in the elections. Before the Supreme Court order, the SLUs were handed over to local poll officials by the engineers of BEL or ECIL. A day after the poll, the SLUs were returned to the engineers of the two public sector units that manufacture the ballot unit, the control unit and the VVPAT along with the SLUs. (ANI)
The verdict was delivered in connection with a Rs 15,000 bribery case that surfaced back in 2015.

Bipin Jambholkar, the convict, was a Grade A scientific cadre officer who was a nodal officer for BIS Nagpur at the time of the incident.

Following a complaint, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a case on March 9, 2015, against Jambolkar, who was serving as a Scientist-C (Lot Cell) at the BIS' Enforcement and Legal Activities.

After an investigation, the CBI had filed a chargesheet on February 26, 2016 against Bipin.

During the eight-year-long trial, the court examined 15 witnesses, and the CBI prosecutor submitted 91 documents plus other evidence that stood judicial scrutiny and resulted in the conviction of the accused.

"The Court, after trial, found the accused guilty and sentenced him accordingly. 15 witnesses were examined and 91 documents were exhibited by the prosecution during trial, which stood the test of trial, resulting in the conviction of the accused," the CBI said on Wednesday. (ANI)
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar has said that JD(S) and BJP leaders must pay a visit to the victims of the alleged obscene video case if they have any respect for women. Shivakumar targeted the JD(S) leader and former CM HD Kumaraswamy among others over the ongoing controversy linking the latter's nephew and Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna. "Kumaraswamy and BJP leaders talk a lot about women empowerment. If JD(S) and BJP really have any respect for women, they must express solidarity with the victims by paying them a visit," Shivakumar said while speaking to reporters in Yadgir on Wednesday. Asked about Kumaraswamy's statement that a 'mahanayaka' was behind the alleged pen drive with videos, he said, "Our party spokesperson has said in detail about whom all Devaraje Gowda met with regards to the pen drive. Devaraje Gowda had also met Kumaraswamy regarding this besides writing to the BJP leaders. We don't have any need to resort to such cheap politics. I will speak about this later." Asked if Suraj Revanna had met him, Shivakumar said, "Yes, he had met me. You may ask him why he had met me." Earlier on Wednesday, Kumaraswamy accused Shivakumar and his brother and Congress leader DK Suresh of sending Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna's former driver Karthik to Malaysia and releasing a massive number of obscene videos, purportedly consisting of more than 2,900 sex videos. "Yesterday, a driver video was released. What did he say? He said that he had given it to Devaraje Gowda and not to any others, but the 'mahanayaka' has said that Kumaraswamy might have released it. Where is that driver, Karthik, and from where did he send that video? First, let that Karthik come back; let them bring him back first," he said. Kumaraswamy accused Shivakumar of hatching the conspiracy of allegedly circulating the videos in public and then setting up the SIT to probe into the matter. "Those 420 brothers who are making statements against me that I might have released the alleged sex scandal videos regarding Prajwal Revanna. They must think before speaking. Both 420 brothers can not hit me and run away. I know how to react and teach. They must first tell us who sent Karthik, the driver to Malaysia and how he released a video against BJP leader Devaraje Gowda," he said. His remarks came after Revanna's former driver claimed that he first shared the obscene videos with BJP leader Devaraje Gowda. Deveraje Gowda at the same time claimed of intimating the matter to BJP state president BY Vijayendra through a letter adding that "the letter had not reached him either." "I wrote a letter to our president (Karnataka BJP President Vijayendra Yediyurappa) about the video and gave it to the office, but as he said, the letter had not reached him either. I wrote in the letter that there is no problem in allying with JD(S), but there are serious allegations against him (Prajwal Revanna) of sexual harassment," Gowda told ANI earlier. Revanna has sought more time to appear before CID with regard to the case. In a post on X on WednesdayRevanna said that "truth will prevail" after he was asked to appear before the Crime Investigation Department (CID) today, he asked for seven more days to appear, citing that he is not available in the city. "As I am not in Bangalore to attend the inquiry, I have communicated to CID, Bangalore, through my advocate. The truth will prevail soon," Revanna said in the post. A political row has erupted over the case pertaining to Prajwal Revanna and claims of some opposition parties that he had gone to Germany. Revanna was booked in an alleged sexual harassment case on April 28 following complaints by his former housekeeper. The case has been registered under sections 354A, 354D, 506, and 509 of the IPC on charges of sexual harassment, intimidation and outraging the dignity of a woman. As per the complaint, the victim has claimed that Prajwal Revanna and his father HD Revanna had sexually assaulted her. Revanna is the grandson of party supremo and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda. "I came to know that notice has been put; I'm ready to face anything; I'm ready to face SIT," HD Revanna, who is also an accused in the case, said. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has written to Prime Minister Modi, requesting him to direct the Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Home Affairs to cancel the diplomatic passport issued to Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna and ensure his return to face the law. "While the SIT is working round the clock to investigate the allegations of crimes against several women by Prajwal Revanna, getting him back to the country is of utmost importance so that he faces investigation and trial as per the law of the land," the Chief Minister mentioned in the letter. The Karnataka government has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the alleged obscene video case against Prajwal Revanna. (ANI)
Authorities in Dehradun have launched an investigation into a fabricated video involving Union Home Minister Amit Shah that is being circulated on social media with the alleged intent to incite animosity between communities and influence the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, said an official. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Dehradun Ajay Singh said that a social media handle named Urban Pahadi is responsible for distributing the misleading video. The clip, based on distorted facts, is believed to be aimed at creating discord among different groups and gaining an electoral advantage. Upon discovering the video, the SSP alerted the district's social media monitoring and cyber cell teams to identify and take action against the operator of the Urban Pahadi account. During preliminary investigations, the Cyber Cell Dehradun determined that the misleading content had spread widely, prompting a formal complaint at Kotwali Nagar by Inspector Manoj Mainwal, the Cyber Cell's in-charge. Subsequently, a case has been registered against the operator of the Urban Pahadi social media account under crime number 221/24, invoking sections 66C and 66D of the Information Technology Act, as well as sections 153A, 171F, 469, 505, and 505(2) of the Indian Penal Code. These charges relate to identity theft, impersonation, promoting enmity between groups, and disrupting electoral processes. Earlier on Wednesday, Delhi Police showed dissatisfaction over Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy's reply in connection to Amit Shah's fake video case. Earlier on May 2, a reply was filed by CM Telangana through his counsel. While speaking to ANI, Advocate Soumya Gupta said that she had received a notice under CrPC 91 in which it was asked from which source the video was. "Our short reply was that it was not his account and the Twitter handle which he runs has been provided to them. Besides, it has also been written in the reply that the video was neither tweeted nor retweeted by the CM who runs the Twitter handle," she added. According to Delhi Police sources, the investigation is not satisfied with the reply given by CM Telangana. Sources stated that if the video has been tweeted from the Twitter handle of INC Telangana, then the State President is also responsible for it, at present his lawyer is at the Delhi Police IFSO Unit.Sources further added that another notice can also be given to the CM soon. Apart from this, if Delhi Police is not satisfied with the answers given by CM Revanth Reddy in future, then strict action will be taken. According to Delhi Police sources, the IFSO unit team of Delhi Police is also technically investigating this matter, Delhi Police aim to reach the person who edited Amit Shah's video and made it viral first. The investigation conducted till now has found some leads that prove from where the video started going viral, however, work on those leads is ongoing. Apart from this, Delhi Police is also continuously receiving replies from some other people to whom notices were sent. In this case, notices were sent to 20 to 25 people, whose replies the police were getting. Further investigation is underway. As per the Delhi police sources, the Delhi Police team is currently present in Telangana, action will be taken as soon as they get orders from the national capital. (ANI)
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Thursday asked Union Home Minister Amit Shah to visit Hassan district and meet the victims of the alleged obscene video case amid the latter's ongoing electioneering in the state. "I appeal to Amit Shah to visit Hassan and meet the victims. Your party only has given a letter, identify them and please meet them," Shivakumar said while speaking to ANI in Kalaburagi on Thursday. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who is in the state as part of BJP's election campaigning, on Wednesday, met the parents of Neha Hiremath, who was stabbed to death, in Hubbali and attacked the ruling Congress party in the state over the alleged obscene video case during his public rally in Haveri. Speaking at a rally in Hubballi, Amit Shah said that the Congress government in Karnataka knew about the allegations against suspended JD-S leader Prajwal Revanna for months but allowed him to flee as it wanted the voting for Lok Sabha polls in Vokkaliga-dominated areas in the state to conclude. "Right now we have an alliance with JD(S) and then Revanna's case came up. I want to make it clear, BJP will never stand with atrocities against women. Listen Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar, govt is yours, of Congress, it was you who was supposed to take action. You did not take any action until the election of Vokkaliga belt was over, you did politics and let him escape (Prajwal Revanna). If you have guts, say the truth, because of you a person who committed a heinous crime escaped...even though they're (JD(S)) our ally, our stand is clear, those who commit such crimes, need to be given harshest punishment," the Home Minister said. Shivakumar earlier on Wednesday targeted the JD(S) leader and former CM HD Kumaraswamy among others over the ongoing controversy linking the latter's nephew and Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna asking him and BJP leaders to pay a visit to the victims if they have any respect for women. "Kumaraswamy and BJP leaders talk a lot about women empowerment. If JD(S) and BJP have any respect for women, they must express solidarity with the victims by paying them a visit," Shivakumar said earlier while speaking to reporters in Yadgir on Wednesday. Kumaraswamy has accused Shivakumar of hatching the conspiracy of allegedly circulating the videos in public and then setting up the SIT to probe into the matter. "Those 420 brothers who are making statements against me that I might have released the alleged sex scandal videos regarding Prajwal Revanna. They must think before speaking. Both 420 brothers cannot hit me and run away. I know how to react and teach. They must first tell us who sent Karthik, the driver to Malaysia and how he released a video against BJP leader Devaraje Gowda," he said. Revanna has sought more time after he was asked to appear before the Crime Investigation Department (CID). In a post on X on Wednesday, Revanna said, "As I am not in Bangalore to attend the inquiry, I have communicated to CID, Bangalore, through my advocate. The truth will prevail soon." Revanna was booked in an alleged sexual harassment case on April 28 following complaints by his former housekeeper. The case has been registered under sections 354A, 354D, 506, and 509 of the IPC on charges of sexual harassment, intimidation and outraging the dignity of a woman. As per the complaint, the victim has claimed that Prajwal Revanna and his father HD Revanna had sexually assaulted her. Revanna is the grandson of party supremo and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda. "I came to know that notice has been put; I'm ready to face anything; I'm ready to face SIT," HD Revanna, who is also an accused in the case, said earlier. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has written to Prime Minister Modi, requesting him to direct the Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Home Affairs to cancel the diplomatic passport issued to Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna and ensure his return to face the law. (ANI)
Reiterating the promises made by the Congress party in its public declaration for Lok Sabha elections 2024, Congress Party President Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday wrote a letter, challenging Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP for a debate on the party's manifesto. Referring to the letter written by Prime Minister Narendra Modi candidates ahead of the third phase of voting, asking them to raise awareness about Congress' 'divisive' agenda, Kharge in the letter to PM wrote, "From the tone and content of the letter it seems that there is a lot of desperation and worry in you which is leading you to use language that does not suit the office of the Prime Minister. The letter makes it look like the lies in your speeches are not having the effect you intended and now you want your candidates to amplify your lies. Repeating a lie a thousand times will not make it the truth". The senior Congress leader reiterated, the guarantees made by the party in its manifesto for Lok Sabha election, including, Yuva Nyay, Nari Nyay, Kisan Nyay, Shramik Nyay and Hissedari Nyay. Hitting back at the BJP, over appeasement politics accusations made by them on the Congress, Kharge said that "the only appeasement policy that we have seen in the last 10 years is the appeasement of Chinese by you and your ministers." Kharge further targeted the Centre for refusing to call China as 'Ghuspaithiye', giving a clean chit to the country even as 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives in the Galwan valley. He also accused the Centre of increasing Chinese imports, by 54.76% in the past 5 years alone. In his response to PM Modi's accusation that the Congress would divert resources from SC, ST, and OBC communities to its "votebank," Kharge clarified that the "Vote Bank" encompasses all Indians, including the disadvantaged, women, youth with aspirations, the working class, Dalits, and Adivasis. "Our votebank is every Indian - the poor, the marginalised, the women, the aspirational youth, the labour class, the Dalits and the Adivasis. Everyone knows it is the RSS and BJP who opposed reservations at every stage since 1947. Everyone knows it is the RSS and BJP which wants to change the Constitution to end reservation. Your leaders have openly spoken about it. You need to clarify why you are opposed to reservation to SC, ST and OBCs on the basis of their population as per Article 16 of our Constitution," he stated in the letter. Through the letter, Kharge requested the Prime Minister to instruct his party to reimburse the Rs 10 crore allegedly misappropriated from Dalit farmers in Gujarat and used to purchase electoral bonds for the BJP. Kharge claimed that the BJP had amassed Rs 8,250 crore through "illegal and unconstitutional means". Clarifying party's stand on the inheritance Tax, Kharge claimed that it is the BJP leaders who have mentioned in their speeches, to bring the inheritance tax. "Your letter lies that Congress wants to bring Inheritance Tax when it is your former Finance Minister and your party leaders who have repeatedly mentioned they want Inheritance Tax. People can see these speeches and comments of your leaders online," Kharge wrote. Kharge also highlighted that the low voter turnout during the initial two phases of the Lok Sabha election signals a lack of public enthusiasm toward the government's policies. Targeting the BJP leaders and PM Modi for his "hate speeches" and challenging the BJP for a debate over the Congress party's manifesto, Kharge in the letter wrote "Our manifesto speaks of Nyay and how we will bring growth for all sections of the society. It is better as the Prime Minister if you seek votes on the performance of your government over the last ten years instead of indulging in hate speeches. The Congress Party would like to challenge you or anyone you depute to debate with us on our manifesto and the points you have made". (ANI)
The Election Management Committee of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held a meeting on Thursday at the state party office in Bhopal to discuss ways to increase voter turnout in the next two phases of Lok Sabha elections in the state. State BJP Chief VD Sharma, cabinet minister Uday Pratap Singh, state in-charge for Lok Sabha elections Mahendra Singh, and other party leaders were present in the meeting. After the meeting, state BJP Chief Sharma said, "A discussion was held for the management of parliamentary constituencies in the third and fourth phases of Lok Sabha elections in the state. Monitoring of the work was done, and feedback was collected in the meeting. It was also discussed to increase the voting percentage in the upcoming phases of LS polls, and discussions were done to ascertain the reasons for low voting." Meanwhile, the BJP leader also held Congress responsible for the lower voting percentage in the first two phases of the polling in the state. "Congress' core voters are angry, they did not step out to vote, and this is the big reason for the decline in voter turnout in the state. The BJP will do even better management for the third and fourth phases of the LS polls to increase voter turnout in the state," he added. Besides, the BJP leader further said that representatives of political parties from six countries Uganda, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Israel, Mauritius and Vietnam also attended the meeting and knew about the workings of the BJP. "Abroad people are understanding the working style of the world's largest political party, the BJP, in Indian democracy. Representatives are arriving from abroad to learn about the cadre-based party and booth management," he added. The BJP leader also came down heavily on Rahul Gandhi for "misleading" the people of the country by telling "lies while waving the copy of the Constitution in his hand." "Rahul Gandhi has tried to mislead the people of the country by telling lies while waving the copy of the Constitution in his hand. We have complained about it and also written to the election commission. Our delegation will meet with the Election Commission that an FIR should be registered against Rahul Gandhi," he added. Lok Sabha polls in Madhya Pradesh are being conducted in four phases. The first phase of polling was held on April 19, and the second phase was concluded on April 26. The next two phases will be conducted on May 7 and May 13. The counting of votes will be held on June 4 like rest of the country. With 29 Lok Sabha constituencies, Madhya Pradesh ranks sixth among all states in terms of its representation in the Lower House. Of these, 10 seats are reserved for SC and ST candidates, while the remaining 19 are unreserved. (ANI)